Version Innocent

by Pete Molina

Chapter 33

  Sam didn’t sleep well; his mind was too busy thinking about what they were going to do. He knew he was pretty much useless here. They needed him to be there to provide biometrics, but was that all he could contribute? He tried to think of things he could do to help but couldn’t come up with anything that could match Terra’s means. Her money could move mountains, as he had already seen a number of times.

  Ralphie scanned all the news casts but didn’t find anything more than a mention of two other men entering the board meeting room with Terra. There was speculation that they were also camouflaged, but as their trip from Earth had been done so covertly, no one knew who they were. The guesses were that they were body guards of some sort. It had been a relief when Ralphie delivered that piece of information. It didn’t seem as if they were being followed or watched although Damon Harding and Agent Dawson probably knew that they were there by the news from Mars, if nothing else. They’d be here in three or four days for sure, but they probably already had local agents watching.

  Eventually he’d managed to get to sleep, but he woke up and it was still early. Sam lay in bed for an hour before he decided it was pointless to try and get more sleep so he went to the small bathroom that was attached to his room and took a shower. When he was done, he realized that he had no clothing to wear besides the spacesuit, which was now filling a small basin on his dresser. He had recovered the tube for the camouflage from Jeff and now the suit was charging off the nearby power outlet. He checked the drawers of the dresser in the room but found nothing. In the closet, however, he did find a nice terry cloth robe that fit him pretty well. He put it on and ventured from his room back into the hallway. The door to Jeff’s room wasn’t open, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t up. Sam continued down the hallway to the living room they’d been in last night. It was empty too. Sam took a seat on one of the couches and looked around the room.

  The room was large and had a vaulted ceiling. There was a fireplace and some bookshelves with some decorative items that were tastefully displayed, but no books. There were several screens on the wall showing fine pieces of art. Sam had an urge to go exploring the dome, but dressed as he was without even underwear-he doubted that was a good idea.

  He sat there for half an hour trying to figure out what he should do and whether or not he should go exploring as he wanted to. His mind was almost set to go have a look around in his robe if necessary when Terra came into the living room from a hallway that crossed the one his room was down.

  “Good morning.” Sam tried to be cheerful. She was already dressed in a maroon pant suit. Not quite as formal as the pinstripe he’d seen her wear before.

  “Good morning,” Terra returned, though she seemed preoccupied.

  “Did you sleep alright, Terra? You look worried.”

  “Not too well.” Terra replied honestly. “I had a lot to think about and I just couldn’t get my brain to stop. I did manage to get in a few hours, though.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t sleep too well either, but Jeff doesn’t seem to be having any problems. I think he’s still asleep.”

  “Why are you wearing a robe?” Terra asked noticing his attire.

  “Didn’t want to put back on the spacesuit, andI don’t have anything else to wear at the moment.”

  “Oh, I’m being a terrible host. I’ll call up Carl and have him go and get something for you right away. Do you have any preferences?”

  “Hold on a sec. I’ll have Ralphie send you my clothing preference file. I’ll reimburse you for any expense.”

  “That’s not necessary. I’d be happy to get them for you. Besides, if you make a purchase transaction, you’ll be letting Dawson and Harding know where you are.”

  “That’s true. Thank you, Terra.”

  “You’re welcome. Just let me send Carl.” Terra looked like she was concentrating, contacting Carl through her implants.

  “He’ll make a trip as soon as Jeff gives us some of his preferences. You’ll have something to wear before lunch. Until then you can wear the robe, or I can ask Jordan if he has something he can lend you. He’s about your size,” Terra offered.

  “That’s all right. I can make do with this, if you don’t mind, that is,” Sam replied.

  “Not at all,” Terra said as Jeff walked into the room also wearing a robe.

  “Good morning. Did you guys sleep well?” Jeff asked cheerfully.

  “Don’t ask,” Sam groaned.

  “Strange, I haven’t slept that well in weeks. I guess I just feel secure here,” Jeff said.

  “I’m glad you’re up. Can you send me a preference file for some clothing? I’m sending Carl to get you guys something so you don’t have to wear your spacesuit or those robes all the time.”

