On the Condor
Robert Bogdon
Orr, Michael J
As Jorgensen floats back into the Condor-B from the roof, Pope looks up at him.
“So , Mister Jorgensen, what’s the story.”
Jorgensen looks back at the Marine with a serious, pondering gaze.
“Bottom line, Staff Sergeant, we don’t have enough air for everyone for the 10 days it would take to tow the Condor-N back. The seals to the oxygen tanks have just about failed. Not really surprising, given the amount of time that has passed.”
Jorgensen then pauses for a moment to organize his thoughts, and then continues.
“We have a couple of options. One, we detach from the Condor-N, head back to the Bellerophon, re-equip with more life support supplies, and head back here. Two, we can call on the Bellerophon to send us another Condor with more supplies.
“I would suggest the second option, further, I would suggest that this Condor have two pilots and three weeks of supplies, food, water and air, for 10 people.”
JC Demers
Unfortunately for her, Emma didn’t quite like any of the options she was faced with. They could sit tight and wait. They could go back, refit the ship properly, and come back. Or, and this was the unspoken option, she make the call that no one would ever get the device: blow Condor-N to tiny little pieces. Every option had ups and downs. She remembered something her father had told her once, when she had been wondering what MOS to sign up for.
You know Emma, sometimes, having alternatives suck.
At the time, she had simply told him he was an idiot. Who didn’t like having choices? Right here and now, Emma didn’t. Having alternatives sucked. If they left and came back, the device would be unguarded. If they stayed, another jump capable ship could show up, armed to the teeth, and blow them away. If they blew Condor-N up right now, they would pass up on an incredible piece of technology. THE piece of technology. Emma’s first impulse, upon realizing on what they had stumbled upon, was that no one was truly worthy of something like this. She imagined this was how people felt when they first discovered the power of the atom. Having a ship capable of instantaneously travelling great distances meant… Well, it simply meant too much for Emma to really wrap her head around at this very moment. All she knew was that this device would only bring trouble… Others would want it. Others already wanted it. It had, apparently, sparked some kind of war back home. Home. Earth was so far away. It had been far away. Now, all of a sudden, it was right next door.
She had originally wanted to involved as few people as she could in the entire affair. The less people knew about what they had discovered, the safer they were. Operational Security was now her prime directive.
“Very well.” said Emma, nodding to Jorgensen.
“Chief, patch me through the Bellerophon. Get me Bellerophon-Actual.”
Robert Bogdon
JC Demers
“I’m sorry?” said Emma, rising out of the seat she had taken. Something was burning in the back of her eyes. “I’m not sure I heard you properly, Mister Carter. What did you just say?”
For a brief moment, Carter’s confusion was obvious. Frowning slightly, he opened his mouth halfway but no words came out. Emma had crossed the passenger cabin and was now standing a few inches away from his face. Up until today, he’d never seen her like this. Sure, she had a tendency to be somewhat blunt; but a woman who spoke her mind up didn’t bother him. And sure, throughout the morning physical training on the Bellerophon, she had been strict and pushed them hard. But never had he seen her face like this. Her brow was furrowed. Her eyes were boring straight through him. Carter felt like she could see the back of his head.
Carter swallowed hard and started to speak.
“Mam, I…”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP CARTER.” Yelled Emma at the top of her lungs, so close to Carter’s face he could see his own reflection in her eyes.
Silence hung heavily in the passenger cabin. Collett, still next to Jorgensen, had his arms folded and didn’t seemed fazed one bit by the situation.
“You better count yourself lucky you aren’t part of my chain of command Carter, or I swear to go, I would have you flogged right about now. This is MY mission, and I AM the one in charge. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!”
Lower lips quivering a bit, Carter froze on the spot.
“Are you fucking deaf as well as dumb Carter?! I asked you a goddamn question!”
Carter found his throat dry, but managed to speak.
“Yyy… Yes Staff Sergeant. I…. I understand.”
