CHAPTER 16 - TRANSFERENCE

DATE POINT: MARCH 24th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL

LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST

Paul stared blankly at the Q-Comm screen, trying to make sense of the new orders.

“Doctor Rousseau has confirmed there is no danger in passing the heliopause. Your observations along with the sensor data have aligned perfectly with the predictive models we have built. Furthermore, the issue with your mass senses are to be expected from your quote ’third dimensional brain attempting to depict a fifth dimensional reality using fourth dimensional senses.’ He says that since you are on the opposite side of the fourth dimensional boundary, you are seeing the composite image of all possible timelines superimposed upon each other simultaneously reverberating back to you through the null matter medium. By directly focusing your observation on a single object, you see it as it appears in your own timeline. You are used to living in the third dimension, where all objects must commit to a single shared timeline and thus a predictable observable location and orbit in spacetime. In short, your observations and the data again fits our best predictive models. We have decided the mission will continue as originally planned now that the danger of mutiny has passed. You are to immediately brief Captain O’Toole and then proceed to the Oort Cloud to repair, retrain, and resupply, and from there resume the journey to Alpha Centauri. Good work on identifying the nature of the murderer. Any further anomalies are to be reported upon immediately. The subject of extra dimensional entities is to remain classified need to know only, so no one else can know with the exception of Captain O’Toole. You will be held personally and immediately responsible for any new leaks, so manage your toolkit accordingly. This message will auto delete when closed.”

So the mission was back on, after all. Nobody was going to like hearing that, and worse, he now had to manage a new circle of secrecy. He especially did not like the sound of being personally and immediately being held responsible for leaks, that implied they had an assassin prepared and on board. It made sense though, it was exactly what he would have done. The question was how? A little polonium in his drink? A dart from a heart attack gun? It doesn't matter, I'll just have to watch my back.

Now he just had to break the news to Henry, who would also now have to live in secrecy paranoia. If history was any indication, he would likely not take things well. Paul switched the app from the NAU secured Q-Comm tab to then look through the ship’s cameras. Alvarez had the helm, and Henry was paying a visit to the drone fighter bay as part of his daily tours of the ship during his off-shift. The problem these days was finding him without a small retinue of people seeking to get his attention for final say on one issue or another. After the electrical issues had been identified as being the result of sabotage, and with no saboteurs left, the repair effort became a hurried and efficient process. More than once, Henry had to step in and solve disputes over the allocation of a dwindling stockpile of spare parts, but overall, that seemed to be the worst conflict after the death of Reese.

The drone bay is pretty empty, I might not get a better chance than this to have him separated from the hyena. Paul thought.

Paul shut off the monitor and got up from his seat. A quick scan of the room and a pat of the pockets later, he was out the door and on the way. The ship shifted under his feet, nearly causing him to fall to the ground. A lucky grab for a hand bar saved him from a nasty fall.

“Fucking antimatter chicken…” Paul grumbled, citing Jenkins' term for the random swerving without realizing it.

Paul hustled to reach the quick lift then caught a ride upward to the very top level and jumped off before it disappeared into a small hole in the ceiling. He then turned towards the drone hangar bay and C.L.A.P.P.E.R control. Paul moved towards the hangar, jogging slightly to catch the captain before he moved on to a different part of the ship. After passing through a security checkpoint, Paul emerged into a viewing area for the cavernous drone flight bay above him. Henry stood twenty or so meters ahead, locked in an animated discussion with a stone faced woman.

“As you can see, Captain, every system top to bottom is working fine. Everything is ready to use at a moment’s notice, I know that you have found sabotage everywhere it seems, but we are a separate culture up here. These systems are our babies, and nobody messes with them, we make sure of it. You can continue to count on us.”

“Thank you Sabrina, how are our pilots?” Henry asked, still unaware that Paul was standing back just within earshot.

“Bored, but we have stepped up training requirements in the simulator to help compensate for it. Their performance has improved markedly, but there are only so many ways we can customize the encounters they are being sent up against. I recommend that we give them some real world flight time as soon as we return to real space. A return to combat space patrols would do them some good, even if there's nothing to shoot.”

