Ep.#9 - "Resistance" (34 page)

“
You have an overactive imagination,
” Major Waddell said over her suit-comms. “
Many of these command quarters have been lived in recently,
” he added as he exited the compartment that he had been exploring and returned to the same corridor as Jessica and the others.

“Where are they, then?” she wondered. “Maybe they’re dead. Maybe they all suffocated when this deck decompressed.”

“
Unlikely,
” Major Waddell said. “
The Aurora is very compartmentalized for just that reason. Being her sister ship, the Celestia should be similarly designed. It also appears that these areas were carefully evacuated. They took everything they needed with them, leaving very little of value behind. This would indicate a slow decompression, perhaps hours or even days.
”

“Makes sense. If that’s the case, I’m betting they’re on the bridge. It’s designed to be a self-contained vault. It has its own power generation, life support, and water recycling systems. It even has its own airlock into the corridor. It can support the entire bridge staff for months. At least, the Aurora’s bridge can.” She looked around at the numerous open panels and loosely hanging conduits. “I’m not so sure about this place.”

“
Might they also have evacuated aft?
” Major Waddell asked. “
Perhaps to engineering?
”

“It’s possible. There are airlocks passing through the primary aft bulkhead in case they have to decompress the entire propulsion section during an out-of-control fire.”

“
Perhaps we should send some of our team aft,
” Major Waddell suggested.

“The bridge is just around the corner,” Jessica said. “If no one is there, we’ll all head aft.”

“
As you wish.
”

Jessica turned the next corner, arriving at the port entrance to the Celestia’s bridge. The outer airlock hatch was closed, a condition she had never seen on the Aurora. She walked up to the control panel next to the hatch and examined it, pressing several buttons in an attempt to activate the airlock controls. “It’s locked out,” she said, “from the inside.”

“
There is no manual override?
”

“Nope. It’s designed to be a vault, remember?”

“
Even a vault can be opened,
” the major said.

“Yeah? Well, there are only two ways to open this one. We cut our way in, which will work but will take forever. It’s also likely to scare them into blowing up the ship.”

“
What is the second way?
”

Jessica pulled out a small bundle of cable. “A comm adapter. Vlad made it for me.”

Jessica plugged one end into a jack on the side of her helmet. “This allows me to connect the ship’s intercom system with your Corinairan suit’s comm system.”

“
The ship appears dead,
” the major said. “
Will the intercom even work?
”

“They’re sound powered,” she told him, “like those used on ocean-going warships on pre-plague Earth, only far more sophisticated. No external power source.” She smiled as she placed a small box over the speaker grill on the intercom panel and pressed a button to activate the unit. The device instantly clamped down around the grill and sealed itself in place. She connected the other end of the cable to the device, then activated the intercom. “Celestia bridge, this is Lieutenant Commander Jessica Nash of the Earth Defense Force. I am outside your airlock, requesting entry. I have authentication codes for your validation. Do you copy?” She looked at Major Waddell and shrugged her shoulders. After a minute, she repeated her hail, after which she switched the intercom button off again. She looked at the major.

“
They may be dead,
” he told her. “
We do not know how long ago this deck was depressurized.
”

“That is a possibility.” Jessica activated the intercom again. “Crew of the Celestia currently occupying the bridge, I’m going to read my authentication codes to you.” Jessica slowly rattled off the long, three-part identification code given to her by President Scott. Again she waited. After another minute, she said, “Celestia bridge crew, I’m awaiting validation.” She looked at the major again.

“
How do I know you are who you say you are?
” a voice answered. It was a male voice, partially obscured by static and at a low volume due to the electromagnetic adapter used to generate the simulated sound waves.

“Hey! You’re alive!” Jessica said. “That’s great! But I didn’t quite copy your last message. Can you repeat?”

“
I said, how do I know you are who you say you are?
” the voice repeated more slowly and with greater volume.

“Uh, ‘cause I gave you the correct authentication codes.”

