The Search for FTL

by Ted Iverson

  Thoma entered the room majestically, like the respected senator he once was. He strode to the podium, took his place, and rapped the gavel. “Gentlemen,” he announced, “we have business to tend to, and when this session is over I wish to hold an emergency OEC meeting in the annex.”

  He looked out over his colleagues and thought to himself, So, this is how it will begin... or end.

  Ty, exhausted from the encounter with Axion, paused for a moment outside the senatorial building and leaned against one of the building’s great pillars. He reached into his pocket and took out the pair of sunglasses Zach had given him earlier that week. He put them on and put a simple hearing device into one ear. Ty tapped on his watch. Clearing his voice, he said, “Alec. Alec, do you copy?”

  Alec’s image appeared on the inside of the glasses. “Ty, I copy. So, not that I should be expecting a good answer to my question, but how’d we do?”

  A dry laugh came from deep within Ty. “Not good. They want to open this up for competition. There is apparently another company out there that has the resources to build an FTL ship. And, just as we feared, they claim that Mom and Dad’s documents were nothing. We all know different, but without those, what can we go by except for the random notes they left us? I knew Axion was a crook, but there is much more to this than we think. He’ll stop at nothing now. That was made perfectly clear to me. Any luck with you?”

  “I have a few leads, but it seems that someone’s tracks have been well covered. Can we get a hold of the name of the company that will be joining us in our little ‘race’ for FTL?”

  “I think so. I imagine the Senate will be going over Axion’s personal OEC report for a couple of days. I’ll try to obtain a copy of the report, but I don’t imagine I’ll get a lot out of it. It will be filled with half-truths—about Mom and Dad’s research anyway. I think Senator Fillmore and Thoma may be on our side. They stood up to Axion, but no one else will. The rest just seem to be happy agreeing with him. Alec, I don’t want to throw in the towel on this project, but how can we go on? Axion is holding all the cards now.”

  “There have to be alternatives for us. You need to get a hold of Zach and Orion and fill them in on the meeting. I’m going to keep digging.”

  Ed appeared from behind Ty. “Ty, I don’t mean to disturb you, but we need to get to the hover. Now! There has been a disturbing development.”

  Ty to abandon his relaxed position against the pillar. “Alec, hang on” he said quickly. “Ed’s here telling me something.”

  “Okay, I’ll hang.”

  “Go on, Ed, tell me.”

  “I sat in on the proceedings, out of sight. I felt you might need me. Anyway, after you were escorted out, Axion quickly proposed that all FTL travel projects must be approved by the Senate. This means if you choose to violate it, you will be arrested.”

  Ty’s jaw dropped. He was fairly certain that he hadn’t just heard that.

  “Did I overhear what I think I did?” Alec asked.

  “You did.” Ty braced himself against the pillar. “I’m not feeling well. That’s it then. We’re done. We can’t continue.”

  “It isn’t done yet, Ty,” Alec said. “Get back to the hotel. Meet with Paul and see if you can use his secure net. I’ll meet you and Ed back there right away. We need to talk to Zach and Orion. We’ve got to get a handle on this situation and determine what our next step will be. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Alec, I do. We’ll be there shortly.” Ty took off the glasses and wiped his brow. He was wet with sweat and shaking. “Ed, we need to get back to the hotel, ASAP. Which way?”

  Ed pointed and they made their way toward the hover. There they were met by six of Axion’s guards, standing by their own hovers. The guard in charge spoke: “Mr. Bindl?”

  Ed and Ty exchanged glances. “Yes. What do you need?” Ty asked.

  “Is this your vehicle?”

  “Yeah, what about it?”

  “Are you Edward Serner?” the guard asked, directing this question to Ed.

  “Uh, yes. Is there a problem?” Ed answered. The guards moved toward him, and Ed backed away slowly.

  Ty had never heard or seen such uncertainty from Ed.

  “Mr. Serner, this vehicle was involved in an unprovoked accident and you were the driver. The charge is murder.” The leader motioned to his guards. “Take him.”

