Confrontation

by William Hayashi

  “Record everything. I’m going to get to the bottom of this!” Levkov promised, floating to his pilot’s chair. He pulled on his headset and fired up the radio.

  * * *

  “This is Colonel Levkov of Svoboda, calling Jove. Please respond.”

  “Now what?” Susan said, exasperated. She went to the communications console, pulled on the headset and replied “Colonel Levkov, this is Dr. Roscoe. How may I help you?”

  “We are monitoring a radio transmission between you and the colony. We are curious why they are communicating with you and not with us? And I demand to know what is the nature of this communication.”

  “You demand, colonel?” Susan said, getting everyone’s attention. She switched on the external speaker so the rest of the crew could hear the exchange. When Peter pointed to John’s compartment, she shook her head.

  “Yes, I demand to know why there is collusion between the colony and the American mission. We can only conclude that such collaboration would negatively impact our multinational effort at communicating with the colony,” he said briskly.

  “Colonel, has anyone informed you that the Cold War is over?” Susan responded, getting laughs from the crew.

  “I, do not—we do not take this as a joke. The technical advantages that the separatists represent will not be allowed to be the exclusive province of the United States of America. Anything that destabilizes the balance of power between countries on Earth will not be tolerated.”

  “Is that a threat? Are you threatening an unarmed mission in what has been long considered international space?” asked Susan, everyone else growing serious, hearing the menace in Levkov’s voice.

  “What are you doing?” Gina asked, muting the transmission.

  Levkov pushed her away from the console, shaking his finger in her face as she drifted away. When he unmuted he said, “Did you understand my last transmission, Doctor?”

  Moments later, Susan replied, “I’m rather shocked and disappointed at your attitude and accusations. By what right do you threaten my ship? Are you going to attack if your curiosity isn’t satisfied? Your behavior is going to be reported, and a complaint lodged with your command.”

  Xavier tugged on Levkov’s coverall to get his attention, at least getting the colonel to mute the microphone. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing. This is not according to mission protocols, and it’s downright reckless. They have done nothing aggressive, nor are they any threat to us, back off, Vasily!”

  Levkov paused to consider for a moment, then he unmuted the circuit and said, “Dr. Roscoe, please take heed of my words. No country will tolerate the United States obtaining the colonists’ technology for its exclusive use. Take some time to consider my position, it is shared by most of the countries of the world. Levkov out.”

  “What in the holy hell was that all about?” David asked when Susan had closed the connection and removed the headset.

  “That guy’s a few fries short of a Happy Meal,” said Peter.

  “No shit. Peter, would you extract and compress that conversation and get it ready to send. I want to draft a message to go back to mission control.”

  “Are we at risk of attack?” Sybil asked.

  “We’re completely unarmed. About all we can attack them with is harsh language,” said Harriet.

  “He doesn’t sound very stable,” Chester observed.

  “That’s an understatement,” said Bianca. “I have to draft a message to my people as well. Be back shortly,” she said, jaunting to her compartment.

  * * *

  “Sydney?” a woman’s voice asked in the middle of her conversation with John.

  Holding up her finger to pause John’s sentence, then replied, “Yes, Genesis?”

  “I have a very important message that cannot wait.”

  “Very well. John, I have to go. I’ll call you back shortly,” she promised, then the screen blanked.

  Puzzled, John got up and left his compartment. When he left his compartment he could immediately sense the tension in the room.

  Seeing him emerge from his compartment, Harriet drifted over and explained that Susan and Bianca were both sending messages back to Earth because Colonel Levkov threatened them due to the conversations he was having with Sydney.

  She led him to the communications console, where Peter was wrapping up the processing of Levkov’s conversation with Susan.

  “Play it for him,” Harriet directed Peter.

  John listened in shock as the conversation played out. When it was over, he was momentarily speechless.

  “Two things: who does he think he is, and do we have any defensive capabilities if their ship is armed?” John asked.

  “He’s old Soviet, John. And no, we have no way to defend ourselves if they have missiles or anything else that fires high-speed projectiles,” Harriet replied.

  “All this because Sydney was allowed to speak to me?” John asked, incredulous at the very idea.

  “Paranoid much with that guy?” Peter said with a sick laugh.

  “It’s all fun and games until your spaceship is blown up!” David joked in dark humor.

  “Well, let’s see what Susan says when she’s done,” Chester suggested. “We can’t do anything about it anyway.”

  * * *

  When her screen cleared, Sydney asked, “What’s the deal, Genesis?”

  “I have a conversation to play that just occurred between the Jove and Svoboda spacecraft. It is being played for the council and other interested persons as well. Maxwell indicated that you hear it immediately, stand by.”

  Sydney listened in undisguised horror as she heard Colonel Levkov’s threats against the Jove mission, realizing that her conversation with John was the cause.

  “Genesis, what’s been the reaction to these threats?”

  “An emergency meeting has been called by the Council, you are invited to attend. It begins in ten minutes.”

