by Ryk Brown
“Jessica Nash. Why does that name sound so familiar?” the admiral wondered.
“She served on the Aurora under Nathan Scott.”
“The spec-ops? The one who resigned after Scott’s execution to join the Ghatazhak?”
“Yup. She was close to Scott. She was also close to the Aurora’s current CO, Captain Taylor, and her chief engineer, Commander Kamenetskiy. That’s a lot of coincidences.”
“Are you suggesting that the Tanna headed for the PC to join them?”
“It’s a possibility,” the commander suggested.
Admiral Galiardi thought for a moment. “Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do but wait, and hope that she turns up with a good excuse.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If she does turn up, send them a message and have the comm-drone ping her logs,” the admiral added.
“Yes, sir,” Commander Maclay replied, turning to exit.
“And let’s initiate active position tracking on all ships. If they move, I want to know.”
“Even our gunships?”
“Negative,” the admiral replied. “Destroyers, the Benakh, and the Cape Town.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Commander, anything else on Scott-Thornton?”
“No sir,” the commander replied. “And we’ve got eyes and ears on her around the clock. If she goes anywhere, or calls anyone, we’ll know it.”
Admiral Galiardi took a deep breath and sighed. “We need eyes and ears inside Winnipeg, not outside.”
Commander Maclay closed the door again. “Admiral, are you suggesting we bug the president’s office?”
“Our job is to protect the people of Earth,” Admiral Galiardi stated. “If that means we have to bug the president of Earth to do so, then that is exactly what we are going to do.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Two young men dressed in nondescript clothing walked casually down the streets of Aitkenna, mindful to not look up at the security cameras on each street corner. Arriving at their destination, they slipped into one of the many markets in the neighborhood, seemingly in no particular hurry.
The two men took a cart and began walking down the aisle, plucking random items from the shelves as they moved from row to row. Eventually, they found themselves standing at the meat counter at the back of the market. One of them turned to watch behind them, as the other nervously stepped up to the counter to speak to the young man on the other side.
“Excuse me,” the apprehensive young man said.
The man behind the meat counter stepped closer. “How may I help you?”
“I was told to ask for Anji,” the nervous young man said.
“Anji is the store manager,” the man behind the counter replied. “He is a very busy man. Perhaps I can help you.”
The nervous young man shook his head slightly. “I was told to ask to speak to Anji.”
“Who told you to ask for Anji?” the man behind the counter asked.
“A mutual friend. He said Anji might be interested in some merchandise I have.”
The man behind the counter looked suspiciously at the nervous young man, as well as the young man’s friend, who was watching behind them, glancing back in their direction periodically. “What sort of merchandise are you speaking of?”
“Not exactly legal merchandise, if you know what I mean,” the young man replied. His words were strained, as if he was deathly afraid of even saying them out loud.
“I see,” the man behind the meat counter said, as he slowly slid his hand under the counter to reach for his weapon. Robberies had been on the rise since the Dusahn invasion had upset the regular police presence in Aitkenna. Although their Dusahn occupiers had now banned possession of any type of energy weapon, there were still plenty of projectile weapons that would go undetected by Dusahn sensors if fired. And Timin had no intention of letting his father’s market get robbed again. “And how did you come across such, merchandise?”
The nervous young man forced a smile. “It sort of fell into our hands…from the sky. Literally.”
Timin’s hand moved from the weapon, to the small button next to it, and pressed it firmly. “I see,” he nodded, as he pulled the weapon slowly from its mount under the counter. “The bathrooms are through that door to the left, and all the way back, on the back side of the storeroom. Please step carefully. We just had a meat delivery, and the floors may be slick.”
“Bathrooms?” the nervous young man wondered.
Timin glanced at the security camera display above his head, tucked behind the wall and out of the nervous man’s view. He could see his two brothers moving down the aisles on either side of the two customers. “If you have trouble finding them, someone in the storeroom will be happy to help you,” Timin added with a smile, as he glanced twice in the direction of the doors to his right, hoping that the young man would take the bait.
Finally, the nervous young man understood. “To the left?” he said, pointing in the direction of the doors. “And all the way back, you say?”
“That is correct, sir. They are on the back side of the storeroom. Take your time. I will watch your cart while you are away.”
“Thank you,” the nervous young man replied, looking slightly relieved. He turned to his partner, gesturing for him to follow, and both men headed around the side of the meat counter.
Timin watched both men carefully, his hand still on his weapon, as they disappeared into the side corridor. Once they were out of his eyesight, he gestured to his brothers to move quickly. He picked up his comm-unit and activated it. “Father, two men are entering the storeroom. They need to use the bathroom, in the back.”
“Is anyone available to help them?” his father wondered.
“Dinar and Morri will be there momentarily.”
“Very well, I will watch for them. Remain where you are.”
