by TJ Ryan
Not knowing what to say, she sat down at one end, and picked up a three-tined fork to push through the noodles. This looked so delicious, and she really was hungry, but she couldn’t bring herself to take a single bite.
“Well?” Danvers asked. “Aren’t you going to mention my centerpiece?”
Tara swallowed, letting her eyes flick over to the orb of the power cell and away again. “You mean the bomb part? The thing that your cohorts back at the Academy had me drag up without letting me in on the secret?”
“Certainly,” he said, shrugging his shoulders like it should have been obvious. He then eyed her silently, and she realized he wasn’t going to say anything further.
The look in his eyes was cryptic, and she couldn’t tell if he was curious, angry, or afraid. He sat there in silence, his hands folded together on the table, and watched her expectantly.
“Er…” Tara began. She sat in silence for a moment, contemplating her next words thoughtfully. Whatever came out of her mouth would determine her fate at Overwatch, and she needed to choose her words very carefully. Unable to come up with anything to say, she shut her mouth and sat back in her chair, an expression of confusion washing over her face.
He chuckled, sitting back in his chair and raising his drink cup. “Have to tell you, we were quite surprised when we found out you had brought the device onto your pod.”
“I was following orders, sir,” Tara finally managed, unable to take her eye from the device on the table.
“Indeed,” he replied. “From the Academy, though, not from us. You are lucky a broken cell is all you brought back. You could have put yourself and the other Defense Engineers in danger.”
“Sir?” She looked into his eyes, trying to read his expression. “Do you mean to say my instructions from the Academy weren’t approved by Overwatch?”
There was no way that was possible, as the Academy was watched over and governed strictly by Overwatch. Everything was governed strictly by Overwatch, actually. There was not one aspect of remaining human life that wasn’t controlled and meticulously managed by Overwatch.
“All actions taken by the Academy are instructed and monitored by Overwatch.”
Words. They were easy enough to say, but by the look in his eyes she could tell that they were false. A disconnect between the Academy and Overwatch. Tara shuddered at the thought of what that could mean.
“Of course, sir,” Tara said. She stared down at the food on her plate, doing everything in her power to avoid the piercing gaze of the man in front of her.
“So, I ask again,” Danvers said. “Do you have anything to say about my centerpiece?”
Tara swallowed hard, and looked up to meet his gaze. She brushed the side pocket of her pants with her fingers – a habit she had developed over the past few weeks. The seed was still there, and it was proof that there was more going on down there than she is being led to believe. Could Danvers suspect that Tara knew more than she was letting on? Or was he legitimately just concerned about her knowledge of the device on the table.
His eyes flicked to her hand that hovered over her pocket, and she quickly retracted it and placed her hands on the table.
She stared at the object on the table. As far as she knew, no other alien species had managed to develop technology even remotely similar to it in terms of power. That tiny cell alone was capable of demolishing an entire planet. An entire species. She understood why Overwatch would be concerned with the Academy retrieving them from Earth, but the idea of Overwatch having the cell in their possession scared her even more.
“So?” Danvers said to her.
Blinking at him, she shook her head. “So…what?”
Danvers stood up, and walked around to the side of the table, and placed a hand gently on the shiny, curved metal surface of the fuel cell.
“So,” he said. “Make it work.”
CHAPTER TWO
“I don’t…”
“Don’t what?” Danvers interrupted her. Picking the fuel cell up in one hand he began tossing it in the air and catching it again. “You don’t know how to make it work?”
Tara shoved her chair back from the table hard enough that it tipped over and clattered to the ceramic tiles of the floor. She wanted distance between her and that ball of death that Danvers was treating like a piece of fruit.
“What’s the matter, Tara? You aren’t afraid, are you?” Danvers held the orb out sideways, over the table, and then dropped it.
For one sickening moment, Tara knew she was going to die. As soon as that fuel cell hit the table it would explode and take out this station and the moon and her along with it.
Clunk.
It actually bounced against the hard wooden surface and then rolled to the edge of Danvers’ plate. There it settled to a stop, and there it stayed.
No explosion.
Danvers raised his eyebrow at her reaction.
“It’s harmless,” Danvers pointed out. “Until the primary relays inside can be activated to prime the nuclear reaction. But you knew that, didn’t you Engineer Royce? Of course you did. Very convincing, what with the back away from the table and all. As if you were going to run from an exploding fission power source.”
Tara actually had not known that the fuel cell was inactive. As far as she knew it was a deadly explosive, just waiting to be plugged into a warhead or particle beam accelerator or any one of the other destructive weapons mankind had dreamt up before contact with alien species had shown them how to be just as deadly without being… completely deadly.
But if Danvers thought she was acting, Tara realized, that mean he thought she really did know how to activate the power source and give Overwatch the ability to let loose another fission weapon. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what he was after. What did the Academy know that Overwatch didn’t? He narrowed his eyes at her, expecting her to confirm his misconception.
For the moment, that misconception might be the only thing keeping her alive.
Standing up straight again, tugging the unflattering lines of her jumpsuit straight, she calmly picked up her chair and set it back in place at the table. “All right,” she lied. “You got me. I know what’s wrong with your little toy device there. They train us in antiquated military devices at the Academy.”
