Chapter 12

Someone had changed the com volume setting. The bridge was filled with the sounds of a terrified Hectane, hailing Mars1.

"Charlie," Jennifer whispered, "Answer Hectane before he does something stupid."

Charlie was unhurt; but he was frightened and covered in vomit. He rose to his feet and took his place at his console; he opened the com.

"Hectane, we are discussing your civil war. We are not going to attack you anymore. Stand by; maybe we can help each other." Charlie thought, "That ought to hold him."

Mary was still down and Charlie went to her. Her clothes had burn marks. Her face was contorted and she was in agony. Charlie cradled Mary in his lap. She responded to his touch, crying like a child.

"My body aches with terrible pain. I urinated on myself. Please tell me what happened?"

Charlie spoke in a soothing tone, "Mary, Phoe shot you with her phasor. I went to the floor when the shooting started. Phoe is dead."

"I remember terrible burning in my limbs. I remember an electrical shock in my chest. I was paralyzed in my shoulder and legs. I wanted to vomit. I was certain that I would die." Mary was regaining feeling in her shoulder and the pain in her legs was easing. "Go to Mellissa."

Jennifer checked Phoe. She was dead with multiple burn marks.

Jennifer remembered that Hectane was waiting. She hailed him. "Hectane, we are going to fight the traitors with you. We must prevail for both our peoples." Jennifer sighed and looked around her bridge. "Hectane, what is your situation? Do you need our help?"

"I believe that we are in good shape. We have been braced for more attacks and haven't done a damage estimate. Our food is fine and we can camp out on the third planet, if necessary."

"Hectane, prepare coordinates, codes, names, and anything else we may need to join your cause. I will get back to you."

Jennifer went back to her crew. Mellissa was unconscious. She had one burn mark. Her breathing was labored but her pulse was regular. Her face showed the same contortions as Mary's did. She, too, had experienced terrible pain in every nerve of her body. She smelled of urine and feces.

Jennifer sought Charlie's opinion. "Charlie, should we go to war?"

"All the Jimworl are bad news and we are one ship against their entire nation. It would be better for our general health, to stay out of their war. We will accomplish nothing but our deaths," Charlie insisted.

"We are retired soldiers. Under United States rules of war, we can refuse this fight. But if we refuse, the human race would likely become food for the Jimworl. Mary, Mellissa and I are soldiers, tacticians; you are not, but we need you. You understand warp drive, and our weapon systems. You have to be committed to this war. We do not stand a chance, without you. You talked about using our carbon nano tube hull as a weapon. Develop that idea."

Jennifer paused. "Charlie, I want you to know something: if you say no to this war, then I say no. We will leave this sector and find a planet and live our lives."

Charlie looked blank. Jennifer was suggesting that he controlled the future of mankind.

"Let's talk to Hectane." Jennifer hailed Hectane.

"Are you a match for a cruiser?" asked Hectane.

"One on one, we can defeat any Jimworl cruiser. We were chased by a lone cruiser and we easily defeated her. Do you think we can convince the outposts that we are friendly? I don't want to fight everybody."

Hectane was relieved, maybe excited, that Mars1 was an ally. Hectane thought, "I want them to succeed. I am going to break all the rules."

Hectane opened the com, "Captain, I am breaking many rules telling you this. I have sent the location of the other eight outposts. Every outpost and every ship has a distinct code that you must use. You will tell them that I have given you the code for their ship or outpost. You will give them my code as well. This will convince them that I trust you and that they must trust you. Use them correctly or the recipient will assume that I want them to treat you like an enemy."

"Thanks for the confidence, Hectane."

"Mary, do you think we should take Hectane along with us?" asked Jennifer with a smirky smile.

"I have killed two Jimworl at close range. When we are in battle, I want to concentrate on my target not on the passenger behind my back," answered Mary, smiling.

"Hectane, we have the coordinates and the codes. Where should we start?"

While she waited for a response, Jennifer asked Mary to check hydrogen and xenon levels.

"I have indicated the bases most likely to be intact," replied Hectane.

