Deadly Voyage - Ryvenbark's Saga 7

Chapter 3

Chapter 3Eric Norton and John Devins came in twohours later. They were two of the born-again Christians I knew, andEric was the man who saved my life. I shook their hands and toldthemI was glad they were on the team. Eric was a lanky guy, aboutsix-two, but his slender frame made him seem taller. Slender, butincredibly strong. He had a cocky grin and his rambling, shufflingway of walking would never convince anyone he was in the military.But he was a fine marksman and incredibly skillful with any weaponyou put in his hands.

Devins was a red-faced hunk of a man,with close-cropped blond hair. He had a booming voice and couldspeaksix different languages. He was something of a scholar. I oftenthought an academic career would have fit him. He also seemedsuitedto time in a monastery. In contemplation, he found moments of joy.Inthe military we don’t get much contemplation, but he seemedperfectly happy in less-than-meditative times too.

When Clint Lamour saddled in, I greetedhim by shaking his firm hand. Lamour had a heavy Texas accent whichcould disguise the fact that he had a background in engineering andweapons technology. Dark brown skin and tough as leather, he was ajovial guy who was always pleasant to be around.

As Lamour left, he high-fived StephanieAug as she entered my office. At only five-four, Stephanie couldlight up a room just by walking into it. Round, luminous dark eyesand a smile that beamed at you. She was solitary and jovial, anddeadly in the trenches. The little gal was a master with a knife.With other weapons too, including laser rifles – which I had ahunch we’d be using on this mission. In Stephanie’s culture, thehandshake was an elbow clench. Two people grab each other arm’s tothe elbow. Then kiss on both cheeks. Which we did.

“Steph, so good to see you,” Isaid.

“I understand you have a littleexcitement planned,” she said, flashing a smile.

“I hope we get as little excitementas possible. I’m hoping for a very dull, routine mission.”

“That will be unusual. I preferadventure and excitement.”

I pointed toward the screen. “Youhave skills in tactics and strategies; let me show yousomething.”

I showed her our outer space Belgium onVega. I had given the Aristolan territory a blue outline. Longstretches of brown were inside part of the blue lines.

“The browns are the mountain ranges.Three long ranges that now make up most of the borders. The twovalleys are here and here,” I pointed out.

“With the little opening near thesea,” she said.

I nodded. There was a space between oneof the ranges and the ocean.

“Ten miles of open land,” I said.

“There are two other holes betweenthe ranges. How long are they?” She asked.

“Both run about thirty miles betweenthe mountains. Open spaces that an army could march through veryeasily.”

“And the mountains? Could an armymarch over those?”

“Yes, but it would take a while, atleast with two of them. We’ll call them A, B and C.”

“Darn, you are always so clever andcreative, Logan,” she said.

Mountain Range A was on the westernborder. It started about ten miles from the ocean. It was one ofthehigh ones. It would take an army months to climb it and descend theother side. When it came to an end, there was a thirty mile breaktoMountain Range B, smaller and shorter than A. An army, if for somereason it wanted to avoid the nearby valley, could get to the topinabout four days. Then another four days to climb down. The trailwould be rough and treacherous but not impossible. When it stopped,after another fifty miles, the third range protected the territoryand curbed around to the sea. It would take months totraverse.

“So I need something to seal off thevalleys. What do you suggest?”

If Devins was contemplative, Steph wasmeditation in motion. While I could see Devins pondering theexistential questions of life in a solitary, sitting position,Stephmoved around – at times gracefully, at times in a herky-jerkymotion that tempted you to shoot her with a tranquilizergun.

She swirled around a few times, gave afew kicks and crossed her arms. “Cobalt-Ironian bombs,” shefinally said. “But they would have to be specially made, and I’mnot sure we have that much expertise. But they could be fashionedforthe specific targets. If the valley opening is, say, fifty mileslong, explode one twenty miles into the valley and then placeanotherone twenty miles from the first. You’d have enough dirty power tokill anything that walked into the valley. It would last for sixtytoninety days.”

