Relic Tech (Crax War Chronicles) (23 page)

“This way, Specialist,” directed Dr. Miller. He approached an occupied restoration table. Two techs were preparing to pump fluid into a thin, ten or eleven year-old boy. “Any difficulties?” asked Dr. Miller.

The oldest technician, wearing a white smock and plastic gloves, replied. “The
inhibiting
agent has nearly neutralized the contaminant.” He seemed to wait for a reaction. None came. “The initial seizures are less than twenty seconds in duration. Subsequent seizures continue to diminish in duration and intensity.”

“Stop,” said Dr. Miller. “Why wasn’t the recovery procedure held until Dr. Sevanto’s arrival? Where are the dock medical support personnel?”

The med tech stammered, “I, I got here after, the step down had already been—”

Specialist Club strode over from a monitoring console and took Dr. Miller aside. Although she wasn’t winded, perspiration said Club had made quick work to get down here. Dr. Miller returned and said, “Continue recovery procedure.”

Observing, I moved toward the holding area where I watched two dock med techs unseal a metallic environmental control tube and place a ghostly-white body onto a grav bed. The burly colonist lay on his back, arms and legs slightly spread with slick jell over his closed eyes. The same jell covered his eyebrows, short brown hair, beard, and fingernails. Even in sleep the man projected a disgruntled, if not foul, disposition. They moved him on the table next to the boy.

It took me a second to connect the face with the file. Carver Potts. I’d scanned all of the files, but hadn’t found the time to review each in its entirety. His I recalled. The file indicated previous experience in citrus fruit, mainly in manual pruning and harvesting. Potts lost his position when the corporate farm folded. If the colonists were to work in agriculture, he had reasonable qualifications. Portions of his corporate interview indicated Potts was a chronic complainer with several minor corporate law infractions. He applied to Negral as a colonist shortly after his job had been eliminated. Like most colonists, he wanted a new start, but he also wanted to avoid a substantial fine for theft of corporate property. Negral pulled some strings for him. I knew he wouldn’t appreciate it.

“Keesay,” called Specialist Club. “Chief Brold just requested your presence on the
Kalavar
.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Senior Engineer McAllister is assisting Nist. I’ll take care of things here.” I whistled at her heavy-duty laser pistol and shouldered power cell. She smiled. “I only wear this on special occasions. And if you don’t report to medical and speak with the chief, the next special occasion will be your flogging.”

“Is it the sidearm or the thought of my pain that made you smile?”

“With you onboard, Keesay,” she said, “I suspect I’ll be smiling a lot.”

“I hope it’s the firearm,” I said, reevaluating the high-powered weapon. “That cost would be less burdensome, at least for me.” I held up both hands. “I’m on my way.”

I turned and strode toward the door. To my left, supported by Dr. Miller, the female colonist stood over the recovering boy. They began pumping fluids into both ends. I said a quick prayer and exited.

Corporal Smith leaned against the hatch, feigning relaxation. “Found trouble again?”

It was hardly a question. “Correct.”

Smith noted the condition of my duty coveralls. “Lucky again? What’s the password?” Before I could say anything he stepped aside. “Get your ass onboard.”

Once onboard the
Kalavar
, my adrenaline shut down. I adjusted my com-set’s send and receive strength. I slowed, replaying events. “Specialist Nist.” I waited.

“Keesay, this is Nist.”

“Could you pick up my stun baton? I lent it to Dr. Sevanto.”

“We scanned it in
as yours. Already taken care of. Out.”

Chief Brold stood waiting outside Control. “Follow me, Specialist.” He spoke into the surveillance camera. “J-J-2-9-4-falsestart two.” The door opened. Inside a marine sat at the monitoring station. “Private Slavkonski, report.”

“All quiet, Chief. No one has boarded except
Kalavar
personnel. Specialist Muller escorted Dr. Sevanto and the medical team along with two patients. The only other,” he said nodding to me, “Specialist Keesay. All monitoring stations remain clear and normal.”

“Thank you, Private. You are relieved. Report to forward engineering. Assist Private Mohammin and Parks.”

