The Ares Weapon

by D. M. Pruden

  “I’m afraid he did. He served in a Terran black ops group. How Rego got this information is beyond me, but I cross-referenced the data with my own sources and confirmed it. He was active, right up to his disappearance.”

  “He died. I identified his body and they confirmed the DNA profile.”

  Hodgson shook his head as I spoke.

  “He DIED! He was killed in a terror attack just before the war ended. I saw his body, dammit!”

  “You saw a mangled body with an associated DNA profile matching the one in his file.”

  Suddenly I remembered what Dunn requested of me on the day he came aboard the ship. He wanted me to place his DNA profile into the real Erik Dunn’s medical record. Dunn couldn’t be the first person to try the trick.

  “You mean to say somebody gave Carlos’ DNA profile to the corpse I identified?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where did he go?” I looked at Hodgson and new tears poured from my eyes. “Was his name even Carlos?” I sobbed into his shoulder. I was an empty shell. I owned nothing about my life. It had been manipulated since the day of my birth and I had no understanding of why. Who the hell was I to garner such interest?

  He softly spoke into my ear as he hugged me, “The file doesn’t contain any more information about him after that. I’m so sorry.”

  After a long time, I ran out of tears but continued to cling to Hodgson. He was literally the only real person left in my life, and he was a spy with as many secrets as I apparently had.

  “Thank you for telling me.”

  “You deserved to know.”

  I released him from my grasp and looked in his eyes. “I don’t really have my own life, do I?”

  “You always had a life, Mel. Now you’ve finally been given the opportunity to claim it for yourself.”

  “I suppose you’re right. Maybe I can start by helping us get out of this mess. There are some people who owe me an explanation when all this is over.”

  Chapter 33

  Erik Dunn contemplated the small, open container before him. Inside sat, six deceptively harmless looking, wafer-thin disks, each the size of one of the ancient Roman coins in Regis Mundi’s private collection. Collectively they were capable of destroying half the ship. They only needed the attachment of the receiver modules which would accept the detonation command. Those six, palm-sized units lay neatly aligned on the desk beside the unassuming container.

  Smuggling the explosives aboard did not prove difficult. Finding a suitable place to hide them was more challenging. The growing strength of magnetic field as they approached the Sun also created a bigger problem than he accounted for. He needed a shielded location to prevent the wafers’ molecular structure from acquiring a preferred alignment, otherwise, the wafers would be rendered useless. The only sufficiently protected part of the vessel was the medical centre.

  Before he departed the mess, Hodgson and Destin began what looked to become an intimate conversation, providing him with the perfect opportunity. He’d hidden the container inside what he thought would be a little-used corner of the facility prior to the doctor’s arrival aboard ship. Fortunately, the box and its contents remained undisturbed.

  Her busy nature in medical concerned him and he worried she might stumble across it. He certainly didn’t foresee her attempt to use the portable isolation chamber’s power as an auxiliary backup. Her brilliant thinking almost disrupted his plans. If he hadn’t spotted and sabotaged her modifications before the staged hit from Athena, things would be more complicated than at present.

  Of all the people on the ship, Dunn trusted Melanie Destin the least when he really needed to be able to trust her implicitly. The situation was his own fault. Against his better judgement, he assumed the identity of her client, Jake Matthiews, thinking it would be fun seeing the final consummation of his efforts to recruit her. He originally hoped she would have appreciated the cleverness of his plan and admire him as a fellow confidence artist; a kindred spirit. He came to regret his lapse more than once during the current mission. She demonstrated herself different from the person her file painted her to be, an issue he would take up with Charlie Wong at some point in the future. His misjudgment of Melanie Destin’s response to him was his worst mistake in years. He hoped to put it permanently behind him in a few short hours.

