“What would we do?” the redhead asked.
“I need to know if anything serious happens on board this station. I don’t care if Tony swipes a peach from the kitchen or Mr. Morrison gets drunk in a corridor.”
The little blonde giggled. “Or if Amy is canoodling with Jeff in the hall closet.” She peered around in wisdom.” They were, you know. I saw them myself.”
Jacob held up his hand, palm out. “Right. I only want to know about serious problems on the station, not petty gossip.”
She put something in the water, Jacob. He pushed away the memories. Something that stops people making babies.
He collected himself. “Now, before I deputize you…”
“Sir, do you think…” Merek shifted uneasily beside him.
Jennie beamed. “We’ll do a good job, I promise.” She glowed, confident in her team.
This time he was ready and girded for the rush of emotion. He only needed a moment to regain his composure. Gathering a breath and swallowing emotion, he instructed, “First, you need to shake my hand and say your name clearly. You may keep the binoculars as a personal reward from me for the fine job you did capturing the gebbit, and I may be able to convince Mr. Wright to let you keep the earbud comms.”
“Could we meet him, too?” a heavyset older kid asked. Several others nodded vigorously.
Who knew Carter was so popular among the younger set?
“I might be able to arrange it. Now, no one is forced to be on the team, is that clear? It’s strictly volunteer.”
“Yes, sir,” they all chorused.
He put his hand out. “I am Jacob Monroe. Welcome to my team.” First, he shook Jennie’s hand very solemnly.
She smiled. “I am Jennie Monroe, but you know that already.”
The redhead stepped forward and extended his hand. “I’m Razzle Dazzle Espirito, sir.”
Jacob’s eyebrows lifted at the name and the flaming red hair. He should have guessed. Once he heard the name, the resemblance to their comm operator was unmistakable.
“Most just call me Dazz.”
He gave a brief, solemn handshake. “Welcome, Dazz.”
A communicator in the making, there.
He sought to quickly identify each one in an effort to remember them.
“I’m Chrissy Cameron.” A tiny blonde with a big smile, short hair, bangs, and a firm grip.
“I’m Lexi Johnson.” Long brown hair and a ponytail with bangs framing a shy smile. A good bit of intelligence in the eyes. She’s the captain’s daughter. Right away, he saw the resemblance to Naomi.
“I’m Tommie Blakey.” A crew cut and amazing ears.
Jacob shook his hand. Gads, and sticky hands. He turned to the next, wondering if he ever would get them straight.
“I’m Jensen Dane. Pleased to meet you, sir.” A tall blond with good manners and well-dressed. Jensen would be proud.
“I should’ve said that,” Miss Ponytail muttered.
A compact Asian bowed to him. “I’m Tay Chen T’Sang. An honor to be on your team.”
At last came a very nervous, heavyset preteen with a bad haircut and an eye-catching nose. “My name’s Jimmie Bradley.” The voice cracked and the kid’s cheeks turned a blush red. Had James ever gone through such agony? It was hard to believe it of the now confident Captain.
Jacob patted Jimmie’s arm. “A pleasure to meet you all. And now, Trajan Merek will officially deputize you.”
“What? Sir, I…”
“Merek, just swear them in.” Jacob nudged him.
“Okay.” Merek approached the front and squared himself. Offering a smile, he said, “I, Trajan Merek series II, swear you to be part of my security team.”
“Why do you say, ‘series II’?”
Merek straightened. “Because I’m a duplicate—what we call a clone. To avoid confusion with Trajan Merek, my original, I use his last name. I go by Merek. Others go by a nickname. Some get their own name if they are a series III.”
“I’m not a duplicate but I have series II after my name,” said Dazz.
“You’re a regendered clone. Your original is a different sex. So, you have your own name, but similar.”
Dazz nodded thoughtfully. “That’s what Jazz said.”
You guys got a team name?”
“We’re called Team Hope, sir.” Jennie grinned.
“Do you swear in the name of Team Hope to report directly to me under the rules of organization provided by Terran Security?”
