by Ryk Brown
“Makes sense. If that’s the case, I’m betting they’re on the bridge. It’s designed to be a self-contained vault. It has its own power generation, life support, and water recycling systems. It even has its own airlock into the corridor. It can support the entire bridge staff for months. At least, the Aurora’s bridge can.” She looked around at the numerous open panels and loosely hanging conduits. “I’m not so sure about this place.”
“Might they also have evacuated aft?” Major Waddell asked. “Perhaps to engineering?”
“It’s possible. There are airlocks passing through the primary aft bulkhead in case they have to decompress the entire propulsion section during an out-of-control fire.”
“Perhaps we should send some of our team aft,” Major Waddell suggested.
“The bridge is just around the corner,” Jessica said. “If no one is there, we’ll all head aft.”
“As you wish.”
Jessica turned the next corner, arriving at the port entrance to the Celestia’s bridge. The outer airlock hatch was closed, a condition she had never seen on the Aurora. She walked up to the control panel next to the hatch and examined it, pressing several buttons in an attempt to activate the airlock controls. “It’s locked out,” she said, “from the inside.”
“There is no manual override?”
“Nope. It’s designed to be a vault, remember?”
“Even a vault can be opened,” the major said.
“Yeah? Well, there are only two ways to open this one. We cut our way in, which will work but will take forever. It’s also likely to scare them into blowing up the ship.”
“What is the second way?”
Jessica pulled out a small bundle of cable. “A comm adapter. Vlad made it for me.”
Jessica plugged one end into a jack on the side of her helmet. “This allows me to connect the ship’s intercom system with your Corinairan suit’s comm system.”
“The ship appears dead,” the major said. “Will the intercom even work?”
“They’re sound powered,” she told him, “like those used on ocean-going warships on pre-plague Earth, only far more sophisticated. No external power source.” She smiled as she placed a small box over the speaker grill on the intercom panel and pressed a button to activate the unit. The device instantly clamped down around the grill and sealed itself in place. She connected the other end of the cable to the device, then activated the intercom. “Celestia bridge, this is Lieutenant Commander Jessica Nash of the Earth Defense Force. I am outside your airlock, requesting entry. I have authentication codes for your validation. Do you copy?” She looked at Major Waddell and shrugged her shoulders. After a minute, she repeated her hail, after which she switched the intercom button off again. She looked at the major.
“They may be dead,” he told her. “We do not know how long ago this deck was depressurized.”
“That is a possibility.” Jessica activated the intercom again. “Crew of the Celestia currently occupying the bridge, I’m going to read my authentication codes to you.” Jessica slowly rattled off the long, three-part identification code given to her by President Scott. Again she waited. After another minute, she said, “Celestia bridge crew, I’m awaiting validation.” She looked at the major again.
“How do I know you are who you say you are?” a voice answered. It was a male voice, partially obscured by static and at a low volume due to the electromagnetic adapter used to generate the simulated sound waves.
“Hey! You’re alive!” Jessica said. “That’s great! But I didn’t quite copy your last message. Can you repeat?”
“I said, how do I know you are who you say you are?” the voice repeated more slowly and with greater volume.
“Uh, ‘cause I gave you the correct authentication codes.”
“You could have gotten them from a prisoner or stolen them. Or you could be a Jung collaborator.”
“Collaborator?” she said, suddenly getting angry. “I’m gonna…” Jessica cut herself off mid-sentence, pausing to regain her composure. “I’m gonna let that remark slide, since you don’t know what I’ve been through over the last five months.”
“The question still stands,” the voice said.
“Yes, I admit, those are all possibilities. Listen, what’s your name?”
“Luis.”
“You got a last name, Luis?”
“Delaveaga.”
“What’s your rank, Delaveaga?”
“Ensign.”
“Okay, Ensign, what’s your sixth general order?”
“Why?”
“Humor me, Ensign.”
“To receive, obey, and pass on to the sentry who relieves me all orders from the commanding officer, command duty officer, officer of the deck, and officers of the watch only. Now what the fuck is your point?”
“So, Ensign Delaveaga, try obeying the order to respect those who presented you with proper authentication codes.”
“Why?”
Jessica was becoming irritated. “Because if the codes were compromised, then the war is over. That means the people of Earth are Jung slaves, and nothing you or I do here will matter. So either blow the fucking ship or open the goddamned door, but quit wasting my time!”
“Nice try.”
Jessica looked at Waddell as she switched off the intercom. “What the hell does this asshole want from us, the latest sports scores?”
Waddell looked confused by her statement.
Jessica switched the intercom back on. “You know we can cut our way in, right?”
“And my orders, from my commanding officer, are to blow the ship if you do.”
Jessica switched off the intercom and looked at Waddell. “This is going to be harder than I thought.” She switched the intercom back on. “Look, I know that you are under orders to blow up the ship rather than let her fall into enemy hands, and I respect that you’re just trying to follow those orders. But I’m telling you, we’re on your side, Luis. Besides, if you blow yourself up, you’ll also be destroying whatever technology is still on those data cores you’re carrying. We’ve only scratched the surface, you know. There’s probably lots of really advanced stuff on there that we just don’t yet have the means of manufacturing.”
