by Terry Mixon
“I’ll bite. How did they manage to find it?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t stop to look. I figured the fact that it existed at all was all that mattered. That said, it doesn’t really improve our prospects. We don’t happen to have any handy flip-capable ships.”
That deflated him a little. “True. It doesn’t sound as though our captors are going to find it, either. If they can’t go back through the anomaly, I’m not sure what we’re going to do. We can hold out for another few months, if we cut our rations, but these people need to leave if we’re to have any chance of returning to the Empire.”
Veronica pursed her lips. “Maybe. Maybe not. While we were on board the carrier, I overheard several of the officers talking about their operations. They’re a bit nervous about the prisoners on the planet getting ahold of the Dresden orbital.
“They planned on using their cutters to shuttle everyone down to the planet’s surface. Once the orbital is empty, they intend to move it into the outer system. That means the recovery ship is going to be going about two-thirds of the way toward where we want to be.
“I suppose we should at least consider stealing the freighter they have with them, but it doesn’t have a reason to leave orbit. They’d get suspicious fast, even if we could man the ship. The recovery ship is made for a small crew. A freighter isn’t.”
He felt his eyes narrowing. “Very true about the freighter. The recovery ship does present an opportunity. All we need to do is find a way to take advantage of it.”
Veronica nodded. “We need to get back into orbit without them detecting us, sneak aboard the recovery ship, overpower the crew, and waltz right out under their noses. Sounds like a piece of cake.”
“Don’t be so negative,” he said with a smile. “We’ve already proven very resourceful. We’ll need to brainstorm potential plans. Do we have any idea how long before they plan to move the orbital?”
She shrugged. “Not really. I figure it’ll take at least a week to get the people off the orbital. Then they need to strip the research and manufacturing equipment you told me about. Ten days, give or take.”
“Then we have a little time. Pass my congratulations back to your engineer. Well done. This gives us a fighting chance. If we can escape and get this information back to the Empire, we’ll solve the problem of the ghosts and the New Terran Empire.”
25
Talbot exited the marine pinnace and entered the Dresden orbital. His was far from the only boat in the large bay. Just about every cutter and pinnace in the task force that wasn’t involved in searching for the escapees was transporting people to the surface.
In fact, that’s why he was here. He needed them to up the pace if they were going to clear the orbital on schedule.
Major Gabe Collins was waiting for him in the landing bay. Gabe was the commanding officer of Audacious’s marine detachment, just like Talbot commanded the marines assigned to Invincible.
Admiral Mertz had moved every marine in the task force to Audacious for the raid on Dresden and put Talbot in command of the assembled brigade-strength force. That made all this his responsibility until they made it back home.
That meant there was no room to spare in marine country, but he had more than enough trained fighters to take care of any problems. Too bad he didn’t have the pinnaces to move them around.
“Things must be bad if you’re waiting for me,” Talbot said. “Why don’t we just go to the conference room and hash this out?”
Collins nodded. “It just felt rude not to be here for your arrival, Talbot. I didn’t want you to feel snubbed.”
Talbot laughed. “It’s good to see you still have a sense of humor. Let’s see if I can fix that.”
They didn’t have to travel far to find a conference room. There was one right off the landing bay. Once inside, they sat at the large table.
Collins grimaced. “We’re running about half a day behind. It seems that some of the civilians are getting froggy. They’ve realized they’re being moved and are trying to slow walk us.”
“Slow walk?”
“They’re not resisting, but they’re going very, very slowly. I’m not sure how we can speed them up without physically grabbing them and hustling them onto the cutters. I’ve considered stunning a few to allow the others to learn by example.”
“As satisfying as that might be, I don’t think we need to antagonize these people any more than we have to,” Talbot said. “Kelsey was very clear that we’re to leave them with as positive an opinion of us as possible.”
Collins smiled. “I’m not precisely sure how that’s supposed to work, considering we’re stranding them on a strange planet.”
“That is a challenge,” Talbot acknowledged. “We can only do the best we can. Does the resistance seem widespread? I thought the prisoners were isolated from one another.”
“It took us a while to figure out how they were getting messages back and forth. We used the cafeteria staff for food preparation and then had marines escort them to deliver it. We started watching them more closely, but it was already too late. The damage was done.”
Talbot considered that for a moment. “That makes sense. You’re telling me that it’s going to be roughly twelve hours more than your original target?”
“Things might go more smoothly once we’ve moved more people, but that sounds about right. On the plus side, with fewer people on the orbital, we have less potential for prison breaks.”
That had worried Talbot in the beginning. With over ten thousand prisoners, they’d have been unable to contain a general riot without someone getting hurt.
“And that’s the way I’d like to keep it,” he said. “I’m authorizing the delay, but try to keep it to a minimum. Kelsey is busy exploring the alien system she discovered, so she may not be back by the deadline anyway.”
