by Jake Bible
“No, she was struck in here,” Sno said. “First. The entry area was destroyed after J’gorla was killed.”
“What? How can you know that?” Osol said. “You’re making a huge assumption there, Sno.”
“I am, true,” Sno agreed. “But I’m right. See here?”
Sno carefully turned J’gorla’s head to show a crack in the woman’s exoskeleton, just behind the upper mandible.
“That’s the spot you hit a Leforian when you want to knock them out, not kill them,” Sno said.
“I know that, Sno,” Osol said. “But look at the rest of her. She was battered to death, not knocked unconscious.”
“No, she was killed with one strike,” Sno said. “Except that was an accident. You hit this spot too hard and it will kill instead of incapacitate. Someone schooled in subduing others would know the amount of force to use. Someone that has no practical experience can easily end up killing a Leforian if the blow is too hard. And it was too hard.”
“Then what are all the other wounds?” Osol asked.
“Camouflage,” Sno said. “Meant to divert attention from this one wound. Meant to make you think that Ested lost complete control instead of someone else simply not knowing the amount of control needed.”
“And the entry room? Is that camouflage too?” Osol asked.
“Could be,” Sno said. “But I think it’s different. Here, take a look.”
Sno returned to the entry room and pointed at the mess.
“This was a struggle, but a struggle of one,” Sno said. “Ested resisted. It didn’t want to leave. The android fought as hard as possible to keep from being forced out of this office.”
“From being forced…?” Osol’s voice faded to nothing as he turned in a slow circle, his eyes taking in the destruction. “Gods… You’re right, Sno. The destruction isn’t from the corridor into the office, but from the office out to the corridor. Someone killed J’gorla and took Ested since it was a witness.”
“Try again,” Sno said.
“What?” Osol asked, but didn’t argue. Another circle and then he shook his head. “No signs of anyone else. Like I thought from the beginning. Ested killed J’gorla then fought every step out of this office because…”
“Because Ested was fighting inside itself,” Sno said. “Pol is the one that killed J’gorla, not Ested. Pol has control over Ested.”
“All the Hells,” Osol said. “The greatest dark tech in the galaxy is piloting an android on my ship. Do you know how bad this is?”
“If Pol has ill intent? Very bad,” Sno answered.
“You don’t think he has ill intent?” Osol asked. “He killed J’gorla!”
“Not on purpose,” Sno said. “What happened is this. Pol gains access to the android, taking control of Ested. Pol’s intention is to knock J’gorla out, but he doesn’t know his own strength. Or doesn’t know Ested’s strength. Pol accidentally kills J’gorla and tries to cover it up by bludgeoning the corpse.”
“Okay, then why all of this?” Osol asks, indicating the entry room’s destruction.
“I think Ested grew aware during Pol’s cover up and was shocked by what Pol had done,” Sno said. “Or as shocked as an AI can be. That’s when Ested and Pol fought for control of the android body. Pol eventually won, but not without Ested putting up a damn good fight.”
“So we are hunting an android body controlled by a tranced-out old man,” Osol said. “An old man that also happens to now be able to jack into every single system on this ship. He was dangerous before when he was flesh and blood. Now, he can plug directly into any console he wants and he’ll have access to all of the Mip.”
“Kind of makes you want to hide in a dark closet, doesn’t it?” Sno said. “I’ll be honest, I was hoping I was wrong.”
“But why?” Osol exclaimed. “What is he up to?”
“That is the question,” Sno said. “The surveillance holos are wiped, so we can’t see where Ested went.”
“But we can see where Ested isn’t,” Osol said with a grin. “Come on. We’re going to my office. I know how to find the old bastard.”
“We track the blind spots,” Sno said. “Where there isn’t surveillance, or the surveillance dropped out briefly, that is where we find Ested.”
“Pol Hammon,” Osol said.
“At this moment, same thing,” Sno said. “Let’s go.”
