Oxygen Series Box Set: A Science Fiction Suspense Box Set

by John Olson

  Yamaguchi stood up. “Gentlemen. I think I’ve seen enough.”

  She walked to the door with the FBI suits at her heels. “It’s time to go ask this EECOM woman a few questions.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Thursday, April 30, 12:00 p.m., Mars Local Time

  Valkerie

  A TWISTED FIGURE CROUCHED IN the darkness. Heavy breathing. A low, gurgling growl.

  “It’s okay. We won’t hurt you.” Valkerie crouched slowly and reached out a hand to where Bob lay moaning on the floor of the rover.

  Blood‑red eyes glowed dully in a shaft of light. Rounded, heaving shoulders. A wild black beard. The man stepped forward, holding a thin metal bar in front of him like a two‑handed ax. Angry red blisters covered his face. Blood and filth stained his tattered clothing.

  “Kennedy?” Valkerie shrank back in horror.

  “Leave me alone ... kill you all!” he cried out in a rasping voice.

  The bar flashed through the darkness.

  “No!” Valkerie dove to cover Bob’s face. Her arm exploded in white‑hot pain.

  Whack. Whack. Her backpack thudded. Bits of plastic skittered across the floor.

  “No! Kennedy, he’s—”

  “Get off him. He’s a traitor.” A kick to the shoulder. Another.

  “Kennedy, please ...” Valkerie wrapped her arms around Bob and held on tight.

  A boot pressed itself into her face. Strong arms. Grasping hands. Her arm was torn free. A knee wedged between her shoulder and Bob’s neck. Foul‑smelling breath hacked and gurgled around her. His lungs sounded like a rumbling ocean of phlegm.

  “Bob never did anything to you. He’s your friend.”

  “Never did anything?”

  Valkerie’s head was snapped back by two fists full of hair. A pus‑smeared face pressed itself close. Bleeding and blistered skin. She caught her breath. His eyes—whites the color of blood. Unfocused pupils, black and impossibly large, darted back and forth.

  “Never did anything? Look at me!” Kennedy shook her by the hair. “Look at me!”

  Valkerie’s stomach turned. The sickly sweet odor of infection clung to Kennedy like a death shroud. Her strength drained out of her, leaving her limp and trembling. “Kennedy, you’re sick. I can—”

  “Bob did this! Hear me?” Kennedy’s shout dissolved into a gurgling cough. “Tried to kill me. Burn me alive!”

  Her head jerked backward, and the room spun around her. Something slammed into the side of her face with a sickening thunk.

  She heard the sound of flesh and bone meeting flesh and bone. Smack. Smack. The sound echoed in her ears, punctuated with grunts and muffled groans.

  Valkerie crawled unsteadily to her feet.

  Kennedy crouched over Bob, raining a shower of blows on his unprotected face.

  “No!” She charged forward, driving her shoulder into Kennedy’s chest. He toppled over backward and she landed on top of him, fighting to get her hands around his throat. She could feel him shaking beneath her.

  His eyes opened wide with ... fear.

  Valkerie drew back in surprise.

  She took a long, deep breath, forcing her clenched fists to open. Swallowing her revulsion, she brushed the hair out of his eyes with a trembling hand. “It’s okay, Kennedy. You’re sick. We’ll take care of you. We won’t let anybody hurt you.” She smoothed back his hair, wondering at the tears that streamed from his eyes.

  Kennedy’s body began to shake as silent sobs wracked his body. Valkerie got off him and moved to his side. “It’s okay. We’re your friends. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Cradling his head in her arms, she held Kennedy close. “It’s all right. Nothing’s going to hurt you.” She repeated the words over and over as Kennedy’s sobs slowly faded with the dying light.

  After what seemed hours, a gentle moan sounded behind her.

  “Bob, are you okay?” Valkerie whispered in the same lilting tones she was using to comfort Kennedy. “It’s Kennedy. He’s alive.”

  Another moan. “Now I know what a baseball feels like. Did he hit a homer?”

  “Shhhh ...” Valkerie turned to see Bob picking himself off of the floor. “He didn’t know what he was doing. He’s sick. He thinks you’re trying to kill him.”

