by Cliff Deane
There was little noise and the dart fired was a 7 mm discarding sabot round traveling at a velocity of five-thousand two-hundred feet per second. It really didn’t matter where the dart hit his target, the kinetic energy expended upon contact would turn any human target into soup. A bullet-proof vest meant nothing to Drucker’s discarding sabot round.
The holo-projector would project the image at the shooter’s window position of closed curtains to prevent counter snipers from seeing Drucker’s position. It was like an old one-way mirror.
Following the shot, Drucker would clean his fingerprints, then quietly leave the apartment. He would return home the following week from Miami International Airport to Frankfurt. The Beretta and the Sniper Rifle would be left in the Apartment.
28 September 2116, AD
On Station
50,000 miles Portside of Holly Thorne
An explosion rocked the number one mining laser just after the temperature gauge suddenly flared to red. The laser blister mounted on the outer hull of Astrid did contain the blast but left the containment area a smoking ruin.
Chief Karson and his damage control team quickly shut down all power to the laser compartment and began an inspection of the extensive damage. Fortunately, the laser blisters were unmanned. The crew and computer overwatch of the systems were located in a segregated area of the Maintenance compartments on J Deck, midship.
Chief of the Boat Harkins rushed to the Laser Blister to get a sitrep from Karson. “Chief,” asked Harkins, “what’s the bottom line on the damage?”
Karson’s face showed a faint gray outline around his face, from the smoke as he took off his breather. “Well, as you can see, the laser is a total write off. Clean up, and replacement will take about eight hours before we can get back on-line. Right now, I don’t have any idea why this happened. Suspicions yes, but beyond that, no clue.
“Tell the Skipper that I can’t begin to figure out what happened until the replacement laser has been inspected and is up and running. Dave, at this point I just don’t trust anyone, so I’ll have to oversee the inspection and installation personally.”
“Thanks, Kit, what say I drop by in about ten hours. Which maintenance bay are you planning to use?”
“I’ll be in Bay 8, here on J Deck, it’s the closest. Tell me, Chief, have you ever even heard of this happening to a mining laser?”
“No, Kit, I have not. Look, I’ve gotta run and tell the Old Man how things are progressing. I’ll see you later.”
30 September 2116, AD
3rd Floor Apartment
1,129 yards to Church Door
At 8:17 p.m. the crowded streets fronting The Church of the Light began to buzz in anticipation of Wright’s appearance at the door to say goodnight to the multitudes.
At 8:20 p.m. the doors opened, and a dozen bodyguards exited the Church clearing a path for the Son of God. The guards formed a loose barricade around Wright with just enough space for him to appear to his followers.
Drucker was pleased that his moment of glory for Allah had finally arrived. The sight picture was centered on Wright’s chest as Drucker took a deep breath, then released half, and slowly squeezing the trigger with the pad of his right index finger until the weapon discharged its dart in a whoosh. The assassin mentally shouted Praise Allah, Allahu Akbar!
The miniature 7 mm sabot round, traveling at nearly one mile per second struck Wright squarely in the chest before Drucker could remove his finger from the trigger.
Pandemonium erupted in the streets as Wright was literally blown into pieces from the kinetic energy being released as the round passed through his chest. Passing straight through Drucker’s target the round struck the brick wall immediately behind him. A large portion of the wall shattered into thousands of deadly brick pieces of shrapnel, killing all of Wright’s guards and wounding twenty others.
Drucker then calmly left the apartment and made his way to the street where he took on the persona of those in the panicked crowd who fled helter-skelter away from The Church of the Light. He was soon lost in the stampede. Within an hour he found himself safely away. He returned to his hotel and upon entering his room, opened the mini-fridge for a snack and turned on FOX News.
The US and much of the world erupted in a berserker rage which took many hundreds of lives and caused billions of dollars in damages.
Only in the Muslim communities of the world was there joy and celebration at the death of who, they called, The Satanic-Christ. This brought on a Christian backlash against Muslim communities around the world which left more than twenty-five thousand dead on both sides.
