by J. N. Chaney
“No, gambling prone and the target of the Warlords,” I answered.
“Ah, everyone needs a hobby, and besides that one Warlord in the brig, I left the rest of those chumps back on Earth.”
20
“Hey, can you hand me the set of sockets?” I asked Ricky, looking to my right. “The one with the red handle?”
“Sure thing, super spy,” Ricky said, placing the requested tool in my hand.
He’d been calling me names like super spy and secret agent since I told him about the events surrounding Maksim’s capture. That was three weeks ago. We were halfway to Kronos Five and, against all odds, the passengers on the Orion hadn’t torn each other apart.
Water was still rationed. But the tech team had found a way to clean clothes and dishes using a chemical substance. Showering was still a point of contention. Everyone was tired of wiping themselves with antibacterial cloths, but we all had enough to drink.
I’d seen Stacy a few times as she resumed her undercover identity as a mechanic. She always had a smile for me. I had to bite my tongue a few times and not ask how the search for more Disciples was going. I was sure she’d tell me, but it wasn’t really any of my business.
I hadn’t seen the Eternal brother and sister team at all. They were no doubt busy with tasks calling their attention around the ship. Even Iris was someone I found myself thinking about a few times.
It’s over, I told myself. Stick to what you do. It’s already enough you’re on a seed ship hurtling through space. You don’t need to enlist as some kind of agent on top of that.
“You sure you don’t want to sit in on the game tonight?” Ricky asked as we worked on repairing one of the larger sweeping drones that cleaned the floors. “I’m sure the guys wouldn’t mind someone sitting in. I can show you how to play.”
“No thanks,” I said politely, refusing to join in on one of Ricky’s gambling nights. “What do you guys bet with anyway? I mean, money isn’t going to be any good at the colony, at least not until things get up and running.”
“Yeah, we thought about that,” Ricky said with a shrug as he tinkered with the machine’s power core. “But we decided to do it anyway. Sooner or later, there will be stores and such. We started playing for fun, but it just wasn’t the same.”
“Yeah, I bet,” I said, leaning back from my work. I cleaned my hands on a dirty rag. Ricky and I were in a large back closet area on a cafeteria level. They kept the sweeping drones on rotation. It was our glamorous job that day to make sure the drones not working were maintained and ready to go when their time came.
“So, you and Stacy, huh?” Ricky said, unable to let more than a few seconds of silence pass at any given time.
“Nope,” I said with a shake of my head. “Not at all.”
“Oh, come on.” Ricky rolled his eyes. “You and Stacy for sure. It’s obvious she’s into you.”
“How so?” I asked.
“The way she gives you that smile,” Ricky said. “I’ve caught her looking at you a few times, and she’s not exactly hard on the eyes. Maybe once we settle onto Kronos Five, you two can—”
The rest of whatever Ricky was going to say was cut off as the ship buckled for the first time. It wasn’t just a tremor. It was a full-on earthquake as the floor below our feet rocked and rolled.
It was the first time that had ever happened. Red warning lights flashed overhead.
“What the f—”
Ricky was cut off again as Iris’ voice filled the intercoms. “Passengers of the Orion. Please make your way to your rooms and await additional details. There is no need to panic. We will give you further instruction as soon as we have more information for you.”
The ship buckled again, this time so hard that, even in my kneeling position, I was almost thrown onto my back. Tools and canisters along the shelves in the utility closet were falling all around us.
Ricky and I exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing.
“Disciples,” Ricky said to me as if he could read my own thoughts. “It’s the Disciples, man. There’s more of those cloaked mothers here on board. What are they doing now?”
“I don’t know,” I said, rising to my feet as I headed for the door.
“This is your heads-up warning, Mr. Slade.” Iris’ voice reached my ears before she phased through the door in front of me.
“Your what?” Ricky asked.
“Never mind that,” I said impatiently. “What’s going on out there?”
“I have been requested to escort you to mechanic Stacy Wilson.” Iris glanced over to Ricky. She blinked her right eye rapidly. “There is a mechanical issue that needs your expertise.”
“What’s wrong with your eye?” I asked.
“There is an issue that only you can resolve.” Iris did the weird thing with her eye again. “An issue you have helped us with before.”
“Are you winking at me?” I asked. “You can just say it out loud. Ricky knows everything.”
Iris gave me a disapproving look before turning to Ricky.
“It’s true,” Ricky said, getting up and wiping his grease stained-hands on an even dirtier towel. “As Mr. Slade’s agent, I’m aware of the matters he was involved in. I’d like to speak to someone about my client’s inclusion in the spy force academy.”
“The what?” Iris looked at us, confused.
“Or whatever it is that you’re calling it these days,” Ricky said, trying to save face.
“This can all wait,” I interrupted. “What’s going on?”
“I can tell you on the way,” Iris said as she headed for the door.
I opened the door while she phased through the wall and we took off at a jog. She explained what was happening.
“There was an attack on the navigation core,” Iris said. “We assume another Disciple set off the explosion. Watching the video playback, it shows nothing on the screen before the explosion, which leads me to believe that we may have another cloaked intruder on our hands.”
