Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (8 page)

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E
ven with the extra hour Ian had added in, they still managed to arrive at the chapel only five minutes early. Beth gave Ian a dirty look when she found out about the deception, but quickly got over it.

They filled out the paperwork, and the ceremony was on. Bill guided Jenny down the aisle and Ian thought Bill’s chest would start popping buttons on his shirt any minute. Bill handed Jenny off to Ian, then took his place beside the groom. Beth and Cindy stood to Jenny’s side, and the minister began the ceremony.

Ian and Jenny had taken their bonding rings off and gave them to Bill before they got to the little chapel. Now, he solemnly presented them back to the couple on a velvet pillow provided by the chapel. Ian and Jenny were officially made husband and wife in the tearful presence of their families, and witnesses provided by the chapel.

When they got back out to the truck, Ian asked them what they wanted to do now. “I wasn’t sure what everyone would want to do, so I made dinner reservations at the Mirage. We can go see a show, or just retire to our suites, also at the Mirage. Or... we can take the shuttle back up and spend the night in orbit. Ladies, it’s your wedding night, I’ll let you pick.”

“The rest sounds pretty good, but I’m wondering if Oly can turn off the gravity in one of the staterooms on the shuttle,” Cindy said, grinning.

“I think that would be kind of awkward.” Jenny said.

Cindy’s grin grew bigger, “Maybe, but it's something I've always wanted to try.”

Beth chuckled, “Ian, I think we’ve created a monster,” she looked thoughtful for a minute. “How about we go to dinner at the Mirage, but spend the night in orbit,” Beth suggested.

Cindy put on a fake pout. The rest of the girls just laughed, but agreed.

“You know, we could always make a quick run to the ship and get Talena out of the freezer.” Ian asked as he got in behind the wheel.

“Someone’s already up there? If they need rescuing, why are we still down here?” Bill was beginning to sound a little anxious, and his tone along with the statement got everyone else’s attention.

“Talena, a young, female pilot trainee, was put into cryo-sleep by Commander Zeus over four thousand years ago. She’s been waiting for us to come and free her,” Ian explained to the three new people. “She’s now an orphan, and all alone. Her mother and her girlfriend died when Olympus was attacked. Zeus didn’t have the heart to grant her request to commit suicide, so he added this to his plan. She was to go into cryo to ‘help’ the new Commander. I imagine she expected to never be awakened, especially after so many years. We’ll have to remember that for her, the death of her mother and lover are still fresh in her mind.”

“So what are we waiting for? I’d have already gotten her out of there,” Julie said.

“Beth needed to have more medical knowledge to handle it if something has gone wrong. Talena is in stasis; she’s not going anywhere or getting any worse. Oly says that Beth is ready, so I was considering a run up to the ship tonight. I thought I’d ask you folks if you’d be willing to tag along.” Ian said.

“I certainly don’t mind,” Janet said.

“I’d like to see the ship. I guess even with everything you’ve shown us tonight, that would sure make it seem more real to me,” Julie said.

Bill grinned, “I think you knew my answer before you ever asked the question.”

“Well then, let’s have dinner, and get going,” Ian said.

“You know, I think we can eat just as well on the shuttle,” Jenny said looking at her two wives with raised eyebrows.

Cindy and Beth looked at each other and smiled. “Head for the shuttle, Ian,” Cindy said.

“Oly, please call and cancel our reservations, we’re on our way back to the shuttle,” Ian called on his communit.

“I will get it warmed up, Sir,” Oly replied.

“What’s the status of the diagnostics I asked for?”

“It has just gotten underway. The repair of the drones took longer than I calculated.”

“Has the level three diagnostic been run on the main medbay yet?” Ian asked.

“It is in progress; however, some faults have been detected and repaired.”

“We’re planning on getting Talena out of cryo tonight; is there enough working equipment for that?” Ian asked, not particularly liking what he was hearing.

“Yes sir. Three portable Autodoc units are ready, as well as seven chambers in the main facility. I will have a gurney and portable diagnostic equipment in the cryo-sleep facility by the time you get to the ship.”

“Thanks, Oly. Williams out.”

“What was that all about?” Jenny asked.

