Upon hearing his message a second time, he ran to his desk in the den and sat down with his com tablet. He quickly keyed in the search parameters and waited for the book to be found.
“What is it, Victor? Does it actually mean something?” She asked.
“Of course it does, my dear. It’s encoded. I should’ve thought of this sooner. Mason wouldn’t send me something so idiotic. I’m the fool here.” He reached in his desk for a pad of paper and a pen. “Do you remember Lieutenant Urz, the traitor? He gave the Yellow Man the ‘Manual of Technical Specifications’ for the Hesperia prior to our mission. He used that book as the code key for the encrypted data messages he sent to the Yellow Man. Page 357, standard skip letter sequence,” he explained to her. She sat on his desk, excitedly waiting for Mason’s message to be decoded:
“I did not volunteer. The Yellow Man is making me a hybrid against my will. I am his Perfect Man. I did not volunteer.”
“Oh my God, Victor. Mason is in trouble. They’ve got him, and are changing his DNA, isn’t that right? No wonder his face looked so thin and drawn. Oh my God!” Mrs. Baines stared at her husband in disbelief.
“It can’t be. The Yellow Man always asked for his Perfect Man. He never just took him.” Admiral Baines sat back in his chair, studying Mason’s message again. Suddenly, his wrist comm link beeped again, with another data message from Mason, which he quickly decoded:
“I did not volunteer to be a hybrid. The entire bridge crew from the Esmeralda is here. We did not volunteer. Altered against our will. Please help.” And then the vid cam attachment opened, clearly showing the huge room of nurse droids and their officer patients, and the distinct face of Captain Hanson.
“Mason will be in terrible peril when they discover he has sent me these messages. I have to call Admiral Tomiko immediately.” He made the call to Admiral Tomiko, and sent over Mason’s encoded messages and the decoded translations.
Tomiko revealed, “The bridge crew and Captain Hanson have been AWOL for four months, along with Master Gunnery Sergeant Mason. We feared they defected to the Yellow Man. We had no idea they were on the Alexandria. Get back here immediately, Admiral Baines.”
“AWOL? Mason would never go AWOL, Victor. Something is terribly wrong. I’m terrified for him,” Mrs. Baines told her husband.
“The whereabouts of the Esmeralda’s bridge crew have never come up in any of our meetings, Rachel. I didn’t know they were AWOL or missing. I’ve got to go now. If he sends you anything else, call my comm link immediately.” With those instructions, Admiral Baines ran out of his home, jumped into his shuttle, and raced to Earth Command.
The emergency meeting at Earth Command proved to the Joint Chiefs of Staff their missing Esmeralda bridge crew had not turned traitor, as was initially assumed. A communiqué was sent to the Alexandria, and no reply came. An open emergency hail from Earth Command was sent directly to Captain Lee on the Alexandria, and the message was not acknowledged. A third communiqué went out and was ignored again.
“Admiral Worthington, I recommend we dispatch a battle cruiser group to intercept and board the Alexandria immediately,” Admiral Baines suggested. The Joint Chiefs agreed.
“The last known position of the Alexandria was two weeks out from Titan One, traveling at standard speed. Their plotted course would take them within a days’ range of Space Station 10. The destroyer “Indianapolis” is at SS10 for restocking and refueling, Admiral Worthington. Shall I dispatch her to intercept the Alexandria?” Admiral Spencer enquired.
“Make it so at once. Are there any fighters at SS10?” Admiral Spencer checked and nodded. “Then dispatch them as well. Do not let that ship get to the Kuiper Belt, Admiral Spencer. It’ll take another week to find them if they make it,” Admiral Worthington ordered.
“Admiral Worthington, it may be prudent to recalculate the Alexandria’s trajectory at maximum speed of hyper-space four, sir. If they have discovered Mason’s messages to me, they will most likely make a run for deep space,” Admiral Baines offered.
"Right you are. Spencer, I want the Alexandria stopped. Dispatch the fighters, and advise them to contact us immediately upon locating the Alexandria. Advise them to be prepared to disable the ship upon command; disable, not destroy,” Worthington ordered.
