Jonathan met Gaby's eyes. This was exactly up her alley.

  Chapter Five

  When they got back to their accommodation, Jonathan went to find out about Katie Walker. Katie had come to the base as an admin officer, and by all accounts, she had been a popular and outgoing person, but very soon she started to behave very strangely, claiming several times that she had been visited by an “ethereal being” in her cabin at night.

  Fellow troops at the base poked fun at her, and she became the butt of lewd jokes, but she formed a group of friends, mostly younger people, who became part of what turned into an alien worship cult. They believed that an alien being lived under the ice and was trying to talk to them and that light was its language. They would go out on trips onto the ice and make heaps out of ice chips which they called “conduits”. They conducted ceremonies where the ice creature, which they called an angel, reportedly sent signals.

  Back then, the area to the west of the base was a weapons testing range and the group would subvert and circumvent orders to work there. Her following grew, because by all accounts, she was a warm and understanding person, who had a reputation for listening to those down on their luck.

  The base commanders, and Jonathan didn't fail to notice that Bernard Vika featured in that list, had a difficult time getting her removed from the base. By this time, she had written articles and books about this supposed ice creature, and many people started applying to come to the base.

  The base command couldn’t stop all of it and didn’t like that at all.

  The situation came to an end when a member of her group was almost killed during an expedition, and the upper command finally had enough reason to remove her from the base.

  They cited that she was a danger to others and that she interfered with the base’s aims and purpose.

  She had been discharged from the Force. Access restrictions to the base had come in at that time.

  “What do you think?” Jonathan asked.

  They sat on the bed, leaning against the wall, and Gaby had read over his shoulder.

  She said, “It’s a fairly common story, sadly. It seems like any form of eccentric behaviour only gets worse when authorities clamp down on it. What I do notice, is that this area that Bernard Vika says is contaminated is exactly the same as where she went," Gaby said.

  "Yes, I noticed that, too."

  If those people had made multiple excursions to that area, then certainly the contamination couldn’t have been terribly bad, or everyone would have heard about it sooner.

  And now they had another group of artists on the base, having permits to go into the same area. It was all very confusing, as if someone in Base Command didn’t have their messaging in order.

  Jonathan had a quick look at Bernard Vika’s material.

  A large part of it was a big collection of files with data from ice cores. It looked to be in order: all coordinates were filled out, there were a couple of folders, all clearly labelled with sample codes, which all related to localities.

  For each locality, there were scans of sections of the ice core with images. From glancing at some files, Jonathan spotted telltale signs of bacteria. But those were common in environments like this.

  Jonathan had been expecting tales of bad infections and disease and recycling and other equipment affected, but the “incidents” amounted to no more than vague reports of “feeling unwell”.

  They would have to look at further data to determine where the threat was coming from. But his eyes were gritty from lack of sleep. He’d look at it tomorrow.

  Sleeping on a low-gravity surface like Miranda was rather strange. In order to make the blankets lie over the bed, they were made very heavy, which meant that they were also stiff.

  This made that it felt like the blanket was meant to imprison you and it was hard to move around freely, like being in a very tight sleeping bag.

  In the morning, Jonathan and Gaby went to the canteen, where many of the other base personnel were already gathered.

  In the sea of base uniforms, they collected their food from the serving counter at the back and sat down. The artists from yesterday were not there.

  Very soon, Bernard Vika joined them at the table.

  He gave a stiff nod. “Did you study the material I sent you?”

  Jonathan had hoped that he’d misinterpreted Vika’s bombastic tone, but his voice sounded just as self-important as it had yesterday.

  "I have looked at it," Jonathan said.

  He hoped Vika could be more informative today.

  They finished their breakfast quickly and went off with Bernard Vika into the lab.

  When they came in, a few assistants already worked at the lab benches processing samples. At a glance, Jonathan thought they were working on standard sampling from the recycling plant.

  That plant was on the other side of the wall, and a couple of small windows offered a view into the room, looking out over vats with bubbling water and fat tubes, where water trickled over filters. It was a modern system of the CLE type, which was common in smaller settlements and long-distance ships, especially those where the plant operated in zero or low gravity.

  Vika again took Jonathan and Gaby into his office.

  They discussed ways to analyse the many sets of data.

  Jonathan flicked through the files. Most of the data was still in raw, unprocessed form. It would be a lot of work sorting all of this out.

  Jonathan tried to find out if at least collection methods and analysis had been uniform. Samples had been collected over a period of time, and some had been stored and others hadn’t.

  “I’d like to collect a set of our own samples,” he said.

  “Everything you need is already here,” Vika said. “We wanted to limit the number of times that people cross the area, for the sake of the health of our base.”

  “I heard that Base Command has allowed a group of artists into the area.”

