The Freezer Page 30

  “My God, Tanner!” Marius blurted. He lunged to my side. In a second he had unlatched my helmet and thrown it back on my shoulders. I could barely breathe, and I pressed my hand to my chest unconsciously.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Sato yelled.

  “It’s the device. It’s opened a pinhole in his aorta. The rupture is forming.” He snapped a look around him, at the procedures table and the instruments spread out there.

  I tried to speak again, but once more, couldn’t move my lips.

  An image came to me just then. It was Marek Bojdl in the mess stumbling as that look of confusion crossed his face.

  “Help me get him on the table,” Marius said with authority. “And get this vacsuit off of him.”

  They peeled the suit off. My chest heaved and my sight rapidly grew dim. The cold steel of the procedures table should have shocked me, but I couldn’t feel it. I fell back and stared at the metal hull over my head. Marius was pressing buttons on a console and pulling tubes from the side of the table. He grabbed my arm and without warning jabbed the IV into the back of my hand. Sato and Cray watched with anxious expressions on their faces.

  And as Marius prepared me for surgery, and as my sight grew dimmer and the pressure in my chest mounted, and as I became more and more aware of my beating heart—it felt as though it were going to explode from my chest now—I saw the handle on the emergency air lock move.

  I struggled to speak and Marius noticed my jaw trembling.

  “It’s okay,” he muttered. “I’m going to give you the anesthetic now. No power for the sterile field, but we’ll take care of any infection later.”

  I tried to shake my head savagely, but it barely moved. I looked at the air lock, my eyes wide, then back to the doctor. Then back to the air lock.

  He watched me for a heartbeat, not fully understanding.

  Behind him, the lock swung open and Dr. Marina Dinova entered the clinic.

  Once Lefave had gone, I knew that she had wanted me dead next.

  And now here she was.

  My chest abruptly flared into agony and an icy cold sensation flooded through me.

  The rupture had opened. A look of shock appeared on Marius’s face as he realized it had happened.

  Then the anesthetic took over, and everything went black.

  Chapter Thirty

  The darkness seemed to only last a moment or two. Voices floated to my ears, and for some reason the bed I was on seemed to be shaking.

  The voices were hostile. Someone was arguing loudly.

  I was freezing and there was a pounding, throbbing ache in my chest and it was difficult to catch my breath.

  They were shouting now. A woman and two men.

  Or maybe I was just becoming more aware of them, and the volume had been the same since the start.

  I struggled to open my eyes.

  I was in the clinic. Steel bulkheads all around...

  It was not a bed that I was on. It was a cold metal procedures table.

  Tubes punctured my arms. One was feeding a clear liquid into a vein, but two were obviously pumping new blood into my body.

  On the deck beside me a crimson pool had splashed into a bucket; most had missed its target.

  Marius had pumped the blood from my chest cavity, and meanwhile had infused a fresh supply.

  I reached up to my chest and felt moisture there. Holding my hand before my eyes, I peered for a long moment but couldn’t make much out but a red blur.

  My lips were dry, my throat parched. I tried to speak but could barely manage a groan.

  As if I had flipped a switch, the arguing suddenly stopped. A face appeared over me; its eyes showed concern.

  “Tanner. Tanner...I haven’t closed up yet. Stay calm.”

  Closed? I didn’t understand what he was saying.

  He continued, “I got the rupture in time...sealed it with a mediastinoscope...we’re talking old school now, but time was of the essence...got some blood into you...injected priority nanos.”

  I reached up to grab him, to shake him. He couldn’t inject nanos! It would trigger the bomb! “No...don’t...” It was barely a croak.

  And then he seemed to understand. The face came into focus. It was Dr. Marius. “The device is gone. It caused the rupture and I got it.” He held a plastic bottle in front of my face; there was a liquid within with a reddish tinge. “It’s in here.”

  “Don’t see...”

  He smiled. “It’s microscopic. You can’t see it, but I saved it for you.”

  I let that soak in. The bomb was gone. The rupture sealed.

  “You were dead for a minute,” he continued. “But I got your pressure up and the heart started.”

  I turned to the others in the room.

  Sato.

  Cray.

  And Dinova.

  “What are you doing here?” I groaned.

  Her face was an angry sneer. “Looking for Lefave.”

  “I’m taking you in for murder.”

  Her laugh was not much more than a bark. “You’re lying there with an incision in your chest and tubes sticking out of you. I could kill you so easily right now!”

  “You already tried...micro-bomb...failed.” My words were gasps. It was difficult to speak with the mask over my face, helping my lungs work.

  “To motivate you, Tanner.” She approached but Cray grabbed her and tried to pull her back. He couldn’t do it; she was too strong. She shrugged him off and Marius stepped between us.

  “Don’t do it, Marina,” he said. “I’m working on my patient right now.”

  The two glared at each other. “I need to know if he killed Lefave,” she growled.

  “...in Module A...over the edge.”

  Her face lit up. “He fell?”

  Everything seemed to be shaking in there. Sometimes there were just simple vibrations, at others tremendous shudders.

