The Ares Weapon: A Space Colonization Sci Fi Thriller (Mars Ascendant Book 1)

by Pruden,D. M.

  “No, I only met Erik Dunn yesterday.” I didn’t like lying to Schmaltz.

  “What do you think of him?”

  “I don’t like him.”

  “Yeah, those corporate types give me the creeps normally, but there is something else bothering me. He seems like the kind of guy who acts all nice and proper, but would throw his grandmother out of an airlock for a profit. You know what I mean?”

  I nodded absently while I re-bandaged his hand.

  “We should probably keep these conversations between us, Schmaltz. I don’t trust anyone on this ship. The sooner we can finish this mission and return to our lives, the better.”

  “Don’t worry about me. Bogdan is a smart kid, but I don’t trust him either. Just you and me, Mel. We’ve got each others’ backs, right?”

  The door opened and Erik Dunn stood outside the entrance.

  “Am I interrupting?”

  “No, we were just finishing up. Please come in, Mister Dunn.”

  I addressed Schmaltz in my best professional voice. “That should heal up nicely, Mister Schmaltz. Keep it clean and the staples should dissolve in a day or so. Come back if it turns red or becomes painful.”

  “Will do, Doc.” He nodded to Dunn and left.

  “What can I do for you, Mister Dunn?”

  “Please, call me Erik.”

  “How do I trust it’s your real name?” I regretted the words the moment they came out.

  “There, you see? Now we are finally communicating.”

  “What do you want, Dunn, or whatever your name is?”

  “For my purposes here on the ship, for this mission, I am Erik Dunn. I will be someone else on another assignment. I am who I need to be. As to the question of what I want...” he jumped up to sit on the examination table, rolled up his sleeve and extended his left arm.

  “I want you to take a blood sample, Doctor.”

  I was surprised by the sudden change in the conversation.

  “Why? I have all your medical workups.”

  “You have all the medical workups for Erik Dunn. I need you to update the records.” He raised his arm again.

  “What happened to the real Erik Dunn?”

  “You don’t really want to know about that, Melanie.” He gave the same predatory smile.

  “What’s to stop me from calling the Captain and reporting this?”

  “Go right ahead. In fact, my request is unusual enough, you should.” He rolled down his sleeve and stared at me. “I’ll wait.”

  I decided to call his bluff and walked to the desk to activate the comm, never taking my eyes off him. He waited and watched while sitting on the examining table, dangling his legs like a little boy. After a moment, Garrick responded.

  “Yes, Doctor?”

  “Captain, Mister Dunn has come into the med bay with an unusual request and...”

  “Yes, Doctor. I meant to tell you. Please comply with whatever medical requests he makes of you. Understood?”

  “Of course, Sir.” I deactivated the link and regarded Dunn with suspicion.

  “You see? All legitimate. Well, perhaps not legitimate, but it is sanctioned.” He smiled and rolled up his sleeve once more.

  I retrieved the venipuncture kit from the drawer and returned to the examination table. I wrapped the rubber tubing around his upper arm and patted his lower arm to find a vein. I inserted the needle, twisting it slightly.

  “Ow!”

  “Sorry.” I wasn’t.

  I handed him a gauze to hold over the wound while I labelled the sample tubes. I took my time, then placed a bandage over the gauze.

  “I’m afraid you may get a bruise.”

  “I’m pretty sure I will,” he said as he rolled down his sleeve. He hopped off the table and walked to the door, stopping before opening it.

  “Have dinner with me tonight.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Oh, come now Melanie. We shared so much more only a few weeks ago. Surely a simple meal isn’t too much to ask? I would like an opportunity to apologize and explain if you’re interested.”

  He had played the right button, piquing my curiosity like that. He likely intended no physical harm, and I was dying to hear what he had to say for himself. In the end, my curiosity overcame my sense of reason.

  “All right, then. I suppose dinner can’t hurt. I have to eat anyway. But only dinner.”

