Novum: Exile: (Book 2)

by Joseph Rhea

  “I heard that our guest is awake,” Ash said, “and I assumed you would want to be there when they questioned him.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him. “And why would you assume that?”

  He slid past her and sat down at his navigation console. “Tell me I’m wrong,” he said with a grin.

  She punched him in the shoulder. “Are you calling me nosy, Ashland?”

  He faked pain and rubbed his shoulder. “You know I hate that name, and no, I’m just saying that you like to know what’s going on.”

  “That’s better,” she said then started to walk away.

  “With everyone,” he added with a grin, “and with everything.” She turned and punched him much harder. “Ow!” he yelled. “That one really hurt.”

  “You’ll get over it,” she said with a fake, little girl smile and then turned and jogged down the stairs. She actually enjoyed the little games she and Ash had gotten in the habit of playing during the night shift changes, but he was right; she really did want to be there when the stranger woke up.

  * * *

  “Has he spoken at all?” Jake asked when he entered the med bay with AJ right behind. Raines sat in the room’s only chair, next to the surgical bed on the left side of the room. He seemed a little haggard, even for a man of his age.

  “Have you been in here all night?” AJ asked.

  Raines looked up at them both and sighed. “That’s two questions too many, especially before coffee.” As if on cue, Vee came in just then and handed her grandfather a cup. “Bless you, child,” he added as he took it in both hands and breathed in the aroma.

  Jake was about to make a comment about her not bringing cups for the rest of them, when a voice made them all jump. “You killed her!” They all looked at the man in the bed, who was staring at them with his eyes wide open, as though he were witnessing some horrible act, something that only he could see.

  Jake walked over to the bed. “Who killed who?” The man didn’t move, but the look on his face eased a bit, and then he closed his eyes. “Who killed who?” he repeated.

  Raines studied the bed’s display. “I’m not sure he’s fully conscious yet, Captain.”

  “I think I can speak for myself, Dr. Raines.”

  Jake looked at the stowaway, and then at his engineer. “Doctor Raines?”

  The older man ignored him and rolled his chair closer to the patient, whose eyes were now open and staring up at the ceiling. “You seem familiar,” Raines said. “Do I know you?”

  “No,” the man said, “but I know you.” He pressed the bed’s elevation controls, lifting one end up to put him in a sitting position. “My father used to talk about you quite often when I was younger.”

  “Who are you?” AJ asked. Jake noticed that she still had a gun tucked in the back of her pants, and her right hand was poised near it, ready to draw if necessary.

  “Forgive me, Captain Stone. My name is Dr. Arik Wood.”

  Raines stood and took a step backwards. “You’re Jarik’s son?”

  Wood turned his head to Jake. “Before he has your first mate shoot me with that gun she’s hiding behind her back, I must explain why I’m here, Captain.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Raines fumed. “If he is who he says he is, then we can’t trust a word he says.” He shot a look at AJ, who pulled her gun out and aimed it at the man.

  Jake looked at the man in the bed and then at Raines and AJ. “Would someone tell me who this is?”

  Raines started to answer, but then Wood beat him to it. “I work for the Ministry of Science, or at least I used to, and as Dr. Raines just stated, my father is Counselor Jarik Wood.”

  Jake glanced at AJ and frowned. “We have a Councilmember’s son aboard our ship? And, we’re aiming a loaded gun at him? Has everyone lost their minds?” AJ held her aim for a moment longer but then finally lowered her weapon.

  “Thank you, Captain,” Wood said.

  Jake stepped up to the man. “All right. I don’t have time for twenty questions. If you really are Counselor Wood’s son, I want to know three things; why does my crew want to shoot you, who actually did shoot you, and why did you stow away aboard my boat.”

  “And how did you know the captain’s name back in the bar?” AJ added.

  Jake sighed. “Okay, that’s four things, but answer the first three first.”

  “I still feel pretty week, Captain,” he replied. “It would be easier if you asked me specific questions.”

