Running With Argentine
Page 39
“Mandi, how many of these scientists do you want to bring on board?”
“Not many… say, a couple of hundred.”
"How long would it take you to get them aboard?"
She didn't hesitate, "After we reach orbit it will take no more than a day, Captain. Thirty-six hours at the most, I swear."
"Sami, do we have that much time?"
Barry silently threw his hands into the air.
"Maybe… I just don't really have any way of knowing," she responded. "I don't even know what it is or when it's going to arrive! Is it a big alien ship? If that's the case it might show up at any time without warning.
"On the other hand, if it is some kind of plague, I'm assuming it would be transported here by an infected ship. That would give us a little more leeway because it would take some time for the infection to spread.”
"But you're not hearing any reports of aliens or unusual illness in this system, right?"
"No… Not yet."
Argentine turned his attention to the chief…
“Chief, how long do you think our cover will hold up with the authorities?”
Even though they now had enough crew to defend the ship, Argentine had still been concerned with the Asperian reaction to having the Roosevelt reappear in orbit above. So they’d identified themselves as the P.R.S. Salamander, from the People’s Republic of Chezden. It wouldn’t hold up forever, but since they weren’t planning on staying…
“Since we’re not going to be docking we’ve avoided the outer system customs inspection,” the chief reasoned out loud. “But I can’t help but think they’ll still be suspicious. My guess is that once we reach orbit it will take them a day to decide on what they want to do and then, as long as we can hide the fact that we’re bugging out quickly, they’ll start diplomatically requesting more background info and the like. Honestly, I think they’ll be the least of our worries.”
Marco spoke up, “And as we discussed, Captain. We’ve placed a number of orders with high profile companies… all to be delivered in a week or two. These are companies that my family knows to have close connections with both the police and the military, so there will be no reason for them to expect a short stay from us.”
Argentine took only a second to make his decision…
"Okay Mandi, get prepped. But you are not to go planet-side; the station is far enough. If they won't meet you there then forget them. And remember, if I put out a recall you'd better drop everything and get back here fast, or I’ll leave your butt behind."
"That would be your loss," she said with unusual sincerity.
"Sami, constant monitoring. I want to know the instant you hear any suspicious reports."
"Frank?"
Argentine turned to the chief.
"If we’re going to spend a little time here anyway," he said. "We'd probably ought to load up on foodstuffs, seeds, and anything else we can think of."
After only a slight hesitation, Argentine nodded…
"Good thinking, Chief. Just remember what I said about the recall."
"You got it."
"Captain, a few of my family… We have some errands of our own."
"What is it you need Marco?"
Looking sheepish he said, "Ah Captain, do you really want to know?"
Argentine closed his eyes and waved his permission.
He wasn't surprised when the lieutenant spoke up…
"Since we’re not really sure if our credits are going to be worth anything after today…"
"What do you want to buy, Lieutenant?"
"There's a bunch of security equipment, weapons and the like, that I can have delivered to the station within a matter of hours; it’ll be waiting for us when we reach orbit. You never know, some of it might come in real handy."
"Fine by me," Argentine agreed. "Can you handle that and still keep tabs on all our people? I want to be able to break orbit at a moment’s notice."
"Yeah, that's not a problem, but I do have a suggestion…"
Argentine raised an eyebrow…
"Have Barry or someone monitor the social networks on the station and the planet. Whatever is causing this doesn’t have to arrive to cause us problems; if word gets out, things could get out of hand quickly – and I wouldn't want our people getting cut off."
Argentine turned to Sami and saw her nod.
Looking at Barry he said, “Okay pilot, spiral us in-system and make high obit at Asperia.”
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
Another System Entirely
7.254 Light Years Distant
The spacer scratched his arm as he spoke to the station's dock master…
"Spices mostly," he described his load. "I may need some help getting them offloaded, though."
The dock master guffawed…
"You know the rules. If you want to sell it here you unload it."
"Yeah, I know… But I've got a couple of my guys down sick. Come on Bernard, we've been doing business a long time… Cut me some slack."
"I can ask," he replied. "Maybe I can find a couple of hands to help you out, but it will cost you the standard rate."
"That's fine, I won't make anything if I can't get this stuff un... Dammit!" he said as he reached around to scratch the back of his neck.
