The Spare Man, page 22
As they passed Tesla and Shal’s old cabin, it was weirdly hard not to notice the absence of blood. George Saikawa had died here, and her death was scrubbed from the ship as thoroughly as if it had never occurred.
At the door next to their old cabin, Piper stopped Haldan in the corridor. “Why don’t you let me go in first?”
“You don’t think…”
“I don’t know, and I don’t like what I don’t know. If I go in first, then we’ll know.”
Shal grunted and stepped up to the side of Haldan’s cabin door. “After my own heart. You want…?”
She hesitated and shook her head. “Best not. Unless I call for you.”
“Understood.” The flatness of his expression said that he wasn’t happy about it.
Piper handed Shal her coffee. “Don’t spill that. It’s the best goddamned coffee I’ve had, and I’m mad about it.”
“I’m delighted to piss you off.”
“Don’t be sure about that.” She used her key fob to unlock the door and pushed it open. Gimlet stood up, ready to go inside. Tesla tightened her grip on the dog and cane while they waited for Piper. Shal had his head tilted forward and down, eyes half closed as he listened.
Tesla could really only hear the hum of the ship’s environmental controls and the faint sound of laughter from the lounge. At the end of the hall, a laundry cart rested against one wall. The other direction turned before the curvature became clear and had nothing more threatening than a service drone and the art on the wall. Granted, it was the “zombie squirrel” painting, but there were no people or footprints or anything else that gave a sign of what they were waiting for.
Piper reappeared in the doorway. “So you really like towel animals, huh?”
Haldan blushed. “They’re clever.”
They followed him into a suite with a floor plan that was the mirror of theirs, but done in blues and greens for Earth. Towel animals sat perched on chairs and counters. A bat hung from a coat hanger. There were more animals than days of voyage.
Tesla paused next to a literal octopus of towels. “Why do you have so many of them?”
“I … um … complimented Jenny, my steward, and now she leaves two or three every time in little dioramas.” He gestured to a set that had been crafted to look like a dinosaur surfing. “I mean … look at that. It’s art.”
“It’s a towel animal.” Piper parked the service drone next to the room’s wet bar. “You want this here?”
“Yes, thank you.” Tesla sat down so that she could reach Gimlet’s leash to unclip it.
“Don’t be distracted by the medium. Just because it’s untraditional doesn’t make it less of an artistic expression.” Haldan tapped one of the bottles of rum. “This is the one I saw the capsules in.”
“Right.” Tesla pulled the tablecloth off the contraption. “Let’s get … dammit. I was afraid of that.”
The connection to the reader had an obvious break where the body weight of an exuberant teen had been just enough to separate a cross-scanner from its socket. Tesla sighed as if the entire gravity well of Earth were funneled through her shoulders.
“Problems?” Shal turned from where he was examining cabin walls.
“Snapped connection.” Her palms were sweating at the thought of fixing something. “Ironically, I left the tools I printed in our cabin.”
“I have some you can use.” Haldan headed for his bedroom. “Save you a trip.”
“Thanks.” She used to travel with a custom set, instead of needing to print them. Not since the Accident. This would be fine. She had assembled the contraption, and the functioning of the scanner wasn’t a life-or-death matter. Worst case, if it didn’t work, they would turn the bottle over to an analyst on Mars.
Shal tapped a full-length mirror and leaned against the wall to look behind it. “Mm-hm. Hey, Maria. Is this a suite door?”
She glanced across the room, muttering under her breath. “Ye-Yessss.”
“You sound surprised.”
“A lot of cabin classes on this ship—” She held up her hand to stop his next words. “I didn’t clear this room. If I had, you can be damn sure I would have looked at the schematic.”
“Who did?”
“Why do you ask me questions you know I won’t answer?”
He grinned at her. “You might slip.” Fidgeting with the edge of the mirror, he asked, “Any chance you’d open it—I mean, since it leads to our old cabin, it does seem mildly relevant.”
“Mm.”
Haldan’s eyes widened as he stared at the mirror. “Wait. So anyone can just come into my cabin from yours?”
Shal turned and looked across the room to another mirror. “Or from Annie and Jalna’s, but I’m not going to ask for access to their room. C’mon, please, Maria? I just want to look around while my cleverer spouse does science things.”
“‘Science things’? You always this technical?” Piper bent to study the bottle that Haldan had indicated, without touching it. She took pictures with her handheld, which would be higher resolution than a subdermal camera.
“Only when I’m feeling adventurous.” Shal sighed. “C’mon. I can’t go in there unsupervised.”
“I want to be here when she scans the bottle.”
“I still have to do the repair.” Tesla braced herself on the edge of the cart and bent to look at the break. “It’ll take me a while, because I’ll have to recalibrate the hemisoidal cross-scan.”
Shal took a step toward the door. “See. The hemorrhoidal cross-scan is all uncalibrational, and she’ll have to reverse the polarity and shit.”
“You have got to get better at bs-ing science.” Piper sighed and crossed to the mirror. She put her key fob against the frame, and it slid out and to the side, revealing a security door. “Ten minutes. And only because I have questions too.”
“I’ll make you all the coffee you want.”
