“I will do what I can, sir.”
Dennis returned to the Bridge and found Jackson Greene waiting for him. The young man looked troubled.
“Sir, can I speak to you privately?” Jackson asked as soon as he heard Pearson step off the elevator.
Dennis caught the doors before they could slam shut. “Sure, let’s go to my office.”
Back once again in his office, Dennis thought to himself, I should have known better than to let myself think that everything was going well. First the Admiral’s call and now I fear that Greene is going to tell me Project Melt is a no-go.
“So, is there a problem?” he asked.
“Um, sir. It’s not exactly a problem just a concern.” Jackson blushed and then stared blankly ahead almost embarrassed to continue.
“Well, go on. What is it?” asked Pearson grumpily.
“Perhaps you will think this is not something worth worrying about, but I thought I should at least bring it up.”
“OK. Let’s hear it.”
“Um, well. You know, when we start the suction procedure it is going to rock the ship quite violently for a bit, and it is going to make a rather loud ear-shattering noise. I tested the sound in the sound-proof laboratory, and it was quite irritating. I am concerned that it may stir up panic among the crew.”
“Hmm,” responded Pearson, rubbing his chin. “I wonder if there is a way to camouflage the noise and vibrations.”
The two men sat quietly for a while, both pondering this newest dilemma. Finally Jackson Greene broke the impasse.
“I may have a solution, but, sir, you may think it’s corny.”
Dennis looked at the warrant officer sitting across the desk and smiled to himself. He couldn’t imagine that this serious and highly talented young man could even think of something that would be corny. “Out with it,” he snapped. “I am open to any suggestion, cornball included.”
“Well, sir. I was thinking. You know Ensign Kyung Ahn, one of the divers. Well, he is also a tremendous piano player. If we arranged for Ahn to put on a concert, most of the crew could gather in the Leisure Deck. We could also pipe the music throughout the ship. It would camouflage the suction noise and distract everyone from the vibrations. They’d all be rocking to Ahn’s piano music. Believe me, I’ve witnessed people’s reaction to his performance.” Jackson stopped talking. He couldn’t see Pearson’s face to tell what his reaction was to this unusual brainstorm. He waited for an auditory response and when there was none, he said, “It was just a thought, sir. Not a very good one.”
“No, Greene, it is an excellent idea,” said Dennis. “I was just trying to figure out the best way to get word to the crew about this special concert.” He reached over and patted Jackson’s two hands lying on the table, entwined with locked fingers. “I have heard Ensign Ahn play, and yes, he does stir up the crowd.” Dennis stood up. “Let’s go find Ahn.”
Keith Hampton slowly stood up. He walked over to the rickety folding table against the wall aligning the door to their prison. He started rummaging through his backpack contents, which were lying haphazardly across the table top. He picked up his zip gun, checked to make sure it was still set on incapacitate, and laid it down on the table. He retrieved his backpack from under the table and searched through it looking for the lock pick. The sudden creaking of the wall to his left startled him as it began rising up into the ceiling. There stood Lieutenant Wayne Shasta. He was alone. No one else was in the room behind him. Quickly Keith reached for his zip gun.
Wayne Shasta whipped out a cattle prod and swung it at one of the unstable table legs. The table collapsed with a loud bang depositing Keith’s backpack and zip gun onto the hard cement floor. Keith bent down to recover the gun and felt an electric shock flowing through his body. It started at his right shoulder. He found himself doubled up on the ground in pain. As he struggled to overcome the discomfort, he saw Wayne pick something up off the ground. My gun. Despite the stabbing jolts in his legs, Keith managed to stagger to a standing position. Wayne had turned his back, and Keith jumped him from behind. The two men tussled back and forth throwing punches and kicking at one another until finally Keith caught Shasta off balance. He slipped his foot under Wayne’s left leg and with a stiff, sharp kick, he was able to bring Shasta tumbling down to the ground. The fall momentarily knocked the wind out of Wayne, and Keith was able to wrestle his zip gun from Wayne’s waistband. As Keith struggled to remove Shasta’s gun from the holster around his left hip, the downed officer scrambled to his feet and scurried across the opening in the wall. In his haste to get away from Keith, Wayne’s own gun became dislodged from his hip holster. He tripped over it as he raced across the room’s threshold, and it went sliding along the bare floor crashing into the far end of the prison cell.
