Traitor (Collaborator Book 1)

by Krista D. Ball

  She wondered who would be tracing her. A security VA? They could just interface with her VA and find out that information. Maybe even a full intel virtual intelligence system had been watching her, though why would anyone put such a powerful tool after her was anyone’s guess. A small voice that made her stomach churn said Zain’s name in a whisper. Rebecca wished she didn’t believe that voice, but she did.

  Head down, Rebecca weaved her way through the various corridors and elevators, avoiding the alt-shift work crews who she knew, until she arrived at security. She didn’t have to wait; Ensign Nate Lowell was waiting for her.

  “Hey, Rebecca. I’m here to escort you to Captain Dags’ office.”

  “Hey, Nate. Sure. Am I in trouble?”

  “Trouble? I don’t think so. Why? You think you’re in trouble?”

  Rebecca dutifully followed Nate past the security checkpoint. “I don’t know. It wasn’t Captain Dags that sent for me.”

  “Yeah. I’m not supposed to say why not, but I’m sure you’ll hear soon enough.” He leaned forward and said, “There was an accident.”

  “What kind?”

  Nate shrugged. “The environmental system in his quarters went insane. Pumped in carbon dioxide. Killed him in his sleep, it did.”

  “Well, shit,” Rebecca said. “I don’t mean to be insensitive, but what does that have to do with me? Like, is that why I’m here?”

  “What? Nah, I think the captain was hoping you could help her out.”

  Rebecca frowned. “Oh. I think that’s worse.”

  Nate chuckled. “Dude, she’s Blackout. It’s totally the best. And, well, probably the worst, too.”

  She didn’t have much to say as Nate led her up to the office. She steeled herself against the woman who wasn’t Kat, who looked too much like Kat. Once they reached the office, Nate smiled encouragingly at her.

  She’d always liked Nate. He’d arrived a few months ago, and had been an eager puppy, but was mostly harmless. She’d heard from Zain that he’d been passed around several different assignments until they finally decided he was best qualified for shipping and customs. Low risk, low danger, and required a decent willingness to follow orders and to rarely break them. Nate’s good-nature made him perfect for the job.

  Could she trust him, though? He was Corps like all of the rest. Sure, he’d been born onboard a generational starship – one of the older explorer vessels that was tasked with rediscovering the old jump portals – and he knew little of life outside of the Corps…but he was still one of them.

  Rebecca didn’t realize the door had opened until Nate said her name. She glanced back at him, twitched what probably didn’t come across as a smile, and headed inside. Her hands immediately shook at the sight of the near-replica of Kat.

  Rebecca closed her eyes. This woman wasn’t Kat. Kat died in a coffee shop on Earth. She’d been shown the report. Kat was gone.

  “Everything okay, Rebecca?”

  Rebecca nearly burst into tears at the sound of her name from this woman’s lips. Her throat constricted, but she managed to keep most of the quiver out of her voice. “It’s been a rough couple of days. What can I do for you?”

  Andrewson sat at Dag’s desk, but made no offer for Rebecca to take up the spare seat. She pressed a button on her desk and her computer keyboard and a monitor projection came up in front of her. “I realize Captain Dags put you on temporary leave, but I’m going to revoke that for a few days, if you don’t mind.”

  Captain Andrews gave the impression she didn’t care if Rebecca minded or not. So Rebecca said, “What do you need?”

  “Captain Dags is dead.”

  Rebecca gulped, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to get Nate in trouble for having told her. “That’s quite a shock.”

  “The investigation is ongoing, obviously, but it appears to be an accident. Or, that’s what the murderer would like us to think.”

  “I don’t know anything,” Rebecca blurted.

  Andrewson gave her a disgusted look. “If I thought you did, you’d be in a cell surrounded by security systems and military police.”

  Rebecca blinked at the phrase. Military police. Her translator always referred to the security around the station as guards. Security guards. Military guards. Blackout guards. Undercover guards. Military police was English.

