Rosetta (Jim Meade: Martian P.I)

by RJ Johnson

  "Take these two into custody with our guests as well. I do not mean to offend, you've been most valuable in this operation Suresh, but, we can't have any sudden crisis of conscience. Dr. Sinjakama was your master for many years and I cannot trust that your compliance chips were reprogrammed correctly. After the plan is set in motion, you will be allowed to rejoin my entourage and take your place by my side. Until then, please continue to prove your loyalty by taking good care of our guests."

  Rincon exited the room followed by his security contingent. Suresh was in a state of shock as the remaining security in the room prodded at Meade and Emeline to get out of their chairs and follow them out of the room. Suresh shocked at his turn of fortunes stood behind Meade and Emeline.

  "Mr. Meade, if you will follow our escorts please?" Suresh asked. Meade slowly rose from his seat and followed Suresh and the men guarding them out the door. He glanced back at the clock on the wall. It was 2:30 in the morning. Daysol would be coming soon and unless Meade could come up with a plan, he would have to watch as billions were killed and the planet that had once been the cradle of civilization destroyed.

  Sinjakama, Koschei and the rest of the Consortium may have been a collection of sociopaths and scum who degraded everything Meade held as decent, but burning down the whole world wasn't a solution he could get along with. He'd never put much stock in politics, but Meade was beginning to realize the folly of ignoring them and his place in the world. Emeline grasped his hand and he looked at her knowing by her squeeze how scared she was. He didn't blame her. He was scared too.

  Meade just hoped he was smart enough to think up a way that saved all their bacon.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lazarus's security escorted Suresh, Amla, Meade and Emeline to a small dank apartment just across from The Bitters pub. Inside were two tiny cots and a kitchen table with a chair in front of it. Meade glanced around and shook his head. If this was how the majority of Consortium citizens lived, he could see how it might drive a man like Lazarus Rincon crazy. The Alpha security guard had the Betas collect everyone's ArmBars.

  "Just so's your aware, I'll be taking that back." Meade said in a low voice. The Beta snorted and wrenched Emeline's ArmBar off harder than necessary making her cry out in pain.

  "You son of a..." Meade sprang towards the Beta, but was held back by two of the Betas still in the room. Emeline shook her head.

  "They're not worth it." She hissed at him. "At least, not yet."

  Meade's cold fury subsided and he nodded.

  "You OK?" He asked Emeline. She nodded. Suresh tugged at his jacket.

  "Please sir, they will shoot us without a second's thought if we do not corporate." Suresh said quietly. Meade glared at the Alpha and four Betas aiming their Rattler rifles at their group. Meade moved into the apartment followed by Amla and Emeline. The Alpha shut the door behind them locking it.

  "There isn't much of the night left sir." Suresh busied himself at the tiny stove contained within the apartment lighting the boiler for tea. It seemed Suresh had accepted the reality of their situation and had decided to act as if nothing had changed. "I recommend you and Madame Hunan get some sleep if you are able. Mr. Rincon tells me that tomorrow promises to be quite a day."

  "Never figured you the type to get mixed up in the wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians Suresh." Meade said casually.

  "You heard my story sir." Suresh refused to look at Meade instead concentrating on the familiar ritual of preparing tea. "Sanjay Sinjakama was directly responsible for my mother and father's death. When I was approached by Mr. Rincon's men, I did not see as if I had a choice. As I told you, the Universe places us exactly where we are supposed to be when we need it the most. And to be positioned so closely to the Sinjakama family who ruled over Rosetta, to be so perfectly place to help Rincon strike a blow against the Consortium and the Sinjakama family, I took it as a sign that I would finally be rewarded for my long years of suffering and prayer to avenge my parent's death."

  Meade shook his head. Suresh might be many things, but rationalizing genocide wasn't something he figured Suresh capable of. "What'd he promise you?"

  "Glory. Revenge. Does it matter?" Suresh finally looked up to Meade, the water beginning to boil. Suresh took the pot off the stove and began preparing the tea for Meade and Emeline. He offered a cup to Meade who just stared at him unmoving.

  "He's going to wipe out billions of lives on the Homeworld, and you're OK with that?"

  Suresh looked uncomfortable, "I was unaware of that aspect of Master Rincon's plan. All I was promised was a new life, and the chance to be reborn on Rosetta." He took the cup intended for Meade and began to drink it for himself. "I had no way of knowing this was what he meant." Suresh turned and faced Meade and Emeline, and as pained as Suresh's expression was, Meade could see how the young man was struggling with the ethics of his decision.

  "The Consortium has been a thorn in my people's side ever since the Last War. Three of our cities were incinerated from the nuclear weapons launched by Consortium nations. My people surrendered as our leaders felt that we had no allies left in the world, and the only choice was between absolute destruction or slavery. When it comes to that, hard choices had to be made. I do not blame my forefathers, but I do believe it is time we shook off the shackles."

  Emeline turned to Amla and looked at her accusingly. "And you believe as Suresh does? It's better to destroy the Homeworld and start over?"

