Escape Velocity

"We can rule out pirates," Jena said as she reviewed the list of cargo the casualty collection team had scanned during their search of the cargo bay. Once the atmosphere was determined to be untainted, the boarding team had removed their cumbersome helmets, Jena's floated next to her. "There're no cut-ins on the hull and all the cargo is accounted for, unless it was an inside job. One guy signs onto a ship and then sets his shipmates up for a pirate attack."

She and Batty worked around the bodies filling the Mordicai's small medical compartment- one collecting personal effects, the other cataloging causes of death, and all had died in brutal fashions; strangled, heads crushed with blunt instruments, throats cut. Some had been mutilated after death. Gouged eyeballs or severed fingers were found floating around the bodies they'd been removed from, as if the killer had not been satisfied with merely taking life.

"Not in the way these people went," Batty said, waving a hand at the bodybags floating around her. "It doesn't make sense to mutilate the dead in the middle of a running battle. My money is on one sicko."

"Ok, so what happened to the sicko?" Jena asked and felt a chill race up her spine. She checked over her shoulder on impulse, suddenly half-expecting to see a maniac pulling himself out of an unzipped bodybag.

"DSA manifests in a lot of ways," Batty said and sighed as she jotted the description of a corpse. "Sometimes it makes you kill other people, sometimes it makes you kill yourself, sometimes it does both."

"How many bodies do we have?" Jena said as she drifted to the med-bay terminal desk against the bulkhead and arrested herself, then dropped and belted herself into the chair mounted beside it. A few quick keystrokes entered an emergency override command and she was given access to most of the ship's systems. She brought up the crew roster and the ship's log.

Batty looked around for a quick visual count. "Twenty-eight."

Jena brought the boom-mike connected to her ear-piece closer to her lips, "Kelly, where are you now?"

"We've cleared the cargo areas and are moving into engineering," Kelly radioed back after several moments. "There's a secondary airlock on the bottom of the hull that's been vented but the pressure door is holding. The control panel beside it was broken in and there was some blood floating around. We think a fight happened there."

Twenty-nine, Jena thought and said, "Keep on your guard. There's still one or two unaccounted for. Stay away from the airlocks if you can help it."

"Don't worry about that, ma'am," Kelly replied. "This ship is giving me the creeps as it is. What's the operating plan if we find a survivor?"

"Help them out if they need it," Jena said and accessed the ship's log first. "Just remember that they might not be mentally stable- safety first. If they go for you, take them down, my call."

"You're call, ma'am. Roger that."

Jena paged down the log entries until she found the most recent one: dated 48 hours previous. "And another thing, stick together. I don't want you two getting separated."

A laugh came over the radio, breaking the tension she could feel building, then Kelly said, "No worries, ma'am. Moralez is practically glued to the back of my vacc-suit."

Jena left the last transmission unacknowledged as the last log entry began to play. The captain of the Mordicai appeared on the display. He had been a handsome, 50-something man with a salt-and-pepper beard and a baritone, no-nonsense voice.

"We've come out of transit without incident. The ship's manifest was sent off to Tau beacon who confirmed reception. We've realigned the primary dish and have been picking up signals from Mars, and to a lesser extent, Earth. It's good to be back. The crew have fully woken from cold sleep and are operating at near peak efficiency, except for a few newbies who still have the chills. Nelson, Butler, and Veronica have been removed from the watch schedule and sent to the med-bay for treatment of same. Doc tells me that they're expected to recover soon. We have half a load of fuel and are angling for Mars capture. We should begin orbiting Mars in approximately seventy-two hours."

The view on the display faded as the log entry ended. Jena sat back in the chair and realized that Batty had been reading over her shoulder.

"What do you think?" Jena said. Batty shrugged.

"If this was from seventy-two hours ago, then the killing would already have started," Batty said and turned away. "And unless I overlooked something, and I haven't, the man who made that log entry is neither tagged nor bagged, so if I had to make a guess about who it was that did this, I'd say it was him. Unless it was one of the ones without a head."

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Jena said and cleared her throat. "Mordicai boarding team calling Charlie November, come in, over."

"We read you Mordicai, over." The Constellation called back.

