Space Rescue One (19 page)

      The man reached out and took the booby-trap from Richard. "There's a restraining pin in the trash. I need it."

      Shelly rummaged through the trash, soon finding the pin. She handed it over to the admitted terrorist. She and the others watched him disarm the boobytrap. As soon as it was safe, Richard jerked the man up by an arm.

      Richard said, "Okay, who else helped you? Either you tell us or learn how to breathe in a vacuum. It's not a pretty sight to see. I know, I've seen it a number of times already. Near as I can tell, it's right painful to those who die that way. They appeared to be in agony all over their entire body at the same time."

      The terrorist looked at Richard. Richard didn't flinch a muscle. The terrorist turned his head away from Richard's piercing eyes. He finally pointed at two others being held in the room.

      "Okay, each of them is to be escorted by two of us. They'll take us around to all the bombs and disarm them. Any of them gives you trouble, kill him. The ones that are left will just have to disarm a few extra bombs," Richard said.

      Chief Dickson said, "Shelly, you go with Richard. Tim, you're with me. Alex and Jimmy are the third team. Get your terrorist and get started."

      "I think we can let our volunteer and that other man leave now," Richard said.

***

Chief Dickson breathed deeply when he entered
Space Rescue One
after several grueling hours on board the
Asian
Joy.
Beside him, several other members looked as frazzled as he did.

      As Richard removed his helmet, Isaac said, "Good work, Richard. You made all the difference out there. One question, though. Were you really going to release that booby-trap on the count of five?"

      "Yes, I was going to let go of it. I never bluff," Richard answered.

      Jimmy asked, "But what if it detonated the rest of the bombs? You would have killed all of us."

      "I disarmed it before you all returned. Our terrorist disabled an unarmed device," Richard replied.

      "I guess there was no way for you to tell us that under the circumstances. I wish I knew ahead of time that you were going to do that," Chief Dickson said.

      "I couldn't take the chance on our volunteer being one of them. He could have warned them while touching helmets outside. Then none of them would have broken," Richard said.

      "I understand completely now. You did better than good work, Richard. You're a credit to the team and saved a lot of lives today. There's a lot of shipmates who'll believe the code even more now because of you. Keep up the good work."

      Richard was caught off guard by the way the Chief phrased his words. For once, Richard was unable to respond with a negative reply. The best he could do was keep his mouth shut while praise was heaped on him by the team.

      Chief Dickson caught sight of a bright light from outside the ship. "We can all relax now and watch the fireworks. I think we've earned this."

      "Too bad we had to lock those men up. I kind of liked Richard's idea. We should have tied them to the bombs out there," Jimmy said.

      "Well, at least our gunners are really good. That's three hits for three shots so far," Tim said.

***

Chief Dickson called the team together. "Have any of you been to see the prisoners since we left the
Asian Joy?"

      "No, why?" Tim asked.

      "They're dead," answered the Chief.

      "Dead?" exclaimed Tim.

      The Chief replied, "Yes, all three are dead. Captain Shortner's launching an investigation. Since we had contact with those men, we'll all be interviewed by him. When you are, simply tell the truth. I hope none of us had anything to do with their deaths. That would look bad for us as a team."

      "If you're wondering whether I went back to finish them off, you can forget it. I didn't," Richard said.

      Chief Dickson said, "I believe you. I also know that you went to view the bodies after they were discovered to be dead. Any ideas on who killed them?"

      Richard answered, "No. Well, yes. I think they killed themselves, to tell the truth. None of them had any marks on him. I don't think they would have allowed anyone to enter their cells to kill them without putting up a fight. Maybe they had enough time finally to conclude they'd be dead later for failing."

      "I agree. Their ringleader tried to put up a fight at the airlock," Jimmy said.

      Chief Dickson said, "I remember that. You handled him well at the time. I stopped and took a look at them, too. I agree with your conclusion. I, too, think they killed themselves."

***

"Technician Richard Saber reporting, sir."

       Captain Shortner said, "Sit down. This is informal for the time being."

      "Thank you, sir," Richard responded mechanically.

      "I understand you went to see the terrorists."

      Richard replied, "Yes, sir, I did. They were already dead when I got there. Their deaths were already discovered and reported."

      "Why did you go to see the terrorists? That's what I'm interested in."

      Richard answered, "To kill them, sir."

      "I see. That's rather a strange admission from someone who's a rescue technician. I would think that you'd be more interested in saving lives."

      "I am. After thinking about it, I reached the conclusion that they would strike again when released from prison. I saw my expected actions as saving lives, just as I did on board the
Persius Princess.
I'll admit that I only wounded the man I shot, but I'm certain now that I would have killed him if no other shot was available to me then," Richard said.

      "I appreciate your honesty, Technician Saber. Fortunately for both of us, I don't have to do anything about something you didn't get to act upon. I hope that you never have to do such an act. Your skills are too valuable to the service. You're dismissed."

***

"Hey, Jimmy! Pay attention! The Chief has something to say to us," Alex said.

      Jimmy turned from a monitor as Chief Dickson said to the team, "The doctor finished the first autopsy. He concluded that the man he examined died from poison. Apparently it was suicide as we anticipated."

      "Then we're off the hook?" Shelly asked.

      The Chief said, "I think it's safe to say that. The circumstances appear to be identical for all three men. I understand the Captain was impressed with your honesty and frankness during the interviews."

