Star Trek: The Original Series: The Rings of Time

Five

2020

“Objection!” Zoe Querez gasped. “This is cruel and unusual punishment!”

Ignoring her protests, Colonel Christopher checked the timer instead. “Ten more minutes.”

The stowaway was fifty minutes into her mandatory one-hour workout on the treadmill. Given the pernicious effects of zero gravity on the human body, it would have been grossly inhumane not to let her get some exercise at least twice a day. A harness kept her strapped down to the treadmill and gave her resistance to strain against; otherwise, she could have run in place for hours and not gotten much benefit at all. Attached to force plates on either side of the treadmill, the harness simulated gravity by pulling down on her shoulders and hips with more than a hundred pounds of pressure. Globules of perspiration clung to her face and skin. Her shorts and tank top were soaked with sweat. Shaun knew from experience just how hard she was working. Those straps got very uncomfortable, very fast.

“Sadist! It would have been kinder to chuck me out the airlock.”

He chuckled. “Don’t let Fontana hear you say that.”

Thirty-plus days into the mission, Zoe had been a model prisoner so far. Talking Mission Control into continuing the mission, despite their unplanned passenger, had been a challenge, but Shaun and his fellow astronauts had ultimately prevailed. It had helped, of course, that the folks on the ground had been equally aware of the dire consequences of aborting the mission at the very moment public and political enthusiasm for the space program had reached record lows. Shaun knew that this decision was ultimately on him, though. He was still hoping that he hadn’t made a monumental mistake.

NASA had also chosen to keep the stowaway’s existence a secret for the time being, for fear of courting bad press. That was fine with Shaun. Let the PR flacks handle the spin control. He had a mission to complete.

A beep demanded his attention. He hit a button on his computer, and Fontana’s face appeared on the monitor. “You called?”

“Hate to interrupt your babysitting session,” she said drily, “but I thought you’d want to know that as of sixty seconds ago, we officially entered the asteroid belt.” She smirked. “No evasive action required yet.”

Shaun glanced out the nearest porthole. All he saw was the usual darkness and distant stars. No drifting boulders threatened the habitat module.

“We’ll have to break out a bottle of the good stuff for dinner tonight,” he said. Officially, NASA frowned on alcohol in space, but their Russian partners were more inclined to look the other way where liquid refreshment was concerned. As it happened, some generous cosmonauts had smuggled a couple of bottles into one of the Soyuz capsules that had carried supplies up to the Lewis & Clark while it was in orbit. “I think this calls for a celebration, kind of like crossing the international date line back in the old days.”

“Just as long as I don’t have to be the designated driver,” Fontana quipped. “I’m not sipping Tang while you hit the booze. Red wine is supposed to be good for combating weightlessness, you know.”

“So I hear,” he said. Studies had shown that a component of red wine, resveratrol, could help prevent bone-density loss and muscle atrophy, two common effects of life in space. NASA had prescribed resveratrol supplements for the whole crew, although the tablets lacked certain other benefits associated with a nice bottle of wine. “I suspect the doc will abstain. He’s not much of a drinker.” Shaun had never known O’Herlihy to indulge. “In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for rolling rocks.”

He was kidding, mostly. Although the asteroid belt contained thousands of microplanets, the matter was spread so thinly that the odds were a billion to one against the ship colliding with anything; over the last half-century, numerous unmanned probes had passed through the belt unscathed, and Shaun had every reason to assume that the Lewis & Clark would do the same. Still, the ship’s LIDAR was on full alert for any potential hazards, and he and Fontana had agreed not to leave the cockpit unmanned until the ship was clear of the belt. They would be taking turns sleeping there for the next few weeks.

“Roger that,” she said. “You keep an eye on you-know-who.”

“Hi, Fontana!” Zoe shouted from the treadmill. “How you doing, girlfriend?”

Grimacing, the other woman cut off the trans-mission.

“You know, you really shouldn’t bait her like that,” Shaun said.

“Everybody needs a hobby.” She adjusted the straps digging into her shoulders in a vain attempt to relieve the pressure. Despite being short of breath, she kept on talking. “So, am I included in this crossing celebration? I gotta admit, I could use a drink, especially after fighting this torture device.”

