Page 36

F rank gave Hazel and Captain Stuedecker a nod as they came in. Harry and Gracie had retreated to the office, but they weren’t watching the ants. They were watching us. Their little faces were just visible through the window that separated the office from the lab space.

“Evening,” Frank said.

“Good evening, Mr. Kitson.” Stuedecker kept a tight grip on the attaché case.

Hazel clasped her hands in front of her. “We think a fifth person has gone missing.”

“Oh, no.” I looked at Frank.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“Arlo Mansfield. He’s fifteen and part of the colony volunteers. We aren’t sure if he’s gone missing or he’s just playing hooky, but it’s an awfully coincidental time to disappear.”

“Agreed,” Frank said.

The colony volunteers were all foster children who’d passed rigorous testing in order to join the new colony we’d be visiting at the end of our trip. Many believed they were the future of the next human world. “This is awful.” I was upset, but I was also angry.

“It is awful. We’re in a potentially very dangerous situation. Which is why we brought you something. Stuedecker.” Hazel nodded at her captain.

He put the attaché case on the nearest worktable and opened it.

Hazel gestured at the contents, two short black cylinders that resembled small flashlights. “Those are personal stun sticks. Frank, you’ve used one before, I presume? Probably a full-size in the Space Marines.”

“Yes, ma’am. Been a few years.”

“They work the same,” Hazel said.

Frank leaned in for a better look. “So they’re capable of knocking a person out?”

“At their highest setting, yes,” Captain Stuedecker said. “And that’s it. There’s no kill setting.”

My brows went up as I looked at my daughter. “You think we’re going to need those?”

“I don’t know, but if the answer’s yes and I haven’t given them to you, it’ll be too late. I don’t know who I can trust outside of Stuedecker and you two, so I’m arming you.”

“I appreciate your confidence in us,” Frank said. “What are you doing to make sure neither of you are affected?”

“Steering clear of the Ohuli as much as possible,” Hazel answered.

Frank nodded like that was a good start. “What did you do with the pila you took from them?”

Hazel glanced at Stuedecker. “I had the captain gather them all and put them in a container to be studied. We’re not actually allowed to accept such gifts, and now that the Ohuli have been designated as endangered, the pila will be returned to them.”

“They should be destroyed,” Frank said.

“Why?” Hazel asked.

I crossed my arms, my attention on Frank. “We need to tell them.”

He nodded. “The pila aren’t made of crystal or glass or anything like that. Not exactly. They’re actually a sphere of tightly packed nanoids. Millions of them. The reason they dissolve is that the nanoids disperse, eroding the ball’s shape.”

Hazel’s mouth came open. “Nanoids. On my ship.”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’m running some more tests to determine what can be done about them, but I don’t have those results yet.”

A muscle in Hazel’s jaw clenched. “This is unacceptable.”

“You’ve got that right.” I had no idea what we were going to do about this, but we had to come up with something.

“How do we get rid of them?” Hazel asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Frank said. “I’m testing samples right now. If I can determine their makeup, I might be able to find a weakness and turn that into an extermination plan. Otherwise, the Ohuli essentially have eyes and ears all over this ship.”

“It’s how they were telling accurate fortunes,” I added. “It’s why anyone who came for a reading was given a pila and told to come back the next day. And they could be in us, too.” I felt that was necessary information.

Frank nodded. “Again, I have no data to back this up yet, but I believe they could be causing people to be swayed to the Ohuli’s ways. Almost like a sort of drug. People are showing characteristics of being brainwashed.”

“I agree. I’ve seen it myself.” Hazel was steaming, I could tell. Her jaw worked to one side. “And FAN has tied my hands with this designation.” She gave a tiny roll of her eyes. “What else do you two need to find out how to neutralize these things?”

I held my hands up. “Don’t look at me. This is Frank’s area of expertise.”

“I could use a scientist who specializes in alien biology, if there’s one you think may not have been affected yet.”

Hazel glanced at Stuedecker. He clasped his hands behind his back. “I’ll see what I can find out.” He frowned, his attention shifting to Frank. “Any way to tell if someone’s under the Ohuli’s influence?”

“Ellis has talked to more people than I have. She’s seen them coming and going in the library.”

Stuedecker looked at me.

“If you talk to them about the Ohuli, ask some thinly veiled questions, you should be able to tell by their answers. Also, Hazel, there are two Exterior Maintenance Specialists, Benedicta Rossi and William Temay, who haven’t been affected.

Benni is a good friend, and I’m willing to vouch for her and her partner.

In fact, Benni knew that Vashti had been affected before I even said anything. Benni and Will did not take pila.”