Seven fighters were immediately scrambled and sent roaring off at their top speed of hyper-space 8, on course to find the Alexandria. The Joint Chiefs dismissed Admiral Baines, promising to notify him as soon as the Alexandria and Mason were found. He went home again, and found Mrs. Baines very distraught. She was sitting on her couch, recalling Mason’s phone call to her earlier that day. Fortunately, the vid comm recorded the call so she could play it for her husband, and they both watched it together several times.
“He chose this particular time to call you, and sent the data messages afterwards. Perhaps he had to wait for approval to make a live call, and his call to you set his plan in motion. I wish I knew what his plan was, Rachel. Mason is not an irrationally impulsive man,” Baines mused.
“He didn’t sound as confident as he usually is, and that worries me even more, Victor. I don’t think he expects to make it home to us, whatever his plan may be. He was saying good-bye.” She leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder and sobbed.
The Admiral comforted her as best he could, saying, “Mason’s a very resourceful Marine. I know he planned to either hide and wait to see if Earth Command would help them, or escape. He would surely know he would be found out when those encoded data messages were sent directly from his comm-link.”
“Have you ever known John Mason to hide? He’s a man of action. Hiding is not the warrior’s way, Victor,” she told her husband, and he agreed. “Does the Alexandria have any shuttles on board? Or escape pods? Maybe he’s away from the ship, and waiting to be rescued.”
“Let me check her configuration.” He went to his study, found the Alexandria in file, and checked her configuration. “She has two shuttles and eight 2-man escape pods. My money’s on an escape pod, Rachel. He could have launched from the ship and remained hidden, if he could get far enough away from her lasers. Hmmm…. She only has two defensive lasers, and short range, at that. Yes, my money’s on a pod.”
He quickly sent a comm link memo to Admiral Tomiko with his conclusions, and came to the couch with his wife. “Good call, my dear. Let’s hope we can intercept the Alexandria and find Mason in the next few days. I’m afraid his chances to be rescued dwindle significantly if he is not found soon, as there is only enough air and water for seven days. He can go without food longer than you or me, but not air or water.”
The last information he shared with her was not comforting to her in the slightest, and she began to cry again. The toddler soon joined her, and the Admiral’s hopes for a quiet evening disappeared entirely.
Inside Mason’s escape pod, the two sleeping passengers awoke, and he got up to check the console once more. It was time for the rescue beacon to be activated.
When he stood, the Captain said, “They must have been secretly working on you while we were still on the Esmeralda for you to have a tail growing. Don’t be embarrassed about it, John. It’s not like you wanted it to be there. It’s growing on its own. Does it hurt?”
“Only when I have to sit or lie on it. It’s just in the way, that’s all.” He was embarrassed anyway. He should’ve put his uniform on. “Colonel Green told me we drank them in. Is it possible to ingest alien DNA and have it altering your own genetic code?” He asked her.
“Now, that’s a question for a genetics specialist, or a DNA biologist. I really have no idea,” she answered.
“Should I activate the beacon now, ma’am?”
“I suppose it’s time, John.” She sat up and looked at him. “Quite a turn of events we’ve taken in the last three months. A failed mission - my first, by the way – nearly three months of torture; weeks of unknowingly being altered and reprogrammed; and two days of bliss in this escape pod with you.” She put her arms arou
nd his waist. “I like the last two days the best.”
Mason smiled his big smile for her and agreed. He kissed her again, activated the rescue beacon, and went to the storage closet to find more food pouches and water for them. “Dinner is served, Captain Hanson,” he said with a smile. He handed her the pouches, and continued rummaging through the closet. He found a stack of waterless bathing towels and a clean uniform to fit her, but nothing big enough for his large frame. “At least one of us will feel and smell better when we’re rescued, ma’am.” He handed her the uniform and bathing towels.
Mason used one of the waterless bathing towels on his body while she ate and tried not to watch him. He rummaged through another storage closet and found a large plastic sheet. He unfolded it, and did his best to make an enclosure around the pull-down toilet for her privacy. He tucked the top inside the ceiling panels and let it drape down to the floor. “Ladies first, Captain. I’ll be at the console trying to figure out our coordinates.”
