by Rick Lakin
“Your mother will be home Friday with your grandmother,” Chuck said. “Do not. I repeat, do not give me any more reason to punish you.”
“Dad, I won’t. I’m sorry.”
“Bring him home as soon as you can,” Chuck said. “If he disobeys orders, space him.”
“Dad?”
“I know you and my son will bring our granddaughters home safe,” Hanna said.
“We will,” Jack said. “Brilliant out.”
“You two are confined to quarters,” Jack said. “Jeff will bunk with David and Riley and Kalinda with Jennifer and Tayla. First Lieutenant?”
“Yes, Captain.”
Jack pointed to Maiara. “These two criminals are in your charge. Four hours of school and four hours of ship’s work daily.”
“Aye, Captain. I’ll have them clean out the brig first.”
“What’s cooking for the evening meal, Maiara?” Jack asked.
“I’ll have fried chicken and fixins’ at six o’clock.”
“Put these two to work,” Jack said. “I’ll relieve the two watchstanders for first sitting. Let’s get back to ship’s routine.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Kalinda said. “We’re sorry.”
“If you get into any more trouble, it’s the brig,” Jack said. “And put that damn cat on a leash, First Officer.”
“Yes, Captain,” Jennifer said. “Dandy?”
The tabby made a beeline for the ready room.
43
Twenty-six hours of light travel brought StarCruiser Brilliant to the Wolf Star on the edge of Hoclarth Alliance space. The entered a geosynchronous orbit around the third planet.
“Captain,” Anthen said, “a Hoclarth Sensor Drone is tracking us. It’s transmitting on a tight beam.”
“Very well,” Jack said. The crew was on full alert. “It’s quiet out here.”
“Long range sensors are picking up a Hoclarth Battle Cruiser heading this direction at three hundred times light speed.”
“Decelerating?” Jack said.
“No, Captain,” Anthen said. “If it is Camdex, it appears to be cruising at its best possible speed. Camdex should begin decelerating in fifteen minutes and arrive in a half hour.”
“Curious,” Jack said. “They normally cruise at 2100 times lightspeed.”
“Is it okay for Kalinda to be here for the rendezvous?” Anthen asked.
“Sure,” Jack said. “But we need to chat with the Predex in the ready room.”
Kalinda and Jeff came bounding up the firepole. “Thank you, Captain,” Kalinda said.
“You were listening on the ladder?”
“We were almost in the galley.”
“Keep out of sight until we confirm that your grandfather is aboard Camdex.”
“Yes, sir,” Kalinda said. “But I know he’s aboard.”
Jack turned and looked at Kalinda.
“You communicated with him?”
“Yes.”
“Young lady, as the captain of this ship, I need to know every piece of information that is communicated to and from this ship especially if there are enemy ships in our sector.”
“Sorry, Captain.”
“You want to be a member of this crew someday?”
She nodded.
“If you ever want to ride this ship again, you need to give me your absolute promise that you will inform me when you communicate with anyone outside the boundaries of this ship. Is that crystal clear?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Go to the ready room until I call you out.”
Jeff and Kalinda went into the ready room. The captain turned his chair forward.
“Not to be alliterative but cats and kids can cause a captain nightmares.”
“I’ve got the battlecruiser on medium range sensors,” Jennifer said. “They’re decelerating.”
“Confirmed,” Anthen said. “It’s the Camdex.”
The Camdex entered orbit. “Full Screen,” Jack said.
“Omigod,” Jennifer said. The Camdex was a broken hulk.
“Anthen?”
“Scanning, Captain,” Anthen said. “Biosensors indicate a third of their normal crew complement, engineering shows major damage, and they barely have stardrive, and full life support is unavailable in half the ship.”
A tone sounded on the comm panel. “Captain, it's the Predex.”
“On Screen.”
Predex Kalea Kone appeared. Behind him were smoke and sparks coming from equipment. His uniform was torn and unbuttoned.
“Greetings, Predex Kone,” Jack said. “Do you require assistance?”
