Children of the Old Star (30 page)

"Captain, I think you better get down here. Morganna's dead. She's been murdered."

Ellis looked up at Smart and G'Liat. Licking his lips he stood. “We'll be right down, Frank,” called Ellis. G'Liat and Smart followed the captain off the command deck.

Part IV

Empirical Evidence

Globular clusters are almost spherical, appear to be dynamically stable and are very long lived. Unlike other clusters, globular clusters are very old. Globular clusters are believed to be relics of the formation of the Galaxy itself.

—Dr. Greg Stephens

From his Lectures

MANHUNT

Captain John Mark Ellis entered the galley at a full run. Stopping suddenly, he supported himself against the wall to catch his breath. Looking over, he saw the cook, Morganna, a gaping hole in her abdomen, lying in a pool of blood. The captain sank to his knees beside her, remembering the dead cook on the
Martha's Vineyard
. “Not again,” he moaned softly. He reached down and touched her hair. Looking up into Frank's craggy features, he held back tears. “Who did this?"

Frank shook his head. The cook did not try to conceal his tears. “I don't know; I wasn't here.” He had to choke down a sob to get the words out.

Ellis looked to Smart. A variety of emotions played across her face: rage at the act, sorrow for Morganna, and concern for her ship. “We've got to find who did this,” she said bitterly.

G'Liat examined the walls. His black eyes landed on a board hanging on the wall. “One of the knives is missing,” he said simply. Turning, he knelt down by Morganna and examined the wound. After a moment, he looked up at Frank. “How big is the missing knife?"

Frank looked at the rack, but was too overcome with tears to speak. He simply moved off to Clyde McClintlock's office and fell into the chief cook's chair. G'Liat followed and grabbed Frank by the shoulders, shaking him lightly. “Someone is loose on this ship with a knife. Someone very dangerous,” snarled the warrior.

Kirsten Smart moved to support herself on the office's doorframe. “We are sorry that Morganna's dead, but you've got to help us."

Frank shook his head and took several deep breaths. “It's a bread knife,” he said after a moment. “About a foot long and serrated."

Kirsten Smart dropped into the other chair. “Painful way to die,” she said looking at her hands. “Serrated knife'd rip the hell out of you."

Ellis forced himself to stand and stepped over to the door. “That's what it did,” he said, somberly.

G'Liat stood up straight and looked from Smart to Ellis. “There was not much sign of a struggle. She only has the one wound. The killer attacked with a single thrust."

Ellis forced himself to look back at Morganna's body. Surprise was frozen in her lifeless features. However, G'Liat was right, there were no scratches or cuts except the one wound. Not even her hair was out of place. “Where was her jump station?” he asked, weakly.

"She should have been in her quarters. However, McIntosh wasn't here, so she stayed,” said Frank.

"She was alone?” asked G'Liat.

"She should have been,” explained Smart. “Company policy only allows one person down here during the jump for safety. She would have been locked here in the office.” She shook her head and looked accusingly at Ellis. “Or, McClintlock should have been here. That nut should be lying dead, not a sweet woman like Morganna."

"She was surprised,” said Ellis moving back to the cook's body. The captain knelt down again. “Morganna could have stopped someone from entering if she wanted."

Kirsten Smart stood and moved over to Ellis. “She knew everyone aboard."

G'Liat turned. “However, she would not have let just anyone have access to the knives."

"Or any of the cookware,” piped in Frank. “She was very protective of her kitchen."

"It was someone who should have been here,” said Ellis. Looking down at the floor he took a deep breath, afraid of the truth.

"McClintlock,” growled Smart. “It had to be."

"I'm afraid you're right,” said Ellis, a quaver in his voice. “But why?"

"He was in communication with the Cluster,” stated G'Liat. “Who knows what it said. Who knows what that could have done to him."

"How are we going to stop him?” asked Smart standing. “We're a corporate ship. We don't have a security force."

"It's my fault,” said Ellis. “I brought him on board. I'll stop him.” The captain stood and made his way to the intercom. “Natalie,” he said into the microphone. “Have Simon seal off all sections of the ship. Only I am to have universal access. Is that understood?"

"I'll let Simon know,” said Natalie. “May I ask why? That's an awfully draconian command."

