The Jovian Conflict

Chapter 16

The Jovian Conflict

Dreams

Frankie stood back, his hand holding his chin and he silently watched the two scientists that had been "recruited" look over the dozens of plans and blueprints he had presented to them. This was classified information. If Antanas ever saw any of it, Frankie would definitely lose his position. Hell, the crazy son of a b***h might have Frankie killed. It was a risk he had to take. The addition of Riedel and Braun would not go to waste. Still, he had to be cautious with them. Perhaps around the clock surveillance would do. Of course, what could he do if they decided to tell Antanas, anyway? He couldn't just have them killed…

"The distance is the same as from here to Earth. Travel time is two weeks. We'd have to find a way to minimize the travel time to Saturn by – what? – eighty percent? I'm not sure if this drive could do it. Max speed would only reach…"

Doctor Riedel had a really annoying voice. It grated on Frankie's ears. It was almost like every time he spoke, he might as well have just punched Frankie right in the face. The pitch was just so foreign. A slight hack in his accent only made it more irritating.

"The problem is we're focusing on traditional propulsion. I think it's time we tapped into that theory you had during the smuggler war a few years ago…"

Then there was Doctor Braun. Again, her accent was strange. Only Earthlings had a weird twitch to their words and they spoke with a beat that was slow and precise. It didn't matter to him. Ever since he first saw that picture of her, he was infatuated. Maybe it the idea of her more than the reality, but he was a damn good dreamer.

Simon watched Frankie's expression act as a wave, with his lips and brows twisting and turning at every moment. Whenever Riedel spoke, he scrunched up his face; when Braun spoke or moved, he would relax and smile just a tad. It was an interesting display of obvious emotions. It angered Simon beyond words that he had to be nice to Braun and Riedel after she and her crew nearly had him killed. He was trying to move past it. Every time she would look at him, though, he could see the pure disgust in her eyes.

"Excuse me, Commander."

Someone handed Simon a notepad. He didn't even bother to see who it was, as his glare remained focused on Braun and Riedel. Once the notepad was secure in his grip, he looked down to read it. Its contents were enough to make his hands tighten even more. The sound of the supposedly impenetrable screen cracking pulled Frankie away from his ogling.

As Simon's body quaked with the sudden rush of fury, Frankie inched his way over to the commander. He peaked over the shaking hands of Simon and tried to read through the cracked screen. Flashing at the top of the display was a red warning. Below the flashing words two pictures could be found, each labeled with a name: Romeo Escobar and Shelton Lund, both ZLI space engineers attached to the crew list of the Interceptor.

Realization hit Frankie fairly hard. Braun had lied about her crew. It shouldn't have surprised him, but it struck him deep. He didn't like being betrayed. Hurriedly he snatched Simon's shoulder and spun the commander around. He led him away, his arm around Simon's shoulder, until they were all the way on the other side of the large room. Huddled together, it was time to talk. By this point, Simon was broken out of his stupor.

"Who are they?" Frankie inquired.

"Assholes."

"What happened before I came here?"

"I told you. They attacked us and left. This man here," his finger pushed right on the crack that ran down Romeo's face, "he was paranoid. He attacked me. He killed people. And he's been killing miners the entire time they've been here. He's a dangerous element."

Frankie's body stiffened for a beat before he spoke. The venom in his voice was clear. "I do not allow anyone to kill anybody. Especially harmless miners. Where were they last seen?"

"I had my men look over the same video that ID'd the two Doctors. Lund and Escobar and still at the same miner's rest stop. They have a hostage. And… and it looks like they might be speaking with a smuggler."

"One of mine? Or a pirate?"

"One of yours. Marika."

Frankie stopped to think. He ran the list of all his allies through his head. Smuggling was just a part of the business. Zimmerman-Li taxed JOPA every time they left or arrived at every post and outpost. A complex chain of smugglers had been created within JOPA to forge documents and product counts in order to avoid being tracked. Of course, there was also that nasty little drug trade that Frankie was adamantly supporting with his seemingly limitless influence in space. It was essential to have people in every possible position that he could trust. Too many people would rat him out to get on the good side of Antanas, which was precisely why he kept everything so secret.

Marika was a drug smuggler. Plain and simple. A very good one, at that. Space was depressing and disturbing. Any recreational way to cure the mental ailments of space would benefit his troubled people and help line pockets. As far as he was concerned, there was no moral issue with it. In fact, to bar his people of these so-called "vices" would be much worse. Still, it was imperative that it be kept from Antanas.

As Frankie weighed the pros and cons of the situation, Simon decided to let him in on one other detail. "Speaking of Marika and the drug trade… we administered the newest compound to Doctor Riedel when they first arrived."

This news surprised Frankie. "Why?"

"He was badly hurt. That, and we wanted to see if it would work as a submissive drug like we had originally thought."

"What happened?"

"He… thought he was some man named Buck Rogers. Might have been a reaction to the pain medicine he was on."

"What's a Buck Rogers?"

Simon shrugged, unsure.

