~Rafael Donnar, in an encrypted private voice message to Nemhet Ahuja
I stopped in front of Vincent’s door. I took a breath and raised my hand to knock, then hesitated. Rafael was my friend – he had trained me in combat and given me help whenever I had needed it. Did I really want to betray him? Who did I have more of a duty to: the captain, or the mission? Was Rafael even speaking the truth? I didn’t know what to do.
Vincent answered that question for me. The door opened, and he looked blearily out at me. Michaela stood behind him, adjusting her shirt. “Jak? What do you want?”
I swallowed. “I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Can I come in?” I wasn’t going to speak of mutinies while standing out in the corridor.
He hesitated, then turned made a gesture at Michaela. She nodded and vanished from my view. A few moments later, Vincent stepped aside and let me in. I made sure that he closed the door after me.
“Now, Jak, what is it?” He sounded slightly annoyed.
I swallowed. “There’s going to be a mutiny, sir.”
He didn’t blink at my use of the word “sir.” “What? How do you know?”
I hesitated a moment before answering. “I was wandering around when I came across a group of them in the observatory. They were accusing you of doing some terrible things…” I took a breath. “They claimed you were responsible for all of the deaths.” I was asking the question of him as much as telling him what they had said.
His eyes blazed with a rage that I had never seen before. I shrank back.
“Who is involved?” His voice was soft, but not in a pleasant way.
“Rafael and Nemhet are l-leading it, s-sir.” I was terrified.
“How many were there?”
“I don’t know. I d-didn’t want them to see me, so I didn’t go up all the way.”
He nodded and turned to Michaela. “Michaela, round up everyone who isn’t up there and have them meet outside these chambers. Be discreet. And fast.”
“Do we want Fineas?”
Vincent thought for a moment, then shook his head. “He’ll be of no use. Just let him mope around in that dark hangar.” So Fineas had been the one in the Emissary’s dock.
Michaela saluted and pushed past me out the door.
Vincent smiled at me, though I could see the fire in his eyes. “Thank you, Jak. Do you want to stay here while this is dealt with?”
I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head. I wanted to see what happened.
He smiled grimly. “Alright. Then for now, we’ll both wait for Michaela to come back.”
She returned a few minutes later with nine crew-members. Looking out at them through the security camera monitor, I recognized Lazarus (the priest), Stephen Krafting, and Joseph among them. Other than Lazarus, the entire crew was armed with pistols and batons. I blinked when I saw that the doctor, Gerald, was there, along with Adam, who looked surprisingly energetic.
We left the captain’s quarters, and stood out in the hallway with the assembled crew. Vincent nodded to Adam. “A good chance to redeem yourself. Are you up to this?”
Adam grinned, then quickly hid it and replaced it with an exaggerated look of solemnity. “I believe I am.” Vincent nodded to him again, and then addressed the gathered members of the crew.
“Gentlemen… and lady,” he added, with a slight dip of the head in Michaela’s direction. “We have a problem on our hands. Rafael and Nemhet have apparently turned most of the crew against me. Now, I know that I was not the original captain of this ship, but you, and they, chose me to succeed him when Korzos proved to be unfit. Now those two seek to overturn their previous ruling, and take the captainship away from me. Now, if that is the decision of the whole crew, I will gladly step down – if it is done peacefully. However, this group – which seems to consist of everyone except you – wishes to dispose of me in a violent fashion. So I ask you now – do you wish to get rid of me?” A chorus of negative answers followed. Vincent smiled. “Then let us go to the observatory and turn the tide.”
We moved quickly through the ship, stopping in front of the door to the observatory. Vincent gestured at me to open the door. I hesitated a moment, then did so. He signaled for me to start advancing up the stairway, and I obeyed. I stopped just before they would have been able to see me. I wondered why they had failed to post a look-out; it seemed rather foolish of them to not do so. The rest of the loyal crew followed behind me, and we all listened to the conversation. Rafael was speaking.
“-framed Korzos, when he was the one who killed Ezekiel!” I ignored Rafael’s comment. I didn’t want to think about that unlikely, horrible possibility. “He has not done us any good so far – this mission has suffered just by his mere presence on the ship! He must be removed!” There were some half-hearted cheers, as well as a few enthusiastic ones. I felt relieved that most of the crew did not sound excited by this prospect.
Vincent shouldered his way past me, winking as he went. He walked into view of the conspirators, and stood there for a few moments, unmoving and silent. Then I heard a gasp.
“You were talking about me?” Vincent asked softly.
There was a moment of silence, and then Nemhet spoke. “We have some charges to bring up against you, captain.” His footsteps echoed in the domed chamber as he approached. “You haven’t been doing so well since you became the leader of this expedition – and you killed everyone on this ship, and you are going to be responsible for all of their deaths now!” He wasn’t nearly as eloquent as Rafael.
“And how, may I ask, did I do that?” Vincent’s voice was flat.
