Operation Omina

by Roland Starr

  “And as a result you resumed full control of your minds!” Vonner gnawed his bottom lip. “What is Commander Bardo’s intention, do you know?”

  “We’re going back to Earth, Captain.”

  “That’s madness! Howie Farrell leaned forward. “How can Bardo hope to handle my particular department? I’m sure my assistant wouldn’t help him.”

  “He’d never find the way,” Aaron Marr retorted. “Apart from the fact that the ship is computered to its present course and will fly into orbit around Omina in five days, I wouldn’t throw in my lot with Bardo. I’m sure he doesn’t know how to get back to Earth.”

  “He’s done a lot of things already that are ordinarily beyond his comprehension,” Vonner said. “We’d better suppose that he can do all that he says he can. We shan’t know exactly what has been going on until we have the mutiny under control. Then we’ll have the whole story. Burke, you can consider yourself under arrest. You’ll be reprocessed as soon as possible, and that will take care of it.”

  “Captain, you must be crazy, like Bardo says.” Burke started to his feet, and Marr grabbed him and thrust him back into the chair. “Can’t you see what’s happening to you and the rest of us?”

  “You tell me what you think is happening,” Vonner said easily.

  “We haven’t a chance of getting out of orbit once we go in,” the man retorted. “Commander Bardo has worked it out. We won’t be able to land on the planet, and we’ll be stuck in orbit. We’ll be marooned in space! We’re all going to die out here! Our only chance is to turn around now, before it’s too late, and get back to Earth.” Vonner frowned. He could tell by Burke’s face that the man believed what he had been told, and for a moment he felt the icy palm of disquiet touching him. But he shrugged his shoulders.

  “I fail to see why you should believe an unqualified man like Commander Bardo,” he said quietly. “Surely you don’t imagine that I would deliberately endanger this ship and the entire crew! If I thought there was the slightest danger, I would abort the mission at once. That is a part of my orders, Burke. The ship and the crew come first. If Commander Bardo thought there was any danger, he had only to report his suspicions to me, and I would have had them checked. Your common sense ought to have explained all this to you, but I appreciate that the omission of reprocessing affected the judgment of you and the other mutineers, and you’re not to be blamed for this lapse. Commander Bardo is showing all the signs of space madness, but I’m sure the doctor will be able to help him.”

  “It’ll be too late for all of us if you don’t get the ship out of Omina’s gravitational pull before it can affect us,” the man replied. “Commander Bardo knows what he’s talking about. We’re doomed if we go on. In two days we’ll be unable to turn back. It’s certain death, Captain, but you can’t see it. The reprocessing has affected your judgment. You can’t tell because you’re still under its influence, but the rest of us, the mutineers, have our complete powers of reasoning again, and we know the commander is telling the truth. If you break the mutiny, you sentence us all to death.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Philo Curran came back into the room, pushing a guard ahead of him, and the big security chief was grinning hugely. He had another stun-gun in his hand, and came forward to give it to Vonner.

  “No trouble at all, sir,” he reported. “The engine room is ours. You can carry on now.”

  “Thanks, Philo. Keep an eye on the prisoners. What about the mechanics in the engine room?”

  “They’re not armed, so there’s nothing they could do about us even if they wanted to,” Curran said.

  “Okay.” Vonner took a deep breath and went to the desk communicator. He looked at the intent faces surrounding him and tried to ease some of the tension that was clinging to him. He didn’t want to think of what Bardo had told his fellow mutineers, but Burke’s words were circling in his brain, and his hand trembled a little as he reached out and flipped the switch that would give him an open line to the flight control room. A light flashed on the communicator, and then Bardo’s voice sounded.

  “Flight control. What’s your problem?”

  “Engine room here. I have no problems now, Ed, but you have.” Vonner smiled grimly as he heard a smothered gasp at the other end of the line.

  “Captain! How the devil did you get down there?”

  “That doesn’t matter, Ed. I’m in control again. I have most of the senior officers with me, and we’re sealed in the engine room. I’m ordering you to surrender yourself for reprocessing.”

