The Epherium Chronicles: Embrace (11 page)

Admiral Tramp’s image came into view on the screen. “Hello, James. By now, you have noticed your new aide has arrived. Command instituted a new regulation stating that all EDF Dreadnaught commanders will now be designated as Flag Officers. I must have forgotten to mention it to you.” Tramp smiled purposefully then continued. “As such, each will be assigned a personal aide to assist with smaller mundane tasks. I know that this may seem to be a burden, but aides often times can be a good sounding block for commanders. Great generals and field commanders like Rommel, Patton, Anderson and Nagumo all relied on aides to keep them focused and relaxed for the tough tasks ahead.”

Tramp’s face tightened slightly. “I want to be frank with you, James. Command needs some good news right now. We’ve been seeing a lot of discontent back home with the lack of progress in colonizing new worlds. Everyone wants to branch out, carve their own ‘kingdom’ for themselves. Decades of promises, the war notwithstanding, are taking their toll. Terraforming isn’t moving fast enough, and if these worlds are viable and safe, finding ways to communicate that to the masses could jumpstart morale.” Tramp gave a quick laugh. “Look, James, I know you’re busy, so I won’t keep you. Get your ship in order, and give me an update after you make your first jump. Take care, Tramp out.”

Hood sat back in his seat and looked over at his new aide. “Leave it to Admiral Tramp to keep things fresh and in perspective.” He looked over at his cleaned and pressed uniform. “I see you have my clothes and items here in order. What else do you have for me?”

“Your schedule is open at the moment. There are no pressing meetings until your scheduled ship-wide briefing at sixteen hundred. I have talked to Lieutenant Wells, and she has reviewed your speech. It’s on the data card laying on your desk for any last minute changes.”

“Good job, Mr. Martin. Have you eaten?”

Martin shook his head.

“Very well, head down to the mess hall and get you something. Bring me back anything that looks fresh and edible. I’m open, so surprise me.”

“Aye aye, sir. Anything else?” Hood’s aide asked almost eagerly.

“Do you play chess, son?”

“No, sir, never learned.”

Another mind to mold.
Hood thought and smiled inwardly. “Alright, get moving, Mr. Martin.”

Martin quickly left Hood’s quarters, and Hood could hear him jogging down the corridor toward the elevator lift. Hood put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. He knew Admiral Tramp must be having a good laugh in his office back at Command, but he realized he was right. He needed focus and having an aide to help with his duties would definitely come in handy. Hood relaxed for a few more minutes then sat up in his chair, plugged the data card from his desk into his computer terminal, and started to review his address to the crew.

EDF Armstrong
Sunday
,
January 19
Earth Year 2155
6 Hours to First Jump

Commander Sanchez chimed the door to Hood’s quarters and turned to look at the elevator lift that opened down the hall. To his surprise, Maya Greywalker exited the lift car and moved silently to her own quarters, just as Hood replied to the chime.

Sanchez opened the door, but continued to watch Maya as he entered Hood’s quarters. His distraction turned to embarrassment, when he rammed his shoulder painfully into the door frame and spun into Hood’s quarters. Still not sure how it happened, Sanchez quickly recovered and almost lumbered over to Hood’s desk.

Hood looked up from the book he was reading and silently chuckled at his XO. “Off balance today, Raf?” he asked.

Sanchez smiled and slightly blushed with embarrassment. “Sorry about that, sir. I lost my balance when I came in. Saw something that distracted me for a sec.”

Hood noticed the look on Sanchez’s face and recognized what must have happened. “I see you met our new Security Officer.”

“Saw, more than met, sir,” Sanchez said as he rubbed his shoulder.

“I could introduce you, if you want,” Hood said sporting an evil grin.

“No. I’ll set up a meeting and get formally introduced, but thanks for the offer.” Sanchez collected himself. “Anyway, sir, I came to check on the final details of the ship-wide briefing. Have you reviewed your address to the crew?”

Hood marked his book, closed it gently and moved it to his left. “Yes, I think it will do nicely. Is everything in order down in Engineering?”

“Mr. Whitaker has been very thorough and able to get his staff to make things happen. I cannot wait to see his new defense system in action,” Sanchez replied.

