Trust Me

by Alcuin Fromm

Table of Contents parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Part 3

As soon as Lemm entered his cabin, he noticed the access panel above his bunk. In an instant, his indecision and uncertainty vanished, and his thoughts turned to the one task he knew he could perform, to the one thing that made any sense to him: hacking into the Huntress’s computer system.

Reaching into his canvas bag, he retrieved Nickel and a small box he had brought from the Storna. He then removed the panel from the wall and climbed onto the metal-grate ledge in the bulkhead cavity. He wriggled his way down the tunnel with difficulty until he found a suitable physical connection interface.

From the box he removed a small ear-piece, which he placed into his right ear, and a tangled bundle of cables with myriad input jacks. He powered up Nickel. “All right, Nicky, can you hear me?” he said in a whisper.

“Yes, sir,” said Nickel in his calm, even voice over the earpiece. Then after a short paused he added, “I cannot detect any of the Storna’s wireless signals. Is there a communications failure?”

“The Storna has been wrecked in a battle with the Revolutionaries. We’re currently on the ISS Huntress and we’re about to find out a lot more about her.”

“I am saddened to hear this news, sir. There were a number of other AIs imbedded in the Storna’s internal systems with whom I was well acquainted. It would be a shame if they remained lost there.”

Lemm blinked in surprise. “You never told me that.”

“You never asked, sir.”

“Of course, it’s my fault,” said Lemm with a smirk. “Listen, Nick, don’t attempt to access the Huntress’s wireless system. They’d be able to see us. I want to enter through a physical connection that we can cover up.”

“Intriguing, sir.”

Lemm tested a number of different physical input connections together with a few of the various scanning, infiltration, and cloaking programs he had integrated into Nickel’s memory. After several trials, Lemm finally decided on a combination he felt confident would remain undetected. With a needle-nosed clamp and a standard physical data-stream cable, he connected Nickel to the ship’s computer circuits.

“All right, Nicky, here goes. Bail out and cover your ass with an electricity surge if you encounter anything noticing us.”

“I have no ass, sir.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes, sir. Shall we employ the same procedures as the time we changed the lunch menu on the Storna?”

“Very funny. Let’s be a little more careful than that time, huh?”

“Of course, sir.”

Lemm waited for a tense moment before the confirmation data began scrolling down the data-pad screen. They were in. Lemm smiled and made a few simple passes through the various partitioned sub-systems and then returned to the computer core.

“It is older technology, is it not, sir?” said Nickel.

“Yes. But be cautious. Don’t get overconfident.”

“Never, sir.”

With Nickel’s help, Lemm scanned and probed into all the ship’s computer systems. He did not know what he was looking for. Without any leads to follow, he could only feel around blindly, hoping to stumble across something. After more than an hour of encountering nothing the least bit unusual or suspicious, he decided to quit for the night.

“Stay plugged in and send me a message over my personal comm if you notice anything, Nicky,” said Lemm with a yawn as he began crawling back out of the tunnel.

“Yes, sir.”

“One last thing, Nick,” said Lemm, pausing at the end of the tunnel. “If we sent a message now to Ireth without the help of a Communication Relay Point, how long would it take to arrive?”

“From our position here in deep space, sir? Seven hundred and forty-two point nine-four years. Approximately.”

“I thought so.”

Lemm slid off the ledge and replaced the access panel. He changed out of his uniform and collapsed onto the bunk, frustrated and tired. There had to be something to Father’s message, he thought, as he drifted off to sleep. There had to be.

* * *

Despite his fatigue, Lemm did not sleep soundly. He woke up before the call to duty feeling unrested and no less anxious than he had felt the night before. Nickel had sent a message to his personal Comm, directing his attention to a shipwide notification from Quont.

In the night, the Huntress had passed through Wormhole AW04-744, one of hundreds of such jump points throughout Imperial space, placing them on the far end of the Vallian System. They would travel to the Vall Starbase, less than two days distant, where the Storna survivors could disembark and be reassigned.

Lemm washed and dressed. Seeing no other updates from Nickel, he decided to take a tour of the Huntress. Lost in thought and with no clear destination to his wanderings, Lemm found himself at the entrance elevator to the ship’s Observation Deck.

He passed through the sliding doors almost without noticing and was promptly whisked up seven decks to an oval room with a rounded, transparent ceiling. The Observation Deck rose out of the aft exterior hull of the starship, affording an open view of space.

