Tree of Liberty (Book 3 of The Humanity Unlimited Saga)
Page 10
If that was the case, he was screwed. They hadn’t figured out a way to access the gates directly yet. That was something Jess was eventually supposed to work with Brenda Cabot on.
Until they worked a method out, he had no way of pulling the address from the gate’s memory.
Well, he hadn’t expected this to be easy. His best guess was that his father had retreated through the gate and the American military forces had followed behind him. They were probably trapped on an alien world.
He’d have to circle back to this base once the search ended. That might take days or weeks to accomplish.
Harry sighed. It wasn’t as if he had a choice. If Jess came up with a solution before then, he could always return here in the dead of night and follow his father. He just had to hope the old man didn’t get himself killed first.
* * * * *
Queen worked late into the evening, gathering every bit of data he could about the potential operation in Mexico. After considering all options, he’d recommended to the president that they wait to take the spaceport back.
Chen was right. A war with China would be disastrous. Congress had whittled the US military to the bone over the last three decades. They were a hollow shell incapable of fighting a serious war against anyone, much less a superpower like China.
As much is it galled him, the United States no longer qualified for that title. Perhaps they would once they’d mastered the technology Rogers had found, but that day was not today.
Far better to focus his country’s attention on the more serious prize: the technology on Mars. The Indian-built ship would take months to reach the Red Planet, but once the United States put Marines on the ground, that fight was over. The younger Rogers wouldn’t fight Americans.
That mission was outside the scope of his current duties anyway. His immediate goal was to assess the technology they’d already captured and locate the traitors. Brenda Cabot and her organization were a direct threat to the national security of the United States. Hell, the world.
Thankfully, they’d gotten the captured technology placed securely inside Area Fifty-One. The facility was hardened and isolated. There was no way anyone would figure out what they were doing.
The irony that all the conspiracy nuts thought the government used the place to study alien technology amused him. It was certainly true now.
Eventually, he decided that he had to get something to eat. He considered ordering delivery, but decided a quiet table at a nearby restaurant would suit his needs better. The low murmur of conversation while he had a good meal and some wine would settle him.
It took less than ten minutes to get his security detail in motion. They saw him down to his armored transport and off to the restaurant.
This late, the place was only half full. That suited his mood perfectly. The maître d’ found him a table in the back, away from the rest of the diners. His security detail settled around him as he ordered an appetizer.
The man had barely left his side when an odd noise made Queen look up. The member of his security detail closest to the front of the restaurant was talking to someone.
No. Not talking. Arguing.
That was unusual. Most people didn’t screw with armed security in Washington. There were plenty of high government officials that warranted protection and no one really wanted to mess with that kind of person.
One of his remaining guards went to back the man up while the remaining guard stepped nearer to Queen’s booth. No one was pulling weapons, but they were preparing for the possibility of trouble.
Queen finally got a look at the person confronting his guards and realized it was a woman. Not anyone he recognized. Her annoyed expression marked her as someone used to getting her way.
Not today.
With a huff, the woman turned and stalked off.
He’d barely returned his attention to the menu when a much louder noise sent adrenaline roaring through his system. A gunshot.
The guard standing next to Queen’s table jerked and collapsed. The other two members of his security detail whirled and went for their weapons. The shooter was somewhere in the back of the restaurant.
Queen rolled under the table and pulled his concealed pistol. He hadn’t carried one before, but had decided it was necessary after Cabot kidnapped him. Not that it would’ve helped that time, but it could certainly help now.
The crescendo of gunshots trailed off. Since he wasn’t seeing his people, Queen took that as a bad sign.
He’d really rather not risk his neck, but if he waited for his attacker to come to him, he’d be at a distinct disadvantage.
After taking two quick breaths, he shoved himself out far enough to get a decent look while retaining the option of ducking back under cover.
That move caught the shooter out in the open. The man’s attention was focused toward the front of the restaurant, so Queen had a short window to act.
He snapped off three quick shots at his attacker and was rewarded by seeing the man dive for cover. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he hadn’t hit the bastard. Queen ducked back inside the booth.
“Damn, but you’re hard to kill.” The voice was unfamiliar, but that reduced the number of potential attackers down to one: the guy who’d shot him right after Cabot had kidnapped him.
“You’ll have to forgive me, but I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.”
“Nor will we. I’m afraid I really must be going, but I think I’ll send you on your way first.”
Queen prepared himself again. “Might I inquire what I’ve done to offend you? I’m sure that we’ve never met.”
“What else? Money. Though I will confess that I’m going to take some small measure of personal satisfaction in killing you. I was sure I’d hit you the last time, but somehow you managed to slip away. Not this time.”
Knowing he wasn’t going to get another opportunity, Queen rolled out from beneath the table and fired in the direction the assassin had gone. He didn’t stop rolling—which was a good thing—because the killer had been waiting.