  Her hands took on a slight tremor, and she shoved them into her pockets to hide her distress.

  “What’s wrong?” Captain Andrewson demanded.

  Rebecca forced the words out, “Sorry, my translator glitched.”

  “That’s what happens to rejecters who can’t handle decent tech,” Andrewson said dismissively.

  “You don’t need to insult me,” Rebecca blurted. At Andrewson’s surprised expression, Rebecca rushed to clarify. “I’m tired of everyone insulting me whenever no one else can hear, or they think I can’t hear them. I’m tired of it. I’ve worked here for years now, and on other ships and stations before being transferred here. I don’t need to…never mind.” She’d lost her steam when she realized she was yelling at Kat’s ghost, as opposed to Captain Andrewson. “I’m sorry. That had nothing to do with you.”

  “Good to know. So, will you help?”

  “What do you need?”

  “I need someone with decent security system training who hasn’t worked on the systems before to do a sweep and audit for me.”

  Rebecca frowned. “I’m sorry, Captain, but I’ve worked on some of the station’s security systems over the years. I’m usually assigned the personal storage lockers on level A3.”

  “I’m referring to the lower wards.”

  Rebecca worked hard to keep her jaw from slackening. She did gulp, however. “I don’t have clearance for that. You,” she cleared her throat, “do realize who I am, right?”

  “Yes, I am aware of your personnel file. Your task is to simply scan and report any issues back to me. So, will you do it?”

  Rebecca nodded, uncertain if she was making the decision out of duty, respect, or the memory of Kat. “I don’t have the clearance.”

  “You’ve had it for two hours,” Andrewson said. “You need to keep this a secret from your co-workers. We can’t be sure how deep the conspiracy goes, so we need this quiet.”

  “Um, no offense, but aren’t I a horrible choice? Considering I’m still…”

  “Indentured?” When Rebecca blinked at that, Andrews waved her off. “Well, are you not? Don’t you still own the Corps three million credits? Aren’t you still under constant surveillance? You’re perfect because no one will believe you’d risk anything. You were even too scared to fight for your planet when it was invaded. No one would suspect you of anything beyond doing her job. You’re perfect for this assignment.”

  The words stung Rebecca because they were all too true. Still, she decided to ask the most obvious question. “Wouldn’t Zain be better for this?”

  “Who? Oh, your boyfriend?” Andrewson didn’t bother to hide the disgust in her voice at that word. “No, he’s worked down there before.”

  Rebecca stared at the woman in disbelief. She whispered, “Zain’s worked the lower wards?”

  “Yes,” the captain said stiffly. “All you need to do is scan, calibrate off the specs, load a security tracking program, and provide me an update every four hours. Report to security in the lower wards immediately. They’ll issue your new equipment and get you a special ID pass. Beyond that, keep your observations to yourself. Dismissed.”

  “Um…yes. I’ll go down to the wards right away.”

  “See that you do.”

  Rebecca stepped outside of the office and stared at Nate, who was staring back in anticipation. “I guess I need you to escort me down to the lower wards.”

  “Holy shit,” the ensign whispered under his breath. “Like, to work?”

  “Apparently.”

  “Wow, she must really trust you.” Nate gave her a friendly shove with his elbow. “Look at you, moving up in the ranks.”
<
br />   Rebecca tried to smile past the growing knot of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. She was pretty sure this was a downward career path that was going to bite her in the ass.

  Chapter 6

  Day 2

  Katherine kept her wits about her right up until the door closed behind Rebecca. She braced herself against her desk and managed not to collapse into tears. She took several steadying breaths until she had mastered her emotions.

  She had known it would be difficult to see Rebecca again, but Katherine hadn’t realized how hard it would be. All of those evenings snuggling on the sofa eating pizza and watching those stupid Jane Austen movies Becky loved. Then, all of those nights in bed filled with warmth and intimacy came rushing back to Katherine and slapped her hard across the face.

