Discovery

by Paul Rix

  Winter was dismayed to see the brief skirmish on the jetcopter but was equally pleased that Georgia was still alive. The distraction she had caused would give him and the chief enough time to reach the jetcopter before it escaped. He pulled up several yards away, stopping as Redmayne waved the knife in his direction.

  "That's close enough, captain. You don't want anything to happen to Georgia."

  Winter knew he had to take control of the situation quickly. He looked across at Commander Anders for any sign of assistance, but he seemed to be supporting Redmayne. He hadn't expected that from his number two.

  "Tom, I don't know what you're doing, but it won't work. Let Georgia go and return to the base. We can sort this out there with no one getting hurt."

  "You know I can't do that. You'll lock me up."

  Winter knew there was no point calling Redmayne's bluff. He was desperate and appeared set on completing his mission. But maybe there was still hope for Anders. How much did he actually know? He endeavored to find out. "I know you're working with the Russians, Tom. What deal do you have with them? Will they take care of Georgia and Lars? I assume the Russians are coming to collect you."

  Anders reacted, turning to face Tom. "You didn't tell me about the Russians! You convinced me this was for the safety of the expedition."

  "It is for the expedition. Don't listen to the captain. He's lying and will try anything to save his precious Georgia Pyke," Tom sneered. "I don't know what he's talking about."

  "Commander," continued Winter. "Ground Control have intercepted several transmissions between the Andropov and someone on the base. If it's not you, then it has to be Tom. He's a spy and has been working with the Russians all along. Everything he's told you is a lie. He intends to lead the Russians to the Sentinels."

  As Winter was speaking, the chief slowly dismounted from his speeder and started walking sideways, behind the MEV. Tom spotted what he was doing. "That's far enough, chief. Just stay there where I can see you."

  Winter turned to glance at the chief and said, "do as he says, Jim."

  The chief stopped and glared at Redmayne. "You'll have me to answer to if you hurt Georgia," he said, unable to hide the raging anger in his voice.

  Chapter 63

  Georgia was feeling extremely vulnerable, wedged between Anders and Redmayne, with the latter waving his knife in an increasingly erratic way. She was powerless to do anything but trusted the captain to resolve the situation, especially with Redmayne outnumbered. The only thing she could do was stay calm and wait for a chance to escape.

  She could sense that Anders was doubting his involvement as Redmayne's true plans were laid bare by the captain. She could see what Captain Winter was doing and was sure that Anders was an unwitting victim of Redmayne's deceit. Maybe there was still a chance that Anders would help her.

  ***

  Winter pressed forward with his tactic of talking directly with Anders. "You can't trust, Tom. He's using you. He's used all of us. Did you know that he set a small bomb off in the biodome this morning? No one was injured but there's plenty of damage. Do you want to be associated with someone so reckless?"

  Anders looked stunned by this latest revelation. "Is that true, Tom?"

  "Yes!" Tom realized this was no time for pretense. "I needed to allow us time to get the jetcopter ready. You can see that. But I didn't harm anyone. It was just a small device in the fuse box. It was never dangerous. I wasn't going to harm anyone."

  Anders couldn't believe what he was hearing, although it was all starting to make sense. Tom was using him, and he would use Georgia. And then, in all likelihood, he would be discarded and left to face the consequences. All to help the Russians complete a power play with the Sentinels. His own ego had blinded him. Was it too late to make amends?

  Commander Anders stared across at Redmayne and said, "I can't go through with this. I'm not a spy or a traitor. You should listen to the captain and step down. It's over for me."

  Anders unbuckled his harness and started to step from the jetcopter. Georgia saw an opportunity to follow, but Redmayne anticipated her intentions.

  "Not so fast," he said, grabbing her arm again. "You're staying with me. I'm not finished yet."

  Georgia cried out in pain but was powerless to free herself from his grasp. Anders froze on the edge of the jetcopter's platform, no longer sure what he should do but unable to leave Georgia with Redmayne.

