Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon (28 page)

“I know you do not actually believe that,” Lucky scoffed. “Those other ships look like they have been dissected, not salvaged. Someone is looking for something.” Jason sighed heavily.

“Perhaps,” he conceded, hoping to end the conversation. “But let’s concentrate on getting out of here and then we can revisit your long running conspiracy theory.”

“I fear I will be proved correct in the end,” Lucky stated emphatically.

“Fine,” Jason said, “but we already know there’s nothing on this ship. She’s been stripped down to the spars and built back up by the Eshquarians. Half her major components aren’t even Jepsen manufacture.” He was spared any further comments by Mazer walking out of the armory. Both Jason and Lucky did a double take as he emerged sporting two enormous plasma rifles. He was also wearing Crusher’s body armor, ill-fitting as it was on the smaller warrior.

“Why two rifles?” Jason asked, ignoring the pang the visual created. It felt wrong that they were in the middle of a dangerous op and Crusher wasn’t there with them.

“What do you mean?” Mazer asked, confused. “For when the first overheats.”

“Overheats?” Jason asked, looking at Lucky. “I’ve never had one of those overheat and I’ve drained the power cell in a single salvo multiple times.”

“Really? All the plasma weapons we have overheat and shut down if you maintain a rate of fire that’s too high,” Mazer said, looking over the weapon in his right hand.

“I saw your weapons,” Jason said sympathetically. “They were well-maintained, but about two generations behind our stuff. Save yourself the weight and just grab one but take as many power cells as you can manage.”

Mazer just shrugged and walked back into the armory.

“It is strange seeing him in Crusher’s armor,” Lucky remarked.

“Yeah, it is,” Jason said, already knowing what the next question would be.

“Do you think he will still be a part of our team when the immediate crisis on his planet is over?”

“I don’t know, buddy,” Jason said finally. “I’ve been trying not to think about it too much.”

The maudlin mood was broken up by Mazer walking out of the armory with an enormous smile on his way back to the bridge.

“Injector assemblies fully charged,” the computer reported. “Manual input required for reactor initialization.”

Jason moved over to the main control panel and began to enter the commands that would authorize the computer to begin the antimatter reaction. He watched as the chamber integrity was checked again and the pressure was confirmed to be as close to a complete vacuum as the equipment was able to achieve. Once the final checks were complete, the control panel indicated that he could initialize the reaction. He pressed the blinking green icon on the panel and held it for three seconds. The icon disappeared and the panel reconfigured itself for the familiar normal operation mode he was used to seeing it in.

For a few moments it seemed like nothing was happening, but soon the deck began to vibrate as hydrogen met anti-hydrogen and the pressure within the reactor chamber began to climb. The computer slowly began to increase the fuel feed until there was enough energy coming from the reactors for the converters to begin generating power for the ship.

Jason watched as the converters began to supply power to Main Bus A, albeit at an alarmingly slow rate of increase. He looked over the instrumentation one more time before stepping back.

“Computer, once power levels reach sixty percent, re-engage Main Bus B,” he said. “Do not begin recharging emergency power cells until I say. Keep all external lighting and indicators off and wait for my command before powering up specific ship systems.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Let’s head up to the bridge,” Jason said. “We can monitor the reactor progress from there and begin to figure out our overall strategy.” They passed Kade in the common area as he was on the way down to the armory.

“This way, correct?” he asked.

“Lucky can show you,” Jason said, nodding to the battlesynth.

“If you would follow me,” Lucky said, turning around and walking back the way he had just come. While Jason’s gut told him Kade wasn’t a threat, it also didn’t make sense to turn him loose inside an enormous weapons cache right next to one of the ship’s main engineering areas. Thankfully Lucky had picked up on his inflection and escorted the gelten without question.

When he arrived on the bridge, more of the stations were active and there were dozens of winking status lights, each vying for his attention. A cursory inspection showed that most of these were just warnings that a particular ship function was not active. He sat down at the bridge engineering station and promptly smashed his knees into the console.

