Sydnee selected Jerry Weems, her second in command, to pilot the small ship because of his experience on the previous mission. Where piloting skills had been in short supply on the first mission to Yolongus, that wasn't a problem this time. Fifteen of the officers on the mission were certified for MAT-14 operations, so she also named one of the officers new to Clidepp space to function as copilot for the brief trip. Lieutenant(jg) Alfonso DiRoma had a reputation for both being an excellent pilot and being dependable in tough situations.
The shuttle separated from the Justice just after 0645 GST. Their destination on the planet had slipped into darkness several hours earlier, and most families in that time zone had finished their evening meal and settled into their midweek nightly routine.
Weems followed the same flight path observed by the Justice crew when the Patoosch had passed their location on its trip from Nugowlo. When challenged, Weems identified the Justice's shuttle as the Patoosch and requested permission to land on Yolongus. Permission was granted, and Weems proceeded on course.
When the shuttle reached the point where the communications satellites were to be launched, the shuttle was traveling ballistically. The launching had to be performed manually since the shuttles didn't have the special deployment harnesses mounted in the keel of the Marine FA-SF4 fighters. Weems gave the word and an engineer wearing an EVA suit in the airless starboard airlock opened the outer hatch and pushed three of the tiny satellites out into space. After sealing the hatch, he reestablished atmo in the airlock and reentered the rear cabin. Since the MAT had already identified itself as the Patoosch, opening the hatch didn't betray their presence in the area.
Aboard the Justice, the flight crew watched the telemetry provided by the sensor buoy as the shuttle descended towards the surface unmolested.
* * *
"Al, check the nav computer and tell me when we're about to descend below the planetary radar defense grid," Lt.(jg) Weems said to his co-pilot.
"We should reach that point in about two minutes, Jerry. The nav computer says we're right on the preplanned course."
"Good. Once we're off their grid, we'll duck down as low as we dare go and head for the rendezvous point. With luck, there won't be anyone around to see us land except the contact."
"What if he's not alone? I mean, what if this is a trap?"
"We'll make contact, ask for an explanation, and set a new meet time for when he's alone if we believe the others with him are planetary or military security forces. Then we find a place to park and ask for instructions from the captain. She's the boss. We're certainly not going to land and invite planet security forces into the shuttle."
"Jerry, I know she's been officially designated as the captain, but I still feel a little funny having a lieutenant(jg) in full command of the mission and the ship. Do you ever feel that way?"
"No, never. Not with Syd. She's as sharp as they come, and I'd trust her judgment any day. But then I've worked with and for her for quite a while now, including our last mission into Clidepp space. I can't think of a single person aboard the Denver whose judgment I trust more. Or on any other ship I've been on."
"Including Lidden?"
"Captain Lidden has my full faith and confidence, but no more so than Sydnee. You ask anyone who served on our last mission to Yolongus. I bet they'd tell you the same thing."
"I have— and they have, but hearing it from you puts my mind a little more at ease. Hey, we're coming up on the grid boundary."
"Tell me when we're beneath it."
A few seconds later DiRoma said, "We're below the defense grid boundary, Jerry. They can't see us anymore."
"Okay, we'll go a bit lower just to make sure we're well away from it before I alter course. I'm reading just over three thousand meters AGL. I'll level off at one thousand and head for the rendezvous point. That'll put us well above any civilian oh-gee vehicles and below normal air traffic."
The sun had been down for hours, but they were able to get a feel for how fast they were traveling as the street and house lights flashed past below them. Their oh-gee movement was completely silent, and the forward-looking radar showed no obstructions ahead so there was no need to slow down.
* * *
Chapter Six
~ January 17th, 2287 ~
Nine minutes later, DiRoma said, "Coming up on the RP, Jerry. We should slow a bit or we'll overshoot it."
"Slowing," Weems said.
"Okay, it's just a little over ten kilometers now."
"The RP marker just popped up on my nav map. Time to destination, eighteen seconds. Slowing."
"It's dark out here."
"That's the best kind of rendezvous point there is. No civilians around. On our last mission to this planet, we had to hide at the bottom of a lake."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It was the only way to remain completely hidden."
"There're no lakes around here. It's just mountains and high desert."
"Send the code, Al."
"Sending."
"Six seconds to RP."
"I'm receiving a response. It's valid."
"Okay, I'm taking it down. There appears to be a nice open area there. It's hidden between two mountain ridges, but we have an easy exit ahead or behind if we need it. Notify the Major."
"Major," DiRoma said into the com headset, "we're there. We'll be on the surface in a few seconds. The contact has replied with the valid code."
As the shuttle touched down, the flight deck door opened and Blade entered.
"Anyone other than the contact here?"
"Only one warm body on the scan," DiRoma said.
"How about movement? They could be wearing thermal protection."
"Nothing registering," Weems said.
"Okay, I guess we'll know in a few seconds. My people are all wearing armor, but we may need to beat a hasty retreat if this is a trap. I wish we could have arrived earlier and sent in a recon team."
