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The trouble was, Jacqueline was still shaky: not only when Ben and Marlena called, but when they came to her quarters. They wanted to hear about the DM and using it to position the macro-C-Gate. But for her those matters were, at the best, on hold.
“That can wait. The Timeloster came,” and now she had their attention. “It wanted me to go stay in Time-Lost a while, long enough to learn how the time vectors function, how to pick one that’s quicker. For the C-Gates. But….”
Ben reached to take her hand. “Doesn’t it realize what that means in terms of local time?”
“I suppose not. And how does it know I could even breathe or eat there, being spread out in so many dimensions?”
“We don’t know that’s the case,” Marlena objected.
“It was Dr. Cochrane’s best guess, though,” Ben said. “Anyway, did it try to take you?”
Headshake. “No, just persuade.” She let out a shuddery sigh. “If I weren’t so beat out, it probably wouldn’t spook me so hard.”
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As the macro-C-Gate moved toward operational status, Sisko monitored the progress by way of the info copies sent him by Cade Brandi over a data channel. Brandi wasn't much for using voice/video contact, but punctilious about report readouts.
So after the C-Gate crew vacated Arrowprize in favor of their own duty station, Ben kept tabs as Brandi reported activation of its internal Earth-C-Gates, the outgating of supplies and materials and drive fuel for his maneuvering thrusters, and so on.
At that point Ben moved his ship well away from the macro-C-Gate and watched the big structure swing to point its central axis along its orbital path. Arrowprize sat directly in that path, but on the "in" side; any emerging ship, once Brandi had his matrices plugged in and activated, would come out the other way.
In fact nothing could go through such a C-Gate the "wrong" way. On the Mouth side the asympotitically tapering fields converged on the C-Gate ring, centering the approaching ship; from the Ass, the force vectors converged further. Anything coming the other way would simply be deflected by a cross-product vector force generated by its own motion, to pass beyond the ring.
Due to Junior's unexpected dim companion and Earth's sending the extra C-Gates too late to install before decel, macro-C-Gate operations here would start at least 3 months later than planned. But tacked onto the end of a nearly seventy-two-year jaunt, that delay counted as rather small beans.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwxakF06Eu
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Returning from the exercise belt, Ben entered his quarters just in time to hear J.M. hailing him on the intercraft. He answered and she said, "Darius Mullen's been calling; wants to talk with you and he's in a hurry."
I'm sure he is. "I gotta take a shower first. That slick-haired glory-grabber can wait."
"Translation: you'll call as soon as you possibly can."
Sisko laughed. "If you want to put some jelly on it, fine." But it was a good thirty minutes before he opened the channel.
Mullen wasted no time on chitchat. "Brandi's instruments indicate a planetary system about 18 light-years past this one, roughly five degrees off your approach vector coming in. You are to make your ship ready to undertake the flight to that system, where you will conduct standard recon and exploration and then return here. I am advising Earth..."
You bastard! "Hold it right there, buster! We don't have the parts for a macro-C-Gate any more, in case you've forgotten. You want to waste nearly 40 years of a ship's working life, just looking?! " Then an afterthought. "Alves. What does she say about this?"
"As ops officer, such decisions are within my jurisdiction. And I'll decide what's a waste and what's not. Certainly you'd carry two C-Gates, to be used on the planetary surface." If any....
“I see.” Maybe he did, at that. When in doubt, stall. “Well, I’d better call a meeting and inform my people. I’ll get back with you.”
Ben didn’t, though. Instead he got Celia Alves onscreen via her CV-1 channel and brought her up to date. “How seriously do I have to take this empire builder?”
“Not so seriously as I must, it would seem. This is not the first overstepping of his authority, but it by far the most flagrant.” She frowned. “I’m afraid I was not entirely open with you, earlier. I have suspected, but without clear proof, the existence of a powerful cabal based on Earth, aimed at the establishment of a group of colonies under its sole governance. Although the starship program is and has been a UN operation from the start, this group is purportedly headed by Senator Gayelord Horton. A failed presidential candidate whose campaign tactics were abominable; now maybe he seeks power in a new direction. The extent of his overseas affiliations, however, is obscured by rumor."
"You think Mullen's one of the stormtroopers?"
"It would appear so. His latest move was to persuade Cade Brandi, out on the C-Gate, that Mullen is the true power here and I'm some kind of figurehead." Then, abruptly: "What do you intend? Will you undertake the mission he proposes?"
"I was hoping you'd have some ideas. One thing, we're short nearly half our crew, including my drive chief. The decel team won't outgate here for another 15 months---closer to 16, in reality. We'd be a light-year out, by then---and ourselves still in C-Gate lag, leaving 6 people with an empty ship and nothing but our records to tell them where they're going or what for."
