Legacy

by Bob Mauldin

  Kitty stuttered, “I d-don't need men at my beck and call!”

  Simon laughed. “One of the perks of command, Dear. Let’s send Stephen on his way. And us, too. You realize that this will be the first time we’ve been down together since we got this old girl? Been thinking about a name for her, too. How does Galileo sound?”

  They all agreed that it was an appropriate name, so it passed unanimously. Kitty nodded at Stephen’s armband. “Contact us when you’re ready. We’ll be waiting anxiously.”

  Gayle put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll put on a good show for your friends, Stephen.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s for luck.” He turned beet-red. She turned to the young man at the console. “Activate transporter, Ensign.”

  Two days later, an ensign knocked on their door. After she read the hard-copy, Kitty said, “We have an hour to get dressed and meet our guests. I know my part. Just don’t fumble yours. I’ll call Gayle.” She shook her finger in Simon’s face. She had spent much of her free time the past two days learning about military protocol from him. His five years of service was about to pay off in a most unexpected way, indeed. And she had switched ranks with him after a long discussion. She felt that a male Captain would go over better in the beginning, and he had the ability and knowledge to pull it off.

  Those two days had not been without incident, either. An Agent Daniels, FBI, seemed to like to pop up when least expected. Just that morning he had knocked on their front door. Kitty and Simon had only beamed in moments before, and that only after a scan of the house showed no occupants. Persistent, he wanted to know where they had been, and insisted on seeing Simon as well.

  Sticking her head into their office, really just a converted bedroom to hold a desk and computer, she told Simon about their visitor. “Don’t worry about answering questions about where we’ve been since we got back,” Simon said. “He shouldn’t know any more than San Martino. Let’s see what else he has.”

  What he had was footprints. None distinct enough to ascribe to any one individual due either to the weather or contamination by other feet. But, they were of a size with both Simon and Kitty’s. At the scene of an ... event that was yet to be explained. “Yes, Agent, those could be my foot prints. I do camp in the area from time to time. But, we don’t know what you mean by an ‘event’ any more now than we did then. And I’ve already been over this with Agent San Martino. Care to enlighten us?” Simon asked.

  Demurring, Agent Daniels left, but not without a parting shot. “It’s my job to know when something doesn’t smell right. And I can say without hesitation that something stinks here. You aren’t leaving the house by any means I can see, yet you are very seldom here. Your truck is here, but where are the Hawkes’? See what I mean? We will talk again, I promise you.” Any response would have been made to a very angry back as it made its way to the grey sedan parked at the curb.

  As the hour expired, ‘Commander’ Hawke walked self-consciously into the transporter room. She went to the tech on duty. “I didn’t introduce myself when we came aboard. Too much of a hurry. I’m Commander Hawke.” She shook hands.

  “I’m Bill Hodges, Ma’am. I guess that’s Ensign Hodges, now. But you’re really the captain, right?”

  Kitty smiled. “We’re all making adjustments, Ensign. We will be having some visitors shortly who will probably appreciate a male captain for now. Watch for Commander Walker’s signal.”

  Not knowing quite what to expect, but trusting Stephen’s judgment, she told the ensign to begin transport as soon as the signal arrived, which resulted in four very bewildered men staring at her. “Welcome aboard the Galileo, gentlemen. Would you please step forward so that Ensign Hodges can bring the next group up?” Motioning with her hands to one side of the room, she drew them away from the transport pads. “Again, please, Ensign.” Three men and a woman were next to experience the effect while the first four stared goggle-eyed.

  “Son of a bitch!” escaped from someone’s lips before he managed to control himself.

  “Again, Welcome aboard the Galileo. Would you please step forward so Ensign Hodges can bring the next of your group aboard?” She motioned toward the first four and this group moved slowly off the pads. “Once more, Ensign,” she ordered. As three figures emerged from the sparks, she recognized Stephen. “I believe that will do, Ensign, thank you.” The ensign put the console on standby and moved away from the gaggle of visitors.

