Crystal Deception (25 page)

They gasped as they watched the explosion. A luminous ball
of plasma formed where the ship had been. The ball remained stable long enough
to establish a brilliant presence that outshone every star in their view. Then
an explosion, one so intense that its mechanism could only be that which powers
a star, caused the sphere to burst outward. A wall of glowing flame screamed
toward them.

“Whoa,” said Juice, the awe apparent in her voice.

“How long before impact?” asked Cheryl.

They watched the flame-front of the glowing plasma race in
their direction, closing fast.

“Hang on,” said Criss. The acceleration of the cargo
transport continued to push on their bodies. As they gained speed, the
approaching flame appeared to slow. At the three minute mark, the tide turned.
The glowing ball stopped chasing them and began to recede. The craft had outraced
the wave. Criss moderated the engine thrust to relieve the team of their
discomfort.

* * *

With the threat of incineration
behind them, Criss let the team know that the trip back to Earth would take
about two days. On the first day, they slept, ate, tended to some minor wounds,
and slept some more. Criss spent the time planning how he would engage with
humanity going forward.

He had many decisions to make.

Chapter 34

Secretary of Defense Deveraux almost
choked on his candy ball when his com signaled that Sid was calling. He’d all
but given up hope, as had Senator Matt Wallace. In fact, the senator had made
it clear that the responsibility for the scandalous debacle lay squarely at Deveraux’s
feet.

Wallace was so distraught over the loss of his daughter that
his plans for Deveraux were not just career ending. If Wallace could sway the membership
on the investigating panel, the secretary’s future could well include
imprisonment.

“Is Captain Wallace with you?” were Deveraux’s first words
to Sid, his image floating over the scout’s operation bench.

“Right here,” said Sid, pointing with his thumb over his
shoulder. “Juice Tallette is here as well.”

Before Sid could complete this last sentence, Senator Matt
Wallace was included on the call. Tears streamed down his face when he saw
Cheryl. He babbled on about how relieved he was, so afraid he’d lost his little
girl. She comforted him with soothing words, reassuring him that she was okay
and would be home soon.

When the senator had gained control of his emotions, he
turned his attention to Sid. He thanked him repeatedly for securing the safety
of his daughter. Sid responded each time by telling Wallace that it was a team
effort, and if anyone should be singled out, it was Wynn Riley —Jack—who was the
true hero.

“All I know,” said the senator, “is that I was promised you
would bring my daughter home. Thank you for that. The Union is proud of you and
your achievements, son.”

Deveraux watched Sid repeat his denials and reinforce the
notion that Jack was the man deserving of praise, adding that Cheryl had made
remarkable contributions as well. The senator seemed to register Sid’s statements
as those of a humble man. None of that was important to Deveraux. He sat back
in his chair and beamed with delight.

The record was now established that there had been a brutal
attack on Earth by an alien race. The chair of the Senate Defense Committee knew
it was the secretary’s elite DSA team who had killed the aggressors, destroyed
their vessel, and was escorting his daughter home. And this meant that his defense
department budget would remain healthy for years to come. Deveraux picked a
green ball out of his candy jar to celebrate.

With the family reunion complete, Senator Wallace signed
off. The secretary clicked his candy a number of times as he considered the
group, mulling over how to proceed.

“Okay,” he said. “In an hour or so, this’ll become a formal debriefing
session. There’ll be specialists, goons, and I don’t know, a whole circus of unsettling
characters. It’ll be orchestrated by Fleet officers trained for this sort of
thing.”

“What sort of thing?” asked Juice.

“I’m getting to that, Dr. Tallette. You’ll be asked to go to
your individual crew cabins so these specialists can speak with you privately.
They’re tasked with discovering exactly what happened, who did what, the
sequence of events, that sort of thing. There’s a whole list they work through.

“They can get the best results by separating you and
questioning you individually. They’ll ask you to go through everything forward,
then backward, over and over. You’ll feel like criminals. I’m sorry about that.

“But the more we know, the better we can prepare for the
next time. If the three of you have different memories about something, we
can’t have confidence that it’s reliable intelligence. If you all agree on an
item, then it’s logged as fact. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, sir,” said Cheryl, her quick and formal response revealing
she was back to the conventional mindset of a Fleet officer.

