Chapter 13

Jass floated down the corridor toward the airlock. Kristin had been too busy to do more than her scheduled duties over the few days since they had taken on their new cargo and supplies at Cybele. Jass felt the need to talk to someone she'd known for years, someone she could be a little less guarded with.

As she turned a corner, she saw Dani hurriedly making her way up the corridor. The programmer waved at her and warned her to stay quiet. Jass caught up with her; leaning in close, she whispered, “What is it?”

“I think I've found another bomb,” Dani whispered, her words so quiet that Jass almost couldn't hear them. Without further comment, Jass grabbed Dani's arm and the two of them hurried forward. When they reached the door to the galley, Dani ducked inside. Jass followed and closed the door behind them. It wouldn't offer much privacy, but it was better than nothing.

“What did you find?” Jass asked, but Dani didn't reply. Instead, she ran her fingers under a cabinet and gestured for Jass to do the same. Her fingers immediately brushed over a twist of wiring, but she knew that the electrical wiring for this room ran under this cabinet, so there was nothing unusual there. Then, just as she was about to ask Dani what she was worried about, her fingertips collided with a small metal box. She frowned. That hadn't been there before, and she couldn't remember having seen anything similar on the wiring plans.

She looked at Dani, who shook her head. “I'm not sure what it is, either. But if you angle your head and look at it, you can see it was added pretty recently. Whoever planted it rerouted a few wires to go right through it. I don't know if that's part of its function, or just to make it seem like something that belonged here.”

Jass felt her lungs constrict and struggled for breath. “We have to get rid of this somehow. Can you find out how it's connected and what its purpose is?”

Dani shrugged. “Not easily. It's probably best if we can get it out of there, then I can look at it. I don't know if it's rigged to go off if it's disturbed, though. Our best bet is to shut off all power to it at once. Can you shut off the electricity in just this room without affecting the ship?”

“Yes, we can.” The captain pulled up the console access interface on her computer. It took her a few moments to work down to the screen that gave her access to the electrical systems on the ship. The program asked for approval and confirmation of her identity at every step, and she answered each prompt with growing anxiety. Finally, she saw the controls she was looking for. With a few quick commands, she plunged the room into darkness. A few of the cooking implements beeped plaintively as the power failed, then the room was silent.

“Well, we didn't blow up,” said Jass quietly, “so we must have done alright. Let's get this thing out of here.” She pulled a small pocketknife out of a compartment on her belt and began to unscrew the screws that held the box onto the cabinet.

The device lay in pieces across Dani's bed. Jass had decided not to take the box to the main cabin for several reasons. First, she didn't want a potentially explosive device to make its way into the control room. For another thing, there was no reason to let the saboteur know how much she knew, should the traitor come to the cabin on routine business.

“Any ideas?” Jass asked, looking at the pieces of the device.

Dani prodded a small lump of plastic explosive, which had had the detonator cap removed. “I think so. I don't think you've got a typical bomb here. These pieces over here look like they might be for producing an electromagnetic pulse. It wouldn't be a big one, but it would need to be very big to knock out all of our electronics.” She pointed to the explosives. “I think this is just to remove the evidence of what started the process. The EMP would go off first, and just behind it, the little explosion from the plastics. It would have damaged the galley quite a bit, but not much beyond that. Something that could plausibly be caused by faulty wiring, damaged equipment, or simply someone leaving an appliance on in the wrong setting. Clever, and not too hard to set up.”

Jass let her eyes roam over the dismantled device while her thoughts raced. Was this something that had been on board since the beginning, or had their saboteur gotten new supplies at Cybele? She shook her head to clear it. “I need this stuff wrapped up so I can take it with me. I want to look it over myself when I have time to study it. If I stay away from the main cabin much longer, it'll raise questions.”

The pieces were moved onto a spare shirt that Dani had agreed to use for the purpose, and wrapped so that none of them touched. Jass kept the lump of plastic explosive out in the open; she'd send it through an airlock before returning to the cabin.

