The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link (17 page)

“Yes, he lives with his three sons and four daughters as well,” Tanat said.

“Zertal, you and I have two daughters to care for. Remember! I won’t oppose joining our families,” the man said.

“Thank you, Tamal, I always liked you, and I know it was never your plan to have children,” Zertal said, giving him a nod. She took his hand.

“Romnel, I’m sure I’ll come to like him,” Tamal said.

“Well, he’s your husband now. I hope you come to love him as I do,” Zertal said. 

I gave Tanat a glance, not knowing what to think about the exchange. He looked preoccupied. Maybe Margret would explain it to me, as my imagination was freaking me out.   

Tamal turned to me. “You’re an alien. I didn’t attack you of my own volition. It was the Link. If I would have attacked you, I would have won. I’m a Myonisa warrior and a Mashon. I’m in your debt. You freed me. Now I’ll free our people.”

After entering the control room, he froze in midstride and pointed toward the front viewer. “
Thormston
,” he said. He ran toward a panel and shouted orders to Tangent, who replied that the order was denied.

“Tangent, give Tamal command privileges,” I said, scooping up Margret as I joined Tamal. “What are we doing, Tamal?”

“Battle. That’s a battleship, and we want to board her in one piece.” His hands flashed across the control panel. “Zertal, take our friend and get him into a combat suit with full battle weapons.”

She touched my arm. “Come, we must hurry.” We passed the doorway of the control room, and she broke in to a run. I followed into a strange room with suits hanging on the walls next to lockers. “Strip, take off your clothes,” she said as she opened a locker and pulled out a weapon that looked like an old-time rifle.

She handed me pants. They were thick and had straps and hooks hanging off of them. I pulled them on. She reached down the back of them and retrieved a plug. Then I pulled on the top, and she helped me fasten them together. Even though it was thick, the suit was light and comfortable. We worked fast now. She handed me boots. She passed me shin armor, then knee and thigh armor. Soon the light suit gained weight. As I hooked on a breast plate, she fitted my elbow plate. Sweat dripped off her nose as she fastened a belt of weapons around me while I put on armored gloves. After attaching my environmental pack, she handed me a helmet and looked me over, adjusting a couple armor plates.

She smiled. “Walk around. See how it feels, then run and jump over a few things. See if you can fight in it.”

Tamal came running in. Zertal ran over to his locker as he pulled off his clothes. They were going twice as fast as I had. Taking her advice, I walked around, then jogged and jumped over a few benches, dove and rolled across the floor, amazed everything stayed in place.

Tamal was suited up. Zertal gave him a kiss and then handed him his helmet. I walked over. He nodded to me. “Stay close,” he said, putting on his helmet.

Zertal went with us. We entered a strange room with odd-looking rockets in it. They were hanging nose down with long doors and a place for someone to stand on both sides. He motioned for me to climb in one of the sides while he climbed into the other. I looked at it with horror. The rocket was about fifteen feet long and four feet across. The nose was pointed, and in the rear was the motor. We’d stand in the middle, facing each other. I had a bad feeling, but they were both waiting for me. What could I do? Cursing, I climbed into the death trap. Tamal and I were strapped in face-to-face. We couldn’t move.

Tamal’s voice broke my death trance. “Drake, I’m loading your suit with a map of the
Thormston
, showing you possible routes to the communication center in case we get separated.” He paused. “In just few moments, Tangent will release fifty decoys and forty missiles along with us. Then in the confusion we’ll get through and smash our way inside. We’ll get out and work our way to the communication center where we’ll stop the Link. Oh, hit the fourth button and you can see where we’re going.”

I hesitated. Maybe I didn’t want to know what was happening. I moved my curser and then pressed the button. On my helmet visor a picture from the nose of our rocket was displayed. I could see a tube. We entered it. After a few moments, I felt acceleration, and we were in space headed toward a small dot. I looked around. I saw we were surrounded by many other rockets.

“Isn’t this great? We’re the first. No one has ever tried what we’re doing. Oh, we’ve launched dummies and computers into another ship, but never a person, and never in anger. Aren’t we lucky? Don’t you feel excited?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Excited.”

Shit, he’s going to kill me, I thought. Our engine fired again, and the rockets wove about. A few shot ahead, dumping clouds of dust. Bits of debris rattled across our rocket as beams of light reached out from the
Thormston
, blowing up a rocket near us. I swallowed the bile rising from my stomach as we sped up. A rocket shot ahead, dropping more dust to fool the
Thormston’s
sensors. I prayed for its success. I was just able to make out the
Thormston
and then all hell broke loose. Another rocket exploded.

