Frontiers 07 - The Expanse (22 page)

“Hedging your bets,” Jessica commented.

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” Mister Percival put down his fork. “Captain, other than funding an unregistered expedition, I did nothing wrong. In fact, I gave five hundred evacuees a chance that they otherwise might not have had. It is unfortunate that it did not work out for them.”

“We aren’t here to pass judgment on you, Mister Percival,” Nathan assured him. “We just want to know the truth. As you have said, those were difficult times. You are incredibly lucky to have survived them.”

The room went silent for several minutes as they dined. Both Nathan and Jessica watched Mister Percival through discreet glances. Although his story made sense and lined up with what little they knew about the time of the great plague, there was something about the man that didn’t sit right with Nathan.

“Captain,” Mister Percival said, breaking the tense silence, “I have been made aware that the others on the Jasper did not survive, but no one has told me what happened to them.”

“We don’t really know for sure,” Nathan admitted, “at least, not yet. All we know is that about two hundred of them went down to the surface, along with nearly half of their cargo. We found the Jasper, just over half her cargo, and three hundred passengers who passed away in their stasis pods—except for you, of course.”

“What happened to those who went to the surface?” Mister Percival asked.

Nathan noticed a lack of hope in the man’s voice. “I’m afraid they did not survive either. Apparently, the winters were more harsh than originally anticipated.”

“The second planet of the BD+25 3252 system was considered habitable,” Mister Percival insisted, “borderline, due to the fact that two-thirds of the world was covered by ice, but habitable nonetheless. Any idea what caused their demise?”

“All we know is that they appeared to have starved and frozen to death.”

“Was there any information in the colony logs?”

“We are working on retrieving the colony logs, as well as those from the Jasper. We were hoping you might know something about their demise.”

“I’m sorry, Captain. I was placed in stasis before departure. I never even met the other passengers, only Captain Dubnyk and the flight medic.”

Another uncomfortable silence fell on them as they continued to dine. “I cannot help but wonder how many of them actually made it,” Mister Percival stated, breaking the silence once again. His eyes rose from his plate to meet Nathan’s. He noticed a puzzled look on the captain’s face. “I’m sorry; I was speaking of all the other expeditions. There were so many in the end, some well prepared, some not so much. I wonder how many of them survived or even thrived and grew into fully industrialized worlds.”

“We have come across a few,” Nathan admitted. “You said there were many such expeditions?”

“Yes, indeed. Perhaps thousands.” Mister Percival paused for a moment. “But surely, being from Earth, you know all of this.”

“We have no records pertaining to the collapse of the core. The records in the Data Ark end just as the digital aspect of…”

“The Data Ark? The collapse?” Mister Percival wondered. “What are you talking about, Captain? What collapse?”

“I’m sorry, Mister Percival. I assumed you knew,” Nathan said.

“How bad was it? I mean, the predictions were grave, but we always figured it was because they wanted to sell more colonization packages.”

“I’m not quite sure how to tell you this,” Nathan began. “I cannot speak directly about any of the core or fringe worlds, but the bio-digital plague killed ninety percent of the population of Earth. All civilization fell into ruins, as there simply weren’t enough people to keep everything running: no power, no government, no industry. Those that survived converted to a primitive existence. The Earth fell into a technological dark age that lasted over seven hundred years.”

“But you are here, in this ship. Surely you did not go from sticks and stones to starships in a mere three hundred years.”

“About three hundred years ago, we began a second industrial revolution. But we had to rediscover most of our science and technology, as everything had been stored digitally. We had just entered the age of flight when we discovered the Data Ark.”

“The Data Ark?”

“A vast digital ark stored in a vault buried in the Swiss Alps. It was powered by geothermal energy and had been designed to operate in standby mode for centuries, even millennia if need be. It contained all of humanity’s science, technology, culture, and history from before the plague. We used the data from the ark to jump ahead three hundred years technologically in only a century. But the Data Ark had been sealed up once the digital component of the plague was discovered. So you see, we know very little about what happened other than what our archaeologists have been able to piece together.”

Mister Percival appeared somewhat pale. “Ninety percent?”

“Are you all right, Mister Percival?” Cameron asked.

“And what of the core worlds? And the fringe? What became of them?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Nathan admitted. “The people of Earth have only just gotten back into space. In fact, this ship is the Earth’s first FTL capable starship other than a few small test ships used to develop FTL capabilities.”

“But if you have come this far out, surely you must know something of the core worlds?”

