Proving True

I’m in my carrel when the Transit order finally comes. I take the short walk from my workspace to the control room. On Night Searcher I would have been wearing a helmet to preserve my hearing, but on Star Chaser there’s enough acoustic insulation between the drives and the engine control room that I need not do so, but it’s still pretty loud so I’m wearing a headset for communication.

After I report a green board and smooth drive functioning I return to monitoring engine function. The bridge watch officer announces over the primary address system that the ship has engaged the Transit drive and will be underway for the next sixteen weeks. My head snaps up. Wait a minute, that’s a lot longer than I signed on for. I trust the Captain to know what he’s doing, but I’m going to take another look at my contract when I get back the opportunity. In the gods we trust; all others are subject to verification. Freddie calls me on my perCom: “Hey, Sonia, can Shawna and I get some private time with you in an out of earshot area?”

“I don’t know where that might be, but there’s a butt load of background noise in my closet of an office, when should I expect you?”

“Tonight after evening chow,” he says. We’re back on ship time, so lunch is in about an hour. “Everyone usually hangs out to talk or bullshit in the lounge. Can you arrange the area be empty except for us?”

He sounds unusually paranoid. “That shouldn’t be an issue,” I tell him. “People avoid this area because it’s loud. Duty calls, I’ll see you then. MacTaggert, out.”

After chow, I wander back down to my engineering carrel and keep myself busy until Freddie and Shawna show up. Shawna gets there first. We engage in small talk until Freddie arrives. But once he’s there, it’s all business. He tells me that the ship is on a course for the Far Reaches. Apparently the final location for space station Star Chaser has changed. The trip will take a minimum of three years.

“Three years?” I ask incredulously.

Shawna adds, “You may remember Captain Pipper mentioning an eighteen month journey in his address. I crunched the numbers myself. The Far Reaches are an eighteen-month trip. One way.”

“What the hell, do you think they intend to kill us all or something?” I ask them.

“I don’t know,” Freddie says. “But that’s not the big issue, believe it or not. I can’t put my finger on it, but you remember how on Searcher under you,” he points at me, “and more so under Captain Prowse, the crew felt solid, unified? I don’t feel that here. And I don’t think it’s because this crew is ten times the size of that one.”

Shawna pipes up, “I know what you mean. Sometimes I get a definite ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality, almost like we’re expected to pick sides or something.”

“Wait,” I hold up my hands. “Are the two of you trying to tell me, you think a mutiny is brewing?” I’m as fond of conspiracy theories as the next person, but I like them to remain theories. It’s when they move into practice that I get uncomfortable.

Freddie strokes his chin pensively. “That would help explain a few things.”

Shawna adds, “I did overhear a conversation in which a crew chief of one of the bombers said he’d be glad when the Captain was out of the way.”

“Not if,” Freddie finishes.

It’s too much to believe, but I’m the only one of the three of us who will put a face on it. “So, we think someone is plotting to kill the Captain, but we have no tangible evidence, no time frame and no leads.”

Freddie concludes for us, “Yep, the only way we can investigate it is to become mutineers. Sounds like fun.” I think he’s serious. He’s actually looking forward to this. It must be a guy thing, testosterone poisoning or some such.

“So if we do this,” I say, “we don’t have the luxury of time. We’re going to have to do this quick, fast and in a hurry. Do either of you know any psionics?” They both shake their heads. “I’ll check with Master Kreq in our next class. I want to talk to him about the amulet Captain Prowse left me anyway. Now, my body clock says it’s late, I’m tired, my feet hurt and I want a shower. Add to the mix this conversation is making my head hurt so I’m going to bed. We’ll talk later.”

After the next Shra Kuhn class, I hang around afterwards so I can talk to Master Kreq. A deep conversation was after all, his idea. I tell him the tale of Gwendolyn, my unintentional teleportations to and from the clone factory ship, as well as those within Night Searcher and all of the other things that happened with the amulet that Captain Prowse gave me. I pull the amulet from my gear bag and hold it out to him. “Have you ever seen anything like this?” I ask. “Do your senses reveal anything about it?”

He takes the amulet from me, turning it over and looking at it from all sides. “Very interesting,” he says. “I have heard of individuals who had that ability, teleportation, but never an inanimate object. For that reason, I think it unlikely that the amulet gave you the ability to teleport. I suspect that it amplified the ability which had previously been dormant in you. Have you ever been tested for psionic ability?”

“I haven’t,” I answer, “but I’m willing to be.” I chew my bottom lip while mulling over how to breach the other subject.

“I don’t have to be psionic to tell there’s something else on your mind,” he says with a smile.

Busted! “Master, I have a dilemma: I have heard a rumor I cannot verify that someone aboard may be in danger. I’ve no desire to spread baseless rumors or gossip, but I feel a duty to warn the person. Have you any advice?”

“You mean a plot to kill the Captain, don’t you?” This man continues to surprise me. “I have had dreams and visions of that myself. I will speak with a friend of mine in the Security department tomorrow. If it helps, I was likewise conflicted, as I had no other source. I won’t name you unless it becomes—in my opinion—absolutely necessary. Also, I will also schedule your appointment for psionic testing tomorrow, I believe tomorrow is your ‘down day?’” I confirm with a nod. The work rotation in Engineering is six days on, one off. Tomorrow is my turn to sleep late. “Very well, I’ll forward the appointment details to you over the casCom.”

“I…I don’t know what to say, I will see you tomorrow then.”