Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human (7 page)

“Come
- walk with me.” Chol’s voice was rich and deep. It was not a request. Verinous fell in beside his boss as he walked to a private elevator. Once the doors shut, the leader of the Vortex group looked down on his man and smiled. Chol pressed a few buttons on a control panel and the elevator doors shut and began to descend deep under the establishment.

“
Did you endure any difficulties in climbing?” The soft thud of the elevator reaching its destination punctuated the question. C
hol Cuxa thought that he could have picked someone more skilled at such a task, a human perhaps - they had evolved from tree swinging primates on their homeworld. But Verinous was his most loyal…and capable lieutenant.

“No
. It was tiring, but not overly difficult.” His muscles still ached from the exertion. He had slept through five of the last ten hours, but his body was still hurting. As he followed his leader into a secure underground bunker his mind was a blank. He was not curious and he didn’t care about what he had done. He had no ethical qualms about anything, planting a nuclear device and then setting it off would never cause him to lose sleep.

The room they stood in was
stripped bare of the gaudy colors, materials and patrons of the frenetic dance-floor and bars far above them. The space they stood in was a fortified control bunker with dozens of data screens adorning walls – all streaming information on the dozens of missions and constantly fluctuating fortunes of the Vortex Mercenary Group.

“
Fortune smiles on us again! I have another job for you. There is a human target that needs to be captured – alive, and unharmed. Take as many men as you need and travel to Earth in the Sol Quadrant. I don’t want any incidents with human authorities either. Republic territory means you will be discrete. Use stun guns on the human but keep things quiet.” Chol Cuxa rubbed his chin and looked at his subordinate with cold humorless eyes.

“If you are caught by human authorities, I will not be able to help you.
You realize that, don’t you?” Chol looked at Verinous with unblinking gaze.

Does he think I am stupid?
Verinous tried hard not to say anything sarcastic. The only outward sign he gave was a small twitch in the corner of his mouth that lasted a fraction of a second. He was well disciplined when talking with his superiors – especially in regards to what he said around Chol Cuxa, who could be easily displeased. He leveled his gaze at his superior.

“I will take precautions but I wish to move quickly. I will take Fala and Maahir on this mission. They are both human and will back me up if things…go badly. What level of expenses can I incur in the pursuit of this target?
Verinous let the last word linger on his tongue as if he could savor the hunt already.

Chol Cuxa looked at the dozens of data streams in the comm
and quarters and smiled. “This Eli Bowman is wanted and the pay is exorbitant. Make sure that your expenses are not.” Chol turned his back on his lieutenant and Verinous knew that he was dismissed. On the ride up inside the elevator he thought about plans and contingencies. He was already talking to Maahir and Fala by the time he exited the never ending party inside Blood and Honor.

Life aboard a military starship is inevitably dull – there is nothing to look at except the same gray durasteel walls and bulkheads day after day and there is nothing to do within the confined bulkheads and limited corridors. The Majestic was considered a hybrid vessel which had an impressive array of scientific instruments and laboratories to analyze and catalog specimens, in addition to a couple of large turrets, one positioned on the top forward spine of the ship and one placed aft underneath the spine. That way, the ship could fire on any threat in a three hundred and sixty degree arc to cover all possible attack vectors. The turrets were equipped with
Heavy Particle Cannons
which should be able to disable or destroy up to destroyer sized warships. It was the seventh day of the voyage, with two solar days left to enter the Shaedra system. Unlike the massive cruise ships that ply star-lanes and jump-points carrying thousands of passengers who gamble, carouse, dine at fancy restaurants and sleep on comfortable beds at night, military starship’s are all about clean lines and hard edges. A form that functioned very well in delivering lethal killing blows to enemy ships – a function unknown to most civilian starships. Eris could not fathom being part of the crew and having to endure such confinement for the long time intervals; she preferred hard land under her feet and a clear mission objective.
The only time it’s not boring is during a firefight, and then boredom is replaced with adrenaline and sheer terror
. Eris broke the daily monotony up as best she could with early morning exercises, target practice in the simulator, and making the rounds throughout the various compartments of the warship. She had just entered the engineering bay to have a talk with the crew stationed there and learn a little about the propulsion systems. Almost all ships were built around the concept and practice of modular construction. Each critical area – engineering, crew compartments, cargo bays, weapon turrets and command centers were all built as modules so their structural integrity wouldn’t be compromised in case of catastrophic hull breach.
M
odular designs also allowed greater capability and easier upgrades at the component and systems level
.
Such catastrophes almost never happened to civilian starships, but military cruisers were often sent on hazardous duty where the unexpected was planned for, with secondary and tertiary backup systems in place to account for primary equipment failures. The thrum of the fusion powerplant and steady
frisson
of the jump drive engines were palpable on her skin. She wondered how the engineers could stand such irritating sensations for so long.
Eris supposed anyone could get used to anything if they were subjected to it long enough
.

