The Ship Finder

by John Bluck

  "That's good," Lena said.

  Yarnell patted her back. "You'll be okay, darling," he said.

  "Thanks," Lena said. She forced a smile.

  "I'm sure you two want to be together," Yarnell said.

  "Bye, Roberto. Thanks for the counsel," Lena said sweetly. "You make me feel a tad better."

  Lena and Wilson wolfed down their food, and the rest of the crew gobbled their meals, too. Everyone was on edge. Raven stepped atop his chair and raised his arms to get the crew's attention. His long, grey hair hung about his shoulders.

  "Folks, it's time to put your trays and wrappers on the conveyor belt," he said. "Move to the flight seats and buckle in. After we jump, we'll cloak near the main water plant and treatment facility. Before the assault team leaves the ship, we'll have a final briefing."

  The crew broke into soft discussions as Raven got down from his perch. He put his tray, eating utensils, glass, and sandwich wrapper on the conveyor. The rest of the crew did the same. Lena and Bill walked to adjacent flight chairs, sat down, and fastened their seat belts.

  "Ten minutes to jump," said Raven via the intercom.

  "Good luck," Wilson said to Lena.

  "May we both be on the right side of fate," Lena said. "And above all, Bill, listen to your Inner One, and follow his advice."

  He nodded and grasped her hand. She squeezed, and he felt her tension. She has to kill good people. She was nonviolent, but the war has dragged her down to be a killer. It will hurt her soul. She'll have to live with this forever.

  The red jump light went on, and the cabin was bathed in a ruddy glow that reminded Wilson of blood.

  The Ghost Liner vibrated, but the pulse was not as strong as it was when Raven had earlier pushed the ship to its limits. Most of the crew read from their electronic tablets, and many others dozed during the jump to Triod. After a couple of hours the vessel's tremors became weaker. Then they stopped, the red light shut off, and a sunshine-like glow bathed the crew.

  "Let's leave," Lena whispered in Wilson's ear.

  "Okay," he said as he unbuckled his seat belt. Lena stood, and he was beside her in seconds. She looped her right arm around his shoulder while the two set out along a hallway towards the armory.

  "Do you have the key?" Wilson asked.

  "Yes, it was still under the wallpaper. I just had to wash off the wallpaper paste," Lena said. "Let's sit on the couch." She pointed to a brown leather sofa about twenty feet from the armory door.

  "After Raven orders crewmembers to go to the briefings, you might want to wait a few minutes to make sure nobody from the armory is late for his meeting," Wilson said.

  "I'll wait, but not long," she said. "In case someone is still in there, I'll say I have to do an inspection."

  "That could be a problem, if that person were to mention it to an officer," Wilson said.

  "That's the best I can think of right now," Lena said.

  Static hiss came from the olive drab loudspeaker mounted on the wall above the couch where they sat. "Attention," stated Raven via the ship's intercom. "All personnel who have not had a mission briefing, please go to your assigned meeting. Non-briefed officers, please report to my office. Thank you."

  The loudspeaker hiss stopped, leaving the hallway once more quiet where Wilson and Lena sat. Suddenly, the armory's gate-like door opened with a metallic groan, and two armorers and their lieutenant exited. The reinforced metal gate slammed shut behind them, closed by a pneumatic arm. As they left, they smiled at Wilson and Lena.

  "Do you think they'll remember us after the explosion?" Wilson asked.

  "It won't matter," said Lena. She stood up and took a key from her pocket. "I'll be back in five minutes. If anybody comes when I'm inside, push the pager button once. If the person leaves, punch the button twice. And if someone starts to go in, push the button a lot."

  "Okay," he said.

  Lena walked to the heavy metal door, inserted the key, and turned it. The hinges creaked as she pulled the door open. She entered, and it slammed shut.

  Wilson remained on the leather couch, which smelled like new cowhide. Time seemed to crawl, which made him feel edgy. Officers who ranked higher than first lieutenant did not have to attend the briefings, and they could be anywhere on the ship.

  Boot sounds echoed along the hallway, and Wilson felt a chill. Yarnell approached.

  "Hi, Bill. Where's Rachel?" he asked. He stopped in front of the couch.

