Meadows of Heaven (14/23)

[epeeblade]

Chapter 14

Maggie was on watch that night, though she had monitor duty instead of patrol like some of the others. So she was the first to see the city disappear, some time around two in the morning. Disappear was a misnomer, the energy readings that constantly hit the scanners suddenly diminished, leaving her with only the faint energy still coming from the Raleigh.

At first Maggie thought she'd accidentally reengaged her filtering program, the one that had enabled her to find the Raleigh in the first place. But when she double-checked her settings, she saw that it wasn't even running.

Maggie picked up her comm. "Monitor watch to patrol."

"Whitfield here. How'd you swing monitor duty, Gyllenhaal?"

"Insomnia," she replied. "Listen, something's weird with my scanners. Do you have visual of the city?"

"Should have it in about 20 meters, once I clear this set of trees. Hold on."

Maggie waited, tapping her fingers against the keyboard. She ran another diagnostic, but couldn't see anything wrong with the sensors. Of course, if the satellite parts themselves were damaged, she'd have to climb the shuttle to find out.

"Gyllenhaal," Whitfield's voice came back. "Do me a favor and triangulate my position."

Maggie pulled up the terrain map. "You're just outside the city gate, Lieutenant."

Static crackled over the line. "Sending you my visual now, there's no fucking city there, Corporal."

"What?" Maggie gasped. Whitfield's visual displayed across her screen, showing instead of the city, more trees and a steeply sloped hill. "Send me your local sensor info."

She checked, and then checked again, there was absolutely no sign of Harmony ever being there. "Gonna report in to Brown, keep your position, Whitfield."

Maggie knew Commander Brown was scheduled to be sleeping right now, but she called up his comm anyway, hoping he still had it nearby. After a few moments of silence, she finally heard a groggy, "This had better be good, Corporal."

"Sir," Maggie began. "The city has disappeared. It's no longer on my sensors and Lieutenant Whitfield has given visual confirmation."

More silence. Maggie felt compelled to prod, "Sir?"

"Damn it Morgan, what the hell have you done?" Brown murmured, and Maggie was surprised the comm had picked it up. "Tell the patrol to ignore the city, everyone pull back to the ship, the base and the original colony. We're gonna pretend there is no city. No use having questions being asked about why we're patrolling that area."

"Yes, sir." Maggie made a mental note to scrub the former patrol trail from their data as well. She felt like ants crawled under her skin, apprehensive about what tomorrow might bring. One thing was certain, they were not going to make it easy for the Confed, no matter when they showed up.

***

This was it, show time, Loretta thought, watching the sensor array as the Confed ship came into range. She made sure to get a good night's sleep - with some help from the doc - because she had to be fresh this morning, she had to have all her wits about her. This Commandant Coleman seemed like one slick character, and she would not let him one-up her.

"Should we hail them?" Harris said to her, sotto voice.

Loretta gave him a look. What the hell was with the whispering, when everyone on the damn bridge had their ears pointed this way? "No, they're so eager for assistance, they can damn well hail us. Let them think we don't give a crap about them floating out there." She turned to Ensign Smith. "Any word on reinforcements?"

"Still a week away, Captain."

"Damn it." She gave in to the impulse to pace, going over the threads of the treaty in her mind. Brown had reported in, told her about the mystery of the missing city. He had tried to comm Morgan and Ackles, but neither had responded, and their comms weren't showing up on the ship's locating sensors. Whatever they had done, they had done damn well, and Loretta was proud of them, she just wished she had been informed beforehand.

"Incoming hail from the Discovery," Smith caught her attention.

She held up her hand, telling him to wait, as she leisurely walked to the center of the bridge. Harris stood beside her, and they faced the screen. "Now."

Smith put the connection through and Loretta saw her adversary for the first time. Coleman had a serious looking face with some impressive mobile eyebrows. His smile didn't reach those eyes, and it put her on guard. "Good morning, Commandant," she said sweetly. "I hope you had a pleasant trip."

