by Tony Healey
"We'll be there soon. Then we'll see what she has to say for herself," Chang said.
Yes, Jessica thought, an icy sense of panic in her chest. She swallowed. She wished she'd never started it all. She wished that she'd let them reassign her to another ship. She wished she could have easily put Del's memory to rest.
But that was impossible. And now, with what Dr. Clayton had told her . . .
"I have a lot of questions," she said eventually. "And I won't leave till I get the answers. So Kingston had better be in a talkative mood."
38.
The Defiant sped through minute planetary debris, ice, and dust, billions of kilometres thick. The Kaseem Ring extended out like a halo, and the Defiant left a wake of disturbed particles that would be visible for centuries to come. Just as their ship crossed boundaries, so too did the Defiant's crew come to terms with their own actions. What might they leave in their wake?
What lay ahead of them? And what would come once they'd been found by those they had disobeyed in their quest for truth?
As the Defiant continued on her way, those questions were at the forefront of their minds. That and the echoes of the past. For you can only run so far, for so long, before everything catches up.
As Captain Jessica King monitored the ship's progress past the Ring and back into normal space, she wondered how long she would run if she had to. How far would I go, if it came to it? What's my limit?
PART IV
Unto The Silent Planet
39.
Admiral Kerrick walked back and forth, hands clasped behind his back, head down, deep in thought. His staff watched him go from one side of the room to the other, all the while their anxiety increasing.
Commander Hopper got up from his station. "Sir. Admiral."
Kerrick stopped, looked up, eyes fixed on his subordinate.
Hopper licked his top lip. "Admiral, if I may. There is simply no way of tracking them with so much backwash. We can only guess at where they've headed next."
"Oh?" Kerrick asked.
"Y-y-yes," Hopper stammered. "Without further leads, we simply cannot determine their location. It would seem their locator beacon was deactivated prior to departure."
"Well –" Kerrick started to say, finger raised, advancing toward the young man just as an announcement went out on the overheads.
"Admiral Kerrick to the security office. Admiral Kerrick to the security office. Priority one," the female voice said.
Kerrick stopped in his tracks, listened, then turn on his heel and left the Command Deck. The staff collectively breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind him. Hopper dropped back into his chair. Suddenly, his legs felt weak.
*
"What is it?" Kerrick asked.
Already he had a continual thump behind his right eye. It would increase with stress. As Captain Jessica King and her crew perturbed him further, the pain would increase. And somebody would pay the price. It was always the same way. If his people did their jobs properly, it would be King on the receiving end.
"Sir–"
Kerrick snapped his fingers. "Come on! I don't have all day!"
"Yes sir. Reviewing the security tapes, I managed to find this. An unmarked vessel."
The lieutenant showed Kerrick to a large holodisplay. A rugged ship sat at docking bay seven. The lieutenant pointed to the registry at the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
"Pretty generic," he said. "And not one a Union vessel would use."
"Hmm."
"And there's this. It's my reason for calling you here," the Lieutenant said. He cycled through the footage.
Kerrick's eyes widened in surprise. Jessica King stood in front of the airlock to bay seven for a moment, then stepped through.
"Bingo," the Admiral whispered. He turned to the Lieutenant, a grim smile on his bony face. "Go through every second of footage. I want to know who that ship belongs to. I want to know where King went, who she spoke to. When she went to the head and at what frequency."
"Yes Admiral."
"Good work," Kerrick said and left.
40.
"We're here," Banks said. On the viewscreen, their destination looked about as inviting as Jessica had thought it would. A grey ball of dust, tucked away in a forgotten pocket of the galaxy. Nondescript and uninteresting to the furthest extent.
Zac'u IX was one of nine similarly bland planets orbiting a pale white star. It had three ragged, dull grey moons and a band of debris that encircled the planet in a haphazard, almost scruffy manner.
"Yes, looks lovely," Chang commented. "I must book some shore leave here, soon as I can. I really feel the resorts will sell out."
