Oxygen Series Box Set: A Science Fiction Suspense Box Set

by John Olson

  He flicked off the mike and pointed to the monitor. “Somebody tried to sneak in a command sequence to activate the hydraulic arm on our backup aerobrake-deployment system.”

  “I can’t believe it—right when Nate decided to play Capcom.” Sweat stood out on Kennedy’s forehead. “Bob, I think you’re right. Somebody’s messing with us big time.”

  “Um, what do we do about the comm session?” Valkerie said. “They’re going to be wondering why I quit talking.”

  “What I want to know is, who’s behind this?” Bob said. “Do Nate and Josh know somebody’s monkeying with us?”

  “Of course they don’t know. I can’t believe it. Any of it.” Valkerie looked stunned.

  “Just wait.” Bob held up his hand. “Let’s see whose side Nate’s on.”

  “He’s on our side,” Valkerie said.

  “That remains to be seen,” Kennedy said. “Let’s see what he says next.”

  There followed a long silence while they waited for Houston to respond.

  “Ares 10, this is Houston, come in!” Nate said. “Crew, we are getting no vox. Do you read me? We are not getting vox. Please respond if you copy. Over.”

  “No vox,” Bob said. “You notice he doesn’t say anything about the data link? I shut that down first, but he’s only talking about the vox. He’s not being honest here.”

  “Ares 10, this is Houston, come in. Valkerie, do you read me? We also need to begin a checkout of those sensors we mentioned this morning. Those are mission-critical systems, and we still need to begin looking at those. Ares 10, come in.”

  “Begin?” Valkerie looked at Bob. “Am I hearing right? Did he say they need to begin looking at those?”

  “He’s lying through his pointy little fangs.” Kennedy put his hand on the radio power switch. “I say we cut off this conversation right now. Any objections?”

  “Do it. We need to conserve power,” Bob said.

  Valkerie nodded. Her face had gone pale.

  Kennedy flicked the switch off.

  “Nate’s in on it,” Bob said.

  “That’s ... crazy,” Valkerie said. She didn’t sound convinced.

  Kennedy smacked his hand on the console. “There’s no other interpretation. Nate lied to us, pure and simple.”

  “And if Nate’s in on it, Josh has to be too,” Bob said. “They were working out of the same playbook there.”

  Valkerie covered her face with her hands. “This is so ... unbelievable.”

  “From now on, no more data links and no more vox,” Kennedy said. “We won’t even listen for their transmissions. We turn the radio off completely and we save our juice for reentry.”

  “From now on ... we’re on our own,” Bob said. “Maybe we’re just being paranoid, but I’d rather be paranoid than dead.”

  * * *

  Thursday, June 19, Year Three, 2:30 P.M.

  Valkerie

  Valkerie stumbled to her room, pushing through the haze that shrouded her vision. It was true. Someone really was trying to kill them. And Josh was in on it. Nate too. They all were.

  Valkerie swung herself through her door and slammed it shut behind her. She hung in the darkness, convulsing with the force of her sobs. Her body tingled with the pricks of a million needles, but she was too numb to care. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. They all were as good as dead.

  A knock sounded at her door.

  “Go away!”

  “Valkerie, it’s me. Bob.”

  “Leave me alone.” She flung back the words, not caring what Bob thought. It didn’t matter anymore. She just wanted to be left alone.

  “Valkerie, please. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay. You have to keep believing that.”

  Valkerie didn’t say anything.

  The door slid open. “May I come in?”

  Valkerie wiped her face and nodded. Turning to her mirror, she raked back her hair with her fingertips.

  “Valkerie, I know what you’re going through. Believe me, I know how it feels.” Bob’s voice was soft. Tender. Valkerie glanced back at his face. He looked miserable.

  Valkerie turned back to the reflection in her mirror. “How?”

  “How?”

  “How do I feel?”

  “Betrayed.” Bob pulled himself to the corner of the cabin and turned to face her. “You feel like you gave your heart away, and he threw it back in your face—trampled and broken and crushed and torn ... You gave him your trust, and he twisted it to use against you. You ...” Bob’s voice quivered. “You hurt more than you ever thought possible.”

