While cautiously opening the shipping container, the marines got another shock when they discovered the contents were not of Human origin. Another five of the alien creatures were being stored in a state of suspended animation, each within its own transparent chamber. Further inspection of the crate revealed a cache of weapons like the one blasted out of the captive alien's hands.
"Secure those weapons and come on out of there," said Zlotnik to Barbolin and Yeltsin, both of whom had remained in their armor during the inspection of the ship and had gone into the shipping container to investigate. "Secure those weapons, but don't touch anything else! I'd rather these creatures remain asleep if that's what they're doing." The marines carefully slid the case of weapons through the container and out the door. Zlotnik attached a security camera to the ceiling above the door before locking down the container.
He then called the bridge over the ship's intercom.
"Captain? This is Sergeant Zlotnik."
"Go ahead Sergeant," replied Captain Nicholas Kozloff, now restored to command of his ship.
"The shipping crate Pavlovich brought with him has five more of those creatures in it."
"Were you able to capture them?"
"No need, Captain, it looks like they're all in some kind of suspended animation or something. Each of them is in a separate chamber. We put a security camera inside and resealed the doors."
"Good thinking, Sergeant," said Kozloff. "If we are to be at war with these monsters, having six of them to study will provide invaluable intel. Meantime, I want four men guarding that container twenty-four-seven until we get it to a higher authority."
As he gave the order, Kozloff realized who or what that authority might be was something that would have to be carefully considered. "Set up one of our assault cannons to cover the door. If anything tries to come out of that container, turn it into atoms!"
"Aye, aye, Sir."
The assault cannon was probably overkill and using it could easily damage the aft cargo hold, but Kozloff was taking no chances.
Their search of the rest of the ship didn't turn up anything else looking suspicious, but the creature's quarters did contain a number of obviously alien items of unknown function.
Up on the Lenin's bridge, Kozloff contacted the Federation craft.
"Capri? This is Captain Nicholas Kozloff of the Soviet People's Ship, Lenin. We humbly apologize for any misunderstanding. A search of our ship turned up six of these alien creatures. I've ordered my crew to stand down from battle stations. "
"Six?" sent Gertrude.
"Yes, six, but only one of them was conscious. The other five are...sleeping or something? Until your communication, I was being held prisoner by the ship's political officer. I believe he was either cooperating with or under the control of the conscious creature."
"The political officer on Murmansk was also harboring one of these aliens," replied Gertrude. "We weren't able to determine whether he was under the alien's control or willingly cooperating with it. There were also several more of these aliens somewhere on board that ship. It's a good bet they were also being held in an inactive state just like yours are. Apparently, when the leader judged the time was right, he woke them up and they killed the entire crew while taking over the ship."
"We were able to subdue and capture the conscious one after a brief altercation. As I said, the other five are in our aft cargo hold in special containers under some kind of suspended animation. We decided to leave them that way for now and posted a heavy guard. Our political officer and the conscious creature are currently in our brig, also under heavy guard."
"Very good, Lenin," sent Gertrude.
"What are these creatures?"
"They're called 'Custodians,'" replied Gertrude, "and from what we know about them, they're ruthless killers who will enslave the entire Human race if we don't stop them. They've already enslaved the populations of over a hundred intelligent races from all over the galaxy. We know they'd like to add as many as they can."
"I urgently request we have a meeting as soon as possible," said Kozloff.
"I heartily agree," replied Gertrude. After a short pause she added, "We've also made contact with another alien race, Captain. They're the ones who constructed the big ship you were about to attack."
"I was thrown in the brig because I refused to fire on that ship several days ago," said Kozloff. "Unfortunately, the rest of the crew followed the political officer's orders and carried through with the attack." He paused for a moment before adding," We deeply regret that action and pray we haven't done irreparable damage to future relations between us and our new allies."
The two Hordea on Capri's bridge did not reply immediately and neither Gertrude no Ariane had any idea what they were thinking. "I hope you'll pardon my caution," said Gertrude, "but I think the best way to handle a meeting would be for you leave Lenin out of weapons range and come to our ship in an unarmed shuttle. You understand you'll need to win our trust before we proceed any further."
"Under the circumstances, I don't find that to be an unreasonable request," replied Kozloff. "Give us time to reorganize and make sure everything is secure. How about I contact you first thing in the morning. I'll be coming personally."
"Let us know when you're ready to depart," said Ariane.
Chapter 25. False Arrest.
Iron Maiden Pub, New Belgrade Orbital Station, October 7, 2676.
As Sergei and Won left the bar, Spaski went back to join his friends, taking his beer with him.
"What was that all about?" asked one of them.
"Not much. He was just giving me a heads up on some scheme his daughter's cooking up to get her greedy little hands on more of my credits. Wants to protect me, I guess."
"Sounds like you get along with him a lot better than you did with your wife."
"You don't know the half of it. Anyway, I think it's time we talked about something else. How're things going with your ex-wife?"
"Easy, mate, we're just here to have a little R 'n R."
