“And that’s what’s so amazing! This ship? Your career and fortune? Anyone else wouldn’t be a regular guy anymore. And your looks? Well, guys like you were always out of my league, even when I was young.”
She took a sip of her wine, looking into his eyes. As usual, he was not particularly loquacious; his opening up to her about his wife and the ship back when she had first met him was the exception. Knowing him as she did now, Fiona realized that her holding out on him had hurt him, for he did not share such things casually. The doctor remembered how upset he had gotten with her when she had refused to tell him the truth. While she knew that he had reason, she understood the depth of his frustration much better now.
“I don’t know; bet you were a real looker back then,” he said admiringly, lifting his own glass and taking a drink.
“I was plain,” Fiona lamented. “Plain … and difficult to date.”
“Difficult?”
“I was judgmental, preachy and prudish.” She shook her head. “I wasted so many years being everyone else’s conscience and look how that turned out! I should have been examining my own conscience. Look at all the trouble I caused. I never killed anyone, but I was involved in operations where people were killed and I went right along with it. Then, I almost got you, Mun and Lena killed.” Fiona laughed mirthlessly. “At times, I rather feel like Jonah, my sins bringing God’s wrath upon the ship.”
“Fiona, don’t do this to yourself,” the captain admonished. “I can sit here and berate myself for all my past missteps. Ain’t gonna change nothin’. I’ve only known you since you’ve been aboard. You really tried my patience at first, but now? I can’t imagine life without you.”
“Thank you,” she said.
They began eating and the food was excellent. The priest truly was a man of many talents. Music played softly as they dined, enjoying one another’s presence. Though they had both gone silent while they ate, they traded smiles and romantic looks, occasionally laughing and giggled. Both were introverts, so constant conversation was not needed; they were happy to simply enjoy each other’s presence. Fiona felt like she was in high school again. No, not high school, she thought. This is much better!
The U.S.S. Phantasm had intercepted a distress call from a Ness Frigate, Ramos. It seemed that she was having engine trouble and was requesting assistance. The Phantasm’s captain ordered a course change to intercept and render aid, the communications officer transmitting the offer of aid.
“Thanks a million! You’re a lifesaver!” The grateful response from the stranded captain seemed heartfelt.
“Just doing our jobs, Captain Beaumont,” replied the coms officer.
The crew of the Phantasm found the break in the monotony welcome. All were glad to be in the vicinity of the distress call; emergencies in space were usually fatal if nobody was in range. Moving ahead at full, the Phantasm would reach the crippled Ramos in plenty of time to save the crew and any passengers.
The reaction aboard the Ramos, however, was a stark contrast. The transmission ended, Mister Levin nodding at Lorgen. “They went for it, sir.”
“Good. Mister Kowalski,” Lorgen barked into the microphone, “cut power to the engines. Also, set up a current overload that will burn out the power couplings; activate it when I give the order.”
“Yes, sir,” the engineers replied.
“What’s your plan?” Myers looked at Lorgen expectantly.
“Near as I can tell, nobody knows we’ve commandeered the Ramos, or that the Venus facility is gone,” Lorgen explained. “Nobody in the U.S. fleet at least. I have a backdoor into their systems, but we need to be close; damn close, to make it work. Once I’m in their system, I have the ship.”
“What about the crew and her captain?” Myers looked alarmed.
“They play ball; or they’re out.”
“Sir, they’re U.S. Starfleet,” Myers objected. “We can’t just hijack their ship!”
“Myers, we’re screwed if we don’t get a ship with some serious firepower and finding another Enigma Class starship in range is a coup! I won’t pass up this opportunity and I will not be denied my revenge! Is that clear?”
Myers stood, glaring at Lorgen. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to relieve you of command. I’m invoking …” A pained look came over his face, replaced by shock as he placed his hand on the ever growing blood stain on his chest.
Mister Stiles, the gunner, holstered his weapon.
“Thank you, Mister Stiles,” Lorgen said smugly. “Mister Myers, you’re discharged.”
