The channel closed, and Caine looked back at Marshall, “That was far too easy.”
Sighing, he nodded, replying, “Much too easy. He only put up enough of a protest for it to look plausible.”
Lane turned to face him, “Request permission to command the boarding party, sir?”
“That’s Diego’s job. Caine, get the espatiers on the way, and an engineering team to go with them. McGuire, you can put the spin back on the ship now. Lieutenant, I want to speak to you in my office.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bryant, if that ship so much as twitches…”
“You’ll know in an instant, sir.”
“Good,” he said, pushing out of his chair and over to his office, Lane following just behind. Sliding through the door, he dropped behind his desk, ready for the imminent return of gravity, and gestured her into a chair.
“I’d rather stand, sir,” she said.
“Sit, Lieutenant.”
Glancing down at the chair, she obeyed, then said, “I’m glad that worked, sir.”
“Excuse me?”
“Good cop, bad cop. I thought that Captain Bergstrom might need some extra encouragement.”
“That was a ploy?”
“Yes, sir. Major Marshall often uses such tricks.”
“In future, Lieutenant, you will please warn me in advance if you are going to fake insubordination; I will charitably assume that you were telling the truth. Frankly, your attitude is proving something of a problem.”
“Is this about shooting at you, sir?”
Rolling his eyes, he replied, “If that was the only problem, Lane, I wouldn’t be quite as worried, but your...enthusiasm is presenting some serious difficulties. You are contradictory, and always exceed your mandate and the scope of your orders.”
“I’m sorry if my service has not been satisfactory, sir, but may I speak freely?”
“By all means,” he said, folding his arms. Gravity was beginning to return, and he felt the familiar disorientation in his ear; he struggled to focus on what Lane was saying.
“I feel you should hand over command to your father.”
Suddenly she had his attention. “Why?”
“He is the senior officer, sir, and frankly has displayed considerably more aggression.”
“Indeed,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.
“We can’t just sneak around Cabal space hoping for a miracle, sir. Even if Caliban isn’t a trap, there will be one waiting for us out there somewhere. A Q-ship could catch us completely by surprise, and we wouldn’t stand a chance. You need to take some affirmative action, or stand down for someone who will.”
“Are you finished?”
“No, sir. There has been no serious investigation into the escape of Corporal Cooper, and frankly I don’t think there will be while Zebrova is handling it; I must state that I suspect she is in league with him.”
“Lane…”
Raising a hand, she replied, “I would be failing in my duty as an officer if I did not say these things. I would not do so in public, but I did request permission to speak freely before I began.”
“So you did.”
“It really isn’t anything personal, sir.”
“Of course not. Well, Lieutenant, while I am sorry that my command style does not meet your satisfaction, I have no intention of changing my plans along the lines indicated, and certainly have no plans to stand down.”
“That’s a pity, sir,” she said. He looked at her, trying to weigh up whether she was serious or not. The irony that he was already planning to launch an attack on the fleet did not escape him. With a smile, he decided to take a risk.
“I have no intention of changing my plans, Lieutenant, because I am already preparing to launch a full-scale attack on the Cabal.”
“I’m sorry?” she said. “Why wasn’t I briefed?”
“I didn’t trust you,” he said bluntly.
“I see.”
“We knew that there was a strong chance we had taken a saboteur on board from….”
“So Corporal Cooper was working for you – is, presumably – and he was investigating Matsumoto. You didn’t tell anyone from Hercules because you thought one of us was likely the saboteur.”
“That’s about it.”
“And as for the attack, you kept that quiet for the same reason.”
“Something along those lines, yes.”
She nodded, “Brilliant. I apologize unreservedly, Captain. If you wish my resignation, then I would suggest Lieutenant Bailey as my replacement.”
“I’ll be honest,” he said, “I had considered just that when I brought you in. You’re a good Operations Officer, Lieutenant, but you need to keep in mind what your function on this ship is.”
“I can be a little headstrong at times, sir.”
“That’s something of an understatement, but I don’t consider that a disqualification in an officer. As long as it can be reined in when necessary.”
“Can I be of assistance in the battle planning?”
“I need ideas, Lieutenant. I need this ship to be at maximum combat potential. Dig into your box of dirty tricks and start – very quietly – working out what you can do.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll see what I can come up with.”
“There will be a meeting after the jump. You are now invited.”
Nodding, she said, “I think I might have something up my sleeve.” She turned to leave the office, then paused, saying, “Why do you trust me now?”
“No saboteur would have done something as stupid as you did when you came into the room. Nine times out of ten you’d have left the room with your career in tatters, Lieutenant, permission to speak freely or no.”
“I guess I’ve got too used to having someone called Marshall in the captain’s chair.”
As she left, a smile spread across his face as he leaned back, swiveling to look out at the stars again. He tapped a button on his desk; there was someone else he really should fully bring into the loop.
“Major Marshall, report to my office, please.”