“Right, Chief.” He grabbed his carbine and left.

Chief Brold took a seat and began to monitor. “Report, Keesay.”

I described the sequence of events, answering a few questions.

“Why did you pull your gun on Specialist Haxon?”

“As I indicated, Chief, an abduction and assault had been perpetrated on—”

He cut me off. “I know that, but why pull your gun?”

“I had Full Corporate Authority.”

“And that went to your head?” he asked, ignoring the monitors.

“No, Chief. I assessed the situation. I had two Negral personnel down, one treating. I’d lent my stun baton to Dr. Sevanto. If it came to unarmed combat, even if I prevailed, the crime scene would’ve been disturbed. In addition, both perpetrators wore Quinn Mining attire. Dribbs, I knew was with dock security. I’d encountered him twice on the dock while he was on official duty, so at least his uniform was authentic. Transmissions were suspect so it was possible the conspiracy, if you want to call it that, extended further than Dribbs and the other downed perpetrator. Therefore, I trusted no one but Negral personnel.”

“There was the marine,” said Brold.

“In theory, he’d be neutral. I didn’t know if Negral personnel would arrive before anyone else. I deemed it necessary to retain complete control of the situation.”

“Would you have shot Specialist Haxon?”

“Yes, Chief.”

“Where?”
he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“In the chest.”

“What if he was wearing above C-Grade body armor?”

“At that range, it would’ve knocked him down. I would have then shot him in the head.”

“What if the marine took you out first?”

“I had my weapon drawn, Chief. It would have been forty-sixty.” Against a colonial marine, I was being optimistic.

He shook his head smiling, and scanned the monitors.

“What would you have done, Chief?”

“Exactly what you did. Except I would’ve had an MP pistol.”

“Then why did you question my actions?”

“Because, Keesay,” he said, while adjusting the view around engineering, “I wanted to know why you did what you did.”

I nodded. “How are Specialist Tahgs and Tech Cox?”

He shot me a glance and continued scanning the monitors. “They’ll recover.”

“Do you know what is, or was happening on the dock?”

“Nothing firm. Specialist Liu will organize a report as soon as I have command of all the facts.”

I knew he was holding back but maybe he’d answer this. “What was the significance of the message on Tahgs computer clip?”

The chief couldn’t help but grin. “The two perpetrators questioned Specialist Tahgs about the colonists’ files. When she wouldn’t talk they tried forcing her to access the information. She refused. They tried to hack the files.” He scanned the monitors showing the Chicher moving about.

I’d already figured something was important about the colonists’ files as I had limited access, and the chief was too astute to reveal unauthorized information. Informing me of the effort to hack the files was an indirect hint at some importance. More was going on than was apparent. I took the puzzle piece and let him continue.

“I don’t especially like Senior Engineer McAllister,” leveled the chief, “but, I respect her.” He followed the Chicher’s movements. “Did you know she has written at least fourteen encryption codes of various classified applications for the military?” He leaned back. “How many aren’t documented?” The Chicher returned to its quarters. “She was Earthside Code Wars Champion three years standing, before retiring to freelance for the military.”

Impressive. She was at least a year or two younger than me. “Freelance?”

“That’s right. She wouldn’t join up.” He leaned forward. “Take note. Tahgs’s clip has one-eighth the processing power. Yet, McAllister’s code not only fended off the hack attempt, but defeated the perpetrator’s defensive codes. Hacked and isolated their clip’s memory. She’s top of the line, Keesay. Handpicked.”

“By Mer?”

“Indirectly. He okayed you, too.”

“I can see why she was hired. But what about Gudkov? He seems unmotivated and not,” I wanted to say ‘well respected,’ but settled on, “a team player.”

“He’s not popular, but he is one of the few people who can work with Engineer McAllister. And he has experience in security, and worked as a diplomatic bodyguard.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Spent nine months aboard a Chicher transport.” The chief scanned the monitors again. “Don’t be fooled, Keesay. He was a light heavy-weight kickboxing champ. Three Intra-Colony Platinum Rings.”

