The Search for FTL

by Ted Iverson

  IMission Statement

  IIStructure

  IIIChain of Command

  IVEnlisted Personnel Ranks

  VOfficer Ranks

  VICurrent Enlisted Numbers

  VIICurrent Officer Numbers

  VIIIDivisions

  IXBases

  XWeapons Cache

  XIPast Missions

  It looked as if the disc would provide all the info the senator had promised.

  Paul moved closer to the list. “You should look at the militia numbers before you contact your friend Captain Lyet. You could let him know how many men Meteoric has. It will give us a good idea of how many we need.”

  “Yes, good idea. We need to know the militia’s strength and weakness, numbers also.”

  As they read, they discovered the information wasn’t exactly what they’d been hoping for. The section was missing data they’d expected to find. No matter. They had enough information on the disc to put together a good strategy.

  Just then, the door slid open and Zach dragged himself into the room, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He looked at the other two. “I just wanted to thank you both for the honor of being elected the guy to dispose of bodies. I didn’t get back until around two in the morning. Oh, and by the way, I know I just got the job, but I quit! Paul, next time someone gets shot in your hotel, don’t give me the call!” They all chuckled. “What have I missed?” he added.

  “Thoma kept his word.” Orion had ejected the disc and was holding it up for Zach to see. “It’s enough information to get us going. The next step is to contact Cyrus. We need to know how production is going and how soon we can expect them here. We might need them earlier than we thought. I think this is going to get ugly fast.” He moved back to the holocom and pressed some plasma buttons. Soon Cyrus’s image appeared. “Cyrus, my friend, how’s everything going?”

  “Not so bad. Good to see you again.”

  “Things are worse than I thought down on the good ship Earth. How about a quick update on things up there?”

  “We’ve doubled our efforts. We have four hundred completed so far and hope to have the other two hundred done shortly.”

  “That’s good, because according to the numbers we’ve found, we’re going to need just about that many. Can you make it happen for sure?”

  “The droids won’t be a problem, but the transport ships, now those are a big problem. The one we’ve got will hold maybe four hundred, definitely not anymore.”

  “I don’t care if you have to strap them to the top and bring them here. Make it happen.”

  “I might be able to MacGyver a storage container into a transport and find a way to attach it to the real transport. It’ll be goofy looking for sure but it may make it through the atmosphere. Of course, it might not, but, hey, we can give it a try, right?”

  “Good. Next I’ll need to—wait, did you say MacGyver?” Orion broke out laughing. That was one of his dad’s favorite old 1980s holoshows. We’ll MacGyver it was one of the things his father said whenever they had to repair something and didn’t have what they needed to do the job right. Orion’s eyes lit up and he looked at Zach. “Didn’t you MacGyver your air tanks on your little space walk a while back?” He laughed harder.

  Zach gave him a solid push, sending into him Spencer, who had no idea what was happening. “Enough already,” Zach said. “It was a good idea at the time!”

  Composing himself, Orion apologized. “Sorry, gentlemen.” He wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “Guess we all need a little relief every now and then, but if you’d have seen what he did to his suit—” Zach gave him a hard slug in the shoulder.

  Orion cleared his throat and tried once more. “Okay, Zach, okay. As I was asking, how fast can you get them here, Cyrus?” Orion was still trying not to laugh.

  “As I mentioned, there are four hundred ready, and we’ll have the other two hundred completed by Monday. I’ll need one day for programming. Tuesday we load all six hundred droids onto the transports. I’d say we could leave by Tuesday afternoon. I’m also sending thirty of my best people to lead them. That’s all I can spare. We’ve done a lot of work on the transport and we’ll find a way to caboose the container to it. A tweak here and there on the propulsion and we should arrive late Thursday.”