And there was more to it. "Ordinarily, I think you know, a crew ingates 21 months before launch, to emerge when acceleration's complete. It's madness to send a ship in the blind, totally uncrewed for a year after accel stops. I mean, do we want to trust the programming to take sightings and make the early course corrections? Hell, it could end up badly enough off target to add months to the trip." And remembering his argument back at Beacon World, what if some natives decided to dig into a virtually uncrewed ship? But he'd laid enough reasons on her....
"Have you told Mullen any of this?"
"He wasn't listening."
"He doesn't. Sisko---I honestly don't know what I can suggest."
But as he spoke, Bend had been deciding. He said, "Just don't endorse Mullen's orders, because I won't carry them out. What can he do, anyway? The ship's up here and he's not; our fuel and supplies come direct from Bolt Park, and it's four years before anything he says can affect that. So I think I'll just sit tight, talk reasonably and more or less politely, and take no action until I must. I'll keep you posted."
"And I, you." Looked anxious, she closed the channel.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHDOSQAkl7
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From roughly sixty miles away, Arrowprize's sensing cameras could bring the macro-C-Gate very close indeed. Watching that image at an aux screen in control, the circle full-on from this perspective, Jacqueline was puzzled: why were a pair of diametrically opposed objects, each maybe 30 feet long and ten high and who could tell from here how wide, racing around the perimeter? Completing the circuit in about---oh, 22 seconds, a little more.
But why? The macro ring spanned over 800 feet so these passenger coaches or whatever they might be were clocking about 80 miles an hour. No huge ratel. Except that---well, yes! Passengers in either or both of those pods would be feeling just about 1 centripetal G.
The C-Gate's equivalent of Arrowprize's exercise belt.
There had to be access stations, airlock couplings, and such. And to avoid putting torque to the C-Gate ring, small traction thrustors would drive the units. Jacqueline wished she knew more details. What kind of track held the cars? What kept those straight across from each other, in balance? But those people didn't tell everything they knew. Not to superannuated ship decks, they didn't.
Oh, well...
Over several weeks she'd almost gotten used to the noise, the crowding, the air of bustle. Reversion to a less hectic pace should have come as a relief, but somehow Jacqueline couldn't quite relax. Maybe she was too acclimated to edgy anticipation, to constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Whatever, it shouldn't take her too much longer to readjust.
Right now, Nyota and Alfred and Talia were taking the DM down, with a load of items specially ordered by the colony from ship's supplies. Jacqueline wished she could be along; going in from 20,000 miles, the view would be something to see.
Central to the ring a flash of light caught her attention, like regular C-Gate flares but much bigger, and more diffuse. Its dying revealed a smallish vessel, moving directly away.
Jacqueline hit the intercraft key to her dad's digs. "Ben! Something just outgated from the macro!"
She saw the object turn and double back, now passing outside the ring, to aim itself straight for the Arrowprize!306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2DSYtrs54
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"So that's how the Mullen problem looks to me," Ben said. "The cabal part, that's all blue sky, so far. And I see no point in bothering the others with any of it. Yet."
Before J.M. could answer, Jacqueline's call came. "I'll be right there." Rising, he headed for the transfer ring.
As he swerved into control, awkward on Velcro because he was trying for too much speed, Jacqueline already had comm with the newcomer. "....no idea," a man's voice was saying. "A test drone went through not 20 seconds before, no action, so I took the short cut and whoops, here we are!" The speaker, slim and rather lean-faced, looked and sounded quite young. After a pause, pushing reddish brown hair back from his forehead, he said, plaintively, "Only where are we? I forget which C-Gate this is."
"I don't know its number," Jacqueline said. "You're talking to the starship Arrowprize, about 60 miles back from the macro's in side." She checked a list. "The C-Gate call frequencies are...."
"I told you, Skip." The man standing beside the first speaker probably wasn't much older, but his self-image certainly was. This one had both height and weight on his colleague; contrasting with dark hair, his pale round face carried the responsibilities of the ages. Be serious, his expression said.
So did his voice. "Skip, you never listen. Now you're cold mush. I can't cover for you; you know that----hey, where are you taking us? We should dock at the macro-C-Gate and report."
Seating himself, Ben opened his mike. "Captain Benjamin Sisko calling the new arrival. Identify yourself and tell me who's in charge?"
"I'm senior," said the reproachful one, "and...."
"But I'm flying the crate, Kevin," Skip cut in. "Arrowprize, is it? Then we're better than 70 light-years out, aren't we?"
"And missed your ship," said Kevin. "How soon was it due to leave?" Then, "I insist..."
"Quiet!" Ben's tone carried parade ground echoes. "Identify yourselves and your vehicle."
