Altis-5: Book #2 of the Sleeper Series

by J. Alexander Black

  This was the best time of all. The hustle and bustle of being in orbit was in the past. The ship was on course and cruising through space at C4 and with the underway routine in place he felt himself relax. He was studying the strange way time was calculated on Earth. It made no sense at all but he had agreed that except for official reports they would adopt the Earth standard to make things easier for the colonists. They were 1.6 Centors out from Earth. He checked his translator, about six Earth weeks. He barely noticed the changing of the watch but it registered. Had anything out of the ordinary occurred he would have gone to full attention immediately. He thought about their destination. He had visited Altis-5 some years ago to deposit domestic animals, several varieties of birds, bees, and a large box of flies. It was a long time ago and he had visited so many planets since then he was having a tough time visualizing it so he pulled up an image from the ship’s archives. The ship’s information module inserted over his left ear gave him access to all ship’s systems at will. All crew members were given one with varying access levels according to their need. Even the Hevinian brain could not handle the amount of information flowing from the active data center so a throttle had been

  incorporated requiring a conscious thought to access information.

  Altis-5 was considered a small planet even though it was about twice the size of Earth. He read the data scrolling up the screen. The atmosphere is

  76.02% nitrogen and 22.95% oxygen and contains about 1% water vapor. The planet is divided between salt oceans and land masses. Forty eight percent of the planet surface is covered by land and the rest oceans. The iron core has created a magnetic field, which protects the planet from the suns radiation. There are three moons in close orbit. When the Hevinian explorers found it, the planet was still young but small animal life had evolved beyond the oceans and plant life was abundant. Wide grassy plains were common near most coastlines that led to enormous central mountain ranges blanketed by dense rain forests. A wide dry desert effectively divided the land masses at the equator.

  He scanned the details of the Hevinian importation of domestic and wild animals to provide meat and milk for future colonists. He was impressed by the Hevinian ability to manipulate a planet’s ecological balance to allow the introduction of humans without damaging it. He wondered how it had developed in the five years since the last Hevinian visit. He thought it curious that even though Altis-5 was larger than Earth, the gravity was five percent less. Newly arriving humans would find they could run faster, jump higher and lift heavier objects than on Earth, a definite advantage.

  The Captain smiled to himself. They are going to have a wonderful life there. Maybe when I retire? No, he had his retirement place already picked out on the planet Hydron in the Bellamy quadrant. He had acquired oceanfront property on one of the billions of islands on this predominantly water-covered planet. He would spend his retirement years bathing and fishing in the warm waters. Not long now, he thought, another ten milium of guiding this ship around the universe and providing I don’t run it aground on some asteroid I will be lazing on the beach.

  Suddenly he was ripped out of his reverie. The ship’s pulsar beams probing the universe around Orion had picked up something penetrating its surveillance web. Automatic procedures went into effect

  immediately. The ship slowed and an alert Barque launched and was heading toward it at top speed to investigate. Within seconds, the data from the ship’s systems had provided Captain Querrion with an image. It was a Kaedian attack fighter much too big for the single Barque to handle.

  “Recall the alert Barque immediately,” he ordered. “Launch all Barques and deploy Jaguars once clear of the ship.”

  He mentally toggled his com link, “Colonel Markham, your presence is requested in the CC.” The last order was unnecessary; the Colonel

  arrived within seconds, he had been informed by the

  Barque Commander.

  “Good Morning, Captain.”

  “Good Morning, Colonel, sorry to disturb your

  breakfast,” apologized the Captain. “We have a Kaedian

  ship just in range. I recalled the patrol once I made the

  identification. The Kaedian attack fighter is much too

  powerful for the Barque to engage successfully alone.” “Thank you, Captain. Do we know its intentions?”

  asked Markham.

  “Not yet, it is traveling on a 30-degree tangent

  opposite course. I ordered out the Brigade in case it

  made any aggressive moves toward us, but so far it has

  not.”

  “There are several billion miles of empty space

  around us; Running into a Kaedian fighter within a million miles of us couldn’t be coincidental,” offered the

  Colonel.

  “That is logical,” agreed the Captain. “However, it

  has made no course changes and if no changes are

  made its destination is an undeveloped planet, Tieros-3,

  here.”

  He pointed at the hologram map in front of them.

  What is most interesting is its point of origin which is

  here.”

  He called up an illuminated course originating at a

  small planet. As he zoomed in the name Altis-5

  appeared.

  “What in hell were they doing there?” exclaimed

  Tom.

  “It would not be the first time that the Kaedians

  have attempted to steal away a planet we have

  developed,” said the Captain, as he shook his head.

  “The ship is continuing away from us but I would feel

  safer if we keep the Brigade deployed until that ship is

  out of the search web.”

