by C M Dancha
The kid continued patching and repairing Morg’s shell. Anyone watching would have thought he was a trained battlefield surgeon. He used the manual and automated surgical tools and supplies with the precision of a trained medical professional.
“Ya know, Morg. It’s a damn good thing I have a photographic memory. Can you believe I remembered how to repair your lipten conduit? Now, be honest, Morg. Who else, other than a trained surgeon, would know how to mend these wounds? What did you say? You’re right! Nobody in the universe could do as well as your buddy, good old First Comrade Joseph Q. Conway.”
The kid gave himself a few moments of quiet time waiting for Morg’s response which would never come. “I bet you didn’t know I had an official title. That’s right, I’m a First Comrade. I’m a big deal, Morg. I have an army of ten thousand warriors waiting for my command to invade Yanda and her allies. And, that’s not all. I plan to take out my old man as soon as Yanda is conquered. Now, here’s a trick question for you, Morg. You ready? Okay, once Yanda is crushed and my old man is disposed of, guess what I’ll be?”
“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.” The kid pretended to be an antique clock counting down the remaining time available for the comatose Morg to answer the question.
“I’m sorry, Morg. Time’s up. The correct answer is; drumroll please.” The kid slapped his knees in quick repetition, imitating a drum. “Yours truly will be King of the Universe. And, my queen will be the graceful and lovely Beth from planet Earth. Can you believe it, Morg? The putz you spent weeks with flying in this transport tub will rule the universe. Hell, I might have a position for you when I take over.”
The kid started laughing but stopped when his lungs protested in pain. They felt like they were on fire and got worse when the coughing started. The coughing fit, chills and spasms were a reminder he was still at the mercy of the epidemic. The medicine he found in the cargo bay helped but it would be a long road back to total recovery.
It took close to five minutes before the kid caught his breath and finished Morg’s surgery. “Damn, that hurt. That’s another good reason you should stay unconscious, Morg. You won’t have to deal with this lousy illness. By the way, I owe you an apology. I’m ashamed to tell you this, but I was the one who killed your mate. She came to the transport to see you and ended up overhearing my communication with a fellow co-conspirator. I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn’t have any of it. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t let her tell you or anyone about my plans to overthrown Yanda. I knifed her when she turned to leave the transport and then carried her into the cargo bay. I made myself a sandwich and sat down to decide what to do with her. A couple of docking bay agents boarded the transport, so I stashed her body behind some containers. I thought I’d have time to dispose of her but never got around to it. The next thing I knew, we launched and were well outside Yanda’s boundary. I figured you’d smell the corpse, but you never did. That’s why I finally said something about it. Sorry, buddy. It wasn’t intentional.”
The kid worked in silence for a while. The story about Morg’s mate depressed him enough to keep quiet and finish applying surgical putty to Morg’s wounds.
Soon his mood lightened, and he started talking with Morg and himself again.
“Let’s see, what haven’t you and I discussed yet? Oh, I know. This is very weird, Morg. I don’t remember launching our ship off Alpha 30. I know you sure as hell didn’t do it, so I must have. Man, I must be really sick not to remember launching the transport. Yet, it must have been me.”
“No, you fool, it was me!”
The kid spun around in his gyro chair to face a Verasiun with a vap pistol pointed directly at his chest.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Let’s say I can be your best friend or worst enemy, Joseph Conway.”
The Verasiun had the kid at a disadvantage. If he knew the kid’s name, he must be working for someone who knew a lot about the Earthling. The kid sat up straight and sized up the intruder. He did a quick search of his photographic memory to pull up everything he knew about Verasiuns. The Verasiun race was an enigma. No one knew for certain where their home planet was located. They could be found living on virtually every planet in the universe. They were cliquish but mingled with everyone regardless of race, status, or income level. They were experts at collecting data about others, without divulging one useful fact about themselves. The useful information they collected was sold to the highest bidder through trusted brokers. A Verasiun never dealt directly with the purchaser. He stayed at arms-length from the purchaser’s identity and money. In a social setting, they acted naive and boring. But, at the most unexpected times, they surprised everyone with clever plans and solutions.
If their behavior wasn’t strange enough, their appearance was more so. Every Verasiun was rail thin yet deceptively strong. Unconfirmed reports circulated about Verasiuns who could move and lift objects ten times their body weight. Their glowing orange skin drew everyone’s attention at first. After a couple of minutes, they were the most ignored beings in a crowd.
“So, Joseph, what’s this about you leading a rebellion against Yanda and Prefect Conway? I didn’t know you were such an ambitious young man.”
The kid dug deep into his bag of lies and let out a theatrical laugh. “You didn’t believe that, did you? If you knew me better, you’d know I make up shit all the time. Plus, I haven’t been thinking too clear since getting sick.”
“Is that so? You sounded very convincing to me. And, what’s this about you becoming the King of the Universe? I must say, you have very high goals.”
“Oh, come on! King of the Universe? There’s no such title. That alone should prove I was fantasizing. I was pretending like a character actor.”
