by GARY DARBY
Star could feel himself being pushed and pulled by currents that were out of his control and by events that were becoming a swirling whirlpool of turmoil in thought and deed.
He looked downstream at the canyon’s next bottleneck. The channel narrowed to mere meters between the cold rock walls. The frenzied rapids within were dubbed The Liquidator on his park map.
His toe scraped at sand and he stared at the tiny furrow in the granules. He couldn’t dispel the intense feeling that if he didn’t take care of Tuul and Marrel and the organization found out he was compromised; a watery death would be much preferable to what he faced from the Faction master.
He had no choice.
The storm’s fury now descended upon him, and he had to act. He opened his communicator. Seconds later his daughter answered.
In a forceful tone, he pronounced, “You wanted to do something about the Marrels? Well, it’s time.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Star Date 2433.059
Armstrong Bay Naval Station, Luna
Taking two long strides, Jadar pushed off at the last step so that he soared into the air before drifting back to the floor. Though the air was clean in a sterile, antiseptic way and therefore almost tasteless, nevertheless he loved the smell.
It meant he was going home—back Out There, where he belonged.
Only this time, it wasn’t in a quest to explore or find a new world, but rather in search of answers that might save worlds and billions of people.
The seriousness of his mission weighed on him, but still, going into interstellar space was just what he needed. He grabbed a side rail and with it as an anchor point, slung his kit bag down the tunnel with every bit of force he could muster.
He watched it arc upward in slow motion and then downward, tumbling in the air before settling to the gray metallic floor to roll and bounce down the arched passage.
Jadar smiled and turned to Shar. “Ain’t one-sixth gravity great? I envy fleet sailors. The Nav admirals were smart in home-porting the fleet on Luna.
“You sleep better; work is a lot easier in Luna’s low gravity, and it makes you feel like you can almost fly. Star Scout Command should move here; don’t you think?”
Shar moved ahead, his expression grim, while he used the grab-holds to steady himself in the weak gravity.
Even with magnetized metal clips in the soles of his boots, he had a hard time making his way down the smooth metal corridor. With open admiration, Shar asked, “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Manage to walk without mag clips. I’d be banging my head on the ceiling without them.”
Jadar chuckled and motioned upward. “You’d be hard-pressed to smack your head. That ceiling is ten meters high. They make it that way so that old Luna hands can bound away to their heart’s content instead of holding onto the handrails like you.
“In the more crowded walkways, it’s poetry in motion, like a herd of gazelles going in each direction.”
“Then don’t let me stop you from being a one-man gazelle herd,” Shar answered. “Bound away, I’m holding onto the rail.”
Jadar smiled at his companion. There was no doubt that Shar hated weightlessness or anything resembling no gravity. He decided to take pity and slowed his pace to match.
Shar turned away from Jadar, swallowing hard to keep from embarrassing himself all over his uniform and Jadar’s for that matter. “I shouldn’t have had that second piece of pie. My stomach is doing more rollovers than your kit bag.
“Ever since we matched gravity fields it's reminded me of why I joined Star Scouts and not the Imperium Navy.”
Farther down the corridor, Jadar spotted a waiting committee of two figures. Since he and Shar were the only field-grade officers on the inbound fleet shuttle that had just docked, Jadar assumed that the two waited for them.
It was surprising, since they hadn’t requested an escort, though he was aware that Shar, as Star Scout’s senior intelligence officer, rated one.
Once they got close enough to the two individuals, Jadar smiled and held his arms out wide in recognition. “Mac! You broken-down old space dog, what are you doing here?”
Half-scowling, half-smiling, the tall, red-headed Star Scout saluted the two. “I’m err’ because of you, ye dark-hearted heathen. Lost my left knee in a tiny bit of a' accident in the Wasatch Cloud.
“Docs haven’t certified me for trail walkin’, so your lads Earth side decided I needed to be the Star Scout Liaison Director on Luna.
