CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“This may not be the right time,” pleaded Jack. “The ship’s at battle alert status.”

“The captain will want to know about this right away,” insisted Chris Anne. He was escorting Jack and his Aldarian maintenance technician partner, Dilvis, to the command deck.

“I thought standard procedure prohibited us from entering the command deck during battle condition,” said Dilvis.

“He’s right,” confirmed Jack, grateful that Dilvis had memorized the entire operations manual. “We should wait.”

“Senior officers can enter the command deck during alert condition,” replied Chris. “I know the dress is confusing but I am a senior officer.”

“I just don’t want us to be blamed for anything,” Jack said nervously. He had a hard time dealing with anyone of authority. Although he heard the captain was an easy going individual, the technician was still afraid of him.

Dilvis couldn’t understand where his co-worker’s fear was coming from. “I do not understand what we would be blamed for. We simply came upon a hidden compartment.”

“He’s right,” said Chris. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

The trio stepped off the lift and onto the catwalk. They saw the staff at their stations. Everyone was working diligently at the task at hand.

“We’re approaching the station,” announced Kevin.

“Exit jump and raise shields,” ordered John from his command chair. “Bret, anything from the station?”

“There’s still no response to our hails,” replied the communications officer. Three days ago PHOENIX received a distress call from the alien trading outpost they had previous visited. They claimed they were under attack. The call came from Malnygun but he didn’t identify the attacker. Twelve hours after picking up the call the transmissions stopped. PHOENIX had been trying to raise the station ever since but there was no response. The captain decided to change course and head to the station to find out what was going on.

Alex’sis checked the information coming through her station. “Sensors are showing no ships in the vicinity.”

“The station’s intact. I read multiple impacts to the hull,” reported Julie. “Looks like they took hits from some energy blasts. The residual energy signatures conform to Screen weapons. I’m also picking up residual energy emissions from several Screen vessels.”

“Any idea how long ago they were here?” asked John.

Julie analyzed the readings. “Decay rate indicates it’s been a few days. It doesn’t appear any other ship has been here in the last twenty-four hours.”

“Sensors show no vessels on long range scanners,” said Alex’sis. “Whatever happened here, we missed it.”

“Stand down battle alert,” as John jumped down from his chair. “Are there any ships docked at the station?”

“No,” replied Alex’sis. “I’m not picking up any life signs either. Life support is still functioning over there.”

Drix approached the captain. “John Captain, Malnygun would not have abandoned the station unless it was no longer habitable. None of the hull impacts show the Screen intended to destroy it.”

“Then we’ll need to go over there and verify if Malnygun is still there and ascertain the station’s status,” said John. “Command deck to Aries and Virgo squadrons. Deploy fighters and begin patrol of the local space.” John looked at Alex’sis. “You’ve been over to the station before. I want you and Drix to take two separate teams there. Bring a doctor on each team in case you find anyone alive.”

“What if we find survivors?” asked Drix.

“It’s obvious the station’s no longer safe from the Screen. You’ll have to bring back anyone you find back to PHOENIX,” said John.

“Understood,” replied Alex’sis. Her and Drix left to begin assembling their teams.

John looked at his executive officer. “Julie, you have the command deck. I’ll be in my office.”

Julie nodded as John headed out of the pit. He was promptly intercepted by Chris.

“Captain, I know it’s not a good time but we need to talk,” said Chris. “Actually, we need to show you something.”

John saw the two maintenance technicians over by the lift. “Chris, we’re in the middle of a mission. Can’t you take care of it?”

“Sweetie, it took everything I could to convince Jack to come up here. And what he and Dilvis found is a doozy.”

The word ‘found’ gave John a flashback about the secret nuclear bomb that was uncovered by a couple of the ship’s farmers last year. “They found something about the ship?”

Chris nodded. “You’re catching on,”

John didn’t want to hear that. A flurry of thoughts, all bad, went through his mind on what it could be. “Julie, I’ll be with Chris attending to another matter. Notify me of any update from the station teams.”

