"Hold your fire, Weapons."
"I warn you, Captain, failure to follow my order will be met with dire consequences."
"We are not at war with the Federation, Commander, an attack on either of those ships could change that situation. I'm going to hear them out."
"Such insolence cannot go unpunished!" shouted Pavlovich. "Sergeant Zlotnik? Take Lieutenant Grasmik into custody and put him in the brig with his fellow traitor. I'll take command myself."
This was a highly irregular situation, but the rules regarding such things were clear. The political officer declaring himself to be in physical command of the vessel was, justifiably, against regulations. The military authorities had insisted upon it.
"All due respect, Commander, but I can't follow that order. It is not legal."
"You'll all be executed for this!" shouted Pavlovich.
"I suggest you calm yourself, Commander," said Zlotnik, his hand placed meaningfully on his sidearm.
Pavlovich finally realized that he'd temporarily lost control of the situation and had no recourse but to allow the bridge crew to observe the message. Nuriyev keyed it up on the main viewscreen.
The crew of Lenin was treated to a view from the engineering section of a Soviet ship identical to the one they were on. A disheveled-looking young sailor in a Soviet engineer's coverall was frantically sending a message.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is engineering technician Rudolph Lysenko onboard Murmansk." The poor young sailor, obviously badly shaken, was barely able to keep his voice under control. "I...I think ship has been taken over by alien creatures! This is video I take from monitors in engineering."
The video display showed a squat, sinister-looking creature with four arms and two legs, armed with what appeared to be a hand weapon of some kind. As the personnel on the bridge of Lenin watched in horrified fascination, the creature used its formidable-looking weapon to blast Murmansk's chief engineer in the back. It then shoved the dead man out of the command chair, turned to face the video camera and performed an obvious visual sweep of the engineering section. Apparently finding no further crewmembers to kill, the creature took a seat at the engineering control panel and began making adjustments to it.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is engineering technician Rudolph Lysenko! Aliens have taken over our ship..."
The blond woman came back onto the screen. "The political officer on Murmansk was harboring these creatures, passing them off as 'Ambassadors' for a mysterious new ally. The creatures killed everyone on board Murmansk except engineer Lysenko who barricaded himself down in the engineering section. He set the fusion reactor on overload to stop them. You must ensure that your own ship is not similarly compromised! Once again, I urge you to stand down. We are not your enemy!"
Lieutenant Grasmik and the rest of the command staff of Lenin all turned to look accusingly at Pavlovich back in his corner. Everyone knew that, in addition to behaving irrationally, the commander had been spending a lot of time with a mysterious "Ambassador" since coming on board. The political officer's face had gone white, and he looked around frantically, vainly seeking a nonexistent avenue of escape. It was obvious the communication from Capri had rattled him to the core.
"This is a Federation trick!" sputtered Pavlovich. "Get on with the attack!"
Grasmik, who had no love or respect for the arrogant and condescending Pavlovich, made a difficult decision. As commander of the Lenin, he was responsible for the safety of the ship and crew.
He was also responsible for their conduct.
"Belay that order!" said Grasmik, knowing he was risking his career, even his life. "We still have plenty of time to attack our target if we need to. First, we must ensure our own ship has not been infiltrated by these creatures."
Grasmik got support from an unexpected source: Marine Sergeant Zlotnik. The sergeant, who himself still harbored severe doubts about the original attack on this alien ship, and the arrest of his former captain, turned to the political officer with his hand on his sidearm. "I advise you to remain at your station, Commander, while we assess this threat."
Zlotnik called all five of his fellow marines to the bridge and began issuing orders.
"You will all be executed for this!" shouted Pavlovich, near panic, the facade of his resolve visibly crumbling.
"We'll take our chances," said the sergeant.
Within minutes, the rest of the marines arrived and squeezed onto the now very crowded bridge of Lenin.
"Corporal Pasternak? Search this man."
A quick pat down of the quivering, nearly-deranged Pavlovich revealed a small but powerful pulse pistol concealed in the top of his boot.
"What are you afraid of, Commander Pavlovich?" asked Grasmik. "Do you think you need protection from your own countrymen?"
Pavlovich had no answer and merely glowered back at the very officer he himself had put in charge.
"Pasternak?" said Zlotnik. "You are to remain on the bridge and make sure the political officer doesn't attempt anything foolish."
Burly corporal Pasternak moved purposefully between the political officer and the exit from the bridge.
"The rest of you, come with me. Barbolin, Yeltsin? Get into your armor. We'll wait for you in the corridor outside of this 'Ambassador's' quarters until you get there."
Barbolin and Yeltsin exited the bridge briskly, heading for the spacesuit/space armor prep area. Zlotnik and the other two marines made their way down one deck to the ship's main corridor and headed aft to the Ambassador's quarters. There they waited for the handful of minutes required for their companions to don their armor and get to the passenger section of Lenin.
The unhealthy situation onboard Lenin had been nagging at Zlotnik even before the unwarranted first attack on the unknown ship. Now, he was going to get some answers.
"Prepare to enter this chamber," said the sergeant, speaking softly to avoid raising any alarms.