"This is Mitchell. We count two-seven KIA over here. There's no sign of a perpetrator but we found an airlock that'd been blown. We think maybe he got flushed out into space. We have people making their way back to engineering right now to finish sweeping the ship. I expect we'll have to replace some circuit boards before we can get the engines lit again, over."

"Mitchell, this is the Captain," Crites' voice came through the tiny speaker mounted to her vacc-suit. "We're sending a repair team over with parts and some addition command crew. Get that ship together and take it to our Mars base. I want everything you find documented thoroughly. There'll be an investigation and I don't want any slip-ups, do you read me? Over."

"That's a roger," Mitchell said and supressed a snicker as Batty rolled her eyes. "What's the ETA on the repair team, over?"

"They just launched, so figure they'll reach you in ten mikes. You'll be the ranking officer on board, Mitchell, organize the repair party and get underway. Constellation is burning for the Virginis jump point. I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but we've got to catch up with the rest of the fleet, over."

Jena felt a lump rise in her throat. She and her boarding party were being left behind. "Sir, once we get to Mars we'll be unable to reach you before you make the jump, over."

"That's affirmative, Mitchell. Command has been notified of your situation. You'll be put on the next ship heading outbound as soon as available space can be found. We'll rendezvous with you and the rest of your salvage crew on the frontier. Charlie November out."

"Smleck." Jena said and slouched back in the chair.

"Look on the bright side," Batty said as Jena gave her a skeptical shrug. "At least we don't have to deal with Crites again for quite a while."

Jena frowned. "Small compensation."

***

SOL-8/Neptune

Triton

The faculty of the SOLC 11 station were dressing the halls of the dome settlement for an event that happened once every one hundred and sixty five years. At 4,496 kilometers out, the planet Neptune was completing an orbit of the Sun and the crew of the Triton colony planned on bringing the new year in with a bang.

"We don't get a chance like this very often," Said attendant Christina Warner, who led Ajax on a tour of the facility. Bonventure was sitting outside on the surface of the frozen Neptunian moon, waiting for a team to top off its tanks with liquid Hydrogen. "We haven't done anything like this since we left Earth. It's a once in a lifetime thing so, it might get a little bit crazy around here."

"I can imagine," Ajax said as he marveled at the zero-G fuel refining going on outside the clear plexi the dome was made from. "But with rationing in effect I'm not sure you'll have much to party with."

"We tried to save some provisions, like from the only time we received a shipment of steak so far, we put aside enough for the staff to have one each," Warner said and turned down a corridor, following a marker indicating the community areas. "I think everybody has a little bit of something or another put away for that special occasion. The best thing about Triton is that the surface is covered in water ice."

"Which helps us with our own potent micro-brew," A voice called, halting the procession. Ajax turned and saw a man approaching fast, Merrill Weston, the station commander. "The local favorite is called Triton Tank-Swill and it packs a mean punch. Our station family will be a Neptunian year old tomorrow. We relieved the old crew eleven Terran years ago, but to have made it this far is a big step for us."

"When's it supposed to kick off?" Ajax said as Weston joined the group and they continued onward. "If we're still here I hope you wouldn't mind if we joined in."

"The party is set to start at the beginning of the station's next orbit around our host world, Neptune," Weston said and shot a knowing look at the attendant, who moved off as her commander took over the tour. "The site for the party is going to be in the middle of the station's greenhouse. It's really the centerpiece of the whole outpost. So much like a rainforest that we forget where we are sometimes."

"Did you all get any effects from the solar storm?"

Weston shook his head and said, "Negative. We were on the lee-side of Neptune when it came through. We'll have to add that to the list of things to celebrate."

"We picked up a few maydays on the way out but search and rescue already was already getting help to them," Ajax said and, through a nearby viewport, spotted an odd looking structure beside the refinery out on the surface. "What the hell is that?"

Weston stopped and squinted as he peered out the same viewport. "This was a science station before the company took over and founded the colony here. Once we moved all the scientist out they decided to leave the telescope array. We get better shots of Alpha Centauri than we do of our own sun. Amatuer astronomy is quite a popular hobby among the crew."

"So you service the ships that come through and spend the rest of the time trying to kill boredom?" Ajax said and stared at a bevy of beauties that waved at Weston as they passed in the opposite direction.

