Chapter 10
It was during dinner the next evening that Rebecca came looking for him. The day had been a bust, filled with patients of various complaints - fortunately no more upper respiratory issues. It seemed like the entire habitat had fully recovered from the outbreak of the previous weeks. He had slept in and was late to the first office visit, and the waiting line of people never abated. There were a few injuries that he was able to refer to the physiotherapist in Homestead II who would treat his patients over video on his own time, but the rest were minor issues he had to deal with on his own. Just when he was considering convincing ICE command that a nurse would really improve productivity he had a surprise.
The last person in the waiting room was Mags Mueller. Apparently she had waited for the rest of his clients to finish up and then slipped in while he wasn’t looking. She wasn’t interested in being treated for anything, but had come to show him her favorite place to eat. He graciously accepted and they went off together to the agricultural levels where goats, cattle, and chickens roamed around grazing on the various grasses and bushes that were cultivated. She let him know that every few months a chicken would have to be pulled out of the water on the bottom levels, but for the most part the livestock behaved. He learned that even though Mags was a scientist, she had moved to Homestead IV with her family who were butchers and had a thriving butchery and restaurant on this level. She helped out sometimes, when her schedule allowed.
Dinner was fantastic, with fresh vegetables and meat that was alive and grazing just that morning. He was interested in the process, and she promised to show him how efficient and clean their abattoir was one day. He was able to get in a story about the abattoir that was in his village growing up, and the storks and vultures that hung around to clean it up. She listened attentively and seemed genuinely charmed about his village childhood. Just when he was getting to the story about how he ended up in another country when he was ten, Rebecca showed up.
She was frantic. Her ponytail swayed from side to side violently as she confronted him.
“I’ve been looking all over. You need to come with me. Now.” She barely registered Mags. In their short time together Moses had seen Rebecca excited, sad, energetic, and enthusiastic. He wasn’t sure how to categorize her now. She was definitely of single focus at the moment and extremely agitated. He thanked Mags for the meal and reminded her of her promise to show him the slaughterhouse before excusing himself. They approached the elevators, leaving her behind, when the floodgates opened.
“Lamar has been to see Jacobs, and the Chief wants to see you. I don’t know what they were talking about, but the big guy doesn’t look happy.” Her eyebrows were raised so high that Moses wondered if she would strain a muscle.
“When was the last time you saw Chief Jacobs happy?” He smiled, partly just to bring Rebecca’s fervor down a notch.
“That’s true, but not like this. I’ve been trying to track you down for an hour.” Her arms were flailing wildly with agitation as she spoke. “I thought you would be at your office. What were you doing?”
“Having dinner,” he replied. “You should try it sometime. It’s nice. Talking to nice people, saying nice things, eating nice food.” He winked at her, intent to see how if he could rescue her before she exploded. “It’s nice.”
She refused to be baited. He could see her working on a response as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Maybe she was finally settling down.
“This could be serious. Did he find out that you took something from Bill’s things?” Now that he could see she was really worried for him and not just angry that he wasn’t where she expected, he felt bad about unintentionally escalating her excitement. He filled her in on his impromptu meeting with Dr. Lamar the night before and explained how he wasn’t worried about being ousted. She accepted this and started to calm down.
When the lift finally reached the top levels, they exited and approached the reception area. Moses took a seat on one of the most uncomfortable chairs he had ever had the misfortune to sit upon. Rebecca became apoplectic with the pressure to get him in to see Jacobs as soon as possible.
“What are you doing?” she asked again. “He wants to see you now. You know, now.”
“I’m not worried.” He said. “I know what he wants and why he wants to see me. I’ve also got good reasons for doing what I’m doing with this whole thing, as well as reasons for him to let me keep doing it. I wanted to talk to Idleman one more time before I discussed it with him, but I’m perfectly happy to do this now instead of later.” He patted the chair next to his. “Come. Sit down. Experience these awful chairs with me.”
She did. People were not meant to sit in this room, as evident from their choice of furniture. The culture here was such that people were meant to fear the occupants of the high level offices in the adjacent section of this floor. As a result, they did not sit idly waiting when summoned. And nobody dared come here unless summoned. But when the questions were all anticipated, and the answers all prepared, there was little pressure to speed up the encounter. Especially when waiting would only make those doing the intimidating more careless and easier to catch off their guard with a well-considered response.
Moses explained all of this to Rebecca as she squirmed in the horrid seat. Being raised in this environment made it hard for her to accept his plan, but she finally did. She said she trusted him. Moses Truman took the trust placed in him by others very seriously and would do his best not to abuse it. Hopefully, his plan would prove true and all of this would work out well in the end.
After a long wait, a giant Polynesian man came to escort them to the Chief’s office. He was friendly and polite, but just his presence was enough to unnerve the pair. They followed him without a word.
