Once having trained the available personnel on life saving and emergency techniques, Isaac and Joshua moved to refresher training for the medical staff in the more routine diagnostic procedures. By the end of the voyage, most of the crew had been examined in ways that no healthy person should have to endure.
They had picked up four picket ships with their pilots at New St. Louis. The pickets were single seat non hyper capable craft and only four pilots joined the ship’s crew. Integrating the crews was Wendy’s responsibility so she had the flight crews and the battleship’s combat crews run simulations involving the pickets and the two destroyers they had brought from Earth. They were still short the four P I ships they had been promised and the med-evac ships without which they could not accomplish their mission. They did have a non-functional shuttle for which Captain Curra could offer no explanation as to why he took it.
Once having executed their mid-course turn, Reuben, Rashi and the rest of the engineers decided to see if they could determine what was wrong with the shuttle. They quickly discovered that it had been hit with a Disruptor missile. They had never seen a ship after it had been hit by a Disruptor and were impressed with the specificity of its destruction. Only the higher order electronics had been destroyed. The less sensitive slower types of electronics had been spared. They were impressed with how cleanly the missile did its job. The missile really could disable the ship without destroying it or killing its crew. The discovery of the ship’s history meant that when they arrived at Eretz if they could find replacements for the half dozen plug-in electronics modules that had been destroyed by the Disruptor, the shuttle would be ready to fly. On further examination, they discovered that the shuttle had been modified on a design developed at Homestead to allow it to take off and land on water. It had hydrofoils that swung out from the fuselage in addition the normal landing gear. Reuben reported his findings back to Rachel.
“So all the CMOS was destroyed and none of the TTL or older logic was harmed. Is that what lead you to believe it was a Disruptor?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you see any evidence that the Disruptor hit the ship?”
“No damage. A Disruptor only needs to get within a couple kilometers to be effective, so we wouldn’t necessarily see physical damage. Did you know the fuel had been removed from the reactor?”
“They probably did that when they sent it to the junk yard.” Rachel looked into Reuben’s eyes. When they were teenagers, local rumors had them linked romantically, but they both knew while they could always be friends, they could never be lovers. They would kill each other. Even so, they understood each other better than most brothers and sisters. “What are you not telling me here?”
“I don’t understand why someone would shoot a Disruptor at a shuttle. A carefully aimed hunting rifle would probably bring one down if you hit it in the right place. It doesn’t make sense. I also don’t understand why Captain Curra has a stash of fuel rods for the shuttle hidden in one of the containers attached to the cargo ship. It’s like he knows more than he’s saying. Why do we have a shuttle designed for water landings? Even more interesting as far as I am concerned is that this shuttle is designed to fold its wings instead of demounting them like the others.”
“So it could enter the atmosphere and turn right around and take off again?”
“Perfect for smuggling.”
“Or rescues.”
“Exactly. One more thing. There is armor plate between the cargo hold and the flight deck. The airlock has two doors. The only way to get from the cargo hold to the flight deck is through the airlock. The airlock has no manual controls. They have been removed. The only airlock control is from the flight deck. This ship looks to me like it was designed for transporting prisoners with a vacuum barrier between the cargo and the crew.”
“There’s a frightening thought.”
“Yes and one that explains a lot of things and opens a whole lot more questions.”
DEPLOYMENT - CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE MILITARY DEFENSE SYSTEM at Eretz had designated specific places outside their system where a ship could drop out of hyper space and not immediately be attacked. These locations were clearly marked on the Admiralty charts. Federation Space Force pilots and navigators were well briefed on their locations. At precisely the time the message in their initial courier indicated they would arrive, they dropped out of hyper space at one of the specified locations.
A flight of four P I ships awaited them.
“This is Captain Rachel Solomon Cohen and the Federation Space Force Hospital Ship 28 Albert Schweitzer. We request safe passage and escort to the spaceport.”
