Chapter 11
They found the pickup four light years and two acceleration jumps from Corbin III. Actually, they had bypassed the pickup and decided to backtrack. At slower-than-light speeds it took them an hour to find the abandoned ship. When they did, they were surprised to find no life signs aboard. Scanners also indicated the corbinite was not on board.
Javis had awoke and returned to the cockpit.
Kelly tried hailing the ship and received no response. The ship floated in space, abandoned, with its sheared extendable passageway calling attention to itself. They could find no easy or convenient way to board the pickup. The sheared passageway would block the ambulance’s own passageway extension and they didn’t know the bypass codes to control its computer from their console. Space suits were their only option.
Chris and Javis put the suits on. As long as Javis was here he might as well do something useful. Chris felt squeamish as he clicked his helmet into place. He had no love for being in open space. The two moved through the airlock and entered the endless, open vacuum. Chris’ stomach was not happy.
They made their way to the pickup and removed the extendable passageway so the cleanup crew following would have easy access. Entering the pickup, the first thing they noticed were the two dead bodies.
“Who do you think they are?” Javis asked.
“No, idea,” Chris answered, taking a closer look at Frank’s body. “Looks like this one got a laser thru the eye. He’s wearing civilian clothing and is lying right next to the pilot’s seat. He’s about the same weight as Apela and a little taller.”
Chris remembered trails in the sand near the tent. "We'll assume, for the moment, this is Martha Apela's accomplice." Chris went through the man's pockets. "No identification."
Walking over to the other body, he rolled her over. “This one’s wearing a uniform with a captain’s insignia. She’s been shot in the chest,” Chris said talking more to himself than to Javis. Glancing at the storage bay, and then going over to the damaged console, he continued, “Alright. They’re leaving the planet. They get surprised by one of the defense satellites and blow it out of the sky, but not before the satellite hits them with laser fire, damaging the pickup and killing that guy over there. Apela gets this far, and due to damage, can’t get any further. The ship she transfers the corbinite to is either part of the plan, or a random event she takes advantage of. Javis, would you check the controls and see if they left the destination in the computers program?” he asked as he went through the woman’s pockets.
Javis, who was near the console, gave it a quick glance. “No,” he said. “She must have wiped it clean before she left.” Javis then made some adjustments to the controls. “Nothing in memory, either.”
“Okay. This one’s name is Emelia Jackson, captain of the White Hawk.” Chris paused. “Let’s head back to the ambulance.”
While Javis and Chris were aboard the pickup, Kelly thought about Michelle. Kelly had stopped by for coffee and conversation three days ago. Joe, Michelle’s husband, was at work and their two children were at school. Michelle had been talking about her worries the school system on Corbin III wasn’t going to provide the kids with a good education.
“Corbin III really isn’t set up for children, Mish.”
“I know, I know,” Michelle said. ”But this is where Joe’s work is. He doesn’t know any other kind of work.”
“What about transferring to another mining colony. Maybe a larger one with a better set-up for children. Intergalactic has six mining colonies. There must be one with better schools than what we’ve got here.”
“Maybe. There should be information in the computer about other mining colonies. Maybe Joe and I can research it. It just gets so frustrating. I mean, Joe and I are just normal working class people. No fancy brain implants or biofeedback educations. We'll live till we're about ninty, if we're lucky. But why shouldn't our kids have extended lifespans? Is it wrong to want better lives for our children?”
“Absolutely not,” Kelly had answered, putting her hand on Michelle’s forearm. “Your kids are bright and they’ve got two wonderful, loving parents. What’s the phrase you use? ‘Raise your kids with lots and lots of love and let them go on their way.’ Well, you have two of the healthiest, happiest kids I’ve ever seen. I’m sure they’ll turn out to be great adults.”
“Yeah.” Michelle had smiled. “We have a good family and Joe is wonderful with the kids. Did you know he’s taking them on a camping expedition out in the desert to study the local wildlife. He may not be brilliant, but his heart is in the right place.”
I’ve got to make sure Joe transfers and gets those kids to a better school. As far as I’m concerned, that was Mish’s last request, Kelly thought to herself.
A small warning sound alerted her to the return of Chris and Javis. Kelly pulled herself out of her grief and focused on monitoring the airlock to make sure there were no problems. When they were safely inside, Kelly went back to the air lock where they were pulling off their suits. She was curious about what they had found.
Chris updated Kelly. “No corbinite and two dead bodies aboard. She must have transferred it to another ship. Scan for another thermal trail, but with different readings. And let’s hope they haven’t masked it somehow. I’m going to send a carrier pigeon back to Corbin III giving them an update, with the coordinates of the ship, and asking for background data on Captain Jackson and her ship, the White Hawk.”