“Sure,” he said with a shrug. “Why not? Provided you don’t try to blow up the ship between now and dinnertime.”

He wasn’t really worried about that anymore. NASA had checked out her story, and she appeared to be just what she claimed to be: an unusually nervy journalist out to make a name for herself. Over the last few weeks, he had been gradually letting her out of their improvised brig more often, for the sake of her health and sanity. He wasn’t about to grant her free run of the ship anytime soon, but as long as she behaved herself, there was probably no need to keep her locked up all the time. She actually wasn’t bad company, although he suspected that his copilot felt otherwise.

“Fontana won’t object?”

“Undoubtedly,” Shaun predicted. Fontana had not yet warmed to Zoe; she still regarded the stowaway as an intruder. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

“Rank has its privileges, huh?”

“And seniority,” Shaun said. “These gray hairs must count for something.”

“Yeah, you’ve been at this game for some time now, haven’t you? I did my homework on all of you before I boarded this cruise, as it were. You’ve got quite an interesting résumé, Colonel Christopher.” She kept up a steady pace on the treadmill. Shaun could smell the rubber soles of her sneakers heating up from the friction. “Say, Skipper, at the risk of pushing my luck, do you mind if I ask you some questions about your illustrious career — including your stint at Area 51?”

Oh, boy, he thought, going on alert. Here it comes. He’d been expecting this; it was a wonder that she had waited so long to bring it up. Probably wanted to ingratiate herself first.

“That’s classified, and you know it.”

“Even after all these years? C’mon, Skipper. Throw me a bone. What else are we going to talk about the next umpteen million miles?”

“There’s not much to tell,” he lied. “If you must know, yes, I was assigned to the Groom Lake Facility, popularly known as Area 51, for a brief time back in the nineties, where I helped test experimental aircraft that I can’t really talk about. Not exactly the stuff of tabloid headlines.”

That wasn’t the whole story, of course. In fact, he had been assigned to the development and construction of the DY-100, an experimental “sleeper ship” employing advanced technology reverse-engineered from a crashed “Ferengi” spacecraft recovered in Roswell back in 1947. If all had gone well, Shaun might have piloted the DY-100 on its maiden voyage, but the prototype had mysteriously vanished in 1996 under circumstances that puzzled him to this day. His friend and colleague, Shannon O’Donnell, had taken the fall for the loss of the DY-100, effectively ending her NASA career, but he’d always suspected that there was more to the story than she had ever let on. Last he’d heard, she had been involved with the Millennium Gate project in Indiana, and the DY-100 project had been tabled indefinitely. Maybe they’ll take those diagrams out of mothballs someday, he thought, if we pull this Saturn jaunt off without any more hitches.

He liked to think so.

“Why am I not buying this?” Zoe asked aloud. “You must have some good dirt from those days.”

“Sorry.” He tried to wave it off as if it was no big deal. “Believe me, Area 51 was not nearly as interesting as the TV specials and conspiracy theorists make out.”

“No alien autopsies or captured spaceships?”

“‘Fraid not.” He tried to change the subject. “Although my dad sighted a UFO once, back in the sixties.”

“Really?” Zoe sounded intrigued. “How did I miss that?”

“Well, there’s not much to the story.” Shaun fingered the dog tags around his neck. “The Air Force picked up a UFO on radar and sent my dad up in a fighter jet to check it out. He thought he glimpsed something in the sky over Omaha, but then it was gone in a blink. To be honest, he’s still not sure whether he really saw something or not.”

“What do you think?” Zoe asked.

“Who knows? It could have been a visiting spacecraft.”

As a kid, he had asked his dad to tell him about that UFO sighting over and over again; hell, it had probably helped inspire his lifelong interest in space travel. And his tour of duty at Area 51, years later, had certainly left Shaun open to the prospect of intelligent life from other worlds. He wasn’t about to dismiss what his dad had seen, however briefly, as just a trick of the light.

“Look at us,” he said, gesturing around at the cramped interior of the Lewis & Clark, which had been named after two legendary explorers. “We’re heading into space to see what — and who — might be out there. I have to imagine that other intelligent species are just as curious.” He chuckled, just so she wouldn’t think he was too much of a UFO nut. “Not that I’m expecting to run into any little green men on this mission.”

“Or any sexy green girls?”

