A Show of Force (14 page)

Abby’s mouth was agape. “That’s brilliant!” she exclaimed. “Simple, yet brilliant.”

Nathan chuckled again. “Then you’re not going to like it when I tell you whose idea it was.”

“Not Vlad’s.” Abby moaned. “Oh, please tell me it wasn’t Vlad’s idea.”

“Sorry.”

Abby sighed. “I don’t know, Nathan. That’s a hell of a commute each day.”

Nathan noticed the wry smile on Abby’s face. “You won’t have to be on site the entire time,” he assured her. “You can work from home as much as is feasible, and we can even arrange for you to keep your current cover in place. No one here will know what you’re really doing, and no one at either plant will know where you are really living.”

“How are you going to manage that?”

“We’ll provide you with a Tannan shuttle, equipped with a jump drive. They’ll be on standby to take you wherever you wish, at a moment’s notice.”

“It will have to be a crew that we both can trust,” Abby reminded him, “especially if you think we have a spy in our midst.”

“I think I know two pilots we can trust,” Nathan replied with a grin.

Abby returned the smile, knowing of whom Nathan spoke.

“You used the pronouns ‘we’ and ‘our’,” Nathan observed. “Does that mean you’re on board?”

“No, it does not,” Abby corrected him, sternly. “I mean, I’m not saying no… yet. I have to talk with my husband first. After all that he has been through recently, I believe I owe him the right to make this decision for us.”

Nathan put his charming smile back on, adding his big round blue eyes to the mix as well, in an obvious attempt to persuade her to agree to accept the position. “But you
want
to take the job, don’t you.”

“Don’t give me those big blue eyes, Nathan Scott,” Abby scolded. “I’m not falling for them. Not this time.”

* * *

“I found a few things that we can use,” Naralena said as she entered the living room carrying a handful of clothing. “They probably aren’t going to fit either of us correctly, but they…” She paused, looking over Jessica’s shoulder at the computer terminal’s screen. “What are you doing?”

“I’m posting contact messages on network forums,” Jessica replied as she continued to type.

“You really think that is going to work?”

“It’s part of the contact protocol. I post precisely worded messages in various net forums, with user IDs that spell out a code word when a special algorithm is applied.”

“But you can’t just post ‘Hey, spies from Earth have arrived, give us a call,’ right? So how do you communicate with them?”

“The original EDF operatives were issued decryption algorithms that they had to memorize. When they see a user ID that has certain character combinations, they apply the algorithms to see if any of them decrypt the user ID to spell out the contact code word.”

“Which is?”

“Erda.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. It’s an old English word from, I don’t know, a few thousand years ago.”

“It means ‘Earth’ in Angla,” Naralena said.

Jessica paused, turning to look at her. “No shit?”

“No shit.”

“What are the odds?” Jessica said, turning back to the computer screen. “Anyway, they then take whichever algorithm converted the user ID into ‘Erda’, increase its factors by the local date on the message, and then use it to decrypt the message. And let me tell you, it is not easy to compose a message that looks normal to everyone else on the forum, but still spells out your intended message when decrypted.”

“What message are you trying to give them,” Naralena asked, “assuming any of them are still alive?”

“‘Erda command request contact within 7 same method,’” Jessica replied, “and I’m betting there are at least three of them still alive and kicking.”

“How do you know?” Naralena wondered.

“Because the forums they host are still active,” Jessica explained. “If they were dead, the forums would get shut down due to lack of payment for the hosting services.”

“Unless someone else took them over, or started one years later with the same name.”

Jessica paused again, looking at Naralena once more. “I hadn’t thought of that.” Her face crinkled as she realized that Naralena was wearing a different shirt.

“Like it?” Naralena wondered. “I found several of them in the closet. It’s a little big on me, which means it will definitely be big on you, but I think if we pin them back a bit, maybe cover them with a loose fitting sweater or something, they’ll work.”

Jessica returned her attention to the computer. “I never made you for a fashion plate.”

“How could you?” Naralena said. “All we ever wear on board are uniforms,” she said as she reexamined the other blouses and sweaters she had brought out. “You know, this is the first time I have been off that ship in months.”

Jessica finished typing the last message, pressing the submit button. “There. That’s the last one.”

“So, what do we do now? Sit here and wait for a response?” Naralena wondered.

