The Begining (The Navigator Book 1)

by Ben Winston

  After a few minutes on the comm, Dr. Symms had permission to transport Joe down to his lab on the planet. However, Shana still had to stop at BC IV orbital for an inspection and transfer permission.

  Since Joe was still unconscious, she had been hoping to be given clearance without stopping, but even the doctor agreed the stop was necessary. Becka, however, was getting frustrated with the seemingly slow progress. Joe was still out, but the doctors assured her he was stable now.

  Once she was docked at the station, Shana took her cargo manifest and met the inspectors at the airlock. Right behind them was a messenger with a note for Becka.

  To: Rebecca White, Navigator Third Class, Junior Grade.

  From: Harold Hargrave, Personnel Director. Navigational Instruction, Citadel.

  MSG begins:

  By the order of the Prime, you are to report to the Citadel ASAP for additional training. At present, you are listed as AWOL and are currently subject to censure and/or possible downgrade of ranking within our guild. Report immediately, before further action is required.

  MSG Ends.

  Once Becky read the missive, she started swearing a blue streak and even surprised some of the dock workers with her creative and imaginative use of expletives; all without actually using the word 'fuck'.

  Shana, alerted that her friend was very... agitated, approached her to find out what was wrong. Becka simply handed her the message and stood, fighting to get control of her anger.

  “I thought the Admiral was in charge? Since when is Jarad's title 'Prime'?” Shana asked.

  Becka was still furious, but had it under control for the moment. “He gave himself that title and the Admiral is still in charge; at least he was when we left Earth.”

  “So call him. Get the order verified and report Jarad's usurping his authority. At least then the Admiral will know what's going on,” Shana suggested reasonably.

  So Becka took her friend's advice and called the Admiral. She had to tell his aide that it was about Joe, but she did finally get through to him.

  “What's going on with the Major, Rebecca?” Hawklings asked when he got on the line.

  “The medics said the nanos shut him down to avoid a major stroke. Anyway, Dr. Symms was waiting at the Citadel for a ride back to the planet. When Joe collapsed, he and his team attended him. Long story short, they're taking him back to Dr. Symms’ lab on planet to try and help him," Becka explained.

  “Damn! I hope he pulls through this,” the Admiral said. “I thought the nanos where supposed to prevent things like this?"

  Dr. Symms was sitting in one of the chairs and couldn't help but listen to the conversation. He thought to step in, to help the pretty young woman.

  “Admiral, this is Dr. Symms. My apologies for butting in, but I couldn't help but overhear. You are correct in that the nanos are supposed to defend against situations such as this. However, as we all know, Navigators are neurologically different than normals are.

  “Major Anderson was subjected to trauma due to severe hyperspace distortion caused by unshielded proximity to the Citadel. I have already gotten clearance to take him down to my lab. I think I might be able to help him and, by extension, all Navigators.”

  “I see, please do you best, Doctor. I have a feeling we're going to need that man very soon,” the Admiral replied.

  “Sir, there is more to my report,” Becka added. “I've just received a message from the Citadel. I'll read it to you.” She put action to her words and read the command from the 'Prime'. When she finished, she added. “Sir, I would like to accompany Major Anderson to the planet. If Dr. Symms is going to be able to test his theory, then he'll need a Navigator to generate distortion.”

  “Becky, you don't need to explain to me. I know damn good and well how you feel about him. Continue to the planet as you planned. I'll handle Jarad. But I want you both to understand something; this is classified, so I'll deny it if you say anything. Jarad's megalomania is starting to spin out of control. If Joe is as strong as all the tests indicates, we're going to need him to replace Jarad very soon.”

  “I understand, Admiral. If I may, I think we really need to hurry,” Dr. Symms said. “I was going to send you a classified report on this, but it seems time may be short. I can confirm that Jarad is insane. Not only that, but he's up to something; something big. I tried to poke around as much as I dared while I was there, but he kept us on a very short leash. I do know that he's waiting for me to finish my research. Apparently, having a method of shielding Navigators is of the utmost importance to him.”