“Damnit! Short little bastard,” he muttered, unlocking the seat and shifting it around so he could sit comfortably. The station was one of the few on the bridge that was fully active and he could see that the reactor was still steadily climbing in power and, in turn, the power available to the ship was increasing. Still far short of being able to even think about bringing engines online, but enough that the reactor was now self-sustaining and their depleted emergency power cells were no longer the immediate concern.

“Won’t they be able to see all the light from your displays, Captain?” Mazer asked, staying at his post near the canopy.

“They can’t see in,” Jason said distractedly. “The canopy has an active layer that makes it opaque from the outside.”

“Nice,” Mazer said. “We’ve got a little activity. Two targets, same species as our friends, walked out of what we think is the bunkhouse and have walked into another building. The lights have come on in that building but that’s been it so far.”

“So we’re probably looking at the cooks,” Jason said, moving up beside Mazer. “I’m always amazed at how much alike we all are. We’re separated by millions of years of evolution, unfathomable distances, and who knows how many other differences … but we all want breakfast as soon as we wake up.”

Mazer made a snorting laugh at the unexpected commentary. “They haven’t been down to the guard shack yet, obviously,” he said. “They also don’t appear overly concerned that the two haven’t made an appearance yet.”

“I think our first impression was right,” Jason said. “These guys are either complete amateurs or wildly complacent considering how many expensive, rare ships they’ve stolen. Maybe we should have gone for a frontal assault after all.”

“We’re doing the right thing,” Mazer said after considering it a moment. “Like you said, we’re not sure what they have hidden in that complex and it’s big enough to house dozens of troops. Besides, slaughtering sleeping soldiers is not one of my preferred methods.”

“Nor ours,” Jason said. “There’s no way they won’t find those two bodies before the
Phoenix
is ready to leave. There’s an outside chance that they’ll think it was an inside job and suspect one of their own.”

“That’s not going to last long,” Mazer said. “Once they check on their little torture chamber they’ll know something is going on.”

“Maybe,” Jason said. “Either way, we may be fighting our way out.”

“Main Bus A at sixty-one percent capacity,” the computer said. “Main Bus B coupling.” There was a
thunk
under their feet as the load contactors for Main Bus B reset.

“About time,” Jason said and jogged over to the pilot’s seat.

“Good news?” Mazer asked.

“Very,” Jason said. “All the power on this ship is multiplexed so that things can be rerouted and closed down in the event of battle damage. The two main buses are tied into the MUX and each can independently power all systems. When coming up from a cold start and needing as much capacity as possible, we’ll run the reactor hot and split the output between the two busses so we can get the ship fully operational without stressing Main A or blowing out any power junctions.”

“All of that sounds … interesting,” Mazer said, indicating it was anything but. “I’m sure Twingo will be impressed you’ve been able to get everything running without him.”

Jason winced at that. “Actually, he’s going to be livid
and
an absolute nightmare to be around when he gets back on his feet,” he said. “I’ve bypassed about a dozen safety checks and have been relying almost completely on the main computer to handle the details of the reactor start. By the time this is all done it will probably take him a week just to find out if I’ve damaged anything beyond repair.”

Mazer went back to his watch as Lucky and Kade walked onto the bridge and Jason went about bringing up individual systems. He was again relying on the computer to fill in the gaps as he gave it broad, general commands. First up were the repulsors. There was no way the grav-drive was going to be available, and even starting the process of charging the emitters would bring everyone in the cavern running towards them. He also began charging the capacitors for the weapons, but held off for the moment in priming the fuel flow regulators for the main engines. That would be his last step, since the process emitted a loud, screeching whine accompanied by fuel vapor being vented out of the nacelles.

He went over everything he’d just done one more time just to make sure he hadn’t inadvertently created some conflict that would blow the ship up. As he’d hoped, there was nothing he’d done so far that would ruin the illusion that the
Phoenix
was a lifeless hulk, so he just waited and watched as the power levels continued to creep up. In a situation like this, power was life.