“I take it you’re conceding defeat in your little wager?”

“Not yet, but if things continue to progress as they are, I may have to throw in the towel.”

Hood sighed, pressed his fist to his chest, tried to clear his throat and cracked a smile at Sanchez. “Is there anything else, Commander?”

Sanchez looked over at the book Hood had been reading. The book had a slightly aged brown leather cover. The title read,
HOLY BIBLE NEW KING JAMES VERSION
. “That’s a sight I didn’t expect to see out here, sir. I never took you as the religious type.” He pointed to the book.

“An evangelist, I am not, Commander, but I was raised in a very close family. Our faith in God was a strong part of what held us together,” Hood explained.

“Really, sir, how so?” Sanchez pulled up a chair next to Hood’s desk.

Hood stood, walked over to the viewport and stared out at the stars. “Faith has been a strong pillar in my life for as long as I can remember. To be honest, I doubt I could overcome some of the tough trials we faced during the war without it.”

Hood sighed and looked back at Sanchez. “I normally don’t talk about my beliefs outside of the family. Too many people these days get the wrong impression and instantly come to the conclusion that I’m a religious nutcase or something.” Hood turned back to the viewport again. “Countless stars and billions of galaxies that we can hardly even imagine are spinning around out in the black right now. That kind of creation from our bodies, to our own world, and all the stars and worlds out there can’t just be chance or accident. I think God had a very unique design in mind.” Hood paused and focused in on single star in the distance. “I often wonder if what He gave us wasn’t just to deal with the troubles of our own world and each other, but what lies out there. After all that’s happened over the past few decades, I’m sure of it.”

“My Nana was a real devout believer, too, but she thought that space would be something that destroyed us, not give us definition,” Sanchez said as he leaned back in his chair. “Me, I’m not sure what to believe. If there’s an afterlife, I’m all for it, but changing who I am to get there, it’s just not me. Probably best to call me an agnostic.”

“I would couple that with realist,” Hood said. “It keeps you grounded and gives you purpose.”

Sanchez laughed in agreement and leaned forward his chair. “Sir, I wouldn’t be a realist if I didn’t say this. I got into the war on the tail end and only saw a few mop-up engagements, nothing significant. You have probably the most experience of anyone in the fleet with the Cilik’ti. Back at the academy, the Pluto Station rescue is required reading, but it always seemed too glossed. If you don’t mind me asking, what really happened out there?”

Hood sighed then slowly nodded his head. He got up from his chair and went to his recessed file cabinet. The second drawer had a separate keypad and bio reader. Hood input his code and pressed his forefinger on the bio reader. The small light above the reader turned green, and the drawer unlocked with a thick click. Hood opened the drawer and pulled out a sealed pouch. The pouch was marked “Epherium Apollo Mission File Classified Ultraviolet.” Hood broke open the seal and removed the data pad from inside. With a solemn nod, Hood powered it on as he walked over to the desk and set it front of Sanchez, who quickly picked up the data pad and opened the only file stored in its memory.

Hood sat down and crossed his arms in front of him. “I was wondering when you were going to get around to asking that question. Every new command I take on, someone asks, but I’ve always defaulted to the EDF line that it was very similar to the constructed story they teach all new recruits. In light of our mission, I am going to change my stance on the matter.

“The brass told me they intended to leak the details of what really happened piece meal now that the war was over. I haven’t seen it yet, but for the truth not to come out is a dishonor to all the families of the men and women aboard the Apollo.” Hood stared hard at Sanchez and steeled his voice. “The incident was one of the closely guarded secrets before and during the war. Frankly, I’m tired of keeping it and it’s high time it came out.”

Sanchez paged through the files on the data pad. He couldn’t believe what he was reading and it showed on his face.

Hood recognized Sanchez’s amazement and he imagined others would react the same way. “Some people say that strategy wins battles,” he began. “For others, it’s persistence and the will not to be defeated. I say all that’s true, but a good amount of luck and key guesses can decide an engagement. Many great battles in our history were decided on as much. For that battle, we had a lot of luck up front, unfortunately it was all bad.”