  She didn’t love Rebecca anymore. She’d moved well past that. And yet, Katherine couldn’t deny that her anger toward her former girlfriend was because of how much she’d loved her. The memory of that love opened a wound that Katherine had thought crushed years ago. The memory of Katherine’s betrayal still lingered in both of them. Rebecca had lost her temper because she was tired and, in her weariness, had lashed out the way she had done that last week together, before the world ended.

  She didn’t look exactly like Captain Katherine Frances anymore. Her voice print had changed, as had her fingerprints and her retina scans. Captain Katherine Frances was dead in the rubble of a Second Cup as far as Rebecca was concerned. Rebecca must have thought her a ghost come back to haunt her, which suited Katherine just fine. A little drunken fucking around was not comparable to betraying one’s own kind.

  The light on her monitor screen blinked. Messages: 174

  Reports and messages piled up in the digital sense of the phrase. Cargo manifests, crew reassignments, repair schedules, intelligence updates, and battle plans in case of a Coalition attack on the docking port. That was on top of the usual bureaucracy that came with commanding a space port. It was all important and typical of Captain Dags’ job. Docking station captains spent most of their time reading and writing reports, and delegating tasks. And now it was her job until she managed to get out of this place before she was found out.

  The last twenty hours had been filled with a tumult of emotions. She’d done enough environment system bombs to feel confident that she wasn’t going to get caught. Security had already spoken to her, but her fake Blackout ID shielded her from being pressed into answering specific questions that she deemed “classified.”

  She still suspected her six day schedule was active, which meant she had four days left to break the gang out of the prison block and blame it on…someone not her. She couldn’t do it alone and she couldn’t trust anyone else. She knew if she’d told Rebecca the truth, she’s run to that pretty boy she was probably fucking. If she’d told Rebecca the entire truth, Katherine suspected she’d be down in the guts awaiting execution with the rest of them.

  Rebecca had to help because if Katherine couldn’t break the gang out of the prison block, her orders were to blow a hole into the side of the building and not look back. She knew that, because she was the one who’d issued the orders. She wasn’t ready to die, but there was no way this place was going to keep hurting her friends. Either she got them out, or they would all die in retaliation.

  Katherine glanced down at the monitor screen. More messages awaiting Captain Dags’ successor. She’d have to skim them before his ExO came to claim the office. Killing both the captain and the ExO would set off the alarm bells of even the most dimwitted and sleep-deprived security investigator.

  Still, the mission was moving ahead. Dags had already updated his staff that she was there under the “highest authority” and that they were to “support her” to the best of their abilities. Sure, he was dead later that night, but those old Gerry Inc. enviro filters were notorious for malfunctioning. They’d all been recalled. Too bad the Corps was too cheap to bother replacing them here on the station.

  With Dags’ death, she’d successfully gotten access to most of his codes straight from his personal tablet and phone. So she’d used the codes to re-key her implants; that should give her an additional day of fooling the systems, but if the investigators thought for a moment Dags’ death was deliberate…

  “VA?”

  “Yes, Captain Andrewson,” the masculine voice replied. “How may I assist?”

  “Pull up all station files related to rebel activity onboard.”

  “Do you also want the summarized reports?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Katherine said. “Load it to Captain Dags’ personal device and give me access.”

  “Credentials verified previously by Captain Dags. Uploading now.”

  She might need to sell out one of her own to keep them all alive. She’d done it before, and she’d do it again, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. She had enough problems getting the gang out of lockout, without adding someone else to the rescue list.

  “Call from ExO Lieutenant Commander Babiak.”

  Katherine sighed and picked up her ear piece. “Put him through.”

  And so she began her day, pretending to search for Dag’s killer. She had, of course, been the one to overload his environmental system so that he died red-faced and gasping. And she might have also been the one who caused a power surge in Dags’ suite so that he couldn’t open his bedroom door or call his VA for help. That’s what he got for trusting a complete stranger.

