The Search for FTL

by Ted Iverson

  “I’m sorry, Paul. I’ll explain.” Orion went on to detail everything that had happened after he’d awakened in the renegade ship: the Outpost, the cyborgs, and the actual AI droids. He went into finding DES and how the droid had remembered the formula and schematics for the hull. He explained about the progress made in forming a small prototype for strength testing, and also how Zach and he had, for the most part, determined how to manufacture the propulsion system. Orion made it clear that without the prototype or original schematics it was going to take years and years that, apparently, they no longer had. This made finding either the prototype or the schematics imperative.

  “I know the prototype exists. Your father never actually said it, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have destroyed it. The bad part is that I don’t have a clue where it is. I can’t even give you any leads as to where you might find it. And your mother never said one word to me at all about the project. She was always so cryptic about important things. So, even if she may have made reference to it in a conversation, I’m certain I wouldn’t have known what she was talking about.” He smiled thinking about his lost friends. “I can tell you this, whatever I can do to help you I will do, but you must not get caught. It truly would be the end of Space Tech.”

  Orion leaned back in his chair for a moment, tipping it back. He was contemplating their next move when his eyes fell back on the picture of his mother and father. How he wished they were here to help. He was amazed at how life-like the picture appeared. The night sky was a perfect backdrop. His father was dressed in casual attire, which was just like him. Orion couldn’t recall him dressing up except for really special events. Then there was his mother, as beautiful as he remembered, standing there on that balcony, wearing a sundress with tiny daisies, her hand on a book. Another thing he couldn’t remember was any time he’d seen his mother without a book. He froze. His face turned white and the chair slammed forward as he bolted from it.

  “Orion, are you okay?” Zach was next to his brother in an instant, supporting him from an apparent collapse.

  Orion’s hand rose and a quivering finger pointed to the portrait. “Cryptic. That portrait. That’s, that’s it.” He pushed away from the table and moved quickly past his brother, and over to the painting. He tried to remove it, but it would not budge.

  By now the other two had joined him. “What is it, Orion?” Paul asked.

  Frustrated that he couldn’t get the picture off the wall, Orion just stood and stared silently.

  Stepping in between the painting and Orion, Paul pressed, “What is it? This painting can’t be taken off. Your father had it hung when he had this room built. It’s the only one that won’t come off.”

  “Mom’s note. Zach, do you remember Mom’s note back at Space Tech?”

  “No, I’m sorry. I don’t.”

  “A picture paints a thousand words. That’s what she wrote. It might’ve never occurred to me had Paul not mentioned that Mom was cryptic in her words sometime. This picture is it. I know where the prototype is!”

  “What?”

  “The book, look at the book. Her hand is covering up the location: ‘os Mystery.’ See, it’s plain as day. Paul, I need a secure holonet right now. Do you have one?”

  “Yes, but we have to access the entrance through the main lobby. Are you sure you want to do that?”

  “I only need it for a quick little research project.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you needed it to contact someone securely.” Spencer pointed a finger to the corner of the room. There was a small round table there that they hadn’t really paid any attention to. Paul walked over to it and punched in some codes. It quickly came to life.

  “I’m looking for the Cosmos Mystery Area.”

  “Locating requested information now,” it spit out.

  In seconds, the information appeared. Pointing excitedly, Orion explained, “The Cosmos is in South Dakota. It’s, gosh, maybe ten or fifteen minutes west of Rapid City and just north of Keystone. We went there as kids. Don’t think you were there, Zach. Anyway, crazy place: water runs uphill, you stand in one spot and you’re short, another and you’re tall. You go into these cabins and it messes with your equilibrium: you can’t stand; you feel like you’re just going to fall on your face. Weird place, but totally cool.

  “There’s even one spot where all the trees in a certain area are bending toward the middle, into each other, and all the trees around it are standing straight.

  “My point is this: it’s in the Mount Rushmore area. That place has a lot of caves. I’m sure that many have never been explored. It would be the perfect place to hide something. Something with a magnetic signature.”

