Shadow of the Chimera (Reckless Faith VII), Chapter 6

Spoiler alert: This is a new entry for the 7th book in the Reckless Faith series. The prologue may be found here: https://devonai.wordpress.com/2022/12/15/reckless-faith-vii-prologue/

Faen Leonid sat in Lieutenant Zeta’s quarters on the Percheron, staring out through an hourglass-shaped window at the spectacular vista of Lycia and the gas giant beyond. Though she had been given a bed in one of the ship’s storage rooms, the space lacked its own bathroom, a console, and a window, so Dietrich and Zeta had given her permission to spend time in there. She had been locked out of command controls and access to the ‘net on the console, as well as anything personal Zeta might have had on there, but still had access to a wealth of information about just about any conceivable topic that was known to the Terrans. She also had free access to the galley in case she needed a bite to eat.

She had spent most of the past day in Zeta’s quarters, transfixed to the screen of the console. The vast majority of what she was learning was long denied to her, and her intelligence and focus were allowing her to soak up volumes of fascinating information. It would have been all she could ask for, if not for the fact that the Percheron was still in the Sadal Biham system. Though she understood that the crew had a job to do, she would have rather been a thousand light-years away by now. She had just started reading about how uranium hexafluoride could be used as fuel for a stardrive when the doorbell rang. She stood up and walked the short distance to the door, and opened it. Captain Dietrich was there.

“How are you holding up?” Dietrich asked.

“Fine. Thank you again for giving me access to your database.”

“You bet. Listen, the senior staff and I have been discussing your situation, and we thought you might enjoy spending some time on the bridge. There isn’t a lot going on right now, but there are people you can talk to.”

“I’d like that, thanks. I’ve spoken to a few of your crew down in the galley, but it’s awkward. I understand I’m the first alien you’ve met in the flesh, is that right?”

“No, there’s an Umberian on Earth that we know. Still, I understand that your presence here is odd for some of us. I’m sure we’ll all warm up once we’ve had a chance to get to know you.”

“You’re not worried I’m a Rakhar spy?”

“Christie scanned your brain, remember? She knows everything about you. If you were a spy, she would have told us. Come on, let’s head to the bridge.”

Faen followed her down the hallway and onto the bridge. There were four other people there, and she struggled to remember their names, having interacted with all of them just once before, save for Lieutenant Zeta. They offered greetings, then returned their attention to their consoles.

Dietrich spoke again. “Brockway, would you give our guest an overview of the bridge stations, please?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” replied Brockway, gesturing toward Faen. “So, there are six primary stations here, plus the command chair and pilot chair…”

“Captain,” interrupted Zeta, “a ship just dropped out of FTL. Distance, 5 AU; configuration matches a Z’Sorth freighter. They’re proceeding at 0.9 c toward Sadal Biham.”

“Hail them, now,” Dietrich said, taking her place in the command chair.

“Channel open.”

“This is the independent vessel Percheron to the Z’Sorth ship that just entered the system. You are strongly advised to redirect to Sadal Biham IIIC immediately. There is an unknown enemy in control of Sadal Biham, over.”

“No reply.”

“Shit. I’m sure they’re ignoring us because they can’t detect us. Haverbrook, get us on an intercept course.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied.

He pushed the throttle forward, following the yellow bracket on the HUD that Zeta had provided for him. Faen found herself retreating to the back of the bridge, and she sank into an empty jumpseat. The Percheron quickly overtook the Z’Sorth ship, and Brockway began to pace it at a distance of five thousand meters. It was a smaller ship, perhaps a hair less than the Percheron in length, with a simple ovoid design and gun-metal gray in color.

“Is the channel still open?”

“Yes,” said Zeta.

“Z’Sorth ship! If you continue to approach the planet, you may be destroyed. If you don’t believe me, stop and scan the area, and you’ll see what happened to the Rakhar fleet that tried to blockade it. There’s an enemy even more powerful than they; you won’t stand a chance.”

“No response.”

“Damn it. Drop the invisibility shield, and see if you can get in front of it.”

Brockway said, “Captain, with all due respect, that’s too risky. If either of us are close enough to attract the attention of the Chimeras…”

“Son of a bitch. All right then, Haverbrook, give ‘em a salvo of plasma across their bow, let’s see if that gets their attention.”

“Now you’re talking,” said the lieutenant, flipping on the master arm switch.

Haverbrook banked to the left, looped around, and set their speed to gain on the other ship. When they were within five hundred meters, he let loose a short burst with the plasma cannon. The brilliant blue shots streaked by them, clearing the bow by a scant ten feet. The Z’Sorth ship banked away, and disappeared from view as the Percheron overshot it.

“They’ve gone light,” said Zeta. “Destination unknown.”

Dietrich sighed. “Let’s hope they’ve decided to leave the system.”

