‘Tell me everything you know about those eight people,’ Vee asked. ‘Then tell me everything you know about all the ones who have died whilst on board this ship.’
I could see where she was going with this but I doubted it would do much good. Still, Vee might see something that Anjuli and I had missed.
I could only hope.
57
The overhead lights were on their dimmest setting, casting subdued amber throughout the room. I lay in bed on my back staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Nathan wasn’t having the same problem. He lay on his side, his arm around my waist and he was dead to the world.
Inappropriate phrase.
I’d seen enough of death to last me five lifetimes. I was so weary of it. And now someone was out to get Nathan. I glanced at him whilst he slept. He looked so peaceful, almost boyish. Why would anyone want to harm him? Was it because he’d gone through the joining ceremony with me? It was ironic that the refugees I’d picked up from Barros 5 considered me part of the Authority, an elite, yet amongst this group I was the one on the outside. Because they saw me as part of the Authority, I knew that some of the crew still didn’t trust me. I had hoped that over time as they got to know me, they’d come to realize I was on their side. These so-called accidents had made the task that much harder. And if Nathan stuck with me, how soon before he lost his friends because of it?
Or worse still, lost his life?
Quite frankly, I envied Nathan his ability to sleep. The wheels were spinning in my head. It rankled that some of Nathan’s friends and colleagues thought that I might have had something to do with what happened in the engine room.
Like I would ever harm Nathan.
I had to admit, it’d hurt when I found out he’d been with Anjuli trying to figure out what had happened. Wasn’t that the sort of thing the two of us should do together? I understood what he’d said about keeping me out of it so as not to be accused of manufacturing any data or evidence that might prove my innocence, but to be honest that didn’t help.
I’d just have to find a way to accept that Nathan and Anjuli were good friends and probably always would be. I had to find a way to be cool with that. Besides, he’d joined with me, not her. That was the one fact I needed to cling onto whenever I got twitchy about Nathan’s and Anjuli’s relationship. This was my problem to solve, not Nathan’s. I could wish that my brother had kept his mouth shut about Erica’s suspicions. Those words were like slow poison that had been dripped into my ears.
Slowly the hours ticked by and still I couldn’t sleep. Sometime in the night, Nathan had turned away and was now lying with his back to me. In the end I just stopped fighting it and decided to start my shift on the bridge an hour earlier than scheduled. Staring at the ceiling was serving no purpose at all.
I slipped out of bed, had a quick shower and was getting dressed in my work uniform when Nathan woke up.
‘W-what’re you doing?’ he asked drowsily.
‘Going to the bridge,’ I replied.
Nathan checked the wall clock. ‘Our shift doesn’t start for another hour.’
‘I can’t sleep.’ My tone was terse. I wasn’t in a chatty mood.
‘Wait for me to have a shower and get dressed and I’ll come with you.’ Nathan threw back the covers and swung his legs out of the bed. He started to take off his pendant.
‘I’ll see you in there then. I have a few things to take care of that can’t wait,’ I replied, already heading for the door.
‘Vee . . .’
At that moment the door alarm sounded.
‘Who the hell is that at this time of the morning?’ Nathan grumbled.
I waited for him to slip on his shorts, before opening the door. It was Erica and her expression was stiff to say the least.
‘Nihao, Erica. Can I help you?’
‘Hello, Vee. I was hoping to speak to Nathan,’ she said formally. ‘In private.’
Erica and I hadn’t exactly been best friends since our first altercation but now the air between us was distinctly more frosty. She definitely thought I had something to do with all the accidents on board the Aidan.
‘What d’you want, Erica?’ Nathan’s tone wasn’t much warmer than Erica’s as he addressed her.
Erica moved past me, needing no further invitation. I turned to Nathan. ‘I’ll see you on the bridge,’ I said, happy to leave them to it.
