Malfunction, page 9
Now the inner doors were opening, and they were inching into the docking bay, the shuttle in front barely above the floor. Logan glanced across at Katia, who was huddled inside her space blanket. She looked colder than him. As though she sensed his gaze, she turned to face him, pulling the oxygen mask free of her face. Beneath it, her lips were almost white. “Yay, we’re alive.”
He pulled his own mask off. “Yeah. For a while there, I thought…”
“Me, too. But here we are. Not where we planned to be, but it will do for the moment. At least until I’ve had something to eat. Jesus, I’m starving.”
“Hell, and you say I have a one-track mind. Is food all you ever think about?” At that moment, his own stomach let out a growl.
“Pretty much. And being warm. I have never been so cold in my entire life.”
In front of them, the other shuttle had come to a halt. They were still moving, and Logan tightened his hands on the arms of his chair in anticipation. Still he lurched forward as they hit, only just managing to stay seated. Next to him, Katia was thrown from her seat, and she swore loudly.
“You two okay in there?” Rico’s voice came down the comm unit.
“Just peachy,” Katia replied, and Logan heard the other man laugh.
“Okay, well, I’ve had enough of flying for the moment. So let’s get out of these things.”
The comm went silent. Katia struggled to her feet, clearly unwilling to release her hold on her silver blanket. Once standing, she looked down at him, as if considering what to say or maybe whether to say anything at all. “Look, just…” She trailed off then continued. “…be a little…careful around Rico.”
What the hell did that mean? “Careful?”
“Try not to piss him off.”
“Do you think I’m likely to piss him off? Does he piss off easily?”
“Oh yeah. He can be a little…unpredictable, and short-tempered, and basically pissy. Just be careful, and if I give you the look, then back off and shut up.”
His curiosity was rising now. She sounded genuinely worried. “The look?”
She glared at him, eyes narrowed, brows drawn together. The “look,” he gathered. It might have been scary if she hadn’t been so tiny and wrapped in a silver blanket. “Got it,” he said. He was definitely getting curious about the captain of the Trakis Two.
“Okay. And stick close to me. Don’t wander off on your own.” She thought for a moment. “Oh, and if I tell you to run, then run. Now, let’s get off this pile of junk and find some food.”
She shuffled off in the direction of the door. Logan pushed himself to his feet and tightened his blanket around himself. The air felt thin, and he was breathing faster than normal, but otherwise everything seemed to be working fine. Katia pressed her hand to the door panel, and absolutely nothing happened. She swore and kicked it, and it slid to the side. “Freaking load of crappy junk.”
Logan followed her out the door and down into a space similar to the docking bay on the Trakis One. Large, cavernous—their footsteps echoing on the metal ramp—and packed with mostly unidentifiable stuff. A man stood beside the other space shuttle. He was no doubt inspecting the damage from where they smashed into it, but he turned as if he sensed them approaching. Rico?
The first thing Logan noticed was the man wasn’t in uniform. He wore black pants, black boots, and a black shirt. He was tall, probably six-foot-four, the same as Logan, lean, with black hair and olive skin and dark eyes. There was a sense of…difference about him, something that made him stand out, and a feeling of leashed power.
As his gaze settled on the two of them, his dark eyes narrowed. A shudder ran through Logan. He’d thought he was cold before, but now his insides froze like he’d swallowed a ball of ice. He went still. This was the man who had suggested Katia kill him to conserve the air. At the memory, he had to fight the urge to take a step back. Instead, he stood his ground, returned the stare, and wished he had some bullets in his gun. Rico appeared unarmed, and Logan would have liked to have some sort of advantage. But his bullets were still strewn across the floor in the shuttle, and he wasn’t going back for them. He thought about saluting but didn’t want to let go of his blanket just yet, and besides, the man wasn’t in uniform. Maybe he wasn’t military. He didn’t look military—might be the ponytail. He settled for a quick nod.
