Space Pioneer 1 - 14. Chapter 14

Lest and Jeff met in the galley the following morning.

"Did you really have Hulton’s software infected?" Jeff asked.

"No, I was bluffing," Lest replied. "I’m sure he checked on his software and he had a sleepless night. Serves him right, I think."

He had just finished speaking when Hulton entered the galley. He measured the men, then went to the food processor and ordered an enormous pile of scrambled eggs.

Jeff and Lest exchanged a look. Hulton placed his plate on the counter and looked at Lest.

"I was thinking," he said. "I’m willing to help you with your operation. It intrigues me, I’m curious and I might learn many new things."

"And how do you think you can help us?" Lest asked, pressing a button of the food processor in order to get himself a cup of coffee.

"Like I said, I infected Ezer Malk’s software. The man was secretive and I was curious to see what he had in mind," Hulton replied. "The software is sending status reports to me. I checked the protocols last night. His spaceship jumped to a place in space a week ago. I checked the co-ordinates. They are the co-ordinates of the planet Earth."

"Shit," Jeff exclaimed. "We’re too late. Did he already jump back in time?"

"He activated the time jump drive, according to the protocol I’ve received. He jumped back a week ago," Hulton said.

"He jumped into the past, but has not yet come back? Do I understand this correctly?" Lest asked.

"That’s how I read the protocols," Hulton replied. "I’ve not received any transmissions since the time Ezer Malk activated the time jump drive."

"It makes sense," Jeff said. "You can’t receive transmissions from the past."

"We receive them all the time," Hulton said, "because of the vastness of the universe. It’s basic knowledge and a matter of fact."

Jeff shot the man a dark look. "I’m not as dumb as you apparently think I am," he said.

"Stop it!" Lest said, sounding annoyed. "Hulton, you understood Jeff’s words very well. Why do you try to twist them? We’ll either co-operate or we won’t. I won’t deal with this back and forth of yours. You can get off my spaceship at any time you want and you will surely get off once I command it."

Hulton raised his hands. "Sorry, captain," he said. "I can be cynical at times. I’ll try to stop this demeanor of mine for the time being. Jeff’s right. I can’t receive transmissions from Ezer Malk’s ship because they are far back in the past. And like you said, Captain Lest, they have not yet returned to the present time."

"He jumped back a week ago. That’s a long stay in the past," Lest said thoughtfully. "They might have already meddled with the timeline."

"They might have had an accident when travelling back or maybe after arriving in the past. Ezer Malk’s ship might be lost," Hulton said.

"Or maybe they have just not yet found what they were looking for and they don’t care for the timeline a bit," Jeff said.

"We can only find out what happened if we travel back too. We must jump back from the exact co-ordinates they did," Hulton said.

"How far did they jump back? Do you have an idea?" Lest asked.

"Sure," Hulton replied. "The protocol states the exact time length of the jump. 8-2-15 standard."

Lest and Jeff checked their neural implants.

"4,617 Daglon years back in the past," Lest said.

"4,650 Earth years exactly," Jeff said. "That’s 2,586 BC."

"BC?" Lest asked.

"It’s too long a story for now," Jeff said. "BC is the year zero. It marks the start of the western calendar. It marks a religious event."

Hulton and Lest gave him odd looks.

"It must have been an important event," Lest said.

Jeff was feeling awkward. "Ehm, yes," he said. "Believers do say so."

Hulton eyed Jeff curiously. "Your planet has not yet gotten B status, has it?" he asked.

"No," Jeff replied, compressing his lips.

"The planet Earth is not yet officially registered in the list of space civilizations," Lest explained.

"I see," Hulton said slowly. "I don’t understand why you let him navigate your ship, Captain Lest. Isn’t it a bit of a risk?"

Jeff narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to protest. Lest raised his hand.

"Jeff’s doing fine," he said curtly. "Hulton, please, if we want to make progress in the matter, we must co-operate and think outside the box."

"Definitely, captain. I was just wondering," the man said meekly. He was scratching his head.

Neither Lest nor Jeff gave a reply. They focused on their meals instead. Hulton looked between the men and finally cleared his throat.

"Question. What are we going to do now, captain?" he asked.

Lest looked up. "That’s obvious, I think. We’ll jump back in time and chase Ezer Malk," he said.

***

Lest had his crew check again on the spaceship. When every bit of hardware and software was functioning properly, Lest commanded the start of the operation. They made a space jump to Earth. Everything went smoothly. The ship was floating in space at a safe distance from the planet in order to avoid detection by Earth’s satellites. Lest had the main computer calculate the exact co-ordinates for the time jump, based on the data Hulton had received from Ezer Malk’s software and taking into account the movements of the planet Earth and the sun. The distance of the calculated starting point of the time jump from Earth was about the distance of Jupiter from the sun.

"Ezer jumped back in time at a safe distance from Earth," Lest said. "I think it was a wise decision, considering the satellites that are orbiting the planet. I can’t imagine they would detect the Horus because of our protection shields, but I can’t be sure, of course."