“I’m still mad about how good that is.” Another touch of her fob opened the door, which opened onto a matching security door, and then beyond that, the back of the other room’s mirror.
“So this isn’t a fast, discreet passage, then. Hm…” Shal headed through the door. As the two of them left the room, Tesla pulled her chair up to the service drone. Leaving the scanner on the cart meant that she could position it anywhere she wanted and get better lighting. She’d need to make sure that the visible break was the only one and also print a calibration test. None of this was a big deal; it had just been a while. Having an audience did not make her happier, but at least she’d handled tools already.
From the bedroom, Haldan made a low, startled sound.
“You okay?” She stood quickly enough that her back seized and she let herself grimace as she gripped the cane to steady herself.
“There’s … there’s a note. On my dressing mirror.”’
Tesla limped into the bedroom, stabbing the ground with her cane with each step. Her heartbeat felt like something knocking against her rib cage. Haldan stood in the middle of the floor, holding a slim anodized tool case. The bright-teal metal caught Tesla’s eye for a moment. Haldan was facing the wall to her right, opposite his closet.
Scrawled in bright-red lipstick, the note was in large block letters.
REMEMBER THE MAIN
It was easy to see why he hadn’t noticed it until he was coming out of the closet. His face was tight around the mouth and he was breathing too fast. Beads of sweat stood out on his brow.
Tesla came to stand beside him, with Gimlet fast on her heels. “Do you know what it means?”
He stared at the mirror, then abruptly shut his eyes. Grimacing as he opened them, he paced in a tiny, tight circle on the floor. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Tell me?”
“It’s misspelled.” He walked out of the bedroom, as if that explained anything. “I thought Ruth and George were trying to kill me, but I was—dear God. I think they were … But why wouldn’t she have told me? Did they not know?”
“I need help connecting the dots here.”
“It’s a cocktail. It’s named after a battleship that sank in the 1800s. Started the Spanish-American War. ‘Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!’” Setting the tools on a side table as he came into the living room, Haldan turned to face her. “You’ve had experiments go wrong. What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened?”
Her throat went dry. “You mean, besides killing six people?”
He winced and looked away. “Sorry. I knew that. The point is … I mentioned that Ruth was my college roommate. That’s also where I met George. We were all in a group of—”
Someone knocked on the door.
Tesla and Haldan both jumped. Gimlet barked, stomping her feet, but stayed by Tesla. A moment later, the housekeeping chime sounded gently through the suite. Haldan grimaced. “It’s Jenny. I’m usually out of the room at the gym now.”
“So, more towel animals?”
“There are worse things in the world.” He headed for the door. “I’ll ask her to come back.”
“I don’t think you should answer the door.” Tesla followed, letting her limp be more visible for the sake of speed.
“She’ll just come in, if—” The door unlatched with a soft click.
The room went dark and Haldan screamed.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
1.5 oz vodka
1 oz Southern Comfort
1 oz lemon juice
.75 oz simple syrup
1 lemon peel
Shake over ice and strain into martini glass. Garnish with lemon peel.
Gimlet barked twice in the hall. Without windows, the suite was as black as space, lit only by a constellation of tiny indicator lights from the service drone. Tesla dragged in a breath. Four things she heard. Gimlet growling. Scuffling. Footsteps running. A door slamming.
She shouted, “Lindgren, call security and medical!”
She turned the DBPS down so that she could feel her way across the room, leading with her right leg. As her eyes adjusted, dimmer blue nightlights made pools on the floor and the yellow glow of emergency lights from the hallway defined the door to the suite. She hit the speed dial for Fantine.
Over the loudspeakers, a calm voice said “Delta, gamma, one five five three. Delta, gamma, one five five three.”
Along the wall next to the door to Haldan’s suite, a great smear of blood was nearly black in the yellow emergency lights and arced down to point at Haldan, who was slumped on the floor. Tesla grabbed a towel animal from the side table, shaking out the hippopotamus as she went.
She dropped to her knees next to Haldan and her DBPS dialed up so that she hit the floor with numb ease. Blood soaked his shirt from two wounds. One across his left forearm and another deep in the meat of his trapezius, where a pair of scissors was still sticking out of him.
As stomach-turning as that was, the wound on his arm was more immediately worrying, because it was spurting blood. Tesla set her cane on the floor and clamped the towel on Haldan’s arm, squeezing for all she was worth.
Piper burst back into the room from the hallway. “What? Shit. Did you see—”
“It was dark. Haldan? Hal? Look at me.” Not again. His eyes were rolled back in his head and he was sliding farther down the wall.
Above her, Shal said, “Split up? You take that direction and I—”
Tesla spared him a glance. “Don’t you dare go chasing after whoever did this. I’m not going to have them blame you again.”
In the hall, other voices were starting to fill the air with questions about the blackout. None of them were aware that a man had been stabbed. Blood was soaking through the towel as if all she were doing was containing it.
Piper stepped back into the hall, frustration clear on her face. “Folks! The power will be back on in a moment. I’m going to ask you to stay in your cabins—”
“It’s dark in there!”
“Yes, I apologize for that and recommend that you leave your cabin door open for the emergency lights, but—”
“What’s happened?” That was Annie’s voice.
