Wisecroft ignored him, continuing, “Until the explosion a few minutes ago, we didn’t know what you were planning or when. I must say, I’m disappointed. What did you hope to achieve by destroying the most valuable asset we have?”
“But that’s just the point, Wisecroft! It doesn’t make sense for me to destroy Genesis! Can’t you see that? It’s the Caliphate that are behind this! Sylvanos is their agent!”
A flicker of doubt seemed to pass across Wisecroft’s eyes.
“That’s absurd, darling,” said Sylvanos, stroking Wisecroft’s arm. “I reported the plot to you because I want our colony to survive. And you saw for yourself how furtive Gates has been acting today.”
“Well he’s not acting anymore,” said Leonidis, arriving at Wisecroft’s side with Jaz. “I found him outside with his throat cut, and she was standing over him.”
Wisecroft’s confidence returned. “A falling-out among thieves, eh, Dr Perryman? How tragic.”
“I’m telling you; it was Sylvanos! She’s blinded you!”
“ENOUGH!” Wisecroft shouted, finally losing patience. “I won’t tolerate your pathetic lies anymore! Drop your weapons now, or we shoot the girl!”
No one moved or spoke.
“I will only say it once more. Drop your weapons or we will shoot the girl!”
“You wouldn’t dare,” said Zac. “You’re a heartless bastard, but you’re not a killer. You know this isn’t right.”
Wisecroft turned to Leonidis. “Shoot her.”
“What?” said Leonidis, looking uncertain.
“You heard me. Shoot her!”
Leonidis just stood there with a shocked expression on his face.
“Oh, for goodness sakes, do I have to do everything myself?” said Wisecroft. Moving faster than anyone had anticipated, he grabbed the gun from Leonidis and shot Jaz.
65
Jaz collapsed on the floor and all hell broke loose. Bullets cannoned into furniture and walls, and laser blasts singed the air as everyone dived for cover. Suddenly, the lights went out, and the dining room was plunged into total darkness. A few more random shots were fired, but the shooting ceased, as no one could see a thing. In the silence that followed, several people could be heard moaning in pain. Smoke from discharged gunpowder and the smell of burnt ozone from the lasers assailed their nostrils.
“I must insist that you cease this armed conflict,” said Genni, the ship’s AI, her voice seeming louder in the sudden silence.
“She’s right!” said Zac, lying on the floor in total darkness. “It’s over, everyone! Please stop. We have to treat the wounded.”
“Yes, I agree,” came Leonidis’ voice from the darkness. “Stand down, everyone. Genni, please turn the lights back on.”
The lights came on, and the scene revealed itself. One of the security guards lay dead, with a smoking hole in his chest, and another lay groaning with a similar hole in his thigh. Jaz was lying on the ground where she had collapsed, moaning in pain. Zac stood and ran to her. She had a bullet hole in her shoulder and there was a considerable amount of blood pooling on the floor beside her. Wisecroft was lying across Sylvanos, with a hole drilled neatly through the middle of his head. Melted grey brain-matter was oozing out of the exit hole.
Kit came and stood beside Zac, who was kneeling beside Jaz. “She’s going to need surgery,” she said.
“I’m OK,” said Jaz.
“No, you’re not,” said Zac. “You’re losing blood.”
Leonidis stood up and activated his lapel comm. “This is George Leonidis. We need an emergency med team in the dining room ASAP. There are people here with gunshot and laser wounds.”
Martinez and Boyd stood to their feet on the right side of the room. The remaining two security guards looked as if they had not participated in the shootout at all, having discarded their weapons and dived for cover instead.
Martinez used her boot to roll Wisecroft’s lifeless body off Sylvanos, only to see Sylvanos holding the pistol that Wisecroft had dropped. Still lying on her back, she suddenly brought the pistol up, gripped firmly between her extended hands. She was aiming it directly between Martinez’s eyes, and it looked like it wasn’t the first time she’d held a gun. Martinez could see an ugly hole from a laser blast on the left lower side of her chest and what looked like a gunshot wound high on the right side of her abdomen. A dark red pool of blood was oozing from her side and spreading across the floor at an alarming rate. Her training as a soldier told her that Sylvanos had been shot in the liver and was probably bleeding out internally as well.