      Jimmy turned back to the monitor only to stare at it with his mouth hung open. It was a few moments before he said, "Everyone, you better look at the news. Mars is declaring its independence."

      "Mars is doing what?" asked Alex.

      Jimmy said, "I said they're declaring themselves as independent. They no longer consider themselves subject to Earth laws. They're establishing their own government. It's on the news now."

      Alex said, "Turn it up so we can hear."

      "Mars colonists shrugged off the bonds of colonialism today in a bold announcement. Along with the announcement, Mars citizens stepped forward into positions of leadership while stating that national elections will be held inside of the next two weeks. Some temporary appointments were made, one of which came as no surprise. Former General Budakov will be the commander of the Martian military force. He was present, but had no comment when asked if he intended to attack Earth to preserve Martian independence."

      Tim asked, "What about Venus? I thought you said that Venus would also declare its independence."

      Jimmy said, "I did, but I didn't say that they would make their announcements at the same time. They'll be along eventually. I'm sure of it."

      "For the time being, Mars continues to use Earth currency. When asked about that, Council leader Bailey stated, 'We're not worried about the Earth's military forces, but the treasury departments are another matter. The guys i those departments are actually dumb enough to try to enforce their currency laws even out here. Actually, I'm just joking. It's just that we don't have printing presses to make our own. Besides, why make everything more confusing by creating another currency to deal with? Isn't the current political situation messy enough?'"

      "This reporter has to agree with Council leader Bailey's assessment. The political situation is indeed quite messy right now. Uh, we're getting a feed from Venus for a report on what the Martian declaration of independence means to them."

      "Could this be their announcement?" Tim asked.

      "Shhh!" Jimmy replied.

      "Sorry," said Tim.

      " . . . the people of Venus are not surprised at the Martian announcement. Right now, they're paying close attention to see what happens. The people here feel a closer bond to Mars than to Earth, despite the fact that both colonies are mostly populated with people from Earth. Apparently, the emotional ties to Earth aren't as strong as was once thought. Despite the announcement, the people of Venus are calm and going about their business as usual. There is no panic or sudden stockpiling of goods."

      "Yeah, because they did that already," Jimmy said.

      " . . . only thing noticeable is that many of the people are paying attention to the news. That is the only outward sign here that something is happening. We're being asked to hold while news from Earth is announced."

      "This is John Axxenly in Washington. The government is taking the declaration quite seriously. I was in a meeting with senators from Cuba when the news broke just minutes ago. They ushered me out without any comment on what they felt would happen. However, I know that the situation is being discussed very seriously. Even the military is in the loop. I've already seen several generals arrive here while a colleague of mine reports that others arrived at the White House only moments ago. Everyone is straight-faced and tight-lipped. No one is saying anything to the press. We can only speculate what the White House reaction will be. We're switching to New York for a report from the United Nations."

      "Amy Wexler at the U.N. The Secretary-General is meeting with military staff members. Aides have been seen leaving to contact some of the representatives while others are manning phones to reach everyone to call an emergency session. The Security Council is already meeting in a closed session to discuss options."

      "Will there be a war?" Tim asked.

      "With what? No one has any military units in space. How can they fight?" Jimmy replied.

      "He's got a point. I think the only weapon that Earth has at its disposal is an embargo. If Mars stocked up enough to hold out against an embargo, then their independence is assured," Alex said.

      "They'll fight," Richard said.

      The rest of the team stared at Richard for a moment while the news droned on.

***

"Attention all personnel!
Space Rescue One
is on scramble alert! Level two emergency. Attention all personnel.
Space Rescue One
is on scramble alert! Level two emergency."

      Moments later,
Space Rescue One
drifted away from the station and then propelled itself into deeper space. Team chiefs were already meeting with the Captain.

      Captain Shortner said, "This isn't your normal mission. We just received a call from the former
Arctic
Pride,
now renamed as the
Martian
Express.
Apparently not all of the crew members wanted to defect to Mars along with the captain and his ship. They had a fight on board. We're being asked to pull alongside and take off the wounded and dead who didn't want to go to Mars. If we are unwilling to do that, they're threatening to shove them out the airlock."

      "Are there any wounded on the other side who need treatment?" Chief Brunner asked.

      Shortner replied, "They didn't say, Chief. We've already stated to the
Martian Express
that we will take those personnel off who don't want to go to Mars."

      Chief Dickson asked, "Aren't we going to try to retake the ship? It is private property after all and not the property of those who are taking it."

      Shortner replied, "I'm already in communication with the United Nations concerning that. Until we hear otherwise, we're not going to act on this brashly, even if we are the only law out here. We have a delicate political situation going on. Any action by us could upset it drastically. My guess is that we won't try to retake the ship."

      "Do you know why we won't be asked to retake it?" Chief Brunner asked.

      Shortner replied, "I'm guessing that the United Nations will use an embargo to force the rebellion to end without violence. Once the United Nations is back in charge, then the ship can be recovered peacefully and returned to its owner. If we go in to retake it, then there's going to be more bloodshed for certain. For now, our mission is strictly rescue, not making war."

      Chief Dickson said, "I can go along with that."

***

Captain Shortner asked, "Captain Brump, do you wish to have any of your wounded personnel tended to?"

      "Negative, Captain Shortner. Just advise your personnel that they are not to attempt to enter beyond the inner airlock hatch. Any attempt to do so will be cause enough for me to roll out of here on full jets."