by Jake Bible
“Then staying out here sounds like the right call,” Valencio said.
“I can’t argue with that,” London said.
The last sixteen followed in formation. It was a ragged formation, but workable. Valencio aimed her skiff after them and hit her thrusters, careful to keep a safe distance from the wobbly cadets.
Eighteen
North found Ngyuen in the medical bay, already up and about, helping the medical staff organize the triage process as the wounded that could be moved from the recruit holding bay were brought in.
“Corporal!” North shouted over the cacophony of shouting medics and doctors as well as crying, screaming, and moaning wounded. “Corporal Ngyuen!”
“Major North,” Ngyuen replied as she handed a tablet off to a nurse and hurried over to the Chief Training Officer. “I was told I have you to thank for getting me here so fast.”
North spotted the small bandage on Ngyuen’s temple and raised an eyebrow. “Anything serious?”
“Small concussion,” Ngyuen replied. “Nothing a couple doses of pharma can’t take care of. Have you seen the commandant?”
“You don’t know?” North asked. “Commandant Terlinger is dead. They just picked up his body which is why I came to find you.”
“Dead? The commandant is dead?” Ngyuen almost shrieked then got control of herself and took a deep breath. “I hope it was quick.”
“It wasn’t,” North said. “Listen, I need you to get me his access codes. I’m in charge of the Perpetuity until CSC tells me otherwise. I’ll need your help navigating his command files so I can put the station under emergency watch.”
“Are we not going into lockdown?” Ngyuen asked. “It would seem wise since this is an obvious Estelian attack.”
“I don’t know what this is,” North answered. “Which is why I need the commandant’s codes. I’ll need to go over the surveillance vids from the explosion. See if anything unusual happened before that man set off the lumen grenade.”
“Nothing unusual about a damned DG murdering real people,” a medic snarled as he passed by, his uniform coated in blood and his eyes wild. “Those savages only know how to kill.”
“We don’t know that it’s the Estelians, medic,” North snapped. “Tend to your job so I can tend to mine.”
The medic grumbled and muttered as he moved off to a hover stretcher holding an unconscious recruit with severe burns across her face and neck. North turned to Ngyuen and grabbed her by the arm.
“The codes, Corporal,” North said.
“There is a protocol to handing them over,” Ngyuen said. “We’ll have to walk through it together. You are second-in-command on the Perpetuity, which gives you access to 75% of what you will need already. I’ll take you to the commandant’s office so you can get started while I receive authorization from CSC.”
“Fucking bureaucrats,” North said. “You’d think we are fighting to protect protocols and forms over fighting to protect Earth.”
“I will warn you, sir, that for many in the CSC, they are one and the same,” Ngyuen said.
The woman swayed slightly and North gripped her tighter, keeping her from falling over.
“Thank you,” Ngyuen said. “Maybe I need another dose of pharma.”
“Hold off until I have all access to the station,” North said. “Can’t have you fading on me when I need you the most.”
“You sound exactly like Commandant Terlinger,” Ngyuen smiled weakly. “He will be missed.”
“That he will,” North said. “You okay to walk?”
“I am,” Ngyuen sighed.
“Then let’s get a move on,” North ordered.
Nineteen
The bead of sweat rolled down his scalp, across his forehead, and into his right eye. He blinked several times, but the sting of the salty liquid just would not go away.
“Son of a bitch,” Linklater growled. “Hold this so I can wipe my eyes.”
He handed Wendt a data scanner and wiped his face with the sleeve of his uniform. There wasn’t much dry material left after how much he’d been sweating while working in the server tower, cramped next to the sergeant in front of the crushed servers.
“These servers better not be what handles climate control in this tower,” Linklater said.
“They aren’t,” Wendt replied, handing the scanner back to the lieutenant. “Those are located at the top and bottom with several redundancies in between.”
“I’d love to know what the redundancies to these damned things are,” Linklater said. “Then we could just scan those and know what we are looking at because they sure don’t seem to be just personnel files.”
Wendt brought up the server tower schematic on his wrist for the umpteenth time and shook his head.
“Whatever fool forgot to label these in the system needs to be ejected into the vacuum,” Wendt complained. “How can we not know what these are for?”
“They probably aren’t for anything,” Linklater said. “With my luck, I’ve been in this damned tower, sweating my balls off, for nothing.”
“Is there ever a reason to sweat your balls off?” Wendt asked.
“I can think of a few,” Linklater replied. “And none include you in the scenario.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Wendt replied.
“Grab that one by the corners and just yank it out,” Linklater said. “I’m done with being cautious.”
Wendt grabbed onto the specific server and wiggled it back and forth until the broken apparatus came free from the bank. He turned it this way and that, checking the entire thing before he set it on the floor of the lift and scratched his head.
“There aren’t any manufacture marks,” Wendt said. “No indication of age, capacity, version number. Nothing.”
“That’s not regulation,” Linklater said. “Gimme that.”
“It’s right there,” Wendt said, nodding at the server on the floor before turning back to the bank. “I’m going to pull another one.”