  Valkerie searched Bob’s face with wondering eyes. “Is that what you’ve been feeling?” Valkerie reached out and took his hand. “Bob, what happened? Can’t you please tell me? Can’t you let me help?”

  Bob looked at the floor and took a deep breath. “Her name was Sarah.”

  “Sarah McLean?”

  Bob nodded silently. “It was my second year at Berkeley. She was ... outgoing, sociable, attractive ... everything I’m not. But she liked me anyway—with all my flaws.”

  Valkerie squeezed Bob’s hand and nodded for him to continue.

  “Valkerie, I loved her so much it made me sick. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t think. I lost weight ... When I asked her to marry me, and she said yes, I ... I couldn’t believe it. She was so beautiful. So perfect.” He sniffled softly.

  “But then I had to go to Boston for an APS conference. That was in June, and we were going to get married in August. I was only gone about a week. And when I got back, she’d ...”

  “She’d met someone else?” Valkerie enfolded Bob’s hand in her own and hugged it to her chest. “Bob, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine ...”

  Bob shook his head and looked back down at the floor. “One of her friends took her to a meeting at a church over on Dana Street. When I got back, all she could talk about was how she’d met Jesus and gotten saved. You know ... born again.”

  Valkerie nodded. The puzzle pieces were beginning to fall together now. Everything was beginning to make sense.

  “She had some friends over at her born-again church,” Bob said. “And they kept working on her about how she couldn’t be unequally yoked. If you don’t know what that means—”

  “I know what it means.”

  Bob breathed in deeply. “We had some terrible fights about it, and then ... two days before the wedding ... she broke it off. I’d paid for the tuxes, the church, the plane tickets to Cancun ...”

  Valkerie leaned forward. “Bob, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I’m ... over her now.”

  Valkerie looked deep into Bob’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.” Bob nodded solemnly. “I met someone else.” A fragile smile spread itself over his features, then darkened suddenly and faded to a frown.

  “Bob, what’s wrong?”

  Bob took a deep breath. “I know that the evidence looks bad, but maybe Josh isn’t in on it. I can’t believe he would ever hurt you. You’ve got to keep believing. He’s not like Sarah.”

  Valkerie stared at him. “What kind of a relationship do you think Josh and I have? I told you we’re just friends.”

  “Just friends?”

  Valkerie’s heart pounded at the expression of wonder that filled Bob’s eyes. She turned to look away, but it was too late. She could tell by his face that Bob had already seen her smile.

  * * *

  Thursday, June 19, Year Three, 2:30 P.M.

  Nate

  “You’re sure it’s broken?” Nate asked.

  Cathe Willison pointed to her laptop. “Here’s the return message. We sent a command to activate the aerobrake hydraulic system. All we wanted to do was to interrogate it electronically. It’s got a full range of diagnostics.”

  “And?”

  “And it’s busted.” She snapped shut the laptop. “They don’t have a backup. And they don’t have a primary.”

  Nate buried his head in his hands. �
��So I’ll ask you guys again, do we or don’t we tell the crew they’re dead?”

  “We don’t have a choice,” Josh said. “They aren’t responding on vox. I have a Capcom out there hailing them continuously, and they are not responding.”

  “Bad antenna?” Nate asked.

  “I doubt it.” Josh tapped his pencil on the table. “It was working fine when we talked to them. Then, boom! Off it went. I think they may have gotten suspicious of us.”

  “You should have told them up front what your concerns were,” Cathe said.

  Nate spun around on her. “Miss Willison, we do not need—”

  “She’s right, Nate,” Josh said. “We fouled up—tried to do an end around and got nailed. Astronauts are smart. I betcha Bob caught on to us.”

  Nate sighed heavily. “Guys, it doesn’t matter who caught on. It doesn’t matter who messed up. The only thing that matters right now is we got four boys and girls heading toward a brick wall without any brakes. And they don’t even know it. We have to get hold of them before July third. We have to.”

