Black Box (26 page)

He trailed off, his eyes steeling far away
into the void. He was running some program of his own inside of his
head.

“Now what?” Beckett finally said
impatiently.

Rollins looked at him, the effort to regain
focus showing on his face. “I don’t know what the variables were
that changed the event. You two gentlemen, who have always been
killed, are now alive. Mr. Boone, who has
always
turned on
you, chose your side. As we move
forward
, those changes have
meaning. That portion of time will reoccur because the black box
was launched. I don’t know how it will play out without me in the
mix. For all I know, there may even
be
another version of
me. We could go back ourselves and try to further impact the
result. I imagine we could continue to do so, looping back into the
operation over and over again, but it would be infinite work with
little or no gain. No, no, what we need to do is dig deeper into
the core of time and alter it irrevocably. We need to not only
change the information being fed through the time stream, but the
parameters themselves.”

Rollins wasn’t even talking to the two other
men in the room anymore. He was talking to himself, calculating his
next steps as if he wasn’t among a crew of fugitives.

His face suddenly brightened. “If we really
can change
any
event in time, then we should start by
changing what brought the Ghosts about in the first place. If there
are no Ghosts, then there is no wormhole through which your black
box can travel. The problem is not the nature of time, but the fact
that we have learned to manipulate it. We need to remove time
travel from the hands of humanity and we need to prevent the
catastrophe that sent us running.”

“How the hell are we going to do that?”
Beckett cried.

Rollins looked over at him. “I need to
continue my research. I need to visit numerous sites and study
numerous events over the course of
this
timeline. Only after
I have gathered a considerable amount of data can I hypothesize
where the tipping point might be. Then we can go and change the
program permanently.”

“And how long is that going to take?”
Beckett asked impatiently.

Rollins thought for a moment. “Three to five
years.”

Walker began to laugh mirthlessly.

Beckett spared him a glance, then turned
back to Rollins. “I’m going to be a wanted man in a couple of days’
time, if I’m not already.”

“If we’re going to begin a long partnership
together, Captain, then I think it’s best not to start by insulting
one another’s intelligence. You’ve ordered Ms. Dorian to take us to
Moner’s Port
.”

“What does that mean?” Walker asked, looking
from one to the other.

“Captain, why don’t you tell the colonel
what it means.”

Beckett nodded, his lips thin and the
muscles on his face pulled tight. He didn’t like being second
guessed. “
Moner’s Port
is a good place to pick up some extra
crew, fill in the gaps. I don’t plan on going back to Earth and
delivering myself to the
Admiralty
. My days in the Space
Force are done. I’m deserting and I’m taking this ship with
me.”

Beckett ordered virtual radio silence while
they were still a day out of
Moner’s Port
. The
Admiralty
had already started sending them messages. Each
message was routed through Rollins’ station and given a cursory and
repetitive response.

Mission accomplished. Go to hell.

There was some buzz among the remaining crew
about what exactly was going on. They knew that half the ship’s
complement had been left behind, and they had some inkling as to
why. Beckett had split up some good friends and he didn’t
necessarily trust the ones that had been left behind. He leaned
heavily on Boone, who had become his trusted right hand.

“I want you to know, Boone, that you’ve
performed admirably. You saved my life and I won’t forget
that.”

Boone was taken aback. Though he’d provided
support for the captain after the fact, Beckett had single handedly
defeated both Rodrigo and MacDonald. Boone had considered his own
role minor, if not ineffectual. Then he remembered the three
soldiers attempting to board the
Einstein
when he’d arrived.
He remembered Walker helping Beckett off of the ship. If Boone and
Massey hadn’t been there to back him up, what would those soldiers
have done? Had Boone actually, quietly, saved the captain’s life?
Apparently Beckett thought so. “Thank you, sir.”

“I’d give you a commendation, but I think a
commendation from me would be more damaging than a formal
reprimand.”

“I appreciate that, sir.”