The doors slid open and Lemm drew in a quick, astonished breath. To port, the Huntress was passing the Tiphoor Nebula which towered above the starship, hovering in fingers of billowing, bright clouds, light-years long and bathed in blue and magenta light. For a moment, Lemm forgot about his worries, and his soul enjoyed a sense of sheer wonder at the immensity and majesty of Creation.

The sight so consumed Lemm, he failed to notice that the Observation Deck was not empty. At the far end of the room rested a man on one of the many reclining couches, his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands folded comfortably on his chest.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” said the man.

Lemm started at the sound and squinted his eyes to see who had spoken. He could just make out the figure of Boothe. His heart began pounding in fear and anticipation. Taking a few steps into the room, he chose a seat well away from the commander and sat down, reclined, and looked up at the cosmic beauty.

“Indeed,” said Lemm. “It’s amazing how mere dust and gas can become something so beautiful, so sublime. But also so mysterious. The exterior seems bright and clear. But what’s inside? What’s floating around, hidden behind the clouds?”

“That’s quite profound, Officer Meetrich. What is inspiring such philosophical musings?”

A moment of heavy silence passed between the men.

“Have you ever been to the planet Ireth, Commander?” Lemm asked.

“Ireth?” Boothe seemed to ponder the name. “No, I have not. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. Just wondering. What did you do before being assigned to the Huntress?”

The commander chuckled. “You’re quite curious,” he said with an air of amusement. “Just like your old man, I suppose.”

Lemm felt as if ice water had been shot through his veins.

“What do you know about my father?” he said in a slow and menacing voice.

“I’ve just heard the news reports about the incorruptible spy master Yellevar Meetrich. And what your brother has said about him, of course. He’s quite well-known throughout the Empire. Your whole family is.”

Boothe paused. “You see? I can be curious, too.”

“Yes,” said Lemm. “We are all curious to know the truth... anxious to serve the Empire. In times of interplanetary war and revolution, you have to be able to trust people.”

“I could not agree more.”

“So, tell me, what did you do before your current assignment?”

Boothe did not speak for a few moments. Lemm peered vainly in the dim light but could not detect any change in Boothe’s expression.

“After the Academy, I served as ensign for three years aboard the ISS Jackal, then lieutenant on the same ship for a year, then lieutenant on the Huntress for two years, and finally commander, as you see me now. I enjoy sky-sailing on Xorth and once, when I was seventeen, I scratched my father’s speeder and was not allowed to borrow it for a month. Would you like to know my favorite color?”

Lemm ignored him. “You’ve been in active duty since you graduated?”

“Yes, of course. As you pointed out, Officer Meetrich, we are in times of interplanetary war and revolution. The Empire must keep her fleet staffed.”

“And in all that time, at the Academy and on two different starships, you never once visited Ireth?”

“No, but you’re making me wish I had. What’s so special about Ireth?”

Lemm wished he knew. He sighed heavily as he stood up, more frustrated than before the conversation had begun, and walked to the elevator. “Enjoy the view, Commander,” he said.

The doors opened and he stepped in.

“Wait just a moment,” said Boothe. He stood and strode across the room, shadows and magenta light dancing across him as he moved. Lemm took a half-step forward, blocking the elevator doors. The two men stood close together, each trying to pierce the impassive facade of the other to discover what thoughts and intentions might lay behind.

“You seem to be distrustful of me for some reason, but I want to tell you, your brother is a dear friend of mine, and I greatly respect your family.”

Lemm stared at the commander for a long time before saying, “And the Empire?”

Boothe stiffened his back and adjusted his uniform coat with a sharp, downward tug.

“I am a loyal subject of the Empire. You can count on that, Officer Meetrich.”

Lemm nodded slowly and took a step backwards. The elevator doors hissed shut as both men kept their unblinking gazes locked.

* * *

The alarm rang shortly after midnight. Lemm bolted upright in his bunk, disoriented and startled. After his visit to the Observation Deck, he had spent the rest of his day in fruitless speculation and anxiety. Nickel had detected nothing out of the ordinary. Dallor had all but ignored Lemm, spending his time instead with Quont and Boothe or composing correspondence that he intended to send once they reached Vall Station with its Communications Relay Point.

Finally overcome by weariness and more discouraged than ever after his unproductive talk with Boothe, Lemm had skipped the evening meal and gone to sleep early. The blaring alarm klaxons had made short work of his slumber.

Lemm fumbled for his earpiece as he switched on the lights. His clouded mind struggled to make sense of what was happening. A circular panel mounted on the ceiling flashed a red plasma symbol. The alarm siren had a unique, whopping sound, different than the call to battle stations. The reality of the situation dawned on him even as he formulated the question.