  Marius turned from her and bent over me. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I won’t let her kill you.”

  “Not your choice.”

  He pressed something into my hand. It was cold...metal...there was a plunger on one end...

  Dinova snarled, “Get away from him Simon! I need the truth!”

  “Why? So you can kill him? I’m trying to save him! He’s had a micro-bomb in him for four days now. He’s been on the verge of death ever since! He’s lucky to be alive, and I’m not going to let him—”

  “You’ll do as I say!”

  Marius abruptly disappeared from view. Dinova had hauled him away from me and thrown him to the side. There was a loud thud as he crashed into a bulkhead.

  A new voice spoke. “Why bother, Dinova? He doesn’t have to die.”

  Sato, arguing for my life now.

  “He’ll turn me over to the CCF!”

  “You’ve undergone the procedure. Disappear. No one will find you. He can’t pursue you.”

  “He wants to charge me with murder! They’ll execute me!”

  Sato paused; horror laced his voice. “You killed his lover. You tried to kill him. Of course he’s going to take you in.”

  “I did what I had to do!”

  Cray said, “For what? To get revenge on us?”

  “And to take down the Council!” She was ranting now; her voice was full of rage.

  I lay there calmly and listened to the arguing. To the tones in their voices. Something sounded odd to me. And then I rasped, “Dinova...”

  She approached in a rush and her face appeared directly over me.

  “What?” she snapped. “Ready to die?” Her fingers clamped around my throat.

  Sato cried out. “Dinova! He doesn’t have to die! He saved our lives!”

  “If I don�
��t kill him, he’ll turn us all in!”

  Her fingers tightened. Her strength was incredible.

  But she had made a crucial mistake.

  She had come within my reach.

  I pushed the hypodermic through her vacsuit and into her abdomen. The contents within surged into her system, and her eyes went wide.

  “What did you just do? What did you just do?”

  “Good night...” I whispered.

  She abruptly tightened her grip; her fingers were digging into my throat now. I couldn’t take a breath. I heard Sato yelling...

  Cray screaming...

  And then as the darkness took me once more, I felt the grip on my throat disappear and heard the sound of a body hitting the deck.

  * * *

  When I next opened my eyes, I wore a surgical gown and the tubes were gone. I was still on the procedures table, but a bandage now covered my chest. The module was still trembling, and Marius was working hurriedly at my side.

  He glanced down and smiled. “I closed you up Tanner. You’re going to be fine.”

  I couldn’t really process that. For days now I’d just assumed I was a dead man. That no matter how hard I fought, death would still take me.

  As it had my parents.

  As it had Shaheen.

  As it had so many others in my life.

  I dealt with death every single day. I knew it would take me eventually.

  Just not today.

  “Where’s Dinova?” I said. My voice was stronger now. I didn’t feel any pain, but I was still freezing and uncomfortable.

  He glanced across the dome and I followed his eyes. On a procedures table. Wrists and arms lashed together.

  “That won’t hold her.”

  “She’s still sedated.”

  “Double the dose.”

  He blinked at that, most likely because I had no idea what dose I had given her to begin with. Whatever the case, she was enhanced, and a normal dose was not enough.

  He nodded eventually and prepared a syringe. “We have to get out of here soon. This dome is about to go next.”

  “Over the edge?”

  “Into the fissure, yes.” He snorted. “I’m working to save your life, but we don’t have a chance here, you know. This and the air lock are the last pressurized domes. Afterward, it’s onto the surface to die of asphyxiation or hypothermia.”

  I sighed. “Don’t count on it.”

  He peered into my eyes. “What do you know that we don’t?”

  “I never stop fighting.”

  He paused for another heartbeat and then laughed. “That’s true, for sure. I’ve noticed it.” He hesitated, continuing to stare at me. “Your sternum was cracked, you know. A few broken ribs too. I can’t believe you were able to keep fighting there.”

  “Pain goes away.” I knew how wrong it was even as I said it. Then, “Where’s Sato?”

  He stepped into my view; that smile was on his face again. “Here. I’m glad you survived the micro-bomb, Tanner.”

  “Makes two of us.”

  Marius marched to Dinova and administered the extra dose of sedative. She was going back to CCF HQ after all. I had considered just killing her earlier, but now she was unconscious and hopefully we could transport her that way. Besides, I hadn’t fought this hard not to bring in my capture.

  I needed justice for Shaheen.

  I cleared my throat. “Make sure you keep your instruments out, Doctor.”

  He blinked. “What for?”

  “Just in case. We might be able to stay here a while longer.” I glanced around the module, pushed myself up on my elbow. It brought an ache to my chest, but not much more. The priority nanos were at work now, helping repair the wounds, speeding the healing. “Where’s Cray?”

  “Here.” He had been at my side and I hadn’t noticed. “Feeling better?”

  I sighed. “Getting there. There’s a big problem though.”

  He studied my expression. “Lefave.”

  “I didn’t actually see him go into the fissure. He might have made it.”

