Fluency

28

Jane glanced at the bridge’s view screen as it flickered to life. Displaying primarily a dark field without stars, only a slender crescent of light shimmered on one side. She’d put the ship in a holding pattern, hovering on the far side of the moon.

It seemed sensible to keep considerable distance between the Speroancora and Earth for the time being. It was unlikely that anyone was aware of their current location besides the U.S. government. Others might have satellite data, but wouldn’t be able to render that data into anything meaningful for weeks or months. By then, she’d be long gone.

She was acutely aware of Bergen leaning against the wall at the back of the room, arms folded, exuding indifference and disdain. She felt a pang of regret. She hated putting him off again, but there were so many reasons she felt like she’d done the right thing.

When he’d come to her door, looking twitchy and shy, she’d wanted nothing more than to melt into his arms. But now was not a good time to be distracted by a new relationship. She couldn’t possibly give him the attention he deserved. His interactions with Ei’Brai bordered on hostile. He was needed on Earth. It was all so complicated.

Above all else…she wanted him to be able to choose freely, not get pulled into something he didn’t really want. That thought lingered uncomfortably until she forced herself to stay rooted in the here and now.

The others were milling around, talking in low tones, their thoughts full of images of home and family, their excitement contagious. The entire Providence crew was present, except Walsh, who was still in the sanalabreum, recovering. He’d be out soon.

Compton had been the first of them to emerge. Shortly after the ionic burst, the tank drained spontaneously, leaving a naked, bewildered Thomas Compton blinking up at her from the bottom. She’d just slipped Ajaya into her own tank when she felt the alert and turned to peer down at him. He looked a full ten years younger and said he never felt better. The joy she’d felt in that moment was incomparable. It was a lightening and lifting moment.

Now Compton was clapping Gibbs on the back as they bickered about what they should have as their first meal when they got back to Earth. It was refreshingly normal.

Gibbs guffawed. “Come on Pops, let’s grab a steak! Or at least something good, like sushi. Why you wanna eat your old-man food, first thing?”

Compton rolled his eyes and chuckled. “You’ve never had Mia’s pot roast and mashed potatoes or you wouldn’t talk like that.”

“Korean barbecue? Work with me here!” Gibbs exclaimed.

Jane stifled a smile and silenced them with a look. It was time. They came to attention and a view of Mission Control came up on the screen. A quick scan told her all of the leadership was present and accounted for.

She had transmitted detailed mission reports from each crew member to Earth a few days before. This was to be a Q and A session to go over those reports and to flesh out what was going to happen next.

Gordon Bonham, NASA Administrator and two-star general, stepped forward and nodded gravely, his eyes shrewdly flicking over a monitor off-screen. “Providence crew, it’s good to see you looking so well. I don’t see Commander Walsh among you.”

Jane lifted her chin. “Commander Walsh is still under treatment for the illness discussed in my report, General Bonham. This—” She paused, closing her eyes briefly to instruct Ei’Brai to change the video feed. “—is an image of the chamber he occupies currently. He cannot respond to you, but you can see he is alive and well.”

Bonham appeared to be unfazed, but many of the others surrounding him did not have the same level of self-control. There were a few gasps, some looks of dismay, and knit brows among most of the remainder.

Bonham turned back to the camera with a skeptical look. “It’s my understanding that every one of you has been inside one of these devices within the last month. Dr. Varma, you described the experience very thoroughly in your report. Do you have anything you’d like to add?”

Ajaya still stood at attention. “No, sir. My report stands as written.”

Bonham pursed his lips and picked up a piece of paper. “Your FGF code, Dr. Varma?”

It was a code, unique to each one of them, that they’d been ordered to memorize and not share with another soul. Bonham was trying to determine if it was really Ajaya he was talking to.

Compton’s change in appearance must be evident, even to them.

Ajaya rattled off the 20 digit alpha-numeric code without hesitation. A few beads of sweat pricked at Jane’s hairline. It’d been a year since she’d last thought through her own code.

Bonham’s eyes followed along on the sheet of paper as Ajaya recited the code. When she finished, he nodded briefly and set the paper aside. He folded his arms and tilted his head to one side. “Can you come any closer to the camera, Dr. Varma?”

Ajaya strode forward several feet.

Bonham nodded again, his eyes smoldering with intensity. “Dr. Varma, is Dr. Holloway sound in mind and body?”

Jane stared straight ahead.

Ajaya responded immediately. “Sir, Dr. Holloway has been nothing short of honorable and brave.”

Bonham’s eyes narrowed. That wasn’t the answer he wanted. “She’s capable of flying that ship, without any training or experience—with just her thoughts? Do I have that right?”

Jane cut in, “Not precisely, no.”

Bonham folded his arms and nodded Ajaya’s dismissal. “Edify me, Dr. Holloway.”

Jane did not allow her expression to change. “It’s all in the document I transmitted to you. The knowledge needed to do these things was freely given to me. And I’m not doing it alone. I have the assistance of the Kubodera, Ei’Brai. We spoke often of the Clarke quote in Houston, if you remember.”

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Jane simply nodded at Bonham and waited.

Bonham exhaled loudly. “That was some fancy maneuver you pulled a few days ago. How much of that was you? How much the Kubodera?”

“It was a joint effort. Dr. Bergen collaborated as well. This ship cannot be flown without the Kubodera. He is integral.”

“Yes. You made much of that in your report.”

“That’s because it’s true. I won’t allow you to injure him in any way.”

Bonham’s expression was incredulous. “I assure you I have no intention of harming him, Dr. Holloway. We just want all of you home safe.”

