The Freezer Page 12

  My final words were a scream. My throat was dry and raspy, and my fists clenched at my sides.

  I had never lost it like that before, and for good reason. I needed to be calm, rational, thoughtful. I couldn’t let my rage at what had happened to Shaheen affect me so.

  Still standing like that, hunched over the table slightly after screaming at the director, I realized I must look like a madman. I straightened, took a breath and forced my fists loose. I took my seat again and grabbed my mug. “Sorry,” I murmured finally. “I’m not myself this morning.”

  Lefave looked around and then said, “It’s okay, Lieutenant. I’m sorry for my...unprofessionalism.”

  No one else spoke. Sato was watching me, perhaps worried, perhaps scared, and the others simply stared at their food.

  Finally I continued with my instructions. “The personnel who work here will stay in Module A. Dyson included.”

  Lines instantly appeared in his forehead. “But I have a million things to do. The landing pad, the jumpship, the wreckage—”

  “As we discussed earlier, communications are the priority. Are you objecting to my orders, Crewman?”

  He met the ice in my eyes and realized where his words were taking him. “No, sir.”

  “Communications equipment in the control center in Module A needs servicing. See to it.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  I turned to Marius, Dinova and Sato. “You three will join me in the clinic. We have work to do.”

  * * *

  In the clinic, after the hatch from the travel tube had slid shut, the other three turned to me.

  Sato said, “Tanner, are you okay? What happened?”

  I sighed. “I just—I just didn’t have a very good night. Dreams.”

  Dinova put a hand on my shoulder. “We understand.” She studied me for a moment longer, her eyes probing. “This place drove us crazy. It’s the hostile conditions, the people, the stress of work...it all combines to create an enormously difficult living environment. And of course your own loss adds to it all...”

  “Of course,” I muttered.

  “Let’s put it behind us for now and get working on your problem.”

  She was correct. I had to keep pushing forward and not wallow in the past. I moved to the procedures tables. “What have you come up with?”

  Marius responded in a clear and strong voice, which I found odd for him, but I realized that perhaps he had reverted to the role of doctor and was trying to make me feel comfortable with my situation. It wasn’t quite possible, but I appreciated his effort. “We have some interesting ideas. We looked at Ed’s work and agree with him that we are most likely unable to communicate with the explosive. At least in the time remaining. We have to try something else.”

  “Such as?”

  “Surgery.”

  I swore. “That’s the last thing I want right now. As soon as you slice me open, that thing could go off.”

  “We might be able to stop the hemorrhage, Tanner! We’ll be right here. Two trained doctors practiced in this sort of thing.”

  I frowned. “You told me that the hemorrhage was so bad that Bojdl and Shaheen were dead in seconds.”

  He raised a finger. “Not dead. Unconscious. There’s a big difference.”

  “But I’d bleed out into my chest cavity.” I stopped to consider it. “What exactly would you have to do?”

  Dinova took over. “We’d have to seal the rupture quickly. We could have an IV already in and pumping fresh blood into you. Use priority nanos to help fix the damage.” She shrugged. “It’s possible.”

  I shook my head. It seemed like madness. “You’d essentially be letting me die in order to save me.”

  “There’s a chance that we can repair the damage quickly.”

  I turned to Sato. “How big is the explosive?” I had seen Bojdl’s rupture. It had seemed large.

  He grunted. “I won’t lie. It’s going to cause a great deal of damage to the artery. I’m not as optimistic as these two.”

  Dinova said, “You are not a doctor. You don’t know.”

  “But I do know these weapons. I know what they can do. I design and build them for the CCF, don’t forget.”

  “Your victims are people in streets and homes and parks and playgrounds.” She was practically snarling. I remembered dully that she was a dissident, and Sato did precisely the sort of work that made her hate the CCF and the Council. “They are not exactly close to doctors who can quickly offer them help.” She pointed at me. “He is.”

  Sato pursed his lips. “True. But there are better things to try before surgery.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “The EM pulse, Tanner. Fry the bomb before it can finish its job. Then remove it.”

  * * *

  Dinova raised her hands. “Tanner. It’s a good idea, it really is. However, what if the device has shielding? And what if the EMP then acts as a trigger?” She snorted. “We might as well just inject some nanos in you and watch you bleed out right now!”

  I studied her silently. Her doctoring instinct was clearly in top gear. I looked at Marius. “What do you think?”

  He exhaled. “The EMP is a good idea. A powerful energy pulse to fuse the circuits in the device. But if it does go off, we’ll be here, ready to try and save you.” He glanced at Dinova, looking slightly guilty to have contradicted her. “I think that there’s nothing to lose by trying the EMP first.”

  I thought it over for long minutes. Then, “Are there any other options?”

  “We’ve gone over a few,” Marius said. “We could send a probe through your aorta from the femoral artery, but it would be the same as operating. The bomb would probably detonate. Another option is to shock you and hope it deactivates the bomb.”

  “However,” Dinova interjected, “the amount of electricity could kill you, as well as trigger the explosive.”

