Ep.#15 - "That Which Other Men Cannot Do" (The Frontiers Saga) (37 page)

“They wanted us to return to port for repairs, but I told them that if we didn’t finish the survey now, all of our results would be skewed and we would have to start over. I told him that we couldn’t afford that type of financial setback. He wasn’t buying it at first, so I made up a bunch of stuff about how I wouldn’t graduate, and my family would disown me… Blah, blah, blah. I promised we would return in four days, after the last leg was completed.”

“And he bought all that crap?” Josh asked, amazed.

“I don’t know. That’s when I had you go to FTL.” Gerard said. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

Loki shook his head. “Next time the captain offers us a mission, Josh, just shut the hell up, will you?”

* * *

Jessica’s mouth dropped when the door opened. Standing before her was Synda, baby in hand. “Oh, my God!”

“Jessica!” Synda greeted. She switched to a more hushed tone, suddenly remembering she had a baby in her arms. “It’s about time.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get away for the birth,” Jessica apologized. “Work.”

“That’s okay,” Synda assured her, stepping aside to let her in. “We are a bit out of your way, and all.”

“Naw, only forty-seven light years,” Jessica joked. “I thought you were having twins?” she said as she closed the heavy wooden door behind her.

“Esma is sleeping,” Synda said. “This, is Ania.”

“Well, hello there, Ania,” Jessica said, greeting the child in hushed, cooing tones.

“This is your auntie Jessica,” Synda told her child. “You want to hold her?”

Jessica was suddenly nervous. “Uh… I don’t know.”

“Come on,” Synda teased. “What are you afraid of? You’re spec-ops.”

“They did
not
teach baby-holding in spec-ops,” Jessica said. She stared at the infant in her mother’s arms. “Oh, what the hell. She is adorable, after all.”

“Yes, she is,” Synda said, carefully handing the child to Jessica. Ania began to cry as her mother transferred her to Jessica’s arms. “That’s right, support her head with your hand, just like that,” Synda instructed.

Jessica cradled the infant carefully, pulling her in close to her body, being very careful not to squeeze her too hard.

“You see, it just comes naturally to you,” Synda said encouragingly.

“I don’t know about that,” Jessica replied. She gently bounced the infant up and down. “It’s okay, Ania. I’m your mommy’s friend, Jessica.” After a few moments, the infant stopped crying.

“You see? She likes you,” Synda said.

“Kid’s got good taste,” Jessica replied. She looked down at baby Ania, who was staring back up at her with big green eyes. “What pretty green eyes, you have,” Jessica cooed. “Yes, you do.” Jessica looked at Synda. “How long ago did you deliver?”

“Three weeks,” Synda replied, taking a seat on the couch. “Right on the due date. The Tannans have this stuff down to a science. Apparently, everyone here delivers right on time.”

Jessica could feel the trust in the infant’s eyes as she looked up at her, the child’s green eyes wide with curiosity at the stranger holding her. “She’s amazing,” Jessica whispered, as she took a seat on the couch next to Synda. “She’s so quiet.”

“And she’s the noisy one,” Synda commented.

“Are they identical?”

“Similar, but not identical. Esma’s hair is a little darker, and her eyes are more gray than green. I think Esma’s face is a little wider as well, but apparently no one else does. Would you like to see her?”

“Isn’t she sleeping?”

“It’s time to feed her anyway,” Synda said as she rose. “I’ll be right back.”

“Uh…” Jessica’s eyes widened as Synda left the room, leaving her alone with baby Ania in her arms. “Okay. I’ve got this, I suppose.” She looked down at Ania. Her eyes were starting to close. Jessica hummed a lullaby. Ania closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep in Jessica’s arms. For the first time in her life, Jessica had an inkling of what the maternal instinct felt like.

A minute later, Synda returned carrying baby Esma. “This is Esma.” Synda placed the baby down in her lap as she sat, uncovering her breast to feed the infant.

“You weren’t kidding,” Jessica said. “She is quiet.”

“Very,” Synda said as she started to breastfeed Esma. “To be honest, I think I got lucky with these two. I’ve heard stories from some of the Tannan mothers.”

“I just can’t believe you have
two
babies,” Jessica exclaimed in disbelief. “One seems like it would be a lot of work…but two?”

“It’s tiring, yes,” Synda agreed, “but it isn’t work. At least, it doesn’t feel like it. Work is something that you don’t want to do, but must do. This… This is love. You do it because you
want
to do it, because nothing is more important to you than being with your children, and taking care of them. It is simply
what
you do.
Who
you are. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

Jessica looked down at the sleeping infant in her arms. She was so peaceful and content, wrapped in her little blanket, safe in the arms of another. “I think I understand,” Jessica admitted.

