The Oceans of Emptiness

by Tiffany Weems

  “I think it is time you admit defeat. It’s been twelve hours straight with absolutely no progress. You haven’t slept in what, forty hours now? And did you even eat dinner?”

  “I ate dinner.”

  “Just the same. If we needed this done by today, you need to ask for help.”

  John shook his head. “No. I can figure this out.”

  She sighed. “I really think you ought to listen to me. He knows how to do things that none of us know. He’s faster and more proficient.”

  “Have you seen him?”

  Mander didn’t answer him.

  He spun in his seat to face her. “Have you seen him?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then how would I ask for his help anyway? I can do this if you would focus on your own work instead.” John turned back around and stared at the screen, trying to come up with a new doorway. Anything would have helped. But nothing was coming to mind. It was horribly frustrating and he knew he was running out of time until they noticed the ship, whoever or whatever they were.

  “John.”

  “What?” he asked without even turning around. He knew it was Palser and he didn’t have time for him.

  “Captain Creighton would like a word.”

  “I’m a little busy at the moment.”

  “That wasn’t a request.”

  John rolled his eyes. “He better make it quick.” John then stood up. “I hate to think that we were unable to approach the planet in stealth because the captain interrupted my important work.”

  Palser must have been in a bad mood. He grabbed John’s shoulder and shoved him down the hall.

  Biting his tongue, John stomped through the hall to the deck where the captain was seated alone. “You wanted to see me sir.” He found it difficult to keep his voice level.

  “I wanted an update on the camera systems and defense systems.”

  “Ours or theirs?” John asked. He smiled as the captain turned beet red. “Their systems are more advanced than Ellis anticipated. Everything I’ve tried thus far has been a failure, but I’m confident that I will be able to solve the problem soon.”

  “Are you the only one trying to bring about a solution?”

  “Yes.”

  “As captain of this vessel, I highly recommend that you utilize your team to develop a plan for the sake of all this crew.” The captain placed both his hands in his lap, twiddling his thumbs.

  John took a deep breath. He glanced at Tristo, wondering how quickly the second mate could act if he suddenly lunged at the captain. “My team are not equipped to handle something of this magnitude. I can and will figure this out.”

  “That has yet to be seen. I have already spoken with Lance Fisher. He will be assisting you the rest of the day, if it takes him that long.”

  His hands closed into fists. “Excuse me? Lance works for me. I do not appreciate you talking to one of my team members without my consent.”

  The captain shot up from his seat. He was within inches of John.

  John didn’t back off. He could take the old, decrepit captain. The man was senile, unable to see plain truth, and unfit to lead a ship in any sort of capacity.

  “I have every right to do as I did. If you jeopardize this crew further, I will suspend you in a heartbeat. Is that clear?”

  John didn’t answer. He stormed past the captain, shoving his shoulder into the man as hard as he could when he passed. The moment he entered the data center, John wanted to just turn around. Lance had finally shown up for his shift and was steadily destroying the encryptions surrounding the planet.

  “Hey, Johnny, you could take the rest of the day off. I’ve got this. Don’t worry.”

  “Don’t call me Johnny. The name is Mister Meyer.” John hated when people called him mister, but there something about Lance that that drove him absolutely nuts.

  “I appreciate your help with this endeavor, but I do believe that I should stay to help.”

  “I’m good. You’d just slow me down Johnny.”

  John closed his eyes. He wouldn’t hit Lance. He wouldn’t do it. The captain didn’t need an excuse to strip him of his credentials. He just wanted to hit him so bad.

  “Oh, there goes another one. And, I’m in. Would you like some lessons? I could teach you, maybe, I mean if you’re smart enough.” Lance spun in his chair so John could see his dark green eyes. “On second thought, I’d have better luck training your imbecilic wife than you.”

  John bit his tongue. His body shook as he tried to restrain himself.

  Lance spun back around and continued. “You see, I’m the most intelligent person on board this ship. A sad truth. That’s why I’m here, because I’m needed. I’m not sure why you’re here. And your wife? She was absolutely useless.” Lance stood up. “There. We are invisible to their surveillance and I have prepped a small glitch in their net system to allow us to pass through without any issues. You are so lucky I’m that good.”

  “Thank you,” John said as he pulled back his fist and swung, hitting Lance square in the jaw. Then he turned and left without as much as a glance backward.

    

  Patricia woke early the next morning. Xana was already gone for the day, working the same long hours she had when they first began their journey. Patricia wondered if Xana would keep it up once they landed or if she would actually work normal hours, maybe have a little fun. Patricia laughed to herself.

  It was good that Xana had left early, Patricia slipped on the clothes she had worn before and left the room. She kept herself stooped over and made sure never to look toward the cameras. They may not have known she was awake, but they would figured it out quickly if she wasn’t careful. She had to be careful.

  Patricia kept her head down as she walked. Where was she going to go? Should she go to the seventh level? What good would that do? She had no real plan. So she walked on the fourth level in circles, right past the elevators.

