“That makes sense.” The guard commented.
“So that means Kuromoto or Izari.” Henry replied. “Either of which have the skills to do the sabotage and the tech knowledge to use the chaos to escape.”
“Makes sense.” The guard replied with a nod.
“This does give us a plan.” Henry replied. “The person who used this to get at the console likely had a whole path to get here and get to wherever they are now…we just need to retrace it and we find them and…everything else.”
“Let’s do it!” The guard said enthusiastically, seeming to like the idea of doing more than thinking.
The pair moved on and go from area to area to put together the most ideal path between the engineering area and somewhere that would be ideal to hide. The communications room being so predominate in the other direction made it most likely to go the other way, and toward the front of the ship. Soon blood was found and it did not take long to come up to the unconscious body of the young bridge officer.
“Is he dead?” The guard asked as Henry leaned over him.
“No but he is hurt bad and hit his head.” Henry replied. “I don’t think this was done by the pitching. It looks like he was bludgeoned by something big.”
“Could be the console.” The guard offered. “He might have gone after the console and tried to get a hold of it. The culprit could have swung it at him…it looked pretty sturdy.”
“You might be right.” Henry agreed. “We are putting this together.”
“Can we get anything out of Mancoff?” The guard asked. “Can we wake him up?”
“Not safely.” Henry said as he dragged the young officer into a stateroom and tucked him in somewhere were the pitch and roll of the ship would not hurt him. “He is hurt bad and we would make it worse. We must keep searching for answers.”
The guard nodded. “Ok let’s move on…we can’t be too far from where they are hiding.”
Henry nodded and continued to lead through the ship. There was all manner of little passageways that lead up and higher to the top of the ship. The likelihood was they would want to get somewhere so when the ship came back online they could make a getaway. Henry thought through the ship schematics and ideas flowed into his head. Soon the path lead to an open door that lead to cargo bays. On the ground were signs of a scuffle and the remnants of blood still wet and pooled.
“What happened here?” The guard asked, looking around.
“I am afraid you will not like it.” Henry said as he looked over the area, careful to keep his balance as he took it all in.
“Just tell me.” The guard demanded. “We heed to figure this all out.”
“Well it all seems to fit into an idea of a pursuit.” Henry began. “The culprit was with us in engineering and likely was waiting for a chance to take the console. I would imagine that they tried to take it earlier but discovered that they could not detach it whole the ships computer was locked. So, as I rebooted it and got the primary power back online all they could do was hope for a distraction. As the ship did that violent lurch they snatched it and made for the vent they prepared for their escape to cover their tracks. The others saw this as you, myself and Haverstain braced at the other end of engineering. It was not an ideal situation but in the close quarters, even in the diminished light they gave chase. The culprit went though the vent but they were at their heels and they could not close it fast enough. The culprit then ran through the close quarters, likely using the advantage of knowing their way around to their advantage. Mancoff however seemed to anticipate their tactics and seemed to have either caught up or cut them off. The culprit attacked, pushing past him and out onto the deck to lose the others.”
“And they faced off here.” The guard commented. As he looked around and noticed the burn marks from an energy gun. “And my partner lost.”
“It appears that way I am afraid.” Henry replied. “The culprit knew the ship but he knew that if it came to it he could not fight your friend. He needed to get him to a place where he could use the element of surprise against him.”
The guard nodded, seeming to not get angry. He went around a series of crates and found a body. “I have found him…it is as you have said. I will deal with this all later. I will finish the job that we started and retrieve the console and deal with the saboteur.”
“We can’t have much time.” Henry replied. “I think I know what they are going to try and do and we do not have much time.”
“You can rely on me.” The guard replied as he drew his gun. “Whatever it takes, I have your back.”
“Thank you.” Henry replied. “Your friend will be honoured, I promise you.”
The pair continued along through the cargo bay, the effect from the center seemed to be getting monumentally worse around them but as the ship continued to come back online it seemed to be trying to stabilize things. Henry knew all to well what was beyond the cargo bay, the shuttle bay and inside was something he had been working on in his spare time. It was a small ship, capable of simple jumps. However, with the NAV computer it could theoretically go anywhere. Henry knew whole the ship was disabled there was no way to launch, but it was a thing that could change at any moment. He and his companion had to hurry and stop the ship before it launched.
“You think you are quite clever, don’t you?” A familiar voice said as Henry and the guard came to an open area that lead to the large prototype shuttle. It was Izari and she stood behind Kuromoto. She had a gun to the mans neck and was forcing him to hold the console. “Though you offer me an interesting opportunity. You are worth a lot more to us than the NAV console alone.”
“She’s with the pirates.” Kuromoto replied in a cautious tone. “She has killed for the console already.”
“We know.” Henry said as he gestured for the guard to be careful. He had already aimed it at Izari but seemed to be concerned with hitting Kuromoto or Izari. “I can’t let you take me or the console.”
