Homeward: The Ship Series // Book Three

by Jerry Aubin

  I don't see a reason to stick around here any longer.

  The Boss was startled when the Flight Ops hatch opened. The prior day’s scouting mission had reported the colony was empty like all the rest, so they were making their final preparations for the Transit into orbit to launch a landing party. No one should have been entering the compartment. He made eye contact with Imair as she entered and she nodded a greeting. The Boss suppressed his true feelings and reciprocated.

  “Madam President—I wasn’t expecting you to join us.”

  “Hello, Boss. I hope I’m not disturbing anything. I realized I’ve never been in Flight Ops while we have a surface operation exploring a colony. After our conversation yesterday, I thought today might be a good opportunity.”

  “By all means, ma’am. I’ve meant to invite you in to observe.”

  It was almost impossible to get the words out with a straight face, but it was important to give the team the impression he welcomed her presence rather than having it forced upon him. The Boss was pleased when no one gave it a moment’s consideration. They all turned back to their workstations after the interruption with one exception. Zax continued to stare at Imair for a few extra beats until the boy noticed he was being observed. He glanced at the Boss and then turned his attention back to the threat board. Imair had also caught the cadet looking at her and she turned to the Boss and spoke.

  “Boss—if I may—”

  “Madam President—I’m sorry to cut you off, but the team is preparing and our rule in Flight Ops is that we don’t speak aloud unless it’s something critical for the entire compartment to hear. Comms—please get a subvoc for President Imair.”

  The Boss was surprised when Imair took the subvoc that was offered and knew to expand the device and place it over her head. He didn’t realize she had worn one before and had expected he would have to explain how to use it. She contacted him on a private channel.

  “Thank you, Boss. I’m sorry to have disturbed your team.”

  “Not a problem, Madam President. Was there something you wanted to ask?”

  “Yes—may I interrupt whatever preparations Zax is making? I haven’t seen the boy in a while and would like to say hello.”

  “That’s fine, ma’am, as he’s actually not critical at this moment.”

  A sec later Zax’s face revealed Imair had contacted him on a private channel. The boy looked up from his workstation at the civilian woman. Their conversation went on for a few mins, and the Boss found himself becoming more and more curious about what they might be discussing. It struck the Boss as particularly odd that she would spend so much time conversing with the cadet when she hadn’t seemed to even acknowledge one of her top lieutenants sitting right next to him. He made a mental note to check in with the boy later and see what Imair had wanted with him.

  A few mins later the preparations were complete. After a status check with all workstations, the Boss gave the order to jump. He was the first in the compartment to awaken afterwards and was relieved the threat board did not reveal anything worrisome. The system and the colony were indeed empty as the scout ship had reported. Once everyone in the compartment was awake, he began issuing orders.

  “Threat—stay focused and on the lookout for anything unusual. Scan—run a deep scan on the planet. I see there are no initial signs of human life, but I need to be certain. Flight—don’t launch the scout ship just yet but have them on a five min countdown. If we see anything that warrants a closer look, I want to be on it. Nav—I’m sending you our next destination and want a course plotted and ready to go. By the look of things, we aren’t going to be sticking around here for long. I want best possible speed to our next planet.”

  The Boss leaned back and marveled how his team focused on their work. He glanced over at Imair and was frustrated to see the woman had pulled out a slate. If she was going disturb the team by showing up, at least she should observe their activity. After a few mins the man at the Scan workstation spoke aloud.

  “Boss—I show zero signs of human life on the planet. The colony appears as empty as all of the others have been.”

  Everyone looked at him expectantly. A private message came in from Imair.

  “Well, Boss, would you advise me to do anything different than what we’ve already discussed?”

  The Boss wanted to advise the woman to get the hell out of his compartment, but he paused to consider a more appropriate reply. Before he could say anything, Zax spoke from across the compartment.

  “Boss—I’ve got a bogey on the board. Initial report shows an unknown signature, but I’m analyzing further. Whatever it is, it’s pretty small and very far out so shouldn’t be any threat.”

  Great. Just great. He had wanted to send a landing party for one last chance to gather evidence about what might be going on with all of these colonies, but they would need to deal with some unknown alien first. He was about to scramble the Alert Two fighters when a private message came in from Alpha.

  “Boss—we need to get out of here right now. You don’t want to let the cadet finish his analysis of that bogey.”

  The Boss didn’t appreciate the cryptic message from Alpha, but he was fairly certain he understood its deeper meaning. If he was right, he agreed with the AI’s assessment. He moved to enact its advice.

  “All stations—emergency jump in thirty secs.”

  The compartment buzzed with frantic preparations. A private message arrived from Zax.

  “Sir—I’m working on identifying the bogey, and it’s still far enough away that we’re safe. Why are we jumping so fast?”

  Zax stared at him and waited for an answer. The Boss usually reprimanded staff for asking questions rather than focusing on their jobs in the middle of an alert situation. Given Alpha’s warning, he chose to keep Zax engaged and distracted instead.

