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The macro-C-Gate's color flare taxed the viewscreens; as afterimages slowly faded, Jacqueline saw the stars had changed.
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From the troublesome sub-continuum issues still another unexpected phenomenon. Extrusion of a type that has become familiar now includes another, one spatial path device enveloped within a second, the combined dimensional interaction expanding to involve yet another sub-plenal vector bundle.
Among those most afflicted with consequent inconvenience and discomfort, agitation occurs, to the end that total dissociation of the overall affected dimension packet from the greater plenum again returns to earnest consideration.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuhrVO8NBC
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Except for the macro-C-Gate and then the two mining ships, space around Jackpot had been all Arrowprize's. Not so in Earth's neighborhood. Ben had no preconception as to where this end's macro-C-Gate might be placed; now he saw it lay well out from Earth, certainly nowhere near synch orbit. "Marlena, can you locate us?"
"We're in lunar Trojan position. Ahead or behind, I can't tell yet." But with Earth and moon on the same wide-angle screen, he'd seen that much for himself. Because each bore the comparative size it would have viewed from the other's surface. Therefore: they and Arrowprize formed an equilateral triangle.
"Privileged priority," Hikaru Sulu commented. "There's only two earth-moon Trojan spots; how did we rate one?"
"I'd say not all that prior," said J.M.. "Check a rear screen."
Seeing that view, Ben's involuntary laugh was half gasp. Not merely one macro-C-Gate rode there, but a cluster, joined rim to rim and forming a kind of faceted, lacy shallow bowl; one main unit, built more heavily than the rest, ringed by six more and then by several of what could grow to be an outer circle of twelve. Two of that group were still under construction.
"Well now," said Sisko. "You can't say this folks aren't efficient." Completing just a second ring would provide 19 C-Gates. And there was still the other Trojan point...
"Anybody spot which one we came out of?" Nobody could, for sure; some had been too busy explaining, to those wakened by Ben's call to brace for thrust, just what was happening.
By now Arrowprize had coasted quite a few miles beyond the array; gently Sisko slowed and turned, pointing back towards it and drifting. It made sense that both ends of a C-Gate link might use the same comm frequencies, so he tried. "Arrowprize to Jackpot macro-C-Gate; Ben Sisko here."
A receiver crackled to life. "We have no C-Gate bearing that designation. One moment, please; we'll ring the commandant for you. Go to visual, please."
At first he didn't recognize her. "This is Kynon Nagada commanding the forward C-Gate array. Set to scramble 3." He did. "Ben, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Orders, what else? And for that matter, what are you?" She'd left the ship over 60 years ago and was pushing thirty then. Forty-eight when Jacqueline saw her on Earth, and that was....?
He lost track. By her looks, though, she wasn't much past 60, if that. Her hair, now white, had finally been almost turned. Not quite, but close enough. "You've been out some, I take it? Stretching time?"
"Oh yes. Shipped as drive chief, we had some problems, I got stuck with command. C-Gated home, shipped again, no trouble on that particular run, came back and wound up on this job. It satisfies me well enough, I assure you." She paused. "And I've remarried. My husband's Sridhar Ramesh; he coordinates ship loadings, including C-Gate inputs, with construction. To meet departure dates." If she wanted to impress him she was surely succeeding.
She quit talking; it was Ben's turn. Gatelag being what it was, Nagada had official colony reports up to the time Arrowprize had ingated for home; he told her how some of those same events looked from his side; the arrival of the colonists, their attitudes, the hassle over naming the newly found planet....
"I'll hit Bolt Park on that," she said. "It's always been the discoverer's prerogative, and by God it still is!"
"Thanks." He went on: the escalation of pressure with the hint of a wider conspiracy, the overly hostile demand for his ship's surrender and how he'd handled it, the storming of the macro-C-Gate, and finally the jailbreak and shootout at groundside.
"The MacGregor Effect?" She leaned forward. "For God's sake! How did you get onto that dodge? All this time, the whole thing's been kept deliberately under wraps. That much was decided on macro-C-Gate 2, they tell me, at the time of the event. And to make sure nobody rediscovered the effect by accident, none o the later Warp drive units can even be fiddled with."
"I had help." Rose's story, for openers; then Charles Tucker's curiosity about it and his carefully filed research note. Plus the refinements and embellishments suggested and implemented by Alfred and Hikaru. "Lacking other weapons, that's what we rode with."
"What about the mining ships, lasers, and so on?"
"Oh, that? Well, we didn't want to blast the macro-C-Gate open unless we had to."
"You always did have a knack for starters, Ben. For going all out with a safety belt."
