The Search for Gram (12 page)

“System entry into HD 6983
0–
,” said Steropes.

“Sir,” interrupted the communications officer, “the
Terra
is here. They’re calling us.”

“On screen,” replied Captain Sheppard. The face of Captain Lorena Griffin, the commanding officer of the TSS
Terra
filled the screen.

“Welcome back,” she said. “The Thor has been anxiously awaiting your return. Were you successful in retrieving the prince?”

“No, we weren’t,” said Captain Sheppard. “We found the remains of his ship, but got chased off before we could find him. I don’t want to say any more over an open channel; how about we send over a shuttle so we can meet in private?”

“We’ll be waiting for you,” said Captain Griffin.

“So that’s the story,” concluded Captain Sheppard. “We escaped, but we are missing one of our engines and the majority of our fighters. There is still at least one Jotunn ship in the system with the
Blue Forest
hulk, and that ship alone is more than we could have fought by ourselves. If another one of the suspected Jinn ships showed up, or even one of the Jotunn ships, we would have been in big trouble. I decided it was better to bring the word back, get our ship fixed and return with additional forces and better tactics.”

“That makes good sense,” replied Captain Griffin. “I can see why you would think the new enemy are from the Jinn Universe, but I don’t understand why you think the Jinn in Keppler-22 will help us. If it is their spaceships that are attacking us, wouldn’t they attack us there too, once they found out we were onto them?”

“It’s possible, but I don’t think so,” said Calvin. “When we met the Sila in Keppler-22, they definitely did
not
seem warlike. They certainly weren’t aggressive toward us; if anything, they helped us against the Efreet. If they were going to go to war with us, why didn’t they attack us there while we were unsuspecting? Why wait and attack somewhere else? For that matter, we don’t even know if the new enemy
is
the same Jinn; all we know is they seem to be able to go back and forth from some other place into our universe.”

“You’re sure it’s not a cloaking system? Maybe one better than anything we have seen before?”

Captain Sheppard shook his head. “No, it can’t be a cloaking system unless it’s something that lets a ship become completely immaterial. I had my crew analyze all the battle video, and our missiles definitely go through the space where the ship was. Also, there is the matter of the two missing fighters. If the ship cloaked with them, why didn’t they come back when it uncloaked?”

“Those are certainly all good questions,” replied Captain Griffin.

“The bottom line is that we don’t have enough information,” said Calvin, “and we don’t have a whole lot of places we’re going to be able to get it. The Jotunn certainly aren’t going to tell us any more than they already did. I have a feeling that Terra is at war with them now too, whether we want it or not. Whoever the enemy is, they didn’t seem like they were in a talking mood. Our only hope is to go to Keppler-22 and talk with the Sila Jinn. They may be able to help us. Even if they can’t, we’re no worse off than we are right now.”

“Speaking of worse off,” said Captain Griffin, “the
Vella Gulf
is even worse off now than when you started on this mission. With only one engine, you won’t be able to go as fast as you normally could, and I have a feeling speed is of the essence. We have to figure out who our new enemy is, and we need to come up with weapons and tactics to fight them effectively. Hoping one of our fighters is positioned where the enemy ship is going to materialize is a poor way to conduct combat; we can’t expect to get lucky like that again.”

“I wouldn’t say it was lucky for the crew of the fighter,” said Calvin.

Although the tone could have been taken as surly or disrespectful, Captain Griffin had lost plenty of her own crew members in combat, and she understood Calvin’s sentiments. She also saw the bigger picture. “No,” she said, “it wasn’t lucky for them. It was, however, very lucky for us as it provided a means of escape for the
Vella Gulf
. The way the battle was going, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did it on purpose. Much like someone I know who intercepted an inbound torpedo with
his
fighter.”

“Sometimes you have to do what it takes for the good of the group,” said Calvin, rubbing the back of his neck. He sighed. “Yeah, I imagine if I had been in their place, I would probably have done the same.”

“Regardless, the only place the
Vella Gulf
needs to go is to the shipyards; it’s in no condition to continue the mission.”

“But–”said Calvin.

