Running With Argentine

by William Lee Gordon

  Many of the adults were loudly talking and gesturing to each other but, for the most part, they were ignoring him.

  After dodging a few more kamikazes, and stepping over a couple of rugrats, he spied one of the Petulengro clan…

  "Ellie," he called out. "Where's Marco?"

  "I think he's back that way," she said with the dazzling kind of smile that only a fourteen-year-old girl could produce.

  Since that way was the direction of the starboard hanger deck, Argentine continued on.

  Along the way he didn't fail to notice that much of the sea of humanity that was clogging his deck were carrying sacks and luggage and… Was that a goat?

  When he finally found Marco at least the man had the temerity to look abashed… But it only lasted for a moment. Before Argentine could get a complete sentence out, his huge grin was back…

  "Captain! In the name of my entire clan I wish to express our gratitude for your generosity… You are our savior!"

  "Marco, I thought we already had your family on board? Are you trying to tell me that all of these refugees are family?"

  "Refugees? Captain, that is very harsh," he said with a frown. "And family is such an ambiguous term. These are my clan, my people. And, of course, as the clan leader it is my duty to lead them to safety. So yes, they are all like family to me."

  Argentine had never been a big stickler for the rules, and he even liked this skinny man, but he was starting to feel his good naturedness was being abused.

  Those feelings must have been apparent on his face…

  "No, Captain. Don't worry. Please," Marco said in a suddenly sincere tone. "My people are hard workers, you will see! They make excellent crew for your excellent ship."

  And then in a tone with just a bit of desperation…

  "Really, Captain. You should trust me on this."

  As if I really have a choice, Argentine thought to himself.

  ΔΔΔ

  "Captain? This is Sarah Petulengro again..."

  Argentine reached up to touch the comm unit in his ear…

  "Go ahead, Sarah. What is it?"

  "I hate to bother you with this Captain, but the chief is busy and…"

  "It's okay, Sarah. Just tell me what you need."

  "Yes sir… I just need to know what you want me to do with all these transport ships? I could probably relocate some to the starboard hanger deck?"

  Argentine stopped in his tracks. He knew that the hanger deck was huge.

  " Sarah, you can't possibly be running out of room to park those shuttles?"

  "Oh, no… We can make them all fit if you want me to. But I think it might be crowded enough to interfere with the way this hanger bay is normally designed to operate. And Captain… These aren't just shuttles; some of these transports are pretty big."

  Argentine frowned and started looking around for a ladder or lift to another deck. That would allow him to bypass the flow of humanity surrounding him…

  "Okay, Sarah. I'm on the way. We’ll figure it out when I get there."

  Tapping his comm again he said, "Sami, get me a connection to Mandi and put me through…"

  ΔΔΔ

  "I can't raise her, Captain."

  "You mean she's not answering her comm?"

  "No," Sami replied. "I mean I'm not even registering her. Either her comm has been destroyed or…"

  "Or she's not on the station," Argentine finished for her.

  "Can you find her on the planet below?"

  "It won't be secure – I'll have to access the local network."

  "Do it," he ordered.

  Just then he stepped into the operations tower overlooking the shuttle bay… And gasped.

  There were at least twenty new ships parked in some semblance of order along the side of the bay, and not all of them were shuttles. Some were much larger than that.

  "Captain, I'm glad you're here," Sarah said politely. "I've got a suggestion that I think will help things quite a bit, but I need your permission?"

  "What is it?" Argentine said, trying to focus on two things at once.

  "The Starboard Hanger Bay Chief says their traffic has dropped off. If you’d OK it, I'd like to route all cargo shipments there. That'll relieve a lot of the pressure here and let us dedicate this bay to transports."

  Argentine was more intent on getting in touch with Mandi, but he realized what Sarah suggested made sense… And then he caught the full import of what she'd just said…

  "You talk like you're expecting more transports?"

  "Oh, yeah… There are at least twice as many still on approach."

  Argentine turned to walk out of the operations tower and stopped himself…

  " Sarah, that was good thinking. You're obviously doing a good job here. Can I ask…? How old are you?"

  She tilted her head slightly and looked at him with curiosity…

  "I'm seventeen… Why?"

  ΔΔΔ

  "You've got some explaining to do," he said into his comm.

  "Well, when a boy and a girl really like each other sometimes they decide to kiss, and that can lead…"

  "Mandi, I'm really not in the mood…"

  "Am I supposed to have any idea what it is you want me to explain to you?" she asked.

