Waiting (17 page)

'That, Kane, is
your conclusion, not mine. I'll not except her death until it is
substantiated.' He studied a huge, detailed map on the wall. 'Our
last reports from Lieutenant Sparrow was that the traitor Bridget
Loretti and the enemy leader Salamandra were pinned down. Then a
partial report that Bridget and Loretti were firing at the
ship.'

'Yes, sir.'

'The ship
crashed, then Bridget and Salamandra entered the ship and
shot...'

'Corporal
Clarkson. A cannon shooter.'

'Right. Then
General Loretti disappears.' He stared at his major. 'You are not
yet joining up the dots?'

'Sir?'

Maxim sighed.
'We know the direction they were heading. What's the only thing of
note out that way?'

'The Base,
sir.'

'Exactly. Major
Otto Gunther is Bridget's father. She was heading there for
sanctuary.'

Kane said, 'We
considered that, but Salamandra was not Bridget's prisoner. We know
that much. So why would he be heading to one of our strongholds? We
assumed they were trying to fool us and took off in a different
direction to join his own people.'

'Bridget would
willingly follow our sworn enemy into their territory?'

'Well, they're
obviously together now.'

Maxim asked,
'Did you contact Gunther to ask if they had General Loretti in the
Base?'

'If he had,
would he tell us? He'd be protecting his daughter.'

'Then go and
kick his door down and find out. There are only a handful of
technicians there.'

Kane said, 'And
if Major Gunther resists?'

'Kill him. Kill
him and anyone suspected on being involved. Get in the Base and
find Loretti.'

Chapter 52

'The soup was
very satisfying, Major Gunther,' said Salamandra.

'Plenty of
goodness in it. Salamandra. Thank you for saving Loretti. I
understand it couldn't have been easy, working on someone you
hate.'

'Hate? I'm not
sure I hate anyone. My heart is full of disappointment that the
world has been torn apart so needlessly over petty differences.
When our people and yours were working together on the mission, I
felt a glimmer of hope that we could start rebuilding instead of
destroying. Sadly I was wrong.'

Bridget said,
'About the mission. That's why I brought you here. You know
something.'

'knowing
something and doing something about it are two different things.
But not tonight. I am exhausted. I'll sleep and tomorrow perhaps
I'll tell you what I know.'

'Fair enough,'
said Bridget. 'We have plenty of room with the place almost empty.
I opened up a room close to the sickbay, in case we need you to
look in on my mother. I'll take you.'

'Thank you.
Goodnight, Otto.'

'Goodnight.'

It was a short
walk past the sickbay and into a corridor where the accommodation
rooms began. Salamandra's words echoed in Bridget's mind, the
beauty in his words, his inability to hate even those who had
tortured him. His compassion, enough to use his skills to help save
her mother. It was impossible now for her to think of this
remarkable man as her enemy. Perhaps in time they could even...

'This room is
most adequate,' said Salamandra. 'Don't wake me too early, hey? I
promise we will talk in the morning.'

They shared a
moment as they looked into each others eyes.

'Goodnight,
Bridget.'

'Goodnight.'

Salamandra
stripped and lay on the bed. The most comfortable bed he had lay on
in many years. He had moved constantly, trying to avoid being
killed. The painkillers he had taken with his soup only partially
dulled the pain inflicted by Naylor. It had taken all his
concentration to operate on Loretti with his damaged fingers and
his mouth causing him agony. He had denied himself taking anything
for the pain so as not to impair his mind as he operated. Loretti
would live.

He thought of
Bridget, ten years his junior. She was Loretti's daughter and yet
she had acted against her mother and risked her life to free him.
She had her mother's smouldering good looks but there the
similarity ended. When Bridget fought, she did so because it was
her duty. Her mother fought because she wished the destruction of
his race because she thought them inferior. He would take time to
get to know the real Bridget.

He turned off
the light and soon fell into a heavy sleep.

Chapter 53

'We can only
assume the terraformers are doing what they're supposed to do,'
said Polowski. 'The storm has dropped in intensity, but it is still
enough to block our signals to monitor the terraformers
activity.'

