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Amanda gave me what she thought was a warm smile, saying that would suit them just fine. I gave her a polite nod. She was a little too stiff-necked for my taste.

  I led them to the lounge just off the mock-up bridge. They seated themselves while I ordered some drinks from the dispenser. To sweeten the conversation, I asked if there was anything more we could do for them while they were onboard. I mentioned we had a small manufacturing module and could make some exercise or recreational gear for their crews use in the commons area if they liked.

  “No. But thank you, Captain, for the offer. You and your crew have already gone well above and beyond to assist us.” There was that word assist again. He continued, “We were wondering why you stayed in the area and what happened to those other ships.”

  I started to rev up our cover story. “Well, that’s a bit if a mystery to us. We were making preps to jump-out when we noticed them backing off. They continued to move away for half a day. We felt that once they were well away, we could give you a hand. When they popped-out, we contacted you again.

  I can say we were a bit nervous. But we felt your crew might not survive the time it would take us to get close enough to a Q-Com-link to notify your command plus the added time it would take them to get a rescue ship to you.” That seem to satisfy them to some degree.

  Then I started my own questioning. “Captain Schaffer, you said you were sent on a mission to rescue us. Of course, you now realize we had no such need. We were not even here when you arrived. Can you give me any details on that?”

  “Well, that’s nothing secret. We received orders from Argrona Command to lay in a course to your coordinates. We were told we were the only military ships anywhere near this sector. Once we found you, we were to link ships and use our jump drive to expeditiously facilitate your return to Ambigon via a series of hand-offs to other system's space forces.

  We were explicitly told not to allow you to make your own way when we entered any settled systems. They didn't say you were wanted or were criminals, but the undertone was that you and your crew were persona non grata in several systems. There was a distinct implication that we were to use force if you didn't come along peacefully. I must say, Captain, hearing you say you were well-armed gave me food for thought.”

  I chuckled, hoping it didn’t sound fake, and said, “That information was given in hopes of being overheard by the ships that had you hemmed in. We have no weapons beyond the new, standard but powerful, defense shield. Since this ship is such a new design, we hoped that it would not be recognizable as a freighter.

  “This ship has a multi-purpose design. Various modules, like the one your crew is in, can be changed out rather quickly for many different missions. We were, and still need to be, on a supply run to support two research ships. We are also going to provide them some R&R onboard. Their ships are a bit cramped, and they’ve been out on the edge for several months we were told.

  I'm sure you understand that I can't give you any more information without our client corporation's permission. I suspect we may have been tagged persona non grata due to some infighting between corporations. Your Space Force has been unwittingly used to do their bidding.

  “I know that most systems try to keep their distance from the corps, but they have inroads and can be very sneaky when they choose to be. All in the name of profits for shareholders of course.”

  First Officer Wright asked, “What happened to Ranger, the ship you were supposed to be on?” I didn't lie. I told her that Ranger was onboard in another docking bay.

  I walked Captain Schaffer and First Officer Wright back to their crew area. Before parting, I offered to share dinner with them soon. They accepted my casual statement of having to attend to other shipboard duties, since we had such a small crew. Whether he liked it or not, that was going to be that. No more pop quizzes.

  We weren't in jump transit. We had moved off only a short distance to be clear of those military wrecks. Traveler, Ranger and Sandy were working on a means of remotely disabling the planet-side disruptor gear at the other end of the dead-man switch the remaining Eshalax ship was holding. Mica volunteered to go down to the planet and, in his words, “Cut the red wire. Or is it the green one?”

  Sandy punched his shoulder. “That's not even remotely funny, Mica.”

  15 Crooked Man

  There was a crooked man,

  Who walked a crooked mile.

  He found a crooked sixpence

  Upon a crooked stile.

  He bought a crooked cat,

  That caught a crooked mouse,

  And they all lived together

  In a crooked little house.

