Assassination Anxiety (The McKenzie Files)

by Barry K. Nelson

  Diane groaned and unhooked her straps. Being tall, she had as much difficulty as he did standing up in this small space. Kelly was already awake and led the way to the rear section of the ship. The trio had to wait as the transport’s small ramp lowered. Then they made their descent into the Maelstrom’s enormous landing bay, greeted by a young male trooper with a shaved head, who greeted them with a handshake and introduced himself as Corporal Lake. “I’m to take you to the main bridge to speak with the commander.”

  They followed Lake across the huge space of the landing bay, walking past other troopers moving left and right, and passing by dozens of triangular fighter craft sitting in angled rows on both sides of a broad, lighted runway. They came to a metal wall with a large black elevator door. Lake pressed a button, the door opened, and they stepped inside. Pressing another button, Lake activated the elevator, but Colin barely felt any movement before the door opened again, revealing a large curved corridor he assumed circled the bridge deck. As they followed Lake through the corridor with dark metal walls. They continued to follow Lake as he led the way.

  “This is a pretty big ship,” Colin said to Lake.

  “That she is. The battle carriers are the pride of the Protectorate fleet. If we could build a few more like the Maelstrom, we’d win the war in a month.”

  After tangling with the latest Brelac weapons, Colin doubted that assessment, but didn’t say anything.

  They followed Lake to a wide doorway and entered a large circular room, the Maelstrom’s main bridge. They passed troopers seated at the control consoles at both the left and right sides of the room, with several other troopers standing over them, and approached a central round elevated area supporting a white padded chair. The Maelstrom’s captain, a tall man in his forties with a shaved head and a thick black mustache, wore a black uniform and shining black boots as he sat in the command chair, quietly giving orders to various troopers manning a command console ringing the command platform. The prominent white emblem of an eagle in between two stars embellished the shoulders of his jacket. This was the man they needed to see first.

  Corporal Lake approached the chair and gave a quick salute. “Sir, our visitors have arrived.”

  The man rose from the chair and stepped forward. “Captain Melony Carter told me to expect you.” He extended his hand to Colin. I’m Commander John Brant. Welcome aboard the Maelstrom.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Colin returned Brant’s a firm handshake.

  Brant shook hands with Diane and Kelly, then said, “I understand that you need to speak with one of my officers. Important CID business.”

  “Yes sir,” Colin confirmed. “Lieutenant Ron Corby. We just need to ask him a few questions related to a case that we’re working on.”

  “Corby? You just missed him. He was here not more than five minutes ago. But I can give you the next best thing.”

  Brant turned to the left and pointed to a short, blond-haired woman huddled with two male troopers over a control panel, studying the illuminated readouts. Brant called out the name, “Corby.”

  The woman turned. The smile on her face faded when she saw Colin, Diane, and Kelly.

  “This is his wife, Lieutenant Cynthia Corby,” Brant said. “It’s a bit awkward having two Lieutenant Corby’s serving on the same ship, but we manage.”

  “We’ve already met,” Colin pointed out.

  As Cyndi Corby walked over to them, Colin studied her grim, blanched face. “Is anything wrong?”

  A weak smile appeared on Cyndi’s face. “No. Nothing’s wrong. I just didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “The only way that we could speak to Ron was to come to him aboard the Maelstrom. So, here we are.”

  Brant placed a hand on Cyndi’s shoulder. “Lieutenant Corby here can take you to her quarters. That’s probably where you’ll find Ron.”

  “I’ll take care of our guests, sir,” said Cyndi. “Follow me please.”

  Cyndi escorted Colin, Diane, and Kelly off the bridge. Cyndi was quiet as she was walking through the corridor. Colin noticed that she seemed tense. “So, how have you been?” he asked in a conversational tone, trying to ease her obvious concern. “How do you like your new ship?”

