Beyond the Shroud of the Universe (13 page)

Two smears appeared on the transport pads, turning into Captain Sheppard and Master Chief. Both of the men arrived six inches above the platform and fell to the deck.

“Sorry about the landing,” Captain Sheppard said. “I told Solomon to aim six inches high so we didn’t end up fused into the deck or something else catastrophic.”

“Works for me, sir.”

“Solomon, are you available?” Captain Sheppard asked.

“Of course, sir; I am always available for you,” the ship’s artificial intelligence responded.

“Good,” the CO replied. “Please beam aboard the rest of Master Chief’s platoon, using the same guidelines. Six inches high. If there are any complaints, tell them to come see me.”

“Yes sir; I will start transporting them now.”

“I need to get to the bridge,” the CO said, “and we need to talk. Walk with me.”

“Yes sir,” Master Chief said, following him out the door. “What do we need to talk about?”

“Several things, like how we’re going to find Lieutenant Commander Hobbs. First, though, there’s the matter of your platoon’s leadership. With Lieutenant Commander Hobbs gone, there is a vacancy in the leadership of both the space fighter squadron and your platoon. While his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Brighton, can take over the squadron, the platoon doesn’t have that luxury.”

“Are you going to ask Fleet Command for a replacement?” Master Chief asked.

“No, I’m not. I want to minimize my face time with them. Out of sight; out of mind. If I check in with them, someone might very well remember I’m supposed to be transporting you to jail and start asking questions I don’t want to answer.”

“So what is the plan? Send over one of the ship’s officers or one of the squadron’s officers? I never would have thought an aviator would fit in with my troops, but Lieutenant Commander Hobbs has been doing pretty well. That would be my choice, anyway.”

“No, there is a third choice you haven’t considered. Battlefield commissioning.”

“Battlefield commissioning? You mean, like turning an enlisted person into an officer? I don’t know if I can really recommend any of the folks in the platoon for that, sir. We have a lot of good folks, but none of them are really experienced enough for that. Not yet, anyway.”

Captain Sheppard stopped and turned to look at Master Chief. “No one?” he asked. “No one,
at all?
”

Master Chief’s eyes widened in surprise as it finally sank in. “Oh! No sir. No way, sir. I’m not officer material. That is the one thing that is
not
in my contract.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a copy of this contract you’re referring to, would you?”

“Well, no sir, I don’t,” Master Chief replied. “But that doesn’t mean you can do it. In fact, I don’t think anyone’s gotten a battlefield commission in at least 20 years, even with all the wars we’ve had. It just isn’t done.”

“Longer than that,” Captain Sheppard said. He began walking again. “It hasn’t been done since Vietnam. It is, however, still on the books.”

“Well, that’s a good place for it to stay. Right in those books. Besides, sir, why do we need an officer? Why can’t I just lead it as a master chief until we catch up with Lieutenant Commander Hobbs?”

“Two reasons. First, The Book says a platoon is commanded by an officer. And it really does say that; I looked. Second, we don’t know where Lieutenant Commander Hobbs is right now, and the odds of us recovering him are getting smaller and smaller. The platoon needs an officer, and you’re it. Congratulations, First Lieutenant O’Leary.”

Captain Sheppard stopped as he reached the door to the bridge and turned to add, “It’s already done, so
stop bitching about it and get to work. Your men and women need you.”

“Yes sir,” First Lieutenant O’Leary said with a sigh. Then he straightened and saluted. “Lieutenant O’Leary reporting for duty, sir!”

“That’s more like it,” the CO said with a nod as he walked onto the bridge. “So, Lieutenant O’Leary, you mentioned finding our wayward lieutenant commander. How do you suggest we do that?”

“Well sir, the only thing we really have to go on is the silver ship. We need to find out where that ship went. Do we know if it ever came into this universe? If it didn’t, then it has to still be in the anti-Earth system.”

“You’re looking for a silver ship?” Steropes asked from the science station. “What kind? Did it look like this?” He pressed a couple of buttons on his display and the fuzzy outline of a ship appeared on the front screen.

Even though the image was blurry, Lieutenant O’Leary recognized its shape. “That’s it!” he cried. “That’s the ship we’re looking for.”

“Oh,” Steropes said, sounding disappointed.

“What’s wrong?” Captain Sheppard asked.

“That ship is a courier ship that jumped into our universe. It’s headed toward the stargate that leads to Domus. Fleet Command hailed it several times, but it isn’t responding. They sent the
Spark
to intercept it, but the
Spark’s
too far away; she won’t catch it before it reaches the stargate.”

