Dremiks (2 page)

By the time the intercom system finished speaking, the bridge crew was strapped into their seats and every station showed ready for launch. A very gentle vibration that started as no more than a hum began to buffet the ship. On one view screen, a press conference on the space station, presided over by a rotund ISA dignitary, could be seen. Dockworkers were clearing the area around the cables that secured the
Hudson
.

Commander O’Connell strapped herself into the pilot’s chair and turned her head slightly to see her commanding officer. “All systems ready and on-line. Channels open to Orion and Houston. The ship is yours, Captain.”

“Captain has the con. Houston, the
Hudson
is ready for launch on your mark.”

“
Hudson
, Houston acknowledges, we show the board is green for launch. Orion Station, prepare to release dock supports on my mark… five, four, three, two, one, mark.”

The entire vessel shuddered as one hundred and four magnetic clamps released their hold on the idling ship.

“
Hudson
, Orion Station shows that you are clear of docking constraints. Acknowledge.”

“Houston,
Hudson
shows all restraints clear.”

“Very well
Hudson
, bring your maneuvering power online.”

“Thrusters and stage one power levels if you please, Commander.”

“Engine rooms reporting thrusters on-line and stage one engaged, sir.” Maggie reflexively braced her back against the back of her seat. Situated in the very nose of the bridge, she was surrounded on three sides by panels and screens that showed the status of every working system and subsystem on the ship. Beside her, Lieutenant Price double checked all status boards.

“Houston, ISA Shuttle
Hudson
reports ready for launch on your command.” Launch was a relative term, as there would be no blasting rockets or shooting off until the massive ship was well clear of the station and the nearby Moon.

“Shuttle
Hudson
you are cleared for launch. Good luck and Godspeed. Transferring command to Orion Station.”

“Shuttle
Hudson
, this is Orion Station, you are cleared for launch. Begin maneuvering on my mark, five, four, three, two, one… mark.”

With a nod that the pilot could not see from her high backed chair, Captain Hill said, “Take her out, Commander.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” Maggie flexed her fingers and wiggled her toes inside her boots. Her right hand tightened ever so slightly on the control stick to the right of an oversized touch-pad that she operated with her left hand. “Com, confirm all points clear of traffic.”

“All points clear, Commander,” Ensign Chi responded.

With that, all conversation ceased as O’Connell piloted the elliptical mass away from the dock and out into the bay-like holding area of the station. She’d performed the maneuver a dozen or more times during their shakedown cruises, but never with quite so many people watching. As the peninsulas of the station passed on either side of the ship, the watching crowd gave a cheer that was seen on a closed-circuit feed throughout the ship. On the bridge, O’Connell was busy turning the ship to starboard.

“Navigation, confirm Lunar, Martian, and Neptune fixes.”

“Fixes confirmed, ma’am. We are ready for Lunar fly-by.”

Captain Hill spoke up. “Orion Station we are clear and ready for Lunar fly-by. Permission to depart Lunar orbit?”

“
Hudson,
we show you clear and your course fixed. Permission to depart Lunar orbit is granted. Safe journey
Hudson
, Orion Station out.”

Hill turned to his left to Lieutenant Guttmann. “Bring the engines fully on-line, Lieutenant, and transfer engineering controls to the con.”

Maggie glanced down and saw the indicators flash from yellow to green, indicating full power to all engines. “Captain?”

“All ahead full. Let’s give Lunar station a show.”

Lieutenant Price turned his head to grin at the commander. She grinned back. “As you say, sir. All ahead full.” With a tap of a button and a glide of her thumb on a slide scale,
Hudson
rocketed forward and streaked past the Moon. Sunlight reflected off her titanium skin. There were few angles for shadows to hide along the ship’s lines. Her engines, hanging on either side of the craft, glowed slightly with the increase in power. With a quick turn of her wrist and a bit of thruster, Maggie whipped the shuttle past the outer satellites.

“Sir, we’ve cleared Lunar orbit. Current rate of speed and heading put us at Mars fly-by at 1800 hours. Dinner in the asteroid belt, sir.”

