Shock Diamonds

by E. R. Mason

  “You mean the ones in my sleeper cell?”

  “What?”

  “They were in that Akai guy’s bottom desk drawer with a bunch of other gems. I stuffed other stones from the drawer in the bag and tucked the diamonds into the accessory pocket on one of the scanner jackets. You didn’t know it, but you brought them back with you.”

  “Well, I’ll be.”

  “And by the way, we need to get together with Danica and have a real serious think tank about the skull.”

  “Is it well stowed?”

  “Very well stowed.”

  “Okay, but I’d better get up there. She deserves some unwind time.”

  “I’ll bring you some coffee in a little bit.”

  “You are a gentleman and a scholar, sir.”

  On the flight deck, I slipped into the right seat and took a moment to watch the fading haze of the NGC 6188 emission nebula on a monitor.

  “You clean up nicely, even after war, and you’re hardly blue at all,” said Danica.

  “Nothing at all on the long-range, I guess?”

  “All clear. We must have really caught them off guard.”

  “They’re probably still hoping the gold shipments will arrive. Greed is a wonder for self-delusion.”

  “Who’s the new guy?”

  “Christopher Demoray. Oh yeah, he was headed for the mines. He and I could have ended up working together there. But that’s not the interesting part. Guess who had him abducted?”

  “How would I know?”

  “It was Mr. Dorian Blackwell. Demoray refused to help him get his hands on the Griffin. The mines were the ultimatum. Either do as we ask, or you will end up there.”

  “You’re shitting me!”

  “My, my! Such foul language. I’m shocked.”

  “That bastard is a curse on society.”

  “When we get back to Earth terra forma, we’ll need to see exactly what’s what, and then decide how to handle Mr. Blackwell. Personally, I’m pretty tired of him. With Demoray’s story, we should be able to get him locked back up.”

  “Where he belongs,” said Danica with venom in her voice.

  R.J. appeared between us. “We should have a clean ride back. Radars are clear and we’re far enough along now that it would be hard for any ships to catch us.”

  “Everybody all tucked in back there?”

  “All sleepers shut up for the night. It will be the best sleep Patrick’s daughter has had in a long time. She practically ate everything in ship’s stores.”

  I looked over at Danica. “About your diamond skull, ma’am…”

  “Oh, yeah. You still want me to believe that thing is a mind-control device?”

  I sat back as much as possible in a pilot’s seat. “The real question is, what are we going to do with it?”

  R.J. sounded adamant. “We can’t do anything with it. It’s probably the most dangerous artifact in the universe. Who we going to give it to? Who is above temptation?”

  I looked up at him. “The Nasebians have crossed my mind. They’re more advanced than even the skull’s technology. But, for some reason, I have a feeling they would be annoyed if I asked them to take it.”

  “Well, the answer is easy,” said R.J. “If there’s no one to safely hand it over to, then we must keep it and hide it.”

  “So we are the incorruptible, then?” asked Danica.

  “She has a point,” I added.

  “The three of us will have to guard each other. There’s no other choice,” insisted R.J.

  “And you guys have already used it once,” said Danica.

  “I sure don’t regret that,” I replied.

  “Me neither,” said R.J.

  “So when is it okay to screw with someone, and when isn’t it?” continued Danica.

  “The three of us will have to agree,” said R.J.

  I squirmed in my seat. “For the time being, let’s hide it and keep it to ourselves. No one but us knows what it does. Very few people even know it exists. R.J., make a better hiding place in the lab for the crystals. We’ll keep the skull under this seat. We can talk more about this when the time is right.”

  R.J. seemed satisfied. Danica said nothing. We all stared out the forward view screen at the blanket of star haze. Secretly, I was trying to spot Earth’s star even though we were a trillion miles too far away.

  Chapter 28

  Two-and-a-half weeks later we watched the Terran sun grow large in our forward view screens. Earth became a twinkling blue diamond in its light.