  “Thanks for all the hard work you’ve put into this,” Orion told him. “We’ll contact Sub-Commander Powers and let him know of your arrival plan. At the end of this transmission, I’ll send you his private com link code so you can stay in communication with him once you leave the Outpost. I’ll also ask him to send thirty of his top men from Luna with you to lead the task force. Once you’re in a stable, non-orbital position behind the moon you can receive their shuttle. Weapons and all other gear will be there too. You can load those at that time. Also, Zach is putting the finishing touches on his plan for disabling the satellite array, along with all of Earth’s radar and communications. I think Friday will be the day we move to bring you in. We’ve almost got a location picked for the staging area and Powers will have that information as well.”

  “I think we’re just about ready. Good luck with everything on your end. We’ll do our part. See you on Friday.”

  “Wait? See you on Friday? You aren’t coming. You need to stay where you are. We can handle this.” Orion was emphatic.

  “Sorry, you lose on this one. I’m leading this task force. I’ve been here too long and it’s time to come home, if only briefly. Your parents left me in charge out here, so it’s my duty to see this through. We’re all aware that we might never come back, but some causes are worth dying for. This is one of them. No more questions.”

  Cyrus cut the transmission. He knew Orion would be upset, but he also knew he’d get over it. He got up from his seat and made his way out of the room and down to be with his men.

  Orion stood there for a moment, staring at an empty holocom. Then, looking at Paul and Zach, he said, “We’ve got a lot to do. Let’s go.”

  Alec swam back to consciousness and struggled to open his eyes. He could feel the dried blood and dirt still on his lips. There was no place on or in his body that didn’t scream in pain. Somehow, he managed to drag himself over to the bars that separated him from Ed and grab on to pull his battered body to a seated position. “How long have I been out?” He struggled to get out the words.

  “Hard to say exactly, but a good guess would be about a day. He put it to you pretty good. How are the ribs?”

  Alec moved a hand up to his side and prodded slowly. He winced in pain. “Badly bruised at the least, maybe cracked. I’m not sure.” He coughed and doubled over. “What’d he do to you?”

  “Nothing. He just left me alone. I was expecting a pretty healthy beating, but it never came. Lucky this time around.”

  “Ed, I have to confide in you. I don’t think we’re making it out of here. Doomed is a harsh word, but the only one that comes to mind. I’ve tried to think of a way to escape, but it doesn’t appear, and the way I’m feeling now, it’s not going to. I don’t mean to be negative, but at some point reality has to set in.”

  “Alec, my friend, I understand what you’re feeling and I too have considered that, but I’m not ready to give in just yet. We won’t get many opportunities, that much I agree with. So when we do, we’ll just have to do our best.” Ed reached through the bars and gently patted his student and friend, on the back. “You’ll just have to trust me on this one.” He moved away from the dejected man.

  Ed wanted to tell Alec about Thoma’s short visit after Alec had blacked out. He wanted to tell him of the item he’d received from Thoma. He also knew that if he did, he’d be putting their escape in jeopardy. Alec was in a fragile state, inevitable for a person imprisoned for so long, especially in these conditions. So Ed decided he couldn’t risk telling Alec. He wouldn’t even hint about it until it was time to make their escape.

  Ed glanced to the back of the cell. He hoped no one would discover his hiding place. He’d loosened a brick, h
idden the object in the opening, and then replaced the brick. If it were found... well, he didn’t even want to think of what would happen to them both.

  Orion and Zach had managed to remain unnoticed throughout the day. They were now back at the AxMet in their secure room.

  “We need to contact Banning, fill him in on the situation down here. He’s going to need time to make preparations for Captain Lyet’s arrival.”

  “Yes, you’re right. We’ll have to get up to Paul’s little conference room to use the holocom. We also need to inform Paul that we’ll be leaving here shortly. The only way we’re going to find a really decent secluded location in South Dakota is to actually go there.” He touched the com link on his watch and Paul’s voice responded.

  “Good evening, Orion. Can I help you with something?”

  “We’d like to use the conference room, if it’s available. Zach needs to contact the OBL and catch them up on things.”