  “Of course. Shall we say 19:00 in my quarters?”

  “19:00 it is.”

  As the door closed behind him, I decided I definitely needed some backup.

  ♢♢♢

  I didn’t want to talk to anyone, especially Dunn. I needed time to think and some strong coffee to do so, and the mess hall remained my only option for both. My hopes for solitude vanished when I saw Shigeko Limn sitting alone. She looked up from her cup and flashed me a polite smile, the kind that says, ‘prove you’re not a bitch and at least say hello’.

  I covered my disappointment by returning her greeting and, now trapped, elected to go inside anyway. After pouring myself some java, I joined her. Sitting anywhere else would be rude, and I didn’t need any new enemies aboard ship.

  “How are things, Doctor? Are you settled in yet?”

  She seemed sincere enough and I admonished myself for mistrusting her without knowing anything about her.

  “One medical bay is the same as any other.” I reached across the table for the sugar. “Limn is a Swedish name, isn’t it?”

  Amusement danced in her dark brown eyes. “My father is Swedish. I’m afraid I took after my mother.”

  “Japanese?”

  She nodded, the smile fading from her face as she raised her cup for a drink.

  “Destin is a French name, isn’t it? It means destiny if I’m not mistaken?”

  “Yes, it was my mother’s name. I didn’t know my father. He was killed in the war before I was born.” My mother’s real last name was Watkin. Destin is the name Walter Bickel helped me come up with when I applied for Medical school. I liked the sound of it and never gave its meaning much thought.

  “My father was a pacifist,” she said.

  “Oh, that must’ve been hard for you.”

  “We did better than most. We could have been sent to the internment camps, but he volunteered as a firefighter and we got to live with him. After the war, he resumed his teaching position. Most of my friends’ parents were pacifists too. They weren’t as lucky and had to go to the camps.”

  A wave of guilt washed over me. I’d spent a lot of time feeling sorry for my lot in life; having to scrape out an existence because my whore mother didn’t want anything to do with me. But the families of registered pacifists rarely fared better, many of them dying of starvation in the camps. Those who chose to contribute to the war effort in some way by working dangerous jobs at least got fed, though their lives were far from easy.

  “How did you end up as a pilot?”

  “I always had an interest in flight and space travel. After the war, one of my father’s former students came by for a visit. He worked for Sato Corporation and was recruiting to rebuilt the merchant fleet. I signed up without a moment’s hesitation.” Though her mouth smiled at the memory, her eyes did not.

  “How about you? How did you become a doctor?”

  I gave her my best depreciating smile. “I won a scholarship.”

  “A smart one, eh?” She winked.

  I hid my embarrassment by taking a drink of the coffee. It needed more sugar, and the topic needed to change.

  “Have you worked with the Captain for a long time?”

  “Garrick and I go way back. I met him when he was in the camp. When he was old enough, he joined the military. We kept in touch but only started working together a few years ago. Mister Dunn hired him and Garrick needed a copilot he could trust. One thing is for sure, I will never need to worry about money anymore.”

  “Mister Dunn takes care of you then?” I almost choked calling him that.

 
“He takes care of the Captain who takes care of me. That’s the way it works.”

  “I see...”

  “But you already know Mister Dunn, lucky girl. You’ve got a direct connection to the main line, so to speak.”

  I took another drink of coffee and tried to come up with another direction to take this conversation.

  “What is he like?” asked Shigeko.

  “Who?”

  “Mister Dunn, of course. He seems so mysterious. This is the first time I’ve ever seen him.”

  “You never met him before?”

  “Usually, the Captain receives his orders and we carry them out. This is the first time he’s ever joined us on a mission. It must be important for the corporation. This is so exciting.”

  Before I could say anything more, she looked up and stared into space for a few seconds. Her CI seemed to be working fine.

  “I’m sorry, but I am needed on the bridge. I’ve enjoyed talking with you, Doctor. It is so nice to have another woman aboard the ship for a change.”