“Then you won’t mind if I tell my employer and a few other interested parties about your make-believe life and plans?”
The kid wanted to ask who his employer was, but the Verasiun was too clever to divulge that information. The fabricated denial wasn’t working so the kid decided to use a different tactic.
“Verasiun, I’m getting bored by this. I need to get back to my patient. What do you want?”
“Very good question, Earthling. You remind me of someone else I know who doesn’t have much patience.”
That was the final clue. The kid was now convinced the Verasiun worked for the son-of-a-bitch known as his father.
The Verasiun took a couple steps backward and started pacing back and forth. He kept the Earthling in his peripheral vision and didn’t lower his vap pistol. If the Earthling was anything like his old man, he was crafty and dangerous.
“Here’s the thing, Joseph Conway. I believed everything you said to the Yandan. You killed his mate and you are the leader of a group of revolutionaries. I can either pass this information on to beings who would find it very interesting or we work out a deal. I’m sure you have something which will buy my silence.”
The grin on the Verasiun’s face infuriated the kid. He wanted to slap it into the next quadrant. But there was no use daydreaming about something he didn’t have enough energy to do. He would have to play this situation out and wait for an opportunity to outwit or overpower the Verasiun.
He didn’t have to wait long. From every corner of the ship, red warning lights and high-pitched, screeching alarms erupted.
32
“Lead Trifect, I have Dr. Molusko on the halo-screen from Alpha 30.”
“You’re late, doctor. I gave you three hours to get the information I asked for. It’s been three hours and ten minutes.”
The elderly director of Alpha 30 didn’t say a word. He wasn’t happy taking valuable time from his day to compile a list of fools involved in a firefight. Especially fools who jeopardized the welfare of everyone in his hospital. He was less happy being dressed down by the Lead Trifect. He ran a hand through the frizzy, silver mane on his head and then wiped his face with a cleansing towelette. The long days fighting the epidemic had taken him to the breakin
g point. He was in no mood to put up with more guff from anyone, including the Lead Trifect.
“Do you want this information or not?”
“I’m waiting, doctor.”
Halovision inserts instantly appeared on the screen. “Here are visions of all the beings involved in the firefight at the hospital. Starting in the upper left-hand corner are two female Athlons. Both are dead. They checked in to the hospital under the names of Clexinia Trimex and Stextlen Xpls. We could not determine if these were their real identities. They arrived with a third female Athlon who died on the docking bay. We don’t know what her name was. All were wearing body armor. Stextlen and Clexinia secretly brought vap pistols and rifes into the hospital. I think it’s safe to say they were here for more than epidemic treatment.
Dr. Molusko paused to see if the Lead Trifect had any questions.
“Go ahead, doctor.”
“Next to the Athlon women, you will see two males. One is dead, and the other is hospitalized with multiple wounds. He has a fifty percent chance of pulling through. If he survives, he’ll be minus a couple limbs. Both of these beings were wearing Feltte Six enforcer uniforms under hospital garments. They carried credentials which identified them as enforcers. We sent this information plus DNA samples to Feltte Six, but they have yet to respond. In fact, they have yet to acknowledge the receipt of our communication. Our security personnel believe the Feltte Six officials are ignoring our inquiry. There's a good chance these two were on a rogue mission. These two also brought weapons onto the depot.”
The doctor took a long sip of energy fluids from an overhead gravity feeder. “The next two beings you see are hospital doctors. Or, I should say, they were hospital doctors. Both are dead. The name of the first one was ….”
“Doctor, I don’t need the bio information on the doctors. Continue with the remaining beings.”
How rude of the Lead Trifect. Two of his best doctors were dead and not one word of condolence from the Yandan. The doctor debated whether to shut off the halo-screen in protest or finish his presentation. He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and continued.
“The next six halo-visions are security officers. Four worked in the hospital and two were on the docking platform. Of the four in the hospital, three are dead. The fourth one has minor injuries. The two patrolling the docking platform are dead. Do you want their bio information?”
“No, but do you know who killed the two on the platform?”
“Lead Trifect, all we know is they were put down by a Verasiun. In the docking bay recording, a Verasiun comes out of nowhere and puts a hole in the head of each officer.”
“Then where does he go?”
“He walks to the other end of the docking bay and gets on a ship which blasts off five minutes later. This is the same ship which two patients got on as the firefight raged in the hospital.”
“What are their names, doctor?”
“Let’s see. One was Joseph Conway and the other one was an Officer Morg. Both were being treated for….”
“Doctor send me a copy of the docking bay recording immediately. Also, tighten up your security procedures. There are too damn many weapons brought onto your depot. A depot is supposed to cure the sick and injured, not be a firing range for lunatics.”
The Lead Trifect broke the halo-screen communication and turned to his underlings. “Gentlemen, it appears that Morg and the Earthling left Alpha 30 with a stowaway aboard their ship. We need to know everything about this Verasiun. When you get the recording run him through the facial identifier. Also, identify the ship they left on. We need to stop that ship before it gets to Earth. I need to talk with Officer Morg.”
