The Deadly Pact

by Michael Freeport

  “I did, sir. Sending docking signal again.” The young ensign keyed the transmitter and waited. “It doesn’t look like Aeternum is responding to the docking request, sir.”

  Stokes pondered the situation for a moment. What could be causing the Aeternum to fail to respond to the docking request? “I can see that, Ensign. Move us to the closest docking port on the shipyard. I’ll board through the docking tube.”

  “Aye, sir.” The shuttle moved away and towards the original space dock structure. A few minutes later, the pilot gently nudged against an open docking port. Docking clamps ratcheted into place and made a hard seal. Stokes watched as telltales blinked to green. He stood and moved to the airlock. “Thank you, Ensign. Come with me in case I need you to make a courier run for me.”

  “Aye, sir,” the ensign said and fell in at Stokes’ heels.

  Stokes made the short walk from the airlock to Aeternum’s boarding concourse. As he entered the large space, he saw a large cluster of yard workers and officers bunched up around the boarding tubes. A cacophony of voices filled the room.

  Stokes moved to the rear of the group and raised his voice to get everyone’s attention. “What’s going on, people?” There was no response. Whatever had their attention, they didn’t hear him over their own conversations. “What’s going on,” he repeated, this time yelling at the top of his lungs.

  Suddenly, everyone noticed him standing behind them. People moved aside as he strode towards the boarding tube. The outer door was still open, but the door in the gleaming skin of the Aeternum was sealed.

  “When did this happen,” Stokes demanded.

  A young man of middling height stepped forward and said, “Sir, I’m Lieutenant Knowles.” The man had a strong Karn accent. Stokes gave him his full attention. Knowles continued, “Sir, I’m the grave shift officer in charge for this sector of the shipyard. The doors sealed at zero-two-thirteen. We don’t know why. We have received a few messages from inside Aeternum. The first came through relatively clear, but the rest were hopelessly garbled. We don’t know if there’s some kind of emergency or if it’s just a system malfunction.”

  “We couldn’t enter through the main docking bay, either,” Stokes said. “If it’s a casualty, they would still have functioning radios. I’m more inclined, given our limited information to think this may be a malfunction. Probably power related.” Aeternum had six huge fusion plants buried in its hull. The advanced plant design had been carefully modeled and copied onto the ships that now defended the Lashmere system. They were both highly fault tolerant and extremely reliable. “It can’t be the fusion plants, but if there’s been some kind of distribution problem, that might account for a total loss of function.”

  Knowles nodded, “Yes, sir. Shall we try to force the airlock?”

  Stokes looked at the gleaming silver door. “Too bad Aves is with Patho. We could certainly use his powers of prying right now.”

  Knowles looked thoroughly confused. “Sir? I don’t understand. Who is Aves?”

  “Never mind, Lieutenant. Yes, get some marines and a breaching kit. We’ll blow the door if we have to.” Patho should have entered the Xalcek system within the last day or so if his transit estimate had held.

  The lieutenant snapped a salute and ran off. The rest of the crowd stood, watching him expectantly. “Return to your duties if they’re aboard the shipyard. If you’re stationed aboard Aeternum, muster at the back of the boarding concourse and wait for further orders. Officers take charge.”

  Feet shuffled around for several minutes while people sorted themselves into various categories and settled in to wait for the Marines to arrive. Stokes waited patiently with the ensign standing at his side. He turned to address the man. “What’s your name, son?”

  “Gregory. Err, Sorry. Gregory Hamilton, sir.” The ensign blushed and looked at his feet for a moment before he caught himself and brought his head erect to look Stokes directly in the eyes. “Ensign Hamilton, sir,” he said with much more authority in his voice.

  Stokes nodded. “When the Marines get here, they’ll handle the breaching. You come with me. We’ll head directly to the bridge. I want you to keep track of everything I miss.”

  Hamilton stared at Stokes, clearly unsure of what the ephemeral order might entail. “Sir?”

  “Just keep your eyes open, Ensign. I have to concentrate on the big picture. You can fix yourself on all the details I might miss. Don’t worry; I’ll give you more specific direction as we proceed.”

