Alliance (Terran Chronicles Book 4)

by James Jackson

  George smiles at the two Generals, and then says, “If we are not to resupply New Earth, then what is it you want us to do, gentlemen?”

  Hayes glances at Anderson, then tosses a folder which is stamped ‘Top Secret’ to George. Anderson quickly stands, then steps forward and states loudly, “You can’t show him that!”

  Hayes lifts a hand to stop Anderson and says, “I was told to use ANY means to get their cooperation.”

  George glances at Cindy, opens the folder, skims through it, and then passes it to her. Anderson’s eyes go very wide as each member of the Terran reads the contents of the secret folder. George rubs his chin while he thinks, and then says, “We need to discuss the details with the rest of our crew, and will let you know what we decide.”

  Cindy smiles at George’s words, then stands and says, “If that is all, I would like to get back to my ship.”

  Anderson’s pulse is clearly showing in his neck, while Hayes, who knows the crew a little better, simply smiles and says, “Of course, you are free to come and go from this facility as you please.”

  Cindy stares at Hayes for a moment, measuring him, and then says, “I would like to utilize your quarantine facilities.”

  The Generals glance at each other warily. Hayes responds slowly, “Uh, sure. What seems to be the problem?” He asks a little nervously.

  Cindy waves a hand dismissively, then says, “Oh, it’s nothing really. But we have almost one hundred people who were unable to adjust to the environment on New Earth. I want Doctor Nelson to run a series on these people to see if he can identify a reason.”

  Hayes nods his head, clearly relieved. “Absolutely, I will have the Doctor on standby.”

  Cindy offers a thin smile as she replies, “Thank you. I will get Henry to hand over his notes, and work with him.” She glances at her crew, and leaves.

  After the four crew members depart, Anderson turns to Hayes and reprimands him. “You’re out of line Mister, letting them read the contents of that folder.”

  Hayes takes a slow deep breath, then says, “George has powerful friends, and you know what happened the last time we made demands. It did not work out too well for your country, now did it?” Hayes lifts his eyebrows, and smiles.

  Anderson taps the desk between them and says, “Well, I hope you’re right, ‘cause if not, you will be lucky if they let you retire, and not charge you with treason.”

  Hayes smiles at Anderson warmly, and says, “If that happens, then I hope George sees me as a friend. Perhaps I shall receive his gratitude for my openness.”

  Anderson’s jaw drops as he realizes that Hayes cannot lose either way. He begins to chuckle, then says, “Talk about friends in high places.”

  Hayes smiles back, but he keeps to himself his own doubts about George’s sphere of influence and protection. He thinks optimistically, if my superiors believe that I am under George’s protection, then that is as good as it being true, hopefully. He frowns as he considers how far behind schedule the next colony ship is.

  Location:

  Starship Terran

  Docked beneath Space Station Unity

  Earth

  Ed is a burly man with thick arms and legs. He is also the foreman of the Terran’s refit team. He stands in the hangar deck with his arms folded, and stares at the grey, egg-shaped, object before him. He refers to his scratchy notes, then reads to himself, “Kord Power Unit.” He scoffs, then says to no one in particular, “Damn thing isn’t much taller than me, and no wider than...” He stops his ramblings, glances around, and then takes a few steps to the ship’s wall. Once there, he can see that it is connected to the Terran’s power grid by a pair of short shiny metallic cables, about the thickness of his wrist.

  One of his contractors wanders over, and says, “Hey, what’s going down?”

  The foreman frowns as he gazes at the pair of cables, and replies, “Well Quinn, this thing is junk, and taking up space.”

  Quinn scratches his head as he turns his gaze to the vast area that is the Terran’s hangar deck. He replies, “You could fit a city block in here, who cares about one little extra thing?”

  The foreman replies gruffly, “I care, that’s who! It’s useless, and should be removed.”

  Quinn stares at the connectors, then says with enthusiasm, “I got this.” He steps forward and before Ed can say anything, grasps one of the cables with both hands.

