“How long have you been here? And why are you alone?” Raptor asked.
“Ever since we received Fallon’s transmission. We’d just about given up hope. We’ve enacted an emergency protocol that requires the use of point-to-point closed networks. So I’m right here at the terminus as the relay between you and the rest of command.”
“How many relay stations like this are there between us and them?” Raptor sat on a rock ledge that seemed designed for the purpose. Even through a pressure suit, Fallon could read his impatience.
“Four. The other members of PAC command aren’t as far away as they could be, but they aren’t right around the corner, either. It’s not easy to hide that many people, as you can imagine.”
“So they’re together?” Fallon asked. “Seems like splitting them up would have made it easier to hide them.”
“And easier for someone to sneak a communication through,” Krazinski said. “We’re not taking any risks. Everyone is securely locked down, with all disaster protocols observed.”
“Everyone but you, and those four other point-to-point stations,” Fallon noted.
“Yes,” Krazinski agreed. “Not my first choice of duty station, but someone completely trustworthy had to do it. The clash on Jamestown forced us to neutralize everyone Colb had recruited. Most of them were good people who were duped into committing treason. But regardless of their delusions, I’m having a hard time with trust after seeing officers I’d had complete faith in killing their colleagues. That’s why I came myself, and assigned only my closest comrades to the other spots.”
“What exactly happened on Jamestown?” Raptor asked.
Krazinski’s heavy sigh said much about regret. “Colb’s people were planning an uprising to take over the station. We surprised them by attacking first. Our initial intent was to use nonlethal force, but that was a mistake. We suffered more casualties than we would have if I’d permitted lethal action at the outset. But that’s my burden to bear. There will be a lot of holes to fill once we get back to Jamestown, left by the traitors and loyal officers both.”
A beep signaled the completion of the pressurization. Fallon removed her helmet, drawing in a deep breath of air. Across from her, Raptor did the same.
Since putting a pressure suit on required at least fifteen minutes to properly attach and align the systems, she and Raptor only removed their gloves. Krazinski’s voice said, “Might as well remove all of it. We have a lot to talk about, and you’ll be more comfortable.”
She looked at Raptor, but he only shrugged and reached behind his neck.
“Here, I’ll get it.” She moved behind him and depressurized the suit, then began helping him peel it off. When she moved to face him, she saw his humor and a hint of wickedness. He wouldn’t say it out loud given their circumstances, but his expression said that he found the actions similar to a very different scenario.
She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but smile. When they switched roles, he helped her out of her suit while giving her some enthusiastic leering. It was so incongruent with the situation she almost laughed out loud.
Finally they stepped through the airlock into a short corridor. At the end of it Raptor opened a door, and they entered a tiny room that reminded Fallon of a crisis ops control center. Krazinski stood waiting for them. He looked paler and thinner than Fallon remembered him.
He smiled. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you two. I feel like finally, the end to all this is near.” He stepped closer and gave them a deep, deep bow of respect and gratitude.
Whatever Fallon had expected, it hadn’t been that. Raptor’s startled expression no doubt mirrored her own.
“I hope it is,” she said quickly, trying to cover her surprise.
He nodded. “Let’s get to work and make sure of it.”
Raptor and Fallon checked in with Avian Unit, then turned to making sure Krazinski’s story checked out on all points before doing anything more. Like Krazinski’s, their trust was in short supply lately.
“When exactly did you realize Colb was doing illegal research?” Raptor asked. He sat on a small modular chair that was identical to the ones Fallon and Krazinski sat on. This little hideout was far from plush.
“Not nearly soon enough.” Krazinski’s face was lined with regret. “We gave each other wide leeway to do our jobs. He handled his teams, I handled mine. But I’ve worked with him for over twenty years, and we’d run Blackout together seamlessly. I wish I could say that in retrospect, I could see the signs of his betrayal. But he seemed no less sincere, no less committed to the PAC.” He sipped from a packet of water. “When Andra died a few years back, he grieved, but privately. Her loss did not affect his work. Or so I thought.”
Krazinski lapsed into silence, no doubt picking through the past, trying to see if hindsight could give him a new view of events. But he shook his head. “It wasn’t until I heard some whispers in the tech industry and followed one anomaly to the next that I noticed something bigger emerging. Even then I didn’t realize it was him.”
“That was when you tried to blackmail Brak to create that kind of technology,” Fallon said.
“No, by the time I did that, I did suspect Colb. I just couldn’t find any proof. I hoped Brak would be a link to the people involved, but it was very clear that she knew nothing of any of it. Even then I hoped I was wrong about Colb. That I was overly suspicious. An old man seeing shadows and thinking they were monsters. I even thought it might be time to retire. I was no use to anyone if I’d lost my edge. But then I connected a supplier to a scientist. Once I investigated the scientist, I realized the nature of what was happening. Implants. Illegal technology. Treaty