* * *

“This has been the longest four days of my life,” Loki groaned as their shuttle came out of FTL.

“It’s not over, yet,” Josh warned. “Not until the fat lady sings.”

“Would you stop with the old Earth idioms already?” Loki demanded. “What the hell does that mean, anyway? ‘Until the fat lady sings?’ Really?”

“It is getting kind of irritating, Josh,” Gerard agreed, as he stared out the front windows of the shuttle.

“Where are they?” Loki wondered. “They’re supposed to already be here, waiting for us.”

“Anything on the sensors?” Josh asked.

“Nothing.”

“Shut down everything,” Gerard instructed. “Go completely cold. A single passive sensor only.”

“How are they going to find us?” Josh wondered.

“Just do as he says, Josh,” Loki insisted, as he started shutting down systems.

“We’ll see them when they jump in,” Gerard explained.

“They were supposed to have
already
jumped in,” Loki repeated.

“That’s what’s got me worried,” Gerard said. “There’s got to be a reason they’re not here.”

Loki turned and looked at Gerard. “You think there might be a Jung ship in the area?”

“It’s possible.”

“Unbelievable,” Loki mumbled as he continued shutting down systems. “We fly all the way through the Jung system without a problem, only to get picked off on the far side on our way out.”

An alert beep sounded.

Loki glanced at the sensor display on the center console. “We’re picking up something.”

“A jump flash?”

“Nope. No flash.”

“Is it a Jung ship?”

“I don’t know,” Loki admitted. “Seems kind of small. I suppose it could be a patrol ship of some kind. It didn’t come out of FTL, though. It just
appeared
, as if it came out of nowhere. Wait… It’s gone again.”

“Steer toward it,” Gerard instructed.

Josh turned to look at him. “What?”

“It’s got to be the boxcar.”

“How do you know?”

“You said it wasn’t big enough to be a Jung ship…”

“A Jung ship that we know of,” Loki corrected.

“Anyone out here would
see
us come out of FTL.”

“There it is again,” Loki said as the sensor display beeped a second time. “Ten degrees to port, five down relative. About two kilometers. Damn, it’s gone again.”

“I’m telling you, it’s the boxcar,” Gerard insisted. “Steer toward it.”

“And if it’s not?” Josh wondered.

“If it was a Jung patrol ship, it would be hailing us, or firing on us,” Gerard insisted. “It wouldn’t be flashing in and out as if trying to hide.”

“There it is again,” Loki said. “It is on the same course as us, a little slower.”

“You see? They’ve been out here waiting for us, running cold. They saw us come out of FTL on passive, so they’re signaling us by turning something on and off.”

Josh sighed. “Works for me,” he said as he initiated a turn to port.

Loki continued watching the monitor as Josh adjusted the shuttle’s course to intercept the unknown object. “There it is again. And it’s gone. Wait… It’s back…and gone. Back, gone…”

“Three flashes,” Gerard realized. “They flashed us three times, after they saw us turn toward them.”

“I don’t like this,” Loki said. “We’re closing on them, and we can’t see them.”

“We’re too far from any source of light.”

“How far are we?” Josh asked.

“Based on the object’s last position, course, and speed, about three hundred meters, and closing fast,” Loki warned.

“Well, whatever it is, we’ll know shortly.”

“Wait until you’re within one hundred meters, then turn on your forward floodlights,” Gerard suggested.

“That’s barely going to give us room to decelerate,” Loki protested.

“I can do it,” Josh insisted.

Loki took a deep breath and sighed, resigning himself to whatever fate had in store for them. “Two hundred meters.”

Josh continued staring out the front windows, into the black void.

“One-fifty.”

“I’m right, you’ll see,” Gerard assured them.

“One hundred,” Loki announced. “Forward floods coming on.”

“Firing deceleration thrusters,” Josh said. He looked out the windows again, still seeing nothing but blackness. “I’m not seeing them.”

“They’re still too far out,” Loki warned. “Fifty meters. Oh, shit! I’ve got their directional approach beacon! Two degrees down, one more left! Twenty-five meters!”

“Eyes on!” Josh announced as their forward floodlights finally reached the massive boxcar ahead of them.

“Fifteen, still a little fast!” Loki warned. “Ten meters to threshold! Dropping our gear.”

Josh’s eyes were glued to the view ahead of them, as the gaping rectangular opening into the boxcar’s cargo pod rushed toward them, and then passed overhead.

