The Jumpgate

by Robert Stadnik

  “For now, you and the remainder of your crew can enjoy an extended leave,” Vespia continued. “It’ll take quite some time to get you reassigned.”

  Jacob still had one important question he wanted to be answered. “What about the SOLARA?”

  “She’s incurred too much structural damage,” Vespia replied. “We’d have to essentially strip her down and rebuild her from the ground up. It doesn’t make sense to put money into fixing a ship of outdated design. Once our teams have finished their analysis, she’ll be decommissioned and scrapped.” Vespia could see the disappointment in Jacob’s face. “I’m surprised by your reaction, commander. You may have the opportunity to command one of the new starships that’ll be going into service, if that’s what you want.”

  “It’s just that…” Jacob started, but he held back. “Whatever you deem best for us, admiral.”

  Vespia could see he wasn’t going to open up to her. He was being cooperative, and that’s all that mattered. “In the meantime, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. We’ll pick up the tab.”

  “Thank you, admiral.”

  “We’ll talk again,” Vespia said as she headed out. “Good work commander, and welcome back.”

  Jacob sat down on the couch. He didn’t know why he assumed he’d return to the SOLARA with the crew. Most of them treated him with disdain. Even after returning to the Milky Way, a few of them blamed him for what happened. He should be looking forward to returning to the engineering bureau, which he was considering. Instead, he was pining over a ship he served all of one mission on.

  Jacob got up and returned to looking out the window. Yes, some time off would do him some good. He had a lot to think over as he wasn’t sure he wanted to remain in TERRA.

  ********

  Two days after Admiral Vespia’s meeting with Commander Diego, the command council convened to discuss the SOLARA. The survey teams had compiled a preliminary report of their findings and submitted it to the council for review. Some of the details in the report were…quite revealing.

  Vespia sat down in the center of the council’s half-circle table. “I trust everyone has read the report.”

  Admiral Sansabar spoke up first. “I’m concerned about the findings on the Jokabi’s technology. It’s far more advanced than anything we possess.”

  “The IQUIS’s damage was moderate considering the amount of fire they took,” ES officer Bradley Duncan pointed out. “Senfo technology may be resilient against the Jokabi.”

  “What about Onixin and Quix technology?” Senfo representative Nujil asked. “Do we know if they could stand up against Jokabi ships?”

  “It’ll take time for our scientists to analyze the data from the SOLARA and IQUIS to figure that out,” Vespia explained.

  “I’m more concerned about the Jokabi getting here,” Admiral Clint said. “Sensor data from the IQUIS and SOLARA show the gate nodes on the Triangulum side were destroyed. What about the nodes on this end?”

  The solution had already been decided and Vespia revealed it. “It’s been decided that we, the Onixins, and the Quix will each take a node to study. They can’t function individually, so there’s no risk of them to be activated.”

  “Our scientists will also assist in any studies of the nodes,” the Aldarian representative added.

  “Do you think they know our location?” Admiral Brandus asked. He was referring to the results of the autopsy done on the dead Jokabi recovered from the SOLARA. A transmitter was found in the alien’s body. It was still active and transmitting telemetry data long after the IQUIS and SOLARA returned to the Milky Way galaxy.

  “Hopefully, the wormhole collapsed before they received our location,” Vespia said.

  “Even if they did, they couldn’t do anything,” Clint pointed out. “They never used the gate to pursue the Screen and never built their gate to go after them.”

  “I would concur with your assessment,” Onixin representative Googoran agreed. “It is unlikely they can come to this galaxy.”

  Vespia wasn’t so sure about that. She suspected the Screen stole jumpgate technology from the Jokabi rather than develop it on their own. Some of the analysts studying the Screen files on their homeworld disclosed to her that it was highly unlikely the Screen invented the jumpgate. There were schematics on building the gate but no scientific files showing how it operated. The admiral did not share that information with the rest of the council and instructed the analysts to remain silent about it. The last thing she needed was to lose control of the council from fear.

  “The Io, now the Jokabi…it seems our exploration missions are garnering more enemies than friends,” Sansabar remarked.

  “Risk comes with space exploration,” officer Duncan reminded them. “We can’t keep our heads buried in the sand like we did with the Screen.”

  Vespia had to reluctantly agree with him. PHOENIX had opened the floodgates to space exploration. There was no turning back now. “It’s the mandate of TERRA to ensure the protection of the human race when threats arise. Let me remind you we do have local races here that, although not part of the alliance, are friendly towards us,” referring to the Rifva, even the xenophobic Gercol. “With them, and our alliance friends, we will better withstand any future hostile threats together.

  “To ensure we are ready if the Jokabi manage to reach our galaxy and part of space, we should commit to studying everything we learned about them for the foreseeable future,” Quix representative Forreziqudadraforfinkarada recommended.