Was that a compliment or a put down? He said, "What's the latest word from the colony? Who won? Has Bolt Park made any statements?
"I'm not on that grapevine. But if someone's building a shadow empire across the colonies, I know who it's got to be."
"So do we," Sisko said. "Senator Horton. We got some answers from one of his people, before we'd bring her and her suit in from the big bad vacuum. But aside from using foul play in a presidential campaign----for what that's worth----I don't know shit about that man."
Nagada filled him in. A 4-term senator, Horton had gained the space committee chairmanship 16 years ago and gradually built a wall of secrecy around its operations.
"He doesn't have much of an apparatus in my bailiwick, or Berman's. Maybe a few paid leaks, but not much else. It's quite illegal to discriminate in hiring because of past associations or political affiliations, but we've got our ways."
"And you keep him stalemated?"
"On my own turf, not otherwise. And he's up to something. He's a lame duck now, lost his Senate seat, but he's using this last gasp in office for something. I just wish...."
She looked to one side, then back again. "I'd been rather hoping you'd return our cargo lifter, but I see you haven't." So he knew she'd seen Arrowprize on screen.
"The colony still needed transport to and from the macro-C-Gate; it was either Tennessee or our own DM, and you people have more spares than I do." After a moment he added, "At any rate, I gather that Mr. Fudd reported adequately."
"He did. And wherever young Pennyfield might be, the Port Authority's waiting to bill him for more money than he'll ever earn in his life. Four years' lease on the vehicle already, and the time is still mounting!"
Ben wasn't going to touch that line. Then, remembering that Jacqueline for some reason had a soft spot for the young pup, he relented. "2 years, maybe. When we left, he expected to lease it out to the colony. And lease fees include wear and tear; that can didn't have any, those 1st two years." He didn't push it; Kynon would take the point. But, oh hell----at this distance, did he still have to keep wiping the boy's nose for him?
Sidetracked, he lost hold of the conversation. "....,docking sleeves, along the open ports of C-Gate-One's perimeter." Nagada was saying; it took a moment to realize that she was giving him directions. "For this move it doesn't matter which side you come in from; I'll spot you a vacant one and start its beacon lights blinking. Just slide in slowly and come to rest. There's clearance, and when you're in place we inflate the collars to center you and maintain air seal. You use the airlocks,, where your fins used to be, to enter the C-Gate proper."
"Best invitation I've had all day," said Ben. This kind of maneuvering was a slow business, so he got started.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTpaW4quiw
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When the ship shuddered a little, Jacqueline figured Ben had it docked someplace; a few minutes later he and J.M. came in. "Welcome home, everybody. Sorry I was too busy to greet you properly, before." He went on to say that the macro-C-Gate array commandant would offer greetings right here on the ship, and maybe it wouldn't hurt to tidy up the lounge a little more.
Wearing that I-know-something look he could never hold for long, ,he said, "You all know the commandant. But she's shipped out since you saw her, won't be as old as you might expect."
Still, Jacqueline thought when Kynon Nagada finally appeared, there was quite a difference since they'd last met. and the tall man accompanying her certainly wasn't Jonathan Archer.
Greeting Jacqueline, Kynon made a face. "Leaving the ship cost me the fountain of youth, didn't it? You're still not old enough to vote!" Then: "Oh, well; it's been definitely worth it."
After some brief sTaocializing, Ben and Nagada and her man left with most of the ship's command personnel. Jacqueline didn't try to follow; the departing group looked all business.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJKouWitDB
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Tanner Cross wasted absolutely no time. Barely giving Ben time to offer the hospitality of his and Marlena's quarters, the tall, lean man began on his agenda. "You head about the Pegasus experiment? From young Pennyline?" Sisko nodded. "Well, it didn't pan out. Good idea, staffing a big ship with old-timers, experienced people more or less cut off from Earth by sheer passage of time. But it failed politically; the ship was out crewed by trainees of today's vintage. Well, of four years ago."
He looked around. "Maybe that's a good thing. As other ships and crews return, our gang of pioneers has grown. And kept busy, doing odd jobs around the System and catching up on technical advances, including some that might surprise you. So they're available now, and preparing for a different mission One for which they're particularly suited. Operation Johnny Appleseed: a ship that heads out and just keeps going, dropping lesser ships off en route to scout colony sites. Are you interested?"
"I might be." Seeing nods and receptive expressions from most of those here assembled, Ben added, "You might tell us a little more about it."
"Like where do we fit in?" said Yasmin Armiger.