Upon discovering the shooter’s nest, an FBI Clean-up Team was dispatched to investigate. Anything relating to Israel was removed and replaced. In their place weapons and explosives with ties to Iran were found. A well-read and tattered Quran, printed in Farsi, the official language of Iran was also left behind.
Ninety-six hours later, Drucker/Dudayev was back in Chechnya where he was met and welcomed as a hero just before he was shot. There would be no loose ends.
CHAPTER EIGHT
542 Days to Earth
28 September 2116, AD
On Station
50,000 miles Portside of Holly Thorne
The midnight oil was burning in Bay 8, J Deck as Master Chief Kit Karson diligently worked to unravel the mystery of what caused an unprecedented super-spike explosion of the Number one mining laser.
The Chief of the Boat came into Bay 8 with a fresh pot of coffee and sandwiches.
“Okay, Kit, you got anything yet?”
“Yeah, Chief, I do, but again it is only a tiny bit of evidence. Our saboteur is damned good. Then, again, so am I, so now it’s become a competition of who is better. Dave, see if you can get a meetup with the Skipper. I think I need to personally let him know what I’ve found.”
“Computer,” said Chief Harkins, “send a message to the Captain requesting a meeting with myself and Master Chief Karson.”
“Yes, Chief,” replied the computer’s friendly voice. “I have sent your request, and I will get back to you as soon as he replies. Oh, wait, the Captain has just sent a reply that he will come to your location in about ten minutes.”
“Tell the Skipper we’ll be in Bay 8, J Deck.”
“Done,” replied the computer.
Smiling now, Chief Harkins said, “Wow, the Old Man is on his way to you. I’m impressed.”
“Shut up, Dave, he just wants to see the damage for himself.”
“Yeah, well, I’m just sayin’. Now show me what you’ve got, so far.”
“Hey, relax for a second, will ya? I don’t want to go over this twice in ten minutes. I will tell you this, however…”
But before Chief Karson could finish his sentence, the XO, Commander Barnes entered the bay and said, “The Captain is on the way. He’s maybe two minutes behind me. Holy shit! What a mess. Chief, I’ve been in asteroid mining for 15 years, and I have never seen an accident like this, wow.”
The XO and the Chief of the Boat both began wandering around the damaged laser, while they waited for the Captain.
The Skipper arrived two minutes later and whistled, “Damn, Chief, what did you do?”
Karson took the Captain as serious and getting his back up, said, “Now, sir, I resent any implication that I…”
“Whoa, Kit,” said the Captain, “I was only kidding. I know you’re not responsible for this disaster. Okay? We good?”
Kit realized that he had crossed over a line that he was sure must be quickly recrossed, he apologized and said, “Sir, I didn’t mean to snap at you, it’s just that this day has been exhausting, but sir, now I can prove that we have a saboteur aboard. Catching him is your department, but I can show you his handiwork.” The old Master Chief said, “Cap’n, this guy is good, really good, but I’m better.”
“I agree that you are the best Chief of Maintenance and Machining that I have ever known, but do you think you might get on with it?” asked Captain Wa
rd.
“Yes, sir, of course, but dang it, I found him out. Now, sir, once I began goin’ through the personnel records to check on qualifications, I sorted the skills necessary to do the sabotage and cover his tracks with the computer. Well, I discovered that there is only one man on this ship that seems to have all the skills necessary to single-handedly pull this off.
“Of course, if there’s more than one bad guy involved, then there are several fits, but just one has all the skills,” exclaimed a now exuberant Chief Karson.
Fighting frustration, the Chief of the Boat said, “Damn it, Karson, who the hell is it? Come on, spit it out, ya old fart.”
Not wanting to get his old friend, Dave Harkins mad at him, Karson said, “Okay, okay, our saboteur is our new Payload Master, Chief Jay Donovon. Hey, I just realized something else.”
“What’s that Chief?” asked the XO.
“I guess finding our bad boy isn’t just your area after all.”