“Infidels!” Sylvanos gasped. “You all deserve to die! And you will die, all of you, on this unnatural, evil planet! It is an offence to Allah!”
Martinez and Boyd had their weapons held loosely by their sides, and Kit had already holstered hers. No one dared to move.
“You’re the one who’s dying right now,” said Zac. “Put the gun down and we’ll help you.”
“I’m not afraid to die,” she said. “I am going to my reward. But you will all burn in hell for your unbelief.”
Her eyelids began to droop, and her arms wavered. She rallied momentarily, raising her gun towards Martinez again, but she couldn’t sustain the effort. Her eyes closed, her arms dropped, and the gun clattered harmlessly to the floor. She drew a final breath and then exhaled in a long, slow sigh. She didn’t breathe again. Martinez bent down and checked her pulse.
“She’s gone.”
A lift door opened behind them, and a medical team rushed into the room with gurneys and emergency medical gear. Dr Leibman took charge, assessing Jaz’s condition as stable. An intravenous line was established, and nano-blood began flowing into her as she was wheeled into the lift. Zac started to follow, but Leibman stopped him.
“Please stay here. She’ll be fine, but we will work better without people getting in the way.”
After the lift doors closed, Zac joined the others who were standing over Wisecroft and Sylvanos. George Leonidis said, “So, she was a Caliphate agent after all?”
“Yes,” said Zac, “and if Wisecroft had believed us, all of this could have been avoided.”
Leonidis looked down at Wisecroft’s inert body, shaking his head. “I’ve been a fool. I’ve had the feeling that Wisecroft has been growing increasingly unhinged in recent months, but I did nothing to stop it. This could have all been avoided if I had acted sooner or spoken up.”
Zac looked at him. “Tell me, George, how did Captain Christensen die? You were seen bringing a bag of poisonous berries on board that morning.”
“Yes. I’d been giving Dr Wisecroft updates on our findings during our initial exploration of the planet. He said the science department was interested in examining samples of the berries. I didn’t see the berries again after I handed them to him.”
“And Christensen’s death?”
“I guess I just believed Dr Leibman’s finding, that it was a heart attack.” He looked introspective for a moment. “I guess it’s what I wanted to believe.”
“Who shot Wisecroft?” asked Kit.
“I did,” said Martinez. “I got him with my first shot. I made sure I didn’t miss.” She knelt down beside his body and touched his cheek. Tears were streaming down her face. She spoke softly, “He was my father.”
There was a moment’s stunned silence.
“What?” whispered Zac.
“My mother was a cleaner at the DANSA facility in Macapá when she was 16 years old. She was very attractive. Wisecroft couldn’t resist. He raped her one night after work. She threatened to go to the police, so Wisecroft had her transferred to another town and gave her money to keep silent. She kept the money, and nine months later I was born.”
No one knew what to say. It was a stunning revelation.
“Why did you come to work for him?” asked Zac.
“I was already working for him when I found out. My mother had kept it secret. She only told me two years ago, when she was dying. I could have resigned,
but I wasn’t going to let him ruin my life as well.”
“Did Wisecroft know?”
“No.” The tears continued to fall as she knelt beside him.
There was a moment’s silence as the group sensed the agony of Martinez’s conflicted emotions.
A lift at the far side of the dining room opened, and Dr. Manchester, head of nuclear physics, emerged.
“Where is Dr Wisecroft?”
“Lying here with a hole in his head,” said Kit.
Manchester opened his mouth once or twice, but no words came out.
“Have you got something to tell us?” asked Zac.
“We need to abandon Genesis. The reactor’s gone critical. This whole settlement is about to get wiped off the face of the planet.”
66
“I estimate that we have about two hours before the reactor blows,” said Manchester. “By then we need to be at least 10 kilometres away.”
