Strange New Worlds 2016 (2 page)

“Don’t even think about it, Harry. The information is encrypted. Only I can access
it.”

“Wouldn’t even consider doing such a thing. Who do you think I am?” said Harry indignantly.
“You could be a little more trusting. It’s not like I’m interrogating you on how you
came to possess highly classified Starfleet materials.”

“What do you mean? It’s like I said, I met with Doctor Marcus. We discussed one of
the planets I had the mining rights to. She thought it would be a good candidate.
Everything was ready to go, but at the last minute, Federation scientists discovered
microorganisms in a volcano bed. The launch got called off. It’s all very simple,
really.”

“Hmm. So, in the simple act of discussing planet habitability, Doctor Marcus felt
compelled to divulge everything about Project Genesis, including how to build the
device? You expect me to believe that Doctor Marcus, who barely knew you, gave you
the plans to one of the most destructive forces in the universe in exchange for some
life-form readings?”

Eve felt her cheeks grow warm and flushed. “Okay, so I called in a few favors at Starfleet
Command. I was curious.”

“Curious? About what? You’re not a scientist.”

“Fine,” said Eve, exasperated. “Maybe I learned some things from you a little too
well. I saw the potential for a major business opportunity and took it. Later, I realized
I made a mistake.”

“But you still kept the information.”

Eve slammed the palms of her hands against the armrests of her chair and quickly stood
up. “I had my reasons, and I’m certainly not sharing them with you. I’ll be in my
quarters.” She pivoted around and made a beeline for the bridge doors. They whisked
open, and she stormed off down the dingy metal corridor, her shoes clanking off the
grated deck plates. The old lights blinked and made rattling noises overhead. She
stopped in front of the quarters Harry had given her for the journey. She pressed
a button on the wall, and the doors pulled open. The accommodations were small and
in the same poor condition as the rest of the ship, but they were better than the
hovels to which Harry had dragged her in her youth. There was at least a bed, sonic
shower, and toilet. The room had the benefit of enduring little use over the years,
but everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

She plopped down on the bed and put her head against the pillow, pressing the palm
of her hand against her forehead. Even after all these years, that man still had the
power to make her so angry. Had she made the right decision, agreeing to deliver Genesis?
Genesis was supposed to bring life from lifelessness, but since the first experiment
had ended in disaster, all it could really do was destroy existing life . . . on a
massive scale.

Harry wasn’t the one she was concerned about. He would never see the Genesis information
and wouldn’t know what to do with it even if he did. The plans would go straight into
the hands of the buyer—the person who really worried her. She knew nothing about him
or his people.
Why were they so far out?
It was possible their star was located beyond Federation space, which would complicate
getting help from the Federation, especially if another alien race claimed their system
as part of its territory. But none of that explained how they’d learned about Harry,
much less contacted him. To help put her mind at ease, she’d taken a second data crystal
that could corrupt and erase all data in the first crystal if need be.

She didn’t know when she closed her eyes or even if she fell asleep, but she was jarred
to alertness by the gyration of the deck plates. She quickly sat up. A metallic groan
filled the corridors and rooms of the small vessel. It didn’t take long to figure
out Harry’s ship was traveling at a warp factor it was not rated for.

Eve jumped out of bed and took off down the corridor toward the bridge. The gyrations
were becoming a full-blown quake. She had to use the bulkhead as a brace to keep from
falling. The ship felt moments away from shaking itself apart. Eve tumbled through
the doors of the bridge and, through a controlled fall, managed to get to the navigation
station where Harry was still seated, working feverishly to coax more power out of
the warp engines and sweating like a pig. He was damn near hyperventilating.

“Harry, what the hell are you doing?” she yelled over the racket. She groped her way
into the chair. An indicator on the console was blinking—they were being pursued.
She checked the status display, which indicated an
Excelsior
-class starship. Harry had panicked at seeing the Feds, yet again. “You need to drop
to sublight. Otherwise, the ship’s going to fly apart.”

“Are you crazy?” gasped Harry, turning briefly to face her. His eyes were wild. He
was clearly in flight-or-fight mode, and in typical Harry Mudd fashion, he’d chosen
flight. “They’ll board the ship, find the Genesis plans, and hang us at the nearest
starbase! It’s the death penalty if we’re caught. You know that.”

Eve rolled her eyes. Typical. “If you don’t power down the engines, we’re dead anyway.
If you couldn’t outrun the
Enterprise
in your old piece of junk ship, how can you possibly hope to outrun an
Excelsior
-class starship in this piece of junk?” He was still focused on the controls, giving
no sign he’d heard her. “Harry,” she said, keeping her voice calm as possible. She
reached out and placed her palm softly over his hand. “Harry,” she repeated. He finally
turned toward her. She looked into his eyes. “I can get us out of this. Trust me.
Power down the main engines, please.” The wildness left his expression. His breathing
became more regular. Finally, his hands glided over the controls, and the ship began
to decelerate. The shaking and cacophony of straining bulkheads quickly subsided.
As it did, Eve heard a voice crackling over the comm system:

“. . .
celsior
to captain of
Stella Signata
. Please power down your engines and respond. The stress on your vessel is reaching
critical.
This is Captain Hikaru Sulu of the
U.S.S.
Excelsior
to captain of
Stella Signata
. Please power down your engines and respond. The stress on your vessel is reaching
critical. This is . . .
”

The Federation vessel in pursuit had been trying to hail them for God only knew how
long. “Open a communication channel. Bring it on screen,” Eve ordered. “And stay out
of sight.” Harry did as Eve said, then stood up and fell back into the shadows. Sulu?
Sulu? Where had she heard that name before? She didn’t have time to give the question
much thought because the viewscreen was soon filled with the chiseled visage and red
uniform of a Starfleet captain. He looked familiar too. “Captain Sulu, this is Eve
McHuron. CEO of Childress Drilling.”