Spaski had another beer with his friends but had a hard time concentrating on the conversation. He needed time alone to think. "I need to get back to the ship," he said, downing the rest of his beer and getting up from the table. "Paperwork."
"Just keeps piling up, don't it?"
"Never stops," said Spaski.
The chief made his way back to Kiev and headed aft, down to his cramped office/quarters on the lowest deck. He spent the next few hours actually doing paperwork though his heart wasn't really in it. In his head he kept seeing Captain Popov's unnerving video clip and rehashing the fantastic information revealed to him. He poked away at the paperwork until he caught himself nodding off for the third or fourth time. After shedding his uniform, he flopped into his rack where he spent a fitful night in spite of how tired he was.
Fortunately for Spaski's peace of mind, his duties kept him busy enough during the following day that he didn't spend every moment fretting about the problem. When he did think about it, which was often, he kept drawing a blank on just what he could do. After going to the mess for a late dinner, he went back to his quarters to continue working on his reports. Just before midnight, he was interrupted by the junior engineer of his ship, Petty Officer Third Class Abramov.
"Chief? I need to talk to you."
"Of course, come on in."
The lanky young sailor came in and sat in the only other chair.
"What can I do for you?" said Spaski.
"Something's happened, Chief. I think we need your help."
"What is it?"
"It's Bobrik, Chief. A couple of the political security people came in over at the Bag O'Nails and dragged him off. Said he was drunk."
Third Class Petty Officer Vasily Bobrik was Kiev's computer and electrical technician and, in addition to being very good at his craft, was well-liked and respected by all of the crew.
"Was he?"
"You know Bobrik, Chief, a couple of beers and he's ready for the rack.
Tonight was no different. Something strange is going down around here, they had no reason to take him."
"How long ago?"
"Less than an hour, Chief. I headed back to the ship to let you know right after it happened."
"Thank you, Abramov, I'll look into it right away."
"Thanks, Chief." The sailor looked relieved as he left the small office.
Spaski took a moment to think. Taking Sergei's information in to account, all the new regulations and all the new personnel added to the command ranks suddenly made more sense. Not only was the command structure in a state of uneasy flux, many of the navy's best technicians, like Bobrik, had been mysteriously transferred to somewhere else during the last month. If what Sergei had told him about aliens was true, then there was a good chance the siphoning off of technical people by the political arm was related somehow.
Patrol ships, like Kiev, were simply too small and too cramped to hide something as outrageous as an alien agent. Nor did it seem possible there could be one stationed on every ship. No, if such creatures were here, they would almost have to be concentrated somewhere on the orbital platform. He thought for a moment and came to the disturbing realization the most likely location would be in the very private and very isolated offices of the political arm.
Spaski brought up the orbital platform security log for the day on his tablet. After several minutes of searching, he could find no record of a Petty Officer Vasily Bobrik having been arrested.
Political security thugs had taken his ship's computer tech and there was no record of where he had been taken or, indeed, that he had been taken at all? Something definitely didn't smell right.
From the look of it, Bobrik could very well be the next tech to be "transferred out." The fact there was no record of his arrest wasn't absolute proof of any wrongdoing, however. Paperwork did slip through the cracks occasionally, although Bobrik had been taken nearly two hours ago.
Spaski made a decision. He'd take a trip over to the Navy's orbital station security offices on the off-chance that Bobrik was in the brig there. He brought up the port duty roster on his tablet to see who he'd be dealing with on that end and saw that Petty Officer First Class Eva Kryslov was currently on duty. It made sense, the lowest ranked of the security people would be the ones stuck with the night shift.
What a stroke of luck! Spaski was as sure of her loyalties as anyone's. In the company of another half dozen or so of the other senior petty officers, the two of them had been sharing drinks on a regular basis. He'd even contemplated asking her out, but with the demands of their schedules, hadn't been able to make it work out yet. Like Spaski, she had survived the recent purge so far, but she was so good at her job she would probably be one of the next to go. From their frequent conversations, it was clear she had no love for the political arm.
Fortunately, the two of them also interacted frequently during the normal course of their duties. Heading over to port security to inquire about a sailor from his ship would be a perfectly routine and legitimate reason for him to go there.
As he made preparations to leave, it hit home that by taking this next step he was plunging off the precipice into a very dangerous game, one where normal rules didn't apply, and he was doing so while playing almost exclusively by ear. He almost backed out when it occurred to him bringing Eva into the loop would almost certainly be putting her career, and possibly her life, in danger as well. On the other hand, if the Soviet nation was on the verge of new and terrifying war involving an alien race, both of them were already at risk. Any opposition they could hope to mount would require all the loyal sailors they could find.
It took about ten minutes for Spaski to pull together some official release forms and another ten to walk from the ship to the Navy port facilities. Once inside the complex, he made his way over to the security offices. He stopped outside Kryslov's cubicle for a moment to compose himself before touching the privacy chime.
"Enter."
