by Greg Remy
“Heading!” demanded Zoe.
“Heading 501C by 14.02!” yelled back Darious.
They both snapped, “Port Silenus!”
Zoe could no longer keep up compensating the overheating engines. Transferring excess energy from one section into another was becoming overly complicated for her to do in real time. They now were barreling at a speed of .32 floating-parsecs per hour. The Doctor’s ship was evidently even faster.
“Darious! I gotta slow the ship down.”
“Aye captain!”
She knew Darious could see on his screen the readout of the over-clocked engines and was probably eyeing it nervously like her. Zoe began slowly diminishing their speed, being very careful to dump energy in a progressive manner. At this velocity, even slowing down was a dangerous maneuver. Soon the deafening rattles of the ship began to subside. The Doctor’s ship completely disappeared from view.
“My thought is he will be at the port! Hopefully we will catch him there!” Zoe yelled. Her voice came out much louder than necessary, now that the cockpit had grown quiet again. “Ahem. Sorry.” She could still hear her ears ringing.
“Try as I might, I just cannot track him,” said Darious.
“Ya,” replied Zoe. “Whatever cloaking mechanism he has is amazing. I saw you were tracking him based on his heat trail; smart, I must say. I was trying to visually track him.”
Darious came over and leaned on her chair. “Have you ever seen anything like that?” She looked up and could see the apprehension in his eyes. Zoe felt it in herself too.
“No.”
Within a half hour they caught sight of the port. Darious read out an info sheet on it. The port was stationed in deep space; the only things near it were small mining colonies. It edged on a minor transportation byway and thus, as Zoe stated, it was more of a poor man’s ‘hey-hey let’s get crocked’ spot. As they approached the space station, no more statements from Zoe were necessary to describe the sort of place to Darious. Old mining and delivery ships floated about; the ones inbound flying were with vigor while those departing lumbered on in a slower, undulating motion. The port was grimy and dilapidated with exposed and corroded cables floating around it, as if it was some moribund space squid. Dirty, patched ships were docked at nearly every receptacle. As a drunk itself, the port gulped down ethanol in over-abundant and inefficient quantities, expelling the combustion byproduct from its bottom in continual bursts of inky flatulence.
“Ah, a fine place to be,” remarked Zoe with mock cheer. Darious had an expression of quite the opposite. “Let’s fly around a bit and see if we spot his ship.” Zoe could sense the uneasiness emanating from Darious. “Trust me, I’m hoping as much as you we do not have to go in there. Langer miners. Pe-ew!” She waved a hand in front of her nose.
Zoe crept her ship around the port as the pair searched through the cockpit window. Their eyes fluttered about, briefly landing on each ship before darting to the next in search of that elusive floret.
Zoe was first to espy Dr. Earl’s ship. “Ah, bingo!” It was docked at the lower end, tucked away in the even dirtier underside of what was undoubtedly an already underside space station. She brought them close in until the view of the craft nearly filled her cockpit window. “It looks like a modified M-4 intra-galactic ship. But those gull wings...” she paused in fascination “...and those thrusters are unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Zoe tiptoed her ship closer.
Suddenly the Doctor’s ship roared to life. Stunned and momentarily blinded from the flare of his thrusters, Zoe recoiled backwards and Darious half fell over the console. With a frantic alacrity, Zoe put her ship in full reverse and prepped a high thrust combination. The Doctor’s ship broke away from the dock, ripping away metal and cabling and sending shrapnel flying into space. His modified craft pivoted and faced Zoe’s, pausing for a moment as if sizing her up, and then rocketed off, nearly crushing the top of her ship as it flew by. The hurricane whipped up by the Doctor’s Herculean engines reverberated throughout the cockpit.
“Damn maniac!” Zoe cried out as she whirled her ship about to follow the madman as Darious took up his post. They blasted off in pursuit.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, the after-hours pub took no heed of the bizarre and sudden happening. Rusty vessels continued lazily sauntering by, those inside continued quaffing their hard-earned concoctions, and those few who had noticed were too inebriated to care, simply waving off to the two ships as if to a friend, and then clinked their glasses and drank heartily.
