The Silver Liner: Takes Flight!

by Daniel Sullivan

  Lorgen could not believe that a civilian captain had taken them out by simply firing his engines. Now it was personal. And Myers … what the hell is that man’s problem? He was right fucking there when those men died! Myers might be a problem down the road, he thought. He exited the lift at the engineering deck and checked in with Kowalski, his chief engineer.

  “How long till we’re up and running?”

  “Forty minutes, tops,” replied Kowalski. “If we hold off on some of the exterior repairs, we can shave about fifteen minutes off.”

  “And what is the extent of the exterior damage?”

  “Hull plating around the aft port air lock, mostly. No breaches, but if we’re hit back there again, there will be.”

  Lorgen considered for a few moments. “Repair what you can. Forty minutes, Mister Kowalski. After that, we need to be moving. We have a silver liner to catch.”

  “You’ve got it, Sir,” replied the engineer.

  Xing looked over the report and was not happy. He did have to admit that Keyes’ escape was impressive and thankfully, the Lunar Coast Guard had picked her up. She even boasted that since her rescue, she had managed to make an arrangement that would keep her in the know as to the Selene’s whereabouts. The fact that Keyes was still on the case, even in the immediate aftermath of a devastating ambush, added to Xing’s growing admiration of her. Nevertheless, her report that what was most likely a disguised U.S. cutter had destroyed her ship en route to the Selene was disturbing. Royce’s ability to overcome Keyes’s sabotage was also unexpected. In fact, Xing had also grown to admire Royce as well; the civilian captain had proven most resourceful, having taken down two Zduhać in hand to hand combat, out flown two corvettes and destroyed them without firing a shot and now this, Royce had shown more mettle than any military captain Xing was acquainted with.

  Although he admired Royce, the facts remained what they were: in spite of her efforts above and beyond the call of duty, Keyes was now back to playing catch up with the rock and roll captain, and the Alliance had no time to lose. So far, Xing had run his operation by the book, but it was clear that Royce would not be easily caught. Were it not for Tracht trying to beat him to the punch, Xing could be more patient, but it was imperative that Royce be found and Keane recovered before the marine colonel got to them. It was time to send in Velos.

  Kendrick awoke in the Med-Bay with his left leg and shoulder bandaged up and a ton of smaller bandages. Everything ached and he felt like he had the worst hangover in history, but without the benefit of a night of hard drinking. The Med-Bay was buzzing with people. Japanese people.

  “Good morning, Captain,” said a Japanese woman. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I am Yori Hayashi, doctor on the Fujin.”

  Kendrick sat up slowly and looked around. Apparently, spin gravity was still functioning. Fiona was there, smiling at him, looking visibly relieved that he was awake.

  “Ken!” Fiona leaned down and kissed his cheek. “My God, I was so worried for you!”

  “Uh … thanks, Fi,” he said, kissing her cheek in return. “How long was I out? An’ how’s Captain Fujita?”

  Yori shook her head. “You were out three days and Captain Fujita’s not well. He hit his head on the lintel and again when he hit the bulkhead. He’s alive, but he’s barely hanging on. You were lucky—very lucky. Aside from numerous small cuts, you had two big ones and a mild concussion. The one in your leg was the femoral artery. Had it not been for Doctor Kinsale having blood type O negative and our efforts to repair you, you would have died.”

  “You’re a lifesaver, Doctor Hayashi,” Fiona said. “If you hadn’t been here ...”

  “Doctor Yori,” the Japanese woman corrected. “Hayashi is my given name. In Japan, we say surnames first.

  Kendrick nodded in agreement, and got the conversation back on track. “What about Lorgen: we lose ’em?”

  “You’re kidding?” asked Hayashi with disbelief. “Captain, I have seen some very fast ships while in Captain Fujita’s employ, but nothing like this one. Even the Fujin couldn’t catch this thing, so there’s no way a cutter will.”

  “Good,” he said. “I need to get to the bridge.”

  “Not yet,” Fiona scolded. “You’re in no condition to stand.”

