Mission Origin View (Final Days Trilogy)

by Knox, Barry

  “The duty roster has been sent,” his Anna responded, and then added, “Petty officer Sipes will arrive in a few seconds.”

  “Thank you, Anna. Unless Captain Bowser needs me, please see I’m not disturbed until I’ve finished with the petty officer,” Gideon said.

  “Of course, Gideon,” Anna said.

  Several loud knocks on Gideon’s office door announced the arrival of Joseph.

  “Enter.” Gideon said.

  Joseph entered, stood at attention in front of Gideon’s disk, and said, “Sir, Petty Officer Sipes reporting as ordered!”

  “At ease, Sipes, and have a seat,” Gideon said as he closed some other holographic files on his desk that he was working on. Joseph sat down and looked at Gideon, trying to figure out why he had been ordered to his office.

  “Sipes, there’s something I have to tell you,” Gideon said. He paused for a moment, recalling exactly what Mucha had told him. “Before Sergeant Mucha died, he asked me to tell you something.” Joseph’s eyes widened as Gideon continued. “He said to tell you he read the book and it saved his life. He also wanted you to know that’s why he sacrificed himself to help save the lives of the prisoners.”

  Joseph sat there for a few seconds, looking puzzled, and then said, “Sir, I’m not sure what that means. Do you?”

  “Afraid not, Sipes,” Gideon said, hoping Joseph knew what it meant. “I can tell you this, Sipes. He died as peacefully as I’ve ever seen anyone die before. He had a smile on his face, and for a moment I think he looked forward to death. That’s the best way I can explain it.”

  They both sat for a few seconds, saying nothing, and Gideon finally said, “You did a great job on the mission, Sipes. If it wasn’t for you, we would have loss Gunny Xia and Manelly, not to mention several of the civilians.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Joseph said. He paused a second and then added, “If it wasn’t for Michael, I couldn’t have done it. He really helped me.”

  Gideon thought for a second and recalled how different Michael seemed to treat and talk to Joseph. “What do you mean? What did he do to help you?”

  “When we were on that hill next to the little building, I was really scared. I didn’t think I was going to live, much less think I was going to save anyone else like my grandma told me I would in my dreams. Then Michael spoke to me and guaranteed me that I’d be okay and that we’d all get back to the ship,” Joseph explained.

  “Sipes, you…” Gideon stopped. He was going to tell Joseph that Michael was just giving him a little hope and Michael couldn’t really have guaranteed he’d survive. Then, remembering what he himself had witnessed that day, Gideon just decided to let it go and let Joseph believe what he wanted. There were still a lot of things that had happened that day that couldn’t be explained.

  “What were you going to say, sir?” Joseph asked a few seconds later.

  “I was just going to say I want you to be part of the burial of Sergeant Mucha when we get back to Earth. The sergeant’s record shows he requested to be buried close to his home on Earth. I think he’d like you there,” Gideon said.

  “I would like that,” Joseph said.

  Sick Bay, SRS Stephen Hawking

  1930—February 29, 2372

  After dinner, Mary, Commander Steward, and Gideon decided to check on the sick and wounded in the sick bay. As they entered the sick bay, Gideon saw Hospital Corpsman Wong changing a nano bandage on one of the children in a bed close to the door. When Wong looked up and saw the officers, Mary quietly said, “Carry on, Corpsman. We just want to visit for a few minutes.”

  “Yes, sir,” he responded as he continued with the bandage on the child’s left thigh. Although there was a little pain associated with changing a nano bandage, the child lay there, not moving or making a sound. “I’ll get Doctor Pettway for you when I’m finished here, sir. I think she’s with another patient at the other end of the ward.”

  “No need,” Mary said with a smile directed at the child, who was now looking at Mary.

  “What’s your name?” Mary asked as she walked toward the child. The little girl had very short brown hair and dark brown eyes, and she looked to be about seven years old. She was very thin and was connected to several IVs that supplied nourishment directly into her bloodstream. The little girl said nothing and continued to look at Mary with a blank stare.

