Clidepp Deja Vu

by Thomas DePrima

  As Blade scanned the interior of the cavern, he muttered, "Holy Moly."

  * * *

  "I can't stop thinking about the change to Sydnee's orders," Captain Lidden said to Commander Bryant during their daily briefing session.

  "The first one where she was required to plant spy satellites throughout the Clidepp Empire, or the second change where she was ordered to pick up an SCI agent?"

  "She accepted the first change before she even left the Denver, so I'm not as focused on that one, although it was sort of a dirty deal to change the mission orders after she had agreed to perform the voluntary task of dropping off the package. Once she had accepted the initial mission, a refusal would have looked bad when the orders changed. I had Burrows tell her it wouldn't be held against her if she refused, but by then SCI already knew she had accepted the initial mission and it had probably been recorded in several reports before Sydnee was even made aware of the expanded mission parameters. But it bothered me a lot more later when I had to order her to forget all previous orders for the moment and rush to rescue the SCI agent."

  "It was just a simple pickup."

  "When you're hiding in what I would define as enemy space and the planet is surrounded by practically every warship that belongs to the Empire, the planet's defenses are probably on high alert, and your new mission is to breach those formidable obstacles and make a surreptitious trip to the surface and return, there's no such thing as simple."

  "Looking at it like that, you're right. But I think Sydnee is up to it."

  "I hope so. But I won't stop worrying until I hear she's completed the mission at Yolongus and resumed the satellite seeding part of the operation. I've sent a message to Admiral Clereborg at SCI HQ outlining everything Sydnee's done in the past and is now doing for SCI. I requested he support her early promotion by the AB. She deserves that extra half bar more than anyone I could possibly name. I don't understand why the Admiralty Board hasn't given it to her."

  "Well, if they don't promote her early, she'll be eligible for normal promotion long before she returns from this mission. She graduated in '84, so when the PRB convenes this fall, her name will undoubtedly be included for consideration."

  "Yes, but that's not the point. Early promotion is something that stands out on your record for your entire time in the service. She's done enough to deserve it three times over, and I want her to have it."

  "I understand— and agree. Since we're so shorthanded, at least we know there will be an open slot if she is approved for early promotion."

  "Every ship in Space Command is shorthanded."

  "Changed your mind about possibly losing her if she makes the promotion list?"

  "I know of at least one other ship's captain who would grab her in a heartbeat if he could."

  "Commander Galeway of the Missouri?"

  "Yes. He's already said he'd love to have her on his ship if he had an open slot. And as you said, everyone has open positions these days."

  "But the Missouri is just a Scout-Destroyer. Sydnee wouldn't leave a destroyer to transfer to a small ship like the Missouri. Would she?"

  "Back when we were still aboard the Perry, I told her I'd approve her transfer to another ship if someone wanted her and she wanted to leave. I'm sure there are a number of captains these days who would take Sydnee if she wanted to transfer. Her name is becoming quite well known. When the SCI officer was here to brief me on the expanded mission, he didn't need reminding who Sydnee was when I mentioned that she had volunteered to take the new mission."

  "But our situation has changed so much since we were aboard the Perry. You don't think she'd actually want to leave the Denver, do you?"

  "I sure hope not. I wouldn't stand in her way, but I would hate to lose her. She's a fine officer and will go far in Space Command, unless something really catastrophic happens."

  "Such as starting a war with the Clidepp Empire?"

  "Don't even suggest that outside this office. But, yes, that would be such a catastrophic event."

  "You're really worried that might happen this time though, aren't you?"

  "It's a possibility. As you well know, Sydnee never does anything halfway. She's been ordered to retrieve an SCI agent from Yolongus, and she will do everything humanly possible to complete that mission. It's amazing she managed to avoid starting a war when she was sent to kidnap that minister and was left on her own to find a way to get back here."

  "That risk was only because of the mechanical problems with the ship. It would have gone very smoothly but for that."

  "Yes, but it so easily could have all fallen apart for a dozen different reasons at a dozen different times. I wish we were closer and that I hadn't had to place restrictions on communications. I'd sure love to know what's going on over there in Clidepp space."

  * * *

  Chapter Eleven

  ~ January 21st, 2287 ~

  "Captain," CPO Lemela at the communications station said to Sydnee as she entered the bridge, "we've just received a message from Shuttle One. It's returning to the Justice."

  "So soon? And Shuttle Two?"

  "Shuttle Two is also returning."

  "Did they give any more information than that?"

  "No, ma'am. When I asked if that was all, they said they'd report when they got back."

  "Thank you, Chief. Carry on."

  Lt.(jg) Olivetti had been in command of the bridge while Sydnee was occupied with other duties, so she stood up and returned to the navigation console as Sydnee resumed command. As Sydnee took her seat, her mind began reviewing the mission objectives as she tried to develop possible reasons for the early return.

  *

  Sydnee was waiting at the airlock hatch where Shuttle One had docked when the connection was certified and the hatch was opened. Major Blade was the first one out. The cheering noise behind him was almost too loud for Sydnee to hear when he said, "Captain, you're never going to believe this story."