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In trailing Trojan position, back past the moon, the rear macro-C-Gate array orbited. Near it, by Ben's best guess something over four hundred thousand miles from Arrowprize's current docking sleeve, floated the ship Infinity. "It's huge." Cross said, and his face showed his enthusiasm. "Almost as big, in fact, as our present macro-C-Gate fields can encompass."
"Pardon me," said Paul Stamets. "Doesn't interstellar gas resistance go up rather drastically as frontal cross-section increases?"
Surprising Ben, Cross beamed. "I do like it when people know the physical ground rules. But Infinity's more than just a traction ship. Gas resistance isn't one of our issues."
"I don't follow you," J.M. Colt looked puzzled.
Paul did, though; Ben saw his expression light up. "You've solved the Gror'iel plasma foursphere!"
"And the devices its power capacity makes possible. Space/time converters---ingestor and recreator---and then the last hurdle: the ingestor energy field, that lets it handle objects larger than the physical orifice. Plus internal translation, which is the fancy term for controllable artificial gravity. Actually we had all that three years ago; the difference now is, we've got it built. Infinity, my friends, is a pint-sized version of the Gror'iel Environ. And when your ship eats space-time and then spits it out behind, there's no resistance to worry about."
To look at Cross, Ben mused, you'd think he did it all himself. And why not? "So that's your old-timers' ship, eh?"
"With a sufficient number of those people thoroughly trained on the Gror'iel-derived equipment. Would you folks be interested in signing on?"
Personally, Sisko did. But: "We'll have to have a meeting, the full crew, see what everyone thinks. Some might have personal reasons..." He paused. "Might be a good idea to see your roster, find out what kinds of slots are open." Because if all the chief's spots were taken the crew of the Arrowprize might not care to settle for grunt work, Environ be damned.
"Don't worry about that part. coming in late to the mission doesn't affect the overall security status. And even now, the group's not all that big."
A little history: after Nomad, several ships were sent not directly to their destinations but through established colonial macro-C-Gates and on to stars relatively near those relay points, from which they could then C-Gate home in a single jump. So there were more than the first three Arrowprize-class ships to draw from now. And later ships had carried bigger crews.
Still, vessels launched to date didn't account for all the macro-C-Gates riding fore and aft in lunar Trojan. "Some are more local. To Nootaikok; for instance, and two in the Oort Cloud." Standing now, Cross said, "I can give you a fuller briefing on paper. Expect a printout over Kynon's comm link. And we can talk again tomorrow."
But before that could happen, and in fact only a few minutes after the two left, Ben received a summons from Bolt Park.
To scoot downside ASAP and testify. It wasn't mentioned that if the hearing went wrong, he could wind up facing charges.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTOyn7jQi1
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Not only did Senator Horton sound off like a big cannon, he was also built like one: short, stubby, solid. His ruddy bulldog face, punctuated by the stub of an intermittently smoldering stogie, didn't stop at the forehead; just a fringe of red stubble decorated that bullet head.
The stogie, a flagrant offense against law and custom in places like this hearing room, was the only thing Sisko liked about the man. It reminded him of summers at his grandfather's lake cottage, and maybe the smoke had repelled mosquitoes.
The hearing's auspices were less than clear; Ben had no idea who was in charge---or for that matter, under the gun. At times Horton jumped up to cross-examine witnesses, while judge and attorneys alike seemed powerless to control procedure.
When he himself was called to the stand, the whole scene went nightmare. Horton charged down the aisle to wave papers at him and began shouting. Accusations, mostly.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HjPc62g7Q
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Alongside Marlena in the gallery, Jacqueline wasn't always sure just what was going on.
Chad Pergram Nomad's commanding officer, told how, at Sucks, a clique of administrators backed by armed goons took control of his ship and treated its personnel like flunkies; except for greater detail it sounded much the way Skip Pennyline had told it. A serious-faced, balding man of medium build, Pergram gave an impression of total sincerity. In his turn, however, Gayelord Horton bulldozed the captain, catching him in minor contradictions and forcing him to admit he had no direct evidence tying the senator to any of the crew's grievances.
A striking, somewhat harsh-featured woman spoke for Eagle; Iliana Watts's bright red hair probably was fake, but it fit her overall bearing---or so Jacqueline thought. Watts spoke briskly. "Captain Dominguez thought we should keep on being polite, even when the carpetbaggers were pushing us around the worst. But when Dom came down with something and had to C-Gate home sick, Adrian Wilkins moved up from first officer; and he had other ideas. He and I and some muscle took to blindsiding his staff people, one or two at a time, and icing them down in our local C-Gate. Feeding the boss remora----Nash Riley---fake memos, saying that his strawbosses had gone away for a few day. Upcountry, maybe, or out to the islands. By the time he caught on, he still had his army but his chain of command was gone. So with the help of the decent element groundside, we took the colony back and set up a more representative administration.