  “It’s okay,” Cyndi said simply. She said nothing else as she continued walking until she reached the elevator and pressed a button to open the door. The group boarded the elevator and descended to Deck Four. They entered a long corridor with several doors on both sides. Cyndi still remained quiet as she escorted them through the busy corridor with dozens of troopers walking about. They even passed a few small children. Colin wondered if Cyndi’s tension had anything to do with the recent attack by the Enforcers.

  Cyndi stopped at a door to her right. “These are our quarters,” she said. There was a numerical keypad on the center of the door. Large white numbers identified the quarters as Cabin 038. She pressed four numbers on the keypad and the door slid open.

  Cyndi led the way inside the small room with beige carpeting. The only furnishings in the room were a white plastic table and four chairs. Sitting on the floor next to the table were three black metal footlockers.

  “Ron!” Cyndi called out.

  A tall young man with short black hair emerged from an open doorway on the right. He was wearing only his gray fatigue pants and black boots.

  “These people want to speak with you,” she announced, waving her hand at Colin and Diane and Kelly.

  Colin brought out his badge and displayed it to Ron, as did Diane and Kelly. “Ron Corby? I’m Colin McKenzie. And this is Diane Christy and Kelly Lytton. We’re with the CID. Your wife probably told you about us. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  Ron walked slowly toward Colin. “She told me you came by back on Maseklos Prime. What do you want to know?”

  “Lieutenant John Mertz. Did you know him?”

  “No,” Ron replied bluntly.

  Colin expected that response but forged ahead. “How about a guy named Eddie Driscoll?”

  Ron shook his head. “No. Never heard of him.”

  “I see,” Colin said. “How about a fellow named Shrapnel?”

  “Shrapnel?” Ron inquired. “Who the hell has a name like that? What’s this about?”

  “We’re investigating the murder of John Mertz. He was found dead in an apartment on Maseklos Prime a few days ago.”

  “He was burned to death in his shower,” Diane added.

  Ron stared back at Colin and Diane. There was a long silence in the room.

  “He burned to death in his shower?” said Ron. “I was just getting ready to take a shower myself. I’ll have to watch using the hot water. Is there anything else?”

  Diane walked closer to Ron. “Mertz was also a pilot. Just like you. Imagine that.”

  The little girl, Audrey came out from an open doorway at the left. She slowly approached her father and wrapped her arms around his nearest leg. He placed a hand gently on her head. Colin noticed the sad look on Audrey’s face. “Well, look who’s here,” he said, trying to sound cheerful. He gave Audrey a little wave. “How’s it going?”

  Audrey did not answer as she hung close to Ron’s legs.

  “How do you like being aboard this big ship?” Colin asked, trying again to get a response from the child. She remained silent. “Where’s your cat? Spikes.”

  Audrey held the frown on her face and turned to run back into the other room.

  “Did I say something wrong?” Colin asked Ron, afraid he’d upset the little girl.

  Cyndi answered, “Audrey is still upset over the move. Leaving her friends and her school. And she’s sad because we had to leave Spikes behind. There’s a rule aboard the ship. No pets.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” returned Colin.

  “Give her a day or two, and she’ll be okay,” Cyndi said. “You know how kids are.”

  “In the meantime, are we done here?” Ron asked. “My shower is waiting.”

  “We’re quite through,” Coli
n told him. “We won’t take up any more of your time. We’ll just head back to the bridge, then catch our ride back home.”

  “You’d better hurry. The Maelstrom is due to depart in another two hours to join the rest of the expedition docked at Starbase Roosevelt. Then it’s off to deep space for a year.”

  “Do you mind showing yourselves back to the bridge?” Cyndi asked. “I have some things to take care of here.”

  “Not a problem,” Colin replied. He looked about at the nearly bare room. “Kind of a small place for the three of you.”

  “And where’s all your stuff?” Diane asked. “All you get is a table and chairs?”

  “I told you before, I had to put a lot of our things into storage,” Cyndi reminded Diane. “I know our quarters may look barren, but we’ll be assigned more standard-issue furnishings later. We just got here.”

  “I see,” Colin’s reply. “We won’t keep you any further. Thanks again for your time.”

