The director pursed his lips and his tone shifted. “It’s not that cold, actually, but maybe this other one in Taiwan is more to your liking.” He cleared his throat. “Same type of work, half research, half teaching, except you’d be in the Physics department and have some responsibilities for managing grad students.”
Katie pulled a face. “Babysitting? Yeah, that’s a possibility. Bloody hot in Taiwan, isn’t it? Politically, I mean, so . . . yeah.” She waited for Beady Eyes to continue but he looked away instead. “You said there were three, so what’s the other one?”
“It’s not as prestigious as the first two, Ms. Braddock. In fact, I’m hesitating now to even mention it given your reaction to the others.”
“Oh, go on. Humor me.”
“All right. The other position is in San Francisco.”
“USF?”
“No, City College. It’s a community college. The focus is on teaching only, so there’d be minimal research opportunities for you and, I dare say, you’d likely get bored with it. Still, it’s with Computer Sciences and they have a wonderful up-to-date lab. Close to the ocean, too, if that’s your kind of thing.”
Katie thought about the offers. None of them jumped out at her.
“Simon, are you sure I can’t stay a little longer, like perhaps a couple years or even one? Sending me off to some outhouse on Earth is tough, you know?”
The director didn’t respond.
Katie sighed. “I see. When do I have to decide?”
Beady Eyes shrugged as if she’d asked the most ridiculous question of all time. “Right now, Ms. Braddock.”
She shook her head. The burn in her lungs echoed from walking up the stairs and since the initial shock had waned, she recognized the need to mind her health.
“Send me to that City College, then.”
“Are you sure? It’s really not—”
“Yes, yes, that’s where I’ll go.”
“Very well.” Dr. Sarangan walked over to a workstation and returned with a handful of papers. “You’ll have to sign these. Routine things like the job acceptance, confidentiality agreements. And this one,” he said, handing her a sheaf of legalese,” is the most important.”
“What’s it about?”
“This is an agreement stating that you won’t reveal any of the intelligence or research you’ve come across in your time with us. It’s part of the civil war settlement between all five American republics. They’re a skittish bunch, you understand. They fear Spacers will use their specialized knowledge against them.”
Katie read through the documents and signed them off.
“Thank you for your service. There’s a hovercar waiting downstairs to take you to the airport. Your effects in Paris will be forwarded to you as soon as you’ve landed.” They all stood, then Delacroix guided her to the door. “I know this is tough, Katie, but it’s for your own long-term good. Now, is there anything else we can do before you leave?”
“Not a thing, Simon.”
“You sure? Colleagues we could tell? Project managers?”
She opened the door and stepped into the hallway, still in disbelief. Then she slowly pivoted. “There is something, Simon.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Call me Kate.”
FORTY-THREE
Carter
A sardonic smile eased across Clayton Carter’s face. He loved the Echo and couldn’t wait to build more of them. Sleek, nimble, and fast as hell. With more weapons than a traditional corvette, the Echo changed the very essence of short-haul patrolling. As the ship raced over the lunar landscape, drawing the Sara Waltz down, he wanted to ensure everyone on board understood that he was in command.
“Captain Powell, can we outrun that bucket?”
“Affirmative. Our strength is acceleration, maneuverability and speed. That said, one salvo from the Waltz could destroy us like that.” He snapped his fingers.
Carter narrowed his gaze. “But we’re not without our own weapons.” He turned to Jenson. “Tactically, how do we disable that ship?”
Her hands flew over the command dash. “Sir, she’s got railguns fore and aft, missile bays all around, protective shielding on her belly and back. There’s little we could hit her with that would cause much damage.”
“What about engines?”
“They use internal thrusters fueled by isotope-injectors. Extremely difficult to target, and even then, those rods are protected by massive hardshields.”
Carter paced, stroking his chin.
“She’s still following us, sir,” Jenson reported from her station.
“Any sign of aggression?”
“Negative.”
