by Robert Boren
Captain Clarke, I hope this gets to you. Bryce Cannon is dead. This is Stuart Cain. Aeon is going nuts. He’ll probably kill me and my crew soon. I’ve had enough. Here’s a tidbit of information for you. Aeon knows of your upcoming meeting with the leadership of Pentant Simtar. The new government was not successful in neutralizing all the spies Aeon had in their ranks. That’s all I know, sorry. Don’t try to reply. I’m in enough trouble as it is.
Good luck,
Stuart Cain
“Has Simone arrived?”
“Yes, so she can read this off the screen. Call Chairman Vermillion and ask him to come over as well. Tell him about this message.”
“Thanks,” Trey said, standing, wanting to pace, then shaking his head as images of Vermillion’s pacing hit his brain.
Captain Clarke opened his door, Vermillion arriving, his brow furrowed.
“Sorry about your friend,” Captain Clarke said, ushering Vermillion inside.
“I figured he was dead after the battle,” Vermillion said. “He was in a Centurion ship. Only one Central Authority ship survived that engagement, and it was a Razor. Now we know it was Stuart’s Razor, assuming you trust this message.”
Captain Clarke opened the door, and Simone came in, decked out in ceremonial garb.
“Mr. Chairman, you’re here too. What’s going on?”
“I got a message from Bryce Cannon on the old comm system. Take a look. It’s still on the screen.”
Simone walked to it and read the message. “Oh boy.”
“Are you guys sure you believe this message?” Vermillion asked.
“I do,” Simone said.
“Me too,” Captain Clarke added. “Stuart knew about our meeting. That wasn’t public knowledge.”
“Maybe somebody leaked it from the Pentant Simtar Congress,” Vermillion said. “That is a free society, after all.”
Captain Clarke sat on the end of his bed. “I’d be suspicious of that, if not for the way I got the message, but think about it. What possible good could this do for Aeon?”
“It might stop us from going forward with the alliance,” Simone said.
Captain Clarke sat for a moment, thinking. “Let’s get Peteralinia and Katerinolia on a call right now.”
“Silver, knock it off. I agree, Captain Clarke. Can we do this from here?”
“Let’s go to the large conference room,” Vermillion said. “It’s already set up to call them, and we have time to get there.”
“Okay,” Captain Clarke said, going to his comm unit and signing off. “I’m ready.”
They left the stateroom, going the short distance to the large conference room, taking seats.
“Shall I have Silver make the connection?” Simone asked.
“Sure,” Captain Clarke said.
“Katerinolia,” Simone said. “I’ve known her much longer. I’ll be able to tell if she’s hiding something.”
After a moment the main screen came up, Katerinolia’s face showing, concern in her eyes. “Something’s wrong.”
“Hello, Katerinolia,” Simone said. “We got a message from Stuart Cain.”
“Cain is Admiral Boeraton’s second, according to our intelligence,” Katerinolia said. “What did he say?”
“Captain Clarke, do you want to take this?” Simone asked.
Captain Clarke nodded. “He told me that Prime Minister Aeon knows about our meeting, and that he has operatives in place. They’re expecting to get info they can use against us.”
“No,” Katerinolia said. “I’ve got to tell Prime Minister Peteralinia right away. They might attack the Congressional Headquarters. They must know we’ll all be there.”
“Bring him in, please,” Vermillion said.
“Just a sec.” She left the screen.
“Thoughts?” Captain Clarke asked.
“She’s shocked,” Simon said softly.
“Yeah, I’m getting that too,” Vermillion said.
The screen split in half, Katerinolia on the left, Peteralinia on the right.
“Katerinolia told me,” Peteralinia said. “Perhaps we need to postpone this.”
“Wait a minute,” Captain Clarke said. “Is this a mandatory session?”
“It is, and it’s secret,” Peteralinia said. “Only members know. No staffers or interns. We’ve been doing that for years, after we lost half of the government in a terror attack during a joint session.”
“Yes, we started doing that on Earth too,” Vermillion said, “back in the latter half of the 21st Century.”
“I think I know where Captain Clarke is going with this,” Simone said. “Hold the meeting, but put protections in place over the site. See who doesn’t show up.”
“We can put a force-field bubble over the site,” Peteralinia said. “That doesn’t leave the room. It’s how we stopped the counter-attacks, but that capability is not released to the public.”
“Improved your in-atmosphere shields, huh?” Captain Clarke asked.
“We did. When they attempt to attack, we will attack with our new land-based rail guns. They have unique capabilities. That’s all I can say… for now. That being said, I doubt they will attack.”
Captain Clarke thought about it for a moment. “If they attack, their spies won’t be able to get more information.”
