The Furnace

by Timothy S. Johnston

  The reader beeped and within seconds I had my answer.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered.

  It shocked me more than I had anticipated. A hell of a lot more—my heart nearly exploded in my chest, and my breath burst out in a rush. “Holy shit!”

  I knew what I had to do—perform an act of sabotage on SOLEX that would incriminate me and point all suspicious eyes in my direction.

  But I had to do it. There were no other options.

  And it had to be done immediately.

  * * *

  First, using the comm, I woke up Shaheen to give her some instructions. “But why?” she asked after my request. She was clearly shocked. “Why the hell would you want me to do that?”

  “You’ll know in a few hours. I’ll explain later. Just do it, Shaheen.”

  She pursed her lips. “It’s about the killer?”

  “It’s about helping me make the capture.”

  “But how can I be sure?” she protested.

  “I’m not asking you to cause major damage. Just a few small things, all reversible. I’ll tell Manny I gave you a direct order. You can’t be held accountable. Don’t worry.”

  She considered the request for another minute; I sat on the edge of my chair. If she didn’t go along with this...

  Finally, she sighed. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  “Thanks, Shaheen. You won’t regret it.” I cut the comm before she could respond.

  * * *

  My ship was moored in Module G, the docking port. Like the storage modules, it had no levels; rather, it was a large, open space with a massive hatch on one end. Depressurizing the entire bay allowed ships to enter or depart. Despite the bay being currently pressurized, a flexible umbilical still connected SOLEX with my ship’s air lock. There were four docking ports for small jumpships there. Each could connect via a hollow tube that allowed people to traverse from ship to station without having to wear a vacsuit.

  There was no artificial gravity in the docking bay; the ship floated freely, but magnetic grapples connected it to the curving bulkhead. On board the ship, however, the gravity field was always operating, so the traverse through the umbilical was the only area without gravity that I was subjected to. I hauled myself through, into the ship, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it; I preferred having a firm deck under my feet at all times.

  Once aboard, I marched straight to the bridge. From an emergency tool locker I removed a wrench, wire cutters, a screwdriver, and a crowbar and hammer. On my back in the cramped cabin, I slid my head under the main console and used the screwdriver to unfasten four small screws that held the access panel in place. It fell away easily, and a mass of fiber-optic cables came into view. They were strapped together in bundles, each marked with a different-colored band that indicated its general function.

  I grabbed a bunch marked with green and yanked it toward me. It was about twenty cables tied together and labeled Enviro Controls. Good, but I could do better. I pulled on the brown bundle: Exterior Lighting. Damn. I tried a few more: blue for Gravity Field (unimportant), yellow for Hyperspace (not bad), purple for Communications (not bad) and black for Interior Lighting (unimportant).

  “Damn, where are you?” I murmured as I searched through the bundles. “Ha!” There it was: a red band marked Gravtrav Controls. I ripped it toward me and with the wire cutters severed every optic in the bundle. I then cut the environmental controls, communications and hyperspace optics.

  After a moment, I realized I should just cut them all. I reached as far back as I could and sheared the wires flush with the bulkhead, where they entered the bridge. I wanted to make it as difficult as possible for anyone to repair.

  I pushed myself to my feet and considered what to do next. So far I’d only damaged the controls; I hadn’t actually ruined any systems. To do that, I’d have to get at the actual equipment.

  I grabbed the hammer and stalked from the bridge.

  * * *

  The ship was small, but it still had an engine room of sorts. The rear compartment housed a bunk, lavatory, galley and air lock. A narrow hatch concealed an access junction that twisted its way aftward to the propulsion and life-support equipment. It was a tight fit—I had to walk sideways—but I quickly found the gravtrav. Piping, which I assumed was part of the drive’s coolant system, wound its way across the duct. I opened a panel and peered within. Perfect. Labels clearly marked circuit boards and processors as components of the gravtrav. The other end of the red bundle of cables connected here.

  I cut all the cables. I smashed all the electronics and circuit boards. I spent thirty minutes causing as much damage as possible.

  There was now no way someone could use this ship to escape SOLEX.

  * * *

  My next target was located in Module M: the mass driver. It was here that the station’s escape pods were located. The driver used a great deal of power, and I noted that it had a dedicated generator separate from the rest of the station’s systems. If a catastrophic disaster occurred on SOLEX, the driver’s power supply would in theory be intact and able to launch the pods.

  Shaheen had considered the possibility of using the driver’s generator to help power the station, but it simply wouldn’t be enough. SOLEX’s demands were immense; despite being powerful, this generator wouldn’t add much against the overall usage.

  The mass-driver control area was separated from the machinery by meter-high control consoles and displays. Beside these were two-man escape pods. Each was the size of a small automobile and contained life-support and communication equipment only. The pods rested on a conveyer belt that led to the center of the driver barrel.

  If a disaster occurred that the station’s personnel couldn’t handle, they would come immediately to Module M. They would power up the driver, strap themselves into one of the eight pods, and the control system would automatically move the pod into the barrel. The powerful magnets would suspend the pod and accelerate it at immense speed away from the sun. There was no propulsion system in the pods; the occupants would have to rely on help from Mercury to survive.

