Version Innocent

by Pete Molina

Chapter 46

  “They’re on the move, Lt. Commander. We’re down linking the hopper’s trajectory,” the Captain said, speaking to the launch via com-link.

  Dawson was watching the scene on the tactical displays that floated in front of the Captain. He could see the small hopper moving away from the white moon with a green vector indicating its path.

  “Affirmative, Captain. We’re lifting,” Lt. Commander Bowman responded.

  The launch had just set down when the hopper had departed so suddenly. Dawson had been watching through his visual implants the scene of Quig leading the three out to the hopper and informed the Captain.

  Once the launch lifted, it appeared on the tactical display with a blue vector marking its path. Then the small hopper made a quick turn and its vector changed. Dawson could see that their new vector would take them around the planet to the far side, currently in shadow.

  “We’re maneuvering to follow,” Bowman informed them, and the launch changed directions.

  “Captain, I think we’d better move as well,” Dawson recommended.

  “We can follow, but we need to refuel if we’re going any farther than Europa,” the Captain reminded, giving the orders for the Powel to move out. The tactical also showed The Golden Rule which was close to them.

  “Mr. Harding, we’re moving around the planet,” the Captain said over the link to Harding’s ship.

  “We’ll be shadowing you,” Harding replied.

  Everything had happened so quickly that neither ship had yet had a chance to fill their water fuel tanks, and they were both down to less than a quarter of their propellant, which wouldn’t do if there was to be a long pursuit. On the plus side they had plenty of antimatter. Dawson just hoped that they weren’t going to leave the moon yet.

  “Well, I guess they’re on to us,” the Captain commented. “Wouldn’t you say, Agent Dawson?”

  “Yes, I believe the coincidences have piled too high for us to be doing anything else but following them overtly.”

  “We still don’t want to catch them, though?” she asked.

  “No, but perhaps we’ll drive them a little towards our ultimate goal,” Dawson speculated, hoping he was right.

  The hopper passed over the terminator into the darkness, and the ice that was so blue before became black. Quig initiated another quick burn and began to bring them down to the surface.

  “We’re here,” he informed them. “We’ll be down in a few minutes, but the bad news is that fleet lander is following us, so we don’t have much time.”

  Sam looked out the window at the dark surface. “I don’t see anything down there. What are we supposed to do?”

  “I only know that I’m supposed to bring you to these coordinates. Once I drop you off, I’ll take off again and try to decoy our pursuers,” Quig explained.

  “So you’re not coming with us?” Jeff asked. “They’ll arrest you for sure.”

  “No, they’ll never take me alive. And I am coming with you,” he added.

  “So you’re coming back then when you lose them, right?” Terra asked.

  “Probably not,” Quig replied, which just confused them. “You all have space suits on, right? I suggest you suit up and get ready to jump ship. I only know that you’ll find what you need here, but I have no idea what you should look for. If you have any way to obscure yourself, I’d do when you get out so they can’t see you. You might be able to escape detection if you cover yourself with ice.”

  Sam and the others activated their helmets, and the spacesuits complied, covering them. They all activated the camouflage that would make them appear to be invisible.

  “Excellent,” Quig commented, looking down. The hopper set down with a little jolt. “Now, Sam, take this with you and get off quickly so I can lift again.”

  Quig tossed down a small box to the area that Sam had been standing in before disappearing. Sam caught the small box, and he had his suit make a pouch so he could store it for later examination. They all jumped into the lift column which lowered them very quickly to the cargo hold. Once they were all in there, the hole to the crew deck closed above them and their suit displays told them that the hold was depressurizing, then the hatch opened.

  “Godspeed,” they heard over their suit radios as they all jumped out of the hopper onto the icy ground.

  “Thanks, Quig,” Sam said over his radio. Hopefully the transmission wouldn’t be detected by their pursuers.

  After they stumbled a bit and got a few meters away from the hopper, Quig lifted back off, but he didn’t start burning hard until he was a fair distance off the ground. They watched as he sped away from them, and just as he was about to pass over the horizon, they watched the light from the rocket flame plummet towards the surface. Then they saw the flare from a large explosion as the hopper impacted with great speed.

  “Do you think he got out and is going to hoof it back here?” Sam asked, stunned by the turn in events.

  “I think he was providing cover so we could escape unnoticed,” Terra said with a little sadness in her voice. “I hope your other version is worth the sacrifice.”

  “I thought he said he was going with us, though,” Sam returned.

  “My guess is that that little box he tossed you, Sam, is actually a backup cube. That’s probably the errand he had to run before we left,” Jeff offered, sure that he was right.

  Sam squeezed his torso where the pouch contained the small box. It was about the right size, he admitted.

  “So what do we do?” Sam said, looking around for the first time. “There’s nothing here.”

  “We should cut the chatter and try to get under something so that the Powel doesn’t know we’re here,” Terra directed.

  They were all invisible to the eye but their suits did give off heat which would make them pretty easy to spot from orbit. Sam kicked his foot at the ground. It was rock hard, so he looked around. A few dozen meters away was a small crack in the ice. He started towards it to see if it could fit them.

  “Over here,” Sam called once he’d gotten a look.

  The crack was narrow and deep, but it could definitely fit them if they were careful. He lowered himself in, holding onto the slippery surface until he couldn’t lower himself any farther. His suit was telling him that the ledge below was still a three meter drop. He gauged himself carefully, then let go. On Earth the fall could have been debilitating, but he fell slowly and caught himself on the ledge without a problem.

  Terra and Jeff followed him. Although he couldn’t see them, he felt the vibration as they landed on the ledge which held firm. Even though the rift in the ice wasn’t very wide, Sam couldn’t see the bottom when he peered carefully over the edge.

  “Now quiet. We’ll hold out here for a few hours until we’re sure we’ve escaped detection. My companion has told me that sunrise will be about ninety minutes from now. I’m sure we’ll fare better looking for our whatever when that happens,” Terra ordered.

  They all powered down their suit radios and tried to get as close as possible to the wall of the ridge so that the launch and the Powel wouldn’t be able to detect their heat.