  The unforeseen elimination of the chief engineer would prove to be beneficial now. Bogdan could deploy the explosives in the most effective locations throughout engineering, ensuring the precise damage he required to assist his escape. The timing would need to be exact and he would have little room for error, but he had operated under more difficult circumstances on previous assignments. The worst part remained the nature of the prize. One misstep in handling the virus and he would die along with everyone else. Having the doctor fully allied with him would have reduced that risk and ensured her survival.

  Dunn thought long and hard about who, if anyone, he would take with him aboard the drop ship. Garrick, at one time, occupied the top of the list, having proven himself in the past as a skilled and innovative commander. His disappointing performance on this particular assignment changed his fortunes. Of course, this was Dunn’s first opportunity to observe the Captain directly. His prior impressions relied on post-operational reports written by others.

  Perhaps starting over would be good for him. His own network demonstrated itself as flawed and needing to be rebuilt. The disappointing betrayal by Kiri Mason brought that home to him more than any of the other, far too numerous surprises of this mission.

  He never considered including Limn. She was Garrick’s choice for a first officer and his fate sealed hers.

  Bogdan presented an intriguing case. He had been included on the recommendation of Charlie Wong, who also brought him Destin and Schmaltz. With the unexpected deaths of the original doctor and chief engineer, finding the ideal candidates proved a near impossibility. Dunn had been skeptical, but open to Wong’s idea to recruit them under deceptive conditions. He made a strong case, especially, for the doctor’s eventual compliance, and argued his own man, Skorupa, could keep the engineer in check. Wong would have much to explain before his death.

  Still, the young man demonstrated a degree of original thinking and personal strength, if not good judgement, in the killing of Schmaltz. Bogdan Skorupa’s convincing act of shock and innocence in the whole matter impressed him. With some training, the boy might become a useful asset.

  The only remaining problem became Hodgson. He was sure the man worked for another party. He was a good enough agent and never gave Dunn any cause to suspect him. The fact he had gone as deep as he had suggested sponsorship by someone with extensive resources. There were only a handful of corporations capable of supporting an operator like him; fewer governments. He had vetted the man himself, which disappointed him the most.

  In assessing his role in all this, his own performance disturbed him. He’d misjudged so many people on this mission, and in potentially fatal ways which never happened before. Perhaps it was time to get out of this business and do something else. His failings would eventually come to Mundi’s attention.

  In betraying his patron, their relationship would become clarified. They would be enemies and Dunn could be assured Mundi would intend to kill him. If he had remained loyal, his slipping performance would continue to seed doubt in the old man. The only question remaining to resolve would not be if, but when he would be ordered terminated.

  He picked up the first wafer and inserted it into a receiver. It was only a matter of a few hours now before this would all be behind him. Yes, a fresh start was in order, thought Dunn.

  Chapter 34

  “We have an hour before we’re all called to the bridge. What is the plan?” I asked Hodgson in a hushed tone. I had been looking all over the ship for him and was beyond being annoyed. Our proximity to the Sun had scrambled the long range effectiveness of everyone’s cortical implant as well as the ship’s comm system, making normal communications impossible
. I spent thirty minutes in a frustrating search to finally locate him near the storage bays.

  A fringe culture arises in every society which wants to reject technology and live a mythically simpler life, with rainbow farting unicorns and the like. While risky surgical removal of their CI was the extreme and permanent expression of this delusion, most of the card carrying members of the Luddite Brigade, as I call them, opted for voluntary deactivation of their cortical implants. Personally, I thought them crazy to cut themselves off from society in such a drastic protest. I, like everyone else, relied on my CI and the loss of it to me now, when everything was going to shit, was frustrating, annoying and frightening.

  “I searched every critical area except engineering.” He held up a small black device I assumed was some kind of explosive detector. “I need you to lure the kid out of there so I can search. I only need twenty minutes, tops.”

  “What if you don’t find anything?”

  “We’re at Dunn’s mercy because I can’t imagine what he might come up with.”