Frankie turned back to Riedel and Ashley. They seemed to be working rather diligently on the project at hand. The drug trial on Riedel might not have worked, but what if it had been administered on a sober person without any other drugs in their system? Or, maybe Riedel was just a mental case and the painkillers actually had zero influence on the outcome. Regardless, there was a guinea pig standing right before him.

"Well, let's have Marika do whatever she wishes with the two engineers. If they are seen talking to Antanas, have her take care of them. Whatever she needs to do. As for the two Doctors, give them some rest. They're going to need it."

Frankie ended his order with a smile, wink, and hardy pat on Simon's back. Then he strolled out, almost floating as he exited the room. Simon said nothing and failed to react to the charming wave Frankie gave. Instead, he was right back to business. By the time the door was closed, he was already standing at Riedel and Ashley's heels, arms folded and waiting patiently for them to notice.

His presence was so demanding they had to notice him. Both turned to greet him, but before a word escaped either of their lips, he said, "You're free to leave for now. I trust you know your way to the lodging sector. If not, I can have Ellington escort you."

Ashley waved off his offer. "I remember my way, thank you." As she gathered the few things she had set down, Riedel followed, confused. Simon stayed right on them the entire time they were leaving. It wasn't until they had passed the threshold out of that command center did he finally stop. They had to look over the shoulder a few times just to make sure he wasn't following them.

By the time they reached the lodging sector and had a room, Riedel was beyond exhausted. He collapsed face first into the bed and was almost sound asleep within a wink. It was Ashley's annoyed sigh and whining voice that prevented him from sleeping. She said, "We have to find Lund and Escobar. God knows what they're getting into."

Riedel raised his head from the pillow and said, "Don't worry about them. They're hardnosed. They'll survive."

To this she had no answer. Riedel decided to bury his face once again. Silence took over. It was comforting for him but unbearable for her. Finally, after a minute or so passed, she spoke. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

At first he contemplated pretending to be asleep. The softness of her voice and it's light volume signaled she probably thought he was. He couldn't though. Words were needed. He rolled over so his voice would be clear. He opened his mouth to speak but realized he wasn't sure how. Irritated and ready to voice his opinion, he decided to sit up.

A loud, exasperated sigh escaped his lips first. Then, "It was stupid for me to agree. I'm not sure why I did. Why did you ask me, anyway? I'm not an engineer. I had nothing to offer your crew."

"You're more intelligent than all of my crew combined. You have plenty to offer."

"You didn't ask me to come because of my intelligence."

There it was – the truth. She did her best to cover the knowing expression on her face with the same old Captain's mask she always had. Yet he saw it flash for that brief second. He didn't blame her for anything, though. After all, he could have said no. It was half his fault for accepting the invite. In the silence forgiveness for each other's actions was submitted and accepted. There was no point in passing blame.

Another sigh from Riedel. He said, "You know, I knew space was going to be my future. It was when I was – oh, probably seven, almost eight – when my grandmother took me to the History of Space Museum. There was a section dedicated just to fiction. It was the last place we stopped. There, in temperature controlled cases, they had these books. With a bunch of illustrations on every page. Printed on paper! A natural resource that was so valuable to humanity, and they had wasted them on these fictionalized, completely bogus stories about space travel, aliens, time travel. Things that had very little scientific knowledge in them. We wasted paper on these things! They provided absolutely nothing to mankind.

"Well, I got to hold one. I got to read one. It was about a guy, an engineer. After an accident, he wakes up and finds that he's now five hundred years in the future. And they got it all wrong! Everything was wrong! The future was nothing like that at all. But still, it was… perfect. I realized what had compelled so many young children in the past to reach for the stars. It wasn't a desire to conqueror or claim wealth. It wasn't even a pressing need to save humanity. It was for the adventure. The idea of exploring the unknown was exciting. We asked ourselves, 'How do we get there?' and 'Why aren't we there now? How can I help?'

"That's the difference between man as a child and man as an adult. We asked 'how' and 'why,' rather that only wondering 'what.' What can we get? What can I have? And now, here we are, having achieved the dream first dreamt hundreds of years ago – no, even more, perhaps, ever since the beginning of man's ability to dream. We've touched the stars, Ashley. But are we any better for it? What drives us out here now? The same things that are destroying Earth? The same desires of what, rather the dreams of how and why? I ask myself what good am I doing for mankind now? What am I achieving for the betterment of everyone around me? For my children, and their children? What am I giving to them that will teach them to dream? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"And this Frankie? He is not a scientist. He is a savage investor and businessman. He has no right to claim space as his or anyone else's. The resources we find and harvest out here should not be used to create a government or a system that will misuse them and mistreat people of our talent. They should be used to help other's dream, and to help them reach their dreams. I just… I can't do this. I can't support this."

At first, he was afraid he sounded too kooky for her. After all, that was the dividing difference between the two. Ashley Braun was the practical one, the bossy one, the career driven queen of the stars. Kit Riedel was the goofy one, the lazy one, the man that floated across the skies. It was precisely those difference that their past relationship had failed so miserably.

When she finally responded, it was not quite what he was expecting. She could only nod and say, "Alright. Then let's do what Escobar would do – let's fight."