Beams played back and forth in all directions. Our craft shook from a nearby explosion of another rocket and more debris tapped our sides. Tamal said something that reminded me of swearing. Our rocket moved around the beams as they tracked us, but we stayed ahead of them. We were close. I could see the
Thormston’s
side going past as beams from different batteries tried to hit us. Then we turned, and I gritted my teeth. We went right in, crashing into the big ship. There was a jolt and vibration as we ground to a stop. The door popped open. I scrambled to my feet, bringing my weapon up, panning the area.

Tamal joined me. “This way,” he said.

We moved out. I heard the roar of air leaking through the hole we’d punched in the hull. We hit anyone we saw with a sonic blast and kept moving. At a main hallway, a crowd of people came running toward us, yelling and screaming.

“Drake, we have to go this way. Fire grenades now.”

I aimed ahead of the crowd, creating a cloud in front of them. Most of the people were on their hands and knees when we reached them. I followed Tamal, and we jogged past and down the main hall. After passing an intersection, an explosion knocked me off my feet. I looked over and saw a light-armored vehicle approaching. Switching weapons, I attacked it, scoring several hits to its turret. Dodging and rolling, I stayed away from its weapons. I sprinted past it, slapped several explosive charges to its side and dove for cover into a small shop. The explosion was satisfying, breaking the vehicle in half.

I looked around for Tamal and found him lying in the main hall. His suit said he was in stasis due to injuries. I grabbed him and pulled him into a room off the hall, hiding him behind a desk. After checking his suit and making sure he was stable, I continued down the main hall, but made a turn, taking a different route to the communication center.

The hallways seemed deserted. I only had to blast two men. Moving fast at a light jog, I arrived at a heavy door. From the suit’s display, I knew it lead to the communication center, and set several explosives. After stepping back around a support beam, I detonated the charges, making a loud roar and crash as the door fell to the floor. I ran, jumping over the smoking wreckage. Then dropped to the floor and rolled, coming up in a crouch. I fired at four armed men, knocking them down with the sonic blaster. I looked around for other targets.

The communication center was a huge dome with a large antenna and several smaller arrays mounted on swivels. I went down the metal stairs to the lower floor below the antennas. Looking across the dome as I ran down the stairs, I saw a group of people running toward me. After arriving at the lower level, I sprinted across, hiding behind machinery. I watched as the group took positions around the stairs, waiting to ambush me.

Carefully, I moved away, leaving them waiting. I took another flight of stairs to a lower level and came to a large equipment room with rows of electronic cabinets. I worked my way around them, coming to a large empty area with a pyramid in the center with a ball on top. From the ceiling another pyramid hung upside down, touching the ball. A group of children came running into the room with weapons. I stepped back, taking cover.

The leader, an older girl, stuck her weapon into the face of a small boy. “Come out or I’ll kill him,” she said.

“Please do as she says or she will kill her little brother,” a voice said.

I moved quietly away, circling to the side of the line of children.

“I know where your home world is. You should give up now. You’ll be placed higher than your fellow humans. That’s what you call yourself, isn’t it? Human? I’ll place you at the top of your species. You’ll be like a god to the other humans. You have just a few seconds before poor Narista kills her beloved brother.”

That silver gray ball, it just doesn’t belong, I thought. I lifted my heavy rail gun, took aim and fired a stream of sub-light projectiles into it, sending bits of glass and plastic raining down all over the room. Narista dropped her weapon and grabbed her brother. She started crying. The other children looked stunned. Most dropped their weapons. I came out and picked them up and took them from the children still holding them.

“Do you know who your parents are?” I asked. Narista and a few of the other children nodded. “Narista, help everyone find their parents. If you can’t find them, keep them with you. Understand?” She nodded.

I called Tangent and learned where he’d be docking. With a nod to the kids, I left, hurrying to get Tamal before the leaders of
Thormston
got their act together. Most of the people I passed looked stunned. Several walked as if they’d been drinking. Others talked to themselves. Only a few looked sharp and awake. I stopped those people and told them what was happening.

“Get to medical. Get your receiver removed so you’ll never get caught in the Link again,” I told them.

