Running With Argentine (18 page)

En
Route to Trinity

“Who do you work
for, Mandi?”

Argentine had told the rest of the crew to learn everything
they could from the professor and pointed at Mandi, “My day cabin… Now!”

On reflection, he realized that he had given the crew an
order… and they’d followed it. As strange as it might sound, he hadn’t really
been thinking about the crew that way. They were a group of people running for
their lives. Sure, he made the occasional suggestion, but usually they went
forward by consensus… didn’t they?

More amazing still, Mandi had followed him to the day cabin.

“I work for myself, but you know that because we’ve had this
conversation before…”

“Yeah, but every time we talk about it the answers keep
changing. I’m going to ask you again,
who are you working for?
”

Mandi sighed…

She couldn’t help but liking this big lunk of a guy, but…

“Look, it’s maybe sorta possible that I felt just a tad bit
guilty about getting you caught up in my problems on Asperia. I do work for
myself but that doesn’t mean I don’t do the odd job here or there for some of
the Open Societies.”

Argentine was trying hard to concentrate on Mandi’s words
but there were two things that were very distracting… One was his headache; the
second was her… feminine allure? Whatever you called it, he was experiencing
the same feelings he’d had at the café when they’d first met. When you were
one-on-one with her she had the ability to make you feel like the rest of the
world was out of focus…

For the briefest moment he actually considered that she
might have drugged him.

She wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense, but between her
looks, her spunk, and her personality she was an overpoweringly attractive
woman.

However…

“Mandi, when we first met you told me you worked for the
Offices for Inner and Outer System Employment on Tiffany’s Planet. Then you
stowed away and led me to believe you were a down on your luck computer
programmer doing what she had to to survive and escape. Then we discover that
you’re a wanted criminal on Asperia who was brought up by the cartels…”

“Just one,” she murmured.

“Now, you’re turning out to be some freelance specialist that
does illegal contract work for the Open Societies…”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is that I have no reason to believe anything you
tell me! You’re asking me to put myself and my crew in danger and you won’t
even come clean on who you are!”

“You’re a fine one to talk!”

“What?” he asked.

“Maybe I play my cards close to the vest; maybe I don’t come
right out and tell strangers my whole life story the first time I meet them,
but at least I don’t lie to myself about who and what I am!

“It’s not easy being a woman with no family; I’ve got to
protect myself… but what’s your excuse?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Argentine asked,
suddenly confused.

“You claim to be so protective about this crew of yours… so
tell me, what’s your plan?”

When Argentine didn’t immediately respond she continued…

“Everyone’s counting on you to lead them into some kind of
safe future yet you have no clue what that is!”

“We’ve been running for our lives! We’ve barely stayed a
step ahead of trouble…”

“Exactly!  You keep running
away
from trouble… When
are you going to start running
towards
your future?”

Argentine was dumbfounded.

He had no idea what she was getting at but the way she was
saying it made her words sound profound. Was he missing something?

“Your people need a leader - and you won’t even let most of
them call you Captain!”

After a moment, Argentine said, “We’ll get to where we’re
going… but I still need to know if you’re leveling with us…”

She gave him a hard look and said, “When I found out the
Asperian Police were taking a hard look at you I realized I might be able to
help. I knew of a society that desperately wanted to get a team to Trinity to
prove their fossil theory. I told them I’d make it happen on the condition that
they pulled some strings with the police.

“That was my price so I had to give up my normal fee.
They’ll pay you when you deliver the ore to their agents on Paladin III - they
have to so they can maintain their cover… but I’ll be expecting a share of that
fee. It’s the least you can do to repay me for saving your ass… again.

“As for trusting me or not, decide whatever you want - I
don’t think I care anymore.”

With that, she turned and walked out of the day cabin.

ΔΔΔ

“So, do you
trust her?” the chief asked?

“Not for a moment,” Argentine laughed.

His laugh died abruptly and he sighed…

“The truth is, I really don’t know what to think. Ever since
we met her it’s been an emotional roller-coaster.”

“For whom?” the chief asked. “You or the crew?”

Argentine looked up at his friend. “Both, if we’re being
totally candid. Not that I’m under her spell or anything…”

“Uh huh,” the chief commented.

“Hmph… Anyway, I still don’t know whether to throw her out
of the airlock or play along with her schemes until we can break free.”

“Well, the reality is that we’re no worse off than we were
before we met her. And assuming we do get paid for delivering our cargo…”

“…and assuming we don’t get caught violating the embargo,”
Argentine interrupted.

“And assuming we don’t get caught,” agreed the chief. “We
are
on track to getting our feet underneath us. Once we do that we can break free
of her altogether.”

“Um-hmm.”

“Argentine,” the chief repeated. “We will be breaking free
of her, right?”

“Yes, of course…”

En
Route to Trinity

A knock came to
Sami’s door…

“Want some company?” Mandi asked.

Sami had returned to her room. Lieutenant Stark and some of
the others were still questioning the professor but she’d wanted to review what
they knew about the curved space around Trinity.

