“Sure,” Zhao replied, nodding. “We’ve got plenty of stuff stockpiled. More than enough.”
“The Professor and I will handle the decoy run.” Cracking a smile, he added, “All of you are off duty right now. I suggest you go and get a good night’s sleep. You’re going to need it. Good hunting.” Taking a last look at the others, he walked out of the room, Wagner following, leaving the rest looking at DeSilva.
“We’re supposed to follow her?” Schneider asked.
“That’s what the boss wants, that’s what the boss gets,” Zhao said, turning to DeSilva. “Any thoughts?”
“Plenty,” she replied, glancing at the departing Nguyen. “Far too many. Blanco, can you call up a deckplan of the area around the hydroponics plant, and a system schematic of the distribution system? If we’re going to do this, then we’re damned well going to get it right. Got any more of that coffee?”
“It isn’t coffee.”
“It’s brown, warm and wet. It’ll do.”
Chapter 23
Thiou looked down at her tablet, an update flickering on the display as she walked down the corridor. Her eager fingers danced across the touchscreen, bringing up the latest readings from Endurance’s long-range sensors, more information on their target system. Engrossed in the text, she continued towards her destination, then felt her feet entangled, caught in some cabling, tumbling to the floor before she could arrest her fall.
“What?” she asked, a series of chuckles echoing from the wall. She looked up to see Wagner, toolkit in hand, shaking his head. “What the hell is all this?” she asked, gesturing at the cabling.
“Systems check,” Wagner replied. “We’re running a feed check on the data links on this deck. Given that it basically only requires following a nice simple checklist, they dragged me into the party.” Pointing up the corridor, he added, “I did put up a warning notice, but I think you managed to sleepwalk right past it.”
“This information is important,” she said, tapping her tablet. “As soon as we enter hyperspace, we’re going to lose our sensors. We’ve got to gather as much data as we can right now, so we can interpret it when we get to our target.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you, just suggesting that this isn’t a very good place to work. What’s wrong with your cabin?”
Shaking her head, she replied, “Life systems check. There’s no oxygen in there at the moment. They’re flushing out the filters. Or something. I didn’t understand the details, but I can’t go back there for at least five hours, and every other office is taken.”
Frowning, Wagner replied, “What about Hydroponics? It should be pretty quiet at this time of the night, and you can probably steal one of the workbenches until the duty shift comes on at oh-eight-hundred. And it might do you some good to sit in a green space for a while, soak up some of the smell. I love walking through it, even with the security restrictions.”
“That’s the nearest thing this ship has to recreation? A hydroponic bay?”
“There isn’t room for a nightclub, and I don’t think the Captain would authorize the right sort of beverages if there was. Out here, we take what we can get.” He paused, then said, “I do know that you can’t stay here. My next step is to take up the deck plating, and if I don’t get this job finished before departure, my next assignment will be Waste Reclamation.”
With a smile, she replied, “Don’t worry, I can take a hint. Which way?”
“Elevator’ll take you right there, five doors down.”
Nodding, she said, “Thanks,” and rose carefully to her feet, walking in the indicated direction, careful this time to step over the cable as she slid her tablet into her pocket. Passing another technician, this one throwing her an annoyed glare, she entered the elevator, tapping in her override code and locking in the destination, the mechanism quickly bursting into life. She looked up at the clock, shaking her head. Three in the morning. If she was back on Mars, she’d be in her vermin-infested apartment right now, trying not to think about the cockroaches scurrying under her bed. Her life might have taken some strange turns, but it could be a lot worse.
The doors opened, and the rich smell of life, of growing things, seeped inside, as she walked into the hydroponic bay. She’d been offered a tour, back when she’d first reported on board, but there had always been something more important, more urgent to do. She walked down the corridor, looking at the plants seemingly bursting from every nook, every corner, the bubble of the water tanks echoing from the walls, a faint buzz as an insect flew past her, part of the microscopic ecology that provided a bounty of food for the ship.
