Daedalus (Interstellar Cargo Book 2)

by Matt Verish

  Emmerich hesitated, eyeing the hallway. Her shoulders slumped, and she settled back into her chair with a huff. Rig clapped. As promised, he served her another cup and sat down to drink his own.

  Did we enter the Twilight Zone when we traveled through that black hole? Cole drummed his fingers on his chair. “Anyway... Enough of your personal life, Chrys. I appreciate that you made the effort to level with us.”

  Emmerich’s cheeks were still flushed, though her scowl had diminished. With some visible reluctance, she raised her cup and took a gulp.

  “There you go, Mum,” Rig said, drawing both Cole’s and her attention with the curious nickname. “We’ll just focus on Nugget’s love life instead.”

  Great. “Or lack thereof,” Cole said, taking another swig. “Didn’t know you heard that.”

  “Oh yeah. I heard that sad display of manhood.”

  “You and Dartmouth had a spat?” Emmerich asked.

  Cole suddenly wished she had left the Bar. “I took out my frustrations on her. Wrongly, I might add.”

  “Pussy.”

  Emmerich ignored Rig and bored into Cole. “You go out of your way to give her preferential treatment. What happened to change that?”

  The rest of the contents ran down Cole’s throat, begging to be chased. Blame it on stress. “She was acting...odd.” He scowled at the remnants of the liquid culprit that had compromised his mind.

  Now it was Rig’s turn to press. “What? That’s not what it sounded like to me.”

  “Thanks for your insight, Mr. Eavesdropper.”

  “Odd how?”

  The seriousness of Emmerich’s question loosened Cole’s lips. “I don’t know. She was being secretive about her scientific ventures, and it irked me, is all. She’s conducting her experiments right now...somewhere on this ship.”

  “Dartmouth’s agenda,” Emmerich declared.

  “More like Nugget, here, is jealous of that Arcturus cyborg dude,” Rig said, chuckling.

  “Archytas,” Cole corrected under his breath. “Look, she had every right to blow me off. I cornered her while she was in the midst of a delicate—”

  “That never stopped you before,” Emmerich interrupted. “You have a keen sense for sniffing out lies and trouble. Don’t ignore your instincts on account of your relationship with her. If she’s hiding important information from us all, then we have a right to know.”

  “Speaking of sniffing, that was probably the last sniff he’ll ever get of her.”

  Cole seriously considered copying Emmerich’s projectile maneuver. “You’re blowing this out of proportion, Chrys. I acted like a dick, and we had a spat. Simple as that. No need to read between the lines for a conspiracy that isn’t there.”

  She did not push him, but she was clearly dissatisfied.

  “What we should be talking about is how we’re going to survive this mess,” Cole urged, hoping a change in topic would keep the attention off his personal life.

  “More drinkin’. Less talkin’,” Rig urged.

  A silent alarm flashed inside everyone’s Ocunet, halting conversation. Cole recognized it as the Icarus’s perimeter detection system alerting them to an unknown presence. The shock of the anomaly drove the trio to their feet.

  “That can’t be accurate,” Emmerich said.

  Cole wasn’t sure what to think, and he was not about to make assumptions until he was sitting in his flight chair to witness it himself. He moved toward the bridge without a word, the others on his heels. The viewport screen was illuminated, indicators focused on a large object approaching the Daedalus.

  Holy shit....

  Cole addressed Lin. “Hey, Doc. If you’re seeing this, you best stop whatever it is you’re doing.”

  He ran a hand through his close-cropped hair, too ensnared by the sight to notice the lack of reply. “Because it looks like we’re not alone.”

  15

  FORESIGHT

  “Doc? Hey, Doc, do you copy? Doc?”

  Chrys tore her gaze from the viewport screen, drawn to his concerned tone. Lin must have shut off her comm, and could only imagine what sort of exchange would have prompted that reaction.

  “Forget her,” Rig said, exasperated. “Worry about that.”