  “We don’t know her name yet,” Corpsman Wong said. “She hasn’t talked. I think the cat has her tongue,” Wong added with a smile as he patted the child on the head.

  “Captain, I’m done here. If you’d like, I’ll show you around and give you a brief status on our patients,” Wong said as he covered the little girl with a sheet and tucked her in.

  “That would be nice, Corpsman,” Mary said.

  Corpsman Wong gently stroked the little girl’s head again, turned, and led the Captain, Gideon, and Commander Steward down the main aisle of the sick bay. The aisle was lined with beds on both sides, and each bed was separated with curtains. The aisle ran along the length of the ship and was about forty yards long. At the end of the aisle were two operating rooms, one diagnostic room, and one supply room. It was a standard size bay for a frigate-class vessel.

  The small group followed Corpsman Wong down the aisle until he stopped and pulled a curtain open. They walked in. Gunny Xia lay on the bed, attached to several IVs; nano bandages had been wrapped around his right shoulder and right arm. His left leg had been placed in a sealed nano tube that ran from his foot to his upper thigh. The tube contained a special nano solution that would speed up the repair of his crushed leg.

  “Gunny Xia is doing much better. We took him off the respirator this afternoon, and he has been breathing well ever since. Doctor Pettway has placed him in a controlled coma until his leg, shoulder, and arm have healed a bit more. We’ll probably keep him out for two weeks,” Wong said as he read a medical report from his handheld medical analyzer.

  “What’s his prognosis?” Gideon asked, looking concerned.

  “He should be able to return to light duty in six weeks,” Wong answered. “Doctor Pettway told me if his leg would’ve been under that crate for much longer, we would’ve had to amputate. He’s a lucky man.”

  “It wasn’t luck, Corpsman; it was a big man who wanted to save him,” Gideon said.

  Just as Gideon finished speaking, Joseph walked through the opened curtain. “Sorry, sirs!” Joseph said in a surprised tone, then stood at attention.

  “At ease, Petty Officer. What are you doing here?” Mary asked.

  “I was going to sit with Gunny for a while and read to him. Doctor Pettway said it was okay,” Joseph explained as he relaxed. “I’ve already read to him several times today.”

  “Very well, Sipes. Carry on. We were just leaving,” Mary said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Joseph replied as he stepped aside to allow them to leave.

  Expecting the Captain to remind Sipes to address her as “sir” or “Captain,” Gideon was surprised when Mary walked out of the curtain-walled room without saying a word. Commander Steward and Corpsman Wong followed as Gideon stood there, surprised.

  When they had left, Gideon leaned over to Joseph and whispered, “Sipes, don’t address the Captain as ‘ma’am’ again.”

  Joseph eyes opened wide, and he replied, “Sorry, sir. I forgot. It won’t happen again.”

  Gideon gave him a smile, patted him on the shoulder, and left.

  When Gideon caught up with the group, Commander Steward and Corpsman Wong were standing outside another curtain-enclosed bed area, discussing meal schedules for the patients. Mary was inside, standing by the bed where another child, a boy, lay. Gideon walked in and stood by Mary. The child was asleep and looked a lot like the girl he had seen when he walked into the sick bay. The boy was thin with short blonde hair, connected to several IV’s and had a few small nano bandages on his face.

  “Sir?” Gideon whispered.

  “Yes, Lieutenant?” Mary whispered back.

 
“I was just wondering why you didn’t correct Sipes when he addressed you as ‘ma’am,’” he said.

  “I decided he is allowed,” she replied without hesitation.

  Caught off guard, Gideon followed up. “Any reason, Captain?”

  “The way and reason he addresses me as ‘ma’am’ are just as respectful as the way the rest of the crew and your marines address me as ‘sir’ or ‘Captain,” she replied. She paused and added, “No more questions on the subject, Lieutenant.”

  “Yes, sir,” Gideon said with a smile.

  A few seconds later Dr. Pettway walked in. “I’ve been busy, Captain, and haven’t had a chance to properly let you know how our patients are doing.”