  The Eshalax had established a blackout shield covering the entire polar region. The only reason we knew it was there was because the Eshalax had provided that information. Also, we could detect a carrier wave being broadcast from the remaining ship to the planet and bouncing back to their ship. Ranger and Traveler suspected that if we attempted to burn through the blackout shield, it could trip the disruptor. Same results if we simply wasted the Eshalax ship.

  Mica came up with a different slant. “If we can't clear that thing, perhaps we can mimic the carrier wave and blow away those suckers.” Ranger said that mimicking the signal was not a problem. It had to be done in such a way that there was no signal interruption with no changes in frequency, strength, or amplitude. It would have to be a smooth as silk hand over from their signal to ours. The Eshalax wouldn't be cooperating with us on that front. That discussion did lead to a proposed solution.

  The command and control difficulty encountered by Ranger during his delayed negotiations was due to a loose screw in one of their ship's AIs. That AI had become a bit mental over the millions of years of its existence. And that was the one that had stayed behind. Luckily for us, it had cracks in its armor.

  As far as it knew, there was only one AI on our ship. That became the core of our plan. While Ranger engaged the AI in some quantum chit-chat, Traveler would worm her way into the area controlling all communications to and from their ship, effectively taking over the carrier signal, preventing the AI from tripping the switch. After that, we could do the signal hand over. Having control of their coms would also prevent them from manually sending an arming signal to the device.

  The remaining question was what to do about the presence of their ship. The plan for that required Ranger and Traveler to take over the higher functions of the ship's AI and then hard program the AI shell to jump their ship on a very long trip to a system in another galaxy. Preferably to one that would have a strong enough defense to easily manage one rogue ship. The Eshalax crew would either have to go into a mechanical stasis, as they had during their voyage here, or play a lot of card games on the way.

  Ranger gave the command, “Execute!” In microseconds he and Traveler were done. A second later, the Eshalax ship's jump-drives engaged, and they were gone. We were still here. No boom. So far so good.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Dodger, Sandy, Bouncer, and I were going down to the planet. Our first step was to shut down and disable the disruptor generator to the point it could not activate. We would then be able to turn off the communication-blanket to allow Traveler to not only establish coms with us, but also be able to make use of her sensors. We had the disruptor plans Ranger had purloined from the Eshalax ship's AI. I laughed when I realized all we had to do was unplug their big-boom box.

  We landed nearby and exited the transport wearing powered armored suits with all lights on. It was a very cold and dark place. The disruptor generator was housed under a small dome. In our lights, we could see tracks on the surface, left by the Eshalax. We used their electronic key signal to open it up, sensitive to the possible presence of booby traps. Nobody wants to be a booby.

  We went in coms quiet not knowing what might set it off. Sandy and Dodger used their in-suit passive scanners to clear the area. Given the all clear, I walked over to the disruptor equipment, looked at Sandy and Dodger, and gave them an 'are we sure this is
the right plug?' hand signal. Both nodded.

  I pulled the plug. Realizing I had shut my eyes, I opened them. Still here. I like anticlimactic. Sandy set to work dismantling the generator equipment, having Bouncer carry the pieces back to the transport. We were going to crush it, shred it and then turn it into its constituent atoms when we returned to Traveler. Next step was to turn off the communication-blanket. Easy-breezy.

  “Captain?” I heard on my coms.

  “Go ahead, Traveler.”

  “I assume that since the communication-blanket is down, you have been successful.”

  “Yep. Valid assumption. Good intel brings good results.”

  “Captain, we may have an unforeseen situation.”

  Oh crap. This part of our plan had been the easiest by far. I thought we were home free. “What exactly is the problem?”

  “Now that the communication-block has been lifted, I have scanned the area. There is a small sub-surface structure near you. The rift is inside it. But other than that, it’s empty.”

  “Do we need to come back up and regroup?”

  “Sir, I suggest you proceed, but cautiously.” Easy for her to say standing 15K klicks away up in the sky from the hot zone.