The hail of gunshots partially deafened Queen, but anything that interfered with the other man putting a bullet into Queen’s head was a good thing.
Unfortunately, all the movement put Queen out into the open. Once the man drew a bead on him, this was going to be over fast.
Of course, that’s when the slide on Queen’s pistol locked back. He was out of ammunition.
The other man rose from his hiding place and brought his pistol to bear on Queen. “Bye-bye.”
The next shot made Queen flinch, but it caused him no pain. That’s because the assassin hadn’t fired.
The guard beside Queen’s booth must not have been dead after all. He’d gotten his weapon out and proceeded to fire shot after shot into the killer. Even after the man had gone down.
Queen didn’t wait to see the results of the man’s shots. He leapt to his feet and sprinted toward the front of the restaurant.
He recalled the woman that had tried to gain entrance to the seating area and decided that she had probably been an accomplice. That convinced him to grab one of the downed guards’ pistols.
It wasn’t necessary though. The restaurant was pure pandemonium. Everyone was rushing to get away. No one seemed to have any interest in him at all.
He considered running out with them, but decided that would be the perfect time to take him down. The woman might be waiting to do just that. He’d let the police come to him.
Queen didn’t believe the assassin was still alive, but he hoped he was wrong. Getting some answers about who was trying to kill him would be useful. Stopping them from sending anyone else would be even better.
Chapter Thirteen
Jess stayed with Brenda Cabot and her people until Kevin McHugh arrived. The young man fit her idea of what a hacker looked like precisely: tall, gangly, and bald. He favored small round lenses on his glasses. Colored purple, of course. His clothing fell somewhere between hip and trendy.
“So let me see if I get this straight,” he said as they stepped through the gate and onto Freedom Express. “You found the gate on a space station and you want access to figure out the address it used to send a ship somewhere else. Is that right?”
Jess nodded. “Exactly. Unfortunately, while we know where the gate is, we haven’t found the computers that control it.”
He smiled. “That’s easy. The computer is in the gate itself.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t sound easy. The gate is on the outside of the space station.”
“Hmmm. That does add a layer of complication. Still, it’s not impossible. I assume you have spacesuits. I’m not trained to use one, but if you can get me out to where I need to go, I could probably still make it happen.”
Jess considered him for a long moment. “I think that’s a really bad idea. If something goes wrong, you could die in a moment. If you’re going to use a spacesuit, we need to train you.
“How about this? We send someone out to examine the gate and you watch the video feed through the helmet. We’ve got some expert spacewalkers. Hell, I’m an expert spacewalker.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a technical background?”
“You could say that. I have several degrees in engineering and I’ve messed with this technology before.”
“That could work. You’ll need some tools to open the panels on the gate, but I should be able to provide those. I came prepared.”
“The tools need to be large enough for somebody wearing gloves to manipulate them,” she warned him. “It would be better if we can attach a strap to them as well. Things tend to float off in zero-G.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, but it’ll add a little time to the project. If you want to do this right, I should probably work with a machinist to copy the tools.”
“We can do that, but first I want to give you a look at the big gate.”
The hacker looked around them at the corridors as they walked. “So this is a spaceship.”
“Sort of. It’s actually a hollowed out comet. An extinct one that your ancestors modified for their use.”
He didn’t ask any more questions until they arrived at the central control room. The view stopped him in his tracks as they came out of the lift.
“Whoa!”
The control center had that effect on almost everyone the first time. Hell, it still affected her that way.
The lift exited out onto a walkway that was in the precise center of the comet. That meant that the spherical chamber sat all around them in every direction. The use of artificial gravity meant up and down had very little meaning in this case.
Stairs led down to various parts of the control room. She automatically selected the one that would take them to the pilot’s station.
“Watch your step. It would be awkward if you fell and had to explain to Miss Cabot why we had to send you back for medical treatment.”
“Isn’t that the damned truth?” The young man took a firm grip on the handrail, but he didn’t let his eyes stop wandering.
“I’ve heard stories, but I never really imagined it looked like this. You know how you get a picture in your head of how something is? I’m not sure what I expected, but this isn’t it. This is way more awesome.”
She gave him a suspicious glance. “Did you grow up in California? I swear you talk just like every surfer I’ve seen in a movie.”
McHugh laughed. “You figured me out! And I’ll have you know talking that way is like a badge of honor there. Even if it does get me occasionally laughed at.”
She stepped over to the pilot’s console and smiled. “Morning, Lindsay. Everything still looking good?”
Lindsay Waller was nominally the command pilot on Liberty Station, but was on long-term loan to Freedom Express. Liberty Station didn’t really need a pilot while it was in Mars orbit. If trouble came calling, they’d have months to prepare and she had very competent assistants.
