The Epherium Chronicles: Embrace (9 page)

Whitaker sprang up from his chair and moved to the schematics again. “Any alterations to the secondary array are not permanent, and can be undone. However, this system will work, and I for one would like to make you a wager on that, Commander.”

“A bet, huh. Alright, but before we get to that point, I need to run this by the captain. If he gives the go ahead, you can install it. But I expect the system to be fully operational before we jump out of the system.”

“And what should we wager on then, Commander?” Whitaker asked. “I would think a real steak dinner cooked by the loser should suffice.”

Sanchez stood from his chair and looked hard at the schematics of Whitaker’s system again. “A steak dinner it is. I’ll speak to Captain Hood as soon as he’s available and will let you know of his decision.”

Sanchez started to walk out of the Engineering control room, but stopped and picked up the small part on the desk that he examined when he first arrived. “Mr. Whitaker.” Sanchez tossed the part to the now frazzled Chief Engineer. “In regards to our little wager, I hope you know what you’re getting into. When it comes to cooking, I’ve been known to burn water.” Sanchez smiled, gave Whitaker a curt mock salute then headed back into the busy corridor.

* * *

Whitaker waited until Sanchez was out of sight and earshot, then started to laugh. He reoriented the part in his hands and carefully placed it back into its proper place on the desk. He’d underestimated Commander Sanchez, and now he knew that this man understood how he thought. He quickly scanned the desks around the room and moved to the one on the far left. He keenly assembled three of the parts into a larger piece and once completed, he set that one down next to the remaining two on the desk.

Whitaker had full confidence that Captain Hood would give the go ahead for his new system. In his mind, the clock was already ticking to get the new system operational, and the various modules for the alteration needed to be assembled and tested.

Whitaker grabbed his large coffee mug from the desk to his right and walked over to the coffee pot he had installed in the control room. He filled the mug almost to the brim of the cup and took a few quick sips to get used to the temperature.

“All-night jobs are where genius is born,” he said. He took a larger swig of his coffee, rubbed his hands together vigorously and went back to assembling the remaining piece on the first desk.

Chapter Seven

EDF Armstrong
Saturday
,
January 18
Earth Year 2155

Captain Hood left his quarters and after a quick trip in the nearest elevator lift he arrived at the upper level crew deck. Hood walked down the primary corridor until he came to a door that was now marked with the words “Epherium Corporate Office.” Hood frowned as he opened the door and whispered under his breath, “This is a military vessel, not an office building.”

The office was aligned with two small desks near the front of the room and a larger desk closer to the back. Two doors on either side of the office led to additional rooms. Normally, the three-room set was configured for crew living quarters, with the front room designated as shared or common living space. The other two rooms would be occupied by either higher enlisted personnel or younger officers. Hood shook his head as he surveyed Epherium’s updates to the shared area décor.

Three men in business attire, complete with ties, sat in chairs near the closest desks to the door. Hood looked past them to the man sitting behind the larger desk in the back. Henry McCraken’s attention was completely focused on something on his data pad and he didn’t seem to notice his arrival.

One of the other three men, obviously an aide to McCraken, quickly stood and moved to greet the
Armstrong’s
captain. “Captain Hood. So glad to see you. Mr. McCraken will be with you in a moment. Can I get you something to drink while you wait?”

“No, I’m fine. Just not used to waiting for something on my own ship,” Hood replied sourly.

McCraken looked up from his data pad, smiled at Hood and stood. “Thank you, Riley. I can take it from here.” Riley nodded back to McCraken and took his own seat at his desk.

McCraken moved around his desk and jogged up to Hood. “James, so good to see you. How are things progressing?”

“Quite well, actually. We are on schedule, and I expect us to be ready to leave in the next two days. Our final gunship arrived early this morning, and our Marines will be boarding this afternoon.” Hood scanned the office again and looked back at McCraken. “I wanted to apologize for not meeting you personally, when you came on board last night. I was tied up with EDF Command, so I came to see if you had managed to get settled in. I see you have made yourself quite a home.”

“We like to move quickly, Captain. We wanted to get adjusted and be ready to assist you as soon as possible.”

“About that particular point, Henry. I had these quarters assigned to you and your people as a courtesy. I didn’t expect you to set up shop.”

McCraken nodded his head in agreement. “I understand, Captain. However, Admiral Grant gave us explicit permission to place a small satellite office on board. With that in mind, we wanted to create an operating environment here that can work with your crew and with the colonists when we arrive.” McCraken turned up a pseudo smile. “I could have the name taken off the door if you would like.”