“I was thinking atomic,” I said.

She nodded. “You could do that. Theradiation from atomic explosives would cover a larger amount ofground than would the fallout from the Cobalt. A Cobalt explosionwould give you a nice, condensed area of about ten miles total.Thenit would dissipate. Any attacker in that zone for two minutes wouldkeel over dead.”

“What if I had two million coming atme?”

“I’m guessing a ninety percentcasualty rate.”

“That still leaves us with twohundred thousand to deal with.”

“But they wouldn’t be in goodshape. Not after coming through a cobalt bomb zone. Kindergartenkidscould take them.”

“You must know some tough kids,” Isaid.

She laughed. “Yep, I was a toughkid.”

“A tough adult too. How long would ittake to secure a cobalt-ironian bomb?”

“That’s the problem. You can’tbuild them privately. Then again, I guess you can but I don’t knowof anyone doing it. Only governments have then, and I’m not surehow many are for sale. Well, none are for sale officially. We couldfind a government black market after spreading some money around.”She gave a quick smile. “I gather money is not a problem on thismission.”

“Not yet anyway. But it might taketime.”

“How much time do you have?”

“Less than two weeks.”

She clicked her mouth and walked overto me, grabbing my chin with her gentle, yet firm fingers. “You area very lucky man.”

“Why is that?”

“Have a warp ship I could use?”

“I think we could get you one. Why?”

“Two days would get me to Lystertem,a planet that has plenty of weapons, but not the most honestgovernment officials in the galaxy. I happen to know a few of them.Give me a couple of days and I might be able to make adeal.”

I smiled. “Steph, you are talentedbeyond imagination.”

“Hold it. I’m not promisinganything. I might run into the two or three honest Lystertemofficials in the whole government. Or they might not have anycobaltbombs. But I’ll give it a shot.”

I buzzed Belen. We had a warp shipwithin an hour. In an hour and ten minutes Steph was heading toLystertem. I looked up at the screen. The cobalt-ironian bombswouldbe effective, but I also needed a backup plan, in case they wereunavailable. Atomic bombs. Small, cheap, effective. Almost everyplanet had some. Any number of large corporations had a few too.Hey,business is tough nowadays. What can I say? Although few galacticcompanies had ever actually used atomic weapons in corporatedisagreements. But many CEOs did like to have them on hand. Belenshould be able to buy a half-dozen without any problem. I’d requestthe gamma ray bombs. They had a very good reputation and were easytouse. Devastating in impact. Only about three times the power of thefirst ones ever used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but, even so, theirblasts could stop an army in seconds.

I also need jets to deliver the bombs.I wondered what the going price of a Tiger-Shark fighter was thesedays. My background is ground combat not Air Force dog fights. Butthree or four Tiger-Sharks should be easy to buy. They would havetobe first rate. I’d have Clint check them out. He’s done someaerial combat and can fly about everything that has wings.

When I took a break in the afternoon Icornered Fr. Diego and asked for a few minutes of his time. Hegraciously said yes. When he sat down he held a small glasshalf-filled with bourbon. I noted the glint of his wedding ring. Atone time, Roman Catholic priests were celibate, but that hadchangedyears back. I was thinking solemn thoughts about our mission, butFr.Diego wore a huge smile. He wasn’t gloomy at all. His reddishcomplexion seemed to give up ruddy sparks. He looked like he wasalways ready to burst out laughing. If he had had a gloomy day inhislife, you couldn’t tell.

“What can I do for you?” He asked.

“I assume you’re here, father,because you put some credibility in Belen’s story aboutVega.”

“Oh, yes. I think it’s verylikely.”

“An unfallen race? Do the rules ofyour faith permit that?”

He laughed as he took a sip of thebourbon. “Yes, Mr. Ryvenbark, they do. The scriptures only tell thestory of our race. They say nothing about other creations. It isentirely possible that the Lord made other creations, and it’scertainly possible that one did not fall.”

