Battlecruiser Alamo - 7 - Battlecruiser Alamo: Sacred Honor (8 page)

 “Can I help you, Corporal?”

 Shaking his head, he replied, “I’m looking for Sub-Lieutenant Matsumoto. Any idea where she is?”

 “I wish I did. She called me a couple of hours ago and said that she had something urgent to do, ship’s business she couldn’t tell me about, and that I was handling the watch. We’re breaking out of hendecaspace in four hours; she’d better be back by then.”

 “Do you have any idea what she was doing?”

 “She wouldn’t tell me. Why do you want her?”

 “Same problem as you,” he replied, lying through his teeth. “I was supposed to meet up with her to discuss my last after-action report, and she never showed up.” 

 Turning back to her station, McGuire replied, “Well, if I see her, I’ll tell her you dropped by. This isn’t like her at all.”

 Cooper turned to the elevator, then paused at the threshold, “Does the Captain know she isn’t here?”

 That elicited a frown from McGuire, “I presume so. He’s off-shift right now, down in his cabin. Do you think I should check?”

 “No, it’s probably nothing important. I’m sure she wouldn’t miss a shift without permission, ma’am.”

 Glancing up at the clock, the midshipman replied, “I’ll give her another half-hour, then I think I’d better make inquiries. If Lieutenant Lane comes up here we’ll all catch seven varieties of hell in any case.” Turning back to Cooper, she said, “If you find her, let me know right away, will you?”

 “Certainly, ma’am.”

 Stepping back into the elevator, he tapped for the quarters deck. Visiting the bridge was unusual enough that he’d been reluctant to take the risk, but an enlisted wandering around officers’ country was going to attract even more attention. He tapped his foot on the floor waiting for the doors to open; after a few seconds, he stepped out into a deserted deck.

 He walked the ten paces to Matsumoto’s quarters, paused for a moment, and rang for entry. First once, then twice, then again. No response. The door was sealed, locked from the inside. Reaching down for his communicator, he paused for a second then raised it to his mouth. 

 “Cooper to Matsumoto,” he said, softly. “Cooper to Matsumoto.” There was no reply, and somehow, he wasn’t surprised. Looking at the lock, he started to remember his combat hacking training. He knew enough to get the door open, but what he wasn’t sure about was whether he could cover his tracks well enough to get past Security.

 Voices coming down the corridor broke his deliberation, and he started to jog in that direction, searching his mind for an excuse. Tyler and Kibaki were walking towards the elevator; the latter looked over at Cooper, frowning.

 “Lost, Corporal?”

 “Just going for a jog, sir,” he said. “Twice round the ship.”

 “It’s the middle of the night,” Tyler replied. “Shouldn’t you be in your rest period?” 

 Looking down at the ground, and thanking the acting lessons he’d taken in school, Cooper said, “I haven’t been able to sleep since the battle, sir. Not for long, anyway.”

 Kibaki patted his hand on Cooper’s shoulder, “I understand, son. You should think about seeing the doctor if it doesn’t get better. We’re going to need
you
fresh and ready to take on those transports.”

 “I’ll do my part, sir.”

 “I know. Good night, Corporal, and try and get some sleep,” he said, as the two of them continued down towards the elevator. Cooper jogged for a moment more, waiting until he heard the door close, then returned to Matsumoto’s door, his mind made up. He couldn’t risk bringing anyone else into the loop without overplaying his hand, and if she was the saboteur, they needed to know about it.

 Pulling a toolkit out of his pocket, he started to work, clipping the probe by the door and working a series of buttons and controls. The trick was not only to get through the lock, but in such a way that the occupant wouldn’t know that anyone had interfered. He struggled to come up with an excuse for breaking in should Matsumoto actually be inside, but he dismissed that possibility. She wouldn’t just be asleep in her cabin – she was either on the bridge, or she was somewhere else on the ship.

 The door slid open, and he quickly took a step in, his eyes opening wide at what he saw – Matsumoto’s body lying on the deck, a pool of blood trickling away into the carpet. He automatically took a step back, shaking his head at what he saw, and started to look around for any clue, any evidence. Her terminal was on, the local database flashing that it had been formatted; a computer expert could recover the data, but that was going to be beyond h
is limited talents.

 Just as he was reaching for his communicator, the door opened again, and Lane was standing at the threshold of the door, reaching for her pistol. As he turned, she drew it, pointing the gun at his chest.

