The Martian Journal (3 page)

Log 0013

I can't believe what Lloyd showed me. We could be in a lot of trouble.

When I entered the lab, Lloyd made sure nobody was hanging round the corridor, then closed and locked the door. I was about to ask him what is going on when he produced a small box. He opened it and inside was a mesh of wires, circuit boards and two tubes with a blue liquid inside.

It was a bomb.

I was speechless. I still am, I guess. Lloyd told me he found it in an unused supply room on the lower level. He had spent the last two days trying to deactivate it, and despite not having any experience or intel on bomb construction. At first I was angry for not informing the crew and he could have endangered us all by messing around with it.

Lloyd apologised but said the reason was that he didn't know who to trust. He told me the bomb had a very small receiver, so whoever intended to explode it, would have to do it from either on board the ship, or on a station when the ship was docked. He theorised, that since the bomb didn't go off on Aldrin then the person planning on detonating it is either on the Clarke station or one of our own crew. I told him that would be suicide to detonate a bomb on your own ship so it had to be someone on Clarke. Lloyd thought that too but security there was so tight, that not even he knew what he was scheduled to be working on. The chance of a saboteur becoming one of the Clarke residents with all the background and security checks was unlikely.

I asked Lloyd if he had been successful in disarming it and he seemed confident that he had. It was still potentially dangerous so he advised me against throwing it about.

I’ve taken the device into my quarters and locked it away. I have a feeling things are going to get worse.

Log 0014

I’ve been watching everyone closely all day. I’ve hardly spoken to any of them. I’m sure they know something’s up and if one of the crew is indeed a saboteur, then they would definitely know that I know.

Hutchie seems like a carefree, sociable man but could that all be for show? Does he have an agenda?

The Harris brothers are both dedicated and well disciplined. Surely if one of them is up to something, then his twin would sense it. Unless they’re both in it together.

What do I really know about Malcolm? Like Hutchie, he doesn’t appear like a suspect at all but that all could be an act.

Sarah Connelly, the government official. Why was she sent along? To keep an eye on us or that mysterious container in the cargo bay? She says she doesn’t know what’s in it but could she be lying? And she is dealing with all the communications between us and Aldrin and the Clarke. I wonder if she’s talking to other people as well.

Then there’s Lloyd. Can he really be ruled out? He did bring the bomb to my attention and diffused it. Why would a bomber show his victims the bomb? More importantly, is the bomb really deactivated?

And why would they want to blow up the ship anyway? Is it because of the cargo we’re carrying? If that’s the case, why not have the bomb timed to blow a few minutes after they planted it? That would have given them time to get clear of the explosion. Why have a manual detonator?

There are so many questions. I really need to sleep on this. If I can.

Log 0015

I've decided to tell the others. The sooner, the better. Hopefully it will help flush out whoever it is who wants us blown up. I'm going to announce over the intercom for everyone to get to the meeting room in two hours.

Log 0016

Everybody was already there when I entered the room. I'm sure Lloyd must have had a fair idea what it was about and when he saw me walk in with the box, he looked uneasy. I felt uneasy myself as I had no idea how the others would react. I placed the box on the table and looked at the others, hoping there might be some clue in their reactions. All of them looked perplexed, except for Hutchie who reached over to pick the box up. I put my hand up to stop him just as Lloyd screamed for him to stop.

Sarah obviously didn’t have much patience and demanded to know why the meeting was called.

I told them everything. Everything Lloyd and I knew and what our suspicions were. We were greeted with gaping mouths and silence from everyone. Sarah, who in the past couple of days had been efficiently unemotional, started to show signs of distress.

It was Malcolm who suggested contacting the Clarke and let them know what’s happening as well as the commander at the Aldrin. Sarah left the room quickly, leaving the rest of us to wonder what the next step is. I suspect they might want us to return back since we’re barely into the journey. It shouldn’t take too long for the Harris brothers to recalculate our flight path and send us back to the Aldrin.

