Shadow Force 1: the Garden Planet (12 page)

It was sometime later when Sara came in. “Jon.” I heard her say barely. I had apparently dozed off.

“What time is it?” I asked trying to wake up.

“Late, but listen. I showed the recordings of the rescue to the girls. I think they finally understand. As a matter of fact you’ve gone from zero to hero in their estimations.”

“That’s nice.” I said still too groggy to show much enthusiasm.

“Is that all you can say?! I solved the problem.”

“I’m sorry babe, you did great. I only wish that was the biggest problem.”

“I thought it was!” Sara said sounding hurt.

“It was part of it, and you solved it brilliantly, now maybe you can help me solve the rest.” I said hopefully.

“I’ll try.” Sara said as she got in bed. “If you would be so kind as to tell me what it is.”

“Alright, what are we going to do with twelve distraught woman and eleven slave traders?”

“There are twelve slave traders, Jon. And here I thought you could count.”

“I can count babe, but Anwar’s destination has already been determined. Or did you forget why we went to New Tehran in the first place?”

“Oh yeah.” Sara said with a giggle. “So what’s the problem? We just drop them all in Rosen’s lap so to speak.”

“If we do that, how long do you think it will be until our cover with Mohammed and his bunch is blown?” I asked putting to words what was troubling me.

“I would think Rosen could keep them quiet.” Sara said.

“For a couple of days maybe, still this is a democracy we live in. That fact won’t be lost on our esteemed guests. They have the right to be represented by attorneys. As a matter of fact they are already asking for them. That, plus the fact that as soon as the press gets a hold of the women we rescued, this story will be all over the galaxy.”

“Well, we can’t finish our mission with all these people onboard.” Sara observed.

“No, we can’t, that’s the problem.”

“There has to be somewhere we can take them.” Sara said.

“Suggestions would be appreciated!” I replied as Sara got out of bed and began pacing the room.

“We’ll have to put them somewhere by themselves, somewhere they can’t be found and can’t escape from.”

“You're forgetting something.” I said.

“Like what?” Sara asked.

“Like we need two places, or were you planning on putting them together? I don’t think there would be much left when we came back to get them. Also I don’t think those women are going to be thrilled at their rescue turning into another imprisonment.” I answered.

“The women can be handled. I think they may welcome a chance to get their lives back together before being subjected to the press. That is, if we can find a suitable environment.”

“That still leaves us needing to find two secure locations, some kind of abandoned outpost or base, a place that would need minimal restocking.” I stated.

“I think that all the colonies and outposts that I’ve seen are all prefabricated in case of failure. The investors would not lose any physical assets.”

“That’s true.” I admitted. “Still there has to be somewhere that was too well established before failing that they couldn’t take it all with them.”

“Not that I know of, after all I’m only human. Why don’t you ask our super computer?” Sara suggested brilliantly.

Now that I should have thought of first, after all Shadow and I had spent a lot of time together. I was used to talking to Shadow as if she was alive. And of course to me she was. “Shadow search our databases for any abandoned outposts, colonies or military bases that were left intact, unguarded and on unpopulated planets.”

“Don’t want much, huh Jon?” Sara said.

“What I want is for you to get back into bed. I warned you about strutting around my room.”

“Your room?”

“Our room.” I corrected myself.

“That’s better.”

“No, that’s better.” I said as Sara climbed back into the bed.

“There are seven possibilities.” Shadow announced after a minute.

“Are they all able to be occupied?” I asked, cautiously thankful for the apparent good luck.

“Unknown.” Shadow replied.

“Either they are or they're not, so which is it?”

“All were left able to be occupied, yet their present condition is unknown.”

“Alright, we’ll have to go look. Which is the closest to us?” I asked.

“They're all in the same system.” Shadow replied.

“Which system?” I asked, starting to get exasperated with my super computer.

“Sol.” Shadow answered an answer I found hard to believe.

“That system has been abandoned for seven hundred years.”

“You didn’t specify age.” Shadow said. Now that was true, still how could anything have survived that long and still be able to be reactivated?