I crossed the corridor to Aidan’s room, placing my hand against the palmlock. To my surprise, the door didn’t immediately open. I pressed on his door alert. I had no right to feel aggrieved – after all, I’d told my brother that he couldn’t just swan into my quarters whenever he liked. He’d obviously decided privacy should be a two-way street.
Aidan’s door hissed open and he stood at the entrance blocking my way.
‘May I come in?’ I asked when it became clear he wasn’t going to move.
Almost reluctantly, he stepped to one side and allowed me to enter his quarters. I crossed the room to sit on his bed. He remained standing.
‘Aidan, it feels like we haven’t had a proper conversation in a while.’
‘That’s because we haven’t,’ said Aidan.
My fault, I knew. I’d been a bit caught up in my new life with Nathan.
‘How are you?’ I asked.
‘Fine,’ Aidan replied curtly.
Well, my brother wasn’t making this easy for me.
‘Why are you here, Vee?’
‘I wanted to talk to you about the . . . accident in the engine room yesterday.’
‘Accident?’ Aidan said pointedly.
‘That’s what the commander and I are officially calling it,’ I said.
‘I’ve got news for you, Vee. Everyone knows that what happened yesterday and what happened to Mei, Jaxon and Saul in the airlock weren’t accidents,’ said Aidan.
‘How did they learn that?’ I asked, dismayed.
‘Vee, get real. We were never going to be able to hide that fact for long.’ Aidan sat down beside me on the bed.
‘But nothing has been officially confirmed by the commander or me,’ I protested.
‘Nothing has been denied either. The rumours are rife.’
I slumped back onto Aidan’s bed. I had hoped that by the time the majority of the crew found out the truth, we’d also have answers for them. I dreaded to think what this was going to do to crew morale.
I sat up again. ‘Aidan, is there anything you can tell me about who’s responsible for these deaths?’
Aidan shook his head. ‘The nanites were programmed to activate the plasma arcs and the order came from every control panel on board simultaneously.’
‘That’s impossible.’
‘Nevertheless, that’s how the computer recorded it – as coming from each command panel at once.’
‘Maybe the command came from the original panel a millisecond before all the others?’ I said hopefully. If so, then at least we could pin down the original command panel used and crosscheck it against who was using it at the time.
‘Sorry, Vee, I already thought of that. When I say simultaneous, that’s what I mean.’
I sighed. ‘So what you’re telling me is we’ve had two more deaths and we’re no closer to catching the culprit?’
‘In a word of one syllable – yes,’ said Aidan. He regarded me. ‘Still glad the refugees came on board, sis?’
58
Today wasn’t shaping up to be any better than yesterday. I’d arrived on the bridge thirty minutes before my watch was due to start and Mum had still sent me back down to the engine room. We’d barely said a word to each other that wasn’t work-related in two days.
Thankfully, Darren hadn’t put me back on cabling duties. I had to finish sorting out the coolant ratios, and then work with Anjuli to find ways to increase the engine’s efficiency by at least another three per cent. The modifications Vee had made to the engine already had it running at optimal capacity. I don’t know where Darren thought Anjuli and I would
find an extra three per cent, but I wasn’t about to argue with him. Life was too short.
Hours later, the coolant ratios sorted, Anjuli and I were sitting at a panel trying various efficiency permutations. At least that’s what I was doing. Anjuli, it turns out, was doing something entirely different.
‘Nathan, I’ve been over these calculations five times,’ Anjuli began, her voice barely above a whisper. ‘D’you remember that story Vee told about how she sabotaged the engines of the Mazon ships before she rescued us from Barros 5?’
‘Yeah?’ Where was Anjuli going with this?
‘Well, even wearing a protection suit, Vee would’ve lasted five maybe six seconds maximum in the Mazon engine core and that’s with Aidan diverting most of the power from the ship’s energy reserves to wrap her in a nano-field. Maybe seven seconds, if God was standing beside her at the time. But no more. She certainly couldn’t have stayed in the engine cores for ten seconds or more like she said. So either she’s lying about the time she spent in each Mazon engine core or—’
‘Or?’ I prompted.
