by Anna Gaffey
“Sure. Always have. It doesn’t have a lasting effect.” Santos fiddled with her pockets. “The people who don’t get used to it leave. Science went over the initial findings during the recommissioning. Gave us some empirical data proving it wasn’t harmful and told us not to worry about it. A side effect of isolation.”
“Which was comforting in the extreme, I’m sure.” Jake crossed his arms. “We still have access to all the old docs and scans from the original crew?”
“Yes,” Santos said. “I told you to step up your gem duty. But now—”
“How was I to know it’d come in handy? I’ll start with scans of the planet. Maybe overlay our own scans, see if we’ve missed anything. See if there’s something on the planet that shouldn’t be.” Santos’ deepening frown finally caught up with him. “What? What’s the problem? Oh, and—” He snapped his fingers at the wall chrono. “What’s going on with that? Is something wrong with Heart? I thought all the chronos were atomic.”
“They are. We’re having some…technical difficulties.” She straightened her shoulders. “Nothing too threatening. Just fritzes, outages for no reason.”
“Outages? What kind of outages?”
“Small things. Unnecessary auxiliary systems. The enviro flickered in Astrometrics, but we have it back up now.”
“That’s not good.” Jake frowned. “That’s…out of character. Even for this heap. How long ago did you comm Earth? What did the liaison office say?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Nothing?” Jake sat up. “That’s impossible, our receptors should be half burnt out with all the screeching and threats of termination. They really haven’t responded? You didn’t break anything?”
“Right, blame me,” Santos huffed. “That’s logical. Look, it’ll be fine. You should still be able to access the station legacy info with the isolated—”
With a reverberant shush, the infirmary lights wavered and went out. The room dropped into inky blackness.
“—network,” Santos finished. She sounded further away than she’d been before the lights failed. Jake waved his hands in front of his face, seeing starbursts and the barest flash of movement. Had they merely lost the lights, or were enviro controls down, too?
“Rachel?” Nat’s voice floated through the darkness. “What’s wrong with the lights? What’s going on?”
“It’s okay.” Santos’ voice was taut. “Keep quiet. Give me a minute.”
“But Rachel—”
“Keep quiet.”
Jake was about to suggest they feel their way to the nearest security box when something thrashed violently off to his left. Something thumped and stretched and strained and writhed. Heart pounding, Jake drew up his legs and groped around until his fingers found the skinny neck of the bedside lamp. It made a hopeless weapon. “Rachel—”
With a soft hum, the auxiliary lights kicked on. Con still leaned against the wall to Jake’s left, but he brandished the soup tray like a shield. Santos stood near the foot of the bed, a frygun in her hand. Across the room, Nat stood with her hands over her mouth.
Mei again lay motionless under the reactivated blue glow of containment. Her blankets shrouded her legs, the fabric reduced to shaggy mounds of tufts and shreds.
“So she likes the dark?” Con asked.
“She knew she wasn’t under containment.” Jake didn’t know what was worse: waiting for Mei to rip free, or for his own mind to break loose and follow. He realized he was still gripping the lamp neck. He let it thunk back down and kicked back his blanket. “Where did you get the gun, Rachel?”
“I—I took it from Toby’s stores after he was attacked.” She sounded faint, nothing like calm, brassy Santos. It was comforting—and terrifying. “Security still falls to me if anything happens to him. Regardless of the whole stationmaster title. So I—I’m securing.” Her voice took on a sardonic edge. “I filled out all the paperwork.”
“Are the others all accounted for?”
“The other guns? Why wouldn’t they be?”
Not the answer he wanted to hear. Maybe Con’s wordless apprehension wasn’t off base. “You need help. You can’t do everything.”
“I can’t magically create a reliable security crew, either,” she retorted. “I sent a comm to Earth. Told them Carmichael’s status and that we were under indefinite quarantine. It was just after that we got the first fritz in general comm systems, so I don’t know yet if they’ve tried to respond.”
Jake touched the wall. “Which systems are out?”
