by Ken Lozito
“I’d like that. I might even be more tactful by then,” Connor said.
Lenora left him, and Connor headed back to his quarters. It had been a long time since he’d just sat down and spoken with a woman—at least one not in the military. The last time he’d done something like this was with his ex-wife, and she’d given him an ultimatum. Alyssa had been domineering from the start, but he got the sense that Lenora was not like that at all. She seemed to state her opinion and then trust that you’d be smart enough to figure it out on your own.
Connor entered his quarters and sat down on the bed, closing his eyes and trying to build a picture of what his son looked like. The boy he remembered was three years old. He’d kept pictures of him in his office at their base near Earth, but he’d never interacted with him after he left. He’d just checked in on him from time to time. He’d often been tempted to reconnect with his son and be in Sean’s life again, but the events on Chronos Station had changed all that, and now he was here on a planet sixty light-years from Earth, trying to picture what his son looked like. He recalled staying away because he’d felt that it was the right thing to do. So why did he feel like such a failure as a father? He couldn’t even send him a message telling him how he felt and listen as Sean yelled at him for leaving. Connor deserved that, but now there would be no reconnection, no closure where his son was concerned. All Connor was left with was an ocean of regret and a new life to build. He didn’t feel like he deserved it. His failure as a father and his inability to take down the Syndicate made him feel hollow inside. Millions of people had died. He’d followed the breadcrumbs that led to Chronos Station and then recklessly stormed it. If he hadn’t, would all those people still be alive? If he’d done things by the book, would his last encounter with the Syndicate have ended any differently? He lay back on his bed with his feet still on the floor and slept.
Chapter Thirteen
Connor woke up to a fist pounding on the door and Diaz’s muffled voice shouting that it was after seven a.m. He shot up in bed and scrambled to open the door.
“Wow, you overslept,” Diaz said with entirely too much delight.
“Yeah, I know,” Connor muttered.
“And you’re still in the same clothes you were in last night,” Diaz said.
Connor glared at the corporal. “It’s not like I have a closet full of clothes.”
He only had four gray jumpsuits, which he was getting tired of. He just wanted some regular clothes or something other than gray.
“Don’t worry, they’re making clothes for you, unless you want all your stuff to have some other name on it,” Diaz said.
Connor quickly washed his face and ran his fingers through his short hair, then put on his last clean gray jumpsuit. Would it be so hard to get a pair of pants? That shouldn’t be hard.
“Come on, we should have just enough time to get some breakfast,” Diaz said.
Connor glanced at his watch. He’d slept ten hours and felt completely refreshed. The doctor had told him it would take a few days to adjust to the reactivation of his implants, and he’d been right. Now he should only need a few hours’ sleep a night.
They headed toward the cafeteria and met up with Noah.
“I heard you got the comms issues sorted out at that research base,” Connor said.
“If by sorted out you mean I reconfigured the signal so the intensity is an order of magnitude above what should be required, then yeah, I guess I fixed it. You must have run into Dr. Bishop last night. Do not let her fly you anywhere,” Noah said.
“Rough flight?” Connor asked and stuck a piece of bacon in his mouth.
Noah shivered. “You could say that. She scraped the bottom of the ship on the trees. Said she thought she saw the tip of an obelisk or something like that.”
“Did you get a chance to look at the proposal I sent you?” Connor asked.
“Yeah, about the drones. It’s possible, but we still need to define what the recognition software should recognize as dangerous versus what’s benign,” Noah said.
“How long will that take?”
“You know, you’re starting to sound like the other department heads around here. I’ll give you the same answer I give them. If you can get the request prioritized, you’ll be moved to the top of my list. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait,” Noah said.
Diaz snorted. “Didn’t you just get back from the research base?”
Noah nodded.
“How’d that become a priority?” Diaz asked.
“Oh, well, it’s Dr. Bishop . . .”
Diaz frowned. “Oh, so a pretty doctor gets priority, but we don’t?”
Noah’s eyes widened. “No . . . Uh, no way. Have you met her? She’s scary as hell. She basically kidnapped me.”
Diaz glanced at Connor, unconvinced. “I don’t know. Being kidnapped by a pretty doctor doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
Diaz was stoic for a moment and then burst out laughing. “But seriously . . .”
“Alright, leave him alone,” Connor said and looked at Noah. “I get it. I’m pretty sure I can get to the top of that list.”
Noah’s eyebrows rose.
Connor didn’t say anything else about it. They left the cafeteria and headed toward the Field Operations and Security Headquarters.
“So let me get this straight,” Diaz said to Connor. “After I left you last night, you had dessert with the pretty doctor?”
“We talked for a bit,” Connor said.
“Yeah, but did you have any dessert?” Diaz said.
“Shut the hell up.” Connor chuckled, and Diaz started laughing.
“So, no dessert,” Diaz said and slapped a beefy hand on Noah’s shoulder. “I bet he’d like to though.”
Noah was at a rare loss for words.
The playful banter all but ceased as they went inside the headquarters. Connor had spent a lot of time here when not attending orientation classes. He really needed to spend more time here, but Damon was pushing for Connor’s request to form his own team for Field Operations to be rejected.