  Captain Winter saw the chief use the distraction to move quickly out of sight behind the MEV and spoke again to ensure Redmayne's continued attention. "There's no need to hurt her. You're only making this worse for yourself. Do you really think you can escape on your own?"

  Redmayne, still holding tightly onto Georgia's arm, maintained his resolve. "The commander is weak. I always thought he would let me down. Which is why I have a backup plan. In two minutes, the Aquarius' main fuel tanks will purge themselves of any remaining fuel. That fuel will combust in the rocket chambers, destroying everything left here on the ground. I suggest you spend that time wisely by running away as far as you can. And leave me alone."

  Winter couldn't be sure if Redmayne was telling the truth and was weighing up the risks when the chief sprinted from behind the MEV and jumped on the cradle, pressing the controls to ascend.

  "Leave the engines to me," shouted the chief. "Save Georgia."

  "Yes, save your beloved Georgia," mocked Redmayne, undeterred by the chief's actions. "Jim won't be able to stop the purge and the engine blast will fry you. Let me go, and she lives. If you try to rescue her, she dies. It's very simple, really."

  The position looked hopeless to Winter. He looked up to see that the cradle was already a third of the way to the hold. The chief was cutting it fine to cancel the engine ignition. If he failed, it would be too late to save any of them.

  Redmayne was also well aware that the time for talking was over. The jetcopter's engines were now up to pressure and ready to take off. Their power vibrated through the soles of his boots. As he fastened the buckle on his own harness, he said to Anders. "Commander, step down now. If you're not with me, then I don't need you."

  Anders' mind was in turmoil. Without thinking about what he was doing, he lifted his foot to step from the platform. But his boot caught in the foot restraint and he lost his balance, tipping backward toward Redmayne and Georgia.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Redmayne saw what he thought was Anders attacking him and instinctively raised his hand to protect himself. Before he knew what was happening, his knife slid through Anders' spacesuit. Anders' momentum carried the knife deep into his side and he gasped in agony. In one movement, Redmayne withdrew the knife and pushed the still falling Anders from the platform.

  The commander had felt the cold burn of the steel enter his side as he struggled to regain his balance. He was momentarily confused by the strange sensation. When the stabbing pain engulfed his body he gasped in agony, intent only on survival. He tried to move but his legs began to buckle under him. At the same time, air was sucked violently from his lungs and he was unable to take another breath.

  Georgia watched in horror as Anders slumped to the ground, unaware he'd been stabbed until she saw the blood spray across the control panel in front of her. The knife had not only delivered a fatal blow; it had caused Anders' suit to decompress rapidly. She knew instinctively as he rolled weakly on the ground that he had seconds to live before he suffocated.

  Redmayne stared in disbelief. He told himself it was an accident, but there was no time to consider his action. His careful planning was quickly unraveling, and he had to take off and get to the Sentinel ship. Without another thought, he shoved Georgia back on her knees with one hand. Tucking the knife back in his bag, he quickly wiped the blood from the control panel and started to key in the flight sequence for the jetcopter.

  Chapter 64

  The chief was watching in impotent anger at the action quickly unfolding below him. The scene had quickly descended into a disaster, and he silently vowe
d to deal personally with Redmayne when he got his hands on him.

  He tore his eyes away to check how far above him the entrance to the hold was. He did not know how much time he had to stop the fuel purge, but it couldn't be more than sixty seconds. This would be tight, but he knew that anything within three hundred feet of the rocket engines would be incinerated.

  Ignoring what was happening below him he leaped from the cradle as soon as it reached the hold. He knew the controls he needed were in the engineering section and recognized, as soon as he saw the floor hatch open, that Redmayne hadn't been bluffing. This was real.

  He depressed the personal comms channel to warn Captain Winter. "Tom's done it. Get out of there now."

  ***

  Captain Winter knew he was out of options. He'd seen Anders fall and knew immediately from the fountain of blood that there was no hope of saving him. The chief had only just reached the hold and the jetcopter's engines were nearly at full power.

