The artemis trilogy, p.24
The Artemis Trilogy, page 24
He finally got his body moving, having a shower, and chowing down breakfast before heading into the rat race. He passed by several of his colleagues in the corridors as they, too, set off to their own sections for the day. Being on Doctor Agata’s team, he was aware of a lot of the projects under Artemis Unit’s purview, but there were some that remained a mystery to him. Not a moment went by that he didn’t wonder about them.
Freeman took the elevator to the top level, where a briefing was about to get underway. Over a dozen of his colleagues were already waiting, mingling around the large round table at the center of the room. He walked up to one of them. “Hey, do you know what this is all about?”
Doctor Kelsey, a scientist from the neurochemistry section, shrugged. Agata finally arrived through the adjacent door, and everyone took their seats at the table. The doctor cleared his throat, and everyone else stopped talking.
“I’ve been in discussions with our military overlords in the last twenty-four hours. It would seem due to the disappointing outcome at the Olarus Nebula with our forces unable to eliminate any of the ORC leadership, it’s been decided that Artemis will once again be called upon. That’s why, effectively immediately, Project Esperance will be brought online.”
Freeman bit his bottom lip and pierced it. The coppery taste of blood trickled into his mouth. Around him murmurs broke out amongst his colleagues as he recalled everything he knew of the program. Though not on the primary team, he was included in several segments which overlapped with the project involving James Sutter. What he’d witnessed was quite an ambitious experiment transformed into something with much more potential.
Agata glowered, and the silence quickly returned to the briefing room. “All of you will be joining me in getting Esperance ready. You’ll be broken up into teams dependent on your expertise.”
Freeman’s wristband lit up, as did everyone else’s around the table. He activated it and checked his assignment. As expected, he’d been assigned to the primary team assisting Doctor Agata. If he were a more ambitious man trying to make a name for himself, he would have been delighted with the attention he’d received, but with every day that passed inside the four walls around him, he wondered if he’d seen too much.
Agata dimmed the lights, and a hologram appeared above them of a series of memory engrams. “Team One will take care of the memory engrams. I need not remind you of the importance of this. Unfortunately, Esperance hasn’t had the level of trials compared to previous programs, so the transfer will be the most delicate operation we face. I’m confident, however, that with the few successful trials we’ve had, there won’t be any issues once we come to that step in the process.”
He activated another hologram, and a man appeared. He had deep-blue eyes, a mess of long blond hair, and a smirk exuding confidence. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is Gerhard Xen, our subject. Admiral Jones has informed Intel Corps that his presence is required, and he’s currently en route to Artemis as we speak. Without going into the gory details or anything that’s classified, Xen is a state trained assassin. In short, he’s a calculated killer.”
Freeman stared into the soul of the holographic image, as if it were the actual person. For something that was only a representation, he could tell Xen had seen a lot in his time. Freeman’s chest heaved a little faster, and some bile found its way to the top of his throat.
“I want everyone prepared by the time Mister Xen arrives at Artemis,” Agata continued. “Study your assignments and liaise with your colleagues. I’ll call the individual team leaders in shortly, so we can have a briefing on what I expect of you.”
Everyone around the table nodded.
“Okay, let’s get going,” the doctor instructed them.
Everyone in the room stood, but Freeman couldn’t move his legs. The others passed him by as Agata switched off the holographic projector. His gaze eventually found its way to the solitary figure left at the table.
“Is something the matter, Freeman?” he asked.
Freeman finally found his feet and pushed his chair in. “Nothing at all, Doctor.”
Agata raised an eyebrow, but before he could be grilled further, Freeman hurried from the room and stepped into the outer corridor. He opened up the brief on his wristband and sighed.
FOURTEEN
Telstar Station appeared little more than a tiny star in the night at first, but as the Ringwood neared, it soon became the huge structure Novikova remembered. She couldn’t help but frown at the vast complex. Normally after a stint aboard the ore transport, she relished getting off the ship to stretch her legs. The facility may have had a bad rep, and rightly so, but over her time working on the ore transport, it had become one of the few places she felt at home.
Grayson maneuvered the Ringwood toward outer docking arm three, while Captain Estrada, liaising with the ship’s communications officer, relayed their movements with station control to ensure they docked safely. It didn’t take long, and the large vessel, loaded to the brim with ore, latched on to the station’s docking mechanism to create the perfect seal.
Estrada pressed in the intercom next to Grayson at the helm. “That’s it, everyone. Those of you who are off-roster, collect your things and make your way to the airlock. Those joining me for a back-to-back stint, enjoy yourselves for the day. Be sure to come back ready for some more hard work.”
Grayson locked down his station and almost sprinted to the exit. The other senior officers followed him just as enthusiastically, but Novikova remained in her seat.
Estrada walked to the rear of the bridge. “What are you still doing here, Nova?”
“Sorry, I had my mind somewhere else for a moment.” She finally stood and went to the door with her captain by her side. “I kind of wish I was staying aboard for a bit longer.”
