Space Pioneer 1 - 10. Chapter 10

Jeff and Lest entered the hotel and went to their suite.

"Someone was in the room," Jeff said. "This chair didn’t stand by the window when we left in the morning."

"Room service," Lest replied. He sat down on the couch, wiping his eyes. "I wonder where Ezer is going in the dead of the night. Why didn’t he mention his plan earlier?"

Jeff gave no reply. He opened a wardrobe. "Look," he exclaimed. "I’ve taken along two space overalls. The one with the Horus emblem was on top of the other. Now the other one is on top."

"What’s wrong with you, Jeff? You’re probably just mistaken," Lest said tiredly.

"Nothing’s wrong with me, but something’s wrong with the situation," Jeff said angrily.

Lest looked at him.

"I had an uneasy feeling all day long," Jeff said. "Why did Ezer ask us to take along things for a night in the Beliad region, when we actually spent only a couple of hours there? He told me the burial place was a suited place in a beautiful region, but all I saw was a willow tree. This wasn’t a funeral. It wasn’t right, Lest."

"I didn’t expect this totally rushed operation either," Lest replied. "He lied to me, too. It didn’t work out like I had planned it. I got him hooked. He spent time and credits on us. He stored your ship and flew with us to the Beliad region. It seemed he was interested in the mission to Earth and interested to get more information on the planet."

Jeff’s eyes widened. "Can’t you see, Lest?" he asked. "He has my ship. He can retrieve the information he wants from the ship’s computer. Earth’s co-ordinates. He’ll find Earth without us."

Lest jumped to his feet. "I’m not a complete idiot," he shouted. "I had the data transferred to the computer of my ship. I left behind only scrambled data. He can’t make anything of it."

"This is probably why we are here now and not buried in the Beliad region," Jeff said drily.

"He wants to interrogate us thoroughly before killing us off."

Lest was pacing the room. "They investigated your ship while we were away and found the data was useless. Shit. Now they need to question us. But why did Ezer leave?"

"Perhaps he can’t operate on his own and must meet up with someone first. I suspect they’ll come here soon in order to get us," Jeff said. "He must think we’re dumb enough to not figure out his plan."

"We need to get out of here at once. Let’s get our things packed," Lest said urgently.

"What about the others?" Jeff asked.

"We can’t wait for them," Lest replied, seizing his bag from the floor. "I’ll send them a message. They must leave on their own and we’ll pick them up in space."

"What if Ezer is monitoring your intercom?" Jeff asked.

"We don’t use the official lines when undercover, Jeff. We’re not that dumb," Lest replied. He focused on his neural implant. "I’ve sent them a message, but I can’t wait for a reply. Come on now, Jeff , let’s get out of here."

They left the suite ten minutes later. Nobody paid them attention when they crossed the lounge and left the hotel. Lest had already paid in advance. An air taxi took them to the spaceport. They got to their rented ship without difficulties. Lest locked the entrance and went straight into the cockpit. Jeff sat down in the co-pilot’s seat.

"Can you steer the ship and fly back to Ephos without the help of your crew?" Jeff asked

"I’m not flying this ship on my own, Commander Jeff Caspar," Lest said, turning his eyes to Jeff. "You’re the co-pilot obviously."

"I’m not familiar with alien technology," Jeff said.

"You had a full training: pilot, navigator, and engineer. Get a grip on yourself, commander," Lest said sharply.

"All right, captain," Jeff replied, turning his eyes to the displays.

Lest spoke to ground control, then touched his temple and focused on his neural implant.

"Le’Ton has replied," he said. "They’ll gather in Khonsu, another tourism center, and get on a charter flight to Heket, a private space platform with wellness hotels. The platform is half way between Daglon and Ephos. We’ll pick them up there."

Ground control directed the spaceship to a runway. They got clearance for take-off. The ship sped up, took off and climbed quickly into the air. Lest accelerated the ship as soon as they had left the planet. The ship shot through space at maximum speed.

***

"Check and correct the plotted course, commander," Lest said.

"Roger," Jeff replied.

A few seconds passed. Lest looked over. "The screen on the right," he said. "We’re on autopilot. I just want you to get familiar with the navigation systems."

Jeff nodded and focused on the screen.

"Eleven and a half hours. We must not let concentration go down," Lest said.

"Are you tired?" Jeff asked.

"Not exactly," Lest replied. "How about you?"

"Neither," Jeff said. "It’s the adrenalin. Do you think they have already figured out that we’ve fled? Ezer could send a ship after us."

"I remember something he said. He said he would speak to the hangar company on Ephos, if we wanted to stay longer on Daglon," Lest said. "His influence apparently reaches this far. I have underestimated the man. He was in the military, after all."

"He told me he retired at the outbreak of war. Deems me odd. His friends fought to the end," Jeff said.

"He worked behind the scenes," Lest replied. "They were working on the time jump drive. There were rumors that they used it to destabilize the economy on the attacked planet. This was one of the reasons why the Alliance degraded Daglon. No real evidence, though. Ezer retired in time to avoid the investigations."

"How comes you know about it?" Jeff asked.

Lest glanced at him. "I was his favorite trainee and student. He told me too much. That was his mistake."

Jeff cast him an awkward look. Lest gave a laugh.

"Yes, he’s twenty years older than I am. I was seventeen, he thirty-seven. I admired him, his skills, his connections, his looks," Lest said. He looked ahead. "It lasted only one year."

"What happened?" Jeff asked.

"He favored another student after the summer vacations," Lest said.

There was a short silence.

"Do you want to take revenge on him?" Jeff asked. "Is this what you plan?

Lest was thinking. "Not exactly," he said. "Sure, he lost my respect. He didn’t treat me right. He lost interest in me and he didn’t care to tell me."