Her room was the most comfortable place for that.

Sami broke her reverie with the astrogation computer and
nodded for Mandi to enter.

“I get the feeling you’re not too happy with me,” she said
softly.

Sami sighed. When Mandi had first walked on the bridge she’d
been delighted. She really liked her and she’d been afraid she’d never see her
again. But, now…

“It’s just that you always seem to complicate things. The
only thing Argentine wants is to find someplace we can all build a life.
Someplace safe and … safe.”

Mandi pursed her lips in thought…

“I really am trying to help you, you know… all of you.”

“Yeah, I guess I
do
believe that. It’s just that
everything gets so complicated.

“You know, you’re always talking about what Argentine wants…
What do
you
want?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… are you in love with him?”

“What? No!” Sami exclaimed. “Ewwwe no… I mean, he means
everything to me but not that way!”

“So you’re not… jealous?”

“No, and anyway I didn’t think you two…”

“We’re not! I just wanted to make sure you weren’t thinking
otherwise.”

“No, I mean… at least not much.”

Cocking her head, Mandi said, “You’re very protective of
him, aren’t you?”

“Why shouldn’t I be? He protects all of us! None of us would
be here without him.”

“I think you’re underestimating yourself. He’s a good guy,
but I can’t see that he’s overly strong, or decisive, or brilliant…”

“No Mandi, you don’t get it.

“Argentine is the
only
person that could have gotten
us this far. You’ve watched him interact with each of us but all you see is
someone that’s inconsistent. What you’re missing is that he treats everyone
differently because everyone is different!

“Barry is headstrong and brilliant, but he always does what
Argentine asks. The chief has been closed and protective of himself and Rory
ever since he was assigned to the Pelican. Now, Argentine’s got him taking care
of all of us like family.

“And don’t even get me started on the lieutenant…

“Argentine doesn’t fit into any kind of leadership mold…
people respond to him because of what he is, not because of what he’s trying to
be…

“…And the weird thing is that besides you, he’s the only one
that doubts that about himself.”

After a moment Mandi said, “You really care about him, don’t
you?”

“When he first came aboard the Pelican things weren’t… very
good for me. He saw who I was… what I could be. Yes I care about him. I’ve told
you before; I’d do anything for him.”

“Sami, I’m sorry I don’t see the same things in him that you
do. All this talk about finding someplace safe just seems naive to me. The
spiral arm is not a safe place. It’s going to take someone strong and decisive
to guide this crew and keep it safe and I’m just not seeing that…”

“You still don’t get it,” Sami interrupted softly.

“You think he’s indecisive… but that’s only because he
hasn’t made up his mind about you.”

ΔΔΔ

She wasn’t sure why,
but Mandi found that thought unsettling. She was used to being the one that
judged others… she wasn’t used to it being the other way around.

She wasn’t used to it because it never mattered to her what
someone else thought of her, and it didn’t now either… did it?

“Can we change the subject?”

When Sami didn’t say anything, she continued…

“I actually have a gift for you… sort of.”

That got her attention…

Mandi laughed.

“Well, it’s a gift if you like puzzles?”

When Sami smiled, she continued…

“Let me tell you a story…”

“237 years ago a ship traveled into this sector. No one
knows where it came from, but it must have traveled farther than anyone we’ve
ever encountered - before or since.”

“Why do you say that?” Sami asked.

“The language and customs were different - everything you’d
expect from a foreign traveler… but what really made everyone sit up and take
notice was the technology. It was off the grid.”

“So they came from up spiral,” Sami surmised.

“Probably,” Mandi agreed. “But one of the many rumors
surrounding the ship says it came from across the void - from a different
spiral arm altogether.”

“Really? Is that even possible?”

“Probably not with the technology we have but, who knows?”

“What was its mission?”

Mandi shrugged.

“All I’ve ever heard are guesses. Some people say it was a
survey ship and others say it was a scout ship looking for a planet to
colonize. I don’t think anyone really knows…

“Anyway, the Asperian sphere of influence wasn’t as settled
as it is today. Some of our more established worlds now were just being
colonized then. There was a lot of mutual trade but no formal agreements -
certainly no organized military.

“So what’s the mystery?”

“I’m getting to that, but first you need to understand that
it was a unique time. There were a lot of opposing factions from many different
planets that were trying to enforce their concept of order.

“Interstellar trading vessels traveled in convoys for mutual
protection and even then were subject to attack from pirates or privateers…”

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, generally speaking the pirates were just rogue ships
out for their own profit. Privateers were actually sponsored by certain
planetary governments and charged with disrupting trade and creating general
havoc.”

“So it was every planet for themselves back then?”

“That’s what the histories say, although from what I gather
most ‘planetary governments’ were really just the leaders of the largest
colonies on what were mostly unsettled worlds.

“The point is, this whole sector was basically on the brink
of war.”