The XO couldn’t help but smile as he said, “Yes, Chief, you are a regular Sherlock Holmes. Okay, now I want both of you to keep quiet about this. I don’t want Donovon to know we’re on to him. Oh, wait, one more thing Chief, what did you find that made you know this mess was sabotage, as opposed to a simple malfunction?”
“Well, thank you for askin’, sir. I was beginnin’ to think that you weren’t goin’ to ask.
“Okay, okay,” Chief Harkins, “I’m gettin’ to it. Sir, the tip-off was staring me in the face for hours before I figured it out. Dave, stop lookin’ at me like that. I have to tell this in my own way, so you just relax and listen, Roger?”
“Yeah, yeah, Roger, so go ahead, get on with it.”
“Yes,” said XO Barnes, I am anxious to do some research on Donovon, myself.”
“Okay, I get it. So, I was pickin’ over every inch of this burned up crap when I finally spotted it. The remains of two wires had been reversed, and no, it was not done at the factory. This had to be done here, during the last laser rest period. As soon as this baby was fired up, she immediately flared and caused the explosion.”
“What about the other lasers that are online? Are they in danger of exploding?”
“Oh, no, sir,” said Chief Karson, “if their wires were reversed, they would have gone up just like old number one here.”
“Well, that’s a relief. So, you’re saying we’re good to go on the other lasers, right?”
“No, sir, I didn’t say that. I said the on-line lasers are okay, but we have over five-hundred more sitting in Bay 4J, just down the hall. For all I know, he also went into 4J and sabotaged a few of the backup lasers.”
Captain Ward had remained quiet during the discussions until he realized that an unknown number of replacement lasers could also have been tampered with. He said, “Oh, crap, Chief, with as many as five-hundred spares in 4J, I hate to say it, but this is a job for my Super Sleuth, Chief Kit Karson. If we send a detail in there and begin inspecting the lasers, Donovon will find out, and he’ll go to ground. Damn, damn, damn, as the ship’s Chief of Load Storage and Supplies, he has access to everything. Throw in computer training at some spy school, and he’s the perfect man for the job.”
The XO said, “But sir, he came on board before any of this mess between us and the SRI-F even started. Why would an enemy put such a man on a mining vessel? On an SDF warship, yeah, I get that, but on a mining vessel, destined to be stuck in the Asteroid Belt for months at a time. Sir, how does that make any sense, at all?”
“I’m going to give that some thought before I speak with the Admiral about Donovon. The answer is there, we just have to figure it out.
29 September 2116, AD
On Station Aboard the Leyte Gulf
70,000 miles Portside of Holly Thorne
Admiral, JJ said, I have just received a coded message from Captain Ward, aboard the Astrid. Would you like for me to decode it now?
Sarcastically, Admiral King said, “Yes, JJ, I would like that. What does it say?”
Admiral King, without a doubt, the Astrid has a saboteur aboard. As you know, we had an incident with the Number One Laser yesterday.
Good old Chief Karson found the irrefutable evidence of sabotage and discovered the rat bastard responsible. Last night the XO and I, separately, spent hours going over the Chief’s conclusion and we both agree that the guilty party is none other than Chief Jay Donovon.
JJ went on giving the Admiral the complete rundown on the incident. The message ended with, Sir, just this morning, Chief Karson informed me that he found a small drop of blood at the site of the wire swap. Apparently one of the wires pricked his finger, causing the tiny drop of blood.
Sir, I am in need of some guidance here. I am at a loss as to why a master saboteur would be on the mining ship Astrid. Should I take the blood sample to the ship’s Surgeon to confirm the blood belongs to Donovon?
“JJ,” said Sky King, “encrypt a message saying that I want Ward to come directly to me with the blood sample. Then, have it sent by the next scheduled shuttle from Astrid. Let me know when he expects to arrive.”
Yes, sir said JJ, done.
“Good, now send a message to Admiral Perry to contact me ASAP.”
Yes, sir said JJ, done.
“Good man JJ.”
Thank you, sir, but as I’ve mentioned before, I am not a man, but an...
“Shut up, JJ.”
