by David Gill
Jarvine switched off the screens. 'I think I will.'
'Is this going to be a problem? I want you with me if I do it.'
'I'll let you know.' Jarvine picked up the pack of cigarettes and put them into his pocket. 'This could backfire in a big way.'
'We're not alone. I'm owed some big favours and I'm calling them in. If we don't accept the job it'll be offered around and I'm not happy with the idea of some clown carrying out a hit on our territory. At least if we're running the show we'll be in a position to control the damage and not get caught up in someone else's action. Get this right and we could tie up several loose ends at the same time; it's not often that something this big comes up.' Slater closed the office door behind them and tripped the locks. 'I'll see you in a couple of hours then.'
Jarvine stopped in the corridor and squinted at Slater under the bright lights. 'You're sure there's nothing in Jenna's story? I mean, they're going to a lot of trouble over her.'
'The only person who believes that crap is Jenna.' Slater laughed. 'Apart from Declan, of course, but anyone who has just blown six years of his life on Scion will believe anything.'
*******************************
Declan leaned over the balcony rails and looked up at the high peaks and ridges all around their apartment block. Long tendrils of cloud lingered low in the valley, rolled from the morning mist by a cool wind. Although the season had only just begun to change, the air temperature at that altitude had already fallen. Below, parked on the hard-standing, a large cruiser with dark windows was the only visible sign of a human presence in the resort.
'What do you think of the view?' asked Gil.
'It's so quiet,' said Declan. 'I'd forgotten that places like this existed.'
'If you can afford them you can find them,' said Gil. 'Plano is where the idle rich come to discover themselves. The other residents have already left, so make the most of it because in two weeks' time you might be snowed in. There are a few things I need to cover before I go: you can go anywhere you want inside the resort, but we can't track you beyond the boundary so don't leave it. Don't waste time worrying about security because the support team has already been over the place. Just concentrate on what you're doing. Have you checked your work station?'
Declan nodded. 'I'll use it tonight. I assume it's connected to your headquarters.'
'The support team get first bite of the cherry and everything is being streamed to the main building by secure link. Moran is taking care of the logs back in the office.' Gil peered over the balcony. 'Every word Jenna says will be analysed as soon as it reaches us.'
'Have you got anything so far?'
'Not yet, but you're doing fine. What she's coming up with is exactly what I want to hear - the whole story with nothing left out.'
Declan started to shiver in the chill wind. 'I'll do my best. Let's go back inside.'
'I'll be paying regular visits, but I won't disturb you unless it's necessary,' said Gil, following Declan into the apartment. 'Take time to settle in, and let Jenna unwind as much as possible. Don't get upset if you hear the cruiser coming and going.'
'You will get me everything you can on Phasewave?'
'The Phasewave technical department is working on it as we speak,' said Gil, 'and by the time you need it you should have plenty to go on. I've got that drawing stuff for Jenna, so I'd better say goodbye to her before I go.' He paused, then, in a rare display of emotion, added, 'We probably won't have many opportunities to be together from now on, but I want you to know how much I appreciate what you're doing for me.'
Declan was embarrassed. 'If there's anything there I'll find it.'
'I know you will.' Gil gave Declan's arm a squeeze, and immediately released it when he saw him flinch. 'Sorry, I guess that was the wrong one.'
'It's the law of probability,' said Declan. 'I've already got a feeling that I'm going to be relying on it in this case.'
After the sound of the departing cruiser faded into the distance, Declan stood in his bedroom and once again surveyed the pile of cases before him. He was still trying to decide where to start when he became aware of footsteps outside his bedroom door.
'Mind if I join you?' asked Jenna, peering through the open door.
Declan was taken by surprise. He had hardly ever been alone with a woman before, and his instinctive reaction was to ask her to leave but, before he could make up his mind, Jenna walked in and perched unselfconsciously on the edge of his bed.
