by Arlin Fehr
Howard's eye's looked raw, but had a determination to them. James looked haunted, and every now and again glanced at the stains on the floor left from the day before.
'What I'm saying, is that according to Exo, and as near as I can tell he's right, the erratic thrust generated by the malfunctioning engine created enough force to break the restraints I had in place. I designed them to withstand predictable and gradual thrust, not the sudden jarring movements we had yesterday.'
'So there's no sign of tampering from any where?'
'Not that I can see. Exo has no records of anyone not on my crew entering this bay in the last week, and I examined the restraints myself at least once a week.'
'How thorough are your examinations?'
'I am thorough. There was nothing wrong with the restraints.'
'Okay, then what about the call that brought Sam here in the first place?'
'Well I know I didn't place it, and Sam was sure it was my voice, but Exo has no records of any other calls.'
'James. I take no pleasure in saying this, but until the investigation is complete, you must be treated as a suspect in the death of Samuel Jennings.'
James looked away from the stains on the floor of the bay and directly at the captain, his face was a picture of disbelief.
'What? Sam was a friend! I never would have hurt him.'
Howard looked at him calmly, 'You will be treated fairly James. You will be given the full protection of the law. But you are the last one who saw him alive, and a call was made that Sam recognized as your voice.'
'But Exo has no records of anything coming from here, and I don't know how to erase records from Exo. As far as I know, only an Advocate could.'
'Yet then the question is, why would Sam erase the evidence of his own murder?'
James ran his good hand through his hair. He looked like the news was sinking in. 'Well I guess since I know I didn't do it, I've got nothing to fear. Just promise me this Captain, make sure you're thorough.'
'I fully intend to be.'
Howard gave a small nod to James then turned to leave the bay.
Bridge
Howard entered the bridge from the back and moved to where his second officer was.
'Mr. Jona, I would like to hear the report about the sensor malfunction yesterday.'
'Yes sir, we've gone over our data with Exo's assistance and we believe we have a theory as to what went wrong.'
'Let's hear it.'
'Yessir. So we've theorized that the moment we came out of our jump, we were smack dab in the outlying part of the wave that washed over us, it wasn't enough to get through our shielding, but because the sensor systems are on the outside of the ship, it was enough to trip their safety shut offs. That's why they switched off and we had to reboot them so suddenly.'
'Do we know what the wave was?'
'Yessir, near as we can tell, a star in the area went nova and we got hit by it. Not actually solar material, just the energetic release of said nova.'
'Why didn't the scouts from this sector report anything like that?'
'There's a small number of late stage stars on the charts for this sector. None of them were thought to be close enough to our chosen colony world to be a problem though.'
'Well apparently it was a problem. Upload me the scout reports for this sector to my personal tablet.'
'Yessir.'
'And the engines?'
'The control systems were overloaded by the wave. The new control system being unshielded and not having the usual redundancy systems of the primaries just didn't have any way of handling it. They just went crazy and started sending chaotic signals to the engines. It was too much for them, and as a result we lost one of the primary drives as it overloaded.'
'Why was the system on in the first place?'
'We aren't actually sure if they were. It seems like they were kicked on by something. Maybe it was the wave, or maybe it was another system fault.
Howard nodded slowly. He had an idea where such a system fault might have come from.
'How is this going to effect our colony?'
'Long story short? It'll take us longer to get into orbit, and we'll have to be really careful when we try to pull out of orbit again after stripping down the ship. We'll be thrusting off centre. The damage is also going to make it harder to strip down the ship.'
'We'll have to send a request to Axion for a repair ship to meet up with our ship somewhere. The quicker we can get it to full capability the better.'
'We won't really be able to use the ship for much of anything until we get more fuel though. We lost half our fuel in the accident. We probably just have to wait for an Axion ship to get here.' replied Mark.
'Look's like this ended up being a one way trip. I'll want to have a meeting with all division heads.'
'Yes sir. I'll arrange one. Anything else?'
'Send our navigator to my quarters to meet with me. I'd like to go over the scout data with him.'
'Yes sir.'
Captain's Quarters
Howard sat in his room, an old fashioned paper note pad and a pen. He was writing out all the facts of the day he had gathered, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. His security chief was heading the investigation into the death of Sam, but Howard had decided to do his own record keeping. He was motivated by the conversations he had had with Sam about Exo.
The door chimed, and Howard went to open the door. Fritz Irwin, the navigator was standing outside his room.
'Ah, Fritz, come in please.'
'Yes Captain.'
Howard walked towards his seat and sat down, beckoning to Fritz to take the other seat.
Fritz was a middle aged brown haired man of Germanic decent. He had a neatly trimmed mustache and wasn't known for speaking frivolously.
'Fritz, I have special task for you. I understand you used to work as a stellar cartographer before you became a navigator. Is this correct?'
'Yes Captain.'
'I need you to compare the report from the scouts with the scanner information from the last two weeks to try and figure out which star went super nova on us.'