“Hello, Captain,” Kalea said. “We need immediate medical assistance as the disease has found its way among my crew. We need shipyard services which are unavailable because the crew is dying.”
“Predex, why don’t you say hello to Kalinda and then my team will meet you in private,” Jack said. “Kalinda, come.”
Kalinda came out of the ready room. Her shock was evident. “Are you okay, Tal’pa?”
“Yes, K’da,” Kalea said. “I am strong, and our ship is strong.”
“Brilliant is the best, and I know we’ll help you.”
“We’ll meet in person soon, but not now.”
“Yes, Tal’pa, soon.”
“Route the Predex to my ready room,” Jack said.
“Aye, sir.”
Kalea disappeared from the screen. Jack got up, and Kalinda grabbed him in a hug. “Captain, you need to help my Tal'pa.”
He hugged back. “We’ll do our best, honey,” Jack said. “Anthen, Jennifer, my ready room and ask Dr. Ami and her team to come as well.”
They all took seats in the Captain’s Ready Room. “Predex, tell us what happened.”
“On the way over here, we were attacked by what looked like a patrol ship,” Kalea said. “We call them the Kir’qox, the Hoclarth name for a ghost.
“A patrol ship did that?” Jennifer asked. “Did you identify it?”
“The Kir’qox maneuvered extremely quickly. We could not target them,” Kalea said. “The weapons were more advanced than ours. We got a lucky shot and disabled its engines, and it stopped fighting. The ship was unmanned, but its tactics were too sophisticated for a drone.”
“Could it have been androids?” Jennifer asked.
“We don't know of anyone with that technology,” Kalea said.
Jennifer looked at Jack. “It could be from the future.”
“That's possible,” Jack said.
“Were there any marks that indicated its origin?” Anthen asked.
“That’s the interesting thing,” Kalea said. “We took it apart. There was not a single identifying mark on any part that we inspected.”
“Dr. Ami?” Jack said.
“Predex, what are your medical needs?”
“We have four crewmen who are severely injured,” Kalea said.
“We’ll come aboard and tend to your wounded,” Dr. Ami said. “What is the condition of your sickbay?”
“It’s badly damaged.”
“Captain, I need Brilliant to fabricate a sick bay for Camdex. Ani and I will ride the shuttle there and assist their crew on the transit to Xaphnore. Sami will fly the shuttle with the Camdex as the escort.”
“Jennifer?” Jack said.
“After Ami specifies the equipment, I can transfer it.”
“Very well,” Jack said. “Is there anything else we can do to assist?”
“Captain, our food replicators are down. We’ve been living on rations.”
“Done,” Jack said. “We wish you well.”
“Your generous efforts are appreciated,” Kalea said. “Out.”
Everyone moved in different directions.
“First Lieutenant, we need to transport some fresh food to Camdex.”
“Send me the two convicts, and I’ll build a palette.”
“Very well,” Jack said. “Kalinda?”
She appeared at the door. “Jeff and I will help Aunt
ie Maiara.”
44
StarShuttle Hope exited Brilliant’s hangar bay carrying the infectious disease lab, medical supplies, and the three cyberians. Illuminated by the red dwarf, the white paint and red cross on Hope stood out next to the damaged Camdex where they were moving to dock. Ani and Ami transferred to Camdex, and the two vessels accelerated out of the system toward Xaphnore with Sami at the controls of Hope.
Ten hours later, StarCruiser Brilliant was orbiting the lifeless third planet of the Wolf Star. Jennifer had come off a very quiet midwatch at 0400.
At 0530, Jennifer and Kalinda were at breakfast in the galley. Tayla went straight to her rack. Kalinda was on her second cheese and sausage omelet.
“K’da, if you’re going to be a Hollywood celeb, you’re going to have to adapt to carrots and kale and stay away from red meat and cheese.”
“On Xaphnore, we took pride in our position at the top of the food chain,” Kalinda said. “I’ll leave the food you describe to the rabbits who populate the desert plants on our cliffs.”
“I need to get to the bridge for Dr. Ami’s report.”