Santos folded her arms behind her back and stood straighter. “We’ve limited the problem to communications. Commtexting is still down, but straight station emergency voice comms are working. Interplanetary relays are out. Mick thought it was a hardware problem at first, but when he changed out the gems, the problems just shifted. He’s going down to inspect some of the hardware in the cargo bay just to be sure. So far, nothing life-threatening has been compromised. We’ve auxiliary. And I ran backups. Heart seems to be untouched.”
“So far,” Con said darkly. “The lights are blinking. I’d say that’s—”
“Not your problem,” Santos countered. “Mick and I rigged up an alarm system, so we’ll know if something vital is in danger of being affected.”
Something rustled nearby, and Jake grabbed for the lamp. “Con—”
Dr. Lindy sat up and stretched. She straightened her lab coat, looked around, and frowned at Nat, still frozen at the supply closet. “Dr. Ticonti, I left you in charge of Carmichael.”
Nat didn’t respond. “He’s stable,” Santos said. She seemed to recall then that she held a frygun, and shoved it into her pocket with a wry smile at Lindy. “You’re the only person I know who wakes up and speaks in complete sentences, right where she left off.”
Lindy yawned. “That’s the way I like it. And now back to work.” She swiped at her eyes, slid off the cot, and bustled off, only to return immediately with a tablet, a glass vial, and an injector.
“Oh, no.” Jake crossed his arms. “Look. Doc. I feel better.”
“Then I guess I’ve a sorry surprise for you, sonny. You’re not back yet.” She waved her medical tablet in his face. “I know you’ve been unconscious for most of your current diagnosis, so I’ll cut you some slack. Whatever Chen did to Carmichael, she did to you, too. You’re drained.”
Jake tried rolling his shoulders. “You gave me a fluid patch—”
“And they’re swell for cleaning out a body, but they don’t do all the work. Especially when said body has been jacked up with stims for most of the week. Did you eat anything at all yet?”
“Yes,” Con said. Then he flushed. “I, uh, brought him a sandwich. Just now. Since the mess is open again. And we had breakfast before the lab incident. He ate like a horse then.”
Santos smiled widely at Jake. “A stallion, maybe?”
Jake mentally peppered her with expletives and turned back to Lindy. “I feel fine. Trusty nurse Santos here drugged me and I’ve been asleep for hours. That’s more than enough, especially with Carmichael incapacitated. So am I cleared?”
“I could use your help on the path labs from Dr. Silverman and Toby—”
“Lindy. Am. I. Cleared?”
Lindy gave him a long, eviscerating look. “Yes. You. Are. You idiot.”
“Great. Then I want you to scan my brain.”
“What!”
“Rachel?” Jake appealed to her.
Santos shrugged and tapped her comm. “He needs a brain scan. Check out his implant.”
“There you go. Double authorization.” Jake shifted under Lindy’s death gaze and something under the pillow at his back prodded his hip.
Danger and death and no one to trust, whispered Mick’s voice in his head. Carmichael said.
That lump burrowing into his neck before he’d sat up. The memory gem was still there. What had been wrong with Mick? Santos hadn’t mentioned anything funny.
Santos muttered into her commbud, then t
urned to them. “I’m going to set up the Security heads, then I’ll work with Mick on systems. Doc, I want Nat to help you however you need it most. Send her my way when you can.” She looked over in Nat’s direction, and frowned. “I’ll tell her.”
Nat still hovered aimlessly by the supply closets with an armload of boxes. She seemed interested in keeping as much distance from them as possible. Was she all right? Sure, Jake had chewed her a new one, but that had been hours ago. And she hadn’t been in the lab when Mei had—
“Jake.”
He snapped to. “Yes.”
“Start in Science with Kai and see if you can’t lock down our environmental controls and the fuel cells. We don’t want anything fritzing there. And delegate shielding checks to, hell, to me and Mick. Griffin—Con.”
Yes, Jake definitely heard some tension there this time.
“Con, I want you back on the Harmon to organize the personnel from that side. Scientists and systems techs get top priority. Security next. You can use our shuttlepod Hermes—that’s Pod Two. I’d appreciate your keeping the newts to the cargo bay until I can have Security check them off again.”
