Countdown by John Walker (most life changing books TXT) 📕

“What is the matter?” Trenik asked. “They won’t be there for another five hours at least.”

“The problem is we can’t tell them,” Harcourt replied. “They might be surprised.”

“Ridiculous.” Trenik moved around to the other side of the device. He accessed one of the computers they had rigged up to the thing. “I will simply send a message to Adjudicator Erris. The technology on her vessel is powerful enough to receive this signal. We will need some power, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Whoa!” Harcourt hurried over. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if it… you know… causes this ship to blow up or something?”

“Absurd. There is plenty of power within this device. The only thing I will tap is their transmitters. Once I boost them, I will expend the ether within the internal core. This will send the message through hyperspace and give them a chance to respond.” Trenik paused. “I have also finished mapping the energy pattern this gives off.”

Harcourt checked his own device to look at it. “We can jam it now. I mean, without the burst they used.”

“Yes, far more efficiently I might add.” Trenik continued working. “What should I say to her?”

“Just the facts,” Harcourt said. “We know where the enemy plans to attack. Give them the exact coordinates. Hopefully, they can get there in time to hit them hard.” He shook his head. “Might be tight though depending on where she’s set up.”

“That is not our problem.” Trenik finished preparing the message. “With this information, they will be prepared to contact whoever is close by. We have done our part. The only thing left to do now is reverse engineer some of these contact points so we might implement the technology later. However, I think that’s beyond the scope of our current investigation.”

“What else are we doing?” Harcourt asked. “We might as well keep going until we have to strap in for the fight.”

Trenik nodded. “Agreed. I have sent the message. Let us hope she gets it in time.”

No doubt. Harcourt sighed, returning to task. At least we have something to do. I’d be going crazy sitting on my hands here. He’d already been through a couple fights and did not enjoy the experience. When this is all over, I’m finding a planet so far from potential conflict, I’ll be surprised to see birds pecking each other over worms.

Until then… he had one more brawl to suffer through.

***

Erris tapped through reports on her tablet, looking for anything that might have information about Rita. She wondered when Zem might report in… or if he would at all. If anyone made contact, she figured Captain McCully may consider it. Which is why she checked over all the files coming in through the Confed sources.

Nothing. Erris sighed. You’d better be okay.

She sat on the bridge as her people went about their business. Many of her people were busy preparing for conflict which just meant checking and rechecking their various systems. Keeping out of their way seemed like the best course of action given the circumstances.

“Hey,” Eliza’s voice startled her. The elevator on her vessel proved far quieter than the one on the Morrigan. “What’re you doing there?”

“Just checking to see how things are going.” Erris shrugged. “Waiting for additional combat reports.”

“And information on your friend.” Eliza grinned. “Don’t be ashamed to admit it. For years after I left Whitaker’s service, I checked in on Karl. I get it. We make friends in this business. Sometimes it becomes even more than that. So chin up. You’re having a natural reaction.”

“I… don’t know what to say.”

“Are you surprised I can relate?”

Erris cleared her throat. “Or that you’d have such an opinion given our position with the company.”

“Oh, the company isn’t human. It doesn’t have feelings. We have to give it any soul it might have. And with the investors, I’d say there’s not much in the way of spiritualism going on here.” Eliza took a seat beside her. “But that’s not why I’m here. I just overheard the computer techs say they received a strange message.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Eliza said, “but they’re decoding it. I thought we might be there when they figure it out. Or even help them. They looked insanely young.” She smirked. “Of course, everyone does now. Including me when I look in the mirror. What do you say? Or would you rather worry in here some more?”

“No, let’s go.”

They headed down to the tech center, a room dedicated to officers pouring over raw data. They could decode comms, break into computers, reprogram satellites…and a myriad of other intelligence related activities to boot. Eliza directed them to the back of the room where two men hovered over a terminal.

“Try that cipher,” the one on the left pointed. He had shaggy blond hair that dangled below his collar. Officers on the MerCon ships didn’t have the same regulations about appearance that the military did. “I think this is a Gold Empire code.”

“No way,” his companion replied. He didn’t have any hair but sported a full beard instead. He typed something then hit enter with a dramatic flourish. “The Gold Empire doesn’t know how to encrypt shit. I’m telling you right now, this is Confed at the least. Or something else we’ve never seen before.”

“Hello, gentlemen,” Erris said. Both of them stood immediately. The bald one banged his knee on the desk, wincing. “That wasn’t necessary. What’re your names?”

“Pendleton,” the bald guy blurted out. “This is Roger.”

“Good to meet you both.” Erris gestured to the computer. “What’re you working on? We’d like to help.”

“Some strange message came through to us,” Pendleton replied. “And we’re not sure who could’ve sent it. But it’s really strange. Have a look.”

Erris leaned over him. “That’s from