Myers fell to the floor, dead, a look of shocked surprise still etched on his face.
“You’re welcome, sir,” the gunner replied.
Dinner seemed to have gone by in a few scant moments, but it was nearly nine by the time they finished their food. Conversation was light once they started eating, but they stumbled upon things that they had in common, shared views and topics of interest that took their dialogue off in new and lengthy directions. With the meal finished, all they had left was wine and the pleasure of each other’s company.
Fiona drained her glass and Kendrick dutifully poured her another. She did not refuse. This would be her fourth glass and she knew she had already gone past her limit. Though not so strong as Heather’s Scotch, her frame of mind and her judgment, was the same that it had been that night. Fiona had no reservations; she could trust him with her life and dignity, and if things went all the way. She knew that she would awaken in the morning with no regrets. The doctor held the glass up shakily.
“To us,” she said, her words beginning to slur.
“To us,” he replied, touching his glass to hers.
She leaned forward, entwining her arm around his and they drank to their relationship. Then, they leaned in and kissed. Fiona giggled with delight.
“So, are you up for another movie night?” he asked.
“We could do more, you know,” she offered.
“I’d like that,” he said. “But I think you might be more comfortable if we were married.”
“We do have a priest on board,” she offered.
“Very true, my love,” he agreed. “But before marriage, I need to ask you something.” He stood up and walked around to her left and took her hand. Then he knelt down and reached into his pocket.
“Oh … oh my god,” Fiona was trembling as he slid a ring onto her finger.
“Joyce Fiona Keane,” he said softly, holding her gaze. “Will you marry me?”
“Oh … oh, Kendrick.” Tears of joy streamed down rosy cheeks as she fell from her chair and into his arms, kissing him. “Yes!”
Giffords hoped that they could pick up the trail. Instead, they came upon the last location of the A.M.S. Orion and the source of the signal believed to be the Enigma, but all they found was wreckage. Some pieces were recognizable as parts of the Enigma under the Liberty’s floodlights, but it was the Orion that was the most shocking. The entire port side of the interceptor had been torn open and the crew blown out into space. Bodies floated in the empty vacuum, none of them wearing space suits.
Commander Jax led a fire team and some medical personnel to the Orion to sweep for survivors, but those who had survived the initial blast, died in a ship that had no life support. Jax inspected what remained of the bridge and amazingly, was able to retrieve the Orion’s black box.
Captain and commander met in private and listened to the recording, learning that Lorgen had scuttled the Enigma with the Orion’s boarding party still on it and the Orion still attached. Lorgen and his men had taken the Enigma’s shuttlecraft, presumably going after Royce, though how Lorgen expected to catch the Selene in a shuttle that could barely exceed Mach 5 was a mystery.
“He’s crazy,” Gifford’s declared, shaking her head. “Such a waste of human life.”
“We need to stop him, ma’am.”
“No, Donavan.” She did not often get so familiar with her XO, but in private, Gifford’s felt she could relax a bit. “We can’t scour
space looking for shuttles.”
“We don’t have to.”
She cocked her head to one side. “I don’t follow.”
“It’s clear that Selene was making for Venus, Lorgen in pursuit. Royce would have no way of knowing the Enigma’s been destroyed. As far as he knows, Lorgen’s still riding his ass. He’d show up, do whatever he went there to do and get out as fast as possible.”
“That makes sense,” Gifford’s agreed. “But why would Royce go to Venus in the first place? There’s nothing there.”
“Ma’am, I’m a subordinate, so I don’t want to speak out of turn, but he didn’t sail to Venus for his health; there must be something there,” Jax noted. “Venus is not hospitable, so it’s not a resort. More than likely, it’s some kind of military or research installation Maybe Colonel Tracht needs to be more forthcoming with information.”
“We couldn’t land,” Carol mused. “We’d need to use shuttles.”
“I wasn’t suggesting we actually go to Venus, Captain. That would be a waste of time.”
