Episode 57
The Doomed Craft
By the time they returned to the launcher, the Marines had already rounded up the other six survivors and were keeping them under casual, but watchful guard in the rearmost compartment with the first three men. Hull decided that Lieutenant Wexby, Doctor Benbow, Captain Pedrattus, and three of the Marines would remain on board Rigel, sweep the ship to search for any undetected bodies or survivors, and gather any clues that might offer a hint as to which, if any, of the nine survivors were responsible for the fate of the missing crew members. And both Pedrattus and Wexby had been given orders, separately, to ensure that no one attempted to pass the lock towards the fore of the cruiser.
York was pleased to note that it didn't escape Hull's mind that the saboteurs might have escaped the ship on one of Rigel's launchers, and Draco had already sent out drones as well as her second, smaller launch to investigate the planet below. But she was skeptical that anyone would be found alive. It was safer, so much safer, to remain on board the warship in orbit than to chance a landing in an inhospitable environment such as was available on the surface of Bonoplane, and if there was one thing she was certain about the Dai Zhani operatives, it was that they would tend to err on the brazen side.
Hull still didn't grasp the truth, she reflected, except perhaps deep in his subconscious. And that was what now made the Draco's captain dangerous to the Ascendancy, and what would no doubt result in his immediate promotion. A promotion that would puzzle the man as much as it would delight him.
Well, good for him. He was a good officer, a decent man, and as far as Daniela York was concerned, he merited an admiralship as much as any ship's captain she'd ever met.
However, her own position was as precarious as ever. She had scant doubt that the case of the Rigel was very nearly closed as far as the saboteurs were concerned. From her perspective, they weren't much more than amateurs who had been courteous enough to do everything but hang themselves for her. It was just a matter of clarification, clearing up a few small mysteries, and then separating the sheep from the goats aboard Draco. Soon, they would pay the price for their crimes.
But none of that had any bearing on her, on her fate. The thought was a sobering one. She had come so far, but she still needed time. She needed time, luck, and a tailwind, three things she couldn't possibly control. Terentulus. The name was seared in her mind like a foreshadowing of doom. Terentulus, fifth planet of the green-white sun Geddes. Success or failure, in the end, everything depended on what happened on Terentulus.
Her fate hung in the balance. But that was hardly important. Humanity's fate, and posthumanity's too, rested on little more than a desperate roll of the dice by the cyborg's spymaster and his greatest creation.
The comm unit broke in on her reflections. It was Tregaski.
“Captain, Lieutenant Skilling reports that a drone found what looks like the wreckage of Rigel's launch on the surface. Positive ID.”
“Do we have visual?” Hull responded.
In answer, a screen came to life above their heads. They looked up and saw the remains of a ship's boat not dissimilar to the one in which they were sitting spread out over what looked like hundreds of meters of broken terrain. Hull grunted and shook his head in grim realization of the undeniable. There was absolutely no chance that anyone could have survived what looked like a catastrophic entry into the atmosphere. York consoled herself with the thought that any passengers had been dead prior to boarding the doomed craft.
“Where is it?”
“Halfway on the other side of the planet. Do you want to go there now?”
“No.” Captain Hull looked at York, his jaw set with anger. “Let's make sure we've got the survivors safely secured on Draco before we do anything.”
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