  Wilson reached in his pocket and pressed the pager button once. "She went to her cabin to freshen up," Wilson lied.

  "Women are strange, sometimes," Yarnell said. "Does she think someone will notice her makeup or hair during a raid?" He laughed and shook his head back and forth.

  "We'll see you in the assembly area soon," Wilson said.

  "Yeah, it won't be long," he said. "I'm going to get another laser rifle because a warning lamp on my weapon flashed red. You might want to check yours before we go, too."

  Yarnell started for the armory door. Wilson reached in his pocket and thumbed the button over and over again. Yarnell took a key from his pocket, and he turned to Wilson. "It was a good thing I got this from the armory lieutenant before Raven's briefing started," Yarnell said. He held up a big key. "You want to come in, too? You should take a look at the new models that just came in. The upgrades are pretty good." Yarnell waved Wilson to follow.

  Yarnell opened the door, and they stepped into the large weapons room. There were a couple of heavy gray metal desks and government swivel chairs at the front of the big room. It was bright where the two men stood.

  Rows of metal shelves were at the other end of the room, which was dimly lit. Wilson figured that Lena was hiding behind some big boxes. On a shelf not far away from the two men an olive drab wooden box was open, and the ray rifles it contained were in plain sight. Yarnell stepped to the shelf, and he picked up one of the weapons.

  "This is just what I want," he said. "These are more accurate than the old models. This one locks on a target with a laser. If the target moves, the rifle senses it and adjusts the shot in a thousandth of a second." He handed Wilson the weapon, which was lighter than the laser rifle he had used in target practice.

  "It feels good," Wilson said.

  Yarnell filled out a release form for the rifle. He scribbled his signature and said, "You could use a weapon like that, Bill."

  "It's nice, but my ray pistol is all I need because I spend most of my time with the wounded," Wilson said. He handed the new rifle back to Yarnell.

  "When we have more time, you should check out the new pistols," Yarnell said. "We'd better get to the assembly point early." He waved Wilson towards the door.

  As they left the armory, the steel door creaked and slammed shut.

  "See you in a few minutes, Ricardo," Wilson said. "I have to link up with Rachel."

  "Be safe," Yarnell said. He left with his new rifle.

  After Yarnell turned the corner in the hallway, Wilson walked back to the armory door and reached out to knock on it. He was stunned as someone tapped his shoulder. Wilson turned. One of the armorers, a large, heavy man, stood there.

  "Yarnell said you still have time to get a new pistol," said the overweight armorer, Jake Trundell. He unlocked the heavy door and swung it open.

  "Good," Wilson said, fumbling for the pager in his pocket, but he was too late to warn Lena. She stood frozen, her eyes wide open, as Trundell stepped into the room, followed by Wilson.

  "Hi, Rachel," he said. "How'd you get in here?"

  She drew her ray gun, and Trundell dove towards the heavy exit door, but Lena fired a stun ray that hit his chest. Out cold, he fell like a giant rag doll near the doorway.

  "Help me drag him to the back of the room," Lena said while she replaced her weapon in her holster.

  Each clutched one of Trundell's heavy arms and pulled him with difficulty across the floor. They dragged him behind some crates in the rear of the room, and Wilson threw a tarp over him.

 
"I need to get one of those new pistols," Wilson said. "Yarnell sent Trundell back here to issue one to me."

  "Okay, I saw them on the second shelf back. Keep your old one, too," Lena said. "Trundell should be out for a couple of hours, but I'll give him a sedative just in case." Lena unzipped her fanny pack and took out a preloaded hypodermic needle.

  She lifted the tarp that covered Trundell. As Lena gave Trundell the shot, Wilson walked to the second shelf and took a new ray pistol.

  Trundell will never wake up if we blow up the ship, Wilson realized. Lena walked to Wilson. "Did you have any trouble arming the bombs?" he asked.

  "No. Odds are at least one will go off, in case the others fail," she said, as she zipped her fanny pack shut.

  Wilson felt guilty. He was part of a plot that would destroy intelligent, good people. He felt the uselessness of armed conflict, which ruins human beings. He was in a haze as he marched to the ship's staging area with Lena.

  Chapter 33 – The Water Mission at Emor City

  Wilson and Lena hustled to the mission staging area within The Ghost Liner.