"It looks like the last kind of place in the whole universe you would want to go to," Banks said.
King smirked. "Which makes it the perfect candidate for a secret base."
Dr. Gentry stood at the back of the room watching proceedings, his hands in his pockets. "Captain, if I may, we will need to get closer and scan the surface. I believe it will be heavily shielded from orbital observation. However, you will find slight energy emissions of point one two. Find those, follow them to their source and you'll have the secret facility."
She turned to look at him. "Point one two, eh? That's very precise."
He shrugged. "I hate to say it, but I've spent my fair share of time in secret locales. Places that shouldn't exist. Not everything we pulled out of the ground on alien planets could be declared to the public at large, Captain King. Most facilities employ a means of camouflaging emissions, but there is a negligible point one two that always escapes into the atmosphere."
"So if we can't see it from above, it'll be there if we detect that coming from the surface?" Jessica asked.
Gentry nodded. "Indeed."
"Chang, you know what to do. Banks take us in for geosynchronous orbit. Nice and steady does it," King ordered.
"Aye," Chang said.
"Aye Captain," Banks said, working the console controls. The Defiant continued onto the planet, and the Lieutenant expertly slipped them into a standard orbit. Chang immediately set about scanning the surface. Banks used the ship's thrusters to accelerate them ahead of the planet's normal rotation. However he maintained their relative distance from Zac'u's equatorial line.
Chang's face was tight with concentration, studying her readout so as not to miss anything that might indicate the presence of the structure that Gentry had assured them existed on the surface.
"Anything?" King asked.
"Not yet."
"Captain . . ." Rayne said. She listened intently, hand on her earpiece.
"Olivia? What is it?" Jessica asked.
"You're not going to believe this, but I'm receiving a signal from the surface. They're requesting we present our authority to be here."
Jessica thought for a moment before replying. "Open communication lines. Tell the surface we are here under orders of Admiral Kerrick."
Banks clucked his tongue and let loose a laugh in disbelief. "Damn."
Rayne did as she was told, meanwhile Commander Chang continued to monitor the scan results. She looked up from her monitor. "I believe I have it. I'm sending the coordinates to the viewscreen now so you can all see."
Gentry came to stand next to King as the screen changed from a view of the monochrome planet, to a partially hidden building that stood under the shadow of an enormous mountain ridge. It afforded virtual invisibility from prying eyes.
"That's it," Gentry said.
"We have permission to land at the site. Doctor Kingston has been informed that we've arrived," Rayne said.
"Okay. Close the channel again. Remember, we receive but we don't transmit."
"Yes Ma'am," Rayne said.
"So what do we do?" Banks asked.
"What do we do?" Jessica shrugged. "We go."
41.
"Sure ya trust me drivin'?" Hawk asked with a lopsided grin.
"Get in the front, you goof," Selena Walker said, slapping a kiss o
n his cheek before giving him a hearty shove through the side of the shuttle.
"Thanks for that Selena," Jessica said. "He's too much for one woman to handle."
Selena's cheeks turned a healthy shade of red. "Well . . ."
"Oh! I didn't mean it like that!"
The two women laughed. "It's okay, Captain. You're quite right on both accounts."
The shuttle's engines rumbled to life. "Lift off in two minutes!" Hawk yelled from the cockpit.
Selena shook her head. "Good luck with him," she said as she walked off.
Jessica watched her go, thinking, Yeah thanks.
Dr. Gentry clambered aboard the shuttle. "I'm not late, am I?"
"Considering I only put the call out ten minutes ago, Doctor, no you're not."
He smiled and took a seat. Jessica looked back. She had hoped Dr. Clayton would appear – that he would come to the hangar just to see her off.
Sorry Doc, she thought. Sorry for overreacting, for taking it all out on you, as if you were to blame for the past.
