Sertian Princess (24 page)

David snatched the communicator back out of Zara's hands.

"Sam, listen to me.  When those two people first went missing; it was before we lost contact with the Cleopatra.  Didn't she report that all her crew were on board and accounted for?"

The reply was flat and unemotional.  "Yes boss."

David turned and looked at the circle of faces around him.  Brianey and Lynda, Julia and Prince Gerald, Zara still sitting with the medic beside her.  His eyes sought out Gerald's.

"You know what this means.  We put Neri on board the Cleopatra to keep her safe.  But there's an assassin on board with her, masquerading as a member of the crew, and the Cleopatra is completely out of contact.  There's no way we can warn her."

CHAPTER 24

LeFevre, in his role as Leading Artificer Francesco Galileo, lay patiently waiting as the door closed behind Anton.  He heard the lock click, rolled quickly off the bunk and immediately regretted it.  Another spasm was just starting.  He clung to the edge of the bunk and waited for it to pass.  Fortunately each succeeding attack was now noticeably weaker than the last.  The effects of the drug were wearing off.

When the spasm finally eased, he padded silently across the sickbay and tried the door.  It was no great surprise to find that it was locked but neither was it any great obstacle.  He ran a professional eye over the lock.  It was a standard Beta-2 type of electromagnetic lock, keyed on a simple four digit code.  The sickbay, not being a high security area, had not been fitted with the infinitely more complex Alpha locks.

Still four digits to select from a ten digit pad meant that there were 10,000 possible codes.  He gave a little sigh of annoyance.  With the more sophisticated equipment in his case he could have simply read off the code and then used it to open the lock without leaving any trace.  But the case was still hidden on the launch, so it would have to be the brute force approach.  He took out a miniature field generator from the small equipment pouch on his belt and reset the combination to 0000.  It might cause the surgeon some surprise when he returned to find the sickbay unlocked, but that could not be helped. LeFevre knew that he had to move fast now to protect his position.

The first stage was to recover the case of special equipment from the launch.  He slid the door open a fraction and checked the passageway.  It was deserted.  The bay where the launch had docked was roughly amidships and he had been led aft from there to the sickbay.  So now he had to go forr’d again.  He stepped out into the corridor and carefully slid the door to.

The passageway was stacked high with boxes of medical supplies but there was still nobody about.  Behind a bulkhead door in what was apparently the aft torpedo room he could hear voices, but they did not sound as though they were approaching.  He turned away from the torpedo room and headed for the launch, staying down on the lower levels, away from the sounds of activity until he judged that he should be roughly below the launch bay.

It may have been luck or it may have been that during a routine transit operation, all of the crew were either at their posts or in their quarters.  Whatever the reason, he reached the launch bay unchallenged and quickly cycled through the airlock onto the launch.  To retrieve the case of special equipment from the locker was the work of only a few seconds.  He set the case down by the airlock door and ducked through onto the flight deck.  There he activated the command console and tapped in the entry code he had used before.  Galileo's code was still accepted so there was no suspicion of his identity yet.  He sought out the structural plans of the Cleopatra and quickly found the main comms centre.  He spent a few seconds studying the access routes then switched to the services plan and spent somewhat longer studying the cable routes and air-conditioning ducts.

The sound of voices outside in the docking bay, disturbed his concentration.  He cleared the screen and slipped quietly off the flight deck as the voices started to come through the airlock.  The main compartment of the launch was singularly devoid of any useful cover and the voices were coming through the only other exit he could reach in time.  He scanned the room again.  There were access hatches to the service ducts along both sides of the compartment.  He quickly opened one of the hatches and crammed himself into the confined space leaving the hatch slightly ajar.

The voices materialised into two of the Cleopatra's crew with a portable diagnostic unit floating behind them on an antigrav sled. LeFevre watched as they entered the main compartment and then stopped, almost directly opposite the hatch where he was concealed.

