INTERVENTION (8 page)

  
“Yes, I know, but we have an unnatural situation here with this Agent on board, even though she is not on Agency business and as you so rightly pointed out I have known the Leading Engineer for quite some time, so perhaps it would be prudent to suspend the report for a little longer while I try to find out what’s on his mind; he is a good officer and I wouldn’t wish to have any kind of instability placed needlessly onto his record.” 

  
Coles was silent for a few seconds, but then she seemed to have come to a decision. “Very well Commander: as you request, I shall hold the report: thank you.” With that, she got up to leave, but, once outside in the corridor, she thought to herself
Yes
Commander, I shall hold back reporting, but I’ll leave myself a personal memo stating the report and the fact that you virtually ordered me to suspend it; there’s something going on here and this Agent is only part of it.

Rachmel waited for Coles to leave and then spoke to the computer system “MAC.” 

  
“Commander, what is your request.” 

  
“Location of Leading Engineering Officer Miles.” 

  
The reply was instant. “Biohibernation section.” 

  
What the hell was he doing in there?
She wondered:
all checks had been finalised days
ago.
After a moment, she ordered “Request this Officer report to my quarters.” 

  
The response was not what she had expected. “This Officer’s remote interface closed down by request.” 

  
Why on Earth would he close down his interface in an area where MAC was not operational?
And then another thought occurred to her, “Is there anyone else present in the Biohibernation section?” 

  
“Yes, Leading Pilot Officer Hidson.” 

  
“Is his remote interface also closed down?” 

  
“Yes, by request.” 

  
So, Miles and Hidson were holding a secret meeting.

   MAC broke into her thoughts.
“Do you have further requests, Commander?”

  “Request for this Officer to report to my quarters is cancelled: no further requests.”

  After a moment’s thought, she ordered “Doorcom, no entry condition.”

  
“Complied.” 

  
Leaning back in her seat she began to put together the pieces.

  
An Agent had been seconded to her vessel as a member of the crew; this was something she had never before experienced: this Agent had revealed that her true objective was to observe people who may be in contact with an alien species; how many people? And who the hell were they? Her Engineer and Pilot were holding clandestine meetings: was it possible that Miles and Hidson were her targets?

What
the hell was going on here? As Commander, she had enough responsibility for the well being of her crew, not to mention the safety of a multi trillion credit space vessel that was making its maiden voyage, without the threat of an agent and her targets fighting it out on board. 

Hidson was stunned by the time Miles had finished. “You can’t be serious,” he said, sceptically. Miles just stared back, impassively. Hidson, realising that the man was deadly serious, went on “So, what the hell are we going to do? If, whoever they are, suspect that Andretta is onto them they could jeopardise the whole mission and our lives.” 

  
Miles shook his head, “I don’t think they would do anything to put themselves at risk; after all, they would be of no use to the aliens, dead, would they?” 

  
Hidson wasn’t convinced, “I don’t know; they could do something to terminate this mission and us, then escape in the ULiSS; theirs would then be the only story.”

  
ULiSS were the Utility and Life Support Systems that were allocated one to each of the crew. Basically, they were individual exploration pods that had superseded the old-fashioned space suits, but with the added bonus of Biohiber technology and automatic home-seeking power units. In effect, the exploration modules could double as modern day individual life-boats should something untoward befall the Mother-ship.

  
Hidson was adamant. “I say we go to the Commander; find out what’s going on.”

  
Miles thought for a moment and then responded “No, we can’t do that; the less people who know about this the better for us to keep an eye on everyone; and what’s to say that these aliens would want to kill us anyway? Why? We haven’t done anything to them and there are only seven of us so what could they possibly gain? In the meantime, we have a little less than three weeks before we hit the wormhole, so I’m going to try to get as much information out of our ghost as I can. I’ll keep you up to date, but don’t let on you know anything to anybody.”

Next day, Duarte was sitting alone in the galley, idly picking her way through her tablet form of lunch. She was still debating the question of reporting Kamul’s break-in of Andretta’s accommodation to the Commander. 

  
“Penny for them?”

  
She looked up, quickly, feeling a little guilty as though the person standing in front of her had read her thoughts: it was Commander Rachmel and her smile suggested that she had not read her thoughts. 

  
“Mind if I join you?”

  
Duarte felt momentarily uncomfortable at being taken unawares, but decided this was a good opportunity to voice her concerns. “No, not at all, please do.”

   Rachmel sat opposite and said
“That was some deep concentration you had going on there; I was standing in front of you for at least two minutes before I disturbed you; anything you’d like to discuss?”

  
Uncertainly, Duarte said “Well, I was just wondering; you have flown many missions, with lots of different crews.”

  
Rachmel waited in case there was to be a question; when it was obvious that Duarte had only required verification to her statement, she replied “Yes, I’ve flown with a few crews.” 

  
“In all your missions were you ever with a crew where any of them were acting a little…,” she paused and appeared to be struggling to find the right word, “…eccentric, or off centre?” 

  
Rachmels mind leapt into overdrive; this was the second time that she had been asked almost the same question in as many days and by as many people. Leaning back in her seat she replied “I can’t really say I’ve noticed anything as strong as that, although I have seen some peoples’ moods change fairly dramatically, depending on the situation, but that is quite normal in our line of work; after all, we sometimes find ourselves in situations that no human being has ever faced before. Why do you ask?”