  Several council and alliance representatives nodded in agreement. Vespia also concurred. “We’ll inform our governments as such to commit resources to preparing for the Jokabi.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  It took a lot of time and effort on Jacob’s part to pull it off. He called numerous people and spent countless hours making the arrangements, but he succeeded. In the grand ballroom of the Lunar Hotel were gathered most of the remaining crew of the SOLARA and their immediate families. As they would be working together for the foreseeable future, Jacob wanted to bring them together to celebrate their accomplishments. Not everyone attended the event. There were still crewmembers who blamed him for what happened in the Triangulum Galaxy. Jacob gave up trying to convince them otherwise. If they wouldn’t accept him after what they went through, they never would. He learned that only 124 crew members were remaining in TERRA. Almost 400 of the crew, minus those killed during the mission, chose to resign, either out of not wanting to do any more space exploration missions or blaming Jacob for what happened.

  The attending officers were all dressed in their white and gold ceremonial uniforms. Almost a thousand people were in the ballroom eating fine food, sipping expensive champagne, and enjoying the music. Jacob got TERRA to pick up the tab for the entire affair. Having a direct line to Admiral Vespia was certainly helpful.

  “I have never been to such a posh event,” Michelle remarked as she sipped her champagne. She was already inebriated. She was convinced they would never survive their adventure and promised herself to live it up as much as she could if they made it back. She was fulfilling that promise as she was already on her fourth glass of bubbly.

  “I always thought Private Julien was hot,” Michelle said to Jonas.

  “You said he was an asshole,” Jonas replied, looking over at the young man.

  “I did not!”

  “You told him to his face he’s an asshole the first day he came on board,” Jonas reminded her.

  The security chief smiled. “Yeah, but he’s hot.”

  Jonas rolled his eyes. He was glad they made it back, but he certainly wasn’t going to start hooking up with people for the hell of it.

  Jacob approached the pair as they chatted. “You two are looking good.”

  “Commander…sorry…captain,” Jonas started.

  Jacob shook his head. “No standing on ceremony tonight.” He was surprised when Admiral Vespia informed him of his promotion to the rank of captain. Jacob suspected
it was done to placate him and ensure his silence about the mission. He had lost interest in climbing up the ranks long ago, but when he was told of his promotion, he did feel proud.

  “Okay,” Jonas agreed. “But congratulations on your promotion.”

  “Hey, I got promoted too,” Michelle told them. She would be serving as Jacob’s executive officer.

  “I already congratulated you,” Jonas said as he turned back to Jacob. “Seriously, I’m glad we’ll continue to be working together, even though we don’t have much of a choice.”

  Jacob chuckled. “Me too.”

  “Hey there.” It was David approaching the group.

  “Hey you! Haven’t seen you in weeks,” Michelle said as she gave the communications officer a hug. She caught him off-guard and he wasn’t sure how to respond. He couldn’t really say anything as her breasts pressed up against his face.

  Jonas chuckled “Don’t mind her. She’s just drunk.”

  “Am not,” Michelle replied as she turned and hugged the chief engineer. “You know you’ll always be my bestest friend.”

  “Oh geez!” Jonas exclaimed as he tried to resist her hug. Once he pulled himself away from her and composed himself, he spoke to the newly promoted captain. “Are we ever going to get together and talk about what happened?”

  Jacob motioned him to hush it. “Cool it.” They were all under strict orders not to discuss their mission and Jacob expected TERRA probably placed secret operatives at this event to ensure officers were complying. They would talk, but later, in private. None of them had a chance to process what happened to them before being separated and whisked away into isolation.

  Lieutenant Nalus approached and interrupted the group. “Excuse me.”

  “Kelly!” Jonas beamed. “Good to see you.” He was giving Michelle a hard time for being drunk, but he wasn’t far behind her.

  “Lieutenant,” Jacob acknowledged as Michelle nodded to her. They noticed the man and two kids with her.

  “I’d like to introduce my husband Able and daughters Denise and Malinda.”

  “Good to meet you,” Able greeted as he shook hands with the three officers. The girls were shy and only waved as they hid behind their dad. “Kelly’s told me all about you.”

  “I hope it’s all good,” Michelle replied. “I know she’s talked shit…”

  Jonas cut her off. “Michelle! The kids.”

  Michelle giggled as she put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”

  “Captain Diego, could I speak to you for a moment in private?” Kelly asked.

  “We can go over here.” Jacob motioned her over to a corner where no one was around.

  As they left the group, Jonas knelt in front of the girls. “You want to hear some stories about your mom?”

  “Yeah!” the girls replied in unison.

  As they made their way to the corner, Jacob spoke up first. “How have you been?”

  “I’ve been good. It was frustrating not being able to go home to Mars. I think Admiral Vargas got so tired of me bugging him that he approved bringing my family to Luna.”

  Jacob couldn’t help but chuckle. “It was tough for a lot of the crew with families. I’m glad you were reunited with yours.”

  “Captain…” Kelly didn’t know where to start. She didn’t want to acknowledge what he did for them during the mission as she still harbored bad feelings towards him. When she was finally reunited with her family, she realized it was Diego who made it possible for their return home. She finally had to let go of her past feelings. “I was wrong.”

  Jacob wasn’t sure what she meant. “Lieutenant?”

  “I treated you like shit when you first came to SOLARA, for no reason other than because you served on the PHOENIX. I was mad that you and the rest of that crew were celebrated as heroes. I firmly believed you were all traitors.”

