Everything was a mess. Fires. Hull breaches. Downed systems. The last thing he needed right now was a Diakan questioning his every move.
“Thank you, Mr. Boufos, I can see that. If you wouldn’t mind, it would be helpful if you could assist with some of the other repairs that are needed,” said Singh.
“I possess a superior understanding of this ship’s propulsion system, especially the jump system. Assigning me to other duties would be an inefficient use of my skill set.”
Singh took a deep breath. “Since the jump system will be down for some time, we need to ensure that the FTL systems are all functioning properly. Please run a full diagnostic on them.”
“It is not optimal to have me run diagnostic tests, Chief Engineer.”
“Optimal or not, that is what I want you to do. And last I checked I am still the Chief Engineer, which means I make the decisions, not you.”
“As you wish, Chief Engineer.”
The Diakan walked away and Singh went back to work. There was extensive damage to the primary relay. He now realized it would take longer to repair than his original estimate. The Captain was not going to be happy.
He opened a comm link with Commander Wolfe.
“Yes, Rajneesh,” answered Wolfe.
The sound of her voice calmed his nerves. Secretly he was happy that she came on this mission, although he wouldn’t let her know that. There were too many complications with their relationship. Too much volatility. And it had a habit of interfering with his work. He did love her, but they were too different.
“I’ve been working on repairing the jump system and the damage is more extensive than I originally thought. At first it looked like it was only the superluminal emitters that needed repair, but after further investigation I’ve found that the primary relay has also been extensively damaged. It is going to take longer to repair than my original estimate.”
“How much longer?”
“Three, maybe four days.”
“Are you sure? We really need that jump system online?”
Was he sure? How many times would his abilities be questioned today? He was the Chief Engineer. Some people would think he knew what he was talking about. “I will do my best to speed up the repairs, but this type of work takes time, Commander.”
“We don’t have time. Surely there must be a faster way to get this done.”
“The damage is just too extensive.”
“I don’t need excuses, Rajneesh. I need results.”
“This is precise work, Commander. It is not something that can be rushed.”
“I will let the Captain know. Just try and speed things up.”
“Singh out.”
Singh closed the comm link. How did she do it? How was it that with one word she could soothe him and then with another have him ready to explode? He didn’t understand it. He didn’t want to understand it. He had work to do. Fuming, he returned to his repairs.
CHAPTER 18
How did humans end up two-hundred-and-fifty light years from Sol? Jon struggled with the question. None of this made any sense.
The lost colonies could be a thousand light years away. It didn’t seem possible that they came from the colonies. And it wasn’t realistic to think they came from Sol either. Even with FTL it would take them at least twenty-five years to make it this far. That was not possible for a number of reasons. So how did they get here?
Arriving at sick bay, Jon found Doctor Ellerbeck examining the woman and child while Kevin and the three other Marines stood guard.
The woman pulled the still trembling child closer to her when Jon approached. Jon cringed. Apparently he could still scare women and children.
“Well Doctor, are they Chaanisar?” asked Jon.
“No Captain, there are no signs of augmentation,” said Ellerbeck.
“Have you been able to communicate with them?”
“No, Sir. They haven’t spoken since they got here.”
Jon looked at the woman and spoke directly to her. “I’m Captain Jon Pike. You are on board the Hermes. May I ask what your name is?”
Jon tried to be as polite as possible. They were already frightened. More intimidation wouldn’t get him anywhere. He thought he saw a glimmer of understanding in her eyes, like she had heard something vaguely familiar.
She studied him for a moment and decided to speak. Unfortunately, nobody understood a word she said.
“Doctor, does your AI have access to the linguistics database?” said Jon.
“Yes, I believe it does,” said Ellerbeck. She then accessed the sick bay’s AI and asked it to analyze the woman’s speech.
“From the sample provided, several linguistic influences have been identified,” said the AI.
“AI, using current knowledge, ask the subject to continue speaking so as better to analyze and interpret the language spoken,” said Jon.
The AI said something to the woman who seemed to understand it and spoke again, this time at greater length. The AI continued to engage the woman in conversation to better calibrate its understanding. Finally, the AI spoke in English. “Analysis complete. The language spoken has Germanic, Russian, Dutch, and English influences. Linguistic database has been updated.”
“Good. AI, you will act as interpreter to facilitate dialog,” said Jon.
“Understood.”
Jon looked at the woman again. “My name is Captain Jon Pike. You are on board the Hermes. May I ask your name?”
The woman listened to the AI and responded, “Breeah Menk.”
“Nice to meet you Breeah. Is this your daughter?” asked Jon.
“This is Anki, my daughter.”
“What were you doing on board that ship?”
“That was my husband’s ship.” The little girl started crying. “Anki’s father.”
“Why did your husband attack us?”
“You entered the asteroid field. We were protecting our home.”
“Your home? You mean you live in the asteroid field?”
