He looked down at the deck, his eyes haunted. “We planned for the ship to serve as the nucleus of a colony, if there was no other choice,” he added. “But in this region of space, we’d be found and slaughtered within a year.”
Rebecca nodded in agreement. “So ... what do we do?”
“Good question,” Captain Yasser said. He glanced up at her. “Right now, I don’t have the slightest idea.”
The despondency in his voice worried her more than she cared to admit. She’d seen him in tough situations before, but this ... if he’d started to give up hope, what hope was there? She tried to think of something to say, yet nothing came to mind. He needed a distraction, something that would pull his mind away from the looming disaster. Who knew? Perhaps it would help him think of something else.
She leaned forward. “Talk me through it,” she said, evenly. “What are our options?”
He looked back at her. “Do you think that will help?”
“It might,” Rebecca told him. “Talking about a problem often helps to solve it.”
The captain smiled, rather wanly. “I thought that was discredited years ago.”
“A lot of psychology was discredited,” Rebecca agreed. She’d studied the field as part of her diplomatic training, although her instructors had cautioned her that aliens operated on different rules. “But I think the Solar Union made a deliberate choice to step away from psychology rather than discredit it.”
“I’m not surprised,” the captain said, sardonically. “It’s astonishing just how many people were pronounced cured when they ran out of money to pay the shrinks.”
“That's something of an exaggeration,” Rebecca said. “The real problem was that psychology was being used as an excuse for everything.”
“And no one was supervising the psychologists,” Captain Yasser agreed. “They had power without responsibility or accountability and that always goes sour.”
Rebecca smiled. She’d distracted him. All she had to do was keep him talking.
“It depends,” she said. “Humans are often guided by factors they don’t understand.”
The captain shrugged. “That might be true,” he said. “But when someone claims that they have an excuse, because of something subjective that cannot be proven, it stinks. And when someone claims that someone else must be restricted, because of something that only makes sense to so-called professionals ... well, it’s one step from there to locking up people because you don’t like their race, religion or eye colour.”
He nodded to the display. “I can prove the FTL drive works by building one and testing it,” he said. “Can you say the same for psychologists?”
“It is an imprecise science,” Rebecca said.
“It isn't a science,” Yasser said. “Any more than economics is a science. You can’t fine-tune a person’s brain any more than you can plan a free economy.”
His intercom bleeped. “Yes?”
“Captain, this is Wolf,” a voice said. “We should be able to complete repairs on Drive One within forty-eight hours, if you give us the go-ahead now.”
Rebecca saw the captain’s face darken. “Can we go FTL while the work is underway?”
“Yes, but we’d have to stop working during the drive surge,” Wolf said. “The radiation sleet would be enough to kill anyone in a suit.”
“Then start work now,” the captain said. “Inform me the minute the work is completed.”
He closed the connection and looked up at Rebecca. “Forty-eight hours,” he said. “And then ...”
She saw him smile. He suddenly looked a great deal younger. “You were distracting me, weren't you?”
“Just a little,” Rebecca confessed. She allowed herself a smile. “If I’d been younger, I might have kissed you instead.”
Captain Yasser laughed. “I assure you it would have worked,” he said. “For a while, perhaps.”
Rebecca had to smile too. They were both older than they looked. And, despite all evidence to the contrary, they were too mature to allow sex to blind them to reality for long. The loves and lusts of their teenage years had long since faded into the background, save for short affairs that both sides knew would burn themselves out with no hard feelings. She wouldn't have minded taking the captain to bed, she had to admit. He would be a better lover than any young man. But he had too many other things to worry about.
“I hope you thought of something,” she said. “There was a movie when the scientist comes up with a brilliant plan while being sucked ...”
The captain shook his head. “That won’t be necessary,” he said. “I think I’ve had an idea.”
“Oh, what a pity,” Rebecca teased. “I was quite looking forward to it.”
“We’ll have to wait until the repairs are completed,” the captain said. “But afterwards ... we might just have a way out after all.”
***
“Next time, I want to book passage on a ten-star liner,” Tyler said. “And get a stateroom with a complete VR simulator package.”
Levi was tempted to agree. The module on the alien ship wasn't any larger than an ensign’s quarters on Odyssey. It certainly hadn't been designed for two adults. The aliens had done a better job than she’d expected - it wasn't the first time they’d smuggled oxygen-breathers around the sector - but it was still cramped, smelly and thoroughly unpleasant.
“Maybe later,” she said. She had no idea what they’d find when they reached their destination. “We might be stuck on another smuggler ship.”
“As long as there’s more room to pace,” Tyler insisted. “I’ve been in jails that were more roomy than this.”
Levi lifted her eyebrows. “Why did you go to jail?”
