The Broken Cage (Solstice 31 Saga Book 2) (27 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Questions

“The nukes were from the defense grid. Javelins. We should have kept closer count. We were all just too damn busy. Em kept us that way.”

--
Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Lieutenant Valerie Hume, the security chief on the Memphis.

<<<>>>

Barcus, Po, and Kuss slept in the reclined command seats on the way back. As the world slid silently beneath them, Em's final repairs were finished and tested.

They arrived before dawn and the cargo they carried was quickly unloaded. It was all on uniform pallets in closed crates and had to be opened and inventoried.

Most of it was food—literally, tons of food of all kinds. Some were dried, some were preserved in glass jars, and others were grains in sacks. As it was inventoried, it was moved to cold storage in the
Sedna
, for their long trip home.

There was a wide variety of clothes in there, as well. There were tunics, pants, cloaks, tabards, belts, pouches and even boots. It was very high quality. There were also clothes that were, apparently, what women were expected to wear in Exeter, in public.

Worthington commented, “These look like burkas or nun habits.”

“Things are very different for women in Exeter. Much more strict,” Po said. “They say, all women there sleep with their heads on an anvil.”

“I, for one, cannot wait to get off this damn planet,” Karen Beary said. “I have been a navigator on a starship for almost twenty years. You will never see me in one of those.”

“I think it's kind of hot, Karen,” kidded Cook. “We'll bring these with us on the way back. It will be a long trip, if you know what I’m saying.” He winked at her.

“Keep dreaming, Cook.” She laughed.

Worthington laughed and interrupted them. “You slackers better be on schedule for the noon briefing. Now, get back to work.” He pointed at Barcus. “Rack time.” He turned to the virtual big board. “If we stay on schedule, you’re going for a fuel run, this afternoon.” As expected, the plutonium in the old reactors in the hangar base were depleted.

Barcus knew that the retrieval of the nuclear missiles were scheduled for this afternoon. Everything else in the plan depended on getting the plutonium for the
Sedna
. He knew Po was worried for him. The line between her brows was back, and deeper than ever.

As they lay down in their bunk, the makeshift curtain closed behind Barcus. It was only a heavy blanket, tucked under the mattress above. But, it gave them darkness to sleep.

As his eyes adjusted, he saw she was wide awake.

“It will be okay, Po,” Barcus whispered, in reassuring tones.

“You’re going to be walking, in the sky,” Po said. “You’ll be stealing 100 weapons. Each of them could destroy a whole city.” She slid on top of him, straddling him, her nose near to his. “From. The. Sky.”

“Yes,” he replied. His hands explored the skin of her back.

“I told you, once, that you could leave whenever you wanted,” Barcus said. “I want to ask you something, Po.”

“Ask.”

“Will you come with me to Earth?” Barcus asked. “If you don't want to go. Then, neither do I.”

“You would give up Earth for me?” she whispered.

“Yes. The Earth. The whole universe, if I had to,” he said. “I'd rather sleep with you, here, on a pile of dung, than to sleep without you, on Earth, in a bed of silk.” He kissed her, deeply, then.

“Yes. I will go with you. To Earth. To Exeter. To Hell, wherever that place is that everyone talks about.”

She kissed him. She wanted him.

She gasped when he slid inside her. She climaxed just a few minutes later. She gushed in a flood. It had never felt so good.

Somehow, they managed to stay quiet. They fell asleep, still tangled together.

***

AI~Em woke them both with an insistent chime. They got up and took a quick shower, not wanting to be late again, today. They were not the first ones to the conference table because there was an enormous spread of food out for them.

There were breads, cheese, stew, baked ham, and chicken. There was a large variety of vegetables both cooked and raw. There was steaming rice and potatoes and pitchers of gravy. There was even a variety of pies—meat pies and fruit pies.

Barcus realized he was starving. Tan’Vi made sure everyone had drinks and full plates.

There were additional tables set up under the lights that held a wide selection of items. Most were projects and tasks that were either completed or simply paused for the midday status. Then, his eye fell on one particular table.

He saw the books, first.

They were the books from the gatehouse. There was also the Telis Raptor tail knife that Grady had fashioned. It even had a sheath. Below that table were five chests of various kinds. And, behind the table were about two dozen cases of the Hermitage wine.

Barcus knew someone had been back to the Abbey to salvage what could be saved. It had been a mercy for AI~Em to assign the task to someone else.

Worthington began the briefing while everyone ate.

“As of this moment, we are on track and ahead of schedule,” Jim said, to claps and to cheers, through full mouths. “We have added items to the schedule, however.

“We have decided to salvage reactor number one from the
Memphis
, before we leave for Earth.”

The displays changed behind him. Schedules cascaded and simulations of the install of the dark matter reactor in the
Sedna
were shown.

Trish Elkin spoke, “The dark matter reactor is modular and easy to move. We should be able to move it over, install and test it, in less than a day. By having it, we can run the fabricator, the entire trip, with no impact and continue repairs and even upgrades.”

Worthington continued, “This presumes that Barcus doesn't blow himself up, extracting the missiles.”

Barcus knew he was joking, but Po wasn't so sure.

“We have also come up with a far less risky way to transfer the fuel, without killing Elkin.”

“Thanks, Captain, for thinking of me,” Elkin said, smiling.

