Dark Vengeance (31 page)

“The bridge is yours, Commander.”

I headed to the cafeteria for some dinner before sleep …if there would be sleep. A cute, dark hair yeoman short enough to be from Enuro brought me some type of meatloaf with vegetables. Meat loaf is not my favorite but for some reason I attacked the plate like a dying man. As I chewed, I looked up and found an attractive, fair-haired Lieutenant with makeup almost too heavy staring down at me. Cherry red lipstick, big green eyes, short hair that curled inward under her chin. The faint scent of vanilla. I stopped chewing and gave her a questioning look.

“Captain, forgive me for interrupting. I’m Lieutenant Ialia for HR. Oh, but you know that from my name tag… my name, I mean, not that I’m with HR. Anyway, I’m starting up an Electra newsletter to be distributed ship wide and I was hoping I could start off with a bang by interviewing you, oh wait, no… well, you know what I mean. I just know the crew would love an interview with you. It would give the Electra News a great send off. We’d sell out, if you’ll forgive the phrase.”

“This newsletter would be for free, right?”

“Yes, of course, Captain. And it could be useful in dispelling rumors and gossip that sometimes crops up on all ships.”

“Take a seat, Ialia. You won’t mind if I resume eating, will you?”

“I appreciate this very much, Captain.” She pulled out a chair, sat, and flipped open a tablet. “I’ll try not to take too much of your time. First, I understand you served aboard Electra previously, correct?”

It suddenly dawned on me the can of worms that was about to be opened. I stopped chewing again and sat with a blank look.

She attempted to spur me on. “You were chief of security back then, is that right?”

I swallowed. “Ialia, I’m not very good at this sort of thing. It may be hard to separate the personal from the professional.”

She tried again. “You served under Captain Gray? Is that right?”

“Ialia, I’m not sure it’s in our best interest to go into a Captain’s previous tour in any great detail. There is a general history on me in the ship’s itinerary. Could you use that in place of an interview?”

“Oh, but everyone’s seen that, Captain. The crew will want to hear things directly from you. They want a chance to get to know the real person, not the résumé. Commander Smith served with you on that tour, didn’t he?”

“There’s the answer, Ialia. I’ll make you a deal. You go interview Commander Smith first, and I’ll come up with a talking points list for you and that will give me time to prepare for our conversation. You can advertise that in your next edition I’ll be there. How about that?”

She took on that mixed look of disappointment dampened by keen interest. She began to nod her head. “Yes, yes we could do that. It might even be a better build up. Yes, I’ll see if I can catch Commander Smith.” She stood and gathered up her tablet. “I’ll be watching for your talking points list, Captain. Thank you so much.”

I began chewing again, wondering what kind of black hole I had set myself up for. I pushed back my chair to escape, intended a quick sip of coffee but it tasted so good I couldn’t go. Somehow the yeoman who served me had gotten a hold of my coffee mix and it was just right. Begrudgingly, I continued to sit and sip.

My stateroom was a glorious oasis… for about five minutes. I had just coaxed a strawberry milkshake out of the kitchen dispenser when the com beeper began sounding. “Yes?”

A viewer on the wall came to life. It was R.J. “Adrian, you need to come to the port ready room immediately.”

I didn’t bother to ask. “On my way, then.”

In the ready room, Parth was seated with a look of consternation on his face. R.J. looked outright worried. I sat across from them.

R.J. looked at Parth and nodded.

Parth spoke. “Captain, there was nothing more to be found in the radar transmissions from the unidentified ship. I thought it prudent to check other areas during the time period the object was on screen. There were no comm frequencies in use as Lieutenant Troy had said. I began to search the more exotic areas of radiation. Eventually the analytical section of central computer found something buried in the solar radiation fields. I believe it is a transmission of some form, though it will take some time to decipher it, if that’s possible at all.”

“A communication to someone on this ship? Is that what you’re saying?”

“A strong possibility, Captain. The energy level used to transmit it was not strong enough to reach anywhere else, but it was perfect for making contact on this ship.”

“Parth, are you really saying someone aboard Electra received a secret transmission from that ship?”

“It has to be considered a possibility. Someone with a specialized receiver set to pick up that particular signal.”

“Is there any way to isolate where that signal was intercepted?”

“No, Sir. It could have been anywhere on the ship.”

I sat back with a long sigh and shook my head. “Anyone have any suggestions?”

R.J. answered. “I have one, Adrian. Elachia.”

“Go on…”

“She usually has the ability to tell when someone is lying or concealing the truth. We send her as crew counselor to introduce herself and speak briefly with each crew member. There’s a good chance she’ll come back with a list of possible suspects. Most will just be hiding personal matters, but there’s a good chance one of them will be the person we’re looking for.”

“Parth, is there any chance someone we don’t know about is hiding aboard ship?”

“Doubtful, Captain, but not completely impossible.”

“Let’s suppose there is an enemy agent on board. I can think of only three objectives someone like that might have.”

“Destroy this ship, hijack it, or assassinate someone,” replied R.J.

I turned to Parth. “Have you heard the rumors of what transpired aboard the Star Seven before we arrived here, Parth?”

“Rumors of an assassination attempt on you, Captain. But the comm traffic was so heavy when the Star Seven returned, it had to be more than that.”

R.J. spoke. “It was indeed an attempt to assassinate Captain Tarn, Parth. And the people who sponsored it were willing to destroy the entire ship to accomplish that.”