  We called in to OTC early just to let them know we were coming. It seemed a little odd that at first the controllers did not respond. Eventually, we got a “Griffin, OTC, stand by,” which was even more curious.

  When finally within the approach envelope, we called in again and asked for standard orbit at our usual 235-mile parking. Once again, we received a message back saying, “Griffin, OTC, stand by for further instructions.”

  I knew then something was up.

  As we slowed to sublight and began to worry about our insertion clearance, there finally came an answer. “Griffin, OTC, you are cleared for orbital insertion at the 211. Orbit profile being transmitted to you now.”

  I sat in the left seat and looked over at Danica. She crinkled her brow in a confused stare. “What the hell is this about?”

  “Maybe we should ask.”

  She clicked her com button. “OTC, Griffin, any reason for the unusual orbit?”

  There was too long a pause. “Griffin, OTC, expect further instructions in five minutes.”

  She looked at me again in wonder. “Wow!”

  I finished entering the orbit parameters and sat back. “Guess we’ll find out.”

  It got worse after we settled in on orbit. After completing the checklists, it was time to go down. Danica looked at me with a quizzical stare. “Well, here goes. OTC, Griffin, ready for de-orbit burn as filed.”

  Once again there was too long a pause, then finally an answer. “Griffin, OTC, you are not cleared for landing. Please maintain 211 and expect further instructions in five minutes.”

  Danica was beside herself. “What the hell? Further instructions? What are they going to do, ask us to leave?”

  “It could be a temporary flight restriction in effect. I’ve had them open TFRs even when I was on final approach and cleared to land. Maybe there’s some VIP down there using our airspace or something.”

  “Well, sure, okay. We’ll just hang here in space while some politician finishes his latte!”

  It was another full orbit before we heard from them again. “Griffin, OTC.”

  “Griffin, go ahead.”

  “Expect rendezvous with the security cruiser Glenn in 45 minutes.”

  Danica looked at me with total confusion and clicked in. “Copy USS Glenn rendezvous in 45.” She clicked off the com and stared. “What the hell?”

  “Yeah, I’m just a bit concerned now, as well.”

  R.J. unstrapped and came forward between us. “Well, fellow 'Lost In Space' fans, this is a fine mess you’ve gotten us into.”

  Danica raised her hands in frustration. “What’d we do?”

  R.J. said, “Yeah, I been goin’ over this in my head. Let’s see, Adrian, you blew up an alien ship, altered the evolution of a primitive planet and a resident species there, found a dead body on a planet with slow time, bought a luxury estate on a slave planet, stole two of their slaves, and before leaving started a small war with their security force. Gee, I can’t for the life of me think of any reason security might want to speak with us.”

  I looked at him with amusement. “Well, now that you put it that way…”

  “We have 45 minutes. Anyone want a latte?” he added.

  “Oh yeah, I’ll take one, sure,” said Danica.

  “Just a regular for me, please sir,” I said.

  “I may put vinegar in yours,” replied R.J., and off he went.

  Still sipping refills, we watched the ship on radar as it r
ose up from the surface to catch us. The Glenn is a respectably large draft cruiser, more than twice the size of Griffin. They came quickly alongside and deployed their accordion transfer tube against our forward airlock hatch. They matched our pressurization in less than five minutes. It bumped us around a bit, an unsettling experience in space.

  R.J. was asked to open the outer doors, but in his comedic mentality, he insisted on waiting for a knock. Then he called out, “There’s someone at the door. I’ll get it.”

  I fully expected him to ask, “Who’s there?” but at least he managed to forego that.

  With Danica at the controls, I took a position just outside the airlock and watched the hatch opening. To my surprise, three men in dark suits floated down into our gravity. Even more surprising, the third man was Stan Lee, my allegiant friend from the Agency’s security bureau. It was unusual that the three of them had not taken the time to change into flight suits. They greeted R.J. without exchanging names, looked around to get their bearings, and when they spotted me, Stan Lee took the lead. Acclimating to the gravity very quickly, he walked up and held out a hand. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “This is quite a surprise, Stan. Couldn’t it have waited until we were on the tarmac?”