Beckett harrumphed. He didn’t seem to be
getting through. “All I’ve got left to offer is a well deserved
spot as an officer on my ship.”

This time, Boone was visibly surprised. He
found it hard to believe that Beckett was so obtuse that he thought
he would still have a ship once they reached home. But Beckett was
not so obtuse. He quickly outlined his discussion with Rollins and
Walker. If they were going to steal the
Valor
and make it
their home for the next three to five years, they would need a crew
and the captain wanted people he could trust to serve under
him.

Boone was reluctant. On the planet, he had
stood fast against the mutineers despite his personal feelings
because he’d recognized that an officer’s duty was to his captain.
Now, though, Beckett was an outlaw and planning on stealing a Space
Force vessel. If Boone went with Beckett now, wasn’t he betraying
the same ideals that had earned him the captain’s respect in the
first place?

“Maybe you did what you did just because it
was right,” Beckett told him. “Don’t forget that you did what you
did knowing that an admiral’s daughter was involved. Once they pick
up Tedesco, you’ll be just as fucked. The choice is up to you.
Whatever you decide, though, don’t get in my way.”

He went next to Tunsley. He would need a
good engineer, and Tunsley didn’t really have anything to lose by
taking his side.

Tunsley didn’t see it that way.

“I’ve only got a couple of years before I’m
eligible to retire, Skip. I’m not sure I want to throw that
away.”

Beckett told him the same thing he’d told
Boone.

It’s up to you. Stay out of my way.

Hardy was on board without question. He’d
never been more content than during his tenure with Beckett and he
wasn’t ready to give that up yet. Besides which, the admirals would
crucify him whether there was evidence against him or not.

There were a handful of noncoms that Beckett
spoke to as well. He didn’t include all of the loyal crew in his
plans. Many of them still had opportunities ahead of them in the
Space Force and he didn’t want to rob them of that. His toughest
decision had to do with Bonamo and Massey. The two of them were so
young and had so much potential. But they had spilled the blood of
their own. Granted, they had done so under orders, but Rodrigo and
MacDonald were never going to let them off the hook. The
Admiralty
would never trust them again. If they went home,
they might face some serious charges.

Beckett presented them with their options
and left them to make their decisions.

Finally, just an hour before landing, weary
and spent, he approached Allison Dorian. For the past several
hours, as he’d been interviewing applicants for his own traitorous
act, he had spent an inordinate number of brain cells deciding
whether or not he wanted to include his executive officer. Dorian
had a tremendous number of good qualities, not the least of which
was her ability to tolerate Ted Beckett. Her career wasn’t
stagnant, but her past had landed her on the
Valor
and she
wasn’t likely to see the light of day any time soon. Who knew what
might happen to her without the
Valor
as part of the
fleet?

Better the devil you know.

“Are you serious?” she asked him.

He nodded. They were in her cabin, the one
she shared with Cabrera. Beckett kept finding his gaze trailing to
Cabrera’s bunk and her things. He had not spoken with her. As much
as he would have liked a doctor, he knew that having Cabrera along
was a bad idea.

“How many do you have?” Dorian asked.

“A few,” he answered candidly. “Enough. I
can fill in the blanks at the Spacers’ Graveyard on
Moner’s
Port.”

The Spacer’s Graveyard didn’t actually house
dead spacers. It was mostly a place for spacers with dead careers.
There was a Graveyard on every seedy little planet. The one on
Moner’s Port
had grown out of control a decade or two
before. There was a heavily illegal commerce of information and odd
jobs that kept these people fed, but that was okay with Beckett.
Most of them were chomping at the bit to get off world and he would
gladly have them with him. He was quite used to dealing with old
time wash outs.

Dorian wasn’t old, but she wasn’t young
either. Beckett didn’t know what she saw when she looked at him.
More relevant, however, was that he didn’t know what she saw when
she looked at herself. It was easy for him to judge her and the
state of her life and career, but he’d been surprised more than
once by his officers.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m in. You’ll need a
good pilot.”

