“This is astounding! I can’t begin to imagine what a boon this could be to the future of mankind and probably alien-kind as well. Her brain . . . my God her brain . . . and the heart! Basically, we’re talking potential immortality.”
Drew and Letty exchanged looks.
“What?” Doc’s gaze shifted anxiously between the two.
“It may not be the boon you imagine,” Letty said. “The only thing we’re sure of is that the nanoids, or nanoparticles, are not of Earth design. At first we thought they’d infected only Earth technology. More accurately, Taleen Industries technology. Then, during our research, three Taleen technicians were cross-contaminated. All three presented with cold-like symptoms accompanied by a rash. Sound familiar?”
Doc nodded. “Feeling ill with cold or flu-like symptoms can be early indications of transplant rejection, though that’s rare. The rash is not as easily explained, but may be a mild allergic reaction? What amazes me is how quickly the subject’s bodies acclimated to the nanoparticles; or, perhaps, the nanoids adapted—”
Doc’s thought processes were ricocheting like a pinball. Letty cut her off. “Anyway, Drew and I identified the hooker monks as carriers who someone specifically dispatched to spread the virus to Dark Landing. And from here . . . well, everywhere I guess. When we questioned them, Tammas indicated similar groups were sent to other locations. The ETOC believes the infecting nanoids may have arrived on every Alliance planet at roughly the same time. And we have no idea where they originated.”
“I need to examine the other two ‘hooker monks’—are we really calling them that?” She grimaced. Letty cast a superior look at Drew. Doc continued. “Anyway, I don’t get the impression that Tammas knows what’s happened to her.”
“No, I don’t think the victims are aware,” Drew agreed. “But I can’t vouch for Ruble or, as much as I hate to accept it, Fitz and Mattie. When I speculate on the end game of whoever’s responsible, it makes me want to space myself.”
Doc looked pensive. “It may be a little late, but I’m issuing a quarantine order for Dark Landing and any docked ships until we can scan everyone. This can’t be too far spread or other doctors would have already discovered and reported it. Though, this is so crazy no one would want to report unless they were absolutely certain, and even then—”
Drew interrupted her. “How long is it going to take to scan everyone? There’s well over five thousand still waiting for passage, and we’re running low on supplies.”
She refocused her attention. “We can easily reset the four dockside airlock scanners to do the job. I would estimate, with sufficient supervisory personnel, we could finish in three or four days. No reason to restrict unloading food and water stores.”
“If we find a few people, or a lot of people, who’ve been contaminated, what do we do with them?” Letty asked.
“Isolate them,” Doc said, “at least in the short term. We’ll start with the four of us, my staff, the security staff, anyone still on the station who self-reported symptoms, then . . . ” She continued to outline an impromptu plan.
They spent the balance of the day implementing Doc’s plan, and discussing ways to minimize the inevitable panic.
~ ~ ∞ ~ ~
Drew and Letty met in the officers’ mess for a late dinner and to play catch up. Drew smiled when Letty ordered a small salad and a large hot fudge sundae.
“What? I’ve been running my ass off all day.” Her look dared him to disapprove.
“Honestly, it sounds good. I’ll have the same.” It made no difference. Neither fresh vegetables nor ice cream were available. They settled for stale sandwiches. He changed the subject. “Doc should finish up the staff scans by midnight. So far, she’s found three people in different stages of . . . I guess we’re calling it transmutation. One from medical and two from security, both isolated now. When we start the civilian scans we’ll probably see more cases. Curtis is worried we may be splitting up families soon. Curtis is worried—go figure.” Drew shook his head, still astonished at his own empathic deficiencies.
He went on. “With Fitzwilliam missing and Doc overwhelmed, CoachStop is abandoning any attempt to oversee management of the station and has transferred full command to me. They’re redirecting their efforts to keeping Dark Landing and their other contracted stations supplied and helping with evacuations. By the way, they’ve received offers of assistance from Taleen Industries. They asked me to thank you.”
Letty nodded.