“Captain Solomon Cohen, this is Captain Alina Darwin Federation Space Force and Eretz system defense. Welcome to Eretz. Please stand by while I take control of your ship.”
“Acknowledged.”
The P I ship with its fiber optic communications cable would function like a harbor pilot and guide the bigger ship safely to its mooring. Once the fiber optic was connected and the communications link established, Rachel said, “Captain Darwin, you have the helm.”
“Aye, Captain, I have the helm.”
“Captain Solomon, this is Mimi Abrams. Are my brothers on the bridge?”
“Mimi, stand by while I put you on speaker. You are on speaker.”
“Hey guys! It’s Mimi! Mom’s holding dinner. Don’t be late!”
Everyone on the bridge laughed. “Roger that!” Reuben shouted.
Unlike the mooring at New St. Louis where they had only been able to attach one section of the ship, the docking area had been modified so that all four of the ship’s sections could be accessed directly from the space port on the moon of the system’s only habitable planet.
Of the two hundred people on the ship, only six had been here before and for those six, this was home. Rachel and Wendy only wished that their parents would be there to greet them. They needed to talk with them and seek their guidance. Knowing that their grandmother would be as happy to see them as they would be to see her was some help, but they needed their parents and they needed to talk shop.
Admiral Herbert Sherman, commander of the planet’s defense system, Faye Anne’s and Esther’s father, greeted them at the end of the corridor that linked the four docking ramps and provided access to the spaceport. A squad of security officers wearing white uniforms with blue trim stood behind him. Admiral Sherman and Captain Rachel Solomon observed the formal protocols as appropriate for the occasion. Wendy, Rachel, their husbands, Rashi, Reuben and their wives made up the first party to descend the ramp.
Suwanee, behaving unlike the highly trained Marine she was, trembled with excitement as he held on to her husband Reuben’s arm. She was a black woman with a checkered past, a Federation Marine lieutenant who had converted to marry her husband, a white Jewish man who held the rank of lieutenant in the Federation Space Force. She had met Reuben’s parents back on Earth during the party when he graduated the Space Force Academy, but this was the first time she had been to his home. She remembered her Marine training in time to properly return the salute of the planetary defense Marine who greeted her.
“Lt. Abrams,” the Marine at the head of the detail greeted her. Reuben, Rashi and Suwanee all popped salutes. The Marine suppressed a grin. “Marine Lt. Abrams!”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Suwanee responded.
“Will your detail remain on the ship standing guard duty?”
“Yes, sir, they will, sir.”
“Very well. At the end of their first shift have each of them report to immigration for processing and shore passes as you see appropriate.”
“Yes, sir, thank you sir.”
Admiral Sherman greeted Esther, his younger daughter, warmly, but she slid from his hug, preferring to stay close to her husband, Rashi. Wendy and Rachel could not help but notice the sudden chill in their relationship. Esther had always been independent minded and her marriage to Rashi was tempestuous, but to distance herself from her fat
her seemed out of character. She dragged Rashi quickly through Immigration toward the passenger shuttle that would take them to the planet’s surface.
Faye Anne followed closely behind with Lt. Hammersmith. “Is this the young man you wrote me about?” The Admiral asked gently.
Faye Anne blushed self consciously. “Yes, Dad.”
“Welcome to our humble home.” Admiral Sherman’s attention drifted back up the corridor. He made eye contact with Captain Curra. “Grant, it’s been a long time.”
“Yes, Herb, it has.”
Admiral Sherman turned to the Marine lieutenant who had greeted Suwanee. He nodded in Captain Curra’s direction. “Him.”
The lieutenant and four Marines advanced to meet Captain Curra. “Captain, you will please come with us.” He looked at Ellie Mae and Elvira following behind him. “Ladies, it would not be appropriate for you to join us. You should go with the others to the planet’s surface.”
Rachel stood horrified as the four Marines bracketed Captain Curra and lead him away. “What is going on here?” she demanded. “Are you putting him under arrest?”