 “Keep quite still, Corporal,” she said. “One move and I will shoot you.” Reaching down for her communicator, she continued, “Security team to Matsumoto’s quarters. Urgent.”

 “I was about to call,” he replied, but she shook her head.

 “Why, Corporal?”

 “I didn’t do it, ma’am. I found the body…”

 “After breaking in? I saw you working outside.”

 “Damn it, Lieutenant, I can explain…”

 “And you will, Corporal. I assure you of that. Under interrogation, most likely.”

 The sound of running feet echoed from outside, and Cooper found himself looking into the horrified faces of Orlowski and Duggan, weapons drawn, pointed at him. They glanced at Lane, who fixed him with a steely gaze.

 “Take him into custody.”

 “Ma’am, are you sure?” Duggan said. “This all seems like some sort of mistake.”

 “No mistake, Private. I found him over the body.”

 Orlowski knelt down beside Matsumoto’s corpse, “Still warm. She didn’t die long ago.”

 “Corporal, if you confess now it will go a lot easier on you.”

 “I didn’t kill her!”

 Shaking her head, she motioned him out of the room, stepping into the corridor. Most of the sleeping officers had been wakened by the commotion; Captain Marshall was waiting outside.

 “What happened, Lieutenant.”

 “Corporal Cooper murdered Matsumoto, sir. I don’t know why.”

 “Lieutenant, it wasn’t me!”

 Raising a hand, Marshall turned to Cooper, “What happened, Corporal. Your version.”

 “I went into her room, and found her body on the floor, exactly as it is now. I was just about to raise the alarm when Lieutenant Lane walked in.”

 “And why were you in her cabin?” 

 “I was trying to find her, sir.” The two men locked eyes, and Cooper knew that Marshall believed his story – but he also knew that at least for the moment, he couldn’t admit it. A shout came from inside the cabin, and Orlowski walked out.

 “She was killed by a standard low-velocity bullet, sir. Could have been anyone from ship’s stores.”

 “The RFID will give you the serial number, Private,” Lane said. “Who checked it out of the armory?”

 Looking down at the deck, he replied, “According to the records, Corporal Cooper, ma’am.”

 Sub-Lieutenant Steele had joined the throng at the door, her face growing pale as she saw the body. More than a dozen people were milling around, though none of them seemed eager to actually step into the room.

 “Steele,” Marshall said, “Go in and take a look at her computer. Find out what she was working on.”

 She looked up at him with pleading eyes, then nodded, walking into the room and stepping over her friend’s body to the terminal, starting to work. Lane stepped towards Cooper, her gun still extended, a datapad in her other hand.

 “Cooper, you need to talk.”

 “I’ve told you everything I know,” he said.

 “Why did you go up to the bridge just now?” she asked, waving the datapad. “In fact, you’ve been doing a lot of wandering around the ship recently, Corporal. Fabrication control, for example.” She turned to Marshall, “I had a report just before I went to my quarters. There’s been a glitch with the processing circuits, and Petty Officer Furneaux suspects sabotage.”

 “Ma’am, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. And I was looking for Matsumoto.”

 “Why? What for?”

 “I…”, before Cooper could respond, Steele stepped out of the cabin.

 “I’ve managed to get some of the data. Security will need to do more, but she was looking up a lot of personnel files, rosters, and correlating them with experience of demolitions manufacture.” She turned to Cooper, fire on her face, “I never knew you did a tour at the Enceladus Proving Grounds.”

 “Because I never did!”

 “Your personnel file says otherwise. Six months spent there last year.”

 “Last year? Last year I was doing Advanced Training, then a tour at Titan. Someone’s forged the records.”

 “Or we’ve found the person who responsible for the sabotage. And back at Hercules, as well, I bet you were..”

 Cooper couldn’t help it; a red mist flashed in front of his eyes, and he leapt out at Steele, fists flying through the air. It took Duggan, Marshall and Orlowski to wrestle him down to the deck, pinning his flailing arms.

 “They were my friends!” he yelled, as Lane looked down at him.

 “I’m sure that’s what they thought.” Turning to Marshall, she continued, “Sir, I see no alternative at this time but
to file
charges against Mr. Cooper.”