Ian frowned. “I ordered some diagnostic tests run on certain parts of the ship. I’d intended them to be finished before anyone went aboard, but that’s not going to happen. So... I’m sorry guys, but I’ll have to ask you to stay on the shuttle for the time being. Beth, Jenny and I will go get Talena out of Cryo, and get her ready to travel. Cindy, I would like you to pull the hummer out of the cargo bay so we can get the portable autodoc aboard.”

“If it isn’t safe, are you sure you should be going in either? Like you said, Talena isn’t going anywhere or getting any worse,” Janet said.

Ian sighed. “I know, and I agree with you, but I just can’t kick the feeling we need to get her out of there as soon as possible. The cryo-sleep pods were only designed for about a hundred years of use. She’s already exceeded that by more than forty times. With what I’m hearing from Oly about those diagnostics, the cryo-sleep system could be ready to go down as well.”

They drove in silence for a time. “Ian, thank you for today. It was the best surprise I’ve had in a long time,” Jenny said, to be quickly endorsed by Beth and Cindy.

Once they got back to the shuttle and had taken off, Bill, Julie and Janet all feigned being tired. Something no one believed for a second.

“What about dinner?” Jenny teased. “You know you're probably going to need the energy!”

“I told you they’d know!” Janet said, and slapped Bill's shoulder.

Ian went over to the replicator. “Computer, duty cover-all’s with rank insignia for Commander, one pair of black cotton socks, and a pair of ship boots,” Ian took his order into the front stateroom to change.

The girls must have followed his example because very shortly all three women were in there with him, getting changed. When Jenny took her dress back to the replicator for disintegration, she asked the computer to store it in her personal file.

Ian ordered a steak, baked beans and Beth’s potato salad with a glass of iced tea. When he sat down to eat, again the others followed his example. Conversation was light and teasing, but Ian could tell that there was an undercurrent of excitement to it as well.

Oly joined them, eating a holographic meal so he didn’t look out of place. “Sir, you told me what departments to put Bill and Julie in, but you didn’t clarify rank for them, also, what position did you have in mind for Janet.”

Before Ian could answer, Jenny piped up. “Ian, Janet should be our lead recruiter and ship’s counselor. She’s got a degree in psychology and with her clairvoyance, she might be able to see who would be a good person to recruit.”

“Okay, love, but what about rank? A counselor isn’t listed as normal ship’s compliment,” Ian asked.

“Well, I think she should remain a civilian, but have the honorary rank of Major. Since she’s head of recruiting, and personnel is under my duties, we can work together,” Jenny said, smiling at her 'Aunt'.

“Okay, we’ll see how that works. Now, as for Bill and Julie, they would both be department heads, and that holds the rank of Major, but they’re normally called ‘Chief’. Am I correct, Oly?” Ian asked.

“Yes sir,” Oly replied.

“Okay, they are both to be listed as Majors, and heads of those departments mentioned before. Also, as the results of the diagnostics come in, I would like you to share those results with the head of that department, if we have one. As well as myself and the first officer,” Ian ordered.

“Once Janet has gotten the initial information please give her a list of the positions available on the ship, with priority going to Engineering personnel as well as pilots.” Ian looked over to Janet, “I’ll let you figure out the best way to get people recruited, however, I’d prefer no kidnappings, and no lying. I know that might make your job more difficult, and I’m sorry. I’ve always believed you can’t build a good relationship with someone based on lies. When you do get someone, hand it off to Julie, and she can get them up to the ship and get them settled.”

“Ian, we’re going to need a base of operations on the planet as well. I mean yeah, it’s all well and good to just swoop down in a shuttle and pick people up, but a mysterious rendezvous in the middle of the night is going to either spook people, or convince them we are a bunch of flakes,” Janet said.

“Yeah, I kinda thought that might be the case too, and I’m trying to think of a way to accomplish that. For now, all I can come up with is creating a corporation to ‘hire’ the people we recruit. But I can’t think of a reasonable and believable purpose for the corporation to have,” Ian said.

Bill finally spoke up, “Oly, you’ve been monitoring the planet for a long time correct?”

“Yes Chief, that was part of my job.”

“Okay, do you know anything about repressed technology? Specifically, things like carburetors that get hundreds of miles per gallon of gasoline, or an energy cell that uses hydrogen for fuel?”