Admiral Sherman gazed at Rachel for a second. “No, he is not under arrest and he will leave when you leave. Let’s just say he will be my special guest for the duration of your visit.”
“But why?”
“So he doesn’t rob us blind like he did everywhere else he’s been. We will gladly give you what you need, but he will not steal it.”
Rachel stood speechless as Admiral Sherman turned and followed Captain Curra and his Marine escorts toward the security area.
During the trip to the surface, Isaac and Joshua chattered about the people they hoped to find at the medical school. With any kind of luck they would be able to fill the remainder of their empty positions. Rachel and Wendy sat silently during the trip and were unusually subdued until they arrived at their Grandmother’s residence. The family had given up the four bedroom apartment they had occupied when they first arrived as soon as Rachel and Wendy left for the Space Force Academy in favor of a two bedroom unit. When Greg and Avi had been called back to active duty, Rose had moved into an assisted living unit for seniors, not so much because she needed assistance but because it was a short walk from the hospital’s child care center where she worked.
Isaac was the first to greet Rose when she opened the door. He wrapped her in a strong hug, “Grandma Rose, what are you cooking that smells so wonderful?”
“Leave it to a man to think of his stomach. Have you boys been taking good care of my girls?”
Joshua stepped forward to give her a hug, “Absolutely Grandma! They’d kill us if we didn’t”
Rose laughed. “They do get feisty sometimes.”
“We do not!” Wendy and Rachel shot back.
“Yes, you do!” the others challenged in return.
Dinner conversation was loud and animated in the tiny apartment. Everyone had funny stories to tell. Rose’s stories about the little ones she tended made them all feel warm inside. Rose insisted that in the morning they needed to come to the nursery so the children could meet “Grandma Rose’s real grandchildren.” After dinner Rachel started to tell Rose about her suspicions. Rose cut her off.
“Better you don’t tell me. Better I don’t know. Let me tell you this. Herb is a spook. He has always been a spook. He always will be a spook and Faye Anne is every bit his daughter.”
“Spook?” Isaac asked.
“Military intelligence,” Rose replied. “Very dangerous. You never know what they’re thinking.”
“And you think Faye Anne and Admiral Sherman are up to something?” Rose nodded. “I would bet on it and I don’t know what you’ve seen. Your parents came by their paranoia honestly.”
“We figured that out,” Wendy sighed.
“Be careful, my children. I was going to say these are dangerous times, but times are always dangerous in one way or another. Let’s talk about more pleasant things.”
Late in the evening, as the conversation had wound down, there was a knock on the apartment door. Rose motioned for them to stay seated as she went to the door. There were low whispers at the door and Rose ushered in a woman about their parents’ age, along with a woman and a man about their age. They stood to greet the new arrivals.
Rose reached out for Rachel and Wendy’s hands and drew them into the room. As they drew closer they could see marks from fresh injuries on the older woman’s face and hands.
“Rachel, Wendy, I would like you to meet your Aunt Tanya, your cousin Kenneth and your cousin Astrid. Isaac, Joshua, this is my other daughter, Avi’s younger sister and her children. Tanya, are you sure you’re fit to be doing this?”
Isaac and Joshua quickly assessed the visible bruises and injuries evident on the recent arrivals.
“Mom, this is important. Rachel and Wendy can stop this. We need their help.”
Tanya sat on the sofa with her children supporting her on either side. “I have four children.”
Astrid sniffled and a tear appeared in her eye. “Slavers took two of them and killed my husband.”
Kenneth did his best to appear brave, but it was obvious he was having a bad time as well. The edge of a thick bandage showed at the bottom of his trouser leg.
“We think we know where the slavers were going, but we can’t be sure. I know you have a more important mission that brings you here than finding my beautiful daughters, but when that mission is over, please can you go looking for them?”
