The Furnace

by Timothy S. Johnston

  “He didn’t get me,” I said with a confidence I didn’t really feel.

  A sneer. “I guess we’ll find out soon.”

  I gestured with my pistol. “On your feet.”

  “Let’s be friends, Tanner. One small touch. You won’t regret it.” He leaned back on his knees and held up his bloody hands. “Won’t take long.”

  I got to my feet slowly. “I mean it,” I growled.

  He eyed my pistol and there was a long, uncomfortable silence. “I guess you do,” he mumbled finally.

  I shook my head. “I didn’t want to kill Bram. I wanted to help him, but there was no other way.” My knuckles were white on the pistol’s grip. “I won’t hesitate to kill you either, Brick.”

  He was still on his knees. I was about to tell him to get up again, but didn’t really know what I would do if he objected.

  His eyes flicked over my right shoulder.

  I turned just in time to see someone hurtle toward me. I spun and brought my pistol to bear, but wasn’t fast enough. I stumbled from the impact and suddenly found myself on my ass, gasping for air. My vision faded for a second. I saw stars. There was another thud and crash and I reached out to shove my assailant off. He landed on the deck beside me, also hurt in the tackle.

  Dr. Malichauk.

  “Doc—” I started to say, but I stopped as Brick jumped to his feet. I scrambled for the pistol, but he was too fast.

  I watched his back vanish into the darkness.

  Again.

  * * *

  Malichauk pushed himself up. I had to assume he was infected, despite the fact that he wasn’t trying to press his attack. He didn’t meet my eyes; instead, he watched the empty corridor down which Brick had disappeared.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I snapped. “He just got away!”

  The doctor turned on me. “What were you going to do? Shoot him?”

  “If I had to, of course.”

  Our eyes locked, and my gaze was molten. He deflated and leaned against the bulkhead. “Tanner, I can’t let you kill them all. For thirty years I’ve tried to develop a method to pay the Council back for what they did to my brother. And you’d just eliminate the infection—”

  My skin crawled. “That’s ridiculous, Lars! Your plan failed. They’re not obeying your code anymore. They’re intelligent, for fuck’s sake. Can’t you see that?”

  He shook his head. “You don’t know that the plan won’t work. When they come in contact with the Council, the kill code could override—”

  I snorted. “Nonsense. They killed Reggie and Bel to survive. There’s no way they’d commit suicide, Council member or not.”

  It seemed obvious to me. Why would a sentient being commit suicide? Especially when threatened, hunted and on the run. When every single one of them counted.

  Then again, I realized, the thought had occurred to me, scant hours ago.

  Malichauk looked pained. “There’s always a chance. My brother died for nothing! I won’t let them get away with it. This infection must spread!”

  I studied him for a minute while his eyes darted about the corridor. How had he escaped the clinic? The hatch had been forced open—I had recognized that. Brick had the override command, which ruled out his involvement. Bram had the code too—he had used it to enter the docking umbilical to get at the jumpship. All evidence pointed to Malichauk as Balch and Anna’s killer.

  Still, it was possible that Brick had forced it open, simply to make it appear as though one of the others had done it. I sighed. It was impossible to know Malichauk’s status either way with one hundred percent certainty.

  “What happened in the clinic?” I asked.

  “What...happened?” He stared down the corridor again.

  “Yes. Someone killed Anna and Balch. You disappeared.”

  He hesitated. “They came for me.”

  “Who?”

  “Brick. Bram. Both at once.”

  “Go on,” I pressed.

  “Anna and Balch tried to fight back, but they were no match for them. Brick had some sort of tool. He used it as a club. He killed them both.”

  “What did they want with you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I eyed him, suspicious. “Malichauk, this is important. Did they infect you?”

  He whispered his next words. “They tried to drag me from the clinic. Didn’t want to infect me there—takes too much time. They thought the others would come back and find us. They pulled me through the tunnel into the scientists’ module. They used the captain’s code to open the hatch. I ducked through it and hit the emergency close button, and then I ran like hell. They got the hatch open quickly, but by then I was gone. They’ve probably been looking for me ever since.”

  I considered that. They only wanted Malichauk. Why? What was there about Malichauk that made him so important?

  Unless...

  Did they want him because he was their creator?

  I shrugged the thought aside instantly. No. I couldn’t imagine the nanos showing that sort of...loyalty? Worship? Malichauk was no different from any of us. He was a potential host, nothing more. A means to spread the infection.

  He studied my expression in silence. Then, “I know what you’re thinking, Tanner. You don’t believe me. It seems improbable, but it’s too farfetched to be a lie. You have to trust me.” He exhaled. “But how about this—I don’t touch you, you don’t touch me. That way we can try to make it through this together.”

  My brow creased. “Our biggest threat just escaped, thanks to you.”

  His expression was difficult to read in the dim corridor. “I can’t let them die,” he said. “I told you that. My plan might still work.”

  * * *

  Time weighed on my mind.

  Eighteen hours until the batteries died. After that, the cooling system would fail, the temperature would spike and the sun would cook us alive. The EM shield would shut down and the radiation would begin to fry us. No power meant no life.