  Jacob held his hand up. “You don’t need to explain yourself. A lot of people in the fleet feel the same way. I’m used to it.”

  “But it’s wrong,” Kelly insisted. “It took almost being trapped in another galaxy to realize you’re a great officer. Despite how we treated you, you always had the crew’s welfare in mind. You brought all of us back home and to our families. I can’t take back how I treated you. All I can do is offer my apology and hope you’ll keep me on as your navigation officer.”

  Jacob was touched. He may not have been able to get through to the entire crew, but that was okay. Making a connection with even one person was enough. Jacob smiled. “Apology accepted. I’d be honored to continue having you as my navigation officer. That’s if we get assigned to another ship.”

  “They’d be stupid not to give us another one. You have interstellar experience on two ships now. Where else are they going to put you?”

  “We’ll just have to wait and see.” In truth, Jacob wasn’t sure if he wanted a ship assignment. He’d been thinking about some personal issues and considering making changes to his life to correct some of his past choices. Serving on another ship, even as ship commander, wasn’t compatible with what he was thinking.

  Kelly interrupted his thoughts. “I just ask one thing.”

  “Name it,” Jacob replied.

  “No more traveling to other galaxies. We have enough to deal with in our only little sector of space.”

  Jacob laughed. “I promise lieutenant. No more jumpgates for us.”

  As the two continued to talk, David wandered around the ballroom. Both Michelle and Jonas were becoming a little too animated. Jonas, feeling the effects of the champagne, dragged Michelle over to the buffet table so they both could get some food in their stomachs. David wasn’t going to come to the party as Fotell was recalled to Flutori to recount the SOLARA’s mission to her superiors. She was the only officer he connected with, but he felt obligated to Captain Diego to make an appearance. He quickly grabbed a plate of food and moved away from the crowds and took a seat at an empty table. Despite what they all went through, David still felt like an outsider to the crew.

  David was oblivious to all the chatter echoing in the ballroom. He focused on his plate of food that he got from the buffet table, taking his time eating it. He decided once he was done eating he’d head out. He wasn’t feeling much like celebrating. For him, coming home changed nothing. He was still alone.

  “Hey you.”

  David looked up and was taken aback by who it was. He never expected to see him again. There stood Billy Pedia.

  “Billy…” David was at a loss for words. He never expected to see his former best friend here. He wasn’t prepared to see him. Even though he learned what Billy was trying to do for him, David was certain his promotion wouldn’t happen. He didn’t think about returning to Mars.

  Billy took a seat next to David. “I wasn’t sure if you’d show up here. I know how you like to keep to yourself.”

  “I felt obligated to Captain Diego,” David replied. “What are you doing here?”

  Billy was surprised by the question. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to see my best friend.”

  “I thought we weren’t anymore.” It was a reaction from David’s gut. He immediately regretted saying it when he saw the look of hurt on his friend’s face.

  “How can you say that? You’ve always been my best friend. You and John.”

  “It’s…” David didn’t want to delve into any of this but felt now was the time to clear the air. “John’s commanding TERRA’s flagship and you’re the head of the Mars communications center. Where am I? Communications officer on a capital ship and only because of Admiral Vespia. Your careers took off because you took a chance on something you believed in. I did the same thing and was left behind, forgotten.”

  It hurt Billy to hear those words. “I never forgot you. I know it appeared that I had turned my back on you. I had to put up an appearance to deal with politics and secure my position, but I never forgot about you. I thought about you every day.”

  “I know that now. Fotell told me what you had done in gettin
g me that position,” he said, referring to the head communications night watch position. “I never expected that, and it means a lot you did that for me. I’m sorry…”

  Billy interrupted him. “I’m sorry, David. If I had known how you felt, I would have told you sooner. I’ve always looked out for you and always will.”

  David smiled. It was a great relief to learn he was wrong about Billy. “Even if it means not taking that post?”

  “I heard you’re all supposed to stay together,” Billy remarked. “I’m sure we can get an exemption for you from Admiral Vespia.” In truth, Billy had already spoken with the admiral and gotten clearance for David to return to the Mars communications station.

  “I’m not sure what I want to do,” David admitted. “Part of me wants to stay with this crew, even though I still feel like an outsider. But I also don’t want to lose the chance of working with you. I need some time to consider things.”

  Although Billy was disappointed David might not go back to Mars, he didn’t want to pressure him. “Take all the time to think about it. There’s just one more thing. I hope you’re not angry at John for not coming back to get you.”

  It took a moment for David to consider his answer. “I was angry at him. We saw how he was at the Academy, arrogant and only concerned about himself. I wanted to believe that’s why he didn’t come to get me. He got what he wanted and to hell with me, but I saw him as a ship commander on PHOENIX. He has changed, for the better. No, I’m not mad at him. John has his reasons for not coming to get me. I’m okay with it.”

  Billy was happy to hear there were no hard feelings. The three had been friends for too long. Billy had every intention for the three of them to get together the day PHOENIX returned from its exploration mission.

  Billy looked around. “So, I heard everything’s free here. Where can we get some drinks?”

  David smiled. A little trouble would do them both some good.

  CHAPTER TWENTY