  “Isn’t there still a chance he’s not going to pull anything? Perhaps he is using the Sun to escape the Terrans and we’ll all end up safe, sound and rich on Luna in a few weeks? What then?”

  Hodgson scowled at the device in his hand. “That’s not going to happen, Mel.”

  “But you’re not sure, are you?”

  He spoke sharply to me. “If you’re asking whether he’s confided his plan in me, the answer is no. But I understand people. I know him. He will pull something and it will take place before we make solar orbit.”

  “You’re betting heavily on this, Hodgson. Are you sure you’re not acting emotionally? Making this personal?”

  “My professional experience is guiding me. There is no time for this debate. I could use your help, but can make do without it. Are you in or out?”

  “Of course, I’m in. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not defending Dunn.”

  “Where is this coming from?”

  That was a question I had started to ask myself. Why was I so reluctant to accept Hodgson’s analysis?

  “I suppose I’m worried about what to do if you don’t find anything. Finding nothing means he has a plan he’s kept under wraps and we’ll all die, horribly. I think a part of me wants to hold out hope there is still a chance everything with this mission is legitimate, we’ve misjudged him terribly and we’ll all survive.”

  Hodgson’s frown softened and he nodded. “I understand your fears. Trust me when I say I have looked at this every way. Dunn’s history is to leave bodies in his wake and he’s gone all in on this one. This is his only option.”

  “Okay, sorry for being a pussy about all this. I’ll keep Bogdan out of your way, but you should keep an ear open because the CI’s aren’t working.”

  “I can do my job, Mel. Make sure you do yours, please?”

  “Hey, distracting men is my schtick.” I smiled with more confidence than I felt.

  “So, out of curiosity, how do you intend to get him out of engineering?”

  “Oh, I thought I might ask him to check my shower again.” I winked.

  “Be careful. He seems like an innocent boy, but I’m positive he butchered Schmaltz. You’ll be in more danger than you can imagine if he suspects something is up.”

  At the mention of my dead friend a wave of anger rose up in my guts. I wanted Dunn to be the killer. I didn’t want to think of Bogdan as capable of murder and pulling off the act of shock he had. But Hodgson was right. All the evidence pointed to the young engineer and Dunn working together. If he thought I suspected him, he could easily end my life too.

  “Give me ten minutes, before you send him to me in medical. Tell him I need his help.”

  ♢♢♢

  Ten short minutes later I sat facing the door and fought down my anxiety as I waited for Bogdan’s arrival. In the pocket of my jacket I had a prepared hypospray with enough sedative to put a horse under. It was my last line of defence if I had gotten things wrong about him.

  Bogdan wouldn’t be the first psycho I’d been locked up in a room with. In my time I’ve faced my share of loosely hinged people. As a young girl I quickly learned how to turn a discussion to safe topics and keep them there. At some cost I discovered the need to watch for the signs of the crazy train arriving at the station and how to avoid meeting it.

  Dealing with Bogdan would be unique for me. Unlike my previous experiences I couldn’t really offer to fuck the boy to keep him placated. It’s not that I wasn’t capable or even willing to use that strategy. Experience told me sex would not be an option today. There was something unusual about Bogdan and I had a sense for different. My life often depended on it. Maybe he didn’t care for girls though I could almost always tell. Perhaps he was a virgin or raised in a suppressed religious home environment. More than likely it was because he viewed me as a mentor of sorts like he had Schmaltz. Regardless of the reason, I believed if I were to come on to him it would unhinge him faster than anything else I might do or say.

  I intended to employ a woman’s oldest weapon and engage him in a conversation about himself. I knew Bogdan, above all else, lacked confidence and wanted reassurance. With most men it involved praising their looks or the impressive nature of their package. I was pretty sure he craved approval from someone he trusted and admired. I was the closest thing to a sister he had on this ship so I needed to be that for him for twenty minutes.

  The door slid open and revealed the tall, anxious young man standing beyond. “You want my help with something, Doc?”

