Alliance
Page 37
“Coward,” the officer murmured good-naturedly.
“That woman fights warships for a living. She’s found a potential partner, and we’ve been handed the responsibility of ensuring he’s returned to health,” the SE tech retorted. “Anyone in their right mind would be afraid of disappointing her.”
* * * * *
Juliette’s program activated a few ticks before Esteban’s. The tiny piece of code, having sensed the energy building in the power crystals had broached the minimum required rate, shifted the kernel’s clocking mechanism. Instantly, Juliette was fully alert. In the cabin’s dim light, she saw the work lights and the absence of their patients.
However, Juliette made a point of turning to her fellow SADE and saying, “It’s a pleasure to greet you again, Esteban.”
Esteban smiled, turned to Juliette, and said, “And I’m enjoying hearing you say that.”
Orbit downloaded a significant amount of data to his companions. When he was finished, Juliette and Esteban rose, left the ship, and returned to their work. They presumed to evince a level of normalcy. Except, every individual they encountered had a different opinion.
The SADEs were greeted with honor by the Norsitchian troops and Menous. The Omnians touched their arms and shoulders in recognition of their efforts, and Earthers offered to shake their hands.
Three days after the SADEs had rejoined the crew, the timid SE med tech was on duty, when he noticed the bio data of Captain Cinders drop off. The scanner output had zeroed. He panicked and raced to the captain’s room. At first, he was relieved to find the captain standing. Then he realized Jess was dressing.
“You need to be released by the medial officer,” the SE tech objected. “I haven’t the authority.”
“Am I, or am I not, the assault commander?” Jess growled. He’d become tired of lying in bed.
“Yes, sir, you are,” the tech admitted.
“Then, I advise you get someone in higher authority to countermand me,” Jess suggested. “Why don’t you place a call to the commodore?” Jess intended his request to be rhetorical, but he saw the tech pale and quickly exit the room.
Lucia, you have to stop scaring the children, Jess thought, and he chuckled, as he finished dressing.
Jess made it to the bridge without encountering others. It was still early morning. However, the lead team was already at work.
Olawale happened to face the bridge passageway. He was the first to spot Jess. He drew breath to greet him, but he was interrupted. First, Captain Lumley applauded. Then the bridge crew, seeing who Francis recognized, joined in with applause and cheers. Finally, the others, who had their backs to the bridge entry, turned and added their congratulations.
When the enthusiastic response died down, Olawale smiled deprecatingly. “I think this audience has expressed a better welcome to you than I could have, Captain. The fleet and the Norsitchians would have lost more than a hundred individuals if it weren’t for your timely warning.”
Jess smiled appreciatively. As he crossed the deck, individuals stepped aside for him. Jess stopped in front of Juliette. He regarded her with sincere steady eyes. Then he grinned, and said, “Thank you,” before he hugged her.
The sensation of hugging a SADE wasn’t what Jess expected, but he held on to her tightly. In his opinion, it was what she deserved.
As for Juliette, she enjoyed every moment of Jess’s attention, and she shared the sensory reception and the elevation of her emotional algorithms with Esteban and Orbit.
When Jess released Juliette, he stepped around her to Esteban, who’d stood behind her.
“A verbal appreciation of our efforts is sufficient, Captain,” Esteban said, offering Jess an excuse for what the captain might consider embarrassing — the hugging of a male entity.
“No, it won’t,” Jess said, and he hugged Esteban too.
When Jess finished with the SADEs, his eyes focused on Lucia. She was rooted in place, the commodore under control, but her eyes said otherwise. Jess crossed to her, took her hands, and gently kissed her cheek. Then he stepped back.
Olawale received Jess’s attention next. “Was the Norsitchian moon totally destroyed when the dome blew?” he asked the Omnian leader.
“Strangely enough,” Kasie said, cutting off Olawale before he could reply, but then the holo-vid lit between Kasie and Jess, interrupting her.
Jess could see a view of the Norsitchian moon, the dome, the connecting ring, the tunnels, the tubes, and the Colony’s shuttles.