  “Speakin’ of which, thanks for the help in gettin’ me patched up an’ donatin’ blood an’ all, but I need to see how many systems were fried by that virus.”

  “Thankfully, the Fujin’s crew has been monitoring the bridge for you,” said Fiona. “They brought the ship to a halt until we figure out where we are. The Selene is in good hands. Now rest, my gentleman captain.”

  It was another two days before the captain was ready to leave the Med-Bay. Neither doctor thought that he should, but he refused to tarry any longer. Kendrick stood up and felt very stiff. He had a lot of stitches. Now that the adrenalin was not pumping, he could feel every little ache and pain.

  “Ken, no,” Fiona protested, but Kendrick waved her off.

  “Thanks, Fi. You too, Doctor Yori,” he said, taking the ruined cyber-suit. “But I can’t wait around.”

  “Captain, you shouldn’t be walking, so be careful,” warned Yori. “If you reopen that leg, you will die; there is no more blood on hand for a transfusion.”

  “Understood, Doc.”

  Kendrick was still in a t-shirt and boxers, so he went to his cabin to get changed before reporting to the bridge. Reporting, he thought. God, now I’m even thinking in official talk. Upon entering his room, he heated up a kettle. While he waited for the water to boil, he put on his spare cyber-suit, his old one ruined when the doctor had cut it off him. This one was a bit more powerful, but not as comfortable as the other one. A bracer on the left arm held a small holographic console with a palm mounted projector in the right glove.

  The water had boiled by now, so he poured it into the French press along with a few scoops of Kona coffee. He let it sit and brew for about ten minutes, enjoying the aroma, before pouring it into a tall thermos. Kendrick considered adding a dash of Jameson, but decided that he was bleary enough without adding alcohol to the mix. He stood and savored the aroma for a few more moments, before threading the top onto the thermos and headed to the bridge.

  The lift took him to Selene’s central corridor. There was no gravity here; the center of the ship did not spin. He took hold of the rails and propelled himself down the hallway. Without having to put weight on his legs, this was very comfortable … and fun. He never tired of flying down the hall of his ship. It made him feel like Captain Marvel. As he pulled himself into the bridge, he was pleasantly surprised to find each station manned. Everything was on manual, but they seemed to have all well in hand.

  As soon as he entered, Fujita’s first officer, Nozaki Fumio, saluted him and barked, “Captain on deck!” Nozaki followed up with a crisp salute. The rest turned and saluted.

  Kendrick was impressed. They had even cleaned up and the bridge was now spotless. Apparently, Fujita ran a tight ship. The captain had to think for a moment and remember how to salute back properly. He did a half salute/half wave while drinking his coffee.

  “At ease, or whatever,” Kendrick said, belting himself into the captain’s chair. “Um … anybody got like, you know, a whatchacallit … a status report or something?” It was weird having an actual crew to work with. Kendrick felt like he had to try at least to sound official. Surprisingly, though, he got exactly what he asked for with military precision.

  “Hai!” Nozaki promptly presented his report. “We have outrun Enigma, so I authorized a retro rocket burn to slow us down and two small burns, bringing us to a complete halt. Sensors are down, but internal ship systems are functioning, though automation is at a bare minimum due to the truncated systems as a result of the virus. Of greater importance, the astrogation system, while functional, has been wiped.”

  “Thanks,” replied Kendrick. “Y’all can ease up a touch on the formal; this ain’t …isn’t … a military ship and … I’m
no soldier.” The captain tried to speak more formally, figuring he should at least meet them halfway. “Uh, by the way, Captain Fujita is still out. I hope he’s gonna be all right.”

  Nozaki simply nodded. “Sir, we appreciate the effort you have gone to. I only hope that we have not overstepped our bounds in taking positions on the bridge.”

  “Nope; y’all took care o’ my baby while I was out. Thanks,” replied Kendrick as he plugged the cyber-suit into the bridge console. “I’m gonna … going to try to get some of our systems back up. I have Selene’s AI backed up on my personal drives, but as you observed, her program’s been truncated substantially in order to get rid of that virus. Only the essentials and personal data remain. Here goes nothing.”