"I know it is,” said Ellis. “We have a bad situation here. Also, contact all section heads. They are to contact me immediately if they see Clyde McIntosh."

"Will do, Captain.” Natalie Papadraxis’ voice held a note of uncertainty.

G'Liat came up behind the captain. “You'll need help if you find him. He's armed. You're not. We might doubt his competence, but he's a more experienced ground soldier than you, all the same."

Ellis turned, stepping past the warrior. He grabbed another knife off the wall and faced G'Liat. “Now we're both armed and I'm younger than him."

"Don't be stupid,” growled Smart. “I may be mad that you brought him on my ship, but I don't want to lose you. The more of us that confront him, the better."

Ellis pursed his lips. “You're staying here,” he said. “It's bad enough if G'Liat comes. I don't want you hurt."

Smart put her hands on her hips. “Make me stay,” she said defiantly.

"I am a better warrior than both you and McClintlock,” said G'Liat facing the captain. “You must talk to the Cluster the next time we confront it. I'll go with you to keep you safe. If you insist that I don't go with you, I'll find a way to keep you here while I tend to McClintlock."

The captain's shoulders dropped slightly. “Okay, but I want both of you armed. We don't know what state of mind he's gotten himself into."

Clyde McClintlock sat in a deserted corridor near the ship's stern on the second level. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared in disbelief at the bloody knife in his hands. His plan had been to find the evil one and kill him. Morganna, while not a strong believer, had simply gotten in the way. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, McClintlock thought how much he had wanted her to believe that the Cluster was God.

"I betrayed Rocky Hill, my people, and now sweet Morganna,” cried Clyde to himself. “All because of Ellis."

Looking back along the corridor, he noticed a couple of drops of blood along the path he had taken from the kitchen. He smiled cruelly. “They will lead the evil one to me."

Just then, the doors used in case of hull evacuation came down sealing off the corridor on either side of him. McClintlock stood, dropping the knife. He pounded on the door leading back to the galley. Trapped in the corridor, he would never get the surprise necessary to trap Ellis. Looking around desperately he noticed an opening to the ship's ventilation system at deck level.

Retrieving the knife, he used it to unscrew the bolts holding the grill in place. He ignored the scratches he was leaving in the paint. Getting the grill off, he was just able to squeeze himself into the ductwork. Knife ahead of him, he shimmied further toward the ship's stern.

Mahuk and a grizzled mechanic poured over manuals in the engineering section. Their goal was to find a way to repair engine number four without a dry dock. Ideally, the engine would be pulled from the ship and the damaged parts replaced. The problem was that they had neither the facilities to pull the engine from the ship nor many of the replacement parts.

"We can fabricate most of what we need in the shop,” said Mahuk, looking up from the display.

The old mechanic shook his head. “What, and assemble the components in free fall beside the ship?"

"Why not?” asked Mahuk.

The old mechanic snorted. “It'd take the better part of a month to do that with no guarantee that it'd work."

"I know,” admitted Mahuk reluctantly. “What do you suggest?"

The mechanic scratched his tightly curled white hair. “The real problem is that three engines just don't have the oomph necessary for us to jump. We could get the power we need by moving the power conduits from the measuring systems to the three remaining engines."

Mahuk shook his head. “Those power conduits are out on the hull. You'd have to go extra-vehicular to do that."

"We'd have to do that to rebuild an engine. It's the least of our worries,” said the mechanic.

Mahuk frowned. “Not only that, you'd have to re-sync the engines so we could go into jump with only three.” Mahuk pointed at the schematic. “Those engines are precisely tuned. Upping the power to them would be like strapping three quinnium warheads to our hull. One mistake re-synchronizing the engines and our component atoms would be scattered so far into the future that there's no telling whether there will even be a universe for them to wind up in."

The mechanic inclined his head. “But it could work?"

Mahuk sighed. “It could."

"I can't think of anyone better able to get the calculations right to make sure we don't blow ourselves up."

"I appreciate your confidence,” said Mahuk wearily. “I'm not sure it's well placed."

The mechanic smiled. “Do you want to orbit the galaxy in this damned globular for the rest of your life?” The engineer shook his head. “Then we better get started on those calculations."

