“Wait for it,” Erwin said excitedly.
David rolled his eyes but kept them locked on the monitor. Then it appeared.
Erwin looked up at him with a proud grin. “It’s a large buildup of unknown particles. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
David had to blink twice. Erwin hadn’t realized what he’d found. While he may have seen nothing like it, David had. “I hate to burst your bubble, Mister Erwin, but the science bureau back home won’t let you name it. This isn’t new.”
“Sir?” The ensign’s shoulders slumped, and his smile faded.
David took a seat next to him and rang up the data bank archives. He typed in four letters.
“Iota?” Erwin raised his eyebrows.
David nodded as the archive brought up a slather of information. “Iota particles. Studied nearly four years ago. Only one discovery.”
“Until today.” Erwin had a quick read of the text. “There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of data here, sir. Only that it was encountered in Nebula TPA-338.”
“The original readings were given to the eggheads back on Earth. By the looks of this file, they didn’t get very far with it.” David put a hand on Erwin’s shoulder. “Can you confirm the readings from the probe?”
Erwin fumbled with his console and nodded. “It’s confirmed. It’s definitely a large buildup of Iota particles.” He glanced at David. “If I might ask, sir, how did you know about these particles?”
“Because, Ensign, I was there when they were first discovered.” It felt like only yesterday. “I want pinpoint coordinates of where those particles are.” The coordinates flashed up on the monitor and David sighed. “Would I be right in saying it’s outside pod range?”
Erwin nodded. “There wouldn’t be enough fuel reserves for a return trip.”
David strolled over to the viewport and contemplated Delta-Hera IX and the darkness beyond. Right at that moment, there seemed to be so much between him and perhaps solving a dogged mystery from the past.
“Can I ask what’s so important about this?” Erwin asked.
“The missing piece of a puzzle.”
The ensign seemed confused.
“It’s a long story. When’s Captain Lang due to begin duty today?”
“At oh-nine hundred.”
The clock on the wall read only oh-seven-thirty. “Wake him.”
Erwin’s face went pale. “You want me to wake the captain, sir?”
“That’s what I said.”
The young ensign hurried over to the communications station, clearly not looking forward to one of the more difficult tasks he’d ever been assigned.
David returned to the science station. The readings of the Iota particles stared him in the face. Memories of the day at Nebula TPA-338 flooded back to him. So many lives lost. So many friends. And now, perhaps, an answer to the death of one person in particular.
Three
Odyssey Station
The barman put the beer down and Jason Cassidy watched its frothy head run down the side of the glass. He’d lost count of how many he’d had for the evening. Thirteen? Fourteen? Twenty? He didn’t even know what time it was.
“Put it on my tab,” he said to Vic, the slovenly publican of The Bended Elbow—one of the more seedy establishments in one of the most shabby areas of Odyssey Station.
Vic leaned over the bar. Jason could swear the man brushed his teeth with garlic and only bathed on alternate days. “Your tab is getting close to its limit, Cassidy.”
Must be at least twenty beers then. Jason was surprised his math had been so accurate, considering how crappy he was feeling. “You know I’ll pay you back, right?”
“Uh-huh. It took forever for you to pay the last one. This’ll be your last drink, and then I’m cutting you off.”
Vic ambled away to help another patron while Jason took a large gulp of the amber fluid. Turning on his bar stool, he surveyed the near toilet-like conditions of his local tavern. Most people only came to the establishment once before figuring out they never wanted to return. Jason didn’t have that luxury. The Bended Elbow was located only a short distance down the promenade from his apartment. It was the most convenient watering hole to stumble home from.
He brought the glass to his mouth and polished off the last of the bland lager. He looked over to Vic wondering if he should try his luck again. With his head spinning, he decided against it. Even he knew when to quit. At least sometimes.
Before he could get up, a leggy blonde walked in and sat beside him. Either she was very attractive, or his beer goggles were working in overdrive. Jason assumed the latter because no one with that much class would enter this hole. Regardless, he thought, there was no harm in trying.
“Hello there,” he said, laying on the charm. Or at least what he thought was charm. “What are you doing here this evening?”
The woman looked him up and down. Even in his most drunken state, Jason thought he still had the goods.
She smiled at him. “Doing what everyone else is, I guess. Just trying to get a drink.”
“Can I ask why?” Jason asked, bemused. “You’ve seen this place, haven’t you?”
She laughed. “Well, there’s only so many places open at this time of the morning where I can find some fun.”
Yep, I’ve still got it. He put a hand on the back of her bar stool.
Then a shadow appeared over them.
“Is this piece of scum bothering you?”
Great. A boyfriend.
“I’ll have you know, I’m not a piece of—” He turned and smiled weakly. The shadow belonged to a hulking figure of a man. His shoulders were wider than Jason was tall. “Well, I guess I’m a little scummy.”
Crunch.
With one punch to the side of the head, Jason fell to the floor. The whole right side of his face went numb with pain.
“Hey, you can’t do that in here! Get the hell out before I call the cops!”
Ah, the siren song of Vic’s tobacco-stained voice.
The Mister Universe figure of his attacker took the blonde by