"That pretty well describes what we do here," Weston said, using his hands to elaborate as he he spoke, barely acknowledging the women who walked away giggling. "We've been planning the New Year festival for months but it'll be a working festival. Business before pleasure. It wouldn't do to have someone T-O on account of our fun."

The rounded a corner and came upon the station's recreation complex, a larger geodesic dome. Dozens of people were in sight, some in various stages of undress, bathing in an artificial lake built into a small crater on the surface. Others exercised in a large common area full of equipment, conditioning muscles for their eventual return to Earth. Vines of some leafy vegetation hung from overhead supports, recharging the Oxygen beneath the domes.

"It's been a while since I had to make a stop this far out," Ajax said and admired several of SOLCorp's best. "The last time I was inbound I had to stop on Titania. What's the going rate for fuel here?"

"The Outworld Alliance lets the colonies set their own rates for services, but fuel is still regulated from Earth like all the rest of the SOLCorp stations in the human sphere," Weston said and led him through the complex toward the administration dome on the other side. "Four hundred credits per liquid ton."

Ajax snorted a laugh and said, "It's double that in the Eridani system, Lalande, too. Maybe you haven't been around at all but I have and the company is gouging hell out of people outside Sol system."

Weston shrugged.

"You're very well traveled, Mister Kinkaid, I'm just a glorified wageslave from Kentucky who's never been anywhere. I'm sure there's some price fixing going on… but not here, not in Sol."

"Do I get a corporate discount?" Ajax said hopefully. Weston barked out a laugh and shook his head.

"Everyone gets treated equally," He said as they came to a sealed hatch. Weston punched in a security code at the heavy door slid open. There were office spaces behind it. "That's why our arbiters are in such high demand. People respect our impartiality."

Ajax nodded a silent agreement. SOLCorp arbiters had negotiated the end of the Procyon crisis and the eventual UNSOL withdrawl. The unified Earth government had eventually been broken by squabbles over who was most responsible for the perceived defeat.

"I appreciate you showing me around. Usually we just land, fuel, and get back underway. It's nice to feel some honest to goodness gravity." Ajax said as Weston guided him through the door and toward another one near the back of the compartment marked "Private."

"I know what you mean," Weston said as he made his way around the desk that took up most of the compartment. "I was assigned to a station in the asteroid belt a few years ago, Pallas, are you familiar with it?"

"I know of it," Ajax said and hoped that he was able to hide his discomfort with the question. "I had a girlfriend once that said she was from there."

"Anyway, once I finished my assigment I went back to Earth," Weston said absently as he busied himself entering information into the station computer. "The damned gravity had me laid up in bed for two weeks before I started getting used to it again. I don't how the people that live on these low-g worlds can tolerate it."

"Most of them have only seen holos of Earth," Ajax said and removed a TIL purchase card from his pocket, sliding it across the desk into Weston's waiting hand. "Maybe they get to Mars once in a while, maybe they never leave home."

"True enough," Weston said and scanned the card with a small handheld laser Device. He smiled and handed the card back when the computer chimed pleasantly. "Which means that except for people like you, Solcorp would be out of business."

Ajax laughed. SOLCorp was the largest business entity in known space. The fuel stations they built across the human sphere made interstellar commerce possible. "I'm sure you'd be able to turn a few credits here and there."

"I lost a few credits when you got caught, Mister Kinkaid," Weston said and opened a small locker beneath his desk, removing two bottles marked, "Triton Tank Swill," and passed one to Ajax, who smiled as he accepted it. "I was betting you never would."

Ajax laughed and said, "So was I."

***

SS Mordicai

Jena was waiting at the docking station when the transfer shuttle arrived. She listened to the sound of it thumping against the hull and slid away from the door. It opened after a minute had passed and two men wearing light pressure suits floated through carrying a large crate between them.

"What've you got?" Jena said and pointed at the crate.

"Multipurpose mainframe boards." Came the reply. Jena pointed down the corridor behind her.

"All the way down and to the right," She said. "It's a straight shot to engineering."

"Aye-aye." The pair said in unison and drifted away. The next person out of the shuttle wore the emblem of an Assistant Adjutant General.

