Far From Home 16: Spectre (2 page)

2.

"What are we going to do about that bloody Mantipor, Will?" Captain Shaw asked him when he'd caught up. "She gets more hormonal all the time."

"Maybe she really does need to see a doctor," Will said. "It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"I agree. But who'd break that one to her?"

Commander Ardai did not put himself forward for that particular mission. He remained respectfully silent.

"Anyway, I can worry about Barbie later. By the time she's got off the ship, blown some steam, she'll be right as rain. I'm more concerned about this meeting. Me and Grimshaw go way back, but I have a feeling this is going to be a big job."

"Yeah?"

Shaw nodded. "This is only the second time since joining Shadow Force that Grimshaw's asked me to 'help him with something sensitive.' His words. And that particular mission didn't turn out too well for all concerned," he said.

"Really? What was it?"

"Classified. You know how it is. Wait till I'm drunk and I just might tell you. For now, let it be known that I go to this mission with no small amount of trepidation," Captain Shaw said. They arrived at Grimshaw's office. "Commander, did I get a little . . .
maudlin
last night?"

"Bit," Will lied.

A lot.

"Sorry. You know it's not my style. But I've a lot on my mind lately," Shaw said. "Perhaps I've been hitting the bottle too often. It's not the way to deal with anything."

"No, it's not. You know, sir, you can always–"

Captain Shaw smiled
and laid a hand on Will's shoulder. "That I do, kid. Stick around, won't you? I'm hoping this won't take too long."

* * *

Will Ardai waited outside Grimshaw's office while Captain Shaw was inside. There was little to do except look one way then the other. He wished he'd had the foresight to bring something with him. Maybe even a book.

Shaw would, no doubt, have been more than happy to lend him
A Tale Of Two Cities
 . . .

No. Anything but that.

Will leaned against the wall, arms crossed, bored as hell. Ahead of him, a woman dressed in a captain's uniform turned the corner, stopping in her tracks as her gaze fell on him. She was beautiful, dark-haired. He could've recognised those intense blue eyes anywhere.

Jessica King.

Will smiled as he walked toward her. She remained glued to the spot, clearly taken aback.

"Will?" she asked.

He stepped in close, opened his arms and embraced her. "Jess!"

Will gave her a firm, warm squeeze. He could smell her fragrance
 – faint, as ever – but there all the same. As it had always been . . . as it had been all that time ago.

They parted. He watched Jessica straighten her uniform. He himself wore nondescript black clothing, a pair of functional trousers, a T-
shirt and a black cap. There was no formal attire for Shadow Force operatives.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm on assignment," he said, not wanting to give too much away. Not unless Shaw said otherwise, that was. "Hey, anyway, look at you. Haven't aged a day since I last saw you."

"I could say the same about you. But what's with the getup?"

"Yeah, not exactly standard issue is it?"

"No. You could say that," she said with a girlish giggle that, seconds later, seemed to have embarrassed her.

"I'm with Captain Shaw. He's in the office with Grimshaw, waiting for you."

"Oh? Shaw. Never heard of him."

"He's a great guy, Jess. You'll like him, we've worked together for years. A really strong Captain."

"Well, look, I better get in there. But we'll have to
 . . . uh . . ." she said awkwardly.

"Meet up?"

"Yes," she said. "That's what I was going to say. Sorry."

Will grinned. His hand fell to her shoulder. "I should be here on the station another day or so. Docking bay seven, though you won't find us on any inventory or manifest."

She frowned. "What d'you mean?"

Will just laughed. "You'll see. Pop by later today and I'll show you around our ship. It's a bit unique. I think you'll like it."

"I will," she said. "Come by, I mean. You've sort of thrown me off. I wasn't expecting to see you . . . uh . . . here . . ."

"See you later." He smiled, patted her shoulder, then walked off. He had managed to act cool and collected, but in truth
, he couldn't believe she was there. After all those years apart, and what surprised him most was how the old feelings had been reawakened. Stirred into life again at the mere sight of her.

I'll bet she's watching me walk away,
he thought.

He couldn't help but smile.

If I turn around, and she's still looking, and she has that expression she used to have . . . maybe it's still there.

Will reached the end of the corridor and turned back to look at her. Their eyes locked on each other. He made sure to flash her a smile once more, then turned the corner and was gone while he still could.

Before he was tempted to go back.

* * *

Shaw stood as Grimshaw made the introductions.

"Jessica, I'd like you to meet Captain Shaw. He's on special assignment for me," the Admiral explained.

"Pleasure," she said as she shook his hand.

"Good to meet you, Captain King," Shaw said. "I've heard a lot about the
Defiant
and her intrepid commanding officer."

"My reputation precedes me," Jessica said with a grin.

"Well deserved, far as I hear. Word is you have all seen a lot of action," Shaw said.

Jessica shrugged. "We've been in a few scrapes, I guess
 . . ."

That's putting it mildly from what I've heard,
he thought.

"I'd like to hear about some of them. Maybe we can share a few war stories someday," Shaw said. "If you weren't a woman I'd ask you if you wanted to compare scars!"

He let rip a loud, deep bellow of a laugh and gave her a friendly slap on the back.

He liked her instantly
 – he could tell she had gumption and, more importantly, balls. Qualities he admired in a woman.

Grimshaw indicated the two seats
in front of his desk. "Shall we? I'm sure you can both make arrangements for comparing your war wounds later."

The two captains sat down. Grimshaw settled his bulk behind his desk, hands on the top as he readied himself for what he had to say.