  “Yes, but it can wait. Come in, please. I’d like to talk with you first.”

  He looked uncertainly down the corridor before he stepped in and let the door close behind him. He fidgeted and glanced around the room, like a feral dog expecting a trap.

  “Everything is all right, Bogdan. I’m the only one here. I wanted to ask you how are you doing?” Both of my hands were thrust into my jacket pockets and I nervously fingered the hypospray.

  “I’m...okay, I guess.” He watched the floor, then lifted his head to see if he’d given me the right answer.

  I smiled reassuringly at him and invited him to sit in the chair across from me. He hesitated for a moment, then shuffled to it and sat down. He perched near the edge of the chair with a stooped posture. His knees were squeezed tightly together and he buried his hands between them.

  “What happened in engineering was pretty traumatic. Any feelings you experience are normal and sometimes, it’s good to share them with somebody. I’m here to listen if you like.”

  “Okay.” He stared at a point in front of him on the carpet.

  “Do you want to talk, Bogdan?”

  “I...I dunno, maybe. I don’t know what to say.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “I...I... my head is a bag full of fighting cats. I’m confused. I’m fine one minute and then I cry the next. I can’t eat and I can’t sleep. I shake like a leaf every time I go to engineering.”

  “Those feelings are perfectly normal. I experience some of them too.”

  “How long will they torture me? I don’t think I can live with my guilt!”

  Oh God! I can’t deal with a fucking confession. “Everyone takes a different amount of time to process this kind of thing. But you will get through it. I can offer you some tips which might help you cope.”

  “Like what? The feelings just come and I can’t stop them. I think I’m going crazy.”

  YOU think you’re crazy? “One thing I do when that happens is to not fight it. Let the feelings come and wash over you, like an ocean wave. Have you ever seen the oceans on Terra, Bogdan?”

  He nodded. “My family used to take me to the seashore when I was little.”

  “Good, so you know how the waves flow up on the shore and drop away? Your emotions will do that too. Don’t give them any power. Just allow them to happen, acknowledge them but don’t react to them. They will pass and you will learn they have no control over you. Do you
think you can do that, Bogdan?”

  “It sort of makes sense. I’ll give it a try.”

  He was the most relaxed I had seen him since he entered medical. We sat in silence and during the quiet I realized I’d dodged a bullet and needed to collect myself before I said something stupid which might set him off.

  “Why haven’t you asked me yet?”

  My heart leaped to my throat. “Asked you what?”

  “You didn’t ask me who I thought did it.” His eyes bored into mine.

  I tried to swallow and my hand inched towards the pocket with the hypospray. “Who do you think did it?”

  “You think I did it, don’t you?” His tone was more urgent.

  Yes, you psycho son-of-a-bitch, I think you did it and I want to stick you with this hypo and send you to hell.

  “There’s no way you could have been the one to do anything like that, Bogdan.”

  “Why couldn’t I? I’m not scrawny anymore. I work out and I’m a lot stronger than I look. Why do you think I couldn’t have done it?”

  Oh shit! Here comes the crazy train.

  I produced what I hoped the most sincere fake smile of my life. “Anyone can see how strong and capable you are. I didn’t mean you couldn’t do it. I meant I didn’t think you would do it. You’re too nice of a person.” The words almost caught in my throat, and I prayed they were the right ones because they had cost me so much to say to him.

  He relaxed. “I couldn’t bear if you thought I was the killer. I don’t know what I would do.”

  I have a pretty good idea. I accessed my chronometer. Hodgson’s twenty minutes were done.

  Before I could reply to him the door buzzer sounded.

  “Enter, please,” I said, a little too loudly.

  The door slid open to reveal Hodgson.

  “Everything is ready for Solar orbit. The Captain wants us all on the bridge. He sent me to collect you.”

  I relaxed and noticed I had been clutching the hypospray through my jacket. I released my grip and stood.