“If the admiral sent you, then answer me one question….”
“Go ahead, Captain Chang,” said Ortiz.
“How is the admiral?” Chang asked.
There was a long moment while Lee wondered why Chang would ask that question. He was equally nervous about what Ortiz would answer. The two men had been old friends once, but the behavior of the senior officer had made the cruise ship captain avoid the admiral the last few hours before they’d left. Lee felt his chest tighten as he realized he was holding his breath.
“He’s completely nuts, Captain,” replied Ortiz.
Lee tensed again. It seemed even the three fighters covering their tails had come to a stop. If Lee didn’t know better, he could swear that the whole galaxy had ceased rotating while they awaited Chang’s response. A beep alerted Lee to his control panel.
Resolute was powering down her weapons and reducing her shield strength. She began to reverse direction and turn her nose back towards the cruise liner. Lee felt every muscle in his back relax as he saw the immense ship back away from their position.
“Captain Ortiz,” said the voice of Chang. “I would like to request your company on board the Resolute.”
“Of course, Captain Chang,” replied Ortiz. “We are standing down.”
“And Captain,” the battleship commander asked. “Could you bring Pearce with you? I think I need to keep a closer eye on that one. He’s crazier than the admiral.”
19
Lee maneuvered his fighter in for a gentle landing on the flight deck of the Resolute, next to the passenger shuttle from the Terran Princess. His viewer showed the pilot of the colorful ship wave to him to indicate the all clear. The landing bay lights began to rotate and he could hear the siren increasing in volume as atmosphere returned to the deck.
The Resolute flight deck was smaller than most that Lee had been on. The ship had not really been designed with fighters in mind and seemed cramped to him after years of flying out of the cavernous hangar deck of the Princess. It was set far back on the aft quarter of the battleship behind a thick, armored door. The bay contained only a single military shuttle, nestled against the inside wall by the airlock door.
The siren sound crested until it finally shut off, then Lee pressed the canopy release. He pulled himself out of the fighter cockpit and stood, looking around at the inside of the hangar. The rebuilt fighter had a compartment behind the seat where Lee had stowed a uniform and he reached for it. He heard the door of the passenger shuttle open as he pulled on his pants over his boots.
Lee heard Captain Ortiz step off the short ladder and onto the deck of the Resolute. Lee pulled his uniform shirt over his head and stepped off the wing of the Silver Eagle and down onto the hangar deck with a loud crack. The captain looked over to him as he approached.
“Lee, you really need to see about getting those boots fixed,” the older man said, stepping aside and allowing the other passengers to step out. Next out of the ship was the security second in command, Ragunathan. Behind him was, surprisingly, Banu Rao. Both men carried salvaged Ch’Tauk rifles from the prison transport. They took up positions to either side of the captain.
“I tried,” said Lee, pointing to his feet. “But the store on the Princess only had these in red and I thought they might clash with my purse.”
“How sweet,” said Melaina Petros, stepping out the shuttle. “You know how to accessorize.”
Following the woman as closely as he could, Tuxor ducked his head out of the shuttle and stepped out onto the deck. His bare feet slapped the metal deck loudly as he landed. He looked placidly around the hangar as he crossed his lower arms over his chest. The rest of the party looked back at him as he moved to join Melaina behind the security men.
“Well,” replied Lee to the jibe. “A fighter pilot mustn’t clash, you know. That would be horrible.”
The group laughed softly at the exchange as the final member of the team stepped out of the shuttle and onto the deck. Doctor Evan Reeves looked pale and drawn as he blinked away the bright lighting of the hangar deck. Although he had seemed to recover during the medical treatment on Baal, the doctor looked as if he might have had a relapse before boarding the shuttle. The tall man stepped unsteadily to the deck and joined the rest of the group.
“Lower your weapons, guys,” said Lee to the security men. “But keep them ready. We don’t really know anything about Chang.”