“In our spare time we’re still trying to track Fitzwilliam and Freelander, but so far no luck.” Drew had taken to using Fitz’s and Mattie’s surnames in an effort to curb his feelings of loss and betrayal. “How about you?”
“An ETOC contingent headed by Rostenkowski herself is on its way here. I spoke to her only briefly, but she solved the nitro mystery. I’ll get to that. Anne said she’d be here in a week; they’re taking a shortcut. Seriously, a week! She cut me off before I could get more information. What shortcut?”
“They must have stabilized a new wormhole,” Drew offered.
“But they make a big deal when they find new clusters. Shouldn’t we know about it?”
“All bureaucracies have their little secrets, especially considering our current circumstances. Still . . . ”
They sat several moments in silence, considering the ramifications of the station being so much closer to Earth.
Cutting three weeks off the journey from Earth was huge. Its discovery would be momentous, and the lead news story for weeks when they announced it. No surprise they’d only found it now. Most wormholes were pinpricks, appearing and disappearing in an instant. Even considering the sheer volume, to find and stabilized any was the miracle of science that allowed human and alien-kind to venture so far from their home worlds. No one knew where an uncharted wormhole led, or what they’d find at the other end. But as long as one of the thousands of nano-probes sent through could safely trace a path back within a reasonable period of time, all advanced races were eager to follow, explore, and claim new territory. The map of known space was spotty—with more Unknown regions than charted ones. Filling in a blank spot on the map caused universal celebration.
“Tell me about the nitro,” Drew said.
“Did you know the human body has enough electricity to charge an old-fashioned, coin battery?”
“It sounds vaguely familiar. What does that have to do with it?”
“The nanoids need an electrical or thermal charge to jumpstart them. Humans provide the charge naturally if they come in contact with inactive nanoids; but, due to their super coolants, processors don’t. The gel formula for the contaminated data vials the Praetorians used was infused with a small amount of nitro. Just enough to ignite a teensy spark when anyone inserts the vial into a processor drive, but not enough to be noticeable. The modified gel also acts as a shielding agent for both the inactive nanoids and the nitro, making them undetectable by most scanners unless they’re specifically calibrated for them. Transmission from a data vial is a one-way, onetime-only process.” She sobered from her otherwise enthusiastic explanation. “Dad must have been carrying several ounces of nitro when he entered the station.”
Drew didn’t let her dwell on her father’s death; he was getting good at redirection. “So, another mystery solved. Do we have any idea what purpose the tech nanoids serve?”
“Not yet.”
Drew sighed. “So . . . what about the ships from Bin?”
“Resistance from the Bin authorities caused a day’s delay, but they should be here in seventy-two hours.”
“Any luck locating supplies?”
“Yes and no. The human Taleen security ships coming to relieve the Bin squadron will be escorting a supply frigate. But they won’t arrive for more than three weeks, which is why I was wondering about the ETOC’s shortcut and if we could use it as well. No luck reaching Anne again. It seems the Reagan’s gone silent.”
“That makes sense. Ships in route anywhere in the K
.U. right now must feel like targets. If we found a new wormhole cluster—and it can’t be anything else—it’s possible your TSF ships already traveled past the origination point. All we can do is keep trying to reach Rostenkowski and wait it out.
“Anyway,” Drew continued, “the station’s had some luck in the supply area so we’re not as bad off as we anticipated. This afternoon we diverted a passing water tanker. They’d just delivered to one of the evacuated colonies but, with no one there, they only left a quarter of their load. We got the rest. And Curtis raided the warehouses for edible cargo. There wasn’t much but, if we continue rationing, no one will starve over the next three weeks. So for the short term, we’re in okay shape.”
Chapter 26: Lost and Found
First thing the next morning, Drew headed toward med-lab for a status report on Doc’s overnight scans. Curtis walked beside him, delivering his own status report. When they exited the conveyer from HQ, they ran into a large knot of about twenty evacuees waiting to get on. Drew nodded courteously in acknowledgement. As his gaze passed over them, an individual in a wide-brimmed hat standing in the center of the knot quickly turned away and looked down at the deck. His cop-senses kicked in and he slowed for a closer inspection. There was something vaguely familiar—
“Mattie!”
