Zero

by J. S. Collyer

  Hugo didn't wait but squeezed down the space between two closed up stalls and was then pelting across another storage lot, piled high with sealed cargo crates, with Webb at his heels. The sounds of whining mopeds faded as they put more metal in between them and the main section of stalls but it didn't disappear and was soon joined by another.

  “They're fanning out,” Webb said between breaths as they vaulted a wall. They dodged a flyer, the pilot sounding his horn and swerving, then ran down another alley.

  “What the hell is going on?” Hugo panted as they pounded down the alley.

  “I was just getting us the best price,” Webb said as he skidded around a corner and paused to catch his breath.

  “Explain,” Hugo growled.

  “There's a couple of dealers I knew from from way back, always after good ore.”

  “You went to people that know you?”

  “Yeah,” Webb said, frowning. “What's the problem?

  Hugo shook his head. “Never mind. This way,” he said, with a quick glance at the wrist panel. The sound of traffic faded and they came out onto a trading walk. A few of the warehouse doors were open with lifters and mopeds coming and going and Hugo wove between them, Webb following close behind and glancing around.

  “So you went to see these points?”

  “Yeah,” Webb said. “All was hunky-dory until they call in this new guy. He takes one look at me and draws his gun and starts shouting for binders. Whoever I've escaped from must have put word out. I'd be flattered if I weren't pretty sure it can't be for anything good.”

  Hugo didn't look at his commander but kept moving up the trading walk, glancing at his display for bearings. He was just about to put a call in to More to come and get them when there was a whirr and whine of moped engines and shouts from behind them.

  Both men swore and broke into a run. Traders scattered out of the way and Hugo ducked down the first gap between the warehouses that was too narrow for the mopeds.

  “Fuck,” he swore as they skidded to a halt at the bottom of a ten-foot concrete wall.

  “Give me a leg up, Hugo,” Webb said and Hugo knelt and boosted the commander up. Webb hoisted himself up to straddle the wall then reached down for Hugo. Hugo took a hold of his arm and scrambled up. Webb managed to haul him up and they both tumbled off the wall onto a flat roof.

  He took the barest second to glance around the scrap yard they were in then jumped off the outbuilding. Webb was panting behind him. They ran towards the gate then heard moped engines from the other side and skidded to a halt, glancing round.

  “There,” Webb snapped, pointing, then scrambled up a pile of scrap. Hugo muttered and followed over the top and dropped himself into the narrow space between the scrap pile and the wall.

  “Webb?” he hissed. “Where are you?”

  “Here,” came Webb's whisper and Hugo bent and saw that the commander had managed to crawl under a gap made by some angled girders. Hugo shimmied underneath, not liking the sound of the metal groaning around him, and squeezed through into a space just big enough for them both to crouch in. Their panting breaths sounded intolerably loud in the small space and beyond that he could hear voices on the other side of the wall.

  “They went in here,” someone barked.

  Hugo willed his breathing to calm and saw Webb close his eyes to do the same. There were more muffled sounds as men paced around the walls or rattled at the gate.

  “Hugo,” Webb breathed. “Can I ask you something?”

  “What?” Hugo hissed, straining his ears.

  “Is there something going on with the crew?”

  “What?” Hugo snapped again as someone swore and banged on the gate.

  “I don't know. More seems okay... but everyone else... Rami,” Webb shook his head. “I've never seen Rami cry before, Hugo. And now she looks like she wants to cry every time she looks at me.”

  “Do you really want to get into this now?”

  “I just want the truth,” Webb said barely above a whisper. He looked at Hugo in the gloom. His face was still, his eyes were steady but there was desperation in them.

  “The truth?” Hugo said. Webb nodded. More rattling from the gate and sounds of scrabbling as someone was boosted up onto the wall.

  “Please, Hugo,” Webb said. “Am I not owed that much?”