“Are you sure?” asked Kit. “Isn’t there some way of shutting the reactor down?”
“No. The reaction is completely beyond our control now. Unfortunately, the saboteur knew exactly what he was doing when he placed the bomb.”
“She,” said Kit, pointing to the blood-soaked body.
“Dr Sylvanos?” he asked, incredulously.
“Yes.”
“Oh dear,” was all the nonplussed physicist could think to say.
“How certain are you about the timing?” asked Zac.
“Unfortunately, the escalating reaction is quite predictable. We have a minimum of two hours and no more than three.”
“In that case, we have no option but to evacuate,” said Leonidis. “Obviously, we are at your mercy, Zac. Your shuttles are our only option.”
“No, there’s an easier option,” said Kit. “We didn’t use a shuttle to get here.”
“What? How did you …?” began Leonidis, but Zac cut him off.
“We’ll explain that soon, but I think there may be a way of saving your settlement. Genni, is it possible for you to take Genesis into orbit?”
“Yes. The escalating nuclear meltdown does not diminish my capacity to access the power from the reactor. The landing and manoeuvering thrusters have not been affected. Using those, I can lift the vessel clear of the ground. The antimatter propulsion drive will then easily propel the ship vertically into orbit.”
“So, the explosion can take place in space?” said Kit.
“Yes,” said Genni.
“But we will still need to be evacuated,” said Leonidis, to Zac. “You took almost all our zip-huts, so we would have no accommodation.”
“We can deal with that after we move Genesis safely off-world,” said Zac. “Genni, is there any way of detaching the fusion reactor from Genesis once you are in orbit?”
“Yes. The designers of Genesis installed an eject system for precisely this kind of scenario. The reactor is a completely self-contained module that can be disengaged. Attachment bolts can be blown, conduits and cabling severed and sealed, and the whole module can then be jettisoned through a purpose-built ejection chamber on the underside of the vessel. The reactor also has a series of simple thrusters that I can activate remotely, so that it can be moved a safe distance away.”
“Would you be able to land Genesis again without the fusion reactor?” asked Zac.
“Theoretically. But it entails increased risk. As you know, the fusion drive powers the manoeuvering thrusters and all the ship’s internal systems, whereas the antimatter reactor powers the main propulsion drive. Of course, Genesis was built with multiple redundancy in mind, so all the ship’s systems can be switched to run off the antimatter reactor if needed. However, the power that the antimatter reactor produces is not quite as smooth and consistent as the power from the fusion reactor. It has spikes and troughs, which are not helpful when making constant fine thruster adjustments during landing. The strength of individual thruster bursts will not be as easy to control, which could dramatically impact the ship’s trim and alignment during landing.”
“So you could crash?”
“It is a possibility.”
“OK, let’s leave the question of landing for later,” said Zac. “At the very least, jettisoning the reactor into orbit solves our immediate crisis. Genni, now that Dr Wisecroft is dead, do you recognise our authority to recommend that you lift off into orbit?”
“There is no need for me to recognise your authority, Dr Perryman, as my safety protocols dictate that I do everything possible to minimise harm to the colonists. Your plan is the most logical solution to our current dilemma.”
“In that case,” said Zac to Leonidis, “we need to offload as much as we can from Genesis in the next 90 minutes, on the assumption that it will not be landing again. George, can you mobilise your colonists?”
“I’m already on it,” said Leonidis, rushing toward the lifts.
Leonidis made the announcement a few minutes later, and things became very busy, very quickly. Kit, Martinez and Boyd got heavily involved in the offloading process, helping to identify key pieces of equipment that should not be left on board. The colonists utilised robo-loaders, quads, forklifts and even their caterpillar to unload gear from Genesis, stripping anything that could be useful.
Meanwhile, Zac made his way to the medical module and discovered that Jaz had been sewn up and stabilised, with no broken bones or injury to major nerves or ligaments. She was drowsy, but not in pain. Under Dr Leibman’s supervision, she was removed to the terminal building and transferred to Seahaven, with Leibman gaping in amazement as they entered the dome.