As she made her way up the corridor to the main cabin, Jass saw a flurry of movement near the science lab. Martina stood in the doorway, with an unreadable expression on her face. Merriam was holding her hand, but it looked to Jass as if they had been arguing until the moment she turned the corner. Before she could speak to either one, Merriam ducked back inside the lab, pulling Martina behind him. The door closed with a click.

Jass paused in the hallway, listening for any sound of an argument or struggle. She considered pounding on the door, insisting that the couple open it and answer for themselves. But her thoughts were still consumed by the device that now rested in pieces in her quarters. Dealing with the workplace romance would have to wait.

She returned to the main cabin just in time for the beginning of her watch. Aaron was pushing off from halfway up one wall of the cabin and soaring across the room before somersaulting and pushing off the far wall.

“Trying for a new way to drive your captain crazy?” she asked as she made her way to the captain's console.

“Nope. Just needed to move for a bit. There's something a little calming about doing something crazy.” He planted his feet against the wall and brought himself to a stop. “You seem more uptight than usual today. Something wrong?”

She watched him as he lowered himself down from the wall. She'd known Aaron for over twelve years. They'd met during her junior year of college, his senior year. Before this trip, Jass would have said that she trusted him more than anyone except Kristin Marshall. But now she wondered. Someone was planting bombs aboard her ship. And it could be anyone.

“No, not really. Still recovering from a night of sleep in what barely qualifies as gravity. Ugh. Make it zero g or full Mars grav, none of that crazy asteroid stuff.”

“No argument here,” he agreed as he made his way to his console and buckled himself into his seat. “By the way, you'll find this on my report, but I thought you'd like to know. With the fuel we got from Cybele, we were able to make up about a day of lost time with extra burns. I also checked the fuel for the ion drives, and we had a small surplus, so we're going to make up lost time with some burns there, too. Right now it looks like we'll only be two or three days late to Gaspra station.”

“Excellent. I knew I hired you for a reason.” Jass pulled up his report and began checking the details. “You know, I feel like I will go insane if I look at one more report. After a few weeks of this, I start fantasizing about getting Dani to program my console to automatically corrupt all report files sent to it.”

“Why, captain, I had no idea you were such an anarchist at heart.”

The word rankled. “I have a healthy distaste for red tape and beurocractic nonsense. I'd hardly call that anarchy. Anarchists are bastards who are determined to bring down the society that made it possible for them to exist in the first place, and they deserve to be tossed out an airlock.”

Aaron twitched at the mention of airlocks. “that's...a strong response to a simple joke. If I didn't know better, I'd say that something out of the usual had happened.”

She sighed, and put away the reports. “I'm sorry, that was harsh. Let's start this all over again. 'Hello, Aaron, thank you for your wonderful work getting us back on schedule.'”

He didn't respond, but stared into the distance, lost in thought. “I know what it is.”

“What what is?”

“I've never heard you so intense on punishing criminals before this trip. It's more than just being worried about the rumors of sabotage, you have reason to believe that someone on this trip is a saboteur.” He looked at her, eyes blazing.

She felt goosebumps rise on her arms and shivered. The main cabin suddenly felt very cold and she was acutely aware of the thin metal shell that protected them from the dark cold vacuum of space. One good blast was all it would take, and they would all be dead.

She cleared her throat and tried to keep her voice even. “If I thought someone on board was going to blow us all to bits, don't you think I'd say something more openly?”

“Not if you thought that might be more dangerous.” He paused, not taking his eyes off her. “You'd keep it to yourself if you wanted to trick the saboteur into a sense of security, or if you didn't want to create a panic...” His voice trailed off. “Or if you didn't know who it was.”

Jass didn't respond.

“No. No, you can't suspect the rest of us. Damn it, Jass!” He banged a hand on the console, jerking his body against the belt that held him to the seat. “I get not trusting some of the new ones. Like Merriam? I wouldn't trust that guy with an unlit candle, to be honest. Or Martina, or Kara, they both need money. But if you can't even talk to me about it! Hell!”

“What was I supposed to do?” she yelled. “i have no proof of who it is or isn't, and damnit, every person on board this ship needs money, as far as I can tell. Except Merriam, who is still disgustingly rich. Believe me, if I knew who was causing this problem, then I'd know who I could trust.”