"Thank you, Captain, we did." He seemed just as willing to play the game as she.

"I took the opportunity to review the terms of the Hanburg treaty," she said, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "It's not a thing that comes up frequently, you understand."

"Of course, Captain."

"So your escorts will meet you as soon as your shuttle touches down," she said.

"Escorts?"

"Article III, chapter 7." She smiled. "The team that arrives second on a site will be shown around by the first. This way everyone can work together nicely."

He inclined his head, giving this round to her. "I look forward to meeting with your people."

"I'll send over the coordinates. Pleasant day, Commandant."  Loretta lifted her hand and Smith cut the connection. Some days it was good to be the captain.

***

Jeff found himself sitting vigil beside Jensen's bedside in the infirmary. He hadn't slept at all, even after the healer's subs brought in a second bed for him. Jensen remained still, though the healer - Jeff couldn't recall her name at the moment - assured him everything was well, Jensen's vitals were strong and stable. But still he slept on.

He leaned forward in his chair, placing one hand over Jensen's, reassured to feel the warm skin beneath his. Jensen had made this choice, but Jeff blamed himself, knowing how self-sacrificing the other man was. For the first time, Jeff realized that though Jensen might shrug off what he had to do with his body for the sake of the UP, it still took a toll on the younger man. This was just the more evident example, but Jeff wondered how it would be, to fuck on order. How could you separate that from sleeping with someone because you wanted to?

He'd said from the beginning that it wasn't any hardship to sleep with Jensen, the man was fucking gorgeous, and he was an expert in bed. But for the first time, Jeff wondered at the possibility of something more. He hadn't thought about it, not since Katie, not since he'd gone into that bar drunk off his ass and looking to get laid, anything to forget the pain of losing her. Now, looking at Jensen, lying so still, Jeff felt that familiar lump in his gut, worried about losing someone else that he cared for.

"Jeff," a soft voice said.

He looked up at Claudia who stood in the doorway dressed very simply in trousers and tunic, her hair pulled back, and her eyes red-rimmed. "Duchess." He corrected himself. "Claudia. Please come in." Jensen would be happy she'd come.

"What happened?" she asked, moving to sit beside Jeff. She touched her hand to Jensen's forehead, stroking the skin gently.

"Harmony asked it of him," Jeff repeated the queen's words, though he still didn't know what that meant. "Did she tell you about the Confed? About the danger we're all in?" And that Jensen could be the only one to save them.

"Briefly, in passing," Claudia said softly. "I was up all night with my own difficulties."

For the first time Jeff noticed the dark circles around her red-rimmed eyes. He knew she cared for Jensen, but not to that extant. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "You have your own burden."

"Claudia," he said. "Trust me, it'll take my mind off of things."

"It's not nearly in the same league." Claudia sat back, but she continued to watch Jensen as she spoke, as if it were easier to speak to him in his coma than to face Jeff. "Misha did not come home last night. I had to search for him, and found him with his previous master."

"Ouch," Jeff muttered.

"Of course I asked him if he wished to sever our contract. I will not suffer such disobedience, but if he wanted to leave . . ." She paused. "I would not make him stay if he were unhappy."

Jeff noted the lack of Misha by her side and feared for the worst. "What did he say?"

She gave him a weak smile. "He said of course he didn't want to sever our contract."

"Well, that's good, right? I mean, you don't want to sever the contract either."

"No." Claudia looked down at her hands. "But now I'll have to punish him. In all the years he's been in my care, he's never disobeyed so thoroughly. So the punishment must match."

Poor Misha, Jeff thought, it sounded as if the sub was in for a rough time.

"I don't even know where to begin." She shook her head.

"You'll figure it out," Jeff told her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his weight, and he swallowed. They'd get through this, they both would.

***

They all had their parts to play, and Maggie's part was in the bridge of the Raleigh, just waiting for the Confed soldiers to show up. She wasn't alone, Whitfield and Chikezie were with her, along with some other muscle in case things went FUBAR fast.

