Sanctuary (Jezebel's Ladder Book 3) (23 page)

The others couldn’t reach him. He
could do
anything
he wanted to these women or the ship. He was a god.
First, he cleaned up every trace of evidence and moved Lou to the medical bay.
Next, he dumped the new tissue batch. Since Mercy was a novice, he could blame
the spots on her. They were probably her cells from the lab-coat tourniquet
anyway.

He considered doing something to
Mercy, but the others might notice. Besides, Yvette had left him fully sated. Then
it was a matter of waiting until the clock was close enough to the time it took
him for the real operation. At the proper hour, he woke Mercy and let her work
her witchcraft. She created a temporary ladder down to the others.

Toby’s crowning achievement was
when a beaten Lou briefly regained consciousness, and for the first time,
called him, “Sir.”

That one word made everything
worthwhile.

The entire crew, except the sedated Yuki and Lou, worked through
the night trying to salvage the situation. Indeed, Mercy collapsed in the
command center, and Herk dragged her into the women’s bedroom. Yuki was vaguely
aware of her surroundings but couldn’t speak. After examining the engineer from
Brazil, Toby declared, “Mercy will be okay; she’s just weak from blood loss.”

“I’ll leave her in your hands, doc.
Where’s Lou?” Herk asked.

“He’s on the only bed in sick bay.
I don’t have room for any more of you tonight, so take care.”

“How is the reprobate?”

“It may be brain swelling, but his pupils
aren’t responding to my flashlight. I only wish there was more I could have
done.”
To him.

The Polish head of security said,
“Nonsense. You were a hero tonight.”

“After Lou wakes up, we’ll run a
battery of neurological tests to see how permanent the damage to his optic
nerve is.”
Painful ones.

“I’ve got to help my wife bend and
blowtorch the storage room back into true.”

“You’re not going to be able to do
all that in one day.”

“What a bloody mess,” Herk said as
he departed.

****

When Yuki opened her eyes again,
morning light framed Toby in a halo as he examined both women. “How was she
hurt?” Yuki asked weakly.

The doctor whispered, “She donated
a little too much blood to save you, then spent too much time in Snowflake.”

“Mercy’s a good friend.”

“Ehh.” Toby wiggled his hand. “Part
of her efforts may have been guilt. She didn’t wait long before jumping your
boyfriend. They’ve made several trips to the Honey Meadow alone in the brief
time you’ve been asleep.”

“It doesn’t feel brief.” She stared
at Mercy, not feeling jealousy like she should. In fact, Yuki had been pursuing
the pilot because Mori had ordered her to subvert the command structure through
seduction.

“Mercy should have been here to
operate the stairs, but she abandoned her post because of some lover’s spat
with our pilot. She’s facing dereliction-of-duty charges, but Z will let her
walk with a slap on the wrist because she became the latest member of Red’s
inner clique.”

Yuki didn’t contradict him, but she
knew that shirkers didn’t collapse from overwork. “Tell me everything I missed.
Start at the beginning.”

The pain-wracked gravity technician
struggled to make sense of everything Dr. Baatjies was telling her about the
events of the past few months. When they were caught up, she steered the
conversation toward Toby. “Since you’re the only real doctor left, with Lou out
of commission, you’re second in command for the expedition.”

He paused, surprised by the information.
“I suppose it does, but that only matters for the meetings. I don’t much care
whether we go forward or back. Rachael claims the water loss is higher than
estimated and traveling to the colony would be too damaging to the ecosystem.
Red wants to push to our destination at all costs. Of course, Mercy sides with
her like a good minion. Not that any of this matters; we’re going to be stuck
in this system for months while we try to fix equipment we can’t hope to
comprehend.”

“That makes you
very
important,” she coaxed. She could practically watch the erection forming as she
stroked his ego. With soft words, Yuki built up his self-confidence, painting
him as a virile winner. She put on her best soulful, grateful act for his
saving her life. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. The doctor was
so starved for affection, he would be easy to manipulate. However, she would
repay him for his efforts on her behalf. That much, she owed him. “The safest
route would be to return to Earth with everything we’ve learned. We’d be greeted
as heroes. Mori-san would offer you an obscenely high-paying job for just one
of those antigravity panels.”

She pushed too far too soon. He
looked at the time nervously. She had to hook him again. “Did they ever find
Yvette?”