‘She’s not telling the truth,’ said Anjuli.
I frowned, unimpressed by Anjuli’s attempts to be witty. So Vee was out by a couple of seconds. So what?
When she saw the look on my face, Anjuli sighed. ‘Nathan, I’m not trying to stir up trouble between the two of you but, believe me, she’s either lying or hiding something.’
‘Like what?’
‘If I knew that, I’d know as much as her,’ Anjuli replied. ‘I like Vee, I really do, but something is rotten in the state of Denmark. There’s something Vee’s not telling us.’
My frown deepened as I listened to Anjuli. I wanted to argue with her but how could I when I was beginning to reach the same conclusion?
‘And another thing,’ said Anjuli, warming to her theme. ‘Have you notice how Aidan has changed since we got here?’
‘Changed how?’
‘His voice has got deeper.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it hasn’t.’
‘I’m telling you, his voice has changed since we first arrived,’ Anjuli insisted.
OK, Anjuli was definitely losing the plot.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Anjuli protested. ‘It’s true.’
‘No need to bite my head off. Look, if there is something going on, I’ll find out what it is,’ I said. ‘But you’re not to go round spreading gossip and rumours.’
‘Of course not. But whatever it is, Nathan, be careful,’ said Anjuli. ‘I suspect it may have something to do with the reason people are dying.’
59
We’d been travelling through Mazon space for a while now and the tension on board was so thick I could almost taste it. Two days had passed since the accident in the engine room and even in the mess hall, the talk was subdued rather than the raucous chatter it had been a week ago. In a little over seventy-two hours, we’d reach the wormhole which would take us out of Mazon space, but it felt like irrevocable damage had been done. Everyone was watching everyone else. Suspicion walked the corridors of the ship. And it had entered the sleeping quarters that Nathan and I shared. Conversation which had been unforced and easy before was now strained. More than once I caught him watching me, a strange, brooding look in his eyes.
‘Nate, what’s wrong?’ I asked him, more than once.
‘I’m waiting for you to talk to me,’ he replied.
I didn’t know what that meant and I told him so. But that’s as far as the conversation went. It hadn’t taken long for our joining to hit its first hurdle. I was desperate to figure out what it would take to get us back to where we’d been. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of a single thing. I couldn’t figure out what Nathan wanted from me and he wouldn’t – or couldn’t – tell me.
Eating in the mess hall had become an ordeal. As I sat down, others would get up and go to another table to eat. Conversations stopped when I drew near and started again once I departed. As a consequence, I took to eating alone in my room when Nathan was working or eating in Aidan’s quarters when Nathan wasn’t on shift. I learned it was possible to have people all around you and to still be alone. In fact, having people around just made it worse. Before, in my loneliness I’d had a whole ship to roam around in. Now, if I went anywhere except the bridge I felt I was looked on as an intruder. On my own ship.
The previous night, when Aidan and I had been eating alone in his quarters, he said out of nowhere, ‘Vee, I don’t want to worry you but . . . you need to be on your guard. Now, more than ever.’
‘Why?’
‘Too many people on board believe you had something to do with the deaths that have occurred,’ Aidan replied. ‘You’re the topic of most conversations.’
‘Why haven’t you figured out who’s really responsible for all those deaths yet?’ I asked sharply.
‘Why haven’t you?’ asked Aidan evenly.
‘Believe me, I’ve tried,’ I sighed. ‘So what are people saying about me?’
‘Maybe you should ask your husband that?’
‘We haven’t had a proper conversation in days,’ I admitted. ‘We never seem to share the same shifts any more.’
‘At his request,’ Aidan said.
‘What?’
‘He requested different shifts to you.’ Aidan frowned. ‘I thought you knew that.’
Just for a moment, my heart stopped beating. I swear it did. Just for a moment.
‘That’s news to me,’ I replied quietly.
So Nathan was beginning to believe the gossip too? Why else would he request different shifts so we never had the chance to be together?
