The Slip: The Complete First Season

by Herschel K. Stroganoff

  “That's right,” Ajay said, raising a forefinger. “They held it back because it's more profitable for them to sell you a stabilising drug, so you're reliant and spending more and more of your money on their products. It's very simple, and it works because United Solar does everything it can to protect the Affiliates.”

  “This can't be true,” she said, frowning.

  “It's true.” He regarded Farnham for a long moment, scanning her sunken eyes, her taut, paper-thin flesh.

  “Okay,” she said lifting her chin. “The price I was told is two-hundred Sols.”

  “That's correct.”

  Farnham fumbled in her pocket for a moment then pulled out a hexagonal two-hundred Sol piece. “And this is for everything?”

  “Everything.”

  “You know Muedin charge four-hundred Sols for a single course of their meds?” She asked, pulling the coin against her chest.

  “Yes, and we know how much profit they make on that,” Ajay said with a half smile.

  She handed over the coin. “I assume you're still making a good profit, then?”

  “More than enough,” said Ajay, pocketing the coin. “We're traders, after all.”

  The Coraygar, in region of Titan, Saturn

  The Segrado clung barnacle-like to the side of the Coraygar as an air-lock hissed shut behind Ajay. “Azra, you look as radiant as ever,” he said, stepping onto the Coraygar's main docking area. Blue lamps flickered against the stacks of crates and boxes arranged in no particular order.

  Azra Candemir was dark, lean and frowning. “Always full of charm, Ajay, but you've got a lot of explaining to do.” She wore a simple black suit with captain's spots on the chest.

  Ajay smiled as he looked her up and down. “What did I do?”

  Azra folded her arms and gave Ajay an accusing look. “Secretary Ozu has declared war on us and you have become the Union's most wanted man. That's what.”

  Ajay raked his hair with his fingers, gave a half-smile, and shrugged. “We've always been at war with United Solar and I'm a convenient face.”

  “I worry about you,” Azra said, shaking her head. “You could be in a lot of danger — we could all be in a lot of danger.”

  “I'll be fine.” Ajay waved a dismissive hand.

  “I'm sure you will.”

  “That came out wrong. We will be fine.”

  Ajay strode with Azra across the loading dock then through a black door. Daylight lamps cast thick shadows as they passed rows upon rows of wheat approaching harvest. Ajay felt the soft and bumpy ground beneath his boots and sniffed at the air. “I love that smell. So fresh.”

  “The yield has been excellent this time,” said Azra. “And what's more, we've got it so they are all self-replicating.”

  “Can we start to distribute the seeds?”

  “Yes. Can you believe Aghoro had the seeds all along? I'm hearing terrible things from across the Union — food shortages, failed crops — these are bad times.”

  “It was your idea to get one of our people into Aghoro — we've liberated, what? Five, six more strains in the past three years.”

  “Seven with the wheat. But there's still so much to do. Our main issue is fertilization. The solution we've come up with is to introduce bees to plants. It's not as efficient as using Aghoro drones, but we've started to see some very positive results.”

  “The wheat is a big one,” said Ajay.

  “If only United Solar saw the benefit,” Azra sighed.

  “Of course they see — well, at least some of them do. The Affiliates lose profit if citizens can grow their own seeds or breed their own chickens. It stands to reason that they'd want to protect that.” He runs his hand along the wheat, watching the plants swaying to his touch.

  “And we're the bad guys,” Azra shook her head. “I am worried about this war, Ajay. I'm not convinced it's bravado from Ozu. It's ripe for disaster.”

  The pair ducked through a door to a stairwell and made their way up a level. Ajay's skin prickled as the temperature decreased. They walked through dimly-lit corridors and passages, passing bunkrooms and bathrooms.

  Stopping, Azra keyed in the code for her personal quarters then stepped inside. She slumped onto her bunk.

  Sitting beside her, Ajay leaned down to kiss her.

  She shook her head. “Your quarters have been prepared”

  Confused, Ajay regarded her for an instant and blinked, offering an invitation for Azra to explain herself. He looked on as she rolled over, pulling the bed sheet around her shoulders, curling her legs towards the wall.