“Indeed, Commander, indeed.” Captain Hill stood and nodded to include the entire bridge crew. “Excellent work. Communications, open channel to all decks if you please.” When he had the channel, Hill cleared his throat. “Officers and crew, honored guests, colonists, welcome aboard ISA Shuttle
Hudson
. We depart today for an historic journey. We will be the first of our species to travel and settle outside the galaxy. We will be the first to make multiple jumpspace legs in a man-made vessel. And we will fulfill the treaty signed twenty years ago that began our historic alliance with the Dremikians. The first part of our journey takes us to our initial jump point, Neptune. We will reach this point in thirteen days. During this leg, we will take the time to test our systems and conduct emergency drills. I have every confidence that we will excel at these tasks and reach Neptune orbit ready to make history. Ladies and gentlemen, the future awaits.” The captain released the switch and allowed himself to smile.

“O’Connell, the bridge is yours. Proceed with post launch procedures and diagnostics. Senior staff briefing in one hour.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” She waited until the vacuum tube doors snapped shut behind the captain before announcing, “Bridge crew will proceed to designated post launch stations and commence stage one diagnostics on necessary life support, habitat, and engineering systems.” Maggie shifted in her chair. “Lieutenant Price, let’s test gravitational control.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”
Hudson
created her own artificial gravity by projecting a dense matter field beneath the ship. The lieutenant moved his hand from the keypad before him to the stick and directional controls on his armrest. He checked the system lights to his left and the X, Y, Z axes status board. “Ready for 40 degree dive with 360 degree roll. System parameter diagnostics ready for test monitor.”

“I’ll take her this time, Lieutenant. Be ready for return roll.”

The lieutenant turned his head in surprise. “Synchronized reversed rolls, ma’am?” His voice was rock solid; his surprise was shown only by his turned head and slightly questioning tone.

“Concerns, Lieutenant?” O’Connell’s tone was calm.

“No ma’am. Ready for reverse roll.”

The senior pilot contained her grin and checked her own status board. Another flex of her fingers on the stick, and she let her grin escape. “Let’s hope no one is looking out the portholes.” She rolled the stick forward and to her left at the same time. The images on the view screen broke into puzzle-piece-like pixels before adjusting to show stars streaking away. When the mounting numbers on the red heads-up display showed a full forty degree dive with 360 degree roll, O’Connell snapped the stick back to neutral just as Lieutenant Price engaged his controls and sent the shuttle spinning in the opposite direction. The commander’s head turned sideways when a red warning light began flashing. Determining that it was the auto-correction function for the view screen, she switched it off and the screen visible to the bridge became the red and green-screen heads-up messaging for the pilots. Proximity displays changed rapidly, but everything was far enough off that the pilots concentrated on the plotting axis and engine controls.

“Bring her back to original heading and course and let’s cut the right engine to half.” Price’s fingers typed the speed corrections in on his arm pad to notify engineering of the impending test while he brought the ship back to true course. As soon as he had corrected the ship, Maggie took over and rolled the ship 180 degrees one way and then back 360 degrees, all the while monitoring the engine status. Her lips parted in a satisfied smile and she nodded to her co-pilot. “Nice work.”

***

Dr. Ben Fortunas, chief civilian scientist, looked up from the hovering tablet in front of him. The science deck of the
Hudson
shared space with the medical deck. It was a more companionable set-up than what he initially expected. Most of the science experiments on the mission were designed to jump-start the life support and food continuation systems of the new colony. Elephant ear plants, bamboo, corn stalks, and a myriad assortment of other plants grew upward from beds of rich black earth. Irrigation lines ran overhead. At random intervals, long clear tubes of plastic sheeting descended downward to contain the mist being sprayed on the plants. Across the tiled deck, an invisible line divided the medical space from his domain. The pristine hospital surfaces contrasted sharply with green space. Dr. Fortunas was a biologist by training. He preferred what he called the “ordered chaos” of nature to the stark cold lines of the medical bay.

“Doctor?”

He turned to answer the petite assistant behind him. “Yes, my dear?”

Clara, her mousy brown hair pushed back by her glasses, spoke in a lilting Cockney accent. “Some of the top soil has sifted out of the containers. The air filters are pulling it in.”

“Very well, make sure the filters themselves do not clog.” He glanced at the porthole and shook his head. “I will work on the gravitational controls.”