“I wish it were that easy.” Jessica stood up from the chair and picked up one of the blouses, holding it up against her body. “What do you think?”

“Wrong color,” Naralena said. “How long do you think it will take to get a response, assuming that you’re correct and one of your operatives is still alive?”

“Could take days, or even weeks. Unfortunately, we only have four weeks to complete our mission. So, in the meantime, we’re going to need to look around on our own, which means we need to get to the capital, Cetia. Unfortunately, we’re on the wrong side of the lake.”

“Surely they have some sort of transit system here.”

“Sure, they have a train that can get us there in a few hours; I checked. But that requires money. More specifically, it requires Jung credits.”

“Like these?” Naralena wondered, a smile on her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Jung hundred-credit chip, waving it in the air in front of her face.

“Nice,” Jessica said. “Where did you find it?”

“It was in a card on the dresser. I think it was a gift or something. I feel kind of bad about taking it, actually.”

“Well, I don’t,” Jessica said, snatching the credit chip from Naralena’s hand. “This chip will get us both to Cetia. It might even get us a hotel room for a few days, while we wait for someone to respond to our requests.” She put the credit chip in her pocket. “What else did you find?”

“Some bags, a few snacks in the kitchen, and the clothing. That’s pretty much it. Oh, and this thing,” Naralena added, pulling a small, flat device from her front pocket. “I think it’s their version of a data pad,” she said, handing the device to Jessica.

Jessica briefly examined the device. “I think you’re right. Let’s hope it’ll connect to the planet’s global network. That will make things a lot easier.”

“So, when do we leave?” Naralena wondered.

“Not until tomorrow morning,” Jessica explained. “There’re only two trains per day, both in the morning, and the last one left a few minutes ago. Besides, we should probably clean up first. We both look, and smell, like we just crawled out of a lake, remember?”

“Trust me, I remember,” Naralena answered. “Are you sure it’s safe to stay here that long?”

“Honestly, no. But we don’t have much choice. We’ll get cleaned up and ready to go, then get a good night’s sleep. We can take shifts keeping a lookout, in case whoever owns this place
does
show up.”

* * *

Cameron stepped up to the podium in the Karuzara’s main conference room. Sitting in front of her were the first one hundred volunteers from Earth who had passed the security screening process. They came from all the worlds of the Alliance, except for the newest member, Copora. As these people would become crew members on the Celestia and the Aurora, they had been carefully selected. Not only was their screening process far more rigorous, but the required skills and experience were far higher as well. While the majority of the volunteers were from the Pentaurus cluster, at least a quarter of them were from Earth, and had undergone even more intense scrutiny by both Commander Telles’s security teams as well as those of Lieutenant Commander Nash.

“My name is Captain Cameron Taylor. I am the commanding officer of the Celestia, and I will be in charge of your training. As you all know, the Celestia is in dry dock, and is expected to be there for several months. While this leaves us down a ship, it also provides us an excellent facility in which to conduct your training. As the Aurora is the only Explorer-class ship in service at the moment, and she is understaffed, upon completion of your training, you shall all be assigned to her. Some of you have previous military experience, and some of you have time in space in various disciplines. While this can certainly be of benefit, it can also be a hindrance, as you will quickly learn that things aboard a jump-capable warship can be quite different than what you are used to. Those of you without such experience, although not burdened with the need to unlearn old ways, will have to work twice as hard to keep up with your crewmates.”

Cameron paused a moment, examining the faces of the volunteers before continuing. “Your training shall be broken into four modules, the first one being basic ship’s procedures, nomenclature, and safety protocols. This training will be conducted in the classrooms on this base. In module two, you will become acclimated with the areas of the ship in which you will serve, as well as the areas in which you will live while under way. As both the Aurora and the Celestia are no longer FTL ships, their accommodations and facilities are being converted from long-term into short-term support environments, as the majority of our missions will last hours or days, rather than weeks or months. This means that the usual amenities and distractions that one might find available to them during off-duty hours will no longer be available. Unfortunately, these sacrifices are necessary to enable us to install better, more effective weapons and defensive systems on board. The third module of your training shall consist of drills and simulations, of every type and situation conceivable. This will be the most difficult part of your training, and will last the longest. In order to be effective in battle, your actions must be automatic… accurate and without forethought. You must be able to follow orders without question. More importantly, you must be able to take the initiative and solve problems on your own, in the absence of command personnel.”

