by GARY DARBY
Every so often, because of the orb’s minuscule gravity, Shanon had to adjust the flight controls to maintain the ship’s distance from the mini-planet.
She glanced over at the long-range sensors and snapped upright. Over her shoulder she called out, “Alena, get up here! We’ve got activity!”
Alena, who had stepped out of the pilot’s pod for a second, dashed through the passenger compartment and slammed into the pilot’s seat.
Shanon pointed at the sensor display. “They’re leaving. Two Mongan ships outbound.”
“And the other?” Alena asked.
Shanon surveyed her sensor readings before replying in a grim voice, “Headed towards the planet.”
For long minutes, they watched the Mongan ship until its destination became evident. “It’s headed right towards where we left Dason,” Shanon said with a catch in her voice.
Alena shook her head angrily. “Too coincidental.”
“We’re going down there,” Shanon stated as if it were a given.
“You know it,” Alena answered. “Scouts don’t leave scouts behind.”
She jerked her head toward the ship’s aft section. “Make sure they’re locked in tight back there, this might get a little dicey.”
Alena ran her fingers over her navigation controls, and the little ship slipped away from the planetoid. She waited until the two Mongan cruisers had gone to hyperlight speed before she applied full power to her engines.
The Zephyr raced toward the planet, gaining momentum with every passing second. “They’re locked in tight back there,” Shanon reported. “What’s your plan?”
Alena let a thin smile cross her face, her eyes locked in on the planet dead ahead. “Don’t have one,” she murmured, “other than to move as fast as we can and stay out of their targeting sights. You’d better fire up the weapons console, just in case we get lucky and can get off a shot or two.”
“On it,” Shanon replied.
In silence, both women monitored the ship’s flight profile, with Alena making second-by-second adjustments as they sped through space. “Stand by,” she called out, “we’re coming in screaming hot.”
Meteor-bright, the little craft hit the atmosphere, flashing through the sky before Alena rolled the ship over and dove straight down. “Any reaction from the Mongans?” she called over to Shanon.
“Nothing on the sensors,” Shanon replied without taking her eyes off her console. “They’re still just sitting there.”
“Get ready on the weapons,” Alena ordered in a tense voice. “I’m going to fly nap of the surface and then pop up. Take your best shot then.”
“Understood,” Shanon answered. “Ion cannon at full charge, torps are in ready mode. I’m ready.”
Alena took a deep breath, ran her fingers over the controls, and muttered low, “Stand by, here we go.” She leveled the little craft just above the ground. The ship’s pressure wave flattened the vegetation, leaving a visible scar in the yellowish-green foliage.
“Twenty seconds to pop-up,” Alena murmured, “make it good, we may get only one chance at this.”
Shanon’s hand poised over the weapons console, ready to fire in an instant. Alena reached out to the flight panel to initiate the targeting run.
“And here we—” she began, when over the ship’s communicator came, “Hey, nice flying, guys, but you might want to slow down a bit before you land. You just might burn out your thrusters if you don’t.”
“Dason!” Shanon yelped.
“Yep,” Dason answered. “It’s me, and I’ve got some guests with me as well. It’s safe to land so why don’t you join the party?”
Alena sent the ship into a wide sweep to slow the craft before she applied full power to her forward thrusters. A minute later, the Zephyr settled to the earth.
Shanon was the first out the airlock. Running toward Dason, she stopped at the sight of the three Mongans lying on the ground.
“Are you okay?” she asked Dason, coming over to lay a gentle hand on his forearm.
“I'm all right,” he answered and then gestured at the three aliens. “But they aren’t.”
“That I can see,” Shanon stated.
The remainder of the team came loping up and Alena quickly asked, “What happened?”
Dason glanced around, spotted what he was looking for, and held up a hand. “I’ll tell you in a second, but first there’s someone I want all of you to meet.”
