Nepenthe Rising (Stars in Shadow Book 1)

by John Triptych

  4 Qualms

  The tribunal was held in one of the briefing rooms at the Nepenthe’s aft ring. Since the ship was no longer in combat, the doughnut-shaped structure had expanded to its full size, and spun in order to create centrifugal gravity. Only the captain and his executive officer would represent the senior officers in the hearing, since the chief engineer declined to be part of the procedures, preferring instead to stay within the null gravity confines of the ship’s manufacturing decks.

  Captain Lucien Dangard had asked Zeno to come along, and the synthetic now stood by the wall at the other end of the room, away from Commander Creull’s contemptuous gaze. Since it would be a preliminary hearing, no one else was present, with the exception of the accused.

  Lieutenant Garrett Strand sat at the other end of the table. Because it was a formal hearing, he had worn his old Star Force uniform since the crew were never issued any standard dress clothes. He had saluted his superiors the moment he stepped inside the private meeting room, and was promptly told to sit down.

  Creull had been typing out a number of words on the floating hologram in the middle of the table and was almost finished, but she decided to go ahead and speak in order to break the silence. “Strand, let’s be clear. This is currently just an inquiry as to what happened when your strike teams boarded the liner. You have not been charged, so it will simply be an informal inquest. You are permitted to defend your actions. Do you understand?”

  “Understood, Commander,” Strand said. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Creull kept her legendary temper in check. She knew it would be counterproductive if she showed her true emotions. “One of the spacers under your command was lost in this operation. I feel it is because you disobeyed my mission orders. Do you have anything to say about it?”

  “Spacer Karem’s loss was tragic,” Strand said. “But he disobeyed my orders when I told him not to advance ahead of the bots during the boarding action.”

  “He may have been at fault because of that, but the true reason for his death is because of poor team discipline and substandard leadership,” Creull said. “To put it quite simply, your team was careless because you failed to train and discipline them properly.”

  Strand sat up on his chair. “That’s not fair. You can’t blame me for his actions.”

  Creull kept at it. “The fact is, your unit’s lack of discipline is such because they emulate your style. Standard procedures state that you are supposed to use bio-gel on your entire body in the event of combat, including your head. The bio-gel is not just to prevent skin irritations while in a suit, it can act as a sealant and helps protect the body from injury in case of a breach.”

  “I didn’t know Karem kept air in his helmet until after he was already deployed,” Strand said. “I consider it a matter of personal preference.”

  “Did you enforce standard procedures both during combat and while training your unit? Answer truthfully, for we can go back to the recordings using the ship’s archives.”

  Strand bit his lip. “I concentrate their training on the big picture, not little things like whether my people prefer liquid or air breathing during combat.”

  “If I may ask,” Zeno said, “is your habit of breathing air instead of bio-gel during combat a choice of comfort, or a practical one?”

  “Both,” Strand said. “I prefer to use the HUD on my helmet visor, and seeing through the bio-gel makes everything murky. Also, I’d rather issue verbal commands, and you can’t do that while liquid breathing.”

  “So if you took a head shot that penetrated your helmet, you’d be dead too,” Creull said. “Statistics have shown that mental commands communicated via your AI implant reach your subordinates faster than verbal ones.”

  “I think of other things while I’m commanding my strike teams, Commander. I like to keep my voice and thoughts separate.”

  Creull narrowed her eyes. “And doing so cost the life of one of your spacers. This isn’t the Union military. We can hardly afford to lose any organics in this crew.”

  “Again, Spacer Karem would not have died if he followed my commands,” Strand said. “Whether or not he had bio-gel in his helmet doesn’t factor in on this.”

  “Bio-gel could have saved Karem’s life,” Creull said, turning to look at the captain. “I move we initiate disciplinary proceedings against Lieutenant Strand.”

  The captain glanced over at Zeno. “What do you think?”

  The violet-skinned synthetic remained stationary by the wall. His kind never betrayed any emotions, for they had none. “We all know luck does play a part in every aspect of combat operations. Even if Karem’s helmet had bio-gel, it might not have saved him.”

  “Explain,” Creull said tersely.

  “Ballistic analysis of his suit seems to indicate a lucky shot. The gauss projectile penetrated the helmet through the micro sealant in between the armor and visor, before altering its trajectory after the impact and boring through his eye.”

  “Just a case of bad luck,” Dangard said. “I see no reason for disciplinary action.”

  There was a short silence as all eyes centered on the executive officer. Creull was an exacting perfectionist, and she always got on everyone’s case. But the captain had rendered his judgment, and she always abided by his word.

  “Very well. This hearing is hereby finished,” Creull said. “Lieutenant Strand may resume his duties. This incident is closed, and there will be no further inquiries on the matter.”

  Strand got up and headed towards the door. “I shall take my leave.”

  After the door closed behind him, Creull turned to face the captain again and growled. “He didn’t even salute before he left the room. He is insubordinate and should be taken to task for it.”

  Dangard shrugged. “He was angry, and saluting in this ship isn’t exactly a requirement. Like you said, Creull, this isn’t the Union military. Let’s lay off Strand for awhile.”

