Mandy was an exo who knew her captain’s mind. She was able to carry out her orders, and convey them to the crew with clarity and precision. When questions arose that required answers, their level of cooperation was unparalleled; their problem solving as a team was astonishing. The rest of the crew saw them as models to emulate.
As time went on Peter became a part of their renewed friendship. As a friend Mandy respected and appreciated his loyalty. As an officer, she began to recognize his abilities and potential. It wasn’t long before she, in her role as executive officer, was recommending him for promotion. When the post became vacant Mandy put Peter forward as the new Chief Tactical Officer and Security Chief.
“Actually, Mandy, I am glad that the recommendation came from you.” Sarah told her friend during a rare moment of relaxation in Sarah’s quarters. “It gets harder and harder to recognize Peter for his contributions to the ship without it looking like I’m playing favourites. I think that he’ll make a fine Security Chief.”
“Yeah, I asked a number of the crew, both in the Tactical and Security section, and in general as well. I didn’t tell them who I had in mind, I just asked them who they thought would be the best person for the job. An overwhelming majority suggested Peter as a first choice”
“Oh really, Lieutenant-Commander, do you always make your command decisions by popular opinion?” Sarah asked, smiling.
Mandy smiled back. She knew how Sarah loved to needle her for fun. “No, Captain,” she responded, “but we are close enough that people might still call favouritism on his promotion if they thought that I made it all by myself. I had already made up my mind, but I wanted the crew to have their input. If they feel that they have a say in his advancement, then they will see his appointment as fair.”
“Just so long as they don’t start thinking that the chain of command is a democratic process,” Sarah cautioned. “This is a starship. There still has to be a captain.”
“Understood!”
It seemed that Peter fit right into Sarah’s “Chain of Command”. All her training during their time at the Academy and since, combined with what he learned in officer training, bore fruit in his execution of his new duties. So it was a great shock to Sarah when his request for transfer came across her desk.
That day, after the day watch, she summoned him to her quarters.
“What’s wrong, Peter?” she began, as soon as the door had closed behind him.
Peter took the chair that she offered. He sat silent for a moment before looking Sarah straight in the eye. The look on her face told him that this was not supposed to be a formal discussion between the captain and her security chief. He began by reiterating part of his request.
“Captain Grifn of the Intrepid has an opening for a Tactical Officer and Security Chief. It seems to me to be a good move for my career.” Then he stopped. There was another long pause. His voice took on a plaintive tone, mixed with something else that Sarah had never heard from him before. Without diverting his gaze he continued.
“The truth is, Sassy, I’m in love…” again a pause, “… with you.”
Sarah realized that she already knew this instinctively, as well as something else.
“It is too difficult for me to stay on the Pegasus, to stay here with you. So long as you’re my captain we can never be together, you know that. The regs, not to mention plain common sense, just won’t permit it. And …especially if you don’t feel the same, it gets ever more painful. Either way I have to leave before it begins to affect my efficiency. You have no idea how much it hurts to see you as often as I do and not be able to say anything. At least aboard the Intrepid I will keep my position, and be able to continue to move upward in the ranks.” Peter fell silent again.
Sarah rose from her chair and knelt before Peter. She took his face in her hands and kissed him gently. “I think I have been aware of your feelings for a while now,” she answered quietly. “I have been hiding it from myself because to admit it is to also admit something else; that I feel the same for you.” She kissed him again, with passion, her arms enfolding him in tight embrace.
When they finally broke, she continued in the same quiet tones. “Letting you go will be so very hard, but you are wise to make the move. I will, of course, give Loral Grifn a call; he is a good friend. Unless there is someone else waiting in the wings, the transfer should go through. I am so going to miss you.” She kissed Peter again. It was a long while before Peter left Sarah’s quarters.
As promised, Sarah called Captain Grifn. The captain of the Intrepid was pleased to accept her recommendation. Three days later Pegasus and Intrepid rendezvoused outside of the system that was home to the Vergal colony, and Peter transferred to his new post.
If not for Mandy, those first few days following Peter’s departure would have been a disaster, but she always had a way of keeping Sarah grounded. A replacement for Peter was promoted from within, which sat well with the crew, even though there was no consultation this time. There was no appearance of favouritism in the promotion.
Life for Sarah did however improve greatly a couple of days following Peter’s transfer, when she opened her personal messages. Waiting for her was a message from him. Her surprise was not limited to the appearance of the message, but to the beauty of it. Who knew that this former ganger-kid from the zone could write such a passionate letter? He had grown so much since first joining the Corps. The message really made her day, and began a long series of almost daily correspondence between them. It was almost six months before they saw each other in person again.
After twenty-five years of service Corps Base 18 was being decommissioned. The ceremony was scheduled to follow immediately upon the happier ceremony commissioning the new Corps Base 18. Both the Intrepid and the Pegasus were scheduled to attend the two events.
Upon her arrival at the new facility, Sarah immediately looked for Peter, with great hopes of having some quality time together. It was just not to be. Moments after she found the Intrepid’s delegation, Captain Grifn and his senior staff were called away.