“Are there any other choices?” I asked.

“Not that I have in my memory.”

“Alright, plot the course for Sol system and execute.” And with that order we were on our way to mankind’s ancestral home. What we would find, I didn’t have a clue.

“Jon, is it possible?” Sara asked.

“Anything is possible. It’s the degree of likelihood that is in question.” I answered. In reality I didn’t think it would work out. What with all the pirates, slavers and general space scum that had passed through the galaxy during the last seven hundred years it was hard to imagine that there would be even a plasium plate left. Still, being the eternal optimist that I am, I said, “Since we're going to waste the next few hours anyway, we may as well enjoy ourselves.”

“What do you have in mind?” Sara asked, sliding her hand up my thigh.

“Well, we could take a walk around the ship, maybe check the... ow!” I bellowed as Sara pinched a rather delicate part of my anatomy. “Then again, we could just stay here.” I said taking her in my arms.

Chapter Twelve

Early the next morning we rounded up our female guests. We then gathered them together in the lounge. The young girl that we had purchased was now attached to Sara, refusing to leave her side. The only thing we had found out so far was her name. Chrystal.

The others seemed to be recovering a little better. Now showered, rested and dressed in clean flight suits they were a rather attractive group. Still I imagined that they were still emotionally raw. “Thank you all for coming.” I said after everyone was seated.

Izzy passed out some questionnaires that Sara and she had made up earlier, as well as some name tags. “If you will fill these out it will help us to determine how best to help you.” I continued.

“Aren’t you members of Space Force? Shouldn’t you be bringing us to a space base or something?” the redhead who was just putting on her nametag asked.

“Well Roxanne,” I said reading her name tag. “We feel that you may not want to deal with the media circus that your rescue is sure to create. You know that the general public has no idea that slavery exists. They think it’s just something that the writers for holovision invented. After all very few slaves once captured are ever heard from again, much less live to testify against their captors, something we are hoping you will do.”

“Testify against whom? We thought you had killed them.” Roxanne answered.

“Not the leaders, they're in custody.”

“In custody where?”

“On this ship.” I said, realizing as I did that I should probably not have mentioned that fact so soon after their ordeal. Now most of them started looking sick.

“I want to see them.” Roxanne demanded as the other girl's looks of shock started turning to terror.

“We’ll discuss this later, for now just enjoy your breakfast.” Only at this point I didn’t think they would eat at all, let alone enjoy it. I asked Sara to step out of the room with me for a minute, but she couldn’t detach Chrystal, who looked by far the worst of the group. She was visibly shaking, her eyes darting around as though she expected her slavers to walk through the walls. It looked like I would have to figure this out for myself.

“The prisoners are all locked up. There is no need for you to be concerned.” Max said.

“No need for concern?” Roxanne asked sarcastically. “Would you care to tell us exactly where we are going?”

“I'm sorry, but that is not possible at the moment.” I said, adding to the tension that was already permeating the room.

“I thought as much. Girls, I don’t think we’re as free as we’ve been told. As a matter of fact I don’t think we’re free at all.”

“That’s simply not true!” I said. “You are all free.”

“Then please drop me off on the nearest Federation planet.”

“I can’t.” I said, knowing how that answer was going to be taken.

“Goddamn it!” Roxanne shouted. “Why don’t you just end this fucking charade, you haven’t rescued us at all. What you did was steal us.”

Well that did it, all the girls jumped up and backed against the wall, frantic looks of hopelessness, betrayal, fear, and anger crossing their faces. Still it was Chrystal that worried me the most. She let out a piercing shriek and collapsed at Sara’s feet.

“You ungrateful bitch!” Sara screamed. “We’ve done nothing to hurt you. Shit no, you’re the one doing the hurting. Look at this girl, she was just starting to make progress. Then you come out with your idiotic observations. Let me tell you something asshole, you're not the only one in this room who has suffered at the hands of slavers. Jon why don’t you just space this one, she’s more trouble than she is worth.” With that Sara picked up Chrystal and left the room, her face bright red with anger.