They left J’gorla’s office and Osol barely had time to shove Sno out of the way as the barrage of plasma blasts tore through the open doorway. Osol cried out and fell to the floor as Sno instinctively used the momentum of the shove to dive behind the roller and pull the Blorta 65 laser pistol Osol had given him back in the stateroom from his belt.
“Osol?” Sno called.
No response.
“Come out, Mr. Sno,” someone yelled.
“You shot your boss, so I don’t believe I will come out,” Sno said.
“Only taking orders, Sno,” the guard replied.
“From who?” Sno asked.
“Shut up,” the other guard hissed.
“You two have a chance to get out of this alive,” Sno said. “Tell me who ordered you to shoot us and I promise not to turn your heads into mist.”
“I didn’t want to do it, but it’s better than being ejected out into space for disobeying the—”
There was a plasma blast and a scream. Sno jumped up and opened fire, tearing into the only guard standing in the corridor. The other one was down on the floor, half of his head missing. The guard Sno shot jumped and shook as plasma ripped through the light armor she wore and mangled the woman’s torso. Then she fell across her comrade.
Sno rushed to Osol and was surprised the man was still breathing.
“Hey,” Sno said, gently patting Osol on his bloody cheek. “Hey, don’t go out this way. You can make it.”
Osol’s eyes fluttered open and he tried to smile, but only half of his mouth worked and when the lips parted, a good deal of blood came pouring out. Osol managed to lift his arm up and twist his wrist several times until a holo interface appeared.
Sno hesitated only for a moment before pushing his own wrist directly into the holo interface. Sno’s interface came up and merged with Osol’s. The Head of Security gave one nod then his eyes glazed over and his last breath squeaked out, forming a froth of blood bubbles on his lips. Sno diverted his eyes and stood back up as the froth dropped down Osol’s chin.
He studied the holo that was still projected from his wrist, holstered his pistol then marched over to the corpses of the two guards. Sno relived the top guard of her RX31 plasma assault rifle. He slung the weapon over his shoulder and plucked the extra energy magazines from the woman’s belt.
He tapped at his comm.
“Velly? You there?” he called. “Come on, come on!”
“No need to shout, friend,” Velly replied over the comm. “What’s your deal?”
“Osol’s dead. Killed by his own guards,” Sno said. “How are the guards in the stateroom acting?”
“I don’t know,” Velly replied, sounding shocked. “Veben insisted that the bot repair the doors to Pol’s room. We’re the only ones in here. The guards are right outside.”
“Good. Keep it that way,” Sno said. “If any of them try to come in, drop them. Do not ask questions, do not give them even a moment to suspect you know about Osol. Drop the bastards and lock yourselves in that room. Is the bot still there?”
“Yes,” Velly said. “Veben insisted on that too.”
Sno closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Sno? You there, friend?” Velly asked.
“Yes, I’m here. Have the bot seal the doors now. No reason not to,” Sno ordered. “How is it going with Pol?”
“He’s locked down,” Velly said, exasperated. “Zan has tried everything short of sawing his skull open, but we can’t get to the interface.”
“He knew we’d try,” Sno said.
“What are you going to do?” Velly asked.
“I know exactly what I’m going to do,” Sno replied. “Track down an android body and have a nice talk with Mr. Pol Hammon.”
“Do what now?”
“No time to explain. I’ll call you if I need to. You stay safe in that room and trust absolutely no one.”
“Way ahead of you on that, friend.”
“Good.” He killed the comm and pinched the bridge of his nose as he got his emotions under control.
Sno returned to the roller, made sure it ran and wasn’t too shot up, then turned it about and headed back to the lift. He kept the rifle aimed at the lift doors. When they opened, he was ready, but there was no one inside. Sno drove the roller into the lift, checked a schematic on his wrist, and dialed in the deck where Osol’s office was housed.
Sno still had a job to do. The first part of which was to track down a rogue android that wasn’t really an android any longer.
