Death Sentence (3 page)

She frowned, leaned forward in her chair, and drummed her fingers on the table again for a moment. "Instead, we found the
Adler
. Dead. All power off, drifting. The
Sholto
docked to her, nose to nose, then used the
Sholto
's engines to start boosting the docked-together ships back to base. The remote operators here at HQ managed to get the hatches open on both ships and sent a robotic camera into the
Adler
to look around. The first thing they found was Wilcox--dead. Very, very dead." She paused. "And that was pretty much the
last
thing they found. Or at least the last thing of any significance. But I'll come back to that.

"It took a while for the knowledge of what our team had found to percolate up from the techs flying the mission to the Bullpen, and to me. We notified BSI-DLO, and
they
notified the people who had been waiting for the document to arrive--and right now, today, I still don't know who that final 'customer' is. Things are being kept very quiet and compartmentalized. Whoever the customer is, it didn't take long for the word to come rocketing back down to us that the document
had
to be found, and found as quickly--and as quietly--as possible.

"The robotics on the
Sholto
scanned and searched every square centimeter of the
Adler
's interior. We linked into all her data systems and searched them by remote as well. Nothing.

"As soon as we got her back here to base, and got Wilcox's remains off the ship--and did some decontamination--we sent search teams aboard as well. Nothing. And all the time, BSI-DLO has been jumping up and down, demanding we find what isn't there, and find it right away."

"We've searched the
Adler
twice, with BSI-DLO screaming at us to find the key immediately. Once via the remotes on the way in, and once here at base. We haven't found the decrypt key."

"Do you have any idea what it looks like?" Jamie asked. "Are you even sure it's there?"

"The short answers are no, and no," said Kelly. "Goes a long way to explain the problems we're having, doesn't it? Bear in mind that the key itself isn't a physical object. From everything we've been able to learn, it ought to be just a string of characters. Once it's recovered and handed over to BSI-DLO, some tech will key the characters into the appropriate computer program and the document will be magically decoded. Think of all the ways characters might be stored or written down or encoded or whatever, and then think of all the ways you might disguise or hide whatever it was that held that string of characters. It could be concealed just about anywhere, or disguised or embedded in just about anything."

"So what, exactly, do you want us to do?" asked Jamie.

"Really simple stuff," said Kelly. "Find the decryption key, find out what the document was about, find out who killed Wilcox, why they killed him--and
how
they killed him."

"I don't understand how that could be a mystery," Hannah said. "You recovered the body, right?"

"Yes, it was aboard ship."

"So you've examined it. How is it you can't tell the cause of death or whether or not it was murder?"

"Oh, yes, I can tell the cause of the death," Vogel growled. Jamie had noticed several times before that Vogel's syntax in English started to slide toward the grammar of his native German whenever he got upset. "My examination of the body told me that, and more. In fact, it was telling me far too much, more than makes sense. Wilcox had 25 years of age. He had perfect health at his last exam, ten days before he got this mission. No allergies, no bad teeth, good immune system. You name it, and that part of his body worked perfect."

He paused and glanced at his datapad. "If I wanted to be cute or didn't want to do my job the proper way, I could say he died of heart failure--but who
doesn't
die of that? Question is, what
caused
this man to have the heart failure?
Antwort
--I mean answer: BSI Special Agent Trevor Wilcox III, also known as Trev Wilcox or Trip Wilcox, male, age twenty-five, died of general systemic failure brought on by extreme old age."

"What?"
Jamie asked.

Vogel went on, ignoring the interruption. "Old age. Everything worn out. Collapsed. All soft tissues were involved in failure. However, bones, teeth, hair, nails, that sort of thing, all showed as normal or with only slight alteration from normal state for person of his age and previous state of health. In other words, the soft tissues--skin, muscles, internal organs, and so on collapsed due to old age
before
the hard body parts had enough time to age."

The shocked silence hung there for a moment before Kelly drove it away. "However Wilcox was killed, he was killed on Metran--or at least as a result of something done to him in the Metrannan System. And we have to work on the assumption that he was killed for some reason related to his courier job--in other words, because of a document that might be a War-Starter. Dr. Vogel's full autopsy report has already been loaded aboard the data system of the
Bartholomew Sholto
, along with everything we've got on the Metrannans. You two will boost toward Metran aboard the
Sholto
this afternoon."

"But the
Sholto
is a
Sherlock
-class too, isn't it?" Jamie asked. "Aren't those single-person ships?"

Kelly looked at him with a bemused expression. "You've done your homework," she said. "You're right. The
Sherlock
-class are all single-ships."

"So why put two people in a single-seater?" Hannah asked.

"Because the
Sholto
won't be alone. She's already docked to the
Adler
, and we're going to keep them docked together. We're always short of ships, and scaring up another one would just waste time. But there are other reasons, which I'll get into in a moment," said Kelly. "Here are your orders. You'll fly the combined craft to Metran and investigate, searching for clues to where the decrypt key might be. Your cover story will be that you're trying to find out what happened to Wilcox. You'll leave the
Adler
in a distant and hidden orbit of Metran's orbit--a Pluto-class orbit ought to do it--and fly down to Metran aboard the
Sholto
. They're installing a second acceleration chair right now. It'll be a tight fit, but doable."

"Tight fit is scarcely the word for it," Hannah muttered.

"You will spend the transit time between Center and Metran searching the
Adler
and studying the data aboard her. We've searched her twice. You'll do it the third time. I think the key is aboard the
Adler
, but concealed in such a way that it is impossible to detect without an outside clue. I think that Wilcox left that clue behind on Metran. However, I could be wrong, so you'll search. If you do find anything of significance, you will abort the mission to Metran and head for home. But I'm not expecting that. We would have found anything aboard that could be found that way. I believe there will be some clue, some lead, in the Metran System, that will point you toward what we're looking for."