“No. It doesn’t seem right that she
should disappear after we finally connected. Everyone else thinks she died by
crushing or falling. The insects in the swamp would make short work of any
body.” He paused, choking on the last word.

“So they’re blaming Lou for the
accident.”

“Partially. Given the change in
flight plan, and the alcohol they found, Lou has a lot to answer for. They’re
holding back out of pity because the accident has blinded him. He claims he
doesn’t remember what happened because of the trauma, but the blood alcohol on
the sample I ran . . .” Toby’s forehead was sweating, and he had trouble
speaking.

“Shh. It’s okay,” Yuki said,
holding his left hand with her right.

“I . . . hurt Yvette so much . . . (gurk)
don’t deserve . . .” Suddenly, he blanched, paler than normal.

“Zeiss!” she shouted as Toby swayed
on his feet.

While the crew swarmed over the
twitching doctor, Mercy sat up groggily. Glancing at Yuki, she flashed a wan
smile. “You’re back. I knew we could save you.”

Yuki wanted to hug the girl, but
people kept asking questions about the doctor’s fit. “I don’t know what
happened. Last night, Toby was fine. This morning, he was sweating, bemoaning
the loss of his beloved Yvette, and apologizing at random. Then, boom.”

“He has a fever,” added Red.

With black circles under her eyes,
Mercy muttered, “He just pair-bonded. Yvette was worried about that. He should
be fine if he can just snuggle with her for a while. Where is she?”

Red and Yuki locked eyes. Neither
wanted to be the one to tell Mercy that their only real doctor had pair-bonded
with a dead woman. Not only were his days numbered, but their expedition had a
year-long fuse. They were doomed.

****

After Mercy ate and could walk
again, Herk led her into the Zeiss’ room. Taking a stance behind her chair, Herk
recited the date, time, and the people present.

“This isn’t good,” she mumbled.

“Are you feeling guilty? Is there
something you want to tell us?” Zeiss said. He wore a mask, as if he were still
a professor accusing someone of plagiarism in honor court.

“I know a witch hunt when I see
one. It happens every time a shuttle blows up on the pad. Management blames the
engineers because no one would dare point a finger at the sainted pilots.”
Mercy weaved a little in her seat.

“Are you high?” Red asked, her
voice implying that it was okay if she were.

“It’s a prescription for my pain. I
overexerted myself a little last night and couldn’t sleep because of the muscle
spasms. I had a killer headache, too.”

“And why is it still in your system
this morning?”

“I sleepwalk. I got up at three,
trying to find Yvette in my dreams. Doctor feel-good gave me another dose
without my consent. Just ask him.”

“He’s not answering any questions
right now,” Zeiss explained.

Red looked her in the eyes. “Have
you been in a lot of pain lately?”

“I refuse to talk with an empath
present. It’s my right under UN guidelines for Actives.”

“I’m here as your friend,” Red
said.

“You’re here as a glorified lie
detector and probably to nudge me into a confession.”

Red didn’t deny the accusation.
Mercy crossed her arms and every time Zeiss asked another question, she recited
the UN ordinance number for her rights.

Eventually, he said, “Fine,” and
asked his wife to step outside.

“We’re not singling out the
engineers,” Zeiss whispered. “We’re collecting information about where everyone
was the day before the crash and what they were doing. It’s standard
procedure.”

“Hah! Did you investigate
everything Mira did?”

“No. She was with me the entire
time.”

“Because pilots are the ones who
think the rules never apply to them.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll cover for your buddies,
like always.”

Zeiss turned to Herk. “Officer, I
authorize you to search Red and my locations for the entire day, and add our
video logs to the composite.”

“Yes, sir,” Herk said.

“Now, will you do the same?” Zeiss
asked Mercy.

“You know I was off duty yesterday.
Since my privacy was violated so often the last few months before I joined your
mission, I prefer to stay off camera when I can. Ethics oversight can twist
even innocent statements out of context.”

“So you admit you turned off your
recorder.”

Biting back sarcasm, Mercy answered
with the monosyllabic, “Yes.”

“And encouraged others to do so.”

“No.”

“I have a tape of you showing
Oleander how to disable hers.”

“That’s courtesy, not
encouragement.”

“Who showed you how?” Herk asked.

Mercy snorted. “Really? You ask one
question, and
that’s
what you bring to the table? You know what I do for
a living. Half this team could defeat those surveillance protocols in their
sleep.”

