Chapter 17
“...a saboteur...”
When Shelby, Dale and I returned from the Ancients we decided to check up on Chip’s progress. Unfortunately, the news I had hoped for was unavailable.
Chip was despondent. “It doesn’t look good, Alex. I was worried this might be an issue.”
I was already sweating the answer. “What, what is it?”
“Even if the theoretical concepts were realized, it would take years to develop them. Therefore, you all may want to take Hadso’s advice and plan on making this home.”
“Do you agree with Chip’s assessment Tammy? Tom?”
Tammy nodded. “For once, Chip makes sense. We’ve tried everything, but the ship’s sink. Nothing I’ve seen, either from our database or the Vlanco’s, indicates we have the capabilities to get us home in our lifetime ... or even ten of our lifetimes.”
“I have to agree,” said Tom.
This was not what I wanted to hear. Our friends and family and everything we knew may be a thing of the past? As we sat there starring at one another, the imager came alive.
Stron appeared on the screen. “Greetings my friends.”
“Hello Stron. What’s up?” I asked, in a weary tone.
“You sound distressed, Alex. Have I interrupted something?”
“I’m not yet sure, Stron. Please, what do you have on your mind?”
“Alex, I realize you have just returned from your trip to the Ancients and may have some other issues to be concerned with, but I need to speak to all of you as soon as possible.”
That caught my attention. “Is everything okay?”
“No, Alex. Everything is not okay. I would like to discuss this in person.”
“Um. How about this afternoon?”
“Certainly, Alex. We will see you and your crew then.”
After the imager went dark, Tom turned to me. “What do think this is about?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like the sound of his voice.”
Stron had an urgency in him that I hadn’t heard before. With our ideas to return to Earth hitting a dead end, I hoped his news wasn’t worse than ours. Chip said he would accompany us after he had finished some business reappointing some data on the ships computers. The rest of us gathered our self-pity and made our way to the military complex.
When we arrived, we found ourselves receiving something totally unexpected. Stron and another Advisor approached us with bland faces. They bowed their heads to greet us then got straight to the point.
Stron spoke up first. “I must explain my thoughts quickly. There is the possibility of a saboteur working with the Negritee.”
“What has that got to do with us?” I asked.
“It is most likely to be an Earth person. We stood there like deer caught in the headlights of a hovercar.
Astonished at the suggestion, I looked around to see if anyone would flinch. “That can’t be, we would never help the Negritee. Right?” I said turning to the crew.”
The crew chimed in with “right,” “yeah,” “no way would I help those jerks.”
Then Dale, who had been starring at the ground, looked up at rest of us sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.” His face turned pale.
“Your not involved in this someway, are you?” asked Tom.
“Well,” said Dale squeamishly. “I talked to this guy named V and he wanted some help from me.”
“That was Ventfoprof,” said the Advisor, “he was in the containment facility with Dale. Later, Ventfoprof was sentenced to the colony on Transo for murdering of one of our people,”
“Yeah, that was his name. It was V for short,” Dale added.
“What did you do, Dale?” I asked firmly.
“I gave him one of our compins from my wristcom, because he said he had some information I might be interested in. After I met with him in jail, I didn’t have anything else to do with him.” Dale slumped down and hid his head in his hands.
“You just gave him a compin?”
Dale nodded. “Yeah, I think he wanted to talk to Chip. But Chip never said anything about V to me, so I thought the whole thing would disappear.”
I turned to Stron. “Although, I wouldn’t have given him a thing, I don’t think that qualifies for insubordination.”
I looked around to question Chip, then remembered he was missing. “Why hasn’t Chip shown up?”
“He’s probably up to no-good,” Tammy smirked.
Wheeling through my mind was Chip’s sordid past and it dawned on me that he most likely was involved somehow. Tammy and I locked eyes. I could see she realized how true her comment could be reality.
“I was just kidding!” Tammy said, trying to defend Chip.
I raised an eyebrow. “But I’m not. But before we jump to conclusions, I need to confront him directly. I hope you Vlancos believe in being innocent until proven guilty.”
The Advisor was dignified. “Why of course, Alex.”
“Then hold on to your accusations until I confront Chip directly. That is, unless the rest of you have something else to tell me?” The crew shook their heads.
