by Frank Carey
“Lovely. I assume your source didn’t mention a biometric lock either? You did remember to bring a researcher’s hand with you, didn’t you?” I said in a fierce whisper.
Cassie glared at me. It would be worse if she knew I was calling her Cassie. “I didn’t know. Nat, can you pick it?”
“Pick it? Pick what? A palm scanner? Are you kidding? We are so screwed,” Nat said in defeat.
I picked up the communicator and called the Mals, “Bruce, Sybol, this is John. Do you copy?”
“Yes, sir,” Bruce replied.
“I want you two to get back to the ship and tell Martha and Morga to prepare for emergency liftoff. Tell them to beep me when they’re ready. The three of us are going to be leaving here as if the Seven Hell Hounds are snapping at our heels, and we won’t have time for a warm-up. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Bruce replied. That kid was incredibly calm for a Mal.
“What are you going to do?” Nat asked all confused like. “You can’t pick that lock. It’s impossible. Only command personnel are encoded, and we’re fresh out of them.”
“Cassie, get ready to open the door. Nat, join her. When hell breaks loose, and it will shortly, I want you to open the door and hold it open for me, then head to the ship. Got it?”
“Yes, we got it, and don’t call me Cassie!”
I smiled. I was getting under her skin. “Ready?”
“Yes, but what are you going to do?” Natalie asked as Cassie turned the doorknob.
“This,” I said as I put my hand on the sensor plate. “Computer. Recognize Quist, James T., Science Council command. Disengage security box tango-epsilon-nano-jurist-iota-nano. Comply.”
When the sides of the box lowered into its stand, I grabbed the buoy--it only weighed a kilo--and headed to the door as security beacons flashed and sirens howled.
We made it to the ship before security could field forces. Once in the air I set an evasive course out of the atmosphere. Once clear of the planet’s gravimetric field, I engaged the FTL on a heading out of the system.
###
One on our way, I put the ship on autopilot and headed back to the main lounge where my motley crew stood and discussed what happened. Cassie seemed rather perturbed. “What the hell was that? You’re Council Command?” Cassie yelled. Her reaction was understandable since that part of my past had been redacted from my dossier.
“I was once a member of Council Command, with emphasis on ‘was.’ They charged me with smuggling and drummed me out on the QT. Lucky for us it takes the council years to purge IDs from the system. If it makes you feel better, our little stunt will get me five to ten in Alsatch Prison, if and when we get back. Now, let’s see what the buoy has to say.”
I activated the analysis table, which brought it up out of its cubby in the deck, and placed the buoy on top. The table tied into the buoy and downloaded a copy of its memory into the ship’s data storage network. Once loaded, the Sancus’s main computer decrypted it and presented the data as a set of holograms hovering above the table.
I needed coffee in a big way. “Morga, I could sure use a cup of your fine coffee,” I said into the air. The galley door opened and out walked Sil Morga, carrying a mug of steaming hot coffee. Morga, the other half of the Sancus’s silicon-based crew, was a mobile female biped form, unlike Sil Torque, the male half who stayed in the bowels of the ship as the ship’s symbiote. Torque drove the ship and interfaced directly with the computer while Morga kept things in order.
“Here you go, Captain. Love the sweater. Anyone else want anything? We have a rich selection of food, fruits, and beverages,” Morga said as she walked around and grasped each passenger’s forearm.
“Ow,” Cassandra said as the others stood stoically. “What the hell was that?”
“Sil tracking crystal. It allows me monitor your vital signs at a distance up to two clicks, which is part of my job on this ship,” she informed everyone as she removed an injector glove. “They will naturally dissolve in two weeks.”
Once everyone was settled with refreshment in hand, we started to go over the data from the buoy.
“OK, the log starts when the ship left dock and continues to record data,” I narrate as I scroll through the data. “Nothing out of the ordinary. They enter FTL space, travel for about three days, and decant back into normal space here, just inside the Bentar system. They go for another day and arrive at Bentar C, where they establish a standard orbit.”
