Wormhole (The Rho Agenda #3)(9)

“Was it?” Janet asked. “You know the odds that the wind catches your model plane and drops it down that canyon, right into the starship cavern?”

“Two chances in 3,423,851.” The words tumbled from Heather’s lips before she caught herself.

A smile lit Janet’s beautiful face. “Pretty slim odds.”

Mark shrugged. “Shit happens.”

“True,” said Jack. “But this might not be one of those times. Remember when I told you not to trust anyone completely, not even each other? Think about the agendas in play here. You’ve seen what your starship wanted to show you about its enemies. That doesn’t mean your Bandolier Ship has Earth’s best interests at heart. We think it’s trying to stop whatever the creators of the Rho Ship had in mind, but we don’t really know the Bandolier Ship’s original mission.”

Janet shifted to face Mark across the table. “And we don’t know why you were each drawn to a particular headset. Although all of you have been enhanced across the board, you each have special skills that are significantly different. Does that mean the headsets have certain crew positions to fill on the ship? Heather’s ability to calculate probable outcomes and evaluate strategies implies a command function. Mark, your physical and language enhancements would seem to fill a security officer role, while Jen’s computer expertise and ability to influence the thoughts of others could fill a communications and science officer function. We also know that once a headset attunes with someone, nobody else can use it while the original user still lives.”

Heather shook her head. “I’ve considered all that. Too many holes in the logic. What about the fourth headset? As far as we know, only two people have attuned with it, the Rag Man and El Chupacabra. Hardly starship crew candidates.”

“But with similar natures,” said Jack.

Jennifer shook her head “Ridiculous. A homicidal maniac crew position?”

Janet reached out, letting her fingers brush Robby’s curly brown hair as he rocked slowly back and forth. “It’s more common than you imagine. In the Soviet Union, it was standard procedure to place a political officer with every unit to ensure loyalty to the motherland. The Nazis used the Gestapo in a similar role. In Saudi Arabia, a volunteer clerical police force called the mutawa’ah enforce sharia law. Throughout the Middle East, religious police perform similar functions throughout society.”

“But not in Western governments,” Mark said.

“Don’t kid yourself. Even the US has its enforcers of politically correct thought. Whether they are internal security, internal affairs, internal revenue, or even some of the media, their mission is to make people toe the line. They wield special powers that inspire fear.”

“It doesn’t make them the Rag Man,” Heather interjected.

“No. But they’ll do whatever it takes to force people to conform. That kind of power attracts zealots and fanatics.”

“So you think we’re under some sort of alien influence?” Heather asked.

Jack shook his head. “If I thought that, I wouldn’t be training you. But we need to know everything we can about the intentions of both ships’ creators. We also need to learn everything we can about their technology. You’ve already done amazing work in this area, but we need to delve deeper. How do their weapons work? Not just the starship weapons, but personal weapons as well. What other technologies are hidden away? In the case of your Bandolier Ship, we have an in, the headsets. But that means you’re going to have to breach the ship’s internal security mechanisms and get access to the restricted parts of its computing systems.”

“You think I haven’t tried?” Jen asked. “Those systems are interwoven with complex fractal patterns that I haven’t even come close to cracking.”

“You’ll need to work together. While you have the headsets on you’re all linked to the ship and to each other. You share imagery, even thoughts. By focusing your combined talents on cracking one barrier at a time, you’ll have a chance.”

Heather exchanged fleeting glances with Mark and Jennifer before responding. “The ship isn’t stupid. Its computing systems function as a fully integrated expert system, possibly even an AI. It’s bound to have defenses against what we’ll be trying. Some of those might not be as passive as firewalls and encryption. It may lock us out completely, or worse.”

Jack nodded. “There is that risk. It’s why Janet and I have had you exploring the other systems through your headsets these last few weeks, letting you enhance your familiarity with the ship’s artificial intelligence in a nonaggressive manner. It’s why you’ll need to proceed with extreme caution, Jennifer’s skill guided by your mind and by Mark’s link to the security systems. I’m counting on you to find a path through those defenses.”

Mark inhaled deeply, cracking his knuckles as he breathed out. “Sounds interesting. I’m game.”

“Me too,” added Jennifer.

Feeling all eyes on her, Heather centered, thrusting aside a series of disconcerting visions that sought to pull her into the deep.

“Let’s do it.”





After dinner, Heather took her turn cleaning dishes before walking through the open alcove onto the veranda. It was a beautiful fall evening, temperature hovering in the high seventies, with just enough breeze to make the humidity comfortable.