Lt. James looked around the room, “Kim, did he get your gun?” Kim nodded.
Lt. James touched his cell intercom button, “Hoch? I’ve got her. Beware! The perp took her gun. So we have to consider the saboteur is now armed and dangerous.” Both Hoch and Kim groaned at the mention of her lost weapon.
Lt. James went on, “I’m taking Danby back to our quarters. We cannot assume she’s safe in her rooms and we can’t take her to the Doctor for a checkup. Until we figure out Dr. Cruz’s tie-in to this whole thing, we cannot trust the good doctor. And don’t discuss this with anyone in the executive ranks. Especially Bolino. If we really need executive aid, we’ll go to Sand.”
Lt. James sat back and watched as Kim slowly got to her feet and stumbled very unsteady out the doorway. She made it to his vehicle and dropped heavily into the passenger seat. She breathed deeply for several minutes. Each breath seemed to clear her head more and her stomach had stopped doing flips.
He walked up to the cart. “Why the hell didn’t you wait for Hoch or me before you went running off to this Godforsaken spot? Are you that hungry to claim all the glory for yourself on this case?”
Kim shook her head. “Well, if I’d had an idea of getting all the glory for myself, my current situation of having been stupid enough to go it alone, being overpowered, and having my weapon taken would certainly change that. Don’t you think?”
He got in and began the drive back to his quarters without saying a word.
At that moment, all hell broke loose as the crystal lab crashed three hundred meters away.
28
Crashed Crystals
Kim and Lt. James were the first to the crash site. The lab was scattered over a long, narrow area of the station’s floor. Nothing remained of the actual structure. It had fallen apart as it rolled, being sliced apart by the knife blades, and struck the many stationary objects along its path.
Broken crystals lay everywhere and twinkled when the observer caught them in the light at just the right angles.
Kim picked up a broken shard about fifteen centimeters long and placed it in a plastic evidence bag. She really had no idea what the crystal was for, but being the law enforcement professional she was, she took a piece as possible evidence.
Kim keyed her cell and called Adam Sands. “Adam? Get your ass over to quadrant B near closet 21. One of the flying workspaces from Core City just crashed to the station floor. There is crap everywhere. There may be casualties. And send someone up to Core City and see why the tethers broke, would you?”
Kim placed the evidence bag in the cart, and then she and Lt. James began slowly walking along the side of the debris field scanning for anything that might be a clue.
It was Lt. James that found the dying crewman. Blood was still spurting from sliced arteries and his entire torso looked like a bloody sieve. Lt. James swore he could see daylight coming through the man’s abdomen. He examined the man and decided there was nothing he could do for him. Be the time the examination was over, the man had expired.
Kim had located the other crewman with the severed foot and had torn off a piece of the man’s pants and made a tourniquet out of it. She managed to staunch the bleeding and tried to make the man as comfortable as possible. She called for Francine and her nursing assistant to come and provide emergency services.
After ensuring the man was okay, she returned to find Lt. James bent over the now dead victim. Knowing there was nothing more to be done for the injured, they began to search for evidence again.
They hadn’t been searching for more than a few minutes when Brad Bolino, Adam Sand, Greg Ballard, Reginald O’Donnell, and about half a dozen other department heads arrived at the scene.
The group walked into the debris field looking at the destruction about a hundred meters from where Kim and Lt. James stood.
Suddenly, Reginald O’Donnell became very agitated. Kim saw him waving wildly and heatedly saying something to the group with him. He pointed down and all of the group’s eyes followed his pointed finger. The group began to lift their feet inspecting their shoes. They, then, began very gingerly to move back out of the debris field. The group made it to the edge and they all looked at the soles of their shoes again.
O’Donnell yelled to Kim and Lt. James, “Come away from the wreckage! You can be badly cut by the crystal blades you see strewn about! I didn’t realize this was the crystal lab. These crystals can tear apart your shoe soles, and cut right through your foot. You wouldn’t even feel it happening.”
Bolino, Sands, Lt. James, and Kim discussed the situation for several minutes and in the end were all nodding their heads.
It was agreed that O’Donnell would take control of the scene and have his science team from the crystal lab deal with the crystals. Adam assigned Greg to coordinate the site cleanup after O’Donnell gave the all clear. Hoch would be dispatched to look for evidence once the all clear was given.
Kim staggered and grabbed Lt. James’ arm. She moaned and shook her head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs that had just invaded her head again. She was still feeling the effects of her encounter in Closet 21.
Lt. James motioned to Kim to get into his cart.
“Come on, let’s get going. We both need a few minutes of down time. We’ll go to my quarters as planned and make a sandwich and some coffee. You need to rest for a few minutes,” Lt. James said to her.
He pushed the engine button on keypad button, and, turning the cart, headed for his quarters at a low speed to try to keep Kim comfortable.
29
Orders
Rafael was dead tired. He had not slept since the string of attacks had started on Storm Killer. He had followed his orders and now had run to his place of refuge in one of the emergency closets. He had prepared a small hiding space for just this point in time. This space was hidden behind a false wall he had erected at the furthest point from the closet’s door. While it would not stand up to close scrutiny, anyone looking into the enclosure from the doorway would not detect the false wall.