  Vika met his eyes in an intense expression that Jonathan couldn’t quite read. Surprised that he knew this? It wouldn’t be too hard to find out. His voice sounded even stiffer than usual when he replied. “They’ve been given strict instructions of where they can and cannot go. It is an area that we have used for weapons training purposes in the past, so it could be dangerous.”

  “But the risk of them bringing contamination into the base doesn’t worry Base Command?”

  “Not in the areas where they’re allowed to go. And to answer your question, no, I don’t agree with having them here, but Sector Command made that decision.”

  Obviously not a decision he liked.

  Jonathan debated asking about Katie Walker, but decided against it. Vika seemed tense and he’d better save that ammunition for later. Hopefully, things would soon make sense and he wouldn’t need it.

  Gaby asked, “What is known about the infection?”

  Bernard went into a long dissertation about the organism they had found. That it harmed experimental mice and could be traced all over the base’s docking and airlock areas. It didn’t survive well in the warm temperatures of the base.

  Gaby got an equally large collection of health data.

  Since the contamination was detected inside the dome, several people had become ill with a variety of conditions. Some were the regular deal of upset stomachs, but there were also people with interesting conditions that made the skin, particularly on the abdomen and back look like marble.

  Then Gaby asked him about research with people, and he gave them a stack of material that contained further data. To Gaby’s question what the symptoms were and whether it was sure that they were caused by the organism, he said that the hospital would provide information.

  “Though we were so quick shutting it down that we didn't get many cases."

  Gaby was frowning at Jonathan. He could see that she liked this just as little as he did. He was quietly beginning to wonder what kind of strings Bernard Vika had pulled to get them here and what his aim was, because preventing a public health crisis didn't seem to be one of them.

  But surely Edmundsen and Sector Commander Patel had their reasons for sending them here, so he went along with Vika’s story.

  They got a corner of the main lab to themselves. They looked at all the data and made sure they copied it for later use. After reorganising the data for most of the day, Jonathan made a pretty solid case for collecting a set of standardised samples themselves.

  Vika did not tell him he couldn’t go, but instead directed him back to the control centre, because apparently they needed a permit. And those permits weren’t easily given out, apparently. It was in the hands of the base commander.

  Of course, it was late in the afternoon and the admin staff had clocked off, so they would have to do it tomorrow.

  Jonathan felt rather frustrated when they were walking back to their accommodation.

  "Do you have the feeling he's hiding something from us?" he asked.

  "I was about to ask you the same question," Gaby said. "There doesn't seem to be any medical reason for us to be called out."

  “No, and it seems he really doesn’t want us to collect our own samples.”

  “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “How are we going to handle this?" Jonathan asked. “We can complain to Edmundsen, but I very much doubt she will know more about it. She will have had her orders from higher up the chain."

  "I think we need a bit more time. It could be that we are part of a political game, or it could be that they are using us to prove a point or using us to push through a rule or legislation."

  "Yes. This is the strangest consignment we've had so far. When we get home tonight, we should start investigating from the bottom up."

  When they got to their room, the first thing Jonathan did was look up information about Bernard Vika. He had a long career in the military as researcher. He had studied microbiology and microtechnology on Earth, and had received a scholarship that was paid for by the Space Force.

  He was definitely a military man.

  Gaby frowned when she read the information.

  "It looks like he's been doing research in biological weapons," she said.

  Jonathan looked at the bio. “Or used to do that. I'm not sure what he's doing now."

  "Take it from me, working on recycling is not going to be one of those things. Most likely the recycling plant here has been run by one of the students you saw in the lab today."

  She was probably right about that.

  "Then I really don't understand the reason for his call to us. He seems well capable of dealing with a contamination himself."

  “My guess: he wants confirmation from us that they really have a problem so that they can stop people trying to access this area."

  And Gaby was better at judging people, so she was probably right.

  "Then what are the artists doing there?"

  "That is the question, isn't it?"

  So Jonathan again went to the maps they had been given. The area was most unremarkable, except from a sharp dropoff just outside the boundary of the restricted area.

  “Is that Verona Rupes?” he asked.

  “I think so.”

  The deepest cliff in the solar system. It showed up as a deep black void in the images.

  Jonathan said, “How should we treat this case? Are we going to play by the book or are we going to find out what's really happening?"

  Gaby shrugged. “If they wanted to let us in on their scheme, then they should have let us know what it is. I intend to do my job, which is to look after the safety of the personnel on this base. If they say they had a contamination, I am going to insist that we investigate it properly, and that means taking samples of the area and taking the threat of an outbreak of disease seriously. At some point they’re either going to have to give us the real information, or they're going to have to come clean on whatever scheme they're running here."