  “The problem isn’t on our end,” Josh said. “We can talk all we want. If they don’t want to listen ... there’s nothing we can do.”

  * * *

  Tuesday, July 1, Year Three, Noon

  Valkerie

  Valkerie floated in the semidarkness of the musty stairwell, staring up at the failing emergency light that painted the three faces around her with streaks of orange and dull red. They had been floating in the stairwell for days, conserving energy. Buying time. The oxygen from the earth-landing capsule was running out quicker than expected. Probably a result of all their exercise and repair work.

  Valkerie looked up at Bob.

  He nodded back and returned her smile.

  A hand slipped into Valkerie’s and squeezed.

  Valkerie pulled Lex closer and draped an arm around her shoulders.

  Lex looked up at her with a grateful smile. “Thank you again.” The words were barely audible, but they thrilled through Valkerie with the force of a scream.

  Tears formed in Valkerie’s eyes, warping the faces around her into shimmering blurs.

  A strong arm wrapped around Valkerie’s shoulders. Another reached out and took her by the hand.

  Valkerie shut her eyes and floated in the warmth of the embrace. How different from her ordeal while the others were unconscious. How totally different, and yet somehow, now that she looked back, it felt exactly the same. She tried to hold on to the feelings that welled up inside. She was free. She was totally dependent, but somehow, deep down inside, that knowledge made her free. She tried to understand, to wrap her mind around the feelings and trap them in a cage of reason, but they slowly faded, slipping away between the insubstantial bars.

  “It’s okay, Valkerie. Don’t worry. We’re going to make it. I know we are.” Bob pulled her in closer under his arm. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Two more days and we’ll be on Mars.”

  Valkerie swiped her arm across her eyes and looked up at Bob.

  He looked down at her with a goofy grin.

  Valkerie smiled. That grin used to irritate her to death. “I’m not worried.” She looked around at the faces of her crewmates. “I’m just happy to be with you guys. I love you. A lot. All of you.”

  “We love you too, Valkerie,” Kennedy reached across the circle and clasped her arm. “Oh man, I’ve been in this tin can too long. I’m starting to sound like the Tin Woodsman.”

  Bob laughed. “So what do we do now, Dorothy? Lex brought some ruby slippers in her personal gear. Maybe if you put them on and tapped the heels together three times—”

  “I am not the wicked witch!” Lex exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. “You better watch it, you toad, or I’ll turn you into a charming prince.”

  Valkerie laughed until she couldn’t breathe. They had been frantic for so long. She had almost forgotten what it felt like not to have the threat of death hovering over her head.

  “Okay, y’all. We’ve got to be serious.” Kennedy’s voice dampened the mood like a storm cloud rolling across the sun. “We’ve got to work out our strategy for landing. If Bob’s calculations are right, we’ll make our landing with less than two hours of energy left for the fuel cells. We’re not going to have much to breathe. It’s going to be very tight.”

  Everybody went silent. Valkerie wanted to kick Kennedy. Why couldn’t he have let them enjoy themselves for just a few more minutes? What would it have hurt?

  “I think we should talk to Houston.” Lex broke the silence after a long pause. “We don’t have to do a data link, but we could at least ask their advice.”

  “Every minute of transmission time is fifteen seconds less that we can power the ship,” Bob interjected. “It costs too much energy. We can’t do it.”

  “Please, just one quick transmission.” Lex sounded desperate.

  “Lex. Given what you already know about our situation”—Kennedy let the words hang—“would you trust the advice Houston sent back?”

  Lex stared off into space. Valkerie watched her in alarm. Was she in pain? She seemed so distant—so sad.

  Valkerie pulled her close, but Lex dropped her gaze. Valkerie could feel her slender frame shaking.

  “I guess not.” Lex’s whisper trembled on the thin air.

