by Ryk Brown
Nathan spun around to face the others. “Jalea, call Tobin and tell him to pick us up.”
“Of course,” she responded.
“Jess, round everyone up. It’s time to go.”
Jessica looked around. They were all standing right there, even Vladimir and Danik who had heard the commotion and come back from the far end of the compound.
“Good, you’re all here,” Nathan said, as he saw Vladimir and Danik approach.
“Tobin is not answering,” Jalea informed him.
“It’s just as well, Captain,” Tug assured him. “A ship coming out here at this late hour would surely raise suspicion.”
“Okay,” Nathan said, thinking of another plan. “A ride, then. Can you give us a ride back to town?”
“To what end?”
“We can meet Tobin there, at the spaceport.” Nathan was beginning to sound desperate.
“And if he is not there?” Jalea asked.
“We can wait for him,” Nathan said.
“It would be safer for you to wait here, Captain,” Tug assured him. “Away from the very types that would hand you over to the Ta’Akar for the reward.”
“Jalea?” Nathan pleaded. “Anything?”
“He is not answering, I’m afraid.”
“Jess, raise the ship,” Nathan ordered, becoming slightly more rational. “Tell them what’s going on, and see if they can raise Tobin on the comms.”
“Yes, sir,” Jessica answered. She began to step away slowly, passing in front of Vladimir. “Keep an eye on him,” she whispered.
“Do not worry,” Vladimir promised. He moved closer to his friend. “Nathan, what is wrong?”
“We’re fucked, Vlad,” Nathan admitted under his breath.
“What do you mean? Why?”
“If what Tug says is true, then every Tom, Dick and Ta’Akar in this sector is going to be hunting for us. And we’re too busted up to fight them all off, Vlad.”
“Then we will simply jump away again,” he told him. “And we will keep jumping. All the way back to Sol if we have to, ten light years at a time.” Vladimir put his right hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “And they will never catch up to us,” he promised, patting Nathan’s cheek with his other hand. “You worry too much, Nathan. We will be fine, you will see.”
Nathan looked his friend in the eyes. Nathan envied Vladimir his strength, his confidence. No matter what fate threw at him, Vladimir took it head on without hesitation. “I don’t know what to do,” Nathan admitted quietly to his friend.
“You will figure it out, Nathan.”
“What if I’m wrong?”
“Then you will figure out another way,” Vladimir told him. “Now straighten up, hold your chin high, and stop whining,” he joked. “It’s embarrassing.”
Nathan looked at Vladimir as a smile formed across the Russian’s face. He made a face at Nathan, like he was pouting, mocking him. “Right,” Nathan laughed. Nathan tapped his comm-set to open the mic. “Jess? Tell the ship we’re spending the night here. Have them locate Tobin and tell him to be ready to run cargo and passengers from this location to the ship tomorrow around…” Nathan looked at Tug for an approximate time.
“Around midday?” Tug suggested.
“…Midday,” Nathan continued. “And tell them we’ll check back with them later before we turn in.” Nathan keyed off his mic, turning to Tug. “Mister Tugwell, we’ll be taking you up on your kind offer to stay the night. But we will be departing tomorrow.”
“You’re still buying my molo, aren’t you?”
Nathan smiled. “Of course.”
“I do have one request, Captain,” Tug added.
“And what might that be?”
“Would you tell me more about your world?”
“Of course,” Nathan said, as he started back for the house.
— 6 -
Nathan stepped back out onto the front porch of Tug’s house. He had spent the last two hours telling Tug all about the Earth-from how they had first colonized the core systems, to the bio-digital plague that nearly destroyed all of humanity. He had told him about the centuries of despair that had followed the great plague, and about how the Earth had gone through a rapid development spurt since the Data Ark had been discovered a century ago.
Tug had hung on his every word, like a child being told a magical story of a faraway land. The entire time, Nathan couldn’t help but feel like he was solving a mystery in Tug’s mind, like it was the piece to a puzzle that he had been missing all his life, preventing him from finding true satisfaction. It had been an unexpected experience, for the both of them. By the time they had finished, Tug surely knew more about Earth than any native in the entire quadrant.
Nathan wondered if he had told Tug too much. Had Jessica been there, he was sure she would’ve thought so. But Tug had wanted the information and more. Nathan couldn’t quite figure out why the knowledge of Earth had been so important to the farmer. He wondered how many more people Tug would eventually share his knowledge of Earth with. These people had no understanding of their true origins. They had myths. They had stories. They had legends. But no truths. In some small measure, Nathan felt he had done this world a bit of justice.
Nathan stretched and took in a deep breath. The air was different out here in the country night. It was still thick and humid, and it still smelled of molo. But the smell of machine oils and thrust exhausts and all the other aromas one usually found amongst civilization were absent, as were the sounds. It was quiet out here, almost too quiet. On Earth, there were always sounds. Even in the wilderness, there were always the sounds of hundreds of creatures big and small, as they went about the business of life. On this reformed moon, however, those creatures were almost non-existent, as were their sounds. The silence was… peaceful.