  “If we were still pursuing our original Mission, then we’d stick around to deal with the bogey and then make Landfall. But now? The colony is dead like all the rest. Let’s not bother sticking around to see whatever alien has shown up. The President and I have already agreed on our next destination, and I want to get moving that way sooner than later. Would you suggest doing anything different?”

  Zax shook his head. “Thank you, sir. That explanation makes perfect sense.”

  The boy turned his attention back to his workstation, and the Boss chewed his cigar furiously during the remaining few secs before the Transit drove them all into unconsciousness.

  24

  Forget it.

  “I’m positive it was the same type of human spacecraft that shot Flight Ops when we patched the panorama. I think the Boss didn’t want me to figure it out which is why he jumped us out of the system so quickly. I can’t figure out why he’s trying to hide it, but I know he is.”

  Zax had agonized before dinner whether he would share his suspicions with Kalare. He initially concluded yes but flipped to no when Mase showed up and sat down without being invited. Zax switched back to yes once he concluded there was zero danger in letting Mase in on the secret given his incriminating information about the young Zeta. He dropped his bombshell and waited for the reactions.

  Mase glanced up briefly and raised an eyebrow but then tucked back into his meal. Kalare was in the process of raising a forkful of food to her mouth, and her eyes went wide. She paused for a moment, placed it back down, and then slowly shook her head.

  “Why are you doing this, Zax? Are you trying to destroy your career again? Or maybe get yourself Culled this time? I don’t understand you one bit when it comes to all of this stuff. The Boss saved the Ship and then put you into the Pilot Academy where you belong. Now you want to start digging around for insane conspiracy theories about him all over again. What’s wrong with you?”

  Her expression was gentle, but there was a harsh edge to Kalare’s voice. Zax knew deep down he should drop the topic, but too much stress had built up for too long. It needed an outlet.

  “What’s wrong with me? How about we
focus on what’s wrong with you instead? You’re supposed to be my friend, and yet every time I try to talk to you about the Boss you react like this. Why can’t you help me instead of shutting me down? Or, are you too busy with your new buddy, Aleron?”

  Kalare’s gentle expression evaporated and was replaced with something that was predominantly anger, though tinged with sadness.

  “Why can’t I help you? Why do you think I am still sitting here in the first place, Zax? I’ve turned my life upside down in order to help you ever since you told me about Mikedo’s message. Don’t you remember I was going to drop out of Flight altogether and join the Marines? I pushed my own fears and feelings aside to stick around and dig up dirt about the Boss. I did that for you! Well—I spent months digging and saw nothing. That’s not true. I saw lots of stuff, but it was all the exact opposite of what you were worried about. I’ve tried telling you this over and over again for months, and you just won’t listen. I had hoped you’d come to your senses since you hadn’t brought it up for a while, but I guess you’ve just been keeping it to yourself.”

  Zax opened his mouth to reply, but Kalare threw her hand in his face to cut him off.

  “As for Aleron, why are you always giving me such grief about him? Have you even noticed how he’s stopped bothering you these last few months? You think that just happened magically, or did it somehow cross your mind that I might have used my new relationship with him to influence his behavior? And now you’re sitting here yelling at me about how I’m not helping you. Do you have any clue how much that hurts after what I’ve done for going on two years?”

  Zax’s face flushed. He knew he should retreat to let everyone’s feelings calm, but didn’t stop himself.

  “You weren’t there at the end of the Revolution, Kalare. You didn’t see what he did!”

  “I know! I was off in a passageway bleeding out from a gut wound and about to die! You never bothered to tell me what he did. Whenever we spoke about it, you instantly flew out of control just like you are right now! Forget it. I don’t need this anymore. I’ve done everything I can for you, Zax. Maybe your new buddy here can be your conspiracy assistant because I quit!”

  Kalare stomped away. Mase took notice when she pushed her chair back and watched her walk out of the mess hall. When the hatch shut behind her, he turned to Zax and grinned.

  “Wow.”

  “Shut up, Mase!”

  Zax regretted yelling, but it didn’t faze the Zeta in the least. He tried to pretend the boy wasn’t there by staring intently at the nutripellet in his hand as he unwrapped it. Mase cleared his throat after a few min and Zax met his gaze.

  “There’s one thing I’m confused about.”

  Zax sighed but then tilted his head to signal he was listening.

  “You said the bogey from today matched a human fighter the Ship encountered previously. I thought the only human spacecraft we’ve seen was the one found on that planet. The one in the jungle.”

  “That’s the one the Omegas have admitted to, and it was only because I broadcast that video. There was actually another a few weeks earlier. Do you remember when we lost that tanker and bunch of fighters during a fuel harvesting operation? One of the pilots insisted before he died that the craft he saw was human, but then we were all told that Alpha analyzed the data and concluded it wasn’t. I have it from a trustworthy authority that Alpha and the Omegas lied to us about that encounter.”

  “Interesting.” Mase paused for a moment before he continued. “Why do you think today’s bogey was a match?”

  “My gut. There was something about the way it moved that felt familiar. I tried to convince the Boss to stick around the system long enough to identify the inbound, but he blew me off.”