  Sato said, “Nothing is as safe as trying the EMP. It’s noninvasive and has a good chance of working.”

  Dinova cleared her throat. “Wait. Don’t forget the other option.” She stopped and looked at Marius. He didn’t seem confident about this one.

  “It’s dangerous,” he said finally.

  “Well?” I said into the silence. “Explain.”

  He winced. “We kill you. Drugs perhaps. Then wait to see what the device does.”

  My mouth hung open. “Are you serious?”

  “We discussed everything, Tanner. This is just one of the ideas.”

  I considered that. “So you kill me. Then what?” I turned to Sato. “What will it do?”

  “Never know. Depends on the programmer. Some bombs detonate anyway, just to ensure death. Some just sit there until their batteries expire.”

  “And some might go to the bladder and wait to be expelled, just like every other nano,” Dinova said.

  “What?” I exclaimed. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  Sato said, “I believe the murderer used a medical nano as the framework for the bomb. A platform, if you will. Dr. Dinova suggested yesterday that it might possess some of the original programming, and that it might kick in if you die.” He shrugged. “I don’t think she’s right.”

  “It’s impossible to know either way,” she said. “It was an idea.”

  I snorted. Let myself die and just wait to see what the explosive did? Madness. “How long would you wait?”

  “Five minutes. Then we’d resuscitate you.”

  “And then if the bomb went off?”

  “Then we’d have to repair you immediately.” She grimaced. “I know it doesn’t sound great, but nothing else does either.”

  I locked eyes with Sato. “Ed. What do you think? What’s the best way to beat this thing?”

  “EMP. The only first o
ption.” He answered without hesitation.

  I turned to the others. “Then that’s what we do. Right now.”

  * * *

  The portable EMP device was the size of a fist. Placed over my chest, it would deliver the pulse straight down into my heart and surrounding area. It wouldn’t affect anything other than a machine with electronic circuits.

  I stripped to my underwear and lay shivering on the procedures table. Nearby were the crates that I had moved to uncover the hatch in the deck. Ed stood beside me, watching the medical readouts and the holoprojection of my chest cavity. Dinova was operating the EMP device from a console, and Marius held the delivery mechanism on my chest.

  Beside me, the doctors had rolled up a cart of surgical equipment and a vial full of priority nanos, should I need the emergency operation if the bomb detonated.

  “Listen to me,” I said before the attempt. “If I die now, you need to repair the communications gear and call for help. Keep everyone together.”

  They halted what they had been doing and exchanged quiet glances. Then: “Who do you think is the killer?” Dinova asked.

  I shrugged, which was difficult while on my back and freezing. “Still not sure. Just stay together until you can get off this moon.” I took three massive breaths. “Now let’s do this.”

  * * *

  I squeezed my eyes shut. I heard some buttons pressed. The EMP delivery device was cold steel against my pectoral muscles.

  A minute passed.

  Nothing happened.

  I felt perfectly normal.

  “What’s going on?” I whispered finally. “Are you going to do it or not?”

  Marius sighed. “We did.”

  I opened my eyes. The others looked crestfallen. “No effect?”

  Sato was staring at the holoprojection. “The device is still thinning the aorta,” he said in a flat tone. “The good news is that it didn’t detect the pulse and trigger the bomb.” He turned to me. “The bad news is that it has a shield of some sort.”

  “No effect,” I mumbled.

  “Exactly.”

  I swore. “So surgery is the only option?”

  A long silence ensued. It was the worst possible situation. Surgery, which could result in my death. Still, if the surgery didn’t happen, I would die anyway.

  “Okay,” I said finally. “But we do it on Saturday, not today. We wait as long as possible.”

  Sato seemed shocked. “Is that wise? After Friday it could go at any minute. Surely we should do it Friday at the latest.” He grunted. “Right now would be even better though.”

  I shook my head. “No. It’s a last resort, and we do it as a last resort. Not before.”

  The others looked skeptical, but didn’t oppose me. After my earlier outburst, I think they were being careful not to anger me to the point that I would snap again. I regretted the emotional display; however, it did afford me a bit more respect, I believed. At least, I hoped the Europans wouldn’t push me as much as they had earlier.

  I would have to finish this case with the device eating away at my aorta.

  I just hoped I didn’t die before I could figure out who had killed Shaheen.

  Die before I could kill the bastard myself.

  With my bare hands, if necessary.

  Chapter Twelve

  The residents of The Freezer were working in their labs in Module A.

  I found Lefave on the first level, where he seemed to spend most of his time. He was peering through a microscope while taking notes on a reader.

  “Find anything yet?” I mumbled.

  He looked up. “No. Sadly.” He leaned back in his chair, which was bare steel, but did have wheels for him to move quickly from one area of his counter to another. “Are you here to apologize?”

  “I already did,” I snapped.

  He grimaced. “As did I.” Then he paused for a long moment. “For the record, I am terribly sorry. It’s just that this is my facility. I actually initiated the project and helped design the modules. Aoki’s death...” He trailed off. “It shocked me, to say the least.”