He had stretched out to take a short nap and had already been sleeping for over two hours. The cell phone in his vest jacket began to ring and startled the sleeping man awake.
Rafael fumbled for the phone. He was instantly awake. The only one who knew about this phone was the person giving him his orders.
He clicked the green button on the phone. “Rafael,” he spoke.
He listened to the caller carefully. “Yes, yes, I got that. Where are the explosives stored? Really? How did you manage to get those aboard the station? Sorry. Yes, I understand, don’t ask you such questions. Really? This is my next to last task for you?”
“What do I do with the item you want me to remove from the control console?”
He listened to the voice and frowned. “You want me to destroy it? How will they ever regain station control without it?”
He listened again and felt more at ease. The voice assured him that there was a spare in station stores that would only take the station staff a few minutes to locate.
The voice said a few extra minutes of chaos would ensure the station would never be allowed to go live again.
“Afterward, I go to the chapel message drop? Okay, I will.”
He repeated the instructions he’d just received and the caller hung up. Rafael buttoned the phone off and rose from the bed. My next to last task! He thought. Once these two remaining tasks were done, he could seek sanctuary with his friends above.
He left his hiding place and headed to where the voice on the phone had told him to go. As he was told, the cache of materials for his last assignment was there. A small canister, a small hose, a spool of wire, and two small metal boxes, each weighing less than two pounds, were all the materials he would need for this assignment. The only tools he took were a hand laser-cutting torch and a pair of wire cutters.
He loaded the items into a backpack and, hoisting the backpack, set off at a fast pace toward the target.
Just before arri
ving at the target area, he swung into the environmental control area and used his badge to access the panel containing the various air handling system controls. Finding the one he wanted, he turned the valve off. This effectively shutdown any air recycling in his target area.
He was not worried about surveillance cameras. His caller had assured him that the caller had taken care of the pesky cameras.
Arriving at the most hidden bulkhead to the room he was interested in, he set down the backpack and extracted the hand cutter. It took only a few seconds to cut a small hole into the target area. He pulled the canister from the backpack and attached the hose to it. Sliding the hose through the hole he’d just made, he turned the valve on the canister. The contents of the canister hissed out into the target area.
He looked at his watch and started counting off four minutes. That was the amount of time his sister had told him it would take for someone to succumb to the content of the container. Then he waited.
30
Escalation
Hoch was waiting for them when they arrived at Lt. James’ quarters. He had stopped at Kim’s and brought her a clean uniform. They filled Hoch in on the crystal lab crash site and the now open case of murder associated with it.
With no other evidence other than the snapped tethers and the small bomb fragments, there was nothing else to glean from the site.
Kim sighed and said, “Guys, I have to shower. Between my puke, and the debris and dust at the lab crash site, I’m a mess. So excuse me, while I clean up.”
As she showered, the men discussed what the next step should be. Hoch was all for requesting a search of Dr. Cruz’s quarters for the missing weapon and her store of examination gloves. While Lt. James agreed, he wanted the results of deeper background checks on Denuza, Cruz, and Bolino before tipping their hand to the three suspects. The results were due back from the FBI and INTERPOL within next twelve hours.
Kim joined them as she towel dried her hair. She had put on the fresh uniform after the shower and felt remarkably good considering her recent captivity. She looked at the two men and stated, “I think we should go arrest all three until we get a handle on this whole thing. What’s to stop one or more of them from attempting another attack on Storm Killer? Right now, with the station in full ‘kill’ mode, any saboteur attack could prove devastating to all of us, or even the Earth. Remember, too, one of them has my weapon and may decide to use it.”
Lt. James looked to Hoch who nodded his head. Lt. James replied with a nod and turned to Kim. “OK. You’re right. We can’t let whichever one has the gun to keep it. The station and the personnel are way too vulnerable to be left at the gang of three’s tender mercies.”
Kim nodded agreement and said, “Let’s go round them up.”
Lt. James had retrieved Kim’s backup weapon while she showered and now passed it to her with a slight grin playing at the edges of his mouth. “Try hanging on to this one.” She looked at him sharply; she was about to issue a sharp retort when she saw the humor playing over his facial features.
She responded by laughing out loud and lightly punching him in the arm. “I’ll try.”
“We should interrogate Dr. Cruz first and get some answers about her examination gloves and her anesthetic supply,” Lt. James said through tightly drawn lips.
Lt. James looked at Hoch and requested, “Can you give us a minute? I need to talk to Danby about something personal.” Hoch eyed the two but decided not to say anything; he nodded and walked out without a word.
Kim looked at the lieutenant and asked, “What is it? Is something wrong? Do you want to rip me a new one for screwing things up so badly?”
He shook his head, “No, Kim. I want to ask you how long you’ve been using.”
Kim lifted her head with a start and angrily replied, “Using? Who the hell says I’m using?”