The younger man spoke again. "This is the C-class cargo shuttle Tennessee. The design's similar to your DM but with more thrust and shorter range; a bit over twice the tonnage. I think. I'm Skip Pennyline, pilot. This asshole with me is Kevin Fudd, our group dispatcher; he's all right when you get to kn ow him. Now, sir; may I ask permission to dock with you?"
"You can't do that, Skip! I'm responsible to...."
"Yes, I an. Captain, I need...."
"I don't." Ben said. "But come anyway." Pretending to ignore Jacqueline's look of disapproval, Sisko cut the circuit.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopFKmHtyBJ
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Tennessee was too big to slide into ,the Deployment Module's berth, but its stern held three deep, concentric circular slots. Of these, the smallest nested flexibly over the rim of Arrowprize's now-hollow nose to a depth of over a meter before magnetic circuitry kicked in to hold the joining firm.
Jacqueline wondered who was supposed to fill the DM's former space with air. the answer was Tennessee, mostly, but the donation was temporary; from the vessel's stern came a tubular airbag expanding to leave only a two-meter tunnel, lined with molded handholds, back to the greater ship's cargo hatch. No doubt it would pump empty again, for retrieval when the docking period ended. And presumably one size fits all.
All this came clear when she followed Ben's welcoming party to open the tunnel's personnel hatch, admitting two young men to Arrowprize's central tube.
"Hi," Pennyline, the younger-looking one, with the excess of shaggy reddish brown hair and the big grin, shook hands all around. Slim, and not much taller than Jacqueline herself, he seemed to carry around more energy than anyone really needed.
"Jacqueline Sisko," she said when it was her turn to speak. "You really cut through a C-Gate that was due to fire up any second?"
The grin wouldn't quit. "Well, it got us here."
"That's the problem right there," said Kevin Fudd. And: "I'm sorry about this," he kept repeating, with variations. "We'll have to take Tennessee back, of course, and it's not my fault the company's lost four years' use of her, but..."
"Not necessarily." Trust Ben, Jacqueline thought, to cut through the horse shit and make some sense. "They'll be sending ships like this out soon in any case, and with a two-year C-Gate lag no matter what. Why don't you just take yours over to the macro-C-Gate, Mr. Fudd, contract its services out to the C-Gate's---uh, administrators? And report the deal back to Earth."
"There you go, Kevin." Skip clapped the other man on the shoulder. "You can steer it that far, I assume."
Which implied that he himself was staying. He'd better ask Ben first, was Jacqueline's thought.
Fudd frowned. "I'll have to think this over."
"Reasonable," said J.M. Colt. "And since your last meal would be something like four hundred trillion miles back, why don't we go outcraft a few levels and do something about it?306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKDMdT0OJ1
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Behind all the bravado, Ben decided, Pennyline probably wasn't a bad kid. A bit of a loose cannon, too much tendency to freelance, but the swashbuckling was fairly normal for his age. Still, Sisko was just as glad as Skip wasn't his problem.
Other than being a worrywort, Fudd seemed sensible enough. Over lunch, Sisko drew out the two men's stories. Skip Pennyline had been nearly 13 when he and his parents, a 3rd officer and drive chief respectively but he didn't mention which was which, C-Gated aboard Nomad. "That was two years after Arrowprize," Penny ventured, and Skip nodded. Okay; eight years.
The trip took about 28 months, ship's time, "....and the destination turned out to be Sucks." Ben's brows rose; Pennyline added, "It was so bad they named it that." An ice planet, summer highs only a few degrees above freezing; lichens flourished briefly, then reverted to dormancy. The air was fine, though. "People could live there, but like living on Antarctica. Nearly everything was going to need C-Gating in: energy sources, fertilizer, the lot, it wasn’t worth doing. But the colony administrators insisted that everybody had to make a go of it.”
Ben leaned forward. “Including your ship’s crew?”
“The colony took over the ship.”
Ben’s personal alarms went off. The cabal? “Then what?”
“Actually, except for an advance party, everybody lived on the macro-C-Gate. Or on the ship. We weren’t equipped to settle groundside, because conditions there hadn’t been determined until we were pretty close. It was going to bel---oh, I’m not sure how long---until the surface was conquered.” Pennyline shrugged. “Well, that’s the way the Big Cough always put it.”
At any rate, after a few months, Nomad’s crew got tired of serving as flunkies for administrative brass who’d commandeered all the better of the ship’s quarters. “So one shift we all gathered on the control level and blocked the transfer ring. We outnumbered the colony ants there, so we locked them in a supply room and C-Gated ourselves and our duffel back to Bolt Park.”
