by M. D. Cooper
Ricket gave a sly wink.
* * * * *
Kylie was led down a level, through a secure checkpoint and down a flight of stairs.
Kylie was glad to hear it, but that was the last thing she wanted to do. The moment they broke Winter out of prison, it would be their last on Chimin as free people. Until then, Kylie had an argument for staying behind and asking questions. She wasn’t ready to give up yet, not unless Raynes forced her hand.
Marge sent a feeling of uncertainty.
“Over here,” Raynes said as he led her toward four cells. Bubbs was in one, lounging on a cot, while Winter paced in his. He crossed his arms when he saw Kylie and his eyes flicked to the chief, more than a little blood-thirst evident in his narrowing pupils.
“You OK?” Kylie asked.
Winter nodded, Kylie noticed sweat on his upper lip. “Peachy.”
“Give us a minute, please.” Kylie turned her head toward Raynes.
He nodded. “I won’t be far.” Raynes turned and walked down the hall and passed through the checkpoint’s doors.
Winter watched him go with a tightening jaw, and his enormous chest rose with a deep, angry breath. “They took Dolph. The bastards took Dolph, Captain.”
For a rifle he’d only had for a few weeks, Winter had an unnatural attachment to the weapon.
Winter wasn’t finished as he rushed on, his voice rich with emotion. “He had a full charge when I tucked him away. Now they’re showing an empty clip with markers on those dead people they can trace back to me. I’m being set up captain.”
“I know,” Kylie whispered and stepped closer to Winter’s cell. “You don’t need to explain it to me, Winter. Even if you were around when it happened, I’d never believe you’d do it. However, you do make the perfect scapegoat. All big, hulking, angry. You need to pull it together.”
His eyes widened, disbelief warring with appreciation. “Well, thanks, Kylie.”
Bubbs peered over from her cell, giving her ‘agreement’ scowl.
“I need the both of you to hang in there. They’re transporting you tomorrow to Battia. Winter, you’ve got to stay calm, go along with the transport with no problems.”
“You just said you believed me and you want me to let myself be transported to a planetside high-security facility? Battia has a totalitarian rep. No way I get a fair trial there, Kylie.” Winter shook his head. “How could you—”
“Winter!” Kylie had trouble not scolding him. “If I break you out here, we have to fight our way clear across Chimin City. A lot of people will get hurt, and this rock has already suffered enough because of people named Rhoads. Things will go a lot smoother if we let you get on that transport.”
“Oh,” Winter said abruptly, then grinned “Ohhhh. I getcha.”
“Hang in here a little bit longer. Don’t cause any trouble, OK?”
She saw the exasperation in his eyes. Winter was trouble, everyone knew that. Kylie was asking a lot, but she believed he could pull it off this time.
“What about the people in that housing block? What about finding Paul?” Winter asked. “Anyone give you anything we can use?”
Kylie’s mind filled with grief as she thought of those dead parents and children—even the missing ones. “I can’t convince Raynes to let us stay. There’s not much we can do. We save our own first. We’ll find another way to find Paul—maybe Ricket’s contacts on Battia, depending on how things go.”
Back to square one. Kylie saw the disappointment on his face. “I’ll do what you want, Cap. You can count on me.”
Good. She nodded in thanks before walking to Bubbs’ cell. “Hang in there, Bubbs.”
Bubbs gave a mock salute. “That’s my pep talk? Hang in there?”
Kylie shrugged. “You’re more emotionally stable than Winter. He needs more support.”
“Hey!” Winter protested from his cell and Bubbs laughed.
“I always knew he was a little girl. Actually, that’d be a step up for him, depending on the girl.”
Kylie chuckled and stepped toward the bars on Bubbs’ cell. “Seriously, though. You’ll be OK?”
Bubbs nodded. “I’ll manage. I’ve been in small spaces before. I’ll keep my eye open and ready, Captain. They won’t catch me with my guard down, I can promise you that.”
Kylie appreciated a woman who was always on her game.
“Although…they told me they confiscated my gun arm. Winter let them get their hands on it.” Bubbs glared angrily at the cell wall between them.
“I tried to hide it! But I ended up chasing after your dumb cat!”
Kylie shook her head. “We’ll get it back, or we’ll get you an even better good arm.”
Bubbs seemed to appreciate that and nodded.
Kylie turned and walked to the security doors, waiting for them to open and let her through. “I’m done here,” she said to the camera mounted high on the wall.
The security doors slid open and she walked through to see an agitated-looking Raynes on the other side, though Kylie didn’t ask what was bothering him.
“I’ll get you an escort to your ship.” The chief led her back up the stairs and they went through the security checkpoint.