27.
The first corridor was a shit show. Sno had to fight his way every meter until he got to the next lift he needed. Without Osol as a buffer, Sno was fair game to the guards that had been compromised. And it didn’t take a genius to realize who had compromised the guards. The only person that had that kind of command was Captain Loch.
But Sno would deal with that man later.
The second corridor Sno hit was deserted. Not a soul in sight even though the corridor connected with several gaming and entertainment rooms. That nagging suspicion that Sno had since the Captain’s Table became less nagging and more demanding. Where were the guests? There should have been guests.
The third corridor did have guests, but as soon as they saw Sno, they scattered and fled. He raced the roller past the panicked groups that pressed themselves to the walls on either side of the corridor. Terrified eyes stared at Sno as he pushed the roller as fast as it would go towards the lift doors at the other end. Then Sno noticed some of the eyes weren’t terrified, but simply hostile. With more than a few looking extremely amused.
Sno had the distinct feeling that he was part of a minority on the ship that didn’t know what was really going on. Finding Ested and talking with Pol was of even more importance if some of the guests were in on…
Sno didn’t even have a clue as to what they were in on. He’d always prided himself on knowing at least some of the end game, but Pol’s actions had been too confusing. Everything that had happened to him since boarding the Mip had been confusing. There was no rhyme nor reason to any of it.
Unless…
The roller reached the lift and Sno drove it inside, again making sure it wasn’t occupied by guards. He relaxed his grip on his rifle only when the lift doors had closed.
Amateur Tcherian assassins. Random servers attacking during dinner. Both events happened when Sno expected to get a feel for the ship. He was put off balance the second he stepped into his first stateroom. That had put him on the defensive and caused him to distrust the security on the ship. He never intended to fully trust the security in place, but that event sent his mind into overdrive. A constant state of fight.
Then, when security should have been at its peak, an attack came during dinner. Sno hadn’t exactly relaxed, but he had expected to get through the meal. He thought if an attack was attempted, it would be en route to or on the return trip from the dining room, not in the room itself. That shook him up enough that he fell back on old habits and took comfort in the arms of Velly the second he had a chance.
Velly.
Everything Sno knew about her raced through his mind. She could be involved, but Sno didn’t think so. There was an independence to her that defied corruption. Not that she wasn’t above getting paid to do a specific job, but she was a pilot. And Trel’ali had hired her to save his ass back on Egthak. That was real. Sno and Trel’ali had a very complicated past, but at no point did Sno believe that Trel’ali was in on the mess he found himself in. Trel’ali was above what was happening on the Mip.
The lift ride gave Sno time to put Velly in the ally column. Perhaps not one hundred percent, but enough that he figured he didn’t need to watch his back around her.
The doors opened and Sno’s enemy column grew then shrank as he exchanged fire with the waiting guards in the fourth corridor. A couple of them got some close shots in, but none had the quickness and precision that Sno had. When the last blast’s echo died completely, Sno glanced down to see a hole in his shirt. He inspected it with a finger then lifted the shirt and only found a cauterized gouge on his right side, just under his ribcage.
He shrugged and drove the roller half a meter so that the vehicle was keeping the lift’s doors from closing. Then he climbed out, put the rifle to his shoulder, and walked carefully around the dead guards until he reached Osol’s office.
Sno knocked.
“You cannot enter this room, Mr. Sno,” a holo vid of a guard said as the image was projected from a panel next to the door. “Captain Loch asks that you surrender at once. You and your friends will not be harmed if you give yourself up now.”
“Is that so?” Sno asked, bringing up the holo protocol he’d been given by Osol. “No harm no foul is official policy on the Mip, is it?”
The guard’s holo looked extremely confused. Sno pushed his arm through the image and waved his wrist across the same panel where the projection was coming from.
“Mr. Sno, I am going to ask you one more time,” the guard said.
