by Susan Kelley
“They gave them beds and bathroom facilities this time,” Dr. Loren mumbled.
“Are we done here?” Mak asked the doctors.
“Everything appears to have been sterilized before they abandoned it.” Molly gave him that sad look again, though Mak wasn’t sure he interpreted it correctly. Why would this room where men were treated like animals affect her?
The next floor held what they were looking for. Three operating rooms, computer work stations and every type of medical equipment imaginable. The doctors went to work, searching cabinets, drawers and even crawling under desks. They found nothing.
“I guess we should move down to the next floor.” Molly joined Mak where he waited by the door to the stairway.
“The bottom floors should hold nothing but the power station, water purification and waste facilities.”
“We still need to look.”
Mak knew she was right, but a cold dread had joined the unease nagging at him. “I’ll go and call you if I find something that needs your attention.”
The look in Molly’s narrowed eyes matched the general’s. And reminded Mak he shouldn’t be thinking of her as Molly. “You might not recognize what I think is important.”
Damn. She was right. “Just you and me. Corporal Box, keep everyone on this floor until I return.”
Mak led her down the stairs, twice the number of steps as the upper floors, while the stench of garbage grew stronger. And another smell, the one he’d dreaded, now overlay the garbage odor. Death. Molly probably couldn’t smell it. The scent was old and covered with the tang of acid. When he turned on the lights, a cavernous room opened before them. Metal vats forty feet in diameter were interspersed with pipes of varying width that would carry power and water to the upper floors and return waste to this level.
“There must be something in those waste vats,” Molly said with a hint of discouragement.
Mak tapped the radio on his collar. “Bring them all down, corporal.”
Molly sighed. “This could take a while.”
Mak went to the first vat, tapping on it with his knuckles. It bonged of dark emptiness. The next one sounded as empty. But the third one emanated the death stench. “This one.”
The others came in the door, clearly hesitant. Mak saw relief on their faces as they observed the empty room. It wouldn’t last long once they opened the vat.
Mak identified three more vats that held the odor of decomposition. Once Pender and Box opened the emergency doors on the bottoms of the containers, Molly and her comrades found splotches of dried blood and a few soiled cloths. One held some empty medicine bottles that went in the doctors’ bags for later study. He ordered Box to stay with them while he and Pender checked the lowest level. The quiet hum of crystallized iron power generators greeted them. Nothing seemed suspicious or out of order so they returned to the upper room.
The doctors had made slow progress, still only on the second vat. Mak ordered Box and Pender to assist them as they could while he stood watch by himself. Though convinced the structure was devoid of life, something about it put him on edge. Five hours later, the doctors declared themselves satisfied with their tubes and full sacks.
“Sir, there’s an elevator,” Pender said.
Mak knew that, of course, and wondered why the young soldier needed to tell him.
Dr. Shear clapped her hands. “Wonderful idea, Kory. I’m too old to walk up all those steps again.”
Mak didn’t like the small, enclosed structures but he wanted to get the doctors back on the ship and perhaps ease the tension between his shoulder blades that wound tighter with every minute they explored. They used the freight elevator rather than the smaller personnel one near the stairs. It easily had room for them all. Back on the space dock level, Mak urged them toward the ship.
“Box, help the doctors get their things stored away. Pender and I are going to the station control center.” Any clues about where they might locate more recent labs would be found there. “Doctor Drant, any ideas how long ago this place was used?”
Molly shrugged. “It’s difficult to know. We might be able to tell once we take a close look at the samples, Mak.”
Mak suspected the sparkle in her eyes when she used his name had to do with his reluctance to address her by Molly in front of the others. Use of her first name implied an intimacy of a sort he didn’t wish the others to know of. “We’ll leave as soon as Pender and I return. Lock up, corporal, and keep an eye on the outside sensors. Pirates have been known to use these abandoned facilities as hideouts.”
He hadn’t seen any sign of pirate use, but Mak wanted to keep Box alert. He and Pender took the stairs, five flights, to reach the top level of the station. The door opened with the override code as the others had.
The lights came up and revealed a two-story high operations base. Wide viewing screens showed an infinite expanse of darkness punctured by spots of bright stars. “Stay behind me.” The tension across Mak’s shoulders tightened though he saw nothing unusual. He took his time crossing the open area at the head of the steps to the long counter holding the communications gear. Unlike the lighting, the comms hadn’t awakened. The subspace radio equipment looked outdated, none of it of a kind that Mak had ever used.
He looked it over without touching. One small light flashed, probably a power switch.
“I saw something like this when I was a boy, sir,” Pender said. “My grandfather had some old ships he used for hauling his produce to off-world markets.”
Mak pushed the pulsing button but nothing happened. “The power must be cut off at its source.”
“There’s probably a breaker switch underneath, sir.” Pender dropped to his knees and looked under the console. “Here it is.”
“Don’t touch any….” A sharp snap cut off Mak’s words. Pender’s scream overlaid it. Mak grasped the young man’s shoulders and pulled him back from the console.
Lights flashed and blinked as the communications and other computers powered up, but Mak saw only Pender’s bleeding arm. The flesh in his forearm lay open, exposing both bones. Blood flowed in a crimson gush.