Hood could see where this conversation was going, and he didn’t like it. “It’s a start.” He stared hard at McCraken. “I’ve known your company for a long time, Henry. They have provided the EDF and our people with so much over the last few decades. But this...this I don’t get. I just don’t understand your angle in all of it? Why did you of all people ‘volunteer’ to come with us?”

McCraken lowered his head and chuckled. “Like you, Captain, I go where I am needed most. My company needs me here, and Epherium has a strong vested interested in this ship and the colonists out there.” He walked back to his desk, reclined in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Besides, our collaboration has already spurned some great upsides into some new technological breakthroughs. I am sure you of all people, Captain, can recognize that benefit.”

“Yes.” Hood answered. “Mr. Whitaker has excelled tremendously since he arrived. Getting the new particle cannon installed ahead of schedule was testament to his ability, and I’m very interested to see how this new defensive system he is installing will function.”

Hood moved over to a point directly in front of McCraken’s desk. He placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward toward the Epherium liaison. “This is an EDF military vessel. You are here to observe and interact only with interests related to Mr. Whitaker and the colonists. This mission is under EDF jurisdiction and any undue interference from you or your people will result in you and your team being the first to be packed on a shuttle for a very, very long trip home. Do I make myself clear?”

Any sense of smile disappeared from McCraken’s face, and he sat up to meet Hood’s stare. “Understood, Captain Hood. There will not be a problem.”

Hood straightened and moved to the office exit to the main corridor. “I want the office sign removed from this door within the hour.”

McCraken nodded in capitulation, and Hood left the office in an almost worse mood than when he arrived.

Standing in the corridor about ten feet from the door was Sanchez. “That went well,” he said, almost not sure of what exactly to say.

Hood walked over to his XO. “At least I escaped from there without stepping into a slime trail,” Hood replied. “I’ve had several engagements with representatives from Epherium over the years, but why does he just make me feel dirty? I don’t like it.”

“In my experience, these corporate types all have their own agendas. Do you need me to have one of our security staff keep tabs on them?”

Hood and Sanchez started to walk down the hall back toward the elevator lift. “No, Commander. If we start poking around in their company business, it’s going to get us all in a lot of hot water with the brass. I prefer to let them have enough rope to move around but not hang themselves with it.”

They entered the elevator lift and Hood instructed the computer to head toward the command quarters level. “McCraken’s admission, that he goes where his company needs him, tells me that Epherium must be expecting something of great return in this mission, and it’s not just PR back home. I also don’t think he would be willing to come along on a trip like this one unless he was promised a stake in whatever Epherium stands to gain. We have a real puzzle to solve, Commander, one wrapped in corporate schemes, and it all points to those colony ships. Should be interesting.”

“Sorry, sir, I am not a fan of puzzles, I like my fights straight up and direct,” Sanchez said.

The officers exited the elevator and proceeded to Hood’s quarters on the left of the corridor. “Don’t worry, Raf. McCraken is an enigma, but not an unsolvable one. I’m sure we can unravel what he is up to soon enough.”

They stopped at the door. “The final remnants of the crew arrive tonight. Have you coordinated a ship-wide broadcast?”

“Lieutenant Wells and I have it scheduled for late afternoon tomorrow. I assume you wish to jump out that evening?”

“We need some fine tuning of the crew and some systems, but the faster we get moving the better.”

Hood opened the door and both entered the captain’s quarters.

“You have one new message,” the computer announced as the door closed. Hood looked at Sanchez, raised an eyebrow, and moved to the other side of his desk to access his computer terminal.

Opening his messages, the only new message in his inbox was text based and consisted of a single phrase, “Pawn to E-4.”

“Ah-hah,” Hood exclaimed, and he stood from the desk. “I see our new Tactical Officer has arrived.” He walked over to a set of drawers set into the wall, opened the third one from the top and removed a small wooden box.

“Sir?” Sanchez looked quite puzzled.

“Sorry, Raf. Lieutenant Aldridge, our new Tactical Officer is now on board, and probably waiting for us on the Command Deck.” Hood brought the box over the desk, opened it, and poured several small wooden pieces into a pile.

“You got that from that single line, sir?”

“Yes, actually. During my first command after the war on the Achilles, I had the opportunity to train Aldridge for tactical operations. One of my methods to keep her mind fresh and thinking was constantly running games of chess.” Hood smiled as he turned the box over, revealing a chess board, and began to place the chess pieces from the pile into their proper places. “I learned that she was a real student of the game back at the academy and offered this as an independent challenge for her. Now, whenever we cross paths, our matches start anew.”

“So who won?” Sanchez asked.