“I was meant to interview a despot who’d been snatched as punishment for crimes against the Solar Union,” Tyler said. “The bastard never stopped complaining about the food.”
“I guess he never saw Boot Camp,” Levi said.
“No,” Tyler said. “I saw the recordings from his regime. He would have underage children raped, just to make their parents suffer. He ordered mass castrations of male prisoners, then allowed his female prisoners to be raped and impregnated by the guards. He had some kind of belief that a woman had no say in her child’s genes - his captive women would give birth to the next generation of his people. He even had a harem of brain-burned beauties ...”
He shook his head. “People suffered on the outside while he pleasured himself,” he added, stiffly. “And we let him live ... and he had the nerve to complain about the food.”
“How nice,” Levi said. She leaned back on the makeshift bed. “Just relax, really. I'm sure we’ll be there soon enough.”
“I think we’ll die of boredom first,” Tyler said. He looked around the tiny chamber. “I spy, with my little eye ...”
“Oh, shut up,” Levi said. “I can knock you out, if you like.”
For a moment, she thought Tyler actually considered it. “No thanks,” he said, finally. “It would just give me a headache.”
“Your babbling is giving me a headache,” Levi snapped. She forced herself to calm down with an effort. He wasn't trained for this. Neither was she, not really. “We’ll be there soon, I think. And then we can pace somewhere else.”
“I hope so,” Tyler said. “Right now, I just want to scream.”
“Me too,” Levi admitted. “But I’m not going to. I’m just going to wait.”
She picked up the datapad. He was right. It was boring. The constant uncertainty about their safety only made it worse. But there was no other way through the blockade ...
... And if they didn't make it back to Hudson Base, no one would ever know what had happened to them.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I beg the forgiveness of the magnificent God-Admin for my intemperate post. I shall flagellate myself immediately with a rusty chainsaw.
(And that was sarcasm, in case anyone missed it.)
But the fact remains that we cannot allow ourselves t
o believe that this is anything other than a fight to the death. The Tokomak cannot allow us to exist. Even if we weren't committed to waging war against them - and I believe that a peace with honour would suit us perfectly - our nature is a challenge to their authority. They will not see us as equals, but as a disruptive force questioning their social order. Even if we make no more technological advances, we still pose an ideological threat.
They must destroy us. They have no choice.
-Solar Datanet, Political Forum (Grand Alliance Thoughts).
Elton couldn't help smiling as he strode into the conference room. The knowledge that some of his crew - the younger ones, certainly - would think that he and the ambassador had been having passionate sex in his cabin was amusing, even though nothing of the sort had actually happened. But then, the young thought everything was about it. They needed to grow older before they realised that companionship and respect were just as important.
He took his seat and waited for the rest of the senior crew to join him. Odyssey had lurked in interstellar space for nearly three days, first carrying out the repairs and then stress-testing the repairs as much as possible. Elton had no illusions about how long the repairs would hold up, if they had to go straight into another battle, but it would suffice for the moment. He accepted a cup of coffee from one of the ensigns, then leaned forward as the hatch hissed closed. It was time to discuss their next move.
“So far, they have shown remarkably little activity in our direction,” he said, tapping the display to bring up the starchart. “However, it is quite likely that they have deployed scouts to watch for us and rally the troops.”
“We spotted several ships dropping out of FTL at the edge of sensor range,” Callaway offered. “They’ll probably spot us when we leave.”
“True,” Elton agreed. “This gives us a problem. We need to work our way closer to Hudson Base, but they have probably slammed the door behind us tightly. Getting through will be difficult.”
“Impossible,” Biscoe corrected. “Throwing ourselves into the teeth of enemy defences will result in our destruction.”
Elton nodded. “I’ve been looking at the starcharts of the sector,” he said, after a moment. He took control of the projector and oriented the display on Celadon. “This system is of particular interest. You’ll note that it is technically neutral, so the enemy won't have had any emplaced fortresses in place to support their blockade. Furthermore, the gravity point chain starting there doesn't double round to link up with any other gravity chain until Karma, here.”
He pointed to the blinking star. “We actually passed through Karma on our way to Harmony,” he said. “I have no doubt that they’re actually rushing reinforcements in our general direction even as we speak, but Celadon is right on the edge of a gravity point chain and - I think - would have had a pretty low priority before we sneaked into the last gravity point.”
“Putting warships in that system would be an act of war,” Rebecca added, calmly.
“They don’t seem to care,” Biscoe muttered.
Elton shot him a warning look. “They probably shouldn't have been able to get many ships up to Celadon,” he said. “Jumping through the gravity point gives us the best chance of cutting a few hundred light years off the journey.”