“An image is a much quicker explanation,” Olawale acknowledged to Lucia.
“Real time, Jess,” Kasie added.
“The dome visibly brightened in response to the detonation,” Bortoth said.
“We postulate that the dome absorbed the energy directed at it,” Daktora opined. “It might have been a defensive mechanism. Then again, that might be something the dome can do, such as converting starlight or other forms of energy for its use.”
“Wow,” Jess uttered. “Well, Menous, your race must be happy to have their dome back.”
There was an odd quiet, and Jess asked, “What?”
“No one has entered the complex since the detonation,” Lucia said.
“Did we just arrive back here?” Jess asked, perplexed by a sense of lost time.
“No,” Lucia replied. “We’ve been overtop the moon for days now.”
“Captain, it’s this way,” Sam said, attempting an explanation. “No one wants to go down the tubes and into the tunnels without our assault commander.”
“But it should be empty,” Jess objected.
“There’s should be, and there’s maybe not,” Aputi allowed. He looked embarrassed by the admission.
“Oh, for the love of Pyre,” Jess moaned, and he turned to leave the bridge.
“Are you headed below?” Lucia asked.
“Yes,” Jess called over his shoulder. “I intend to claim a dome. Anyone who wants to come can join me. Olawale, I need a shuttle pilot.”
“Told you, my brother,” Sam urgently whispered to Aputi. Then the two of them butted shoulders with the Crocians, who had headed for the bridge passageway at the same time. They lost.
While Jess walked to his cabin, there was a rush to communicate to pilots and some of the brassards. Jess found his environment suit cleaned and hanging in his wardrobe closet. He dressed, grabbed his launcher and satchel, and exited the cabin.
Sharon was waiting for Jess in the corridor. She looked calm and collected. “I heard you were out of medical,” she said. “I dressed in my finest, anticipating your first move,” she added, flourishing a hand at her suit.
“Am I that easy to read?” Jess asked.
“Shall we go,” Sharon replied, with a grin and refusing to answer the loaded question. She led the way toward a grav lift to the bay level. “Traveler four is defunct,” she quipped. “We’ll be taking a new ride.”
“I understand from Tacnock that you fed us and cleaned our suits when we couldn’t fend for ourselves,” Jess said. He slipped behind Sharon in the corridor, as individuals rushed past them. Those who received notification of the impending drop were determined not to be left behind.
“It was necessary,” Sharon said, “and I don’t need a hug.” When Jess frowned at her, she added, “It’s all over the fleet ... the captain’s out of medical, and the first thing he did was hug two SADEs. Only one other human embraces the SADEs.”
Jess didn’t need to ask who that was. The Omnian leader’s mystique permeated most conversations with his people. He had no desire to be compared to the great man.
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“I’d think you’d have had enough of piloting me by now,” Jess said, as they arrived on the bay level.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told the commodore and that I’ve told you before,” Sharon replied. “Where you go, the flying is the most intense, and that’s where I want to be.”
Jess shook his head in amazement, and Sharon grinned.
A crew chief stood by in the corridor. He greeted the pair and directed them to the starboard bay. “Shuttle on the left, Lieutenant,” the crew chief said.
When Jess and Sharon boarded, they found the cargo traveler full. Norsitchian troopers filled most of the seats.
As they navigated the main cabin’s aisle, Sharon whispered over her shoulder, “Looks like I’m not the only one who anticipated your first action, Captain.”
Some of the Sylian veterans, who’d been aboard the Rêveur, occupied the front-row seats. Lucia had an empty seat next to her, and she patted it for Jess.
“The other cargo shuttle in this bay is being prepped,” Lucia said, as Jess sat down. “That team will make entry at tube three. We’re headed for tube two.”
“Is it a coincidence that both drop shuttles that we prepared are aboard this ship?” Jess asked.
“Stranger things have happened,” Lucia replied.
Just before the cabin lights dimmed, Lucia saw Jess glance briefly around. “Something wrong?” she asked.