I tried to get Chip on the wristcom, but no answer. “I’ll be back shortly,” I headed for the ship.
When I arrived, there was an automated note as I entered the ship, explaining that Chip would contact me shortly. Within a minute, a transmission to the imager was coming in—from a Negritee ship. I was almost not surprised to see Chip there.
“Alex? You alone?”
“Yes. But the better question is, why are you on a Negritee space vessel?”
“You’re probably thinking I’ve done something wrong.”
“Have you?” I counted with my fingers. “You have been mysteriously working alone, Dale inferred you might have been in contact with the Negritee, and now you’re transmitting from a Negritee ship. What do you think?”
Chip sat back and twirled a compad stylus in his hand. “Alex, it still isn’t too late to change your alliance.”
I could have been blown over by a whisper. “I was just about to say the same thing to you, Chip.”
“You don’t know what is going to happen to the Vlancos Alex. It’s not good. I chose to be on the safe side.”
“So you say.”
“Listen, Al ole-boy. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I couldn’t pass it up could I?”
“Ha! It hasn’t stopped you before.”
Chip dropped his stylus. “What do you mean by that?”
“You seem to forget that you’ve ended up in deep space missions, as a condition of you involvement in the Europan uprising. You always want power and glory, don’t you? In fact, I think you wanted control over the Europan government.”
Chip rolled his eyes. “That’s small change compared to what can be achieve here. The Negritee promised to give me authority over planets and their societies.
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing! Do you truly think you can trust the Negritee? Do you remember that they were the ones that almost killed us when we entered this system?
“They weren’t going to kill us Alex, they just wanted our technology.”
“So they say. It looks more like you’ve sold your soul, your crew members, and the Vlancos to the Devil, Chip ole-boy!”
Chip persisted. “It doesn’t have to be this way. You can come with us.”
“You can’t be serious, Chip!”
“Listen, Alex. I can’t stop these people from attacking the Vlancos, and I’m not going to be on the side of the underdogs. Besides, the Vlancos are so sweet I get a cavity just being around them.”
“You’re incredible, Chip! You want me to believe that you jumped ship, because it looked bad over here.” I suddenly got a sick, suspicious feeling Chip was more than waist deep in this. “I’d bet a hundred hydrogen fuel cells that there is something else your not telling me.”
“Alex, I don’t have time for this. I tried to find a way for the Sojourner to get back to Earth, but that option is no longer available. You and the rest of the crew can do what you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” His transmission ended.
“Chip! Wait!” I was frustrated and confused. I pounded the consol. How could he honestly associate with them?
I went to Stron to reveal the discussion between Chip and myself. Stron was discouraged with Chip’s new alliance, but he wasn’t angry. As he put it, “Much dread to his body will pale to that of his soul.” However, the bad news didn’t stop there. Stron had more information to divulge.
“Alex, we thought Chip might be involved somehow, and your conversation with him seems to have confirmed this. We approached you and your crew on this issue for two reasons. First, when tracing the escape route of V, various sub-atomic signatures were detected. One was the Vlanco translators we provided for your crew. We could not pinpoint which translator it was but we knew neither the Vlancos or Negritee would have need for them, so we assumed it was from one of you.”
My mind flashed back over a week ago when Chip turned the consol over to me. “Chip had misplaced his translator. He must have had contact with V while we were with the Ancients.”
“Secondly,” Stron continued. “An ongoing investigation indicates that a secured area on Persus2 was breached, and most of the Tara 100 was absconded.”
I thought back to Chip’s story. “Umm. Wasn’t that the material that was highly unstable when it made contact with oxygen?”
“Quite so, Alex. Even a few grams, properly prepared, could cause a catastrophic chain reaction, if released into the atmosphere.”
“How catastrophic?” I asked with trepidation.
“I am unsure Alex. However, the latest estimates from our scientific advisors indicate that several hundred square miles of breathable air would be vanquished for all animals for several hours ... if they survived the explosion. If the Negritee can find a way to penetrate our shields, and if they have the Tara 100, there could be a great many deaths. Lives and opportunities to do the will of the Creator would be lost.”
“That’s one very dangerous element you let slip through your hands, Stron.”