* * *
Nathan entered the Seiiki’s gun deck. Much to his surprise, there was a new bulkhead installed just aft of the port and starboard gun turrets, with a hatch in the center directly ahead of him.
Nathan stepped further into the compartment, continuing through the new hatch, finding Vladimir, Marcus, and Dalen in the newly created sub-compartment, inspecting their work.
“What do you think?” Vladimir asked Nathan as he entered. Vladimir was obviously pleased with himself, beaming from ear to ear.
“How did you manage to do all this in only a few hours?” Nathan asked, noticing that they had installed the cooling wraps around not only the power conduits, but also the plasma generators.
“The difficult part was the pass-through points in the hull,” Vladimir replied. “But that was done before departure. All of this was just hooking things up and testing.”
“But, you created an entire sub-compartment,” Nathan exclaimed.
“With its own environmental circuit as well,” Vladimir bragged. “Sensors and all.”
“Amazing. Where did you get the material for the bulkhead…and the hatch for that matter?”
“We keep spare bulkheads and hatches on board the Aurora for emergency repairs. We have dozens of them. I just borrowed a little. I’m sure Cameron won’t mind.”
“Is it sound?” Nathan wondered, examining the new bulkhead.
“Pressure and heat-wise, yes,” Vladimir replied. “But it is not structural. For that, we will need to add beams and spares all around. Those will need to be custom fabricated when we return. But at least this will keep any unprocessed heat from reaching the gun turrets themselves.”
“But, the cooling wraps will take care of the heat?”
“Better than before, yes,” Vladimir replied.
“I still won’t hang around in here during a firefight,” Marcus commented. “But at least we won’t have to w
orry about getting cooked in the gunner’s chairs.”
“This means we can install independent targeting systems in the turrets when we get back,” Dalen added. “Pretty slick, huh Cap’n?”
“Pretty slick indeed,” Nathan agreed. “You guys go ahead and get cleaned up and get something to eat. We’ll be starting our search for the Mystic soon, and we’ll need your eyes up here.” Nathan continued inspecting the work, noting that all the cable routing and securing was much neater than he was accustomed to seeing from Dalen and Marcus alone. “This is really nice work,” Nathan said, after Marcus and Dalen had left the compartment. “I knew you’d be a good man to have on board,” he added, patting his old friend on the back.
“Dalen is very smart,” Vladimir assured him. “He just lacks formal training. He can figure out how to fix things, but without the science background, he cannot predict how his solution will affect other systems.”
“He also doesn’t know how to dress lines this nicely,” Nathan added.
“I believe that is Marcus’s influence. The man is a very good mechanic, but he takes too many shortcuts.”
“Well, he’s not supposed to be doing the repair work around here anyway. That’s Dalen’s job. But Dalen’s a kid in Marcus’s eyes, and Marcus is a bit overprotective when it comes to this ship.”
“He does not trust Dalen?” Vladimir asked.
“He trusts him, as a person. He just doesn’t think Dalen knows what he’s doing. Which, according to you, he doesn’t. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to bring you on board. I thought maybe you could take him under your wing, teach him a thing or two, while we convert this ship into a combat vessel… Assuming, of course, that you’re up to the challenge,” Nathan added with a wry smile.
“Now you are playing dirty, my friend,” Vladimir replied, shaking his finger at Nathan. “But I will accept the challenge. Although I may need to remain on board for some time.”
“I’ll work on Cameron when we get back,” Nathan promised.
“I can always resign, again,” Vladimir suggested.
“Again?”
“I was about to leave the Aurora for an assignment in research and development, when all this started. I only stayed because my replacement had not yet arrived.”
“I don’t think you need to go that far,” Nathan argued. “Besides, your current status in the Alliance is sort of up in the air at this point, don’t you think?”
“Good point. Very well,” Vladimir agreed, handing a wrench over to Nathan. “I will leave her to you, and I will go and eat.”
* * *
The storeroom ran along the entire backside of the market. It was poorly lit, with racks of sealed boxes along the wall, and at least a dozen large wine barrels stacked in the back corner. At the far right end, was a large roll-up door that likely led to a loading dock. To the left was a room with a window that looked into the storeroom itself, but there were no lights inside.
“What do we do now?” the second young man whispered.
“You put your hands on your head, and you do not make any sudden moves,” a voice instructed from their left.
Both men turned toward the voice, but saw nothing through the darkness.
“That, was a sudden move,” the voice warned, as he stepped out of the shadows. “The next one will be your last.”
Both young men’s eyes widened and their hands immediately went up as they spotted a man, in his late forties or early fifties, step out of the darkness pointing a rather large and deadly looking weapon directly at them. “We don’t want any trouble, sir,” the second young man assured the man holding the weapon.
“Yeah, we just want to use the bathroom,” the other young man insisted.