“It wasn’t about winning, Raf. The experience of the challenge and understanding the tactics involved were the lessons. Chess is very representative of life: open, brazen, deceitful, devious, comical, narrative and above all insightful. It is a game of endurance, skill, sacrifice, and discipline. I’m surprised you never picked it up at the academy.” Hood moved a pawn that sat in front of the white king two spaces forward.

“Didn’t have the patience for it. I took up hand to hand combat and starship weapons training instead.” Sanchez offered a curt smile. “Like I said, I like the direct approach. How long were your games?”

“Some lasted for weeks. I had to research so many grandmaster techniques it almost made my head spin. I am glad she still remembered.” Hood moved to the door and gestured for Sanchez to follow. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Sanchez followed the captain out the door. “Never heard you speak so highly of younger officers, sir. I hope I made the list,” he said jokingly.

“I always thought my job as a senior officer was to instruct and inspire, and I can see the effort that Styles put into you wasn’t wasted.” Hood laughed.

“Like you, sir, he’s a good teacher, but it was his ability to motivate his officers to do their best that I admired most in him.” Sanchez looked down at his watch. “I am due to check on the latest gunship exercises, but I want to talk with Lieutenant Aldridge first. Anyone that could match wits with you like that, I have to meet.”

* * *

The door to the secondary security station on the rear gunnery deck slid open quietly, and the intruder smiled as no alarms where triggered. The codes he obtained from the maintenance technician installing some of the security systems had proved invaluable. Not only were most of the inactive rooms aboard the ship easily accessible, it gave him access to other things as well. He would have considered thanking the man for his help, but he was sure he would have a problem finding his body floating in space. It seemed the airlocks on board were sensitive, especially during test phases. The incident didn’t even make the security log. He made sure of that. After all, accidents will happen.

Clad in a dull gray suit that covered all extremities, except for a sealed semi-transparent mask that hid his features, the intruder slipped inside the unoccupied room, and the door slid shut. The suit was designed to provide light refraction around the individual wearing it and with the reduced lighting in the corridor, his tall lean frame was practically invisible.

The small security station had two desks on the sides of the room complete with computer terminals and a small hardened, recessed cabinet on the back wall, which was clearly labeled “ARMORY.”

The intruder moved quickly to one of the desks and activated its computer terminal. The terminal screen came to life and displayed the EDF standard access authentication window. The intruder removed a small device from one of the suit’s pockets and inserted it into of the terminal’s access ports.

A flurry of activity occurred on the terminal and ended when the computer announced, “Override code accepted.”

The man moved his gloved hands carefully above the terminal’s sensory keyboard and began to type. A new window appeared on the screen and he typed in his query. Three distinct images of EDF personnel now appeared in small separate windows. The intruder looked at the three pictures and scanned the summaries of each person’s profile listed underneath. The nearly invisible hacker paused in brief contemplation then selected one of the images, which opened the full personnel record for that person.

Leaning closer to the screen, he slowly scanned through pages describing the individual’s profile and background, until a specific page was displayed that caught his interest. The intruder’s covered head nodded slowly as his eyes scanned the page. Satisfied with what he had found, he closed the files and typed a series of commands into the terminal.

The terminal screen now displayed an EDF logo, and he removed his access device from the terminal’s port. He gently pressed the button to turn off the terminal screen and removed a small bottle from his suit’s pocket on his lower left leg. After removing a cap from the spray bottle, the intruder sprayed four puffs over the terminal and two on the chair. The faint white mist from the spray settled onto its targets, flashed a brief pink then disappeared. Now confident that no DNA residue was left behind, the partially cloaked infiltrator placed the terminal key card and spray bottle back into the pockets of his suit and moved to the exit.

He had what he needed. All he had to do now was stash the information and supplies. He was needed elsewhere. Other resources would be activated and soon. It was almost too simple to just finish his task and get off the ship, but he would do what he was told. No one was irreplaceable, not even him.

His manufactured shuttle accident provided him the perfect cover to board unnoticed. With the maintenance tech’s ID and a pilfered set of work clothes, he could just walk off the ship and no one would be the wiser.

* * *

Major Arlen McGregor strode down the corridor with the proud confidence of a Marine. His mind on the other hand was a complete jumble. As he walked, he continued to replay the events of the last forty-eight hours over and over in his head. His career was over, and he sat on the cold floor in the brig at Tarsus base, waiting for the next stage in his nightmare to come. He was certain that EDF Command would send an escort to take him back to Earth for court martial, and he had resigned himself to a long sentence in an EDF military prison facility.

The surprising sight of an EDF admiral outside his cell block quickly caught his interest, and his soul soared when the Commandant of the prison opened his cell door. He informed him that all charges in his assault were to be dropped, and he was to report to his new duty station without delay. Whatever weight had been thrown around to get him released, McGregor was not about to let it be wasted.