Jupiter Three

When I came to work tonight, the holo vid was gone. Oh well, it was fun while it lasts. At least we got to see the finals in style, and our fourth monitor came back (repaired).

The “geek” and the “driver” have been warned to stay away from Carl and I for a week or two. I think Colonial Security will honor their deal, but it was best that we play it cool until there was a little distance between us and the “trade”. (Carl and I both suspect they already know about the “driver” and just don’t care, but Alexander made me cautious about the “geek”.)

I ended up seeing a Dr. this afternoon. She said there were two cracked ribs. She wrapped them, and was a little concerned because I would have to continue to exercise (gravity increase?) in spite of the injury. I managed to get a few pains pills out of her because of this.

She asked me how it happened, and when I told her I fell out of bed, she laughed, though skeptically. I guess on a long journey like this the doctors get used to people “falling out of bed” once in a while. She warned me about the hazards of letting my bed having access to any private stock I might be hiding and let me go.

Lieutenant Johns concerns me a little. Can anyone say “wacko”? I thought they screened everyone on this boat, but I am starting to wonder if a few of them aren’t on this trip just to get them off Mars. I keep looking over my shoulder anyway.

Stop by tonight. The service will be a little slower, but that will only improve the taste of the Sylvilagus in Tarragon we are serving.

Bon A Petite!

That afternoon I awoke to a knock on my door. I shouted something unintelligible, and stumbled to my feet. The lights in my quarters were working again, and I managed to swab at my face a couple of times with a wet cloth before the visitor started there pounding again.

I opened the door to Alexander, this time in full uniform. I wasn’t up to company, but I left the door open anyway as I walked back to the sink.

“What the hell happened to you?’” she asked.

“I fell out of bed,” I grunted, turning back to the sink. I wasn’t feeling friendly. Go figure. “What can I do for you Lieutenant? I assume from the uniform you are here on official business?”

“Sort of,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “Here let me help.” She took the cloth from my hands and soaked it in water from the sink. As she wiped the blood from my face she said, “I came to tell you that CS has ID’d you and your friend Benson. Johns was able to identify you from ship records, and the security guard on duty picked out Benson.”

“Ow!” I exclaimed as she hit a particularly sensitive spot. “I assume Johns was pissed?”

“How did you kn…, Oh, the bed. Damn her. Is your friend Carl OK?”

“Shit, Carl,” I exclaimed, grabbing my communicator. There was no answer, but he could have been on duty. I left him a message warning him about Johns. “So are you here to arrest me?”

“CS really wants to keep this quiet. They sent me to see if you would deal.”

“Deal? Deal for what? It’s a holo vid – if they want it back tell them to take it.” I walked over to my locker and pulled out a clean shirt.

“It’s not that easy Ryan. The holo vid was no big deal. CS is interested in how you managed to scramble the vid signal; and someone broke into the ship’s mainframe – we can’t let that go, its a felony.”

“How do you know someone was in the system? Is there proof?”

“Come on Ryan, we both know this required some manipulation of your security record.”

“And you think I am going to rat out some computer geek. Forget it.” I slipped off the bloody shirt and exposed several bruises. I found out later I have a cracked rib.

“Look, I can tell you how we scrambled the vid. If that’s not enough, you can just take me in now.” I held out my hands, wrists up and together. I paused for effect. “Of course then I’ll be forced to show the vid I captured on my laptop of Lieutenant Johns beating the shit out of me,” I lied. “Ask your superiors what that’s worth.”

That was cause for pause. We may have a way out of this yet, I thought.

I decided to press my advantage. “OK, tell them this is the deal – I tell you how we scrambled the vid, and you take the holo vid. You give us back our monitor, repaired. I destroy the vid of a Colonial Security officer ambushing a crewman – a crewman who will be a hero, by the way, if anyone on this level finds out he was in on the “trade”. You drop trying to find this mysterious geek of yours, who may or may not even exist. Is it a deal.”

She hesitated, but then looked me in the eye. “You can be a real SOB Ryan. I’ll have to run it up the pole, but think CS will go for it.”