The Jovian Conflict

Chapter 5

The Jovian Conflict

Curiosity

Romeo rushed to get his ZLI jacket on as he left his room. Ashely was already waiting for him in the hallway. Even though he had slammed the door shut in his haste, she failed to notice him. Her mind was elsewhere, far away from Callisto and far away from the Jovian sector. It was back on Earth, where her husband waited patiently for her to finish her last mission. Well, she had told him it was her last mission, but she hadn't sent in her resignation letter yet.

That didn't matter now. It seemed like they were as good as dead. Moments when such sorrowful emotion would flash on Ashley's face for just a beat made Romeo extremely happy he didn't have to deal with the stress of having a family. There was no one waiting for him. Nobody would have to cry if he never made it back from space. Watching her play with the ring that graced her delicate hands made his heart clench for a moment. That was one poor sucker waiting on Earth for her, but Romeo felt it was partially his duty to see them reunited. Even if he didn't have to worry about his own family, he still found himself worrying about the families of his crew.

His hand grabbed her shoulder and she jumped. Composed immediately, her commanding voice nearly shouted, "For Christ sake, Escobar, you kept me waiting for a good ten minutes!"

He ignored her complaint. They both began their journey toward the JOC Patrol HQ. He asked, "Have you heard from Kit or Shelton?"

She shook her head and answered, "No. Let's hope they're alright."

Romeo could only nod in agreement. Silence invaded. Together they stepped into the lift and remained quiet as they watched the floors countdown. The atmosphere was tense. It always was between the two of them; the hardened space explorer against the bookworm Doctor, two people that were constantly at odds with each other. Ashley saw Romeo as a gruff grease monkey, an unrefined space hick; he could only see her as a pretentious diva, a snob that didn't have a practical understanding of a dang thing. She was the Captain, book smart but without experience, no more than a corporate pencil pusher. He had learned everything he did by simply doing it, and he held others to such a high standard he was considered a Drill Sergeant. Their crew respected them and feared them, but for some reason they couldn't find themselves ever on equal footing.

Until now. He still wanted to strangle her and she wanted to slap the s**t out of him, but for the first time the respect was being acknowledged rather than briefly appearing before fading into an intense, competitive attitude. Losing their entire crew – their family in space – and then needing to survive had pushed those feelings along. Now, paranoid and still without a safe haven, they simply had to team up and figure their situation out. The lives of Shelton and Riedel depended on them working together and getting off that frozen hellhole.

The door to the lift opened and staring back at them was their current obstacle – the Jovian Outpost Callisto Patrol. Untested and untrusted, despite "rescuing" them, neither the engineer nor the doctor felt comfortable near these armed frontiersmen. Defiantly, they stood with arms crossed as they waited for the JOC Patrol to either get out of the way or issue an order. There were about a dozen armed guards, dressed in that dreadfully bleak iced grey, all with guns trained on them.

The only one who wasn't pointing a weapon at them was their commander, Simon. Arms folded neatly behind his back, he tried to pierce through the two with sharp eyes. Neither budged. He spoke with alarming authority when he said, "I need you to follow me. Now."

They complied. Partially out of the will to survive and partially due to curiosity, they were quick to be at the heels of Simon. Surrounded by the JOC Patrol, they were herded to a back exit that had them leaving the lodging sector immediately. Down a moving walkway, through another strange door, through a hallway, and then into a lift they went. Soon they stopped trying to mentally map they place and they focused on the tension the JOC Patrol emitted. They were on edge, but why? Romeo and Ashley both peered at each other and silently understood it was best to remain calm.

Finally they were brought into an office larger than the rooms they had slept in. Adorning the walls were countless screens and maps, all projecting different parts of the base and the sector; some carried blueprints and specs. A few of them were blacked out the moment Ashley and Romeo stepped through the doorway. It didn't go unnoticed.

Simon threw his hand into the air and the dozen guards saluted before filing out. Left in room with only Simon a few essential personnel, the two felt their bodies tense. He noticed and said, "Relax. Nothing's going to happen. Have you had anything to eat? To drink?"

"We're fine," Romeo harshly answered. It was a lie; both had been too on edge to eat a bite since they had gotten to Callisto.

In order to appear more at ease, Simon leaned against the large meeting table situated in the middle of the room. He motioned to some nearby chairs but both refused the offer. He folded his hands in front of his body and tried to look as friendly as he could. It was tough.

"I feel like you two have questions you want answered. So I'm here to answer them," he said.

Ashley furrowed her brow and said, "Why would you think that?"

"Because the other two started a riot in the hospital and we haven't seen them since," he announced. The news clearly surprised them. Romeo snatched Ashley's wrist, anchoring himself while protecting her. She shrugged off the gesture.

"What happened?" she inquired.

Simon sighed. "I don't know. I assume it has something to do with your mysterious crash. Doctor Riedel was rambling to his nurse about how your ship had been sunk by an artificial entity. Shot down."

Ashley could sense immediately that Simon put his guard up. There was something about the accusation that bothered him. He wasn't shocked by it or offended. It was something else entirely. She couldn't trust him. What other options did they have, though? It was time to prod further, to see how much information Simon would give up and try to get a feel how much was being covered up.

