Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel 1: The Deimos Artifact (12 page)

Grumbling about inept junkyard engineers the whole time, Cliff returned the cables to their proper orientation, a process that only took a few more minutes.

"Now we got another problem."

"...and that is?"

"These two modules are still carryin' a full charge."

"That doesn't sound good," said Zack.

"It ain't, but we can take care of it. It's just kind of a hassle that's all."

"What do we do?"

"After I make a few adjustments, we can gradually bleed off the power to run our reaction engines for a while when we get back to normal space. Shouldn't take more than a half hour or so to run each module down."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"It ain't, but I'll need you to lend me a hand."

With each of them carrying one of the damaged hyper-diodes, the two men headed back down to engineering where they secured the fried components to a workbench in the tool room. They then called the pilot to explain the discharge problem.

"I think we can make that work," she said, "We're going fast enough that we'll still need to scrub off some extra velocity when we go back to normal space near the inner system. Just let me know when you need me to shut down the engines while you reroute the power."

There were several more hours remaining before the ship phased out of sublight and the men spent the bulk of that time preparing to bleed the power stored in the two modules into the reaction drives. Cliff had Zack help him while he ran some temporary, and very robust, cables from the weapons module over to the reaction drive inputs. That done, they returned to the base of the turret where Zack watched as Cliff flipped several large switches within each of the problem capacitors into slow discharge mode. They then retracted the turret and returned to engineering.

"Thanks a lot, Zack, I think I can handle it from here."

All they needed to do now was wait for the phase back into normal space.

Chapter 13.
Lessons Learned.

Murmansk, Near the Alpha Hyperlink Zone for Star System 10711, July 6, 2676.

With the amount of velocity that his ship had built up trying to chase down the yacht, Sergei knew that the
Murmansk
would make the hyperlink zone a lot earlier than the normal interval after coming out of sublight. No issues there. The problems would arise on the other side of the hyper zone where they would need to reverse thrust to shed some of that excess speed to match their intrinsic velocity to that of the Central System.

After making sure that everyone on the bridge of the
Murmansk
was okay, Sergei headed down to engineering to find out how bad the damage was. The chief engineer and his new protégé gathered around him near the main engineering console.

Having performed well under pressure but still keyed up from all of the excitement, engineering technician second class, Rudolph Lysenko, witnessed the exchange between his superiors in wide-eyed wonder.

Sergei opened with the question he had been dreading, "How bad is it, Alex?"

The engineer took a moment to collect his thoughts before replying, "The loss of our dorsal reaction engine is the worst of it, Captain. All other systems are working fine; however, with the dorsal reaction module out we will also be unable to use the ventral engine. The unbalanced thrust vector would send the ship into an overhead loop. I regret to say that it will take a considerably longer time to scrub our excess velocity using only the port and starboard engines," he shook his head side to side, "I wish I had better news, Captain."

"It's not your fault, Alex," replied Sergei, "We'll just have to do our best with what remains available to us. Our insertion into sublight when we get to Central will have to be delayed until we have reduced our velocity more closely to Central intrinsic. With any luck, we will only lose a few hours. I'll have the navigator plot a deceleration course using only half power," he glanced over at Lysenko, "If nothing else, this will have been a good learning opportunity for our new engineer."

The eyes of that new engineer grew, if anything, even wider.

Sergei made no attempt to suppress a quick grin and a chuckle at the young man's reaction, "Thank you, Alex. Carry on."

After informing the navigator and the pilots back up on the bridge about the deceleration problem, Sergei left them behind to work out the details and headed back down the main corridor of the ship. He did not relish what his next task had to be though he also realized that putting it off wouldn't make things go any easier. A few moments later he touched the door chime on the bulkhead outside of his special passenger's cabin.

"Enter," came the response.

He went into the compartment and the door slid shut behind him. As expected, Dmitri Krupski was already there. As usual, the Ambassador remained in the shadows of an already dimly lit chamber.

"I have come to give a report, Your Grace."

"I assume that you are here to discuss your recent failure, Captain," said Krupski.