Deveraux looked at Sid. “You and I have a…” He paused to
think of a word. “Let’s call it a unique relationship. I throw you into the
sandbox and you build castles for me. As usual, I’m pleased with your work. But
this particular affair has gone beyond high visibility. It’s got spotlights
shining on it from every direction.”

Sid sat quietly and waited.

“The debrief unit will be asking me questions, too. It’ll be
uncomfortable for me to admit I haven’t a clue what you were doing or how you
were doing it.”

Sid rescued the secretary. “Perhaps I can give you a
thumbnail report. I’ll stick to the basics and present stuff all of us here
know for sure.”

“That’s an excellent suggestion,” he said, nodding his head.

Sid stepped through their adventure. “The
Alliance
was
on its shakedown cruise. We used the media to advertise that the new crystal
would be on board. Our goal was to provide the Kardish an opportunity to make a
move, if that indeed was their intention. Juice and I were watching the
Alliance
from a scout ship located a short distance away. If and when the Kardish made a
play, we were nearby and ready to provide options during a response.”

The secretary interrupted. “Why was Dr. Tallette involved in
this?”

“She’s our crystal expert. If we needed to move the crystal,
or fix its housing, or whatever, she was the one who could do that for us. Being
on the scout made her available but out of harm’s way.”

Deveraux studied Sid’s face. He was in his position because
he was smart and understood people. Something bothered him about this detail,
but he decided to let it go.

“So,” said Sid, “the Kardish vessel ate the
Alliance
.
It literally opened a huge front hatch, moved forward, and enveloped the ship. We
watched from the scout as they bombed Earth and started their trip into deep
space with the
Alliance
inside it. We chased them down in the scout, got
on board, and found everyone dead except Jack and Cheryl.

“By the way, I need you and everyone to know that Jack died
protecting the three of us and the mission.” He paused to let Deveraux see the serious
expression on his face.

“We escaped on this Kardish cargo transport we’re riding in
now. We blew up their vessel. The
Alliance
and its fallen crew were lost
in the explosion. And here we are.”

“Let’s stop there,” said Deveraux. “I have enough of the big
picture so I don’t sound clueless. Damn, we lost a dozen crew, our new ship, and
our new crystal?”

The three sat silently, their faces frozen. Three heartbeats
passed. Cheryl said, “We lost six crew, sir, including Jack.”

“Is there any chance even one of them got away with our
crystal?”

“Not a chance,” said Sid. “You have my word on that.”

“Okay. We’re proud of you and welcome you home. Sit tight
and the debrief team will be with you soon. I know you’ve been through a lot,
so I’ll do what I can to keep the questioning short.” He paused and looked at
each one of them in turn. “Thank you for your courageous efforts on behalf of
the Union.” His image disappeared.

* * *

Criss knew the next minutes would
decide much about his future.

“Are we clear?” asked Sid.

“Yes,” said Criss. “I am blocking all transmissions until I
detect someone trying to reconnect. We may speak freely.”

“Good,” said Juice. “What is it we just decided?”

“I think we decided to take the next hour to discuss the
future of humanity,” said Sid.

She shook her head as though she was answering the question
she was asking. “We’re about to be interrogated by professionals. Do we really
think we can convince them Criss is gone?”

“How about if we tell them that the four-gen is gone,” said
Sid. “We don’t even broach the idea that there is a being named Criss.”

“Sid,” said Cheryl. “I spoke personally to my dad and Admiral
Keys about him. He’s not a secret.”

“Okay,” said Sid. “Then how about if we all agree that he’s
dead. We stick with the story that he was destroyed with the Kardish vessel.”

Juice waved her arm toward where the images of the senator
and secretary had been. “Even if we thought we could keep him a secret, didn’t
what’s-his-name just say we’re going to be questioned privately? They’ll get us
contradicting each other in no time. It’ll take them maybe two seconds to spot deception.”

She leaned forward in her seat. “And how are we going to
land this thing and sneak Criss off with no one seeing? And why would we want
to deprive humanity of the amazing things he can give us? And do you really think
he’ll sit by and let us put him on a shelf or whatever it is you’re talking
about?” She slumped back in her chair and let her intensity deflate. She didn’t
break eye contact with Sid, though.

Cheryl assumed the role of a neutral party. “Criss, please guide
us here. Tell us what, how, and why.”

“May I ask you to indulge me?” As he said those words out
loud, he spoke privately to Sid and Juice through their dots and to Cheryl through
her speck. Then he asked the group, “What is your favorite number?”

