The Sirius Job, Part 7
27 May 2017User4296
Mitschigua 12, Mitschigua System Imperial Space
February 3302
The blue haired girl finally stopped screaming and cowered, pressing back against the pod's bed and instinctively wrapping her arms around herself. Sidra had collected a sheet from one of the nearby beds, and approached the girl to wrap the sheet around her.
I looked down at Tucker, who had seemed to regain some of his senses. "How far did they get with the experiment?"
He was focused on the girl now. "First round, maybe. She's probably more confused from being in stasis."
"First round?" I asked.
"Genetic preparation. Sort of paving the way for the changes we need to make later..." He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his closed eyes. "It's painful, but nothing is really changed.”
"Can it be reversed?" I asked, as we both watched Sidra throw the sheet over her while also trying to calm her down.
He shook his head. "I don't know. We've never tried."
I turned back toward him. "What's your success rate?"
"Zero," he said, finally, after a long pause.
Sidra had finally coaxed the girl out of the pod and onto the floor, and guided her toward one of the converted medbays. Suddenly, the girl dropped to the floor, screaming, and pointed at one of the empty living spaces that Takamura's team had converted some of the empty cargo racks into. Sidra's gaze followed the girl's outstretched hand, and appeared sick when she saw where the girl was pointing.
Tucker pulled himself to his feet, and together he and I made our way over to the empty living area.
At least, I had thought it was empty. Upon arriving, we saw that the bed there contained a body, covered with a sheet. Blessedly, Sidra had managed to usher the girl into the far medbay, where her cries and screams had subsided. There was little need to check, but I pulled back the sheet. Sure enough, the body belonged to the other male technician, but with the addition of a nasty red mark across his neck.
"What happened?" I asked.
Tucker stood in the doorway, a strange mix of disgust and sadness playing on his face. He sighed. "The time came for the spacewalk. Henry had been asking what the point of all of this was, and refused to go out into space unless Takamura told him what was really going on..." he took a deep breath then slowly released it. "He turned away for a split second to check an instrument, and Takamura was right behind him - wrapped something around his neck."
"It was a garrote wire. Takamura tried the same thing on me in the hallway," I said, bending to inspect the wound. Sure enough, it had cut into the man's neck, judging by the droplets of blood that had caked along the mark.
"It's my fault," Tucker said. "He was a friend of mine. I told him I had found this new job and that we needed help... I didn't expect Takamura to start killing us."
"Who do you work for, anyway?" I asked, covering Henry's body again.
"We were headhunted. I dealt with and was hired by Takamura directly. We ran one other job before this one, but that one was just transporting one of the subjects - and they never told us what systems we were in." He paused. "The other subject was much further along - the other technicians were calling it round three, but died before we reached our destination. Turned into... a puddle of goop."
I cocked an eyebrow. "Goop?"
He nodded gravely, then changed the subject. "When Takamura mentioned we needed other technicians, I recruited Sidra and Genry, telling them there would be more work afterward."
"Comforting to know you're all okay with experimenting on humans," I said, darkly.
Tucker shook his head. "They didn't know exactly what was going on - you saw that -"
"But you're okay with it," I interrupted, pointing a finger at him.
He went silent for a moment, and appeared to be struggling with what to say next. Finally, he shrugged. "Science sometimes needs a push... Besides, these people are volunteers!"
"But slaves don't..." I shook my head and threw up my good arm. "Forget it," I said, walking around him and toward the medbay.
The girl was far more peaceful when we arrived, laying in the bed on her side, covered in sheets. She was awake, and mumbling softly to herself. Sidra stood nearby, adjusting one of the machines.
"How is she?" I asked.
"Relaxed, now. I... You saw Henry?" She responded, without turning around.
"I did." I paused. "Can I talk to her?"
Sidra shrugged. "I don't see why not. She's still kind of confused, so what she says may not make much sense."
I reached over, taking hold of the small metal stool near the door, and positioned it at the bedside. "Can you hear me?" I asked, sitting down.
The girl gave a slight nod, but continued to mumble to herself.
"Do you remember what your name is?"
"C... Cass," she managed between mumbles.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"Dolphins," she murmured. Her face suddenly screwed up and the mumbling stopped, her eyes focused on the floor. She shook her head. "No... party."
"You remember a party?" I asked.
A weak nod. "Mm... party. We..." Her eyes grew wide. "We were celebrating... end of... I..." she paused, then began shouting, the words jumbling together. "I-WAS-GOING-HOME. A VAN - NEARBY - MEN JUMPED OUT...." Tears welled in her eyes. "I SCREAMED AND SCREAMED, BUT -"
Sidra was there, reaching out to take the girl's hand. The girl clung to Sidra's hand in response, having devolved into a weeping and sputtering mess. I stood, allowing Sidra to take the stool.
"No one will hurt you anymore, you're safe now..." Sidra comforted.
"I... I want to go home!" the girl shouted.
"Where is home?" I asked.
"S... Siegel," the girl managed, before descending into sobs once again.
"Still think they're volunteers?" I asked Tucker, before walking around him and out of the small medbay.
***
"Verity," I said upon entering the bridge. "Run a search for Siegel Station."
"Yes, commander," came the reply. "I detect four stations with that name, with an additional fourteen bases and outposts with that name."
"Any of them have a missing person's report with some variation of the name Cass in it?" I asked.
Verity was silent for several moments. "Yes, commander. There is one missing person report for Siegel Station in the Hoji system, twenty-five light years away. Displaying the file."
One of the screens flickered to life, showing a visage that was the spitting image of the girl in the med bay.
"Name: Cassandra Akon, aged 22. Daughter of Charles Akon, an executive of Hoji Exchange, focused on turning the Hoji System into a premiere resort and relaxation center. Reported missing three weeks ago," Verity intoned as she read the file.
"That's it, then." I said. There was a knock at the bridge door.
I turned around as the door slid open, revealing Tucker and Sidra, who was busy being beset by licks and nuzzles from the puppy.
"He's taken a liking to you," I said. She smiled and picked the dog up.
"What's his name?" she asked.
"I haven't decided on one yet," I responded, shaking my head. "Probably won't name him Takamura, though."
Sidra laughed. Tucker looked down at the deck.
"I figured out where she's from. Hoji system, not too far from here," I said.
"What are we waiting for? Let's take her home," Sidra replied.