"Look at that," he heard one of them say.  "Them buggers is getting right sloppy."

LeFevre followed the line of their eyes and cursed silently to himself.  The object of their attention was his case of special equipment which he had left by the airlock, ready to take.

"Airlock left open," the man went on.  "Gear not stowed away."

"It's lucky for them it's us that's found it, not some bloody officer," the second man agreed.  "What'll we do with it?"

"Leave it there for now, we'll put it away before we go.  And that bugger Jonson's going to owe us for this one.  Keeping his arse out of a sling."

The first man, who was obviously the senior of the two, turned to his companion.  "You take that diag unit on down to the engine room and connect it up.  I'll set up the tests on the main panel."

LeFevre watched as the second man headed off with the antigrav sled in tow.  The other man looked round the compartment for a few seconds more, and then shrugged and ducked through onto the flight deck.

LeFevre forced himself to wait for a full minute before cautiously opening the hatch and easing himself out.  He could hear the crewman on the flight deck talking via the intercom to the other man, presumably now in the engine room.  They were deep in the detail of the equipment checks they had to run.  He quickly crossed the floor, picked up the offending case and made his escape through the open airlock.

***

When Anton arrived on the bridge, he found Mikael in close conference with Frank Bennetton, the Exec Officer.  He waited a moment until Mikael noticed him there and waved him over.

"Tony, come and join us.  How is Galileo?"

"He's resting in the sickbay.  He'll be all right, but it bothers me that I can't pin down the cause of the problem."

"What about the others?"

"I've checked everybody who was on board the Cleopatra with the exception only of yourself.  No-one else is showing any reaction whatsoever.  Now hold out your arm and let me check you out."

"You don't need to fuss about me, Tony.  I'm feeling fine," Mikael said, but he obediently stretched his arm out towards the surgeon.

Anton pressed the sensor lightly against Mikael's wrist and waited for the readings to settle.  "Ok Mike.  You're clear."

"So it's just Galileo then.  Can't the databanks come up with anything?"

"There's nothing in the immediate memory.  There's one or two drugs that come quite close to a match, but nothing that fits exactly.  I'm running a search through the Medical Archives now."

"Ok Tony.  Let me know when you come up with something.  And if there's no improvement by the time we reach Serta, we'll ask permission to transfer him to the hospital facility there."

"What's our ETA at Serta?"

"72 hours, near as dammit.  She's just showing in the tank at maximum magnification.  Come and see."

Mikael led the way over to the Stellar Display Tank and set the controls to extrapolate the Cleopatra's course.  The dotted line showing the intended course ended at a star system on the very edge of the tank.

Just as Mikael was expounding on the strategic importance of Serta at the confluence of so many trade routes, the lights in the tank suddenly dimmed, flashed back up again and then died completely.  Mikael punched angrily at the controls but there was no response from the display.

He turned and looked across to where Andy Fraser was making furious adjustments to his control panel.  "What's up with the tank, Chief?"

"It's no the tank, sir.  That checks out fine.  But there's nay signal coming in.  We've lost the main feed."

"The tank isn't totally dark," Anton pointed out.  He indicated a cluster of white dots surrounding one flashing green.

"That's the Cleopatra, and the local space around us.  It looks as though the tank is only displaying what we can pick up on our own sensors.  We seem to have lost the signal from the Navigation Beacons.  Frank, chase up Communications.  See what the problem is."

The Exec broke off the conversation he had been having over the intercom and came hurrying over to join them at the tank, with a worried expression on his face.

"I've just been talking to Comms, sir.  It's a bit more serious than just the Nav Signal.  All the main comms computers have gone haywire.  The signals are still coming in, but the computers can't interpret them."

"You mean we've effectively lost all communications?  Total failure?"

"Yes sir."

"What about the stand-by systems?"

"The back-up systems switched in automatically, sir.  But they don't look any better."

"Well what the hell's gone wrong with the computers?"

