The Agathon: Book One (15 page)

“And the other?” she asked.

“Doctor Amelia Cox will command The Village,” he replied, handing her the file on the woman.
Fifty
-one years old and with an iron expression and determination in her eyes. Her photo felt heavy in the chancellor’s arms.

“She’s strictly by the book and not the most exciting person to have at a party, but she’ll get the job done. She’s the most senior propulsion expert we have over there and has had eight years in the military, so given the circumstances she slots right in. She may not win any popularity contests, so it might be worth imparting some wisdom to her,” said Young.

“When are you two transferring to The Agathon?” she suddenly asked. Young leaned back and fixed his hair. She hadn’t meant to impart a sense of guilt in the room, but that was exactly how it had come out. Tosh simply looked at Young. She held her hands up in acknowledgement.

“I know you have to go, gentlemen, and to be honest I’m comforted that your expertise will be on that ship. I for one do not relish the prospect of floating into nothingness for the rest of my days.”

“These are good people, Sienna,” Young said.

“I know that, Jerome.”

“Ellis commands respect on this base and he will have your back through all of this. Trust his judgement, but ultimately you have the last say in policy. We’re going into uncharted territory here.” He sighed.

“My father would have dissolved your office the second this event took place, with the full introduction of martial law under Jycorp jurisdiction. These people need to believe we are still a structured society and not refugees. You can accomplish that,” said Young. She looked at Young and wished she had not been so hard on him when she had arrived at the station.

“Tosh and I will be leaving in the next few hours. I suggest we have a briefing with the two commanders before that. We need both stations under way ASAP and I want as much distance between us and this planet as possible, before that fragment hits,” he said.

“This is gonna be a photo finish,” said Tosh.

The Agathon

12 hours to Impact

15:00 Martian Standard

The engine room of The Agathon was a sight to behold. In place of the fusion drive mountings, which were commonplace on most of the Jycorp vessels, stood a twenty foot rotating orb attached to a spinning tube of liquid plasma which ran the length of the ship from bow to stern. Landon Emerson stood at the end of a gangway overlooking the enormous faster than light drive system. Directly in front of him lay a
half
-
moon
-shaped array of control panels manned by three propulsion engineers. Barrington stood behind him watching the test. Unlike the rough contours of the space station engine rooms, this one had smooth lines and a polished effect with integrated holographic imaging panels on the smooth silver walls. The neural interface worn by all staff allowed certain functions to be triggered with specific thought patterns. It had taken Emerson a number of months to get used to hearing the ship’s functions reverberating through his mind. The drive section of The Agathon was the first section of the ship to have been completed two years ago and was the only area of the ship to have felt fully completed.

The FTL orb, or ‘Betty’ as it was nicknamed, was transparent and surrounded by a series of metallic threads, making it look like a hornet’s nest. At eighty percent the light blue glow from the threads contrasted beautifully with the plasma, as they mixed and cast an incandescent light all around the engine room. Emerson compared those flickers of light to water in a dark cave. The AI in the engine room had a soft yet commanding voice, as it relayed drive performance to the crew who looked on.

“Taking it up to ninety percent,” said Emerson. Barrington nodded as The Betty began to speed up. There was an increase in the circulation of the air surrounding the device as it spun. A soft breeze began to fill Emerson’s hair.

“Intermix ratio at 1:1. All systems nominal,” said a female voice representing Betty’s computer systems.

“Hold it there,” said Barrington.

“She’s looking good, Cap,” said Emerson. His focus was firmly held on the readouts in front of him.

“Okay, shut it down,” said Barrington.

Emerson nodded. “Betty, reduce flow intake to fifteen percent and hold,” he said. He focused on the system flow intake systems in his mind and relayed shut down protocols through the neural interface. The headset was comfortable to wear, but the metallic rod which was attached to his forehead dug into his skin and he didn’t like wearing it for longer periods. He preferred a hands on approach.

Transfer to manual
, he thought and removed the device. He turned to Llewellyn, who was manning the FTL ring deployment station on the opposite side of the gangway.