Charlie addressed Hectane. "I am Charlie Smith. I met Worel on Earth and built this ship with him. While we were on Earth, Worel told me that the Jimworl had thirty-five outposts with one thousand Jimworl on each outpost. What was he talking about?"

Hectane answered immediately. "Worel proposed thirty-five outposts. The Jimworl only built nine outposts. Had he not had his problems on Earth, all thirty-five would have been built. Worel was a gifted scientist."

Mary reported her preparations for warp drive. "Hydrogen is eighty percent. Xenon is seventy percent. We are ready to go. I have set course for outpost two. Jennifer, ask Hectane what the max sustained speed a cruiser can do. Maybe we can get in front of the bad guys."

The max sustained cruiser speed was warp 175. Mars1 could catch them at outpost Omega3, if the traitors were heading there.

"Charlie, Jennifer and I can outwit these bugs. But we cannot win this war without you. Are you willing to be a part of this?"

"Ladies, beautiful ladies, I am only an engineer. You are soldiers. I will support you. I am wholeheartedly with you, wherever WE go."

"Excellent. Now, Charlie, we need for you to work some science magic and find an advantage. Bugs are hard to eradicate."

Mary reported, "If we do warp 4500 and leave now, we can be at the base five hours before the traitors."

"We will leave a huge thermal signature," Jennifer complained.

"Hectane, we must leave now if we are to get to Omega3 before the traitors."

Hectane was not finished. "Captain, there is one more thing that you should know. We have lost six ships over the last fifteen years on the run to Omega3. In each case, they traveled in pairs, and both were lost. We have no idea what happened to them."

"Hectane, did you lose any ships on runs to any of the other outposts?"

Hectane replied, "No, we have not. That is the odd thing."

"Hectane, can you think of any difference between the run to omega three and to the other outposts?"

"I have asked the same question for over five years. The only thing that I can think of is that Omega3 is farther from everything by a factor of five. That is all I have. Best of luck. Hectane out."

"Mary, engage warp drive. You have the bridge. Charlie and I will tend to Mellissa."

Jennifer thought, "We are pushing this buggy to warp 4500, and Hectane is telling ghost stories. I need to get laid."

"Charlie, you stink. Help me move Mellissa to her bed and then you clean up."

After they moved Mellissa to her room, they undressed her. She had one long burn mark along the right side of her body. As they carefully bathed her, Mellissa began stirring. She was fighting for consciousness and was soon aware of her surroundings.

Charlie soothed her. "Mellissa, rest. You have been shot, but you are doing fine. Phoe is dead. Jennifer and Mary are well. Rest."

After Charlie showered, he approached Jennifer. "We'd better remove Phoe from the bridge. You know, there is a lesson here. We cannot trust any Jimworl. I hate bugs"

Jennifer and Charlie put Phoe in the trash chute. They would dump her into space when they exited warp drive.

"Jennifer, I'm still confused. I remember we finished a nice lunch and then there was chaos. What happened?"

Jennifer answered Charlie. "Mary, Mellissa and I did not trust her. Phoe believed that the Jimworl should be allowed to make all the bugs they wanted. We three feared that such an idea would clash with human survival. And it did. Earth would have been an ideal bug haven."

Charlie cleaned the floor where he had vomited. "Phoe is dead but you survived the phasor. Why is Phoe dead and yet Mary and Mellissa were only stunned?"

Jennifer was happy. She was happy to be alive; happy to be a good captain. And she was very happy that she'd had the foresight to order Mellissa to take precautions.

"Phoe's phasor was originally Worel's phasor. Before we left earth, Mellissa took it apart and defeated the kill setting. Neither Worel nor Phoe could use it to kill. Mellissa, Mary and I feared that Phoe might turn on us, so we watched her and we were ready for her attack."

Jennifer turned serious. "Charlie, do you think the distance to Omega3 somehow figures into the loss of the Jimworl ships?"

Charlie thought for a few minutes. Suddenly, his face went slack and he turned white. Then his eyes got big. He became excited and hurried to his console. His console was covered with equations. Charlie stared at it in deep thought.

Jennifer followed Charlie to his console and watched him. His behavior was odd. He became agitated.

Charlie turned to Mary and shouted, "Mary come out of warp drive, immediately. We are in grave danger."