Episode 66

A Poisoned Ship

“When did you take the Rigel out of hypertransit?”

“Almost immediately. We were real close to the system by the clock.”

“Quick thinking,” York observed. “Very commendable. Did you see or hear anything unusual while all this was going on?”

“Unusual? Are you kidding me? There was, like, nine dead bodies lying around, including the captain, and the alarm klaxon was shrieking every other second! Don't you think that's unusual enough?”

“I mean noises you couldn't identify, voices, explosions, or anything like that?”

“I heard some shouting, but that was earlier, before I got onto the bridge. I suppose it was people realizing the same thing I was.”

“You remained on the bridge during this time?”

“Yes, ma'am. I'd just taken the ship out of transit and was trying to run her computers to calculate a course that would put us in orbit. I didn't really know what I was doing, so I had to concentrate pretty hard.”

“Did anyone join you on the bridge at this time?”

“Join me?” Barngate frowned. “Wooten came up while I was still working out where Bonoplane was, followed by Hing Poy. I can't recall the exact time or anything, though.”

“Wooten and Hing Poy?” York shot an inquiring look at the comm tech.

“That was a few minutes after the gas hit,” Wooten explained. “When I realized what was happening, I grabbed a mask, ran to the communication room and sent out a distress signal.”

“It's a good thing you did. Was anyone there?”

“The man on watch was lying on the deck. He was dead.”

“How soon was that after you sensed the gas?”

“It seems like only a few seconds.” Wooten shook his head. “I really couldn't say. I guess I was too scared.”

“Understandably. Was the ship in hypertransit?”

“I don't know. I couldn't tell.”

“What did you do next?”

“I thought I'd better sound an alarm. I didn't know the whole ship was affected. That's when I ran up to the bridge. The chief chased me back down to see what was going on with the air system.”

“Why did you go to the bridge?” York raised her eyebrows.

“To send another signal. That's when I realized the message didn't go out. We can't send or receive in transit, you know.”

“I'm aware of that,” York told him. “Now think carefully, Wooten. Who suggested the second message, you or the chief?”

“The chief did,” the young tech promptly answered. York saw Barngate's eyes narrow slightly, though whether it was at the answer or the line of questioning, she couldn't tell.

York glanced at Captain Hull. He was staring intently at the chief petty officer. She turned her attention to Shumway. “Mr. Shumway, what did you find in the ECS room?”

Shumway indicated the two Dai Zhani with his head. “I saw Hing Poy running out of the room.”

“Mr. Poy?”

“That's my normal duty station,” Poy explained. “I ran there as soon as I got a mask.”

“What did you find?”

“Peterson. He was lying on the floor.”

“Was he, in fact, dead?”

“He was, but I did not know it at the time. I did not check on him. My first thought was the air system. I realized right away that something wasn't right.”

“How?”

“There was some pressure cylinders lying around on the deck.”

“Can you remember how they were marked?

“They weren't marked. They were just plain and gray. We keep ones what look like that in oxygen and nitrogen, but I don't think they were either of them.”

“What did you do?”

“I switched on the emergency air-exchange system to try to flush the atmosphere.”

“Perhaps you'd better explain that to me,” York suggested.

“It's an emergency backup system,” Poy explained. “It's so that if the carbon dioxide content gets too high or the main system breaks down, we can switch to that system.”

“Can it scrub the air if the purifiers break down, or, in the case of a lethal additive?”

“Yes, ma'am, that's just what it does. It sucks out all the old air and ejects it into space while it pumps back a fresh supply from the backup tanks.”

“A cruiser isn't a small ship. Wouldn't that require quite a bit of oxygen?”

“Oxygen and nitrogen,” Poy corrected. “Yeah, it's expensive so we aren't supposed to do anything like that except in the case of a real emergency. The gases are auto-mixed to the right percentage before they're pumped into the system. Total atmospheric exchange takes point five six kilosecs.”

“That's fast. So that's what you did, you flushed out the poisoned atmosphere?”

“No, ma'am. That's what I tried to do. I switched it on, but it didn't start. That's when I knew we were still in transit.”

“Ah, because you can't flush the atmosphere in hypertime?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Hing Poy repeated steadily.

“What happened next, Hing?”

“I got to thinking I'd better tell someone what the problem was. I was running out to find my chief—that's Chief Patterson—when I ran into Shumway.”

“And then?”

“Shumway told me to find Chief Patterson. Said if I couldn't find him, I should report to the bridge. He said Chief Barngate was there. I found Patterson dead by the mask locker, and there was crew lying dead all along the corridor. As soon as I saw that, I ran to the bridge. Chief Barngate sent me to see if I could find any of the officers alive.”

“And you didn't?” asked York gently.

“No, ma'am, they was all dead.”

“So, I assume you cleared the ECS system once Chief Barngate brought the ship out of transit.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Thank you, Mr. Poy.” York looked at Lee Chun. “You're maintenance first, as I recall.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Chun responded. His voice was polite and steady.

“What did you do when Hing ran to the ECS?”

“I ran to the damage control center,” Chun replied. “That's my duty station.”

“Where is that?”

“Forward on the second deck, next to the ship's hospital.”

“Go on,” she encouraged him.

“I didn't see anyone alive. I ran to the hospital, but it was the same there. Then I thought of the bridge. I was running toward it when I met Hing. I went with him to see if we could find one of the officers still alive somewhere.”

“Without any luck,” York observed. She glanced around the room. Lieutenant Tregaski was leaning forward with a somewhat perplexed expression on his face. Benbow looked curiously expectant. Most of the Rigel survivors were hunched forward, watching her intently. Shumway's scowl had deepened, and he refused to look her in the eyes. Barngate's friendly expression had vanished; he seemed to be taking her a good deal more seriously now.

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