“Nope. I just got another hit on them, this time much closer to Sadal Biham.”

“Get us over there.”

Haverbrook brought their speed up to 0.9 c, crossing the remaining distance to the planet in less than two minutes. Zeta located the ship, and again placed yellow brackets around it on the screen.

“They’re in low orbit,” said Zeta.

Brockway said, “My guess is that they were making a run for the surface, and just now realized they can’t.”

“Hail them again,” said Dietrich. “Z’Sorth vessel, this is the Percheron. I apologize for the use of weapons, but it was just a warning. You can see for yourself something very wrong is going on here. I strongly recommend you talk to us, or leave this system immediately.”

“I’m detecting neutrino emissions from the ship,” said Zeta. “They’re scanning both Rakhar derelicts and the satellite grid.”

“Suggestions?”

“I don’t think there’s anything else we can do,” replied Brockway.

“Those stubborn fools.”

After a few interminable minutes, the ship broke orbit, got itself clear of the planet, and activated its FTL drive. A wave of relief washed over the bridge crew.

“Lucky bastards,” said Haverbrook.

Dietrich rubbed her chin. “I’m not sure luck had anything to do with it. I bet the Chimera simply didn’t see them as a threat. This could be good news for Lycia; set a course back to the moon.”

Haverbrook brought their ship around, and headed for Lycia.

“What do you want to do next, captain?” asked Brockway.

“I’m thinking about revealing our presence to the authorities on Lycia. Based on what we just saw, it’s possible that they can resume normal traffic to and from there, keeping clear of Sadal Biham, of course.”

“We should consult with Commander Scherer before doing that.”

“I’ll ask the question. I’m also wondering if our databases have enough information on a satellite or beacon with an SRC transceiver that we could replicate and set up at, say, 5 AU, to transmit a warning. It would seem prudent. The next interloper may not be so lucky.”

Faen piped up from the back. “If it’s okay with you, captain, I’d like to be excused.”

“Brockway, you have the bridge. Of course, Faen, let’s step out.”

Dietrich led her out into the corridor. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. I’m sorry. I couldn’t stand to see the fleet in that condition again. Plus, I thought for sure we were about to witness the destruction of the Z’Sorth ship. It’s too much for me right now, I hope you understand.”

“I do. You can return to Zeta’s quarters, or retire for the night.”

“Is it possible for someone to join me in the galley? Though I don’t want to be alone, it would be nice to have someone there, even if we don’t talk much.”

“Walk with me.”

Together, the pair went down the stairs and entered the galley. Lieutenants Mintaka and Al-Nilam were there, seated at a table, with half-full glasses of an amber liquid and some sort of card game in progress. They stood up at Dietrich’s arrival.

“Captain,” uttered Mintaka.

“As you were. You’re off duty, relax. You’ve met Miss Leonid; I’d like you to invite her to your table. She just needs some time to de-stress. Deal her in, to whatever you’ve got going on, if it’s not too much of an imposition.”

The two security officers sat down. Dietrich patted Faen on the shoulder, then went back upstairs. She sat down, staring in confusion at the unfamiliar deck of cards.

“Uh…” began Al-Nilam. “Do you know how to play Machiavelli?”

Faen’s expression was blank. “I’ve never even seen this type of deck before.”

“Oof. That’s a problem. I’ll tell you what, let us finish this hand, then I’ll do my best to teach you.”

“Okay. Can I try some alcohol?”

“What do you like?” asked Mintaka.

“I don’t know, I’ve never had any.”

“You mean, like, in your whole life?”

“No.”

Al-Nilan got up, walked to the kitchen area, and opened a cabinet. “Do you prefer fruit, grain, sweet, dry, herb, or creamy flavors?”

“Dry grain, I guess.”

He took out a glass bottle filled with a clear liquid, filled a small glass, and returned to the table. “This is called vodka. We tend to call it more of a neutral flavor.”

She tasted it. Initially unimpressed, and unhappy with the way it burned her throat, she did like the wave of warmth that washed down to her stomach.

Mintaka said, “Most people prefer to mix it with something.”

“This will do fine for now,” she said.

The men finished their hand, then began to explain the English deck, as they called it. Faen discovered it wasn’t nearly as complex as she first imagined. She sipped her drink as they spoke, finding it less objectionable with each quaff, and soon began to feel an interesting haze in her head.

“The game we were playing is called Machiavelli,” began Al-Nilam, shuffling the deck with blinding speed, “but we’re going to teach you a simpler version called Rummy. If you get the hang of that, then we can go back to the version we like.”

“How much alcohol are you allowed to drink in a day? On the Valorous, those authorized to drink were limited to two.”

“Captain Dietrich allows for three drinks if we’re off-duty. On the Reckless Faith, they have no such restriction. It’s anybody’s guess how they haven’t flown into a star by now.”

