“How sure are we that the launch wasn’t detected?” Jorphin asked.
“We launched as soon as the window following the event opened. Even if their sensors came back online immediately, it's unlikely they would have caught the launch. We should be away clean, old friend,” Morvex said.
The shuttle hung in space near Titan, the gas giant Saturn on the viewscreen. The six Orlesian infiltrators had been in orbit around the huge moon for three days, taking care to stay well clear of satellite depth and the sensor cone of the Titan settlement defense system. Morvex had been in an ecstatic mood since they left Earth’s atmosphere, almost to the point of giddiness. He sat in the main cabin of the large shuttle with the device open in front of him, face awash in the dim glow of the large holo-display. Jorphin, Shoren and Gareth were lounging in the other acceleration couches, watching Morvex fiddle with the device controls. The pilots, the other two members of Morvex’s infiltration team, were in the sealed cockpit. Morvex’s eyes narrowed, and he frowned.
“What’s wrong, welesio?” Jorphin asked, sitting forward.
“The device has safeguards against tampering, which makes sense given what it does,” Morvex said, “The strange thing is, that even though Dr. Hamachi’s retinal scan allowed me to open a spatial doorway, it doesn’t allow for opening a temporal one. In fact, the screen only has an input for spatial coordinates, and I am having trouble figuring out how to input a timestamp.”
Jorphin frowned and stood up, “Perhaps it’s some sort of lockout in case the device was taken? It would make sense to devise a way to prevent the device being used.”
“Gareth, put the lenses Jorphin used, Baxter’s, in and come here for a moment,” Morvex said.
Gareth stood up, sliding the lenses into his eyes, and walked over to Morvex. Morvex stood, and placed himself shoulder to shoulder with Gareth, then activated the device. There was a flash of blue light, and the holo-screen sprung to life, “Dual authorization activated, primary user, enter your security clearance code,” a computerized voice said, startling Morvex into nearly dropping the device.
“2279, Hamachi, Thomas Akira. Security override Charlie, delta, delta, lima, Oscar, one, seven, two, one, nine,” Morvex said, and there was a slight pulse from the device.
“Authorization approved, spatial travel authorized. Enter secondary security authorization to access temporal travel.”
Gareth glanced down at the tablet Jorphin had handed him, “6815, Baxter, Calvin James. Security override kilo, Oscar, Victor, alpha, Romeo, one, nine, seven, two, nine.”
“Error, Calvin Baxter is not authorized to unlock access to temporal travel. Temporal travel not authorized,” the computer voice said.
Morvex swore, “This is not good. We need a retinal scan and authorization code for someone else who is authorized to unlock this thing. Where the hell are we going to get that?”
“Actually, it might be easier than we think. There must be another doctor in the lab who is authorized, only killed the two technicians, not any of the doctors,” Gareth said, “The device likely has an internal security system that only updates when it is connected to the larger system, which means that if we stash the device somewhere it won't update, and find an authorized user, we can open a gate, and use the same tactics we used to obtain the other credentials.”
“Will that work, Gareth?” Morvex asked, eyebrows raised, “We would need to do it ourselves; we have to assume all of our agents have been compromised. Do we have the scanning device required to take the codes without setting off alarm bells all over Earth?”
“Theoretically, yes. As long as we can access the recent key commands of the personal terminal of whoever we choose, we should be able to use the same back door that our agents set up. The key is going to be getting in and out quietly, and the tranquilizer we use for obtaining the retina scan. We need to be able to get in the person’s private quarters and leave no trace or memory of our arrival and exit,” Gareth said, already checking the ship’s inventory, “We have three possible serums that could work, though none of them are the same as the one used in the initial mission.”
“We’ll have to make do,” Morvex said, “We have the spatial gate, so getting in and out will be the easy part. The way I see it, the difficult thing will be getting the right person. Make contact with command and see what assets we still have. Nothing matters more than getting this device working. It is our only priority”
***
Kovar strode into General Wills office, Jensen and Haskins on his heels. Wills was seated behind his desk and Baxter stood to his left, a cup of coffee in his hands. When Wills looked up and saw the three enter, his eyes narrowed.
“What’s this, Alcorn?” Wills said, nodding at the two junior officers, “I said bring your XO. Why is Haskins here?”
“Impending change in command structure, sir. I’ve briefed Jensen of the change, but I’ll need him to train Haskins before handing off the responsibility. I felt it prudent to bring them both.”
“You felt it prudent, colonel? Need I remind you of the extreme degree of sensitivity around this issue?”
“Sir, if whatever you are about to tell us wasn’t actionable, I doubt I’d be here. So, being that this is likely actionable intelligence, Haskins would be briefed sooner rather than later anyway,” Kovar said, his eyes not wavering from Wills’, “Her insight would be more helpful now than after I’ve tried to put a mission together.”
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Wills stared at Kovar for a long minute, then nodded, “Sound reasoning. Fifteen minutes ago, we received a transmission from Titan, it was low priority and only hit my desk because Sergeant Arias is on top of shit in a way few others are. Titan Settlement sent a low priority identification request for a small craft in high orbit. Chances are that a week ago that ship would have gone unnoticed, but the settlement science team put a high orbit satellite in place two days before the event to collect data from the solar flare.”