“Hmmm,” Katerinolia said. “If Aeon is lucid, I agree. Not sure that he is, though. He’s not listening to his advisors anymore. I think they still might attack.”
“How risky is this?” Simone asked.
“I’ll get the military on alert,” Peteralinia said, “but we need to figure out what not to discuss. If they don’t attack, they’ll tell Aeon what we talked about.”
Captain Clarke chuckled. “Let’s discuss a joint operation to capture the Clan ships that are in the Valla Cappos sector. We’ll postpone any real discussions for later. I can pontificate on the situation in that sector, and make it sound like we’re really concerned about Aeon joining forces with the Clan.”
Peteralinia burst out laughing. “That’s a great idea. We’ll go along, and also see who asks probing questions. All bets are off if we get attacked, of course.”
“I like this strategy,” Simone said.
Vermillion nodded. “As do I.”
“We’d better go and set this up,” Katerinolia said. “Talk to you guys soon.”
“Thank you for this,” Peteralinia said. “Is there anything we can do for Stuart Cain? He’s going to be in trouble.”
“We don’t know where he is.”
Captain Clarke ignored him. “See you guys soon.”
“Good luck to you,” Vermillion said.
The call ended.
“AIs on speaker,” Captain Clarke said. “Butch, you know where Stuart Cain’s ship is?”
“Are one of you going to tell us where this ship is?” Captain Clarke asked.
“Impulse power?” Simone asked. “Why would they do that?”
Captain Clarke shoo
k his head. “Quiet, Butch. Go on, Silver.”
“This is like pulling teeth,” Captain Clarke said, Vermillion and Simone stifling laughter. “Tell us everything you know about this right now.”
“That’s interesting,” Simone said. “What are they doing? Maybe Aeon really is allied with the Clan.”
“They are allied in one way,” Vermillion said. “The Clan is building Razor battleships for Aeon. Hope they aren’t making progress on a cloaking device.”
“That’s what scares me the most,” Simone said. “Should we do anything?”
“We’ll track them,” Captain Clarke said. “Can’t do much else at the moment. You had some questions?”
“They’re just technical and logistical questions,” Simone said. “They can wait.”
“We’ve got an hour to kill, and I want some coffee. Let’s go get some, and we can chat.”
“I’m going back to my office, then,” Vermillion said. “Let’s keep this to ourselves for now.”
“Yes sir,” Captain Clarke said. “See you soon.
Everybody left the room.
{ 10 }
Alliance
S imone and Captain Clarke walked down the long hallway, the New Jersey’s agriculture going on behind windows on either side.
“This is great,” Simone said. “I checked today. There’s a team setting it up on the Spitfire. Not livestock yet, but the planting has already started.”
Captain Clarke smiled. “Sorry she wasn’t all the way finished before we handed her off.”
She looked at him, shaking her head. “Are you kidding? The more I get to know that ship, the more I love her.”
“I was off the New Jersey after just a few months on her. It was hard being away.”
“Oh, when you were on the Zephyrus?”
“Yes, although that’s a nice little ship.”
Simone smiled. “She’s got a good captain too. I suspect there’s a New Jersey class ship in her future.”
I glanced at her, finger to my lips. “Mum’s the word.”
“Which one?” Simone asked.
“Phantom. Constitution was going to Cyrus, but I’ll probably leave him on Animus. It’s a worthy ship.”
Simone nodded. “Not as capable as these ships, but the alterations that Nolan and JJ put in place have made a vast improvement. I wouldn’t like to fight one of those now.”
“How’s your staff? Do you have Captains who might be interested in one of the later New Jersey Class ships?”
“The captain of Hellion is very promising. Her name is Mollie Devonshire. She’s from Earth.”
“Yeah, that’s an English name. Her ancestors came from the same place mine did, more than likely.”
They crossed an intersection with another big corridor, and the smell of livestock hit them.
“Oh, that’s heavenly,” Simone said.
“You like the barnyard smell?”
“It’s a comfort. It reminds me of visiting my grandmother.”
“Albena. You were young when she passed, weren’t you?”
“Not that young. I was in my twenties. Grandpa passed a couple years earlier. That was hard for Grandma. She loved him so.”
“Ivan,” I said. “I can’t believe you knew him. He was a hero of mine. Still is, actually.”
“He was a complex man, but sweet to his grandchildren. He could spin tales, and he was always so theatrical.”
“Ever see him in the gangster get-up?”
She chuckled. “Whenever he was in public. Right to the end.” She stopped suddenly, rushing to the windows, giggling with delight.
“What?” Captain Clarke asked, getting next to her. “Oh. Baby goats. Some of those will end up on your ship. We’ve put our livestock breeding efforts into overdrive. The farmers are complaining that we don’t have enough space.”