Chapter 16
The Riotous Dr. Earl Saknussemm
“What is this guy’s problem!?” exclaimed Zoe, once more throttling the engines to speeds greater than that of supernovae flares. Beholden by interstellar space, the hunt continued. Both ships burned bright, both burned in defiance of the other. “Man,” Zoe said to herself, “he’s gonna attract the attention of the Copper Force if he doesn’t stop.”
Darious spoke up just then. “Doctor Earl Saknussemm,” He sounded like he was reading from his screen. “Otherwise known as Nero. Otherwise known as Nero the Purist.”
“What?”
Darious synced his display to Zoe’s side monitor and shot over a document with a picture attached, exactly matching the emaciated man they had met on the moon.
“He is a galactic criminal,” said Darious. He scrolled through reports littered by encounters with the law. “There are pages of unlawful acts. Inciting riots. Public dissonance. Sedation. Murder. It states here he killed an ambassador of Trenzalore ... in addition to many others.” Darious’ voice suddenly became quite shallow, prompting Zoe to read through the dossier.
Doctor Earl Saknussemm, a believer in Purist Exceptionalsim, received his undergraduate degree in astrobiology from the University of Renaul, in the Luat Sector. Afterwards, he was taken on as a pupil by Neomarxist Dr. Shie Shralow and earned his masters in natural science law and genetic recombination, while being published in major journals for his work on genetics. Mr. Saknussemm continued to study under Dr. Shralow when he was transferred to the University of Duke, in the Aurka Sector, where he earned a PhD in natural science law. After the untimely death of his mentor, Dr. Shralow, Dr. Saknussemm recused himself from the university, ceasing his post doctorate studies and fulltime academic role, and began publishing anti-clone literature under the pseudonym ‘Nero.’
Zoe sighed.
Upon Dr. Earl Saknussemm’s direct link to the bombings of several clone plants, he was indicted by a grand jury, though due to the uproar by the following he had accumulated through his writings and public speeches, he was sentenced to a minimal work facility in the Distol Sector for 9 years. During Year 2 of his incarceration, Dr. Saknussemm escaped and has the current status of a Category 9 fugitive. Since his escape, Dr. Saknussemm has taken responsibility for multiple attacks on clone facilities, including the property damage of 9,000 clone deaths in the GenSol manufacturing plant of the Klein Solar System.
Zoe sighed again and shook her head.
Recent literature from Dr. Saknussemm suggests a large underground effort to claim a section of the galaxy, assumed to be near the rim of Quadrant 4 on the outer regions, for his following of ‘Purists.’ The plan proposes the mass expurgation of the nearly 400 million clone bodies in the area and the installation of colonies fully run by humans. Dr. Saknussemm’s movement has gained much traction within the past decade while rumors are abound of dissident groups weaponizing to lay claim to these lands.
Zoe cleared the text from her screen in disgust. There was a sudden, albeit subtle jolt to the ship and it shook momentarily. She took one look at sensor readings and resumed her thoughts of Dr. Earl Saknussemm. Meanwhile, Darious, still synced to Zoe’s screen, was hurriedly checking the ship’s systems for what had caused the brief turbulence.
“No need to worry, it happens sometimes. Stars are constantly shedding their layers. Sometimes they end up far flung. How’s the Doctor doing?”
Darious cleared his throat. “He is leading us a
t about 70,000 kilometers. No course changes thus far.”
“I suppose you noticed; I’m weary of running my ship so fast after him, especially in light of all that has happened today.”
“An agreeable pursuance,” Darious responded. “His trajectory does not seem to be toward anything in particular, for thousands of parsecs. Where do you suppose he is headed?”
“No clue.” Zoe shook her head.
The gap between the two spacecrafts continued to increase, though the Doctor’s dot of a ship remained within her ship’s visual tracking range thanks to the linearity of its course among the unwavering stars beyond. Where was he leading them now? Zoe speculated while typing into her console.
“Darious, I’m going to send you a routine. Insert it into your trajectory program.” He did so, and both their screens lit up with a flurry of colored text. “Now, go ahead and remove our emissions from the sensor parameters. See if we can discern any sort of trailing information from the Doctor’s vessel. Meanwhile, I’m going to try something…” her voice lingered, “...something probably not so good for the integrity of the ship.” She just knew Darious had winced at that comment. “But no worries.”
