Justice (7 page)

The Hunters
placed their hands on Zorka and Goffredo and led them out of the
landing bay. The two dignitaries were pale with shock and
indignation. They couldn’t manage to put a sentence together amidst
their shock.

“
Nice people,” said Jack. Nova snorted.

“
Thanks,” said Jimmy. His shoulders relaxed and he put his gun
back into its holster.

“
You did good, boy,” said Jack.

Jimmy nodded
and returned to his post at the door. His back slightly straighter
than the day before.

“
Hey Jack, I think we’ve got our first solid clue,” Nova
called from where she kneeled near an exit door.

The outside of
Drigoon was deadly to humans unless they were fully enclosed in an
air suit and even that wouldn’t protect them from some of the more
carnivorous plants. The suits hung by the exit door for use by
maintenance crews in emergencies, but usually work was carried out
by robots.

Nova stared
down at the small puddle. It was tiny; barely a puddle at all, more
like a few drops.

“
What? That looks like water. I’d hardly call it a mystery
solved,” said Jack.

“
Where would it have come from?” Nova asked, waving her hand
around the landing bay.

“
It could have come from anywhere. Looks like water,” said
Jack, kneeling next to Nova with a puzzled expression on his
face.

“
I think it came from outside,” she said.

She traced her
finger along the floor towards the exit door. A little further
along was another drop, and after that another. They led from the
exit door towards the centre of the room, getting smaller as they
went until they disappeared altogether.

“
Outside?” Jack said. “But what would be coming from
outside?”

His eyes
widened as he turned to her. Nova could understand. The thought of
a sentient plant finding its way into the complex through the
airlock was terrifying. Her own heart pounded faster as she thought
on the possibility. She remembered a story from old-Earth about
plants that invaded and enslaved humanity. On a planet like
Drigoon, that was more than possible.

“
Look under the suits,” Jack said, pointing his
finger.

Nova looked
closer and frowned. Beneath one of the suits spread a bigger puddle
of water that reflected the grey metal of the shipping bay.
“Someone went outside. Recently; judging by the dripping
water.”

“
Why would anyone go out there?”

“
To hide a body?” Nova said in a low voice.

Jack’s eyes
went wide. “You don’t think?”

“
Why else would anyone go out there? The footsteps come from
outside and one of the suits is soaking wet. Someone definitely
went out there.”

“
Dammit,” Jack said.

“
You know what this means?”

“
We have to extend our investigation to outside,” Jack
whispered. She nodded. “But that’s suicide! You know Drigoon is
covered with all kinds of carnivorous and poisonous plants. None of
the animals that were released here during the terraforming
survived, and they could breathe the air! It’s just too deadly out
there.”

“
What other choice do we have? We’ll do a room search first
but I think we both know that we won’t find anything.”

“
What about a DNA scan of the suit? If someone wore it, their
DNA will be all over it.”

Nova tapped
her foot and pursed her lips. “Cal, I need a full DNA sweep on this
suit.”

Cal hovered
out of Crusader and came to a stop by her side. A small hose
extended out from his panels and disappeared into the white folds
of the suit.

“
That won’t be possible.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
It’s been flushed with bleach or something. There’s no viable
material.”

“
You’ve got to be kidding.”

“
Can’t we just write it off? You know, the President is MIA
assumed dead?” Jack said, glancing at the door to the outside and
rubbing his neck.

“
You can try, but after the scene with the dignitaries they’ll
likely hang us up in front of a black hole. Not to mention there’s
five thousand credits at stake,” Nova said.

“
Right. You’re right.”

“
Always am,” replied Nova with a grin. “Now you organise a
room search, I’ll get ready to head out.”

“
Okay, but don’t think you’re going out there alone. I’ll come
with you.”

“
If you insist. If you can handle it.”

She winked at
him and got to her feet. There was a lot to do before heading out
into the untameable wilds of Drigoon.

10 Hours after
Power-Out…

Cal secured
the final strap holding Nova’s suit together and hovered a few feet
away. His camera eye moved in and out as he studied the outfit. It
was fully sealed and equipped with an air-recycler. The suit was
bright white, a poor colour choice for camouflaging in the deadly
Drigoon wilderness.

Nova lifted
her hand in front of her face and it felt twice as heavy as usual.
The finger portions of the suit were streamlined so at least she’d
be able to use a gun but the rest of her was covered in a bulky
layer. The rounded helmet created a dome of reflective silver
glass. She could see out of it but outside observers wouldn’t be
able to see her face.

“
Remember, it’s tough material but any tears will mean the air
recycler has to work harder. Too many tears and it won’t be able to
keep up. You’ll suffocate somewhere out there in the forest,” Cal
said.

“
Thank you for that bright reminder,” she said.

“
You’re welcome.”

“
Nova, you look almost as good as I do,” Jack’s voice came
over the radio in Nova’s helmet. She looked up to see another
figure in a bulky white suit approaching.

“
I wouldn’t go that far,” Nova said with a chuckle. “We look
like old-Earth astronauts.”

“
Let’s hope these are a bit more functional than that,” Jack
said. “The last thing we want is a disaster like the Mars Colony in
twenty-forty.”

“
Too right,” said Nova. The prospect of going out into the
wilderness did not appeal to her, but they’d found no sign of the
President anywhere inside the dome, so that only left the
outside.

“
I’ve been going over the specs,” said Cal. “The suits have a
combined hydration-nutrition store; it feeds you through a tube to
the right of your face. Just lock your mouth over the
end.”

“
Delicious,” Nova said.

“
Better than eating anything you find out there,” Cal said.
“Pretty much everything you find on the surface of Drigoon is
deadly. It will either actively try to kill you or it will poison
you if you touch or eat it. So please, don’t touch anything and
stay inside your suits.”