  “That’s fine, Doctor. I didn’t expect you to give me a status until you were ready. We’re just going to walk through and get an idea of what you’re up against. Please don’t stop for us. We can discuss the situation later,” Mary said.

  “Well, sir, it just so happens everything seems to be settling down now, and I was going to contact you anyway and ask that we meet. I’ve found some interesting things I think you should know,” Dr. Pettway said. “Is now a good time, sir?”

  “Yes,” Mary said. “Would you like to speak to me privately, or can Commander Steward and Lieutenant Klaxton join us?”

  Pettway thought for a second and said, “It might be a good idea to have them join us, Captain, especially, Lieutenant Klaxton. He might be able to help me understand some things concerning my patients. We can meet in the diagnostics room if you’d like.”

  The group followed Dr. Pettway to the medical diagnostic room. Commander Steward and Mary sat in the only two seats in the room, while Gideon and Dr. Pettway stood. Dr. Pettway said, “Unfortunately, two of the women and one of the children have died. We currently have five women, ages ranging somewhere between sixty-five to ninety-five, and eleven children, ages four to eleven. They are all malnourished and have various cuts, infections, and parasites. I expect they’ll fully recover physically, but their mental recovery is a whole other matter. Only a few of the women have spoken, and none of the kids have said a word. It has to be some type of post-traumatic syndrome condition. From the wounds, scars, and skeletal bone scans I’ve seen, I’m sure all of them have been tortured. That probably has a lot to do with their state of mind.”

  “Have you talked with the women who have spoken?” Mary asked.

  “No, sir, not yet. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I don’t think it’s the right time to talk about it. I’ll probably talk to them when they are feeling better and feel safe.” Dr. Pettway paused and looked at Gideon. “Lieutenant Klaxton, I noted from a blood test that all the women and children were exposed to some type of biological agent I can’t identify. I assume it must have happened before you found them because Gunny Xia’s blood test didn’t have the agent. Do you happen to know what it is or how they may have been exposed?”

  “No, Doctor, I don’t. Sorry,” Gideon said.

  “Is it dangerous, and is it contagious?” Mary asked with a concerned look on her face.

  Dr. Pettway smiled. “No, Captain, it’s not life-threatening or contagious. But to tell you the truth, Captain…I wish it were contagious.”

  “Really, Doctor. Why do you say that?” Mary asked surprised.

  “I did a standard DNA test on each patient to gather information on the damage to their DNA. I expected to see damage caused by naturally occurring mutagens, genetic mutations, and age-related damage to the DNA in the old women. As you know, once I know the damage, I can start treatment to prevent future health issues.” Dr. Pettway paused with a puzzled look and continued. “What I found was amazing; none of the patients had any type of DNA damage! It’s one in a million to find a newborn baby with no DNA damage. Finding no DNA damage in sixteen patients, aging from four to ninety-five, is statistically impossible. The only thing the patients have in common is the unknown biological agent I found in their blood, so my theory is the agent somehow has repaired their damaged DNA. I’ll, of course, have to do further testing to try and prove it.”

  “Michael,” Gideon said in a low voice. He remembered how Michael had shielded the women and children against the atmosphere on Leonis when he escorted them from the building to Bernice. Could he have given them something or done something to them? In a louder voice he said, “Michael, our contact on Leonis may have something to do with it.” Gideon then explained what he had seen.

  Bridge, SRS Stephen Hawking

  0555—March 3, 2372

  Mary sat in her command seat as she watched her bridge crew double-check their status consoles. She took a deep breath and gave the order to prepare to proceed to the first observation point using the course Stephen had plotted. Never in the history of space exploration had man attempted to go so far using such speed. Mary wanted to make sure everything was operating perfectly before she allowed the maximum energy created by the HPS antimatter system to power the ship’s engines and BHP. She didn’t want her ship and crew to go down in history as the largest man-made explosion.

  All the scientists and officers had gathered on the bridge for this historic event and the ship’s external camera videos were being piped to every holographic display on the ship so the crew could witness the occasion.

  “Final system status report please,” Mary ordered as she shifted positions in her command seat.

