13 Degrees of Separation (44 page)

...*...*...*...*...

Desi fielded the media circus as they inquired about
confirmation and additional details. She smiled and politely pointed them in
the direction of the video website Zark had put up weeks ago showcasing their
shuttle construction. She fielded a series of questions until a pre-arranged
call from Clio allowed her to escape. “That went well!” she said, all smiles.

“Better than expected. Very good,” Alice replied, smiling
as well.

...*...*...*...*...

Toni Chambers did a piece on the station and the Yard Dogs,
how they could now build things in space, one of only 3 other systems in the
sector known to have the ability. One of only 2 capable of repairing a ship to
nearly new. Also one who could actually
buil
d a ship given time and
resources. Her piece was full of hope and inspiration for a renewed and
rejuvenated Antigua and Federation. The next morning they received calls from
temp agencies and hiring agencies. Hundreds of people were asking to work on
the Yard.

...*...*...*...*...

With news of the Major project the Yard Dogs were denuded
by inquiries for work. They took on a third wave of trainees, some experienced
hands tired of working for the station, some greenhorns from the planet. The
poaching didn't go unnoticed by the station human resources department. Loosing
veteran space hands started to affect the various repair projects going on around
the station. The station was forced to hire on additional help and find ways to
retain what space hands they already had.

With the expansion of the Yard Dogs and need for trained
qualified personnel, Rolo, one of the old space hands on the station started a
new business. He'd heard Petunia grumble about the need to train, and knew she
had her limitations. He also saw an opportunity, one that minimized his own
risk of being out in hazardous space situation, while still providing work. He
had been exposed to a massive radiation dosage early in the station's repair so
he was limited in his space walks until the medics cleared him.

He hired two of his fellows on as support instructors and
opened their own space hand training center. They were quickly certified by the
Yard Dogs, and the station. Their two week course was intensive and expensive,
but  when the students graduated they had guaranteed jobs waiting for them...
and the experience to jump in without much additional training.

The Yard Dogs were one of the few employers that was equal
opportunity. If a person was willing, they'd find them a position. Neo, elf,
Veraxin, Naga, Gashg, Centaurian, or any other species, it didn't matter to the
dogs. All were welcome. Though some found that they just didn't have what it
took to be in a suit.

...*...*...*...*...

Harif was increasingly not around the berth or Yard dogs
space. He wasn't doing his job, something that was odd to Mairi. He'd gotten
all sorts of goodies to play with, his own machine shop on the base but he was
still acting odd. She heard he might quit or be fired. That he may of had
another job offer. She tried to talk to him about it, but he avoided her. Of
course they had other employees now, some good, some green. It seemed that
whenever Harif left though, things started to go wrong. Accidents started to
happen.

At first they were minor, a loose bolt, a slippery patch on
the deck where something was spilled, a rolling cart with the brake off. The
loose bolt had been caught by a robotic inspection. Lucca, the Neo dog who had
done the work and signed off on it swore she'd tightened it though. They all
thought she was covering for herself so ignored it.

The rolling cart incident was more troublesome. Mairi
herself had rolled the cart in and applied the brakes. She'd turned to working
on the Bitch, she'd brought the cart in to transport the grappler she needed to
rebuild to the machine shop. Petunia had called her away to deal with an
automated tug problem. She'd spent nearly an hour dealing with that, guiding
the tug and re-writing it's flight plan before she'd returned. But when she
winched the arm onto the cart and then released the tension on the chains she'd
gotten a nasty surprise. The entire cart had moved, slamming the detached
gripper arm into the Bitch's lower window, cracking it. She'd sworn, glad she
hadn't been anywhere near the thing when it moved.

Savo came in and caught her swearing. “What happened?” he
asked.

“I frigging well know I locked this down!” she said,
kneeling over the cart. The brakes were foot pedals that when you stepped on
them they locked the wheel from turning. She'd double checked each when she set
the cart up. But now they were all off. “What the hell!” she snarled, turning.

“What happened?” Savo asked again. She angrily pointed to
the cart. He looked at it and then looked up to her in confusion. She sighed
and wiped hair out of her eyes and then explained. He listened patiently and
then went to check the logs. He was troubled by them however.

“Something's odd here,” he said.

“What?”

The time stamps. They don't add up,” he said, pointing to
the video.

“They what?” Mairi asked, still looking at the cracked
windshield. Her practiced hands went around it. She knew she'd have to pull it,
and that it would frack up her schedule for the next several days as it was
replaced. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“This,” he said, pointing to the screen. She came over and
stood behind him until he moved to the side so she could see clearly. On one
side was a screen grab of the bay, on the other was a similar one.

“What am I missing?” she asked. The time stamps... she
checked. They matched. She turned to the chimp.

His brown index finger stabbed at the clock in the left
image, and then the clock in the right. She looked. They didn't match. She swore
again.

“What the hell? A glitch?” she demanded.

“That's no glitch. Someone's fucking with us. But I'm not
sure who.”

Just as Savo started to punch at the tablet in his hands,
demanding answers a klaxon sounded and the hatch doors swung shut with clangs.
Red lights strobbed. “What the hell? Another drill?” Mairi asked, hands going
to her ears. She'd been in space for most of the mandatory drills the Warners
had insisted on.

“Fuel!” Savo said, looking up. “Something's wrong!” he
said, pointing to the fuel tank on the other side of the Bitch. Mairi turned
just as she heard whistling.

“No no no!” Savo screamed as the fuel tank ruptured. He
grabbed for Mairi but she was already in motion.

The fuel was a binary solution, kept suspended and away
from any oxidizer. The lights went out, a sure sign someone somewhere knew the
risk. The pumps shut, they only had the air in the bay now, and it was rapidly
filling with fuel and fumes.