“It seems strange to drop without Tacnock,” Jess replied, “but a tech said he’ll be in the med suite for another four days.”
“We could wait,” Lucia suggested.
“If we did, I could hear Tacnock chittering at us for our foolishness,” Jess said, laughing. “Worse, if he knew I delayed going to wait for him, he’d worry that my concussion had permanently damaged my thinking.”
“Then we go?” Lucia said.
“Yes,” Jess replied definitively.
Lucia received acknowledgment from both pilots that they were fully loaded.
The pilots eased the cargo shuttles out of the bay and dropped toward the moon. Soon, they were over their target tubes. The rear ramps dropped, and the SADEs positioned the tripod hoists.
It took a while for the number in each ship to ride the lines one by one to land on the aprons’ lips.
In tunnel number two, Jess waited impatiently for the team to assemble. When he’d heard that the final member had descended, he led the way down the tunnel. Behind him, he could hear the snicks of drums being attached and breeches loaded. His launcher remained slung over his shoulder.
Down the tunnel, Jess marched. He crossed the ring and then the short tunnel toward the dome. He strode through the airlock hatches, which were wide open. Then he walked through the corridor, up the ramp, and onto the deck, which was empty.
Immediately, Juliette and Kasie hurried to the console to temporarily lock out every Q-gate from remote operation.
The second shuttle’s teams, led by Sam, the Crocians, Menous, and Esteban, hurried up the ramp to join the crowded deck.
“It’s all yours, Menous,” Jess announced, waving his arms wide. “You just have to figure out a way to remove those Colony shuttles from your tubes. He turned to Lucia, and asked, “Now, can we go help the Pims?”
Before Lucia could answer, Jess turned and walked across the deck headed for the ramp. Behind him, he heard the raucous barks of the Norsitchian troops. They were chanting, “assault commander.”
-33-
Pimbor
Jess wasn’t immediately granted his request to assist the Pims.
The Norsitchians hadn’t a simple means of opening the tubes for access. The Colony’s shuttles represented an extremely difficult and arduous undertaking for them to remove.
Juliette made a suggestion, which Olawale approved, and Jess reluctantly accepted. The SADE returned to tube two aboard a cargo shuttle. Jess and Sam accompanied her.
Sharon swung the cargo shuttle into position and signaled the rear ramp to drop. Edmas and Jodlyne managed the tripod and hoist setup. Then Juliette, Jess, and Sam descended by line into tube two.
After touchdown on the metal lip, Jess extended the gangway to the shuttle, and the threesome boarded the Colony-built ship. They spent hours investigating every meter of the shuttle from stern to bow and from port to starboard.
“If the insectoids have sabotaged these shuttles, they’ve been clever about it,” Juliette said. “If I had done it, I’d have interfered with fuel delivery in a way that allowed preflight engine firing but would ignite the fuel tanks after liftoff.”
Sam narrowed his eyes at Juliette. “Why are we here if you think this shuttle could be a Colony gift like the transport?”
“I was curious,” Juliette replied.
“Is your curiosity satisfied?” Sam inquired.
“Unfortunately, the data is inconclusive,” Juliette replied.
Sam and Juliette turned to regard Jess.
“I wasn’t a willing participant,” Jess retorted. “I came on the condition that we could be assured of locating and disabling whatever gift the Colony left us. That’s not the case. We’re out of here.”
The threesome retraced their steps, retracting the gangway, and Edmas and Jodlyne dropped the line into position. Then the line was ridden to the traveler, and Sharon returned her passengers to the Rêveur.
“We don’t dare fly the Colony’s shuttles out of the tubes,” Jess reported to Olawale, Patrice, and Lucia.
“You found traps?” Olawale asked.
“Couldn’t find anything,” Jess replied.
“The Colony might not have bothered to sabotage the shuttles. They might have thought the transport would ensure the destruction of the dome and most of us,” Patrice proffered.
“The Colony never does anything by half,” Jess replied. “If they’d found a way to sabotage the console, they would have done that too.”