“I’m afraid we do not.”

“But how?”

“It’s complicated. Our best guess is that the core and fringe worlds suffered a similar fate. The Aurora was designed to seek out and make contact with the lost worlds and to reestablish diplomatic relations. Unfortunately, we learned that many, if not all, of the core and fringe worlds are under the control of the Jung Empire.”

“The Jung? Who are the Jung?”

“We know very little about them, just that they are ruthless and take what they want by force.”

“How many worlds do they control?” Mister Percival asked.

“It is our understanding that they control all of them,” Nathan stated, “all of them except Sol.”

Mister Percival pushed his plate away, his face pale and his expression downtrodden. “Captain, if you’ll please excuse me, I’m feeling a bit weak at the moment. This news is all a bit overwhelming. I think it might be best if I return to medical for the evening.”

“Of course,” Nathan agreed, motioning for the security officer to bring the wheelchair. “We can talk another time.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Mister Percival said as he moved to the wheelchair, “and for rescuing me. Unfortunately, it appears that my plan has not worked as well as I’d hoped.”

Nathan and his staff watched as the security officer wheeled Mister Percival away. As the door closed behind them, Nathan continued his meal.

“He is lying,” Vladimir said as he stabbed a mound of lettuce.

Nathan looked at him quizzically out of the corner of his eye. He also felt that there was much Mister Percival was holding back, but it was only a hunch; he had no evidence to back his suspicions. He was surprised that Vladimir had been the one to openly make the accusation, as the engineer never seemed to bother with such matters. Nathan would have expected suspicions from Jessica or Cameron.

Vladimir could feel Nathan looking at him. As usual, he did not wait until his mouth was empty to speak. “The log clock on his stasis chamber.”

“What log clock?” Nathan asked.

“It is on the side, high on the right. It is small, easy to miss. It shows how long the occupant has been in stasis. It is a simple backup device in case the operational logs are corrupted. Medical personnel need to know how long the occupant was in stasis in order to properly revive them in case the automatic reanimation system fails.”

“What about the log clock?” Jessica demanded impatiently.

Vladimir looked surprised at her reaction. “Am I the only one who finds interest in such details?”

“Why do you think he is lying?” Nathan asked calmly. He, too, was getting impatient, as Vladimir did tend to over-explain things.

“He said he was put into stasis before the journey began. That was over one thousand years ago, da?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did the backup log clock show eight hundred twelve years?”

Nathan stared at Vladimir.

“I only realized this discrepancy when he was speaking,” Vladimir defended, recognizing Nathan’s expression.

“Jess?” Nathan said.

“I’ll keep digging through the Jasper’s logs,” Jessica promised.

“And?”

“I’ll have security keep an eye on Mister Percival twenty-four seven.”

“Vlad?”

“I’ll keep working on the data core from the surface.”

Nathan took another bite of his salad.

“No instructions for me?” Cameron wondered.

“Nope. You’re good,” Nathan answered as he continued working on his salad.

“You know, it might be a good idea for Cam to buddy up to him,” Jessica suggested.

“Buddy up?” Cameron inquired.

“You know, be his friend, make him think he has an ally.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” she asked, a quizzical expression on her face.

“I don’t know,” Jessica fumbled. “Spend some time with him. Talk a bit… Oh! Give him a tour of the ship.”

“Why?”

“The more he talks, the more he might let some information slip,” Jessica explained. “He has to feel comfortable, like he knows and understands his surroundings.”

“How am I supposed to remember everything he says? A tour could take hours.”

“Leave your comm-set open. I can record everything,” Jessica suggested.

“You know, I do have responsibilities,” Cameron said. “I am the XO, after all.”

“I’ll cover you,” Nathan offered.

Cameron sighed, resigning herself to the idea of becoming friends with Mister Percival. “Very well.”

“Well, people,” Nathan began, “it seems we have a few mysteries to solve. Who is Jonathon Percival, why did he lie about how long he has been in stasis, and what happened to the expedition? We’re only about six or seven jumps from Sol, so we’ve got less than two days to figure it all out.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Major Prechitt entered the preflight briefing room, just as he had done at the conclusion of each jump cycle, in order to brief his pilots on the next training exercise. This time, however, he did not have a room full of dedicated, highly-trained fighter pilots. He had Josh and Loki.

