Tritium Gambit

by Erik Hyrkas

  Chapter 42. Miranda

  I was exhausted, but I had something to do before going to bed. I pulled out my gal-com recorder and set it up on my nightstand. I hit the call button and took a step back.

  “Initial connection four hundred credits plus ten credits for each additional minute. Do you authorize these charges to your account?” a computer voice asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Please wait while I connect you,” the computer said.

  Moments passed while I tried to comb through my tangled hair using my fingers. Curly hair can be such a curse sometimes. The gal-com recorder beeped. “Transmission commencing,” the computer voice said.

  Holograms of my mother and father appeared. If you didn’t look carefully at my mother, who is quite tall, you might mistake her for human, but instead of hair, soft black feathers frame her face. My father reminds me of a retired action movie star. His hair is gray but he is still in good shape.

  “Hey Mom and Dad,” I said. “How are things on Cavalletia?”

  “We’re fine dear,” my mother answered. “Usually we talk on the Earth lunar cycle. Has something happened?”

  “I’m not sure I’m cut out to be an agent, Mom.”

  “Oh, sweetie. If you need to take a break and come see us for a bit, you know you always have a home here,” my mom said.

  My dad cleared his throat. “Honey, you’re mother is right. You are always welcome here. But isn’t this the job that you’ve always wanted?”

  “I thought it was, but now…” I looked away so I wouldn’t see my father’s disappointment. “I don’t know.”

  “Don’t decide now,” my mother said. “Think it over. We’ll get the guestroom ready, and you can come if you decide to.”

  My father grimaced. “Sleep on it. I don’t know what happened today, but maybe it’ll look better in the morning.”

  I nodded. “Thanks for understanding, Mom,” I said. “Dad, I’ll sleep on it and talk to you guys soon. I need to go before I spend my whole paycheck.”

  “Good bye, sweetie,” my mom said.

  “Sleep tight,” my dad said.

  I hung up the call and looked at my bed, but I couldn’t get in yet. I decided to walk down to the infirmary to see my former partner, Riley, even though he wouldn’t know he had a visitor.

  The dimmed hall lights brightened for me as I walked. I didn’t meet anybody on my way and I felt like a ghost haunting the place I used to dream of working at—the dream was tarnished. I always thought it would be exciting to work for the Service, to go new places, to see the world, and even to travel the universe sometimes. Instructors had warned me of how dangerous the job was, but that never concerned me. I never minded taking a few calculated risks, but I didn’t consider that it would be somebody else paying for my miscalculations.

  I walked into the infirmary. Curtains were drawn around each of the beds, but I walked quietly to the last bed, where Riley lay unconscious. I peeked in and saw him still lying where I left him. He looked the same as I remembered him—still covered in pus-filled red welts.

  “Hey, Riley,” I said.

  The only answer I got was the drip of his IV and the soft clicking of the medical devices monitoring him. I sat on the chair next to his bed.

  “So… How have you been?”

  Silence.

  “Yeah, things have been crazy busy for me, too.”

  Click, click, click.

  “I wish we could really talk. I need some advice.” I sighed. “I don’t think I’m really cut out for this agent business.”

  Somebody coughed from one of the other curtained-off beds.

  “I thought that the academy would prepare me. I thought that this would be an exciting job.” I had to wipe a tear from my cheek. “Well, it is exciting, I suppose, but I didn’t think it would be like this.” I gestured to him. “I mean, you did everything by the book. You did everything perfectly, and look at what happened to you. I keep thinking that if only I had…” I shrugged.

  A voice from a nearby curtained bed spoke. “Agents save the world nearly every week and nobody notices. When an agent gets hurt or dies, nobody notices. Agents do it anyway, because they believe in giving humans a chance to become something more than they are. It’s a choice every agent has to make.”

  I walked to the next bed and peeked through the curtain. John was lying in a bed with clean, white linens pulled up to his chest. He was smiling and looked uninjured.

  “I made the wrong choice,” he said. “I gave up on the humans, and it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

  I shook my head. “It all seems so senseless—the pain, the suffering—and even if you win, it has a cost.”

  He nodded. “I know you want to give up. Nobody will think less of you if you do. This line of work is for the foolish and the romantic, but anybody with two brain cells to rub together isn’t fighting for this lost cause.” He gestured toward Riley. “Consider what your partner might have said.”

  Now I smiled. “Riley jumped into a swarm Mortalis Wasps, why on Earth would I trust his judgment?” I asked.

  “Fair point. Well, you ought to get back to bed. In the morning, you’ll have to decide whether you’ll be going with Max on the next mission.”

  “He’s going to get himself killed, and I don’t think I can bear to watch,” I said.

  “It’s possible. Likely, even. However, if he does get himself annihilated, you may feel much worse knowing you could have been there.”

  “If I go far enough away, I won’t know what happened,” I said.

  “Very true.” His eyes closed momentarily. “I’m on some hefty painkillers and am going to fall asleep on you any moment. Don’t decide tonight, though. Get some rest first.”

  “Good night,” I whispered.

  He didn’t answer. He was already asleep. I closed the curtains and headed back to my room.

  Chapter 43. Max

  I was awakened by a gentle nudge. I rolled over and opened one eye part way. Miranda was standing over me wearing a white dress, and her hair looked fabulous.

  “Is it breakfast time?” I said.

  “It’s afternoon, and it’s time to go,” she said. “We’re going to be late! I have breakfast for you in the plane. You need to shower and get dressed.”

  I closed my eyes, and she shook me again. I sighed. “Fine. It’s days like these that I wish caffeine had some effect on me.”

  “Caffeine doesn’t do anything for you?” she asked in surprise.

  I shook my head. “Very few drugs or chemicals have any effect on me.”

  “Most chemicals affect me normally.” She ran her hand down my chest. “Even you affect me. You’re like my own personal brand of LSD.” She smirked and walked to the door. “Meet me in the hangar in thirty minutes. We’re going flying.”

  I watched her go. Moments after she walked out, the phone on my dresser rang. I got up and answered it.

  Is this Agent Maximus?” a familiar female voice asked.

  “Wendy?”

  “I wanted you to know that I haven’t forgotten about you,” she said. “I wish I had time to talk, but unfortunately, I don’t. Keep an eye out for me. I’ll definitely be watching you.”

  “Why don’t you tell me where you are and we’ll settle this now?”

  “Where’s the fun in that? You’re not going to know what hit you when I come for you. See you soon, Maximus.” The line went dead.

  I held the phone for a little bit and wondered if it would be worth getting a trace, but she was too clever for that. She’d be long gone before I could track her down.

  I showered, dressed, and put a fresh microfiber towel in my back pocket before walking out the door.

  I knew Miranda said she had breakfast for me, but two breakfasts are always better than one, and I had time if I was fast enough. The dining hall was empty when I walked in, and I loaded up a tray with fruit, two bowls of oatmeal, two dozen slices of bacon, and a gallon jug of milk. I glanced at
the clock on the wall. I had fifteen minutes, just enough time for a light breakfast. I sat alone and wolfed down my food while pondering what Wendy had in mind.

  When I finally walked into the hangar, I was a few minutes late and Miranda was standing next to a plane talking to a guy. He looked like a familiar Native American I knew. I realized the guy was John as I made my way toward them.

  “Sheriff!” I said.

  “Call me John,” he said. “I’m not the sheriff anymore. I’ve taken a new job.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  “I’m your new mission coordinator,” he said. “And I’m here to brief you on your next flight.” He pulled out two envelopes and handed one to me and one to Miranda.

  I smiled. “It looks like we’re getting the band back together.”