“Ms. McHuron
,
”
responded Captain Sulu, his eyes wide in surprise.
“We had no idea you were aboard. It’s nice to see you again. Are you in any trouble?
Can we render assistance?”

Nice to see you again?
So she had met him before. But where? “No, Captain. We’re all fine now. But thanks
for the offer.”

“May I ask why you ran from us?”

“I’m deeply sorry for that. It began with pilot error, and then our warp engines locked
up. It took us awhile to get them back under control.”

“I see,”
Sulu replied in a tone that could hardly be described as trusting.
“I can’t help but notice the
Stella
Signata
has not filed any flight plan with the Federation Ministry of Civil Spaceflight.”

“You are correct. I apologize for that as well. However, according to Federation mining
regulations, companies that specialize in hypersonic element extraction, such as Childress,
have considerable leeway in exploring new sources of dilithium. As you know, dilithium
is indispensable in starship operation and maintaining the standard of living humanity
has come to enjoy. When a potential new source has been brought to our attention,
we must work quickly to confirm its viability so extraction . . .” Harry started waving
his arms at her and whispering loudly, trying to share some great revelation he just
had. It wasn’t helping her concentration. She did her best to block him out. “So extraction
can begin as soon as possible. Going through the process of, um, filing a flight plan
and, um . . .” He started whispering louder.
What the hell?
Couldn’t he see she was busy saving their butts? She wanted to reach over and punch
him. “The process of filing a flight plan and having it approved is time consuming
and often a barrier to the work we do. Captain Sulu, believe me when I say it’s work
we at Childress take very seriously. The Federation recognizes the importance of what
we do and allows us to forgo a flight plan when new sources of dilithium are at stake.”
She finally turned toward Harry. “What!”

“Sulu was on the
Enterprise
when they intercepted us on the way to Ophiucus III,” whispered Harry.

“Is there a problem, Ms. McHuron?”
Sulu asked.

“No, not at all. I was simply discussing with my pilot how we might avoid incidents
such as this in the future.” Eve flashed her best smile. “Captain Sulu, I never had
the chance to thank you all those years ago. If it hadn’t been for our fortuitous
encounter with the
Enterprise
, we most certainly would’ve died. You saved all our lives.”

“Saved our lives!” Harry’s voice boomed. He wasn’t whispering anymore. He stomped
over next to Eve, in full view of the
Excelsior
’s
bridge. “If it wasn’t for him and the
Enterprise
, we never would’ve been in any danger.”

She clenched her jaw. She wasn’t going to punch him. She was going to kill him.

“Harry Mudd,”
Sulu said in dismay.
“Ms. McHuron, are you sure you’re not in any danger? Has this man taken you against
your will?”

Eve laughed. “No, Captain Sulu. I’m quite safe. On occasion, I contract Mister Mudd
for transportation when I want to keep a low profile.
Very
low.” She cast Harry a look of disgust. “I can assure you the only person Mister
Mudd poses any danger to is himself. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve wasted enough
of your time, and we’re on a tight schedule. You can contact my company, and they’ll
fill you in on the details of our flight plan as well as the planet where we believe
significant dilithium deposits exist.”

Sulu was silent, perhaps deciding whether or not to believe her story. Her heart began
to beat a little faster. She hadn’t lied—not completely anyway. In the event of the
very circumstance she was confronting right now, she’d filed a flight plan back at
Childress and the name of a planet. Of course, the planet was in a system several
light-years away from the one she was actually going to.

“Very good, Ms. McHuron,”
Sulu said after what seemed like an eternity.
“We’ll check with your company.
You’re free to go. Safe journey, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you need anything.”

Eve released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Thank you, Captain.
Stella Signata
out.”

“Whew, that was close,” remarked Harry after the screen went blank. “I must admit,
I had my doubts, but you came through like a charm, my girl.” He patted her shoulder
and gave her a smile of paternal pride that disappeared the moment she punched him
in the gut.

Eve wondered if Harry’s buyer had deliberately chosen the dreariest part of Phocis
Harju V as a meeting place. Since they’d landed on the M-class planet and disembarked
from the
Stella
Signata
, they’d encountered little more than thick fog and constant lightning flashes from
every direction. She had yet to see any greenery. It was all jagged rock and sheer
cliff faces. There was no sign of humanoid life, according to Harry’s old-as-dirt
tricorder that was strapped across her torso. Yet she didn’t feel alone, and she wasn’t
talking about Harry, who was so close he was literally breathing down her neck. It
felt like they were being watched.

Eve was convinced the feeling was related to the giant crystals that grew everywhere
around them. They stretched upward as high as three to five meters and emitted a ghostly
light that oscillated irregularly but seemed to speed up whenever she got closer.
Even more unsettling was the howling noise. As first she’d thought it was the wind,
but there was very little wind here. She soon realized it was the crystals making
the banshee-like sound.

“On the upside, at least we won’t have to find him in a crowd,” Harry said as they
started making their way around a large rock.

“Don’t you know what he looks like?”

Harry gave a sheepish grin. “I can’t rightly say. I’ve never seen him.”