Godeena: SF Novel

by Stjepan Cobets

  Nancy looked at the side of the cruiser and exclaimed, “That’s the emblems of Supreme Command Headquarters!”

  Henry was confused because he didn’t expect any visitors, especially, from Supreme Command Headquarters, “Why are they here?”

  Nancy, as puzzled as everyone, said, “I don’t know. At the meeting, there was no word of such visit.”

  Henry did not like surprises, especially those of such weighage. “Shit! Something is probably not fine.”

  Nancy knew very well that such unannounced visits were usually bad news but tried to calm Henry, “Maybe something new has turned up.”

  Vallery tapped him on the shoulder. “I think we’ll soon find they’re coming here.”

  Three high-ranking officers, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers began to move towards the building. Any sudden movement or threat was enough to have the soldiers press the trigger and neutralize the threat.

  “Do you know any of them?” Henry asked Nancy.

  “I think that gentleman,” pointing towards one of the officers Nancy said, “is General Barnet Hensell. Next to him is General Jessica Jensen and the third person… I don’t quite know.”

  “Why is the Chief of General Staff and his deputy here?”

  “That’s what I would like to know too.”

  While they were still talking Corporal Malcolm came into the office without knocking, obviously surprised by the developments as much as everyone. “Brigadier, I’ve just been informed that General Barnet Hensell is coming.”

  “All right, we’ll go and meet him at the entrance.” Henry was a little worried as he tapped Vallery and Nancy on their backs. “Let’s go then.”

  They put on a show to appear welcoming at the entrance of the Headquarters. When his armed bodyguards had made an assessment of the area, only then they made a small arch, allowing, Henry to pass and approach the General. Henry did so with absolute respect for superior and then saluted the General. “Brigadier Broncon, Commander-in-Chief of the camp at your service, General!”

  He saluted, moved forward with an outstretched hand and shook Henry’s hand. He then spoke, “Glad to meet you, Brigadier Broncon. I am Staff, General Barnet Hensell.” Then he gestured towards his compatriots, “This is Deputy General Jessica Jensen and Brigadier Laura Panton.”

  Henry saluted them and then presented his co-officers. “This is my deputy Major, Vallery Monsan, and cruiser Commander-in-Chief Major Nancy Bauer.”

  The General approached Nancy first. “We have already met, haven’t we?”

  “Yes, Sir. We met at Supreme Headquarters. Then I was General Flinton’s deputy.”

  “Yes, yes, I remember you for your courageous demands during the last meeting…” He stopped for a moment, appeared to recall her constant questions and suggestions regarding Henry assignment, and then he returned to reality. “Well then, how’s old General Flinton? Has his health improved?”

  “I’m afraid not, General.”

  “It’s a pity. He was adept at strategic planning, but I must say that he has groomed the right deputy.”

  Nancy blushed at the compliment. “Thank you, General!”

  “That’s more than a compliment. It’s the truth. We need more people like you and Brigadier Broncon.”

  He then approached Major Vallery and shook her hand. “I’ve read the file Brigadier Broncon sent you, and I need to apologize for the injustice done to you.”

  Vallery closed her eyes and responded with a tremble, “Thank you, General.”

  With both his hands he clasped hers. “I hope that you understand Supreme Headquarters’ decision?” He gazed towards Henry as if looking for an excuse and then looked directly into her eyes so that she could see the intense pain he felt. “We freed you from the accusation of murder, but we cannot make the information public because we don’t want General Smith’s name to be dragged through the dirt in the newspapers. Despite everything, he was one of our best Generals.”

  “I completely understand, General,” Vallery gave a nervous smile.

  Henry knew her, and he knew what she was thinking: She would hate Smith until the end of her life and that she probably knew that he was burning in Hell for the sins he had done against her.

  When he finally let go of her hand, General Hensell turned towards Henry and said in a serious tone, “Brigadier Broncon, where can we talk in private?”

  Henry knew that it could be regarding his sudden visit. Henry gestured towards the headquarters building and said, “It would be my pleasure to take you to my office, General.”

  The General made a sign to one of his men, a major in camouflage uniform. “You need me, General?” he asked as he jogged up to him.

  “I want you to secure and cover the building and the neighboring area. Nobody must go out, or in a while, I am in this meeting.”

  Major scanned the surrounding area and the building and, asked, “Shall we search inside the building, Sir?”

  General casually waved his hand, “That won’t be necessary, just cover the building.”

  “General.” Then he saluted and walked towards his men.

  General turned to Henry. “We can go now, Brigadier Broncon.”

  In the corridor, several surprised and shocked soldiers stood at attention, stiff as statues. Malcolm jumped up from his chair like he had just had boiling water poured over him, and his face became red as he saluted the General, who merely nodded and entered Henry’s office. He walked over to the desk, leaned his left hand on the leather armchair and asked, “I hope you won’t mind if I take this seat for our conversation?”

  Henry nodded. “That’s not a problem, General.”

  The General sat down and looked at him with a tired expression on his face. He looked exhausted and pleased to be back in an office, rather than outdoors with the young men. “Walking has exhausted me. I need some refreshment.”