  “All right,” AJ said. “Here’s a question: Are you one the enforcers were looking for?”

  “Yes, I believe I am,” he said.

  “I’m confused,” Jake said. “They said they were looking for a rebel, and you tell me you work for the Council.”

  “Worked for the Council,” Wood said. “Past-tense, and rebels come in many forms.”

  “If you were with the Ministry of Science,” Raines said, “then I assume that you know something about the new Beta-tester everyone has been talking about?”

  “Yes,” Wood replied. “While my father took all of the credit for it, as you can probably guess, I actually did most of the work on it.”

  “What Beta-tester?” Jake asked. “Who’s been talking about it?”

  Wood looked bored. “In layman’s terms, Captain, it’s a laser-based device about the same size and shape as your first mate’s handgun. Only instead of shooting bullets, it vaporizes a small patch of epidermis and then performs a spectral analysis of the particles.”

  “I bet you are very proud of your accomplishment,” Raines said with a sneer.

  Wood glanced up at the older man and then down at his own feet. “I have to admit that, in the beginning, I was very proud. Beta-testing used to takes several hours in a laboratory, and the results were often inconclusive.” He looked back up at Raines. “You seem to think I’m a monster, but I can assure you that I had the best intentions. For years, I’ve believed that there were dozens, if not hundreds of suspected Betas in the detention camps, who were, in fact, humans. I thought that by creating an instant, foolproof Beta-tester, these people could be quickly tested and released.”

  “But you were wrong,” Raines said.

  “I was quite wrong,” Wood agreed.

  “I don’t understand,” Jake said.

  The doctor’s eyes seem to glaze over as he answered. “The original laboratory tests were only accurate enough to tell if someone had greater than fifty percent Beta markers.”

  Jake held out his hand. “Hold on a minute. I always hear people talking about Beta markers, but I have to admit that I have no idea what those are.”

  Wood was about to speak, but Raines beat him to it. “When Betas were first created by our ancestors, they placed specific genetic markers in their DNA.”

  “Why?” Jake asked.

  “We don’t know for sure, but most believe it was a way to distinguish them from the Alpha population, the regular humans.”

  “Beta humans are otherwise identical to Alpha humans,” Vee added. “Those markers are the only way to tell them apart.”

  “Yes,” Wood said. “And unfortunately, at some point in our history, we lost that knowledge, and with it, the ability to distinguish Alphas from Betas.”

  “Now, thanks to the Ministry of Science,” Raines said, “or as I now call it, the Ministry of Ethnic Purity, we have regained that knowledge. We now can identify those markers, and anyone with a greater than fifty percent reading is labeled a Beta.”

  “Ah,” Wood said, “but my new test changed all of that. In addition to being nearly instantaneous, it is also accurate to within about ten percent.”

  “Why didn’t that help release people from the camps?” Vee asked.

  “Because the Council changed the threshold, didn’t they?” AJ asked.

  Wood nodded. “Now anyone with greater than ten percent Beta markers in their DNA is considered a risk to the public and locked up.” He looked up at Jake. “Instead of helping to release people from the
detention camps, I helped add more—by several orders of magnitude, in fact.”

  “Why doesn’t someone stop them?” Vee asked. “We voted the Councilmembers into office; why can’t we vote them out?”

  “Because they’re not the problem,” AJ said.

  “You’re on the side of the Council?” Jake asked, more than a little surprised.

  AJ shrugged. “Like Vee said. We are the ones who voted them into office. The Council isn’t the problem. The real problem is the people of Civica who vote with their fears instead of their heads. They are so afraid of Betas, so afraid of the unknown; they are willing to give up their own freedom to feel safe.”

  “Gee, don’t hold back,” Ash said. “Tell us how you really feel.”

  AJ glared at him, but Raines responded first. “So, that’s why you left?” he asked Wood. “That’s why the enforcers were after you?”

  “Yes,” Wood said. “I could no longer be a part of the atrocities being committed against our people. And so I ran.”