"You cast an interesting if hardly credible light on those events as reported to our offices." One of Horton's aides said it. "And another matter: the rest of your crew returned here some years ago. But not you. Where have you been?"
A crooked grin. "Oh, I came back. But not with the ship. I gated in to Bolt Park and left again immediately, to visit Janeway's Planet. It was interesting to see Governor Janeway again. I'd met her once, before she ever rode a starship."
"How old are you?!"
"That's none of your concern, sir. But I've actually experienced only six years, a little over, since Voyager set out."
She cut off the man's protest. "You're off the point. Which is that Riley bleated on your boss; I have datacaps implicating the senator up to his friggin' ears." As the caps were played, for introduction into the hearing record, Watts went to sit beside a stocky man wearing captain's insignia, who had come in a few minutes back; he put an arm around her shoulders. So he, Jacqueline guessed, would be the enterprising Adrian Wilkins.
Senator Horton's scowls, after his protests were rejected, would have brought down thunderbolts.
Going up to testify, Ben looked as if his shoes were too tight. He'd just begun to answer a question when Gayelord Horton rushed forward, yelling, "Your record is appalling! You began by smuggling an underage girl aboard Arrowprize; then you flimflammed a UN marshal..." Charges, complaints, rumors, speculations: Horton scattered them like birdseed. Or maybe birdshot, if Jacqueline had the 2nd vowel right. And it didn't take a genius to figure out that even if Horton's accusations had validity, any applicable statute of limitations would have elapsed decades ago.
"...by threat of illegal force, compelled the crews of two ships to C-Gate back to Earth!" "....coerced my representative Dorian Mullen....willfully ordered the slaughter of colony functionaries in the pursuit of their sworn duties..." The would be Talia walking Tennessee across the murderous arsonists. "....unlawfully captured and detained my provost Dante Jenkins...."
Ben Sisko stood. "Enough!" He looked flustered and confused but he wasn't done yet. "I ask the chair's forgiveness but this man piles lies on damned lies until there's no sorting them out. I beg to leave run datacaps bearing directly on some of these accusations before the senator proceeds further."
"Leave is granted." And over Horton's protests the board of inquiry viewed Mullens's own coercive behavior, the threats by the mining ships' spokesman, and Iliana Watts's rather frantic revelations which pinned the tail on Gayelord Horton in no uncertain terms.
"The woman was obviously intimidated!"
"You have a patent on that tactic?"
"I'll see you hounded out of space, Sisko!"
The gavel. "In light of need to evaluate today's testimony at greater length, this hearing adjourns until Monday morning, when you are all charged to appear."
At the DM a time later, Ben still looked shaky. "Take us up easy, Jacqueline. I need the breather."
But what with making slow and confused work of the traffic protocol and then waiting for clearance, she barely had the can out of atmosphere when Nyota on Arrowprize patched through the call from Tanner Cross. She change course accordingly.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNDcXgjE13
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Docking on Infinity was different. Following instructions, Jacqueline eased the DM toward an opened cradle. As she neared it a force pulled the Module to a snug nesting, and the doors closed. Well, Ben had reported that this ship had gravity control!
Sensors indicated that the bay had air, so the three clambered their way through the tunnel and through the airlock. Beside a hatch directly behind the DM a sign read "Caution: Gravity Change," and when Ben led the way it became obvious that the sign meant real business; with a startled grunt he went lurching to one side. When he reappeared, only head and shoulders visible in the opening, he seemed to be horizontal. "Watch out for that first step; it's a killer."
So entering in turn, Jacqueline wasn't surprised when gravity turned her sideways. After all, this was Gror'iel technology.
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Infinity's corridors, and there seemed to be miles of them, were wide and well lit; unlike Arrowprize's, plane surfaces rather than curves formed floors and ceilings. The place wasn't empty; quite a few people moved purposefully along the halls Some nodded or smiled in generic greeting and some didn't. Like anywhere else, Jacqueline decided, until from a side passage came a group of at least a hundred, following a woman who directed them by means of a miniature bullhorn. Ben just shrugged, waiting until they all passed by. It wasn't a short wait.
There was never any need to ask the way; at each major intersection a screen displayed a directory map, and Cross had specified conference room B. At point-six G, or so the directory indicators stated, walking was simple enough. The only major point of confusion came when it turned out they needed to go up four levels and the nearest elevators were back quite a distance, the way they'd already come. Ben hailed a woman, explaining his problem and asking, "Aren't there any stairs?"
