Looking between the Ensign and the Captain who seem to be talking to each other as their facial expressions change without talking.
“You are not leaving this bridge until you tell me what the fuck is going on here.”
Jack smiled as he looked at Harris. Shook his head and held up his finger toward the Commodore before turning around to the console he was at. Only to stop and turn back around. “Aaa Sorry Commodore. Just one minute please.” And held up his finger again for emphases as he turned around and started typing on the console. Suddenly he looked over at the Ensign and shook his head yes as his lips moved a little without anything coming out and went back to typing on the console.
“Aaa, Commodore, if you please?” The Ensign smiled as Harris turned a baffled expression toward her. “Jack... Captain Turner and I were conceived and born under or around a neutron star when our ship the Turner Joy was marooned around it for a good year.”
“What, that is impossible. Trade routes are plotted to stay far away from neutron stars simply because even passing one will destroy a freshly fertilized egg while creating deformed children if it is not mature enough. A ship simply can’t carry enough shielding to protect even a few from the radiation flooding from a neutron star.”
The Ensign smiled at the Commodore. “Actually Commodore that is not close to being accurate for all, only a small percentage but that is still enough to force transport lanes to be plotted far from any possible contact or transporting civilians. Only thing is that Tramps need to cut travel times in order to make profits so they do go near neutron stars all the time with little health risks. They don’t usually get stranded orbiting one. The Turner Joy cut a little too close to a neutron star and wound up hitting something that emptied its mass tanks. It took them a year to limp around to finally find enough mass to escape to the next system. That was when Jack, a dozen other babies and I were born. Though no one knows how many miscarriages (both early and late term), happened for sure. Of the 15 babies born in that year only Jack and I survived the first couple of years. The others dying mostly due to deformities and weak constitutions so I was told. But Jack and I thrived. Only thing is it turned out that we had some genes turned on that are normally dormant in all other humans. At least that was what the gal in the placement center after bootship said to me.”
The Ensign looked over at Jack and smiled. “Oh really, you too. Ok.”
Then back at the Commodore. “Anyway we grew up together thinking that seeing through bulkheads and decks was natural until about the age of 5 or 6 or was it 7 when we were separated. We simply did not know that normal humans could only see what you call visible light waves while Jack and I could see just about every form of energy wave that is out there. Though because of circumstanced Jack was… How should I say? Aaa. Conditioned by his family after leaving the care of my parents not to see anything but what everyone else could though even then he continued to see some energy waves besides light though he did not realize it since he was mostly ignored by his family and expected to keep his mouth shut. While my family encouraged me even though they never believed me. Putting it down to an overstimulated imagination. They were just fucking happy I was still alive.”
“Anyway it was Jack’s somewhat forced isolationism that pushed him into playing The Battleship Crew Game, for 40 to 100 hours a week over 10 years that earned him the Red Pepper. While his Grandfather being just about the smartest professor in the Republic and putting him through classes most Collage kids don’t even get to hear about, made it possible for him to tell at a glance that the Spiders had an engine on their battleships that did not require the use of thousands of tons of mass and then using that knowledge to design an even more advanced massless engine that can run rings around the Spiders Battleships that are now reequipping the fleet.
Jack turned and looked at the Ensign then rolled his eyes.
“Oh you shut up. I will tell him what I want to tell him.”
Turning back to the Commodore. “It was Jack’s time in the game that enabled him to design the tactics and battle plan that defeated the first Spider Fleet in what you know as the Trench Battle and then later the second fleet in the Passageway battles that wound up creating the bubble and getting us here.”
“I said for you to just shut up. I am telling this and I am not boring him.” As she glanced back at Jack irritated with him.
“And it was our ability to see through the decks of the hulk Jack first tried to raid that allowed us to survive against 10,000 God Ape troops long enough to not only rescue some 3,000 God Slaves but Capture some 100,000 tons of God equipment that should go a long way to winning this war for us. That is if The Damn Rock ever lets our forces use it.”
Jack turned to the Ensign with a frown. “Well thank God you left some of the story out or we would be here for another week and the Commodore would have died from boredom.”
“Well he had to know enough to know we aren’t freaks and that you know what you are doing.” The Ensign let that sink in for a few seconds since she could see the Commodore’s eyes were glazed over.
Finally the Commodore looked over and took a deep breath. “Ok fine but what does that have to do with you two seeming to read minds and Tweed forcing people to be his slaves using his mind. Is that what the God Overseers do to enslave their crews?”