  
Duarte paused before she spoke, “Is there something I ought to know about this mission that was not included in my briefings?” 

  
Rachmel met her second officers’ steady gaze, knowing that she was watching for the slightest expression that might give credence to her doubts. 

  
“I understand your concern, as I too feel a little out of place. This is no ordinary milk run mission; it is a leap into the unknown; we are the first human beings ever to enter a wormhole and to, hopefully, observe an alien species; ours is a venture that has only existed in people’s imagination until now. And as if that were not enough we have an Internal Administrator on board; it’s no wonder everyone is feeling a little edgy. Believe me, once we are through the other side of the wormhole and we begin our observations we shall be too busy to worry about other peoples’ idiosyncrasies and by that time the Administrator will be recognised as just another member of the crew.” 

  
“Yes, I understand that, but I just can’t help wondering why a civilian company would approach the Agency; why would they not use one of their own people?” 

  
Rachmels’ alarm bells were beginning to jangle; Duarte was obviously more deeply disturbed by Andretta’s presence than anyone else; could her second officer be one of Andretta’s targets? After all, she was the one who had manoeuvred Duarte into her present position; why was that? She had already decided that Andretta must be confronted, but in the meantime she had to allay any fears that Duarte may have about being suspected.

  
Putting on her best confident smile she replied “Perhaps none of their people hold a pilot’s certificate, as do all Bureau agents, which is a minimum requirement for all crew operating on a Missions vessel: and regardless of how we view them, Agents do not pursue personal gain, which makes them the most reliable and ideal choice for a civilian company who may profit immensely from this venture. And who knows? There may be no profit to be had from this mission and our illustrious Agent may very well end up on one of the Saturn ice rings projects.” 

  
They both grinned mischievously at the thought of Andretta being sent to the space equivalent of the Siberian salt mines of two centuries ago.

Later that day, Rachmel, astride the hoverbug, came to a halt at the entrance to the port side main drive inspection facility: dismounting, she stepped inside the chamber. 

  
Miles, with his back to her, was studying the Thermo Spectra Analyser. She watched him for a couple of minutes, realising that the Leading Engineering Officer, as had been noted to her, had been acting a little out of character lately. It wasn’t like Miles to avoid contact, but he seemed to be using the hoverbugs wherever he went; was this to cut down the chances of bumping into anyone and being drawn into conversation?

T
here was Also the question of the secret meetings with Pilot Hidson; what was that all about? 

  
She tried to dismiss her earlier thoughts of these two being Andretta’s targets as unlikely; considering the length of service they had served together she believed that she knew Miles as well as anyone could, but now there was a small niggling doubt;
did we really know anyone?
She had thought about asking Miles to keep an eye on Kamul, but now she wasn’t so sure.

  
Putting on her best ‘Hi buddy’ smile, she said “So, what do you think? Are we going to make it on both systems? Or will we have to limp back home on one?” 

  
Miles didn’t look up, but carried on with his viewing and answered as though he had known she was there the whole time. “No problems with these units, they’ll be good for another thousand trips.” And, still avoiding eye contact, he looked up into the main drive unit.

  
“So, what brings you down to the oily rag department, Commander?” 

  
There was indeed something wrong here, she thought: Miles would never have spoken with his back to her. 

  
“Well, I came down to see if you were still on board; haven’t seen you around lately.” 

   Miles stood, motionless; his thoughts in turmoil:
he felt the urge to tell her of his concerns; after all, he knew and trusted her and she was the Commander of this mission which made it essential that she know everything that was going on aboard.  But! Andretta’s indication that he didn’t know anything about Rachmels’ life before the service had left its trail of doubt. He was out of his depth: this was the intrigue kind of world that was the domain of people like Andretta; where folks like him felt uncomfortable and rarely ventured and now his natural vent to converse appeared to have abandoned him. He felt trapped and in a strange place.

   The silence had lasted too long:
Rachmel knew from Miles’s body language that he was debating with himself whether or not to open up, but she also believed that if she pressed him he could clam up altogether.

  
She spoke again, quietly. “I have to get back to my quarters: if you feel the need to discuss anything please don’t hesitate: you know where I’ll be.” 

  
Still unmoving, he heard the hoverbug ask “Destination please” and Rachmels’ reply “Commanders quarters.” 

Once he was alone he decided that this
situation needed to be resolved: he stepped aboard the waiting hoverbug. “Destination please.”

   “Agent Andretta’s quarters.”
The vehicle moved off, three minutes behind Rachmels’. 

  
Just beyond the observation unit were four small inspection chambers which allowed access by Code Three Engineers into the main drive systems: from one of these chambers Rachmel now emerged to watch Miles disappearing into the distance.

The doorcom sounded “Entry is requested.”

  
Andretta answered “Who?” 

  
“Leading Engineering Officer Miles.”

  
The Agent dismissed the globescreen, responding “Permission granted.” And then she turned her seat from the desk to face her visitor. 

  
As Miles stepped through the doorway, she said “Please take a seat” indicating the chair opposite her own at the desk and watched as the Engineer strode purposefully toward her; she could see that he was highly agitated and so she decided to take control of the situation from the start.