Junior met each of the senior command staff as they stepped off the shuttle and into the hangar, offering a sincere hand shake and a warm greeting.
In the conference room, they exchanged stories.
"We were told you had defected, that you planned to attack the Faithful on your return," Commander Stone of the G5494 explained, "Reports from your mission were obviously filtered."
"Benevolent States United officials reported that the G5493 had been captured by pirates or the Un-Faithful," Captain Douglas from the G5556 added, "We had no choice."
"Someone in the Truth bureau must be Un-Faithful," Captain Castillo concluded, "That is the only explanation that makes sense."
"I got another one," Junior countered, "The BSU felt out of control for a minute and told a bunch of lies to cover their own asses."
This theory was met with silence.
"Look," Junior continued, "pointing to a data screen he activated behind him, "Here are two reports from the same source an hour apart. The second one directly contradicts the first but doesn't mention it. If Dank here hadn't saved it off line there'd be no record of it at all."
There was more silence.
"Read 'em," Junior prompted, "Both marked 'Truthful'."
There was no arguing it, only another long pause before Commander Stone admitted, "I know. I've seen it for years. Who hasn't?"
"Truth is whatever they make it," Captain Castillo agreed, "But there isn't anything we can do about it."
"Maybe not now," Junior admitted, "And not from here. We have to git back to Earth Prime."
"We're all out of command now, Sir," Captain Douglas said, "There is no going back."
"We got four ships, y'all," Junior was adamant, "They gotta listen to us."
"No," Stone answered, "They don't. Other, 'Faithful' EPPF ships will destroy us as traitors if we get within a parsec."
"We have four ships,"
Junior turned to Commander Nilssen. "What do you think we should do?" he asked.
Nilssen considered for a moment before replying, "As I see it, we can do three things.
"The first is to complete our journey to Earth Prime, deliver our payload, complete the mission and hope for the best. I don't want to hang these men's lives on a feeble hope, but it is a choice.
"The second choice is to turn around and got back to EcoHope 11, hole up, and wait for the BSU to come after us.
"The last option is to pick a direction and fly, hope we find a habitable planet, and live out our lives looking over our shoulders and always expecting the BSU to track us down."
Whatever positive feelings had been in the room, Nilssen had removed them with surgical precision.
"Damn," Junior muttered, "Don't much sound like choices at all."
Chapter Thirty Five Interlude
File: Datanet Core Server Gamma Kappa Delta Sixty Four, Galactic Current Events, Era: Modern -0, Headlines, Data source Benevolent States United Sanctioned News Feed
A total of four ships have been lost in what Earth Prime Protection Force sources have termed "Pirate Actions". The G5496, G5494, G5493 and G5556 broke radio contact with Earth Prime while performing standard cargo transfer exercises.
"At this time, it appears that the crews of all four vessels may have been subverted by Un-Faithful agents," a Benevolent States United spokesperson stated, following up with, "Fortunately, the cargo lost was made up of Earth Prime Protection Force dummy cargo used specifically for transfer exercises. There will be no impact on the lives or convenience of the Faithful on Earth Prime."
The increased orbiting patrols spotted lately are completely unrelated.
As always, the Faithful of Earth Prime are grateful for the safety provided to us by the Benevolent States United.
Junior walked from deck to deck, thinking. He stopped on the training deck to speak with some of the troops about nothing in particular. He visited the bridge to verify that their position and orientation had not changed, twice. He wandered through the medical bay to find Trixie May deep in a research text and decided not to disturb her.
Finally, he stopped on the cargo level to sit quietly with Dank and Firebird, just trying to decide on a course of action.
"I got four thousand people lookin' to me for an answer, Dank," he said, after not coming up with anything after what felt like way too long.
"Ain't never been to Earth Prime," Dank replied.
"I'm in over my head," Junior sagged.
"We're all in it with you," offered Dank, "Whatever you decide."
"I know that, Dank," Junior nodded, "I appreciate it, really. I just don't want to let y'all down."
"When you gonna decide?"
Junior shook his head slowly, "I think I already have."
"Okay. When you gonna share with the rest of us?" Dank asked.
In response, Junior pressed the button on the wall and paged Specialist McComb.
When McComb responded, Junior said simply, "Call a staff meeting in ten minutes, please. I'm on my way."
He stood, brushed off the back of his uniform pants, and motioned for Dank to follow him to the command deck.
When they arrived in the conference room, it was so crowded Dank took a seat on the floor leaned up against a wall. In addition to all members of senior command, representatives of every company and unit were present, as well as Dr. Jackson and Trixie May. The room was so crowded, in fact, that Junior wondered briefly if there were enough people not present to keep the ships from falling into a sun or bumping into each other. Just in case, he decided to keep it brief.