  The otherworldly vessel that had emerged was already within reach of boarding the Daedalus. It was comparable in size to the Icarus, though it’s crude, almost organic design was vastly different. Bright, beaming searchlights from its bow and stern silhouetted and obscured its hull; he gap was quickly closing between the two ships.

  Chrys could see that Cole was worried. “If either of you have any ideas, I’m all ears. Military never prepared me for first contact. And you all saw how I acted with Archytas.”

  “It’s shown no sign of aggression,” Chrys said, knowing exactly how both men would respond.

  “I’m all for showin’ some aggression before they change their minds,” Rig said.

  Typical. Chrys turned her full attention to Cole. “Any luck contacting Dartmouth?”

  Cole shook his head; he was struggling mightily with making the next decision. So she decided for him.

  “I’ll locate her for you.” The way he looked at her—eyes both frightened and pleading—disgusted her. “If she isn’t answering you, she won’t answer any of us.”

  He nodded. “She might not know what’s happening, so catch her up to speed.” He turned back toward the viewport screen. “And if the shitstorm starts raining down on us, make sure you keep her safe.”

  “Understood.” She paused before asking, “So, what exactly do you plan on doing?”

  That infuriatingly mischievous smirk of his reared its ugly head, and she knew whatever he was about to attempt would fall into the category of reckless stupidity. “No, I don’t want to know. Just don’t get us all killed.”

  “That’s never my intent,” Cole said, grabbing his sidearm and holster. “Though it is my intent to bring ol’ Rigsy along for backup. Just in case.”

  Chrys’s eye twitched—like it always did whenever he laid his fingers on her former weapon. The agitation dissipated as the approaching vessel’s lights focused on the Icarus.

  “You best get going,” Cole said. He slapped his hand on the unwilling mechanic’s shoulder, though Rig did not give him any verbal guff.

  Chrys blocked the pilot’s path. “Don’t be reckless.”

  Cole held her gaze without expression. Then he only winked before sidestepping her and heading away, Rig on his heels. As they exited the bridge, she could feel her stomach begin to churn.

  ~

  What should’ve been a simple task escalated into a search and rescue mission. Not only had Lin silenced all forms of communication with her Ocunet, the clever engineer had managed to deactivate her GPS signal. Chrys would literally have to inspect every inch of the ship and hope Lin was still aboard. As she searched, a small window opened in the corner of her vision, showing a live feed of the events—or lack thereof—taking place outside the Icarus. She wondered if it was too much to hope for things to remain that way.

  Rather than consider all the possible deadly outcomes, she tried to focus on the mission at hand. Cole’s nervous wisecracking with Rig over the comm was a constant irritation, and if their discourse became any less bearable, she would take a page out of Lin’s handbook.

  After a stroll through the Bar and a quick peek into each of the bedroom quarters, she hoped the med bay and its adjoining lab would end her search. That was not the case as she was greeted only by silence and darkness.

  Her eyes adjusted to a sudden change in lighting, and the view outside revealed the mysterious vessel had also gone dark. Cole and Rig abruptly fell silent, signifying that they, too, had witnessed the phenomenon.

  After descending the steps into the cargo hold, Chrys made a bee-line for the server room. She did not want to consider what course of action she would have to take if Lin was not down there with her comatose AI creation. The open hatch was an encouraging sign, but t
here was only silence from within. When she reached the bottom of the ladder, it was as she feared.

  And worse.

  “What the...? Musgrave. Do you copy?”

  “Make it quick, Chrys,” Cole replied tightly. “I’m brushing up on my welcome speech for our alien overlords.”

  Chrys shook her head, disgusted. “I have yet to find her, but I have good reason to believe Dartmouth has left the ship.”

  “What? Why do you think that?”

  “For one, she’s not in any of her usual hiding places.” She approached the cool, dark wall that was the offline CAIN. “Two, that android you and Solomon dumped in the server room is missing, and I think she had something to do with—”

  “Wait,” Cole interrupted. “You mean to tell me Nel—the Sentinel—is gone?”

  “Affirmative.”

  Cole swore. “What about the brain jar?”