“Amanda, let’s do a test on the ring,” he shouted across to her. “Here’s the tricky part,” he said to the captain. “If we can’t sync the ring up, we won’t have any protection against the increase in the gravity distortion.”

“We don’t want that now, do we?” said Barrington with a smile.

“No, sir, we do not,” he replied. Emerson had only known the captain a short time, since transferring from the station. He could not always read him, but trusted his judgement. He noted he had recently kept the crew at arm’s length and projected total authority on the decks in a cold and confident manor. The crew responded to this well and given the dire nature of what was about to happen, Emerson thought it an effective command strategy. Project strength and control at all costs. Any crewmembers that he thought were beginning to lose it were snapped back to reality with a personal cattle prod up the ass.

“Spinning up FTL ring. Stand by,” said Llewellyn. There was a creak and popping on the hull. Everyone looked up at the walls and ceiling of the engineering bay. Emerson felt the deck plating begin to vibrate. The sound of a large machine coming to life filled the silent room. He looked at Barrington.

“She always does this; the mechanism was locked into place a little tightly. The first few runs may scratch the paint.” Barrington didn’t answer. He had his eyes combing the walls around him.

“Barrington to bridge,” he said.

“Boyett here, go ahead, Captain,”

“Charlie, we are spinning up the FTL ring. Can you confirm normal movement visually, please?”

“Yes, sir, she’s off and running. All systems check out up here. I am showing her at twelve percent and holding steady.”

“It must be a hell of a sight from outside the ship, Cap,” said Emerson.

“A hell of a sight,” repeated Barrington. Without warning one of the displays behind Llewellyn burst into a chorus of sparks. She was thrown off kilter and hit the deck to avoid the discharge. The vibrations ground to a halt and the lights in the engine room began to flicker. Emerson hit the emergency shutdown protocols and the deck went quiet.

“What happened?” said the captain, not flinching from the explosion in the console.

“Looks like we blew a relay. Amanda, you okay over there?” She gave them a thumbs up and righted herself, waving wafts of smoke out of her face.

“Status of the FTL ring?” asked Barrington.

“She’s dead in the water right now, sir. If she blows a relay like that while we’re at a hundred percent, the distortion will tear the ship apart,” he said gravely. Barrington’s face changed.

“We have less than twelve hours, Mr. Emerson. How long to right the problem?”

“I’ll get right on it, but I could really use Doctor Tosh’s assistance at this stage. Where is he?” Emerson had been trying to figure out why Tosh hadn’t joined him at a much earlier stage in the engine room and was starting to wonder if the old bastard had hitched himself a comfortable ride on the space station through all of this.

“I believe they are on their way. Just get on this problem and I’ll send him down to you straight from the airlock,” replied Barrington.

“Yes, sir.” Barrington turned and made his way towards the rear of the engineering deck.

“I want updates every twenty minutes, Mr Emerson. Use whomever you need on this. All other priorities are rescinded. Get her working!” he shouted, without turning his head.

“You’ll have ‘em, sir,” he said.

The door hissed behind the captain and he stood in the corridor of the ship.

“Fuck it,” he whispered under his breath. He placed a hand on a bulkhead. “Come on, don’t let me down,” he said. A crewmember gave him a curious look and nodded to him as he passed to enter the engine room. He made his way through the deck and into a nearby lift.

“Deck eight,” he said. The lift took off and deposited him on the requested deck. As the doors opened he was greeted with a flurry of activity. There were colonists from the planet surface rushing about the place with equipment and supplies. He paused outside the lift and made eye contact with some of them. They stopped and looked at him. They looked worried. Most of them were scientists on the planet and had never seen anything close to combat. None of them had expected anything like this and there was a need for him to be much larger than he really was. He nodded in their direction and offered to help one of the biologists with a heavy case of what looked like computer components. She was a young, petite woman by the name of Charlotte King. She seemed unsteady with the weight of the case.

“Thank you, Captain, but I can manage. Are we leaving soon?” she asked softly, with large brown eyes that held a fear Barrington knew only too well.

