Captivity

by Maureen Toonkel

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  May 28

  Dennis Pearson closed his eyes and leaned back in the stiff wooden chair. He was exhausted. He and Dave Andrews had worked through the night trying to repair the ship’s sensors. They reprogrammed the ship’s computer probing system and commanded the computer over and over to search for any form of electronic communications from the planet below. So far their efforts had been fruitless. Considering the usual friction between Pearson and Andrews, they themselves were amazed how well they had worked with each other. While Pearson rested his eyes for a few minutes, Dave Andrews logged their progress into the computer’s main files. Officer Jackson Greene, who had been assisting the pair all night, was still sitting in front of the computer display, his fingers flying over the key board.

  “Commander Andrews,” shouted Greene, “I think I’ve found something.” Andrews rushed over to Greene’s computer station. Dennis Pearson opened his eyes and sat upright. Static-like sounds were coming through Greene’s computer speakers and blurry lines flickered on the screen. Then through the static they heard what sounded like “GOOD MORNING.” After some more static, they were able to detect some more words. “…SLAVES ARE TO BE DISPATCHED TO SECTION C-1 TODAY.”

  “Well, well. It seems like you’ve made some progress.” All three of them turned their heads around and saw Dr. Paul Loring standing in the Science Center doorway. He was carrying a cup of coffee. Loring wandered over to the keyboard in front of Officer Greene. As he leaned over to examine the screen his coffee spilled and splattered over the keyboard. Paul quickly took a handkerchief out of his uniform pocket and began wiping off the keys. In the process of cleaning up the coffee, Paul pressed down on several of the keys and the images on the screen blinked off.

  “Goddammit, Paul!” yelled Dennis Pearson.

  “Gee, I’m sorry. I can’t believe what a klutz I am. I’m sure Jackson can bring up those images again,” apologized Paul. He wrung out the coffee soaked handkerchief in the metal trash can under the desk that Officer Greene was working on.

  “Sir,” said Jackson Greene, “I am not sure that I can retrieve that transmission. I accidentally intercepted it in the first place. It would take another accident to find it again.”

  “Paul, I can’t believe you could be so clumsy,” said Pearson. “That transmission could have been extremely helpful to locating the activity center on Brisula.”

  “How do you know that this transmission and the previous one are from Brisula?” responded Paul. “It seems to me that they could be random transmissions obtained from cyberspace. Anyway, what are our next plans?”

  “Officer Greene, please proceed to the Library and try to retrieve that transmission and continue to work on intercepting other transmissions,” requested Pearson. Jackson gathered up his papers, unplugged his laptop, and shook out his white cane. After he vacated the room, Pearson answered Dr. Loring’s question. “Dave and I have been discussing the timeline of the events that occurred on Brisula.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Paul. He sat down on the desk chair where Jackson had been sitting.

  “Here is the order of the events as we recall them. Is there anything you can add?” Pearson handed him a computer printout. Paul read it line by line:

  BRISULA PROJECT TIMELINE

  May 2: Josh Stoner received orders to proceed to Brisula to carry out a top secret assignment.

  May 3: Josh Stoner fills in Dave Andrews on the top secret assignment. They discuss putting together a six member exploratory landing crew.

  May 5: Josh Stoner sends a request to United Galaxy Command for a wildlife and fisheries expert to include in the landing crew.

  May 7: Josh Stoner is informed that a wildlife expert has been located at Space Station 15. He is also told that a new science officer has been assigned to the Gladiator. He is currently at Space Station 14. U.S.S. Gladiator heads for the Space Stations.

  May 9: Josh Stoner tells Paul Loring that he will be part of the landing crew and fills him in on the assignment.

  May 10: Josh Stoner tells Keith Hampton and Wayne Shasta that they will be part of the landing crew and about the assignment. Each is told separately.

  May 11: U.S.S. Gladiator stops at Space Station 14 to pick up Chief Warrant Officer Jackson Greene.

  May 13: U.S.S. Gladiator stops at Space Station 15 to pick up Ensign Beverly Glenna, to refuel and to stock up on supplies.

