Alpha Rising (13 page)

Bach cleared his throat. “Only to invite me
to lunch. She’s very flirtatious. It makes me uncomfortable.”
Feeling relief at purging his problem, he added, “And she
interrupted my research this morning for no good reason.”

“
Unacceptable! We have too
much to do. Personal feelings and emotions must be kept in check.
I’ll have my assistant arrange your training with Wilde.” He pushed
a button on the intercom and bellowed, “Monroe, please come to my
office. Now!”

While awaiting the assistant’s arrival,
Altemus stepped to Bach’s side at the picture window. As they
watched activity on the production floor the old man welled with
fatherly pride and explained how the starship’s new technology
would aid in restoring the eleven planets through land parcel and
resource relocation.

Altemus used his hands for emphasis as he
spoke. Bach noticed a rough-finished gold ring on the elder’s left
hand, middle finger. He wanted a better look at it, but stayed
focused on the technical conversation. “I love what I’ve seen so
far,” he said, “and think I’ll work well with your technology. The
concepts are incredible. They’re far beyond all the plans and
dreams I’ve had in my head that Earth’s technology couldn’t
accommodate.” Then he blurted out, “I just noticed your unusual
ring. What does it represent?”

Altemus pulled hard to remove the ring then
handed it to Bach. “It depicts a tree of life. My beloved spouse,
Casso, rest her soul, designed it.”

Bach examined the ring—a tree trunk that
wrapped around the finger, with a small branch on each side.

The elder pointed to the ring. “Casso was
inspired by how trees reached out and grew in the light. Our love
grew in the same way.” He struggled for breath. “She’s been gone
too long. Can’t wear it much anymore—hands are swelling—but it
comforts me.”

Monroe rapped on the office
door then stepped inside. When Bach looked up, his mental focus
took leave. The bodacious, breathtaking blond looked like a clone
of her namesake, Marilyn Monroe.
How can
it be? An astral Marilyn Monroe?
Mouth
agape, he recalled the famous poster of Marilyn with her white
dress billowing up and the movie with her dancing around flashing
diamond jewelry.

Altemus took his ring back without Bach
knowing it, and made the introduction. “Monroe, this is Bach
Turner. Bach, Monroe, my assistant.”

Monroe grasped Bach’s hand. “Nice to meet
you,” she said, her voice soft.

Bach stared, but at this point gathering his
thoughts was like trying to unscramble eggs. “Uh, yeah, me
too.”

Altemus unclasped the couple’s hands.
“Monroe, please show him to Wilde’s area.”

“
My pleasure,” she purred.
“Wilde’s in the restricted area right now. I’ll have security issue
a guest pass.”

“
No guest pass,” Altemus
said, pointing his finger. “Bach’s on full clearance—allowed access
to everything.” His hand moved to his forehead and he blew out a
puff of air. “Oh, wait, Monroe, you might have a problem with his
clearance. I’ll take care of it. Thanks for coming by.”

The beauty turned to leave just as Star
stepped in. “Hi, Dad. Oh, hi, Monroe. Hi, Bach, sorry to interrupt.
There’s a miscalculation in the starship’s design, Dad. Need your
help.”

Relieved that his daughter had stopped by,
Altemus replied, “Okay, bring me the spec analysis, but don’t plan
to drop it and run, you need to understand what I’m doing.” After a
moment’s hesitation he added, “Before we start, please clear up a
problem with Bach’s security clearance then take him to Wilde’s
area.”

Bach shook the old man’s hand. “Thanks.
Maybe we can have lunch later?”

“
Come back in two hours.”
The elder cleaned his wire-rimmed trifocals on his
sleeve.

#

Star and Bach walked
through the noisy facility, but for a while neither spoke. From
time to time, Bach glanced sideways at the beautiful Duran, all the
while enjoying subtle wafts of her intoxicating fragrance. Still,
he kept thinking how his life had changed.
I’m a stranger to myself. I used to be full of fun … singing
silly songs. Now nothing’s familiar and the only thing that keeps
me going is a goal no one wants me to reach.

