Star Cruiser Titan Page 7

  Malcolm chuckled. “To verify my claims?” he said. Roger could picture him scowling. “Very well,” he continued. “It will take my crew less than two days to construct the gateway and we will take a crew of your choosing back to Kalo. Since I’m sensing growing distrust between our races, I’m willing to leave some of my own men in your people’s custody until we return to ensure the safety of your crew.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Roger replied. “We are willing to send our own ship and crew.”

  Roger hoped the statement sounded more like a favor Earth was willing to provide, than a condition that they required. He waited anxiously for a reply to see if his calculated choice of words worked.

  “You have a ship capable of such a journey?” he asked, skeptically.

  “We do—or we almost do,” he said. “There is a ship in Earth’s fleet that we feel will be perfect for such an expedition, however, there are technological advancements that your people have that would be very beneficial to its completion.”

  “You have a ship that isn’t even finished?” Malcolm asked with even more annoyance dripping from his words.

  “We’re very close,” Roger replied. “But what we’re hoping is that you can provide an engineer from your crew to help us develop a propulsion system that will allow us to travel through space as swiftly as the Pinnacle.”

  “I see,” Malcolm said, and he sighed. “Sharing our technology with you was not supposed to occur until you agreed to help us.”

  “I know,” Roger said, almost apologetically. “And I said earlier, Earth wants to help you. We just need to be sure we can.”

  “And that I’m telling the truth,” Malcolm quipped.

  Roger started to reply, but thought better of it. He decided to let the request linger a little longer. The silence lasted for almost a solid minute before Malcolm finally spoke again.

  “Very well,” he said finally. “I don’t have a great deal of time to debate this matter. We will need to set up a meeting between my engineers and the scientists of Earth to see how quickly we can resolve this matter.”

  Roger perked up, unable to believe what he was hearing. “So, you’re saying you’ll comply with our conditions?”

  “I don’t feel that I have a choice Commander Stellick,” Malcolm replied, sounding defeated.

  “Thank you Captain Steiger,” Roger replied. “At this point I’d like to invite you and some of your officers down to meet with my superiors here on Titan.”

  “I was beginning to think you’d never ask,” Malcolm replied, and he suddenly sounded more like his old self again. “I’ve been on this ship for fourteen years. I’d like to take any opportunity I can to get off of it even if it’s for a short time.”

  Roger smiled as he began to feel the proverbial weight on his shoulders lighten substantially.

  Chapter 9

  It had been a long and exhausting day. Roger felt as if he’d accomplished more in the current day than he had in any other day in his entire life. He took the rail car back to his apartment and wanted nothing more than to collapse into his bed as soon as he entered the room. He knew, however, that there would be no way he could sleep until he took the time to crack open the file General Hightower had given him and take a peek at the schematics of the SC Titan. He sat down on the edge of his bed and opened the folder

  The cover page was nothing more than a white sheet of paper with the words TOP SECRET stamped across it in red. The first page behind the cover consisted of a list of specifications for the ship. The first impressive stat that jumped out at him was that the SC Titan was built for a crew of 500. That was way more people than Roger thought the ship could hold and it was his first indication that the vessel was much larger than he’d initially thought. He read on and just as Hightower had said, the ship was capable of holding 40 Comet fighters.

  The SC Titan essentially had five decks. The top was by far the smallest and was mostly comprised of the ship’s bridge, conference room, and observation area. The second deck was made up of the captain’s quarters, officer quarters, medical ward, two laboratories, and the armory. The third and fourth decks were filled mostly with sleeping quarters and bathhouses. Roger was impressed to see that every member of the crew would have their own room. The third deck was also flanked with two launching bays that extended the length of the ship on either side. Twenty Comet fighters would be housed in each bay and at the front portion of the third deck there was a briefing room that connected the two bays. In addition to the sleeping quarters on the fourth deck, there was also a large cafeteria and recreational area that had everything from a gym to a bar. Engineering made up the fifth and lowest deck on the ship.

