With a chuckle, Matt replied, “I hope you’re not cheating on the Lovelace, Nils?”
“Never!” Ricci was about to sign off when Lindstrom added, “One last thing, sir….”
“What’s that?”
“How do you want me to handle it when Decker inevitably knocks Prince-not-so-charming on his ass?”
Ricci’s wanted to protest against the inevitability of such an event but had to admit to himself it was at least probable. “In that eventuality, you should provide Lieutenant Decker with whatever consequences you feel her actions…deserve.”
“Yes, sir.” As Ricci closed the channel, he could have sworn he heard Lindstrom say, “Though I don’t have any medals on me at the moment.”
***
Early the next day, Decker and Kennedy were in the Aurora conference room, presenting their rescue plan to Lindstrom, Maddox, and Croker. Con pointed at a holo-map, explaining, “It turns out that your stranded crew ended up isolated from the Aurora by not one but two chasms. Since we can’t fly over to get them, we’ll hike up this hill here to the top of the canyon, avoiding the areas that the Featay inhabit. We can shoot a sling-bridge over this first ravine, then—”
Maddox interrupted him, asking, “Sling-bridge?”
“Yes, they’re temporary bridges that self-propel across a chasm and hook in at either side. We developed them during the war for use on Centauria.”
“Earth is at war?” Maddox asked. “With an alien enemy?”
“It was,” Lindstrom said. “It’s been over for years now.”
“You keep us in suspense,” Croker declared. “Did Earth prevail?”
“It took more than twenty years and many lives lost – but, yes, we did.”
Croker looked at Decker. “Ah, this is how you developed such fighting expertise, yes?” When she nodded, he said, “I regret I wasn’t with you all in battle.” His chest swelled as he expounded, “My natural skill as a pilot would have been put to great use – the war’s duration would have been much different had I been there.”
“It went on long enough as it was,” Decker retorted, fully aware that answer would probably get her a lecture from Lindstrom or Con later.
Solemnly, Croker agreed, “Yes, twenty years is indeed an extended time to be at war.” Deck dodged his attempt to drape an arm around her shoulder as he continued, “But at least I will be with you in this endeavor.”
To avoid the temptation to offer an honest opinion on that fact, she said to Con, “You finish laying out the plan for them. I’ll go round up the gear along with Kapoor and Quan.” As she left the room, she called, “Be back by 0900 hours.”
Kennedy nodded to her, asking Croker, “Will it be just you, or are other Aurora crew joining us?”
“Just me, but that will be more than enough.”
Deck waited until she was at a sufficient distance to safely mutter to Kay, “Ain’t that the truth?”
On the way back to L3, her comm-link came to life and she heard, “Jacoway to Decker. Do you copy?”
“I copy, Tal. Why the secure channel? Something wrong?” In a teasing tone she asked, “You’re not breaking up with me – are you?”
“No, you’re stuck with me. I just wanted to give you a private place to vent about the Lothario of the Aurora – if you need it.”
Decker sighed and rolled her shoulders to release some of the tension. “Thanks, but no. I don’t want to give up precious time with you discussing that…umm…is ‘Lothario’ an N’daa word for jerk?”
“Pretty much. That’s what Sasaki christened him after that first holo-conference.” Tal chuckled before musing, “I wonder if the captain regrets having that holo-con from the bridge….”
“I don’t know, but I bet he regrets getting involved with these people in this first place.” She tucked a stray strand of hair into her crown of braids, muttering, “I sure do.”
“Really? Even though this detour means you’re probably gonna miss the Cadet Orientation Sessions?”
“I hate to admit it, but even leading an orientation session would be better than dealing with these Tsiͅłkizhéne ndé.”
“Foolish they may be, but out here we have an obligation to help other humans. The cosmos is a dangerous and unforgiving place.”
