The little girl walked to the chair and set her toy on it. “Who are you talking to?”
Tarlen realized how strange he must appear, wearing thick glasses, talking to himself in her dark room. “No one. I’m going to need you to have a seat.”
She climbed onto the chair, and Tarlen returned to the desk, checking to see if there was a response from Cleo yet.
Eighteen
Ven arrived at their ship first, anxious to depart from the mining planet. They were doing no one any good here, but they’d be easily destroyed if they arrived on the other side of the Belt with limited weaponry. He needed to hear what was happening with Constantine, and why the entire cruise ship was dead in space.
“I’ll stay, defend the mines should anyone return,” Kaino said.
Brax stopped before opening Cleo’s door and nodded to the man. “You have a few tricks up your sleeves?”
“You bet. Since I’m expecting bad news, I’ll be ready. The laser drills can be used to blast a vessel larger than this one,” he said.
“Good luck, Kaino,” Oquid told the older Vralon man. “We’ll return for you.”
“See that you do. We’ll keep the Nek safe, and our people will live long and thrive as a result,” the man said, turning to walk away, leaving the three of them at Cleo.
“He’s a good man,” Ven said, opening the doors. Soon they were settled into their positions, and Ven called for Constantine’s AI the moment Brax powered them up.
The AI flickered to life. “Hello, Executive Lieutenant Ven. What can I do for you?”
“Do you have a connection to Constantine from here?” Ven asked.
The AI stood motionless for a second but shook his head. “No. There’s nothing. It’s like they don’t exist.”
“Okay, that’s not good.” Brax filled the AI in with what they’d witnessed from the viewer of the jump ship.
“Then we’re in a bit of a bind,” Constantine said.
“A bit of a bind?” Brax was nearly shouting.
Ven took a different approach. “Constantine, we need to help them. Is there…”
The dash chimed, and Ven pressed the icon for the message with his mind. Brax glanced at him, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Cleo, come in. It’s Tarlen. I’m aboard Andron. Constantine is in danger. Their life support is going to expire, and Reeve said the Assembly has used some device to drain our ship of power. She needs to speak with Constantine’s AI.” Tarlen’s voice was wavering and quiet.
“What in the Vastness is the kid doing on Andron?” Brax asked.
“We’d do well to reply,” Ven said. He touched the keys with his mind and spoke the response. “We are here with Constantine. Cleo is well. Tell us what you need.”
It was a few minutes before the dash chimed again. “Thank the Vastness. I have Treena with me, and…”
Brax cut him off. “Wait, how do you have Treena with you?”
“Your sister made her some glasses that someone could wear so she could see outside her room, and it has an earpiece for her to talk to me through,” Tarlen said in a rush.
Brax shrugged toward Ven. “Sounds plausible. Can Treena hear us?”
“She can,” he said.
Ven lifted a finger. “Tarlen, what is it Reeve would like to find out?” He wondered how the chain was going. Reeve would be at the real Starling’s side on Constantine; Treena was riding with Tarlen on Andron and talking to them on Cleo. There might be a slight delay.
“Okay, she said Con mentioned a secondary system power grid, but didn’t go into details. It was something new that no other cruise ship had ever had, but she didn’t press him on it. Can you ask him where it’s located?” Tarlen said. Ven thought he caught another voice talking at the same time as the Bacal boy, perhaps a small child asking a question.
Constantine’s AI leaned forward, smiling. “We do have one, indeed.”
Ven listened intently as the AI relayed the details of the power grid’s location and activation codes. This would be information an executive crew should have been aware of, but because of the rush of their first mission and subsequent hiatus from space as a result of the Statu fiasco, Ven assumed a lot of important details had fallen by the wayside.
“This is great! Thank you, Con,” Tarlen said.
Brax had remained silent for the interaction but took this opportunity to speak. Ven appreciated the large Tekol’s patience. “What are we supposed to do?”
Treena was on the other end, and with their captain indisposed, Ven knew the command fell on her lap, even if she didn’t have a functional body at this time. It was an odd situation, but Ven was willing to cede control as per his rank.
“Treena says to position yourself on this side of the Belt, but to remain hidden if possible. She’ll reach out when the time is right,” Tarlen told them.
“What are you going to do?” Brax asked the boy.
“I… I have Andron’s captain’s daughter with me…”
Ven glanced at Oquid then at Brax. “Get her off that ship.”
“That’s what Treena said.”
“It might be our only hope,” Brax agreed.
“Until we meet in the Vastness,” Tarlen said quietly through Cleo’s speakers.
“Until we meet in the Vastness,” Brax replied, and the call ended.
Things were dire, but Ven wasn’t about to give up on them. Reeve had a way to power up the ship, removing the threat of suffocation from the playing field, but if the clunky fleet had defeated the Ugna’s Faithful so easily, they had a few tricks up their sleeves.
The daughter might prove to be their only bargaining chip.
“Come on, let’s follow our orders,” Brax said, lifting away from the hunk of rock, leaving the dark red veins of Nek behind.
____________
Tom hated that he’d given in so quickly, but there wasn’t much of a choice. Would Constantine Baldwin have done the same thing? He guessed so, but that did little to ease his mind.