  The ship came to life again, though she was not the same as before. The virus had played havoc with the Selene’s astrogation. Thankfully, the engines could be automated to some extent again.

  Kendrick had access to all systems, but something was wrong. The AI’s memories seemed to be there, but they were stored in files rather than being an integral part of the ship’s personality. The various nuances the AI had developed that made her so like his late wife were gone. Unfortunately, none of the remaining memories seemed to be astrogational. He hoped he was wrong.

  “System activated,” came Selene’s voice. She sounded cold, mechanical. He also noticed that her holographic avatar did not activate.

  “Bring up the sensor array,” he ordered.

  “Sensor array operational,” came the reply. Now, they were no longer flying blind. Maybe they could fly at speed once he knew where they were.

  “Calculate time to Mars from our current location,” he said.

  “Unknown. Our current location is not known. All navigational data is corrupted or erased. Time and exact location of last burn: unknown. Distance from the origin of last burn: unknown.”

  “Thank you, Selene,” he said. I hate bein’ right, he thought.

  Then, he turned to the bridge crew. “I don’t think I need to spell it out for y’all. We’re off course by a bunch and the ship’s astrogation is wiped.”

  They all nodded. The disappointment was clear, but Nozaki spoke. “Not unexpected,” he said. “Escape from a hostile was paramount. We live to find our way back.”

  “Hai,” said the rest of the crew in unison.

  “Thanks, guys,” Kendrick replied. “I’ve got current star charts, but we gotta figure out where we are in order to use ’em.” He looked at the Fujin navigator. “Son, what’s yer name?”

  “Yoshida, Sir,” the young man responded formally.

  “Good to meet you, Mister Yoshida. We need to determine our current location.” Taking advantage of having a professional astrogator aboard, Kendrick passed the tube with the charts to Yoshida. “See if you can get a fix on our current position and locate it on the charts, then put us back in business.”

  “What are these?” Yoshida’s response was not encouraging.

  “Star charts,” Kendrick said flatly. “You do know how to use them, don’t you?”

  “Not really, Sir,” replied Yoshida. “I’ve never had to navigate without instrumentation.”

  “We’re in space, Mister Yoshida,” Kendrick corrected. “We astrogate, not navigate. Don’t they teach you that in flight school?” Kendrick was amazed at this revelation. He had assumed the Fujin crew to be top shelf, but Yoshida clearly was not.

  “Sorry, Sir. I learned to use the nav computer and I’m better at it than anyone. But from where we are, the stars don’t look familiar, so I can’t …”

  “Never mind; I’ll do it myself.” It did not take Kendrick long to get a fix using the star charts, still amazed at the thought of a starship navigator who did not know how to astrogate. “Based on our current location … we’re off course by roughly fifteen hundred K. Now to get this into the computer.” Still plugged into the cyber-suit, he switched gears to converse with the ship’s AI.

  *Hello, dear. I need to check the integrity of your memory.*

  *Affirmative, Captain Royce,* the AI replied mentally. *Bringing up the files.*

  The remaining uncorrupted files quickly came up and Kendrick began to sift through them. He was pleased to find that Selene’s memories, including all of her personality traits, were intact. For some reason, she was only able to access the data, not the personality nuances. He would have to dig deeper on this one, but right now, astrogation was the most important.

  Kendrick worked at the astrogation system for about an hour, finally getting at least the pertinent data of the Selene’s current location and the current locations and orbital speeds of Earth, Mars and Venus. Now, he could fly the Selene, but until he had the sensor array repaired, he could not fly her faster than Mach 5. He settled in for a long day of restoring ship systems, just glad to be alive. The thought occurred to him that after the transfusion, Fiona was now a part of him. He smiled at the thought as he set to work.

  8

  Doctor Fiona Kinsale was conferring with Doctor Yori when the captain limped in. It had been a day since Ken had returned to the bridge and he looked better; though his color was still pale and he still looked worn out. His expression indicated that the captain meant business and was not simply here to check in. Fiona knew the look and had a sinking feeling that it was she whom captain had come for. Kendrick walked over to the unconscious Captain Fujita and stood silently for a few moments. Then, he turned to Doctor Kinsale.