“Our engineers will be able to tell us that later. Right now, what we need is for everyone to remain calm and—”
Someone else grumbled, “This is unacceptable! I want to speak to a manager.”
The fury visibly gathered under Piper’s skin and she took a breath as if she were going to shout at them, but the wave passed over her and she spoke calmly. “Certainly. I’ll call one now.” She tapped her badge. “Security. Piper. Requesting backup.”
“I—I didn’t ask for security.”
Piper’s smile was grim. “If you want to talk to my manager, that’s security.” She turned and knelt inside the door, fishing a flashlight out of her pocket. “Let me see?”
The white circle of light burned Tesla’s eyes for a moment and painted the towel bright arterial red. Under her hands, Haldan didn’t flinch, with his head canted at an awkward angle. In the tight skin of his throat, she could see his pulse beating fast.
The scissors flashed silver in the light. Shal’s sewing scissors. She’d had them forged, by hand, as a wedding gift and recognized the pattern of badgers on the handles. Tesla opened her mouth to say something but could hear Shal telling her not to volunteer information. And right now, keeping Haldan alive was the priority.
Piper tapped the badge on her chest. “Wisor. Piper. I’m first on the scene. We need a medic fast.”
“What the hell happened?” His tinny voice sounded out of breath as if he were running.
“Haldan Kuznetsova has been stabbed. He’s alive but losing blood.” She glanced out into the hall. “The power is out here, and there are passengers all over the scene. We need the lights on and to lock this hall down.”
“Copy. I show Bob and Candy heading your way and they should beat me there. I’ll talk to engineering—coming through—We’ll get you lights.”
Tesla looked up at Shal. “Grab Gimlet’s leash from the chair. We can use that to tourniquet his arm until the medics get here.”
“Not ideal…” But he moved into the suite, looking for the leash.
“Dead is less ideal.”
Annie’s voice cut through the murmurs in the hall. “For pity’s sake, people. Have sense and keep the hall clear for these folks.”
Shal brought the leash back to her and wrapped it below the elbow. As he was doing that, a voice echoed down the hall. “Medic, coming through!”
For a moment, Tesla thought that Ruth Fish was somehow still alive and that she was going to be the one on the scene. A moment later, light and shadow sliced through the dark as a person carrying a flashlight, a full megamover, and a med kit ran down the hall.
Piper waved. “Candy! Bob! Over here.”
The medic had been with Ruth Fish when George Saikawa had been stabbed. Candy was older and built like a Russian weightlifter, wearing her gray-and-purple hair in a high side ponytail with a silver lamé bow clipped to the front of it. She skidded to a stop at the door.
Stepping into the room, she pulled bright-blue nitrile gloves out of her pocket. “What happened?”
“I didn’t see it—” It felt like déjà vu or a flashback but was happening here and now. This was the second person who had been stabbed in front of her. “He answered the door. The lights went out and he screamed. I can’t get his arm to stop bleeding.”
“That’s my job.” The orange med kit unpacked at her command and extended an octopus worth of probes. Tesla’s brain quietly noted the movement and sensors and confirmed that the robot was an octopoid. “I need room. You’ve done well.”
Tesla reached for her cane, but her hands were covered in blood. Again. What was she supposed to do? Put her hands on the wall? On the floor?
Shal snatched a towel palm tree off a table and handed it to her. While she wiped the wettest of the blood off, he slid his hand under her bare elbow and braced to steady her as she stood. ::Are you hurt?::
::No. :: She nearly didn’t make it to her feet anyway. Thank heavens the room was dark enough that no one would really be able to see her face. ::Those are your scissors in his shoulder. ::
::How?:: His hand tightened on her elbow.
::I dumped your embroidery bag the night Saikawa was killed. ::
::Who is this person?:: His hand stayed under her elbow as if he were afraid she was going to topple over. “Let’s get you a chair.”
Behind them, Bob said, “What are you doing in Kuznetsova’s room?”
“They’re with me,” Piper cut in before Tesla or Shal had to say anything.
“And you had eyes on him the whole time?”
“I was always in the room with him.”
“What about her? The bastard had another spoofer. Those goddamned things ought to be outlawed.”
Piper sighed in response, and it contained a monograph on comparative work ethics and training as well as a rundown of the various faults that belonged to Bob’s most basic abilities. In the clearing of her throat was a brief telegram that simply said Not. Worth. My. Time. “Candy, is there anything you need?”
“What’s up with the lights?”
Piper turned and looked deeper into the room. “It was a full power outage, because the emergency doors tripped. Bob?”
He snorted. “No idea. Diagnostic is slow.”
And lights would take away the last tiny fraction of privacy Tesla had. She clenched her fists and even after wiping them on the towel, her fingers were sticky with blood. “I need to wash … Oh shit. Piper? I need to show you something in the bedroom.”
“I do not need anything el—” She came up beside Tesla with a flashlight and handed her the cane. “What is it?”
“Writing on the mirror. Haldan said it was related to something he, Ruth, and George did in college, but then…” She waved her hand to encompass the darkness. The carpet caught and dragged the sole of her left foot as she walked to the bedroom.