Sparks flew from the server bank and Wendt cried out as he pulled his hands back fast.
“Shit!” he cried.
“I told you to shut the power off to this bank,” Linklater said. “Serves you right for not following through.”
“I did follow through,” Wendt barked as he yanked off his scorched gloves to check the burn marks. “I turned off the power to this entire level. I didn’t want to since we have no idea what the servers actually serve, but I did it.”
“Apparently not,” Linklater said.
Wendt grumbled to himself as he pressed at his wrist and brought up the power grid for the server tower. He zoomed in on their specific level then thrust his arm under Linklater’s nose.
“See!” he snapped. “Power is off!”
Linklater looked at the image then shrugged. “Except the power isn’t off.”
“The only way the power could still be on is if there is an off grid failsafe,” Wendt said. “And the only way that could be set up is by you.”
“Which I didn’t do since I have no fucking clue what these servers are,” Linklater replied. “Try again.”
Wendt swiped the image away on his wrist and stood in front of the demolished servers, his eyes studying the hole where the one server had already been removed. He pulled a halogen from his belt and shined it into the empty space. Leaning close, he checked the framing first then the connection ports in the back.
“Well, this is interesting,” Wendt said. “Check this out.”
Linklater set the server aside and nudged Wendt out of the way, yanking the halogen from the tech’s hand.
“What am I looking at?” Linklater asked.
“You’ll see it,” Wendt said.
“Just fucking tell me what— Oh… That shouldn’t be there,” Linklater said.
“No shit,” Wendt said.
“Take this” Linklater said, handing the halogen back to Wendt.
Linklater pulled out a pair of thick gloves, crossed himself then re
ached into the empty space. He was all the way up to his shoulder before he could grab what he needed to. He frowned and looked at Wendt.
“Make sure you let my family know I loved them,” Linklater said.
“You have family?” Wendt asked. “I thought they just found you under a bridge eating goats.”
“I have parents,” Linklater glared.
“No siblings?” Wendt asked.
“No,” Linklater said, his face turning red as he started to pull. “Only child.”
“That explains a lot,” Wendt said.
There was a loud pop and a flash of blue fire. Linklater dodged to the side, avoiding getting hit by the freak flames, then started swatting at his uniform as the sleeve began to smolder.
“Ow! Fuck!” Linklater yelled as he danced back.
“Holy crap,” Wendt said as he looked at the thick cable that dangled from the empty server space. “That is not just power but a serious wide open pipeline. This whole station could go dark and these servers would still run. An Estelian EMP could destroy every micron of tech in the Perpetuity and not even affect these guys.”
“Yeah,” Linklater said. “And it hurts, too.”
“We have to find out where this comes from,” Wendt says. “It’s not the station’s main generator, that’s for sure.”
“You’re thinking backwards,” Linklater said. “We have to find out where this thing goes, not where it’s coming from. Take a look at the optics again.”
Wendt leaned in and then gasped. “You have got to be shitting me…”
“That is an incorruptible data transfer conduit,” Linklater said. “Not only do these servers have an off grid power source, but they have multiple backups somewhere. Look at all the optics. We’re talking ten redundancies, at least.”
Wendt rubbed his face then looked around at all the damaged servers.
“This is going to take us forever to track down,” Wendt said. “We’re going to need help.”
“No,” Linklater snapped. “No help. We have no idea what this shit is or who set it all up. We can’t trust anyone with this.”
“Can’t trust anyone…?” Wendt asked. “You think this is Estelian?”
“I don’t know what this is,” Linklater said. “And until I do, it’s just you and me.”
“How do you know you can trust me?” Wendt asked. “I could be the traitor.”
“I doubt that,” Linklater said. “You’re too lazy to be a traitor.”
“Asshole,” Wendt sneered.
“Now, I’m not saying you aren’t compromised,” Linklater smirked. “You do like pussy way too much. Any one of those women you screw could have you wrapped around their little fingers and you wouldn’t even know it.”
“Oh, I’d know it,” Wendt said. “I give way more than I receive. I’d know a faker, trust me.”
“Whatever,” Linklater said. He started to speak again then closed his mouth and rubbed at his face.
“What?” Wendt asked.
“How many servers are there?” Linklater asked.
Wendt did a quick count. “Three hundred, easy.”
“Three hundred,” Linklater said. “With ten possible redundancies per server.”
“Shit,” Wendt replied, doing the math. “We could be looking for ten backups or three thousand backups if they aren’t all housed together.”
“Exactly,” Linklater said. “We have to pull each server and see if they are all linked or individual. Only way to know for certain.”
“You sure you don’t want to call in help?” Wendt asked.
“I’m sure,” Linklater said. “But I better let Dornan know I’m not coming back to the sims.”
“You do that,” Wendt said as he pulled up a hatch in the lift floor.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Linklater asked.
“To take a leak and get us some provisions,” Wendt said. “We’re going to be here a while. We’ll need water and supper.”
“Fine,” Linklater said. “I’ll call Dornan and then get started.”