Petty Officer Eva Kryslov was an imposing woman, more pretty than beautiful with close-cropped brown hair, blue eyes and a gap between her top front teeth. She was a big woman, tall and athletic, both good attributes to have for the duties she was performing. Spaski had seen her loosen up once or twice after a few drinks, but any chink in her armor while she was on duty would have been out of place, especially when dealing with disorderly sailors. She flashed a rare smile over her shoulder when she saw who had come to see her.
"Felix, how good to see you. Have a seat, I'll only be a minute."
Spaski sat down in one of the chairs in front of Eva's desk. He watched her profile as she finished up something on her computer before swiveling her chair around towards him.
"What brings you down here this time of night, Chief?"
"I'm here to check up on Petty Officer Vasily Bobrik. One of his mates came by my office and told me he'd been arrested for being drunk and disorderly. I was hoping I could maybe talk you into transferring him over to my custody. The guy's a wizard with computers, and we've got a ton of work to get done down in engineering in the next few days. We need his expertise." He stopped before adding, "Funny, this kind of behavior is totally out of character for him."
"As long as you'll vouch for him, it shouldn't be a problem.
"One thing though..." said Spaski.
"And that is..."
"I couldn't find any record of his arrest."
"Let me check," said Eva. She swiveled her chair back around to her computer terminal and entered some commands, frowned, and then entered in some more. After a couple more attempts, she turned back to Spaski, "I don't have any record either. All I have is a special prisoner brought in by Political Security. They don't have to give out any names."
"Do you suppose that could be my man?"
"Maybe. Why don't we go and find out. Hang on, let me grab the keychip."
She took the keychip out of her desk and hung the strap around her neck as she stood up. The two of them left the security office and walked side by side down the wide main corridor to the two flights of stairs that would bring them to the brig area a couple decks down. The facility was deserted because of the lateness of the hour, and they found themselves virtually alone. Halfway through negotiating the first of two stairways, Spaski halted on the landing between floors and said, "Stop here for a second, Eva, I need to talk to you about something."
She gave him an expectant look, "Are you finally going to ask me out?"
"No...I mean yes," said Spaski, surprised and pleased by the unexpected invitation. He quickly decided to make the most of the opportunity. "I've wanted to do that for several weeks now."
"I'm off for three days this coming weekend."
"I can get that to work. Our ship isn't due to go back out on patrol for a few more days."
"Set something up and give me a call."
"I'll do that."
The chief made no move to continue down the stairs as he contemplated how go about telling his companion about the shocking developments Sergei Popov had revealed to him.
"Is there something else?" she asked.
"Yes, and it's vitally important, but... I need you to keep an open mind."
"This ought to be good."
"Not sure 'good' is the right word," said Spaski. Eva tipped her head in expectation, and he continued. "I was approached by an old friend over at the Iron Maiden last night. He shared some disturbing news with me. This is the part where you need to keep an open mind."
"Go ahead, Felix."
Chapter 26. Gathering of Allies.
Deep Space, Star system X97610, October 8, 2676.
The soviet shuttle decelerated to a crawl as it approached the old Federation yacht. "Capri? This is Captain Kozloff of SPS Lenin. Request permission to come aboard."
"Permission granted, Captain Kozloff," replied Ariane. "Do you have a docking tube?"
"Negative, Capri. My companion and I are in spacesuits and will need to tether over to your airlock."
The
little craft maneuvered to a position alongside Capri's starboard side and some ten meters away from her airlock. Within two minutes, one of the two occupants of the shuttle fired a tether across the short distance separating the two ships. The end pad of the tether made contact and adhered to the freighter's hull right next to the outer airlock door. A touch on the tether's launcher stiffened the cable, rendering it rigid, creating a safe bridge for the two Soviets to make their way over to Capri.
"We're leaving our shuttle," sent Kozloff from his suit radio. "ETA about thirty seconds."
"I'll open the airlock door," replied Gertrude.
The Soviets clipped their suits to the tether with short lifelines and pulled themselves hand over hand across the gap between the two ships before entering the open airlock. The outer doors scissored shut and, over the next thirty seconds, the compartment came up to pressure and the inner doors slid open.
Kozloff and his companion were met by a Federation marine in battle armor armed with a pulse rifle. A tall brunette in a Federation Navy coverall was pointing a pulse pistol at them from behind the armored man.
"Captain Kozloff?" asked the woman, not taking the pistol off from her target.
"At your service...?"
"Ensign Ariane MacPherson," said the woman.
"I understand your caution, Ensign," said Kozloff, "but we are unarmed, and it is vital that we talk."
Ariane brought down her pulse pistol, and her companion dropped the barrel of his rifle towards the floor.
"Sorry, Captain," said Ariane, "but we have had way too many bad experiences with Soviet courier ships lately."
Kozloff removed his helmet, "My apologies, for whatever they may be worth." Next to him, his considerably shorter companion had also removed her helmet, revealing an attractive young woman with a delicate, heart-shaped face, short-cropped dark hair and ever-so-slanted blue-gray eyes.
"This is my sensor operator and science officer, Ensign Doctor Tatiana Nuriyev."
"Is pleasure to meet you, Ensign MacPherson," said the petite scientist.
The Archeon Codex: Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel Book 2 Page 14