  Cyndi walked over and pressed a key on the keypad on the center of the door. The door slid open. Diane and Kelly followed Colin as he stepped out into the corridor and began the walk back to the bridge.

  “So okay. What’s our next move?” asked Kelly.

  “I still think that we’re on the right track with this guy,” explained Colin. “We still need to keep an eye on him.”

  “For how long?” Diane asked. “Don’t forget, this ship is scheduled to leave in two hours.”

  Colin pondered this fact. Then he came up with a drastic answer. “Then we’ll just have to stay.”

  “What?” Kelly squawked. “You want us to stay here for a whole year?”

  “We might not be here that long. If Corby is involved with a plot against the President, I’ve got a feeling they’ll play it out when we get to Starbase Roosevelt.”

  “Makes sense, Sarge,” Diane told him. “And what if you’re wrong?”

  “Then all we can do is hope that they can at least give us separate quarters here.”

  As they made their approach to the elevator Colin, Diane, and Kelly passed by a boy who was running while carrying a small dog in his arms. The trio stopped and turned to watch the boy run down the corridor.

  “Did you see that? The kid had a dog,” Kelly pointed out.

  “Yeah. I saw,” said Diane. “I thought Cynthia said that there was a no-pets policy here. And I remember her saying something back at her apartment about taking the cat with them – that is until he went flying out of the apartment like his tail was on fire.”

  Colin didn’t know much about cats and their behavior, but he did know one thing. “She lied.”

  “Why would she lie about the cat and the no-pets policy aboard the ship?” Kelly asked.

  “I don’t know. Either she’s sloppy, or she was trying to send us a message. Either way, this makes her and her husband look more suspicious.”

  Back on the bridge, Colin explained to Commander Brant that he, Diane, and Kelly would remain aboard the ship until it rendezvoused with the rest of the expedition at Starbase Roosevelt. Brant had no objections and even offered them the use of a special guest quarters until they were ready to leave. The Maelstrom would arrive at Starbase Roosevelt in four hours. Colin was grateful for the offer. He felt a weariness in his legs, and he was not about to pass up a chance to have a place to rest.

  Brant instructed a trooper to escort them to Deck Five. From there they were escorted down a corridor to a door marked with the numbers 018. Behind the door they were greeted to the sight of their temporary quarters – a small room with the same beige carpeting. The room’s only furnishings were a black plastic table and four chairs. Apparently standard-issue furniture came in only two color choices: black or white.

  “Here’s our guest quarters,” said the smiling trooper as he held out his arms. He escorted them to a doorway revealing an even smaller room with two bunks protruding from the left and right walls. The neatly made bunks, hanging six feet apart from each other, consisted of seven-foot-long metal slabs holding thin white mattresses, flat pillows, and thin tan blankets.

  The trooper pointed to the doorway at the right, revealing a small bathroom containing a shiny metal toilet bowl against the left hand wall. Four feet away against the wall at the right was a shiny metal sink and the clear plastic enclosure of a walk-in shower.

  Diane looked back into what was passing as a bedroom. “We’ve slept in jail cells bigger than this place.”

  “We’re not going to be here long,” Colin assured her.

  “If you don’t need anything else then I’ll leave you alone,” said the trooper. “Hope you enjoy your stay.”

  “There’s not much here to enjoy,” Diane groused.

  The trooper left the room, leaving Colin, Diane, and Kelly to do nothing else but rest and ponder their next move. Colin took the left bunk while Diane lay on the right. Colin offered his bunk to Kelly, but he elected to sit against the wall in between the two bunks. For an hour or two, Colin could appreciate this much needed rest period. He closed his eyes.

  I ... I can see myself ... there ... lying on my back. What is that? Blood? Why is Diane kneeling over me ... picking me up ... crying, tears on her face ... yelling “No! No! Oh God, no!”

