Wanderer 3: Tainted Universe (9 page)

Part Two - Hunted

Chapter Fifteen

Greenseed Station

“
Dammit Steven, you can’t push yourself like this,” Alisha shouted at Marsh.  “Ships are coming in too frequently now.  You won’t get any rest if you insist on staying in command.  You’re going to start making mistakes.”

Marsh stared at his deputy for a few moments, fighting to clear the fog from his mind.  They were in his office, to one side of the command area.  No one could see or hear them, but they could see what was going on outside.

Marsh had reluctantly given in to Alisha’s insistent demands for a meeting.  Now he wished he hadn’t.

“
I’m fine,” he said firmly.  “I’ve done far longer stints in the past.”

“
Oh spare me the
when I was captain
bullshit.  That was then, and I bet you had people you trusted to help.  You’re older now and you’re refusing to share any of the workload.”

“
My age has nothing to do with this!” he shouted.  Then he caught himself.  “Sorry,” he said in a quieter voice.  “I’m just…”

“
Tired?” she interrupted.

“
Yes.  No.  Look, this is so important.  One mistake and we could lose the whole station.  One mistake and everyone could be dead.  We can’t take that chance.”

“
Do you think I don’t know that?  That I don’t think about it almost constantly?  Of course I do.  So does everyone else out there.  But if you keep pushing yourself like this then
you
are going to be the cause of that mistake.  I’ve had a rest.  I’m fresher than you are.  Let me take over for a few hours and go get some sleep.”

“
I…”

He tried to find some way to refuse her offer without making it seem he didn’t trust her judgement.  He couldn’t find a way.

“You don’t trust me, do you?” she said.

“
Of course I do!”

“
Fine.  Prove it.  Go get some rest.”

“
I can rest in my chair.  Then I’m nearby if you need me.”

“
Bullshit!  Then you’re nearby to keep an eye on me.  There’s no need.  I won’t make the wrong decisions.”

“
But you did…”

The words were out before he could stop them.  Alisha’s eyes flashed dangerously.  She stepped closer, waving a finger under his nose.  She was so angry she seemed to vibrate.

“What the hell does that mean?”

Marsh mentally kicked himself.  He really was mentally exhausted, otherwise he’d never have let that slip out.

“The ship with the children,” he replied, trying to keep his voice calm.  “You would have let it through.  Let it dock.”

Her eyes held his for long seconds, challenge burning in them.  Then she dropped her gaze and gave a shuddering sigh.

“No,” she said, so quietly Marsh struggled to hear.  “No.  I wouldn’t.  If I’d been in charge I’d have done exactly what you did.  A few seconds later probably, but I’d have done it just the same.

“
I’ve been back over it so many times.  At that moment I didn’t have the responsibilities you did, I didn’t have to make the decision.  I’m sorry.  I made a tough decision even harder.”

Marsh was surprised by her change of heart.  He was tempted to tell her it was fine, but it wasn’t.  She’d challenged his authority at a critical time.  He settled for a non-committal grunt.

“Is that why you won’t trust me?  Why you won’t take a break?” she asked, meeting his eyes again.

“
Yes, I guess.  Partly at least.  And partly it’s that I don’t want to drop this responsibility on anyone else.  It’s too much.”

“
It is.  That’s why you can’t shoulder it all yourself.  Please.  Let me help.  Take a break.”

Marsh sat there considering.  The only thing stopping him swaying was the strength of his will.  His body was crying out for sleep, and his head ached with fatigue.  How much longer could he keep going without making a serious mistake or simply collapsing?  An hour?  Two?  At some point he had to let someone else take over.

“All right,” he said grudgingly.  “You win.”  He glanced out into the main room.  “I want to change a few people round though.  To be sure you have the best backing you up.  Then I’ll get five hours of sleep.”

She opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her with a raised hand.

“If everything is fine then I’ll get more rest soon after.  Five hours is as much as I can let go for right now.”

“
OK.  I’ll take that.  Make the changes quickly though.  You look so pale I keep expecting you to fall over.”

Marsh smiled tightly, not wanting her to see how close to the truth she was.  They left the room and headed back to the command chair.  Marsh hid a smile at the people around them, all seemingly absorbed in their work yet all actually hunting for some sign of how the meeting had gone.

He sank into his chair with a groan, immediately flagging up the changes he wanted.  If he stopped now he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get going again.  In the end he only changed four people, but they were critical.  The watch officer, comms officer and two of those in charge of weaponry.

Once the change was complete Marsh forced himself upright, stifling a groan.

“You have command,” he said to Alisha.

“
I have command,” she replied with a slight smile.

“
I’m going for a shower and some rest,” he announced, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

He sensed the room as a whole relax.  Had he been that close to the edge?  Either he had or everyone had thought he was.  Either way, leaving to rest was clearly the right decision for morale.  He just hoped he wouldn’t live to regret it for other reasons.

*****

Marsh spat a stream of expletives at the darkened room.  None of them made the insistent beeping fade away.  He fumbled for the lights, finding them on the second attempt.  What was the time?  He’d been asleep for a little over four hours.

Recent events slammed into his mind with the force of an asteroid impact and his blood turned to ice.  He was certain Alisha wouldn’t let anything disturb his sleep that wasn’t of the utmost importance.  What had gone wrong?

“
Marsh,” he barked out as he accepted the call.

“
Commander, we need you here.  Immediately.”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Just get here.  Now.”