  “Goodnight, Ajay,” she said.

  Ajay eyed Azra with a raised eyebrow as she took a seat on the bench on the opposite side of the dining table. The refectory hummed with chatter as four hundred members of the Coraygar's crew ate breakfast. The smell of fresh bread and boiled eggs hung in the air as he sipped from his glass of apple juice.

  “Sleep well?” Azra asked, removing an eggshell in one smooth motion.

  “I was cold,” said Ajay.

  “Aww, poor Ajay didn't get to fuck the captain last night. Is that why you're sulky?”

  The hairs on the back of Ajay's neck prickled He took another sip from his glass, then pushed his hair back. He frowned as Azra looked past him, smiling.

  “Ajay. Have you met Taslim?”

  Ajay looked over his right shoulder as a tall young man hopped over the bench to take a seat next to him.

  “I haven't had the pleasure.”

  “It's Ajay isn't it?” Taslim asked, offering a hand.

  Ajay squeezed Taslim's hand. He regarded him for a long moment, taking in his deep dark eyes, chiselled jaw and sculpted hair. “That's right.”

  “Taslim's been working on some of our latest drugs — some of his insights are truly brilliant,” Azra said.

  Ajay glanced between the pair, wondering if this was the reason Azra rejected him the previous evening. He sipped again at his juice, but put it back down when he realised the glass was already empty.

  “Most of it is about finding ways to undo or circumvent a lot of Muedin's blocking programmes. I discovered recently that some of their cancer drugs are designed so that even if you use similar drugs without the blocker, resistance to a full cure will remain in the system.”

  “If only Muedin spent as much time trying to find cures rather than fostering reliance, we'd all be in a better place,” Azra said.

  “So they're undermining the potential of our drugs now?” Ajay said, furrowing his brow.

  Taslim nodded as he wiped egg yolk from his bottom lip.

  “Are you saying recent shipments will be of no use?”

  Taslim shrugged. “It's hard to say.” He took another mouthful of egg. “It's only something I've spotted with their latest shipments—.”

  “Well don't you think that's something you should know?” Ajay said.

  Azra and Taslim shared a brief glance. He flinched as Azra turned on him with an icy glare. “Do you think you could do any better?” she spat. “There aren't many people who can do what Taslim has, so might I suggest that you think before you say something stupid.”

  “Okay, okay,” Ajay raised his hands. “Taslim, I'm sorry. I had a bad night's sleep and recent developments aren't looking positive for us. So you'll have to forgive me if I'm not in the best of moods.”

  Taslim nodded. “I understand. Please, think no more of it.”

  Ajay stood and placed a hand on Taslim's shoulder. “I shouldn't have spoken to you like that.” Catching Azra's glare, he turned and left.

  Ajay barged shoulder-first through the research lab door, sweeping his gaze along the workstations, searching for Taslim.

  Ajay walked across the blue painted steel floor, fists clenched. The long room was clean but disorganised, with every free surface crowded with microscopes, scanners, terminals, notes, tools, and empty cups. He passed flickering streams of data and images of proteins displayed on screens, and approached a middle-aged woman with curled gre
y hair and a deep-set frown.

  “What are you working on?” Ajay asked.

  The woman gave a half-shrug and turned back to her terminal. “We've received fragments of the Yao's longevity treatment — I'm just trying to make sense of the data.”

  “That's pretty big — how did you get hold of that?”

  “Armand Gul,” she said.

  Ajay gave a knowing nod. “I've not heard from Gul in a long time. I knew he'd got in with a Yao. I didn't even know—.”

  “The data's pretty meaningless without context though,” she continued, gesturing to the terminal. “There are a lot of references to other procedures we still know nothing about.”

  He ran a hand over his hair and sighed. “This is a start, but being able to penetrate their treatments will change everything.” He squinted at the display for several seconds. “These are unusual,” he said, pointing to a line of unfamiliar symbols.

  “Very unusual, but once you get a feel for the general language it gets easier.”

  “Do you work with Taslim?”

