Seeder Saga (8 page)

Then the computer suddenly said, "I have spotted a nuclear device approaching at twice our speed."

She gasped and told the computer to show it on the monitor.

But when she saw it she breathed a sigh of relief. It was way off target now that she'd altered their course.

Her sense of relief didn't last long. The projectile noiselessly exploded and a few minutes later the shockwave rocked the ship.

Luckily
, the impact wasn't so drastic that the sirens went off or the colonists got revived. But it meant she had to make additional course corrections just to get the ship to head nose first again. She was doubly thankful that the electromagnetic pulse wasn’t strong enough to affect the ship’s electrical components.

She called ground control and told them what had happened. Then she gave her bearings. Moments later they came back with a new heading based on her current position. They set her up with a new secure channel
, but it would be useless soon because she’d be out of communications range before long.

It was nerve racking
, but it was over now.

She leaned back in her chair and took in a deep lungful of air.

She deleted the files the saboteur Greg had sent her, but she regretted it immediately. What if the files were legit? Emma's was spot on and so was Jack's. That could mean that the files on Jane and Michael were authentic too. If the files were real, then a stone cold killer was in their midst. But could she trust files that came from a man who’d tried to destroy their ship?

Maybe.

The addition of Michael to the crew could mean only one thing: the testers had been desperate.

She checked the clock, saw that she still had half an hour before she could safely go back into stasis, said, “Who cares,” and got back in her pod anyway.

She was exhausted and she dearly missed the sweet bliss of nothingness that stasis provided. She attached the IV’s and waited for the cold to steal the passage of time from her.

Michael

Her heart was hammering a hole out of her chest. She had to consciously slow it down with deep breaths. She pulled the IV’s loose and sat up. She looked at the large clock above the command controls. When she read off how much time had expired she was perplexed. It had been just a hundred and twelve years since she’d gone to sleep.

She crawled out of the pod and mumbled, “Why do I keep getting woken up ahead of schedule?”

The tinny but masculine voice of the computer issued over the loud speaker
: “There was a problem with your vitals. I will monitor your signs while you wait to go back into stasis.”

She shivered as she thawed. “How can you read vital signs while I’m in stasis? Everything stops during the freeze.”

“I ran a scan on you when I noticed you were going back in ahead of schedule. There’s nothing to be concerned about, but if I’d left you in stasis for the entire four thousand years you would have died upon revival.”

“
Okay. Thank you, I guess. Next time I’m about to do something dumb, like go into stasis too soon, just warn me not to do it. Let me know when the three hours are up so I can get back in.”

“You’ll need to remain active for six hours to undo the damage already done.”

“God dammit! Fine.”

“I was forced to wake Mr. Stevens as well. His pod had a hydraulic malfunction that needed to be fixed.”

“Shit. Where is Michael Stevens right now?”

“He’s repairing his stasis pod below deck.”

She put her clothes on in a hurry. The exploding nuclear warhead was quickly becoming a distant memory. That was because there was an imminent threat here and now: Michael Stevens the murderer was awake.

Her imagination was running terrible scenarios that all involved Michael in one way or another
, and in each scenario he was covered in other people’s blood.

She decided to arm herself before approaching him. He was a murderer and he couldn’t be trusted. Now she was thankful for the firearm she’d been provided. No one else knew of it but her. It was to be used only under extreme circumstances. She didn’t know if this situation warranted it now
, and she didn’t care to give it a second thought.

She pulled the panel from the navigation module and reached inside for the hidden gun
, but the holster was empty. She got down on her knee and looked around, hoping it had simply fallen out. She desperately wanted to believe that mission control had simply forgotten to put it there, but that was an idiotic thought; they missed nothing. The mission was too important for mistakes.

Now she was even more afraid of Michael. He was the only other person awake. He must have taken it. That was not good.

She made sure her pocket knife was in her pants where she’d left it. It was. It wouldn’t do any good in a gunfight, but it was better than nothing.

Then she had a thought. “Computer, who took my firearm?”

“I did not witness that.”