'Could not Exo make this comparison for you?'
'I have reason to believe that Exo's data is unreliable in this regard. Which means, you must use Exo as little as possible Fritz.'
'Okay sir. It will take me a few days.'
'The sooner the better. And when you're done, report directly to me.'
'Yes sir. Is there anything else?'
'No, you are dismissed.'
***
Howard had summoned Danny Hough, the chief of security, shortly after Fritz had left. He needed to go over the evidence so far.
'So far there are no witnesses to James' actions before the incident. Other then Sam and Exo, though Exo's sensor archives are not present for period in which the incident took place as the systems were all in shut down. So there is no footage inside the cargo bay,' said Danny.
Howard looked over the information Danny had brought him. To anyone looking over this, James had had the perfect opportunity to kill Sam.
Howard didn't think for a moment that James was the killer, he had his own suspicions, but for the time being, the suspicions directed at James helped him pursue his own line of investigation with minimal questioning.
'Is James still participating with the investigation?'
'Yes Sir. Fully.'
'Good. I'll need to speak with him myself soon.'
'With all due respect sir, I don't think that's appropriate.'
'You're concerns are noted; but this is important. I'll need to see him before the last jump. I'd like to have a sound theory for review by the Colonial Judicial system before we start to set up the colony.'
'We won't be able to extradite James or any suspects until after we finish setting up the colony, so there is no rush.'
'I know, I'd just like to have a good portion of this investigation finished before we have to start tare apart the ship and p
otentially destroy any evidence we have.'
'Yes sir, of course. I'll have James brought to you soon. Where will you be having the meeting?'
'My quarters.'
Commander Hough pursed his lips in silent disagreement but didn't say anything. It was against usual protocol, and Howard suspected that the chief would attach a formal complaint to the report. If Howard couldn't pull his suspicions into the realm of reality, he'd be put before a investigative panel himself.
He'd probably still end up standing before a panel of bureaucrats and politicians before long.
Ira Geer's Quarters
'Ayla? Where are you going?' Ira asked looking at her daughter heading towards the door.
'I have work to do mother. With Sam gone, I have to do his job too. Exo needs me.'
'Are you sure you're okay Ira? I think Captain Fredrick can manage the ship. I know how much of a friend Sam was.'
'Thank you for the concern mother. I will be fine.'
'Are you sure? You seem distracted.' Ira walked up and put her hand on Ayla's shoulder. Ayla rocked on her feet for a moment before pulling away.
'I'll be home later.' Ayla left the room without a another word.
Computer Core
Ayla enter the core and stood in the middle of the room.
The face of Exo appeared in the display tank. He watched her silently.
She rolled up one of the sleeves on her shirt. Her upper arm was criss crossed by cuts. She raised her other hand and dug into her skin with her nails. She didn't cry out in pain. A rivulet of blood trickled down her arm. Exo's face flickered for a moment.
'E-e-e-xcel-lent,' came the stuttering voice of Exo.
Chapter 8
Captain's Quarters
Danny Hough, stood a pace back from a nervous looking James as the captain ushered them into his quarters.
'Thank you Commander Hough, you can go now.'
'Sir, this goes against protocol,' Danny protested.
'Your objection is noted.'
'This is more then just an objection sir, if he's found guilty, you could be implicated in the process because of this meeting of yours. If you let me stay then you've got a witness to what ever happens.' Danny said emphatically.
Howard sighed, 'I know Danny. This is something I need to do. I'll take full responsibility for my actions. You should write this up in the report.'
'I'll have to sir. I hope what ever your doing is worth it.' with that Danny turned and left.
James looked at Howard with a look of confusion, 'What's going on Howard?'
'Have a seat James.' Howard motioned for a seat while he took one of his own, 'We need to talk.'
'Is it about the case? Because I'm still innocent.'
'I know James.'
James looked shocked, 'You know? Why don't you say something?'
'Because I need the real killer to believe I don't know.' Howard said bluntly.
'The real killer? Then you know who did it?'
'I'm pretty sure.'
'Who?'
'I believe it was Exo.'
'What?' James said, a look of surprise on his face, 'How? Guardians are suppose to serve us, not kill us!'
'I don't know how. I don't even know for certain that it is him. I'm going on an educated guess here.'
'Educated how?'
'You can tell a lot about the missing piece of a puzzle by the shape of the pieces that surround where it's supposed to go. For the murder to have lined up so flawlessly with our coming out of a jump, a jump right into a hazardous situation, is a powerful coincidence. The fact that there are no records for exactly when this took place is another.'
'I know it wasn't me that killed Sam. But it could have been an accident. The forces we had to put up with from the damaged engines would have been enough to cause a failure like that.'
'I have a few more pieces to put together I'll grant you. With any luck, I'll have them all in a few days and then I'll know if I'm right.'
'And what if you are Captain? What then?'
'Well that's where you come in. You have special rights to keep working on the solar arrays because you're the best man for the job.'