“
Got it,” she said.

“
Your other needs will be… taken care of,” he said, rushing
on. “You both have your guns holstered. Remember that with the
suits on they’re not where you’re used to. Perhaps you should
practice grabbing them,” said Cal.

Nova and Jack
took it in turns to whip their hands down to their belts and pull
out their guns. On the first attempt Nova misjudged the distance
and knocked her gun out of the holster. It clattered to the ground
and skidded across the floor. Jack did the same thing only he
managed to catch it with his other hand before it reached the
floor.

It took many
attempts before they could consistently grab their guns, drawing
them and aiming without sending them flying. Nova was entirely sick
of the game by the time she shoved her gun back into its holster
and folded her arms across her chest.

“
Damn suits,” she said. “Surely in all these years we would
have found a better design.”

“
Why would you?” said Cal. “When you could just send robots
into the dangerous areas.”

“
Hmm. You’re right,” said Nova. “Remind me again why you or
some other bots aren’t doing the search?”

“
Because there aren’t any robots of the appropriate make to
navigate deep into Drigoon’s terrain that also have effective
search and retrieve programming. Also, I’m too precious to lose to
a carnivorous plant,” Cal responded.

“
If it’s carnivorous it wouldn’t be eating robot,” Nova said
in a flat voice. “That would have to be technovorous or
something.”

“
I’ll be sure to add technovorous to the Cloud Dictionary,”
Cal said. “In the meantime I think you should get
going.”

“
You packed all the usual items in my bag?”

“
Rope, tent, glowball, etcetera,” said Cal.

“
Good.”

“
Alright, let’s go find us a body,” said Jack, clapping his
gloved hands together.

“
And, Cal, make sure the Hunters stay in control here. I’ve
informed Geron’s security guy, Bruce, but he didn’t seem very happy
about the arrangement. Let me know if shit hits the
fan.”

“
Confirmed.”

They walked to
the inner airlock door and pressed the exit button. The door opened
with a hiss and they stepped into the small chamber beyond. The
door closed shut behind them. A small window looked through into
the landing bay where Cal was hovering, watching them. A few
moments later the door behind them opened to reveal the surface of
Drigoon.

The plants
pressed in close to the exit door as if trying to get inside. The
thick foliage pressed so close it created an almost impenetrable
wall. Nova imagined the scent of green leaves and earth that must
lie over the planet. The forest was silent except for the
occasional faint whisper of wind that would make the leaves rustle
against one another.

“
I guess we should get moving,” Nova whispered over the
intercom.

“
Is it too late to change my mind?” Jack said. His head
swivelled from side to side as they stood at the very edge of the
airlock chamber.

“
Yep. I’m not going out there by myself.”

“
Okay, but you’re going first,” he said.

Nova snorted.
She took a deep breath and put her fears behind her. She slowed her
racing heart and stepped out of the airlock onto the rich dirt. It
was soft compared to the hard metal floor of the complex and she
was bathed in bright sunlight. It shone down through the small gap
between the complex and the forest canopy. Deeper into the trees
the light became muted and dull, blocked by the many leaves and
trees that packed so closely against one another.

She stepped
forward with Jack right behind her. His breathing kept a steady
rhythm over her intercom. It was comforting to hear another human
in this alien environment. She scanned the ground for clues. The
last thing she wanted to do was walk off in any direction and then
wander aimlessly through the forests of Drigoon.

The dirt
around the airlock was covered in footprints; evidence of
maintenance crews, both human and robot, which had come out during
the complex’s construction. Another, fresher, set led away from the
complex into the trees. Beside the footprints ran a continuous line
of disturbed dirt.

“
I think we have our second clue,” said Nova.

Jack whistled.
“It sure looks bad.”

“
What do you mean?” Nova asked, stepping forward to more
closely examine the footprint.

“
I’m no expert but that looks suspiciously like someone
dragging someone else along the ground.”

Nova’s eyes
widened as she looked down; Jack was right. The way the footsteps
dug deep into the ground, suggested they were pulling something and
the long line of disturbed ground left little doubt.

“
Why would anyone bring him out here?” she asked.

“
Or who was
he
bringing out here?” Jack said.

“
You’re right. These damn suits all look the same. It’s
impossible to tell what sort of person was doing the
walking.”

“
All we can do is follow the trail.”

“
Just keep your eyes peeled and your gun ready,” Nova
said.

They set off
down the trail left by the footprints. They made a clear path
through the forest. Even in areas where thick leaves covered the
ground, the drag marks made a clear track. Broken leaves and bushes
gave even more proof that something heavy had been taken
through.

Nova was
grateful that the suit included environmental control because the
thick trees blocked any rays of sunlight from filtering through.
The wet and oppressive atmosphere would have had her shivering if
it wasn’t for the suit.

She tried not
to think about the other bodies that were probably lying amongst
the trees. Even in its short history Drigoon was considered one of
the most haunted planets. While most of the original construction
was done by robots, there was a lot done by maintenance crews.
Three separate people had gone missing from those crews without
anyone seeing what had happened. The current theory was that they
were dragged away by some massive creature living amongst the
trees.

After the
complex was finished and the maintenance crews stopped going out,
there were others that had disappeared. While the planet was
supposed to be closed until the grand opening, Geron had allowed
certain visitors, mostly journalists, to look around. He’d probably
been trying to create some pre-opening buzz. Two journalists went
missing after going out into the wilderness. He definitely received
a buzz, though probably not the kind he was looking for. The
journalists had last been seen putting on suits, before they headed
out to investigate the surface of Drigoon and solve the mystery of
the missing mechanics. All they did was create more mystery when
they never returned.