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Once inside Chief Shane Jacobs’ office the plan started to unfold. Truman and Martinez filled the much more comfortable chairs across the desk from the chief, and there were an unknown pair of thin stony-faced people in white that occupied the walls. The white they wore was the purest white Moses had ever seen on fabric, making it hard to even detect folds in the clothing. Instead of the rigid and stark jacket and pants he was used to seeing on ICE personnel, they wore comfortable suits. The man and woman wore identical suits, no expression in their clothing or on their equally vacant faces. Their standing silently was more off-putting than anything else that happened in the room that day. Everyone sat or stood silently while Jacobs decided how he was going to start the interrogation. Moses just waited, determined to patiently wait out this mind game without showing that he was nervous or annoyed. And he was both. Rebecca sat beside him shaking one leg up and down at such a frequency that he was sure it would shake the ceiling of the offices below. She had no resolve to hide her anxiety. The agitated man opposite them just glared. The lack of emotion or apparent intent was jarring, especially when the fury below the surface was so obviously waiting to get out. He was well practiced in the art of intimidation.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, Moses was relieved when Jacobs finally started in on his questions. He tried not to let his relief show physically. He wanted to maintain a flat affect and a lack of outward interest in the proceedings to match the stony faces against the wall. He wasn’t sure how well he was doing at the attempt. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rebecca flinching at every sentence.
“So is it true?” The quiet voice coming from someone with zero display of emotion was even more unsettling than the silence. “Did you take any of the former doctors possessions?” After speaking, he turned his icy eyes onto Moses. He maintained eye contact.
“No, sir.” Truman wasn’t lying. “I took a fluid sample. His possessions are intact. I assume Dr. Lamar told you that the difference in weight before and after I came was much smaller than anything of value in that box. I can’t believe that Dr. Epps carried around his own random fluid sample in a pocket, so it couldn’t have been one of his possessions.�
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Jacobs looked down, considering his approach. He looked back at Moses.
“It may not have been his possession, but it was with his artifacts. And you took it.” He stopped talking, waiting for a response.
“Yes, sir. Was it part of an ongoing investigation into the death of Dr. Epps?” Moses continued to hold on to the same emotionless face of which Jacobs was already a master. Rebecca kept fidgeting, looking nervous. It was funny that someone who had never seen a squirrel in person could pull off such a convincing imitation.
“Why would we investigate the question of his death when there was never any question as to the cause? Are you also questioning Dr. Lamar’s assessment?” Jacobs shifted in his chair slightly while the man and woman standing remained absolutely still, moving just to watch whichever speaker took the next opportunity to add to the conversation. It was like some bizarre and twisted tennis match, two men batting their wits back and forth.
“I’m not certain that his death was conclusively resolved, but that is not why I took the sample.” Their eyes swept back to Jacobs, anticipating a reply.
“Then could you please enlighten me as to the purpose of taking it? It is highly unusual that someone with no connection to the deceased would want to have a keepsake, Dr. Truman.” He leaned forward. The watchers’ eyes moved back to him.
“I had reason to believe that there is a long-term issue with air and water quality in Homestead IV, as documented in my copious visit reports from many people suffering from respiratory distress prior to my trip to Dr. Lamar’s office. This pattern has been concerning me for some weeks. I saw an opportunity to test an older sample of water from the same environment where the problem has persisted. I took that opportunity. For the good of the hab.” Here came the kicker. “And to help maintain productivity for the workers here. If they are suffering from a long-term illness, and I manage to resolve the issue, then imagine how much more productive everybody can become once they are feeling better.”
Jacobs leaned back. The two observers exchanged a glance.
“And why did you not report your concerns? If you were worried about health or productivity, would you not have reported the problems to President Chen? I believe that is the correct course of action.”
Moses leaned forward, not wanting to let Jacobs have the comfort of increased distance. “My results were not conclusive. I wanted to verify my concerns before reporting to the civilian president and causing a commotion. I didn’t want to disturb things without reason. That would be counter-productive. I had to analyze the sample first to even confirm the existence of spores in the water.” This new information had the desired effect on everyone in the room. They knew about the ventilation system, and the many hours of decontamination that it brought. They did not yet know about the water.
“And you found this in your analysis of the water from Epps’ possessions?” The chief was off balance now. He was almost where Moses needed him to be.
“Yes, sir. And that isn’t the only place I found it. I also tested the water from many different levels of Homestead IV. We have all been ingesting spores that could be harmful over the long term. Even up here in command level.” He let that soak in before continuing. “And I have reason to believe the problem has been going on much longer than just six months.”
Jacobs was outwardly concerned now. Moses couldn’t tell if it was for his own health, or for the implications of what it would mean for productivity going forward. “What is the basis for your theory, doctor?” Jacobs was trying to regain control of the situation and his composure. He was failing.
“I believe that the same issue that caused the death of William Epps also led to the death of Adrie Petersen several months prior. But I would need complete access to her personal files to be sure. Harold won’t help me. I’ve already asked.”