Jack turned around. “No. The Dumonts or Overseers have an empathic ability to sense moods and feelings and a little ability to influence crowds from what I understand. At least most of them. None of them have the ability that we just saw Tweed have with his ability to enslave people directly.” Jack looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “Though that could be why the Gods made the Gronks able to sense mind manipulation or Probing as they call it with the orders to kill any Overseers that they detect with that ability. A kind of check and balance for the God Officers who may be susceptible to such control which points to another species that is in overall control of or above the God Officers. The God Officers could simply be another mind enslaved race.” Thinking about that for a few seconds. “Anyway the Dumonts or Overseers use their empathy ability to sense the meanings of words in new languages and talk to the thousands of species the God ships use as crews. As well as the ability to sense the mood of the different groups of slaves and to give them what they need to be content with their lot in life and work together as one group instead of many separate. I don’t think it is so much as influence as sensing the needs that enables them to pacify the masses. Though it may take a little bit of both. It simply may take time for me to find out the whole truth.”
Shaking his head as he frowned and then smiled at the Commodore. “No, you want to know how we are able to mind talk to each other which by the way the Dumonts or Overseers can do naturally with each other as well but supposedly not with other species. The thing is I am not sure wright know how or why the Ensign and I can mind talk. I can’t find anything in Tweeds records that says that he was born anywhere near a neutron star but then again the Dumont’s certainly aren’t birthed consistently near one. I have noticed that our brain cases are similar in shape focusing mind waves out the eye sockets like primitive radar dishes. So it just maybe a natural genetic ability of both our races, the Dumonts and Humans and maybe the attack of the Yeti Dumont and her Clones against me when we captured this battleship opened or turned on my ability and then Tweeds attack on the Ensign turned hers on. But then why haven’t the hundreds or even thousands of others Tweed has attacked not had the same ability turned on. Not to mention that Tweed did not seem able to mind talk at all while trying to convince the Ensign to approach him. All he was projecting was massive emotions of pity and helplessness with a low tone of love under it all while trying to tap into the Ensigns primitive emotions to defend her young.”
Jack sat back and crossed his hands behind his head. “The thing is Commodore I don’t really have a clue why we now have the ability or why the Dumonts do as well.”
“You can read my mind?” The Commodore sounde
d disturbed.
“No! No. Not at all. Not even the Dumonts that attacked my mind could read minds as far as reading thoughts. They could transfer images, facts and their own feelings to each other when they wanted to and did so in mass trying to overwhelm and beat my mind into overloading like a capacitor or battery and blow up. But reading another’s thoughts directly does not seem possible. I have to transmit or talk to myself kind of while facing the Ensign to project my words or pictures to her and then over only a short distance if our ability is anything like the Dumonts.”
The Commodore took a deep breath. “So can you read my thoughts?”
The Ensign looked at the Commodore and started squinting at him. “Think of something.” After a few seconds. “Are you thinking of anything or just sitting there.”
Jack chuckled. “Commodore try talking to her but do not speak allowed.”
“Something like this.”
“Yes you’ve got it by God.”
Shaking his head. “This is a bit of work. I actually have to think or force myself to talk inside my head. Can you still hear me?”
The Ensign smiled and said out loud. “I did not realize it would be so hard but I am only hearing part of your conversation. You are skipping words. Like you are still mostly thinking to yourself instead of projecting.”
Jack smiled and said allowed. “Try talking back to him in your mind Ensign. That may help the both of you to concentrate.” He could hear both of them perfectly in his head as they tried to mind talk with each other. Jack suddenly wondering if the ease the Ensign had been talking with him earlier had been a case of him doing most of the work without thinking or realizing it. Hoping the Ensign would get better at it in time and if it could be taught to other humans.
And then the Commodore burst his bubble. “Sorry Ensign. But I am not getting a thing from you and this trying to concentrate to talk to you is giving me a headache.”
“And I am still only getting a few words I think from you and even then I am not so sure anymore.” The Ensign said shaking her head sadly.
“Ok guys enough for now. Evidentially I was the one carrying the Ensign’s and my mind conversation earlier.” Taking a breath. “I assure you Commodore I can only hear your mind speak if you want me to. Or should I say if you are talking to yourself kind of like you were trying to talk to the Ensign but without you trying so hard. Though I can sense your open emotions or moods like frustration or fear or worry or the happiness you felt when you actually thought you were communicating with the Ensign with your mind and now the disappointment. But then most people can read that from most people’s faces.”
“Ok but that still does not explain why you are so good at it Captain Turner.”
Jack shook his head sadly. “When we first took over this hulk a bunch of cloned Dumonts on board tried to kill me using their minds. I got the impression that the clones where able to combine their minds to kill several other Dumonts when Yeti, the mother of the clones, needed to make jobs for her siblings. The only reason they did not succeed with me was that Pan was able to help me when they tried to kill me and yet they still almost succeeded.”
