Last Flight of the Ark (20 page)

The com remained silent for longer than he expected. He turned to Melissa and mouthed, “I fucked it up. What do I do?”

She shook her head and put her finger to her lips. Melissa typed a message on the screen.
Tell them you moved the base
.

Kaleb nodded. That should raise some hackles.

“We’ll notify all their families on Earth. I’m assuming you have already notified any next of kin present on Terra II.”

“Yes, sir.” He reached over and gave Melissa’s hand a squeeze as he held her gaze. “I’ve already seen to it.”

“We have a research vessel en route and two ships with colonists. They should arrive at your location within four months. Until then, you’ll have to make do with what you’ve got. We’ll launch another vessel with supplies and a crew to replace what you lost. I’ll see you myself in eight.”

“Roger.”

“Colonel Stone was a close friend. The least I can do is see his expedition through, complete the report, and hold a ceremony for those killed.”

Kaleb gave Melissa and Jessica a thumbs-up. At least they were coming. Now time to give them a reason to question what was going on and bring troops. “Roger. I’ll relay the coordinates for our base.”

“I thought the location was already established, Colonel?”

“We had to move it because of environmental concerns.” That should trigger them to look at the data on the weather satellites in orbit around Terra II and the hidden message encoded in the data, which informed them Ursus Station was under hostile control.

“You can brief me when I arrive as to why you chose to move the location without consulting Earth Command first.”

“Will do, sir.” The com went dead. He yanked the headset off and threw it across the room. “We’re fucked if they don’t figure it out and pull the encrypted messages from the satellites.”

“Don’t panic,” Melissa said. “I think they’re questioning plenty. I would if I was in the admiral’s place.”

“God help us if they don’t.”

***

Admiral Johnston dropped the com and stared out the window. “Pull the current data from the environmental satellite that covers the southwestern sector of Terra II. Our boy, Colonel Titan, is trying to tell us something.”

The communications officer typed in the codes, creating an uplink. “We should have the data in four hours.”

“Keep me posted. I want to know the second it comes in.”

“Yes, sir.”

***

Four hours later

“Sir, we received the data. Weather reports, seismic activity, and radiation levels are all reading normal. We did pick up some kind of code encrypted in the data but the linguistics officer has been unable to decipher it.”

“What languages did you try?”

“Every legitimate language known to mankind. We even tried Navajo. We can’t break the code.” The communications officer turned. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Admiral Johnston nodded. Colonel Titan had graduated from MIT with a 4.0. He had degrees in molecular genetics, nuclear physics, and had his hands into every other geeky occupation one could imagine. The man was doing calculus at the tender age of seven and college-bound before he was twelve. To say he was smart was putting it mildly. Why the hell would he encrypt a code in the environmental satellite?

He’d encrypt it because someone was listening. Admiral Johnston took a sip of his coffee and looked up at an overhead screen as the message appeared. He snorted and spewed coffee from his nose.

“Sir?”

Johnston choked back a laugh and coughed. “Stop thinking like a rocket scientist and keep it simple.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“That’s pig Latin, son. A child’s game.” Johnston narrowed his eyes and translated, quickly losing his sense of humor. “Put the fleet on forty-eight-hour notice. Ursus Station is under hostile control and the
Genesis I
and II were attacked.”

“By what, sir?”

“I don’t know. Cats maybe? Colonel Titan suggested we bring our dogs.”

“Dogs, sir?”

“If he says to bring dogs, we’re bringing dogs and lots of them. Call every humane society in the country.”

***

The shuttles were more than equipped to handle the relocation of the settlement. Kaleb wanted to get as far away from the city as possible, but not because he feared Earth Command would see it. The technology in that city could be dangerous and he wanted to be as far from it as possible. Besides, any of the hostiles coming to the planet would return to that city first. Not a good place to be. Bryant’s count of the empty cells told him there were maybe only four more out there, but that was a big maybe. Who knew if there were any of those cells elsewhere on the planet, or another world? It could take years to know.

They’d moved to the eastern side of a large mountain range. The range and grasslands were the perfect location for a settlement. There was an ample water supply, with two major rivers running through the region. Paving roads, erecting communications towers would be fairly easy as they didn’t need to blast through rock or cut down forests. The soil was amazing and they should be able to plant several varieties of crops to sustain the colonies.

He still didn’t have any indication Earth Command had received his message to send help. They could be on com-silence. He had only risked a small message. Anything else would have been obvious and might not slip by Ursus Station. He’d not been willing to take the chance.

If the queen had told the truth and there were more of them out there, it would only be a matter of time before they made an appearance. If Earth Command got the message before they reached the halfway station, Admiral Johnston would take care of the threat at the station and bring soldiers to help secure the planet. He’d dropped a not-so-subtle clue and Admiral Johnston was anything but a moron. He hadn’t made it to the rank of fleet commander for nothing. He’d figure it out. Kaleb needed to be patient and wait. Help was on the way. They had to believe that.

For now, he needed to get the settlement moved and away from that city. He checked the balance of the load and nodded for the hover to move the cargo onto the shuttle.

By the end of the week, they’d have a fully operational base with housing for two thousand. They’d set up the outposts after that and start rotations. Everything needed to be running routine before the admiral arrived.

He stepped back and shielded his eyes from Novae’s rays, Terra II’s version of the sun. She sat at her zenith and steamed the ground around them. He’d stripped down to his T-shirt an hour before when the temperatures had climbed into the nineties and still he roasted. Without shade, the plains were warmer than the previously planned location. It was a good thing they were equipped for the heat.

Their quarters would provide climate equalizers, like air-conditioning and humidity control, making adjustment to the new planet easier. He lifted the bottom of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face.

He spoke into the com. “Jessica.” He eyed the shuttle as it took off.

“Here, sir.”