But he hadn't turned up. Her heart heavy in her chest and secretly anxious at what awaited her down on the surface, Jessica got into the shuttle, closed the door and took her seat next to Gentry. "Okay, Hawk, let's get going," she said.
"Aye Cap," the Texan said. The seals around the door isolated their atmospheric pressure from the hangar. With swift movements, Hawk brought the shuttle to a steady hover over the deck as they waited for the hangar doors to open.
Jessica glanced back, looked through one of the small viewports. She'd not hoped any further but, sure enough, there he was. Clayton stood with his arms folded behind the observation glass in Eisenhower's office. He saw her looking and nodded his head. She returned the gesture. Smiled. She'd not been so glad of anything in a long time. The doors opened, revealing the silent planet itself. Hawk increased the output of the engines and the shuttle took off.
42.
The thin stratosphere peeled back like mist to reveal the black and white landscape below. A land of deep shadow, sharp highlights, and endless grey.
Hawk took the shuttle on a gentle descent toward the distant mountain ranges. Their ridges lined the horizon, like the jagged spines of dinosaurs lazing under the colourless sun.
"There," he said, pointing to the well of shadow beneath the peaks. The facility resolved out of the din. "Slowin' us down now, Cap."
"Nice flying, Captain Nowlan," Jessica said. "You should consider a piloting career."
He chuckled. "Yeah, I get told that all the time."
Jessica turned to Dr. Gentry who sat clutching a slim carry all he'd brought with him for reasons she hadn't bothered to ponder. "Are you okay, Doctor?"
"Yes, yes," Gentry said with vigorous nods. "I just get a little . . . queasy when it comes to actual atmospheric flight."
"And yet you have no problem boarding an alien artefact the size of a small moon . . ."
The Doctor considered this, then shrugged. "What can I say? I'm fickle."
"That's not how I'd describe it," Jessica mumbled as she turned back around. The mountains loomed ever closer and below them, at the feet of the giants, all her hopes for answers.
43.
The air was dry, still. Old. Jessica peered out, not noticing the figure emerging from within the building until he was well on his way toward them.
"Gentlemen. We have company," Jessica said. She didn't have to look to know that Hawk's hand already hovered over his holster.
She recognised the outfit the man wore. The bland white overalls of the science division. He was middle aged, had thin red hair and a wide smile.
"Greetings," he said as he drew near. "I am Doctor Caise."
Jessica shook his hand. "Captain Jessica King. This is Captain Dolarhyde and Doctor Wilfred Gentry."
Even here, in the hind end of space, King stuck with calling Hawk by his new name. In case questions were asked later, and the name Gerard 'Hawk' Nowlan came up. It was more trouble than it was worth. The people who deserved to know, did. That was all that mattered.
He greeted them in turn, his smile never faltering. "Would you care to follow me inside? The weather is permissible at the moment, but we are prone to quite dangerous sand storms. Best not to get caught out in the open in one of those."
"Of course. That's what we're here for. Please lead the way," she said.
Caise bowed his head slightly. "With pleasure."
*
The building was huge, filled with endless corridors and a plethora of doors that led to who knew where. Their host, for his part, seemed to know exactly where to go. Lights flickered on and off as they walked past them.
"Ah. Here we are," Dr. Caise said. They'd arrived at a door with a sign on the front that read ADMINISTRATOR.
Caise pressed the buzzer. The door opened from within to reveal an office.
Behind the desk inside sat a similarly middle aged woman, blonde hair turning to silver at the sides. But she remained beautiful, quite youthful in her way. Startling blue eyes that seemed to burn with a cool, inner fire.
"Administrator Kingston, our visitors have arrived," Caise said, showing them into the office. "This is Captain Jessica King of the starship Defiant and two members of her crew. Captain Dolarhyde and Doctor Gentry."
Kingston stood. "Welcome."