My mind ran through the possibilities. Could at least one more Disciple be on board? But why did they wait this long to make their move? Why did they attack the navigation core when they could have gone after anything?
We ran through the cafeteria level. Only a few Transients remained as they followed Iris’ instructions and headed for their rooms.
“I’ve been instructed to escort you to the tech level where Stacy and the others are preparing to go on the hunt for this new threat,” Iris said as we waited next to an elevator. She placed a hand on the door, and it opened immediately as if the elevator had been waiting for us this whole time.
We stepped inside. Ricky was still following us and also moved to enter.
Iris looked at him and then to me. “I was only instructed to bring you, Mr. Slade.”
“Ricky taught me everything I know,” I lied. “He’s a better fighter than I am. We could use his help.”
“I am?” Ricky’s eyes went wide. “Dean, I’ve never—”
I stomped on his foot.
His eyes widened with pain as he joined us in the elevator. “Dean, I’ve never instructed a student as poorly as I have you. You’re a disgrace to the Cobra Clan. I should go to make sure no one gets hurt.”
Iris eyed us suspiciously. She allowed the elevator doors to shut with us all inside. That was answer enough for me. Ricky would be allowed along for the ride.
We were whisked up to the same tech level Stacy and I visited weeks before when we were looking for a way to track Maksim. This time when the doors opened, we didn’t have to walk through the glass offices and labs. Everyone was in the lobby waiting for us.
Stacy and Arun wore tactical chest-plates. Stacy had her blaster out, and I noticed a similar weapon in Arun’s hands. A dozen heavily armored suits were with them, along with Doctor James Wong, who stood in the middle of the group explaining something.
Stacy waved us over after giving Ricky a confused look.
“Thank you for coming,” Aru
n said to me, looking at Ricky and then back to Iris. “Iris?”
“He insisted.” Iris shrugged. “I assumed it was more important to get Mr. Slade here quickly than stop to discuss the matter. He also seems to be the founding member of a Clan Cobra.”
“Hello, I’m Dean’s agent, Ricky Matthews,” Ricky said, extending his hand to Arun. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Arun’s mouth dropped open. She closed it again, shaking Ricky’s hand.
“And this is the most important thing to remember,” Doctor Wong said to the group, capturing all of our attention. “This technology is experimental. Iris will be able to project what she sees on the screen in your headsets. Since the information must be relayed, there could be a slight delay.”
“How long are we talking?” one of the suits asked.
“No more than a millisecond or two,” Doctor Wong said, signaling over to Iris. “The technology I created will capture all motion on the Orion. That amount of data would be nearly impossible for anyone to sift through in real time. Only a Cognitive could make this happen. She’ll exclude any motion from passengers and objects on board until she finds the motion related to our cloaked saboteur. She will then feed that image into our headsets, so you will be able to see it as well.”
Iris joined the doctor as he handed her a dark green data chip. Everyone in the room held their breath as she accepted the data chip in her open right hand. As soon as she closed her glowing blue fingers over the item, the blue light around her shined brighter.
I looked away, covering my eyes to keep it from burning my corneas.
“Iris, are you okay?” Arun asked as the brightness died down.
I lowered my arm in awe, looking at the Cognitive. Her blue eyes were pure white as she sifted through every motion happening in the Orion at once.
“She’s searching now.” Doctor Wong rubbed at his tired red eyes. “Even if the cloaked Disciple is still, Iris will be able to find him or her through the rise and fall of their chest as they breathe; it’s that sensitive.”
“Oh dear, we have a very serious issue,” Iris said, looking at all of us as her eyes shifted back to their normal blue color.
21
The lobby in the tech level was completely silent as we held our breaths to hear what Iris would say.
“I have successfully located every passenger inside the Orion,” Iris said in the calmest tone imaginable. “Except one. I also have a visual on these passengers. There is movement in the Engine room that I cannot see via any external cameras.”
“The Engine room is locked down tight,” Arun said, checking her blaster. “We made sure all critical systems were secured with the most state-of-the-art locking system available at the time of construction. Civil Authority Officers are also standing guard. Whoever is down there won’t get in.”
“Let’s move out,” Stacy told the suits present. She grabbed one of the headsets Doctor Wong was handing out. “We have a Disciple to hunt.”
“Oh dear,” Iris said as Doctor Wong handed me my headset, which resembled a thick pair of sunglasses.
“What is it, Iris?” Arun asked.
“I’ve been trying to figure out how the saboteur gained access to the navigation core.” Iris looked over at Doctor Wong. “As Arun stated, there were Civil Authority Officers stationed at the checkpoint, which is only accessible by a handful of department heads.”
Everyone paused as Iris got to the point. Her gaze never left Doctor Wong.
“I was trying to gather information from the blown-out access system. I have finally uncovered that the last person to check into the navigation core room was Doctor Wong.”
Everyone in the room, including me, directed our attention to the doctor. I had to admit, I hadn’t see that one coming.
“Holy crap,” Ricky said under his breath. “It’s always the one you don’t expect.”
“What?” Doctor Wong asked, chuckling nervously. “That has to be wrong. I’ve been working in the lab all morning. You can check the cameras. I have alibis. It wasn’t me.”