“Nickel,” he said in a hoarse voice, “is that—”

“Plasma core leak, sir.”

Lemm swore. He quickly put on his uniform trousers and coat, not bothering to button the coat, and went into the corridor. Officers and crewmen were running towards the bow of the ship. He stopped a man trying to rush past.

“What’s happening?” said Lemm.

“Core leak in Engineering One and Two. It’s spreading!”

The man continued down the corridor in a hurry. Lemm stood staring in confusion as the calm, female voice of the computer sounded over the shipwide intercom.

“Warning. Plasma core containment breach on Decks Nine and Ten. All hands to evacuation shuttles. Warning. Plasma core containment breach on Decks Nine, Ten, and Eleven. All hands to evacuation.”

Another crewman bumped Lemm and mumbled an apology without turning around. Lemm followed the man down the corridor and around a few turns until he saw him disappear through an open emergency door. Lemm went to the door and found a narrow stairwell built into the ship’s bulwark. He climbed up three decks and stepped out onto the evacuation shuttle bay.

The bay was a long, narrow corridor with compartments on one side partitioned off by slanted structural beams of the ship’s superstructure. Each compartment had an access hatch to a small, eight-man craft. Anxious but orderly, the officers and crewmen hurried into the shuttles and strapped themselves in. As soon as a shuttle was full and manned with a pilot, heavy doors slammed shut and explosive bolts launched the shuttle out into space.

Lemm felt the massive vibrations in the floor with each release as he walked past compartment after compartment. Everywhere he saw nervous faces. A number of officers seemed charged with helping facilitate the evacuation. They hurried up and down the shuttle bay, directing crew members to open seats and verifying that the full shuttles were launched. One of them was Boothe. The two men locked eyes for a moment before Boothe waved Lemm over to the compartment where he stood. Lemm walked up to him.

“Where’s my brother?” said Lemm, coldly.

“I just saw him outside one of the shuttles farther aft,” said Boothe indicating the direction with a nod of his head. “But here’s a spot for you.”

He gestured to the half-filled craft. Lemm peered into the shuttle for a moment then returned his piercing stare to Boothe.

“You must hurry now,” said Boothe. “The leak is spreading. We’re not far from Vall Station. The shuttles can make it there easily.”

“And what about you?”

Boothe shook his head. “I need to stay here to help until everyone else can get off. I’ll take the last shuttle.”

“What about the captain?” said Lemm.

“He’s already gone. Quickly now!”

Something about the situation did not sit well with Lemm. He tried to read the thoughts of the commander. He tried to peer into his soul. He tried to find evidence of his father’s warning. But all he could see was the pleading expression of a man whom Lemm had no reason to distrust.

And then a memory returned to him. He saw his father again at the end of the pier, holding out his arms for the swimming boy. “Trust me,” his father had said. Lemm made a decision.

“I just need to check something with my brother first,” he said. “I’ll go with him.”

“But—”

Lemm walked away quickly before Boothe could finish his objection. He strode down the corridor, jostling people out of his way and examining each compartment as he passed. Some shuttles were still filling, while many compartments had already closed, having ejected their shuttles. Finally, he found Dallor standing outside the entrance to one of the shuttles, angrily stabbing and swiping the screen of a data pad.

“Dal?”

Dallor looked up and his furious expression softened slightly. “Lemm, there you are, thank the Creator. This is a nightmare. I can’t access my damned comm files. I could lose everything I’ve been working on since we boarded this blasted ship.”

Lemm’s heart melted in pure fraternal affection. Even in the midst of an emergency evacuation, threatened by a catastrophic plasma core breach, Dallor’s main concern was how the situation hampered his work. The man would never change, and Lemm loved him all the more for it.

“Get on this shuttle, Dallor. I have a seat on another. Don’t worry about your files, just take care of yourself. If you see Boothe, tell him I took another shuttle.”

Dallor, who had returned his attention to the data pad, looked up at Lemm and frowned. Something in Lemm’s tone of voice was different.

“I... Take care of yourself,” Lemm said. He reached out his hand, which Dallor instinctively took in his own though he continued to stare at Lemm with a perplexed expression. Lemm suddenly pulled his brother towards himself and gave him a quick embrace before dashing away down the corridor, away from Boothe and the waiting shuttle.

* * *

Proceed to Part 4...

Copyright © 2023 by Alcuin Fromm

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