I nodded, not appreciating the way she was titling my brother as ‘this robot’.
‘Then I want this thing in a detention cell also,’ said the commander. ‘No one will feel safe with it on the loose.’
‘It wasn’t his fault,’ I protested. ‘I altered his programming. I never dreamed he’d end up hurting anyone.’
‘But it did.’
‘Please stop calling Aidan “it”,’ I snapped.
‘Very well then. He is dangerous and I’m asking you, for the good of those left on board, to allow us to put him in a detention cell. I’m assuming the nano-field can hold him?’
‘He can’t pass through it without damaging himself,’ I said unhappily. ‘And he’ll stay put until told to do otherwise.’
This was so unfair. Aidan shouldn’t have to suffer because of my error in judgement.
‘Commander, if you lock him up, then you should do the same to me. I’m just as responsible as he is,’ I said.
‘No,’ said Commander Linedecker. ‘We need your help to get to Mendela Prime. You’re the captain of this ship.’
‘Not any more. Go ahead and take over. You run this ship. I’ve had enough,’ I said vehemently. ‘I’ll give you the executive code and my command bracelets. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.’
The commander stepped forward and lowered her voice for my ears only. ‘Oh no you don’t, Vee. You are the captain of this ship. That means you live with your failures as well as your successes. That means you do what needs to be done for the good of the majority, not yourself. That means you stand up and take responsibility for your actions. You don’t get to go hide in a corner. Not on this ship. Not in this lifetime. This crew needs you. So here’s how it will work. Your brother will be escorted down to a detention cell and there he’ll stay until we work out what to do with him. And you will get your arse in gear and get back to the bridge.’
Stunned, I stared at the commander. ‘Well . . . I consider myself bitch-slapped!’
The commander cracked a rare smile. ‘Are we clear?’
‘And the ones who died?’
‘Let’s concentrate on the ones who are still alive,’ said the commander.
I nodded reluctantly. ‘Aidan, I want you to go down to the cargo hold and place yourself in a detention cell. You will stay there until further notice. D’you understand?’
My brother nodded. ‘Did I do something wrong, Vee?’
‘Aidan, you didn’t, but I did,’ I replied. ‘And now we both have to pay for it.’
My brother had followed his reprogramming in protecting me and the ship. But my human fifteen-year-old brother who was a part of this Aidan standing before me had enjoyed taking revenge on Darren and the others. He knew no better, because of me. Aidan hadn’t matured emotionally because it had never occurred to me to look to that side of his development. He was a supercomputer with the mind of a genius and the emotions of a lonely, bullied fifteen-year-old boy whose sister was his only friend. Nathan was right. I’d made such a mess of things and others had suffered for my mistakes.
‘I love you, Aidan,’ I said.
‘True?’
‘True.’
Aidan looked at me sadly. ‘OK.’
My heart breaking for both of us, I watched him walk away with Alex as his armed escort.
74
It was late at night and I was back in my own original quarters next to the astro lab, trying not to think about the pain in my broken forearm. That was nothing however compared to the pain in my chest. I couldn’t forget the look on Vee’s face when her brother had held me high in the air ready to break me in two. Aidan wanted to make me suffer before I died.
And Vee had wanted to see it.
She hated me that much.
Selfish, I know, but everything that had happened since then with Doctor Liana paled into insignificance when compared to that one fact. Vee hated me. I hadn’t known until that moment in the detention cell, when death had had its hand on my shoulder, just how Vee truly felt about me. The worst moment of my life didn’t even begin to cover it.
Funny, but I could’ve sworn—
I sighed again, wishing the pain in my chest would give me a break. And my damned eyes wouldn’t stop leaking. No doubt a side effect of the painkiller Doctor Liana had given me earlier for my arm, before she’d been arrested. Yeah, it had to be a side effect of the pain medication. I mean, what else could be causing it?
For the life of me, I still didn’t understand quite what had happened. How could what was supposed to be love turn into something so rancid and deadly that quickly?
Maybe because it hadn’t been love in the first place.
