Echoes of Avarice

by Brendan O'Neill

  The fleet of refugees they expected came and left already, Connor missing the whole thing. Captain Yuji used the opportunity to scrounge supplies for his new ship, careful not to mention anything about the Pegasus. He’d kept it inside the nebula while the fleet was there. Trading, borrowing, and even begging for needed parts, the captain found remarkable success. Almost 70% of the Pegasus’ critical systems were online.

  Nearly every person onboard helped in some way. Even Krieger’s protégé Nataliya Petrenko volunteered to rebuild the ship’s software. Captain Yuji trusted the Black Watch even less than Connor and restricted her to unimportant systems in the beginning. But her programming and hacking skills were unparalleled and he was forced to relent in the end. No one else could rebuild the ship’s data core and AI from the ground up.

  Connor was still gazing at the great bulk of the Pegasus when the sound of footsteps on the metal hall behind him caused him to turn. Charisma was approaching with a huge smile on her face.

  “Hey, Car!” he almost shouted as they leapt into each other’s arms.

  “It’s been too long,” she purred in response. Charisma leaned her head into his shoulder as he held her. They stood like that for several moments before they stepped apart, smiling.

  Connor’s smile faded into confusion when he looked her over. Her arm bore the red cross of a volunteer field medic. “I thought the Pegasus had dual medical bays,” he said. “Why aren’t you wearing a doctor’s uniform?”

  “Frasier got the post,” Charisma said with a smile. In fact, she was positively beaming.

  “But I thought you had seniority.”

  “I do, but she was an assistant resident doctor at her last colony. She has the training and experience.” Charisma’s smile took on a smug hue, and her eyes twinkled like sapphires. “Plus, I requested field work.”

  Connor tried to keep the smile on his face as his stomach started to churn. He’d almost convinced himself she would stay in the safety of the Pegasus medical bay, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that she wanted field work. Her decision disappointed but didn’t surprise him. It was time to change the subject.

  “How are you guys in medical getting along with Nataliya? I understand she started on your computers this morning.”

  “She’s nice, I guess,” Charisma said. Her eyes left his and her voice had almost a defensive tone to it.

  Connor almost chuckled to himself. He’d noticed women noticeably bristle when the Ukrainian entered a room. He wasn’t sure if it was because Nataliya was Black Watch or that she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. Between her good looks and large breasts, she only had to bat her eyes and men would jump to her requests. That caused a lot of friction with the wives and many of the women in general. In fact, the only women who didn’t seem agitated by her presence were Rana Lavi and Danielle Tejeda. Lavi radiated apathy at the best of times and Tejeda was too busy ogling.

  “Are you going to have tonight off?” Charisma asked. Now she was changing the subject.

  “I was going to get in a little more training with Lavi, but I suppose she won’t mind me taking a night off.” Connor slid over to her and grabbed her around the waist, a wolfish grin on his face. “We haven’t really had a chance for quality time for a while.”

  Charisma returned his look even more intensely. She didn’t speak, just kissed him hard and deep.

  “Oye, huevones!”

  The pair jumped, so intensely focused on each other that they didn’t hear Tejeda’s approach.

  “Save the love for when you’re off the clock, kids,” Tejeda said with a smile. “Colonel Bradley wants to see you two in cargo bay 4,”

  Charisma just grinned at her friend, the tips of her ears becoming slightly pink as she fell in line behind her. Connor followed after that, his face bright red. They were half way down the corridor before his embarrassment abated enough for his mind to start working.

  “Wait a minute,” Connor said, jogging to catch up with the sarcastic Chilean. “Col. Bradley is on the Prometheus? Why would he come here?”

  “You’re going to have to ask him, lover-boy. All I know is we have a job. I assume it’s important or else I doubt the Colonel would’ve sent for us personally.”

  When they entered cargo bay 4, Col. Bradley stood in the middle of a group of people at the far end of the former gym, flanked by a pair of shuttles. Connor looked around the massive empty bay, a twang of loss piercing his heart. Gone were the mats that he had practiced on, as were the weight lifting machines that he’d always done his best to avoid. Everything was stripped bare, even the walls were missing the occasional panel and half the lights were ripped out. The whole atmosphere gave the bay a shadowy and ominous feel.

