Dana’s voice filled the bridge. “John, this is Dana. The driver is coming round, and I’m not really sure where the safety is on this gun.”
“I think that’s my cue,” said Ray.
“We’ll all go,” said John, standing. “We should give our guests a proper send-off.”
Twenty minutes later, after having dropped off Devonai, Richter, and the wrecked Expedition in the woods outside of Manchester, John joined Ari in her future quarters with a first aid kit. Ari was lying down on the bare mattress, holding her hand to her head. A bruise was forming on her forehead from hitting the driver’s seat. John pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. He began to sort out the items he wanted.
“Guess what?” he said. “We found your Glock in the glove compartment of their Expedition.”
“Hey, that’s great,” said Ari unenthusiastically.
“Hold still,” John said, daubing antiseptic on Ari’s cheek.
“That was a hell of a rescue plan.”
“Thanks. It was my first.”
“Marks really screwed us over by going to the CIA. And the sanctimonious prick, if you can believe it, actually told me to my face that the Faith would be better off without us.”
“If we accidentally fly into the sun because we don’t know what we’re doing, then he’ll be right.”
“Somehow I doubt Seth will let us do anything that stupid.”
“Seth’s memory is shot. That’s becoming more and more obvious the longer we work together. I’m convinced that he would tell us what the mission is if he could remember it.”
“He’s a computer, right? If the data is gone, it’s gone. Don’t ask me to crack that thing open and recover the data.”
John placed a bandage over the cut on Ari’s cheek. He activated a cold compress and placed it on her head.
“How did the CIA treat you?”
“Oh, they were perfect gentlemen. Polite, but forceful. I can’t say I hold any ire towards them; they were just doing their job. It’s Marks that I’d like to ventilate.”
“So, they didn’t coerce anything out of you, did they?”
“No, nothing. I mentioned the Faith to Marks in passing but I didn’t admit to anything. Unfortunately, it didn’t take much for my behavior to reinforce Marks’ story.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean offering no alternative explanation was just about as bad as if I’d spilled the beans.”
“Oh.”
“At least now I know I can drop the hammer on the bad guys.”
“None of us had any doubt about that, Ari.”
“I was impressed with Major Devonai. He made me look like a five legged man at an ass-kicking contest.”
“I suppose you’ll have to admit that there may actually be some superior martial artists out there.”
“Well, we know of at least one. Then again, he could have simply been lucky.”
“I wouldn’t classify anything that happened today as ‘lucky.’”
Ari sighed. “This is turning out to be the longest day of my life.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I think we should suggest to the others that we find a quiet place to hide out for the rest of the day and start fresh in the morning.”
“Ari, there’s something you should know.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I could have prevented the CIA from grabbing you.”
“And if wishes were horses, then we’d all... well, I can’t remember how it goes.”
“I hesitated. I wanted to protect you, but I couldn’t get myself to make the final leap.”
Ari patted John on the knee. “You did the best you could.”
John ignored the gesture. He stared at the wall with a grim expression.
“Next time, I won’t hesitate.”
__________
“You had Arianna Ferro?”
Hill squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. Across her desk was Commander Guilfoyle, and he was pissed. Hill had just called him in to tell him what had happened to Major Devonai and Corporal Richter. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell him the story without revealing the involvement of Ferro.
“We ran into her and John Scherer in Boston earlier today. There was a scuffle, and we were able to detain Ferro. Scherer got away. Devonai brought her along to investigate the last signal. That’s when they were grabbed.”
“I thought we had an agreement, Hill. The CIA was supposed to cooperate fully with us.”
“I thought it best to wait until we knew more before briefing you again.”
“But you had Ferro during the first briefing.”
“If this arrangement is going to work, Commander, you’ve got to trust us a little bit more. We were planning on telling you about Ferro when we had a better picture of the situation.”
“Let’s cut the bullshit, Hill. I know you’re not comfortable with this relationship. If you want to play games with the DIA you’ll find yourself in a world of trouble. You and your pet organization Omega will be bagging groceries within the month.”
Hill leaned forward, shocked. “How do you know about Omega?”
“Are you serious? Do you think that you can run operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan completely under the radar of the Department of Defense? You may think that you have autonomy, but take my word for it, there are a lot of powerful people who have their eye on Omega Group, going back as far as the Merciel affair. So far, based on what I’ve seen, you have a good reputation. Your actions today reflect poorly on that.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” said Hill.
Devonai and Richter walked in and were distressed to find Commander Guilfoyle sitting across the desk from Hill. Somehow they’d managed to forget about the DIA.
“Have a seat, gentlemen,” said Hill.
“Corporal Richter,” said Richter, offering his hand to the Commander.
Guilfoyle accepted the shake. “Lieutenant Commander Guilfoyle, DIA.”
