Marooned: Legacy War Book 4 Read online

  Dulain was referring to his thought that the Orb could interface with a living mind providing they were in hyperspace. Some property of that other dimension gave Cassie such a vision and they wanted to replicate it. Sadly, the experiment would be on hold until the Gnosis returned and wasn’t tasked with a pressing assignment.

  The Pahxin delegation worked out thanks to the joint task force. Two ships provided protection to Sol as a result and talks continued, this time on the safety of Earth. An announcement was made to the general population and the AIA helped craft a message that was incredibly positive.

  It still caused a great deal of concern, protest and panic but it probably would’ve been a lot worse had they allowed the information to leak on its own. Conspiracy theorists were the worst. They caused the most trouble by suggesting the military knew about the aliens all along and had hidden it.

  The government continued to push a positive message, constantly showing the good will of the Pahxin people and extolling the virtues of the missions the Gnosis had been on. They slowly let out the different pieces of the puzzle they wanted people to know, talking about the alien races and all the wonders seen in space.

  While many people found it worrisome, it inspired young people across the globe to apply for the military programs. The number of eligible recruits skyrocketed, and the naval academy was overwhelmed with applications. Cassie wasn’t surprised. The prospect of adventure among the stars held great appeal for the young.

  At least there will be more than enough people to pilot the next ships we’re building.

  “I’ll be getting on the next shuttle out,” Cassie said. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

  “Just that we’ve been spending a lot of time with the other Pahxin,” Dulain said. “Gil?”

  “Yeah?” Cassie tilted her head. “What about him?”

  “He’s learning English quite well,” Christina responded. “And he’s definitely interested in sticking around here. Apparently, heading home isn’t appealing considering his past.”

  “Yes, well, criminals are like that.” Dulain shrugged. “Oh, I don’t think he’s some kind of terrorist or anything but I understand why he wouldn’t want to go back to his own people. They’re not as kind to … self-starters as we are. However, I think he might be the right man for this job. We’re going to send him with you.”

  Cassie lifted a brow. “Does he want to go?”

  “Yes, actually.” Dulain grinned. “Apparently, the draw of archaeology was just too much to pass up. If for some reason you need to go spelunking or … whatever it’s called … you’ll be in good hands. After all, he’s an expert, remember?”

  Cassie felt cool hands touch her neck, distracting her from the memory. She opened her eyes and saw Doctor Sandra Berg peering into her face, looking worried. “There you are, Agent Alexander.” Her voice was soothing, quiet but full of intensity. “I was afraid we might've lost you there for a moment. Can you talk?”

  “Yes …” Cassie rubbed her eyes. “What happened?”

  “You hit the ground pretty hard but the life support in this room fluctuated.” Sandra scanned her with something. “It knocked you right out. Same with Thayne.”

  “Will he be okay?”

  “He’s already walking around out in the hallway.” Sandra stood and offered her a hand. “If you think you can get up, I see you’ve sufficiently recovered.”

  “Thanks.” Cassie took her hand and got up. A wave of vertigo struck her but it passed in a moment. “So life support, huh?”

  “The vents were flooded with smoke when these computers blew,” Sandra explained. “Automated systems closed them and you essentially suffered from inhalation.”

  “What happened?” Cassie asked. “We were caught by that strange beam … Thayne and I were in the process of scanning it then …” She grunted. “I don’t remember anything else.”

  “It brought us down to the planet’s surface,” Sandra replied. “We crashed and honestly, I’m desperately trying not to panic.”

  “Wow.” Cassie nodded, heading for the door. “I should get to work now but thank you, doctor. Sincerely.”

  “Of course.” Sandra sighed as she passed her by. “I need to get to the next event on the ship. We’re all going to be busy as hell for a few hours. Hopefully, we can find a way to get back into space. All things considered, I never thought I’d be excited about leaving a planet. Good luck, Agent.”

  Cassie stepped into the hallway and leaned against the wall. She still felt a little wobbly on her feet but every breath seemed to steady her. Thayne stood nearby, speaking with a couple of engineers. They gestured to one of the panels in the hallway, discussing the best way to get the problem fixed.

  They should probably just roll up their sleeves and get started. Cassie rubbed her eyes. Crash landed on the planet. The beam yanked us down here. How did it have so much force to be able to do that? What sort of power do these people have and when are they coming for us? I hope the marines are okay and ready for a fight.

  Cassie turned to Thayne. “I’m heading to the bridge,” she called. “Do you need anything from me before I go?”

  “No, Agent. I’m glad to see you up though.” Thayne paused. “Oh, let the captain know I am assisting the engineering team with restoration of key services.”

  “Okay.” Cassie headed off, hurrying to the first elevator. She wondered if it would be operational but it immediately opened. Five other crewmen were already crammed in. and she apologized as she joined them. They were pressed tightly together but each floor let someone off until they were near to the bridge.

  Cassie had two levels to travel alone and she stared into space, considering the possibilities. She’d seen power readings through the Orb before which might’ve been able to yank a ship out of orbit. The Pahxin talked about beams which they could use to tow or otherwise move objects about in space.