“Alright, I think that sounds good, it will give them a chance to alleviate some of the monotony. Well done up here, seeing the arm-disarm drills in person like this is impressive! Those missile loading arms are fast!” Henry commented.

“We have to be able to launch five fully armed flights every thirty seconds per side while receiving that same number back in to rearm through the rear inlet hangers. That kind of pace is only possible with mass automation. We just choose the loadouts and keep the machines serviced and ready. I promise you they will work when you need them. We can have as many as a third of our pilots strapped in their VR rigs and ready to fly in ninety seconds at any time. You can take both promises to the bank, sir.”

“Excellent, be ready to resume combat space patrol rotations right away once we leave FTL in the coming weeks, but otherwise keep up the good work.”

Paul saw his chance and took it. “Henry!” He called out.

“What can I do for you, Paul?” Henry asked without so much as turning around.

“We got new orders fresh from NAUDF HighComm. Plus, I have some other less than ideal news that you'll want to see and hear.” Paul said as he closed the gap between them.

“Always the bearer of bad news these days. Very well, let’s hear it.” Henry said, turning to acknowledge Paul now that he was finally close behind.

“Alone, this will be a highly classified meeting.” Henry looked at Paul quizzically for a moment before he nodded to Sabrina and her attendant who promptly retreated with a salute.

“Alright, you have my attention.” Henry said as the last drone bomber brought out for the demonstration rode overhead on a rail towards its destination in drone storage. Paul had already disabled the overhead camera while he had been waiting, and there were no prying eyes or ears anywhere about. Perfect.

“We have been ordered to continue the mission to Proxima Centauri. Now that the danger of sabotage has passed and since we found our murderer.” Paul began.

“Yeah, I figured you were gonna drop that one on me. Good thing we didn't tell anyone we were turning back after all. I also heard about the murderer being caught from Alvarez before they moved in to take him out. Fireman by the name of Reese, the rest of the electricians mates told me all the scuttlebutt about him when I paid them a visit earlier on. Seems like he had been sowing discontent from the start.” Henry seemed to study Paul, clearly unsure of where things were going.

“No, well, kinda. That's just the cover story. Watch this helmet cam video first and then I'll explain everything that I am at liberty to divulge. Before I do so I need your solemn affirmation that you will treat this conversation and topic as being officially field classified and to swear yourself to strict secrecy on it.”

“Christ, you really mean it today don’t you? Fine. Secret it is.”

“This also includes keeping this from Chantal, she doesn’t have the clearance for this. I have had to compartmentalize this information from Ariana as well. Trust me, it's for their own good. The only other possible leak right now is Alvarez and the men who were on site when these events took place. I am putting my life in your hands as much as your life is in mine by even telling you about this, so please treat it with the level of seriousness it deserves.”

Henry’s whole demeanor was different as Paul delivered his speech. Gratifying as it was to watch him squirm for a moment, he needed the man’s enthusiastic cooperation or they were dead, so he didn’t press the advantage.

“Fine, I'll stick to the cover story, even with Chantal.” Henry said evenly.

“Good. Now watch.” Paul hit play and handed the datapad over. Henry kept a stoic impression through the whole video before he silently handed it back. Henry looked like he was going to speak and then he backed off before he finally turned slowly to Paul and asked.

“I take it this thing was our murderer then. Goddamnit, Paul, why wasn't I informed before now?! What do you know about these things? Tell me everything.” Henry hissed, making a real effort to keep his voice down.

Oh good, this would be easier than he thought, maybe.

“That is a fifth dimensional energetic entity commonly called a demon, or Djinn, and it is our murderer. As you have seen, this entity tried to take possession of Andrew Reese who subsequently killed himself in the struggle. We don’t know if the entity chose him before or after he began seeking followers and spreading mutiny, nor do we know what danger it's alluding to with regard to the heliopause or why it was obsessed with making the ship turn back. Dr. Rousseau has already refuted its claims that we are in any danger in passing the heliopause, calling it intentional misinformation. These entities are known to be natural manipulators that feed off our fear and negative emotions, so we can expect an attempt to scare us into surrendering enough of our energy to attempt another possession.”

“So, we know very little then, and the credibility of any evidence and information we have is irretrievably tainted because we cannot trust the source. Is that what you are trying to tell me?”

“Yeah, that about sums it up.” Paul replied.