‘Vee, you should have a conversation with Anjuli,’ said my brother carefully.
I frowned. ‘Why?’
‘Speak to Anjuli, but not with Nathan present,’ said Aidan. ‘Or better yet, I’ll speak to her and you can be hidden in the background listening to our conversation. That way you’ll hear the truth.’
‘About what?’
‘Just trust me, sis. All right?’
‘No. Not till you tell me what this is all about,’ I said.
‘Vee, you need to know what everyone else on this ship already knows and it’s best you hear the truth from Anjuli,’ said Aidan. ‘I’m asking you to trust me. You know I’ve always got your back.’
‘So you want to speak to Anjuli and you want me to be somewhere where I can eavesdrop without being seen?’
He nodded.
My gut was telling me this was a really bad idea but Aidan wouldn’t have suggested such a thing if it hadn’t been necessary, not to mention urgent.
‘So when and where will your conversation take place?’ I asked at last.
And Aidan told me exactly what he had in mind.
60
‘Nathan, this is the second time in three days that you’ve been in here,’ frowned Doctor Liana. ‘What’s going on with you?’
I shrugged, shuffling to move further along the bed. I just wanted Doctor Sheen to patch me up, preferably without the inquisition. The medical bay really wasn’t my favourite place. ‘It’s just gym aches and pains. I like to work out for a while after each shift.’
‘Nathan, this is me,’ said the doctor as she scanned my leg, also checking my prosthesis for damage. ‘What’s wrong?’
I sighed. ‘The accident in the engine room is just preying on my mind, that’s all.’
‘Corbyn and Ian . . . Yes, that was tragic,’ the doctor nodded.
‘It was also deliberate,’ I said.
The doctor’s head snapped up at that. ‘What d’you mean? The rumours are true?’
‘Hasn’t Mum told you?’
Doctor Liana shook her head.
Why on Callisto wouldn’t Mum tell the ship’s doctor what was going on?
‘Well, Mum and Vee haven’t broadcast this so keep it to yourself, but someone hacked into the ship’s computer and reset the plasma arcs knowing there were people still inside those conduits. I
was one of the people who was supposed to be in there, so I think someone wants to see me dead.’
Deep creases ruled lines in Doctor Liana’s forehead and around her mouth. ‘No, that can’t be right.’
‘I’ve gone over it and over it. Someone tried to kill me along with Corbyn, Ian and Anjuli. Anjuli only just made it out, and if Darren hadn’t reassigned me at the last moment, I would’ve been on the list of those who’ve died on this ship.’
‘Why on Earth would anyone want to kill you – or anyone else on board for that matter?’
I sighed again. ‘No idea.’
Doctor Liana resumed her scan.
‘The thing is, if someone does want me dead then I don’t want Vee anywhere near me. I’d never forgive myself if she got hurt because of me,’ I admitted.
Doctor Liana frowned. ‘Have you told Vee that?’
‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘She’s got enough on her plate without me adding to it. I’m just trying to stay out of her way to keep her safe.’
‘But you two share quarters,’ Doctor Liana said. ‘You’re sharing a life now. I would’ve said that was impossible.’
‘Not impossible, but bloody difficult,’ I replied. ‘I’ve changed all my shifts so that we’re working at different times and, like I said, I try to stay away from her as much as possible but it’s so hard. I want to be with my wife. I didn’t join with her to live like this.’
‘Ah! Now I get the reason for the bruises and sprains all over your body,’ the doctor said. ‘You’ve been taking out your frustrations on the gym equipment?’
Damn it! I was blushing.
The doctor’s grin broadened. ‘And using the training bots no doubt. Have you been running a few attack and defend scenarios? You against how many?’
‘I’m up to eight,’ I muttered.
‘Eight! Are you serious?’ The doc’s eyebrows shot up. ‘And you’re still standing? Nathan, you’re lucky you haven’t broken something, or worse. As it is, you’ve sprained your right ankle and you have severe contusions all over your body and up and down your left leg in particular.’
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