She picked out a spot at the intersection of two corridors, underneath a water pipe that gurgled above her, a soothing sound that instantly relaxed her. Sitting on the bench, she pulled out her tablet, scanning again through the latest set of sensor reports, rapt with attention at the information still feeding into her database. Getting a detailed look at a planet from light-years away was next to impossible, but she could already see that some sort of industrial life was present, a trace of pollutants in the air that left no room for doubt.
Possibly it was even intentional, part of the terraforming process. She looked up at the greenery, her eyes filled with wonder. Domes filled with plants such as these had sprung up across the Martian soil during the early years of colonization, before being replaced with the more efficient algae banks. They’d never dared to dream that they could create a whole world that looked like this, bursting with life. Not outside of near-forgotten stories from the past, anyway, writers who had hoped for a better, brighter future. One that, thus far, had failed to become reality. At least, not on Mars.
In the distance, she heard a noise, the sound of boots rattling on the deck, growing louder by the moment. She peered around the corner, spotting a group of masked people walking towards her, sidearms at their belts, the last two pushing a heavy metal trolley. Thus far, they didn’t seem to have noticed her, and she looked around frantically, trying to spot an escape route. They were between her and the elevator, the only way out she knew, and the hydroponics bay was a maze of passages and tunnels, snaking their way through the undergrowth.
Flashbacks of an alley on Mars sent her running, sprinting in the opposite direction, instantly drawing their attention as two of them raced after her. They were all wearing the usual jumpsuits, though any markers that might give a hint about their identity had been removed. One of them looked familiar, though she couldn’t quite place her. Nor did she have time for a detailed examination.
As she raced deeper into the deck, she looked up at the observation cameras. Security should have already realized that something was wrong, but the lights were dark, the system deactivated. The test on the data cables. It must have shut down the surveillance network. There was no way for Lieutenant Romanova and her team to know that anything was happening down here.
The footsteps drew closer, her pursuers obviously more familiar with the layout of the deck than her. For all she knew, she was racing for a blind alley, but at least know she had a destination in mind, a goal. She had to reach a communications terminal. If someone was attempting to sabotage the hydroponic systems, they had to be stopped, and rapidly. Trying for greater speed, she raced in a straight line past a row of flowering beans, waiting at every step for the crack of a bullet, the feel of hot metal lancing into her flesh. Her pursuers would have an easy shot, but she had to gain ground, no matter what the cost.
At last, she saw what she was looking for. An active terminal, a data link running directly to the bridge. She sprinted towards it, sliding her hands across the display, looking up to watch the two masked figures charging towards her, still not reaching for the weapons at their belt. If they’d wanted her dead, she’d be bleeding out on the deck by now.
“Security Alert, Hydroponics, Terminal Three!” she yelled. “Sabotage attempt. Report on the double!” Before she could continue, the terminal exploded, one of the two figures finally drawing their weapon, destro
ying the communicator before she had a chance of receiving any acknowledgement. She looked up, her hands reaching into the air. She was dead if they chose, but instead, they gestured with their pistols for her to sit on the deck, the two of them looking at each other, one walking towards the ruins of the terminal with a tablet in hand.
“Well?” the first figure asked, her voice electronically scrambled.
“I don’t know,” the second replied, deploying similar verbal camouflage.
“That’s not good enough!”
“I know, I know, but that’s the best I can do! You did too damned good a job blowing it up.” Looking at Thiou, he asked, “Did you get a reply?”
“Catherine Thiou, Technical Officer, Serial…”
Waving his pistol dangerously towards her, he said, “Don’t give me that crap, I don’t have time to play games right now! Did you get a reply or didn’t you!”
“Leave it!” the woman said. “Find something to tie her up with. I’m aborting.”
“You can’t,” the man protested. “We’re almost there. By now they’ll have…”
“Security might be here any minute. You want to argue with them?” She snatched a cable from the deck, walking over to Thiou, and said, “Don’t struggle, or I’ll have to sedate you.”