Aaron looked as if he were about to respond, but turned around and disappeared down the corridor.

Jass sat stewing in frustration. She was half tempted to write him up for abandoning his watch, but decided that that would only make the situation worse. She could only sit and hope that he wouldn't spread the word through the crew, or she might never get the situation back under control.

The next few days were tense, and Jass got used to having a perpetual headache. Aaron refused to speak to her on all but official matters. Martina was crying less, but seemed to be on edge. Merrian was as generally unpleasant as always. Jass found that she had little appetite, and often skipped meals.

Seven days out from Cybele, Jass was on her way back to the cargo bay when the world started spinning. She grabbed onto a handhold in the wall, trying to keep her stomach from bringing up its contents. For a few seconds, she blacked out.

When she came to, she saw Denjiro bending over her, saying something she couldn't hear. In a moment, Kristin appeared beside him. Jass felt a cold hand on her forehead, and felt as if she might lose consciousness again. She struggled to hold on, and slowly found that she could understand the conversation.

“...clearly overworked and dealing with stress,” Kristin was saying. “She's going to need to rest.”

“No,” Jass said, trying to regain her balance. “I've got to push through this. We should have anti-nausea and headache stuff in the med lab.”

“I realize that I'm not actually a doctor,” Kristin commented, “but I've got the most medical training of any of us. You are sick, and if you don't stop to rest now, it's going to be much worse and you'll be forced to rest for longer.”

“But the schedules...got to keep watch on the main cabin...”

“We'll take care of the schedules,” Denjiro said as he and Kristin helped guide Jass down the corridor to her quarters. Denjiro left to alert the crew to the situation and draw up a new schedule for keeping watch in the main cabin. Kristin helped Jass into her hammock and strapped her in to keep her from drifting out.

“Kristin, I can't be in bed right now. There's something wrong...” Jass tried to clear her head enough to say something, to give a warning, but there was a sort of fuzziness and she couldn't remember what she had to warn her friend about.

“I know we have a traitor among us,” Kristin said, leaning in and speaking quietly. “I know you better than anyone else, remember? Something was obviously wrong, and it didn't take much to put two and two together.” She pulled a small metal object from her pocket. “Look. This is a camera. I know we're not supposed to record things without everyone being aware of it, but desperate times call for desperate measures, right? I'm going to put this in the main cabin, just so we have an extra set of eyes. And if I install it while you're bedridden with a fever, you have plausible deniability in case there are any problems later.”

Jass could feel herself falling asleep, but struggled to keep her eyes open. “Will you come tell me when it's set up? I'll feel a lot better knowing that someone's watching everything...”

Kristin nodded. “I'll let you know when it's set up. But first, sleep. According to the messages you've sent the crew, you must have only been getting a few hours a night, and that'll catch up to you quick. You sleep. I'll snoop.”

Jassmyn's eyes fluttered as she fell asleep, and by the time Kristin had closed the door, she was in a dreamless sleep.

When she woke again, the room was still and dark, and she couldn't find her computer to find out what time it was. She tried to undo the straps on the sleeping hammock, but felt her stomach turn at the first hint of motion. The hammock moved gently as the air in the room circulated, and Jass felt as if she were being rocked back to sleep.

The door opened, and Kristin came through. She turned on a small dim light, which was still bright enough to make Jass blink for a moment. “Feeling any better?”

“Not enough to get up yet, at any rate.” Jass made a face. “Or eat anything, for that matter. I still feel tired, but I don't think I can sleep any more just now.”

“No surprise there, you slept for almost fifteen hours. And before you ask, yes, I got the camera set up. It's sending all the files to my computer, so no one else has access.” She floated near her friend's side, hanging one to one of the hammock straps with one hand so as not to drift. “You know, given the size of this room, I almost feel like we're back in college again. Except I think this might be bigger than our dorm was.”

Jass laughed. “Oh man, I hated that room! They had some crazy excuse for putting so many people in such a small space, what was it?”