Sergei swallowed a sharp retort, settling for an angry glare instead, "I regret to inform you that Major Krupski is correct." It was clear that the Political Officer had already poisoned these waters and there was little to be gained by contradicting him even if the man was lying outright in an effort undermine his Captain's standing with the dignitary.

"I could tell from the battering that the ship received that all did not proceed as planned," rasped the Ambassador.

"I have no excuse," said Sergei, with another glare at Krupski, "
We
underestimated the enemy. It appears that the pleasure craft is heavily armed."

Sergei was both surprised and relieved at the reply he received.

"You recall me stating that matters do not always proceed as planned when there is conflict involved?"

"I do, Your Grace," replied Sergei.

"It is unfortunate that such an excellent opportunity could not be taken advantage of."

"I agree, but only up to a point," said Sergei, "We still don't know if the item we seek was on that ship."

"The artifact is on that ship, Captain. I can sense it. Leave us now. We must ponder what our next course of action should be. We will contact you when we need to speak again."

"As you wish, Your Grace."

"And Captain?"

"Yes, Your Grace?

"See that you do not disappoint me again."

Sergei didn't reply aloud but merely nodded in understanding. He left the cabin and headed back towards the bridge with his anger tightly controlled. He realized that he was going to have to be even more careful in the presence of the Political Officer because it was now painfully obvious that the insidious little bastard had only his own personal best interests in mind. Men such as he tended to be ruthless, cruel and utterly untrustworthy.

The Ambassador said he could "sense" the artifact. Could that be true? Sergei couldn't suppress a slight shudder at the inexplicable feelings of revulsion that the Ambassador elicited from within him. He did, however, completely understand his aversion to the Ambassador's handler.

Chapter 14.
Central Arrival.

Central Planets Star System, July 7, 2676.

The Central Planetary System was a bustling place with a veritable cloud of spaceships crowding the spaceways. Ships of all descriptions were at various stages of travel between the multiple orbital docking facilities that served the three planets of the Central system and the multiple hyperjump zones which were part of the reason that this particular star system had become a major transportation hub.

Almost every star system so far explored had been found to have a solar system consisting of at least several planets. Those that were blessed with planets fit for human habitation, however, were quite rare, comprising less than half a percent of the systems that had been catalogued. The odds in favor of encountering a system with multiple inhabitable planets, like the Central System, were so small as to be almost nonexistent.

"Isis," the star of the Central System was a G-type star some 1.2 times the mass of Sol. As such, the "goldilocks zone" or the zone around the star where temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold to sustain water-based lifeforms was about twice the size of the zone in Humanity's home system. The central star was well-named. "Isis" was the ancient Greek goddess of magic and the giver of life. One of the system's discoverers had actually suggested that the star be named "Goldilocks" but had been outvoted. Either of the names would have been completely appropriate as the system had no less than three planets within the inhabitable zone: Nova York, the innermost and warmest of the planets; Nova Boston, the planet near the center of the inhabitable zone and Nova Philadelphia, the outermost and least hospitable of the three. The system was easily the most populous of any of the Human-colonized systems and had been the center of Human affairs for the better part of three centuries.

With the ship decelerating and, at the same time, bleeding power from the two charged weapons capacitors, Ariane contacted the authorities using the
Capri's
TachRad transceiver and told them their destination was Nova York. "TachRad" was an abbreviation for "Tachyon Radio" and allowed nearly instantaneous, faster than light communication over interplanetary distances. Invented just over three hundred years earlier, the devices had become almost indispensable for spacecraft, and were especially useful for lag-free communications over distances greater than a few light minutes. She received navigation instructions from the system's space traffic control personnel.

Even though she wouldn't need them for several hours, she programmed the instructions into the
Capri's
navigation computer. She could then allow the computer to take control of the ship at the appropriate time. Such systems were nearly foolproof but regulations demanded that a pilot be stationed on the bridge during transit anyway. Traffic incidents were extremely rare but did occur occasionally and during transit in a system as busy as this one, a pilot was required to intervene if anything went wrong.