  Kitty turned around to confront her guests. It was amazing what you could do under the guise of military protocol! Still, the mere thought of ordering people around like she had just done gave her fits. To think that she had that kind of power and responsibility only made her throw up once a day ... usually. “Ladies and gentlemen, once again, please let me welcome you aboard the Galileo. I am Commander Hawke, and if you will follow me, I will take you to the Captain.” She turned and walked to the door which whisked open in front of her. She had forgotten how unnerving that was the first few times. She stepped into the corridor and turned back. “Ladies and gentlemen, please. The Captain is waiting.”

  One man took a hesitant step forward, then another. The rest, the moment gone, followed into the corridor, Stephen bringing up the rear. Keeping her tone light, Kitty led the way down the corridor. She apologized while leading the group to the ready room. “Sorry about the long walk. The mechanics of transporter technology seem to require that the transporter pads remain in close proximity to the generators and an entirely separate computer that handles our beam technology. Some of the things you’ll find here will seem subtly wrong. Like the people who designed all this just think differently than we do. For example, we haven’t found any evidence of art or esthetic values aboard. Just utilitarian rooms and furnishings.”

  As she finished, she led her charges into the ready-room and pulled the newest toy Simon had found out of her belt. Holding the comm-link to her mouth, she said, “Commander Miller?”

  “Miller, here.”

  “Commander Miller, please inform the Captain that his guests have arrived and join me in the ready-room. And bring a couple of pots of coffee from the mess hall.”

  “Right away, Commander. I’ll have Ensign Hodges bring the coffee,” came in a tiny voice from the small instrument Kitty held. The group of scientists looked at each other nervously.

  The woman spoke first. “I’m Dr. Joanna Barnes. Computer sciences. This is all kind of hard to believe, Commander. Sit anywhere?” She waved her hand at the table.

  Kitty nodded, understanding. “I know what you mean. I’ve been here for weeks now, and I still find myself running head on into denial around every other corner.” She waved her hand at the table. “Anywhere there is a notepad, Dr. Barnes.”

  Everyone took a seat, Kitty at what would be the Captain’s right, Stephen at what would be the Captain’s left-hand side. Simon walked into the room just as the last person was getting settled. Kitty and Stephen got to their feet while the rest froze. Striding to the head of the table, Simon ordered, “Be seated, Commanders.” Reaching his chair, he said, “Welcome aboard. I am Captain Simon Hawke, commanding officer of Galileo. This is my First Officer and wife, Commander Katherine Hawke. You are already acquainted with Commander Walker and here comes Commander Miller with refreshments.” All eyes turned to Gayle as she entered. Not for the coffee she brought, but for the figure she cut. Where she found time to tailor her uniform was anyone’s guess. But it did turn heads.

  “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry to be late.” She rolled a common, ordinary cafeteria cart before her and stopped about mid-way down one side of the table. She set a pot and a tray filled with cups and a stack of saucers at each end of the table. From the lower level she brought out cream, sugar and other things people ruined good strong coffee with, duplicate sets going to each end of the table. She then sat down quietly at the lower end of the Galileo’s officer chain.

  Simon leaned forward and crossed his arms before
him on the table. “Thank you for coming, even though none of you really believed that it was possible. The fact that you showed up at all shows me your desire to believe. And your natural skepticism won’t let you fully believe even yet. A tour of the ship later will finish that job, I assure you. I’m sure Commander Walker told a good story. Including our feelings about turning this vessel over to any one government. Well, I can’t stress enough how right she is. This vessel wouldn’t be another Roswell. Nothing this big can be kept secret from the government. Too much leakage. And if one nation did get it, all the rest would want in. If not, I can see some neighborhood bully saying, ‘If I can’t have it, you can’t either.’ Then there is the very real possibility that if things managed to stay quiet, absolutely none of this technology would reach Joe Citizen for a hundred years. It would get shuffled into some agency’s black budget and never seen again. On the other hand, if we keep control, the technology will get to the people. Some is already in the works. Talk to Commander Walker, sometime. That’s his department. You folks have the unique opportunity to bring more back. Whatever you can find that will be of benefit to humanity. You will have an almost totally free hand in that department. Two restrictions: one, no weapons or propulsion technology goes down. That’s firm. Two, I have final approval on just what does go down. That, too, is firm. I can’t allow anything too advanced to show up too early. Remember, smallest waves possible. Does anyone have problems with the situation as I’ve outlined it?”