The line went dead.  Marsh jerked out of bed and launched himself towards the door.  He’d gone to sleep in his clothes in case of just such a call.  He stopped before opening the door.  Then turned back and punched a code into the wall safe.  Yanking it open he pulled out his pistol, strapping it to his waist.  His jacket hid the bulge well.  He slammed the safe shut again then left his room, rushing towards the control room.

The weight of the gun felt awkward as he ran.  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d worn it on the station, other than for ceremonial reasons.  Did he really need it?  He hoped not, but instinct suggested otherwise.

Marsh shoved his way into the command room, then stopped dead.  Half the room were on their feet.  Davies, the weapons officer, was being held down by two other men.  Alisha stood just in front of him, face red with anger.  She spun round, pointing a finger at Marsh and advancing on him rapidly.

“Did you do it?” she demanded.  “Did you order Davies to fire on any ship that approached us?”

Marsh nodded.  “Yes.  I take it he had to execute that order?”

“No he damn well didn’t
have
to.  But he did.  He destroyed a ship that I had promised safe passage to.  They had children.  One was really sick with appendicitis.  We could have saved her.  But he killed them all.”

“
You’d promised them safe passage?”

“
Yes.”  Her voice turned defensive now.  “I had to.  There were only a few of them.  We would have put them into isolation of course, but we could have saved the little girl.  I couldn’t turn them away.”

“
Yes you could.  And you should have.  My orders were clear.  No one and nothing was to be allowed close to the station.  I gave Davies his orders as a backup.  That was obviously the right thing to do.”

“
We could have saved them!  It would have been safe.”

She was shouting now.  Marsh couldn’t help doing the same.

“No it wouldn’t!  We have no idea how the Taint is spread, or even what it is.  We don’t know if medical isolation procedures would make any difference.  The only things we know for certain is that it’s highly contagious and that maintaining complete isolation from everyone and everything will keep us safe.  You put that in danger.  You ignored the order I gave.”

“
Because the order was wrong!  We can’t keep killing innocent people just in case.  Most of what we know about the Taint is speculation and third hand hearsay.  We can’t let people die when they don’t need to.”

“
You have no facts to back that up.  Some of the reports say that it can spread even without direct contact.”

“
None of those are reliable.”

“
That’s enough.  This is my station.  I give the orders.  I say that nothing is coming close enough to pose a danger to our people and to the supply operation.”

“
Maybe it shouldn’t be your station.”

She said the words quietly, but they carried across the room.  Everyone went still.

“What?”  Marsh kept his own voice low, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

“
You’ve been pushing yourself too hard for too long.  I think it’s affected your judgement, and I’m sure I can find a doctor that will agree.”  Now she raised her voice, confidence filling it.  “I am relieving you of command on medical grounds commander.  You will be confined to your quarters or sickbay until the doctors and I are happy you have recovered.”

Marsh bit down on the angry response that welled up from inside.  Damn he was still tired, too tired for this.  He let his instincts free.  The room was clearly split.  A significant number looked to be backing Alisha, while a smaller number showed anger at her words.  Some just looked confused and upset by the situation.

This was going to be bad.  If he refused then it could turn ugly.  Very ugly.  But if he didn’t then Alisha would be left in charge, and this time there would be no Davies to protect the station.  Alisha might get lucky once or twice, maybe even a few times, but sometime soon the Taint would reach Greenseed.  Then everyone would be lost.

Still… Marsh was tempted to give in.  To let her take the responsibility.  Some time spent resting in his quarters didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

“Alisha,” he said quietly.  “You do understand what you’re doing, don’t you?  The penalty for mutiny is death.  Even if a court decided you’d acted correctly you’d be facing life in prison.  We’re all under incredible pressure.  I’m willing to leave this off the official record.  Are you sure you want to do this?”

“
Yes.  I’m sorry Commander, I can’t see any other way.”

“
Nor can I,” he replied sadly.

The boom of his pistol firing punctuated the sentence.  He’d taken hold of it while talking, letting his jacket hide what he was doing.

His shot had been true, right between her eyes.  He’d always been a good shot and she’d only been standing a few feet away.  As Alisha collapsed to the floor he quickly scanned the room.  Most of his people were in shock, but some were already showing signs of active rebellion.  He punched a red button beside the door and gave the order he’d hoped never to need.

“
Security to the command room.  Code black.”

Then he raised his pistol.  Not threatening anyone directly, but making it clear he’d use it if necessary.  There were still nine shots.  That should be enough to hold until security arrived.

Several of those who’d backed Alisha exchanged glances.  None seemed willing to take the lead, to die for their convictions.  Marsh knew in that moment that he had them — at least for long enough.  His biggest worry now was if someone else in the room was armed, and got off a shot before he could drop them.  Then panic would break out.  If the guards came running into that situation it could turn into a bloodbath.

Marsh kept his eyes flicking rapidly across the room.  Adrenaline had pushed aside all hint of tiredness, though he knew there’d be a price to pay later.  He kept the gun moving slowly, not aiming it at anyone but letting it keep everyone’s attention.

As the seconds ticked by he started to think things might work out.  He realised with surprise that he was enjoying himself.  For the first time in far too long he was on the edge again, facing down a potential threat.  It wasn’t the same as commanding a warship in battle, but it was closer than he’d been in far too long.  Despite the dangers the situation was actually a relief.  After so many days of unending worry it felt good to be doing something decisive, even if it was holding his own staff at gunpoint.  The absurdity of the situation almost made him smile.