by David Byrd
“I’ve set the device to reset after we close the door so no one will know it fired.” Jevin said.
“Good…Let’s get back to the StarSeeker and call Julia to give Zara an exam.” Nash said.
Chapter 11
“Dr. Silvan is this the genomic analysis on the creature?” Julia asked.
“Why yes the run just finished about an hour ago and I haven’t had a chance to look at the data. Is there something wrong?” Silvan asked concerned.
“Well I’m not sure,” she replied. “I mean the readout has some strange patterns. Here we have the creature’s patterns which we know to be of alien origin. But here…these are normal carbon patterns. Unless there was cross contamination, how could we have alien and Earth material in the same creature?”
“I…I don’t know what to say Dr. Danforth but I assure you I used strict quarantine and laboratory methods on all the samples. I would never have contaminated a sample.” He said with an expression of hurt pride.
“Dr. Silvan I’m not implying you were negligent in any way,” she said. “I’m just perplexed as to why we have two different eco systems light years from each other represented in one animal?”
“Of course…I apologize, it must be the strain,” he said. “Let me break out the DNA in that section and extrapolate the data.”
“Good point. I’ll recalibrate the analyzer to make sure we don’t have a technical problem and we can get to the bottom of this mystery.” She said.
A few hours later, Julia retired to her room outside maximum containment and had a message waiting on her personal terminal. She keyed it on and Nash’s face appeared.
“Julia…I just wanted to invite you back again for another cup of coffee. Zara made a fresh container for us and I’m afraid she had a little burn that maybe you can put a little piece of tape on.” He said raising one eyebrow. “See you soon.”
Julia switched off the unit. That was odd but it was also a message. Something was up and she had no doubt that Nash was asking her to come and help Zara. She grabbed her portable kit and headed to the ship.
Julia made her way inside the ship to the Med Bay where she found Jevin, Nash and Zara all arguing at once. Zara was sitting on the scanning bed.
“Excuse me but am I interrupting,” Julia said.
Letting out a sigh Nash came over to her. “Thank you for coming, I was hoping you would catch on.”
Julia looked more carefully at Zara sitting on the bed. Using her practiced eye for triage she noted the hunched way Zara sat with her shoulders forward, the tired look in Zara’s normally bright and energetic eyes and the concern on both Jevin and Nash’s faces.
“Out…both of you right now and don’t come back until I tell you it’s ok.” Julia said to the two men.
Both Jevin and Nash were at a loss for words but Julia with a practiced manner escorted and pushed the two men out of the Med Bay and closed the hatch.
Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Zara practically fell backwards onto the bed holding her chest in obvious pain.
Julia grabbed an auto injector from the med panel and gave Zara a strong painkiller. In a few seconds she visibly relaxed enough to recount the adventures of the evening and slip down the top of her BDU’s. Julia could see a terrific black and blue bruise spreading across her entire chest and breasts.
“Ow…that had to hurt.” Julia said. “Here…you just relax. I’m going to program the auto bed for a hemo repair. I don’t see any broken bones or organ damage. Just a lot of small vessels ruptured. The scanning beam will take about six hours to repair those so I’m going to make sure you get a good night’s sleep.”
Zara placed a hand on Julia’s arm before she administered the sedative.
“Thank you Julia…I’ve never had…a friend other than Jev and Nash who cared about me.”
“Well I care Zara,” Julia said smiling. “Besides…you still need to tailor my uniform for me in all the right places.” Julia administered the sedative and Zara was soon fast asleep. She left the Med Bay only to find Jevin and Nash pacing outside the door.
“Is she alright,” Jevin asked visibly upset.
Before Nash could ask the same question she pre-empted both men.
“She’s fine. Deep bruising but no broken bones or organs. She’ll be fine after the hemo sequence in about six hours.” Julia said.
Nash grabbed Julia and hugged her relieved.
“Thank you,” he said.
This time Julia was the one at a loss for words. Normally the one in charge of any situation she had a sudden longing for Nash that once again made her feel giddy and unbalanced. She could see that he felt it too.
Clearing his throat Jevin said. “Ah thank you so much Julia. I’m going to go check the comm hack to see if we caught anything.” Jevin walked away and entered the lift to the bridge.
“Well Dr. Danforth I promised you coffee I believe,” Nash said.
“Yes you certainly did. And I really should be close by to monitor my patient in 6 or 7 hours. Do you by chance have that coffee in your room?” Julia asked.
“Why Dr. Danforth, I’m absolutely certain we can arrange that,” Nash said.
Explosions nearby…the sound of particle beams sizzling past his ear. The sounds of men and women dying and hurt, crying out for help. The gory spectacle of war on the battlefield filled his mind. A searing pain in his chest woke Nash up in a cold sweat. The nightmare still palpable to his senses. He could still feel the hit and smell ozone discharges. By degrees, Nash came to his senses realizing the dream for what it was but more intense than he ever felt before. He looked over and Julia was sleeping peacefully next to him. With supreme effort he forced himself to go back to sleep. He’d had these dreams before but this time it was so real…he actually felt the pain of being shot. Sometime later he realized Julia was shaking him awake. He felt groggy and had trouble focusing on her words.