“Well, why are you two hanging around here? You’ve got assignments, so go.” The Lead Trifect shooed them away with a swipe of a back-hand and started reviewing a month’s worth of messages and data reports.
“There’s something you need to know, Lead Trifect. In the past two days, we’ve lost five interceptors.”
“What do you mean, lost?”
“I guess we mean they exploded for no clear reason. Every one of them was on a normal, routine mission when they disintegrated. There were no other ships within firing range. They were completely alone in deep space. It was as though they hit a brick wall.”
“Could it be due to equipment failure?”
“We asked the command engineers and they assured us that wasn’t possible. Maybe one ship but impossible for five ships to explode within two days due to equipment failure.”
“How about sabotage by an enemy?”
“Possible, but unlikely. The five Interceptors were stationed and took off from different military bases located anywhere from a half to two light years from each other.”
“So, let me see if I understand this. Five Interceptors are out on patrol, minding their own business and whamo, they blow up. Is that correct?”
“From what we know, that’s exactly what happened.”
The Lead Trifect closed his eyes hoping this would help him understand the exploding Interceptors. “Okay. You can go now.”
He watched the underlings leave the military campaign room. There was something about this room which made him a bit more patriotic. It was the historical focal point for so many strategic battles and campaigns. He could almost hear the battle plans of yesteryear debated and finalized by prior Trifects. The voices of great Yandan military minds from the past encouraged him to think deeper about what the underlings said about exploding Interceptors. And then a couple other pieces of the puzzle entered his mind. The Shooting Star disappears and can’t be found. Morg communicates coordinates for a service planet which doesn’t exist on any stellar chart. Commander Fritase witnesses a transport instantly materialize out of nowhere. And now, exploding Interceptors.
The Lead Trifect wondered, “What do these incidents have in common?” He was energized by the riddle. There had to be a common denominator. There was only one thing that could explain all these things; cloaking. But, cloaking of what?
* * *
Back on Alpha 30, Dr. Molusko put his chair into the fetal position. He needed to get some sleep after working thirty-six straight hours. Four or five sound hours would renew his energy and forget the pithy conversation he had with the Lead Trifect. He couldn’t get over how disrespectful and condescending the Yandan was. There was no excuse for his attitude. He might be under a lot of stress but who wasn’t? He should try being on the front lines fighting a major epidemic which was on the verge of turning into a plague.
As his eyes grew heavy, he wondered if he should waste time reconnecting with the Lead Trifect. He didn’t want to withhold information, but it wasn’t his fault the Yandan rudely ended their communication. If he hadn’t been so short-tempered, the doctor would have told him about the other being who boarded Officer Morg’s ship. Also, he was sure the Lead Trifect would be interested in the vap pistol rounds fired into Morg’s ship by the Verasiun. The doctor’s last thought before falling asleep was, “The Lead Trifect can go screw himself.”
33
The Verasiun and kid were thrown to the floor as the transport was pummeled with wave after wave of Locomites. The tiny creatures thrived in the sub-zero temperature of deep space. Individually they were harmless. But, when they swarmed together in the millions, they created a juggernaut of death and destruction. Yandan folklore contained epic stories about Locomite swarms devastating everything in their path. Even military launch platforms and ship armadas were overwhelmed.
The kid bounced along the floor until he found and clung on to a support post. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the Verasiun hit another support post head-first and lose consciousness. His vap pistol hop-scotched across the floor to the Earthling’s waiting grasp. The Verasiun was now easy prey if the transport survived the Locomite swarm.
The Earthling hung on with all his might. He could feel the ship bouncing up and down and from side to side. The thumping and creaking of the ship’s hull was getting
louder. The bridge viewing port was covered with layer after layer of Locomite guts and body parts. If the ship survived this holocaust there was only one way to clean the viewing port. Someone would have to don a survival suit, go out into space and chip-off the frozen Locomite remains. He let out a weak chuckle thinking about Morg doing this job. He could already hear the Yandan bitching about such a nasty task.
He wanted to fall asleep. Between the energy needed to hold on for dear life and the toll the epidemic wreck on his body, he was fading fast. He wished he was in sickbay with Morg strapped onto an operating cot. Then all he'd have to do is pray to a higher being if there was one. His father didn’t think so, but he knew a couple kids from childhood who believed in a Master of all life and destiny. If there was ever a time to become a believer, it was now. In fact, he might consider becoming a better human if the higher being answered his survival prayer.
He could feel the transport slowing down. It was inevitable as the Locomite cloud blocked the destination star's light. As the target light faded, the transport’s shadow drive system lost propulsion. It could only lock on to so many secondary light sources before everything was blocked by the swarm.
The Earthling woke up twenty minutes later. He was still hanging on to the support post. Somehow, he willed himself to stay glued to the post. The transport was quiet and stable. The hum of the shadow drive system was silent. The system would need to be re-calibrated to get the ship moving again. Thankfully, he read how this was done and wouldn’t have to wait until Morg regained consciousness. He bit his lower lip to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The taste of blood reassured him that the transport survived the Locomite onslaught.