Esther Tyrone pulled him aside. “Clayton, they’re obviously not interested in a fight. Let’s talk to them and explain we’re in the middle of a rescue mission.”
“What, so they can raid us as soon as we’ve got that alien’s tech on board? No, not a chance. We’ll finish what we came for and return to Earth before these idiots know what we’ve got.”
Esther chewed her lip. “I must tell you, this isn’t what I expected from a partnership. We need access to your fleet and the TSA can provide you with valuable research, but we can’t condone this kind of reckless behavior.”
Clayton chuffed. “What are you on about, Doctor?”
She stood tall, striking a defiant pose. “Let me be clear. Either you make peace with the Sara Waltz right now and rescue our people on Luna—including Kate Braddock and Jim’s daughter—or any potential partnership with the TSA is off.”
Her face reddened in the warm, amber light of the bridge as she stared him down. Carter worked his jaw, choosing his words carefully. He wasn’t about to be upstaged and challenged on his own ship, especially by some bureaucratic, has-been scientist. “You and I will discuss this later, Esther, but the situation right now calls for a tactical response. If you’d like to have a pleasant chinwag over tea with the Prussians or whoever else, that’s your business, but out here on board the Echo, I own what happens.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer to her ear. “So, if you don’t want to go along with that, I suggest you remove yourself from the bridge and buckle into your flight seat. Understand?”
She didn’t flinch. Carter realized this woman drew her strength and resolve from a very deep well, but he could go toe to toe with anyone, and he wouldn’t be denied.
Esther blinked, and silently fumed as she withdrew to the flight seats and out of sight.
“The Sara Waltz is preparing for a pass at us, sir. Gaining altitude to leverage a better shot.” Jenson’s voice remained firm and professional, but her face showed traces of strain and trepidation. Carter turned his attention to the main viewscreen. He stood stoically, unsure of what to do next. He threw a cursory glance at Powell.
The captain eyed him, then said coolly, “Mr. Jenson, don’t lose our relative position. Swing around and follow that ship. Maintain a 2,000 kilometer separation.”
“Aye, sir.” The Echo jumped as her thrusters increased their burn.
“I’d rather take my chances with short-range weapons than nukes. They likely won’t fire their missiles this close, so don’t let them pull away.”
“Aye, sir. We’re at 2,000 kilometers and holding distance.”
“Thank you, Mister Jenson.”
Carter broke into more pacing and rubbed his fingers. Despite his desire to be seen as a strong leader and in charge, he felt the bridge crew judged him for his lack of flying and space experience. And rather than worsen their view of him by pretending he knew everything, he deferred to Captain Powell, and assumed a standing position beside his chair.
“Mr. Jenson, let’s take a closer look at that ship.”
“What do you have in mind, sir?”
“I don’t want to engage in a firefight. That wouldn’t end well for us. But if we can disable her main engines and force her weapons off-line, that’ll buy some time to finish the rescue mission.”
Carter fumed insid
e. His competitive instinct screamed at him to destroy that barge and send a message to anyone else who might think about taking them on, but Powell didn’t see it that way.
You may be the captain, but I own this ship, and you work for me.
Powell glanced at him and his eyes said, in that one quick glimpse, everything that Carter despised. It was an act of defiance, not based in philosophical differences or dislike of authority: no. This was borne from competence. Powell knew the Echo and her capability better than him. That made the captain the de facto leader and reminded Carter of those self-righteous engineers and know-it-all scientists he’d had to fight at every turn as he built his career and business. Perhaps that’s why Esther tasked him so: she was one of them.
“Mister Jenson,” Captain Powell said in an almost bemused tone, “access my directory and locate the file called ‘Powell’s Plans’. It’s buried in there.”
A moment passed as the co-pilot searched the system. “Got it. Do you want me to put it on screen, sir?”
“Affirmative, on the beta monitor. I don’t want to lose sight of the cruiser.”