  Traveler added, “There is a surface level access point into the structure ninety-seven meters due north of you.”

  So, no long walks. “Do you have any more data on that structure?”

  “Yes. It has very solid walls and is fifty meters deep at the lowest level. We aren't picking up any energy readings from it. I hesitate to do any stronger active scans at this time.” Hmm... perhaps when we’re all dead would be the right time.

  “By the way, First Officer Wright has had a tech team attempting to break the encryption on the hatches surrounding their areas of the ship. They will remain unsuccessful in leaving their assigned areas. The hatches are welded shut and controls have been disabled.”

  Amanda was proving to be a very curious person. I doubted that her actions had been sanctioned by their captain.

  After we huddled, I had Bouncer lead the way. The planet surface was flaky, with a very thin coating of frozen helium and other trace gases. Through my boots, I could feel a slight crunch with every step. Traveler assured us that the planetary surface was solid rock for as far down as she could scan except for the sub-surface structure twenty meters beneath us.

  At twenty meters away from the opening, we stopped. I sent Bouncer ahead as we watched his visuals. There was a slightly raised rim around the rectangular ground-level opening. As Bouncer got closer, we could see what looked like a gently sloped ramp with a corrugated floor descending from the opening. Not a speck of dust or debris in it or on the rim of the opening. Everything screamed dragons be here, to me.

  As we moved to the opening, I noticed the only tracks I could see were Bouncer's. They, as well as ours, would stay for eons, until cosmic particles ever so slowly eroded them. The Eshalax had not traveled this path. If the rift was down there, that's where we had to go.

  We stepped over the rim with Bouncer leading. As we descended the ramp, the architecture widened and the ceiling height increased. We were now down in the structures lowest level. Ahead was a large open doorway, beyond which was what looked like a very large room. It was lit up. The other side was over twenty meters away. We couldn't see the sides yet from our position. I released a drone. It went in to survey the room. It was large and empty. I checked our communication connection with Traveler. “Hey, up there. Any thoughts on this?”

  “Sir, the only drone readings of interest are the extreme density and smoothness of the walls and ceiling. Smoothness down to the molecular level. The material of the structure is the same as the local surface rock. Just highly compressed into a crystal form. The floor is much more textured so you should have no problem with traction or grip. There is also a passage in the left wall of the room. That room is much smaller but also empty. There are no other access points. I can sense the rift in the structure, but there does not seem to be any passage to it from where you are or from anywhere else in the structure. The lighting is from sources unknown. We still do not detect any energy readings. The entire structure is at surface ambient temperature.”

  We walked in like we owned the place. Glancing left, I saw the other opening. I had each of us examine one of the other three walls. Bouncer stood in the middle of the room. He wasn’t the curious type.

  Our close-up inspection didn't show even the slightest irregularity, scratch or crack. As I turned back, I saw someone walk in from the small adjoining room. He was a very human looking someone. No space suit, he was in street clothes.

  I watched his mouth move and over my suit coms, I heard, “So glad you could make it, Captain. Welcome. Welcome.” He shuffled over to the entry leading to the ramp and leaned out. “Are any more coming?” A toddler could have pushed me over.

  The man, this human man, resembled a slightly ruffled, slightly bookish, slightly stoop-shouldered old university professor I once had. This guy even had on ancient corrective spectacles over which he peered. Hands clasped in front of him, fingers laced together, he rotated his head and shoulders back and forth, looking at each of us, expectantly, waiting for a response. He even had a damn book under his arm. His appearance so absolutely floored me that I didn't even think about how he could possibly be alive in this cold vacuum.

  He waved his arms saying, “How rude of me. Come in, come in!” again, waving his arms to usher us into the other room.

  “Ranger, Traveler, are you getting this?

  “Yes, Captain” came the reply.

  “AND?”

  “We have no sensor data on him except your individual vids and coms. Absolutely nothing else.”