“Yes Chief, I have that information,” Oly said.

“Yes! I knew it! Anyway, Ian, let’s create a corporation that’s purpose is to ‘discover’ alternate sources of energy. Power systems that either don’t need fossil fuels, or uses them much more efficiently.

“I’d also like to see it working on ways to clean up the oceans, and saving the rain forests, but hey, I’m a tree-hugger from way back,” Bill said. “We’d be just enough of an irritant in the government’s side to be ignored as doing something sneaky.”

“That might work, but it still doesn’t... Oly, do we have any capital?” Ian asked.

“From time to time, I have had need to influence certain events. To do that, I needed money. If I had simply created accounts in the quantity I needed it could have had detrimental effects on some of the economies of the planet. So, I created accounts and slowly siphoned off money from the larger drug cartels and criminal organizations I could locate.

“I considered those monies obtained by criminal means to be public money, and used to help counter some of the damage caused by those drugs or criminals. Currently those accounts have over forty billion dollars in United States currency,” Oly reported.

Ian was shocked to silence. The girls looked stunned. Bill asked, “What did you need to influence that required forty billion dollars?”

Oly looked extremely uncomfortable. “I did not need that much; however, I left the siphons in place to build up a large cash reserve in the event it would be needed when I located my Commander.”

“So we have virtually unlimited funds to work with, and a half formed plan,” Ian said once the shock was past him. “Let me give this some thought, and make some phone calls, I think I might know of a way to pull this off.”

“Sir, we are on final approach to the ship. We will be landing in alpha bay in a few minutes,” Oly said.

“Thank you, Oly. I’d like to turn the lights on, but with the energy the ship is already radiating, that might not be a good idea.” Ian said. “Are the maglevs running?”

“Yes sir, but I haven’t tested them yet,” Oly said.

“Well, if there are no other cars on this side, it should be safe enough to use. Oly, you’ve given me endless reports on equipment replacement or repair, but I haven’t once seen a schedule for preventive maintenance, why is that?” Ian asked.

“I do not know what that term means, sir, could you explain it please?” Oly asked.

“I guess that explains why I haven't seen any schedules. Julie, you want to field this, or should I?” Ian asked.

“I’ll take it, Commander. Oly, preventive maintenance is basically a schedule of checks and services for equipment based on the serviceable life of the equipment in question. The United States Military uses this method extensively to prevent equipment failures during emergencies.

“You should be able to find more information by researching it on the Internet,” Julie said. “Once you get the idea, I’ll work with you to set-up a system for the equipment on board. However, the engineer might wish to alter it, once we get one,” Julie finished.

The engine noise that had been softly heard during the flight changed and faded to nothing. Oly turned back to Ian, “Sir, we are down. Welcome to the F.S.S.
Olympus
.”

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“B
ack the Hummer out carefully, squirt.” Jenny teased Cindy.

“Just go get the girl, and get back here. And stay in touch!” Cindy said as Ian, Beth and Jenny headed for the passenger hatch. Ian stepped out first, turned and saluted the ship's logo on the wall. “Olympus! Commander Ian Williams requests permission to come aboard!”

“Permission granted, sir! Welcome aboard!” Oly replied through the speakers on the hanger deck. Beth and Jenny both did the ritual as well, and Oly grinned as he led the way to the maglev.

“Oly, did you get the equipment to the cryo-sleep facility?” Beth asked.

“Yes Doctor, I’ve also powered up three of the treatment chambers in the main medbay.” Oly replied.

“Excellent,” Beth replied as they got on the maglev. “Medical Deck please.”

The car sped away and seconds later arrived at the medical deck. The cryo-sleep facility was separate from the main medical bay, but located close to it, for emergencies, and ease of evacuating the wounded. They turned into the large bay to see hundreds of pods on tracks behind a large control panel. All of them were empty, but one. The glass covering was frosted over obscuring the view of whoever was inside.

Ian stepped up to the control panel, placed his hand on the access plate and spoke in Talosian, “Recognize Williams, Ian, acting Commander of F.S.S. Olympus. Initiate reanimation sequence on chamber alpha-zero-one.”