The Ship Finder

by John Bluck

  Terac turned away from Lena and glanced at Wilson. "What have you done?"

  "I gave him nano meds and a shot of the antidote," Wilson said. "He's one of a few Sunevian people left. You can debrief him in a few weeks when he's well. Why not keep him as a prisoner, and let Raven go?"

  Terac glanced at Lena. He looked back at Wilson. Terac paused.

  "Come on, Art, do what Bill says," said Lena. She nodded.

  Terac looked at Lena and frowned. "Wilson, keep that guy alive. And goddamn it, Raven, get your weapons," Terac snapped. "Smith, take the bomb out of that backpack, and toss the pack to Raven. Get out of here, Raven, before I change my mind."

  "You're letting me go?"

  "Yeah, but don't use your weapons against us," shouted Terac. "I'll hunt you down if you cross us!"

  "Don't worry," Raven said. He got his weapons, and he waved farewell to Lena and Wilson. "I'm glad you listened to your Inner Ones. Thank you, and I'm sorry we became enemies," he said. He backed away from them, turned, and trotted into the jungle. Wilson felt good.

  He told himself, the fact that Lena helped save Raven and Yarnell might stop her from having a mental breakdown. Wilson poured more nano medicine into Yarnell's head wound, attached a battlefield IV catheter to Yarnell's arm, and started the IV. The IV bottle was loaded with glucose and other nutrients. In a few minutes, Yarnell stirred. The glucose, nutrients, and the nano medicine were bringing him back from the dead.

  Lena stared at Terac. "What's next?" she asked.

  "General Black is flying his ship, The Black Widow, here to pick us up along with two companies of our regular soldiers." Wilson heard a low hum in the sky to the east.

  Chapter 35 – Death's Smell

  About 500 feet above them a black dimension ship loomed over the big jungle clearing. Wilson thought the oval rebel ship must be two football fields in across. As the craft began to ease downward, he clearly saw a red hour-glass icon on its side.

  "Your ship is bigger than I imagined it might be," Wilson said to Terac. Lena stood by them, staring at the warship, a solemn look on her face.

  "It's our biggest ship," said Terac.

  Lena looked away from the mammoth ship. "It's different inside from the Sunevian exploration ships," she said. "I like Sunev's ships better because they're like luxury cruisers."

  Terac shook his head. In half a minute the big warship came to rest in the vast grassy field that was hemmed in by the thick Triodian jungle. A large door opened, and a motorized ramp unfolded to the ground.

  "Her name is The Black Widow," said Terac. "We name our ships so as to give courage to our warriors."

  "How many do you have?" Wilson asked.

  "Hundreds," said Terac. "That was a secret until Sunev surrendered at 1 p.m."

  "That's a lot of ships," said Wilson. "Raven said each side had just a few."

  Terac walked to the ramp as he spoke, "Both sides lied. We just learned that Sunev has more than 300 ships. We'll use them to ferry more soldiers to Sunev."

  Wilson and Lena followed Terac. His boots made imprints on the grass as he trudged to the ramp.

  "I don't look forward to the trip to Sunev," Lena said. "I imagine that lots of tragic events are underway there, even though most of the dying is done." She clutched a handkerchief and wiped a few tears away.

  "We plan to send most of our ships to survey the planet, transport troops, and to oversee recovery," said Terac. "I heard about the plans on radio news when we were trying to find Raven's raiders. We'll make thousands of runs between Triod and Sunev for weeks, probably much longer. Medical teams are giving the antidote to the Sunevian population as fast as they can. But hundreds of millions have died, and probably many more."

  "It will take years to get a handle on it," Wilson said. "When most of the people of a planet die, it may never recover." The three walked up the metal ramp into the ship.

  "First reports tell us a lot more people survived the virus than we had thought possible," said Terac, as he led them into the dim interior. "The reporter on the radio broadcast said that more than ten percent of the people had a natural immunity to the disease."

  "That still leaves nine-tenths of the population dead," said Wilson. He glanced around. Everything was an olive drab shade inside the ship. "There's no way to dispose of all the bodies."