"We're all wearing DS armor and the ship is Dakinium sheathed as well. If there's a problem, just pile back in. We can lift off in seconds."
"Roger."
*
As the large hatch opened in the rear compartment, and before the ramp had been extended, the Marines jumped to the ground and took up defensive positions around the shuttle. There was only one warm body on their thermal scans, so most of the Special Ops team devoted their full attention to scanning the surrounding area for signs of trouble as one member of the team advanced to make contact.
"Contact appears legit," Blade heard, so he began moving towards the cloaked figure. As he reached the individual, he said, "Show yourself."
The cloaked individual pulled back the hood that had been hiding his features.
"You're Terran?" Blade said.
"Of course."
"I was expecting a Yolongi."
"Were you told to expect a Yolongi?"
"No. I just thought that only a Yolongi would have access to the kinds of information SCI would be looking for."
"I didn't have access to the inner circles, if that's what you mean, but I have contacts who do and who aren't happy with either the current government or the one that wishes to replace them."
"Fine. We'd better get going. The sooner we're off this planet the sooner you and your information will be safe."
"I'll get my people."
"Whoa. Hold it. Your people?"
"Yes. Many people have risked their lives to get us the information we need. I promised them we'd take them to safety."
"Many? How many are you?"
"There are thirty-six of us here, and forty-nine at the other site."
"Thirty-six? And forty-nine more? We can't take that many. Look behind me. That's a shuttle, not a passenger liner."
"The members of this small group have risked their lives to get us the information SCI wants, and I fear the government may have discovered their identities. If they remain here, they and their entire families might either be captured and tortured or simply
killed. We owe them. Big time. The information I have is worth a thousand times what I promised them."
"It's not a question of how valuable the information is. This shuttle can't hold thirty-six more people, much less eighty-five."
"We'll just have to make multiple trips. We owe these people."
"We've risked our lives for this one special trip. And even if we could get everyone up to the ship, the ship isn't built to handle that many more people. We're about maxed out just with crew."
"We don't need fancy accommodations. We'll be perfectly fine in a hold for the trip to GA space. And no one will complain. A hold will be infinitely better than the caves we've been living in."
"Our ship doesn't have any holds."
"What? What kind of warship doesn't have any holds?"
"Warship? What were you expecting?"
"Only a Dakinium-sheathed ship could sneak into Clidepp Space without being detected. I figured a destroyer. Or a Scout-Destroyer at the very least."
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but all we have is a tug."
"A tug? You came all this way in a tug?"
"Yes, and every single berth is already assigned to crewmembers. Most of us are living in a shipping container."
"So you're pretending to be a space tug on a recovery or reclamation trip?"
"No. The tug is Dakinium sheathed."
"Space Command would never waste Dakinium sheathing on a tug."
"I guess you've been away for a while. Dakinium production continues to increase because the uses for the material and needs of the military are endless. You'll have to come with us to see for yourself."
"I'm not going anywhere without my people."
"I'm ordering you to comply."
"You don't have that kind of authority," the SCI agent said, looking for some sign of rank on Blade's armor. Finding none he said, "What are you? A Staff Sergeant?"
Blade bristled at the question. "I'm a Marine captain."
"And I'm a Space Command lieutenant commander. I outrank you, Captain."
"We still can't take your people. We don't have room. Even squeezing in the thirty-six may be impossible."
"They don't take up much space. Most are children."
"Children?"
"This was our safest hiding place. The other is less secure, so we decided that this site was best to house all children under thirteen years of age."
"We don't have room for thirty-five Yolongi children."
"Most are Terran."
"Terran?"
"They're the children of Terran slaves."
"Yolongi and Terrans are biologically incompatible. Yolongi can't produce Terran children."
"The Yolongi have male Terran slaves as well. After their regular supply of Terran slaves from the Raiders was severely constrained because of Ensign Carver, the Yolongi began breeding programs to grow their own. Then, when that Space Command lieutenant(jg) shot an ambassador aboard a Yolongi diplomatic ship and proved that the Yolongi were keeping Terran slaves, virtually all access to slaves from GA space ended. The Clidepp Empire really stepped up the breeding programs after that."
Blade grinned. "You'll never guess who our ship's captain is."
"Carver?"
"No. Carver's a four-star now out in Region Two."
"A four-star? Last I heard she was just a captain at a base at the edge of Region One."
"I guess you've been undercover for a long time. That was more than a decade ago."
"Yeah, well, we don't get much news about the GA here."
"You heard about the Milori attacking the GA, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I heard we whipped them— twice."
"That was Carver. She was in command as a brevetted one-star when they attacked the first time and as a brevetted two-star in the second invasion. The GA Senate unanimously approved her permanent promotion to full admiral in '81. She'd already been the youngest one-star and the youngest two-star in Space Command history. Now she's the youngest four-star, and there's talk she'll be the youngest five-star. The bookies have been taking bets for a year."
