Where We Go One, We Go All

by Robert Boren

  Kaleb chuckled. “You’ve just gone from marginally doable to needle-in-a-haystack impossibility.”

  “We came to that conclusion as well,” I said, glancing at Vermillion again, who nodded. “We’re planning to travel to the Clan Zone, to gather data on their drive profiles and frequencies.”

  “So you can come back here and scan,” Simone said. “What you’re planning is extremely dangerous.”

  “It is, but the liberty of the Central Authority Zone is at stake,” I said.

  “You just came to this conclusion as well, didn’t you?” Simone asked.

  Vermillion nodded. “The prisoners had us wondering. We initially thought the Clan ship we encountered might have been a refugee ship.”

  “The leader of the Magellan III mission thought they might arrive here for that reason,” Kaleb said.

  “Yes, we saw video of her talking about that, and it made some sense to us,” Nolan said, “although sending an un-armed science vessel with so much human capital on board to a remote spot like Valla Cappos still has us scratching our heads. We’re not even sure the ship was actually destroyed.”

  “Amazing how close some of our conclusions are,” Simone said. “Initial reports said they found a debris field. We later found out that was a fabrication.”

  “How’d you find that out?” I asked.

  “We sent a ship there. Not a Razor–they’re too dear to risk at this point. We sent a freighter. They couldn’t find any evidence of debris.”

  “They weren’t fired on by the Clan ship?” I asked.

  “I suspect the Clan moved on right after the engagement with your ship,” Kaleb said.

  “Do you still have the prisoners?” Simone asked.

  “We have their bodies on ice,” I said.

  “You killed them?”

  I chuckled. “Not exactly. Long story. Two of them murdered their fellows. The other two died when we tried to disable their implants.”

  “Removing the implants kills them?” Kaleb asked.

  “Yes, although we didn’t expect it,” I said. “When we disabled the implants on their adrenal glands, they literally shook themselves to death.”

  “There’s something else,” Vermillion said. “The implants had transmitters.”

  “Oh no, you got them before they gave away your position, I hope?” Simone asked.

  “We’re really good at stopping transmissions,” I said, “so nothing got out.”

  Private. We’ve missed something.

  What?

  I’ve got a recording of their attempted transmissions. Studying it now. We might be able to scan for their devices.

  “Are you okay, Captain Clarke?” Simone asked.

  “I just thought of something, that’s all. We have recordings of their attempted transmissions.”

  Kaleb grinned. “You might be able to use those to scan for activity.”

  “Hold it,” Vermillion said. “We don’t know if we’d be finding Aeon’s people with Clan implants, or real Clan members.”

  “If they’re inside a ship, we might have trouble seeing them,” Nolan said.

  “It’s still worth looking into,” I said.

  “So where are we going from here?” Kaleb asked, glancing at Simone and then back at us.

  “The Chairman and I need to chat in private,” Simone said. “That said, this is a breakthrough that will probably save us all.”

  “Here here,” Nolan said.

  “Okay, we’ll chat later then,” Vermillion said. “Early tomorrow, Simone?”

  “That would be fine, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for having an open mind.”

  “Thank you,” Vermillion said. The transmission ended.

  I looked at Vermillion, seeing tears welling in his eyes.

  “Are you okay, sir?” I asked.

  “Simone and I were very close when we were young,” he said. “Very close indeed. I didn’t realize how much I missed her.”

  This is promising, but we can’t trust her yet. Keep that in mind.

  “I expected you to make yourself known,” JJ said.

  I’m your ace in the hole. Do not mention me until I give permission. Remember how hopeful you were before the summit, Mr. Chairman. This is no less dangerous.

  “I understand,” Vermillion said. “What did you take away from the meeting?”

  I’ll just say I’m cautiously optimistic for now. I think we need to go forward with our mission, and I also like the idea of scanning for the Clan implant transmissions.

  “Is there a way to tell if the prisoners were Clan members or our own people with Clan implants?” Vermillion asked.

  Nolan knows. Dojo is already looking into it.

  Nolan smiled. “We’ve got the bodies. That means we’ve got DNA. Thanks to the heavy-handed efforts of the Central Authority to have everybody’s DNA on file, we’ll be able to look for a match. I can work that after this meeting if you’d like.”

  That’s an excellent idea.

  “Do you think Simone was telling the truth about the Razor ships?” JJ asked.

  Which part? Oh, never mind, Emerald tells all. I believe that the Central Authority owns the Razor ships, and I believe that Simone only has a subset of those ships, which Prime Minister Aeon probably considers stolen at this point. I always suspected that, though. The Overlords were part of the Central Authority Government, after all.

  “What makes you distrustful about Simone?” I asked.

  It’s always Captain Clarke. I’d laugh if I didn’t sound fake.

  “I don’t follow,” I said. “Was that a stupid question?”

  The question was fine. It’s the inner conversation you and Butch are having about it that’s brilliant.

  “You’re conversing with Butch again in private?” JJ asked.

  His mind has learned how to interact with it’s AI on a non-verbal semi-conscious level. All of you have that capability, but it comes with time. He’s got a head start.

  I chuckled. “You’re scaring me.”