Chapter 18
From Cooper’s viewpoint in the little-used lower observation deck, he could watch the fueling shuttles flying back and forth from Alamo, slowly limping into the hangar with their heavy load. He glanced at his fourth datapad of the day, checking the status of the fuel transfer, shaking his head. More than a day they had been at it, and still nothing seemed to be wrong. If the saboteur was going to target anything, this would be it; he longed to be on one of those shuttles with his friends, taking the risks himself.
“Cooper, you read?” Barbara’s voice echoed through his headset.
“I’ve got you, honey. What’s the score?”
“Looks like five more loads will do it. No sign of trouble over there, just a lot of resentful crewmen being as unhelpful as possible. Can’t really blame them.”
“And no sign of sabotage?”
“We’re still flying, so no. Looks like they’re going to let us top up.” She paused, then said, “Gotta go, I’m closing for docking.”
“Keep safe.”
“I’m not the fugitive. Shuttle out.”
He tossed his datapad to the deck, shaking his head. This was a dead end and he knew it; Alamo’s security were going to be watching this like a hawk. While he might find something they missed, the saboteur was going to know that this would be watched. He’d choose something less obvious, while everyone was distracted. He just couldn’t think of what.
“You need to be more careful, Corporal,” a voice said. “I’ve been watching you for the last two minutes.”
Behind him was Lieutenant-Major Diego, holding a pistol in his hand, a wide grin on his face. He gestured at Cooper, instructing him to toss his gun on the floor. Reluctantly, he complied.
> “Beautiful view, isn’t it, Corporal,” he said.
“What are your intentions, sir?”
“I’m going to put you back in custody, Corporal, and this time you are there to stay.”
Sighing, he replied, “If you contact Captain Marshall, he’ll inform you that I am working for him to hunt down the saboteur. My mission appears to have failed, though, so I might as well turn myself in.”
“Au contraire, Corporal. You have succeeded in finding the saboteur; I fear, however, that I have the drop on you.”
“You’re the saboteur?”
Shaking his head, he said, “Even a direct confession is not enough to convince you? What’s it going to take, blowing up the ship?”
“Why not shoot me?”
“Because I have an offer for you, Corporal. You see, I’m going to be very busy soon, and having two hands on the job will make things a lot easier.”
“I’m not listening. Go ahead and shoot.”
Smiling, Diego said, “I will offer you and Barbara safe passage back to Triplanetary space. New identities, plenty of credits. You’d be a rich man.”
“You must be really stupid if you think I’ll accept that.”
“Oh, I didn’t think that would work. How about this? I’ll send the rest of your friends with you.”
“Orlowski, Duggan, Duvalier? They wouldn’t go for this any more than I will.”
“I didn’t mean them. I meant Sergeant Forrest. The survivors of your platoon, all twelve of them.”
Gulping, Cooper said, “They’re alive? You’d have them released?”
“They can do what they want. As far as I’m concerned they can go right back into the Fleet; I won’t want a parole. Besides, I suspect that your Fleet will be far too busy to worry about the Cabal soon.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Never mind that for now. Are you interested?”
Looking down at the deck, Cooper felt as if his legs had been chopped out from under him. They were his friends, his comrades, and he’d let them down simply by surviving. A voice in his head said that the ship was doomed anyway, that he might be able to salvage something from the disaster, get some word back home. Even if it meant committing treason.
“What would I do?” There was no harm in getting more details.
“Nothing to directly harm the ship. I need a message sent to that vessel.”
“Saying what?”
“That Alamo is going to make its rendezvous with destiny at Gliese 442. I have obtained the exact time and location where the ship will emerge.” Smiling, he said, “That knowledge will make it much easier to capture them, Corporal. You might be saving even more lives on this ship.”
“That’s all?” he said, inwardly smiling. He was being bribed for carrying out his assignment, albeit in a slightly unorthodox manner.
“That’s all, Corporal. No destruction, no explosives, nothing. My fleet will handle that.”
“How do I do it?”
“I leave that to you,” he said, rolling a data crystal along the ground. “You know this ship a lot better than I, another advantage. That, and I know that any information you send will get through the security filters. You still have friends on the upper decks, after all.”
Faking reluctance, Cooper said, “How can I trust you?”
“Do you have a choice? You trust me or you die.” He smiled, then said, “I assure you that I do not trust you. I will be watching your every move by remote, and if I don’t like what you do, your Barbara is going to die.”
The blood drained from his face as he replied, “What?”
“There is a small explosive charge in her shuttle. Quite fatal, I assure you.”
“Bastard.”
“I am fully aware of my parentage, Corporal. Do you want to get on with it? Loading is almost completed, and the clock is ticking.”
Snatching up the data crystal, he replied, “I’ll do it. Don’t expect me to enjoy it.”
“I’ll keep my word, Corporal. I assure you of that.” Diego stepped forward, picked up Cooper’s pistol, then retreated back into the shadows. Turning the crystal over in his hands, the trooper looked out of the viewport, then made his way into the maintenance shaft, almost catching his wounded shoulder on the bulkhead.