“I know you’re right – but these people are hopeless. Avery already knows more about the workings of the Aurora than Yang, their chief scientist doesn’t even understand their own tech, and look who Maddox chose as her first mate. When Con asked her if Croker was in charge of ship tactical operations, she asked him what he meant by that.”
“Yeah, it does sound like they had no business trying to colonize a new planet – but it also seems like that’s not entirely their fault.”
“Then whose fault is it? Those Lignatians?”
“I guess we’re gonna find out. Ramsey’s closing in on the exact location of Jileesa, so we’ll be heading there within the next twenty-four hours.”
Decker calculated their chances of wrapping up the present operation before Lovelace left orbit – the result was not promising. “Damn it. I wish Ricci would wait.”
“Afraid of missing out?”
“Afraid of the Lovelace going into a confrontation with a highly advanced species without their Tactical leads.”
“Hey, we’re looking for a conversation with the Lignatians – not a confrontation.”
“Famous last words.”
She hadn’t clarified that her mother’s final mission was at the root of that bitter declaration but Tal’s gentle reply told her that he’d understood. “Naiche, if you feel that way, then you should share those concerns with your father.”
“I did. Con and I both asked him to hold off. Con as chief tactical officer and me…with a more personal appeal.”
“What did he say?”
“He told Con his concerns were duly noted and told me he’d been a captain since I was a cadet. In short, he patted us both on the head and said he knew what he was doing.”
“I see.” There was a short pause and Naiche figured Tal was mustering a defense of her father’s decision. “As captain, it is his call.” In a more consoling tone, he added, “The Lignatians don’t sound at all hostile – making this very much a calculated risk he’s taking.” While Naiche was mulling that over, Tal ventured, “And if we’re gonna talk about risks, you’re the ones left behind to deal with acid-spewing dragons and a ship of fools.”
“You worried about me, Jacoway?”
“Always.” Deck smiled at the warmth Tal had managed to infuse into that one word. “So how about ensuring any risks you take while we’re gone are also of the calculated sort?”
“Well,” she drawled, “I’m not entirely sure this is the time to be trying something new….” With that, they signed off with laughter, declarations of love, and promises to take care.
***
As the rescue team hiked along the dusty, rocky canyon, the green valley and forest below looked extremely inviting to them. From his vantage point, Kennedy spied movement on the valley slopes and whipped out his oculiscope to study the source. Once he focused in, Kennedy could see some short, stocky creatures, covered in shaggy golden-brown fur, their faces appearing almost foxlike. They were clothed in coarse, homespun shirts and sarongs and looked to be at work harvesting crops.
When Con looked up, Decker was using her own scope to study them, too. “Must be the Featay,” she said.
Croker, who had donned a transparent visor which evidently gave him vision equal to a scope, agreed. “Yes, they look much like the Maykure, save for their clothing.” He pointed towards some discarded white domes visible near one of the neat terraces which had been cut into the hillsides. The domes matched the shape of flattened areas in the terrace. “You can see where the scouting party had set up camp. In their hurry after the attack, they left behind two of the shelters.”
“They set up their camp in a planted field?” Deck exclaimed.
Quan and Kapoor had a
rrived on the scene and were listening in. Upon hearing that declaration, Yenlin said to Priya, “No wonder the Featay attacked them.”
Croker turned towards the corpsmen. “I am sure it had nothing to do with the land being reserved for the Featay. They were no doubt looking to secure our crew as a source of fresh meat.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Con said. “What about the crops growing there?”
Croker drew back in surprise before asking, “You believe the Featay grow food in the ground – as in ancient times? The Maykure do not; they have hydroponic gardens like ours.”
“Of course, they do. They’d almost have to – they live in a domed city,” Decker explained. “But it’s plain to see these people do grow crops – in the ground.”
“Not plain to us. We have never seen such things. Do people of Earth still employ such archaic practices?”
“The smart ones do,” Naiche snapped. “How were you people planning to colonize this so-called New Earth if you weren’t going to plant any crops?”