  She left me in the now empty mess hall with more to ponder than I originally had planned when I entered. What mission was so important that Dunn had to dupe me into joining and then, uncharacteristically, supervise himself? This evening’s dinner was going to be very interesting.

  ♢♢♢

  At 19:00 I stood in front of the door to Erik Dunn’s quarters. My throat felt like sandpaper. I activated the live link to Schmaltz. He wouldn’t be able to listen to the conversation, but I could send him a distress signal if things got out of hand. I wished I had a weapon, but something told me that Dunn was the kind of killer who could handle any aggression on my part. That he was a killer I didn’t doubt.

  On his departure from the medical bay, I brought up the records for Erik Dunn. I was not entirely surprised that the ship’s computer linked directly to the Terran Central Databank. The ID I’d been provided contained the highest level access codes, with full editing privileges, something that was not only illegal but should have been technically impossible.

  It revealed Erik Dunn to be a middle-aged bureaucrat who served as a civilian technical adjunct with Terran Military Security. His medical profile showed him to be physically identical to the Erik Dunn I knew and loathed, suggesting a previous modification to the record. The DNA on file differed from the sample I took from him. This data was encrypted and only accessible by someone implanted with specifically coded nanites, something difficult to fake. I now understood why they needed me for this mission. As a medical graduate from Terra, I was encoded with the authorization allowing me access without setting off any security flags.

  I briefly toyed with not making the changes, but, on second thought, realized that was not a healthy idea. Whatever the real purpose of the mission, Rego went to a lot of trouble to involve me and likely required Dunn’s file modifications for it to succeed. If I didn’t make them, the lives of everyone on board may be endangered.

  I pressed the buzzer to announce my arrival and the door slid open. My eyes took a moment to adjust to the dimly lit cabin. Prominently, in the centre of the room a table was set, complete with table cloth, china, silverware and burning candles. Dunn stood beside the table, dressed in a well cut and expensive business suit. By contrast, I elected to wear my duty uniform and a down vest that concealed my figure. He hid any disappointment.

  “Welcome, Melanie. I’m so glad you could come.” He pulled out a chair for me.

  “Real candles? Did you disable the fire suppressors?”

  “Hardly.” He held his hand a centimetre above the flame of one candle. “Holographic.”

  “Pity.”

  He feigned a hurt look. “You’d really wish me harm?”

  I smiled broadly at him. “What is for dinner? I’m famished.”

  He nodded and took his seat opposite. The door opened and in walked Hodgson, pushing a trolly. Playing the perfectly trained waiter, he elegantly draped a napkin across my lap, repeating the operation on Dunn. He then placed a covered dish in front of me and lifted the lid to reveal a steaming bowl of butternut squash soup. I tasted it and could not hide my surprise.

  “This is quite good. Have the food dispensers been updated?”

  “Mister Hodgson is more than just hired muscle, aren’t you Dylan?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Mister Hodgson served as the personal chef for General Adamson of the Terran Central Command before he retired.” Hodgson’s face remained impassive during the conversation, but I got the sense that he didn’t care for Dunn any more than I. I wondered what methods were employed to ‘recruit’ him.

  The evening continued with casual conversational attempts by Dunn. I chose to keep my responses monosyllabic and the meal proceeded quickly. When the last of the dishes were cleared and Hodgson pushed the trolley out of the cabin, the door closed and we stared across the empty table at each other.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “Well?”

  “You promised me an apology and an explanation if I agreed to dinner.”

  Dunn did not try to hide his disappointment.

  “Yes, of course.”

  He straightened his posture theatrically.

  “Doctor Destin, I would like to offer you my sincere apology for the deception I played on you the night we first met. It became a necessary step required by my...by our employer to secure your acceptance of employment.