I continued to scroll through the data. “Here we go,” I said, “Shenda took the two doctors, Patoor and Sylvia, along with two crew members, Talock and Jones, down to the planet to explore a ruined city they picked-up from orbit. Meanwhile, Wren and Frisk--Natalia’s brother, I assume--stayed behind to watch the ship.”
The data got really garbled, as if some source of interference had entered the ship. The record ended with the buoy launch command.
“So, we know where they went. We also know they all survived landing as did the ship. We still don’t know what happened after the buoy launch, nor do we know why they went to this particular planet.”
“Dad was the leading xenoarchaeologist on the Science Council, and they would only send him to a major find,” Cassie said. “Would the Council normally send a small ship to explore a major find?”
“No,” I answered. “Standard operating procedure would be to send a full blown explorer. Something with a crew complement of one hundred or more. Something on the order of the Choctaw or the Regulus at minimum.” Shenda’s ship is used as a secure high-speed courier, never as a mainline explorer.”
That got me thinking. I sat down at one of the terminals and started working my magic. Before getting cashiered from the Science Council, I had the reputation of being able to find anything stored in a computer system, regardless of the size of the object or the amount of data it was hiding in.
“Let’s assume that the Tenjin was the second ship to visit Bentar C. What, then, was the first?” I asked. “Let’s see if we can find out.”
I activated links to a number of databases and websites, some of which were very illegal for me to even know about. After about half an hour, I was able to narrow it down to three ships: R/V Ho’ket, R/V Tak, and R/V Lewis. All three research vessels were the right size, had the right crew complement, and had patrol sectors in the general vicinity of Bentar C.
“We can eliminate the Ho’Ket because I know the captain. I just saw him a few days ago on Station Zed,” I said as I continued searching. “According to him, the Ho’Ket is in dry dock for an extensive refit. That leaves the Tak and the Lewis. Let me make a call.”
I established a link with another freighter captain friend of mine, Angela Mroose of the S/F Gloria Jean.
“Angela, it’s John, John Quist. How’s it going?”
“John! Long time, no hear. Things are great here. We’re at Zed, off-loading cargo from Murshant. I thought you were supposed to be here. What’s going on?”
“I can’t explain except to say I am following up on the disappearance of the Tenjin.”
“I heard about that. You have my condolences. What do you need?”
“I know you’re friends with the captains of the R/V Tak and R/V Lewis. Have you heard from either one or do you know where they are?”
“Odd question, but I’ll bite. The Tak just docked here at Zed. In fact the crew is off-loading right now. Damn, they look tired. Captain Xeros and I had a chat a few hours ago. He said they just finished a stint at a planet called Serepity in Sector 25.”
“What about the Lewis?”
“You know, I haven’t heard from Jorge Sanchez, the Lewis’s captain, since they left on assignment four weeks ago,” she said with a puzzled tone to her voice. “Jorge and I usually talk at least once a week. Is something going on I should know about, John?”
“Honestly, Angela, I don’t know. I am just tracking down information. It may be nothing. I’ll let you know if I find out anything. One thing: If the Science Council comes snif
fing around, just tell them exactly what we talked about. No reason for you to get dragged into this.”
“Dragged into what? What aren’t you telling me, you old pirate?”
“Nothing. I’ve got to go. Give my love to the husband and kids. Bye,” he said as he broke the connection.”
“That confirms it. The ship was the Lewis and it was at Bentar C at least a week before calling out Cassandra’s father. So we know who and we know where. Now, we need to know why they were called out there in the first place. What do we know about Bentar C and the area of space it resides in?”
“I think I may have the answers to those questions. May I?” Cassandra asked as she motioned to John to vacate his chair, which he did, reluctantly. Once seated, Cassandra closed all the browser windows John had used, and opened new ones attached to a number of university databases.
