“Lieutenant Commander Pearson here, sir,” said Dennis.
“Good evening, Lieutenant Commander. I was hoping to speak with Captain Stoner. Is he available?” asked Admiral Wilcox.
“Captain Stoner is still on the planet’s surface. We are experiencing difficulty with our ship-to-shore communications at this time. We are working on the problem.”
“I see. How are the repairs going on the telescope?”
“Unfortunately, there is still a delay in the repairs. We are working on the problem. The communication malfunction has further complicated the situation.”
“Lieutenant Commander, need I remind you that it is imperative that the telescope be repaired as soon as possible. The U.S.S. Skybounder spacecraft has been missing for a month now. It was headed to Brisula on a classified assignment. It is vital that we obtain video footage from the telescope to see what may have happened to her.”
“Yes, sir. I am aware of the importance of our assignment.”
“Good. I am sure you are. I just needed to reiterate our position,” said the Admiral. “I also wanted to tell the Captain that I would be attending the annual convention of The Amalgamation of United Planets and Solar Systems on Space Station 17 on June 30. If the Gladiator can make it there, I am inviting Captain Stoner to attend as my guest. If not, I will give him clearance to attend via teleconference.”
“I will give him the message, sir.”
“Thank you. One other thing before I go. We are having trouble locating your position on our Intergalactic Global Positioning System. I know the Gladiator is orbiting Lexter but on UGC’s main IGPS its location is reading unknown.”
“I believe, sir, the problem is tied into the trouble we are having with the communication system’s malfunction. When we get that repaired the IGPS should then start functioning properly. In the meantime we can check in routinely with our location.”
“Very well. Over and out.” The Admiral disconnected. Dennis turned off the phone. He was glad that it had not been a video call as he did not think he would have been able to keep his composure. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling. My hands sure weren’t shaking when I disassembled the IGPS. I can’t believe I just lied again to the Admiral. Looks like I may soon be joining Loring in the Brig.
Dennis buzzed for Diane and asked her to connect him to Jackson Greene.
“Jackson, how are we coming on the shield?” he asked when he got Greene on the line.
“Fine, sir,” answered Jackson. “I have all the calculations configured.”
“Great,” said Dennis. “I have another project I would like you to work on. See what you can find out about the U.S.S. Skybounder. It left on a classified mission to Brisula a month ago and disappeared.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
June 24, 2200 Hours
Diane Pearson entered Sick Bay and quickly looked around. Everything seemed pretty quiet. Not much business. Good. She was hoping it was a slow evening. She headed for Amanda Rugan’s office and was glad to find her at her desk by herself.
“Hi,” she said. “Do you have time for a coffee break?”
Amanda looked up from her computer and smiled. “I’d love to. I need a break.” She logged off her computer, informed Dr. Carter that she was taking a break, and the two women headed for the Messdeck. They got some coffee and found a secluded table in the back corner of the cafeteria.
“So, how has life been treating you?” began Diane, blowing on the French vanilla cappuccino. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to talk.”
“I know,” said Amanda also blowing on her cup of caramel flavored coffee. “I think they need to turn the thermostat down on the coffee machine. This coffee is actually boiling.”
They both laughed.
“To answer your question,” said Amanda. “My life is a mess. I have gotten off to a very bad start with the new doctor, Tobias Carter. He has taken a dislike to me and keeps writing me up.”
“Why would anyone dislike you? You are an excellent nurse. Dr. Loring and Dr. Barstow never had anything but praise for you.”
“It started because I didn’t want to assist Dr. Carter with doing a physical on Paul. Then when he ordered me to assist him, I didn’t answer Paul when he asked me how I was doing. Dr. Carter felt it was a lack of respect toward Dr. Loring. It’s been downhill since then.”
“Doesn’t he realize that Paul Loring is a prisoner and a traitor? Someone needs to fill him in on the Brisula scandal.”
“I think he just sees Paul as a fellow doctor.”
“Don’t worry about the reports. I am sure Captain Stoner will be able to dismiss them,” said Diane trying to lend some comfort to Amanda who was obviously troubled by these actions. “The Captain is pretty sensitive to those kinds of things.”
