“Eight AM.”
“See you then.”
Alex hung up the phone.
“Why are you accepting help from him?” asked Timmy. “We can get the manpower and materials ourselves.”
“Appearances,” Alex responded as he walked away.
“And we are going to need more chairs.”
Timmy smiled. “I got it covered.”
***
“Mr President, we cannot allow you to go on board the Destiny.” The Director of the Secret Service faced him in the Oval Office.
“Why the Hell not?” The President sat down behind the famed desk and spun away from the Director.
“Same reason you can’t jump in a car and drive down the road, sir. You’ll need congressional approval.”
“Goddamn shiddit. Set it up, then.” The director quickly spun on his heels to leave the room.
“I have been thinking about this mission,” Lucy said as he left. “And the opportunities that may… present themselves while you are onboard.”
Something in his Chief of Staff’s tone made the President sit up. He spun his chair to face her.
“I’m listening.”
***
“Alex, be nice. You had to expect this would happen eventually.”
Alex simmered as he watched the view-screens. They showed various sections of the interior of the Destiny. Small teams of men were methodically searching every room on the ship.
“Mimi, arms locker on screen one please.”
The image changed. Several men were taking pictures of the secured weapons racks on the third level. UEF’s own security guards watched on. Alex had decided to take them on this mission, as a test run for an expanded crew. It went on for about fifteen minutes, before one of the agents let Alex know the President was about to come on board.
“Mimi, default screen please.”
The main screen connected to the front external camera. A wide, flat, arid landscape. Speckled with military buildings and part of a runway.
Alex left the bridge to meet the President on the loading ramp.
“Welcome aboard, Mr. President.”
“Actually, executive privileges have been transferred to my Vice President for the time being. The public will be informed when we are on our way.
“Hmm. Our first Madam President,” Alex said. “Perhaps there is hope for progress after all. If you’ll follow me.”
He led the way to the bridge, as the Secret Service filtered off the ship. He noticed that the President did not introduce either of the two men who followed him.
Minutes later, all persons were secure in command chairs on the Destiny.
“Cindy, plot us a course to our second pickup.”
“What’s this?” The President leaned back in his seat.
“We need to pick up some final equipment before we set off. And one additional crew member. Shouldn’t take a moment.”
The Destiny silently departed the secret military base and headed towards Connecticut. The President gasped.
“Like we’re not even moving,” he whispered. Soon they descended at the pick-up location, where they loaded the last of the 3D printers. Timmy stepped onto the bridge.
“Good to see you,” Alex said, as Timmy took his seat.
“Welcome aboard, Mr. President,” Timmy said, while he continued to stare at the President, grinning stupidly.
“Cindy, take us to our next pick up.” Alex turned away from Timmy and cringed inwardly while he glanced at the President.
The President raised an eyebrow.
“A quick jaunt to China won’t seem like much when we set off for Titan,” Alex said.
They watched as they reached the next stop and hovered above another large tank.
“Captain, we have confirmation of attachment.”
“Cindy.”
“Departing.”
“Still hauling garbage, are you?” the President quipped.
“Keeps the lights on,” Alex replied, coldly.
The President’s reply was cut short when the g-force kicked in. He gasped at the speed with which the ground vanished. He watched as the flat horizon became curved rather quickly.
He felt the sensation of weightlessness for just a moment. Even if he was still buckled into his chair.
“Disconnecting. Returning for the second container,” said Cindy.
“Perhaps we can make some kind of financial arrangement with the UEF so these cargo runs would no longer be necessary.”
“I am always agreeable to a fair deal, Mr. President.”
Most of the transition time back to China was spent in silence.
“Connecting cables now,” said Jack, as they arrived back at the Chinese airfield.
“How long does it take to get to Titan?” The President played with his tie, freeing it from under the straps.
“Several days. Depends how much g-force we are willing to endure for the sake of time. It will be a boring ride, I assure you.”
“Confirmation of attachment,” Jack said, checking the signal from the container, indicating it was hooked on.
The President glanced to his right. Jack was returning his gaze. Their faces cold and expressionless. Just then, several bridge lights activated, plunging the bridge into deep red.
“Sensors indicate we are taking fire!” said Cindy. Everyone listened. There was only the eerie silence they were accustomed too.
The front view looked normal. The Destiny still hovered about ten feet off the runway. Alex was about to suggest a false alarm, when he was interrupted.
“Mimi, display external cam cargo link.” Cindy’s fingers danced across her screen.
The second view-screen changed to show the hazardous tank. But the top portion of the tank was opened, and the hazard it contained was not at all what they thought. Armed men were spilling out, climbing up the steel tow line towards the cargo bay. One of the UEF guards lay motionless on the tarmac in a pool of blood.
“Get us out of here!” Alex shouted. “Mimi, alert for boarding action.”
The red flashing bridge was now a red and blue flashing bridge.
Both of the President’s escorts stood and pulled out MP5 machine guns hidden within their suits, holding them beside the President in a low crouch.