“No offense, Chief, but I can make it back to my ship on my own. Give a captain her due. Let me arrive with some dignity remaining.”
Raynes gazed at her a moment or two longer than necessary a fire burning in his eyes. “You have a way with words not unlike your father.”
Kylie’s stomach felt like it was in freefall. Is that what everyone thought? That she was just like her old man? “I’m being honest. I’ve cooperated with you, surely your men have better things to do than show me back to my ship. I remember where we parked and I know your good will has run out.” She shrugged. “Nothing left for me to do here.”
Raynes considered her words with a long, death-like stare. “I will take you to the lobby and no further. If you don’t go straight to your ship….”
Kylie held up three fingers. “Starfarer’s honor. Thanks, Chief.”
Chief Raynes was true to his word. He took her to the lobby where he stood and glowered at her. “I’d better never see you again.” He turned without waiting for her response and walked back into the lift.
Kylie didn’t know about that, but her conscience was having enough trouble these days. Those people were killed to cover
up something that could have been connected to her. Kylie wanted to stay behind and figure it out, but she had no authority here. And even if she did, she didn’t have the firepower to control an installation the size of Chimin-1.
On the way back to the northern docks, Kylie stopped to get a cup of the extraordinarily weak coffee they served on the station. As she collected her brew, a soft sound came to her ears.
“Rhoads,” a woman’s voice whispered.
Kylie turned to see a woman’s dirt-smeared face peeking around a corner.
“Rhoads,” she repeated.
Kylie’s curiosity got the better of her, and she approached the woman, who disappeared around the corner. Before rounding the bend, Kylie remembered to deploy some of her nano probes to make sure the she wasn’t walking into a trap.
The woman stood a few paces away. She wore simple black clothes and her unkempt blonde hair hadn’t been brushed in days. Her eyes shifted quickly, checking each person who walked down the concourse behind Kylie.
“You all right?” Kylie asked as she took a step forward.
The haggard woman took Kylie’s arm and placed something small in her hand—a datapod. “Please, help us. Please. It’s not safe here. We need your help. We need someone to help.”
“Why isn’t it safe? What’s going on here? Can you go to the CSF?”
The woman shook her head as she slowly backed up. “You can’t trust them. They’re not what they seem. Please, there’s a video on the pod. Watch it. You’ll know. You’ll understand.” She pushed past Kylie and rushed out into the crowds, throwing a scarf over her head and disappearing in the throng.
Kylie eyed the datapod in her hand. Maybe this was the big break she had been waiting for—or maybe this would shoot everything to hell.
THE MISSING
STELLAR DATE: 11.04.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Barbaric Queen, Platform 9, North Docks
REGION: Chimin-1, Hanoi System (independent)
Rogers met Kylie the moment she cycled through the Barbaric Queen’s airlock. After the black water she’d tried to drink on the station, the steaming cup in her hand rated as the best thing she’s seen all day.
“I’m terribly sorry to report, Captain, that we won’t be able to take off. The interfluxor thingamabobs that make the engines do their engining are offline. With our chief engineer in custody, I had to tell the dockmaster that we’re stuck here till I manage a rebuild.”
“Gee,” Kylie said with a smirk. “That sounds like it could take hours—though I hope you actually made up something better than that.”
She took a slow sip of her coffee and grimaced at how weak it was. Clearly, it was a Rogers pot of coffee. So much for a cup of the good stuff.
“Yeah, I told them it was one of the fusion drive’s lasers. That Winter had taken it apart for realignment. Plus some other stuff. You know, a little of this, a little of that.”
“Excellent. Where’s Ricket?” Kylie asked.
“She’s on the bridge, doctoring the records in case they check. How’s Winter?”
Kylie shrugged. “He’s Winter. Holding it together—barely. I worry that if he spots an opportunity…. I told him to ignore his base instincts and wait for us. Hopefully Bubbs can keep him calm.”
Rogers snorted but didn’t reply as they rode the lift to the command deck.
“Yeah, I know.” Kylie sighed. “For now, I have something for us to watch.” She held up the datapod for Rogers to see.
He whistled as he took it from her. “Fancy…not. Still, the captain always brings the best gifts.”
“I think these people might be in trouble, Rogers. The woman who gave it to me said there was a video on it. Let’s take a look and judge for ourselves.”
Rogers nodded as the lift doors opened and they headed toward the bridge. “You have that look on your face, Captain.”
“Which look is that?”
“The one you had when we were back on The Futz, right before everything went to absolute shit.”