Keith aimed his gun at his fellow shipmate
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Shasta. His eyes were aglow with a wild frenzy. A sort of excitement. He strolled over to the computer console that General Platt had used earlier and pushed some buttons. A screen lit up, blinked on and off a couple of times, and then filled in with a live view of the U.S.S. Gladiator. Momentarily another screen turned on, and this one displayed a space station. Josh realized it was Space Station 17. A tall man dressed in full military garb was standing at a podium in the station’s large rotunda. Josh recognized him immediately. It was UGC’s top public affairs officer, Miles Stratford.
Wayne moved his hands across the panel until he paused, holding one finger over a glowing purple button. While his finger shook slightly as he held it about an inch above the tab, his face broke into a sickly grin. “You wouldn’t want me to push? Would you?”
Keith pulled the trigger. Lieutenant Shasta screamed out in pain but did not fall to the ground. Keith shot again and still Wayne remained on his feet.
“Lieutenant Hampton, shoot him,” yelled Josh. “You must shoot to kill.”
Keith stood paralyzed.
“I said shoot him, Lieutenant,” repeated Josh.
Keith adjusted the setting on his gun. He held the zip gun straight out in his hand, pointing at Wayne. I can’t, his brain was screaming. He’s my best friend. My brother.
“Come on Hampton, shoot,” shouted Josh.
Keith glanced over at the Captain.
“Keith, I know he’s your best friend, but he’s endangering our ship, this whole planet, and maybe the entire universe. He must be stopped.”
“I can’t, sir.”
“Yes, you can. You must.”
“I can’t, sir.”
“Shoot him, Lieutenant. That’s an order. It’s the hardest order I have ever had to give. Now do it!”
Keith looked back at Wayne. He took aim, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. He heard Wayne’s agonizing scream followed by his body hitting the ground.
He opened his eyes and looked at the dead body of his friend lying on the floor. I just killed my best friend. Then he looked at the zip gun still in his hand. Why didn’t I just keep going with the incapacitate setting? It should have kicked in eventually. How could I have killed Wayne?
”Keith, the lock pick.” Josh interrupted Keith’s thoughts.
“What, sir?”
“I need to get out of this cell, please.”
“Oh, yes, sir.” Keith reached down and withdrew a ring of keys from Lieutenant Shasta’s pocket. After trying several of the keys, one worked, and the Captain was freed.
“Hurry,” said the Captain. “We need to get out of here.”
After scooping up the poisoned apple core from the cell floor, Lieutenant Hampton twisted the knob on the door that was imprisoning them. It did not budge. Examining the door, Keith noticed something peculiar. There was a keyhole on this side of the door. It was highly unusual to find a prison door that required a key in order to open and to lock on both the outer and inner sides of the door. Not sure what the logic to that is, thought Keith, but it could be to our advantage. He tried the ring of keys and found one that ope
ned the door that would lead them out to the hallway. He replaced the hacksaw into his boot, re-stuffed his backpack, and dropped the keys along with the apple core into the backpack. Before slinging it onto his back, he reached into the pocket on the front of the pack and withdrew a bandage. Keith applied the adhesive bandage to the open cut on the Captain’s forehead. Next he walked over to the spot where Wayne Shasta’s gun was lying, picked it up, and handed it to the Captain.
“Where are we going, sir?” he asked.
“To the Zoo.”
Before exiting, Keith stepped under the raised wall. He got down on the floor and peeked behind the bank of computers. Seeing what he was looking for, Keith stretched out his hand and pulled the plug. Up on the console, the glowing purple light was extinguished, and the picture of the U.S.S. Gladiator faded.