Mak took the flaps of torn skin and folded them across the wound as best as he could. Then he took Pender’s other hand and forced the soldier to squeeze his wound. “You hold it shut. Don’t let go and don’t pass out.”
“Is that an order, sir?” Pender tried to smile, his lips paler than his ashen face. Tears hung unshed in his eyes.
“Absolutely. Don’t you dare disobey me.” Mak picked up the ensign like he was a child. The soldier matched Mak in size, not a light load. But they only had five flights of stairs. Mak considered the elevator but feared more traps.
He ran down the steps, unable to see where he placed his feet but going as fast as his muscles allowed. The movement jarred Pender, but he bit his lip against crying out. When Mak hit the dock level, he sprinted toward the ship. He twisted his head and used his chin to tap his radio. “Open the door, Box. Now!”
The ship’s door opened and the four steps slid out just as Mak reached them. Box’s mouth dropped open as he jumped out of Mak’s way. Mak carried Pender directly into the lab and lifted him onto a table. Tubes and small bags of samples scattered but the doctors reacted as well as combat surgeons.
Molly snapped out orders. “Hector, universal blood and an IV. Helen, get antibiotics and a stitching kit.” She swept her gaze up and down Mak’s body. “Are you injured?”
Mak looked down, realizing blood covered his front. “All Pender’s.”
“What happened?” Molly bent over Pender’s arm. He still held it tightly and squeezed his eyes shut nearly as much. His breathing came shallow and rapid. “You did an excellent job applying pressure, Kory, now let go so I can see.”
“Can’t, sir.”
“Yes, you can. I know it will hurt, but I need to look at it.”
“Not allowed to, sir.”
Mak put his hand on Pender’s shoulder. “You have my permission, soldier, and
you may pass out now.”
“Thank you, sir.” Pender’s grip on his forearm loosened. Fresh blood flowed out. His face looked gray as his eyes rolled back in his head.
Molly clasped a thick wad of sterile pads on the fist-sized wound and then glared at Mak. “He wouldn’t let go because you ordered him not to?”
“Had to keep pressure on it, and I needed both hands to carry him.”
“You carried him the entire way down?”
“It was only five floors.” Mak stepped out of Dr. Loren’s way as he moved to put the IV in Pender’s uninjured arm.
Molly scowled at Mak but then turned her attention back to the wound, lifted the dressing she held on it to take a quick look. “What happened?”
“It sounded like a small explosive device. I’m going back and have another look.”
“Why was he messing around with explosives?” Molly let Dr. Shear take over holding the dressing tight. She walked over to a sink and began washing her hands.
Mak joined her and scrubbed Pender’s blood from his hands. “It was a trap. I didn’t stop him in time.”
“Why would someone booby trap a deserted place like this?”
“To hide their destination, I hope. I’ll see what I can salvage.” Mak looked over his shoulder at Pender. The soldier looked younger in his helpless condition. “Will he be all right?”
Molly shook water off her hands. “He’ll live but I have to get a closer look to know how much tissue damage there is. I don’t think you should go back to a room where you know there are traps.”
“We need the information.” Mak dried his hands off and walked out of the room.
Box caught up to him at the steps to outside. “Do you want me to go with you, sir?”
“Stay by the radio, Box. No one leaves the ship.” Mak didn’t want anyone else stumbling around where there could be more traps. Pender’s injury was his fault. The nagging tension had disappeared when Pender sprang the trap. Now that Mak understood why his instincts had been whispering to him, he could do what needed to be done. He should have realized the place was too sterile, everything too neatly cleaned up but the control room left intact.
This time Mak paused in the doorway of the sprawling room and looked around. Where would he place traps? The communications unit made perfect sense. Anyone investigating the abandoned station would turn that equipment on looking for details. Pirates would try to steal it.
Mak avoided the comm unit, moving around the rest of the workspace. He found a pressure sensitive explosive in front of the elevator, waiting for someone to step out. An old computer sat with tempting clarity on the commander’s desk. He turned from it and found another small bomb attached to the star chart table. He examined it closely, finding it wired to the touch pad for scrolling through searches. The exact information he’d hoped to find.
With a sigh, Mak took a small knife from his belt and set to work on the explosive. The bomb was crude and designed more for stealth than complexity. It took only two minutes to disarm it. Dewell, a planet on the far side of this same galaxy, had been entered as a destination for the last five ships that had left this station nearly two years past.
Mak finally went to the communications station and knelt to look at the trap Pender had set off. His stomach tightened when he saw the live explosive still connected to the switch. Perhaps because of a faulty setup or the passing of time, only the preliminary charge had fired. Though it had caused extensive damage to Pender’s arm, if the main bomb had gone off, it would certainly have killed the soldier and maybe even Mak.
He stood up and looked around some more. The command center had dozens of other stations that had controlled everything from the shipping dock to power usage on the lower levels. One long stretch of old computers managed the scanners, their screens filled with empty space from all quadrants. There could be another hundred booby traps hidden about.
Mak retraced his steps, avoiding the splashes of blood on his way to the stairs. Damn his carelessness. If he and Pender had been killed, it would have left the doctors stranded out here on the edge of communications range with little shipping activity.