  As the jetcopter began to hover a few inches off the ground, he heard Jim's frantic message. "Tom's done it. Get out of there now."

  He knew that it was now or never if he was going to rescue Georgia and himself. Spotting that Redmayne was no longer holding the knife he sprang forward, quickly closing the gap to the jetcopter.

  As the machine continued to rise slowly, Winter desperately lunged and dived to grab Redmayne. Grunting with the effort, he was able to hook his arm around Redmayne's leg, but found himself hanging precariously from the jetcopter. His weight caused the machine to lurch to the right, dragging his boots across the Martian dirt.

  At the controls, Redmayne increased power to the engines to stabilize the jetcopter and send it up into the air. There was a flurry of sparks as the jetcopter collided with Aquarius, leaving a deep gouge along the body of the supply ship.

  Conscious that the captain was tightening the grip on his leg, Redmayne aimed a kick at Winter's helmet with his free boot, missing by inches as he fought to find his balance.

  The jetcopter was now more than thirty feet in the air and struggling to level out. Winter, his legs swinging dangerously close to the plumes from the engines, shifted his weight and grabbed hold of a railing with his other hand.

  Georgia, still stunned by what had just happened to Anders, was fighting to keep her balance as the jetcopter continued to sway erratically. But seeing what the captain was trying to do lifted her hopes. Looking into his eyes, she could see his fierce determination to save her.

  ***

  Bending his knees to cushion the landing, the chief jumped down to the engineering level under the cargo hold. The control panel was directly in front of him, but the screen was blank. Redmayne had lied to them. A devious diversion to take him out of play. Jim cursed at having been fooled again so easily.

  Bitterly, he radioed the captain again. "It's all clear sir. The bastard lied to us."

  He spun around and sprang back up the narrow steps to the hold, hoping there was still time for him to stop Redmayne. He stepped back to the open hatch to get a clear view below him. As he saw the jetcopter rising, his mind quickly calculated its trajectory. Maybe there was one final opportunity open to him.

  ***

  The jetcopter violently careened into Aquarius again, causing Winter to loosen his grip on Redmayne's leg. Georgia, her hands bound, couldn't keep her balance and rolled to the floor on her side, almost sliding from the platform. It was only the fact that she braced her legs that kept her from falling. She looked back in helpless despair as Redmayne kicked out again at the captain's helmet, this time his boot connecting heavily. A thin crack appeared across Winter's visor, as Redmayne prepared for another blow.

  Georgia saw the Winter's visor and screamed, "No, Tom! You're going to kill him."

  Redmayne stopped at Georgia's words and looked down into Winter's face.

  "Tom, please don't do this," the captain pleaded. "There has to be another way. Just land this thing before anyone else gets hurt."

  "Please Tom," urged Georgia. "Whatever you need, I'll do it."

  Winter could see the momentary doubt in Redmayne's eyes disappear, only for his dark resolve to return.

  "I wish it was that simple, captain. But we both know there's no coming back from what I've already done. If I land now, you'll prevent me from completing my mission. I am truly sorry." And with that, he took another swing at the captain.

  Winter moved his head to the side to dodge the kick, but his grip slipped from the railing. His fate was now clear, and he regretted he would never see Kristen and Maisie again, or meet his grandchild.

  Knowing that he had failed her he made eye contact with Georgia for the last time. From the haunting look of despair in her face, it was obvious she also knew.

  The captain's visor shattered catastrophically as Redmayne's boot lashed out and connected. His helmet exploded as air escaped into the ultra-thin Martian atmosphere, sending shards of plexiglass outward in all directions. Winter's hands went to his face as oxygen was forcibly sucked from his lungs and he slid from the edge of the jetcopter and plummeted to the surface. He had lost consciousness by the time he hit the ground two seconds later.

  "Noooooo!" Georgia screamed as she tried to get up from her position. She was in shock at what she had just witnessed. Filled with anguish and hatred she swore that she would kill Redmayne for what he had done and glared up at him with loathing in her eyes.

