Shroud of Eden (Panhelion Chronicles Book 1)

by Marlin Desault

  “Send him in.”

  A moment later, Delmar recognized the commander’s voice as he entered, but still engrossed in a report, he didn’t bother to look up.

  His simple office decor, much like his personal quarters, consisted of a few guest chairs and the numerous communication screens on his desk. For the most part he preferred ordinary, service issue furniture, but one vice stood out—an over-sized judge’s chair. A few holographic screens displaying images of the stellar formations visited by his ships graced the paneled walls. Appearances gave him the look of an unsophisticated man, but like a threshing machine, his mind harvested vast amounts of information, winnowing the chaff to find the all too few grains of truth.

  Delmar finally rotated his chair to face the commander. “Eisler, Hyades reconnaissance has reported and we need your information.”

  Eisler rocked back on his heels in surprise. “Pegasus has reported? What did they say?”

  “Not much. Commander Wolder from ECCO will give the details when he arrives in an hour. For your part, I want you to present the unclassified history to a meeting of the joint staff.” Delmar drummed his fingers on his desk. “We start in the galaxy conference room in twenty minutes. Afterward you’ll give the classified part in executive session in my office. Although Camus and his staff will attend they won’t be familiar with the historical aspects of the project.”

  Eisler’s mouth curled into a broad grin. “You say Admiral Camus will attend? Very good. Yes, sir, the Hyades folder. I’ll set up the presentation in the conference room. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll do it now.”

  Delmar nodded and Eisler rushed out of the room like a ferret in search of a meaty rat.

  Thirty minutes later the voice of the e-secretary spoke. “Admiral Camus has arrived.”

  Delmar stood and brushed a nonexistent particle from his tunic. Satisfied with his appearance, he strode to his outer office to greet his guest.

  Camus spun around the instant the door opened. On the Prussian collar of his immaculate dark blue tunic, he sported gold-brocade stars, and on his sleeves he carried the wide, gold bands of a flag rank officer.

  Delmar hesitated, surprised by the female officer with the epaulets of a lieutenant commander who accompanied Camus. The gold aiguillette of a staff officer adorned her right shoulder. His eyes swept over her trim figure, pausing at the tailored flare of her uniform waist.

  He turned his attention back to Camus. “Andre, must you always carry that damn swagger stick around?”

  Camus tucked the stick under his arm. “It carries a certain air of authority, don’t you think?”

  Delmar ignored the remark. “Sorry for the late invitation, but I received an unexpected ECCO message early this morning. That’s what I want to discuss with you.” He held out his cup. “Can I get you some of this Arabica? And by the way, I don’t think I’ve met your new aide.”

  “My new staff adjutant.” Camus gestured to the officer at his side. “Lieutenant Commander Leslie Styerwald.” He nodded at her and motioned toward Delmar. “Admiral Delmar.”

  A wide grin appeared on Delmar’s face. “You are fortunate to rate such a charming adjutant.” He’d not soon forget Styerwald’s poised attitude.

  Camus nodded. “Now, if you don’t mind, let’s get on with the subject at hand. Is there any truth to the rumors about a half-baked reconnaissance mission chasing down an old story of a ship that strayed off into the cosmos centuries ago?”

  “Yes, you’ll hear all about it.” Delmar put his palm out and waved toward the door. “Shall we move to the briefing room?”

  The two admirals, with Styerwald in tow, strolled the corridor to the briefing room.

  Camus stopped and stared Delmar in the eye. “Jestin, aren’t you going to give me the courtesy of a heads-up on this little drama you’re staging? Don’t tell me you believe those stories of an expedition that vanished two centuries ago?”

  “Actually, we think closer to one hundred and seventy-five years ago, but in a few minutes we’ll both get the details.”

  Camus shot an affronted scowl at him, as if to say he suspected his Exploration Command counterpart of holding out on the story.

  The assembled staff officers snapped to attention as the two admirals entered the briefing room.

  Delmar lead Camus to the front of the room. “Andre.” He shifted his glance from Camus to the Hyades project officer. “This is Commander Eisler. He’ll present his project. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting, if not intriguing.”