Collins raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you’re not raising a stink.”
Talbot laughed. “I’m starting to learn that I have very little control over what my wife does. If I want to stay sane, I need to focus on things I can actually control. Major Ellis is keeping an eye on her, so I’ll just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.
“What about the manufacturing equipment? How far along are we on getting it moved over to Audacious?”
The other officer smiled. “We’re running ahead of schedule on that. We’ve finished cleaning out the secure labs and shipping everything over. The manufacturing equipment is larger, but we’re probably about two-thirds of the way done.
“We could finish it in a day, but I have people going through the cargo manifests and storage areas to make certain we don’t miss anything important.”
“Don’t rush it. It’s important we get things right. Are you finding anything interesting in the cargo bays?”
“Actually, yes. Dresden is a major industrial center where they build a lot of Fleet equipment. We can use most of it.
“There’s also a lot of raw material for use by the manufacturing machines on the orbital. Lots of rare elements used in the implants and AIs. Even though we don’t have the ability to use the equipment right now, it’s going to be a boost once we start.”
Carl Owlet still hadn’t managed to break into the computers controlling the manufacturing machines. To be fair, he hadn’t had a lot of time. He’d had to explore the multiflip point and its potential destinations.
Kelsey had brought him back from the alien system when she dropped Angela off for her next implant procedure. The marine had finished and gone back, but Carl had already mapped both sides of the multiflip point, so there was no longer a need to have him in the Pandora system.
His young friend hadn’t been pleased that he wasn’t with Angela anymore. Ah, young love.
In any case, this side of the multiflip point led to five different systems. One of them was a core world of the Rebel Empire: Archibald. Three were unoccupied and unexplored. The last one was an alien-occupied system Kelsey was currently exploring.
From what Talbot had heard, Persephone could use the multiflip point, but Audacious was too large. The recovery ship was an unknown, but it certainly couldn’t flip with the Dresden orbital. That made it far too massive.
His young friend had been working hard with the scientists they’d freed from the research station. Talbot still wasn’t certain they should be allowing them to work on such critical systems, but Carl had vouched for them.
“If you can finish clearing out the equipment and supplies by the time you’ve moved the last of the prisoners down to the planet, I’ll be satisfied,” Talbot said. “If it takes longer, it takes longer. Have you at least broken all the manufacturing equipment down?”
“Most of it is crated,” Collins said. “We just have to dedicate the cutter space to move it over to Audacious.”
“Good. I’m not going to feel completely comfortable until you’re done.”
A rap at the hatch drew his attention. His pilot stood there.
“Sorry to disturb you, Major. I got a message from Audacious. They’d like us to stop by before you head back down to the surface.”
“Any idea why?”
The man shrugged. “No idea, sir. It came directly from Commodore Anderson.”
“Then we’ll drop in and see what she has for us.”
He rose to his feet. “Keep up the good work, Gabe. What you’re doing here is very important. It’s going to make a universe of difference when we get back home.”
Kelsey felt as though she were about to go insane. Almost a week had passed, and there was still no sign of her mother. It took all her willpower to put her worry into a mental box and focus on the tasks she had to accomplish.
The alien society helped distract her, but if Talbot didn’t find her mother soon, she’d go nuts.
They’d put the time they’d spent orbiting the alien world to good use. Angela had deployed a number of probes above the most interesting sites, and they’d dispatched marine pinnaces at night to release drones.
Still no luck in deciphering the alien language, but that would come in time. They were recording every transmission they detected. If they couldn’t figure it out now, Marcus could have a go at it when they returned to the New Terran Empire.
Angela was adjusting to her upgraded legs. She only fell over occasionally at this point, and she’d only bounced off the ceiling once.
Kelsey was secretly jealous. The marine had adjusted to the physical changes brought on by the Marine Raider implants a lot better than she had.
“Kelsey, I think I found something,” Angela said.
She rose and walked over to Angela’s console. The marine had a video display running, and Kelsey immediately grasped the importance of what she was seeing.
The scene was a smaller town. Most of those were agricultural in nature, either hosting many farms in the surrounding area or supporting ranching of native beasts. Often both.
The buildings were made of wood, the roads were unpaved, and the people seemed simple in their lifestyle. That probably included the human male she saw walking in the center of the image.
The man was dressed like the aliens, and he seemed unconcerned at being in their midst. He was in his early twenties. His brown hair and blue eyes stood out in sharp contrast to the aliens around him.
Over the week that they’d been observing the Pandorans, Kelsey had discovered they had a range of skin tones. All of them were blue to some degree, but it seemed that the shades darkened as they aged.
The aliens didn’t seem overly disturbed by the man’s presence. That wasn’t to say they weren’t curious or standoffish. They made way to allow him through, and many stared at him as he passed by, but no one seemed overly afraid.
Humans, it seemed, were a known quantity.
