by C. J. Nash
“I think you may have broken some ribs, but I’ll live. Get me my notepad.” Janet sat up painfully and leaned against the wall.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you that hard.”
“No. You did what you had to. Now get me my notepad.”
“But I broke your ribs.”
“Just get me the damned notepad!” Janet growled, clutching her ribs.
“I’m sorry,” said Mason, as he held out the ‘pad.
Janet tapped on the notepad for a couple of minutes. Then she put the ‘pad down and looked up at Mason. “Okay, I’ve got a doctor coming. Thank you, Mason.”
“Thank me? I broke your ribs.”
“You saved my life. When I touched the LaundryMate my muscles locked. I know I must have screamed, but after that, I couldn’t draw another breath. I doubt that I would be alive now if you hadn’t tackled me.”
“What possessed you to come into the laundry room anyway?”
“My stockings are still in your LaundryMate. I forgot them this morning. I figured I could come and get them and wait for you here.” Janet winced and clutched her chest. “Would you mind if I don’t talk anymore?”
Mason placed a fingertip to his lips and sat beside Janet. She slipped her hand into his and closed her eyes. When Mason saw a smile on her lips, he thought, “I could fall in love with this woman if she would only allow it.” But his thought remained unspoken. For now, he was content to sit beside the most beautiful woman of two worlds and clasp her hand.
****
The doctor arrived and, whenever possible, Mason spoke for Janet. After the doctor had listened to Janet’s heartbeat and lungs and he had collected blood samples he asked Mason to leave.
Mason started for the door. “Stay,” Janet whispered. Mason stayed.
The doctor examined the bruises; x-rays images were captured. After viewing the images on his notepad, the doctor said, “Your ribs aren’t broken, but bruised ribs can be just as painful. I’m going to have you stay overnight in the hospital just as a precaution. An electric shock sometimes causes problems that aren’t immediately evident. I don’t really think you have anything to worry about but I want you in the hospital, just in case. I’ve got a transport on the way. You’re probably going to be sore for a couple of weeks and I can give you some pills for the pain. But for now, the best prescription is: If it hurts, don’t do it.” The doctor sat and waited for the transport to arrive.
****
Once settled in a room at the hospital and monitors were attached, Janet whispered to Mason. “Don’t touch the LaundryMate. I will get a technician to check it out after I get out of the hospital.”
Mason offered, “I can get a technician. Okay. I don’t know how but I can get the governor to do it for me.”
“No,” Janet whispered, with a painful wince. “I don’t want the governor to know about this—not yet anyway. I want to be there when the technician checks the LaundryMate. Just don’t touch it—it’s not safe.”
“I wasn’t planning on touching it. I wasn’t even planning on going back to my apartment while you are here. I’m going to stay here with you until either you or the nurses kick me out.”
Janet smiled. “Stay.”
Mason stayed. The nurses did not ask him to leave, and at Janet’s request a cot was set up in the room. Janet selected a movie on the entertainment display, but the pain medication soon closed her eyes. Mason tried to watch the movie but his eyes and his thoughts always wandered back to the woman that he was not allowed to love.
When the movie finished, Mason started another. He brushed his fingertips along the cheek of the sleeping woman. Sometime later, he kissed Janet’s cheek and forehead. Still later, he dared to lightly kiss the forbidden lips as the most beautiful woman of two worlds continued to sleep. He knew he had no right to take such liberties but he had fallen hopelessly and totally in love with the woman that could never be his.
Day turned into evening. Evening turned into night. Still Mason sat by the bedside, sometimes clasping a hand, sometimes caressing a cheek, sometimes stealing a sweet kiss. And, sometime during the night, Mason found the peace that comes only with sleep.
****
Mason awoke. Slowly, he became aware that he was still sitting in a chair and that his face was buried in the sheets of the hospital bed. He felt fingertips gently stroking his head, apparently in an attempt to comb his hair into something that did not resemble a rodent’s abode. He lifted his head. “How do you feel?”
Janet smiled. “I think I am better but it hurts if I take a deep breath. And I don’t dare cough or sneeze or laugh.”
“Did you sleep okay?”
“Pretty well and apparently better than you did. You should have used the cot.”
Mason stretched, wincing from a mild back pain. “I should have used the cot,” he agreed.
Janet pressed a button on the hospital comm terminal. From the terminal a voice answered, “On my way Miss Edwards.”
“No, don’t come,” Janet protested. “I just want to know how soon I can leave.”
“Very well, Miss Edwards. I’ll send the doctor in as soon as he arrives. Should be about fifteen minutes or so.”
“Prompt service,” commented Mason.
“There are advantages to being the governor’s personal assistant. Would you mind doing me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Is that transport still outside your apartment?”
“It was there yesterday.”
“Would you mind bringing it to the hospital? I’m not sure I’m ready to do a lot of walking.”
****
When Mason returned with the transport, Janet was ready to leave. “Are you going to be okay at your apartment?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Janet replied. “But first, we have to go to your apartment.”
