by John Walker
This was the second portion of their trip that Desmond dreaded. Leaving hyperspace with their damage carried a risk. It should hold together but he’d read some of the theories about what might happen to a vessel after combat. The Pahxin provided more examples, which he didn’t particularly want to read, despite their usefulness.
Where the human data came from theory and conjecture, the Pahxin documents showed actual trials where ships were torn apart. They sent unmanned crafts through hyperspace to test their theories, capturing the various ways they were destroyed as a result of a bad seal or inconsistent energy output.
Desmond wished he hadn’t read through them prior to their last mission. Ignorance, in this case, would’ve been far more comfortable. He could imagine the PR nightmare of their arriving home only to explode instantly. With the Stalwart close behind them, perhaps already there, he figured they’d take the blame somehow.
We always have to leverage blame about things. The random thought distracted him from Zach’s countdown but not enough to make him drop the philosophical rhetoric in the last couple of seconds. He held his breath at two and one. A tremor ran through the hull, vibrating the floor and walls.
“We have left hyperspace,” Zach announced.
Lieutenant Salina Gold spoke up. “All systems are reporting normal. No damage to any systems and all computers remain online.”
“My compliments to engineering,” Desmond said. He worked hard not to sound too relieved. “Open a channel to Earth and get me Admiral Reach. I’d like to get a briefing on his calendar as soon as possible. Has the Stalwart arrived?”
“Yes, sir.” Salina paused a moment. “They have already achieved orbit with Earth. I suppose they must’ve beaten us here.”
“Of course they did,” Desmond muttered. “I’ll take those coms in my office. Zach, get us underway and achieve orbit as soon as you can. Vincent, you’ve got the bridge. Get a full diagnostic and find out what we have to fix now that we’ve got the right tools at home. I’m assuming we’ll be back out there soon, so we’d better make it snappy.”
***
Reach agreed to meet for a debriefing, but he had something far more urgent to discuss. He told Desmond a story about the Tol’An’s ambition and how there were six total Orbs somewhere in the galaxy. A collaborative effort between the Pahxin and Earth came to a unanimous decision about prioritizing the collection of the devices.
“But how are we supposed to find them?” Desmond asked. “We knew where the second one was because of the Tol’An’s records.”
“The AIA and Pahxin intelligence have come up with an idea and they seriously believe it’ll work. Remember when Agent Alexander had her little vision with the Orb?”
Desmond did remember. When they were on their way back home with their prize, she had had a waking dream, seeing a catastrophe on some other planet. The theory came out that the Orbs likely interfaced with organic minds in that way, allowing users to draw data straight from them. Harper wanted to test the theory, but they couldn’t get it to happen again.
“Yes,” Desmond replied. “Why?”
“They believe we can make it happen again if we recreate the conditions she found herself in during that time. On board the Gnosis, while in hyperspace. Some combination of factors there may well cut it and get us the data we need. That means you’ll be fitted with the Orbs and sent to a place far enough away to give our scientists time to try a few things.”
“That sounds like a security nightmare,” Desmond said. “Having them both aboard? And where are we going to go that fits that bill?”
“The Pahxin have made some suggestions that we’re checking out to ensure they’re the right call. I’m aware of some damage that we need to repair on the Gnosis and there are some administrative issues that need to be addressed. However, I intend to get you moving as soon as possible. I can’t emphasize enough how urgent this is.”
“What happens when all of them are brought together?” Desmond asked. “What sort of catastrophe are we preventing? Or worse … what are we risking by trying to bring them together ourselves?”
Reach sighed. “That’s a good question, one that everyone’s been debating since the intelligence briefing we experienced not too long ago. Some think the Tol’An would use them as bombs, essentially destroying their enemies utterly. Others think there’s some sort of super technology that can be unleashed when they’re all together.”
“What’s your opinion?”
“That they’re a bunch of data receptacles that can be used for good or ill, depending on the integrity of the wielders. Sure, we know they have a lot of energy pent up in them but does that mean they’ll be used to destroy worlds? Why would someone waste these resources like that? Even the zealots. And they could do that today with what they have.”
“Fair point.” Desmond pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. So when we get back, we repair, resupply then head out with the Orbs. Correct?”
“That’s the plan.”
“I hate to ask this question considering what the Stalwart has done for us but … do we trust the Pahxin?”
“The council does,” Reach replied. He paused for a long moment. “Do you have reason not to?”
“The mercenaries we ran into out there were Pahxin,” Desmond said. “The Tol’An too. But to be fair, before we met them, all our enemies were human. I guess my point is that we should be cautious about how many of them are allowed on the ship. It would be easier for our enemies to infiltrate them than us.”
“Yes, the AIA and Pahxin intelligence will be vetting all new personnel who are allowed on board.” Reach cleared his throat. “Anyway, I see you’re roughly four hours out of orbit. When you get here, we’ll speak in person. Until then, brief your top people on what’s happening and let them know the score. It’ll save time for when you arrive.”
“Will do.” Desmond’s finger hovered over the button to close the connection. “Admiral, I’m afraid this might require a real conflict to settle … an actual war. Unless I’m totally in the dark, I’m not sure we’re in any position to field a force to participate in such an action. Am I wrong?”