  Orion was getting more excited by the second. “Who would look in a place like that? It seems to me that, with the natural phenomenon already in place, it would be hard to detect the signature anyway. It might even mess with satellite imagery. Maybe Dad knew this. Plus, it’s a big tourist attraction. Who would ever hide the most important discovery known to man in a place located next to Mt. Rushmore, one of the largest national monuments in the country, one that draws a huge number of tourists? Who? Well, I’ll answer that for you both. Our dad would!”

  “Paul, did Dad ever mention the Black Hills at all? Please think on this one,” Zach asked.

  After several minutes Paul answered, “You know, I do remember him telling me how beautiful it was in South Dakota, and how much he loved to take you kids there for Rushmore and all. I recall a story he told me once after an unexpected visit here. He’d just come back from a trip west and had stayed in Rapid City. He said that the local people were all excited, because a night or two before he arrived, they’d had what some were calling an ‘unnatural event.’ A sonic boom was heard and then a large cigar-shaped object came streaking down over the hills. They said that it had a long, fire tail as it sailed through the sky. Then, in the next moment, it was gone. He was told that several hundred people tried to track it down to find where they thought it had landed, but no one ever found a trace. Many believed it never even reached the monument area. There were those who also claimed that, not only did they see the object, but that a powerful light shot up from the ground somewhere just before it disappeared. Same old UFO stories, I guess. Okay, now I know what you’re thinking, but really, Orion, how you could just hide something that large without people finding it? I don’t know. It’s not like it’s an unpopulated area.”

  “I don’t know how he could have done it, but the fact is, he did. I’m one-hundred percent positive. It all makes sense.”

  Zach now had the same excited look on his face. “I’m in! I’m sure that’s it. Orion. You did it! Now we just have to get to it before Axion. We’re just lucky he doesn’t know we’re here!”

  His brother suddenly became solemn. “Are you so sure he doesn’t?” he asked, referring back to Zach’s pod entrance.

  Zach was trying to forget that part. “Then we just need to find the prototype fast.”

  Sam, finished with her shift, had been standing out of sight. Axion had provided her with a listening device, and some time ago she’d planted it in Spencer’s room. She now heard the entire meeting.

  If he doesn’t know already, he soon will.

  It was time to accelerate Axion’s plan. She hurried away before she could get caught. If ever there was ever a time for a father-daughter talk, this was it.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Dawn was breaking and Orion and Zach had gotten little sleep. Today was to be a day of intense research. Paul had rejoined them with a basket of fruit and breads. They poured over data they had gathered about Mount Rushmore and the Cosmos Mystery area. They’d received satellite photos relating to before and after the reported sightings Paul had told them about. They’d also found data on the reported trajectory of the object. One thing that bothered Orion was that nowhere in any local, state, or national airport archive was there any type of reported occurrence on that day. Logic, he told himself, dictates that there
must have been some type of jamming device used.

  “I think we need to take a break. We’ve been going at this for hours,” announced Orion. “We’ve certainly made a lot of headway. As you can both see, not patting myself on the back or anything, everything leads to the Cosmos. Even the trajectory and approximate angle mentioned in the reports give us a latitude of 43.92318 and a longitude of minus 103.42041. It’s the Cosmos Mystery Area. I think it’s time to move onto the next thing. We’ve got to find Ed, Alec, and Ty.”

  “We don’t even know where they were taken. No place to even start looking.”

  “I believe I can assist with that issue,” Paul said. “I just need a little more time, maybe a day or two, but there is no doubt I can come up with some starting point. My contacts are being overly cautious at the moment, which is understandable, so I will have to work them a little more.”

  “We can’t do much without information. Go ahead, Paul, do whatever you have to. I’m going to contact Captain Lyet and see how things are progressing, and Zach will start researching a staging area for our PTF. Good luck. We’ll talk later.” With that, Spencer left the room and the boys turned back to their work.