  Hugo felt his throat tighten and was grateful for the semi-darkness. He pretended to be listening for a second. “The truth, Commander,” he said, slowly, “is that everything on X6-119...” he paused, gathered himself. There was the sound of someone wrenching open the door of the outbuilding and a curse as they slammed it shut again. Webb watched him. “Let’s just say I did not handle what happened well. The crew had to hold the Zero together. They had to hold me together.” Hugo paused again as footsteps came closer to their scrap pile then faded away again. “After all that,” he went on in an even lower whisper. Webb was still looking at him expectantly. “After fighting that hard to find a way to live with what we thought had happened... I suppose it's just difficult for them to believe...”

  “Believe what?”

  “To believe that you're back.”

  Webb looked away then. The men were shouting to each other and the increasing level of noise started to bleed through from the trade walk and nearby groundways. “And what about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “So the guys are having some trouble getting their heads round it all. They think I've been dead for a year. I can give them some time to come round. I owe them that. But I need someone to believe me. To believe in me. I need... you... to believe in me.” Webb looked back at him. “Do you?”

  Hugo breathed in and out, tasting iron, rust and dust. He felt his eyes burn and his spine crawl. It was Webb staring out of those eyes, but Webb as he'd never seen him before. He looked... vulnerable. It made him angry.

  He was stood in the mud at the graveside again. He could taste the pine and the rain. His commander and friend was buried in a forgotten stretch of lake shore at his feet and no one knew. No one cared. And yet here he was, cheated even of a peaceful end and desperate to be lied to without realising it.

  Hugo opened his mouth, then closed it. Webb blinked, face falling. “Yes. I believe in you.” Hugo managed.

  The clone closed his eyes and let out a breath, nodding. He surprised Hugo by grabbing him by the back of the neck, pulling him close and pressing their foreheads together. Hugo felt the hand on his neck trembling. Then he broke away and Hugo was left with guilt swilling around his belly like ice water.

  They both froze as a shuffling clank sounded above them, then a muttered curse and a pair of boots appeared in the gap they had crawled through.

  “Fuck this,” someone growled. “They're not here. Get back to the market. Track down that fucking ship.”

  There was a shuffling and boots stomping and the metal around them shifted and groaned as the man clambered back over their heads. Presently there was the sound of them climbing back over the wall and the whine of moped motors starting up and fading away.

  Hugo moved to crawl back out the gap when Webb stopped him with a hand on his elbow. Hugo looked back, keeping his face as blank as possible.

  “You're a good captain, Hugo. And they're a good crew. I'm glad they came through for you when you needed them.”

  Hugo nodded, trying to ignore the ache in his throat. “We've got to get moving.”

  Webb nodded and they clambered out, jogged back to the outbuilding and hoisted themselves onto the roof and over the wall. Hugo hailed More on his wrist panel.

  “We're not far from you, Captain,” More answered. “Bear towards the rim and we'll pick you up.”

  ɵ

  More accelerated the Jeep away even before Webb and Hugo had closed the doors behind them. The groundways were busy but More got them back to the harbour in record time. Hugo struggled to stop himself fidgeting as customs once again inspected their vehicle. The officer gave Webb and Hugo, sweaty and scuffed
with rust and dirt, a prolonged look before nodding them through.

  Bolt stared at them as they all exited the Jeep back into the hold.

  “Close the hatch,” Hugo snapped. “We're launching.”

  “Sir, she's got to refuel,” Bolt protested.

  “Just do it,” Hugo barked and climbed up the ladder behind Webb. “Get her in drift, now.”

  More nodded and jogged up the stairway to the bridge. Hugo hurried to the medbay. “Rami?” The lieutenant span round, startled. Spinn blinked in the corner. “Get me a secure connection to Luscombe. And do it fast.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And strap in. We're launching,” he called over his shoulder as he hurried to the bridge.

  “Just once I'd like to leave a colony without someone trying to kill me,” Webb muttered at the controls as he input start-up checks. More got harbour control on the comm. Hugo itched as he had to talk them round their unscheduled departure.

  “You'll have to file a cancellation proformer, Zero,” the dreary voice sighed. “And submit your manifest again.”