“Are you prepared to debrief us?” asked Hill.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Devonai said, settling into his seat.
“How are you, Corporal?”
“I’ll be all right, Ma’am,” said Richter. “I just got a little banged up.”
“Good. Major, I’ve briefed the Commander about our telephone conversation. Please fill in the details.”
“Okay,” said Devonai. “It seems that Marks is correct. A small group of friends and colleagues have constructed a ship based on instructions received from space. The USS Portland was used as a source of material. It is possible, by the way, that there is more than one ship based on the sheer amount of material taken from the Portland. Anyway, at approximately sixteen hundred hours today the crew of the ship executed a rescue plan to recover their crewmate, Miss Ferro. Richter and I were detained briefly by the crew before being released. I called you as soon as I could.”
“Please describe the ship.”
“The ship was definitely still under construction. There were all sorts of materials scattered about waiting to be installed, including furniture and plumbing fixtures. I also noticed a large amount of computer equipment in the back of Mister Bailey’s Ford Expedition, which was parked in the cargo bay. The ship’s design was very utilitarian; just about the only interesting architecture was the windows. Richter was unconscious after our accident so I alone was brought to the bridge. I spoke mainly with John Scherer, who appears to be the leader of the crew. The bridge was designed for five crewmembers, but the only thing present there were chairs. I have no idea how they were controlling the ship unless there were controls elsewhere on the ship. Mister Scherer did not reveal any details about the origin of the project, but he did tell me that they don’t know what their mission is.”
“They don’t know what they’re doing?”
“They don’t know why an alien race has told them how to build a ship or why they should return with it, no. As a group of amateurs, they seem
motivated entirely by curiosity.”
“There’s something that doesn’t make any sense,” said Hill. “These people managed to build the superstructure of the ship using materials taken from the Portland, but they need to provide their own furniture, plumbing, and computers? Why would technology capable of creating the superstructure of the ship not be able to provide everything else that they need?”
“I don’t know. They also have incredible cloaking technology but there was no explanation for that either.”
“Why did they let you go?”
“They told me that they know how we’ve been tracking them, and they’ve taken measures to prevent it. Based on the events of the last couple days, I have no reason to doubt them. They let Richter and I go because they don’t believe that we pose any threat to them, a very confident conclusion considering that we were shooting at each other no more than two hours earlier.”
“What’s your recommendation, major?” asked Guilfoyle.
“If you’ll pardon my candor, commander, I think we’re screwed. We destroyed any chance of a meaningful dialog by going in too hard, too fast. I doubt we’ll hear from them again until they get back from their mission, and who knows when that might be.”
“I’m hardly willing to close the case based on that, major. Do you have any ideas on how to proceed regardless of any cynical conclusions?”
Devonai shrugged. “The only thing we can really do is continue to keep their residences under surveillance, despite the fact that they know we’re there. I suppose they might try something incredibly stupid anyway, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
“What about the residence in New Hampshire?” asked Hill.
“What about it?”
“Do you think they’ll show up there?”
“They know that we know who they are, and that ASTRA got a bead on the ship while it was in Orford. If I was them I wouldn’t go anywhere near that location any more than I would the others. We lost Ferro, so we don’t have anything on them now.”
“I want you and Richter to check out that location, anyway. There might be something useful that they left behind. At this point, any new information is better than nothing.”
“If you want us to go, we’ll go.”
“What are you going to do with Marks?” asked Richter.
“We’re sending him down to Bethlehem,” Hill replied. “There’s no reason to hold him here, as he’s outlived his usefulness, so he might as well help out at ASTRA. He’s promised us to see if they can come up with a new way of tracking the ship.”
“Major,” began Guilfoyle, “you don’t seem as enthusiastic as you did earlier.”
“That would be an accurate assessment, sir.”
“Would you like to be relieved from this mission?”
“No, I would not. I’m simply trying to express my realization that this mission has probably failed. It failed the moment they got Ferro back on board that ship.”
“Just go to Orford,” said Hill. “Enthusiastic or not, we need to hold on to whatever last shred of hope this case may have left.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Devonai and Richter got up and moved toward the door.
“Oh, and major,” said Guilfoyle. “Try not to screw things up any more than you already have.”
“Thanks a lot.”
24.
John’s quarters were completely dark. Through the hourglass shape of his window, John could see a deep starfield. It was a wonderful way to wake up.
John had slept solidly despite having only a bare mattress. A quick check of his self-luminous watch confirmed that it was ten minutes to midnight. The stillness of the room was complete; John could hear only himself breathing. This confirmed that the ship was still at rest, as a low hum filled every corner of the ship while they were underway. Though he had only been asleep for five hours, John found himself wide awake. He decided to see if anyone else was up. When he moved, he found Friday sleeping beside him. John paused to pet the cat, and then stood up.
“Medium lights,” he said.