Izari stood, seemingly ready to fight, she was bloodied and looked like she was pushing back shock and pain. “You have no bargaining chips here. You will set the ship to launch and once the power fully comes back on we will leave.”
“Ok, stay calm.” Henry replied. “How do you plan to account for the distortion outside. The ship will not be able to take it without a field. It would be torn apart.”
“That is true.” Izari replied. “But you see that when we were working I also installed one on this vessel. You might recall I asked permission to do some tests…guess where I tested it. This ship is more than capable of generating its own field, even after the main one fails.”
“So, that is how it is?” Henry asked. “You have somehow rigged something into the system to disable the main field once you are away?”
“I know you are used to being too smart for people.” Izari said with a laugh. “But this is a case where you are outthought and outmaneuvered. I can send a signal to the main computer that can disable the field in an instant. I have linked the system that controls it to my personal communication device and all it will take is a command. So not only is Kuromoto my hostage but the whole ship is. So, get going with the ship preparation and maybe I will spare your precious Endeavour.”
“How do I know you will keep your word?” Henry asked. “Once you have me and the NAV computer safely off the ship there would be no reason you would not want to destroy this ship.”
“Well then we come to a simple matter.” Izari replied. “Can you really afford not to trust me? I hold all the cards here.”
“I can shoot her.” The guard replied. “The risk is worth it.”
“Not so fast.” Izari replied. “Not only can I disable the field with a command, it is set to go off naturally if I die. My communicator will send a signal the moment I am hit.”
Henry nodded. “It looks like you figured this whole thing out and planned for everything.”
“Yes.” Izari nodded with a smile. “I very much did.”
“You are so sure
that you have outmaneuvered me.” Henry replied. “But you really haven’t.”
“What do you mean?” Izari asked. “Well you have set your communicator to spring the trap. Mine has been on the entire time.”
“But the bridge and main coms are disabled.” Izari countered. “You can only reach local things you manually connected to!”
“Like Haverstain back in engineering?” Henry asked. “By the way professor how is it going?”
“I have isolated the field generator.” Haverstain replied over the communicator. “It can now only be shut down though manual access from here.”
Izari looked at Henry in shock. “I still have Kuro-“
With a blur, the guard went to work. Though he was several yards back, though it was not a clear shot, he acted like a solider and compartmentalized his thoughts to jump to action. His gone shot once, grazing Kuromoto’s shoulder but striking Izari behind him in the chest. She was knocked back as she instinctively pulled the trigger on her own gun, the shit going wide and striking the ceiling. She fell back but was dead far before she hit the ground.
“Thank goodness.” Kuromoto said as he fell to his knees and instinctively grabbed his seared arm. “She was going to destroy everything despite what you did.”
“I know.” Henry admitted. “I feel bad that it came to a shot like that but if it was for the life of the entire crew then it is what we had to do.”
“That makes sense.” Kuromoto agreed. “There are a lot of lives on this ship to consider.”
“We do not have time to dispute that, nor do we have time to figure out why she did this betrayal.” The guard replied. “The ship is about to come back online and we probably have bigger things to worry about here. You should get to the bridge and make sure we are safe or need to jump or anything.”
Henry nodded. “You are right. We need to make sure we are out of danger before we try and piece this all together.”
“You can leave this to me.” The guard replied. “I will take the console back and make sure that Kuromoto and Mancoff get medical attention.”
Henry nodded, running through the ship and back to the bridge. The ship was still pitching and rolling but it seemed the automated systems were trying to kick in and dampen it. As he went the lights came back on and the bulkheads began to open. Soon he found his way onto the bridge as everything came back on.
“You ok up here?” Henry asked.
“Just fine…now” Basta said with a sigh. “It seems everything is coming back online.”
“Dampeners and field fully online.” Nari replied as she relaxed and took her hands off the controls. “It will take a while still to get the sensors to read what we are seeing and produce an image but we seem to be out of danger.”
“Well let’s make sure everything is alright and those hurt are dealt with.” Henry said as he took his place behind his station. “We can worry about discovery later.”
“Agreed.” Basta said with a nod. “Let’s make sure we are stable.”
Within the hour, the ship was safely protected. Medical attention was called in for the Basta as well as all others that were hurt during the event. Henry admitted he was happy to have the pitching and shaking stopped.
“You did good work my friend.” Basta said as he nodded to Henry. “The guard you worked with sent me a message on how well you handled everything. I will need to be fully briefed when there is time but you have gone above and beyond.”
“This is my home.” Henry replied. “And the people on this ship the closest thing to family I have. I would do anything to protect it.”
“I know we are safe as long as you can do anything about it.” Basta said with a nod. “You should get a little rest as we clean this mess up. There is a discovery about to be found and you have more than earned the right to crack it.”
“I almost forgot about it.” Henry admitted. “We will have to have a funeral for the fallen guard.”
“Soon enough my friend.” Basta replied. “But for now, you need some rest.”