“Is that the official position of thechurch?”

“Yes, many Catholic scholars andtheologians nowadays believe there were other creations before Adamon Earth. The scriptures give hints of it, but nothing specific.ButI do think this theory explains the line about Cain knowing hiswife.That has puzzled Christians since the scripture was written. Iftherewere other creations, which had also fallen, then Adam and Eve werenot the only people on the Earth. The scriptures also say Cain wentand built a city. You can’t build a city by yourself. There wouldhave to be other people to help him. If there were other people onthe Earth when Adam was created, that explains how Cain met hiswife.”

I sat back and blinked. “Father, I’mnot a believer but I know something of the Bible. I’ve never heardthat theory.”

“It’s not really something new.They were scholars back in the 1800’s who speculated about a priorfallen race. They never gained acceptance. As I noted, there arehints in scriptures of another creation. Passages in Isaiah and inFirst Peter could be describing a creation before Adam. If othercreations fell on Earth, there is no reason to believe that Goddidn’t create humans or beings on other planet. Just because Adamsinned doesn’t mean those other creations did. That’s why thechurch is so interested in this project. If the Vatican had a spaceprogram, we’d be heading to Vega. But since it doesn’t, we thankGod for Belen. If true, this will be the most dramatic discoveryforthe church and the human race since… well, since the resurrection.”He sipped his drink again. “I feel very blessed to accompany youand Belen on this voyage.”

“There’s no contradiction between asinless race and the scriptures?”

This time a more hearty, joyouslaughter came from the priest. “No. Adam was created to be likeJesus. He was designed to rule the Earth, as overlord or god if youwill, under the supreme God. But the Bible is silent about otherworlds.”

“If your theory is true, wouldn’tVega then be paradise? As it turns out, there is a rather largearmyof vicious creatures there.”

“I can’t explain that. Perhaps Iwill be able to in time. Right now we need to help the Aristolans,even if they have fallen, just for humanitarian reasons.”

“I’m sorry the Vatican doesn’thave a space program,” I said. “I regret also that the Vaticandoesn’t have a defense program. We could use some weapons.”

I was warmed by the glow of his smile.“Belen assures me that you will draw a plan using the availableweaponry that will protect the Aristolans until we can get them offthe planet.”

“What do we do with them?”

He looked puzzled. “Beg your pardon?”

“What do we do with them? I’m notso sure a fallen galaxy will welcome perfection in their midst.Wouldn’t they be a living rebuke to all the sinners running around?The other race on Vega is trying to exterminate them. Isn’t thatrather symbolic of what evil tries to do to innocence?”

He sat back and took a longer sip ofthe bourbon. “Interesting point, Mr. Ryvenbark.”

“Call me Logan.”

“An interesting point, Logan.”

I walked to the small bar and fixedmyself a drink. “I admit I’m curious. A race of pure saints. Nocorruption has touched them. No greed, envy, vanity, lust, orpride.Heaven on earth. Or at least on a planet similar to Earth.”

“Yes,” Fr. Diego agreed. “We havehad saints in the past. Truly remarkable people who were in theworldbut not of it, but we’ve never seen a perfect race. To many, it isunbelievable. But I do believe it is possible. No race we know hasachieved it so far but perhaps one, among many, neversinned.”

I raised my glass. “We’ll soon findout.”

“Amen,” he said.

When I walked out of the room, stillholding my drink, I recognized the six-feet-six black gentlemancoming up the stairs. As I shook his hand I was reminded to onlysalute soldiers. Their handshakes can crush bones.

“Hello, Tony,” I said.

“Major, good to see you again.Understand you have a mission.”

“Yes, but it won’t be easy.”

“You know our saying. The difficultwe do today. The impossible will take a little longer.”

“Yes, I had almost forgotten that,”I raised my glass. “To the impossible.”