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Will the secret mission be scrubbed?
Chapter 25 – They got a message from the Action Man
This has to be the worst task a commanding officer has to do, thought Ben.
He had finally gotten chance to sit and write a condolence letter to Barclay's parents. He knew from the young man's file that his family was still alive to write to, having been on Macross Island since the beginning of the long strange trip of the past several years. Yet there were so many other pilots and crew members that had lost their entire families during the Rain of Death. Ben wasn't even sure what to write; this was the first subordinate to die under his command.
I wonder how Rick learned to deal with it?
"I'm glad you could stay the night, Vanessa," Kim said. "I'll need the help with Ben gone until God knows when."
"Any time; you know Sammy and I are both here for you," Vanessa said, "because we're family now."
"Dr. Petrov will probably have some interesting comments at my appointment tomorrow," Kim said. "Those were some crazy dreams this weekend."
"You can worry about that after a good night's sleep. You heard what Dr. Grant said."
"Yeah, yeah. I still want to watch the news before I grab some shut-eye."
The pair slowly makes their way into Kim's house, dropping a few things on the kitchen table before flopping on the couch. It had been a long tiring day for both women. Grabbing the remote, Kim turned on the television and waited for the news to start, hoping to hear something about the evacuation of the civilians out of New Macross City. They began chatting about the baby while they were waiting, so neither woman was paying complete attention to the broadcast when the first story came up, a brief teaser about the weather forecast. The next story didn't grab their attention either, until the news anchor said one particular phrase.
"One pilot dead…"
Two heads whipped toward the small screen in shock. They were completely focused on the report now.
"…apparently in a training accident near Monument City," the anchor continued on. "Authorities have not released the name of the victim, saying the next of kin have not been notified yet. The accident occurred in remote wilderness and no other injuries were reported."
The color had drained from Kim's face by the end of the report. She had been wondering why Ben hadn't called yet tonight. She now had an answer and Kim began sliding into a state of shock, that same sensation of numbness that had taken her over the day of Khyron's final attack. The way she felt when she had thought Ben had died that day.
"We don't know that it was Ben," Vanessa said. She grabbed Kim's shoulder and tried to make sure Kim stayed focused.
'Then why hasn't he called?" Kim asked. Her voice was flat and weak.
"He may still be in the middle of a debriefing, Kim. And as CO, there are things he has to take care of when one of his subordinates is killed."
"Or they didn't consider me 'next of kin'," Kim said quietly.
"Hello! If Ben was dead, don't you think that someone would have called you by now? I know his Mom and Dad would have called you if they had heard anything!" Vanessa said. She was trying to stop Kim from shutting down emotionally. She was running out of ideas when the phone rang; Kim got a horrified look from that sound. Vanessa knew Kim would be too scared to answer; she would have to answer it for her.
"Hello, Cmdr Young's residence," Vanessa said into the receiver.
"Hey V, what are you doing at Kim's house? Is she there?" came a tired voice from the receiver.
It was Ben. Relief shone in Vanessa's expression as she filled in Ben on the last few minutes.
"I'll pass the phone to her, Ben; she'll be glad to hear your voice. We just saw a news report that someone died up near Monument."
"Yeah, that kind of ruined my afternoon. It was Cpl Barclay. There was what appeared to be a freak accident with the test vehicle he was in. He died instantly, crushed by the vehicle when it flipped over."
"I'm so sorry, Ben," Vanessa said. "That's never an easy thing to deal with."
"No it's not. It was even tougher on the rest of us. After Barclay's remains were airlifted back to base, we were ordered to stay with the wreck until a recovery vehicle arrived, on account of it being a prototype. I guess the research techs didn't want anyone tampering with the evidence."
"Evidence?"
"Yeah. Anything could have been a clue as to what happened, not just the black box. Can I talk to Kim now? She must have freaked."
"You're not too far off," Vanessa said. "I'll put her on."
As she brought the handset over to her friend, Vanessa could see the tracks of tears on Kim's cheeks. But there was also an expression of relief as well. The tears were of happiness.
"You got some 'splaining to do, Mister," Kim said. Her voice cracked, but it was clear she was trying to cheer Ben up and to let Ben know she was glad he was still alive.
"This was the first free moment I've had since the accident happened," Ben said. "I would have called sooner if I could."
"I realize that now, but I couldn't help thinking the worst when I heard that news report."
"I'm harder to kill than that," Ben said. "Listen, I've heard from the brass that this accident won't change the training schedule or the mission timing unless the techs find a serious defect in the vehicle itself, something that may be affecting all the prototypes."