“What the-” Alex managed to say before the g-forces pushed him into his seat. The agents crashed against the deck. Cindy was accelerating towards space. They saw one of the men on the tow line fall away, flailing desperately. The others were secured to the line, and Alex could see they were equipped with protective clothing and face-masks. High altitude might not deter them.
“They are about to board!” Jack shouted.
“Decoupler,” Alex responded.
Jack recognized the term and navigated his terminal screen to the tactical button. He chuckled at the irony, and activated the laser turret from his control pad. Two seconds later, the cargo container was cut free. They all watched the container fall away, with several men who barely had time to react, back towards the surface of Earth.
Cindy altered the ship’s glide path to maintain the current altitude of twenty three thousand feet in no specific direction. She took a deep breath.
“It’s not over,” Jack growled. “There’s still two men climbing what’s left of the line. One is in the cargo bay already.”
“Mimi, ship wide announcement. Intruder alert, cargo bay, level three. Three armed men.”
“Affirmative.”
Alex heard himself on the ship’s loudspeakers. He tore off his seat’s safety harness.
“We defend the bridge,” he said. “There’s only one entrance. I’m going for weapons. You two, guard the doorway,” he went on, gesturing at the President’s security as they struggled to stand again. “Don’t shoot me when I come back.”
He set off to his cabin, poking his head around each corner as he went, heart thumping in his chest. But he encountered no one on the short journey there and back. When he returned to the bri
dge, he gave Jack a shotgun and Cindy a pistol. He clutched another for himself.
“Where’s mine?” Mac asked.
“You’re not trained,” Alex said. “Get behind us.”
The President was escorted to the far side of the room by his men, leaving Alex, Cindy and Jack to guard the doorway. Alex crouched behind the wall, exposing as little as possible as he aimed down the hallway. He waited for armed Chinese men to appear at the other end, trying to suppress old memories that came swimming back. He took deep breaths, bracing himself.
The sudden sound of gunshots reverberated within the ship. Several bursts, separated by tense silence. Followed by more than one weapon firing at once. Then complete silence, for five seconds. Ten seconds, fifteen seconds. Alex jumped at a voice from the nearby speakers.
“All crew, be advised to stand down from intruder alert. Intruders have been eliminated.”
“Who was that?” the President asked.
“Our security detachment. I recognize the voice.” Alex stood up, letting his weapon arm relax.
“Mimi, cargo bay camera feed on the second screen, please.”
Five armed men could be seen hovering over three dead bodies.
“Those are our guys. Mimi, cease all alerts”
“Affirmative.”
***
“This is an after-action briefing. Go.”
“At 0923 hours E.S.T. we arrived at the Chinese airbase to pick up our first container.
“At 0948 hours, we returned to for the second container. Dunn exited the ship down the cable line.
“At 0951 hours, Dunn successfully connected the Destiny to the container. Immediately, the container opened from the top and men inside fired several rounds, killing Dunn. I believe a ricochet from Dunn’s gear hit the Destiny and triggered the incoming fire alarm. Twelve men began to climb the cable wire to gain access to the ship.
“Once the alarm was triggered, I ordered my men to exit our in-flight harness and head for the armory.” Curtis leaned forward with his arms on the conference table. “I was passing out weapons when the intruder alarm sounded.
“At 0956 hours, we gained access to the cargo bay and shot the third man attempting to gain access. His two compatriots returned fire. Both were taken down swiftly in the ensuing firefight.
“The threat was eliminated by 0958 hours when we called the all-clear, sir.”
“Excellent work. Curtis, your men deserve commendations.” He smiled. “As soon as the UEF creates them that is. How’s the ship?”
“I wasn’t able to find any interior damage other than a few dings in the bulkheads. Of course, our tow cable is out of service. We will have to look over the exterior when we reach Titan.”
“How are your guys?” Alex said, turning to the President.
“We’re fine.”
“Did we learn anything from the bodies?” Alex asked.
“No. No identifying details.” Curtis sat on the edge of his seat for a moment, and then relaxed.
“Okay. Nothing to do now until we reach Titan. I want everyone to think of ways to prevent this from happening again, Dismissed.”
“What do you do to pass the time?” asked the President when most of the crew had filed out of the room. Alex considered the question, and began to smirk.
“We have some reading material I can offer. I think you will find quite absorbing.”
“Show me.”
Alex navigated his data pad and handed it over to let the President inspect Kaibri’s intelligence files, without providing an actual copy he could keep. The man’s eyes lit up, and he remained enthralled for the rest of the journey.
The Destiny was nearly four hours from Titan when Mimi addressed Alex.
“Captain, you have an incoming message from Kalibri,” she stated.
“Put in through to my cabin.”
“I am pleased you are well and on the way back, Captain,” came the familiar voice of the digiform.
Alex waited for the message to continue, but nothing happened.
“Alex, can you hear me?”
“You’re talking to me live?” Alex asked.
“Yes. Several of my ship’s systems are online. Others are booting up as we speak.”
“That’s great news. You’ll never guess who I’m bringing this time.”
