by Scott Rhine
Oleander said, “He had stuff with him to take a shower. His comm gear is probably out of reach, and he’s up to his elbows in . . . Yuki.”
Static crackled along the giant column. Herk said, “Clock starts now, boss. Your call.”
“It’s idiotic and dangerous, but it’s all we have right now. Go. Everyone else, keep looking for more dominoes,” Zeiss ordered.
In the lower gravity, the boost gained her almost twenty meters before Mercy had to start inch-worming her way up to Olympus. She would lock one domino in position and place the next about waist height. Then she would climb onto the higher ledge and lean down to release the bottom step. As she continued this effort, the others could hear the effort of her straining each time she hung upside down.
Red was the only one on Mercy’s frequency and kept shouting encouragement. “Only ninety more steps to go. You can do it!”
As Nadia slogged back through the muck, holding up a broken headset, Red covered her microphone. The Russian woman said, “We triangulated on Yvette’s signal and found this, but no sign of her—unless you count the blood on the mouthpiece.”
Oleander whispered, “Don’t tell Mercy. She needs to save someone this once.”
Red swallowed and nodded. Her voice breaking, Red continued, “Atta girl, one step at a time. Pace yourself.”
****
When Mercy reached the top, she was drenched in sweat. Her arms begged for rest, but she knew every minute she delayed could result in brain damage for Lou or exsanguination for Yuki. Tapping the door, nothing happened. She almost cried, until she remembered. “Snowflake, override authority. Open main airlock.”
Toby froze in the sudden surge of light. Then he said, “Thank God.” Since Oleander’s first visit, he’d dressed in shorts and the miner’s headlamp Mercy had fixed for him. Pulling a glass microscope slide out of his belt pouch, he handed it to her. “Use this tissue sample to start a patch in the skin generator.”
“I have to get Lou out of the helmet.”
Over the headset, Red said, “Bundle the boards in your lab coat and drop them over the edge. One of us will follow you.”
Conflicting impulses bombarded Mercy until Toby said, “You’re not strong enough. You look done in. I’ll take care of Lou. Go, the lab.” He shoved her through zero-g to the medical bay.
She heard sounds of unbuckling. “He was babbling a few minutes ago, so I stopped listening, honestly. Oh dear. This smells like alcohol. Lou is unconscious but his vitals are solid. Power went out on our monitors. All sorts of things shut off at once, including the lights in the shower. I don’t know what happened.”
“Yvette said she was going to give him something for the favor,” Mercy said, worried that she might be partly to blame for the disaster.
Red barked in her ear. “Status!”
Fumbling the door closed on the tissue generator, Mercy said, “I initiated the skin patch. Now I can send down the boards.”
“No time,” Toby said. “Worry about that as soon as my other patient is stable. I need your help near stasis now.”
“As nurse?”
“Blood transfusion, sweetie. After we hose you down, we’re going to hook you straight up to your friend.”
Red repeated, “Mercy!”
“Soon,” she replied.
Following Toby, she arced across the control room and into the darkness. She followed his orders without question, peeling off the filthy outer clothes to clean off the slime from the Recycling Swamp. Once her arm was clean enough, he called out, “Good enough. Lay down here, and I’ll strap you in.” After she complied, he jabbed her with a needle. “Just a little anesthesia for the pain.”
“No,” Mercy said, trying to sit up, but the straps prevented her.
“Keep still or you’ll bleed all over the chamber.”
She faded out with Red asking her what was happening.
****
Toby couldn’t stop giggling. It had been too easy. He used the bulk of Mercy’s blood donation to decorate the scene in the sanitation chamber and luggage room to match the emergency amputation descriptions he was going to give. He saved the last bit because Yuki would need some for a transfusion.
The others couldn’t reach him. He could do anything he wanted to these women or the ship. He was a god. First, he cleaned up every trace of evidence and moved Lou to the medical bay. Next, he dumped the new tissue batch. Since Mercy was a novice, he could blame the spots on her. They were probably her cells from the lab-coat tourniquet anyway.