  Brain jar? Is he serious? Chrys hadn’t the slightest idea what he was talking about, until her eyes settled on a large circular hole in the server wall where something had obviously been before. She stuck her hand inside the cavity and felt around the smooth, curved sides.

  “It’s gone as well.”

  She could barely make out what Cole mumbled next. Something akin to: “I must’ve really pissed her off.”

  “Is Dartmouth’s suit missing?”

  Some rustling came through the comm before Cole responded with, “I don’t know. You’ll have to check for me. We’re already en route. And now that I think about it, I gonna have to switch off your comm feed for a bit. Best not to have any distractions out there. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to hear me. And you’ll still be able to give Rig updates for me.”

  Wonderful. The complete opposite of what I want. “I’m on my way up.”

  She never saw Cole or Rig by the time she reached the changing room. Her GPS monitor indicated they were slowly descending a ladder outside the Icarus, though there was no visual on them yet. Stay focused on the task at hand!

  A count of the available suits, minus the two currently in use, provided her with the answer she was most dreading. Dammit, Dartmouth! Musgrave’s rubbing off on you. As angry as she was with Lin for abandoning the ship, at least she knew where she was headed.

  Snatching one of the remaking suits off the rack, she hurried through the dress routine. It was difficult not to watch Cole on the live feed as he cautiously approached the docked vessel. The mysterious silhouette was several hundred yards away, and Cole’s magboots would make the distance seem like twice that distance. Rig had separated and was headed toward some toppled machinery within range of Cole. He would be the backup rifle in case things went south.

  Once in her spacesuit, helmet secured, she shouldered her rifle and made a hasty exit from the Icarus. Being aboard the Daedalus in zero G surfaced her near-death experience with Cole. She focused on the battlecruiser’s interior to keep from panicking. This added crack in her increasingly fragile exterior was infuriating for a former soldier. She had been trained to stare the Reaper in its eye sockets without flinching. She smacked the top of her helmet a few times as a reality check before making her way inside.

  Retracing her steps, she was able to work her way through the myriad of hallways and rooms the lights making the task much easier. If the engineer was not in the engine room, finding her might prove impossible.

  Sneaking a peak at Cole’s progress, she could see he had stopped about fifty or so yards away from the vessel, but there was no activity. She continued her descent into the Daedalus, rounding the corner leading to the engine room. The floor began to vibrate, a deep thrum that penetrated her suit and rattled her teeth. She cringed at the unusual sensation and clenched her jaw. More helpful was the sight of Lin crouched before that bizarre spinning cylinder.

  “Dartmouth!” she shouted, forgetting the engineer had blocked everyone’s comms. She would have to literally approach from behind and touch the engineer’s shoulder to alert her to her presence. The gesture was a poor option, for standing beside Lin was Archytas, and they were both were staring down at the body of the Sentinel android.

  To Chrys, it looked as though they were praying overtop a fallen comrade, though only one of the trio was truly alive. As she neared, she saw the missing glass cylinder from the server room. CAIN’s “brain” was inside, and the container was propped on its flat end, between Lin and Archytas. They were likely conducting some sort of experiment.

  As she reached to touch Lin’s shoulder, the engineer’s Rook closed the gap protectively. Lin’s shoulders drooped.

  “Leave me be, Inspector.”

  A flood of colors washed over Lin’s Rook, coinciding with the words Chrys was hearing in her comm. It seemed that everyone else was able to communicate with her, though not the other way around. She decided to verbally respond in the hope that Lin was listening anyway.

  “Musgrave insisted I find you.”

  Lin continued, and just when it seemed Chrys would have to intervene, the engineer turned her head partway to speak. “Why would he send you?”

  Chrys crossed her arms. “Had you not severed communication with the crew, you would already know the reason.”

  The Rook remained dark, and Chrys assumed that Lin was accessing the Ocunet video feed. She blinked several times, perhaps overwhelmed by the presence of the alien spacecraft. Then she turned back to her work. “You should go to him in case he requires your assistance.”

