by Robert Boren
She sat at the table. “Nolan’s module. He didn’t say anything else.”
“Dammit. I’m going to make an executive decision, then. Vermillion likes to compartmentalize everything. No time for that now.” I sat in my chair and tapped the pad under the arm rest, the holographic frame appearing.
“What’s this?” JJ asked, getting up to look over my shoulder as I signaled Vermillion. He didn’t answer, but a recording tag popped up. I tapped the control pad to open it. Vermillion’s face appeared, a grave expression on his face.
“Captain Clarke, I knew you’d be trying to contact me. I’m in transit and don’t have access to my node yet. I’ll get with you as soon as I do. Is Ostermann with you? Nobody could find her during the evac. I fear the worst. Please reply telling me if you have her so I’ll get the info straight away. Did the cloaking software get installed? If it didn’t, find a place to hide until we can re-group. We’re being hunted.”
The recording ended abruptly.
“Okay, what the hell is that? I’m assuming it wrote to memory before we left the base.”
I glanced at her, then turned on record mode. “Come over here, next to me.”
She moved her chair beside mine, and I started.
“As you can see, sir, JJ is with me on the Zephyrus. The cloaking software did get installed. JJ, will it work now, or do we need to run a setup procedure?”
She glanced at me, then back at the holographic image of our faces. “It’ll work better than any other cloaking device we have right now, but we’ll want to optimize it, because the very latest sensors might show a slight return, depending on the stability of the shields.”
“There you have it, sir. Sorry I had to show this to JJ. I’m sure you understand. Talk to you soon. God speed.”
I shut down the device. “Like our new toy?”
“I hate that Vermillion is so tight-lipped about this stuff,” she said, shaking her head. “I suppose this will work while we’re in a wormhole.”
“Yep, and it’s totally un-traceable.”
“That defies a law of physics,” JJ said. “Love to know how it works.”
“Well, I can’t help you there. I barely know how to use it, let alone how it works. I’ll leave that to you scientist types.”
“Which world are we going to?”
“Ever heard of Cremonia?” I asked.
“That’s above level five, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and pre-human. We were there before Vermillion called us back to Earth. Can we tune the cloaking device under water?”
“It wouldn’t be my first choice,” JJ said. “Why?”
“Cremonia’s terrestrial environment presents some challenges.”
“Oh, crap, what?”
I laughed. “It’s a level twelve.”
“Mesozoic. What timeframe?”
“The worst,” I said. “Cretaceous.”
She thought for a moment. “Outside temp won’t impact the tuning. How about the poles? Have you surveyed them? That’ll be too cold for the worst of the dinosaurs.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said. “We should go back to the bridge. We’ll be coming out of the jump soon. I’ll get Nolan on that survey.” As we got up to leave, my PA dinged. “Deacon again.”
“Hey, Cappy, can you come down to the crew deck?”
“What’s up?” I asked.
“We just found out who the plant was.”
“Do you have him in custody?” I asked.
“No, but the briny deep probably does. He didn’t make it back to the ship. He had a class thirty-two receiver/encryption device in his locker. It was beeping.”
“Be right down,” I said. “C’mon, JJ.”
We headed to the lower level.
{ 10 }
Alone in the Zone
J J and I took the spiral staircase down to the crew deck. The halls were smaller, the floor an industrial matting with magnetic capability in case of gravity failure. Deacon’s large frame appeared from the right side. He motioned us over.
“Deacon, JJ Ostermann,” I said as we got to him.
“It’s a pleasure,” Deacon said, extending his hand. “Glad he left the paging system on.”
“How advanced is this device?” JJ asked, lines of worry on her face.
“You’ll have to be the judge of that,” Deacon said. “It’s right down the hall.”
We got to the door of crew barrack three, following Deacon inside. Caraway was there, guarding the scene with a spiker in his hand. I nodded to him.
“Hello, Captain.” He stood aside so we could look in the locker, with its door hanging open.
JJ glanced at me. “May I?”
“Please,” I said, watching as she picked it up. “We need to destroy this before we come out of the jump. It’ll show our position.”
“I was afraid of that,” Deacon said. “How?”
“You got a hydraulic press?” she asked.
“Yeah, down in engineering,” Deacon said. “Follow me. How long do we have?”
I tapped my PA. Izzy answered.
“Yes, Captain?”
“How long will we be in the jump. Be precise.”
“Twenty-two minutes, sir.”
“Perfect, thanks,” I said. “You heard her.”
“That’s plenty of time,” JJ said. “We need to smash it, and make sure that the transmit module is destroyed.”
We entered a bulkhead door, following Deacon past the fusion reactor to the machine shop. “There it is.” He pointed to a small hydraulic press. “Think that’s enough for the job?”
“Should be fine,” JJ said, walking over to it. She spoke into her PA, contacting the transmitter.
“Why’d you do that?” I asked.
“Best way to tell if we’ve destroyed the transmitter.” She put the device on the small circular platform, then raised the clear shield and pushed a button, the hydraulics moving a cylinder down onto the platform, crunching the device. After a few seconds, she pushed another button and the cylinder rose.
“Don’t touch that with your bare hands,” Deacon said.