The pair went to work, busy at their stations and each perking up for brief moments in thought before once again energetically typing. Zoe’s ship continued a modest acceleration in the direction of Dr. Saknussemm. Their linear flight path reduced a lot of strain on the stabilizers and it was as if they were floating on pacific seas. Every so often, Darious paused his work and called out the increasing distance of the Doctor’s ship. 80,000 kilometers. 90,000 kilometers. 100,000 kilometers. Her ship’s optical tracking system was starting to error and the approximations from the readings were growing exponentially.
“Okay. All set. Let’s try this,” said Zoe, and without waiting for a response, engaged the newly scripted routine. Her ship coughed for a moment, jerking the pair brutally forward and then back again. After that, her ship resumed its silent flight.
“What was that?” asked Darious, coming over to Zoe with a hand rubbing his neck.
“We shall see in about 5... oh there it is.” Her display notified them of a sudden and dramatic deceleration of the Doctor’s ship, beyond the optical tracking system’s error approximations, and thus his ship had certainly been stopped dead in its tracks.
“What did you do!?” Darious uttered in bewilderment.
“Sent out a super high-pulse demodulated resonance beam of energy in the waveform of a communication channel, which his ship apparently allowed so it subsequently fried all of his electrical wiring until it found a suitable ground. It’s an old-school hack. I’m somewhat surprised it worked.” She looked up at Darious. “In essence, it’s a giant middle finger.” Darious stared wide-eyed at her console.
“Zoe! I do believe you have received his attention!” He pointed to the inbound dot on her display. Dr. Saknussemm had changed course, heading directly for them.
“Ah crap!” she shouted and initiated an emergency deceleration of her ship. Darious leapt to his seat and strapped himself in. With their massive momentum, Zoe began arcing upwards, hoping to gain time before the Doctor was upon them. Her efforts were in vein; his devilishly deft ship was matching her trajectory at speeds thrice her own. “Darious, all defensive systems, online! Now!” Zoe saw page after page of subsystems engaging. “Anything that could be of use!”
Impact warnings covered Zoe’s main display and as the Doppler sirens became nearly imperceptibly close together. She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of the impact. Just as the tone condensed into one long beep, it eased and began to elongate with a lower pitch. Zoe opened an eye. The Doctor’s ship had passed them by, just several meters from her craft, and was now rapidly receding from them. Zoe grabbed the controls, ignoring the alerts onscreen. She continued to arc her ship upwards while modifying their trajectory to match the Doctor’s and rocketed after him. Her ship surged forward; its engines were resolute and left in their wake an ion trail, nearly a solar system long, of radiant whites and blues.
“Course heading!” yelled Darious, “712A by 02. 59! Port Auborne in .04 floating-parsecs!”
Zoe looked onscreen; they would be upon it in minutes, though at their present speed, it would be a momentary dash of light. From what she had witnessed of Dr. Saknussemm’s ship, it was no doubt nimble enough to stop in time; hers, however, would require an immediate deceleration to be able to catch the port. She quickly introspected their options and action probabilities.
“Darious! Can we assume that’s his target?”
“I would conclude so!” he responded.
“Okay! I’ve got to slow the ship now, so we don’t overshoot it.” She began ramping down the engines. “About half an hour and we’ll be dockside.”
“Aye captain.”
Chapter 17
Manifest Discrepancy
“Any luck tracking some sort of signature?” asked Zoe peering over Darious’ shoulder at his work.
“Sorry, no.” Darious didn’t move his eyes from his screen or his fingers from the console.
“Who is this guy?” she asked. Her mind was in conflict. Two formulations had permeated deep into her thoughts, though only one could be correct: an oppressed, genius scientist or an insane, outspoken zealot. Each had its own discrepancies, but on the whole, respectively, both could not possibly be simultaneously true. “Doctor Earl Saknussemm,” she slowly muttered. The gears of thought turned, the many teeth of facts linking with others. She bit her lip, chewing on her ruminations. Granted, the galaxy is big, but not that big.
