“Something’s wrong with Lena,” he said as he stood and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, slipping into his boots. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Fiona went back to sleep and Kendrick wondered if she had even comprehended what he had told her. Thankfully, he did not have far to go; Lena’s cabin was next to his own. Unfortunately, his cabin door would not open.
“They activated the magnetic seal on my door,” he called.
“All Pod Alpha doors are sealed,” the Ai announced. “Restoring functionality. Functionality restored.”
With that, he was able to leave his own cabin and go to Lena’s. The door opened and Kendrick rushed in, finding the gynoid laying prone and twitching like her old body had after being shot.
“Come on, Lena! Snap out of it!” He shook her gently, but to no avail. Lena was limp, her body jolting with occasional spasms. The door to her data port had been opened and an O.S.D. had been inserted into the socket. That meant that someone had given her a virus.
“You seein’ this, Selene?”
“Yes, Captain. The O.S.D. was inserted manually. Whoever is responsible is also the culprit of the monitoring systems sabotage.”
“Great,” he snorted. “A saboteur and none of the suspects make any sense.”
The Captain assembled his “original” crew; Fiona, Heather, Kang and Ronan, in his cabin at the ungodly hour of four. Of the four crewmembers, only Ronan was awake and coherent at the time. Kendrick had contacted them individually, telling them to meet him in his cabin immediately. Kendrick had carried his still nightgown-clad wife to the love seat, while Heather, Ronan and Kang pulled up chairs around Kendrick’s coffee table. Once he had served coffee to his guests, he sat next to Fiona and began the meeting.
“Ladies and gents, we have a saboteur.”
Everyone began looking back and forth at one another. Heather shook her head in disbelief, shocked that anyone would sabotage the ship while in space, months away from any port.
“Are you sure that it wasn’t done before we left?” Ronan asked.
“Someone deactivated security measures in Pod Alpha, engineering and the Nexus; and slipped an O.S.D. into Lena’s socket, disabling her with some kind of virus,” the captain explained. “Cyber-attacks are one thing, but that last part had to be done manually. Thing is, none of us, or any of our new arrivals, make any sense as a culprit.”
Mun held up a hand. “What about Keyes? She could still be trying to bring us in.”
“That makes no sense, Kang,” Ronan declared. “She had us on Mars; all she had to do was nothing. If it weren’t for her, Kendrick and Lena would have been held and we would probably have been captured.”
“Yeah, but the captain told her about Venus …”
“You’ll notice that I left out the part about blowing the facility to bits,” Kendrick reminded him. “Wouldn’t matter anyway; the Alliance was already after me and after what she did to Martins, she’d be in more danger in a U.P.A. encounter than I would be. They actually need me. Keyes on the other hand …”
“Cyrus certainly has the technical skill to do it,” Ronan posited. “You don’t think he was a plant, do you?”
“No,” Kendrick said without hesitation. “Even discounting his monumental help in constructing Fiona’s exoskeleton, I don’t feel like he’d be the one, but nobody aboard does either. I mean, it makes no sense. Blaming Cyrus just seems a bit too easy.”
“I can’t see Cyrus doing it,” Heather said. “I see and talk to him more than any of you do and I refuse to believe he’s guilty of this.”
“I agree,” Kendrick replied. “But the fact remains that somebody did this; somebody on this ship and somebody we trust. I’d keep this between us, but Lena’s serving as the ship’s helm and manning the Med Bay until Fiona’s up to speed. There’s no way her absence would go unnoticed. I’ll call a meeting later this morning and announce that Lena has gone offline without bringing up my suspicions of sabotage. We’ll see if anyone starts acting differently.”
“You could just put everyone in cryo for the duration of the voyage,” Ronan suggested. “That would eliminate the problem until we get to Earth and then we can just drop them all off, there to go their own way.”
“We can’t do that,” Heather objected. “Cyrus and Keyes would never go for that! We’d have to kill them and risk dying ourselves.”
“Heather’s right,” Kendrick agreed. “I need to think on this, come up with a solution that doesn’t involve gunplay.”
