62
Day 174
“I say we let him find out for himself, the hard way!” said Martinez at the morning briefing two days later. “The obnoxious pig doesn’t deserve our help.”
“I agree that he doesn’t deserve our help,” said Zac, “but the rest of the 276 colonists do. We can’t sit by and allow Wisecroft’s pride to bring about the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.”
“Do you think there’s any chance that Lecia may have changed?” asked Prisha. “Could she have ... I don’t know ... turned over a new leaf? Regretted her past actions? Decided to live and let live?”
“I guess it’s possible,” said Zac, “but we can’t just sit back and hope that’s the case. At the very least, she needs to be questioned. Besides, the EIs mentioned evidence that she may be building a bomb. I think we have to act on that information.”
“Plus, she’s effectively a war criminal,” said Kit. “Her actions have contributed to the deaths of billions of people. She has to be brought to justice!”
“I agree,” said Keo. “Even if she has changed, she has to face her past and take responsibility for her evil actions.”
Lance shook his head in frustration. “But how can we confront her with her past, and have any hope of breaking her down, when the only ‘witness’ who has hard evidence wants to remain hidden? We’ve literally got nothing to present, apart from empty accusations.”
Zac thought about that for a moment and said, “If we could grab her, exfiltrate her from Settlement City, and bring her back here for a trial, perhaps we could get the EIs to agree to reveal themselves and confront her.”
“You’re talking about abducting her?” asked Carla.
“Yes, I guess I am.”
“That makes us no better than her!”
“That’s not true. She is trying to take life; we are trying to save life. Hundreds of lives. I think a preventative action like this is entirely justified.”
“Plus, like I said, she’s a war criminal,” said Kit. “This is an arrest, not an abduction.”
“What about Angie’s warning to not bring her back here?” asked Lance.
“Her reasoning was that there may be some residual live virus in the biological environment here,” said Zac. “I guess that means organic life and plants. But if we brought her back and kept her in the terminal building, she wouldn’t be exposed.”
“So, you’re talking about using the transfer booths, rather than the shuttles,” asked Kit.
“Yes. Using shuttles would just broadcast our arrival. Using the transfer booths would enable us to get in and out silently, as long as we could work out where to grab her.”
“How do we work that out?” asked Kit.
“Lance, you and Michael Gates were pretty close once,” said Zac. “Do you reckon you could somehow squeeze some info from him? Where does she work? Where does she spend her time? Does she go for a daily walk? I don’t know—anything that might help us pinpoint a place and time where we could grab her and make a dash back to the terminal. We have a picture of her on our medical files from her biochip scans on board Genesis, but we need some way of isolating her,”
“That’s a big ask, Zac. I don’t think our friendship stretches that far. Although, I have to say, I’ve sensed Michael’s growing unease with Wisecroft in recent weeks. I think he’s starting to question whether he made the right choice in siding with him.” He thought about it for a moment. “I’ll call him tonight, our time. I’ll see what I can do.”
After the council meeting concluded, each person went about their busy day. Keo and the grey-bearded Nemo seized the opportunity afforded by a minimal swell and favourable breeze to take ‘Prisha’ out and look for fish. By mid-afternoon they had made three trips back to shore to empty their nets of a considerable haul. Members of Keo’s ‘Department of Aquatic Harvesting’ cleaned and processed the fish. Some were distributed for tonight’s dinner, some were set on drying racks, and the rest were frozen. The catamaran, with its now efficient system of nets, meant that Keo and Nemo only needed to go fishing once each week to keep the colony fully supplied with seafood.
Life had certainly improved in the two days since the colonists had moved into the houses. They were comfortable and warm. Even more importantly, they had running water, toilets, showers and a variety of extremely advanced kitchen equipment for cooling, freezing, heating, cooking and preparing food. They had also worked out how to operate the communication interface in the lounge room walls, giving them the ability to make calls to people in other houses.
The bicycles proved to be extremely valuable, making travel around the town and between town and the farms much more enjoyable and efficient. The bikes had no gears, no chain or sprockets, but somehow the pedals transferred impetus to the rear wheel in an infinitely variable ratio which kept the rider’s cadence at a constantly steady level. The bikes were just one more piece of technology that the colonists were learning to accept without understanding it.
Regina and Willy spent the day beginning to utilise some of the new farm equipment that they now had at their disposal. The last of the winter crops had all been harvested several weeks ago, and so now they began the task of turning the soil and planting the summer crops. Teams of workers, still glowing from the success of their winter crops, threw themselves enthusiastically into the preparations for the new season.
Martinez, Boyd and several others successfully killed several howlers and spent the afternoon butchering the carcasses and distributing the meat.
Lenny Montague’s engineering department had a satisfying list of jobs to tinker with—repairs, modifications and special projects.
Grizzle and his team were working on a “top secret project,” according to Grizzle, and anyone who tried to get more information was told to “butt out and mind your damn business.”
Carla, Kit and two of the shuttle pilots who were originally on Genesis—Harvey Walden and Leander Gallstrom—spent most of the day using the transfer booths to explore other towns. They were fully armed and carried various kinds of digital recorders to capture their findings.