Sarah and Peter had just enough time to say hello, and for Sarah to receive Loral Grifn’s pledge of undying gratitude for her “giving” him his “new” Chief Security and Tactical Officer before Grifn received a priority message.
According to the message, a Mavorian ship had strayed into League space. The Mavorians were a militantly misogynistic race, who objected to females – of any race – being allowed in space in any capacity other than passenger.
More than one hundred years earlier, a short while before Earth joined the League, the Marvorians had locked horns with the Corps when one of their warships started attacking any League vessels with female crew that they came across.
The League issued orders to all their ships to engage any Mavorian vessel they found in League space. Very quickly the intruders learned that they were outclassed and out-gunned. The Mavorians were soundly driven back to their territory, and sternly warned against ever entering League space again, on threat of a war that the Mavorians would surely lose.
On that day, a single Mavorian ship had, seemingly, strayed into League space. It ran across a Drixian ship; a pleasure craft. The pilot, and her “crew” of three, were all female. When Captain Grifn was informed that the pilot was his younger sister Lilya, he lost no time in calling his ship and cancelling all leaves. Everyone was to report back to the Intrepid on the double!
“Sorry, Sassy,” was all that Peter had time to whisper to Sarah, while giving her a quick peck on the cheek, before following his captain back to their ship. The next day the Intrepid was reported missing.
Sarah was torn. Her first impulse was to abandon her assigned mission and go to the Intrepid’s last known coordinates and begin a search. It was only her sense of duty that held her back. She did, however contact Admiral Ipzr Flyn to ask that she be allowed to pass the assignment over to another ship, and assist in the search for Intrepid.
At first her request was refused. Then, t
wo days later, Sarah received orders to rendezvous with the Talinize flagship Grat, carrying the admiral, in orbit of the planet Irit-Baff.
Flyn greeted Sarah warmly as she came aboard Pegasus. “I am sorry that we have to meet for the first time under such circumstances, Captain,” she began. “The rumor mill in the Corps works as well as any other, and I am aware that Lieutenant-Commander Preston is very important to you.
“I have studied, with great interest, the full gamut of human emotions, ever since I first met Mayor Cetilla on that day when we first made contact in Central Park. John and I seemed to, as you say, ‘hit it off’, and we remained very dear friends until his death. I am always amazed by the depth of this emotion that you call ‘love’. We Talinize never thought that we would ever find another race that developed such deep feelings for one another as our people do. So I can appreciate your need to search for your beloved.”
That was the first time that anyone had ever referred to Peter as her “beloved”. It hit Sarah harder that she expected, and she struggled to keep her composure. “Thank you, Admiral, I appreciate your kindness. Is there any news of Intrepid?”
“Sadly, no, Captain,” Flyn answered. “…only rumours and conjecture. Lilya Grifn was located by her sister, Captain Nelia Grifn, safe and sound a few hours after the report came in. The report was obviously a trap.”
“Galorans?” Sarah responded…
“We think so. Several battle groups have been put on alert, for now most are from the Terran sector. The other sections of the Admiralty are responding as well, but it seems that since the creation of Terran Command many of the other sections of the Corps have become, shall we say, complacent. Your people have twice as many recruits and are more battle ready than most other worlds. Humans serve on Terran ships and non-Terran vessels. Since joining the League, Terran forces have taken the lead in both exploration and the defense of our confederation.
“My purpose here is to assess the situation and oversee our mobilization should it become necessary.”
As Admiral Flyn paused for a breath Sarah spoke up, “How can I help? Pegasus is at your disposal, Ma’am”
For some reason Flyn hesitated before answering. When she did her question seemed to be a non-sequitur. “Do you know a human by the name of Theodore Querryl?”
“No, should I?”
“For the last couple of years Mr. Querryl has been sending op-ed pieces to the ‘Galactic Sentinel’ praising your accomplishments. He has gained quite a following. So much so, that the Sentinel made him their in-house reporter on all things ‘Maloney’. It seems that you sell “papers”, Captain. For a time, some at Corps Command worried that you had secretly hired him to promote your achievements and advance your career; an investigation was actually launched.
“What we turned up was much more troubling. There is no Theodore Querryl listed in any census on any League world prior to three years ago. He appeared on the scene out of nowhere. Whoever created his identity was an expert, with some inside help. It was a perfectly created persona from birth to present. We would never have discovered the truth if the creator hadn’t missed one small detail.
“These days it is impossible to insert a new record into the middle the interstellar databases. In order to make a false entry that perfect you need to overwrite an existing entry. Usually attempts are made by overwriting the records of persons who died very young, if possible, along with their entire family: for example, those involved in transportation accidents or natural disasters and the like.
“They always get caught because when a death is reported a single bit is added to the end of the identity record that can’t be over written by any means. When someone uses such a record to create a new identity, they can’t help but create a file larger than the original. That file always runs beyond the ‘period bit’, as it is called. Querryl’s file has no period bit. So, Querryl’s persona has to have been created from a living person’s record.