  “Not really, I work mainly with Yao materials. He's more on the Muedin side — occasionally we've worked together — he's very focused.”

  Ajay scratched the back of his head. “Is he with Azra?”

  The woman laughed. “I don't have time for idle gossip. Excuse me, I'm really very busy.”

  “Is there anyone around working on Muedin research?”

  The woman signalled towards the far end of the laboratory.

  “Thanks.” He strode towards a group of four researchers taking turns looking into a microscope. A short, bearded man turned as Ajay approached.

  “Sohail, how are you my good man?” Ajay aked, smiling.

  “It's the Union's most wanted,” Sohail said. “You should see this.”

  Sohail gestured for Ajay to look into the microscope as the other researchers moved aside.

  “What am I looking at?”

  “We've worked out how to reprogram these cancer cells. Taslim came up with this protein that makes the cells change their structures. But it's so extreme that they just rip themselves apart.”

  Ajay lifted his eyes from the view and smiled at Sohail's wide-eyed enthusiasm. “This is Taslim's work?”

  “He's brilliant. He's doing stuff with proteins we've never even thought of before.” Sohail leaned back over the microscope.

  “You like him then?”

  “Who, Taslim? He's a good guy.” Sohail shrugged. “Do you ever get the feeling that we're on the verge of something great? That we're about to crack something that's going to change everything?”

  “Every day,” Ajay said. “Every day.”

  Ajay tapped on his console, trying his best to ignore Azra standing over him.

  “What's your problem with Taslim?” she asked.

  Ajay sat straight and brushed his hair back. “I don't have a problem with Taslim. I don't know the guy.”

  “Why have you been asking my crew about him?”

  Ajay pursed his lips. “I was just trying to get a handle on who he is, that's all.”

  “Really?” She folded her arms. “I've never known you to do that for other crew members.”

  “Are you with him?”.

  She laughed. “Are you kidding me? Is this what it's about? The great Ajay Johar is jealous?”

  “No. It's just—.” Ajay furrowed his brow and rose from his seat. “I don't want him to be wrong for you.”

  “Wrong for me? What does that even mean?” Her eyes flashed and her jaw stiffened. “Since when does who I fuck have anything to do with you?”

  “So you are fucking?” Ajay gave her a searching look.

  “I repeat. Since when does who I fuck have anything to do with you?”

  Ajay sighed. “You're right. I'm sorry. It's just—.”

  Azra shook her head. “Jealousy? Pettiness? Childishness?”

  “I know it's none of my business, but the thought of anyone else with you—.”

  “You need to get past this Ajay if you're going to work with my crew.” She scratched her head and narrowed her eyes. “Perhaps if you worked with Taslim.”

  “Worked with him?”

  Azra nodded. “You know how to fix terminals. One of the Muedin terminals we've acquired is damaged. I'm sure if you work with him you'll see that he's not whatever you've built him up to be in your mind. Who knows, you may even like him.”

  Ajay forced a smile. “Okay,” he said. “If that's what I need to do.”

  “Azra tells me you've been having issues with one of the Muedin terminals,” Ajay said, sidling up to Taslim.

  Taslim switched off his terminal and turned to him. “Oh right, yes. That was few days ago, but you're here now, I suppose.” He gestured towards a door at the far end of the laboratory. “We had a recent shipment of Muedin gear, but I can't seem to get one of the terminals working. I'm worried that something got knocked in transit, but I'm no good when it comes to hardware.”

  “Do you know which model it is?” Ajay asked.

  Taslim shook his head. “I'll show you,” he said. He got to his feet and led Ajay through the door at the far end of the lab and into a smaller room.

  A stack of terminals along the right-hand wall balanced haphazardly on a sideboard strewn with empty cups, papers, and a half-disassembled hand scanner. Shelves along the opposite wall were coated in dust and dirt. “Looks like someone's been having a party,” Taslim said, sweeping his arm along the sideboard, pushing the rubbish into a corner. He heaved a terminal from the sideboard and held it against his chest. “We'll take this back through,” he said, moving backward towards the lab as Ajay held the door.