“How would they be let out?” Jacqueline asked, then mock-slapped her head. “The full-G ring, sure. But too late to stop you.”
“The boy gave her an appraising look. “That’s how Captain Kluttz saw it, when I suggested the idea.” Was that a fact, or sheer bragging? “Well, anyway----” Back at Bolt Park, Nomad’s people were out of time with Earth . Like. us, thought Ben, with the C-Gate crew, and downstairs. So they and other returnees of comparable provenance lobbied for a ship of their own. "And we may have won; it was still up for grabs, decision pending. But I couldn't sit around in training sessions all that time; I took a job uploading cargo, herding Tennessee. And today..." Abruptly the youngster paused, then continued. "Two years ago, I mean, word on my next picking spot came late, so I took a shortcut. Wrong move." But still he grinned.
Fudd didn't. His story was less colorful. When Cub Scout macro-C-Gated to Janeway's Planet on its way to a more distant system, he oversaw ship's supplies. Ben wasn't quite sure of Cub Scout's place in the program's timetable, but he didn't like to interrupt. At any rate the far destination, when reached, provided a useful world, where Fudd supervised downloading from ship and macro-C-Gate until a political appointee superseded him. When he C-Gated back, to Cub Scout's relay point and then to Earth, he found a niche riding herd on uploading vessels such as Tennessee. He'd been hitching a ride downstairs when the shortcut hijacked him. He was taking that development a little better now.
"I just want to get back to my job," he said. "Though what they'll say, four years AWOL for no good reason...."
"I'll write you an excuse," said Skip Pennyline. "Please excuse Kevin Fudd, he didn't mean to play hookey but the macro-C-Gate wouldn't take no for an answer. And..."
"That's enough," Ben said. "I'll send a report back with Mr. Fudd; you needn't bother." Leaning forward he tried on his trademark frown, just for fun. "Now, Mr. Pennyline. You did mention some kind of necessity. What is it that you need?"
"Right!" The grin vanished as Pennyline said, "I want to sign on here. Join your crew."
I might have known, Ben had thought. 306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOtyi1r0rj
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Jacqueline thought it was a good idea; Skip Pennyline struck her as someone who did things. Not too disciplined, sure, but Ben could sort him out. Her dad, though, cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "There might be some problems. What's your program status? On the record, that is."
Pennyline cleared his throat. "Most of our Nomad bunch were in the old-timers' group trying to get on Pegasus. That's a century-class ship, a hundred in the crew. First of its kind." He paused. "Your ship here was the first to use foldout fins to make up its macro-C-Gate. With Pegasus the entire hull unfolds that way." Trying to picture how it might work, Jacqueline kept losing track of the ways things would have to fit.
“So we’d already have our operating and exploration crews,” Skip went on. “Instead of your DM there are 4 cargo loaders, something like Tennessee. The mission plan was still in the argument stage. One option as C-Gating to Exeter’s macro, but we hadn’t heard for sure yet.”
When Sisko didn’t comment, Skip said, “A ship’s a ship; if I do my job, what difference can it make to the brass?”
“And what might that job be?” Ben asked. “Aside from small craft pilot. “Which would put you working for the macro people anyway; our DM needs are well staffed.”
“Let’s see…I’m weakest on drive, haven’t studied it much. Nor C-Gates, ‘cept for the op procedures. But besides loader jockey I’m good with instruments, taking and evaluating navigation readings, control systems upkeep. I can even cook!”
“Cook?!” said Kevin. “That’s his story.” He didn’t look as serious as usual. Pennyfield grinned again but made no protest.
“You, Fudd,” Sisko said. “If you’re going back, would you like to see a little of the place first? You can C-Gate from this ship to Bolt Park, or strictly between macro-C-Gates.”
“I’ll have to see to Tennessee…”
“Leave that to me. If you want to, of course.” Jacqueline’s eyes narrowed; Ben wanted something out of this. What did he want?
Fudd nodded. “All right; I’ll C-Gate from here. Groundside may be a bit less trouble to report to. And right now’s as good as any; get it over with.”
So the man had a sense of humor, after all. Earlier Jacqueline hadn't liked him much; now as he stood to leave with Ben saying thanks for the lunch, she was rather sorry to see her go.
Others started drifting away as well; Skip Pennyfield, apparently in no hurry to be anywhere, poured himself more iced tea. Jacqueline did likewise. And after a moment asked, "How your you, bio?"
"16. And, umm---a half, call it. You?"
"15, in two months."
"Do they let you do much yet? Real work, that is?"
"I've been standing regular watches..." How long was it now, since Cayla Paulsen left? "Nearly 2 years. We lost some people--not dead, just had to leave, one way and another. And with C-Gate lag you can't wait on replacements."