“Looks like we’ve got some action, Captain,” Mazer called. His voice was urgent, but calm. Jason climbed out of his seat and looked out over the cavern. Their handiwork had been discovered and four of the aliens were standing around the doorway of the guard shack, obviously agitated.

“Shit just got real,” Jason said, this time completely confusing Mazer, who now wore a mildly disgusted look. “It’s just a matter of time before they discover Doc and Twingo are missing, and then they’ll know exactly where to start looking.”

“How close is the ship to being combat capable?” Lucky asked.

“Not close enough,” Jason said grimly. “We need to keep them out of that upper room. We need a distraction.”

*****

“This is OUTRAGEOUS!! Release me!”

The warrior strained against the thick alloy straps holding him fast to the chair, which was itself anchored to the floor.

“You would be wise to start answering my questions,” Morakar said calmly. “I want to know why there has been a full deployment to Ker. What are you preparing for?”

“I will answer nothing. You have no authority to detain me. When I get free I will make sure you are severely punished for this.” The warrior had refused to give his name, but Kage had run his biometric scan through a database he’d sliced into and found out he was high enough in the rank structure of the 8
^th
that he should be well aware of why they’d deployed in force, and with full gear, to Ker.

“I don’t have much motivation to keep you alive then, do I?” Morakar asked, smiling humorlessly. “As I said, answering me would be your best—” A knock at the door interrupted him. “Too late,” he said. “Open the door, Kage.”

Kage walked over and unlatched the heavy door and allowed it to swing open. Meluuk walked in and nodded to them both.

“Who is this?” the bound warrior demanded. “I’m to be intimidated by some overgrown gelten?” Nobody answered him or even looked in his direction. They stood silent as another, much larger figure entered the room.

“Not him,” the figure said in a deep rumble before pulling the hood of his cloak back.

“Lord Archon!” the warrior practically wailed. He tried to bow, but the restraints held him tight. “Whatever offense I have given, allow me to give restitution. If not, I will take my own life.”

“Oh shut up,” Crusher said disgustedly. “Nobody is going to kill themselves. But you are going to answer Morakar’s questions about the troop buildup within my city.”

“His first name is Zellon,” Kage said quietly, handing Crusher a data pad. “He’s one of the 8
^th
Legion’s lieutenants and reports directly to the Primus. Am I saying that right?”

“Close enough,” Crusher said before looking back at Zellon. “Well?”

“I don’t understand, my lord,” Zellon said, looking around the room in genuine confusion. “Is this some sort of test?”

“My patience has never been very good,” Crusher said as he stepped forward. “Lately it’s been wearing even more thin. I’m going to assume you’re not a complete imbecile, so we will start from the beginning. Why are there so many troops deployed here?”

“Those were our orders, my lord,” Zellon said crisply.

“From whom did these orders originate? Who authorized the 8
^th
to mobilize?”

“You did, my lord,” Zellon said. “I saw the orders myself, signed by you. We were to discreetly disguise fully operational units within our honor guards and deploy to Ker for a ceremony in which it would be revealed you had returned.” Crusher stood up and exhaled loudly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Unbind him,” he said to Morakar. “We are going to continue this discussion as civilized beings. Try anything stupid, and I’ll tear your throat out myself.” Zellon said nothing as Morakar released the straps, but the look on his face said that he didn’t doubt Crusher’s threat.

“To be clear, I gave no such order,” Crusher continued once Zellon was free. “So obviously someone with access to my encryption seal has been issuing orders that I can make no sense of. What was your mission to be?”

“There are one hundred combat landers hidden beyond the foothills outside of Ker. All I know is that within two days we’re to board them for a live operation,” Zellon said.

“Those landers don’t have slip-drives,” Morakar said. “Was someone else going to pick them up and transport them to the area of operation?”

“I intend to find out,” Crusher growled. “One more thing: Why was part of my crew captured, my ship stolen, and another of my crew attacked?” He didn’t really believe a lowly lieutenant would have those answers, but it was worth a shot.