  He walked to an empty high-back chair on the far side of a large oval table.

  Camus went to a similar chair on the near side.

  Styerwald dutifully followed her admiral and stood before the chair on his right, as the two admirals eyed each other and took their seats. Staff officers stood at attention in front of the chairs that lined the walls around the table.

  Please take your seats, ladies and gentlemen,” Delmar said. “Admiral Camus has joined us as my guest. Some of you are privy to the information in today’s briefing, and some of you will see it for the first time. Admiral, would you like to say a few words?” He nodded to Camus, giving his rival the floor.

  Camus paused to create a maximum impact as he scanned over the assembled staff.

  With the bass voice of authority he began his speech. “Thank you, Admiral Delmar.” He placed his swagger stick on the table and gave his usual preamble. “I’m here to look after Defense Command’s interest, and to make sure we are prepared to counter any threat that may arise from other-world contacts. As Exploration Command continues their missions farther into deep space, the likelihood of encountering an alien threat increases.” Camus nodded toward Delmar. “That’s all I have to say for now. Admiral, this is your meeting, I believe.”

  Delmar pulled himself up to his full, seated height and motioned toward a full commander standing in the corner of the room. “Commander Wolder is from Entangled Communications Command, Operations. He’ll give the initial briefing. Commander, please tell us about this ECCO message that’s causing all the excitement?”

  Wolder strode to the center of the dais and nodded to both admirals. “Thank you Admiral Delmar... Admiral Camus. At 03:28 this morning we received a Priority quantum entangled message, that is... ah, an ECCO message from Hyades Reconnaissance.”

  An audible gasp arose from several of the assembled officers, followed by hushed conversations around the room. A moment later, the chatter ceased and he regained the attention of the audience.

  Delmar interrupted. “Please get on with it. What is the message?”

  Wolder’s face flushed. He cleared his throat and began in a solemn tone. “Yes, here’s the message.” The text floated in the air on the far wall.

