by Roland Starr
“Just a moment and we’ll check if the outer door will open,” Vonner said. He crossed to the control console and sat down, feeling as if he was still aboard Orion. He operated some switches on a separate panel and saw doorframe lights operating, indicating that the outer airlock door was opening. He nodded at Nevin and drew a deep breath. “All right, Sergeant,” he ordered. “Wait for your party outside the inner airlock door, and then make a search of the ship. Check out the crew quarters. I want a report as soon as you find any of this ship’s crewmen.”
“Yes, sir!” Nevin tightened his grip upon his laser and departed.
Vonner sighed heavily as he looked around the deserted control room. His mind was filled with question, but he thrust all thoughts of enquiry into the background. There were some bridges he would have to cross later, but right now he needed to check through the ship and ascertain if she was completely space-worthy. He watched the scanners, and saw Farrell bringing the shuttle into the open airlock. When the craft was safely inside the outer door closed, and this time it operated without manual assistance. Lights flickered and flashed, and then the inner door opened. Vonner nodded happily. At last, he thought, events were shaping in their favour.
Very shortly the control room door opened and Lieutenant Farrell appeared, grinning, vastly relieved, and he hurried to the communications console and sat down, running over the equipment, checking out the circuits, and Vonner watched in silence, awaiting his subordinate to finish. Finally Farrell looked up, a glint in his pale eyes.
“Nothing wrong here, Captain!” he reported. “Everything is in perfect order.”
“Start preparing to send messages to Earth Base,” Vonner said.
“But the crew of this ship, Captain?” Farrell began to look concerned now his immediate worries were assuaged. “Where is everyone?”
“I’m waiting for Nevin to search and report,” Vonner said firmly. “Don’t let’s start jumping to conclusions, Howie!”
Farrell nodded. “I’ll get the warp-lapse equipment checked out,” he said. “I’ll be ready to start transmitting within the hour, Captain. Can we remove our space suits?”
“Better not!” Vonner replied. “I have a nasty feeling this ship is deserted, and if she is, then why was she abandoned?”
“Only one airlock door was open, so that means one shuttle craft detached.” There was a hard note in Farrell’s tones. “I don’t like the look of things here, Captain.”
A buzzer sounded. Farrell opened a line and Nevin’s voice came through on a speaker.
“Captain, this is Sergeant Nevin. We’ve searched the main crew quarters and can find no signs of anyone. We’re going through the rest of the ship now and I’m pairing off the men and sending them to the different deck levels. But so far all evidence points to the ship being deserted.”
“Carry on, Sergeant, and report to me as soon as you’ve completed your search. Warn your men to keep their space suits on, and to go over to personal life support systems at the first signs of trouble.” Vonner kept his tones even, but he was filled with a surge of concern. Questions were still filtering through his mind despite his firm intention not to consider them. But he could not understand how the entire crew had gone from the ship in only one shuttle craft, which had a maximum load of twelve men. There was a great mystery here, and it might contain danger for his own crew.
While he waited for reports from the guards, Vonner checked the ship’s star log, and found no entries for many weeks. The last entries in the log gave no indication of trouble, and he was no wiser about the situation, although he gained some knowledge. The ship was called Alba. The captain was John Pikon and there had been a complement of eighty-three officers and crewmen. The ship’s orders were to back up Orion. Alba had to attempt contact with Orion as soon as the ship reached Uralis Digis orbit.
Vonner considered slowly. He calculated that Alba had reached its present orbit about the time Orion had left Omina. That distress call which Farrell had picked up, scrappy and incomplete as it had been, indicated that Alba had sent a message. But the ship’s computer memory banks would give some indication of what had occurred, and Vonner stifled his questions. He needed to find out the present situation aboard the ship before worrying about what had happened before. He needed to solve his own problems aboard Orion before attempting to learn of the fate of Alba's crew.
When Sergeant Nevin came into the control room to report Vonner could tell by the expression on the man’s face that his search had met with no success.
