String Theory_ Cohesion (Book 1) - Jeffrey Lang [1]
Studying the image of the fragile-looking vessel on his viewer, Mateo wondered about its engineers’ claims. “It can’t be true,” he muttered. A dozen of the alien ships could park side by side inside the exhaust port of his ship’s drive unit. How could such a minuscule object have the power to do what they claimed? Yet Maza, as sensible and levelheaded an engineer as could be found in the service, said that he had seen their engines’ specs and believed every word.
“Commander,” Cho called. “The aliens’ chief engineer wishes to speak with Maza again. Should I patch through the call?”
“Certainly,” Mateo said. “But ask if they could have our captain call sometime soon. I’d like to hear…”
“Captain Ziv is hailing us on another channel, Commander.”
Mateo sighed with relief and lowered himself into the captain’s chair. “Very good. Complete the circuit.”
The captain’s image materialized on the small monitor set near the floor. Ziv looked uncommonly pleased, almost ebullient, as if a great burden had just been lifted. “Mateo,” he said, and waited for the gesture of acknowledgment. “All is well?”
“Well and truly well, my captain,” Mateo said, trying to sound upbeat. “We have completed all the preparations the aliens requested. Maza says we will be under way soon and moving very quickly.” He allowed a slight note of uncertainty to creep into his tone, hoping the captain would notice and respond. Unfortunately, the captain missed it.
“You have no idea, Mateo,” the captain said. “I only regret that you have not been able to see this extraordinary ship.”
Someone behind the captain spoke, someone with an oddly, even disturbingly high-pitched voice, like that of an annoyingly precocious child. “There may still be time,” the speaker said. “If you permit it.”
Mateo felt a silly grin creep up over his face. Would I like to see this alien vessel? he wondered, and was surprised to find that the answer was yes. Very much, if only to reassure himself.
“We will discuss it when I return to the ship, Mateo,” Ziv said. “But for now, relax and tell the crew and passengers to do the same. Have you informed everyone what will be happening?”
“Word is filtering down through the holds, Captain,” Mateo reported. “It is difficult, but I think most of them have the sense that something wonderful is about to occur.”
“More wonderful than even they know, Mateo,” Ziv replied, and again his eyes shone brightly. “But perhaps it would be best to keep that between us now.”
Mateo, sensing his captain’s keen excitement, grinned and agreed.
“I will see you soon,” Ziv finished, and both signed off.
Minutes later, a bright blue beam of light burst from the prow of the alien ship. The glow from the beam shone through the tiny portholes set into the perimeter of the bridge, suffusing everything with a sapphire radiance. Cho reported that this was the forcefield they had been told to expect. The tiny, sharp-nosed vessel began to move, and Mateo felt a slight lurch as their ship was pulled behind. He couldn’t keep himself from releasing a whistle of astonishment and, yes, appreciation. All around him, Mateo heard echoes from his hara and other members of the crew.
Moments later, they encountered the first sign of turbulence. He punched the intercom for the engine room and asked for Maza. “Were we expecting this?” he asked as the deck rattled beneath his feet.
“Some,” Maza replied. “Their engineer claimed we would be protected from the worst by the forcefield.”
“And is this the worst?”
Mateo sensed the hesitancy in the engineer’s voice. “How can I know?” he asked. “Have any of us ever done this before?”
“Then perhaps we should stop.”
“If you think so, call the captain. At this point, as far as I’m concerned, we’re all just passengers.”
This was not the kind of response