It had suited me to think that what Vee and I had was special, instead of what it actually was – a heady mixture of lust, longing and wishful thinking. On Barros 5, I’d been convinced I was about to die. Vee had been alone for over three years. Was it any wonder that our mutual attraction mixed with desperation had made us gravitate towards each other? Now it felt like Vee and I had both clung to the idea of what our relationship could be instead of seeing it for what it was. I had genuinely thought what we had was . . . love.
Man, had I got that one wrong.
Just add that to the never-ending list of failures in my mucked-up life. Vee had clawed my heart out and all because she was convinced that I’d been playing away with Anjuli. Well, if nothing else I was going to knock that one on the head. Swiping a hand across my eyes, I said, ‘Aidan, where’s Anjuli?’
Silence.
Damn it! I’d forgotten the way to access the ship’s computer had now been changed by popular demand. ‘Computer, where’s Anjuli?’
‘Anjuli is in her quarters.’ Hearing Aidan’s voice sent a shiver down my spine, but at least it was just the computer. The robot Aidan was in a detention cell and there he’d stay, where hopefully he would rot.
‘Computer, where’s Vee?’
‘Vee is in her quarters. U-02.’
Right. I swung my legs off the bed and, after putting on my boots, exited my old room. Heading along the corridor, I paused outside Vee’s quarters. Would my handprint still allow me access via the palmlock? I wasn’t about to try it and find out. Those days were over. Vee meant nothing to me now. I just wanted to clear my name. The fact that Vee thought I was the kind of scum-sucking lowlife who would go through a joining ceremony with her one minute and then crawl into bed with someone else the next, bit hard to say the very least. I pressed her room alert. Almost immediately, the door slid open.
Damn it!
Something in my chest leaped at the sight of her. More side effects of those painkillers. Vee looked so utterly miserable I almost stepped forward to wrap my arms around her.
Almost.
Repeat after me – those days were over.
‘If you’re not too busy, I’d like you to come with me.’ God, my voice sounded gruff like I was growling at her. I needed to stick to the point and keep it terse or God only knew what might spill out of my mouth.
Without a word, Vee walked out into the corridor, waiting for me to lead the way. We took the lift to the mid deck in silence. I passed a couple of friends but neither they nor I felt like smiling or speaking.
‘Computer, where are Anjuli’s quarters?’
‘Anjuli resides in M-17 on the mid deck.’
Vee glanced at me, surprised. It took me a moment to figure out why. She thought I’d already know the number of Anjuli’s room. Even now, she still believed I’d been unfaithful.
Once outside Anjuli’s door, I activated the room alert with my one good hand. She took her own sweet time getting to the door.
‘Aidan, d’you know what time it is? It’s three thirty in the morning,’ Anjuli fumed, rubbing her eyes. ‘Couldn’t this have waited? Vee? What’re you doing here? Is everything OK?’
‘No, it isn’t, and this isn’t a social call,’ I answered before Vee could. ‘Where did you get that chain and pendant round your neck?’
> Anjuli frowned and glanced down at her necklace. ‘This?’ she asked, holding the pendant between her fingers.
Which other one would I be talking about? She was only wearing one.
‘Where did you get it?’
‘Aidan gave it to me.’
‘Aidan?’ Vee’s tone was sharp. ‘Why would Aidan give that to you?’
‘He said it was a gift from someone who wanted to get with me. Apparently this certain someone wanted me to have it but was too shy to give it to me himself.’ Anjuli’s smile was broad as she stroked the pendant lying against her chest.
‘And who was that?’ I asked.
‘Well, Mike, of course.’
‘Mike in hydroponics?’ Vee asked.
‘Who else?’ Anjuli said. ‘Took him long enough. I’ve been dropping hints for ages but he never seemed interested.’
‘Where did Aidan get the pendant from?’ I asked.
‘Obviously Mike gave it to him to give to me. I’ve been waiting for Mike to say something about it ever since but he hasn’t yet,’ Anjuli replied. ‘What’s all this about?’
‘Anjuli, you had a conversation with my brother in the hydroponics bay a while ago. D’you remember?’ asked Vee.
