"Let me be the first to thank you for saving humanity," he said.
"I'm not sure that's guaranteed yet." She shook his hand with her characteristic restraint. "I'm not even sure they were planning to exterminate us."
"Really?" He motioned her to a small couch. "When did you start doubting that?"
"Since I talked to one of the aliens. Possibly the same one – Michael – who was giving Brian Loving his divine messages. He said they hadn't marked Earth for death – that we would be doing that to ourselves, according to their calculations."
Jamie lowered herself on the couch. Captain Cameron remained standing, his smile fraying. Voices from the crewmembers investigating the alien ship chattered through the helm control coms in the background.
"You spoke with one of the Elementals about this?" He glanced at the wrecked ship. "So where is he?"
"He teleported out of there. I don't know where." She gave him a brief account of her journey to the ship's presumed nucleus, her conversation with Mikenruah, and how his attempt to trick her nearly got him killed.
"You helped him escape?" Cameron sounded more wondering than accusing. "You believed him, then?"
"I wouldn't say I believe him. But he could’ve been telling the truth."
"If he was..." Cameron paced away from her to observe through the largest window another round of shuttles the size of Greyhound buses approach the central hull breach. "We just spent roughly 250 billion dollars in an act of war that twe had no point in fighting."
"But they were taking your citizens – unrightfully interfering with your society."
"That's true."
"You could always tell him that you had honest reason to believe they intended to kill you. Blame it on me."
Jamie swallowed a little at the last sentence. Was it possible that she, with all her wonderful intentions, had just signed the death sentence of the world she'd come to save? Or if the Elementals accepted that excuse, how might they view her? She'd assaulted one of their people, stopped their entire operation, and destroyed their ship. How understanding would they be? How understanding would this government be?
Maybe I should've just kept my big mouth shut about what Mikenruah said?
Captain Cameron shot her a grim smile as if his thoughts were traveling down similar, nauseous paths.
"He was trying to save his ship," he said. "Maybe even his life. He would tell you anything."
"Yes. He openly admitted they use deception."
"So it's quite possible that their ship was going to exterminate us."
Jamie tried to cling to that bright pearl of optimism, but she found it slipping out of her grasp. You could pretty much toss a coin, she thought: 50 – 50 that the alien was either lying or telling the truth. Fifty percent that she'd either saved humanity from extinction or marked them for it.
"Yes," she sighed. "It's possible."
"Too bad we don't have diplomatic channels with them," said Cameron. "It would be nice to know where we stand."
Something not entirely pleasant clicked in Jamie's brain. "Brian had a connection with them. Maybe he still does."
"Brian Loving." A touch of contempt in those words. "A televangelist has a connection with the Elementals – the aliens who built this ship?"
"Yes." Jamie stared at him with a puzzled frown. "You didn't know that?"
"We – the commanders of these ships – were only told to look for an antimatter detonation in this solar sector involving an alien ship. We were to locate and destroy this ship at all costs. A government agent with "special powers" named Jamie Shepherd would be meeting us there if her mission succeeded. We were to look for you and return you safely to Earth. That's it."
Jamie remembered President Tomlinson's terse remark, almost an after-thought, that the starship commanders would be provided "the information they needed to know to complete the mission," adding: "And we would appreciate it if you said nothing about your unique background, including your origins in another world, to the commanders or their crew."
At the time, Jamie had only nodded. Just more of the hyped-up secrecy and manipulative games the government here seemed to thrive on. She'd had more important matters to think about.
"So you don't know anything about me other than that I'm a special government agent?"
"That's it. Need to know and all. You seem surprised. Weren't those your orders?"
"Ah..." Jamie made a sound in her chest. "First, I don't take orders. I'm working with your government, not for it. President Tomlinson did ask that I not reveal much about myself."
"And I wasn't supposed to ask." His smile crimped a bit. "I was ordered not to, by the way."
"But you made a point of coming out here to pick me up."
Cameron's self-conscious smile made him seem younger. Jamie hadn't looked at him closely to this point. She guessed he was around her age, perhaps a bit older than he looked given his command status, and handsome in the "star quarterback captain" way with his strong jaw line, short but thick wavy brown hair, regular features, and candid grey-blue eyes that held more than a hint of mischief. Definitely her type – though she'd spent most of her high school and college days avoiding it.
"I'm afraid I suffer a bit from Captain Kirk Syndrome," Cameron chuckled. "I like to get out and take a closer look at things whenever I can find a suitable excuse. In this case, the danger seemed contained, so..." He shrugged, and Jamie noticed the glint of amusement in his eyes harden into something more serious as they regarded each other. "But to be honest, I wanted a few moments with you alone and off the record."
"I wondered about that. And I don't want to get you into trouble, Captain, but as I said, I don't take orders from your government and I'm willing to answer your questions, if you dare to ask them."
"You mean, if I'm foolish enough to ask them." His grin was rueful. "If you don't take orders from my government, that implies you work with someone else. A foreign power? But you look and sound all-American to me. Isn't that a Midwestern accent I'm hearing?"
"Not surprising, since I was born in North Dakota." Jamie felt a little chagrinned that someone thought of her as having an accent and could even place her by it. "Only not this North Dakota."
