Veil of Shadows (Book 2 of The Empire of Bones Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  Jared made his own way down to the main conference room once they were getting close to Courageous. Charlie Graves, Dennis Baxter, and Doctor Cartwright sat at the conference table. A number of their subordinates occupied the remainder of the chairs. The scientists had come over from Best Deal an hour ago.

  Jared took his place at the head of the table. “Gentlemen. Give me a rundown of what’s going on aboard Courageous. Charlie?”

  His XO brought up a diagram of Courageous on the main screen. A network of green lines ran throughout the ship. “If you look at the power distribution system, you’ll see that everything is now operational. This is particularly interesting because we didn’t repair all the power lines. We only repaired the primary distribution system. Over the next several days, the remainder of the circuits came online one piece at a time.”

  “You’re saying it just repaired itself?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “Do we have any idea how it’s doing that?”

  Zephram Cartwright cleared his throat. “I believe I may be able to shed some light on that. I’ve had my people examining one of the smaller power distribution lines. We intentionally cut it and observed the break. This is what we saw.”

  He tapped the console in front of him and the image on the screen changed. It now showed a bundle of power distribution cables inside a small conduit. Hanging off the bundle of wires was what looked like a small metallic spider. It seemed to be bringing the severed ends of a small line together.

  Jared leaned forward. “What the hell is that?”

  “That, my dear Captain, appears to be an automated repair remote.”

  He examined the device as closely as the picture allowed. Doctor Cartwright obligingly enlarged it. The machine was unlike anything Jared had ever seen before. The small, jointed legs seemed remarkably dexterous. The ends of its legs seemed were some type of manipulator. Its eyes seemed to be vid cameras. In all, the device was smaller than the palm of his hand.

  “They’ve been over there this entire time? Why haven’t they fixed the whole ship before we found it?”

  Baxter shrugged. “My best guess is that the commanding officer of Courageous turned them off when he shut down the power system. We must’ve inadvertently turned them back on.”

  “If we can figure out how to use them correctly, do you think they can repair other systems?”

  “Probably. We’re not far off from something similar ourselves, though not nearly so advanced. Perhaps if we get the main computer back online we can get these remotes to repair all the damaged systems.”

  Jared leaned back in his seat. “What’s the status of the main computer? Were you able to access it while keeping it isolated from the ship?”

  Doctor Cartwright shook his head. “I’m afraid not. My guess is that there’s some kind of security lockout preventing the computer from coming fully online in an isolated mode. Perhaps if we knew more about these types of systems we could override the settings, but as it is, we’re just guessing.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “I believe we should reconnect the main computer to the primary grid.”

  Jared turned his attention to his Chief Engineer. “What are the dangers associated with doing that?”

  Baxter shrugged. “Anything up to and including the destruction of the ship.”

  “Do you think that’s likely?”

  “That depends on what the Captain programmed into it before he vented the ship. I suspect the most likely possibility is that the computer will lock out the critical systems. Getting them unlocked could be a challenge.”

  “But not impossible?”

  “Nothing is impossible. It may very well be that Princess Kelsey can get information out of the computer that we can’t.”

  That seemed very likely. The way Kelsey had gotten a response from the old Empire workstation was simply amazing. If she could do the same thing on Courageous, it might save them weeks or months of work. It might even make the difference between success and failure.

  “I’d rather not run her into the ground, but I can see how she’s going to be an integral part of the repairs on Courageous. What we need to do is figure out how she can help without exhausting her. Or making her feel as though we think she’s a freak.”

  Jared tapped his fingernails on the tabletop. “The best thing that we can do is not to treat her any differently than before. Don’t make a big deal out of it, but don’t pretend that the changes she’s been through doesn’t exist.”

  Baxter nodded. “Got it. Let me give you a rundown on some of the other ship systems. We have two fusion plants online. We’ve closed the breach in the hull and the ship is on internal power.”

  “What about the drive systems?”

  “The grav drive is repairable. The flip drives are in worse shape, but also seem to be repairable. We’ve located all the repair parts and everything is clearly marked. In most cases, it will simply be a plug-and-play replacement. We’ll need to check the parts before installation, of course. Once we run out of spares, things get more complicated.”

  Doctor Cartwright nodded. “It seems that most of the critical components were kept in specialized storage and are still completely functional. Many of the less critical systems need work. Much like the power distribution system before the remotes brought it online, they have small flaws and breaks that we’ll need to track down. That’s where I see these repair remotes becoming very useful.”

  “Do we know where these remotes are being stored?”

  Baxter shook his head. “We haven’t located that yet. It must be in a relatively inaccessible portion of the ship. When we get the main computer online, we should be able to gain access to complete schematics of the ship.”

  “What about the weapon systems?”