“How many units do we have on their foundations?” For the last week they’d been living in a tent city. The next shuttle they loaded would carry the last building. He glanced up to watch a shuttle stop above the platform and her vertical thrusters kick on. Kaleb backed up. His hair ruffled. He cupped his hand over his ear.

“We’ve got three-quarters of them together. The plumbing is in place and the geothermal station is running at full capacity. We’ve got power and running water.”

“How about showers?” The shuttle’s engines cut and the hatch opened.

“Fully functional. Would you like to help me test them out?”

He grinned. “That’s an affirmative. Let me get the rest of this load off the ground and I’ll be there.” He motioned to the crew on the deck. “Last load, let’s hustle.” He moved toward the ship and Melissa, who stepped off and onto the pad.

“A second wind?”

“Something like that. Our quarters are in place and the showers work.”

“Our quarters?” Melissa screwed up her face. “This isn’t your way of asking me to move in with you, is it?”

He froze.
Shit
. He’d moved all their stuff and hadn’t bothered to ask. What a dumb-ass. He’d assumed after eight months they’d all want to stay together in the same building. They had their own rooms and privies. “I thought….”

Melissa smiled. “Don’t. I’ll move in with you. But next time, ask me first.”

Eight months later

“Earth Command, this is the pilot of the
Nocturne
. You’re not going to believe what I’m looking at.”

“This is Earth Command. Report.”

“I’ve got a city below. Approximately five miles across.”

“Repeat last transmission,
Nocturne
.”

“I’ve got a city below. Relaying visuals and coordinates now.”

“Visuals received. Decoding signal. Any sign of life down there?”

The pilot banked the shuttle and swept one more time over the city. “It appears to be abandoned. I see no activity below to indicate the city is still occupied.” The picture on the screen showed several glass pyramids sitting below, surrounded by stone buildings with grand facades and the glint of metal trim. “I don’t detect any movement and the streets appear to be overgrown with vegetation. I’ve engaged sonar and I’m pinging for movement.”

“Roger. Have you engaged the infrared scanner?”

“Affirmative. We’ve got negative readings for thermal irregularities and I’m not picking up any life forms. They’d have to have the body temperature of a polar ice cap to get past the range calibrated into the scanner.”

“Make a third pass. If you don’t see any signs of life, I’d like you to land and secure a sector. I’m sending down a team of scientists and a security detail.”

“Roger. Sweeping over the fourth quadrant now.”

Admiral Johnston studied the feedback. Well, the city was a surprise, but then again, he’d expected one or two after what they’d found at the halfway station. Who would have believed four alien hijackers controlled it? That was the very reason he’d decided to investigate this sector before contacting Colonel Titan and letting him know they’d arrived.

Thank God he’d put Colonel Titan in charge of the
Genesis I
. He’d no clue how the man had defeated the hijackers and saved both his crew and the crew of the
Genesis II
, but he’d find out soon enough. After what he’d discovered at the station, Colonel Titan, the crews of the
Genesis I
and II, and the colonists could be in a hostage situation. It was better to do the recon now and have a better grasp on the situation, instead of going in with guns blazing. Not that he wasn’t ready for that scenario. He had armed the fleet orbiting Terra II, and if there were more of the hijackers, they might already know he was there. Best to know what he was getting into.

Colonel Titan had moved the base camp and he’d lied when he’d told him he’d moved it for of environmental concerns. That, primarily was what tripped the red flags. So once they’d arrived at Terra II, Johnston engaged the backup satellites and got the true picture. And it was indeed a big concern, but had nothing to do with the weather.

The robotic probes sent months before had failed to pick up the city or any indication that someone had been here. Small wonder. The hijackers running Ursus Station had changed the data and Johnston wasn’t sure what else could have been altered.

Someone had to go into the city and make sure it was empty. Once he established that it was empty and there wasn’t an alien threat, he’d pay a little visit to Colonel Titan and find out what was going on.

“Suit up in full biohazard gear. I don’t want to take any chances anything in those ruins could infect a member of the team. Someone lived here once, and from all appearances, they no longer do. I want to make sure that’s the case and Colonel Titan and Terra II Base Camp are not involved in a hostage situation like Ursus Station.”

“You think they’ve been taken hostage?”

“It’s a possibility. No one abandons a planet like this. You have to ask yourself where the prior residents went.”

“What if they’re still here and it’s not abandoned?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out. Have our ships on standby. We might need to get our asses off this hunk of rock fast.”

“Yes, sir.” The pilot reversed the thrust, lowering the shuttle into a clearing.

***

They curled together, tangled in each other’s limbs, face to face and naked. Kaleb leaned against the doorjamb, staring. Nothing marred the image. In her sleep, Jessica wore innocence. Melissa, strength. Even as they slept, the differences in their souls reflected outward, taking his breath away.

His eyes traveled down, following the curve of Melissa’s body to where her hand rested on the barely rounded mound of Jessica’s belly—and his children.

He could stare at them all day and never grow weary of the image, but they had shuttles arriving with visitors from the northern colony and he needed to be present to make sure nothing happened to the people on board the incoming ships.

He didn’t trust the handful of mutants who’d gone renegade because of the enforced separation from their families and loved ones. Many wanted their families with them and weren’t taking no for an answer. Several had left the base and were causing problems. They sabotaged the power stations and communication towers and refused to stop until he gave them what they wanted. He couldn’t, family or not. He felt their pain, but the colonists must be protected at all costs. If the mutants converted any to hybrid and spread the infection, Earth Command might destroy everyone. He wasn’t taking that chance.

He had teams in place to secure the docks and had been over the schedule a hundred times. He should be confident with their safety, but he wasn’t. Hence the reason he couldn’t sleep now. Impending doom seemed to be rolling toward them from every direction.