"How important is that mission if you can't even have time to mourn?"
"We're getting top priority. The civilians won't be moved until these bandits and malcontents are taken care of."
"Be careful, Ben, just in case that accident wasn't an accident."
"I always am, sweetheart," Ben said. "I have to get off the phone now. I have another early day tomorrow. Love you!"
"I love you too!"
Kim held the handset for a few moments after Ben had hung up. She was glad her fears were unfounded, but she couldn't help thinking it was just a matter of chance that Ben wasn't the one who wrecked.
"I think I'm done watching the news, Vanessa. It's time for bed."
It was before dawn again when Ben and the rest of Blue squadron made their way into the training hangar. There was none of the usual joking and teasing that normally permeated the locker room. Everyone had been affected by Barclay's death, but all were not dealing with it in the same way. Some faces held a haunted look, from a sleepless night pondering if they were next. Others held a grim determination, willing to go above and beyond their capabilities to honor their fallen comrade. But most faces held a stoic expression, each man keeping their thoughts to themselves. Ben wasn't sure what people would see in his expression; a mix of emotions was seething though him this morning.
"Excuse me, Cmdr Dixon?"
Ben looked up to see one of the junior level technicians trying to get his attention.
"What is it?"
"The General needs to see you right away, sir."
"Let him know I'm on my way," Ben told the underling.
"What was that all about, Boss?" asked Cmdr Turner.
"I'm not sure, Pete," Ben said. "Get these guys suited up and in the simulators while I find out what's bugging Walters."
"You got it, Boss."
Ben exited the locker room and made his way through the halls of the administrative wing of the building. What did the General want? thought Ben. It could have been any of a handful of reasons he needed to see the blue squadron CO. Reaching the General's office, Ben raps quickly on the door. Like last night, Ben hears a muffled reply granting permission to enter the office.
"You wanted to see me, General?" Ben asked. "I want to apologize about last night. I was still feeling a bit raw."
"That's okay, Commander. I would have been just as raw and you did have a valid point about the rollbar. That's not why I've asked you here though. I have some information about the hovertank wreckage."
"Did the technicians find a systemic problem with the Spartas system, General?"
"Worse."
The reply came from behind Ben. Turning, he sees the lead technician standing in the corner.
"What could possibly be worse, Ms. Simmons?" Ben asks.
"My people went over that hovertank with a fine toothed comb last night. We made a very disturbing discovery, Commander."
The technician had a very distraught look on her face, as if she didn't want to reveal the news.
"It's alright, Gloria," Gen. Walters said. "I wouldn't have asked Cmdr Dixon here if I didn't want him to hear this."
"Very well, General," Ms Simmons said. "Cmdr Dixon, one of the research staff discovered that the hovertank crash was no accident."
"What are you trying to say, Ms Simmons?" Ben asked.
"What I'm saying Commander, is that Barclay's Spartas was sabotaged."
Ben's initial shock from the revelation was quickly replaced with anger.
"Whoever did this," continued Ms. Simmons, "knew enough to wire things so the throttle wouldn't get stuck until after the hovertank had reached or exceeded maximum cruising speed."
"I'll need to bring a JAG investigator in," the General said. "We need to know if Barclay was the specific target or just unlucky."
"I think you have a bigger problem, General," Ben said. "You might have a saboteur on your staff."
For waking up at dawn, Kim felt very refreshed, much better than the normal Monday. She had no dreams of consequence last night, allowing her to get a well needed rest. Just what the doctor ordered, Kim chuckled to herself. Quietly walking to the kitchen, she sees Vanessa asleep on the couch; the taller woman insisted on staying the night, in case Kim was taken by another nightmare during the night. Vanessa was on duty today, but Sammy was more than willing to accompany Kim when she went for her appointment with Dr. Petrov later that morning.
"How did I ever deserve friends like these?" Kim said softly to herself. She begins making a pot of coffee, knowing that both her friends would need it soon.
"Don't think I haven't thought of that, Commander," General Walters said, "but everyone of the technicians on this research team has been working with us for several years. I just can't imagine any of them would betray me?"
"They may not be doing it willing, General," Ben said. "Whoever it is may be getting coerced or blackmailed."
"I don't think I was ready to accept that line of thought, Commander, but what you say does make sense."
"We do have some good news for you Commander," Ms Simmons said. "We have been able to get four additional Sparta units up and running."
"Gloria was able to get a replacement shipment of parts in. They arrived yesterday morning, while your group was out on the training course," the General announced.
"It's a good thing I have a friend at ProtoDyne who owed me a favor. He was able to get a couple of trucks here with the bare minimum we needed." The head technician had a pleased look on her face.