  A bright flash blinds Ed for a few seconds, it is accompanied by a strange popping sound. Dozens of black spots dance across his vision as he stares perplexed at a dust cloud that is settling all around him. An odd smell assaults his nose, like something burning on a stove top. He blinks in surprise and asks warily, “Quinn?”

  Perplexed, Ed stares at the cables, his eyes go wide at the sight. He wipes at the beads of sweat that begin to appear on his forehead and quietly says, “Oh crap!”

  A pair of dusty handprints are all that remain of Quinn. Ed stares wide eyed at the marks, steps back and slowly adds, “Well, I guess it can stay put then.”

  A group of men runs over to help, but clearly Quinn is gone. Ed turns to the others and says, “I had better inform the bridge crew,” He adds angrily, “and post warning signs!”

  Ed storms off to find Joe; he wants to know why such a hazard was not marked. In truth, he is angry with himself for Quinn’s death, especially as the man was right all along. Gazing back at the vast area, he realizes that his stubbornness, and greed, just killed a man. Still covered in Quinn’s dusty remains, Ed strides purposefully onto the bridge. He immediately starts raving about safety, and only casually mentions Quinn’s death.

  Joe leans back in his chair, and stares back at Ed in disbelief. A moment later he demands furiously, “Who authorized you to even touch that Power Unit?”

  Ed suddenly realizes that he is way out of line. He lowers his head and replies sulkily, “Uh, no-one.” He quickly adds, “But even your own report says that it’s useless, so why not remove it?”

  Radclyf, who has been keeping close tabs on Ed, replies bluntly, “For the same reason you don’t want me to remove your spleen, or gallbladder.”

  Hearing the hostility in Radclyf’s tone, George stops what he is doing. He lifts his suit’s visor and observes the exchange. Peter’s eyebrows raise at the sudden increase in tensions. Hayato stands, folds his arms, and stares intently at Ed.

  Ed stiffens at the comment, and demands, “Are you threatening me?”

  Radclyf steps closer to Ed and replies with conviction, “You touch anything else on this ship without consulting with Joe, and I will personally toss you into space, without a suit.”

  Joe frowns a little at Radclyf’s uncharacteristic demeanor, but says nothing.

  Ed glances from person to person, then realizing they are serious, replies nervously, “Okay, I get it. I won’t touch anything.”

  Once Ed leaves the bridge, Joe turns to Radclyf and asks curiously, “What on Earth was that all about?”

  Radclyf stares at the opening to the bridge, his eyes blazing. He replies, “I received a note on my bunk today.” He turns to Joe and says, “One that says some of the construction crews have been bribed to steal technology from this ship.”

  Joe frowns, and says warily, “On your bed?” The hairs raise on the back of his neck. He quickly glances at Peter, who simply shrugs his shoulders.

  Radclyf stares at Peter accusingly, and says. “Yes, and I have no idea who the note is from.”

  Peter glances at both men, lifts his hands in mock surrender, and says, “Seriously, it wasn’t me.”

  Joe ponders the significance of this, then says, “I am going to lock down the ship.”

  Radclyf grins mischievously, leans closer to Joe and says, “No. Hayato has a brilliant suggestion, one I think we should follow, after the refit is complete.”

  Joe’s eyes narrow as he asks curiously, “What is it?”

  “Radclyf’s grin turns devilish, then after a moment he responds with his voice grating like a
n ancient tomb. “I would like that to be a surprise, even to you.”

  Joe understands the military man all too well, and knows his secrecy has nothing to do with trust. The only true way to keep a secret, is to not tell anyone, not even your closest friends. He puts his hands behind his head, smiles, and replies, “I look forward to it.”

  Seconds later, Cindy steps onto the bridge and says, “Let’s get everyone together for a meeting. Say, the mess hall, in fifteen minutes?” She does not wait for a reply, but instead hurries out the doorway. The bridge crew stares after her, totally perplexed.

  George makes his way to his quarters to collect his wife and son, while Peter hurries to find Emma. John locates Patrick and Robert, then he too heads for the mess hall, with them in tow. Radclyf contacts his equal, Hayato, along with Chokichi, Paul, and Henry. This small group of seasoned veterans is all that remains of their close knit teams.

