Tempest Rising

by Eric Warren

  Inside the dark room the negotiator sat, sipping from a glass and staring out the large windows to the planetoids beyond. He stepped forward but the doors didn’t budge. Instead, he used the same code he’d used on the classroom and they opened easily, swooshing closed behind him.

  Laska didn’t turn or acknowledge him, only took another sip from her glass.

  “Negotiator?” he asked.

  “I see I’m not the only accomplished lockpick on this ship,” she said.

  “Is everything…alright?” he asked.

  She turned to him, her face dead serious. “You tell me.”

  Cas dropped his shoulders, standing beside the table she’d leaned up against. Her diminutive stature was subdued by the room, which was also on the small side. It was supposed to provide for a cozier atmosphere and Laska looked right at home. He shook his head.

  “Take a seat, Former Commander,” she said, indicating the table. He noticed she didn’t have her stick he’d come to hate so much. Laska walked over to the bar at the far end of the lounge and pulled a second glass from the shelf and a bottle from underneath the counter. She returned, pouring him a small amount of the amber liquid into the glass. “They told me you can handle your liquor. Give this a shot.”

  “I thought my privileges were revoked,” he said.

  “Only until we reached Sil space. I always keep my word,” she replied.

  He picked up the glass, wondering if this was just another one of her tests. But what else did he have to lose? He tipped the glass, the alcohol coating his tongue then the back of his throat and all points south. It was so smooth and clean he couldn’t believe he’d never had this particular brand before. His drinks tended to be harsh on his system, but this was like drinking pure bliss.

  “Good?” she asked.

  “Amazing,” he replied, setting the glass down. “To be honest I thought you were going to give me something a lot harsher.”

  She smirked. “After all our time together, what was the one thing you took away about diplomacy?” she asked. He ran back through the rules of diplomacy in his head but those weren’t what she was referring to. This was something simpler. Something he had missed. “Everything is a negotiation. You being on this ship. This ship even existing. The whole foundation of the Coalition. All of it is based on negotiation. On two or more parties coming together and making an agreement. Each time you have an argument you are negotiating your position.” She took another sip from her glass. “It never ends.”

  “You were waiting for me,” he said.

  “I chose a location which I knew you would find amenable, somewhere you feel you have the home field advantage. How did I know that?”

  “I’m assuming it wasn’t a lucky guess,” Cas said, eyeing the glass.

  “It was because I did my homework. I know as much about you as there is to know, Former Commander. I probably know you better than you know yourself. And in that, I knew one way or another, you’d find yourself here.”

  “I didn’t come here for a drink,” he said. “I was looking for you.”

  She tipped her head back and barked a laugh. “Things didn’t go well with the Sil I take it?”

  There was no denying it. “I need help,” he said.

  “We don’t have a lot of time left,” Laska said. “One way or another we’ll be drawn into another confrontation with them and we have to be prepared. If we even survive.”

  “You go up there,” Cas said. “You can do a better job than I could.”

  Laska stared out the windows. One of the planetoids moved in between them and this system’s star, temporarily sending the room into deep shadow before moving out of the way again. “It isn’t my place. They’re right. You’re the best chance to make this work. But you have to work to your advantage. And you have to be willing to give the Sil something they want, to draw them in.”

  “How do I know what they want if they won’t talk to us?” he asked.

  Laska tapped the neck of the bottle sitting between them. “The same way I knew where you would show up.”

  Cas stared at the bottle, thinking. The hint of an idea passed through his head. He wasn’t sure it would work, but it might give them what they needed. “I think…I might know what to do.”

  “Then I would get on it,” she replied. “Because it may look like we’re sitting out here peacefully drifting along, but time is growing short.”

  He nodded. “I know.” Standing, he took one last look at her then made his way to the doors. It was a good thing he wasn’t a Coalition officer anymore because he was about to break every rule in the book.

  “Don’t forget,” she called to him as he reached the doors. “Every negotiation requires sacrifice. From both parties.”

  Cas nodded and gave her a quick wave, then took off running down the hall.

  ***

  “You’re back,” Tyler said as Cas rushed into Engineering again.

  “I am. I need to check on something for the bridge,” he replied, jogging over to the right side of the room. Despite being a brand-new engine system, the room was laid out like every other Coalition ship. If there was one thing he could count on it was the constant predictability of the Coalition. Things have to be in straight lines, and always in the same order. Cas already recognized the computer lockouts.

  “I didn’t see any requests come through,” Tyler said. “Is it something urgent? I can get my team on it.”

  “Nothing like that,” Cas replied. “I’ll take care of it.” He studied the computer a moment. Tyler lingered behind him before heading off to put out another fire somewhere else.

  What are you doing, Mr. Robeaux?

  You have to trust me, Sesster. Cas thought, hoping the Commander could understand him. This is the only way to keep the ship in one piece.

  While I do not question your motives, I do question your methods. Should you not inform the captain of your plan?

  We don’t have time to debate this and I can’t chance he’d rule against me. I have to do this on my own. He tapped a few of the controls, releasing the locks on the sensor logs from the bridge. Can you help me route all the sensor information collected from our encounter with them to this terminal? He thought he caught a sigh, only to realize it was a mental one that had washed over him, not an actual verbal noise.

