Warp Point Page 14

  Matt already had the supervisory role for the scientists aboard, and his own astronomy section to run, but agreed to put on another hat as First Officer, helping in the control center. After consulting with Hawkins, Dan decided to give him a provisional commission in the U.S. Space Forces, with presidential confirmation to come if and when they made it back to Earth. Hawkins was somewhat tied up with the battalion of army troops and contingency planning, but began serving as Second Officer. Dan preferred him in the control room, with the battalion commander handling most of the soldierly duties. He figured they wouldn't be needed unless and until they actually landed on a planet. He did consult with the general and had the squad of military police act as a constable force for the whole ship, civilians included.

  A fairly easy routine was instituted, with no one having to work excessively. He did more himself than almost any of the crew. Besides being in the control center at least part of each day, he also tried to get around most of the ship periodically, letting himself be seen and talked to. Sometimes he had trouble remembering he was in a spaceship. As time passed and changes to accommodate the crew were instigated, it more and more took on the aspects of a combination cruise ship and something out of Star Wars. Once the crew began moving in, the changes accelerated. The ship had learned language and customs partly from its interaction with Dan and Stacey but also from radio and television broadcasts, which led to laughable instances, like some closets filled with football uniforms.

  And there was one more duty he didn't care for: Captain's Mast. Fortunately, there were few cases requiring his personal attention, although he did have to review each trial for it to be legal, even though he wasn't sure what “legal” might mean upon return to Earth. As he learned more about the ship's weaponry and defensive shield, he slowly became aware that he was potentially the most powerful human in existence. The ship's weapons could destroy anything on Earth he chose to use them on, yet nothing in the armaments of any nation on the planet could penetrate the ship's defensive shield. It would take an anti-matter explosion to damage it.

  “Kind of makes me want to walk on eggs when I think about it,” he told Stacey one evening as they were enjoying a quiet meal together in their stateroom. Melinda and George had served the food and drink, then silently withdrawn.

  She knew what he was referring to. “How about me? I have the same power. The ship doesn't seem to discriminate even though you're the official captain."

  “True enough, and I haven't tried to change it, even assuming I could. Besides, I said it before; I think you'd have made a better captain."

  Stacey smiled and changed the subject. “Is this meat real or something the ship made?"

  Dan hadn't even thought about the matter. He simply accepted what was served and so long as it was good, ate it without complaint. “I don't know. Don't you like it?"

  “Sure, but I'm curious. We've got a big ship but our supplies won't last indefinitely."

  He knew that as well as she. The ship had been stocked for a voyage of up to a year. There was a hydroponics section but neither of them knew for certain whether it would be needed. He thought for a moment. “Let's ask."

  Stacey posed it as a question. “Pioneer, where does the material for manufactured food come from?"

  The answer was given both verbally and in text on the nearby screen. As the ship travels, it continually gathers material from nearby space and stores it in the fabrication section until it is needed to manufacture necessary items. When grounded, it absorbs material from the atmosphere and from the earth beneath it until supplies of raw materials are replenished.

  “Neat,” Stacey said. “We'll never run out of steaks. Sneaky, too—we never noticed all the time it was on Earth."

  “That's great, but you know, now that we're accessing outside data, maybe the ship will tell us more about itself, such as why it was empty and what kind of beings made it."

  “I'll ask,” Stacey said. She did so, but Pioneer remained mute.

  “I guess we're not ready for the big kid's table yet,” Dan remarked, staring at the blank screen.

  * * * *

  Ali Rashid Hussein was vexed. Many of the Muslims aboard Pioneer ignored their Iman's exhortations for prayers the required five times daily. Some asked how could they pray properly when they had no idea in which direction to face in order to kneel toward Mecca. It was a devious excuse, to his mind. Others simply ignored the faith, like most of the western scientists and technicians did their own. It was an ungodly ship to travel in, he thought. However, he considered himself fortunate to have been assigned just where he had wanted, as one of the tenders of the huge storerooms where innumerable items were dispensed to the various departments as necessary. It was a simple matter to pilfer enough of what he needed to make two reasonably powerful bombs. One, he would keep for himself. The other went to his roommate who had agreed to martyr himself when the proper moment arrived.

  * * * *

  The nearer they came to the warp point, the more anxious Matt became. He couldn't get the idea out of his mind that there was something fearful on the other side, something the ship was trying to protect them from as best it could. While being able to use more of the ship's hardware to take observations and integrate them with what their own Earth-designed instruments were recording was helpful, he still didn't think they were learning fast enough. In fact, he thought there was something he was overlooking, some factor that was in plain sight if only he could figure out what it was.

  The ship's instruments pointed to subtle differences in space near the warp point from the rest of the cosmos, differences he had never suspected. For one thing, no current mathematical theory had ever indicated such an anomaly existed or could exist. However, the main problem was that Earth astronomy and astrophysical studies couldn't pick up the differences simply because the instruments and telescopes weren't designed for it. He wondered what had led the aliens to suspect warp points might exist to begin with, then tabled the thought. It didn't matter now and if he ever got back to Earth, he felt certain he could design hardware and computer programs which would pinpoint warp points in the future. If there was a future. For now, he was content to let the ship handle them.

