Timeless (The Cartographer Book 3) (23 page)

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, exasperated.

“Do not let the cruelty of one, blind you to the suffering of many,” he replied. “Gliese is just one planet among many. The Order is just one government among countless others. It would take you several lifetimes to correct the injustices perpetrated upon societies across the galaxies. You are not a god, Nathan.”

For several moments, I looked down at the scroll in silence. “Then who is?” I asked finally.

“Pardon me?” he asked.

“Who is God?” I rolled up the scroll, tied it up and handed it to him. My demeanor was serious. The question was not meant as a joke and judging by Grillick's expression, he knew it too.

He took the scroll and placed it in the drawer. “We all are.” When he saw the confused expression on my face, he clarified his statement. “In all my years of scientific research, I have yet to find any evidence of a sentient, all-powerful being in the sky. My point was, we all hold the power of God within ourselves. This is our time to shine and make a difference.” He smiled broadly.

Cantrell's voice rang out over the communication panel on the wall. “Course set for Gliese. Warp engines have been engaged which should put us in their orbit in about fifty-seven hours.”

Grillick pushed the button. “Thank you, Sergeant.”

“So what now?” I asked.

Grillick turned to me and smiled broadly. “Time to make a difference.”

World War Gliese

After our conversation in the lab, I returned to my room, flopped on the bed, and slept. It was a deep, yet troubled sleep. Images of Kedge's broken body haunted me while Satou's gravesite and even Shai's dismembered head made a cameo appearance. The final image was the most disturbing. In it, I was cradling Lianne's torn body with blood streaming down my face. I woke up at once. My heart was pounding and my breathing was reduced to short, choked gasps. I felt something wet streaming down my face. My hands immediately flew to my face, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was nothing more than sweat.

That was the first time. The second nap was a bit more restful.
Only a little
. I dreamt of mutants with no faces, of mutants who walked on their hands instead of their feet and others who took pleasure as they chewed on the corpse of Mazu with their belly teeth. I eventually gave up trying to sleep and resigned myself to staring at the passing stars to kill time. Between the sleepless hours and wandering to and from Grog's, I was teetering on the brink of madness. Forty hours into the trip, a knock came at my door as I was in the middle of nibbling on a flame-broiled burger stuffed into some type of pastry, courtesy of Grog.

Grillick stood on the other side, his jovial mood from the other day long gone. “Some of our forces have reached Gliese.”

“What's wrong?” I asked with pieces of meat dribbling down my chin.

“The Order was waiting,” he replied with a heavy sigh. “Captain Muriel was the first to arrive and was instantly overwhelmed. He had only one other ISS class starship with him at the time. It was a rout.”

Captain Muriel, with his serious demeanor and tactical prowess, would be sorely missed. Embeth was running out of captains fast. “So, what do we do now?”

Grillick shrugged. “I'm an engineer, not a general. I leave those decisions to Cantrell when it comes to tactical stuff. I do know this, however. Vayne and Arcturus were the first vessels to arrive at the scene of the battle based on the latest report. I'm afraid I have not much more to report on the matter.” When he noticed the doleful expression on my face, he placed his hand on my elbow. “The Timeless will fight and so will you. That is what we must do.”

“What about Vayne and Arcturus?” I asked.

A worried look spread across his face and he turned away quickly, hoping I didn't catch it. My heart sank. “They will take care of themselves until reinforcements arrive.” His words belied his look. “Vayne and Arcturus have the fastest ships and most powerful ships among The Timeless. They will handle things until the rest arrive.” He seemed to be trying to convince himself more than me.

“And how long will that be?” I figured since Muriel lost his battle with two ships, I wasn't really pinning my hopes on two more ships finishing the job, Timeless or not.

Grillick reached into his pocket and pulled out his digital pocket watch. He closed his eyes and conducted some mental calculations by nodding his head and waving his index finger in the air. “The
Gordian Knot
is a solid ship, but she's not the fastest. Menjaro, Ibune, and Horus will be the next to arrive. Vigil and Vanth are aboard Ibune's ship. Mortem will probably arrive next, followed by Embeth's fleet. We will arrive sometime between the fleet and Lapiz.”

