INTERVENTION

by Dennis Miller

  In the medical section Leading Officer Coles was making her daily check of equipment.

  The approach monitor issued its warning “Leading Officer Hidson.”

  These monitors had been installed in all craft to alert the medical officer of possible incoming emergencies and ten seconds later Hidson stepped into the room as Coles looked up and grinned. “Headache already? We’ve only been out for three days.”

  The pilot sat down at the desk opposite to her. “Just thought I’d come along and give you the benefit of my magnetic charm and bubbling personality: help liven your day somewhat.”

  This was ironic humour for Hidson, who was universally known for his dour, straight-faced approach to life. Coles smiled at the thought.

  “Okay,” she said, “If you want to talk about Andretta, we’ll talk about Andretta.”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “No, but Duarte and Miles have already been in here with a similar approach; in fact Miles actually asked me how long I’d known her.”

  “Who? Andretta?”

  “Yes, strange question don’t you think? He didn’t ask if I knew anything about her, but how long had I known her.”

  “And what did you say?”

  Coles sat back in her seat. “I said I met her at the same time as everyone else and then he asked me what I knew about Duarte: so tell me, what do you know about our illustrious Infernal Administrator?”

  Hidson shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing much, other than she’s twenty nine years of age: ten years service: her mother is still alive and living with her daughter; oh! and when she goes to the head she does it by numbers; - down pants, two three – sit, two three – leak, two three – stand, two three – up pants, two three – leave.”

  “You missed out the personal hygiene, two three.”

  They both shot their eyes over to the doorway, the grins frozen on their faces, to see Andretta standing at the entrance, smiling. “And we are only required to do that in training.”

  Hidson, too stunned to speak, was wishing that his seat would swallow him up and transport him to another section of the ship: Coles’s mind was racing, How the hell had the woman avoided the approach monitor?

  Before she could speak, Andretta had walked across to them and sat at the desk; she glanced at Coles and then at Hidson, who had never taken his eyes from her the whole time, and said “Are they still using that one? I thought it had gone out of fashion years ago.”

  Regaining his composure Hidson stood. “I really must go; checks to be made.” And with that he beat a relieved retreat to the door: as he was leaving Andretta called out “Get you later Leading Officer.”

  The two women regarded each other for a few moments; Andretta, still wearing her smile, asked “Tell me, doctor, are you aware of Leading Officer Miles having any problems?”

  “None to my knowledge, why?”

  Andretta shook her head and looked down at the desk briefly, as though searching for the right words. “He just appears to be acting a little odd; I’ve observed him sitting alone in the galley and watching everyone without speaking and he seems to be spending most of his time in the main drive observation unit.”

  “Well, he is the Engineering Officer, but if there was anything medically wrong I am obliged only to inform the Commander; I must say, however, that I have not noticed anything as you describe it.”

  Andretta stood to leave. “Of course; perhaps it is my natural instinct working overtime: never mind.”

  Before the agent got to the door Coles asked “How did you avoid the approach monitor?”

  The agent stopped and turned, a confused look on her face. “I’m sorry?”

  Coles held her gaze. “The approach monitor didn’t announce your arrival in the outer med-section; I was just wondering why.”

  “I really don’t know; maybe the two of you were having such a good time you simply failed to hear it; perhaps you should get Leading Engineer Miles to check it out.” With that she turned and walked out.

  Coles watched the doorway for a few seconds after the woman had gone and thought, failed to hear it - faulty - like hell. But she had to admit that she had noticed Miles becoming a little reclusive of late; time to get him in and find out if there was a problem. “MAC.”

  The system responded immediately. “Leading Medical Officer Coles request please.”

  “Location of Leading Engineering Officer Miles?”

  “He is currently approaching the main drive observation unit, port side; do you require his presence in the medical section?”

  “Yes.”

  Miles was sitting astride the hoverbug and deep in thought when the on-board communication link roused him. “Leading Engineering Officer Miles your presence is requested in the medical section.”

  Miles frowned; now what did Coles want? He wasn’t due a medcheck for months yet; maybe it had something to do with this alien contact business of Andretta’s. The com-link broke into his thoughts again. “Do you have a response Leading Officer?”

  “Yes, destination medical centre.”

  Hidson stepped outside his accommodation and into the corridor: the door closing whisper-like behind him as he almost collided with Kamul. He was about to apologise, but stopped at the sight of the look of dread in the physics officer’s eyes.

  “Hey, you okay buddy? You look like you just saw a ghost?”

  Kamul directed his glance along the corridor. “You wouldn’t be wrong.”

  Hidson looked in the direction indicated in time to see Andretta entering her accommodation. He was about to speak, to give reassurance that the agent was not here to arrest anyone, but Kamul was already walking away. The pilot watched him leave and the thought came to him, if Andretta is here for someone, then it’s pretty obvious that Kamul believes it to be him. At that moment a movement from the side caught his eye and he looked over to see Miles heading towards him astride one of the hoverbugs.

  The hoverbug stopped by his side and Miles said in a low voice, “Biohiber units; one hour.” And then he carried on with his journey.