  “Nope. Where you want to talk?”

  I led them into the habitat module to the conference table. Patrick, Catherine, Emma, and Demoray were gathered in a group like an audience for visiting dignitaries. Looks of curiosity were exchanged. There were a few light hellos, until Stan Lee spotted Wilson.

  “Mirtos,” he said with a nod.

  “Lee,” replied Wilson.

  The men sat around the table and quickly became comfortable with their position, never a good sign.

  I tried to take charge of the unexpected inquest by asking the first question. “Did you get that big block of data we transmitted?”

  Stan Lee answered. “Yes, we did, thank you, Adrian. It got management’s attention quite quickly.”

  “Were you able to get past the encryption?”

  “Why don’t we put that aside for the moment. Can you confirm there were actually more than one hundred Earth humans on that planet being held against their will?”

  “Then you did break the encryption.”

  He looked at me and shook his head. “I’ll never learn." He pinched his lips for a moment, then stood. He went to Patrick and held out his hand. Patrick shook it with a wary glance.

  “Dr. Pacell, may I call you Patrick? This must be Emma. I’m so glad you are safe. Your father reported your disappearance to us.” Stan Lee turned to Demoray. “Dr. Demoray, we had the report on your sudden absence, also. Glad to see you’re okay.” Once again Stan Lee held out his hand. Demoray shook it apprehensively.

  “I don’t believe you and I have met,” said Lee, as a handshake was extended to Catherine. “Stan Lee, Executive Administrator for the agency's security division.”

  “Dr. Catherine Adara, M.D.”

  “Yes, of course I know that.” Lee turned to me. “Adrian, we need to transfer Dr. Demoray, Dr. Pacell, and Emma to our ship for a special debriefing. We need to do that right away. If there are belongings you folks need to gather up, please do that now, would you?”

  “I’m coming along,” demanded Catherine.

  Stan Lee looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Very well. You may wish to collect your personal effects also, then. We will not be returning to the Griffin.”

  I stood. “Stan, if I did not know you…”

  “Please bear with us, Adrian. I’ll explain everything in a minute.”

  I had to stand and watch as the foursome gathered their belongings from their sleeper cells and paraded by into the weightlessness of the transfer tube. When the exodus was complete, only Stan Lee remained. We returned to the conference table and sat. R.J. and Wilson stood in the galley silently looking on.

  “Was that really necessary?” I asked.

  “For a number of reasons,” he replied. “Under the circumstances we need every bit of accurate information we can get. If they do their depositions together, they will affect each other’s memory of what happened. If we depose them separately, we’ll get different versions, then we can reconstruct exactly what occurred.”

  “Then what?”

  “They will be taken to intelligence headquarters to assist in our investigation. They can refuse, if they choose, but they won’t.”

  “So you are investigating the abduction of the humans on XiTau?”

  “We have been for some time. That’s why I couldn’t say more when you called. We’ve had a ship in the Mu Arae sector working on this, but we weren’t getting anywhere. When you called, we suddenly realized we might have another card to play. I gave you the best intel we had, hoping you’d do better. We tried to stay out of sight and tail you, but our cruiser had a coolant leak from being pushed too hard to keep up. We’re going to need depositions from you and your crew, and your ship’s logs, of course.”

  “We’ll help you in any way we can. What are your plans for those people on XiTau?”

  “Tell me something, why did it take you this long? We expected you’d either give up or be back with some intel after a few weeks, not months.”

  “There were stops along the way.”

  “A large Sumani transport ship exploded some time ago in that sector. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”

  “Let me think…”

  Lee waited, then turned in his seat. “Did he, Wilson?”

  Wilson stiffened up and tried to look innocent. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “You know we’ll piece this together from your location logs and time entries.”

  “They weren’t going my way.”

