Mission Origin View (Final Days Trilogy) (11 page)

“
Captain, I wish I could accompany you on this mission. It’s a historic event,” Admiral Corbin said, drank the last bit of wine in his cup, and continued. “I’m too old and definitely not smart enough. I reviewed the personnel files of your crew, and I was impressed with the level of experience and intelligence. I was especially intrigued with Lieutenant Klaxton. A genius-level IQ higher than the mission scientists aboard, and he is a marine recon platoon commander to boot. Amazing!”

“
They’re indeed a special crew,” Mary said.

“
Does Lieutenant Klaxton really have a photographic memory?” Admiral Corbin asked.

“
He can remember everything he’s ever read, seen, or heard,” Mary said.

“
I’d like to see this for myself,” he said and then stood. He looked at Gideon and continued. “Lieutenant Klaxton.”

“
Sir,” Gideon said as he straightened himself in his seat.

“
With respect, Lieutenant, I’d like a demonstration of your intellectual ability. That’s, of course, if you’re comfortable doing it,” Admiral Corbin said.

With the exception of
Mary and Captain Neubauer, everyone else looked confused as they waited for Gideon to answer.

Gideon
paused for few seconds and said, “Of course, Admiral, I’d be happy to if you think you’d find it interesting. What did you have in mind, sir?”

“
Can you quote something you’ve read years ago?”

“
Yes, sir. I remember everything I’ve ever read.”

“
How about something you read while attending Annapolis?”

“
I took a classic literature class my freshman year and read quite a few classics.”

“
That’ll do,” the admiral said with a smile. “Captain Neubauer, would you ask your Anna to access the lieutenant’s Annapolis files and list all the books he read in that class?”

“
Yes, sir,” Captain Neubauer replied and began to type the request on his Anna’s keypad attached to his left forearm.

“
Lieutenant Klaxton, not that I don’t trust you, but will you disable your Anna so there won’t be a chance of it assisting you,” Admiral Corbin said.

“
Anna,” Gideon said aloud.

“
Yes, Gideon,” Anna replied in his ear implant.

“
Please discontinue any communications with me until Captain Neubauer’s Anna contacts you,” Gideon said aloud.

“
Got something for me, Captain?” Admiral Corbin asked.

“
Yes, sir, several,” Captain Neubauer said as he showed the admiral his Anna display on his forearm. The display listed the classics Gideon had read.

The
admiral scanned the list and pointed at one. “Captain, have the lieutenant read the first paragraph of the second chapter of this classic; and Captain, have your Anna display the paragraph for us while the lieutenant recites it from memory.”

“
Anna, please display the first paragraph of the second chapter of
A Voyage to Arcturus
by David Lindsay, published in 1920,”
Neubauer said, then looked at Gideon and continued. “Lieutenant, whenever you’re ready.”

Gideon closed his eyes and recalled the year, date, month, and time that he
’d read the novel. A few seconds later, an image of the page appeared in his mind, and he read from that image. “The three men gathered in the street outside the house. The night was slightly frosty, but particularly clear, with an east wind blowing. The multitude of blazing stars caused the sky to appear like a vast scroll of hieroglyphic symbols. Maskull felt oddly excited; he had a sense that something extraordinary was about to happen ‘What brought you to this house tonight, Krag, and what made you do what you did? How are we to understand that apparition?’”

Admiral Corbin and Captain
Neubauer followed along on Captain Neubauer’s Anna display as Gideon read.

“
That’s remarkable!” Admiral Corbin
said when Gideon finished.

The demonstration awed e
veryone sitting around the table. Two individuals, Dr. Harper and Dr. Jones, were envious.

Petty Officer Joseph Sipes’s Quarters, SRS
Stephen Hawking

0000
—February 18, 2372

Joseph entered a small building through double doors. Inside the doors was a single room with a podium. Instead of chairs, long wooden benches
lined a center aisle-the benches facing the podium. People he’d never seen before sat on the benches and turned his direction as he walked to the podium. He looked at the people seated and saw them smiling at him and their heads slowly nodding approval. Joseph looked at the podium again, and there stood his great- grandmother looking down at him from behind the wooden structure.

He stopped and just stood there
, looking at her.

She also had a smile on her face
, and, using her right hand, she motioned him to continue walking toward her. He started walking, and before he got to his great-grandmother, she motioned for him to sit on the front bench. Joseph sat there, looking at her. He thought it strange that his great-grandmother didn’t look as old as he remembered. As a matter of fact, she looked a lot younger.

“
Joseph,” she said, “I have a job for you.”

“
Yes, Grandma.”

“
You’re going on a long journey, and the people you’re with need your help.”

“
Yes, Grandma, you know I’ll help them with anything they need.”

“
You’ll help save them from death.”

“
Yes, Grandma, I’ll do my best.”

“
I know you will, Joseph,” she said with a smile and then motioned for everyone in the room to stand. They all stood and began singing. The song was familiar to Joseph, yet one he couldn’t remember the words to. He did remember his great-grandmother had hummed the tune all the time as she worked.