“How can you not know? You don’t go into stasis. You were
on-line to see Michael’s pod malfunction. You saw me break the rules and get in mine too early. You must’ve seen it.”

“I go off-line periodically to conserve power.”

“Don’t you have motion sensors that wake you up?”

“I think motion sensors are a great idea given the mission, but I am not equipped with them.”

“God dammit. You’re as inept as the fake test computer was. Tell me how many people have been woken up since we departed? If it’s only been me and Michael, then I know he’s the one who stole my gun.”

"I’ve had to wake Michael six times to repair stasis pods. He repaired his own and the pods of five colonists. Do you want to know the names of the colonists
who were revived?”

“No.”

Confrontation

The pocket knife felt far too dinky in her pocket, but she held it in a death grip like it was a mighty sword. If Michael tried anything she could have it out of her pocket and across his throat in a flash.

She saw him crouched down, tending to his own pod. He had removed a fluid line and was right in the middle of replacing it with a new one when she said, “Well
, hello, sleepyhead.”

He jerked and bumped his head on the underside of the pod. He was rubbing the pain away as he turned to face her
, a big dopey smile spread across his face. Was that the smile of a demented person?

“I didn’t know anyone else was up. Is everything
okay?”

“Yeah. I broke the rules and went into stasis too soon after waking up
, so I have to stay awake now for six hours before going back.”

“You were already woken up? Why? What happened?”

She thought about lying but decided against it. “A man from mission control sent me dossiers on the entire crew. It detailed the testing we went through and how each of us got through it.” She left out the part about the contact being a ruse to ascertain their position. He didn't need to know that Greg was not actually with mission control or that he was an enemy of the United States, because that would not help her accomplish what she was after. She was trying to put the guy on the spot. She didn't want to give him an out.

“Anything juicy in the reports?”

She wondered why he was trying to deceive her. She saw his report. She knew what he’d done to get here.

“Your report was interesting.”

He furrowed his brow and waited to see what she had to say.

“It detailed what you did to the other crew members.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” He stood up straight and stretched his back out. She wished he hadn’t, because he was a monolith-sized man, easily three times her weight and twice as tall.

She took a furtive step backwards and said as authoritatively as she could muster
: “You killed two of your crew mates.”

He visibly flinched. “No I didn’t. What the hell have you been reading? Show me the report.”

“I deleted the files already.”

“Who sent them? Whoever it was is setting me up.”

“A man named Greg from ground control.”

“Greg? I don’t know anyone called Greg.”

“Well, he sure knew a lot about you, and now I do too. By the way, where’s my gun?”

She gripped the pocket knife and tensed, ready to defend herself if it came to it.

“Firearms aren’t allowed on the ship. Why would you even have one?”

“To defend the crew and colonists from a threat. I want it back.”

“Well, I don’t have it. Listen, Captain, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’d be a lot better if you weren’t a killer who just stole my weapon.”

He ignored her insult. “I only ask because you seem to be coming apart. You’re accusing me of some outrageous crimes which are not true. I have never killed a soul and I didn’t even know you had a gun on board. In fact, are you entirely sure the gun even exists?”

“What are you implying? Are you saying I imagined it?”

“Yes I am. I don’t believe you about the gun or about the test reports.”

She sure wished she hadn’t deleted those files. If he kept denying everything
, then this confrontation wasn’t going to bear the fruit she’d hoped.

Did he really believe she was going crazy or was it an act?

He put a halt to the conversation by turning his back on her and crouching beneath his pod, ready to get back to work. Over his shoulder he said, “I wish I could say it was a pleasure to finally get to speak to you, Captain, but it was not. You be sure to let me know if you’re having a hard time, okay?”

As she left him to his task, she said, “I will be woken each time you are revived. I don’t care if you’re woken up to fix every pod twice, I’ll be there to shadow you. I will not have a murderer walking around my ship unescorted.”

“Do what you gotta do, Captain.” He sighed as she left the pod chamber.

Reality

Sarah hated to admit to herself that Michael might be right.