"Full watches; no kidding? How'd you like to ride Tennessee? I might let you try the controls."
This lad needed straightening out. "Could be interesting, to land it." She paused. "See if it handles much different from the DM, when I took it down its first trip."
Before he found an answer, she left.
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Resting, Marlena sat up when Ben entered quarters. "One thing after another, isn't it? First Mullen and maybe the bogey men back home, and now this. Did you see young Kevin off?" He nodded. "How 'bout the other one, Skip. You didn't exactly welcome him with open arms."
"Would you? Oh, I like him well enough; I just don't want to be stuck with housebreaking him."
Laughter escaped her. "Do you think he's true trouble?"
"You're making my point, Marlena. He's not my problem and I won't let him be. If I think of any good advice I'll pass it along and welcome. But he's not my responsibility."
A snicker slurred her answer; at Ben's request she repeated it. "You hope!"
He scowled. "Well, there could be some complications."
"Let's save 'em for later," she said. "I'm on duty in another hour."
As if she had to tell him twice!"306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqALewG0q5Q
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After Marlena left, Sisko dozed. Her voice on the intercraft brought him awake. "Ben, it's the Alves woman. Says she's got to talk with you. You're supposed to call her back, using level three scramble. Whatever that is."
"There's a switch setting for it. I'll be along in a minute."
On the way he tried to think of the channel number she'd given him; as he entered control he remembered. At the comm panel he called groundside and asked for CV-1, then threw the scramble switch.
The woman who came onscreen was not Celia Alves. This one was younger, and seemed agitated. "Captain Sisko you've got to help us! They took the chief---they say she's sick, but she's really not---it's house arrest, that's what it is. And..."
"Hold on, hold on! Now, you said she was taken, right? By whom?"
"Mullen. And his people. It's some kind of a coup, I'm pretty sure of that; he's been talking privately with a group up on the macro-C-Gate, but he kept saying it was just a matter of improving coordination. We...."
There was a pause; the women looked back over her shoulder. "Someone's coming. I'll get back to you when I can."
And the screen faded to black.
Turning to Marlena, Ben wondered if he looked as blank as she did. She said, "Is this Alves's conspiracy? Don't forget: Pennyfield mentioned some kind of takeover shenanigans at Sucks. Do we have reports of anything ourselves?"
He thought. "Not at Janeway's Planet or the Triad Worlds; of course those are the only two we C-Gate with, directly. Regarding later ships there's been no such word. Not here, anyway."
Moreau nodded. "Politics back home could be getting tough. It wouldn't be the first time in history."
A cabal within the agency as Alves claimed---growing over the years, infiltrating administrative cadres and macro-C-Gate crews? If so, what the hell could Ben Sisko do about it?
Or was it any of his business? Shrugging, he said, "Our move is: we keep our own council and see what happens next."
He stood. "First thing, I'm going to see that Tennessee's fuel tanks are topped off."
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Talia Winters didn't know what do do. After letting her land the Module, Nyota had taken Nightgazer along and gone outside. 20 minutes later the man Dorian Mullen came onscreen and invited Talia to disembark also. Her orders said otherwise; she declined. Mullen showed her Nyota and Nightgazer under guard. "If you have any concern for your comrades' safety, you will do as I say."
Concern? Of course she had. But 3 hostages was no improvement over two, let alone giving up the DM. The trouble was, Talia wasn't used to this kind of thing.
She tried to call Arrowprize but her receivers blared harsh; these dickheads were jamming her! By the time she found a usable frequency outside the blocked band, Mullen had made good use of her distraction; the landing leg's Station LL camera showed her friends, now handcuffed, positioned directly below the Module. "You see?" said Mullen, standing safely off to one side. "You lift off, they die."
The jamming had stopped. "Now I'm ready to talk to your captain. Go head and call him. And patch me through on a conference basis. I want to hear every word you both say."
There wasn't much Talia could do, except comply.
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How could he have known to guard against something this blatant? Ben shook his head: damn, he’d completely forgotten the DM was scheduled to go down today, let alone that it had gone. Stalling, staring at the split screen images on his control panel as he tried to think of something h could use, he recited Mullen’s demands. “With or without us, you want the ship. And the Deployment Module, and now this cargo shuttle. It seems to me you’re trying to operate way outside your jurisdiction.”
“I’ve made it mine. You can’t argue with that.”
Seeing Nyota and Nightgazer helpless, Sisko really couldn’t. He countered with: “Back on Earth there’ll be arguments raised.” Or maybe not, but it was the best line he could come up with.”
“2 years before they hear anything even if you’ve already started tattling. And another two before the first possible response here, of any kind. I think we’ll have matters pretty well nailed down by that time.”