  “Weapons systems disabled, and weapons deployment fail-safe protocol is enabled,” Commander Steward replied.

  “Primary and secondary communications systems are showing no errors, and all ship’s video cameras are recording,” Ensign Young reported.

  “Course vector has been verified using navigation simulation authentication programs,” Lieutenant LaPalm said.

  “HPS, BHP, and engines are all green across the board. All systems are ready for maximum power,” Lieutenant Commander Vanderver responded.

  “Very well,” Mary said. “Stephen, you have control of the ship. Start audible countdown at T minus ten seconds and proceed to the observation point coordinates.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Stephen’s voice replied over the bridge intercom.

  ***

  Gideon stood beside Sergeant Tidwell, who had been assigned bridge security duty. He was the only enlisted person on the bridge.

  Gideon leaned over and asked in a whisper, “Sergeant, how does it feel to be part of history?”

  “To be honest, sir, I’d rather be anywhere than on this keg of dynamite,” Tidwell whispered back with a smile. “I’m not very optimistic this is going to work.”

  ***

  A minute later Stephen began the countdown. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Systems activated.”

  Microseconds later the extreme amount of power generated from the antimatter HPS was allowed to flow to the aft engines and forward BHP. Gravity panels embedded in the floor, ceiling, and walls throughout the ship kept the crew safe from the deadly gravity forces and the instantaneous acceleration. The entire crew of the ship looked at the view provided from the forward video camera as the BHP projected a black hole. The black hole was enormous. Ensign Young had to adjust the camera so the entire singularity could be displayed. The size awed the entire crew, and Mary wondered if it was supposed to be as big. An instant later the ship entered the time-speed dimension. The enormous black hole remained stationary, but the close stars and distant galaxies that weren’t hidden by the singularity passed by as if they were comets with long, thin tails.

  “You’ve done it, Doctor Harper!” Dr. Jones exclaimed and gave him a brief congratulatory hug. The other doctors, standing close by, also congratulated him.

  “Thank you, but we’d better see if my theory is now law,” Dr. Harper said in his Southern drawl to the group of doctors. Then he looked toward Mary. “Permission to have Stephen verify our trajectory and vector, Captain?”

  “Granted,” Mary replied with a smile, not really knowing if her smile was a way to congratulate Dr. Ha
rper or if she was just happy to still be alive.

  “Stephen, report our current trajectory and vector,” Dr. Harper said.

  “On course to observation point. Estimated arrival time in six hundred seventy two point seven five hours. Speed is increasing per calculated trajectory vector. Ship will reach maximum acceleration speed in three hundred thirty six point three eight hours and then begin a controlled deceleration to our destination,” Stephen reported.

  “Thank you, Stephen,” Dr. Harper said.

  ***

  “Sir, what does all that mean?” Tidwell whispered to Gideon as the scientists once again congratulated Dr. Harper on his success.

  “We’re going faster than anything has every gone in the time-speed dimension, and our speed is increasing,” Gideon said. “We’ll continue to speed up until we get halfway to our destination, and then we’ll turn the ship one hundred eighty degrees and start a gradual slowdown until we get there.”

  “That’s all fine and good, sir,” Tidwell said. He paused and added, “But is everything working as it’s supposed to, and are we going to live?”

  Gideon smiled and answered, “Sergeant, looks like everything is working fine, and we’re going to live.”

  Sick Bay, SRS Stephen Hawking

  0947—March 4, 2372

  Corpsman Wong had been in sick bay, caring for his patients for days. He’d grabbed a nap and something to eat whenever he had a chance. All the patients were getting better physically, but none of the children had spoken, and the women weren’t saying much. Gunny Xia’s monitoring equipment reported he was healing as expected, and Wong was replacing the nano bandages wrapped around Xia’s leg when Joseph walked in.

  “Hi, Thomas,” Joseph said with a smile. The two were now on a first-name basis.

  “Hi, Joseph. You want to read to Gunny?” Wong asked.

  “Yep, unless there’s something you’d like me to do while you’re finished up here,” Joseph said.