Zare and a human named Svenn walked behind Tom and Lark Keen as they moved to the hangar once again. Lark was going on about the new way of the Concord, and how much stronger and better it would be without the corruption and dividedness.
Tom interpreted it as the ravings of a madman, a terrorist who’d convinced himself long ago that he was in the right. He wondered how charismatic Seda’s father had been, to pull Lark in so easily. He’d only been twenty years old, his mind still forming allegiances. Clearly they hadn’t been to his best friend, Thomas Baldwin. Even now, he felt the massive barrier between them, and struggled to see how they’d ever laughed so much with one another.
They entered the hangar, and Lark paused, gasping lightly. “Where’s the cruiser?” he asked.
No one answered.
“Zare, you came here on a smuggler’s ship, right?” She nodded. “Where is it?” Lark asked, this time louder. His face was red, an angry vein pulsing on his forehead.
“I… I don’t know, sir,” she said meekly.
“Track it. Someone do something. Where the…”
“We can’t track it, sir. It was modified. The smuggler knew his business.” Zare stepped away, gripping her gun in case Tom tried anything. He watched the interaction with interest. Wait for a fracture in the bricks, and you will find your source of water.
“Why wasn’t someone posted here?” Keen asked Svenn.
“Sir, we’re spread out as it is. Four ships; two are new and unmodified. We split the crew among them.”
Keen’s stare cut him short. “I don’t care about that. Tell me who left our ship, and where they went.”
The doors opened behind them, and a tall Zilph’i woman stepped inside, panic evident on her face.
It had been twenty years, but Tom recognized her instantly. “Seda?” The name slipped from his lips before he could stop them.
Her face contorted in confusion, but he noted a faint smile creep into her expression. “Thomas Baldwin?”
Lark K
een walked between them. “What is it, dear?”
Dear? After all this time, he’d been lying about her too. At that moment, Tom knew he couldn’t trust the self-proclaimed captain any further than he could throw his two-hundred-pound adversary.
“She’s gone.”
Tom watched, feeling the bricks split even wider.
“Who’s gone?” Keen asked, grabbing his wife by the arms.
“Luci. She’s not in our room,” Seda said.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and Tom saw the girl she once was. They’d only been together for a few weeks, while Tom and some other high-level Academy recruits used the Leria facilities during their second last year, but he’d fallen head over heels for her. The betrayal was probably one of the reasons he’d never become serious about another relationship his entire adult life.
Even now he wanted to console her, and he stopped himself. He wasn’t a foolish kid any longer, and these people were traitors. They sought to take over the Concord, and at any cost. To the Vastness with Seda, Lark, and their daughter.
Lark glanced at the shuttle, and then to his wife. “Find her. I won’t pause our mission because you can’t keep tabs on our daughter. Find her and put her to bed.” He turned from his upset wife and stormed away, moving for the shuttle.
Zare waved Tom forward using her PL-25 gun, and he obliged, peering at Seda one last time before stepping onto the transport vessel. Was there any way this was all a result of his crew? Tom smiled as he sat on the bench, letting Svenn snap the restraints over his shoulders.
“What are you grinning at?” the red-headed man asked. He was missing a tooth, and his words had a slight whistle to them.
“Nothing. Just a joke I heard earlier,” he said.
“Care to tell us about it?” Svenn asked, sitting opposite Tom on the shuttle.
Zare was the pilot, and Lark didn’t engage as they lifted off the hangar floor and through the barrier, into space.
“Not really. I doubt you’d find it very funny,” Tom said.
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“Because it’s about you,” Tom told him, still grinning.
Svenn fumed and started to stand, his hand clenched into a fist.
“Down!” Lark called to his man from the shuttle’s front bench. “He’s trying to get a rise out of you. Used to do the same to me all the time during competitions.” His old friend finally peered over to Tom, his words meticulously spoken. “This isn’t a game, Thomas. You will not win, and you’ll be lucky to survive the day. Sit there quietly, or I’ll let Svenn shoot you in the head.”
Tom lost his smile. Through the viewer, a series of shuttles was nearing them, hailing from the rest of the Assembly’s stolen fleet, and they were all directed at Constantine.
____________
“Thank you, Treena.” Reeve made for the door before the commander could say anything, but she paused before leaving.
“Go save them, Reeve.” Treena Starling’s voice was clear and concise, and with that, the chief engineer was off, racing through the residential wing and toward the stairwell. The closed-circuit cameras around the ship were on a separate panel, one designed to maintain operation on solar cells in case of an instance like this, and she kept pounding boots against the steps until she found Deck Three. Reeve was unable to determine if there were other Assembly members hidden among the crew of Constantine, but if there were, she might fail at her task. Either way, she had no choice but to press on.
She made it to the end of the corridor, the lights so dim, she nearly ran into the wall. The door didn’t open when she stood in front of it, so she turned the manual handle, pressing it wide.
The screens were lit up, and she crossed the room to stand directly in front of the cascading images from around their location. Since the cameras were using minimal energy, the footage was gray, slightly pixelated, but she could see enough to make out the ships landing inside their hangar.