  Henry called Malcolm to bring drinks for his guests and more chairs. In a moment mugs of tea were steaming on the table, and extra chairs had been placed in a semi-circle around the desk. Malcolm and the soldiers who had helped him practically ran out of the office. Normally, the scene would have been one of humor but for the fact that today it was a high ranking officer in office for some serious business.

  General Hensell pointed to the chairs. “Gentlemen, take your seats! And you, Corporal, make sure nobody disturbs us!”

  When all had settled, he looked at Henry as he started his report. “You, Brigadier Broncon, are probably asking yourself why we are here. Isn’t that right?”

  Henry was worried about his visit, but he didn’t even blink at the General’s question. He maintained his composure and responded, “Frankly I hadn’t expected anybody to visit from Supreme Command Headquarters until the end of our preparations.”

  General was amused, “That’s understandable, but we received information which might interest you very much.”

  What is this that information that the General himself had to come down? Henry’s mind was racing down the track but once again he responded in a rather cool tone, “Couldn’t this information have come through our encrypted channel? I am sure a General’s time is worth more than this.”

  General took his cup and scrutinized his worried face. “We could have sent it through the courier, but I had a reason to come personally.” He took a sip of tea and being, satisfied with the taste, added, “I’ll have to praise your Corporal before I leave. His tea is truly excellent.”

  Henry was shifting between reality and his thoughts. What personal reasons could force Chief of General Staff to travel from the capital of the federation to this isolated colony? It certainly wasn’t because of Malcolm’s great tea! “I think he’ll be very glad to hear that General.”

  “What was I talking about…?” He put his cup down on the table.

  “The reason for your visit, General,” Henry responded, even though he knew that the General was just trying to catch his train o
f thoughts more than really needing help with his memory.

  “Oh, yes. Over the last several weeks we have received Morse S.O.S. signals from the planet Godeena, so we’re sure that there is at least one survivor from the original expedition.”

  “Excuse me?” Henry was surprised.

  He paused theatrically to adjust his tie. “The person who is sending these signals is my granddaughter, Diana Uterra.”

  Henry had known that Diana was the leader of the original expedition, but he hadn’t known that she was the General’s granddaughter. “I thought all the explorers on that base disappeared three months ago. Besides, why are all these signals being sent by means of Morse code? That sort of communication hasn’t been in use for a long time.” Henry asked.

  General leaned back in his chair and said, “I don’t know why Diana sent Morse codes as a signal, but I’m sure that she sent that signal. As a kid, she learned how to use it. It was our little secret. We would use Morse when we played so that she could communicate with me without anyone else understanding us.”

  “Did we truck where the signals have been sent from?”

  “They have been coming from the Galkara desert to the east of the Lake of Mountan.”

  Henry was surprised and appeared to analyze what he had heard. “But that’s on another continent, a thousand miles from their camp at Absolute.”

  General looked at him with content because he was talking to someone who not only knew his job but also the planet they were about to visit. Eye for detail always impressed the General. “Exactly, I see that you studied the planet well.”

  “It is just a normal thing for me to do. Not knowing where I am going is as good as going on a suicide mission. Anyway, could you’ll help me with the exact position the signals have been coming from?”

  “My deputy will explain that in details.”

  Deputy Jessica Jensen opened her briefcase, took out a disk with the data and handed it out to Henry. “Here is all the data on the locations the signals were sent from, as well as the weather data. There’s also information collected during the fly-by of our explorer around the planet. Among that are the latest photos of Absolute and the base camp of the expedition.”

  Henry took the disc and looked towards his computer, “If you’ll allow me, General, I would like to study this data.”

  The General took his cup of tea and leaned back in the armchair visible due to the physical exertion. “Take your time. At the moment we aren’t in any hurry.”

  Henry flipped through the photos of the planet on the touch screen panel. He examined the locations from which the messages had been sent and said, “The last call was sent from the place where I intend to locate my foremost base,”

  The General leaned on the desk. “I thought that you would place your base closer to Absolute?”

  Henry raised his gaze from the map to defend his plan. “On the contrary, I want to place the base farther from the town.”

  “That isn’t the plan recommended by Supreme Headquarters!”

  Henry held himself for a moment and watched the General’s frowning face, but that didn’t trouble him. “I consider that decision to be incorrect. It would be madness to locate our camp close to the place where three expeditions have already gone missing.”

  “So you took a unilateral decision to change the plan?”

  “Right, I’ve changed the location of the principal base, as that would be the most prudent thing to do.”

  General hastily stood up from his chair, crossed his hands behind his back and walked toward the window. A unilateral decision wasn’t something he liked amongst his subordinates. He stared into the distance and said in a stern voice, hiding his anger as much as possible, “Are you aware that you will be breaking a command?”

  Henry knew very well that he could quite clearly expect the reaction from the General. While the General was obviously angry, Henry didn’t want to give up on his intent or logic for his intent. “I can give quite a simple explanation for that decision, General.”

  “Do your best.” He turned and looked directly at Henry. “You know very well that if I don’t like it, I have the authority to remove you from the position of Commander. For now, I’m listening!”

