Zero

by J. S. Collyer

  “Hey guys,” he croaked in a voice he didn't recognise. “Good of you to come.”

  He let go the death-grip he had on his last threads of awareness and slipped into blessed darkness.

  ɵ

  “Kinjo? Come in, Kinjo.”

  Hugo jerked, blinking through the fog. Rami's voice was tinny and distant and sounded strained.

  “I'm here, Anita,” Kinjo replied and Hugo heaved himself up onto his elbow, pulling off the oxygen mask and taking great gulps of real air in an attempt to heave himself back to reality. Rami's face on the wall display was pale and he felt his blood run cold.

  “Get the surgical bay ready. Now,” she barked. “I need all X-rays and scanners online. And get scrubbed up. I'm going to need you.”

  “Is he -?”

  “Now, Kinjo. We're almost with you. Out.”

  Kinjo cast one pained look over her shoulder at Hugo before rushing into the surgical bay. He pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the bunk and watched her boot up all the scanners and screens. The next thing he was aware of was the ship shuddering under him as the cargo bay doors closed and pressurised.

  He barely had time to gather his thoughts when Rami burst through the medbay doors, dishevelled and grimy, followed closely by Bolt who appeared to be carrying a vaguely human-shaped bundle of rags. Hugo only just had time to make out that it was Webb before Bolt was following Rami through the glass doors into the surgical bay.

  He got to his feet and padded over like he was in a dream. Bolt laid the limp figure down on the table and retreated. If it hadn't been for the height of the frame and the boots, about the only bit of his clothing left intact, Hugo wouldn't have recognised his commander. Every bit of exposed skin was a ripped and bloody mess. One eye was completely obscured by blood and swelling and the rest of his face was just blood, cuts and burns. His mouth hung open in an alarming way and some teeth were missing. None of his limbs seemed to be lying at normal angles and he didn’t seem to be breathing.

  The sudden feel of a calloused but gentle hand on his bare shoulder made him jump.

  “If he can be saved, sir,” Bolt's voice was low. “Rami will save him.”

  Hugo leant against the bulkhead as Rami took a pair of shears to the remains of Webb's clothing. Kinjo was already starting the scanners and part of Hugo felt pride spark as he watched the women work. He stayed just long enough to see Rami peel away some of the boiler suit to reveal bone protruding from Webb's torso and then turned away.

  He grabbed a white t-shirt from the stack of medbay supplies and left. He was relieved to realise that he didn't feel like was going to pass out with every step any more, though the sharper aches of healing tissue were now setting in. He paused as he pulled the shirt on, and took a minute to breathe in the quiet of the corridor. He'd seen injuries and worse before. But this was different. This was his fault.

  He took himself onto the bridge. More was at the controls and Spinn was at one of the workstations. After a closer look Hugo saw that the researcher was bent over the shattered remains of Webb's wrist panel. He felt a stab of anger that the man could sit there and work when his commander lay below clinging to life. But it was mitigated by a wash of jealousy at not having any task of his own to distract him.

  He lowered himself into the copilot seat and glanced over the control panel. There was no destination set but they were moving away from Earth.

  “Any particular heading, Captain?” More asked.

  Hugo blinked out at the vastness beyond the screen without really seeing anything. “Where's the nearest colony?” he found himself asking.

  More tapped a few commands into the control panel. “Lunar 5, Captain.”

  “How are its medical facilities?”

  “Service-grade. But, sir, I believe -”

  “I know,” Hugo cut him off. “He stands a better chance with Rami than with any overrun colony medic. Set a course, but keep the engines in economy mode. That'll buy us some time. Request docking but don't tell them anything and don't let anyone leave or enter the ship when we arrive.”

  More looked at him. His dark eyes were clear and Hugo thought he could read understanding in them.

  “Doctor,” Hugo called without turning round. “When will your reports on the mission be ready?”

  “I can have them done in a couple of hours, Captain.”

  “Good. Do so. But don't send them to Luscombe. Not yet.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Hugo thought he heard understanding in the doctor's voice too. “How long until Lunar 5?”