Jenson hit her dashboard and the smaller viewscreen flashed bright with a schematic of the Sara Waltz’s main systems. Carter approached him. “Is that . . . Where did you get these, John?”
Captain Powell allowed a brief smile, but didn’t answer. Instead, he directed Jenson to pull up the weapons tactical data and overlay it with engines.
“If I recall, Jenson, the Waltz’s engineers are trained to focus on building efficiencies at every turn. Normally, that’s a good thing, but when it comes to ship design systems, I feel they’ve made a critical mistake. Look there.” He pointed to various power nodes running throughout the ship. “Rather than build independent routing for each system, they piggy-back them. This saves energy and space, but the downside is if one system fails, it often takes out others. Not an issue when your role is escorting mineral barges, but it could be in a firefight.”
Carter made a mental note to have Ed check his own fleet.
“Do you see a way to immobilize that beast, Mr. Jenson?”
She thought a moment, then shouted. “Aye, sir. Aft access portals! Minimal shielding because there’s nothing tactical there, but several power routing nodes all share the space in that section. If we can squeeze a tube in there that should disable her.”
“Indeed.” He stood up, walked to her station, and took a position beside her. “Mr. Jenson, ready two thermite torpedoes and target the aft access portals. We’re only going to get one or two shots away before she returns fire, so lay in an evasion course, too. The second we launch, hit those thrusters, understood?”
Jenson swallowed. “Aye, sir.”
The Sara Waltz cruised forward, but with the Echo in close proximity, she couldn’t make a run. Then, the cruiser veered hard to starboard, exposing her flank as she circled the area.
“On my mark, Mr. Jenson . . . wait for it . . . steady now . . . mark!”
Two green flashes filled the main screen as the torpedoes were released, ignited, and locked on to their target.
“Now, Mr. Jenson, get us the—”
Captain Powell hadn’t even finished the order when the Echo lurched hard to starboard and evasive maneuvers kicked in. The ship hurtled through space on a 3-D zigzag route toward the far side of Luna. As they pulled away, a small burst of light appeared on the screen where the Sara Waltz was hit.
“Status of the target, Mister Jenson.”
“Stand by, Captain.” She adjusted her viewer and confirmed readings. “Direct hit, sir. Indications are that . . . main engines are off-line . . . hardshields down . . . weapons disabled . . . and . . .” She paused.
“What is it?”
Jenson turned to him with horror on her face. “Life support systems disabled.”
Carter felt a wave of excitement and pride.
“Mr. Quigg, inform the Sara Waltz we’ll help restore her life support and other systems as soon as we’ve completed our rescue mission.”
“Aye, Skip.”
Powell turned to Carter and winked, then regained his chair.
“Set a course for that alien ship, Mr. Jenson. Let’s finish what we started.”
Kate
The two women held hands and watched the events in space unfold before them on the wall projections inside the alien vessel. The Echo, having disabled the heavy cruiser, flew straight toward them. Keechik remained in a shadow-filled corner near the console. Over the past several minutes, it had grown noticeably quieter. Having downloaded its memories into Mary’s brain, perhaps it truly didn’t care what happened next as long as she was safe. But this was problematic. As soon as the TSA, Carter, or anyone else realized that Mary held the secrets of the universe, she would become their target of interest, and Earth’s history was littered with human madness in the pursuit of treasure. Mary’s solution appeared to be to leave with the Rossian.
Kate had to stop that from happening, and that meant confronting Carter once and for all.
She stared at the images of the ships above; the cruiser floating helplessly in space, and the Echo preparing to land. She whispered to Mary, “Can you fly this thing?”
She turned and shook her head. “I’ve processed most of the knowhow, but I lack the physical capability. The Keechik’s limbs are multi-sensory. It manipulates the craft through those thin input ports on the command consoles. My fingers aren’t built for that.”
“Then we mustn’t let the creature pretend there’s nothing important going on here.” She grabbed her arms and peered into her eyes. “We’ve gotta find a way to talk to your dad without Spider-legs around.”