At his shout, the figure broke from the group and bolted down the corridor. The others shuffled around looking for the cause of the commotion, temporarily blocking Drew’s pursuit and giving the runner several seconds head start. Shoving one of them aside, Drew took off with a bewildered Curtis on his heels; both drew their weapons.
“Are you sure?” Curtis yelled as they ran.
“Yes!”
Well ahead of them, the figure entered the bazaar, which was packed with evacuee families, some still curled up asleep on the deck. As she pressed into the throng, a pigeon rose from the deck directly in front of her. Its flapping wings knocked the hat askew and it fell from her head, confirming what Drew already knew. She ducked low. He lost her momentarily as he and Curtis danced around bodies and baggage. One of the bodies scooted to get out of Drew’s way, managing only to drag himself directly in front of Curtis. At Curtis’s expletive, Drew glanced over his shoulder and watched with admiration as Curtis dropped, rolled, and came up again still running.
Drew scanned the crowd ahead of them, trying to reacquire Mattie. He finally spotted her on the west edge of the bazaar, heading toward the supply and storage conveyer. She stopped in front of the doors and turned back toward him. She had her blaster drawn and, in that split second, he realized she intended to fire into the crowd to create a panic. There was a small crate on the deck to his right, next to a startled mother clutching her crying toddler. Without hesitation, Drew jumped on the crate. It held just long enough for him to take aim over the heads of the crowd and fire.
~ ~ ∞ ~ ~
As he stood looking down at Mattie, Drew was relieved she remained unconscious from his stun shot. He only now considered how hard it would be for him to face her. Security staff who’d joined the chase secured her wrists and ankles.
“Take her to HQ. I’ll have someone sent over from medical to check her out. No one, and I mean no one, talks to her when she comes to—not one word. Do you understand?”
With grim expressions, each man nodded.
“Are you all right?” Curtis asked.
Drew nodded then shook his head. “Yes. No. I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry, Chief. This is my fault. I swear we searched everywhere.”
“Don’t sweat it, Curtis. If anybody could stay hidden on the station for this long, it would be Mattie . . . or Fitz. Go on back with her—I’ll join you later. She knew this is a limited-access conveyer. She must still have access. Have engineering complete a palm search for her and disable any hidden user accounts.” Drew winced; they both should have thought of that earlier. Unconsciously, he guessed neither of them believed she was still alive. “In the meantime, keep her restrained and remove all access to her cell except for you and me.”
Two of the men grabbed Mattie’s unconscious body by the legs and underarms and, with Curtis clearing the way, carried her back through the crowded bazaar. Drew tapped medical and asked for an EMT to report to HQ. It occurred to him he’d pursued and stunned her for leaving the job without giving notice. He had nothing concrete to charge her with. As obvious as it seemed to Drew, no evidence connected Fitz’s and Mattie’s disappearances, let alone linked them to current events. Fuck! How did things get so screwed up so fast?
Doc was waiting when he arrived at med-lab. “You found Mattie? Why does she need an EMT? Is she hurt?”
“Jesus, word travels fast around here. I don’t think so. Just following procedure and having her checked out.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing. I saw her. She ran. I shot her. She’s unconscious. I came here. Now you know as much as I do. As soon as the EMT looks her over, I’ll have her brought in for scanning. I’ll let her soak until I get the outcome . . . or figure out what to say to her. And I’d appreciate it if you don’t ask her any questions. In fact, I’d rather someone other than you complete her scan. Now, can we review last night’s results?” Drew was angry at the universe, and it showed.
“Of course. I only found one additional victim on top of the three from yesterday afternoon. So, that makes two security staff and two medical staff. They’re being counseled and interviewed now to determine who they may have infected in turn. The two medical personnel are husband and wife, so no surprise there. All four are confined to their quarters with no access to technology. Our engineers working with Taleen Industries have already scrubbed our systems, but they’re checking the workstations and personal processors of those four again, just in case.” Doc appeared relieved that they’d found so few victims.
