The Loneliness of Stars
Page 21
~Jeremiah E. Korzos, in a speech given to fellow members of the Terran Home Rule Starship Captain’s Society
I awoke in what was passed for mid-afternoon in the ship’s day-cycle. Normally it takes me a while to completely wake up, but I had gotten enough sleep that I practically leapt out of bed. I walked out the door, locked it, then walked quickly to the kitchen. Joseph was sleeping in a chair at the table. I smiled and opened the massive freezer. I was surprised to actually see five day’s worth of meals for every member of the crew, all labeled. I took my breakfast (I saved my actual lunch for another time) and ate it hurriedly, washing my own dishes afterwards, as well as others that were lying around. Excited to explore when I was completely clear-headed, I practically skipped over to the cargo bay. Rafael stood guard there.
He smiled at me. “What are you doing down here, Jak?”
“I was hoping to go outside. Can I?”
Rafael sighed and shook his head. “Sorry, but there’s a terrible storm out there. Vincent says that no one is to go out again until it dissipates, and then will have to bring some kind of gear if they go too far.”
I was disappointed, but I tried to hide it. I thanked him and left. I ran into Michaela on the way back to my room, and asked her if she wanted to play spissyx. She apologized and said she couldn’t, as she had to talk to Vincent. We both went our separate ways. When I arrived at the door to my room, I realized that I didn’t really want to stay there – there was nothing to do. Bored, I wandered about the ship some more. The bridge was empty. When we had been travelling, it had always been full of people, and Fineas had been in constant conversation with the captain and mate. It was unnerving to see the place so empty. I hurriedly left.
My feet took me to the areas where the landing crafts docked. I first found myself at the dock of the Missionary. I could not get into the actual dock itself, as it, and the door leading to it, had been damaged in the crash. I continued forwards, until I reached the dock of the Diplomat. I stood there for several moments, and did not even try the door. I knew it would be empty, and because it was on the same side as the Missionary’s dock, I suspected that it was probably damaged as well.
I journeyed then to the two docks on the other side of the ship. The first, across from the dock of the Diplomat, was that of the Negotiator. The door was open, and I walked in.
The Negotiator appeared to be almost identical to the Diplomat, save for the name written on its hull, and double the amount of weaponry spread along its length (and width). The hangar it was in was also similar, with crates and lockers around it storing what was necessary to maintain such a craft. I stood in the room for a few moments, wanting to go up to the ship and inspect it more closely, but I resisted the urge. I turned around and walked out the door.
The door to the last dock was closed. I hesitantly tried the door, and it slid open for me. I stepped into the room.
It was dark – unlike the rest of the ship, there were no lights. I could barely make out the vague outline of the ship, the Emissary. I walked towards it, and as I approached, I could make out the sound of heavy breathing. I stopped, hesitating. Who else was in the room?
Apparently they were wondering the same thing. A gruff voice called out from the darkness near the ship, “Who’s there?”
I swallowed, suddenly nervous. I did not recognize the voice. “J-Jak, sir.”
There was a silence broken only by the man’s breathing.
“Jak. The stowaway. What are you doing? You have no business here. Get out!”
I nodded, then realized that he couldn’t see that in the darkness. “Y-yes, sir.” I turned and fled the room, shutting the door behind me. I leaned against the closed door, wondering who was in the room. After a few moments, I shook my head and continued my aimless wandering, now having no goals at all in mind.
I found myself at the door to the observatory. Not able to think of anything better to do, I pressed my hand into the door and went up the stairs. Just before I reached the top, I heard hushed voices. I froze.
“I don’t know about that. You saw the video that Vince showed us…”
“Yes, I know, but he controls the security footage. Security practically worshipped him. Valerius was the only one who didn’t – look what happened to him! And how do you think the Diplomat was destroyed? The guns that shot at it were controlled by Security. Even if Korzos was responsible, Vincent had to have let him do it. He had too much power before his mutiny, and we handed him even more.”
Another voice. “You go too far to call it a mutiny. He was just giving a man what he deserved.”
“If you’re sure it was him.” I recognized Nemhet’s voice. “I am not so sure. Vincent is an ambitious man – I’ve known him for years. There’s a lot of power in Security, which is why he gravitated towards it. He’s always wanted recognition, though – and what better way to get that than to lead the mission to success?”
“He’s done a good job of that, managing to get our engines blown up. Was that part of his brilliant plan?”
Rafael answered. I wondered when he had gotten off of guard duty. “No. He is not suicidal, just mad. In a rather suave way. Whatever his flaws may be, Vincent did tell the truth about Ivor being a saboteur, in the pay of the Ryussan government. The engines’ destruction was almost certainly Karanov’s work – and it threw a wrench in Vincent’s own plans. No doubt he is trying to send for help as we speak, while blaming us for this failure – but the transmitter is down. I made sure of that.”
I blinked. Rafael had sabotaged the transmitter? Why would he do such a thing? Apparently others had similar thoughts running through their minds, for I heard some mutters. When they were silenced, Rafael continued.
“There is, however, a second transmitter, one that Vincent does not know about, that Mather entrusted to me. It works. We will call for help once Vincent is removed.”
My stomach went cold. I had heard rumors that they were plotting this, but this was a confirmation.
“Why would Mather trust you with it?” It was Allon.
Rafael sounded smug. “Korzos was sabotaging the mission. The Namibians were paying him to make it go badly, and return in disarray.” There were a few gasps. “Mather discovered this early on, and put a stop to all of Korzos’ actions. He then entrusted me, someone that he knew he could trust but who was not associated with him, with a confidential transmitter supplied to him by the Bajan government, in case Korzos did anything like this.
“Korzos suspected that Mather was stopping his efforts at sabotage, and so told Mather to head the mission on the Diplomat. Robos and Ironton had always been Mather’s pets, and probably knew about the captain’s hidden agenda. Valerius was the only security man not loyal to Vincent, and Angela was always the smartest one of us. That’s why Korzos sent them on the mission – Valerius at Vincent’s request. But he did not plan on blowing up the ship – that would be too obviously a fault on his part. No, he planned on abandoning them. I don’t know how he thought he could make it okay with us, but he was going to try.
“It was Vincent who blew up the shuttle, in order to frame Korzos and take the captainship. Sure, Korzos had anger issues, and was trying to make the mission fail, but at least he wasn’t the Machiavellian dictator that Vincent wants to be.” Rafael was not describing the Vincent I knew. I began to back down the stairs, as silently as I could. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I silently left the observatory and ran all the way to Vincent’s cabin.
19
“If you’re ever going to lead a mutiny, you should keep three things in mind. One, don’t let everyone in on it – avoid those who follow the captain blindly. Two, make it happen quickly – a good captain will notice the signs of discontent and put a stop to it, eliminating your power base before you can act. And three – don’t let the captain find out.”