  “Eight hours at present speed, Captain.”

  He scrubbed his good hand over his face, knew he was going to have to think long and hard about what to do next but his head, arm and muscles all pounded dully, making it impossible to focus. He wished he could ask Webb's opinion.

  ɵ

  “Rami to bridge. Come in, bridge.”

  Hugo jerked awake, back and neck stiff from nodding off in the copilot chair.

  “Hugo here, Lieutenant,” he croaked, attempting to keep his voice steady. The chrono on the screen told him it had been several hours. Rami's face appeared on the viewscreen display. She was just pulling off her surgical mask. Her jaw muscles were tight and her dark hair was plastered to her forehead. “How is he?”

  “Stable, captain. Just. I've cleaned and stitched everything up and set all the bones. He seems to have somehow managed to avoid any serious internal injury but the external trauma is extensive. We've done all we can. It's up to him now.”

  Hugo nodded, swallowing against a nasty taste in his mouth.

  “What happened to him, can you tell?”

  Rami shook her head. “Jumped off a cliff? Run over by a truck? It's impossible to tell, Captain. Something hit back hard, I'd say. But Webb never does anything by half. We'll know more in the next twenty-four hours.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. You and Kinjo...” His voice faltered. “Thank you. You should both get some rest now.”

  Rami nodded and the display went blank.

  “You should rest too, Captain,” More suggested.

  Hugo rubbed his eyes again. Everything felt very heavy.

  “I will be in my cabin,” he said eventually, not able to face the idea of going back to the medbay. “Wake me if -”

  “Any change in anything, Captain, I'll send for you.”

  Hugo gave the sub-lieutenant a grateful look but he wasn't looking. His attention was on the controls and Hugo saw the tension in the way the man sat. Guilt washed through him. Webb was their crewmate too. They had been nothing but calm and efficient through this whole episode whilst Hugo had shouted and snarled and thrown his weight about. As painful as it had been for him, he knew it must be ten-fold so for each one of them. And not once had their focus wavered.

  He padded from the bridge with defeat sweeping through him. He could almost taste the shame and commanded his cabin door to lock behind him. He didn't turn on the light but just made sure his comm station was open and ready before collapsing on his bunk and turning his face to the wall.

  He didn't manage to fall back asleep. He lay and stared into the dark, thoughts chasing themselves around his head until More came on the display to announce they were coming up on Lunar 5.

  “Set in the docking course, then I want everyone to meet in the galley.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  More's feed went blank just as a beeping indicated another incoming message.

  “On screen,” Hugo said and Rami's face appeared. She looked better, not so pale.

  “He's awake, Captain.”

  “I'll be right there.” He paused long enough to pull on some proper clothes then made his way back down to the medbay.

  Webb was still on the gurney, though it had been adjusted so he was sitting up. Half his face was obscured by bandaging. His torso was also bound, and his shoulder. All the blood had been cleaned away but his skin looked all the paler and the bruising all the more livid for it. His breathin
g seemed shallow too, but Hugo was damned if the man didn't attempt a grin when he came in.

  “Managed to keep the Zero in one piece I see, Hugo,” he croaked.

  “More than you can say for yourself.”

  He gave a tiny shrug. “I've had worse.”

  “And frankly I'm getting a little tired of stitching you up, Ezekiel,” Rami said as she scanned readings on a monitor.

  “Wouldn't want you to get bored, Lieutenant.”

  “What's his status?”

  Rami skimmed through a couple more read outs on the monitor. “Stable, Captain,” he could hear the relief in her voice. “Hardier than a cockroach.”

  “Missed you too, Anita,” Webb mumbled, though his smile looked grim with the broken lips and missing teeth.

  “What happened?” Hugo snapped.

  Webb's turned his head with an effort to focus his good eye on Hugo. “I shook them off.”

  “How?”

  “Drove the car off a cliff.”

  Hugo crossed his arms. “I think that is stupider than jumping out of a window or blowing yourself up.”