  What’s the matter with her? “No, I’ve had enough of this farce. You’ll be coming with me. Now. I was tasked with protecting you, and you’ll do as I say.”

  The whir of the large spinning cylinder softened, and the buzzing beneath Chrys’s feet subsided. Lin stood and faced her a steely look in her emerald eyes.

  “Inspector, I’m asking you to leave me be while I finish my research. There will be dire consequences should I encounter further interruptions.”

  Chrys’s arms fell to her sides, and she took a step backward when Archytas joined Lin’s side. She scowled at the AI; there would be no grappling with an android. Whatever Lin was working on, she seemed ready to kill to see it through. It was a side of the engineer she did not believe existed.

  “Dartmouth, I don’t know what transpired between you and Cole, and I don’t care. But the fact remains he’s concerned for your safety, and seeing as he is in jeopardy at this very moment, I would think you might be the one volunteering to offer your assistance. Every second you protest, the more you solidify my negative perceptions of you.”

  Lin’s regard remained unchanged. “What you perceive matters little to me, as your true colors showed long ago. What does matter is foresight, Inspector. Cole and I both posses this trait; you, on the other hand, do not.”

  Seeing as she was at a standstill with Lin, Chrys decided to stoke the conversation. “Alright, fine. I’ll admit that I live in the present, but why should my lack of foresight matter in the face of an imminent threat?”

  “Because your cannon fodder mentality burns the bridges behind those forging a path to the future.”

  Infuriating as the comment was, there was truth behind Lin’s powerful statement. How many times had Chrys intervened with good intentions, only to realize her error afterward? For what of for whom was she fighting? Herself? Military? The crew of the Icarus? The System wanted her as dead as much as the others.

  “As I said,” Lin continued, returning back to her work, “Cole may need your assistance. If your intention is membership to this crew, forget your past judgments, and embrace the truth of what you’ve become.”

  What we’ve all become, Chrys thought, Lin’s words striking a dissonant chord. How many times must I be shown the light before I finally open my eyes to actually see it?

  And open her eyes she did.

  “What is he doing?”

  During the course of her exchange with Lin, Chrys neglected the view on her Ocunet. For as reckless as Cole could be, she never thought she would witness him throw
his life away.

  “Musgrave! Do you copy?”

  There was no reply.

  “Go!” Lin shouted. “Help him before it’s too late. There’s no time for me. I have to complete this no matter the cost.”

  Chrys wanted to kill Lin where she knelt that she chose her work over her lover, the man who had saved them all on numerous occasions. But it was as she said: too late. Save yourself, bitch.

  Sprinting as fast as her magboot feet could manage, she raced through the maze of hallways that was the Daedalus. A thought suddenly occurred to her as she “ran,” and she wondered why Rig had not contacted her sooner.

  “Solomon.”

  She waited for the mechanic’s reply, but he, too, had had gone silent. She could see him in the video feed, so he must have blocked her comm as well. The thought of being ignored enraged her, propelling her leaden feet even faster.

  By the time she reached the compromised dock, she was too late. She met Rig in the spot where the alien vessel had rested, his rifle pointed downward. She had been screaming his name the entire way, and it wasn’t until she was within a couple yards of him that he finally turned to face her. She could see the shock and confusion through his helmet it was what kept her from lashing out and beating him to death.

  “Why didn’t you respond to me?”

  Rig frowned. “What’re you talkin’ about? I’ve been yellin’ for your sorry ass for the past five minutes. I ain’t heard a peep from you.”

  What? How’s that possible? “Where’s Musgrave?” She knew the answer, but she needed to hear it from him to believe it.

  Rig angrily pointed his rifle in the direction the vessel had gone. “Gone! That crazy fucker blocked our comms and just up and left. There was nothin’ I could do to stop him!”

  The weight of the situation and her own exhaustion dropped Chrys to her knees. Their captain had willingly climbed aboard an alien vessel and abandoned them without a word as to why. Any chance at salvaging their dismal situation had sped off into the far reaches of an unfamiliar universe.