Fatal Boarding Read online

  Chapter 15

 

 

  We met again with Captain Grey at 07:00 in the Bridge conference room. Our situation had now degenerated from annoying to alarming. No one aboard Electra was getting much sleep. Doctor Pacell, Flaherty from the Data Analysis group, Leaman from Main Engineering, Leadstrom from Life Sciences, and Kusama from propulsion were Grey’s ambassadors of hope, and this time Pell had been brought in. It was an impromptu, solemn little gathering in which everyone seemed to be looking to someone else for good news.

  Grey looked tired. His iron trademark stare was sagging. His flight suit had too many creases. He tapped lightly on the table as he spoke. "How long before you get us real gravity, Mr. Leaman?"

  "We've replaced every motherboard in the system, captain. Everything we have is being affected. It's not our equipment. It's outside interference. That's the only logical explanation."

  "Mr. Leaman, we must have comprehensive gravity!"

  "I can't change the facts, Captain. It's not us. It's outside interference."

  "Mr. Flaherty, has Data Analysis found any evidence of outside radiation or any other anomaly that might be affecting us?"

  "Nothing, Captain. It's nearly a dead zone out there. There's nothing to screen out."

  The Captain took a deep breath and sat back. “Gentlemen, do we or do we not have a virus screwing up our systems?”

  Silence.

  The Captain turned to Pell. “Pell, we’re having computer failures all over the ship, but the net still seems to be operating. What are you doing they are not?”

  Pell seemed reluctant to respond. He sat perfectly still as though afraid to move.

  “Pell, is a virus being sent through the net or not?”

  Finally, Pell could contain himself no longer. “There is no virus.”

  “What? Are we imagining all this?”

  “Captain, our firewalls are blocking just fine. We’ve set up checkpoints throughout the system. We even set up a dummy terminal in the drop area and made it look like part of ship’s systems; a virtual virus trap, if you will. There has been nothing. There is no virus. The system failures we have been experiencing have originated at the user sites of the affected computers themselves.”

  Flaherty sat up with indignation. “That's ludicrous! Are you trying to say someone deliberately crashed our computers?”

  Pell reacted with indifference. “It’s the only possible explanation.”

  Flaherty continued, “You’re insane! Brandon was the one using the Nav computer when it failed. She was nowhere near propulsion when it went down. Are you suggesting several individuals are separately sabotaging various systems around the ship?”

  Pell sat quietly fiddling with a memory stick, and without speaking made it clear he was suggesting exactly that.

  Captain Grey rubbed his forehead. “Gentleman, let’s take a step back in our search for answers here and at least consider this angle. I want each department head to revisit their problems and check if sabotage was in any way possible. Under the circumstances we can’t afford to rule out anything.” He turned to Leaman. "I can’t believe I’m having to consider this, but are the scout ships ready?"

  Leaman answered. "They are fitted with bumpers. Shops did a hell of a job. Two shifts worked all night, right through the zero G. Yes, Captain; they're ready."

  "Alright gentlemen, this is what we are going to do. We're going to move this ship at 13:00. At 12:00, you will deploy the scout ships and position them back away from the Electra. We will attempt to move with manual thrusters. If that attempt fails, the scouts will come in and push us the hell away. We'll go as far as we can, then hold and reevaluate. Mr. Kusama, will you be ready?"

  "Yes, Captain."

  "Doctor, how is the crew holding up?"

  "Considering all that's happened, pretty well, Captain. We have a couple dozen minor to moderate injuries that occurred during the loss and restoration of gravity, and a few more from the gravity problems we're still experiencing. Apparently, on the first, second, and third levels, there are places where you can step from two Gs into a half G and lose your balance and fall. Also, we've had at least one more case of amnesia. Ms. Brandon seems okay, otherwise. I plan to resume working with her as soon as possible to try to gain some understanding of this condition. Sickbay is crowded and will be for the next few days, but nothing we can't handle. One other thing I think you should know, Captain, there are speculations floating around that whatever happened to the ship out there is now happening to us."

  "How the hell did that get started?"

  "The tension on board is running pretty high right now. It's a fairly reasonable supposition. The best cure for us is to get the hell out of here."

  "What about that ship, Dr. Leadstrom? What else have you learned from the data? Are there life forms over there or not?"

  "Two hundred and eighty individual signatures, so far. No success in attempts to communicate. If they are actually alive, they can't hear us for their own cries. One other thing, the analysis group think they've translated the directory title from the alien data bank."

  "Well, what is it?"

  "Trash. We think it’s a garbage file that hadn't been emptied."

  Grey shook his head wearily and turned to me. "What about Tolson?"