  * * *

  When midnight approached, Lena and Neil headed down to the dock where Albert had been keeping watch since late afternoon. Neil had brought Albert’s wetsuit, mask and flippers to change into before they set off.

  Once they were ready, Neil and Albert cast off as Lena started the barge motoring down the canal toward the lake.

  They navigated through the channel silently, everyone keeping their eyes peeled for any activity along the way. Their progress, by necessity, was painfully slow, but they finally reached the stretch that led to Lake Michigan. Lena halted the fully-loaded barge when they were about half a mile from the overpass of the expressway. There were a lot of lights along the road and there was a good chance that the barge would be seen.

  They watched as traffic passed over the canal, trying to figure out their chances getting out into open water unseen and unreported. Even though the bridge was high above the canal, they felt completely exposed down on the water.

  “You know, it doesn’t matter. We have to go that way anyway. I say let’s just go dead slow, no wake so maybe no one will look closely enough to see we’re underway,” Neil suggested. “That sound about right to you guys?”

  Albert nodded, and Lena said, “What choice do we have?”

  She nudged the speed control forward and the barge began to drift toward the expressway. Their progress was glacially slow as they held their collective breaths as the barge drifted closer and closer to the overpass.

  Twenty minutes later, they were in the shadows underneath the six-lane bridge, completely obscured from view. Lena stopped the barge, giving them a slight break from the tension.

  “You guys ready?” she whispered, as if anyone above could hear them over the whine of traffic passing above.

  “Yeah, let’s get a move on. The quicker the better. I want to get the barge back well before daylight,” Neil said.

  Lena sta
rted the barge out from under the expressway, still going dead slow. Closer to the lake, the ambient light became dimmer, giving them more and more confidence. She nudged the speed slightly higher, moving the barge faster out into Lake Michigan.

  “G2, connect me with Sondra,” Neil requested.

  “How are you guys coming along?” Sondra asked.

  “We just left the mouth of the canal. It was pretty hairy going under the expressway. It was lit up like Christmas, but no one stopped to look that we could tell. How are you doing?” Neil asked.

  “Fine. I was watching a movie about an asteroid coming to smack into Earth. It’s been very quiet down here,” she replied.

  “How’s the whale?”

  “Just fine. There’s been no leaks and all the equipment is running just fine! It’s been like a mini-vacation down here. How’s the weather?” she asked.

  “It’s too damn clear out here. Not a cloud in the sky. Hang on. We have to check for nearby boaters.”

  Using night vision goggles, Albert checked the water on all sides of the barge, hoping that the Coast Guard or CPD weren’t out with radar. The shipping containers would light up on the scopes like a skyscraper if scanned. Lena altered their course at G2’s direction. The barge was moving at just over five knots and would arrive over the whale in less than two hours, a long time to be exposed out on the lake.

  Time passed slowly for the crew, keyed up and afraid of being discovered. They flinched at every noise: airplanes overhead, loud trucks that passed along the expressway, even motorcycles racing along above the speed limit. Fortunately all the boats they spotted were well off toward downtown. They began to feel some measure of relief as they approached the location of the submerged whale. When they were within a hundred yards of the parked spaceship, Sondra started letting out the anchor cables holding the whale underwater, raising the massive spaceship toward the surface.

  Lena stopped the forward movement of the barge, waiting to see exactly where the whale would surface.

  “There it is,” Albert said pointing to a slightly illuminated disturbance in the water.

  The whale rose out of the lake, the top of the hull rising more than twenty feet above the water.

  Lena steered the barge over and pulled up directly behind the spaceship whose cargo doors were already opening. Neil and Albert tied the barge to the ship, putting the two end-to-end. They then ran inside and retrieved the G-wave lifters.

  “This is going to be a pain in the ass with just three,” Albert complained.

  “Let’s see if we can do it with just the two of us. Let’s get the first one with each of us on the ends of the container. If we jack up the power just a little bit we should be able to get it in the hold,” said Neil.

  “Wait, let’s put Lena in the middle to steady it,” suggested Albert.

  They got the G-wave lifters powered up, then attached them to the first container. Sondra had come into the hold with a flashlight to direct them, but ready to dash back to the controls should anyone unwanted show up.

  “On three,” said Neil. “One, two, and three!”

  The container rose about a foot off the deck of the barge, and with Sondra leading the way, the three maneuvered the first container deep into the whale’s hold. When it was in place, Sondra signaled them to let the container down on the deck. Misjudging the power output of the G-waves, the container smacked the whale’s hold with a loud clang that scared them all.

  “Everyone okay?” Sondra hissed.

  Getting the all clear from the others, she said, “Okay, let’s get a move on.”

  Working quickly, they got the containers lined up in the whale’s hold in a half hour. Neil hooked the refrigerator into power in the hold. Once he was satisfied with the connection, and that the unit was working properly, he gathered up the G-wave lifters and stowed them away.

