Music of the Spheres (25 page)

34

Canada Station Three
:

Lagrange Point 4 :

Earth Orbit :

Justine knew the
assembled Board of Directors for USA, Inc., as well as representatives for NASA
and a few generals of the U.S. Armed Forces, would be waiting for her to report
to the conference room and link back to Earth with an A/V EPS within the hour.
This was only the first of several problems.

She needed to stall for time, but she needed help.

As the three of them neared the infirmary, she said, “We
need to take a quick detour.”

Michael turned his head to her, though he didn’t break
stride. “Oh?”

“Lieutenant Jeffries and the others should be in here
somewhere. Let’s see how they’re doing.”

About to say something, Michael closed his mouth and gave
her a slight nod.

They found the lieutenant in one of the rooms where his men
where convalescing. Private Genero had a cast on one arm, and Private Hodges
had several stitches on his forehead. Only one of the Canadian soldiers stood
post outside, and he saluted as the three of them passed by.

The lieutenant stood up as they entered and gave Justine a
bright smile. The other two started to rise, but Justine waved them back down.

“Hello, Major,” Lieutenant Jeffries said. “We’re just
waiting for one of the doctors to clear us, and then we’re ready for the debriefing.”

“That’s what I’d like to talk to you about,” she said. “I
want you to go to the meeting, but tell them I can’t make it.”

“Pardon me, ma’am?”

“Just say that there are some health complications from my
being held hostage, and the doctors are keeping me here overnight for
observation.”

The lieutenant could clearly see there was nothing wrong
with Justine physically, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Something more important has come up,” Justine said. “I
can’t tell you what it is, but unless you help me with this, everything we went
through on Venus will be for nothing.”

He blinked, then made a decision. “Of course I’ll help.”

“Thank you,” she said, and then spoke to the two privates.
“How about you? Are you up for the job?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Private Genero, and Private Hodges nodded
as well.

“Good,” she said, “because I’m going to need one of you to be
a dummy.”

Private Genero opened his mouth in surprise, but no words
came out. Justine smiled at him.

Lieutenant Jeffries laughed. “I think you just volunteered,
Vic.”

“If you can spare Private Hodges,” Michael said, “I might
need some help in the QR Labs.”

“Wouldn’t Calbert or Raymond have already contacted Kenny?”
Justine asked.

“Yeah.” Michael gave her an odd look. “But I have a crazy
notion I need to run by him.”

Justine nodded. “All right,” she said to them. “Here’s the
plan…”

∞

Justine waited for Lieutenant Jeffries to step out of the
room and speak to the Canadian soldier posted at the door.

She shifted her sight to the hall and watched.

“Private Johnson,” the lieutenant said to the young man.
“Can you show me the way to the conference room you set up at your
headquarters?”

“Uh, just you? Sir?”

“Unfortunately, my men haven’t been cleared medically yet,
and I can’t wait any longer.”

“Yes, sir,” the private said, and led Lieutenant Jeffries
away.

Justine snapped herself back into the room and nodded to Michael
and Private Hodges. “You’re good to go.”

Michael grinned and left the room with the private in tow.

To Yaxche and Private Genero, Justine said, “Let’s get set
up.”

∞

Dr. Amma was the only member of the medical staff in Alex’s
room when Justine entered. She was silently tapping and swirling her fingers
around the haptic control on her holoslate, updating her patient’s chart.

“How is he?” Justine asked in a quiet voice.

The doctor glanced up quickly, and then resumed typing. “If
I believed in that kind of thing, I would call it a miracle. It’s another
complete remission. Physiologically, he’s in perfect condition. But it’s like his
mind has shut down. It’s unprecedented.”

She continued updating her notes, and it seemed to Justine
that she was there for the long haul.

Although she needed to be careful when using her Kinemetic
talents, in case the station’s sensors detected any anomalies, Justine, with a
bare flicker of thought, focused her electropathy on the doctor’s holoslate.