“
You could have gotten them from a prisoner or stolen them. Or you could be a Jung collaborator.
”

“Collaborator?” she said, suddenly getting angry. “I’m gonna…” Jessica cut herself off mid-sentence, pausing to regain her composure. “I’m gonna let that remark slide, since you don’t know what I’ve been through over the last five months.”

“
The question still stands,
” the voice said.

“Yes, I admit, those are all possibilities. Listen, what’s your name?”

“
Luis.
”

“You got a last name, Luis?”

“
Delaveaga.
”

“What’s your rank, Delaveaga?”

“
Ensign.
”

“Okay, Ensign, what’s your sixth general order?”

“
Why?
”

“Humor me, Ensign.”

“
To receive, obey, and pass on to the sentry who relieves me all orders from the commanding officer, command duty officer, officer of the deck, and officers of the watch only. Now what the fuck is your point?
”

“So, Ensign Delaveaga, try obeying the order to respect those who presented you with proper authentication codes.”

“
Why?
”

Jessica was becoming irritated. “Because if the codes were compromised, then the war is over. That means the people of Earth are Jung slaves, and nothing you or I do here will matter. So either blow the fucking ship or open the goddamned door, but quit wasting my time!”

“
Nice try.
”

Jessica looked at Waddell as she switched off the intercom. “What the hell does this asshole want from us, the latest sports scores?”

Waddell looked confused by her statement.

Jessica switched the intercom back on. “You know we can cut our way in, right?”

“
And my orders, from
my
commanding officer, are to blow the ship if you do.
”

Jessica switched off the intercom and looked at Waddell. “This is going to be harder than I thought.” She switched the intercom back on. “Look, I know that you are under orders to blow up the ship rather than let her fall into enemy hands, and I respect that you’re just trying to follow those orders. But I’m telling you, we’re on your side, Luis. Besides, if you blow yourself up, you’ll also be destroying whatever technology is still on those data cores you’re carrying. We’ve only scratched the surface, you know. There’s probably lots of really advanced stuff on there that we just don’t yet have the means of manufacturing.”

Major Waddell looked at Jessica. “
How do you know this?
”

Jessica switched the intercom off momentarily. “Abby told me… and told me, and told me.”

“
How do you know about the data cores?
” Luis asked.

“The same way I knew the authentication codes. Buckeye, remember?”

There was silence.

Jessica switched off the intercom and looked at Waddell again. “That’s got his brain twisting.” She smiled.

“
Where’s your ship?
” Luis asked.

“It’s parked right outside,” Jessica answered. “Surely you can see it on the main view screen—you know, that big dome-shaped thing that wraps around half the damned bridge.”

“
That ship is just a shuttle,
” Luis said. “
A big one, yes, but there’s no way that ship made it all the way here from Earth. Why haven’t I seen its design before? Why can’t I identify its power source, and how did you sneak up on us like that?
”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Sorry, most of that is classified, I’m afraid.”

“
Wrong answer.
”

Major Waddell looked at her. “
He’s going to find out anyway, assuming he does not blow us all up.
”

Jessica shrugged, her eyebrows raising. “Fine, you want answers? Here you go. The shuttle is Corinairan. Nice folks, live on a beautiful Earth-like world about a thousand light years from here. The power source, well, that’s a Takaran design. They’re neighbors of the Corinairans. They used to be a monarchy run by an evil jerk named Caius until I blew his face off. It was a really nice shot. You should have seen it. Oh, and we used the shuttle’s jump drive to sneak up on you.” She looked at Waddell.

“
That might be over doing it, Nash,
” the major said, one eyebrow raised.

She switched off the intercom. “I’m starting to lose my patience with this guy.”

“
That was pretty good, really,
” Luis answered, sounding amused. “
But you forgot about your ship. What ship are you from? Where’s it hiding?
”

“I’m from the Aurora, and it’s currently about two light years away, waiting for me to report back.”

“
The Aurora, huh?
” Luis said, fighting back the laughter. “
Who’s your captain?
”

“Nathan Scott,” she answered. As soon as the name left her lips, she realized she had made a mistake.