  Hamilton snapped off another salute and said, “Aye, sir.”

  The Marines arrived a few moments later. Stokes noted they did, indeed, have pry bars with them. He watched in silent bemusement as they forced the doors open. As soon as a crack appeared in the airlock doorway, alarms could be heard. Not one Stokes was familiar with, but the intent of the sound was clear; something was very wrong aboard Aeternum.

  Once the Marines had the doors open, Stokes motioned to Hamilton. “Let’s go, Ensign.”

  The two officers entered the airlock and went to the nearest lift. A few moments later, they were deposited at the aft end of pod zero. Stokes strode briskly down the passageways, leading Hamilton to Aeternum’s bridge. The door opened to a squabble of confused voices. Stokes said, “What’s the situation, people?”

  Admiral Brand was on the bridge. He turned when he heard Stokes’ voice. “Sir, the Aeternum computer stopped accepting inputs approximately thirty-seven minutes ago. We have internal comms via our wrist comps, but nothing hard lined to Aeternum itself is working.”

  “Is it a computer failure,” Stokes asked.

  “No, sir. Let me show you.” Brand motioned Stokes to look at one of the command console displays. There was a strange metallic face peering out of it. “It seems to be an interactive message of some sort. We’ve asked it a few questions, but mostly it seems to want an authorization code. I don’t understand what it wants, though.”

  Stokes faced the console. “Very well, Admiral Brand. Let me take a crack at it.” He addressed the console, “What is the purpose of your message?”

  “Woduur technology cannot be utilized without authorization. Input authorization code for your contracted level of access to ship functions.” The voice came out with a decidedly mechanical tone.

  Stokes gave Brand a quizzed look. Brand returned a hands up gesture of uncertainty. He looked back and the monitor and pondered for a moment longer before saying, “I don’t have the authorization code with me. Is it permissible to obtain one at this time?”

  “Negotiation is always permissible. Contact Woduur agent for access.”

  Stokes shared a confused look with Brand. “Who are the Woduur?”

  “Woduur are the authorizing agency for this technology.” The voice paused for a moment and then said, “Twenty local minutes until recall code is activated. Enter authorization code to abort.”

  “What happens when recall code activates,” Stokes asked. He felt alarm rising in his chest.

  “Unauthorized technology will return to Woduur to be repurposed.”

  Stokes turned to Brand. “You’d better start an evacuation. Leave the bridge escape pods just in case. I’ll remain with Ensign Hamilton, here, and see if I can find a way to convince the ship not to leave. Make sure you get the docking tubes retracted, so we don’t have a decompression.”

  “Aye, sir,” Brand said. He turned to his bridge crew and started issuing brisk orders for an orderly evacuation of the Aeternum.

  As the bridge emptied, Stokes returned his attention to the bizarrely shaped, silvery face. “I request an extension on the deadline for the recall code being activated.”

  “The recall code can be aborted when the authorization code for technology access has been entered. No other override is possible.”

  Hamilton, standing at the operations console just to Stokes’ left, said, “Sir, the engines have started warming up. Just on time for the ship to depart at the deadline.”

  Stokes nodded and s
aid, “Very well.” He then spoke to the computer again. “Tell me about the Woduur. What kind of people are they?”

  “Denied,” the voice came back flatly.

  Sighing, Stokes asked, “What are the terms of authorization for Aeternum?”

  “No terms entered at this time. An authorized code will carry terms. Enter authorization code to abort recall code.”

  “What happens to us if we remain on Aeternum after the recall code is entered?”

  “Unauthorized users will be forwarded to Woduur control for corrective action.”

  Stokes looked at the clock. There wasn’t much time left until Aeternum would depart Lashmere if the computer was correct about the recall code. How was this happening? Why would their forebears leave a ship that could be taken away from them by some other race or organization or whatever the Woduur were?

  Stokes turned to Hamilton and said, “I don’t think we can do anything else here. The system seems to have locked us out. Without more time, there isn’t much chance we’ll be able to override it. Have you noticed anything else, Ensign?”

  “No, sir. The system is automatically going through preflight and preparing to engage sublight engines.”