“At your service.” Con’s do-right pilot tone was falsely genial. Obviously Santos felt he’d had something to do with the Mei episode, but why? Because Mei hadn’t wasted her time nearly killing him? But wait, what Santos had said, twice now, about using pods—
“Two loads,” Jake said. “Pod loads. You disconnected the Harmon and you’re transporting with pods? Why? It’s a waste of fuel, especially if we’re both under quarantine anyway.”
“The fuel difference is negligible, actually,” Santos said quickly. “I’m following Carmichael’s orders from yesterday morning.”
“Which he gave before he ended up in the infirmary,” Con objected.
“But I think they are still appropriate. And I am now the highest ranking official on this civilian station.” Santos’ gaze sparked. “Do as I say.”
Jake felt Con’s eyes boring into him. He was going to appeal to Jake now, it was inevitable, and Jake couldn’t fuck this up, he had to back Santos, and Con should know it. He looked away.
Unfortunately, “away” meant he turned directly into the cringe-inducing, soul-shredding Procedural Glare of Dr. Katherine Lindy. He’d forgotten the path tests again. Jake faltered. “I’ll be glad to help with the path once we’ve got the station fritzes fixed, but—”
“Don’t think you’re getting out of here unmonitored.” Lindy slap-loaded a sharp and injected a transmitter patch into his port with, he thought, more force than was strictly warranted. “We’ll be patched into you through Heart. Now step this way for your brain scan, kiddo.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“…I’ve successfully reconnected again with Griffin. We’re meeting here after the general disembark and check-in. Details to follow. But I can tell you that something’s changed – he’s no longer reliable. I’m not clear on what he plans to do, but I’ll protect myself. And the serum.”
Excerpt: personal ship’s log
30 October 2242
Dr. Alice Silverman
Clinical pathologist
Personnel Carrier Leah Harmon
United Worlds DS 2150-1
Docking, Selas Station, Satellite, Eos System
[Data recovered 02 Dec 2242, Gunaji rights per salvage]
1 November 2242 AEC
19:50
Brain scans generally left the recipient half-blind with bluish spots, so Lindy made him sit for an endless five minutes before she finally consented to release him. Jake escaped into the corridor and made it to the lifts, and then he heard the hurrying footsteps behind him, louder, louder, until Con wheeled around the corner.
“Wait.” Con bent over to catch his breath.
Jake pressed the lift call button. “You didn’t need to wait for Lindy to finish the scan, you know.”
“I know.”
“Look. I’m sorry, but Santos and I, we’ve got the same priorities, we’re on the same side—”
Con looked at him in disbelief. “And you and I, we’re not?”
“I don’t know.” Jake crossed his arms. “Rachel and I care about the station. About Selas. All of us here do. Mick. Carmichael. Even Mei, even though she’s scaring the shit out of me right now. But you? I can’t figure out who you’re working for, but I know it’s not me or anyone else I trust.”
“Not—” Con laughed shakily. “I guess now is as good a time as any.”
He reached into his back pocket and Jake hesitated, ready to flinch or strike or flail, as Con produced…a memory gem. He held it out to Jake. Gods, another one. “What’s on that?”
This time Con’s laugh sounded darker, defeated. “It’s for you.” He advanced until Jake was forced up against the lift doors, and then he pressed the gem in Jake’s resisting hands. “You have to take it. It’s yours.”
It looked like an ordinary dark blue gem, but smoother, with finer facets than the ordinary gems Selas Station normally drew through requisition. Though it was difficult to care about minute examination when Con stood so distractingly near to him. Jake tried to breathe normally. How did people in love, or lust, or whatever this was, keep their wits about them? “I don’t remember. Whatever it is you’re talking about, I’m sorry…I, look, I’ve got to get up to the labs.”