“Fleet Command sent the
Terra
to assist with your mission, and I intend to do that. Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, you are to transfer your platoon and the remainder of your fighter crews to the
Terra
. Although the
Terra
isn’t made to carry fighters, we’ll figure out a way to make it work
.
We will continue the mission to Keppler-22 while the
Vella Gulf
goes back for repairs.” She smiled. “There’s also the matter of briefing the Thor on what happened. I’m sure he is very anxious to find out. Perhaps the Aesir can put together a fleet to accompany us when we get back. If so, we can return to the system where you found the
Blue Forest,
destroy the Jotunn ship and find out what really happened to the rest of the Aesir ships that disappeared.”

“So, you’re just going to leave me here to talk to the Thor while you run off?” asked Captain Sheppard.

“I wouldn’t say we’re running off,” said Captain Griffin, “just that we’re going off to accomplish the mission since your ship is no longer capable.”

“It still feels like you guys get a free meal while I’m left holding the check,” said Captain Sheppard, shaking his head.

Captain Griffin smiled. “Well then, be a good boy and pay it for us, won’t you?”

Asp 08
, Unknown System, Unknown Date/Time

“
So, we’re stuck here?
” asked Chomper.
Asp 09
had pulled alongside
Asp 08
to have a strategy session.

“
It would seem so,
” replied K-Mart. “
Unless you have some other way home.
”

“
So what do we do?
” asked Lieutenant Bryan ‘Hooty’ Hooten.

“
Well, we’ve only got three choices I can see,
” said K-Mart. “
One, we can stay here and power down to next to nothing and hope they figure out where we’ve gone and how to get to us. If we do that, we would probably have enough power to last about 10 days. There won’t be much to eat beyond the third day and only recycled fluids after the fifth day.
”

“
No thanks,
” said a chorus of voices.

“
Considering the
Vella Gulf
was running when we last saw her, that probably wasn’t our best choice anyway,
” said K-Mart. “
The second option is to head out-system and look for a stargate. Maybe we could go somewhere…else…and find a way to catch up with the
Gulf.”

“
But I didn’t think Asps could go through stargates by themselves,
” said Chomper.

“
They can’t,
” agreed Rock.

“
Well, they can’t do it where we’re from,
” said K-Mart. “
Who knows what the rules are here?
”

“
Pass,
” said Rock.

“
Not my choice,
” said Hooty.

“
What’s behind Door Number Three?
” asked Chomper.

“
The third choice is to go to the Earth-like planet and see what’s there. The only problem with this is, with all the fuel we burned fighting the alien ship, if we go to the planet, we won’t have much fuel left when we get there. It will be a one-way trip.
”

“
So, let me get this straight,
” said Hooty. “
We can either die alone and in the cold, or we can die alone and in the cold or we can go to the place where there’s a slim chance we might not die alone and in the cold. I vote for your…what did you call it? Door Number Three?
”

“
Me too,
” said Chomper.

“
Works for me, mate,
” said Rock.

“
I’m in too,
” said K-Mart. “
Let’s go see what’s on the planet.
”

“So, now that we’re here, what exactly is your plan?” asked Captain Griffin.

“Yeah, you’ve been awfully close-mouthed about how we were going to contact them,” said Master Chief O’Leary. “What
is
the plan?”

“I haven’t wanted to talk about it with you, Master Chief,” said Calvin, “because I am well aware of your misgivings when it comes to out-of-the-ordinary adventures.”

“If you mean I don’t like spooky shit,” said Master Chief, “you got that right. And, I have to say, I don’t like the direction of this conversation. Are we not planning on taking the entire platoon down with us to the surface?”

“No,” replied Calvin, “we are not. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I think it’s best if just you and I go down. Sella and Trella seemed to have the closest connection to the two of us; if we take everyone down there, we run the risk of scaring them off.”

“What if they show up with an army?” asked Master Chief. “A cyborg or two would be pretty handy to have if things go to shit…which they always seem to do with you around.”

“I don’t think it will come to that,” replied Calvin. “They could have let us die the last time we were here, and no one would have ever known. Not only did they
not
let us die, they actively helped us defeat the Efreet. I don’t think they will act against us now.”