'No ... no, of course not,' said Declan, searching for appropriate words to hide his confusion. 'Have you settled in yet?'
'It wasn't a problem for me; I don't haul around the amount of hardware you do. What are you hiding inside those things?'
Still distracted by Jenna's presence, Declan inspected his cases again. 'Junk mainly. Perhaps I'd better sort them out later.'
'You just carry on,' said Jenna. 'Take no notice of me; I won't get in your way.'
Declan stared at her, still undecided how to respond. 'Well, if you don't mind, go ahead and talk; I'll be listening while I unpack.' He tried to ignore his unease and started to pull items of crushed clothing from a case.
'Those could do with a press.' Jenna pointed to Declan's shirts. 'Give them to me, there's a machine next door.'
'It doesn't matter,' said Declan, dropping them back into the case. 'Most of this stuff is only fit for burning. One day I'll finally get round to doing something about it. There is one thing you can help me with while you're here - so far you haven't mentioned anything about the crew you went out to replace on Bouron.'
'There were four of them: Carrick and Ellen, Rogan and Sewell.'
'But there were only three of you, weren't there?'
'Economy measures,' said Jenna bitterly. 'Of course, Phasewave is so reliable that it never goes wrong.' She gave a short laugh. 'That's if you listen to the idiots who make it. Did you know that Phasewave was discovered by Scyros Maddoc, the crazy inventor?'
'The one with the media show?' said Declan. 'He invented Phasewave?'
'The very same,' said Jenna. 'You'll be hearing more about our friend Scyros later. It's hard to believe, isn't it? After he discovered the Phasewave principle he didn't know what to do with it, so he practically gave away the patent. He would have become one of the richest people around if he'd only been half-smart.'
Jenna casually curled up on the bed and propped her head on one hand, fixing Declan with an unwavering stare. Like an animal about to pounce, thought Declan, momentarily losing his concentration. He turned back to his cases and stood with a uniform draped limply over one arm staring blankly around the room, caught off balance by his inability to comprehend the situation. After spending six years in isolation, a woman half his age had entered his life, a woman who, if Gil was to be believed, was about to be charged with serious crimes and was set to tell a tale so incredible that only he would be able to understand it. What was he doing there?
'Is something the matter?' Jenna asked.
Declan's mind gradually returned to normal. He put down the uniform and shook his head in disbelief. 'For a moment I couldn't remember where I was.'
'Time-lag,' said Jenna. 'You've travelled a long way.'
Declan tried to focus his mind. He wildly searched for a way to open a conversation, and seized upon the first subject to enter his mind - Phasewave, the invention which had profoundly improved the quality of everyone's lives and now looked set to affect his own in a very different manner. 'When you stopped last time you were about to inform Vance of the repairs carried out to the Phasewave unit. What was his opinion of them?'
'He wasn't interested at first, in fact he tried to stop us having anything to do with Unit Nine, which led to a big row, after which things changed and Vance had to get involved.'
'Changed? In what way did things change?'
'As usual, things changed for the worse. It was a trend I was to become familiar with during my stay on Bouron.'
*******************************
Vance walked slowly around the Phasewave machine. 'What's the meaning of this?' he said. 'I can't make any sense of it.'
'We can't either,' replied Brant. 'It doesn't appear to be a repair; it looks as if someone has tried to alter the function of the machine.'
'Why would anyone want to do that?' Vance scratched his head and peered into the plasma chamber. 'Whoever did this must have known what they were about. I've never heard of a plasma chamber being opened up before.'
'It wasn't done too subtly either. Somebody took a big risk cutting through the casing with a thermic lance.'
'The question is,' interrupted Jenna, 'what has this to do with the disappearance of the crew?'
They all looked at each other, unable to come up with an answer.
Eventually Brant spoke. 'Maybe it does have some bearing on what happened, but in what way ... who knows? The work done on this machine and the trails leading to Tracker South are the only abnormalities we've found. They've got to be related.'