"Wait a minute. ProtoDyne? Was the shipment that was hijacked heading here?" Ben couldn't keep the shock out of his voice.
"A good part of it was," confirmed the General, "but the rest was just regular spare parts for the squadrons based here in Monument City."
Ben starts swearing under his breath. This whole mission had just taken a very sharp turn away from the original objectives.
"Is everything alright, Commander?" asked Ms Simmons. "I thought you'd be pleased more hovertanks were available?"
"That's not the issue. At the hijacking debriefing a couple of days ago, the idea was that a mole was at ProtoDyne. What if the mole was here instead?"
"What would the connection with the sabotage be then?" Gloria asked.
"My guess would be to either cover their tracks or throw off the investigation," Ben said. "They may even be trying to get the mission scrubbed."
"Then we'd have no way of keeping this person from warning the malcontents about the little trap we're planning," General Walters said. He clearly grasped what Ben had realized.
"Not unless we can ferret them out first," Ms Simmons said.
This time the General swore. Everyone in the room had come to the same conclusion on the problem. What they needed now were answers.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do," the General said. "First, whatever has been discussed in this room stays confidential. Our lives could depend on it. Second, Cmdr Dixon will only tell his squadron that the issue appears to be a one-off failure. We need to keep the sabotage info under wraps for now. And confine your men to the simulators today. Tell them we're not done checking the rest of Spartas. Third, your people need to check out those other seven Spartas today, Gloria. But set things up so that nobody in your group touches more than one of them. Tell them whatever excuse you have to, but keep those techs isolated while they're working on the equipment."
"That way if there happens to be another problem, we can isolate things to the crew that worked on that particular hovertank!" Ms Simmons said. "Very clever, General!"
"So we're going on the assumption that this person doesn't know we're on to them yet. Correct?" Ben asked.
"Yes, Commander. I realize this puts you in a difficult position, but there's no other way to do it at the moment."
"I understand, General."
"I want to reiterate: nothing we discussed this morning leaves this room! Any other questions?"
Neither Ben nor Ms Simmons had additional questions. At the General's dismissal, they both went off to start their difficult tasks, both avoiding any mention of the somber topic that was just under discussion.
Ben walked at a deliberate pace back to the rest of Blue squadron. They were taking turns in the simulators and appeared to be having productive sessions. He stepped into the control room area to check the video feeds and telemetry from each simulator. Each of the three pilots currently working was doing their utmost to break the virtual hovertank, following Ben's orders from the previous day. With a satisfied nod Ben went in search of his XO and found him riding herd over the pilots waiting for their turns in the simulators.
"Hey, Boss, what's the word from the General?" Cmdr Turner asked.
"He said that whatever caused Barclay's hovertank to go crazy doesn't look like it was a design flaw, but the techs will be looking over all the Spartas systems to double check," Ben said.
"Did they have an ETA on completion?"
"No, but the head tech said they got four more up and running, so they have seven to check now."
"That's some good news," Pete said, "although it probably means nothing but simulator work today."
"I'm afraid so, Pete, so keep the guys working hard and make sure they're working in all modes with gunnery practice."
"You got it, Boss," Pete said. Then he turned back to the rest of the men and made sure they had the revised instructions.
Ben hated not telling Cmdr Turner the truth about Barclay's crash, but he knew that the General was correct in limiting the number of people who had access to that information. If the saboteur was part of the research team or the general's staff, they had to avoid alerting that person that Ben was on their tail. We need to catch them before the mission starts, or before another one of my men gets hurt, Ben thought.
Sammy sat in the passenger seat, yawning again as Kim drove the pair to Dr. Petrov's office. A big mug of Kim's strongest coffee hadn't kicked in yet, leaving the small blond feeling far from awake.
"Why am I coming with you again?" asked Sammy.
"Because Vanessa had to work and it's never a good idea to go to a medical appointment alone," Kim said.
"Whatever," Sammy replied. She leaned back in her and tried to nap, but she was just awake enough to not fall back asleep.
It was a short drive and the two women were soon walking in to the medical office. Kim checked in with the receptionist then went to sit down with Sammy.
"It seems like they'll never clear me to go back to duty," Sammy said. "I only had a concussion, not something serious."
"You call that 'Not serious'? You would have died in the hospital if the CAT scan didn't find the cranial bleeding. And they had to keep you in a coma for two weeks!"
"But it's not like I had a broken arm like Vanessa did," countered Sammy. "She's already back at work."
"Vanessa was probably the least injured of the three of us," Kim said.