  “Me too. But I’ve been on enough investigations to understand what’s going on. Do you have any idea what she wanted to talk to me about?”

  He shook his head.

  “Did you know about her and Snow?”

  “Suspected. They spent a lot of time together.”

  I watched him carefully. “What are you working on right now?”

  “Same thing as always. Looking through samples of sea water.”

  Feet moved across the metal deck above. The others were up in their labs, also working. At that moment, another long crack echoed through the dome. I looked around, expecting to see the bulkheads split and the cold air rush outward. The ice near the station was flexing due to tidal forces as Titan moved near Europa.

  Then there was another long noise, similar to the first, but lower pitched and perhaps even...ghostly?

  Another crack, but long and sepulchral this time.

  “What is wrong with you, Tanner?”

  It startled me. “Pardon? I’m just not used to the—”

  He gestured down the travel tube to Module C. “No. What the two doctors and computer programmer are doing with you in the clinic. And yesterday, you and the programmer were in a lab for a while.”

  I studied the man. “Are you running your own investigation here?”

  “Just curious.” His voice was level and controlled. “Sato said earlier that he was here to save you.”

  Was this just curiosity, as he claimed, or was he trying to figure out how much I knew about the micro-bomb?

  “He just meant that the killer might get us all if I don’t figure this out,” I lied.

  “Have you been in a situation like this before?”

  I snorted. “Once, yes. Someone was picking us off one by one. I figured it out though.”

  “And how many lived?”

  I wanted to leave and not answer that. “Not many,” I finally muttered.

  His eyes were accusing, but he said nothing.

  “I’ve been going through personnel files, Director,” I finally said. “What will I find in yours?”

  His face was hard. He knew that I hadn’t fully answered his question. “What do you mean?”

  “Is there something I should know? I’ll read about it anyway.”

  He shrugged. “Nothing bad. I know sometimes I have a temper—” he winced at this, “—but I’ve never displayed it around superior officers.”

  Inwardly, I wondered why he had resisted me then. I could easily enter some notes about this experience into his file. And once entered, it would be impossible for any officer, no matter the rank, to change them.

  He realized what he had said and chuckled. “I haven’t been on my best behavior for you though.”

  I rose from the stool. “I’m going to talk with Cray. Stay in this module.”

  His features immediately froze at my order, but he didn’t object.

  There it was again, that split person. He absolutely hated the fact that he had to follow my directions.

  “It’ll be over soon,” I whispered.

  He still didn’t respond.

  * * *

  I grabbed Cray from level two and we marched to Module B, the living dome. He too looked angry—as usual—and his thick, dark eyebrows added to the effect. He didn’t say a word as we clanged along the travel tube, and he seemed reluctant to open the hatch to his cabin.

  “Why do you want to go in there?” he asked.

  “To speak with you. To investigate.”

  “Why talk here? Why not in the mess?”

  “Don’t you want to show me your cabin?”

  He snor
ted. “Why would I? I’m not the killer.”

  “Then why worry about what’s in there?” I gestured past the closed hatch, but my other hand inched toward my pistol.

  “I’m not worried. It just offends me.”

  “You’re in the CCF, Cray. You expect solitude in the military during a homicide investigation?”

  “I don’t expect anything,” he said with a shrug. But there was a tone to his voice, angry and pleading all at once. “I am just used to a certain privacy here.”

  “There’s no such thing in the military. Now open that hatch, or I’ll do it myself.”

  He clenched his teeth. I could see the thoughts churning through his mind. Finally, however, he keyed the cabin open and reluctantly stepped aside.

  “You first,” I ordered.

  * * *

  Everything seemed perfectly normal. A few books, his clothing and items for hygiene. Holopictures on the ledge next to his narrow bunk. One caught my eye, but I chose not to mention it immediately.

  “Why are you at The Freezer?” I asked as I studied the books on his shelf. Antiques really. Few people used them anymore, but they were recent editions. Books on the human genome and the nervous system. One on genetics published as recently as 2399. And then I saw the author. Of course, he wanted a copy of his own work. The others were probably his peers.

  “It’s a prestigious project. If we find life here in Home System, it’ll be huge.”

  “We’ve found simple life and vegetation elsewhere in the Confederacy. Why do you think it’d be that great a discovery?”

  He shrugged. “It’s close to Earth. It could even give us clues to our own beginnings. Perhaps life on Earth started here. Or vice versa.”

  What I really was hoping to find there was a workspace devoted to microscopic engineering. Unfortunately, it was just an ordinary living cabin.

  “Do you really believe that?” I mumbled.

  “Life is rare. Our exploration of a quarter of the galaxy has proved that.” He sounded angry at me still. Flat voice. Harsh. “But here there is water. Massive amounts. And heat from the core. There are places in Earth’s oceans, deep trenches, where there’s no light. But vents from the interior keep the waters warm. Near black smokers. Researchers discovered life there centuries ago. Even sulfur-based. If it can exist there, we might find it in a place like this. Previous unmanned expeditions here weren’t able to go as deep as we’re going.”