********

Chris and the two technicians led John down to deck eighteen. Chris called Doctor Roth on the way and asked her to meet them at the rear of the ship on that deck. Jack explained the situation as they headed to their destination.

“We were conducting routine maintenance of the area. Dilvis picked up a small energy signature that was fluctuating so we investigated it. We traced it to a malfunctioning masking device.” He handed John the miniscule device that was used to conceal energy or life form readings. From what John read from Marcus Sandoval’s files, it was commonly used in the intelligence community. “Once we deactivated it we picked up a large empty room behind the bulkhead. We cut the bulkhead open and…, well…”

“Well what?” asked John but Jack became too nervous to say anything more.

“It’s probably best you see it for yourself,” said Chris.

“You’ve already seen it?” asked John.

“I’m way too curious for my own good, sweetie.”

They reached the rear of the ship and the entrance to the opened bulkhead. Waiting for them was Doctor Roth.

“Was someone hurt cutting this wall open?” asked Roth.

“No,” replied Chris. “What you need to see is inside.” Chris motioned for John to go in. “Captain…”

John peered inside the room and saw they were standard quarters. He was looking at the living room area. He stepped in and looked around. It was no different than any other crew quarters. “Quarters sealed behind a bulkhead? Why?”

Chris motioned him to walk. “Probably to hide what’s in the bedroom.”

John proceeded there and immediately saw what Chris was referring to. There, laying on the bed, was a corpse. The captain stared at it as Doctor Roth came from behind him with her medical scanner.

“I’m pretty sure she’s dead,” John said in a poor attempt of humor to cope with the situation. He was right about one thing, it had to be bad.

“And from my readings she’s been dead for some time,” said Roth.

“How long?” asked John.

“Probably years.”

“We did not know who to tell about this,” said Dilvis. “So we contacted Chris Anne.”

John nodded to the Aldarian. “That was the right call.”

“None of us have touched the body,” said Chris. “As soon as they showed it to me we left.”

“Any idea what killed her?” John asked Roth.

“Her neck’s been broken. A couple of her fingernails are broken as well. There’s some skin cells underneath some of her nails that don’t belong to her. I’d speculate based on what I’m seeing here she was murdered. It’s obvious she struggled during the encounter.”

“I never heard about any murder going during the project,” remarked Chris.

“Me neither,” added Jack.

John ignored them. “Can you say who she was?” he asked Roth.

“I’m scanning her DNA profile so the computer can tell us. I’m also feeding the foreign DNA in as well.” A few moments later her scanner beeped. “DNA profile matches a Gertrin Miner, a geologist. That’s strange, according to the computer she was reassigned to the ground station staff twelve years ago.”

“Then how’d she wind up here?” asked Chris.

“What about the foreign DNA?” asked John.

Roth referred to her scanner and was stunned by the computer’s response. “Captain, the DNA profile matches Admiral Oliver Johnson.” John’s heart sank hearing his name. It appeared Nicole wasn’t Johnson’s only victim.

Jack was shocked. “Admiral Johnson killed her? That can’t be. Your scanner must be malfunctioning.”

Roth got annoyed. “You’re telling me I don’t know how to do my job?”

“Computer, place the findings from Doctor Roth’s scanner into an investigative file and restrict access to Doctor Roth and myself.” John looked at the doctor. “I want only you to conduct the autopsy on this body. I need you to be discreet and discuss this with no one.”

“What about Doctor Myers?” asked Roth.

“Not even him,” replied John. “If he asks what you’re doing you send him to me.”

Roth didn’t like keeping anything from her chief medical officer but wasn’t about to go against the captain’s order. “Understood, sir.”

John turned to the technicians. “Same goes for you. You’re not to discuss this with anyone. That’s a direct order and I mean it.”

“I…I swear I won’t say…anything,” stumbled Jack.

“I will remain silent on this matter,” agreed Dilvis.

“I want you two to begin checking the rest of the ship for anymore hidden rooms,” said John.

“Just us?” asked Jack. “That would take years.”