“Yes,” he told her. “I know. But I also know that you had a special field of study for your independent project. The use and application of fission power cells, was it not?”
Tara had forgotten about that stupid research paper. It had earned her a special notation on her graduating certificate, and had all but ensured her the spot with the Defense Engineers that would get her sent to Earth quicker. That was all she had wanted. Of course, the research had focused on ways to use fission power to restore the Earth to a habitable state, and had nothing to do with fission powered weapons, so handing her this power cell and asking her to fix it would be about as productive as handing a fish a pair of boots and asking them to go on a hike.
No matter how hard Danvers pressed her, she wouldn’t be able to do it.
At the same time, if she didn’t do it, then he would most likely deem her to be completely useless to him. In that case she might just end up facing a firing squad like she’d been afraid of in the first place.
Time to play along.
“The problem is in the relays,” she bluffed. “Just like you said.”
He arched an eyebrow then went back to his seat and his meal, motioning for her to do the same. “I know that. Overwatch has some of the best reverse engineers in the known universe stationed right here. We’ve had success with activating satellites that had been placed in orbit before the war with the Krii Zalite. The yield of useful information from them has been… less than expected.”
Tara really wished that he’d stop waving his hand and expecting her to move. She did sit down though, and she did begin to eat, even if the food tasted like ash in her mouth now. It probably was delicious, but being as nervous as she was, her taste bud
s had gone on strike. “So, um, I take it your reverse engineers haven’t had any luck making the fuel cell work?”
He stabbed his fork through a piece of meat. “What do you think? If we could have done it ourselves, I wouldn’t be treating you to this fine meal that was paid for out of my own compensation. We tried. We failed. And you know what they say. If a reverse engineer can’t do it, then hire a Defense Engineer.”
That was a new one for Tara. “Who says that?”
“I do,” he answered with a quick smile. “Now. Tell me what my people missed. Why won’t the cell work?”
Racking her brain for a plausible answer, Tara took her time chewing a bite of noodles, took her time swallowing, took her time placing her fork down beside the plate. She was wracking her brain for something she could tell him that would keep him happy and her alive.
“Well,” she said after a moment that was stretching out too long. “The technology to service the fission weapons was lost after the destruction of the Earth. I don’t suppose your r-en’s have reversed anything that can show us how to use it effectively, or you wouldn’t be having me here to dinner.”
He nodded along with her. “The reverse engineers have proven less than helpful in that regard, yes.”
“So you need me, and my skills.”
Another nod. “Exactly.”
Bagging hell, she swore in her mind. She had no idea how to fix a damned fission cell! “Well, uh, I have the skills, of course, but certainly not the tools that were used by our ancestors.”
Danvers’ face darkened. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“But I know where to get them,” she said, quickly amending herself. Her hand moved to her pocket again, and excitement coursed through her veins as the idea of finding life on Earth pulsed through her body.
“Ah. I might like the sound of that, if you can explain yourself, Engineer Royce.”
“Er, well.” She jammed another forkful of food into her mouth and chewed. This time, she tasted the saltiness and flavor of the meat. She even managed a little smile of her own. Maybe, just maybe, she had an idea. “What we need is the tools of the trade, so to speak.”
“Hmm. And you have these tools hidden in that jumpsuit of yours?”
His eyes drifted down to her front, not at all shy about what he was looking at. Her shirt was loose, general issue gray. There was nothing there to look at but Danvers took his time looking anyway.
“I don’t have the kind of tools you need,” she told him.
His eyes met hers again, and it was obvious that he heard a double meaning in her words that she hadn’t meant. Her face was heating up. Yes, he was hot, but he was her superior officer and then there was that other little problem. He was going to kill her if she didn’t deliver what he wanted. And that’s even ignoring the question of why he wants the thing to work to begin with. She tried to push that one from her mind.
No matter what his eyes were looking at, what he wanted was a working fission weapon. The same technology that had broken the Earth to begin with, only the device used at the time was only detonated at a fraction of the strength of its potential. Those things had so much power, it made the hair on her arms stand on end. She had to decide what was more important. Her life, or the safety of the entire universe.
In that moment she made her decision.
“We have to go down to the surface,” she said. The excitement she had felt a moment prior instantly left her. Shit, what had she just said? One tiny seed was not enough to convince her that she would survive a mission to Earth.
His fork hesitated in his food. “The surface. You mean, of course, the surface of the Earth?”
“Yes.” She swallowed hard, pushing her plate away. Tara tried to steady her breathe as she desperately came up with a way to explain herself. Maybe if she sounded crazy enough, they wouldn’t actually send her down. She could run an un-manned mission, or something. That idea made her feel a bit better. “The only place that we’re going to find the technology you need to make that thing work is on the Earth itself.”
If she could get herself onto the Earth’s surface, maybe she could destroy the devices before the Academy or Overwatch got their hands on them. She thought of the tiny seed in her pocket, and a glimmer of hope flashed in her mind. Maybe in the process she could find where the seed had come from, too.
