All Fall Down (6 page)

           
Masjid turned to Daoud, “We’ve been a little behind with examining the recordings. Don’t worry, we inspect the facility twice every day like I said. But with only the two of us, it can be difficult to keep on top of observations. And you know, after twenty-odd years of them doing nothing, I have to admit that it’s not always our top priority.” Masjid rapped the knuckles of two fingers on the holo display unit.

           
Daoud blinked, and relaxed slightly. “It’s OK, Doctor. After decades of running this Colony, I have also turned my attention away from some of its important but mundane aspects. We are still human, after all.”

           
“Well, that’s good of you. Though this is far from mundane.” Masjid stepped away from the holo display, instructing the computer to begin playback.

           
In the holo, the pod stayed still for five seconds. Daoud watched as it rolled around its sterile cell for a few seconds. He looked at Masjid. “This is normal behaviour.”

           
“Keep watching.”

           
The pod banged off its cell walls, softly, and rolled around and back again, banging off the wall harder this time. It rolled back to the approximate centre of the holo, rocked back and forth, and became still once again. A shadow moved across the lab floor. “That’s me, I was finishing my inspection of the specimens. This is the twenty third cell. I’d been watching it roll around. You can see in shadow that I’m updating the computer terminal. This is where I leave. The holo records the time when I leave the facility.”

           
Daoud saw an icon appear on the holo, two circles coming together, becoming one, changing colour. It represented the facility locking down, the bio-containment fields re-initiating.

           
Masjid paused the playback. “This recording is from three days ago. We inspected it yesterday, which means we were one day behind with our inspections. The computer does most of it, using movement algorithms and so on. It picks out sections with obvious movement or changes. Now, watch what happens. If I’d been a little slower in my inspections I would have picked this up straight away.”

           
The holo started with the pod almost in the centre of its personal laboratory. At first Daoud thought the scene was still paused. There was no discernible change, the pod stayed still. After a few more seconds Daoud stood and walked around the holo. He crouched slightly, moving his head from side to side as he stared into the display. Standing up, he turned to Masjid, “It’s floating.” It was a statement, not a question. “There’s a couple of millimetres between the pod and the floor.”

           
“Yes. You have sharp eyes. I had to ask the computer to describe the change for me. Spatial coordinates and so on. It’s very subtle.”

           
“And we’ve never seen this before.”

           
“No.”

           
“And is there any more?”

           
“We’ve re-run the past six months through the computer, refined the search parameters, had the computer define new algorithms based on this recording. Nothing came up. I’m sure this is the first time we’ve captured any different behaviour.”

           
“Well, it’s subtle, but...“

           
“But only the first. If I may?” Daoud watched him as he stepped back to the display unit. “That recording is three days old. We examined it yesterday, and that’s when I put in my request to see you. Have Sophie examine the timings and communications, I followed procedure. I sent Peter down to observe the pods after seeing this. You, ah, you might want to sit down for this.”

           
Daoud’s eyes tightened slightly. He went back to his seat, crossing one leg over the other, smoothing down his trousers. “Things are about to become interesting, yes?”

           
Doctor Masjid Currie returned to his seat. “Computer, begin playback of footage, title 'Administrator Biological Activity', dated today.”

           
Daoud watched the footage. Light splashed across his face. He raised an eyebrow. “They are waking.” He turned to Masjid.

           
“Rather excitable in the morning, I'd say, Administrator.”

           
“Indeed. Let's hope they don't get out.”

           
“With MI on their way and that thing up top, that's the last thing we want.”

           
Daoud considered the holo and stood to leave. “Please send this to Sophie.” He nodded to himself, “She needs to be brought up to date.”

           
“Anything else before MI arrive?”

           
“Doctor, you have a grand scientific project here. Cures for diseases, limb re-growth. I suggest you use it to your advantage. Distract our guests.”

           
“And the thing on the surface?”

           
Daoud moved to the door, “Mention it to no one. Not even Doctor Cassel.”

           
“I'm a little old for games, Daoud.”

           
“Humour me, Masjid. Soon your research will be complete. You'll likely leave Fall to oversee implementation. Think of it as one last favour for an old colleague.”

           
Daoud smiled and took Masjid's nod as agreement. He left the old doctor's office and went back up to the observation platform.

           
On his walk through the Colony's corridors he passed small automatons, manual servicing robots, security guards, scientists, teenagers on errands, hangar bay staff carrying technical parts. Life in the Colony went on. He heard snatches of conversation. Sophie had put out the rumour of a vendetta killing and already he heard the word whispered in corridors before people quietened as he passed.

           
The day had started with a death, and the shock reverberated through the Colony on whispers and supposition. He looked down from the observation platform through the barrel of air. The central core of this Colony, and the twelve main rings of life surrounding it, hidden beneath this barren and lifeless world, would soon become the centre of the universe.

