Space Rescue One (38 page)

      "I thought you said there were five personnel?" Shelly asked.

      "I disqualified one already. I felt he had the wrong attitude. If I'm wrong, then I guess it's just more ammunition for the UN to use against me later if they choose to go after my job," Richard answered.

      "How soon will we get these new personnel?" she asked.

      "They'll be transferring over by space tug later today. Pick the two personnel from your team who you want to keep. Have the others move their gear into Isaac's area so he can get them settled and briefed. Three of the new personnel are space newbies and are yours. The fourth has some time and experience in space. She'll be on Isaac's team. You can get more information about them from me later at my quarters or from the bridge crew. You can carry on now with what you were doing. Thanks for your attention." Before anymore questions could be sent at Richard, he was out of the common area to see to his other duties.

      Shelly accepted the handshakes and congratulations from her friends. She was surprised moments later when Isaac presented her with her chief's insignia. He pinned them on her and then shook her hand.

      "I thought maybe Richard would stick around some," Shelly said.

      "I really think that Richard is actually as busy as he indicated. Keep in mind that he's trying to keep this war out of space as well as do rescue work. He'll probably thank you tonight," Isaac said.

      "Yeah, I guess so. Um, I wonder how this is going to affect what I've been doing? Maybe he also left before this could come up in discussion," she said.

      "You mean sleeping with him?" Isaac asked.

      "Yes. What if I have to stay with my newbies to train them? Who's going to take care of Richard? He has nightmares when there's no one beside him to protect him from them," Shelly answered.

      "I don't know. Maybe we'll have to see who's available and willing when the time comes. You don't have any claim on him, do you?" Isaac asked.

      Shelly wanted to answer, but she was unsure what to answer. She stared blankly at him.

      "Are you okay, Shelly?" Isaac asked.

      She finally replied, "Sure, I'm okay. I'm still trying to figure everything out. This is all happening so fast."

      "Well, I'm a little bit concerned since you didn't answer my other question. Are you involved with Richard?" Isaac asked.

      "I don't know. I can't deny that I went farther once than just lying beside him. It's just that I can't sort out my feelings about that now. It's too hard to explain everything I know at the moment."

***

Ralph looked at the simple one-story home that the Brumps lived in. He felt of his gun in his pocket before he walked up to the door. He hoped that one or both brothers were home, though he was unsure about taking them both on unless he got the drop on them. Unless someone warned them of his intentions, he figured to have the element of surprise on his side. He knocked at the door and waited patiently.

      The door opened. Daniel stared out at him without noticing the resemblance to Gene whom he had seen before. Ralph pulled his gun out and held it on Daniel who still didn't recognize him.

      "What do you want? There's not much money in the house. We're mostly using electronic credits like everyone else. You can have anything in the house that you want," Daniel said as he backed up.

      Ralph entered and closed the door behind him. "Where's your brother, Jerrod?"

      "He left. I haven't seen him in two or three days now. Please, take what you want and leave me alone."

      "You're part of what I came after, you bastard."

      "Me? I don't even know you. What's my brother gotten me involved in now?" Daniel exclaimed.

      "Nothing new. You're involved up to your eyebrows, you scum, and you know it."

      Daniel exclaimed, "What? I don't know what you're talking about. What have I done to you?"

      "You're responsible for my brother's death, you bastard!" Ralph shouted.

      Daniel exclaimed, "I haven't killed anyone! Honest! I didn't even fight in the war! Ask my neighbors!"

      Ralph angrily said, "You fought, but you did it to a declared neutral. You and your brother castrated my brother and left him to die. He was found before he could. He picked out your photos on the Internet for me before he took his own life. You bastards left him with nothing to live for!"

      "That wasn't my idea! It was Jerrod's!" Daniel exclaimed.

      Ralph demanded, "Why did Jerrod want to hurt my brother? Gene told me he never saw either of you before the day you attacked him."

      Daniel cried.

      "Shut your bawling! I want to know why!" Ralph strode over to Daniel and slapped him once across the face with his gun. The barrel left a cut on the man's cheek that bled profusely. Daniel put his hand to his face. He pulled it away a moment later to see his hand covered in blood.

      "You've . . ."

      "I'll do it again if you don't shut your crying and give me the answers I want! Now why did you two hurt my brother?" Ralph demanded.

      Daniel cried, "It was a case of mistaken identity. Please, I didn't know that Jerrod was going to go through with castrating him. Jerrod was too mad to think straight after having his jaw broken by the man we thought we were after."

      "You bastards didn't even make sure you attacked the right man! Who the? Oh shit!" Ralph exclaimed.

      Daniel cried, "I'm sorry! I didn't know we had the wrong man until later!"

      Ralph exclaimed, "You thought he was Captain Saberhagen, didn't you?" Without waiting for an answer, Ralph kicked upwards with his steel-capped shoes to smash Daniel in the stomach. Daniel fell backwards to sprawl onto the floor. He tried to raise up only to feel Ralph's foot slam against his jaw before he lost consciousness.

      Moments later, Ralph stopped himself before kicking the helpless man lying before him again. He thought to look around while he had the opportunity for surveillance cameras such as were routinely found in many homes on Earth. Inside he found no surveillance equipment. As well, he glanced out the windows to see if the noise had alerted any neighbors. Outside the home, everything appeared the same as before he had entered with murder on his mind. He went to stand beside Daniel and wait for the man to regain consciousness.