  "You two got here just in time," Raven said.

  Wilson was out of breath. "Sorry. I just got a new pistol at the armory," he said.

  Yarnell looked at Raven. "I sent Trundell over there to issue a new model pistol to Bill," Yarnell said.

  Raven nodded. "Okay, assault team, Yarnell will begin check-in," Raven said.

  Yarnell read every soldier's name.

  Each said, "Here."

  There were twenty warriors in the assault squad each of whom wore a blue maintenance uniform and a fiber helmet. All had light packs in which they carried mini-fusion bombs. Most of the fighters were also armed with pistols as well as ray rifles with folding stocks.

  "Move out," Raven said.

  They stepped down the ramp of the partially cloaked ship and onto the fine sand on the edge of the Triodian jungle. Raven consulted his map.

  Wilson remembered that The Ghost Liner was to uncloak near the entrance of a tunnel forty feet in diameter. The tunnel had three branches, which formed the shape of the capital letter "T." The ocean lay to the north, parallel to the top of the "T." The huge water complex stood to the west, a half mile away. Emor City was a mile to the south at the bottom of the "T." The third, eastern wing of the "T" was an incomplete tunnel, which would be extended about 50 miles to the east to a new city to be constructed along the ocean.

  The relentless sun burned Wilson's back, and the muggy air was oppressive as he and the rest of Raven's team emerged from the jungle and walked north onto the beach. The smell of rotten vegetation invaded his nostrils as Wilson got his bearings, first facing the ocean to the north. The second big thing he saw was a mammoth desalinization plant to his left about half a mile west of them on the edge of the ocean. The huge, ten-story water complex also included a sewage treatment plant, fresh water wells, pumps, offices, and shops.

  Lena stepped close to Wilson. Under her breath she said, "When we get near the plant, I'll do it."

  Wilson nodded. He felt light-headed, and his mouth was dry even though he sucked heavy humidity into his lungs. He worried, would Raven and his soldiers plant the bombs even after The Ghost Liner is destroyed?

  The thick jungle was behind them to the south when they faced the beach. Where the jungle occasionally came close to shore, palm trees hung over the water, and waves smashed seaside rocks. The splashes were stronger than Wilson thought they would be.

  Raven first sent two scouts a short distance west to find the entrance to a big underground chamber where the three tunnels met in the shape of a "T." He soon received a radio call from the scouts, and afterward he motioned the squad to turn left and move west under the thick vegetation and palm trees along the beach.

  The team's first objective was to go into the big chamber to locate the forty-foot diameter tunnel that led west to the plant. Inside that tunnel was an eight-foot pipe that carried treated water to the city. Also within the tunnel was a four-foot pipe, which transported waste water from the city back to the treatment plant.

  Raven's plan called for his fighters to walk through the tunnel to reach the water plant, place bombs there, and then return to the junction of the "T." From there they would travel through the south tunnel for a mile inland, and place bombs beneath Emor City.

  Raven hoped to destroy not only the water system, but also much of the city and many of its people. The rebel congress and their leaders were primary targets because their House of Representatives was above the south tunnel.

  As the squad members moved forward under the cover of the jungle leaves and worked their way toward the main chamber entrance, Lena walked with Wilson. When they paused near a palm tree trunk, she whispered, "Art Terac is supposed to lead a squad to find us. I'm sending a GPS signal to him, and he'll attack after the ship explodes. Run away as fast as you can when Terac hits us."

  "I'm ready," Wilson said. He scanned the jungle, but he saw no sign of Terac's squad of rebel soldiers. Wilson hoped each and every one of the rebels had studied his and Lena's pictures. He didn't want to be struck by friendly fire, even if nano meds could save him and Lena. The pain of death must be horrible, he thought.

  Sweat poured into Wilson's burning eyes. He wiped the perspiration away with his arm, but his eyes became more irritated. It was rough going because the sand was deep and soft, and their packs seemed heavier as Raven's people moved ahead.

  His raiders were about a hundred feet from the big chamber's entrance when Raven signaled them to squat beneath big tropical plants along the beach. About one minute later, one of Raven's two scouts waved them forward.

  Wilson worried, why hasn't Lena blown up The Ghost Liner yet?

