The Madman's Clock

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11

The four of us left the security station, flanked by Senior Chief McGowan and his four men. With pistols on their hips, they escorted us toward the bridge. The crew kept clear of us, watching with confusion. The short walk from the station to the bridge felt more than a little like the walk we had taken from the carrier shuttle bay a few weeks ago, when we returned from Alpha Centauri. Marine guards had escorted us to the brig. It was a terrible feeling, though at least here, these people were only marginally on the same side as us. They weren't brother marines. They were the mission. Still, the similarity bothered me.

Now there were four security guards standing watch at the entrance to the bridge, and they held plasma rifles. Our appearance had, at the very least, unsettled the security officers. That was a start. Hopefully, if the Edra assaulted the bridge, which of course we knew would happen, then at least security wouldn't be caught off guard. They stopped us at the hatch, and McGowan nodded for them to let us enter. They unlocked the hatch and stepped aside.

McGowan led us through the narrow passageway, a short twenty paces, before ending in a dead-end and a hatch on the starboard wall. The hatch was open, and we stepped through. All the while, I made mental notes for what I knew would be the desperate firefight to come.

The bridge opened up before us. Oblong shaped, the long bridge was a series of banks of workstations. Each console had a crewman at it, the screens displaying data so rapidly, I could barely keep track of what they were looking at. The bulkheads were just as covered in displays, most of them showing outlines of the Saturnus, though beyond that I had no idea what they said. The very front of the bridge was covered by a massive display. The display showed the ship and surrounding area, and looked somewhat like the displays I had seen on other bridges, just before the opening of wormholes.

Without seeming too obvious, I counted the people here. There were at least thirty, with more coming and going, all working quietly. In fact, that was what struck me most of all; the quiet. Everything had a low hum to it. Nobody spoke above a whisper. Most of the crew sat very still, their hands the only things moving as they glided across their controls. At first, I couldn't figure out what was so odd about that, until I saw three techs at one bank of console all turn their heads slowly, in unison, to the left and then back again.

We were escorted to the center of the room, a raised platform two steps up, surrounded by rails of the most perfectly polished metal I had ever seen. The platform held a console bank, smooth touch screens which danced with lights.

There stood two people. One was a smaller yeoman, a young man who stood rigidly still, staring straight forward at the main display, but whose hands danced over the consoles as quickly as anyone else in the room, maybe faster. He had a standard headset on, but other odd gear, as well. One of his eyes was covered by a small display, and his free right eye shifted back and forth rapidly. A large set of wires came out from the left side of his face, though I couldn't see where they connected to from where I was standing. Still, they snaked across his shoulders, down his back, and into the console he worked on. He was wired directly into the console; Edra technology.

Beside him was his commanding officer, Captain Rachel Paetkau. We had been told very little about Paetkau before leaving Port 25. She was forty-three, very young for a captain. She was apparently some sort of genius, and that went all the way back to her grade school days in Geneva, where she lived with her traveling professor-parents. Her record included several citations for courage under fire, a rare thing for an engineering officer. She also had a reputation for a level of strictness that, as the joke went, would have made her more at home on a Royal Navy ship from the eighteenth century that a twenty-third century starship.

She stood perfectly straight, her arms folded behind her, hands in exactly the proper parade-rest position. She stood rigidly still, like her yeoman. Her deep blue eyes caught the lights from the displays all around her, and it gave her glare an odd quality, almost scary. Then she dipped her head, and the brim of her cap hid her eyes. Her long, black pony-tail swayed slightly as she turned her head. Like everyone else on the bridge, she barely moved. Her face was expressionless.

"Captain," McGowan said as he stopped us just short of the raised platform. "Ma'am, this is Marine Captain Mallory."

Captain Paetkau turned to look at me. Her head turned slowly, her eyes hidden behind the brim of her cap. Only her head moved, first to her right so she could look at me, and then upward as she looked me over. When she finally made eye contact, I involuntarily held my breath. There was something very uncomfortable about the way she interrogated me with her eyes, an almost sinister, stabbing glare to her gaze. I did my best to hold my own. She slowly turned her head back toward the main display.

Her words came out very slowly. "Senior Chief, you and your men are dismissed."

"Ma'am," he started, but caught himself, obviously thinking better of his argument. "Yes, ma'am."

Once our escorts had left the bridge, the Captain continued. "Security has forwarded me your orders, and I have read them, Mister Mallory."

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Your presence aboard the Saturnus is unnecessary," she continued in her slow, plodding pace. "Admiral Bishop is wrong. There are no intruders, and no problems with the core."

"Captain," I started, but she cut me off.

"Everything is fine. This experiment will go ahead. I have my orders." Her words were calm, mechanical.