  Roger flipped over to the third page and found very detailed drawings of the ship. The shape of the vessel resembled that of a handgun turned backwards. The long barrel portion of the “gun” contained the upper three decks along with the launching bays. The fourth and fifth decks were considerably shorter, slightly angled backwards, and made up the grip. The drawings gave Roger a much clearer picture on the size of the engines and he wondered how much of that would change once the Pinnacle engineers got their chance to modify them to travel at light speed. Where the third and fourth decks came together, either side was flanked by rather large twin engines. The fifth deck was flanked by smaller engines that angled downward slightly, their purpose seemingly to provide vertical lift.

  As Roger continued through the file, he finally found numerous documents signed and authored by President Akagi Hiro. He seemed to be a major driving force for the project and was heavily involved from the moment he was elected into office. So involved he was, Roger quickly came to the realization that the SC Titan was more or less a passion project of President Hiro’s. He came across photos of the president—with an orange hardhat on his head—visiting the site and checking on the progress of its construction. Roger found himself wondering what the original plans for such a large star ship must have been.

  After going through at least half of the file, Roger yawned and realized he could no longer go on. It would be a big day tomorrow and the highlight would be Captain Steiger’s arrival to the Titan colony. He would need to be sharp because part of him knew that the general would look to him to be somewhat of a neutral party. If somehow things began to spiral in the wrong direction, everyone would look to him to smooth it all out. As he considered all the “what if” scenarios, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He had no idea that when he’d begun training years ago to be Earth’s first representative to meet alien life that the job would take him so much further than the initial contact.

  With reluctance, Roger tossed the file aside and allowed himself to collapse backward on to the bed. He stared at the ceiling for a long moment and replayed the day’s events in his mind. As amazing and historic as the day had been for he and the leaders of Earth, he wondered how the rest of the population would react when the news broke out. Minutes later, Roger drifted off into a deep sleep.

  ***

  General Harry Hightower woke up early. He glanced over at the clock and realized in total he’d only gotten about four hours of sleep. The previous day had been a busy one and today promised to be even busier. As he sat up on the edge of his bed, he reached over and grabbed the small bottle of eye drops. His doctor had told him it would take a couple of weeks before the itching and burning ceased, and the thought of dealing with the irritation for at least one more week made Harry cringe. He supposed it was a small price to pay to avoid total blindness. Long term, the cybernetic implants were the only way to go but he never dreamed the healing process would be as hard to cope with as it was.

  Once out of bed, Harry showered and shaved and began to ponder what he would say upon meeting Captain Steiger. It was obvious to him that Roger Stellick had placed a great deal of trust in the Kaloian. Harry had always trusted Roger immensely, but for some reason that he could not quite put his finger on, Harry could not shake an uneasy feeling about Steiger. Despite Roger’s in
sistence that the colony had nothing to fear, Harry had given the command for the Titan military defense department to keep a warhead pointed at the Pinnacle and ready to fire at a moment’s notice. It was his hope that today’s meeting would allow him to put the uneasy feelings to rest so that they could move forward with a much-needed galactic alliance. After all, he thought, it seemed that the Kaloian was willing to bend a little on his stance to share his technology.

  Surely that was a positive sign…

  General Hightower’s position allowed him luxuries that no one else on the Titan colony had; chief of which was the fact that Harry was the only citizen in the entire colony that had an actual house. It was nestled away at the back of the property where the soldier barracks were built. The house was not large by any means, but relative to most of the apartments, it was a mansion. Harry stepped outside and onto the rocky soil of Titan. He looked up at the massive protective dome several hundred feet above his head and watched as a raincloud moved over. It was a strange feeling as he watched the droplets of methane splashing against the glass, and then slide innocently away along the convex surface. The sight gave him a sudden feeling of home sickness as he tried to remember the last time he’d stood in the rain on Earth.

