The Jovian Conflict

Chapter 7

The Jovian Conflict

Connecting

The JOC Patrol didn't bother chasing them for long. Once everything seemed clear, Romeo found a nice hiding spot. It was a large ice cavern, probably carved out during the early mining days of Callisto. Any patrols that flew overheard wouldn't notice them and the vehicle they commandeered was equipped with a radar jammer. They were safe for the moment. Every second they had needed to be spent on finding a way off Callisto, so that cavern was definitely a lifesaver.

The military vehicle they resided in was fully charged and fully loaded with supplies. Its dashboard display relayed the facts: they had seven-hundred-ninety-nine hours of life support and battery power; the air recycling system was operating at ninety-eighty percent efficiency. As long as they didn't run out of food, they could survive for an entire month inside that contraption. In order to prolong their life, Romeo had shut down all but essential functions of the vehicle. This left them in near complete darkness, with only very, very low orange lights as their company.

Romeo had dug around and found some food while Shelton spent agonizing time working on their radio. No one bothered to ask what he was doing. The only conversation held at all came when Romeo asked him, "Do you even know what you're doing, kid?"

"Sure thing, Sarge. You know, I helped design these," Shelton said. He tore away from his work long enough to make sure Romeo was listening. All he got in response was an annoyed scowl.

"You say that about everything," Romeo accused.

Shelton shrugged, "It's true. You're sitting in a Zimmerman-Li IFV Nocnitsa, Type IV. This baby was created specifically for use on other worlds with lower gravity, and it looks like the JOCs added special features to deal with the icy surface and a few weapons that shouldn't exist. Basic internal workings are all the same, though."

To this, Romeo could only take another bite of the dry and bland ration cracker in his hand. Despite both being engineers, their specialties were vastly different and it showed occasionally. Their chances of survival were increased by having four people of four different science backgrounds together. Romeo almost laughed out loud once he realized where his mind had gone. Already he had forgotten about his dead comrades on the Interceptor. His brain was focused on surviving.

He sighed. The noise seemed to echo inside that tin coffin and it caused Shelton to look at him again. Conversation continued when Romeo said, "You know something, kid? I can't imagine living on Earth anymore. Even when I was a kid, I'd look up and want to leave. Stars were more interesting than dirt, I guess. Been flying since I was ten. Reached space when I was fifteen. Haven't stopped working since. Over twenty years, kid. I've seen a lot of accidents. Watched a lot of people die. Never thought I'd be stuck on this iceberg, though. I'm not going to be another casualty of space."

Shelton waited patiently to see if Romeo had anything more to say. It was clear he was finished. Romeo's gaze had gone distant, his eyes glazed over in frustration and determination. The way his nostrils flared and his fists had balled up was all the evidence Shelton needed. He knew his friend well enough to pick up on such obvious clues. So he went back to the radio and kept working. He confessed, "You're not the only one, Sarge. Well, I grew up in a city where the lights were so bright I couldn't see the stars. When you're denied something, you want it even more. It was tough getting to space without even finishing grammar school, but luckily, I've got connections. And now, to get us out of here, I've got to reconnect with those connections."

That was Romeo's cue to leave Shelton alone. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. Sleep was desperately needed. Unfortunately, he knew it wasn't going to come easily. Behind them, Riedel's heavy breathing was getting worse by the minute. The injury on his side had been ripped open during their runaway attempt, and Ashley had just finished stitching it up again. Even if he had been pumped full of pain medicine, he was still trying to shake off the effects of the strange drug given to him at the Outpost Hospital.

Ashley packed away the remaining first aid supplies before she lightly grabbed Riedel's arm and asked, "How are you feeling?"

His face was pale and sweat was pouring off his brow. He smiled regardless. "Better. I think that s**t is wearing off. I can barely remember anything after I went to the hospital."

Romeo choked on the last bit of his ration cracker and broke up the conversation. After a few hardy hits on his chest, everything cleared up. His eyes jumped from Shelton to Ashley and they read him loud and clear. It was best not to tell Riedel of his antics. Perhaps if he didn't know he had killed, he could survive with a few less battle scars.

Ashley lightly brushed away Riedel's falling bangs and caressed his cheek. "I'm just glad you're okay, sweetie," she whispered.

"Me, too, hon. We'll be alright."

"Yuck! You guys gross me out! Aren't you both married?!" Romeo shouted. They couldn't see his expression, but a grin had smeared itself across his face. Any chance to rile up Doctor Braun was absolutely worth it. He could imagine her eyes roll when she slapped him on the back of the head.

"I stay out of your personal life, stay out of mine!"

Riedel didn't say anything, but his breathing did stop for a moment. The only noise after Ashley's retort came from Romeo and Shelton as they snickered to each other. For a second, it felt as though they were back on their ship, loafing in the Jovian sector as they awaited their next mission. It comforted them – even Ashley and Riedel – to hear the good natured ribbing and feel emotions that truly had no place in the current predicament.

Shelton brought them back to the present when he announced, "I think I've got it."