  I considered my next move. Should I disable the driver? Was that necessary? If so, how exactly would I do it? I could destroy the controls easily enough, but I’d need to ruin the actual mechanics of the driver as well. Then I hit upon another idea: I’d simply jettison all the pods. Once they were gone, it didn’t matter if the driver worked or not.

  After activating the control system, I instructed the computer to begin the launch sequence. The instructions were clear: there was a large red button under a glass shield labeled Initiate.

  I pressed it.

  Strobe lights immediately began to flash, and an alarm sounded. A screen next to the launch button displayed a single, simple instruction: Board Life Pod Now.

  Shit! There was a failsafe built in—I could launch only manned pods. I had to do this fast; the command staff would now be aware that someone had just activated the station’s escape system.

  I marched to the first pod, leaned in and studied the controls. I located the hatch control button on the bulkhead, slapped it and withdrew. The hatch closed, and within seconds the conveyor moved the pod toward the nearby bulkhead. There was a hatch there I hadn’t noticed earlier. As it opened and exposed the interior of the barrel, the full scope of the module came into view. It was well over a hundred meters long. Angular magnets circled its interior, each aimed toward the launch point. The pods would accelerate down the cylinder and eventually reach huge velocities.

  Magnets aimed at the pod took hold and smoothly lifted it a full meter off the conveyer. There was a surge of power—the hair on my arms literally stood on end—and the pod moved into the barrel.

  The large hatch slid shut quickly, and the air vented from the driver barrel. There was another shriek of power and—

  The fi
rst life pod was away. Only seven more remained.

  The second pod in the line was the next to go. I reached in and slapped the button to close the hatch, and it began its short journey to the magnets’ embrace.

  A voice blared from the station’s communit. The captain. “You are ordered to stop immediately! Armed personnel are on their way! Cease your activities now!”

  “Shit,” I said. Still six more pods left. But why do one at a time? I decided to try all at once, and pressed each hatch control in turn. I stepped back as all six began to glide toward the mass driver. They entered the barrel one at a time before launch.

  When only two remained, Avery Rickets and Godfreid Grossman stormed in. They stopped short when they saw who was sabotaging their station.

  “It’s too late,” I said in a quiet voice. “There’s no way to stop them.”

  They watched, mouths agape, as the last of the pods shot into space.

  “So it’s you,” Grossman snarled. “You killed Reggie and Bel.”

  “Of course not,” I snapped. “It’s not me.”

  “Then why—”

  “I wasn’t even here when Jimmy died,” I continued.

  “But the life pods!” he exclaimed. “Why do this?”

  I remained silent as I studied their faces. “Not now.”

  Rickets was steaming. He unholstered his pistol and leveled it at me. “You better have a fucking good explanation, Tanner!”

  I raised a hand. “I want to talk to everyone.”

  He clenched his teeth and glared daggers at me. “It better be good,” he finally grated. “I’d like to squeeze this trigger and end this right now.”

  I shook my head. “You wouldn’t stop it, Avery. The killing would continue. And I know why.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The situation in the common mess was chaotic. The crew were enraged at the damage I had caused to their station. I had also incensed the scientists; both groups snapped questions and demands at me at a furious pace. Manny was tight-lipped but quiet, and Shaheen sat in a corner as the drama unfolded, obviously torn about the knowledge of what I had done. Only Rickets was absent from the meeting. I eventually calmed everyone down to the point where they could listen to my explanation, but it took over thirty minutes.

  “Why the hell would you destroy the jumpship?” Grossman growled.

  “And you launched all our life pods,” Katrina murmured as she shook her head. “It’s insane.”

  “You’ve stranded us here,” Lingly added. “What if—”

  Grossman again. “We’re in a hell of a situation right now! Life support damaged, power’s at a premium. Supplies gone or damaged. And you do this?”

  “Maybe we should just call Mercury for help,” Sally said. “They can send another ship—”

  “We’re not in that dire a situation yet,” Manny interjected. “It would be premature.” He watched me with narrowed eyes. He knew I wasn’t the killer, yet he had no explanation for my behavior. Still, he seemed calm and levelheaded. For now, at least.

  “And besides that,” Rickets said in his deep voice as he marched into the room, “communications are down.”

  “What?” Manny said. “How?”

  “The system’s been locked out, same as security.”

  He turned to me. “You did this.”

  I exhaled and prepared myself for more. “Yes.”

  “Did you also lock out the surveillance before the murders?” Rickets bit out.

  “I’m not the killer,” I said.

  He looked pained. “How are we supposed to believe that? Look what you just did! You sabotaged us!”

  “I know what I did, but hear me out.”

  Grossman snarled. “How the hell can you possibly explain yourself?”

  “There’s a murderer on board, we’re in the middle of an emergency and you’ve cut off our only means of escape,” Malichauk said. He looked concerned and scared. Terrified, in fact.