“Yanked me from me troop and put me on this gosh-awful sterile world. Ye should be ashamed of yourself; it’s not a fittin’ end for a loyal Scot or scout!”
Jadar guffawed and held up his hands. “Whoa, Mac. I’m not with the operations or personnel group.” He nodded toward Shar. “I work for the J2 here.”
He turned to Shar. “Colonel Tuul, meet one of the great trail walkers of all time, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Tavish McKenzie. Mac was my battalion exec a couple of years back before they made him an acting battalion commander in Kamir Aziz’s brigade.”
Shar and McKenzie shook hands as Jadar said, “Mac, I’m really sorry about the leg, I didn’t know. But even if I did, I couldn’t have done much for you, those decisions are routine business for the general staff.
“And you know the rules as well as I do. If the medicos won’t certify, then you can’t do interstellar ops.”
“Aye,” McKenzie replied with evident sadness. “I know the regulations as well as the next scout, but it pains me soul not to be with the lads Out There . . .”
His voice dropped off almost to a sigh before he stirred himself and hastened to say, “I beg your pardon, Colonel Tuul; you've got business to attend to, and here I stand blabbing away like some academy plebe.”
Shar waved a hand. “No, no, it's okay, I just need to get some gravity under me soon.”
He gestured at McKenzie’s leg and asked, “Your leg, you’ve had the usual prosthetic regimen, I assume?”
“Aye, sir,” McKenzie replied, “and that’s the rub. The micro circuitry and nano implants haven’t imprinted well enough into my neuroskeletal for the docs to certify me deep-space fit.”
He slapped at his leg and smiled. “I guess my cells are just slow learners.”
Shar nodded in a knowing manner. “Be patient. It’ll come, sometimes it just takes a while for the body and mind to adapt, especially the mind.
“You had that flesh and bone leg for a long time, and the brain needs time to do the mental shift that there’s something new down there. Trust me, I know. You’ll be back Out There soon enough.”
McKenzie smiled in return. “Thank ye, sir. I very much appreciate that, but enough about me. You have work to do. We’ll have ye dispatched and off this rock in no time.”
He motioned to a young Star Scout officer who had stood a respectful distance away. “This is Lieutenant Lengley. Fresh caught from officer training.
“He’s assigned to Desmond’s Brigade, but the medicos had to quarantine him for the last two weeks. Picked up a blood parasite on Karlson’s Moon during his last training mission.
“I noticed you filed an open flight plan but I couldn’t help but see that you requested Sector Ten and Eleven star maps uploaded to your onboard compu. Colonel Desmond’s moved her headquarters to Sector Ten, and I’ve got the coordinates.
“Next routine shipment for her brigade isn’t for over a week or so, and I thought that maybe you could give the LT a lift.”
McKenzie winked at Jadar. “The lad’s pretty anxious to get Out There and show off his newfound smarts. You know, show us old dogs how things are supposed to be done.”
The young officer looked embarrassed but didn’t say anything. Jadar glanced over at Shar, who shrugged okay.
Jadar motioned Lengley over to join the group and asked, “Certified by the staff docs as fit for duty?”
“Yes, sir,” Lengley replied. “Green across the board.”
“Okay, the
n,” Jadar answered. “Grab your kit and meet us at—”
“Berth three,” McKenzie finished for him.
“On my way, sir and thanks,” the young scout replied and loped away.
“My thanks, too, Jadar,” McKenzie voiced. “If ye hadn’t taken him, it might be awhile before I could’ve transited him out, and I just don't have enough housekeeping duties around 'ere to keep him occupied.
“You know how it is, once you’ve run the low-gravity P-suit obstacle course about twenty times, it gets pretty boring.”
“No problem,” Jadar answered. “Just do me one favor. Keep our flight profile to yourself. If anyone asks, we filed an open flight plan, okay?”
McKenzie gave Jadar an odd look but answered with a congenial shrug. “Sure, consider it done. It’s the least I can do. Not that everyone from the general staff is so accommodating, I might add.”
