Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

“Oh dear,” Iris said as Doctor Wong handed me my headset, which resembled a thick pair of sunglasses.

“What is it, Iris?” Arun asked.

“I’ve been trying to figure out how the saboteur gained access to the navigation core.” Iris looked over at Doctor Wong. “As Arun stated, there were Civil Authority Officers stationed at the checkpoint, which is only accessible by a handful of department heads.”

Everyone paused as Iris got to the point. Her gaze never left Doctor Wong.

“I was trying to gather information from the blown-out access system. I have finally uncovered that the last person to check into the navigation core room was Doctor Wong.”

Everyone in the room, including me, directed our attention to the doctor. I had to admit, I hadn’t see that one coming.

“Holy crap,” Ricky said under his breath. “It’s always the one you don’t expect.”

“What?” Doctor Wong asked, chuckling nervously. “That has to be wrong. I’ve been working in the lab all morning. You can check the cameras. I have alibis. It wasn’t me.”

“Your credentials were the last to be used to access the navigation room minutes before it was destroyed,” Iris insisted. “The cameras were eviscerated in the explosion; otherwise, I would play it back for you.”

“Wait, I can prove it. My secretary Marcy was with me last night. We were working late.” Doctor Wong reached for something in his pocket.

Every suit in the room pointed their weapon at him, including Arun. Doctor Wong looked like he was about to make a deposit in his pants. Maybe he did.

“Please, I’m just reaching for my holo card to call my assistant. She can verify everything,” Doctor Wong said in a shaky voice.

“Go ahead,” Arun said. “But do it slowly.”

Doctor Wong’s hands were trembling as he reached into his white lab coat. Confusion crossed his face as he checked the inside breast pocket, moving to the one on the outside and then to his pants. Nothing.

“I-I swear it was with me when I—”

“It appears the doctor is telling the truth,” Iris said, extending her palm. A holographic screen popped up showing a video of Doctor Wong spread eagle on his desk taking a nap. He was snoring like a hibernating bear.

Marcy appeared in the doorway. She carefully made her way to his side. She reached inside his lab coat and removed his card.

“I should have suspected,” Stacy said through gritted teeth. “She was way too nervous when we first came to question you.”

“Marcy, a Disciple?” Doctor Wong asked, total disbelief in his voice. “No, she’s not that kind of person. This has to be wrong.”

“I assure you, the recording is accurate,” Iris said. “Marcy Knot is not currently present on the Orion. She must be the one using the cloaking device.”

“Let’s move,” Arun said, grabbing a headset. “Stacy, warn the officers on duty in the reactor level.”

Ricky and I were handed chest-plates of our own to wear. They were heavier than they looked. An opening for our heads allowed the vest to hang on our shoulders. Cinches on the sides made sure they were snug. They wouldn’t win any awards for style, but so long as they could stop a blaster round to my chest, that was all I was worried about.

“Iris will have control over the headsets,” Doctor Wong recovered enough to shout to our backs. “Even cloaked, you’ll be able to see Marcy’s movement once your headsets are activated.”

That was all we had time to hear before we were crammed into an elevator, making our way down to the level. The idea that I should be given a blaster or something this time around poked at my thoughts. But there was simply no time.

Stacy was trying to get the attention of the suits guarding the reactor. She held her red holo card in her hand, speaking into the receiver.

“Come in, unit eleven, do you copy? Unit eleven, please respond, this is Special Agent Stacy Wilson, do you copy?” Stacy said repeatedly. She pressed two fingers to her right ear, waiting for a response. The grim look on her face told me there was no answer.

The elevator doors opened, and we poured out into the hall.

The pair of suits Stacy had tried to contact lay motionless on the floor. Each had burn marks on their skulls, signaling the use of a blaster up close and personal. They never had a chance. Marcy had been invisible and on them before they realized what was happening.

One of the suits stopped and knelt to check pulses just to be sure—a formality more than any hope of their being alive.

The engine room was a lower level with a wide open space. The ceiling reached four stories tall with bright lights that shone down, illuminating the room. Still, there were far too many shadows for my taste. Especially now, as we hunted the invisible Marcy.

There were a series of massive turbines scattered across the room that looked like huge arches. They hummed as they turned, propelling the Orion through slipspace.

The elevator next to us opened with Iris, Arun, and the rest of the suits exiting.

“I have contact,” Iris said. “Please put on your headsets.”

“Units one and two, guard the elevator doors,” Stacy instructed. “Everyone else, fan out.”

I placed the oversized sunglasses on the bridge of my nose, looking through the darkened lenses. Everything appeared in front of me just like before, except it was a shade darker, and there was also a movement like ripples coming from everything that hummed. It almost reminded me of the images I had seen of sonar like the way dolphins could see things through the water.

The turbines and a pipe overhead let off little waves as they vibrated, like a rippling pool of water interrupted by someone throwing a small stone inside.

“You two know how to use these?” Stacy came up to Ricky and me, handing us each a blaster she had taken from two of the suits. The suits she relieved the