  PRIORITY - ECCO - PRIORITY

  TO: HQ EXPLORATION COMMAND

  FROM: HYADES RECONNAISSANCE

  ~~~

  TARGET FOUND. CURRENTLY STABLE AT STANDOFF DISTANCE. CREW AND SHIP INTACT. NO SYSTEM FAILURES OR DEFICIENCIES.

  “At 03:35 we confirmed receipt. That is the extent of the message. We are on alert for further signals and will notify Admiral Delmar when more are received.” Wolder glanced over the dozen officers seated around the room. The muffled conversions started again as he took a seat next to the wall.

  Delmar glared the assembled group into silence. Styerwald whispered to the officer sitting next to her, and when Delmar stared at her for the affront, she smiled back and went quiet. After a moment of silence, he cast his gaze back to the front of the room. “It doesn’t say when they arrived.”

  Wolder blinked as if surprised at the question, then recovered his composure “Sir, since quantum entangled communication is instantaneous regardless of distance, we may assume they arrived shortly before the message was sent, and that implies that they arrived sometime in the hour before 03:28. Would you like more details about ECCO?”

  “We all know about quantum entangled communications.” Delmar shot back. “I only meant do you
have something more than an implied time?”

  “No, sir.” Wolder sheepishly averted his glance, avoiding further eye contact.

  Camus wrinkled his nose and scowled at Delmar. “Jestin, you interrupted my morning with this? What the hell does it mean?”

  “Hold on, Andre. There’s more,” Delmar said. “Bear with us a few minutes. Then make your judgment.” He rotated his shoulders away from Camus to face the front of the room. “Commander Eisler, please give us a synopsis of the Hyades project.”

  In a moment of vanity, Eisler grinned and turned his chin up. He then took his place on the long dais in front of the display, pausing to savor his moment in the limelight. Behind him the wall display filled with the words ‘HYADES PROJECT,’ footnoted with the Exploration Command motto Semper Vigilate—Delmar had ordered Exploration Command promoted at every opportunity.

  He began. “Project Hyades, Reconnaissance, is a mission by the light corvette Pegasus to explore the Hyades star cluster. Because of the time needed to cover the search area, even in warp-space, they’ve been in and out of anthro-stasis for most of the last six months. This is the first message from them since they passed beyond the Oort cloud.”

  Eisler’s quick glance at Delmar hinted a request for permission to continue. In return he received a brief nod. “Pegasus left Base Ganymede to follow up on the legend of the Themis, a ship believed to have departed Earth approximately one hundred and seventy-five years ago, about the time of the nuclear wars—”

  “The existence of that ship was never verified,” bellowed Camus. “Most of the records of the time were lost in the first nuclear strike by the Hegemon. If such a ship did launch from Earth orbit, the crew never signaled back. They were either lost or destroyed.” He pressed his fingertips together in front of his face and sat back in his chair, glowering as if to stifle any challenge to his statement. “Jestin, I’m afraid you sent Pegasus to chase down a ghost.”

  Delmar rose from his chair. “Andre, please be patient. You may find the next part enlightening.” With the back of his hand he waved for Eisler to continue, and sat back again.

  Eisler puffed himself large and motioned toward the image of the Hyades Star Cluster on the display.

  “The legend of the Themis mentions an unusual object in the Hyades Cluster. Fifteen months ago our astronomical teams discovered just such an anomaly, an anomaly that matches the legend. The target location mentioned in the message from Pegasus is that anomaly.”

  Camus scowled. “You’re telling us you believe this legendary ship encountered something in the cluster?”

  Eisler twisted from the display to look back at the audience. “We have no way of knowing for sure. Those aboard the Themis couldn’t tell us because they had no ECCO communication capability. When the Themis departed Earth, Swanson hadn’t yet resolved the Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen paradox. Only after his discovery did entangled communications become possible, but the legend tells us the cluster was their destination. We’ve confirmed they had a primitive hadron engine and warp-space capability. Although with such a primitive drive it would have taken them a decade, or perhaps a bit more, to go that far. But yes, they or their decedents might have made the distance.”

  Eisler returned to his presentation. “Six months ago, at Admiral Delmar’s request, we ordered Pegasus out of orbit and to the Hyades Cluster. Her mission is two-fold: first, a scientific one to explore the anomaly, and second, her crew is to search for any trace of the missing expedition, although for security reasons, that part of the order is sealed until they reach the anomaly.”

  The officers around the room gawked at Eisler in apparent disbelief.

  “Ghost ships? Anomalies? Jestin, you risk your reputation on this nonsense?” Camus huffed with indignation. “If this anomaly actually exists, what the devil is it?”

  “We’ll discuss that later in executive session.” Delmar stood, inviting Camus to join him. “This part of the briefing is over.”

  Earth

  ~~~

  On the eightieth floor of Exploration Command Headquarters, Jestin Delmar gazed out the floor-to-ceiling window of his office in one of those all-too-rare times when he indulged himself in a moment of quiet. For these interludes of meditation, he had ordered his office walls covered with sound-absorbing, synthetic, mahogany paneling. True mahogany had disappeared centuries before, replaced by organic polymers with the same rich texture and color. The odor of freshly polished wood from the treated panels filled the room.

  He didn’t consider such moments wasted, but rather a balm to sooth a burdened soul. Such moments cleared his mind of the myriad issues that vied for his attention, and often yielded insightful solutions. The orderly arrangement of communications and computer displays remained suspended in doze mode on his desk. Except for a few power indicators, all were dark.

  His thoughts dwelt on the briefing to take place later that day. Delmar considered Camus, not just his rival but a contentious bastard as well. The afternoon briefing promised even more wrangling and tension.

  The quiet ceased when the e-secretary spoke. “Admiral Camus has arrived for your 13:30 meeting.”

  Thrust back into the business of the day, Delmar turned and strode to the portal where Camus waited. “Come in. Shall we continue our earlier discussion?” He mustered the most cheerful tone he could under the circumstances.