  Jake took all of that in before asking another question. “I might believe all of this if you had stowed away on my boat by chance, but you didn’t. When you approached me in the bar, you addressed me by name.”

  Wood shook his head. “I was in need of a ride, and someone gave me your name.”

  “No,” AJ said, suddenly looking weary of the man again. “That was a Guild bar; no one would have given you anyone’s name in there.”

  They all stared at the man, and then Jake said, “I think you have a little more explaining to do.”

  Wood turned his head to the side and bit his lip. “Perhaps I do,” he finally said. He looked back at Jake. “My reasons for leaving are a bit more personal. When I finished the device, my father asked me to bring it to the Council for a live demonstration. When I ask who they wanted for the test, he said I should bring my wife.”

  “Your wife?” Vee asked.

  “Dana,” he replied. “I wasn’t concerned at first. Dana and I had always been loyal servants of the Council, and I assumed that they simply wanted me to provide a ‘negative’ to compare to a known Beta, maybe someone from one of the camps. Just before we were to leave, I ran the test on her myself.”

  “Why?” Raines asked.

  “She was my wife,” Wood said. “I didn’t want any surprises.”

  “But you got one, didn’t you?” AJ added.

  Wood cleared his throat before answering. “Yes I did. Dana’s test showed a twenty percent Beta reading. I ran the test four times and it always came back the same. Ten percent over the threshold.”

  “So that’s why you ran,” Jake said. Wood just stared at the wall.

  “Where is your wife now?” Vee asked.

  Wood looked at her and then at Jake. “New Braska city enforcers learned we were here and pursued us. We escaped into one of the cornfields on the other side of the dome. I thought we were going to make it, but…”

  “Where is she?” Jake asked, but he was sure what his answer would be.

  “She’s dead,” Wood spat out, rage building in his face. “They shot her in the head, like she was an animal. Like she was a…”

  “Beta?” AJ asked.

  Wood’s rage seemed to deflate suddenly. “I grew up in my father’s shadow, believing Betas were monsters, sub-human creatures living among us. Then I learned that my wife, my dear sweet Dana…”

  “I don’t believe you,” Jake said, then turned to his crew and added, “Those City Enforcers were helping us escape. I think they were helping him escape.” He turned back to Wood. “How did you get aboard this ship? Did you come in with the enforcers?”

  Wood’s eyes darted back and forth, telling Jake he was building a lie. “I came in with the HazMat team,” he said. “Twelve of us came in with the generator, and only eleven left.”

  “And I suppose you got rid of that big yellow suit somehow,” Jake said.

  “Your galley’s disposal,” he replied.

  “So, no proof,” Jake added. “That’s very convenient.”

  Wood leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Captain, but I am getting very tired. I lost a great deal of blood when my enforcer friends shot me in the back and then brought me here to hide aboard your ship.” He looked back at Jake. “Remind me why I did all of this?”

  When he thought it all through, he realized that Wood’s story could be the truth after all. Still, there was something about the man’s story that didn’t ring true. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m truly sorry about your wife.” He turned to AJ. “We should probably let him get some rest.”

  “One moment, Captain,” AJ said as she pulled the chair closer to the bed and faced Wood. “You still haven’t told us how you got the captain’s name in the bar.”

  Wood started to open his mouth, when Ash called down from the bridge. “Captain, we have a problem.”

  Jake looked at AJ. “What is it, Ash?”

  “We seem to have another stowaway aboard.” There was a pause before he added, “And this one is probably armed.”

  Chapter 07

  AJ drew her weapon and moved cautiously towards the door. “Where’s the intruder, Ash?”

  “Cargo bay. Back near the drop door.”

  Jake looked at Wood. “Who is it?”

  Wood shook his head. “I don’t know. I came alone.”

  Jake moved over beside AJ, wishing once again that he had a gun as well. “Are you sure, Ash? We were just in the cargo bay. It’s not that big. How could a person hide there?”