As usual, he went straight to the podium. He looked out at the two young men: Loki sitting straight up and looking very attentive, and Josh slouching in his high-backed seat and looking like he was about to fall asleep out of boredom. At that moment, he changed tactics. He picked up his data pad from the podium, pulled a chair from the side, and took a seat directly in front of the two young men. “Do you guys know who I am?”

“Yes, sir, Major Prechitt,” Loki answered immediately. “You’re the commander of the Aurora’s air group.”

Josh made a faint kissing sound, meant only for Loki’s ears.

“That’s right, Loki,” Major Prechitt answered, staring at Josh. “I’m the Aurora’s CAG. Do you know why you’re here?”

“You’re going to tell us how to fly a recon mission, right and proper,” Josh remarked.

Major Prechitt swallowed hard. He was used to dealing with polished Corinari pilots, not punk kids with bad attitudes. “Actually, Josh, Captain Scott has high regards for your piloting skills. He insists the two of you are a great team, that you have a natural chemistry that balances one another’s strengths and weaknesses.”

“Then why are we here, sir?” Loki asked politely.

“The CAG is responsible for all spacecraft operations other than that of the Aurora herself. Until now, your recon flights have been under the direct control of Captain Scott. I’ve asked him to place operations of the Falcon under my control, where it should be.”

“So you can tell us how to fly,” Josh mumbled.

“This would be easier if you’d just give me a chance,” Major Prechitt said, staring straight at Josh. “After all, that
is
what I’m trying to do for you.”

Josh straightened up just enough to demonstrate compliance. “Sorry, sir. You were saying?”

Major Prechitt took Josh’s change in posture as a positive step forward and continued. “I have no doubt that the two of you can fly the Falcon superbly. I saw what you did over both Ancot and Aitkenna. That took both skill and courage. But I’ve got a problem. I’ve got fifty well-trained pilots who know their own spacecraft inside and out. But they have never seen, nor do they know anything about, Jung fighters.”

“Neither do we, sir,” Loki reminded him.

“Yes, I know. But you are about to fly a recon mission into what we believe to be Jung-controlled space. If we’re lucky, you might even be able to witness a few of them patrolling the system.”

“If we’re lucky, we won’t,” Josh corrected.

Major Prechitt smiled, understanding Josh’s sentiment and appreciating that the young man wasn’t foolish enough to desire such encounters, as many young pilots might. “If you do, take notes about everything: the speeds they travel during each maneuver, how sharply they turn, or how quickly they can accelerate. These are things that passive scans don’t reveal. It takes a trained observer.” The major leaned back in his chair. “You two have been thrice blessed. You have a unique spacecraft at your disposal, you have the skills to fly it, and you have a situation that demands its use. I can help you both become better pilots and a better flight team. All I ask is that you let me.” Major Prechitt looked at Loki, whose face was enthusiastic and wide-eyed. Then he looked at Josh, who had straightened up a bit more. “What do you say, boys?”

Josh looked at Loki and his eager expression. “You’ve got my interest, sir.”

“Good,” Major Prechitt responded. “Now, first, we’ve added a few toys to your ship.”

“Like what?” Josh asked with suspicion.

“Nothing that will change her flight characteristics, Josh. They’re more like toys for Loki.”

“Like what?” Loki asked with interest.

“We installed a pair of decoy drones. When you launch them, they emit both thermal and radiological patterns that mimic those of the Falcon. They are maneuverable and can be used to lure your enemy away from you.”

“Sweet,” Loki said. “How did you manage that so fast?”

“Such things are standard issue on Takaran fighters,” Major Prechitt stated. “The Karuzari have been using them effectively for years. We just reprogrammed them to mimic the Falcon instead of a Takaran fighter.”

“Nice,” Josh said.

“We also installed a pair of comm-drones. They were emergency comm-drones for use on Takaran recon ships. We stripped the FTL out of them and installed mini-jump drives. When launched, they will carry a message all the way back to the Aurora’s last known position by jumping in rapid succession.”

“What happens if the Aurora isn’t there?”

“If they know the Aurora’s next jump point, they will go there. Otherwise, they will self-destruct.”

“And they’re only one-way?” Loki asked.

“For now, yes. We’re hoping to make them two-way systems, but that involves rendezvous and docking, which is far more complicated to automate.”

“How will we know how to use these new toys?” Josh wondered.

“Senior Chief Taggart will go over them with you on the flight line.” Major Prechitt handed them each a data card. “These contain a list of things to look for if you do see their fighters in action. I figured, since you’re going to have a lot of down time while you’re cruising through the target system, you might as well review it then… give you something to do.”