“And,” I added, “he’s friendly with Engineer McAllister. The ship just keeps getting smaller.”

A wicked grin crossed the chief’s face. “Ready for some bad news?”

I held back a sigh, and straightened. “Sure, Chief.”

“Negral just bought Security Specialist Haxon’s contract.”

Onboard space docks, interstellar vessels, orbiting colonies and on otherwise uninhabitable planets, food is derived from artificial, sometimes referred to as synthetic, sources.

Genetically engineered bacteria, algae, and fungi are utilized to create protein, carbohydrate, and amino acid supplements. Dispensed vitamins and minerals are suspended in juices to fill in the gaps. Much of the basic genetic manipulation was developed prior to the Silicate War, but the more efficient strains are of alien import.

I spent a long night filing an official incident report. The rest of the time I spent combing the colonist files. The female colonist I encountered in recovery was Lori Watts and the boy was her son, Michael. Her duty assignment as youth educator was to provide schooling to the nine colonist children en route and to provide adult remediation at the Tallavaster Colony.

About half of the colonists had suffered through a long night in recovery. A father and his son had died, with several other close calls. Dr. Miller reported it as an unforeseen genetic predisposition to the procedure. Now, only eight children for Watts to educate.

I showered and dressed, thinking about the colonists and the contamination. Who’d want to kill off a group of R-Tech colonists? Was it tied to the incident with Representative Vorishnov?

If there was a puzzle, I didn’t have enough pieces to answer, so I checked my electronic messages. No more colonists had died. A continued ‘stay of leave notice’ preceded a meeting reminder. That would be popular but the abduction of Tahgs and Cox, and the trouble on the dock, cancelled all leave.

I responded to a query about the sec-bot and a forwarded confirmation on the partition installation in the colonist housing area. I finally made it to the one nonessential message from Specialist O’Vorley and called it up.

Kra,

Thank you for the notice. There has already been a hire. Specialist Gable Haxon had his contract bought out. I find it very unusual considering circumstances and the short handedness. Corporations. I do not know him well. He is quiet and observant and has only been around about six months. He treated me OK. He asked me about you. I said you were rugged and knowledgeable, and not to let the C4 rating fool him. You will like him.

Private Yizardo is taking me up on a barter of services you suggested. He said he ran into you yesterday. Said you were your typical self. I can only guess. Hope you didn’t need your steel knuckles.

Time is short. My hours have been increased. Send back if you can.

Kent

I replied with a similar text-only message:

Kent O’Vorley:

I ran into Specialist Haxon already, along with Yizardo, and a fellow who had inflicted a particular bruising. Interesting meeting. I have duties to attend to. Do not know when the Kalavar is scheduled for departure. Take advantage of your training opportunity. Private Yizardo is one to respect. May our paths cross again.

Krakista Keesay

I grabbed a packaged breakfast so I could swing by medical before the meeting. I wondered if my message to Kent would get through dock security intact. Maybe not, if the artificial intelligence program was awake.

Medical was slow this early. Fortunately, a technician noticed me just after entering. “Can I assist you, Specialist?”

“Yes. Is Maintenance Technician Cox or Administrative Specialist Tahgs available for a brief visit?”

“Is it official business?”

I figured the less information he had to work with, the less chance of visitation denial. “No.”

After a pause he said, “I’ll check,” and moved to the back area.

A moment passed. Dr. Sevanto’s appearance surprised me. “Specialist Keesay, I was told you were here.” He came around the desk. “Excellent performance yesterday.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Interesting combination of weaponry you carry.”

“Gets the job done.”

“So I noticed,” he said, leading me around the desk. “Consider having your hearing checked. Your firearm is potentially deafening.”

“That was intentional,” I said, pointing. “I have a dampener, but I thought the noise would provide distraction.”

“I believe it did. I had my hearing checked along with Specialist Tahgs and Tech Cox.”

“Everyone check out satisfactory?”

“Miraculously, yes.”

“What?” I smiled.

“I am quite serious, Specialist Keesay.”