"What, for example?" Jamie asked.

"Tradecraft stuff," Hannah said. "If Wilcox knew or suspected that he was going to be in danger, he might have left behind some sort of lead or clue or message that would make sense to us but not to the locals."

"That's one class of possibilities," Kelly agreed. "There may be others. In any event, you'll have the
Adler
right there, near to hand, to check the leads out at once."

"Aren't we running a tremendous risk, taking the
Adler
along back to Metran when she's probably got vital data hidden on board?" Jamie asked. "She might be destroyed, or seized."

"Possibly. But if that information is there, two diligent searches did not find it. The key is, for all intents and purposes, lost already. Perhaps we could find it if we disassembled the
Adler
and had a hundred techs spend six months examining the pieces, one by one. But we don't have the hundred techs to spare, and BSI-DLO is making it very clear that they don't think we have the six months, either. If we take too long to find that key, that could be as bad as never finding it at all. We've lost months already, while the
Adler
was floating around in the outer edges of Center's stellar system. What if the crisis is just about to blow up in our faces? We don't even know what the crisis
is
yet. We need information, and we need it fast. You're taking the
Adler
with you. That's my decision--and my responsibility."

"And, bear in mind," said Vogel, "assuming the whatever-in-hell-it-is turns out to be on board the
Adler
, it's not just our people and our robots that have searched for it and not found it. The Metrannans--or whoever it was that boarded the
Adler
--have done the same. How likely is it they or we will find anything if they search again, without some sort of clue or guidance?"

Kelly nodded in agreement. "My hunch--or at least my hope--is that you'll learn something on Metran that will lead you to what is hidden--so I want you to have the
Adler
handy for reference. Time could be critical."

Kelly fell silent and stared hard at the wall over Hannah's head for a moment before looking at the agents again. "It's my further judgment that destroying whatever is aboard the
Adler
is preferable to risking the chance of its falling into the wrong hands--which very likely is the same thing as letting the Metrannans get it back--but maybe not. You are to escape to the
Sholto
and destroy the
Adler
if she is about to be captured or searched while you're aboard. We have a team aboard her right now rigging the ship to self-destruct if anyone tries to board her in your absence."

"What fun," said Hannah. "That sort of thing is always so relaxing when you're headed back to the ship and wondering if you remember the access codes correctly."

"So make sure you remember them," Kelly said. "The point is, the decrypt might still be there, on board the
Adler
. We have to find it." She looked at Hannah and Jamie. "Any questions?" she asked.

"Is the assignment physically possible for the ships?" Jamie asked. "Can the
Sholto
land and take off from Metran and do the boost back to where the
Adler
will be--and still be able to boost us back to here?" Jamie was getting the distinct impression that no one was worrying about the tactical and logistical angles enough--and it was going to be his skin and Hannah's out there.

"The short answer is no," Kelly said drily. "The long form is that we've had to do this sort of thing before. The techs on the flight deck are working on it now. We'll hang a booster off the
Sholto
. You'll use it on the boost out of Center System and dump the booster before you make your jump to Metran. You'll do a power-transfer from the
Adler
to the
Sholto
, and then fly the
Sholto
in and land her--doing your best to make it look as if she flew there all the way on her own. And you'll most likely not have to ride her down to the surface. Apparently they have excellent orbital facilities.

"Your best-case scenario: The Metrannans are friendly enough--most of them, anyway--and you shouldn't have any problem refueling at that end. Worst case: You'll have to shift propulsion power between the
Adler
and the
Sholto
. If you have enough power to bring both ships home, fine. If not, you transfer every drop of propulsion power you've got back to the
Adler
, transfer to her, destroy the
Sholto
, and head for Center System. You
ought
to have enough power left to make it back to Center Station. If you don't, just get as far as the outer system, yell for help, sit tight, and we'll come get you."

"Another tight fit," said Hannah. "And one that could last a while. If it comes to that, just be sure not to take your time. We might be short of a few things besides propulsion power by then."

"There will be a fast ship on standby before you jump to Metran," Kelly promised.

"I see why we transfer from the
Sholto
to the
Adler
if we only have propulsion power enough for one ship," said Jamie. "We don't want to leave the
Adler
where the Metrannans might find her and have another crack at searching her. But why destroy the
Sholto
? It seems like a pretty high-handed way to treat government property."

"Because we do not, do not, do not want to get the Metrannans thinking about the
Adler
in any way at all," said Kelly. "We don't want them seeing two
Sherlock
-class ships at once. So far as they are concerned, the
Adler
never made it home and we know nothing about what might or might not be aboard her. We know nothing about how Wilcox died. They will see you arrive and depart on another ship. Your cover story--but it's not
just
a cover story, it's part of your assignment--is to find out who killed Wilcox, and why--and, if possible, how."

Jamie nodded. "Okay, I get it. That's why we're taking the
Sholto
--because she's the twin of the
Adler
. If they see us depart in the
Sholto
, and we're later forced to retreat to the
Adler
and destroy the
Sholto
, and they detect us flying a craft that shows exactly the same mass, size, configuration, and so on as the
Sholto
, they'll never know we've made the switch. So if comes to that, we're going to have to destroy the
Sholto
so completely that no one ever even finds the wreckage."

"Now you're getting the idea," Kelly said approvingly.

"If we can't admit to having any clues about how Wilcox died, that's going to make our investigation on Metran harder," Hannah objected.