Clifton said,
'They seemed in good order when I checked them out. No reason to
think they're not still working.'

'Hopefully,'
said Polowski. 'The good thing about the storm is even if Earth
wanted to deliberately stop the terraformers, their signals can't
get through either.'

Friar said,
'Why are you still banging on that same old drum? Nothing can be
just straight forward with you, can it. There is a war on, you
know? For all we know they're all dead.'

Clifton said,
'I always come away so depressed after a meeting with you two
jokers. We still can't contact Earth but that's no reason to assume
the worse. Let's concentrate on the positive and the facts. The
storm is gradually dying down. The terraformers are, hopefully,
still working; the Goliath is running perfectly.'

'Hey,' said
Friar. 'I'm totally upbeat. Just tell Mister Conspiracy Theory
here. We are all singing from the same hymn sheet, or at least most
of us are.'

'That's enough,
you two,' snapped Clifton. 'Right. Back to work. Dale. You have the
latest propulsion units results?'

'A slight
imbalance in the plasma input stabilising jets. Still well within
normal parameters. We have a spare but I'll keep monitoring the
unit for now. A further increase in the imbalance and I'll have to
turn that drive off completely to change the jets. Otherwise, all
plasma drives are working perfectly.'

'Good,' said
Clifton. 'Joe. That issue Melissa reported with the incubation
units. Is it fixed?'

'It was like I
suspected. A filtration issue. I've cleaned them out and increased
the maintenance schedule for the time being. I noticed some decay
in the filter membrane. To be expected with the amount of work it
does.'

'Spares?'
Clifton asked.

'Down to our
last box of spares. Based on my records, enough to keep the
incubation cells sweet for another three years. With luck, we won't
be needing incubation before another two years have passed. Lots of
lovely little babies running all over the place.'

Clifton said,
'Good. That incubation set-up is what makes this mission viable.
That's our priority. Shout for help on it if you need it.'

'I have it all
under control, Sam. I know how important it is.'

'Perhaps even
more than you realise, Joe.'

'What's that
supposed to mean? Are you suggesting I'm not taking it seriously?
Any problems with the way I do my job?'

Clifton said,
'Of course not. But it doesn't hurt to underline its importance.
Don't go taking my comments out of context.'

'Sorry. I guess
we all hoped we would be landing on Spero in a couple of weeks,
setting up our new home instead of floating around in space waiting
for the terraformers to have done their work.'

Clifton said,
'That may have been the plan of the human race, but it looks like
some higher beings had other ideas. All in good time. Meeting
over.'

Chapter 54

There were many
strange smells assaulting her senses in the dark, cold room. The
only light came from luminescent green lights from unfamiliar
equipment which seemed to be connected to her body. Some perverted,
sadistic gremlin was amusing himself by turning a corkscrew in her
skull. Her skull. Her Spider had crashed. Shot down in the desert.
Was this the Spider? Her eyes began to focus and become accustomed
to the dim light. No. This was not the Spider. Then where?

She was alone.
Of that she was sure. Sounds. Voices. Familiar voices came back to
her. Gunther's unmistakable Germanic accent. Bridget's voice. And
another. Yes. Salamandra. Why his voice? Her head. Such pain. This
place. It had a medical smell to it.

Tiny events
coming together. Words Salamandra had spoken. She knew his
background. It was her job to know her enemy. Bridget, that
traitor, had freed Salamandra. They had brought down the Spider and
her crew had been killed. So why was she here?

Suddenly her
skin began to crawl. Salamandra had touched her. He had performed
surgery on her brain. She realised where she was. The Base. The
sickbay in the Base. Salamandra knew things. If he told
Gunther...

Loretti pulled
out the drip lines and swung her legs off the bed. With her
movement a light came on. Surgical instruments in a metal dish. She
selected a scalpel. Now all she had to do was find Salamandra.

* * *

Salamandra was
awakened by the slightest of sounds, and as his eyes flickered
open, the light from the open door rang a warning bell in his head.
A movement by the side of his bed and the flash of something
metallic had his arm up to his face to protect himself as the blade
was aimed at his neck. It rammed into his shoulder and the pain was
enough to have him wide awake.