Hood explained to Sanchez that the Apollo was a secret project funded by several nations and all engineered by Epherium. It was Hood’s first assignment out of the academy. He was the Apollo’s Tactical Officer under the command of Captain Horus McElroy, a former Marine drop ship pilot.

Sanchez continued to look through the file and found a picture of the Apollo in its space dock dated just before the battle. “Wow. This picture definitely seems different than the one I was meant to believe engaged in that fight. You can still see guns partially assembled, and the main sensor array is not even attached.”

“See what I mean?” Hood replied. “Sometimes it’s better to give the glorified version to the recruits than actually teach history.” Hood sighed and shook his head.

The files on the data pad detailed almost everything about the engagement, including Hood’s assumption of command after Captain McElroy was incapacitated and Hood’s risky maneuver to jettison detached cobalt reactive missile warheads as a defensive screen. The gambit worked and the Apollo’s gunners successfully fired on one of the warheads. The detonation tore a hole in the Cilik’ti ship and disabled her propulsion.

But there were details still missing. Sanchez finished reviewing the file and set down the data pad. He had several of questions of his own now, but he could see the pensive look on Hood’s face. It was a mask hiding the anguish he knew his CO felt about that day.

“I still don’t get it, sir,” Sanchez added. “The whole battle was tactical genius. You turned a disaster into victory over a superior foe. Why all the secrecy?”

“Plausible deniability,” Hood stated, annunciating each word. “Not to mention that it was first contact, Commander. We were also a project that wasn’t supposed to exist, and no country involved would acknowledge. The brass decided to bury the real story and present one with Epherium as the sole involved party, with the EEF as consultants. If the events spurred outrage, Epherium would take the hit and if not, the countries involved could come out in support of the project and win political points in the process. Epherium agreed, knowing that there was high probability of them coming out a winner in it. They were right.”

“All nice and neat. Man, I hate politics,” Sanchez said. “So Epherium comes out on top, and you’re labeled a hero.”

“Yes, all nice and neat, except for the real results. Fourteen crewmen dead and over thirty others severely injured. That’s all on me. In command, we all have decisions that still haunt us. This one is harder, since the real story never existed,” Hood said solemnly.

Sanchez placed the data pad on Hood’s desk and stood. “Sir, for what it’s worth, you did the right thing. The real facts were that ship was in no condition for a fight, and you were lucky not to walk right into a close range blast from that cannon. You saved the lives of over eighty crewmen on the Apollo when you took command and fought that ship. Not to mention those Marines and civvies on the other two ships. Still sounds like a hero to me. I imagine Captain McElroy would agree.”

“He did, Commander. His injuries left him paralyzed on his left side, and he retired from the EEF soon after. His testimony was the driving force for me being labeled the Hero of Pluto Station.”

“Is he still around?”

“No. He passed away three years ago. I received a message from his wife after his passing thanking me for saving his life, and for giving them many happy years together.”

“Did she know the whole story?” Sanchez asked.

“I doubt it, but she’s a pretty smart lady. I’m sure she figured that the story the EEF put out wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.”

“Hmm,” Sanchez murmured. “There is something about the whole scenario that doesn’t quite add up.”

“What’s that?”

“The Cilik’ti ship was a scout ship. It had good speed, maneuverability, and she could jump. It could have easily left at any time. Why risk a confrontation at all? They should have realized that the other ships in orbit would engage once the maintenance ship called for help.”

“I wondered that myself, Commander. I know they were searching for pidium, but the motive for the attack is still a mystery. Our lack of communication with them and the continued difficulty in deciphering their language has still left us blind, I’m afraid.” Hood explained as he scooped up the data pad and placed it back into the secure file cabinet.

“What do you think our chances are against the Cilik’ti, should they show up?” Sanchez asked.

“This ship is the most advanced in the fleet, Raf. To be honest, I wish we had her at the battle for Europa. I had five cruisers under my command in a fleet of over eighty ships. We outnumbered the Cilik’ti two to one, and it was still an even fight. We managed to drive them off, but a second wave hit us right as we were salvaging and in the middle of search and rescue. I lost three ships in the first salvo of that second assault, and the fleet was lucky to get out with less than fifty percent losses. We had to abandon the station, but the static defenses made them pay for gaining that base.”