Chapter 23. Clandestine Meeting.
Soviet Space, New Belgrade Orbital Station, October 7, 2676.
With Won alongside, Sergei made his way inward from the docks of the New Belgrade Orbital Station towards the lodging and entertainment strip. Their destination was the Iron Maiden, a pub catering to ship's personnel that counted a good number of Soviet Navy crewmen among its patrons. To pass as crewmen from one of the hundreds of non-military ships currently docked at the orbital station, both men were dressed in nondescript civilian attire. With day and night being rather meaningless concepts on an orbital platform, the lighting and the ambience of the bar was maintained at a sort of perpetual night time mode. It took a moment for Sergei's eyes to adjust to the low light after entering the establishment.
As his vision recovered, he could see the bar was about half full, with about an equal mix of military and civilian patrons, judging from their clothing. Sergei scanned the room and picked out a booth along the back wall in the dimly lit bar. He slid onto one of the booth seats while Won took a spot across from him. From this vantage point, they could both observe the entire bar, either directly or by using the mirrors covering the upper half of each wall.
Sergei wasn't particularly worried about being recognized by any of the bar patrons, this place was frequented by enlisted men, usually the higher-ranking ones. The lower-ranking sailors sought out their own haunts. As an officer, Sergei and his peers had always gone either to the officer's club or to one of several more upscale establishments further down the strip.
Won used a panel on the wall to place an order for two non-alcoholic beers. Minutes later an attractive but bored-looking barmaid brought the drinks to their table. The two men conversed softly as they slowly sipped their beers, waiting for someone Sergei knew to show up, preferably from his old crew. After about a half hour, a group of four Soviet Navy sailors strolled in, looked around and took a table in the middle of the bar.
Sergei took a sip of his beer, tipped his head towards the newcomers and said, "One of those men was on my old ship."
"Which one
?"
"The big guy. His name is Felix Spaski. He's a master chief and one of the best men I ever worked with. If he's gone over to the other side, we might as well give up now. We need to talk to him."
"How about I go over and tell him an old friend wants to buy him a drink," said Won.
Sergei nodded, "Good idea."
Won waited until the men had been served before he slid out of his seat, strolled across the bar and stopped next to the table the sailors had appropriated.
"Mind if I interrupt you gentlemen for a minute?"
Around the table, the sailors looked up at him with expressions that ranged from doubtful to hostile.
"I guess," said the big man, "As long as what you want doesn't take too long. We're in the middle of some serious relaxation here." He and his companions shared a hearty laugh.
"You are Chief Spaski?"
"Maybe. Who wants to know?"
"An old friend would like to buy you a drink."
"And who might that be?"
"Let's just say that you used to look up to him," said Won, indicating the booth he shared with Sergei with a quick movement of his eyes and an almost imperceptible nod of his head.
Spaski looked over at the indicated booth and, after a few seconds, recognized his old captain. Sergei gave the chief a discrete nod of his head. Improvising quickly, Spaski looked around at his three companions and said, "Guys? You need to excuse me for a few minutes. It's...my ex-wife's dad, and I need to find out what he wants."
The chief grabbed his beer and followed Won over to the booth. Spaski was on the verge of treating his old captain to a hearty greeting, but held back when he saw Sergei put a finger to his lips. The big man slid into the booth next to Won.
"No names please," said Sergei.
"It's good to see you, sir."
"Always a pleasure, Chief," said Sergei. "Don't worry about the 'sir' either, I'm just a civilian you used to know who wants to buy you a drink. I don't think it's safe for any of us to keep you here for very long. Just act casual while we talk for a few minutes."
Spaski took a gulp of his beer, "Okay," he said. "What can I do for you?"
"For now, we're just looking for some information. You can trust my friend here, the two of us are on a special mission."
"I'm not sure I know much, but I'll tell you what I can."
"We're investigating this new protection racket that seems to have taken over out here," said Sergei. "What can you tell us about it?"
Spaski looked back and forth between his two companions and leaned in closely before answering in a soft voice. "They came in about two months ago and just sort of...took over. The people running the other operations either knuckled under or...disappeared."
"What about the Soviet Navy?"
"That's something else odd," said Spaski. "Our ship captains just seem to look the other way." He shook his head slowly side to side. "That means some of our own officers are in on the scam and are taking payments under the table."
"So the corruption out here is getting out of hand?"
"You could put it that way, but you didn't hear it from me, sir. Some of us have found out the hard way that just doing your job and keeping your mouth shut is best."
"Do you have any idea who is in overall command of this new operation?"
"Word filtering down is one of the higher ups is the new station governor, Commander Yuri Lipnitsky."
"Lipnitsky? Wasn't he the political officer for dock security while I was here?"
"Yeah," said Spaski, "he got kicked upstairs. He's got a team of enforcers who play pretty rough. That's another reason we aren't having this conversation."
"Yes, we met three of them just after we docked."
"Then you have some idea of what's been going on around here."
"If Lipnitsky is in charge of the orbital platform," said Sergei, "then the situation is worse than I thought. Do you know if any of the other political officers are involved?'