Breeah gave Jon a suspicious look. She composed herself now, snapped back to reality by the realization that she had already said too much.
Jon tried to calm her fears. “We mean you no harm, Breeah. Your ships attacked us. We were only defending ourselves. We are not here to harm you.”
Breeah stayed silent and just gave Jon a cold stare.
He tried a different approach. “How long have you lived here?”
“We have always lived here.”
“You obviously came here somehow. How did your people first come here?”
“We have always lived here.”
“You are human. Humans haven’t always lived here. Your people had to come here from somewhere.”
“We are Reivers.”
“What does that mean?”
The AI answered the question. “A reiver is technically someone who reives, or steals.”
“Where do you reive?” asked Jon.
“We cross through the portal to reive, then we cross back.”
“The portal? You mean you have a jump gate?”
Breeah gave Jon a questioning look, apparently not understanding his question.
“A jump gate… you cross through and end up in a different region of space.”
“Yes. We have a jump gate.”
Jon gave her a blank stare. These people had a jump gate. They must have crossed through the gate at some point and settled here. But it couldn’t have been from Sol’s gate since there was no knowledge of a gate in this region of space. Therefore, the only logical conclusion was they came from the lost colonies at some point.
Jump gates don’t follow a linear path. The jump gate routes often seem totally random. One jump gate usually connects to another jump gate in a different region of space. One jump gate could be 1,000 light years in one direction, and the next could double back and be only 250 light years away.
Most jump gates make only two connections. One connection to the next gate and one to the previo
us one. In rare situations a jump gate can make multiple connections. Those jump gates are very strategic, creating interstellar choke points. During the wars most of the major battles were fought over these gates.
“How many different places can you go with your gate?”
“How many places? The gate only sends us to one place. We go. We reive. We return.”
“When you travel through the gate, are there humans on the other side?”
“There are no humans. We were the only humans until you arrived.”
Jon tried to hide his disappointment. He hoped this might be a link to the colonies. Still it was a link to something, or else there would be nothing for them to “reive”.
“If there are no humans, are there aliens?”
“Yes, on the other side there are many planets. Many aliens live there.”
“I’d like to see your gate, and your home. Will you show them to me?”
Almond shaped eyes studied Jon. Hazel colored eyes, they were almost green. Jon hadn’t noticed them until now. They had an intensity that almost unnerved him.
It wasn’t just the eyes. She had a unique beauty about her that Jon was only now starting to notice. She had calmed down considerably from the moment he walked in the room, and now a hidden strength revealed itself that Jon didn’t expect.
Whoever these people were, Jon had just destroyed two of their ships, killing all the people on board, including her husband. Yet she now displayed incredible composure.
She remained silent, ignoring Jon’s question.
“If you have a gate, why isn’t there more activity here? More ships?”
“The aliens on the other side of the gate do not know it exists.”
Jon understood. Jump gates were not obvious. You had to know where to look. They were often only discovered after a ship came through and revealed their location. Even then you needed to know how to activate it.
New jump gates were found by going through one to see what was on the other side and continuing down the path. If these people were able to come through their gates without attracting attention, then it was possible that the other side did not know of the gate’s existence. Considering their profession, Jon assumed stealthiness was an inherent skill.
Jon was interrupted by a comm link from Commander Wolfe. “Sir, the Juttari vessel has just appeared.”
“On my way.” Jon looked again at Breeah, “we have been battling another starship which has just appeared in this system. If they find you, they will not show mercy. You need to let us know where your home and gate is, or we cannot protect you.”
Breeah looked concerned and her eyes told Jon she wanted to answer, but she kept quiet. She still didn’t trust Jon or anyone else on board. Who could blame her?
“Doctor, see to it that Breeah and Anki are looked after and that they get some food. I’m sure they’re hungry. I’ll be on the bridge.”
Yes, Sir,” said Ellerbeck.
Jon turned to Kevin, “leave a couple of guards here just to be on the safe side. Make sure they don’t leave sick bay.”
“Yes, Sir,” said Kevin.
CHAPTER 19
“Captain on the bridge,” the Marine sentry announced as Jon entered.
“Status report,” Jon said.
“The Juttari haven’t noticed us yet Sir. We are still very close to the asteroid field and that might shield us from them,” Wolfe said.
“They’ll eventually find us if we stay here. Helm, can you quietly get us back into the asteroid field? Preferably somewhere with no weapon systems?”
“Yes, Sir. We can enter the same way we came out. We had managed to destroy the weapon systems in place there,” said Richards.
“Very well, take us in nice and easy. I don’t want to be noticed.”
“Taking us in, Sir.”
Jon turned and spoke to Wolfe, “we should have a better chance of avoiding detection in the asteroid field. Call it a modification of our previous plan.”
Jon thought he saw a hint of a smirk on his XO’s face. That would be a first, he thought.
