Outworld Asylum

SS Mordicai

Tali slept, or tried to sleep, naked in a sleeping bag zipped upright on the bulkhead. Her quarters had formerly belonged to a mechanic named Oswald… she'd found his diary and read through it, what a tragic, uninteresting life Oswald had lived. She decided that he'd probably prayed for death at times, but that was not the reason sleep had recurringly been denied her, she had other issues. Seeing Jena in her workout togs had made it difficult to maintain her casual bearing, though in the end she'd been betrayed by her own nipples, which found it downright hard. She'd flushed red and insisted that she be allowed to pedal the gravity bike around it's axis first, so that she could depart all the more quickly, still she could see Jena when she closed her eyes. Every time she thought of it, she felt the same thrill as she had the first time she'd kissed a girl, sending a tingle down her spine.

She quietly moaned and let her hand find the sweet spot between her legs, but the stimulation she provided herself provided no relief, not when the real deal was so close, only a few compartments away. She'd dropped subtle quips about women-on-women congress before that Jena hadn't responded to, or if she did it was merely to roll her eyes and change the subject, but she'd never denounced it, and that drove Tali to distraction.

"Fek!" She cursed and found the sleeping-bag zipper. Once floating free she opened the bun her hair was in and let it float, tickling her shoulders. She curled herself into tuck and starting spinning in the narrow compartment, just because she enjoyed it, after several revolutions she straightened out and spread her arms wide, letting conservation of angular momentum slow her to a gentle tumble that ended when her bare feet hit the bulkhead next to the viewport. "What am I going to do?"

She squatted and looked between her legs, out the viewport, hoping the stars between her feet might provide an answer, but none was forthcoming. Talk to her, Tali thought and snapped her fingers as she smiled. The answer suddenly was easy.

"It wouldn't bother me so much if I new she wouldn't want me," She said and pushed off and drifted across her quarters to the locker where her clothes were stored. "But what if she does want me? I'll have to look good."

Tali found a clean jumpsuit and decided it was enough. She dressed quickly and left through the compartment hatch, drifting toward the bridge.

"Apex Titan. Apex Titan," Jena muttered to herself and paged down through the holo-display listing the merchantmen confirmed in Sol system. The ship's computer was simultaneously running the name through it's data-cores, looking for any match. When she came to the end of the list she sat back and ran her fingers through her hair. "No Apex Titan."

Jena stopped the playback of Huxely's testimony after listening to it for the third time, removed her headset, then rubbed her stinging eyes. She'd come up with no more revelations than she had after the first and second reviews.

The bridge of the Mordicai was dim, lit only by the glow of instruments, and quiet except for the infrequent radio intercept from passing ships and the subharmonic rumble of the engines. She reclined in the command chair, alone in the compartment, the watch schedule that Tali compiled had her pulling double-shifts for the next 48 hours. A Customs Authority frigate was expected to rendezvous with them sometime inside that window.

She retrieved the headset and donned it, then touched the switch labeled with white tape marked "detention" and said, "This is Lieutenant Mitchell. How's the situation down there?"

"He's sleeping," Came the reply from Electrician's Mate Johnson, one of the replacements sent over from Constellation hours before, one of the two guards she'd ordered to be watching Huxley at all times. "Just like he was last time you called us, ma'am."

"He may only be pretending to be sleeping," Jena corrected. She'd made a point to call down to the security area every 15 minutes, partially to keep herself awake, partially to keep the guard detail on their toes. "Remember that he's the only suspect in the butchery of twenty-nine of his shipmates. He might be looking to raise his count by two more. You get me, Ephram?"

"Yes, ma'am, perfectly," Ephram stuttered with what Jena took to be nervousness. "If he breaks wind we'll put it in the log."

"Just watch him." Jena said and closed the comm-channel. She looked down at her Krono-Tek and noted the time of her next check-in. Once the Customs Authority takes over I'm going to sleep for an entire day, she thought and sighed, then I'm going to get something decent to eat. She turned as the sound of a pressure seal breaking drew her attention aft. Tali stood at the top of the ladder attached to the overhead, waiting for the hatch to open completely, a thermal jug slung over one shoulder, gravity provided by engine thrust kept her anchored to the deck as she climbed up into the bridge.