"It'd be easier to list the ones that aren't," replied Spaski. "That said, I don't think it's wise to trust any of them."
Won and Sergei looked at one another.
"I have something to show you, Felix," said Sergei. "I warn you it will seem fantastic, but I swear what you are about to see is absolutely real."
Sergei brought up the video of the Custodian and the Soviet engineer from Murmansk on this tablet and handed the device to Spaski. The chief watched the video clip with a neutral expression. Afterwards he looked up at Sergei, a smirk on his face, as though waiting for his former captain to deliver the punch line to the joke he was playing.
"Have you ever seen or heard of a creature like that?"
Spaski gave them both a doubtful look, "No I haven't. Nasty looking sonofabitch though. What holovid did you get that from?"
"It's not a holovid, Chief," said Sergei, shaking his head. He paused to let the information sink in.
"No shite?"
"No shite," replied Sergei. "We think creatures like this, with the cooperation of the political arm of our government, are behind this whole new protection scheme and a lot of other unsavory goings on."
"You can't be serious, sir."
"Believe me, I wish I wasn't, Chief. I'm not exaggerating when I say the USDP and all the rest of Mankind is in grave and imminent danger."
"If this were coming from anyone but you...," said Spaski, still wearing a look of disbelief, "Okay, what can I do to help?"
"Here's a recording of the video," said Sergei. He slipped Spaski a memory chip under the table. "If you need to, you can use it for proof like I just did. Don't show it to anyone you don't trust completely. Keep your eyes open for anything strange. Other than that, keep a low profile and do your job as usual. Find out what you can, and we'll meet back here in a couple of days."
"I understand. What time?"
"2100 hours, same as tonight," said Sergei. "Be careful and be discrete, Chief, these creatures and the men who are working for them are ruthless killers. They'll stop at nothing."
"What do you plan to do?"
"We really don't know yet. This is just a recon mission to determine what we can about how high up and how widespread the alien invasion has gone. We think they're trying to establish a fairly high level of infiltration before they show themselves. From what we've seen so far, I'd say they're just about there."
"You can count on me, sir. I also know most of my crewmen aren't in on any of this. None of them say much, but you can tell they're just as worried as I am about how things are going. I'll make some discrete inquiries. Where are you going to be?"
"We're on Jakob Luken's ship, but I think it would be best if you didn't try to contact us there. As I said, just check with us back here two days from now," said Sergei.
"Will do."
"Thanks, Chief. Make sure you watch your back. Just so we're clear, it would be best if you didn't share this information with anyone you don't absolutely trust. Having said that, we desperately need to scope out the size of the problem."
"Will do, sir."
"Thanks, Felix."
Spaski went back to join his friends while Sergei and Won got up and left the bar.
"This just keeps getting worse," said Sergei, as soon as the two of them were outside. "If the Custodians have agents all over this orbital station..."
"...then we've got a serious problem," said Won, finishing the thought for him. "Any other bars you want to check out?"
"I don't think so, we've done well enough for our first night here. Let's get back to Jakob's ship."
Chapter 24. Custodial Capture.
SPS Lenin, Deep Space, Star system X97610, October 7, 2676.
Zlotnik motioned his two armored men to take up positions on either side of the door to the "Ambassador's" quarters. After a quick double check to ensure everyone was ready for action, he used his security code to override the privacy programming and activated the door controls. Before the doors on either side of the opening had fully receded, the
two armored men squeezed through and stormed into the chamber. Zlotnik reached around the door frame and palmed the lights in the chamber up to full intensity
The marines saw what at first looked like a man sitting innocently in a chair. In the bright lights, it was immediately obvious they were looking at a mechanical simulation of a human. Yeltsin kicked down a screen cordoning off the back third of the chamber and found an alien identical to the one portrayed in the video sent from the Federation craft. Zlotnik's surprise tactic had worked to perfection. The creature, who had four arms and four claw-like hands, was fumbling with what appeared to be the same kind of weapon in the video.
"I want that creature alive!" shouted Zlotnik.
The alien finally got a firm grip on its weapon and was swinging around to bring it to bear on the two armored marines. Yeltsin, one of the armored men, shouted, "Go for the arms!"
A hail of pulses from four different rifles flashed in the confined space, and the alien weapon clattered to the floor. The creature sagged towards its wounded side in obvious pain while it attempted to cover its wounds with the claw-hands from its uninjured side.
"I assume you can understand me," said Zlotnik, who entered the chamber behind his two armored colleagues. "Do not attempt to escape!"
The creature, now with two singed stumps on the right side of its body, seemed to know when it was beaten. Within another five minutes, the beast had been escorted to Lenin's brig and confined to the second cell. The political officer was soon ensconced in the other, replacing the now liberated Captain Kozloff. Within another fifteen minutes, during a complete search of the ship, the marines located a shipping container in the aft cargo hold not listed on the ship's manifest. When questioned about it, the quartermaster remembered the crate had been brought on board at the direction of Pavlovich at the same time as the special Ambassador's medical module. The quartermaster hadn't actually seen this Ambassador, but had helped with the transfer of the medical module to the passenger section of the ship.
The Archeon Codex: Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel Book 2 Page 13
