The Eternity War: Dominion by Jamie Sawyer

Author:Jamie Sawyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2019-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

“Novak did what?” Zero asked, incredulous.

I went straight from the brig to the barracks, where I tore a strip off Novak. He had simply stood there, head hanging, and listened to my rebuke. Then he’d apologised, promised that he had not done anything else, and once again tried to explain about Major Vasnev. I’d cut him short—I was done with listening to his excuses, and Novak understood that—and confined him to quarters until we reached Carcosa. Then I’d headed to Medical, where Dr Saito was monitoring P. If Riggs had achieved nothing else, he had woken the squad and prevented us from having a decent night’s sleep. It was still the early hours of the morning by the ship’s wake cycle, but with all the commotion Zero was properly awake now, and had followed me down.

She was working at a terminal, Dr Saito examining some cell samples at one of the microscope workbenches. He paused, listening to our conversation.

“He hit him,” I explained. “Several times, in fact.” I paced the lab in a futile attempt to work out some of my anger. “I can’t believe we’re going through this all over again. When will Novak learn?”

“He doesn’t think he has a problem, by the sound of it,” Dr Saito said.

Zero pulled a face and sighed. “Well, from what I can see, Novak managed to deactivate the surveillance programme. I’m surprised that he did that by himself, but it wasn’t a very sophisticated fix.”

“Can you make sure it doesn’t happen again?”

“Sure. I’ll add a security key, so that only senior personnel can deactivate the system.”

“Can you trust this trooper?” Dr Saito said. “I’m sorry—I don’t know the full story, but he seems a little… unstable.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “Unstable is about the size of it. Novak is a good trooper, but he’s easily led. He is obsessed with this Vasnev character.”

“Should you report the incident to Captain Heinrich?” Dr Saito said.

“I’m not going to do that,” I said. “The Jackals take care of their own. Once we get to Carcosa, Novak won’t have any further contact with Riggs. Then, when we re-join the main fleet in the Reef Stars, Riggs can become someone else’s problem.”

“Can’t come soon enough,” Zero said, smiling wanly. “There. The surveillance system is working properly.”

“Thanks, Zero. What’s the latest on mission prep?”

“Also done. All sims are armed and armoured, and have been thawed for imminent deployment.”

“Good job. What about P, Dr Saito? Any news on the cocoon?”

Dr Saito grimaced and looked up from his work. “Chrysalis, Lieutenant, not cocoon.”

“There’s a difference?’

“A cocoon is like a nest. This is a chrysalis; made from super-hardened protein strands. ‘Chrysalis’ is used to describe the development of a terrestrial life-form from pupal stage to maturity.”

“P’s not terrestrial,” I said, my eyes glossing over. “But whatever it is, has it changed?”

“Not significantly. It’s enlarged and seems to be drawing in moisture from the surrounding atmosphere. I’m not sure what the pariah-form is using for nutrients.”

“Have you tried—I don’t know—cutting the pod open?”

Zero cringed at my use of the word “cut”.

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