The Methuselan Circuit (35 page)

After the President passed, Alexander hustled to the dormitory where Lt. Mortimer was waiting for him. He came to attention when she asked him where he’d been and answered truthfully, “I was on the Terminal deck Ma’am. There’s a great view of the
Iowa
. I go there when I need to think.”

Alexander nodded, and once again told the truth, “I should say so, Ma’am. The Iowa’s main gun went off, but I didn’t see where or what it hit. Oh, and I saw the President walk by. He didn’t seem too happy.”

Lt. Mortimer scowled at him, which was still a beautiful look for her, so it was hard for Alexander to be too concerned. However, with deep gravity, she asked one more question. “Where you involved in the trouble with the other flights?”

He left class as soon as the orders were presented to him. Everyone watched him go. Nervously, he went to Augesburcke’s office and waited, wondering whether he would be escorted to a ship in a few moments. He tried to take in all his experiences, and he had to admit, it really was an amazing four months. Then the loudspeaker announced, “Cadet Wolfe report into my office at once!”

Alexander straightened his uniform and took a deep breath. He was as calm as he could be considering the circumstances. He stepped to the door and it slid open. Commandant Augesburcke was sitting behind his desk. He looked up and pulled at his mustache, but he said, “Come in Alexander, and be at ease. If you’re thinking that I’m about to put you off the station—think again! You’ve caused far too much trouble for me to let you go just yet!”

He stepped in and the door closed behind. He was relieved, but still somewhat confused. “I’m not in trouble then sir?”

Augesburcke stood up and laughed, “Oh you’re in a great deal of trouble! I’ve just been writing a very unique report, telling the President of Pan America and the Pro Consul of the Legions why I can’t expel you—or rather why I won’t expel you.” He waved aside Alexander’s surprised expression and patted him on the shoulder. “How could I? You had nothing to do with the malfunction of the
Iowa
. Centurion Fjallheim’s report, corroborated by the surveillance cameras and data files, is very clear that you had nothing to do with the disappearance of the Methuselan Circuit.”

“The disappearance,” Alexander asked. “You mean it wasn’t destroyed?”

“No, but the structure aligning it was destroyed,” Augesburcke replied. “I conjecture that it spun into space, we’re looking for it now. Perhaps it will fall into the sun. Who knows—maybe a ghost took it!” He laughed quite loudly and sincerely, and Alexander was quite certain that he knew everything that had happened. “As it is, all you are guilty of is being out of quarters. I can’t expel you without expelling a few hundred other cadets. Therefore the case is closed. I can’t punish any of you without endangering your finals, and there will be quite enough of a challenge for all of you considering two of your professors will be absent.”

“Absent sir?”

Augesburcke pulled at his mustache again, “Yes, it appears that all Hell is breaking lose in the Pan American Congress. They feel as if they’ve been brainwashed and manipulated; which they were of course. There will be serious repercussions for those involved—it’s nothing short of treason.”

“Only two Professors,” Alexander asked carefully.

Augesburcke glanced at Alexander as if gauging what he might suspect or know. “Yes, Professor Strauss and Professor Nussbaum. Of course, they both have very violent histories back in the day,” he chuckled. “Strangely enough, both were appointees of then Senator Cass Bar-Judas. He’ll have a hard time surviving this, especially with that extra baggage, but survive it he will. Some politicians are survivors and this man is a jackal—he’ll eat his own.” Augesburcke paced the room, chewing on his mustache. “Unfortunately, the Academy will take its shots. Two of our professors are traitors, and another, Professor Mortimer was unconsciously duped into helping them. She simply couldn’t help solving the ‘hypothetical’ socio-algorithms they provided her. It’s her hobby, you might say, and they knew how to take advantage of her.” He turned to Alexander again and smiled. “Thanks to your ingenuity and bravery, and that of your friends and Centurion Fjallheim we’ve weathered the first ionic squall. Let’s hope we do as well next time.” He sighed and sat back down.

“Sir, one more question—who killed the Ambassador and the two Terrans?”

“Strauss,” he said gruffly. “He caught on to their true motivations and took off after them—pretty ballsy for him, but he was desperate. He ambushed them on Luna. Unfortunately our agents didn’t consider him a threat—who would—but even a fat wolf has a nasty bite when cornered!”

“Sir with all due respect, I can’t believe Strauss would be able to take out all three with a blaster.”

“Good for you; you’d be right under normal circumstances too,” the Commandant nodded grimly. He dug something out of his desk drawer. It was a silver ball about the size of a lacrosse ball. He tossed it to Alexander. “Don’t worry, I deactivated it.”

He caught it. The ball was heavy and smooth except for the dozen small red projections evenly distributed around the sphere. “Terrorist toys,” the Commandant growled. “That’s a blaster ball, invented by Strauss himself. He used it more than once back in the day. You toss it at a group of targets and it shoots randomly, three shots per bulb. It’s as deadly as it is cowardly, but then terrorists are both.” He took the blaster ball back and put it away. “Let that be a lesson to you! I got a full confession; I threatened him with Pantrixnia if he didn’t tell the truth. You can tell your friend Cadet Jameson he doesn’t have to take any more pot shots at Centurion Fjallheim!”

“Is Centurion Fjallheim the one who put the glede in the Lugby ball?”

Augesburcke looked at him with a twinkle in his eye. “Perceptive, Alexander, that’s very perceptive of you, but nothing so sinister. Gledes are standard issue. It’s not unusual for a centurion to put one in a Lugby ball in fractional g for the very reason you saw. After a predetermined time without handling the glede assumes it’s been lost and heads back to the nearest Federation beacon. In this case, that was Ms. Jameson; her beacon survived the attack and was in standby mode. The glede unwittingly led you right to her. ”

“Is Centurion Fjallheim on our side?”