With his team in tow, Dason trotted over to the stand of trees and helped Jadar to his feet. He swayed a little from the effects of the Mongans’ stun beam as Dason said, “Scouts, I want you to meet my uncle, Star Scout Captain Jadar Marrel.”
At that, Alena snapped to attention and called out, “Group, at-ten-shun! Hand salute!”
Everyone, including Dason, rendered honors to Jadar. Taken by surprise, Jadar stood motionless and stared before he straightened himself and returned their salutes.
Alena dropped her salute as did the others and stepped forward with her hand outstretched. “Captain Marrel, I’m Lieutenant Alena Romer. On behalf of Star Scout Command, welcome back, sir, you don’t know how delighted we are to find you.”
Jadar took her hand and nodded appreciatively. “And Lieutenant Romer, you don’t know how delighted I am to be found.”
Dason motioned Stinneli over. “Doctor, would you mind giving Captain Marrel the once-over?”
“Absolutely,” Stinneli returned, “let’s get him into the Zephyr.”
After Stinneli led Jadar into the ship, Sami hooked a thumb toward the Mongans, giving Alena a little nudge with his shoulder. “That sure looks reminiscent, only this time there’s three of them.”
“Thanks for the reminder, Sami,” Alena replied dryly.
Turning to Dason, she explained about the Intrepid, Sarpens Two, and the Faction’s nova device. Finishing, she stated, “General Rosberg’s orders are to operate independently until we can regroup with them.”
Dason nodded at her in reply. “That ties in with some ideas that I’ve been thinking over.”
Alena jutted her chin toward the prone Mongans and asked, “What are your plans for those three?”
“Speaking of ideas, I’ve got some dandy ones for our sleeping beauties,” Sami muttered, “starting with a Sliver Aal for each.”
“Though I may share your sentiments, Sami,” Dason returned, “that’s not exactly what I had in mind. What we’re going to do is to take them back up to their ship. I think they’re going to be a big help to us in answering some crucial questions.”
“Such as?” Shanon asked.
“Well, for starters,” Dason replied, “just what are they doing in the Helix Nebula? We know they’re concentrating their forces around one planet, interdicting it and the nebula. We need to find out why.
“Secondly,” Dason began and then explained about the device in Jadar’s head. “I know this is a real stretch, but what if the Mongans are behind some of our missing scouts?”
“How so?” Nase asked.
“That thing must act as a locator beacon,” Dason explained. “That’s how they were able to pinpoint my uncle. But there’s got to be more to that apparatus than just a locator.”
“As in what?” TJ questioned. “Do you have some idea?”
“I think so,” Dason answered.
He recounted the Mongans’ actions toward Jadar and then added, “When the Mongans had me on their ship they kept asking if there were more of me, or rather, if there were any more human ‘Sharers of Memories.’
“I had the impression that it was incredibly important to them if there were.”
He paused as if considering his next words. “It could be that they’ve put those things in the heads of scouts they’ve captured and then scattered them on uninhabited planets.”
“Why?” Alena asked.
Dason was quick to reply. “You’re not going to believe this, but I think the device somehow allows the Mongans to ‘collect’ memories. That’s what they
were about to do with my uncle before I stunned them.
“I’m not sure why that’s so important to them; perhaps it has something to do with how their minds work. And this is the point, it works both ways with me. They not only get my memories, I get theirs.”
Shanon’s head snapped up as if she had read Dason’s thoughts. “Dason,” she stressed in a sharp voice, “you’re not thinking of letting them do that to you again. You can’t. You said yourself how much—”
Dason held up a hand to stop Shanon. “I know what I said, but there’s too much at stake here to pass this chance up.”
He gestured toward the unconscious Mongans. “I’m going to check on my uncle, in the meantime, empty their pockets, so to speak. Make sure you don’t leave them with anything except their clothes.”
Moments later, Dason was standing at the open doorway to the little infirmary watching Stinneli finish examining Jadar. Jadar raised himself from the exam table and asked, “What’s the word, doc? Can you get this thing out of my head?”