  Ty moved to block the guards, and two of them grabbed his arms to restrain him. The remaining three closed in on Ed. Unexpectedly, Ed stopped moving backward. He held out both arms, hands clasped together.

  A guard moved in, his cuffs out, ready to place them on Ed’s wrists. In an instant, Ed’s clasped hands shot upward and struck the man’s jaw. The guard’s head snapped back with a frightening crack. His lifeless body fell backward. The two guards behind Ed jumped in to restrain him. Ed swung his right hand into the solar plexus of one then threw a wicked left at the other. The first guard buckled and was left gasping for air. The second now lay on the ground unconscious.

  The one guard recovered and now had a weapon out. Before he could pull the trigger, a hand grabbed his wrist and twisted it into an angle no doctor had ever encountered. The weapon fell harmlessly to the ground as did the guard, who was now kneeling and clutching his limp wrist. Ed reached down, picked the man up, and hurled him into a pillar. The body dropped, motionless.

  During all of this, Ty struggled to get free, but the guards had him in a death grip. Ed headed toward them, then stopped.

  “That’s right, Mr. Serner. Not another step.” The chief guard had pulled out his weapon and had it pointed right at Ed. The guard shook his head and went on. “Reminds me of a movie I once saw. Unfortunately for you, this is reality. I was supposed to take you in alive, but seeing as you resis—”

  Ed and Ty heard three rapid thuds. The weapon that had been leveled at Ed was now on the ground, as were the three remaining guards, blood oozing from their heads.

  Ed looked at Ty. Ty looked at Ed then walked over to the one who had been so willing to finish Ed off. Ty nudged him with his foot and said, “Yep, just like the movies.”

  Hearing a low hum, they turned and saw the Turtle hovering. Standing on a wing, holding a weapon out to the side, was Alec. “Still beats hand to hand don’t you think, Ed?”

  Ed began to laugh. “Thanks for the help, Alec.”

  “Hey, it was my turn to return the favor. But enough small talk. Gotta get Ty back to the hotel to pack. We have to get out of the capital and back to HQ. Ed, he rides with me. You take the hover. Are you going to be alright?”

  “Yes, I think so. You go. I’ll catch up.”

  Alec moved over to the big man and embraced him. “Be careful, my friend,” he whispered.

  “We’ll meet up again, I promise.” Both men knew that Ed was now on the run and that, no matter how clever and smart Ed was, Axion would find him and find him soon.

  The two brothers jumped back onto the ship. Moments later it disappeared into the distance. With no time to ponder what would happen next, Ed jumped in his hover and took off.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ty opened the door to his office. Sitting behind the receptionist’s desk was Joanne. Her smile was the best thing he’d seen in a week.

  “Ty!” She got up from behind her desk, met him half way across the room, and gave him a quick hug. “I’m so glad to see you!”

  Exhausted and depressed, he smiled back at her as best he could.

  “Things didn’t go very well, I’m afraid. We’re not getting the grant. They informed me on my way back last night. It was a short, to-the-point message, basically saying thanks for all you and your family have done in the past, but we’re looking into alternatives and Space Tech isn’t one of them. Axion’s hold on most of the senators is too tight. Even if they wanted to help us, I don’t think they’d dare try.”

  “I am so sorry.” Composing herself back into business mode, Joanne went on, “Well, isn’t there something else we can do?”

/>   “I don’t think there’s a whole lot really. If we continue without the grant, we’ll be locked up and they’ll toss away the key.”

  Joanne was stunned. “Locked up? Do you mean arrested? How could that be?”

  He tossed a large binder on her desk. “It seems that all FTL projects must now be run through the OEC. That will explain it all. Something’s not right. Even Ed and Alec can’t figure it out. We’re certain Axion is behind this, but we can’t figure out why, and he’s covered his tracks so well that, even though we’re sure he’s the main player, we can’t prove it. In a nutshell, we’re done.” His head drooped. “It is truly over.”

  Joanne walked over and placed a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

  He smiled halfheartedly. “Nothing we can do about it right now.”