“
I saw the Specter’s face
again,” he blurted out. “He told me my crewmates miss me, that
they’re in danger. Would he torture them?”

She hesitated. “He’s not into physical pain,
he manipulates through pleasure. In time, gratification turns to
dependence on him for feelings of self-worth and well-being. Loss
of identity soon follows. I hope your crewmates have inner strength
to withstand his deception.”

“
Kaz, my fiancée, is not
strong emotionally. But she’s strong-willed. Brainwashing her would
be next to impossible. If they’re all together, I know they’re
planning an escape. I have to try to rescue them.”

The look in Star’s sapphire blue eyes could
have spoken for her, but she warned, “That won’t be possible. Don’t
let the Specter manipulate your emotions and deceive you.”

*****

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Bach met Altemus in his office and the two
headed to the refectory for lunch. During a brief ride through an
underground tunnel connecting one Skyprism to another, Altemus
chose the private moment to reprimand Bach for using the thought
cap to inquire about Ulwor. Once again, he ordered him to abandon
the idea of rescuing his crewmates.

Altemus swung the refectory door open and
motioned for Bach to enter the massive dining room. He couldn’t
take it all in at first, but a meld of delectable aromas quickly
led him to the food service bar. Standing in line, faced with
dozens of entrees emitting a harmony of scents, he nodded to
Altemus. “It all looks good.”

“
Don’t be bashful. Take a
little of each.”

Bach asked the voice-activated robot staff
for small servings of four different entrees. Desserts at the end
of the line offered more choices. He took three samples. Altemus
chuckled with a headshake.

As they moved toward the dining area, Bach
looked for a place to sit. Lavender Rose, seated at a corner table
with two pilots from the co-op missions, feverishly flagged him
down.

He damned himself for making eye contact and
turned to Altemus, hoping for a way out. “Where should we sit?”

“
Go ahead, join them.
That’s Griffon and Nova, two of our co-op space travelers. You’ll
see a lot of them in the comm center when they’re prepping for
their missions. I’d prefer to eat back at my office
anyway.”

Bach parted company with Altemus and
shuffled to the table with a phony smile pasted on his face.

Lavender Rose ignored her cohorts. “So,
Bach, we manage to have lunch together after all.”

He unloaded his tray and sat down, glancing
back and forth at the unfamiliar man and woman.

Griffon spoke up. “Hello, Bach, I’m Griffon
and this is Nova, and you know Lavender Rose.”

“
Yes, I know Lavender,” he
said dryly.

Griffon’s hazel eyes twinkled mischievously
from beneath a shock of brown hair. “How is it being the new man on
the planet? A handsome guy like you must be feeling like free
game.” He paused with a grin. “The whole complex is buzzing with
news of your arrival. Especially the ladies.”

Nova elbowed him. The pretty redhead’s voice
was innocent, yet sexy. “Stop it, Griffon. It doesn’t matter if
he’s male or female. We treat everyone equally.”

Griffon chuckled and reared back in his
chair, eyes dancing back and forth between Nova and Lavender Rose.
“But you ladies sure like that he’s male.” He noticed Bach shift in
his seat. “I’m sorry Bach. I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Griffon
quickly added.“But it’s entertaining to watch all the giggling
females going out of their way to get a closer look—”

Lavender Rose didn’t allow him to finish.
“Everyone will get a closer look tomorrow. Altemus scheduled a
welcoming get-together after the services.”

“
I wish he’d cancel those
services.” Griffon’s deep breath said it all. “Who goes anyway?
Star, Altemus, and a few others.”

“
Same old bunch,” Lavender
added. “And did you notice that Altemus has bypassed the elder
council and started calling all the shots. You know what he did to
me this morning? He reassigned me! He moved me from intel to spec
oversight for the new starship’s construction. He gave my job to
someone else. I’m not happy about this.”

Nova stopped eating. “Calm down, Lavender.
He’s a dying old man trying to save our planet.”

“
He’s not so sick that he
can’t boss me around.”

“
What’s wrong with him?”
asked Bach.