He star
ted humming the tune, since he didn’t remember the words, as everyone in the building starting singing louder and louder. What a wonderful sound, he thought. It eventually got so loud in the little one-room building that it awoke him.

He lay in his bunk aboard the
Stephen Hawking.
It had been a dream, a very beautiful dream.

Part Four: Marine Operations

Bridge, SRS
Stephen Hawking

0645
—February 18, 2372

Mary
sat in the bridge command chair. The triangular-shaped bridge had several critical command and control stations now manned by the bridge officers who worked to prepare for departure from Phobos. A single marine, Corporal Gault, stood on the bridge as the traditional bridge guard.

The main bridge holographic view screen
, located in front of the command and control consoles, currently showed ship system status bars and a timer counting down to liftoff. As bridge officers and crew completed launch tasks, the task status bars turned green. By 0655, all status bars were green.

“
Ready to launch, Captain,” the executive office,
Commander Steward, said and added, “We’re also in complete stealth mode.”

“
Very well. Ensign Young, give the five-minute launch alert,” Mary ordered.

“
Yes, Captain,” Ensign Young said and then used his holographic communications console to access the ship’s intercom system. “All crew members, launch in five minutes. Crewmen should be at their launch stations.”

When Ensign Young ended his message, an audible launch alert was continually broadcast through the intercom system. The launch warble sound would continue until the launch engines were started.

Most of the crew were already at their launch posts, strapped in a chair using a harness, monitoring specific ship systems. For the crew and marines who didn’t have systems to monitor, they strapped themselves to their bunks.

Captain Neubauer and Lieutenant Klaxton sat in the Triple C along with
Dr. Harper and Dr. Jones. The main Triple C holographic display was identical to the bridge display, showing everything the bridge officers were seeing.

A minute before launch
,
Lieutenant Commander Buz Vanderver
turned to Corporal Gault and motioned him to strap in at an unused seat by him at the engineering console.

A traditional second
-by-second countdown started as Stephen began counting backward from sixty seconds. The computer’s voice was calm as it counted down the seconds.

At thirty seconds, all
umbilicals to the ship from the
Phobos Naval Station hangar support systems were retracted. At twenty seconds the massive hangar doors above the
Stephen Hawking
began to open. As the doors opened, stars could be seen above, and when the doors were fully opened, the planet Mars took up half the moon’s sky.

At five seconds the launch engines ignited
, and the ship began to vibrate. At zero seconds SRS
Stephen Hawking
lifted off and began retracting its landing gear while moving upward out of the hangar. The bridge’s holographic display showed the launch from Phobos Naval Station. The ship’s crew watched as the ship slowly slipped out of the hangar and then accelerated into space.

“
Captain, we’re now one hundred kilometers above Phobos and can navigate,” Lieutenant Temani LaPalm said as she continued looking at her navigation console.

“
Secure from stealth mode and set course for Gliese, point five power, five percent light speed,” Mary ordered.

“
Yes, sir,” LaPalm answered as her hands selected various holographic console options. “Stealth mode disabled. Course set for Gliese. Power at point five. Speed set to five percent. Ship’s computer responding, sir.”

Within seconds Stephen calculated the direction to Gliese and the exact speed needed to arrive at the appointed time. Stephen then brought the main antimatter engines
online for thrust and projected a black hole in front of the ship. In an instant the ship entered the time-speed dimension as it was being pushed and pulled toward the planet Gliese at five percent light speed.

“
I thought the black hole would be a lot bigger than that,” Corporal Gault said to Lieutenant Commander Vanderver as he looked at the main bridge holographic display, which now showed the black hole in front of the ship.

“
We’re only using point five percent power. When we lay in our course for the observation point, it’ll be gigantic,” Vanderver said as he continued monitoring his control panel.

After
double-checking all systems, Mary gave the order for the crew to return to regular-flight duty stations and then asked her Anna to contact Captain
Neubauer, Lieutenant Klaxton, Dr. Harper, and Dr. Jones and tell them to remain in the Triple C and wait for her.

Combat Control Center, SRS
Stephen Hawking

0915
—February 18, 2372

“
We’re on our way,” Mary said as she entered the Triple C and sat at one of the unused console stations. “This morning at zero five hundred I received official notifications of the responses we received from our requests for the scientist we’ll be picking up. I was ordered to share these responses with you once we’re under way.”
She turned to the console, brought up three message boxes, and displayed them on the main Triple C display.
“Here’s the diplomatic response from
Gliese,” she said as she enlarged one of the three message boxes and leaned back in her seat. The message appeared.

To: The United States of America, Planet Earth

From: The Communal Tribal Union, Planet Gliese

Subject: Expedition Request

(1)
The Communal Tribal Union has considered your request and is willing to discuss the terms of the expedition with a small scientific envoy representing your mission.

(2)
The meeting will be at the Communal Tribal Union seat capital, Canton Mie, on February 21, 2372, at 1400 (Earth date and time).

(3)
No military personnel, other than the Captain or First Officer of the expedition ship, are allowed to accompany the scientific envoy to Canton Mie.

(4)
Contact Gliese Space Command upon arrival in the solar system for a vector approach to Gliese.