So Mullen wasn’t sure of the Earth end. It didn’t help. “Fait accompli? Accepted because that’s the easy way out?”
“You understand well. Now tell your co-pilot to come out of the Module, please.”
“Plain barefaced hostage blackmail, is that it?”
“That’s a harsh way to look at it, captain. I’m merely ensuring that you negotiate in good faith.”
For a time Sisko said nothing. This was hard lines and no simple solution. He must have muttered that much out loud; J.M. said, “There’s only one answer, isn’t there?”
“You mean, we don’t accept the hostage principle?” He nodded. “But I have to ask myself, could I decide that way if it were Jacqueline down there?”
“She’s not. But yes, you do have to ask that.”
“All right.” He turned back to the console. “Talia? Nyota? Nightgazer? Can you all here me okay?”
When he was assured that they could, Ben took a deep breath. Then he told them what his choices were.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5xAmkK78M
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Tennessee massed over 40,000 tons and carried better than three Gs of thrust. Straight down from 20,000 miles, add on the planet’s own gravitational pull, and “…well over 30 miles per second, at impact.” Much too fast, going in vertically, for atmospheric friction to ablate much of it away.,
The colony would be gone without a trace! Lake Pimple, assuming it still existed as such, would expand into a second adjoining crater. “Once launched, there’s absolutely no way to deflect the vessel. 20 minutes later, that’s all she wrote.”
Mullen shouted that he’d never get by with it, exclamation point. Ben forced out a laugh. “If I say it was an accident, who’ll be left to argue?”
Then, seriously, back to the captives. “But I won’t do this unilaterally. The decision has to be unanimous.”
“Let me get this straight,” said Alfred Nightgazer. “Napoleon her demands you give him the ship, the DM, the whole shooting match; let him be top dog. Or else he killed Nyota and me. You say he lets us go, DM and all, or you scrag the place. And yeah, I know, you can’t get us out.” He shrugged. “Your thoughts, Nyota?”
She looked miserably uncomfortable, sweat running down her forehead and no hands free to wipe it away. “I think, I’d rather be somewhere else. But don’t give this coprocephalic our ship!”
“Copa---what?!” Mullen sounded more puzzled than offended.
“It means shithead,” Talia explained. Her face show scared, but her voice didn’t.
“Well, there you have it,” said Nightgazer. “Play your hand, skipper.”306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzNP3X2qhi
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Talia couldn’t believe this was happening “Nyota! Nightgazer! You’re asking to get us killed?!”
The man looked up towards the LL camera. “Not you, Talia. Nyota and I are all the handle Mullen has on you. If Ben lowers the boom you’ve got plenty of leeway; just lift off.”
“I couldn’t!”
“Yes, you can,” said Nyota Uhura. “At that point we’re dead anyway and you’re not. So, get your young ass up and out.”
“No.” Talia struggled to understand her conflict and found an answer. “I could leave you, sure. If I had to, under orders. But I can’t kill you myself, with my own drive blast.”
“I’m afraid it’s not convenient to move them,” said Dorian Mullen. “It does seem the matter is up to you, Sisko.”
Frustrated to fury, Talia felt her teeth grind. Movement caught her eye: a guard, looking up at the DV and shifting uneasily. Almost without thinking, she yelled. “Hey, you! You with the big gun and the itchy feet. Are you deaf or just dumb? Do you want to bet your own ass, this sonofabitch can make his bluff stick?”
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"Well, you saw," Nyota said, nursing the second half of her scotch after she'd gulped down the 1st. Nightgazer was taking his gently from the start, while Talia seemed satisfied with coffee. Just in case, though, Sisko left the bottle open on the galley table. For one thing, he was still hung up on the question he hadn't needed, after all, to answer: would he have done it?
Uhura wasn't finished. "When Mullen wouldn't give it up the guards turned on him: cuffed him and turned us loose. They wanted us to wait until they dickered with Mullen's loyalists to free Ms. Alves, and talk with her, but Nightgazer said, we'd rather come up and watch from the balcony. So here we are."
"We were lucky," Nightgazer said now. "Those guards were only foot troops, not hardcores with a stake in the action. Otherwise..."
Sitting at the group's outskirts, Skip Pennyfield spoke. "I know it's not important in the big picture, but I'm sure glad you didn't have to waste Tennessee. I'm deep enough without having my ship used to wipe out a colony." As Sisko turned a curious gaze on the youth, Skip added, “can I take it over to the big C-Gate now, and get contracted to do some work? Just to keep busy until you sign me on here.”
“Not just yet,” Ben told him. “There’s some question, you see, of where those people’s loyalties lie. So, for now, Skip, Tennessee is off-limits. Except on my orders.”
Crestfallen, the boy nodded.