He was taken unawares by her quick assent,
but he tried not to show it. For her part, Dorian went right back
to reading the report on her screen. It was almost as if she was
dismissing him.

When they touched down, Beckett took Hardy
with him and went off ship. Dorian was left in command. He didn’t
like to do it. He didn’t trust her as much as he wished he could.
If she was lying to him about joining his new crew then he was as
good as done. He thought about asking Boone to be her watchdog, but
the infantry officer’s indecision made him as much of a wildcard as
anyone. Though he’d shown impeccable loyalty, that loyalty could
very easily be for the Space Force rather than Ted Beckett
himself.

Beckett was gone for almost half a day. He
radioed back to Dorian every hour to check on the status of things.
The
Admiralty
had tried to contact them several times. She
was sure there were agents in the area and that they had very
little time in which to accomplish their goals. He agreed.
Unfortunately, what he had to do took time.

When he returned, he called a meeting of all
personnel. The only place large enough to hold it was in the hangar
deck, which worked well for him. Once they were all assembled, two
of his new crew took their places at the entrance with weapons at
the ready. He was also armed, as were both Hardy and Dorian.

With the touch of a button, the bay doors
began to drop open. Waiting outside the ship were six armed men.
There wasn’t one of them under fifty years old. Three of them had
served in the Space Force. The other three were from New Earth.
Beckett and Hardy had been very selective in choosing these eight
people to join their crew. Though Beckett had never met any of them
personally, he had been steered toward them by people he
trusted.

Not one of the members of the crew of the
Valor
moved.

“Some of you know what happened on the
planet. Most of you know only part of it. For that I’m sorry.
That’s the way it has to be. I’m taking this ship. If you want to
remain loyal to the Space Force...and alive, you should leave
now.”

They stood there in stunned silence, the few
people who had not been invited to join him. He watched them,
watched their faces. They didn’t know what to do. This mad captain,
who had thrown half of his crew off the ship on some unidentified
planet was now ejecting half of what remained. They were not
traitors. They knew they were not traitors. The doubts passed from
eye to eye.

“Go,” Hardy urged. “Whatever you may think,
there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Beckett said nothing as those people
formerly under his command began to move. Beckett watched Boone
very carefully. He could see the indecision in the man’s eyes. Jack
Tunsley, too, looked on furtively as the hangar deck began to empty
out. He didn’t move, though. He simply watched.

A couple of others stayed, those Beckett had
spoken with. Malouf. Zephyr. Klon and Barnes. Winkler looked dazed,
but moved off ship. Beckett hadn’t even approached the young
navigator. His future was bright. There had been no reason to rob
him of it.

When those who were leaving had all filed
past the six people at the bottom of the ramp, those that remained
satisfied Beckett. Boone was there. Tunsley was there. Bonamo and
Massey had both stayed. In the corner, out of the way, stood
Rollins and Walker, two men out of time.

“You, too, Doctor,” he said to Cabrera.

“Don’t you need a doctor?”

He nodded. “I do, but I’ll pick one up on
the way. Maybe Paul Royce will meet me out on some remote
planet.”

“I’d like to stay, Captain.”

He took a quick breath and then swallowed
the words. His instinct was to grab her and throw her off the ship.
He didn’t want her there. She was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
Or could he? Maybe, just this once, his instincts were wrong.

As before, he pressed the button that began
the doors closing. The remainder of his recruits leapt onto the
closing hatch and marched upward. There were two engineers in the
group. One had served in the Space Force and one was a colony
engineer for New Earth. Both had fallen out of favor with their
respective employers, but neither had a criminal record. Beckett
hoped they would satisfy Jack Tunsley.

“Dorian, do we have clearance to take
off?”

She looked startled. “I haven’t requested
clearance, sir.”

He nodded. “Don’t bother, then. Let’s just
get the hell out of here.”