"Welcome aboard," Jena said and offered a hand but withdrew it when one wasn't offered in turn. "I'm Lieutenant Mitchell. I assume you'll want to view what we've collected?"

"Correct." Was the terse reply. Jena pointed down the corridor.

"Straight down, to the left, and up one deck to the Med-Bay," Jena said and pointed down the corridor. "We've set that up as a casualty collection point."

And so it went. The repair team was directed back toward the engine room, supply bearers were directed to the crew areas

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jena said and laughed when she saw the last person come off the shuttle. It was Tali.

"The XO asked for volunteers to come over for this and I raised my hand," Tali said as Jena triggered the hatch and it slid closed behind them. "There was no way in hell I was going to stay on Constellation and deal with Crites all by myself. We're battle-buddies, remember? You watch my back, I watch yours."

"Thanks for remembering," Jena said and pushed off from the bulkhead, drifting down the corridor toward the main axis. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. There's so much to do here I was starting to wonder if I could've done it all myself."

"Have no fear, Power-girl is here," Tali said from her trailing position. "Just tell me what I can do."

"First I need you to run checks on the navigation and helm systems," Jena said. "I'll probably be back in engineering for most of the trip to Mars. I just need you to make sure we get there. Once you get those systems checked I need you to get billets assigned and a watch schedule made out, nothing fancy, make sure everyone gets adequate rack time."

"No problem," Tali said, sounding eager to begin her assigned tasks. "Which way to the bridge?"

Jena pointed left as they came to hatch sealing off the main axis. "It's all the way up front. The systems in this crate are old but I think you'll be able to handle it."

"I usually don't handle old equipment," Tali said as she floated toward the nose of the ship. "But my dad worked on a model like this when I was a kid. He told me all about it and I still remember most of it. You have your radio on, right?"

Her radio crackled to life before Jena could answer.

"Lieutenant, this is Kelly. We found something. There's a compartment back here that's locked from the inside. We can hear something moving around in there, over."

"Just stay put. I'm on my way, out," Jena replied, rotated 180 degrees and pushed off down the corridor heading aft toward engineering. "Get to the bridge," She called over her shoulder. "We need to get underway as soon as possible."

"Aye-aye, Jena. I mean, aye-aye, Captain."

It took 10 minutes to reach Kelly and Moralez, who left chemical light tabs floating behind them as they explored. Both men started as she drifted into their midst. Jena stood with her back against the bulkhead, bracing herself against it, nodding towards Kelly as she raised her 10mm pistol to firing position. The muzzle pointed at whatever living thing was behind the steel door.

"Do it," Jena said. Kelly spun the manual release mounted beside the hatch, this one turning more easily then the one on the hull. The door groaned as it slowly but steadily opened. "Just be ready in case whatever it is decides to make a rush for us."

"You just keep that pistol handy, " Kelly said, grousing as he kept the locking wheel spinning, in less than a minute the hatch was ¾ open. "I guarantee you that I'll be out of your way if you have to shoot."

The cavernous storage locker was filled with floating debris, things of all shapes and sizes caught in the beam from the light attached to the shoulder hard-point of her vacc-suit. Small food particles, condensation droplets, and mold spores drifted into crumbled ration bags, empty water bladders, and dirty socks… a free-floating mess that began to drift out into the corridor.

"Anybody home?" Moralez called into the darkness. His voice echoed off the metal bulkheads but got no reply. "Hello?" Moralez turned with a sheepish smile on his face. "Maybe they're just shy."

"You two were sure about this?" Jena said and gave Kelly and Moralez a suspicious look. She lowered the pistol. "What did you hear? Start from the top."

"We were making our way back toward engineering when we think we hear someone laughing," Kelly said and rubbed the back of his neck. "Or maybe like they were just talking to themselves. We checked the cargo bay, and all the rest of the storage lockers. This one was the only one sealed from the inside."

"Christ and Allah, you two scared the hell out of me," Jena said and waved the pistol toward the darkness beyond the hatchway. She relaxed and allowed herself to drift away from the bulkhead. "You know what happened here. Here I was thinking that you might've found a witness, but no. All we got is a garbage locker."