  Creull let out a deep breath from her massive lungs. “I don’t like his style of command. Strand is reckless and unpredictable. He is a bad influence amongst the spacers.”

  “His style is exactly why we promoted him to strike team commander,” Dangard said. “We need unpredictability in our tactics in order to stay one step ahead of any AI opponent. We do the same thing during ship combat.”

  “I disagree,” Creull said. “While Strand is a gifted tactician, he takes high risks and has trained his spacers to mirror his own style. We have lost an inordinate amount of recruits over the past few years because of this.”

  Dangard held up his hand dismissively. “It’s the age-old axiom: survival of the fittest. The best will rise up, the rest we recycle. The lieutenant got to where he was because he’s a damned good officer. Start recruiting some new spacers when we get to our next stop.”

  Creull looked away. “Very well, Captain.”

  Dangard stretched his arms while preparing to get up. “Anything else, XO?”

  “Actually, yes,” Creull said. “This bounty we picked up. The crew has been asking me what this is all about.”

  The captain pursed his lips. “A private transaction, and one that may be more significant than we previously believed.”

  Creull tilted her head slightly to the side, indicating confusion. “I don’t quite understand, Captain. The prize we picked up on that liner was two human females, and yet our mysterious employer gave us a significant down payment on it. I searched the galactic database to determine who they are and came up with nothing on the younger one. The older woman was a noted researcher, but her own records seem incomplete as well.”

  Dangard turned to look at the synthetic stationed by the wall. “Zeno?”

  “Preliminary biometric and medical analysis of the older female human was inconclusive,” Zeno said. “The adolescent on the other hand … seems to have a peculiar genome sequence.”

  Creull became more confused than ever.

  Strand let his temper cool off while walking towards th
e ship’s high security section. He respected Commander Creull, but the executive officer’s constant meddling irritated him. Strand knew the captain would ultimately take his side when it came to these hearings, so he wondered why they even bothered with an inquest. Losing another spacer hurt, especially when it could have been regarded as a textbook operation had Karem not gotten himself killed. In the end, the Nepenthe’s crew knew their occupation was a dangerous one, and casualties would be inevitable.

  An active warbot stationed near the bulkhead let him through after a biometric scan. Strand continued onwards until he got to the security room, keying in his command code to open the door before stepping inside.

  The walls along the small room were studded with holographic projectors. The module he had ventured into was normally reserved for the ship’s prisoners, and access to the entire section was severely restricted. When not commanding boarding operations, one of Strand’s other duties included the monitoring and treatment of prisoners. It was his least favorite duty, yet he was aware of its importance.

  Spacer Puteri Sin sat in one of the chairs in the middle of the room. She turned and quickly got up the moment Strand walked inside. She stood at attention and saluted him. “Lieutenant.”

  Strand dismissed her formal greeting with an annoyed wave of his hand. “I told you to stop doing that; this isn’t the Star Force.”

  Puteri swallowed while putting her hand down. She had just turned eighteen, and was still trying to learn the intricacies of life onboard the Nepenthe. “Sorry, sir, but I was admonished by Commander Creull when I failed to salute her that one time we passed by each other in the corridor.”

  “The XO can fekk herself for all I care,” Strand said before his voice lowered to a whisper. “Just don’t tell her I said that, okay?”

  Puteri blushed. “Of course not, sir. I would never betray a member of our own strike team, much less my commanding officer.”

  Strand made a wry smile while crossing his arms. “That’s better. Anything new to report?”

  “Nothing new since the two prisoners were placed into separate cells, LT. Although the younger one didn’t eat her meal.”

  Strand narrowed his eyes while looking at the surveillance monitors. The teen girl sat at the edge of the bed in her cell, staring blankly at the floor. A tray containing food and a bottle full of water had been brought in hours ago, yet she didn’t touch it. He had given the order to have the pair separated since they had started arguing with each other, but neither of them would tell him why.

  Glancing at the other room’s video feed, he could see the woman known as Dhara Hayer just pacing back and forth along her narrow cell. Unlike the younger girl, she had eaten her meal, and the bots had already taken the tray out of her cell. He couldn’t help but notice the synthskin bandage at the base of her neck, a byproduct of the medical procedure that removed any cybernetic implants from the prisoners.

  He turned his attention back to his subordinate. “Did you study the recordings of their argument?”

  “A little,” Puteri said. “It seems the younger one was shocked when the older woman attempted to kill her during the boarding action. I also watched the replay of that battle and you sure reacted in the nick of time, sir—if you hadn’t gotten to the older one, I’m certain the girl would be dead. “

  Strand nodded. “Yeah, it looks like this Dhara was willing to kill that poor girl just to prevent us from taking her. Did you do a background check on them?”

  “Yes, sir. I couldn’t find anything on the younger girl, but Dr. Dhara Hayer seems to be a preeminent researcher with the Union’s Science Institute, though her personnel file seems to stop at a certain point.”

  Strand let out a loud sigh. “The senior officers of this crew assign me a task, yet they never tell me what’s it all about. What do you mean Dr. Hayer’s file stopped?”

  “Well, we know the Science Institute is the code name for the Union’s top research directorate,” Puteri said. “Only the brightest minds ever get chosen to be part of that outfit.”