“Ok,” said Sami thoughtfully. “I would think that a lot of
interstellar regions started out the same way. I’m guessing that the powers
that eventually became Asperia made friends with the high tech ship and was
able to bring everyone together under their authority… I’m still not
understanding what the puzzle is?”

“No, that’s not the way it happened,” corrected Mandi. “As a
matter of fact, it was just the opposite.

“You’re right that everyone wanted the power that ship
represented. Most factions were diplomatic, but when the newcomers expressed no
interest in being anything but neutral, some became aggressive.

“One group managed to kidnap the captain and several dozen
of the ship’s officers while they were planetside.”

“Several dozen? How big was the ship?”

“Mmm, yeah. I guess I haven’t mentioned that yet… The ship
was huge. They say it carried at least three thousand people.”

Sami just blinked a few times. Eventually she said under her
breath, “Wow.”

Mandi let that sink in and then continued…

“Now the faction that was holding the officers ordered the
rest of the crew to abandon the ship. Once they were all gathered on the planet
below, the kidnappers re-boarded with the original hostages and left orbit.”

“Where did they go?” Sami asked?

“I’ll get to that in a minute, but first you need to
understand what happened with the rest of the crew…”

Mandi paused until she was sure she had Sami’s full
attention.

“All of the other factions were livid. The knowledge that
those crewmembers held in their heads could theoretically shape empires. No one
was going to allow the Picantees (they were from Picante Prime) to have access
to all that knowledge by themselves. Everyone threatened to come after them
unless they shared.

But the Picantees weren’t the sharing type, so to prevent
any rescue they divided the crew up into several groups…”

“How many?” Sami interrupted.

“Probably three, but your guess is as good as mine as to how
accurate that is. Anyway, two of the groups were lost when the ships they were
on were destroyed. Supposedly there were no survivors.

“The third and largest of the three groups was slaughtered
by their captors during an ill-fated rescue attempt. Again, all the hostages
were reported lost.”

“You don’t sound like you believe that.”

“We know better. Today, it’s pretty much accepted by
everybody that some of the crew did survive. There’s really no other good
explanation for some of the advanced technology that’s popped up over the last
couple of centuries.”

Sami started to say something but then paused to think…

“What kind of technology?

Now it was Mandi’s turn to sigh… “Take your pick. There have
been all kinds of advances in a number of different areas. It’s also hard to
know what is real or just rumor. For example, there are some that say the ship
held the knowledge of how to create Artificial Intelligence… but we haven’t
seen any evidence of it.

“On the other hand, the planet Domingo Two has been
perfecting their robotics sciences suspiciously fast, and then there’s
Trinity…”

“Trinity? The planet we’re headed to?”

“Yeah. They lost a war a few decades ago because they
wouldn’t restrict their genetic manipulations.”

“I don’t understand?” Sami said.

“They weren’t just modifying the genome to prevent disease.
They weren’t even satisfied with biological enhancement… They were creating
whole new subclasses of humans that could be used as slaves, and… worse.”

“And this is where we’re going?”

Mandi let out a deep breath and said, “Yeah, but don’t
worry. No one wants to stay there any longer than we have to. We’ll drop the
professor off and then head to Paladin III so you can unload your cargo and get
paid.”

“So all these technologies, you don’t think they’re natural
discoveries?”

Mandi looked her in the eye…

“Sami, even 200 years later we can’t come close to
duplicating them. You have no idea how advanced those people were.”

“And they left no clue as to where they were from?”

“The only clue we have is the name of their ship… the T.L.S.
Roosevelt.

“What does that mean?”

“No one knows… Where the Terran League Ship Roosevelt
originated is a total mystery.”

ΔΔΔ

“But that’s not the mystery
you wanted to talk to me about…”

“Look at you, girl! How very perceptive of you… So have you
figured out what the real mystery is?”

“I think so,” Sami said with a huge grin on her face. “I
want to know where that ship went!”

Mandi laughed…

“You and everyone in this sector.”

“So, what happened?”

“That’s just it; nothing happened. When the ship broke orbit
with its handful of hostage officers it was never heard from again.”

“So, you think it went back to where it came from?”

“No, I don’t. There were a ton of rumors, of course; some of
them are still floating around 200 years later. What I believe, though, is that
the ship is still out there. I have reason to think it’s probably adrift - it’s
just that no one knows where.”

“Haven’t people looked?”

“Of course they have,” she responded. “But that ship carried
advanced skip motors and, I’m assuming, the type of advanced sensors and
computers that would make an astrogator like you drool… You also have to
remember that most people only have a general idea of what vector the ship
broke orbit on.

“Think about it, Sami. A ship like that still out there…
just waiting for someone to find it.”

“You want me to try and calculate where it might be?” she
asked.

“Sami, you’re one of the most skilled astrogators I’ve ever
met. If anyone would have a shot at it I think it would be you!”

After a moment, Sami said…

“With only a general idea of the ship’s vector, I don’t
know…”

“Uhm, I might be able to help you out with that…”