  Mase’s face remained expressionless, but his eyes lit up. He was quiet for a few secs until he abruptly stood and turned to walk away. Zax called after him.

  “Hey—what are you doing? Where are you going? What did I say?”

  Mase kept walking but replied over his shoulder. “I’ve got an idea about something. Nothing to bother you with. Yet.”

  25

  Any other questions?

  “Why are you idiots so incompetent? Do you want to lose your slots on this spaceship, or are you going to figure out how to give me what I’m looking for?”

  Adan glared around the room at the finest scientists and engineers the West had ever produced. Brilliant women and men who had once ruled their own institutes and labs avoided his gaze sheepishly. His blood rose again and he was about to unleash another torrent when Markev cleared his throat. Adan glanced over and his assistant gave their secret signal that let him know he needed to pause whatever he was doing and regroup. Instead of speaking, Adan stood and walked over to the massive panorama.

  The view was breathtaking. Hundreds of towers thrust skyward from the asteroid—some complete but most with construction equipment scurrying around like so many insects building a hive. The scene was lit from behind by the brightness of Earth. Their current orbital position provided a spectacular view of the latest megacyclone bearing down on Oceania. All of the islands in the southern ocean had been submerged decades earlier, and the largest countries in the region had lost large swaths of their territory. Even the highest ground in those remaining areas was under threat by the approaching storm with its Category Twenty winds and ocean surge. Adan finally turned back to the group and spoke.

  “You people were given two challenges—scale up the FTL so it can transport something as large as this asteroid and scale down the inertial dampeners so they can function on something as small as a tactical fighter. I’m thrilled you’ve made such great progress on the first item, but I’m positively dismayed you have utterly failed at the second. Fifty percent success might as well be one hundred percent failure at this critical stage of the project!”

  A hand shot up in the second row of seats, and Adan acknowledged the young woman.

  “Why is it so important that we adapt the dampeners for these small spacecraft? Just who do you think you’re going to battle with these fighters you want us to build?”

  Adan had an answer but was unable to share it. The Chancellor had placed him under penalty of death if anyone beyond an incredibly tight circle became aware of the alien spaceships a series of governments had long stored in the desert. Though most of the technology on the ships was incomprehensible, his team had managed to reverse engineer critical functionality that had long eluded the pitiful government researchers. The bottom line was that these spacecraft provided evidence of multiple alien species who explored the universe armed with advanced weaponry. Adan’s spaceship needed the capacity to defend itself if it was to set off into that dangerous and unknown abyss. He didn’t want to lie so instead issued a more direct response to the question.

  “Get this woman a spacesuit and send her out the nearest airlock. She can try to latch on to one of the tower construction crews and beg a ride back down to Earth. If she resists, skip the spacesuit.”

  It was probably not the calm and collected answer that Markev envisioned when he gave the signal a moment earlier, but the bodyguard nodded at two guards. They grabbed the scientist and escorted her out of the compartment. Adan turned back to the room.

  “Any other questions?” Silence. “I didn’t think so. Now get out of here and get it done.”

  Markev stayed back and addressed his boss once the room was empty.

  “She was pretty talented, sir, wasn’t she?”

  Adan shook his head. “She had already served her purpose with what’s been accomplished around the FTL. At this stage, she was deadweight and I needed to light a fire under all of them.”

  “Putting aside my opinion about whether that was an effective approach or not, you’re not acting like yourself, sir.”

  “Do you want to see the other side of an airlock hatch as well?” Adan smiled after a second to make it clear he was joking. “I know, I know. It’s all of these FTL test flights. I’m piloting even m
ore of them since you took yourself out of the rotation.”

  “And now that I have I’m feeling a lot better, sir. I don’t know what kind of effect it’s having on our minds, but I swear there’s something going on besides simple exhaustion. The fact we’re getting knocked unconscious without explanation each time we use the engine should be more than enough to tell you that.”

  Adan nodded slowly. “We’re almost done with the final set of tests, and then I’ll be able to take a break as well. Since you’re the only person I trust as much as myself, I don’t feel I have any choice right now. Am I going to let any of those jokers we were just talking to do anything that critical?”

  “If you say so, sir. What do we have coming up here next? I noted your meeting request, but you didn’t specify anything other than to block out the time and reserve the room.”

  Adan frowned. “I promise you’re going to like this meeting even less than the previous one. At least you won’t have to worry about me putting anyone out an airlock. Well—unless you continue mouthing off about my mental state.”

  Adan walked to a terminal and swiped at the screen for a moment. Suddenly the view of Earth through the giant panorama was replaced by the head and shoulders of the General Secretary. The man had been a former world-class athlete, and his shoulders were still so large and muscular they made his head look comically small perched upon them. Adan was impressed Markev managed to hold back any reaction to the man’s face given what he had once suffered at his hands and those of his agents. The leader of the East raised an eyebrow when he noticed Markev’s presence and then addressed Adan.

  “I thought you were informed this would be a one-on-one call.”

  “Well, Mr. Secretary, then you can tell all of your aides who are sitting off camera they should leave. At least I have granted you the courtesy of having mine be visible.”