“And neither of you saw fit to come forward, when this all started?”
“My orders aren’t from DevCartel, so I don’t know what she’s talking about,” the doctor said. “I should have said something, but what I’m supposed to be watching for hasn’t happened.”
“And what exactly is that?” Jeph asked. He could feel his blood pressure pounding in his temples, making him want to squeeze his eyes shut.
She shook her head.
“I asked you a direct question,” he said, his voice dropping to a growl. “I expect an answer.”
“Something that’s not going to happen.” She spun and launched herself away from the table. She stopped at the rail and clung there, gripping the rail tight enough that he could see her tension from across the room.
“How about you?” he snapped, turning his rage to Chei.
“I’m a thermonuclear specialist. We’re carrying racks of potential destruction.” He shrugged.
“The TICS?” Danel said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“The only difference between a steam heater and an explosion is how hard you squeeze the plutonium,” Chei said.
“Why would we need bombs?” Rocky asked.
“I don’t know,” Chei said.
“What the frack?” Danel said. “DevCartel sent you out here, in case we needed to blow ice to hell?”
“After Vesta, I learned to keep my nose out of the politics of science, so I didn’t question why,” he said, shrugging and staring at the back of his hands. “I’m not even sure if it was Dev that issued the orders. I was just told to be ready, if the need arose.”
“You’re saying you don’t know why you got sent out here?” Jeph asked. His mind refused to grasp that possibility.
“Maybe she’ll tell us,” Chei offered, nodding at the image of the chancellor.
“You better hope she does,” the captain snarled. He turned back toward the screen and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Letting out a slow breath he said, “Resume playback.”
“Recent discoveries have led us to suspect that the Hector may not have been lost to a natural event. It is possible that it encountered some type of clandestine weapons development project. If this is true, there may be a secret facility in the L-4 Trojan Cluster.
“FleetCom is trying to determine the scope of this operation. We are also aware of the existence of a fleet of unregistered ships. Although we don’t know where they are with certainty, it is possible they’re operating in the area. These facts together mean that you could face an armed force determined to protect this facility.
“Are you shitting me?” Danel whispered.
Jeph held up his hand to cut off any further comment.
“I understand that these possibilities are well beyond the scope of your charter. Honestly, they’re beyond any rational expectations. We are drafting a new charter for the Jakob Waltz that will cover this new situation and we will transmit it to you as soon as it is processed.
“In the meantime, let me summarize your new mission objectives:
“You are to determine if a weapons development facility is operating in the Trojan Cluster and, if possible, what happened to the Hector.
“In the event that you locate a hostile operation, you are to destroy it. You have the materials and skills at your disposal to create the weaponry necessary to ensure total destruction of this facility.
“To this end, you are hereby authorized to take any action necessary, up to and including arming the Jakob Waltz. I hereby grant you unconditional authority to use deadly force to protect your ship and crew.”
“It is critical that under no circumstances are the nuclear materials you are carrying to fall into hostile hands. Should this hardware be captured, the consequences to the stability of the Union cannot be overstated. This means you must consider the Jakob Waltz and its crew as expendable, if it becomes necessary to destroy these devices.
“I know this is a lot to digest, but until such time as we can get reinforcements out there to help you, the responsibility for managing this situation rests solely with you and your crew. Unfortunately, you are on your own for another ninety days. Minimum.
“Good luck, Captain Cochrane.
“Katryna Roja, Chancellor FleetCartel. End transmission.”
“Does that count as a reason?” Chei asked, shattering the hanging silence and their reality with equal certainty.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jakob Waltz: Neptune L-4 Trojan Cluster:
Danel appeared at 0800 with breakfast. He came in without knocking, set the dishes on Jeph’s table, and took a place across the room to wait until Jeph wanted to talk. After several minutes he asked, “Did you sleep?”
The captain shook his head. “I read what Roja sent. I’m just …” He picked up a small exercise ball and flung it against the wall in frustration. The ball ricocheted off two walls before he snapped it out of the air, only to send it back again with a flick of his wrist. If there was gravity, and more deck space, he’d be pacing.
“Interestingly, it’s only Chei that’s mentioned in any of the caveats,” he said. “Anju isn’t anywhere in the files. Strange that she’d admit to something that isn’t corroborated in the docs.”
“Really?” Danel asked, watching the rubber projectile fly around the room.
Jeph nodded, smacking the ball with the back of his hand and sending it off again. “That sets my mind to chasing the idea that maybe there’s another layer to this that FleetCom isn’t sharing yet,” he said.
“That’s possible,” Danel said. “Politics is tougher than science. Too many variables to constrain.”
“First it was the government I didn’t trust,” Jeph said, catching the ball again and glaring at it for several seconds. He pitched it violently against the wall above Danel’s head. “Now it’s my crew. And the government.”
“Why can’t you trust them now? The crew I mean,” he asked, snagging the ball on its rebound. “They’re still the same people they were before you knew any of this.”
“I know that,” he said, glaring. “It’s just that when the situation sheared sidewise, neither of them came out.”
“It’s possible they didn’t know anything other than to keep an eye out for trouble.”