  Returning to his work area, Taslim set the terminal down and set the system up as usual. Once everything was ready, Ajay switched on the machine. Nothing happened.

  Leaning down, Ajay inspected the terminal's exterior. He wiped dust and grease from the main interface then flipped the terminal over to examine the power connections. He examined a port for a long moment and nodded to himself. “I think I can see the issue. Do you have a six-two?”

  Ajay gave a satisfied smile as Taslim passed him the tool. Opening the terminal's casing, he blew away more dust and wiped away something sticky. He drew the tool over a severed connection and resealed the conductor. Behind him, a small group of researchers gathered to watch.

  “Do you reckon that will fix it?” Taslim asked.

  “That's what I'm hoping. If this doesn't fix it, I'll have to go deeper.”

  Wiping his hands on his coveralls, Ajay stepped back and coughed as Taslim sat down before the terminal. “Should we put the casing back on?”

  “It will be fine,” Ajay said. “The casing's just to keep dust and things out. Not that it's done much so far.”

  With a loud bang. Taslim shot three metres back across the room, his head bouncing hard off the side of a workbench before slumping to the floor.

  Ajay ran a hand back over his ponytail and looked around. “Oops.”

  Azra paced behind her office desk, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly as she glared at Ajay.

  “It was an accident,” he said, pleading.

  “You expect me to believe that?” Azra halted and turned to face him. “You've had a grudge against Taslim since you first met him. I knew you were jealous, but this—.” She pulled at her hair.

  “I don't know what to say. Something shorted on the terminal,” he said. “If I'd turned it on, it would have been me.”

  She shook her head. “But it wasn't you, was it?”

  “You're right,” he sighed. He spread his fingers, showing his open palms. “I know it looks bad, but you've got to believe me.”

  “I'm so angry with you — you have no idea,” Azra snapped. “Oh yes, I thought if you got to work with Taslim you'd see he wasn't a threat — you'd see what a great mind he is.” She paused and squeezed the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes as she let out a deep sigh. “I should airlock you for this.” />
  He put his head in his hands. “How is he doing?”

  “He'll be fine, no thanks to you.”

  “How many times do I have to explain,” he said slowly and deliberately, emphasising each word in turn. “It was an accident.”

  “I wish I could believe you, Ajay, I really do. But there were other people there who saw what happened.”

  Ajay scowled. “What did they see? Tell me?”

  “They—.”

  “I'll tell you what they saw,” he interrupted. “They saw me trying to fix a terminal and Taslim getting a shock. This happened, I was there, but if anyone has said anything about my intentions, about what I meant to do—,” he shook his head, exasperated.

  Azra bit her lip. “One of my crew said you gave a weird cough like you were hiding something,” she said.

  “A cough? A fucking cough? Is that your evidence? Is that what you're going off? Did I cough? I don't know.” Ajay shrugged dramatically. “Have you seen the state of their repair room? Have you seen the state of the terminal I was trying to fix? I'm surprised I didn't do more than cough.”

  Azra blinked. “Have you finished?”.

  He fixed her with a hard stare for a long moment then folded his arms. “Now what?”

  “I can't have you on my ship, Ajay. I can't trust you.”

  “How many—.”

  “Please, Ajay. The only reason you haven't been air-locked is because I respect you, but you went too far with Taslim. I'm sorry. Your ship is being prepped to leave, so please make sure you have all your belongings and I'll make sure you're escorted out.”

  Ajay frowned as he rose to his feet. “Don't worry, I'm going — I thought you of all people would believe me.”

  The Segrado, in region of Saturn

  Ajay chewed on a protein ration as he considered his next move. Three days since Azra ordered him to leave the Coraygar and he was still seething.

  He'd not slept since his exile and had spent most of his waking hours thinking about what had gone wrong. He hated to think that Azra could no longer trust him. He had dealt with worse, but he felt something more than kinship with Azra. Was it love? He wasn't sure. He didn't think so, but why did he feel so lost, so empty? The questions rattled around his mind as though stuck on a continuous, tedious loop.