“I know,” she said, picking the device up with a large pair of tweezers that were in the small tool box next to the press. She put the smashed device on the table next to it, then tried to access the transmitter. “It’s dead.”
“Good,” I said. “Who was it, Deacon?”
“Ensign Daniels. He was a replacement for Ensign Fredricks. He’s only been on the ship for a month.”
My brow furrowed. “Dammit. We need to sweep the ship, to make sure he didn’t stash anything else around. Was he close to any of the men who survived?”
Deacon looked at Caraway, who shook his head no. “The guy was kind of an asshole. Reminded me of Nolan. He was from some level-three world. Nobody liked him much, and the feeling was mutual.”
“I need every bit of info you have on this guy, Deacon. Send it to my PA.”
“Will do, Cappy,” Deacon said. “We’ll start the sweep now.”
“Thanks. We need to get to the bridge. Call me right away if you find anything else.”
“Yes sir,” Deacon said. JJ and I left, heading back to the bridge.
“This event has been planned for a while,” I said.
“Looks that way, if the plant was on your ship that long.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me if he survived that attack.”
“How?” JJ asked.
“He knew it was coming. We need to find out who survived, and let Vermillion know about this.”
We got back to the bridge.
“Anything going on I need to know about?”
“Nothing, Captain,” Nolan said. “We’re getting close.”
I looked over at Tim. “We found out who the plant was.”
“So there was a plant. I knew it. Where is he?”
“Left at the base,” I said. “We don’t know if he’s alive or dead, but we’ve destroyed his communications device.”
Nolan looked over. “I figured that was why you wanted to know how long we’d be in the wormhole.”
“We’re sweeping the crew deck for other devices now,” I said.
“Who was it?” Tim asked.
“Ensign Daniels.”
“Crap. Figures. He was a jerk.”
I laughed. “So I’ve been told. Any other jerks on the crew?”
Tim shook his head. “Nope. How many were on the ship when we left?”
“Not enough,” I said with my brow furrowed. “Cappy’s only got five guys.”
“We could run this ship with less than that,” Nolan said. “Wonder if the Tristar got away.”
“We’ll find out when we’re out of the jump,” JJ said. “I’ve got the codes to access her, even when she’s cloaked.”
“Good,” Nolan said. “I did that survey you asked for, Captain. We can land on the south pole. Weather conditions can be a little dicey, though. We might have to take a dip back in the lake and wait it out. Can’t tell until we’re out of the wormhole.”
“We know it’s cold, Nolan,” Izzy said.
“The cold is no problem. The area has hurricane force winds that kick up in a hurry.”
“Oh,” Izzy said. “Wonderful.”
“I don’t plan on being on this world for very long,” I said.
“Where are we going?” Izzy asked.
“We’re gonna do our mission. We’ll be using the sequence that Nolan suggested.”
“We better contact your boss before we do that,” Nolan said. “You know the Overlords might be working with the Clan, right?”
“Yes, Nolan, that thought crossed my mind.”
“You really think so?” JJ asked.
“An attack on the Corporation happens shortly after we discover Clan ships in our zone,” Nolan said. “That’s a coincidence I’m not ready to believe.”
“Coming out of the wormhole, Captain,” Izzy said. We all felt the static charge as the ship settled into orbit around Cremonia.
“Scanning the south pole now,” Nolan said. “It’s not bad. Weather won’t hold for long, though. How long do we need to be there? I assume it has to do with the new software.”
“Three hours for the first round, then another round afterwards that should only take about half an hour,” JJ said.
“We should be okay, then,” Nolan said. “You’ve got the coordinates, Izzy.”
We shot down from orbit, landing on flat ice. My PA beeped.
“The crew deck is clean, Cappy. Can I send the team to the upper deck to check it out?”
“Yeah, Deacon, do that.”
“Talk to you soon.”
“What do you need to do the tuning?” I asked JJ.
“I need to take over for Izzy.”
“Good, I could use something to eat,” Izzy said, getting out of her chair, JJ taking it over.
“Can we help?” Nolan asked.
“Watch your sensors,” JJ said. “You and I will work this together.”
“Perfect.” They both concentrated on their screens.
“I’m gonna go check on the Neanderthal,” I said, getting up. “Tim, you’ve got the bridge. Watch for bad weather. If it gets dangerous, we head for the lake. Got it?”
“Yes sir,” Tim said.
I left the bridge, heading for sick bay. Deneuve was in the hall by the door, his brow furrowed.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“Dr. Hazelton put our friend out, so she can run some tests. Makes me nervous, that’s all.”
“Was he aware of what just happened?”
Deneuve nodded. “He can tell when we go in and out of wormholes. Doesn’t like it much. Held onto me for dear life.”
I chuckled. “He’s already that bonded?”
“Oh, yeah,” Deneuve said.
Dr. Hazelton came into the hallway. “He’s fine. I verified that the ALS cocktail won’t hurt him. He’ll be conscious in a few minutes. You probably should get in there. He’ll get upset if you aren’t there when he wakes.”
“We’re going ahead with the ALS process?” Deneuve asked.