Commander Brown had been there to greet the contingent when they showed up, one shuttle with several five-person teams. Maggie had watched through the monitors in the ship, patched through the comm system. She'd have to rapidly undo the wiring when the tours of the ship started, but she and the other crew wanted to see this.

The Confed shuttle was smaller than theirs, curved like a pill instead of long and sleek. Then again, it didn't seem made to convert into a base, looking like nothing more than an airbus shuttle. The man who greeted Brown introduced himself as Commandant Coleman.

"Welcome to our operation, Commandant." Brown shook hands with the man. Maggie had to give it to Brown, there was no sign of his hatred for the Confed on his face. "I'm told you're interested in what we've discovered here."

"That's our primary goal," Coleman smiled. "Exploration and knowledge."

"I'm curious then, why you started with this planet. There are dozens in this area of space that can support human life."

"Well, you seem very interested in it. How long has your ship been surrounding this planet? Nearly a month, Commander?" Coleman gave it right back to Brown.

The rest of the crew in the bridge of the Raleigh booed. Maggie covered her lips to avoid giggling, it was like watching a soap opera.

"Well, we've discovered a relic of a ship and an old colony here. Any trace of life is long gone of course," Brown lied smoothly. "But our archaeologists are having a field day with the colony."

The smile may have dimmed a bit from Coleman's face. "Then you don't mind if we take a look around?"

"I have several tours arranged, Commandant, just to get you situated of course. I assume you'll have your own base of operations. Our archaeologist, Dr. Shanks is very eager to show you his recent discovery. Apparently it's very important."

Coleman split his team up, leaving a group of ten to stay with the shuttle. He, along with four others, followed Brown and Shanks to the old colony. "What's this amazing discovery, Dr. Shanks?"

Dr. Shanks turned around and grinned. "The sewage system of the orig . . . old colony. It's absolutely amazing what they were able to build. And by sifting through the fossilized feces, we'll be able to tell exactly what these people ate!"

Coleman looked green. "Oh, fascinating."

"Score one for us," Whitfield said. The rest of the crew seemed to agree.

"You'd better undo the feed, Corporal," Chikezie said. "It won't be long until the first group is here."

Maggie nodded and ripped out the wiring. The ship wouldn't speak to their tech, and they had to give that appearance. She replaced the image on the monitor with the standard diagnostic screen, to make it look as if they were just learning more about the ship.

"I wish we could scare the shit out of them," Whitfield muttered. "In a totally innocent way. Like, oh, sorry Commandant, didn't anyone tell you about the giant alligators?"

As far as Maggie knew there weren't any giant alligators. "Or, oh the engine rooms are still slightly radioactive, don't mind them."

Whitfield's head popped up at her words. "Hey, Gyllenhaal, you think you can replicate the explosion? Shields up from the beginning, of course, don't want anyone to get hurt, really."

"Just bruised a little bit?"

Maggie shook her head. "I'm not doing it if people are in the engine rooms."

Whitfield tapped the monitor. "They're clear. Brown doesn't want the Confed to know we've found them yet, don't want them to see how we hooked up the modified power supply. As far as they're concerned, we're still operating on the ship's power."

"I believe Commander Brown said he'd bring them here first, then we'd show them around," Chikezie put in.

Maggie glared at her. "I can't believe you of all people are supporting this idea."

Chikezie looked away. "I lost family in the Toscon raid. Trust me, scaring some Confed assholes is the least I want to do to them. The only reason we aren't shooting first is because the Mercury was built for speed, not war."

"They won't make that mistake again," Whitfield put in.

"All right." Maggie took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

"That's my girl," Whitfield said.

"Technician," Maggie corrected, sliding into the engineer's seat, in front of the control panel for the entire engine system. The last thing she wanted to do was destroy another engine room after losing the first in the explosion; they were too valuable to lose. But, Maggie realized by pumping enough gas into the original room, which was filled with nothing more than burnt husks of panels, and then igniting it, she'd exactly duplicate the explosion and not destroy any more property in the process. Maggie put the force fields in place first, and then grinned. She couldn't wait for the Confed to show up.