  “Never! You don’t know it, Captain, but the whole ship is heading for destruction.”

  “I’m quite willing to talk that over with you, Ed, but not in this situation. I must have full control of the ship. I’m not going to bargain with you. Either you surrender now, or I shall cut main power.”

  “You wouldn’t risk the ship,” Bardo replied with a laugh. “I know what would happen if you cut power now. We’re only five days from Omina. Interrupt the computers now, and we’ll turn into a fireball as soon as we hit atmosphere.”

  “You’re planning to turn the ship and go back to Earth, Ed. Tell me how you expect to do that.”

  “It’s quite simple. I availed myself of the reprocessing machine and the cassettes of all the senior officers. I have all their programs in my mind. I can do your duties and all the others. I’m making calculations now to turn the ship.”

  “Ed, you’re suffering from space madness. I’ve been learning something of your past activities, and I can understand the state your mind is now in. You’ve got to surrender to me at once. We’re in danger all right, but not from my control. You think you’re right, but you’ve got space between your ears.”

  “Nothing doing.” Bardo laughed harshly, and there was a trace of hysteria in his tone. “You daren’t cut power. That much I do know. There’s nothing you can do, even though you have taken over the engine room. It’s stalemate. You can’t harm me. But you haven’t any food or water. I’m going to put the atomic disintegrator to work on the main engine-room door, and I’ll be through it in half an hour even if you do boost the electronic tensions of the doors.”

  “What are you afraid of, Ed?” Vonner tried to keep his tone cool, reassuring. “I know you missed out on the last regular monthly process, and your mind has returned to normal. Naturally, you’re confused. I want nothing more from you than your submission to reprocessing. After that we’ll resume as before.”

  “Not a chance! It’s certain death on our present course.”

  “Why? Give me your reasons!” Vonner was aware of the deep interest of the men around him, and he hoped Bardo’s hot words would not set them thinking. “If you think the ship is in some kind of danger, then your duty is to report to me, not take over the ship. I am qualified to handle every emergency.”

  “You’re bound too tightly to your duty. You would go on even if it meant death for everyone.” Bardo sounded angry and bitter. “I can’t take any more of it, Captain. I’m gonna turn this ship around.”

  “I can’t allow that, Ed, and you know it. Either you turn the ship back to me, or I shall have to take steps to stop you. That could be unpleasant for the both of us.”

  The line went dead, and Vonner paused with bated breath as he waited. When he was certain there was no reply coming from the mutineer, he switched off the line and leaned back in the seat, to stare into the circle of keen eyes that surrounded him.

  “What was he talking about, Captain?” Aaron Marr demanded.

  “I don’t have the faintest idea, men,” Vonner replied. “I’m as anxious as the rest of you to know the dangers, if any. It’s obvious that Bardo is now suffering from space fatigue at least, and possibly he’s in a forward stage of space madness. Now we can all understand why we were processed. This sort of situation would have arisen a long time ago if we’d not been conditioned to our mission. But the problem now is how to take over the control room!”

  “There are several ways we can ov
ercome the men in the flight control room,” Dalus Wayland said. “I can cut their source of power, and that means a loss of light and heat and air for them. If we could time it right, we could render them unconscious, then go in and take over.”

  “I don’t want to go to those extremes unless I have to, Chief,” Vonner said. “There might be an accident, and I want to avoid killing anyone. In particular, we’ve got to take Bardo alive in order to question him about this bee in his bonnet.”

  “You figure he might have something with that wild talk of his?” Curran demanded, twiddling with his stun-gun.

  “I wouldn’t discount it, Philo.” Vonner pursed his lips for a moment. He let his mind pursue the several courses open to him, but before he could come to a decision, the communicator on the desk was operated and Bardo came through again.

  “Captain, can you hear me?” There was an exultant note in Bardo’s voice.

  “I hear you.” Vonner suppressed a sigh as he flipped the switch. “What is it now?”