“Yes it is, Alex. We were the ones who granted him access to the Tara 100 storage facility.”
Chip must have been a busy beaver, while we were away, but why would he do this? This was only getting worse. Then it dawned on me. “Wait a minute. You knew that Chip was the saboteur even before you confronted the crew, didn’t you, Stron?”
“We had good reason to believe that, Alex. However, we wanted to let you have every opportunity to dispute it.”
“You could have stopped him?”
“We needed full proof.”
My mouth hung open. “You, people, are, unbelievably naive.” I shook my head quickly a few times, to clear my mind and switched into problem solving mode. “At this point, I’m less concerned about Chip and more concerned about him blowing up the planet. What’s our next step? Chip is on a Negritee ship with a load of explosive contraband and the Negritee are approaching. I hope your defenses are as good as I‘ve been told they are.”
“We must wait, converse with the Creator, and wait.”
The rest of the crew’s attitude was somber and Tom was shaking his head in disgust. Tammy’s eyes started welling up, but she tried to keep the tears from coming. I was a little surprised—Shelby is the sensitive one. Was she concerned for the Vlancos?
I walked over to her and spoke softly. “What’s up Tammy?”
Tammy crossed her arms. “I don’t know Alex, I guess I’m going to miss his wise cracks is all.” she said sighing through her nose.
“I think we’re all disappointed in him. Even though he was a Prima-Dona.” I gave Tammy a one arm hug.
“Yeah.” she said, half smiling and wiping her eyes. “Man, this planet is turning me into an emotional wreck.”
“Hey, I know how you feel. Quin almost didn‘t make...” added Dale, before he caught himself. “Ah, nothing, never mind.” He quickly turned away from the group.
Shelby walk over to Dale. “Did you want to visit her again Dale?”
“Naw, maybe later. When all this ends.”
“Let me know if you want me to go with you.”
“Thanks Shelby, you’re a true friend.”
***
We didn’t have to wait long before further confrontation with the Negritee escalated. The High Commander of the Negritee fleet contacted the Vlancos, and said he wanted to discuss the violation of the Negritee/Vlanco space agreement. The meeting was a public viewing for all the Vlancos to see and hear.
The Preeminent of Onos stood his ground. “I do not see a violation of any kind, High Commander.”
“That is precisely why we need to discuss this, Preeminent,” the commander retorted curtly.
The preeminent was calm. “Do your discussions on treaty policy normally coincide with large numbers of space vessels approaching our star system?”
“It does when a spacecraft is absconded and our men are possibly tortured.”
“Tortured, High Commander? Come now, you know as well as I, who we are. There is no evidence for you to make such an accusation.”
The commander exploded. “That is why we need to meet for negotiations! Do you not understand me!”
The preeminent stayed calm. “I do not understand the importance for my physical presence during negotiations. A secure communication channel between us could be arranged, so as to allow you to continue conversations from your ship, Commander.”
The commander continued to boil. “You are avoiding personal negotiations, Preeminent! What are you hiding?!”
The preeminent took a deep breath. “Very well, Commander. Let us meet at the colony of the satellite Trepnet, and we can discuss this further.”
“Well done, Preeminent. We will encounter tomorrow, mid day. Send the coordinates to my assistant. Transmission terminated.”
The conversation was broadcasted to all parts of the Vlanco system—including us.
“Was there really a treaty violation?” I aked Stron.
“Alex, the Negritee have understood that all matters of treaty are superseded when a life is at risk. They have never acknowledged it. In their eyes, we stole a space vessel, and in ours, we saved your lives.”
I was baffled. “I can’t believe they would go to war over that.”
“They are not, Alex.” Stron stated with matter-of-factly.
“What do you mean, you just told me—”
“I said, they are threatening war over the issue of a stolen ship, but it is a Crimson Truth.”
“What’s a Crimson Truth?”
“Ah, yes. You are not familiar. Long ago, Alex, it was told that a child ate of the crimson fruit. It is a delicious red fruit that was once plentiful on Onos and a favorite dish of Vlancos. However, there is one side effect after eating the fruit. When one is confronted with the truth and they lie, the fruit has a fascinating biochemical reaction to the blood flow and brain functions, which causes the skin to turn red. Therefore, when it is an obvious lie, we have come to label it a Crimson Truth.”