  On her third lap, Patricia stopped. Someone was laying in the hall, just about in the same position as the man from the day before. This time it was a woman. She ran to her and knelt down. The woman was dead. She hadn’t been there seconds before. He couldn’t have been far.

  She stood up. Patricia continued down the hall at a sprint. She rounded the corner to the first elevator just as he disappeared inside. It had been Lance again; even from the short amount of time she saw him, it definitely was Lance.

  She turned back toward the body. From what she could tell, the woman had died in the exact same way, but there was only one person on board who could confirm it. So, she picked the woman up and threw her over her shoulder. She hoped that no one would notice her walking to the second level with a dead body over her shoulder. Patricia knew that was not likely, however.

  The elevator doors opened and she was met with a slew of individuals. All of whom stepped back in shock. They didn’t know who she was. That didn’t matter. She had a limp body over her shoulder. Patricia pushed her way through the stunned crew members and opened Xana’s office door the moment she reached it.

  “What are you doing?” Xana asked in exasperation.

  “Looking for a snack.”

  “That’s not funny. Is she…”

  Patricia hoisted the woman up a little higher. “I found her on the fourth level. Lance was seen fleeing the scene again. Where do you want me to stick her?”

  “Follow me.”

  Patricia let Xana leave first then followed through the hall that was starting to thin out. “How much further is this place? She’s starting to weigh me down.”

  Xana turned off to another room only accessible with security clearance. She activated the door and stepped aside.

  Patricia entered and almost dropped the woman. It was a room with an airlock door and along the walls were chilled, hovering cots at different levels. There were only a couple that were occupied; one of which contained the man they had found the night before.

  “Set her down anywhere,” Xana said.
“This is where we take bodies to dispose of them.”

  “How many dead people have you disposed of so far?”

  “Not too many. We just have to prep the bodies. Don’t want to cloud space with too much debris as we pass through.”

  Patricia sat the woman down on the lowest cot to the right. Then she stepped back while Xana took a closer look. “Who is it?”

  “She’s one of the programmers on board, Mander I think was her name. I’m going to need to tell John.”

  Patricia shook her head. “I’m not sure what his plan is, but I have a feeling these people are being targeted or we would have found a few more dead by now.”

  “I am more interested to find out how he managed to synthesize such a powerful disease that is in no way a danger to anyone who isn’t injected. He’s more intelligent than half the medical staff on board.”

  “Don’t. Don’t give him that much credit. He will never be able to rest because I will get him. Lance will make a mistake and I’ll be there.”

  “Patricia, I appreciate you bringing Mander here, but I highly recommend that you return to the room immediately. Now that two bodies have turned up with the same condition, I am obligated to report it and put our security force on alert. That means you are going to have a much harder time getting through the halls without drawing attention to yourself.”

  Patricia sighed. “That’s problematic.”

  “We’re going to need to find you something else to wear. It’s really too bad. That outfit distracts the cameras. I don’t know how it works, so don’t ask. Something about creating extra light so that you become harder to identify.”

  “After you report this, they’ll watch the footage and easily be able to identify me. They’ll follow where I’ve been and where I go. Do you think for one second that I will be able to go back to your room?”

  Xana frowned. “I didn’t think about that.”

  “I think for now, the best thing for me to do is to get rid of this get up. I’ll stay stooped over, head down, never making eye contact or speaking. I’ll go back to your room for now, but I have a feeling that I won’t be able to stay there long.” Patricia wrestled the extra layer of clothes off, tucking them under the one body she didn’t recognize. “Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck.”

  She then hunched over and made her way out of the room. She needed to get to the elevator. Since most people used the ones toward the front of the ship, Patricia opted to use the elevator toward the back. There were a couple of people waiting, but no one she knew. That was good. It was safe.

  The three of them boarded an empty elevator. And the other two called out their desired level. Patricia stayed silent. She would wait until they got off, just in case.

  The door slid open on the third level and the two got off. Patricia started to straighten up, but immediately slumped back over. She backed up slowly to the far corner as the five guards got on.

  “Where you going?” one of them asked Patricia.

  She made her voice high pitched when she spoke. “Level four.”

  The elevator acknowledged her command. “That’s too bad. We need to head up. We’ll have to override your command.”

  She gave a nod. Whatever they wanted to do, as long as they didn’t recognize her, was good. Patricia took a chance to look at them. There was only one that looked familiar. He had been one of the guards she had had an altercation with in the classroom before she was frozen. She quickly turned away from him.

  It seemed like ages before the doors opened again. Finally, however, they did. And the guards exited. The doors shut and she let out a sigh of relief. That was close. The better news was that she was alone.

  The doors opened on the fourth level and Patricia stepped out and was immediately met by Lance. She stood up straight. “You’re making a big mistake,” she said arms at her side with her hands clenched in fists.

  “Why is that? You clearly have become more incompetent. I was curious how the process would affect your mind. Unfortunately, that would have indicated that you had a mind to begin with.”