She was puzzled. “Then … what?”
Jax handed her his datapad, an image of the current location of the planets onscreen. “With the movement of the planets and with the position he’s in, his only viable destination is Mars. If Lorgen is still in pursuit, that’s where he’s going.”
Gifford’s recalled that Jax was, in addition to being a juggernaut of destruction, a chess champion. Always six moves ahead of the rest of us, she thought.
“I think you’re right, Don. And please, when it’s just us, call me Carol.”
“Carol?” Jax looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Don, we’ve gone through the Colonial Conflict together and served together in the fleet long enough. We confide in each other and we get along well. I think that qualifies us as friends, don’t you?”
“Of course; I just don’t want overstep my bounds.”
So damn formal, she thought, shaking her head and laughing. “Come on, Don. Even Colonel Tracht calls me Carol when we’re not on deck.”
“Then, Carol it is,” Jax agreed. He offered a slight smile and chuckled. It was the most relaxed she had ever seen him.
Terri Jenkins could hardly believe it. She, and everyone else in the control tower, had been fired. The Alliance had arrived; a team with A.I.I. badges, and ejected everyone from the tower. Terri had no idea why, but she knew that Amanda’s uniform had an A.I.I. badge, the only reason she even knew that AII existed. She still had no idea what A.I.I. was, but thanks to Amanda, she knew that it was Alliance. She had tried contacting Amanda, but to no avail; calls and messages had gone unreturned for months now. She hoped Amanda was alive and had to remind herself that the agent frequently went long periods without contact.
Now, she was on a transport to Mars, there to interview for a job with the Tourism Bureau. This would be her third interview with the Bureau; the others had been via vid-chat and she had made it to the final round. Terri lay down on the small bunk in her cabin, glad that the upper bunk was mercifully empty; somehow, she had managed to get a room in steerage all to herself. She was about to go to sleep when her datapad chimed, alerting her to an incoming call. Not bothering to look at the screen, Terri answered with her earpiece.
“Hello?”
“Oh my god, Terri, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice.”
“Amanda?” Terri sat bolt upright, shocked to hear the voice of Amanda Keyes.
“Still alive, still kickin’, girl.”
“Amanda, I lost my job, along with everyone in the control tower!” Terri blurted it out, determined to say it before Amanda began plying her with romance and sweet talk, something Terri knew she would fall for.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“No, I’m not,” Terri said crossly. “Your people showed up and cleared us all out; they were all wearing those little A-Two badges like you wear. We were fired the next day, no explanation. I’m on my way to Mars to interview with the Tourism Bureau.”
“Mars Tourism Bureau? Terri, did they seek you out?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Terri said, noticing a shift in Amanda’s tone. “I sent my resume out to about a hundred places after we were let go.”
“Are you on your way to meet Karla McGrath? On Columbia Memorial Station?”
“Yeah … why?”
“Terri, there is no Karla McGrath. When you get there, they’ll kill you.”
“Amanda, I am going to lose my home if I don’t get a job! I love you, Amanda. I love you dearly, but I can’t play with my …”
“Terri, listen! I am an Alliance Interplanetary Intelligence agent. It’s what A.I.I. stands for; I’m a spy! There is no Mars Tourism Bureau; the real Mars Tourism is the M.T.T; Martian Travel and Tourism. This is a lure. It’s one of the many ways they make all those people ‘disappear’ after they’ve seen too much of an operation! It’s more cost effective to lure you in than it is to send people after you. You can’t go!”
“Oh … my … they’re going to kill me?”
“I’m so sorry, Terri. This is all my fault. I put you in …”
“No, it started before you. They were doing all kinds of things before you showed up, things that made no sense until after you told me about Royce.”
“I’m on my way to Mars, Terri. Do not leave the spaceport! I’m on board the Selene. I’m coming for you.”
“The Selene? How?”
“That’s not important, Terri. I need to talk to Captain Royce right now. Don’t take calls from anyone except me, got it?”