  The trio approached as Col. Bradley was speaking quietly to his adjutant, Lt. Chen. Wild Bill and Lavi were several feet away, looking bored as they stood next to an apprehensive Heyerdahl. The volunteer tech chewed his nails as his eyes darted to the newcomers.

  “One of these days I’m going to learn to keep my trap shut!” Heyerdahl whispered to Connor and Charisma as Col Bradley approached the group.

  Before Connor could ask him what he was talking about, Col. Bradley spoke. “As you all know, the Pegasus’ primary systems are almost entirely online. But her lancers are, at best, unreliable. We’re running on backup systems. We need two more photon guide bridges just to bring the primary weapon systems online. Without those weapons, I won’t risk taking her away from the nebula.”

  The Colonel waved a hand at Heyerdahl, a hint of satisfaction on his face. “Luckily, Mr. Heyerdahl might have found what we need at Sanctuary.”

  All heads turned to Heyerdahl, who just looked at the floor in chagrin.

  “If you need to scrounge equipment, that’s the place,” Tejeda commented.

  “If they actually have it,” Lavi said. “Sanctuary’s dangerous. How can we be sure Jason’s information is accurate?”

  “An associate of his has assured him that the equipment can be acquired there for the right price,” Col. Bradley answered. “His associate has promised to act as an intermediary between us and the third party. Although he has set a couple conditions.”

  “Which are?” Wild Bill asked.

  “One, he and a collection of others want out of Sanctuary. I’ve been assured there aren’t more than five in all. We’ll absorb them into our civilian population.”

  “And the second?” asked Lavi.

  “He’ll only deal with Mr. Heyerdahl.”

  Again, all eyes drifted to Heyerdahl. “It wasn’t my idea,” he whined. “We met during the week the fleet converged. When I learned he’d moved to Sanctuary, I messaged him and mentioned some of the things we needed. He swore to help us get them if we get him and his friends off the planet.”

  “Whatever the circumstances,” Col. Bradley went on, “I want the six of you to go to Sanctuary and trade for as many bridges as you can get. As we speak, cargo bay 2 is being loaded with various goods that should trade for more than just two bridges.” Col. Bradley looked at his adjutant and waved a hand at the Wild Bill. Lt. Chen handed the pile of folders to him, then returned to Col. Bradley’s side. “Your contact is named Van Dorn. Everything we have on him and any possible compatriots are in those files. The Prometheus will ferry you into orbit of Sanctuary as soon as my shuttle is clear. I’ve left two squads of CPF on board to protect the Prometheus while you’re planetside, and to act as backup should that be necessary. Any questions?”

  “How trustworthy is this contact?” Wild Bill asked. “Caution’s wise at the best of times, but on Sanctuary…”

  “Mr. Heyerdahl was able to establish the validity of the contact, but not their trustworthiness. I want those bridges, but not at the cost of you or your team. I leave risk assessment in your hands. If it’s too high, bug out and return to the Pegasus.”

  “What are the rules of engagement?” Lavi asked.

  “Sanctuary is at best a chaotic environment,” Col. Bradley sa
id. “Bring what you think is appropriate and engage as you need. But try to stay under the radar.”

  When no other questions came, he looked over the group and said, “You have ten days of travel to prepare before you’re in orbit. Good luck.” Then he turned and walked toward one of the two shuttles near the bay doors. Connor raced to intercept him.

  “Sir,” Connor said in a low voice, “I’m curious as to why I’m being sent on this mission. Don’t get me wrong, I ‘m glad to be sent.” Connor’s eyes searched the walls as his mind searched for the right words. “But I thought I was getting a… not failing grade from Lavi but…”

  “First of all, Mr. Harper, its Corporal Lavi,” Col. Bradley said. “And second as you said, you were. According to both her and Master Sergeant Carter you’ve made fantastic progress in both weapons and combatives. They both recommended you for this mission.”