“You know they are aliens, right?” asked Master Chief. “They aren’t pretty women we’re trying to pick up in a bar on Friday night; they’re no-shit
aliens
. You realize that, right?”

Calvin rolled his eyes. “I am well aware of that, Master Chief. Still, I don’t think they, or their civilization, have anything against us.”

“You’re basing the intentions of an entire civilization on the actions of two individuals?” asked Captain Griffin. “Do you really think that’s wise?”

“In most cases, no ma’am, I wouldn’t,” replied Calvin; “however, in this case, I just get the feeling they aren’t the ones we have to watch out for. If they had hostile intentions toward us, I don’t think they would have saved our lives or the lives of the native population of the planet the last time we were here.”

“I learned to trust your ‘feelings’ a long time ago,” said Captain Griffin. “I’m willing to let you and Master Chief go down to the planet by yourselves to try to get in touch with the Jinn, but I want the rest of your platoon on high alert and ready to transport down to the surface at a moment’s notice. You
will
go armed, and you
will
take every precaution. If anything is even a little out of the ordinary, I want you to get back up here pronto. Even if the Sila aren’t against us, it’s still possible our new enemy is here, and I don’t want to lose the two of you. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Where do you want us to land?” asked the WSO of
Shuttle 01
, Lieutenant Neil ‘Trouble’ Watson.

“If you see the main complex of pyramids, there is an open area next to it big enough to land in.”

“I see it,” said Trouble, looking at his visual targeting screen. He pointed it out to his pilot, Lieutenant Jeff ‘Canuck’ Canada.

“We can do that, sir,” Canuck added. “It’ll be tight, but I can get it in there.”

Shuttle 01
landed without fanfare on the local inhabitants’ athletic field, and the boarding ramp came down. Once most of the dust had settled, Calvin took off his helmet and walked down the ramp.

The only problem with landing in the field, Calvin saw, was the ship was in plain view of the locals, who were at about the same technological level as the 11th century Mayan Indians of Central America on Earth. Of course, that is what they actually were, having been forcibly transported to the planet by an alien race called the Coatls. In fact, the Coatls had transferred so many of the Mayans to the Keppler-22 system that the Mayan civilization on Earth failed as a result.

The Coatls had continued to rule the Mayan civilization as gods on Keppler-22 ‘b’ ever since, until they were dispatched by Calvin’s platoon on an earlier mission. Although the locals had been in contact with the Terrans in the intervening months, it was still ingrained in their psyches that creatures from the sky were gods, a belief the Terran embassy on the planet hadn’t been able to fully eradicate. Many of the small, brown men and women stopped and looked to see what the almost-gods were doing.

When nothing exciting happened after a couple of minutes, though, most went back to what they had been doing prior to the shuttle’s landing.

“
All right, Master Chief, let’s go,
” Calvin commed.

“
Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
” Master Chief asked, getting up from the combat seating. He walked down the ramp, but much more slowly than the officer had. He also took his helmet off.

“No, I’m not,” Calvin replied. He began walking toward the main pyramid. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked as Master Chief stopped and leaned against the shuttle. “Trella might be nearby...”

“No sir,” said Master Chief. “This is something you’re better off doing yourself. The Jinn told
you
to call them, not me. Officers get to do all of the spooky, creepy shit. It says so in the manual.”

“What manual is that?” asked Calvin.

“The manual for dealing with spooky, creepy shit, and what officers are supposed to do about it,” replied Master Chief. “It says senior enlisted men and women are supposed to lead troops into battle, where they kill people and break things. Nowhere does it say we are supposed to deal with creatures that have supernatural powers, or turn invisible or immaterial or whatever the hell it is they do. Nowhere.”

“So you’re just going to sit there?”

“Yes I am,” replied Master Chief. He paused. “On second thought,” he added, “no, I’m not going to just sit here.”

“You’re not?” asked Calvin. “You’re going to come with me?”

“No, sir, I’m going to go back inside and get a nap. Wake me up when you’re ready to put this world behind us. Again.”