  “You’re kidding me? You were on that ship?”

  “It was still intact when I left.”

  “My god, Adrian. More fodder for Bernard Porre. I guess there’s no use in talking to you. I’ll have to go through the logs and then let you squirm out of things during your deposition afterward.” Lee stood and looked around at the others.

  “But what are you going to do for our people on XiTau?” I persisted.

  Lee went to the airlock and turned back to look at us. “That’s classified, Mr. Tarn, and so is everything else concerning your visit to the Mu Arae sector. You are not to speak of any of it to anyone except ATS people from the agency. That goes for all of you. Ms. Donoro, I know you’re up there listening.”

  “Seems like this happens to me every time,” I said.

  “Yeah, every time you go somewhere, Adrian. Did you know your record shows you are involved in 82.5 percent more controversies than the average space agency officer?”

  “I have heard that.”

  “We’d all like to know how you always come out smelling like a rose,” he added.

  “Stan, before you fly on out of here, there is one thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “Danica. I mentioned to you about that guy Dorian Blackwell.”

  Lee laughed an evil laugh. “Yeah, the only reason Blackwell was let out of prison was in the hope he would give us a thread to follow on the slave trade. His name is plastered all over that encrypted data you sent us. He’s back in prison on probation violations, just as we had planned. We’ve frozen all his assets, and put out APB’s on most of his associates. I don’t think anyone will bother her again. Blackwell doesn’t have the money to pay them, and they know we’re already looking for them, anyway.”

  “That’s very good news. You hear that, Danica?”

  The intercom keyed on. “Loud and clear. Tell the man I owe him a drink.”

  “Careful what you wish for, Ms. Donoro. By the way, Blackwell seems to have gone a bit berserk, if you will forgive the term. He tried to bargain his release by telling us he had a crystal skull which could control the world. He was neurotic about it. We recovered the thing from the safe in his place. It’s standard formed Earth crystal, nothing
more than a decoration. He still carries on about it during every interrogation. We’ll be setting up psychological evaluations for him.”

  “I’m glad to hear he’s where he belongs, Stan.”

  “There’s one other key culprit we’d really like to get our hands on. The guy's name is Silas Killion. Supposedly he runs the delivery to various pickup points and then on to the slave distribution points. Any leads on him in your logs, Adrian?”

  “I believe I heard he was out of action indefinitely.”

  “You got any more than that?”

  “Let me think about it.”

  Lee paused and gave me a threatening stare. He began to leave, then stopped again and looked back. “Oh yeah, you guys are cleared to deorbit to the space center. A special ground handling crew is waiting to scrub the Griffin’s memory banks. We’ll be in touch. Have a nice day.”

  We put down on the apron by the VAB and were towed inside before we even had a chance to open the spacecraft. In the hangar, unfamiliar technicians secured the Griffin. Others, with special recording equipment, asked for permission to come aboard, which I granted with great misgiving.

  At the bottom of the ramp, a man in a black suit with an ID card that announced his name loudly as Cummings seemed to be in charge. He promised the techs would only need half a day to amass their required information. We were mercifully allowed to leave after promising near-future debriefings.

  Over the next two weeks there were periodic visits and phone calls from a wide variety of Space Agency higher-ups who invariably asked for clarifications on things they already seemed to know. But they were always respectful, and they always broke off seeming to want more. I could never get answers about the humans still held on XiTau.

  By the end of the month, it began to taper off. We finally found the time to attend ourselves to a very important occasion that had seemed unlikely to ever happen. I was best man. R.J. gave the bride away. Danica was head bridesmaid. A variety of other folks we did not know played a part, and there were some sudden tense moments when one of the Norsicans Wilson had befriended on Enuro showed up unexpectedly in full battle gear, as is their custom. A few of the wedding party women ran off, only to be overtaken and passed by their husbands. Another group hid behind the bar but continued to make drinks. Wilson’s fighting friends grouped together in a ready formation and tried to act casual.