“Yeah, I suppose you are right.” Henry said with a nod. “I will go find my bed and, and get some sleep now that the ship has stopped moving.”
-
Ten
Henry grabbed some sleep and then woke up to go to the military funeral for the guard. Much of the ship was gathered and none spoke much. The situation that had happened was unfortunate and all knew that this was an unfortunate risk on all space travel. Henry held himself responsible, knowing that he had pushed for the mission. However, this was not a sentiment shared by the rest of the crew as they knew that without Henry’s curiosity and pushing to achieve new things they would not be where they were…the crew and the rest of humanity.
A large group gathered in the cargo bay by an airlock to the outside of the ship. The idea was that they would launch the fallen guard into space as it was the fairly new custom. It was similar to funerals at sea and seemed to suit the situation. Basta stood up, preparing to address those gathered and the rest of the crew.
“There is nothing more difficult for any commander then to say goodbye to one that served under him.” Basta began. “Many have already spoken about the man we are saying goodbye to and I wish to speak of what is to come next. He died with honour on duty, a distinction that is the highest of any soldier on the line of fire. We have arrived at a place that is literally the beginning of everything that is and all there ever will be. I find no more fitting way to honour him then to send his body out, to literally be the first human being to explore the center of the universe. Soon we will have sensors and canners back online and for him we will track it and discover it. Everyone please give a moment of silence as the airlock cycles and we commit our dear friend into the void of creation.”
All gathered hung their head as the airlock door closed, began it’s cycle and launched the metallic coffin out into the void. No one spoke for a few more moments before people slowly began to trickle out to go back to work.
Later, on the bridge, the mood was a cross of curiosity and melancholy. There was much that was about to be seen but the feeling of what had happened still hung over everyone gathered like a dark cloud. Henry and Basta still were trying to figure out the treachery, both in disbelief that one such as Izari would betray them. It was hard to tell how far back their deception lasted.
“I think I may have something.” Mancoff said as he looked up from his console. It was as if he was reading Henry’s mind and could feel the unanswered questions nagging at him. “I have been going through Izard’s personal file. It seems pretty cut and dried and mostly perfect.”
“Mostly?” Basta asked. “What do you mean?”
“Well it seems too perfect.” Mancoff replied. “Personal files are kinda messy. The pictures are inconstant, there are some gaps and things out of order. This file is literally a perfect file that is like it was put together assuming we would look for errors.”
“Do you think she was with the pirates the whole time?” Basta asked. “Or just someone they recruited because they knew we needed her?”
“I think she is definitely one of them.” Henry added. “She had a determination to her, almost a mania. She was committed to their cause and very eager to destroy anything in her way to serve it.”
“There’s something wrong with her photos.” Mancoff added. “They seem to all have the same date.”
“Like they were added to the file at the same time?” Henry asked.
“That and all seem to be dated as taken on the same day.” Mancoff explained. “It is like they did a shoot to replace all of the photos that were there. They likely took apart the real file and reorganized it. The act would be hard to say what is old and new so that is why it seems so unnaturally polished.”
“Can we find a photo of Dr. Izari from another source?” Henry asked.
“Looking now.” Mancoff replied. “I have something from a summit five years ago. A candid with another scientist. It…is not who we had met.”
Henry walked over and saw the photo and a very different woman in it. “They found an operative they had that had the basic look and technical expertise and replaced her.”
“Do you think the real Izari is out there somewhere?” Mancoff asked.
“Doubtful.” Basta replied, “First law of replacement espionage…make sure no one ever finds the original. She is almost certainly dead.”
Henry sighed. “The pirates need to be dealt with. I seems no matter how far we go, no matter what we do, their hands are always ready to take from us.”
“Calling them pirates is a disservice to our understanding.” Basta admitted. “Pirates denotes an unorganized group of criminals and thugs. They are a criminal organization with sophistication and resources. They want to be underestimated.”
“Well they reached us with their influence in the center of the galaxy.” Henry admitted. “That is not something to be underestimated.”
“I am sorry to interrupt.” Nari replied. “But I think we all could use some good news.”
“Of course.” Henry replied. “What is it?”
“The scanners are online.” Nari replied. “We can now take a look on what’s out there.”
Basta looked to Henry. “What do you think? Want to put the investigation on hold and do what we came here for?”
“Of course!” Henry replied. “Let’s see what the center of the inverse looks like. Call it up on screen.”
The view screen lit up showing a massive white aperture surrounding a fluctuating anomaly of blue and orange. Everyone on the bridge stared at it in awe.
“What is it?” Basta asked. “It’s beautiful.”
“Sensors and the computer are only beginning to figure it out.” Henry admitted as he stared at the computer screen, his powerful wave reactor struggling to process it. “Though I could wager a best hypothesis based on the information that I have.”
“That works for me.” Basta admitted. “You are one of the most brilliant minds in the universe. One of your hypothesis are worth several facts from other minds.”
Waves: The Collapsing Universe Page 9