  Sam stopped by the AxMet to make sure that the two boys hadn’t slipped out during the night. She’d switched her shift and was now readying herself for what she was certain would be an eventful day. First, she made her way from the café to the restaurant and carefully approached Paul Spencer’s private room. A talk with the staff told her that, not only had the Bindls not left, they were still in Spencer’s private room.

  Good, she thought, they hadn’t gone.

  It was time to go talk to her father. He’d definitely be at work by now, so she made her way from the hotel to her hover and headed toward the Senatorial Complex.

  Traffic was particularly light, so she made good time. She approached the parking garage and swung the hover in. Once the guards noticed who it was, they quickly waved her through. She found a spot, parked, exited her hover, and headed straight toward the complex. She entered Thoma’s office without saying so much as a word to his assistant, simply putting up a hand when his secretary tried to greet her. With no hesitation, she pushed open the office doors and strode in.

  “Dad, we need to talk again. This is much worse than I thought.”

  “Good morning, dear. And just what are we talking about? Your friend again?” Thoma got up to give her a hug, but when he got near her, she put up both hands, stopping him from getting any closer.

  “No, not now. There’s no time for pleasantries.” Samantha glared at Thoma.

  “Honey, what’s wrong? What could be so important that your father can’t give his daughter a hug?” He tried once more.

  “No! Listen to what I’m trying to tell you. Orion and Zach Bindl are here.”

  Her father backed away, “Here? Right now? Where exactly is here, and how did you find this out?” He was trembling.

  “I was at work last night and they just showed up. From where, I couldn’t say. I got off work and they were still there, so I eavesdropped. I didn’t hear their entire conversation, but I heard enough. Spencer is in on it with them. Somehow he seems to know more than he should. But that isn’t important. They’re gathering an army to fight. It sounds like they have an awful lot of troops. Not only that, but the prototype their parents sent out first—it’s safe.”

  “Safe? How do you know about the first prototype? Only the OEC knows about that.”

  “That’s none of your concern. Just finish listening to me.”

  “Young lady, show some respect. I’m your father.”

  “And you’re wasting my time. Now just listen!” She was clearly agitated with him. “They’re sure that they’ve found the location of the prototype. We need to get this information to Senator Axion, and we need to get it to him now. They must be caught quickly. The longer we’re here, the better the chances are that they’ll slip away.”

  Thoma was appalled and confused at the tone of his daughter. “What is wrong with you? You’ve never acted this way before. Why the sudden interest in apprehending those two? Just a little while ago you wanted to help your friend Ty.” Shaking his head, he looked at her, backed away, and sank into a chair. Resting his arms wearily on the armrest, he began to speak, “Your mother always warned me that this type of life would have an adverse effect on you. You haven’t been the same since you came back from school overseas. I thought that being together would help us after your mother passed. Instead, it appears I’ve made things worse. Sam, we can’t turn those two in. I’ve been involved in some terrible deeds. Activities that I first thought were noble. But things have gotten out of hand. Those two and their brothers are innocent. This has all been a plan by Axion to take over Space Tech. He promised me riches, riches I thought would benefit us. He also promised me security, which I needed after your mother died. Now, he’s killing people and forcing those fine young men to do the same. He killed their parents. He arranged the sabotage of the StarDancer. I tried to break away, but he threatened to harm you and I couldn’t let that happen. You mean everything to me.”

  Thoma stood and approached her again. “Now, look! Somehow he’s gotten you on his side. Sam, help me stop him. Help me stop myself. I will not go to him with this news. Maybe Orion and Zach will be able to do what I have been unwilling to do. If I could change everything, I would. You’ve got to forgive me, Sam, please. I have decided to stand up to Axion, so help me. If he harms you...”

  She hadn’t moved during his entire confession. She just stood watching him, stone-faced. Then she broke out into a laugh, a laugh that did not sound human. “No matter. I’ll go and tell him myself then.”

  “You can’t! Those boys are our only hope to take out Axion. We should be helping them. Can’t you see?” He moved closer, too close.