From the bridge, the intercraft came on. “Odessa Vangelos here. Captain, downstairs wants to talk again.”306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIaf4ltxt3
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One cheek bruised, hair down loose and tousled, dress torn at one shoulder, Celia Alves looked like the wrong end of a mugging but game to go another round. “Captain! I’m glad you got your people away unharmed.” Ben decided she hadn’t heard about the proposed alternative. “But I musts warn you. A coded message arrived for Dorian Mullen, who you will be pleased to know is confined, pending charges. I had his tame crypto expert bounced around a bit until he agreed to decode it for me.”
Oh-oh! She was looking serious again, as she said, “It was a notification that according to plan, two armed spacecraft will outgate here soon. Mission, to establish security control over this star system and all ships within or near its reaches.”
“Control for whose benefit? The cabal’s?” Armed ships? What kind of bullshit….? “And what kind of armament?”
“I’m not sure. On either count. But I’d assume Horton’s group, yes. The message came from something called Special Colony Coordination. It was not routed through top H.Q. for endorsement.”
“Have you heard anything else new, that might relate?”
Alves shook her head. “Nothing. Captain, if I were you the thought of armed bullies emerging into nearby space would bother me.”
“Don’t assume it doesn’t. But important, right now, in your end. Can you round up enough muscle to arrest as many as possible of Mullen’s gang and C-Gate them home under guard with a comprehensive bill of charges signed by you. I mean, widespread conspiracy or not, cleaning out your own lodge hall is a good place to begin. Spreading a stink back at Earth isn’t a bad idea, either. And it wouldn’t hurt to lean on Mullen first, see if he knows just how far this thing really goes. If you must bounce him a little, too, for effect, it’s in a good cause.”
Another thought. “If you see you’re losing, though, round up all you can of the good folks and C-Gate ‘em the hell home. There’s got to be somebody you can trust there, go for sanctuary.”
“That’s my last resort, of course. But what’ll you do?”
There were several possibilities. “I don’t know yet. Call me if anything more needs talking about.”
The screen went dark. Ben thought, how did everybody get fucked up so fast?306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ06TVk77cG
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Scanning through the backlog of routine bulletins no one ever had time to read, J.M. found some answers; in quarters she summarized them for Ben. “Those ships Alves mentioned won’t be armed in the conventional sense. What they are is prospecting vessels, to probe asteroids and small moons. They’re not designed to land anywhere, by the way; just to dock at macro-C-Gates for refueling and stuff like that. What they carry is lasers to vaporize surface rock for gas spectography and torpedoes with various kinds of warheads, thermite, explosives, and so forth. These things can be used for weapons, but that’s not the aim.”
“It’s Mullen’s intent, all right, him and his group.” Sisko stood. At her questioning look he said, “I’m going to find Nightgazer; then he and I will go prowl Charles Tucker’s personal terminal. He just may have filed something we can use.”
After a moment, J.M. thought he understood.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTZhzPWKY9
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What Jacqueline liked about Skip Pennyfield wasn’t just that he was roughly her own age but also that he came from her time. What she disliked about him was his unspoken assumption that he always belonged first in line. Talia it turned out, had much the same impression. “After all, though, he was the only kid on Nomad.”
“And I was the only one here. So what?”
“I’d say his parents, the officer and the drive chief, let the crew make a pet of him.” Winters laughed. “I can’t imagine Ben doing that. Or J.M. Or my own folks, back on macro-C-Gate 2. What you and I got, Jacqueline, were the limits that go with being a kid and then growing into responsibilities. Skip must’ve got it from the other side: first privileges, then rights.”
“We’ve had some of that, too, haven’t we?”
“Sure. The balance was different, is all.” Talia’s smile had mischief in it. “Has he asked for any favors yet?”
“Like what?”
“Never mind. He will, I just know it.”
So a little later when Skip tagged after Jacqueline to the exercise ring, just the two of them working o ut, she kept notice on him. Outwardly, at least, he wasn’t grinning….
About halfway through the hour they’d scheduled, a little out of breath from the exercycle, he said, “Would you like have sex with me? I haven’t had sex since we came through.”
He wasn’t creepy like Osric, let alone Arthur; just brash. Still, he was out of line. “And how long before that?”
He laughed. “All right, quite a while. But I did on Nomad. Told her my father said to find someone to show me but keep it quiet because my mother didn’t approve. But I knew a lot of good ways to do. What do you say? Would you like to?”
Jacqueline shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t.” He wouldn’t have an implant, anymore than she had. But even if he did…
“Any day you change your mind, the offer is still open.”
“Someday, yes, I might.” So much for the carrot; now for the stick. “When you grow up, I mean.”
