Space Rescue One (6 page)

      "So, you think this is more than just a ploy?"

      "I do. I think the colonies are actually getting ready, politically, economically, and militarily to declare their independence and keep it. Everyone of the men caught was from one of the colonies," Clarke answered.

      "I still don't see them getting away with it."

      "Why not? Think it through some more. Over ninety percent of Mars and Venus is uninhabited. That's a big area to search for just a couple of people. The colonists can claim that the bad guys gave them the slip and took the money with them into the wilderness, even if they're the ones receiving the money. Who's going to dispute their word? You? Me? We might have our suspicions, but without proof that's all we have. You can't make a case out of suspicions and no evidence."

      "Then how long do you see before the colonies make their move?" asked Richard.

      "How long? Right now it's a keg of gunpowder ready to blow. All it's going to take is one serious incident to set it off. They could be rebelling as soon as today if things go badly wrong somewhere."

      "What kinds of things?"

      Clarke replied, "A large-scale food riot in North America could be all that's needed before the colonists make their move. All they want is for the major power on Earth to be too busy elsewhere so they can put their plans into action. If you paid more attention to the Internet news, you'd know about all the rabble rousing going on right now. Most people are pretty sure that the riots they're having now are being started by colonists, but no one can prove it yet."

      "You mean the free immigration riots?"

      "Yes, along with the food riots in a few places. They're using whatever issue is hottest in the locality they're working in."

      "They? You mean the rabble rousers you claim to exist are doing this?" asked Richard.

      Clarke answered, "That's precisely what I mean. And I don't just claim they exist. Believe me, they're out there now."

"You still on the wagon, Richard?" asked Damon, the bartender.

     "Yes. Just fruit juice still," Richard answered.

     "You're certainly trying hard, even though you don't look so good."

     "Well, I'm not sleeping as well as before."

Damon said, "Drinking helped you sleep? That's a new one on me."

      "Kind of. Mostly, I was able to sleep because I was passed out already. I didn't have to face them."

      "Face who?"

      Richard looked shocked at his admission. He quickly said, "Forget I said that. Please. As a favor to one of your best customers?"

      "Uh, well, I guess I didn't hear anything. But you look scared. What are you scared of? I've never known you to be afraid of anything."

      "I wish that was the case. I guess my drinking did more for me than help me sleep."

      "Well, if you want to talk about it, then go ahead. After all, I'm just a bartender. One of my jobs is listening to customers who don't have anyone else to talk to. Afterwards, I just go about my duties and forget what I heard. I don't judge and I don't criticize. It's kind of a bartender tradition. I mean, we were around even before there were psychiatrists to charge you big bucks for an hour on a couch. On top of that, they don't serve you anything. Afterwards, they tell you that you're really screwed up when they don't understand themselves, much less anyone else. About the only thing bad being a bartender is that sometimes we have to throw our patients out until the next evening when they get too rowdy."

      "So, I guess you've heard it all then."

      "I probably have. I doubt if you could tell me something I haven't already heard several times before. Maybe you could have when I started out, but I've been a bartender now for twenty years. Ten of them on this station. I really don't think you can surprise me, even if you tried or lied."

      "Well, if I was drunk, I probably would open up to you. Right now I'm too wary to just open up and tell anyone. My job is on the line."

      "I can respect that. Mine's on the line every time I hear a customer's confession about something bad he did."

      "I didn't do anything bad!" Richard exclaimed.

      "Richard, I didn't say you did. That was just a general description of what most customers tell me. Others just tell me that they're in love with someone who doesn't know them from Adam or something just as innocent. I'm not saying that you did anything bad. Really."

      "Okay, I guess I got too defensive. I'm sorry, pal."

      "No problem. You about ready for another juice?"

      Richard answered, "Might as well. Business looks slow tonight."

      "It is, but that's how the job is. Some nights are busy. Others are like tonight. Laid back and easy. Hardly anyone around to talk with. It's nights like this when I do most of my listening.

      "Yeah, I can see how you wouldn't mind listening since you don't have much else to do."

      "I won't argue that point. Sometimes, I think that I'm going to wear these glasses out just from all the cleaning I give them."

      "Any bartender ever manage that?" asked Richard.

      "No, but I'm sure that some bartender somewhere is claiming he did," Damon said with a chuckle.

      Richard laughed with him.

***

The intercom blared out, "Attention all personnel.
Space Rescue One
is on scramble alert. Attention all personnel.
Space Rescue One
is on scramble alert."

      Richard woke from a cold sweat. He really wasn't asleep. Even without the alert sounding over the intercom, he was about to wake up in fear. He welcomed the alert as it gave him something to think of other than what he remembered in his dreams. He wouldn't call them dreams, though. To him, they were the very essence of horror. He admitted only to himself that they were nightmares. He moved through the reddened corridor to the washroom where he slipped out of his soaked nightclothes to take a quick shower. Showers sometimes helped him, too, but not as much as drinking once did.

      The shower door opened. Shelly stared at him for a moment before shutting the door with an "Excuse me. I didn't hear the water running."

      "No problem," Richard replied, getting almost as good a look as she got.

      He left the shower cubicle a few moments later, getting dressed quickly while Shelly was in an adjacent shower. He made his way to the Ready Room. Inside it, Chief Dickson was already present. Dickson glanced up at him, noticing that he went to another table to sit and eat a light meal.

      "Aren't you even interested in what the alert is for?" Isaac asked.

      "You'll tell us sooner or later, anyway. I can wait until the others arrive," Richard answered.