“We suspect that he, or an accomplice, knows about the period bit, so, on a hunch, the Archives Department was asked to verify the records of anyone associated with you since your ‘return from the dead’. All records were still there, but two. One was one Officer George Digby, who three years ago disappeared from the Brin Rehab Colony. The other was Winston Dekert who also disappeared from Brin. Neither person was found to exist in any of the official records. The only official record of their existence is in your file. It was the one file that they couldn’t risk altering. So we believe that Querryl may be one of those two men.”
“…and, of course, fingerprints, retinal scans, DNA or other biometrics are virtually useless, because they now all point to the new identity, Querryl.” Sarah finished the puzzle. “Only, what has this to do with the Intrepid?”
“Yesterday Querryl contacted Terran Command saying that he has critical information regarding its disappearance, but he will only give it to you, in exchange for an interview,” Flyn said flatly.
Then, continuing, “From the writing talent in the articles he submitted, we believe that Querryl is Winston Dekert. Digby was never any good at writing. According to his superiors at the NYPD, the written and oral reports he turned in were worse than atrocious. We believe that Digby is just a pawn who allowed his identity to be replaced just to get out of a twenty-year rehab sentence. However, since both of them have a reason to want revenge against you, then no matter how you look at it, it’s a trap.”
“Do you believe that that is all it is?” Sarah asked. “Is there any possibility that he may really know something? If it is Dekert, he may be looking for a way back into the Corps.”
“Highly doubtful,” was all Admiral Flyn said.
“Where does he want to meet?” Sarah asked, “…and when?”
“We’re not sure that meeting him would be such a good idea. The risk is too great.”
“Peter risked his life to save mine in the zone. He also put himself in the line of fire with Willoughby, when I first came on board Pegasus, and again when Willoughby attempted his mutiny. I owe him on so many levels,” she paused, “and I love him.”
Flyn held up a memory chip. “I have the tactical info on his location here. At Command we are certain that it’s a trap. Is love a good enough reason to risk one of the Corps greatest serving captains?”
“I believe it is, Ma’am, and if we know it’s a trap maybe we can spring it on our terms!” Sarah answered.
While they were talking Sarah was escorting the admiral to the situation room, just off the main bridge. Upon arrival, the admiral inserted her memory chip into a reader slot on the wall near the door, and the laser projectors came to life.
Beginning with a long range stellar map showing the system in which Querryl was located, the image refined itself many times until it finally revealed the compound where he could be found; a fortified and heavily protected structure.
In spite of herself, Sarah was impressed. “That is a fortress. Did no one ever wonder why a journalist should need such a place?”
“This is Irit-Baff,” Flyn said matter-of-factly. “If you don’t live in a fortress here, you’re vulnerable to the criminal element, which makes up more that forty percent of the planetary population. He chose his location well.”
“We can’t extract him, he’s too well protected, not just by his fortifications, they can be easily breached with sufficient force. However, if we go in in force we’ll be contending with the locals who would see an assault by the Stellar Corps as an assault on them as well. It is likely that his criminal neighbours will move to back up Querryl’s security team and repel our troops.”
“Every criminal in the district would assume that our forces are a League raid on them, and respond accordingly.” Sarah summed up the tactical situation succinctly. “So what were his instructions? How do I meet him?”
“He wants you to shuttle down in an unmarked craft. You will land in the shuttle bay of his compound. You must go unarmed. Not even your ancient weapons.” The concern on F
lyn’s face was unmistakable.
“You can see why we don’t like it. It’s not just the danger to you, but as a captain you have very particular knowledge. Under any other conditions we would order you not to go, but with your personal reasons for going, and the fact that we might learn something about the Intrepid, we’re leaving the decision to you. Command prefers that you don’t go, and I, personally, am asking you not to go.”
“I have to go, Admiral,” Sarah said respectfully, but emphatically, “If Querryl is Dekert then, yes, I am walking into the lion’s den. He knows what I can do, even without weapons. He’ll be ready. My only hope is that he won’t be ready enough. He is arrogant, and has a real hatred for zoners. He believes that we are all beneath him, which may give me an advantage. Let’s see if we can improve that advantage.”
Sarah pressed the comm button on the wall. “Bridge Science Station” she said. A moment later the communications unit responded.
“Science One, Minelli here, Captain; how may I assist you?”
“Minelli, take the coordinates from the current display in the situation room. Run a deep scan on the structure. Get me as much detail as you can, please,” Sarah ordered.
“Right away, Ma’am,” Minelli responded, and within a few moments new details started to emerge in the holographic layout. The new image showed a sub-basement that did not appear on the plans registered with the local authorities. Worse yet, the western half of that level was somehow blocked from the ship’s scanners.
“Ms. Minelli, is there any way to penetrate that western area of the sub-basement?” Sarah asked.
“Sorry, Captain, readings are showing a layer of charged Bital. Our scanners can’t penetrate it.”
“I’m liking this less and less,” the admiral said.
Chronicles of the Stellar Corps: Sassy Page 18