Diving off the
bed on the opposite side of his attacker, he turned on the light to
see the naked woman with her head swathed in bandages.

'Loretti.
There's no need for this. It's over. The war is over. Drop the
scalpel.'

Her response
was to stand and stare at him and she swayed unsteadily. Then she
lunged across the bed and he had to dodge the blade which missed
him by an inch. He dived at her and pinned her face-down on the bed
but she was still wielding the scalpel, trying to cut him.
Salamandra grabbed her wrist and shook it hard until the scalpel
dropped with a clatter on the hard cold floor.

'What the hell
is going on in here?' Gunther stood in his sleeping shirt, taking
in the scene, his laser rifle in his hands. 'Trish. For pity's
sake. This man saved your life.'

'Mother,' said
Bridget, appearing at the door behind her father. 'Salamandra. Are
you hurt?'

'No. Well, a
little.'

Loretti said,
'Salamandra. They must not know.'

'Ok,' snapped
Gunther. 'Something is going on with the mission. On Spero. And
what's more, you two both know about it. Follow me to my office.
And if either one of you make a wrong move, I'll kill the pair of
you. Move.'

Chapter 55

'We have
incoming,' said Staples. 'Lots of incoming.'

'A good job
they're our people then,' said Willis watching the small white dots
on the green screen.

'And that's
supposed to inspire me with confidence, is it? We have a laser
cannon on the top, right?'

Willis said,
'So rumour has it. In ten tears I never heard of it being
fired.'

'Right. You go
try it out, I'll go see the major.'

Staples found
Gunther with Bridget, Loretti and Salamandra in the major's office.
He was surprised to see Gunther with a laser rifle in his hands,
pointing at Loretti and Salamandra.

'Something I
should know about, sir? said Staples.

'Nothing to get
alarmed about, Lieutenant. You wanted to see me?'

'Yes, sir. We
have incoming ground troops heading our way. Fortunately ours.'

Bridget said,
'Not necessarily fortunate. They're coming after me.'

'And
Salamandra,' said Gunther. 'And probably me.'

Loretti,
dressed in a simple gown, said, 'You may as well just give up now,
Gunther. I'll try to save your hides. I don't include you,
Salamandra.'

'Naturally.'

Staples said,
'Sir. Are we under attack from our own people?'

'Some of us.
You and the technicians can simply walk out of here and you should
be fine.'

Staples was
confused by the situation, unsure what he should do. 'This is our
Base. Surely they won't fire on us. And certainly not with General
Loretti here.'

Loretti said,
'I may be considered an inconvenience to the president now. You can
try to use me as a bargaining chip, but I doubt it would help.'

Staples said,
'It will be Salamandra they really want. Let's turn him over.'

'I helped him
escape, remember,' said Bridget. 'Do you want to turn me over as
well?'

Staples sighed.
'What a mess. Sir. What shall I do?'

'Where is
Willis?'

'In the laser
cannon tower. Does that thing even work?'

Gunther said,
'Anything is possible, I suppose. That will only exacerbate the
situation. Use it only as a last resort and only if we come under
attack.'

Bridget said,
'Round up the technicians and get them out of here. You and Willis
also.'

'I'm staying.
I'll give Willis the option. The technicians can go.'

'Thank you,
lieutenant,' said Gunther.

Staples hurried
away and ran up the concrete steps to the laser cannon, where
Willis was checking the controls and watching the screen.

'They're still
advancing,' said Willis.

'Nathan. We
have a crazy situation going on here. We could well come under
attack from our own people.'

'Are you
nuts?'

'Debatable. But
if you and the technicians go out unarmed, you'll be ok.'

'Are you
going?'

Staples shook
his head. 'I'll stay and hope they don't attack.'

'You are nuts.
But I suppose that makes two of us. I'm staying too.'

Staples slapped
Willis on the back. 'I was hoping you would say that. I'll kick the
technicians out.'