“Is a courier ship capable of making the jump?”

“Unfortunately, it is. The courier ship is the smallest class of ships able to use the stargate. The only thing that could stop it is the minefield at the gate. Fleet Command is still trying to decide whether they want to use them or not.”

“What happens if they use the mines?” Lieutenant O’Leary asked.

“Hard to tell,” Steropes said. “If they wanted to stop it, they could, but they would probably have to destroy the ship to stop it.”

“So, if Lieutenant Commander Hobbs were onboard the ship, we wouldn’t want them to use the mines.”

“No sir, not if we want to recover him alive.”

“Solomon,” the CO said, “have you transported up all the platoon and aviators?”

“Yes sir,” replied Solomon, “although I couldn’t find a few of them. Also, I was unsure whether or not your directive applied to Father Zuhlsdorf, as he isn’t officially a member of the platoon. As he has fought with the platoon in the past, and their numbers were depleted, I anticipated his presence would be welcome. He is not yet operational, but is expected to recover.”

“You anticipated?”

“I found it 74% likely either you or Lieutenant O’Leary would want him onboard. When I added in the possibility he might know something about Captain Nightsong’s plans, having been his hostage for so long, the likelihood increased to 87%. It was a logical deduction, put into what I determined to be the correct phrase. Is ‘anticipated’ not the correct word?”

“It
is
the correct word,” the CO said. “I’ve just never heard you say it that way. Nicely done.” He turned to the front of the bridge. “Helmsman, all ahead flank; make for the stargate. Comms, call Fleet Command and let them know we are in pursuit of the courier ship and to deactivate the mine field. Don’t answer any further communications from Fleet Command without my permission.”

“Heading to the stargate,” said the helmsman. “Coming up to flank.”

“I told them, sir,” replied the communications officer. “They ordered us to maintain our position until told otherwise.”

“Noted,” Captain Sheppard said. “Continue the pursuit.”

“Sir, Fleet Command is calling,” said the communications officer. “They’re ordering us to break off the pursuit and remain in the Solar System.”

“Did you answer them?” the CO asked.

“No sir, I did not.”

“Good; continue radio silence. There is a problem at Fleet Command. I don’t know what it is, but Admiral Wright personally ordered me to recover Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, and that is what we are going to do.”

“Sir, we’re not going to catch the courier ship before it reaches the stargate,” Steropes said.

“Then we’re going to follow it into the next system,” the CO replied, “and the next one, and the one after that, too, if that’s what it takes. We
are
going to run it down, recover Lieutenant Commander Hobbs and find out what the heck is going on. Any questions?”

The bridge was silent.

“Steropes, how long until the courier ship reaches the stargate?” the CO asked.

“Two hours.”

“And how long until we hit the gate?”

“Five hours.”

“Good. In that case, I want a staff meeting in my conference room right now so we can figure out what we’re going to do after that.”

“So that’s what we know,” Lieutenant O’Leary said. “Arges has been helping the Iranians and the Efreet. Based on his troops’ weapons and technology, Arges either has a replicator of his own or access to one. It appears Captain Nightsong has also been helping the Efreet although I have no idea why or how. We believe the courier ship we’re following is his ship, and that he has Lieutenant Commander Hobbs onboard as a captive.”

“We really don’t know if that’s true, though, do we?” the
Vella Gulf’s
executive officer, Commander Russ Clayton, asked. “We may very well be chasing a ship that has neither Lieutenant Commander Hobbs nor Captain Nightsong aboard. We don’t have any hard evidence that confirms Lieutenant Commander Hobbs is even alive, much less onboard that ship.”

“That’s correct,” Lieutenant O’Leary replied, “but it’s the only lead we have. He could have been killed when the cave blew up, and he might have been killed when we destroyed the Efreeti facility in the other universe. Both times, though, a ship just like the one we’re following lifted off. Whoever is in it has been a couple of steps ahead of us ever since we went to the other universe, which shows they have a foreknowledge of our plans. They may have received that information from Arges, but they may also have gotten it from Nightsong. We just don’t know.”

“And, as the lieutenant said,” Captain Sheppard added, “that ship remains our best lead in figuring out what is going on. Its pilot was almost certainly involved in the cave explosion, and it was also at the Efreeti transport facility. Whoever is onboard has to know
something
about what’s going on.”

“I have a question,” Lieutenant O’Leary said, looking at Steropes. “What did Arges mean when he said he had ruled the planet since before we ventured forth from our caves?”