"I know what you mean," Jeff replied. "Like the rushed funeral. My comrades deserved better. I’m feeling cheated and hurt."

"Yes," Lest said. "I felt cheated and hurt, too, and I find that I deserve someone better, someone who really cares." He fell silent.

Jeff watched him, but Lest didn’t continue.

"I was under the impression you had not entirely lost contact with him," Jeff said finally.

"True," Lest replied. "I met him on Cyrus once or twice a year. He told me of a secret project, but he didn’t go into details. It had to do with the time jump drive. He asked me several times if I wanted to join his team as a pilot. He offered me to clear my name in exchange, but I always declined his offer."

"Did he plan to use the time jump drive for raiding operations?" Jeff asked.

"He was fantasizing about retrieving artifacts. It intrigued him," Lest said.

"If he wanted you to join his team, why didn’t he ask you again when we came to Daglon?" Jeff asked.

"He has meanwhile found a pilot, I guess. I think he has finished fantasizing," Lest said. "I should have taken up on his offer earlier. I could have stopped him from raiding and ruining planets. I have waited too long."

"Would Earth go to ruin, if he jumped back in time?" Jeff asked with concern.

"It happened to Kwain, a planet in a solar system about 50 light years from Daglon," Lest said. "They went back fifty years and messed around for a day before they needed to run. Soon after their return, the climate changed on the planet. One day it was hot, the other day bitter cold. It seemed the planet could not choose between a period of drought or a period of cold. The weather was unstable for twenty years. People ultimately left the planet."

"That was thirty years ago. Why does it affect you? You were one year old, a baby child," Jeff said.

"My father worked with the Alliance. He was on an evacuation ship. The ship got into a raging storm and crashed. No survivors," Lest said. "And no compensations from the Alliance. My mother needed to struggle through."

There was a brief silence. They looked ahead.

"I understand," Jeff said finally. "I understand now why you fight Ezer and don’t side with the Alliance. You’re a lonely rider in space."

Lest gazed at him, then gave a laugh. "Well, a rider maybe, but not a raider, although I work in the gray area, I have to admit," he said. "And what about you, Jeff? You have told little to nothing about your past."

Jeff looked at Lest. "I’m an only child. My parents were proud when I was chosen for the mission to Mars. They must think that I’m dead," he said.

Lest gave a barely visible nod. "This is not right either, Jeff," he replied. "I admit that I didn’t want to take you back to Earth in order to avoid a crisis. How would you have explained what happened in space? How would you have explained your return to Earth? Aliens rescued me, you would have said. Can you imagine what would have happened?"

"Yes," Jeff said. "I’m beginning to accept my fate and yet I think that my parents deserve to know that I’m alive."

"I will find a way to let them know," Lest said. "Promised, Jeff Caspar."

"You promise me a lot, Captain Lest. Why?" Jeff asked.

Lest looked over. "Because I like you, Commander Jeff Casper," he said with a smile.

Jeff studied him. "Likewise, Captain Lest," he said finally, returning the smile.

An alarm interrupted them. The men focused on the controls.

"Object on collision course," Jeff exclaimed.

Lest reached out, pressed a few buttons and activated the screens. "A small asteroid," he said.

"Collision in six minutes," Jeff warned.

"Course correction zero zero five seven," Lest said, manually reprogramming the course.

The ship changed course and the alarm stopped ringing.

Jeff exhaled. "Why did the ship’s sensors detect the object so late?" he asked.

"This is a cruise vessel, Jeff. It’s designed for short fun trips. These trips are cheap or even a bonus for Ephos’ guests. Maintenance of the ships is low," Lest replied.

"I wished we were back on the Horus," Jeff said.

"Nine more hours. Take a nap," Lest suggested.

"No, I won’t. I’ll activate my neural implant and connect to the language database," Jeff replied.

"Okay. I’m trying to pull information via the intercom lines. Maybe I find something out about Ezer," Lest said.

The hours went by. They were approaching Ephos. Ships were flying to and from the planet. Lest slowed the spaceship down.

"It’s about noon and traffic is heavy. That’s good. Security controls will be lax," he said.

"Le’Ton sent me a message four hours ago before they embarked on the tourist ship. No difficulties so far. They’ll reach Heket in two hours. If everything works out well, we’ll arrive at the space platform at about the same time. The Horus is faster than the cruise vessel and I will jump in space in case I must."

"What about Ezer? Did you find out anything about him?" Jeff asked.

"I checked the news feeds on the intercom," Lest replied. "He’s said to sponsor many projects, the museum in Amun, a historical society and a private flight training school, for instance. A few reporters wondered how he had made his fortune. He can’t have inherited it. His parents weren’t that well-off. The pay in the military is good, but not that good to make a fortune. A critical reporter speculated that the military had bribed him to silence. He mentioned the rumors about the time jump drive and Ezer’s surprising retirement at the beginning of the war."

"The man was hard on Ezer’s tracks," Jeff said.

Lest nodded. "I was wondering why Ezer sponsors a historical society, but it’s plain to see, isn’t it?" he said.

"He wanted to find out about a promising target for his hunt for artifacts. What does the historical society focus on?" Jeff asked.

"The history of Daglon," Lest replied. "I checked their information feeds. Two historians are heads of the society. I have a feeling they know more about Daglon’s origin than they sold the public for centuries."

"They might already know where the second spaceship flew to. They might already know Earth’s co-coordinates," Jeff said.

"They didn’t kill us off. They planned to retrieve more information from us. Ezer headed back to Amun to meet up with someone. Good for us," Lest said. "Thus we were able to escape."

"They can’t let us run," Jeff said.

Lest nodded. "Yes, I’m pretty sure they’ll send a ship after us."

They reached Ephos. The cruise vessel descended.

***