  Bob knelt beside Valkerie. An angry welt stood out on his temple. His cheeks and eyes seemed a little puffy, but she could tell he’d be fine. Which was a lot more than she could say for Kennedy.

  “Is he okay?” Bob mouthed the words.

  Valkerie shrugged and shook her head slowly.

  “Hang on, Hampster,” Bob said. “We’ll get you home and get some medicine in you. You’ll be just fine.”

  Kennedy’s body suddenly went rigid and his eyes opened wide.

  “It’s okay, Kennedy. We won’t let anything hurt you,” Valkerie soothed.

  Kennedy jerked to a sitting position, watching Bob with wide, fearful eyes.

  Bob backed slowly away, with palms held outward and fingers spread wide.

  “He thinks you burned down the Ares 10,” Valkerie whispered.

  “Kennedy, that’s ridiculous. Why would I do a thing like that?”

  “Kennedy, you’ve got to believe him.” Valkerie put her hands on Kennedy’s shoulders to hold him back. “Bob was in the Ares 7 with me and Lex. He couldn’t have started the fire.”

  “But I heard him outside ...” Kennedy looked back and forth between Valkerie and Bob, his face a mask of confusion.

  “You’ve got to trust us.” Valkerie loosened her grip on Kennedy’s shoulders. “If we had wanted to hurt you, we would have done it already.”

  Kennedy’s eyes narrowed to points. “Maybe he’s afraid to do it in person. That’s why he sent the rover. Maybe he doesn’t want to do it in front of you.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to do it at all.” Bob’s voice was soothing. “Why would I? You’re my friend.”

  “Maybe—” Kennedy cleared his throat and doubled over coughing.

  Valkerie put a comforting arm around him and eased him to the floor. After several minutes, he looked up warily at Bob.

  “One thing I don’t understand is how you were able to control the rover,” Bob spoke in low tones.

  Kennedy turned to Valkerie. He seemed disoriented. Confused.

  “How did you escape the Ares 10?” she asked.

  “Hid in the airlock till it got too hot. Then I ran outside and ... there it was. Just sitting there.” Kennedy’s head drooped onto his chest.

  “There what was?” Bob asked.

  “The rover,” Kennedy whispered. “Thought you were in it.”

  Bob glanced at Valkerie with raised eyebrows. “And it was you who banged up the MAV? You’re the one who let all the fuel leak out?”

  “No leak. Just needed fuel. Fuel and supplies.”

  “So it was you I heard outside,” Valkerie said. “It was you all along.”

  Kennedy started to rise. “I had to have fuel and oxygen. You couldn’t expect me to live without that. And water.” Kennedy cringed and shrank back. “Sorry about ... the greenhouse. Didn’t mean to, but I was so thirsty. I had to have water.”

  “It’s okay, Kennedy.” Valkerie eased him back to the floor. “Nobody’s blaming you. We’re glad you survived. We’re just curious, that’s all. You’ve helped us solve a big mystery.”

  “Oh no!” Bob gasped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Lex! She’s probably freaking out right now.” Bob climbed forward to the radio controls.

  Kennedy went suddenly tense and looked frantically around the rover with wide, darting eyes.

  “It’s okay, Kennedy. He’s just calling Lex to let her know we’re okay. Everything’s going to be just fine.”

  Kennedy relaxed back into her arms.

  “We’ll all drive home and get you some medicine that will help you feel better—just as soon as we pick up a few bags of ice.”

  * * *

  Thursday, April 30, 4:45 p.m.,
CST

  Nate

  Nate followed Crystal down the hallway to EECOM’s office. EECOM! Losing her would be as bad as losing Josh. Maybe worse, because Josh was already lost. Once he stood trial for that bomb shenanigan, he was never going to work for NASA again.

  And now EECOM too. A security guy and the Fibbies followed along behind Nate. After them, the rest of the troupe. Nate slowed as he approached EECOM’s door. Crystal turned with a finger on her lips. No sense giving EECOM any advance warning.

  The security guy stepped silently to the door, consulted a little book, and punched in the combination, 3‑5‑3‑5‑3. He twisted the lock, pushed the door inward, and stepped back. The two Fibbies pushed through. “Freeze! FBI!”

  EECOM squealed.

  Nate sighed. From here on, he was running without a playbook. He followed Crystal through the door.