He considered doing something to Mercy, but the others might notice. Besides, Yvette had left him fully sated. Then it was a matter of waiting until the clock was close enough to the time it took him for the real operation. At the proper hour, he woke Mercy and let her work her witchcraft. She created a temporary ladder down to the others.
Toby’s crowning achievement was when a beaten Lou briefly regained consciousness, and for the first time, called him, “Sir.”
That one word made everything worthwhile.
Chapter 28 – The Morning After
The entire crew, except the sedated Yuki and Lou, worked through the night trying to salvage the situation. Indeed, Mercy collapsed in the command center, and Herk dragged her into the women’s bedroom. Yuki was vaguely aware of her surroundings but couldn’t speak. After examining the engineer from Brazil, Toby declared, “Mercy will be okay; she’s just weak from blood loss.”
“I’ll leave her in your hands, doc. Where’s Lou?” Herk asked.
“He’s on the only bed in sick bay. I don’t have room for any more of you tonight, so take care.”
“How is the reprobate?”
“It may be brain swelling, but his pupils aren’t responding to my flashlight. I only wish there was more I could have done.” To him.
The Polish head of security said, “Nonsense. You were a hero tonight.”
“After Lou wakes up, we’ll run a battery of neurological tests to see how permanent the damage to his optic nerve is.” Painful ones.
“I’ve got to help my wife bend and blowtorch the storage room back into true.”
“You’re not going to be able to do all that in one day.”
“What a bloody mess,” Herk said as he departed.
****
When Yuki opened her eyes again, morning light framed Toby in a halo as he examined both women. “How was she hurt?” Yuki asked weakly.
The doctor whispered, “She donated a little too much blood to save you, then spent too much time in Snowflake.”
“Mercy’s a good friend.”
“Ehh.” Toby wiggled his hand. “Part of her efforts may have been guilt. She didn’t wait long before jumping your boyfriend. They’ve made several trips to the Honey Meadow alone in the brief time you’ve been asleep.”
“It doesn’t feel brief.” She stared at Mercy, not feeling jealousy like she should. In fact, Yuki had been pursuing the pilot because Mori had ordered her to subvert the command structure through seduction.
“Mercy should have been here to operate the stairs, but she abandoned her post because of some lover’s spat with our pilot. She’s facing dereliction-of-duty charges, but Z will let her walk with a slap on the wrist because she became the latest member of Red’s inner clique.”
Yuki didn’t contradict him, but she knew that shirkers didn’t collapse from overwork. “Tell me everything I missed. Start at the beginning.”
The pain-wracked gravity technician struggled to make sense of everything Dr. Baatjies was telling her about the events of the past few months. When they were caught up, she steered the conversation toward Toby. “Since you’re the only real doctor left, with Lou out of commission, you’re second in command for the expedition.”
He paused, surprised by the information. “I suppose it does, but that only matters for the meetings. I don’t much care whether we go forward or back. Rachael claims the water loss is higher than estimated and traveling to the colony would be too damaging
to the ecosystem. Red wants to push to our destination at all costs. Of course, Mercy sides with her like a good minion. Not that any of this matters; we’re going to be stuck in this system for months while we try to fix equipment we can’t hope to comprehend.”
“That makes you very important,” she coaxed. She could practically watch the erection forming as she stroked his ego. With soft words, Yuki built up his self-confidence, painting him as a virile winner. She put on her best soulful, grateful act for his saving her life. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. The doctor was so starved for affection, he would be easy to manipulate. However, she would repay him for his efforts on her behalf. That much, she owed him. “The safest route would be to return to Earth with everything we’ve learned. We’d be greeted as heroes. Mori-san would offer you an obscenely high-paying job for just one of those antigravity panels.”