  “Oh, that won’t be a problem. Have you and your brother had dinner yet tonight?”

  Orion look surprised. They’d forgotten about eating. “Actually, we haven’t.”

  “Then I should like to join you. I’ll have dinner prepared right away. See you two in a bit.”

  The two boys found themselves avoiding the crowds and approaching the room, once again from the back way. Passing through the galley, Zach found he was hungrier than he’d realized. He took a quick look around, stopped, and reached to grab a slice of delicious smelling French bread from a basket on one of the counters. From out of nowhere a large wooden spoon came down hard on the back of his hand. Retracting it quickly, Zach turned to see a short, rotund chef waving his spoon and ranting something in French. Zach was sure it wasn’t very nice. He gave the man an ashamed look. Behind him, Orion was laughing hard.

  “Hey, Zach, aren’t we in enough trouble as it is?” Orion was still chuckling.

  Looking back at his brother, Zach shrugged, as if saying ‘Gave it a shot,’ and then continued on his way. Orion gave the chef a reassuring pat on the back as he walked by, but the man continued to scold the two of them as they strode off.

  When they made it to the conference room, they took a seat. After a few minutes, Paul entered, followed by the waitress Sam. She served them their water and salads. While she served them, she eyed the two inquisitively. As she left, Orion and Zach exchanged glances. They didn’t have to say anything. They both had the “I have a bad feeling about her” look.

  During dinner there was just small talk. It was really enjoyable for the two young men. Each time they met with Paul, they got to hear more stories about their mother and father. Then, with dinner over, it was time to get back to reality.

  Paul got up and made his way to the holocom to boot it up. Zach moved over next to him, then turned to see if his brother was coming. Orion just raised a hand and waved him off. It appeared to Zach that he’d be handling this on his own.

  “Zach,” Captain Powers said, agitation tinging his voice, “nice of you to check in, or was that check out?”

  “Checking in. As for my checking out, would you have let me go if I’d told you what I was thinking?”

  “Of course not.”

  “That’s why I didn’t tell you. Believe me, you can handle the OBL. I’m needed down here. I’m not trying to be rude, but end of that conversation, period. I’d like an update of your situation and then we’ve got some details to discuss.” Zach had become all business, an unusual thing for him.

  “Very well then, here it is. Meteoric has taken control of Space Tech operations. We now have to answer to them. They are still going to launch a pair of shuttles with what they call ‘inspection crews.’ They say it’s just a routine check to view their acquisition, but we all know they’re coming here to find out our progress on the FTL project. Zach, you know as well as I do we can hide the plans we’ve been working on, the scale models and other documents, but they’ll tear this ship apart to find them. We move them to Luna, and the same will happen there. They were supposed to have launched a few days ago. I think the stunt we pulled scared them a little, because they’ve postponed until the end of the month sometime. Either way, it’s only a matter of time. They’ve also begun monitoring all com transmissions. This one’s safe because we’ve converted one of the holocoms into a secure network, different than what’s on record at Tech, but how long it’ll stay secure is anyone’s guess.”

  “Thanks. How many were hurt in the escape and how much damage did the Lab sustain?”

  “Surprisingly enough, we only had about twenty minor injuries. The Lab did take some heavy damage, but repairs are going well. They should be complete in three or four days.”

  “Great, that’s good to hear. Okay, now we’ve got to talk. We’ve contacted Captain Lyet at the Outpost and he’ll be arriving late on Thursday at the pre-determined coordinates we discussed before. At that time, Luna is to take one of the transports used in our ‘meteor’ operation and use it to send all of the weapons, gear, and armor you’ve fabricated. They’ll dock with the other ship to deliver everything. We need at least six-hundred sixty of everything. Will that be possible?”