“And why does that make it any better?” Jeph opened his desk drawer and grabbed another ball to hurl at the wall in frustration. “My brain knows you’re right, but it doesn’t make it swallow any smoother.”
“Jeph, you need to scan this before you dig yourself in deeper,” Danel said, launching himself to intercept the second projectile. “We’re out here alone. All of us. Nobody down-system is on the line like we are. You know damn well that if it pushes ugly, both of them will have your back. What Roja said doesn’t change that.” Catching himself on the wall, he turned and placed both balls on the edge of the desk, holding his hand on them to keep the captain from picking them up again.
“You should be bent with Source and Dev, and maybe Fleet, but not Anju and Chei,” he said. “We’ve got other, urgent, things to figure out. We’re still on approach to L-4 Prime. If it’s true that there’s a weapons facility on that iceberg, we’ve got to figure out how to shut it down before none of this matters.”
“You think I should just suck it up?” the captain said, grabbing the balls and slamming them in the drawer.
“Actually, yah,” Danel said. “I know it burns, but if you don’t you’re risking all of us. Maybe it’s a plus that Dev stacked the deck with some extra skills. Don’t be pissing away potential we need.”
Jeph let his breath hiss out. “Dutch, how much time do we have until we arrive at L-4 Prime?”
“Eighty-one hours, twenty-six minutes and eighteen seconds until braking burn commences,” the computer said. “Orbit will be 506,200 kilometers. Current range to destination is 10,627,247 klick.”
“Have we seen any sign of activity yet?” he asked.
“None detected, but sensors are limited to
proximity radar and optics. Other than the beacon signal, there are no measurable electromagnetic emissions in the vicinity,” it said.
“We’re still alone?”
“That would be an assumption captain,” Dutch corrected. “There is no evidence to support any presence, but at this range it is impossible to say with certainty.”
Jeph pushed away from his desk and toward his sleeping area. Rest was out of the question, but he needed to change and shower. “For the sake of the mission I’ll try to ignore how I feel, but if I suspect either of them is holding back on me from here on, I’ll lock them down until we get home.”
“That’s fair,” Danel said, relief evident on his face.
“Pass the word to Rocky and Chei that I want ideas from them on how we turn this boat into a warship.”
“Absolutely,” he said.
“And one more thing,” Jeph stopped at the door. “Cori has security training. I want him working on fabricating small hand weapons and then making sure everybody knows how to use them. If we end up having to protect those nukes, I want to know that we can at least go out fighting.”
Tsiolkovskiy Fleet Training Center: FleetCartel Headquarters: Luna:
“Where are you Katryna?” Arun Markhas stared at her through the screen. His face showed that the investigation into Ariqat’s disappearance had him sleepless and probably more than a little medicated to cope with the stress they were heaping on him.
“Tsiolkovskiy,” she said. “I just wanted to let you know that we’ve done the intervention on the Waltz.”
“And these piranhas let you go?” he asked, ignoring most of what she said. He appeared to be too tired to think straight or to bother hiding his emotions. It was disturbing to see the scientist coming unraveled.
“Why not? I told them I had audits to oversee.” She leaned back and shook her head. “Are you alright? You look like you’re not feeling well.”
“Of course I am not alright. They’ve called Tomlinson in for several interrogation sessions. He’s probably in worse shape than I am.” He reached over and grabbed a drink.
“I know,” she said. “Just because I’m here doesn’t mean I’m not keeping track of things.”
“Do you think they suspect anything?” he asked.
“Off the record, the IG told me they were suspicious that Tomlinson was involved.” She didn’t think it would be advisable to tell him that he was also a suspect. For his sake.
“They are?”
“That’s what I’ve been told,” she said. “They asked me about some project he was working on and wanted to know if I had ever heard of it. They’re probably digging into whatever it is.”
“A project of DoCartel? Why would you be privy to anything they were doing?”
“They didn’t think I was,” she said. “They wanted to know if I’d heard of something called Odysseus.”
Chancellor Markhas gasped and the blood drained from his face. He was definitely too tired to hide anything.
“Are you alright Arun? You really look bad.” And he did. Bad, as in his heart had just exploded in his chest.
He shook his head. “Odysseus. Are you sure that’s what he said?” The old man squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Sweat erupted on his upper lip and his hand shook as he reached to wipe it away.
He’s having a heart attack. She tapped in the code for the Galileo Medical System on her thinpad and waited until the Station emergency response system opened a services menu. She punched in his location.
A blinking green light on her screen told her a med team was on its way, but as she watched him, it looked like he might not last until it got there. “It’s alright Arun. Just breathe. I sent help.” She tried to use her best soothing voice to calm him down.
“It can’t be Odysseus,” he hissed through clenched teeth. Lurching forward, he keyed something into his console.
“Arun, don’t worry about it,” she said. “We can talk later. Come on, just stay with me.” Where the hell are the medics?
“Keep that file secure,” he said, slapping a final command into his desktop with the palm of his hand. “You’ll know what to do with it when the time comes.” He gasped as his eyes rolled back in his head and his face went slack. He toppled out of sight.