The doctors still surrounded Pender when Mak returned to the ship. He stayed out of the way and went to his room where he stripped out of his blood-soaked pants and shirt. After a brief shower, he put the stained clothing in the washer tubes. They would be clean and dry within two hours. He dressed in his black outfit, the one reserved for night work but it suited his mood.
Corporal Box sat in the copilot’s chair on the bridge, staring at the scanners. The man’s stiff posture spoke of tension and perhaps fear. Apparently escorting science teams through space didn’t prepare soldiers like Box for emergencies. He looked over at Mak as Mak settled into the pilot’s seat.
“Plot a course for the nearest place with a good-sized port. Military or civilian. We’ll leave as soon as the doctors are ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
At least the last few hours’ events had knocked the attitude from the corporal. Mak still wished he could replace Box, but that could wait. He walked back toward the lab, his steps slow with regret. What if they’d had to take Pender’s arm off? One couldn’t pilot a ship like this one with one arm and not even the best prosthesis could replace the sensitive fingertips needed to navigate through a meteor storm. Mak cursed himself again.
Molly stood beside Pender, adding something to his IV while the other two doctors washed up at the sink. She swung her gaze to Mak, fatigue darkening her hazel eyes to the color of old moss. “He’ll be fine with a scar to brag about to the ladies.”
“Brag? Carelessness caused that scar.”
“I’m sure he’ll leave out how careless he was.” Molly smiled.
“I was the careless one. I reacted too slowly to stop him.”
“Mak, it’s not your fault.” Molly’s smiled melted into a frown.
He sighed. “I felt something wrong here from before we landed. I should have gone upstairs by myself.”
“Then you would be the one lying on the table.”
Mak thought she looked serious. “No, I wouldn’t. I would have seen the trap. I won’t be so careless from now on. I promise.”
Molly put her hand around his wrist and led him toward the door. “This is not your fault. We all knew this trip could be dangerous. Pender is a soldier. He knows every mission could result in injury.”
“My orders from the general was to keep danger from you.”
“And you have. Pender will make a full recovery.”
Mak knew she was wrong. “We’re going to resupply. I have to pick up a few things I don’t have on board. Think about what you need. Take off in five.”
The warmth from her fingers lingered on his arm as he walked back to the bridge. He worried the general would pull him from the mission. Though Mak hated seeing the evidence of human torture on the trail they followed, he enjoyed being back in the sky. New places, new worlds and stars to see. And a lovely doctor to watch over. But damned if he hadn’t failed when they’d faced the first real danger.
Box had the flight plan ready. Mak wished the ship beneath him was a warship instead of the science vessel. He would blow the cursed space station out of the sky. He’d have to ask the general to take care of that as well as report his own failure.
Chapter Five
Molly only saw Mak during his brief but frequent visits to Pender. Twenty-four hours after his surgery, Andy and Mak helped Pender move to his bed and off the hard lab table. She lost track of the hours as she and the other doctors processed the small bits of evidence they’d found on the space station.
“The blood scrapings didn’t tell us much,” Hector observed when they all took a break to eat.”
Molly sipped on a nutria-shake, promising herself she’d have at least one real meal while they resupplied. “But we’re agreed it has come from people more than thirty-five years old?”
“Yes,” Helen said. “And there’s some evidence of tampe
ring on the cellular level, perhaps an attempt to change their DNA. Do you think they took some of their lab subjects with them?”
Mak walked into the cafeteria, glancing at the doctors but otherwise ignoring them. The ship wasn’t that big, yet he’d managed to avoid them most of the day. With Pender on bed rest, Andy spent most of his time on the bridge with Mak even though the corporal wasn’t a pilot. Mak selected a nutria-shake out of the cooler and then left without a word to them.
Molly excused herself from her comrades and hurried after him. “Mak.”
He stopped and waited for her a few steps from the bridge. “We’ll make landfall in three hours.”
“Great. I’m looking forward to eating something that has more flavor than strained grass.”
Mak looked at his shake and then lifted his eyebrow at her. Just the reaction she’d hoped for. “At one time, I thought this was as good as food could taste.”
Her heart did a funny little skip, and she thought of the poor abused and abandoned men they’d left behind on Julian. And all the blood they’d found in the space station. “Do you think they took some of the lab subjects with them when they abandoned the space station?”
“I think they killed them all, another failed experiment. Nemon was only two or three years older than me. That place was one more stepping stone toward him.” Mak shook the drink in his hand. “I sent a secure radio message to the general. He’ll see that the space station is destroyed before anyone else gets hurt in those traps.”
“Good idea. I would like to stay a full day on…. Where are we going?”
The eyebrow went up again, and this time he blessed her with a smile. Molly’s heart nearly stopped. As a physician who specialized in disease and pathogen studies, she often saw a lot of ugliness. But Mak and especially Mak smiling, might have been the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “New Venus. They export aluminum and cotton. There’s a good-sized trading port. I’ve already made arrangements for a surgeon to check Pender out as you suggested though I believe you and other doctors fixed him as well as anyone could.”