Paragon

by Autumn Kalquist

  Tomas grew red-faced and shouted above the rest. “How did this happen?”

  Nicolas made to stand. “I’m getting my family off this ship. You knew about this yesterday—”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Then why did you halt the transports?”

  Nyssa narrowed her eyes. “No one’s going anywhere. Sit down, Nic, and listen to me.”

  Nicolas sank into his chair and pinched the skin between his brows. “You have five minutes.”

  “Why did it take so long to notify us of this?” Jon asked. “We should have known immediately.”

  “We just found the explosives,” Nyssa said. “We know the terrorists who caused the hull breach were behind this. We found the empty canisters hidden in one of their bunks and behind the panels of one of the jobs their crew did in paired sector.”

  Tomas slammed a fat hand on the table. “How did this happen? What’s the extent of the threat?”

  “We don’t know if there is a bomb,” Nyssa said. “And we don’t know where the explosives are located yet. But if there is a bomb, or more than one… it could do a lot of damage. It could cripple the ship. We found five empty Artex canisters, and one empty canister of,” Nyssa took a deep breath, “Zenith.”

  The table erupted again. Farida and Jon exchanged tense glances, and all eyes went to them.

  “You could take out most of a deka with that much,” Farida said, her face pale.

  “The Beijing does not treat the manufacture and handling of Zenith lightly,” Jon said. “I swear to you all, the only ship that gets it is the Perth. And they’re the ones responsible for sending it to Soren.”

  Nicolas leaned toward Farida. “The damn Perth. Can’t you control your people? They’re trying to blow us all down to that bloody red planet.”

  Chief looked at Nicolas like he’d like to send him and his accusations about the Perth down to the planet.

  Farida gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white. “And I can assure you, we don’t have traitors on the Perth. The Artex and Zenith canisters are well-guarded and fully accounted for. If I knew anything about this,” Farida said carefully, “Nyssa would have been the first person I told.”

  “Of course.” Nicolas unscrewed his canteen for another swig. “And you two probably would have kept it from the rest of us.”

  “You’re useless.” Tomas reached out and tried to tear the canteen from Nic’s grasp but failed. A splash of its contents landed on the table, and the sour scent of quin liquor filled the space. “Put that kak away.”

  “Have we questioned everyone on the crews the terrorists worked with?” Jon asked.

  “There isn’t anyone left to question.” Nicolas spat, glaring at Tomas. “You all voted to send them to die on Soren.”

  “Yes,” Nyssa said, her voice strong, cutting through room. “As we agreed, all the crews involved with the terrorists were sent to Soren. And everything’s been taken care of. Just after our last meeting, I received word that all the crews we sent down on that transport were lost to a cave-in.”

  Everyone around the table exchanged glances, and Tomas drove a finger down at the table. “While we waste time up here, what’s being done to find the explosives?”

  Nyssa gestured toward the chief. “Chief Petroff, please brief us.”

  Chief stepped forward and kept his eyes straight ahead, not looking at any of them. “My recommendation is that the board and president evacuate until we track down the explosives. Right now, squads are searching every job the terrorists did. Then we’ll search the rest of the ship. And we’re investigating potential traitors in imports and exports. We’ve been bringing them up to Central for questioning, but with hundreds of workers on zero deck, this will take some time.”

  Jai Florian worked in imports. Tadeo had a name. He could speak up, tell them about what he’d found. But he wouldn’t. They’d turn on him and his mother in an instant, the same way they turned on one another.

  “We need an immediate lockdown of this ship. And if you’re investigating imports,” Tomas said, “what about the supply deka? The Moscow isn’t trustworthy. We’ve caught them too many times feeding the black market.”

  Everyone turned to Nassef at the accusation against one of his ships. He crossed his hands before him, stoic despite the attention. “Tomas is wise to consider a lockdown,” Nassef said, his deep voice low and even. “And if the Moscow had any hand in this, I can promise all of you, the perpetrators will face swift justice.”

  Nassef leaned back in his chair, looking unperturbed by the entire situation.

