The Legend of Corinair (3 page)

“I’ve called this staff meeting so we can decide on a course of action,” Nathan explained.

“Captain, I’m not a member of your staff,” Abby pointed out.

“You are now,” he explained. “Since the jump drive is currently our only means of interstellar travel, every strategic decision now involves you.”

“But I’m a civilian.”

“It’s not like I’m drafting you, Doctor. I just want your expertise available during any discussions that might involve the jump drive.”

“Of course.”

“What about medical and engineering?” Cameron asked, still fuming over Nathan’s rebuke.

“Doctor Chen still has her hands full, and other than her department’s state of readiness, she would have little to add to this discussion.”

“And Vladimir?”

“He’ll be here momentarily.” Nathan leaned back in his chair, taking a breath and trying to relax for the first time since he had made it back on board from the surface of Haven.

Cameron could see his frazzled nerves becoming more apparent now that the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. “What happened down there?” she asked, in a surprisingly sympathetic tone.

“We got ambushed,” Jessica explained.

“When Tobin came to pick us up, he surprised us with a team of Ta’Akar assault troops,” Nathan explained.

“I never did trust that skinny little shit,” Jessica added.

“If it hadn’t been for Vlad and Jessica, they would’ve taken us completely by surprise.”

“They must’ve attacked you at the same time they attacked us,” Cameron surmised. “They got on board using one of the cargo shuttles. We thought they were just returning from their run to the surface.”

“Yeah, well, it’s obvious that Tobin was in on the whole thing,” Nathan said.

“What about Jalea and this Tug fellow?” Cameron asked. “You think they were in on it as well?”

“Doubtful. Danik was killed in the attack, and Tug lost his wife.”

“Jesus,” Cameron exclaimed.

“Yeah, and Tug was about to get executed, until we capped the remaining three all at once,” Jessica bragged.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you should’ve seen it. Captain even put one right in the middle of one of their face plates. Blew the back of his head clean off.

Cameron looked at Nathan in disbelief. She knew that there had been some sort of battle on the surface, but until now, she had no idea how serious it had actually been.

“Yeah, I was just as surprised as you are,” he admitted.

“Surprised by what?” Vladimir asked as he entered the room.

“Nothing,” Nathan said, not really wanting to relive the event just yet. “Have a seat.”

Vladimir took the remaining chair, pulled it away from the desk, and moved it over toward the wall so as not to block Nathan’s view of Jessica and Abby on the couch. He spun the chair around and sat down, his arms resting on the chair back.

“Before we start, I want you all to know how much I appreciate the tireless job that you’ve been doing. I wish I could say that we’re almost done, but I’m afraid we may have just gotten started.” Nathan looked at their faces, each of them showing signs of stress and fatigue. Even Vladimir, who normally was stoic and smiling, looked beat. And poor Cameron, who always looked
military perfect
, looked like she had slept in her uniform, and for a very short time at that.

“When Captain Roberts placed me in command, his last orders were to get the jump drive back to Earth. At the time, I didn’t understand the urgency of his request, but I learned a bit later—and correct me if I’m mistaken, Doctor—that this particular unit is not only the sole prototype in existence, but that all research in regards to this project are currently stored in the project’s mainframe on board this ship. There is not a shred of evidence to be found anywhere on Earth that would reveal this project had ever existed. In fact, other than the researchers who came on board with the prototype, there were only a handful of people on the entire planet that were aware of its existence. That’s how important this project was to the security of Earth.”

“That is unbelievable,” Vladimir exclaimed.

“That’s exactly what I thought,” Nathan agreed, “at first. But think about it. If the Jung ever got their hands on this research, there would be no stopping them. That’s got to be why Fleet was so secretive.”

“You are correct, Captain. And the paranoia of our leaders went far deeper than you could imagine. The few that knew about this project were willing to sacrifice their careers, even their very lives to protect it. We even had suicide devices implanted in our teeth, in case of capture.”