Getting the Commodores worried feelings washing over him. “Don’t Worry Commodore, Dumonts cannot copy the act. Each Dumont is on what you would call a different frequency that I can even see as a kind of finger print color. The Yeti Dumont had made perfect clones of herself that thought at the same frequency as she did and from what I understand it took her going through thousands of embryos and killing off most of the babies to get the few she had that matched her frequency close enough to use. You don’t have to worry about them ganging up against us pour humans.”
“The important part right now is figuring out exactly what kind of powers Tweed has and why and if there are others.” Jack thought for a few seconds. “And maybe we should take a second look at the new Dumonts Pan had brought over to help run this Battleship. I still haven’t really meant them.” Looking at the Commodore. “Supposedly they can’t read the mind talk of other species as I said while sensing their feeling. But I seem able to. Now I don’t know if it is because the Yeti group attacked me forcing my mind to learn or what but I can hear their mind talk if I am close enough. After these last 2 attacks I am really shy in trust at the moment and would like to put my own fears behind me. Not that I don’t trust Pan cause I do with my life but Pan was a bit naive about Yeti and her clones and I don’t know these others and it is time to fix that.”
Jack turned from the Commodore to the Ensign. “I must beg your forgiveness Ensign. I want you to supervise the unloading of the cargo tanks of supplies while I take care of this little mater. I am weary of having you in the compartment now that you know since they can feel our feelings and may pick up your fear or trepidation of their ability and your expectations about the meeting as you react to what they say that you can understand. Not to mention that if one of them can read the average human mind in spite of what Pan says, they could easily get that information about me from you without you realizing it. Something I am going to have to be very careful of in my own mind while listening to them.” Jack shook his head. “Fact is, getting enough time to listen without being obvious is going to be a problem.”
Tapping his finger on the console. “What I need Commodore is for you and the Ensign to come up with a series of problems to call me about after I have been there a few minutes finishing up some paper work that should buy me some time. I would like to get at least an hour of simply listening to them when they are bored without having to interact with them. It is amazing what people will talk about in a group when they are bored and think no one is paying attention to them. I spent a lot of time growing up forgotten in the corner of conference rooms doing just that.”
“Are you Game Commodore?” Jack asked. “Ensign?”
With big smiles across their faces they spent the next 15 minutes planning plausible problems that Jack would need time to salve or take care of while Pan and the Dumonts waited in his office later.
Finally slapping his comm. “Pan, could you get all the new Dumonts aboard the ship together. I would like to meet them all. Please apologize for my rudeness in not doing so earlier.”
“Yes Captain Jack. We will be glad to meet with you at your convenience.”
“Very well Pan. How about in an hour in that fine new Captain’s Office Compartment next to the Captain’s Cabin you built for me.” Jack hated the whole deck. They had rebuilt the destroyed bridge deck including the Bridge and Officers Cabins along with the Captain’s Cabin that turned out to be opulent enough for a king. The whole deck was more like the most expensive play land cruise ship ever built than the Command deck of a battleship. Jack was hoping it would mask any feelings he would have concerning the individual Dumonts as he listened in on their conversations when they thought he could not hear their mind speak let alone even understand them when they spoke allowed amongst each other using their native language. Suddenly wondering why they spoke verbally at all when he had seen two or three of them meet in passageways and the mess decks since they arrived but put the thought aside for the moment as he had much more important issues to worry about.
Jack was starting to feel like a real supper spy from one of the holovid movies and hoped Pan honored his orders not to tell the rest of the Dumonts about his new abilities.
Chapter 7; Bored to death spying
Jack sat at his new Captain’s desk reading file after file on the huge screen top. Several strange nick-knacks and pointless alien looking machines scattered around the edge. The single servant (out of the some 20 that were originally tripping over each other and him) he had allowed to stay to maintain the cabin complex and empty captain’s galley had just finished refreshing the tea and water most of the row of Dumonts were drinking as they waited for him to finish what he had told them could not wait, after quick introductions when they had arrived. Jack was glad his huge cabin office was plenty plush to make them comfortable while he ignored them.
Standing up Jack smiled at the dead stone faced group arched around the front of the big desk. “If you will excuse me for just a minute. Nature calls and then we will get down to more pleasantries. I have been looking forward to hearing about each and every one of you and your families.”
Jack turned and headed for the hatch to the side of his desk. He had to force himself not to stop when he heard. ‘What in the God’s service is he talking about Panitrebalationaelfloorintine? What business is it of this human concerning our families? I read in one of their books that humans use families to control important humans conduct including killing them just like the God Officers.’
‘No. Not this or most humans.’ Pan said in Jack’s mind as he reached the door. ‘It is a custom of humans to show interest in people they care about. Most humans will then adopt those families as their own to protect. That is what this human has done with my children. He has gone far out of his way to make sure that my family is well taken care of. Fact is he has gone out of his way to make sure all our people have been taken care of as well as possible.’
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