  “That’s it.” Nicolas said. “I’m getting my son and wife and we’re leaving on a transport. I’ll be on the Vancouver waiting this out.”

  The president laid a hand on Nic’s shoulder. “We don’t even know—”

  “You don’t know much,” Jon said. “I’m with Nicolas on this. I need to get my family to safety. There could be more terrorists aboard—they could set off a bomb at any moment.”

  “You’re going to let terrorists scare us off our own damn ship?” Tomas asked. “We need to hunt them down—not flee.”

  “No transports have been given clearance to leave or board this ship,” Nyssa said, her voice harsh. She still clutched Nic’s shoulder tightly and pressed him back into his chair. “And this meeting is not over yet.”

  “We’ve been orbiting Soren for too long,” Tomas said. “That’s why we have this unrest. This is your doing, Nyssa.”

  “I did not give you leave to speak, Tomas,” Nyssa said, challenging him with a direct gaze. Nyssa stepped away from Nic and wiped her hands together. “Lieutenant Raines, do you have any leads? Brief us on what you’ve discovered.”

  Tadeo stiffened as every pair of eyes settled on him. Only one thought raced through his mind. My mother sent Tatiana to spy on you. If he said it, they would turn on her. Convict her and airlock her for treason.

  “Lieutenant Raines?” Nyssa snapped.

  Tadeo stood tall. “President Sorenson, my squads found the canisters, and we’re cross-referencing data to help Chief’s search in imports and exports. If terrorists remain on this ship—we’ll find them.” Tadeo’s voice came out deep, full of confidence he didn’t feel. “I think the terrorists are or were targeting you, just like they were with the hull breach. I agree with Chief’s recommendation for evacuation. You should all get off this ship until we’ve located the explosives and removed any and all threats to your persons.”

  Nyssa pressed her lips together in a thin, pale line, and Nassef leaned back in his chair, considering Tadeo. He stepped back into his corner and stared over the top of their heads, his chest tight. He was a liar, holding back information they needed. But they seemed to suspect nothing.

  “I’m not running away,” Tomas said. “Do you realize what that will look like? How the colonists will respond if we just abandon the ship and leave them all behind?”

  “But, Tomas,” Nassef said, his voice smooth, “the Meso and Oslo need your leadership. All of our dekas need us. And if we’re the targets, perhaps removing ourselves will dissuade these terrorists from setting off their bomb.”

  Tomas nodded, but he looked uncertain now. “The Meso and Oslo do need my advocacy.”

  “They absolutely rely on your advocacy.”

  Tadeo’s nostrils flared. Amazing how Nassef managed to calm Tomas… with transparent lies. Did either of them really believe that kak—that the Meso wanted his “advocacy”?

  Nyssa stood, and the lume bar above brought out the deep hollows beneath her eyes. “We’re the most likely targets of an attack. Command level will be cleared until the chief can locate the explosives. It’s settled then. You will evacuate.”

  “And you? You can’t stay here,” Farida said. “You can come with me to the London. They’ll take good care of us there, until we can come back.”

  “Oh, you want us to leave so you can gain full control over this ship? Over the guard?” Tomas said, his voice rising.
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  Nyssa leaned toward him, locking eyes with him. “I already have full control over this ship and the guard, Tomas. You’d be wise to remember that.” She looked at the rest of them. “This meeting is adjourned. Get your families and belongings quickly and quietly, then get to the hangar bay. My guard will escort you. I’ll ensure transports are ready within the half hour.”

  The board members got to their feet and filed out the door, but Tomas stuck around until the other four had gone through. When it was his turn to leave, he pointed at Nyssa.

  “The Paragon hasn’t faced this many problems in over a century,” he said. “I’m leaving because the Meso and Oslo need me. But when we get back, there will be changes, and you will support them. We’ve replaced presidents before. Don’t think we can’t do it to you.”

  Nyssa took a few steps in his direction and stopped an inch from his face. “We’ve replaced board members before, too. Don’t think I won’t do it to you.”

  Tomas’s face reddened, and they stared at each other for another moment. Finally, he broke eye contact and strode from the room.