  “The missile systems are very similar to our own,” Graves said. “The drives are more efficient and the warheads are more powerful, but the technology looks very straightforward. Once we get to that portion of the repairs, we should be able to have the missile systems back online very quickly. The beam weapons are a different story. That’s a brand-new technology that we’re not at all familiar with. I know Zia has some people studying them. From the reports I’ve seen, she’s still in the dark about how they work.”

  Doctor Cartwright smiled widely. “That particular technology is very exciting. They are high-energy lasers capable of shifting frequency to search for weak points in the old Empire screens. We’ve never seen anything even remotely this capable. It will have implications for mining, deep space scanners, and even some surgical procedures. We’ve discovered so many new technologies and procedures based on the recovered artifacts that this mission has already paid for itself, even if we don’t restore Courageous.”

  Jared smiled. “Well, we are going to restore her if at all possible, Doctor. She’s our ride home. What about life support?”

  Baxter tapped his console and changed the view on the screen. The layout of Courageous now showed a series of green dots throughout the whole. “We’ve restored redundancy and functionality in that system.”

  Graves tapped his own console. “As you can see from the ship’s diagram, we’ve begun renovating quarters so that the temporary crew has a permanent home in which to stay. Most of the work involves clearing out the current contents and moving bedding over from Best Deal. We now have about a hundred people in permanent residence.”

  Jared pursed his lips. “That’s a good start, but we have a lot more people to move aboard. How long will it take to arrange quarters for a full crew?”

  “If the new crewmembers are renovating their own quarters, it shouldn’t take more than a week. It’ll take significantly longer to clear the original effects from the storage areas we’re moving them to.”

  “Are those items going straight into storage on Best Deal?”

  Doctor Cartwright nodded. “Yes. They only go to the labs if they are unique.”

  “And how is the ex
amination of the recovered artifacts going, Doctor?”

  “Very well. We believe we’ve got at least several examples of each type of item under study. We’re paying particular attention to anything that looks like it may have data storage and thus have information that we can recover. In the last several days, our people have made great strides in figuring out how the data is stored and we’ve been able to recover some. Now that we know how the systems work, we should be able to recover a great deal from all of these personal devices. Then starts the long task of sorting through and categorizing it.”

  Jared sat up a little straighter. “That’s excellent news, Doctor. Have you recovered any data that we need to know about?”

  “We’ve recovered quite a lot of data that you need to know about. However, I wouldn’t say that any of it is pressing at this point. If we recover any critical information, you’ll be notified at once.”

  “Splendid. If you find anything about the rebellion or the Pale Ones, I want to know immediately. If you find out anything about the implant procedure inform Doctor Stone.” He rose to his feet. “Gentlemen, I think that’s enough for right now. I’ll let you get back to work. Keep me in the loop.”

  Perhaps repairing Courageous wouldn’t be as difficult as he feared. He wondered what it be like to command such a ship. Hopefully, he’d be finding out soon. He checked his chrono and headed for the docking bay. It was time to go look things over for himself.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kelsey woke to the sound of someone pounding on her hatch and rolled out of her bunk with a groan. It felt like she just fallen to sleep. At least the noise had woken her from the nightmare she’d been trapped in. “This better be good,” she muttered as she stumbled to the hatch.

  Talbot’s grinning face greeted her when she opened it. “Morning, Princess. Did you get a good night’s sleep? I hope so, because you’ve got a busy day in front of you.”

  She theatrically bumped her head into the bulkhead. “I thought sick people were supposed to get more rest. What time is it anyway?”

  “Six AM. Time for breakfast and a good workout.”

  “You want me to exercise? I can bench press your entire squad and you want me to exercise?”

  “No need to be all theatrical. It’ll help you fine-tune your control and make you hungry.”

  “I don’t need any help getting hungry. I’m always hungry.” Her stomach grumbled in apparent agreement.

  Talbot laughed and glanced at his chrono. “If you hurry, we can beat the people just coming off third shift. I hear Cookie made waffles.”

  “Aren’t people supposed to work out before they eat?”

  “We won’t be working you that hard. As you say, you don’t really need to be increasing your strength. We’ll find out about your stamina as we get a little further along in your training.”

  He gave her a half salute and started down the corridor.

  Kelsey closed the hatch and leaned her back against it. This brave new world was going to take some getting used to. She grabbed her shower kit and headed for the showers. The facility was almost full because first shift was going on duty soon. She hardly ever saw other people in the shower because she normally rose later.

  She nodded to the other women and stripped. It felt like everyone was staring at her. They probably were. They had to be thinking about what the Pale Ones had done to her. What was inside of her. She was going to get that kind of attention for the rest of her life. She just had to get over how it made her feel.

  Kelsey forced herself to take her time. She needed to look confident, even if she wasn’t. She resisted the urge to look around herself to see if they really were watching. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t control what other people thought. Only how it affected her.

  She dried off, dressed, and headed back to her cabin. Once there, she looked in her wall locker. She didn’t really have any workout clothes, so she selected something with a loose fit.