  “I hope not.” He shook his head. “This whole time, on this moon, we’ve been doing what he wanted. He turned out to be a madman. Sadistic and sick. And yet we couldn’t say anything because this was supposed to be a secret! And a CCF operation on top of it!” He exhaled forcefully. “I guess I just closed myself off to what we were doing. Aoki did too. We used each other...” He looked away briefly before finally meeting my eyes. “I’m sorry for what you went through here. Sorry for not being open with you from the first.”

  I shrugged. “You were following orders.” I paused for a moment, and my gaze shifted to the hatch in the deck. “Why were the primates so calm when I went down there?”

  “We tested the myelin sheathing process on them. It had that effect. It seems to drive humans slightly mad. Chimps, on the other hand, just kind of shut down. Give up, sort of.”

  “No, it drove them mad too. But for them it’s different. They can’t handle being in a cage. They were more like the jumpship survivor. Checked out, couldn’t handle any more.”

  The CCF probably had facilities like The Freezer all over Home System. Maybe all over the Confederacy. Searching for ways to improve their hold over humanity. Trying to strengthen their grasp. But why? Why feel the need? We weren’t at war with any alien races. We had not discovered intelligent life in the galaxy. Nothing smarter than plants at least. So why were they doing it?

  Because their power over us was slipping...

  I glanced at Dinova. Were people like her cropping up? Like the Russian I had known nearly a decade ago?

  The module shuddered again. Everyone looked around, half expecting to see the hull split wide open.

  Marius gestured to me. “We should get him in a vacsuit, just in case.”

  “Good point,” Cray said.

  I pushed myself the rest of the way up and helped as they got my feet into the legs of a vacsuit. Before I knew it I was standing, somewhat shakily, and pushing my arms through the sleeves. I winced at the pressure in my chest, but the knowledge that I had survived the micro-bomb made the discomfort...pleasing, in a way.

  Sato was looking at me. I said, “Thanks for getting that comm working. You really came through.”

  “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it.”

  I shrugged. “You’re industrious. You’re good with electronics. I had faith in you.”

  He frowned. “It’s too bad we don’t know if Lawrence will send help.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Why?” He looked shocked. “Surely you don’t want to die?”

  I snorted. “Hardly. But I know something you don’t.”

  At that moment the comm beeped. The timing couldn’t have been better.

  A voice sounded in my helmet: “Attention, Lieutenant Tanner. Calling Tanner. Do you read?”

  The others snapped their eyes to me. Their mouths hung open. The voice had not been Lefave’s.

  “Who the—” Cray muttered.

  “Let’s go outside,” I said.

  * * *

  Standing out on the ice, less than twenty meters from the growing canyon, we turned our eyes to space and watched a jumpship approaching from over the ice ridge. It was a standard model, and it hovered over the shattered ruins of The Freezer for a few moments as the pilot decided where best to set down. The landing pad was not an option.

  “Over here, by the dome to the east,” I said in a soft tone.

  The jumpship turned toward us and the maneuvering thrusters brought it to the ice. Vapor from the melting surface surrounded the jumpship as the pilot powered down.

  “Funny place you’ve brought me to,” the pilot said with a snap to his voice.
r />   I ignored it. I didn’t care about his feelings.

  The others were staring at me, astonished.

  Cray said, “The jumpship’s from Ceres?”

  I shook my head, but he probably didn’t see the motion inside my helmet. “No. From a little farther out. I gave the orders days ago.”

  Sato turned to me, a baffled expression on his face. Then he looked back to the jumpship. “You contacted someone from here?”

  “On Wednesday, right before I gave you the orders to look around the modules to see what you could find.”

  “When I discovered the first set of coordinates.”

  “Of the crashed jumpship, yes.”

  Silence descended over us as the vessel’s ramp lowered. Its floodlights illuminated the ice around it.

  Marius was in awe. “This whole time, you knew a ship was coming?”

  “I knew it would arrive sometime today. What I didn’t know was if it would get here in time. I didn’t know if I would be dead or not. I didn’t know if The Freezer would still be here. If any of us would still be here.”

  Sato said, “But you made such an effort to contact Lawrence! Why?”

  “I needed some information from him. But we also had to make sure they knew we needed assistance, Ed.” I gestured to the ship on the ice. “If they didn’t arrive within the next eight hours, none of us would still be alive, I’m guessing.”

  “But who is it?” Marius said.

  I stepped toward the ship, leaving the others behind. I approached it slowly, my heart pounding. Easy, I told myself. Don’t reopen your aorta!

  There was still no one in sight. Just the ramp and the open hatch, inviting me in. Then I noticed the pilot in the control cabin. He hadn’t made a move. He was watching, clearly irritated.

  I stepped onto the ramp and the artificial gravity immediately took hold. Four meters in and I entered the jumpship’s seating area. There was no one there. Just a rectangular shape in the center with a sheet draped over it.

  No, not a sheet. A flag. The flag of the Terran Confederacy, the distinctive warship and galaxy.

  I took a breath as I grabbed its corner. A slight tug and it fell away, revealing a transparent container. Beneath it were controls and electronics, tubing and canisters.