  “Good morning Harry,” Colonel Merrill Madigan called out from ahead.

  “Good morning, Merrill,” he replied cheerfully. “What’s for breakfast?”

  “Great question, let’s go find out together.”

  As they walked along the path that led to the mess hall, Harry sensed why the colonel had been waiting on him. He’d seen the look in the man’s eyes before. Clearly, he was troubled.

  “What’s on your mind?” he asked suddenly.

  Madigan snapped a look at him. “What?” he asked.

  Hightower smiled, revealing his coffee-stained teeth. “We’ve served together for twenty years, Merrill,” he said. “I know when something’s bothering you, so spit it out.”

  Madigan allowed the slightest hint of a smile and took a deep breath through his nose. “You know exactly what’s on my mind,” he grumbled. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  “Bad feeling about what exactly?” Hightower replied with a raised eyebrow.

  Madigan gave him a skeptical glance. “The meeting with the alien, Harry,” he grumbled, knowing full well that the general knew exactly what troubled him. “I don’t trust him…something feels wrong about all of this.”

  Hightower nodded but refrained from voicing his agreement. “Well it’s not up to us,” he said. “We’ve got our orders, and if we’re going to carry them out we’ve got to meet Captain Steiger and get some help from his engineers.”

  They finally reached the door to the mess hall and Hightower held it open for the colonel. Madigan stopped and looked over at him, obvious concern on his face. “This stinks Harry. I’ll obey orders, same as you, but when an advanced race of aliens suddenly visits us telling us that they need our help…” he paused and shook his head.

  “I know,” Hightower said. “I know.”

  ***

  Roger had given Captain Steiger very specific instructions on where he needed to land his shuttle, and how to approach the launch bay. General Hightower desperately wanted the presence of the Kaloians to be kept a secret from the civilians on the base for as long as possible. For that to occur, it was imperative that the Kaloian shuttle’s approach was low and from the western side of the colony. Much to Hightower’s delight, Steiger’s arrival happened as discreetly as he had hoped.

  The Kaloian shuttle was rather plain looking, and nothing like what the human crew was expecting. It was essentially a box with a sloped front. There was a clear windshield on the front and small triangular wings on either side. Visually, nothing about the shuttle’s appearance looked conducive to flight, but somehow it had managed to soar to the surface of Titan flawlessly.

  As planned, Roger was the first man to greet Captain Steiger when the side door on the shuttle slid open.

  “Commander Stellick, it’s good to see you again,” he said with a cheerful smile. He stepped onto the concrete floor and immediately shook Roger’s hand. He then looked past him to see twenty other armed guards standing along the wall.

  Roger noticed the momentary look of surprise on Malcolm’s face, but nothing was said about the guards. “Welcome to Titan, Captain Steiger,” he said.

  “Thank you. It’s good to stand on land again,” he said wistfully.

  “We’re glad to have you,” the general said, offering his hand. “I’m General Harry Hightower of the Space and Aeronautics Military Alliance.”

  “General Hightower,” Malcolm said as he took his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and I must take this moment to extend my thanks for your generosity in inviting me here.”

  Hightower nodded, but kept the greeting business-like. He looked past Steiger as ten more men stepped out of the shuttle, five of them armed with some sort of military rifles.

  “Captain, we’ve made arrangements to conduct our meeting at a remote location near the edge of the colony,” Hightower said. “I appreciate your understanding regarding our desire to keep you and the other Kaloian’s presence secret for the time being.”

  “Of course,” Malcolm replied. “We are your guests and I respect your wishes.”

  “And I assure you that you’ll be treated as respectfully as you treated Commander Stellick when he was in your custody,” Hightower answered. “I want to be clear that you have nothing to fear from us.”

  Malcolm smiled. “I believe you general.”