  They ate without speaking and she tried to feel less self-conscious about how much food she was putting away. She knew things would get easier with time. Everything did. It would just take a while for her worldview to change.

  The workout wasn’t anything like what she expected. He taught her to juggle. Or tried to. Kelsey stood there watching him juggle three balls with her mouth open.

  “What?” he asked with a grin. “You don’t think juggling is a manly skill?” He winked at her. “You’d be surprised how much additional coordination you can get from throwing three little balls into the air and keeping them there. It teaches you timing, control of strength, and improves your dexterity. Come on, it’s not nearly as hard as it looks.”

  “I’m going to throw balls all over this room.”

  “Yes, you are. But after a while, you’re going to learn and it’s going to help you.” He caught all three balls and handed her one. “What I want you to do is take this ball and practice tossing it from one hand to the other. Toss it about the same distance over your head it as I did.”

  Even that simple task was deceptively complex. Her first attempt bounced the ball off the ceiling. Her subsequent tries showed her that she would fumble the ball given the slightest opportunity.

  Talbot gave her advice as she struggled. After half an hour, she was tired, but she had the ball behaving the way she wanted.

  He snatched the ball out of the air. “That’s enough for today. Tomorrow we’ll see about putting a second ball into the mix. I think that may keep you busy for a couple of days. You hungry again?”

  “I could handle a snack.”

  “Let’s go get you one before we head over to Courageous. You might be able to help us start getting things set up in marine country.”

  “We’re moving over there already? I thought we would be living on Best Deal.”

  “Nope. The Captain has decided that we’re going to skip that step and make Courageous habitable as we move in. We’ll be taking our bedding with us, and all of our supplies. We’ll remove anything that we find in our quarters to a common collection point.”

  She considered that. “Will I be staying with you guys?”

  “The Captain hasn’t told me where you’ll be staying, but I don’t think you’ll be in marine country. That would start too many rumors.”

  Kelsey snorted bitterly. “As if that’s the worst rumor I have to deal with.”

  He put his hand on her shoulder. “There aren’t any nasty rumors going around about you. If there were, someone would be in the medical center. Yes, people are curious. Everyone feels terrible about what happened to you. They know this isn’t your fault.”

  She sighed. “It feels like everyone is staring at me. They’re afraid of me.”

  “Bullshit. They know you and they trust you. The only doubt you’re feeling right now is self-doubt. And that’s something you need to get over.”

  “That’s great advice. I have absolutely no idea how I’m supposed to do that.”

  “You live your life the best you can and things get better. Just like trust is earned, so is confidence. One act at a time. Come on. It’s time to head over to Courageous. The rest of the marines are already over there with our gear.”

  Since she’d known that she’d be going somewhere today, she’d already packed. They went back to her cabin and collected her bags. Carrying them wasn’t a problem. Super strength had its benefits.

  They dropped her bags off to be loaded onto the next cutter. When they boarded, it was already packed. It looked like most of the people going across were Pentagaran.

  The man seated beside her seemed to be the Royal equivalent of an older enlisted man. He was apparently an engineer of some sort. He smiled at her and held his hand out. “Good morning. I’m Jacob.”

  “I’m Kelsey. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She gingerly took his hand.

  His eyes widened. “Princess Bandar? This is an unexpected honor, Your Highness. I’d heard you were coming along with us, but I didn’t expect you to be up and a
bout so soon. I know all of us are pleased to see your quick recovery.”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m completely recovered just yet. I have a lot of work to do. I’m just happy to be alive and sane.”

  They spent the next fifteen minutes talking, mostly him asking questions about her experiences. Thankfully, he didn’t ask about the fight at the Parliament building. She was relieved to see that he didn’t seem frightened. That gave her self-confidence a well-needed boost.

  She managed to ask a few questions about him and discovered that he’d be working in engineering, helping repair the damage and learning new techniques from the Fleet engineers. He seemed in awe of the old Empire technology and eager to learn about it. The flight over to Courageous turned into a pleasant distraction.

  Once the cutter docked and everyone went their own ways, she met back up with Talbot. He consulted his tablet and began leading her through the corridors. They looked dirty and disused, but at least the gravity was on. The worst of the debris was gone. She imagined that they’d be cleaning for months to come if the ship proved repairable.

  Marine country on Courageous was very similar to the one on Athena. It opened into a large common area with smaller corridors leading off into the bunking areas. It also had a separate mess, so the marines could eat as a unit. It had a gym, an armory, and a firing range as well.

  The main difference was its size. Rather than being built for thirty marines, it seemed like it could accommodate ten times that number. The marines from Athena were bustling about putting things in place and unpacking. They weren’t working alone. There were a number of Pentagaran marines helping them.

  She and Talbot only stayed long enough to drop off his gear and then they went back into the depths of the ship. Talbot glanced at her. “Could you find your way back to the docking bay?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. I still get lost on Athena. Courageous is much larger and I’m completely unfamiliar with her.”