  Valkerie held her tighter. Something was terribly wrong. If only she would ... Oh no ... She remembered back to the first time she had met Lex. It seemed like so long ago, but Lex had been with Josh! Could Lex be in love with him? That would explain everything. Valkerie felt sick to her stomach. No wonder Lex had been so distant. If only she had said something. If only ...

  Kennedy cleared his throat. “It’s going to take two people to travel on foot to the base camp and get the rover. After five months of weightlessness, it’s going to be a very demanding expedition, even if we manage to land close to the base. Valkerie is the doctor. I say we let her decide whether it’s going to be Bob or me that goes with her.”

  Valkerie shook her head to clear her mind. “But my EVA suit is completely out of oxygen.”

  “I’m almost done modifying the hose,” Bob said. “We should be able to transfer oxygen from one of our suits to yours. The question is which one.”

  “But the fitting isn’t perfect. Aren’t we going to lose oxygen in the transfer?”

  Bob nodded. “A little, but I’ll tape up the hose good and tight. It should be able to withstand the pressure.”

  “But what if it doesn’t? What if we lose too much oxygen? We only have fifty-eight minutes.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Bob said emphatically. “But if it did, we’d still have it to breathe in the Hab.”

  “But we’d be left with only one charged EVA suit. One person can’t go out alone.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Bob said. “We’re not going to lose nearly that much.”

  “Okay ...” Valkerie looked each of her crewmates in the eye. “And you all agree to abide by my decision?”

  Lex and Kennedy nodded their heads.

  “Of course we do, Valkerie,” Bob said. “You’re the only reason we’re still alive. We trust you with our lives.”

  Valkerie took a deep breath. So much for fame and fortune ... “Okay, I’ve decided. Bob and Kennedy will do the EVA. They’ve worked—”

  “But you’re supposed to be first,” Bob broke in.

  “I’m deciding, Bob,” Valkerie said firmly. “You and Kennedy have worked very hard since you woke up. You both are at about ninety percent, so strength isn’t really an issue. The important consideration is the oxygen transfer between suits. If we lose too much oxygen during the transfer, we’re dead. This way we don’t have to worry about that. Bob will be able to stop kludging a transfer hose and start working on getting us down in one piece.”

  Valkerie looked up at Bob, defying him to argue. He gazed down into her eyes. At length he smiled and nodded his head slowly.

  She looked at Kennedy and received
his nod before turning to Lex. Lex was still looking down. Both of her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Thursday, July 3, Year Three, 10:00 A.M.

  Bob

  BOB LOOKED AT HIS WATCH through the faceplate of his breather mask. Less than two hours till they entered the Martian atmosphere. And they had about two hours—maybe a little more—of oxygen left in their breather canisters. If he was going to get the ship up and operating, he had to start now. He pressed the power switch to boot the computers.

  These breathers were a pain in the neck, but there was no choice. They had run out of the LOX Valkerie had rescued. Now all they had left was the emergency bottled oxygen and whatever remained in the EVA suits. It had to be enough. They’d come too far to run out of air at the finish line.

  Bob cracked his knuckles and looked over at Kennedy. Both of them were wearing their MAG diapers and Liquid-Cooled Garments. Once they landed, they’d have to jump into their EVA suits and sprint to the base camp. If Kennedy landed them within two hundred meters, it was doable.

  Okay, good, the computer was coming online. He could hear the soft murmur of voices back in the stairwell. Lex and Valkerie were talking.

  He wished he could have a few minutes to talk to Valkerie. Alone. In a couple of hours, they were going to land on Mars. Dead or alive, they would reach the Red Planet. And he desperately wanted to tell Valkerie—

  A warning message flicked on the screen. The IMU was fritzing again. There wasn’t time for this kind of nonsense. He’d have to resync it with the backup. This was going to waste energy. And time. He didn’t have much of either to spare.

  He synced up the IMU. The computer made final calculations and recommended a couple of burns. The first would increase speed right now by a few inches per second. Bob keyed in the commands to fire the RCS vernier jets. He hung his phone in the air. The burn was so tiny, he wouldn’t be able to feel it. But he’d know it when the phone started moving. Inches per second, but measurable.