  Amla nodded her silent assent and Meade suddenly felt bad about berating Suresh. He hadn't lived in the same way Suresh had growing up. He had no frame of reference how terrible the Consortium people treated their underclass. He'd heard the stories of the hell the Consortium put their people through, but he never payed much attention to them, as he was so far from their impact as he was growing up on Mars. Besides, he had his own problems. The Coalition wasn't always a fair place to live, but at least a man could count on his freedom.

  Suresh sipped at his tea and continued. "After the armistice, the choke hold tightened on India and the rest of Humanity moved on to rebuild their nations, uncaring what the Consortium was doing to our people. Mass genocide, family members rounded up, and those who questioned the authority of the Consortium were summarily executed. I do not agree with Master Rincon's methods, but his goals of uniting Humanity using Rosetta as the catalyst to bring about abrupt change is completely understandable. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised that something like this hasn't happened sooner."

  "Suresh, there's just one thing I don't understand. If Lazarus's plan all along was to incite a revolution, why kill Sinjakama in the first place?" Meade asked. "Stands to reason something like that would only make it tougher on him to keep his plans secret."

  Suresh shrugged. "I am no strategist. What I know of the murder is what you are aware of. My role was only to keep an eye on Master Atel and upload a virus into the navigational program he was writing for his father."

  "Virus?" Emeline's head popped up. The only subject she knew more about than distilling whiskey, was how to write a computer virus and hack computers like a maestro. She was a legitimate terror in the cyberworld and her hacking skills had been useful to Meade more than once in the past. "What virus?"

  Suresh shook his head. "I am unsure. But, from what Mr. Rincon told me, it was crucial to his success. Master Sinjakama was writing the program that his father would use to pilot Rosetta into the near Earth orbit. It was a simple matter of using a thumb drive provided by one of his people."

  Meade stood and began pacing. Something was niggling at the back of his head. "Start from the beginning Suresh. Who approached you?"

  Suresh was taken aback and stammered. "I was approached on the Orbital City during a long meeting Master Sinjakama was having with Consortium leaders. Master Atel was inside the inner sanctum reassuring our nation's leaders that his father's designs and construction of the ultra high thrust engines were proceeding on schedule. As I was waiting outside a handmaiden approached me and bid me t
o follow her. I obliged, with the thought that something romantic was afoot. After leading me into a cloakroom I found instead of romance, I was alone with Mr. Rincon."

  "He was there?" Emeline asked, confused.

  "No, the handmaiden held a long distance communicator and I spoke with his hologram. The conversation wasn't long. Perhaps all of five minutes. But what he told me was all I needed to hear. I the only man with the kind of access he needed to exact revenge on not only the family responsible for killing my mother and father, but also the Consortium. You heard for yourself, Master Rincon can be quite convincing."

  "Quite." Meade murmured. Emeline shot him a look and he stayed quiet.

  "Go on Suresh." Emeline encouraged.

  "After I agreed to be his mole in the Sinjakama family, the handmaiden offered me a thumb drive and told me the virus contained within was to be planted on Master Sinjakama's personal computer. I was told the virus would help Mr. Rincon strike a blow against the Consortium."

  "What happened next?" Emeline prodded.

  "I took my time and waited for my opportunity, which wasn't easy. Master Sinjakama worked day and night programming the navigational controls for this asteroid. It was only during a bathroom break a few weeks ago that Master Atel left his computer unlocked and I was able to sneak into his office and upload the virus. Then, only a few days later, after uploading the program to his father, I was informed that Master Sanjay was dead and we would be traveling personally to Rosetta to investigate his death. With so much riding on the success of Rosetta, Master Atel couldn't leave anything to chance."

  "Which is why he desperately needed an independent investigator." Meade thought out loud. "He couldn't be sure that someone within the Consortium wasn't a Coalition spy and had somehow stumbled on the plans to crash their economy."

  Suresh nodded. "He knew it would only be a matter of time before any decent investigator would find out about the true purpose of Rosetta, and after researching your lack of ties to any credible Coalition interests he knew you would not pose a threat to his plans."

  "Since the launch was scheduled in a few days and his father would not be alive to supervise it, Consortium leaders sent the next best thing, his son." Emeline concluded. Suresh nodded.

  "And," Emeline added, "Sinjakama still needed to find out what happened to his father to make sure it wasn't a Coalition spy that killed him on Rosetta."

  "Precisely." Suresh agreed. He suddenly looked sad and turned to Meade. "Mr. Meade, you have to believe me, I only thought Master Rincon would be destroying the Sinjakama family and perhaps a few other key Consortium officials I am not exactly fond of. In my mind, I believed he would hijack Rosetta and keep it as a hostage against Consortium interests. It wasn't until I arrived on board Rosetta that I learned of his true intentions of exterminating the whole population of the upper class residing here. Had I known, I assure you, I never would have agreed to it."

  Meade sighed and patted Suresh on the shoulder. "Relax kid. If there's anything I know, it's how revenge can eat you up and blind you to only what you want to see."

  Suresh was relieved. "I appreciate that sir. I want you also to know, that after learning of his plans, I attempted to withdraw, but he threatened to kill me and..." he cleared his throat, "Amla if I didn't corporate and spy on you for the duration of your stay."