“After Barcus retrieves the missile pod from the platform, they will land in a remote area in the tundra, far north of here.” Worthington started another simulation. “The pod will already be retrieved and secured inside Par, the Emergency Module, during the operation. They will be dropped off along with the fuel tanks from the
Sedna
. Em will extract, process and transfer the nuclear material to the shielded fuel tanks and leave the unused parts of the pod there. All this will happen while we can use the laser comms on the moon as a relay, to keep in touch.”

Elkin added, “With the plutonium in the shielded tanks, they can be picked up, reinstalled and we will be good to go. And, my tan will stay as pale white as ever!”

“Handling risks will be minimized,” Worthington added.

AI~Em spoke at that point, “We will then be good with water, food and fuel.” The task lists opened. “The remainder of the major tasks will be repairing the hull breaches, cleaning the CO
2
scrubbers, and testing the computers, the hull and the seal integrity.”

The fabrication schedule was impressive.

“When are we getting Wex?” Grady stood in the light by the tables. In his hand, he held the tail spike from the Telis Raptor. It looked like a short, curved sword. He looked worried, angry.

AI~Em replied, “In three days, Barcus, Po, Rand, and Worthington will be going to Exeter. To the Flask and Anvil, to meet with the High Keeper's chief engineer. Ronan has already begun setting up transportation and the potential evacuation of Wex. It will be a simple milk run.”

“I'm going,” Grady said, in a tone not to be debated.

“I guess I'm going, as well,” Ulric said. “None of you have even been there, before. I have. Besides, I know where we can get a few cases of excellent bourbon.”

Hume spoke next. “Captain, you should stay here. I'll go.”

“I'm going because the rest of you have tasks to complete, if we are to remain on schedule. We are getting close.” He pointed at Hume. “You’re not going because Ronan advised against it.” Before she could interrupt, he continued, “Not only are you a woman, I think you are the only Black woman on this whole, damn planet.”

She was taken aback.

“You would draw too much attention.”

“As it is, we’ll have to dress her like a man.” Ulric pointed at Rand. “I have not seen a man on this planet as tall as she is.”

Everyone laughed. Except Rand.

***

They finished eating and providing additional status updates that the dependency schedule didn't convey. Barcus helped Elkin, Weston and Worthington moved the shielded plutonium containment units onto the shuttle and secured them. Each was about the size of a coffin, and weighed so much they had built-in, grav-skid plates that helped with mobility. They had to be secured on opposite sides of the cargo bay, to help the shuttle maintain its balance.

Po was getting a lesson on the helmet functions, from Hume, when Rand walked up to Barcus to talk.

“Barcus, what do you know about her?” Rand asked, quietly.

“There is not much to know,” he confessed.

“She says that she couldn't read at all this time last year.” Rand moved closer. “And now, she can pilot a PT-137? That thing is full manual. Half the people here couldn’t fly it.”

“I know. I’m the one that taught her,” Barcus said. “To read and to fly.”

“You ever teach anyone else, before?” she asked. “Do you have any idea how hard it is?”

“Well, no,” Barcus admitted. “Never had much of a chance.”

“You taught Olias, as well?” she asked.

“Well, I tried. He has the extra challenge that he doesn't speak Standard English. It's a slow go for him.”

Barcus looked toward Po. She activated the helmet lights, without using her hands.

“She has a personal HUD as well, now? It has comms, storage and a full-time link to the most advanced AI I have ever worked with, and she doesn't even blink.” Rand paused, looking over her shoulder. “You don't find that odd?”

“She thinks it's magic.” Barcus looked at her, as well. “By her definitions, it
is
magic.”

“Barcus, I don't know if you knew that Worthington had me take a closer look at her. Even her medical scans.” She watched Barcus for his reaction to her statements. “She survived horrific torture and received massive injuries, in the past. I can't even tell you how many bones had been broken and not properly treated.”

Barcus grew a bit angry. “So, she is smart and tough. So what?”

“And, she has genome markers.” It was evident Barcus did not know the significance of that statement. “These kinds of markers are only used for a couple reasons. Genetic test subjects mostly—control groups, test subject tagging, that sort of thing. It started when they used prisoners as lab rats. One of the researchers noticed that the subjects in the trials were much easier to track in a double-blind study, if they had genetic markers installed. It made it easier for both the subjects and the researchers to NOT know the control group from the test group, even from one generation to the next. Even tissue samples would then be clearly marked.”

“So you think she is some sort of guinea pig?” Barcus asked.

“Did any of those mercenaries ever say why they were told to kill every man, woman, and child above the gorge?” Rand asked.

He looked across the hangar at Po, again, as she laughed, taking off the helmet. He saw the strength in her bare arms and her shoulders.

“Did Olias have those same markers?” Barcus asked.

“No,” Rand replied.

“This changes nothing,” Barcus said, defensively. “In ten days, we’re out of here.”

Barcus started to walk away. Rand stopped him, stepping into his path.

“Listen closely, Barcus,” Rand said, in an angry whisper. “Do you think, when we get out of here, this is over?” They stared, eye-to-eye now, their faces only inches apart. “You think you're going to just go home, and what? Get assigned to another ship? Go back to being maintenance guy number forty-two?”

They stared at each other.

“Someone murdered the
Ventura
. Other ships as well. Someone powerful. They sent us here to die.” She was growling now. “What do you think they will do, when they find out we lived?”

“Shit,” Barcus said, under his breath.

“I don't know why, or even if, Po has been genetically altered, yet.” She looked at Po, again. Po watched them now, as well. “There are just too many things wrong on this planet. Too many questions.”

“Like what?” Barcus was angry and didn't understand why.

“The defense grid around this planet for starters,” she said, as if it was obvious.