“You are bringing the President of the United States and two of his men. There is someone at the door to see you about them.”
There was a knock at Alex’s door.
“Sometimes I am concerned about how much you know, Kalibri,” Alex said, before calling out. “Come in.”
Zeek entered, looking slightly frantic.
“Hey man, someone has been copying our database. For several hours. At first I thought the server was just acting up, then I checked drive status. Copy in progress. I can’t find the source. It must be wireless, but I don’t know how that’s possible. I’ve tried everything I can think of. The only way to stop it is to shut the ship down.”
Alex’s eyes grew wide as he guessed the culprit. His mind raced to come up with an appropriate response.
“Captain, this is a problem I can easily solve,” said Kalibi.
“By all means, Kalibri. Feel free.” Alex’s shoulders fell and he leaned back against his chair.
“Wow. He can reach out this far?” Zeek asked.
“We are only four hours away.”
“I have resolved the issue, Captain. The President has two personnel with him. One is a top-rated secret service agent. The other is a hacker known as Zero. His cell phone has been specially modified to invade nearby electronic systems. He had collected a trove of data from your ship’s systems. This data has now been wiped from the electronic device, along with its entire operating system.
“Ha. Let’s keep it that way. What I’d give to see their faces,” said Alex. Zeek nodded, and Alex subtly edged him out of his cabin. “Keep this between us, yeah?”
“Sure thing,” Zeek replied, and shut Alex’s door.
“Kalibri, can you communicate with Earth like this?”
“Not at this time, Captain. However, if it is possible to repair the communications assembly, and you build a duplicate sub space communications array, then live communication with Earth could be easily achieved.”
“Could you give me a program to retrieve or destroy data like you just did? So I can protect the UEF while I am on Earth?”
“Of course, Captain. One advanced hacking program has been installed to your pad.”
“Alex… Alex… What’s your ETA?” There was a new voice on the line, a little distorted over the speakers. It sounded like Amanda.
“About four hours. Why?”
“Turn around!”
Alex sat up and spit out a toothpick he had been toying with.
“What? Why?”
“There’s…” the reply was lost in garbled static, before cutting out entirely.
“Mimi. What happened to the comm line?”
“Signal strength reduction. We are receiving no communication signals at this time,” Mimi replied.
“Cause of signal reduction?”
“Unknown.”
“Alert all crew. Mandatory meeting in ten minutes, conference room.”
“Affirmative.”
Alex went to the conference room and waited for everyone to arrive. Alex watched the President and his men carefully. They gave nothing away.
Soon, they were assembled - Renee with the camera as always, Zeek busy with the larger of his two data pads. Which meant he was working on coding or programming issues.
“This is a situation briefing. Kalibri made contact with me approximately fifteen minutes ago.” Alex watched the President lean back in his chair, if only slightly.
“During the conversation, a member of our crew on Titan used the line to ask for our ETA. I believe it was Amanda. When I told her it was four hours, she instructed us to turn around. We lost signal before she could explain why.”
“That d
oesn’t sound good at all,” said Zeek, putting his tablet under the table.
“What do we know?” The President’s fingers formed a temple on top of the table.
“Half of my team is still on Titan. We lost contact with Kalibri when we shouldn’t have been able to make contact in the first place. If Kalibri hadn’t contacted me, we wouldn’t be the wiser.”
“Can we turn around?”
“Not right now, sir.” Cindy turned to the President. “Not until we get closer. We would use too much power this far out.”
“Options?”
“We can take a different trajectory or aim for a high-altitude orbit of Titan before approach.”
No one else offered a suggestion.
“Lets do both. I want to know as much as possible before we return to Dark Star.”
“We can add power to the receiver to get better signal. That might help,” Zeek suggested.
“Curtis, prepare your men just in case. We will use them when we arrive.” Alex stood up. “Dismissed.”
The President remained seated as the others left.
“Do you have a minute?” he asked, darkly, and continued before Alex could reply.
“You managed to destroy a very expensive and unique piece of equipment.”
“Is that so? It’s good to know whose device was stealing data across our ship. What a tragic loss that must be for you.”
“Are we in trouble on Titan?” said the President, betraying no hint of shame.
“We don’t have enough information yet.”
***
“Commander Mason, you’ll be pleased to know my sensors are operating at thirty percent capacity. Be advised, the Destiny is approximately five hours away at present velocity, and I have begun diagnostics on my seed as part of a routine maintenance.”
“You got the Destiny on sensors?”
“Yes, commander”
“Boy am I glad to hear that. Just to sleep in my own bunk again. What other systems came online when we got the reactor up and running?”
All secondary subsystems that were not damaged are now functional.
“Do we have air recycling?”
“Yes. With your permission, I will seal appropriate bulkheads and you may remove the EVA suits.”
“Do it.” Mason heard a cry somewhere in the ship. He set off running towards the noise. Forgetting the weakness of the gravity, he leapt over a tool bag, collided against the ceiling and crashed against the floor on the other side of the hallway. He scrambled back up and jogged the rest of the way, careful not to jump over anything.
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