The Spindle Station: Book 2 of the Alliance Conflict (18 page)

Lorano responded, “Correct. In some simulations, there is no weapons officer. The first officer fires the missiles. In others, the chief engineer is highest ranking crew member aboard, but is not an officer. In these scenarios, the chief engineer reports to the weapons officer.

Victor said, “Okay, that is good to know, but it really doesn’t help us, does it?”

Lorano responded, “Yes, actually it does. The engineering crew I have selected contains the five highest rated engineers. They are all civilians. One of them is actually the chief engineer of a nuclear reactor.”

Crista asked, “What’s that?”

Lorano said, “I think it is the humans’ version of a power generator.”

Victor replied, “Sounds good. We need 45 people. You have the 5 engineers and the 20 pilots identified, what about the 20 maintenance workers?”

Carank replied, “I have been working on that. The humans are staffing the cruisers differently than the Alliance does. They include 5 marines on every cruiser, bringing the total crew to 50. I think we should grab the 5 additional marines.”

Crista asked, “Should we discuss it with acting Captain Clowy?”

Carank responded, “I am certain she would approve. However, I don’t think we need to involve her in such a trivial detail at the moment.”

Crista replied, “Okay. So how are actually going to kidnap that many people?”

Lorano said, “Let’s just invite them to a special ceremony, sneak them all on board, and leave.”

Carank looked at him and said, “You mean exactly like we did last time?”

Lorano said, “Well, it worked just fine last time. It should work again.”

Victor said, “I have an idea. Do you remember how you hacked the military database and gave false orders to those pilots in the military to cover their disappearance?”

“Yes,” Lorano responded.

Victor continued, “Well, why not just fake the orders up front. We choose the military members we want and forge orders to have them come to a top secret military base in Cleveland.”

Carank nodded approvingly and said, “That could work.”

Lorano asked, “And the civilians?”

Carank said, “Simple, we offer the civilians jobs at Victory Games.”

Victor responded, “I like the idea of offering them jobs. However, we should keep Victory Games out of the loop. Let’s create a new corporation that provides services for the secret military base.”

Lorano said, “Okay, now that we have that settled. How are we going to choose the 20 crewmembers and the 5 marines?”

Carank said, “Well, the marines should be straightforward. Based on Victor’s idea, we will simply assign one group to the secret base.”

Crista asked, “How many are in a group?”

Carank frowned. Clearly he had no idea. He said, “Computer, list marine unit sizes.

…The smallest US Marine designation is a fire team with 4 members. Three Fire Teams make a Squad of 12 members. A squad generally has a corporal assigned, making it 13 total members. Shall I continue with the complete listing…

Victor said, “No. That should be enough.” He paused for a breath and continued, “Well, that’s difficult. Four members isn’t enough and 8 is too many. Thirteen is right out.”

Crista asked, “How are they doing it in the simulation?”

Carank responded, “They are using 5 marines, but are apparently calling them something different. Instead of a fire team, they are being called a support team.”

Lorano had a sudden insight. He said, “Computer, check all players. Are there any support teams that are comprised of real marines?

…Scanning. Yes. There are multiple teams that meet the criteria. However, one team is based at Wright Patterson Air Force base in Ohio. The five members of the simulation team consist of 4 members from one fire team and a corporal…

Carank smiled and said, “Well, that’s settled. We have the pilots, the engineers, and the marines identified. Now all we need are crew members.”

Crista said, “What’s the problem. Let’s just choose the top 20 from the simulation like the other classifications.”

“It isn’t that easy,” both Lorano and Carank answered.

Carank waved at Lorano to let him continue talking. Lorano said, “The problem is that the crewmember role isn’t that exciting. Players rarely spend hours and hours practicing like the pilots or show great technical promise like the engineers.”

Carank said, “Further, most of the people playing crewmembers are older people, fathers or mothers in many cases. I was able to identify 10 players that are good at multiple roles, including engineer and pilot and fit the other criteria of being single and not an only child. However, that’s it. We are 10 crewmembers short.”

Lorano laughed and said, “We are 10 humans short on a planet of 7 billion. Let’s just grab 10 from the mall and be done with it.”

Victor said, “Hey, maybe we can do just that. I saw a commercial for Akron Technical Institute. It isn’t far from here. They train technicians. Let’s just hire 10 graduates – we can choose 5 electrical and 5 mechanical. It will be perfect.”

Carank said, “Are you sure that is a good idea?”

Victor said, “Well, the graduates should be young and mechanically inclined. What more do we need?”

No one had an answer to the question, so the decision was silently made to proceed as Victor had suggested.

Carank said, “We have one more thing to discuss. The humans are making multiple changes and updates to the standard design to make the ships run more efficiently.”

“What!” Lorano practically screamed. “The humans are redesigning my systems. What possible improvements could they be making?”

Lorano had intended the question to be rhetorical. However, Carank answered, “Well, for instance, if you hook up a battery to the secondary post router in sub-junction 122.22.A5 then you can passively scan the system while main power is down.”

Lorano responded, “Seriously, what possible use could anyone have to scan a system while their power is down. I would think that if the power generator was down, a more prudent course of action would be to repair the generator versus scanning the system.”

“So, what should we do?” Carank asked.

Lorano thought for a moment and finally relented. He said, “Just order two sets of everything the humans use to modify a cruiser and have them sent here. We may as well take the stuff with us.”

Victor nodded and said, “Okay.”

Lorano continued, “As an aside, forward all of the changes to my communication pad. I want to review them. Maybe there is a good idea amongst the rubbish of no power scanning.”

The next week flew by in flurry of activity. Lorano was given the difficult task of hacking into the military databases and creating false orders for the candidates in the military. Exactly 15 of the 50 candidates were in some branch of the US armed services.