“I’ll wake Jeff and work out in the ready room,” Kalinda said. “He eats like a Hollywood celebrity as you suggest. Thanks, Auntie Maiara.”
At 0555, Jennifer came up the ladder to the bridge carrying her Brilliant mug filled with her caffeine-laced elixir. Jack occupied the center seat, Riley monitored the Engineer panel behind him, and David had the deck watch from the pilot’s chair.
“Morning, Captain,” Jennifer said. “Any news, David?”
“The Hoclarth Sensor Drone sent a burst at 0517,” he said. “Otherwise, it has been silent since 2200. Just waiting for Dr. Ami’s morning report.”
Jennifer settled into the ops panel monitoring communications as well. A tone sounded.
“On screen,” Jack said.
Dr. Ami appeared wearing a white lab coat. “Good morning, Captain,” Dr. Ami said. “Ani and I came back aboard Hope while in orbit around Xaphnore. We were able to save the four injured crew members. Sami landed the shuttle near the planetary disease laboratory. We’ve divided our duties, and we’re making some progress. Sami has gone into the wards and attempted an array of both palliative and curative treatments. She is inventorying symptoms as well.”
“Any luck with a vaccine?” Jack asked.
“Ani is researching all of the historical and contemporary medical literature. She’s about eighty percent complete. I’m researching the Hoclarth pharmacology and performing comparative chemistry with Earth drugs. This has borne fruit. Maloxidil-5 treats acute symptoms in sixty-four percent of those treated. I treated some recently exposed patients with an array of vaccines. That test is ongoing. It’s difficult as the local medical personnel are either exhausted or sick.”
“What about the origins of the disease?” Jennifer asked.
“That’s our most shocking finding,” Dr. Ami said. “I determined that Patient Zero was a forensic engineer who inspected an abandoned Kir’qox drone fighter six months ago.”
“A bio-weapons attack?” Jack asked.
“That’s my conclusion, Captain.”
“Is there anything we can do to assist from this end?” Jack said.
“Yes. Ani has a hunch,” Dr. Ami said. “There are some offline records at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City concerning disease transmittal from extinct species. Ani needs access to that information.”
“Jennifer, you’re off the duty roster until you can find what they need.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“That completes my report,” Dr. Ami said.
“Good luck,” Jack said. “We’ll see you at 1800.”
Jennifer went into the ready room and connected with the Center for Disease Control via the StarWave relay at Tovar.
“CDC Duty officer. This is Jean Bordeaux.”
“Jean, this is Jennifer Gallagher on board StarCruiser Brilliant,” Jennifer said. “Are you aware of our situation?”
“Yes, I am,” Jean said. “I’m instructed to give any request from you highest priority. How may I help you?”
“Our online research indicates that there is some offline information at the Natural History Museum in New York concerning disease transmittal from extinct species,” Jennifer said.
“We’ve got colleagues there,” Jean said. “Let me look at my contact list.”
There was a pause.
“Ahhh, here it is. Dr. Humberto Araiza is the digital information curator. I’ll send him your contact info and a message. It says here that he is available for urgent requests.”
“Thanks, Jean. I’ll await his call.”
Forty-five minutes later, Jennifer heard the tone and put the caller on screen.
“Hello, I'm Dr. Araiza; how may I help you? CDC says you're dealing with a pandemic, but I'm not aware of any outbreaks.”
“I’m Jennifer Gallagher aboard StarCruiser Brilliant…”
“Omigod, I’ve seen every movie. You landed Brilliant in Los Angeles when Dr. Ami saved David.”
“You’re a brillian?”
“Yes, I am. Where are you?”
“We’re orbiting the Wolf Star on the edge of Hoclarth space. Dr. Ami, Ani, and my personal assistant Sami are on Xaphnore. The planet has sustained a bio-weapons attack, and the disease is killing the planet.”
“Talk to me. What do you need?”
“Ani is following a hunch and needs some offline records pertaining to disease transmittal from extinct species.”