The Hermes fired its thrusters once and then let its forward momentum take over, gliding slowly into the asteroid field. The Juttari ship sat still and didn’t move. If they weren’t looking in this direction they wouldn’t see the Hermes, and even if they were they might miss it.
Jon was worried about the debris from the other two ships, however. If the Juttari picked up on the wreckage they might come and investigate. That would put them a little too close for comfort.
As the Hermes entered the asteroid field Richards fired thrusters again to position the ship safely behind a cluster of large rocks.
“Commander, shut down all nonessential systems and rig for silent running.”
“All decks have reported rigged for silent running, Sir,” said Wolfe.
The Hermes floated quietly, lurking in the shadows of the surrounding boulders. Tense minutes turned into anxious hours and the crew busied themselves with their respective duties. Because of their hiding position they couldn’t see the Juttari starship on the viewscreen anymore, and their scanners were equally hampered due to the orders to run silent.
The telltale signs of stress were evident everywhere. Commander Wolfe became even more efficient, ensuring that nobody slacked in their duties. Ensign Richards’s right leg had a nervous twitch and wouldn’t stop moving. The Navigator, Ensign Yao, plotted coordinates for future jumps, and then plotted alternative coordinates trying to be as proactive as possible, all the while making small neck twists trying to relax her tightening shoulder muscles. The Tactical officer, Ensign Petrovic, repeatedly checked his systems and nodded to himself during each check.
Stress did interesting things to people. Some thrived on it, while others broke down. Jon always fed on stress. The more pressure, the better he performed. That little character trait came in handy in his line of work.
The ability to think clearly while under fire is what keeps you alive. Jon believed that pressure brought out the best in most people. Not just in the military, but in all walks of life. A deadline often works wonders on someone who otherwise would procrastinate.
Hiding behind these rocks felt like procrastination. It made Jon’s skin crawl. He knew the Juttari were out there and he wanted nothing more than to face them again, but he had to think of his crew now. If it had been him alone and injured, he would still take the fight to the enemy.
Many called it reckless, but it worked for Jon. Being the underdog always pushed him to peak performance. Even with the Hermes weakened, he still thought he could win against the Juttari.
That victory would come at great cost of life, however. It would be smarter to just wait for the repairs. Of course, if the Juttari were to find them, then they would have to fight, vulnerable or not. Was he the only one on board who wanted the Juttari to find them?
CHAPTER 20
“We came from a planet called Earth?” asked Breeah, the AI translating for her.
“Yes, hundreds of years ago humans used the gates to travel to other star systems and colonize other worlds. Your ancestors would have been among those colonists,” answered Ellerbeck.
“But you do not know how my clan ended up here, in Telepylos.”
“No, unfortunately I don’t. Is Telepylos what your home is called?”
“It is the name for the asteroid field. We live within the field.”
“And your people have no stories, no legends, telling of how you came to Telepylos?”
“There are some, but they only tell us that our ancestors wandered the stars before settling here. They say our ancestors sought refuge. That they were hunted like animals, and that Telepylos offered a safe home.”
“Were they Reivers as well?”
“I do not know. Tell me more about this Earth you come from. Do you coexist with these aliens I have seen?”
The memory of the alien on the hangar bay angered Breeah. It was much more aggressive than the humans. She knew that
the humans would not fire on her. She saw it in their posture, even with their battle suits on.
The alien behaved differently though, and Breeah knew it could kill her and her daughter without remorse. And the man they called Chief barely had control over it. It was like a vicious beast that needed to be put down.
“The Diakans. We are allies. They have been a tremendous help to us. Much of the technology you see here is Diakan.”
“I do not understand. They give you their technology freely? Why would they do that?”
“The Diakans liberated us. Different aliens called the Juttari had enslaved us. The Diakans helped us defeat them. They helped us rebuild.”
“I see. These Juttari are enemies of the Diakans. They strengthen you to weaken the Juttari.”
“It’s more than that. The medical technology the Diakans shared with us alone is hundreds of years ahead of anything we understood, if not more. Much of the knowledge we had prior to the occupation was forgotten. We were like lost children. The Diakans helped us find our way.”
“Are they now your masters?”
“They are our allies. We govern ourselves.”
Breeah found Ellerbeck to be somewhat naïve when it came to these Diakans. Still, she paid close attention to her. This elegant woman, this healer, was unlike anyone she had ever known.
There were no female healers in her clan. Yes, the women helped the other women with childbirth and other feminine needs, but no woman had been a healer. She never quite understood why.
Her grandmother always seemed to know what ailed her, and what the proper treatment should be. People would often consult her before calling for the healer. Even when the less trusting called the healer, he would often come to the same conclusion as her grandmother.
Yet she had no healer training. No healer title. She simply had the wisdom of her years. And even when the healer came, he often did not have the medicine needed to treat the ailment. If the reiving raids were fruitful there would be medicine. If not, then the healer would rely on the same treatments her grandmother used.
The Pike Chronicles - Books 1 - 10 Page 9