“You were the one who shot the laser at the Diplomat. It could only have been you. You were the one who killed Ezekiel, then doctored security footage to shift the blame to Korzos. You killed the scientists! No footage of what happened in their lab was ever released!” Nemhet was breathing heavily.
“I see,” Vincent responded after a moment. “Well, please permit me to answer. I did not fire those weapons. I could not have. They have a lock set on them preventing anyone other than the captain from giving the order to fire them.”
“But they were under your control!” hissed Nemhet.
“They were only if Korzos gave us the order to fire. Which he did not.”
“How can we believe you?” It was Rafael. He sounded smugly confident.
There was a pause. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”
Someone snorted. “And who’s to say you didn’t just hack into the system?” Rafael again.
There were some mutters from the rest of the crew.
“Me,” Vincent replied. “And we did not have the resources to edit the footage to extent that you saw. It was the work of a true spy – or spies. Karanov and Korzos were working together to sabotage the mission. They both wanted it to fail, and so joined forces to maximize their effect.”
“How do you know all this, captain?” Nemhet used the last word sarcastically.
“I was Security. It was my job to know.”
“Then why didn’t you report it to us? Waiting for the right moment to in order to seize the captainship for yourself?” Rafael sounded triumphant. “I know you, Vincent – that’s exactly what you would do.”
The mutterings grew louder. I turned around to look at the rest of the crew still loyal to Vincent, panic in my eyes, but Michaela just raised a finger to her lips.
“If that’s what you believe. I, however, know that I wouldn’t.”
Rafael laughed. “It doesn’t matter what you believe, Vince. The crew believes what I believe. And I believe that you need to die. You were responsible for killing everyone who has died on this ship – not Korzos or your Ryussan scapegoat. Your thankfully short-lived captainship is over.” I heard the distinct buzz of a charging power weapon. “Good-bye.”
Michaela whispered, “Now!” We all ran up the stairs, and enclosed Vincent in a ring of people. I was on the right side.
/> Rafael, Nemhet, and Allon Lazu were standing in front of a large mass of crew. The people in front looked angry, but towards the back, I saw doubt and uncertainty.
Vincent smiled. “I see that Rafael’s eloquent speeches have won you over. However, I entreat you to listen to me, rather than that power-hungry worm.” I glanced over at Vincent in horror. I had never heard such scathing words come out of his mouth before.
“Have I really failed you that much? Yes, the ship has crashed, but Ivor would have planted the bombs even had Korzos been captain; it was unavoidable. And how many more people would Korzos have murdered if I had allowed him to continue?”
The mutineers weren’t going to wait any longer. “Get the traitor! Don’t let him sway your minds with his clever tongue!” Nemhet shrieked, and led the charge forward. Only Rafael and Allon followed him.
As soon as they were within striking distance, Michaela stepped forward, a baton in her hand, and flicked her wrist twice, hitting the heads of both Allon and Rafael, taking them both to the ground. For a professional martial artist, Rafael hadn’t lasted long. Nemhet snarled and leapt on top of Adam, who collapsed under the larger man’s weight. I turned to help, only to see Nemhet fly through the air as Adam kicked him off and leapt to his feet. The crewmembers facing us caught him, breaking his fall.
I turned my attention back to Michaela, only to find that she had conjured up a pair of restraints and had tied up the moaning Allon and Rafael. Nemhet struggled to break free of those holding him, and they released him without a fight. He charged us again. Adam threw his baton, and it hit Nemhet directly in the temple. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed. Stephen sauntered up to him, catching the pair of restraints Michaela tossed to him, and tied him up as well, giving Adam a respectful nod. He and Michaela dragged the three prisoners together.
Vincent smiled at the crew. “If you really wish for me to step down, I will do so. Is that what you wish?” The room filled with the sounds of negative replies.
“Very well. Then I shall remain as your captain.
“But, in order to show you what happens when people like these,” he gestured at the three men lying on the ground in front of him, “try to destroy our community and sow discord, they shall all be executed. Each in a different fashion. Allon shall go first, then Nemhet, and then finally Rafael. Allon… will die tomorrow. The rest of you are all forgiven. May I suggest we all retire to our rooms?” A somber mass of humanity trudged past us, exiting the observatory in silence. Soon only the original loyal crew remained.
Vincent turned to Michaela, Stephen, and I. “Take these three and tie them up in… Ivor’s old quarters. Don’t let them get near enough to each other that they could break their bonds. Strap them to the wall. Assign a guard to them, from among us.” We all nodded. I took Allon, not being able to bring myself to carry either of the other two, and we did as we were bid.
I sat on my bed for the rest of the day-cycle, trying to make sense of what had happened, and of Vincent’s sudden brutality. I couldn’t. I did, however, begin to doubt Vincent for the first time.
20
“Curiosity is both the blessing and the curse of the human race. Without curiosity, we would have advanced nowhere, and would be forever stuck on one single planet until the end of days. At the same time, without curiosity, many of the horrors of the world would have been circumvented, and needless deaths would have been avoided. Is the curious one, then, a progressive, or one doomed to die?”