  “In my defence, I wasn't in it at the time.”

  “Of course you weren't.” Rami muttered, shining a lenslight in his good eye. “I'm guessing from the road rash you chose to eat tarmac instead.”

  “Better than eating cliff-bottom.”

  “Then what happened?” Hugo prodded.

  “I don't know,” Webb mumbled. “I was drooling at the side of the road from then until sunset. They took the car away though. Captain...that's not good news.”

  “I know. Lieutenant?”

  Rami looked up. “Yes, sir?”

  “What do you recommend for the commander?”

  Rami made a disgusted noise. “I would want him to spend six weeks at least in re-coup. You'd have to drug him or lock him in the brig to keep him down that long though.”

  “Six weeks it is.”

  “Captain,” Webb started to protest.

  “We are approaching Lunar 5. We'll get you a boarding pod and you are to stay there and recover.”

  “Captain, no,” Webb said, trying to sit up.

  “Six weeks, Commander,” he repeated, allowing frustration to come through in his voice. “And I trust you will spend it thinking on the consequences of disobeying my orders.”

  Webb fell silent, mouth open.

  “Lieutenant,” Hugo said, gesturing out the door. Rami followed him out. “Do you know anyone medical on Lunar 5 you trust?”

  Rami contemplated him a moment then nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “Contact them. In person, not on the comm. We'll get Webb to a boarding pod and get them to keep an eye on him.”

  Rami nodded. “Very well, sir.”

  “Now get to the galley. I've called a meeting.”

  Rami nodded and left, casting one glance over her shoulder as she did. Hugo looked up through the glass doors to where Webb lay, staring up at the bulkhead then turned and followed.

  ɵ

  “Spinn. Anything you can tell me?”

  Spinn scratched at his head. “There was very little I could get from either wrist panel, Captain, that would help explain anything. There is one thing though. They both seem to have picked up strong traces of phozone at some point while you were in the complex.”

  “Phozone?” Rami asked, frowning.

  “What's phozone?” Hugo asked.

  “It's a chemical agent, sir,” Rami said. “A sort of preservative. It's used when working with biological samples. I have some in sickbay for preserving blood for testing.”

  Hugo frowned, remembering the smell on the third floor corridor. “AI make security systems and weapons,” he said. “What are they doing with phozone?”

  Spinn swallowed. “There's nothing on any official or public records that would explain it, sir.”

  “Can you check some unofficial ones?”

  Spinn nodded. “I'll keep looking, sir.”

  Hugo sighed and rubbed at his forehead, trying to sort out his tangled thoughts. “Luscombe will be expecting a report,” Hugo said.

  The crew all sat around the galley looking stiff.

  “Sir,” Spinn started, twisting his fingers together. “I am inclined to respect Webb's judgement in this.”

  “You think it may have been a trap?”

  “I do.”

  “Set by whom? And to what end?”

  Spinn swallowed, looked to Rami and then back at Hugo. “If AI are in any way involved with potential Lunar independence sympathisers... you could potentially be quite a powerful playing piece in any political game.”

  “Me?”

  There were nods around the room. Some gazes were darker than others.

  “Service-trained,” Spinn dogged on. “With a powerful family.”

  “Disgraced,” Hugo put in.

  “All the better, sir,” More said. “More likely to make you sympathetic to their cause.”

  Hugo paused, crossing his arms and looking at the earnest faces all looking at him. “They've been trying to recruit Webb.”

  “They have?” Rami said.

  “You didn't know?” A series of shaking heads around the room. “Fitzroy himself has talked to Webb and has been trying to track him down since. Don't you think it's more likely the trap was for him?”

  “No,” Kinjo said, firmly. “There's no reasoning.”

  “So he said,” Hugo said. “But the fact remains that this Fitzroy himself has been after him.”

  “They may have tried to recruit him, Captain,” Rami said, her voice a little tight. “But if they did, it is more likely because they were hoping to bring in the Zero and our network of connections. They don’t know we’re Service-commissioned. But we wouldn't be worth laying such a complex trap for.”