“Ah, Merek…”
Merek put up a hand. “All who accept this duty signify by saying, ‘I do.’”
A resounding shout of “I dos” filled the office.
“Did someone just get married?” asked Merek in a faint voice.
“Congratulations,” Jacob said with a big grin.
Chapter 8
Disaster brewing
“Jazz is on the comm for you, Commander.” Merek handed Elise a headset.
“Commander Fujeint here.” She glanced over at Richard. He’d come to her place to share a recent report from Director Walker.
Jazz’s worried voice came on. “The doc wants you over at his lab as soon as possible. He sounds upset. They have a crisis on board the Newfound Hope. He says it could involve the whole fleet, and he wants you in his lab.”
“Oh, fu…” She paused as she noticed Richard raise his head to listen. “… fudge.”
“Fudge?” He wrinkled his nose.
She batted the air and shook her head. Into her headset, she said, “Tell John I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Jazz’s voice cracked. “He says it’s urgent.”
“Everything involving John is urgent as far as he’s concerned,” she snorted. “Okay, I’m on my way. Commander Fujeint out.”
“A small, square, chocolate-flavored sweet.” Richard gazed at her puzzled.
“What?”
“Fudge.” Richard tapped the device he held in his hand. “This translator says, “A small, square, chocolate…”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Never mind. I have to grab a shuttle for the Newfound Hope. Where’s Merek?”
“Strange swear word. You Earthlings have some peculiar ways.”
“Terrans. We want to be called Terrans.”
“But you come from Earth.”
“Sorry, but I need to go. Can we discuss this some other time?”
Richard rose from his chair. “Can I come? Perhaps it’s important.”
“No!” You can’t follow me around like a shadow everywhere I go.”
“More interesting than reading Trace’s boring reports. Commander, have some pity.” He grinned at her.
She shook her head. “No. Stay here and finish reading his report. You can brief me when I return. I’ll be back as soon as I can. You’ll find out then what this is about.”
***
Elise stood in front of John’s lab on board The New Found Hope, and peered through the small glass window. Dr. John Luttrell’s clone, once her cribmate and close friend, leaned over to say something to Beth, John’s loyal aide.
“Johnny,” she started to say to him when he interrupted.
“Hey, Lisi, it’s Jay. I was called Johnny as a kid, which I purely hate. It’s a kid’s name. Call me Jay. It’s the first letter in John, and a more adult name. Besides, then, everyone won’t confuse me with father as much.”
“You look so like him that I may forget and call you John by mistake on occasion, but I’ll give it a try. In return, call me Elise. I feel the same way. We’re all grown up now, and baby names won’t do.”
“Fine. I’ll try to remember too, but old habits die hard.”
Elise looked through the window and turned to the senior John Luttrell. “How did this happen?”
John sighed. “Reardon instructed us to forbid anyone from placing infected friends or lovers into cryo, hoping for a future cure. Seems like they slipped some in anyway.”
Jay, picked up the tale. “We emptied a quarter of t
he ship onto the station and thought it was time to pull more out of cryo and get them acclimated.”
“Besides, the ship needed the workers,” John added.
“How many are infected?”
John shrugged. “So far, not that many on this ship, but…”
Jay turned to her. “It’s also happened on other ships.”
“Oh, hell.”
John put his hand on her arm. “Elise, we still have the serum. We can dose those showing symptoms. But we don’t have enough for everyone. We’re running low.”
Beth grumbled, “It’s just those who are infected but are not showing any symptoms yet that are going to cause problems.”
Tapping the window, Elise gazed into the stark white room. “Do we have enough serum to cover everyone who comes out of cryo?”
“No.”
“Let’s only take out those we can inoculate.”
John shrugged. “That will slow the immigration process.”
“Plus, there’s another problem.” Jay looked at his father. “Tell her.”
“What?”