“And it looks like I’ll need to return to my post,” Fiona declared. When Kendrick looked like he was going to protest, she added, “Our crew is small and barring something major, I can handle it. Even in my current state, none of you have the capability to do what I do.”
“All right, Fi,” Kendrick said warily. “Just … don’t overdo it.”
“Trust me, I won’t,” she assured.
“All right,” Kendrick declared. “Unless anyone has anything to add, dismissed.”
The crew all nodded and left, returning to slumber, or in Ronan’s case, prayer and meditation. Kendrick could not believe the bad luck they seemed to have. No sooner was one fire put out, ten more sprang up in its place. He only hoped they solved this before anything even larger came along. Fiona was not wearing the exoskeleton, so Kendrick lifted her from the love seat and ascended the stairs to the loft with her. Fiona kissed his cheek, laying her head on his shoulder, her presence reassuring him.
President Lenore Robinson was hardly surprised by what she was reading. NessCorp had sold out the United States in order to get a better deal with the U.P.A. and had neglected to share valuable intel. Lorgen had hijacked the U.S.S. Phantasm and would have destroyed the Liberty. Only the quick thinking of Captain Gifford’s had prevented the tragedy. With Colonel Tracht aboard, it would have been an even greater loss. Very few things could motivate congress to support her in what they considered to be her “radical progressive agenda;” but selling out the crew of the Phantasm and heroes from the Colonial Conflict in order to go court the Alliance was one of them.
Colonel Tracht was point on a very ambitious project, one that would gain the United States supremacy in the solar system. The project needed funding, of course, and there were quite a few senators who wanted to see that funding happen. Putting her support behind it would ingratiate her with the senate, enabling her to make good on some of her campaign promises and would be genuinely beneficial to the nation.
“All right, Verner Ness,” she said aloud. “You wanna play rough, I’m happy to indulge you.”
She knew who she needed to support and whose support she needed to get, and how to lean on them in order to get it. The Promethean Project would happen and it would happen on her watch. Lenore Robinson would make sure of it.
Finally, she picked up the phone, an anachronism the White House had retained and contacted Admiral Bruce.
“Tell Colonel Tracht his baby has my support. I understand you have one detail to work out.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bruce replied. “It’s the pilot. There’s only one man who can do the job and happens to own a ship that can be easily outfitted for the mission. With him on board, the project is a go.”
“Then hire him,” she ordered. “Or is there some problem with him?”
“He’s the top A.A.E.A. graduate … ever,” Bruce informed her. “But he never served and he’s notoriously mistrustful of the government. Only thing going for us is he trusts the Alliance even less.”
“And just who is this rebellious man that a multi-trillion-dollar project hinges on?”
“Oh, you’re gonna love this, ma’am. Captain Kendrick Royce. He’s in space and we’re trying to find him. Seems the Alliance tried to force him to do the same job for them and he had to shoot his way off of Mars to get out of it.”
“You’re kidding me,” she exclaimed. “Ken ‘The Voice’ Royce, aging rocker, heartthrob to women my age and captain of a star liner, is the only man
who can do the job?”
“Yes, ma’am. He passed the Austin test with a score of 100, the only person ever to do so.”
“Rock and roll icon, former mascot for Harley-Davidson and a starship captain; it doesn’t get more American than that! Give Siegfried the go ahead. I want that man’s cooperation by fall. Do not disappoint me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A subdued Captain Gifford’s fired off a crisp salute as she entered the conference room to meet with Colonel Tracht and deliver the bad news. He returned her salute with a congenial smile, then pulled out a chair for her, motioning for her to sit.
“Carol,” he said. “What’s going on?”
Taking a seat, Carol Gifford’s delivered the bad news. “The Selene’s transponder has been signaling consistently each night as you had predicted it would, Colonel, so we know where they are. Near as we can tell, she’s heading to Earth, punching Mach 30.” She looked down at the table briefly, then looked up. “I’m sorry, sir, but we’ve lost them.”