Nova washed her food down with a drink of
water. “Part of it’s old age, and part is from exposure to
bacterial warfare. He intercepted a deadly virus from Ulwor that
double-agent Rooks planned to release in our operations Skyprism.
He got it to the lake in time, but he got infected. It’s a process
of deterioration.”

“
He still has the most
brilliant mind in the zone,” Griffon said.

As lunch went on, Bach enjoyed getting to
know Griffon and Nova, and by the time he’d filled up on astral
foods his stomach was ready to burst.

Griffon poured pink tea from a pot and
passed a cup of it to Bach. “This is a digestive aid.”

Bach enjoyed the soothing tea, and poured a
second cup as he continued to question his hosts. “Of everything
I’ve learned since arriving,” he said, “your solid fuel made from
garbage holds the most fascination.”

“
Altemus invented it,”
Griffon said. “It’s non-toxic, odorless, non-polluting, and light
weight. The lab produces the basic briquette, then he does
something to it right before use. No one knows what he does, and no
one has ever seen him do it, but it won’t work without that final
step.”

Nova added, “We suspect he’s training Star
to take over. He’s getting too sick to continue on his own. With
the enemy trying to overtake us, there’s a lot of pressure on his
being a one-man security system.”

“
He’s a miser,” Lavender
added in her throaty voice. “Like a madman with keys to the secrets
of the universe he controls everything so tightly you’d never get
your hands on a single speck of that fuel. He calibrates and
calculates to the nth degree the exact amount required for every
co-op flight, every rescue mission, everything….”

“
Then he personally fuels
the ships, and it’s vacuum drawn into the chamber,” Griffon
added.

“
Yeah. No one can touch the
stuff once he’s done his thing,” said Lavender Rose. “But, the
enemy walks among us, so we can never be too careful.”

After the last cup of pink tea was consumed,
the four headed back to the operations prism on the peoplemover
connecting the compounds. During the ride, Bach turned to Nova. “By
the way, earlier you mentioned services of some kind tomorrow. What
were you talking about?”

“
Every seven days a small
group gathers on Mount Hope to worship our Creator.” She pulled a
golden crystal circle necklace, like the one Star had, from beneath
her jumpsuit. “This represents eternity transmitted through the
light.”

Lavender pushed to Bach’s side and
half-whispered, “You’re not obligated to attend the services.
Hardly anyone goes. They’re something Altemus dreamed up to unite
Dura. He thinks the Specter’s influence is what’s caused all the
deterioration of our zone, but I say it’s a natural progression.
Things don’t stay the same forever.”

Griffon nodded. “I agree. We have a lot of
great new things going on that we never had before. There are bad
things too, but the good balance the bad.”

Nova forced her way between them and draped
her arm over Bach’s shoulder. “I go to the services. Why don’t you
come tomorrow with Star and me?”

Lavender glared at Nova and increased the
volume of her rasp-like voice. “Let Bach decide for himself. If he
gets caught up in your small group he’ll never learn how much fun
Dura can be.”

Bach handled it all with a big smile. “Well,
I’ll try most anything once.” He nodded at Nova. “I’ll go to the
services with you.”

*****

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The morning air held a chill accompanied by
blackness so dense it seemed solid. It would be an hour before
artificial light switched on, but a few had already begun their
day.

A group of twenty, including Altemus, Star,
Bach, and Nova, had gathered on sacred Mount Hope beside the
ever-present tunnel of golden light descending from infinity.

Bach’s thoughts reverted to the dragonfly
rescue ride when he first saw Mount Hope from the window. The
astonishing image of a brilliant light beam from space, focused on
the top of one mountain amid craggy peaks and rocky gorges, seemed
forever etched in his memory. Now he was at the crest, standing
next to the powerful beam. Experiencing it close up was unlike
anything he could have imagined.

Star moved to Bach’s side and spoke softly,
“As you see, the faithful are few.”

The services began. Altemus
offered a brief prayer that all repeated, followed by a period of
silence during which they took turns communing in the light. As
Bach mulled over the ceremony from the sidelines, a sudden inner
hunger made him want to take part in it.
I’ve only attended church a few times, but this is something
more than church. There’s a consuming energy, a force of some kind
that beckons my soul.