“There’s not a man aboard the ship, Captain,” Nevin said in unemotional tones, although his eyes proclaimed his concern. “I can’t find any signs of violence or damage. It doesn’t appear that the crew evacuated the ship in haste.”
“Thank you, Sergeant.” Vonner nodded. “Stand by with your men and I’ll come back to you shortly.” He thought for a moment, his lips compressed against his teeth, his eyes showing calculation. “Perhaps you’ll check all shuttle craft airlocks! I want to know if any other shuttle craft are missing!”
“Right, sir! I’ll handle the controls here and get a couple of men to go around the airlocks.” Nevin departed to give orders, and Vonner went back to Farrell’s side.
The Communications Officer was busy with the equipment, but he looked up at Vonner’s approach.
“Howie, I want you to take our shuttle and return to Orion” he said. “I want Dalus Wayland, Quillon Reid and Doc Morley over here, plus a few more guards. We need to find out what happened to the crew of this ship and why they abandoned it.”
“This could solve our particular problem aboard Orion, Captain!” Farrell said slowly, getting to his feet.
“How do you mean?”
“Bardo!” Farrell’s fleshy face was showing relief. “We could abandon Orion and continue our journey to Earth aboard this ship. We could either leave Bardo as he is aboard Orion or destroy the ship and Bardo with it.”
“I am already considering all possible solutions, Howie,” Vonner said. “Take that shuttle now and get across to Orion. Arrange for one of your communications men to take post on another shuttle and use its communicator to maintain contact with us. I want to be informed immediately there’s any change aboard Orion. Once we’ve checked out this ship we’ll transfer all personnel from Orion, then decide what’s to be done about ejecting Bardo!”
Farrell nodded and took his leave. Vonner watched on the scanners, and presently saw the shuttle craft detach and make the crossing to Orion, which lay a mile astern of Alba.
Nevin came into the control room and began operating the inner airlock doors, opening them for his guards to check, and Vonner prowled the control room, checking circuits, examining consoles, looking for evidence that would point to the reason why an entire crew should abandon an apparently perfectly operating ship.
He thought about the scrap of signal that Farrell had picked up. It had obviously come from Alba, and it had been part of a distress call. Vonner shook his head when he failed to come to any real conclusions. There were several reasons why the ship might have been abandoned, but he dared not consider any of them. He was aware that throughout history there had been incidents where ships had been found derelict, with no good reason for abandonment. Perhaps a crisis had arisen which had been serious enough to warrant the captain ordering the crew into their shuttles, and perhaps the crisis had been averted after the crew departed. But none of the theories Vonner formed seemed valid, and he discontinued his line of thought.
Nevin finally reported that his guards had searched all shuttle craft airlocks, and no other craft had departed from the ship. Vonner didn’t like the sound of that. A crew of more than eighty could not have departed in a shuttle designed to hold a maximum of twelve crewmen. He returned to watch the scanners and saw Farrell’s shuttle entering its airlock aboard Orion. After the outer airlock door had closed, Vonner went to the communicator and called Farrell, receiving an immediate response.
“Everything is okay, Capt
ain,” Farrell reported. “I’m about to vacate the shuttle. I’ll have a man in here within a couple of minutes to maintain contact with you.”
Vonner left the equipment on receive and paced the control room. In the back of his mind was a growing sense of foreboding. There had to be something wrong with this ship! The captain must have abandoned it in a hurry, and only for some malfunction that had apparently corrected itself later. But it would have been a matter of life and death at the time of the abandonment, for no captain would leave his ship unless under extreme circumstances. Nevin had reported no signs of violence or damage!
“Captain Vonner, this is Orion calling!” a voice said suddenly, and Vonner went back to the communicator.
“Captain Vonner here!” he replied.
“Captain, the shuttle will be leaving in a few minutes,” the voice continued. “I am remaining on the air as a link between the two ships. I’ll keep my equipment on receive, unless I have cause to call you!”