“Blasting into space takes on a whole new meaning,” added Mintaka.

__________

Five hundred meters west of the Saffron Canyon research facility, hovering three feet above the ground, was the Reckless Faith. Not long before they arrived, Christie and Dana had managed to hack into the encrypted military radio network of the fleet of Vastus, and learned the reason why demolition of the facility had been suspended. Luckily, they had been able to eavesdrop on a briefing from Admiral Praxis to the prime minister, which included details about the deaths of the three men sent to start the demo, as well as the Shrike pilot casualties soon thereafter, when they had attempted to approach the building.

By the time the Faith showed up, they were bearing witness to the orderly withdraw of the engineering company, and the arrival of a contingent of scientists and specialized equipment to replace them. Sorely tempted to reveal their presence to Praxis, the crews of the Faith and the Fox had instead decided to do a little spying first, if for no other reason than to confirm that the radio traffic was accurate. Indeed, a trio of motionless excavators and the wreckage of a Shrike just to the south of the building easily backed up what they had heard. However, the crew of the Faith had their own plan.

Evangeline had elected to stay on the Faith for this task, and stood in the cargo bay with the rest of their crew. They were preparing to deploy a Snoopy, a quad-copter drone with a respectable array of sensors developed by NASA. It also had two mechanical arms for manipulating objects, a feature that was essential to the idea hatched by Dana. The staff that had belonged to Amity had been extensively scanned by Christie, and while no useful information had been gleaned from her effort, no one could deny what Eva and Vecky had seen on the Eagle. So, it had been brought to the cargo bay to facilitate their experiment.

Ray stood on the ramp, a tablet-sized PDA in his hands, from which he controlled the Snoopy. He brought it into the air, then turned to Eva.

“Okay, all systems are in the green. Eva, hand me the staff.”

Eva grabbed the staff, which had been left leaning against the bulkhead. She took a step, then hesitated, gazing at the object with raised eyebrows.

“Did no one notice the engraving on this thing?” she asked. “It’s quite beautiful.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Christie.

Eva seemed confused. “The golden inlaid patterns along its length.”

John stepped forward, coming within arms-length of her. “I don’t see anything.”

“Look, here. Are you both blind?”

Eva traced a pattern along the upper half of the staff with her finger. Though the others couldn’t see to what she was referring, an audible electric whine could be heard, similar to a high-voltage device powering up. She stopped what she was doing, holding the staff out in front of her like she might drop it.

“Tell us what you see, Eva,” said Dana.

“There are golden patterns along the staff,” she began. “It reminds me of a circuit board. I didn’t notice them until I picked it up.”

“May I?”

“Sure.”

Eva passed the staff to Dana. As the other woman grasped it, her eyes grew wide.

“She’s right, I can see it now.”

“What the fuck,” uttered John.

“You see it, too?”

He gestured toward her, so Dana gave it to him. Upon receiving the staff from her, John’s face scrunched in confusion.

“I only see wood grain.”

He offered it to Ray. The other man guided the drone back to the deck, then accepted it.

“I don’t see shit,” he said, and handed it back to John.

“Stand by.”

“Maybe this can wait until…”

John ran up the port side stairs, and out of sight. One minute later, he returned to the cargo bay, and gave the staff to Eva.

“Richter, Devonai, and Zukova don’t see what you’re seeing,” he said. “But while I was up there, I called Captain Kitsune. Both she and Miriam confirmed that they could see the patterns on the surface.”

“They didn’t say anything about it,” said Eva.

“They said they assumed everyone could see it.”

She nodded. “It seems obvious to me that only those of us who have had contact with the Kira’To are capable of seeing the engraving. What happened just now, or to what benefit, I don’t know.”

“Did you see Amity manipulating the patterns during her battle in the reactor room?”

Eva scoffed. “I was a little distracted at the time.”

“Some of its properties may be passive,” said Dana. “We can worry about that later. I say we proceed with our plan.”

John nodded. “Yes.”

Taking the staff, John walked over to a spool of fishing line that was on the deck. He secured the loose end to the center of the staff, then approached the drone. Ray got it into the air again, and fumbled around on his tablet. The stubby mechanical arms reached forward, and grasped the staff. John stuck a small dowel through the center of the spool, then faced the ramp.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Ari asked Ray.

“I’ve had more practice with the Snoopys than you,” he replied.

“Bridge crew,” began John, “you guys ready up there?”

“Yup,” said Milena’s voice. “Our eyes are peeled, and we’re ready to send you audio if the military starts talking.”

“Let’s go. Dana, open the ramp.”