  “Agreed,” replied the Colonel. “I will use the

  opportunity to exercise the Brigade once the Kaedian is

  out of range.” He was deep in thought, what if the

  Kaedians had colonists on Altis-5. Do they have a right

  to be there? No. The planet had been claimed and

  developed by the Hevinians. The colonists would have to

  move or be moved and knowing the relationship

  between the Hevinians and the Kaedians, it would not be

  a peaceful move. He shoved the information into a

  corner of his brain. A new wrinkle to deal with later. In his quarters, Hevinian Crewman Adair Swift

  removed a small device from his clothing bag. He

  pressed the right side and it began to glow. Swift smiled

  to himself as the pulses traveled up his arm. There were

  no communications from the Kaedian fighter. His instructions had not changed. It would soon be time.

  10

  Murder!

  When Ray met Marcie at the Café she was curious. “Do you know what is happening?”

  “Yes,” said Ray. “The ship spotted another vessel on the edge of our surveillance area and identified it as Kaedian. The Captain ordered a deployment as a safety precaution. Tom told me the vessel continued on its course and is now out of range so the incident is over. The crews are staying out for a while, using the situation to practice some intercept and boarding techniques they have been working on. It also gives them a chance to work up the new six packs.”

  He did not mention the possibility of encountering Kaedians on Altis-5. Marcie looked at him. She was still getting used to the idea that he was from a different planet. She looked down at her Muska.

  “Do you regret our decision to emigrate to Altis-5?”

  “Not one bit,” said Ray. “Now that the Hevinians have revealed themselves there is no need for a sleeper on Earth, besides you saw what happened at the restaurant before we left. We have become celebrities. We would have no peace at all. I liked the way it was before the Kaedians came and Altis-5 will let it be that way again.”

  “Actually, it will never be the same again for us Ray,” said Marcie.

  “You ar
e right honey,” said Ray. “It will be different but in a good way. We will be able to devote ourselves to doing those things we love to do. Our time will be our own.”

  “Not exactly,” said Marcie. Ray looked at his wife. He’d been married to Marcie long enough to know when she was being coy. Something is afoot, he thought. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I’m pregnant,” she said, her face lighting up. For the first time in his life, Ray was without words, his jaw dropped open and he was unable to speak. He was overwhelmed by feelings of boundless joy. He was going to be a father. Finally, he cleared his throat and managed to speak.

  “That’s wonderful,” he said. “Have you told anyone else?”

  “Of course not! Well, Sande knows, she gave me an exam and somehow my mother sensed it,” she said laughing. “Before we left she told me to send pictures of her grandchild.”

  “We must tell everyone,” said Ray. “There’re Kris and Anne coming out of the community center with Uncle James. Let’s go over and tell them.”

  The news of Marcie’s pregnancy spread like wildfire throughout the village. Everywhere she went villagers were stopping and congratulating her. As the knowledge truly sank in she began to get nervous. Medically she knew exactly what was happening in her body because she was a trained nurse. And in addition, Sande had implanted a medical chip in her brain giving her an immense amount of medical knowledge far beyond what even the best medical minds on Earth could even dream about but still she was nervous.

  That night she could not sleep. It was after midnight and she looked over at Ray who was fast asleep. She got up and decided to go to the Café for some Muska. Since leaving orbit the Café had been open continuously. The colonists quickly found out that Earth time meant nothing when underway in space. People slept when tired, ate when hungry and worked when things needed doing. On her way, she passed by the clinic and saw a light was on the laboratory. She entered and found Sande examining a display on the screen in front of her. Since Sande resigned from the Hevinian Service, she had begun working in the village clinic. “Hello Marcie,” she said. “Tom is at the Brigade Office so I’m doing some research on diseases present on Altis-5. This is Clostridium tetani found on the last bacteria sweep of the planet prior to certification for colonization. This tetanus bacterium must have traveled with some of the domestic animals we imported from Earth. I have reviewed the medical records of the colonists and found a couple who have not been vaccinated so we must counsel them before arrival.” “Yes, I suppose so.”

  Sande looked away from her screen and looked hard at Marcie. “What is wrong Marcie, you sound distracted.”

  “Actually, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have a minute?”

  “Of course,” said Sande, she switched off the display and turned to Marcie. “How can I help?” “I have no information about children born to parents from Earth and Hevinia. Because both are human I am sure that there won’t complications but I guess I am looking for a little reassurance.”

  “I see. Well to be honest when I agreed to marry Tom I did some research myself and from what I’ve found from the Earth sleeper files there is nothing to worry about. It is the same as two people from Earth say a…" she paused as she searched for an Earth comparison…"Zulu and an Inuit. The child of such a union would have some of the characteristics of both. With an equal opportunity for more of one than the other. Does that ease your mind?”

  Sande suddenly lowered her head slightly. She was still connected to the ship’s Medical Emergency Response Team. She looked at Marcie. “We need to go over to yurt sixty-four. One of the surveyors is dead.” They grabbed medical response bags, left the clinic and hurried over to the yurt. Sande walked in ahead of Marcie. Orion’s Senior Medical Technician came over to them. “It’s Captain Bruce Fosdyke. Commander Frulé found him fifteen minutes ago,” he said nodding toward Frulé. “They shared the yurt. I have yet to determine the cause of death. There are no obvious wounds or signs of trauma, so I am going to move him to the ship’s medical department where we can have a closer look. Would you care to assist?”