  The door slid shut, and Nyssa turned to the chief. Her shoulders caved a little as she went to him and rested her hand on his chest. The chief reached down and caressed her sleeve.

  Tadeo’s brows went up, and he stiffened. Had they forgotten he was still here?

  “You have to take Tesmee and leave,” the chief said, his voice rough. “Go with Farida.”

  “They can’t use fear tactics on me. The colonists on this ship are my responsibility.”

  “You have to do it for Tesmee.”

  “I’m not putting Tesmee on a transport,” she said.

  “She’s in more danger here than on the London.” The chief cupped Nyssa’s chin in one hand. “No one expects you to go there.”

  The chief and Nyssa? Tadeo wasn’t sure whether to be shocked or repulsed. Chief was far below her station… but it wasn’t like someone as old as Nyssa would pair again after losing a husband. At least this explained why she trusted Chief so much. As the two of them stared into each other’s eyes, Tadeo shifted, uncomfortable. They definitely seemed to have forgotten his presence in the corner of the cubic. He cleared his throat, and the chief jerked his hand away from the president. She whirled to face Tadeo, her cheeks flushed.

  “Chief is right,” Tadeo said. “If there are still terrorists on this ship, you’d be their number one target. If you’re not here—maybe they won’t set off the bomb. You might protect this ship best by leaving.”

  Nyssa stared at the tile floor for a long moment and then straightened her shoulders. “Then I’ll do it. I’ll take Tesmee and go.”

  “We’ll keep everyone on their levels until you get out,” Chief said, his face stern, fully himself again. “No one will be allowed in the stairwell. Raines, grab the files you’ve been cross-referencing. Then meet me on zero deck. Once the president and board are off the ship, we’ll fast-track the questioning in imports and exports.”

  “You are both authorized to use any means necessary to locate these explosives,” Nyssa said, her usual demeanor returning.

  “Any means?” Chief asked.

  “Yes. Any means necessary. Get the drugs. If you find anyone who may have been working with the terrorists, you do whatever you need to do to uncover the details of this plot and the location of the bomb. We’ll clean up the mess when I get back.”

  ∞ ∞

  One name cycled through Tadeo’s mind as he headed back to Central for his data. Jai Florian. He had to meet up with Chief on zero deck, so he had to move quickly and make sure there was no link between his mother, the terrorists, and the single Meso transfer who worked in imports.

  Tadeo entered the cubic where he’d left Kiva working earlier and got his holo gear ready. He moved Kiva’s handheld beside his own and manually connected the two so he could access her search results and cross-reference them with the archive data Mali had given him.

  He twisted his wrist, and dual holo screens appeared before him.

  “Jai Florian,” he said.

  Jai’s records appeared. He opened Kiva’s files to the list of the traitors’ shift card access dates and dragged them into his handheld’s holo screen.

  “Cross-reference new shift card access dates and times with Jai Florian’s shift card access dates and times.”

  If any of the traitors had ever been anywhere near Jai Florian, this should reveal that.

  Both screens whited out, and a silver infinity symbol spun through the air. After a moment, Jai’s schedule reappeared. At least a dozen of his shifts were highlighted.

  Matches. Jai had been working in imports when one of the traitors had also been on zero deck. But it could just be a coincidence.

  His heart pumped harder as he leaned forward and tapped each match, selecting them all. He splayed his hands wide and a third screen appeared, overlaying the original.

  Match: Jai Florian; Tatiana Carizo

  Tadeo’s heart stopped. In the past ten months, Jai and Tatiana had both accessed the same sector of zero deck. They’d both gone to a spot near exports over a dozen times within an hour of one another.

  Tadeo needed to find out if supplies from the Meso had come in on those days. He pinched his index finger and thumb together to extract the matches and placed them on his main holo screen. Then he went back to Kiva’s files.

  “Find date matches for Meso imports and exports.”

  Six matches in the past few months. Each time, a shipment had arrived from the Meso, via the Moscow supply transport. On each of these days, Tatiana had entered the same sector as Jai, and later that day, a shipment had left the Paragon for the Meso.

