“She doesn’t practice anymore?”
“She’s continued doing a little temp work here and there to keep up her license. My dad’s an accountant. He does that from the lodge.”
Carrie thought about this and laughed to herself, tucking her long hair behind her ear.
Doc smiled and shot her another curious look. “What?”
“I was just thinking about Carter’s ‘snowflake’ comment.”
Doc’s mouth quirked a little. “Alright, and what about you, then? Tell me about your dad.”
Carrie looked at him suspiciously. There was something about the way he asked her, like he knew already.
“What about my father, sir?” she eyed him carefully.
“Well, he’s a soldier, right?” He tapped the pen on his thigh.
“He’s retired.”
Doc nodded. “And what about his career before that?”
Carrie eyed him again for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. “You know, don’t you? Smith told you, didn’t he?”
Doc shot her a confused look. “Told me what?”
“About my father.”
“Told me what about your father?”
“Why haven’t you asked about my mother?” she asked, leaning off the doorway.
Doc paused for a moment. She could see his mind was ticking over. “Okay, what does your mother do?”
Carrie paused a moment, her own mind ticking over. He was playing dumb. Suddenly she clicked. “Right. Smith doesn’t know about my mother, so if he didn’t tell you, you must’ve read it? How did you know that I was an only child? You read it in my file, didn’t you?”
“Read what, corporal?” he smiled.
“You know what I’m talking about,” she smiled back.
Doc laughed and held his hands out, questioning. “Know what?”
They looked at each other, a standoff to see who would fold first. Damn! She thought. I forgot he was a good poker player!
She relented and sighed. “You know that my mother’s dead, that’s why you didn’t ask about her. And you know that my father’s a … was … a colonel, an ‘Original’, because you wanted to rub it in, didn’t you?” she challenged.
He looked at her, keeping his poker face.
“Didn’t you … lieutenant,” she repeated.
He paused for another moment, then gave in, nodding. “I might’ve read it in your file.”
“I knew it!”
“So, Smith knows, huh?” he grinned.
“He saw the name come up when he punched in the transmission code. He’s been sworn to secrecy, though, as are you,” she pointed at him.
“Have I said a word so far, corporal?”
Carrie folded her arms. “Not that I know of.”
“Look, I understand about you not wanting to tell the guys. My lips are sealed.” He held up the e-pen and mimicked pulling a zip across his lips. They stared at each other for a moment, then he put the end of the pen back to his mouth and simply said, “Miss Snowflake.”
She tried to hold it in, but a smile broke out on her face, bringing laughter with it. She brought her hand to her mouth to cover it. Doc smiled back at her, then glanced over her shoulder and suddenly straightened his face, cleared his throat and removed his feet from the table, sitting upright.
“Captain,” he said.
Carrie looked over her shoulder at Captain Harris standing in the doorway. She quickly stood aside for him.
“Am I interrupting something?” Harris asked.
Doc shook his head, putting the file that had been on his lap onto the table.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping, Corporal Welles?” Harris stared down at her.
“I tried captain, but I couldn’t,” she said.
“Well, I suggest you try harder,” he said flatly.
“Yes, sir,” she nodded. She shot Doc a glance, then headed for the door.
*
Harris stared Doc in the eye as he walked into the room. “You finished with those papers yet?”
“Yes, sir.” Doc handed back the e-file pane.
“And?”
“And … you’re right. He does seem a little obsessed with all things dark and torturous, but I guess that’s why Hell Town’s as successful as it is. He knows how to fuck with people and push their buttons. Break their will, as the case may be.”
Harris nodded. “Keep this,” he held up the e-file, “in mind when we board tonight. If it’s not a technical difficulty, there might be something useful here. God knows what study he’s working on now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Harris turned and headed for the door. When he reached it he looked back at Doc. “Your office isn’t for social calls, Doc. You wanna have a conversation, you save it for the mess hall. Understood?”
Doc looked up at him and nodded. “No problem.”
As Harris left he called out over his shoulder. “Clock’s ticking on your sleep time, Doc!”
“Yours too, Saul!” he called back.
Harris smiled at the comment, heading toward his quarters. As he walked along, he thought about what he’d just seen in Doc’s office. He told himself they were just talking and there was no need to be concerned. But he’d heard the sound of her laughter and saw the smile on Doc’s face as he looked at her, and it did concern him. It was only friendly banter at the time, but Harris knew if he didn’t control the situation, it could spiral.
Doc was never shy of female attention, Harris knew that. But he also knew that Doc wasn’t the kind of guy to be an asshole about it, either. Sometimes he was just too friendly for his own good. Unfortunately, Harris also knew the type of woman who attracted Doc’s attention, and if he wasn’t mistaken Welles could fit the profile. She was cute, and she had a certain strength of spirit about her that might just spark his interest.
Harris sighed. That was always a risk with co-ed teams; it was human nature. But if his team was to run efficiently, there had to be strict boundaries. He made a mental note to watch them both closely from here on in. He couldn’t allow this to be anything other than friendship.
*
At 2120 Harris made his way to his office.
