Sertian Princess (25 page)

"No sir.  I'm afraid not.  Because the order was properly authorised, he processed it and put all the parts ready for collection. But before anyone arrived, he received a message to report to the Officer of the Watch."

"That's right."  Frank broke in.  "He did report to me, but I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.  I certainly didn't send for him."

"He swears that he locked the stores before he left," Van Gelst continued.  "And it was definitely locked when he got back.  There are witnesses to that.  But all the components had gone."

"Well didn't he think that was a little odd?"

"He says he didn't notice for a few minutes, sir.  And then all hell broke loose when the Comms Systems malfunctioned.  He's a reliable man, sir, and I'm inclined to believe his story."

"So, if we accept this story, where does that leave us?"

Again there was a moments pause as everyone waited for someone else to be the first to admit the obvious conclusion.  Eventually it was Frank who spoke up.

"We have an expert saboteur on board, or maybe more than one.  He sabotaged the laser turrets before we left to try to make us turn back. When that failed, he took out the Comms System to cut us off from outside."

"Plausible, but there's a flaw in the logic, Frank.  He took out the Comms so easily that it looks as though he could have done it at any time.  So why didn't he act immediately it became obvious we weren't turning back?  Why wait until now?"

"Maybe it wasn't necessary until now, sir.  Maybe he thought we wouldn't succeed in rescuing the Princess."

"Right.  And because we did succeed, he now has to take further action.  So if we assume that the objective is to prevent the Princess from reaching Serta, we can expect some more sabotage, and this time on something more vital than the Comms.

"Chief, retrieve the Sabotage Threat Analysis from the ships computers.  I want every vital point listed there to be checked, then sealed and protected as best you can by tamper-proof automatic defence systems."

"I'll get right on it, sir."

As the bulky Chief Engineer pushed his way out of the crowded room, Mikael looked at his Exec.  "Ok Frank, how do we go about identifying our friend or friends?"

"There's only two possibilities as I see it, sir.  Either he's on board illegally, a stowaway, which is pretty unlikely on a ship this size.  Or he's a member of the crew, which seems equally unlikely."

"So we have two unlikely possibilities.  Can anyone think of a third?"

There was a silence around the room.

"Then let's work with what we've got.  Frank, I want you to take a small party of men.  Choose them carefully and search the ship from stem to stern.  Do it quietly.  Don't make a fuss but I want the stowaway theory eliminated.  I'll start a trawl through the Personnel Records and set up some cross-correlation programs.

"For the rest of you, it's business as usual.  Keep your eyes open as you go around and make sure your areas cooperate with the Chief.  The only thing that we know for certain about this man is that he is going to strike again.  He has to stop us from reaching Serta."

Nerissa and Suzanne hung back as the Cleopatra's officers filed out.  Mikael waited until the last of them had left and then quietly closed the door.

"I'm sorry, your Highness.  It appears that you are not as safe on one of His Imperial Majesty's Ships as I led you to believe."

"It is I who should apologise to you Captain.  If it were not for my presence on board, you and your men would not now be in such danger."

"No, your Highness...."

"If you two could stop apologising to each other for a minute," Suzanne cut in sharply.  "I suggest that we try to contact Lord David."

The other two turned to look at her in amazement.  "But how...." Nerissa began.

"You heard the report on the Comms System," Mikael said.  "There is no way to repair it without those spare parts, until we reach a Star Base."

"But that is precisely why my Lord David had me placed aboard your ship, Captain.  I don't need your computers."

She reached inside her tunic and pulled out the Moonstone hanging from a delicately wrought chain around her neck.  "All I need is this."

"Is that a Moonstone?"  Mikael stared at the radiant jewel.  "I've only ever seen them in hologram before."

"That's right, Captain.  This is all I need."

"Yes..."  Mikael forced his gaze away from the Moonstone and back to Suzanne's face.  "When you came aboard, your commander said something about telepathy.  Are you a natural telepath then?  And can you reach Lord David from such a distance?"

"Telepathy is still only partially understood, Captain.  But it does not seem to be affected by distance.  The greater the distance, the harder it is to identify a specific individual.  But once you have established the contact, the distance does not appear to matter."

"So what do you need to make contact?"

"Only somewhere quiet to concentrate.  Right here would be fine, if it's all right with you."

Mikael nodded his agreement as Suzanne crossed to the desk and settled herself in the comfortable chair.  She closed her eyes and a slight frown of concentration gradually formed on her face.  The seconds ticked away slowly as the other two watched the silent effort. They could not see the Moonstone itself, tightly clenched within Suzanne's fist but the aura generated by the stone seemed to expand to fill the tiny cabin.

Neither Mikael nor Nerissa had been through even basic telepathy training but such was the power of the Moonstone, that they could begin to sense the waves of consciousness, streaming across the room. Suddenly, startling them both, Suzanne shot out of the chair with an agonised shriek of "NO no...." and then slumped back across the desk.

Mikael caught her as she slid to the floor.  Suzanne's face was an ashen grey and he was not sure he could find a pulse.  He looked up at Nerissa.

"Go to the door and get somebody to send for the Surgeon.  And tell them to hurry."

As Nerissa ran onto the bridge, Mikael looked down in time to see Suzanne's eyelids flutter.  And there was a pulse at her throat now, he noticed with relief.  Very faint still but definitely there.

"Suzanne, can you hear me?  What happened?"

Suzanne opened her eyes a fraction and spoke in a whisper so soft he had to strain to catch her words.

"I.... I couldn't reach him.  There was too much death.  Death all around him.  I couldn't break through.  Couldn't make contact."

"Whose death?  Is Lord David dead?"  Mikael asked urgently.