“Better call North as well,” Wendt said. “He’s in charge now.”
“Until the CSC sends a new commandant in,” Linklater said. “Which means we have very little time. New brass always likes to shake things up.”
“Got it,” Wendt said and disappeared through the hatch.
Linklater stretched then grabbed onto the next server and pulled.
Twenty
“With the commandant dead, it’s up to us to keep things in order until CSC sends a new boss,” Metzger said as he addressed the large group of security guards. “Not a single recruit gets onto this station without a full body scan. No more fast scans. I want each and every person that puts a foot on this metal to have a wand run up and down their bodies carefully. You even get a hint of something off and I want that recruit isolated and locked down tight.”
“What about the recruits already on board?” a guard asked.
“We go over them again,” Metzger replied. “Then we start in with station personnel.”
“Station personnel?” another guard asked. “We think that crazy fuck had help?”
“We don’t know,” Metzger said. “But we are going to find out.”
He looked about at the guards and realized he had nowhere near the manpower he needed to accomplish what he wanted. The looks on the guards’ faces told him they knew it as well.
“We start with each other,” Metzger said. “Everyone gets wanded.”
There were some grumbles and Metzger held up his hand to silence them.
“You want to get blown apart because the guy next to you has a lumen embedded in his gut?” Metzger snapped. “You want to get ripped down to your molecules because you thought you knew the asshole that is supposed to have your back? Everyone gets wanded! Starting with me!” Metzger slung his scorcher and held out his arms. “Who wants to do the honors?”
No one stepped forward.
“Someone better volunteer or I’ll make sure that not only do you get scanned externally, but internally as well,” Metzger said. “Nothing like a scan wand up the ass to ruin your day.”
Several guards grabbed scan wands from the crate next to the group and moved towards Metzger.
“That’s more like it,” Metzger grinned. “And bring me some more pharma! Gotta get right for this shit!”
Twenty-One
North could feel his body crashing already, but he knew if he pharmaed up too soon he’d blow his adrenals. He rubbed at his temples and took a couple deep breaths.
“Are you alright, Major?” Ngyuen asked from his side as they approached the hatch to Terlinger’s office. “You seem shakier on your feet than me.”
“Blood sugar,” North said. “I skipped lunch and it’s already supper time.”
“I could have the mess hall bring you a tray while we work,” Ngyuen suggested. “The commandant ate in his office all the time.”
“I may take you up on that,” North nodded. “I could use a hot and some water.”
“I’ll place the order as soon as we get inside,” Ngyuen said.
She pressed her wrist against the panel next to the office hatch and waited, but nothing happened.
“That’s strange,” Ngyuen said. “It should respond. Even with the heightened security alert, my credentials should override. I’m the commandant’s personal assistant.”
“Let me try,” North said and pressed his wrist to the panel. Still no response. “Locked from the inside?”
“Highly unlikely,” Ngyuen said. “Only the commandant or myself could do that. You will be able to once we go through the protocols to get you authorized for the correct codes. But as of now, the only person living that can lock this hatch from the inside is me.”
“What about Metzger?” North asked. “He’s in charge of security.”
“Yes, that is true,” Ngyuen said. “Sergeant Metzger could do it.”
North pounded on the hatch. “Metzger? You in there? Open
up!”
There was no response.
North pressed his wrist back to the panel. “Emergency override.”
Nothing happened.
“You try?” North ordered.
Ngyuen placed her wrist to the panel.
“Emergency override,” she said.
“No emergency detected,” a computerized voice responded.
“The hatch is jammed,” Ngyuen said. “Manual override requested then.”
“A repair request has been sent to the maintenance department,” the voice replied.
“Cancel maintenance request and give me access to the manual controls,” Ngyuen said.
“Request denied,” the voice said. “Hatch has been locked internally. Manual controls not available.”
“Fuck!” North yelled then pounded both fists on the hatch. “Metzger! If you are in there then you had better open up right now!”
Still no response.
“Is there any other way to get this hatch open?” North asked. “Maybe the old fashioned way?”
Ngyuen hesitated. “No, Major.”
“You are a shitty liar, Corporal,” North said. He pulled his pistol and shoved Ngyuen aside. “Cover your eyes.”
North fired three times into the panel then holstered his pistol, grabbed the damaged panel, and yanked hard.
Most of that section of the wall came away. North tossed the debris aside as claxons rang out and red flashing lights turned the corridor into a disco from hell.
“Security, please report to Sector Eighteen on Administrative Deck One! Security, please report to Sector Eighteen on Administrative Deck One!” the computerized voice announced from speakers up and down the corridor.
“Yes, security, please do that,” North said as he thrust his hand inside the opening in the wall. He tugged and pulled, pushing several cables out of the way until he found the release catch. With a hard twist and a shove, there was a loud clang from the hatch. “Get that open, Corporal!”
Ngyuen hurried forward and pulled on the hatch. It resisted then swung open. North pulled his arm free from the wall and shoved Ngyuen aside, his pistol back in his hand.