"Do you mind explaining to me the need for the JOC Patrol? And the blackouts in sectors and on projects?" she asked.

He eyed her, try to gauge what she was digging for. He answered, "That is information only people with a Q-Class clearance can get access to."

"That's good. I have a Q-Class clearance."

He didn't believe her. Doing his best to keep up his friendly attitude, he smiled and said, "I'm afraid I don't believe you, Doctor Braun. There are only twenty-three Q-Class clearance holders that reside outside of JOC. I'll have to see your paperwork."

"Q-Class clearance is, in case you are unaware, granted to ZLI personnel only on the recommendation of Antanas Fedorov. There is no 'paperwork.' Scan my retinas, take a blood sample, get a finger print, then run the data. If you don't get a result, you can call Fedorov and get a confirmation directly from him. I have his home number, if you're interested."

His smile fell. The hands that were calmly folded in front of him twisted. Now his arms were crossed over his chest, which was puffed out as he ceased his leaning against the table. Romeo felt his fists ball up in defense. It was time to watch her carefully; she was always the first to throw a punch.

There was a harsh snap in Simon's tone as he spoke, "Just because you sucked his d**k good enough for him to give you gifts doesn't mean I'm allowing you to see classified information."

Romeo couldn't stop the laugh that flew from his lips. When her faced twisted into rage, the laugh only grew more. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't stop her from crossing the gap between them and Simon. Before the last howl of amusement escaped Romeo, Ashley reeled back and decked Simon across the cheek. It stung, but wasn't enough to knock him down. Tenderly, he touched his lip were blood has started to pool and run.

He scowled. She stood mere inches from him, her face dangerously close to his. If she was trying to scare him, she was failing miserably. Her proximity meant he could use a frighteningly low and harsh tone when he growled, "You really want to know? I'll show you."

He spun away from her and touched the table before them. Romeo had to sneak up next to the two as they watched the tabletop reveal the blueprint of the entire outpost. Even the sectors that had gone dark were available for the two to see. As he clicked around, more and more maps and data were brought before them. They couldn't take it all in as quickly as it appeared.

Simon explained, "The JOC is two levels, as you know. We were the first Jovian mining colony established. Unfortunately, the mines are running out of usable material. Our economy is in bad shape. We're not just a work facility. We're a city, a home to many. A jumpstart was needed. We couldn't just send people into space and tell them good luck. So the JOPA decided to reimagine our outpost. Not as a mining colony. As a research facility."

"What could you be 'researching' that requires so much security?" Romeo asked his curiosity evident in his voice. His mechanical mind was trying to tear apart all the images in front of him. So far, it all appeared routine. Space travel, space physics, astrobiology… nothing required classification.

Simon slid his hand across the screen, allowing a few smaller ones to appear. He tapped on one and enlarged it. "JOPA doesn't want certain parties to know that they're turning such an important outpost into something else. JOC isn't going to be an outpost anymore. It's going to be a base. A home base."

"For what?" Ashley questioned. By this point, their sense of danger had been completely replaced with a sense of intrigue. Forgetting their fears and giving way to curiosity is exactly what made them such great explorers and engineers. Simon felt a small amount of respect toward them for that, at least.

Simon's hand skimmed one last time across the table. It went black. Now their attention was focused solely on him as he announced, "For a new nation. A new government. All for a new people. People of space. We're not astronauts, we're not explorers, and we're not pioneers anymore. We're Jovian. We demand and deserve our own representation, our own sovereignty. Wouldn't you agree?"

Ashley titled her head, carefully choosing her words. Her hesitation was clear when she started out by saying, "Umm… tsk. Well, yeah. I guess. But why?"

"All of our resources, our income, and our lives are taken by and dictated by an entity that has neither our interests nor our rights in mind," Simon answered, as though it should have been very clear.

Ashley grabbed Romeo's arm and hauled him a few meters away and whispered, "This guy is full of shit."

"So much I can smell it. What's he really up to?"

She shook her head. "No idea. Did you catch anything on the screen? He flipped through it really fast."

"Nada. Plans for new space drives, a few ideas of force fields, maybe an energy packet."

"Packet?"

"Like a magazine for a gun."

A shrieking alarm sounded and broke them from their conversation. Simon didn't let his mask crack as the female's voice announced, "Two intruders in the vehicle bay. Two intruders in the vehicle bay." Somehow, Romeo and Ashley felt as though they knew it was Shelton and Riedel. They spun around, desperate to dash out of the room. Instead, they found themselves staring at the barrel of a pistol.

Simon smirked when he saw them straighten. A gun was the best negotiator. There was something arrogant about his voice when he sneered, "I'll let you in on another secret, Doctor Braun. The Quantum was sunk and Her remains are scattered on Callisto, just as your hunk of junk Interceptor. I got what I wanted from it. As for your ship, I got what I wanted from it, too. Doctor Kit Riedel is the best damned cosmochemist and astrophysicist in JOPA and you're not so bad at astronomy yourself. These other two? Tagalongs. Worthless. Consider them dead."