Finally, Rico turned his attention to Katia. Logan’s tense muscles relaxed, and he could breathe again. Rico’s gaze dropped over her small figure, and a smile curved his lips. “Hey, kitten, nice outfit. Silver is definitely your color. You look cold. You want something to warm you up?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “I need food.”
Rico laughed. “What a surprise.” Then he nodded in Logan’s direction. “Are you going to introduce us?”
“Yes, but only when I’ve had food. Oh, and by the way—your minor side effect sucked big time.”
“I knew you would cope.”
“No, you didn’t.” She glared. “Food, now.”
Rico raised an eyebrow but nodded. “Let’s go, then.”
Katia shuffled forward, rustling as she moved, to walk beside the other man, and Logan fell into place behind. They walked quickly, and Katia had to occasionally skip to keep up. Rico moved with an animal grace, seeming to flow, almost inhuman.
Yeah, he was being fanciful—probably suffering from shortage of oxygen to the brain.
He looked away, studying the ship instead. The first thing he noticed was that the Trakis Two appeared in much better condition than the Trakis One. The metal walls shone, and the lights remained on, not a flicker. Another difference—they never met any other crew members. He’d lost track of time on the shuttle. Maybe it was “night time” and everyone was asleep, but he didn’t think that long had passed. It had been just after lunchtime when they left the Trakis One.
Finally, they came to a halt in front of a set of double doors. Rico placed his hand on the panel, and they slid open, revealing a galley similar in design to the one on the Trakis One. But again, it appeared in much better condition, everything sparkling. And it was warm…hot. The heat penetrated through his blanket.
Katia stood in the middle of the room and shed her silver blankets, dropping them to the floor in a heap. “Oh my God, that feels so good.”
“I turned the heating up for you,” Rico said.
“You’re an angel,” she said. “Don’t let anyone tell you different.”
Logan unwrapped himself, folded the blanket, and placed it on the end of the table.
Katia was already poking at the food dispenser. “How the hell does this work?”
Rico moved her aside and pressed a few buttons. Seconds later, a steaming bowl appeared. She picked it up, lifted it to her nose. “Beef stew?”
“Yes, but minus any real beef. I’ve been told it tastes the same.”
Was the guy a vegetarian?
Katia picked up her spoon and started shoveling the food in. Logan watched, and her gaze lifted, and she met his and grinned between mouthfuls. “It’s so good.”
He shook his head, but then his stomach growled.
Rico handed him a similar bowl, and he took it to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. It was sinking in. He was alive. His brain was starting to work again, to start turning the facts over in his mind.
There were way too many malfunctions going on around here. Or were there? The fact was he was out of his depth—he needed more information. Maybe he’d find this was normal and shuttles went off the rails regularly. After all, Security Officer Caldwell’s shuttle had exploded. Perhaps they’d been lucky. At least they were in once piece, not blown into space dust. He took a mouthful of stew, chewed, swallowed. It was good. Considering it was over five hundred years old. But he supposed if they could keep live people in good condition for that amount of time, then food should be no problem. At least on the Trakis Two. He concentrated on the food; it was better than contemplating getting back on a shuttle and continuing with the investigation.
Rico placed a steaming mug next to him. Coffee. Then he took the seat opposite and sat back, watching the two of them. Katia was already on her second helping. Logan cleared his bowl, sat back, sipped his coffee, and watched her eat. He was warm at last and feeling sleepy. Probably reaction setting in. Coming down from the adrenaline high of imminent death.
Finally, she finished eating. She glanced up at him and grinned. “I feel better now.”
“Good.”
“Perhaps time for those introductions,” Rico said.
She pursed her lips then nodded, albeit reluctantly. “Logan, this is Captain Ricardo Sanchez.”
Logan stood up and saluted. “Sir.”
“Rico,” he replied, “and please don’t do that.”
He sat down as Katia waved a hand in Logan’s direction. “And this is Sergeant Logan Farrell of the New World Army.”
