J Mauldin - Final Solution

“There we go,” Dour Face said, and they took me by the arms, cuffing me. “Off to the brig.”

They unceremoniously tossed my limp body into one of the cells. “Mind the gap,” Lank Hair said, slamming the bars shut. He then bent over and inspected my tools, mainly the torch. He clicked his tongue. “The culprit’s right here. He used this torch to sever the lines. I hope we can recover.”

Dour Face frowned as he left with the rest. He seemed somehow disappointed. None of it made any sense. Nothing made any sense. What the hell was going on?

“Shit,” I spat. “They think I did it. They think I sabotaged the ship. Just because I was in the engine room with a tool that could have done this didn’t mean I was responsible. Why would I? The target set this up. It was him.” I thought this over for several minutes, trying to choose my next move. I wasn’t giving up, not yet. I had to save everyone.

I reached into my sock and fished out the earpiece. I wasn’t sure why I’d put it in that damp place, but I was glad I had. “Lib, you there?”

It took several moments for her to reply. “Now is not a good time, David. I can’t fraternize with enlisted, let alone spies.”

“Spies?” I blinked. “No. It’s me. You know me. It’s Davie, that dusty kid from Arsia Mons, and I’m in trouble. Really bad trouble. I need your help.”

“I can’t, David. Damn it, I can’t.”

A wave of cold terror crashed over me. “Please, Liberty.” This wasn’t going how I’d expected. I was being hung out to dry.

“David, they’re saying you put cameras all over the ship to keep track of us.”

“I did, but it was—”

She cut me off, her voice taking on an edge. “And that you hacked in our main computer, leaving Griffin alone during a firing solution. You put all of us at risk doing that! Not to mention, you were planning to upload a virus. They found it on your tablet.”

“Upload a virus? No. I had to hack in so I could—”

“And that you tried to frame her for giving César the drugs, but it was you all along. Your prints are on the case in Med 1.”

“I would never do that. I was trying to—”

“And that you sabotaged the engines! You wanted to give the enemy a better chance to attack our home? There are children on Mars!”

“That isn’t me, damn it! Let me get a word in!” My throat went hoarse. I lowered my voice, “Liberty, I’m not the guy. There’s a spy on board, that’s true, but it’s not me.”

She was quiet for a moment. “You know what else? Father told me about your dad. He had contact with the enemy. He told me that the two of you were going to escape and live among the Axis.”

My stomach filled with an oily dread. “You know she’s right,” the whisper in the dark told me. “I tried to help you out. Tried to keep you safe.”

“That was him, not me,” I said, doing my best to govern my tone. “Dad made his own choices. He thought by escaping Brethren territory I could flee Brice’s torment. But after Brice was dead, he gave up the notion. Please believe me. He wasn’t a traitor, just a scared parent. You have no idea what it’s like on the bottom. You have no idea what it’s like to deal with people like Brice when the authorities won’t step in.”

“How can I believe you, David? You lied to me. If there really was another spy on board, you know you could have trusted me. We could have looked together.”

“But your father told me not to say a thing. I had to keep my mouth shut, or end up in here. Lot of good that did.”

“He said you would tell me that, and that it would be a lie. I’m done, David. Father might have been hard on me, but he’s never lied, never withheld the truth. Goodbye.”

“Liberty!” I shouted till my voice went hoarse. “Liberty, please, wait.” But the channel was dead.

I removed the earpiece and tossed it on the floor. Liberty had turned her back on me, so what was I to do? There was no one left to help me. I kicked the bars of the cell while shaking them with my hands. They didn’t budge. I began to slide the gasket from my ring finger to throw it away. Who needed to remember that fateful day? It had brought me nothing but trouble.

Heavy footsteps pounded up the hall. I stood up, leaving the gasket in place, craning to see who was approaching. I slid my foot around the earpiece, sweeping it beneath the tiny bench I had for a bed.

“Leave us,” the Captain said, waving off security. He entered the section and sealed us in alone. I could fix this, he just had to listen.

“Captain, please! Let me out,” I said. “I didn’t do anything. You know it’s true. You chose me to find the target. And I’m close, damn close. I think I know who it is, or could be, and he’s part of your security staff.”

“So,” the Captain paced, eyes fixed on nothing but a thought. The fists clasped behind his back tightened, his arms going rigid. “Then you didn’t defile my daughter? Didn’t place your manhood inside of her to feed your devious pleasures?”

I swallowed. Oh shit, had he watched the act? A disturbing thought. This man, this father, might just kill me and call it an accident. Then again, bad as it was for him, did it matter right now?

“I’ve been watching you for months,” he said, eyes drilling into me. “I hoped you would just back off. I’ve made attempts to dissuade her without being specific, but it seems she was persistent. Girl always has been. You entered my daughter and made filthy her temple. I’ll be lucky to have anyone take her as a wife now. Try and deny it, Goddard! Give me the pleasure of bearing proof.”

My attention trailed onto the floor. “I can’t and I won’t. I’ve loved your daughter ever since we were kids back on Mars. Look, I know you’re angry at me for crossing the line, and I can understand, but you can’t let us perish for that. You know I’m not the target. Let me out so we can fix this together. So we can tell Liberty and the rest of the crew it wasn’t me. We have to catch him. We have to catch the one at fault.”

The Captain grinned, looking both smug and superior, just like his daughter but three times her size. “So naive. Can’t you see? I’ve always known you weren’t the target.”

Worms worked their way into my stomach, churning the oil into a frothy black cream of filth. “What? I don’t understand.”

The Captain laughed so hard it made his belly shake like Jell-O. “There never was a target, Goddard. Are you so blasted foolish? I merely needed someone to carry the blame.”

My hands began trembling. “There is a spy! I know there is! The tracking code I found, I have a copy on my tablet. I’ll show you! Let me get it.”

“You mean the code you were about to install? The code you were installing when Griffin was alone, that would let our enemy know our location more specifically and increase their hit probability?”

I barred my teeth and growled, nose touching the bars, arms stretched out towards him. “You bastard!”

He took a step back. “Perhaps, but I’ve killed two birds with one stone.”

“What about the Axis? What about the engines? Without me you can’t slow us fast enough to engage the enemy. No one can fix those engines but me. The Razor will reduce Arsia Mons and Valles Rojo to dust! Who are you? Who are you if you don’t save them? You’re the traitor, Captain! Those are our people!”

He shook his head gently, a man in total control of every aspect of life. “Far from it, Goddard. I am a patriot to the bone. And you, the real traitor, the devious spy, are a dead man.” Captain Fryatt turned and left me in the cramped cell, shutting off the lights as he went. “Good night, Goddard, sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”