“Your credentials were the last to be used to access the navigation room minutes before it was destroyed,” Iris insisted. “The cameras were eviscerated in the explosion; otherwise, I would play it back for you.”
“Wait, I can prove it. My secretary Marcy was with me last night. We were working late.” Doctor Wong reached for something in his pocket.
Every suit in the room pointed their weapon at him, including Arun. Doctor Wong looked like he was about to make a deposit in his pants. Maybe he did.
“Please, I’m just reaching for my holo card to call my assistant. She can verify everything,” Doctor Wong said in a shaky voice.
“Go ahead,” Arun said. “But do it slowly.”
Doctor Wong’s hands were trembling as he reached into his white lab coat. Confusion crossed his face as he checked the inside breast pocket, moving to the one on the outside and then to his pants. Nothing.
“I-I swear it was with me when I—”
“It appears the doctor is telling the truth,” Iris said, extending her palm. A holographic screen popped up showing a video of Doctor Wong spread eagle on his desk taking a nap. He was snoring like a hibernating bear.
Marcy appeared in the doorway. She carefully made her way to his side. She reached inside his lab coat and removed his card.
“I should have suspected,” Stacy said through gritted teeth. “She was way too nervous when we first came to question you.”
“Marcy, a Disciple?” Doctor Wong asked, total disbelief in his voice. “No, she’s not that kind of person. This has to be wrong.”
“I assure you, the recording is accurate,” Iris said. “Marcy Knot is not currently present on the Orion. She must be the one using the cloaking device.”
“Let’s move,” Arun said, grabbing a headset. “Stacy, warn the officers on duty in the reactor level.”
Ricky and I were handed chest-plates of our own to wear. They were heavier than they looked. An opening for our heads allowed the vest to hang on our shoulders. Cinches on the sides made sure they were snug. They wouldn’t win any awards for style, but so long as they could stop a blaster round to my chest, that was all I was worried about.
“Iris will have control over the headsets,” Doctor Wong recovered enough to shout to our backs. “Even cloaked, you’ll be able to see Marcy’s movement once your headsets are activated.”
That was all we had time to hear before we were crammed into an elevator, making our way down to the level. The idea that I should be given a blaster or something this time around poked at my thoughts. But there was simply no time.
Stacy was trying to get the attention of the suits guarding the reactor. She held her red holo card in her hand, speaking into the receiver.
“Come in, unit eleven, do you copy? Unit eleven, please respond, this is Special Agent Stacy Wilson, do you copy?” Stacy said repeatedly. She pressed two fingers to her right ear, waiting for a response. The grim look on her face told me there was no answer.
The elevator doors opened, and we poured out into the hall.
The pair of suits Stacy had tried to contact lay motionless on the floor. Each had burn marks on their skulls, signaling the use of a blaster up close and personal. They never had a chance. Marcy had been invisible and on them before they realized what was happening.
One of the suits stopped and knelt to check pulses just to be sure—a formality more than any hope of their being alive.
The engine room was a lower level with a wide open space. The ceiling reached four stories tall with bright lights that shone down, illuminating the room. Still, there were far too many shadows for my taste. Especially now, as we hunted the invisible Marcy.
There were a series of massive turbines scattered across the room that looked like huge arches. They hummed as they turned, propelling the Orion through slipspace.
The elevator next to us opened with Iris, Arun, and the rest of the
suits exiting.
“I have contact,” Iris said. “Please put on your headsets.”
“Units one and two, guard the elevator doors,” Stacy instructed. “Everyone else, fan out.”
I placed the oversized sunglasses on the bridge of my nose, looking through the darkened lenses. Everything appeared in front of me just like before, except it was a shade darker, and there was also a movement like ripples coming from everything that hummed. It almost reminded me of the images I had seen of sonar like the way dolphins could see things through the water.
The turbines and a pipe overhead let off little waves as they vibrated, like a rippling pool of water interrupted by someone throwing a small stone inside.
“You two know how to use these?” Stacy came up to Ricky and me, handing us each a blaster she had taken from two of the suits. The suits she relieved the sidearms from looked us over for a second, then turned back to the open room.
“Yep,” Ricky said, examining the blaster, and to my surprise, he seemed like he knew what he was doing.
He caught my look of shock and explained.
“What? I had one of these back on Earth for protection.”
“Right,” I said, gripping the solid piece of steel in my hand. It was heavy with a fat grip and a short barrel.
“Safety on, off,” Stacy said, showing me the switch on the right side of her weapon. She pointed to another switch on the left. “Stun and kill. We want to try and capture her to see if we can get more information.”
“Stun it is,” I said, mirroring the two-handed grip on the weapon I saw Arun using.
“And don’t stun me,” Stacy said to me with a half serious, half joking grin. “Actually, don’t walk behind me at all. Let’s go.”
With two pairs of suits at the evaluator, it left the eight others, including me, Ricky, Arun, Stacy, and Iris, to travel across the giant room.
“There is movement behind the far turbine,” Iris said to Stacy, who had taken the lead.
Stacy sent four suits to flank from the right and another four from the left. We were going to go straight up the gut.