  Although she wanted to see what was going on in the shuttle, she needed to hear Blade's report first. "In my office."

  *

  As the doors closed behind Blade just seconds later, Sydnee turned and said, "What was going on in that shuttle? Did you find Winston and the Terran slaves?"

  "Uh, no. Not exactly. The cavern where Winston and the Terran slaves had been located was deserted. And it had been picked clean. There wasn't even any bodily waste left in there. It was as if no person had ever been in there before."

  "The Qummuc cleaned up the latrines?"

  "I thought that perhaps the inhabitants might have been recycling the bodily waste to use as fertilizer for growing food."

  "I heard a lot of voices in the shuttle."

  "Uh, yes. I'm getting to that. After the first cave had been checked, we moved to another. All we found was a subterranean lake. Or maybe it should be called a sub-yolongun lake."

  "Subterranean communicates the idea. What else?"

  "That was all we found, except for a large pouch containing grain. We decided that someone had been feeding the fish in the lake to use them as food. Then we searched the first of the caves across the ravine. Initially we reached a dead end, but when we examined the walls, one of my people found what appeared to be a side tunnel that had collapsed. He discovered it might be a disguised entrance when he was able to move a large boulder at the base and nothing fell from above. My people pushed it out of the way and we entered what we thought was a tunnel. But there turned out to be an enormous natural cavern on the other side of the cave wall. We drew fire for a few minutes, but when we told the shooter, or shooters, that while we meant them no harm, we would begin returning fire if they didn't stop, the shooting ceased. When I crawled into the cavern, I was almost without words."

  When Blade stopped momentarily, Sydnee said, "Why were you without words?"

  "Uh, Captain, I tried to do what I thought you'd want me to do, so I brought back some people we found there."

  "Out in the corridor it sounded like you bro
ught more than a few. Are they all Yolongi?"

  "Uh. No. Actually, all are Terrans. They're all former slaves."

  "Then you took the correct action, Major. How many are there?"

  "Well, I spoke to Lt. Weems and asked him how many each ship could handle. He said that with the current passenger count, meaning my people and Lt. MacDonald's people, we could take only twenty-eight more in each shuttle. I asked him what the maximum load could be if not everyone had a seat. He said that because the trip to the Justice was so brief, I could take everyone I could squeeze into the ship and seal the hatch."

  "Why didn't you simply take your twenty-eight and then let Shuttle Two take the rest?"

  "Uh, Shuttle two is packed from airlock to flight deck as well."

  "Packed? How many did you bring up?"

  "Uh, all told we brought back a hundred twenty-two Terran slaves."

  "A hundred twenty-two? All Terran slaves? You managed to cram sixty-one Terrans into each shuttle, in addition to the Marines?"

  "Well, there are also a lot of Terran children. If they had all been adults, we might not have gotten that many in."

  "And Winston knew of these former slaves?"

  "According to the woman who's their elected leader, Winston knew. He had told them that if he mentioned the full number to the captain of the Space Command warship, the captain might refuse to take any of them. That's apparently why he tried to make sure the second trip contained all of the Yolongis. He feared that the captain— you in this case— would refuse to take the Yolongi if they were not already aboard the ship when he told the captain how many Terran slaves were still on the ground. The first trip, the one with the children, seemed intended to tug at our heartstrings so we'd agree to pick up more. If all of the children had been at that first site, we wouldn't have found so many at the new cavern."

  "He played us. So do we have everyone now?"

  "We still don't know what happened to Winston. I didn't have time to interview the new Terran group we found. And, uh, there are still Terran slaves down there. I promised we'd be back as soon as possible."

  "More? How many more?"

  "Uh, as I understand it from what their leader said, they've been running a sort of Underground Railroad for some time."

  "You're referring to the white population who helped runaway black slaves on Earth reach freedom in the Northern U.S. before slavery was finally abolished there by a law passed in 1865?"

  "Exactly. The caverns were the final destination. They call the main cavern Sanctuary. The people have been growing their own food there and farming fish in the Cave 5 subterranean lake. That's why the first cavern was so pristine. They use all the bodily waste as fertilizer for growing mushrooms. You have to see that place to believe it, Captain. It's like a small city. They have a waterfall and pool that they use for bathing, and they built a waterwheel to generate electricity."

  "You're stalling because I'm not going to like the answer, right? How many more are still down there?"

  "Uh, well, as I understand it, there are four hundred eighty-three more."

  "Four-hundred eighty-three!" Sydnee exclaimed. After taking a deep breath, she said, "I can understand why Winston didn't pre-announce that fact. Four-hundred eighty-three plus the hundred twenty-two you've just brought, plus the twenty-four Yolongi and three Terrans from the second trip and the original thirty-five makes six hundred sixty-seven. And we still don't have Winston or the original Terran slave group aboard. We definitely don't have enough food to feed all those additional mouths."

  "Perhaps we can raid their food stores in the caverns."

  "And put it where?"

  "Uh, yeah. That could be a problem."

  "This small ship just cannot support six-hundred sixty-seven passengers indefinitely."

  "So what are we going to do? I didn't think you'd want to leave them."

  "No, I don't want to leave them. How long do you think they can survive where they are?"