“Got it,” Terri said nervously. “I … I can’t believe I’ve been targeted for assassination.”
“Believe it. Gotta go, Terri, and Terri … I love you.”
“I love you too, Amanda.”
Tears were streaming down Terri’s cheeks as the call ended. Never had Amanda come out and said, “I love you,” even when Terri had said it first. Nor was it said casually. Amanda was afraid she might never see Terri again. There was nothing to be done until the transport got to Mars except lay low and hope that Amanda got there first. Then she wondered how Amanda had ended up aboard the Selene.
Kendrick sat in his chair, contemplating just what he would say to the U.P.A. when they contacted him, Lena sitting quietly at the helm. Lena had advised him to simply be factual, but the question was how many facts, and which ones, should he share if they began pressing him with questions? These things and more weighed on him as the bridge door suddenly opened and Amanda Keyes burst through, floating to the com officer’s chair and turning to Kendrick in one smooth motion.
“This ain’t exactly Pod Alpha, you know.” Royce flashed her a perturbed glare.
“Captain, I have an emergency and I need your help,” she gasped, out of breath.
“If it’s within reason, sure,” he replied nonchalantly.
“I need you to get to Mars ahead of schedule. The life of someone I love depends upon it.”
Kendrick looked at her dubiously. “Agent Keyes, you know I’m already traveling at Mach 30. I can maybe do some extra burns, but we’re already heading to a planet that’s moving towards us, going as fast as this ship is rated. Who’s in danger?”
“Kendrick, I’m speaking to you as a woman, not as a U.P.A. agent. It’s Terri; I told you about her the other day. She … I don’t know what I’ll do if she dies.”
“What kind of danger is she in?” Lena posed the question.
“Assassins,” Amanda declared. “A.I.I. showed up and dismissed the entire staff of Luna Tower, and Terri was one of them. She received a bogus job offer; it’s a lure to bring in people who may know more than the U.P.A. wants them to, though I’ve never seen them do it for anything like this! Something’s wrong and I need to get to the bottom of it, but until then, we’ve got to save her! Please! I’ll do anything you ask, Captain, I’m desperate.”
“What about your superior?” he asked. “What’d she say?”
“My superior was a ma
n named Xing; you saw him at the O.S.P. I can’t raise him and I have a bad feeling that he may be dead.”
Kendrick keyed up the mic. “Heather, you there?”
“Aye, sir,” replied Heather over the loud speaker.
“Remember those burns we did when Tanaka was aboard?”
“Aye.”
“I’m doin’ it again. Let’s see if we can break our speed record. First one in three … two … one … now.”
Amanda buckled herself in as he spoke. As soon as he said, “now,” the ship’s engines roared and the back of her chair flattened her as the ship surged forward. The fastest ship Amanda had ever been in was the Orion, but compared to the Selene, Orion had been slow. As Kendrick held the burn, she could hear bulkheads creaking and the fuselage groaning against the strain of the mighty engines.
“Lena,” Kendrick shouted, “Change the pulse algorithm. Sending it to you now!”
“Received,” the gynoid called out, straining to be heard over the engines. “Making changes. Changes applied.”
Suddenly, the ship surged forward again. Amanda had no idea how fast they were going, but she knew that he had broken Mach 30, previously believed to be unattainable by any ship. Even the Selene was only believed capable of Mach 25. Amanda realized that Kendrick never showed off the ship’s full power. He always kept us guessing. Just as suddenly, the engines quieted as he halted the burn.
“I’ll do two more of those,” he declared. “That should get us there ahead of schedule. We need to find this girlfriend of yours before your buddies do.”
“You have my eternal gratitude, Captain.” Amanda unbuckled herself and floated over to hug the rock and roll captain, kissing his cheek. “You really are a good man.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he warned. “We ain’t finished till we get there.”
“No, but anyone else would have made me jump through hoops and probably still said no. Whatever happens, you’re aces in my book.”
No Safe Harbor: The Silver Liner Page 5