  May 14: U.S.S. Gladiator leaves Space Station 15 and heads to Brisula. Josh Stoner fills in Ensign Glenna about the Brisula assignment.

  May 15: U.S.S. Gladiator arrives at Brisula

  May 16: Josh Stoner, Dave Andrews, Paul Loring, Wayne Shasta, Keith Hampton. and Beverly Glenna descend on Planet Brisula’s surface. Within an hour of beginning their mission Keith Hampton and Beverly Glenna are found to be dead.

  May 17: Josh Stoner gives his final report to United Galaxy Command. U.S.S. Gladiator heads for Lexter.

  May 21: Josh Stoner receives a message that the Tradians know about the Brisula plans. Bodies of Keith Hampton and Beverly Glenna are discovered to be fakes. U.S.S. Gladiator heads back to Brisula.

  May 25: U.S.S. Gladiator arrives back at Brisula. Search party of Josh Stoner, Dave Andrews, Paul Loring, and Wayne Shasta return to the planet’s surface. Josh and Wayne disappear. Dennis Pearson is informed of Brisula plans.

  “OK,” said Paul when he finished reading. “So what does this prove?”

  Dennis stared at Paul before answering. What’s up with him, he thought? I suppose he’s still in shock about Josh’s disappearance. After all they are very close friends. “Well, Paul,” he began. “Dave and I are trying to figure out when the information could have been leaked to the Tradians.”

  “It’s quite obvious that Keith Hampton and Beverly Glenna leaked the information.”

  “Is it?” asked Dave Andrews.

  “Of course. There is no other explanation.”

  “If Hampton and Glenna were captured on May 16, they most likely would have been questioned for a while. It is doubtful they would have divulged the information immediately. Let’s say they talked on May 18. That means that the information would have had to travel from Brisula to the Tradians on Imp. From there it would have had to be intercepted by our intelligence operators, decoded and transmitted to our headquarters, verified, and then relayed to Josh by May 21. It seems highly unlikely that it could have all happened in three days.” Dave paused and looked over at Dennis Pearson before continuing. “Earlier we had proposed the theory that whoever is on Brisula may have known we were coming. This would mean that some or all of the information may already have been leaked. If so then it was probably not from Glenna or Hampton.”

  “Let’s look at our suspects,” instructed Pearson. “We obviously can eliminate us three and Josh. From the timeline it appears that Hampton and Glenna did not leak the information. That leaves Lieutenant Wayne Shasta.”

  “Dennis, you are assuming that the information was leaked after we landed on Brisula,” pointed out Andrews. “It could have been leaked before we ever got there.”

  “If that’s the case then anyone aboard the Gladiator is a suspect,” exclaimed Pearson.

  Paul looked down again at the timeline that Dennis had given him. Suddenly he shouted out, “Jackson Greene.”

  “What about Jackson?” questioned Dave Andrews.

  “What exactly do we know about Jackson? He is new to the crew. What a better cover then a blind guy?” explained Paul. “When I spilled my coffee on his keyboard, he claimed he couldn’t retrieve the transmission he was working on. Maybe he purposely lost the transmission.” He turned to face Dave. “He’s been working with you. That has given him access to our computers and secured documents. Do you trust him?”

  Dave scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders. He looked from Dennis to Paul and said, “I don’t know. He seems honest and trustworthy. But you are right. He is new and— well, he could be a spy. We need to be cautious around him. I w
ill prepare a background search.”

  “Terrific,” declared Pearson. “We will reconvene in two hours. That should give Commander Andrews sufficient time to prepare a dossier on Jackson Greene.”

  Joshua Stoner couldn’t believe his circumstances as he lifted the heavy shovel of dirt and gravel. He tossed its contents into a huge pile and turned to dig again. He had been hoping it was all a bad dream when he had awoken just a while ago.

  Is it really morning already, he had thought as he opened his eyes. Horns had been sounding, and everyone in the massive cages had began stirring. He had flipped over to see if Wayne Shasta was awake. Wayne had passed out right after they had been placed in the cage. He had still been out cold when the slaves had returned. He had not even woken up during the talking hour when the cage was filled with chatter. Wayne’s eyes were still closed, and he wasn’t moving when Josh had awaken. He had gently shook him, and Shasta’s eyes had fluttered open.