  “Fuck.” The Admiral was quiet for a moment. “Rebecca, once your paramour regains function, please inform him that he's been reactivated. Tell him his first mission will be arriving along with a 'birthday present' via armed courier as fast as I can get it there after he wakes up.”

  “I will, Sir,” Becka replied.

  “Thank you, both. Please keep me informed of what's going on out there. I'll inform my aide that you have a comm priority, so you can reach me,” the Admiral said. “Be careful; all of you.”

  Before either one of them could say anything, the connection was closed. Becka and the scientist both turned to see if anyone else had overheard them. Shana was busy with the inspectors, and the Doctor's aides had stepped out to stretch their legs.

  “Miss Rebecca, just who exactly is Major Anderson?” Symms asked.

  “He's a lot of people, Doc. A husband, father, a kind friend, and a good man. But he's also one more thing very few others are,” Becka replied.

  “And what's that?”

  “A very, very, dangerous man.”

  “Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.”

  “My Lord Prime, Rebecca has not obeyed your command to return here to the Citadel. However, we have ascertained that the new Navigator collapsed upon arrival here and was immediately taken to the planet.

  “Your spy there reports that Symms has had an idea about the shielding and will be testing it out on the new Navigator. Rebecca was seen at the lab with Symms, she would sit and do equations while the doctor took readings. He is using her as a gauge of a Navigator's abilities,” Hargrave reported.

  “What's Anderson's condition?” Jarad asked.

  “He is still unconscious, My Lord. Symms seems to be at a loss as to why, but the only one that is overly concerned is Rebecca.”

  “Is Anderson ever left alone? Perhaps at night?” Jarad asked.

  “I don't know, My Lord. Do you have orders for the team on planet?”

  Jarad tapped his chin with one slender finger while he thought. Anderson had been completely unaffected by Jarad's probe when they first met. Which meant that Jarad would not be able to control him.

  Having read the man's file, Jarad knew how dangerous the old soldier had been. That was long ago and Anderson has become soft. He's lost his killer’s instincts and forgotten his training. That old fool of an Admiral gave that broken, old man far too much respect.

  Soft or not, the initial test results from Anderson indicated that had almost unlimited potential. That alone made Anderson a threat. There was a reliable, time honored way to deal with threats.

  “Yes, I have orders. They are to arrange and accident for this new ‘Navigator’. He is a threat to what we are doing here and I want that threat removed. If little sister gets in the way, have them try to recover her; it's about time we took care of her and her friend’s budding little rebellion,” Jarad said, smiling evilly.

  New Hedron was the capitol city of Beta Centauri IV. Which, considering it was also the only city, made sense. There were smaller villages and farming communities spread out over the continent, but New Hedron was the only major population center on the planet. As such, most of the research facilities were also located here.

  When it was being built, most of the laboratories were built together, in a ‘research park’ that had it’s own small landing field. Since that time, some of the labs had been relocat
ed closer to what they were doing research on, but some of them had stayed put, and even expanded some. The Hyperspace Research lab was one that had stayed, but expanded into multiple departments.

  Doctor Lenard Symms was the head of Navigator Health and Safety. It was his responsibility to continue to try to improve the working conditions for Navigators and the effect Hyperspace had on them and the surrounding areas.

  “Dr. Symms, shouldn't he be awake by now?” Becka asked with concern.

  “I don't know for certain what, or how much, damage was done to him Rebecka. The nano's are reporting that he's doing fine, but they are keeping him in a coma until they can finish repairs to the blood vessels in his head,” Symms replied. "They do tell us that they are almost finished, so I should imagine that they'll let him awaken sometime after that.”

  “I guess I don't understand why they need to fix things in there. I mean how much damage did he take? Is it going to affect his navigation ability?” Becka asked.