“That’s what Dennis has told me,” agreed Amanda. She blew some more on her coffee and took a tiny sip to test it. It was cooler and she took a larger swallow. “Actually, I am not sure if I should be angry or grateful to Dr. Carter.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, um, you see, um,” stammered Amanda. “If Dr. Carter had not forced me to assist him with examining Paul, I would not be in such a state of confliction. Oh, Diane, for the first time in my life I am having what I have longed for, the passionate love of the man of my dreams. It is so wonderful. It is everything I thought it would be and more. I never want it to end. The problem is, it is going to end, and there is noting I can do about it.”
Diane opened her mouth and put her hand over it to stifle the gasp. She stared at Amanda. “Are you saying what I’m thinking?” asked Diane. “Are you having an affair with Paul?”
Amanda nodded. “Yes. We have finally given in to our true feelings for each other. But once we reach Space Station 17, Paul will be transferred to prison, and we most likely will never see each other again.”
“Amanda, I don’t know what to say.”
“I am not asking for any advice. I know what I am doing. I have decided to enjoy the time I can have with Paul. At least I will always know that there was a man who loved me just the way I am. It is something that has made me feel like a more complete woman.” She took another swig of coffee. “Anyway enough about me. What’s with you and Dennis these days?”
Diane raised her cup of cappuccino to her lips and swallowed some of the still hot liquid. She felt bad for Amanda. It was sad if she needed to settle for a scoundrel like Paul Loring to feel like a complete woman. She was going to have to work on finding another Mr. Right for Nurse Rugan.
“I am very worried about my husband,” confided Diane. “I think he is headed toward getting himself into very deep trouble — like a court martial.”
“You’re kidding. Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I did something that I shouldn’t have and overheard him talking to Admiral Wilcox. Apparently we have not told UGC that we returned to Brisula. The Admiral thinks we are orbiting Lexter.”
“Well, if that is true it was Captain Stoner’s call and not Dennis’.”
“Yes, but it is Dennis who is talking to the Admiral now. He is telling Wilcox that Josh is on Lexter fixing the telescope. He told Wilcox we are having communication problems, and because of that we can’t contact Josh, and that our IGPS is not working. I suspect that Denny turned off or disabled the IGPS. Not only does Wilcox think we are at Lexter, he is headed for a conference on Space Station 17, and he has invited Josh to join him there.”
“Diane, I am sure that whatever Dennis is doing, he is doing it because Captain Stoner left orders for him to do so, or he feels he needs to do it to rescue the landing party. I don’t think he would do anything to jeopardize his career or the safety of the ship.”
“You are probably right. Please keep what I told you to yourself.” Diane downed the rest of her drink and stood up.
“Same here.” Amanda finished her coffee, pushed back her chair, rose, and gave Diane a hug. As the women headed out of the Messdeck, the phone in Amanda
’s uniform pocket buzzed.
“Nurse Rugan.” Holding the speaker against her ear, Amanda listened to the phone. After only a few seconds, she said “Yes, Dr. Carter, I will get on it right away.” She snapped the phone shut and gave Diane a wide smile.
“I take it that was good news?” commented Diane.
“The best. Dr. Loring has another headache.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
June 25, 0530 Hours
Josh slowly pushed up the lid of the apple barrel. He was sure it had been several hours since there was any traffic in the sewer. His legs were completely numb. He had a kink in his neck and a throbbing ache in the small of his back. At first the taste and smell of the apples was invigorating as he devoured half a dozen of the bright red fruit. But, after being sealed in with them, the scent became nauseating. If I never eat or smell another apple that will be fine with me, thought Josh as he lifted himself out of the barrel. Looks like the coast is clear. He walked over to the wooden barrel that he had seen Keith Hampton climb into and raised up the cover. Giving Keith an arm to grab, he assisted the Lieutenant in getting out of the barrel. After gaining the circulation back in his legs so he could actually balance himself without holding on to the rim of the barrel with both hands, Keith held out his left arm. In the palm of his hand was a syringe.