“What? Still sore over your assignment here?”
McKenzie waved a hand. “No, no, water under the bridge and all that. I’m talking about when I dispatched Captain Simur from your general staff earlier.
“She filed an open flight plan too, and like you, pulled up Sector Ten and Eleven star charts. So I figured she was headed out that way.
“When I asked her to drop the lad off she got pretty uppity and just flat-out refused. When I pointed out that I could make it an order, she laughed and stated that I had better reread her orders and who signed them.
“Turned away and walked off. Just like that. Haven’t been treated that way since I was a toady at the academy.”
Shar slowed his step and turned to McKenzie. “When was this and what was that captain’s name again?”
“Early today,” McKenzie replied. “Captain Simur. Her orders had the chief of staff’s chop on them. If it hadn’t been for that signature I would’ve given her what for, believe me.”
Shar scratched at his cheek while asking, “Were there others in her party?”
“No, just her.”
“Headed outbound with an open flight plan you say?”
“Correct, sir,” McKenzie returned. “Real quirky dispatch. She took a prototype Zephyr, too. And fully armed at that.
“No one gave me even an inkling that we were going operational with them. We ‘adn’t even had time to put standard markings on it, but that’s the one the orders read for her out-run.”
With furrowed eyebrows, Jadar asked, “Fully armed? I thought they were still in testing?”
“Aye,” McKenzie responded. “The research and development gang started evaluating the weapons’ systems about ten days ago. They parked two here and ad’ the other two on the testing range.
“They were going to switch out tomorrow, and now they're one short for the exercise and raisin' a ruckus with me for lettin' 'er go but who am I to refuse the chief's orders?
“If I ‘ad, I would’ve ended up being the liaison director on the sun side of Mercury. No thanks, it's bad enough on this airless, chunka granite.”
Shar asked in a puzzled tone, “Did you by chance check with anyone on the general staff about that dispatch?”
McKenzie eyed Shar with raised eyebrows. “Sir, beggin’ your pardon, but the chief is the head of the general staff, so just who was I going to check with?”
Shar glanced at Jadar and then replied to McKenzie, “You’re right and my apologies for the rudeness shown to you by Captain Simur. It’s obvious that she needs some refresher training in protocol and manners.”
Jadar glanced at Shar out of the corner of his eye. He knew that look and tone. Something troubled his companion, but since Shar remained silent, he would wait for privacy before asking what.
But one thing he too had caught. General Rosberg had said that no Zephyr prototypes were ready for deep-space operations, so how did one become operational enough to make the leap into the depths of the cosmos, and fully armed at that?
McKenzie sniffed and gave a little nod. “Thank ye, sir, it’s bad enough being stuck on this lonely outpost without you staff types treating us as if we were pariahs.”
To divert McKenzie’s attention from the subject, Jadar slapped him on the shoulder and quipped, “I know, Mac. With ten thousand fleet sailors around but only five Star Scouts, Luna is a desolate place. But we need to get going, so can you shoot us out of here like real fast?”
“Aye,” McKenzie replied. “This way and let’s get you off to wherever it is you’re headed.” After a quick stop at the liaison office to complete the dispatch orders, they made their way to berth three.
Jadar and Shar clambered into the vessel and found Lengley already on board and his kit stowed. A bit crowded when the small ship carried its typical platoon complement of seventeen Star Scouts, with only the three of them it would be roomy for the outbound trip.
Jadar and Shar went to the pilot’s section and began preflight preparations. Jadar slipped behind the pilot’s console and went through the hyper flight sequence while Shar programmed the ship’s master computer with the necessary flight data.
Minutes later, their dock was depressurized and the clam shell doors overhead slid back to reveal the ebony curtain of deep space.
Jadar glanced upward once with a slight smile as the familiar stars and constellations came into view.
In his life there had been only one thing more that he loved than being Out There. And ever since that had been lost to him, he had consoled himself with his journey among the stars.