"What other North Dakota could there be?"
"A North Dakota in a parallel-alternative world. A world where people were given superpowers by an alien device. The same aliens that built this ship we just riddled with holes."
Captain Cameron moved from the window facing the alien ship and sat on the cushioned bench across from her. He opened his hands in invitation.
"I'm listening," he said.
"Those powers helped us defeat the aliens in my world," said Jamie. "I came here to help you do the same thing."
"But...how did you get here? And why leave your world?"
"It's not easy to explain, but the short version is I came here through a kind of teleportation that allows you to sort of slide into alternate dimensions. In that state I saw my family alive – my husband and daughter – who'd died in a car accident in my world. I also saw a news story about Brian Loving followers disappearing, which is what happened in my world and what led us to connecting him to the aliens."
"You came here to be with your family, as well as to help us defeat the aliens."
"Yes."
Captain Cameron nodded a few times, as if agreeably marking the rhythm of her words. "That almost makes sense."
"Then you believe me?"
"I'd been expecting a story about you being born in a DARP lab, but yes, I believe you. I don't see much choice there."
Jamie dipped her head in weary acknowledgment.
"Pat," said Cameron, without turning from Jamie, "any interesting reports from the away teams?"
"Nothing definitive, sir," PAT replied in her soothing tenor-contralto voice. "They've found some devices intact but are in the preliminary stages of separating them from the ship."
"No life signs? Resistance?"
"No, Captain Camero
n."
"Thank you, Pat."
Captain Cameron leaned back in his seat, looking a shade more relaxed. He gazed at Jamie in frank appraisal.
"You're telling me there's a whole planet full of people with your abilities?"
Jamie shook her head. "There's quite a variety of powers, ranging from barely noticeable to pretty spectacular. Some people can fly, for instance, while others can't. Some can project deadly particle-type beams or heat or electrical fields. Others are super-strong. A few have psychic abilities or can teleport. Some possess combinations of powers."
"Hard to see how the government could keep people like that in line."
"That's where I and the agency I worked for came in." Jamie smiled at him. "Department of Augmented Regulation and Enforcement. We dealt with the super-powered people who didn't stay in line."
"Wow. Straight out of Marvel Comics Justice League. Or S.H.I.E.L.D." He smiled and shook his head. "You said an alien device did this to you?"
"We called it 'The Object.' It was built by a rebellious faction of the same aliens you're dealing with here – the Elementals – the ones who built this ship. This faction hoped our superpowers would allow us to escape the death sentence placed by the main body of aliens – I'm still not sure who they were or how their government functions – and it worked, at least indirectly. We got an audience with three Elementals who had the power to change the death sentence, and we convinced them to do that."
"How?"
"By showing them mercy. At least I think that was it. A mercy they didn't necessarily need at that point, but I guess it was the thought that counted."
"Ah."
Cameron's pained smile suggested it was about as clear as mud. Neither spoke for a while. Jamie listened to the chatter of the crew investigating the alien ship. Someone was describing in disbelieving tones a vast room filled with what looked like mini-pyramids.
"Did your people ever learn more about them?" he asked. "Get to the bottom of who they are?"
"We barely got to the top. We know about what some of their technology can do and why they sentenced us to extinction, but not how their stuff works – or even how their civilization works. They said they created us, along with whole universes, but offered no details about how they accomplished that."
"From what little I know – I've had exactly two personal encounters with an alien sentient species – being closemouthed about their technology and societies is par for the course. They dole out information like misers doling out precious gold. They're very wary of us, and probably for good reason."
"How many alien races are you dealing with?"
"We have diplomatic relations, which from my understanding are fairly minimal, with two races – the Alphas and the Zetas. We've met a race that calls itself - roughly translated, they assure us – the Luminate, but they're not interested in formal relations. We know of five more. Now there's yours."
"The 'Elementals,'" said Jamie. "That's what they call themselves."
Cameron nodded, his eyes frankly appraising her. Jamie had a sudden, uncomfortable feeling of attraction swimming around in the air between them. Captain Cameron sat up straighter and dropped his smile, as if countering that vibe.
"Well," he said, "I should ferry you over to your ride home. You'll be traveling in luxury aboard one of our fabulous star cruisers. A good friend of mine, Horace Lindley, is in command. Please do not crush him into atomic dust if he makes an inappropriate remark. The women's equality revolution never made it to his doorstep from what we can tell."
"Not a problem. I'm not sure that revolution ever made it to North Dakota, either."
He gave her an appreciative smile and raised his voice. "Pat, take us to the Peacemaker."
"Yes, Captain Cameron."
The shuttle rotated away from the alien craft and accelerated toward the line of starships. Cameron settled back, his smile a little awkward as he met Jamie's eyes.
"We'll rendezvous with the Peacemaker in a few minutes," he said.
"Good. Thank you."
"Thank you for being willing to tell me what's going on, despite President Tomlinson asking you not to."
"That wasn't a problem. She's your president, not mine."
"True." Cameron hesitated, a small frown forming. "But are you planning to stay here?"
"Yes. Maybe."