  Patricia glanced down the hall behind Lance and saw two new bodies. “I see you’ve been busy.” She looked Lance in the eye. “I prefer to know why?”

  “I could tell you, but this would be a good chance for you to exercise your mind.”

  Patricia gritted her teeth. Lance may have been older, much closer to her age than when they had started the journey, but he was still the same arrogant cretin he had always been. “If you were planning on fleeing this time, you chose the wrong elevator.”

  Lance lunged forward.

  Patricia dodged, placing a hand on the wall to push herself toward him. She punched the back of his head and swept his legs.

  Lance landed on the ground hard. He rolled over , though still with a smile on his face.

  Patricia approached him slowly.

  “You’re all brawn and no brain,” he said. Then he tapped his chest a couple times.

  The ship went dark. Every light went out at once. Patricia reached out to touch the wall, trying to brace herself. She moved her foot forward to touch where he had been, but it met no one. Then, after a couple minutes of her stumbling forward inch by inch, the lights returned to full capacity. Lance was gone, as she had suspected, and she was alone. Patricia walked past the bodies and immediately entered Xana’s room.

  She grabbed the tablet that Xana kept in her room and called Xana’s personal one.

  “What is it? Are you okay?” Xana asked.

  “Not really,” Patricia said. “There are two more bodies and I may have had an altercation with Lance. Did the lights go out up there?”

  Xana got a confused look on her face. “No.”

  “I guessed as much. It looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

  16

  Trouble Below

  Patricia sat on the edge of the bed, just staring at the door. She knew that it had only been a couple hours since her encounter with Lance. It was inevitably close that the guards would be storming the room to arrest the person who had been seen with all the bodies. When they found out she was awake, it was going to go from an arrest to a quiet execution. She wouldn’t let that stand.

  Her leg shook; a knife in her hand. She twirled it between her fingers, flicking the blade open the and shutting it over and over again.

  Every time Patricia blinked, she swore she could see the door start to open. They were coming. Why should she just sit there and wait? Why not make the first move? They didn’t know who she was. Not yet.

  She stood up and was halfway to the door when it opened. She stepped back, releasing the blade and taking a defensive stance.

  John slipped into the room. “I’ve just seen Xana. You need to leave. They’re reviewing the camera footage now.”

  “And where am I going to go? They’ll just watch me leave this room again.”

  John lowered his voice as though the walls had ears. “Troubalene has pulled a few strings. We have five minutes to get you somewhere safe. That’s all we were given.”

  “Where’s safe?”

  John shrugged. “I have spent the last three minutes trying to come up with some place where you can lay low until the man hunt for the mysterious individual who happens to find dead bodies on this ship is over.”

  Patricia rolled her eyes. “Is there anyone else on this level?”

  “As in anyone we know? Not likely anyone who’d be willing to hide you. I wonder if you’d be better off going to our room.”

  “Right next to the captain. I’d never be able to leave again. That doesn’t seem like much of a solution. But maybe, someone else on that level.” Patricia grabbed a hold of John’s hand. “When does our five minutes start?”

  “The moment we leave this room. Are you thinking Troubalene?”

  “Who else can we trust?”

  John nodded. “Then we need to get to the elevator without any trouble.”

  Patricia bit her lip. She wondered
if she should tell John about Lance and the fight they’d had. She wondered if Xana had already told him. If they ran into Lance again, she wasn’t going to have a choice in the matter. She would have to fight him. Patricia was pretty confident that John wouldn’t hesitate to hold back any punches either.

  John went out first then gave the all clear so Patricia could follow. She looked left then right. There were a few people in the hall, but none who were paying attention to them. She darted out, holding John’s hand the entire way. They made their way to the back elevator again. No one was waiting. That was a good thing.

  When it arrived, the door opened and three people stepped off, leaving the little room empty. Patricia let out a sigh of relief as she darted inside. “That was amazing luck.”

  “I hope Troubalene doesn’t mind that you’re going to crash there for a few nights.”

  Patricia scoffed. “She’s the one that woke me up and expects me to pull off the impossible within the next, what, four days. She better not mind.” The door opened. “I can take it from here. If I’m caught by the captain before I get to her room, it’s better if we’re not together, okay?”

  John shook his head. “I just want to make sure you get inside safely.”

  With a roll of her eyes, Patricia pulled away from him. She crept closer to Troubalene’s room as more and more of the hall came into view. There was no sign of any other occupants. At last, she made it to the right door just as someone stumbled around the corner at the other end. He was clutching the wall and his chest. Then, as his eyes met Patricia’s, he fell forward, collapsing on the ground. The man pulled his knees up into the fetal position, reaching above his head toward Patricia.

  She glanced at John. “We need to help him.”

  “Get inside, now. I’ll take him to Xana, if it’s not too late.”

  Patricia protested, but to no avail. So she moved inside the room, watching helplessly as the door closed behind her. She may have been safer, but she still wasn’t safe. And, since she had left the second tablet in Xana’s room, she had no way of talking to anyone. She felt helpless, ridiculously so.