by Arlin Fehr
'Casualties?' Howard asked to the face on the communication screen.
'Yes sir, at least eight people were killed outright in the blast. We've got at least thirty six wounded. Medical teams are moving people to the medical bay as soon as they stabilize them.'
'Damage to the engines?'
'Minimal. Most of the explosion was directed into space, though there was damage to the other tanks.'
'Decompression?'
'Yes sir. We've sealed it for now. Three people are unaccounted for. We fear the worse.'
'Fuel status?'
'We've got enough to make it to Vodea and do our set up and then one, maybe two jumps after that, then it's going to be bingo. We aren't going anywhere else until we get a tanker here to top us up. Near as I can tell, there isn't anywhere particularly interesting in range for one or two jumps.'
Howard rubbed his eyes with his hand. He felt so very tired. Spacers everywhere feared dying in the black of space like that.
'Status of the jump drive?'
'Still operational sir.'
'Keep me posted on any developments.'
'Aye sir, Engineering out.'
Howard returned to his seat and sat down heavily. The bridge was silent. They were so close to their goal. The last jump would take them into the inner system. But with the crippled engines, now even more damaged, the possibility of success was dwindling.
Howard was silent for four long minutes. Silence hung in the air like a storm.
'Mr. Jona. Start the count for the last jump. Prep a message to all department heads, we go into deployment as soon as we hit orbit. Helm, Remember the plans for coaxing an even thrust from the engines. Comm, ship wide P.A,'
'Aye sir, channel open.'
'All hands, this is your Captain speaking. We have suffered from yet another accident. Our ship is crippled once more, and our family suffers more losses. We have lost seventeen people over the course of this journey. God willing, we won't lose more taming this new world. No one is out here to save us. No one is out here to do the work for us.
'We stand at the threshold of our new home and must make a choice. We can face this challenge well, knowing that there is no going back. Or we can give up sit in despair waiting for someone to come get us. I choose to face this challenge well.
'So my fellow travellers, I say to you, lets make our home, and remember those who have given their lives getting here. Lets build a home they would have been proud to call their own.
'We make the final jump in one hour. Prepare yourselves for planet fall.'
Howard motioned for the channel to be cut. The communication officer nodded.
'Channel closed sir.'
'Mr. Jona?'
'Yes sir?'
'Commence count down.'
'Yes sir.'
***
A hour later and with a flicker of light, the Azure Dream appeared in system. The engine section looked battered, with a void where one of the primary drive nozzles used to be.
'Status report?'
'Jump successful. All hands are on stand by.' Mark reported.
'Helm, set a course for the third planet from the sun. Make a high orbital insertion. Half power to the engines, take it easy and don't tax them.'
'Aye sir, engines to half power.'
'Mr. Jona, what's the status of all department heads?'
'Well James has some last minute equipment requests. He says he had a idea for repairing the damaged array.'
'I authorize the requisition. Send some crew to transfer the equipment as fast as possible. We need to get his bay ready for separation as soon as we hit orbit.'
'Aye Captain. I've already prepped the connectors for separation. The bay should be ready to separate on schedule.'
'What's the report from Medical on the wounded.'
'Most are stable at this point. There's at least three that won't see planet fall. The doctors are trying to place them into a medical stasis until we can get them to proper medical facilities, but given the condition of the ship, that may be unlikely.'
'Did the physical ever get preformed for Ayla?'
'No sir. Doctor Singh hasn't has time to do the exam.'
'Carry on Mr. Jona.'
'Aye sir.'
Howard sat back in his chair. Some time passed and the ships navigator got up from his station and walked over to the captain's chair.
Howard looked up at him, 'What can I do for you Fritz?'
'I've got the results of the analysis you asked for. I realize it's a bit late, but it took longer then I thought and I had work to do prior to the last jump here.'
'It's okay Fritz. Why don't we go meet in my quarters and you can tell me what you found.'
'I can tell you now. I'm sure you're going to be busy.'
'I insist. Let's go.'
'Okay Captain.'
Howard got up from his seat and turned to Mark.
'Mr. Jona, you have the bridge. I have some last minute business to attend to.'
'Aye sir. I'll keep you informed of any developments.'
'Good. You have the bridge.'
Howard was half way to the door when Mark called after him, 'Sir, incoming call from Commander Hough.'
'Can it wait?'
'He says it's urgent.'
'Alright, patch it through to the back station. I'll take it in private.'
'Aye sir.'
Howard detoured to a computer station near the back of the bridge. He saw the face of the security chief waiting for him, but took time to put on a head set before replying.
'Yes Commander Hough?'
'Captain, did you even look over Mr. Bennet's equipment requisition before you approved it?' said the commander tersely.
'Yes Commander, I did. James and I went over it in great detail. We've deemed it necessary given the difficult situation we find ourselves in.' Howard said evenly.
