by Ted Iverson
“No, thank you. Notify me when the loading is complete and we’ll come down for launch.”
“Yes, sir.” With a slight bow, the young man turned and exited the room.
“Lieutenant Toir, before you leave I would like you to jettison all the shuttles save for mine. No specific coordinates, just make sure they can’t be traced.”
“There is only one way to make sure they aren’t traced, sir. Is that what you really want? What if we come back?”
With a regretful sigh, the Captain turned his head to look at his junior officer. “I do not believe you and the crew will be coming back to this place. However, if you do, we’ll address the issue then. I am truly saddened that we must depart, but we have our orders. We must not be found. Lieutenant, you have performed admirably under me. The men will need you to lead them if I fail to arrive.”
He handed the lieutenant two heavy binders and one smaller one. “These two,” he said, patting the larger binders, “are the standard procedures manuals for what you are about to embark on. They should cover just about everything you need to know. The smaller packet holds your promotion papers.” He reached out, removed two small medallions from the lieutenant’s collars and replaced them with two new ones. Giving a slight bow to the newly promoted man, Lyet said, “Captain, it is time for you go. Good luck on all your future endeavors and, God willing, I will see you again.”
“Sir, thank you. It has been my privilege to serve under you. All will go well, I assure you, and we will survive and prosper.” With that Captain Toir bowed, then turned and quickly left the room for the launch section.
Alone now, Captain Lyet contemplated the events that had led up to this moment. He was deeply saddened. Though he had lost two close friends, he knew that the FTL project wasn’t over. Somehow it would continue. It must continue. This truly was only the start; he just needed to be patient. Although he had always followed orders, somehow now, what he had agreed to do just didn’t feel right. He’d changed those orders after Jeff and Jennifer had perished. He had to stay behind and try to defend what was theirs. Protecting an important and massive outpost such as this by himself? Of course, that would be an altogether different matter. But his gut told him that things would work out, and acknowledging that made him feel better already.
“All shuttles ready for ejection.” The voice was familiar. “Eject.”
The structure vibrated slightly and the small ships shot out of their docks in every direction, like pieces of space junk. With no one at the controls, they tumbled end over end. Just before they vanished out of sight, Lyet saw the beam shoot from the Outpost’s defense system. One by one each shuttle burst into small pinpoints of light. Lyet watched, straight-faced and emotionless.
“Vessel is ready for launch in four, three, two, one, launch.” The final command rang out even louder, creeping into the depths of his heart. This time the structure shook violently. Lyet fell forward slightly, grabbed onto the railing in front of him to steady himself. From beneath the deck where he stood, the nose of a ship peeked out. It grew larger, and before long, the entire ship had emerged, picking up speed as it moved away from the structure. What a sight it was.
Soon the ship vanished into the cold emptiness of space. Captain Lyet turned and slowly exited the command room. It was time to prepare.
Chapter Nine
Zach looked on in horror as he heard his brother yell his name. The rogue ship was unbelievably fast, and it was executing some amazing maneuvers. No matter how hard Zach got on his throttle and no matter how incredibly well he flew, he couldn’t match his ship’s course to that of the one in front of him. Orion’s ship slipped further and further away until finally it was out of view. Zach remained on the last course it had seemed to be following.
Desperate, he radioed the control center at the station. “People, did you get that?”
“Zach Bindl, Chris English here. What in the blazes are you trying to do to my ship? I thought I warned you.”
“What? Me?”
“We’ve been following you and your brother. Are you crazy? Your ship isn’t designed for what you just put her through! I am happy you’re alive, though.”
“Wait now, Chris. I was just following Orion. His ship changed course and kicked in all the engines. I swear, I was just trying to keep up. I lost him while trying to stay on his last known trajectory, but... he’s gone. He could be anywhere.”
“Why would he do that? We didn’t receive any com from you or him during that stunt.”
“Chris, I’m trying to tell you. He didn’t have control. He went into the back to check stuff out and the ship just took over. And, Chris, I think he’s injured.” Zach was almost in a panic now.
“Okay, Zach. Try to calm down. Take a few breaths. First off, lay off your throttle. You still need to get back here. If this happened, then we’re nuts, because we still have both of you on our radar. We show him to be roughly three kilometers ahead of you and on the same coordinates you both programmed into the nav computer before you left.”
“I don’t care what you are showing. He’s gone.”
“Zach, I need you to stay calm. I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I just don’t show what you see. Did you record your com with him?”
“Yes.”
“You’re doing no good flying to nowhere. We need you to get back here so we can analyze your tapes and data.”
“I can’t leave him out here, especially if he’s hurt.”
Calmly English said, “Do you know where he went? No. We don’t need you lost also. Please, use common sense here. Turn your ship around. and for God’s sake, back off your throttle!”
“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Zach immediately loosened the grip he had on the throttle paddles mounted to the yoke. Pressing down on the left rudder pedal, he began a slow left turn. He then realized he had no idea where he’d flown. “Chris, could you send the Lab’s coordinates to my ship? I’m too shook up to fly. I’ll switch to auto pilot.”