“I can do that, John. You go first. I’ve been plotting courses for over twenty years.” She sat in the pilot’s seat, and adjusted it forward to give him privacy. He used his bathing towel to finish cleaning his body and checked the other holds and closets for more supplies.
Mason joined her at the console, adjusting his co-pilot’s seat forward, and watched her working, buck naked. “You know, Captain, you look pretty good in your new uniform. I recommend you wear it around here all the time, ma’am.”
She laughed with him again. He checked her out as she worked. Slim and tall, with good muscle definition, especially on her absolutely gorgeous legs, the best he’d ever seen on any woman in the military. Black short hair that was beginning to reveal its true curly nature; high cheekbones; the white skin of a “winter” colored woman; and steel-blue eyes, intense and focused on her work. All things considered, Captain Esther Hanson was one fine-looking woman, and he wanted her all over again. She must have read his mind.
“First things first, Master Gunny. We’re not too far from Space Station 8. The view screen is showing a lot of activity beyond SS10. I believe the Alexandria is making a run for the Kuiper Belt in an attempt to hide out there. From the blips, I’d surmise Earth Command is taking direct action to intercept the Alexandria as we speak. We may indeed have a chance at being rescued.” She turned her seat around and said, “My turn for a bath.” She went to the back of the pod as Mason turned his attention to the console to give her what little privacy he could. The indicator gauges showed air for less than two days, less air than he thought.
The destroyer Indianapolis was headed directly for the Alexandria at hyper-speed six. Four of the fighters overran the Alexandria just before the outer rim, warned her to stop, and fired on her engines when she continued her run. The Alexandria was now adrift in space, powerless to stop the approaching destroyer. The Indianapolis would dock and power lock onto the Alexandria, and board her within the next twelve hours.
Admiral Baines was updated on the progress of the Indianapolis the next day. He hoped Mason was not found on the Alexandria in case Captain Lee attempted to self-destruct to evade capture. He did not reveal that possibility to Dr. Baines when he brought her up to speed via her office comm link. She shared the same third level top secret clearance as he, and Admiral Tomiko gave him permission to keep her abreast of the situation. For once he did not have to hide information from her, and she appreciated it greatly.
Dr. Rachel Baines was fraught with concern about John Mason. How could Earth Command think—even for one moment—he turned traitor? She knew him too well. She would have sent out the entire fleet to search for him if he and the Esmeralda’s bridge crew disappeared. Mason would not go AWOL. Who was influencing the Joint Chiefs in this matter? She quickly answered her own internal question: the Yellow Man had someone on the inside, turning the heads of the Joint Chiefs. She silently said a prayer for her best friend John that he return to her, and be cured. She continued her work, studying DNA reverse engineering techniques. She volunteered her entire team to reverse engineer the Esmeralda’s bridge crews’ DNA, especially Mason’s. She was making certain they could oversee the procedures remotely from their labs to wherever Earth Command would force the Alexandria to dock. Titan One would be the closest space station having the facilities for the procedures. They should begin working on those unfortunate men and women immediately. The longer the alien DNA stayed in their systems, the greater the damage it could potentially do them.
Admiral Baines was notified after midnight the Indianapolis reached the Alexandria and the forced boarding began. He knew it could be several hours before any further information would be forthcoming, so he tried to sleep a few more hours.
Admiral Worthington, the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called an emergency meeting and invited Admiral Baines to attend. “The Alexandria has been boarded as of 0-three thirty this morning. Captain Lee and Colonel Green escaped in a shuttle, and two fighters are in pursuit of their craft. We have located the research lab on board where the bridge crew of the Esmeralda was being genetically reprogrammed. Four officers are still alive, four are deceased, most probably from their bodies’ rejection of the alien DNA forced infusion. Captain Esther Hanson and Master Gunnery Sergeant Mason have not been found. One escape pod had been launched four days’ earlier, at the approximate time of your last encoded message from Master Gunnery Sergeant Mason. It is our assumption that Mason has attempted to escape with Captain Hanson, to what end we are unsure.”