  Several hands went up. Simon recognized a crucial point when he saw one. He sat up straight in the chair. “I’ll bet I can guess what you’re thinking. How about, ‘How dare you think you know what’s best for humanity?’ Or, ‘What gives you the right?’“ All the dissenters heads nodded in unison. “Well, let me tell you a secret. I don’t know that I do know what’s best. But I believe that I do know what’s worst. Turning this vessel over to any one government down there is worst. The balance of power would change so drastically that no other nation could let it go unchallenged. I believe turning it over would eventually spell the end of humanity as we know it. Ironically, keeping its secrets as long as possible and doling them out piece-meal is what will help humanity the most. We’ve already started giving technology away, under Commander Walker’s direction. The process will take years and thought must be taken at each step. More than military disasters are ahead if we do this the wrong way. Economic disasters as entire industries disappear and new ones are born. What will happen to the displaced people? Too many at one time ... see what I mean? What happens to the loggers when lumber is no longer needed? Or to everyone in all the oil-related industries when oil is no longer needed? Multiply that by all the other changes and you have chaos. We cannot be the cause of that. The only path we can follow is the one we are on.”

  By the time he finished speaking, Simon was on his feet. Sitting back down he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the harangue, but not for the content. I feel very strongly about this, and I’m afraid it shows.”

  Kitty broke the spell by reaching for the coffeepot. Filling her cup, she passed it to Dr. Barnes who had seated herself on Kitty’s right. “Okay, you’ve heard the serious explanation. You should have heard him when we first came aboard. ‘I found it! It’s mine! I’m keeping it!,’ she mimicked, falsetto. Laughter ran around the table until Kitty waved her hand. “No, he really didn’t say that. But, I’m his wife. I know he thought it!”

  Simon sputtered. “Well, who wouldn’t! Back to business if you please. Second call. Who still has reservations? This time only two hands went up. Simon frowned. “I wish we could change your minds. If they do change, I’m sure you know how to contact Stephen. Now, I am sorry, but the rest of this meeting is classified. Commander Walker, would you escort our two guests back to Earth?”

  Gayle stood up to take her turn as Stephen left with his charges. “Now, for those of you who remain, we need you to tease as much information out of this ship and its computer as you can. That’s why you were selected. Commander Walker considers you Earth’s best and brightest in your individual fields. We are in the position of the man who never heard of electrical fields, but knows that if he flips a particular switch, a particular light comes on. We want, no, we need, to know how, why, who, where, when, and even what, if it applies. Toward that end, Commander Hawke and I would like to take you on a tour that is, quite literally ... out of this world!

  CHAPTER TEN

  Kitty and Gayle led the scientists off in two groups leaving Simon alone in the ready room. “There you are,” Stephen said, finding him poring over the now-tattered legal pad. “I think those two will be back. Both have commitments they couldn’t get out of.” He sat down across the table and poured a cup of coffee. “I’m sure you noticed that not one of them said a word?” Simon nodded, his expression saying that he had no idea where Stephen was headed. “I think they’re afraid of you.”

  “What!” Simon sputtered. “Afraid of me! What the hell did I give them to be afraid of?”

  Stephen grinned and took a sip of his coffee, stretching the moment out for effect. “Oh, I don’t know. Your severely business-like attitude. The way you took over, steam-rolled them and took control of the whole conversation. Then just dismissed the two who weren’t able to commit without even asking for an explanation. What do you think?”