“Sadly, no,” Shaun said. “But I like the way your mind works.” He saw another way to divert the conversation away from Area 51. “I’ve been reading some of your blogs, by the way. NASA transmitted them to me — as part of their background check. It seems you have something of a cult following on the Internet.”

Zoe beamed, clearly flattered. “So, what did you think?”

“To be honest, they were a little far-out for my tastes.” He called up one of her online exposés on the computer terminal. “You really think Khan Noonien Singh is still alive?”

A notorious dictator, Khan had wielded consider-able power back in the nineties. At the height of his influence, he was said to have been the de facto ruler of large portions of India, South Asia, and the Middle East. He had been overthrown in ’96—about the same time the DY-100 had disappeared, come to think of it. That had been a pretty tumultuous year.

“Maybe. They never found his body, you know — at least, not that it could be reliably determined. What’s more, according to my research, some eighty of his closest advisers and followers remain unaccounted for.”

Shaun hadn’t heard that before. “Where do you think they are? Tora Bora? A luxury estate in Kashmir?”

“Haven’t figured that out yet,” she admitted. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll find them waiting for us out by Saturn.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” he said. “Although you certainly have a vivid imagination, I’ll give you that.”

She grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The timer beeped.

“That’s it,” he announced. “You’re done for the day.”

“Thank God!” She switched off the treadmill and unhooked the harness. “My feet are killing me. They’re not used to supporting all that weight, you know.”

“Don’t remind me.” His feet always felt positively raw when he got on the treadmill. He traded places with Zoe and strapped himself in. Back in orbit around Earth, he had once jogged in place for a full ninety minutes, just so he could say that he had literally run around the entire planet. He flicked the treadmill on. It felt as if he was walking on a bed of nails.

And he still had an hour to go!

“Oh, my poor little piggies.” She peeled off her socks and sneakers. Floating free, she massaged her aching feet. “Hey, Skipper, since we’re finally opening up and all, mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“Not about Area 51, I hope.”

“Nah, although don’t think for a minute that I’ve given up on that angle.” She wiped off her sweaty face and limbs with a towel. “This is just for my own curiosity. Off the record.”

He started to pick up the pace. “Okay, shoot.”

“What’s the story with you and Fontana?”

Whoa! He missed a step but quickly recovered. “What do you mean? We’re just colleagues, that’s all.”

Once again, that wasn’t entirely the truth. He and Alice had conducted a discreet affair more than a year ago, shortly after his divorce, but had broken things off before it could get in the way of the mission. Ever since the Lisa Nowak scandal of 2007, NASA had frowned on excessive “fraternization” between astronauts. No way would they have both been assigned to this mission had the higher-ups known about their prior relationship.

“Uh-huh. Right.” Zoe scrutinized the jogging astronaut. “I’ve been watching you two. There’s a definite vibe there. I’ve seen the way you look at each other when you think nobody’s looking and how awkward it is whenever you accidentally touch each other. ’Fess up, Skipper. You two practicing orbital maneuvers on the sly?”

Damn, Shaun thought. He had to give her points for observational skills, not that he intended to share his private life with a nosy reporter. Off the record or not, that was between him and Fontana. “Like I said before, you have a vivid imagination.”

“But I also like to get my facts straight.” She deposited the towel in a sealed hamper. “Seriously, what’s the scoop? I mean, I know that the doc is happily married and all, but you really expect me to believe that you and Fontana aren’t getting busy on this trip? It’s a long way to Saturn and back.”

Shaun hoped that zero g didn’t make blushing easier. He quickened his pace on the treadmill, hoping the exertion would disguise any telltale flushes. “We have plenty to occupy us, thank you very much. This is a scientific mission, not a pleasure cruise.” He tried to joke away the subject. “Besides, I’m holding out for one of those green girls you mentioned.”

“You might want to clear that with Fontana first. I’m not sure she would approve.”

Possibly not. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He adjusted the harness, which was already digging into his hips and shoulders. He had to be careful to avoid developing blisters and friction burns. “What about you? Hope you’re not counting on an alien abduction.”

“Nah. I’m not into ETs.” She drifted over to the window and gazed out at the void. “But let me know if we run into Khan. Tyrant or not, he was a hottie.”

“You’ll be the first to know,” he promised.