If it were not for the monitoring, this would have been simplicity itself; he could have simply told the Captain what he needed to do, and he could have just sent it through the usual channels. As it was, he had to do things the hard way, and the only thing he could think of was a spacewalk. There were enough people working on the outside of the ship that no-one was going to notice another, and one of the secondary communications arrays was only a few decks up.
Hesitantly, he swung up into a crawlway, scurrying towards the outside of the ship, hand over hand, the crystal tucked into a pocket. Treason. He was committing an act of treason against the Confederation, against the ship.
Looking up, he said, “Monitoring or now, I don’t trust you. I’m checking the contents of this crystal.” He slipped it into the datapad and started to scan the files; all of it was astrographic data, a course plot. There could be almost anything embedded in the content, but it looked genuine. His communicator beeped, and he put it to his ear.
“Commendable, Corporal, but we do know everything we need about this ship already. You don’t think we haven’t got all the specifications after years of espionage. The data is as I said; if you trust nothing else I have told you, then you can accept that. Now, if you don’t mind, the clock is ticking.”
Replacing the communicator in his pocket, Cooper continued to make his way towards the airlock, dropping through an overhead hatch just in front of it. While he slipped on a spacesuit and ran the usual checklist, a part of him wondered if he would have gone ahead with this if it hadn’t already been his mission. With all those lives at stake...not that he thought he was buying anything other than the life of Barbara with this action. Still, at the back of his mind, the faces of his comrades seemed to be coming back to the surface.
The outer door opened and he stepped out onto the hull, clamping a safety line into place. Tipping back, he started to walk up towards the antenna, a long complex of discs and cables that cast strange shadows on the gray hull. A trio of maintenance technicians were to his side, and one of them waved at him; hoping it was simply a bored worker being friendly, he waved back, and turned towards his destination.
A hundred steps, each one a mental agony as he realized what he might be about to do. In his suit it would be even easier to track him that it was in Alamo; Diego would be even be able to know his heart rate and blood pressure. Glancing down at his communicator, he smiled when he saw all the telltales dark. His traitorous commander had made sure that he wouldn’t try any betrayal, and doubtless was riding shotgun to make sure that the antenna didn’t do anything unexpected like point back up to the bridge.
Finally he was there, and resigned to his task, he pulled off the maintenance cover and started to clumsily type in a command sequence, watching as a reader rose from the hull, just the right size for the data-crystal. While he watched, the antenna turned down to the right, pointing towards the freighter, and with one final, bitter regret, he slid the data crystal into position and watched the transmission begin.
“Very good, Corporal,” a voice said in his ear. “You will be glad to know that you have saved the life of your friend. Now, if you make your way to Airlock Ten-Nine, I will be waiting to give you the rest of your instructions.”
“That was it, Diego,” he said, not bearing to use his rank. “One shot deal.”
“Very well, Corporal. Still, I would advise you to do as I have said, or you might find yourself experiencing a little suit malfunction.”
Glancing down at his systems indicator, he saw a series of amber lights appear on some of his key systems, a w
arning of potential problems to come. As he watched, they all flicked back to green. Another message from Diego, and one he decided to take notice of. Starting towards his destination, he saw a faint blue flash from the sky above, a ship making a hendecaspace jump. Pausing for a moment, he shook his head. The message wasn’t intended for the freighter, it was just acting as a relay to the real target.
“Hurry up, Corporal. There are now many alarms going off.”
The final paces towards the airlock seemed glacial, and it was only with reluctance that he rested his hand on the controls, opening the outer door and scrambling inside. As the lock pressurized, he could hear sirens and alarms.
“....to standby stations,” Lieutenant Caine was saying. “All personnel to stand-by alert.”
The inner door opened to reveal Diego, a gun pointed square at his chest, the smile still painted onto his face. Cooper braced himself for a quick death, took a deep breath, and moved into parade rest.
“You don’t have to stand on ceremony, Corporal, we’re both traitors together here. Though the rest of the crew only know about you; seems that I was a little careless covering up that transmission. There were several good pictures of your face on the security cameras.”
“I see.”
“Most of them already thought you were a traitor, and even the ones you were working with will now have doubts. I imagine that you are interested in what happens next.”
Folding his hands, Cooper said, “I’m absolutely fascinated.”
“I think the time has come for you to disappear for a while. Not that I intend to kill you, simply put you into storage. Once the battle is over and Alamo is captured, I will see that my end of the bargain is upheld, for I assure you that the Cabal always keeps its promises.”
“Is that how they got you to turn, Diego? Promises?”
Shaking his head, he replied, “To turn implies that I had a loyalty to the Confederation in the first place. I was born to the Cabal, and am going home. Now that I have completed my mission and the Hercules trap has been successfully sprung, I can expect to receive a good pension and a comfortable retirement.”
Battlecruiser Alamo - 7 - Battlecruiser Alamo: Sacred Honor Page 15