  "The preliminary sweep was completed. As I reported, there was no sign of him. We've now started an amplified search in areas you would not expect someone to be. It will take quite a while."

  "I want all of you to report directly to me about any new developments. The main objective right now is to get moving. Don't be distracted. Let's get set up and move out of here. Right now it doesn't matter where just anywhere but here. Get those pilots into the scouts in plenty of time to do a manual open on the hangar doors, if necessary. We'll meet again in about an hour. No more surprises. Let's get it done."

 

  Back at Security, Marie Ann had returned and was talking with R.J. while she busily put things back in order. She still looked slightly pale but seemed intent on doing something constructive.

  R.J was leaning against a terminal with two battery powered coffee cups beside him. He handed me one as I approached. I stood beside him and sipped the bitter mixture.

  He laughed. "It's instant. The water won't boil in the mess hall percolators. I guess you could call them one-G coffee makers." "How'd you survive being underweight?"

  "It was better than being over. I served on a research ship in the Atlantic for a year, remember? My seasick days are over."

  R.J. had the look. When there's something specific on his mind, he emanates impatient. Somehow, it forces your curiosity. When Ann Marie had moved away, he spoke in a low tone. "I have a theory I want to test."

  "Do I get to hear it?"

  "No, not yet. It's too abstract. You tell me, is your memory any better?"

  "I still have the blank spot, but other than that there's been no problem."

  "You remember heading to the airlock, but not being in it, right?"

  "Yep."

  "Let's run the video from the airlock cameras and see what happens."

  I agreed it was a good idea. We sat at a Security station and called up the airlock history. The index number we needed was near the top of the list. We called up B-Deck airlock camera 1, the date and time. R.J. hit the forward key and the screen flashed to video.

  Snow. Nothing but gray-white screen display. He hit forward and got the same. Next we tried camera 2, the backup. Snow again.

  At R.J.'s suggestion we went to the outside cameras, the ones overlooking the airlock. Once again: snow.

  I shrugged. "So the virus problem we're having has corrupted the video library."

  "Let's go down and take a look at the cameras in the airlock."

  "What are you getting at, R.J.? It takes a captain's order just to open the inner door. Do you want to do it that badly?"

  "I know that, for heaven's sake. Y
es, that badly!"

  So we carried our heavy bodies down to the second level. At one point, we passed through a quarter G area, but R.J. never flinched. At the door to the airlock, I pinched at the com button on my watch. "Tarn to Captain Grey."

  The reply came quicker than I expected. "Go ahead, Grey here."

  "Captain, we need your authorization to open the B-Deck airlock door."

  "You are cleared to break the inspection seals, Mr. Tarn. Do you have any news, yet?"

  "No, Sir. Teams are still in progress."

  "Grey out."

  R.J. said, "Look at this!" The right-hand wire seal on the door was missing. In unison we looked for the left. It was gone. I tapped the big red open key beside the door and watched as the large manual wheel turned counterclockwise. We pulled the heavy round door open and stepped over and in. The chamber looked in order. Ten spacesuits hanging on their racks on our right, inflated to minimum pressure for storage. Rescue oxygen tanks near the outer door on the left. Lockdown stations for EVA members during rapid depressurization stood beside them. Red warning signs everywhere. I looked behind at the overhead monitoring cameras. They looked untouched.

  R.J. interrupted. "What is that?"

  It was a silver foil star-shield cover spread out in one corner like a tent that had partially fallen down. Because of their potential hazards to ships, airlocks are one of the most strictly maintained facilities on board. Foil shields left lying around are a serious violation. I stepped over to it and peeled one corner back.

  What lay beneath it frightened me so badly I jumped back slightly and let go of the shield. Even in such an ungodly state, I recognized him. Tolson, crouched in the corner in a fetal position. He was naked, covered only by a two-inch thick opaque glaze of jelly. His facial features had dulled. There were no eyelashes, and his lips had dissolved, leaving an ugly smile of pasty-white teeth. What hair he had left had turned to mud. His hands were clasped tightly together near his mouth, like a man half frightened to death. His fingers were gone down to the middle knuckle, leaving them almost embryonic. An expression of horror was locked into his face. It was an image I would never forget.

  I flipped the foil cover back over him and looked at R.J. His mouth hung open. There was nothing to say. I pinched at my watch. "Tarn to Security."

  Ann Marie's voice came back quickly. "Go ahead, Adrian."

  "Ann Marie, the Captain asked me to call him on a secure line for a briefing. Would you connect us?"

  A moment later the Captain answered. "Grey."

  "Captain, R.J. Smith and I are in the B-Deck airlock. You should get down here right away. I would suggest you do it discreetly, Sir."

