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“So. We good to go?”
Brother Anderson had just finished tying up all the loose ends with their accounts and ensuring that the archaea had the correct access. He considered setting up a modest income stream from Ventas-Calir corporation, tied indirectly to each archaeon through multiple levels of corporate obfuscation. There were a number of relatively low-risk structures that could work, but in the end, he decided against it.
The problem was the risk, however low, of a paper trail that could potentially lead to Hannah and Colin. He was almost sure he had thought of everything, and could plan around any known risk. But there was still some inherent risk the idea. He did not know everything. Of course. No one did. No one could. There could be some weakness he was blind to. Some hole in his security strategy that might be discovered. No, there could be no trace. No breadcrumbs. Nothing that could blow their cover. He could not tolerate even the slightest risk if it could compromise Hannah and Colin’s safety. As of this moment, he could safely guarantee the integrity of their new accounts. The archaea now formed the foundation of their accounts, and had no connection whatsoever back to the original accounts, which were now essentially empty shells, left behind only to give Ventas-Calir something to close down.
As much as it would have been beneficial to maintain a consistent stream of income, it really wasn’t necessary. Hannah’s mother had amassed enormous wealth by shrewdly investing the bulk of her handsome salary. Hannah was set for life. And so long as Colin stuck with her, he would be as well. He hoped they would stick together. Watching the two of them interact brought Brother Anderson a sense of joy. It seemed as though these two people somehow created a third entity that enveloped but somehow transcended their separate identities.
“All clear. Please test your biometrics one more time.”
They both finger-swiped in successfully.
“Excellent. Now I need to run some ship diagnostics in order to prepare for navigational thrust. Colin, I will need your help shortly, as there are some manual steps involving engineering controls.”
“Yeah, sure - Oh... But... Wait a sec. If the thrust process requires manual steps. Won’t fleet control figure out that there must have been someone else on board besides you?”
“Yes, actually - and good deduction by the way - they would be able to tell from the ship logs; except that I am planning to purge the ship logs. The existing data already shows abundant evidence of your presence.”
“Oh right, of course it does. So are we just going to destroy the whole log?”
“I would prefer to retain the original logs as much as possible. In particular, I feel it would be irresponsible not to keep a record of the hull breaches, with as much relevant data as possible. In fact, the quarantine and coincident medical records are also important to keep intact, at least up until a certain point. I thought of truncating the data at a certain point in time during that initial period.”
“I agree. If fleet is ever able to retrieve anything from the wreck, they need to know what caused this. What it can do.”
“Yes, precisely. I do however have an additional concern with this solution.” He stopped short, somewhat strangely.
“Do tell.”
Hannah glanced up at this. The tone of Colin’s comment belied a secrecy that piqued her interest.
“Well. The relevant time period also will reveal the fact that CSO duties were passed to myself.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Well. My own personal concerns are much the same as yours regarding the wisdom of going into hiding.”
Hannah jumped up “Aha! You’ve got a secret plan!” Her voice contained both joyful glee and cheerful mocking. “Are you also planning to find a nice beach to lie on and sip margaritas? Or could it be something more mysterious?”
“Ah, well, if those are my only two options, I’ll have to go with ‘something more mysterious!’” He actually managed to mimic Hannah’s tone fairly accurately, with a somewhat creepy effect, causing them all to burst out laughing. Brother Anderson’s laughter simulation was even more creepy than the original joke, and immediately became a new target for laughter.
Their frivolity was interrupted by a loud, extended groaning and grinding sound, followed by a shuddering tremor. At once, all three shut their mouths with a snap and instinctively cocked their heads in an attempt to locate the noise’s source, but it seemed to come from everywhere. It was a truly horrible sound, more sinister than any imagined construct. It was a monster both very real and very close, in whose belly they were already encaptured, and whom threatened to vomit them out from that relative safety into the eager fires of sudden death.
They all glanced at one another, holding their breath and listening for any sign. Colin spoke first, in a whisper.
“Brother, can you get any detail on that?”
“The exact cause and location is unknown. Overall hull status remains relatively normal. No new hull breaches detected.”
Again the monstrous groan shook the ship. This time, rather than dying off, the sound resolved itself into a slow repeating thrumming rhythm.
“Ah. It is becoming more clear now. A large section of sector B appears to have shifted. We would need visual inspection to confirm, but I suspect that the hull has peeled back, much like a banana. The continuing resonance indicates that it may be flapping like a flag in a breeze.”
“Shit,” Colin muttered under his breath. He hadn’t meant to voice it aloud, not wishing to alarm Hannah.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Hannah had tried to ignore the technical points of their situation. Deep down, though, she knew. The ship was barely holding together.
Colin could not keep the truth from her. He nodded once slowly, looking into her eyes. They held a certain amount of fear, yet that fear was held at bay by a trust that welled up to fill iris and pupil. A trust he could not betray.
“Come on.” The supply cart still stood where he had placed it nearby, less a few water bottles and protein bars. He began to maneuver it hurriedly toward the corridor. “We’ve got to get you to the escape pod! Just in case.”
“But...” Hannah began.
“I’ll join you in a minute, but we have to run some tests. I have to help Brother.” He was pushing the cart down the shuddering corridor now. The cart, as if in sympathy with the ship, developed a shimmy in its front wheel, making it difficult to steer. Colin tried to kick the wheel back into place, while simultaneously herding Hannah subconsciously with one hand on her back, and trying to talk her through the plan. It was far too many items to multitask at once. The wheel became jammed, the cart shying off toward the corridor wall. Colin switched sides, moving to the front and now dragging the unwilling cart behind him. Hannah tried to help, grabbing the other front corner, and the two dragged the ornery beast along, pausing briefly as a box fell off the top, spewing its contents across the corridor behind them.
“Leave it! We have enough!” Colin ordered as Hannah began to stoop to the spilled goods.
The mess was a small challenge for Brother Anderson, who was lagging behind them slightly. He had to switch from rolling to walking mode to avoid the obstacle.
“Colin,” he began, but was quickly cut off by Colin’s agitated response.
“What!?”
“We might consider skipping the tests. I fear they may be a moot point now.”
“I think so, too, Brother. Quickly now Hannah, this way.” By now they had come to the twisting corridors of sector F, and Colin’s guiding hand became less of an unnecessary instinct, and more of a useful navigational aid.
Hannah was barely thinking, just running. The jarring pace and the disorienting sonic wobble occupied her attention in a jumbled blend of pounding feet and blurred streaks of lockers and acute angles which seemed to jump out at her. She reached out for Colin’s hand, and upon landing within it, she found a single point of firm stability upon which the spinning world could anchor. They ran faster now, yet the journey was smoothened. Each upcoming corner was tamed from an unknown obstacle, to a simple course correction. She could anticipate now, which direction they must turn. She felt the location of the pod ahead drawing them to it.