'What's that about trails?' asked Vance.
Jenna and Brant exchanged glances and then Brant related how they had discovered the tracks leading to Tracker South and the worn skimmers.
Vance was even more puzzled. 'Why would anyone get fired up about repairing a tracker station when we can operate normally with two of them down?'
'Let's repair one of the skimmers and take a look at Tracker South,' suggested Jenna. 'The crew might be inside.'
'Hold on,' said Vance. 'Nobody's going anywhere unless I say so, and that won't happen until I know it's safe. What we're going to do is to make a note in the log of everything we've found so far, nothing more, and if the next crew want to investigate it after they arrive they're welcome.'
'That won't change anything,' said Brant. 'We're still no closer to finding the missing crew than when we arrived, and this work which has been done on the Phasewave is too sophisticated to have been carried out by anyone at our level. The others spent nine months here, and whatever happened to them could just as easily happen to us. We've no option but to search Tracker South. I've no intention of spending the rest of my stay here looking over my shoulder.'
'No!' shouted Vance. 'You're not leaving the base. That's my decision and it's final. I'm the chief!'
'You can't stop us,' said Jenna. 'I'm going to search the tracker.'
Vance grew red in the face. He opened his mouth as if to speak, took two faltering steps towards Jenna and keeled over as his legs gave way beneath him.
Brant leapt forward and managed to catch him before he fell. 'Take it easy,' he said, gently lowering Vance to the floor. 'Try not to get emotional.' He went through Vance's uniform pockets until he found the inhaler which Vance always carried with him and held it to his mouth.
After a few minutes Vance started to quieten down. He pulled away the inhaler and propped himself up against the front of the unit, breathing heavily. 'You can't go,' he gasped. 'I'm the Chief; you have to do what I tell you.'
'Let's take a vote on it,' said Jenna, 'just like we did when we elected to stay on Bouron. The majority decides - one vote can't swing the decision. Right?'
'Sounds fair to me,' said Brant. 'You can't possibly object, Vance, after all that was your idea.'
'Go to hell,' said Vance. 'Set one foot outside this building and you're no longer my responsibility; don't come crying to me when things go wrong.'
'You're too gracious, Vance,' said Jenna, with a smile. 'Don't get up. Just leave everything to us; we'll sort it out for you.'
'I'll keep working on the skimmers,' said Brant. 'In the meantime I suggest we keep away from this Phasewave unit until we know more about it.' He reached down to Vance. 'Here, let me give you a hand.'
The two of them helped Vance to his feet and walked with him back to the crew quarters. Outside his cabin Vance stopped and turned on them accusingly. 'You're going to regret getting involved. Leave well enough alone. Don't open up old wounds.'
'It has to be done,' responded Brant. 'Whatever is out there needs putting to bed, and I won't be able to rest until we've been inside that tracker.'
'Then do as you damn well please,' Vance nastily replied, and slammed the door shut behind him.
'There's gratitude for you,' said Jenna.
'Take no notice of Vance,' said Brant. 'The sooner I take a look inside Tracker South the better.'
'You're not going anywhere without me,' said Jenna.
'I don't think that's such a good idea; it might not be safe.'
'Don't even think about cutting me out.'
'I hope this isn't going to be the start of another argument,' said Brant. 'For a change I'd like to think you're being realistic about the dangers involved.'
'There's no argument. You fix the skimmer and I'll take it to the tracker. If it's as dangerous as you think, there's no point in both of us taking a risk.'
'I'm beginning to question your sanity,' said Brant, 'but I haven't got time to argue so let's agree on something for a change - I'll fix the skimmer and we'll both visit the tracker, but only on condition that I go inside first.'
'You've got a deal,' said Jenna.