“Where did that come from?” asked Josh, taking the hypodermic needle and examining it. It was one of the older type plastic hypos with a rubber stopper, super fine needle, and plunger. He could see the remnant of a cloudy substance floating around in the barrel of the syringe.
“It was in the oak cask I was hiding in,” said Keith.
“I don’t know why,” said Josh, “but something tells me that this needle could be very important. I think we need to take it with us.” He handed it to Keith who started to unzip his belt pack and then stopped short.
“Sir, at the rate we’ve been losing all our packs, if this needle is really important, I have an idea.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” grinned Josh as he retrieved the hypo from Keith’s outstretched hand.
Keith blushed for a moment before plunging his hand into the apple barrel and drawing out one apple. Lifting it to his face he bit into the apple and then reached into his mouth to remove the bitten off chunk. Taking the hypo back from the Captain, he inserted the sharp needle into the small piece of apple so that the entire needle shaft was covered. He bent down and pulled off one of his boots. Next he removed the shirt that the Colonel had given him with the number 1266 D stapled onto it. Using his hands and teeth he tore off a small patch of cloth, big enough to wrap around the syringe. Once that was done he tucked the small tubular item down into the sock on his left foot and replaced his boot.
Josh shook his head. “You cease to amaze me.” He took his slave shirt off and handed it to Hampton, who then stuffed the two shirts into his backpack.
“Do you want any apples for the road?” asked the Captain.
Keith made the kind of face that little kids make when told to eat their vegetables. “I think I feel about apples the same way I feel about fish. Did you eat any apples?”
Josh laughed. “Yeah. I guess I’m going to have to find a new pie to eat for dessert. I’m not sure I’ll ever have the stomach again for good old apple pie.”
The two men replaced the barrel lids and then headed down the sewer tunnel back toward the elevator. As they approached the elevator door, the quiet of the sewer suddenly was broken. Noise from up ahead could be heard. It sounded like the clinking of chains. Josh and Keith moved into the shadows of the sewer walls. They laid down flat on the ground. A chain gang of slaves marched past. The heavy chains on their ankles made a repetitive, rhythmic clanging as they moved in unison down the hallway. All at once the chain sounds stopped. The Gladiator officers heard a guard on a bullhorn.
“Attention slaves. As soon as we place everyone at their stations we need you to get started with your work immediately. We need to get the apples washed, prepared, placed in their cartons, and ready for delivery by seven a.m. Let’s get to it.”
Josh and Keith got to their feet and moved out of the shadows. Arriving at the elevator, Keith pushed the down button. When the steel door opened the two officers stepped in and pressed the button for Tradian Central.
It had been another sleepless night for Dennis Pearson. He had worked relentlessly into the wee hours on the creation of a system to capture the liquid from a melting force field. Eventually, his body demanded rest and Dennis dozed off with his head on the workbench. When he awoke he was surprised to find that his left hand was still gripping the needle-nose pliers he had been using to snip off some wire ends. He leaned back and closed his eyes. I’ll just rest for another few minutes. An image of his childhood home in Raleigh appeared before his still closed eyes. He was sitting on the front porch with his two older brothers. They were building a spaceship out of Legos. There were brightly colored bricks of all different shapes and sizes spread out over the wooden floor of the old porch. Dennis picked up a small figure that was lying close to the edge of the top step. The little figure with moveable arms and legs was dressed in a space suit complete with a helmet and a USA flag on its chest. Placing the tiny astronaut inside the ship, he announced to his brothers, “Some day this is going to be me.”
John and Harry laughed. “Sure,” said John winking at Harry. “And I’m going to be king of the world!” The brothers giggled as they started gathering up the unused bricks.
Dennis ignored his brothers. I’ll show them. I’ll show everyone. I’m going to build a real spaceship and be a real astronaut. I’ll have my own crew and we’ll fly to Jupiter.
Someone was touching his lips. Dennis opened his eyes. His lovely wife’s face came into view. She pressed her lips against his. Then she stood up.
“Good morning, wayward husband. You didn’t come to bed last night.”
“Sorry dear, I guess I fell asleep here. What time is it?”