Seth had been informed what such a phrase meant, and soft bluish-white light filled the room. Like the rest of the ship, the sources of the light were recesses in the wall by the floor. John smiled, the effect pleased him greatly.
Another look through the window confirmed that the ship was still where they’d left it last night; invisible against the side of a nearby mountain. They hovered a few feet above the nearest trees, safe from prying eyes and wayward aircraft. Unfortunately, the terrain offered no creature comforts, some of which the crew was beginning to desire desperately. That would have to be addressed sooner than later.
Entering the hallway, John headed towards the conference room. He blinked at the light upon entering the room, which was brighter than the hallway. Ray was inside, down on his hands and knees, attaching a chair to the deck.
“Hi, John,” Ray said. “Awake already?”
“Yeah. Friday is in my room. Did you decide to go completely offline for awhile?”
“No, Tycho is pulling a shift on the bridge. You should talk to him, he’s got a really interesting perspective, what with being a dog and all.”
“I will. What else is going on?”
“Ari slept for a few hours, then she took the infrared transceiver to the orb room. She’s got it hooked up to her laptop computer. I suppose it’s wishful thinking to hope that she’ll decode the signals anytime soon.”
“The way she obsesses over things, I imagine it won’t be quite such a long time.”
Ray tightened a bolt and stood up.
“That’s it, all the chairs in this room are done.”
“Nice. Are Dana and Christie still asleep?”
“Dana’s been up for a while, I think. She’s down in the orb room watching Ari. I don’t know where Christie is.”
“Okay.”
Ray grabbed his tool bag. “I’m going to start installing the furniture down in the galley.”
“Don’t you ever sleep?”
“I had a catnap. I’ve just got so much energy for this work. It’s so rewarding I can’t stop.”
“Good, with that attitude we’ll be done in no time.”
“Well, have fun.”
Ray exited the conference room via the main hallway. John looked around the room. It was starting to look rather professional. John smiled and headed onto the bridge.
“Hello, John,” said Seth.
Tycho was sitting in the pilot’s chair. He was looking at John. Past him, Christie was working on one of the plasma screen monitors.
“Hello,” said John.
Christie turned around. “Hi! Up already?”
“Yeah. You, too?”
“I’ve had plenty of sleep today, unlike some of us.”
“I see you’re working on the monitors.”
“Yeah. It’s not like there’s anything to plug them into yet, but I didn’t feel like sitting around. And since we can’t take this thing into space yet, I have to amuse myself somehow.”
“I don’t blame you. Since everyone is up, I’d like to call a meeting.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, buddy,” said Seth.
“What?” John queried. “You mean me?”
Tycho was looking at John again.
“Hey buddy,” Seth said enthusiastically, “how fast can you run?”
“I don’t know. Fairly fast, I guess.”
“I can run really fast!”
John grinned at Tycho. “That’s because you’ve got twice as many legs as me!”
“That’s a terrible excuse. You should be able to run fast. We should go running sometime.”
“Sure, Tycho, I’d like that.”
“I bet I can take a pheasant faster than you, too.”
“That depends. Can I borrow Ray’s shotgun before we hunt?”
Tycho cocked his head. “Shotgun?”
“I don’t think he knows what you’re talking about,” said Christie.
“That’s okay,” said John. “He certainly has more of an effect on Seth than Friday does.”
“Friday won’t play with me,” said Seth.
“Friday is scared of you, Tycho.”
“I don’t see why. I’m a great dog!”
“I agree, kid.”
John scratched Tycho behind the ears. The light level on the bridge fluctuated slightly.
“It does that when he’s happy,” said Christie.
“Cool. Well, if you’re ready I’ll call the others to the conference room.”
“Okay by me.”
“Crew of the Faith, this is John. Meet me in the conference room for a meeting.”
“Keep an eye on things for us, Tych,” said Christie.
“You can count on me,” Seth said.
John and Christie moved into the conference room. John took one of the end seats.
“I feel like the captain,” he said.
“Do you want the job?” Christie asked.
“I’ve been leaning away from such a strict command structure. I think that certain people should be in charge of certain areas, but I don’t think one person should have command over everyone else. Everyone has equal say in what we do.”
Ray arrived in the conference room.
“I just got started,” he said.
“I didn’t know that everyone was awake,” said John. “I think we should discuss some things.”
“That’s fine with me.”
Ray chose a seat. A moment later, Dana and Ari arrived.
“Good evening,” said John.
“Hello,” said Ari.
“How’s it going with the orb?”
“I have good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news?” Ray asked.
“The good news is that I can read a binary stream from the orb quite easily.”
“And the bad?” asked John.
“The bad news is that it’s going to take a lot of programming to interpret the data stream.”
“Time we have in excess. I only wish that some of us were more knowledgeable in that area so that we could help you out.”
Reckless Faith Page 24