Ariane had received word from Cliff about ten minutes earlier that both capacitors were depleted and they needed to shut down the reaction engines for a few minutes while he and Zack switched all of the systems back to normal power delivery. Some fifteen minutes later, she had just resumed thrust and activated the autopilot when Zack, no longer needed down in engineering, came onto the bridge.

"You say we need to find your father?" he asked as he resumed his now customary station. His question was innocent enough but, underneath an outwardly calm exterior, Zack was doing a slow burn. He'd been jerked around a lot over the last several days, caught up in a game that he hadn't signed up to play in, and was ready for some answers to some pretty knotty questions. On the way up to the bridge, he had decided that it was past time for a confrontation with his close-mouthed pilot.

"We just have to get to the Nova York Orbital Station. He'll meet us there."

Zack gave her a hard look, "You knew something hosed up was going on in my uncle's affairs all along, didn't you? Why didn't you just tell me?"

Ariane gave him a calculating look while deciding how to respond. Finally she said, "Because we didn't know how you were going to react. We also didn't know if we could completely trust you."

"What would make you think that?" asked Zack, genuinely confused, maybe even a little hurt.

"Where do I start?" replied Ariane, The reports we have on your earlier life indicate that you were...wild and unpredictable. That and you have a rebellious streak."

Mildly taken aback at her response, Zack thought about the more or less wasted years of his life just before he enlisted in the Marines, years he had spent getting into all sorts of trouble and arguing with his uncle, or anyone of authority, over what he now knew had been trivial matters. "That was nothing more than normal teenage bullshit and you know it. A few years in the military, especially in combat, can help a man to find the proper perspective on a lot of things. You could have said those things about me a few years ago, but I can assure you that it's not me anymore."

"You also have legal action pending against you for disobeying a direct order from a superior officer."

That she knew about his current troubles shouldn't have shocked Zack, considering that the statement was coming from a Naval Intelligence officer, but it did. It also put him on the defensive. Keeping his voice level with an effort, he replied, "That happened because I valued the lives of the people under my command more than I did the cost of some easily-replaced ordinance."

"Easy, Zack," said Ariane, "I've read the reports."

"Then you know the officer who gave the order not to use missiles was a green lieutenant who wasn't even on the scene."

"It looks to me like you acted properly in a difficult situation, Zack," said Ariane, "However, because that lieutenant is who he is, the whole affair is a lot more complicated than it would be otherwise."

"I can assure you that I am a loyal and trustworthy soldier, Ensign."

"From what I've seen, I'd have to agree with you."

"Thanks, I think," replied Zack.

Ariane looked thoughtful again for a moment, "I can't give you an official invitation, but the Federation government is really interested in finding out more about this artifact thing. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't mind having you on the team we're putting together. You certainly can handle yourself in a fight! We could also make very good use of this ship. Think you might be interested?"

"I expect that this means that you don't really want me to sell the
Capri
?"

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

"About selling the ship?"

"Yes...I'm not sure you legally can," said Ariane.

"Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Your uncle signed a contract a month ago leasing the
Capri
to the University for a year."

Zack sat back in his chair in mild shock as he mulled over Ariane's totally unexpected and unwelcome announcement. Marv had stated in his letter that Zack would own the
Capri
"with no strings attached." He must have agreed to this leasing arrangement sometime after the letter had been sealed and put away for safekeeping.

"Why the hell didn't somebody tell me?"

"Marv's lawyer didn't know anything about it and, unfortunately, during all of the excitement of the last few days there just hasn't been an appropriate time to discuss it."

"Better late than never, I guess," he said, tersely, somehow managing to hold his anger and frustration in check, "Are there any other nasty surprises I should know about?"

"Not that I can think of at the moment," replied Ariane. After a pause she added, "I'm sorry, Zack."

"Why would my uncle do something like that?"

"Marvin intended to go along on my father's next expedition and his contribution, over and above the artifact itself, was to donate the use of his ship for a very reasonable fee."

Zack shook his head disgustedly, "I might have known there was some kind of catch."

"Now that I know something about you, I'm kind of hoping we can persuade you to come with us."