I shook my head. "Captain, the orders I carry require you to listen to my assessment of the ship's condition. My team and I have been aboard for several hours, and I am here to make my report."

"I do not recall being made aware of your arrival, Captain," she said. "You have been aboard my vessel for hours, and yet only now are you reporting to me? I am unsure how things are done in the Marines, but in the Navy you are expected report immediately. I could put you in the brig for much less."

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am. And if you'll permit me to continue, I am prepared to explain that."

She continued gazing into the display ahead of her, not once looking at us, not even out of the corner of her eye. The console in front of her projected its light onto her face, giving her a blue and green tint. For a moment, I felt as though she had forgotten I was there. I was about to clear my throat when she spoke.

"Continue," was all she said.

I did my best to explain to her what was happening aboard her ship. I started with Admiral Bishop's briefing, followed by our near-miss on the needle-jumper. I explained what I saw in the forward sections, aged four months beyond her time frame. I explained the hellish conditions in engineering, and the tomb-like state of the core chamber. I told her about the Edra. The only thing I left out was my knowledge of the nature of the temporal core itself. That, and my body. I left that out.

While I spoke, David and Kyle slowly moved to a nearby console. I saw that David was trying to chat up one of the crew, asking her about the wormhole displays in front of her. She just stared ahead, not seeming to notice him at all. He passed his hand in front of her eyes, but she didn't even blink. Kyle did the same to another nearby crewmen, with exactly the same result.

The whole time I spoke to Captain Paetkau, she stood perfectly still and gazed directly ahead.

Eventually, her head turned slowly in my direction, her eyes meeting mine. "Captain Mallory, you are mistaken. Everything is fine. The ship is in perfect working order. I have already spoken with Commander Hall. I disagree with her assessment of stages one and two. As for you, I have no idea what sort of deception you are carrying out, but I will not disregard my orders based solely on your word. This experiment will go ahead. I have my orders."

"Captain," I started, "listen to me."

Her sudden movement surprised me. Her head swung toward me, her eyes wide and angry. Her face was twisted into an expression so hateful, I actually took a step backward.

"You are a captain of marines!" she snarled. "I am the master of this ship, and aboard the Saturnus my word is law!"

Then, as though a switch had been thrown, her expression went neutral and she turned back to that front display. She seemed to tune me out again.

I turned to my men, who were obviously as creeped out as I was. Kyle's hand had moved closer to his pistol, and Raj was starting to survey the bridge with his eyes, the way he would a battlefield.

"If all I saw were these displays," David said, looking around us, "I would be absolutely convinced that the ship was fine. They're pre-accident. Everything here is in the green, Jack."

"Doesn't matter," Raj replied. "Look at them. Look at the crew. They're zombies. Nobody moves, nobody talks. They won't listen to us. I don't think they can even hear us."

"You're thinking temporal psychosis." David shook his head, "This area of the ship is pre-accident, Raj. Other than the Captain, who was in the chamber, nobody here should feel it."

"It's not just that," Kyle said. "Look closely at their headsets,"

We all did. I focused on a crewman sitting nearby. A headset isn't something I ever paid much attention to. It was about as standard a thing to see on someone as clothing, especially if they were sitting at a control station. Now that I was looking, really looking, I saw what Kyle was talking about. At the base of the crewman's ear, where the headset rested, was a small wire disappearing below the skin. He was hard-wired into the headset, just like the Edra. I looked around me. All the crew had the same implant. Like the yeoman, the entire bridge crew was wired into the ship.

"Holy s**t," David said. "They've adapted Edra neural interface technology." He looked to Paetkau. "She doesn't have it, though."

"Yeah, well she's gone," Kyle muttered. "She's right out there, man."

I nodded. "We have to reason with her," I insisted. "I'm not sure we can force this. Would the crew even hear us if we escalated the situation? Do we shoot out every console on the bridge? Do we start killing people?"

"What about bringing the Chief Engineer here?" David asked. "Would she listen, then?"

"You heard her," I replied. "She thinks Commander Hall is wrong, which is exactly what Commander Hall told us. At least she was telling the truth about something."

"Yeah, but Jack, she's seen what happens when the experiment goes up in smoke," David explained. "If the Captain sees her, and hears it from her, she might budge."

Raj stepped in. "Bring the Security Chief, too. What's his name?"

"Aisin," I reminded him.

"Aisin thinks there are saboteurs and traitors running around," Kyle said, shaking his head. "Who knows what that crazy fucker will say if we bring him here. It would probably be enough to get her attention, if nothing else."

"Maybe it doesn't matter," David said, thinking aloud. He was rubbing his left temple again. "Just getting them here and making them report in would be enough."

"Between those two and us, we can force her to delay the experiment," I finished his thought.