At day’s end, a stream of tired but satisfied colonists returned home from their varied workdays, to enjoy a meal of fresh produce and an evening of socialising with their new neighbours.
At 1800, Zac and Lance met again in the shuttle and called Michael Gates. They were completely unprepared for what they learned.
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“Michael, this is Lance, and Zac is with me. Are you in a position to talk privately at the moment?”
“G’day guys. Yeh, I’ve got the Genesis control room to myself at the moment. It’s 0600 here, and no one’s in a rush to get out of bed these days.”
“Good. Michael, we’ve received some very disturbing intel from a reliable source who can’t be named at this stage. But you will have to trust me when I say that we are extremely confident that this intel is accurate.”
“Okay.”
“It concerns an imminent security risk on board Genesis.”
“I’m listening.”
“Furthermore, I need to be upfront with you and disclose that we’ve already advised Dr Wisecroft of this security concern, but he doesn’t believe us and refuses to seriously consider it.”
“I’m still listening.”
“We’ve been presented with strong evidence that a member of your scientific team is an active Caliphate agent and is in the process of building a bomb that she plans to detonate in your fusion reactor.”
“She?”
“Yes. Dr Lecia Sylvanos.”
Lance waited for a response that didn’t come.
“Michael, are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“Let me stress again, we have very solid evidence of this threat. We also have evidence of Sylvanos’s active involvement in the nuclear holocaust back on Earth. She was a key Caliphate agent in the Pacific region, before she came aboard the rescue shuttle in Noumea.”
Again, Lan
ce waited, while Michael’s silence suggested that he was struggling to digest the information.
“Michael, I realise we are placing you in a difficult position here, but we are talking about a potential explosion that could wipe out your entire settlement.”
“You do realise who you’re talking about, don’t you?”
“Yes. She’s a physicist on Dr Wisecroft’s science team.”
“No. Not just that, guys. She’s Dr Wisecroft’s ... um ... lover.”
Lance swore.
“You didn’t know that?”
“No, we didn’t.”
Now there was silence on both sides.
“Guys, is there any chance you’re mistaken? Any chance at all?”
“No.”
Now it was Michael’s turn to swear.
“Michael, this is Zac. Has Wisecroft limited Lecia’s duties or placed any restrictions on her in the last two days since we spoke to him?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“In that case, we feel we have no choice but to take action.”
“What kind of action?”
“Sylvanos needs to stand trial for the crimes she committed on Earth. We are proposing to take her into custody and present her with the evidence that we have at our disposal.”
“You’re going to arrest her?”
“In a way, yes. A citizen’s arrest, if you like.”
“How?”
“That’s where you come in. We’re going to need some inside help.”
Michael was silent again.
Lance took over from Zac. “Michael, I realise this is asking a lot, but there are 276 lives at stake. I know you’re loyal to Dr Wisecroft, but ...”
“Stop. You don’t have to convince me. I’m in. I’ll help.”
“Thank you. You’re doing the right thing.”
“On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m coming back with you guys when you take her. I’m not prepared to stay here anymore.”
“You’ll be very welcome, Michael.”
“OK. So, what do you want me to do?”
“Here’s what we’re thinking ...”
64
“I’m coming with you,” said Jaz.
“No you’re not,” said Zac. “It’s too dangerous. If we run into some of Wisecroft’s goons, things could get a bit messy.”
“That’s why I need to go. I’m a doctor. If someone does get injured, I need to be there to treat them.”
“Zac, she’s right,” said Kit. “It would be sensible to have medical backup on hand. And she won’t get anywhere near the action. Jaz can just stay in the terminal and wait for us to get back there.”
The extraction team was geared up and standing in the terminal building. Kit, Martinez, Boyd and Zac all had sidearms, conveniently hidden under their clothing. Kit and Zac’s were standard projectile pistols. Martinez and Boyd’s were zip-sticks—a laser pistol with an extendable barrel that turned the pistol into a small rifle. Jaz had a field medical kit.
“I thought you were going to stay in this terminal,” said Zac. “It’s only a two-second jump from the Settlement City terminal.”
“Yes, and if things get dangerous it’s a two-second jump back here. I’m going, Zac, and I won’t be talked out of it.”
Zac shook his head and gave up. He turned to the others. “OK, we all know what we’re doing.” He looked at his watch. 0645. It would be 1845 at Settlement City. “It’s time. Let’s go.”
They stepped into the transfer booths, Martinez and Boyd in one, and the other three in the second. The doors closed and they pressed the light that represented Settlement City. A moment later, the doors opened, and they stepped out into an identical terminal building on the opposite side of the planet. Looking through the transparent walls, the night was reasonably bright, with Big Boy high in the sky. Little Boy would not rise for another two hours.
Zac looked at his watch. “Michael said he’d be here with Sylvanos at 1900. Keep your eyes peeled.”
“How is he going to get her to come with him?” asked Kit.
“He’s going to tell her that he had just seen the dome door open and close. As a physicist, that would be like placing a chocolate cake in front of a child.”