‘Yes, of course. Why?’ said Anjuli.
‘You called someone a whoremeister. Who was that?’ said Vee.
Anjuli’s smile vanished to be exchanged with an expression of total disgust. ‘You mean Harrison?’
‘Aidan whispered something in your ear at one point. What did he say to you?’
‘How did you know that? I don’t remember you being there.’ Anjuli frowned.
‘Anjuli, please. Just tell me what my brother whispered to you,’ Vee pleaded.
‘Aidan told me that Harrison had been boasting about how I couldn’t resist him.’ Anjuli made a face like there was a putrid smell under her nose. ‘I mean, eww! As if!’
‘Oh God . . .’ Vee looked stricken.
I barely listened to what they were saying. I didn’t care about some random conversation Aidan had had with Anjuli. I was still trying to figure out this pendant business. There’s no way Aidan could’ve got the pendant. Once Vee had given it to me, I never took it off except for each morning when I had a shower. And Aidan had only been in our quarters on one of those occasions and the pendant hadn’t gone missing then. In fact the only other person apart from Vee to enter our sleeping quarters was—
‘Anjuli, could you come with me?’ I asked.
‘Come where? At this time of night?’ said Anjuli.
‘Please, Anjuli. It’s important.’ Too late, but important nonetheless. ‘Computer, what’s the number of Erica’s room?’
‘Erica is in M-53,’ the computer replied.
We headed further along the corridor. I looked at Vee. She looked back at me. Was that an apology I saw in her eyes? Did she already know how this was going to end? Neither of us spoke. Once in front of Erica’s door, I pressed the door alert. I had to press it twice more before the door opened.
‘Nathan, what the hell?’ Erica looked dazed. ‘D’you know what time it is?’
Why was everyone asking me that?
‘Why did you take my pendant?’ I launched straight in, pointing at the chain round Anjuli’s neck. I was not in the mood for pleasantries.
Erica’s gaze slid over the necklace. ‘Anjuli, what’re you doing with that?’
‘Aidan gave it to me as a gift from Mike,’ Anjuli replied.
‘Aidan gave it to you?’ Erica said sharply.
‘Yeah. Mike gave it to Aidan to give to me as a gift. He was too shy to give it to me himself. Isn’t that adorable?’ said Anjuli.
‘Aidan gave it to you? You must be mistaken.’ Erica shook her head.
‘I’m not lying.’ Anjuli bristled at having her word doubted.
‘Erica, why did you take it?’ I asked sombrely.
Erica looked at me, her lips pressed together, her expression mutinous.
‘I’m not playing, Erica. Don’t test me,’ I told her stonily.
‘Wait? What’s going on?’ Anjuli still hadn’t caught up.
I turned to Anjuli. ‘Erica’s about to admit where that pendant really came from.’
Vee stood beside me, her head bent.
Looking resigned, Erica said, ‘I took it from your bedside table when you went for a shower.’
‘Huh? You stole it from Nathan?’ Anjuli was completely bewildered.
Vee turned to me, remorse written all over her face. Far too little, much too late.
‘I didn’t steal it,’ Erica denied vehemently. ‘I took it.’
‘Why?’ Vee asked.
‘Aidan told me to,’ Erica admitted.
Back to Aidan again. The spider at the centre of this web of misunderstandings and lies.
‘Why would he do that?’ asked Vee.
‘He said he just wanted to play a trick on Nathan for a day or two. He kept on and on at me to find a way to get the necklace,’ said Erica. ‘Nathan, I’m so sorry. I swear I thought Aidan would keep it for a day or two and then give it back. I thought he just wanted to get you into trouble with Vee for losing it – for a joke. You know, ha ha! I didn’t know he was going to give it to Anjuli.’
I glanced at Vee, expecting her expression to hold fury or at least contempt as she watched Erica. Instead she just looked sorrowful.
‘Wait a minute. You mean, it’s not from Mike?’ Anjuli pouted.