  “I don't believe so, Becka. The only thing I'm worried about is his vision; they did report damage to his visual cortex,” Symms replied.

  “If he's blind, then he won't be able to navigate! He has to see the terminal to perform the equations!” Becka said.

  “Relax Becka; we have made sure he will have the ability to see, it just won’t be the way he’s used to," Symms replied.

  “Huh? What does that mean?” Becka asked.

  Symms frowned. “One of the things the nano's were originally designed to overcome was the loss of one of the senses. Even if the eyes themselves are severely damaged, they can still build a form of prosthetic. I'm told it isn't exactly like normal vision, but in a lot of ways it is somewhat superior,” Symms explained.

  She put her hands on her hips. “You people aren't doing this to him on purpose are you?” The thought made her angry.

  “No! That would be very unethical and criminal to boot. No one is going to use anyone as a guinea pig while under my care!” Symms replied somewhat frostily.

  Becka was a little surprised at the amount of revulsion the doctor felt. She knew he was telling the absolute truth.

  “I'm sorry, Doc. It's just that, the last time Joe put himself at the mercy of black-ops doctors, they messed with him a lot,” Becka said, apologizing. “In fact, I'm really surprised he actually agreed to undergo the nanite treatment to begin with. You do know they had to mess with his genetics too don't you?”

  “Yes, I got his medical brief from Dr. Ortegon at Darkwater when we brought him in,” Symms paused, “I think I should amend my earlier statement about guinea pigs; I intend to install a magnetic shield device in him, to keep this from happening again, but I won't do it without his full knowledge and consent.”

  “What will that do to his own bio-magnetics?” Becka asked.

  “If the device is installed correctly, it will be using the naturally produced field to generate the shield. I'm actually pretty confident he'll have full control of the field, so he can attenuate it to perform his duties, then ramp it back up so he can shut out the noise of others.” He looked around conspiratorially before taking her arm and stepping away from Joe's bed.

  “This is just between you and me, Okay?” He asked in a subdued voice.

  Becka simply nodded, but looked a little worried.

  “No, it's not bad. In fact, it's probably very good if my theory proves true. You see, I think your beloved over there is probably the strongest Navigator we've ever seen. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he goes farther than just navigating," Symms said quietly.

  “What do you mean? What's your theory?” Becka asked.

  “I caution you, it is just a theory and it sounds crazy as hell. However, when you told me how Joe described feeling hyperspace, I got to thinking about the nature of Navigators. You see, I was on the team that did the original Navigator research.

  “Cassandra told us that she could 'feel' hyperspace and that was how she always knew where she was and were she was going. Now, given the power of the human mind, it stands to reason to believe that very powerful Navigators, like Cassie and like Joe, wouldn't need a hyperdrive unit to make a jump!” Symms explained. “I believe that’s what really happened to Cassie when the US tried to grab her. Of course, I would never have reported such to the administration; they would have ordered her dissected immediately in order to make more of her. Which leads me to the second part of my theory,” He paused to take a breath and organize his thoughts. “Before I continue, do you follow me so far?”

  “I think so. You believe that the most powerful Navigators will develop the ability to travel hyperspace on their own, right?” Becka asked.

  “Yes, because they have something all the rest of the Navigators don't have,” Symms said.

  Becka cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

  “An innate ability to sense the universe around them and manipulate it.” Symms said. “And I'd bet my pension that Joe is already aware of this. Did you see his religious preferences?"

  “Yeah, but what does being a Pagan have to do with navigating?” Becka asked, sounding slightly confused.

  “Nothing directly. However, what if Joe believes that the energy fields around all of us are the power of God, or even God itself?”

  “Are you talking about magic or something?” Becka asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Symms frowned. “Well, in a way I guess I am. We just never had the scientific ability to measure it before.”

  “Okay, once he wakes up, I'll try to get him talking about his beliefs. Now, what did you mean about 'going farther'?” Becka asked.

