Waiting (3 page)

'Then he
shouldn't have gone himself,' said Cormack. 'Any one of us could
have gone in his place. He's too important to put himself at risk
that way.'

Friar said, 'We
all know Jay Jay better than that. He'd be the first to say he's no
more nor less important than anyone else. That and the fact he
would not be comfortable sending somebody else to put their lives
on the line. Don't worry, he'll not take unnecessary chances.'

'True,' said
Polowski. 'I'd like to hear those last messages from Earth. See if
we've missed anything.'

'Again?' said
Friar. 'We've spent hours on it already.'

'Humour me.
I'll get coffee and meet you in audio archives in ten minutes.'

Friar glanced
at Cormack who just shrugged and said, 'We have everything under
control here, Joe. Go put your feet up for awhile. Any change in
the crews status, I'll send for you.'

Friar got to
his feet. 'Fine. Anything for a quiet life.'

Polowski was
already away for the coffees, as Friar left his team to walk along
the corridor to the audio archives room. He sat down and flicked a
few switches and swiped the sensors.

'Computer.
Access last received message from Earth.'

'Earth
communication October nineteen, New York Central time, year
twenty-one-fifteen, time eighteen thirty three and twenty-four
seconds. Ready to play recordings.'

'Computer defer
play.'

'Play
deferred.'

Friar relaxed
in the swivel chair until Polowski appeared and took the coffee he
offered. 'Ready to go?' said Friar as Polowski took his seat.

'Go for
it.'

Friar
instructed the computer to play and was immediately struck by the
poignancy of what could possibly be the final communication from
his home planet.

'This is Major
Otto Gunther, National Space Tricor, Base Security Commander. Time
is limited. I won't prevaricate. Things are...interesting back
here. The Tricor is losing ground, big-time. Heavy losses both
sides, but the Futurians are making a final push. The Base is
manned by a skeleton staff of military technicians, supervised by
myself. We have been ordered to leave the Base and join in the war
effort. I've expressed my opinions to the High Command, that we are
the only link to you guys and made a case for us to stay. They
aren't buying it. I've left it to everyone to follow their
consciences and leave here if they wish to do so. I've decided to
stay here regardless, so...' There came a chuckle lacking in mirth.
'So. Just thinking aloud. I might just end up Private Gunther. I
guess it's all academic. But you know something? Screw them. As far
as I'm concerned, you guys are it. Humans are our only real chance.
I'll do all I can to keep things running here as long as I can.
That said, we are experiencing...' A moment of static followed
until Gunther returned. '...atmospheric issues, or technical...'
More static. '...increased radiation or...will endeavour
to...whenever we can. Hey. Just be glad you are out of all this
madness.' There came a muffled rumbling sound. 'Not sure what...'
Static. 'Jeez. Gotta go. Signing off.'

Friar and
Polowski swirled tepid coffee around, their minds deep in the
message they had listened to again.

Friar said,
'And yes, before you ask. That was the very last message received
from Earth.'

'I was hoping
to pick up something new from it. We both know Gunther. A good man,
I thought. But it looks as if the war is sucking everything into
it, including Gunther and his people. He put his career on the line
to stay at Base Command and keep it running.'

Friar sighed.
'If things are as bad as we fear, the Base could be abandoned, at
least temporarily. The Base could also have been destroyed for all
we know. That would explain the problems with the terraforming and
breakdown in communication between us and Earth. Either way,
nothing to feel optimistic about.'

'Something was
happening right at the end of Gunther's transmission. That noise.
Sounded like the place was shaking to pieces.'

Polowski said,
'That would take some doing. Built into the side of a mountain, it
would take something monumental to destroy it. If Gunther had had
time to secure it, nothing could enter unless he let it in.'

Friar said,
'Like me, you have heard it a few times, so no surprises.
Unless...'

'What?'

Friar shrugged.
'Unless you think I'm keeping things to myself.'

