vignette ~ The Bomb

Climbing ... climbing ... almost to the top ... bingo! She activated the fold-jump drive and crossed light years of space in seconds. She used her grandfather’s spatometer each and every time she made the jump. He’d given it her when she announced at her 12th birthday party that she was following in his footsteps with the space corps. It was her most prized possession and it never left her person, except when she took a bath, of course.

She missed her grandfather. He taught her many things about surviving in outer space and that, along with her own hard work, helped her graduate first in her class. Then she began her climb in the corps and now, at 28, she had her own ship and her own route. True, she flew all her missions by herself, but that was okay. Time enough for all those personnel problems later.

She jumped twice more before she arrived at Teyos. Dropping down to the dark side of the planet she homed in on the landing pad, then disembarked with her set of dispatches. Unlocking the corps’ shed, she got the snow tracker out and took off across the dark, rutted road. The crusty snow combined with a zillion stars to light up the barren landscape, even though there was nothing on the ground to see. It was a lonely planet with only three settlements, all on the dark side and only a hour apart from each other by snow tracker. This side of the planet never rotated into sunshine, but thermal activity not far beneath the surface kept the temperature a bearable 5 degrees, more or less.

She never got tired of looking at the night sky and, after delivering her papers, she enjoyed the stars all the way back to the ship. She took off again, jumped quickly and efficiently, and was back home and in bed a good two hours before her arrival estimate.

The next morning dawned grey and soggy. She was barely out of the bathroom when the order came. “Lieutenant Roperson, report to the Commander immediately.” So she hurriedly dressed and was in his outer office in 20 minutes. “Go ahead, Lieutenant, he’s waiting for you.”

She stepped into his office and saluted. “Sir!”

“At ease, Roperson.” He paused and looked her in the eye. “Did you beat your time yesterday?”

She grinned as she replied, “Yes sir! By more than 124 minutes. Sir!” Her grandfather’s old spatometer was better than any of the latest-and-greatest new-fangled ones, and she consistently arrived ahead of the estimates and the other pilots.

“And was everything fine on Teyos when you left?”

Her smile dimmed slightly as she cautiously replied, “Y-yes sir.”

“Well, it isn’t now. The settlement of Anders ceased to exist about an hour and 20 minutes after you left. It seems the dispatch you carried blew up and left no survivors.”

“But ... how can that be? And how did you find out so quickly?”

“We’ve already sent out a team to find out what we can. And by the greatest fortune, Lieutenant Forbes was on his way past Teyos, just about to start his return jump when he saw the flash of light from the explosion and delayed to check it out. He returned just an hour ago with his report.”

She stood there with her mouth open, trying to figure out what she was hearing.

“Oh, sit down, Roperson, before you fall down. And after you get your gears turning again, tell me your impression of all this.”

Katie sat there a bit, staring at the floor, then looked her commander square in the eye. “They were after me. The bomb. It was meant for me.”

“I wondered how quickly you’d see it that way. That’s my take on things, too.”

“But why ...”

He interrupted her. “That’s the big question, isn’t it. There’s absolutely no reason to destroy Anders, so it has to be you. Who’s threatened by you, Roperson? Do you have any enemies? Have you been promoted ahead of someone?”

“Sir, I ...” She could think of nothing to say. Nothing intelligent, that is.

“My feeling exactly, Roperson. So here’s what I’m going to do. Immediately, without even going back to your room, I want you to take my personal elevator to my private level, get in my ship, and head out of here. I’ve programmed it to take you someplace no one will think of.”

“But sir, how can we find the perpetrator if ...”

“No buts, Roperson. It goes against regulations, but I promised your grandfather I’d watch out for you. And I can hide you and call it an assignment. In fact, take this backpack with you and study the material while you’re away. There’s a new sector we’ve discovered which looks promising. I’ll want a full report and appraisal when you come back. Any questions?”

“But my clothes, my stuff ...”

“I know you’re carrying your grandfather’s spatometer and anything else is replaceable. Everything you need is on board, now get going. Dismissed!”

“Sir! Yes, sir!” She saluted, then stepped into the elevator which was normally hidden behind the paneling. Immediately she was whisked to his private level where the door opened onto a private landing area. She’d seen his ship before. From a distance. She hesitated briefly, wondering if anyone else was around, then stepped smartly to the ship’s entrance, climbed inside and sealed the door. As soon as she sat in the pilot seat the program commenced countdown. In five minutes she was off-planet and headed for sub-space. She watched for awhile, trying to figure out where she was headed, but the Commander was too smooth for that.

Her stomach told her to find the kitchen so she did, ate a quick bite, then came back to watch and learn. She dozed off at some point, because she was having a strange dream when the 30-minute bong sounded. She prepared herself as much as she could, then watched the approach to the small, lush planet. Trees, lakes, mountains -- she wondered if there were any settlements here. The ship set itself down and all the readings, of course, indicated it was safe for humanoids. Using the external camera, she scouted around 10 miles in each direction, trying to figure out what to do next. The camera panned across the landscape as she watched, then she grinned. He had a home here! She grabbed her backpack, secured the ship and climbed to the ground.

The air smelled clean, the trees looked vaguely familiar, and the gravity was just about right. That old dog! How has he kept this place secret? She hurried to the structure which blended in so well with the hillside that she almost missed it. A bermed home! She stopped and admired it, wondering how long it had taken to build. And really, how had he found this place anyhow?

She climbed up to the structure, walked across the stone portico, then stared at the door, trying to figure out how it worked. It actually looked pretty ordinary so she took hold of the handle, twisted it two times, then pushed. It opened right up. She grinned as she stepped inside, thinking that she should call out ‘hello’, then shaking her head at her silliness. The front room was wide, but not very deep and had several comfortable-looking chairs and couches. There were built-in bookshelves on the left, pictures on the walls, and a telescope on a tripod in front of the window.

It was so homey. She walked around the wall toward what she figured were the bedrooms and stumbled into a man. “Eeep!” she squeaked.

“Yeow!” he said, startled.

“Aaah!” she blurted, backing up and struggling to not panic. “Who are you?”

“Who am I? Who the hell are you?” he said, getting louder with every word. “What’s the big idea of barging in here and how did you find this place anyhow?”

“How did I ... how did you find this place, mister? This is a secluded location and you’re trespassing!”

“I’m trespassing? This is MY house, lady and I don’t know you. Now if you don’t want me to throw you down, tie you up, and start torturing you for information, you’d better start explaining.”

“Listen Mr. High-and-Mighty, I don’t know who you think you are, but I’ve been sent here by Commander Walskinsky, and unless you start explaining, you’re going to be the one tied up ... what? What, dammit ... what are you laughing about? Answer me, buster, or you’re going to be in ... oh, get up off the floor and quit laughing, will you. I want to know what’s going on.”