“The Lignatians provided all we need to grow hydroponic gardens on a new planet. Why should we toil in fields?”
“Are you sure you wanted a New Earth? It sounds to me like you just want another Jileesa.”
Kennedy put an end to further debate by saying, “Not really the time for this discussion now, is it? We’d better get a move on – daylight’s burning.”
The team reached the first chasm after another hour of steady hiking. Kennedy used his hand scanner to measure the distance. “127 meters,” he called to Decker and Kapoor so they could input the data into the sling-bridge controller. While they were deploying the bridge from its canister, Naiche pointed down into the gorge and said, “You can see where the natural bridge crumbled away.” With a grin, she looked up at Kennedy. “Hope there’s no quaking while we’re making our crossings, otherwise things could get…interesting.”
“All sensors report no signs of seismic activity, so we should be good,” Con replied. He then asked Croker, “Your people know help is on the way, right?”
“Yes, I spoke to Vania Betang, the leader of the scouting party, this morning. She was thankful at the news.” After a short laugh, Croker added, “They asked if we bring provisions. There was much rejoicing when I said yes. They’ve had no food for several days.”
Looking up from her work, Kapoor exclaimed, “You sent them out without emergency rations?”
“They have slurry,” Corker answered. “Though they are running short after so long a time in this wilderness.”
Quan tilted her head for a moment, then asked, “They have what, now?”
Croker removed from his cross-body bag a collapsible bottle, containing a thick beige liquid. He held it up, explaining, “Slurry. It can sustain a human with no other supplement.”
Kennedy craned his neck to more closely examine the unappealing substance. “Yeah…I can see why they asked about food.” When Decker announced that the bridge was set, he said, “Well, with any luck we’ll have ‘em back to the Aurora by nightfall.”
Decker, Kay, Kapoor, and Quan all sprinted across the bridge and Kennedy indicated that Croker should go next. Croker hesitated at the edge, saying, “It sways mightily.”
“They have a tendency to do that but it can’t be helped. The netting on the sides will catch you, should you fall and you can use the guiderails to steady yourself.”
“You’re quite sure it will hold?”
“I’ve led entire squadrons across these so, yes, quite sure.” When Croker continued to waver, Con assured him, “They’re made of vanadinlum – the same material as our ship hulls.”
At that reassurance, Croker finally started an agonizingly slow trek across the bridge. Kennedy followed, leaving sufficient space so as not to apply any pressure to the visibly nervous man. It took them almost twenty minutes to cross and by the time they’d made it to the other side, Con was fervently wishing that Croker had stayed on the Aurora. That sentiment increased dramatically a few minutes later when the ground was rocked by a mighty tremor and the man turned white and fell to the ground in a heap of panic.
Both Kennedy and Decker immediately checked their hand scanners. They exchanged puzzled looks, Con stating, “The seismic activity on this moon is weird.” He looked down at Croker who was still sitting on the ground. “Does it always come like that – with no warning?”
“Yes, always. And then continues at regular intervals, for days afterwards.” Croker glanced between the two Tactical leads. “We must cancel the rescue for now and head back, yes?”
“No,” Kennedy answered. “We can still get to them. No matter what, we have to try. You said they’re running low on supplies – right?” When Croker glumly admitted that was true, Con said, “Then we have no choice. The sling-bridge will hold, they’re rated for quakes. And they issue a warning well before they give way.” He offered Croker a hand and pulled him to his feet. “Get ready though – if you thought the bridge swayed before – you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Croker got more insistent on turning back when they came to a narrow passage blocked by a rockslide caused by the most recent tremors. Kennedy and Decker ignored his protestations and called Kapoor and Quan over for a quick huddle.
Naiche said, “The quickest way, is to go up and over.” She smiled down at Kayatennae, who was restlessly pawing at the rock heap. “Don’t worry, I got ya’, buddy. We’ll go over together.” Deck looked back at her teammates. “I have camming anchors in my pack – anyone else?” Quan and Kapoor both said they did as well and started to retrieve them.
