by Ryan Krauter
The tech looked at Loren and Web, who simply stared back. Halley turned and beckoned to them, then pointed at the duffels they carried. Loren realized she wanted them to turn over the items they’d brought, so he stepped up to the counter with Web and placed his components on the desk. The pile contained several outdated computer control boards, a collection of substances from Avenger that included a dry-skin salve, and a spare computer display. None of it was going to give the Primans anything truly useful, but it would look good enough at a glance.
The tech commented on Loren and Web’s silence and demeanor. Krenis offered that they were shamed by their lack of procuring anything truly groundbreaking for the war effort, and that they’d sworn an oath of silence until their performance changed. The tech seemed to respect this, and completed their exchange without any further comment.
Thus relieved of their supplies and their two followers, they went back down the hall towards the lift. This time, nobody was following or approaching, and they quickly ducked into the room, locking the hatch behind them. The room was large, and one half was dominated by racks of computer equipment. The other half contained a half dozen computer workstations.
“These are meant to be used by our researchers when organizing or comparing information,” Krenis stated. “You are here for the DNA weapon only, remember.”
Loren was for some reason put off by that statement. “Look here,” he confronted Krenis. “You’re in no position to go dictating terms.”
Krenis was silent, choosing discretion in dealing with the heated emotions of the Confed XO.
“So I’m just doing a search on the DNA weapon profile we cooked up,” said Halley, more for herself than anyone else’s benefit, “and I’ll inhale any returns we get on it. Everything goes on the data chip in the slot here, and the chip goes with us. We’ll worry about building hardware that can read it, and decoding and understanding it later.”
It only took a few minutes, but to Loren it seemed to stretch to just short of an eternity. They were exposed in an enemy facility, would be trapped if discovered, and he still had his doubts about whether Krenis was trying to cook up a way to give them away somehow.
“Got it,” Halley announced suddenly, and Loren jumped a bit. He hoped nobody else had noticed.
“Everything we need on the DNA weapon?” Loren confirmed.
“Well, I do ok with the Priman language, and from what I can see, the search turned up fifteen files that had references to it. I’ve got them all on that chip. That’s all I believe we can do from here.”
“That will have to be good enough, then.” Loren replied with a sigh. Part of the weight on his shoulders was gone, because they’d learned what they came for. Now came the admittedly tricky part of getting out alive and in secret.
He gestured to Krenis, who walked over to the door and waited for Halley. Back in their preferred marching order, they waited for Halley to tell them the moment was right. Only she knew she was using her infrared vision to check for warm bodies in the hall. Seeing none, she gave them a nod, then told Krenis to open the door.
The trip to their ship was as nerve wracking as it was on the way in, but at least they knew they were getting closer to their destination.
They finally arrived at their docking bay and entered the area, then hurried aboard the ship. Ensign Roxis seemed relieved to see them, and gladly helped Web fire up the ship.
Halley sat in front with Krenis and had him request a departure. Keeper ships were expected to be self reliant, and unless there were extreme circumstances, they followed their own orders. Thus, all the data facility provided was a clearance to leave, which Krenis acknowledged.
His original orders had been to proceed to the second data facility, the location of which the Confeds already knew and apparently planned to visit anyway. Since there was nothing to be gained from trying to conceal that information, he laid in a course that would take them in that direction, then let Halley take over. She waited until they were clear of the planetary gravity wells, then engaged the hyperdrive for their very short trip to the rendezvous point.
The Keeper ship reappeared in normal space to find itself utterly alone. For a moment, Loren worried that something had gone wrong with the rendezvous, then realized that Avenger was most likely running with the mag shield on to avoid detection in the unlikely event someone other than his team blundered by. He keyed the comm system and broadcast the recognition code. Seconds later, Avenger appeared, shimmering into existence as if it had been hidden behind sparkling black fabric that was being whisked away.
“It concerns me that your Navy can do that,” Krenis admitted.
“You had a cloaking program,” Loren countered. “We engaged three ships equipped with a system like ours a while back. If I remember correctly, the technology needed some fine tuning.”
Krenis couldn’t reply, for he actually knew even more than Loren did. Their cloaking technology was stalled at the same place it was when Loren’s forces had done battle with his own. Something about the field stability that they couldn’t figure out was keeping them from deploying the technology, a fact that would no doubt immensely please the Confeds.
“Commander Stone,” came a voice through the comm unit. “Welcome back. The Vipers’ hangar is waiting for you, take any vector and head in.”
As soon as they’d landed, there was a swarm of data techs and personnel from the intelligence section crawling all over the ship. Avenger’s nav computers had calculated that it would take only half a day to get to the next data facility, and they knew their time was limited. As a hedge against the possibility that nothing would pan out from the facility they’d just left, the Confed ship was headed towards the next location in case they’d need to take another shot. Faced with such a short time to investigate the Priman technology, the intelligence techs were a little too eager for Loren’s tastes, and he escaped the ship before it got too uncomfortably crowded, dragging the rest of his team and Krenis with him.