  Camus stomped in, scanned the room, and nodded grudging approval. “I’m glad to see you upgraded your office. Your original decor reflected poorly on you and your command. Image is important when one deals with the Panhelion Senate. After all, how you look is how you will be looked upon.”

  Delmar offered a faint smile. “I appreciate the sentiment, but Senate members rarely visit me. I travel to them since they prefer to meet with me in their own offices.” He motioned Camus over to the window. “It does have a rather nice view though, don’t you think?”

  The two gazed down at the long launch hall in the distance, and watched the rail catapults sling gleaming white shuttles one after another into the cloudless sky. Upon reaching altitude, their ionetic engines ignited in a flash of light. They then trailed thin streaks of blue-white plasma in their wake as the delta-winged craft eagerly sought enough velocity to break free of Earth’s gravity well.

  “The people in those shuttles are bound for the settlements.” Delmar pointed out the window. The two admirals watched the small white triangles arc across the cerulean sky until they disappeared on their journey to passenger liners loitering in orbit thirty thousand kilometers above. “With settlements from Mars to the moons of Jove,” he remarked, “soon our people will move on to settle Saturn’s moons, and our population will tally over forty billion. Forty billion souls for us to protect.”

  “Our first responsibility is the defense of the Panhelion.” Camus offered without expression.

  Delmar faced his rival square on, his eyes glowing embers. “You make a distinction between the Panhelion and the people?”

  “Of course. My loyalty is to the Panhelion, but then the Panhelion is the people, is it not?”

  “I think you have it backward, Andre.” Point made. He grew silent.

  “In any case, Defense Command is ready,” Camus said.

  “Ready for what? To put down another settlement rebellion?” He glared. “That’s unlikely given the ruthless way your ships suppressed the last one.”

  Camus snorted in disgust. “Don’t be so quick to dismiss the possibility of another rebellion. Resentment toward the Panhelion still seethes on many of the settlements, especially on Mars. They’ve rebelled twice since the founding of the Panhelion. I intend to make sure we aren’t caught off-guard again. The settlers on that planet carry unrest and betrayal in their bones. I’m only sorry I didn’t use a heavier hand with them last time.”

  Delmar drew his lips tight and shook his head. “I’ve never understood your dislike of our Martian cousins, Andre. It’s as if you have some sort of vendetta against them, as if you think of them
as an alien force.”

  “You call them cousins? They may be our distant relations, but they don’t have the same loyalty to the Panhelion as those of us whose lineage is purely from Earth. You and I have loyalty in our blood.” Camus blustered and then glanced away in disgust, adding in a quiet mumble, “As far as I’m concerned, they’re little better than aliens.”

  Delmar grimaced at Camus’ remarks and turned his back toward his guest. Anxious to change the subject, he wheeled around and broke his silence. “Since we haven’t met any hostile aliens, neither you nor I have any way of knowing what technology they may possess.”

  Camus continued to stare out the window. “If your crews do their job, I’ll have the time I need to develop weapons to deal with any alien threat.”

  Delmar hardened his gaze on his fellow admiral, who had moved on to a hologram of the Orion nebula. “I hope you’re right.” He paused for a moment, and continued to state his case. “Presuming we do encounter an alien threat, they may already have technology to match or exceed our warp-space capability. They could be on our doorstep in a matter of years, not decades. But for the moment, shall we put such pessimistic speculation aside?” He calmly studied his colleague for a response. “What do you think of the Hyades project?”

  “Except for the ECCO message, the rest was a history lesson. I’d not stake my career on the legend of the Themis.” Camus offered a wry smile. “Now, about this anomaly, I remind you that Defense Command is primus inter pares.” He studied Delmar through narrowed eyes. “I demand you provide me the full story.”

  Delmar bristled and returned to his desk. “Yes. First among equals. A powerful statement, but your attitude and suspicions don’t promote our working relations or our mutual interests. This is a clear Exploration Command operation, fully covered by our charter. We’ve followed all directives to the letter, and in executive session, you’ll be given all the solid information we have.”

  A chime sounded. “Commander Eisler has arrived,” the e-secretary announced.