  Arriving at the outer med-section Miles dismounted his vehicle and entered the walkway that would lead him directly into the med-section proper: he heard the soft tone of the monitor as it picked up his presence. “Welcome to the medical section Leading Engineer Miles.”

  Upon reaching the med centre he found Coles sitting at her desk as she read through her check list: she looked up as he entered. “Ah, Leading Engineer, could you check the approach monitor please, I think it failed to function earlier.”

  The Engineer frowned, “It was working when I came through a moment ago.”

  “Yes, I heard it, but someone came through earlier and it didn’t pick them up.”

  Miles ran a cursory diagnostic over the monitor and found nothing amiss and then he instructed MAC to run a check over the equipment; again, everything was in order. He turned to Coles who had been standing close by the whole time and said “Nothing wrong with the unit; are you sure it malfunctioned?”

  “Yes, I was working at my desk when someone came in and I wasn’t aware of them until they walked through the door.”

  Miles spoke again, “MAC, report of any malfunction of equipment in the Med-section within the last twenty-four hours.”

  The reply was instant, “No malfunctions in the med-section within the last twenty-four hours.”

  Coles frowned and shrugged her shoulders resignedly. “Guess I just mustn’t have heard it then; probably too engrossed in what I was doing.”

  Walking back to her desk, she asked “Anyway, now that you’re here is there anything I can do for you?”

  Miles had on his puzzled look again. “How do you mean? You sent for me, remember?”

  Coles looked up at him and smiled. “Is there anything you would like to talk about? Any problems with work or family or colleagues? Sometimes, on these outward journeys, people can feel isolated, especially with such a small crew as ours.”

  Miles sat d
own opposite and held her gaze; after a few moments, he asked “Is there anything you would like to tell me, doctor?”

  She smiled uncertainly: Miles cocked his head slightly to one side but did not return the smile. This had taken her by surprise and to regain her composure, she said “Well if there is anything, you know where to find me.”

  Miles stood and looked at her for a moment and then, nodding slowly, he replied “Yes, of course, if there is anything I know exactly where to find you.” With that he turned and left. Coles waited until he had gone before saying to herself, “I think the Leading engineer could be becoming a problem.”

  The engineer had been waiting for twenty minutes in the Biohibernation section by the time Hidson arrived and was standing opposite the doorway, the better to see anyone approaching. He had made up his mind that the pilot was not Andretta’s target by virtue of his obvious total commitment to the service and a sheer gut feeling that he was an ordinary, regular guy.

  Stepping into the chamber, the pilot was about to speak when Miles said in a quiet tone, “Turn off your R.I.”

  Hidson was mystified by the request but, seeing the serious expression on the Engineers’ face, he ordered “Hidson; remote interface close down.”

  The response from the interface on his wrist came back immediately, “Complied.”

  Returning his attention to Miles, he said, jokingly, “Okay, so what’s with all the cloak and dagger stuff? You haven’t teamed up with the Infernal Administrator have you?”

  Miles shook his head slowly and answered “No, but I think we may need to; listen to this …”

  Rachmel was running through the pre-hibernation checks from her desk; no-one had seen the inside of a wormhole and she wanted to make sure that everything was recorded, both inboard and outboard.

  It was necessary for the crew to be in their biohiber units four hours before MAC piloted the vessel into the mouth of the wormhole: once they had exited the other end MAC would reverse the hibernation procedure; the same process would, of course, apply for the return journey.

  Rachmel’s mind wandered back to Andretta; exactly what was her true mission? And how much did she know? She decided to question the woman further and was about to request MAC to locate her when the doorcom sounded “Entry is requested.”

  Rachmel frowned her irritation at being disturbed, “Who is it this time?”

  “Leading Medical Officer Coles.”

  The commander took a deep breath and let out a sigh; more to compose herself than of annoyance. “Permission granted.” She turned in her seat to see the medical Officer enter.

  “Please, take a seat,” she said, indicating the place opposite. “Now; what can I do for you?”

  “Commander, you know Engineering Officer Miles pretty well; you’ve served together on several occasions, yes?”

  Rachmel leaned back in her seat and wondered where this was going. “Yes, I have known him for a number of years, why do you ask?”

  “Would you say that of late he has been acting slightly off-centre in any way? What I mean is, does he seem to be a little reclusive on this mission? Is he behaving in any way that you might consider out of character?”

  Rachmel considered for a moment before replying “I can’t really say I’ve noticed any change in him: as for being reclusive, he frequently spends his time in the main drive observation sections; when there are engines around he has little time for people; why do you ask?”

  “It was reported that he appeared to be acting a little strange of late, so I asked him to come into the med centre, just for an informal chat, to see if there was anything worrying him. His response was strange; he asked if there was anything I wanted to tell him. Now, I don’t know him as well as you do but I feel it necessary to report to you that this Officer may have a problem; perhaps if you were to approach him we might find out what is on his mind and eradicate it before it becomes a problem to us all.”

  “Who instigated the initial report?”

  “Agent Andretta came in to see me earlier today.”

  Rachmel gave a thin smile. “Andretta: What do you know about our Agent Andretta, doctor?”