After returning to Tamal, I pushed the desk out of the way and then pulled him onto my shoulders. I headed to Tangent. Zertal and a very nice-looking woman met us at the airlock door with a stretcher for Tamal.

As we moved Tamal to medical, I looked at the woman. “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“Octella. I was made by Tangent and Margret,” she said.

“What? Made you?” I looked her over. She was half a head shorter than me with thick orange hair. She was very feminine-looking with long legs and body. She blushed at my inspection. “I didn’t mean to stare. You’re pretty.” She really blushed then. I helped Zertal with Tamal, loading him into the auto doc. Octella tapped on the controls.

“I know all about you from Margret. She told me everything. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, giving me a quick smile as she looked me up and down. I felt myself blush. She smiled again and went back to making an entry to the auto doc. “Margret, he’s even better looking in person,” Octella said. Margret swore. Octella turned toward me and took my hand. “Let’s get you out of that combat suit.” She led me into the armory and helped me undress. She did so without embarrassing me, but I was still relieved to put on a pair of coveralls. After I was dressed, she grabbed me and kissed me on the lips. “I’m part Margret, and I love you as she does.”

“You have to know I’m madly in love with Sandra and won’t leave her.”

She hugged me and sighed. “I’ll take whatever I can get when I can.”

I patted her shoulder. “Sorry, you’re a nice woman and don’t deserve this.” I left her and headed toward the command center.

Chapter 13: Sandra Wilson, a fleet soldier

I called Sandra. I heard the concern, worry and anger in her voice. “We’ll talk later,” she said, leaving me feeling uncomfortable. Well, I thought, how many conversations had I ever had with her that were comfortable?

Tamil landed Tangent near the camp where Sandra met us in a transport. She wore a fleet uniform with four strips on her sleeve. “Get in. We have to get going,” she said.

“Damn, Sandra, you make that uniform look good,” I said as I climbed in.

“Yeah, I’m active again. This is going to suck. Our orders are clear. If we meet hostile aliens, we’re to activate all ex-military personnel.”

“So, Mike took charge?”

“Yeah, he did. He held the rank of Major when he retired. Drake, he wants you to tell everyone what happened at our staff meeting in the cafeteria in twenty minutes.”

I looked at Sandra as she turned the transport around. “How bad was it? Did anyone get taken by the Link?”

She looked down. “Seventeen were taken. One of them was a navigator. The Link knows where our home is.”

The tables were stacked against the wall and the chairs were lined up in rows. Everyone wore fleet uniforms, except for me. Sandra sat me in the front row. I felt out of place as I raked a strand of hair out of my face. Everyone else had short hair and looked very proper. I rubbed my unshaved chin.

What sounded like a bang startled me. Everyone stood, except me. I started to get up, but as Mike came to the front of the room, he told everyone to take their seats. He stopped in the middle and took a seat behind a table, facing the audience.

“Thank you for coming. We’re all on active status. Pay and benefits will start from today,” he said in a commanding voice. “As you’re aware, we’ve encountered an aggressive alien race. Seventeen of us have been subjected to a mind link, one of them a navigator. We must assume the aliens now know the location of our home worlds. Drake was on one of their ships. I haven’t had a chance to debrief him. I thought it best if everyone heard his report firsthand. Drake, would you mind sharing your adventure with us?” He pointed at a chair at the end of his table.

After walking over to take the chair he’d indicated, I took a seat. I gave them a brief account, telling them how I’d found the transmitter. “After Bachnon attacked Sandra, I received a report of strange radio signals. Inspecting him, I was able to find his receiver and remove it. He led me to the alien ship where I met Tamal, and we disabled the alien transmitter.”

Mike frowned. “How did you gain control of the ship?”

“Bachnon gave me the password.”

“Where was the transmitter?”

“On a large battleship in orbit.”

He frowned again. “Tell us about the aliens.”

“They’re being controlled against their will by what they call the Link. They’re in our debt, as we’ve released them. I believe they’ll help us.”

“Thank you, Drake, you’re dismissed for now.”

I went to return to my seat, but was escorted into a nearby office by a crewman, who stayed with me.

Sandra entered the room and dismissed the crewman. When the door closed, I whistled. “You do look awesome in that uniform,” I said.

“Don’t try your smooth talk with me. You went alone. What were you thinking?”

“Sandra, there were thousands of aliens marching toward us. I had to stop them.”

“You? By yourself? Alone?”

“Ah, well, I didn’t think it’d be as hard as it turned out to be.”