“How are the engines holding up, Doc?” Eris
smiled at the large man who was in command of this section of the
Majestic
. She didn’t know where he’d been given the nickname or why, but it didn’t seem to fit the burly and cantankerous chief engineer.

The man
’s TEC uniform was dirty and covered with spots of a dark, grimy substance. Eris didn’t know what the splotches were but he did smell of sweat and oil. He was taller than Eris and out-weighed her by at least forty kilos. He was fat.

“
Commander Monroe, these engines don’t
hold up
, they do what I want them to do, and that’s to propel a mass of over ten thousand metric tons through
N space
and
Lindstrom tunnels
as needed. They’re machines and need to be constantly monitored. That essential monitoring is now being interrupted by
you
. He glared at her. He was part of the TEC crew and had nothing to do with her unit.

“I’m sorry to intrude on you, but you did reply to my message that you agreed to my visit. It is 0800 and it is Tuesday. Her eyes had narrowed as she spoke, perhaps being a little too stern in her approach. The big man looked unsure and his mouth hung open.

“It’s Tuesday?” He seemed remorseful with a shocked expression.

Eris gave him a little smile.

“Yes, yes it is.”

A
young man and woman interrupted their conversation with a short cough. Their insignia and name patches indicated who they were – Morales and Chen. She remembered from the crew manifest that they were the first subordinates under the chief engineer.

“Sir, the port
stabilizer calibration was a little off and we reset it. Thrust efficiency will decrease by point zero eight percent until we damp it down…” Petty officer Jessica Morales let her words trail off as she realized how upset her superior was.

Eris saw that Doc was about to go ballistic and she quickly put her hand on his right shoulder. “Chief, how about that tour you promised me? I’m sure your engineers can handle any slight inefficiency problems.”

At her touch, the big man seemed to calm. He muttered under his breath, “They shouldn’t be called
engineers
,” as Eris urged him to show her the whole area. Eris knew that she could have a calming effect on males of her species though it was much more difficult with females. Her looks were designed to have that type of
effect
and it gave her an edge in just about everything she did in her life. As Doc led her around the large engineering compartment, Eris noted everything he said and memorized it. Her
eidetic memory
allowed her instant access to anything she had seen or experienced in the past. It was one of dozens of gifts her designers had bestowed on her when she was created on Darol Station twenty seven years ago. If at some point in the future she wanted to remember how a piece of ship’s engineering machinery was operated or performed, all she had to do was think back to this tour. It was like opening up a computer file to the exact location of what the user wanted instantaneously and without any hesitation, confusion or second guessing. Of course, it wasn’t the same thing as being a trained technician or engineer taught in a university, but the info could be handy if she needed the knowledge to start the engines or shut them down. She noted how the chief engineer was happily engrossed in explaining every little technical item about his beloved engines. She let him keep talking, because that was why she had come down to this deck in the first place.

A
fter an hour and a half of listening quietly to Doc, with the occasional ‘
uh huh
’, ‘
how interesting’
and other conversation fillers, Eris pleaded with him that she had other duties to attend.

“
The tour has been very informative, but I have a meeting to attend. I’m afraid I have to go now.” she said it with such sincerity and an earnest face that Doc was beaming with pride as she left him and headed up to the command and control deck. She did have a scheduled meeting with Captain Shaw to discuss how the
Majestic
would approach the target planet and where they would scan for any Valdren bases. It was now 0750 and the day was just getting started.

In the ship’s ready room adjacent to the bridge, Eris sat in a too comfortable chair and watched
Captain Malcolm Shaw demonstrate to her how the Majestic would enter orbit around the high gravity world Domovik and her team would descend using the transport drop-ship. The holographic data streams were colorful, three dimensional and compelling; but nothing she didn’t already know about. Eris stood up, walked over to the representation of Domovik and enlarged the target zone of the northern continent with deft movements of her hands.

“According to the data
that the TEC has provided, this area was considered the most promising location for a Valdren base. If your scanner works as promised we should find an energy signature somewhere in these fifty square kilometers of terrain.” Eris moved her hands with precision, her left hand dragging the ground and her right manipulating what little data was known about the surface – including the gravity, atmospheric content and pressure, indigenous lifeforms and other tidbits of information. Her team would need to be wearing fully contained and sealed armor with air re-breathers and extra tanks on their backs.