“Not entirely,” Reach said. “Our next ship is nearly complete. We’re still shaking the bugs out and testing it. I’m not sure exactly when it will be ready but that will at least be two highly advanced vessels on our side.”
“Better than nothing,” Desmond replied. “Thank you, sir. Please let me know if anything comes up before we arrive. Bradford out.” He flopped back in his chair and closed his eyes. Part of him had hoped they’d have a chance to get some downtime. The mission on the previous planet had left most of the crew exhausted.
They wouldn’t get the couple weeks they needed but even a couple days would be nice. Most of the personnel didn’t have to be involved in the repairs so that was one positive side of things. Even worse was the responsibility that would be leveraged on the ship. The sheer amount of security would be insane.
Mostly new people that we don’t know if we can trust. Desmond put a meeting on the calendars of all his top people and headed out to setup the briefing room. He tried to think of a good way to spin the mission but in the end, he decided to keep things very real and direct. They could draw their own conclusions about what they were about to face.
***
Cassie Alexander left the briefing with her head bowed, thoughtful about their new mission. When the Orb touched her mind, she had had a hard time shaking the vision and it ended up invaluable when they went back out. Their discovery gave them key information about the fate of several dead civilizations, a potential future for their own if they weren’t mindful.
I know for a fact that Dulain is going to ask me to try this again. He’ll want everything to be exactly the same as the first time it happened. Cassie didn’t bring up her concern in the briefing, but she knew Vincent noticed. He’d definitely be tracking her down soon to discuss it and she had to decide if she wanted to talk about her fears.
&n
bsp; Before she discussed anything, she really wanted to speak to Dulain in person. He might want to put a ridiculous restriction on what she could say. Of course, as a senior agent, Cassie enjoyed latitude in her position. She hadn’t exercised them much but if Vincent pressed, she might fall back on them.
Desmond made it clear his biggest concern was security. They would be discussing where the Gnosis would be going after they arrived on Earth but before then, they needed to figure out the best way to lockdown engineering and ensure only authorized personnel even got on the floor.
That meant moving some other minor departments, a couple tech and science labs, to a different deck. Once they did that, they’d have storage and maintenance tunnels. Both of which would be swept by the marines prior to departure. AIA resources would be coming aboard to double check their efforts as well.
This earned Cassie a dirty look from everyone at the table, as if she had made the decision herself. Few people trusted her division and having worked among them, she understood why. The AIA played everything close to the chest, which didn’t foster a good team environment.
“Hey!” Vincent called out as Cassie walked down the hall and she slowed to allow him to catch up. “You were out of there like a shot. What’s up?”
“The captain’s right about the security nightmare,” Cassie replied. “I’m more worried about getting them on board than keeping them here. There are Earth factions that would love to steal those. I hope the AIA’s up to the task.”
Vincent grinned. “You don’t have faith in your own folks?”
“I didn’t mean that.” Cassie sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be short. When the captain mentioned my vision, I understood what people were going to ask of me. My superior’s been talking about this for a while. He’ll want me to try to do it again.”
“Is that a problem?” Vincent asked.
“It scares me.” Cassie shrugged. “Interfacing with an alien technology we barely understand? Letting it touch my mind? That’s not something you line up for at the county fair. And while I’m all for trying it again eventually, I was really hoping we’d get some more study time in. This is a crash course.”
“Hm.” Vincent furrowed his brow, falling silent for a few moments. “Maybe there’s something we can do. I can attempt to push them toward making you a project lead. You won’t have to participate in the experiment at all. And we can use our last mission as a good excuse too. It’s not like we walked away from that totally unscathed.”
“I appreciate the gesture,” Cassie replied, “but that’s not the answer either. I can’t allow someone else to do it. At least I’ve been through it once, but someone else? Yeah, I’m scared but I’m also not selfish enough to back away when they’ll just make someone else step up. Not to mention the fact that I might be jumping the gun.”
“How do you mean?”
“Honestly, we’re just assuming I’ll be the one to do this. Dulain is crafty. He might have another plan.” Cassie shook her head and continued down the hall. “I need to wait to hear the plan and not let dread bother me. Besides, we’ve been through some pretty stressful situations. How bad can this really be?”
“I guess that’s turning a frown upside down.” Vincent gently touched her arm. “Hey, do you want to get lunch? We can try to forget about this for an hour and just enjoy a quiet meal. Duty will absolutely be waiting for us at the door and probably demand a tip but until then, we could forget about it all.”
Cassie smiled. Her first inclination was to turn him down, mostly so she could go worry somewhere alone. That didn’t seem to be the answer and he looked terribly earnest. More to the point, he very likely could distract her and that sounded pretty amazing just then. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“Excellent. I know this fantastic restaurant where the chef is mildly disgruntled but they’re required to give us a deal on the food.” Vincent smiled as they walked. “You’ll love it. I’ll even let you pay.”
“Really?” Cassie widened her eyes, giving him a shocked expression. “What generosity! I don’t even know how you do it, Vincent.” She sighed. “Are we allowed to be silly right now? Considering what we’re doing?”