She pushed too far too soon. He looked at the time nervously. She had to hook him again. “Did they ever find Yvette?”
“No. It doesn’t seem right that she should disappear after we finally connected. Everyone else thinks she died by crushing or falling. The insects in the swamp would make short work of any body.” He paused, choking on the last word.
“So they’re blaming Lou for the accident.”
“Partially. Given the change in flight plan, and the alcohol they found, Lou has a lot to answer for. They’re holding back out of pity because the accident has blinded him. He claims he doesn’t remember what happened because of the trauma, but the blood alcohol on the sample I ran . . .” Toby’s forehead was sweating, and he had trouble speaking.
“Shh. It’s okay,” Yuki said, holding his left hand with her right.
“I . . . hurt Yvette so much . . . (gurk) don’t deserve . . .” Suddenly, he blanched, paler than normal.
“Zeiss!” she shouted as Toby swayed on his feet.
While the crew swarmed over the twitching doctor, Mercy sat up groggily. Glancing at Yuki, she flashed a wan smile. “You’re back. I knew we could save you.”
Yuki wanted to hug the girl, but people kept asking questions about the doctor’s fit. “I don’t know what happened. Last night, Toby was fine. This morning, he was sweating, bemoaning the loss of his beloved Yvette, and apologizing at random. Then, boom.”
“He has a fever,” added Red.
With black circles under her eyes, Mercy muttered, “He just pair-bonded. Yvette was worried about that. He should be fine if he can just snuggle with her for a while. Where is she?”
Red and Yuki locked eyes. Neither wanted to be the one to tell Mercy that their only real doctor had pair-bonded with a dead woman. Not only were his days numbered, but their expedition had a year-long fuse. They were doomed.
****
After Mercy ate and could walk again, Herk led her into the Zeiss’ room. Taking a stance behind her chair, Herk recited the date, time, and the people present.
“This isn’t good,” she mumbled.
“Are you feeling guilty? Is there something you want to tell us?” Zeiss said. He wore a mask, as if he were still a professor accusing someone of plagiarism in honor court.
“I know a witch hunt when I see one. It happens every time a shuttle blows up on the pad. Management blames the engineers because no one would dare point a finger at the sainted pilots.” Mercy weaved a little in her seat.
“Are you high?” Red asked, her voice implying that it was okay if she were.
“It’s a prescription for my pain. I overexerted myself a little last night and couldn’t sleep because of the muscle spasms. I had a killer headache, too.”
“And why is it still in your system this morning?”
“I sleepwalk. I got up at three, trying to find Yvette in my dreams. Doctor feel-good gave me another dose without my consent. Just ask him.”
“He’s not answering any questions right now,” Zeiss explained.
Red looked her in the eyes. “Have you been in a lot of pain lately?”
“I refuse to talk with an empath present. It’s my right under UN guidelines for Actives.”
“I’m here as your friend,” Red said.
“You’re here as a glorified lie detector and probably to nudge me into a confession.”
Red didn’t deny the accusation. Mercy crossed her arms and every time Zeiss asked another question, she recited the UN ordinance number for her rights.
Eventually, he said, “Fine,” and asked his wife to step outside.
“We’re not singling out the engineers,” Zeiss whispered. “We’re collecting information about where everyone was the day before the crash and what they were doing. It’s standard procedure.”
“Hah! Did you investigate everything Mira did?”
“No. She was with me the entire time.”
“Because pilots are the ones who think the rules never apply to them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll cover for your buddies, like always.”
Zeiss turned to Herk. “Officer, I authorize you to search Red and my locations for the entire day, and add our video logs to the composite.”
“Yes, sir,” Herk said.
“Now, will you do the same?” Zeiss asked Mercy.
“You know I was off duty yesterday. Since my privacy was violated so often the last few months before I joined your mission, I prefer to stay off camera when I can. Ethics oversight can twist even innocent statements out of context.”
“So you admit you turned off your recorder.”
