Sawyer blinked, rolled over, and looked at the clock over his bed: 1730 hours. As good a time to make the necessary log entry acknowledging the formal orders they'd picked up from Fleet branch H.Q.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTYArM1KtP
In a sense, the log entry would be only a duplicate of the same orders, but apparently some analyst somewhere decreed it necessary. He sighed. Formal procedure, red tape, bureaucracy---as Einstein had claimed, one could circle the universe and arrive back at the starting point, which always seemed to be a 40-page report in triplicate.
He thumbed the switch activating the pickup in his desk, set the dial for cross-room reception.
"Captain's Log. The Esmeralda has been ordered to provided standard escort for a small convoy of ore carriers heading toward Epsilon Ceti II." He didn't add that he thought it an inexcusable waste of starship time, not to mention a colossal bore. The sentiment wouldn't be appreciated.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTcViJb24E
If he'd known the alternative future he might have said it otherwise.
"Said ore carriers are to pick up and then transport to Helion II four million metric tones of heavy chromium and other duralloy ores." He paused thoughtfully to consider his next words, began again.
"This shipment of alloy ores is necessary to the development of the burgeoning metals industry on Helion II, and to the planned construction next fiscal Fleet year of two and possibly three new deepspace starships. In view of the Space Federation/Psychlo Treaty of 6371 limiting offensive weaponry in this quadrant of space, it appears...." He frowned before really noting the source of the annoyance.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4uFQ7y7nc
The small telescreen on his desk was blinking steadily, a demanding yellow glow. Someone had a message for him that couldn't wait. Irritably he shut off the log and swung his legs out of bed. It had better be important!
The viewer beeped as he approached the desk, and a green light winked on on the lower left side of the screen. Lt. Neytiri was warning him that ready or not, the call was on its way in.
He sat down in front of the screen and activated the knob that would tell Neytiri that he was indeed present, alive, and well.
"Sawyer here. What is it, Lieutenant?"
"Deepspace call from Fleet Science Center, sir," Neytiri's voice explained.
"But we've already received our...." He stopped. Someone on Carinus badly wanted to get in touch with the Esmeralda, badly enough to requisition power to boost a transmission signal across the rapidly widening distance between them. It occurred to him that anyone who had the authority to do so might rather an important person---and in a hurry.
He blinked the sleep from his eyes. "Put it through, Lieutenant Neytiri."
The blurred image that started to form was confused with the distance and the weakness of the signal, but under Neytiri's skillful hands the outside static was rapidly cleared. The picture that finally formed on the screen was that of Vice Admiral for Science Miranda Russo. It was still spotty and streaked with interference, but Sawyer knew Netyiri was working miracles just to hold it in.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVD42nlNTd
"Captain Thomas Sawyer here." The vice admiral smiled slowly, her long gray hair falling in waves to her shoulders. "How are things at Science Center, Admiral? Sorry I missed you."
She shrugged, a slight gesture that might have confessed boredom, might mean something else entirely.
"So am I, Captain. I would have saved me the trouble of this call. But I didn't know until after you'd left contact range that the Esmeralda was in the area. No need to apologize for skipping a social call. Deepspace transmission is expensive, but...
"To answer your question, things are the same as usual. Instead of making our work easier, every problem we solve turns up dozens of new ones. Every discovery opens a hundred new avenues of inquiry. While my staff and budget increase arithmetically, the number of projects we are supposed to fulfill---all of them marked top priority, of course---grows geometrically.
"Why, if my people and resources were to quadruple tomorrow, Thomas, in two weeks we'd be hopelessly behind." She smiled.
"Meaning you're not now?" Sawyer countered.
"Most certainly we are, Captain. The only difference is, while it's still a hopeless mess, it's an organized hopeless mess." The smile shrank, to be replaced with a no-nonsense frown. "That organization just turned up an interesting discovery. That's what I want to talk to you about. But first, what's your present position and distance from Carinus?"
"One moment, Admiral, if you please." He thumbed the address intercraft unit. "Mr. Spock, our present position, please?" There was a brief pause, then the information came back to him.
"0755 right declension to the galactic plane, 150 degrees north."
"Thanks, Spock." He repeated the figures for the vice admiral. She nodded and didn't bother to check it on any device. Miranda Russo could do astrogation in her head.
"You've made good time. The ore convoy you're escorting---that was your new assignment, correct?"
"Yes, Admiral," he admitted, steeling himself. The change in tense hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Well, they seem fairly well along their way. You've had no trouble this far, I trust?"
"None whatsoever, Admiral."
She was pleased. "Good. Then I would think they could make it the rest of the way on their own."
"Their captains will not agree."
"They'll have to agree. I'll get in touch with the commander of the Zeta Reticuli outpost. He can spare a small ship for the final escort run. He'll have to. The captains of the ore carriers can travel on their own for a while.
"Oh, I know their cargo will be too valuable to consign to a small frigate or some such. But by the time they've finished on-loading at Epsilon Ceti II I'll have another starship there to meet them." She shifted in her seat, and the incredible communications system instantly transmitted the squeak of their chair on floor across the light-years.
"You might even be able to get back to meet them yourself, Captain."
"Get back from where, Admiral?" Obviously their soft, if dull assignment was making off at maximum warp-speed for unexplored regions.
"I'd like the Esmeralda to make a little detour." She tried to make it sound unimportant, trivial. That really raised the hackles on Sawyer's neck.
"It's nothing, really. Shouldn't take you more than one day or so to investigate. The Esmeralda is the closest ship to the---um, affected area."