I asked Frank to plot the new course so we could begin to return as soon as Sarah gets the word. He did protest slightly, saying we should see what Sarah is told before thinking of returning. I sensed he, like the others, was disappointed that the journey, along with the bonus, was over before it really began. However, I did explain that the Clarke would hardly want anything to do with us once they knew that security had been compromised.

I then told the rest to have a walk round the ship, just in case there was more than one bomb.

I’m now sitting in my quarters, once again starring out the window. It seems so peaceful out there.

Log 0017

We're still going to Clarke. I'm surprised. I thought they would want us back to the Aldrin along with their top secret cargo. Sarah came to my quarters to tell me what she had been told in the comms room. She is still visibly shaken and it's just now I'm realising how young she really is. Poor kid doesn't know what she's got herself into. I believe her when she says she doesn't have much information about the mission. I told her to go back to her quarters and rest up. Bravely she told me she was fine but neither of us was buying it. I admire her determination but I told her she'll be no good to anyone if she doesn't look after herself. I'll have to speak to the crew individually. Particularly Malcolm. I'm not going to be coy with him anymore. Everyone can explain their purpose on this ship, even Lloyd to a degree. It's time he told us.

Log 0018

Sarah didn't go to her quarters as I suggested but rather to the recreational room were Malcolm was sitting. I thought it best to leave the two of them there. Malcolm does have a calming effect on people so hopefully he'll help Sarah get back to her normal, stone cold self.

I met Hutchie down in the lower levels to see if he had noticed anything that I should be worried about. He said he hadn’t come across anything yet, but there were st
ill many things for him to inspect.

The two of us together gave the life pod a good check. It’s located at the very bottom of the ship so if we’re on the bridge and things go wrong, we’ve got quite a dash downwards.

From what I can tell, it’s quite a bit larger than the normal standard. It’s basically a twenty-five metre long cylinder tube with enough oxygen, food rations and water to last us for three weeks. I hope we don’t ever need to consider using it because the thought of having to spend several weeks waiting to get rescued in one has been a nightmare of mine. The survival rate of people using these is so low, I don’t even know why they bother having them in the first place. By the time most rescue ships get out there to pick them up, the poor souls have run out of oxygen. Although we should last longer than that since we’ve only got seven passengers on board.

The supplies all seemed to be topped up but I asked Hutchie if we would make sure the electrics for the heating and communicator in it are working fine. Normally these things are checked rigorously before setting off but now we can’t be sure of anything.

Hutchie promised me he’d give the pod the full diagnostic check right away and he wouldn’t sleep until he was confident it was tamper free.

The more I speak to Hutchie, especially about his work as ship engineer, the more I see a serious side to him. Despite the party animal aura he gives off, he’s very good at his job and obviously worked hard to get there. I’m glad he’s on our team.

Providing he’s on our side.

Log 0019

Still didn’t sleep well. I suppose that’s not really surprising considering what we’re up against.

Spoke to Frank this morning. He wanted to apologise for his outburst the other day when I asked him to recalculate our route. I didn’t consider it really an outburst as such, but he wanted me to know that he didn’t mean to show any disrespect. To be honest, it took me a moment to realize what incident he was referring to but we shook hands and I told him he was doing an excellent job. He does seem to spend nearly every waking moment on the bridge constantly tracking our flight path. I wouldn't be surprised if we arrive at the Clarke a few days early.

I got a chance straight afterwards to speak to Aaron who was fixing some breakfast. I told him about his brother apologising and was wondering if maybe he had told him to do it. Aaron never really answered but said that his brother really wanted to see this mission to the end, possibly to redeem himself a bit to the rest of the family. I guess he was worried we would turn around and he’d lose the prestige of being one of the few to go to the Clarke.