“I figure if we can’t take a moment to remember who we are, there’s no reason to keep fighting. No reason to perform our duties or fight these battles.” Vincent looked her in the eyes. “If we can’t have friends and be humans, then what’s the point of heading to the stars? No, people say we’re out here to discover new things, but I’d beg to differ.”
“Yeah? What do you think we’re doing then?”
“Think back to the Greek heroes. They were sailing to find themselves, to learn what they were capable of. Adventure pushed them to become greater. We seek adversity to challenge our skills, to see what we can handle. Failure, while possible, is not a deterrent. We’re doing this to become better.”
“That’s very philosophical, commander. I’m impressed.”
“If you liked that, wait till you hear my theory concerning fighter pilots.” Vincent chuckled. “I promise, you’ll never be the same.”
“That’s already true.” Cassie let herself relax in his presence and hoped for a decent, quiet hour. They might not see many more in the near future. It was a good idea to grab what they could.
***
Captain Darren Gabriel personified the concept of a stern, unyielding marine. He’d been in the corps for more than ten years and ran a number of ops in multiple capacities. His commission didn’t come until after he’d been in the service for three years. A little higher education and focus got him into the ranks of officers.
Admiral Reach hand picked him to board the Gnosis in charge of security and marine operations. He, like many others, thought it would be a milk run. They were going to dead planets in the middle of nowhere. What sort of conflict could there possibly be? His initial assessment was his men would be military police, maintaining shipside order.
Their first operations proved otherwise, and he’d lost good men to the cause already. Each mission felt like a wartime effort, something to be concerned about as they plunged into more of the unknown. This time, casualties claimed some lives and severely injured some excellent troopers. Darren spent a lot of time in the medical bay, sticking close to them.
Security for the Orbs became his number one priority, but he took a break from planning how best to lock the ship down to visit Lieutenant Brent Fielding, the field officer who protected the ship while it was downed. He was shot in the shoulder and nearly lost the arm. Modern medicine saved it, but he’d be out of action for a while.
Fielding started acting more alert after they emerged from hyperspace, but he still acted drowsy. His spirits remained up and he committed to getting back into action as soon as possible. Darren wanted to speak to Doctor Jason Holland about whether or not they should send the young lieutenant home to recover on Earth.
He stopped by Fielding’s bed and gripped his good hand. Blue eyes fluttered open and he nodded at Darren. “Hi, sir.”
“Just checking in on you, son. How’re you feeling?”
“I think I’ve been shot.” Fielding smiled. “It’s numb. Whatever they’re giving me works wonders. I’ve been able to sleep without any problem.”
“Good. I’m going to talk to the doctor about you here in a moment. We’ll probably come back to give you some options soon.” Darren looked at the thick bandages around Fielding’s shoulder and had to fight not to wince. “You think you can stay awake for a few more minutes?”
“No problem.” Fielding spoke slowly. “I think …”
“Well, we’ll wake you up if we have to.” Darren patted his hand. “Stay tough, soldier.” He moved over to Gunnery Sergeant Geoff Heathrow, who also received an injury during his assignment. The other men called him Heat. He’d received an energy blast to the leg and while it would immobilize him for a time, he’d make a full recovery. “How’re you, Gunny?”
“I’m alright, sir,” Heat replied. He stare
d into space, at attention even in his bed. Darren knew the man was in mourning for a good friend, Sergeant Lawrence Gorman, who sacrificed himself to save the rest of them. “I haven’t heard how long I’m going to be stuck in this bed though, sir. How can I find out?”
“I’m about to talk to the doctor about Fielding,” Darren replied. “I’ll ask about you. Maybe you can go back to some private quarters to relax there. If that’s what you’d prefer I mean.”
“Yes, sir, I think I would, sir.”
“You don’t have to be so formal with a hole in your leg, son.” Darren patted his shoulder. “Believe me, when you take a bullet in my company, you’ve earned the right to be casual for a while.”
“Thank you … I’ll keep that in mind.” Heat cleared his throat. “Are we having a service for Sergeant Gorman?”
“Yes, we will. All of them.”
“I would very much like to attend. I’ll walk there myself if I have to but please make sure I’m able to be there.”
“You will not miss it,” Darren replied. “I give you my word. Now … rest up. I’ll keep you informed about how long you have to stay here and when we’ll be able to put something together for our fallen brothers. Thank you again. For everything you did, Gunny. It’s been impressive work out of you.”
“Just doing my job, sir.”
“And a little bit more, I believe.” Darren stepped away and found the doctor in his office. He knocked twice before entering and closing the door behind him. “Hello, Doctor Holland. Do you have a moment to discuss my men?”
“Have a seat.” Holland gestured to the chair across from him. “They’re both in a pretty bad way with Lieutenant Fielding in the worst of it. Obviously, neither one is in jeopardy of dying at this point but I’m not sure how much mobility Fielding will have with that arm. He practically lost it … In fact, we debated removing it at one point.”
“Christ, that’s worse than I thought.” Darren rubbed his eyes. “How long do you think it’ll be before he can start some physical therapy?”