  Simon smiled ruefully. “Maybe you’re right. I just wanted to do a good job of explaining myself and get ‘em on board. We do need them. And every one of their friends they can convince to join us. And their good opinion of us. Maybe I shouldn’t have too much to do with the science-types?” He looked across the table. “I’ve been thinking, Stephen. You do know about the time limit we’re under? Before the original owners come looking for their property? We figure we’ve got about five years, unmolested, from what we got from the computer. That’s not knowing anything about where the original owners are located, by the way. After that, all bets are off. When someone comes knocking on our door, we better be ready. How are they going to react to our having their property? Or pirating their technology? Or even being in space and setting ourselves up as competition? These questions have already been asked, but there can’t be any answers until we actually meet up with them. I just want to be prepared for friend or foe.”

  Stephen sat down with a frown on his face. “What can we do? They have more ships and more experience than we do. Supposedly.”

  Simon sighed. “I’d say that’s a safe bet,” he said glumly. He leaned back in his chair. “Here’s how I see things: this ship is probably listed as missing by ... whoever. Our first contact will most likely be with scout vessels looking for ship and crew. I checked the computer about that class of ship. Lightly armed, but fast. If they find this ship manned by other than their own, I’m betting that they’ll scoot for home. Also true if they find other ships present. Either way, if we can detect them first, we open up other options. Let ‘em go and know we only have a couple more years, at best or let them know we know they are there and let them know that we let them go. Or try to take them out. Or some other option I haven’t thought of yet. The problems come in if they detect us and we don’t know about it. They could come back in force and we’d be sunk.”

  The two men sat in silence until Stephen poured a cup of coffee. “Seems to me like we should gear up even farther than you first imagined. Look, we’ve both been going through the computer. What we can of it, that is. And we have both made observations. Like, we’ll need to get the fuel plant built first. That’s what, two or three months. All automated. Then the first space dock will take six more. How long to turn out a ship?”

  Simon leaned forward and refilled his own cup. “About six months more for the design I have in mind. About a thousand feet long. More beam weapons, but lighter. Missile launchers, plasma cannons, whatever those are. Crews about five hundred. Mean bruiser, but there are no shields. We need to figure out if we can make shields or something. Then figure on a third power sourc
e just for the shields ... and when not used for shields, that third source could be added to the engines for greatly increased output, making it almost as fast as a scout, and measurably faster than anything else in its class, or funneled to the weapons, making us the equivalent of a full battleship. At least, that’s what I get when I fiddle with the numbers.”

  Stephen took the notepad and pen and began to doodle. “Okay. Let’s say the fuel plant is done. Six months for the first dock, six for the second. And in that second six months the first dock has produced a ship. Six more for the third dock, and the first two have put out two more ships. Six months for the fourth, and the other three have put out three more ships. After two years, you will have six ships. Every year of operation after that, you get eight more ships. Unless you begin to vary the sizes.”

  Now a frown traced its lines on Simon’s face. “We’re back to people, again. Four docks at almost six hundred apiece. Six ships at five hundred each. And this one at eight seventy. That’s around six thousand, Stephen. This grows by leaps and bounds. How are we going to control this monster?”

  Stephen shook his head. “I’m not the one you need to ask. You set up the chain of command here. Do it again, on a higher level. Call it Fleet Level.”

  Simon threw his hands up in the air. “I’m not able to think on that level right now. Let’s just take this one step at a time. Get a crew. Build a fuel plant. Build a space dock. Until we get near the end of that program, I’m not going to worry about the next step.”

  Stephen stood up. “I have to get our visitors back, soon, so I’m going to make a quick trip to my room. I’ll see you before I beam down. Oh, here.” He placed two locator disks on the table. “Maybe Gayle and Kitty should collect the others, too.” He strode to the door, stopped, and looked back at Simon. “And you shouldn’t worry about it, but you should be thinking about it. If you don’t have any idea about our direction, who does?” Not waiting for an answer, he strode from the room, leaving Simon staring at a notepad covered with scribbles and one much-circled number.