Stinneli wiped his hands with a sanitizer towel before leaning against the bulkhead. “Yes and no,” he answered. “On Earth, or on some of the more surgically advanced Inner Worlds, with the right microsurgical tools and nanobots, there’s a chance we could get it out without destroying a good portion of your brain.”
He spread his hands and gestured toward the confines of the little medical bay. “But this is all I have to work with, and with what I have here, it’s all but impossible. I would do far more damage than help.”
Dason saw his uncle’s crestfallen expression and asked, “The Mongans put it in, right? That means they must know how to take it out, too.”
“Well . . . yes,” Stinneli conceded. “I suppose so, but—”
Jadar met Dason’s frank eyes. “I know where you’re going with this. Do you think it would work?”
“In all honesty, I’m not certain,” Dason answered. “However, getting you back to Earth or to any of the Inner Worlds would be pretty risky right now.”
“Because of the Faction stranglehold,” Jadar nodded.
“That’s right,” Dason replied. “So, either the device remains where it is until we can get you to a suitable place or—”
“We get the Mongans to take it out,” Jadar stated.
He stared at the floor for several seconds and muttered, “I’ve been their virtual slave for almost twenty years, and I have no desire to go on staying that way.”
Raising his eyes, he met Dason’s gaze. “So do have a way to convince them to do the procedure?”
“I think so,” Dason replied.
To Stinneli, he asked, “Doctor, if the Mongans cooperate, could you watch over their shoulder, so to speak, make sure that they don’t do anything they shouldn’t.”
“Of course,” Stinneli replied. “But you do realize that they’re probably going to use surgical instruments and procedures that will be, well, alien to me.
“Sorry, no pun intended. But I have to admit, from a medical standpoint, this could turn out pretty fascinating.”
Jadar snorted in reply. “Careful, doc, you’re looking at me as if I were a guinea pig.”
Stinneli grimaced and replied, “My apologies, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“You seem to be ramroddin’ this group,” Jadar said to Dason. “What’s next?”
Just then, the sound of shuffling feet came from near the airlock. Dason went forward to find Sami pushing a Mongan into one of the passenger seats.
“You must have remembered to use the lowest setting on your stunner,” Sami observed. “They’re coming out of it a lot sooner than before.”
The airlock door slid open, and TJ manhandled another Mongan into the ship. Nase pushed the last Mongan inside followed by Shanon and Alena.
Alena and Shanon carried two bundles of confiscated Mongan devices. Shanon held up the now familiar orb. “They each had one of these, seems to be standard issue for them.”
The Mongans stared at the humans, hatred evident in their ebony eyes from being accosted in such a fashion.
Jadar and Stinneli joined the group as Dason called out, “Everyone, listen up. We’re going to the Mongan ship. I can’t tell you if there’s more Mongans on board or not, but we’ll assume that there are. Weapons free at all times, and don’t forget about their devil dogs.
“Our first objective is to find the compartment that has their translator device so that I can speak with them. We’ll figure out our next steps after that.
“Nase, Doctor Stinneli, would you mind helping Captain Marrel with getting geared up?” He winked at his uncle. “He seems to be out of uniform.”
Jadar gave Dason a broad smile and a nod of thanks in return.
“Alena, copilot. Sami, TJ, Shanon, I want your weapons trained on these three at all times. They make a wrong move—don’t hesitate to put the whole lot to sleep.”
“It’s a good thing,” Sami quipped, “you’re putting us on guard duty, TL. If the good lieutenant there were to stun these guys, they’d be asleep for the next month.”
“Okay, Sami,” Alena answered in an annoyed voice, “you’ve made your point—more than once.”
Sami merely smiled in response while Alena and Dason headed for the pilot’s pod. Sliding into the copilot’s chair, Alena questioned, “I take it you’re counting on the front door being open up there?”
“Uh huh,” Dason answered. “If it’s not, then this is going to be a short hop to nowhere and back. Of course, there’s always plan B.”
“Which is?” Alena asked.