"We only have to delay it until the Edra reach the core," Raj said with a nod. "That would do it. If we can stop the experiment and stop the accident, the Edra will do the rest. They'll make a move, and then there's no way the Captain will move forward."

"The Edra might try to seize the entire ship," David suggested. "That's what the recording said."

"No," I replied. "They just want the core. Once we change things and delay the experiment, they won't need to seize the bridge anymore. They'll just take the core. Nearby crew will put up a fight, but at this point I'd rather they kill a few of unfortunate crewmen, than have most of the crew die. We all saw what they looked like in the forward shelter. The ones who died in engineering were the lucky ones."

"Man, this is just so f****d up," Kyle said, shaking his head in disgust. "But it's what we have."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's what we have. It isn't the first time the job served us s**t for breakfast."

"We're down to twenty minutes, guys," David commented, looking toward one of the few displays that made sense at all.

"Alright," I said, "Kyle and I will go to engineering and bring back Commander Hall. You two go and get Lieutenant Aisin."

"What if he won't come?" Raj asked.

"Don't be polite," I said firmly. "There's got to be a hazard suit somewhere here on the command deck. Bring it with you, and put him in it yourself, if you have to."

"We won't have to fight him," David interrupted. "Just tell him we found Captain Paetkau. Trust me, he'll come."

"Okay, there it is. Go!" I barked.

We left the bridge without taking leave from the Captain. I doubted she even noticed us leave. Senior Chief McGowan was waiting outside the outer bridge hatch, a worried expression on his face. He obviously wasn't happy with being asked to leave us on the bridge, and he hadn't wandered far. I went straight to him.

"Alright, Senior Chief, listen up," I said. "I am going to explain the situation to you in two minutes flat. That's all the time I have for you. You are going to listen to exactly what I have to say, and then you are going to do exactly what I ask you to do."

Before he could respond at all, I laid it all out for him. The accident, the time fragmentation, the Edra, engineering, the forward compartments, our plan, everything. I spoke so quickly that it was hard to be sure if he was catching it all. The Captain certainly hadn't. Much of that information was beyond what Admiral Bishop wanted us telling anyone other than senior officers, but I needed the man's cooperation, which meant I needed to get through to him. When the blood in his face drained away, I knew I was reaching him.

"She's still the Captain," McGowan replied. "Her word is law. I will not participate in a mutiny."

"f**k!" Kyle yelled, causing several nearby crewmen to jump. "Was this entire crew picked based on how fuckin' one-tracked your minds are? What's wrong with you people?"

The Senior Chief scowled at him. "You need to watch your tone," he said threateningly.

"Jack, there," David pointed to a locker on the port bulkhead.

"Great," I said, seeing the first good sign all day.

The locker, clearly marked as emergency stores, included hazard suits. I tossed one to David, and another to Raj, just in case. McGowan tried to stop us, but Kyle stepped in his way, glaring at him. The Senior Chief stepped back, and tapped his comm headset. We were running out of time.

We took the opportunity to refill our CEVA air tanks, which used the standard fitting. There were also a few extra power packs for plasma rifles. Not exactly the sort of emergency supplies you needed during an accident, but emergency lockers aboard navy vessels did their best to be all things to all people. Thankfully, the age old tradition of pork-barreling was still alive and well, and some contractor likely got very rich stocking these lockers with everything but a kitchen sink. By the time we were all filled up and ready to go, McGowan had returned with every security officer on the command deck, eight plus himself. Four of them still had plasma rifles.

The crew cleared out of the central passageway, though a few watched from open hatches as the security guards closed in on us. Senior Chief McGowan was in front of them, and they spread out so they all had clear shots at at least two of us. I quietly signaled for my men to hold fast, and keep their weapons on their shoulders. Kyle was starting to get antsy. It wasn't that he wanted to kill another human, just that he could smell a fight and hated waiting for the first swing. I saw that cruel grin of Raj's appear, and David's eyes darted back and forth as he worked out the fight in his head.

"Marines," the Senior Chief barked, "you are all under arrest for mutiny. Set your weapons on the deck and put your hands behind your heads. I will not ask again!"

The guards drew their weapons, and with the snap of my finger, my men and I were just as ready. I looked at the Senior Chief down the sights of my rifle, my finger gently touching the trigger. His pistol only made it half way up before my rifle did, and he stopped. His eyes never left mine, and they didn't have to. He knew the score, just as well as the rest of us. I spelled it out, anyway.

"Those pistols of yours won't do much more than tickle us with these suits on," I said. "We're outnumbered, but you're out-gunned. Don't be stupid, Senior Chief."

"The pistols, maybe, but the rifles will do a lot more than tickle, marine," he replied evenly, trying to sound calm. His eyes said otherwise.