  “Thank you. Yes, I would,” said Sande as she turned to Marcie.

  “You go ahead with the technician,” said Marcie, “I want to have another look around and I’ll join you later.” Once the medical people departed Marcie and Françoise sat down. The Brigade had an alert drill late that night and Françoise had been working until 1:30 am with the section leaders debriefing the drill.

  “When I entered the yurt, I was pleasantly surprised at the silence,” he said. “Bruce was normally a very loud snorer. I turned on a side light, as I did so I glanced over at Bruce concerned that I’d woken him. He was on his stomach, an arm hanging over the side of the bunk in what appeared to be a very painful position and he was a strange pink color. I knew he was dead but I checked for a pulse anyway then called it in.”

  “Are you okay Françoise?” asked Marcie.

  “I’m fine, thank you. I’ve seen death many times. This one bothers me a little though.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “He was sleeping in my room. I mean, we decided to swap rooms last night. Bruce was having trouble sleeping. He said he was on the wrong side of the yurt, something about Feng shui, anyway we swapped. If he did not die of natural causes, then the killer could have been after me.”

  “How many people have been in here recently?” asked Marcie.

  “Many. In my new role as XO of the Brigade, I sometimes use the yurt as a private place for small meetings and individual counseling. I would say as many as thirty people have been in here since we left Earth. Mostly members of the Brigade. I had four of the ship’s crew in for a game of poker last night. Those Hevinians are fast learners. Oh, and that Hevinian politician pompeux Blaque was in here early yesterday evening.” “What did he want?”

  “I don’t really know,” said Françoise. “He asked some questions about the Brigade. Said he wanted to know the chain of command so he could be more useful. I don’t like him; I guess politicians are the same throughout the universe, they give me the creeps.” Françoise made a mental apology to his friend Claude Fronterac. “So, not much help I’m afraid. Do you mind if I walk over to sick bay with you? I’m curious.” “You go ahead, I want to look around some first. Have you or the medical team moved anything that you are aware of?” said Marcie.

  “No, they were very careful,” said Françoise as he was leaving.

  Marcie sat and studied the bunk. Her mind focusing on the task at hand. Everything looked normal. Maybe the Major died of natural causes? Unlikely. He was 30 years old and in great physical shape. She had read his medical record as a matter of routine when he checked in. She knew that it was possible for a person to die suddenly and for no apparent reason. But that was extremely rare and usually the autopsy revealed an abnormality of some kind. There was nothing suspicious about this death and why would anyone want to kill him. He came onboard only days before departure. And why did it bother her that he and Françoise had switched beds that morning? She re-examined the bed. Nothing. Wait a minute, she thought, what is that faint odor? A faint memory of her mother cooking flooded her brain. Her mother was born and raised in England and used to make a traditional Christmas cake with a marzipan layer under the hard icing. Marzipan was made from almond paste. That is what the faint smell was almonds. Then it hit her, Cyanide! That would explain the pink skin. Wanting to preserve any trace evidence, she laid a plastic garment bag over the head of the bunk and raced over to the ship’s medical department.

  “Have you found anything?” Marcie asked the Senior Medical Technician.

  “We have just begun,” he said.

  “I noted a faint odor of almonds in the deceased’s bedding; it may indicate cyanide,” said Marcie. “Interesting, give me one minute.” He came back within a few minutes. “You are right, there was residue of cyanide gas in the respiratory system and the scan noted cyanide-hemoglobin complexes. We need
to run more tests but it would appear this man was killed by cyanide gas released at close quarters while he was sleeping. I will have a full report by this afternoon. Will you be investigating this?” he inquired.

  “What?” asked Marcie.

  “Are you the one to send the report to? Naturally, a copy of the report will go to the Captain. You are one of the village leaders so I just assumed you would do the investigation.”

  “May I make a suggestion,” said Sande. “Why not work with Jordan Keaton the ship’s Senior Security Technician. He’s trained to do this kind of work. I could summon him”

  “That’s a good idea Sande. I’ll inform Sara, as head selectwoman for the village she should make those decisions. I’ll recommend she ask Kris to lead the investigation. He used to assist the Police Chief and he has a nose for this,” said Marcie.

  Kris was in his yurt playing monopoly with Jennifer and Ron when Sara walked in. Until he arrived at Altis-5, he really had nothing to do so when Sara offered him the job he jumped at it.

  “I suppose you want me to start immediately,” he said, throwing a glance at the game board. Sara followed his eyes and noted that all the property ownership cards with the singular exception of Mediterranean Avenue were in front of Jennifer and Ron. “Yes,” she said. “I need you to start right away, there is no time to lose.”

  “Right then,” said Kris, “you kids are lucky; I had you right where I wanted you.”

  He hurried out of the yurt chased away by the peals of laughter coming from inside. Jordan Keaton and Frulé were waiting for him by the time he reached yurt 64, after a quick introduction Sara left them to start the investigation beginning with a search of Commander Frulé’s yurt. Jordan had brought two devices with him; the first looked like an Earth cell phone until he attached a short probe.