‘No, it’s not from bloody Mike. Shut up about Mike, for God’s sake!’ I shouted at Anjuli. ‘It was mine and Aidan gave it to you to stir up trouble between me and Vee. And he succeeded. You thought it was from Mike whilst Vee thought that you and I . . . that we . . .’
Anjuli looked from me to Vee, totally horrified. She’d finally caught up. ‘Me and Nathan? We didn’t . . . we’ve never . . . Vee, you can’t believe that Nathan and I would do anything like that,’ Anjuli protested. ‘Nathan is nuts about you. He always swore on Callisto that he’d never go through the joining ceremony with anyone. He didn’t want to be tied down or join with someone only to lose them for whatever reason. But he took one look at you and all that went out the nearest airlock. I swear, we’ve never once—’
‘It’s OK, Anjuli. I believe you,’ Vee said quietly. ‘Excuse me.’
Vee turned and walked away from all of us. I don’t know what I’d expected – an apology would’ve been nice – but anyway, I didn’t get it. Vee carried on walking along the corridor, her head up, her shoulders back. However much she’d hated me, it was nothing compared to what I felt about her at that moment. Our union was well and truly dead.
75
A night spent crying in my room had done nothing but give me a pounding headache. The moment I had my shower and got dressed, I headed down to the detention cells. Doctor Liana lay on the bed facing the bulkhead, her back to the outside world. I walked past her cell to my brother’s. Aidan stood in the middle of the room, his eyes open, his stance relaxed yet alert. The moment he saw me, his eyes tracked my movements. That was the only part of him that moved. We contemplated each other for silent moments.
‘Why did you do it?’ I asked at last.
My brother stood behind the nano-field of his detention cell looking out at me, his expression unreadable. Ever since I’d changed his self-preservation algorithm so that it would follow the three robotic laws as adopted by the Authority, he’d changed. Now he only spoke when spoken to, and every time he looked at me I’d swear there was regret in his eyes. I’d failed him and he was punishing me for it.
‘Aidan, why did you lie to me about Nathan?’
‘I don’t understand the question.’
‘Why did you get Erica to take Nathan’s pendant? Why did you want to convince me that Nathan was being unfaithful? Answer me, damn it.’
‘I don’t understand your questions.’
‘Why did you try to kill Nathan? He didn’t have a weapon aimed at you. He couldn’t harm you.’
‘H
e was a danger to you.’
‘How, for God’s sake? Nathan would never harm me.’
‘He was a danger to you. He was making you unhappy,’ said Aidan.
‘He was making me unhappy because of you and your lies.’
Aidan didn’t reply.
I shook my head, trying to put my scattershot thoughts in some semblance of order. ‘Nathan says you were jealous of him. Is that true?’
Aidan’s eyes briefly narrowed. At last, an emotional response.
‘Is that it, Aidan? Were you jealous?’
Aidan made his unhurried way to the bed in his cell and sat down. He raised his head to look me in the eye and said, ‘I don’t understand the question.’
76
Who the hell was that at my door? I tapped my bedside table to check the time. One twenty in the morning. If it was Anjuli trying to cheer me up again then she was about to get the door closed in her face. I’d already told her that I didn’t want company. I didn’t know how to make my meaning any clearer. I’d had more than enough of Erica’s apologies and Anjuli’s attempts to ‘take my mind off things’ and Mum’s sympathetic looks over the last twenty-four hours to last me a lifetime. I opened my door, ready to take someone’s head off.
Vee.
Damn it! Another punch to the stomach. Every time I saw her it was like being hit. Hard. Every time I entered the bridge knowing she’d be there, I had to steel myself not to react. But who was I trying to fool? If myself, then I was failing.
You may still affect me, Vee, but it’s purely a reflex action now. I’ll get over you, I swear I will, I thought as I glared at her. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to speak first. These were my quarters. And quite frankly, she was the last person I expected or wanted to see.
‘May I come in?’ she asked at last.
I stepped aside to let her enter. Vee moved into the middle of my room. I leaned against the door, my arms folded over my bare chest.
We stood there in silence, watching each other. I still wasn’t going to speak first. It wasn’t me being childish, I just didn’t trust myself.