They met Captain Elco at the interior bulkhead where the hangar space gave way to the squadron spaces.
“Glad to have you back,” the captain began. “How was your trip?”
“We had our close calls,” admitted Loren, “but we’re here now, so it’s all good.”
“Can I have the short version?”
“We had to donate that bag of spare parts we took with us. Just a case of wrong place, wrong time, but there were a few Primans around our primary target so we had to stall, and they seemed happy to have the tech. They didn’t suspect anything, I believe. Krenis was actually rather helpful in getting us around. Ensign Roxis had some luck deciphering their traffic patterns and routines as well. Halley has a Priman data chip full of everything she could find. The problem is, we don’t have any Priman data consoles handy on Avenger.”
“We’re working on that right now, actually.” Elco pointed at the group of techs probing the Priman ship, though with so many of them, Loren didn’t know who the captain might be specifically pointing at. “The intel department figured that if you came back with a data chip, we wouldn’t have anything to read it with. They managed to dig back up some of the equipment from that first Keeper ship that we parted out when we took its’ prisoners aboard. They’re just verifying the configuration by looking at the setup aboard your ship there, but they assure me they’ll have a console operating in an hour or less. It might not be hooked up to our data network, but it will work. Or else I told them they’d all be demoted.”
“You always knew how to motivate people, Captain.”
“You and your team can get cleaned up. We’ll have that console set up in the intel spaces, so head down there after you change and grab something to eat. Make sure everyone on your team does the same; you’ve been running at full speed for days now and you need to recharge every chance you get.”
Loren nodded somberly, then went to tell everyone else as ordered.
Loren ushered Web and Halley out of the hangar and down the m
ain corridor connecting the two hangar bays. They rounded a corner and headed for the elevator in silence, the day’s events weighing differently on each of them. Halley wanted to lead the data deciphering effort. Web wanted to tear apart the Keeper ship to see what made it tick. Loren simply wanted to go to the Engineering section and somehow force Avenger to go faster. He knew he had to leave it to the people who were experts at that task, but he also knew he felt like if he wasn’t on top of everything that went into this operation on the grander scale, somebody might miss something critical. Then Toral and his wife would die. He knew it was irrational, unnecessary, and most likely unhealthy, but he also knew he couldn’t change what was running through his head. So, he headed to his quarters to change in the least amount of time possible. Then he’d grab a few meal bars on his way to the intel spaces so he could be there when the equipment went operational.
The intel sections had computer workstations, briefing rooms, even a classified area that only the Captain, XO, and cleared crewmembers were allowed to enter. Loren had started out in the classified area where the techs were putting the console together, but was gently escorted into the briefing area when it became obvious that the space was just not big enough for a lot of observers.
Fifteen minutes later, Halley and Web showed up together. Loren felt happy for them, because in the midst of all the chaos and uncertainty, they had their time together. Merritt and Cory, likewise, had their moments. Loren suddenly empathized with how Captain Elco must feel. As the captain, he couldn’t be everywhere and get to know everyone well, no matter how much he tried. As CAG of the fighter wing, even XO of the ship, Loren was much closer on a day to day basis with most of the crew, and realized that being the captain must be lonely at times, especially when a difficult decision must be made involving the lives of his crew.
“Anything yet?” asked Web.
“Nope,” sighed Loren. “They say to expect something any minute-” he stopped as the hatch to the prohibited area opened and a handful of smiling crewmembers exited, carrying various computer workstation parts.
“Good news, XO,” the first one said. He indicated the rest of his team, who was rapidly assembling the parts. “The parts off that old Priman bird work, and we got everything running. It even recognized that data chip you brought back. We haven’t tried to access it yet, as per your request, but we’re ready for you to have a crack at it now.”
“Excellent work, Lieutenant,” Loren said with a genuine smile. He turned to Halley and waved her through as a gentleman would. “Would you care to have your way with the Primans’ technology?”
“Gladly,” she replied. She also looked around at everyone with a skeptical eye. “Anyone in here who is cleared for secret compartmentalized ops, grab a chair. Otherwise, I’ll have to ask you to leave.” Most of the techs looked at her harshly, and Loren could tell they were miffed. Grudgingly, people got up to leave, including Web, and soon it was just Loren, Halley, and the Lieutenant who brought out the console. “You sure know how to clear a room,” Loren commented.
Halley sat down and started working at the console, sometimes tapping icons on the screen, sometimes entering brief commands on the keyboard. She muttered to herself at times, reciting old computer programming tips and the occasional curse about Priman physiology. Finally, she stood up and stretched her arms, arching her back to help out muscles that were starting to cramp from lack of movement while stuck in an awkward position.