"You know how this goes down," I said. "Don't let the numbers fool you. Whoever shoots first, we will be the only ones left to shoot last. We're trained for this, and you're not. Let us pass. We don't want to hurt you. We're on the same side, here. Please, listen to me."

"You keep saying that, Captain, but I see something different," he replied.

"Whatever you think is going on here, you need to take a breath, and think this through. You saw our orders, and I've explained the situation. Use your head, Senior Chief. Don't let it end like this."

I gave my words time to sink in, but he wasn't moving. His eyes seemed to focus in on me with even more intensity. I knew the signs. He had tunnel vision, the sort you get just before you do something stupid, like open fire on marines who outclass you.

"My men and I have what we need," I explained. "We are going to exit the command deck, and return with your Chief Engineer and Chief of Security. They both need to speak to the Captain. That's all. We don't want to have to start firing, but when I say we're leaving, we are, and you're not stopping us."

"The Captain has," he started.

"Your Captain is ill, Senior Chief. Go talk to her, and see for yourself."

He shook his head. "No way. I am not buying into your nonsense."

I watched as his finger slid onto his trigger, and I knew it was going to end badly for everyone. I took aim, hoping to take out his arm. Hopefully he wouldn't move suddenly, and make me burn a hole in his chest. Still, once the firing started, people were going to die. I knew my guys would be alright. We had been in these sort of stand-offs a few times before, and we knew the drill. Drop, fire, and dive out of the way. By the time the security people had squeezed off their first rounds, we would already be out of the way and firing back.

"Senior Chief," the feminine voice echoed in the passageway.

Everyone froze. I saw McGowan's eyes go wide, the adrenaline kicking his senses into overdrive. He didn't move a muscle, not even to turn toward the voice. At first, I thought it came from the bridge's outer hatch, but I wasn't going to turn my head to find out. We just stood there for those two or three endless seconds.

"Senior Chief," the words came again, Captain Paetkau's slow, calm voice washing over us from the speakers overhead. "Stand down, Senior Chief. These men do not concern us. Everything is fine. The experiment will continue. I have my orders."

The guards didn't budge, everyone looking to the Senior Chief. He waited a second before answering. "Ma'am," he said, his voice shaking from adrenaline, "we have a situation out here."

"I can see that," she replied. "I see everything. Let them go, and return to your post. They don't concern us. The experiment must continue on schedule. Nothing must interfere. Everything is fine. I have my orders."

Slowly, very slowly, the Senior Chief lowered his pistol. As he did, the guards relaxed. I ordered my men to do the same. After a few moments, everyone had their weapons down. We all started breathing again.

"You made the right choice, Senior Chief," I said calmly, trying to keep the adrenaline-shakes out of my voice.

"No I didn't," he said with disgust. "I followed my orders."

"David," I said, looking behind me. "Show him the fragmentation map."

I gave him a few moments to look it over. It was obvious that he didn't really understand it, but he obviously recognized it. He turned it over, and saw the markings.

"This is Commander Hall's hand-pad," he said, looking at it. He looked us over. "I won't even pretend to understand the story you just gave me, but if Commander Hall gave you this, then maybe you're not completely," he stopped without finishing the thought. "I don't know what to say, here. I don't know what to do."

"In ten minutes, we'll be back with her," I explained. "Lieutenant Aisin will be here, too. Trust me for just that long."

"You're telling me that my ship is in ruins." He pointed to a nearby console, which showed a cross-section of the ship. "That says the ship is fine."

"Outside of this command deck, the Saturnus is a very different place than you see here," David said.

"I'm going with you," the security man replied. "I'll use one of the hazard suits, and see all of this for myself."

"No," I said flatly. "No way. The Edra are out there, and we can't have you tagging along. No offense, but you don't have the training."

Before he could object, I motioned for my men to move out. We moved around the guards, who stood silently, waiting for orders. None came. The Senior Chief was in a no-win situation. He had his orders, and he knew he couldn't push us around. He was, after all, just a security officer.

As we passed, Kyle reached out and grabbed the rifle from one of the guards.

"Thanks," he said as he walked on.

"Hey!" the guard replied, but was shut down by the chief.

"Let them go," McGowan muttered as we walked away. "The Captain knows what she's doing." He swallowed hard before finishing his though. "I hope."

As we moved toward the stairwell at the rear of the deck, I heard David let out a long sigh of relief. We all did. I tilted my head from side to side, trying to release the tension in my neck. Kyle chuckled under his breath, his usual way of bleeding off a little excess steam. Raj just grumbled.

"That was fun," he said.

"Let's just get this done," I said quietly, "before I'm tempted to call no-joy, pull us out, and let this f*****g ship tear itself apart."