  Sam reached out with lightning speed and snatched Thoma by the neck of his senatorial garb. The man writhed in fright, his feet dangling a few inches off the ground. She moved over to the chair he’d left moments before and dropped him roughly back into it. Thoma sat there stunned while she spoke. “It’s like this, Thoma. You’re a fool, and you’ve been used because Axion needed another senator to help with his plot. It’s simple, the accident that killed your wife: no accident. He knew that you’d be crushed and that in your weakened emotional state, he could use you, mold you. And your daughter? She found out. That’s why she was sent overseas for school. Axion confronted her and gave her no option: leave and say goodbye to dear old Dad, or—you get the picture. Well, Senator, she’s not coming back.”

  Thoma, near comatose by this time, heard every word, but couldn’t move a muscle. Tears rolled down a face that looked as if it had aged twenty years in thirty minutes.

  “She’s dead,” she said, grinning. Sometimes, you just shouldn’t play hero and go to the authorities, or in her case, the consulate. Good thing my boss has friends everywhere.”

  Enjoying every moment now, she went on, “I was her replacement.” Bending close, she spoke hatefully. “Look at me. Look into my eyes. I am what Senator Axion will bring to this world of yours. FTL travel—that’s nothing. The Bindls know this. I am a direct result of that research: an android with artificial intelligence. That’s right. Look at me. Look into my eyes.”

  Unable to look away and too frightened to disobey, Thoma looked. It was like looking into the depths of Hades itself. Her eyes glowed with a red so intense he thought they might spit out fire at any moment.

  Sam backed away and motioned for Thoma to stand. “Get up and follow me. I believe you have important news for Senator Axion.”

  The droid held the door open. Thoma knew he’d have to go or she—or was it now an it—might kill him right there if he didn’t comply. Once again he would have to face Axion, this time with the knowledge that the evil man had destroyed his life forever. He rose from the chair slowly and they left the office. As he was escorted down the corridor to Axion’s chambers, he realized he’d lost the two mo
st important things in his life, and he might as well have killed them himself. The realization shattered him like glass, but the pieces hadn’t yet fallen. He had to hold himself together for a little while longer, until he could expose Axion for who he was: thief, cheat, and murderer. Axion’s time was coming soon and Thoma needed to be a part of it. Until then, he would have to play the game, a game which he had already lost. Reaching the door to Axion’s chambers, Senator Thoma gathered up all his remaining strength.

  “Don’t let me down, Senator,” she commanded. She turned and swiftly walked away.

  Thoma straightened out his robes, drew a deep breath, and tried to regain his composure. He reached up and touched the com.

  “Yes?” It was Axion’s all too familiar voice.

  Hesitating, and then clearing his throat, he answered, “Senator Thoma, sir, with very disturbing news.” It felt as though he was experiencing an out-of-body experience.

  “Enter.”

  The doors to the chamber unlocked, and Thoma pushed the doors open. Immediately he felt the hot moist air of the strange office. It had been unpleasant to visit this place before, but now, with all his new knowledge, it was unbelievably frightening. Sweat trickled off him as he made his way to the other side of the room. Axion’s bird was standing on the windowsill, staring straight at Thoma.

  The thing gets more and more revolting every time I see it, he thought.

  He cleared his throat and began, “We’ve received news that the two Bindl brothers are here on Earth.”

  “Ahhhh, so it is as I thought. I had that feeling yesterday. Our men scanned the impact site of the two OBL meteor strikes. While one was identified as a true strike, the other was, shall we say, questionable. After further research of the impact zone, it was determined that the area was scattered with man-made metal fragments. Basically, a small ship, as well as meteorites. My guess is that it is the remnants of an escape pod from the Lab. The report just came in.” He waved some papers in the air and then set them back down on his desk. “So what you are telling me does not surprise me. What does surprise me is the lack of intelligence shown by those two. They’re making it easy for me. There are only a limited number of places they can go, so capturing them will be no problem.”