Her thinpad beeped that it was receiving a download, but all she could do was stare at the empty comscreen and swear under her breath.
Suddenly several people crowded into the space behind his desk. She could see them working frantically, but no one noticed that the link was on. Eventually, they all stood up and several walked away.
She knew it was over from the body language of the ones she could still see. A medic leaned forward and looked into the screen. “Madam Chancellor,” she said. “I’m sorry, but it was too late.”
“I know,” she said, reaching up to disconnect the screen. “It’s always too late.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Lunarside Docking Facility: Galileo Station: Lunar Lagrange One:
“Chancellor Roja, if you have a moment?” Investigator General Wentworth was waiting inside the VIP shuttle mooring stanchion when her transport docked. His wasn’t the face she expected to see, but it wasn’t a surprise either.
She glanced at the two guards behind her and nodded to Admiral Nakamiru. “Is this something where I need to have my advisor present?”
“Absolutely not,” he said, holding his arm out in the direction of a private waiting room. Three security officers stood beside the door. “Admiral, you may join us, if you wish,” he added.
She raised an eyebrow, but made no comment as she followed the IG into the room. Nakamiru followed in silence, signaling for their escorts to wait outside.
“I am sorry for your loss,” the Inspector said as the door shut behind them. “I know that you and Chancellor Markhas were friends. This is a sad time for the entire Union.”
“Indeed it is,” she said, walking over and taking a large overstuffed chair at the end of the mahogany coffee table. “I would have been here the day it happened, but I needed to take care of some security concerns before I could travel. I wish I’d been able to do more, but now all that is left is to pay my respects.”
Wentworth nodded, looking down at three cups of tea sitting on a small silver platter. He picked one up and offered it to her. She declined, but waved the Admiral over and gestured for him to take one if he wanted.
“I don’t know how to say this delicately, Madam Chancellor,” he said, “but you really should not be here.” He picked up the third cup and sipped while he studied her face.
She leaned back in her chair and locked eyes with him. He didn’t flinch and she respected that even while it made her feel unsettled. “Why is that, Investigator?”
“You are not safe,” he said.
She glanced up at Nakamiru. She knew it was true, but hadn’t shared her concerns outside of her FleetCom staff. “Again, I’ll ask why?”
He pulled a thinpad out of his pocket and looked at the screen. “Have you ever heard of doxyrubicycline?”
She shook her head.
“It’s an extremely strong anthracycline variant.”
“It sounds like a medication,” the admiral said.
“Yes,” the IG said. “It was once a cancer treatment, but is no longer in widespread use.”
“That’s interesting,” she said. “So what’s the point here?”
“In low doses, it is almost undetectable,” he said. “However, over several days it can build up in a person’s system until it reaches a level where it will cause a heart attack. It will stop the heart of an otherwise completely healthy person.”
She felt like the air was being sucked out of the room. “Are you saying that Arun’s death wasn’t from natural causes?”
“We found sufficient levels of doxyrubicycline in the chancellor’s system to make that unlikely. There is statistically no possibility that he could have encountered this drug by accident.”
“So he was poisoned
?”
“That’s not precisely true, as it is a drug rather than a toxin,” the IG said. “But in principle, close enough.”
She leaned forward and rested her face in her hands, reliving the scene of his last moments. She’d been eating herself up with guilt. She blamed herself for not recognizing what was happening to him sooner. “It wouldn’t have made any difference if I had called in help sooner, would it?” she asked.
He shook his head. “His heart muscle was already beyond repair. There was nothing anyone could have done.”
She felt a brief moment of relief from her guilt, but it shredded under a wave of blind fury. “Do you know who did it?” she asked, raising her eyes and glaring a hole through the IG.
“Not yet,” he admitted. “This brings me to why I wanted to talk to you before you attended any of the memorial services for Chancellor Markhas.” He reached down and picked up the teacup he had offered her before.
“This is the last drink here on the station that I can guarantee to be safe,” he said, holding it out to her. This time she took it and stared at the cup.
“I’d advise you not to stay on the station any longer than necessary, and to refuse all food and drink for the duration of your time here at Galileo. I know you will have business to deal with, but I recommend that you return to Tsiolkovskiy as soon as possible. I don’t know if we can protect you if you remain for more than the memorial services.”
“I can’t run and hide,” she said. “I have work to do.”
“I expected you would say that, Madam Chancellor,” he said, sighing. “I am afraid that you may be the next target.”
“Why me, and not someone like Derek Tomlinson?” she asked, playing a hunch. “Didn’t you say he and Arun were involved in some project together?”
“Yes, Project Odysseus,” he said. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that, but let’s say he’s not a likely target. Now or ever.”
“Sounds like he’s a suspect then,” she said.
“Thank you for your time.” He stood up without answering her and nodded to Admiral Nakamiru as he headed toward the door. “Madam Chancellor, please be careful. I’ve assigned an extra security contingent to you for the duration of your stay, but there is only so much we can do.”
Shan Takhu Legacy Box Set - With an Extra Bonus Story Page 19