Mission Critical

by T. R. Harris

  “And I a Belsonian. You know, we really do make a good team.”

  It happened so fast.

  One moment the Orion was bolting along in a deep gravity-well, on course for the Formilian star system and the huge Klin Colony Ship. The next the ship was out of their control and changing course radically, essentially going back the way they came, but now angling above the plane of the ecliptic. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened and where they were going.

  Coop, Adam and Riyad were the only ones onboard, with Sherri and Kaylor in the Klin saucer, two hours behind. The fact that the pair hadn’t contacted them by CW link meant they realized what was happening. That was good. But whether they knew the whole story remained to be seen, especially since Adam and the others were pretty much in the dark themselves.

  It was an hour before the first contact was made, and not from Sherri and Kaylor, but from a source ahead of them, not behind.

  Adam didn’t have to establish the link if he didn’t want to; he could just as easily let it go to voicemail to frustrate the Gracilian he knew was calling. But he was curious. The overall picture was pretty clear; it was the details they lacked.

  Adam made the link.

  A frustrated Volic Nusin was on the screen.

  “I hope I am not interrupting?” said the alien.

  “Nah,” Adam said. “We were just being hijacked; happens all the time.”

  “Hijacked? Oh, yes…the translator was slow. You are being hijacked.”

  “How did you know where we were?”

  Volic laughed. “Mr. Adam, you are in a Gracilian ship, the one we provided. We have known your location throughout your journey. And when it was detected that you were traveling away from the Frontier, an embedded program took over your systems, designed to return you—and the DMC—to the research station.”

  “The DMC? But it was destroyed.”

  “Yes, Mr. Adam, the DMC. Did you truly believe we would not see the truth that the annihilation event on Woken involved but a single cube? Others may believe the collector has been destroyed—with no accompanying major annihilation event—but not us. We know what dark matter is capable of. We have told others, but they did not believe, not fully. And now your insignificant demonstration on Woken has convinced them that we were wrong. That is not good for our long-term plans.”

  “I believe you, and that’s why I wasn’t going to return the collector to you. It’s too dangerous for anyone to have, even you.”

  “And what were you intending to do with it? It cannot be destroyed, or do you believe your Human race could better manage the destructive power of dark matter? Considering the history of your race, you cannot possibly believe that. No, you would have to hide it away. And yet you would know where, and eventually others would, too. In all honesty, only Gracilians know best how to handle this amazing technology.”

  “And yet Sherri and Coop stole it from you. Real secure there, buddy. What’s to say that won’t happen again? You obviously have spies aboard your station. Word will get out that you have the DMC, and then this whole crazy cycle will begin again. You can’t keep something this powerful a secret for long. And you saw what we were able to do on the spur of the moment on Woken, and with a single cube. Imagine what others could do with dark matter if they intend to make a weapon out of it?”

  “You do not have to voice your arguments to me, Mr. Adam. We have thought all of them through for months, since the device was first discovered. We know what to do with dark matter, and all we need is the return of the DMC.” The alien smiled. “And I assume you also absconded with the credits from Woken. As I told you before, all we want is the DMC. Once we have it safely back, you may keep the credits as your reward. But my offer only lasts as long as you cooperate. So relax, my friends. You will be at the station in ten standard days.”

  Volic then frowned as he scanned the faces of Riyad and Copernicus standing behind Adam at the comm station. “Where is Miss Sherri?”

  Adam was the first to react. “She’s dead. She was killed on Woken, in the insignificant event—as you called it.”

  Volic looked at Copernicus. “I am terribly sorry, Mr. Copernicus. Gracilians have mating pairs, such as Humans. I know you and Miss Sherri were intimate.”

  “I’ll get over it.”

  “I hope you do.”

  Adam got the distinct impression Volic didn’t believe a word they said. That was okay. He felt the same about the Gracilian.

  The screen went black.

  “That answers two of the questions I had,” Adam said with enthusiasm.

  “What questions?” Riyad asked.

  “First, they can’t see us or hear us, all they can do is track us. Otherwise they would have known about Sherri and Kaylor. That’s something we have in our favor. They don’t know Kaylor is out there.”

  “And the other thing?”

  “It’s a program that’s taken over the ship. All we have to do is find it and we’ll be free to go our merry way.”

  23

  Sherri studied the track chart again and grimaced. Yes, she and Kaylor could follow the Orion all the way to the research station, but then what? They certainly didn’t have the firepower to take on the Gracilian station. Even when she and Copernicus were there, the aliens had at least a dozen warships in the space around it. Besides, if the DMC was returned, then they couldn’t very well shoot up the place without the chance of setting off a dark matter chain reaction that could create a supermassive black hole. The station was located well outside the galactic plane, so maybe the effects wouldn’t be so widespread. But that wouldn’t help them any. They would rescue the men just to have them all sucked into a giant singularity. That wouldn’t work.

  “Would the Gracilians know if we called Jym?”

  “They should not, the signal is going in the opposite direction,” Kaylor replied.

  “Call him.”