“Oh no we haven’t,” Tracht countered. He opened his datapad and typed something out. “I’ve uploaded that message to your communications system. Have Henderson send it out tight-beam, Priority-1 and aim it right at the Selene. Then tell Carlisle to punch it, maximum burn for as long the ship’ll hold it.”
Carol’s eyes widened at this, but she stood and saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Chapter 14
Mindhacked!
The crew sat in uncomfortable silence around the table. Kendrick had summoned them unexpectedly and Lena’s absence made it clear that something was wrong. They braced for the captain’s announcement. Speculation about being imminently captured made its way between Cyrus, Keyes and Terri. After a few minutes, Kendrick ended that speculation.
“At three-thirty this morning,” he began, rising from his chair. “I was alerted by the Ai that Lena was in some kind of distress. All Pod Alpha doors were sealed and security measures and cameras from Engineering to the lift, and all over Pod Alpha were deactivated. We got it sorted out, but I found Lena in her bed, face down, with an O.S.D. inserted into her data-port and scorch marks on her body; someone tazed her and manually inserted the O.S.D.” He leaned forward, placing his hands on the table. “We have a saboteur.”
Terri gasped, but otherwise, the room was silent.
“I believe the transponder issue is related,” Kendrick continued. “Keyes and Cyrus have scoured the ship, searching every possible nook and cranny where a saboteur could remain hidden in their attempt to resolve the transponder mystery; and Heather and I have done the same. There are no enemy agents hiding aboard the Selene. Whoever the saboteur is, he … or she … is seated at this table.”
Glances, some furtive, some very obvious, were being exchanged, as each person questioned who the culprit was. Kendrick watched everyone carefully, but nobody tipped their hand as he had hoped.
“I ain’t got no suspects,” he said. “None of you make sense as the culprit. I’m only having this meeting because a saboteur aboard the ship is a threat to everyone present.”
“Agreed,” Cyrus interjected. “Unfortunately, we cannot work with each other without questioning whether or not we’re working with the guilty party.”
“That’s the upshot,” Kendrick agreed. “But I’d be remiss in my duty not to be straight with y’all. I still can’t believe it’s any of you; don’t make no sense; but somebody did this. I’m giving assignments; everyone’ll be paired with someone else, even me.”
“Captain,” Mun exclaimed. “Why you? It’s your ship?”
Keyes interjected before Kendrick could respond. “Why anyone, Mister Mun? We’re in the middle of space, with the nearest port months away and we’re all wanted by the same people.”
“Indeed,” Cyrus noted. “Sabotaging the ship is tantamount to suicide; and yet someone did.”
“I’ve sent your assignments to your datapads,” Kendrick announced. “Just do your jobs; don’t play pin the tail on the saboteur. The last thing we need, is to be turning on each other. Dismissed.”
Amanda Keyes could hardly believe it. She had been quietly investigating the transponder issue since it had begun, but it proved baffling. It was still broadcasting at night, in spite of being disconnected from any power source, locked in a flight case and placed in Heather’s custody. With the Selene far from port and being pursued, Amanda could wait no longer. The former Alliance operative had infiltrated Heather’s cabin; an easy task for an agent of her caliber; and placed some monitoring devices, as well as planted spyware in Heather’s datapad and cabin terminal. Her efforts bore fruit right away.
After Heather went to sleep, her datapad was powering up on its own, emitting a series of ultrasonic pulses. They were too high for the human ear to detect, but Amanda had planted bugs that could pick up the sounds. As soon as the signal was emitted, Heather awakened, and unlocked the flight case, hooking jumpers to the transponder and powering it with a portable power supply. She would then open the data-pad, send off a message, and then return to sleep. At four in the morning, the data pad would self-start, and awaken her. Heather would then turn off the transponder and lock the case, packing up the power supply and jumpers, and then return to sleep. She would then wake up to the sound of her regular alert at seven.