  “All right, Fiona, you and I need to talk. Now!”

  Fiona had a feeling he would want to talk with her as soon as he was recovered enough to do so, though she did not think that it would be so soon. There was no avoiding the issue now that they had sustained heavy damage because of her presence onboard.

  “Yes, Sir,” she said softly, excusing herself and following the captain to the lift.

  Kendrick spoke not a word as they rode the lift. It reminded Fiona of when the captain had first found her and had subsequently given her the silent treatment. She tried to make some small talk, asking how he was feeling, and how things were on the bridge. Kendrick remained tight-lipped.

  “Just fine,” was all the captain would say.

  Soon, they were standing outside of his quarters. He opened the door silently and motioned for her to enter. Once inside, Kendrick motioned to her to sit in the lounge chair and he spun the desk chair around, so he sat down facing her.

  “All right, Fiona,” Kendrick began sternly, “This conversation is between you and me. Nobody else knows, nobody else hears. If I’m satisfied with what you say, you remain free. You play games with me, I confine you to quarters and turn you over to the authorities myself at Mars—and I really don’t want to do that. Captain Lorgen said he was after a Doctor Joyce Keane—claims she snuck on board my ship. Only one person has snuck on board my ship and that’s you. Now, I could have just handed you over to him, but I didn’t. You owe me, so spill it. Now.”

  Fiona hung her head as he spoke. The captain spoke more professionally, she noticed, articulating his words and using less slang. She approved, but now the doctor really felt like a subordinate. She also knew that her cover was blown. It was time to come clean.

  “I am the one he seeks,” she admitted.

  Kendrick shook his head. “I knew it,” he hissed. “So, what’s your deal … Joyce?”

  My name, she thought. He said my real name. In a way, it was music to her ears, but at the same time, it hurt even more to hear him upset with her.

  “I am a doctor—and I am a good doctor. Saving lives and making lives better is my life’s passion. It is, in fact, my calling from God.”

  “From God?” Kendrick raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes, from God. There is none other who can give us our calling.” She paused a moment, but he simply waited for her to continue. “I am also a Catholic, and between my oath as a doctor and my beliefs as a Catholic, my belief in the sanctity of life is very, very strong. It is, in fact, the one thing on Earth that
I am most passionate about.”

  “Yeah, I get that you’re like super-Catholic and all,” he said, “But how does a doctor end up on the run from the U.S. government and the Alliance with stolen biotech?”

  “There were many tests that could determine if a baby would have severe genetic defects, enabling a woman to terminate the pregnancy,” Fiona explained, “but far fewer options existed to prevent such problems in the first place; and when such defects are detected, the pregnancy is frequently not carried to term. As I said, I believe strongly in the sanctity of life, so I entered the field of genetics so that I could maybe find a way to prevent defects and save those poor children. After I earned my PhD, I ended up working for a biotech division of the Ness Corporation and it was like a dream come true.”

  “I think I see where this is going,” Kendrick said. “You got your hands on something you didn’t like and decided to take it from them. That about right?”

  “It’s a bit more complicated than that,” she protested.

  “Always is,” he said with a snort.

  “Cloning became the next frontier in the biotech industry,” she continued. “There was not enough money in fixing unborn children with genetic defects and too much money to be made in cloning. Much of my research went into to stabilizing the cloning process. I was strongly against cloning, but I had a mountain of school debt to pay off and my boss told me that cloning offered hope to families unable to conceive. I compromised my principles and ended up working on cloning. I came up with a method that greatly streamlined the process, and which practically guaranteed the desired results.” The doctor sighed, shaking her head as she remembered how perfect it all seemed at the time. Then, it had all unraveled.

  “But in achieving that end, cloned embryos that did not meet the desired goals were … simply flushed or used in experimentation. I was outraged and disgusted. Mostly at myself, it isn’t as if they kept me in the dark about it. I simply ignored the inconvenient truths about the project.” She shuddered at that last part.