'Look, I'm no expert on power generation satellites, but I took a engineering course in the academy. Some of these parts are quite irregular. I fear they could be used to make a-'
'Stop!' Howard snapped suddenly.
Howard felt the sensation of eyes watching him.
'Commander, if you must know why I approved those parts, then come to my quarters.'
'Right now?'
'I'm on my way to talk to someone else, you'll have to wait your turn, but yes right now. I need that equipment in that bay before it separates.'
'Fine. I'll be there shortly, Hough out.'
...
Captain requesting secret meetings.
Captain authorized additional equipment requests for James Bennet.
Additional information required.
Deploying assets accordingly.
...
Captain's Quarters
Fritz was already waiting by the door when Captain Fredrick arrived. Fritz seemed tense. Howard opened the door and ushered him in.
Fritz walked towards a seat and sat down, Howard did the same.
'Let's cut right to business, what did you find Fritz?'
'I wasn't sure at first, I checked and rechecked my results, which is part of the reason I took so long. As near as I can tell, none of the stars in this sector could be responsible for our energy wave.'
'None?'
'There were a few late stage stars in the scout report you gave me, but something didn't seem right. None of them were in quite the right position to do what we saw.
'Because of this, I broke out my own personal charts and double checked the results I had. The star that was most likely to have caused the wave doesn't exist. It's as if it came out of thin air sir. None of the other stars are close enough or if they are, they aren't in the right cycle of life to give off that kind of a burst. Either we witnessed a completely new stellar phenomenon, or someone rewrote the scout report.'
Howard was silent. He mulled over this revelation for some time.
'Have you written up a formal report?' Howard asked.
'Yes Captain. I ev
en tried to send it back to Axion for verification. But the message queue was full, it was at that point I found out about the communication array going offline.'
'Is there a copy of the report in the computer?'
'Yes sir, and I have a copy here for you on a memory chip.'
Howard held out his hand, Fritz placed the small chip in his open palm, 'Thank you Fritz. You're dismissed.'
'Yes sir.' Fritz turned to leave and then stopped when he reached the door. He hesitated and turned back to Howard, 'Sir... Is everything alright? A lot of things are going wrong on this voyage. Are we going to be alright?'
'We are in the last stretch now. Once we're on the ground, we can figure things out.'
'I know that sir... But how long will it be before Axion sends a ship to check on us?'
'We're supposed to check in every week. Our array went off line a few days ago. A smaller ship will have a much easier time of getting out here than we did, but it could still be a few months before we see any meaningful help.'
Fritz looked disappointed by the answer, 'I see... I guess we're stuck with it.'
Howard smiled, 'Not to worry, we'll pull through.'
'Of course.' Fritz turned and left.
Howard looked down at the data chip and wondered just what was contained on Fritz's report.
Hopefully it won't be something that would tip Exo off, he though.
Howard looked up as a rather impatient looking Commander Hough burst into his quarters.
Howard pursed his lips, 'Commander Hough, please, take a seat.'
The commander remained standing.
'If the communications array wasn't down, I'd have sent a message to the International Space Agency demanding you have your command revoked. You are breaking so many laws and procedures I don't even know where to start!' Danny started angrily.
Howard sighed, 'How about motive?'
Danny looked shocked, but quickly regained his composure, 'Okay then, how about motive? Why are you doing all this Captain?'
'Samuel Jennings was murdered.'
'Yes... and our prime suspect just requested several very irregular and potentially dangerous items,' Danny said levelly.
'The evidence does point to James yes, but he is not the only one who could have done it. The reason why I've not been completely open with you is because the other suspect has it within his power to do considerable damage to the ship if he finds out I suspect him.
'James is moving those parts on my direct orders. It deals with a plan we have to... immobilize the other suspect.'
Danny's face was getting progressively more emotionless, 'Do you have a plan to protect the ship?'
'The ship... could be a problem. But it's imperative the colonists get down to the planet before I act.'
'What's to stop the suspect from going down to the planet with the colonists?' Danny asked carefully.
'He has certain restrictions on his movements. Nevertheless, I'm afraid James could be in danger. His part is key in this. I need him alive.'
'Well I've got guards stationed in his bay at all hours. No one's getting in or out without our knowing. It would help if you told me who to look out for.'
'I can't. He's very good a hearing things he's not supposed to.'
The commander looked around the room, 'We're alone aren't we? And the captains quarters are one of the few places without any listening systems.'
Howard was silent for a moment. Commander Hough placed his hands behind his back and started to walk around slowly. He was calm, but he was wringing his hands, betraying his tenseness.
'We are alone... could you check the hall please?'
'Sure. Why not...' Hough said impatiently. He walked quickly to the door and hit the open key. The door slid open. He looked down the hall and saw it was clear, save for a cleaning robot moving down the hall away from them, 'Nothing but a cleaner bot.'
Howard looked up suddenly, 'What did you say?'
'Nothing but a cleaner robot?'
