“We didn’t,” Silva responded while looking directly at Major Reynolds. “Your space platform being removed from earth orbit was actually the first indication we’d had that the Noridian’s had rediscovered earth. Until then we thought you were our secret.”
“You’re saying that the Noridian’s murdered our people?” Dr. Decker asked. “But why?”
Silva grimaced and then said, “That is a rather long answer and you need to know it but are there more urgent issues you’d like to address before we go down that path?”
“Yes there are,” I said. “At this moment are we safe?”
“For the moment yes,” he responded. “I have taken control of the ship and we are currently headed on a different vector than was expected. By tomorrow at midmorning ship-time we should arrive at a friendly planet and you will be able to decide your course of action.”
“Will we have a choice?” I asked coldly.
“Major, I can confidently say that we will not restrict your actions. I cannot speak for any other Dynasty or any unforeseen events and there are discussions we would like to have with you that might influence those actions but we will not force our will upon you. You have my word.”
Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to believe him his word didn’t carry a lot of weight right now; not after deceiving us for months.
“Our people that are still on the main Noridian ship, are they in any danger?”
“Obviously I’m not in control of that situation but I would think that they’ll be fine. The Noridian’s are desperate to have a shipload of Earthers that believe in Noridia. Unless someone openly and strongly opposes them they should be ok—they can’t keep killing off people without everyone else getting suspicious.”
“How were they going to explain us disappearing and how were they going to do us in anyway?” asked Iron Jaw.
“The plan was for your team to be taken to a planet that for us is heavily populated and under the control of the Noridian Dynasty. They would capture recordings of your team interacting with the local population and then once the recordings were edited and you were back on board ship they would remove the oxygen from the atmosphere and allow you to suffocate. Based on the recordings they have of you both on the planet and from the ship they would then create artificial scenes of various platoon personnel praising the Noridian influence and looking forward for the same on Earth.
“After the rest of the Earth Team saw the supposed real-time recordings it would be reported that your ship was attacked and destroyed by the Coridian Dynasty.”
“Why go to all the trouble?” Iron Jaw asked. “Why not just fake all the planet scenes?”
“They could do that but they only have images of your team in this ship. They don’t really know how each individual might act or react to environmental stimuli on the surface of a planet or when meeting aliens in an uncontrolled environment. Rather than taking a chance on raising some eyebrows for uncharacteristic behavior they decided not to spring the trap until after planetfall.”
“How do you know all of this?” I asked.
“As you may suspect Major Reagan I maneuvered my way onto this mission because we know the Noridian history and we can see their desperation to be named a Lower House. Although the Noridian’s are stretching the limits this type of intrigue is not totally unknown in galactic history.
“Once I was embedded on your team and aboard this vessel I was able to use my own technology to monitor the Noridian systems and communications. When it became apparent that this was 3rd Platoon’s last cruise so to speak I was forced to take action.”
Even though Silva certainly didn’t look the part I felt like I was listening to James Bond calmly reporting the details of his last mission. Now that I knew he wasn’t from earth I could see that his stature was more closely related to the Noridian males that we’d met but he seemed more muscular and assertive.
Us military types try to always be vigilant and I confirmed the flanking positions of my team before I asked the next question.
Sliding forward to the edge of my seat I calmly asked, “What became of the real Captain Silva?”
I’m not sure what type of response I expected but laughter wasn’t it. It wasn’t even a diabolical laugh; it was more like relief.
“I’m sorry major, I should have explained right away. I didn’t replace Captain Silva; I am Captain Silva. I’ve been on your planet for quite some time.”
I called a meal break and although Dr. Spencer and a few of the other scientists were still throwing questions at Silva we left Captains Hiromi and Kamiko (along with a couple of Iron Jaw’s people) to keep an eye on things while Iron Jaw, Julie, Dr. Decker and I retired to my quarters.
Once trays were passed around I looked to the group and said, “Comments?”
Julie was the first to speak, “All I can say is that we must be living right. Without Captain Silva we’d all be dead. No offense to you Major Reagan but I don’t think there’s a person on our team that could’ve figured out how to turn the lights back on.”
“That’s assuming that he’s not the one that turned them off in the first place,” Iron Jaw added.
“Dr. Schein, do you trust him?” I asked.
Julie sat back in her chair and then thoughtfully said, “Yes Major, I believe what he’s said so far. To do what he claims to have done I’m sure he’s a very accomplished liar but the body language of the Noridian prisoner is consistent with his story. Mark also backs him up about Noridian treachery and Mark is definitely not an accomplished liar.”
I thought I heard some steel in her voice as she finished that last sentence but she did make good points.
“At the very least then we’re agreed that Silva probably did save our bacon even if we’re still not sure of his ultimate motives?” I said as I looked around the group.
Mike nodded once and Dr. Decker murmured concurrence.
“What’s our next step then?” I asked. “We’ll be on their planet in 24 hours.”
“I still have a thousand questions and 24 hours won’t let me get through half of them,” responded Dr. Decker.
“We all have questions,” Julie stated. “But we need to first decide if we really want to go to this planet of theirs. It might be that this smaller ship could take us directly back to Earth.”
“As far as I’m concerned it’s your show Major Reagan,” said Iron Jaw. “But, I don’t think going back to Earth right now is an option.”
When Julie looked at him questioningly he continued. “It doesn’t accomplish anything. We know the Noridians are vile but they’re still offering technology that everyone’s going to want. Maybe we could deal with the Coridians instead but we don’t know anything about them. There’s also the question of our original mission brief which includes getting an understanding of galactic society and determining if we have anything of value to offer.
“I know that Silva just told us all the great things we want to hear about how special and unique us Earthlings are,” he said rather wistfully. “But I’m not really sure I understand what he’s talking about. I think we have a whole lot more to learn before we can go home.”
Iron Jaw was right and I think everyone realized it as soon as he said it.
“Ok then,” I said. “Let’s be figuring out what we need to accomplish once we arrive at their planet and let’s get as much information as we can from Silva before we get there. Dr. Decker, I’m going to ask the science team to coordinate their questions with you so we can stay on track. Accommodate as many people as you can but stay focused on our objectives. Oh, and give Dr. Spencer and Dr. Schein some leeway; they’re enough in the picture to keep things going in the right direction.