  “You look awfully worried, Matt,” Tara observed. They were sitting together in one of the little lounges scattered throughout the ship. There was a small bar in one corner but Pioneer kept track of those on duty and refused to serve them alcoholic beverages. Like Dan, Matt suspected the ship watched many more parts of their lives than was apparent.

  Tara was wearing pink shorts that reached to mid-thigh and a short sleeved pullover. Matt thought she blended well with most of the young people who weren't part of the military complement. The temperature and humidity settings made casual wear both comfortable and sensible. He was off duty for a rare change, but even though he had discarded the uniform manufactured by the ship's seemingly omnipotent fabricators, he confined himself to slacks and short sleeved shirts, with sometimes a thin vest to help carry his notebooks and recorders. He looked up from where he had been musing and saw that they were alone. “I keep wondering why an empty ship. And why it landed where it did, although that was probably a random event. It's the lack of anyone aboard when it came that keeps spoiling my sleep. There has to be a reason, but damned if I can figure it out."

  “Maybe the ones who built the ship couldn't come with it, even if they wanted to."

  “Hmm. Now that's a thought. That would imply some other controlling factor, like ... oh, like some religions once declared that God didn't want man to go into space, but didn't object to purely mechanical objects made by man doing so. I doubt that's the reason, but it could be something along those lines. A prohibition, where an empty ship is fine, but not a manned one. The problem with that is the fact that the ship was obviously designed to support life, and even more obviously, designed to support our type of life. But was it that way originally, or did it adapt once it was on our side of the warp point and could take obser
vations of Earth's atmosphere and life, then learn our languages, and so forth?"

  Tara shrugged. She touched his cheek with an affectionate gesture. “Matt, what difference does it make? It does no good to worry. Those are questions we have no way of answering before we hit the warp."

  “I know. It would be nice to be prepared, though, if only we knew what to prepare for."

  * * *

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Why now?"

  Ali gazed into the eyes of his roommate, Ari Assim. They were bright with thoughts of paradise, augmented no doubt by the drug Ali had slipped into his drink. He wanted no last minute backsliding, not now. “Captain Saddler, cursed be his name, has released his hold on the ship. Now others may command it, but first he must die."

  “Then I am ready.” The other man began strapping on the explosives. In half an hour he was due to appear before the captain and his cohorts. Captain's Mast it was called. He had purposely committed a crime, a theft for which he would be forgiven in paradise, for its intent was not a crime but a simple method to bring himself in range of the minion of Satan and his imps.

  “We will meet in paradise,” Ali said. “Go, and may Allah be with you."

  When his roommate had departed, Ali brought out his own bomb. He examined it and made certain it was ready to be activated at a precise touch. He removed the pieces of his plastic handgun from its hiding place and expertly assembled it. He fed cartridges into the clip, inserted it into the butt of the weapon and stuck it in his pocket. He glanced at his watch. Almost time. He left the stateroom and headed for the room that had been designated a mosque. Prayers would just now be ending. He smiled, wondering how many of his fellows would be commenting on his absence. Heretofore he had been very diligent in attending prayer.

  * * * *

  Dan sat in the center chair of the five that were arranged along one side of a table. On each side of him were two other officers. The charge of theft was serious enough for a full tribunal rather than him judging the accused alone. There was one chair on the other side of the table. In front of him was a printed folder, containing a military police report of the theft and a list of witnesses. Outside, the witnesses waited, along with the miscreant, accompanied by two military police.

  “Bring in the accused,” he ordered the yeoman standing at relaxed attention beside the entrance.

  “Yes, sir.” He opened the door, was gone for a moment, then returned with the alleged thief.

  He looks like he's been drugged, Dan was thinking, just before the man shouted. “Allahu Akbar! Death to infidels!” He flung his tunic open, displaying the homemade bomb. He closed his eyes and pressed the firing module, ready for paradise.

  * * * *

  Ali Hussein had been very quietly and secretively speaking to those he considered the most faithful. Now he would see the fruit of his labors. He entered the mosque room as the men were rising to their feet from the position of abasement before God. He pulled his gun and waved it in the air. “Brothers!” he shouted. “The time has come! Even now Ari Assim has martyred himself and sent the infidel Captain Saddler to hell! Arise! Follow me to central control where all are now dead. We shall control this Messenger from Allah! God has willed it!” He displayed his gun in one hand and the bomb in the other, ready to fling it where it would do the most good. “None can stand before us once we are in charge of the Messenger. Come!"

  “You fool! What have you done?” One of the scientists shouted in disgust. “This is a spaceship, not a Messenger from Allah! I'll have no part in a mutiny."

  Ali aimed his gun and shot the scientist in the heart. “Traitor!” he yelled. “All who are faithful, follow me!"