“Four green on the gear! Threshold!” Loki announced. “Translate down!”

Josh didn’t answer, instead he pushed the translation switch on his flight control stick. A hissing sound came from above them, as their topside thrusters fired, pushing them down onto the cargo pod’s deck.

“We’re not going to stop in time!” Loki realized.

“Brace for impact!” Josh warned as he brought their deceleration thrusters up to full power, ignoring any damage they might cause to the interior of the cargo pod.

All three of them suddenly felt incredibly heavy.

“Their gravity has got us!” Loki exclaimed.

“Oh, shit!” Josh shouted as the back wall of the cargo pod rushed toward them.

The nose of the shuttle struck the back wall of the cargo pod. The nose crumpled and the window in front of Josh cracked, but did not shatter. All three of them felt themselves being thrown forward, but the sudden deceleration was not as intense as they had feared.

Alarms sounded, and they heard hissing.

Josh looked about frantically, slightly dazed by the impact. “We’re venting atmosphere!” he exclaimed.

“Get in the back!” Loki yelled as he climbed out of his seat.

“I’m right behind you!” Josh climbed out of his seat and followed Gerard and Loki into the makeshift cabin, closing and locking the hatch to the cockpit behind him.

“Damn!” Josh said as he collapsed onto his bunk. He laughed. “Any landing you can walk away from, right?”

“We can’t walk away from this one, Josh,” Loki reminded him. “The cargo bay isn’t pressurized, remember?”

“No problem,” Josh insisted. “They’ll jump us back to Earth and land at Porto Santo. That’ll take what, an hour, tops? We’ve got plenty of air to last until then.”

“He’s right,” Gerard said. “We made it, Loki.” Gerard smiled.

Loki let his head fall back against the bulkhead. “Yup… The longest four days of my life.”

* * *

Robert Nash stood in his office at the Cobra gunship base on the asteroid orbiting Tanna. He had spent the last six months training the Tannans to operate their new gunships, and he had enjoyed every moment of it. Soon, the office would belong to his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Rano, as would the responsibility to both train and command the Cobra gunship wing.

Robert found it odd that he felt such an attachment to this office, since he had actually spent very little time in it. Most of his time had been split between the training facility at the Cobra production plant on the surface of Tanna, or in the cockpit of a gunship as he led his crews through countless training flights. Still, the office was a symbol of his command, and he had grown an unexpected pride for it.

A knock sounded at the open door. Robert looked up and saw Lieutenant Commander Rano. “Izzu.”

“Robert. Are you all packed?”

“Just picking up the last of my things here.” Robert noticed the new rank insignia on his friend’s collar. “Well, now. I see it’s
Commander
Rano now. Congratulations, my friend.” Robert stepped out from behind his desk to shake the commander’s hand. “You deserve it, Iz.”

“Thank you,” the commander replied. “And thank you for recommending me for promotion.”

“Like I said, you deserve it,” Robert said, patting his friend on the shoulder. Robert leaned back onto his desk. “So, you ready to take over?”

“I’m not sure. It is a big responsibility, you know.”

“Believe me, I know,” Robert assured him. “But you’ll do fine. Of that I have zero doubt.”

“Your faith in me is reassuring, Robert.” Commander Rano sat down in the chair against the wall. “So, are you looking forward to your new command?”

“Yes, and no,” Robert admitted. “I’m going to miss this place, and all you people. Tanna kind of grows on you, you know?”

“Is it not every officer’s dream?” Izzu wondered, “to command a great ship?”

“It’s only a frigate, Iz.”

“Still, it is much bigger than a gunship, is it not?”

“Indeed it is.”

“Well, I am certain that you will…”

Alarm klaxons sounded in the corridor, and the alert lamps turned from standard white to red.

“
Attention. Attention,
” a Tannan voice announced over the loudspeakers. “
General quarters. General quarters. All crews to your stations. Prepare to launch gunships. This is not a drill.
”

Robert tapped his comm-set. “Nash. Status?”

“
Sensor contact, on the edge of the system,
” the comm officer replied over Robert’s comm-set. “
No identification yet, but there is no transponder signal being broadcast. Profiles suggest Jung scout ships. Two of them.
”

“How likely is it for a pair of Jung scout ships to show up by themselves?” Robert asked Commander Rano.

“Unlikely,” the commander replied. “We are too far out on the fringe. This system was taken by the Jung to act as a refueling and resupply outpost before heading out of the sector. When traveling this far out, fleet commanders like to send scouts ahead
before
arriving, just to be safe. If they are Jung scout ships, it is likely bigger ships will follow.”