“I know but I need you to be the only ones doing the searching,” explained John. “I’ll talk to your supervisor and let him or her know that you’re working on a special project for me. Once the doctor has the body removed, reseal the bulkhead.” Both techs nodded. “I’ll be back up on the command deck if you need me.”

John made a hasty exit. He needed time to process this discovery but Chris was right on his tail.

“Captain, wait a minute!”

“Not now, Chris.”

“Admiral Johnson killed someone. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“I said not now.”

“The hell not now!” Chris didn’t understand why the captain wasn’t acting upset about the dead geologist. His behavior seemed odd.

John stopped and turned around. The look on his face gave him away.

“You know something,” said Chris. “Something about the admiral. That’s why you didn’t act surprised when the doctor said it was his DNA.”

“Chris, I don’t want to say anything that’ll change your opinion of the admiral.”

“It’s too late for that. You have to tell me. Otherwise, I’m stuck thinking Admiral Johnson murdered someone.”

John felt bad he couldn’t say anything to counter that fact. “It’s about my sister. Julie never told you how she died.”

“She said the decrypted files never said how she passed away.”

“Admiral Johnson killed her.”

The news struck Chris like a blow. “No, that can’t be.”

“It’s true,” said John. “He did it to ensure I would command PHOENIX. That’s why I wasn’t surprised that he killed that geologist.”

Chris leaned up against the wall. Admiral Johnson had such an influence on Chris. He convinced the singer to come to the EXODUS Project. It was because of Johnson that Chris was able to escape his past.

“Your reaction is why I couldn’t tell you,” explained John. “You and the crew looked up to him as this great visionary. As mad as I was for what he did to me, I couldn’t tell anyone and have his reputation tarnished. I’d be taking something away from the crew.”

“You’re never going to let them know what he did to your sister?” asked Chris. John only nodded his head. “What about that woman lying back there?”

“Same with her,” replied John. “The crew can’t learn about it. Far as anyone’s concerned she left the project twelve years ago. But once we complete our mission and get back to Earth…” John realized he was starting to get emotional. “Then I don’t give a damn who knows.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I can’t let him get away with what he did to my sister.”

“Meaning?” pressed Chris.

“I don’t know.” John was getting flustered. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It hurt too much thinking about his sister being killed. He felt helpless and angry not having the chance to take immediate retribution against Johnson.

Chris was buying his response. “Bullshit! I can see it in your eyes. You know exactly what you’re going to do to him.”

John turned away from his friend. “Ensure that those technicians keep their mouths shut.”

“Captain, there’s more to why the admiral killed the geologist and your sister,” said Chris as he grabbed the captain by the shoulder.

“Don’t...” There was something sinister and haunting in John’s voice that made Chris release his grip. “You don’t want to get in my way. When the time comes, I will do what I need to do and no one’s going to stop me.”

John walked away from the dumbfounded singer. Chris never heard such hatred coming from the captain. He was now worried for John. There’s was more to this story, there had to be. Something about the admiral John wasn’t saying. But it was clear Chris wasn’t going to get anymore answers on it. He could go to Julie but that would be going behind the captain’s back. Chris couldn’t do that to him.

********

A transport shuttle, escorted by two pile drivers, carried two teams of ten to the station. When the transport landed in the station’s hangar bay, Alex’sis’ team headed to the operations center and Drix took his team to sweep the station for survivors.

Alex’sis had Doctor Myers on her team. If Malnygun was still on board and hurt, the doctor was reasonably confident he could treat the alien. They took a lift directly to the top level. When the lift door opened, the security officers exited first as Alex’sis and Myers stayed back.

“All clear. We got a body over here,” announced Chief Davers.

Myers rushed out of the lift with Alex’sis right behind him. Lying face down was the station’s facilitator. Myers began scanning the alien, who’s once blue skin was now black.

“Shouldn’t we turn him on his back?” asked Alex’sis.

“There’s no need,” replied Myers. “He’s dead.”

So Drix was right. As long as the station could support life Malnygun would stay on board. Alex’sis went over to the control area and activated the computers. She began looking for any information about the Screen attack.

“Was he killed by the Screen?” Davers asked Myers.

