The Furnace Read online

  “Tell me about Lieutenant Brick Kayle,” I continued.

  “Brick? He’s a decent sort. Kind of loud and outspoken. You know the type. They speak their minds and don’t care what anyone thinks.”

  “Odd for a Council rep to be like that.”

  “Oh, he never talks about the Council. He’s not fanatical about that.”

  “Any personal troubles?”

  “You’d think someone that opinionated would have problems with others, but I never heard of any. Everyone seems to like him.” He paused. “Except maybe Shaheen. I thought something might have happened between them, but I’m not sure what.”

  “Are they seeing each other?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  I digested that. “When I first arrived, you said I was only the second person to come to SOLEX since operations began. What did you mean?”

  “We had one other person come, four weeks ago. A crewman stationed here, Jarvis Riddel, cracked up. He couldn’t take the pressure. Kept screaming about the radiation we were taking, the heat burning us up, a solar flare taking us out, and so on. He went crazy. Dr. Malichauk recommended his removal. Command Group on Mercury sent a replacement, and Riddel went to a hospital.”

  “Who was the replacement?”

  “Godfreid Grossman. He wasn’t happy about coming here, let me tell you. He’s complained to everyone about it on several occasions.”

  I hadn’t known that. There was more going on here than the official reports stated; they never told the complete story. “Where is Riddel now?”

  The captain’s face fell. “I guess you wouldn’t know. He’s dead. It happened on Mercury.”

  * * *

  I decided to return to my quarters to study notes before I continued the interviews. I had only formally questioned four people: Dr. Malichauk, the scientist Reggie Hamatsui, Crewman Anna Alvarez, and the captain, Manny Fredericks. Still ten more to go.

  I hit the hatch control and stepped into the cabin. It was dark. I frowned; the light should have come on automatically. Thinking it simply a malfunctioning sensor, or perhaps one whose sensitivity was set too low, I took another step. An instant later a feeling of imminent danger surged within me. I turned to the side and dropped into a fighting stance, but I was too late. Someone tackled me. I skidded sideways along the bulkhead, tripped over my own feet and crashed to the deck, crunched up on my hands and knees. I spun frantically and tried to see something—anything—but it was useless. The cabin was utterly black. The hatch had slid shut and cut off the only source of light.

  I grabbed for my pistol, but realized with a jolt that the holster wasn’t strapped to my thigh. I had removed it the night before and hadn’t put it back on. It was on the deck next to my bunk. I dove toward it, landed on my stomach and slid two meters across the smooth metal. Arms outstretched, I scrabbled frantically for the pistol. Where the fuck—

  The guy landed right on me. He was large, heavy. Clearly a man. I yelled in pain and whipped my right elbow backward. I connected and heard a yelp. I tried the other elbow, hit once, then felt a blow across the back of my neck.

  I saw stars.

  Forcing myself to my knees, I twisted savagely to the side. His grip loosened measurably, but he didn’t fall off. I tried to spin him the other way—

  —and felt a sharp pain in my lower back. It seared through my body like a phosphorus bomb. The blade penetrated deeply. It moved almost in slow motion and nearly protruded out my front, it was so long.

  With a sudden burst of energy that came from desperation, I flung myself backward and crushed him against a bulkhead. He grunted, lost his grip and withdrew the blade.

  I swung angrily and connected with a wet thud. I ducked, threw another punch, ducked again and kicked right in front of me. Miraculously, I landed every blow. I ducked and bobbed and came up with an elbow. It was a vicious strike, meant to shatter teeth and break jaws, but this time I hit only air.

  Something cracked against the side of my head. It wasn’t a fist or an elbow—it felt more like a wrench. I collapsed to the deck and my head drooped to the cold steel. I felt a hand—powerful and sweaty—grasp my forearm. It began to apply pressure.

  A whole lot of pressure.