Moments later, Jadar received permission from Luna Control to begin their slow ascent from Luna’s cratered surface.
He busied himself with vectoring the craft away from Earth’s moon and placing them in the right attitude and bearing for their jump to hyper light speed.
Satisfied that everything was in perfect order, Jadar turned the vessel over to the autopilot and watched the countdown sequence begin to tick off.
He glanced over at Shar. “Okay, what gives?” he asked. “Back there with McKenzie. You weren’t saying anything, but your onboard alarms were blasting away.”
Shar answered in clipped tones. “Everyone on the general staff has to have a security clearance. And I know everyone’s clearance in the mount.
“I review that roster every day to ensure their clearances are current and match their duty billet. It’s one of the few routine things that I do myself, helps me to keep track of personnel, status, upgrades or downgrades to clearances, that sort of thing."
He turned and met Jadar's stare. “I’ve been at the mount for over five years. I’ve known everyone who’s come and gone. There has never been a Captain Simur on the general staff, ever.”
Jadar twisted against the acceleration bars so that he could face Shar. “But the orders were signed by—”
“I know, I know,” Shar interjected. He took a deep breath, his eyes staring straight ahead as if he were mulling over a perplexing problem and not coming up with the right solution.
He shook his head while saying, “The question is why he would issue bogus orders.”
Jadar whistled in a low key. “That’s a pretty serious charge. If true, he's not just risking his career, he's breaking the law, along with about a dozen Star Scout regulations.
“Why would he do something like that?”
Shar shook his head in consternation. “I wish I knew, and I’m not certain that he did. While you and McKenzie were updating the star charts, I checked those orders. The signature and order code looked correct.
“Though improbable because of all the safeguards we build into the system, it’s still possible for a forgery to occur. He has the authority, of course, to dispatch the craft, but why do it under a false name?”
Jadar asked, “Do we alert someone in the command?”
“Already did,” Shar replied. “This is strictly for the general, but since he’s out of the loop, I contacted Major Tomas. She’ll beam my encoded message to him the first chance she gets.
“She's also checking the duty roster. See if she can spot wh
o left headquarters at the same time as our Captain Simur. If she finds someone who’s gone absent without a valid reason, she’ll let me know.”
“In the meantime, McKenzie gave me that Zephyr’s transponder code on the pretense that if we met up with this so-called Simur person that I would personally admonish her for her lack of manners.”
He paused as the chronometer neared its countdown to zero. “You and I are going to catch up with our ‘Captain Simur’.”
His visage turned dark and stern. “But we aren’t going to talk about manners!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Star Date 2433.059
Aboard The Queen Bee
“Gadion Faction!”
Dason worked his mouth, unable to speak after his outburst and for the moment unwilling to accept that their already desperate situation had become so much worse, if that were even possible.
He glanced from one face to another. Shanon’s eyes were hard and narrow, and her hands were clenched tight at her sides.
TJ held a hand to her mouth as if she were trying to stop a sudden gasp. Sami’s teeth were bared in an almost animal-like snarl while Nase stared at the floor, hardness evident on his face as well.
Before Dason could speak again, the door opened, and Stinneli walked in on the group. He hesitated as he stared at the somber group before saying, “Visiting hours are over, out you four go.”
Shanon gave Dason a little smile and patted his hand in parting. “Talk to you later,” she whispered. Dason returned her smile and nodded. With quick waves, the others trooped out.
Stinneli handed Dason a pair of tiny white pills. “Take these,” he ordered. “You need to rest, these will help.”
Dason swallowed the pills and lay back, but sleep wouldn’t come. His mind went in circles, around and around, constantly mulling over Nase’s ominous statement.
To deal with common poachers and thieves was one thing, to be in the clutches of the nefarious Faction was mind-boggling and more than harrowing.
All of the young scout’s training was aimed at preparing them to survive on outworlds and face extraterrestrial species, both benign and hostile.