“It’s almost 0700.”
“Please tell Jackson Greene and Bonnie Shea to meet me in my office at 0730.” Dennis placed the pliers, that he was still holding, on the work bench and hurried out of the room.
Diane watched her husband leave. He is all work and no play these last few weeks. Sometimes he is like a chicken running around without its head. I just hope that he knows what he is doing. She walked over to the intercom on the wall and summoned Greene and Shea.
After quickly washing his face and brushing his teeth, Dennis returned to his workbench and copied some data onto a flash drive. Then he picked up the object that had kept him up all night and hurried down the corridor to his office.
Officers Jackson and Shea were already seated. There was a fresh pot of coffee sitting on his desk with a plate of bran muffins and several miniature tubs of margarine.
“Did you bring the refreshments?” Dennis asked as he moved the muffins and coffee jug to the side to make room for the device he was carrying.
“No, sir. Everything was already here when we arrived,” responded Bonnie Shea. She raised her hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn.
“Yes, of course, Diane. She can be like a mother hen always worried that I am too busy to stop and eat,” said Dennis. He reached into the bottom desk drawer and took out three Styrofoam cups. “Help yourselves,” he said as he poured coffee into the cups. Then he bit into a muffin and began talking while chewing at the same time. “I think I have the solution to containing the liquid. I figured out a way that we can use the ship’s built-in germicide sprayer as a giant vacuum cleaner to suck all the liquid into the trash bags. I’ve been working on this device all night. I have a few small details to still iron out, but once it is ready, we will be able to reverse the spraying mechanism, turning it into a suction machine. The next step is to design a way to hook up the bags to the system.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. We should be able to disconnect the bags that hold the pesticide and attach the garage bags,” said Jackson.
“I know they are different sizes but I think we can rig something up to accommodate for that.”
“I can work on that,” responded Dennis. “I need you and Lieutenant Shea to determine how much suction power this device will require to generate, in order to draw in the melted metal.” Then he reached over, took Jackson’s hand, and placed it on the device. “You can get a feel for how the device will work and how it will need to be attached. And here are the specifications and technical data.” He pressed the thin metal flash drive into Greene’s other hand. “I don’t think there is going to be a way or enough time to run a test so we need to be as accurate as possible.” He looked at the two officers who were both nodding in agreement. “Fine. Now what have you learned about the Skybounder?”
“Well, sir, there is not a whole lot of information available,” began Bonnie Shea. “Most references to the U.S.S. Skybounder are classified as highly confidential. We did learn that the Skybounder is a small spacecraft that is equipped with a science laboratory. The ship is used for conducting scientific research and experiments in space. On occasion it is also used as a transport craft to deliver medical supplies or chemicals, as it contains refrigeration storage units as well as UGC approved storage compartments for toxic, unstable, and dangerous chemicals. This also means it is capable of landing on planets or asteroids and acting as a temporary medical laboratory. The ship can accommodate a crew of up to ten, although in most instances there is only a crew of two or three scientists aboard. The Skybounder is a fairly new ship, having only been in commission for five years. When not on assignment it is stationed over Houston, Texas and functions as a classroom for cadets in the Navy’s Medical Sciences and Technology unit.” Bonnie looked up from her notes, and again covered her mouth trying to hide another yawn.
Jackson could tell by Bonnie’s voice that she was fighting to stay alert and keep focused on what she was reporting. He decided to jump in and continue the report. “About a month ago the Skybounder was idled above Houston when it was called into action,” said Jackson. “Two United Galaxy Command scientists, Bess Tremont and Meyer Monroe, left Houston aboard the Skybounder, on a top-secret mission. Official reports state that they were delivering an experimental drug to a research facility at an undisclosed location. Monroe and Tremont were scheduled to be deployed for an indefinite period of time, as they would be assisting in the test trials and analysis of the drug they were delivering. As of two weeks ago, UGC has lost all contact with the Skybounder.” Jackson paused to give Dennis a few seconds to digest the information. “And that, sir, is all that we were able to uncover other than the personal dossiers on Monroe and Tremont. I can forward those to you.”
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