She had an attractive laugh. "First time aboard? They never tell us enough ahead of time, do they?" She pointed. "See that door?" It had a sign like the one in the docking bay, warning of a gravity change. "Just go in there and walk up." And not, Jacqueline was sure, on stairs.
"Thanks." Again Ben led, and here, with more space available, the maneuver was easy: the floor curved and the gravity stayed perpendicular to it. They "walked up," but on a surface which to them seemed quite horizontal. Egress to the upper corridor was equally facile, and almost immediately they found the designated room. A meeting was already in progress.
"Sorry if we're late," Ben said. "This place is a little confusing. And what was that big bunch of people we ran into?"
"A departing tour group," said Kynon Nagada. "It's a political thing of some kind; I haven't paid any attention. They're brought up here in converted cargo uploaders, like Tennessee. It's been going on since Monday, several runs a day. The tour fares raise funds for something or other, I'm not sure what."
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"The question of command here," Tanner Cross started, "seems to turn on the dates each of you first assumed that status. As near as I can tell, it's pretty much even. Allowing for t/t rates changing with V, I think you first took that responsibility on Arrowprize, Ben, just about the same time Chad Pergram accepted command of Nomad, prior to C-Gating."
Ben hadn’t expected this. He’d hoped for an officer slot and preferably first or second; the captaincy hadn’t been in his thinking. He said, “I don’t know beans about this ship.”
“What you both know about navigation and command is all that’s really needed,” said Kynon Nagada. “Infinity can’t be captained like ordinary traction ships; your technical staff is there to fill in the blanks.
Well, maybe. But: “Command was to be yours, was it, Pergram?”
“Hell, I don’t know. When I first took over for Jonathan It was de facto because he was in our local C-Gate. It didn’t become official until---actually, I’m not sure just when that happened. I’m not claiming anything. I’ll go with however the record reads, and either way’s fine with me.”
For the first time, Sisko saw Pergram smile. “In that case, it’s yours. I wouldn’t serve under a power jock; I’d resign first. But with you, it’s different. Shake on it?”
Cross sighed. “I’ll admit I’m very much relieved at this outcome. You likely haven’t thought about it, Sisko, but you’re somewhat of a symbol. First to take a ship the whole way, and on the longest trip in history, at that. Plus, you were on the first warp ship ever: Jupiter II, before even Stargazer. Having you in charge of Infinity is---well, fitting.”
“Horton won’t think so.”
"After Monday," said Cross, "It may not matter what he thinks. Celia Alves arrived at Bolt Park today."
He cleared his throat. "A little briefing, here. Infinity starts with a crew of a hundred and something; there'll be a complete set of command and drive officers for each watch, with a staggered rotation system so that all the individual expertise gets passed around." Captain and drive chief, Ben gathered, would not stand watches as such. He could live with that...
Cross had only just begun. "But the ship can hold over a thousand, in others words it's a colony unto itself, not only living but also breeding and expanding. That's optional, of course: an individual matter."
"Actually," Marlena whispered, "it takes two to tango."
Bombshell! He looked at her; she wasn't kidding. On the other hand, though: "Once the trip shakes down, there's worse places to raise a kid."
With a wink she nodded, as Tanner continued. "So to star with, you build vee by traction drive until the Gror'iel space-time converter becomes efficient, fueling by ingestion of matter and energy. Because of inertial translation, your acceleration affects nothing inside the ship; artificial gravity in any section can be set as desired. So there is no need to use your local C-Gates to protect the crew.
"But it's got a pair anyway," Marlena asked. "Why?"
"Not one, but several," Nagada said. "And all activated. Infinity carries three full-sized ships, modified Arrowprize class, for Operation Johnny Appleseed. In cradles similar to the one you used, though larger, of course. One of these, however, is also an Ass; thus the supply of ships is renewable. And Infinity also stocks landing pods, which can be dropped off near promising-looking planets. Each of these would take along a Mouth from 1 C-Gate pair and an Ass from another. Making the planet permanently accessible to Earth." She smiled. "You like it?"
Moreau and Colt did. Something else, though, brought up by Colt; by obviating all resistance, not just frictional but that of space-time itself, the Gror'iel Environ had exceeded the speed of light. "Does this ship?"
"Undoubtedly it can. Whether it does so will depend on the captain, on consultation with his tech staff, according to how the situation looks on the instruments when c is attained. We have no data on what happens---time ratios and whatnot. It'll be your job to gather some." The utility of hyper-c, Ben thought, would be limited. Certainly no normal non-Gror'iel vessel could be dropped free in that situation....