  “What’s happening?” Shasta had muttered. Josh had quickly put his hands over the Lieutenant’s mouth to let him know he wasn’t allowed to talk. But it had been too late. The cattle prod had come through the bars and delivered an electric shock to the back of Wayne’s neck. He had screamed out in pain only to receive another shock. Then the gates had opened. Two guards had emerged, unlocked Wayne’s leg chains, and dragged him off.

  This had been followed by a booming voice over the loudspeaker.

  “GOOD MORNING,” the voice announced. “HOPE YOU SLEPT WELL AS YOU HAVE A BUSY DAY IN FRONT OF YOU. ALL SLAVES ARE TO BE DISPATCHED TO SECTION C-1 TODAY.”

  With that the slaves had obediently lined up ready to march off to wherever C-1 was.

  As Josh continued shoveling the dirt his mind kept analyzing his situation. There had to be a way out. He needed to devise an escape plan. But how? There was only two very brief times during the day when the slaves’ leg chains were removed — in the morning when the slaves were transferred from the cage leg irons to the chain gang irons and then in reverse at the end of the work day. There were too many guards to overtake during these transfer times. Keep thinking, Josh told himself. There has to be a solution.

  “Faster!” a guard yelled interrupting Josh‘s thoughts. He felt the cattle prod against his backside and realized the guard was talking to him. He stopped thinking of how to escape and concentrated on digging.

  Dr. Loring sat at the desk in his quarters. He tried to take a nap, but he couldn’t sleep. He picked up the novel he had slammed down earlier, but he couldn’t concentrate. He kept reading the same sentences over and over. Where was Josh? What could possibly have happened to him on Brisula? Did the Tradians do something to Josh? Paul never thought that this kind of harm would come to his best friend. Was there something he could have done to prevent this from happening? He pushed back the desk chair, got up and left the room. He took a slow walk down to Sick Bay. The large glass doors slid open as he approached. Walking through the doors he spied Nurse Rugan tending to an officer.

  Damn, he thought. I was hoping to be alone. He had wanted to do some research on the computer in his medical office.

  “Hello, Nurse Rugan,” greeted Paul coming up behind her.

  “Oh, Dr. Loring. I didn’t hear you come in,” replied Nurse Rugan turning around to face the doctor.

  “What do we have here?” he asked. He had forgotten that the nurse wore hearing aids, and that he should have made his presence known.

  “Yeoman Perez came into Sick Bay with a sore throat. I took a throat sample, and I was just waiting for the computer analysis. I was going to call you if the test results were more serious than a routine condition.” Nurse Rugan blushed as she spoke to the doctor. Why, she thought, do I get so nervous around Dr. Loring? Sometimes I feel like he is undressing me with his eyes.

  Paul flashed a smile. He reached up and adjusted the bangs of his copper locks, so they were not restricting his view of the nurse. Amanda was just the type of woman he could go for, if he was interested in dating. She was smart, competent, sexy but shy. However, he had no desire to get involved with a woman. Getting into a relationship at this time could interfere with his concentration. Right now he needed to focus on his work. But he could dream, and there were many nights where Amanda came to him late at night and fulfilled all his fantasies.

  “Here are the lab results,” said Amanda, interrupting his daydream. She handed him a computer printout.

  “Yeoman Perez,” said Paul in his professional medical voice. “You have a sore throat that is an early symptom of the common cold. Unfortunately there is no cure yet for the common cold. Nurse Rugan can give you some lozenges and some salt water to gargle with. Come back if the soreness doesn’t improve in five days.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Paul,” whispered the young Yeoman as she slid off the examining table. Paul noticed the time on the large clock above the X-ray machine. It was time to go back to the Conference Room to hear the report on Jackson Greene. Hopefully his hunch would show some hint that Greene could be the informant.

