Here Comes Earth: Emergence (35 page)

“Can we trust him?” Iron
Jaw asked.

“This part of the
operation is definitely in Coridia’s best interest and he struck me as
competent before he revealed himself as an alien so yeah, if he says he and his
team can pull it off I think we have to go with it – besides, we don’t really
have a choice.

“His attack is in two
stages,” I continued. “The first part is deception. He says once we’re in range
he can make direct contact with the Noridian ship; making it think we’re
friendly, preventing it from creating an alarm, and allowing us on board.

“The second part he can’t
hide from the local Noridian personnel. His team will literally wrest away
control of the ship, including communications, navigation, and weapons. When he
shuts down the ships communications network the Noridians won’t be able to talk
to each other let alone anyone light-years away.”

“So we need to coordinate
our boarding raid with the second stage of his attack,” Mike surmised.

“That’s the way I see it,”
I agreed. “And you’re going to need to take out the ship’s personnel ASAP – the
faster you do it the easier it will be for Silva to secure his control of the
ship.”

The boarding operation was
tremendously complicated by the fact that we had no idea where on the ship the
Noridians would be. Since they controlled everything with their bioware there
were no control panels or switches – in fact there wasn’t even a control room
or bridge. There was an engineering room of sorts but Silva said that it
typically wasn’t manned. They could literally control everything while eating
breakfast in one of the common areas or sitting on the can for that matter.

Mike’s team was going to
have to fan out and quietly search the entire ship – fast. When they found a
Noridian there wouldn’t be orders to freeze or surrender; they would be
immediately and quietly shot in the head, preferably from behind, so they
couldn’t mentally raise an alarm.

In addition to
marksmanship we’d had to screen the civilian scientists for the mental
toughness to take out the Noridians in cold blood – it was surprising how many
of them were good to go but then there was a lot at stake and they’d been
through a lot.

“Before that happens
though Toni has agreed to pilot Julie and me down to the surface in a stealthed
shuttle. I think it’s important that we’re close to the authorities when
everything goes down. I’ll be taking Captain Kamiko with us for extra security as
well as the scientists that you don’t think will cut it in combat, but other
than that the rest of the team is yours. I don’t see any reason to leave anyone
behind on the Coridian ship.”

Dr. Julie Schein

‘Finally!’ Julie thought
to herself as she watched Larga grow small in the view screen. We’re finally
heading back to Earth.

Being into action felt
good. It made her feel empowered; strong.

After the Noridian attack
she’d felt helpless and more scared than she’d ever known. She hated that
feeling and she hated the Noridians for making her feel that way and she hated
them for the killing and…

Now she was into action;
now she was in control.

She was stronger than Jaki
and Julie would make her pay. It wasn’t revenge she told herself; it was
justice.

When they arrived back at
Earth they’d take out the Noridian ship and then… Then what? Somehow Julie
couldn’t make herself really focus on what would come after; it would all work
itself out. She just had to do her part.

She could see herself
boarding the Noridian ship and shooting every Noridian she found. She
visualized going around a corner and then pulling the trigger; once, twice,
three times.

When the time came she
would be ready.

ΔΔΔ

“Some of you think that
this is a Sig Saur 9mm P238 handgun.
It’s not
,” lectured Major Mike
Reynolds to the civilians gathered in front of him. “This is your best friend;
your protector; your lover. You
will
learn to care for her and make her
an extension of yourself – as familiar as your right leg or left arm.

“You will treat her like
your baby and clean and oil her as if your life depended upon it – because it
probably will. If I find even a speck of dirt or corrosion on any of your
weapons at any time other than on this firing range during a live-fire exercise
I will personally kick your butt and then let one of the Coridian healing
machines put you back together so I can kick it again.

“This mission to board and
commandeer the Noridian spacecraft that we’re all so familiar with is the most
important military mission in the history of the human race. You
will
listen and learn from myself and the other trainers. You
will
become a
fighting machine that achieves your one and only mission
– to
take
that ship
.

“The lives of your fellow
scientists and military personnel are in your hands. Every individual on this mission
will
perform perfectly. You will
not
let them down.

“You will train until you
could perform the mission in your sleep. You
will
do exactly what we
tell you to do
when
we tell you to do it. You
will
become
confident in your ability.

“If I think for even a
moment that any of you can’t hold up your part of the mission I will pull you
from the team; making it harder for everyone else; and possibly endangering
Earth’s future.

“I
will not
let you
fuck this up.”

Julie felt the words
reverberate around her as she stared at the pistol on the bench in front of
her. She’d never fired a gun of any kind before but she knew more or less how
it worked and she wasn’t scared of it.

Back on Earth many of her
colleagues were anti-gun and were always talking about needing stricter gun
control laws. She’d never really paid much attention. She’d never before had
any desire to personally own a gun but she didn’t really see how making guns
illegal would help anything. After all, the criminals and mentally ill patients
she had dealt with didn’t necessarily follow the laws anyway.

But now when she looked at
it what she saw was her path to redemption, a tool to use in bringing the
Noridians to justice. It embodied the power and might of being just and right.

She would master this
weapon and throw herself into the training. Nothing would stop them from taking
out that ship.

ΔΔΔ

Because of her
determination Julie did well enough with the pistol but she found she had a
real knack for the M4A1 rifle. The unfolded stock sat snuggly against her
shoulder and when she brought it up and looked through the sites she felt
perfectly poised and in balance. It couldn’t have fit her any better if it had
been designed specifically for her.

The pistol was a tool but
the rifle was an extension of her will. She actually enjoyed seeing the targets
scored and didn’t even have to consciously think about her aim; she visualized
the target and it was a hit.