At any rate, so ended Tanner Cross's agenda for today. On the way back to the docking bay, the trio's progress was impeded by a new, incoming tour group. This one seemed bigger.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEUVYJLd8Z
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Infinity popped the DM out of the opened cradle with an apparent surge of light reverse gravity. Gently the Module drifted outside; fascinated, Jacqueline paused just long enough to see that the doors were now left open, before orienting on the beacon from the forward array and heading towards it.
She found the long ride home, mostly coasting, more restful than not. And docking with Arrowprize had become a matter of habit. Reentering the ship, all 3 headed for the lounge.
What Jacqueline didn’t expect was to see Skip Pennyfield there, concluding preparation of a fresh batch of coffee. 272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4bqypxjBE
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“Skip!” She rushed to him, at the last second restricting her greeting to a ferocious hug. “What are you doing here?”
“I got bumped off my pilot job. Seniority. So instead of sending the leasing credit voucher home by C-Gate I brought it back personally and turned it over to the agency.” He’d wangled a good rate, better than the ship could earn here at home, so crediting the lack of wear-and-tear costs for the two years in C-Gate, his debt had been mostly cleared and the remainder assigned as payroll deductions. “Gated direction between macros, and the tech at this end told me where you were and how to get here.”
He turned to Ben. “So, can I sign on now?”
Sisko frowned. “Hadn’t you better talk to your folks?” And explained that the veteran crews’ group hadn’t won Pegasus after all. Likely they’re in Infinity’s crew, which we’ll be joining. I’m afraid I didn’t think to ask.” He shook his head. “Jacqueline, why don’t you tell him about Infinity? I need to see if I have any messages on the bridge.”
So, sitting down with coffee, she began. 272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3bPaVZJ2K
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At first Skip seemed interested, but after a time he broke in, saying, "Look; can't we go somewhere?"
"Go somewhere? Why?"
He gestured towards the others enjoying the place. "So we can be alone. It's been a long time; I've missed you."
Not that long, really; still, "Well, I missed you too. But now here we are."
Leaning closer, he whispered, “We can’t do it here!”
“We’re not going to.” In a rush he was asking why not, hadn’t she liked it, was there some other guy, what was wrong, he’d thought they......” That was different,” she cut in. “You were the first person I ever met, I even might want to, with. And what you did, when they tried to kill use, and then said why, after....”
“I didn’t do it just for that. Not any of it.”
“I know. And then, maybe I’d never see you again, how long before I meet anyone else, right? So, I thought yes, and I did like it and I’m glad we did. But not to keep on with, yet; it’s too soon for me. I’m just not ready.”
She looked at him. “You see how it is?”
He blinked. “I....guess so.” His grin came. “Like I said before, any day you change your mind, the offer’s still there.”
“Sure. And if we go on Infinity there’s a lot of days.”
He really was going to be the right one, she thought. And it was nice to have her choices open again. 272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOjEJB0SCz
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Ben called council, the full crew. "Here's the setup," and he and Marlena explained the possibilities of shipping on Infinity. When he thought the picture was clear as could be made, he put the question. "So. How do you all feel about it?"
"I don't think I want to," said Nyota. "Alfred and I, we'd like to go home. To our own people. Both."
"But they're not there now!" Jacqueline protested.
"Yours, maybe not," Alfred said. "Lots of change; I know. Nyota and I, we've been down, looked around. Found a few of my downtime kinfolk; living differently now, but they think pretty much the same as always. And Nyota's folks, descendants of relatives she knew----it'll take time to get to know them, but I want to."
"We'll miss you." Marlena got in the first hug; then Nyota assured everybody that she and Alfred weren’t leaving for some time yet, probably when everybody else moved to the new ship.
For the most part, to Sisko’s relief, the rest of the crew seemed inclined to do just that. When the time came, of course. 272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYH80ocjEp6
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Answering her door chime, Jacqueline greeted Talia Winters. "Come on in. Get you something?"
"Juice, maybe." Then, with both seated, Talia said: "I hate to tell you this, but I'm leaving, too."
"Why? I thought...."
"So did I. But you see...." Scouting around in her spare time, Talia had visited one of the new, half-built C-Gates and talked a crewchief into letting her suit up for outside work. "I hadn't realized how much I've missed it. Retrieving the mining ships, yeah, I enjoyed that part a lot, being out there. And this gang's not like those gootzes at Jackpot; they're more like us. Matt---that's the crewchief, Matt Lanza----he's my age plus two, and he's second generation born to Nootaikok macro. He asked me if I'd like to join his section." Her cheeks had gone pink. "I think I will."