Lee heard the airlock door cycling and the group turned to face whoever came through. As the inner door opened, a group of soldiers in full battle armor and carrying Confederacy plasma rifles rushed into the room. They quickly surrounded the small group from the Princess and raised their weapons. Rao had already shouldered his own rifle, but seemed to be having trouble with the oddly-shaped trigger. Ragunathan had raised his rifle, but kept the barrel below eye level.
The soldiers parted and another man walked into the circle to face Captain Ortiz. He was the same height as Lee, with short black hair and a serious expression. He wore the uniform of a ship’s captain on confident shoulders. He looked at the cruise ship captain with an appraising eye. After looking over Ortiz, he glanced at Pearce. He seemed to be trying to decide who to talk to.
“I assume you are Captain Ortiz,” said the man. “I am Captain Ronald Chang of the Confederate battleship Resolute.”
“I am Alfredo Ortiz,” replied the older man. “Of the Terran Cruise Lines vessel Terran Princess. Thank you for allowing us aboard.”
“Welcome aboard, Captain,” said Chang. “For the health and safety of my men, I would ask that your men hand over their weapons to my soldiers.”
Ortiz turned to the two men and raised a hand. Ragunathan lowered his weapon and handed it out to the nearest soldier. Rao seemed unwilling to drop his weapon, however, until Lee placed his palm over the barrel and lowered it slowly. The civilian spokesman looked nervous as he stared at the surrounding soldiers, but handed over the alien rifle anyway.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” said Chang, looking at the two disarmed security men and Lee. Now that that is out of the way, I think it is time we get to know one another.”
Captain Ortiz turned to the group and raised a hand, indicating the landing party. The group had tightened up and was now standing shoulder to shoulder, except for the doctor, who had taken a few steps away from the captain and was looking sick.
“That green fellow in the back is our ship’s doctor, Doctor Evan Reeves,” Ortiz said. The doctor looked up as if only now noticing the battleship captain. He raised a shaky hand to his forehead in a weak impersonation of a salute. Captain Chang nodded in response, looking slightly bemused.
“This lovely lady is Melaina Petros,” said Ortiz, smiling at the woman and motioning her forward. “Her companion is called Tuxor, from the planet Karisia.”
Melaina extended her hand to the warship commander. Chang took her hand and shook it firmly, keeping one eye on Tuxor the whole time. Although the tall amphibian usually garnered strange looks from most humans, Chang seemed to take the alien in stride.
“We were originally assigned to the Corp of Engineers ship Edison,” said Melaina. “Tuxor is actually my colleague, not my companion.”
Chang finally looked up at the tall alien, extending a hand to him. Tuxor bent a little at the waist and clasped the captain’s hand with one of his upper appendages. Chang did not seem to react to the cold-blooded nature of the handshake. His hand was swallowed by the enormous palm of the Karisien.
“The Edison,” Chang said, “that ship was originally assigned the task force attached to Thor, right?”
“We were caught in the invasion of Karisia and managed to escape,” Melaina replied. “Unfortunately, we were captured and sent to a prison colony when the Edison was destroyed.”
“Destroyed?” Chang asked. “Captain Ditzler?”
“The captain was on board Edison when it was destroyed,” said Tuxor, his voice drifting over the hangar deck. “She was a good human.”
&nbs
p; Chang looked up at the tall alien. A look of sadness crossed over his face as he contemplated the loss of Maya Ditzler. He looked as if he had lost many of his friends, and that each loss hurt just as much as the first. Lee realized that he was beginning to like the man for his obvious compassion.
“She was, Mister Tuxor,” Chang said sadly. “Thank you.”
“Captain Chang,” said Melaina, interrupting the man’s reverie. “We need to talk about the Edison scientists.”
“I’m sure, Miss Petros,” Chang replied. “I would love to hear the story of how you got on board an Earth cruise ship.”
There was a jostling from behind Ortiz as Banu Rao pushed his way forward. Ragunathan stepped forward and put his hand on the other man’s shoulder, pulling him back into line. Ortiz turned to the two men, throwing a look at Rao that made the man step back.