  I raised my hands. “Listen, I’ll explain everything, right now. Please sit down and be calm.” I took a deep breath as I organized the thoughts in my head. Seven days of investigation had passed, and I knew I had to reveal the information slowly. I needed them on my side as I prepared to spring the final evidence and corner the guilty party. But most important, I had to be careful. “I originally came here under orders to ascertain whether Jimmy Chin’s death was in fact a murder, or if the mutilation of his body was unrelated to his death.”

  “We know that,” Grossman said. “Get to the sabotage.”

  I turned to him. “Not yet. You want an explanation, you’ll get a full one.”

  “Let him talk, Crewman,” Manny said. “Go ahead, Tanner.”

  A pause as Grossman glared at his captain. He flicked a glance to me, then lowered his eyes.

  I nodded at Manny. “When I arrived and began my investigation, I did everything experience told me to do. I questioned everyone on board. I went to the crime scene. I looked at Jimmy’s personal effects, his quarters and even the vacsuit he was wearing when he died. I tried to examine the body, but the doctor had already jettisoned it. I looked for any physical evidence left behind, any at all, no matter how insignificant. I tried to familiarize myself with SOLEX and everyone here.” I waited for a long moment. No one spoke now. “I found almost nothing.”

  “So it wasn’t a murder after all?” Manny asked. He looked bewildered.

  I grimaced. “It’s not that easy. There’s something going on here, and it obviously goes beyond a single death. But I’ve uncovered something unique, as one or more of you already know.”

  Malichauk’s brow creased. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, Lars, that there is more than one person involved in this.”

  Startled looks passed over their features as they absorbed that.

  “But you said you didn’t find—”

  “That’s right. I didn’t find anything that would indicate a reason for three murders, especially not Jimmy Chin’s. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.”

  “So it was random?”

  I shook my head. “Not at all.”

  “You’re not making sense,” Grossman grumbled. “Get to the point.”

  I looked at him again. “Don’t worry. I’ll get to it soon enough.” He was being antagonistic and rude once more. There was no doubt I had put him in a terrible position, but as usual, he was quick to judge.

  The power flickered slightly, and the low lighting dimmed even further. Everyone looked around, now conscious of the fact that there might be more than one killer among them.

  The sound of the ventilation fans ceased momentarily.

  “It’s okay,” Shaheen said. “There will be the odd fluctuation. Don’t worry.”

  As if on cue, the fans restarted, but they sounded more hushed than ever.

  “Let’s start with Anna,” I said.

  She looked stunned at being singled out. “Me?” She flashed a look at her comrades.

  “Yes, why not? When I first met you, you seemed quite cooperative. Polite, even respectful. I questioned you and didn’t learn much about Jimmy. However, I discovered something interesting about you. Apparently you fight a great deal with your crewmates. Why didn’t you mention that to me?”

  She hesitated. “I—I didn’t want you to think I was...”

  “What? Rash? Someone who didn’t think before they acted?”

  “Maybe,” she said in a sullen tone.

  “I read your file, Anna. There were multiple entries regarding fights with coworkers. Did you think you could hide that from me?” She stared at the deck and didn’t answer. I wondered how long I should keep her on the defense. “But you did give me some valuable information. Apparently Jimmy told you an interesting s
tory. He witnessed an assault of sorts in Module A.”

  “Of sorts?” Manny asked.

  “He saw one man lying prone on the deck. A second man, who knelt over him, gripped his arm tightly. He was looking around, afraid someone would see.”

  The captain frowned. “See what?”

  I nodded. “Exactly. What did Jimmy see?” I noticed Bram rub his left forearm as I spoke. The same thing had happened to him during the meteor shower. His brow furrowed and he watched me intently.

  “Jimmy knew he’d stumbled across something bizarre,” I said. “In fact, he even approached an officer about the incident.”

  The others looked surprised at that.

  “He told me,” Rickets said after a beat.

  The captain turned to him, his eyes piercing. “Why didn’t you report this?”

  He looked nervous at being pinned down by his commanding officer. “I checked everyone afterward, and no one was hurt. I had only Jimmy’s word, and nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. I left it alone and waited to see if something like it happened again. Nothing did.”

  I said, “But it does sound peculiar, doesn’t it? What if I said the same thing happened to Bram during the accident two days ago?” Everyone now stared at me, their faces blank.

  Then their eyes shifted to Bram.

  “It’s true,” he muttered with a nod. “The guy who attacked me grabbed my arm, hard. It’s the last thing I remember.”

  People were now clearly more confused than ever. In fact, even Bram seemed not to understand what had happened to him. Interesting.

  “So we have two incidents like that,” Manny said. “But what does it mean?”

  “I’m getting to that,” I said. “Now, back to Anna. You weren’t exactly truthful with me.”

  A look of discomfort passed over her features. “I didn’t think it was important to mention my file.”

  “In a murder investigation? By not telling me, you made it look like you were trying to hide something.” I began to pace. I was through with her, but I had only just started to pick up steam. “Then there’s Lieutenant Brick Kayle.”