They had gathered on the bridge. Jeff was standing by the window. He was looking out into space. He had spent a lot of the time by the window after their arrival in the solar system. Jeff didn’t see Earth, but he saw Jupiter and although he had never seen Jupiter like this before, he now felt as if he was almost home. Lest now and then looked over to Jeff, but mostly let him be. Now and then he urged him to go and get himself something to eat and drink or take a rest in his room, but Jeff refused to even listen. Lest finally called Doctor Midad to come to the bridge. The doctor looked at the lonely man by the window.

"A form of homesickness," he said. "He wants to be home, but fears that he will never return."

"This assumption might very well be correct," Lest said.

Midad gave him a disapproving look. "I’m not sure you can imagine how he feels, captain. Jeff feels like he’s kind of banned from his home planet Earth," he said.

"I can relate very well to his feelings, Doctor Midad. I can’t go back to my home planet Daglon as a free man either," Lest said sharply.

"Correct," Midad replied. "Returning for me wouldn’t be easy either, but I wouldn’t face the consequences that you certainly would have to face. I apologize, Captain Lest."

Lest reached out and patted his friend’s shoulder. "Try to distract Jeff. It’s hard, but he must get adjusted to the situation. That’s how life is in space. He must learn to cope with it."

Midad smiled vaguely, then moved over to Jeff. He spoke softly to him and finally Jeff followed the doctor and left the bridge. Lest looked after them.

***

They reached the starting point of their time jump operation the following day. The men assembled on the bridge.

"We’re one hour away from the point from where Ezer Malk’s ship jumped back in time," Lest informed the men. "That’s for safety measures," he said. "It could well be that Ezer’s main ship is cruising in the area, while he himself flew to Earth in a smaller shuttle. We don’t want to bump into his main ship after the jump."

"Won’t they locate the Horus after our jump?" Jeff asked.

"This won’t happen," Lest said. "We’ll activate our protection shields and switch off all devices that send off data. They won’t be able to receive the faintest ping from any of our systems. Corr and I have checked and double-checked them. The Horus will be in full stealth mode."

"We should be able to locate their ship, though, provided they did not make it invisible also," Corr said.

"I can’t imagine they did, because there’s no reason for them to go in stealth mode," Lest said. "They jumped back into the planet’s archaic past. There won’t be satellites orbiting in space that could detect Ezer’s ship or ours."

"The Egyptian civilization was by no means archaic," Jeff said.

"Relatively spoken," Lest said. "We’ve retrieved the relevant data from your planet, Jeff. Earth’s database is easy to access. 4,650 years ago, the Great Pyramid was not yet finished. It was under construction. Ezer most likely assumed that the ancient Seth devices were stored in the pyramid. Jumping back to a time when the pyramid was under construction and its entrances not yet sealed will simplify the matter because he can just walk in and get what he wants."

"We must assume that hundreds if not thousands Egyptians are around and that the construction site is being protected," Jeff said.

"Certainly," Lest replied. "However, it shouldn’t be too difficult to gain access to the site with Daglon technology, but we won’t land on the planet right away. We’ll be tracking Ezer’s main ship first."

"It won’t be difficult," Hulton said. "I should be able to perceive data from Ezer’s ship after our arrival. We can analyze the data. We might find out more about Ezer’s plans. And we must have the Horus computer analyze Earth data first, climate and the like. We must make sure we can land without endangering the ship and ourselves."

"Will we go down with the Horus or fly in a shuttle?" Jeff asked.

"I’ve not yet decided on this," Lest replied. "It depends on the results of the computer analysis and on Ezer’s movements, but I’m leaning towards going down with the Horus. We can escape more easily in case of an emergency take-off."

"The main system is currently refining the data for the time jump," Corr said.

When the calculations were done, Lest gave the command to start the operation. Corr and Jeff navigated the ship to the space co-ordinates that the computer had calculated. Le’Ton and Hulton were focusing on the time jump system. Lest gave the command to jump back into the past. The light on the bridge got brighter for a split second, then everything looked normal again. The men focused on their devices. The main computer calculated their actual position in the solar system, based on the position of the sun and the planets. They had arrived exactly where they had planned.

"Hulton, status update, please," Lest said.

"I’ve got Ezer’s ship," Hulton said after a couple of minutes. "The ship has not changed its position. It’s still in the area where it jumped to."

"Are you receiving any data from Ezer’s ship?" Lest asked.

"Yes," Hulton replied. "Like I had expected, everything’s working fine. The data from Ezer’s ship will go to the main computer of the Horus for analysis."

"He jumped back in time more than a week ago. There should be plenty of relevant data," Lest said.

"We’re getting the data from the time jump software in the first place," Hulton replied. "But it shouldn’t be difficult to gain access to their main system also."

"Go for it, as long as you won’t leave a trace," Lest said, joining the men by the console.

He looked at Hulton’s screen. It showed figures and symbols. They were changing in quick succession. Data was being transmitted from Ezer’s ship.

"We’re hard on your heels, Ezer," Lest said with the predatory smile on his lips.

***