Zack shook his head, "I don't see any way I could make that work," he replied. "First off, I need to get back to my outfit in about two more weeks. Besides that, I don't have much money left, Ariane. I spent about a third of what I had to top off the reaction fluid for this trip. Now Cliff says I need to pay some kind of fee to license the pulse beam system or the authorities might impound the ship. That and we need to buy some parts to get the weapons working again. Those are just the liabilities I know about. How in Space can you expect me to maintain a ship like this? Right now, I doubt I can even afford the price of a fleabag hotel. In fact, I was planning to save a few credits by staying on board the ship until I could get her sold. Even that arrangement depended on whether or not the docking authorities would let me pay the fees
after
I sold the ship. Now you tell me that I no longer even have
that
option."

"My father has some powerful friends," said Ariane, "and the Federation Government has an interest in this project. We might be able to do something about your military obligations. On the financial end, Marv's agreement stipulates that the University project will pay a modest but reasonable fee to lease the ship. More than that they are obligated to outfit and supply the ship for the expedition. I expect they'll be willing to pay the licensing fees for the weapon and we can probably get them to pony up for the repair parts too. After we get done with the project, you should easily have enough resources to keep the ship if you want to."

"What if I decide that this whole affair is just too dangerous and too confusing and what I really want is to just get the hell away from it? I'm just a simple soldier, Ariane, I don't have the training or the stomach for sneaking around playing spy games. If the ship has been leased out from under me, so be it. Take her with my blessing. Just try to bring her back in one piece!"

Ariane gave him a no-nonsense look, "I'm afraid it won't be that simple, Zack. I'm not sure you can just walk away."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Like it or not, it's almost certain that the opposition believes that you're deeply involved at this point. What about the memory chip and your uncle's notes? There's no way they're going to just let you walk away and leave you alone."

"I think I can take care of myself."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"So, just exactly what would I be signing on for here, anyway," asked Zack.

"I'm not the one who can explain it all," said Ariane, "We need to meet with my father."

"I'm going to be right up front with you," said Zack, "I'll meet with him, but I want you to know that I have some serious reservations about this whole affair. Question is, how do I know if I can trust you, Ariane MacPherson or Beth Howell or whatever the hell your name is? I don't know anything about you. You gave me a false name and got me to hire you under false pretenses. That's a hell of a way to start a business relationship!"

Ariane looked genuinely sorry and maybe even a little hurt herself, "I'm sorry you feel that way, Zack. Trust me when I say that I had every intention of telling you who I really was before we got to Nova York. I can promise you that you'll get nothing but a full dose of the truth from me from now on if you agree to sign on with us."

"That didn't sound like much of an apology to me," said Zack.

Ariane looked him straight in the eye. "Okay, Zack, I'm sorry I had to lie to you. I am, really. Under the circumstances, it was necessary. That and I had a mission to accomplish. At least give my father a chance to explain things before you say no."

"Like I said earlier, I'll listen to what you and he and his business partners are proposing. After that, we'll see..."

"I can handle at least one problem for you. My father has made arrangements for us to dock the ship in the Nova York Planetary Government area. With his University connections, there will be no docking fees. The area is also pretty well guarded."

"For whatever that's worth," said Zack.

Ariane shrugged, "We'll be docking soon... would you like some more pointers on how to pilot
your
ship?"

"Yeah, I guess."

With both of them willing to leave their heated discussion at what was more or less a holding place, the remainder of the journey to the docking facilities was filled with Ariane explaining her piloting duties and Zack asking questions. She also consulted with Cliff at several stages of the transit. Zack found himself reluctantly settling back into a somewhat more relaxed and natural interaction with the enigmatic Intelligence officer. Finally they found themselves approaching the orbital station.

The Nova York Orbital Station was one of the largest facilities of its type in all of Human space and could accommodate hundreds of ships of all sizes, from giants like the cruiseliner that had taken Zack to Haven, down to ships a fourth the size of the Capri. It also contained all of the amenities one would expect to find in any large city; hotels, restaurants, shops and offices as well as permanent housing for the sizeable resident population required to operate and maintain the huge construct. The planetary government maintained a large suite of offices to conduct the bulk of its considerable space-related business.