“Understood, Doctor. I’ll try to schedule a time.”

“I will schedule one for you, whether your superiors find it convenient or not.”

We approached the patient care area. “That wasn’t the intended message, Doctor. I have free time and will arrange it today.”

“If you don’t follow through, I will.”

“Understood.” We stopped. “I came by to see Tech Cox and Specialist Tahgs.”

“I released Tech Cox for light duty less than ten minutes ago.” Dr. Sevanto shook his head. “He has a limp, but didn’t want to be off the job too long.”

“Imagine I’ll see enough of him during the voyage.”

“You’ll like Benny.” Dr. Sevanto thought a moment. “Remember, he may appear slow, but don’t let that fool you. He has regained ninety-seven percent of his mental capacity.” He watched to see if I followed. “It sometimes takes him a while to retrieve it.”

“Don’t worry, Doctor. I’m patient and easy to get along with.” He looked less than convinced. “Let me amend that. If the individual doesn’t unjustly treat me as inferior, or doesn’t cause me to enforce corporate regulations.”

“Benny won’t do either.” He checked the monitor and then led me to Tahgs’s room. “Make this short. Specialist Tahgs has taken the incident fairly well.” He paused again. “The round perforated her small intestine. It’s been repaired and the potential for infection has been treated.” He knocked on the door. “Specialist Tahgs? You have a visitor.”

“No problem. I’m awake, Doctor,” she responded.

I stepped into the sterile room. Standard white bedding covered her, drawing attention up to her violet eyes. Her face erupted in a wide grin.

“Three minutes,” warned Dr. Sevanto.

I checked my watch. “Honestly, that’s all the time I have.”

Specialist Tahgs waved me over. “I was hoping to see you.” She started to sit up, but her face showed pain.

“Wait,” I said, examining the bed controls.

She blushed and slid her fingers over the panel, directed the bed to elevate her while rolling her eyes. “I only work in medical.” With a big grin she added, “I just wanted to say
thank you
.”

“You’re welcome. I was simply doing my duty. Following orders.”

“That’s not the way Dr. Sevanto told it.”

“Dr. Sevanto may be knowledgeable about medical procedures, but I suspect he’s lacking in the area of security procedures.”

“What about Chief Brold?”

I wanted to move on. Visiting may have been an error, but it would’ve been awkward if Specialist Tahgs learned I tried to look in on Tech Cox and ignored her. “I’m sorry you took a round to your abdomen.”

“I’ll heal. And don’t downplay your part. I was there, remember?”

“Understood. I’m also glad that Tech Cox will fully recover.”

“Benny and I go way back. He’s anxious to meet you. That’s why he checked out early.”

“I guess we were thinking along the same lines.” I glanced at my watch.

“Before you leave, I have something that’s yours.” She pulled a pale pink handkerchief from under the covers. “Stained, sorry.” Her smile disappeared. “Med Tech Merriam says it’s all natural cotton.”

She was a little hesitant to give it up. “You’re welcome to hold onto it,” I said. “Maybe as a good luck charm? If you believe in such things.” She offered it again. I held up my hand. “I know how to get the stains out. I’ll relay the information to you.”

“Thank you. Would you?”

I looked at my watch again. “Chief Brold wouldn’t look kindly upon a late arrival.”

“Please, stop in again.”

I slid toward the door. “When are you expected to be back on duty?”

“Two days.”

“Dr. Sevanto insisted I have my hearing checked,” I said.

She flipped her hair revealing an ear. “He did mine.”

“I’ll try to schedule it for two days from now. And I’ll send the cleaning instructions.”

“This place is very boring.”

“Well, maybe it is where you are, now,” I said, standing in the doorway, “but I have about nineteen hundred and thirty-seven things to accomplish in the next forty-eight hours.”

She waved. I gave her a thumbs-up.

I recorded in my electronic notebook a reminder to schedule an appointment, and then double-timed it to the meeting. Even though I was two minutes early, everyone was waiting.

Gudkov looked unhappiest of them all. “About time, C4.”

I considered responding to Gudkov’s remark, but didn’t.