  In a quiet steady voice Argentine said, "I'm going to ask you a question and this time I want a straightforward answer…"

  Perhaps it was the calmness in his voice, but for whatever reason Mandi registered his seriousness...

  "How many scientists are you bringing aboard my ship?"

  "Your ship? I thought it was our ship? I'm just as much a part of…" And then she caught herself. "Wait… I'm sorry. Old habits, and all that. You wanted a straight answer…

  "I don't know the exact number, and do you mean scientists or just people?"

  "Mandi," he said warningly.

  "I'm trying! But it makes a difference!"

  "How… Many?"

  "A little over six hundred scientists… And their families."

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

  Nightmare

  In Orbit At Asperia

  When Argentine walked back onto the bridge Barry and Sami were huddled at her station.

  "Captain, it’s starting."

  He looked up sharply and Barry said, "No, no, no… not the extinction; the panic."

  "Yeah, some of the ships that have arrived in-system are carrying survivors from systems that have reportedly been destroyed. They are saying everything just dissolved!" Sami elaborated.

  "They've downloaded some video onto the worldwide net," Barry continued. "I think dissolving is a good way to describe it. It looks like the air itself has turned to acid. People are freaking out and the local authorities all over the planet are reacting."

  "How are they reacting?" asked Argentine.

  "In different ways," he responded. "In some places it's martial law and in others it's just crowd control… But the planetwide authority has issued a quarantine – all orbital transfer traffic has been suspended."

  Argentine looked sharply to Sami…

  She shook her head slightly.

  "She's still down there," was the somber response.

  After only a second of hesitation Argentine asked, "Where's the chief?"

  "He's on board. He's supervising the stowing of some supplies."

  "Tell him to delegate that and get to the bridge. Who else is not on the ship and where are they?"

  "Marco and some of his family are still on the station. Except for them and Mandi everyone else is on board."

  "What about the transports? Have they all made it aboard?"

  "No, a number of the personnel transports are still holding in queue and we have one last provision shipment that just made orbit and is heading our way."

  "Okay everyone, listen up," he said aloud to everyone on both levels of the bridge. "We're putting out an emergency recall! Our first priority is to get our people back aboard.

  "Our second priority is to get all the
currently inbound transports safely aboard.

  "After that, if there's still time, we'll take aboard that last supply shuttle… But under no circumstances will we allow anyone else aboard the ship! Except for those exceptions this ship is now effectively quarantined!

  "Is that understood by everyone?"

  The bridge crew all voiced their assent and Argentine took a deep breath…

  "Sami, make sure that Mandi gets the word. It's up to her now."

  ΔΔΔ

  When the chief walked onto the bridge the first thing Argentine did was to ask him about pilots…

  "Chief, who are the best two people you've got to fly one of those military shuttles and operate her weapons?"

  Without hesitation he responded, "Rory and Dundee are the best pilots. I've got a couple of weapons operators that can hold their own… Do you need them?"

  Argentine nodded.

  "Have them prepped and in their shuttle… No, on second thought I want them already launched and ready to intervene if we need their help."

  "You mean you want them on CAP – Combat Air Patrol," sounded a new voice as Lieutenant Stark walked onto the bridge.

  "No," Argentine corrected. "I don't want them in the atmosphere; I want them in orbit with us."

  "Yes, I understand," the lieutenant said with a grin. "That's just what the ship’s computers call it – I have no idea why…"

  After a moment of thought he added, "Captain, my intuition seems to be telling me that we need to have a couple of backup teams ready to launch if needed."

  Argentine nodded and watched the chief comm additional orders to his people. At some point in the future they were going to have to reorganize this whole thing between the pilots and ship's security, he realized absently.

  "I'm assuming you’ll also want me to deploy the ship's defensive shields?"

  "Can we do that while ships are still coming in?"

  "I'll have to lower them each time, but yeah… It's probably worth it."

  "Make it happen."

  "What do we do now, Captain?" Barry asked.

  "You need to be ready to break orbit at a moment’s notice. Make it a military burn; let's see how fast this ship can make it to the top of the gravity well…

  "And Sami, you'll need to be ready to slip into Dreamspace as soon as we get there."

  They both nodded in assent.

  "Until then, people… We keep our fingers crossed."