  “Sure, just let me get my companion.” Jeff disappeared back down the hall and a few minutes later it was all taken care of.

  “Are you hungry? I’ve just gotten a notice from Fiona that breakfast is ready to be served in the kitchen.”

  “That would be great,” Jeff said enthusiastically. “Just show me the way.”

  Breakfast consisted of a hearty granola and fruit, and they all felt better afterwards. And as Terra had promised, within a hour after breakfast they found a great deal of clothing waiting for them in their rooms. After getting dressed, they all met up again in the living room.

  Terra looked Sam and Jeff up and down. “Well that’s better. You look almost civilized again. Now I have something I would like to show you guys. Follow me.”

  She leading them through a maze of hallways and through the main arboretum in the center of the dome where several large trees were growing, along with some fruit trees. It wasn’t nearly as diverse as the garden hidden below, but it did give a large open space for one to enjoy.

  They finally came to a door that Terra opened with her implants and her palm print. The door sank inward and then swung open revealing a vault of some type. She indicated that they should follow. Once they were inside Terra closed the door, and it wasn’t until it was shut that she said anything.

  “I needed to find us some privacy because I’ve uncovered some details I don’t want leaving this room. I believe that one of us is still bugged. I learned that a Fleet ship, The Powel, left for Mars only minutes after the Express departed, and that they arrived almost twelve hours ahead of us. I believe that Dawson and Harding already know that we’re here, but I don’t know how much more they know.”

  “After the security field, is that possible?” Sam asked, remembering the closet in his crèche sister’s apartment.

  “It’s possible, if the bug were planted after the pulse, which means they could see us while camouflaged or they had someone on the inside to plant it,” Jeff reasoned.

  “True. But just in case we are in fact bugged and it isn’t an inside job, this vault should keep any electromagnetic radiation from leaving the room. My Grandfather believed in security and privacy, especially in his business dealings, and so this room is where he made most of his deals and compromises.”

  “Well, I’m relieved about that but what can we do if it is an inside job?” Jeff asked.

  “We can hope that it’s not a member of my staff or Ignus.” Terra said.

  “I think we can trust Ignus,” Jeff responded.

  “I agree, which means his ship could be bugged or someone who helped us get onto the Express spilled it, or one of us is still bugged.”

  “I don’t really see how that’s possible after the security field and the fact that we don’t even have any of our original clothing. The bug would have to either be on us physically, which I’m sure the spacesuits would have dealt with, or be sub-dermal,” Sam added.

  “I agree. I’m just saying that we should be careful when talking about our plans. We don’t want to lead them to Sam before we know what’s going on,” Terra said seriously.

  “I understand,” Sam said.

 
; “Sure,” Jeff echoed. “That’s only prudent in this case.”

  “So what’s our next move?” Sam asked, anxious to get moving or do something.

  “Well, last night after we all went to bed, I checked a place that my other version could have left a message for me, and she did.” Terra said, breaking it to them. “And it wasn’t great news.”

  “Oh,” Sam paused. “And you didn’t want us there for this revelation?”

  “It was somewhat personal, but I did get a few clues as to which direction we should go from here.” Terra realized that he was a little hurt. She recognized that he wanted to be involved and to help out.

  “Like what?” Jeff asked.

  “Well, apparently my other version had been supplying Sam with a great deal of antimatter.”

  “Antimatter!” Jeff exclaimed, breaking his calm demeanor for a second. “How much of this stuff are we talking?”

  “Somewhere around a hundred kilograms.”

  Sam whistled.

  “Yeah, no kidding.” Jeff looked worried again, all that pressure of his involvement weighing down on him.

  “It’s not your fault,” Terra said to Jeff. “You haven’t had anything to do with this. You can’t feel responsible.”

  “Tell that to my gut.” Jeff’s stomach was churning.

  “What’s he going to use it for?” Sam asked. It was a lot of antimatter, and Sam couldn’t think of any purposes except to heat rocket propellant or as a weapon of some kind. The second option did worry him, but he didn’t think his other version would be desperate enough to use that much antimatter as a weapon. He couldn’t even consider using it that way.”