“Why? Something there that you need?”
“No. I called a technician and he is going to meet us there.”
“Couldn’t it wait? Shouldn’t you be taking it easy?”
“I’m okay. I’m just sore. And I’ve got the technician coming.”
“But couldn’t that wait?”
“No. I’m in a hurry to know why your LaundryMate tried to kill me.”
****
The technician was outside Mason’s apartment building when they arrived. He extended his hand. “Walter Lewinski, chief technician. Everyone calls me Lou.”
Mason accepted the hand. “Good to meet you, Lou. Just call me Mason. Chief technician?”
“Yeah. I don’t normally go out on trouble calls, but Miss Edwards asked for me personally.”
Inside the apartment Lou began to disassemble the LaundryMate. “Almost all the appliances on Mars are low voltage and intrinsically safe. The LaundryMate is a special case. The ozone generator requires high voltage at high frequency. For that reason, the LaundryMates utilize triple-redundancy safety circuits. The safeties are monitored and there should be no possibility that anyone could receive an electric shock from the appliance.”
“Then what happened?” asked Mason.
“Still have a few more panels to remove before I can say. But, as I was saying, on occasion—rarely—one of the safeties will fail. Always a possibility. But for two of them to fail at the same time without shutting the appliance down…I would say that is a possibility, but as far as I know, it has never happened. But three failures. No, that is impossible.”
“If it is impossible,” asked Mason, “then how did it happen?” Are you saying that someone deliberately tampered with this LaundryMate?”
“I’m not saying anything until I examine the safeties.”
“But it’s a possibility?”
“Anything is possible—except for one of these things to electrocute someone. Ah…here’s the first safety. I’ll just ask it why it failed.” Lou connected a cable between the defective module and his notepad. “Nothing really unusual here.”
“Then it didn’t fai
l?” asked Mason.
“No, it failed. But it was a normal failure, no indication that it was tampered with. Just a couple of minutes and I will be able to check the next module.” Lou proceeded to remove the next panel and connect to the second failed module. “Normal failure here, too. No sign of tampering. Wait…Let me see something.” Lou reexamined the first module. “Interesting.”
Mason peered at the module but had no idea what he should be seeing. “What’s interesting?”
“Maybe nothing. But wait until I can access the third safety.” Lou removed another panel and before connecting to it he pointed to a blackened component. “You see that?”
“What am I looking for?”
Lou connected the cable. “You see where that component is burned?”
“Yes.”
“If it were an isolated incident, it would mean nothing. But look at the other two modules. Each one has a component with a similar burn.”
“And that is significant. I thought you said that those were normal failures.”
“And this one reports a normal failure also. The burned components, taken separately would not be of any significance. But what is unusual is that those are the only components in each of the safeties that are stamped with the identifying serial numbers of the safety. I will capture the firmware on this module and then do the same for the other two. I can get the serial numbers from the firmware.” He proceeded to download the firmware from the third module and then he reconnected to the first two and downloaded their firmware as well. “Hold on while I access the history file for this LaundryMate.”
Mason asked, “Then someone did tamper with my LaundryMate?”
When Lou didn’t answer Janet asked, “Did someone tamper with the LaundryMate? Don’t ignore Mason. I know he represents the NAU, but I trust him.”
Lou nodded. “Okay. Sorry, Mr. Turner. I think that the LaundryMate might have been tampered with, but I won’t know for certain until I check something. Ah…Here it is now. The serial numbers of those three safeties do not match the serial numbers that are supposed to be in this LaundryMate. The safety devices apparently all experienced normal failures at some time in the past inside other LaundryMates. Three failures at the same time—impossible. But three separate failures installed in one machine—someone was trying to kill you. And I might not have checked the firmware if I hadn’t noticed that all three of those components were burned.”
“So, how do we find out who did it?” asked Mason.
Lou answered, “It would have to be a technician. I don’t think anyone else would know how to sabotage the machine. But, more importantly, only a technician would have access to these failed safety devices. That’s only six people besides myself.”
“So, how did he get in here?” Mason asked.
Lou shrugged and looked toward Janet. Janet nodded, almost imperceptibly. Lou answered, “A technician could do it if he used an emergency access code.”
“Is there any way that you can find out who used an emergency code to gain access to my apartment?”
Another glance at Janet and another nod. “I can read the access log. Just have to connect to the main diagnostic center for your apartment.” He located the appropriate jack in the breaker box. “Okay. Reading the log now. Sorry. No help here. The log’s been erased. There are no records before Janet’s arrival yesterday.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Mason.
“Not much I can do at this point. I will personally replace your LaundryMate. And I will limit emergency access to only myself. Let’s see…Authorized access for both you and Miss Edwards? Should I remove Miss Edwards from the list?”
Before Mason could answer, Janet spoke up. “No, you will not. And I want you to recover that log if it is at all possible. I want everything said in this apartment this morning to be confidential. I especially do not want the governor to know that an attempt has been made on Mason’s life.”
