Operation Omina

by Roland Starr

  “I’ll have the security men standing by,” he said uncertainly.

  “You’d better report for processing first, Captain,” she told him softly, following him as he turned and went back to the outer office. “And get all the security men through first. If there is trouble, you’ll need armed men to control it. Treat this as a major emergency, Captain, and you won’t be underestimating the situation.”

  “I’ll do that, Doc,” he said uneasily, and paused in the doorway to look back at her. For the first time in two years he felt uncomfortable in her presence, and there were vague, intangible impressions deep in his mind, as if all his instincts were trying to burst through the blockages placed upon his mental processes. It frightened him to realize there were so many strong emotions inside him, and the knowledge warned him that there was no time to lose.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Vonner called for a conference of his senior officers, but he left Ed Bardo on duty in the command room. There was tension in him as he greeted each officer in turn upon his arrival, and he felt dark suspicions in his confused mind as he wondered if any of these important men were regaining their complete minds.

  Aaron Marr, the astrogator, was the first to arrive. Marr was forty, a medium, thick-set type with dark hair and probing brown eyes. He watched Vonner carefully without speaking and poured himself a drink at Vonner’s instigation. Dalus Wayland, the chief engineer, paused in the doorway when he arrived, and Vonner felt a tingle of anticipation as he waited for the man’s report, Wayland was tall and hefty, and he grinned at his captain.

  “I got a message from Doc just after you called, Captain. If you’re in no hurry to see me, then I’d better find out what she wants.”

  “I wanted to see you to send you on to the sick bay,” Vonner said. “That brain washing machine she uses on all of us once a month is giving her some trouble. There’s a loss of output, or main power. Go along and take a look at it, Dal, and then report back here. If you find any trouble, then take care of it.”

  “I’m on my way, Captain,” Wayland said, and grinned at the watchful Marr as he departed.

  “You look as if there’s some problem coming up, Skipper,” Marr said “It has nothing to do with Omina, has it?”

  “No, it’s an internal matter, Aaron. But I’ll wait until the others arrive before I start talking about it.”

  Howie Farrell and Philo Curran arrived together. They were close friends. Farrell was the communications chief, and Curran, the only military officer among them, was boss of security. Vonner motioned them to the table and told them to help themselves to a drink.

  “Before we start in here, Phil,” Vonner said, “I want you to put your guards on full alert.”

  Curran stiffened immediately. “What’s wrong, Skipper?” he demanded.

  “Nothing yet. I’m merely taking precautions. The entire crew will be taking mental processing again, starting in an hour, and I want some guards present to insure there’s no trouble, no opting out of the process.”

  “We’ve never had trouble before!” Curran was bothered, and he didn’t conceal the fact.

  “I want your security men to go through the brainwasher before I announce to the rest of the crew that an extra processing session will commence. If anyone objects, then he must be arrested immediately and compelled to submit.”

  “I’ll get onto it right away,” Curran said stiffly. “But I would like a little more information to go on before I start.”

  “Make sure of your own men before you report again to me,” Vonner said.

  “What do you suspect, Skipper?” Aaron Marr was worried and could not conceal the fact.

  “Later, Aaron,” Vonner said. “Phil, get on with it now, will you? I assure you this is urgent.”

  Curran moved to the door, and paused when he reached Vonner’s side. “You’re talking as if you expect a mutiny, Skipper,” he commented. “Have you got wind of something?”

  “No. I told you these are just precautions. It seems that the brainwasher has developed a malfunction. We weren’t properly screened the last time, so it’s got to be done over. Some of the crew members might not think it’s a good idea. That’s all.”

  Curran saluted and departed, and Vonner breathed deeply. He turned back to the door when Quillon Reid, the chief scientist, entered.

  “You’re just in time, Quill,” Vonner told him. “Sit down and help yourself to a drink. I shall be expecting a report from you tomorrow about the conditions on Omina. We’re close enough now for your instruments to make definite readings.”

  “I’ve been getting some pretty good reports all day,” Reid said happily. “We’ll have to get together tomorrow at the latest, Captain.” He paused and looked at the intent faces around the table. “Most of our earlier reports are substantiated. There is an atmosphere around Omina, and I have reason to believe that it compares favorably with Earth conditions.”

  “That can wait until later,” Vonner said harshly. He moved to the head of the table and sat down.

  “Is Ed coming?” Aaron Marr demanded.

  “No. He’s on duty in the control cabin.” Vonner clenched his teeth for a moment. “I’ll talk to him later. There’s no cause for alarm at the moment, but I am taking certain measures to protect the successful climax of this mission. In five days we shall swing into orbit around Omina, and our shuttles will start ferrying men to the planet’s surface. In five days we shall all be working to capacity, and I must have this business settled before we come under end-of-flight orders.”

  “What do you suspect is happening on the ship, Captain?” Quillon Reid leaned forward, a tall, slim man with deep brown eyes. “It must be serious, or you wouldn’t have called a conference.”

  “This isn’t so much a conference as a collective interview,” Vonner said. “I want to see you in order to decide if you're still efficient in your duties.”