  Dennis Pearson was slumped down in one of the easy chairs in his quarters. He held a cold cup of coffee in his right hand and stared ahead looking at nothing in particular.

  Finally Diane could not stand it any longer. “Denny,” she said, “you’ve been sitting in that chair for the last hour. Your coffee, which you never even took a sip of, is now ice cold. Please put the cup down before you spill it all over yourself.”

  “Um, what did you say, dear?” responded Dennis.

  “I said put the cup down.”

  “Oh.” He raised the cup to his lips and took a gulp. “Ick, I hate cold coffee.” He placed the cup on the end table alongside his chair.

  “There’s an incident that happened earlier today that I’d like to discuss with you,” said Diane getting up from the bed and sliding into the other easy chair.

  “Sure. What can I help you with?”

  “Well, a few hours ago Dr. Loring was on the Bridge, and he came over to my station. He asked me if I had found any more transmissions from Brisula. I told him I was working on trying to find out where the transmission we intercepted had come from. I thought his next comment was rather strange. He said that the transmission was probably from another planet because he was sure there was no intelligent life on Brisula. He said that I shouldn’t waste my time looking any further.”

  “Why would he say that?” Dennis asked. He straightened up in his chair. “That does seem quite odd.”

  “That’s what I thought also.”

  “You know,” said Dennis, “now that I think about it, Paul said the same thing a little bit ago to Dave and I. He said the transmission that Officer Greene had just intercepted was probably from cyberspace.”

  “The thing is,“ continued Diane, “there is something about Paul that has been bothering me, but I can’t seem to place it. It seems like there is something about Dr. Loring that I should remember, but it is just escaping me.” She paused and scratched her chin. “There’s another thing I want to ask. Remember when Paul came in our room the night the Captain died?”

  “Yes,” said Dennis looking at Diane’s bright red hair. Gee, how he loved her hair. He fought back the urge to grab Diane, slide his fingers through her hair, and kiss her passionately.

  “Well,” said Diane, “Paul had said the Captain had disappeared. What did he mean by that?”

  “I think he meant that the Captain had disappeared before we found his body,” answered Dennis. He hated having to lie to Diane. But he couldn’t tell Diane the truth, that the Captain’s body was a fake.

  “No, I got the distinct feeling that he was implying that the Captain had not died. He had merely disappeared,” insisted Diane. She looked at Dennis and then slowly shook her head. “But that doesn’t make sense, does it? We found the Captain’s body.”

  “Yes,” said Dennis, “we did find the body.” He rose, then leaned down, and gave Diane a quick kiss on her forehead. He squeezed her shoulders. “I have to get b
ack to the Conference Room. Dave has prepared some more reports for us to go over.” And with that he turned and headed out the door.

  Commander Dave Andrews reflected on the current situation as he waited for Dr. Loring and Chief Engineer Pearson. I sure miss Josh Stoner, he thought. He always enjoyed working with Stoner. Josh was the type of leader that his underlings held in high esteem. Most would do anything he asked without any hesitation. Even Shasta and Hampton respected him despite how hard he was on the young officers. It was because of this admiration for Josh Stoner that the atmosphere aboard the Gladiator had remained orderly. The crew was in mourning, but they were also being loyal to his memory and respectful to those who were now in command, namely Pearson and himself. Jeez, me and Pearson being civil to each other? Josh would sure be surprised but proud.

  The heavy wooden Conference Room door slowly opened, and Dennis Pearson sauntered in. Dave wondered what was wrong with the usually agitated engineer.

  “What’s bothering you?” inquired Andrews.

  “I don’t know,” answered Pearson. “Do you think Loring has been acting strange?”

  Dave gave Pearson a quizzical look. “No,” he responded, “you know how close Paul and Josh are. I think Paul is just very concerned about Josh’s predicament.”

  “You’re probably right,” agreed Pearson although he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more going on with Dr. Loring.

  At that moment in stormed Paul Loring.

  “So is Jackson Greene our spy?” he asked. Instead of taking a seat in one of the rolling Conference Room chairs, he hopped up on the table, so that he was face to face with Dave Andrews.