  "Yeah," said Terac. He walked through a short corridor to a large hall with hundreds of flight chairs, just frames covered with olive drab webbing. "Our troops on Sunev have seized all the bulldozers they can find, and they have begun to dig mass graves. Pickup trucks, box trucks, semis, cattle cars, railroad cars, and other kinds of vehicles will take bodies to the graves."

  "It must be chaos," Lena said, as they stopped in the middle of the big hall.

  "That's why we need to go," said Terac. "Sit down. We'll leave for Sunev once troops fill the flight hall. Two companies will join us that were on maneuver in the jungle. You're lucky you didn't run into them."

  We won't have enough soldiers to get a grip on the situation, even if we fill all the available ships, Wilson reckoned. He, Lena, and Terac sat and waited.

  More rebel soldiers from the two companies streamed into the hall and found seats. Some were silent. Others chatted, even smiled. They don't know what they're in for, Wilson forecast.

  "Listen up," said an officer who stood in front of the troops. "I'm Captain Gray. The ship will leave in five minutes for Sunev. Our mission is to bury the dead, to take out any pockets of resistance, and to establish order. Your squad leaders will give you detailed instructions. Thank you." He sat and strapped in.

  A voice from a loudspeaker boomed throughout the room, "One minute before jump. Fasten seatbelts."

  Wilson pulled his seatbelt tight. The Black Widow began to shake more than he ever felt The Ghost Liner vibrate. "Is there something wrong?" Wilson asked.

  "That's normal, Bill," Lena said. "These ships aren't as smooth as the Sunevian ones."

  "Okay," Wilson said, and he settled back to rest. Still, he dreaded what lay ahead on Sunev.

  After two hours the ship uncloaked at the First City Spaceport on Sunev. Wilson looked at the big screen TV in the front of the room, which showed the view outside The Black Widow. Big earth movers dug in a nearby field.

  Captain Gray, who had given the briefing before the jump, arose again. "Please stay in your chairs," he said. "I've been told we'll go airborne to make an aerial survey before we disembark. Also, Colonels Terac, Lavelle, and Wilson, please come forward."

  Lena looked at Terac, "What do they need us for?"

  "I don't know," Terac answered as he stood and walked towards Captain Gray. Wilson and Lena followed.

  "Greetings, officers," said Gray. "I've been told to lead you to the observation deck."

  "Thank you, Captain," said Terac.

  They followed Gray to a double set of doors, which opened to the observation deck. Wilson saw the top rebel leader, General of the Armies Ramon Black. He was looking out of the window, and then he turned to see them approach.

  "Art, Lena, Bill, I'm glad you are on The Black Widow," said the general. He looked relaxed and was clean shaven. He wore a starched olive drab uniform and five stars on his shoulders.

  "General Black, let me congratulate you for leading The Alliance to victory," said Terac. He saluted Black, and so did Lena. Wilson followed suit.

  Black returned their salute. "You don't have to be formal," he said. "We're comrades-in-arms and friends. Please just call me Ramon like always. I'm going to put this uniform in the closet pretty soon."

  "It's good to see you, Ramon," said Lena. "I wondered where you were and what combat you had to lead."

  "You were very brave, as was Bill, to destroy the enemy ship and to help defeat the attack to obliterate the capital's water supply and its people," Black said. "Prepare yourselves to receive medals. Art, you, too, will receive a medal for bravery in battle and for your rescue of Lena and Bill. But first sit with me as we fly over Sunev to look
over the postwar situation." He motioned for the trio to sit alongside him near big observation windows.

  Wilson sat in a lavish flight armchair, which was much more comfortable than the webbed seats in the big room where the troops were sitting. The Black Widow took off and began to fly patterns over First City at about a thousand feet.

  Lena pointed at a caravan of large dump trucks below. "What's that white stuff they carry?" she asked.

  "It's lime," said Black. "In a couple of days bodies will begin to rot. We'll need a lot of lime to throw on the corpses before we cover them with dirt. It will reduce the smell."