Wendy sat at her aunt’s feet. “Do you know where they might have gone? There are limited places a slaver can hide. A spaceport is tough to conceal, but there’s a lot of space out there.”
“Admiral Sherman thinks he may have an idea, but he said he does not have enough fire-power to go after them.”
“That would make sense. We have a bunch of firepower and we will do what we can.”
“Thank you.”
Avi never talked about her sister or her two brothers. The anger and hurt ran too deep. Rachel and Wendy knew there was more to their mother’s family than they were being told, but knew better than to ask questions about painful subjects. Avi’s propensity for sudden violence did not encourage asking her tough questions. Under Rose’s careful guidance, Rachel and Wendy learned about their mother’s “lost” siblings and in so doing learned about their mother and themselves in the process. The conversation went on until Rachel and Wendy had to leave for the briefing that had been arranged for 0900 hours in the main briefing room.
Wendy, Rachel, Isaac and Joshua arrived at the briefing precisely on time in spite of not having slept the night before. At the end of the morning’s briefing, Admiral Sherman summed up the discussion. “I have a shopping list of parts and material you need. If we have it in our stores, we will deliver it to your ship. You are not to come and get anything. We will bring it to you. Due to the length of time we had to prepare, we were able to speed up the program for an entire graduating class from the planet’s medical schools. When you leave here, you will be fully staffed with your medical personnel. We do not have enough military personnel to permanently staff your ship, however we can temporarily assign enough personnel to get you through this mission. I suspect that by the time the mission is over and you return here, enough volunteers will have arrived to fill out your permanent staff allocation.”
“As to your ships,” he continued, “obviously the two P I ships that belong to you and your parents will be going with you. Frankly, I will be happy to see them go. They appear to have a mind of their own and many of the students refuse to fly them. They are more trouble than they are worth.”
A thought flashed across both Rachel’s and Wendy’s minds at the same time. “He doesn’t know! If he doesn’t know that our two P I ships think they are people, he may not know that our cargo ship is the smartest of the three!”
“Two of our best pilots, Lt. Sabrina Mahoney and Captain Alina Darwin have volunteered to take two of our most recent model of the P I ship to
fill out your P I authorization. We are still recruiting fire control officers for them. We have four med-evac ships that were left behind after a Federation exercise. They have been reconditioned and are parked at the spaceport. Now that we have discussed the logistics of your ship, let’s break for lunch and let the medical personnel, civilians and the engineers do what they do to get the ship ready. After lunch we will reconvene here with command staff and flight crews. Does anyone have questions before we break?” When he received no responses, they adjourned for lunch.
Rachel thanked Admiral Sherman and with Wendy, Reuben and Rashi in tow, left the room headed for the promised visit to the children in the hospital nursery. Captain Curra had not participated in the discussions. Rachel wondered why that was, but decided not to ask.
Once they were clear of the room and in an area that was noisy enough for their voices to be lost in the background Reuben said to Rachel and Wendy, “He doesn’t know about Buddy and Daisy! Your parents knew better than to say anything, but Esther and Mimi must have kept it a secret!”
“Esther kept a secret from her father, the king of all spooks?”
“Impossible as it seems, yes, she did!”
“How much do they know about Peter?” Wendy asked.
“Faye Anne knows. She named him. I don’t know how much she thought to tell her father. No way for us to know without tipping him off that we suspect something.”
After a delightful lunch with the children who were thrilled to meet them, they reconvened in the conference room. Large photographs taken from space were displayed on the room’s monitors.
Once everyone was settled, Admiral Sherman started the briefing. “We have had limited contact with this civilization. These people may be isolationists, but they are not stupid. They have a system defensive network that uses orbiting observation platforms. They have ground based missile and laser defenses concentrated around the populated areas. They have sought a return to a more primitive communal life style. They have not forsaken modern medicine, but they have eliminated most communication with the rest of the Federation. They do have a central representative government which is based in the largest of the three settlements.”
Solomon Family Warriors II Page 77