Ashley Quinn met them just inside and asked to speak to Connor alone for a minute. Diaz changed his whole demeanor when he saw her and treated her like his long-lost mother.
“I thought you said you’d stay out of trouble, and you found some on the first day. Thankfully, the past few days have been free of incidents,” Ashley said.
“Hello, Dr. Quinn,” Connor said.
“Don’t give me that. It’s Ashley now and forever. I got enough people calling me Dr. Quinn.”
“Fine,” Connor said. “Have you been able to . . . Is there anyone else . . .”
“Don’t start stammering on me now. Spit it out.”
“Did you find anyone else on the Ark like me? Who wasn’t supposed to be there?” Connor asked.
Ashley’s smile faltered. “No. We’re still looking, but it’s going to take a while.”
Connor nodded and tried to hide his disappointment. He’d had a fool’s hope that perhaps the rest of the Ghosts had been put into stasis along with him.
“So you think you’ve figured out what you want to do for the colony?” Ashley asked.
“I already made the suggestion. Now I’ll find out whether or not they’ll let me do it,” Connor said.
Ashley nodded. “Tobias and the rest of the people who first conceived of the colony had a specific vision of what it was supposed to be. I don’t think they anticipated some of the challenges we’re facing.”
“So you think they’ll grant the request?”
“I think they’ll let you make your case. Some of the things you suggested about communications and updates from those in the field made a lot of sense. Damon eventually came around to it. But what you’re asking to create could be the beginning of something else that you probably don’t even intend,” Ashley said.
Connor frowned, trying to think of something but couldn’t.
“You’re asking to create a highly trained and highly capable gro
up of people. Some might perceive it as a threat or that it might be misused in some way,” Ashley said.
Connor shook his head in exasperation. “No, I don’t want to take over the colony.”
Ashley smiled. “I didn’t think you did, but keep that in mind when you’re speaking to the folks inside.”
They headed to a small auditorium, and Connor stopped just inside the doorway. There were at least a hundred people in attendance. The walls and furnishings all had the uniform prefab look of something that was designed purely for function rather than aesthetics.
“Are all these people department heads?” Connor asked.
“No, this is an open forum. Tobias will want consensus before a decision is made,” Ashley said and regarded him for a moment. “Does speaking in front of a crowd bother you?”
“No, not at all. It just wasn’t what I was expecting.” Connor frowned. “Does a public forum really get to decide matters of security?”
“No of course not, but their opinions matter. If they get to voice them here and feel that their concerns have been heard, it could stave off problems down the line,” Ashley said.
Connor frowned in thought. He had only been expecting to speak to a few people and hadn’t expected to be required to sway the public to his proposal.
The ground sloped downward toward a stage, and there were a couple of chairs set off to the side. Damon Mills and Franklin Mallory sat in two of the seats on stage.
Connor followed Ashley onto the stage, where she sat next to her husband. Connor took a moment to greet Tobias and acknowledge the other people sitting with him. There was a woman sitting next to Ashley who had red-rimmed eyes and a flushed face. Her gaze narrowed when she saw him looking at her.
Franklin waved him over from the other side of the stage and Connor sat down next to him.
“Are you ready?” Franklin asked.
“Always,” Connor said with a confidence he didn’t really feel.
He tended to do better speaking to other people like him, people who’d had similar training as him and he could speak to using a common frame of reference. He glanced over at Damon, who coolly returned his gaze. Connor took a deep breath and accepted that this was the arena in which he’d have to fight for what he believed. He hadn’t given any thought to what he’d do if his request was denied.
Connor glanced at the first row of people and saw Lenora sitting there. Her long auburn hair hung down in front of her shoulders. She gave him a smile and slight nod of her head. Nearby, Diaz and Noah sat together. Diaz gave him a thumbs-up and a small fist pump.
Tobias stood up and went to the center podium. “Thank you all for coming,” he said.
The ongoing discussions stopped and the room became quiet.
“I know we’re all quite busy, so I’ll be brief. There was an incident earlier this week involving a pack of berwolfs, and we lost Steven Bernstein of the Field Operations and Security group. Steven is survived by his wife, Grace, who is with us today. I’d like everyone to stand up and observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Steven, who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep others safe,” Tobias said.
Connor came to his feet and bowed his head. He wasn’t a religious man, but he believed wholeheartedly in honoring the sacrifice of those who wore the uniform. He looked over at the grieving widow sitting on the other side of the stage. Ashley had her arm around the widow’s shoulders, consoling her.
“The events that transpired were something new, something we hadn’t noticed before, and this was pointed out by one of our new colonists to whom I will introduce you in a minute. Franklin Mallory has had Field Operations and Security operating at a heightened state of readiness since the incident. In that time we’ve observed more berwolfs in the area. We consulted with Dr. Edwin Cummings and showed him the captured drone videos of the attack, as well as the eyewitness testimonies of the people who were there,” Tobias said.
Connor frowned. No one had contacted him.