The wait turned out to be longer than any of them expected, to the point where they had to break out their MRE's and eat lunch. Now that they had committed to this course of action Maggie felt herself get antsy to see it through.  Wasn't that the story of her life in the Corps though? Hurry up and wait?

"Shanks must be giving them the long tour of the sewers," Whitfield grumbled.

Shortly afterwards, they got the call from Brown. "Look alive people, we're almost there."

"Remember we don't know who they are," Chikezie hissed. Right, they shouldn't have been watching on the monitors.

So when Brown came in the room, trailed by his five Confed 'guests' they all nodded as he introduced Commandant Coleman and the others. Maggie thought their uniforms so odd, and rather impractical for this type of mission with all the belts, straps and buckles. One of the women was even wearing a skirt, of all things, along with knee-high boots. Maggie hoped she'd had fun in the sewers.

"Fascinating," Coleman was talking about the ship. "You know this ship predates the UP/Confed conflict."

"Conflict," Chikezie murmured under her breath and Maggie winced.

"I think it even predates those designations," one of the Confed women piped up, a Patroller MacKenzie, if Maggie got those ranks right.

"As you can see, we've been busy working on deciphering the ship's schematics. Their power system is completely foreign to us," Brown put in.

Maggie took that as her cue, and subtly nudged the proper knob on her control panel. The lights in the bridge dimmed, and the red alert alarm began to chime.

"What the hell is that? Corporal, report," Brown shouted.

She hated that they were deceiving him, and belatedly Maggie realized she might have to worry about court martial for this kind of thing. Well, she couldn't undo it now. "Sir, we have a power buildup, from the schema it seems to be coming from Engine Room one."

"A power buildup. Engine room one," Brown repeated, his eyes narrowing. He clued in really quick. "I thought there wasn't much juice left in the old girl."

"We must have missed it," Maggie said. "Remember these old ships still used nuclear power. Might have a radiation containment issue."

"Radiation?" Coleman repeated, his face going white.

"See if you can shield the room, Corporal." Brown came to stand behind her. He squeezed her shoulder tightly, as if in warning.

"Force fields are in place, sir. I estimate power overflow in 30 seconds." And she hit the button to ignite the gas.

"Everyone, hit the deck!" Brown shouted.

Maggie got out of her seat and braced herself, holding the back of it to avoid being thrown when the explosion happened. Around the bridge, everyone was doing the same, except for the Confeds, who looked absolutely clueless. Within seconds, the explosion rippled through the ship, rocking the bridge to one side, the Confeds slamming against the opposite wall. Maggie bit her lip hard to keep from laughing, the blood that resulted would only be a bonus.

As the ship stabilized, Brown pushed himself to his feet. "Everyone all right?"

Some of the Confeds were bleeding. Chikezie walked over to them with her medkit, pulling out some sterile gauze to sop up the blood.

"Ouch!" Maggie heard from across the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry, does that hurt?" Chikezie said in that ever so polite accent of hers.

No one else reported any injuries, although Maggie was sure she had a few new bruises. Whitfield stood and said, "Sir, I recommend evacuation as the wisest course of action, at least until we can check the radiation levels."

Brown nodded. "Everyone get out of here, proceed immediately to the mobile infirmary at base camp. I want you all checked for possible radiation exposure. Go!"

Maggie picked up her kit and followed the rest of the crew out. On the way Brown made eye contact and mouthed 'later.' She knew she was in so much trouble. Somehow, she really didn't care. They needed to get the Confed off their planet, and anything she could do to help, she would.

While most of the Confed soldiers were busy getting checked out in the infirmary, Brown pulled her away from the group, far enough not to be overhead. "Corporal, what the hell was that?"

"Gas explosion in Engine Room one, sir," she replied, rubbing her sweaty palms against her coverall.

"And what exactly made you think that was a good idea?"

"It was my idea, sir," Whifield and Chikezie came up from behind Maggie, she hadn't heard them, but Brown didn't look surprised to see them. "Thought it would scare those Confed assholes good."

