The Edge

also had a chemically clean smell completely different from the rest of the X. He didn't like it. The last time he'd been here as a patient, he'd almost died. And it was bright, way too many lights. The staff was busy preparing their stations for the upcoming mission. There'd be casualties. There always were. The media always made it sound like everything was within acceptable tolerances. He'd like to give those government controlled reporters a taste of acceptable tolerances.

  He knew their slow progress had brought them to their destination when he saw the four heavily armed security personnel. They walked by two rooms which had more guards lounging around inside. There was even a battle bot hunkered down in a corner. That meant there was another one hiding from view. He silently questioned the idea of posting a couple of these deadly machines down here. He'd never seen them deployed on the X before. Knowing the kind of damage they could inflict, he wondered if they were deep enough in the interior of the ship for them not to blow a hole all the way out into space.

  One of the guards stood in their path. Now he knew why Th'han'dra wanted him along.

  "Blue Box Leader requests permission to enter." He might as well start off with a request. He wished he was in uniform. His ass still felt like it was waving around in the breeze. The guard was visibly impressed.

  "Heard about you, sir," she said, raising her eyebrows. "Some damned fancy flying I'm told."

  "Eh, you know it was just like, you know, whatever." He tried not to blush. Can't anyone keep their mouths shut around here? "We'd like to get in there."

  The guard's face hardened. "You don't have permission. I'm sorry, sir."

  "This is Squad business," he said stiffening his voice.

  "I understand, sir. Orders are from Squad Ops Chief Diego."

  And that was that. He was about to turn away, when a light above the door they wanted to get through turned from red to amber. Somebody was requesting exit. The guards straightened up and another guard, probably in one of those other rooms, remotely opened the door. The guards kept their guns ready, but the cameras on the other side of the door would have warned them if something was amiss. The light glowed green.

  Captain Suth, Diego, Chief Science Officer Brahms, and Chief Medical Officer Ives stepped through the door. They all paused when they saw Mak and Th'han'dra. The door hissed shut behind them.

  Uh oh, thought Mak. He wondered if he could pretend to faint.

  "What in blue blazes? Mak! Who released you?" Ives asked, putting one hand on her hip and waving a finger of the other hand at him. Her short stature and roundness earned her the nickname the Human Bowling Ball. Fortunately, she didn't mind. She swore her next diet would turn her into a thin little thing who would break hearts all over the ship. In the few years he'd been on the X, she'd looked exactly the same. Her short grey hair and kind eyes gave her an aura of care and healing. Hands, gentle and confident, probed and reassured the injured in ways which he could only marvel at. Once, he'd seen her holding the hand of a dying crewman. He was barely alive, burned and blind, crushed between metal beams. The words she whispered to the injured man right before he died were a comfort to Mak even now.

  "I'm not released, sir," he said. "I was interested in what caused the lock down."

  "You're not supposed to be here, Blue Box Leader," Diego said, brusquely. "This is off-limits to all non-executive personnel. Return to your bed."

  The look Ives gave Diego froze the air. Medical decisions were hers and hers alone. Sick Bay was the domain of the Chief Medical Officer and she brooked no one poaching in her territory.

  "If you feel well enough to move around? But keep it light," she admonished Mak but staring at the reddening Diego.

  Suth looked thoughtful then said, "I'd like some input from Mak." Diego's mouth gaped open. "If you don't mind, Diego."

  It wasn't a question since there was only one answer. "Not in the least, sir."

  "Why don't you and Ives head back. Science and I will give a tour to Mak and, let's see, it's Th'han'dra isn't it?"

  "Yes, sir." She looked a little surprised since she wasn't wearing a name tag. Even more so when the captain extended his hand. They shook briefly.

  Diego nodded stiffly and he brushed by them. Ives smiled and gave Mak's arm a quick squeeze. He tried not to wince.

  "Nice job, flyboy" she said, knowing he'd felt pain. "But get back in bed ASAP"

  Suth nodded at the guards who trained their weapons on the door. It hissed opened again and they entered. They secured the door behind them. There were more guards on the other side of the door. Mak caught sight of the second battle bot. He wondered how a relatively simple piece of metal could look as if it would tear a hole in you if you stared at it the wrong way.