The doctor ran his medical scanner over the body. “He wasn’t killed by any energy weapon. His body’s riddled with multiple stab wounds.”

“How come there’s no blood?” asked one of the security officers.

“I’m showing the gelatinous liquid that functions for blood is still in his body,” said Myers. “It’s possible his species doesn’t bleed like humans when stabbed or cut.”

Alex’sis rejoined the pair. “The station’s computer has been completely wiped. Looks like the Screen didn’t want any record of their attack.”

“Why would the Screen attack the station?” asked Davers.

Alex’sis was equally stumped by the question. “I don’t know. According to the aliens we spoke with last time we were here, the Screen never attacked the station directly. Something’s changed with them.” She didn’t want to say it aloud but she wondered if it had to do with the PHOENIX. “Alex’sis to Drix, what’s your status?”

“We finished our search of the station, Alex’sis Lieutenant, and found no survivors. The memory cores of all computer terminals have been erased. It appears the station was evacuated in a hurry. There are a lot of trade goods that were left behind.”

“We found Malnygun. He’s dead,” said Alex’sis. “We’ll return to the shuttle with him.”

“Should we take any of the merchandise?” asked Davers. “There may be something we could use.”

“No,” replied Alex’sis. “We won’t take advantage of the station’s misfortune.”

“I agree,” replied Drix. “We will meet you back at the shuttle.”

“Drix,” said Myers. “Are you familiar with any rites regarding how Malnygun’s race treat their dead?”

“No, Myers Doctor. Any such information would have been in the station computer.”

Myers looked at the security detail. “See if you can find a sheet we can wrap our friend in.”

********

The teams returned to PHOENIX. The fighter squadrons continued their patrols for any sign of the Screen. The senior staff gathered in the board room to update each other on the latest development on and off the ship.

“I’ll have to conduct a full autopsy to confirm Malnygun’s death,” Myers said as he finished going over his report. “But the cause of death is looking like a homicide.”

“I wonder if it’s standard procedure for the Screen to assault their victims with stabbing weapons rather than energy guns?” wondered Davers.

“Unlikely,” said Julie. “Their body armor have built in energy guns attached on the arms. That would lead one to conclude they prefer to use energy weapons.”

Kevin spoke up. “I have a theory.”

“Go ahead,” said John.

“By killing Malnygun the way they did, they’re trying to conceal who murdered him. If they typically kill their enemies with energy weapons, what better way to throw suspicion off them then by using hand weapons.”

“That makes sense,” said Myers. “Forensics didn’t find any evidence that the Screen was present in the operations center.”

“Right,” continued Kevin. “The station’s security system probably recorded the attack but the Screen erased all the computers. All we have are residual emissions that Screen ships were around the station.”

“If they were trying to conceal their presence, it didn’t work,” said Julie. “Our teams found evidence the Screen were on the station.”

“They have never shown any interest in hiding their attacks,” said Thresha. “Why start now?”

“This behavior is contrary to Screen behavior,” added Drix.

Alex’sis brought up another point. “And why not occupy the station? It’d make a great military installation. All they did was kill the facilitator, scare off the inhabitants, and leave an empty station. There doesn’t seem to be anything they gained in all of this.”

John agreed with the lieutenant’s assessment. None of this made sense. “We still don’t know what ultimately motivates the Screen to do what they do. Drix, is there any way to recover the erased data from the station’s computers?”

“No, John Captain,” replied Drix. “The computers are designed to make erasing the memory cores extremely difficult. Once deleted, the data is permanently lost and the cores rendered unusable.”

“The Screen may not be able to use the station but they made sure no one else can use it either,” said Myers.

“So what do we do?” asked Bret.

“There’s not much more we can do,” admitted John. “We’ll apprise the Onixin, Senfo, Quix, and Ni of what’s occurred here. The Onixins may want us to conduct long range scans of any of their freighters that may have been here during the attack. As for the station, we’ll leave it as is. If Malnygun’s race built it, they may come here to claim it with another facilitator.”

“That’s if Malnygun managed to send a signal to his homeworld,” Alex’sis pointed out. “They may have no idea what happened.”