  “This brainwashing machine hasn’t been doing its job right,” Aaron Marr said. “How can that affect us, Skipper? What does it do to us once a month?”

  “I’ve always been under the impression that it helps to keep us mentally alert,” Reid said before Vonner could speak. “Isn’t that so, Captain?”

  “Something like that,” Vonner said tightly. “It does no harm, but if it isn’t used, then a lot of things could happen to the human brain.”

  “And if it has developed a malfunction, then those things have started happening?” Howie Farrell demanded. His fleshy face was wrinkled around the eyes, although he was barely thirty. He eased his stocky figure in his seat and fixed his blue eyes upon Vonner’s face.

  “No. It isn’t like that,” Vonner said. “I guess I really need Doc here to make the explanations, but she’s busy right now, so you will have to make do with what I can tell you. There’s no need for worry. Everything is under control. But some of the crewmen are beginning to show signs of insufficient treatment, and as soon as the machine has been checked out, we’ll all of us take another dose of processing, and the danger will have been averted. There’s not much I can do until I get the chief engineer’s report, so I thought we’d try to get out a list of the men in your various departments who have been a little out of sorts lately. They’re to be processed in the first batch.”

  “I’ve got a couple of men in communications who have been griping for the past week,” Farrell said. “I’ve had to take them to task. So this is the cause of it, huh? All right; I’ll put their names down. We’ll see how they come out of the processing. If they are different, then we’ll know it is a malfunction in the doc’s brainwasher.”

  There was a short silence while each of the officers made a list of the men under his command who had seemed to behave unusually during the past week, and Yonner sat watching their intent faces.

  “There are about twenty names altogether,” he commented when he had scanned through the lists. “Doc Morley told me that she’d had the same number through her hands in the past week. I’ll check the sick reports, and no
doubt we’ll find these names on both lists. When you get the call for men to be processed, I want these particular people to be sent first.”

  “Okay, Captain,” Aaron Marr said. “But why don’t you want Ed down here? Is he affected?” “I think he is. I didn’t like the way he spoke when he relieved me a short time ago. In fact, it was what he said that sent me to the doc. But if my guess is correct, then we’ll all be okay after reprocessing. You can go about your business now, and keep this quiet. Stand by to send your men to the sick bay when required. I’ll be in touch with you.”

  One by one they departed, and Yonner heaved a great sigh when he was finally alone. He took a drink, and then fell to pacing the room, his thoughts probing into the inner recesses of his mind, and pulled himself up short when he realized that he was trying to recall some of the obliterated thoughts in his mind.

  Returning to his desk in a corner, Vonner opened the internal communication line to the sick bay, and almost immediately Dr. Morley’s voice answered.

  “Doc, is Dalus with you?”

  “Not with me, Captain, but he is in the department. He’s got a couple of his men and their blueprints, and they’re checking the brainwasher.”

  “I see. Any idea when he’ll get through?”

  “No, Captain.”

  Vonner gnawed his lip. He recalled what Adah had said about kissing, and wondered exactly what that was. He discovered that he was trembling and his hands were sweating.

  “Are you busy right now, Doc?” he demanded in suddenly husky tones.

  “No, Captain. Do you want me?”

  “I have a list here of men who may be feeling the effects of under-processing by that machine of yours. Bring your sick lists along, and we’ll compare notes.”

  “I’ll be right with you, Captain.” There was a click, and the line went dead.

  Vonner sat back in his seat and stared at the opposite wall. His breathing was jerky, and he could feel a tingling deep inside, as if some powerful unknown force were twisting the very roots of his being.

  Adah Morley came into the room, and Vonner straightened in his seat and stared at the woman. She was wearing black tights that showed every curve of her long legs and a short tunic that was close around the neck and snug-fitting. Sweat touched Vonner’s forehead as he gazed at her.

  “You’re looking very tense, Captain,” Adah

  Morley commented. “Nothing wrong yet, is there?”

  “I don’t know.” He went to her side and stared into her face, aware that her wide blue eyes were watching him intently. “I feel kind of strange,” he said. “I don’t know how to explain it. But I’ve the idea that there’s more to you than shows. Why should it come to me now, after all these long months? What is there in life that I don’t know about, Doc? How come you seem to know about it when none of the rest of us do?”

  “I’m the doctor,” she replied, smiling. “My processing was different from yours, and from the chief engineer’s, for instance. They couldn’t interfere with my work by blotting out my mind. I was processed, but only mildly, and I know more about the past than anyone on the ship.”

  “I see. But they did something to you to make sure you didn’t flip your lid on this flight.” Vonner moved closer to her, staring at her without the inhibitions he might have had if he’d not been processed. “I don’t get this. The influence must be wearing off pretty quickly now. I’ve got a feeling that you’re different, Doc. I’m getting some strange sensations deep inside.”

  “Then we must lose no time in getting the brainwasher back in service,” she retorted. She stood immobile before him, and her eyes attracted him. He could see his reflection in each of them, and leaned a little closer to get a better view. “You’re near enough, Captain,” she said softly, and her words seemed to release a brake in his mind. He took a sharp breath and started to move away, but it was in him to fight against the impulse.