  “Part of my job for this mission was to find a way to persuade you to sign on after your initial rejection of Mister Wong’s offer. Your return to, shall we say, your former activities, provided me the most expedient manner of doing so. I kept the appointment under the name of Jake Matthiews and made arrangements for your arrest.”

  He finished, looking like he had just recited his last travel itinerary. He showed no remorse or regret in his voice. It had been strictly business and totally impersonal.

  My heart raced and I wanted to leap across the table and slap him.

  “How could you be sure that I would be terminated by Sato Corporation?”

  “Sato is owned by Rego. They were instructed to release you.”

  “I find it hard to believe you need to go to such trouble to obtain a fake DNA profile. Surely other doctors are available who would need less persuasion to recruit?”

  “Don’t underestimate yourself. Few physicians share your credentials and...proclivities. We need you for far more than my little subterfuge. You graduated at the top of your class and possess extensive expertise in nanotechnology. Your specialization in medical school, if I am not mistaken? You have practical experience in space medicine and are someone who has, what we shall describe as, blurred lines around your ethics. Other, more critical and challenging tasks remain for you in the mission ahead.”

  “Such as?”

  He sipped at his cognac and let the conversation pause for a moment.

  “We will be arriving at our destination in forty-five hours when we will immediately locate the downed ship, Helios. On arrival, we will recover a biological agent. A virus.”

  “What kind of virus?”

  “We don’t exactly know.” He closed his eyes while savouring the cognac.

  “Why do you want it?”

  Dunn answered the question with his predatory smile.

  “I see,” I said, almost whispering.

  “Your job, Doctor, is to secure and isolate the virus and determine its properties.”

  “You need to learn how it can be commercially exploited,” I said.

  “Precisely.”

  My eyes remained fixed on his while I ran the scenario over in my head a couple of times. I folded my arms across my chest and sat up straight.

  “Ten percent,” I said.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “I want ten percent of the profits Rego realizes from the virus.”

  Dunn laughed heartily.

  “Oh, I heard you were opportunistic, Melanie, but I didn’t expect this. What makes you think the co
rporation would authorize that kind of agreement?”

  “Because you’re desperate.”

  “I think you are misinterpreting the situation.”

  “Am I? You needed someone with my skill set desperately enough to go to extraordinary lengths to get me aboard a ship, hidden on the far side of the moon in a secret base, cut off from all communications. You already demonstrated your intentions are not legal,” I indicated his arm, “and have gone to great efforts to acquire an armed vessel, suggesting you consider the prize very valuable and there are going to be other interested parties trying to get to it ahead of you.”

  Dunn’s face lost all signs of amusement.

  “Go on.”

  “I think there is no choice but to deal with me on my terms as the race to the virus is well under way and there is no time to secure an alternate person to replace me, leaving you vulnerable to...negotiations.” I smiled sweetly at him.

  “I could threaten your family, your friends.”

  “Go ahead. If you did your homework, you would know that I don’t have any family, at least, none that I give a shit about, and as far as friends go, well, I’m not the befriending kind.”

  I thought of Schmaltz and was grateful he couldn’t hear the conversation. I kept my arms tucked to my sides to hide my sweating as the seconds ticked by without a response from Dunn.

  “I’m not authorized to speak for the company for a deal of that size.” His face remained impassive, and he swallowed frequently.

  “No, I don’t suppose you are. But I think you’ve negotiated a substantial finder’s fee for yourself. I’ll take a percentage of your cut. Shall we say, oh, forty percent?”

  Dunn considered the offer, then the smile returned to his face.

  “Twenty-five percent.”

  “Done.”

  “I’m curious how you intend to determine whether I’ve cheated you in the end?”

  “It’s very simple, Erik. I will secure the virus and not release it to you until I see your bank records and verify the transfer of twenty-five percent of your receipts to my account.”

  “You aren’t afraid I won’t simply kill you afterwards for your impertinence?”

  I gave him my own predatory smile.

  “How do you know I won’t infect you with it?”