“My security officer, Ragunathan,” said Ortiz, motioning to the man. “And this other man is Banu Rao, a representative of the passengers from the Terran Princess.”
Once again, the captain turned to face the other two men and shook hands with them. Rao kept a smile on his face as he shook hands with the captain. As Chang began to pull away from Rao, the dark-skinned man held tight to his hand, forcing Chang to turn back to face him.
“Captain,” said Rao. “Have you visited Earth? Have you any word about what has happened there?”
A look of sadness crossed over the face of the battleship commander. His shoulders lost some of their confidence under the brown epaulets. When he looked back at Rao, the man’s eyes held only shadows and sadness. Lee’s heart sank as he heard the captain reply to the civilian.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Rao,” said Chang. “We have not been to Earth. We have only heard rumors of what has happened there. As far as we can tell, the Ch’Tauk have conquered Earth and the Confederacy entirely. If there are any humans left in that system, they are slaves to the Ch’Tauk Empire.”
Rao’s hand dropped away from Chang slowly. His dark skin had paled significantly and he seemed even more unsteady than the doctor. He stepped back from the other man, looking as if his soul had been broken. Ragunathan stepped forward and put his arm on the other man’s shoulder. The two men stepped away from the group.
“This must be Commander Lee Pearce,” said Chang, stepping to face Lee. “The man who thought his little Eagle could take on my battleship.”
“Little?” replied Lee to the captain, raising his hand into a military salute. “I mean little? Sir.”
Chang returned the salute with a snap. He looked into Lee’s eyes, sizing the man up. After a moment, he looked beyond the pilot to the gleaming fighter beyond. He stepped around Lee to get a better look at the ship. He stepped forward, admiring the cleanliness and elegance of the modified fighter.
“What do you call this ship, Mister Pearce?” the captain asked. “It looks like a Crowned Eagle, but not like any I have ever seen.”
“She the newest model, Captain,” replied Lee. “Hot off the showroom floor. The dealer called it a Silver Eagle. I probably paid too much, but the guy threw in a pair of fuzzy dice and I just couldn’t refuse.”
Chang turned back to Lee, a concerned look on his face. He glanced back at the fighter one more time and then walked back to Ortiz, who was trying hard to stifle a grin.
“Does he always talk like that, Captain?” Chang asked. “Have you checked his oxygen flow?”
“I can certify that the ship is in great shape, Captain Chang,” replied Ortiz. “Of course, when we found him he had been out there for a while.”
“Found him?” Chang questioned. “I thought he came from the Baal.”
“No sir,” replied Lee, stepping over to the two captains. “I have been with the Princess for almost three years now. Some of my wing-mates are from Baal though.”
“Just how did you come to be on board a civilian passenger liner, Commander?” Chang asked. “And what ship were you supposed to be on when the invasion occurred?”
“I’m sure it’s a fascinating story, gentlemen,” interrupted Melaina, stepping up between the men and facing Captain Chang. “I have a more urgent matter to discuss, though.”
“Miss Petros,” said Ortiz, raising a hand to back the woman off. “I’m sure Captain Chang had many urgent matters to discuss and we will—”
“No, Captain Ortiz, he doesn’t,” replied the engineer, standing straight and with a confidence Lee had never seen in her before. “The only matter he needs to discuss is with me, and the sooner the better.”
Lee stepped over to the woman to put a restraining hand on her shoulder. She brushed him off and advanced on the battleship commander again. Chang stood his ground under her approach with a look of concern. He glanced to both Lee and Ortiz.
“Miss Petros,” said Chang calmly. “The first thing I need to discuss is the current state of Baal and the other ships in the battle group. After that I am sure that we can talk about whatever you think is so—”
“Captain Chang,” Melaina said. “Why do you think Resolute was added to the carrier task force?”
“Excuse me?” Chang replied.
“The Resolute was added to the Baal task force at the last minute, replacing a more modern and powerful cruiser. Why do you think the fleet did that on the eve of the attack on the Ch’Tauk home world?”