  Sixteen hours until I discovered whether Bram had infected me. The nanos had been on my skin. A lot of time had passed before I washed them off.

  If he had infected me, control would occur only two hours before death. I shuddered. If Shaheen could develop a test, and if I found out that control was about to happen, would suicide be an option for me after all?

  Whatever the case, I needed a test within sixteen hours.

  But that was only one problem. Eliminating the infection was a different matter entirely.

  * * *

  Malichauk had hidden in Reggie Hamatsui’s lab. He led me there, and the usual clutter greeted us upon entry. An unfamiliar feeling welled up within me: loss. Reggie had been a good man. Odd and obsessed with his unusual pursuit, but he hadn’t deserved what had happened to him. In asking him to test the drop of blood, I had inadvertently set him up to die. I felt deep regret for it, even though it had not been intentional. Circumstances beyond my control had caused his death.

  Still...

  I was supposed to save people, dammit, not make mistakes.

  I turned to Malichauk. “This is where you ran after your escape from Brick? We searched these labs and never saw you.”

  “I know,” he said as he rummaged through a small cupboard. “There are some rations in here...”

  I peered at him as something tingled at the back of my mind. “How did you hide?”

  “What? Oh, I was in the ceiling. There are some ducts up there.” He indicated a ventilation grating on the nearest bulkhead.

  I fixed my gaze on his back. “And you didn’t hear us?”

  “No. I was sleeping, I guess.”

  Something wasn’t right with his story. Everything told me I was in danger. “Bullshit.”

&n
bsp; He turned from the cupboard slowly. “What?”

  My heart pounded. We had been here during the search and he had deliberately avoided us. “Are you one of them, Lars?”

  A look of shock. “No! As I told you, they came into the clinic and—”

  “You killed Anna and Balch. Then you ran.”

  He paled. “But—”

  I raised my weapon. “Enough! Stop lying! You just said you knew we searched the lab. Then you said you were sleeping!”

  His eyes grew wide at the pistol in his face, and then he slumped onto a workbench. He flashed me a glance, then turned away abruptly. His guilt was clear. “It’s true,” he whispered. I could barely hear him. “I knew you were here. But what would you have done had you found me?” His face twisted. “You would have branded me infected, even though I wasn’t. You might have tied me up, tortured me, subjected me to experiments in order to develop a test.” He shook his head fervently. “I couldn’t allow that.”

  I frowned. There was truth in what he said—it was the same situation I myself was in. I couldn’t stay with Manny, Shaheen and the others. They were too scared of me, thought I was infected.

  Was Malichauk truly more scared of us than we were of him?

  I shuffled my feet uncomfortably. “We can’t stay here.”

  He held a ration pack out for me. “Where can we go?”

  “There’s not much time left. The test is too important.”

  He shook his head. “There is no test! There can’t be one—I designed the nanos to be invisible! They hide up here.” He tapped a finger to his temple. “You can’t find them.”

  I sighed. “You and Shaheen suggested a brain-tissue sample. I don’t much like the idea—”

  His jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious! It’s barbaric! I told Manny that. I can’t take part. How could you—”

  “—but there may be no other way.”

  “Why bother?”

  I pulled back in shock. “Doctor, I need to know who’s infected. I have to destroy it, don’t you see? I can’t allow it to get off the station.”

  “I disagree. It won’t harm anyone but the Council members!”

  A shiver seared through my body. What the hell was he talking about? Didn’t he realize what had happened on SOLEX? The past week had seen a lot of bloodshed, and all of it his fault. “Won’t harm anyone?” I snapped. “Your invention killed Reggie and Belinda! It’s trying to kill us!” I paused and tried to calm myself. I needed to be rational, so he wouldn’t cause trouble. “Bram tried to kill me, Doctor, and right now it’s them or us. It’s that simple. Whose side are you on?”

  His eyes narrowed. He didn’t respond.

  I clenched my fists. Damn him. He wasn’t making this easy for me. I couldn’t tell if he was infected, but it was clear that he wanted to save the nanos. I couldn’t stay with him here in Reggie’s lab. It was too dangerous. My only option now was to take him back to the others. Manny would perhaps begin to trust me again. The fact that I had killed Bram in self-defense couldn’t hurt either.

  “Let’s go, Lars,” I said. “We’re not staying here.”

  He looked stunned. “Where will we go?”

  “The command center. We’re going to sit down with Shaheen and develop a test. And if you don’t help us, I’ll kill you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Rickets stood just outside the hatch to the command center. His look of shock turned instantly to one of hostile resolve as we rounded the corner. He aimed his weapon at us. “Stop right there!” he barked. “Don’t come any closer!”

  I raised my hands. “Avery, we need to talk to the captain and Shaheen.”

  He looked skeptical. “Drop your weapon, Tanner. Then we’ll talk.”

  I hesitated for a moment, but realized I had no other choice. Time was running out, and I needed their trust. I set down the pistol. Malichauk immediately turned to run, but I grabbed him by the collar. “You’re not going anywhere,” I growled.

  Rickets watched the whole exchange with interest. He was about to say something when the hatch to the command center slid aside and Manny stepped into the corridor.