The Peacemaker starship made Jamie think of a giant hawk constructed out of grey Legos. A giant Lego hawk with its feathers pulled, leaving striations and plastic chunks in their place. This wasn't the sleek, smoothly contoured Star Trekkish vessels that were obviously designed to spread human goodwill through the cosmos. This thing looked rough and deadly – coarse, even - more like the ship of fanged and drooling alien invaders come to enslave humanity or to make it into a pot roast. To Jamie, the last thing it looked like was something that brought peace.
An aperture telescoped open and they cruised inside an empty hangar and landed between rows of cranes and tool or supply boxes. Pressurized air blasted into the chamber. That was the first moment Jamie realized – in a powerful rush of longing – how much she was looking forward to going home. To my new home. To Kylee's bright eyes and welcoming giggles. And it would be fascinating to be aboard a real interstellar starship. It was as if she was stepping onto the set of a science fiction movie with the handsome Zane Cameron playing a very credible young Captain Kirk.
"Safe journey, Jamie," said Captain Cameron with a knowing smile as he extended his hand. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again Earthside soon enough."
Chapter 11
IT WASN'T THE HOMECOMING Jamie had expected or hoped for.
She and the four starship commanders, along with a few other crewmembers, shuttled down to Nellis Air Force Base in an aircraft that resembled NASA's space shuttle on her world, but which she soon learned housed all the covert, high-tech bells and whistles – antigravity, antimatter ion drive, most everything composed of an incredibly strong and lightweight material called "plastisteel" – housed within a conventional-looking aircraft on a standard mission shuffling personnel to and from the half-dozen U.S. and international space stations orbiting the planet.
That was the explanation given to her by Captain Horace "Horse" Lindley on their way down, while his friend, Captain Cameron, listened with a dry smile.
"It's all about hiding in plain sight, my dear," said Captain Lindley with a wink. "About feeding the public a narrative they feel comfortable accepting."
"Why not just tell them the truth?" Jamie asked.
Captain Lindley snorted as if that was the most laughable suggestion he'd ever heard. "That's the last thing people want, my young friend. Otherwise, why would they believe all the fairytales our government tells them that a child could see through? They don't want a universe full of non-human beings that could obliterate us on a whim. They sure as hell couldn’t handle knowing that one of them actually had us in their crosshairs. Can you imagine the panic in the streets?" He shook his head scornfully. "No, our citizens want a nice, tidy fairytale-world where the bad guys are kept firmly in check, the universe is a warm, fuzzy place just waiting to welcome us with open arms, and an all-seeing, all-powerful Wizard – in this case, Sorcereress – stands guard over us all."
Some of the crewmembers sitting nearby glanced at him but looked away when the Peacemaker commander unfurled his grew eyebrows in challenge at them. Captain Cameron released a low chuckle.
"Horse, you should've worked for Walt Disney," he said.
Lindley snorted out another laugh. "Sometimes I think I would've better off not knowing what I do. Some days I envy the regular folk in their blissful ignorance."
"My dad said pretty much the same thing when I asked him about that," said Captain Cameron. "There's also the sticky issue of us withholding technology which could enrich and save people's lives. We'd have a lot of explaining to do. As my dad said, once you start burying a secret, it just takes more and more dirt to keep it covered, and more and more sh
ovels to dig it up."
"Your dad's a smart man, Z, though a cheapskate when it comes to buying drinks."
"Or maybe when you treat people like children they start acting like them," said Jamie. "That's what my dad once said. To me, saying people are too dumb or deluded to handle the truth is just an excuse people in power use to keep or increase their power. No offense, Captain Lindley."
"Heh. None taken, young lady. You're an idealist. I get it. And you're right about people in power. But look who happily gave it to them."
"I wouldn't happily give it to anyone," Jamie muttered.
"Why would you? It's not as if you need anyone's protection."
"If we gave everyone the kind of technology we have," said Captain Cameron in a quiet voice for their ears only, "the average Joe might not need it, either."
Upon landing at Nellis, they were hustled off to separate rooms several levels down in an underground complex buried beneath the Air Force base. For Jamie, it felt like she was returning to DARE's Advanced Research Complex under Peters Mountain in Virginia: the tall, bleached white walls, the endless labyrinth of hallways and rooms, and the yellow-white glow of full-spectrum fluorescent lights. And debriefing after a mission had become second-nature for her, so despite not technically working for the government here, it felt natural.
Still, she couldn't escape an undercurrent of unease as a stern-looking fortyish woman in grey USSC fatigues entered the room with a laptop under one arm. She introduced herself with a brisk handshake as Lieutenant Nancy Holloway, and motioned for her to sit at a long Plexiglas table in the center of the room. She set up the laptop across from Jamie.
"First, I would like to thank you on behalf of the United States and the Tomlinson Administration for your service to our country," she said. "I'm going to ask you some questions about the mission which you may find personal or even offensive. Please don't take offense. It's standard procedure to be thorough when discussing a classified mission of extreme national security importance, as this mission was."
"I understand," said Jamie warily.
"Let's start with a full account of what happened – beginning with your entrance into the teleportation portal in Brian Loving's home. No detail is too small."
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