  "Yeah, but I don’t like it. We are being used, and I’d like to know what for. Even Edmundsen might have sent us in for a political reason to bust up some opinionated cartel or something, I don’t know what. But if you think that the whistleblowers get credit for airing the military’s dirty laundry to the public, then think again.”

  "But I won't be able to live with myself knowing that I did a cover-up job and danced to someone else’s tune,” Gaby said.

  That was also true. It was just that Jonathan was starting to enjoy this life of travel, and he wasn't ready to be promoted out of the way into a research or a university job, although he was sure there would be plenty universities wanting to hire him when it came to that time. It just felt like he was more useful at keeping the public safe and keeping stupid people from doing stupid things and keeping dishonest schemes from inflicting too much damage.

  "I think we might just try to be blunt with Vika. I think we should try to gain access to the area, even if he obviously doesn’t like it. I’ll just tell him that this is necessary or we leave. At some point he’ll have to tell us what’s going on.”

  They went to bed, but Jonathan couldn't sleep very well. He hated confrontation. He was hoping that for once they’d get a job where people didn’t mess up, a job that was a matter of solving a problem in a scientific way, where they wouldn’t have to deal with all this dumb stuff done by people.

  Chapter Six

  Morning breakfast in the canteen was a quiet affair. Jonathan learned that most of the shift wouldn't start until later, something to do with the synchronisation of times between the base and headquarters. Gaby wondered quietly why this was so important for a base so far from Earth.

  Jonathan said, “There could be many reasons.”

  “Come on, give me a hint.”

  “I favour the thought that they’re doing secret work for divisions on Earth and need to communicate directly as much as possible.”

  “They really don’t like visitors here, do they?”

  “It seems so.”

  “I wonder where our artists are.”

  Again, they hadn’t come to eat. They hadn’t been there last night either.

  Without the few people who would speak to them, the oppressiveness of the base’s atmosphere became clear. People in the queue leading up to the serving area were giving them sideways glances, but never made the effort to smile, let alone speak to them.

  A peculiar atmosphere hung in the room. It reminded Jonathan of the Orbital Launch Station, where, as part of the Quarantine Authority, he was very much on the wrong side of the military. People wouldn’t mingle with those from “the other side”.

  Today’s menu was bread and egg, both fake, but of decent quality and well-made, and real bread and real eggs never made it past the Orbital Launch Station, so this was par for the course.

  Shortly after they had started breakfast, Bernard Vika came into the canteen and joined them at the table.

  "Start of lab work today, isn't it?” he asked, his voice cheerful. “I have the computers fired up for running data analysis.”

  "Actually, we’re first going to pay a visit to the control room to get a permit to collect our own samples.”

  He stiffened. “Don’t you think ours were collected properly?”

  “No, but…” Whoa, why the defensiveness? “I’d like to make comparisons for deterioration and decay markers. I would like to test them against yours."

  “If you wish. But I can assure you that our material has been properly stored."

  "I know, and it is not that I don't trust your staff, but in the past we have often seen that these types of samples deteriorate over time. Taking fresh samples will allow us to calibrate our microbial load against deterioration.”

  He nodded. He clearly didn’t like it.

  "But I repeat, I can’t give the permits. You will need to go to the control room to get your permit and state your intentions. It’s quite a hassle.”

  “Yes. We will do that after breakfast."

  They finished breakfast while talking about trivial things. But Vika was not good at talking about trivia. He didn't appear to have any interest in things other than the military. The man reminded Jonathan uncomfortably of his father, and that was not a good memory.

  They quickly finished breakfast, put the things away, and left the room. "We will see you when we come back," Jonathan said.

  Then he and Gaby went on their way.

  It was only a short distance to the control room, and at this time, only two people sat in the room. A young woman told Jonathan that they would have to fill out some forms, which they did. The questions were about their reason for going outside and strangely also about whether they were to get financial gain from their activity. The form stated in clear language that the base and surrounding area was military property and nothing was to be removed from the surface without permission.

  The admin clerk then explained that they would have to be approved by the base commander, and Jonathan said that he understood this.

  As to how long it would take, she was reluctant to say because apparently it depended on how busy the commander was. For such a small base where everyone would know each other, the bureaucracy was astonishing.

  They were just about done with the formalities, when the other operator in the control centre said, “Listen to this."

  She turned up the sound and a crackling male voice blasted into the room.

  "Please… Please they’ve disappeared. I don't know where they are. I can't find them anywhere. The radio is not responding. Please.”

  "Who are you and where are you?" the operator asked.

  "We are on the outside of the settlement. We’re installing an art project out here. We have lost two of our people. They must be out there in this desert somewhere."

  She tried to get coordinates, but the connection kept dropping out.

  Gaby met Jonathan’s eyes. Here were the artists.

 

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