  * * *

  Dizziness almost overwhelmed me, but through it a powerful image surfaced: it was Jimmy Chin, who had stood in silence in a dark corner of the life-support module and watched as one person gripped another’s arm. I didn’t understand what he had witnessed; all I could reason through the fog was that I was experiencing it firsthand.

  It was impossible to move. I attempted to kick with my right leg, but succeeded only in twitching my foot a fraction of a centimeter. The guy was heavy.

  The assault shouldn’t have surprised me. After all, I was investigating a murder, and a killer on the run almost always considered eliminating the investigator to prevent capture. It had happened to my friend Flemming back on Mercury, and it had almost happened to me when I tried to bring in the Torcher. Despite that, this situation was beyond me. The struggling had stopped, and all he was doing was holding my arm in utter silence.

  I relaxed to gather my strength. If he assumed I was unconscious, I might catch him off guard. A minute passed. Then another. Still the pressure mounted. I could smell his ragged breath. It was sour, like he’d spent a night carousing and puking. I yanked my arm sideways abruptly and his wet grip slipped off. I had caught him by surprise. I pushed away and kicked with everything I could muster. I connected with something soft and heard a gasp.

  Trembling with exertion, exhaustion and pain, I rose to my feet and stumbled back, thankful for the brief reprieve. I reached out and grasped the bulkhead to steady myself.

  Suddenly, the hatch slid open. In the flash of light admitted from the corridor, I could make out only a dim silhouette as my attacker bolted from the cabin. The light seemed intense—or perhaps I was just accustomed to the inky black of my quarters. I squinted involuntarily. When I reopened my eyes, the hatch had slid shut. He was gone.

  I lunged at the controls and leaped into the corridor.

  There was no one there.

  * * *

  The arm he had been clutching was slick with blood. I could see his handprint and the indentation of his fingers in my flesh. Back in my quarters, in the lavatory, I held my arm under cold water and watched the swirling red spiral down the drain.

  To my amazement, there was nothing wrong. No cuts or scrapes. There might be bruising, perhaps, but nothing more. The blood must not have been mine.

  It took me another moment before I realized my left side and pant leg felt damp. I looked down and my heart thudded in my chest; the stab wound in my back was bleeding profusely.

  * * *

  I managed to get to Dr. Malichauk’s clinic under my own power, but practically collapsed as I passed through the threshold.

  “My God, man!” he yelled as he saw the trail of blood I’d left behind. “What the hell happened?”

  “Attacked...” I managed. The clinic tilted crazily. I saw Malichauk run toward me, arms outstretched.

  Everything went black.

  * * *

  A few hours later, I awoke to see Shaheen, Manny and Brick studying me with worried expressions. Malichauk stood behind them, examining his reader.

  “He’ll be okay,” he was saying. “The blade nicked his liver, which is why there was so much blood. He was in shock. I injected some priority nanos that have repaired the damage. They’re on their way to his bladder now.”

  “Who the hell attacked me?” I managed to groan. The pain was intense, but I was more embarrassed than anything. I shouldn’t have removed my pistol, which I had done as a courtesy to the inhabitants of SOLEX. To hell with social graces. I couldn’t afford to slip up again—the stakes had grown too high.

&
nbsp; “We were going to ask you the same thing,” Manny said.

  “Surveillance?” I muttered.

  “Turned off,” Shaheen said. “Either a glitch or on purpose.”

  “Couldn’t be a glitch,” Brick said. “It’s happened twice already. Too convenient.”

  I remembered that the surveillance cameras had mysteriously malfunctioned earlier. I hadn’t gotten around to questioning anyone about it yet.

  “Shaheen,” I said as I struggled to my elbows. “Who has access to that system?”

  “Practically everyone but the crew. The scientists don’t, but they’re smart people. They could figure it out.”

  “I don’t have access,” Malichauk said.

  Great. That only eliminated five people out of fourteen. And the four crew could easily have learned the system; they’d had nine months to study it.

  “I’m going to have to look at it when I get out of here,” I said.

