Scholarship: Death Before Default (The Frontiers Book 2) by David Alan Jones

Author:David Alan Jones [Jones, David Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seventh Seal Press
Published: 2019-07-10T06:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 17

“What’s your read on this?” Colt tapped the slate bearing Alice Onishi’s message from Brigham. He had read it three times during the flight back to Uncanny, and he still wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“She sounds well, but also sort of paranoid.” Major Petrov had followed Colt back to his room aboard ship at Colt’s behest. They had spent the last hour discussing the details of the next day’s change of command ceremony. Colt found the idea completely unnecessary—why make a fuss?—but the command staff found it indispensable. The staff, at Captain Torres’ urging, had won that argument.

“I agree with you on the paranoid bit,” Colt said.

Onishi’s message, encrypted for FMT eyes only, made it clear she felt odd around her Mormon employers. Colt would have chocked that up to cultural differences—everyone knew Mormons could be strange—but the captain had addressed that idea. She said it was something more. According to her, the Mormons were hiding something. They seemed particularly interested in guarding the entrances to a series of underground bunkers beneath their city, but whenever Onishi inquired about the contents, the Mormon authorities politely demurred. She had even tried sneaking around in their computer networks using her pinplants, something Colt would not have approved of had she bothered to ask, and had run into the most aggressive firewalls she had ever encountered. That was saying something. Onishi had a reputation for hacking. She was the best in the battalion.

“I don’t get the feeling Captain Onishi’s in any sort of danger.” Petrov spread his hands. “Should I send her a message to stop snooping around where she isn’t wanted?”

Colt considered for a moment. He had had a crush on Alice Onishi since the day she arrived at FMT as a freshman. Separating that crush from his duty as a commander didn’t come easily. He wanted to tell Petrov to forget it. Her suspicions were innocent and not likely to cause problems. But if she was caught trying to break into their client’s computer, even for a supposedly good reason, she could cost the company a payday.

“Yes. Do that, Feliks. She needs to stick to her mission. I’m betting she’s bored. You and I both know sentry duty on a dead planet can suck the life out of you. She’s probably seeing conspiracies that aren’t there. And even if she’s right, and the Mormons are hiding something, so what? It’s their planet. They can hide whatever they like as far as we’re concerned. Tell her that.”

“Yes, sir.” Petrov looked around the room. “Would you like me to send up some orderlies to move your personal effects to the command suite?”

Colt frowned at his XO, though he knew Petrov was right. He couldn’t go on living in the cramped accommodations while running FMT. It wouldn’t look right. As Torres had quipped when Colt had balked at the idea of moving, “You don’t want to look like a reluctant commander. Fear breeds fear.”

“Sure. And have them alter my uniforms while you’re at it.

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