“I’ll send the carrier pigeon,” Javis said. “I’m familiar with the equipment and know the coordinates of Corbin III.”
“Good. Thank you, Captain Javis.” Chris said, surprised and pleased Javis was being helpful.
Kelly’s fingers moved in a blur, her eyes focused on the lower left hand section of the screen. “We’re in luck. There’s another trail heading off toward the Gallatin System. You were right this trail has a different thermal pattern. Why is that?”
“Different thrusters have different designs and use the antigravity in different ways. Plus, the new trail wasn’t made by a damaged thruster,” Chris explained.
“How do you know so much about space ships?” Kelly asked.
“When I apprenticed on Terra, my trainer made sure I worked for a spaceship mechanic. It was one of five jobs he wanted as part of my training.”
“What were the other four jobs?” Kelly asked, intrigued.
“The others were all part time. There was security system installations and repairs, coroners assistant, general gopher at a hotel, and a locksmith shop.
“So you’ve got a broad background in a lot of areas, but you’re not specialized in any one field?”
“I have a broad background, specializing in private investigations,” Chris said a little defensively before shifting his attention to the computer console. “Computer, plot and show a course from here to the Gallatin System listing all possible ports along the way.”
A new map appeared with a light green line from their present position to the Gallatin system, one hundred and nineteen light years away. Eighteen red dots indicated possible docking ports. One was right on the path of the new thermal trail.
“Computer, bring up info on this docking port,” Chris said, putting his finger on the screen.
The ship’s computer reported, “Docking Port is listed as the Cavanaugh Station. This station is outside of Terran space and all Terran citizens are advised to avoid this area. This station is considered to be in unstable space due to its proximity of less than one light year from galactic center 4253C12. This station is believed to harbor illegal activities. Terran citizens are advised to avoid this area.”
“Bingo!” Chris said. “Plot a course for the Cavanaugh Station, Kelly, but come out about a light year away from it. We’ll be able to avoid sensor interference from the galactic center it’s orbiting and maybe get a sense of how to approach them.”
“You got it, Boss,” Kelly said brightly.
There were a variety of galactic cores, but most galactic centers seemed to be massive black holes radiating little visible light. They did, however, emit huge amounts of energy and gases, geyser like, from their north and south poles. Some erupted intermittently, but most provided steady streams of gas and energy. What they all had in common were billions of solar systems orbiting around them. Although no civilization had concrete evidence, it was generally assumed it took well over a hundred billion years for one to form. The discovery of galactic centers had created major problems for the Big Bang theory and had been one of the primary reason for its demise.
The laws of physics changed dramatically and in unpredictable ways as one approached to within a half light year of a galactic center. Within the half-light-year range, electromagnetic interference and gravitational distortions could knock out a ship’s sensory and communications abilities. Stories of unlucky ships becoming blinded and flown directly into a galactic core were well known.
Kelly had just entered the coordinates of the Cavanaugh Station into the navigations console when Chris noticed an odd, sickly sweet smell.
Homer continued processing.
...regarding the treaties the League had with Mars and Terra. Neither was willing to make changes in their genetic structures, Homer thought, as he integrated, classified, and cross-referenced the information he had acquired. Mars, as an independent planet, had negotiated a separate treaty with the League. Both treaties were essentially the same, but Mars followed League trade protocols and Terra followed its own trade protocols. Terra had twenty colonies, and each colony fell under the jurisdiction of the Terran treaty. Trading directly with the colonies was not allowed. All merchandise and supplies had to go through Terra before being routed to a colony. In reality, most trade went to Mars, then to Terra, and then to the colonies. Humans were a stubborn race. (Could it be both a strength and a weakness? Note to review at a later time.)
Neither planet would be allowed to enter the League until they were willing to make certain changes in their genetic coding. Their aggressive tendencies had to be toned down significantly and their communication and technical skills had to be improved. Homer had no doubt the ability to lie easily would be diminished with the suggested genetic alterations. Their behavior patterns would become much less erratic and humans would become less individual.
Both planets had adamantly refused to make the necessary changes in their DNA structures. Both had cited the rights of individuals to be individuals. Homer had noted in his conversations with Chris, and in his reading, how important the concept of individuality was to the human race. Their current belief structures would not allow the altering their genetic coding. If neither the League nor Terra or Mars was willing to negotiate on this point of individuality, it was quite possible the human race would never join the League.