“There’s nothing on the Earth,” he reminded her. “That whole planet is a blackened husk.”
She looked to the images framed on his walls - landscapes of greens and blues - and imagined visiting the planet before its destruction. She felt a pang in her heart. It quickly passed. Death. Toxic air. Right.
“Yes.” She drained the rest of the drink from her cup. It tasted sweet, tangy. Some kind of fruit drink. “Our ancestors saw to that,” she said bitterly.
Danvers followed her gaze to the landscapes on his walls and frowned. “No sense crying over something that happened over a thousand years ago, Royce. If you’re going to go down to that planet, you’re going to have to brace yourself to handle the toxic conditions. No life has touched that planet since. It’s dangerous.”
Tara shook her head and tried to clear her mind. “Right. Dangerous. Of course. Not fit for a human.”
Danvers nodded. “The planet hasn’t seen life in a thousand years, Royce. I’m not sure you fully understand what that means.”
“I understand, sir.” Her throat felt like it was closing up and she couldn’t swallow any more food. Hopefully what he meant was that she wouldn’t have to actually go down herself. “You seem keen on the idea of searching on Earth. Does that mean you know where I can find the tools I need? Have you seen beyond the blackened atmosphere?”
“We had scans of the surface that showed… that doesn’t matter right now.” He waved his hand through the air. “Of course we know what’s beyond the atmosphere. We knew where to look for the power cell. The probe was designed to collect and carry it up once it was located. As you know, it was only sized for one. This is the only cell in existence, and we don’t even know how it works.”
Tara thought back to the size of the probe. The compartment had been large, and could easily have held more cells. Her instructions from the Academy involved her keeping her silence, as well, and that included to Overwatch. Danvers was bluffing, but she didn’t know why. She suspected he wanted her to believe that there weren’t any more of these devices in existence. Perhaps he was right, or perhaps he just didn’t want her or the Academy to know more.
“I can make it work,” she promised, making sure to keep her voice steady as she told her lie. In order for her to make it work, though, she would have to be alive. She hoped he wouldn’t catch her in the lie.
Although, maybe it wasn’t a complete lie. She could make it work. But she wouldn’t. She could spend weeks pretending to try, and at least extend her life out that far, if she got the tools and equipment she knew she would need. If it came to it, though, she would use the tools to destroy it.
She would also ensure that if there remained any more of the devices on Earth, that she would do everything in her power to destroy them. She doubted the toxic atmosphere allowed very clear surveillance, and she hoped she would be able to get away with this without Overwatch catching on. The thought of what they would do if they found out made her head spin.
There was a long moment of silence at the table before Danvers slowly pushed his chair back, and stood up, and went to the middle of the table to pick up the power cell again. “I’ve been told that this is top priority. In fact, I’ve been told that my career depends on it.” She saw the expression that flashed quickly across his face before he schooled his emotions again. It looked a lot like fear. “So, if that’s the case, then I need to do anything I can to get it done. Even if that something sounds… impossible.”
Without warning he tossed the metal orb to her. Tara nearly bobbled it, but then it was resting in her grasp, heavy and cold and smooth, and it occurred to her that she was holding
death in her hands.
He chuckled at the baffled look on her face. “I’m going to give you the chance to prove you can do this, Engineer Royce. You’re going to do what no human being has done in the last ten centuries. You’re going to set foot on the Earth.”
Those words rang in her brain as she set the orb down on the table in front of her. So much trouble over such a tiny little bauble. Then again, this bauble could destroy a planet if she got it working again.
She thought defending the Earth as a Defense Engineer was big enough of a risk. Now, the survival of the universe depended on her. Fantastic.
“Take the rest of the day to prepare,” Danvers told her. “We’ll give you all of our resources, the scans of the planet that we’ve compiled over the last thirty years, and any other technical specs that you ask for. I imagine you’ll want to set down close to where we were searching for the power cell. The enviro suit you’ll need to wear takes a little getting used to so it will be three to four days before we can give you the clear to land—”
“Wait, what? I’m going down?” Tara gaped.
“Well, obviously. Isn’t that what we’ve been talking about this whole time? Don’t waste my time, Engineer Royce.” He glared at her and Tara took a step back.
“As I was saying, we’ll give you an enviro—”
“Two,” Tara interrupted quickly, her mind racing. “Two enviro suits.”
Danvers stopped talking midsentence to stare at her. “Don’t mistake my bubbly disposition for any kind of real concern for your life, Engineer Royce.” Setting his hands to the edge of the table, he leaned in. “There is no bagging way that you would ever get this career officer to go below the poisoned atmosphere of Earth. That dust cloud that used to be a blue sky is nothing I’m willing to mess with.”
“But you have no problem sending me down there?”
“You volunteered,” he reminded her, which Tara supposed was half true. “I didn’t volunteer, and I won’t.”
“That’s good to know, Lieutenant,” Tara snarled. Her anxiety over what this man was going to do with her was gone, replaced with a rising sense of anger that she had been forced into this position in the first place. “I will need two suits, sir, but the second one isn’t for you. I’m going to pick my own team to go down with.”