  “I can do that,” Shaheen offered. “I’ll try to have something for you within the hour.”

  I studied her for a moment. Could I trust her to give me an honest and thorough answer? She seemed sincere, but you never really knew in my line of work. Nevertheless, I couldn’t escape the fact that I didn’t know enough about SOLEX’s systems to do it alone. I’d need someone’s help to decipher the security protocols.

  “Sure,” I said. “Let me know as soon as possible.”

  “Tell us what happened,” Manny said to me.

  I exhaled. “Went to my quarters after speaking with you. Lights were off. Before I could get them on, someone tackled me. We struggled. I got stabbed. I managed to fight him off and he ran.”

  “All in the dark?”

  “Yes. Never got a good look at him.”

  “Someone wants you dead,” Brick said in a grave tone. “I wonder why.”

  “Go figure.”

  “One thing’s for sure,” Shaheen said. “This isn’t just a simple prank.” She looked at the captain. “I know you were hoping for the best...”

  He frowned. “I guess we can’t go on thinking that now. Someone murdered Jimmy, and the same person tried to kill Tanner.”

  My thinking exactly. I stared at the four people in the clinic with me. The killer might have been there, just waiting for the right opportunity. Waiting for me to walk into another dark cabin, unarmed and vulnerable...

  “Did you hurt him?” Brick asked.

  “I don’t know. Got a few punches in, but...” I leaned back, stared at the ceiling and pondered what had happened. The fight had been so sudden, so intense, that I had no idea what had really happened. He had hidden in my cabin and waited with the lights off...for how long? How had he—

  A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Is there night-vision equipment anywhere on SOLEX?”

  Manny’s brow furrowed. “Not that I know of. But you can purchase night-vision glasses anywhere—”

  “My point is, why would someone bring them here? Unless they knew they’d need them.”

  Shaheen looked dubious. “Are you sure he had some?”

  “Fairly certain. After the hatch closed, he knew exactly where I was. Jumped right on me. And when I hit him, I thought I felt glasses.”

  Brick said, “Then all we have to do is find—”

  I shook my head. “No. Whoever it is will be too smart for that. He’ll plant them in someone else’s belongings.”

  There was a long silence as they stood around me uncertainly.

  “Should we keep this quiet?” Malichauk asked eventually.

  “Can’t,” Brick said. “Word’s already out. Anna saw him stumbling into the clinic.”

  I twisted sideways, testing myself and my injury. I nearly yelped from the sudden stabbing sensation in my back. Damn. It took a minute to catch my breath. Then, “How long until I can get out of here?”

  “Morning. The nanos have repaired the damage, but we need to give it a little rest. The nerve endings down there are still reacting to the shock. Relax a bit here. You’ll be safe.”

  He was referring to microscopic machines that could do miraculous things like repair wounds. Every manufacturer had a different name for them: nanobots, nanomachines, nanites and nanolites, to name just a few. The generic name was simply nanos. They’d revolutionized medicine and engineering a thousandfold; their inventor had received the Nobel in both areas fifty years earlier. They weren’t intelligent and couldn’t replicate—despite the efforts of our most brilliant engineers—but they had saved countless lives.

  Mine included.

  A cold chill coursed up my spine. Regardless of what the doctor had said, I no longer thought I’d be safe anywhere on the station. “I’ll need my pistol,” I said. “It’s in my cabin.”

  “I’ll get it,” Brick said. He left the clinic and was back in two minutes. He looked grim. “Not there. It’s gone.”

  Damn. The bastard had taken my only weapon.

  Something else occurred to me. “We can take a blood sample. Maybe I hit him hard enough.”

  Brick frowned. “Blood from where?”

  “The deck. Surely there was blood there. At the very least, you should see mine. I was bleeding—”

  “There was no blood, Tanner. Your cabin is clean.”