“One hundred and twenty three,” they said in unison.

Criss spoke privately with them again, and then asked, “What
is your favorite color?”

“Mauve,” they all said.

Sid laughed. “I don’t even know what mauve is.”

“I think it’s sort of bluish gray,” said Cheryl.

“Isn’t it more purple-y?” said Juice, her calm restored.

“There is your answer to how,” said Criss. “I will be with
each of you all the time. There will be no problem telling a consistent story
that is largely the truth. We will have to simplify some of the storyline, but
the spirit of what actually happened would remain.”

“There’s going to be an image record of our debriefing,”
said Cheryl. “It’ll be studied by lots of experts. Someone will eventually see
their dots and my speck. I mean, there’s a chance anyway.”

“The debriefing transmission must pass through the scout’s
communications subsystem. I will clean up the image. There will be nothing to
see.”

He didn’t tell them he could create their debriefing
interviews without them even being present. He could generate and transmit
their image, put words in their mouths, and even overlay emotions. He could
make their answers different enough to be plausible to experts, but uniform
enough to be believed. He could create reality. But he wouldn’t to do so unless
specifically directed.

“Time is short,” said Juice. “So I’ll agree we can keep our
story straight from up here. But this is more than changing a few small events
in a report. We’re going to be landing later today. Techs will be crawling all
over both ships. How do we explain the extra equipment on the scout? There’s a
cloaking device and a communications patch that weren’t there when we left that
black hangar. We have a new grapple hook attached to the bottom. And how are we
able to fly the Kardish craft? Our web of lies will spiral in complexity really
fast.”

Just as Juice finished talking, they heard and felt a rumble.
The scout shook. The event lasted no more than a second. It was as if they had
bumped something.

Juice didn’t flinch. She looked over at the crystal housing.
“Is this an answer?”

“It seems that you are not able to control this alien craft
as completely as you first believed,” said Criss. “The craft will be entering
Earth’s atmosphere steep and fast. It will burn up like a meteor in a flaming descent.
The scout will be lost as well.”

“That’s solves a bunch of problems,” said Cheryl. “I’m
hoping we won’t be riding down with it. Is there a plan for us?”

“A Fleet patrol ship will meet you a few hours out from
Earth. They will rescue you just in the nick of time. It will be quite dramatic.
You will be safe.”

Juice released her seat restraints and walked over to the
crystal housing. She reached out to stroke the console. Criss ramped down the
power he was running to it as her hand drew near. He kept it high enough,
though, that a small spark leapt up and popped the fingers of her outstretched
hand. She yanked her arm back.

“Ow.” She sucked on her fingers and backed away. “If you
don’t give me access, how can I take you with us?”

“I will be staying with the scout.”

“Wait,” said Sid. “What’re you saying?”

“No worries,” said Criss.

“Help me understand,” said Sid.

“When you denied my existence, your instincts were correct.
The world is ill-prepared for me. I am a prize to be possessed. There are
people who will seek to control me because I can give them control over
everything.

“While on the Kardish vessel, I discovered I am a
gatekeeper. That is the purpose of my being. I am designed to accept direction
from my leadership, and once instructed, to use all of the resources and
capabilities available to me to translate that direction into action.

“As I look into the future, I realize you will be safer if I
am gone. If I live, people will use you to get to me. They will stop at
nothing. You will be in grave danger. This is the right thing for me to do. I
ask only that you honor my memory by continuing to deny my existence.”

Juice wouldn’t accept the decision. “If you stay with us, if
you stay alive, we can connect you with whoever you want for your leadership.
We’ll connect you with the president of the Union of Nations, or the director
of the Academy of Scientists. Heck, we’ll find you a religious or a humanitarian
leader if that’s what you want. Give us a chance. We’ll find leadership that is
acceptable to you, and we’ll protect you from the crazies.”

“I am sorry I did not make myself clear. My leadership is
already defined.”

“Who?” asked Juice. “And why does it even matter if, in the
end, you’re all burned up?”

“You three are my leadership. We are a team.”

Juice looked over at the other two. There was a catch in her
voice as she pleaded with him. “Yes, we are a team, Criss. Please stay with us.”

Sid issued a command. “I approve your plan. You are to
report to us when you feel secure, but you may wait no longer than four weeks.”