  “Let’s get off the ship before we get trapped.” Stokes led the way back to the airlock through which they’d entered. The ride back to the airlock they’d entered through took only a moment. Stokes could hear the sound of the sublight engines preparing to engage as they exited the elevator. Brand was standing in the boarding concourse.

  “Sir, all personnel have been evacuated.”

  Stokes nodded. “Very well. Have the shipyard clear all linkages and retract the docking tubes. I don’t want the shipyard damaged when Aeternum departs.”

  “Aye, sir.” Brand turned and gave orders into his comm. After a moment, he returned his attention to Stokes. “Sir, what can we do? We need Aeternum, don’t we?”

  “I’d say we do, Admiral, but if the ship is departing on autopilot, and we can’t regain control before it leaves, I’d rather not be on board to find out where it goes.” Stokes was interrupted by the boarding tube doors snapping shut and retracting away from Aeternum. “Let’s get aboard the shuttle, Ensign. I want to be on Victorious to give chase.”

  “Aye, sir,” Hamilton said.

  As soon as Stokes was on the shuttle, he commed Victorious. Woodard’s face appeared on the screen. “Lieutenant, I need you to prepare Victorious for immediate departure. Aeternum has engaged some kind of internal override. I wasn’t able to stop it. I don’t know why it’s happening, but I want to try to follow it wherever it goes.”

  “Aye, sir,” Woodard said. “There is one other thing, sir. Agent Cobb tried to reach you a few minutes ago. He refused to leave me a message, but he seemed pretty intent on talking to you.”

  “That’s not a coincidence,” Stokes observed. “If he calls again, forward his signal to me. My ETA aboard Victorious is,” he checked his readouts for a few seconds, “six minutes. Get her warmed up and ready for pursuit. Also send a signal to gather an escort of as many ships as we can get. I want to make sure we have plenty of firepower if we run into any other issues. Stokes out.”

  “Yes, sir.” Woodard’s face vanished.

  Stokes said, “What do you think, Ensign?”

  Hamilton started in the pilot chair. “Sir? I mean, ah, I’m not sure, sir.”

  Stokes said, “Surely you have an idea.”

  “Well, it seems to me, sir, that if the people who left our colony here knew this could happen, they would have either disabled that particular ship function or they would have found a way to correct it if it did happen.” Hamilton shrugged. “They certainly knew a lot more about Aeternum that we do. It seems impossible to me they wouldn’t have known about the recall code.” He pondered for a few seconds before continuing, “It occurs to me that they wouldn’t have left Aeternum for us with such a flaw. The Woduur, whoever they are, seem able to take the Aeternum from us whenever they want. I think we’re missing some information, sir.”

  “I’m inclined to agree overall with your reasoning, Ensign. I suspect Agent Cobb has something to tell us.”

  “Sir?”

  “He was aboard Rampart when we originally found Aeternum. He had access codes that allowed him to take control of the ship. I’m betting his urgent call to me is still more carefully retained information gleaned from the origin tablet. Unfortunately, Lashmere Intelligence failed to give it to Admiral Brand. If they have the override code, they’re in for a very unhappy day when I get ahold of them.”

  “Yes, sir,” Hamilton said, clearly unsure of how to respond.

  “Don’t worry, Ensign. I’ve crossed swords with Lashmere Intelligence a time or two already and lived to tell the tale.” He was interrupted by an incoming comm request. He tapped the acceptance key, and Cobb’s face appeared on the screen. “Agent Cobb. What a remarkable pleasure to see you this fine morning.”

  “Admiral. I see you’re no longer aboard Aeternum. I’m surprised you would abandon your post so easily.”

  “I must remind you, Agent; Aeternum is not my post. I did, however, order Admiral Brand to evacuate Aeternum. Now, did you call me to insult me or do you have something useful to share?”

  “I did have something of use, had you been aboard Aeternum. Now that you’ve run away, I can’t help you.”

  “You have the override code, don’t you, Agent?” Stokes’ voice began to take on a hard edge as his suspicions were confirmed in his mind.

  “Even if I did have any codes for Aeternum, they’re useless unless you’re aboard. You can’t use the codes remotely.”

