"Carver? Not Kanes?"
"Kanes isn't in your chain of command. I want you to feel comfortable that Standing Orders about crossing the border are suspended on this occasion."
Ginsburg thought for a few seconds before saying, "My orders do say to take you wherever you wish to go, so I can't be faulted for following orders."
"Exactly. I'll provide you with the course the freighter was following. Then I'd like you to move five billion kilometers away and follow a reciprocal course until we're sure we've passed the freighter without their knowledge. Then we can return to the course and keep on traveling until we see something."
"What is it you expect to see?"
"A rendezvous area, although exactly who might be rendezvousing I don't know. It could be Uthlaro, Raiders, Denubbewa, or someone else."
"Denubbewa?"
"Possibly."
"We have Standing Orders to avoid them."
"I'm not asking you take them on. I don't want to mess with them either. We just want to learn what's going on out here."
"Okay, Trader. I'll play along. I just hope you know what you're doing."
"As do I, Captain. And I must remind you not to repeat anything I've told you. Your crew must not know we're SCI. They might surmise it, but you mustn't confirm it. They also should not know the speed capability of my ship. If you have to tell them something, tell them we can only travel at Light-150."
"I'll have to tell my XO. He's in charge should anything happen to me."
"Okay, but no one else."
* * *
Chapter Nineteen
~ October 2nd, 2287 ~
"The doctors say that the four Upper Council members have little time left," Chairman Strauss announced at the Lower Council meeting. "The mutating organs have not responded to any attempted treatments and bodily functions are failing."
"What of the other members?" Council member Kelleher asked.
"So far, they seem perfectly healthy."
"So if the female members had taken the DNA Manipulation process first, they might be okay?" Council member Overgaard said. "Even if they didn't use it to change their gender?"
"Yes, perhaps if they only used it to alter their appearance slightly, the recuperative powers the process offers might have saved them," council member Blosworth offered.
"That's strictly speculation," Strauss said. "We don’t know if that's the reason the eight members are still healthy. We'll have to perform a lot more testing before we allow anyone else to use the processes. Nicole Ravenau warned me that more testing should be done, and I passed that warning on to the Upper Council, but they felt they couldn't wait. No one is at fault here. It's just been a tragic turn of events."
"So it may be a considerable time before we can avail ourselves of the processes?" Council member Ahil Fazid asked.
"If you value your life, Ahil, I'd suggest waiting. However, if you'd like to sign up as a test subject, I'm sure we can squeeze you in as one of the early experimentations. "
"Uh— no, that's quite alright. I'll wait."
"I thought you might, Ahil," Strauss said with a grin.
* * *
"Come in, Trader," Ginsburg said as the doors of his office opened to admit Vyx.
"Good morning, sir," Vyx said. "You wanted to see me?
"Yes, I did. We crossed the border from GA space into unclaimed territory about four days ago and are presently ninety-eight light-years 'into the black' as you've called it. I'm working on my daily report and wondering how much longer you intend to keep going. We haven't seen a sign of another ship for almost a month. There's nothing of value out here. That's why no nation has ever claimed it."
"My team and I were discussing that yesterday. We feel that if someone wanted to establish a rendezvous area outside GA Space where it was unlikely that Space Command would ever happen across it, it would be located in an area such as this with no habitable planets and a hundred parsecs from the border."
"Why a hundred parsecs?"
"It's a nice round number. It's enough to be outside the area that a Space Command patrol vessel might travel on a whim after crossing the border and yet not too far for vessels that are trying to avoid contact with Space Command."
"Trader, I'm beginning to think that you and your companions have been out here too long."
Vyx smiled. "Perhaps, Captain, but playing hunches has always worked well for us. Sometimes it plays out and sometimes it doesn't. So let's keep going for another ten days. We'll turn back at a hundred parsecs if we don't spot anything."
"Okay, Trader, it's your call. Another ten days it is. But if we don't spot anything, we turn around, right?"
"Right, Captain. We turn around at a hundred parsecs and head back to GA space."
* * *
Jenetta trudged wearily to her suite on the top floor of the military governor's palace after another long, hard day. The days seemed to be getting longer and longer, but that might be because good news had been so scarce lately. The weapons research people were still attempting to expand the DeTect range, but they hadn't yet achieved any decent measure of success. Work on the one scout-destroyer converted for dropping a bomb on an as yet unidentified enemy had been completed long ago, but without a way to place a bomb where it would be effective, the conversion work had been a wasted effort. For that reason, Jenetta had not authorized conversion work on other ships. Construction work on the Senate and SHQ complexes was progressing rapidly under Brian Holt, and each step forward was a reminder that her dream of being captain of a warship was slipping away. She imagined that once the complexes were finished, she would be pulled more and more into the political bureaucracy. She didn't object to losing the governorship of Regions Two and Three. Those jobs were better placed with the civilian GA Council. But having to take a seat on the AB would forever anchor her dirt-side. She'd be lucky to even slip away for a quick wave-hopping flight around Quesann. The day she dreaded was coming closer with each sunset.