“Is there an alternative?” Lucia asked.
“Do you think it would be safe to lift the shuttles out?” Olawale asked Jess.
“I had no idea that was an option,” Jess replied. He envisioned hundreds of individuals straining on lines to haul a shuttle from its tube. The idea seemed preposterous. “If the extraction can be smooth, I’d say yes,” he allowed, “but I’d leave the final decision to the SADEs.”
Jess checked his chronometer. Hurriedly, he said, “Excuse me,” and left the bridge.
Jess arrived at the medical suite to discover he wasn’t the first. Kasie, Juliette, Bortoth, and Daktora stood in the foyer.
Tacnock exited his med room and chittered in delight at the sight of his welcoming committee.
Kasie knelt and opened her arms, “Welcome back to us,” she said, as she hugged Tacnock. She flooded him with emotional warmth.
“I believe I owe you too,” Juliette said and took a knee for Tacnock. When the Jatouche hesitated, Juliette teased, “Now you choose to be shy? I promise to be careful of your ribs this time.”
Tacnock flashed his teeth and hurried to the SADE’s embrace. It wasn’t the sensation he enjoyed. There was nothing in the touch of a SADE to covet. It was the exquisite moment of recognition. A mobile AI, with a delightful personality, had chosen to value him, a Jatouche.
Juliette heard and felt Tacnock’s sigh, as she gently cradled him. Tacnock’s poignant release was a lesson for her. As a SADE, her ability to bestow kindness and intimacy to biologicals was highly valued.
“If you’ll forgive us, Captain,” Bortoth said, when Juliette released Tacnock, “Daktora and I will forgo that particular form of greeting.”
Tacnock appeared disappointed for a split second before he flashed his teeth in humor. Then he hurried to his friend, Jess, and they grasped forearms. They stood quietly, hanging onto each other and grinning like idiots.
“We survive again,” Tacnock said.
“One more time,” Jess replied.
The pair excused themselves from the reception committee and retired to Tacnock�
�s cabin. There, Jess sat on the desk chair and provided the answers to his friend’s many questions.
“No,” Jess replied to the latest question. “After we lifted from the planet, the citizenry never experienced another attack by the Colony. As you know, Menous ordered the two brassards to search the suspected areas. Eventually, the troopers found the remains of reds in more than a few locations.”
“Then the grays did revolt,” Tacnock said.
“It looks like it,” Jess agreed.
“I wonder if this indicates a shift in their social fabric,” Tacnock mused. “It could be unraveling.”
“Don’t be too hasty,” Jess warned. “Remember that grays accompanied reds in many of the daylight attacks. The revolt was isolated to a minority of the insectoid groups.”
“So, the Norsitchians have their dome back, but do they have full access?” Tacnock asked.
“Juliette, Sam, and I checked out a Colony shuttle. We couldn’t definitively conclude that it wasn’t sabotaged,” Jess replied. “The SADEs thought they would be safe to lift.”
“You just said that they weren’t safe to fly,” Tacnock protested.
“You did miss an unbelievable event,” Jess admitted. “Edmas and Jodlyne led an engineering team to rig strapping over three travelers. They connected the other ends of the straps together to form a noose, which they slung around a Colony shuttle’s hull. Then the travelers lifted the shuttle out of the tube. When some height was achieved, the travelers spread apart, like the opening of a flower’s petals, which imparted velocity to the shuttle. As the Colony’s shuttle reached the apex of its sling, the noose released. Don’t ask me how they did that.”
“Probably some unique Omnian technology,” Tacnock muttered. “They’d tell us, and we stand there with dumb expressions, hoping for a translation.”
Jess laughed. Much of Omnian technology was a mystery to them.
“Where did they send the shuttles?” Tacnock asked.
“The four shuttles were slung outward, slightly above the ecliptic,” Jess continued. “A few cycles later, pilots from the SE Tridents flew after them and used them as target practice. It’s amazing how their beams atomize everything,”