“Please everyone calm down and have a seat.” I said. “Let me explain why we can’t just drop you off.”

Roxanne sat with the rest of them; it seemed we had reached an uneasy truce. I went on to tell them how we were working undercover and that rescuing them had not been part of the plan.

“Then why did you rescue us?” Roxanne asked.

“Because we’re human, still we have our limits so please behave yourselves and we will see you safely back to civilization.” I answered.

I left Max and Izzy to collect the questionnaires and see the women back to their cabins, except for Roxanne, who I asked to accompany me to the bridge. “Shadow can we see a holo of the Sol system?” It was an eerie sight that appeared in front of us. Seeing what for thousands of years had been known simply as “The Solar System” floating in front of us. “Highlight selected sites.” Seven glowing white dots appeared. There were two on Pluto, one on Uranus, one on Luna and two on Mars.

“That’s beautiful.” Roxanne said mesmerized by the image. “What is that bright blue and white one called?”

“That’s Earth,” I answered. “The original one.” I added.

“Wow, are we going there?” She asked with excitement.

“Not quite, but we are going to the Sol System. We’re looking for a safe place for you to stay while we finish our mission.”

“Oh.” Roxanne replied disappointment evident in her voice.

“Shadow, details on the targets please.” I asked the computer. Instantly the holograph was replaced by the wide screen. Each target was listed along with their names, functions, and capacities.

“These are all military bases.” I stated.

“Yes, boss they are.” Shadow confirmed my opinion. “They were also top secret, their locations were never released. The political leaders at the time of the great migration were keeping them for themselves in case something went wrong.”

“And nothing ever did?” I asked.

“No, there is no record of any of these bases having been unsealed.”

“What about unauthorized entrance?”

“Extremely unlikely, all locations were very well hidden. Also the locking devices were state of the art for the time. There is still no technology that could force them open. They must be unlocked with the key code.

“So how do we get in?” I asked.

“I have the codes.” Shadow answered.

Well, that solved that problem. “Were they all left complete?”

“Yes, there is enough food base, oxygen and water to last a full complement two years.”

“What about the machinery?” I asked.

“All seven locations were vacu-sealed.”

Maybe I wasn’t wasting my time after all, I thought.

“How long will you be leaving us there?” Roxanne asked.

“Two or three weeks.” I said, hoping that I would be able to stick to that time table.

“I guess we could stand that.” Roxanne said. “I really am sorry for the way I acted. Do you think we could start over?”

“That would be nice.” Sara said as she entered the bridge.

“How’s Chrystal?” I asked Sara.

“She’s sleeping in our cabin. I gave her another sedative.”

“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Roxanne asked with regret.

“Partially.” Sara admitted. “Still if you really want to help, when she wakes up you can help me talk to her.”

“I’ll help any way I can.” Roxanne said.

I believed she would. I then asked Sara to look over the locations and specs of the various bases and make a recommendation.

“Mars.” Sara suggested.

“Why?” I asked.

“For starters, there are two completely separate bases on the same planet. Also Mars is currently far from the busiest jump points to Earth. We should be able to slip in and out undetected by those working on Earth.”

“Well then, Mars it is.” I said agreeing with Sara’s reasoning. “Roxanne,” I said switching gears, “we’re going to need someone to take charge of the group while we are away. Since you have been doing most of the talking anyway, I thought maybe you would be willing to do the leading also.”

“I will try not to let you down.” She replied, giving me some relief as to the destiny of the women we had rescued.

We set Shadow down inside a huge hangar, built into the side of a mountain on the Martian surface. It took about an hour for Shadow to integrate with the base's central computer system, the technology being so different, Shadow's central computer being an organic neural net, while the base used the once common digital variety.

“Atmosphere fully restored.” Shadow informed us.

A short time later, Max and I walked down the ramp into history. It was amazing! The base looked as though it had just been closed yesterday. All the equipment was up and running. There was no decomposition evident anywhere, a fact which should have come as no surprise as the base had been vacu-sealed. Emotionally it was still a shock; here I was walking down halls that had not seen a human being since the days of the great migration.