Sawyer sighed. At least it didn't sound like yet another catastrophe. He still had vivid memories of the Banrubos Incident.
"Yes, Admiral." He hit another switch. "Recording new orders." She leaned forward in her chair.
"You are familiar with the section of peripheral space that is now off----let's see---your port bow? Sector 5534---also known as the Cicada Sector?"640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHNbknie88
"Cicada?" Sawyer's brows drew together as he considered the odd word. Ah, yes, the cicada: a terran insect that spent many years underground to eventually emerge for but a few days of activity in the sunlight before returning to the soil to develop and change.
The name seemed frivolous, too. Or was it? Seems he recalled something about a mysterious, little-visited section of Space Federation-bordered space where starships vanished without a trace, not even leaving behind their log-torpedoes. These unexplained disappearances were infrequent.
All of a sudden, escort duty was starting to look downright attractive.
"Cicada, that's it, Captain. I'm sure your science officer can supply you with additional information and fill in any details you may need. But briefly, the situation in the so-called Cicada Sector is this: The sector was first reached---but never more than partially explored---over 150 Earth years ago. Claims to the territory have been in dispute for at least that long, but there seems to be little of value in the sector---certainly nothing worth fighting over has been found yet.
"Recent joint discussions with representatives of the Sebacean and Psychlo Empires reveal that a starship of theirs or of the Space Federation has disappeared in that sector precisely every 27.34 star-years since its initial mapping." She stared into the screen.
"What does that suggest to you, Captain?"
Sawyer was taken aback . It was a rhetorical question. Losing a starship from the fleets of three nations in a single spatial sector to a sum total of six in 150 years was odd, but not alarming.
But some eager beaver in Science Center had researched the disappearances and found an uncanny regularity to them. At the very least the inferences one could draw were ominous. Natural disasters didn't operate on so strict a timetable.
"You see what I'm getting at, Captain," the vice admiral continued. "It'd only be a slight shift from your present course and you'd be able to investigate the affected area. Nothing elaborate. Make a casual sweep of a couple of days through the sector, with your sensors wide open.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfdDDyJ7CE
"Record anything out of the stellar ordinary. You can be in the sector in 24 hours."
Not much use in hesitating. "We'll be happy to do so, Admiral." He paused to scratch a persistent itch behind one ear. All of a sudden, something didn't smell right---something that bothered him and he couldn't pin---ohhhh, yeahhhhhh!
He stared into the screen. "Um, Admiral, how long ago was the last disappearance of a ship in the sector in question?"
"Very perspicacious of you, Thomas," she replied easily. She made motions of consulting an off-screen chart. "Ummmm, yes----it was, I believe, exactly 38.455 star-years ago." Sawyer nodded.
"I suspected, Admiral. Your reputation doesn't include deep-space calls to order casual sweeps for anything."
"I had intended to tell you eventually anyway, Captain,' she replied---a mite huffily, Sawyer thought. "In any case, to observe the formalities, you may regard this as an official order from Fleet Central. More than those of us at Science Center are interested in those disappearances.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpzCbNnRYx
"I have priority override so far as the Helion II/Epsilon Ceti II expedition is concerned. If the ore carrier captains try to make things difficult for you, refer them to me." She smiled wolfishly. "I'll see to it that they get satisfaction. They won't miss you for a few days."640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPHNtQtxRe
Sawyer didn't add that if the schedule for unexplained disappearances in the Cicada Sector held true, they might be missed for more than just a few days. But he didn't say that. It could be interpreted in some quarters as insubordination.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDP6klaD2je
Besides, he was, well, hooked.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9w0jlQXhGZ
"All right, Admiral. We'll do our best to find your interstellar boojum." Miranda Russo. relaxed.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhPHih3cJh
"I know you will, Thomas. Discovery to you!"640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡru5elyLCvz
The picture of the vice admiral began to fade, dissolve in a shower of confused electrical particles. Neytiri's voice sounded over the grid.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz2yysoZML
"Transmission terminated, sir. And just in time, we're nearly out of range."640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFK6j0INmfJ
"Thank you, Lieutenant." He snapped off the viewer and sat thinking. Not that he was superstitious or anything. These disappearances could be due to natural coincidence.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsT7popHWv
Sure they could, Sawyer old chap. Once every twenty or thirty years. But every 38.455 star years exactly?640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MO4D2C8oG
He was tempted to beam directly to Fleet Science Headquarters on Vulcan and talk to Admiral Tillman himself, but he dismissed the idea as soon as it occurred. Even a Fleet captain had better be very sure of himself and his reasons before trying to go around a vice admiral---even if only for clarification of detail.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTozbYKyr0
Besides, if something was in the unknown sector that could take Sebacean and Psychlo ships as well as those belonging to the Space Federation, there might be valuable military information to gain. The fewer interceptable deepspace calls made on the matter, the better. He worked the communicator again.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2cAHjNlbI
"Mr. Spock....Mr. Ko-Ko?"640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP44mj0VcTd
Both responded. "Bal, I'll be needing a lot of digging from you in a little while. Mr. Ko-Ko, we have a new mission and a new course. Take us to the spatial border of the port sector known as the Cicada region.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiq474G9SiB
"What do you mean you never heard of it? Tsk-tsk, I'm disappointed in you, Mr. Ko-Ko. I thought everyone had heard of the Cicada Sector. Better stay up on your manuals. Mr. Spock will supply you with navigational supplements for cruising within the area. The only charts will be about a 160 years old, Spock. Sawyer out."640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZIN1KevkG
Now all he had to do was think of a way to tell the skippers of the ore carriers that their escort was going to take a hike.640Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJhTD0shoL