  “Just do it, More. Quick.”

  More and Webb bent over the command panel, hands flying. Control finally relented and opened the dock doors. Hugo watched the commander closely, but he went through all the launch sequences with the same practiced ease Hugo remembered. He cracked jokes with More and grinned at Hugo over his shoulder as he did so, seeming generally more himself than ever. Hugo felt guilt wash up against his insides again and looked out the viewscreen, issuing launch orders he didn't need to issue, just so he had something to say. The Zero dipped and lurched as the thrusters pulled them from the gravity field and then they were easing forward into space.

  “Heading, Captain?” More said.

  “How much fuel do we have?”

  “Not enough to get out of the Lunar Strip.”

  Hugo chewed his lip for a moment but then the comm on his command chair bleeped.

  “Captain?”

  “Lieutenant?” Hugo responded.

  “The Colonel's not at Command, sir. He's already left for the Tranquillity conference.”

  “Have you tried his personal comm?”

  “Yes, sir, but he's not responding.”

  “Keep trying,” Hugo said and shut the comm off.

  “Heading, sir?” More asked again.

  “Just get us to the nearest colony. Webb, you will stay on the ship.”

  “For once I ain't gonna argue,” Webb said and set about keying in course commands.

  “Heading to Lunar 3, Captain,” More said. “Approximate arrival in two hours.”

  Hugo nodded then watched long enough to see the men finish programming the course then shut himself away in his cabin.

  The low fuel protocol kicked in and the overhead lights dimmed as he sat down at the table. He glared at the stubbornly blank wall display and spent the time servicing his guns and running through the ships systems and inventory. He was just stopping himself from pacing the cabin when his display began bleeping.

  “On screen.”

  “Hugo.” Luscombe's face was heavier than usual. He was bent close to the screen and his voice was low. “I'm in flight. Make it quick.”

  “Sir,” Hugo said. “There's another contract out on him.”

  “On who?”

  “Webb.”

  “You mean the clone?”

  Hugo nodded.

  Luscombe glanced around, leaned in closer. “Hugo, this clone theory is a giant tangle of dead-ends. There is no record of any such experimentation at the Medic Centre, either Service or civilian commissioned, let alone anything to do with Ezekiel Webb. Are you sure of what's going on here? Are you sure he's not some sort of agent?”

  “The tests, sir,” Hugo said with an effort to stay calm.

  Luscombe shook his head. “Yes, yes, I know. Look I can't talk about this now. Come to Tranquillity. Someone wants him back bad enough to put a contract out, there must be a neck-level shit-storm brewing. Maybe it's best I take him into custody until we know more.”

  “Is that fair on him?”

  Luscombe frowned. “Hugo, if your theory is right then that man is nothing more than the result of a potentially dangerous medical experiment. Keep him under control until Tranquillity then we'll find a way to secure him.”

  “Sir, you can't...” Hugo gripped the table, feeling his knuckles ache.

  Luscombe's frown got heavier. “Someone like Webb turns up and you go right back to arguing with your orders, Hugo. The sooner we get him off the Zero the better. Dock at Southside Harbour and await my orders.”

  Hugo stared at the blank display after the colonel had signed off, breathing through his teeth until he felt the heat ebb from his face. “Hugo to bridge.”

  More's face appeared. “Yes, Captain?”

  Hugo paused long enough to make More frown. “We have a new heading.” he said. “Get us to Tranquillity.”

  More's eyes flickered. “We'll have to downgrade to sub-economy mode, sir.”

  “Do it. Where's Webb?”

  “In the crew cabin I think, sir.”

  Hugo paused and looked away for a second, jaw working. Then he nodded. “Get us to the moon and get us docked.”

  “Yes, sir,” More said and signed off. The lights dimmed still further and the air stilled as the cabin's air conditioner shut down. His breathing sounded loud in the ensuing silence as did the sound of his own voice arguing with him in his head.

  ɵ

  “Descending now, sir,” More said as the ship shuddered through the gravity field.