The overhead fluorescent lights in the Zoo had flickered off at least two hours ago by Commander Andrews’ estimation. Several dull security lamps now shed some dim light on the walkways around the monkey cage. Inside the cage it was dark, as the chimps hunkered down for the night. Andrews and Marlana Berg sat alongside the tiny zookeeper’s door with their legs stretched straight out and their backs leaning against the cold, stone wall.
“How are you feeling?” whispered the doctor. She was worried about Dave. He looked pale and very weak. I’m pretty sure he is exhibiting the same symptoms as the Flax children and Bess Tremont. A lot of the slaves in the cage also were showing signs of the same ailment. I was pretty convinced that the children had been poisoned. But now I’m not so sure. They either have all been poisoned, which doesn’t seem plausible or there is some sort of bacterial virus being spread around.
“I’m feeling nauseous again and utterly exhausted. I don’t think I can even move my legs. That would take too much energy,” answered Dave.
“Well, don’t try moving anything. Just rest. I wish there was some clean water. You really need to drink a lot of liquids and I am thirsty.”
“We could raid the monkey pond,” said Dave with a slight giggle in his voice.
“Ugh!” responded Marlana scrunching up her nose. “How unsanitary!”
Now Dave really started giggling. “Nothing in this underground city is sanitary. The monkey pond can’t be any worse than the polluted air we’ve been breathing since we arrived on this god-forsaken planet.”
“I would need to find a cup,” said Marlana skeptically.
“Just rinse out one of the cleaning buckets.”
“Ugh!”
As Dave continued giggling, Marlana stood up and walked over to where the dented metal buckets and rags were laying. She picked up a bucket and a square cloth. Looking straight ahead she could see the small pond right in the center of the cage. There were banana peels floating along the edges. No monkeys were in sight.
Marlana jumped and quickly turned around. Someone was opening the little door.
Colonel Flax popped his head through the opening. “Come with me,” he demanded.
Marlana dropped the bucket and rag and raced over to Andrews. The two officers got down on their hands and knees and crawled through the two doorways. Flax locked the doors and crawled out after them. Putting her arms under Dave’s armpits, Marlana tried boosting him to his feet.
“Here, let me help you,” offered Flax. He beckoned Marlana to stand back and then placed his arms under the Commander’s armpits and gently lifted him up into a standing position. Holding on to Dave’s waist the Colonel walked him over to a wooden bench and assisted him in sitting down. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Flax was gone for about five minutes before returning with two paper cups filled with clear, clean water and a bunch of ripe, yellow bananas.
Why is he being so nice? thought Marlana as she bit into a banana. We can’t trust him. Not after he betrayed Josh. The water tasted so good, and she quickly downed the entire glass.
“Would you like some more?”
“Yes, if it’s no trouble. Bring some more for Dave also.”
“No trouble at all.” Flax walked down one of the lit paths and was soon out of sight of the officers.
“I don’t get it,” said Marlana. “He leads Josh and Lieutenant Hampton into a trap, has us arrested, throws us into a monkey cage, and now he is being compassionate. We should not trust him.”
Dave Andrews nodded but did not answer. He was busy sipping on the water.
Flax returned with more water. He stood and watched the officers eat the bananas and drink from the cups. When they were done, he said, “I need to apologize for the events of today. I am very sorry for putting you to work in the chimpanzee exhibit. Pretending to purchase the two of you as slave workers was the only thing I could think of to get you released from the Cages. I could have put you in the Deliveries area, but I was afraid it would look suspicious since I already put the Captain and his Lieutenant there as slave workers earlier today.”
“But I thought you turned Josh and Keith over to the authorities to be executed,” interrupted Marlana.
“I certainly did not do that. I have heard that they were apprehended. I have not heard that they have been killed. There is every reason to believe they are still alive.”
“Why did you turn us in?”