Jenna slowly walked around the tracker station while she waited for Brant to complete his search of its interior, feeling the cushioning effect of the dust layer between the soles of her boots and the surface of the hard-standing. She then went to the edge of the path and carefully stepped into the unsupported dust, testing its load-bearing capability. Her leg sank almost to the knee before accepting her weight. Could a person walk on it? She took a few cautious steps through the dust, and then climbed back onto the path. Travel was not impossible, even though the stiffness of the protective suit required additional exertion, but it was hard work, and to reach the tracker station from the base on foot would have been out of the question - the tracker could only have been visited using a skimmer. Jenna recommenced her walk. From the roof of the tracker a litter of aerials pointed skyward at the satellites above. Jenna stepped back to get a better view and noticed that one of the aerials was out of line. It must have been accidentally damaged, she surmised, but, by coincidence, it now lay horizontal, pointing directly at the base buildings in the distance. She continued her circuit of the tracker station, cursing Phasewave for being unable to communicate with Brant, who was only a few metres away on the other side of the wall. Eventually she ended up again at the entrance next to the parked skimmer, almost beside herself with curiosity and wishing that Brant would come out to end the suspense.
Finally the airlock opened and Brant appeared in the doorway, beckoning her inside. She automatically followed him but could read nothing from the expression on his face.
'The air's safe in here,' said Brant, after removing his helmet.
Jenna snapped open her face plate. 'What have you found?' she breathlessly asked.
'Not what we feared. There's no trace of anyone in here, but I've got something interesting to show you.'
Jenna felt a surge of relief. She unfastened and removed her helmet, shook her hair down over her shoulders and followed Brant into the control room. The cold air was stale and the racks of equipment lining the walls were silent and inert.
'What do you make of this?' asked Brant.
Jenna looked at the control console next to where Brant was standing and immediately noticed that its front panel had been modified. She walked over and examined the two rails that had been attached to the cabinet. 'This is more than a coincidence.'
'I must admit it wasn't what I was expecting to find,' said Brant.
Jenna looked all over the machine. 'It's exactly the same as the work done on Unit Nine.'
'This whole thing is becoming more and more confusing.' Brant rubbed his chin and stared at the rails. 'What possible reason could you have for changing the function of a tracker?'
'We've now found two units that have been tampered with. How many more are there?'
'All the other units on the complex are working normally, so I presume that t
he Phasewave and the tracker are the only failures we know about. All we have done so far is produce questions to which there appear to be no answers, and we still have no idea what happened to the other crew.'
Jenna leant against a worktop and scratched her head. She looked around the room, but there was nothing in it apart from the racks of monitoring equipment.
'I don't accept that this can serve any useful purpose,' said Brant, running his hand along a sheath of wires leading into the cabinet. 'You can't alter the function of a monitor; these alterations look to me to be purely cosmetic.'
'I'm stumped,' said Jenna. 'It isn't as if the units have anything in common. There is one thing, though - while I was outside I noticed that one of the tracker aerials has become misaligned and is pointing towards the base. Could the tracker have been used to pick up transmissions from a Phasewave unit?'
'The trackers communicate outside the Wave and can't process phased transmissions. You're the systems expert. If you were prepared to modify a Phasewave acceleration unit, could you generate an unphased transmission capable of linking with a tracker?'
'It might be possible. Maybe the plasma chamber could be modified to restrict the amount of signal compression. I can't think of anything that would justify the amount of work involved, and why go to all that trouble when the base is only a couple of kilometres away and still in line of sight? You could almost shout that far.'
'We're getting absolutely nowhere,' said Brant. 'I think we should go back and forget about what we've found; the crew aren't here and that's all we came to confirm. Let's call it a day.'
'We may as well,' said Jenna. 'I've had enough excitement for the moment.'
Brant smiled. 'I hope not.'
'Why's that?'
'Wait and see. For a change I'm going to do something to cheer you up.'
Jenna let out a scream and clung to Brant with all her strength. The skimmer banked sharply and accelerated out of the turn, flinging her sideways in its saddle.