As the doors to her suite opened before her, Cayla and Tayna bounded into the room. They loved coming home at night because it usually meant playtime. They sat quietly in one of her offices all day and looked forward with great eagerness to their play at night. Jenetta knew she had to give them some time, so even feeling as tired as she did, she rolled around on the floor with them for a while, then spent some time brushing their fur while they mewled lightly and gently nuzzled her legs. When she felt consciousness slipping away, she got up off the floor and slid into bed. She was fast asleep in minutes.
Jenetta awoke at the usual time, but she felt just as tired as she had when she climbed into bed. She recognized the signs of depression immediately, so she called her office and told them she would be late. Then she called the hangar where her plane was stored and told them to prepare it for use. When she completed the calls, she felt more invigorated than she had in days. A quick shower lifted her spirits even more and she almost had a spring in her step when she left her suite to start her day.
The first order of business was an hour of flight time. Her cats would wait patiently in an office at the hangar until she returned. Her protection detail would see that she came to no harm from external enemies. Of course, they couldn't protect her from herself, and they just hoped that today wasn't the day a slight lapse in flying judgment or attention would prove fatal.
It wasn't. Her flight ended as they always did, with her landing safely back at the base and feeling more alive than she had in days.
* * *
"Sir," the tac officer aboard the Rio Grande said, "the target is not at the expected location."
Lt. Cmdr. Jasson Lister cursed silently and mumbled, "Not again," under his breath before saying, "Helm, swing us around and retrace the course the enemy ship would have followed since having its presence confirmed by the Mekong four hours ago to see if it halted somewhere. Com, notify the Mekong that we've turned to search for the enemy mother ship."
As the ship turned, Lister contacted the Captai
n, who happened to be working in his office.
"The mother ship is missing, sir," Lister said when Commander Marc Hodenfield raised the cover on his desk's com unit. "I've ordered a reverse search of their expected course since the last confirmed sighting."
"I'll be right out, Jasson."
"Aye, sir."
Commander Hodenfield pushed the com unit's cover down and sighed. He was working on tomorrow's daily report and would now have to rewrite it from the beginning where he had stated that they continued to monitor the travel of the enemy mother ship and that nothing had changed.
Hodenfield emerged from his office and walked to the command chair. As he settled into the comfortable seat, he grimaced at Lister and said, "I hope this doesn't lead to a full-scale search. I wonder if the two mother ships changed their plans to rendezvous."
Lister hadn't uttered even word one of his intended response when the tac officer said, "Contact ahead."
A second later, the scout-destroyer Rio Grande passed a halted mother ship at Light-9790. Then they passed another.
"Good Lord!" Hodenfield said. "How did that get here so quickly? We estimated that they couldn't meet up for months."
"Unless…" Lister said.
"Unless what?" Hodenfield asked.
"Unless that isn't the second ship we've been expecting."
Hodenfield stared at him for several seconds before responding. "I hope you're wrong, Jasson— but it's a possibility."
"So what do we do, Captain?"
Turning to the com chief, Hodenfield said, "Get me Commander Morrow aboard the Mekong."
"Aye, sir," the com chief said.
"The Mekong, sir?" Lister questioned.
"There's only one way to find out the situation here. Either there are more of these ships in GA space than we thought just yesterday, or they have substantially greater speed than we thought. At this point I don't know which would be worse."
"Commander Morrow is responding, sir," the com chief announced.
"Put him on my left monitor, chief."
"Aye, sir."
A second later the image of Commander Cody Morrow appeared on the screen and Hodenfield's CT chimed to indicate it was active.
"Cody, we have a problem. A big problem." It took just thirty seconds to bring Morrow up to speed. "So one of us has to go looking for the ship reported by the Territorial Guard ship. If you'll take over here and perform the four-hour checks, we'll continue on and see if we can locate a third ship."
"Wow, Marc, you're just full of good news today aren't you."
"I wish it was otherwise."
"Yeah, me too. If R2HQ was right about the maximum speed of these mother ships, then I agree that there must be a third, or even more. In any event, we need to know. We'll take over responsibility for the four-hour checks while you go learn what you can. Stay safe."
"Roger that. We'll message you as soon as we learn what's what and then hightail it back here as soon as we're able. Rio Grande out."
"Mekong out."
* * *
"Hello, sweetheart," the image of her mom said as Jenetta tapped the play button on the new vidMail message. "My news is so big that I couldn't wait until tomorrow to vidMail you. Regina is pregnant."
Jenetta's jaw dropped. She had originally been concerned because the message had arrived a day earlier than normal for the weekly messages from Obotymot, but now she was concerned because Regina hadn't seen her husband, Jenetta's brother Billy, in over two years.
"Billy and Regina had decided to wait, but since it doesn't appear that Billy is going to make it home any time soon, they decided to use the cryo'd sperm Billy deposited in a sperm bank just after their marriage. Regina was impregnated just before coming to Obotymot. It was a big secret, but now that she's starting to show, she told Marisa and me. And get this— her sisters and parents are going to come here for the birth. Isn't that wonderful? Regina and Billy's baby is going to be the first member of the Family Carver to be born on Obotymot.