  “ESP, mental abilities, talents, readers; many names have been given to it over the years. The most famous name was the reason several people got killed in Salem, Mass. a couple hundred years ago. Of course, now-a-days, the term 'Witch' is no longer one to be feared," Symms explained.

  A soft 'beep' was heard and the Doctor walked back to one of the machines. Quickly typing in a query, he read the answer on the screen.

  “Doc, I gotta run to the head; can I get you a coffee or anything?” Becka asked.

  “No, thanks, but you might want to hurry. The nano's have returned to maintenance mode and are currently working on the little bit of atrophy in his muscles,” Symms replied.

  “Should I stay? How long until he wakes up?” Becka asked getting excited.

  “Oh not for a few minutes yet, I'm sure you have time,” he said and made a waving motion at her to go ahead.

  After Becka left, Symms entered information into the computer; he paused and looked at his watch. He softly swore and left the treatment room.

  Jed escorted Laura to Rothschild & Co. bank in Zurich, Switzerland. The trip itself hadn't been that hard to arrange, Laura simply bought tickets for Jed, Brianna, and Jed's wife, Jill. Mark had gone back to work, but would return to see her as soon as he could arrange it. The hardest part of making the arrangements for Jed's family was arranging for Jill to get the time off from work. Brianna's boyfriend, Alex couldn’t get the time off and had to stay home. A fact that Laura’s son, Darryl was very happy about.

  Jed and Laura had to do a little research in order to find which bank the mysterious numbers were from, but once they did, they called the bank to inquire as to what the numbers were actually for.

  They were told that, as per the request of the customer, information on this account could only be divulged in person. Laura thanked the man for his assistance and asked if she would need an appointment to meet and discuss the account. The man said it wasn't necessary, but it was appreciated, so she made the appointment for the day after they'd land.

  So, while Jill and Brianna were out shopping, with Laura's son Darryl as guide and pack-mule, Jed and Laura kept their appointment. After introductions were made and both Jed and Laura had been served refreshments, an older gentleman in an expensive suit came in to talk with them.

  “Good Morning, Frau Anderson, I am Hans Totenkopf. I am the foreign accounts manager h
ere. As I understand it, you have some questions about an account?”

  Laura smiled and shook the man's hand. “Good morning, this is my friend, Jed Freeland, who was good enough to accompany me today.” The man turned and offered his hand to Jed as Laura continued. “Yes, I do have a couple of questions regarding an account opened I believe by my late husband.”

  “I would be happy to assist you. May I have the account numbers?” Hans asked politely.

  Laura complied by sliding a piece of paper across the table to him. He smiled at her and quickly typed them into his tablet.

  “Yes, I have that account right here, what would you like to know?”

  “Well, first of all, I should probably know what the balance is,” Laura said.

  “In U.S. Dollars?” Hans asked.

  “Yes please, my conversion skills are not what they used to be.”

  “Thirty-two million, seven hundred ninety-seven thousand, four hundred and forty dollars and fifty-two cents. In addition, there is a safe deposit unit included with this account,” Hans replied without even blinking.

  The amount took both Laura as well as Jed completely by surprise. Once they found out the numbers were to a bank, they knew there was probably a lot of money involved, but they never dreamed it was this much.

  “Whoa,” Laura said. "If there's that much money in there, I wonder what's in the box?” she said the last looking at Jed.

  “Herr Totenkopf, we didn't find a key for a deposit box,” Jed said.

  “Do you have a copy of Mr. Anderson's death certificate?” Hans asked and Laura handed it over.

  “I will need to make a copy of this, but you will not need a key. The bank key opens the door to remove the box, but each box has a thumb print scanner built into it. However, since Mr. Anderson is no longer with us, I can have the locking mechanism cleared and reset so you can seal it with your thumbprint,” Hans said. “Would you like us to bring the box in here?”

  “Yes please,” Laura said.