“Nash…wake up,” she said.
“I’m good…what time is it?” He asked.
“0900 hours…we’ve slept the night and morning,” she replied. “I’ve got to get back to the lab after checking on Zara. We were running a diagnostic on the parasite yesterday and it should be finished today.”
“Right…Damn I haven’t slept this long since before boot camp,” he said. “Don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
They hurriedly dressed and left Nash’s quarters only to find Zara in the hallway heading for the lift. She was wearing an impeccable uniform crisply pressed and her hair was now indigo blue. She passed by the couple who looked a bit sheepish at having been caught.
“Well it’s about damn time,” Zara said with a smirk to Nash. As she turned around in the lift before the door closed she looked at Julia smiling and winked her approval.
“Well the genie is out of the bottle now,” Nash said as they both started laughing.
Julia exited the ship and proceeded to the Bio Lab. After checking her personal terminal she proceeded through quarantine into the maximum containment level. Dr. Silvan was nowhere to be found so she accessed the computer logs of the recent analysis programs they had running. After searching for a several minutes she kept coming up with the same response…No Data.
This is not possible she thought. They had two separate streams running on the genome and the computer was saying nothing had been enabled. Julia pulled out a portable assistant module and downloaded the entire research performed thus far. The module was not connected to any internal Nix Station system. Slipping the module into her pocket she made a mental note to take an analyzer and the data to the StarSeeker and use the Med Bay to run an analysis. Someone was sabotaging her work. And where is Dr. Silvan?
Chapter 12
The operative finished with the large crate in the supply room of section B33 and then attached a device to the console which would pair with the system and send a burst transmission to Havelock Center. Some recent events made him improvise but he was still on track to impede any research progress.
/> “Contact!” Jevin yelled on the bridge making Nash and Zara jump in their seats.
“Jev you ass…I just lost a year of my life,” Zara said scolding him.
“Sorry…but I just got a hit on section B33. The comm was activated just now for a micro burst.” Jevin said.
“OK…well…forgiven but next time a little warning please.” She replied.
“Can you track it Jev? Nash asked.
“On it,” Jevin said. This makes no sense at all. I’ve got a fix but there is nothing at that location. It’s just barely inside Telvari space. Right on the line in fact. But we have nothing there.”
“Hmmm…well somehow military black ops are involved and there’s plenty of funding here. Maybe there is something there and we are not supposed to find it. Record the exact location in the nav database; we may need to see what’s there sometime.”
“Roger that,” Jevin replied.
“Any chance whoever is sending these are still in B33?” Nash asked.
“Doubtful,” replied Zara. “If it’s a military operation like we think it is, we would send the burst and leave as soon as possible to avoid any suspicion by frequent visits to that room.”
Nash sat back in his chair and closed his eyes thinking about the problem of finding the operative. Unknown to him he lapsed into sleep for a few moments. He awoke with a start feeling tired.
“Jev any chance the operative is still in B33?” Nash asked.
Jevin and Zara both looked at Nash with puzzled expressions.
“Ah…well like we just discussed, there’s probably no chance of that,” Zara said.
“What do you mean we just discussed. I just asked you…how could we have discussed?” Nash replied.
Zara and Jevin exchanged glances and then looked frankly at Nash.
“Nash buddy…we just talked about that. Maybe you need some more sleep after your night with the lovely Julia?” Jevin said.
Nash was confused but decided his friend was probably right. The nightmare he had was still fresh in his mind. “You’re probably right…about being tired that is. I think I’ll get a bit of rack time. Let me know if anything happens.” He said rising from the console and leaving the bridge.
“What’s up with Nash?” Jevin asked Zara concerned.
“Not sure. I think I’ll have a word with Julia and see if she can come over tomorrow.” Zara said.
Nash retired to his quarters and before he went to bed he saw his face in a mirror. He looked tired or hung over. Almost like the time Jevin took him to that dive bar on Mining Colony 12. He stretched out and was instantly asleep. After a few hours he was once again immersed in the same dream on the battlefield. He woke up and sat straight up in bed. The sheets were soaked through with sweat and he felt awful again. Getting up, he opened a drawer in his dresser and pulled out a narcotic he had been given for stress after the war. He had not touched them in 7 years but felt he needed to get some sleep and be sharp for whatever happened next. After downing a couple of the potent pills he once again tried to get some rest and fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next day Nash woke up later than usual again. He credited the pills to this and when he was ready he went down to the galley for breakfast where he found Julia and Zara sitting together having coffee.
“Well my two favorite ladies in one spot,” Nash said. “How could I be so lucky today?”
“Good Morning Cap,” Zara said. “You’re looking better today.”
“Yeah I was just a bit tired. No worries.” He replied.
“Well I have a bolt to screw in or some other damned thing to do so I’m off,” Zara said with a wink.
“Nash are you alright? Zara was telling me about…”
“I’m fine…forget it,” he said. “Now what brings you out so early?”
“Well first off…someone is sabotaging my analysis of the parasite and second…Dr. Silvan has disappeared.” She said.