  "With that many dead, the stench will be unbearable," Wilson said. And bacteria could mutate and form new strains that could overwhelm health care workers even if they have nano meds, Wilson thought. Farms, factories, sewage treatment, power and transportation systems must have collapsed. This is a logistical nightmare.

  The ship flew over a large shopping center where hundreds of bodies cluttered the parking lot. Big blackbirds jumped from corpse to corpse and pecked them.

  "Look, there are some troops pushing wheelbarrows from the hardware store," Terac said.

  "There's a bulldozer digging in the field," added Lena.

  "Looks like we can land near the dozer," Black said. "Captain Gray, have the pilot land the ship there."

  "Yes, General," said Gray. He walked to the cockpit and talked to the pilot. Within three minutes The Black Widow was on the ground in a big field near the mass grave where the dozer worked covering bodies with soil.

  Black pulled Gray aside. "I want our people to go out there and help collect the dead," said Black. "We've got to do some of the work if only to find out how bad the problem is."

  "Yes, General. We'll send out the troops right away." Gray walked through the double doorway and into the big passenger room.

  "Let's get out there now," said Black.

  Black is a hands-on general, Wilson observed. He probably fights beside his troops. They must love him.

  Black led Terac, Lena, and Wilson down the exit ramp and onto the field near the mass grave. Two soldiers who wore surgical masks shoveled powdered lime onto bodies along the edge of the pit. Clouds of white lime dust blew away from them with the wind. Covered in white lime, the bodies looked like crumpled ghosts.

  "Look," Lena said. Behind a bush on the far side of the grave a rebel soldier urinated on the bodies near him, and another trooper came to join him. They laughed as they relieved themselves.

  "Men, stop that!" yelled Black. He sprinted to the two soldiers. "That's an order."

  The men zipped up their pants and saluted the general. "Sorry, General, we had to go, and we'll cover the bodies in a few minutes anyway," said a tall, muscular corporal. The other man was a short, skinny private first class.

  "Report to your squad leader, and tell him that I have busted you to privates and that you are to report to Captain Gray on my ship. You will be court marshaled. Actions like yours are wrong and will encourage rebellion. Now get the hell over to your squad leader!"

  The two busted soldiers started to walk towards the big box store when a blast behind the huge building rocked the ground.

  "What the hell was that?" Terac asked.

  "Let's find out," said Black, and the four of them trotted to the corner of the building. Terac peeked around the edge of the concrete wall.

  That smells like a fusion grenade, Wilson thought as smoke drifted past them.

  Terac said, "I saw the partial bodies of children, at least two women, and a few men. There's a bunch of body parts and ripped up civilian clothes. My hunch is some of our men executed noncombatants."

  A furious Black stormed around the corner to confront three soldiers including a squad leader who had just climbed out of a deep bunker. Wilson saw dismembered bodies of men, women, and children near the store's cratered concrete wall.

  "Soldiers, you're under arrest," said Black. "Place your arms on the ground." The men put their ray guns, knives, and three marble-size fusion grenades on the dirt.

  "General," said the squad leader, "may I speak?"

  "Yes, soldier."

  "These people were Sunevian spies. We carried out the sentence for spying."

  "How can a child be a spy? It's possible a couple of the women could have been spies, but my guess is that none of these people were spies. You had no right to do this. Colonel Terac, secure their hands behind their backs."

  "Yes, General," Terac said. He glanced around, looking for rope or twine to tie up the men. Lena and Wilson pulled out their ray guns and pointed them at the soldiers.

  If stuff like this happens around the planet, there'll be a counter-revolution, even if most of the people are dead, Wilson worried. More than ten percent of the population survived, and they are bound to fight if they think they'll be killed anyway.

  Terac found a coil of electrical wire, cut off some with a bayonet, and bound the squad leader first. Then he tied up the other two men.

  "Colonel, escort these men to the brig and lock them in," said Black.

  "Yes, General," Terac said. He shoved the big squad leader to get him and the others to begin to walk towards The Black Widow.

  Lena wiped her eyes with her handkerchief, and then she sobbed, "These guys are doing everything the Great Leader did. What did we fight for?"