Mairi turned, and pointed to the hatch, clamming her mouth
shut. The Bitch was out, with that breach she couldn't support them. She'd blow
out when the crew blew the bay. If they didn't vent the bay the fuel leak could
endanger the deck and compartments above and below it.

There wasn't any time to get to her suit either. She
turned, and waved to Savo to get to the hatch. He nodded as the gravity cut out
and then swore briefly as he wind milled in the air. He tumbled end over end.

Mairi however had other concerns. She was on her way to the
manual door controls by the exterior hatch. It was a long shot, but the only
one they had left. With the power out she'd have to do it manually. She got to
the controls as Savo got himself under control. He tried to open the hatch but
of course it was locked.

She slapped the metal siding, making a sharp sound. He
turned. She made a show out of wrapping her arm around a support strut built
into the wall. He nodded and repeated her maneuver. When she was sure he was
safe she disengaged herself, planted her feet and started turning the wheel
attached to the gear train for the door.

Savo opened his mouth to protest but then clammed up. He
could just make the girl out, the emergency glow in the dark strips gave just a
glimmer of light in the compartment. It was dark and scary. He was more scared
of a sudden light though. He knew if they didn’t do something soon it would be
the last light either of them saw.

Mairi risked her life to cut off the air supply in the
compartment to prevent an explosion. As she turned the wheel, bringing her
weight down onto it, the locks disengaged. Someone outside had recognized what
she was doing and had undogged the hatch. She let out her breath slowly, took
another breath and then tugged.

There was a bang and then air started a turbulent flow to
the cracked door. Items not locked down started moving with the flow, slamming
into the hatch door.

A tablet sparked and the fumes near the door erupted. It
was a minor flare up, but it filled the compartment with flames before the
vacuum snuffed it out.

Instinctively Mairi hunched over the wheel, head down,
wrapping her arms around it. When the flare died she started to close the wheel
but her strength left her.

Savo arrived, he'd somehow gotten to a pair of emergency
breathers near the hatch and gotten their storage compartment open. He had one
over his face. She felt his hands place the full face mask over her face. She
gasped and then took a deep breath of gloriously stale air. She looked at Savo
and grunted. The chimp's fur was gone, he was a mess. She turned as he did, and
grimly the two of them tugged on the wheel until it shut.

She couldn't hear the hatch behind them open as emergency
personnel arrived on the scene. She turned, half blind, holding Savo. He held
her. She realized she was singed too, her scalp and skin prickled from freezer
and fire burn.

 Theo the paramedic hustled them into rescue balls and then
towed them out of the compartment. The jostling broke their burnt skin. Savo
had passed out but soon recovered when they were in the pressurized corridor.
He winced and touched his burnt skin before he looked down at his arms and
started to cuss up a blue streak when he saw his burnt fur.

Mairi touched her own melted hair and winced. “Well, it'll
grow back,” she assured him through the mask. “I just want to know, did someone
order original recipe or extra crispy?” she quipped. He glared and then laughed
softly. They watched as Ezri and Regina came into the compartment and started
to treat them.

...*...*...*...*...

“What the hell happened?” Taylor Warner demanded, furious.
“This was no accident! Sloppy I can understand, but this...” They'd
investigated of course, and they'd found the valve had a small leak. It was odd
though, it had passed every pressure test but failed... and again, odd that a
replicated object would have a flaw... There were too many things that weren't
adding up.

“We're lucky no one was killed,” Rasha said, looking at
Savo and Mairi with concern. “It's strange though, for an accident of this
nature.”

“You're right it wasn't,” Savo croaked. His voice was still
screwed up from the damage. He and Mairi had spent the past 24 hours in a regen
tank to get them this far. He hated it, he never wanted to feel things in his
throat and lungs. At least he didn't feel like he had been cooked though.

“Don't talk,” Rasha urged.

“Got to. Time stamps don't match. I checked before boom.
Check it. See who did it,” Savo urged from his bed.

Clio, Taylor, and Rasha instantly looked into what the
chimp referred to. The mention of a time stamp not matching instantly changed
the incident from an accident to intentional sabotage and criminal act.

“He's right,” Clio said, pointing out the discrepancy with
the wall clock. She looked at the logs and then silently passed them on to
Taylor and Rasha.

“Call the Sheriff,” Taylor snarled. “Where is he? Where is
Harif?” he demanded, eyes flashing in rage.

“Not here. He caught Yuri's shuttle back to the station an
hour ago. Right after he put in his resignation,” Clio replied, checking the in
and out logs.

“Oh goddess, Mairi,” Rasha said, looking at the girl. Mairi
had heard the trio mention Harif's name. She immediately hunched up, wrapping
her arms around her knees, head down. “I'm sorry honey, so sorry,” Rasha said,
virtual hand touching the girl. Savo looked at the girl and sighed.

...*...*...*...*...

Mairi' heart was broken over Harif's betrayal. Savo held
her as she cried. He stroked her shoulder. His strong arms made her relax, she
had no other choice. When the crying jag slowed to a stop she inhaled deeply
and then snorted. “What?” He asked.

“You still need a shower. You smell like burnt fur,” she
coughed, waving a hand over her face.

“Yeah well...” Savo grimaced. He was wearing a lot more
clothes than he normally did. He hated it, but he felt more naked than a human
right now. He didn't know how they handled it. The girl had a hat on covering
her bald and burnt scalp.

Mairi vowed to track Harif down but Savo and others held
her back. “Don't interfere. He's going to be hunted by the best. Let the little
bastard squirm. Sheriff Derrango or Deputy Fife will catch up to him
eventually.”

“Yeah... but I want to be the one to pin his balls to the
wall,” she snarled.