"Here, turn around. Let me see that…
"Holy quasar Samuel! You need to have someone check that – you’ve about scratched yourself raw!"
"Humph, you ought to see my other two guys…
"Yeah, as soon as I get paid for this load we’ll be looking to hire a doctor. But first I've got to get this stuff out of my holds and onto your dock."
"Okay, let me go see who I can round up."
As the dock master walked away he barely noticed a small itch forming around his belt line…
ΔΔΔ
Meanwhile, 13 light years up spiral, Captain James was trying to figure out what the hell was happening...
He'd just left the lone isolated station orbiting the second moon of Taurus IV, a gas giant planet whose only value lie in the volatiles that could be scraped from the atmosphere.
Right up until twenty minutes ago it'd been a standard trip...
The station's robotic atmosphere skimmers continuously operated and only returned to the station for maintenance or to unload their full tanks. Transports like Captain James' rendezvoused with the station on a regular basis to carry the precious cargo to a number of interstellar destinations.
They'd quickly finished loading their gaseous cargo – half of the station’s limited personnel were down sick and the last thing the captain wanted to do was to transfer it to his crew.
They were twenty minutes outbound from the station when the emergency signals started coming in…
The person sending the video alarm was totally unrecognizable; even their gender would forever remain unknown. But the bloody mess in front of him was obviously in agony – so much agony that not a single word could be understood.
Every alarm system on the station, structural integrity, environmental integrity, even imminent collision alerts were sounding and being broadcast across all bands.
What Captain James would never forget, though, was that just before the video feed expired, it looked like the bulkhead behind that tortured and bloodied individual was melting.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
Into The Fray
In Orbit At Asperia
"You let her take one of the Roosevelt's shuttles? One of the military ones?"
Argentine nodded.
The chief didn't say anything, but then he didn't have to.
"She said she needed the extra time to get the scientific group organized."
"We've got a lot of ships to choose from; do you really think it was smart to give her an armed shuttle?"
"No, not really. But then we've run out of smart choices…”
The chief was right; there had been other options. The aerodynamic military shuttles weren’t the only ships they’d discovere
d in the Roosevelt's hanger bays.
There were a number of transport shuttles of various sizes, some of which had landfall capability and some of which were designed purely for vacuum operations.
They also, of course, carried the Pelican and her shuttle, as well as an ancient transport with Asperian military markings.
In addition, there were also two, two-passenger flitter-like ships that were apparently designed to accommodate fully suited pilots - what they were for was anybody’s guess.
“Those military shuttles have a power curve ratio that's off the charts. Instead of spiraling in, she can head more or less straight down the gravity well and make orbit a full twenty-seven hours before we do."
"That's a military approach, Argentine," the chief said with less judgment in his voice. "It's bound to raise red flags…"
Like I said, Argentine thought to himself. We’re out of smart options.
ΔΔΔ
The Roosevelt entered high orbit around Asperia without incident.
Their orbital alignment was such that they maintained direct shuttle access to platform 12 throughout the majority of each orbit.
Almost immediately upon reaching her parking station, the Roosevelt disgorged several shuttles to the platform.
It was amazing, Argentine reflected, how much more respect the system authorities were giving this ship as compared to the Pelican.
He chuckled to himself as he realized that maybe size does matter after all.
"What's that, Captain?" Sami asked from her station on the bridge.
"Nothing…"
"Captain," she interrupted. "We have an incoming video transmission from Port Authority."
"Okay, Sami. Put it on my screen…" he stopped himself. He was going to have to get used to all the luxuries the ship offered…
"I mean, throw it up on the dome…" he corrected himself.
The image that appeared was an unknown figure of an obviously higher rank than the customs agent that had greeted the Pelican…
"People's Republic of Chezden Ship Salamander," the figure started. "This is Orbital Security Master Reynolds. Let me be the first to welcome you to Asperia."
"Hello Master Reynolds. I am Captain Frisbee of the People's Republic. We are on an extended deployment and hoped to spend a few weeks on replenishment of stocks and morale. I'm assuming that permission for shore leave will be granted?"
"Captain, we are, uh… Aware of the Republic's challenges…
"You and your people are, of course, welcome here… But I'd like to confirm that you only plan on staying a few weeks," he said pleasantly.