Nathan stared at her, asking with his eyes if that included her.

“Yes, Captain, I have one as well.”

“Does this mean we have to get them as well?” Jessica asked halfheartedly.

“I’m pretty sure medical doesn’t carry suicide pills,” Nathan assured her.

“Captain,” Abby warned, “you do realize that if this drive were about to fall into enemy hands, you would be expected to destroy the ship and the crew in order to maintain its secrecy.”

“I’m afraid the
secret
is already out, Doctor. The Ta’Akar have already seen us jump away on several occasions. I suspect they’re hunting us for exactly that reason.”

“Then we need to get out of this region of space as quickly as possible,” Cameron insisted.

“Five or six jumps should put us well out of range of even their fastest ships, Captain,” Abby estimated. “We could be out of danger and well on our way home in a matter of days.”

“But earlier you said that you had no way to tell how much longer the jump drive would continue to function. Has that assertion changed?”

“No sir, it has not. But I also have no reason to suspect that it would
not
continue to function as designed. When I made that statement, I was doing so to
warn
you about the risk of
assuming
the jump drive would always be available to get you out of danger.”

“So you think it
could
make the hundred or so jumps back home
without
any problems?”

“I have no reason to suspect otherwise. But admittedly, I have no evidence to suggest that it
could
, either.”

“Which is exactly why we’re
not
going to head home just yet,” he announced.

“What?” Cameron wasn’t surprised by his announcement, as she had suspected this would be his plan all along. “Nathan, it’s not safe to stay in this region of space. You said so yourself. The sooner we start jumping home—”

“Cam, we don’t know what lies between here and Earth,” Nathan told her. There could be other inhabited worlds—maybe friendly, maybe not. They could be even worse than the Ta’Akar. Or there could be nothing but empty space. That’s more than a hundred jumps—any one of which could be our last. We could easily end up stranded in a far worse situation than this. And I’m just not prepared to commit to such a risky plan, at least not without more information.”

“And if the Ta’Akar manage to hunt us down?” Cameron wasn’t backing down this time, not without a fight.

“Well, we can always start jumping away then, can’t we?”

“It may not be that easy, Nathan. They underestimated us once, maybe twice. They probably won’t make that mistake again.”

“According to Jalea, they’re not that bright when it comes to tactics,” Jessica recalled.

“You want to bet your life on that?” Cameron asked.

Jessica said nothing, but her expression told Cameron that she did not.

Nathan was getting tired of arguing with Cameron. It was beginning to feel like their days back in the training simulator. And he was exhausted. He’d been shot at all afternoon, and had been bounced around in a tiny spaceship that crash-landed on the Aurora’s hangar deck. He had too little energy left to waste it arguing with his XO. “Cam, I’m just saying I want to find out more before we make a decision one way or the other. That’s all.”

“That’s all?” She was sure there was more to it that he wasn’t revealing just yet.

“And maybe spend some time fixing a few things along the way, if you don’t mind.” Nathan knew that he didn’t have to get her approval. He was in command, after all. But the nature in which he had ended up her superior officer had never sat well with her, and he knew it. Furthermore, he needed her on his side. Her unique organizational skills and attention to details, as well as her uncanny knowledge of procedure, made up for his weaknesses in those areas.

“Of course not,” she assured him.

“And while we’re doing all that,” Jessica interrupted, “maybe we can find out a little more about this power source?”

Nathan was quick to jump onto the new topic, wanting to leave the debate with Cameron using any excuse possible. “Exactly. At the very least, we need to verify its existence. I mean, if it really is as great as Tug implied, couldn’t we use it to increase our jump range?”

Abby realized that his last question was aimed at her. “I suppose it’s possible. But I’d have to know a bit more about it before I could give you a definite answer.”

“Deliza seemed to know quite a lot about this research,” Vladimir added.

“Really?” Nathan was a bit surprised to hear that Tug’s teenage daughter was so well versed in the subject.