Polowski drank
his coffee in one and winced at the bitterness of it. 'Something is
going down, that's for sure, but it can only be with Earth and
something weird on Spero. Besides...'

'Out with
it.'

'What would you
have to gain? We're all on the same boat, or in our case, ship. You
were always a dark-horse, Joe, into any scam going in the academy
and I only knew a fraction of what you got up to.'

Friar examined
the empty beaker and grinned. 'Just scratching a living, Dale.
Unlike most of you others, I didn't have wealthy parents to
bankroll me.'

'Hey. I worked.
Every holiday I worked hard.'

'On your family
estate. Bossing underlings about.'

Polowski flared
up. 'Below the belt, Joe. I earned my...'

'Hey! Pull your
head in. I'm just saying, you had a family around you. You were
always going to be ok. I was an orphan living on the streets before
I conned my way into the academy. And after every class, I'd pay
for my keep by doing a few hours cleaning the place. That and a
little business on the side. So what if I used my brains to relieve
a few of the well-heeled from money they wouldn't even miss? Ok. If
you think or even suspect I know more than anyone else on this ship
about what the hell is going on, spit it out.'

The awkward
silence that chilled the room said more than Polowski's words.
Friar knew his dark past would always haunt him, but he made no
excuses for doing nothing more than survive. He watched Polowski
get up and go to the door.

Polowski stared
fixedly back and said, 'I'm trusting you. Don't let me down.'

'Go find
another tree to bark up, Dale. Like you said. I'm in the same leaky
boat. I'm as desperate as everyone else to find out what is
happening. I sink or swim with the others.'

Polowski didn't
reply, but left a frosty atmosphere behind him.

Chapter 6

'Anything?'

Sam Clifton was
finding his captain's "over-the-shoulder" command style distracting
and tedious. 'Same as half-hour ago, Jay Jay. The half-assed job
the terraformers have done has left a virtually impenetrable
atmosphere, at least as far as our instruments are concerned. It's
like one continuous electrical storm surrounding the entire
planet.'

'About where
things should have been nearly two years ago. I'm thinking the
storm as you call it, is too much for the terraformers receivers to
get their instruction signals from Earth, even though we factored
the possibility of severe weather in the equation. The terraformers
were programmed to work independently of instruction from Earth
once they got going. They should have still done so until such time
as the storm gradually abates and then Earth could resume normal
control.'

'So? Either
some seriously huge miscalculation on the forecast of the severity
of the storms on spero...'

'Thanks. That
was my baby.'

'I'm just
saying. It can't be discounted. If not that, a breakdown of the
transformers possibly caused by the storm. Or...'

'Or Earth was
unable to transmit instructions prior to the storm, which should
have had the terraformers still doing their own thing in a reduced
but efficient way until the next phase when the storm had blown
itself out.'

Clifton just
had to say it. 'Then there's the war on Earth. For all we know, the
Base no longer exists. It could be just us and whatever is on
Spero.'

Captain Jacobs
stared at the magnified image of the storm covering Spero. 'I'm not
liking our options, Sam. I see no alternative but to try to land
and get the terraformers operational again. That means we are still
about a year and a half behind, but that doesn't matter. The ship
can sustain us for another five years if we need it to do that.
Sam?'

'Like
everything else you had a hand in designing, the shuttles are as
tough as they get. Good old fashioned over-engineering. The
marsillium coating will protect the shuttle's hull on entry, but my
concern is the storm and what it could do to the shuttle's
circuits. Well shielded for normal landings, but look at the
readings. Just how serious are you on us landing?'

Jacobs said,
'Let's put it this way. You give me one valid reason not to try,
and I'll say we don't land.'

Clifton stared
at the screen and the maelstrom on it. 'The ship can sustain us a
few years, then we die. Or, we go through that mess of a storm and
we three could die a whole lot sooner. Or, we might pull off a
minor miracle, survive the landing, get the terraformers working,
retreat to the ship and wait awhile until we can land the ship and
live happily ever after.'