  It was Colonel Madigan’s turn to step forth and make his introduction. After doing so, he urged Captain Steiger to follow him to the awaiting rail car. The car was large enough to comfortably transport thirty people. To keep things as friendly as possible, Hightower had refreshments available for the short ride.

  “Very interesting machine,” Malcolm said as he stepped into the vehicle. He looked the railcar over and seemed genuinely interested. “It’s quite a simple concept,” he added.

  “We try to keep everything simple here,” Hightower said as he motioned for the Kaloian captain to take a seat. “We try to keep the possibility of any mechanical failure to a bare minimum.”

  Malcolm nodded as he continued to scan over his environment. He noticed a cart near the front of the car. On top of the cart was a deep tray, filled with ice and soda cans of varying colors. He picked up a red one and held it up to the light. “Is this something to drink?” he asked, and he seemed to direct the question to Roger.

  “Yes,” he answered, nodding. “It’s what we call a soda. It’s basically a mixture of carbonated water, sugar, and a flavored syrup.”

  Malcolm’s curious expression morphed into one of confusion. He glanced over at one of the other Kaloian officers that joined him. The man shook his head.

  “I wouldn’t drink that,” he said, his voice gruff.

  The man seemed to be close to the same age as Captain Steiger. His hair was shoulder length and brown. His cheek bones were very defined, and as Roger studied his facial features he quickly began to realize the man was very thin. As he looked around the room at some of the other Kaloians, he noticed they too seemed thinner than Steiger. Roger found himself wondering how badly their journey to Titan had left them depleted of food.

  “Don’t be silly,” Malcolm replied to the man with a carefree smile. “I trust Commander Stellick.” He then took the can and turned it over in his hand, examining it closely before finally looking over to Roger, a puzzled expression on his face. “I’m ashamed to say I can’t figure out how to open this.”

  Roger chuckled, as did General Hightower and Colonel Madigan. “Here, let me see it,” he said, reaching for the can. He pulled the tab, and then returned the opened container.

  Steiger shot him a look of gratitude before turning the can up to his lips. His face immediately contorted into a fashion that reminded Roger of someone that had just sucked on a lemon. “It’s quite stro
ng,” he said with a slight cough. He held the can up and looked at it again. “Although, I admit it is also quite tasty.”

  There were more chuckles in the room again, but Roger took note that none of the Kaloian officers or guards found it as amusing as their Earthling counterparts. After a few minutes the railcar began to move and a short time later it arrived at the farming facility on the outskirts of the colony. Once the doors to the vehicle opened, Colonel Madigan led the party into a large building in the center of the dome. Once inside, he ventured down a long hallway that ended at a set of double doors. Madigan then opened the doors to reveal a rather large conference room with a rectangular wooden table in its center.

  As everyone filed into the room, one side of the table seemed to fill up with Earthlings, while the opposite side filled with Kaloians. General Hightower took one end of the table while Captain Steiger took the other. The two stood there behind their respective chairs and waited for everyone to take a seat. Finally, Hightower made a gesture toward Steiger, seemingly a request for him to sit as well. As Malcolm took his seat, the general began talking.

  “This is a monumental and historic day for both of our races,” Hightower began, and he smiled as he spoke. Roger was impressed to see that it didn’t even appear to be forced. “I want to begin by extending my thanks to Captain Malcolm Steiger and the men that have accompanied him. We’re glad to have you here and it’s my sincere hope that this is the beginning of a strong alliance between our races that will last forever.”

  Malcolm smiled and nodded slightly before humbly raising his hand as if asking permission to speak.

  The general chuckled. “Captain, you’re free to speak whenever you please. What’s on your mind?”

  Malcolm cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. “General, thank you very much for your hospitality. However, I noticed you kept referring to our race as if we’re different than all of you. That is simply not true. We are human, same as you.”

  Hightower smiled again, though this time it did look forced. “My apologies,” he said. “Forgive me, but can you elaborate on that? How are there other humans across the galaxy that we knew nothing about until now?”