  “Kissing,” he said slowly. “What is it, Doc?”

  “This isn’t the time to discuss it,” she replied, and there was a wistful expression on her face. “I’d like nothing better than to come back here and discuss it with you after I get off duty, but I’m afraid you won’t understand after you’ve been through the brainwasher again.”

  Vonner didn’t understand her. There was a thundering sound in his ears, a sense of darkness in his mind that seemed to hover at the fringes of his awareness. He was aware of a growing attraction in Adah Morley, and he stifled a groan as his awakening instincts took command, and he slid his arms about her. He crushed her into his embrace, and she remained mute and unprotesting. For long moments he stared down into her upturned face, his mind grappling with the mountainous changes sweeping upon him, overwhelming him with their unknown power. Then he kissed her, and she slid her arms about him and responded with all her strength.

  Vonner finally broke away from her and stepped back, breathless and strangely ashamed.

  “What did I do?” he demanded huskily. “Doc, what’s gotten into me?”

  “That’s what they call kissing back on Earth, Captain,” she said, and her eyes seemed to glow from some inner pleasure. “You have a lot to get back to, and you don’t know it. But I’ve known it, and I’ve waited almost two years for the chance to see you as a real human man.”

  He went around the desk and sat down, and was amazed to find that he was trembling. He couldn’t take his eyes from her face, and wondered that she showed so much animation.

  “We’ve got to get that brainwasher back in service as soon as possible,” he said shakily. “If the rest of the crew are going to be affected as I am, then we can’t be too careful. I’ll have more trouble on my hands than I shall ever be able to handle.”

  “I’ve already given instructions to the nurses to remain in their quarters, and I’ve given them injections to help them. They will be affected in the same way, you know.”

  “Do you mean that the sensations I had a moment ago when I kissed you are also in the nurses?”

  “Why not?” She laughed musically. “That’s the order of things on Earth, Captain.”

  ‘I don’t understand, Adah!” He used her name without realizing it, but she noticed and smiled.

  “There are many things you don’t understand. But when you return to Earth you’ll be returned to normal, and it will be as if you had never been under the influence of the brainwasher. That day can’t come quickly enough for me, Captain.”

  “Let’s get on with this business,” he said. “I’m impatient to get back to Earth now, but that must wait. We have a job to do out here, and we’ll do it. Under the influence of the brainwasher, the return trip won’t seem so bad.”

  They checked the lists, but Vonner found it difficult to keep his mind on what he was doing. However, he had his duty to do. He sighed wearily as he got to his feet and escorted Adah to the door.

  “Go back to the sick bay and stay there until we know what’s happening,” he said in a gentle voice, and before she could depart he lifted his hands to her shoulders again. She turned to him immediately, her eyes glowing, and Vonner groaned and stepped back quickly, trying to hold himself in check.

  “It’s going to be a long trip back to Earth, Captain,” she said softly. “Max!” Her face seemed to change shape as she moved toward him. “I’ve longed to hear my name on your lips. I’ve been tormented by my love for you ever since I first met you, before any of us was processed. You were in love with me before the trip, Max. I only hope that when we get back you will remember everything. There will be four years cut out of our lives, but it won’t matter if we can take up again where we left off.”

  “Love!” He groaned rather than spoke the word. “Yes! I’m beginning to understand.” He closed his eyes as he shook his head. “Get away from me, Adah! Don’t tempt me. I’ve got so much to do. Let me finish the trip. Let’s get this over and done with.”

  “I understand.” She spoke softly and started away from him. “I’ll tell the chief engineer to report
to you as soon as he’s finished with the brainwasher, and you’d better be the first in line, Max.”

  He nodded and watched her go. There was much in his mind that he could not understand, but the fogs were lifting slowly, and each moment brought increased awareness.

  Returning to his desk, he sat for a moment trying to get his mind back on duty.

  He looked up as the chief engineer came into the room, and a glance at Dalus Wayland’s face warned him that trouble had already come upon them in some form or other.

  “What’s wrong?” he demanded, coming to his feet. “What on your mind, Dal?”

  “The brainwasher, Captain!” Wayland paused beside the desk and stared down at Vonner. “I’ve located the trouble, but I don’t believe it. One of the input booster circuits has been deliberately neutralized. The machine has been sabotaged!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Sabotaged!” Vonner stood staring across the desk at Wayland, unable to believe his ears. “How can that be? Why was it done?” He dropped back into his seat, shaking his head, his mind at a loss. “Who among your crewmen has the knowledge to do such a thing, Dal?”

  “One of my men?” Wayland shook his head, dropping into the opposite seat. “It couldn’t possibly be one of my men, Skipper. No one could get into the chamber, for a start.”

  “I was forgetting!” Vonner put a hand to his forehead and sighed. “Can you repair the fault, Dalus?”

  “I’ve got a couple of men working on it now. There’s a lot of rewiring to be done. Curran has put a couple of guards on the job. They’re armed with stun-guns. I don’t think you have anything to worry about now, Skipper.”