  Coles shook her head, “Nothing more than we were told at the briefing; why do you ask?”

  “Nothing really; just a feeling. Do you have her medical records?”

  Coles nodded her assent, “Yes, I have everyone’s full records from the moment they enlisted, or in her case from the moment she joined the Agency; it’s a legal requirement of all personnel on board whether they are military or civilian.”

  Rachmel knew this, of course, but just wanted to be sure. She thought for a moment and then said “I would like you to go through Andretta’s medical records with a fine-toothed comb and to keep an eye her; nothing secretive, just a professional interest as the medical Officer: in particular, I need to know who she is talking to, but mostly who she is watching...if anybody.”

  “Do you suspect she is here to watch someone in particular?”

  “I don’t know, perhaps it’s just a natural reaction to anyone who wears a black insignia and who only seems to appear when there is trouble afoot.”

  “Very well. But what about the Leading engineer?”

  “I’ll get him in here for a chat and if I suspect anything I’ll let you know immediately: but don’t put any of this into your report just yet; let’s find out what’s going on first.”

  Coles was confused. “But, Commander, it’s a Mission requirement to log anything and everything that may have potential to become serious.”

  “Yes, I know, but we have an unnatural situation here with this Agent on board, even though she is not on Agency business and as you so rightly pointed out I have known the Leading Engineer for quite some time, so perhaps it would be prudent to suspend the report for a little longer while I try to find out what’s on his mind; he is a good officer and I wouldn’t wish to have any kind of instability placed needlessly onto his record.”

  Coles was silent for a few seconds, but then she seemed to have come to a decision. “Very well Commander: as you request, I shall hold the report: thank you.” With that, she got up to leave, but, once outside in the corridor, she thought to herself Yes Commander, I shall hold back reporting, but I’ll leave myself a personal memo stating the report and the fact that you virtually ordered me to suspend it; there’s something going on here and this Agent is only part of it.

  Rachmel waited for Coles to leave and then spoke to the computer system “MAC.”

  “Commander, what is your request.”

  “Location of Leading Engineering Officer Miles.”

  The reply was instant. “Biohibernation section.”

  What the hell was he doing in there? She wondered: all checks had been finalised days ago. After a moment, she ordered “Request this Officer report to my quarters.”

  The response was not what she had expected. “This Officer’s remote interface closed down by request.”

  Why on Earth would he close down his interface in an area where MAC was not operational? And then another thought occurred to her, “Is there anyone else present in the Biohibernation section?”

  “Yes, Leading Pilot Officer Hidson.”

  “Is his remote interface also closed down?”

  “Yes, by request.”

  So, Miles and Hidson were holding a secret meeting.

  MAC broke into her thoughts. “Do you have further requests, Commander?”

  “Request for this Officer to report to my quarters is cancelled: no further requests.”

  After a moment’s thought, she ordered “Doorcom, no entry condition.”

  “Complied.”

  Leaning back in her seat she began to put together the pieces.

  An Agent had been seconded to her vessel as a member of the crew; this was something she had never before experienced: this Agent had revealed that her true objective was to observe people who may be in contact with an alien species; how many people? And who the hell were they? He
r Engineer and Pilot were holding clandestine meetings: was it possible that Miles and Hidson were her targets?

  What the hell was going on here? As Commander, she had enough responsibility for the well being of her crew, not to mention the safety of a multi trillion credit space vessel that was making its maiden voyage, without the threat of an agent and her targets fighting it out on board.

  Hidson was stunned by the time Miles had finished. “You can’t be serious,” he said, sceptically. Miles just stared back, impassively. Hidson, realising that the man was deadly serious, went on “So, what the hell are we going to do? If, whoever they are, suspect that Andretta is onto them they could jeopardise the whole mission and our lives.”

  Miles shook his head, “I don’t think they would do anything to put themselves at risk; after all, they would be of no use to the aliens, dead, would they?”

  Hidson wasn’t convinced, “I don’t know; they could do something to terminate this mission and us, then escape in the ULiSS; theirs would then be the only story.”

  ULiSS were the Utility and Life Support Systems that were allocated one to each of the crew. Basically, they were individual exploration pods that had superseded the old-fashioned space suits, but with the added bonus of Biohiber technology and automatic home-seeking power units. In effect, the exploration modules could double as modern day individual life-boats should something untoward befall the Mother-ship.

  Hidson was adamant. “I say we go to the Commander; find out what’s going on.”

  Miles thought for a moment and then responded “No, we can’t do that; the less people who know about this the better for us to keep an eye on everyone; and what’s to say that these aliens would want to kill us anyway? Why? We haven’t done anything to them and there are only seven of us so what could they possibly gain? In the meantime, we have a little less than three weeks before we hit the wormhole, so I’m going to try to get as much information out of our ghost as I can. I’ll keep you up to date, but don’t let on you know anything to anybody.”

  Next day, Duarte was sitting alone in the galley, idly picking her way through her tablet form of lunch. She was still debating the question of reporting Kamul’s break-in of Andretta’s accommodation to the Commander.