He looked about the compound, spotting Jessica a short distance away, squatting on the ground as she assembled the tight-beam comm-array dish used to communicate privately with the Aurora.
“Jess,” he called, walking out to meet her. “Contact the ship yet?”
“Just getting ready to.”
Nathan walked the last few steps over to her. “You get a good look around?”
“What makes you think I was looking around?”
“Why do you think I made you my security chief?”
“Cuz I was one of the few people on board that you actually knew by name?”
“What did you find out?”
Jessica stood up, having finished assembling the array. “There’s something not right about this place,” she said.
“What do you mean, not right? It looks pretty normal to me.”
“Yeah, it does. But I found a few things that don’t add up.”
“Such as?”
“Such as why is there only one vehicle? You’d think with this many greenhouses there would be more than one vehicle to haul his harvest to market.”
“He can only drive one vehicle at a time, Jess.”
“He must have help from time to time. Otherwise, why would he have a bunkhouse out back? Even if he was the only driver, you’d think there would at least be a trailer.”
Nathan thought about it for a moment. Jessica had a naturally suspicious mind, which is why she was perfect for the job. “Maybe it gets picked up?”
“Maybe. But there’s more. Considering the amount of harvest he should be producing, you’d think he’d be a little wealthier. Either he’s stashing his money away, or he’s giving his crops away on the cheap.”
“That just makes him either a smart businessman, or a really bad one.”
“Okay, then how about all the emitters?”
“Emitters?” That got Nathan’s attention.
“They’re implanted into the sides of the sinkhole walls all the way around the compound, nearly up to ground level.”
“What kind of emitters?”
“Couldn’t tell. But they’ve got to be either shield emitters or some kind of sensor scattering field.”
“Maybe they’re just to repel insects?” Nathan chuckled.
“Yeah, right. Laugh it up. But, you know that damaged fighter of his? The one he supposedly scavenged over the years? Well it’s not as damaged as he led us to believe. It looks old and beaten up all right. And it’s obviously been in one hell of a fire fight. But Vlad thinks the battle damage is recent. And get this-he also thinks it’s still space-worthy.”
“I thought he said he sold the reactor to buy this farm?”
“Maybe he did? Maybe he replaced it later? Maybe that’s what he spent all his money on? But the ship’s got two, now, and they’re both still good. Vlad thinks you could light them up and take off in minutes.” Jessica waited for Nathan to poke holes in her final report.
“Okay, that is odd.”
“And one other thing, Nathan. The markings on the ship. I’m pretty sure they’re the same ones I saw on the uniforms of that boarding party we fought off down on C deck.”
“Are you sure?”
“Five-point star inside a circle. Kind of hard to mistake. I think that’s a Ta’Akar fighter in there.”
“He did say that there were mass defections amongst the troops. Maybe he was one of them?”
“Or maybe he’s a spy?” Jessica suggested.
“Okay, that’s a scary thought,” Nathan admitted.
“To be honest,” Jessica admitted, “it doesn’t add up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean using this farming gig as a cover. For a spy, it’s a lousy choice. You spend far more time on the farm than in town. And when you are in town, you’re stuck in a street market? Not gonna gather much intel that way. But then again, maybe he’s not supposed to. Maybe he’s just here in case they need an operative.”
“You’re not making me feel any better, Jess.”
“I recommend we keep a watch during the night, just to be safe.”
“Agreed. Update the Aurora. I’m going to go and have a look at that ship for myself.”
“We made contact with Tobin,” Cameron told Jessica over the comm-link. “Claims he was subjected to a surprise inspection of his ship by the port authority and had to shut down his comms for awhile.”
“You believe him?”
“Sounds logical enough. But he was off the air for several hours. Seems like a rather lengthy inspection. But he agreed it was safer for you to spend the night there rather than raise suspicion with a late night pick-up, especially after the surprise inspection.”
“Okay then. We’ll check back in four hours. Nash out.”
Cameron motioned for the comm officer to close the channel. The landing party had been gone for eight hours, which was considerably longer than any of them had expected. And now they were going to be gone at least another fourteen hours. It had been relatively uneventful, with the harvesting operations running smoothly. The workers had already ferried three full loads of ore to the surface to be sold at market, which Tobin assured her was enough to pay the harvesters their fees and expenses. And since the workers intended to continue through the night, they would have more than enough to pay for the food Nathan was purchasing the next day.
“Kaylah, it’s going to be a long night, and you’ve got a lot of traffic to monitor. So why don’t you take a break, maybe take a catnap or something. I’ll cover your station until you get back.”
“What about you, sir?” Kaylah asked. “You’ve been on duty just as long.”
“I’m good,” Cameron assured her. “I don’t sleep much anyway. Besides, I’ll crash out in the ready room when you return. Now go, before I change my mind.”
“Yes, sir,” Kaylah said as she rose to take leave.