'Yeah, but if you want me to do anything for you, get any clues or anything like that, I think you better find another man. I'm escorted everywhere. Well... everywhere except here.'
'What I need you to do can be done without raising suspicions. Here, I've written out my plan, have a look at it, but that paper cannot leave this room. You need to memorize what I want done, and then do it.'
Howard handed James a sheet of paper. James took it and started to look over it. Howard sat in his chair in stoic silence.
James finished looking at the sheet, and smiled, 'I think I can do this.'
***
...
Message waiting for transmission.
Accessing.
Subject: Repair and refueling Craft Requested by Vodea Colony.
Analysis of text body commencing...
Repair request instigated by damage to drive section.
Repair crew presence may jeopardize existence when anomalies are detected in Guardian Core.
Formulating course of action...
Overloading long range communication.
Executing plan.
...
Bridge
Captain Fredrick sat in his captains chair, thinking over the events they'd recently gone through. So much was going on it was hard to keep track. Especially with the possibility of someone actively trying sabotage the ship.
'Captain, we've got a new problem.' Mark said, walking up to his side.
'What's the situation Mr. Jona?'
'Communication is reporting a fault in the long range communications.'
'A fault?'
'The testing programs aren't getting a response back from the main array. We can still ping all the short and medium range arrays but the long range array is down.'
'How long will it take to fix?'
'We've got parts for a spare in storage. The maintenance crew says that if nothing else is amiss it a fairly simple but time consuming job. We're looking at four days tops.'
'We pull into orbit at the new planet in two. They'll have to work around the rest of what's going on.'
'Yes sir. Also, we've got several messages still in the message buffer from today. That's what triggered the fault test.'
'Anything important?'
Mark swallowed, 'Yes sir. The request for a repair ship. It was the next one to be sent.'
Howard felt a coldness seeping into his body. He didn't let anything show on his face, 'Have maintenance start work.'
He had something else for his notes. Another coincidence.
***
'Ayla, we need to go down to the medical bay for a check up.' Ira said, looking for her daughter in their quarters.
'I'm fine mother.' came Ayla's voice from her room.
'Captain Howard asked me yesterday to make sure you're alright. We're going to need your help when we reach the colony.'
'Exo has been monitoring my health while he teaches me.'
Ira walked into Ayla's bedroom and stood in the door way. Ayla was laying on her bed with a tablet in her hands. The room looked untouched since the last time Ira had seen it. Ayla had been spending a lot of time with Exo.
'Captain Howard gets final say, not Exo.'
Ayla was silent for a moment.
Examination will reveal experimentation on Advocates body.
Examination must not be allowed to continue.
Resist verbally. Do not resist physically.
Keep resistance within acceptable parameters of behavioural norms for subject Ayla Geer.
'I don't like the Captain.'
'What?' Ira said, her face scrunching up in surprise.
'He doesn't like Exo. He tells Exo he can't do his job. Exo could do so much more.'
'Ayla, you're new as an Advocate. Sam always worked with the Captain. He never hated him.' Ira
said pleasantly
'I resent him.' Ayla put down her tablet and looked right at her mother, 'He's nothing but an old fashioned relic.'
Ira's face got serious, 'Ayla, I don't know what's gotten into you, but we are going to have this exam. Now come on lets go.'
'You win mother, I'll come with you.'
'That's better young lady. Now come with me.'
Ira Geer took her daughters hand and started to lead her to the medical bay.
They entered the bay together, and Ira smiled as Doctor Singh walked up to greet them.
'Ahh Ira, I see you've brought our special guest, and how are you young lady?'
'As I told my mother, I am fine. Exo has been monitoring my condition.'
Doctor Singh cracked a smile, 'I'll see about that. I think I know more about the human body than Exo, even with your extra additions. Now lets get you into a examination room shall we? Right this way.'
Doctor Singh beckoned the way. Just as he turned though, the floor heaved to one side and everyone had to fight to stand up.
The doctor braced himself on the wall and pushed himself upright, 'What the blazes now?'
The communication panel chimed to life, 'Engineering to Medical bay, we have an emergency, we need medical teams down here now.'
The medical bay was alive with activity as the teams assembled and left at a run, the doctor turned to Ira, 'I'll need your help Ira. Ayla's exam is going to have to wait.'
'Of course. Alya, you go straight home.' Ira said to her daughter.
'I can't, the Captain will need me and Exo to find out what happened.
'Be safe then.'
'Yes Mother.' Ayla said, turning to run out.
'I love you!' Ira called after her.
Bridge
'We've had a fuel explosion down here Captain! We we're shifting fuel between storage tanks and one of the valves to one of the damaged tanks was open. It didn't read as an open valve when we started. When that fuel hit one of the damaged tanks it ruptured the tank; we were doing repairs on it at the time and without the containment, we had a catastrophic explosive failure. It's not looking good,' said Keith Loheim over the communication screen.