Merchants in Freedom Page 8

  A green light flashed, the inner hatch ready to open, and with her pistol still at the ready, her finger on the trigger, she cracked open the door to reveal a weak, emaciated man standing on the far side, wearing a battered Fleet uniform, his hands raised in surrender.

  “Don’t shoot, damn it, I’m human,” he said. “Are you?”

  “Last time I checked,” she replied. “Who are you?”

  “Commander Frank Rogers, late of the Pericles,” he said. “I’m not with the Tyrants. I was never implanted, though they managed to capture most of my crew. The others are dead. I’m the only one.” Taking a step forward, he said, “I’ll ask you again. Who are you?”

  “Technical Officer Veronica Mendoza, of Xenophon.”

  “Xenophon? I thought…”

  “She’s in orbit right now with the rest of the task force.”

  “Task force?” Rogers asked. “There’s a fleet in orbit right now? A friendly fleet, out here?”

  “We fought a battle in orbit earlier today. As far as I know, the Tyrants have been defeated, and their base has been destroyed.” Rogers collapsed to the deck, burying his face in his hands, tears flowing freely. She knelt down to comfort him, and said, “We’ve got a lot to talk about, Commander.”

  “I know,” he snuffled. “I know.” He looked up, and said, “We’ve got to finish what the Tyrants started. We’ve got to crack the crust. I need to speak to your commanding officer at once. There’s no time to waste. We’ve already lost seven months. We don’t dare lose another minute.”

  “Talk first,” she replied, taking a step back. “Tell me everything.”

  He looked up, and said, “It’s a long story.”

  “Then I’ll make some drinks while you tell it.”

  Chapter 10

  Commander Winter stepped into the conference room, Rogers looking up at his arrival. Bianchi and Morgan followed him in, each taking seats around the table distant enough so as not to appear as though they were ganging up on the rescued officer, who sipped nervously at a cup of coffee as they took their seats. Winter carefully placed a tablet on the table, glancing down at the reports of Mendoza, Volkov and Singh from the surface.

  “For your information, Commander, we have completed an overflight of the base. Or should I say, the remnants of the base. The destruction was almost total, far greater than we could have expected, and I have a team down there picking through the pieces right now under the direction of Technical Officer Mendoza. We are in no immediate threat here, or anywhere else in this system.” Folding his hands together, he added, “To put it more succinctly, we have at least a little time to work out how to proceed.”

  “We’ve got to crack the surface, Commander,” Rogers pressed. “I think I’ve made that quite clear in my report.”

  “Without giving the reasons why,” Morgan replied.

  “There are issues relating to security clearance…,” Rogers began.

  Shaking his head, Winter interrupted, “A week ago, this task force took out a rogue Admiral who was attempting a military coup. That coup was supported and encouraged by the Tyrants. We have reason to suspect that they have completely infiltrated the politico-military infrastructure, and therefore have been forced to assume that we are on our own.”

  Nodding, Bianchi added, “You’re going to have to tell us everything, Commander. No matter what security restrictions you believe you are operating under. There’s every chance that those restrictions were only introduced in an effort to prevent the information you hoped to gather being used in the defense of Earth.”

  “We’re fighting the last battles of the war against the Tyrants,” Morgan said. “One way or another, this fleet is going to end the war. Whether that is in victory or in defeat appears at this juncture to be up to you.”

  “Talk, Commander,” Winter pressed. “I served on Pericles during what I presume was the first stage of your mission, the discovery that there was an interstellar-capable race operating in what is now human space tens of thousands of years ago. What I didn’t know until recently was that there was a second stage to that mission.”

  Nodding, Rogers said, “That was my mission. Our orders were to follow the trail, to see if we could work out where this race originated. There were indications of advanced technology, especially computer technology, so we had a dedicated team of experts along for the ride. Pericles was modified for exploration rather than combat, and we were planning for a mission that might take months. The original goal was to place a hyperspace beacon here, in this system, to permit…”

  “Wait a minute,” Morgan interrupted. “Who the hell authorized that? The colonies had been trying to get a seventh beacon…”

  “I was surprised myself, Major, but those were my orders. A follow-up ship was meant to be coming with the equipment, but the situation changed too rapidly for that.” He paused, took a deep breath, and said, “We arrived about ten months ago. Our orders were to look for signs of life, and we found it. There were a pair of ancient satellites in orbit, here.”

  “They’re gone,” Bianchi said. “The Tyrants, presumably.”

  “We took one of them for analysis,” Rogers replied. “And determined that it was a communications relay, with one antenna focused on the surface. We quickly worked out that it was in synchronous orbit, and after calculating for drift over the centuries, determined the likely focus of surface activity.”

  “I’m guessing that’s where the Tyrant base was,” Winter said.

  “Precisely. Though originally, that was our base, at least in part. We landed on the surface and started to dig. Our first discovery was that the climactic conditions on this planet have worsened in recent time, just in the last ten thousand years or so. Doctor Malek thought that it might have been a botched attempt at terraforming, perhaps something that went wrong, was possibly abandoned.”

  “Interesting, but hardly…” Bianchi began.