The office doors were already sliding open before the guard’s holo had finished the sentence. Sno fired four times, each blast hitting their intended targets perfectly. Four guards dropped dead onto the floor and Sno rushed inside.
“You shouldn’t have asked me the first time,” Sno said.
He turned, locked the office door with Osol’s credentials then set the rifle down on a console. Sno studied the interface equipment until he found the surveillance station. He logged in as Osol and went to work searching the ship for dark areas; places where the surveillance had been compromised. It didn’t take long before he found a trail of nothing that told him everything.
“Sno?” Velly’s voice called over the comm. “Anything new on your end?”
“Hunting for Ested,” Sno said. “I have a lead. Fairly certain I know where Pol is heading.”
“Ested? Pol is inside the android?” Velly asked. “Is that what you were talking about before?”
“Yes,” Sno said then paused. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing, friend,” Velly said. “Only a bunch of security guards not trying to get into the room.”
Sno narrowed his eyes and turned away from the surveillance console. “I’m sorry, did you say they aren’t trying to get inside?”
“No. They announced to us that we are under house arrest and will be sequestered to this room until we arrive in the Bgreete System,” Velly said. “We’re now prisoners.”
“Alright. At least they are leaving you alone for now,” Sno said. “Once I have my chat with the Ested/Pol machine then I’ll come get you.”
“Gee, thanks,” Velly replied.
“I do my best,” Sno said. “How is V?”
“She is who she is,” Velly replied.
“That’s all I can ask,” Sno said. “If the situation changes, comm me. You can stop Zan from trying to breach the tether. I have a lead on Ested and I’m heading there now.”
Sno swiped the newly found data onto his wrist implant and pushed back from the console.
“Heads up that the captain is involved,” Sno said. “He’s running the guards now.”
“Then why doesn’t he send them in to get us?” Velly asked.
“Good question,” Sno said. “Velly? Have any of you discussed what we’re up against with the guards? Do they know what is happening with Pol?”
“We haven’t said anything,” Velly replied. “As far as I know, Osol ordered them to keep us secure, but didn’t give them any additional information. Why?”
“Don’t know yet,” Sno said. “But I think that is impor
tant. Stay captive and don’t speak with the guards.”
“Veben has been cursing them out,” Velly said.
“Let her,” Sno responded with a smile as he stood by the door to the corridor. He placed his rifle back to his shoulder and took a deep breath. “Gotta go. Stay safe.”
He killed the comm as he opened the door. No plasma blasts came his way. Sno stepped out into the corridor, the rifle sweeping right then left. Clear. Loch was leaving him alone for the moment. Either that or Loch had no idea how to even handle the situation. The more Sno thought about it, the more he settled on the latter explanation. He had to wonder if Loch hadn’t called the remaining guards to the bridge to keep him safe. Smart move considering what short work Sno had made of the guards from J’gorla’s office to Osol’s.
The lift was still blocked by the roller, but Sno didn’t want to go that way. Where he was going had a whole other access route.
Sno walked cautiously down the corridor, eyes watching the few doors that lined each side. He made it to the end without incident and risked setting his rifle down. He needed both hands.
Sno pried an access hatch open then leaned in, seeing the sheer drop down through the ship. All there was to grab onto was a ladder. It was a backup shaft in case the lifts went down and maintenance personnel or bots had to get from one deck to the next. Sno needed to descend twenty decks to reach his destination.
He picked up the rifle, secured it to his back, checked that his pistol had a full charge, secured that in its holster then swung himself into the shaft and began the climb down.
Deck by deck, Sno went. He paused before he reached each deck and took out his pistol, aiming it at the next access hatch. He’d count to thirty then holster the pistol when the hatch didn’t pop open to reveal a squad of armed guards. It made the journey slow going, but it kept him from getting ambushed. By the time he reached the deck he needed, his arms were exhausted and his neck was a tense mess from constantly glancing up above him to make sure guards hadn’t come through the access hatch he’d used.