"What are you doing here?" Jena said as Tali moved to lean against the console beside the command chair. "You're supposed to be bunked out right now. You need your rest. Especially if you're going to relieve me in another six hours."

"I couldn't sleep," Tali said and unslung the thermal jug. "You know how those things are. You close your eyes and all you can see are the same things waiting for you right where you left off."

"What was it?" Jena said as Tali opened the jug and the smell of hot coffee wafted out. She poured a small amount into the lid, a zero-g safe cup, and handed it over the console. Jena accepted the cup and cradled it in her hands, absorbing the warmth from it, although the ship was slowly being returned to normal tempertures, the bridge was still chilly.

"Nothing important," Tali said and removed a similar cup from a cargo pocket of her pressure suit. She sighed as she poured coffee into it. "I'm sure I'll get over it."

"I'm sure you will," Jena said and let a smile slowly crease her face. "Is there something that's been bothering you?"

"Just what happened to everyone," Tali said and sipped from her cup. "I'd hate to be on a cruise with someone who has a homicidal brain-burn… especially when it happens so randomly."

"Don't worry about it," Jena said and took a gulp from her own, a large one that burned her mouth as it went down, coffee went flying as she coughed. "Smleck."

"How can I NOT worry about it?" Tali said and waved a hand at the deck. "We have a guy who qualifies as a mass murderer if we can prove he did it… and there are more people like him out there."

"Fleet tests everyone for DSA," Jena said and tried to work a soothing tone into her voice. "You… me… everyone. They wouldn't have let us on board a ship if we were even susceptible… you know that."

"I know," Tali said and nodded. "But what if the tests were wrong? The thought of even having an episode scares the hell out of me. I'd rather go out an airlock without spacesuit rather than go after my shipmates. What if… what if I jumped you sometime?"

"I wouldn't let that happen," Jena said with steel resolve. "There are treatments for it. Serenity, I don't know what our version of it's called but there's that too, worst case scenario I'd put sedate you and put you into cold sleep until we got to a colony someplace that's not in deep space… or I'd get you back to Earth. Don't worry."

The computer chirped then, a signal that it had found a match, Tali looked over Jena's shoulder as she touched a symbol-key that would display the contact. It was a text format report of a pirate attack.

"What's this?" Tali said and both leaned in close to look. Jena began reading to herself.

"A traffic-control advisory, the Apex Titan was officially declared lost in Eridani system today after radioing in a pirate attack one week ago. The Apex registered freighter was declared overdue on fourth-day/third-shift prompting a search by local militia forces which revealed found no trace of the missing ship. Until more information becomes available, its cargo and crew are presumed lost… FlashNews. Look at the date: twenty-one-eighty-four. That means it happened seven years ago."

Tali turned and felt her breath rebounding from Jena's ear, their faces close, she could feel her heart pushing blood.

"If Huxley expected the captain of Apex Titan to vouch for him, he's out of luck." Jena said and turned her head, too quickly for Tali to evade, Tali cursed as their heads rapped together. Jena rubbed the red spot on her forehead. "Sorry."

"It's all right," Tali said pushed off the back of the chair to get clear. "But maybe he knew that knew that and was just using it as his alibi. What was his name?"

"Xan Lee. Let's find out how much our friend knows." Jena said and unbuckled her harness, angling for the hatch, Tali fell in behind her.

"How much longer until the Customs Authority gets here?" Tali said and admired the way Jena filled out her pressure suit, happy that for once she could look without worry of being caught.

"Not soon enough," Jena said. "We won't get back to Constellation before the fleet gets to the jump point anyway, just try and enjoy it. Did you like Mars?"

"The people seemed friendly," Tali said. "But I guess I didn't really find anyone my type. I really wanted to see the Archeron Lava Falls on Pax Oceanus… to lay out a blanket with someone special and just… let what happens happen."

Jena laughed and said, "You never struck me as the romantic type… more like the kind that just takes what she wants, consequences be damned."

"It's an image I like to cultivate," Tali said and silently wished she could better gauge what certain consequences would be. "But the reality is that I can only take what's available."

"You never seem to have any problem with that." Jena said and smiled over her shoulder at Tali as they drifted toward the tail of the ship.