  Amla looked up in surprise and Suresh met her eyes, communicating everything he'd wanted to say to her. He reached for her hand and tenderly stroked it, bringing it to his face.

  "I could never allow that." Suresh said looking at her. "I've loved you for as long as I can remember and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

  She squeaked in excitement and threw her arms around him frantically kissing him everywhere on his face. Suresh reddened in embarrassment but quickly relented and returned the embrace. Emeline sighed and even Meade's heart melted a bit as they watched the happy couple unite.

  "Puppy love aside," Meade said gruffly attempting to cover up the warm feelings bubbling up from his gut. "There's still the matter of what was on that thumb drive and why he had you upload it into the program. Did he ever tell you what it was for?"

  Suresh turned, temporarily escaping Amla's affections. "I'm afraid not sir. I didn't ask either. I was promised revenge. That's all I cared about."

  Meade turned to Emeline. "What do you think Em?"

  She bit her lip considering everything Suresh had told them. "It doesn't add up for me. If Junior was the one writing the navigational program and Sanjay was building the damn thing, what would the virus do that Rincon couldn't accomplish after taking over Rosetta?"

  The group was silent and they considered what Emeline was saying. Meade was stuck, he couldn't answer that. If Rincon was bent on creating a new paradise and giving the underclass a way to strike back against the people who had kept them down for so long, why bother with the subterfuge with Suresh? Unless...?

  "I think the virus is only to help Rincon take the station initially. There's a lot of security on board here and a virus properly programmed and slyly installed with high admin privileges would do a lot of damage with the kind of access Sanjay Sinjakama would have as a senior engineer on board Rosetta."

  Emeline put it together for him, "That's why Sinjakama was killed. He discovered the virus and couldn't keep it from spreading, so he did the next best thing and locked down all controls to keep Rosetta from launching to the Lagrange point."

  Meade snapped his fingers and nodded. “That’s it exactly. Nicely done Em.”

  She blushed and smiled at his compliment and leapt up from her chair excited. “We've got to stop him! But, uh… how do we do that?"

  Meade shook his head as he paces in the tiny apartment. "I don't know, but if we can get to Sinjakama Jr. first, have him reprogram the navigational controls, hell his father did it once already, maybe we can get him to lock it down again. That is, if we get to Atel before Rincon does." Meade said quickly. "Suresh, you still want to be a part of Rincon's plan?"

  Suresh shook his head. "After hearing the man's plan to destroy the Homeworld for myself, I believe my affiliation with Master Rincon was a mistake. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I was party to such a horror."

  "Good." Meade said, relieved. "We've got to get out of here, warn Koschei, find Sinjakama and lock down those navigational controls.”

  "Master Rincon posted several guards outside with strict instructions you were not to be allowed to leave." Suresh said. "I don't believe we can escape at the moment."

  Meade grinned. "I like a challenge."

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The guards outside had drawn the short straw. While everyone else was in bed resting for the impending revolution Rincon had planned, they were stuck on guard duty. The Alpha in charge was having a particularly difficult time staying awake. More than once, his subordinate had to nudge him to keep him awake. The Alpha looked at his chronometer. It was only 03:30. Only two hours until the Lightbringers arose and claimed Rosetta for their own. He had been looking forward to this moment ever since he had emigrated here with his family and watched them die under the horrific conditions Koschei had given his family to live in. The victory would be the sweetest revenge and he hoped to personally rip Koschei's tongue out and stare at the coward as the blood drained from his body. His wife and children had to die a long and lingering death because of him. He wanted to watch the Russian Trillionaire suffer for himself.

  He removed a small vial of Amphetimax from his belt and drank it quickly, instantly feeling alert. He would be good for another eight hours if the packaging was to be believed. Lazarus had instructed them to take the Amphetimax at the time of their takeover, but he couldn't fight off sleep any longer. He was instructed to watch over his four prisoners and escort them to the nearest lifepod to be released after the revolution began. After that, his squad's assignment was to infiltrate the upper levels of Rosetta and kill any of Koschei's collaborators. He was particularly looking forward to seeing the
forest Koschei had constructed on the top level. He had heard stories of the forest's majestic beauty and couldn't wait to see what his families' deaths had built for himself.

  He wasn't bothered by the amount of killing Rincon expected from him and his men. Far as he was concerned, the Elites deserved it. And once they were dead, his family would be avenged and men like him wouldn't have to watch their families die for the needless excesses demonstrated by the Elites.

  From inside the small apartment he heard a disturbance. He turned and motioned for one of his Betas to open the door.

  "Open the door." He instructed his Beta. The man nodded from beneath his mask and waved his ArmBar over the locking mechanism. The lock clicked green and the Alpha turned, ready for whatever was happening inside. "Watch my back, keep the others behind me."

  "Understood." The Beta replied.

  The Alpha opened the door and examined the scene before him. Three of the prisoners were leaning over an unconscious form shaking it. The man wearing the black cowboy hat turned to him snarling, "Get help you goon!"