  “Well, my other version was convinced that he wasn’t going to use it as a weapon, but beyond that I really don’t know. And I don’t know where it was being sent,” Terra added.

  “So what do you know?” Jeff asked.

  “I know Sam’s contact on the Hyatain Antimatter Station was Thurman Conrad, and he is still working there,” Terra revealed.

  “So we go and find this guy and ask him where Sam is?” Sam asked.

  “Yes,” Terra said.

  “Even with the Fleet watching our every move?” Jeff pointed upward.

  “Yes, but we need to keep them from finding out about this antimatter business. You know what would happen if they did.”

  “Yeah, they’d scramble the whole Fleet to get us to find Sam, and they’d shoot first rather than take the chance that he was working on a weapon,” Sam said stating the obvious

  “Exactly, so we need to use a little cunning, not just some neat camouflage technology. I propose that two of us stay here and make it look as if we’re all still on Mars while one of us sneaks out to the station to talk with Conrad.”

  “Who’s going to go?” Sam asked.

  “I was hoping that you would do it actually. I don’t know if Conrad knew you by sight, and this may be the time for your biometrics and DNA to come in handy. If not, you will be camouflaged. Jeff and I are too high profile to go wandering around right now, and we need to figure out how to get off Mars once we know where Sam is. With that much antimatter I’m sure my other version would have made it quite clear that he couldn’t hide out anywhere near here,” Terra said.

  Sam’s face lit up at the suggestion. He wanted to be useful and she recognized that. It was even true about the biometrics. He had to go. They didn’t. “What if I’m the one with the bug?” Sam asked, thinking about the implications.

  “Well, we can scan you and if nothing shows up, then you can go,” Jeff said.

  “We should all be scanned,” Terra said. “If there is a leak, we don’t want it to be any of us against our will. I want you to take your camouflage and an extra power cell and take the first transport to the station. Be discreet and don’t reveal yourself unless you’re sure it’s safe. Then only do so to Conrad,” Terra instructed.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. What should I do after I talk with Conrad?” Sam asked.

  “I’ve set up an anonymous mail drop on one of the data storage servers. I’ll send the address to your companion. Once you know, drop us an encrypted message. We’ll check it every hour, and once we get it, we’ll set our plan in motion to get you and us out of here, hopefully without that Fleet ship noticing,” Terra said.

  “Sounds like a plan. Did your other version say anything else that we should know about?” Jeff asked.

  “One other thing. And we should keep this too ourselves. It’s almost as bad as the antimatter,” Terra added apprehensively. She didn’t think that they should know everything just yet but they needed to know about the nanotechnology.

  “What’s that?” Sam asked.

  “It appears that your other version may have managed to get some unlimited assemblers from the LNRC before he left there,” Terra broke the news.

  “So he’s got antimatter and unlimited assemblers. Sam, what the hell are you thinking?” Jeff exclaimed. “Those are only the two most dangerous things man has ever invented. Why shouldn’t he have access to both!”

  “I don’t think he’d use it as a weapon, Jeff,” Sam said, trying to reassure himself that he wouldn’t do such a thing.

  “And Terra wouldn’t do what her other version did either but her other version did all those things…how do you know that Sam wouldn’t? He isn’t you. He’s thirty years in your future. You can’t know what you’d become in that amount a time,” Jeff refuted Sam’s argument.

  Sam just shrugged. He couldn’t argue with Jeff; he knew it was true.

  “Well, all the more reason for us to find him,” Terra said. “Let’s get that scan out of the way and get cracking on this. We need to find Sam 6.7 before he uses that antimatter for anything.”

  “Do you have a scanner here?” Sam asked.

  “This whole room is a scanner and I’ve had it running since we got inside, I’m not detecting anything but our implants. I think we’re clean,” Terra said.

  “So it’s a leak somewhere,” Jeff concluded.

  “Let’s just hope it’s not Ignus or a member of my staff,” Terra cautioned.

  “And let’s hope no one finds out about the assemblers or the antimatter,” Sam added. “So how do I get to the station?” he asked earnestly.