“I don’t give a damn if you’re a civilian. I don’t care if you’re the Bellerophon’s Chief Engineer. You could be God himself and I wouldn’t care. This is MY mission. This is MY ship. This is MY command, and you DO NOT take initiatives while under MY command, am I fucking crystal clear Carter!”
“Yes mam’.”
“Next time you go over my head Carter, I swear to everything you hold sacred that I will throw you out the airlock myself.” Said Emma, her eyes becoming two slits.
And then, she simply stood there, looking at him, still a mere inches away from his face.
“Jorgensen.” She called over her shoulder “get the towing rig in place. If you can’t, then get Carter here to go out and push the damn thing.”
For the first time since he had come out of cryo sleep, Collett smiled a bit.
Orr, Michael J
From: tdcg...@googlegroups.com [tdcg...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of JC Demers [deme...@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 2010 11:38 PM
To: tdcg...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: On the Condor
JC Demers
Orr, Michael J
JC Demers
"Unless you want to get me court martialed."
Orr, Michael J
JC Demers
Her seat reclined back, her fingers rubbing the bridge of her nose; Emma did her best to remain composed. She had never been someone who enjoyed sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing at all. Beside securing the other Condor, doing nothing had been her main task on this mission. She was pissed off at Carter for going over her head. She was pissed of at the Major for keeping them in the dark. And most of all, she was pissed off at herself for not bringing more oxygen. At this rate, if Foss took too much time deciding on his course of action, they’d be forced to head back and leave the derelict ship here.
With a sigh, she peered down the length of the passenger cabin. She’d ordered the rest of the squad to keep their movement and talks to a bare minimum. Sure, they still had more than enough air to make the trip back. But then again, Emma wouldn’t be very surprised if Foss came up with some ridiculous plan that would get most of them killed.
She took one more impatient look at the data display screen mounted on her forearm. Two hours was a long time… especially when all you had to do was sit on your own two hands and wait.
Unbuckling herself from the seat, she drifted toward the cockpit’s open door. Grabbing hold of frame, she steadied herself.
“Any word from the Bellerophon?”
Robert Bogdon
Orr, Michael J
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 6:13 PM
JC Demers
Through her earpiece, Emma could hear Jorgensen’s assessment of the situation. In a nutshell, he saw things the same way she did, which she was glad of. The worries she had weren’t geared toward the device itself, but rather towards what it represented. She only hoped the Major also realized what it meant.
“Major. Sir. I need to speak to you directly.”
Over the radio link, Emma heard Foss sigh. “Hold on Sergeant.”
There was a brief lull of static, before the line clicked on again. Somehow, the Major’s voice seemed closer.
“This better be important Sergeant, because you just made me walk across the room.”
“First of all Major, I agree with Mister Jorgensen’s assessment of the situation, sir. The device appears to be offline, and shouldn’t pose any physical threat. I am a bit more concerned about the stability of the nuclear reactors that power it, sir. We got some strong readings when we boarded the Condor… but nothing outside safety margins, sir.”
“I don’t have time to play games, Pope. What is it?”
“Well sir, I would strongly recommend we keep the civilian elements of our crew in the dark about this find. The situation appears to have turned volatile back on Earth, mainly because of the creation of this device. I strongly believe that the mere possession of this device puts our mission, the ship and the crew in danger, sir. People apparently killed each other to acquire this piece of technology.
“We have no idea who will come looking for it, and what their intentions and capabilities will be, sir. My team has already been sworn to secrecy, and all mission data concerning this operation have been sealed, sir. Chief Carter and Mister Jorgensen also know very clearly that we didn’t find anything beside a derelict ship. I believe they understand that if they discuss anything that happened on this mission, I will put them up against the bulkhead and shoot them myself, sir. We need to make access to this ship off limit… cover it up by stating to the crew that it is radioactive, and must be isolated in one of the cargo bay, sir.”