  He sat down in the chair in front of her desk as she made her way to her own chair. “There’s more,” Ty said. “After the session let out, Ed and I were confronted again. They tried to arrest him for murder. They said that he was unprovoked in his actions when he took out that guy who was chasing us. Alec showed up and, well, Joanne, he killed three people. Not that they didn’t deserve it. After all, they were just about to kill Ed, and I’m sure I’d have been next. Ed is now a fugitive. I can’t contact him. I’ve tried, but he’s not answering. I’m sure it’s because he doesn’t want to take a chance on being located. I’m worried.” Ty buried his head in his hands. “If only Mom or Dad were here.”

  Joanne just listened. She knew he had to get this off his chest. Besides, she had no answers. This was overwhelming for her too. She’d taken a liking to Ty and, even if he didn’t realize it, his agony was becoming hers as well.

  He lifted his head, took a deep breath, and said, “Thanks for listening to me. I really didn’t mean to dump all that on you. I feel a little better now. I guess I better let my brothers know what’s going on. It looks as if Space Tech will be moving in a different direction.” He got up from the chair and headed toward his office.

  “Ty,” she began.

  “Yes?”

  She hesitated. “Nothing. If you need anything, I’m right here.”

  “Thanks, Joanne. I know.” He entered his office and the door slid shut.

  Joanne leaned back in her chair. She was flushed and embarrassed.

  Once inside the office, Ty sat down at his desk, picked up the picture of his parents, and looked at it for a long moment. He set it down and continued to stare at it. He felt truly alone. His parents were gone, and he’d come to Space Tech on his own today. None of his brothers were here to help him decide what to do next.

  Alec shouldn’t be far behind though. He decided to wait until Alec arrived to contact Orion and Zach. Ty wanted to know if he’d heard from Ed and if he’d uncovered any new information about their situation.

  Ty swiveled his chair around and was just about to get down to some paperwork when there was a knock on the door. This was unusual. Joanne would always notify him when someone was there to see him. Why didn’t she this time? Ty went to the door and touched a button to open it. There, standing before him, was Alec. “Good morning,” he announced.

  Ty turned and pointed to his desk. “I was just about to do some work.”

  “Time to talk,” Alec said. He glanced quickly back into the reception area, as if making sure no one had followed him. Then he moved past his brother, hastily poking at the panel to shut the door behind them.

  “Ty, fill me in. We didn’t get a chance to discuss it yesterday, what with the commotion and all.”

  Back at his seat, Ty clasped both hands, resting them on the desk. “On the shuttle ride back here I received the actual, legal telegram cutting us loose. It simply stated that we weren’t getting the grant. No real explanation, of course. The real problem is what happened after I left the chamber. It appears that Axion had a policy pushed through stating that any outside companies wishing to pursue faster-than-light travel must have the approval of the Senate. I also found out that another company has gotten their approval and is beginning to build an FTL ship. I sure would like to know where those plans came from. That’s it in ‘Cliffs Notes’ fashion.”

  Alec tried to get a grasp on what he was hearing. He leaned forward and asked, “Do you know the name of this company?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m not sure I want to give it to you though.”

  “What? Are you serious? Why wouldn’t you?”

  “It all seems useless, and if I give it to you, you’ll do something that this corporation can’t afford to have happen.”

  “I don’t believe this. Ty, if you don’t give it to me I guarantee I’ll find it somewhere else. Don’t be stupid. We have to get to the bottom of this situation, and getting that information is exactly where we need to start. You know it as well as I do.” In an almost threatening manner, Alec demanded, “Tell me who it is.”

  Ty lifted his hands off his desk and slid backward in his chair. He hesitated, then blurted out: “It’s Meteoric, Inc.” He stood to confront his brother. “Alec, I swear if you do something stupid to put us all in more jeopardy than we’re already in, I’ll never forgive you.”

  “Ty, you tell me how we can be any worse off than right at this moment? Look at what’s happened already. I’m going to get to the bottom of this and I can’t worry about the consequences right now.