Biting back sarcasm, Mercy answered with the monosyllabic, “Yes.”
“And encouraged others to do so.”
“No.”
“I have a tape of you showing Oleander how to disable hers.”
“That’s courtesy, not encouragement.”
“Who showed you how?” Herk asked.
Mercy snorted. “Really? You ask one question, and that’s what you bring to the table? You know what I do for a living. Half this team could defeat those surveillance protocols in their sleep.”
Herk took a step back.
“Why did you leave the recording off during the incident?”
“I forgot. It was kind of traumatic.”
“You had the function off all afternoon when you left the camp—alone—violating safety protocols.”
“I wanted to relax.”
“Relax how much?”
“Ask me a real question, professor.”
“A lot of narcotics are missing from sick bay.”
“Everything is accounted for. We transferred the hard stuff into the luggage room as secure medical storage. I sent you a memo.”
“Only planners have access to that room.”
Mercy shrugged. “I granted entry to the medical folks, too.”
“Which explains how Yvette got in. Did you know about the hidden exit?”
“It wasn’t hidden. Yuki told everyone about it.”
Herk and Zeiss exchanged glances. Mercy rushed to defend her friend. “She found the access just before the thing with her arm. Maybe she didn’t have enough time to tell you.”
“You told Yvette how to operate it, though?”
“She was curious—I told her. She was my best friend and boss.”
“Did the two of you engage in . . . nude sunbathing together?”
Mercy raised both eyebrows. “Commander, I think if you took a poll of every member of this crew, they’d know the answer to that question.”
“I think if I took that poll, everyone on the ship would agree that you are the worst offender we have when it comes to security procedures and military discipline. In fact, if your father hadn’t been head of Fortune Aerospace, you’d have never kept your clearance.”
It was Mercy’s turn to cringe at the intensity of Zeiss’ claim. He never raised his voice, but he was clearly angry. She’d have stopped answering altogether, but part of her mind was examining the truth in his claim while he continued to batter her with questions. Zei
ss said, “We’re trying to piece together why Yvette wasn’t wearing any clothes, and they weren’t in the luggage room.”
“Hello! How do you think Toby pair-bonded? Not an image I want in my brain for the rest of the day, thank you. I think I saw her underwear in a pile outside the shower.”
Herk suppressed a snicker.
Zeiss paged through some notes on his pad. “Have you seen Sojiro’s black ink?”
“No. I always ask him before I use his marker, though. I write on the white medical tape to label things and then give it back. What does that have to do with the crash?”
“We’re tracking everything we had in Olympus, looking for clues. How many sticky straps were there before the incident?”
“About 250,” she answered without delay. When Herk looked surprised, Mercy explained, “Sensei planned for eighty-one people, three leashes each, plus spares.”
“Has anyone on board behaved oddly?”
“Who hasn’t? Some of the crew members think your wife has been under alien control. Yuki admits to being a spy. Although as quiet as he is, Park could really be North Korean. I’ve never heard about her religion, so Pratibha could be closet Muslim. Rachael may have voted Hamas in the last election to improve her family’s bomb-shelter business. Of course, 75 percent of all Active criminals are override talents, which would make Herk here a prime suspect.”
Zeiss ignored her tantrum. “Along that theme, Oleander was in prison and was supposed to take your duty that first night. However, she mysteriously never reported in on the Olympus logs. We only have her word on what happened. We also have her DNA in Lou’s tent. Do you think she had a little after-wedding celebration with our pilot?”
“No. He offered a date, but she refused.”
“Do you think Lou forced her?”
“No. He’s had . . . opportunity with me, and I never felt threatened. He let me and Yuki beat him up a couple times rather than raise a hand against a woman. He won’t even curse around me anymore.”
Then Zeiss lulled her with the rhythm of utter trivia. After numerous pointless questions with the same, bored tone, he hit Mercy with, “What medical purpose does Rohypnol have?”