           
Humanity was due its wake up call. And like all returns to life, it would start with more death. Huriko was just the first.

Chapter 4 - Entanglement

Win rooted around in one of his uniform's pockets and pulled out what looked like a large, shiny black pebble, “Have you seen my new toy? All-in-one sensor.”

           
“You'll have time to play with your toys when you get home.” Djembe and Win were sat in the ship's mess. “You know if Kate receives her promotion, we should ask for one too. After our success on Krisa, we deserve recognition.”

           
Win just shrugged, “I'm not interested in titles. As long as my job stays interesting.”

           
“Titles give you access to interest,” Djembe raised his eyebrows at Win, and ate his food.

           
“Sounds like your parents talking. Still getting pressure?”

           
Djembe was about to speak, but folded and just nodded. “Yes.”

           
“Has Kate said anything about the priority signal?”

“No, nothing. We should have arrived back at the Hab by now.”

“Maybe there's a problem with the Hab? Perhaps an alien invasion.” Win wiggled his fingers at Djembe.

Djembe shook his head, “Don't even joke about it, not after the last two months. I don't know why people continue to believe in such fairy tales.”

“People need some romance, something still mysterious.” Win leaned back in his seat.

“The universe is mysterious enough without inventing bogeymen from outer space.”

“Listen, Djembe,” Win looked at the table, looked up, “you know when we were in the President's briefing before we left? You have to be careful how you speak to those people.”

“What has Kate said to you?” Djembe glared at Win.

“Nothing, I mean, I was there remember? It's just...”

“I can't believe it. She's asked you to talk to me, hasn't she?” He slapped the table with a hand and looked away, cross.

“No, well, Djembe you...”

The door to the briefing room opened. Win's eyes widened over Djembe's shoulder; he watched Kate enter, hoped she hadn't heard anything. He saw Djembe stiffen.

Kate sat opposite them at the table. Small circular depressions – holopits - dotted its surface: projection points. “Gentlemen, as of now we are back on mission.”

“What?” Win sat up.

“Computer please mark the time in the ship's log and amend my open mission case file.”

Win shared a look with Djembe: what was going on?

She looked at them in turn. “Unlike Krisa, this mission is classified. We will shortly go into communications black out. The ship's pilot is currently plotting a new route through the wormhole.”

“On mission? Kate we haven't got back to base for debrief,” Djembe's annoyance inflected his comment.

She licked her lips, “We are responding to a priority one alert. A death at a classified installation. It should only take two or three days.”

“Can't they get someone else to do it?” Djembe returned to his food, shovelling food in, obviously ignoring the formal atmosphere that had descended as Kate had taken her seat.

“We also,” Kate continued, deliberately, “don’t have the preparation time we would normally have. And we also don’t have the luxury of being in contact with our command structure, or any Habitats during our mission.”

“Why?” Win sat up straight. “What's so strange?” He looked over to Djembe who concentrated on his food.

“The facility runs a major biological research programme. Something that could change medicine, society for ever. And one of its senior scientists has been killed.”

“Why send us?” Win looked confused, “We're Colony Support, disaster relief, that sort of thing.”

“Because that's only our official mission.” She looked at Djembe, obviously annoyed that he wasn't taking the briefing seriously. She wondered whether she should pull him up on it. But Djembe was very systematic; he didn't like change, and it took him a while to adapt. Perhaps, she thought, the next thing she would say would grab his attention. She knew she'd made a mistake with these two, in making friends with them. Should've kept that professional distance like she had with the rest of her team.

“Computer, access my open mission file, Planet Fall.”

As she'd expected, Djembe's fork stopped halfway to his mouth. He looked up at her and slowly wiped his mouth with the back of a hand. She held his gaze and watched him slowly put down his fork. “Fall?”

Win looked back and forth. “Am I missing something?”

“Djembe, perhaps you'd like to..?”

“Do I have permission to mention the planet?”

Kate nodded to him.

Slowly, Djembe turned to Win. Kate sat back and watched the two men in profile. While Djembe described Fall, she marvelled that out of all of human civilisation, she worked with two people still ethnically discrete. After nine hundred years and mass societal mixing, humanity's standard type was called Medé, characterised by dusky brown skin and dark brown hair. Yet here she had Win, who traced his family back into the Qin Empire four hundred years ago, and from there back to Old Earth and China. He was still significantly Qin, perhaps a slight rounding to his eyes, but otherwise distinct from the Medé standard. And Djembe, almost one hundred percent Afrique. His family from a small population, much like her own, which had sought to keep its racial purity after the Old Earth Diaspora. Her own background was Celtic. Of all the people in MI, they were the furthest from the standard human body, not including the Tau Cetians, who had genetically modified themselves shortly after leaving Old Earth, to cope with the new planetary environment they'd found in their home system.