'Putting it
that way, I didn't hear one valid reason not to try to land. When
the time comes, see if you can find us a hole in the storm for us
to crawl through and get us down there.'

Clifton
laughed. 'Putting it that way, what could possibly go wrong?'

Chapter 7

Major Otto
Gunther, Tricor Base Mission Commander, knew his career was in
tatters as he sat on Spider One, the black battle cruiser bristling
with weapons and the ship used by General Trish Loretti, Tricor
Military Commander, Gunther could hardly look her in the eyes. That
she was angry, didn't come close.

Her black
leather uniform hugged her figure in a most seductive way many men,
and quite a few women would find irresistible, but to her it was
merely functional. The twin battle scars across her right cheek
took nothing away from her physical appeal. Not that she cared
about being admired or affection of any kind. What physical needs
she had were satisfied by whomever she wanted at the time. People,
and men in particular, like those in her her vast army of her
deadly security force were to be used, nothing more. They were all
pawns in her game-plan, Gunther included. Loretti paced the steel
deck as she called him all the names under the sun and then
some.

'What were you
trying to achieve? The directive to close up the Base came from me.
Why hasn't that been done?'

'You know why.
The mission.'

Loretti stormed
to the table, pounded it with her fist and then leaned on it with
both clenched fists, her pools of black eyes burning with the fury
boiling up inside her.

'I don't care
about anything other than you disobeying me. You are under my
command. You do not just do as you please, ignoring my direct
orders.'

'I hoped to put
the case for keeping me on here, in person with you. If you'll
just...'

The table was
hammered again. 'You do not have to remind me of the significance
and importance of the mission. But there will be no mission, if the
Tricor loses the war. We have sustained heavy losses, especially in
the south. I've lost many experienced officers and I want you
heading up an attack force.'

'Things must be
even worse than I imagined if you want me at the front. I'm with
the scientific division. I have been for my fifteen years in the
force. I'd be less than useless as an attack commander.'

Loretti
snapped, 'You certainly wouldn't be my first choice. And yes,
things are that bad.'

'Doesn't that
make the mission even more of a priority in that case? If we really
do the unthinkable and finish of Earth, the mission holds the one
chance for the survival for the human race.'

'And just what
could you accomplish with no available communication to the Goliath
and loss of control to the planet terraformers?'

Gunther said,
'We're working on it.'

'Progress?'

Gunther shifted
uncomfortably in his seat. 'We think we have isolated the defective
unit. I've a team making a new one from scratch. Of course the war
means certain parts are unobtainable, even used ones, so we are
having to redesign from the ground up.'

'Is that even
possible with what you have available?'

'Anything is
possible, General. How long it will take I couldn't say. I will say
this, however. As slim as our chances of success are, a slim chance
is better than no chance at all.'

Loretti said,
'Exactly what President Maxim and I thought you would say. He's
actually more on your side in all this than I am. Reluctantly, we
have agreed to allow you ten full days. At the end of that time if
you are unsuccessful, you will shut the damn place down. The
mission will be considered irretrievably compromised and you and
your people will be used in the war. Do you understand?'

'I do,
General.'

'I also want
anyone not directly working on the project out of the Base
immediately.'

'But...'

'I hear that
word one more time, I will have you shot for insubordination. Damn
it, I'll shoot you myself.'

'Understood,
General. I can let another two go. More than those, we simply can't
do the repairs.'

'Very well,'
said Loretti. 'Go. Send them out. They can make their own way to
other units. I have better things to do than banter with you. You
are such a disappointment to me.'

Gunther grinned
and stood to leave. 'I always were.' The airlock opened and the
breeze from outside stroked his face. 'Any news of Bridget?'

A hint of
unease crossed Loretti's face. 'As far as I know, our daughter is
alive and well. She has a command unit of her own in the east and
is a great warrior.'