"Uh, Cmdr Young?" the receptionist cut in, "Dr. Petrov will see you now."
Kim gives Sammy a reassuring pat on the shoulder before rising to enter the doctor's inner sanctum. Upon opening the door, Kim sees the counselor already sitting at her desk. Taking the black leather armchair to the left, Kim seats herself and prepares for an interesting session. Dr Petrov wasted no time in starting.
"I understand you had an exciting weekend, Ms Young." Irina said.
"Did Dr Grant fill you in on yesterday's trip to the medical center?"
"Of course. She is as worried as I for your health my dear and felt it her responsibility to keep me informed, since I am a specialist you are seeing." Dr Petrov spoke in a matter-of-fact tone and had a slight smile playing across her lips.
"Well, I was going to bring it up myself today anyway. I think the medical issue affecting me was a direct result of the nightmare I had Saturday night."
Kim saw Irina's eyebrow shoot up at that last statement. Kim wasn't sure if that meant the doctor was or was not expecting a relapse.
"I am hoping you are willing to discuss this new occurrence," Irina said after quickly regaining her composure.
"Yes doctor. It was a dream that only involved Claudia," Kim said.
"Ah yes, the late Cmdr Grant," Irina said. "Please continue."
"It started at the entrance to the area in my dreams where her grave was. I was looking and feeling extra pregnant while I wandered around the grounds. Then Claudia appeared out of nowhere, complaining about how she had never gotten pregnant with Roy, griping about how someone like me shouldn't have been pregnant. Then she ripped the baby out of me. That was the last I remembered of the dream. I didn't wake up until the next morning and that's when Vanessa saw the spotting on my nightgown."
"Was there anything else you remember about the dream?"
"My engagement ring was glowing like a spotlight again. It was keeping away all the thorn bushes that had sprung up around the cemetery."
"What element troubled you most about that dream?"
"I think the first thing that caught me as odd was that Claudia never showed she was jealous about anything when she was still alive."
"And…"
"She never acted towards me or any of the trio with anything but respect and friendship. We always felt she was like a big sister or favorite aunt."
"So it must have been surprising to have her attacking you."
"I was shocked. But I was more worried about protecting the baby. I felt horrified that I couldn't stop her from taking my daughter."
"It must have been a great relief to find out the baby was fine when you got to the medical center, but you must have had an awful time sleeping last night."
"Truthfully doc, last night was the best I slept in weeks. I think the reassurance that everything was alright with the baby set mind at ease. It's been a blessing my friends have been such a big help too."
"But not Cmdr Dixon?" asked Dr. Petrov.
"Ben has been posted to Monument City for a special mission. I'm worried for him, but I know he had no choice on it."
"It will not be easy being a military spouse, and doubly difficult with yourself also being in the military."
"Between friends and family, I think Ben and I will be able to manage. His Mom is so excited to be a grandma," Kim said, a smile on her face.
"I must say, I believe the dream to have been more about you having worries about your child than any other thing, although the presence of Cmdr Grant in this particular dream puzzles me."
"What do mean doctor?"
"It is very natural to have such dreams about your unborn child, especially for those having their first child, but there should be no connection to the death of your friend and superior."
"Oh, except there is a connection. After I found out I was pregnant, I started thinking about the usual things, like names, and was considering asking Claudia to be a godparent."
"Aha, the missing link surfaces! It all makes perfect sense now. I should think this is a sign you are recovering nicely, even if it doesn't feel as such to you."
"I thought it meant I was relapsing." Kim said. Her voice was tinged with embarrassment.
"It is the situation of one step backwards then two steps forward. Frankly, you are actually doing much better than I would have expected after the number of sessions we have already had."
"That's a relief! Dr Grant said I needed to cut back on any stress affecting me."
"I think with the reassurance you have gotten regarding your child that your stress level will be dropping quite a bit. Now, I have one more question for you before our session is over today."
"What did you need to know doctor?" Kim asked, her tone apprehensive.
"I must ask you something very important," Irina said with a very serious tone. "I must ask you…what have you selected for baby names?" A merry twinkle invades Dr Petrov's eyes as she finishes her query.
After a quick moment of surprise, Kim smiles and the two women begin to share some warm laughter.
Appointment notes: Monday, 24 January, 2013.
Patient: Young, Lt. Cmdr, Kimberly
The step back in Ms Young's recovery was smaller than I would have thought possible to hope for. The approaching arrival of the birth of her child is doing more than might be suspected of pulling Ms Young towards recovery. It is with a bit of irony that I believe I will soon be able to clear the Lt Commander for duty, just in time for her to go on maternity leave. But that is the best outcome I could hope for. It will give her a few weeks of normal sleep, anyway.
