Rapparee_The Regeneration

by Robert Weisskopf

  Outside Larry’s room and to the left, stood a trooper on guard outside another room. Our rescued Bandit was inside. I tilted my head towards the guarded door and asked the trooper “Has our guest asked for anything?”

  “No skipper, just some food. Nothing else.” The trooper replied

  I squared myself away in front of the door and then pushed it open. The bandit was sitting up in his hospital bed reading. He was cleaned up and had a small bandage on his chin and one on his hand. He looked up at me. We’d seen each other before when I was in a full power suit and exoskeleton, and he was injured or feigning injury.

  He looked up and looked at my face. “You’re the one who pulled me out of the bridge.” He stated. His voice, a thick Irish brogue.

  “Yeah, I am. Question is, did I do the right thing?” I said.

  “I like to think so, but you'll have to make up your own mind.” He answered

  “So, tell me, who are you? What’s your name? I’m Captain Jack Tracey owner of the Freighter Lola. Now it’s your turn.”

  “Ah, so you’re Jack Tracey. I’ve heard of you. I doubt you’ve heard of me. I’m Liam Horan, leader of the Rapparee. I am at your service and in your debt.” He replied.

  “Liam Horan, any relation to Donal?” I asked.

  He smiled and nodded. “Oh yes.”

  He caught me off guard and he knew it. “What are the Rapparee?” I asked.

  “I see you don’t know your Irish history, do you? The Rapparee are Irish bandits and highwaymen from the late 1600’s and early 1700’s.”

  He started to chuckle and began to sing a song.

  “My spurs are rusted, my coat is rent, my plume is damp with rain.

  And the thistle down and the barley beard are thick on my horse's mane.

  But my rifle's as bright as my sweetheart's eye, my arm is strong and free.

  What care have I for your king or laws, I'm an outlawed rapparee.

  Lift your glasses friends with mine and give your hand to me.

  I'm England's foe. I'm Ireland's friend, I'm an outlawed rapparee.

  The mountain cabin is my home, up high in the crystal air.

  And my bed of limestone iron ribbed and the brown heath smelling fair.

  Let George or William only send his troops to burn or loot.

  We'll meet them up on equal ground and we'll fight them foot to foot

  Lift your glasses friends with mine and give your hand to me.

  I'm England's foe, I'm Ireland's friend, I'm an outlawed rapparee”

  I left the room as he was finishing the song. I needed to get Julie up here. She needed to meet this Rapparee.

  Back on the bridge I contacted Chris and told him to bring Julie with him. We would need her to interrogate the prisoner.

  I got a message from John Sherman. They would be here early. His ship is working better than ever. He said that one of the Genus people that came on board has been working on his engineering section and fine-tuning things. He said he was a quiet man but knew his engineering. His name is Thom Rustack.

  I sent off a message to Jim Thule. “Do not attempt to power up the ship or systems yet. I have someone coming that you’ll want there. Repeat, do not power up the systems. He’ll be down there tomorrow for you. I promise you won't be disappointed.”

  Jim immediately responded. I’m sure he wasn’t pleased, but having Thom there would be ideal.

  I stepped into my small galley and prepared a pot of Nicky C’s private stash of coffee. He still hasn’t figured out I found his hiding spot. I set out a tray of the French pastries the General enjoyed and went up to the hangar deck. On the way there, I got a text message from the hanger flight controller telling me the General’s shuttle was arriving.

  I got to the hatchway as the shuttle taxied through the large hangar doors. Our deck crew directed it to a parking spot near me. Automatic tie downs secured the spacecraft and the engines spooled down. I popped into the flight controller and asked if they heard from Chris yet. He was on our shuttle as we spoke and would be aboard in thirty minutes.

  I returned to the hatch and opened it in time to welcome the general aboard. We shook hands and I asked him to follow me. I wanted to brief him and give Chris time to join us. The General graciously accepted on the condition I provided pastries and coffee. Do I know my Generals or what?

  We made our way to the galley. While sipping a cup of some of Nicky’s finest beans I explained the delay. “General, there’s an interesting development with our prisoner. I would like to wait until Chris and Julie Horan arrive, so I can tell all of you at one time. Meanwhile, I have a large duffle bag of data from the bandit’s ship. Did you bring your intelligence officers with you?”

  “Yes. They’re still on the shuttle. Would you like to meet them?” He asked me.

  “I’ll have one of my men take them to the data,” I replied. A quick call to the hanger and it was arranged.

  As we waited for Chris and Julie, the General and I chatted. I’d never had the chance to do that with him before. He really enjoyed the pastries. I invited him to visit us again at Genus. After a half hour, Julie entered the galley followed by Chris. The General and Chris shook hands while Julie and I hugged and kissed each other. The General interrupted us. “Save some of that energy for us.”

  Julie laughed and gave the General a big hug and a peck on the cheek. That seemed to satisfy him.