  “Think about this,” Alec said as he stood up and made his way to the door, “what will the consequences be if I don’t find out what’s going on? Just ask yourself that, okay?” Then Alec was gone.

  Ty raced to catch the shutting door but was too late. He frantically tapped the pad to get the door open. When it finally did open, Ty burst into the reception area to find Alec was already gone. Ty knew he wouldn’t be able to catch up.

  Joanne stood there looking startled. “Ty! Is everything okay? Alec seemed in an awful hurry.”

  Ty waved a hand at her. “Nothing, nothing at all. Everything’s okay.” He smiled and returned to his office, then walked over to the window and stared out. A few minutes later he saw the Turtle lift off and fly away into the distance. Absolutely no good was going to come of these latest events. He had a bad feeling about the future.

  Alec had remotely accessed the Turtle as he’d made his way onto the tarmac. The ship had been there waiting for him, ready to go. Alec had climbed aboard and within minutes had taken off.

  Once up, he booted up the holo. He touched a few buttons and a figure appeared. “Ed, I’ll keep this transmission brief. I need you to look into a company called Meteoric. It appears they received the grant. We need to know what’s going on. Get back to me as soon as possible.”

  “Alec, I’m on it. I’ll let you know what I find out. I’m keeping Paul apprised of the situation. I trust you’ll also watch your back.”

  “Of course. You know they’ll be looking for me now too. This is not going to just go away. We’ll need proof if we’re going to clear ourselves. It won’t be easy finding it with Axion in complete control of things.”

  “You’re absolutely correct. I’ll be in touch soon.” A haze overtook the figure and it faded.

  Orion waited patiently, staring into the launch bay from a small observation platform. The modified shuttle glided effortlessly into the bay. As it slowed to a stop, the electromagnetic field closed and returned the bay to a habitable atmosphere.

  Orion continued to watch as the newly-arriving droids exited the ship. Their actions were methodical as they cleared the bay and headed straight to work. Each had a very small duffle bag. Just uniforms, he surmised.

  Then he watched six humans exit, each showing excitement. They stood together as Lyet spoke with them and pointed up toward Orion. They glanced up, quickly formed a line, and saluted. He was shocked, but saluted back. They whipped their hands back to their sides and marched out of the bay, carrying much larger bags than the droids had.

  Those bags, he thought, must contain a lot of extras that only we humans could use. And probably memories
.

  Lyet quietly stepped up behind Orion and put a hand on Orion’s shoulder. “Good to see you again.”

  Orion jumped a mile and turned instantly. Captain Lyet grabbed both his arms to hold him in place. “Sorry to startle you like that. Seems to be a recurring thing lately.”

  Orion, now under control, just shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t even hear you come in. Nice looking crew you brought us.”

  “Not as nice as the crew that’s coming in two days.”

  “Two days? What are you talking about?”

  “If you remember, I mentioned that there was a transport ship. I had a meeting with everyone and they decided that we should get back at the job as soon as possible. They left a skeleton crew of droids to keep the other outpost going. The rest are all coming home.”

  “All? Why, that’s incredible! I was going to ask you to stay and have someone else pilot the ship to get the crew members next time, but as usual, you seem to have the situation under total control. I’m wondering, if you’re going to have a full crew, maybe it’s time I leave and head back to Luna to help out Zach’s crew. You all can get along without me. You’ve proven that already. It’s not like I won’t be coming back. My brothers need me.”

  “Go back to Luna?” The captain was startled. “Do you really think that’s a good idea? You seem to have acclimated yourself here and everyone will be looking to you to lead them. I have in the past, but... well, things are different now. You should think twice about this. There’s also a good chance you’ll be in danger.”

  Orion nodded. “I know that what you’re saying is probably all true, but my family needs me.” He shook his head. This was going to be a difficult decision.

  Orion shifted gears and headed off, waving for the captain to follow. “You’ve got to see this,” he said, excitement replacing his earlier concern. “These droids are amazing. Once they remembered the vital criteria for building the hull they stepped things up a notch! They already have the outer shipyard cleaned and they’re rebuilding the mooring arch.”