"That is correct," Argentine said, feigning a mild indignation.
"One other thing, Captain. We weren't aware that the People's Republic deployed ships as massive as the Salamander?"
"I'm sure there are many things about the People's Republic that you are unaware of," Argentine responded with what he hoped was just the right amount of pique.
"No, no, no Captain. Please don't take offense. I am certain you are correct. I'll have my staff contact your people about the logistics for your stay. And again… Welcome to Asperia."
Argentine simply nodded, and Sami cut the connection.
"Do you think he bought it?" Barry asked.
"Not a chance," Argentine responded honestly.
ΔΔΔ
"You've succeeded," announced the altered voice.
"Yes and no," Mandi replied.
She was setting in a darkened room facing a semi-circle of six desks, or podiums or something… They were all positioned behind a screen so that only shadowy outlines could be seen.
"Explain," came what was probably an altered female voice.
"I have the Roosevelt in orbit, but we're not going to be able to use her as planned."
"Are you reneging on our agreement?" came a third voice.
"No, it's just that the circumstances have changed. Our agreement is no longer practical."
"We've misjudged you. I was under the impression that you were serious about seeing Asperia freed from the growing military oppression."
"Oh, I was and I am. Except everybody knows that the military is being controlled by the Secret Societies. So you might say that I'm just as much anti-secret society as I am anti-military… Present company excepted, of course."
They were silent, as they always were when she tried to get them to admit to being a Secret Society themselves…
She sighed.
"I'm going to explain to you what we've learned. And then you are quickly going to have to make a decision. If you want to survive you're going to have to trust me and start organizing immediately.
"We don't have an extra five minutes to waste…"
She then went on to explain about the extinction events.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
Who’s In Charge?
In Orbit At Asperia
With everything in motion and everyone having an assignment, Argentine had little to do except sit in his Captain's Chair and man the watch… Or nervously twiddle his thumbs – depending on your point of view.
"Captain? This is crewmen Sarah Petulengro at the port hanger bay…"
"What is it Sarah?" he responded from his seat on the bridge.
"We have a transport holding station off our port side waiting for permission to board."
"To board? Don't you mean unload?"
Over the last twelve hours the Roosevelt had been receiving numerous consignments of cargo… But personnel?
"No, Captain. That's just it. They claim to be one of the scientific groups selected by their government for an extended tour of our ship."
From his pilot's station Barry said, "What the hell?"
Argentine grinned.
"I was wondering how she was going to pull it off," he replied to Barry.
And then to the intercom, "Okay, Sarah. Play along with them. Congratulate them on being selected and welcome them aboard. Have someone assign them to temporary quarters and tell them we will be holding an orientation meeting later tonight."
"Oh, and Sarah… I wouldn't be surprised if we have a few more transports like this one. So take care of them, okay?"
"Yes sir."
"You know, Captain," Barry commented. "I still think she's as mad as a bag of ferrets but I have to admit… If she can hack into a government database and convince a bunch of scientists to drop everything and board an alien ship within a matter of hours… Well, she's no prat."
Argentine didn't have to know what a prat was to share in the grudging respect…
"No, Barry. I'm sure she's anything but."
This time it was Sami that broke the silence…
"Captain, you wanted me to monitor the social networks on the planet…"
"Yes, what have you got?"
"It's nothing major; I don't detect any law enforcement involvement as of yet… But individuals are starting to hear rumors about massive system blackouts up spiral. The conspiracy theorists are all over the message boards."
"Okay, Sami. Stay on top of it."
After a couple of more moments with nothing to do he made a decision…
"Sami, you have the bridge. I'm going to go back and welcome our scientists. I've got my comm with me so don't hesitate to give me a shout."
ΔΔΔ
"What the hell is going on here?" Argentine exclaimed loudly.
Broadway was the main corridor that ran fore to aft in the front section of the ship; Main was the extra-wide corridor that ran port to starboard between the two hanger bay's.
Argentine had just exited one of the lifts onto Main and was immediately confronted with a large crowd of people…
People that really didn't look like scientists.
As a matter of fact, a whole bunch of them were running and screaming through the corridor acting their age… Which must have been four or five years old…?