  With his back to the ocean, Wilson felt coolness strike him as he walked through the entrance and into the huge cave-like room where the three tunnels and their massive pipes met. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he looked to his right and saw the bodies of two guards with their throats cut. They were lying just inside the entry of the tunnel that went a half mile west to the water plant. Blood had puddled on that tunnel's concrete floor.

  He glanced straight ahead and saw the opening of the mile-long south tunnel that led away from the beach to Emor City. Then he looked to his left and saw a big, sealed door that protected a short, new eastern tunnel, which he remembered was only about 100 feet long. It was to be extended to a new, future city.

  Lena edged up to Wilson, and whispered, "I haven't heard from Terac yet, so I'll delay setting off the bombs until he gives me the go-ahead."

  The scouts had attached a small video cube player to the chamber's surveillance camera cables. The player sent a recorded TV picture of a normal scene back to rebel guards who remotely monitored the video feed.

  All of a sudden, lethal, dark blue ray fire bombarded them from inside the western tunnel at Wilson's right. Two of Raven's squad members fell dead, and the rest scrambled and hit the ground.

  Wilson speculated, did Terac attack too soon? Lena still hasn't pushed the radio trigger to blow up The Ghost Liner.

  "Get the hell out of here!" Raven yelled. He turned around and stumbled out of the big chamber's entry, but he was met with a hail of ray gun fire. The enemy had also placed men in the jungle and on the beach outside the big cave-like room.

  Wilson guessed, Terac must have decided to attack before our team could plant any bombs.

  Raven rolled back into the underground chamber as ray fire just missed him. He looked to his left at the entry to the new side tunnel, which was welded shut. The rest of Raven's fighters fired into the western tunnel at the source of the rebel ray shots.

  "Rogers, blow this door open," yelled Raven, and Rogers raced forward. He put a shaped charge along the welds, placed a detonator, and wired the set up. His hands shook. The Sunevian soldiers rolled behind the big steel water pipes to protect themselves. Rogers pushed a button on a small box. Boom! The door fell. A cloud of dirt hung in the air, and blue
ray shots pierced the dust cloud.

  "Go," Raven yelled. His soldiers ran eastward into the unused, new tunnel and headed away from the plant. The short, new tunnel had no big water or sewage pipes in it. Because it was pitch dark, Raven aimed a bright spotlight forward. About a hundred feet away was the far end of the passageway. Wilson, Lena, and the rest of Raven's team sprinted towards it.

  Wilson asked himself, with no big pipes to hide behind, where will we shield ourselves if Rogers has to blow the end of the tunnel?

  But at the terminus of the tunnel, they found a pad-locked steel door. Raven shot the lock away with his ray gun. The door was stuck, so he and Yarnell kicked it and knocked it open.

  The team tumbled out of the darkness and onto a blindingly bright gravel road and then ran. After a hundred yards they rolled off the lane into bushes and weeds. Lena was next to Wilson as they jumped through jungle vegetation and onto a bed of smooth, decorative gravel.

  He looked at her, wondering if she would soon destroy the ship. She nodded. Her left hand was in her pocket, and the cloth of her denims moved as she pushed a radio control button. An instant later there was a huge blast.

  After a short delay, a big concussion from the explosion of The Ghost Liner smashed the squad members down onto stones between the roadside and a big drainage ditch.

  Wilson bruised his knees and elbows.

  "You okay?" he gasped to Lena.

  "Yes," she whispered, as she sat up. "It just stunned me. I had to do it, even if Terac didn't signal me yet."

  Debris fell around them, but none of the ship fragments hit anyone. Raven picked up a jagged six-inch chunk of carbon nano material. He looked at it. Then he tossed it away. "It's from our ship! It's gone. Let's go, fast!" Raven screamed. His body shook. Wilson had never seen him so upset. "They'll be here soon. They must have known our plans."

  Raven's team jogged to a tall wooded hill that was spotted with massive granite boulders. Wilson squeezed the grip of his ray gun. The weapon made him feel confident as the raiders made their way upward and through the shadows of bushes and trees. He glanced at Lena and hoped to signal her that they should run away from Raven's squad. Wilson raised his eyebrows, jerked his head to the side, and nodded questioningly. She shook her head, no.