“Figured that already. They’re on the way. Just relax. We’ll find Orion. Contact us when you’re about twelve klicks out. There’s one last thing I need you to do for me, Zach. I need you to shut down your primary locator transponder and switch on your backup.”
“Roger that. Thanks, Chris. Bindl Two out.” Zach drew in a few breaths, set the auto pilot, and flipped the secondary transponder switch. The ship turned and headed back.
The engineer stood, eyes glued to the monitor, as one transponder blip disappeared. The other kept moving forward. A moment later, the secondary transponder on Zach’s ship appeared and showed Zach’s ship heading back to the Lab and away from the other ship.
“Jeff Bindl, you are a sneaky one,” was all English could mutter. With a wave toward the panel, he demanded, “Analyze those tracks. Find out if that drone’s transponder is ours. Then report to me. I’ll be in the CO’s chambers. Oh, and send Zach to see us.” He laid a hand on the young radar operator’s shoulder. “I haven’t seen this tactic in a very long time. Clever, really clever.” Giving the lad one last shoulder pat, he turned and left the command center.
Alec knelt in front of his father’s desk. He reached up and carefully nudged the object in front of him. It was sturdy. He got up, moved to the chair behind the desk, and sat down. Carefully he moved the object to the center of the desk and started to examine it. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and yet, there it was. Just then, the com link attached to his belt vibrated. He unhooked it from its holder. “Alec here.”
“Alec, Ty here. What is that? Is that what I think it is?”
What is that? How could Ty know what he was looking at? He looked around for a hidden camera.
“Sorry!” Ty said. “I should explain.”
“Yes, please do. It’s obvious there’s a camera here somewhere,” Alec said.
“I was working with CHAMP when he alerted me that someone was in the library at home. Then, he automatically switched on a video of the library. You’re pretty luck
y though.”
“Lucky?”
“Yeah, he wanted to activate security measures. Not that I have any clue what they are. I almost said, ‘Sure, go ahead.’ I thought it might be funny to see your reaction to the ‘security measures,’ whatever they might be!”
“Nice. Thanks a lot.”
“Anytime.”
“Great, now we have to worry about breaking into our own offices.” Alec snickered at the thought. “Ty, I think what we have here is a model of the StarDancer. It is incredible. I know that it’s not really what we’re looking for, but it’s a good start. We’ll need to get this, or at least the three-dimensional image, to Orion and Zach right away.”
“I’ve been looking at it close up while we’ve been talking. It’s incredible! Are the details as good as they appear to be?”
“In one word: yes. I can’t begin to describe what I see. I know nothing of science, but I’ll bet the guys up in the lab will be able to identify most of this.”
“Go ahead and get the 3-D scan to them. I’d like to keep probing CHAMP.”
“One quick thing before we go.”
“Yep?”
“Why are you referring to the CHAMP program as ‘him’?”
“Good question. I can now carry on a conversation with it— him, I mean. I can’t explain it, but you remember Dad making us watch that freakin’ ancient film 2001?”
“Oh, yeah. That one.”
“It’s HAL, the good HAL that is. I swear, it’s really weird, almost like the AI stuff that Zach was talking about. But I know that can’t be. I must be nuts.”
“How about we talk about that one later?”
“Tell you what, how about we forget I said that?” Ty added in amusement.
“Deal! I’m going to scan and send the image to the guys and get some sleep. It’s been quite a day. Alec out.”
As Alec’s image faded from view, Ty said, “CHAMP, please close this view. The intruder is my brother and is allowed to be there.”
“Very well, sir. Shall I continue with your previous search request?”
“Yes, please.”
“Searching for items that contain information on StarDancer schematics. Sir, this may take a moment.”
“I’ve got the time.” The view switched from the library back to the image of a more conventional looking holoscreen. Realizing he’d been standing the whole time, Ty settled back into his chair and took a notepad and pen from his satchel. Most of the known population now used some sort of electronic device to take notes, but Ty preferred to hand write them. He believed it helped him to remember important points better by physically writing them out. He could always scan them to a holodisc later, if needed.
He was still jotting things down when CHAMP announced, “Sir, I have searched my memory banks and the memory of others like myself and have found no such items. I have crossed out the word ‘schematic’ and have included the following words: plan, diagram, scheme, and systems. I have found nothing.”
“Could you search for schematics without including the name StarDancer?”
“Yes, this may take a few more moments.”
Before he had a chance to blink, the screen started showing results. Within the first few moments, hundreds of listings appeared for him to browse. This is going to take a while, he thought. After two long minutes the scrolling stopped. “Could I have a printout of this?”
“Yes, sir. Print to a paper reel, record on holodisk, or download to a device?”
“Print to paper, please.” As the printing started, Ty felt and heard his stomach rumble. He realized that he hadn’t eaten yet. When the printing finally stopped, he grabbed the papers from the printer, figuring he’d browse through them while grabbing a bite. Before heading off, he told the computer, “I would like to shut down this session now, CHAMP.”
“Your log off has been accepted. Please return again.”
“I will and thanks.” Ty had just said thank you to a program, He felt as if he was losing his mind. Or maybe he’d been dropped into some crazy sci-fi novel. He put away his notebook, grabbed the printouts, and stuffed them into his satchel. A glance at his watch, showed him how late it had gotten. He decided to head back home and eat there instead of going to the cafeteria. Then he would finally get some shut-eye.