“We’re good,” Lindsay confirmed. “Blackjack just took a team down to the new site. I expect to have some kind of report on their general status in about forty minutes.”
“Excellent. Lindsay, meet Kevin McHugh. He’s one of Brenda Cabot’s people and he’s going to help us with the big gate. Can you give us a look at it using one of the probes?”
The pilot nodded and turned back toward her console. “Sure. We got several of them mapping the surface of the station. It won’t take long to relocate one.”
The woman’s hands moved confidently over the controls. They’d only been in possession of Freedom Express for a short while, so the pilot’s competence amazed her.
“Wow. You’ve really got this under control.”
Lindsay grinned. “I’ve been working hard and I have to admit the latest iteration of the translation software really helps. Emily has just about got this thing nailed down, I think.”
The woman glanced at McHugh. “I’m betting that’s because of the help we’re getting from your people on the language. That’s putting this whole project way ahead of where we expected.”
The young man inclined his head. “I can’t take any credit for that, but you’re welcome. Allow me to second what Miss Cook said. You sure look like you’ve got this whole thing under control.”
Jess made a face. “I’d rather you just use my first name. I’m not that formal.”
“Awesome. Call me Kevin.”
“Okay,” Lindsay said. “Here we are.”
The view on the screen was far enough out to show the entirety of the massive gate. The damned thing was huge. Easily big enough to move a spaceship across the universe. Not Freedom Express, though. The comet was far too large. Pity.
McHugh leaned forward and examined the image. “I think the access panel we want is down and to the right. Maybe a little lower than the center.”
Lindsay made a few deft adjustments and the image of the section McHugh was pointing toward began to get larger.
He waited until the gate filled the screen to ask her to stop. “Right there. That’s the access panel to the computer.”
To Jess’s inexperienced eye, it looked just like the rest of the gate. “How can you tell?”
“Believe it or not, color. That panel is just a bit darker than those around it. That’s how the Asharim denoted access panels. As for knowing where on the gate it was, that was an educated guess. This is where I’d find one on a smaller gate. Well, the one gate that we have anyway.”
Jess nodded, still a little jealous of the fact that Cabot’s people had a mobile gate. One they could pick up and move wherever they wanted. She really needed to find something like that.
McHugh turned toward her. “Basically, once we open the access panel, I should be able to plug in a computer to pull the data from the controller. Well, it’s not exactly the controller. Technically, the controller is what sends the signal to the gate, but I call the receiving equipment that activates the gate a controller, too.”
“How difficult is it to get the data off the gate? Is it going to be password-protected? Encrypted?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so, though I suppose it’s always possible. That’s not how the Asharim set up their computers. If you like, I can give you a demonstration on a different gate. One of the ones inside.”
“I think that would be very helpful,” Jess said with a nod. “Lindsay, thank you very much for your help.”
“You’re welcome and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Kevin.”
Getting to the gate room took another fifteen minutes. The young computer expert grinned when he saw the gates built into the side of the cargo room.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about! I’ve seen some pictures of the original tech. These are permanent gates, not like our portable one. You want me to pull a destination log out of one of these for you?”
Jess gestured toward
the gates. “Actually, I’d like to get destination logs for all three. And once you do, there are a few other gates I’d like to get information from as well. The ones on Mars and the ones at the base we discovered in France.”
“I heard about that. Brenda was pissed. It’s been right there all this time and none of us ever suspected.”
“I’m pretty confident we’ll find a way to share. As a matter of fact, we believe we know the general locations of several other bases on Earth. If our relationship develops the way I expect, some of those can certainly go your way.”
“That would be awesome! Our own secret base. Well, not that our current base isn’t secret, but you know what I mean.”
Amusingly, she did understand. “Go ahead and get to work. I can’t wait to see how you do it.”
“You betcha.” The young man walked over to one of the gates and began taking tools and equipment out of his pack.
* * * * *
Clayton leaned back on the stool and waited for the woman to continue. This was her show. He had nothing to gain by rushing her into making a hasty decision. He’d dangled the fruit. Now he’d see if she were hungry.
She seemed content to let the silence drag out for a long minute. Then, she seemed to make a decision. She gestured toward the guards and they filed out of the tent, leaving only the two of them and the officers dressed in military garb.
“Since it seems we have things to discuss, I suppose it would be prudent to introduce myself. I am Susanna Adorno, the civilian commander of this force. These men are my military adjuncts: General Norbert Norris and his assistants Colonel Brock Carver and Major Antonio Logan.”
The three men inclined their heads toward him. At her gesture, they stepped away from the side of the tent and arranged seats for themselves.
Adorno leaned forward. “We only have contact with other humans intermittently. Sometimes for years at a stretch, other times only for hours. No one has ever found a way to return to the place we came from. Earth.