  Thick armor-glass separated them from the interior room. There were eight beds. On each bed there was a body covered by a sheet. On Mak's side of the glass partition, eight monitors displayed the bio-signs indicating they were alive.

  Mak gazed silently on the bodies, then realized Suth was looking for input of some kind. He wondered what exactly he wanted.

  "Uh, they showed up right before we Jumped, sir?" Mak asked. Brahms nodded. Suth faded to the back of the room. "Where?"

  "Squad Ops." Brahms ran his hands through his shaggy red hair. He was a medium built man tending towards a weight problem. A red beard, graying, framed his features. His face was florid and friendly. He spoke with a rumble, deep in his chest. His uniform was spotted with stains as if he'd just come from some experiment that had erupted all over him. "They were in the Briefing Room. The recordings showed they were there one full minute before somebody noticed."

  "What did they do, sir?"

  "Sat there. They've been in this coma ever since. No clothes either."

  "So, they just beamed in?" Mak asked with a smile. Point to point transporting was still a dream.

  Brahms chuckled as well. "Yes, just beamed right on in. That's the only explanation. Not even a flash of light. One second the room was empty, the next there they were."

  Mak struggled to think of something to say which wouldn't sound stupid.

  "DNA checks out, sir?" he said. Damn, that sounded stupid.

  "Oh yes. And definitely not clones either. Checked for bio weapons and the like, but as far as I can tell, they're definitely who they appear to be. And according to Ives, completely healthy. Our good doctor says she can't understand out why they just don't wake up. I know you pilots pride yourselves on keeping still but this is a little ridiculous."

  His tone was light hearted but his eyes crinkled with strain. This was unknown. Transporters were still a fiction. Nobody the Unity had come across was even close to this kind of technology assuming it could be accomplished at all. And why play such elaborate games? Because that's what it looked like. Somebody was toying with them.

  "Maybe they're zombies," offered Mak.

  Brahms made a show of thinking it over. "Zombies, if you recall, are dead yet they move around. These I would say are more closely related to anti-Zombies, living but not moving around."

  No one smiled.

  Mak stared at the bodies.

  "Let me go in, sir," he said.

  "No," said Brahms, shaking his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

  "You said they'd been checked out and besides, if they were in Squad Ops then the harm's done."

  Brahms looked at Suth, who nodded slightly. The guards had been listening and one of them whispered into his comm. The four were soon joined by six more. They handled their weapons with practiced ease. But they were a lot more tense. The battle bot seemed to frown with disapproval.

  A security leader approached Suth. "Sir, you and the CSO will have to leave if we're to break containment."

  Suth and Brahms left leaving Mak and Th'han'dra with the guards. Mak had looked at Th'han'dra to see if she wanted to leave as well, but she'd shaken her head just a little to say no. He should've known. He could order her to leave. It wouldn't look good to Suth, though, to see Th'han'dra disobeyin
g an order.

  The guards outside the room opened the door to Gold Ghost. They walked in and the door slammed shut behind them. The setup was like an airlock. The second door opened up. He knew they were being closely watched. Remote controlled weapons scanned the room. They could stun or kill. Mak had the feeling if bad things happened, then he and Th'han'dra would be just collateral damage.

  They approached the first table. It was Gold Ghost Leader. Brenn. His black hair framed his Asian features. Pure blood Korean supposedly, not a mongrel like Mak. Next to him was his number 2. Romando. Mak stared at his face. The sheet covering his chest moved up and down with his breathing. Th'han'dra bent down and inhaled deeply.

  Mak looked puzzled, then clued in. Mr. Have-I-bathed-in-enough-after-shave Romando was completely odorless. The men sported a faint stubble on their faces.

  Tan marks. Wrinkles. Scars. Fingernails and toenails. Everything the way it should be. They hadn't been in a fight, no bruised knuckles or scrapes or scratches. Ives would surely have picked up on that already. So they were instantly knocked out, stripped, shaved, and bathed. Then returned, thank you for visiting our spa, please come again. But if they could do all this why not return them fully conscious. Why return damaged goods? Maybe they didn't damage them. Maybe they, whoever the hell 'they' were, didn't recognize this as damage.

  He didn't know what he expected to find but he sure as hell wasn't finding any answers. Th'han'dra was staring at one of the women