So it was personal, too, not just the work. Talia said, "I've really loved it on h ere, and I'll miss you much. All of you, but you especially. Don't forget me, Jacqueline."
When nothing else suits, hug. "We'll have to have a party; stick around for that. You and Nyota and Alfred...."
Getting back to Earth really was no fun, no fun at all.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBZQjxDbvI
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Monday morning when the hearings reconvened, Ben and his family arrived earlier and waited for the fireworks. The first witness, Celia Alves, spoke briefly and then showed the datacapped testimony of Porfirio Alexander. "The operation began a long time ago. I don't know who ran it before Horton took over, or how many colonies are targeted, but so far only three of the ships have reached destination: Eagle, Nomad, and Arrowprize."
Ben scowled. What about Pegasus? Then he relaxed. Porfirio Alexander didn't necessarily have all the latest news....
Horton, it seemed, maneuvered to infiltrate the upper echelons of colony administrations and macro-C-Gate staffs with cabal members. Looking harassed or possibly scared, Alexander reeled off lists of names, dates, and places. "Eventually he'll have a colony network that can treat with Earth on an equal basis. Or even better. And then you'll see some asses kicked!"
That revelation stirred some alarmed side comment; Ben could see why. Big frog, little puddle was one thing, but this looked like a real threat to existing human order.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscVhRCpqwm
Alexander was still onscreen. Ship crews, he said, were beyond Horton's reach; since the Osric Harcrow scandal their selection was firmly in the hands of veterans who now controlled Bolt Park; others might propose, but they disposed. And on that note, Alexander wound down.
When Alves's testimony concluded, Gayelord Horton was called, but did not respond. Several reported seeing him leave during the Alexander screenings. Accordingly, the hearing adjourned until further notice
As Ben put it, you can't have much of a fox hunt without the fox. So Jacqueline again punched the DM up to dock with Arrowprize. Ben was glad to be home.
Well into the next day he got the worried call from Kynon Nagada, to bring a few good thinkers over to Infinity.
"What the hell?" he said. "Let's take everybody." After all, Arrowprize was under macro-C-Gate security now.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGDi2gfqWP
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Met by an escort this time, Sisko and the crew followed the young man to a lounge area and spread out among several table. Among those at a fairly large one, about half-filled, Ben saw Iliana Watts sitting alongside her captain and expounding to several, including Chad Pergram. "How about over there?" he said to Jacqueline and Marlena, and they joined that group.
".....from the beginning," Watts was saying. "I knew some of the 1st crews to ship out. It was different with them: relief cadres lived 12 months on the ship and returned to an Earth fourteen years further along, but they'd followed the news, and twelves years' space pay helped cushion the sharp edges. More importantly, they knew their situation and were mentally ready for it."
Ben saw her point. "Whereas going all the way, we had to put Earth out of our minds. When the time came to take heed again, things had simply changed too damn much."
Watts nodded. "I saw how the rotating crews C-Gated home and fit back in. Then I went out on Eagle and came back expecting to have it that same way." She made a face. "It didn't work. Even Chad and I together, which we have been ever since my side trip, can't seem to plug into Earth's culture again."
She slapped the table. "This ship; a sort of spaceborne colony, filled with our own kind; that's the only place I really belong now."
No one around the huge table even tried to disagree. And then Pergram announced that it was time to go convene for business.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5EO62IRqQS
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Flanked by Pergram and Nagada, Bolt Park director Pip Angelo ran the meeting, attended by many more than Sisko had expected. "We were hoping for liftout in two to three months. Now we might be stuck with a 2-year delay." He turned to Chad Pergram. "Summarize the situation, please."
"Well, about 1 hour ago someone reported seeing a man ingate at one of our local pairs. That man has been definitely identified as Senator Gayelord Horton."
A lot of whats and whys interrupted, but Pergram cut back in. "We wondered, too. So we began checking---and we think he's just the latest of perhaps two to three hundred who bolted the same way, over the past few days."
"The tour groups!" said Marlena Moreau. "The one we met coming in as considerably bigger than the bunch we'd seen leaving earlier. But why....?"
"The intent," said Chad Pergram, "would seem rather obvious. Two years from now, well away into space, Horton outgates---and his whole damn army just ahead of him."
"Groundside," Angelo interjected, "is birthing jackals. I promised to report back as soon as we concluded the initial briefing, so let's take a recess."