  “I thought I heard voices—” He stopped and stared at us, mouth agape. “What the—”

  “We’re giving ourselves up,” I said, “but under conditions. There’s only one way to get off this station. We develop a test, we figure out how to treat the infection, and then I can call CCF HQ and let them know it’s gone. Try to convince them that we’re clean.”

  Manny looked skeptical. “But how do I know you’re not infected?” he asked with a pained expression.

  I shook my head. “You don’t. I can promise you I’m not under control right now, but I can’t say the same thing about Malichauk. He’s been...” I paused and wondered what to say about the man. I settled on, “He’s said some contradictory things. He helped Brick escape from me earlier.”

  Manny glared at the doctor. “You’re one of them.”

  He licked his lips. “I’m not. I’m just scared.”

  The captain turned to me. “You found Brick?”

  I hesitated; I didn’t know exactly how to tell him. After a second, I realized there was no easy way. I had to just come out and say it. “And Bram. I...I had to kill him, Manny. He tried to infect me. I had no choice.”

  He looked thunderstruck. “Bram...dead?”

  I lowered my eyes. “It was him or me.” I couldn’t say sorry—it would be a lie. The captain’s loss saddened me, but not because I had killed a man. Besides, I told myself, perhaps Bram had died hours ago, during the meteor shower and the attack in the crew module. Maybe I had just destroyed a machine, or a bag of bacteria. Not a human being.

  He seemed lost in thought. Rickets’s gaze flicked to him, then back to me. “Uh, Captain,” he said. “What should we do with these two?”

  “Our options are limited, aren’t they?” he muttered.

  “Shaheen couldn’t fix the power, could she?” I said.

  He shook his head minutely. “No.”

  “Then we have only about eighteen hours. After the batteries run dry, we’ll have a little more time maybe, but not much.” I stepped forward. “Listen to me, Manny—this is our only option. Shaheen, the doctor and I will sit down and work on a test. Please. There’s no other way now.”

  Surely he had to understand that. We had no other options in this fight. But if he said no, what could I do?

  He studied me for a long minute. I held his eyes and didn’t turn away. Eventually, he sighed. “All right. But we all stay in the same room. You three sit at a table and don’t come near the rest of us. If you do...” He cleared his throat. “If you do, we’ll kill you.”

  * * *

  We marched together to the clinic. Manny and Rickets guarded us the whole way. Their fingers were white on their pistols. Shaheen watched me from the corner of her eye as we moved through the darkened corridors.

  “Where did you go?” she whispered.

  “To the jumpship. I got some rest, then Bram tried to break in. We fought.”

  She gasped and recoiled. “Did he touch you?”

  “I killed him,” I said, neatly sidestepping the question.

  “You what?”

  I grimaced. “Manny’s not too happy. I also ran into Brick. I scuffled with him before Malichauk saved him.” I noticed her look. “Yeah. Better stay away from the doctor. He’s not acting innocent right now.” A huge understatement. If it weren’t for the knowledge he had that could help us, I would have tied him up and locked him in a cabin somewhere.

  “But why did you bring him here?” she asked, confused.

  “I thought maybe he could help with the test. He invented the nanos, after all.”

  “But if he’s one of them, why would h
e help?”

  I shrugged. “Because he’s trying to convince us he’s not. He may inadvertently give us some important information.”

  She didn’t look convinced. I ignored it. This was, after all, all I had left.

  * * *

  Grossman’s body was crumpled in the chair in the corner, the front of his tunic blackened and charred. Balch’s and Anna’s naked bodies were on the procedures tables; I covered them hastily with white sheets before the others could get a good look at the grisly sight.

  Malichauk, Shaheen and I sat at a desk in the corner. Sally, Katrina and Lingly watched us apprehensively. Manny and Rickets sat nearby with their pistols aimed in our general direction. The scientists wouldn’t be much help, unfortunately. They were solar physicists, not biologists. Too bad this hadn’t happened on an outpost researching some new life-form somewhere, I thought grimly.

  “Okay,” I said as I settled into the chair. We could be there a long time. “Did you try to come up with a test, Shaheen?”

  She glowered at me. “I’ve been working on the station’s power.”

  Shit. “But did you think of anything?”

  She ran a hand through her hair. “I thought about it, sure. The whole time after you showed up in the engineering module. That was crazy, by the way—”

  “Shaheen!”

  “All right, all right. Listen, I’m not a biologist. I don’t even know what kind of bacteria that was. But if we knew, it might help.”

  I turned to Malichauk. “Well? What is it?”

  His face was blank. “I won’t say more about it.”

  “But why?” Shaheen asked.

  “I’ve told you before, I want the infection to survive,” he murmured. “I created it. I won’t help destroy it.”

  I said, “You told me you designed it to be silent. To evade detection. How?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “The bacteria cluster in the brain,” Shaheen said. “That’s part of it.”

  “Come on, Malichauk,” I said. “If we can’t figure out who’s infected and who’s not, we can’t call for help. If we can’t call for help, we’re all dead in eighteen hours! The infection dies too! It’s in your best interests to help!”