“So in other words, you have no doubts they’re lying, and there is something else they have in mind.”
“Correct, Alex. They would not send so many vessels to have a discussion with us. It is not their nature to support their own kind in such a grand way.”
“Then why did the Preeminent agree to meet with him?”
“It is because they are a very unpredictable group of people, much more so than even you Earth people.”
I was slightly offended. “Thanks a lot.”
“We do not want to cause unnecessary violence by ignoring them. They would most likely cause undue carnage on less protected satellite colonies, if we did not meet with them. So it is to our advantage to try to accommodate.”
“Isn’t sending the preeminent risky? I would think that in a dangerous situation, you would send some sort of negotiator.”
“I do not understand, Alex. Do you think that the preeminent is more valuable then another?”
Was that a trick question? “I’m getting the feeling you don’t think he is.”
“Yes, Alex. He is important to us. However, he knows the risks he has to take, and we are all members of one another—no greater or lesser.”
“I guess courage is the norm for you guys, isn’t it?”
“Courage? Not quite, Alex. We believe when a society consistently sacrifices themselves for others, courage loses its prestige. When sacrifice is rarely practiced by a society, only then does courage cultivate itself into distinction. It would be more accurate for you to say that sacrifice is normal for us; and as far as I am concerned, a privilege.”
The Vlancos continue to amaze me. Heroics are just an everyday event for the every-day guy. Who knows, maybe they were right. If more people sacrificed themselves for others, it wouldn‘t be thought of as a big deal. Either way, it was the Negritee who would sell his own mother for power, which is why I was sure the high commander had something deadly up his sleeve.
Another thing that bothered me was something Chip had said earlier. Why would he receive the high status and power from the Negritee, just for stealing the Tara 100. They couldn’t have time to use it as a weapon, or even use it on the powerful defensive shielding the Vlancos possess. There has got to be something else that I have missed.
Tom peered at me intently. “Alex, what’s up? I can tell by that look, something’s up.”
I came close. “Tom, when did you leave Chip to come here.”
“About two hours ago, why?
“Do you think he had time to get his belongings together, record an automated note, and find a way up to a Negritee ship in that time?”
“It would be tough, even for Chip.”
I snapped my fingers. “Ya know what, Tom. I don’t think he even left the planet. I think he’s still around on Onos somewhere.”
“Maybe,” said Tom. “But why?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I know he’s around.” I turned around. “What do you think, Stron?”
Stron nodded and paused a moment. “We should not be foolish to ignore that possibility, Alex. I will send word to scan for him.”
Moments later a loud booming explosion was heard nearby. Within seconds, another explosion was heard. And farther in the distant, still another. The lights in the building dimmed briefly, and Stron ran to a console. He strode back to inform us of the situation.
Stron looked pale. “Alex, I have just received word that Field Generators on Onos and Donos have been sabotaged by a cascading triggering program affecting the main reactors. We can not stop the sequential destruction of our defensive shielding.”
My heart began to pump faster. “I suspect that’s not good.”
Stron clasped his hands together and took a deep breath. “Our greatest military strength has now become our greatest weakness. “You will have to excuse me. I must attend to military conditions. Please remember our previous offer to you and your crew Alex.”
This was the first time I had seen such a massive man, so vulnerable. He bowed and walked toward some other military advisors just arriving. I and my crew stood shocked and aimless.
“I guess there’s no doubt Chip is the cause of the explosions,” said Tom.
“I’m more than sure your right,” I said,
Shelby had a sympathetic frown. “Even Chip wouldn’t do something that terrible ... would he?”
I put my hand to my aching head. “I think Chip may have gone off the deep end on this one, guys. And if it was him, this would be the perfect diversion he would need, to escape.”
While we were talking, Dale came over to us with more confirmation. “Guys, guess what. I overheard a soldier reporting to the Advisors that a stolen Sphere was just launched.”
Tom hit my chest with the back of his hand. “Would you shut up. Every time you say something bad is going to happen, it does. Tell us something to stop Chip.”
I just stood there, shaking my head, blinking slowly. “I wish I could.”
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