“Yeah, every little bit helps,” Loki admitted.

“Very well, gentlemen,” Major Prechitt said as he stood. “Good luck and good hunting.”

Josh and Loki both stood, shaking the major’s hand. Josh stuffed the data card into his flight suit hip pocket along with all the other data cards he had brought along to keep himself entertained for the mission. As they left the pilot’s briefing room and headed down the corridor toward the hangar deck, Josh turned to Loki. “Someone needs to tell the major that a recon pilot’s favorite thing to find is nothing.”

* * *

Nathan made his way across the Aurora’s main hangar deck. Over the weeks, the flight deck had changed considerably. Major Prechitt, the Corinari flight technicians, Senior Chief Taggart, and the Chief of the Boat, Master Chief Montrose, had all worked together—using the Aurora’s flight operations manuals as a guide—to turn the Aurora’s flight operations into a model of efficiency. As expected, their methods varied somewhat from standard Fleet flight deck operations, a necessity brought about by the differences in both spacecraft and roles. The Aurora had been designed as a ship of exploration and diplomacy first and as a warship second. Now, ninety percent of all flight deck operations were designed for combat operations. To this end, both the port and starboard transfer airlocks had been tasked for the recovery of fighter-craft only, while the larger, center transfer airlock was now reserved for the launch and recovery of cargo shuttles.

Even the Falcon, while much bigger than a fighter, was still small enough to fit on the forward elevator pads. It was no longer allowed to use the flight apron for operations. Instead, she launched and recovered via the forward elevator pads, which were designed to travel all the way up through the top of the Aurora’s hull, thus becoming flight pads of their own once exposed to space.

Nathan walked across the hangar deck toward the Falcon as it sat on the port side forward elevator pad. As he approached, he could see Josh and Loki being given instructions by Marcus, the chief of the deck. “Gentlemen,” Nathan greeted.

“Captain,” Marcus responded, giving a less-than-perfect salute.

“I heard you got a few new toys,” Nathan said.

“Yes, sir,” Loki responded. “They’re pretty cool, too. Marcus, uh, I mean, Senior Chief Taggart, was just going over them with us.”

“Well, don’t let me interrupt.”

“I was pretty much finished, sir,” Marcus assured him. His attention was suddenly taken away. “Hey! Dumbass!” he hollered at some distant Corinari flight deck technician. “Yeah! You! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Marcus turned back to the captain. “Excuse me, sir. I have to go slap someone.”

Nathan laughed to himself.

“Come to see us off, Captain?” Josh asked, coming around the nose of the Falcon as he completed his preflight inspection.

“Something like that,” Nathan said. “Listen, I don’t know if you two realize this, but this flight, it’s different. It’s not like before, back in the cluster. Then, we already knew basically what was there. We knew what the risk was ahead of time. This place, well, no one from Earth has been there in over a thousand years. For all we know, it could be a hornet’s nest of Jung ships.”

“Yeah, the thought had occurred to us,” Loki stated.

“Not to me,” Josh said with a small amount of alarm. “Hey, what’s a hornet?”

“Just, don’t take any unnecessary chances; that’s all. It’s not worth the risk,” Nathan said, “especially since…”

“Since we have a jump drive that we don’t want to fall into Jung hands,” Loki finished for him. “Don’t worry, Captain. We won’t let that happen. If they’re coming for us, we’ll jump away fast.”

“Good, but there’s one other thing. You can’t let them see you jump away.”

“Why not?” Josh asked.

“We think the Jung already know about, or at least suspect that we have been developing, a jump drive. If they see us jump, they’ll have confirmation. And that confirmation could provoke an attack on the Earth.”

“But they’ve only got linear FTL, right?” Loki asked. “We’d still make it to Earth long before word of the jump drive got out.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Nathan agreed, “but it would just escalate things. The Earth doesn’t need that right now. She’s not ready to defend herself, not yet.”

“Right,” Josh said. “Jump before they see us. I like that even better. If they haven’t seen us, then they ain’t shootin’ at us.”

“Good.” Nathan handed Loki a data card.

“What’s that?” Josh asked. “Another history book for me?”

“It’s a message from me to Fleet Command on Earth. If for some reason we don’t make it back to Earth and you do, this contains all of my reports. It’s all encrypted, except for the first message, which you can transmit to keep Fleet from opening fire on you.” Nathan looked at them with a serious expression. “We are all about to cross Jung-occupied space, gentlemen. One of us must make it through to Earth. One of us must get the jump drive technology back to Fleet Command.”