  "We've got to stop this shit," said Black. "We'll be fighting a long guerilla war if we don't get a handle on this."

  Lena cried so much it was hard for her to talk, but she said, "I'm glad we're alone. I've got to say this. I can't take it anymore, and I need to get away from this war. I've done my part. Please help me, Ramon."

  "What do you want me to do?"

  "I want to be a civilian. I don't think I can stay on Sunev or even Triod," she said. "I need a break."

  "Why don't you and Wilson go back to Earth for a while," Black said. "You've done more than your part. Things could clear up in a year or so."

  "How soon can we go?" Lena asked.

  "Maybe in a week, after our recon here ends," said Black. "Then again, I might get you there sooner, but you need to see the ship psychologist in the meantime. Please don't take that wrong. You and Wilson have been through a lot. It's normal to be depressed. I'm sad, too, and I'll probably visit Dr. Kamara in the next few days as well."

  "Dr. Kamara?"

  "Yes, Jean Kamara is a very good counselor. I've consulted with her many times, and she has helped me cope with tough things such as when I've sent friends to their deaths. Jean is aboard The Black Widow so she can help with problems associated with combat as well as other difficulties people may have. If she says you need to leave for Earth right away, I'll approve it."

  "All right," she said. "Is that okay with you, Bill?"

  "Yes."

  "You two can go see her right now, if you want," said Black. "I'll get Captain Gray to help me get this area under control. Then we'll take off and look for other trouble spots. I'll issue orders to stop this shit."

  "Thanks, Ramon," Lena said, and she took Wilson's hand.

  They walked to the ship's ramp and went inside to find Dr. Jean Kamara.

  Chapter 36 – The Psychologist

  Lena and Wilson quickly located Dr. Jean Kamara's office aboard The Black Widow. Lena tapped on her door.

  "Come in," Kamara said. "It's open."

  "Hello," said Lena, as she padded tears from her eyes with a tissue. "General Black suggested we see you."

  Kamara sat behind a small wooden desk. She rose, shook hands with Lena and Wilson, and said, "I'm pleased to meet you."

  "My name is Colonel Lena Lavelle, and this is Dr. William Wilson of Earth."

  "I'm glad you're onboard, Dr. Kamara," Wilson said. "Lena and I both have gone through a lot in the last couple of weeks, not to mention in the last month or two."

  "We expect that there will be more problems in times of war than in times of peace," Kamara said. "Please have a seat." She pointed to a well-worn, tan leather c
ouch. She sat down in an easy chair. "Could you tell me what you've experienced?"

  Lena cleared her throat and said, "I've killed a shipload of people I know, Sunevians, but they were my friends. I did this for the revolution. We've won, but now I see that we do the same things to the Sunevians as they had done to us rebels. I don't know if I can live with this, and I need to go away. I have done nothing useful. I caused a lot more harm than good."

  "You're a companion clone, right?"

  "Yes, but what has that got to do with it?"

  "For a person brought up by a mother and a father, war can destroy his or her emotional stability. But for a clone who had no parents except a series of caretakers, war is even more of a strain. It's not your fault. I can help you to understand what's happened to you, Lena."

  "So what, if I had caretakers instead of parents? Early on I had to fend for myself."

  "Yes, that's true, but to learn to take care of yourself was a matter of survival, not just physical survival, but emotional survival. That could mean you would do anything to stay alive, things like stealing or lying, to perhaps get extra food or a small toy."

  "We never lacked food."

  "But you never received love from one main caretaker. Total love from at least one parent makes life worth it. Your story is not unique, so don't feel like you are to blame for your state of mind. The Sunevian system brought to life millions of beautiful companion clones like you, mass produced like chickens to be toys for lonely men and women. There were a small number of couples who adopted a few clones when they were babies. They were lucky. So, how do you feel about yourself?

  "I sometimes feel worthless," Lena said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  "Since you have never experienced parental love, it's no wonder that you feel that way. And you were trained to please men, right?"

  "Yes, to do anything they wanted. Look, I don't know if I'm ready to talk about my companion education. Much of it embarrasses me." Lena sobbed, unable to say more.