“Or shoot me.”
“Nobody’s going to die today. Not unless your friends on the upper decks want them to.” She reached around with the cable, moving Thiou’s hands into position, then jerked up as she heard a door opening, an elevator cycling close to their left. Thiou cursed under her breath. She’d been only a few meters from safety and hadn’t realized it.
“Leave her!” the man said, racing away down the corridor, seeming unconcerned about his companion. “We don’t have time to argue!”
Nodding, the woman tossed the cable to the deck, pushing Thiou into the wall as she sprinted after her comrade. Thiou stumbled, falling into a rack of plants, green liquid oozing onto her uniform as she struggled to free herself. A familiar figure approached, holding out a hand. Romanova, reacting as quickly as always, pulling her out of the ruined pile of greenery.
“Where?” she asked.
“Down the corridor. They’re armed but didn’t harm me. Or shoot me, when it would have saved them. I think you can take them without lethal force.”
Holding up a taser, Romanova replied, “I hope so. I want to ask them some questions.” Thakur moved beside her, a smile on his face.
“All elevators are sealed, Lieutenant. Maintenance hatches as well. They can’t get out of here.”
“Then we can wait them out,” Thiou said.
Shaking her head, Romanova replied, “They can do a hell of a lot of damage, hold the reserve food supply of the ship hostage. I’m not going to sit around and let them do that.” Turning to Gurung, moving from the other direction, she asked, “What about the surveillance system?”
“Still off-line. I can’t bring it back. Someone authorized maintenance on the data network. We don’t have the bandwidth to work the system.”
“They’ll try and head out the way they came in,” Romanova said, turning back to Thiou. “Which way was that?”
“Back down the corridor, at a crossroads. They came up the passage on the left…”
“Elevator Nine,” Gurung interrupted. “That’s a cargo elevator.”
“They had a trolley with them,” Thiou added.
“Damn it, they’re stealing the food!” Romanova said, racing down the corridor, the others barely able to catch up. Gurung tossed Thiou a spare taser, and she fumbled with the controls, attempting to charge it. She looked around the water-logged environment, and instantly resolved only to fire it if there was no other choice. In most of the ship, it was a useful non-lethal weapon. Down here, it was as dangerous to the user as it was to the target.
The group raced through the passages, Romanova taking an easy lead, the others struggling to keep pace. She could hear boots on the deck ahead, and turned a corner to a long tunnel, spotting four masked figures at the end, all of them fumbling with controls, trying to override the system. Romanova fired an electric pulse, the dart flying through the air, harmlessly impacting the wall and forcing the would-be thieves to greater speed.
The deck was slippery, slime and water underfoot, residue from leaking hydroponic units, and it was all the four of them could do to keep upright as they dashed towards the masked figures. Gurung lined up a shot, but as he was about to fire, another elevator opened, over to the right, and a trio of people ran out, pistols in hand, led by Fitzroy. Romanova turned, shouting for him to stop, but he aimed his pistol at the nearest figure, the man who had questioned Thiou earlier, and fired, catching him in the neck, sending him tumbling to the ground with blood fountaining from the wound.
“No!” Thiou yelled, as the remaining figures pulled out their weapons, two of them firing at Fitzroy and his group as the remainder worked the elevator controls, finally opening the doors. The others tumbled in, bullets ringing from the hull all around them, Romanova taking another shot at the last second that smashed into the back of one of the others, sending him collapsing inside the elevator, his body wracked with spasms, too late for her to complete her capture. She looked up at Fitzroy, a snide smile on his face, then glanced at Thakur, kneeling by the dying man.
“Any chance?” she asked,
“None, Lieutenant,” he said, shaking his head. “It was a perfect shot. Severed the artery clean. He’s gone now, but the rest of the body doesn’t quite know it yet.” Looking up at Fitzroy, he said, “We could have stopped them, sir.”
