Episode 67

Burn Red

“We have several more men from whom to hear,” she continued. She indicated a bald, modestly overweight man. “Gordon, I believe?”

“Sam Gordon, engine technician,” the man responded nervously.

“Where were you when the emergency took place?”

“In the crew's galley, ma'am. I was with Ival, Mason and Bagby.” He gestured toward his companions.

You were together?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“What doing?”

“Well, it's a little difficult, ma'am.” He floundered, clearly fearing to divulge something.

“Speak up,” she ordered sharply.

“We were playing a game.”

“What sort of game? Krabacci?”

“No, ma'am, we was gambling,” one of the other men said. He met York's eyes without hesitation. “My name's Jack Ival, armament apprentice.”

“Thank you, Ival.” York favored him with a little nod. “How did you know something was wrong?”

“The gas didn't seem to strike so fast where we was,” Ival said. “We caught a whiff of it and I yelled for the masks. We all made a break for the lander.”

“The lander?” York raised his voice.

“Number two starboard lander,” explained Ival. “It's docked just off the crew's galley. Someone, I guess maybe it was me, remembered that the landers are equipped with masks. Number two was nearer than the lockers.”

“That makes sense.”

“Aside from that, we could shut it off from the rest of the ship, at least until we knew what was going on. I figured that if there was something wrong in the air, we'd at least have a different supply, you know?”

The young man was a bit sharper than the others, York observed. He'd almost certainly saved their lives. That, or he'd known it was coming. “You said the gas didn't hit very fast?”

“Like I said, we caught just a whiff at first. I realized what was happening because Mason and Bagby started coughing right as my lungs started to burn.”

“What happened next?”

“We sealed off the lander and broke out the masks. Then I got on the comm to sound an alert. I couldn't raise anyone.”

“Did you stay in the lander?”

“No, ma'am. Since I had the mask on, I slipped out and made a break for the port laser compartment. That's my duty station. I brought two masks with me in case I saw anyone who might need it, but it was already too late.”

“Very commendable,” York said.

“I passed a lot of men who looked dead, and that was the way I found things in the port laser too,” Ival continued. “I tried to contact the hospital, but I couldn't get an answer. I was just starting toward the officers' deck when I ran into Gordon. After that we met Poy and Chun and helped them see if anyone else was alive.”

“That leaves you two,” York said, looking at Mason and Bagby.

Yes, ma'am,” one of them answered.

“Your name?”

“Carl Mason, apprentice cook.”

“What did you do after Ival and Gordon left?”

“Me and Joe went back to the galley. That's our duty station. So did Joe. We stayed together.”

“You and Joe Bagby?”

“Yes, Miss York, I'm a cook apprentice too,” Bagby added. He started to say something else, but hesitated.

“Keep talking,” she told him.

“Well, later I got wondering why the gas seemed to hit everyone else so much faster, so I started looking around–”

“Everyone else outside the galley?” York interrupted.

“Yes, ma'am. Looking at how the men couldn't even make it to the masks, it seemed as if it came into the galley a lot more slowly. When we found out that most of the others were dead, I got curious. Turned out the galley's air vents were shut. That's what gave us more time.”

“Shut?”

“Yes, ma'am, you can do it manually from the inside.”

“Are they often closed?”

Bagby shook his head. “Not that I seen before that.”

“Mason?” she asked. Mason had raised his hand timidly, as if he were a schoolboy.

“I shut them before the game,” he explained lamely. “It keeps the voices from traveling.”

“You seem to have chosen a fortunate time, Mason,” she said grimly. Fortunate or forewarned?

“Yes, ma'am.”

York returned her attention to Barngate, then abruptly addressed him without warning. “You said you set course for Bonoplane after coming out of hypertransit. How long did it take you to reach orbit there?”

“A little over five days.” A note of caution crept into the quartermaster's voice. “You can't chance coming out too close.”

“So I've been told,” she agreed. “Were you on the bridge all that time?”

“No,” Barngate shook his head. “I broke it into two watches. I stood one with Jarrett. Chun stood the other with Poy.”

York heard Hull shift his position and glanced over to see a frown crossing his face. “Any particular reason for that selection?”

“Chun was the next senior petty officer present,” Barngate explained.

“Very good,” York assented. “And what were the others doing?”

“I had the other men move the dead into the escape pods and the two launchers, to improve our living conditions and to reduce the risk of sickness,” answered Barngate. “We didn't know how long we would have to live there.”

“An unpleasant job but a necessary one,” York commented. “So, to be clear, you and Shumway had the bridge half the time, and Chun and Poy the other half.”

“That is correct.”

“For the entire time from your emergence from hypertransit to the arrival of Draco?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Barngate affirmed.

“We found the one launcher. Where is the other?”

“Somewhere out in space. The autolaunch routine went wrong on Launch Two and she exited the bay five decaseconds late. We had it set to red, burn red, and since we were in high orbit, that was enough to push her out of the gravity well.”

“Unfortunate,” York commented. Burn red? She wasn't familiar with that terminology, but she let it pass. “While you were on the bridge, did you at any time go down into the forward missile compartment?”

“No, sir, that's not permitted,” Barngate replied sharply.

“Shumway?”

“Never got near it,” Shumway answered defensively.

“I ordered everyone to stay away from it,” explained Barngate.

“And you're certain they did?”

“I can only speak to my own watch, but on my watch, yes. I'm certain.”

“How about the two of you from the second watch?” York asked the two Dai Zhani.

“Neither of us went down,” Chun answered evenly.

“At any time did you hear any strange sounds?”

“No, ma'am.”

“You already asked us that,” Barngate snapped testily.

“I'm sorry, Chief, I'm trying to refresh my memory. So, nothing?”

“No,” Barngate shook his head.

“Shumway?”

“Nothing,” Shumway declared.

“Hing Poy?”

“Nothing, Miss York.”

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