by Colin Weldon
“It’s her,” he said keeping his eyes fixed on the girl. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was sleeping.
“Jennifer?” India said surprised.
“Yes,” Aron said.
Aron got a sick feeling in his stomach. She looked like she did when they had first met. But there was something different about her. The scar. She had a scar above her right eye that cut a neat little row of hairs through her eyebrow that Aron had nicknamed the path to freedom. In this photo, her scar was missing. She had told him it had happened to her when she was a child, while she had been climbing down a ladder in one of the cargo bays. Now it was gone. There was something else different about her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but she was different.
“What the fuck is going on?” he said.
India shook her head.
“Who the hell are these people? Damn you, Greenly,” he said.
He began to get angry. He wanted answers. The shock of seeing Jennifer had distracted his attention away from the communication beacon which had suddenly started to blink quietly behind him. India spotted it and pointed to it.
“Aron,” she said getting his attention.
He looked over at the light which was meant to activate when the relay buoys they had been laying out had made contact with The Agathon beacon. He turned his attention away from his dead wife and looked at the screen relaying data from the satellites.
Agathon beacon detected, please enter passcode to activate relay.
Aron looked at India.
“I don’t suppose he told you the password before I killed him?” India said.
Aron shook his head. They stared at the blinking red light for a moment when a second audible sound suddenly reverberated in the cockpit.
“Incoming ship to ship transmission, sir,” India said picking up the signal on the normal radio bandwidth.
“It’s The Kandinsky,” she said suddenly sounding panicked.
Aron exhaled deeply.
“Well … shit,” he said.
He sat back in his chair and rubbed the side of his face trying to figure out what to do next. All he could see was Jennifer’s quietly sleeping face as thoughts of her last scream drowned out the sounds of the cockpit.
11
The Kandinsky
General Escat waited. Something he did not do well. He sat back in his chair and sipped a large glass of hot water. He had not felt well all morning. Recently his nausea had been getting worse. He had put it down to a lack of sleep, but the cancer inside him was beginning to show its ugly head more virulently of late. The doc had told him it was pancreatic and while Arturo had secured him a vile of the few gene modification serums left in the colony, it had only bought him a few years. There simply wasn’t enough of the medication left to cure the disease. According to the ancient data base, it had been cured long ago while the Earth had still been a planet. It had crept slowly back into the colony and was starting to once again secure a foothold within its small population. Escat had managed it well and it had remained a tightly controlled secret with only Arturo, Stanley and the doc knowing the extent of the disease. Hot water calmed his stomach down in the mornings. Today he had vomited blood, which was new. He knew that it had probably progressed to his lungs as he was wheezing a lot more. Something he had never done. He had been finding his morning push ups to be a gruelling task and had cut the amount he could do, in half, in recent weeks.
The communications channel continued to bleep trying to make a connection with The Unity. Stanley had still not checked in and Escat had started getting suspicious. It suddenly turned to an active channel and the view screen shifted its black background with that of an image of Aron Elstone. Escat could not help frowning as his smug face filled the screen. He was alive after all. Stanley should have finished him off by now, Escat was sure of that.
“Mr Elstone,” he said raising an eyebrow.
“General Escat, what a pleasant surprise,” Aron replied, “To what do we owe the honour?”
Escat leaned forward in his chair and repositioned himself to square off with the captain of The Unity.
“Report, Mr Elstone,” he said.
Aron widened his eyes. There was something in them Escat did not like. He watched them closely.
“All systems nominal, General. We are just about to complete the last of the relays as per your orders. Everything is running like clockwork over here. The mission has been a success,” he said.
There was a moment of silence as Escat looked into his eyes.
“Where is Stanley, Elstone?” he asked.
Escat saw Aron’s shoulder shift slightly.
“He’s down in the engine room at the moment with Oliver working on the last of the relay systems. Oliver needed his assistance on one of the calibrations,” Aron said.
Escat frowned. Stanley never missed a check in and it seemed strange that he would be needed for any type of calibration.
“Can you please go get him, the chancellor wished to have a word,” he said.
He could clearly see Elstone shift slightly in his seat, but his eyes remained focused on the general.
“Of course, General,” Aron said turning his head away from the screen and nodding.
Escat saw the outline of India as she moved past Elstone and walked out of shot. She was a sexy woman. He had held a flame for her and was going to have her transferred to The Kandinsky once this mission was complete. He had attempted on more than one occasion to make her his consort. An effort that had been rebuffed in a way that only India Walder knew how. A slap on the face during an attempted kiss would have seen her looking at the back of an airlock, much like Elstone, but Arturo had afforded her the same protection as Elstone for some reason. He caught the outline of her behind as she moved out of the seat and thought about all the things he was going to do to her when the time came. He liked aggressive women. She was a warrior. A fighter. All she needed was taming, and he was definitely the man to do that.
“The chancellor is on board The Kandinsky?” Aron suddenly said.