“Captain, what are the odds that you’re going to run into another Jung ship between here and Sol?” Josh said. “I mean, space, it’s really big, you know?”

“Just covering all the bases,” Nathan told him.

“Bases?” Loki wondered.

“Oh, I got that one!” Josh yelled. “It’s about baseball! I read about it the other day!” He turned to Loki. “It’s a game, everyone on Earth plays it. I’ll explain it to you on the way. It’s really interesting.”

“Don’t worry, Captain,” Loki said, ignoring Josh. “If we can’t find you, we’ll head straight to Earth.”

“Good luck,” Nathan told them.

“No worries,” Josh stated with his usual confidence. They turned, ascended the boarding ladder, and climbed into the Falcon’s cockpit, pulling their helmets on and locking them in place as they slid down into their flight seats.

“Sometimes, I can’t tell how much of that boy’s confidence is arrogance and how much is stupidity,” Marcus stated as he stepped up behind the captain.

“A bit of both, I imagine.”

Marcus looked across the flight deck, taking note of Commander Taylor and Mister Percival. “Who the hell is that guy?”

“Who, Mister Percival?” Nathan asked. “He’s the guy we rescued from the Jasper.”

“The one that was in stasis for a thousand years?” Marcus asked.

“That’s him.”

“Damn, he don’t look much older than me. Whattaya suppose it’s like? Going to sleep and waking up a thousand years later to a totally different galaxy. Everything and everyone you ever knew, dead and gone, turned to dust long ago.”

Nathan turned to Marcus. “You know, you should ask him.”

“What? Who? Me?”

“Yeah, you. We’re trying to get him to open up, to tell us about how things were back before the plague, and what happened when the plague hit. Maybe you two would hit it off.”

“If you think it’s a good idea, I guess I could try. Maybe put a little ale in him first, just to lube up his tongue and all.”

“You might want to ask the doctor about that first,” Nathan warned. “And speak to Lieutenant Commander Nash first as well. She’s got a list of things we’re not to discuss with him just yet. Better yet, maybe you and the lieutenant commander can share some ale with him together. He seems to like her.”

“Big surprise there,” Marcus said, “what with all her attributes and such.”

Nathan turned slowly and looked at Marcus, who immediately straightened up slightly.

“Uh, I’ll speak to the lieutenant commander about it directly, Captain.”

“Carry on, Senior Chief.” Nathan returned the Senior Chief’s salute as he watched the elevator pad raise the Falcon upward, disappearing into the bulkhead above.

“Canopy closed and locked,” Loki announced. “Reactors are hot, running at one percent. All systems are online and ready for launch.”

“Maneuvering is hot. Mains are hot. Jump drive is in standby. Weapons are safe.” Josh glanced out the window as the walls of the elevator tube passed by them outside. Numbers indicating the distance remaining to the outer hull moved past them almost too quickly to read. “Topside in ten seconds.”

“Flight Control, Falcon. Ten seconds,” Loki called over the comms.

“
Falcon, Flight copies,
” the flight controller answered.

The elevator pad began to slow its ascent. Josh looked upwards as the outer doors parted down the middle, retracting to either side. A few moments later, the elevator came to a stop, locking into place and becoming one with the Aurora’s outer hull.

“Falcon, Flight. Pad one locked and ready for launch.”

“Copy, Flight,” Loki answered. “Falcon launching.”

“Mag-locks, launching,” Josh announced as he applied upward thrust. The Falcon lifted quickly up off the elevator pad, rapidly moving away from the Aurora perpendicularly.

“Flight, Falcon. Airborne.”

“Copy Falcon. Safe flight.”

Josh pushed the throttles forward slowly, easing the ship forward at a leisurely rate.

“Not that I’m complaining or anything,” Loki began, “but usually our departures cause the blood to drain out of my toes.”

“I’m feeling a bit…
cautious
today,” Josh said.

“Cautious?” Loki asked. “Turn around and look at me.”

“Why?”

“I want to make sure it’s you.”

Josh slammed the throttles forward, instantly bringing the main drive to full power. Despite the interceptor’s inertial dampening systems, the sudden acceleration pushed them both hard into the flight seats.

“Yup,” Loki struggled to say, as his fingers and toes suddenly became cold. “It’s you.”