He’d managed to get about an hour of shut-eye, albeit with more confusing dreams of Sibbie and Etta, their eyes boring holes into him as Sibbie clutched that phone, telling him “something’s wrong!”. It ended with him waking abruptly again, sitting bolt upright in bed and calling out “Holly-Hope!” It was the name Sibbie used to call his sister. Her birth name was Holly, but for whatever reason, Sibbie added on the “Hope”. He hadn’t heard the name since Sibbie had passed, and thought it odd to have resurfaced all these years later.
He shook their faces from his mind, because right now they were crowding it and he had to get moving. He was due to have his final briefing with Command at 2130. He entered his office, walked straight to his coffee station and poured himself a long black. He took a sip, then moved over behind his desk and logged into the Command portal.
Sitting back in his chair, he waited for the system to connect. It beeped and the screen revealed Colonel Isaack and Professor Martin.
“Captain Harris,” Isaack greeted him.
“Colonel Isaack, Professor Martin,” he returned.
“So I believe you’re on target to board at 2330. Is that correct?” Isaack asked authoritatively.
“Yes, sir, we are on target for that time. Have you managed to make any contact with the Darwin as yet?”
“Negative, Captain Harris. We are still in blackout with the station.”
“You’ve found no-one else who picked up the comms, as we did?”
“That’s a negative, captain.”
“And you have no other information to give me?”
“Not at this time,” Isaack said firmly.
Harris looked over at Professor Martin. “And you still can’t advise me as to just what sort of programs the Darwin is running?”
“I read some papers that Professor Sharley released, his studies on human and animal behavior involving the great predators of the animal kingdom and serial killers. He has a keen interest in some pretty dark stuff.”
Professor Martin thought about this for a moment. “Well, er, yes, I guess he does, albeit in a scientific capacity. He’s a psychologist by trade, an expert in human behavior. So that would be a fair statement, Captain Harris.”
“So, the UNF put a psychologist in charge up there, in charge of biological weaponry?”
“That’s correct,” Martin gave a single nod. “When dealing with biological weaponry, one must ensure the right people are involved, and no-one knows this better than a psychologist.”
Harris thought for a moment. “So, you’d suggest we take all possible precautions for the boarding?”
Professor Martin nodded. “That would be a wise move, yes. Definitely masks and breathing apparatus to be on the safe side.”
“Captain Harris, what is your plan for the boarding party?” Colonel Isaack interjected.
“I’ll be taking the full team aboard, colonel, except my pilots, of course.”
“And except the female recruits,” Isaack stated firmly.
“Yes, colonel, and except the female recruits. Although I ran a training exercise today and Welles, in particular, did very well. I would like the opportunity to test her out in a live situation, sir.”
“And perhaps one day that opportunity will come, Captain Harris, but for now, she is to remain on the ship. Once we’re sure the Darwin is stable, I will issue the order to let them board. Until then, your order remains the same. I hope we’re clear on this, Captain, because I do not want to have this conversation for a fourth time. Are we clear?”
Harris was disappointed by the order, but nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Captain Harris,” Martin began, “when you dock at the Darwin, there is a receiver port that your ship can plug into to access the Darwin’s power and transmit back to Command. It’s rigged separately from the main station’s power, so we’re hoping that you might be able to use it and save your ship’s power stores. If it is working, though, we would’ve presumed that Professor Sharley would have attempted to use it. Regardless, it’s worth a try.”
“I did see that on the plans, professor. My engineer, Staff Sergeant Brown and my comms-tech PFC Smith, will look into that for us.”
Professor Martin nodded. “One more thing, captain. I’d like you to use extreme caution with your weapons. Darwin is a state-of-the-art facility and we’d like to avoid any damage whatsoever.”
Harris stared at the screen for a few moments. “Professor Martin, I will use extreme caution with our weapons, providing my soldiers’ lives aren’t in any danger. If we are at risk, then we’ll do what is necessary.”
“I’m sure it won’t be a problem, captain. You’re a good leader with a great team. Weapons shouldn’t be necessary.”
Harris stared at him. Like hell, he thought.
“Yes, sir,” was what he said, however.
“Well, good luck, Captain,” Isaack said, rounding up the conversation. “Hopefully, this is only a technical difficulty and we can have you back on your leave in no time.”
“Yes,” Martin added, “good luck, Captain Harris. We’ll speak to you again after you board.”
“Will do.” Harris ended the transmission, and sat there staring at the blank screen for a moment, fist to chin, thinking. All the while he tried to ignore that strange feeling swirling in the pit of his stomach again.
*
Carrie made her way with the team to the flight deck at 2215. They were all fairly quiet, except Carter. He was rehashing to Smith a previous boarding the Aurora team did where they came under heavy fire; talking animatedly about explosions and gunfire, laughing about how freaked out they’d been. Carrie met eyes with Doc, who flashed her a smile of hello. She wondered what the captain had said to him after she’d left?
They reached the flight deck and saw Hunter and Packham at the controls. Packham looked concentrated, yet calm. The sergeant was finally going to get to do something other than just observe. Carrie gave her a smile of encouragement. Packham acknowledged it with a subtle nod.