  When the ground crew returned to the barge, they watched as the cargo doors slowly closed. Albert and Neil cast off the lines holding the barge to the whale, and Lena slowly backed away as the whale sank beneath the water. Wasting no time, Lena turned the barge back toward shore and pushed the speed up to about eight knots, wanting to get back up the canal and docked well before first light.

  When Sondra was safely anchored again just above the lake bed, she called Chuck and Todd to report that the cargo was secure. She went back into the hold while she had the other two on the line to inspect the cargo doors for leakage, as well as check on the containers with the hold’s lights on. When she reported that all was well, the others were relieved.

  Meanwhile, the ground crew motored toward shore, relieved that they had gotten the cargo safely into the ship. When they were off the mouth of the canal, just outside the lighting from the streets, Lena paused the barge. At the slow speed they could push the barge, looking for a break in traffic was pointless, so Lena steered back toward the canal, not bothering to pause under the expressway as she had on the outbound trip.

  Two and a half hours after they had cast off from the whale, Neil called in to report that the barge was tied up at the dock and that they had removed the propulsion units, dragging them by cart into the warehouse.

  They quickly changed clothes, secured the doors and then took the truck to the motel so they could finally get in a few hours sleep, checking in with Chuck on the way to see if there was anything new with Julius and Lucius.

  Chapter 30

  RIGHT PLACE, WRONG TIME

  Lucius and Julius were conducted to a holding cell on one of the upper floors of the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building in downtown Chicago. The holding cell was clean and comfortable, but no one would engage them in conversation. When the handcuffs were removed, both men were amazed that they still hadn’t been searched, so they still had their special earpieces.

  Assuming they were under surveillance, they avoided revealing the devices. So to pass the time Lucius told stories about his experiences practicing law. For his part, Julius talked about his relationship with Sondra, both knowing that the rest of the ground team was able to listen in.

  The were both surprised when the felt their earpieces vibrate in their pockets. Lucius said casually and quietly, “One for yes, two for no.”

  In a louder voice he said, “I’m wondering if the work is done here?”

  “Good question,” Julius said, playing along.

  Seconds later they both felt a single buzz.

  “What I’m wondering is that without being given a phone call, is anyone going to come and get us?” Julius asked.

  The earpieces buzzed twice.

  “By law, they have to charge us, or release us,” Lucius pointed out.

  “Yeah, that’s for white folks. I’m not so sure the law is going to exactly apply to us,” Julius said bitterly. He felt two buzzes, almost causing him to laugh out loud.

  “I think they’re trying to bore us to death,” Lucius offered, pointedly look around the featureless cell.

  “Hopefully, if this goes on much longer, we’ll see some action around here,” Julius said, eliciting a single buzz in response.

  The two didn’t have much else to say, and Julius decided to try to take a nap. Lucius was dying to converse with Chuck, but wasn’t about to expose the capability to anyone monitoring the cell.

  G2 was able to access the Department of Justice’s network with ease, determined the exact location in the building where they were being held, and to read the few email messages concerning their disposition. Chuck was glad that the orders were to only hold them for an additional forty-eight hours, when a determination would be made on what to do with them then. He called the rest of the ground crew and instructed them to eliminate all trace of their presence at the warehouse, and to destroy the larger underwater propulsion units, keeping the personal units for getting back to the whale.

  * * *

  The council wasted no time gatheri
ng to discuss the conversation between the two Earth missions. Sydney, Christopher and Peanut were also present as Maxwell called the meeting to order. He first had Genesis play the conversation so it would be fresh in everyone’s mind, then started the ball rolling.

  “The first thing I want to say is that you are in no way responsible for this idiot’s behavior, Sydney. We all agree on that. And, I think I speak for everyone that your discussions with Mathews are none of Svoboda’s business,” Maxwell said, getting nods from everyone around the table.

  “Maybe this is a good thing,” Christopher said.

  “How’s that?” Phillip asked.

  “Well, if they fight among themselves, it’s none of our lookout.”

  “And what if it results in the loss of lives? Do we just sit by and allow that to happen?” Phillip countered.

  “Of course not,” Maxwell said, tapping the table for emphasis. “We should tolerate no such behavior in our neighborhood.”

  “Genesis?”

  “Yes, Christopher, how may I be of assistance?”

  “When you initially reviewed the blueprints for Svoboda you mentioned that there were attachment points for air-to-air missiles, did you not?”

  “I did. However, there was no further mention of the mountings, nor any documentation on any weapons system or the actual installation of armaments.”

  “Given the fact that the ship was configured for those missiles, what are the chances that they were installed?”

  “In reviewing the shipping manifests for the materials lifted into orbit for the construction of the Svoboda spacecraft, several tons of materials were not documented. In trying to trace back the source of these materials, there was no electronic record I could uncover to explain the undocumented mass. Given the mounts in the original blueprints, and the undocumented tonnage lifted into space during construction, I calculate that there is a seventy-two percent probability that the Svoboda spacecraft is armed with modified Russian R-77 radar-guided, air-to-air missiles,” Genesis concluded.