Amanda’s could not crack the encryption that Heather used to send the message, but her spyware tracked the keystrokes, allowing Amanda to reconstruct the messages. Heather was the traitor, the messages detailing her disabling of the security systems and of Lena. The messages contained regular updates regarding the state of the crew and the actions of the crew. Amanda could not determine the ultimate destination of the messages and Heather was careful not to use any names in either the address or signature, so it was unclear whether or not Heather was even Heather. What Amanda did know was that the encryption protocols were consistent with those of the U.S. military.
Armed with this knowledge, Amanda could now advise the captain, though she hated to bring news indicting someone who was such a close friend to him. Regardless, it had to be done; Heather was a danger to the crew and in her position as engineer, she could wreck any chances of the Selene escaping pursuit by a U.S. ship; or anyone else who had picked it up. At this point, she called the captain.
“Captain, I know it’s early, but there’s something that needs your attention right now.”
“On my way,” he replied.
“Not here,” she said. “Meet me in my cabin. Just you; this for your eyes only.”
With Lena’s incapacitation, Fiona had returned to the Med Bay. She needed Kendrick’s help donning the exoskeleton in the morning and would need help for anything that necessitated her removing the skeleton from her person. With Terri assigned to help her, she thought she could get through the day. Though Terri had no medical training beyond basic first aid, just having an extra pair of hands could be helpful enough; and if Fiona should need to get out and back into the exoskeleton, Terri’s help would be invaluable.
Also, Fiona still could not read. Her speech had made a remarkable recovery, with only a slight stammer indicating anything was wrong, her dyslexia remained. She had never struggled with such a disorder prior to her injury, but had newfound respect for those who did. Thankfully, Terri was on hand to interpret on-screen data and the Med Bay’s computer, as well as her own datapad, had the capacity to read the data aloud. Terri, for her part, sat quietly and nervously, only speaking when spoken to. Finally, Fiona had had enough.
“Terri, you seem so uncomfortable. Is something wrong?”
“No …” The former traffic controller replied. “Well … yes, but it’s not your fault. I just want to help, to do my best … but I’m afraid you think I’m the saboteur.”
Fiona understood. “I don’t know who the saboteur is. Like the captain, I have no suspects in mind. I don’t know how he’s handling it right now, but for me, I cannot tear myself up with worry over this. I have a job to do and if the saboteur is going to
strike, then he or she will, regardless of my feelings. From the moment you came aboard, I saw you as a kindred spirit and I was overjoyed that Kendrick assigned you to help me.”
“Really?”
Fiona nodded. “Something is about to happen, Terri. I don’t know when, or what it is, but we need to be ready when it does. Whatever happens, I will be needed, but I can’t do my job without your help. We can sit in silence unless I need you to speak, or we can relax and enjoy each other’s company. I’d rather enjoy your company.”
“I’d like that too,” Terri agreed, relaxing visibly.
“Then, it’s settled,” Fiona declared, smiling to put Terri at ease. “Now, let’s get the Med Bay ready to receive incoming. I suspect that once whatever is going to happen happens, we’ll be busy.”
Terri nodded and began working with Fiona to prep the Med Bay. Fiona noticed how much Terri had changed since coming on board. On Mars, Terri had been plump and out of shape. She was still plump, but had lost a good twenty pounds, thanks to regular workouts with Kang and Keyes. More than that, the haunted, scared look that had inhabited the woman’s face had vacated, leaving in its place a bubbly, happy girl with a ready smile and a twinkle in her eye. Amanda had finally become the lover Terri had dreamed of and the Selene crew had become friends to the once isolated girl. Fiona could not help smiling, though she hoped that they all would make it through the coming storm.
A stone-faced Captain Royce sat across from a nervous Amanda Keyes, perusing the evidence she had laid out before him, his expression vacillating between anger and shock. It was six-thirty in the morning and most of the crew was still rousting themselves from bed or still asleep. Amanda kept her fingers crossed that he would not turn on her; Heather was one of his originals; only Fiona had been with him longer. Compared to them, Amanda was a recent ally and a former adversary at that. She feared that he might choose loyalty to Heather over the betrayal evinced by the facts.
No Safe Harbor: The Silver Liner Page 18