Ironically, it was her
love of the rifle that started her on that path to healing. Even if she wasn’t
in the same league as the shooters she was good enough to earn their respect
and the comradery that entailed. She avoided any conversation about what
happened on Stiger but just hearing others talking and laughing about previous
missions and dangerous situations helped normalize some of Julie’s turmoil.

She still couldn’t sleep
the entire night through without nightmares of running for her life but she was
starting to subconsciously realize that others had gone through similar
situations and survived.

Dr. Mom was the first
person to actually bring up the subject of Julie’s mental health.

“My, I think you might
actually wear that treadmill out; you’ve set a fast pace for yourself.”

“Toni! I don’t think I’ve
ever seen you in the gym before!” responded Julie.

Laughing, Toni said, “No,
this is not usually one of my hangouts but I thought I might find you here. I
was hoping we might talk; I was hoping to get some advice from you but I don’t
want to interrupt your exercise.”

Julie had already slowed
the treadmill and was allowing it to come to a stop.

“No, that’s fine. I was
almost finished anyway. What did you want to talk about?”

“You know what? You need
to clean up and my cabin would be more private anyway… Why don’t you meet me
there in 20 minutes and I’ll have some tea ready for us?”

Julie agreed and walked
into the locker room. She couldn’t help but wonder what Toni wanted advice on
as she showered and changed.

The accommodations back in
her cabin were fine but as far as she knew this was the only place on the
entire ship were you could take a real water shower.

The Coridians, she’d been
told, had no need of exercise facilities; their medical nano kept their bodies
lean and to a preprogrammed bulk as well as in good cardiovascular fitness.
This entire portion of the ship had been created for the Earthers and tailored
after a workout facility on Earth, complete with equipment, his and her locker
rooms, and running water.

Julie hadn’t realized how
much she’d missed the feel of warm water running across her skin. Exercise had
always provided her with a release from some of the pressure she always placed
on herself and the shower was a great place to let her thoughts roam free and
just think.

Unlike many women she’d
known she didn’t prefer baths and she didn’t worry about getting her long hair
wet; she luxuriated in submerging herself in the strong needles of water that
massaged her scalp, neck, and shoulders.  Many of her life’s insights and
solutions had occurred to her underneath that spray and finding this locker
room on the ship had been a Godsend.

She toweled herself off,
changed her clothes, and more or less dried her hair before heading to Toni’s
cabin. Once she arrived Toni invited her to have a seat in the living area.

“Thank you for coming
Julie,” she said as she served the tea. “I know we originally became friends
under false pretenses but for me the friendship part wasn’t false.”

“Toni,” Julie paused. “I
haven’t really had time to sort out my feelings but I don’t hold any grudges
against you. It’s hard for me not to think of you as my friend and colleague so
why don’t we just value the friendship?”

“I’d like that Julie and
sometimes it’s easy for me to forget just how fast things must be moving for you.
There have been a lot of revelations over the last few months for all of us but
for your team it’s been ten times as complicated as it has been for me. How are
you holding up?”

“Fine,” she responded.
“I’m tired and I’ll admit to being a little frazzled but I’m good.”

Toni didn’t respond.
Instead she took a sip of her tea.

Eventually Julie spoke
again, “I’m still mad as Hell but I’m dealing with it.”

“Are you?”

“Yes, definitely. I have a
valid reason for being angry and I’m channeling that anger into a productive
purpose.”

“You mean practicing to
kill the Noridians.” It wasn’t a question.

“I mean our training to
take the Noridian ship,” Julie responded with an edge.

“Yes, of course,” Toni
responded. “I understand why that’s so important for you. For Earth.

“You know,” she continued.
“You’ve become quite the leader to your people.”

“I’m not trying to lead
anyone,” Julie said. “That’s Major Reagan’s job. I just know what needs doing
and I’m going to make sure it gets done.”

Another pause while Toni
sipped her tea.

“You know that in my culture we don’t use currency, we use respect as our money.
I’m not always sure that all the implications of that have really sunk in for
many of you. One aspect of it is that we are very in tune with how people treat
each other and how much influence an individual might have.

“Whether you realize it or
not Julie you are a leader among your people.”

“So Toni, is this about
you trying to convince me that a Coridian Protectorship is Earth’s best hope?
You think I have influence with others so you want to influence me?”

“No Julie, I just think
you’re overlooking some important and obvious things and I’m challenging you to
ask yourself why…”

Suddenly Julie was
uncertain again. She thought that Toni could still be a friend yet now she
found herself questioning her motives. Wasn’t there anyone she could trust?

“I don’t think I’m
overlooking anything Toni. Earth has to remain free and I’m not going to rest
until that happens.”

“Yes, I understand that you
will not waiver from that but why then would you risk that goal for personal
gratification?”

What? What was she talking
about?

“I’m not risking anything!”

“Julie, you have become
important to your entire team. You are important to Coridians because you
understand the true nature of the Noridian threat and I suspect you will be important
to the people of Earth for the same reason as well as for them to see your
resolve – even if that resolve is different than I might wish.”

Toni continued, “The
reason I’m talking to you is because I’m worried about you. I’m worried that
there is something inside you that needs personal revenge against the Noridians;
and I think that need for personal revenge is clouding your judgment.”

“What are you talking
about Toni? That Noridian ship has to be taken out!”

“Yes Julie, but you don’t
have to be one of the people that do it. You’re far too important to risk like
that – and if you were thinking clearly you’d see that.”

“Your concern is noted but
in our situation everyone has to take risks – look at Mark,” she said with
suddenly tearing eyes. “He’s half-way across the galaxy and I’ll probably never
see him again! If the majors thought it was a bad idea they wouldn’t put me on
the boarding party in the first place but the ship has to go down and I’m going
to be one of the people that takes it down.”

There was a full minute of
silence in the compartment before Toni spoke.