“Which means, we will be too late,” I grumbled.

“Better late than never,” Grillick grumbled.

“By the time we get there, it will be an all-out war before we even start,” I acknowledged, clearly frustrated. “We need to get to the surface!”

Grillick nodded grimly. “You are correct. Luckily for us, I have included this scenario in my calculations. I assumed the Order would not just let us land freely upon the planet's surface, recover Kedge's body, free the rebels, and leave without a confrontation. Awhile back, I started a project to develop a shuttle, capable of carrying a crew of ten small distances, with cloaking technology.”

“Wouldn't advance radar be able to detect cloaked ships?” I remembered this fact from what Satou told me of cloaking technology.

Grillick's mood brightened and he held up his index finger. “AH HA!” he hollered. “Most archaic technology comes with this particular weakness. Not a Grillick invention! My shuttle can land on any planet across the cosmos, undetected.”

“Why not add this technology to the entire fleet?” I inquired.

Grillick's lips curled into a frown. “My shuttle does not utilize as much power as interstellar vessels. I have not had to time to calibrate the settings of the nanoneedles to prevent overloading the driver technology. Anything larger than my shuttle ends up shorting out the cloaking device. I have it on my 'to-do' list.”

“Okay, so what's the plan?”

“Come with me,” he commanded.

We left and lab and made our way to the bridge. We passed several crewmembers wandering the halls, performing various tasks ranging from mopping floors to performing repairs on control panels. Once we reached the bridge, I had to nudge my way through several of Cantrell's mercenaries who were in the process of being briefed.

“Hiro, I need you to round up eight people,” Cantrell ordered. “Qualifications: Must have prior combat experience, preferably involving extractions, and no family.”

“No family? Why's that sir?” he asked. He was a tall, barrel-chested fellow with bushy silver hair, a long nose and partially constructed of steel. Right away, I could tell he was a cyborg.

Cantrell fixed us with a cold stare. “Less mourning,” he replied, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

Hiro nodded and left the room. We were planning to infiltrate Gliese with a simple crew and a defenseless shuttle against the entire military might of the Order and their allies. It was a suicide mission and Cantrell knew it, but he was a soldier, and he had a job to do. He focused on the task at hand and focused on completing the mission or die trying. Despite his brusque demeanor, I admired him for his tenacity. Despite Vanth's teachings, I found myself scared, but I was determined. If I was going to die today, I would go down fighting.

“What about you?” Cantrell asked. He fixed me with a glare.

“What about me?” I replied.

“You aren't coming with me armed with just your chubby cheeks and
tighty whities
. This isn't a baby-sitting mission. I need soldiers, not spectators.” He glanced at Grillick. “I assume we have some weapons for him? I hope he can at least shoot straight.”

“Our next stop was the armory,” replied Grillick. “I have a few ideas for him.” He turned to me and smiled warmly. I knew at once that we were about to browse his vast inventory of inventions—his favorite pastime. “Shall we commence?”

The armory was nothing more than a closet located next door to his lab. Inside the room stood metal racks filled with everything from laser rifles to body armor. I focused my attention on one item in particular; a mobile turret similar to the one used during my battle with the Shreen on Vaire.

Grillick chuckled when he noticed my interest. “Ah, I see you have grown fond of my turrets!”

I picked up the cube and turned it over in my hands. It was a big as a Rubik's Cube and heavier. I ran my finger over the gridded, charcoal gray surface, eventually coming to a stop just before the “push me” button. “These things saved my life once.” I fixed him with such a cold stare that his smile faded. “I hope they can do it again.”

Grillick closed his eyes and held his palm up to me in a
Talk to the hand, 'cause the face ain't listening
gesture. “Don't let Cantrell get to you. He is what I like to call a passive-aggressive pessimist.” He ran his fingers through his beard before tapping himself on the temple. “Come to think of it, that is probably why I use him. His attitude makes him very effective at his job.”