“I’m sending you the reference to our offline archive to search at your end,” Dr. Araiza said. “I’m going to call in some help for searching and scanning.”
“I've got it. I’ve created a searchable format, and I’m looking.”
Jennifer, Dr. Araiza, and his team worked for the next five hours collating old research Jennifer targeted.
Kalinda came in. “Here’s some lunch. Are you making progress?”
“Thanks for the food, K’da,” Jennifer said. “I’m sending the data and research Ani requested. I hope it helps.”
“You’ll succeed,” Kalinda said.
“You know for sure?”
“I don’t have the whole picture, but Brilliant always finds a way.”
“I think I’d have a better picture of the forest, but right now, there are all these trees in the way.”
“You’re the smartest person I know,” Kalinda said.
Kalinda’s words allowed her to relax for a few minutes. Her background processing took over. She opened her eyes and messaged Dr. Araiza. “Doctor, there are references to some Russian research papers that are not available online.”
“I spotted that an hour ago,” he said. “My assistant for the Cyrillic languages has contacted the Russian Academy of Science for the data.”
“Good work.”
The two scientists eight light-years apart continued to work for another four hours. Jennifer answered a tone. Ani appeared before her.
“How’s it going?” Jennifer asked.
“Jen, I’ve got what I need, and I can have a conclusion by six,” Ani said. “Send my sincere thanks to New York and Moscow.”
Jennifer contacted Dr. Araiza. “Congratulations, Dr. Araiza. Ani notified me that she has the data she needs to conclude her research in the next few hours. She and I send our thanks to you and your team.”
“It was a pleasure working with you. May I ask you a favor?”
“I’m guessing you need the documentation and process that Ani and I followed so that you can write this up.”
“Our primary job is to publish or perish,” Dr. Araiza said. “Along with fundraising. Thank you, Jennifer.”
It was four o’clock. Jennifer had had two hours of sleep in the last twenty-four, but she had one more call to make.
“Hello,” Navvy said. “Have you gotten any sleep?”
“Soon. May I ask you a favor?”
“Of course. How much is it going
to cost?”
“Two or three million,” she said. “A Dr. Humberto Araiza and his team at the Natural History Museum in New York spent the last ten hours giving us the help we need for a breakthrough.”
“I can certainly help there,” Navvy said. “How is it going on Xaphnore?”
“The team is making progress, but as the information comes in, I’m concerned about how the puzzle pieces are fitting together.”
“Please explain.”
“The disease on Xaphnore was a sophisticated bio-weapons attack delivered by a deserted fighter drone,” Jennifer said. “There were no lifeforms aboard the drone and, get this, not a single identifying mark.”
“What do the Hoclarth think?”
“Kalea calls them the Kir’qox, their word for ghost.”
“Our third party?”
“Maybe, but why would they create a civilization then try to destroy it?”
“Good question.” Navvy replied.
“A question your generation will ponder, and my generation will answer.”
“Wise.”
“No, just pragmatic,” Jennifer said. “I’m going to get a meal and standby for the evening report.”
“And sleep.”
“Oh yeah, I used to do that.”
“Take care.”
“I will.”
Navvy’s image disappeared.
Jennifer looked at the room and the papers before her for her next task. She wondered what the subsequent report would reveal.
Dandy Lion jumped on Jennifer's lap. He knew she needed sleep and he focused his gaze on her as she sat back.
The heaviness of Jennifer's eyes took her to another world.
Task complete, Dandy lay his head on her lap and joined her on the short journey.
45
Jennifer walked on the bridge at 1755. Maiara occupied the center seat with Tayla to her right on the communications panel. Anthen and Jack sat at the science console. Jennifer took her position at ops with Riley and David at their normal stations. Kalinda and Jeff waited at the foot of the ladder eavesdropping.
At 1800, the tone sounded. “On screen,” Maiara said.
Dr. Ami appeared on the forward display flanked by Sami and Ani in a lab setting with dark brown walls. Some of the equipment was recognizable, but there were components with Hoclarth script apparent. The three cyberians were wearing brown lab coats of Hoclarth origin.