  “Then we found the contact,” Rogers pressed. “There’s something down there, under the ice. The ocean floor is very shallow in this region. There’s only a few hundred meters between the bottom of the ice pack and the actual surface. We started to improvise some equipment, and began to dig while we waited for the ship to arrive with the beacon.”

  “Did you investigate the other planets in this system?”

  “We launched a series of probes, and I sent a team to one of the other iron worlds where we found some interesting readings, but they didn’t find anything. They were on their way back when we were attacked.” He paused, took another drink of coffee, and said, “I’m sorry. This is hard for me. I’d known most of the crew for years, hand-picked them for this mission.”

  “Easy, Commander, I know it must have been difficult,” Winter said.

  Taking a deep breath, Rogers continued, “They struck without warning. Most of us were on the surface. There was only a skeleton crew left on the ship, and they never had a chance. They bought us enough time to try and make preparations for a defense, but the Tyrants landed troops within the first hour, surrounded the base.” He paused, his eyes haunted, and he added, “They surrendered. What choice did they have? They were outnumbered, outmatched in every possible way. There was no alternative. Had we known what would happen next…”

  “Where were you?” Bianchi asked.

  “We’d identified a few other sites of interest on the surface, and were heading out on a shuttle to take a look. To be honest, it was my Exec that pushed me to go. She said I needed some time off, so I took the shuttle out myself with a small science team. That’s the shuttle you found. As soon as the enemy arrived in orbit, I took her down.”

  “You didn’t try and get back to the ship?” Morgan asked.

  “Major, by the time we realized just what was happening, there wasn’t much of a ship left to go back to. The crew evacuated, and were picked up by the Tyrants. Within an hour, just an hour, most of my crew had been captured, the rest killed. There were four of us left. I ordered them to go into hiding, an
d made my way to the base to see what the situation was.” He took another drink of coffee, his hands shaking.

  “Commander, if you need some time…” Bianchi offered.

  “No, no, I want to get this out. I’ve got to get this out. I’ve been on my own for months. It’s tough.” He wiped his eyes, and said, “I didn’t know what I was going to find. I figured that if they were treating the prisoners properly, we’d join them, maybe try and arrange some sort of prisoner exchange. I thought they might be rebels, that we’d stumbled into some sort of Colonial trick, but when I got to the base, I was quickly disabused of that notion.”

  “What did you see?”

  “They’d thrown up a dome, transparent. I could see inside quite easily. It was filled with operating tables. I had no idea what they were planning, and I managed to get close enough to get a good look. I suppose I hoped I might be able to rescue them. I clung to the hope that they might just be conducting medical examinations, but then they started the procedures.”

  “Implantation,” Morgan said.

  “That’s right, Major. It was so quick, so quick. They dragged the first wave of my crew to the tables, strapped them down, and…”

  Rogers stopped, his eyes vacant, empty, the stare of a man who had seen too much and longed to see no more. Bianchi looked at Winter, then turned back to Rogers.

  “What happened next?”

  “I ran. I ran as fast as I could. They hadn’t set up a perimeter watch at that point. Maybe they thought they’d captured everyone. Maybe they just didn’t care. I don’t know how I got away, but I kept going for hours, maybe a day, just running across the wilderness. A storm came up, out of nowhere, and by the time it ended I’d travelled more than a hundred miles. I guess I’d gone a little crazy by then. I made my way back to where I’d left the others, and I told them what I had seen. We decided to split up.”

  “Split up? Not fight?” Bianchi asked.

  Shaking his head, Rogers said, “We thought another ship was coming, one carrying a vital piece of equipment. We couldn’t let them have a beacon. Not if there was any chance to stop them. The plan was to dig in. We buried the shuttle to stop the Tyrants discovering it, and took all the supplies and the emergency shelters. The others were to go into hiding, somewhere out in the crevasses and fissures, and watch the sky. When a friendly ship arrived, we’d make contact and warn them off.”

  “If you’d done that, the Tyrants would have found you in seconds,” Morgan said.

  “Our lives weren’t exactly important at that stage. We split up, and I headed out into the plains to the north. I set up my camp in a small fissure with an overhang, and dug in for the long haul. We each had enough supplies to last nine months. I’d arranged for a few other depots to be scattered around, just in case anything happened to the base and to support other expeditions. We grabbed them before the Tyrants could, but that was a mistake.”

  “They realized there were other people out there, and went looking,” Winter said. “I gather that you don’t think any of the others made it.”

  “I know for a fact they didn’t. We couldn’t transmit, but we could receive, and we kept our channels open, listening out for anything. The Tyrants didn’t ever transmit, but I’d pick up the occasional beacon. We agreed that we’d only transmit if we were on the verge of being captured, and all of us had made it clear that we weren’t going to permit them to take us alive. Not knowing what they were going to do to us.” He closed his eyes, then added, “After a few weeks, our own people started to talk to us, people I knew, people I’d trusted. They were being forced to betray us by those damn things that had been placed in their brains.”

  “Psychological warfare, right out of the manual,” Morgan said.