  “So, he's not real?”

  “We can't say. Your suit sensors may be blocked. Ship sensors have an indeterminate reading.”

  Well, in for a penny. I had Bouncer stay where he was, to guard our backside, while the three of us followed him into the next room. It had been empty, but was now a very nicely appointed sitting room that looked like it should be in some grandparent’s old home from centuries ago.

  Slightly aged and comfortable. Books, small framed photographs and nick-knacks on shelves, an antique globe of some world on an ornate wooden stand in the corner. Oversized and overstuffed furniture. Low tables. A pipe stand was next to a chair and reading lamp. A cat was curled up in one of the chairs.

  I looked at Dodger and Sandy to make sure they were seeing this. They were. Sandy tapped the side of her helmet and moved her eyes up. She wanted me to look at my sensor readouts. After everything that had just happened, I was not too surprised when my HUD showed the room to have a normal atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen, and a comfortable temperature of twenty-one degree Celsius. No way was I taking off my helmet.

  “Sit, sit, make yourselves at home. It's been ages since I've had visitors. Especially such esteemed and famous ones.”

  Bluntly I asked, “Who are you?”

  Rubbing his earlobe between thumb and finger, he glanced upward. Then he looked back at me, smiling, “Martin, you can call me Martin. All my friends do.”

  Meanwhile, Sandy was poking around, feeling the furniture and looking at the books and photos. Dodger, stood there silent, analyzing I suppose.

  “Well, Martin, our sensors showed this room to be cold and empty a few moments ago and now we see you and this room filled with … things. Let’s start with that.”

  “Yes, I suppose it's a good place to start. Like anything, it's just a matter of perspective, I suppose.” Without pause, he looked over at Dodger and asked, “Did you bring it?”

  I saw a realization light Dodger’s normally stoic face. “Yes, I did.” He patted an external pouch pocket on his suit. I knew what was in that pocket. Sandy knew what was in that pocket.

  The Zees had some fragmentary information about some curious material the Surrons had been working on that could be used to seal the rift. The Zees had used the labs on the Sur
ron ship to make a sheet of a quantum-laced fabric. Looked very flimsy to me. Plan A was to use that material to quietly and without muss or fuss, seal the rift as long as the Zees worked things on their side of the dimensional divide at the same time. Traveler said it would be a fifty-fifty chance that it would work.

  Otherwise, we would have to use Plan B. That would require us to move a very large power source to the planet. We would then use some Surron tech to establish a temporal-quantum field. And, again with assistance from the Zees back home, accomplish the same thing. Plan B would result in a very, very small supernova. But at least it wouldn't destroy a large portion of our galactic cluster, and we would be well clear before it went kaboom. No settled worlds were anywhere near close enough to be affected. They would get a nice light show in a few hundred years. One drawback, at least for me, about Plan B was that the power source was going to be my ship, Ranger.

  “Excellent, very good! May as well get started,” Martin exclaimed.

  I stood there and in my best command voice said, “Wait just a minute. I want some answers from you mister. I know you aren't some harmless old man. You don't register on our scanners as an organic or inorganic life form. I'm not buying this magic act. You have some very advanced technology at work here. Before we follow you down any rat hole, I want a full explanation.”

  He seemed to deflate a bit, more acting I suspected. Putting his book on the side table, he said, “What you see in the room, including me is, what you could call a hard-light holographic projection. This is the only medium in which we can interact with each other. I just wanted to put you at ease. I guess I'm a bit rusty after all these years. The atmospheric conditions your sensors read are very real. They were extruded through the walls, not really very high-tech as you would say. There is a double hard-light barrier between this room and the outer one.”

  I let him continue. “I am a single-purpose built sentient intellect. My purpose is to act as guardian of the rift. I was to wait, no matter how long it took, for someone who could assist the Zees in closing the rift. As the Surron race faded away, a very small group lasted for about a thousand more years.