Shutting up, sir.
29 September 2116, AD
On Station Aboard the Leyte Gulf
70,000 miles Portside of Holly Thorne
Admiral King and Captain Ward escorted the tiny drop of blood to the Med-Lab aboard Leyte Gulf. Once there the Lab-Tech said, “Admiral, this really isn’t much of a sample, but there is enough for one testing. Let’s see what we can come up with.”
The two Officers watched as the Tech added some solution to the blood sample, then placed it on a slide. He then fed it into the computer. There was no swirling of the solution in some spinning machine. The computer could read the sample and tell exactly who it belonged to, along with the donor’s blood type.
It took no more than ten seconds for the computer to give them their answer as to who left the blood among the wreckage of the Number One Laser.
Looking at the printout, Sky shook his head and said, “This can’t be right. According to the printout, this blood belongs to Lieutenant Peter Proud.”
Captain Ward said, “Admiral, that blood had to be a plant. There is no way, Lieutenant Proud is our saboteur. No way. No, I just cannot believe that Proud is our traitor.”
Admiral King said, “My gut tells me that you are right, but we have to admit that this casts suspicion on the L T.”
“Well,” said Ward, “we can sort it out easily enough; we’ll just have him give a blood sample and have it tested.”
“Yes, that would do it, but we must remember that our saboteur is a computer whiz. My guess is that he will be monitoring the Blood Lab to learn if Pete gets tested. That would send that rat bastard back deep into his mole hole.
No, no blood work for Pete on the Astrid. I’d like to get a sample from him and bring it here, but, Al, what if he is the saboteur?” asked Admiral King.
Turning to the Lab-Tech, the Admiral told her to download the test results to his AI. Sky decided to ask Admiral Perry for help in obtaining a complete history of Donovon, from birth.
“JJ, as soon as you have the bloodwork downloaded, send it to Admiral Perry. If Donovon’s bloodwork is in the system, then so must his DNA be there. Fingerprints can be changed, but DNA and eye scans cannot.”
Aye, Admiral, as soon as the commo check is done, I’ll put the two of you in direct communication.
“Very well, JJ.”
As they walked to the Shuttle Bay, Captain Ward said, “Admiral, when we latch onto that guilty bastard Donovon, I will take great pleasure in carrying out the only possible punishment for a saboteur. Sabotage is a capital offense, right up there with mutiny. Sir, I want to see his face as
he shoots out the air-lock and into the cold, black, vacuum of space.”
Sky smiled and added, “I think we’ll both push that button to open the air-lock door.”
29 September 2116, 1800 hours
On Station Aboard the Leyte Gulf
70,000 miles Portside of Holly Thorne
The direct communication channel between AIs was established at the scheduled time of 1800 hours.
“Yes, Sky, what have you got? Good news, I hope,” asked Vice Admiral Perry.
Admiral King said, “Sir, I wish that was the case, but I need some help from your end,” said King.
“Sir, the blood sample came back, and it says that Lieutenant Peter Proud is the traitor. I must tell you, Dolph, that I do not believe this is possible, but I must take the evidence into consideration and place the LT under surveillance.”
“Yes, that would be the prudent thing to do. Can you get either a sample of Proud’s blood or a DNA sample?”
“We’re looking into that, but we have to be able to get either of those samples without him knowing we’re checking on him. The same situation surrounds those acquisitions for Donovon.
“Wait a minute, I just thought of how we might be able to get a sample of Proud’s DNA. I’ll have Al slip into his quarters and see if his hairbrush has a hair with a follicle. He can get in there using the Captain’s override when Proud goes on watch. It won’t get the blood, but the DNA will prove that Lieutenant Proud is, in fact, Peter Proud.”
“Yes, that would do it,” said Perry. “Tell you what. I’ll go ahead and get the deep history review started. I should have it for you by the 0600 check-in.”
“Thank you, sir, I must say that I am anxious to clear that young man. That is, if he can be cleared. Until then, we’ll just keep trying to find a way to get a DNA sample from Donovon,” said Sky.