“And we think it’s Ecthelion?” Kovar asked.
“We do, although the ship matches the profile of an Earth vessel, we have no record that anyone flying a ship of that configuration should be anywhere near Titan. And definitely not in a high geosynchronous orbit.”
“Has the settlement tried to raise them on comms?” Haskins asked, earning a glare from Wills and Baxter, causing her to flush a deep crimson.
“That is the right question, sir,” Kovar said, “She just got it out before I did. I’m assuming that the Titan Settlement is either unable to raise them or are waiting for us to confirm it’s one of ours.”
“Exactly,” Wills said, “We need to discuss next steps.”
“Uh, sir?” Haskins said, a tentative expression on her face.
Wills turned to her, then looked at Kovar, who nodded, “Yes, lieutenant?”
“We can have a team to Titan in an hour, it’s a short jump. I think the best thing to do is to communicate to Titan Settlement that the ship is one of ours and that they should not attempt communication, as the ship is on a blackout training mission, Haskins said, her words becoming more confident as she spoke, “Ask them to track the ship’s location to ensure it doesn’t interfere with the settlement’s satellites or security systems, and otherwise ignore them. Send the message on the same low priority channel, since whoever is aboard that ship is likely monitoring the high priority, emergency, and command channels thinking a ship being found in orbit would warrant a response on one of those channels.”
Wills looked at Kovar, who raised one eyebrow and shrugged. The general turned to Baxter, who had been nodding along with Haskins as she spoke. When he turned his gaze back on Haskins, she was white as a sheet, but her eye contact and body language exuded a calm confidence, “Alcorn,” Wills said, his eyes not leaving Haskins, “Prep a team, I’ll handle the return communication to Titan. You get there as quickly as possible and find Ecthelion. Haskins, if you ever get tired of Alcorn’s antics, there is a place for you here at command.”
Haskins’ face flushed deeply, and she suppressed a grin, “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“Alcorn, Baxter and I have had a running argument about whether you’re really as good as everyone thinks, or if you have a knack for surrounding yourself with people who make it look like you are. Haskins here is a point against Baxter’s argument. Prove me wrong.”
“Yes, sir,” Kovar said, suppressing a grin of his own.
Outside Wills’ office, Jensen grinned, “God damn, Haskins. You sure know how to shut the brass up. I feel better about whose hands my team,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Kovar, “And this hothead ends up in.”
Kovar smacked Jensen on the back of the head, “Let’s go brief the team.”
***
Morvex was engrossed in the command windows of the holographic display being projected from the device, pulling up sub-menu after sub-menu. He pulled up a menu for entering coordinates, both spatial and temporal, and noticed that the temporal coordinates entry was still grayed out. At the bottom of the menu, he noticed several sub-menu tabs, one of which was labeled “Authorized User List.” Eyes narrowing, he opened the tab and a security override screen popped up.
“Please enter security credentials to unlock authorized user list,” The toneless computer voice droned.
A smile crept onto Morvex’s lips, as he began to recite the security key, “2279, Hamachi, Thomas Akira. Security override Charlie, delta, delta, lima, Oscar, one, seven, two, one, nine.”
“Security credential accepted.”
As soon as the computerized voice faded away, the sub-menu opened, and a list of names populated.
Authorized User List:
* Hamachi, Thomas A. - Full Access
* Zhou, Qiang X. - Full Access
* Anderson, Michael R. - Spatial Access
* Teller, Alyssa M. - Spatial Access
* Hernandez, Jasmine I. - Full Access
* Baxter, Calvin M. - Spatial Access
* Alcorn, Kovar J. - Full Access
Morvex’s eyes went wide as he read the list, “What the hell?”
“What is it?” Gareth asked, concern in his voice.
“I think we may be able to kill two birds with one stone, old friend. Come take a look at this.”
Gareth stood and and walked over to where Morvex sat, peering over his commander’s shoulder at the holographic display. When he saw the last entry on the list, he snapped his gaze at Morvex, “What the fuck? How?”
“I have no idea, but I know what our next move is. We need to get to Hissaria Vestenor.”
“Morvex, that is dangerous. Using the boy’s mother will put him into a corner, and he is dangerous at the best of times. If you take away his options...” Gareth said.
“Hissaria, like her brother, is one of my oldest friends, Gareth. I would never hurt her, and the boy knows that. But, if I can get her to convince him to meet with me,” Morvex said.
“The boy is a special operations commander, he’ll never turn.”
“We don’t need him to turn, Gareth. We just need to get close enough to take him. And I think that can be arranged if he thinks I’m willing to talk and not act.”
“Morvex,” Gareth said, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Think about what you’re saying. The boy is as smart as any tactical genius, almost as smart as you, even. You really think that he would get within a thousand meters of you once he knows you have the device? He’s on the authorized user list, he wouldn’t risk it.”
Alarms blared through the ship as one of the pilots rushed out of the cockpit and into the main cabin, “Sir, the proximity sensors detected a ship jumping in. It is a standard One Earth Special Operations configuration, an FA-1179 Drop/Assault Vessel.”
Morvex and Gareth looked at each other, as the pilot waited nervously for orders. Morvex’s brow furrowed wondering how they were located, then his eyes went wide, “It’s him. Gareth, he doesn’t know.”