  Humans. So complicated. Sometimes I question whether coming on this ship was the right decision.

  “This helps,” Cas whispered as the sensor log information came in. Normally civilians weren’t allowed to see information like this but as Laska had reminded him more than once he was former Commander Robeaux. He had clearance, just…retroactively.

  I hope you’re right about that.

  Pulling up the information Zaal gathered from the encounter, Cas looked for anything familiar. Not that there was much to go on. The energy signatures of the two ships were identical, making them indistinguishable from each other, though there was one small difference. On the outside of the first ship that had knocked them out of the undercurrent was a small, purple symbol painted (or maybe etched) on the side of the hull. The other Sil vessel had a different blue symbol in the same place. A ship name perhaps? Or some other kind of identifier.

  Sesster, does the Tempest have the logs of the Achlys Evie downloaded before the ship was destroyed?

  That sigh rumbled through him again. There is a copy in the computer, but it is secured by the commander’s personal ID code.

  That wouldn’t do. He couldn’t alert Evie to his plans. If he was right, that was. She would only try to stop him.

  I don’t suppose you’d—

  No. I will not break into the commander’s personal information.

  Cas took a deep breath. I know it’s a lot. And I’m sorry I’m putting you in this position. Just give me access to that section of the computer. I can do the rest.

  If you do this, it is paramount to theft. I’ve seen your fears. They’ll imprison you again.

  If my plan works, they pr
obably won’t ever get the chance. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is this mission succeeds.

  Access to Evie’s personal database came up on the screen. This is a trick I learned from the Sargans, Cas thought. Once I’ve shown you this, you’ll know how to combat it. You may need to rewrite the ship’s security protocols when I’m done. Sesster didn’t respond. Cas went to work, putting the main system into a diagnostic loop which allowed him to create a quick and easy bot key in the computer which could produce a million password guesses per second. And because the system was in a diagnostic it didn’t send a warning to the main computer someone was breaking in. Less than twelve seconds had passed before he was in.

  I’ll be taking that up with the captain as soon as we are clear of the Sil, Sesster said.

  Sometimes the simplest things make for the biggest loopholes. Cas perused Evie’s personal documents, resisting the urge to explore them in depth. No, he was looking for a particular file. “Here,” he whispered, finding the copy of the database from the Achlys. Inside were all the sensor logs from when it had encountered the Sil. Both times. She’d backed up the entire drive on her personal database before handing it over to the Coalition. It seemed she didn’t trust them as much as she professed after all.

  Cas went back to the first encounter, examining the visual logs of the Sil ship that responded to his original distress call. He found what he was looking for: the same purple symbol on the side of the ship.

  It’s the same ship. Sesster said. You must inform the captain.

  It won’t do the captain any good; he can’t do anything about it. But I needed confirmation. Sesster, you have to give me twenty minutes. Can you do that? Just twenty minutes.

  I’m not sure—

  I know I’m asking a lot. But you know I only want the mission to be a success. You have to believe this is nothing insidious.

  I can’t see what you’re planning but I don’t feel any deception behind it. There was a pause. Twenty minutes.

  “Thanks, that’s all I need.” Cas closed everything in the system and took it off diagnostic mode, returning it all back to the way he’d found it. He turned to find Ensign Tyler standing behind him with a scowl on his face.

  “Did you get what the bridge required?” he asked, some sarcasm in his voice. How much had he heard?

  “I did. Thank you. How long until the engines are back up and running?”

  “Two more hours. We have to test to make sure we don’t have any more leaks,” Tyler said, eyeing him suspiciously. Cas nodded, pushing past Tyler and exited through the large doors, doing his best to project confidence.

  “I’ll let the captain know,” he called back as the doors closed again. People were much less likely to suspect someone who acted like nothing was wrong. Would Sesster stop Tyler from reporting him to the Captain? He didn’t think so. He’d have to be quick; his twenty minutes might have just turned into five.

  19

  Cas jogged through the identical-looking corridors, thinking the Coalition could help everyone out if they color-coded the different sections of the ship. Every corridor looked like the last; an infinite series of dark gray panels and lit walls. He didn’t have long, Tyler might have heard too much. He’d already turned off his comm in the event they tried to get in contact with him, but that cut off all his access. He had no clue how much they already knew.

  He increased his pace.

  Cas stopped as soon as he’d reached Bay One, where he’d originally parked the Reasonable Excuse back when she’d still been in one piece. It almost made him nostalgic thinking about sitting up with Box in the ship while they hunted the Achlys. What would they do to Box once he left? They’d be able to see he hadn’t contacted Box all day, and hopefully they wouldn’t suspect him of any treachery. Cas couldn’t contact him now, not if he wanted to keep all suspicion off him. If his plan didn’t work none of it would matter anyway and he’d be lucky to even get back alive.

  Cas recognized one of the crewmen working on some minor repairs along the wall. It appeared as if some of the bulkheads had buckled in the short battle and he was in the process of replacing them. “Abernathy, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “Yeah?” Abernathy replied, looking away from his work.

