* * *
There was quiet satisfaction in Darla’s mind when things got back to normal. The excitement of the recent past had forced a delay in Jebbson’s schedule. They were already almost a day late in reaching Exothepobole and it would take two more to get there. It had been decided the Divulsion should join forces with the Shikkeron, at least as far as Exothepobole. With its whereabouts revealed, there was no need to skulk around in pretend secrecy. Still, the Divulsion’s captain did not tell Bedan about his original mission, or the other escorts shadowing them.
It was now evening, Palace Time. Darla and several other officers were relaxing in the ship’s tiny lounge, bantering on about issues of little importance. Three people were playing ZeugosPantote, meaning ‘ever up in pairs’. It was a game played with four colored sets of cards, numbered one through nine, and four, ten-sided die of matching colors. The objective was to build the highest combination of multiple numbers by adding the totals from the roll of the die and the drawing of two cards from the deck, along with matching them with any of the cards held in the hand. It was quite popular at the time.
Ilanit quietly entered the lounge, shortly followed by Lieutenant Crilen. The chairs were all filled, so Crilen moved some papers from a tiny end table and offered part of it to Ilanit for a seat. It had been a long day for each of them, their duties keeping them busy since breakfast. In silence, they watched their fellow officers finishing a final hand of the card game.
Moments later, Jebbson and Ardon entered the door. Ardon looked around at the crowd and began to leave, but Darla called out to him. She motioned for him to come and share the small corner of another end table she had claimed possession of. Sheepishly, he excused his way through the crowd and squeezed down next to her. Darla put her arm through his and thanked him for accepting the invitation.
Upon seeing Jebbson, Ilanit quietly got up and made her way over to him. She whispered something in his ear. Jebbson smiled and nodded obligingly. Ilanit took his hand, again whispered something in his ear, and quickly returned to her spot next to Crilen.
Captain Bedan poked his head through the door in time to see this little exchange. He stepped up close to Jebbson and, in a hush, asked, “Major, has your girl abandoned you this evening?”
Jebbson took a look at Ilanit who was now nuzzling Crilen and then grinned at Bedan. “Captain, when I was a lad, getting my schooling in one of them big eastern cities where I come from, I met a girl name of ‘Sue’… ‘Sue Clarkson’. I tell ya, there wasn’t a prettier girl I ever saw. Ever…” He pointed toward the lieutenant. “Yep! She looked a lot like that girl over there. Well, you know, I just about fell end over end for her, but I was just too bashful to ask her out… you know, to a dance or somethin’.”
Jebbson paused and sighed. “My university friends saw the shape I was in… all messed up in love and all. So, they talked to Sue about spendin’ the evening with me at the dance social comin’ up that Saturday night. They gave her a whole dollar to be nice to me. I tell you, that girl took me to places far higher than here! She danced every one of them dances with me, and only me. Even when those big handsome fellas came callin’, she’d just say ‘no, thank you’. Why, she even let me walk her home that night after the dancin’ was all finished. And I got to kiss her on the hand.”
Jebbson slowly shook his head. “Yes, sir, she was about the sweetest thing I ever saw. I said good night, walked away, and never talked to her again. Didn’t want to…”
Bedan was surprised. “Why not!?”
Jebbson looked Bedan in the face, lowering his voice. “It was forced, Captain. She tried awful heard to earn that dollar. It was a lot of money in those days, but I could tell she wasn’t real about her feelin’s. Don’t know how. Just knew.”
As he turned to leave, Jebbson placed his hand on the captain’s shoulder and looked over his own at Darla. “Now that girl is real… the most real girl I ever met.” He paused a moment, offering Bedan a huge toothy smile. “Well, maybe the second most real. Good night.” He exited the door and walked away, whistling some merry little ditty.
The captain remained near the door, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the wall. Shortly after the game finished, the gathered officers began a sing-a-long. They were only into their second stanza of the first song when the overhead lit up, requesting the captain come to the bridge. Darla watched the curious expression on his face as he paused before leaving. Soon, her heart was drawn back to the circle of merry singers. The group had just finished the second tune and were preparing for the next when the Captain’s voice came on the overhead. “All senior officers report to the bridge! All senior officers report to the bridge!”
Five minutes later, Colonel Darla and her Marine captain along with Major Ardon and Major Jebbson were collected together with Captain Bedan, his first officer, and navigation officer. The communications officer watched from his bridge, below and ahead the captain’s bridge.
Captain Bedan called down again to the communications officer. “Are you sure there’s nothing more?”
The officer confirmed, replying, “No, sir, the entire communiqué lasted only half a minute or so and was cut off.”
“Will you play us the message again?” Bedan asked.
With an affirmative, the officer motioned to one of the crew. She pressed a button on her console, replaying the message. “Help us! Help us! This is Skyport Tower… Skyport Tower… We are under attack. Do you copy? We are under attack…”
With the audio sender still on, another voice could be heard shouting, “They’ve hit the garrison! They hit the…! The armory just blew up!”
Then there was the sound of smashing glass and another voice cried out, “Stasis! Oh my G…” The message abruptly ended.
Bedan turned back to the gathered officers. “We have concluded that the signal came from Sustrepho. It appears the plea for help was being sent to the garrison and, by a fluke, the broadcast reached us.”
Someone asked, “How do we know that it was a local transmission?”
Bedan explained, “They were sending on a low band range that’s intended for intra-planetary use. One of our operators was running a general sweep scan of the region when this signal passed by. It was very weak and has been amplified and filtered many times to reach this clarity.”
Have you been able to narrow down the location on Sustrepho?” Another officer asked. Bedan shook his head.
Darla spoke up. “Captain, there are three garrisons on Sustrepho, but only one armory. If the person was correctly describing what he saw, it would have to be Exothepobole.”
“Impossible!” The first officer disputed. “The Stasis wouldn’t dare take on a city of that size! It has a population of over six thousand inhabitants, not including the hundreds of travelers on stay-over. Besides that, the cutter, Midnight, and half a dozen air wing fighters are stationed at the sky port. And then there’s the garrison. It must muster over a hundred soldiers.”
“A hundred twenty-eight, to be exact, along with auxiliaries.” Darla added. Her voice subdued. “Captain Ricteer’s Marine Company replaced the army’s regulars there just a month ago.”
Bedan called to his steerage officer. “Make for Exothepobole! Engines full!” He then gave orders to the communications officer. “Send by short band to the Divulsion that we are making smoke for Sustrepho. I’ll deliver a message by drone with the details. After that, transmit this coded encryption to fleet command, ‘Where the birds gather, the nest has been broken.’ Then go silent.”
The officer acknowledged and hurried away. Bedan then ordered his first officer, “Sound general quarters! We will not be caught napping if this is a trap!”
He turned to Darla. “Colonel Adaya, can I expect your assistance at this time?”
Darla’s smile was grave as she responded, “Captain, my Marines are at your disposal.”
In s
hort order, two ships o’war were making smoke toward a little known speck in a very large ocean of space. It was leading them to a final destiny that would send its ripples across an empire and change forever the worlds of men.
* * *