“I just want to hug them,” she said, watching five of them scamper around, jumping all over.
“We’d better get back. The meeting starts in twenty minutes.”
“Thanks so much for bringing me out here.”
They hurried back to the transit station, grabbing a tin can to the big conference room.
***
Nolan and JJ sat in the lab, near the main bay of the New Jersey.
“This is a hard problem,” JJ said. “How do we cool re-entry? It’s basic physics.”
“We can’t cool it, but we might be able to mask it,” Nolan said. “I’ve got an idea.”
“Well?”
“In simple terms, I propose that we radically expand the shields before we enter the atmosphere.”
JJ leaned back in her chair, thinking. “We tried that. It proved to be very difficult.”
“Yes, so larger ships could protect smaller ships inside their shields,” Nolan said, “before we had miniaturized force fields. We know a lot more now. That was nearly a hundred years ago.”
“If it were possible, wouldn’t we have figured it out in all that time?”
Nolan laughed. “Come now, JJ. You’re the best partner I’ve ever had. Don’t lose hope on me now.”
“Answer the question.”
He eyed her a moment. “What reason would we have had for pursuing that idea, now that we have miniaturized shields?”
JJ thought about it a moment. “Okay, our best minds haven’t been working that problem.”
“Until now,” Nolan quipped.
JJ burst out laughing. “Always the modest one.”
“Sorry.”
JJ shook her head. “It’s one of the things I love about you, Nolan. You’ve got me convinced it’s a possible solution. I have some ideas on how to test it in the lab. Do you remember what the stumbling block was?”
Nolan laughed. “We should ask permission to use the AIs over the speakers in the lab.”
“Thank you, Butch,” JJ said. “Now run along. Emerald is too easily distracted. I think she has a crush.”
“Enough levity,” Nolan said, pretending to be firm. “Start working up the formulas we need for expanding shields around the Zephyrus.”
“Look at the time,” JJ said. “We’ve got that meeting coming up.”
“Yes, but they’ll work while we’re gone. They’ll get along, too.”
JJ shook her head as they headed for the door.
***
The large conference room filled up fast, Simone and Captain Clarke meeting Nolan and JJ in the hallway outside.
“Simone, how are you?” JJ asked.
“Great,” she said. “Captain Clarke just showed me the agricultural area. We’re in the process of setting that up on Spitfire.”
“You guys will be having Taco Tuesday in no time,” Nolan quipped.
“Oh, you’re going to admit that Earth culture is the best?” Captain Clarke asked.
Nolan laughed. “You’re winning me over slowly, I must admit. Don’
t tell Dojo I said that.”
Simone smiled. “The AIs are hard to keep quiet sometimes, but I think they’re charming.”
“I’m surprised we didn’t get a retort,” Captain Clarke said.
JJ shook her head. “They’re busy, working on an idea Nolan had for the heat signature issue.”
“That’s good,” Captain Clarke said, “just don’t get yourself a headache. This meeting might be challenging. Shall we go in?”
“Yeah,” Nolan said.
They entered, Simone taking a seat next to Kaleb. Captain Clarke took a seat next to the head of the table, JJ next to him, then Nolan. Others filtered in, Vermillion arriving just in time.
“Chatting with Drake?” Captain Clarke asked.
“Yep, and mum’s the word about him.”
“You okay?”
“Nervous, but it’ll be fine,” Vermillion said. He stood. “You’ve all reviewed the list of items we can’t mention. Any questions?”
“Seems like common sense to me,” Captain Clarke said, the others nodding in agreement.
“Okay, we’ll get connected,” Vermillion said. “Sleep all AIs, please.”
The big screen lit up, showing the Congressional house of Pentant Simtar. People were milling around, chatting.
“Smaller body than I expected,” JJ said.
“Wow, I see so many friends there,” Simone said. “My party is back.”
“Yes, good to see,” Kaleb said, Vermillion nodding in agreement. A small window opened in the lower right-hand corner. Prime Minister Peteralinia’s face filled it.
“Private message for us,” Simone said in a hushed tone.
“Hello,” he said. “We’ll be ready to start in a moment. Thanks so much for coming.”
“You’re set up for protection?” Captain Clarke asked.
“We are,” Peteralinia said. “Oh, they’re calling me. Down I go.” His picture left the screen, which changed to the massive doors leading into the chamber. They opened, Peteralinia walking in. A hush fell over the room as he made his way to the podium.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” Peteralinia said. “Sergeant at Arms, please turn on the big screen.”
The video aspect moved, the crowd looking up at the screen, showing the New Jersey’s conference room.