Without warning, two more men stepped up behind them, covering the heads of both young men with black hoods, as they pressed devices into their backs and activated them. There was a sudden crackling sound, and the two young men felt as if every square centimeter of their skin was on fire. Their bodies stiffened, their jaws clenched, and both of them suddenly realized they could no longer draw breath.
It was the last thing they remembered.
* * *
Jessica entered the Seiiki’s galley, looking for something to drink.
“Any luck?” Neli asked from the table in the corner.
“Nope. Is there any coffee left?”
“That bitter brown stuff the Aurora’s mess gave us?” Neli replied. “Plenty. I don’t know how you Terrans can drink it.”
Jessica paused a moment, a smile coming to her face. It had been a long time since she had been called a Terran. “It’s an acquired taste,” she agreed, as she prepared another pot to brew. “To be honest, I never realized how much I missed it, until I had it again. I have to remember to plant some of this shit somewhere, after all this is over. I’ll make a fortune.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be as popular as you think,” Neli warned. “At least not in the Pentaurus sector.”
“Maybe not, but at least I’ll have my own supply. Besides, it’s better than that crap Marcus is always chewing.”
“No disagreement there,” Neli agreed. “Try kissing him after he’s been chewing that stuff all day long to stay awake.”
Jessica laughed. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“How much longer are we going to search?” Neli wondered.
“Well, since we’re backtracking the Mystic’s course, in a few hours if we haven’t found her, we’ll know she’s already jumped back to Takara and is probably in the hands of the Dusahn already. Either way, the search will be over.”
“And if we don’t find her?”
“Then we look for some other ship that fits the bill.”
“Likely you won’t find one as nice as the Mystic,” Neli said.
“You’ve heard of her, then?”
“Only by reputation. People like us could never afford a trip on the Mystic.”
“People like us?” Jessica asked, as she poured some coffee for herself.
“You know, people who have to work to live,” Neli explained. “People who ride on the Mystic usually have life handed to them.”
“That nice, huh?”
“That’s what they say.” Neli looked at her beverage, thinking a moment. “You knew Marcus back then, right? Back when you all defeated Caius, and pushed the Jung back out of the Sol system.”
“Sure did.”
“What was he like back then?”
“Pretty much the same as he is now, I imagine,” Jessica said.
“Overprotective of his ship and captain?” Neli said.
“Okay, maybe not exactly the same,” Jessica admitted, moving over to sit down across the table from Neli. She took a sip of her coffee. “To be honest, I really didn’t like him much at first. I pretty much wanted to toss him out an airlock.”
“That sounds about right,” Neli laughed.
“But,” Jessica said with a sigh, “eventually he proved to be a pretty good guy. Don’t ever tell him I said this, but he turned out to be a pretty good chief of the boat.”
Neli smiled again, remembering all the times Marcus had mused proudly of his days aboard the Aurora. “Just between you and me, he’s always been quite proud of his service to the Alliance. That’s what’s always confused me, I guess. Why he left to follow Connor…or Nathan… You know what I mean.”
“He never told you?” Jessica wondered.
“He always just says ‘family are those who take care of you, and who you take care of in return.’ But that’s about it.”
“Pretty deep, for Marcus,” Jessica commented. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“That’s all right,” Neli insisted. “You’re not far off the mark.” Neli sighed. “What I don’t unde
rstand is, why Nathan?”
“I guess, it’s because Nathan was his way off of Haven. Nathan gave him a chance, despite all of our objections. To Marcus’s credit, he ran with it, and proved Nathan right.”
“That explains it,” Neli realized.
“Explains what?”
“Marcus never wants to talk about his past much. I think he’s ashamed of who he was, or maybe the things he did. Except for his time on the Aurora. It’s like, everything before that doesn’t matter to him.”
“Except for Josh,” Jessica corrected.
“Yes, except for Josh.”
Jessica noticed the look on Neli’s face when she mentioned Josh. “I take it you two don’t get along?”
“Oh, we tolerate one another. That’s about it.”
“Well, Josh can be a handful, that’s for sure.”
“Just like Marcus,” Neli said. “Sometimes, I wonder if that’s where he learned it.”
Jessica looked at Neli, hoping she wasn’t overstepping her boundaries. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up on the Seiiki? You don’t really seem the type for this.”
“I was working in a cafe on Palee, near the spaceport, when they were putting passenger seats in the Seiiki. They used to come in to eat all the time. I had been seeing Marcus off and on, whenever they were in port, so I already knew them. I suggested that they needed a hostess on board, and Connor offered me the job, so I took it. At the time, it seemed a better job than the cafe. I’m not sure Marcus was too crazy about the idea at first, but it worked out. Eventually, I ended up doing all the cooking and cleaning as well. I mean, a ship full of men? The place was a mess. If I hadn’t been here, I doubt they would have been in the passenger business for very long.”
“You had to clean up after them?”
“In the beginning, yes. It was a form of job security. These days, I make them clean up after themselves.”
Jessica nodded, taking another sip.