"And now that Regina and Billy are going to have a baby, Marisa wants to have a baby. She just sent a message to Richie telling him to cryo some sperm and send it here so she can be impregnated.
"This is all too wonderful for words. I'm finally going to be a grandmother. It's funny, but I always thought you would be the first one to have children. Of course, that was back when you were just going to be a science officer. I thought you'd meet a nice man at whatever base you were assigned to and decide to become a mommy. Well, I know it will happen in time.
"I hope you can come home for a visit when Regina is near the end of her term. By then, Marisa might have begun to show also. Oh, I'm so excited. I've sent a message to your father, and now I'm going to send messages to your sisters and brothers. Of course, Billy and Richie know already. Well, it doesn't matter. I'll congratulate Billy again and tell Richie that I hope he'll send the sperm for Marisa. There's the timer, so I have go. I love you.
"Annette Carver, Palace of the Family Carver, Gavistee Peninsula, Obotymot, message complete."
There were two other messages waiting, one from Marisa and one from Regina, but Jenetta wanted to think about the changing situation before she listened to them. She had been sitting on the edge of the bed watching the message on the nightstand com unit and now flopped back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Naturally, she was excited and happy for her sisters-in-law and her brothers, but it had caught her totally by surprise. Another thing that caught her by surprise was her mother talking about her coming home for a visit. It was the first time her mom had referred to the palace on Obotymot as home. That was significant. Annette and Marisa had now been on Obotymot for seven months and showed no indications that they were leaving, or were even thinking about leaving. To the contrary, they seemed to be putting down roots. That pleased Jenetta no end. She had always regretted that the palace was empty, and it was wonderful to see it being used by family members.
Jenetta didn't know how the upcoming confrontation with the Denubbewa was going to end, but if Space Command and the Marines were able to defeat them, or at least end their efforts to arrogate GA space, it might be time to take an extended leave from the service. So far, she was only sure about one thing— she didn't want to become a permanent member of the AB and be forever tied to a chair in the AB Hall. Keith Kanes had once suggested that as the older members of the Board retired from the service, Jenetta might be pushed to accept the position of Admiral of the Fleet. The post had never interested her and didn't interest her now in the slightest.
* * *
"Contact off starboard, Captain," the tac officer aboard the Rio Grande said.
"Is it the enemy mother ship?" Commander Marc Hodenfield asked.
"It's right at the limit of our DeTect capability, so I can't say for sure, but it's under power and appears to have the right mass. I would say yes."
"Is it on course for the expected rendezvous point?"
"I'll need another pass to determine course and speed."
"Helm, swing us around for another look. Keep us at the edge of the DeTect range. We don't want to spook them."
"Aye, sir. Beginning our turn now."
"The ship is exactly on course for the rendezvous point, Captain," the tac officer said as they performed another flyby of the mother ship. "Speed is Light-462."
"That's good enough for me," Hodenfield said. "She's exactly where we expected her to be and headed on a course that would have her rendezvous with the other ship we were following. So now we know that we have three mother ships to deal with. Com, send a message to the Mekong that we've identified the enemy mother ship at the expected location and that we're headed back. Helm, take us back."
"Aye, sir," both the com chief and helmsman said.
* * *
Marine corporal Beth Rondara awoke just as a Denubbewa technician lifted her right arm off the surgical table and carried it away. She was mortified as she looked to where the arm had been. It seemed to have been efficiently
severed at the shoulder. Strangely, she felt no pain. She wondered if her body was simply in shock right now and that waves of pain would soon drive her mad.
She twisted her head the other way and saw that her left arm was missing as well. She should have been hyperventilating by this point, but she couldn't seem to get excited. Even when she raised her head and looked down to where both legs had been the last time she was awake, her respiration didn't increase.
The Denubbewa technician returned to the table and applied some kind of a surgical dressing to the newly opened wound. Within seconds the dressing, which looked simply like a piece of cloth, had shrunk and self-sealed around the shoulder. Lastly, a garment of some sort was slid up what was now her lower extremity. Like the surgical dressing, it instantly shrank for a tight fit and fluid seal.
PFC Vincent Kilburn, on a table in a different operating room, was likewise being dissected piece by piece while awake and witness to the process. As with Rondara, he felt no pain or exhibited any agitation over the surgical process.
When Kilburn's surgical wounds were sealed and a tiny garment fitted over his lower torso, he was picked up by a very large cyborg and brought to a recovery room where Rondara, sans arms and legs, was already lying on a table.
Rondara watched as the cyborg gently set Kilburn down and strapped him to the table. As the large creature left the room, Rondara tried to talk. She believed that her lips were moving, but she didn't hear anything or feel any vibration in her throat that might suggest she was making a sound. She was surprised when she heard a response from Kilburn in her head.
"They cut off my arms and legs also," Kilburn said. "But I didn't feel any pain."
"You can hear me?" Rondara said.
"Uh— yeah. But you sound funny."
"Funny how?"
"It doesn't sound like your voice."
"Whose voice does it sound like?"
"Uh— it doesn't really sound like a voice at all. I'm hearing words but they're not like real sounds."
Rondara stopped moving her lips and just thought about what she wanted to say. To her surprise, Kilburn answered her.
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