  Reluctantly, the unarmed throng moved toward Ali. Only a few showed genuine enthusiasm. As he raced toward central control, those who were reluctant to participate in a mutiny slipped away whenever they saw an opportunity. By the time he reached the area of central control, less than a dozen followers remained. And there, the difficulty arose. As he turned into the corridor, he was startled to see armed military police mingled with officers—and there was the captain himself, unharmed! Somehow, he had survived, but Ali could alleviate that right now.

  “Die, infidels!” Ali yelled as he primed and tossed his bomb into their midst. It rose in an arc nearly to the ceiling, then unbelievably, hovered there like a leaf held up by a zephyr. His eyes practically bugged from his head. Raging, he pointed his pistol at the captain and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

  “Arrest them,” Dan said, pointing to the men who had followed Ali. He saw a renowned physicist in their midst and shook his head sadly.

  Only Ali struggled but he was quickly subdued. He and his followers were led away.

  Later, while being questioned, Ali learned that the other bomb had failed to explode as well. The ship had protected the captain and all his cohorts from harm. Why? he asked himself. It was unfathomable. He was still asking the question a week later when he and the others who had participated in the attempted mutiny were drugged senseless, then placed in an airlock and expelled into the vacuum of space.

  * * * *

  “There wasn't anything else I could do,” Dan said. He met his wife's gaze unflinchingly, prepared for her censure if she disagreed with his decision.

  “I agree. We don't know what we'll run into. I can't see the necessity of detaching people to guard and care for terrorists, for that's exactly what they were. Besides, it was a good object lesson. I doubt very seriously if anyone else will try that again."

  Dan sighed. “I was worried you'd think I had done the wrong thing. And I wasn't sure myself that I had the right to execute those men.” He hesitated a moment then smiled the very littlest bit. “I still say you'd have made a better captain than me. You wouldn't have worried about the decision."

  “Oh, forget it, Dan. You did exactly what a good captain should have.” She hugged him briefly, kissed him thoroughly then leaned back into the comfort of the lounger in their stateroom. “You know what I think is the most important thing that's come of this?"

  “What?” He poured more brandy into his glass. Stacey waved the bottle away.

  “The fact that the ship knew exactly what was happening and did exactly the right thing at the right time to protect you and the rest of the crew. Only one person was killed and no one else was hurt other than Ali when he struggled with the police and he only had a few scrapes and bruises."

  “You're right, but if the ship is so smart, why didn't it stop it in advance? And why did it allow him to shoot that one man?"

  “Would you have known who else besides Ali and his roommate were involved if it had prevented it? He wouldn't have tried the coup in that case and would still be hatching plots to overthrow you. The ship made a calculated decision to sacrifice one man in order to get them all. At least that's what I think."

  “Yeah, I see what you mean. It just waited until we could bag any of them who had mutiny in mind. But what a stupid and ridiculous belief to sacrifice your life for. Messenger! The ship may be on a messenger of some kind, but I seriously doubt if we're going to see God, Allah, Shiva or any other luminary of that nature. More likely it'll be little green men with tentacles."

  Stacey laughed. “Always the little green men. Wouldn't it be fun if the aliens actually did turn out to be green and undersized?"

  “I'll settle for any kind of alien, green or otherwise, who can tell us what this is all about. But think a minute. You know what else this means? The ship obviously monitors what everyone is doing or saying, no matter where they are. Or at the very least key words or actions must activate a subordinate protective program of the shield."

  Stacey mused for a moment. “You know, I think you're right. Everything we do or say, huh?"

  “Apparently."

  “Good. I'm in the mood to give old Pioneer a real show.” She stood up and held out her hand. Dan came readily to his feet, picked her up and carried her to the big bed.

  * * * *

>   Dan led off. “Not much longer now; only two weeks. Chet, are all your gunners ready, just in case they're needed?"

  The inner circle was having an informal closed meeting. Dan had found that the casual atmosphere, spiced with a few drinks, sometimes led to ideas and conclusions they might not have thought of otherwise.

  “I think there's a fair chance they'll be needed, all right. I can't see the ship being so heavily armed otherwise. Thing is, I don't know whether to gear the practice more toward ground targets or moving ones, such as hostile ships would present."

  “Wouldn't targets in space be harder to zero in on?"

  “Not necessarily, considering it's likely the ship would be moving even if we were attacking ground targets. And here's a curiosity. As powerful as the ship's computer appears to be, it doesn't have much real data on space battles, which the weapons are primarily designed for; or at least it looks that way to me. In which case, I'm not sure the simulations are all that accurate."

  “What would that mean in practical terms?” Matt asked.

  Hawkins shrugged. “I can't say, never having had to fight hostile spaceships. I'm integrating Pioneer's targeting system with what we know about air-to-air hostilities in atmosphere and it looks good in the simulations."

  “Matt, is the scientific community still pretty much satisfied with the outcome of the attempted mutiny and the way I handled it?"

  “Absolutely. They're mostly an eager bunch, wanting nothing more than to get on through the warp point and find out what's there."