“I was told it was a political selection, Miss Petros,” said Chang, startled at the mention of the attack. “She was being given to some new captain as a reward for something.”
“She was being given a new captain,” Melaina replied. “But the ship was going to be used as a test for some very powerful new technology, weapons that could wipe out the Ch’Tauk and end the war in hours instead of months, weapons that Tuxor and I helped to design.”
The entire room seemed to spin around Melaina at that moment. All eyes stared at the engineer, trying to discern the truth of her words. Tuxor crossed both sets of arms over his tall chest as Lee and Ortiz closed their open mouths. Chang shook his head slightly and then squared his eyes as he looked back at Melaina.
“And where are these fantastic weapons now, Miss Petros?” Chang asked.
“They were destroyed during the invasion of Karisien, Captain. But the people that created and built them are still alive and I know where we can go to get them.”
It was as if a bomb had gone off in the hangar bay. There was absolutely no movement. Only the sound of the cooling engines on the passenger shuttle broke the silence. Lee realized he was holding his breath, waiting for the next piece of the puzzle to be revealed.
“Melaina,” Lee said, breaking the tension. “Where?”
“Harpy station, Lee,” she said, turning to look him in the eye. “The Confederacy prison station where we were held. They are all there and I know how to get them.”
20
One year Ago
Banu Rao struggled against the cuffs that encircled his wrists and kept him from lashing out at the security guard escorting him to the brig. The short, balding Indian man who was walking him down the long corridor seemed unmoved by his protests and continued to move him swiftly towards their destination.
“We were only trying to send a message home,” Rao said. “I have family and a company that I need to speak to.”
The security guard looked back at Rao with a blank expression. He still carried the stun baton in his left hand and used it to motion Rao forward again. Rao stopped moving and turned back to the other man. He was smaller and of a slighter build than Rao, but looked coiled and ready to spring if the larger man made the wrong move.
“Listen, man,” Rao started again. “I am sure you have family back home, too. Just because they say there is no Earth doesn’t mean that we have to believe them. We are prisoners on this ship and all I want are answers from someone other than Captain Ortiz.”
“Two years ago,” replied the security guard. “We all watched the destruction of Earth and the fall of the Confederacy on the video screens. Since that time, there h
as been no contact with anybody from Earth or anywhere else. We have also heard Commander Pearce’s story and know that we cannot go back.”
“Commander Pearce!” Rao exclaimed. “What do we really know about that man? He came aboard raving about battles and aliens taking over our home planet. What if he is part of the conspiracy?”
“Commander Pearce is part of no conspiracy,” replied the guard. “He is an officer in the Confederate military and I for one believe him. Now please continue moving.”
“If there is no conspiracy,” asked Rao, “then explain the suicides. This is an experiment by the Confederacy and we are the lab monkeys. Look at the people who have left. The first officer and most of the first class passengers were some of the first to go. They left us here to see who breaks first.”
“Mister Rao,” said the security guard. “I declined service in the Confederate military seven years ago. I do not fight for that organization and I would not serve them if I believed this was an experiment. Paranoia will serve you no good. Now, please, keep moving or I will be forced to carry you to the brig.”
Rao turned away from the other man and started walking towards the brig. He could not believe that the other man could not see the truth in front of him. Had he not read the same newsfeed that Rao had? Had he not seen the stories of psychological warfare that were published in the galactic networks? The man was a fool.
“Can you at least tell me your name,” Rao asked. “If I can get in touch with my lawyer, I want to make sure I spell it right.”
“My name is Ragunathan,” replied the guard. “R-A-G-U-N-A-T-H-A-N. Do you need me to spell it again for you?”
They came to a secure door at the end of the hall and Ragunathan reached past Rao to press his hand to the door panel. There was a pause and a beep and the door slid open. Ragunathan pressed his hand to Rao’s back and gently pushed the bigger man into the security office. The office lobby was cool and dry and painted a pale pink color. There was a thick window near a set of chairs. In the corner was a plastic ficus that looked as if it needed watering.
Resolute Omnibus (The War for Terra) Page 15