My original intuition on the people available for Ms Young's emotional support has been remarkably spot on, but such a thing is easy to see when a person such as she has wonderfully close friends and family. I have suggested that her next appointment can be set up for next week. I hope she will choose next Monday, but she must come to see me by no later than Friday of next week, as long as she remains nightmare free.
It was a long day in the simulators for Blue squadron, every man wanting as many turns as possible to hone skills and experiment with tactics. Near the end of the day, the technicians were able to merge the feeds from the simulators, allowing the pilots to train as three person squads. Everyone had shown such a large improvement since the previous day, possibly silent homage to their fallen comrade. It was almost enough to get Ben to forget the issue of Barclay's murder. Almost.
There was no avoiding the conclusion: since the crash was not an accident, then Barclay's death was not accidental, it was murder. If it was that obvious to Ben, who had no legal training, then it would be a slam dunk for a real prosecutor. All they needed to do was catch the culprit. Unfortunately, with the stricture to not reveal any of what he knew to his men, Ben was nearly helpless to investigate as fully as he needed with the help of the whole squadron.
There was also some mixed news from Gloria Simmons, the lead tech on the hovertank project. Her staff was done checking every bolt on all seven available Spartas and they were ready for live training tomorrow. While on the whole Ben was glad to be getting back to using the real vehicles, a part of his mind worried that he was setting up whichever of the men trained live the next day to be bait in a trap for the malefactor. It was a night of uneasy rest for Ben after a tasteless meal in the mess hall.
Ben was still full of foreboding the next morning, made worse by the prohibition to withhold information from the men of his squadron. His sour thoughts left him with an even worse appetite than a dinner last night. He sat morosely alone at breakfast, slowly stirring his scrambled eggs, but not actually eating any bites.
"Whoa, big brother, you must be sick if you're not already on seconds."
Ben looks up at the sound of the familiar voice; turning to his right he sees Max and Miriya. With an energetic leap up from his seat, Ben catches both of his friends in a bear hug.
"What are you two doing here?"
"We were sent to observe the training and evaluate the equipment," Max said.
"Captain Hunter thought we should be prepared to work with your strike team for the upcoming mission," Miriya added. "He believed that Skull would be tasked as your backup."
"Did you come up here on a shuttle or in your Valkyries?" Ben asked.
"Our VT's," Max said. "We were kind of hoping we'd get a chance to play too."
"We have both felt something has been missing since we were all given new assignments," Miriya said.
"I've missed you guys too," Ben said, his trademark grin shining from his face.
"I was surprised to see a Zentraedi here at the facility," Miriya said. "I was not aware that any would have been given access to a project such as this, even if they had been micronized."
"Are you absolutely sure you saw another Zentraedi here?" Ben asked. "As far as I knew, there were none on General Walters' staff."
"I am very certain of what I saw, Benjamin," Miriya stated. "It was definitely a micronized male Zentraedi and he had on coveralls typical of a mechanic or technician."
"Can you show me where you saw him?"
"Affirmative. Follow me."
Ben and Max trail after Miriya through the corridors until they reached an intersection near the hangar bay.
"I saw him here and he was heading in that direction," Miriya said. She was pointing in the exact direction of the hangars.
Without a word, Ben bolts at a dead sprint, hoping to catch the mystery intruder, dodging around the few people already in the hallway. Max and Miriya trailed after him, not sure what had gotten into their friend. When they finally caught up with Ben, then found him in the middle of the hangar bay, slowly turning around and scanning the areas between the craft, cursing in a low, angry tone.
"What's wrong, Ben" asked Max. His voice had a tone of concern, but his eyes were rapidly scanning the room, trying to see what Ben was searching for.
"He's not in here," Ben said. "He slipped out before I got here."
"By your reaction, Benjamin, can I assume this male was not part of the authorized staff of this facility?"
"There shouldn't be any Zentraedi anywhere on this base, micronized or not. You may have seen our security leak, Miriya. I think we're going to have to see General Walters, so you can provide a description of this person."
"Leak?" Max asked. "What the heck is going on here?"
"I'll be able to tell you when we get to the General's office. I'm under orders to keep this information under wraps, but what Miriya saw changes the whole ball game."
The two warrior spouses look at each other, their expressions each silently asking the question: "What have we just gotten involved with?"
Dr Irina Petrov appears courtesy of dwparsnip.
Chapter title is lyrics from Ashes to Ashes by David Bowie.
Next chapter: Have they found the mole, or something worse?