Herk took a step back.

“Why did you leave the recording
off during the incident?”

“I forgot. It was kind of
traumatic.”

“You had the function off all
afternoon when you left the camp—alone—violating safety protocols.”

“I wanted to relax.”

“Relax how much?”

“Ask me a real question,
professor.”

“A lot of narcotics are missing
from sick bay.”

“Everything is accounted for. We transferred
the hard stuff into the luggage room as secure medical storage. I sent you a
memo.”

“Only planners have access to that
room.”

Mercy shrugged. “I granted entry to
the medical folks, too.”

“Which explains how Yvette got in.
Did you know about the hidden exit?”

“It wasn’t hidden. Yuki told
everyone about it.”

Herk and Zeiss exchanged glances.
Mercy rushed to defend her friend. “She found the access just before the thing
with her arm. Maybe she didn’t have enough time to tell you.”

“You told Yvette how to operate it,
though?”

“She was curious—I told her. She
was my best friend and boss.”

“Did the two of you engage in . . .
nude sunbathing together?”

Mercy raised both eyebrows. “Commander,
I think if you took a poll of every member of this crew, they’d know the answer
to that question.”

“I think if I took that poll,
everyone on the ship would agree that you are the worst offender we have when
it comes to security procedures and military discipline. In fact, if your
father hadn’t been head of Fortune Aerospace, you’d have never kept your
clearance.”

It was Mercy’s turn to cringe at
the intensity of Zeiss’ claim. He never raised his voice, but he was clearly angry.
She’d have stopped answering altogether, but part of her mind was examining the
truth in his claim while he continued to batter her with questions. Zeiss said,
“We’re trying to piece together why Yvette wasn’t wearing any clothes, and they
weren’t in the luggage room.”

“Hello! How do you think Toby
pair-bonded? Not an image I want in my brain for the rest of the day, thank
you. I think I saw her underwear in a pile outside the shower.”

Herk suppressed a snicker.

Zeiss paged through some notes on
his pad. “Have you seen Sojiro’s black ink?”

“No. I always ask him before I use his
marker, though. I write on the white medical tape to label things and then give
it back. What does that have to do with the crash?”

“We’re tracking everything we had
in Olympus, looking for clues. How many sticky straps were there before the
incident?”

“About 250,” she answered without
delay. When Herk looked surprised, Mercy explained, “Sensei planned for
eighty-one people, three leashes each, plus spares.”

“Has anyone on board behaved oddly?”

“Who hasn’t? Some of the crew members
think your wife has been under alien control. Yuki admits to being a spy.
Although as quiet as he is, Park could really be North Korean. I’ve never heard
about her religion, so Pratibha could be closet Muslim. Rachael may have voted
Hamas in the last election to improve her family’s bomb-shelter business. Of
course, 75 percent of all Active criminals are override talents, which would
make Herk here a prime suspect.”

Zeiss ignored her tantrum. “Along
that theme, Oleander was in prison and was supposed to take your duty that first
night. However, she mysteriously never reported in on the Olympus logs. We only
have her word on what happened. We also have her DNA in Lou’s tent. Do you
think she had a little after-wedding celebration with our pilot?”

“No. He offered a date, but she
refused.”

“Do you think Lou forced her?”

“No. He’s had . . . opportunity
with me, and I never felt threatened. He let me and Yuki beat him up a couple
times rather than raise a hand against a woman. He won’t even curse around me
anymore.”

Then Zeiss lulled her with the
rhythm of utter trivia. After numerous pointless questions with the same, bored
tone, he hit Mercy with, “What medical purpose does Rohypnol have?”

“Insomnia . . . Is that what the
doc gave me?”

“We can’t access the medical log
due to confidentiality.”

“I can look it up.”

“No, Toby blocked your access
rights temporarily when you had to be sedated.”

“I’ll do an inventory first thing,
with any witness you choose. I have nothing to hide.”

“Then why did you insist that Mira
leave?”

“Because I didn’t want to hurt her
feelings when you ask me the question you’ve been avoiding, professor. Are you
really going to whitewash this?”

“Pause recording.” Zeiss ordered
the computer. “Are you sure you want this on the record?”

Mercy bit her lip. “Technically, it’s
hearsay. I didn’t analyze the bulb myself.”

“But?”

“It was empty and smelled of
alcohol.”