Andrew Morgan - Vessel

‘You okay?’ Banin said in a strained voice that inferred his own hellish pain.

Aleks nodded. ‘I’ll be fine, just give me a minute.’

‘Just a minute?’ Banin said, laughing hoarsely. ‘I think I need ten.’

As Aleks cooled off, he surveyed the barn. It faced away from them, and around it were a couple of smaller sheds. The quad bike was parked to one side of the barn, engine off.

‘I reckon he’s in there,’ Aleks said, pointing at the barn. ‘The door’s probably on the other side.’

‘Yeah, I think so.’ Banin pulled out his phone, dialled and held it to his ear. ‘Hi, can you send a patrol car up to the old factory near Pavlovskoye. Ok, thanks.’

He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. ‘Just in case.’

‘So, what do we do now?’

By way of response Banin vaulted the low fence, landing heavily on the other side.

‘We go in,’ he said, dusting off his hands. He reached into his jacket and drew his pistol. ‘While we’ve still got the element of surprise on our side.’

‘Soyuz TMA Eleven M, TsUP. Two thousand, two zero zero zero metres. Please confirm.’

‘Two zero zero zero metres confirmed,’ Taylor replied.

‘Soyuz, please disengage automatic docking sequence and engage manual override for control and visual.’

‘Copy, TsUP.’ Taylor did as he was asked, prodding the control with his rod to set Soyuz up for a manual dock, craning his neck to see through the optical view screen from the outboard periscope. ‘I’ve been looking forward to this,’ he said, grinning to himself beneath his helmet. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to actually pilot something in space now everything’s gone automated.’

‘As long as you don’t pile us into the side of the station like you did on the simulator,’ Wilson said, chuckling.

‘Hey, that was one time. I hadn’t been on that simulator since I was on the TMA Eight M back up crew, so I’ll thank you for bringing it up.’

‘Okay, okay, jeez… I was only joking, no need to get so uptight.’

Taylor tutted, turning his attention to the view of the station growing larger on the screen. ‘It’s a shame it’s the last we’re ever going to see of this place,’ he said.

‘You got that right.’

They reflected in silence for a moment, then Taylor said, ‘TsUP, Soyuz. One zero zero zero metres, entering stage two docking procedure, manual.’

‘Soyuz, copy, one zero zero zero.’

‘I mean, why are we even doing this? It doesn’t make sense,’ Wilson said.

‘Shut up — you know all this stuff’s recorded.’

‘I’m just saying.’

‘Well, don’t.’

Wilson looked like he’d dropped the thought, and then he didn’t. ‘I just don’t see what the point is. Seems like a waste to me. Surely there’s another way?’

‘Yeah, well, what do we know. I’m just glad we got a final chance to visit the station. You should be grateful for that.’

‘I suppose,’ Wilson said, sighing.

‘Exactly. TsUP, Soyuz. Five zero zero metres and closing. Entering stage three docking procedure.’

‘Copy, Soyuz.’

It wasn’t the first time Sean had felt close to death’s door, but this was by far the closest. All he could do was ask himself whether it was worth it, and a small voice from deep down inside told him that yes, it was. He’d stood by his morals, and although he’d lost against Bales, it was a victory for himself. He shut his eyes to slow the spinning of the room, and with the darkness came a peace, pure and cleansing.

‘It’ll be over soon,’ Bales said from a million miles away. He seemed to say it over and over again, and there were hands clapping him, applauding his words, cheering him on. But was it hands making that clapping sound? Or was it something else? The clapping grew louder, but it couldn’t have been for Bales, because he heard him turn on his heel to face the sound. That’s when Sean realised that it wasn’t clapping at all. It was the sound of running. He opened his eyes.

‘Sean!’

Two men sprang from the white outdoor light, one brandishing a pistol in a two-handed grip. Bales had levelled his own gun right back at them.

‘Sean, are you okay?’ one of the men said. Sean recognised the voice, and as the men edged further into the barn, he realised it was Aleks.

‘I’m okay,’ Sean croaked. ‘You shouldn’t have come for me.’

‘Has he hurt you?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Who are you?’ Bales said, moving his gun from Aleks to the other man and back again. ‘This is US Department of Defence business.’

‘Detective Banin, Moscow City Police,’ the man with the gun replied, his aim staying fixed on Bales.

‘Aleks,’ Bales said, ‘what have you done? What did you tell him?’

‘You went too far, Bales.’ Aleks said, folding his arms.

‘I need you to come with me,’ Banin said. ‘We need to have a talk.’

‘Talk? Talk about what? We’ve got nothing to talk about.’

‘Do as he says, Bales,’ Sean said, lifting himself to his feet. At first he was a little unsteady, but his injuries weren’t as bad he thought. ‘Aleks, Bales means to kill us both. Probably you as well, detective, now you’re here.’

‘Can I ask what the problem is?’ Bales said, his composure absolute.

‘You’re a suspect in the murder of Lev Ryumin. Like I said, you need to come with me.’

‘He kidnapped me as well,’ Sean said.

Keeping his eyes on Bales, Banin said, ‘I’m afraid that’s nothing to do with me. What US Government does to US citizens is outside of my jurisdiction. I’m no fed.’

Bales was chuckling.

‘Something funny?’ Banin asked him.

Bales lowered his pistol. ‘As it so happens, yes there is. You see, I had nothing do with the death of Lev Ryumin. I can understand how it might look that way, and his death benefitted me greatly, but I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth.’

‘Liar! You set me up!’ Aleks yelled, and Banin had to stick an arm out to hold him back.

‘Yes, Aleks, I did set you up,’ Bales said. ‘But I didn’t kill Lev. That’s god’s honest truth.’ He seemed to be enjoying Aleks’ anguish.

‘Can you prove it?’ Banin said, his weapon still trained on Bales’ head.

‘As a matter of fact, I can. Give the US Embassy a call and check my roster with them. You’ll see I’d left the country after my little chat with Ryumin. I tried to reason with him, make him see sense, but he wasn’t interested; what he did after that is his own damn fault.’

Banin, his toneless expression showing some surprise, looked at Aleks. ‘Do you know about this?’

‘I —’ Aleks began, but Bales interrupted him.

‘Of course he doesn’t know. He’s too busy putting his nose where it doesn’t belong to take the time to come up with the facts.’

Banin considered Bales for a moment, narrow unblinking eyes weighing up the validity of the man’s statement. ‘Okay,’ he said, ‘I’ll call them. But if you’re lying to me—’

‘I assure you, I’m not.’

‘We’ll see.’

Banin dialled, then held the phone to his ear, other hand still aiming his pistol. Time stood still for a long while before he said anything. Sean looked at Bales, who didn’t seem at all nervous. Sean expected him to have the jitter a man has when he knows his game is up, but Bales was steady as a rock. Steadier. It was unnerving.

‘Hello, is that the US embassy? Hi. Detective Banin here, from the Moscow City Police Department. I need some information on a Mr John Bales.’

The conversation rolled on, and the more Banin spoke, the bigger the lead weight in Sean’s stomach became.