“Oh, that face.” Kylie smirked. “Well, that’s my favorite face.” She patted Rogers on the cheek as they stepped onto the bridge. Kylie found the nearest surface and set the mug of swill down before slinking away.
Ricket pivoted in her seat when they walked in. “I thought I heard the captain.”
Rogers did a double take, spotting the abandoned coffee cup. “Really, Captain?” He slouched to his seat and slid into it.
Kylie couldn’t think of an excuse and just gave a weak sigh that came out as more of a squeak.
The sound elicited a snicker from Ricket, and Kylie tried again.
“Would you believe I’m just not thirsty?” Kylie said as she stood behind Rogers, watching him slip the datapod into a small socket.
“You wound me,” he whispered, peering up with big wide eyes. “Seriously, I’m cut to the core, Cap.”
She swatted his shoulder. “Be careful or you’ll really be wounded.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Rogers winked.
Marge perked up.
Kylie stroked her chin.
“Damn, that’s painful.” Rogers shook his head. “Just unload on a guy like that.”
“How is that painful?” Ricket asked. “Did you know the governor?
Kylie snorted. “He’s still talking about the coffee.”
“Time to get serious.” Ricket shot Rogers a hard look that caused him to sit up straight. “If Chimin is without leadership, and no one is saying anything, what could that mean?”
“Play the video, Rogers. Maybe we’ll find a clue.”
Ricket swung her seat around. “A video? Where’d you get that?”
“A woman slipped a datapod to me.” Kylie crossed her arms, looking up at the main holodisplay. “Hopefully it’s not just her home videos.”
Ricket rose and stood behind Rogers’ chair. She crossed her arms, then saw that her pose matched Kylie’s and unfolded her arms, crossing them behind her back. “That’s my stance, you know.”
“Captain’s prerogative,” Kylie shot back with a grin.
Rogers waved a hand for the pair to be quiet as the 2D video appeared on the main holo. There was damage to the stream— pixelated sections flickered across the images—but they could make out men and women in some sort of cramped living space, sleeping on rows of cots, eating some sort of gruel for their meals, many appearing to be wasting away from hunger and dehydration.
Around them, armed guards could be seen, all toting pulse rifles and stun batons.
“Stars, this is happening on Chimin-1?” Ricket asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“These could be the missing people from the housing block,” Kylie said, feeling a surge of hope.
The next series of shots were taken of men and women working in a lab, mixing chemicals, running experiments. She recognized some of the same faces from the first series of scenes, noting that their ankles were cuffed together now.
Their tired faces were dirty, red-rimmed eyes bleary as they set about their tasks. Some of them limped as they walked, one collapsed against a table, nearly dropping a tray of vials. Something was wrong with their eyes, they didn’t look right, but Kylie couldn’t quite place it. With their skin covered in blisters, the men and women often stopped to pick at them until they bled.
She noticed that there were no guards in the lab, just autoturrets hanging from the ceiling, pivoting as they tracked the workers.
“What the hell has happened here?” Kylie asked through clenched teeth.
“Can we find out where this is?” Kylie asked.
“I think I know,” Rogers re
turned the video to the initial images. “See? Those are cultivators in that shot, and I can see an airseeder past them. This is one of the farms—my guess would be where they grew the oats.” He skipped past the sections they had seen, looking for something new.
Ricket and Rogers exchanged a glance. Just as Kylie wanted to ask what that was about, a voice in the vid startled her. “Keep working you scabby bastards! If you don’t, your families will suffer!” Rogers adjusted the vid and zoomed on the speaker’s face.
Captain Raynes.
Kylie sucked her breath in at the revelation, watching as Raynes drew his weapon and aimed it at one of the men who had collapsed on the ground.
“No, please,” the man pleaded for his life as he raised his arms, “I’ll be good. I’ll get—”
Raynes fired his weapon, the shot piercing the man’s forehead. In the background the other workers kept their heads bent and performed their duties. The following silence was deafening. The vid cut out after that and Kylie fell into pensive silence.
How could she not?
“They risked a lot to make this video…to get it to us,” Ricket said.
Kylie nodded. “Let’s make sure this video is authentic before we do anything crazy. Marge, hack into the CSF’s records and pull their roster. Let’s see who these guys really are.”
“You think a group took out the CSF and somehow seized control of this operation?” Ricket asked.
“I think anything is possible at this point,” Kylie said. “Let’s be sure before…let’s just be sure.”
“Before what, Captain?” Rogers asked.
“Before we do something crazy…like help all these people.”
RE-SEARCH
STELLAR DATE: 11.04.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Barbaric Queen, Platform 9, North Docks
REGION: Chimin-1, Hanoi System (independent)