“Admiral, if I may, I know Mason. He is fulfilling his sworn Prime Marine oath to his Captain, to protect her life at any and all cost, sir. He is most likely awaiting rescue, on a trajectory towards Space Station 8. Has any emergency rescue beacon been detected, Admiral?” Admiral Baines asked.
“Yes, a rescue beacon was activated four hours ago, Admiral Baines. We should be receiving word from one of the fighters we diverted towards that beacon within the next two hours,” Admiral Worthington answered. “And I hope you’re correct, Baines. I hate to think what the Yellow Man could accomplish with Captain Hanson and Master Gunny Mason on his side.”
Captain Hanson returned to Mason at the console, cleaned as best as she could be. She was still naked. She sat down and checked the long-range vid screens. “Looks like the Alexandria is dead in space. There are four fighters now hovering around her. And I’m pretty sure a destroyer or battle cruiser is almost on top of her. It won’t be long now before she is boarded, John.” She punched up a different view; their own quadrant. “And two fighters are only a few hours from our position, as well. Now what do you propose we do with a few hours prior to being rescued?”
She went to Mason, and mounted him, both of them laughing. They made love in the seat, and then on the floor, and enjoyed each other’s bodies for as long as they could. As they lay together in post-coital ecstasy, an incoming transmission hailed them with a blinking red light on the console. He sighed heavily, knowing their affair was over. She kissed him once more, as passionately as her kisses three days ago.
He quickly put his uniform on as she stepped inside the makeshift dressing area Mason made for her, bathed with the waterless towels again, and put on the gray uniform from the pod’s storage closet. It fit well enough. Mason sat down at the console and punched the blinking red comm button. “Master Gunnery Sergeant John Mason.”
“This is Space Forces fighter F-331 to the escape pod. State your condition, Master Gunny,” the fighter pilot ordered.
“I have one passenger with me: Captain Esther Hanson, Ship’s Captain of the Esmeralda. We are both healthy and secure, and are under solar sail, awaiting rescue.” He nodded at Captain Hanson, who sat down in the seat next to him.
“Very well. You are hereby ordered to retract your solar sail, ignite thrusters, and release your pod’s controls to me. You will be escorted to SS8.”
“Retracting solar sail as ordered.” Mason keyed in the proper key controls as he watched the golden sail fold in upon itself, and b
e drawn into storage on the outer hull of the escape pod. When it was stowed, he notified the fighter, and ignited the pod’s thrusters. When they were both at optimal burn, he hailed the fighter. “Releasing escape pod control to you on 3-2-1. You have control.”
The gentle flight of their escape pod was replaced by a more forceful thrust of her little engines, and the pod steered them hastily to SS8. Captain Hanson hit the “Mute” button so they could talk. “We will be de-briefed, most likely separately. They are not sure if we escaped to get away from the Alexandria and get help, or to go the Yellow Man. You should be prepared to be treated as a hostile, John.”
He never considered that possibility. “I rescued both of us, Captain Hanson. Are you saying Earth Command thinks we are traitors?”
“I have no idea what they are thinking. I don’t believe for a second Earth Command knew we were being held in prison on Titan One, especially since we were held in the auxiliary prison, not the main one. You must be prepared to be treated as a traitor, Master Gunny.” She searched his startled face, and continued.
“Whoever is running this rescue operation has shown his hand. We are being brought in for more interrogations, and will most likely be treated as prisoners of war, guilty until we are proven innocent.” She turned and took both of his hands. “Steel yourself, John, and tell the truth, as you have always done, and we will both come through this all right. It may take some time, however.”
He was stunned. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her over and over again. He asked, “Will they torture us again, Captain?”
“No, not like we were tortured in prison. But they will most likely shackle us and use truth serum, sleep deprivation, intimidation and coercion. You know the usual interrogation routine. Hold fast to the truth, John. It’s all they have to gain.”
Vengeance of Sukesh: John Mason (Legend of John Mason) Page 5