J McKenna: Slave Planet

“Eagle One, come in!”

“Dammit!” Kate slammed her hand down on the console. “What the hell happened?”

“Whatever it was, it overcame them quickly. I had the scanners focused on that area and we would’ve been able to pick up phaser blasts. There was nothing.”

“Eagle One, this is Letanya, come in, dammit!” Kate knew she was losing control and sucked in a deep breath.

Her call home a short time ago had brought the reaction she had expected. Mindful of Hunter’s warning back on Earth, Kate simply told Houston the pod was on the surface and they were awaiting word of their discoveries. It was a short message and Kate knew it wouldn’t fool Hunter for a moment.

His reply—coming exactly one hour and forty-two minutes later, indicating an instant response—was laced with criticism.

“Your last message leaves a lot to be desired, captain,” he said, his face set. “The president, along with Congress, have cancelled their meetings for the rest of the day in order to sit by the phone or the TV to hear each of your reports. I’ve got reporters from 146 countries camped outside my office. I want much more detail than you’ve been willing to give us. Just exactly what is going on out there? What aren’t you telling us?”

Kate wasn’t sure what to do. If she told Houston what had happened, it would set up exactly the scenario Hunter had warned her about. If she tried to lie or whitewash the situation, her career would be over and history would never forgive her.

She knew she’d have to play it by the book. Tell them what’s happened and let NASA sort it out.

“Uh, captain.” Ally was bent over the scope.

Kate didn’t really want to hear any more bad news. “Yeah?”

Ally looked up. “The away team is on the move.”

“What! They had orders to stay by the pod, so if they’re moving, they’ve just violated my direct or—”

“Or they’re not going of their own free will,” Ally said quietly.

Kate closed her eyes. “Get the camera onscreen.”

In seconds, they were looking at the landing site, covered with trees. “Overlay the transponder signals.” Three yellow dots appeared, close together, among the trees. Kate watched with morbid fascination. If they were moving under their own power, they were sure going slow.

“Reyes’ report said the commander had a badly sprained knee, right? Maybe they’re helping her to walk,” Kate said, grasping at straws.

“It’s possible. But why would they leave the pod?”

“Perhaps an environmental situation? Some sort of hazard?”

“They would’ve told us, sir. No, what happened to them was sudden and overwhelming.”

“You don’t think—”

“One way to find out.”

Kate nodded. “OK, let’s send a bioprobe right down on their heads, see if we can pick up any humanoid readings.”

“And we thought we were in trouble with Hunter before…” Ally said as she readied the probe.

Kate shook her head and dialed up the radio link to Earth.

Hunter threw the headphones down. “I knew it!” he roared to the room full of hushed mission controllers. “Send a bunch of girls out and what do they do? They drive into a tree, get themselves dragged off by animals for all we know, then expect us to bail them out! Well, it’s not going to happen. I told Congress this was a bad idea. Phillips!”

The mission commander appeared at his left side. “I want options! I want to know how much trouble they are in and just what we can tell the press about it. And speaking of the press, where’s that PR flack? Hepler!”

Bill Hepler, the press liaison, came up, visibly trembling. He wasn’t sure at this moment who he was more afraid of, the irate Hunter or the ravenous mob of journalists just across the hall from the control center. “Sir, the press is anxiously--”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about the press. I care about what I’m going to tell the president and those yahoos in Congress! Give me some statement that makes it sound better than it is.”

Hepler blanched. “I-I don’t know if ‘spin’ is a good idea right now—”

“Did I ask for your opinion?” His gaze was icy.

“N-no, sir.”

“Good, then go write something. And make it snappy!”

Miserably, Hepler slunk away.

“Admiral Hunter?” Another aide stood by, quivering.

Hunter wheeled around, ready to eviscerate whoever dared interrupt him. Before he could spew forth, the aide said quickly, “The president is on the line for you.”

It was Hunter’s turn to blanch. He nodded at the aide and sat down at his console. Picking up the phone, he put on his most respectful voice. “Good afternoon, Mr. President…”

“Captain, with all due respect, it’s not a good idea.”

“I know it isn’t, No. 1. Unfortunately, they’re all lousy ideas right now.”

“Someone has to stay aboard. We can’t both go down there,” Ally said. “Besides, if you go with me, that’ll mean I can carry just one person back.”

“No, I’d stay. You carry Hanson and the doc back, then return for Smith and me. We’ll have a better chance than one alone in getting to the first pod.”

Ally had to admit that made sense. “Sir, I have to remind you, if something goes wrong with the pod, there will be no way to get back to the ship. That means there’s no way to get the ship home.”

“Someone will come along sooner or later, you know that.”

That was true. It may take a year or more, but Earth would respond, if for no other reason than to study this amazing planet.

Ally was secretly glad the captain planned to go. She was afraid to go down alone. Still, she was also fearful of abandoning the ship, having no one left to radio messages to her and to be in touch with Earth.

“They’ll say we abandoned our posts.”

“NASA will have to understand. I want my crew back. I can’t go home without them. And I can’t send you down alone to fight off their kidnappers.”

The bioprobe had confirmed that the away team was in the company of two large humanoids. Considering Greta’s injuries, they probably were being carried or were riding through the woods. They appeared to be heading to a pass over the ridge and, ultimately, to the village on the other side, across the plain. Kate was determined to stop them.

Ally nodded. “Aye, aye, sir, I’m convinced. I suppose we need to get NASA’s permission, though.”

Kate hesitated. She knew her commander was right. She couldn’t avoid telling NASA, just because they wanted to solve this themselves. But she was afraid of what Hunter might say.

“OK. I’ll call. But we’re not waiting any more than two hours for a response. I think we need both of us down there to rescue them and that’s what I’m going to recommend to Houston.”

Jorja awoke to find her world had suddenly gotten smaller. She was lying on her back in a wooden cage on a cart, being led through the woods by one of those donkey-like beasts they had seen from the air. The cage was only about four feet high.

Beth’s face appeared in her vision. “You all right?”

Jorja couldn’t help but notice that the doctor was naked. She tried to sit up and found her hands were tied in front of her. What’s more, she was naked too. Beth, though similarly tied, helped her to a sitting position. She looked over to see a nude Greta leaning against the cage wall, her eyes closed, her bound hands resting in her lap. “I’m fine. What-what the hell happened to us?”

“We seem to have become guests of the planet’s residents.”

“But why are we naked?”

“Apparently, these guys don’t like to see women in clothes.”