"Yes, it's usually right in front of me," Tali said and immediately regretted it in a fit of paranoia. "I mean, my Granny always said that's when things are hardest to see… of course, her eyesight was so bad that she had to wear corrective lenses… her eyes always looked totally weird."

"It usually is," Jena agreed. "Your Granny must've had special sight. She wasn't a type-three, was she?"

"Not that she ever admitted to," Tali said, happy that the subject had been changed. "Sometimes I wondered though. What about you?"

"I never asked." Jena said as they passed the junction that split a corridor off toward hatch that they had boarded the ship through.

"Lieutenant... wait up!" Someone called from behind them. Jena braked, dragging her hands against the bulkhead, slowly so Tali would have time to do likewise without crashing into her. Batty approached from the direction of the junction they'd just passed.

"What is it?" Jena said and spun in place to face the approaching medic.

"I collected toxicology samples from all of the bodies," Batty said and braked to a stop just behind the soles of Tali's boots. "The results have been analyzed. I just thought you might like to know that everyone on this ship was thick with Serenity... to get the kind of levels I found, each of them would've needed several doses per day."

"Even Huxely?" Tali said.

Batty nodded and said, "Him, too."

Jena gave Tali a curious look and said, "Did we find any tablet bottles in any of the crew compartments? Anything at all that would've indicated use?"

Tali shook her head, the action sending her into a slow roll that she quickly braced against and said, "Nothing that I've found... or heard about anyone finding. Standing orders are to report it immediately."

"That's not all," Batty said. "The analysis revealed a new compound suspended in the Serenity residue, it's synthetic, that's all I know. I found particles of it bonded to the cell walls of every victim... there's nothing like it on record. It must be something totally new."

"What do you need to find out for sure?" Jena said.

"A full scale research lab and about a month of time," Batty said. "Barring that I'd need some samples of the Serenity they were taking to analyze. There's only so much I can do with the primitive equipment we have on board here."

"Thanks," Jena said as Batty spun in place and set to return to the medical lab. "If you find anything else, I have my radio on."

"That's all for now." Batty said and pushed off in the direction she'd arrived from. Jena reached for the holster on her belt containing the handheld scanner. She removed it and pushed it across to Tali.

"Go back through the cargo holds," Jena said as Tali caught the scanner. "Use the highest setting and go through every nook and cranny. I think I missed something when I went through the last time."

"Ok, Jena... I mean, aye-aye, ma'am," Tali said and pushed off in the direction that Batty had taken. "What do I do if I find anything?"

"Call it in immediately," Jena said. "And for God's sake, don't take any. I've got some questions for our Mister Huxely."

The prisoner was asleep when Jena opened the hatch and drifted through into the dimly lit holding compartment. Seamus and Johnson, the two junior engineers assigned as guards, were nodding off but snapped to full alertness when she came through.

"I hope to Christ and Allah that you two weren't sleeping on duty." Jena barked at them and shot a glance at Huxely, who was restrained with plastic handcuffs and zipped upright to the bulkhead in a sleeping bag.

"No ma'am," Ephram stammered as Johnson nodded agreement. "Not a chance... it's just that we've been working for the last twelve hours to get the systems on this tub fixed."

"I understand," Jena said and braked to a stop. "I understand that sometimes your eyes get a little heavy when you're trying to watch someone who's doing nothing but coping z's. Just remember that if Captain Crites were here, he'd flush both of you out an airlock, but I'm not him."

Both guards relaxed and slumped forward almost simultaneously. Jena nodded toward their captive and said, "Wake him up."

"No need for that, Lieutenant," Huxely said quietly. Everyone in the compartment turned toward him. "I've been conscious since you came in. Has the Customs Authority finally arrived?"

"Not yet," Jena said and drifted closer to him. "But I'm happy you're awake. There are some things I'd like to discuss."

"Like my release?" Huxely said with mock hopefulness that theatrically died as Jena shook her head.

"No," Jena said. "You're being held like this for our own protection... since there's noone left alive onboard to corroborate your story. I just had a talk with my medical tech. She says that everyone on board, excluding the captain who seems to be missing, was blood-rich with Serenity. You know what that is... don't you?"