Steropes eyes twitched from side to side. “He said that? Um…I was afraid of that…”

“You were afraid of
what?
” the CO barked, knowing that none of the Psiclopes liked to reveal more than they had to. “Out with it! All of it!”

“Uh, yes,” Steropes stalled. “You see, this is a problem with people who live as long as we do; it is not uncommon for us to develop a degree of megalomania. In its most basic sense, a little bit is helpful in defending against loss, and trust me, loss is something we Psiclopes already knew a great deal about, even before we lost our home world. When one of us has been in a position of power for an especially long period of time, like Arges has, it can also lead to feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur. As the leader for our mission to your planet, Arges
was
theoretically in charge of all the activities on it for many millennia.”

“And you think this has happened to him?” the CO asked.

“I believe it has,” Steropes replied. “I realized some time ago he was overly fascinated with information, and this has grown worse as time has gone on.”

“What type of information?” Commander Clayton asked.

“All types,” Steropes replied. “He wants to know it all. Not just important things, but
everything
there is to know. Knowledge is power, and if he knows everything, then he will also be all-powerful. He sees the human race’s ascendance as a blow to his power base, and I do not believe he wants to share. He probably started the global news network so he could keep track of everything going on, system-wide, and use it to stir things up. He started the Sino-American War; this could be his latest effort to take your society back a few steps.”

“I thought he started the war to help find your hero souls,” Lieutenant O’Leary said.

“That is what he told me, but it is also possible he had plans within plans. Wars serve all of his vices well. As he has often said, ‘where there is chaos, there also is profit.’”

“Okay, so Arges likes wars,” Captain Sheppard said. “That much I can get. There’s profit and megalomania for him. Why did he start a war between the Efreet and the Aesir? Why not just start the war here if this is the planet he wants to control? Does he have bigger goals? The takeover of the entire galaxy?”

“One reason to start somewhere else may be the state of the Efreet on anti-Earth,” Lieutenant O’Leary said. “Their technology level was pretty low; maybe the plan was to build them up until they were ready to take us on. He probably knew they wouldn’t be much of a fight for us right now.” He thought about it a moment, then added, “Well, aside from being able to jump in and nuke us at will, anyway.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Lieutenant Commander Sarah Brighton, the acting CO of
Vella Gulf’s
squadron of space fighters, said. “If we were focused somewhere else, that might give him a chance to build up the Efreet on anti-Earth to the point where they were a credible threat.”

“There is something we are still missing,” Steropes replied. “If Arges was trying to build up the Efreet, why did Nightsong lead us to anti-Earth before they were ready? It seems like all the reasons we went to anti-Earth were based on things Captain Nightsong said. If they were working together, why would he have led us there before both were ready? If he wasn’t working with them, why was his ship at the Efreeti transportation facility? We are missing a piece of the puzzle.”

“Okay, we could go around chasing our tails on this all day,” the CO said; “let’s focus. What do we know for sure?”

“The Aesir are at war with the Jotunn and the Efreet,” Lieutenant Commander Brighton said.

“We are at war with the Jotunn, the Efreet and the Iranians,” Lieutenant O’Leary added.

“I’m not sure we’re officially at war with the Jotunn,” Captain Sheppard said, “but I’m pretty sure we’ve blown up enough of their stuff that war with both the Iranians and the Efreet is a given.”

“We also know Arges is helping the Efreeti/Iranian alliance,” Lieutenant O’Leary noted.

There was a long pause. “That isn’t very much,” the CO commented. “So, what do we
think
we know?”

“We think that Arges and Nightsong are working together, and that Nightsong has captured Lieutenant Commander Hobbs and is taking him somewhere,” Lieutenant O’Leary said.

Silence again filled the conference room. “It seems to me,” Captain Sheppard said, “that we don’t know enough about what’s going on to make good choices, and there are only two people who do know. The first is Arges, who is virtually unapproachable right now due to the attack on his castle, and who wouldn’t have told us anything in the first place. The second is Captain Nightsong, who we
think
is still alive, and who we
think
is in the space ship we’re chasing. He also won’t want to tell us anything, but at least he isn’t being protected by the Terran government.”

“We don’t have very many choices,” Captain Sheppard concluded. “We can either continue to chase the courier ship in front of us, or we can go back and live under Arges’ rule like good little girls and boys.” He shook his head. “When you look at it that way, there really isn’t much of a choice. I have no desire to live under the rule of a megalomaniac. We will continue to follow the courier ship and see if we can get our hands on Nightsong. Meeting adjourned.”