  EECOM stood backed up against the wall, her eyes wide, her hands shaking. “Mr. Harrington! What’s ... going on?” Her eyes flicked down to a slip of paper on her desk. One of the FBI boys scooted around the desk to peer at the paper. “Two passwords. The ones we saw upstairs.”

  Josh and Cathe and Bruce peered into the office, then stepped back, looking embarrassed, like they had walked in on EECOM naked.

  “Her!” EECOM pointed at Cathe. “I ... I heard her talking to her boyfriend this morning. That’s how I got the passwords.”

  Josh eyed her coldly. “Me? I never told her my password.”

  “Not you! Jake Hunter!” she snapped, her eyes wide, furious. “Call him, Mr. Harrington! Call him right now and ask him! He’ll tell you!”

  Nate pulled out his phone and called Jake.

  Two rings. “Hello, this is Jake.”

  “Harrington here.” Nate took a deep breath. “Jake, I need to ask you about a conversation you had with Cathe Willison today.”

  “Cathe Willison? Haven’t even seen her. I’m off duty. Hey, what’s the deal with her, anyway? She told me on Tuesday she was resigning. Then I heard this morning that she’s not.”

  “You didn’t call her and she didn’t call you?”

  “Right, that’s what I said. Is there some problem?”

  “You’d have to ask her.” Nate hung up and shook his head. “Jake never talked to Cathe today. Not in person. Not by phone.”

  “He’s lying!” EECOM said. “You can’t trust him. He’s been cheating on his wife for years!”

  Yamaguchi stepped in. “Give her Miranda and take her out. Quietly, if you can.”

  The two FBI men each took an arm and guided EECOM toward the door. As she went by Nate, she hissed, “That little bimbo doesn’t love Josh! She—”

  “Quietly, ma’am, if you would,” said one of the Fibbies. “It’s just easier that way.” They all three kept walking out the door and down the hall. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present ....”

  Crystal pulled on some latex gloves, stepped to EECOM’s desk, and started pulling out drawers. “You three.” She motioned to Josh, Cathe, and Bruce. “Come in and shut the door. Tell me what I should be looking for.”

  Josh pulled on the door until it clicked and looked at Cathe. She shrugged.

  “Actually, ma’am.” Bruce shuffled forward, clasping his hands to his chest. “If I were going to hack Goldstone and I were in a big hurry, I’d put it on a flash drive.”

  “Put what on a flash drive?”

  “The script to do the hack. A flash drive is easy to hide, and it wouldn’t be accessible from the network.”

  Crystal opened the file cabinet and started riffling through it. Nate leaned in to look over her shoulder. Dozens of perfect files waved their tiny hands. Crystal went through each file, front to back. “Nothing here.” She shut the drawer and moved on to the next one.

  She finally finished the last drawer and stood up slowly. “She might have destroyed it.” Crystal turned to search the trash can.

  “Not if she was planning on using it again.” Nate went to the desk and opened each drawer. The desk was one of those metal ones, three drawers on the right, one on the left with a file drawer underneath. Every paper clip was in place. Nate pulled open the middle drawer. A few pens. A ruler. Three Post‑it pads. He slid it shut.

  “Pull it back open,” Crystal said. “All the way.”

  Nate moved the chair back and eased the drawer all the way out. In the far‑right corner, something glinted. A DVD jewel case.

  “Don’t touch it,” Crystal said.

  Nate reached in with his comb and guided the case out. Crystal carefully flipped it open. Inside was a DVD marked “Halloween.”

  Nate sat down in front of EECOM’s computer. “If this is what I think it is ...”

  “I can’t believe she’d keep it around,” Josh said.

  “Give me some room.” Yamaguchi popped the DVD out of the jewel case. A CD lay underneath it. She tapped open the drive and inserted the DVD.

  A picture came on the screen. A bunch of kids in costume at a party. Nate ran it fast‑forward for a few minutes. The screen went dark. Then it switched to Josh sitting at his desk without a shirt on. His body obscured the computer on his desk.

  “I can see why she kept it.” Cathe whistled. “I wouldn’t mind a copy of that myself.”

  On the screen, Josh reached across his desk to pick up his phone. His computer came into view.