  If Redmayne noticed her look, he ignored it. He was far too busy fighting the controls and gaining altitude. His focus was on getting away as quickly as possible.

  ***

  The chief was balancing on the edge of the cradle as the jetcopter continued to weave and ascend in his direction. As he saw Winter fall, Jim understood that he was the final hope of preventing Redmayne's plan from succeeding.

  Without the weight of the captain, the jetcopter rose rapidly toward him. The chief could see Redmayne was intently looking at the controls and must have forgotten that he was there. His brain quickly calculated the right moment to leap from the cradle and take Redmayne by surprise.

  At that second, however, the device Redmayne had planted in the hold exploded. Although the same as the device used in the biodome, Redmayne had attached this one to the valve of a pressurized oxygen cylinder. The cylinder erupted in a ball of flame which instantaneously filled the hold and enveloped the chief. While his suit effectively repelled the flames, the shockwave from the explosion catapulted the chief from the cradle and into thin air. He somersaulted helplessly past the jetcopter, watched in disbelief by Georgia and Redmayne.

  Before he hit the ground with a sickening crunch, the chief's final words were, "You must stop him, Georgia."

  Chapter 65

  The chief's voice was cut violently short by the sound of static.

  Georgia stared at the edge of the platform in anguish. She knew from her own experience that Jim had no hope of survival from this height. She looked up at Tom, anger flaring in her eyes. "What have you done?" she accused.

  Redmayne was visibly shaken. The last sixty seconds had escalated rapidly into something so unexpected. He'd never planned to hurt anyone, let alone kill three people. Yet here he was. A murderer. There was no coming back from that. He'd known all his victims. Been friends with them in his own way. Not for one moment had he thought he'd turn into a killer.

  He couldn't look at Georgia. He wasn't sure how he could look at himself in the mirror again. Instead, he focused on controlling the jetcopter as it rose steadily into the air above the plain, heading for the cliff face. "I'm sorry. Believe me, I didn't want any of that. If they'd let me leave, they would still be alive."

  From her position on the floor, Georgia could no longer see Aquarius. Only wisps of smoke from the explosion. "Don't you dare blame any of them. They were all good men, and you gave them no choice. You caused all this to happen. I will make you pay." She struggled to loosen her ties, hoping to make good her promise. Redmayne flinched instinctively, but she remained secur
ely bound.

  They continued to climb in silence. Redmayne had nothing to say and was trying his hardest to forget the final expressions on the faces of the now dead men. He reminded himself to focus on the mission in hand. It was now even more important for him to succeed so that the deaths were not a needless waste. He also desperately needed the Russians to save him and give him sanctuary. He couldn't return to his life in Alpha Base. They would kill him for sure.

  The ridgeline drew closer above them as the jetcopter continued to climb ever higher. There was no time to take in the view, even at this altitude. Redmayne was calculating how far away the Sentinel ship was and hoping that it had not moved location since the previous day. That would be disastrous. The Russians would never land just for him.

  Once they'd passed over the top of the cliff and were traveling across the plateau, Redmayne plugged the modified sensor into the jetcopter's computer and looked at the screen waiting for the telltale shimmer of the alien ship. He flew in a zigzag pattern thirty feet above the ground to give him the best visibility. After several minutes of searching, Tom was worrying. However, as he passed an ugly brown rock outcrop, the sensors picked up the ship, and he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

  Slowing the jetcopter down, he brought it gently in to land with a bump about fifty yards from the alien craft. He didn't know if the Sentinels could detect him or not but hoped that they would react to make his job easier.

  His first task was to contact the Andropov. He pulled the communicator from his pouch and synched it with his suit comms. "Redmayne to Andropov. Come in, please."

  There were a few seconds of delay before a man's voice responded. "This is Alex. I assume you have some information for me."

  Redmayne tried not to betray his nerves. "Yes, Alex. I'm at the location of the Sentinel craft now. You should be able to obtain the co-ordinates from this transmitter."

  "Is the craft secure?"