  "Perhaps indefinitely. That's assuming that whoever grabbed Winston and the others doesn't get them to talk and reveal there are more than six-hundred slaves still hidden in the caverns."

  "I'm beginning to believe that if it wasn't for bad news, we'd have no news at all."

  "So what are we going to do— just leave the remaining four hundred eighty-three Terrans down there?"

  "No, we can't do that. I don't know how we're going to survive with almost seven hundred additional people crammed into the habitat containers, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't make the effort to save them from their Yolongi masters. Let's herd everyone down to the satellite habitat space we freed up and then prepare all four of the shuttles to make another trip. We have to act fast in case anyone noticed you on the way down or the way up."

  "I'm on it, Captain."

  As Blade left to help empty the shuttles, Sydnee contacted four additional crewmembers who were certified to fly the shuttles and had them report to her office. After briefing them, the four shuttle pilots headed for Shuttles Three and Four to begin their pre-flight check operations.

  As the newest passengers were being escorted to the habitat container, Sydnee was briefing all available staff. The top level of the satellite container had been cleared, but there were still three more levels being used to store satellites. Sydnee ordered all of her conscripted workforce to begin moving the small satellites from the upper two levels to the lowest level. Fortunately, the satellites were stored in foam-padded protective cases— six to a case— so there was little chance of damaging them during the move if care was taken.

  *

  Less than two hours after Shuttle One and Shuttle Two returned, the four shuttles separated from the Justice and departed for Yolongus. Two hours later they were back, packed from airlock to flight deck with former Terran slaves and their children. The shuttles were quickly emptied and prepared for another trip.

  "Where's Major Blade and his people?" Sydnee asked when the shuttle was empty and Weems came out into the corridor.

  "He stayed on the planet, as did Lt. MacDonald and all the Marines. Blade said it left more room for slaves. We were able to squeeze thirty-two more in on this trip than we would have if the Marines had come back."

  "I hope nothing happens while you're gone. Get back down there as quickly as you can."

  "Aye, Captain. I just have to make a quick trip to the head and then I'll be ready to leave again."

  "What's wrong with the head aboard the shuttle?"

  "Uh, two of the slaves were put in there because room was so limited. The Marines were packing people in like the conductors do on the Tokyo trains at rush hour. Anyway, one of the women got airsick, and then the other got sick when the first one couldn't hang onto the contents of her stomach. The automatic system cleaned up the mess after they left the ship, but the aroma is still lingering. I don't want to risk getting sick myself. The air filtration system should see that the smell is gone by the time we reach the planet again."

  "Okay, Pete. Make it quick. We don't know how much longer our window will last."

  "Aye, Captain."

  Ten minutes later the four shuttles were detaching from the Justice.

  *

  When the shuttles returned, they were again packed with Terran slaves. Sydnee watched as the slaves timidly entered the ship— at least as timidly as they could with the other shuttle passengers behind them pressing them to move.

  As the last of the former slaves disappeared below, Blade approached Sydnee. "That's the lot of them, Captain. It was a tight squeeze, but we wanted to limit the number of trips we had to make."

  "Any problems?"

  "A few wanted to bring their possessions, but I told them they either left them behind or we couldn't take them because all available space had to be devoted to people. After the ships were loaded, I stockpiled the things people dropped as they entered the shuttle against the cliff wall. With your permission, I'd like to make one more run to get everything the people had to leave behind
. They didn't have much to begin with, and now they have nothing. We also packed up as much of the food as we could. If we return, we can fill any remaining space with that. I think it will really come in handy."

  "Where will we put it?"

  "It's mostly fresh food, so a lot of it will disappear into stomachs in a very short time. I know it will go quickly with the number of mouths we have now. We can store the rest in the Marine areas that aren't already filled with equipment and satellite crates."

  "I don't know if we should risk another trip."

  "The extra food will really help, Captain. As you know, we really don't have enough food for all these additional mouths."

  "Did you see any indication that you were being observed at any time?"

  "None. And I had all of my people standing guard and watching for any sign of danger while your Marines assisted in the move."

  "I hate to approve this additional trip, but you're right that we're going to need as much food as we can get. And it would be nice if these people could get their few possessions. All right, Major, I'll tell the pilots we're making one more trip. If there's anything else you need to do, do it on this trip because I expect this will be your last opportunity."

  "Aye, Captain. We'll wrap it up with this trip."

  Sydnee relayed new orders to the shuttle crews and everyone began preparing for a final trip to the ravine.

  *

  The final trip was no more eventful than the earlier trips, but the shuttle crews never let down their guard. They knew they were pushing their luck with every additional trip, and they were anxious to get loaded and get out.

  When the shuttles lifted off, the cargo areas beneath the ships and the rear passenger compartments were filled to capacity. All of the Marines on this final run were in one ship so the Special Ops Marines had used their rappeling ropes to rig a sort of spider web of rope to protect the forward area of the rear compartment from cargo at the rear in the event the ship stopped short. That wasn't likely, but better safe than sorry. The other three ships were so loaded that the two-man crews would have to wait until their shuttle was at least partly emptied before they could leave the flight deck.