“We’ll remain here for the rest of the day and depart first thing in the morning,” said John. “With that said, there’s another matter I need to bring up.” The captain was glad Chris Anne wasn’t at the meeting to hear John make the announcement. “Two maintenance techs found some crew quarters sealed behind a bulkhead on deck eighteen. The ship’s schematics doesn’t show it’s supposed to be there.

“Another hidden area?” said Alex’sis. “Captain, I can’t explain…”

John held up his hand. “I’m not looking for a why. But at this point I’m having the same techs do a complete search of the ship from stem to stern for any more hidden areas.”

“Why hide a set of quarters?” asked Bret.

“We found the body of a former EXODUS Project member inside,” revealed John. Everyone was shocked hearing the news and looked and one another nervously. “A geologist named Gertrin Miner. Doctor Roth is conducting the autopsy to determine the cause of death.”

“I’ll assist her with that,” offered Myers.

The captain immediately rebuffed him. “No. Due to the sensitive nature of the issue I’ve restricted the investigation to myself, Commander Olson, and Doctor Roth.”

“Captain, I’m the chief medical officer and should be involved.”

John had to bite his lip to prevent himself from shouting at Myers to be quiet. He took a deep breath before saying anything. “Doctor Roth was the senior doctor on board at the time. If you weren’t on the station, you would have been called and be conducting the investigation. For now, I must keep the information restricted until we’ve obtained all the facts.”

Myers wanted to accept the captain’s explanation but he couldn’t help but feel he was purposely left out. The captain was still blaming the doctor for Nicole Roberts’ death. Myers never saw the captain in social engagements anymore and when they did meet, it was strictly regarding ship business. Any friendship they once had was gone.

Satisfied that Myers wasn’t going to protest further, John looked to the rest of his staff. “If there’s nothing else, everyone’s dismissed except for Commander Olson.”

Once he and Julie were alone, he gave her the rest of the story about the discovery of the hidden quarters.

“Roth concluded that the geologist was murdered, and the evidence points to Admiral Johnson as the killer,” explained John.

Julie couldn’t believe it. “For gosh sakes! Now we’re finding out he was killing project members? When does all this craziness end? How many more surprises are we going to find about this ship?”

John pulled up a list of names on the wall display. “She probably wasn’t the only one. Gertrin’s file shows she was reassigned to the ground station. I checked the final head count of personnel that was done prior to the ship’s launch. She wasn’t recorded as being at ground station. I had the computer compare those personnel files listing people who were transferred from the ship from the last head count at the station. Thirty-one individuals are shown missing.”

Julie looked at the names, trying to find any commonality between them. “Scientists, technicians, engineers. I don’t see any pattern.”

“I talked with some of the other geologists. They said Gertrin was close friends with grocery store owner Valerie. I spoke with Valerie who said Gertrin was unhappy with the EXODUS Project and wanted to leave. Apparently, Gertrin spoke to Admiral Johnson about her intentions. It was agreed she would work at the ground station for a couple of months before leaving the project. Valerie never heard from her again.”

“I always thought it impossible when the admiral said no one ever left the EXODUS Project,” remarked Julie. “With thousands of people involved, some of them would have changed their minds about the project. We took his pitch hook, line, and sinker. How could we be so stupid?”

John understood how she felt. They never questioned the admiral in depth about much of anything. “He preyed on our desires,” admitted John. “The more I learn about what he did, the more it taints this mission.”

“Keep in mind that what we do out here is our accomplishments,” reminded Julie.

She was right. They couldn’t allow the admiral’s past actions to overshadow their mission. “Got it.”

“So are you going to tell the crew?” asked Julie.

“That their beloved mentor was a murderer? Chris figured it out and he didn’t take it very well. We can’t let anyone else know. As long as we’re out here I can justify keeping quiet for the sake of the mission.”

“The thought of more hidden bodies is disturbing,” said Julie. “I hope this is the last of the ship’s secrets.”

“Me too, Julie,” muttered John. But he suspected there were more secrets here waiting to be found.