So did that mean she was going bonkers? Was it because she’d broken the rules about how long to stay out of the pod after revival? Maybe memory loss and hallucinations were a side effect?

A more horrifying realization hit her:
there was a very real possibility that this was just another test. Maybe they weren’t really on a spaceship traveling to a new planet.

She decided she had to know for sure. The monitors showed what lay ahead of them
: stars, tiny and distant. But the monitors might not be showing reality.

Vacuum

She still had some time to burn before she had to go back into stasis, so she headed for the airlock doors and inputted her code. The doors opened slowly. Then she closed them again. She inputted her code that opened the outer doors to the vacuum of space. Then, after a few seconds to be sure all of the atmosphere had evacuated into the vacuum, she closed it up. When she opened the inner doors, the vacuum in the air lock should suck air in quickly. She opened the inner doors, and sure enough, as soon as they started to open, she heard and felt air rush inside the airlock. So it wasn’t another test. They really were on a spaceship. She really was losing her mind. She didn’t know if she should be elated or terrified by the result of her test.

Cold Embrace

She checked for the hidden holster just to be sure she really hadn’t fabricated the gun in her own mind. It was there, plain as day. So, was it possible she’d already taken it out and then misplaced it? No one else knew of its existence.

If she was delusional, then as captain, was she a danger to herself and to the mission as a whole?

Michael’s voice carried over the intercom. “All finished. I’m going back on ice. Is there anything you need from me before I do?”

Sarah didn’t answer right away so Michael added, “Alright then. See you on the other side.”

Sarah said to the computer, “I want to be revived each time Michael Stevens is revived.”

“Understood, Captain.”

“How much longer until I can go back into stasis?”

“Seven minutes.”

She started to undress and hook up the IV’s. She climbed inside her pod and waited until the computer told her enough time had elapsed. Then she closed the lid.

Awake Again

This time she was pissed when she was revived. She knew the shivers were coming. She knew her head would start to ache any second. She pulled the IV’s loose and focused on the clock. Only fifty nine years had gone by. If she got woken up this frequently, she’d die of old age before they ever reached the seed planet.

“What now
?”

The computer said, “Michael Stevens will be revived to work on three malfunctioning pods.”

If she felt bad for herself, she felt doubly bad for Michael. Then again, if his report was true, he was a murderer, so he deserved the discomfort of so many thaws.

She dressed as the shakes overtook her appendages. Her head started to ache just as that burning sensation erupted in her muscles.

Once dressed, she headed straight for the pod chamber.

Michael was already dressed, rummaging through a tool bag for what he needed.

Sarah walked over and said, “I’m sorry for the way I introduced myself last time.”

“Don’t worry about it
, Captain. Just let me know if you start to get overwhelmed. I can only imagine the kind of pressure you’re under.”

She nodded and smiled, thankful to be on better terms. Whether it was a good idea to befriend the man, she didn’t know. But accusing him of things she couldn’t prove had got her nowhere.

She heard a throat clear and then a deep voice said, “What the hell is going on?”

Jack Mayberry came around one of the open, hissing pods that was to be repaired. It was his pod.

Michael said, “Sorry, buddy, but it looks like I need to take a quick look at your pod.”

“I thought these things were designed to last for billions of years.”

“If they were all built to spec, then I’d say you’re right, but you know how the government likes to cut corners. No worries though. I’ll have yours up and running in no time.”

“
Shit. Now I have to find something to keep me occupied for the next three hours. How long have we been traveling?”

“I don’t know.”

Sarah said, “Altogether, a little less than two hundred years. We’re somewhere in the wasteland of interstellar space.”

“Hi
, Captain,” Jack said. “Are you still pissed at me?”

Michael smiled at Sarah and said, “Him too, huh?”

Sarah said, “I’m very sorry for my behavior. I haven’t been myself since those bastards ran their tests on us.”

Michael interrupted. “I don’t mean to sound rude
, but I need silence if I’m going to find this leak.”

Jack said, “No problem. I need to walk around to shake this frost loose anyway.”