  Colin bolted upright, awakened from another dream with Diane as the featured attraction. He breathed heavily and looked over at her in the other bunk. She was still asleep. Then he heard a noise in the next room. He rose to his feet and was about to investigate when he saw a small black ball bounce off the wall and land in front of the doorway. The ball emitted a faint buzz, and a small red light blinked on its side. Colin heard the sound of running footsteps and the door sliding open. “Grenade!” he shouted. Someone had tossed a fusion grenade into their quarters, and it was about to explode. He rushed over to Kelly. “Kelly! Get up!” he shouted, pulling him to his feet.

  “What?” Kelly cried out.

  “No time! Shield the door!” Colin yelled.

  Kelly raised his hands toward the door, and a thick wall of blue energy immediately blocked the entire doorway. The room on the other side filled with a bright red flash accompanied by a muffled boom.

  Diane jumped up from her bunk. “What the hell was that?” she shrieked.

  Colin peeked in the other room to see it was filled with black smoke and a small fire being contained by an automated sprinkler system in the ceiling. Colin stood there trembling with his heart pounding. The shrill of an alarm in the corridor outside broke him free of his dazed fear. “It was a grenade. Somebody tried to kill us.”

  back to top

  Chapter 15

  “Someone tried to kill you?” asked Brant as he looked about the burned-out remnants of the guest quarters. Then looked at Colin, Diane, and Kelly.

  “Somebody tossed a grenade in here,” Colin told him. By now he was feeling calmer and had stopped trembling. The odor of burnt plastic filled his nose.

  “Any idea who would want to do something like this?” Brant questioned. “You haven’t been on this ship long enough to make any enemies.”

  Diane offered a possibility. “Maybe we’ve imported a few.”

  “And you saw nothing?” Brant asked Colin.

  “No. We were all asleep. I woke up in time to hear a noise in the other room. Then all I saw was the grenade.”

  “I’m glad to see that none of you were hurt,” Brant said. He looked about the room once more, then looked back at them, his face a portrait of confused alarm. “My God, how the hell did you three survive this?”

  Diane was the first one to answer. “We hid under the bed.”

  Kelly corrected Diane’s story. “She means that we hid in the bathroom.”

  Colin corrected Kelly’s story. “He means that we’re lucky to be alive.”

  For a moment, Brant was silent as he again stared at them. “I can imagine. Be that as it may, we’re conducting a full investigation into this incident. For a start, I’m going to check the video from the security cameras in the co
rridor. I’m certain it will show us who did this.”

  “Unless they can turn invisible,” Diane added in a soft voice.

  They followed Brant back to the bridge. When they arrived, Brant directed them to one of the consoles at the right and ordered the trooper who was sitting there to recall the security footage. “Play back Corridor C on Deck Five from 0500 to 0600 hours.”

  The trooper’s fingers typed several keys on his console’s touch pads. A second later a holographic image appeared above the console. The image showed several uniformed troopers walking through a corridor.

  “Speed it up,” Brant ordered.

  The trooper pressed a key. The people in the video began to move faster.

  Brant pointed a finger at the video. “That door on the left is room eighteen. Your quarters.”

  They continued to watch as more troopers passed through the corridor until the traffic began to thin out. Then they observed a person wearing a blue cap and a gray fatigue uniform approach the door to room eighteen. This person kept his head bowed low so that the camera was unable to catch the image of their face.

  “Stop,” Brant ordered.

  The trooper pressed a key. The image froze.

  “This could be our culprit,” said Brant. “Play video at normal speed.”

  They watched the video as it showed the person pressing a key on the door’s keypad. The hand was gloved. The person entered the room. A few seconds later the person came running out of the room, followed by a burst of fire that blew out from the sides of the door.

  “Who the hell is that?” Colin demanded.

  “Keep the camera on that person,” Brant ordered the trooper. “Follow him – or her.”

  The camera followed the image of the mysterious trooper still keeping his head down as he turned and walked back down the corridor. The person continued walking, passing by a few other people until he ducked into an open doorway to the right. The video froze.

  “That’s the general latrine for the deck,” Brant explained. “We don’t have any security cameras set up there because of privacy issues with the crew. But now all we have to do is wait and see who comes out.”