“He can’t help us,” she sighed. “I don’t want to leave, Kate, but I must. The knowledge I’ve acquired is far too dangerous in the hands of people like Clayton Carter. Either I go with the alien, or you must kill me before we get to Earth. There’s no other option.”
Keechik clacked, and Kate grimaced. “Forget that. Listen, you and I must return home together, and Keechik will have to disappear and find someone else to be its walking memory tube.”
“No . . .”
“It can’t just abduct you like this. Jim needs you . . . hell, I need you. Once we’re home, we can figure out a way to keep your knowledge from others until your safety is guaranteed, but in the meantime, no one’s the wiser.”
She turned to face the alien. “You gotta leave right away, Keechik, and find another . . . creature to help you remember. Surely with everything you know . . .” Her voice trailed off as she realized if it had been easy, Keechik would have found someone a long time ago.
The alien had inched closer to them and now stood a meter away. On the screen, the Echo had just touched down. One of the abandoned astronauts bounded out toward it while the other two remained at the vessel. Keechik scuttled briefly, then said, “The friend Mary, you must come . . . and see, mm . . . out there . . . come and see . . . help remember . . .”
“No, I won’t let her,” Kate said. Then, she pointed at the projections on the wall. “Oh, my god . . .” The large astronaut rolled the excavator closer to the ship while the others stood back, and after a moment, the image clouded over in a plume of rock and dust. The excavation had begun.
“Keechik, go.”
“I am Kate, the one Keechik will leave . . . with the friend Mary.”
She struggled to keep her frustration with the creature at bay, then thought of something and knelt down to Keechik’s level. It scrabbled back a pace. “Will you let me speak to them?”
The alien paused. “No . . .”
“You must let me try to stop them and give you a chance to get away.”
Again, Keechik paused as if uncertain.
Kate could not hear the excavation underway outside the vessel, but she and Mary both saw what happened. In a matter of minutes, the massive excavator had ripped away the moon dust cover. When the screen cleared, a deep trench had been dug around the perimeter of the ship. She cou
nted five figures on the surface now and recognized Jim bouncing off to the side.
“Let me speak with them, Keechik. Maybe I can convince them to stop. If not, they’ll destroy your ship before you get away.”
“No, I am Kate . . . mm . . . too dangerous . . . the one Keechik and friend Mary must leave.”
Kate played it out in her mind. If those two left together, what would happen to her? Would Keechik dump her on the surface?
No, Kate, you can’t let her go.
She attempted a different tack. “Keechik, do you know the one called Jim Atteberry, Mary’s father?”
“Yes, the Atteberry . . . mm, yes . . . he is broken, too . . . all are broken . . . I am Kate must not speak with the Atteberry.”
“Keechik, please. If you take Mary away, she may never see him again. If you won’t allow me to talk to him, please let her speak with her father. Just for a few minutes.”
The creature snorted and clacked, then scuttled back to its shadows. “I am Kate . . . mm . . . the friend Mary may speak with the Atteberry . . . not long . . . mm . . . only minutes . . . then we leave.”
Kate spun around to face Mary. “Please get Jim to stop Carter from blasting into this ship. Don’t let on what Keechik’s entrusted you with because who knows if Carter is monitoring everything, okay?”
She gulped and steadied herself against the transfer platform. Kate nodded to Keechik and said, “Thank you, please open the comms to Mary’s dad, the Atteberry.”
The room filled with the crackle of helmet radios and messages from across the solar system. The cacophony was deafening. Kate picked out the raised voices of ships’ crews in combat; multiple languages of others en route, what sounded like protocols from Eros. Just as quickly, Atteberry’s voice had been isolated and the other chatter faded out.
Mary took a step forward toward the wall where his projected image flashed. “Dad, can you hear me?”
On the screen images, Atteberry jumped and gazed around.
“Dad, it’s me.”
He looked at the alien vessel, then grabbed his helmet, fell to his knees and sunk into the moon dust.
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