  “Not a person, Captain,” Ash replied.

  Jake and AJ exchanged confused expressions before Raines spoke. “Is it a probe?”

  “Security probe from the looks of it, which is why I said it’s probably armed,” Ash said. “I picked up its visual feed just a few seconds ago. I’ll pipe it down to you.”

  A screen on the back wall came to life and began showing a view of the back half of the cargo bay. The view then rotated back towards the bow and stopped at the door to the port observation corridor. A second later, the door slid open.

  “Security probe, all right,” AJ said. “Nothing else could bypass the door locks so quickly.”

  “And you think it’s armed?” Jake asked as he backed away from the door. The observation corridor led back to the staging area right outside medical bay.

  “Security probes are usually equipped with range-finding lasers.”

  “Which are non-lethal,” Jake said with relief.

  Raines shook his head. “They can be ramped up for short duration pulses, which are quite lethal if they strike a vital organ.”

  “Like your face,” AJ added, “which is what it will be aiming for.”

  Wood finally spoke up. “I think you just discovered what those enforcers were doing on your ship, Captain. They must have planted it here.” He looked at the others in the room. “I believe that probe is after me.”

  “Great,” AJ said. “Can we send him out to deal with this thing?”

  “Ash,” Jake said, “Where is it now?”

  “Aft end of port corridor, heading into the lockout chamber.”

  “Can we trap it in there?” Vee asked. “Maybe pressurize it. Crush it?”

  “That’s a good idea,” Jake said, “but if it can override our locks, it won’t work. Plus, I don’t want to let whoever’s driving it to know we know about it.”

  “It’s probably automated,” Raines said.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jake said. He looked back at the display. “Ash, locate everyone on the ship and tell them to hide. If they’re in their bunks, tell them to pretend to be asleep. If it’s searching for Dr. Wood, it will probably leave them alone.”

  “That’s a big gamble,” AJ said. “So, what’s your plan?”

  He took a deep breath to calm his nerves then said, “Keep your gun out, and I’ll show you.”

  * * *

  Ash followed the probe’s movement on his dashboard monitor. Everyone else was hiding
out in their quarters. He was the only one trapped out in the open with nowhere to hide. After the probe left the port lockout, it opened the hatch to D-deck and dropped down to where they had found their stowaway. It was a small area, and within a minute, it emerged from the hatch opening and headed up the stairs to B-deck.

  Ash held his breath as he glanced back towards the bridge stairwell. The probe was right at the bottom of that opening and would hear him if he made a sound. He forced himself to turn back to the view screen.

  Fortunately, the probe was being methodical and began searching the galley and mess hall first. Next would be the two storage room and then the officers’ crew quarters, where his sister and Jane were hiding. They had chosen to hide out in the same room, which meant they would be pretending to be asleep in the same bunk. He hoped that closeness wouldn’t lead to some sort of female bonding, where Jane might tell her about the rec room incident.

  He shook his head, remembering that the current situation was far more important. The screen showed the probe heading down the crew quarters hallway now. It stopped at the first door on the left: Captain’s quarters. When the door opened, he was shocked to see the blurry image of two pink bodies standing inside the room’s private shower. Not understanding what he was seeing, he turned up the volume and heard his sister’s voice. “No, you rub my back first.”

  Then Jane’s voice giggled and said, “I already did yours. My turn.” Then they both giggled.

  The image from the probe quickly turned and scanned the rest of the room and then turned and reentered the hall. As it continued to check each of the other five rooms, Ash realized the genius of the girls’ plan. If they had pretended to sleep, the probe’s sensors might have been able to detect heartbeat and breathing and might determine that they were faking sleep. Faking sleep could be considered proof that they knew about the probe, which would probably give it reason to kill them.

  He glanced around the bridge and realized his own plan to pretend to be asleep at his navigation console would no longer work. As the screen showed the probe now heading towards the bridge stairwell, he realized that he was about to die.