"I doubt there's anyone in the human sphere who doesn't." Huxely said. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Where'd you get it?" Jena said. "We searched your quarters and didn't find even an empty bottle with the Transterran logo on it, much less what it would've taken for you all to have blood-levels that we found."

"Is your medic competent?" Huxely said.

"Very competent," Jena said. "She isn't the type to make mistakes doing simple blood tests. Now where did you get it?"

Huxely seemed to shrug within the sleeping bag. "Maybe it was in the water ration we were issued every day. Maybe it was in our food rations. Captain liked to have a docile crew."

"Just like the Apex Titan?" Jena said and relished the confused look that played across Huxely's face. "Who was your Captain then?"

"If you're trying to trick me for whatever reason, it won't work," Huxely said. "I know what you all suspect me of and it's only natural, but I'm innocent."

"Your guilt or innocence is a matter for the courts," Jena said. "But if you're guilty, I've heard very interesting things about the SolMax DeepCore. I hear that cannibals live near the bottom levels. Where do you think a man with twenty-nine homicides to his record will go."

"I wouldn't know," Huxely said. "And I'm not planning on finding out… not as long as I get a fair trial. I know I couldn't get one here, on this ship, not when you and your entire crew have already pre-judged me."

"We're just trying to establish the facts," Jena said and was interrupted by the call signal coming through her earpiece. She turned away from Huxely. "What is it?"

"It's me," Tali radioed in. "I'm down in cargo bay three. You'd better get down here."

"I'm on the way," Jena said and made for the hatch. She stopped to address her guards. "Your shift is up in a few hours. Just stick it out. You can sleep then."

"Yes, ma'am." Ephram and Johnson replied. Jena nodded and went to find Tali.

She found her floating next to a cargo container amid a cloud of purple gel-capsules. The container, had it been filled with grain, looked as if a gigantic rat had gnawed through the side and spilled some of the contents. She knew the capsules on sight… Serenity.

"There are four containers all labeled the same, but it looks like someone went to work on the side of this one with a knife or a drill to get at what was inside," Tali said and waved a hand at the pills floating around her. She held a portable vaccuum device in her other hand. "Cargo had been shifted to cover the holes, but when I exposed them all these came out before I could stop it."

"How much do you think is in there?" Jena said and waved at the container. It was labeled "Computer Parts- AI memory- Cat. #0903."

"I'm guessing at least a few hundred thousand doses," Tali said and shrugged. "No telling how many doses were taken out."

"Drug runners," Jena said as Tali lifted the vaccuum and began sucking up the cloud of pills around them. "We got us a drug running ship. If the solar storm hadn't knocked out their navigation we probably would've never found them. Christ and Allah."

Tali nodded her agreement and said, "What do you want me to do with this stuff? What if the crew gets into it?"

"Don't tell anyone about it," Jena said and brushed away the capsules that brushed against her lips. "I've got some transmissions to send. Customs is going to be all over this. Once you get done cleaning up this mess… and that means all of it… come find me again."

Tali nodded and hoped that Jena had missed the bulges of the capsules that already filled her breast pockets. No way was she ever going to have a mental meltdown that could cost the lives of her friends… not when she had a remedy so easily at hand… just in case.

***

Sol-3/Earth

Leda slept alone in her own bed. The hiring season didn't begin for several months and with Ajax gone, her list of "clients" was limited to interviews with existing personnel in the Research and Development department, reading them for any signs of disloyalty or impropriety.

She dreamed of floating in zero-g, in space, yet she was without a spacesuit. The starfield, with its millions of points of light, was almost tangible, as if the starcape of Mithras was embracing her within its glittering folds. Something she could not discern was pulling at her, towing her along an uncertain path through the solar system. She passed Mars and Jupiter, then Saturn but began slowing as she came to green Neptune. As she watched it spin, a dark line running north and south from pole to pole rotated into view and stopped when it faced her. The split slowly opened, revealing an orange sphere beneath the green surface, striated with red lines that began at the center of the sphere and radiated outward. When the split snapped shut and opened again she realized several things: that she was looking at an eye that had just blinked, that the eye was looking at her, and that it was nothing human. She blinked and there were several Neptunes, like Jade pearls strung on the same necklace, pearls that opened into eyes and set to watching her.