  Connor stood as straight as possible, doing his best to emulate standing at attention. He saluted, Col. Bradley throwing a hasty salute in return. Before Col. Bradley could entirely turn away, Connor spoke again.

  “Sir,” Connor said meekly, “is this the best mission for Charisma to go on?” The hard look in Col. Bradley’s eyes pushed Connor to define his question. “I mean, she has relatively little weapons training.”

  “As do most field medics, Mr. Harper.” Col. Bradley’s face was an image flicker of annoyance that threatened to burst into full blown anger. “You’ve had more weapons training since you are a security volunteer so it will fall to you and your team to protect its weaker members. However, if you feel that I’ve made an error in my assignments, I would be happy to reevaluate my decisions.” He fixed Connor with a very powerful gaze. “All of them.”

  “That… uh… won’t be necessary, sir,” Connor stammered out quickly. He saluted again, then turned to rush back to the group without bothering to see if his salute was returned.

  Wild Bill was already debriefing the rest of the group as he approached.

  “What was that about?” Charisma whispered as he rejoined the group.

  “Uh… nothing,” Connor said trying to sound laid back. “Just needed clarification on something. Everything’s copacetic.”

  As he smiled his most disarming smile at Charisma, Lavi jammed one of the files into his hand. He looked at her just in time to see an exasperated eyebrow shot at him before she continued passing out files.

  Connor looked at the tab. Jack Van Dorn. The name sounded like your everyday average guy. Skimming the contents, confirmed that impression. Dusky skin and dark eyes, he worked in a warehouse in Durban, South Africa before the war. One sister, no known allegiances, and only known alias was ‘Jackie’. On paper, Jack Van Dorn was the only person in the world more boring than himself.

  “Time to clear the bay!” Wild Bill called from the door. Everyone but Connor and Charisma had left the cargo bay. Wild Bill stood at the doorway and pointed at the massive bay doors that were about to open to deep space. “Unless you want to float all the way to Sanctuary.”

  Wild Bill stopped Connor and Charisma as they jogged out of the cargo bay. Lavi and Heyerdahl stood just a few feet down the corridor. “I hope you weren’t planning on relaxing any time soon,” the Texan said. “Corporal Lavi and I will be accelerating your training. We have ten days to get you ready for a lovely jaunt through a living nightmare.”

  Chapter 15:

  Connor, Charisma, and Heyerdahl sat together in the Prometheus’s empty mess hall looking at the looming planet through the viewport. The room’s only sound was their breathing, and two of its five remaining lights flickered uncomfortably. Each stared at the brown world as though it were death itself.

  They’d be in orbit any time now, and the tension aboard was thick enough to cut with a knife. The fleet personnel constantly found tasks to appear busy, worried that if they didn’t they’d be drafted into joining planetfall. Even Lavi and Wild Bill seemed to exude a certain level of apprehension as they waited for orbit.

  Ever since the Prometheus left the Vega system, the CPF had trained the three volunteers as hard as possible. When they weren’t training hand to hand with Lavi, they were weapons training with Wild Bill. The few moments they got outside of physical training were taken up with procedural and logistical training.

  Until last night. They were given a quick physical examination, a prerequisite for any mission into a possible hardship environment. Then, Wild Bill and Lavi suddenly cut them loose to decompress before planet-fall.

  Connor turned his eyes away from the planet to study Charisma. He would be getting an eyeful of that place soon enough. Better to study something a little lovelier.

  She lounged against one of the tables, staring at the ugly brown planet slowly moving toward them. They held hands as she looked at the planet with just a hint of apprehension on her face.

  His eyes drifted across her body. Gone was her pear-shape, worn away by the intense training sessions with Lavi. She didn’t have Lavi’s perfect physique of toned muscle, but she’d lost most of her excess fat. Of course, Connor had lost his excess as well, not that he had much in the first place. The training had instead built muscle onto his skinny form.

  “Do you think it’s going to be dangerous down there?” Heyerdahl’s voice ripped him from his thoughts.