Calvin shook his head and continued walking toward the central plaza in front of the main temple. He found he liked the plaza much better when there weren’t a bunch of dinobears in it trying to eat him. “Sella!” he yelled. “Trella!”

He waited. Nothing happened. He looked around the plaza. The locals continued on about their business although a few of them looked at him curiously. Most of the parents with children tried to shepherd their youngsters away from the obviously crazy almost-god that was talking to invisible spirits. “Sella!” he yelled again. “Trella!”

He waited some more. Still, nothing happened. No magical genies. He didn’t know what he had expected, or how he had envisioned them making their appearance, but he had expected
something
. They had told him that if he called, they would come.

“Sella!” he yelled one more time. “Trella!” Once again, nothing happened. He sighed, feeling extremely stupid. Most of the locals had stopped what they were doing to watch his strange display in the center of the plaza. Although Calvin didn’t know much about the Mayan civilization, it was obvious to him that most of the locals questioned his sanity.

“Well, crap,” he said. “I wonder what the heck they want me to do.”

“Oooh, is the big strong soldier getting frustrated?” He jumped as a voice breathed in his left ear, causing goose bumps down his side.

“It certainly seems like it,” another voice said in his right ear, causing a similar sensation down the right side.

He turned around, but there was no one standing there.

“Hi, ladies,” Calvin said, not knowing a better way to address them. “Are you not going to make yourselves visible?” Looking around, he saw strange expressions on some of the locals’ faces as they watched the foreigner talking to himself. Several mothers started dragging off their children to get them away from Calvin before his insanity infected them.

“In the center of the plaza?” the first voice asked.

“In front of all of these people?” the second asked.

“It would be nice,” Calvin replied. “That way, they wouldn’t think I’m crazy.”

“Most of them don’t think you’re crazy,” the second voice said.

“Well, not yet, anyway,” the first voice agreed. “However, I think they
are
rapidly coming to that conclusion.”

“Well, I guess that’s to be expected,” the second voice answered. “He
is
standing in the middle of the plaza talking to himself.”

“And the longer he does it, the crazier he looks.”

Calvin sighed again.

“He gets frustrated so easily,” the first voice said.

“Yes, he does,” the second voice agreed. “He sighs a lot. He really should learn some patience.”

“You’re both really funny,” Calvin said watching one mother and her two young children hurrying past. They had taken a wide path around him, getting no closer than 30 feet. “I take it you’re not going to show yourselves?”

“They don’t know we exist,” the first voice said.

“And we’d rather keep it that way,” the second added.

“They need to learn to do things on their own,” said the first voice.

“Won’t the Terran presence keep them from learning how to do things on their own?” asked Calvin, directing his question to where he thought the first voice was.

When there was no answer, Calvin sighed again and began walking back toward the shuttle.

“There he goes with the sigh again,” said the second voice. “Poor thing.”

“I’m going back to the shuttle,” Calvin replied, “and I’m not saying another word to you two until you’re visible.”

“Hey, Calvin,” said the second voice.

“What?”

“You just said another word to us.” Both of the voices giggled. The giggles quickly turned into laughter.

“Look, Trella,” said the first voice, confirming his guess that she was Sella. “You made his face turn such a pretty shade of red. It’s almost like the double sunset on Qualifret.”

“Just like that,” Trella agreed. “It’s redder now, though.”

Calvin put his helmet on to block out their laughter, but it still seemed to come to him anyway, so he walked faster to try to leave them behind. The giggles stayed with him the rest of the way back to the shuttle.

“Couldn’t find them?” asked Master Chief as Calvin stomped up the ramp. Master Chief was lying across the webbed combat seating, using his suit as a pillow. “See, that’s why the officer is supposed to go. That way you’re the one who looks stupid yelling at the top of your lungs and I’m not. I could hear you all the way in here; I’ll bet it was quite a scene.”

Master Chief jumped up. “Hey! Something pinched me.” He looked back at the seating for a second, and then he spun and reached out behind him. “Ha!” he said. “Got ya!” Trella came into view behind him. He had hold of her left wrist.

“How did you know where I was?” she asked.

“Because that was exactly what I’d have done,” he replied. “Divide and conquer. I imagine Sella is sitting on the seating there.”