  Once everyone had a fresh cup of coffee in front of them I began. “Before the bandit’s troop ship broke up I boarded it with Pat Martin. We found one survivor who we believed unconscious at the time. We tossed him into a life pod and ejected him. We also filled a duffle bag with every bit of data we could find. That duffle is now being sorted through by the General’s intelligence people.” I stopped to take a sip of coffee.

  “We recovered the life pod and the survivor was taken to our sickbay where he remains under guard. We were a little busy, so I was unable to interview him immediately. I was able to do so a short time ago.”

  I was drawing it out and I could see they wanted me to get on with it. “The man we rescued admitted he was the leader of the bandits or as he calls them the Rapparee. I looked it up and it is a 17th Century Irish term for Bandit or Highwayman. It seems to fit well.”

  The General was quick to interrupt. “What makes you believe he is telling the truth?”

  “He gave me his name,” I said.

  “Don’t keep us waiting,” Chris said.

  “He told me his name. He’s Liam Horan.” I answered.

  The General and Chris both turned to look at Julie. They wanted answers to the questions this posed.

  Julie took a drink from her coffee cup set it down and sat straight in her seat. “Well. Now that makes sense.” She said.

  Julie rose from the table and walked out. We followed her as she led us to the sick bay. She saw the guard outside the room and walked past before he could do anything. “Wait out here.” She said to us as she closed the door behind her.

  Chris, now completely befuddled said, “What do we do?”

  “We wait out here.” Answered General Mauer.

  Chapter 26

  We waited in the corridor for five agonizing minutes. From inside the room came voices that sounded like a normal conversation. Everything was being recorded by our cameras and microphones, so we could listen to it later. Instead, I thought it might be the right time to stop in and see Larry Stacey. The General agreed.

  Larry was sitting up on his gurney. He looked fresh and alert. He must have eased back on the pain meds. I hope not. He doesn’t need to suffer. We entered and Larry tried to salute but the General stopped him. Larry, I’m not your General anymore. No need to salute.

  I left Larry, General Mauer, and Chris to talk while I went to view the video from the bandit’s room.

  By the time I found a free monitor and pulled up the prisoner's room, Julie was chatting with the patient. Actually, the bandit was talking to Julie.

  “Don’
t you worry my dear Julie. I’m not going to lay claim to any inheritance. That’s all yours. I got mine from Uncle Donal before your boyfriend killed him. He always wanted you to have the business side. He wanted me to have the Rapparee side of his wealth. I took control long before you ever met him. I’ve been running things for several years. He was getting older and preferred to sit back and deal with the grand scheme, leaving the details to me.”

  “Tell me about him. Why was he the man he was? What made him a megalomaniac? He had billions and the power to go with it. Why wasn’t that enough?” Julie asked him.

  “People say, once you have a taste of power you can never have enough. Well, Lass, Donal couldn’t get enough. He always wanted more.” The bandit went on telling Julie all about the Rapparee operations. He told her about past operations and tales of conquests. He skillfully talked around current operational secrets, expertly sidestepping Julie’s directed questions. Each tale pulled you in and held your attention. He spoke like a gifted storyteller, who’d kissed the Blarney Stone, sitting by the fire in a warm comfy country pub.

  I sat glued to the screen. I was monitoring Julie and the bandit. Julie asked him a string of questions and he answered them without hesitation, only he never seemed to answer them completely. Somehow these answers satisfied Julie and she didn’t ask for clarification on responses I would have pressed on.

  I knew it wasn’t Julie’s inexperience conducting interrogations. She was much too bright to miss these things. There was more and I couldn’t put my finger on it. It’s like I was on the outside of an inside joke.

  Julie continued talking to the man for twenty-five more minutes. I watched the entire discussion and was even more confused afterward. The bandit had given Julie a lot of information but there was something missing. When Julie finished she rose from her seat and left the room. I met her in the corridor.

  Chris and the General had left Larry’s bedside and were waiting back in the small captain’s galley. Julie walked past the galley and on towards our stateroom. I followed.

  Inside the cabin, Julie went to the sink and washed her face. I took a seat in the club chair at the small table. I knew better than to push Julie. Finally refreshed, she sat in the other chair facing me.

  “Do you want to tell me about what happened in there? I watched most of it on the monitor.” I said.

  “I will, but let me do it at my pace. No questions until I’m ready.” Julie said

  I nodded in agreement.

  “Liam Horan is my father,” Julie stated with little emotion.

  “I thought you said he was dead?” I said, trying to control my surprise.

  “No questions remember?” She replied. “I’ll get to that.”

  Julie took a moment to compose herself and began. “I never knew my father. He left when I was two years old. I don't remember him. At first, my mother told me he died. I don’t even remember how he died. It was so long ago I only remember him from photos my mother had saved. There weren’t many of those, and she didn’t keep them on display. I grew up without a father. I never knew him, so I never missed him. He didn’t exist for me.”