Jacobs began to turn from expressionless repose to quiet rage, finally allowing his anger to stretch its legs and get some exercise. “That is ridiculous! She didn’t even die on this planet. I won’t have you coming here and saying that this station isn’t run well, allowing contamination to make people sick. The trouble didn’t start until after you arrived. If people are getting sick, the doctor should be able to fix it before it is a problem.” Now he was pointing his finger at Moses, jabbing it in his direction with every word.
“I’m sorry, sir. The evidence says otherwise. We need to-”
One of the observers interrupted. Their quiet authority managed to cut through all other sound. “We will give you access.”
Jacobs was flustered. He did not anticipate this, and did not want it. It was fortunate that the strangers were here for the interrogation. They would have to proceed carefully now that the chief was pissed and alerted that they would be poking around. He was a dangerous man even when things were going his way.
“Thank you,” Moses said. “I think it is wise to see how long the problem has been going on. It will help me identify the cause and help eliminate it. We wouldn’t want to let the problem persist. It would not be good for productivity. Not to mention if the word got to Earth, it would make it a lot harder to find homesteaders.” Moses gave a generous smile for the benefit of Chief Jacobs. It was not appreciated.
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Rebecca remained silent for most of the trip down in the lift. When they finally reached his quarters and were inside, she erupted with questions. Her attitude was slightly hostile, not appreciating being kept in the dark about the plan before it unfolded in Jacob’s office.
“First of all, what the heck?” She was pacing, arms waving erratically with every sentence. “How did you come out of that getting what you wanted?” Somehow she was able to convey joy and anger and frustration all at the same time. He would have to ask her how she did that sometime.
“I didn’t get everything I wanted.” He tried to keep a smile off of his face, proud at what he had managed to accomplish. Even he was surprised at the success of his maneuver. “I really want to know about those people against the wall who gave me full access to Adrie Petersen’s private files.”
“Yeah, that is a good question,” She said. “I’ve never seen them before. I’ve only heard stories. They’re from the Orbital Command Center. They are the only ones who could override the Chief like that. He’s not going to be happy with you, by the way. There’s no way he’s going to allow you to go unpunished for what they did. He doesn’t take things like that well.”
“We’ll deal with that when it comes,” Moses assured her, even if he didn’t feel that confident. No reason to let her know that Chief Jacobs intimated him, too. The thought of that man with a grudge against him would make him lose some sleep. He controlled a vast force of people who would do any number of horrible things just because they were following orders. Or at least that was how it was in his head. It was just as likely that nothing would happen, and Jacobs would just hold a grudge. “The only thing we can do now is make our way through Adrie’s communications and activity reports to figure out what she found, when she found it, and how your friend William got on the trail. Oh, yeah. And we have to do all of that without alerting whoever it is that eliminated Adrie and Epps so they don’t feel tempted to eliminate us as well. Nothing to it.”
Rebecca did not respond at first. She just stood looking at him with no expression on her face. When she finally spoke to him, it was with resolve. “So let’s get started. Let’s do this. The longer we sit and wait, the more chance of whoever it is finding out what we’re doing. How can we get the information we need without letting anybody on to what we’re really doing?”
“So far, the cover of investigating the spores and how to prevent a recurrence is keeping everybody off the trail. Let’s stick to that and see how far it takes us. Eventually, we will have to show our hand. We just have to put that moment off as long as we can. There should really be as minimal time as possible before revealing our intentions and uncovering the murderer.” That was the first time he had introduced t
he thought of a murderer to her. He was interested to see how it would affect her, if at all. She was tough.
“Sorry for interrupting your date with Mags,” Rebecca said under her breath, looking away.
“It wasn’t a date. She just wanted to show me some different sides of Homestead IV. Things that wouldn’t necessarily be covered on the regular orientation.” Moses wasn’t sure if that was true, but he wasn’t sure if it was a lie, either. That was what Mags told him during dinner, at least. Rebecca looked hurt at the suggestion of a fault in her orientation process.
“I’ll bet she wanted to show you some things.” Again, almost so quiet he couldn’t hear it.
“Come on. She’s a nice woman, I’m sure her intentions were noble.”
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe she told Idleman we were there last night, and the crazy algae lady sent her to spy on you? To see what you were doing?” Now she was louder, making eye contact, and waving her arms around again.
“You do have a point,” he admitted. “Maybe no more . . . dinners until our side project is over. Sorry to upset you.”
“Glad to see you can listen to reason. I’m not upset, and I’m sure when she’s not working for a murder suspect that she’s a great lady.” She walked toward the hallway. “I have to get going. I’ll upload Adrie’s files to your workstation as soon as the clearance comes through. We should probably both read the whole thing just in case one of us misses something. Two sets of eyes might catch something that only one set of eyes would miss.”
“Good point.” She was on a roll now, with lots of good points.
He was looking forward to more dinners with Mags. Too late to hide his distraction, he added, “I’ll get on it as soon as they come through. Let’s meet again twenty-four hours after you send the files. Is that enough time?”
The Homestead Page 12