John turned from the window with a choked sigh. “Those coming out of cryo, even when healthy, are having high incidences of strokes and heart attacks. I haven’t had time to accumulate enough data, but within this short period of time, the mortality rate is unnaturally high. Elise got lucky getting her nanites so soon after getting out of cryo. Even so, the nanites wear out just like any machine if not maintained properly or upgraded. She received the first experimental batch and never upgraded. Most likely, it’s the reason her stroke was fatal.”
Grief welled up within her for the senseless loss. God knew, she wished for their now dead commander’s strong guidance. The fleet needed her. Elise rubbed her face and took a moment to recover composure, then asked, “So pulling even a healthy person out of cryo without nanites puts them at risk?”
Beth turned to John. “But we have to bring them out as soon as possible in order to acclimatize them for the station. Besides, we need workers to keep the ship running effectively while in orbit. Fifty of our personnel have left to go on board the station.”
Jay nodded. “There are three stages: ship, station, and planet. The possibility of disease complicates matters. We have to proceed carefully or risk our entire population.”
Internally, Elise wailed at what they were saying. “The process could take years.”
John grimaced. “It could, but taking time means survival. Rushing without precautions will lead to unnecessary deaths and possible expulsion from this world if Alysia gets exposed.”
“People will get impatient if it takes too long.”
Jay fidgeted and coughed. After a pause, he said, “Unfortunately, our other problem is that clones untreated with nanites live half as long as originals.”
“But if some in cryo are infected, and any Alysian gets infected, or any Alysian even hears that they might get infected, we’ll be stuck up here forever. They’ll never let us down.” Elise clenched her fists in frustration. “We must contain this disease, and no one must know about it.”
The three exchanged glances.
“That might be impossible,” John said. “You know how gossip takes on a life of its own.”
The other two nodded.
Elise clenched her jaw and glared. “We have to squelch this. I don’t want this station to be our permanent home.”
***
Merek surveyed the ragged bunch and decided Jacob had lost his mind. He saw no way this assortment of kids could do any good, but orders were orders. Taking a deep breath, he waved a hand to get their attention. “I have a top-secret mission for your team.”
Jennie nodded solemnly. Someone sneezed; another farted. Merek rolled his eyes in despair, but continued, “You scouts are going to listen to what everyone says. If anyone speaks about sickness, I want to know what they said and who said it. I want to know five minutes after they say it.”
The small blonde raised her hand.
“Yes, Chrissy.”
“Thelma Jackson said her sister’s brother-in-law on the New Frontier mentioned that his new boss came out of cryo and got real sick. She told my Ma, and she told a few people. She acted pretty worried about it. They all did.”
Merek’s stomach did a flip-flop. Outwardly, he forced himself to remain calm. “That’s exactly the kind of information we’re looking for.” Merek smiled at her. “Remember, anything you report is top secret. You must only tell me or Jennie and no one else. Is that clear? If any Alysian hears those kind of rumors, we’ll never get to live on that planet.”
“It doesn’t look all that great down there,” sniffed Dazz. “And I know lots of people who agree with me.” He straightened up and peered around.
Well, that surprised Merek. “Jennie, you hearing that?”
She shrugged. “Mostly from the other clones. We don’t know what it’s like to live on a real world. To some, it’s scary. Look at what’s happening down there. Everyone almost got killed because of a comet, and the place is a mess. On a ship, we just move out of the way.”
Listening, Merek couldn’t believe the comment. He thought everyone was eager to live on the planet, but maybe he’d been wrong. “Radiation, asteroids, black holes, the vacuum of space, there’s lots to worry about. Space is dangerous.”
“Just being alive is worrisome most days,” piped up Lexi chewing on the end of a brown strand.
“You have a point,” Merek conceded. He brandished two peaches. “But, as part of Terran security, I need to know what people are saying. Two peaches for Chrissy for her information. She can have them both or she can share.”
“Chrissy, Chrissy, my dearest pal and friend.”
Chrissy giggled at the attention she suddenly received, but in the end, Jennie pulled out a knife and sliced eight wedges, one for each. They ran off shouting and laughing.