His eyes went to one of the small monitors above the windshield and everyone followed. A few blinks of the screen and it came into focus. Revealed to them was a middle aged man, lying in bed, his hair disheveled and chin in need of a shave. He had no qualms about displaying his displeasure all over his face. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he answered the video call, "This is Fedorov, what is it?"

"Holy s**t, it worked," Shelton breathed, somewhat surprised.

It was then that Antanas Fedorov recognized at lease one of the faces peering back at him. "Shelton, I know all JOPA clocks are set Vladivostok time. What the hell is the matter with you, calling me at one in the morning?" he seethed.

"Are you alone?"

Antanas just stared back at him in silence as he took in the scene. It was a fuzzy video, but it was clear that they were not onboard their ship. The lights were low, with the screen giving off the most glow. All he could see was Shelton's face, part of Romeo's forehead, and Ashley's chest. Something was wrong. Shelton watched as Antanas glanced over his shoulder at whomever it was that slept beside him. He wasn't alone. An exasperated sigh came from his lips and he said, "Hold on a moment." Antanas reached out and pushed a few buttons on his video phone before it went black.

Alone amongst themselves again, Romeo raised a brow and asked, "This is your connection? How exactly is a street thug like you friends with the guy in charge of ZLI and JOPA? He's probably the most powerful businessman in all of civilization."

"It's a long story. Let's just say we owe each other a lot," Shelton said. Not one to question more than necessary, Romeo let the matter drop. He would learn whenever Shelton felt the need to tell.

The screen flickered back to life. Now they were inside Antanas's study. Groggy, he still hadn't fully woken up and it was evident the way his eyes were barely open. He folded his arms over his chest and got straight to the point, "What happened?"

Shelton waited for Ashley to answer, as she normally did. When she remained silent, he explained, "We were called to repair an astrobiology ship near Callisto when we were sunk."

"Shelton, you're in space. Ships don't sink," Antanas said.

"Thank you!"

Antanas tilted his head and said, "An American? Escobar?" Shelton nodded. "Who else survived?"

"Doctor Riedel and Doctor Braun."

"Well, at least if you have the Captain around you won't get bored," Antanas smirked.

"Funny," was her dry response.

It was time to get serious. Antanas's expression hardened in the blink of an eye. "Damn. That means thirteen people are dead," he whispered to himself. It was loud enough that the others heard it, and it struck them all hard in the gut. "Where are you now? Are you close enough that JOC can reach you in time?" When Shelton didn't answer, but rather had his face contort in strange expression of hurt, Antanas recognized a small tint of panic. "What is it?"

This time, Ashley did speak first. "That's the problem. JOC Patrol shot us down. Apparently they want me and Doctor Riedel for something."

"JOPA is not authorized to use weapons," Antanas stated. The tone of voice was that of a businessman irked by a bad deal rather than one of surprise.

"Well they have them and they use them. They're developing more, too. We didn't gather much intel – 'cause, you know, trying to save our asses and everything – but it looks like they're doing a lot of unauthorized s**t," Ashley said.

"How fast can you get us an evac?" Romeo asked.

Antanas didn't respond immediately. He was deep in thought, trying to find a root cause of their situation. It was clear that reports were not finding their way to his desk. Now he had a problem that couldn't be solved easily. Unfortunately, there was no police authority in space yet as only private enterprises had ventured out that far. Since his was the only one with any real reach or power beyond Earth, this was purely an internal matter, even if people had been murdered. There was no backup to call. Each step made from here on in had to be done with the lives of his employees and the image of his company in mind.

If he were to answer honestly, he would have to tell them that there was no guarantee he could rescue them. Instead, he said, "I'll get you out soon. I have a few calls to make. Don't do anything stupid or heroic."

The call was ended. In the silence of his study, Antanas pinched the bridge of his nose as he wallowed in thought. A hand went to push a button to call his secretary but stopped right above it. She wasn't there to answer. No one worked at one in the morning. Exasperated, he sighed and scratched his head. He wasn't even sure where to start. Callisto was a hell of a journey from Earth.

The door to his study cracked open. A woman inched her head inside and asked, "What's wrong, baby?"

Antanas waved her off. "Just work stuff, honey. Go back to bed, okay?"

She nodded and slinked back out. Back in silence he returned back to thought. He ran through a list of names that would be useful. Many of them he wouldn't bother at such an ungodly hour. He started to wonder what else had been going on in space without his knowledge or permission. All of the people that were in charge up there had been handpicked by him personally, much as how the crews of repair ships were personally handpicked. He could run the entire roster of every organization through his head, but he couldn't find anyone that would do something against his wishes.

Something big had changed in the Jovian sector when he wasn't paying attention, and now he had to fix it. In the meantime, he had to create a list of families that were about to receive the awful news that their loved one had been killed in a space accident.

"It wasn't a f*****g accident," he cursed to himself as he wrote the first name down. Business called for him to lie about it. In his mind he hoped he could fix the situation quickly so no more lies were needed.