“That’ll be my recommendation, but we’ll talk it out, like the Captain suggested. Maybe we should do it in there, so Deneuve can listen too.”
“Not a problem,” I said. “Let’s go in.”
We walked into sick bay. The Neanderthal was already stirring, his eyes getting wide as he tried to find Deneuve, who rushed to his side, touching his shoulder.
“Wow, look at that,” I whispered. “Looks like a dog when you’re petting it in a favorite place.”
“It’s okay, Barney,” Deneuve said.
“Barney?” I asked.
“I needed a name to call him, Captain. He already looks at me when I say it. He knows it’s my name for him. He’s no dummy.”
“Yeah, but where did you get that name? It used to be somewhat derogatory.”
“Derogatory?” Dr. Hazelton asked.
“The name was used in a mid-20th Century television program,” I said.
Deneuve laughed. “I took the name from a television program of that timeframe, but not the one you’re talking about.”
“Which one?” I asked.
“It was called the Flintstones,” he said. “It was early animated artwork, about people in pre-history. Barney was the sidekick character.”
Dr. Hazelton rolled her eyes. “At least he didn’t call him Rover or Fido.”
“He’s not a dog,” Deneuve said, a slight edge to his tone.
I shot a glance at Dr. Hazelton, and she smirked.
“Did we get through the rest of the dialects?”
“Yes, Captain. Two others caused him to take notice, but when we used them to ask a question, he didn’t respond.”
“They weren’t living with the civilization,” Deneuve said. “I’m not surprised he didn’t know their languages. Native Americans didn’t know European languages for quite a while either.”
“True,” I said. “How long will ALS take, should we decide to use it?”
“The first level would finish in about forty-eight hours. We’ll have to let him rest for a few days before the second level.”
“How far will the first level get him?” I asked.
“Similar to a nine-year old Earth human. The second level will give him mid-teen language skills. The third level will include reading and writing skills, along with adult language skills.”
“Amazing,” I said. “What are the risks?”
“The main risk is that it won’t work on him,” Dr. Hazelton said. “It’s been used before on Neanderthals. I was reading case studies last night. Most subjects got through the first level without any trouble. There was some fall-off on level two, and more fallout on level three.”
“Was there any adverse reaction to the drug cocktail?” Deneuve asked.
“None, but the sample size is small. Only about sixty individuals. That’s why I ran the tests.”
“We needed to do that anyway,” Deneuve said. “Remember that some drugs are lethal to certain individual humans. Allergies.”
“You are correct, of course,” Dr. Hazelton said. “Problems are rare in humans, but it was worth the time to be extra-cautious.”
“It’s a go, then?” Deneuve asked.
“How do you feel about it?” I asked.
Deneuve thought for a moment. “Scares me, but it’ll be nice to communicate.”
I nodded, then turned to Dr. Hazelton. “What if we have to bring him out of a session before it’s finished? Will it hurt him?”
“No, the system remembers exactly where it left off,” she said.
“Are we expecting action?” Deneuve asked.
“Somebody just destroyed several Corporation bases, and we’re being hunted,” I said. “We’re very stealthy, especially with our latest upgrade, but we’re still in danger.”
“I’m not happy to hear that,” Dr. Hazelton said, “but it won’t add risk to the ALS procedure, other than ex
tending the completion time.”
“Good, then go ahead with it. Barney might know something useful.”
“He looked at you when you said his name,” Deneuve said with a grin.
I left sick bay, heading for my stateroom to check for a message from Chairman Vermillion. There was no message, and my page attempt went unanswered. Dammit. I went back to the bridge, where JJ and Nolan were working on the tuning.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
JJ put a hand up, without turning towards me. Tim motioned me over to his station.
“Look at this,” he whispered, bringing up a map of the Central Authority Zone. “There aren’t any ships in transit.”
I studied it. “Wonder if the Corporation nailed the Samson Drives?”
“Can’t tell,” Tim said. “My gut tells me no. I scanned for debris on the busiest shipping routes. There’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
“I can’t raise Vermillion.”
“Crap,” Tim said. “We’re out here all by ourselves, then.”
“We’re running a ship that’s damn near invisible, in a wormhole or not. We’re also faster than any ship in the Central Authority’s fleet. The only ship faster than ours is the Tristar, and she’s probably on our side.”
“Probably?” Tim asked.
“Yeah, probably. Best I can say for now.”
“How do we compare to the best the Clan has?”
I sighed. “That’s the question that bothers me the most. I have no idea, and no way to find out short of engagement.”
“Yeah, an engagement that we might lose,” Tim whispered.
“Exactly.”
“How’s the Neanderthal?” Tim asked.
“Undergoing his first ALS procedure as we speak,” I said. “He and Deneuve have bonded.”
Tim smiled. “Goes along with what I’ve read. I’m surprised they aren’t bred and spread around the other planets in the zone. They’re good at certain things.”
“I know. It’ll be interesting to see what Barney has to say about the action on Valla Cappos.”
“Barney?” Tim asked.
“Deneuve named him, and he already recognizes it. He turned towards me when I said it, and we’re not bonded.”
“Interesting.”
“Done,” JJ said. “That took a third of the time I expected. We have a very stable power supply and very stable shields.”