Parth’s expression turned to one of understanding. The gears in his head were turning. He said nothing.

I leaned back in my seat. “The most troubling thing here, Gentlemen, is that if something is going on, we don’t know how much time we have.”

“This must be kept quiet,” added R.J. “We can hope the agent doesn’t know we know.”

“How good is our computer group at deciphering codes?”

“They are premier, Captain. The best anywhere,” said Parth.

“How long before you decide if that transmission can be decoded?”

“A few hours or less,” Parth replied.

“R.J., turn Elachia loose on the crew. Go with her. See if you spot anything. Parth, work with the computer group. I’ll take the bridge. I’m toying with the idea of battle station and abandon ship drills, but I’m not sure. I’ll be waiting with ‘bated breath' to hear from either of you. Don’t make me call down to ask how it’s going.”

“Captain, in lieu of what you’ve told me, we should station extra security around you.”

“Thank you, Parth, but no. Let’s not start any rumors. We want everything to seem strictly normal and routine aboard. Tell Elachia to be jovial and carefree in her interviews, R.J. And, let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

Chapter 20

I squirmed a bit too much in my seat on the bridge. The life sciences position remained unmanned. It was Parth’s job to send someone to fill it. The remaining bridge crew did not yet seem to know something was up. I had found a small stun gun in a locker in the ready room and hidden it within my uniform jacket. Every time the bridge door swished open I swiveled around ready, but still no one paid any attention.

After three hours of not hearing a thing from any of them, I became huffy and could stand it no longer. I raised my right-hand to slap the com button on my armrest and at that moment R.J.’s voice cut in over the intercom.

“Smith to Captain.”

“Go ahead.”

“Captain, could you meet me in the port ready room when you have time?”

“Anytime is good, Commander.”

“Very well. On my way.”

“Mr. Page, you have the Conn.”

“Aye, Sir.”

We had reached the tipping point. The bridge crew members were now casting curious glances at each other. They were now aware that something was up. Intuition is a difficult sense to deceive.

R.J., Elachia, Parth, and two computer engineers entered the ready room as the door slid closed behind me. I motioned everyone to sit.

R.J. immediately began. “There is no one aboard with a hidden agenda, Captain.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Elachia nodded agreement. There was no doubt at all in her expression.

“We have deciphered the transmission, Captain,” said Parth.

I waited for the explanation.

He continued, “It was not a communication as such. It was a simple signal, a transmission to activate a device somewhere.”

“Were you able to determine what kind of device?”

“No, Sir. But we can deduce what such a device might be. It would not be something to intercept and spy on our communications this late in the flight. I would suggest it is more likely something destructive, or something to incapacitate the crew.”

We all sat in a somber moment of silence.

“You’re saying they’ve set off a timer on something?”

“That would be the most likely scenario, Captain.”

“Why would they wait until now to trigger a device already planted aboard?”

R.J. answered. “They couldn’t be certain when we would leave space dock, and they wouldn’t dare do something at Enuro. Enuro is protected by the Nasebians and no one would take a chance at provoking them. My guess is, they intend something to happen after we’ve achieved Earth orbit. If it is a bomb, they’re hoping to take out this ship and all those around it during the christening ceremony. Maximum yield in spacecraft and leadership personnel destroyed.”

We all paused once more.

“Do we know where this device is located?”

Parth replied, “No, but if we take a chance we believe we can locate it. It is unlikely that ship would transmit an activate signal without confirmation. It is more likely the device would send them an acknowledgment. If we set up to detect that acknowledgment signal and resend the activate command, there is a good chance the device will respond and we can pinpoint the acknowledgment signal to the source.”

“You mentioned risk. You’re concerned a second activate signal might set it off.”

“Yes, but that is highly unlikely. More likely they would have expected a single activate signal might not be enough. Therefore, they would have designed the device to receive more than one.”

“Set it up, Parth. R.J., take the bridge. I want to be mobile.”

Path added, “Captain, there is one other issue of great concern.”

“Which is?”

“If and when we find the device, removing it may be impossible.”

“My friends, we happen to have an ace in the hole for that. His name is Perk Murphy. He came aboard just a day or so before departure. He is a consummate expert in all types of explosives. You find the device. I’ll talk to Perk.”

They did not look assured. They rose and exited out the door. R.J. and I continued to sit and stare at each other. R.J. was drumming his fingers on the table.

“All this and then war,” said R.J.

“I have a feeling that’s exactly what '
all this'
is about.”

“They must know Earth is coming,” suggested R.J.

“It’s not just Earth. It’s a federation of planets.”

“Yes, but Earth has pulled it all together. Shake up Earth bad enough and maybe everybody gets cold feet.”

“This latest attempt would probably do that nicely.”

“Indeed. Are you going to prepare this ship for all hands abandon?”

I shook my head. “We need to talk to Perk before deciding anything.”

“Only if our luck holds,” said R.J. and he stood. “I’d better get out to the bridge.”

“They’re beginning to suspect out there. You better act naturally.”

“Oh right. Reminds me of the lyrics from a very old song …'all I’ve got to do is, act naturally'. It was a joke then too, by the way.”

I watched him stroll out to the bridge. Of the crew I could make out through the momentarily open door, they all looked up at him expectantly.

“Central, would you please locate Lieutenant Commander Perk Murphy?”

“Commander Murphy is in his quarters.”

“Tarn to Murphy.”

It took half a minute for him to respond.

“What’s up, Adrian?”

“Would you come up to the aft ready room right away?”