Astronomicon 1: Inception Point (Finished)

48 - Suspect

After breakfast the next morning, Chris asked Fletcher to accompany him to check on the antenna array on the nose of the Command Module. It was the first chance Chris had to see the piles of debris stacked under the curve of the module. Everything they had cleared out of the Medi-Bay and gym was stacked in seemingly random piles. At the end were what he assumed had to be graves: two mounds of small rocks, each two metres wide and three long.

Fletcher nodded his head solemnly to each as they passed.

The originally flat front of the Command Module was a mess. What should have been a smooth, round surface with three armoured porthole covers and an assembly in the centre from which the main antenna projected, the crash had pummelled and gouged. No part of it was unscathed and most of the white latex paint had been abraded away. Both small microwave dishes, one on either side of the antenna, were missing with just remnants of their alignment mechanism remaining.

Someone had prised open the maintenance hatch on the base of the antenna and apparently been unable to close it again fully. Fletcher stretched up to it and flicked the hatch open with a screwdriver.

"Hugo said the circuits are intact, but there's no power," said Chris.

"Ship's batteries have gone, of course, there's no power, sir," Fletcher replied matter-of-factly.

"Is there any way we can transmit?"

"Aye, but it's gonna take a while, Commander. I'll need to remove a circuit or two, bypass some other things, then hook up two of our batteries. Give me an hour."

"Is the damage to the antenna going to be a problem?"

"Without the dishes, we won't have directional transmission anyway. It should work fine, at least enough to reach orbit."

"Okay, Fletcher. I'll leave you working on that."

As he turned away, he realised that Kate was standing a short distance behind him, waiting patiently.

"Have you got a moment, Chris?" she asked, then mouthed, "In private."

He nodded, then followed her until they were midway back along the side of the Command Module. She checked both ways along the module, then spoke in a low voice.

"It's Lucy, she was talking in her sleep last night. I couldn't properly hear what she was saying."

"What's wrong with that?" he replied.

"It was her tone, and the rhythm. It sounded like she was reciting verses from the Bible."

"Not that strange, but..."

"But because of the Holy Earth stuff going on back on Earth, the Colonisation Program thought it was important that none of us were believers."

"Bible quotes may be something from her childhood. Maybe she was dreaming about something in her past?" he suggested. "Also, she might have hidden her religious belief to avoid getting kicked out of the program. It's not exactly something they can test for accurately. It makes me wonder..."

His voice trailed off, and he stared out at the horizon silently for a moment.

"Wonder what?" she pushed.

"No, it can't be. Look, I shouldn't say anything, but just after we arrived, I received a message from Earth."

"Saying what?"

"It's commander level only, but I guess now we're cut off from Earth, none of that applies," he paused again. "There's an undercover agent from Holy Earth amongst our crew. I'm trying to work out who it is."