(5)
Any variance of your ship from the vector will be considered hostile, and your ship will be attacked.

Signed: Director of Science, Communal Tribal Union

Message Complete ........
 

“At least they’re willing to talk to us,” Dr. Jones said with a hint of hope.

“
I’m afraid that’s all they’ll want to do is talk, and I’ve been ordered not to waste time negotiating,” Mary said, paused, and then added, “We will, however, see what they have to say and use the time when we’re meeting with the Gliese officials to locate Doctor Kastriva.”

Mary leaned forward in her seat and used the console again.
“We also have a picture of Doctor Kastriva.” A picture of the doctor appeared. He looked to be of Middle Eastern descent and in his early thirties with a short, trimmed beard.

“
Here’s our response from Corot,” Mary said as she brought up the next message. 

To: The United States of America, Planet Earth

From: New Kalgoorlie, Planet Corot

Subject: Expedition Request

(1) Although New Kalgoorlie has no interest in your proposed expedition, Dr. Bailey was notified of the expedition and declines to participate.

(2)
No further communications about the proposed expedition is necessary.

Signed: Minister of Research, New Kalgoorlie

Message Complete .......
 

“Short and sweet,” Captain
Neubauer
said.

“
There’s no way Doctor Bailey would refuse to join our expedition. I’m sure she wasn’t even told about it,” Dr. Harper said.

“It doesn’t matter if she was told or not. We have to locate her and have our marines persuade her to come with us,” Mary said with half a smile, “The State Department did, however, contact the Bungay Republic, the eastern
neighbor of New Kalgoorlie, and we have permission to send a trade committee to discuss mining and military equipment. We’ll use the meeting as cover for our operation to locate and extract Doctor Bailey.” 

“
Our final response,” Mary said as the message from Leonis was displayed.

To: The United States of America, Planet Earth

From:
Council of Czars
, Planet Leonis

Subject: Expedition Request

(1)
Participation in the expedition was considered by the
Council of Czars.

(2)
Dr. Qasim
will not be allowed to participate as she has in-depth knowledge of all classified Council of Czars military computer systems.

(3)
Another representative will be appointed by the
Council of Czars and allowed to accompany the expedition.

(4)
Upon arrival in the Leonis system, contact with the Council of Czars must be immediate.

(5)
The appearance of any United States ship without immediate contact will be considered hostile and attacked by Council of Czars Space Forces.

Signed: Planet Relations Administrator,
Council of Czars

Message Complete .......
 

“It seems they want to cooperate,” Dr. Jones said. “I know we asked for Doctor Qasim, but it looks as if they’ll allow another scientist to accompany us.”

“
Sorry, Doctor, but the replacement they’ll want us to take along will be a spy,” Captain
Neubauer said.

“
I agree with the captain,” Mary said.

“
So what do we do?” Dr. Harper asked.

“
I was told that
we can use an undercover agent that the CIA planted there just before the end of the last war. I was told how to contact him once we arrive in the Leonis system. We’ll arrange to meet with him and proceed from there,” Mary said, paused for a few seconds, and asked, “Are there any questions?”

Everyone remained quiet. 

Mary continued. “Very well, that’s all for now. We’ll arrive at
Gliese in three days. Captain
Neubauer
, please have a plan to locate and extract Doctor Kastriva on my desk by seventeen hundred tomorrow, and we’ll meet here at eighteen hundred tomorrow to discuss the plan.”

“
Aye, aye, sir,”
Neubauer said.

Ship Engineering Storage Compartment, SRS
Stephen Hawking

1300
—February 18, 2372

Gideon entered the
engineering storage compartment, hoping to find several environmental life-support suits in various sizes, which could be used when extracting one or all of the scientists.

“
Anna, access the ship’s inventory database and tell me where the life-support suits are located,” Gideon said aloud as he started looking on his own.

“
The spare life-support suits are located in a locker by the pressure suits hanging on the wall in the back of the compartment,” Anna said.

Gideon walked around closed
cases and racks of parts until he reached the back of the compartment and saw the pressure suits to his left. As he walked toward the suits, he saw Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Sipes appear from behind the row of suits. The big man was inspecting the pressure suits.

“
Checking out the pressure suits, Sipes?” Gideon asked.

Joseph
turned with a jerk, and the surprise on his face gave way to a big grin.

“
Yes, sir. Master Chief Ostrow asked me to check ‘em out and told me to pick out the biggest one and put my name on it.” Joseph answered with a smile. “What’re you doing down here, sir?”

“
Looking for a couple of life-support suits.”

“
They’re in a locker over here by the pressure suits, sir.”

“
Thanks, Sipes.” Gideon said.

Gideon
walked over to the locker, opened it, and looked for small, medium, and large sizes. A few seconds later he heard a noise behind him and turned. He saw Joseph with a large pressure suit hanging over his broad right shoulder.

“
Sipes, did you just take that pressure suit off the wall?” Gideon asked, surprised that Sipes could have lifted it and slung it over his shoulder. “It weighs close to five hundred pounds!”

“
Yes, sir. I’ve always been able to dismount a pressure suit by myself. I hate to ask for anyone’s help since I can do it.”