  “We’ve been working around the clock to produce everything for you,” Powers said. “We have... um, let’s see...” He ran his finger through images from a holofilm. Finding the one he wanted, he continued, “Here it is. We have four-hundred and forty of each item so far. I think it’s feasible to have them all completed for you by that time. Zach, when this is over, Space Tech will have to deliver a lot of supplies back up here and some shut...” His voice faded.

  “Some what?” Zach questioned.

  “Some shuttles.” Powers voice trailed off again.

  “I thought that’s what you said. Go on.”

  “Shuttles, not one, not two. But all of them. We had to use all of them for the metal and plasma to complete the weapons. All we’ll have left are those two beat-up transports.”

  “That’s all? You’ll have your shuttles, Captain. I’ll see to that.” Zach grinned. “I won’t get a chance to talk with you until next Thursday. You summon me when you’ve contacted Captain Lyet and I’ll upload the staging coordinates to him at that time. We’ll also go over how and when we’ll cut all of Earth’s communications so they can make their descent. One last item, banning: you’ll have to find thirty of your top men in security from the Lab and Luna. They’ll be going with the supplies and meeting up with thirty of Lyet’s men to lead the task force.”

  “I’ll get right on it. Take care of yourselves. Powers out.”

  Turning to Orion, Zach asked, “Are you ready? We should leave tonight. We’ve been here too long already. Paul, we can’t be found with you. If Thoma breaks down or they get a warrant to search here, well... I’m not willing to take the chance.”

  Orion agreed. “To stay here is to put your entire staff in jeopardy. It’s time to go. Thank you for all of your help. We’ll not forget it.”

  “Gentlemen, if you must go, let me give you the supplies that you’ll need for the next several days. How will you get to your destination?”

  “Good question,” Orion said. “We destroyed both pods. Guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

  “Well, I just happen to have a mode of transportation that may interest you. I have a hover that is equipped to get you where you need to go, fast. Zach, when you see it you may recognize it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I believe that Space Tech had two or three hovers that were equipped with small plasmats. Am I correct?”

  “Yeah, Dad had one. I don’t really know where the other two are. Dad said they were with someone he trusts.” Smacking a hand to his forehead, Zach realized who that was. “That would be you! You’ve got one here!”

  “I do now. I had two. One got confiscated when Ed was apprehended. The other one is out back, but it’s now yours. I’ll let my men know that you’ll be using it. Good luck with everything.” He shook hands with both boys and left.

 
Needing to gather their things, they headed back through the galley one last time. As they did so, they saw a spoon waving at them. A head shot out from around a corner, screeching something at them in French. Zach guessed it was a warning. This time he didn’t listen. He snatched a piece of bread from another basket and they both scurried off, chased by the chef.

  Chapter Thirty

  Senator Thoma was trying to keep his mind off recent events, but his thoughts kept returning to the imposter he’d been calling his daughter all these months. He was now truly alone. He thought of how he’d been used and of the innocence of the four young Bindls. It was almost impossible to concentrate.

  He was working out details for Axion’s final victory. Victory—now that left a sour taste in his mouth. A better phrase was “hostile takeover.” He was feeling worse by the minute. A glimmer of hope existed, though. Zach and Orion were still out there somewhere.

  His thoughts turned to Axion’s treatment of Alec. Alec had been hurt badly and Thoma could do nothing to help. Then his mind jumped to the visit to Ty. It had been painful to watch. Axion, knowing full well the young man had no knowledge of the prototype’s location, had questioned the bound man. When Ty said he didn’t know, he’d been roughed up by the guards. Axion seemed to enjoy torturing the young man. It had continued for thirty minutes before Thoma could watch no further. It was at least another fifteen minutes before the wicked man had exited the holding cell.

  Thoma had to shake off the vision before he went insane. He kept telling himself that, if he remained patient, somehow the time would be ri—

  Senator Axion burst through the door, his robes flowing elegantly with every stride. He stopped in front of Thoma’s desk. “This is the week. We will wait no longer.”

  Thoma remained seated but looked up. “We still need more time to prepare.”