“Very soon, Charlotte,” he replied assuredly. “Try and get these stowed away safely.” She nodded and moved off quickly in the direction of crew quarters.

“Captain,” came the voice of Chase Meridian off to his left.

“Doctor,” he replied. She seemed out of breath.

“I was just coming to see you.” She pulled him to one side.

“You know Tyrell has brought a sample of The Black on board? Please tell me you didn’t approve that. That stuff gets loose on board a ship this size and Bob’s your uncle.”

Barrington suddenly felt a surge of rage. “How do you know this, Doctor?”

“The crazy son of a bitch let it slip. It’s under containment in his lab but, Jesus, John.”

Barrington looked at the ground. “Have you seen Carrie?” he said with gritted teeth.

“No, sir, she was among the last to transport up. I think she’s in her quarters.”

“I’ll take care of it. Chase, do me a favour and help Charlotte with a case she’s carrying. It looks like she’s going to break a bone if she’s not careful.”

“Yes sir.” Meridian hurried off and helped the young woman. Barrington took a breath and placed his hand on a comm panel.

“Barrington to Carrie Barrington.” Silence then a soft voice.

“Carrie here, go ahead,” She sounded sleepy.

“Carrie, meet me in Tyrell’s lab immediately, will you?”

“Okay, give me five. Carrie out.” Barrington turned on his heels and moved with a purpose, hoping to God Meridian had been victim to a practical joke.

Tyrell’s
Lab
- The Agathon

Carrie entered Tyrell’s lab but knew well in advance what she would find inside. She could usually feel her father’s anger from miles away and on this ship she felt everything.

“I’m sorry, John. Just hear me out,” said a retreating Tyrell, as the captain made a move towards him.

“Are you crazy, bringing that on board my ship?” shouted Barrington

“John, just be calm for a moment, will you?” Barrington eased off and took a breath.

“What’s happening?” Carrie asked, knowing full well.

“Did you know about this?” her father asked her, as if she had just sneaked out in the middle of the night and not told anyone. She thought about lying but couldn’t. Not to her father. Never.

“Yes,” she said. She could see the disappointment in him, but more than that the sadness of having been left out of her loop. He placed his hands on his head and walked to the back of the lab where he took a seat next to some soil samples lying on a diagnostic table.

“Okay, let’s hear it,” he said. Tyrell looked at Carrie.

“Listen to me, John. This is the only alien organic life form we have ever encountered in the universe. Yes it’s dangerous, but there has never been a single serious incident while it has been in a containment chamber. In less than eleven hours it may very well be the last sample in the universe and I don’t think it’s right to condemn an
extra
-terrestrial species to extinction, just because we don’t understand it.” Barrington’s eyes widened and he looked at Carrie, who looked at the ground.

“It’s too important not to allow further study, Father.” He frowned.

“Are you absolutely certain we can contain this in the ship, without any danger to the crew?” he asked bluntly.

“I’m certain of it, Captain. I’m sorry you were not informed, but we simply ran out of time,” finished Tyrell.

“Carrie?”

“Yes, Captain. I’m sure of it. Doctor Tyrell has it sealed in a vaporisation room. If it so much as twitches, the computer has been programmed to alert either myself or Doctor Tyrell, who can order its incineration in a heartbeat.” Her father looked at the two of them, clearly tired of the debate.

“Okay, Dice. I’m making you personally responsible for the safety of the crew in this matter. Like you said, we are out of time. Don’t let me down. Doctor Tyrell, they need you on the bridge to assist with the navigational array.”

“Right away, Captain,” and with that Tyrell walked out of the lab, leaving them alone. They looked at each other for a moment before Carrie broke the silence.

“It’s important,” she said.

“What is, Dice?” Barrington replied wearily.

“I didn’t lie to you. But we both know you would have had no part in bringing it on board.” She saw the look of confusion on her father’s face and felt his fear.

“There is some connection between us,” she finally said.

“Between who, Carrie? I really don’t have time for mind games today. If you have something to say to me, just say it. I have never known you to have secrets from me. God knows there isn’t anything I can hide from you. And that isn’t fair, Dice.”