“I am,” she said, coming into view.

Master Chief looked at Calvin. “Sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to do something I don’t do very often. I’m going to have to tell you I was wrong.”

“You were wrong?” Calvin asked with a smile. It wasn’t often Master Chief admitted being wrong.

“Yes, sir,” said Master Chief with an answering smile. “It turns out I’m a
lot
better at dealing with the spooky, creepy shit than you are after all.” He started laughing, and the women quickly joined in. Calvin could see he’d been had. He resisted the temptation to sigh again and sat down along one of the bulkheads. The back of the shuttle had combat seating down both sides and a central double row that faced the two outside sections.

“Okay,” Calvin said when the three began to wind down, “if you have all had your laughs, perhaps we could get on with our mission?”

“I guess,” said Sella, sitting down across the aisle from Calvin so she could see him. “What brings you back here?”

“We need your help,” said Calvin. “Well, I think you may be able to help, anyway. We are trying to figure out some things so we can help another race. I’m hoping you can help us...but I don’t really know if you can.”

“Well, that is certainly vague enough,” said Trella. “I think I may need to sit down too.” She sat down next to Calvin so she could look at Master Chief, who took a seat next to Sella. “Could you be a little more specific about the kind of help you’re looking for?”

“Yes, I can,” Calvin said. “I need to know how you are able to go invisible, or immaterial, or whatever it is you do. A race allied with us is fighting an enemy that can do the same thing. I’m trying to figure out how they do it, so we can help our allies.”

“We can’t tell you how we do it,” said Sella.

“What?” asked Calvin. “You can’t tell me? Or you won’t tell me?”

“We can’t tell you,” Sella said. “We aren’t allowed.”

“So it is really a matter of you
won’t
tell us,” said Master Chief, joining the conversation. “Can you tell us why you can’t tell us?”

“No,” said Sella. She didn’t say anything else, but looked instead at Trella. Calvin could tell they were communicating with each other somehow. As their conversation carried on, it appeared to get heated. Both began shaking their heads and gesturing at each other. Finally, Sella asked, “What is it worth to you to know?”

“Do you mean in money?” Calvin asked. “I don’t know what you use for money, but I’m sure we have things you’d find valuable that we can give you for the knowledge.”

“No, I meant exactly what I asked,” said Sella. “What is it worth to
you?
Is it worth your life?”

“You want me to trade my life for the knowledge? Umm...will I be able to pass on the information to some of my friends so they can use it, or am I going to find out and then take the knowledge with me to the grave?”

“I don’t
want
you to trade your life for that which you seek,” Sella replied. “In fact, I kind of like you and don’t want you to die. I would be quite happy if you
didn’t
risk your life in the quest for this answer. But the fact remains, you would have to be prepared to risk your life if you want to gain the answer to your question. Are you prepared to do that?”

“The Aesir may be wiped out if we don’t find an answer,” said Calvin. “And then, once the Aesir are gone, it’s likely the enemy will keep coming and fight us next. If I don’t get the answer, I will still probably die, but it will be in combat with the enemy.” He shrugged. “I’m going to die somehow, some time. We all are. If I have the chance to get the information needed to save the Aesir, then yes, I would give my life for it.”

“What about you?” asked Trella, looking at Master Chief. “Are you willing to risk your life too?”

“This sounds a lot like the spooky, creepy shit I generally try to avoid,” Master Chief said, “but if it involves Lieutenant Commander Hobbs risking his life, he’s not going to do it by himself. I’m in.”

“I knew you would say that,” Trella said with a smile. She turned to Calvin. “You will need to take off your suit.”

“Take off my suit?” asked Calvin. “Why?”

“Because it won’t work where we are going, and it will only give away your presence.”

“Oh,” said Calvin. He took off his suit; Master Chief already had his off.

Trella reached across the aisle, and put her hand on Master Chief’s arm. Sella reached across and did the same to Calvin. All four vanished.

Asp 08
, Unknown System, Unknown Date/Time

“Asp 09, Asp 08,
are you seeing what I’m seeing?
” asked K-Mart.