  Kaylor made the connection and a few moments later, a groggy-looking Jym was wiping sleep from his eyes and squinting at the screen.

  “Some consideration for local time would be appreciated,” he growled.

  Sherri moved in front of the camera. “Jym, the Orion has been taken over by the Gracilians and is being taken to the research station outside the galaxy.”

  “The Orion—what is that?”

  “That’s what Adam is calling the Gracilian ship he’s been using.”

  “Why have I not been told this? We have had prior conversations.” Then Sherri’s words began to sink in. “The Gracilians…research station…and what of the credits!” The tiny alien was suddenly wide awake.

  “They’re on the ship, along with the dark matter collector.”

  “They have our money?”

  Sherri pursed her lips and gave up. “Yes, they have our money and we need to get it back.”

  “The Colony Ship is fully operational and crewed by Formilians. I will set course immediately!” He jumped up from his chair and moved off camera. He returned a moment later. “Do you have the coordinates I can set?”

  Sherri gave him the location of the research station.

  By then, Jym was beginning to think the operation through a little more. “This Klin ship is large, but it is lightly armed for offensive operations. Yet it does have an exceptional defensive capability if attacked, but not much for attacking.”

  “I understand,” Sherri said. “We don’t want to fire on the station anyway—it could set off the dark matter. But there are a number of Gracilian warships in the area. I’m telling you, I’d think twice if I saw a twenty-mile wide spacecraft bearing down on me.”

  “Think twice about what?” Jym asked. “Thinking once should be sufficient, if you were thinking of…of what? I don’t understand.”

  “That is correct,” Kaylor chimed in. “It seldom makes sense what she—or any of the Humans—say. It is all so confusing.”

  “And we have had more experience with Humans than most,” Jym added. “We should be acclim
ated by now.”

  Sherri shook her head at the two aliens and moved on. “How long until you get to the station?” she asked Jym.

  “I will have to make exact calculations, but I would estimate thirteen days. Will I get there in time to make a difference?”

  “It will take us ten, maybe eleven, so I don’t know. It won’t hurt, though. Just get there as fast as you can.”

  It had been three long and frustrating days for the three men aboard the Orion. During that time they had tried everything to either locate the override program or to circumvent it. Copernicus was a top-notch starship mechanic, but even he was at a loss. The Gracilian systems were proprietary, making most unfamiliar to him. He did the best he could, but to no avail. Now the men sat slumped in chairs on the bridge, recycling ideas off each other.

  “The dynamic actuation antenna—” Riyad said.

  “No, I tried that already.” Coop responded.

  “What about the opion filter? I assume they have one onboard,” Adam offered.

  “That would work, but I can’t find it. They’re using an alternative and when I tweaked that, nothing happened.”

  “The sigma power module? We just shut the whole thing down,” said Riyad.

  “I tried that the first thing,” Copernicus countered. “They have backups with special shielding.” He shook his head. “We’ve tried everything and still we’re screwed. Looks like we’re on this train all the way to Baltimore.” He suddenly sat up straight and stretched out a wide grin.

  “What is it?” Adam said, noticing the mechanic’s expression.

  “We’ve tried everything to regain control of the ship, right? But what we haven’t tried is gaining control of the engines so we can shut them down.”

  “What good would that do?” asked Riyad. “We want to get away, not sit dead in the water. Besides, how would we do that? Like you said, we’ve tried everything.”

  “We haven’t tried taking the shielding off the DMC.”

  Adam and Riyad saw where Coop was going with this.

  “The engines start getting finicky and then peter out,” said Adam.

  “Still, we’d be just floating in space.”

  “It would give Jym more time to get here,” Coop answered. “Assuming he’s on his way.”

  “And Sherri and Kaylor could come in and get us, along with the DMC.” Adam added.

  “What about the money?” Riyad asked. “We don’t want to leave it aboard the Orion. We could probably get most of in the saucer, but that would take time for the transfer.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. We’re being controlled by a program. There probably isn’t a Gracilian ship around for a hundred light-years.” Adam was seeing the plan come together. They didn’t need the alien ship to get out of the Frontier, at least not this alien ship.

  “If we do this, we’ll have to contact Sherri by conventional wormhole comm. They’re only two hours behind, so there shouldn’t be much of a delay. Traditional comms aren’t affected by dark matter; the MK ship made contact with us that way. There’s also the chance the computer program may not be tracking that type of link, since it’s hardly used anymore.” Coop offered.

  “I like it! Great idea,” Adam announced. “What about you, Riyad?”

  “As long as we get some of the money. It would be a shame to come all this way and have nothing to show for it.”

  They contacted Sherri and Kaylor with a one-way traditional comm link, which would take fifteen minutes to reach the Klin saucer. Adam didn’t ask for a reply; that could surely alert the Gracilians if they were in the area.

  Copernicus and Riyad were ready to pull the shielding from the dark matter collector. As Sherri and Kaylor drew closer, they would see the stationery starship and move in. After that there would be no going back; the sensors aboard the Orion would pick up the approaching spacecraft and report it to Volic. And if there were any Gracilian ships in the area, they would have to hurry making the transfer and moving all the Juireans credits they could to the saucer.