"Comms say it looks like a timing fault, sir.  They're checking it out now."

Just then the door to the bridge slid open and Van Gelst and Garcia came through.

"Well well," Mikael smiled grimly, "Electronics and Communications together.  I was just thinking of you gentlemen.  Make your reports please."

It was Georges Garcia who spoke first.  "We've identified the problem with the comms computers, sir.  It is the atomic clock."

"Yes I thought it had to be something like the central clock," Mikael said carefully.

"I don't understand," Tony put in.  "Why would a clock failure cause such a major problem?"

"Well....." Garcia began with a glance at Mikael.

"Let me," Mikael interrupted.  "See if I've got it.  The processes of translating and decoding incoming streams of signals are handled by a whole series of interconnected computers, and the signals pass from one computer to another in the various stages of analysis.  Now in order to pass these signals correctly amongst themselves, all the computers have to be kept in strict synchronisation, and in order to do that, they all take their time from a central atomic clock.  If that clock malfunctions, the computers get out of synch and the signal streams become distorted or interrupted.  Am I right?"

"Absolutely correct, sir.  And so, because this clock is central to the whole comms network, even when we switch in the stand-by computers, they still take their timing from this same clock."

"So replace the clock.  We've got a spare in the stores haven't we?"

The two officers looked at each other for a long second before van Gelst spoke up.

"Yes sir.  Well that is.... we did, sir.  Until half an hour ago."

"What are you telling me, Erik?"

"All the components for the spare clock were withdrawn from stores about half an hour ago, sir.  Before the failure occurred."

"Withdrawn?  By whom?"

"We don't know, sir.  We're investigating now."

"Can you repair the comms system without the new clock?"

"Not a hope, sir.  We either need those components or the facilities of a Star Base."

Mikael turned to his Exec.  "Frank, I want a conference of all officers in my day cabin.  Immediately."

"Aye aye, sir."

***

All the Cleopatra's officers crammed themselves into the tiny day cabin, along with Suzanne and Princess Nerissa who both insisted on being present.  Mikael brought them up to date on the comms failure and then turned to address van Gelst.

"Erik, do we know yet what caused the original failure in the clock?"

"I'm not sure, sir.  I've never seen anything like it before."

"Then let me put it to you directly," Mikael said with a touch of impatience in his voice.  "Was the failure accidental or deliberate?"

There was a sudden intake of breath from someone in the room as the implications of the question sunk in.  Van Gelst thought for a moment before phrasing a careful reply.

"If it was deliberate, sir, then it was done very skilfully, by an expert in comms systems and by someone with a detailed knowledge of the Cleopatra.  On the other hand, sir, in all my years in the Service, I've never known an atomic clock to fail in this way before."

"Thank you, Erik.  I suppose failures do happen, even in components which are normally totally reliable.  But if it was an accidental failure, where is the spare?"

"We're tracing the authorisation code for the withdrawal, sir.  I should hear any time now...."  Van Gelst broke off as his personal communicator sounded.  "Yes, go ahead."  He listened to the report. "That's impossible.  You must have made....  Oh, I see."  He snapped the communicator shut and turned back to the waiting group.

"It appears, Captain that the release was made under your personal authority.  Every code checked out correctly."

"I authorised no such release," Mikael said angrily.

"No sir.  But whoever it was, knew your personal codes."

"Well, who collected the components?"

There was an embarrassed silence around the crowded room.  Mikael's gaze swung like an angry spotlight from one face to the next.

"Well," he snapped.  "Who was it....?  Or am I supposed to have collected the parts myself?"

"No sir.  Of course not," Van Gelst was stung to reply.  "It's just that....  Well, we don't actually know who collected them."

This time it was Mikael's turn to be stunned into silence as he looked in amazement from Van Gelst to Garcia and back again to Van Gelst.

"I don't believe I'm hearing this.  Surely the storeman must have seen who collected the components."