  The kitchen hands are as astounded as are the half dozen crewmen that are eating, when the entire bridge crew assembles before them. The crewmen stare at each other nervously, then once they realize that they are not being told to leave, relax and listen.

  George glances at Cindy, then nods to her, indicating that he wants her to address the crew. Cindy stares at the group then says, “We have just had an interesting meeting with a pair of Generals who have an unexpected request of us.” She casts her gaze over everyone present, then adds, “They want us to go to the derelict spacecraft we found, and salvage parts from it.”

  Patrick’s eyes go wide as he whistles an exclamation. He adds incredulously, “That puppy is over twenty thousand light years from here!”

  Joe opens his mouth to give the exact distance, then closes it. He shakes his head as he begins to calculate how long such a trek would take. He closes his eyes as he factors in the Gamin Power Unit, and the reduced recharge time of the main engine’s capacitors.

  Lisa quickly turns to look at George, grabs his hand, their son’s, and states quietly, yet firmly. “No! You’re not taking my husband.”

  George smiles at his wife, then says to her quietly, “I don’t have to go. If this is planned properly, it’s an easy mission.”

  Johnny does not catch his father’s words, instead his face beams with excitement at the prospect of another trip on the Terran. Lisa catches his look of awe, and says, “As for you young man, you have missed way too much school already.”

  Johnny’s glee turns to gloom in a heartbeat, but he says nothing.

  Patrick shrugs his shoulders, then says, “Count me in, I have nowhere to be.”

  Cindy casts her gaze around to the others, and waits for more comments.

  Joe suddenly exclaims, “If we can get that ship’s navigational systems, and install them into the new colony ship,” He gazes at the floor and mumbles to himself, then looks up and adds, “it just might work.”

  Robert is hastily taking notes, his inquisitive mind is pondering many questions.

  “Oh Yes!” Joe exclaims loudly once more, startling everyone. He gazes at the blank faces before him, then shares his thoughts, “The shield generators!” When no one responds, he adds, “Based on the schematics I have reviewed, we just might be able to install them in this ship.”

  Cindy’s eyes widen at the prospect. Their navigational shields do a great job for space flight. But if they run into trouble, having ‘real’ shields would help them greatly.

  Emma grabs Peter’s hand and squeezes it, she is about to protest going, then notices how energized and alive he is. She lowers her gaze and quietly says, “Oh crap.”

  Cindy catches Emma’s dour expression, then in a moment of clarity, dangles a carrot, saying, “Perhaps we can swing by the Oglans and see how their farming world is fairing.”

  Emma glances from Peter to Cindy, sighs, and then replies with mounting enthusiasm, “I suppose, it would give me a chance to take a real survey team.”

  George surprises them all when he says, “You should also consider swinging by the Kord space station, to see if you can bring Olaf’s remains back to Earth.”

  The room goes deathly quiet. Not just at the mention of Olaf, but at the way George said ‘you’, meaning he does not intend to join them. The Terran without George, would be like a day at the beach without ice cream, just not quite right.

  Cindy breaks the somber silence, and changes the subject. She motions to Joe, and says, “We had better test the Kord implants, to make sure our translators are still functioning.”

  Joe absentmindedly rubs the bump behind his ear and nods in agreement. He, like many of the others, had completely forgotten about the tiny implant. He smiles as he recalls Golward, and the other short hair covered Kord they rescued. These implants, when connected wirelessly to the hand held units the Kord gave them, allow the wearers to communicate in every language attempted thus far.

  Johnny taps George’s arm and whispers, “Can I get a new jacket? Even if you don’t go?”

  George stares at his old jacket, the one Johnny still wears. Its long grey sleeves are frayed at the wrists, as is the collar, and the back. A faded patch barely clings to the jacket’s left arm. Its dirty image displays a three clawed, mottled green fist, with a small rendition of the Terran orbiting it. He smiles at his son, then lifts a hand and ruffles his hair.