  “Not really,” Charisma responded. “Just a quick in and out.” She was trying to sound relaxed, but Connor could hear the nerves shake her delicate voice.

  “I’ve heard the rumors about Sanctuary,” he said. “We all have. It’s like a warzone there. No, that’s not right, a war zone would actually be safer than that place. An army of hard-core prisoners without guards would be an improvement from what is there.”

  While Charisma cooed motherly and patted his arm, Connor couldn’t help but bait them with something familiar from his televids.

  “So, you’re saying it’s a hive?” he asked smiling. “Is it wretched? Will we find scum? Or villainy?” The man looked at the pair, searching their faces for some form of recognition.

  Charisma shot him an exasperated stare. “Not the time, Connor,” she growled.

  “Don’t know why I bother with the televids if no one watches them,” Conner sulked as he dropped back against the table. He crossed his arms over his chest in a huff, then turned back to look at the diarrhea colored planet.

  Charisma turned her attention back to Heyerdahl. “Don’t worry, Jason. We’ll have Bill, Rana, and Daniela there with us. We’ll be fine.”

  Heyerdahl looked as though he would be sick. “I hope so. When I signed up to be a tech, Colonel Bradley promised me I wouldn’t have to go off ship. I’m just supposed to be the second in the engineering bay. I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff!”

  Connor tried not to hold it against the man, but he was seriously cutting into his quality time with Charisma. Ever since he found out he was leaving the relative safety of the Prometheus, Heyerdahl constantly sought out the safety of his friends. He spent every free moment he had around Connor or Charisma, clinging to them as though they were a security blanket. Connor’s patience was wearing thin and his frustration was growing so thick he could almost chew on it.

  Charisma, on the other hand, fell back on her matronly bedside manner to suppress her frustration. She coddled the man, inviting him to join the pair any time he was distressed.

  “Second in the engineering bay?” she asked. “As in the right hand of the head engineer?”

  “Yeah. I guess the captain was impressed by my assessment of the Jump Engines. Ever since then, he’s had his head engineer give me some pretty intense engineering evaluations. Last week I was called into Colonel Bradley’s office. He said Chief Engineer O’Meaney wanted me as his second. I told him I’d take it if it meant no more missions.”

  “That didn’t quite work out for you,” Connor said absently. He was still concentrating on Charisma’s delicious form.

  “My own fault for mentioning the bridges to the Captain,” Heyerdahl sa
id almost as absently. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the planet. “I met Jack in the fleet of ships we met with. We got to talking about what we needed during a poker game and I mentioned the bridges. Then a few days ago I get an encrypted message from the guy saying he can help us find a couple bridges if we would get him off Sanctuary. I told the captain, and here we are.” The man ground his teeth in frustration as he thought about his predicament. “Of course, Jack didn’t mention anything about me coming here. If he had, I may not have said anything.”

  Connor smiled and shook his head. From the rumors he heard, Heyerdahl was a savant in engineering, but he clearly wasn’t up for field work. Anyone could see he was on the edge of falling apart.

  But then, Connor had to admit he was feeling a little nervous about Sanctuary as well. All the soldiers on board had gone out of their way to give very detailed descriptions of just how dangerous it was there. Sanctuary was probably the most dangerous place in the known galaxy that didn’t have Ka’Rathi crawling all over it.

  “Volunteers, report to Cargo Bay 4,” said Commander Volkov over the intercom. The words shot a bold of electricity through Connor’s heart. For a moment all three held their breath as they looked at each other, each reading mirrored expressions on the other’s faces.

  Am I really ready? Is my training enough? What if I screw up? What if I get separated from the group?

  Charisma was the first to turn for the door. Silently, she reached out and grabbed the hand of each man and led them out of the mess hall.

  When the volunteers entered the bay, Wild Bill was waiting outside of the shuttle, leaning against its hull. Tejeda and Lavi were already in the pilot and copilot seats. The group moved at a trot, which sped to a run when Wild Bill waved for them to hurry. They sprinted the last couple yards, pulling up at the shuttle’s door.