      Isaac asked, "What's your problem, man? When I first took over this team, you were nothing but dependable and caring. Then you got worse in your drinking. Maybe you were still dependable, since you still seemed to care about everything. I guess that made your drinking bearable to me for a while. That is, it did until I realized that someday you could cause a disaster within the team when lives were at stake. I couldn't risk that. Now you don't seem to care about anything and you look like hell. I almost wish you drank again."

      "You're wrong about one thing. I was already drinking heavily when you took over. You just never noticed. You're also wrong concerning whether I care about what I'm doing or not. I do care or I wouldn't be here. So, stuff it and get off my case. My personal life is mine, not yours," Richard replied.

      "Sure it is, until you cause problems in the team. Then it's my worry, too. You need help, Richard. You ought to see a doctor. Maybe a doctor can help you. Maybe you have something physically wrong with you that they can treat."

      The Chief stopped talking when Shelly entered the room. She sat down across from him without glancing at Richard over at the next table.

      "What's the assignment?" she asked.

      "We have a freighter going to Mars with a shipment of animals. Some of them got loose on board. They have some injured crew members who need medical treatment. We'll also help them round up the animals," Isaac answered.

      "What kinds of animals?" she asked.

      "Some non-poisonous snakes and lizards to help balance out the ecology. Mars is still working on balancing its ecology," Dickson answered.

      "Well, if they're not poisonous, then how did anyone get hurt?" she asked.

      "They thought it was a bright idea to turn off their artificial gravity. They figured they could outmaneuver the animals and round them up that way. They were wrong. The animals adapted to it like swimming in water. From what I understand, most of the injuries are broken arms and legs. The crew members got those when they smacked into bulkheads and crates after missing the animals they were chasing," Dickson answered.

***

"I'm glad they had nets on board," Richard said.

     "Me, too. There's another one!" exclaimed Clarke.

     "I see him. Chase him toward me. I'm ready," Laumer said.

***

"I tell you that snake is poisonous. Someone screwed up," Shelly said.

      Isaac replied, "Shelly, the shipment is not poisonous. United Nations laws forbid export of poisonous wildlife. No one wants that kind of wildlife on a newly terraformed world. Not the colonists and not anyone on Earth that I know of. After all, someone on Earth might be convicted of a serious crime and given the choice of life in prison or immigration to a colony. I can't think of one good reason why anyone would do such a thing. There's not even a black market for it."

      "I can think of one good reason," Technician Clarke said.

      "What reason?" Dickson asked.

      "To create a galactic incident. It would bind the colonists together more if they felt that someone had it in for them. Some of them believe that there are people on Earth who want revenge on them," Clarke answered.

      "Revenge? What for?" asked Dickson.

      "Because they're not in prison. They're living free while their victims suffer on Earth," Clarke answered.

      "I can believe that. When I was on my last vacation, I heard some friends of mine gripe about how criminals weren't being punished," Shelly said.

      "Less than one percent of the colonists were criminals. They don't send murderers, rapists, or violent criminals there. The only criminals they send there are non-violent and they have to be guilty of a serious felony before they become eligible. You have to embezzle a million bucks practically before Earth foots the bill to get rid of you," Dickson said.

      "It's not what they did. It's the image of them living free while others were hurt. Even if it was only economical damage they suffered," Clarke said.

      "I still say the snake I saw go behind that crate is poisonous. I'm not going back there by myself," Shelly said.

      Dickson said, "All right. Saber! How about you get that snake that Shelly saw go behind that crate?"

      "Why don't you order her like you order me?" Richard asked.

     "Never mind. I'll get this one, myself," the Chief replied.

     "Be careful. I'm sure that it's poisonous," Shelly said.

      Isaac approached the back of the crate. He pulled on the crate, shifting it a few inches away from another crate beside it. The snake he was after disappeared between the two crates. He climbed on one and prodded between them with the stick he carried. A moment later, the snake slithered out from between the two crates. Isaac turned to follow the snake, keeping his bag ready to stuff the snake in once he grabbed it. He saw the snake slide away from the crates toward another row of them. He jumped down, rushing to grab hold of the snake.

      Richard saw the snake slither out from the crates toward the next row. Horrified, he realized that Shelly was right. It didn't matter whether Clarke was right or not. What mattered was that there was a threat to one of the team. Without thinking about who was threatened, Richard threw his stick at the Chief.

      "Ow! Damn it, Richard! What the hell's wrong with you? Are you still pissed off from our earlier talk?" Dickson exclaimed.

      "I ought to be, but this was to stop you from making a mistake. Shelly's right. That snake is poisonous. I've seen plenty of those as a kid, so I ought to know," Richard replied.

      "What is it then?" Isaac asked.

      "It's a water moccasin. It can kill you," Shelly said.

      "Okay, then how do we handle this? Anyone got any ideas?" Isaac asked.

      "We'll pin it down with our sticks first. Then we'll bag it. That's the only difference," Richard said.

      "Okay. You ever pin any of them down?" Isaac asked.

      "A few," Richard answered.

      "In that case, you lead the chase. I'll do what you instruct. Shelly, find out if there are anymore of these on board, loose or caged. Make sure everyone on both teams knows about this," Isaac said.

***

"Aren't you going to thank Richard for saving you?" asked Shelly.

      "I went up to him. He walked away before I could speak. He doesn't want to be thanked. I can take a hint," Isaac replied.

      "I don't understand him. He's changed," she said.