The screen went dead and Dr. Amma jerked her hand back. She
shook the tablet, and when that didn’t do anything, she tapped the power node a
few times.

“Damn,” she cursed. “If you’ll pardon me. I need to find
another holoslate.” With an annoyed set to her face, she hurried out.

Justine watched her disappear down the hall, then signaled in
the other direction. Yaxche pushed Private Genero ahead of him in a wheelchair.
The private was dressed in a hospital robe and let his head, wrapped with a
single bandage that covered half of his face, hang forward, as if he were
sleeping.

A duty nurse glanced over as they slowly wheeled their way
down the hall, and just as quickly dismissed them.

Once the two were inside Alex’s room, Private Genero got out
of his robe and pulled the bandage off his head. With his good arm, he helped
Justine dress Alex in the costume and put him in the wheelchair. Then the
private arranged himself in Alex’s bed.

“You have to relax,” Justine said as she reached for the
diagnostic cables still suctioned to Alex’s chest.

After a moment, Private Genero nodded. “All right. I’m
good.”

In a single deft movement, Justine transferred the sensor
from Alex to Private Genero, and the diagnostic monitor blipped only once.

Yaxche once again took up duty as wheelchair navigator, and
pushed Alex out into the hall.

“Thank you,” Justine said to Private Genero. “And if they try
to give you any trouble, just tell them you were under orders and had no idea
what was going on.”

“It’s the truth,” Private Genero said with a smile. “Good
luck, ma’am.”

Justine gave him one more smile, and then followed after
Yaxche.

∞

Things had been progressing according to plan, but as she
and Yaxche made their way across the station to the port, their luck took a
turn for the worse.

Several uniformed men where hurrying about, setting up a
perimeter. Justine couldn’t see any civilians in the area.

“Sorry, folks,” one soldier said, spotting the trio. “We
have orders to seal off the area for the rest of the day. If you had a flight,
it’s been postponed until tomorrow.”

“No, we were just going for a walk,” Justine said, and smiled
benignly. She turned back around and cursed under her breath.

They went back to the main corridor. Yaxche watched her
patiently as they walked.

Stepping closer to a communications kiosk, she tried to
connect with QR Labs.

A harried looking receptionist answered. “Can I help you?”

“Michael Sanderson, please.”

“I’m sorry. He’s already left.”

Justine pressed her lips together. “By himself?”

The receptionist clearly looked uncomfortable answering the
question, but she said, “No, he was with Kenny and a soldier. They were—” Her
head moved closer to the camera. “Are you Major Turner?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. Mr. Sanderson left a
message in case you called. He said…” She glanced to another screen as if to
check her notes. “…‘Look for me.’ ”

The receptionist wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know what that
means.”

“Thank you,” Justine said, and severed the connection.

Using her
sight
to find one person out of the hundreds
on the station would be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack,
so Michael wouldn’t have said that unless he knew she could home in on him
somehow.

She took a deep breath and expanded her senses out, and
almost right away sensed the signature pattern of an object irradiated from Kinemet.

Focusing on it, she
saw
Michael, Kenny and Private Hodges
pushing a large trolley down the cargo hall two floors beneath her. There was
something mechanical on the trolley, but it was covered with a black plastic
sheet. Whatever it was, it had come into contact with Kinemet at some point.

She quickly scanned the route to the loading area. There
were scatterings of workers, but there was no sign of any soldiers.

“Come on,” she said in a low voice to Yaxche. “We’re going
in the back door.”

∞

When she reached the main loading bay doors of the port,
Michael and the others were already there waiting.

“I hoped you’d figure it out,” he said to her, and patted
the object on the trolley.

“What is it?”

Kenny answered, “It’s a prototype quantum drive. Fully
functional. We just need fuel and a few hours to hook it to the ship’s main
systems.”

“Where’d you get a quantum drive?”

Kenny smiled. “Don’t forget, Quantum Resources designed the
first engine. We were working on an improved version just before you Americans
sold your share of Quantum Resources to Canada Corp.” He said it as if he had
been a part of the process. Obviously, Kenny felt that the actual date of his
enrollment in the company was irrelevant to his personal investment in the organization.