  “That’s how she got my password.” Josh crowded forward to stand behind Bruce.

  Crystal popped out the DVD and put in the CD. “Okay, now what, Mr. Dickey?”

  Bruce grabbed the mouse and did something Nate didn’t quite follow. An icon appeared. Bruce double‑clicked on it. A window popped up. Bruce did some navigation and another window appeared with a lot of unreadable gobbledygook. Bruce whistled. “Nice little Perl script here. It’s complicated.”

  “Would it get her into the Goldstone computer?” Nate asked.

  Bruce shrugged. “I’d have to work through her code, but it shouldn’t be that hard. Meticulous as all get‑out. Beautiful comments. You see that?”

  Nate didn’t see it, but he got the point. Meticulous. Yeah, that was EECOM.

  “I’ll need to log these as evidence,” Crystal said. “And once again, no fingerprints on it.”

  Bruce popped open the DVD drive. “Help yourself, ma’am.” He stood up and turned to Nate. “Mystery solved, Mr. Harrington?”

  Nate felt acid in his gut. “Yeah,” he said. It wasn’t a happy ending, but it was an ending. “Mystery solved.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Thursday, April 30, 1:45 p.m., Mars Local Time

  Bob

  BOB LEANED BACK IN THE hanging chair, waiting. He checked his watch. Houston should have responded by now. Lex had radioed back with the good news forty‑two minutes ago, and he couldn’t wait to hear their reaction.

  “Ares 7, this better not be a joke!” Josh’s voice was almost drowned out by the background noise of the FCR.

  Cheers, shouts, thunderous applause. Josh was finally back and it sounded like he was transmitting from the monkey cage at the zoo. “Let me get this straight. You’ve got food, water, the rover, and Kennedy is alive?”

  “And ice ... ask them about the ice.” Nate’s shouts were barely audible above the roar.

  “Nate wants to know if you’ve had a chance to analyze the ice.” Josh’s voice. A shout sounded in the background and the din started to subside. “And make sure you observe sterile protocol. The last thing we need is to reopen the back‑contamination can of worms.”

  Bob glanced at Valkerie. She looked miserable. Raising his eyebrows in silent question, he stood up and walked to the microphone. Valkerie nodded grimly and crossed the room to join him.

  Josh continued. “I’m afraid our news isn’t so good.” A long pause. “Several weeks ago, a person here in Houston attempted to post a command sequence onto the ERV’s command queue. This sequence would h
ave initiated a de‑orbit burn.”

  Bob clutched at Valkerie’s hand. What? Why hadn’t the crew been informed of that?

  “We caught the attempt before it was executed,” Josh said. “For the last few weeks, we’ve been trying feverishly to track down the culprit. The reason you haven’t heard from me lately is that I was the prime suspect—for reasons you can easily guess. I am thrilled to be able to report to you that we have found the real perpetrator. I’m very sorry to say this, but it was someone we all knew and trusted implicitly—EECOM. We arrested her just about an hour ago. I can give you more details later, but I have a whole control room full of engineers clamoring for a more detailed report of your little adventure. This is Houston, standing by.”

  Bob sank to the floor. He couldn’t believe it. EECOM had tried to strand them? She was his friend. He’d just been talking to her a few days ago about the terrible odor in the water supply.

  Valkerie knelt beside him, holding on to his arm, her breath coming in short little jags.

  Bob was sweating like a pig. He turned to Lex, who was sitting in the other hanging chair.

  “That’s ... unbelievable.” Lex shook her head. “EECOM! If we can’t trust her, who’s left?”

  “Maybe Kennedy wasn’t so crazy after all.” Valkerie glanced in the direction of the crew quarters where Kennedy was sleeping under sedation. “Maybe she burned down the Hab.”

  Bob shrugged. “I don’t see how. Didn’t they say they checked the command logs?”

  Valkerie nodded and took a deep breath. Bob could tell she wasn’t thinking about the command logs.

  “We’re going to have to tell them.” Bob blinked his eyes to clear his head. “About the Mars bacteria. It’s the right thing to do. They have to know what to prepare for.”

  “I know.” Valkerie looked at the floor. “I just wish we had told them already. We should have told them weeks ago. But if we had ... You remember what they were thinking about doing.”