I shoved the turret in my pocket and browsed the remaining shelves. I picked up an object that looked like a Progresso can of soup with a pop top. I thrust it toward him and asked, “Meal rations?”

“You wouldn't want to eat this,” he replied with a wry smile. “It's an EMP grenade. Once you pop the top, you have about five seconds to toss it. Just remember, it only works on electronic devices or items powered by some type of electrical motor. I designed it more for practicality than aesthetics.”

Janero's robots immediately came to mind. “This will come in handy,” I remarked.

“Take this.” Grillick grabbed something off the shelf that looked like a pistol, except it had a much larger barrel and wider grip.

“I'm not sure this would be much help,” I groaned, expressing my disappointment quite plainly regarding the size of the weapon. “Do you have an assault rifle or bazooka instead?”

“You humans are so frustrating!” he clucked. “You are interested more in the size of something rather than its effectiveness.” He snatched the weapon from my grasp and gripped it tightly at the top. He pulled on the handle, releasing an inner spring and extending the barrel another twelve inches. After locking it in place, a handle released from the middle of the weapon turned what was a pistol into something resembling a tactical shotgun. He thrust the weapon into my hands. “Here! Is that better?”

I turned it over in my hands and nodded. “Yeah, this will do.”

Grillick waved his hands in the air, clearly agitated. “These items should suffice. As long as you don't stray too far from Cantrell and his team, you will be safe.”

“Unless they end up getting themselves killed,” I replied, my wry smile contradicting the foreboding words. I decided to move the conversation away from death and more toward tactics. “So, what's the plan once we get there?”

“We get in, get what we need to get, and get out before we find ourselves six feet under, that's the plan,” a voice called from the hall.

Cantrell stood in the doorway. He had a bandolier filled with ammunition strapped around his waist, a rifle slung over his shoulder, and his helmet under his arm. His eyes were intense and he clenched and relaxed his jaw repeatedly, as if he were trying to chew on his own teeth.

Grillick studied his face and frowned. “What's wrong?”

Cantrell coughed dryly and clenched his jaw so tight that it cracked like knuckles. I would have sworn he broke a tooth in the process. “We established a visual of Gliese. It's pretty much what I expected.”

“How bad is it?” pressed Grillick.

“From what I could tell, it appears the orbital security buoys orbiting the planet took out Muriel's ships. That's what he gets for rushing in there like a virgin into a brothel.” He pursed his lips as if he just bit a lemon. “Your Timeless friends were a bit more fortunate. They realized they were outmanned, so they engaged the Order in a more tactical manner. They led the first wave of defense ships into a nearby asteroid field. The larger Order vessels sustained heavy damage and retreated. Reinforcements have since arrived, which keeps the battle interesting, but it is just a war of attrition at this point.” He rubbed his chin before adding, “One we will eventually lose.” He turned to me. “We have to win this battle on the ground.”

Grillick nodded solemnly. “That's where you come in, Nathan.” He placed his hand gently on my elbow. “Win the rebels and we can win this,” he urged.

“No pressure,” I grumbled. “No pressure at all.”

“I took the liberty of dropping off a suit in his room,” Cantrell said to Grillick. “Let's hope he doesn't piss himself in it.” He turned and left.

“Suit?”

“Come, let's go get it,” Grillick said, motioning me toward the door.

“I hope it's not a suit to wear to my funeral,” I grumbled and followed him out the door.

Inside my room, draped over the bed, was a suit of black armor similar to that which Cantrell's mercenaries wore. Holstered next to it was a black handgun similar to those I saw them carrying that day on Gorganna. The helmet was sitting on my desk. I went over to the bed and picked it up, surprised at how light it was. Despite being constructed of a material similar to Kevlar, the suit weighed about the same as a business suit. The suit was inlaid with narrow, clear fiberglass tubes, with a faint blue coating weaved into the material. I held the suit up and examined myself in the reflection of the window as if I was being fitted for a new tuxedo.