Merek gazed after the amazing young woman.
Jacob sauntered in from outside the corridor.
“I have a name already,” said Merek in disbelief. “You were right about the kids. These kids have already identified at least one problem, maybe more. It appears that rumors may be already getting out of hand.”
“See, I told you those kids would deliver. Let’s have a word with Thelma Jackson and then talk to Captain Bradley on the New Frontier.”
Merek nodded. “We need to stop those rumors before they cause any more problems.”
“That may be impossible, but we need to at least let the captains know, so they can initiate some kind of action.”
Chapter 9
Close Call
Deuce burst into Richard’s cubicle on the space station. “Did either you or Trace hire any new dock workers?”
Richard looked up, puzzled. “No. Neither one of us has hired anyone lately that I’m aware of. Why?”
“Damn!” Deuce spun around and shouted into his comm, “Harry, Tom, get with me now. Make sure you’re armed. We have a situation in the shuttlebay!”
Richard stood up. “What kind?”
Deuce grimaced. “Possibly bad. I hope I’m wrong.” Then he was out the door, racing along the ceramic corridors, heading for the shuttlebay with Richard following close behind.
Two men converged to flank Deuce. “What’s up?”
Hopping into a rail car, Deuce punched the starter. Richard had barely gotten on board when the car lurched forward, sparks flying out from its wheels.
“Got to grease those wheels,” Deuce muttered.
Scarcely able to keep his balance as they swerved around on the curving track, Richard groped for a seat.
Turning to Richard, Deuce explained, “Four unidentified dock workers showed up this shift. I think they came in with a recent food delivery. I asked Trace if he sent that last shuttle of food, and he denied it. When they unloaded, I noticed the helpers looked rough for volunteers and moved… like pros move. They’re up to no good.”
Still confused, Richard asked, “Why the shuttlebay?”<
br />
“Where’s Commander Fujeint?”
“She got a call from some lab guy and left for The New Found Hope. Acted like it was an emergency.”
“She changed plans?”
“Yes, we were going to go over reports at her place.” Richard paused. “I would have been with her.”
Deuce stared off into air, thinking. “The call messed up their plans. That’s why I noticed them. They were improvising.”
Richard wrinkled his forehead. “An assassination attempt? On both of us?”
“That’s my guess.” Deuce faced his two men. “They could be armed, but I don’t want anyone gunning down unarmed innocents because of my paranoia.”
The two nodded.
“I’m not armed.” Richard felt a spike of fear surge through his body.
“Stay back and let us handle this.” Deuce tensed as the car slid toward the debarkation area, which led through to the shuttlebay.
The car began to slow. “Let’s go guys.” Deuce leaped out of the car and appeared to float through the air. His men followed him, floating nearby.
“How did you…”
“Later, Richard.”
Richard stayed in his seat until the car stopped, which left him trailing behind. As he entered the shuttlebay, a laser flare flashed in the distance, followed by popping noises. Moments later, the entire bay erupted with light and sound. Nearby, a box burst apart. Other crates crashed over as the whine of phasers filled the air. He ducked behind a collection of containers, watching as a firefight burst into full force right in front of him.
***
“Wait.”
Elise spun around. “Who said that?”
Merek joined her in the cabin as the shuttle approached the shuttlebay. “Who said what?”
“To wait. Did you say wait?”
“No, it wasn’t me. Maybe you heard Lance or Kane in the back. Belt up, we’re getting ready to enter the hangar.”
Only one dock worker appeared at the hanger doors waving his hands. The pilot shouted from the cockpit.
“Check out what’s happening,” she ordered.
Merek left for the cockpit.
“Go around.”
Elise twisted about and squinted into the shadowed cabin. A dark figure emerged from a dim corner. Gold eyes peered out from a black hood. The vision wore a black silk shirt with black textured pants. The hood fell back, revealing an arresting angled face, crowned with white blond hair.
Somewhat Alien: The Station (Terran Trilogy Book 2) Page 6