Surprising her, he smiled. “Then let’s give it another twenty minutes hard sweat here and go grab a bite to eat.”
Whatever else, she told Talia later, you couldn’t call him a bad loser.”306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0X0e97Inhq
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“You can’t work the field phases from the bridge,” said Nightbgazer. “Even if we had time to connect the circuits, we can’t clear enough spare switch locations there. Anyway, Ben, you’ll have plenty to do as it is, getting position and knowing when to throw in the towel. And keep in mind: I’ll have all three node controls multiplied, but only number one is sure to be right on target; the other two may vary somewhat.”
“They should be tuned close enough. What else?”
“How long a hit?”
Sisko thought. “Full power, only a few seconds. Three, call it. We don’t want…”
“I know. Okay, that’s how long you’ll get.”
Matters settled, both men left the drive monitor room and went outcraft for coffee. First, though, Ben left word in control: if anything came outgating, hit the panic button. A little later he went back and gently eased Arrowprize up even with the macro-C-Gate, to like just a few hundred yards from its outer rim. “We don’t want them having a lot of time to evaluate the situation, once they pop out.”
That night and the next he didn’t sleep a wink.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhyskMp8XJ
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When the alert sounded, Jacqueline disregarded the “strap in” warning and headed hell for leather for the bridge; she was sure she could make it in time, and she didn’t want to miss anything. As she left the transfer ring the sip began swinging, but the handlines were still in place so she got to the bridge without incident.
Under Ben’s glare she strapped in and watched as the screens showed two midsize craft, larger than Tennessee but dwarfed by any real starship, cutting a turn in tight formation from beyond the macro-C-Gate to bear on Arrowprize.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZVapJ7J6F
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About 1 quarter mile short, both vessels began slowing; soon they neared standstill. Tense-faced, Ben hit comm. "Ahoy there! New arrivals! I.D. yourselves!"306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBD0AfGyUT
An aux screen, split showed 2 men and 1 woman at their own control positions. One said to another, "He's not one of ours." Then, "To the ship Arrowprize; cast loose the cargo dinghy at your bow and prepare to be boarded. Resist, and we'll fire on you. This is the only warning you'll get."
"And a hearty welcome to you," Ben muttered. Arrowprize's turn was nearly completed; as the interlopers drifted closer, its stern swung to face them. "They're well within range, Al," Ben said. "In, in, in---now!" The rear view screens showed rainbow spectra blooming, out from the drive nodes to envelop the newcomers. Whose own drives, already dim, faded to nothing.
"....two, three, off!" came Nightgazer's voice. "Drive normal."
"Right." Sisko opened offcraft comm again. "You out there! Cut your drives and keep your hands off your weapons! Unless you want some more freezeframe!"
The drives, barely revived, died again. "Arrowprize! Just what the hell did you do to us? We've been sitting here for six days. Going nowhere, the stars gone, fuel and life support feeds dead, we...."306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPnj6qpl2T
"Shut up and listen. Ten minutes of the MacGregor Effect, up close, aged the Gror'iel Environ 20,000 years. I gave you just three seconds, low power, and at a distance. And my hand's on that switch." Well, Nightgazer's was, anyway.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeKJosYTZT
From the ships, several talked at once; then a woman's voice overrode. "All right, we surrender. What the hell do you want?"306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqezB89PANR
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Ego betrayed the woman. When she demanded her rights on authority of Horton, Ben ordered Josie Lester to suit up and take a walk, leaving the airlock accessible from the outside and using her reaction gun to get clear of the two ships. "I'll send the DM to pick you up." She tried to haggle her way out of it, but her foot was lodged too deeply in her mouth.
From there it was easy: "Everybody else C-Gate to Earth." If they lacked Earth-C-Gates they'd say so, but if he asked about it they might get smart enough to try stalling, so he didn't. And now: You have 30 minutes to take your belongings; then I give both ships about 6 months' freeze. Your air won't last."
There'd be ways to sabotage those ships, but Sisko was betting he had their crews too scared to try. Even if he'd left them any time for it. From one ship and then the other came word that the last person aboard was now leaving. Waiting another 30 seconds just in case, he had Nightgazer give both ships their promised shot of energy-draining freezframe.
"Okay." Shaking tension out of his shoulders, Ben thought. There was a whole lot that needed doing. First, before he forgot, "Al? Let's get another switch panel installed here. I can see where controlling the whole phase thing from this one place could make a world of difference."
But right now: "Nyota and Jacqueline. Take the DM out. I need to get that woman in here and question her."
"Pardon me, captain."
Ben hadn't noticed Skip Pennyfield entering the bridge, quite against the orders to stay strapped in. "Yes?"
"Sir, I think it might work better the other way around."