“And what’s he doing on my ship?”
“He’s ex-military police, and when their security officer came to a sudden and unexpected end, the captain and first officer of the Trakis One decided to wake him up so he could carry on with the investigation. He was already awake when I arrived, and it was decided that the best interests of the fleet would be served by us working together.”
“You’ve got a partner,” Rico said. “That’s nice, querida.”
“Not really. But it is what it is. And we’re making the best of it.”
“So what happened to keeping the investigation away from here?”
Logan’s ears pricked at that. Why didn’t the captain of the Trakis Two want him, and more specifically anyone, investigating the deaths on the Trakis Two? What was he hiding? And a little worrying—why was he not concerned about talking about it in front of Logan? Would he meet an unfortunate accident on board the Trakis Two? Was that what Katia had been trying to warn him about?
Well, he was here now, so there wasn’t a lot of point in worrying about it.
But if Rico had something to hide, why had he woken up Katia to investigate? Presumably, he wanted to know the answers. Which meant he didn’t know them already. Unless she was merely a diversion and her job was to lead them away from the truth. He found he didn’t want that to be the case. He felt they’d made a connection facing death together, and he didn’t connect with many people.
He was watching Katia as she gave the other man what looked like the “look.” The one that meant: don’t say anything else. Except it was aimed at Rico, not at him. What was Rico about to say that she didn’t want Logan to hear? He remained still and quiet. The other two were entirely focused on each other now, and he didn’t want to interrupt. This was getting interesting.
“You towed us here,” she snapped. “That’s why we’re on board your freaking ship. Maybe you should have taken us back to the Trakis One or to the Trakis Three. Then there would be no problem.”
“I don’t do visiting, and you could have solved the problem before we arrived.”
“Yeah, great idea. That might have taken a little explanation. And thanks for putting the idea into his head. He could have done the same to me.”
“No, he couldn’t,” Rico said.
“But he didn’t know that.”
“And it’s not too late to solve the problem.”
She leaned forward. “Oh yes, it is. And anyway, there is no problem. Everything is under control.”
“If you think so, kitten. But I’m not convinced.”
Okay, Logan was totally lost. “Does someone want to tell me what the problem is?” Apart from lots of dead people and a lot of unexplainable malfunctions. And a really weird setup. And a captain who didn’t behave like any captain he’d ever known. He studied the other man, trying to get a feel for who and what he was. Good or bad. But, like Katia, he was a complete blank.
Rico returned his stare. Outwardly, he appeared relaxed, leaning back in the chair, his eyes almost sleepy, but there was a coiled tension about him, a sense of power barely contained. Logan was being fanciful. Again. But there was plenty about this setup to get the alarm bells ringing.
“As I said, there is no problem,” Katia replied.
She wasn’t convincing anyone, but maybe he’d ask her when they were alone. If he got the chance and Rico didn’t decide to get rid of the “problem” right now. He eyed up the other man again. Could he take him? He was unarmed, but then so was Rico. His muscles tensed.
Rico’s lips curled into a small smile. As though he knew exactly what Logan was thinking. Logan allowed his own lips to curve into a smile, and he held Rico’s gaze. It was like looking into a bottomless pit of darkness.
“Oh, for God’s sake, you two,” Katia snapped. “Cut the testosterone crap. There is no freaking problem.” She glared at Rico. “You woke me up, took me out of my nice, cozy cryotube to solve this case. So let me solve it.” She turned her focus to Logan. “And you? What do you think is going to happen here?” She got to her feet. “Christ, I can’t do this on an empty stomach.” She headed over to the food dispenser, came back to the table with another bowl of stew.
Unbelievable.
But it broke the tension. The tightness eased from his muscles, and Logan sat back, picked up his coffee, and drained the mug.
Across the table, Rico glanced between the two of them and then nodded. “Okay, kitten. We do it your way.”