Sarah came down and Aaron left the two of us alone. She seemed in a better mood, obviously slept better than I did. I imagine perhaps the late night talk with Malcolm has eased her slightly. I had a chance to speak to her in more detail about her contact with the Aldrin. Apparently it’s a little tense there and they've stopped any ships leaving until they've tracked down the saboteur. I was surprised to find out that Sarah hadn't been talking directly to the Clarke but through a representative based at the Aldrin. It won't be until we're docking with the Clarke that we’ll be able to speak directly to someone onboard there.

We chatted for a bit while we had breakfast. Seems she's been in her current role for only a few months so this bomb incident hit her quite hard. I asked her if it annoyed her that she's not privy to the full information about our trip. She shrugged and said it probably was the best way to keep the mission secret. She then laughed and said it hasn't really worked. I asked what she knew of Malcolm and if he had told her anything about himself. She paused, looked around and told me quietly that all she's learnt is that Malcolm is connected directly to the cargo. He owns it.

She finished her coffee and told me that there'll be an official from Aldrin who will want to speak to me soon. She said she'll let me know when he makes the call which could be sometime in the next couple of hours. I thanked her as she left and told her not to worry. She smiled again. She should smile more often.

Hutchie left a note for me under my door. It said he needed to catch a couple of hours sleep but wanted me to meet him down in the lower deck later.

Log 0020

Hutchie was still asleep so I though I’d visit Lloyd in the lab. I’m hoping that since Hutchie is able to sleep then perhaps it isn’t anything too serious. Here’s hoping.

I was only able to speak to Lloyd briefly. I asked what he thought of Malcolm and he just shrugged and said he thinks he probably knows a lot more than he lets on. I told him that he’s connected to the mysterious container down below. Lloyd said he wasn’t surprised and that he’s probably the reason somebody wants to blow us up.

Sarah called over the intercom and asked me to meet her in the comms room along with the package. I said to Lloyd that I’d speak to him later and if he’d let me know if he thinks of anything that could be important. He said he would but reminded me that he wasn’t even told what he’ll be doing on the Clarke or for how long. He feels just as much in the dark as me.

Sarah was already in the comms room. On the screen was an official, impatiently waiting for me who, when I think about it, never mentioned his own name throughout the entire meeting.

I took a seat and right away he began his questioning of how and when the bomb was found. As I answered, I noticed he would occasionally glance to the side, where somebody was obviously watching but not prepared to show themselves. I told him that the bomb had been disarmed. He snorted and then asked to see the device. I handed it over to Sarah who placed it in the scanner.

Several minutes passed with nothing being said, the man still conferring with the unseen person or persons. Eventually he turned and asked me if there were any searches or checks since. I told him that I've had the crew be on the lookout for anything else. He didn't seem too impressed and demanded I organise a rota and search check plan immediately. Before I could protest against his arrogant request, he turned once again to the side and continued his mysterious conversation. I looked at Sarah and she just shrugged her shoulders, probably fully aware of what these people are like.

After a further several minutes of silence, he faced the camera and gave me run down of what they've deduced from the bomb. Seems Lloyd indeed managed to deactivate the bomb in a way that it couldn't be exploded remotely. However it still could be set off again if you either throw it against a wall or pull the wires loose.

I remember Sarah and I looked at each other, both absolutely speechless. The man did tell us that the bomb seemed to have a fifteen minute fuse so it wouldn't go off immediately on us. That is unless I knocked it fourteen minutes and fifty nine seconds ago.

He advised to store it somewhere secure because it's quite a substantial bomb. I asked if they knew how it got on board and who planted it. He looked over off camera and then answered that they didn't know but they were following all leads on the Aldrin. I then asked what was it we were carrying that was so valuable but he abruptly told me that was classified and that the delivery to the Clarke would continue as scheduled. He then said he would inform Sarah of any further developments and if there are anymore discoveries on our side then to inform him immediately. Before I could even say anything else, he ended the transmission. I stormed out of there and punched a door on the way back to my quarters. Hand is still killing me.

I probably should go apologise to Sarah before seeing Hutchie. I honestly don't know how she can work with people like that.