“Now I see why they want this kept quiet. Fuck. Is it gone, or is it still here? Are there more? How can we tell if someone is possessed? What do we do if the host doesn’t just kill themselves? That black blade it formed looked pretty dangerous if wielded by something with the intent to kill. Fuck! You realize how insane this all sounds? If we didn't have helmet cam footage and eyewitnesses... I see why this needs to be kept secret, yet keeping it secret endangers everyone. You dropped a goddamn nuclear bomb in my lap, you realize this right?”

“Well, I can tell you they don’t react well to aggressive defiance and anger, it drains their power and weakens their hold. That is the accepted explanation as to why religions across the world seem to have stories of demons as well as the associated rituals to perform their own types of exorcisms. Usually, a priest or a shaman would perform the rites, and their conviction and anger together would be enough to sap the entity's power long enough for it to lose its hold over its host and decide to flee to seek easier prey.”

“I can't believe we are even having this conversation right now, but we do have a chaplain on board. He's a catholic, but he’s no Malachi Martin. It sounds like we may have to bring them and brief them on this one anyway." Henry said.

"No, we can't do that. The reason I have stated this needs to be kept such a strict secret is HighComm let it slip that they have a cat's paw on board that has been activated who will not hesitate to kill us if we allow this to leak. Knowledge of fifth dimensional energetic entities is strictly controlled and they did not mince words about how important it is that we keep this classified. I mean, they didn't specifically say they'd kill us, but I know a veiled threat when I see one. I'll show you the message when we get back to my cabin." Paul replied.

"If your threats are as real as you claim, then our lives are on a knife's edge. If we truly can't bring anyone else in on this, how the hell are we supposed to contain this problem!?” Henry said with narrowed eyes and growing fury.

Paul kept his face frozen and met Henry’s gaze.

“You may not take this threat against us seriously, but I do! Secrecy and compartmentalization of information will sometimes require the cleaning up of loose ends. I don't like it any more than you do, but you need to face up to the fact that we are on our own. We can handle this on our own., trust me. I will exorcise them myself if that is what it takes!" Paul said, trying his best to settle the situation down.

"Oh, sure, how the hell can I trust you when you are the one that cooperates with them daily? Spying on us, sending off your reports to them, just for them to turn around and threaten our very lives while refusing to give us the tools we need to solve this issue! If they kill me, who gets the ship, you?! How do I know you aren't working with them, how can I possibly trust you?!" Henry aggressively moved towards Paul with murder in his eyes.

"I'll show you the message, you can see it for yourself! I know this is wrong, okay!? I cover for you on a regular basis in my reports! My life is in danger just as much as yours is, and like it or not we are in this together! We can take care of this, I will do whatever it takes to neutralize this threat myself if I have to! I may have been hard on you from the beginning, but it was just to test you, to make sure you were the strong leader that we would need! I know that now, Henry! I am loyal to you and to the mission, I promise!" Paul dropped to his knees, surprising himself even at his own willingness to be vulnerable. It felt like precisely the right thing to do, which made it almost easy to give in and submit.

Henry stopped his charge short and breathed heavily as he weighed his options. "You will be the very image of loyalty from now on to me and me alone. I never want to question you like this again. We hold the ship, we hold the command and respect of the crew, not them. We will address this problem and any others together, you will hide nothing from me. I expect you to make it your personal mission to make this whole demon problem go away, whatever it takes, including any threats against our lives. You will make it clear to them that this kind of coercion is no longer acceptable in the future. Have I made myself clear?" Henry stated coldly.

"Yes, Captain. I will take care of it, I promise." Paul said, with his heart beating in his ears.

"Now get out of here and make it happen."

Paul nodded and turned, his brain moving a million miles a minute working to process what had just happened at the same time as he worked on the beginnings of a series of plans on how to comply. He had spent his whole life under the thumb of the Ascension Project before the intelligence community took him in, and now it seems he had a new master. He scoffed at his fate before he allowed himself to accept it. One day, he would be the master of his own destiny, for now it seems he was to be Henry's lackey. His guts twisted in inner turmoil. Such aspirations would have to be sublimated again, just as they had so many times before. For now, he had a lot of thinking to do, as well as a demon problem to attend to.