“Don’t call me kitten. And yes, we’ll do it my way.”
There was a strange dynamic between the two of them, and Logan couldn’t quite get a handle on it. He supposed Katia wasn’t a crew member, she was a civilian, but all the same, Rico was captain. He would have expected a measure of respect. Also there was something quite…scary about Ricardo Sanchez. But Katia didn’t seem in any way intimidated by him. The confrontation certainly wasn’t affecting her appetite.
He looked back at Rico. The air of danger had drained from the situation. Rico pulled a silver flask from somewhere. He leaned across and poured amber liquid into Logan’s mug, then Katia’s. “Okay, your way. For now.” He raised the flask. “Welcome to the Trakis Two,” he said with a grin. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”
Logan lifted his mug and took a gulp, managed to keep his face expressionless. Strong stuff. He assumed he was safe for now, but he didn’t want to outstay his welcome. Time to get to work. He looked at Katia. “You think someone didn’t want us to get to the Trakis Three?” he asked.
“What? You mean you’re not buying the malfunction crap?” She put down her spoon and sat back with a sigh. “Yeah. It had occurred to me.”
“So you were right, and maybe the answers are over there.”
“Of course I was right.”
“Does someone want to bring me up to speed?” Rico asked.
“Not really,” Katia said. “Because right now, we know sod all more than you do. We don’t know who the victims are, we don’t have a motive, and we’ve yet to visit a crime scene.” She picked up her spoon again and ate for a minute. Then something obviously occurred to her. “Actually, now we’re here, we might as well take a look at the scene of the crime. And you could get us the details on the victims.”
“You didn’t get that from the central database?” Rico asked.
“Nope. Would you believe there was a malfunction?”
“What are the chances of it being a real malfunction? Thirty out of ten thousand is not bad as far as losses go.”
“Who knows?” Logan said. “Though the scientific officer on the Trakis One seems to believe it’s a possibility.” He thought for a moment. “I think if the news hadn’t gotten out about the deaths, then they might have kept it under wraps. But it did get out, probably in the aftermath of Caldwell’s mishap.”
“So you think if Caldwell’s shuttle hadn’t exploded, then the investigation would have just gone away?”
Beside him, Katia let out a snort. Logan glanced at her and found her exchanging a look with Rico. A different look this time. But he’d given up trying to work out what was going on between these two. “Maybe. We’ll never know. But now it’s out in the open, and the people in charge have to look like they’re doing everything they can to prove there’s nothing shady going on here. Something like this isn’t good for morale, and I get the impression that morale across the fleet is low already—but you’d probably know more about that than me.”
“Morale is crap,” Rico said. “We’re five hundred years in. Things are running out, the fleet is falling apart, and there’s no sign of our promised land in sight. All the ships are on their last crew rotation, and no one can decide what’s the best move—wake up the decrepit and possibly senile old crews or train new people from the Chosen Ones.”
“Which would be your choice?” Logan asked. Though Rico looked young, probably mid-thirties at the most. Like everything else on the Trakis Two, the captain seemed to be faring better than the rest of the fleet.
“Well, I’m not waking up the last captain,” Rico said. “He was a total dickhead.”
“I wondered what happened to Bastion,” Katia said.
“He’s asleep, and he’s staying that way.”
“Anyway, we should keep an open mind on the malfunctions,” Logan finished. “Maybe we could have a talk with the chief engineer on board and get some more background.”
Rico glanced at Katia then back at him. “Maybe.”
“I’d planned to do it on the Trakis Three, but it might be good to get a few opinions.”
“I’ll see what I can set up. Sardi isn’t the chatty type.”
“Sardi?” Katia stopped eating momentarily. “Sardi is the engineer? You’re kidding?”
“Nope,” Rico said with a grin. “He’s good.”
“Well, it will be useful. But identifying the victims might also give us an insight on whether the deaths are random. So if you could dig out those back-up files, that would be great.”