  ΔΔΔ

  "Captain! The planetary net just went down!" Sami declared.

  Argentine wasn't surprised.

  For the last forty minutes they’d been watching the system fall apart. There still weren't any overt signs that the plague, or acid gas, or whatever was causing the event had arrived in-system, but just about everyone knew it was coming.

  Ships had been fleeing the system helter-skelter, paying little attention to traffic protocols or system regulations.

  More pointedly, all the military ships in the system had declared a lethal threat defensive zone – continuously broadcasting that they would fire on any ship that got too close.

  Argentine had ordered the Roosevelt to make the same declarations. Unfortunately, no one had thought to change the name of the ship in those automatic announcements… For those that might still be paying attention, they now knew that the T.L.S. Roosevelt had returned.

  "That's the last transport, Captain," Sami said. "Everyone except Mandi is on board."

  "What's the latest word on her?"

  "Nothing since the net went down… Thirty-two minutes ago she was still planetside but didn’t think she could make it back to our shuttle. She was heading for some kind of private orbital shuttle she claimed to have access to."

  "Any launches at all from her last known position?"

  "No… There aren’t."

  "Frank…" the chief said quietly. "It's time to leave."

  Argentine's friend had come up to the upper bridge to stand beside him.

  He knew the chief was right; staying any longer was certainly risking the ship and crew…

  "Captain! We're being hailed," Sami announced.

  She then shook her head…

  "It's not Mandi, but the transmission is being directed to the Roosevelt, not the Salamander… And they're claiming to be the Asperian planetary government."

  "Which one?" the chief asked rhetorically.

  "Throw it to the dome, Sami."

  "I presume I'm speaking to the Captain of the Roosevelt?" the figure on the screen started.

  "You are," was all Argentine said.

  The figure on the screen was obviously giving him the once over and just as obviously didn't know what to make of him.

  "Sometime in the near future, Captain, I would enjoy having an explanation of where your ship has been for the last couple of centuries, and more specifically, how you came to be her Captain… But for the moment I'm just glad you're here.

  "I'll be transferring our government to your ship immediately. Please prepare to receive us and then we’ll depart posthaste."

  Argentine didn't react… And didn't respond.

  After a few moments of uncomfortable silence the figure said, "Captain, do you understand my message? Please acknowledge."

  "Oh, I understood it. But I'm trying to think of any reason at all I should acknowledge a message from someone who hasn't even identified themselves."

  The visage of the figure turned stern…

  "Very well, Captain. Since time is short I will indulge you. My name is Anton Popovich and I am the head of the somewhat private organization that runs this planet and this sector.

  "There are those that believe I am a good friend to have."

  "Yes, I'm sure there are… But if I am to understand you correctly, you're saying that you head up one of Asperia's Secret Societies. Do I have that right?"

  "More like Asperia's only Secret Society," he replied deadpan.

  When Argentine once again didn't respond, he reiterated…

  "Prepare to receive us, Captain."

  "Negative on that, Anton. We've already taken on our share of refugees."

  Anton blinked an obvious surprise…

  "Do you understand who we are?"

  "I know who you say you are. And if it's true I'm sure you won't have any trouble ordering one of your military vessels to take you aboard. Our ship, however, is full."

  "This is absurd. I know the Roosevelt has the capacity to receive us. You need to realize that if you refuse I can have my military vessels blow you out of space."

  "You could try. But even if you succeeded we’d take a whole lot of your ships with us… Leaving you no escape at all."

  "Captain!" Sami whispered urgently. "There's been a launch from the capital city."

  In the meantime, Anton was still replying…

  "… and you will receive us. We'll continue this discussion on your ship."

  Argentine motioned for Sami to cut the connection and then said, "What's going on? It sure didn't seem like he launched during our little talk."

  "He didn't," Barry clarified. "That manky bastard was broadcasting from a ship that just launched this very moment. It looks like we have two ships on the way to us."

  "Did they launch from the same site?" Argentine wanted to know.

  "No. It was the same city, but they were miles apart."

  Argentine couldn't allow his hope to interfere with the moment…

  "I need to know more about that first launch," he declared. "Somebody talk to me…"

  "It's not a transport or any other type of large ship," someone announced.

  Someone else added, "She'll clear the mesosphere in three minutes."

  After what seemed like hours…

  "Okay, she's clear… Captain! We have a transmission!"

  Without waiting to be told Sami threw it on the dome screen…