Breach

fiction by michael werneburg

2002.07.26

"Good work," Xin told them. "Prince Tensom, if you can't tell us where the stolen technology is, it's not clear to me that we need you alive, is that clear?"

Marl grimaced. She wouldn't countermand her peer especially with the other Lieutenant technically being in charge, but she didn't think they needed the injured Prince panicking at this point. She asked Xin, "Shall Hiram and I secure the portal to our ship?"

"Yes, please do."

Marl gestured at the Ensign, and he got up into a crouch to mirror her advance.

Behind them, she heard Xin say, "David, it looks like you'll have to scan the entire damn plane."

"We're looking for more than two hundred memory chips."

"Better get started."

Marl couldn't make out Eisberg's exact response but didn't need to. They all knew they weren't going to have a full accounting in a situation like this.

As they neared the front of the craft, they felt the thing shake and vibrate. Marl checked her console. They were descending into some weather. She relayed this to Xin, then gestured to the Ensign that he fall in behind her as she advanced. They came across the alien they'd shot. She seemed to be gasping for breath, and was clutching the center of her thorax. She seemed young, and was indeed in a uniform. Marl made a gesture that she hoped would be interpreted as calming, and began to search the alien woman for weapons. The alien batted at her hand but went still when Marl made an angry gesture.

Behind her, Hiram said, «Lieutenant, I am not comfortable with this situation.»

«None of us is, Ensign. This is all but a military operation at this point.»

«I surely understand,» he told her. «But Lieutenant Xin will kill everyone aboard. Or leave them in some untenable position.»

«We need to account for all of the stolen technology somehow. You have any ideas?»

He looked pensive. But then there was a noise behind her, and the Ensign exclaimed, «Look out!»

She instinctively rolled to the side as the Ensign opened fire. She brought her weapon to bear and saw two more uniformed crew members charging them. One had already been caught in the stomach by one of the Ensign's beanbags. He lost his stride and was overtaken by the other alien, who met a hale of beanbag rounds. Groaning, he too went down.

«Where are these aliens coming from?» the Ensign wondered.

A sudden thought hit Marl. «Those were the jet's pilots!»

«Its what?»

«They were flying the jet manually.»

The Ensign laughed, dismissing the idea. «David said this thing has fifteen kilos of the waste aboard. They've all been exposed. No one's in any state to be piloting a sled, let alone a super-sonic jet!»

Marl gestured for the two stricken aliens to lie still, and by some miracle they understood her intent and were quiet. Something the Ensign had said was nagging at her, but she couldn't quite work it out.

Then Xin was at Marl's side. Behind her was Eisberg, tapping at his console. Behind him was the beaten and bloody Prince, distinct in having lost his suit and helmet. "David's finding the memory chips in bags in the jet's storage compartment."

Then the idea that had been nagging at Marl came to her fully formed. "Chrissy, I think I know what we have to do."

"For the memory chips?"

"For all of it," Marl told her. "You'll agree that Corporate is probably going to bombard the planet."

"Yes. Ah, you think we can just ditch this jet and let the meteor shower take care of it?"

"Ah, no. First of all, you know that the Ensign and I would never countenance that."

"I do, but --"

Marl placed a foot gently on the hand of one of the crew, who had been reaching for something. The warning was clear, and he stopped. But she also knew it would win points with Xin. "Please, hear me out. This incident could be the beginning of a war between us and the Caofsh. It's clear that as a people, they are experiencing rapid development -- traumatic, even. They're already advancing quickly, and it feels like they will catch up with us some day. At a minimum, after we bomb this planet to slag, they will turn their attention to us and our technology."

Xin grabbed for a nearby seat as the bound jets hit some turbulence. "So, you're saying that Command will decide this incident is important, some kind of turning point. And that this mission will come under immense scrutiny."