“Hold up,” Con said. “What about on the way back? Can we get the entire Aurora scouting party over that?” He asked Croker, “Do your people have any experience rock climbing?”
Croker tilted his head and stared blankly at Kennedy for a moment. “I don’t understand – how does one climb a rock? Humans have not that capacity.”
Deck said, “Okay, that answers that question.” She shrugged at Con. “We’re gonna have to scout out another route.”
They consulted over their scanner maps and found a detour that would add several hours to the trip. “That’ll work but it’s gonna put us at the rendezvous spot near dusk,” Con announced. “I guess we’ll camp there tonight.” To Croker, he said, “Contact Betang and let her know that we’re gonna arrive pretty late, so they’ll be spending one more night there. We’ll all be spending the night there.”
“Impossible – we didn’t bring shelters!” Croker protested.
Con pulled a narrow ten-inch tube from his daypack. “We all have bedrolls.”
“I do not. Again, I must insist on turning back.”
“If that’s what you need to do, I certainly won’t try and stop you,” Kennedy declared. “But my crew will be following me and my orders. Understand?” He gave the signal and his team headed off. When Con next looked back, Croker was following – looking miserable, but following. Kennedy gave the man an encouraging nod as he contacted Lindstrom with an update on their situation.
During their protracted trip through the canyons, Captain Ricci checked in with Kennedy, since he’d heard from Lindstrom that they’d already hit a snag. He listened to Con’s assurances before revealing that the Lovelace was departing for Jileesa very early in the morning and would soon be out of communication range. Kennedy thanked Ricci for the personal farewell and offered good wishes to him and the entire Lovelace crew.
After signing off, Kennedy saw that Decker, leading the group and ahead of him by about twenty-feet, almost immediately answered a hail on her own comm-link. He smiled to himself, figuring it had to be the captain and wondering if Ricci had contacted him first, mainly as cover for his real intentions. Con didn’t mind – he hardly blamed the man for wanting an excuse to speak with his daughter before leaving them behind for a week or so.
When the entire group gathered in a shady spot for a late lunch, Decker was still engaged in her conversation with Ricci. Her tone grace
d with amusement, she said, “If it’s an order then, of course, I will.”
Ricci could be heard replying, “It worries me that it takes an order from your captain to elicit a promise of caution from you.”
“That’s not quite fair, sir – I’d do the same under an order from my CO.” Con raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, letting Deck know he was skeptical about that claim. She rolled her eyes and walked a few feet away to finish the conversation in private.
Croker gulped some of his slurry, then said to Kennedy, “That is your captain, yes?”
“Yes.”
“He takes a keen interest, it seems, in Decker.” He winked broadly, adding, “More than a professional interest.”
Feeling the need to squelch any salacious speculation, Kennedy said, “He should – he’s her father.”
“You’ll excuse my doubt that he is like a father to her.”
“He’s not like a father, he is her father.”
“I don’t understand.”
Before trying again, Con briefly wondered if he’d uncovered a huge gap in the knowledge base of these people. “He contributed half of her genetic material, he begat her, she’s the fruit of his loins—”
“He is her actual father?!”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Croker rubbed a finger across his lip, deep in thought. Finally, he said, “This is strange to me. The Lignatians would not allow it. To have parents and children on the same crew would interfere with breeding potential.”
“Yeah, that’s not a concern on Lovelace.”
“You have no breeding pairs?”
That hit a little close to home for Con so he equivocated by answering, “We have several romantic couples, some married. Like Avery and our linguist, Sasaki….” With a definite edge, he added, “…and me and Aqila.”
“Oh, is this so? Well, we have not the tradition of marriage among us but you are indeed a lucky man.” As Croker nattered on, Con could only think, Not today, I’m not.
The Risks of Dead Reckoning Page 6