Breach

fiction by michael werneburg

2002.07.26

"What the heck did he just say?" asked Eisberg, backing the sled away from the ship.

"Your Highness, what do you want to do, stay with the ship?"

But then the Prince descended the ramp in one of the smallest sleds, little more than a runabout. A fair-sized container was lashed to its small bed.

"Your Highness, you can't take a separate vehicle to the site, subtime takes too much fuel."

"I'm afraid I won't be joining you, Lieutenant."

Marl stared at the Prince uncomprehending. He turned the craft around with surprising competence and tapped at the console. "I can't live like this, Lieutenant. I just can't. Burning away my life in massive interstellar travel. I mean, did you really have so little at home that you were willing to never again see anyone important to you?"

Now she understood. It was called time dilation homesickness. "Your Highness, for the Ensign and me, our faith and Prohibitions make this service meaningful. You know that we remit our salaries to the community?"

"Yes, yes, you see, this is it right there. You'll never get anywhere talking about salaries. And as for faith, we are a race that spans half the galaxy. We're the gods now, Lieutenant."

Failing to keep the disgust off her face, she said, "Ours is an atheist creed, your Highness."

"Good for you, Lieutenant," he told her. "I'm off to make my fortune among the Caofsh." He engaged the sled's subtime field and the sled vanished all but instantly.

Shockingly, a stun bolt slammed into Marl, and she went down heavily onto the alien planet. Marl had seen Xin coming up to the Prince, and had fired just in the split second after he'd disappeared. "I am so sorry, Ilyana! I was aimed for the damned Prince."

Marl groaned through the tightness in her chest and the spasming muscles. She wanted to shout at Xin, but set it aside for the good of them all. "I know, I know."

Eisberg said, "It was a good shot, Xin, I thought you had him."

Xin shook his head. "I didn't keep my line of fire clear. Inexcusable!" She paced in obvious agitation, the weapon waving with her exaggerated gestures. "This is a severe breach on my watch!"

Hiram said, "That cargo container--does anyone know what he was carrying?"

Eisberg asked, "Mother, can you please do an inventory of the ship's equipment?"

"Working on it," the AI told him.

"What's he going to do?" Hiram asked.

"He's going to sell the Caofsh the subtime technology," Xin snapped. "It's treason! He'll get the death penalty."

Marl regarded the unfolding chaos with alarm. They were panicking while she lay there struggling for breath. But then Eisberg was at Marl's side, scanning her with his tricorder. "No serious injury."

Between muscle spasms, Marl said, "Ensign! Report it. Log the incident. But also send a special communications to the Admiral directly."

"To the Admiral?" said the Ensign. That was something that had before now been above his pay grade.

"He knows who you are," she told him.

Xin seemed to set aside her dismay for a moment. "Come, Terrance, let's get Ilyana on the sled. David, can you drive? I'll put Virga into subtime and have it stay out of the way of any Caofsh."

The AI spoke up. "It seems that all of the memory devices available aboard Virga are currently unaccounted for."

This was met by exclamations from the humans. Xin and Hiram lifted Marl to her feet while Eisberg put the rear of the sled to the ground for ease of boarding.

The AI continued. "Additionally, the Prince was working from the console in his cabin for nearly an hour, downloading extensive data, records, communications, strategies, and technical designs. It is likely that he recorded everything to the portable media."

"Using what encryption?" Eisberg asked.

"Protocol Sunfish IV."

Eisberg shrugged. "It's an older protocol, but it's still in use."