“Very well! What is the situation in the sickbay at this time?”
“Colonel Curran reports no change in conditions, sir!”
“Fine. Switch to receive and stand by!” Vonner switched his set to receive and left it. He watched the scanners carrying pictures of Orion, and shortly saw the shuttle detach and come back towards the Alba. He watched it anxiously until it entered the airlock aboard the abandoned ship, and when the doorframe lights glowed on one of the control panels he knew the small craft had docked safely.
Minutes later a group of his officers came into the control room. Wayland led them, and Quillon Reid and Doc Morley were within the group of guards.
“Dalus, I can give you orders without much trouble,” Vonner said instantly. “Take a couple of guards along with you and check out the engine room. I want a full report upon its condition as soon as possible.”
“There’s nothing wrong with this ship,” Wayland retorted without hesitation. “A man gets the feel of a ship the moment he steps through an airlock, and I’m telling you there’s nothing wrong here.”
“Carry out the checks anyway,” Vonner said, and Wayland nodded and departed with a guard in close attendance.
“What’s happened aboard this ship. Captain?” Quillon Reid demanded. “Lieutenant Farrell reported that you didn’t find a soul aboard.”
“That’s right. The ship has been abandoned by its crew, and I don’t like that at all. Quillon, take a look around the Lab aboard. See if you can find out anything. Keep a guard with you. I don’t know why, but I’ve got a hunch that warns me we should be careful. You know what I mean.” He waited for Reid to depart, then looked at Adah Morley. “Doc, go down to the sickbay and check the records there. See if you can come up with something. I don’t believe an entire crew would desert this ship without leaving some evidence. Apart from that, only one shuttle craft is missing, and its maximum load is twelve men. I’m wondering what happened to the other seventy members of the crew. Take a couple of guards with you.”
“Very well, Captain!” Adah turned away, and Vonner watched her departure through narrowed eyes.
Farrell came into the control room. He had piloted the shuttle back from Orion. He faced Vonner, his fleshy face set in harsh lines, his pale eyes narrowed as he met Vonner’s steady gaze.
“Have you found out anything yet, Captain?” he demanded. “What happened to the crew of this ship?”
“I don’t have the faintest idea!” Vonner compressed his lips, and there was a sense of frustration in the forefront of his mind. “But when the experts have had the opportunity of checking around I think they’ll come up with something. Take over in here, Howie. The communicator is on receive. Leave it that way! I want to know the minute there’s any news from Orion”
“Are you expecting something?” Farrell asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve got a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. It’s never let me down before, and I fear that something may go wrong. So be on your toes, Howie.”
“Where will you be, Captain?” Farrell’s voice was husky but unemotional.
“In the captain’s quarters. I want to check out the memory banks of the control computer. I need to gain as much information as possible. We’re going to have to solve this mystery before we can make for Earth. But in the meantime you’d better prepare to send those messages to Earth Base. No matter what happens here, we can’t leave this orbit until we’ve had replies from Space Force Earth.”
“Right!” Farrell turned away. “You can leave it to me, Captain. But station a guard in here, will you?”
Vonner nodded, moving towards the door, but he paused and looked into Farrell’s heavy face.
“Are you nervous about something, Howie?” he demanded.
“Not nervous, Captain! But I’ve also got a strange feeling, and I don’t like it. You know what I mean!”
“I do, and it’s bothering me!” Vonner said. He left the control room, pausing just outside the door to talk to the two guards stationed there. One of them entered the control room and the door swished shut at his back. Vonner chatted with the remaining guard, then went along to the nearest elevator. The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside the small compartment, tightening his grip upon the laser projector he was still carrying. He descended swiftly to the lower deck and entered the lower corridor.
As he went into the captain’s quarters he entered into a different atmosphere, and paused immediately, his nose warning him that all was not well. Holding his breath, he quickly snapped shut his helmet visor and turned on the space suit’s life support system. His senses reeled and he put out a hand to steady himself. He had taken only one normal breath of the fetid atmosphere, and yet it almost stole his senses. Adjusting his air supply, he breathed deeply of almost pure oxygen, and quickly cleared his head.