      As he waited his mind raced over the events that put everything into perspective. Ralph wasn't sure why Richard had broken Jerrod's jaw in the first place. He only realized that Richard was definitely the man they were after. Richard was first supposed to make the visit to Venus to verify the condition the POW's were living in. Neither of the Brump brothers apparently knew that his brother had taken Richard's place. There was still a lot that was unknown. Ralph wondered if Richard would admit to him what he didn't know if he called Richard and asked. Or was that why Richard didn't want him to make the trip? Could Richard have known why Gene was attacked to begin with? It didn't seem possible, yet Ralph realized he had to know. He looked around quickly and found an electrical cord to tie up Daniel. Then he sat down at the typical Internet monitor Daniel's home possessed and logged in knowing that he would be leaving more evidence behind that could be used against him.

***

Shelly couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Amanda enter the airlock from the space tug. Even worse, she knew that Amanda would be on her team for her to train as Richard was standing beside her and Isaac to make the introductions and assignments.

      "Chief Dickson, Trainee Ceriga David is on your team. Chief Laumer, I guess you know that the other three are on yours. Meet Trainees Amanda Norton, Sheila Blish, and Irving Del Rey," Richard said.

      The intercom blared, "Captain Saberhagen to the bridge. Incoming call for you from Ralph Brunner."

      "Well, I'm being paged. I hope Ralph isn't in trouble. Take care of your trainees. Good luck to you all. Listen to your chiefs well," Richard said. He was already walking away as he said his last words.

      Shelly gritted her teeth at seeing herself saddled with two women she considered less than desirable. She viewed Amanda as a slut and disliked Sheila for denying her the chance to be on Richard's lane when she bowled the other night.

      "What made you give up running the bowling alley?" Shelly asked.

      "I saw a chance to do some good. Bowling is fun, but it doesn't stimulate the brain," Sheila answered.

      "What about you, Amanda?" Shelly asked.

      "Well, I, uh . . . I just think that there's a need for rescue in space. I hope to help make a difference," Amanda answered.

      "And you, Irving?" Shelly asked.

      "It was this or the galley. At least here I'll be making a difference and giving myself some promotion opportunities," Irving answered.

      "I hope that's all of your gear. If so, grab it and follow me. I'll show you your quarters," Shelly said.

***

 After having the incoming call switched to his quarters, Richard went to them and closed the door, locking it for the first time in his life. "Okay Ralph, I can talk openly now and I'll tell you what I know. I expect you to keep this in strictest confidence. Understood?"

      "That depends on what you tell me. I'm pissed off right now to find that you're somehow involved in Gene's death," Ralph replied.

      "I didn't know that I was until now, Ralph. How am I involved?" Richard asked.

      "Daniel Brump told me that you were responsible for injuring his brother, Jerrod. Were you? Did you break his jaw?" Ralph asked.

      "Yes, I kicked him in the teeth while preventing him from raping Shelly. He was the man who grabbed her in the corridor and subdued her with an injection. He had her in his room on his bed with her clothing almost off when I happened by. I caught a glimpse of what was going on through the doorway of his room. I forced my way in, whipped his ass, and took Shelly out into the corridor after making sure he was alive. Then I left when someone spotted me in the corridor with Shelly so I wouldn't be removed from the team. When he later fingered Chief Dickson as his assailant, I warned Jerrod to drop the charges or I'd kick his balls halfway up his body to meet his teeth that I kicked in. Other than that, I had no involvement with him or his brother."

      "I don't understand why he couldn't recognize you then and picked on Gene instead."

      "Probably because he never got a good look at me. The first time we fought, we had a door between us for a moment before I got in. I didn't give him much of a chance to see anything. I went in from out of the dark corridor and I wanted that fight over with quickly for Shelly's sake. The second time I encountered him, I threw his blanket over his head while he was sleeping before I woke him up to deliver my warning. I threatened to mop up his room with him then if he so much as peeked from under the covers before I left the room. I guess he believed me."

      "And that's all there is to it?" asked Ralph.

      "I swear it is. I never would have harmed Jerrod except for the fact that he was trying to rape Shelly and later incriminated the wrong man for injuring him."

      "I believe you, Richard. I've never known you to lie. What you've just said checks with what I remember of those incidents. So, Jerrod was Shelly's attacker? In that case, I'll be paying him back for her, too. And Chief Dickson. I won't tell anyone else of this, Richard. I'm sorry I got pissed off at you. It's not your fault that Gene was attacked."

      "I should have gone to Venus," Richard mumbled.

      "No, you couldn't and you know it. You were needed on the ship. No one knew that Jerrod was waiting for you. You didn't, did you?"

      "No, I didn't know he was waiting in ambush."

      "Then it's not your fault. Now it's my job to tend to. You might ask the others to remember me in their prayers. I've already got Daniel right now. Hopefully, he'll tell me where to find Jerrod," Ralph said.

      "Please turn them into the authorities. Don't become a murderer, Ralph."

      "I'll give it some thought, Richard. Otherwise, I'm not promising anything."

      "If you're concerned about the authorities not acting, I have some pull with them. Besides, they'll be anxious to solve Gene's attack and give you justice."

      "You might have some pull, but I can't trust them here. I don't even think they have a court system yet."

      "I'm sure they do. If you want, I'll find out for you. Just don't do anything rash that can't be settled in your favor. You're too good a man to throw your life away."

      "Mine is already gone, Richard. The bastards took away our only opportunity for the family to continue when they hurt Gene. You see, I was already naturally sterile when I volunteered for space rescue. Gene was the only male in the bloodline who could continue it. I shouldn't have let him come with me to Venus after all. At least it would have kept him alive a bit longer. If nothing else, I can do my best to make sure that justice is really done."

      "I'm sorry you feel that way, Ralph. Okay, you have my best wishes. Try not to get yourself killed."

      "I'll be careful, Richard. I guess we never knew how much you were doing for us or we might have appreciated you more before now. Thanks for being honest and a friend," Ralph replied.