“Is he alone, or are there more?” Kelsey asked.
“He’s the only one I’ve seen so far. We can keep track of him now, though. He might lead us to others.”
The marine turned in her seat. “Have you decided whether or not we’re going to make contact?”
Kelsey nodded. “We don’t really have a choice. We need to know what happened here and what they can tell us about the ghosts. His familiarity with the local population leads me to suspect these folks haven’t been in contact with the ghosts in some time.”
“Maybe. What’s your plan?”
“Continue monitoring him for now. Make certain you bring in extra drone coverage so he doesn’t slip out the back of some building. We need to know where he goes and who he talks to. If there are other humans in this town, he’ll eventually lead us to them.
“If not, he’ll leave at some point. Once he’s on the road, we should be able to arrange a discreet meeting. One without too much danger for anyone involved.”
The natives’ method of transportation was as primitive as the rest of their society. The poor walked, those with more means rode beasts similar to horses, and the very wealthy rode in enclosed carriages. None of the latter made their way out to little places like this, though.
Angela gave her a stern look. “You’re going to let someone else make contact.”
Kelsey smiled. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
The marine sighed. “I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me. Well, let me rain on your parade a little. You’re not going down there without a proper escort. If things go sour, we’re going to pull you out. That’s not open to negotiation.”
“Not that I’m negotiating, but I don’t expect to run into any trouble I can’t handle. These folks aren’t exactly the most advanced people in the universe. While we’ve seen some gunpowder weapons, almost everything they use is muscle powered. I don’t think I’m going to run into anything that I can’t deal with.”
Angela rubbed her face. “Don’t confuse primitive with harmless. One of those crossbow bolts can leave you just as dead as a plasma grenade. They also have numbers. If we get them stirred up, they can overwhelm us. Remember that Custer guy you told me about? Don’t make this your Little Big Horn.”
“Thanks for that perspective,” Kelsey said dryly. “This doesn’t have to be some kind of conflict, Angela. All I’m going to do is talk to the man. If I’ve worked things right, it’ll be in private. Everything will be fine.”
Angela didn’t seem convinced. “I’m sending Annette down to scout the best landing places ahead of time. I’d go myself, if I could. Be careful, Kelsey.”
26
Annette took her fighter down to the surface while it was still dark below. The planet’s relatively large moon had set about an hour ago, and the area was so deep into the sleep cycle that very few people could even potentially spot her.
Not that she intended to get close enough to the town for the residents to become aware of her. That wasn’t her mission.
Instead, she took her fighter along the road leading from the town at a very low speed. While she wasn’t setting up a real ambush, arranging for Princess Kelsey to meet with a traveler wasn’t too far off.
The more she examined the rut-filled track, she became convinced “road” wasn’t the appropriate word. This was just a big trail. No wonder the rich and their carriages avoided the town.
She imagined it cost a good deal more in time, effort, and money to clear and lay a solid roadway capable of supporting coaches in relative comfort. Just clearing the trees and removing the stumps would be backbreaking.
The path she was following wasn’t nearly so refined. It looked as though the people that had cleared it had cut any offending trees off as close to the ground as possible, but the stumps still protruded five to ten centimeters off the ground.
That would cause a serious jolt on some rich guy’s butt, she imagined.
In less than an hour, she’d located half a dozen potential spots for a quiet meeting. Time to check them o
ut on foot to be sure they were suitable. She’d start with the most promising.
Annette landed in an isolated clearing relatively near the road and killed the lights inside her cockpit. She sat in the dark for a few minutes while her eyes adjusted.
Once she was certain her eyes had adjusted as much as they were going to, she raised the canopy. The scents of the forest washed over her.
The smell wasn’t terrible, but it was unusual. Annette had grown up in a city. Traipsing around the wilderness was not something she’d ever done before. She’d best go slow and watch her step.
There was a wide variety of noises coming from the darkened woods. Small creatures moving about, insects doing whatever bugs did, and other unidentifiable sounds.
It was spooky. She quickly decided that retiring to some place out in the wilds was not for her.
Annette pulled a pair of marine goggles from the compartment beside her knee and put them on. They rendered the outside world a pale green, but the darkness vanished. These high-tech devices took what little ambient light existed and amplified it.
She climbed down the side of her fighter and stepped onto the ground. Fallen leaves crunched under her feet.
The noises coming from the forest stopped. The animals must’ve heard her. It took a few minutes before they resumed whatever they were doing.
It took her half an hour to make it to the road. The area wasn’t anywhere close to the town, really, but it sat between the small community and a larger town up the trail.
The road leading away from the town in the other direction was much more isolated. It was—amazingly—in even worse condition than the one she stood near. Even wagons wouldn’t be going that way. It only supported people on foot or riding the local beasts of burden.
If the human they’d spotted took that route out of town, she’d have plenty of time to scout out other potential meeting locations.