“I’ll make Edwin’s report available for everyone to review, but on the high level, the berwolfs executed a coordinated attack that demonstrated just how cunning a predator they can be. At this time, we don’t know why they’re targeting us, but we’ve made understanding the berwolfs one of our top priorities. Now, Franklin Mallory is going to come up here and speak about the changes that are happening at Field Operations,” Tobias said.
Franklin stood up and went over to the podium. “I know many of you are quite concerned with this latest development. I won’t sugarcoat it for any of you. This attack caught us almost entirely off guard. No, strike that, it did catch us off guard. One man, who is not part of Field Operations, made a huge difference that day and is responsible for saving the lives of the six teenagers who were the berwolfs’ original targets. His name is Connor Gates, and he was not part of the Ark program. How he came to be aboard the Ark is a mystery even to Connor. I’ve met and spoken with Connor at length. So have Tobias and Ashley, and we know that Connor’s presence here, while a mystery, was a stroke of luck for those six teenagers who are alive today. You see, Connor has a unique background. Back home he was part of an elite special forces group in the North American Alliance military. I’m telling you this because we all volunteered to be part of the Ark program. We’re explorers and pioneers. Back on Earth, there was a shroud of secrecy that was prevalent in most facets of government, including the colonies of the solar system. That’s not what we want to do here, which is why I’m disclosing the unique circumstances of how Connor came to be here in the first place. We can all agree that our journey to this planet has been nothing if not extraordinary. So when he comes up here to speak, please give his request careful consideration,” Franklin said.
Connor stood up, and Franklin came over to him. “You could have warned me,” Connor said.
Franklin shrugged. “You’re here now.”
Connor approached the podium and gazed out at the crowd. He took a deep breath, and remembering Lenora’s advice about using tact, he glanced over at the grieving widow.
“Mrs. Bernstein, I didn’t know your husband. I have no idea what kind of man he was, but I know what it takes to put on a uniform and put your life at risk every day for the safety of others, and I know the terrible toll it takes on the loved ones who are left behind. I offer you my sincerest condolences for your loss and my solemn vow to work my hardest to help prevent something like this from happening again,” Connor said.
Tears streamed down Grace’s face, but she held her head high and refused to let her grief steal her resolve. Connor turned to address the crowd. “I’m an outsider. I figured I’d get that out of the way right off the bat. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Until a week ago, the only thing I knew about the Ark program was an infomercial I saw in a transit tube on a space station. Next thing I knew, I was here. I’m not going into the details of my past, and if you must know the details, you can come to me directly or see Tobias,” Connor said and gestured toward the governor. “Some of the things I’m going to say will appear harsh and have been met with heavy resistance from those who’ve been here longer than I have.
“I’ve spent the bulk of my career evaluating enemy forces and overcoming obstacles. What I saw in the berwolf attack was a strategic execution used by predators but also by people with training similar to mine. We need to adapt if we’re to survive here.” Connor stepped away from the podium and took a few steps closer to the audience. “If I were you, I’d be thinking: why should I listen to this guy? He can’t possibly know what he’s talking about. I get it. I’m new and I haven’t proven myself to you yet. I wasn’t alone the other day when the attack happened. Corporal Diaz was escorting me around that day. He was there and was just as pivotal to the survival of those kids. Since then, I’ve been learning about how Field Operations and Security conducts its work and achieves its primary objective, which is to keep all of you safe. I’m not going to stand up here and list a bunch of flaws and start pointing fingers at anyone. I’ve made my
suggestions to Franklin, who’s considering them. I’m hoping my suggestions will help save lives because that’s what this is all about—keeping you alive and keeping the people at Field Operations alive. What I’ve come prepared to speak about is a new team that is to be part of Field Operations, although I thought my audience was just going to be Tobias,” Connor said.
There were a few chuckles from the audience.
“See, I’m still learning too. My proposal is to form a new division within Field Operations with the purpose of providing support to Field Ops teams both here in the compound and out at the research bases. I would like a team of volunteers to train and make into a highly specialized direct-action force, the purpose of which is providing rescue operations and field reconnaissance so that at some point in the future we don’t need to live behind a wall,” Connor said.
Damon Mills stood up. “How is what you’re proposing different than what we already have? I have teams already designated for those jobs.”
“I don’t think this is the right place for that discussion,” Connor replied.
“Why is that? Is it because you don’t have an answer to the question?” Damon said coldly.
“Because that discussion is best served between professionals,” Connor said.
“Okay, so you don’t have an answer then,” Damon said and sat down.
Connor gritted his teeth. He’d wanted to keep this civil. “I’ll answer the question. Your methods and protocols are putting people’s lives at risk. More tragedies like what happened to Steve Bernstein will happen. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, unless we adapt. How many will have to die before you admit you’re not equal to the task that’s been given to you? With the right training, you could be.”
Damon shot to his feet, his face purple with rage. “This is outrageous! How dare you imply that Steve’s death is because of me?”
“I didn’t say it was because of you. But the fact that you and the other team plunged headlong into the berwolf trap didn’t help. Instead of one tragedy, we might have had eight. I told you to wait, and instead you did just as the berwolfs wanted you to do,” Connor said.