Whack
. My head rang from her hit. I shook off the shock. “Think would be the operative word. You didn’t think. You should have taken Mike’s men with you.” She looked down at me with her hands on her hips. She gave me a hand up and then wrapped her arms around me. “I was so worried. I didn’t know where you’d gone.” She squeezed me tightly. “The aliens will be arriving shortly. Get cleaned up. You’ll be meeting them with Mike in one hour.” She gave me a quick kiss. “I have a lot to do. I’ll see you when I can tonight, I hope.” She gave me another kiss and then left the room.

Showered and clean shaven, I won a smile from Sandra as I joined her on the edge of a clearing. My friend, Tamal, and his wife, Zertal, joined us. “Drake, my friend, I’d introduce you to my family, but I don’t know their names yet.”

“Tamal, my wife, Sandra,” I said.

“So good to meet you. Your husband is a brave man, a great warrior. He rode with me on a spike. He’s the first to ride one into a ship in battle. You must be very proud of him,” Tamal said.

Sandra looked at me and scowled. “Yes, very proud. He’s too brave at times.”

“I owe him my life, twice. Once for rescuing me from the Link, and the next, for hiding me when I was hurt.”

“Tamal is modest. We’d have never gotten past the
Thormston’s
sensors. He’s a master at sensor countermeasures,” I said. “Tamal, you must show me how you fooled them.”

Tamal blushed. “Such an honor to be praised by a brave man.”

“Tamal, you were in that spike. You’re as brave as I.”     

“There,” someone said.

We looked up, and just over the trees, I saw the contrail as the shuttle turned in an S curve, losing speed and altitude.

Sandra gave my hand a squeeze. “I have to go. You need to be with Mike.”

“Okay.” I looked around and found Mike. I walked over to him. He nodded as I approached.

It was a large shuttle. It filled the clearing. We had to move to allow it to settle. The door in the side opened and ten armed men rushed out, taking flanking positions around the door. Mike tensed at the maneuver.

I whispered, “Mike, these are our friends.”

A tall handsome man came down the ramp. He walked up to Tamal, who introduced him to us. “This is Tasorl. He’s the captain of the
Thormston
,” Tamal said. Turning to me, he said, “Captain, Drake Wilson. Drake is the hero who released us from the Link, and Mike is their leader.”

Tasorl bowed. “You saved us. Ask us anything and we’ll give it to you. My family is yours.”

“Thank you. When the Link is gone, I hope to spend time getting to know you and your family,” I said. He seemed happy with that answer.

“We need to prepare. The Link is on its way,” Mike said.

“Yes, we need to evacuate. We’ll give the AI on
Tangent
our new location with instructions not to tell anyone.  You need to hurry to your home. Tell them to run. The Link is coming,” he said.

“You’re running away?” Mike asked.

“There’s no fighting the Link,” Tasorl said.

“Drake and Tamal fought the Link and won!”

Tasorl shook his head. “You don’t understand. The Link has a thousand ships working in perfect unison. You’ll be crushed.”

“What about your fellow people? They’re suffering under the Link. Will you desert them?”

“Anyone who wants to fight I’ll leave with you, but find a way to warn your people. They must run now.” He turned to Bachnon. “You heard. Tell your people they must be ready to leave. Have them here tomorrow. Everyone must be away from here. The Link is coming.”

Bachnon looked at me. “I let you down once, but not twice. I’ll fight the Link, and so will my people. They’ll have a choice, but I know the answer. They’ll fight at your people’s side, Drake.”

“Yes, but Drake isn’t staying. He’ll be leaving on the
Armstrong
,” Mike said.

“I’m staying with Sandra, besides we sent code C the Armstrong isn’t coming back” I said.

“I have received orders from fleet via warp communication all civilians are to be evacuated. We will meet up with the
Armstrong
as soon as possible. They are on their way back now.”

“Mike, you’re wise. I can see it also. Drake must leave if we’re to win. He has a task that is crucial,” Bachnon said.

Tasori nodded. “My gift is very limited, but even I can see.”

“Oh, come on. What the hell now? I’m, what, a saint?” I asked.

“Drake, don’t be an ass. You’re smart. We’ll give you samples of the Link. You go get into Rodriguez Academy and find a way to stop it. We’ll keep the Link held up, giving you the time you need,” Mike said.

I didn’t know what to say, then everything started happening. People were going off in all directions. I found myself standing alone with nothing to do.