She locked eyes with him and was determined to out last his stare. But as the seconds dragged on and his dark, penetrating gaze seemed to drill through her lie of denial, she dropped her eyes.
“How did you find out?” she asked quietly.
Lt. James explained how he had opened her desk trying to find out where she had gone and had noticed the obvious drug paraphernalia bag. He had seen enough of them in his career to immediately recognize one.
He reached in his pocket and took out the small bag and tossed it to her. “How long?”
She caved in and replied, “Since my hospitalization for my riot injuries. A long time ago now.”
He didn’t say anything so she continued; “I only use it to control some of my pain on really bad days.”
“Is today a bad day?” he asked.
She held her head up and looked right at him, “Yes, it is. I shot up just a while ago. It took the edge off the pain and gave me a real jolt of energy.”
He pondered her statement for a few moments. “Look, Kim, I care about you as a comrade and as a person. Hell, I care about you as a woman. But for Christ’s sake, you have to stop this stuff. You know that as well as I do.”
He stopped for a moment, drew a breath and continued, “I’m not going to say anything, or do anything unless I think this junk is effecting your ability to get the job done. If I see that happening, I won’t hesitate to report this and take over the investigation. We can’t have the investigation slowed down by a druggie who can’t think straight. Do I make myself clear?”
She could only nod in understanding.
“And when this is over, you and I are going to go somewhere, and I am going to stay with you until you get this crap out of your system once and for all. Do you understand me?”
“That could be a long time.” she replied quietly.
“Yes, it could be forever. Maybe it should be forever.”
With that he reached out and touched her cheek as he had when he had found her and untied her in Closet 21. She was happily taken back that he spoke of being with her ‘forever’.
She touched his hand and then he dropped it to his side and gruffly said. “Come on, we have criminals to catch.”
They met Hoch outside of the door and the three security members headed to the Doctor’s small infirmary and found her seated at her desk writing notes on a patient’s medical record. She didn’t seem surprised to see them and waved them to chairs situated across the desk from her asking, “What can I do for you?”
“Dr. Cruz, we have many questions to pose to you and would like for you to voluntarily accompany us to the temporary detention area. We are considering you a ‘person of interest’ at this time.”
Dr. Cruz seemed to have been expecting this action and calmly asked, “Might you inform me as to the reason you call me a ‘person of interest’?”
“Not at this time, Doctor. We’ll discuss that with you during your interrogation. You will now go with Hoch and be detained until we’re ready to question you,” Lt. James ordered firmly.
“But before you go, Dr. Cruz, you will please open your inventory files and give us the key to your medical supplies storage,” Kim added.
“One question for you, Doctor, before you leave,” Kim stated. “Which of your anesthetics has a pungent smell and can put a person out extremely quickly?”
Francine thought for a second and replied, “Halothane. It works extremely fast and has a very pungent odor. Why? Oh, my God, did someone try something with...”
“Never mind that now, we’ll discuss this with you later. Hoch, take her away.” Kim responded sharply cutting her off.
The Doctor looked none too happy as she did as instructed and left with Hoch for the temporary detention.
Lt. James and Kim determined from inventory that there were three canisters of Halothane aboard the station. The inventory also showed that the Doctor used two types of gloves, a powdered examination glove and a non-powdered surgical glove.
They took several of the examination gloves for comparison to the found traces of powder. They found one sealed canister of Halothane in storage and another unsealed
canister in the Doctor’s surgical room. The doctor’s records indicated an appendectomy surgery had been performed that required the use of the Halothane. The quantity remaining in the canister had confirmed that only the amount indicated in the operating room records had been used. There was no sign of the third canister.
By this time, Hoch had returned from locking up Dr. Cruz.
The three headed for the control center where they found Brad standing outside the main door. He was in an animated discussion with Adam. Both men abruptly stopped talking when they saw the three security officers approaching.
Bolino looked at them and said, “What are you doing here? I don’t have time right now for answering any more questions. We have another crisis developing.”
Lt. James took the lead, placing a hand on Bolino’s arm and twisted it behind Bolino’s back in the classic police move. “Bradley Bolino, you are being detained for further questioning regarding the multiple attacks on this station.” He cinched the nylon restraints on Bolino’s wrists.
Bolino gasped, “What the hell? I’ve told you everything I know! Don’t you realize that we are under attack right now?”
The three security officers exchanged glances. “What attack?” Kim asked.
“Two minutes ago we lost contact with the control room. The doors will not open. The shift team will not respond to our calls. The security cameras in and around the control room are turned off. We have no idea what’s going on in there,” Adam responded, “and I’m very concerned. If Storm Killer is not rigidly monitored during the actual storm eye wall heating, anything might happen.”
At that moment, as if to add an exclamation point to Sand’s concerns, the station’s interior lighting dimmed, went out, and then flickered back to a low glow of emergency lighting.
At the same moment the lights dimmed, outside the station, two of the webs of magnifying film changed angles by less than one degree. This caused a narrowing of the intense cone of heat concentrating the beam directly into the very center of the storm’s eye.
Storm Killer Page 10