  “Hour after hour, day after day. I swear they talked in relays. We couldn’t shut off our receivers and they knew it. I couldn’t even set up a discriminator on the circuit, not without risking missing a new ship entering the system. One by one, my friends, my remaining friends, were caught. One of them turned themselves in. I guess it was all too much for him. The others made a mistake, and the Tyrants swooped in, picked them up, and added them to their gestalt.”

  “And you managed to survive,” Winter said.

  Nodding, he replied, “Not only that, but I was able to monitor their activities. I figured after a while that I was probably as good as dead, so I decided to at least do something useful before I died. After six months, I just assumed that nobody was ever going to come, or even if they did, that there wouldn’t be anything I could do to help them, so I started to scout out, to find out what they were doing. I set up remote sensor drones, scattered them around, then retrieved them when it seemed safe. They almost caught me a few times.”

  “What did you learn?” Morgan asked.

  “They were very interested in that site. They brought in special equipment, expanded the base, set up a full-scale facility. They spent months hacking away at the ice, trying to get down to whatever it is down there. My guess was that they were perhaps a week away from completing their project when you arrived. I was trying to work out some way to stop them. I think I’d have probably ended up making the same attempt as your Petty Officer Ortiz, though I don’t know whether I would have been as successful.”

  Nodding, Winter said, “We’ll talk it over, Commander. I want you to go back to Medical. Doctor Zhang wants you confined to bed for at least a day so he can run a series of base-line checks. Then I’ll think about returning you to active duty status, if you feel up to it.”

  “I’d welcome it, Commander. Not just to have something to do. I want to hurt those bastards. They didn’t kill my crew. What they did to them was worse. Far worse.” He paused, then said, “If Ortiz was still alive, I’d say this to him. My crew owe him their souls. All of them, all the ones they captured, were down on the planet, working for whatever cursed intelligence is guiding that gestalt. He’s freed them all, and I know that each and every one of them would thank him for that.”

  “Thank you, Commander. Lieutenant Bryant will escort you to Sickbay. Try and rest as best you can.”

  Nodding, Rogers unsteadily rose to his feet, walking cautiously out of the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Winter looked down at the tablet for a second, then across at the others.

  “Thoughts?” he asked.

  “The Tyrants wouldn’t have wasted time and effort here unless they thought it was damned important,” Morgan said. “This wasn’t a decoy, and they don’t have the resources to waste on non-essential projects, even if it was within their character to undertake them.”

  “I agree. I think we’ve got to go along with Commander Rogers’ assessment of the situation,” Bianchi said. “The only question is just how we can do it?”

  “There is a way,” Winter said, “but it’s going to be damned dangerous.” He slid the tablet to the others, and added, “Lieutenant Moore came up with it, but strongly recommends that we don’t adopt it.”

  “This is insane,” Bianchi said, skimming the text. “Completely insane.”

  “And yet,” Winter replied, “I think it’s the only chance we’re going to have to find out what is down there. Major Morgan, prepare the shaped charges, just as outlined in this document. We’re going in.” He paused, then added, “And this time, I’m taking the shuttle down myself. This is one time where the commanding officer has to lead the way.” Before either could reply, he raised his hand, and added, “No protest on this, people. We’re doing it.”

  “Not without me,” Morgan said.

  Cracking a smile, Winter replied, “Oddly enough, I figured you’d say that.”

  “And what do we do if you don’t make it back?” Bianchi asked.

  “That, thank God, won’t be my problem,” Winter said. “We’ll be back. One way or another. Count on it.”

  Chapter 11

  “Charge Seventeen, set, and locked,” Mendoza said, kneeling beside the deceptively small device. “Check the circuits.”

&n
bsp; Volkov nodded, more quiet than usual, running a hand scanner over the charge, tapping a series of controls until the light flashed green.

  “All nominal. Ready for detonation.” He looked around the desolate landscape, and asked, “Why the hell did he do it?”

  “He thought he had to,” she replied. “Maybe he did. Without Nick’s sacrifice, none of this would be happening.” She looked up at the quiet engineer, and asked, “Do you want to go back to the ship? Singh can take over if you’d like. There’s no need…”

  “I’d rather just get this over with, if you don’t mind,” Volkov snapped. “The bastard went ahead without me. We’d been working together for twenty damned years. What the hell am I meant to do now?”

  “I’m sure the Fleet will keep you on,” she said. “You might not feel much like it at the moment, but you’re a hero. That counts for something.”

  “Some hero,” he said. “I just got lucky. That’s all.”

  “Sometimes that’s all heroism is, I guess,” she replied. “Though if it makes you feel any better, the odds of any of us getting through this mission in one piece are remote, so I suspect it won’t come up. We’ll probably both be joining Ortiz within the week. Think of it as an advance recon.”

  “There’s a nice, happy thought,” the engineer said, struggling to his feet in the confines of the bulky spacesuit. “Just one more charge, right?”

  “Then we get the hell out of here,” she said, looking around. “In less than an hour, this whole landscape will be changed forever. Everything gone, the whole base, as though it had never been here at all.”

  As the two of them walked around the perimeter towards the final charge, Volkov asked, “Just what do you think they’re going to find down there? What’s so damned important?”