“I think the official phrasing was, 'This arrangement has been calculated to be optimal for the utilization of space.'”

“You actually remember the phrase? You have more respect for authority than I thought.”

“Respect, nothing! I remember it because you used to give dramatic performances of great monologues that always ended with that line. After a few dozen repetitions, it tended to stick in your head. It's almost got a rhythm to it.”

Jass was silent for a few minutes, then turned to Kristin again. “You ever think we made the wrong choice in leaving college when we did? Some of the others have got pretty cushy jobs by now.”

Kristin shrugged. “Not really. They got what they wanted, I got what I wanted. I thought you got what you wanted, too, but now I'm not so sure. Do you really want to be planetside all the time?”

“No, but they don't really have to worry about getting blown into empty vacuum just because someone wants their business, either. It seems like it might be a fair trade right about now. But, no, it really wouldn't. I'd still rather get blown out that front window than live tied to one planet all the time. I can't imagine what it's like to live like they do, watching launches from a distance if they see them at all. I think some of them never get further from the planet surface than a quick low orbit trip if they need to get to the other side of the world for a business trip. I couldn't do that. I have to be up here. I couldn't live anywhere else...” Jass knew she was babbling and could feel her eyes closing again.

“I think that's enough conversation for now.” Kristin pressed the back of her hand to Jass' forehead. “You're still burning up. You need to sleep off that fever. I'll bring you some food next time. You're going to need to start getting some strength back, and you can't do that on an empty stomach.”

Jass wasn't sure how often she'd awakened for a few minutes and gone back to sleep almost instantly. Kristin came back with food, and she ate, and fell asleep again. Several days passed before she woke up with enough energy to stay awake for more than fifteen minutes.

One morning, Jass floated slowly up from sleep to consciousness, and for the first time in days, felt clear-headed and awake. She released the straps on the hammock and slipped out, stretching her limbs. In a few moments, she had changed into a fresh set of clothes and made her way out into the corridor.

The hall was empty, and she pulled herself along at a steady pace. The door to the main cabin was open, and she floated through.

Dani occupied her usual space near the ceiling of the room, lost in her own world. Kristin and Aaron were bent over his console, deep in conversation about the rest of the trip. Kara sat at the communications console, scanning the airwaves for any unusual signals and downloading the latest updates from Mars. She glanced up as the captain entered and gasped. “Jass!”

in a moment, the entire room was in an uproar. Kara reached Jass first and gave her a quick hug. “It's so good to see you back here! I tried to visit you while you were sick, but you were always asleep!”

Kristin checked Jass' pulse and temperature. “You look better today than I've seen you in weeks. I think we can declare you well enough to be up and about, just don't push it, ok? I'm going to go get you some food, stay here.” With that, she pushed herself into the corridor and disappeared.

Dani didn't say anything, but smiled and waved. Aaron hung back around the edges of the crowd, looking upset. As the others moved back to their stations, he approached. “Can we talk?”

Jass looked at him. “You're the one who's been giving me the silent treatment lately. Speaking of lately...what day is it? I lost all track of time.”

“We're fifteen days out from Cybele City. You were down for about a week.” He pulled her to the window at the front of the cabin, and glanced outside. “Listen, about our last conversation. This isn't easy for me to say, but I'm sorry. You have every right to keep things from me, or from anyone else. You're the captain, not a buddy, and you have to make the best call. I'm sorry you feel like you can't trust me right now, and I wish I could convince you otherwise, but I'm going to have to live with that.” He exhaled and Jass could see the frustration on his face.

“It's alright, Aaron. I should have been more open with the crew. After all, only one person on this ship is a danger, but the danger will be less if we're all a united team. I'm going to change some things very soon. I hope you can wait just a little while longer.” She glanced at her reflection in the window. Her cheekbones stood out more, and she thought her eyes looked shadowed. The week of illness had taken its toll, but she was determined to recover quickly. “I'm through being afraid. I'm still captain of one of the best supply ships on the Belt, I've got the best crew that any captain could hope for, and the skies are clear ahead of us. It's time to step up and take our best shot.”