  “I’ve got the doc in here, and everyone else important to me. If you meddle with our air supply or the heat or light, then she’ll suffer with the rest of us.”

  “I can assure you, Bardo, that I’ll have no consideration for any member of the crew when I decide what to do about you.” Vonner didn’t feel the slightest pang of emotion as he spoke.

  “You don’t know what you’re saying, Captain.” Bardo laughed, and it was an ugly sound. “You don’t know it right now, but the doc is the woman you love. That’s the trouble with brainwashing. It’s taken all the pleasure out of life. If you were back to the normal state right now, you would be doing anything to save this woman. I’ll make a deal with you. Let me run the ship and you can have her.”

  “No deal, Bardo. I don’t know what you’re talking about when you mention the Doc. She’s just another colleague to me, and if she’s had the misfortune to get dragged into this, then she’ll have to take the consequences just like any other crew member.”

  “Stick to that decision, Captain.” Dr. Morley’s voice cut in above Bardo’s, and Vonner heard Bardo smother a curse. Then there was the sound of a blow, followed by several cursing voices. Vonner got to his feet, reaching forward to cut off the communicator. He spoke through his teeth.

  “Chief, cut the lights in the flight control, will you? That will do for a start. If we can soften them up a bit, we might make Bardo amenable.”

  Wayland nodded and turned to the panel board. His skilled fingers sped over the switches and levers, and a moment later he glanced at Vonner and nodded.

  “They’re without light, Captain,” he reported.

  Almost immediately the communicator burst into life, and Vonner switched on his end of it. Bardo was yelling at the top of his voice, and there was now panic in his tone.

  “Captain, if you don’t restore the light, I’ll have the doc killed. Don’t be a fool. You can’t beat me. You can’t save the ship if you resist. Throw in the towel, and I’ll do what I have to now to save us all.”

  “No dice, Bardo. Surrender unconditionally, and I’ll restore order. I’m the only man who can save the ship, if it is in any danger. Report to me what you think is the trouble, and I’ll check it out. That’s the only sane way to save the ship.”

  “You’re a fool!” Bardo sounded as if he were nearing the end of his patience. “You’re relying completely on your computer drive, and it’s wrong. I know what I’m talking about. I’ve got Wayland’s engineering knowledge programmed into my head, and I know as much about astrogating as Marr himself.”

  “Let me talk to him, Skipper,” Marr said softly at Vonner’s side. “Perhaps I can blind him with science.”

  Vonner nodded and leaned back in the seat. The astrogator bent over the desk and leaned an elbow upon it. His heavy features were intent as he spoke.

  “Ed, this is Marr. What’s on your mind? Tell me about the computer error. If you’ve absorbed my duty program, then you’ll be able to talk my language.”

  “I don’t need you!” There was contempt in Bardo’s tone. “I have one advantage over you, Marr. My mind is not dominated by that damned brainwasher. You’re duty-bound like the rest of the crew. You can’t see the wood for the trees. Let me talk to the captain.”

  “This has gone on long enough, Bardo.” Vonner cut into the conversation. “I’m going to make life unpleasant for you. Give in now and save us all a lot of trouble.”

  “Nuts!” The line went dead, and Vonner could feel his patience dying.

  “Chief, make it cold for them,” he ordered harshly. “Put their temperature down to zero.”

  “Right away!” Wayland turned to his panels again, and Vonner watched silently, his face set and his eyes brooding. “That’s taken care of it.” Wayland turned back to them again. “It’ll take thirty seconds, but then they’ll know what it’s like to be really cold.”

  “While they’re freezing we’ve got to figure out our next move,” Vonner said. He eyed big Philo Curran speculatively. “We’re got a couple of stun-guns with us now. We ought to put in some kind of counter. Aaron, before we do anything, can you think of any reason for Bardo’s attitude? Is there anything wrong with our course:

  “Not as far as I know, Skipper,” the astrogator replied firmly. “The computer can’t be wrong, as a matter of routine. There’s nothing wrong as Bardo claims, and I carry out periodic checks in my department. Sorry, but I can’t help you.”