Augesburcke shrugged his shoulders, and said, “Alexander to be honest with you there are no absolutes in this business. For now, yes Centurion Fjallheim has proven his worth.”

“What is going to happen to Professor Nussbaum and Strauss?”

The Commandant laughed, “I’m sure you’ll hear about it! That’ll be all Cadet Wolfe. There’ll be a commendation in your file, and another one in your ‘classified’ file—a bigger one. Sorry you won’t be able to brag about that, but it’s best if it’s not common knowledge. Your father will explain it to you.”

Alexander took a deep breath and asked the question he most wanted the answer to, “Sir, who was my father?”

Augesburcke laughed, and said, “He is who he always was. Give him my regards when you go on leave, and tell him it was nice to see him out and about again. He always did look silly on that damn tractor of his! Good luck on your finals, dismissed!”

Alexander saluted and left; he had a lot to think about. There was literally nothing of his adventures that he could talk about with anyone except their little group. The reasoning didn’t take his father to explain—the President was a dangerous enemy. So they all concentrated on finals, and all of them—even James—did well.

It was hard parting after such a momentous semester—God, it was only a semester! Still, Alexander was happy to get home. Katrina was there to greet them all with the good news that she’d already been accepted early for the following semester. She’d tested out—a highly unusual, in fact a unique accomplishment—and she’d be joining his flight and Academy class. Things settled into a routine after that, as Alexander still lived on a farm. The chores didn’t seem quite so onerous though, not after the life and death struggles in the Academy.

One evening his dad called him into his study. Alexander thought that perhaps he might learn more about the events that evening he destroyed the Methuselan Circuit. His dad only smiled and said, “Let’s watch some Holo-V, there’s a special on tonight with some people you know. Are you up to it?”

“Why wouldn’t I be,” Alexander asked, glad to sit down after a long day on the farm.

Dad clicked on the Holo-V and Alexander saw the vast vistas of a great tropical world with sweeping plains and dense jungles. A floating metallic ball entered the picture. It was Bob, the very announcer that presided over the Pantrixnian adventures of Alexander Galaxus. Bob hovered over the jungle and announced, “Welcome to Circus Pantrixnia where tonight we will watch the battle of two Terrans against the beasts of Pantrixnia! Now don’t get your hopes up.” Bob kind of wobbled as if shaking his head, which of course he didn’t have. “These traitorous Terrans are not warriors but academic ideologues who conspired to bring down the Terran government. They meet their fate tonight on the vaunted stage their legendary leader Alexander Galaxus once distinguished himself on!”

“Oh my God Professor Strauss and Professor Nussbaum,” Alexander exclaimed when he saw the pale faces of the two former terrorists. They were dropped in the middle of a clearing and it was obvious that they were terrified.

Strauss looked up at Bob, and cried out, “This is a mistake, this is a mistake, the Admiral promised I wouldn’t get sent here! He promised me!”

Dad held up a finger, “Tell you in a bit, this shouldn’t take long. Rex 11 usually arrives first on the scene. He’s the eleventh son of Alexander Galaxus’ pet ‘Attila’ from his adventures.”

“You ever been on Pantrixnia Dad?”

“Sure, all part of Special Operations training, I got to meet this Tyrannosaurus when he was a pup! His folks were something else, I’ll tell you—smart and mean, but in a cool way! Wait, here he goes!”

Alexander jumped in his seat as the enormous bulk of a real live Tyrannosaurus Rex plowed through the trees and into the clearing. Sixty-five million years ago the Chem couldn’t help but transplant a healthy population of dinosaurs to Pantrixnia. The planet was the home of the most dangerous and fantastic beasts from all over the galaxy. The Tyrannosaurus population soon took the role as pre-eminent carnivores and became galactic stars.

The intent of Pantrixnia was to honorably execute the most recalcitrant criminals in the Chem Empire. The Chem loved the spectacle of Pantrixnia as much ancient Romans loved the Coliseum, and they weren’t opposed to having guest criminals from other cultures. Terrans were especially welcome because they were the strongest, fastest and most barbaric of the sentient species. That is why the announcer Bob, warned the audience the two contestants were ‘academics.’ He didn’t want to get the audiences hopes up.

As expected, both Professors dropped their rifles and ran for the trees. “Terrorists are always cowards,” Dad said. He winced when Rex 11 simply stomped on Professor Nussbaum, but not because it was violent or grotesque. He shook his head. “He didn’t even fire a shot—disgraceful!”

Rex 11 let Professor Strauss get to a large tree. Laboriously the Professor climbed, dropping his blaster pistol when he tried to draw it. It was the most effective move he could have made. The pistol spun to the forest floor and discharged. The blaster beam hit a branch near Rex’s head and distracted the dinosaur king long enough for the terrorist to climb above his jaws. Bob followed the Professor all the way into the canopy. It took the Professor a long time and he was sweating profusely by the time he got there. Despite the many questions Bob asked, Strauss wasn’t very forthcoming, he simply sat there in the seeming safety of the canopy catching his breath. He didn’t get to wait long.

“Sorry, Professor Strauss but the canopy is not a haven even for Terrans. It is the home of the Remvalix, a carnivorous insect of low intelligence, but one that you should feel right at home with!”

Strauss glanced at Bob and then looked around and saw the Remvalix, mantis-like beasts that appeared from all sides out of the foliage. They were about three quarters the Professors height and maybe a third his weight, but there were dozens of them. Strauss screamed and tried to get away, but it was too late. The insects grappled him and dragged him back through the trees.