“I better get my leave,” he continued. “That’s all I have to say.”

“That’s all you’ve
had
to say,” said Nist.

“I heard we bought t
he contract of a sec-spec,” Frost said. “You should be happy about that.”

“Keesay here said he wa
sn’t impressed with them,” Gudkov said. “Undoubtedly about as worthless as you.”

“Enough,” warned Club.

“Too bad,” said Nist. “Not often you hear Gudkov saying anything positive about anyone’s opinion.”

“But his own,”
Frost muttered.

“Frost,” said Gudkov, looking from him to me, “I care about his opinion just above yours. His ranks just below your average blood-maggot.”

Enough is right, I thought, before saying, “I’m devastated, Specialist Gudkov. Wait.” I feigned thought by rubbing my chin. “I would be, if I cared about your opinion. May I retract my previous statement?”

“Who here knows what
enough
means?” asked Specialist Club, standing up. “Nist, wipe that smile off your face. Gudkov, taking out your frustration on everyone else won’t encourage the chief to reinstate leave.” She crossed her arms. “I’ve got more file work than I can handle. Open your mouth again and I’ll consider it a formal request to be my assistant on your off-duty hours.” She glared at me, “Same for you, Keesay.”

Time itself must have been intimidated by Club’s speech as the next thirty seconds seemed unwilling to pass. Eventually, the door opened, right on time. We filed in. Standing next to the chief was Specialist Haxon.

“There’s your man, quick-draw,” chided Gudkov.

“Thank you for volunteering,” Club said. “Report to me after the meeting. We’ll coordinate your additional duty.”

She shot a glance at me while Gudkov took in a sharp breath and turned red. I took the nearest seat, remaining oblivious to either’s stare.

“This is the newest member to our team,” started the chief. “Class 3 Security Specialist Gable Haxon comes to us from Quinn Mining.” After the chief had introduced each of us, Haxon sat down and the chief continued. “Specialist Haxon will be our floater. Assigned depending upon need, by either Club or myself.”

Chief Brold covered routine information, progress reports and updates. Replacing his toothpick, he looked to the new man. “Specialist Haxon, everyone here has reviewed the recordings and read the incident reports. Would you update us on what you know of the incident, and any connection with the rogue sec-bots on the Mavinrom Dock?”

Haxon stood. “Well, Chief, I was able to briefly review the
Kalavar
’s material prior to this meeting. The follow-up investigation concurs with Specialist Nist’s findings.” He sounded less than eager to endorse Nist’s competence. “As you know, Chief, Supervisor Gaverall believes the attempted abduction was tied to the three sec-bots detaching from security override. They fired on both passengers and station personnel. Gaverall believes the maintenance technician and the security specialist didn’t have the programming skills to accomplish it. Dock Security is following up on several leads. But with the two known individuals dead, it’s difficult.”

Haxon looked at me. I withheld a shrug. He continued. “It is believed that the offenders were attempting to gain information on relic tech colonists. The rogue sec-bots drew security resources. Twenty-seven wounded and fourteen killed. Medical response to the emergency reduced support for cold sleep recovery.”

“Two of the dead are colonial marines who responded to the crisis.” It was Corporal Smith’s voice.

“Thank you, Corporal Smith,” interrupted Chief Brold. “I have invited the corporal to listen in from the monitoring station while he covers.” He set the toothpick on his desk. “Continue.”

“He is correct,” said Haxon. “Along with one security.” He paused. “It is believed that if they had been successful, the two offenders would’ve moved on their target.”

“Thank you, Specialist,” said Chief Brold. “Now, a few of you might be wondering, R-Tech colonists, a target?” He scanned his security team. “Someone is serious. The cold sleep drugs were tampered with prior to the colonists taking the final preparatory regimen. According to Dr. Sevanto, our med team back on Earth was sharp. Identified the problem, and introduced a countering medication that saved all but two colonists. They’re all sicker than dogs.” He tapped a few times on his desk while he finished. “And none too happy.” He looked to me. “Keesay, I’d like to hear your opinion. Speculate.”