Lorano had effortlessly hacked into the military database during their last trip. However, between visits the military had significantly improved their data security. Further, Lorano didn’t have a Model 345.22.14 diagnostic computer at his disposal.

However, Lorano prevailed after a few tense tries and issued orders to each of the military members. They were given16 days of leave and then required to be on the secret base for an extended assignment on June 4
^th
at 09:00. Lorano left himself a back door into the database. He hoped that he would never have to return to Earth to use it again, but one never knew.

Carank identified and purchased an unused logistics building beside the Cleveland Airport. The location was perfect because it was a relatively big building. It was next to several parking lots for the airport and a Ford engine plant. It was large enough to store everyone’s vehicles inside, so no one would casually spot a car and try to trace it.

Victor contacted his lawyers and had them create a dummy corporation. He named the new entity VCLC and said that its charter was deuterium mining and processing. The new company’s headquarters was listed as the logistics building. He even created a website.

Crista was given the task of hiring the remaining civilians. She started with the engineers. She called the first name on the list and said, “Hello, is this Colin O’Neil?”

“Yes,” he replied.

Crista: “Hello, I am a recruiter for VCLC Corporation, and we have need of your special skillset. Are you interested in changing jobs?”

Colin: “Not really. Thank you.”

Crista: “You haven’t even heard the position yet. How can you turn it down?”

Colin: “You recruiters are all alike. You know nothing about me.”

Crista smiled. This was one thing she actually did know. Lorano had assembled a complete profile for the 5 engineers because he figured they would be the toughest to convince.

Crista: “Let’s see, your parents are named William and Martha. You have a sister named Lori who is two years older than you and a brother named William Jr. who is two years younger. You rent an apartment at 246 Shadyside for $790 a month. Your favorite color is blue, but only baby blue, you don’t like the darker colors of blue because they are too close to black. You drive a Nissan Sentra and take a daily pill to relieve stress. Correction, the pills are for your mother, but in your name…”

Colin: “Stop.”

Crista: “But you said…”

Colin: “I stand corrected. Apparently you do know something about me.”

Alternate Colin: “Aye, Go way outta that. It appears I have been banjaxed.”

Crista was now on a roll. She continued, “Ouch, it says here you were left at the altar by your then fiancée Mary White. That must have been embarrassing.”

Colin, “Okay, you have my undivided attention. You seem to know way, way more about me than a typical recruiter. Who are you?”

Crista: “As I said, I am a recruiter for VCLC Corporation.”

Colin interrupted, “I’ve never heard of them. What do they do?”

Crista was getting flustered and felt her blood begin to boil. She yelled at him, “I am trying to tell you if you would just let me speak for one minute!”

Colin remained silent this time.

Crista continued, “We are trying to mine and process deuterium in order to create a power generator capable of powering a space ship through trans-solar flight.”

Colin: “You mean from the video game. There is a reason the details of the hyperspace drive and power generator are blacked out in the game. They don’t exist; the technology isn’t real.”

Crista: “Yes it does.” She was angry now and wanted to reach through the phone and slap him. She briefly wondered if Carank could invent such a device. They could call it The Slapper.

Colin replied, “Wait, you said it does. I thought you said that you were trying to invent it. Which is it, are you trying to invent it or do you already have it?”

Crista was becoming flummoxed. She felt that she was losing the argument to the human. So, she fell back on what normally worked. She threatened, “Sign up now or I am coming over there, shooting you with a stun gun, and dragging you here.”

Colin replied, “Um, I think this conversation is over.”

Carank was standing nearby. He gently eased Crista’s communication pad out of her hands and said, “Hello, it appears that we have started off with the wrong appendage. After work, log onto the system and play simulation number 12345. It will answer all of your questions. We will call you again tomorrow.”

After Carank broke connection, Crista asked, “What is he going to find in that simulation?”

Carank responded, “I don’t know yet. I will make something up to keep him entertained though.”

Crista asked, “How will that help.”

Carank replied, “He lives in Sandusky, Ohio. According to websphere directions, that city is only a 2 hour drive from here in the ground car. The file says that he lives alone. Therefore, once he enters the simulation you can break into his house, stun him, and drag him here.”

Crista thought that was an excellent idea.

Chapter 9

Today was June 4
^th
, the day that all of the military members were to report to the secret base and the humans were to start their new jobs. Victor referred to it as go-day. Unfortunately, the name hadn’t caught on with anyone else despite the many times that he had used it.

Fortunately, Crista had been able to use standard recruiting tactics to convince the other four engineers to join the new company. They each had accepted the job offer without hesitation after hearing the pay and the job description. Colin O’Neal had been the only difficult one.

The job fair had also been a stunning success. Victor and Crista traveled to Akron Technical Institute one evening when the campus was nearly empty and posted flyers in key locations. They hired the first 10 applicants that called to apply, thereby filling out the final spots of
Sunflower’s
crew.

Carank and Lorano elevated down to the lower section of the bridge where Colin O’Neal and Clowy were patiently waiting to be reanimated. Carank pressed the release button on the cryostasis chamber and Colin started to thaw.

Carank checked Colin’s vitals on the monitor beside the chamber and said to Lorano, “You were right, the Solarian setting was able to keep him alive.”

Lorano answered, “Well, looks can’t be deceiving.”

They eased Colin out of the tube and laid him flat on the floor. Carank grabbed under his left arm and Lorano under his right. They dragged him across the floor to the electro lift. The lift took them up one level to the main level of the bridge.

Victor and Crista were waiting for them there. They also grabbed an arm and the foursome dragged Colin out of the bridge, down the caribou corridor, and to the infirmary.