They took their same seats as the launch, Colt and Carrie on the third tier again. Bolkov sat off to the side at the console, observing Packham closely, looking as though he was ready to intervene if she did something wrong. Carter was still talking animatedly with Smith and Louis, while Doc and McKinley were engrossed in a deep discussion about something, which Brown listened to also.
“Almost there, girl.” Colt flashed a confident grin.
Carrie smiled back. Yes!
After a few minutes the captain entered and the team hushed down. He moved to the flight deck console, standing beside Hunter as he looked through the observation window.
“How are we tracking, sergeant?” he asked.
“The target has appeared on our radar and we’re on time for an ETA of 2327.” Hunter pointed to a radar screen located between him and his co-pilot. From where Carrie sat, she could just see the target blinking at the top of the screen.
So that’s the Darwin. Goosebumps erupted over her arms.
“Good,” Harris said, then abruptly turned to face the crew. “Okay, listen up. In less than one hour we will be docking at Station Darwin.” He looked around at everyone, making sure they were paying attention, then turned back to Hunter. “Bring up the station’s floor plan,” he ordered.
Hunter went to work and the observation window in front of them glazed over with Darwin’s floor plan. The station was more or less hexagonally shaped and divided into three sections. A main corridor circled the station, splitting each of those sections into two halves.
“There is only one entrance into the station, which is here.” The captain pointed to a doorway to the right of the U-shaped docking bay. “These doors, here and here …” he pointed to a door on the left-hand side of the docking bay and one in a central position “… are emergency exits only. Hunter, I want you and Bulk to keep an eye on them as we go through. You see anybody try to run out, you detain them. I’d be surprised if they’d come out with the Aurora in dock, though.”
“Yes, sir,” Hunter replied, while Bolkov gave a firm nod.
Harris looked back at the rest of his soldiers. “So, we make our way to the entrance and then move through the three sections, clearing and securing them one by one. The first section is made up of the offices and general store; the second section is labs and a bio cell for containment; and the third is the mess hall, rec area, and crew quarters. We will board in a two-team formation. I will lead the first team with McKinley, Carter and Brown. Doc will head up the rear team with Louis and Smith.”
Carrie and Colt glanced at each other.
“We will be boarding in full bio gear,” Harris continued, “which will remain on until Doc confirms it’s safe to remove. We’ve been ordered to exercise extreme caution and only use our weapons as an absolute last resort. This could simply be a technical difficulty, gentlemen. The people on board the station may not be in any danger. However, if this is more than a technical difficulty and they are under threat, I need you to be alert, and not wounding the wrong people or causing any serious damage that could destabilize the station. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Now, remember our training exercise. Remember where you went wrong, and make sure you don’t do it again.”
“Yes, sir,” the men called out.
Harris turned to Hunter again and motioned for him to bring up a different screen, which began scrolling images of the Darwin’s crew. “Familiarize yourself with these faces, gentlemen. They are the Darwin crew and we are to assume they are all friendlies. Do not injure any of these people, un
less they try to attack you. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” the men replied.
“Excuse me, captain,” Colt called out. “What about us?” she pointed to Carrie and herself.
“What about you?” Harris said with a stone cold look on his face, unimpressed with the interruption.
Colt glanced at Carrie, confused, then back at Harris. “Which team are we in, sir?” she asked.
“Did I call your name out, corporal?”
“No, sir.”
“Then you’re not on a team.”
The rest of the unit flicked their eyes between the two women and Harris.
“You mean we’re not going in?” Carrie blurted, her brow furrowed.
“Very intuitive, Corporal Welles,” Harris said flatly.
Her heart started racing and her mouth went dry. “But, sir, we’ve trained for this. We want to go in. We want to help,” she protested.
“You want to help, Corporal Welles? Stay here and guard the ship,” he said bluntly, then turned his focus back to the men and boomed. “Let’s move out!”
Harris strode up the stairs and off the flight deck looking straight ahead. Carrie watched him, somewhat stunned. She looked back at the men. Carter seemed amused and Louis was smirking. Smith, Hunter, Bolkov and Brown’s faces were noncommittal, but Doc and McKinley looked as confused as Carrie and Colt were. McKinley, in particular, stood out to her. She half expected him to be smirking like Louis, but he wasn’t. He exchanged a look with Doc, but neither said a word, as they began to fall out and follow the captain.
“Good luck, gentlemen!” Hunter called out.
“Yeah, you have fun in the henhouse, Hunter,” Carter called back and then laughed. “We’ll go out and do the real work, eh?”
Hunter flashed him a sarcastic smile and flipped him the bird. “I hope you don’t get left behind, Carter,” then he turned back to the control panel and put on his headset. Packham’s eyes flicked to both Colt and Carrie, but she too turned back to the console and did the same.
As the men departed, Carrie and Colt looked straight ahead. The only one who tried to make eye contact with the women was Doc, but Carrie avoided it. She looked dead ahead out the window, her face completely expressionless, except her eyes, which she knew were colder than ice.
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