“Dad is brilliant, scattered, and a complete fan boy of ancient civilization. He takes lots of notes and gives me a copy for safekeeping, just in case he forgets where he puts the originals,” Cassandra explained. “I was leafing through them, just now and found a reference to a race called the Centasi that lived in and around sector 17 up to about twenty thousand years ago. No trace of them remains, but back in the day, they ran things around here. The stories of their conquests and battles are the stuff of legend. They were both technologically and physically advanced to the point that some think they were able to travel from body to body, which gave them virtual immortality. They were also known for their cruelty, and their belief that they were gods who could do whatever they wanted.”
“What happened to them?” Morga asked. “My species have been around the galactic block, yet I never heard of them.”
“The accepted theory has the subject races getting together and wiping out the Centasi, then purging them from all written and physical records,” she continued. “The location of their home world was purposely lost to the ages, so that no one could go there and retrieve technology. My guess is they were universally feared and hated to the point of everyone just wanting to forget they ever existed. Outside of older races from in and around sector 17, all memory of the Centasi was deliberately lost. I bet credits to circle cakes that the Lewis found something Centasi-related and dad couldn’t wait to get his hands on it.”
I hate dealing with ancient races. You never know if you’re going to find something good, or just a bucket of plague, pestilence, or mayhem.
“We may have a problem, then,” I said. “The Science Council has a strict set of protocols for dealing with First Contact situations with dead races. Have any of you ever heard of the Maitai Event?” I asked.
“Yeah, it is a legend amongst the marines. Something about a squad of marines finding an ancient bioweapons lab. Things got dicey, so the Council had to blow up the planet. Every marine I knew thought it was a bullshit story made up to keep us on our toes.” Nat said as she nervously shifted on her feet.
“It’s not bullshit. There was a bioweapons lab and there was a squad of marines who got infected by a Class 5 mutagenic virus. They got back to their ship and tried to lift off when a Science Council Operative called an Alpha-18 on the play and blew the planet to hell. He had family and friends on that squad, but he knew what could happen if they got back to a Consortium world,” I said calmly as waves of emotion washed over me.
“Damn, sir, it sounds like you knew him,” Bruce said.
“Yes, and he’s me,” I said. “It wasn’t easy, but in the end I felt I made the right decision, and I would make it again. I need you to understand something. Encounters with ancient dead alien races almost always go sideways. Maitai wasn’t the first time we blew up a planet, nor will it be the last. If we go in there and I find a threat to the people of the Consortium, I will send that planet to hell. No questions asked. Am I understood?”
Heads nodded around me. Now they knew who and what they were dealing with and we hadn’t even gotten to the planet.
“Morga, Torque, and I are going to go to Bentar C and find out what happened. The four of you can leave or you can stay. If you want to leave, I’ll drop you off at a deep space station about a day’s journey from our present position. I’m pretty sure that we have one or more Science Council vessels looking for us, and you can signal them after you’re dropped off. Your other choice is to remain here and join the three of us. So, what say you?”
“We’re coming with you, sir,” Natalie said. The rest nodded in agreement.
“Good,” I said as I turned and headed to my cabin. “I’m going to take a nap. This ship has shipping cubbies that convert into staterooms at a touch of a button, so take your pick. The galley is well stocked and there is even a game room, so eat, sleep, and most importantly relax. It will take us two days to get to Bentar C, so use the time wisely.
I told Torque to set course to Bentar C. Maximum speed.
When I got to my room I found Morga waiting for me. “I assume you plan to activate an Alpha-18 protocol,” she said. We don’t have any way of doing that.”
“I haven’t figured that out, yet, and it’s probably not going to come to that anyway,” I said as I put my head on my pillow and closed my eyes. “Please, wake me up in eight hours. Good night.”
I didn’t hear her reply.
Two days later, we established orbit around Bentar C. We scanned the planet and found a large, dead city complete with spaceport. At the edge of the spaceport, closest to the city, were the Lewis and the Tenjin. Like the city, both ships were silent. It was as if we were flying over a gigantic tomb.