'Hell,' he said bitterly.
Cleaning Drone 13... Recalling.
Analyzing audio files.
…
…
Subject mentioned;
James Bennet; Colonial Power Grid Overseer
Alternate Suspect of murder
Suspect not mentioned.
Hypothesis; Suspect is Exo.
James Bennet is important to Howard Fredrick's plan to immobilize suspect.
James Bennet must be incapacitated.
Generate plan to incapacitate James Bennet with minimal damage to ship...
…
…
Plan Generated.
Execute plan.
Chapter 9
Solar Array Storage Bay
'James, last load here for you, where do you want it?' asked a crewman with a levitating cargo pallet.
'Just in that corner,' James said, pointing to the spot he wanted it. He was bending over a piece of equipment on the floor, sorting out parts.
Two security guards stood by the doors to the bay, looking rather uncomfortable at the unexpected change in plans, but keeping it to themselves after having been told to let this pass.
James didn't know what the captain told them, but he knew what he'd been told and knew that his task was a vital one.
He heard the crewman drop the pallet to the ground and leave. A few minutes later, the communication panel by his work station chimed.
James stood up and walked towards it. His body ached at the standing, still recovering from the incident that claimed Samuel Jennings life.
James sat down in his chair and turned on the communication system, 'Hello. James Bennet here.'
'James, it's Mark, we're ready to separate your bay from the command links. Do you need anything else?'
'The last of the supplies were brought in a few minutes ago. I'm ready to go. Are we still on schedule?'
'Separation in T-minus 30 minutes. You'll hear a klaxon sound before we cut you loose from the ship.'
'Alright, go ahead and sever the links, I'll run through the check of the bay's systems and get one of my aides to report back.'
'Roger that James, bridge out.'
James stood up and turned to the people gathered in the bay, 'Listen up ladies and gentlemen! We will be switching to our own systems now, bridge is separating us from the ship's systems.'
The lights went off and then came back on again as the bay's own generators took over.
'There will be a momentary lapse in your quality of living, so please bear with us.' He said to a few chuckles.
'That said, we still have plenty of work to do. We've got to get ourselves ready to leave the nest.'
Bridge
'Commander Jona!' called out a bridge officer from her station,
'What is it Lieutenant?' Mark said as he walked over.
'Something odd. Just as we were disconnecting the Solar Array Storage Bay from the power grid, a power surge was coming up the line towards it. It was literally three seconds after we severed the link.'
'How bad was it?'
'Melted the junction to the bay. Fried the automated systems that severed the link. If it had still been linked, it would have ended badly for us.'
Mark put a hand to his head and massaged his forehead, 'Thank you. Let's hope we get landed before the ship falls apart. Keep me posted.'
'Aye sir.'
Sabotage attempt failed.
Power surge generation took too long.
Links to bay offline.
External interaction no longer possible.
Solution: use internal interaction.
Deploy Ayla into bay.
Plan will be needed for sabotage.
Generating plan to incapacitate James Bennet using Ayla as agent.
…
...
Plan generated.
Execute plan.
Captain's Quarters
Howard sat at his desk, making a copy of his notes to include with the captain
's log. The captain's log was recorded in its own storage system independent of the ship and was supposed to be able to survive the destruction of a ship so that people could find out what went wrong.
Howard felt it important that his notes be included in those logs.
The download completed and Howard shut off the program and opened a communication link with the bridge.
'Commander Jona here, what can I do for you Captain?'
'What's our status Mr. Jona?'
'We've had a few odd occurrences, we've managed to stay on top of them, but any one of them could have disabled the Solar Array Storage Bay, or other parts of the ships.'
'But you're staying on top of them?'
'So far.'
'We only need to hold it together long enough to get everyone on the ground.'
'We'll be hitting equatorial orbit in 30 minutes. We're performing the first of the corrective manoeuvres right now. We're going to drop the solar storage bay in 10 minutes. It's own manoeuvring thrusters will be able to move it into a Geo-synchronous orbit when it's ready. We'll shed the colony pods in forty minutes. So far we are on schedule. That should give us six hours of orbital time to reconfigure the ship.'
'Keep me advised of any developments.'
'Aye Captain.'
Outside Solar Array Storage Bay
Ayla Geer stood unnaturally still waiting around a corner a little ways away from the double airlock doors leading to the storage bay. Her body was waiting for some cue to move.
Guards were posted inside the bay. No guards were posted outside. They were more concerned with keeping people in then keeping people out.
The hall was empty, people were busy elsewhere.
Moving quickly, she rushed to a nearby wall panel. With tools she had in her pockets, she pried the panel off and revealed a crawl space. She pocketed her tools and climbed into the space. She moved quickly down the crawl space. The metal got cold in places, parts of the crawl space being unshielded from space now that the bay was almost ready to be ejected from the ship. She rounded a corner and went down a little further until the crawl space turned again and ended against the wall of the storage bay.