  A thrill shot through Tadeo, and he glanced toward the door. “Match dates with Jai Florian’s imports sector access,” he whispered.

  The list populated, and Tadeo scanned down it, his heart thumping faster by the second.

  Day 133 SHIFT LOG: Jai Florian - Imports Sector 1.4, First Shift, Second Shift. Hours 09:00-18:00

  09:00 SHIFT CARD ACCESS: Jai Florian Imports Sector 1.4

  10:45 SHIFT CARD ACCESS: Tatiana Carizo Zero Deck Sector 6

  11:00 SHIFT CARD ACCESS: Jai Florian Zero Deck Sector 6

  14:32 SHIFT CARD ACCESS: Jai Florian Exports Sector 5

  16:30 EXPORT LOG: Exports Sector 5 - Meso shipment scanned out.

  What stared back at him was damning. It was the same pattern four times. His mother’s spy had been meeting up with Jai Florian. This was proof. Tadeo’s mother had said Tatiana had a way to send her information. Jai had to have been helping her ship illegal comms.

  Did that mean Jai still worked for his mother? Could he have helped smuggle the explosive powder aboard? This was bad. Everything kept leading back to his mother, but he couldn’t believe she would ever put this ship in danger on purpose. Or put him in danger.

  Tadeo shoved his handheld into his suit and jumped out of his chair.

  The president could never find out about any of this, which meant he had to get to Jai before the chief did.

  Tadeo jogged down the stairwell to zero deck, running his hand along the smooth, worn banister. He was sweating freely now¸ but he didn’t bother wiping it away.

  The president had said they could use any means necessary to find the bomb. It was forbidden to even acknowledge the existence of the “encouragement” vials, but Tadeo had heard whispers about them from the veteran guards in the president’s personal squads even before he’d seen Chief carry the case into Era’s interrogation.

  One dose caused the lungs to seize up for several seconds and made people feel like they’d been spaced. Every dose after that got stronger, the effects lasting longer. The strongest one was rumored to cause death.

  What would Jai confess if the drugs were used on him? Tadeo couldn’t let it come to that.

  He walked through the double doors into the wide corridor of zero deck, straight past helio sector to the far side of the ship, and just as he reached impor
ts and exports the buzzer called an end to second shift. Kak. He activated his eyepiece and found the image of Jai.

  “Transparent mode,” he said. “Activate facial recognition.”

  The main corridor split here, and tired colonists began to file out of doors on every side of him. His holo screen searched the passing colonists for matches as he looked at the sector numbers engraved in the metal panels, seeking Jai’s sector.

  Imports: Sector 1.4

  He hurried down the corridor, pushing past the flood of colonists leaving cubics, trying to scan every face he passed. A few seemed frightened to see him there, but all of the colonists carefully avoided meeting his gaze and tried to keep their heads down. Would the software even find Jai in this crowd?

  The double doors of Sector 1.4 slid open as he reached them, and workers began to file out. A mass of them crowded around the exit, waiting for their turn to scan their cards and check out for the day. He pushed past and stepped just inside, pressing his back to the wall.

  Towering pallets of shipping containers lined the massive space in deep rows, and a few helios traveled down distant aisles with their owners. Each metal case contained goods imported from different dekas—the symbol of each ship stamped on the sides of the crates.

  Tadeo kept his eyepiece trained on the colonists, his heart beating fast. Jai had to be somewhere in this crowd.

  Tadeo’s wristband crackled. Chief was comming him.

  “Raines.”

  “We’re clearing the stairwell now,” Chief said, his voice coming through faint in Tadeo’s earbud, “and we’re going to come down stairwell C in five minutes so we can lead the president and board out safely. Where are you?”

  “I’ll be to zero deck soon,” Tadeo lied.

  “I’m about to head up to command to escort them down. Meet us in fifteen at C—we may need more help clearing the corridors.”

  Tadeo’s holo screen blinked, and his eyes went to the dot overlaying the scene before him. Facial recognition had found a match. The dot blinked on the face of a short man with a dusky complexion and black hair. He stood at the edge of the crowd, on the opposite side from Tadeo.