“
These pirate clans in the asteroid belt,” continued Eris, “What rules of engagement are you operating under if they come to investigate our presence?” She shifted her weight from her left to her right with a serious expression on her face. Captain Shaw covered his mouth, coughed a few times to clear his throat and then answered.

“Well, um,
Commander Monroe, we didn’t come looking for a fight, though I think our little cruiser would easily be able to hold off any rabble that attacked.” He glanced at Eris with a troubled look. “Really, I firmly believe Majestic would be more than a match for any mercenary riffraff that dared to assault us.” He began to pace as he spoke, his voice rising. “However, if we do come under fire, and you’re on the planet surface, we may have to leave you.” Shaw looked at his feet, “At least temporarily…”

“I’m not too worried about that, we’ll have enough supplies to last a week on our own,” replied Eris.
Whether staying a day or a week, the heavy gravity will be a pain in the ass
. Eris and Captain Shaw were the only two people in the room, the rest of the crew were busy performing their duties. She didn’t know if the Commander had any
extra
orders that he was keeping just to himself. She decided to test the waters and gauge his reactions.

“
Captain, what exactly are your orders concerning me and my team?” She tried to sound nonchalant and thought she succeeded. Eris was watching Shaw intently and noticed that the lines of his mouth narrowed slightly. In her experience this was at least a hint of obfuscation and concealment. Shaw turned away from her, paused, and then looked her in the eye.

“
Captain Monroe, my orders are to see that you and your team make it to Domovik in one piece with all of your equipment intact. Furthermore, you are to embark from the
Majestic
once we have established orbit and land at the designated target area for more conclusive scanning to determine whether or not an
Ancient Valdren
installation exists.” Captain Shaw exhaled rather loudly, as if he had practiced saying this exact phrase before.

Shaw
continued, “If your team does indeed find the installation and it’s safe to proceed you will, ah, signal us and we shall make preparations to land. Reese Langdon and his science team will prep all of their landing gear, equipment and the full contingent will land by shuttle and then proceed via ground vehicles to rendezvous with your team. I expect that everything will progress according to plan, of course.” Shaw cocked his head to one side, waiting for Eris to reply.

“I see.
I’m glad that you have our backs.” Her sarcasm was lost on the captain. She didn’t fully trust the corporation or anyone that worked for them ever since the battle with the Valdren
Entity
and the disappearance of Eli Bowman. She wasn’t convinced that the TEC had had something to do with that but she had no proof. At any rate she was under direct orders from Admiral Hargrove to cooperate with the TEC and find intact and functioning Valdren installations.

Eris continued, “
We’ll scope out the installation and clear any hostiles. If there’s another
Entity
like the one we fought under Dawson Slope, we’ll have EMP grenades to take care of it.”
They’d better work or we’ll be dead, we don’t have Bowman…

Captain Shaw smiled at her and beamed, his ruddy face lit by overhead panels.

“Yes, yes of course, that is, uh, why you and your team are part of the vanguard. You know, to deal with any contingencies that might, ah, come up.” Shaw nodded and Eris knew the conversation was over at that point. She hadn’t really learned anything new, but he had requested her presence to ‘be on the same page with him’ and keep her updated on the ship’s progress. Eris had always prided herself on her ability to gather all necessary information before the start of any mission. Here she had decided that Captain Shaw was lacking in leadership qualities.
She wondered if he would take the ship and flee at the first sign of hostile activity
. The mixed command structure of her missions troubled her. She was a military woman, a Special Forces operative working for Earth’s Republic Fleet as a commissioned officer. She was not used to having to deal with civilians in command roles. She wished that this had been purely a military operation. Of course, with the resources of Earth’s fleet stretched to the breaking point it had made perfect sense for Admiral Hargrove to approve a joint Fleet-TEC operation when it came to uncovering and exploiting Valdren technology.

She left the ready room
and headed to the quarters she and her team had been assigned. They were twelve rooms off the main corridor on ‘C’ deck, which primarily consisted of the officer’s staterooms. Each person on her team had their own stateroom, a relative luxury that she hadn’t ever seen on any of the military transport ships in the Fleet. She stopped outside of Moak’s room and knocked. If she had had any of the communication implants that were so popular now, her appearance would have been instantly recognized by anyone present in the room, either living or computerized. Her lack of implants was one of the things that constantly surprised people…and even unsettled quite a few of them. They couldn’t conceive that someone…anyone…in this day and age would want to live without the convenience and power of modern cognitive and neural implants. Her knock was promptly answered.