Jessica's heart thumped in her chest. She'd thought of all the things she would say when she came face to face with the doctor. Yet now she stood in front of Kingston, everything bled away. All anger left her. There was only the same sadness that had swung back and forth within her for her whole life. A cold metal weight, in itself an endless reminder of all she'd not had, not known, not felt because she was an orphan – or had been until recently. A lot had changed.
Jessica suddenly realised that she had her hands clenched into fists at her sides. She made a concerted effort to loosen up.
"Nice to see you again," Gentry said, stepping forward to shake her hand.
"Likewise, Wilf," Kingston said. "It's been too long."
"Yes indeed."
Kingston glanced to the side. She registered something on Jessica's face. "Uh, Doctor Caise. Why don't you escort Mister Dolarhyde and Doctor Gentry around the facility. Allow me to talk to Captain King in confidence."
Caise didn't hesitate. He opened his arms, palms up. "Friends. Shall we?"
The two men looked to Jessica for guidance, but she merely waved them on. "Go ahead."
"Come on Doc," Hawk said, following Caise back out of the room.
Gentry followed suit. He turned back around on his way out. "Bye for now."
The door closed behind them. Jessica watched Kingston settle back into her seat, a reflective look on her face. "So."
"So."
"We have much to discuss," Kingston said.
"Yeah," Jessica said, face set. Again that anger, bubbling up. Breaking the surface. "Yeah, we do."
44.
Dr. Caise led them from one room to another, excitedly describing the various experiments and equipment on display. For his part, Dr. Gentry took a genuine interest in most of what Caise showed them, though it struck Hawk that they were being babysat while the Captain and Kingston had their conversation.
So it was to Hawk's relief when a shrill chirp came from Caise's wristband. When he checked it , his entire demeanour changed within an instant.
"Excuse me gentlemen, but I must leave you here to attend to another matter," he said.
"Sure, pal, don't mind us," Hawk said.
Dr. Caise started to walk away, obviously thought better of it, and turned back. "Please don't wander. Some of the experiments are . . . dangerous."
"We won't go anywhere we're not meant to," Gentry assured him.
Caise smiled and left them.
"Bless the stars for that!" Hawk said. "I was bored to tears."
"I've found his tour quite stimulating," Gentry said. "But I do feel we've been kept out of the way."
"Yup," Hawk said.
&nb
sp; He started for the door on the other side of the room, directly opposite the one Caise had exited through.
"Where are you going?" Gentry asked.
"No. Where are we going," Hawk corrected him. He opened the door a crack and looked out. It was empty outside. As it had been since the moment they arrived. "There's people at work here. Lots of 'em. And we're gonna go look, see where the hell they are. Cause they ain't in these rooms."
"We shouldn't really be wandering around," Gentry said, worried. "Doctor Caise said –"
Hawk waved a hand at him. "Nah! To hell with Doc Suitcase. Come on son, let's hustle." He grabbed him by the arm and left the room. Dr. Gentry huffed and puffed as he got pulled along for the ride.
"Oh dear. Out of the frying pan . . ." he mumbled.
45.
"Anything happening down there?" Selena Walker asked.
Chang monitored from her station. "Nothing. They went in, and that's about it."
"There's been no further communication from the surface," Rayne said.
"God it's so painful sitting up here, not knowing," Walker said.
Chang looked up at the viewscreen. A bland planet, unremarkable but for its breathable atmosphere and comfortable temperatures. No life. Hardly any water down there apart from what was trapped in the atmosphere in the form of scant moisture.
The perfect planet to hide a secret experiment.
"Well if it's to be found," she said. "It'll be here."
"What makes you and the Captain so sure?" Banks asked.
Dr. Clayton stood at the back, arms folded. "Cause it's a pit."
"Doctor?"
"Remember, the hybrids were trained on a similarly backwater planet. A bit like this. A dustbowl. Only that was a colonial world. Towns, a starport. You name it. But still, a dry ball of baked earth," Clayton said. "The Union seems to choose these places because they're so harsh."