  While she was busy investigating herself, she still had to make contact with several operatives, and she needed supplies.

  “Are you sure you can trust this girl?” Babiak asked.

  “Yes,” Katherine said absently. She stared at the name on the report the VA had sent her. Babiak rambled on about security risks and she made sure to make the appropriate grunts and one-word answers.

  Tobi Rowe.

  Christmas just came early.

  Chapter 7

  No one in security met her eyes when Rebecca went down to claim her new ID card. Normally, they just approved whatever changes were added to the chip remotely, but she’d gotten a completely different card. There were subtle differences in the actual make and feel of the card, but more importantly, it gave her wide-spread access throughout the station.

  Rebecca nervously scanned her newly-minted ID inside the express elevator and waited for the car to bring her to the subfloor on the other side of the station. The car whizzed horizontally, crossing the station. It would take several minutes to get to the terminal, before beginning the descent, but as no one else got on at security, she would get to travel the entire away alone.

  She appreciated the solitude, as it gave her time to think. She’d never been in the deeps before, as Zain and some of the others called it when they were sure they weren’t being overheard. She’d been incarcerated on Earth when she surrendered and later on the transport ship, and on Jupiter. But by the time she was sent to Bubble Town, she’d already been granted quasi-freedom and trust.

  Trust was a funny thing, and Rebecca wasn’t convinced she’d earned quite this level of it. She knew she wasn’t going in contact with the rebellion. Hell, she didn’t even know how to get in contact with them, and she doubted they’d be interested in a collaborating traitor like herself. She’d heard rumors there were operatives on the station, but there were always rumors. She didn’t believe any of them. And, why would she even try to defect after all of this time? She’d made a home here. If living in poverty and servitude in daily fear for one’s life was a home.

  The lift eventually slowed. It shook when the robotic arms moved it to a different shaft. The engine whirled and the descent began again. Rebecca’s insides knotted and it wasn’t just from the sudden drop.

  The more she considered it, the more Rebecca was certain she’d agreed to this entire venture because Captain Andrewson sounded just like Kat. And while the last words Rebecca had ever said to her were hateful, horrible words, Kat was still in her heart. Kat had died thinking Rebecca hated
her. In a weird, twisted, completely unhealthy way, this was Rebecca’s chance to say good-bye to Kat; to say she was sorry for those terrible words.

  She knew how fucked up that sounded even to herself.

  She stepped out of the elevator to be greeted by a sterile steel room, with all of the warmth of an ice comet. Rebecca presented her physical ID card and then tapped her wristband so that her digital ID was also confirmed. One of the guards scanned the projected image on her forearm, while the other put a call into security to confirm her credentials.

  “You’re new,” the security guard scanning her said. “Huh. No implants whatsoever. Not even an ID chip?”

  “I’m a rejecter,” Rebecca said as calmly as she could. These faceless, masked guards in full body armor and weapons scared her. She’d seen them do some scary shit in the past. “My orders come from Captain Andrewson. I’m assigned to do a security audit.”

  The guard looked back at his partner, who nodded. The chatty guard scanned the ID code on her projection and waited for it to upload to his own tablet. He scanned it. “Looks like you’re legit. Sorry for the precautions. We don’t get many strangers down here in the guts.”

  “I can imagine,” Rebecca said.

  “How long you planning to be working down here?”

  Rebecca shrugged, though there was genuine confusion in her voice. “I honestly have no idea.”

  “No?” asked the other guard, who’d been checking with security.

  “I assume the work would only take a couple of days, but I could be grossly overestimating or underestimating. I’ve never been down here before. The upper level sweeps, up around Bubble Town, easily take a week, so…” She offered up another shrug, uncertain of what else to do. “The last time I did the storage warehouses, it took a month.”

  “Well, you check out, so welcome to the guts,” the chatty guard said. “Rules down here are pretty simple. Don’t get in the way. Don’t repeat what you see or hear. If you need to call for help, hit the orange panic buttons.”