The Journey Home, Part 2 (Ch 21)
Chapter 21
As Colonel Gordon approached the infirmary, Dr. Frizell came out looking at the floor of the hallways, scowling and shaking his head.
The XO stopped him. “Is there a problem, Doctor?”
“Oh. No sir, not really. I’m just annoyed. Dr. Messenger was late relieving me. Only a few minutes, but still.” He shook his head again.
The XO nodded. “I understand. That is annoying after you pull an eight-hour shift. No worries. I’ll have a talk with him.”
“No sir, please don’t worry about it. It really isn’t that big a deal.” He paused and shrugged. “Anyway, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to get some breakfast, then sack out for a little while.”
“Yes, do that.”
The man turned and left, and the XO watched him go for a moment. Messenger was late this morning? Hmm.
When he walked into the infirmary, Dr. Messenger was standing at the DNA machine, his back to the door.
The XO stopped just inside the doorway and watched for a moment. If he approached, it might affect what the doctor did, so he instead he walked into the CMO’s office, turned one of the guest chairs to face the glass wall, and had a seat.
A long moment later, the doctor moved his right hand and arm—probably accepting and sending the results of Wilson’s and Schaeffer’s retests—then pivoted on the ball of his foot and headed for his office.
But after three steps, he looked up and stopped cold, staring at the colonel.
Then he put on a smile and continued through the door, his right hand extended. “Colonel, what a pleasant surprise!”
The colonel stood and shook his hand. “I was just wondering about those retests I asked you to run.”
“Yes sir. I got busy yesterday and forgot to run them. The vagaries of age, I suppose.” He laughed quietly. “But I did run them, just this minute. In fact they should be on your tablet now.”
“Ah, okay. Completely understandable. No worries. So there were no problems? Did the results show what we expect them to show?”
“As a matter of fact, they did. Both came back as mismatches.” The doctor walked around his desk and pulled out his chair. As he lowered himself into it, he looked up and smiled. “A glitch in the machine during the original test, I’m sure. Though I’ve never see that before.”
The colonel remained standing. “There’s a first time for everything, I suppose.”
“Yes, that’s how I marked it up. A first time for everything.” He paused. “We can only hope the remaining tests we run won’t be subject to the same sort of glitch.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
The doctor nodded. “Just so.” But he couldn’t help himself. “Did you have a quiet evening, Colonel?”
The colonel nodded. When he spoke, he was intentionally vague. “Passable. You know. Given our situation.”
“Yes.” He smiled again. “Well, even with a few bad apples among what—200,000 plus? Surely there aren’t murderers roaming the halls.”
The colonel laughed. “Surely not.” He paused. “If you don’t mind me saying so, you look a little piqued, Doctor. Did you have a quiet evening?”
“Passable as you said, Colonel. Passable.”
“Well, take care of yourself. As you said, none of us are getting any younger.”
“Noted. I’ll do that, sir.”
“I’d better get back and have a look at those retests. Then maybe we can put at least part of this mess behind us.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
“Take care, Doctor.” And he turned and left.
The doctor watched as the XO departed the infirmary.
So Stanley had failed. But he wasn’t in the brig either. So despite his assurances, he must had decided not to do the job for whatever reason. Either way, it would be better to come down on the safe side.
He glanced around the infirmary, saw that all the nurses were busy with various tasks, then turned his back. He pulled a small device from his trouser pocket, then quietly made another call. When his contact answered, he identified neither himself nor the recipient. Instead he pressed a button on the device.
It emitted a quiet, high-pitched tone.
Then he said, “Hello?”
“Yeah. I’m here.”
The doctor smiled. Then he said only two short sentences: “Plan B is in effect. Target keyword Gordon. Subtext, no worries.”
*
When Lt. Parker got off shift, he went to the bridge to find Major Hones.
The major was involved in what appeared to be a casual conversation with the adjutant, Captain Gregg. They both glanced at Parker as he came in, then went back to their conversation.
The lieutenant moved along the curved wall to the left.
Major Hones intermittently watched his progress over the adjutant’s left shoulder, then his right.
Parker, around 26 years old and right at 6 feet tall and maybe 190 pounds, had close-cropped red hair and a strong jawline so that he always looked determined. His chin was dimpled. He stopped just short of the door to CO’s ready room and office. He seemed nervous. He leaned back against the wall, crossed his arms loosely over his chest, and set his strong jaw. He seemed to stare at the adjutant’s back as Major Hones and the adjutant continued their conversation.
Hones glanced again past the adjutant’s left ear at Parker, then continued her conversation. When she looked again and Parker still hadn’t moved, she quietly said, “Excuse me for a second, Jason.” She stepped to one side and looked at Parker. “Were you looking for me, Lieutenant?”
Parker straightened to his full. “Yes ma’am. It can wait though if—”
Major Hones shifted her attention to the adjutant again. “Sorry, Jason. Can we pick this up again later?”
He smiled. “Surely. Excuse me.” Then he moved past her, stepped through the opening in the railing and started across the floor of the bridge.