“We started resident and evacuee scans this morning. No positive results so far. Curtis’s team is working to track those who already left the station. We don’t have data on the evacuees who passed through, but we should be able to locate most of the ones who were living here, which includes almost all of those who displayed symptoms. Then there are the crews who took leave here and passenger stopovers. I’m not even going there. I’ll mention those in my report to the ETOC. That’s all.”
“Thanks, Doc. There are fewer than I expected. Make scanning the Temperance crew and passengers a priority. The ladies were doing a brisk business before we detained them. Keep me posted, and let me know as soon as you get the results of Mattie’s scan.”
“You okay, Drew?”
“No. Are you?”
“No.”
~ ~ ∞ ~ ~
Mattie’s scan revealed that all of her internal organs had transmuted. Drew kept her “soaking” for forty-eight hours longer. He was tempted to wait to question her until Anne Rostenkowski arrived, but the ETOC would probably take jurisdiction and he’d lose the opportunity.
He and Curtis stood in Drew’s office watching Mattie on the monitor. She’d been moved to an interview room. At Drew’s orders, no one had spoken to her and she hadn’t spoken to anyone other than the occasional “thank you” when food trays were passed in to her. Drew had withheld entertainment vids and K.U. news feeds.
He outlined his plan to Curtis. “Let’s keep it simple. We tell her we have Fitz in custody and we’re comparing her testimony to his. Somehow we need to work in the name Diak to see what reaction that gets. It’s possible, even probable she’s unaware of her physical transmutation. We can save that to use if she refuses to cooperate. Do you have a better idea?”
“Mattie’s no dummy. What if we tell her Chief Fitzwilliam is dead? That might shake her up,” Curtis offered.
“Yeah, that’s good,” Drew said.
“No offense, but can you handle this, Chief? I mean, it’s no secret how tight you two were.”
Drew nodded. “It won’t be a problem. I’ve had some time to get used to our new circumstances.” He hoped that held t
rue. He recalled a quote his academy trainer had been fond of reciting, usually in the quiet that followed her request for a volunteer: And a shiver ran along the bench looking for a spine to run up.
Drew shivered as he watched Mattie on the monitor. She looked tired and oddly different from the uber-competent, wise-cracking dayshift commander he’d known so well . . . thought he’d known so well. She’d cropped her hair short and dressed in men’s clothing, but it was more than that. Her countenance had changed. The posture and facial expression of the woman sitting quietly with her hands clasped on the table in front of her didn’t belong to his Mattie. He was struck again by how wrong his perception of those closest to him had been—people he’d accepted as friends and trusted for years. Face it, Drew, in different ways you’ve underestimated Fitz, Mattie, and Curtis. You’re a rotten judge of character. You have no business leading others.
He’d thought a lot about what he would say to Mattie, and decided to avoid opening comments and jump into the middle of the interrogation as if they’d been talking for hours. She knew the routine and that they were watching, and she obviously had a better take on him than he had on her . . . or himself.
Drew felt Curtis studying him. “Okay, okay, I’m going in.” He opened a tap between them so they could communicate.
Mattie looked up when he entered the room. Drew held her gaze and sat down opposite. “So,” he started, “who killed Hernandez?”
“I don’t know. Ask Fitz.”
“Fitz is dead.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t care whether you believe it or not. I’m talking to you right now anyway, and I want to know who killed Hernandez.”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged then slouched in her chair and stared back at him with a bring-it-on look. She seemed prepared for a long session.
Drew was silent for a few seconds, his gaze never wavering, then he stood and stepped to the door. Before opening it, he looked back at her. “I’m not going to waste my time if you’ve decided not to talk. Oh, by the way, Mr. Diak says ‘hi.’”
Transmuted (Dark Landing Series Book 1) Page 19