  “And?”

  “Dr. Hayer is one of their top scientists, yet her public records stopped updating when they assigned her to an undisclosed project,” Puteri said. “I mean, they completely stopped, as if everything about her afterwards was never entered into the database. It all feels like a black ops science operation to me.”

  “What’s her specialty?”

  “Artifact research and analysis,” the young spacer said.

  Strand made a low whistle. “Holy fekk. So she gets involved in a secret project and transports a girl with no personnel records and is ready to kill her the moment we try to take them? This is starting to feel really weird.”

  Puteri was recruited because she had a sound analytical mind, and a myriad of possibilities began to cascade through her thoughts. “Did the captain not tell you anything?”

  “All he told me was to keep them alive and not to talk with them,” Strand said.

  “Do you think he knows something that we don’t?”

  “Obviously,” Strand said. “Did you read the report on the forensic analysis of the AI implants we removed from them?”

  Puteri nodded. “Yes, LT. Seems Dr. Hayer had full command override for the liner’s systems—she even had a higher priority than the poor captain of that vessel. The rest of her AI’s memory banks are encrypted and we’re still trying to crack them.”

  Strand narrowed his eyes. They had a heavy cruiser escort and it was clear this doctor was behind everything. Something’s not right. “What about the implants on the girl?”

  Puteri shrugged. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a standard tracking application.” She paused for a bit before snapping her fingers. “Oh yes, the record in her AI was weird too.”

  “In what way?”

  “There was typical teen girl stuff in it, like pictures and videos of boys, music, and landscapes of faraway planets and stuff,” Puteri said. “But nothing at all about where she was living; nor did I find any archival info on her parents. It seemed like it had been erased from her personal server unit.”

  Strand turned and headed for the door. “Well, I guess it’s time to get to the bottom of it.”

  Puteri’s face registered a look of surprise. “What do you mean, sir?”

  Strand winked at her as he opened the door. “I’ll go ahead and ask them.”

  Puteri’s dark eyebrows shot up. “But LT, we’re under orders not to talk to the detainees.”

  “My main duty is to safeguard the prisoners’ lives while on this ship,” Strand said while stepping out into the corridor. “If one of them is starving herself, then I’m within my command parameters to find out what’s bugging her.”

  After closing the door, he continued on towards the cell blocks. Strand went through another automated security check before the final bulkhead door opened, revealing a long corridor with a number of double-layered doors on each side.

  Making his way over to the young girl’s cell, he opened the primary sealed door and stepped into the alcove before looking through the transparent divider.

  Maeve Lindros continued to sit by the side of the bunk. She glanced up at him briefly before turning her gaze away.

  Putting on his best smile, Strand used his AI implant to open the second door and stepped into the cell. “Hello there.”

  The girl continued to look away in silence. Maeve had been crying since she was separated from Dhara, and she was mentally exhausted. The sense of betrayal had given her a sullen demeanor.

  Strand sighed. “Look, I know you don’t want to be here, but this is just a temporary stay. We’re not planning to keep you for long.”

  Maeve stared down at the bare flooring. “What do you want?”

  He pointed at the tray of food on the metal table. “You need to eat. I know shipboard grub isn’t exactly the best, but putting food into your stomach will keep you from dying, right?”

  “What’s the point? The one person I thought I cou
ld trust wants me dead anyway.”

  Strand crossed his arms. “Look, I’ve been in quite a few battles, and everybody’s sense of right and wrong kind of gets … skewed. It looked to me like Dr. Hayer just went a bit bonkers.”

  She looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes despite the exhaustion. “No, I could tell she wanted to kill me. I know you were the one who saved me and I thank you for it. But right now … I … I just don’t feel like I want to live anymore.”

  Strand got into a half-crouch so he would be at eyelevel with her. “It was a traumatic experience you went through. And your companion went through the same thing, right? Also, the stories about getting captured by people like me don’t paint a pretty picture, if you know what I mean. I’ve heard stories myself that my kind executes prisoners and a lot of other things that I can’t describe.”

  “So what are you trying to say?”

  He shrugged. It was clear he was doing a terrible job of making her feel at ease, but he kept at it. “What I’m saying is, Dhara thought we’d do all sorts of … atrocities on you if we succeeded in taking you. She was wrong, and I’m sure she sees that now. My guess is she was trying to spare you from what she thought we were going to do to you.”

  It was Maeve’s turn to sigh. “I know you’re just trying to make me feel better.”

  Strand chuckled. “You got me. I’m not really doing a good job, am I?”

  Maeve leaned to her side and took the tray. “Okay, since you did save my life, I’ll eat this.”

  Strand was somewhat surprised. “Would you like me to heat it up again?”

  Maeve took the detachable spoon from the side of the tray and started eating. He looked kind of cute, like one of the many faces she would dream about when she accessed the galactic net, but he was also her abductor, and that fact tended to put a damper on things.”No, it’s okay. I’m used to food like this.”

  He suppressed the urge to jump up in triumph. Now that I’m here, let’s see if I can find out more about her. “Oh? Must be a horrible place if you’re used to eating food like what we serve onboard this ship.”