Sub-Commander Chris English sat in Commander Pargon’s quarters, wrapping up the day’s events with Captain Powers, who doubled as the personnel and security director. “So, you see,” English explained, “Orion is probably okay. Banged up a bit I’m sure, but otherwise okay.”
“Chris, let me get this straight. You believe that Jeff programmed his shuttle to override anyone who took the ship out.”
“Not just anyone. To board that ship you have to be retina scanned and VGID scanned. I think that if you or I took the ship out we could’ve have flown it just fine. But, when it recognized that the pilot was one of the boys, Jeff’s program took over. He didn’t want anyone but the boys to find the destination. I suspect that was the reason the radar signal was jammed. The decoy beacon that the ship deployed is what we tracked.”
“I just can’t imagine him not trusting us.”
“Commander, I don’t think trusting us is the issue. We have to assume that the shuttle’s destination is where the FTL ship was constructed, or at least where some answers are. Not telling us was his way of protecting us.”
“Yes, I know you’re right. At this point then we can only sit back and wait for some communication from Orion. We should ready some ships in the event he might need our assistance. I understand that our current fleet doesn’t compare to Jeff’s shuttle and that it would take I don’t know how long to get to him, but we should still be ready.”
“I agree, sir.”
Just then the com came alive. “Zach Bindl reporting.” The hatch opened and Zach walked in slowly, looking terrible.
“Gentlemen,” was all he could muster.
“Take a seat,” Commander Pargon said, motioning toward the one remaining chair in front of his desk. “Zach, how are you doing?”
“Not bad considering I’ve lost my dad’s shuttle and a brother.” The sarcasm in his voice was apparent. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out that way. Honestly, not good. I’m uncertain what just happened out there. It was supposed to have been a simple routine trip to Luna and, poof! It all happened so quickly; I never had a second to react.”
Captain Powers handed Zach a glass of water.
“Thank you, Captain. Good to see you again.”
“And you, Zach. If you need to talk after this, you know where I hang my hat.” The captain sat and turned his attention back behind the desk. “Don’t blame yourself. Sub-Commander English has a theory for what happened and I wouldn’t bet against what he’s about to share with you. Sub-Commander.” He gave a nod to English.
“I won’t make this a long, drawn-out explanation. Here’s the short version. First off, I believe Orion is alive. I won’t deny that he’s injured as you say, but my guess is that it’ll be bumps and bruises. As I see it, after you shut down your main transponder, there was still one blip. It showed Orion’s ship continuing on the same course it had been on. When your secondary transponder came online, it clearly showed you heading back here. That means that before the other shuttle made any maneuvers, it shut down its primary transponder and launched a rogue transponder, one coded to your father’s shuttle. It just kept going forward, so we were made to believe all was going as planned. That maneuver has only been used in the combat simulators your father made all the pilots train in, just in case a defense was ever needed.”
“So it was an elaborate ruse?”
“It does look that way. Looking back now, I think your father didn’t take that shuttle his last time here, probably because he’d already modified it to do this.”
“I think I see where you’re headed. Please, go on.”
“I think he set up a subprogram. After identifying one of you four boys, it would run
. I think it was set to kick in once the autopilot was switched on, Orion switching to autopilot activated the program. A specific set of coordinates must have already been programed in. It wouldn’t have mattered if one or more of you were in that thing. You couldn’t have changed what happened. I can’t tell you what your brother’s going to find, but knowing your dad, my guess is it’ll be extraordinary.”
“Chris, now I know why he hired all of you to run this lab. Your intuition on this must be dead on. It’s really the only explanation. Of course, you know when and if Orion contacts us I may have to go find him.”
“We thought as much,” Pargon interjected, “and we’ve already discussed outfitting three ships, as well as yours, for a long-range flight.”
“I won’t be staying here gentlemen. I have to find those schematics. I’ll go to Luna as planned. I need to look around there. Will it be possible to reassign your three pilots in the short term? That way they can assist me with hunting down what we’re looking for and can be there when and if needed.”
“I don’t see that as a problem. Captain Powers, could you spare a few pilots for a while?”
“Yes, sir. I can. Zach, it’s really late in the day now. You’ll need to give me until Wednesday to get them ready. They’ve never flown any distance except to Luna, but I’ll have them ready and on standby.”
Zach nodded. “Wednesday we will fly. I’m going to get some shut-eye. Captain, I’ll be down first thing to help with the retrofit. Thank you all again. Goodnight.” Zach gave a brief wave and headed off to his quarters.
Orion finally came around. He had no idea what day or time it was, but at least the ship appeared to be steady now, no crazy maneuvers. He slowly pulled himself to his knees and began assessing how badly he might be injured.
Definitely no broken bones, he thought. The only thing he found, besides a lot of bruises, was a cut where his head had met the bulkhead. He could feel the dried blood. Shakily, he got to his feet. The ship shuddered slightly and Orion, beginning to panic, flew into the nearest seat and buckled in. It took him a few minutes to gather his wits and realize the shudder was normal.