  There was a long pause before an answer came. I sensed the Captain wanted to ask if it were really necessary, though he already knew it was. "I'll be there shortly. Grey out."

  "Does this support your new theory, R.J.?"

  "All my previous theories have just been blown out of the water. And, I do not like the newest one."

  "That this is what happened to the other ship's crew?"

  "Exotic viruses are the most difficult thing in the universe to isolate and combat. This one looks like a beauty. I would already be running except that it's too late for that."

  We stood guard outside the airlock door, waiting for the Captain. He came plodding down the corridor twenty minutes later. I opened the heavy door, and without speaking he entered. I closed and locked it.

  When he had examined what was left of Tolson, he looked at us with a vacant stare. "This is how you found him?"

  "Exactly. The airlock doors had already been unsealed."

  "How did the search team miss him?"

  "It's a controlled facility. They wouldn't look here without special reason. The alarms were bypassed before the door was opened. No one noticed the lead seals broken."

  "Get the Doctor in here, right now. Have him come alone and bring a surgical kit."

 

  Doctor Pacell was already irritated and exasperated when he arrived. We stood by the door as he raised the foil. His exclamation made R.J. jump. "What in God's name!"

  Grey stood over him, staring down.

  "Oh no! Oh, my lord, there's a pulse." He looked up at Grey and shook his head. "It's weak, but he's still alive!"

  Grey looked incredulous. "Cut him out of it, now!"

  The Doctor hesitated. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

  "Do it!"

  Pacell removed a laser scalpel from his case. He tested it and leaned close over the body. "Son of a bitch!" He sat up and shook his head sadly. "I can't cut it off him."

  "Why not?"

  "It bleeds."

  "With a laser scalpel, it bleeds?"

  "See for yourself. We've got to get him to sickbay where I can study what is happening."

  Grey sounded off balance. "This must be kept absolutely quiet, Doctor. How do we do that?"

  The Doctor thought for a moment. “There's a hazardous waste disposal corridor just around the corner. They always have one near the airlock. It’s shared by the small emergency OR. We can move him in there and keep him isolated. If this thing is an airborne we've all been exposed already anyway."

  Grey looked at me. "Tarn, can we do it?"

  "I agree we shouldn't call for any other help, Captain. But I'd guess Commander Tolson's weight to be about 210. In this one-and-a-half G gravity that would put him at about 315. With our own extra weight, I'm not sure we can move him."

  The Doctor broke in. "A collapsible gurney. If we can get him onto it, we'll only need to lift him over the door stanchions. We have one for rescue right in the airlock, behind that compartment. If anyone sees us they become part of it."

  So we hustled around and set everything up, and somehow got the thing Tolson had become onto the gurney. It turned out to be a messy job. We used plastic gloves the Doctor had brought in his surgical kit. The jelly that covered Tolson wanted to stick to our hands and ooze through our fingers. Every time that happened, it felt as if a little of Tolson had come off on us.

  The four of us hustled around like tragic comics. A Captain, a Security officer, a doctor, and an inspector struggling in the heavy gravity to move a monster without being seen. At one point, three of us stuck our heads out the open airlock door at the same time to see if the way was clear. It would have been a perfect clip for a Marx brother’s movie. With desperate patience and unexpected good luck, we made it to the emergency O.R. without being seen.

  Grey peeled the gloves off his hands and nodded to Pacell. "Can you give me anything at all about this, Doctor?"

  "I think it's pretty obvious, don't you? A metamorphosis is taking place. Commander Tolson's body is clearly in a preliminary stage to what we saw on the other ship. We've had people experiencing memory loss and bad dreams since we've been here. I had a woman come in this morning who wanted to hide in sickbay because she said she woke up and found a little old man beside her bed, molesting her. She said when she screamed, he disappeared. Tolson is probably the first to reach the more advanced stage. When the change began, he became schizophrenic and irrational. He went to the best place he could think of to hide; the airlock. He even covered himself with the foil before succumbing. The same thing happened over there on that ship. The whole crew was affected. They all went to that lower level to hide and eventually ended up in what we found there. If Tolson is still alive, there’s a chance they are, too!"

  Grey did not want to believe it. "But why would they all hide in the same place?"

  “They were irrational. They all knew that was the best place so they all went there. It makes perfect sense."

  Grey stared at the opaque lump of flesh on the operating table. Tolson was beginning to look more like a jellyfish than a human. "Doctor, this is your only job for now on. Get some answers. Find a way to stop this."

  "You don't need to tell me, Captain."

  Grey looked at us. "You two get cleaned up and the
n come directly to my quarters."