Major Hones approached Lt. Parker, her brow furrowed slightly. Quietly, she said, “What is it?”
“Probably nothing, ma’am, but I figured that wasn’t my call to make. Dr. Messenger called the brig this morning shortly before I got off shift.”
“What did he want?”
“It was weird. He asked how many prisoners we have locked up. And when I told him three, he asked if any of them were new. I said no and then asked whether there should be. You know, any new prisoners.”
The major nodded. “And what did he say?”
The lieutenant grinned. “He told me to stop being ‘impertinent’.”
The major smiled. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”
“I just wondered why he was asking. I mean, it isn’t like we have a normal population on board. You know, people getting in trouble all the time with bar fights or whatever.”
“And did you ask him?”
“I didn’t have to. He said it had to do with the DNA retesting. But his voice—even he didn’t sound like he believed that excuse as it came out of his mouth.”
The major looked at the floor for a moment. Especially in light of the current situation, she agreed with Parker. That was a strange comment, and in a strange conversation. And even more so in light of what Lt. Devlin had told her earlier about the doctor’s odd behavior when he’d gone to the brig to get swabs from the prisoners.
She looked up. “Thanks for bringing this to me, Lieutenant. It might be more important than either of us know. Good job.”
Lt. Parker grinned. “Yes ma’am.”
“Go get some rest or breakfast or whatever. And don’t say anything to anyone else about this, okay?”
“Yes ma’am, of course.” And he turned and left the bridge.
Major Hones watched as he left, then looked out across the floor. “Captain Gregg, is the XO in?”
“Not at the moment, ma’am. I believe he went to see Dr. Messenger. I suspect he will return shortly.” He paused. “Well, unless he goes off to find the CO on her inspection tour. But—”
At that moment, the door to the bridge shushed open and Colonel Gordon walked in. He turned left to follow the floor around to his office and looked up to see Major Hones. He smiled. “Waiting for me?”
“Yes sir, if you have a minute.”
He moved past her and the door to his office opened. “Come on in.”
She followed him into the office.
By the time the door closed, he’d moved around his desk. As he sat, he said, “What’s up, Major? Something new?” Then he gestured toward a chair. “Please, sit.” He reached for his tablet.
As the major settled into a chair, the XO said, “Just one moment,” and looked at his tablet.
There was one new message. As he expected, it was the retest results for Wilson and Schaeffer. This time both of their names were highlighted, and on the right was the word MISMATCH, again in all-uppercase letters.
He looked up, a smile on his face.
“Good news, sir?”
“Probably. What’ve you got for me?”
She conveyed what Lt. Parker had told her. Then she said, “I thought that was especially important given Lt. Devlin’s earlier experience in the brig with the doctor.”
“You’re right. It is. And especially in light of this.” He hefted the tablet, then turned it around so she could see the screen.
She read the information, then looked up, a frown on her face. “Sir? I thought those two came back clean?”
“They did. But when those first tests came in, I noticed a timestamp discrepancy. He accepted the first two results—Wilson’s and Schaeffer’s—within seconds of each other, but he didn’t accept Posey’s for over a minute afterward.”
“A minute is a long time.”
The XO nodded. “So I had him run the tests again. I didn’t mention the timestamp discrepancy. I told him the CO and I expected all three tests to come back as mismatches and that’s what we’d actually prefer.” He stopped and grinned. “He agreed to run the tests again. But he also told me specifically he wouldn’t be able to manually manipulate the results, which of course I know to be a lie.” Again he held up the tablet. “And here’s the proof.”
“What in the world is he up to? Of everyone on board, you would think you could trust the chief medical officer.”
“Not to mention he agreed to run the tests yesterday, but he didn’t run them until this morning. In fact he was running them when I walked in. And when he turned around and saw me, you would have thought he’d seen a ghost.”
“A ghost?”
Again the XO grinned. “Like he was surprised I was still alive. So after I talked with him yesterday—”
“You thought maybe he suspected you were getting close to implicating him. And maybe he enlisted someone to make sure you wouldn’t.”
The XO touched the tip of his nose, then shrugged. “Dead men tell no tales.”
“Sir, I think you should let me post a guard in your quarters until all of this is over.”
“I appreciate that, but I assure you, there’s no need. I can handle whatever the good doctor throws my way.”
“Yes sir, but still—”
“No, Rebecca. No worries. He won’t get to me. I can promise you that.”
She only looked at him for a moment. “All right. But be careful, okay?”
“Of course. And thanks for your concern.” He paused. “Is there anything else?”
“No sir.”
She stood and was about to turn away when he said, “You know, right now I’m the only one who has the whole story. I think I’ll send what I have to your tablet. Are you okay with that?”
“Yes sir, no problem.”
He nodded. “Expect it within the hour. I’ll write a little narrative to lead you through the evidence with my thought process.”
“I’ll watch for it, Colonel.”
“Take care of yourself, Major.”
She nodded, said, “Yes sir,” then turned and left.