“We might run into a fleet of warships heading in the other direction,” Callaway pointed out, slowly. “And they might have managed to fortify the Celesta gravity points. Celesta is only a small colony, but she is in a vital position.”
“We’ll be going through the gravity point at speed,” Elton said. He held up a hand. “I understand the dangers, but we have no choice. Staying where we are is not an option.”
Biscoe cleared his throat. “Captain, we could wait and see if the last engagement embroils the Harmonies in war,” he said. “We are fairly certain they shot hell out of a number of innocent freighters.”
“It would take time for the other powers to mobilise, sir,” Callaway pointed out. “Even if they declared war at once, we'd have to wait at least nine months for major fleet operations.”
“Unless they started preparing for war months ago,” Biscoe countered. “They can't have missed some of the fortification efforts.”
“We don’t know enough to be sure, one way or the other,” Elton said, cutting off the debate. “I don’t think we can rely on anyone to help us until we return to Hudson Base.”
He took control of the display again. “We’ll set course to Celadon immediately,” he said, firmly. “As there’s no way we can pretend to be a helpless freighter this time, we’ll fake a catastrophic drive failure instead” - he tapped a location several AUs from the gravity point - “here. They know they hurt us. Hopefully, they’ll believe it and be lured out of position.”
“If there are any warships there,” Callaway said. “They may have a couple of watchdogs on this side of the gravity point and the whole fleet on the other side.”
Elton nodded. “We’ll just have to be careful,” he said, shortly. “If they do come after us, we’ll slip away under stealth mode and punch our way through the gravity point. Any questions?”
There were none.
“Good,” he said. “Ms. Howells, set course immediately for Celadon,” he ordered. “Mr. Wolf, prepare to emit a drive flare as we crash out of FTL.”
“Aye, Captain,” Marie said.
“I’ll get right on it,” Wolf said. He sobered. “Although, with all due respect, if we place too much stress on the drive nodes we won’t have to fake a flare.”
“I have every faith in you,” Elton assured him. “Mr. Biscoe, Mr. Callaway; run a series of simulations, based on the different possible scenarios we might encounter. See if you can stack the odds in our favour as much as possible.”
“Aye, Captain,” Biscoe said.
Elton resisted - barely - the urge to ask if Hoshiko Sashimi Stuart would have come up with something better. But then, she’d commanded a full battle squadron instead of a single damaged starship. She could probably have forced her way through a gravity point and made any surviving defenders regret ever having heard of the human race.
“Dismissed,” he said, quietly.
“It sounds chancy,” Rebecca said, once they were alone. “Can we make it?”
“I don’t have any better ideas,” Elton said. “The only other options are setting course for the nearest Great Power and throwing ourselves on their mercy or heading straight for Hudson Base in FTL. Either one puts us out of commission for far too long.”
“I see,” Rebecca said.
Elton rather doubted it. The Harmonies had launched a full-scale war, to all intents and purposes. They’d ignored galactic protocols designed to prevent war and embroiled themselves with both humanity and a number of other galactic powers. The implications couldn't be ignored indefinitely. If he’d found himself in such a mess, with a good third of the galaxy out for his blood, he might have tried to discuss peace ... or doubled down by attacking Hudson Base. Smashing Commodore Longlegs and her squadron would buy them time before the reprisals arrived.
It would piss off the rest of the galaxy still further, he conceded, but right now the Harmonies didn't have much to lose.
But their offensive could be already on the way, he thought coldly, as Odyssey slid back into FTL. This time, thankfully, the transition felt normal. We have no way to know.
“I’m fed up of not knowing,” he added, reluctantly. “We really need to learn what is going on.”
“I agree,” Rebecca said. “Now how do you plan to do that?”
“Good question,” Elton said. He rose. “I’ll try to think of something.”
Rebecca nodded. “How long do you have until you’re needed on the bridge?”
“We’ll be in transit for at least thirty hours,” Elton said. “Why?”
“Come to bed,” Rebecca said. “It’ll do you good.”
Elton hesitated. Sexual relationships led to emotional relationships ... they were both mature enough t
o understand that the relationship wouldn't last, but still ... He could spend a few hours in a VR sim, if he wished, enjoying sexual congress in every manner known to man and a few that had only been considered theoretically possible, before the technology had reached the point necessary to support them. And yet ...
It wouldn't be real, he thought.
He’d grown tired of the sims very quickly, just like most of his fellows. They just weren't real. Indeed, they were nothing more than a form of masturbation. Those who chose to fall into them were held in contempt. And why not? They’d given up all hopes of a normal life for an illusion.
Rebecca rose and held out a hand. “You have time,” she said. “And you need it.”
The Long Road Home (A Learning Experience Book 4) Page 29