Hazel exhaled. “Might be good to have a couple of EMS on our team. Having folks who are comfortable with spacewalks is never a bad thing. Stuedecker, let’s get them armed, too.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We’ll see what we can do about finding you a biologist, Frank.”

“That would be great.”

The two analysis machines started beeping in an uncoordinated rhythm.

Frank turned to look at them. “If you have a few moments, I should be able to tell you more about the nanoids.”

“We’ll wait,” Hazel said.

Frank went to the machines.

I gestured toward the office. “There’s an Instachef if you want a coffee.”

Hazel nodded. “This is going to be a long night. I’ll take one.”

“Captain?”

“Yes, thank you. Black.”

“Be right back.” I went into the office and ordered the two coffees, then spoke to Harry and Gracie. “You two might be in here for a while. How about I find something else for you to watch?”

They nodded, oddly wary of our company.

I found an on-demand documentary about all kinds of insects and started that, making sure it was set to loop. I figured since it was new, they could watch it more than once before they got too bored.

By that time, the coffees were ready. I carried them out. Frank was on his laptop, no doubt studying the results of the analysis.

I handed off the coffees, but my focus was on Frank. His eyes were narrowed, his brow lined, and he was hunched forward. None of those were good signs.

I braced myself for less than stellar news while I made small talk. “Too bad you can’t just take a few officers, barge into that suite, and get everyone back.”

Hazel was in the middle of drinking her coffee. “Pretty sure that would create an incident that would cause a few of us to lose our rank and position.”

I groaned softly, my mouth tight. “FAN really put you in a tough spot.”

“FAN put us all in a tough spot,” Hazel said.

“I could message Benni, if you want,” I offered. “Maybe have her and Will come to your office? Or somewhere?”

Hazel nodded. “That would be good. Have them come in an hour.” She looked at Stuedecker. “We can be back by then.”

“Yes, ma’am. Another trip to the armory won’t take long.”

“We’ll do it on the way.”

“I’ll message them now.” I brought my wristband to my mouth.

“Benni, Vice-Admiral Perry would like to see you and Will in her office in an hour. All good, I assure you.” I smiled at Hazel, but Benni would want to know that.

She was slightly anti-authority. Most of the EMS, who were generally rebels and risk-takers, were. “Can you make that?”

Benni’s response was quick. We can. What’s up?

I sent my reply. Don’t want to say here. I still had the protective sticker on the back of my wristband that was supposed to prevent messages from being eavesdropped on, but I didn’t know if that was also effective against nanoids.

I really knew nothing about their capabilities.

Frank looked up. “These things are carrying trace amounts of serotonin. They are definitely influencing people toward the Ohuli.”

I swore I could hear Hazel’s teeth grinding.

“Fantastic,” she muttered. “I’m going to need you to write this all up.”

“I will.” He got up from his laptop and walked to the attaché case. He picked up one of the stun sticks. “All right if I take this?”

“That’s what they’re there for,” Hazel said.

“I want to try something.” He flipped open a little compartment on the side and fiddled with the device. “These aren’t quite as adjustable as the standard ones. How low is the low setting?”

“In my opinion, it’s low enough to be worthless,” Stuedecker answered him.

“That’ll do.” Frank took the stun stick and transferred it to the interior of the glove box using the small chamber on the side that allowed things to be placed into it without opening the big hatch on the back.

Then he put his arms through the gloves and retrieved the stun stick from the inside.

He picked up a piece of the pila and brushed the other pieces away so he could isolate that one.

He placed the single piece on the empty surface, then looked at us.

“Not sure what this is going to do. Shouldn’t be much, but… ” He shrugged.

I nodded, curious to see what happened next.

He zapped the shard of pila with the stun stick. There was a small zzzt sound, but that was it.

He used the tweezers to pick up the zapped bit and placed it under the scope, then leaned back to look at the screen. He adjusted the magnification twice before nodding. “Come look at this.”

We all walked over.

He pulled his arms out and tapped the screen a few times to show a previous image. “These are the nanoids in their original state.”

My lip curled at the sight of them wriggling around. Hazel had a similar expression. Stuedecker looked fascinated.

“Now these are the nanoids after the application of a small dose of electrical current.” He tapped the screen again, and a new image appeared.

The nanoids were still and dark. Burnt-looking, actually.

Frank exhaled. “I know how to neutralize them, but it’s not going to be easy.” He looked at me. “You weren’t far off with that EMP suggestion.”

Hazel shook her head. “We can’t run an electrical current throughout the entire starliner. We’ll short-circuit everything. Including life support.”

Frank pursed his mouth. “That’s why I said it wasn’t going to be easy.”