  Johnny protests, “Dad. C’mon, I’m not a little kid anymore.”

  Though George’s son is almost as tall as him now, he playfully ruffles his hair all the more. He suddenly becomes aware that everyone is staring at them, and stops. Returning their smiles, he says apologetically, “Sorry,” and quickly adds, “I think we all need new jackets.”

  The group chuckles, it is obvious who the request is really from. The meeting continues on for quite some time, but the consensus is clear. Going would help Earth in so many ways. Even the threat of the Effen Raiders pales in comparison to the potential gains from salvaging the derelict Gamin spacecraft.

  Henry has been patiently waiting for the right time to make his own request. Finally he lifts a hand, and says, “I have another matter to discuss. There is the issue of the people that could not cope with the environment on New Earth. As we know, returning to this ship alleviated the feelings of nausea, but we still do not know the root cause.”

  Cindy replies, “I have asked the Generals if we could use the underground medical facility, and have you work with Doctor Nelson.”

  Henry tilts his head, then asks, “Can we trust him?”

  “I think we can.” Cindy replies confidently.

  Lisa frowns when she realizes that as one of those afflicted, she will have to stay at the Australian facility longer than she had expected.

  The meeting continues on for a short time as minor issues are brought up, until finally everyone has aired their thoughts and concerns.

  Once the meeting breaks up, George and Lisa retire to their quarters, Johnny dawdles behind. Once there, the three of them begin to pack. George turns to Lisa and makes a surprising request, “I would like to keep this suit, and help the ground crews finish the next ship.”

  Lisa pauses for a moment before she replies, “With shuttle technology being what it is, you may even be able to fly home for dinner!”

  George smiles and nods, even though he is not sure exactly where she is calling home.

  The crew makes preparations for either their departure from the Terran, or the upcoming journey. Each one generates lists, making sure nothing they may need is left out.

  Meanwhile, the construction teams work diligently installing the gravity lift plating on the Terran. Each section takes days to change over. However, since there are dozens of areas being worked on simultaneously, the overall refit will not take long.

  Location:

  Kangbashi District

  China

  Wu steps onto his balcony and smiles. Brand new factories are scattered throughout the landscape. Each one is dedicated to the construction of China’s newest spacecraft. His father has less than a year remaining in
his second term as President. In that time, he hopes to have this new spacecraft completed, a culminating highlight of his father’s career.

  Secretly, Wu still wishes to rule an Empire, and to return China to a time of dynasties. But he keeps this desire well hidden, and plays the role of ‘the good son’ quite well. He had thought that sharing his wishes with Jie, who he wanted as his right hand man, would have inspired him. Instead it seems that Jie fled, either in fear, or to be his own master.

  Wu’s smile turns into a slight frown as he recalls the report of the Liberty’s almost catastrophic arrival at New Earth. The fact that the report indicates the crew and passengers survived, is the only positive element. The ship being deemed unworthy of future space travel by the crew of the Terran is distressing. Wu begins to shake his head as he further considers that even with all the resources and technology at their disposal, they still grounded the ship. He stares off into in the distance at the partially built spaceship, and wonders if it will survive the rigors of space travel.

  China’s powerful new weapons, such as shielded tanks with their energy beams, are scattered throughout the country. Though they are ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice, none of them appear to be in offensive positions. Refitting of gravity plating on the trains is proving most efficient, and is much easier than building transport shuttles from scratch.

  China’s economic might and vast resources of manpower, are slowly but surely, turning it into the most powerful country on the planet.

  Location:

  KGB Headquarters

  Minsk, Russia

  Pavel stands with his hands clasped behind his back staring out a large window that overlooks the city. The window’s heavy drapes belong to an era long gone, and match the decor of the old room. He slowly turns at the sound of footsteps, then nods respectfully as other committee members enter the room. Each, in turn, sits at a long wooden table which is the room’s centerpiece. He casts his gaze across the many portraits that line the walls and the plush rugs that cover the floor. Vestiges of a time long since passed.