“Whatever you come up with,” Dason sighed long, “because I haven’t the foggiest idea of what to do if the front door’s not open.”
Chapter Nine
Star date: 2443.114
Unnamed Planet
Kicking in the Zephyr’s belly thrusters, Dason played his fingers across the piloting console, first lifting the craft off the ground, pointing its nose skyward, and then punching the accelerator so that the ship darted toward the giant Mongan ship.
Scant minutes later, having flown a twisting, evasive flight path in approaching the Mongan vessel, Dason murmured as he peered at the Mongan craft, “Well, if there’s anybody at home, they’re either asleep or we’re mighty uninteresting.”
“Not only that,” Alena replied and pointed to the ship’s underbelly, “it appears that they left the porch light on and the welcome mat out.”
“That’s good,” Dason answered with a little puff of air in relief. “For a second there I thought we might have to fly back to the planet and see if we could use the Mongan craft instead.”
“Didn’t you say,” Alena muttered, “that you didn’t have any other ideas other than this one?”
“Only came up with that one just now,” Dason admitted.
Dason slowed the ship and stared upward at the dark cavernous opening. “Sure hope I’m not leading us into a trap,” he spoke to Alena in a quiet voice. “This is almost too easy.”
Gazing upward, Alena replied softly, “Only one way to find out, right?”
“Right,” Dason answered tensely. “Okay, here we go.”
He angled the Zephyr up, slowed the craft to a mere crawl, and eased the ship through the huge oblong opening. Once inside the bay, he sideslipped his vessel to one side and brought the craft down to a soft landing.
As soon as the tripods had settled on the metallic surface, there was a muted rumbling and the giant bay doors slid into place, sealing them inside. Alena watched her sensor board with attentive eyes. “Pressure’s rising.”
A few seconds later, she intoned, “Atmosphere pressure and composition compatible, gravity at ninety-five percent of Terran standard. This place must be on auto.”
“And that’s a good thing,” Dason replied. “Let’s get moving.”
At the airlock, Dason turned to the group. “The hangar bay is on the lowest deck, so we have to go up. I’m hoping that since all Mongan ships look virtually the same on th
e outside, that they’re identical on the inside, too. If so, I think I can lead us to where we need to go.”
He paused before directing, “Sami and I will be out front, followed by Alena and Shanon.”
Motioning to his uncle, who now wore a Star Scout uniform, complete with torso vest, weapons, and comms, he asked, “Sir, would you like the honor of guarding the Mongans?”
“With pleasure,” Jadar replied.
“Good,” Dason returned. “Doctor Stinneli, you’re on guard duty, too. TJ and Nase, you’ve got our six. Weapons free, but remember, it’ll be tight quarters in there, so if you have to fire, try not to hit one of us.”
He paused, glanced around and asked, “Everyone set?” Getting nods of assent, he ordered, “Let’s do this. Scouts Out.”
Minutes later, Dason and Sami had them deep within the ship. So far, the ship had remained still and silent except for the occasional whirring or clicks that came from the overhead.
They rounded a corner and Dason found what he sought, the same type of circular ladder as on the other Mongan ship. Dason led the group up several decks before they came out facing a long passageway.
Sami glanced up and down the empty corridor and whispered, “Which way? These all look the same to me.”
Dason gestured with his weapon. “Down there.”
“You sure?” Sami asked.
Dason nodded in return. “Pretty sure. We might have to open a few compartments to find the right one, but I’m pretty confident this is the right deck.”
He turned and described to the group the room that they sought. He motioned to Alena and Shanon to start opening doorways while he and Sami began to do the same on their side.
After Dason opened the first door, the Mongans rushed forward as if to stop the humans.
Dason and Alena stepped in front of the chattering Mongans with their weapons outstretched and aimed right at the aliens’ heads. The XTs came to a sudden stop, but their hatred was a dark blot that spread over their faces.
“Wow,” Sami quipped. “Why couldn’t they move like that back on the AP planet?”