There was a frown on his face as he went to the communicator. He called Farrell, and the Lieutenant’s voice came through immediately.
“Howie!” Vonner spoke crisply. “Turn on the public address speakers and warn everyone in the ship to close up in space suits and use personal life support systems. I’ve just entered the captain’s quarters and the air is polluted. It smelled like Pteturium fumes to me! Get Wayland to pump emergency ventilation throughout the ship.”
He switched off, looking up as he caught a glimpse of movement in the doorway leading into the captain’s office. The next instant he was swinging up the laser projector, for the man confronting him in the doorway was Ed Bardo, resplendent in his dress uniform, a grin of welcome upon his harshly set features…
CHAPTER XI
Vonner’s immediate impulse was to shoot the ominous figure, but he held himself back, aware that this might be a guard and Bardo might have entered the man’s body.
“Who are you?” he demanded hoarsely, his body tense, his hands quivering upon the lethal weapon in his grasp.
“I’m Bardo, Captain,” came the steady reply. “Surely you haven’t forgotten me!”
“You’re not Bardo!” Vonner was remembering his last brush with the space-sick Commander. He went forward swiftly, lifting the weapon to strike at Bardo with it, and he was within four paces of the figure when there was a flash and Bardo vanished. Vonner reeled backwards as he was lashed by some unexplainable invisible power. He stared around, breathing heavily, and staggered to the communicator.
“Howie, this is the captain,” he gasped when Farrell’s voice sounded. “I’ve just had a brush with Bardo. Warn the rest of the people aboard the ship to watch out, and tell them not to shoot in case Bardo is making himself appear in the place of one of the guards. The only way of dealing with him is disbelieving the sight of him and attacking him physically. Then warn Curran aboard Orion! I’m coming back to the control room, and I want a report on Bardo when I arrive.”
“Right, Captain!” Farrell’s tones were ragged, but the line went dead. The next instant Vonner heard his message being relayed over the speakers, and he glanced around the room once more before departin
g. Icy shivers were tingling along his spine as he went back to the control room.
Farrell was talking to his crewman aboard Orion when Vonner hurried into the control room. The Communications Officer looked up at Vonner, his face pale, showing nervousness.
“The sooner we destroy Bardo the better, Captain,” he commented as he switched his equipment to receive. “I’ve passed on the message, and Curran reports that there’s no change at his end.”
“There’s a change aboard this ship, and I almost didn’t get the chance to report it!” Vonner spoke harshly, using his suit communicator. “When I entered the captain’s quarters! There was a reek of Pteturium!” He paused, thinking deeply. “That was before I saw Bardo!”
“Pteturium!” Farrell shook his head. “I don’t understand, Captain! How could Pteturium get released in the captain’s quarters?”
“I don’t know, but more to the point is why was it released there?”
“Could it have infiltrated the ship by way of the general ventilation system?” Farrell demanded.
“Normally that would be impossible, unless someone in the engine room did it!” Vonner motioned to the communicator. “Give me a line to the engine room, Howie!”
Farrell obeyed, and Wayland answered immediately.
“Dalus!” Vonner said. “Check out the engine room for signs of Pteturium having been introduced into the general ventilation system.”
“Pteturium?” Wayland was shocked. “You’ve found traces of it aboard, Captain?”
“In the captain’s quarters! It was definitely Pteturium! And I saw Bardo down there!”
“But no one could manufacture Pteturium aboard ship, Captain!” the Chief Engineer protested.
“Take a sensor along to the captain’s quarters and test it for yourself,” Vonner said. “Then report to me. In the meantime we’ll have to do something about Bardo! If he gets a foothold aboard this ship we’re going to be in real trouble.”
“Can he be in two places at once?” Wayland demanded.