  Henry cleared his throat and started to lay down the plan, “The first exploratory expedition was based next to the city of Absolute and disappeared without a trace as if there had never been a camp there. These photos confirm that. We know very well that that expedition took thirty-two scientists. They went with several aircraft, and they were exceptionally well-equipped, but in these photos of the place from which they sent the signal for help, there’s literally nothing left of the equipment or the people. Unfortunately, the other commanders made the same mistake by placing their base in the same place where the first expedition disappeared.”

  Although what Henry spoke made sense, the General was not quite ready to accept and retorted back with cynicism, “You think that’s a mistake, Brigadier?”

  Henry, despite the rank, was determined to take the battle of the decision to the General, “Exactly, at Morad, I made the same mistake, and we all know the outcome. I don’t have any intention of doing it a second time over. Remove me from the Command if you wish, General but I am telling you, we will be putting all the lives on risk if we create our base at Absolute. I reiterate, I don’t want my base to be positioned there.”

  General nodded in agreement, though still feeling a sense of insubordination. A bit of his own personal longing for his grand-daughter also made him agree. “Alright, go on Brigadier Broncon. Fill in more about your decision.”

  The sarcasm though could not be missed. Henry anyways overlooked it. “We don’t know who or what awaits us down there, but one thing is for sure – Absolute is dangerous.”

  “Hmm… There is some sense to what you’re saying. The location of the last call was 5357 miles southeast of the main base and was situated on the second continent. So, whatever was impeding the crew to connect with us was not doing so at the second continent. So far we have registered three S.O.S. signals.”

  Henry looked at the data plate and was intrigued, “They have the most modern equipment, yet they used an old communication device. Why?”

  The General returned to the desk and wearily dropped into the chair. He leaned on the desk and started to say something but refrained. In honesty, he had no answer to Henry’s question. “I’ve decided to send Major Panton to get the survivors. Maybe it was the only possible way. We hope we’ll then have more information about what happened there.”

  Those words hit Henry like thunder, and he couldn’t control his anger, “Then what will happen with the group I’m training now?”

  He only waved and spoke in a cold voice that promised nothing good, “If Major Panton succeeds at getting the survivors out then there is no need to send your group there.”

  Henry closed his eyes to calm the feelings which started to fill him in the most negative manner. He reckoned that he would explode. He now understood the real reason for the General’s visit. Change of entire plan could only be communicated by a General. But Henry was totally unhappy. Before his eyes appeared the faces of his fallen friends. He felt betrayed and cheated. “General, that isn’t fair to me or the convicts that I have brought here. With your permission and go-ahead, I promised them that they would be able to begin a new life after this mission. What will I tell them? That the operation is suspended? To tell them they’ll be taken back to Hades?”

  Everyone in the room looked at Henry was dissent. Nobody dared to oppose a General. You cannot argue with a commanding officer; such were the rules of the Army. Nancy tried to pitch in and stop Henry on whatever he intended to say or do, “Henry, don’t…”

  But Henry raised his hand and gestured her not to interrupt.

  She nodded with understanding.

  General was impatient with the drama unfolding in front of him. Boiling with rage, the General jumpe
d up from his chair and thumped his fists on the desk. The desk squeaked under the sudden pressure. He leaned towards Henry and asked in an icy tone, “Brigadier, are you, Brigadier, refusing to accept my decision?”

  Henry looked at him and responded, “General, this is the right thing to do, in my opinion.”

  Red in the face, he looked around at all present and waved his hand towards the door. “Ladies, please excuse us. The Brigadier and I have to talk in private!”

  When the door had closed behind them, the General did not miss even a second and roared at Henry, “Don’t you ever try to contradict me in front of other people, Brigadier Broncon. Is that clear?”

  “It’s clear, General, but…”

  “I don’t allow anybody to defy me and to destroy this institution that I have been creating for years!” He walked and stood opposite him, “But for your illustrious career the outcome of our conversation would have been very different.”

  “Why?” Henry asked after a short pause.

  “Because you’re the only survivor of the killing fields on the planet Morad.”

  Henry was puzzled, “I don’t understand! What does Morad have to do with this, General?”

  “I know that you feel guilty for the death of your soldiers, but Morad was when I made my first wrong decision. That’s why I don’t want to send you to your death again.”

  Henry felt a sudden veil shifting away from his eyes. It was his fault! My men were killed because of his bad decisions. He jumped and grabbed the General’s collar and retorted furiously, “You sacrificed us deliberately?!”

  General didn’t defend himself at all. He simply stood there and looked at him sadly with his tired grey-blue eyes. Henry couldn’t believe that this was happening to him. He let him go, held onto his head and started walking around the office. Henry’s whole body was trembling with rage. He didn’t know what to do or what to think. “Jesus! And I was blaming myself all this time!” Henry was more talking to himself than General.

  He collapsed into the nearest chair; his legs couldn’t hold him anymore. He then bent forward with his head buried in his hands. Henry was desperately trying to stop his thought wavering between anger for what happened to his soldiers and a sense of non-professionalism for having almost attacked the General. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. So unbecoming of me, he thought. Being a trained professional, even in mental warfare, Henry recovered soon and said, “You could have given us some indication that they were there, at least?”