  The thing that caught them must’ve been the most highly advanced version of that device every constructed. Don’t go down that path, Cassie warned herself with a thought. You can’t start assuming you’ve found the pinnacle of anything when there are still so many planets you’ve never seen.

  The elevator opened and she stepped onto the bridge, gasping at the activity going on. Several engineers were bustling about, taking panels off and operating on the internals of the ship. Desmond sat in his chair and Vincent stood with Salina at her station, the two of them running diagnostics.

  Zach and Deacon collaborated at the helm, the latter typing things into a tablet. She wondered what they might be able to do without scans but didn’t interrupt them. Heading over to her own station, she sat down and tried to login. The computer brought back a connection error.

  “The network is currently down,” Salina said. “Engineering thinks we’ll have a connection established in a few minutes.”

  “Scans?”

  “They’re back up but the interface crashed hard.” Salina frowned. “Vincent and I are nearly done with our diagnostic and it should work shortly. I’m hopeful at least. What happened down in the tech lab?”

  “Computers caught fire,” Cassie said. “Thayne and I were brought down by smoke inhalation. Most of that room is wrecked. It’s going to take a while to make it useful again. God knows how many computer parts were totally ruined in there but I have a feeling we’ll have to replace everything.”

  “You really think so?” Vincent asked.

  “Even if we scan each part individually and they come back showing normal, there’s a chance the strain has reduced their life.” Cassie shrugged, turning in her chair to look at the viewscreen. “Are the cameras down too?”

  “Right now,” Salina said. “Shields are active through some miracle and we’ve got weapons … So we’re basically a stationary battle platform. The one thing I was able to determine with a hand scanner involved the fact we are still held in place by the strange beam that brought us down here. Oh, you know about that, right?”

  �
��Yes, I found out.” Cassie glanced back at her screen. The no connection error continued to flash. She pulled out her tablet and thanked a higher power it didn’t get destroyed when she fell down. Tapping at it, she brought up her own application for scanning and checked the network.

  Sure enough, the engineering team almost had it. They needed to correct some routing but otherwise, some parts of the ship were already back up and running. Even with the bridge on high priority, medical came online first followed by the still functioning technical lab. She thought about heading down there.

  “Where’s Gil?” Cassie asked. “Has anyone heard?”

  “Doctor Vaedra,” Vincent said, “was in his quarters when this happened. He’s currently in engineering assisting with the computer problem. I had no idea he was so good with the tech.”

  “They all are,” Salina replied. “Each Pahxin goes through technical training from a young age. Decades of space travel and honing your educational system ensured that they have the skills necessary to be in space and back each other up.”

  “Did you pick that up from some kind of exchange with their people?” Cassie asked. “When we were gearing up for this mission?”

  “Partially. But Thayne and Gil both talked about it.” Salina shrugged. “And … I think that we’re done with the scan interface. Now for the network.” She got on her knees and popped the panel under her console. “New parts are all holding up so as soon as they get us online, we’re ready to go.”

  Desmond turned in his seat. “Did I hear we’re almost back?”

  “Yes, sir,” Salina said. “Just a few more minutes.”

  “Vincent, do we have security ready? Just in case?”

  “They’re armed and ready to go in a central location so wherever they need to be … they’ll be.”

  “Good.” Desmond pointed at Cassie. “When you have network connectivity, I want a full run down of this technology. I assume you and Thayne got something before we crashed?”

  “Yes, and hopefully the data got backed up on the way down.” Cassie shook her head. “I’ll be honest, I don’t remember anything from the moment we started moving until I woke up so if whatever we discovered isn’t on the computer … Well …I suppose we can ask Thayne what he recalls.” She told him about what happened in the tech lab.

  Desmond winced. “I’m glad you’re alright. We’re all going to need a thorough check-up after this is over.” He returned to his own tablet.

  Cassie looked at the others. “How bad was it up here?”

  “The captain was knocked out,” Vincent said. “I got tossed into the wall but managed to take the blow with my shoulder. Shockingly, I suffered only a bruise. Salina busted up her knee and Deacon was totally fine. He managed to cling to his terminal and got shaken around but otherwise, as the engineers like to say, took no appreciable damage.”

  “Lucky him.” Cassie rubbed her eyes again, trying to fend off a sense of exhaustion. The unknown part of their situation finally hit her and she started to worry. Anything could be going on outside the hull. Aliens might’ve been on their way to capture them, if they weren’t already in some kind of facility.

  A sense of urgency weighed on Cassie and she tried to breathe through it. There was nothing to be done quickly. Operational status would happen but it required patience. None of them had it just then and she could feel the tension in every person around her. She wondered if they should consider arming the crew.

  If tensions get too high that might be a poor idea. Cassie considered the fact they were all under a great deal of stress and having a firearm probably wouldn’t help matters if people argued. Of course, the thought of two people shooting it out while they were trying to repair the ship didn’t make sense but then again, inexplicable things happened.

  Cassie thought about her life before she joined the Gnosis, the life of an analyst who spent most of her time training for a mission she thought would never come. Some of it bored her but as she sat there stranded on an alien world far from home, she wondered if she’d rather be there.

