Supernal

Chapter 33

9:30 am Monday, 9th July 2029

Airlock on the OCF

Toby and Summers agreed to set about the ghoulish task of transporting Mutu and Nimir to the pod straight after breakfast.

To everyone's relief, Rob had turned up in the crew room and eaten something. He'd insisted he felt fine and was ready to get back to work, but his hand had trembled badly when he lifted his coffee cup. Summers refused his offer to help move the bodies and ordered him to take it easy for the rest of the day.

As they floated the two stiffened corpses towards the airlock, Toby had told Summers everything that Jayal related the night before about her childhood on Vitu. Summers was outraged.

"If we could find a way to get rid of the Atikas it would stop them making a return visit to try to get hold of more autistic kids and help the Manitan population at the same time," he reasoned. "But short of sticking a nuclear warhead in one of their couriers, I don't know how we could do it."

"Could you get hold of a nuclear warhead?" Toby asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately ... no. I don't think even the president's husband could swing that one."

#

They manhandled the dead Manitan into the pod and strapped them down, then Toby went to tell Jayal they were ready to go.

Thirty minutes later Toby and Summers were inside the blimp pulling the weightless bodies through the tunnel to the flight deck. Jayal had gone ahead to start working out the time difference between Vitu and the OCF. She had explained during the short trip that the intelligence units worked on Vitu time periods. She would have to figure out the correct departure time.

As she made her calculations, Toby and Summers manoeuvred Mutu and Nimir into the seats alongside Velan. All three looked as if they were sleeping peacefully. They were unmarked except for a small burn mark on Velan's tunic.

"I'm ready now," Jayal announced. "I'm going to trigger the unit and give it the instructions, please don't interrupt or I'll have to start again."

She began speaking to the control panel in a low voice.

"It's a shame we don't have any rat poison on board the OCF," Summers whispered to Toby as they waited for Jayal to complete her task. "We could have sent them a nice little surprise in one of their couriers."

Toby considered that for a moment, and then snapped his fingers as an idea struck him.

"Jayal! Wait! Don't give the order yet!" he yelled across the flight deck before turning back to Summers who was staring at him with a mystified expression.

"You just jogged my memory," he explained. "I need to make sure I've got my facts straight first ... but I may have a solution to the Atikas problem."

#

Back in the crew room, Toby gathered everyone together and asked them to wait while he retrieved the notebook computer from his cabin. He wanted to check a couple of things before revealing his idea. While he was away, Charlie confirmed that the children were all happy and occupied with their own interests in Aliya's cabin. Sara was giving a virtuoso rendition of a Mozart piano concerto on her keyboard and the other two seemed to be enjoying the music.

When Toby returned he quickly clicked through the work folders on his flash drive until he found the one he wanted.

"Yes! Yes!" he fist-pumped, "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Summers asked, mystified.

"First, tell me, is Tampa anywhere near the Kennedy Space Center?"

"Yes, a couple of hours drive if you put your foot down," Summers estimated.

"And can you order a Cargo Dragon flight at short notice if it's urgent?"

"As long as I have a very good reason, sure."

"Jayal, do you know how to use the photon communicator to send a message to the Atikas?"

"Yes. I watched Velan using it, it seemed simple," she confirmed.

"In that case, this is what I propose."

#

When Toby finished explaining his scheme, the others sat back and contemplated him in admiration.

"That is one hell of a plan ... if we can make it work," Rob remarked.

"It's a tight schedule but I think it's possible," Summers enthused. "We may not be able to send them a nuclear warhead, but this could be just as effective."

"Nuclear warhead? What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, confused.

"Just something Toby and I were discussing earlier," Summers said with a dismissive gesture, "but the first thing we need to do is arrange the Cargo Dragon. It takes SpaceX a couple of days to get one ready. I'll request it for Wednesday night so I get back here early Thursday morning. That'll give us a bit more time. Rob, I need you to dig out some part numbers for replacement oxygen pipes, and make sure they're short ones. They need to fit inside the Dragon."

"Right away, boss."

"Then we'll call mission control and let them know what we're doing and I'll get on the sat phone and make some arrangements with Jane and Phil Taylor."

Rob and Summers left to do their tasks and Charlie went back to the children. Jayal and Toby were left alone in the crew room.

"You know I'll need you to help me on Thursday?" Toby said.

"I know. Don't worry, I'll be alright."

"Another week and all this will be over. We'll be starting a new life together."

"Just us and the sheep and cows?"

Toby smiled and put his arm around her slender shoulders.

"And maybe a few chickens as well, so you can have your whipped eggs, fresh every day," he promised.

Jayal laughed and kissed him, and then recoiled with her hand to her mouth.

"What is it?"

"I had an awful thought. If we leave the bodies where they are until Thursday, what state will they be in? I didn't think about it until you mentioned fresh eggs."

"Good God, you're right. Where can we put them?"

"We'll have to go back and move them into the cold storage."

"You have cold storage on your vessel. Do you carry fresh food?"

"No, it was used in case anyone on board died during a voyage."

"I would have thought the Atikas would have just ejected the bodies into space. They can't have been completely heartless at that time."

Jayal gave him a knowing look before speaking.

"The Atikas have never wasted any source of protein."