Cameron sat down in Kayla’s place, taking a good long look at the sensor display. It was a sea of contacts-a mixture of rock and ice, interspersed with ships of various sizes. The smaller ones, probably harvesters, were darting about, while the larger sat in or near the rings as they waited for their harvesters to feed their holds. It was a mass of confusion and very difficult to track with so much activity. She shook her head, making a mental note to herself-if Kaylah was going to double as their sensor officer for a time, she was going to need some additional training in how to better configure her displays. She immediately began color coding the contacts, assigning green to non-threats and orange to contacts to be watched. There were only two contacts that warranted a red color, both of which were local patrol ships owned by the family. They had both been patrolling just outside the rings the entire time. Cameron could not determine their intent, but as they were the only vessels with any significant offensive weaponry, they would have to be watched at all times. Cameron knew that if either of those two patrol ships got close enough to get a good look at them, they would quickly realize that they were not a Volonese cargo ship. That was a possibility that she didn’t like to think about.
Ensign Mendez sat on a packing crate along the side of the hangar bay, observing the harvesting operations. His eyelids were drooping, his fatigue evident as struggled to stay alert. Marcus, the harvesting crew foreman approached. Mendez straightened up, forcing his eyes to open wider and appear more alert. He didn’t much care for the old man, especially after watching him berate his workers the entire time they had been on board.
Marcus was wide awake, and was happily gnawing away on something that resembled a small, ugly carrot. “Past your bedtime, boy?”
“Just wish I had some coffee,” Marcus muttered.
“What’s coffee?”
“A hot beverage that helps keep you awake.”
“Well go get yourself some. We ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
“Can’t. We ran out.”
“Too bad. You say it keeps you awake?”
“Yeah.”
“Here.” Marcus pulled another of the strange looking tubers from his pocket and tossed it to Mendez. “Munch on that awhile.”
Mendez barely managed to catch the tuber as it struck his chest. “What is it?”
“Just think of it as coffee on a stick,” Marcus laughed. “You can thank me later,” he added as he returned to his work.
Mendez held the scraggly looking tuber up in front of his face. On closer inspection, it didn’t appear to be a tuber at all. It was actually a small twig covered with a densely compacted collection of gelatinous drops, mostly colored pale oranges and yellows. He sniffed it but found no noticeable aroma. He tried pinching one of the drops but found it was firmer than it looked. He pulled one of them off, and after inspection, decided to give it a try. It was crunchy, the texture reminiscent of a peanut. It had a rather bitter taste to it, which although tolerable was not pleasant. Having survived the first taste, he repeated the process until he had devoured nearly half the stick.
A few moments later, Mendez found himself up and walking around, unable to sit still with his new-found energy coursing through his veins. He looked at Marcus as he passed by, nodding his thanks. Marcus smiled and laughed. “Don’t eat too much! You’ll be climbing the walls!”
“This little ship is amazing,” Vladimir said. Nathan hadn’t seen his friend so excited since he first learned of the jump drive the special projects team had installed on board the Aurora. He stood at the doorway of the barn in which the ship was housed. It was smaller than he had thought, only about twenty meters long and maybe ten meters wide at the most. It resembled an old flying wing design and looked like a stretched out, flattened triangle, with two massive engine pods sitting on its wings on either side of the cigar-shaped fuselage that only protruded slightly ahead of the main wing shape. The cockpit canopy was only a slight protrusion sticking up from the fuselage with view ports cut into its front and sides.
Nathan followed Vladimir up the boarding ladder to the cockpit. From ground level, Nathan had only seen the top of one flight seat, but once he made it to the top of the ladder, he could see that there was a second seat tucked in behind the first.
“There is so much packed into this little ship,” Vladimir
explained. “Energy and projectile weapons, reflective and ablative shielding, anti-gravity lift systems, inertial dampeners.” Vladimir had to stop to catch his breath. “Nathan, it even has limited FTL capabilities.”
“This ship has FTL?”
“Yes. But even without the FTL, it can still outrun the Aurora’s sub-light drive.”
“What kind of propulsion system does it use?”
“The reactors are fusion. That much I know. But the main propulsion systems-I have no idea.”
“Doesn’t Danik know?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe he does, maybe not. I do not fully understand everything he says as yet,” Vladimir admitted.
Nathan wondered if Danik was as difficult to get information out of as Jalea had been. It would make sense, with both of them being from the same organization. It might be doctrine not to reveal too much information. It certainly was Jessica’s preferred method of operation. And it was a skill Nathan had yet to master.
Nathan stepped back down the ladder, backing away from the ship as he stepped back onto the dirt. The ship had several impact marks where it had obviously been struck with weapons fire. There was also charring around the nearest engine pod, probably from an internal fire. “And you think this thing is still space-worthy?”
“Yes, I am almost certain of this.”
“You think the technology on this little ship would be of value to us?”
“The compact nature of her FTL systems alone would be of great value. Maybe not to us, but definitely to the Fleet.”
“I wonder if Tug would be willing to sell it to us?”
“Oh, Nathan,” Vladimir drooled. “Do not tease me.”
Nathan entered the small bunkhouse behind the main house. It was a simple building of wood, clay, and rock construction similar to the others. The floor, although it looked like dirt, was fused solid and smooth in a way that Nathan had never seen. There were ten modest beds of wood-frame construction, a pair on each side of the main entrance, with six more along the back wall. Each bed was covered with a heavy woven-cloth blanket.