  Safety held a natural appeal but the men and women around her made the thought feel treasonous. They were in this situation together and Cassie hoped she might be able to contribute in a meaningful way, providing some service no one else could. If her presence helped, she knew she was where she belonged.

  Yes, sitting at home at a computer terminal sounded fantastic just then but once she got busy, she knew she’d forget about that. Home would never challenge her like traveling the stars. The men and women of the Gnosis asked her to do things she’d hardly considered before, real tasks requiring her to be creative and think.

  The AIA was more about crunching data than coming up with new ideas. Other people set the course, the rest of them simply did their part to get them there. Most of the time without having a clue as to how their efforts applied to the larger plan. When Dulain promoted Cassie to senior agent, she got a glimpse into the world she’d been forced to take for granted.

  I prefer knowing what’s going on to being safe and locked away. This is what I trained for and didn’t even know it. Applying myself to real problems rather than the tiny parts I was handed. Cassie turned back to her terminal and the new message interrupted her thoughts. It said connection established.

  “Looks like we’re back in business, everyone,” Cassie called. “My station’s ready to go and I’m going to start my scans now.”

  “We’re on it as well,” Salina said. “In a few minutes, we should know just how lucky we were … and potentially how little fortune we possess.”

  She just had to say that, Cassie thought as she brought her applications online. Always with the pessimism at the end.

  Chapter 2

  Vincent fought back a bout of frustration as he struggled to clear up communications from the bridge to other parts of the ship. Static continually saturated the lines, forcing people to repeat themselves multiple times. The inefficiency made their repair progress slow and it especially concerned him when it came to defending the ship.

  If they needed to fight, talking would be essential. He wondered if the beam holding them in place might be causing the interference but until Salina had a chance to use the scanner again, no one would know. There were other potential contributors to their problems, up to and including faulty relays.

  When Salina called out they were back online, Vincent nearly cheered but whatever started working for her did nothing to clear up his communications. “Captain, I’m heading to engineering to help coordinate from there for a time. I’m barely effective up here. There’s too much noise.”

  “I’ll hold this together,” Desmond replied. “Send me a text message if you have a report. We can keep the lines free for coordination between the repair teams.”

  “Yes, sir.” Vincent hit the elevator button and had to wait. He looked at Cassie, his gaze lingering for several moments before the doors hissed beside him. Once he was alone, he leaned against the wall and let out a long breath, closing his eyes. Exhaustion pressed at his eyes, mostly from the stress of the situation.

  And I didn’t even get hurt. Those who were tossed around must be absolutely miserable.

  The medical bay reported dozens of patients. Only a handful couldn’t return to duty but a few probably shouldn’t have. No one wanted to be stranded on an alien world and it became clear they’d rather work than stay in bed wondering. Under the circumstances, Doctor Holland let several of the crew leave when he normally wouldn’t have.

  I don’t blame him, Vincent thought. No one’s going to be a good patient right now. And I have a feeling Captain Bradford would push to get people on the job as soon as possible. Getting dragged to the surface definitely called for all hands on deck.

  Vincent disembarked and headed for engineering, surprised to find the hallway clear. Two guards stood near the closed door and saluted as he approached. “This seems quiet,” he said. “Isn’t that odd?”

  The two men exchanged looks between one anot
her before the one on the left answered. “Sir … Well … You’ll see in a moment.”

  Oh boy.

  The door to engineering opened and the silence outside was instantly shattered by the chaos within. Vincent stepped into the room and looked over the various technicians darting about, carrying tools and shouting information to one another. He wondered how they were able to get anything done with the way they were carrying on.

  Where the hell is Webber? How could he let it devolve into this?

  Vincent grabbed the arm of a man trying to dart by him and earned a glare. Once the technician saw who stopped him, his expression melted and he offered a sloppy salute. “I’m sorry, sir, I need to check something right away.”

  “Just direct me to the Chief Engineer, please.”

  “Back that way.” The tech gestured vaguely and hurried off.

  Vincent didn’t bother anyone else but tried to dodge his way through the crowd, moving toward the hyperdrive section. He found Chief Engineer Nathaniel Webber gesturing sharply at a panel with three people around him. They finished their conversation just as Vincent stepped up to them and the technicians dashed off.

  “What do you need, Bowman?” Webber glared. “I’m a little busy down here right now.”

  “I know, I’m here to help coordinate.” Vincent hummed. “Where can you use me?”

  “Um …” Webber gestured to the opposite side of the room. “We’re working on cleaning up coms. Help those guys over there. One of the best things we can do right now will be to make it easier to talk to each other. With the marines gearing up for potential trouble, I’m pretty sure they don’t want to be shouting old school.”

  “Likely not.” Vincent hesitated. “What do you think it’s going to take to get out of here? With that beam on us?”

  “Someone’s going to have to shut it off,” Webber replied. “There’s no way to break it, believe me. Doctor Vaedra helped confirm that. Apparently, it’s like their tractor beams only about a thousand times stronger. Whatever threw it on us can do it for a long time too because according to these readings from the surface of the ship, it’s still on.”