Escat turned his attention back to Elstone. He knew that he had seen him watching India as she left and got the impression he was trying to deflect his attention away from her. He smiled to himself at his pathetic attempt to protect her and dreamed of vaporising him with a pulse rifle.
“He is indeed, Mr Elstone. We are en route to rendezvous with The Unity. The chancellor wished to be the first person to make contact with The Agathon when a connection to the ship is finally established,” he said.
He definitely saw some of the blood drain from Elstone’s face and wondered why he suddenly looked worried.
“I see,” Aron said, “I was unaware of your arrival, General. I would have been happy to meet you at a more convenient location to save you the journey,” he said.
“What do you mean a more convenient location?” said Escat.
“Well, General, there is an asteroid field a quarter light year from our location which may prove problematic for manoeuvring the size of The Kandinsky through it. I could bring The Unity through it and meet you at its outer rim. The quality of the signal should not be affected by the distance and for the safety of the chancellor, it would probably be a better rendezvous point, don’t you think?” he said.
Escat turned away from the monitor and checked the star charts on a separate monitor that he had positioned on his desk. Elstone had been correct. There was indeed a large asteroid belt on their current trajectory. He wondered why his navigation officer had not brought it to his attention.
“One moment, Elstone,” Escat said muting the transmission.
He turned to a control pad on his desk and tapped in the code to connect with Arturo’s quarters. It bleeped for a moment before the chancellor picked up.
“This is Arturo, General, go ahead,” said the chancellor.
“Chancellor, I have Aron Elstone on the line wishing to divert our course to meet at the edge of an asteroid belt on our current course.
It could prove tricky to take The Kandinsky through it,” he said.
“Where is Stanley?” Arturo replied quickly.
“Apparently he is in the engine room helping with the final deployment of the last relay satellite. Ms Walder has gone to fetch him,” he said.
Arturo frowned. Escat knew that look and acknowledged his suspicious look with a raised eyebrow.
“Put the transmission through to my quarters,” Arturo said.
Escat nodded and turned back to Elstone.
“Mr Elstone, I have the chancellor on the line, I am transferring him to you now,” he said.
He could not resist a little smile at Elstone’s reaction. His eyes gave a definite sign of surprise. The screen went blank and Escat sat back in his chair. The smile that had begun now stretched to expose some of his yellow teeth. He tapped his comm system again.
“Escat to the bridge, I want a full weapons diagnostic complete within the hour. I want them ready to fire by the time we reach The Unity,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” came the response of a male bridge officer.
The Unity
The screen flickered and Escat’s smug face was suddenly replaced with the chancellor’s. Aron was not expecting this at all and was suddenly placed somewhat on the back foot. Unlike the others, he had no particular fear of Arturo Verge. Yes, he was certainly dangerous and had caused nothing but misery and suffering due to his position, but as a man he had nothing but contempt for the old lunatic. Given a moment alone with him, he would probably have no issue in snapping his neck in two without hesitation. He was, however, worried that he was on board The Kandinsky. What was he doing there?
“Chancellor Verge, it is a pleasure to see you. I had no idea you were en route, this is truly an honour,” he said playing the subordinate role he had learned to play so well over the years.
Arturo looked blankly at him with emotionless eyes. He was evaluating him. He could feel it. The chancellor was no fool and Aron had no doubt that he saw straight through his placating manner.
“Mr Elstone, have you picked up any transmissions from The Agathon?” he said cutting to the chase.
The question caught Aron a little off guard and he had to react quickly to make sure his answers were smooth.
“Not yet, Chancellor, but the final satellite is not yet in place. My crew needs another hour or so,” he said.
Out of the corner of his eye the little red light continued blinking off screen. He wondered whether the lights reflection was bouncing off his skin and whether Arturo could see it. He dismissed his paranoia and tried to keep his face relaxed and natural.
“I see,” Arturo said, “We have not heard from Stanley and I am curious as to why he has not checked in with me, as you know, he is usually quite punctual.”
Aron suddenly became aware of a small bead of sweat that had materialised just under his hair line. If there was one thing the body reacted quickly to, it was the stress of lying under extreme situations and he was sure that if Arturo saw it as it travelled down his cheek, he would be in trouble. He tried not to shift in his seat.
“India has gone to get him, Chancellor, I am sure he will be here shortly. Would you like me to relay a message to him?” he said slowly moving his hand over to the frequency modulator which refined signals coming to and from the communications antenna. With a slight flick of his index finger he pushed the incoming signal slightly out of phase causing slight white static lines to start forming on the view screen.
“I see,” Arturo said.
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two men as Aron thought of something to say.
“How was your journey, Chancellor?” he finally said giving his finger another flick on the control panel causing another haze of static to flow nicely over the view screen.
“It will be going a lot smoother when I have spoken to Mr Stanley. I have some urgent business to attend to with him and would appreciate your diligence in getting him, so that we can speak. Would it not have been quicker to do a ship wide announcement rather than sending someone to get him?” he said.