“Again, that was not my doing. I am afraid that was totally my wife’s fault. Even I am having trouble forgiving her. She was doing what she believes is in the best interest of the children. Gina and I have a good marriage, but on the subject of the Tradians we cannot agree.”
“Your wife is a Tradian, isn’t she?”
Flax stared at the doctor for several moments before asking. “How did you know?”
“I realized the children were Tradians when I was examining them. It only stands to reason that at least one of their parents is a Tradian.” Marlana paused and looked into the Colonel’s eyes. What she saw was acknowledgment. “Most likely both parents are Tradians.”
Flax looked away. He raised his head so that he was looking at the ceiling. Then looking straight ahead over the shoulders of the officers, he said very softly, “You are correct.”
Finding his voice, Dave Andrews asked, “If you and Mrs. Flax are Tradians, why would you be helping us?”
“May I sit down?” Dave slid over so that the Colonel could sit between himself and Marlana on the wooden park bench.
“I am going to tell you something that I have never told a living soul. You must promise not to repeat what I am telling you to no one else besides your Captain and Lieutenant Hampton. Aside from the Tradian Council, Gina is the only other person who knows the truth. My own children do not know that they are Tradians.”
“You can trust us,” said Marlana. “We will not betray you.”
Flax took a deep breath, rubbed his hands together, and then cleared his throat. “OK. A long time ago there were two young Brisulan children, Warren Flax and Gina Praza, who went missing when they were six years old. Warren Flax was recently orphaned when his parents were accidentally killed by two lions. His playmate Gina was also an orphan. The two children lived with a foster family consisting of two retired sales clerks. Brisulans always believed that the two children were kidnapped by the Tradians. I and my wife were born on Imp. At the age of eighteen we were selected by the Tradian Council for a special assignment. We were sent to live in Brisula as undercover agents. When we arrived in Brisula we told everyone that we were Warren Flax and Gina Praza. We told a story of how we had been walking home from school when we were lured by a friendly stranger who said that she had a special gift for us because we were so well-behaved in school. We followed this woman to the Lake where two men picked us up and put us in one of the freight spacecrafts. We were taken to Imp where we lived in a children’s camp and worked as slaves. When we turned eighteen we were allowed to return home. The Brisulans were thrilled to learn that Warren and Gina were still alive, and they welcomed us back to the community with open arms and total trust. To this day it is unknown what happened to the real Warren a
nd Gina.
“Eventually Gina and I married. I was groomed to follow in Warren’s father’s footsteps as head of the Zoo. I enlisted in the Brisulan Military Guard. Eventually I also joined the Tradian Galactic Army as a trusted Brisulan and was made head of Deliveries. Gina is secretly an officer in the Tradian Army. Brisulans just know her as head of the Records Department in the Court House. It is a position that allows her access to all the official and classified Brisulan City documents.” Flax paused to gather his thoughts before continuing.
“I have fallen in love with the Brisulan people. In fact most of the time I think of myself as a Brisulan. I despise how the Tradians rule over the Brisulans, and I hate the way the slaves are treated. Unfortunately, Gina does not share my views. She remains a loyal Tradian, and she has never really developed any compassion for the Brisulans or the slaves.”
“Sir, you are taking a huge chance helping us,” said Marlana. The Colonel’s story had moved her. She actually could feel tears welling up in her eyes. “We don’t want you to do anything to jeopardize the safety of your family.”
“I appreciate your concern, but please do not worry about me. For one, I do not intend to get caught, and for another, I just cannot stand by without doing what I can to help you and the rest of your crew.” He patted Marlana Berg on her knee and Dave Andrews on the shoulder. “Now, we must get moving. Commander Andrews are you going to be able to walk?”
“Yes, sir, but where are we going?”
“To the place where I last saw your Captain. I made a promise to Captain Stoner that I would send you two to look for him if he did not return on time. I intend to keep that promise even though I am hours late.”
Freedom Page 18