Zoe and Darious soon were upon the port, a typical interstellar stopover used by transportation agencies and people of all types.
“Hopefully the Doctor has decided to take a bit of repose from all this running,” Zoe said. Darious, still busy tinkering with the tracking program, did not answer. “Don’t bother with that anymore. It won’t work.” He turned towards her and grimaced. “Hey, practice makes perfect.” She patted him on the shoulder and motioned for him to join her. “Let’s play a game, I-spy.”
Zoe sat in her chair, with Darious on the armrest leaning in, and the two began looking out the cockpit window for the ship belonging to the Doctor. After just a couple minutes of surveying the port, Zoe squeaked with excitement. Darious had evidently spotted it too and pointed to the docked vessel at the same time as Zoe. They chuckled at their mirrored motions and Zoe brushed his arm away from hers.
“I saw it first!”
She then, very heedfully and very slowly, brought her ship next to the Doctor’s with a finger on ‘Full Reverse,’ anticipating the worst. Darious was likewise firmly gripping her seat. They waited a few minutes in silence, though there was no sign of life from the ship.
“Hmmm,” Zoe puffed. “What to do. What to do.” She rapped her fingers on the console.
“Perhaps he did indeed dock,” Darious said. “Seeing how you agitated his ship, perhaps there was certain ‘frying’ that required repairs, or perhaps he is planning on evading us by some other means.”
Zoe considered their options. “Perhaps. Perhaps his ship doesn’t have a bathroom.” She typed in a command and set her ship to auto-dock at the empty parking space next to the Doctor. They rocked slightly as grapnels fastened to both sides of the ship and a walkway tube connected to its hatchway. There was a distant sucking sound as the pressure equalized.
Zoe noticed Darious looking solemnly at the floor.
“I know!” she said and snapped her fingers. She went to the main cabin and pulled open a myriad of drawers, shuffling through mounds of gear. “I have a hooded sweater somewhere in here you can wear.” Zoe heaved an armful of garments and dropped them to the floor. She reached her arm deep within a compartment. “Bingo!” She tossed him the sweater—an oversized pale-russet pullover with a stretched-out hood. Darious put it on over his clothes and flipped down the hood. It fell just below his nose. “Ha! I like it.”
Darious pulled up
the hood, revealing his tattooed eyes. “Thank you.”
“Now, let’s go catch us a madman.”
The pair exited the craft and made their way through crowded byways, heading deeper and deeper into the depths of the spaceport. Darious kept his hood low and his hands in his pockets, though with quick upward glances he looked around. Zoe owled about on constant lookout for Dr. Saknussemm, but an hour later neither had caught sight of him.
As they were completing their second circuit, Zoe spotted a thin figure, dressed much like Darious, with a casual cloak covering all extremities and a too-casual demeanor, evidencing the want to stay unnoticed in the open. Funny how purposely blending in makes one stand out. She steered Darious toward the figure, who was within a shop peering out its window at the flowing masses. The man pulled out a rectangular object and surveyed it. Zoe’s suspicions were confirmed, and not from the device but from those distressed, fidgety fingers.
“Do you see him Darious?”
Darious shot a quick glance outward. “Yes. Do you suspect it is him?”
“Perhaps,” she said, winking at him.
Whether or not the figure had noticed them, Zoe could not tell; he had not moved from his post even as they neared. Zoe tried her best to act casual as they crossed the threshold into the convenience store. She walked shoulder to shoulder with Darious and they both feigned interest at a shelf of snacks.
“Oh, the purple one looks good!” She picked it up and examined it. “Pickled eel skin.” She shoved it back in its spot. “Not what I was expecting from the packaging.” Zoe peeked over at the figure and then down at his hand clasping the device.
Crap, she thought. It was similar to her lightcard, though a bit wider. She would have to be mindful of it, knowing the capabilities of her own card. Screw it, here goes nothing. Ignoring further pretenses, she straightened up and walked over to the man.
“Ahem. Doctor Saknussemm.”
The hand jittered, almost dropping the card. He turned to face Zoe and lifted his hood, revealing himself to indeed be the Doctor. His eyes and lips trembled, and his brow narrowed, evidently not too thrilled to have been found.