 Looking down, sadness in his eyes, Marshall replied, “I agree. Corporal, you can consider yourself formally charged with the murder of Sub-Lieutenant Matsumoto. Legal counsel will be provided at the earliest opportunity; until formal court-martial proceedings can be held, you will be confined to the bri
g
. Have you anything to say?”

 Bitter tears welled in his eyes, “I didn’t kill her, Captain. You’ve got to believe me. The person who did this is still out there.”

 Turning to Lane, Marshall said, “Seal this area off and get Lieutenant Bailey up here; she is to assume responsibility for the investigation.”

 “I can handle that, sir,” she replied.

 Shaking his head, he said, “You are a material witness, Lieutenant, and one who appears to have already decided what happened.” He looked down at Cooper, “I’m less sure.”

 “Sir, all the evidence…”

 “I’ve made my decision. You’d better get Doctor Duquesne up here was well. We’re going to need to hold an autopsy.” Turning to the troopers, he said, “Duggan, Orlowski, get Cooper down to a holding cell.”

 “Aye, sir,” they replied, picking the now-limp Cooper up, one arm apiece, and half-carrying, half-walking him to the elevator. Lane stared after them as they rounded the corner, heading into the waiting car.

 “Guys, you have to believe me.”

 Orlowski looked at Duggan, and said, “If you say you didn’t do it, that’s good enough for me.”

 Nodding, Duggan added, “You saved my life, Gabe. I trust you. I don’t know what we can do, though. We can’t let you go – they’d have us as accomplices, and three of us in the cells isn’t going to help.”

 “Lane wasn’t around when I started to break into the room…”

 “What the hell was that about, anyway?” Duggan said.

 “I can’t tell you.” He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, “I need to both to trust me on this one.”

They looked at each other, and Orlowski nodded, “If you can’t tell us, you can’t. I’ll do a little digging, see if I can find out anything about Lane, but we’re going to have to be careful. Odds are that she’ll suspect us, anyway.”

 “Probably true,” he replied as the elevator came to a stop. “Tell Barbara what happened, as well. What actually happened.”

 “Gabe, none of us who know you think you could have done this,” Duggan said. “It all fits together too neatly anyway; if you’d wanted to kill her, you could have got a bullet with no ident easily enough, or erased it, for that matter. The Captain must know that.”

 “I think he does,” Orlowski replied. “I saw...anyway, come on. This way.” 

 Equanimity restored, Cooper walked down the corridor to the cell, a stark, cold, white room. Duggan entered a ten-digit code to open the door, and Cooper walked in, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. Orlowski tossed his datapad after him.

 “In case you want something to read,” he said.

 “Thanks, Orlok.”

 “If you need anything...one of us will be round with some food in a bit,” Duggan said. “Stay loose. We’ll start work on getting you out of here.”

 “Thanks,” Cooper replied, as the door slammed shut.

Chapter 8

 Nelyubov and Carpenter were waiting at the airlock when Orlova arrived, carrying the light travel holdall that the fabricators had managed
too
produce. She had a hunting rifle slung across her pack, a pair of cartridges stuffed into her pocket; Price had accepted her interest in trying the ‘sport’ without any questions, almost seeming eager for her to give it a try.

 “I should be going down there,” Carpenter said. “You’re too valuable to the ship.”

 Nelyubov looked across at her, then said, “She’s right. Let me go, instead. I’m as good with a gun as you are, and if I go missing…”

 “The invitation only had one name on it, and it was mine,” she replied. “This is m
y job
.”

 “You’re the commanding officer,” Nelyubov pressed, “which gives you certain responsibilities.”

 “I am fully aware of my duties, Lieutenant. Prime among them at the moment is finding a way to get this ship back to Triplanetary space. Someone down there seems willing to help us, and I need to find out who. Carpenter, you are in command until I get back.”

 “What?” Nelyubov said. “With all due respect, she’s a scientist with an honorary rank.”

 “A rank in the Triplanetary Fleet, which means she outranks everyone else on this ship.”

 “Maggie, I shouldn’t be doing this,” Carpenter said. “Take me with you, if that’s a problem…”

 “I can’t spare anyone for this but me.” A loud clang issued from the hull; the shuttle had arrived. “With luck I’ll be back in a few hours. Keep going with the repairs. If something does go wrong, don’t come after me. That’s an order.”

 “Damn it, ma’am,” Nelyubov said.

 “Lieutenant, I said that it was an order. Don’t make me repeat myself again.”