“Nothing like waking up to that,” He replied. “Alright, so Jev can access the internal Nix sensors and we’ll look for Silvan. What about your research?”
“I’d like to use the Med Bay with my own equipment that’s not tied into the station. I have the raw data and I need to run some tests.” She said.
“Done…do whatever you need for as long as you need to,” he said. “In fact, I think it would be a good idea for you to stay onboard. We know someone is tampering and whoever they are, they are not above killing. We can code lock the ship hatch to your DNA so that you can come and go to the Bio Lab but I think it’s safer onboard.”
“Why don’t you get setup in the Med Bay? Jevin and I have an errand on the station and Zara will be here to watch your back.” Nash said.
“I’ll get started right away,” Julia said. “Your errand isn’t dangerous is it?”
“Walk in the park,” he replied.
Julia left for the Med Bay and busied herself with installing her portable analyzer and connecting in the data modules of the raw genome. She then started the interface between systems and keyed a sequence of tests and analysis programs to run sequentially. It would take more time but there would be no doubt about the outcome. The end reports would clearly detail the parasite’s structure and define the questionable Earth traits.
Nash and Jevin suited up in their Battle Dress Uniforms once again and headed for section B33. They hoped to possibly catch the operative or possibly glean more information from the room. This time Jevin brought a field dampener that would block any and all electronic signals such as traps or other warfare devices.
Jevin opened the door once more and activated the dampener.
“Let’s make it fast,” Nash said.
Jevin used another device to scan the room. It recorded the space and compared with an earlier recording from a few days before. The only change was a new cargo container. The square box was sealed with controls on the side. Jevin affixed a module to the container and quickly found the release code. Tapping the code on the side panel, the sealed container clicked and the lid popped up about an inch.
Immediately they were hit with an overpowering stench. It was a smell both men knew but one that no one ever got used to. Knowing full well what was in the container, Nash opened the lid far enough to see inside. With staring lifeless eyes was a man in his fifties they had met before.
“Now we know what happened to Dr. Silvan,” Jevin said.
Nash sealed the container.
“Yes…and we know the operative will kill. We need to leave Nix as soon as possible before something else happens,” Nash said. Scrub the container of our DNA while I contact Julia on the StarSeeker. If there is anything she needs from her quarters I can pick it up. I don’t want to risk her going back to the lab.”
While Jevin cleaned up in the supply room, Nash found a terminal on the same level and contacted Julia. Without explaining in detail she understood something dire was happening. She gave him her access codes to the lab crew quarters and explained what she needed.
Jevin and Nash met and they decided that Jevin would ready the ship and Nash would retrieve Julia’s belongings.
Nash took a lift down to the Bio Lab and entered Julia’s access codes to gain entrance to the blue level that contained her quarters. He stuffed her belongings into a traveling case and headed out. As soon as he left the room the door frame sizzled with a shot from a particle beam.
Nash ducked and scanned the direction of the shot in a fraction of a second seeing movement about 10 meters away. He rolled and pulled out his weapon which was at the ready when he completed his roll. He fired wide to flush out the assailant and when he moved he shot the man in the leg bringing him down with a thud and cry of pain.
Nash rushed over and pointed his gun at the man’s head.
“Why did you try to kill me and who are you working for?” Nash shouted. “Answer me or I’ll make sure the next one is right in the head.”
In obvious pain but undeterred, the man just gritted his teeth. “Go ahead…If
I tell you anything I’m dead anyway.”
Nash reasoned that the man was probably right. He had nothing to lose either way so he knocked him out with the butt of his weapon. Nash had killed many times in war and he would do so again to protect his friends but he didn’t need to kill this man. As he made ready to leave, Nash could see into the farther containment areas. They were filled with smoke. The man had obviously destroyed the parasite and the data. The station was not on lockdown because the lab containment areas could control anything short of a major explosion and were off the normal monitoring systems.
I think we have worn out our welcome on Nix Station he thought. Nash went back inside Julia’s quarters and made a call to Jevin to tell him to prep for emergency liftoff and then he headed for the StarSeeker.
Chapter 13
Nash entered the bridge to find Zara and Jevin making final preparations with their usual efficient process.
“Julia is strapped in down in the Med Bay and we are ready to roll cap,” Zara said.
“Excellent. I think we’d better get out of here before Dr. Silvan’s body is found,” Nash said. “Jev…I want you to activate the stealth field the moment we clear the hanger doors and drop Z minus 60 thrusters only and then all stop. I’d hate to be blown up as soon as we leave the station.”
“Roger that,” Jevin replied. “Coded and active in the nav computer.”
“OK boys and girls; let’s get the hell out of here.” Nash said.
Zara brought the ship out of the hanger and Jevin’s commands activated the second they cleared the doors. The stealth field enabled and the ship dropped down 60 meters below the station using chemical thrusters and then the ship stopped completely.
“Zara, low power 180 degree forward arc scan once only please,” Nash said.
Zara executed the command and on the forward display screens a small blip appeared above the station to the starboard side in a stationary position.
“Well hello there,” Jevin said. “Good call Cap…they were waiting for us.”