"And I ordered her to do it," Chikezie put in, taking full blame for the entire situation.

Maggie knew the surprise was obvious in her face. She couldn't believe Lieutenant Chikezie would take all the blame like that. She wasn't the only one, the rest of the crew in the bridge had wanted to do it as well, but by saying she'd ordered Maggie, Chikezie would take all of the fallout.

Brown sighed. "Well, your damn fool plan succeeded, I swear Coleman nearly shit his pants when you said radiation leak."

Maggie exchanged looked with Whitfield and Chikezie, surprised at his reception. Maybe this wouldn't be a total clusterfuck at all.

"But if any of you ever pull a stunt like that without my approval they won't be able to find the bodies. Clear?"

"Yes, sir," they chorused.

"Any other bright ideas abound that I should know about?"

"No, sir," Chikezie and Whitfield replied.

At her silence, everyone looked over at Maggie. "Well," she said, "I think I might be able to tap into the comm system on the Confed shuttle, so we can listen to their private conversations without them knowing." She hadn't wanted to say anything, but when she saw the model of the comm that Coleman wore on his waist - one the UP quit using this year - she knew she could exploit that vulnerability. Maggie just didn't think she could actually get permission for it.

"Do it Corporal," Brown said. "And Gyllenhaal," he called as she turned to get back to her kit. "Keep up the good work."

Later that night the group of them gathered around Maggie's set up in the base camp, the shuttle door closed so as not to risk any accidental eavesdropping. Commander Brown was the lone interloper, which kept Whitfield on his best behavior, though Maggie found she missed his normal snarky attitude.

"There are several conversations going on at a time," Maggie explained. The Confeds were spending the night, bunking down in their shuttle. They had their own watch, walking the perimeter of both camps. She'd intercepted much of their communication. "I thought I'd limit it to the Commandant, since he'd be making most of the decisions."

Brown nodded. "Good idea, Corporal. Let it rip."

Maggie hit the volume button, so they could all hear the audio. She did make sure to record all the other conversations, they could be useful as well.

Several hours passed before they finally got the information they wanted to hear. Maggie looked over at the chrono display, it was past two in the morning. No wonder she was so tired.

"Officer Panetierre, this is Coleman, report."

"I've found absolutely nothing, sir," a young female voice replied. "I'm ankle deep in shit and there's nothing here. No weird energy signatures, no sign of any advanced technology. It's just old crap."

"Do one last scan and then head back to camp," Coleman told her. "Patroller MacKenzie, report."

"I downloaded all the logs from this bucket of bolts," another female voice replied.

Maggie started at that, feeling a bit protective of the Raleigh and annoyed that the Confed had been able to access the ship's logs.

"Anything we can use?"

"Commandant, it's three hundred years old. I'm amazed it hasn't rotted away by now. There are plants growing all in the exhausts for the engine, it'll never fly again."

"So why the hell are they so interested in it?"

"Did you hear that guy go on about shit for two hours? I think they honestly care about history," the girl all but sneered.

"Fine. Coleman out." There was a bit of a pause before he made another call. "Coleman to Rose."

"Go ahead, Commandant," an older voice replied.

"We've found zilch. Even the soil samples tested negative for any worthwhile resource. Any luck scanning the rest of the planet?"

"The only energy readings are coming from your location."

"And that's coming from a three hundred year old ship. I can't imagine what they're getting from that." He sighed into the mic. "Be prepared to depart in the morning.  I'll make some excuse to leave. There's no point in staying here. We have the ship logs, if there's anything of use, we can come back, with reinforcements if need be."
"Yes, sir."

Maggie looked up from the panel, thrilled that the Confed were actually leaving. But she also felt hollow, angry that they had stolen copies of the Raleigh's data. What if something in there gave away any information about the city?

"Keep recording, Corporal," Brown nodded, "But go and get some sleep. We'll deal with them in the morning."

"Yes, sir."



Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Epilogue