The bead of sweat was definitely making its way south on Aron’s face and he was sure that Arturo could see it.
“Yes, Chancellor, but we seem to be having some electrical problems on board, as there is a red giant less than a million kilometres off our starboard bow playing havoc with the ship’s systems. In fact, it is pumping out so much radiation your transmission seems to be breaking up,” he said giving the transmission another flick with his finger. A stronger haze of white static buzzed over the screen momentarily distorting Arturo’s face.
“Well, then I suggest you move your ship out of range, Mr Elstone,” Arturo said.
Aron did not think for one second that the chancellor was buying his bluff, but he seemed to be calmly watching him play his little game and allowing it.
“Yes, sir, I intend to, as soon as we have the last satellite in position. Might I suggest we make contact in a couple of hours?” he said pushing the signal further out of the radio bandwidth causing Arturo’s face to completely distort to an almost unrecognisable image.
“One hour, Mr. Elstone, then I want to speak to Stan…”
Aron suddenly made a break for it turning the channel completely off and cutting the transmission. The screen went blank. He disconnected the incoming transceiver so that ship to ship communications would not be possible from their end making the bluff look at least plausible. He collapsed back in his chair and opened the door to the cockpit. India was standing just outside.
“You can come in now,” he said to her.
She made her way back to her flight chair and slapped Aron on the back. He wiped his brow which was wet to the touch.
“Nice going, Aron, you bought us some time at least,” she said sitting down.
“I have just lied to the chancellor of the colonies and covered up the murder of his head of security, not to mention withholding the fact that The Agathon beacon has just been detected. You think an hour is gonna cover my ass?” he said.
India smiled for the first time since the incident in the mess hall.
“Life does not wait for action my old friend. Neither can we,” she said.
“What the hell does that mean?” he said.
“It means we better get our shit together before they get here,” she said.
Aron looked at the code word locked communications channel and turned to India.
“Get Oliver up here, we have one hour to crack this thing,” he said.
The Agathon
Barrington sat there, bent over his chair, with his elbows firmly on his knees. The room was lit from the reflection of the two suns bouncing off the ice outside the ship’s windows. It was early in the morning. Slivers of light cut through the room in sheets casting severe shadows on the walls. He could not remember the last time he had cried, but this had certainly made up for it. It had been a strange sensation with only one eye. He hung his head low and stared at what were once polished black boots, now covered in soil and blood. Most of it probably his own. He had lost them both. He could not understand why Tyrell would blow themselves up. It made no sense. Why did she go willingly? He had obviously coerced her and maybe he had gotten control of her mind somehow. Still it made no sense. Not that it mattered. They would all be dead soon. He couldn’t save his family, so how the hell was he expected to save his crew? It all seemed so fruitless. Alien beings had decided that humans were to be destroyed and that was that. He had not left the conference room in over two days and was refusing to communicate with the crew or let anyone inside. Charly could handle it. He received periodic reports on the ship’s repairs from his first officer by his comm link.
He raised his head up and turned to look out of the window. Images of Carrie being blown up intertwined with memories of the family he used to have. He remembered the little moments when the three of them would dance in the middle of their quarters under the red skies of Mars. Now he was truly lost. Alone
in the middle of the galaxy, running from planet sized mechanical monsters and trying to keep the human race alive. He had lost a wife and a daughter. He had failed as a commander. The comms system bleeped indicating there was someone at the door. He ignored it. The door hissed open causing him to move his eye over to it. He was annoyed that he had been disturbed. Chase Meridian stood in the doorway. She smiled slightly and stepped into the room.
“Disturbing you, Captain?” she said.
He did not answer knowing that she would come in anyway, so he just shook his head and looked out again at the vast sea of ice.
She moved around the large conference desk and took a seat at the far end of the table. He had to give Meridian leeway. If it had been anyone else he would have told them to get out, but she had been the closest thing that Carrie had had as a mother. She joined him in looking out at the planet surface.
“You look like shit,” she finally said breaking the silence.
Barrington looked at her with his good eye and gave her a nonchalant look.
“When is the last time you took a shower?” she said.
He turned his head back to the window.
“What do you want, Chase?” he said in no mood for her usual jovial attitude.
She dropped her smile and took a breath.
“You have to talk to me, John. I loved her too,” she said with a hint of anger creeping into her voice.
He suddenly felt a warm sadness overcome him. He did not know what to say.
“I lost her,” he said trying to hold back the tears.
“You didn’t lose her, John. We don’t know what happened on that shuttle. Chavel tells me there was some sort of spacial distortion detected at the point of detonation. She knew what she was doing and there’s no sign of any debris. Tyrell took her somewhere. Or whatever that fucking thing inside Tyrell is, took her somewhere,” she said.
Barrington was not aware of this and it perked up his interest.
“What do you mean a spacial distortion?” he said sitting up looking at her.