“
Wrong! You almost had me, too!
” Luis laughed openly. “
You have a great imagination though! You should consider writing science fiction stories for the Earth-Net.
”

Jessica sighed and looked upward as she switched off the intercom for a moment. “Damn it, I fucked up. I should have said Roberts.” After pausing a moment, she switched the intercom back on. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe, really. If I hadn’t lived it, I wouldn’t believe it either, but it’s true. Every last word of it.”

“
I knew Nathan Scott,
” Luis said.
“I knew him well. There’s no way that guy is captain of anything. Besides, the Aurora was lost five months ago, in this very same area ironically enough.
”

“But…”

“
Look, Nash, or whoever you are, you tried. You failed. So either start cutting your way in or get the hell off this ship.
”

“I can’t do that,” Jessica exclaimed. “What do I have to do to convince you I’m telling the truth?”

“
You want to know what you have to do?
” Luis asked.

“Yes!”

“
Show me Nathan Scott!
” Luis insisted, anger sneaking into his tone. “
I want to hear it from his mouth!
”

The intercom went silent. Jessica unplugged the cable from her helmet, leaving it to hang loosely from the device in the minuscule gravity of Metis.

Major Waddell looked at Jessica as she turned to depart. “
Where are you going?
”

“He wants Nathan Scott? We’re gonna give him Nathan Scott.”

* * *

“Sir, I really want to believe it’s true. I really do. But I’m telling you, it just doesn’t add up. That ship, their EVA suits, and that outrageous story she made up? When she started talking about the Aurora and Nathan being the captain, that was it. I knew I had her.”

“But why would she make up a story like that?” Devyn said. “I could think of a dozen more believable stories than that.”

“
She’s got a point,
” Lieutenant Commander Kovacic said over the comm-set.

“Sir, Nathan Scott was my roommate for four years at the Academy. He was my best friend. He’s a great guy, but there is no way he’d make captain. He’s too much of a screw-up.”

“
Wait, isn’t he the son of the president?
”

“Yes, but the president was only a senator back then,” Luis pointed out. “He didn’t get elected president of the NAU until a few months after the Aurora was lost.”

“
Any chance his daddy pulled some strings…
”

“I know what you’re thinking, sir, but no way. They didn’t get along. Nathan’s father didn’t even like the EDF, and he certainly didn’t like it when Nathan joined up. I don’t see him trying to help his son’s career. If anything, he’d probably try to get him kicked out or assigned to surface duty.”

“
So you think this Nash person is using a bunch of screwed-up data then?
”

“Maybe the Jung have collected bits and pieces of information from old news broadcasts or something. Maybe they thought it was believable that Nathan would be promoted, since his father was elected president.”

“But why would that woman say she was from the Aurora?” Devyn asked. “Surely the Jung knew that the Aurora was lost and that
we
knew the Aurora was lost as well.”

“
That’s the part that worries me,
” the lieutenant commander said. “
They wouldn’t. That lie would be too easy to spot.
”

“So you think she was telling the truth?” Luis asked. “You think the Aurora is alive and well, and Nathan Scott is in command?” Luis couldn’t believe it. “Come on, sir. That’s ridiculous!”

“
I don’t know what to think at this point,
” Lieutenant Commander Kovacic declared.

“I’m telling you, sir, Nathan Scott is dead and so is the Aurora. That girl was a Jung collaborator. I’d bet my life on it.”

“
You just might be, Ensign,
” the lieutenant commander said. “
We might all be.
”

“What do we do in the meantime?” Devyn wondered. “They’re bound to come back.”

“
The charges are all set. We can blow it remotely from here, and you can blow it from your panel up there. We can also set it on a timer if necessary. When they come back, we can still blow the ship.
”

“What if they manage to access our environmental systems?” Devyn wondered. “They could introduce a gas, something that would render us unconscious.”

“
We’ll just have to keep a sharp eye out.
”

“You want me to start using active scanners?” Luis asked. “That way, they couldn’t sneak up on us.”

“
No, not yet.
”

“Why not?”

“
Because if she
was
EDF and not Jung, going active would bring the
real
Jung right to us
.”

“That’s going to leave us with a lot of cameras to watch, sir.”