  Lighten up.

  “Okay, what about the question?” Vermillion asked.

  Simone has been feeding information to Hamilton Zenos. I suspected as much, but I’m certain now.

  “Why’d you suspect it?” I asked.

  They both went into hiding at the same time. I think they’re together.

  Vermillion got out of his chair to pace, his brow furrowed.

  “What’s wrong?” JJ asked.

  “I know what’s wrong,” I said. “She’s been playing us off against Prime Minister Aeon, and harnessing public opinion at the same time.”

  “Simone got the population to take off their PAs,” JJ said. “Shit. That was an action against the Prime Minister.”

  You’re catching on.

  “Who did we fight in Earth orbit, then?” I asked. “It wasn’t Simone, was it?”

  I can’t answer that yet.

  “Why?” JJ asked.

  I’m missing data. It depends on timing. Was she still pretending to be in league with Prime Minister Aeon at that time? If we can find that out, other things will become clear.

  “Now I feel stupid,” Vermillion said. “Should I go ahead with the meeting tomorrow?”

  Of course. You have the skills, Mr. Chairman, but you’ve always had a little too much self-doubt. You’re more than a match for Simone. You know how much you can reveal to her. Trust yourself and use your intuition. I’m pretty sure of one thing. She needs us as much as we need her. That’s why she sent her precious ships to Earth orbit. It was risky for her, but she knew it was an overture we couldn’t ignore.

  “So you think we can trust her?” JJ asked.

  Damn, I hate not being able to laugh anymore. No, I don’t think we can trust her completely in the ultimate sense, but we have a common enemy, and we can certainly work together from a tactical
standpoint. It might just be enough, but we can’t underestimate the Prime Minister. He’s taken control of the government without firing a shot, and now he’s consolidating his power while making troublemakers disappear. If he’s really allied with the Clan, we’ll have a hard time surviving, even working together. That’s why I still want that Clan mission to go forward. We need to be able to track their ships. If we can’t figure that out, we’re lost.

  “I thought we were going to record their drive profiles mainly to find out if the Clan forces are here,” JJ said.

  Butch has already run the DNA while we were talking. Want to tell them, my little friend?

  There is no DNA match in the Central Authority Zone to any of the prisoners. The Clan is already here, and they’re actively working with Prime Minister Aeon.

  { 7 }

  Mission Jitters

  J J and I left the conference room with Nolan, heading back to the bridge.

  “I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry,” Nolan said.

  JJ shook her head. “I’m very nervous about Simone, and I was so hopeful at first.”

  “Don’t look at it that way,” I said. “We know much more than we did two hours ago, and that makes me feel better.”

  “Do you think the Chairman is up to dealing with her, Trey?” JJ asked softly. “He’s got a lot of emotional baggage with her.”

  “I think Drake is right, he’s more than a match for her. I’m hoping that we act as friends, and I think that’s what will happen if we end up in a war with the Clan.”

  Nolan nodded. “I agree, Captain. That’s not the part that worries me. It’s the peace afterwards. Remember what happened in Eastern Europe after your World War II?”

  “Yes, that thought crept into my mind,” I said.

  We entered the bridge. Sondra and Skip were still there.

  “Where’s Andrea?” I asked.

  “She just stepped out to get a bite to eat, Captain,” Sondra said. “Is everything all right?”

  I nodded, not wanting to be dragged into conversation, then looked at JJ. “We should go chat with Deacon. He’s doing the only task that must be completed before the Clan mission.”

  JJ nodded. We left, meeting Andrea as she was coming back to the bridge.

  “Leaving already?” Andrea asked.

  “We need to talk to Deacon. See you later.”

  Andrea went onto the bridge as we walked towards the transit station.

  “They know something’s up,” JJ whispered.

  “Yes, but there’s nothing we can do about that now.”

  “True. Knowing Deacon, he’s probably finished his instructions. He documented the design as he went. He’s got CAD files detailing the whole thing.”

  We got to the transit station and took a tin can to the main bay, finding Deacon in Engineering on the Zephyrus.

  “Hey, Cappy, coming to check on me?”

  “How’d you guess?”

  He chuckled. “There wasn’t much to do. I sent the CAD data and some instructions to the Captain of the Monitor. They’ll have no problems. When are we leaving?”

  “Tomorrow morning,” I said, “but I’m not sure of the exact time yet.”

  “I’ll be ready,” he said.

  “Good. Let’s stop by the bridge before we leave the Zephyrus, JJ.”

  We left Engineering, walking the short distance to the bridge. Tim and Izzy were there with Deneuve and Barney.

  “Be ready to leave in the morning,” I said.

  “Oh, we got the go-ahead on the Clan hunt, huh?” Izzy asked.

  “We did,” I said.

  “I hope I can be of use,” Barney said.

  “I’m sure you will be, Barney.”

  Deneuve made eye contact with me. “Doctor Hazelton wants to talk to you, but she said it could wait until we’re on our way.”

  “She thinks I can handle the AI interface,” Barney said, “but she wants to run a couple more tests, and she requires permission.”

  “Ah, very good,” I said. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow after we’ve jumped away. Fair enough?”