"No, not Lord David.  He is alive, but many others aren't.  All around him.  I just couldn't reach him."

Nerissa ran back into the day cabin.  "The Surgeon's on his way. Is she all right?"

Suzanne's eyes had closed again and her breathing was shallow but regular now.

"I think so, but she's suffered a tremendous shock.  She kept talking about death.  Apparently Lord David is still alive but there is so much death around him that she couldn't reach him.  The trauma of death obviously affects her telepathic ability in some way."

"So we're still no better off.  We still can't communicate with anybody outside."

Before he could answer there was a knock on the door.

"That was quick, Tony."

"Sir?"

Mikael looked up to see Frank standing in the doorway with one of the engineers.

"Oh, I'm sorry Frank.  I thought you were the Surgeon.  What's up?"

"There's something I think you ought to hear, sir."

"Well, I'm a little tied up right now, Frank.  Can't you deal with it?"

"I'm sorry, sir."

Nerissa knelt down by Mikael.  "You go on, Captain.  I'll look after Suzanne."

She gently took Suzanne's head as Mikael stood up and led the way onto the bridge.

"Well, what is it?"

"Yates here was down in the launch just now, sir, running some engine checks.  I think you'd better hear his story."

He turned to the engineer and nodded.  "All right, now tell the Captain what you've just told me."

"Well sir, we noticed something odd as soon as we got there, me and 'enderson.  The airlock door was wide open.  Now it should never 'ave been left like that, so we wondered if there was someone inside.  We goes in and 'as a look round, but there ain't nobody there.  There's just this case."

"Case.  What case?"

"Well that's it, sir.  It shouldn't 'ave been there, but there was this equipment case right inside the airlock door."

"Did you look inside the case?  See what sort of equipment it was?"

"No sir, we never did.  We was going to bring it with us when we finished, but when we'd done the engine checks and come out, it was gone."

"So there was someone on the launch."

"Must 'ave been, sir.  Only we never saw 'im.  But when we found the case 'ad gone, we checked round again.  And that's when I found the console was switched on.  Well there was nothing on the screen but 'enderson's a bright lad.  Got all 'is computing certificates as 'enderson.  So 'e runs through the computer log to see what's been going on.  And finds that someone's been using that console to access all the structural and service plans of the Cleopatra.  Not Engineering I thought.  We've got our own terminals.  Couldn't find the Chief so I thought I'd better tell Mr. Bennetton, sir."

"Well done, Yates.  You did the right thing.  Now is there anything else you can tell us about that case?"

"No sir.  It was just a standard case like we use in Engineering for tools and spares."

"Ok Yates.  Thank you very much.  And tell Henderson you both did a good job there."

"Aye aye, sir.  Thank you, sir."

Mikael waited until the engineer had moved out of earshot.

"That must be our man, Frank.  He must have been using the launch as a base.  And Yates and Henderson disturbed him.  It's a pity they didn't do a thorough search to start with.  They might have nabbed him.  Pass the word that our man's carrying a case of equipment with him and have Van Gelst run a complete check on the computers.  I want a log of every access made through the launch's console since we left Runnymede.  I want to know everything that he's learnt about us."

"Aye aye, sir."

***

At the sound of the approaching voices, LeFevre placed the device on which he had been working on the table and quickly crossed to the door.  The voices stopped outside the sickbay and he strained to hear the conversation.  One of the voices he recognised as belonging to the Surgeon.  The other was unknown to him.

"....not one of mine," the other voice was saying. "....absolutely trustworthy...."

"....agree with you."  That was the Surgeon.  "Still better check on my patient."

LeFevre tensed himself.  There was no time to clear away the traces of his work.  The Wave Particle Transformer which he had been calibrating to the frequency of the Cleopatra's main drives, was spread across the table with no hope of concealment.  If the surgeon, or anyone else came into the sickbay, they would have to be killed.  He had to buy enough time to finish the calibration.

He heard the combination being punched into the lock and the quiet expression of surprise as the door failed to open.

"That's funny.  I could have sworn...."

"What's the matter, doc.  Forgotten the combination?"

The second, unknown voice had been moving away.  Now it stopped.

"No, no.  I must have punched the wrong code."

He heard the Surgeon try the combination again.  Still the door failed to open.

"Maybe it's reset itself," the second voice suggested helpfully. "They do sometimes."

LeFevre waited inside the door.  Was the second man coming back to help?  Would he have to kill both of them?  He knew that he could do it.  Two unprepared men, probably largely untrained in unarmed combat, would be no match for his killing skills.  But could he do it quickly enough to prevent them from making a noise and raising the alarm?  The risks were increasing by the second.

"What.... four zeroes?" he heard Anton say as the combination was punched again.  This time the door slid smoothly open.  The Surgeon paused on the threshold, one hand resting on the frame.

"Yep, that's got it.  You're right: it must have reset itself. I'll call Maintenance when I get in."

"Ok doc."  The second man moved off.

Only one to deal with.  LeFevre raised his hand to deliver the silent, killing blow.

"Surgeon to the bridge.  Emergency.  Surgeon to the bridge."

The sudden blaring of the tannoy cut through the air and the Surgeon's hand disappeared from the door frame as he turned to listen. LeFevre hesitated for a vital second, debating whether the second man was still in the passage and then the moment was past as Anton set off at a run, back the way he had come.  LeFevre risked a quick glance through the open door before sliding it shut, but the passageway was empty.

He experienced a slight feeling of disappointment, of anticlimax as he forced himself to unwind from his state of combat preparedness. It was not that he particularly enjoyed killing people with his bare hands.  It was just part of the job; necessary sometimes.  But, having psyched himself up to do so in the expectation that it would be necessary, he felt frustrated as his prey was snatched from him.