Dana hit a button on a wall-mounted console, and the ramp began to open. The sun had set in that area on Vastus, and the darkened research facility loomed against the horizon. With the naked eye, they couldn’t see the shaft of gamma radiation that shot out from the roof, but they knew it was there. Ray guided the drone forward, while John steadied the spool as it rotated around the dowel. Almost immediately, they heard a transmission from one of the soldiers on the ground to their south.

“Who the hell authorized drone operations?” said a voice.

“What drone?” someone else asked.

“The drone approaching the building from west to east, five hundred meters and closing.”

“I don’t see anything.”

“Turn on your IR, dumbass!”

“Okay, got it. I don’t know.”

“Stand by, I’ll contact Cent-Com.”

Ray continued to pilot the drone in a straight line toward the building, moving it forward slowly. The first voice could be heard again.

“Corporal, no activity of any kind has been authorized here. Maybe it was launched by the research team?”

“They’re standing right next to me, so no. Do they want us to shoot it down, sir?”

“Wait one, over.”

That conversation lapsed, and the drone reached the western side of the building. It hovered there, less than a meter from the wall.

“Ambient radiation is up to five hundred millisieverts,” said Ray. “Nothing else unusual.”

John said, “All right, I think we got what we came for. Bring it back.”

Ray turned the drone around. John removed the dowel from the spool and grasped the bitter end of the line. Radio traffic from the military resumed.

“Take it out!” said the first man.

Plasma shots began to streak by the drone. Ray increased its speed and began to fly evasively. Just when it had reached the Faith, it clipped the muzzle of the GAU 8/A and careened onto the ramp, sending up a shower of sparks.

“Shit!” yelled Ray.

Dana closed the ramp, and Ray powered-down the drone.

“I’m sure NASA will let you set up a payment plan,” said Ari.

“I didn’t see you practicing on a Snoopy. We should really have twin joysticks for controls, this tablet kinda sucks.”

“The good news is, the staff is undamaged,” said Christie, smiling. “I’ll fix the drone, guys, don’t worry. As far as the mission, now we know the Chimeras don’t care about drones. My guess is they’re only threatened by you meat-bags.”

“That’s awfully pretentious for someone who used to be a meat-bag,” said John, “not that long ago, either. NASA’s expensive drones notwithstanding, I was hoping they would attack it. It would have been far more useful to us to get more data on their form of attack, and whether or not the staff will be of any use to us.”

“We can conduct our own destructive tests on the staff,” said Ari. “Surely there’s some way for us to hit it with a metric shitload of electricity.”

“Let’s send you up a pole, you can whack a transformer with it,” said Ray.

“Come on,” said John, gesturing upstairs. “We can deal with all of that later. Let’s share what we learned with Vecky and then decide what we want to do next.”

Eva grabbed the staff. The entire group then took the port side stairs to the top deck, and entered the bridge. Richter, Devonai, and Milena turned to greet them.

“Hey, boss,” began Devonai. “The Vastuvians are spreading out to look for the drone, but they’re keeping well clear of the building. I recommend we get back into orbit just to be safe.”

Christie said, “John, I want to take a look inside the research center. The crews of the Fox and the Rastaban got a lot of good info while they were there, but I think it bears another look.”

“That’s too risky,” said Ray. “Just because the Chimeras ignored the drone doesn’t mean they won’t see you as a threat. We still don’t know what triggers them. You could get fried the moment you leave the ship.”

Eva leaned against a console, and folded her arms. “Also, don’t forget that Jim 147 said that getting too close to the source of that gamma radiation would scramble his circuits. I’m not sure, but I don’t think your body is any more robust than his. We already explored the labs that were accessible to us anyway.”

“Is there no kind of shielding that can protect you from that hazard?” asked Milena.

Eva suddenly stood straight up, staring at the staff that she held in her left hand. “Whoa! What the fuck?”

“What happened?” asked Ray.

“I just got this overwhelming feeling that the staff could protect me in there.” She grasped it with both hands. “I’m having trouble describing it. It’s like I knew that this whole time, and it’s the simplest thing ever. Like, ‘duh’!”

“If you’re wrong, you’ll be putting your DNA into a blender,” said Dana.

“I’m not comfortable with either of you going in there right now,” said John. “Time is on our side. Christie, you’ve got the best understanding of how gamma radiation might affect your body, but I’d like you to run some virtual experiments based on the specifications from the manufacturer before committing to going in. Eva, we all heard the staff make some kind of noise when you tried interacting with the circuitry. I’d like you to work with Vecky and Miriam and see if the three of you can figure something out. If you discover palpable, repeatable features, then I’ll sign off on you going in. I do agree that another look at the phenomenon affecting the facility would be worth the effort.”

Eva nodded. “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Milly, take us back to the Fox. Devonai, let them know we want to dock.”

Devonai’s console beeped at him. “Hey, the Percheron is contacting us.”

“Open a channel. Let’s hope they’ve got some good news for us.”