Feeling dry, Sisko asked directions to a rec lounge and found refreshment for himself and Marlena. They were barely settled at a corner table when Skip Pennyline brought a man and woman to meet them. Ben spotted some resemblances.
Introductions: Aaron Pennyline had been Nomad's drive chief, Casey the 3rd officer. Judging from conversation, neither parent seemed much worried about their son's C-Gate junket. But why should they? After all, Ben reflected, the departure was 4 years past and C-Gating was never truly fatal. Besides, Skip was back now, right? Oh, well; both of the elder Pennyline's seemed capable. And overall, Sisko liked them more than not.
A paging call came over the intercom. Back to session.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0wZUJb1d7
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The equation, Marlena thought, was easy enough. Horton's men would be armed---how, she didn't know, but they'd have to be. It was not feasible for the ship to carry a similarly armed counterforce for those two years. And assembling and C-Gating such a force now, to retake the ship after the fact, would only ensure a bloody fight at the far end of gatelag. Having said as much, she concluded, "So aside from the ship going on a 2-year-hiatus, what can be done?"
"Build a cage." Yasmin Armiger speaking up surprised Marlena. "Like on Arrowprize with the bandits." She explained.
"It could work," Pergram agreed, "but it would present the crew with a very nasty situation to handle. At best."
"Look," said Iliana Watts. "Why not just download the suspect C-Gates to groundside and build the cage there? You could replace..."
"Impossible." Cross. "There are twelve pairs and we don't know which were used; someone's gimmicked the activation counters so they all show several hundred usages, which is not possible Simply, we can't replace that many in a reasonable time; we'd be looking at months of delay, and the new units would then need another two years to become operational."
Marlena frowned. There simply had to be an answer! Wait a minute....."You could plug the Asses, fill them with supplies. There'd be time right now to C-Gate a tactical squad in; when they arrive, unplug one C-Gate at a tome and deal with what comes out."272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VZcRPfIkP
Pip Angelo shook his head. "You people just don't understand the political situation. Infinity is the major effort of two decades; construction costs alone are over 12 times that of a regular starship, and the Gror'iel foursphere project, culminating in Infinity''s space-time conversion drive, dwarfs even that amount. Further, we're speaking of a new concept: Operation Johnny Appleseed. This construct will carry at least 3 ships such as those you're accustomed to, as well as dropoff pods for reconnaissance. Exploration of an entire sector hinges upon this one thrust."
Waving aside all attempts at comment he said, "We barely had the clout to get Infinity for you vets in the first place; now the opposition's blaming you for letting the mess happen, and they will not trust you to handle it away from Earth, out of their sight. It was bad enough when we thought Horton was trying to take over a few colonies. Now it looks like he wants to become a superpower in his own right. That just can't be permitted to happen; world politics isn't perfect and never was, but the powers that be will not allow the emergence of an adventuring 'strongman,' a space age 'man on horseback.' No----the situation will be resolved here."272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHpZrNpEHZ
He shrugged. "So, shipping or C-Gating troops is out, and so are the cage and the idea of plugging the Asses. All that's needed it replacing the C-Gates or just waiting out the lag and letting regular troops do the job, before launching out. And I tell you now, if there's any significant delay you'll lose this ship!"272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqxWilIaCV
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Four options distant in space, the other two in time, and none of the six acceptable. Jacqueline struggled with confusion, with half-formed ideas, as Ben said, "There's still time to find another answer; departure's not due for another two months at least. We don't need to panic, here."272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMmSyYl8YV
"Yes, you do," said Angelo. He didn't look too happy about it. "During our break I was given an ultimatum to pass along. If we can't provide an acceptable solution by noon tomorrow, you are all dismissed from duty aboard this ship and a new crew will be chosen."272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdKbY3gQNR
he paused. "Of course you're not dependent on the agency. Or on the current state of the general culture. With the accumulated space pay most of you have coming, you could set up your own enclave and..."272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpSEz8pJSu
"That's not what we want," Chad Pergram said. "We...."272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXWKKWYMBc
"There's two fuckin' months yet!" On her feet, Yasmin Armiger was shouting. "Where do these bastards get off...?"272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJJX58uMex
Angelo's regretful scowl silenced her. "I'm afraid a UN committee can shrink time just as surely as relativistic velocities."272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4inuYCB7Y
As a sudden thought came to Jacqueline, beside her Ben Sisko yelped; startled, she released her unintended viselike grip on his knee.272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQ6v4SsyEd
"Ben! Has anyone ever tried to juke time on a pair of C-Gates?!"272Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgXQ5sgfkj
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