  “Can you help me a minute? We’re headed back into Sil space soon and the captain wanted me to perform a readiness evaluation on the Spacewing fighters.”

  Abernathy’s eyes narrowed. “We just sent up an evaluation before we entered Sil space.”

  “Were any of the units damaged? We took quite a few hits,” Cas said.

  “The fighters are fine,” Abernathy said. “The pilots are all on standby.”

  “What about the shuttles?”

  Abernathy sighed. “Look, if you’re so concerned take a look for yourself. I have a job to finish here and if these bulkheads aren’t repaired by the time we get underway—”

  Cas put up his hands as if to say “say no more”. He excused himself, catching glances from the pilots and technicians of the Spacewing fighters on the far side of the bay. Those would be his biggest concern. With the ship basically at a standstill he wasn’t worried about it coming after him, but he’d need a few minutes with the long-range shuttle before he could open an undercurrent.

  He did his best to ignore them and made his way to where the fourteen shuttles in this bay remained parked. They were in the back of the bay which meant he’d have to fly the shuttle past some of the Spacewings and Kor knew he wasn’t the best pilot. In fact, if he got the ship out of the bay without hitting something it would be a miracle. He took note of the first shuttle’s name: Calypso. Sounded like a winner to him.

  Cas boarded the shuttle and shut the doors on the side, locking them in place. He made his way to the front and began the shuttle’s startup sequence. It took a moment for everything to light up. “First things first,” Cas said, reconfiguring the controls to Box’s favorite settings. It would help him to know where everything was in a pinch. And there might be some pinches. As best he knew these shuttles had minimal weapons; they were most often used for dignitaries or moving cargo. The Spacewings were the fighters. But somehow being back in the cramped space reminded Cas of his old ship. And this was technically a diplomatic mission so the shuttle was at least being put to good use.

  Moving fast, he made a connection to the ship’s computer and downloaded all of the information he’d found in Engineering to his personal server. He also pulled a copy of the telescope recordings and bundled them together. It was everything he’d need.

  Double-checking the undercurrent drive Cas took a deep breath, staring out into the bay at all the people moving around, doing their jobs, not paying him much attention. If being on the ship for thirty days had been good for one thing, it was acclimating himself to the crew. They got used to seeing him around, which made them lower their guard.

  He took one last look at the controls. If he did this there was no coming back. And if he didn’t make it to the undercurrent before the Spacewings stopped him then he’d be in the brig for sure and the mission would be dead in the water. But traditional tactics weren’t going to work with the Sil. He had to do something drastic.

  Cas engaged the hover mode and the shuttle lifted off from the pad. He immediately threw the throttle forward, turning the small craft as he did and it jerked ahead, nearly slamming into the wall before rotating to the left to face the exit. People scrambled around the bay and two jumped in front of it waving their hands. Cas hit the accelerator and the shuttle shot forward faster than he’d intended. The two people jumped out of the way but he was sure he’d clipped one of them. He caught the surprised face of Abernathy as the shuttle rocketed past him through the force barrier and into open space. Other than possibly striking a crew member, it had been a collision-free exit. He could only hope they were okay.

  Cas began the startup procedures for an undercurrent jump, heading for where the Tempest last came through. He could piggyback through the undercurrent the
ship had made before it faded too much. As he was focused on flying the shuttle straight the proximity alarm went off. He tapped a button showing him the rear view from the shuttle and three of the Spacewing fighters had been dispatched to follow him.

  “Unavoidable,” Cas muttered as a comm blast came through the shuttle’s systems. He turned it off, not wanting to try and explain or listen to whatever Captain Greene had to say. Greene would never approve this mission and Cas didn’t need to hear the threats; it wasn’t like he hadn’t heard it all before.

  One of the fighters opened fire, the blast rocketing past him on the right. A warning shot. They would go for his engines first and they were already closing. His only chance was the undercurrent; the Spacewings didn’t have generators on their own so they couldn’t enter, not even an established current as the risk would be too great they could be crushed by the intense gravity inside. He pulled back on the accelerator and yanked up, sending the shuttle straight up with little time to adjust. His insides felt like jelly but he had to do something until he reached the current. He only needed a few more moments.

  A blast struck the shuttle on the side and the computer blinked an indication of a breach. He could make it with a breach, he’d made much worse in the Excuse. “Not enough,” he said, tapping the controls so the shuttle went into a barrel roll, though it wasn’t really designed as a maneuverable craft. He could only imagine what the other pilots were seeing. Maybe if he made them think he was crazy they would back off.

  That was it. Cas tapped the autopilot and jumped out of the seat, heading for the Engineering control panels in the back. He disabled the safety systems without pause and dropped two of the magnetic locks keeping the fuel stores away from each other. If the sensors on the Spacewings worked they’d see he was minutes away from a massive explosion.

  The comm screamed at him again but he ignored it, returning to the front of the ship. The fighters were backing off, keeping a safe distance. All he had to do was keep them off him long enough to get to the current and disappear inside. He turned back to the panel. With the locks down he had maybe two minutes. Was the undercurrent close enough? He was already a good distance from Tempest but where had they come out when they’d entered this system? He put the scanners to work, searching for the remnants of the old current.