For a moment, Reeve considered mounting a resistance force to fend them off, but that would only get their ship destroyed. She wished Brax was here beside her. He would know what to do in a tense situation like this, and he’d go about it far more calmly than she ever could. No, she had to be smart, to play by her own rules, and outwit the Assembly.
She stared at the images, seeing at least two dozen Assembly brutes file out of the ships, their uniforms dark, guns in their hands. Then she saw the man she’d been searching for. Captain Thomas Baldwin was there, walking beside a man who appeared to be barking orders.
At least he was alive. If he was back on his ship, it meant one thing: he’d agreed to their terms, whatever those were. Reeve briefly wondered if she was about to make the wrong move, but didn’t think so. Everything she knew about Tom told her he’d want her help at this moment.
She watched as the Assembly members strode into the halls, and she noticed a few moving for the stairwells. She wasn’t going to lose this race. She grabbed a tablet from the room, one linked to the feeds, and rushed toward the stairs.
Reeve heard voices from above, but they were calm, deliberate, and she tried to be as silent as she could. She was out of breath when she landed at Deck One. Her people were no longer milling about. It was quiet here. Someone must have decided to gather the troops, probably to the courtyard, so they could announce their intent.
She took a deep breath and thought the life support might be off. They’d have air for a while, but not long enough. There were three options. One was for her to activate the reserve power source Constantine had taught her about through her conversation relay with Treena.
Or the Assembly could bring a cruise ship over and obtain enough power to jump the Star Drive. Or they could leave Constantine alone, and let everyone die.
“Not on my watch.” Reeve didn’t head to the main boiler room; instead, she turned right and went to the plumbing sector of Deck One. With all the advances on this flagship, the plumbing guts were far smaller than usual, leaving room inside the facility for the backup generator.
She pulled a tiny light from her pocket, flicking it on. Sounds of water moving emanated from an intricate series of pipes, and she recalled Constantine’s words. She walked to the far end of the room, finding the two massive water tanks. Usually, there were four, but efficiencies allowed for far more recycling on Constantine, and now in their stead was a fifteen-foot-tall black box. It was painted with a dull matte finish, and she found the opening on the side where the AI said it would be.
Her light shook moderately as she held it between her teeth, prying the access panels from their stuck position. This was it! The screen cast a glow over her face, and she started by keying in the command sequence from the AI.
It failed, the words ACCESS DENIED flashing in bright red over the console.
“No no no…” She tried it again, wishing she’d had something to record it down with. It failed.
Reeve stared at it, repeating the long string of numbers and letters. She had an amazing memory, but often it came from seeing the code with her own two eyes, not just hearing it. She took her time, going through them carefully. When she had the entire fourteen-digit sequence typed out, she held her breath and tapped CONFIRM.
It flashed green: ACCESS GRANTED.
This was it. She was in, trying to figure out how to activate it. Constantine didn’t have access to all the files from the ship from his Link on Cleo since the power had been cut, and it was up to her to recover their power using this new device.
Initially, she checked the schematics, trying to understand the coding. After ten minutes of reading, she was confident all she needed to do was set the device on auto, and it would charge before connecting directly below them to the life support, then shields, to eventually reach the Star Drive and the other systems in place. This was nothing more than a massive booster, ensuring survival first.
It sounded simple enough, but it took another twelve minutes to learn how to do that. If there was one thing Callalay engineers like
d to do, it was creating insanely proprietary runaround checklists to confirm every task prior to commencement. If it was up to them, a light switch would take ten steps.
Eventually, Reeve was confident she’d completed the list, and she pulled the tablet out, flipping through the camera feeds until she saw the courtyard. She’d guessed right. There were at least two hundred crew members crammed in there, wondering if they were about to die.
“Not today, friends.” Reeve saw the captain being ushered into the same courtyard, and she smiled as she turned the backup generator on. It hummed, and her knees vibrated from her crouched position. A number appeared, telling her how long it would be before life support was running at peak. It displayed eleven minutes. Thirteen before the shields, and twenty before the impulse engines were optimized.
“A lot can happen in twenty minutes,” she told herself.
____________
“Where’s my mommy?” Luci asked for the hundredth time.
“Would you…” Tarlen knew yelling at the kid wouldn’t help his cause, so he changed tactics. “We’re going to see her soon, okay? She asked me to take you somewhere safe.”
The girl was sitting calmly beside Tarlen, unbound. He figured there was no reason to keep the tiny child tied up. It would only scare her more.
“Why?” Luci asked.
“Why what?”
“Why do I have to go somewhere safe?”
“Because there are bad people out there, and Andron might be in danger,” he told her.
This didn’t have the desired effect. Her lower lip jutted out, her big eyes threatening to overflow with tears. “Where’s my mommy?” she asked again.
“Do you have any tricks, Treena?” Tarlen whispered. He adjusted his glasses and heard the commander’s voice return quickly.
“Not really. I haven’t spent much time with children. I feel like they’re stranger than most aliens,” she admitted.
Tarlen laughed. “Do you consider me an alien?” he asked.
“Technically…”
“Who are you always talking to?” Luci asked, her arms crossed in front of her. Her tears were all but gone.
Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series Page 53