"We know that the Namar crew were taken from the
Enigma
prior to our own rendezvous. I had no knowledge of this previous operation before sending you out, Jessica. I thought I'd reiterate that for clarity," Grimshaw said. "We also know that those crew members were used as part of an experiment called Project Prometheus. Captain Shaw has been tasked with investigating that project, and what has come of its subjects."

"Sir?" Jessica asked, frowning.

To Shaw, the Admiral's eyes looked heavy, tired.

"It would seem that the Project resulted in some experimentation with splicing technology."

"Splicing? As in
gene
splicing?"

Grimshaw nodded. "The same. Ever since the Marquis unrest, we have ceased production of replicants. Made it illegal. As you well know, as a result of the Marquis operations, replicants procreate among themselves. In some cases, interbreeding with humans. The division between human and replicant has been made all the more narrow over the years, and well may it continue. But, whoever ordered Project Prometheus into existence did so with the intention of blending replicants and Namarians, resulting in some kind of
 . . . hybrid being. Not only does this break several laws, it also poses some very worrying possibilities."

"My God," Jessica said. "Why do that?"

"Superior fighting force," Shaw suggested. "Think back to the heyday of the war. We relied on the replicants as the backbone of our armies. After all, they're just like us. Only better. Stronger, faster. Longer life spans."

"Yes I recall a slogan that said just that. I can't remember right now what it was, exactly. But I've seen it in several texts."

"'Better in War,'" Grimshaw added.

Shaw snapped his fingers. "Yeah that's it. 'Better in
War.' Well, they certainly got above that this time."

"So, what leads do we have?" Jessica asked.

The Admiral sat back in his chair, folded his arms in front of his chest. "Very little. It's restricted way above even my level. And of course, I don't want to ask anyone for favours. I don't know who to trust."

"Aside from us," Captain Shaw added.

Grimshaw smiled. "I can always trust you two, Rick. Hence this meeting."

"So we have the name of the experiment, and we know something came of it
 . . ." Jessica said.

"Yes. On a backwater planet, a dustbowl called Outland, there was a facility. Top secret, out in the middle of nowhere. Well, to cut a long story short, any mention I found of Project Prometheus in the files went hand in hand with the planet Outland. Going a bit deeper, I found details of the kind of facility they had out there."

"Go on," she said.

"It was a training base, Jessica. The same configuration as many of our own military training bases located on numerous planets throughout the galaxy. A place to make men out of boys. Or
 . . . fighters out of test tube hybrids."

She shook her head. "Do we know who took the Namar from the
Enigma
in the first place?"

Shaw cleared his throat. "I'm looking into that. It's been heavily classified. If there's a file at all," he said. "As I was explaining to the Admiral before you joined us, there's not an awful lot to go on."

"So how will you proceed?" she asked him.

"Head to Outland as soon as possible, see the site for myself. Talk to the people in the area. See if it turns up a lead," Shaw said.

"A good plan."

"I think you'll understand my reasons for calling on Captain Shaw to help us, Jess. He's not standard military like you or I. Mister Shaw here is, shall we say, off the books. Do you get me?"

"You mean Shadow Force, don't you?"

Shaw shifted in his seat. The Admiral's face was grim. "You've heard of it. Black ops. Completely off the grid. I can't trust any of my colleagues, Jess. You know that. I must first gather together the evidence, make a proper case of corruption before making grand claims. It's pretty simple, this whole thing. Someone ordered those Namar to be taken from the
Enigma
. And someone – possibly the same person – ordered they be used to create a new fighting force. An army of hybrids. For what purpose I couldn't begin to postulate."

"Another war," Captain Shaw said.

"But against whom?" Jessica asked them both.

Grimshaw sighed. "Against whoever they choose, I guess. The next candidate. For some, that is how it is. How it's always been."

"That's sickening," she said.

"No," Shaw said next to her. "That's
war
."

* * *

Kalar lumbered off the ship. Although he possessed six arms, the Xantian pilot had no legs to speak of. Much like a slug, he had one large slimy foot upon which he moved. Rhythmic waves of muscular contraction on the underside allowed him to move about, however slowly. Xantian crewmembers were rare aboard Union vessels because of their handicap, that and the slime trail they inevitably left behind. However Kalar had had treatment to limit the amount of mucus secreted beneath the foot so that it dried within seconds of hitting the floor.

"Go on ahead if you like," Kalar told Punk. "I don't mind. I'm used to this pace, don't forget."

"Don't you sweat it, mate," Punk said, furry hands in his pockets. "I don't much mind the slower pace o' things, when it comes along."

"That's good. It's nice to get off the ship," Kalar said.

Punk looked behind him. In the last minute, they'd managed to get no more than twenty metres from the airlock. Out of respect to the Xantian, however, he would never have said anything. He merely smiled and continued along at Kalar's pace, hands in his pockets, wondering if they'd have enough time on the promenade to visit Mickey's bar. It had been so long. And he hoped they might have something to drink there. A glass of Jameson's or two. Or three.

"I'm thirsty," Punk said, smacking his chops, picturing the glass of amber liquid already. Tasting it.

"We'll get there soon enough, not to worry."

Yeah,
Punk thought.
But when?

* * *

"What was it sir?"

Shaw checked over his shoulder as they walked away from the Admiral's office.

"He wants us to look into a runaway project of theirs. An ancient alien race, gene splicing . . ." Captain Shaw shook his head. "Murky waters, Commander. Murky waters."