“You wouldn’t remember. Just look at it. It should make sense then. I’ve waited for—” Con broke off, looking determined, and then he leaned in and kissed Jake with a quick, hungry press of lips. “I’m sorry. You said I’d have to choose the time, and I’m choosing now. It’s not ideal. I’m sorry. We should go to your quarters, or—”
“Jake’s not going anywhere.”
Santos stood at the turn in the corridor, frygun in hand. Her voice was steady, calm, but her dark eyes fairly crackled with fury. “You, on the other hand, are. Get off this station.”
Con raised his hands slowly over his head. “You’d shoot me?”
“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” Jake asked. “He’s not that much in the way.” Con turned toward him. As he did, Santos flicked off the safety. She kept the muzzle pointed at the floor, but the charge built with a hum.
“Go back to the Harmon and do what I asked you to do.”
Con nodded. “All right.” The lift doors shushed open behind him, and he chuckled. “Convenient.” He gave Jake a bleak, derisive shrug as the doors closed.
Santos marched to the call button panel and keyed in her override command. “Heart. Authorization 279J Santos, Rachel. Express the Delta Lift to the cargo bay. No other stops permitted.” Pocketing the frygun, she turned back to Jake. “If you’re smart, you’ll incinerate that. Whatever it is.”
“Mei attacked Con almost as soon as she walked in the door. He took the brunt of it.”
“Yes. And he was up and walking in five minutes, Jake. Toby almost died.”
“No, no, no. You should know better than anyone how tough Defense guys are. And Carmichael’s been retired for going on ten years now. Con wasn’t the one who hurt him. If you’re going to point fingers, what about Kai? Mei didn’t even touch him. Shouldn’t you be waving fryguns at him, too?”
Santos’ mouth thinned. “I caught your boyfriend messing with that console earlier.” She pointed to the wall monitor opposite the lifts.
“Oh, well, messing—that’s serious. Are you sure the Earth relays are still out? Because I think the Gov Board will want to know about this.”
“You’re hilarious. Naturally, I asked him what the fuck he thought he was doing, and he closed down his access and said the station’s comm relays for his commbud were malfunctioning, and he wanted to contact his copilot.”
Jake threw up his hands. “So? You said comms were on the fritz. You going to tell me that was his fault, too?”
“He wasn’t looking at the comm interface, Jake, he was deep in the enviro controls. I saw it before he closed out. He was way past secure access.”
&
nbsp; “But…that’s nonsense. Crap. Con’s no hacker, he never could’ve gotten in there without an override or a password or something legitimate.”
“And where would he have gotten something like that?”
“From me. Right, sure.” Jake clenched his fist, and Con’s gem dug into his palm. “We’re all a little shaky, aren’t we? Maybe you didn’t see what you thought you saw. And maybe you’re a little too distraught to do your job properly.”
Santos drew herself up to her full height of up-to-Jake’s-chin. Jake tried to laugh it off, but the way her eyes blazed gave him a cold shiver. “I can do my job, Jake. Can you? Any personal partialities getting in your way?”
“Not a damned one,” he snapped back.
“Excellent.” She blew out a furious breath and stepped away from him. “In addition to the other duties, you can also check the logs for the enviro controls. Report back on all access from these level one consoles in the last five hours.” Santos turned on her heel and stomped back toward the infirmary.
“Fine,” Jake called after her. “Just let me know when Carmichael wakes up, and we can have a return to rationality around here.”
She ignored him. Jake turned back to the lifts and banged the call button repeatedly until the doors to Alpha Lift slid silently open.
He could incinerate both gems easily. Why not? In the whole scheme of things, what made Carmichael’s information on the gem Mick had slipped him any less suspect than Con’s? Okay, Jake was biased. And he really, really didn’t want to pit himself against Carmichael and Santos, no matter how tough a sidekick Con could be. He could do what Santos had suggested: junk the gems, begin again from zero.
But I am starting from zero. Jake didn’t know anything now, and he’d been unconscious for hours while the station fell into confusion. And he was a nosy bastard. That was his continuing excuse, the ultimate why not for everything. He pressed the labs location.
Alpha Lift shook, and tossed Jake to the floor.