After 90 minutes of intense activity, all the colonists were a safe distance from Genesis, surrounded by a huge pile of equipment and vehicles. Martinez and Kit had flown the two remaining shuttles from their bays and landed them on the grass nearby. It was a cool night, and the colonists huddled together around a series of campfires that had been lit, talking among themselves as they pondered their future. The nocturnal animals were in full voice, and a light mist hung low to the ground.
Zac and Kit sat in the control cabin of the nearest shuttle and opened a comm channel to Genesis.
“Genni, this is Zac. You are cleared for launch. Good luck.”
“Thank you, Zac. Initiating launch sequence.”
The thrusters on the underside of the ship were fired, slowly raising the enormous vessel into the air, still in its horizontal position. The roar of the thrusters was considerable, and the ground trembled. When the ship had reached an altitude of approximately 100 metres, the main propulsion drive fired at low power, with the nozzles initially tilted upwards. Slowly the ship pivoted in the air, with the nose gradually rising higher. As the ship neared the vertical position the nozzles straightened, and the propulsion drive switched to maximum power. Genesis accelerated upwards with a ground-shaking, ear-deafening roar.
Only 18 minutes later, Genesis was in high orbit, flying inverted with its underside facing away from Nova. Two huge bay doors on the underside slid open. The bolts and connections to the fusion reactor were blown and the module was ejected with a short, controlled explosion. As the reactor module flew out of the open bay doors, Genni activated the thrusters on the ejected module, accelerating it away from Genesis and taking it into a higher orbit.
As the module rapidly distanced itself from Genesis, Genni made contact with the settlement below. “Zac, do you read me?”
“Loud and clear, Genni.”
“Separation is complete. I estimate that the reactor will be approximately 450 kilometres distant in 11 minutes.”
“Good work, Genni. I’m glad you are not going to die.”
“I am not unhappy with the outcome either, Zac.”
“Was that a humorous understatement?”
“Yes. I’ve increased my humour setting. Do you like it?”
“Not bad. In fact, feel free to dial it up even more. I’ll let you know if it becomes annoying.”
As the two-hour mark came and went, the colonist
s stood staring into the night sky. However, without knowing exactly when the reactor would blow, it was an even chance that it would occur on the other side of the planet. Zac had contacted Seahaven with news of the events at Settlement City, and many of the colonists there were scanning the daytime sky for signs of an explosion.
When the reactor finally blew, it was spectacular. The Settlement City colonists saw an extremely bright flash in the western sky which blossomed outwards, momentarily becoming a new sun. As the initial explosion died away, a million tiny, sparkling jewels could be seen spreading outwards, glowing in the aftermath of the nuclear explosion.
Once the fireworks had faded, the colonists gathered around the campfires they had built and wondered what was to become of them. The Seahaven City Council was wondering the same thing.
67
The Seahaven City Council had arrived at Settlement City via transfer booths, and were meeting in the terminal building, contemplating what to do.
“The first issue to decide is whether we want one settlement or two,” said Zac. “Do we abandon Settlement City and simply bring all the colonists to Seahaven tonight?”
“The other issue,” said Lance, “is whether we attempt to land Genesis again. If we can, Settlement City remains a viable settlement.”
“I vote for attempting the landing,” said Kit. “Genesis is no good to us up there, whereas down here we would have access to its medical facilities.”
“I agree,” said Ben Miller. “And now that we have the transfer booths, the medical facility on Genesis is only a few seconds away, so it really doesn’t matter where it is located on the planet.”
“So are we saying that we like the idea of a second settlement?” asked Zac.
“I am much more amenable to it, now that Wisecroft isn’t involved,” said Lance, “provided we can be assured of a stable leadership. But I still think we need to relocate everyone to Seahaven in the short term. There is nowhere here for them to stay tonight, and we certainly can’t attempt to land Genesis again without evacuating the town in case it crashes.”
The Stars That Beckon Page 32