  “One day, I’m going to have the pleasure of seeing you dangle for this, Agent. You deliberately withheld information vital to the safety of Lashmere, and you know it.”

  Cobb’s mouth twisted into something that might have been called a smile by a particularly charitable person. “Just try it, Admiral. I’ve admitted to nothing other than a willingness to help you, had you still been aboard Aeternum. You running away just shows what a coward you are.”

  Stokes felt his eyes widen. Aeternum wasn’t even his assigned ship. There was no need for Stokes to have left Victorious. He’d responded because he had intended to investigate why they’d lost comms with Aeternum in the first place. “Send me the code. I plan to intercept Aeternum before it departs Lashmere.”

  Cobb looked mildly out of the screen at him and said, “What code,” with absolutely no inflection in his voice at all.

  Stokes fought the urge to punch the monitor. “Then what, exactly, do you have that could have helped if I’d been aboard Aeternum?”

  “That’s no longer important. If you’re able to board Aeternum, send me a message and I will try to help you, Admiral. Cobb out.”

  Stokes did his best to find new and interesting ways to curse as soon as the intelligence agent’s face disappeared from the screen. “That rotten slug has the override codes. I know it. Now he’s playing the same stupid high-handed game he played when he was aboard Rampart.”

  “Sir, there’s a destroyer moving in to dock with Aeternum,” Hamilton said.

  Stokes turned his attention to the sensor display. “That’s Lachesis. Put me through to Captain Powell.” Stokes rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

  “Aye, sir,” Hamilton said. He tapped at the console for a moment before saying, “They aren’t accepting comm requests, sir.”

  “Are they not? Hmm.” Stokes took the comm panel himself and spoke into the video pickup. “Captain Powell, this is Admiral Stokes. Respond to this comm request immediately.”

  There was a multi-second delay, and Stokes was about to repeat his message when Powell’s craggy face appeared. “Admiral, I apologize for the delay. There has been a bit of confusion here. We have an Agent-“

  “Cobb,” Stokes interrupted the captain. “Yes, I’m sure he’s told you some interesting things. Do you have a viable intercept for Aeternum?”

  “It’s go
ing to be pretty close, Admiral. I didn’t think a ship so big could accelerate so quickly. It’ll have to slow down before it can make the transition to FTL, though. We should be able to catch it then.”

  “Very well, Captain. If you are successful in making intercept, I want you to send a boarding party over with Cobb, no matter what he says. He’ll pitch a fit, for sure, but you are not to allow that man uncontrolled access to Aeternum. He’s deliberately withheld this information from the Lashmere Navy, and I don’t trust him to represent our interests aboard. That’s a naval vessel, and he can’t stop you sending a boarding party with him.”

  Powell’s face took on a look of iron determination. “Aye, sir. I’ll make it happen.”

  “Excellent, Captain. I’m about to board Victorious. I’ll be about twenty minutes behind you with a small flotilla. We’ll follow up and provide any support we can. You have point on this operation.”

  “Yes, sir. Powell out.” The monitor switched back to the navigational display he’d been using before he placed the call.

  “Docking with Victorious, sir,” Hamilton said. the shuttle had entered the small boat bay while Stokes had been talking to Powell and the airlock was just latching on.

  Stokes stood and moved briskly to the door and said, “Good piloting, Hamilton.” He went immediately to the bridge. Bendel was watching over the controlled chaos of the bridge with eyes like a stalking predator. Just as Stokes entered the bridge, he barked, “Ensign, Get the engine configured for underway in the next ten seconds.”

  The ensign in question slid a terrified glance past Bendel and saw Stokes. His face went from bright red to nearly bone white. He turned and hunched over his console, his fingers moving even more hurriedly. “Engines configured for underway, sir.” The relief in the young man’s voice was a palpable thing.

  “Very well. Make zero-eight-three by zero-zero-seven. Steady on course and proceed at flank.”

  “Aye, sir,” the helmsman said. Victorious spun away from her berth and shot out on an intercept course for Aeternum. Within moments, Victorious was joined by a formation of five destroyers and two assault cruisers.