The conversation hit a lull. Bonham and Jane watched each other warily.

Bonham motioned to someone off screen who rolled a monitor into view.

“To that end, we’ve set up a landing site for you at Area 51. We want to assist you however we can. We’d like to set up a beacon of some kind for you. Do you have any idea what might be most useful to you? Radio transmission? Infra-red?”

An aerial photograph of Area 51 came up on the monitor with an ‘X’ marked out on the ground next to a large hanger.

Jane could feel agitation in Ei’Brai’s mental touch. “That won’t be necessary. I have no plans to land the ship.”

“It seems to me, based on what we’ve seen you do so far, that landing the ship should be a rather simple affair.”

“Not simple, but possible. Nevertheless, I won’t be doing that.”

Bonham took a step closer to his video camera. His face filled the screen. She could see every pore on his craggy, lined face. “Need I remind you, Dr. Holloway, that your mission was to bring that vehicle home if it was at all possible?”

“I don’t need reminding, General Bonham. My mission was to make contact, be an ambassador, be a voice of welcome from our world. I was to use my skills of translation to assist in bringing this vessel back to Earth—only if there was no one aboard.”

“Your reports say the ship is all but empty. There’s no one aboard.”

“There were no humans aboard. I don’t believe we expected there to be humans aboard, though, did we, sir?”

“We couldn’t have anticipated this turn of events. I would have expected to see Commander Walsh standing before me right now, telling me when and where he would bring that bird home.”

Jane slowly blinked. “Walsh commands the Providence. I command the Speroancora. Therein lies the difference.”

That comment seemed to stun Bonham. He turned and conferred quietly with Deputy Administrator Marshall and a few of their aids.

Jane’s jaw was set tight. She forced it into motion. “General Bonham, have you prepared the teleconference with the multiple national heads of state that I requested?”

Bonham whirled, looking angry for the first time. “I’m not feeling particularly moved by a spirit of cooperation at present, Dr. Holloway.” He turned back, distractedly, to Marshall.

“That communication is vital. I’ve explained all of this in my reports. This is not an American issue, it’s a planetary issue. You do understand the gravity of our situation?”

“I understand that you think it is, Dr. Holloway—but I don’t think you understand. It doesn’t matter what I think. I don’t have the authority to make something like that happen. Your reports—and these proceedings—are being recorded and transmitted to the White House. It’s up to the President and his staff how that information will be disseminated.”

Bonham’s tone was verging on patronizing.

“I see,” Jane said coolly.

The Providence crew was feeling uncomfortable about the mood shift. They hadn’t expected things to get so antagonistic. They were frowning and stealing furtive looks at each other.

Jane flicked hooded eyes at Alan. He glowered at the screen, shrugging like he was uncomfortable, his hand at the back of his neck.

Bonham and the President would be getting a rude awakening in a day or two if they didn’t follow through with her request, but she wasn’t about to make demands or issue ultimatums. She didn’t need them to make that communication happen.

It would be far better if the government would set it up with heads of state, but Ei’Brai was perfectly capable of hacking into the communication satellites that encircled the globe and broadcasting a message she’d already prepared in dozens of languages.

Jane’s voice rang out, strong and sure, “I’ve just told you what I will not do. Would you like to hear what I am willing to do?”

Now she had Bonham’s attention. He swung back to the camera, his features pinched. “Let’s hear it.”

“As you know, the Providence was affected by a massive EMP, but Dr. Gibbs assures me that most of the information gathered in flight should still be salvageable. The capsule is no longer capable of return to Earth under its own power, however.”

Bonham’s nostrils flared and he inhaled sharply. He appeared to be about to unleash some military wrath.

Jane held up a hand. “I know what you want. I’m sorry. I can’t give it to you. But I can give you something of great value.”

She paused. Tension on the bridge was running high. She was about to make it worse. “I’ll put the Providence crew in a Speroancora shuttle and program the autopilot to land anywhere you designate. You’ll have an intact specimen, exactly like the one from 1947. You’ll finally be able to unlock all of its secrets, General Bonham—including a database I will download to its computer core that will contain information vital to the survival of the human race. And you’ll have the capsule too, which is certainly valuable. I’ll deposit it in the Pacific for you, off the coast of California. You’ll have all of this as soon as Commander Walsh is well enough for travel.”

She felt the shock of her companions. Fleeting impressions of their feelings percolated through her mind. Ajaya was torn. She was considering asking to stay aboard. Compton and Gibbs were both relieved, ready to go home. She knew Walsh would feel the same.

Alan was pissed. He outright rejected the concept of getting on that shuttle and leaving her behind. That set off a small flutter of hope in her heart.

Bonham sat back against a desk and frowned. “What on Earth are you planning to do, Dr. Holloway?”

Jane’s lips twitched involuntarily. “I’m going on an adventure.”

Mission Control went completely silent. Everyone on the bridge froze.

Bonham looked shocked. He asked, “By yourself?”

Jane lifted her chin a fraction more. “Yes.”

The Providence crew converged on Jane with an outcry of objections. Mission Control erupted into chaos as well.

Bergen rounded on her, pushing Compton out of the way. He grabbed her arm so hard it hurt. “Jane? What the fuck? No way are you going out there, alone. Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Jane raised her voice above the din, speaking to those back on Earth as well as those around her. “I’m going to take Ei’Brai home, to Sectilius.”

Despite the noise, Bonham honed in on Jane. “Is this a one-way trip?”

She blinked rapidly and smiled slowly. “I don’t believe it will be, no. Who knows where it’ll take me.”