“You were failing to do just that,” Fitzroy replied. “I was in the area, and you seemed to be struggling to cope, so I intervened. And now a message has been sent to the rest of the crew…”
“Damn right it has!” Romanova said, stepping towards him, fire in her eyes. “You’ve made it quite clear that they’ll be executed for the slightest infraction! As soon as this gets around the lower decks, we’ll have protests in every section of the ship. I’ve got a three-man department, Lieutenant. I can’t be everywhere.”
“Fear is always a useful tool at keeping inferior personnel in line.”
Reaching for her pistol, Romanova took another step forward, but Gurung placed his hand on her arm, shaking his head.
“He’s not worth it, ma’am.”
Nodding, she looked at Fitzroy, and said, “We’re going to see the Captain. Right now. And if I catch you interfering with my operations again, I’ll show you just how good a shot I am. Do I make myself clear?”
“I outrank you,” he replied. “And I don’t like threats, Lieutenant.”
“That wasn’t a threat. It was a promise. Sir.”
Chapter 24
“What the hell happened down there?” Ikande said, slamming his fist on his desk. Looking at Romanova, he asked, “How did they get in, anyway?”
“We’ve identified the deceased as Spaceman Saul Blanco, sir. He was a supply technician, with authorization to use the freight elevators. That got him most of the way, and they hacked through the final lock to get into the hydroponic deck. I’ve strengthened the security, so it can’t happen again, but…”
“I should think so,” Fitzroy said.
“Lieutenant Fitzroy,” Ikande replied, “I’m going to make this nice and easy for you. Shut up.” Turning back to Romanova, he continued, “How did it happen once?”
“There’s no way to make any system completely secure, sir. I’m undermanned, and we had to depart so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to run any simulations, training drills. I had no chance to test our system defenses under realistic conditions, and I had to prioritize critical areas. Engineering, power, life support.” Shaking her head, she added, “There’s just no way to secure a starship against a hostile crew.”
“I concur,” Mitchell said. “I wouldn’t advise any officer going alone into the lower decks at the moment. I doubt they’d make it back. As far as the crew is concerned, on
e of their own has been murdered by a senior officer, killed while he was trying to take a box of salad.”
“Hardly that, Lieutenant,” Ikande replied. “Those are critical emergency rations, and if we lose the algae tanks, they’re going to have to get us home.”
“The crew resented not having access to fresh food before, sir. You just had a food riot. There’s no other way to describe it.” Glaring at Fitzroy, he added, “Running around the hydroponics bay like Wyatt Earp didn’t help, either. We’re only a quarter of the way through our mission, sir, and given this new development, I am forced to suggest that we consider an abort.”
“Go home?” Ikande asked. “Because the crew can’t get lettuce and tomatoes? Be serious.”
“That’s just the trigger factor, sir. The dead man on the deck is the real cause. He’s a martyr now.”
Fitzroy looked at Mitchell, then said, “They’re being roused by someone. There’s a rebel cell on this ship, and they’re out to stop our mission. Probably following orders from the Coalition.”
“For once we agree, Lieutenant,” Mitchell replied, “but that doesn’t change the situation. I don’t think we can count on the crew. Not anymore. We’re outnumbered considerably, if it comes to that, and the thought that our deaths would be avenged is rather cold comfort.”
Ikande nodded, then said, “This mission is of critical importance to the very survival of the Commonwealth. We have more evidence than ever before that we’re on the right track. We can be at the colony in three weeks. Considerably less time than it would take to return to Mars.” Looking at the three officers assembled in the room, he continued, “While this ship is physically capable of completing this mission, we will remain committed to our goal. I will not countenance turning back, and I do not want to hear that suggested again.” Looking at Mitchell, he added, “I appreciate that a part of your job is to play devil’s advocate, but my decision is final.”
“Yes, sir,” Mitchell said.
Exiles of Earth: Rebellion Page 19