  Chapter Eight

  I passed the night fitfully. The pain faded quickly, but the wound remained itchy and uncomfortable. It kept me from falling into a deep sleep. Or perhaps that was the knowledge that someone wanted me dead. I sometimes wished I could just live a normal life. Eat, work, sleep, then repeat for a lifetime without stress and without worry.

  Ha. Fat chance. No one’s life was like that, especially in the Confederacy’s current political state. I would have to endure this situation until I found the killer. There were no other options.

  A few years earlier I had nearly died in the line of duty. The case had been in Tokyo. Someone had killed a high-ranking politician and I had received the call. It was late at night and no one with more experience was on duty at the time.

  Only twenty-three, fresh out of the academy, I had just started my career as a full investigator. Tokyo was my first post, but I didn’t stay long; as is usually the case, murder investigations take you all over the system. I only spent five months there before I followed another one out to Neptune. But while on Earth, that one was definitely the biggest I had.

  I investigated passionately. I threw myself into it with a vigor that I don’t think I’ve had since. I knew it was a case that could make my reputation in the Security Division of the CCF. What can I say? I was young and reckless. The media scrutiny was intense; reporters camped out on my doorstep right from the start. I hardly slept. The pressure irritated me, and it only grew worse as time wore on.

  Perhaps my ideals were a little different then from now. I don’t much care about my reputation anymore. I just want to catch killers. I’ve seen so much death and suffering that I only want to make something right in this crazy galaxy. But back then I’d wanted it all: fame, money, a fast ship, recognition. Everything a kid could dream of.

  Someone put a price on my head, and I found myself in great peril while I tried to put the last pieces of the puzzle together. In the end, I exposed eleven senior politicians in Japan who were running a brainstim racket. The Council’s punishment was harsh; they didn’t tolerate such activities in the Terran Confederacy. They imprisoned the guilty for life.

  But what it boiled down to was that I hadn’t been prepared going into the investigation. I had been on the verge of exposing some very powerful people, and of course I should have expected trouble. I was inexperienced and a little brash, and it had almost ended my career.

  At the time I’d promised myself that I’d never let it happen again. Now, over a decade later, I cursed myself inwardly. I shoul
d never have let my pistol out of my sight.

  * * *

  When Malichauk gave me permission to leave, I stalked straight to Shaheen’s quarters. They were in the same module as my own, just a few hatches down the corridor.

  “Come on in,” she called, and I stepped inside. She was entering a report into the station’s computer system. She stopped typing and turned to me. “How do you feel?” There was concern in her voice.

  I growled in response.

  “I was going to come by the clinic first thing. Lars let you out early.” She gestured to a small chair in the corner. “Have a seat.”

  I lowered myself gingerly and winced at the slight discomfort in my back. She watched silently. Then, “I looked into the security systems. I tried to come by to let you know yesterday, but Lars wouldn’t let me bother you.”

  “What did you find?”

  “Someone’s accessed them. Wasn’t a fluke, or a glitch, or whatever. I told Manny and he went nuts. He wants to have a meeting with everyone and raise hell.”

  I shook my head. It wasn’t a good idea without me there. “When I have more answers, we’ll have the meeting. Did you find out who did it?”

  “I can’t tell. The logs—”

  “Aren’t you the station systems officer? The chief engineer?” I cringed at the comment; I had snapped at her. I didn’t mean to come off as unappreciative. I was just frustrated.

  She didn’t seem to notice. “Someone erased the logs expertly. No trace of who did it. I’m entering the report for Manny right now.”

  I considered the news. “How much time is actually missing from the recordings?”

  “The twelve hours around Jimmy’s death and mutilation. All feeds including external ceased, as well as alarms that should have indicated a problem. A three-hour period yesterday is also gone.”

  “Exactly when the attack occurred,” I murmured. “I’m going to have to check everyone’s alibis.”

  “Manny had Avery—First Officer Rickets, that is—already do that. Only Brick and Katrina were together during that time. They corroborated each other’s stories.”