"I'd heard about the attacks, but I hadn't heard that Carver was in command. We aren't in the GA, and I think the media has orders to never talk about it. So who's the captain of your ship?"
"It's the other one. Marcola."
"The one who shot the ambassador because he was abusing one of the Terran slaves he had on board?"
"The very same."
"Then I know she's not going to leave the slaves here, or the children of slaves."
"No matter how much she wants to take them all, we don't have enough room, enough food, or possibly even enough air. Air recycling processes have limits."
"Then talk to her because I'm not leaving unless we take every one of the slaves and the Yolongi who risked their necks for us. Plus their families."
Blade exhaled loudly in frustration and turned back towards the shuttle. After climbing aboard he walked to the flight deck and said to Weems, "He won't come."
"What? Won't come? After all we went through to come get him?"
"He has eighty-four people he insists on bringing. I told him no way, and he says he won't go without them."
"We can't take eighty-five extra people with us. This is just a MAT-14."
"I'm not the one you have to convince. Can you contact the Justice?"
"Possibly. The planet has turned slightly since we left the ship so we can't send a direct transmission, but we might be able to relay a message through the sensor buoy as we had the SCI agent do, or perhaps one of the communication satellites we just dropped."
"Give it a try."
"Okay. I'll have to record the message and send it as an encrypted burst. Give me all the facts."
After hearing everything Blade knew, Weems organized his thoughts and recorded the message. Blade nodded in agreement when the message was ready to be sent. "Three tenths of a second," Weems said, then touched the contact point on his console to send it to the Justice.
"Now we wait," Weems said.
"I'll be in the rear cabin."
* * *
"Captain, we just received a message from Lieutenant Weems. It was encrypted and sent in burst form through the sensor buoy."
Sydnee, sitting in the command chair on the bridge, said, "Play it over the speaker, Chief."
As the message began to play, Sydnee struggled to maintain an impassive expression. As the message ended, all bridge personnel looked in her direction briefly, then turned back to their consoles.
"Any reply, Captain?" Chief Lemela asked.
"Not just yet, Chief. Olivetti, you have the bridge. I'll be in my office."
"Aye, Captain."
As Sydnee left the bridge, Lt.(jg) Olivetti moved to the command chair while Caruthers remained at the helm station. Sydnee had been alternating the command time so all WCI graduate officers got a chance to sit in the 'big' chair.
"I suspected something would go wrong with this last-minute assignment," Sydnee said aloud after closing her door, "but I never figured on anything like this. Eighty-four additional passengers, many of whom are children? I wonder if SCI knows about this and just didn't bother to tell us."
Sydnee knew she could try to order the SCI undercover agent to come to the Justice alone, but if she did and he called her bluff, she might appear to have lost control in the eyes of the crew. And besides, she didn't want to leave any Terran slaves or the children of slaves on Yolongus. After mulling the problem over in her head for at least ten minutes, she touched her Space Command ring and said, "Lt. Galli, report to my office."
She heard the engineering officer say, "On my way, Captain."
Galli had been on the bridge and knew the situation. He reached her office in about ten seconds.
"I need to know how many additional people this ship can support. I'm talking mainly about oxygen and environmental conditions."
"Well, environmentally— meaning temperature and humidity— the main ship can easily suppor
t eighty-five additional Terrans by itself. Water and oxygen are also no problem because we recycle both. So the main ship could handle the extra people on its own, and if there was a problem, any of the habitat containers could take over and stand in for the systems on the ship. The lowest level in every habitat design I'm familiar with is dedicated to engineering functions. Their environmental systems could fully support the habitat for years if it became separated from a ship, and with eight habitat systems on this voyage, we could support virtually any unanticipated demands. If one or more of the systems should break down, the systems in the other containers would automatically adjust to support the malfunctioning systems— for as long as the habitats are connected. So all those needs are not even a consideration. Food is probably our only concern. We have plenty right now because we were supplied with enough for an extended mission in mind, but I don't know if it would be enough for all the additional mouths if our mission remains unchanged. It all depends on how much the passengers consume and how quickly we can complete the satellite distribution. Sleeping accommodations are another weak point. There are definitely not enough berths. And, naturally, no warship is built with children in mind. It would be impossible to lock them out of certain areas where they just shouldn't go, so we'd have to have Marines on security duty 24/7."
"I estimate we have enough food to last our crew of seventy-seven for twenty-eight months. So, with an additional passenger complement of eighty-five, many of whom are children, we should have enough for fourteen months."
"I concur. And we'll have to restrict all passengers to below deck locations, Captain."
"You mean the areas in the habitats?"
"Yes, Captain."
"I agree. Visitors must understand that the children are not permitted even in the link section tunnel."
"The weapons habitat containers are sealed and can only be opened by you or me, so we have no problem there. The FA-SF4 fighter hangers can also be secured, Captain, as long as no one gets sloppy and leaves one unlocked."
"We also have to restrict use of the access tubes, or we'll find them filled with children every time we try to use them. Having grown up in a dirt-side environment, weightlessness will be a new and exciting experience to them."
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