“Yes. She is actually a very smart young lady. I do not think she gets out much.”

“What did she tell you about it?”

“Only that it is based on the principles of
zero-point energy
.”

“Captain,” Abby interrupted. “There are references in the Data Ark to such research. In fact, we were very close to developing something similar on Earth just before the plague struck. It was one of the research and development proposals being considered in the defense of Earth after the Jung threat had been recognized. Had it not been for our accidental discovery of the spatial transition effect, it might even have been pursued.”

“Would it be something that we could use?”

“Indeed. A zero-point energy reactor would provide more than enough power to significantly increase our jump range. It might also reduce the recharge time between jumps.”

“Both of which would be significant tactical advantages,” Jessica pointed out.

Nathan looked at Cameron. “What do you think, Commander? Does it warrant further investigation?” He knew she could not deny the logic.

“Of course,” she agreed, frustration still evident in her tone.

“All right, then. But let’s not forget that our first priority is to make repairs. To that end, Cameron, I’d like you to put together a damage report and a repair plan. You can coordinate with Vlad on that. I think it’s high time we got our repair priorities in order.”

“Yes sir,” Cameron answered. Despite the fact that she preferred to jump out of the area as soon as possible, she was relieved that Nathan had listened. For once he had considered all the facts before making a decision, even if in the end his decision had remained pretty much the same.

“Doctor,” Nathan continued, turning his attention toward Abby, “I need you to get your jump drive in as good a state as possible. And when you get the chance, see if you can’t come up with some energy requirements for a super-jump home, just in case that power source happens to fall into our laps.” Nathan looked at Cameron and winked.

“Vlad, see to it that Abby gets all the help she needs. That jump drive is our only means of FTL travel at the moment, so we have to take care of it.”

“No problem,” Vladimir assured him.

“What about me?” Jessica asked, feeling a little left out.

“You and I have a meeting with Tug and Jalea. It’s about time we got some straight answers about what’s really going on in the Pentaurus cluster.”

* * *

“Remember, don’t tell them anything you don’t have to,” Jessica said as they approached the command briefing room.

“How am I supposed to get them to share intel with us if we don’t share it with them?” It seemed an obvious flaw in her logic to Nathan. But he was beginning to realize that Jessica’s special operations instructors must have programmed her to be suspicious and deceitful by nature.

“It’s easy. Just let them do all the talking. And only answer direct questions.”

“Why do I feel like I’m about to go on trial here?”

“Maybe you should feel that way.” Jessica added. “It might make you think twice before you speak.”

Nathan recognized the jab. Jessica and Cameron had already become friends over the last week. And Cameron had been admonishing him for acting without thinking the situation through since their first day in the simulator together. But deep down inside, Nathan knew he was the type who preferred to operate on instinct. Information was always helpful, but in the end, he had to follow his gut.

“Look,” he said, coming to a stop just outside the briefing room, “I appreciate what you’re trying to tell me. But in the end, it’s my responsibility, and I have to do what I think is best.” Nathan looked in Jessica’s eyes, his tone becoming less official. “I understand where you’re coming from. But this is not a covert spec-ops mission. This is more of a negotiation. It’s politics—and politics, unfortunately, is in my blood. I’m a people person,” he added with a smile. “You said so yourself,” he added as he turned and entered the briefing room.

“I did say that,” she admitted sheepishly as she followed him through the hatch. She was afraid of what Nathan might commit them to during this meeting with Tug and Jalea. And as much as she wanted to prevent him from doing so—as much as she felt it was her
duty
to prevent him from doing so—it was just as much her duty to follow the orders of her captain, regardless of how under qualified he might be. But there was still a part of her—a small part to be sure—that somehow trusted Nathan to do the right thing.

“I apologize for being late,” Nathan began as he sat down at the head of the briefing table. Tug and Jalea were already seated along the outboard side of the table, and Jessica took a seat across from them next to Nathan. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”