“Officer’s training school can be a bitch if you aren’t prepared. We’ll introduce you to someone who’ll make it a cake walk,” Torance said, slapping me on my back. “I recorded all the Link traffic. Some interesting stuff. I’ll show you later, but first I was assigned to help you and Sandra move to the
Tangent
.”

It felt weird to move someone else’s stuff. I kept telling myself we were married and her stuff was mine, but that didn’t help too much. I loaded my large bag and her small one into the transport.

Torance laughed. “You and Sandra got this boy-girl thing reversed. The girl is supposed to have the large bag!”

Grumbling to myself, I climbed in. Maybe Torance was right. What the hell? Who was the man in my house? I started getting pissed. My sense of humor didn’t get any better as I unpacked her clothes and made our bed. What the hell? Should I take a shower and meet her at the door, wearing only a bathrobe? I stomped around in a huff and then grabbed my gym bag. I’d feel better after I killed a punching bag. Opening the door, I ran straight into Sandra’s arms. I should have taken that shower, I thought as she smothered me with a kiss.

* * * *

“You’re a civilian. Civilians are to be removed from war zones. That’s the rule,” Sandra said.

“There has to be a way. You don’t always have to follow the rules.”

“You’re following this one.” I tried to get out of bed. She grabbed me, pulling me back. “Where are you going?”

“I’m pissed off. Why are you sending me away? Do you want to get rid of me?” She pulled me over and landed on top, putting her nose against mine.

“No, we have a problem called the Link. When that’s taken care of, I’m going to find you and have those six kids I promised you. You do remember we have a thirty-year contract?” She gave me a kiss.

“We’ll be apart for a long time. That’s going to suck.”

“Ah, I’m the best girl you could ever find. I don’t mind if you find someone nice. Go ahead, I don’t want you to suffer. Besides, if you get that out of your system, I won’t have to worry later when we’re raising kids.”

“Sandra, I don’t know if I could even do that. I love you. Hell, I’d call your name in the middle and hurt the girl’s feelings.”

“Drake, I’m giving you permission, and I mean it. Let’s not say any more.”

I looked at the clock. It was about to wake us. I gave her a peck on the cheek, then slipped out of bed. Being in the captain’s suite was handy, as it had and area for cooking. Monisa tastes were like ours, but they had no coffee. Yesterday they’d gutted our camp stores. Diane had managed to get coffee sent to us. I thought about what Sandra had said. It wasn’t our fault we’d be separated for a long time. We were both bound to get lonely. The thought of her with someone else sent ice through my veins. I took several deep breaths. I couldn’t leave her with my unrealistic expectations. If she did have an affair, I truly didn’t want to know about it. I also didn’t want her to suffer from guilt. She was my friend as well.

I poured a large cup of coffee and then wandered back to bed. Sandra was awake. “That coffee smells wonderful,” she said, smiling.

“It is,” I said, taking a sip. She held out her hand. I shook my head. “My coffee.”

She shook her head. “Community property. Hand it over.” I handed her the cup and then slid into bed next to her. She had that sleepy warm feeling and felt good beside to me.

“Sandra, I’m jealous. I don’t want to hear about it, but I don’t want you to be alone.” I looked at her. God, she’s pretty, I thought. Her mouth hung open. “Don’t ever tell me if you did or didn’t. I just want you to know you have my leave to, and that I love you.”

She hugged me, crying. “It’s the worst thing that has ever happened to me, being torn away from you.”

Later that morning we left planet 9732. The most wonderful things in my life had happened there, and the worst. Three of our party had died on the planet, and one severely wounded. Seventeen had been linked and hadn’t yet recovered from the experience. We’d made wonderful friends, and had met a horrible enemy bent on destroying us. I watched quietly as the planet shrunk from view.

When Sandra was occupied doing her soldier stuff, I spent my time with Tamal. He’d impressed me with his skill at detection avoidance and was an expert at finding stealthy ships. I made him teach me how he did it, what to look for, including the theory and physics behind it. He was a good, hard teacher, and we practiced every day. He showed me recordings of ships and jamming techniques. We both poured over the recording of the signal from the Link. Jamming the signal appeared be very hard or impossible due to its random frequency jumps. He worked me so hard in the simulator Sandra got mad a few times when I came home late and tired.

Tamal found the
Armstrong
before anyone else. Four days away, we hailed her.