Justine turned to Michael. “You’re not bringing it aboard
just to hide it from the UECC and the Arabs, are you?”

“No,” he replied, a wild grin on his face. “We’ve got a ton
of Kinemet, a quantum drive, and a pressing need to bring Alex’s body and
consciousness back together. You heard Yaxche: Alex’s essence is in a world
with three suns. What do you say, are you up for it?”

Justine let out a low whistle at the notion. “We have an
untested ship, an untested light-speed drive and an untested pilot. Talk about
flying blind.” She gave a little bob of her head and a quick laugh. “Of course
I’m up for it.”

∞

They raised a few heads on their way across the deck to
where the
Ultio
waited, but they quickly went back to work. Justine was
certain they had far too much to do clearing a bay for the unexpected ship to
worry about two uniformed soldiers and two scientists wheeling cargo around.

She was sure someone would ask why they had a Mayan Indian
in ceremonial garb following them while they pushed someone in a wheelchair,
but they were not stopped.

They arrived at the air-locked loading bridge, which was
attached to the ship like a long umbilical, traversed its length, and once they
reached the end, Justine and Private Hodges turned the latch to raise the bay
door. They all helped maneuver the Quantum Engine inside and back to the engine
room.

Justine led the private back to the loading bridge.

“Are you up for one more task?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“If we pull this off, pretty much every country corp., news
agency, and police force in Sol System will call us traitors or pirates. I want
you to do me a favor—and this goes for Lieutenant Jeffries and Private Genero
as well.”

“Anything.”

“Don’t defend us.”

He looked startled. “Pardon me?”

“If you stick up for us, it will incriminate you. I
appreciate everything you guys have done, but the last thing I want is for them
to prosecute you. I told Private Genero to say he knows nothing; he was just
following orders. Same for you.”

“I can’t do that,” he protested.

“Yes you can. You could even tell them I threatened your
life. Maybe you three will get lucky and get through this without a court-martial.”

His voice tight with emotion, Private Hodges nodded. “Yes, ma’am.
Understood.”

She smiled at him. “Good. Now go find the nearest peace
officer and report us to him.”

∞

Canada Station Three was primarily a launching point for
Canada’s Space Mining Division. It’s secondary function was as a scientific
complex with various wings of the station leased out to interested country
corporations who might not have the resources to build their own orbital.

Acting as a waypoint for flights between the Earth and the
Moon was a distant third in the station’s mandate.

There was usually a considerable amount of traffic to and
from the station, and it was tightly monitored.

When Justine prepped the ion engines of the
Ultio,
and disengaged the electronic couplings from the loading bridge, it was less
than a minute before flight control buzzed in.

“Uh, hello,
Ultio.
This is CS3 Port Control. You have
not
been cleared for disembarkation. Please identify yourself.”

Yaxche, sitting in the navigator’s chair, looked at Justine to
see what she would do.

Instead of answering the call, Justine continued monitoring
the ship systems and adjusting power levels.

Michael and Kenny were in the engine room, attempting to
install the Quantum Engine. Justine had secured Alex in the captain’s quarters,
and had placed the disc of Kinemet back on his chest.

The port officer spoke with authority. “Please be advised:
If you do not identify yourself, we will have no choice but to report your
ship. You will be interdicted at any space port you attempt to reach. This is
your last warning.”

Yaxche motioned to the speaker. “It is not polite to ignore
someone who is talking to you.”

Justine made a face. “I’m sorry, Yaxche. I’m just a little
too busy at the moment.”

“May I?” he asked, and Justine nodded in mild surprise. She
pointed to the controls on the holoslate.

Yaxche leaned forward, turned the monitor to face him, and tapped
the button to turn on the two-way feed.

The port officer blinked, clearly taken aback by what he
saw. Yaxche still had not changed out of his ceremonial garb.