“Well,” she began, “I think this is panning out. I found evidence of the research we downloaded when we did that op on Callidor. Nothing new, though, which is odd. Judging from the last entries in the data logs and the location tags, I’d hazard a guess that this project has been shelved and the remnants were on the way to these data facilities to be put on the back burner. My Priman is less than perfect, but from what the computer can decrypt on the fly, it looks like their real research was in the lab we took out. There wasn’t enough data to restart the project, and they’ve moved on for now with more conventional weaponry. No details on that, however. Anyway, it looks like our mission on Callidor worked; they’re shelving the DNA weapon. There are more files whose tags indicate further research and medical analysis, including one labeled ‘Development’. I’ll need a while to crack that, plus we’ll need to get your ship’s surgeon cleared for this so he or she can help break down the medical side of this.”
Loren was used to taking the lead on things, and he walked over to a comm station. He’d call the Captain himself and get working on that clearance.
It was around oh three hundred hours ship’s time when Loren got the call that the ship’s Chief Medical Officer, a Trin by the name of Dr. Nephe Elrad, had been given clearance and started work. Loren had long since embraced the idea that he wouldn’t sleep until he had something to show for their latest efforts, and he offered to meet the Doctor in the briefing area of the intelligence section.
Halley had told Loren very matter of factly that she expected to be there for anything new, so he’d called her on the way.
Doctor Elrad was already hard at work at the terminal when Loren and Halley got there, and they could tell she was completely engrossed by the work. Loren tried his best to not disturb the doctor, but his nervous energy was not to be contained.
Finally, Doctor Elrad looked up from the terminal. “Commander Stone,” she said hesitantly. “I have begun my work, but I don’t have anything to offer you yet. It may take some time.” She said it with the confidence of someone who had to tell people how it was often.
“I’ll be honest,” Loren replied. “I can’t sleep anyway, so I figured I’d stick around in case you found anything.”
“Commander, I appreciate your honesty, but I would ask you to give me some breathing room. Regardless of what I may find in isolation, everything I see will need to be cross referenced and indexed to form a complete picture. I might suggest a briefing in the morning, say oh eight hundred hours. That will give me plenty of time to analyze the data and determine if we can use anything in there.”
Loren suddenly wound down a bit, then nodded imperceptibly and turned to leave, Halley in his wake.
“Loren,” Halley said once in the hall. “I know it must sound pretty useless to say it, but you can get a couple hours of sleep. I promise to comm you if anything turns up.”
He looked at her, tiredness and fatigue bubbling just below the surface, and Halley could see the battle in his eyes. He wanted to check out for a while, but wasn’t willing to miss something.
“Go,” she said again. “I give you my word.”
He nodded again just like in the briefing room they’d recently left, and with a quiet ‘thanks’ to her left for his quarters. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Chapter 12
At oh eight hundred sharp, Loren was in the C3 briefing room with Captain Elco, Halley, and Dr. Elrad. Captain Elco had also cleared Web, Merritt, and Cory for the briefing, since Elco had already received a quick heads-up from the doctor and realized the fighter wings might be called on soon.
The Captain handled the intro himself. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this briefing is of the most sensitive nature. Half the people in this room had to specially cleared just for this purpose. In any case, Doctor Elrad has some very informative content to pass on, so with that security in mind,” he gestured to the Chief Medical Officer, “Dr. Elrad, the floor is yours.”
Captain Elco sat down in his chair at the head of the briefing table, but Loren noticed he didn’t relax one bit.
Dr. Elrad started her brief from her chair. “I was able to put together a very clear picture of this weapon and its’ progression in the last few hours,” she started, pausing to take a large gulp of a lukewarm cup of stim-caf.
“Here’s what I have, from the beginning.” She took a deep breath, let it go, and began. “The Primans started his project with the intent to release the discovery to the galaxy as another means of proving their involvement in the genetic history
of so many species. The proof is incontrovertible, and along those lines, the project was a success. At some point, however, there was a directive to investigate if it was possible to remove the Priman DNA components from the local species. They used the DNA of their own Commander as the baseline.”
Halley took that moment to speak up. “The Commander, while holding that seat, isn’t addressed by anything other than that title. We know that their order of succession places a former Commander back to the rank of Representative under the new Commander. We would need to find the former Commander, then.”
“Yes,” Elrad began, “you are correct. In addition, I believe I know that location, something I’ll get to in a minute.” She didn’t notice the shocked look on Loren’s face and would have no idea how badly he wanted to leap across the table and somehow suck the knowledge from her head.
“The Commander’s DNA was used as the reference point for the weapon. Essentially, when the virus comes across a life form, it looks at the genetic code. If it sees Priman DNA, it looks further. If it sees the DNA of the major species in this part of the galaxy, such as Human, Drisk, Trin, etcetera, mingled with Priman DNA, it goes to work. It will not activate in the presence of only Priman DNA, which keeps them safe from the weapon themselves.
“I’ll try to explain what the weapon does, if everyone thinks they can keep up.”
Loren couldn’t tell if the Doctor was being serious, or letting slip some actual personality. He decided to find out.
“Actually, my area of expertise is ordering people around and destroying Priman things, not medical science.”