  Barney grinned.

  “Thank you, Captain,” Deneuve said.

  “See you in the morning,” I said. “It won’t be at the crack of dawn, so get plenty of sleep. I’m thinking mid-morning.”

  “Good,” Izzy said.

  We left the Zephyrus, walking to the lift.

  “Can we go eat?” JJ asked. “Maybe have a drink or two?”

  “You read my mind, honey.” We took a tin can to our favorite watering hole, picking a table instead of the bar again.

  “I know, you want our backs against the wall, right?” JJ asked.

  “I don’t want to spend the whole time talking about what happened, but I know we’ll do some of that, and I want to know who’s within earshot.”

  She smiled. “Yes, I’ll have a more important job for you to do when we get back to our stateroom.”

  The barmaid arrived to take our orders and left promptly.

  “That was very businesslike,” I said.

  “Somebody might have told her we’re together.”

  “Oh, really. Would that be somebody I know?”

  “No comment. Do you think there was romance between the Chairman and Simone?”

  I burst out laughing. “I knew you were gonna ask me that.”

  “Don’t laugh at me. Answer the question.”

  “Sorry. I have no idea, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Notice how much different they look? They’re about the same age, but she looks years younger.”

  “That’s as it should be.”

  I laughed again. “You’re a pistol tonight.”

  She smiled at me. “Oh, good, here comes our drinks. Wait till I get a little tipsy.”

  The barmaid set our drinks down, a White Russian for JJ and a beer for me. “Enjoy, you two.” She shot JJ a sly smile and walked away.

  “Dammit, she quit undressing me with her eyes. I’m sad.”

  JJ elbowed me in the side.

  “Ha ha, that didn’t hurt because of the suit.”

  “Maybe I ought to dictate strength enhancement.”

  “Two can play that game, you know.”

  JJ took a sip of her drink. “Excellent. I’m surprised Butch hasn’t gotten back with you about his scan.”

  “He’s probably found nothing,” I said. “It’s their hardware, and they can control what it does. I wasn’t expecting them to give anything away.”

  How’d you guess?

  Leave them alone. They need some down time. They’ll probably copulate later.

  Emerald!

  Hahahahahaha.

  Butch, sl…

  I know, sleep. Thank you, Trey.

  I’m going too. Figures Junior would get us into trouble again.

  You’re the one who made the comment about copulation. Not that you weren’t right.

  JJ’s foot rubbed my leg under the table, causing both of us to snicker.

  Grow up. Talk to you when you wake me. Thanks, JJ.

  “Don’t tell them I said this, but I think they’re delightful,” I said. “I’d really miss them if they weren’t around.”

  “Same here. What was Drake talking about earlier? Subconscious non-verbal communications or something like that?”

  “You would ask me that. It’s hard to explain. When we’re in that mode, I’m using his data crunching power without consciously asking him things. He knows what I want and just does it, if he can, or he shows me why my line of thinking is faulty, but not verbally.”

  “But what’s it like?”

  I took a big sip of my beer. “It’s like waking up on the morning of a day when you’ve got an important and difficult task to do. You know what I mean? You go over things, trying to get details fresh in your mind, trying to work out strategy for dealing with problems that you expect.”

  “But it’s like twilight sleep w
hen it’s happening,” JJ said. “Yes, I know exactly what you mean, and it is happening to me now too. It’s like you’re throwing your mind open and your AI comes in to help.”

  “That’s it. You probably are starting that, and I’ll bet Nolan is too. It started for me a few days ago, but I didn’t know what it was.”

  JJ laughed. “We’re hybrid humans now, aren’t we?”

  “Don’t think I’d go quite that far.”

  We both sipped our drinks, watching as people came into the bar after their shifts were over, some nodding as they saw us.

  “Are we going to be okay?” JJ asked, setting down her glass.

  I sighed. “I don’t know. Probably. I think our reality will change so much in the next few years that we’ll barely recognize it. I hope it’s in a good way.”

  “You think we might lose the battle and go into hiding.”

  “I didn’t say that, JJ. We’re not in as bad a spot as I thought we were before the meeting. If Prime Minister Aeon had sufficient forces to take us out, he’d have done it already. Some things make more sense to me now.”

  “Like what?”

  I drained the rest of my beer, setting the glass down and nodding at the barmaid, who scurried off to get me another.

  “Don’t you make eyes at her,” JJ said, “or I’ll have to talk with her again.”

  “You really talked to her? I thought you were kidding.”

  JJ giggled. “I was kidding, mostly. I ran into her at the coffee stand down by the transit station. We struck up a conversation, and I told her we were together.”

  “Sneaky.”

  “We girls do what we must. Finish what you were saying. What makes more sense to you now?”

  “Those battles we had with the Razor ships, when they were following us through the wormholes. Those attacks were badly thought out. In fact, I’d say they were downright stupid. From what I’ve read about Simone, and from the few times I’ve spoken with her, I didn’t believe she’d make those kinds of mistakes.”

  JJ was quiet for a moment, then looked at me. “You actually said that at the time. I remember.”

  “That’s good and bad,” I said. “It’s good to have a strong ally, but if she turns against us, we might not survive it.”