Major Waddell looked at Jessica. “How do you know this?”
Jessica switched the intercom off momentarily. “Abby told me… and told me, and told me.”
“How do you know about the data cores?” Luis asked.
“The same way I knew the authentication codes. Buckeye, remember?”
There was silence.
Jessica switched off the intercom and looked at Waddell again. “That’s got his brain twisting.” She smiled.
“Where’s your ship?” Luis asked.
“It’s parked right outside,” Jessica answered. “Surely you can see it on the main view screen—you know, that big dome-shaped thing that wraps around half the damned bridge.”
“That ship is just a shuttle,” Luis said. “A big one, yes, but there’s no way that ship made it all the way here from Earth. Why haven’t I seen its design before? Why can’t I identify its power source, and how did you sneak up on us like that?”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Sorry, most of that is classified, I’m afraid.”
“Wrong answer.”
Major Waddell looked at her. “He’s going to find out anyway, assuming he does not blow us all up.”
Jessica shrugged, her eyebrows raising. “Fine, you want answers? Here you go. The shuttle is Corinairan. Nice folks, live on a beautiful Earth-like world about a thousand light years from here. The power source, well, that’s a Takaran design. They’re neighbors of the Corinairans. They used to be a monarchy run by an evil jerk named Caius until I blew his face off. It was a really nice
shot. You should have seen it. Oh, and we used the shuttle’s jump drive to sneak up on you.” She looked at Waddell.
“That might be over doing it, Nash,” the major said, one eyebrow raised.
She switched off the intercom. “I’m starting to lose my patience with this guy.”
“That was pretty good, really,” Luis answered, sounding amused. “But you forgot about your ship. What ship are you from? Where’s it hiding?”
“I’m from the Aurora, and it’s currently about two light years away, waiting for me to report back.”
“The Aurora, huh?” Luis said, fighting back the laughter. “Who’s your captain?”
“Nathan Scott,” she answered. As soon as the name left her lips, she realized she had made a mistake.
“Wrong! You almost had me, too!” Luis laughed openly. “You have a great imagination though! You should consider writing science fiction stories for the Earth-Net.”
Jessica sighed and looked upward as she switched off the intercom for a moment. “Damn it, I fucked up. I should have said Roberts.” After pausing a moment, she switched the intercom back on. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe, really. If I hadn’t lived it, I wouldn’t believe it either, but it’s true. Every last word of it.”
“I knew Nathan Scott,” Luis said. “I knew him well. There’s no way that guy is captain of anything. Besides, the Aurora was lost five months ago, in this very same area ironically enough.”
“But…”
“Look, Nash, or whoever you are, you tried. You failed. So either start cutting your way in or get the hell off this ship.”
“I can’t do that,” Jessica exclaimed. “What do I have to do to convince you I’m telling the truth?”
“You want to know what you have to do?” Luis asked.
“Yes!”
“Show me Nathan Scott!” Luis insisted, anger sneaking into his tone. “I want to hear it from his mouth!”
The intercom went silent. Jessica unplugged the cable from her helmet, leaving it to hang loosely from the device in the minuscule gravity of Metis.
Major Waddell looked at Jessica as she turned to depart. “Where are you going?”
“He wants Nathan Scott? We’re gonna give him Nathan Scott.”
* * *
“Sir, I really want to believe it’s true. I really do. But I’m telling you, it just doesn’t add up. That ship, their EVA suits, and that outrageous story she made up? When she started talking about the Aurora and Nathan being the captain, that was it. I knew I had her.”
“But why would she make up a story like that?” Devyn said. “I could think of a dozen more believable stories than that.”
“She’s got a point,” Lieutenant Commander Kovacic said over the comm-set.
“Sir, Nathan Scott was my roommate for four years at the Academy. He was my best friend. He’s a great guy, but there is no way he’d make captain. He’s too much of a screw-up.”
“Wait, isn’t he the son of the president?”
“Yes, but the president was only a senator back then,” Luis pointed out. “He didn’t get elected president of the NAU until a few months after the Aurora was lost.”
“Any chance his daddy pulled some strings…”
“I know what you’re thinking, sir, but no way. They didn’t get along. Nathan’s father didn’t even like the EDF, and he certainly didn’t like it when Nathan joined up. I don’t see him trying to help his son’s career. If anything, he’d probably try to get him kicked out or assigned to surface duty.”
“So you think this Nash person is using a bunch of screwed-up data then?”
“Maybe the Jung have collected bits and pieces of information from old news broadcasts or something. Maybe they thought it was believable that Nathan would be promoted, since his father was elected president.”
“But why would that woman say she was from the Aurora?” Devyn asked. “Surely the Jung knew that the Aurora was lost and that we knew the Aurora was lost as well.”
