Chapter 11
ELEVEN
JETT
Jett woke with a pounding headache. He’d spent too much of the previous evening bullshitting with Jack and Ollie, and now he was paying for missing his meds with a lack of sleep.
Jack, old man that he was, was nostalgic for the “good ol’ days” when he and Jett lived on duty, waiting for the time when their skills were needed.
Ollie had bribed Jack with drinks until he started sharing stories.
But it hadn’t all been heroics and last-minute saves; Jett had seen some shit.
Shit that he wouldn’t wish on anyone: bloody piles of flesh disgorged from mutant animals, people kept alive in stasis only to draw out their pain.
His own experience still haunted his dreams, where neon purple and deep rusty red combatted for prominence under a white, sterile glow.
Jett’s nightmare reared its ugly head in the early hours, when sleep turned toward waking, and he woke with heart hammering in his chest.
No, Jett told himself. Not again. Never again.
He slid out of bed and let a cold shower wipe away the scent of fear and sweat from his skin, and wondered if anything would feel different were Eddie there with him. Would his former lover’s hands feel new against his skin? Would his kisses taste as sweet? Be as deep and breathtaking?
Jett shook his head, scrubbed the shampoo from his hair, and ignored the feelings pooling in his guts and spilling outwards.
He didn’t need to be thinking about Eddie, sexually or otherwise.
Today there would be more work to do, more plans to make with Ollie, Jack, and Cosma.
The message from Eddie had been terse. And that worried Jett.
He didn’t know what else was hiding behind that cool facade.
Jett hurried through crowded streets toward the crew elevators, hoping that someone had thought to return Bridge access to his ID..
The elevator doors chimed, and Jett stepped inside.
The meeting room bustled with people as he pushed through the crowd to where Ollie stood with Captain Ro-nold and Ra’ana. Eddie wasn’t present, so Jett settled himself at the end of the line and steeled his face into passivity.
The door opened once more and the crowd parted as Eddie walked in, tab in his hand, a gleam in his eyes.
“Excellent. We can begin,” Captain Ro-nold said as a panel lit up on his right-hand side.
“As I’m sure all of you have heard, we intercepted a distress signal from an unknown ship bearing the Quasar mark.
We are currently en route to perform a search and rescue operation.
We are to ascertain the status of the ship, its passengers and crew, and assist in any way possible. ”
Jett fidgeted hands clutching the fabric of his pants, wondering if he would be put on the spot, or if he could shrug off questions to Ollie.
“To that end, I will turn this meeting over to Captain Stone, Head of Security Wort, and Lieutenant Valla, who has been called in to assist.”
Eddie settled in between Jett and Ollie and cleared his throat.
“Before we begin, I have some additional information I was able to pull from the distress signal.” Eddie flicked a file from his tab to the wall panel to his right, where the message he’d sent appeared in large font.
People mumbled as they read the text, some aloud, others not. Jett watched as brows furrowed and faces creased.
“Furthermore, I was able to recover a full video from the signal.”
The video played, showing a dark-skinned man in a rumpled captain’s suit. There were bags under his deep brown eyes and a forced calm to his stance.
“This is Adonis Mox, acting Captain of the Quasar yacht-class ship Golden Lion on its final systems check voyage.
“We have experienced unexplained disappearances. Some officers claim that they feel dread in certain parts of the ship. Others say that something has affected them mentally. I’ve sent all the affected officers to Medical, but they have come up with nothing.
“We’ve also been experiencing intermittent communications black outs, and now the engines aren’t responding to commands from the Bridge. I sent officers down there to check it out hours ago. But they haven’t returned.
“Outside the ship a storm of color and light rages, more fantastic than anything I’ve seen. Storms do not happen in space. Whatever this means, may the Astral Gods protect us all.”
Silence lasted for a moment before noise erupted from the crowd. People asked questions of their neighbors, though they would know the same or less information.
Jett leaned in toward Eddie. “We need to talk.”
The larger man looked down at him, his eyes glowing a bright, eerie green. “Later, I promise,” he whispered.
“Now,” Eddie started, raising his voice above the crowd.
“Now, the information we have is fragmentary at best, but nothing indicates that the Golden Lion was attacked by forces outside the ship. We do not have current scans of the Lion or the area of space it is in, but we have a computer calculated set of most likely coordinates to search.”
Representative Ra’ana stepped forward, hands clasped behind their back. “Quasar has confirmed that the Golden Lion had not checked in for at least a week, but that the ship was on course.”
They looked out over the crowd with experienced disinterest, and Jett wondered if Ra’ana even cared about the lives that were at stake. They’d always been a corporate employee before a member of the crew, and he wondered how far that actually went.
“The crew are your main priority. You are to launch any remaining lifeboats and assist any stranded crew members. Second priority is the ship, and if it is in an unrecoverable shape, the black box is prioritized.”
Jett nodded along with the list, agreeing with the order that Quasar had sent. He already knew where his team would be going.
“Lieutenant Valla?” the pale-skinned, large-eyed Cetian asked.
Jett pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against. “I have five teams picked out and prepping for this mission. Those of you who are wondering why you are here: congrats you are going with the Shibuya.”
People turned toward each other, questioning looks hardening into assurance.
“Teams will have a minimum of eight officers, including a medic, and each team will have a different priority. The Lifeboats and Residential Quarters teams each have an additional medic to aid the crew and possible evacuation, while Engineering and Command teams have additional personnel to focus on the ship and its systems.”
Jett took a breath and watched the information settle on the officers chosen. He and Ollie had picked the best of the best of Security, with recommendations from Tech, Medical, and Engineering. He knew that they’d be calm, professional; that they knew what to do and how to do it.
“Further information will be sent to your tabs, as well as fitting times for your armored EVA suits. Logistics and details will be handled by Officer Wort.” He nodded to Ollie who smiled and settled back against the wall.
Eddie cleared his throat again. “A schedule has been sent to your tabs. Secrecy is necessary for calm in this situation; keep all information to yourselves and the others involved.
“In 36 hours we will be at the projected closest approach, and will launch Shuttle Shibuya.” Jett watched as he clenched one hand tight and released the pressure. “Dismissed.”