  “So, if they were after me like you think, why not just approach me in a bar like they did Webb?” Hugo carried on. “Why do I deserve such a complex trap?”

  “You're a more valuable prize, sir,” More put in. “And I imagine they thought you'd be... resistant.”

  “So we get to the next point,” Hugo said, straightening his back and looking around his crew. “How did they know I was coming? Hell, how did they know anyone was coming?”

  “I don't know, sir,” Spinn said. “We've dug through everything we could. I've confirmed what tipped off Luscombe's fears – AI's revenue stream isn't entirely accounted for. But I can't find anything else untoward. Certainly no obvious link between AI and Fitzroy, let alone the Lunar Independence League or any way they could have known about Luscombe's assignment. Whoever's behind this... they're too good to leave a trail.”

  Hugo unfolded his arms and paced the length of the galley, then back. He ran his good hand through his hair. Everything was aching and he could not remember ever feeling more tired. “So what do I tell Luscombe?”

  There was silence. Heavy glances were exchanged but no one looked at him.

  “You're going to have to talk to me, crew,” Hugo muttered. “Whatever mess we're in, I'm in it too. And I'm the one the Service is expecting to hear from, one way or another.”

  “Do you want my recommendation, sir?” Kinjo said in a very small voice.

  “Yes,” he said. “Yes I do.”

  “Play dumb. Don't play your hand until you at least have an idea of what the other guy is holding.”

  “You think Luscombe might be involved?” Hugo asked, trying to ignore the chill in his belly.

  Kinjo shook her head. “We don't know, Captain. But it's best to play it safe until we do.”

  “I'll have to tell him something.”

  Kinjo lifted her chin and gazed at him levelly. “Tell him you failed. Tell him the mission went wrong. You tripped an alarm before you were able to find anything. It's partially true.” Hugo looked at her, tension in her jaw but with her dark eyes burning.

  “I should pretend we don’t suspect a trap, but tell Luscombe that I screwed up?”

  Kinjo didn't blink. �
�It was your first mission. He'll believe you.”

  Hugo looked around. “What does everyone else think?”

  “I agree,” Rami said. “Until we know more, best to appear we know nothing.”

  “Crewmen? You've been very quiet.”

  Bolt and Sub looked at each other. “I've lost enough poker against Kinjo to know to never second-guess her instincts,” Sub eventually said.

  Kinjo didn't react. Hugo drank her in, thinking how much the teenager reminded him of Webb, leant forward on her elbows, her eyes defiant as they held his. He cast a glance at the wall display scrolling through the little that Spinn had managed to retrieve from their wrist panels and unearth in public records on AI, Gabor and Fitzroy. He flicked through it all, stalling for time.

  “Very well,” Hugo said. “I'll say I made a mistake. The mission failed and we were unable to retrieve anything of significance.”

  “Don't tell him about Webb either,” More put in. “If we're leaving him on Lunar 5 in the state he's in, best no one knows he's there.”

  Hugo nodded. “Fine. More, secure us a boarding pod for Webb and contact Lunar 5 control to confirm docking.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Lieutenant, you have your mission in hand?”

  “Yes, sir,” Rami said.

  “Very well,” Hugo said, turning back to look at his crew. “Eyes and ears open on all your channels, contacts, points, whatever. Anything, anything that gives us any clues as to what's going on, you inform me immediately.”

  A chorus of yes sirs went around the room and then chairs were being pushed back as the crew moved to leave.

  ɵ

  “That is... unfortunate, Captain.” Luscombe's face was hard on the cabin wall display.

  “I'm sorry, sir,” Hugo said, watching Luscombe's reaction closely.

  “I suppose we should be just be grateful it wasn't worse,” the colonel said, scratching his chin. He looked off to somewhere off-screen. “Very well, Hugo. We will have to leave this matter for now, return to it once the waters have calmed. We'll be lucky if AI don't triple the watch on their systems. But these things happen. You are certain you weren't recognised?”