Both men set to work on the computer. Each became entrenched enough in their work that they did not hear the scraping of someone forcing their way though the ventilation system, nor the scratching as that person worked nuts lose on a vent cover.

G'Liat was the first to notice the trail of blood drops leading toward the vessel's stern, away from the galley. Each of the drops were about twenty feet apart, meaning there were only one or two per section. Ellis, Smart, and G'Liat followed the sparse trail. The captain led the way, using his access codes to open doors as they moved.

They finally came to the open vent cover. G'Liat examined the scratches, then looked into the shaft. “McClintlock would be just thin enough to get through here."

"None of us are, though,” grumbled Smart. “Seems like a good way to get us off his trail."

"I'm not sure he cares if we follow,” said Ellis. “He would have been trapped in here. I think he just wants to get the drop on us."

G'Liat nodded. “In fact, I think he wants us to follow.” The warrior turned to Smart. “Do you know where this shaft leads?"

"It should follow the corridor. It goes back the way we've come or on toward engineering,” she said.

"Or, I would guess it connects to all the rooms in between,” grumbled Ellis.

"Maybe,” pondered G'Liat. “Even if McClintlock could get into the shaft, I doubt he has much room to maneuver. He'd pretty much have to travel a straight line until he got to another vent opening."

"One that came out where he won't be trapped, like in the corridor,” said Ellis.

"That would mean engineering, then,” stated Smart.

Ellis stormed ahead, punching in access codes at each of the doors until they came to the engineering section. As Ellis opened the door, G'Liat shoved the captain lightly aside and pounced into the room. He motioned for Smart and Ellis to stay back.

A mechanic lay across a console, his throat cut, blood still oozing to the floor. The warrior scanned the room. Aside from the low-lying consoles in the middle of the room, there seemed only one other place McClintlock could hide.

The warrior turned around slowly to find the evangelist holding a knife to Mahuk's throat. “Don't come any closer, G'Liat,” said McClintlock. “I have no intention of killing Mahuk. It's Ellis I want."

Ellis stepped into the room and dropped his knife to the floor. “Let Mahuk go,” said the captain. “I'm here."

"No!” cried Smart. “He'll kill you."

"If I can, I will,” said McClintlock with a slight inclination of his head. “I don't know if the evil one can be killed, but I'm willing to die finding out."

Ellis kept his eyes on McClintlock, but spoke to Smart. “Mahuk is your only way home.” The captain took a step toward McClintlock. “Clyde, let him go."

McClintlock's eyes moved from G'Liat to Ellis to Smart. Just as Ellis saw McClintlock drop the knife and loosen his grip on Mahuk, the captain felt two hundred pounds of force shove him into Smart. The two tumbled like rag dolls into the corridor.

Ellis gasped for breath as he struggled to get back to his feet. He staggered to the door to see McClintlock swinging his knife wildly at G'Liat. Mahuk lay on the ground, a knife wound in his side. From a distance, Ellis could not tell whether it was fatal. Looking up again, Ellis watched in horror as McClintlock's flailing blade connected with G'Liat's head. G'Liat let out a low growl as yellow blood began to seep from his cheek.

The warrior stood and watched for a minute, then struck out with his massive six-fingered hand. The Rd'dyggian caught McClintlock's arm and squeezed. The knife fell impotently to the ground as the captain heard bones splinter and crack. McClintlock's expression turned from rage to terror.

"G'Liat!” yelled Ellis when he finally found the breath. “Don't do it!"

Seeming not to hear, G'Liat pulled McClintlock toward him. Ellis launched himself at the warrior and rebounded when the warrior did not move. The captain watched helplessly as the warrior's free hand closed around McClintlock's neck. After only a momentary struggle, the evangelist's body went limp and the warrior let him fall to the deck.

"How could you?” cried Ellis horrified.

"He was only human,” said G'Liat. His Rd'dyggian accent was especially strong.

Kirsten Smart stepped in and knelt next to Mahuk. She felt for a pulse. “He's still alive,” she said, relieved. She stepped to the intercom and told the bridge to re-open all sections and ordered the emergency medical techs to the scene.

"You may arrest me.” G'Liat said to Ellis. “I will not resist."