  After a pause, she continued, “I’m sure he is who he says he is, but I want a DNA test to confirm it. This also explains my uncle’s continued interest in me.”

  “Julie, please forgive me for not understanding. You don’t seem very upset over this. He says he's your father. You thought he died when you were a baby. He abandoned you and your mother, and yet your reaction is indifference.” I said.

  “Jack, that man may have gotten my mother pregnant, but he was never a father to me. Perhaps, in time I may develop more feelings. Right now, he’s nothing more than the leader of the bandits, or rather the Rapparee as he likes to call them.” Julie said in a calm even tone.

  “Do you want to be in on more interrogations with him?” I asked.

  Julie paused to think about it then responded, “If it isn’t a bother I’d like to, but don’t go out of your way to include me. It isn’t that big a deal to me.”

  Julie rose and said, “I need coffee and we need to brief the General and Chris.” With that, she turned and left the cabin.

  I got up and followed behind her. Not sure what to think, I didn’t know how this had affected her. If it were my father in that room, I would have been very emotional about the experience. Julie’s ice-cold reaction worried me. Had this Bandit been some stranger, she would have shown more emotion. Her lack of emotion worried me as much, no, more than if she had broken down in tears.

  By the time I caught up, she was in the captain’s galley. She’d grabbed a coffee mug for both of us and was sitting down at the table with the General and Chris. The General had the coffee pot and filled our mugs. Chris passed the cream.

  Julie took a sip of coffee and after clearing her throat began telling them about the interview. The two men sat there in silence as Julie detailed her interview of the bandit. Her remark that she believed this man to be her father caught them both off guard and they like me, didn’t know how to react.

  “Why would the head of the bandits, or Rapparee as he calls them, come along on an attack of a minor planet. The Carbonado diamonds are of value, but can’t they be found elsewhere?” I asked.

  The General answered me. “So far they are very rare. Only a handful of deposits have been discovered. There is some new information about these diamonds that recently came across my desk. It makes them worth much more than you might expect. Carbonado Diamonds are created when two astral bodies collide. Usually, it’s an asteroid striking a moon or planet. The intense pressure of the collision creates them. Most often they're black, hence the name. However, when you expose these diamonds to intense radiation they shift to green. Diamonds are believed to be the hardest substance known to man. Carbonado diamonds are even harder. Because of the sudden intense pressure, their crystalline structure is packed even denser and the atoms are arranged in a more orderly fashion.”

  The General paused to allow us to take that in, as well as let him sip his coffee.

  “Because of this dense packing and arrangement, these diamonds resonate at a much higher frequency than do other diamonds or crystals. Remember, crystal timepieces operate by applying a current to a small sliver of a crystal and using the vibrations to control the mechanism. Well, these green diamonds resonate more than a hundred times as fast as any other crystal. I don’t really understand how, but this allows scientists to use them in quantum computers and quantum communications. Communications is a big thing right now. It takes days if not weeks for messages to be transmitted across the galaxy. Quantum communications are instantaneous. It allows regular communications like we’re in the same room. Imagine how that will affect your work and mine.” The General said.

  He was right. The money that could be made and saved with instantaneous communications was unfathomable. The military applications in communications and satellite operations were something worlds would go to war over.

  The General continued, “Quantum computing brings a few other items to the table that will be even more significant. The potential of wormhole travel, spacecraft cloaking, and even more important, human teleportation might now exist.”

  Chris spoke up, “Look I see no problem with wormhole travel or cloaking but teleportation carries some ethical questions along with it.”

  “What do you mean?” Julie asked.

  “Teleportation has already been demonstrated with tiny inanimate objects. What happens is the object is scanned atom by atom at one location. Currently, that requires the actual destruction of the object. The scan is digitalized and transmitted to another location. Once there, a 3D type printer creates the object atom by atom based on the data received. That’s fine with a wrench, but with a human, that means the person is killed by the original scan and recreated at the receiving site. Even if the entire process is voluntary, a living being is killed. It also raises the question, is the person at the receiver the same person or a different being? Fo
r those who are religious, there is the question of what happens to the person’s soul. Is the copy soulless? How about ownership of property?” Chris said.

  “In addition, could you send the data to several locations and create duplicates? If you overcome the destructive scanning could you store the data and if the original dies, print a replacement?” He added.

  Julie responded, “I see the problem. Teleportation would certainly give the unethical an advantage. That advantage would mean billions and billions to them.”

  Chris nodded. “There is also the issue of improvements. If we can break down a person into a stream of data and then print out a replacement, what’s to stop us from making improvements? A man on his deathbed gets scanned, his data is manipulated making his copy younger, stronger, and eliminates the health problem that was killing him. In a way he becomes immortal.”