“Don’t you think that Mr. Turner will report that to the governor, himself?”
Janet and Lou both looked at Mason. Mason shrugged. “I can keep a secret.”
Janet placed a hand on Lou’s shoulder. “I trust Mason. I think you should, too.”
“I’ll consider it. If you’re going to be here, I can bring a replacement LaundryMate tomorrow morning.”
Janet replied, “We’ll be here. By the way, how soon can Mason get his notepad?”
“I’ll bring it with me when I come to install the LaundryMate.”
When the door closed behind Lou, Mason asked, “Why did he have to ask your permission before telling me anything.”
“What are you talking about? He never asked my permission to say anything.”
“I’m not blind. At least twice he looked at you when I asked a question. I saw you nod. He was asking permission. If you had shaken your head no would he have told me anything?”
“Okay. You’re right. If I had told him to keep quiet, he would have told you absolutely nothing. You will find that is true of almost every colonist. If you find one who is willing to talk to you, be very suspicious.”
“You told Lou to trust me. Can I trust Lou?”
“You can trust Lou. That is why I insisted that he come here personally. I suspected that if the LaundryMate had been tampered with, a technician must have done it, but I trust Lou. I am certain that he would hide evidence from you but never from me.”
“Would you hide evidence from me?”
“If I thought it would jeopardize the colony, yes.”
“Are you hiding anything from me now?”
“If I said that I was not, would you believe me?”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Janet changed the subject. “What do you have to eat?”
“I’ve still got those nutrient bars.”
“You haven’t bought anything else?”
“Haven’t had time. And I don’t know where a food store is.”
“Okay, I’ll show you the food store tomorrow—or the day after.”
“Nothing happens in a hurry on Mars.”
“Nothing happens in a hurry,” confirmed Janet. “I’m hurting and I need to rest.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Go to the cafeteria and bring us back a hot lunch. And tell them to prepare us a dinner that we can heat later.”
“What do you want me to get for you?”
“Just tell them that it’s for me. They know what I like. While you’re gone, I’m going to get a shower and go to bed in your guest room. If I’m asleep when you get back, wake me. I don’t want my food to get cold.”
“Are you sure that you will be okay while I’m gone?”
“I’ll be okay. I’m hurting but I’m not dying. Hurry back, I’m starving.”
Mason pressed his lips to Janet’s forehead. “I’ll take the transport. It will be faster than walking.”
Janet’s eyes locked with Mason’s when she felt his lips, but she did not pull away from his touch.
****
The next day, the replacement LaundryMate was installed and, as promised, Mason received his notepad. Janet declared that she would not be going out that day and, even after the LaundryMate had processed her clothes, she continued to wear Mason’s shirts. “They’re comfortable,” she insisted.
Mason had no complaints; the shirts were just long enough to be barely decent and the view was spectacular. Early that morning, Mason purchased meals and snacks to take them through the day which they spent watching classic movies.
Chapter 8
A CONFIDENTIAL MEETING
The following morning Janet was already dressed in her own clothes when Mason awoke. “Today, we’re going to the grocery store. I’ll set up your credit and I’ve already entered a shopping list on your notepad.”
“On my notepad?”
“Well you need a shopping list. It isn’t easy to remember everything you need the first time you buy groceries. Just get everything on the list and then buy whatever extras t
o suit your own taste.”
“But this is on my notepad.”
“Of course, it is on your notepad. I already have a shopping list on my notepad.”
“Shouldn’t I be the only one who has access to my notepad?”
Janet gave a little laugh and then clutched her ribs. “Ouch! Note to self: Don’t laugh.” And then to Mason, “I could pretend that I don’t have access to your notepad, but you would never believe me. I might as well be totally honest about it. If I get curious about what you put in your notepad, I’m going to read it.”
“And if I don’t let you use my notepad, then what?”
“Not a problem. I’ll just link to it with my notepad. If you want to keep secrets from me, you had best keep them up here.” Janet tapped her forehead.
“I’ll remember that.”
Janet grinned. “And you’d better not keep secrets from me. Let’s go get breakfast. I’m hungry enough that I could eat a horse—made from chicken, of course.”
After a brief transport ride to the cafeteria, Janet proved that the painful ribs had done nothing to diminish her appetite. After breakfast, Janet directed Mason to the grocery shop where they went inside and set up his credit.
Once his credit was established Mason asked, “No gratuity? Since when do you set up my credit without padding a little extra?”
Janet crinkled her nose and grinned. “The grocery shop isn’t set up to take gratuities. Instead you get to pay the tourist rate which is about twice what I pay. The governor pays the tourist rate, too. Only colonists get the regular rate.”
“Expensive to be a tourist on Mars.”
“We do everything we can to discourage tourists. I don’t need to be walking around while you buy your groceries so, if you don’t mind, would you take me over to the tech building? Just drop me there and then come back for me after you finish shopping.”
“Why the tech building?”
“Lou and I are old friends. I want to thank him for his help and I just want to spend some time with him.”