  “Do you need a hand?” Hugo asked, seeing that Webb had not come back to reclaim his pilot seat.

  “I should be fine, sir. Nearly there.”

  The orange-black sky of Tranquillity filled the viewscreen, criss-crossed with the glowing bands of skyways. The spacescrapers towered up against the dull backdrop. Southside Harbour was wide and orderly with hangers and a control centre as almost as big as a spacescraper towering over the berthed ships. He tried to decide if it was a relief not to be returning to the Northside Harbour and all the memories it might stir.

  “Docked, sir,” More said after the landing gear had clunked into the berth. “Running shut down -” More broke off, frowning as a light started flashing on his control panel.

  “What's that?”

  “The starboard hatch, sir. Someone's left the ship.”

  Hugo frowned. “Already?”

  More nodded.

  “Hugo to hold.”

  “Sir?” Sub's voice filled the bridge.

  “Has Bolt gone to organise fuel already?”

  “No sir,” Sub said after a moment. “He's here with me.”

  More met his puzzled gaze with one of his own.

  “Hugo to Webb.”

  More's face flattened when no one replied.

  “Repeat,” Hugo said. “Bridge to Commander Webb.”

  Hugo listened to the silence again and then went through to the crew cabin but it was empty. “Hugo to Rami,” Hugo snapped into his wristpanel as he jogged back past the cabins.

  “Sir?”

  “Is Webb with you?”

  “No, sir.”

  Hugo cursed again as he ran back across the bridge then jumped down the stairway two at a time. The galley was empty and the medbay only contained a startled looking Spinn and a tense Rami. He ran to the hatch but it wouldn't open. He cursed, keyed in the code again. Incorrect lock code flashed on the controls. He kicked it and stormed back through to the medbay. “Rami, he's locked us in.”

  “Who has?”

  “Webb. Scan the systems, find out what he's done and override his lock commands. Now.”

  Rami's jaw tightened and she sat herself at a workstation and began entering commands. Spinn blinked in a corner, clutching a panel to his chest. “Doctor?” Hugo snapped. “Do you want to help her?”

  Spinn swallowed and started typing into the panel, forehead starting to gleam with sweat.

/>   “Bolt to Captain Hugo.”

  “I'm here, Crewman,” Hugo said and the wall display next to Rami's workstation flashed on to show Bolt looking stormy. “Sir, we can't open the hold doors.”

  “We're working on it.”

  Bolt took one look at his face and then shut off the connection.

  “Anything?”

  Rami shook her head. “I can get around his locks, sir. It's just...”

  “What?” Hugo said, roping together his patience.

  “The history system's a mess. It looks like someone's been digging through everything.”

  Hugo went cold. “What specifically?”

  “Well, our data banks and camera feed history look to have been rifled through. And it looks like someone monitored your last conversation with Luscombe.”

  Hugo felt himself pale. “Can you tell who it was?”

  “No sir,” Rami said. “But it was someone on the ship.”

  “Get those doors open. Now.”

  Hugo stood and glared at the hatch, stopping himself from kicking it with an effort, replaying the conversation with Luscombe over in his head and trying to convince himself he was wrong about where he suspected Webb had gone. The red light still blinked on the controls and More stood with a panel, monitoring Rami's progress. After what seemed like an eternity the light changed to green and with a hiss the hatch slid open.

  “I'm going after him,” Hugo said. “You stay here.”

  “Sir,” More began. “Shouldn't you take some transport?”

  “We can't wait until Rami's unlocked the hold. Get her digging through any moonframe security systems she can get into. Try and find out where he went.”

  “Sir... if he doesn't want to be followed we won't find him.”

  “Do it anyway.”

  The customs agents at Harbour Control had no record of Webb. Rami confirmed there was no footage of him on any of the Control Centre's cameras. Hugo got through after an eternity of checks that made him want to kick things even more and then ran out onto a walkway, looking this way and that feeling utterly lost. He took a breath and closed his eyes and forced his brain to work. Then he turned left and struck out for the nearest shuttle port with a line heading Northside.