“That’s the part that worries me,” the lieutenant commander said. “They wouldn’t. That lie would be too easy to spot.”
“So you think she was telling the truth?” Luis asked. “You think the Aurora is alive and well, and Nathan Scott is in command?” Luis couldn’t believe it. “Come on, sir. That’s ridiculous!”
“I don’t know what to think at this point,” Lieutenant Commander Kovacic declared.
“I’m telling you, sir, Nathan Scott is dead and so is the Aurora. That girl was a Jung collaborator. I’d bet my life on it.”
“You just might be, Ensign,” the lieutenant commander said. “We might all be.”
“What do we do in the meantime?” Devyn wondered. “They’re bound to come back.”
“The charges are all set. We can blow it remotely from here, and you can blow it from your panel up there. We can also set it on a timer if necessary. When they come back, we can still blow the ship.”
“What if they manage to access our environmental systems?” Devyn wondered. “They could introduce a gas, something that would render us unconscious.”
“We’ll just have to keep a sharp eye out.”
“You want me to start using active scanners?” Luis asked. “That way, they couldn’t sneak up on us.”
“No, not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because if she was EDF and not Jung, going active would bring the real Jung right to us.”
“That’s going to leave us with a lot of cameras to watch, sir.”
“We’ve got lots of screens back here and more people. Patch all the cameras back to us as well, and we’ll help out. Meanwhile, you watch the passive sensors for anything out of the ordinary. I doubt they’ll be back soon. It takes several hours just to go around the back side of Jupiter.”
“Yes, sir.” Luis switched off his comm-set, leaned back in his chair, and sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.
“So you really don’t think she was telling the truth?” Devyn asked.
“Devyn, I want Nathan to be alive, too. He was my best friend for four really long years. I even took him back to spend a couple weeks with my family. He was like a brother to me. But captain of the Aurora? No way. The guy barely passed basic flight.”
“I always thought he was pretty smart.”
“Smart, yes,” Luis agreed. “Just irresponsible. He didn’t start taking things seriously until his third year. There’s just no way he would be in command of the Aurora, even if she did survive.”
Luis leaned forward and pressed a button on his console. The main view screen switched cameras.
“Which view is this?” Devyn asked.
“Primary view,” Luis explained as he rose from his seat at the tactical station and moved to the command chair in the middle of the bridge. “It’s pretty much the same as if we were standing on the hull directly above us.” He sat down in the command chair, slowly rotating from side to side as he looked over the massive, spherical view screen. “It’s as good a place to watch as any right now. At least I can see everything easily from here.”
“It is a pretty nice view,” Devyn said, looking out at Jupiter as it filled most of the view beyond the surface of Metis.
A brilliant blue-white flash suddenly filled the screen, washing the entire bridge with its blinding light. Both Luis and Devyn instinctively raised their hands, palms forward, to shield their eyes from the flash.
“What the…” Luis exclaimed, nearly falling out of the command chair.
The flash subsided as quickly as it had come. Luis lowered his arms and looked at the view screen. Directly in front of them was the Aurora, upside down and hovering only a few hundred meters above them, her forward section directly above them.
“Oh, my God,”
Devyn whispered, her voice taken from her by the shock of what she was seeing.
“Bridge! Kovacic! Are you seeing what we’re seeing?!” the lieutenant commander called over the comm-set.
Luis ignored the lieutenant commander’s hails, transfixed by the impossible image he was seeing before him.
“Delaveaga!” the lieutenant commander repeated. “Can you hear me?! Is that what I think it is?”
Something beeped. Devyn turned away from the view screen toward the comm station behind her, moving up onto the platform and behind the primary comm console. “We’re being hailed,” she said in disbelief.
Luis turned around. “From…” he couldn’t say the words.
“I think so,” Devyn answered. She looked at Luis, who stood there staring at her, his faced covered with indecision. “Shouldn’t we answer?”
Luis’s eyes were wide. “Yeah,” he whispered, still in a state of shock.
“Luis!” the lieutenant commander called over the comm-set. “Answer me, damn it!”
Luis continued to stare at Devyn as she accepted the hail. “They’re asking for video.”
“Put it up,” Luis answered meekly as he began to turn around.
“Mister Delaveaga,” Nathan said over the comms.
Luis spun around, not believing his ears. There, on the view screen in front of him, was the image of his friend, Nathan Scott, his image filling the entire screen. He was on the bridge of the Aurora, sitting in a rather relaxed position in the command chair with staff working busily about him. He was smiling from ear to ear. “Nathan?”
“Glad to see you survived, Luis,” Nathan answered, sitting up straighter in the command chair.
“Is it really you?” Luis asked, still in disbelief.
“Yeah, it’s really me.”
“But, how…”
“Listen, buddy, we’re kind of in a hurry here. So if you’d be so kind as to disarm your charges and prepare to be boarded, I’d really appreciate it.”