They dodged a maintenance team coming in the other direction, and Estrada ushered her around the corner. “This’ll be good for you,” he said. “Clear your mind. Before you know it, the Ringwood will be back, and I’ll have you slaving away in the engine room once again.”
“I don’t think I want my mind to be clear. Slaving away down there was the only thing that kept my mind off…” Novikova stopped in the middle of the corridor, and Estrada put a hand on each of her shoulders, not that dissimilar to how her father would have when she was despondent as a child.
“I know there’s nothing I can say that’ll make any of this better. To lose Speer and Logan… It’s…” Estrada frowned. “Unfortunately, in my time I’ve seen many people depart this world. You’re young, Nova. I hate to say it, but we’re going to see a lot more people die by the end of this. Especially as this war continues to move farther inside the Rim.”
Novikova’s mind drifted to the those in the heart of the fighting. Those who were out there now, and those who had perished, including her husband. Anyone else would have thought Estrada was being an asshole, but she knew it was his way of tough love. “I’m just struggling to get over the fact they’re gone.”
“I understand that. I do. But you have to live in the here and now. If you don’t…” He took his hands off her shoulders and put an arm around her, leading her down the corridor. “Go and relax. Do you your best, and I’ll make sure when the Ringwood returns, I’ll have someone break something for you to fix.”
Novikova laughed as they stopped at the door to her quarters. She thanked Estrada and finished packing her bags, making her way to the airlock.
She didn’t know what to expect stepping back onto Telstar Station. But she should have guessed little had changed. If anything, there were more families living in the ever-expanding shanty towns near the docking section, as more refugees had arrived from Outer Rim worlds which had fallen to the Empire. She figured she’d become desensitized to all the news reports on the TV. It wasn’t until she saw real people at the coal face suffering that it all hit home. The children especially made her heart break.
Novikova continued on to the habitat section. But she stopped with the realization she had one more destination to go to before heading home. She quickly turned and took the elevator up to the business level. It was in stark contrast to the rest of the station. It was clean. It didn’t smell. And the people walking around were dressed to impress.
Novikova walked past the various insurance shops, shuttle hires, and travel agencies until she found her destination. The glass door opened, and she marched up to the counter, putting her bag down in front of it.
A holographic representation of a man in a black suit, with dark slicked-back hair, materialized before her. “What can I do for you today, ma’am?”
“I’d like to deposit something in a secured locker,” she said.
“Do you have an account with us?”
Novikova placed her hand on the pad on the desk between them, and it flashed green.
“Very good. Please follow me.” He moved out from behind the desk and through a door, down a set of stairs.
Novikova picked up her bag and followed him to the bottom, where he directed her to another pad beside the door. She put her hand on it, and the heavy vault door swooshed open in front of them.
Novikova let the hologram continue leading the way, and they stopped inside the enormous chamber, where hundreds if not thousands of lockers filled every spare space.
“Please place your item here.” He directed her to the square table at the heart of the room.
She unzipped her bag and retrieved the communications device Vernon had given her, putting it on the center of the table. The hologram looked at it with an amused smile and punched in a series of commands on the adjacent console. The table rose in the air, and a robotic arm dropped from the ceiling to collect the container. It whooshed across to the other side of the room and deposited it into one of the smaller lockers.
“Please insert a ten-digit code into the terminal here,” the hologram instructed her.
Novikova walked over to him and punched in the numbers. The control panel lit up green, and the hologram nodded.
“Thank you,” he said. “You’ll have access to the vault any time you should wish to collect.”
She thanked him, and the hologram led her back to the main banking floor. She checked her cash balance and sent her parents a cut of her last pay. The hologram then waved her goodbye, and she trudged to her quarters. She decided against a detour to the bar, instead intending to drown her sorrows in private.
On her arrival, the distinct aroma of her roommate’s cooking wafted into her face. Unfortunately, being out in space, it wasn’t as easy as opening a window to expel the stinking odor, she’d have to rely on the station’s environmental systems to do the work for her, which would likely take a few days. That was if they weren’t malfunctioning.
Novikova threw her bag on the chair beside her bed and went to the fridge, where she discovered a frozen meal still in its packaging. Surprisingly, her roommate hadn’t eaten it. She left it on the bench to defrost for later and sprawled herself onto her bed. Her weary eyes began to close, but then something clanged against the floor in the kitchen, forcing her to jump. She stepped toward the sound of the disturbance to find a steak knife sitting in the middle of the deck.
She scratched her head and kneeled to pick it up.
Then a shadow appeared over her, and a figure emerged from the bathroom. It moved into the light, and Novikova’s jaw dropped.
“Speer!” she wailed in a bizarre combination of bewilderment and happiness.
Kel Speer, appearing a little scruffier than last time she’d seen him, approached. His eyes were dark and hollow, and gone was the usual mischievous grin. “Hello, Nova.”