  “Where would Bardo get the idea from that the computer is wrong, Captain?” Howie Farrell demanded.

  “If we knew that, we’d have some idea of the problem,” Vonner retorted. He looked at the chief engineer. “That inspection tunnel we came along to get here — ” he mused — “it’s part of a complete network, isn’t it?”

  “That’s right, Skipper. If you want to get into the flight control room, then I’ll put you right at the door you need.” Wayland paused for a moment and thrust out his bottom lip. “But I must warn you that if Bardo has programmed himself with my personal duty cassette, then he’ll know about the tunnels.”

  “I know.” Vonner was grim. “But I’m counting on the fact that he may be so busy right now that he won’t even give them a thought. We’re going into the flight control room and take it over. If we succeed, then the rest should be easy.”

  “You’d better stay here, Captain,” Curran said. “I’ll go, and I’ll need just one man with me.”

  “No.” Vonner shook his head. “I’ve got to get in there to stand by. We can leave the chief here in control; and you’d better remain, Farrell, with one of the guns, to keep an eye on the prisoners.”

  “Perhaps I’d better get back to communications, Captain,” Farrell said. He lifted a hand to his forehead. “I’ve got the feeling that there was something important going on before I was stunned.”

  Vonner looked at the communications officer, his own mind ticking vibrantly. They were all still suffering partially from the effects of being stunned. The discomfort had worn off, but the mind was still shocked and unable to function one hundred percent. Suddenly something seemed to click into place in the captain’s brain, and he became urgent.

  “Howie, I called you just before the mutiny occurred, and you asked me to wait because there was a message coming through. Was it a message from Earth?”

  “An outside message!” Farrell started nervously, as if he expected a blow. “Why, yes! I picked it up on Emergency. It’s all coming back to me now. That stun-gun knocked it completely out of my head.”

  “Don’t spell it out, Howie,” Vonner said urgently. “Just tell me what it was about.”

  “I didn’t get the chance to work on it, Captain.” Farrell was apologetic. “The message hardly came through before they stunned me.”

  “Then you’d better make it priority and get into your office,” Vonner decided. “If it came through on Emergency, then you can bet that it’s got to do with the running of the ship. Perhaps it ties in with what Bardo is talking
about, but how he would know about it when the rest of us overlooked it beats me.”

  “If he missed a reprocessing session, then he’s had full control of his whole mind for some time,” Philo Curran said. “In our state we rely too much on the computers.”

  “That’s what we’re supposed to do,” Aaron Marr said. “Look how far we’ve come from Earth on a computer course, and when you look at the front scanner screen you can see Omina as large as life.” He laughed harshly. “I don’t think I could have brought us here by my efforts.”

  “Well, let’s get something done,” Vonner said. “I’m going to control with Curran. Chief, you stand by here. Give us five minutes; then return light and heat to the control room. We’ll burst in on them soon afterward, and I’ll let you know how it goes. Howie, as soon as you get the all-clear from me, get along to your office and work out that message. Is that understood?”

  “Okay, Captain.” Wayland and Farrell spoke in concert.

  Vonner glanced at Curran, and the big security man grinned and nodded.

  “I’m ready, Skipper,” he said.

  “Do you know your way through the inspection tunnels, Mellon?” Vonner asked the assistant chief engineer, and the man nodded. “Then you can go along with us and show us the way.” He paused for a moment to consider. There were a dozen other details clamoring for attention in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t attend to them all, and the most urgent were about to be dealt with. But he felt optimistic, and his strict training kept him to the main objective and refused to let him be sidetracked.

  Mellon fetched a small but powerful hand lamp and led the way into the inspection tunnel. Curran followed closely, and Vonner brought up the rear. The assistant chief engineer did not falter as he went through the network of tunnels, and they ascended to the higher levels, encased in glistening steel. Their shadows were gigantic and leaped about them as they progressed with the aid of the portable lamp. Then the main lighting system was restored, and they proceeded at a faster pace. Finally Mellon paused and indicated the right-hand wall.