The six of us geared-up before I had Torque set down next to the two dead ships. We split into two teams of three--me, Morga, and Bruce in one, Cassandra, Natalia, and Sybol in the other. My team went to the Tenjin, while Cassandra’s team checked out the Lewis.
The inside of the Tenjin looked like a Category 4 hurricane had gone through it. Destroyed equipment was strewn about. Someone wanted to make sure that the Old Girl never made it to orbit again.
“Bruce, check the engine room. Pay special attention to the conventional and FTL systems. Morga, with me,” I said as I headed to the control room.
The control room, like the rest of the ship, was destroyed. As I looked around, I noticed an access panel was ever so slightly out of place.
“Captain, the Tenjin has gone on her last journey,” Morga said as she scanned the ship. “It looks like someone set-off a seismic charge in the hold and broke her keel. Sad. This is not the way to treat such a fine ship. Boss? Do you copy?”
“Sir, I’ve finished checking the engine room,” Bruce said over the radio before I could reply.”
“Yeah, Bruce, how do things look down there?”
“Conventional engines are intact and in idle mode. FTL is hot and fully functional. Life support, communications, and computers are gone.”
“OKay, get up to the control room. I need your help with something.”
“I’m on my way.”
When Bruce arrived, I showed him the slightly misaligned wall panel. “My ex-wife would have someone’s guts for garters if they left a panel misaligned, even if as little as this one,” I explained to him. “The access tool is missing…” I was interrupted by Bruce reaching over and pulling the panel off the wall like tearing a page off a calendar. I was impressed. Morga whistled.
“Thank you. Turn it around, please,” I asked, nicely. “I need to see the back of it.” He complied. Scratched on the back was “Alpha18.”
“Cassandra, Natalia, this is John,” I said into the radio. “Someone on the Tenjin crew thought this was an alpha18 situation. They’ve prepped the FTL system to be used to destroy the planet. What did you find over there?”
“Interior has been gutted. Both conventional and FTL drives have been stripped and the power plant is gone as is the computer core,” she said in awe. “Looks like they took the big stuff through a hole they cut in the top of the hull. All the heavy machinery is gone as are all the supplies.”
“OKay
, get back here, pronto.”
“Roger that,” she replied.
“Torque, this is John,” I said into the radio link.
“Yes, Captain,” he replied.
I filled him in on developments. “I want you to go to Battle Stations. No one gets on board unless they’re crew. Use extreme discretion. I don’t know what happened here, but whoever did this cannot be allowed to get to the Consortium. Protocol Alpha18 is now in effect.”
“Roger that, Captain, Alpha18.”
Cassandra, Sybol, and Natalia came through the hatch and closed it behind them.
“John, there are tracks out there heading into town. I’m pretty sure they’re from the Tenjin’s two travelers,” Morga said.
“Good,” he said. “Torque, is there anything in the log buoy about a location of the dig site?”
“Checking… Yes. The coordinates are in the same general direction of the traveler tracks.”
“Captain, what’s the plan?” Natalia asked.
I was about to reply when I saw the look on Cassandra’s face.
“Cassie? You okay?” I asked.
“Don’t call me Cassie. I hate that name. It’s a kid’s name.”
“Then stop acting like a kid. We need the arrogant, overly-confident, genius-with-five-doctorates, Cassandra back. I need all of us to focus on the job at hand, and this includes you. Now, buck-up!”
“Yes, sir, Captain, sir!” she said, snapping a salute and giving me some attitude. She was back, at least for the moment.
“Here’s the plan,” I said. “Natalia and Bruce are going to stay here and rig a remote detonator on the Tenjin’s FTL drive. Meanwhile, Morga, Cassandra, and I are going to head out to find the crews of the Tenjin and the Lewis.”
“After that, then what?” Natalia asked.
“Get your tails back to the Sancus, where you’ll wait for our return. If we aren’t back by 0800 hours galactic, your orders are to get out of here and detonate the Tenjin. If we aren’t back in twelve hours, you have to assume we are not coming back.”