Fortunas crossed the line into the medical spaces. Dr. Ruger held a centrifuge-separated vial of human blood up to an ultraviolet lens. Some of the plasma was clouded with red blood cells. “Your roommate gave us a nice little ride.”

Dr. Ruger pushed her dark brown bangs out of her eyes. She shot a glance at the white haired man beside her before replacing the tube in its holder. “Have you reported the failure to the bridge?” She straightened her lab coat and turned to fully face the scientist.

He nodded. “I’ve notified engineering as well. I think we can lock it down fairly easily. They mentioned that none of the other spaces had any failures.” His thin lips moved fractionally. “I thought we had everything fixed.”

“Yes, well, better that we found the problems now. How are you feeling today?”

Fortunas chuckled. Dr. Ruger was nothing if not persistent. She stopped just short of nagging with her constant inquiries into his health. “I’m feeling better now that we are away from all the bright lights and publicity. I’m sure it was just a touch of food poisoning.”

She gave him another assessing look. “I’ve never encountered food poisoning that caused a violent heart arrhythmia, but since your vitals have been stable for forty-eight hours, I’ll accept your hypothesis.” She turned back to her notes, written in a precise and miniscule hand. “And you’ll feel even better, I’m sure, when we reach our destination and your true experiments begin.” She paused her conversation long enough to push her bangs out of her eyes again and lift another vial from the centrifuge. “I am probably the only one on this ship who is dismayed at the speeds by which we will be traveling.”

Fortunas returned to his work space and picked up a small tablet computer. “Your experiments on how the speed will affect the human body will be most helpful. I’m sure you will rise to the task.” He tapped a few keys on the tablet and glanced up when Dwax floated by the open door. “Let us hope it is a peacefully fast flight.”

If Dwax heard the scientist’s comment he made no indication of it as he hurried along the corridor. His elongated torso narrowed before flaring out into twenty-five thin tentacles. Supple and flexible, the tentacles were strong enough to support his body and gave the impression that he was drifting along above a swirling cloud of jelly-fish-like legs. Dremikians did not wear clothes, but if they had, Dwax would have pulled his tighter around him. He felt as if every crewman’s eye was on him—more so than usual. He’d just finished sending a light-burst transmission to his home world, notifying them that the
Hudson
had launched successfully. Dwax was betting on the humans in the communications section of the crew not noticing the transmission, hidden as it was among the solar flare activity and the clutter of launch traffic. His people were gambling that the humans would make the journey quickly and without learning anything more about the true nature of Dremiks than what they had been told. The risky wagers kept piling up on the mental tab that Dwax was keeping, and the stakes were high enough to make him shudder and wish for a human coat to cover himself in.

Chapter 2

Commander O’Connell retired to her quarters, which she shared with Dr. Ruger, in order to catch a few minutes of relaxation before dinner. Captain Hill preferred to dine with his officers at least once a week. He expected excellent table manners and stimulating conversation. With a considering frown in the mirror, Maggie stripped out of her wrinkled flight suit. The captain also had strange rules about appropriate dinner dress. He did not demand dress uniforms, but flight suits were forbidden at his table. Maggie did not protest to the spirit of the rule as much as the fact of it. After three months of preparing a tub of a ship as a transport to a far away galaxy, her weight had dropped alarmingly. A frenetic worker and perfectionist, Maggie ate whatever was readily available. When she had the time to sit down and eat a “real” meal, she had the voracious appetite of a healthy athlete, but food usually took the form of protein bars and vitamin supplements. Her days were so full that she often had to multi-task and listen to dictation while she worked-out. All of this meant that her clothing, except for the all-concealing jumpsuits, hung unattractively on her.

Growling at stubborn curls that sprang into instantaneous knots the moment she unbraided her hair, Maggie twisted the red mass back up into a chignon and brutally stabbed pins into the knot. She didn’t bother spending time applying cosmetics or fretting over her appearance. Her face was still—and she had to admit that the numerous corrective treatments had not helped—freckled. Her nose was too narrow and her chin too pointed. Beauty was something only her father found in her, and then only when it suited his mood. Tugging her butternut brown uniform blouse into place and hoping that her slacks did not hang very noticeably around her waist, she hit the systems panel and left the room.