She stood and put the knife on the kitchen counter. With a smile, she moved toward him and wrapped her arms around him. But he didn’t return the warmth. She stepped back and looked him up and down. “How are you alive?”
“I’m a survivor. You know that, Nova.”
“I don’t understand. What happened to you? What about Logan?”
He pulled out a pistol from the back of his belt and pointed it at her.
“What the hell!” She backed up against the counter and fumbled for the knife.
Speer shook his head. “Don’t…”
Novikova raised her hands, letting the knife tumble to the floor. “This isn’t like you. What’s this all about?”
He crept closer toward her. “You and me are going to have a little chat.”
FIFTEEN
Speer roped Novikova’s hands behind her back, and each of her ankles to the front legs of the chair, ensuring she was secured. She struggled against them, but Speer whipped out a sleek black stun device from his pocket and pressed it against her arm. An electric shock ran through her entire body, zapping her insides and turning her limbs to jelly.
“You b-b-bastard,” she stammered as everything tingled. Some feeling eventually returned, and she persisted against the ropes, but it was no use with the fibers digging into her skin.
“There’s no point trying to escape, Nova,” Speer said, walking into the kitchen. “I didn’t get to where I am without taking precautions.”
“Maybe I should yell instead.” She pointed her face to the ceiling. “Help! Help!”
“I would’ve thought you were smarter than that. These bulkheads are lined with niturium. That’s how you’ve never been able to hear those frisky neighbors of yours banging every night.”
She quietened down. “What do you want with me?”
“I told you, I want to chat.” He washed his hands in the sink and dried them off, returning to her living area. He sat opposite her on the bed and put his pistol on the pillow. “All I need is for you to answer some questions.”
Novikova eyed off the weapon. “I’d much rather ask you the questions.”
Speer chuckled for a moment, just like she’d remembered he could. But his dark demeanor quickly returned. “That’s not how this is going to work.”
“Why did you do it?”
He shook his head. “Now, Nova, there’s no point playing games.”
“Who’s playing games?” she said. “You’re the one who got us and the entire rebellion into this mess.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you did it, Speer. I knew as soon as you pulled that gun on me. You sold out the Rim. You led the Arcadians to the Olarus Nebula.”
“I like you, Nova. I always did. I came to think of you as my best friend on the Ringwood. The stars can be such a lonely place, even on a well-crewed ore transport. Because of that, and because I respect you so much, I’ll tell you the truth.” Speer crossed his arms and leaned in toward her. “Yes, it was me. I did it all.”
Novikova recalled the day she’d met the man on her first assignment aboard the Ringwood. She’d gone through the interview process with the company and Captain Estrada on Telstar Station before eventually stepping on the ship. The skipper had given her a tour of the vessel which began at the cargo bay, led to what would become the familiar confines of the engine room, and then finally up to the bridge, where she’d found Speer sitting at the helm going over some routine maintenance diagnostics. Initially, she didn’t think they’d get along. Their views of life were incredibly different. But as time passed, they’d discovered they had one thing in common. She’d lost her husband, and he’d never really had a family to speak of. They were two lost souls who’d fled to the stars.
He made her laugh, and she in turn enjoyed giving him a ribbing when he deserved it. He was a fun-loving person. Strident in his opinions, but he’d always light up a room. However, the man sitting before her wasn’t anything like the Kel Speer she remembered. He’d either been a wonderful actor or she’d completely misread him.
“Most people probably think Logan was behind it,” she said.
“He was nothing but a pawn.” Speer shook his head. “No, many months ago I was approached by a… I guess you could call them a third party of sorts. They asked me if I’d help them out. I didn’t really know what they were talking about at first, but when they told me what they’d pay, I couldn’t resist.”
“So, this was about money.”
“Everything’s about money. Look around you.” He nodded toward the viewport. “The galaxy we live in is falling apart. You think the rebellion was going to be victorious? That they were going to somehow overthrow the Empire? You should understand more than anyone what a foolish notion that is.”
Novikova dropped her head, unable to rid her memory of the day she’d been informed of her husband’s death on the front lines. “The rebellion might be the underdog, but we don’t need to be eating our own. We have to band together if we’re to—”
“Who are you kidding, Nova? Banding together will never get us anywhere. If living out here has taught me one thing, it’s that you have to take care of yourself—”
“And you figure with the wad of money the Arcadians have paid you, you’ll be able to do that?”
“Well, it’s certainly a lot more than Captain Estrada could ever pay me. And when the Empire rolls through the Outer Rim and finish the rebellion, I’ll have the chance to find a small corner of the galaxy somewhere and buy a few sex slaves so I can live in peace.”
Novikova wanted to vomit. “I should have known when you went with Vernon and Logan that something was up. Not that I ever saw you doing anything like this, but you were never one to put your neck out. I guess I’d hoped you’d changed in the time we’d rescued Logan from Brindara.”
“All part of the plan.” Speer leaned back against the bulkhead. “This started way before Brindara. The Ringwood—its location when we received the distress call—it was all synchronized perfectly.”