  It took two hours for the gravitational effects of the dark matter to impact the well once the DMC was unmasked. Kaylor and Sherri were still two hours behind when the ship came to a stop. Now all they could do was wait.

  The vigil ended not two hours later, but only one. That’s when a huge Gracilian battle cruiser showed up near the Orion. It came as a surprise to the Humans when the massive warship arrived; it was even more of a surprise that the aliens would even have a ship this mean and powerful. They were scientists, not warriors. But as Adam was realizing, there was more to the Gracilians than met the eye.

  Adam was hoping Kaylor saw it, too. The Klin spacecraft were still an hour out, so there was a good chance it could stay hidden.

  A few moments later a conventional communication link came through on the bridge of the Orion. It wasn’t from Sherri.

  Instead, Volic’s tight-lipped face was on the screen.

  “Since your actions have caused the CW comms on your ship to go down, I am routing this link through the Gracilian Destructor Class warship nearby,” said the alien. “Those actions, although clever, were fruitless. I warned you about trying any subterfuge. However, if you return the shielding to the DMC we will proceed as before.”

  “Sorry, Volic, but we thought you would say that, so we destroyed it.”

  They had. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

  The alien’s dark face turned rock-hard. “This is only a delay, Mr. Adam. The Destructor will take the ship in tow using magnetic grapples. The journey will take longer, but you will arrive.”

  “I don’t suppose you would consider just letting us go and you keep the DMC?”

  “I might have at one point, but now I wish to see you—and your companions—in person once again. I am working on a new project I believe you will find interesting.”

  “Would this new project happen to include the words execution and Humans in it?” Riyad asked.

  “You are Mr. Riyad, are you not?” asked Volic. “We have not met, not yet. As to your question, I would like to leave that as a surprise. From what I understand—unlike Gracilians—Humans enjoy surprises. I will test this assumption when you arrive.”

  24

  Adam had a pretty good idea how fast a Colony Ship could travel, and Copernicus had the location of the research station. With that information, they estimated when Jym would reach the station. Killing the engines made their journey longer, but it was still going to be tight.

  When they reached the station, Adam and Riyad crowded the forward viewport for a better look. It was truly huge and shaped like a starfish, with five projecting arms around a round central hub.

  Coop had seen about as much of the station as he could stand, so he supplied the narration.

  “They do most of the research out on the ends of the arms in case of accidents,” Copernicus explained. “Each section can break away and turn into a little spaceship within seconds if necessary to save the rest of the station, if there’s enough warning. They’re not capable of faster-than-light speed, but they can move pretty quickly under chem power. The Gracilians and Incus do other research here other than just dark matter. But when the collector was found, most of the emphasis switched to that. Administration and living quarters are in the central hub.”

  From where Adam stood, he could make out five of the huge warships in the space nearby. Coop had said there were usually a dozen or more around to protect the vital research going on at the station. The other ships were out of visual range, but Coop assured him they were there.

  The Orion was nudged into a large hangar bay and then brought under localized gravity. The chamber was sealed and pressurized, after which the ship was surrounded by a number of armed Gracilians. The troops were impressive, proving that not all the natives were scientists. Adam also got the impression the armed troops knew what they were doing.

  Adam and the others scanned the weapons outside the ship, and that’s when they got their first
surprise. The internal workings of the bolt launchers were invisible to their ATDs, since the components weren’t built by the Formilians. In their quest to become major players in the weapons game, the Incus and Gracilians designed their own controllers and batteries, free of any reliance on the Expansion. The team’s ATD’s were built by Formilians to interact only with Formilian controllers. The alien weapons aboard the station would be active and deadly, and there was nothing the team could do about it.

  “Well, we can’t stay in here indefinitely,” Adam announced. “Might as well get it over with.”

  “You mean our execution?” Riyad asked.

  “Hopefully not,” Adam said. “But in any case, you go first.”

  Riyad scratched his forehead…with only his middle finger extended.

  The moment they stepped outside the starship, a team of dark-skinned Gracilians rushed in and removed the DMC and the satchel with the individual cube containers. They also brought another shielding grid with them.

  Volic arrived a few minutes later.

  Adam smiled. “Mission accomplished, Volic. You have the DMC back, so when do I get the other half million credits you owe me?”

  “Humans are confusing creatures,” the alien said. “I do not know when you are attempting humor or when you are serious.”

  “I was hired to return the DMC. I have returned the DMC. We had a contract.”

  “Now I know you are attempting humor.” Volic turned to the guards. “Place them in a secure room in area four. Provide food and treat them with care until you receive new instructions.”

  He turned back to Adam. “As you have already surmised, all my prior assurances are not to be honored, yet I see no reason why I cannot offer you and your friends courtesy while in my care. Besides, I have much to reveal to you, events and plans which you may find interesting. But first I must tend to my prize. It has been missing for quite some time. And to you Mr. Copernicus, I say welcome home.”