The minutes ticked by, with no sign of Gates or Sylvanos. By 1910, Zac was starting to worry. At 1920 he said, “Something’s gone wrong.”
“Maybe Sylvanos is with Wisecroft, and Michael can’t get her alone,” said Kit.
As she spoke, there was an explosion that shook the ground violently.
“That’s not good,” said Martinez.
It had come from Genesis, which they could see silhouetted on the ridge on the far side of the park.
“OK. The time for secrecy is over,” said Zac. “We need to get into Genesis. Jaz, stay here!”
They opened the door and the four of them emerged into the moonlit night. There was no one around. It was probably dinner time on board Genesis. They began running towards the ship, which had its forward and rear bay doors open and unattended. About 200 metres from Genesis, Kit saw a shape on the ground and veered to the right to investigate.
“Guys, you’d better see this.”
It was a body. Michael Gates was lying on his back, his throat cut and his glassy eyes frozen wide open in shock.
“No!” said Zac. “Michael!” He bent down and checked for a pulse in his wrist. Nothing.
“Sylvanos must have worked out something was wrong,” said Kit. “She let him think that he’d fooled her and waited till they were out of sight before killing him.”
“How did she find out?” asked Martinez.
“We’ll never know,” said Zac. “But clearly it’s brought her plans forward. We need to find her.”
As they ran towards Genesis, the thought that was foremost in all their minds was that they were already too late. If that explosion was in the fusion reactor, they were already on an irreversible countdown to a nuclear explosion.
They ran up the ramp into the empty forward loading bay and boarded a lift. A few moments later, they emerged into the dining room. The room was almost empty, with just a couple of people running past, obviously in panic. No one took any notice of the newcomers.
“Martinez and Boyd, you guys head down towards the fusion drive. In the confusion that must be happening now, you may be able to slip through the access doors into the rear zones of the ship. See if you can locate Sylvanos. She may be trying to head back this way and distance herself from the explosion. Kit and I will see if we can find Wisecroft. Surely he’s got to listen to us now!”
They split up. Martinez and Boyd headed towards the rear bank of lifts, while Kit and Zac started moving across the room towards the front lifts. One of the lifts 20 metres in front of them opened and Wisecroft emerged, accompanied by Sylvanos and three security personal carrying laser rifles.
“There they are!” Sylvanos said, pointing at Zac and Kit. “That’s them! I saw them running away from the fusion reactor module after the explosion!”
“What? That’s ridiculous!” said Zac. “We came here to arrest her before she exploded her device, but it looks like we were too late.”
Wisecroft turned to his security team and said, “Arrest them!” The three men began to move forward with their rifles raised.
“Wisecroft, you’re making a mistake!” said Zac, as he and Kit backed slowly away. “I tried to warn you about her. She’s a Caliphate agent.”
Wisecroft glared at Zac with barely controlled rage. “I don’t know how you and your team managed to gain access to the fusion reactor, Dr Perryman, but your rebellion is now over! And you will pay for what you have done!”
“Stop right there! Put your rifles down or we’ll fire!” yelled Martinez. She and Boyd had circled to the side and had established a flanking covering position. They had their zip-sticks levelled at the security personnel, who had now stopped moving forward.
“I said DROP THOSE RIF
LES!” repeated Martinez.
“Really, Ms Martinez?” said Wisecroft, sarcastically. “You expect us to take those toy guns of yours seriously?”
Martinez fired a laser blast near the feet of the nearest security guy. It left a blackened, smoking scar of melted flooring.
The three security personnel slowly lowered their weapons to the ground and stood with their arms slack by their sides, looking angry and ready to pick their rifles up again at a moment’s notice.
A lift towards the opposite side of the room from Martinez and Boyd opened, and two more armed security personnel entered the dining room. Zac turned to look at them and his heart sank. One of them was George Leonidis, Wisecroft’s chief of security. He was holding Jaz by the upper arm and had a pistol pointed at the back of her head. Jaz looked more apologetic than fearful.
“Sorry, Zac. I was coming to see if anyone was injured.”
“Welcome to our little party, Ms Bellini,” said Wisecroft. “I’m glad you could join us.”
“Actually, it’s Mrs Perryman,” said Jaz.
“Is that so? How very nice for you. Allow me to congratulate you. Bring her to me, George!”
Zac and Kit pulled their guns from their holsters and pointed them at Wisecroft and Sylvanos.
“Ah, a Mexican standoff,” said Wisecroft. “How clichéd. George, if any of them fire their weapon, shoot her in the head.” Addressing the three disarmed men, he said, “You may retrieve your rifles, now gentlemen. And please don’t drop them again; that was very clumsy of you.”
The three men picked up their rifles. Two swung them in the direction of Martinez and Boyd, while one aimed his directly at Zac.
“Wisecroft, you’ve got this all wrong!” said Zac.
“I don’t think so, Dr Perryman. Lecia approached me this morning and informed me that she had overheard a conversation between you and Michael Gates, plotting to take control of Genesis.”
“So that’s how she knew something was up,” whispered Kit to Zac.
“She’s lying to you! She’s the one who sabotaged the reactor!” said Zac.
The Stars That Beckon Page 31