Cameron paused again. “The fourth and final module will be the most important module of all… damage control training. When the call goes out for damage control parties in your section, you have to know what to do, as not only will your lives depend on it, but so shall the lives of the rest of the crew.”

Cameron looked at them again to emphasize her point. “Make no mistake about it. The ships on which you have volunteered to serve will be going in harm’s way… repeatedly. Many of us
will
die. In war, that is a foregone conclusion, one that cannot be escaped. But living or dying is
not
what any of you should care about at this point. All you
should
care about is doing your jobs to the best of your ability.
That
is how you survive in combat.
Do
your jobs, and most of us
will
survive this conflict. Then you will go home to your loved ones and tell them stories about your adventures, and about the brave crewmates who did
not
survive.”

Cameron cleared her throat as she let her words sink in. “To my left is my executive officer, Commander Kovacic. He is second-in-command of the Celestia as well as the coordinator of your training program. To my right is Master Chief Montrose, the Celestia’s chief of the boat. You will answer to them, as if answering to me.”

Cameron paused again, taking one last look at the faces gathered before turning the podium over to her XO. She noticed Nathan standing in the doorway to the left of the podium, smiling. “And now I’ll turn you over to the XO and the COB to pass out your assignments and get your training under way.” Cameron turned to Commander Kovacic. “Commander?”

“Thank you, sir,” Commander Kovacic said, stepping up to the podium.

Cameron stepped down and moved off to the left, toward Nathan, who was still standing at the doorway with his usual goofy smile that, he thought, was charming.

“Nice speech,” Nathan said as she approached.

“Thanks, but I plagiarized a lot of it from the European EDF Academy’s CO… from my first day there.”

“I thought it had a familiar tone. Sounded a lot like the one I heard on my first day.”

“Where’s your shadow?” Cameron asked as they started down the corridor.

“He went with Naralena and Jess.”

“To the Tau Ceti System?”

“Yup.”

“I can see Weatherly, but Naralena?”

“I guess Jessica’s Jung just wasn’t cutting it,” Nathan explained. “Dumar decided they would have a better chance if Naralena went along and did the talking. The sergeant went along as a bodyguard.”

Cameron noticed he was still smiling as they headed down the corridor. “So, I gather by that goofy look on your face that Abby accepted the position?”

“Was there every any doubt?” Nathan asked.

“Actually, yes,” Cameron said. “I don’t know that I would be willing to come back. Not after all that happened, and not after being separated from her family for so long.”

“Exactly why I made sure that she wouldn’t be separated from them any more than she already is at her current job.”

* * *

Jessica stepped off the train and onto the platform. The underground station appeared much like the ones she had seen in many of the larger cities on Earth. Electronic signs displayed arrival and departure information. Hordes of travelers wound their way through crowds of people waiting for trains.

Being a core world, and the second one to be colonized by Earth back before the bio-digital plague, Kohara had once been a thriving, fully industrialized society. It had also been one of the few core worlds to rival the Earth in both its population and level of technological development. Based on what they had seen thus far, if the capital city was representative of the entire planet, then Kohara had recovered from the plague quite nicely. She had to wonder how much the Jung had to do with the Tau Ceti system’s recovery.

The purpose of her mission was to determine just that. For if the Jung
had
been the cause of the system’s impressive recovery, then its people might not approve of outsiders coming in and wiping their system clean of Jung influence. They needed to know how the Cetians truly felt about the Jung. Did they see them as enslavers, or saviors?

At this moment, the people of Kohara did not appear to be enslaved. Then again, many worlds quickly adapt to changes in political control. For the most part, their lives go on as usual, for the destruction of assets is usually of little benefit to the invading party. However, they had already seen that the Jung were often willing to sacrifice such assets in order to send a clear message.

If the people of Tau Ceti preferred to be part of the Jung Empire, then the Alliance might be better served to simply destroy the Jung’s space forces in the Tau Ceti system. After all, the primary goal of the Alliance was not to liberate the core, but to protect it, and the Jung’s ground forces were no threat to any members of the Alliance, as long as they had no way out of the system. If indeed these people did not want to be liberated from the Jung, the Alliance had neither the interest nor the resources to do so. They simply wanted the Jung ships removed from the system, for their proximity to Sol constituted a grave threat to the people of Earth.