Tori (Patreon)

Fan, meet shit.

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Tori’s doctor came running down the corridor at a fast jog. “Dr. Amhela—” she shouted as he drew near.

The doctor’s ears opened wide with worry at seeing Tori. He slowed his pace. “Captain,” he said, “I don’t know what she told you, but I never agreed to any of it. I listened and turned her bribes down.”

Captain Gutassi glared at Tori and she shrugged. “If you were me, you’d be looking for reconstructive surgery too.”

He handed the tablet to Amhela. “Doctor, I need you to look at this exposure data and determine a risk assessment for the commissioner.”

The doctor, suddenly realizing that this had nothing to do with Tori’s bribes, winced with regret then relaxed when he realized he wasn’t in trouble. He stared at the screen for a moment and tripped over his words. “A k-krakun’s health risks? Sir, I’ve studied geroo medicine my whole life, but geroo only.” He looked from face to face, seeking escape. “I’m no expert on krakun—”

“We’ve downloaded a variety of exposure studies onto this tablet,” explained the captain. “You can cross-reference what you need, but … only on this tablet.”

Amhela lowered the computer and looked Gutassi in the eyes. “Captain, level with me. What’s going on?”

The captain moved closer and stared down the shorter male. “This tablet only. Is that understood?”

“I… Okay, sir. Let me see.” He took Tori’s seat and paged through the data. She could tell the news was bad by the way he shook his head and muttered to himself. “These readings are ridiculous. It’s like someone dumped waste fuel in the sink!”

“Could a krakun survive such a dose?” asked Tipohee.

“From exposure?” asked the doctor. “How much shielding is there between the pipes and the commissioner’s living space? How far was he standing from them? How long was he exposed?”

The captain put a paw on the doctor’s shoulder. “Presume worst case, doc. Assume those readings are coming from the commissioner’s toilet plumbing,” he said quietly. “If there’s that much radiation in his waste, can he survive?”

Amhela’s eyes grew wide. “You can’t be serious!” He sprang to his paws and tried giving the tablet back to the captain, but he wouldn’t take it.

Suddenly, the final pieces fell into place for Tori. If there was radiation in the commissioner’s toilet, then someone had poisoned him. Could Thojy have done it? How did he get his paws on something so dangerous? Had he been trying to kill the commissioner or his nephew? She started to pant and sweat pooled beneath her scruff.

“I’ve never been more serious in my life, Doctor.”

Dr. Amhela looked from face to face before sitting back down and studying the data once more. “Well … there’s … there’s just not enough data here to be certain. I need to know which isotope we’re talking about. I need samples from the patient—blood, urine, stools—and his vitals. I need his pulse, temperature, blood pressure.”

“No, I’ve got none of that,” said the captain. “Is there something else?”

“A sample of whatever he ingested or was injected with?” asked Amhela.

Gutassi shook his head. “Impossible.”

The doctor growled in frustration. “You have to give me something! Could you just scan it? Scan him? Get a radiation reading from the patient?” he asked. “If he’s really passing isotopes this hot, then it ought to show up on a photo that extends into the gamma range of the spectrum.”

At last, the captain nodded. “Okay, I think I might be able to accomplish that.” He pulled the strand from his shoulder and tapped on the screen to call engineering. “Chief, what’s the status on the commissioner’s shuttle?”

“Ugh, it’s a mess,” said the older female on-screen. “Is this the same shuttle the deputy commissioner usually flies? It seems a lot older. It’s in rough shape.”

“I have no idea,” said the captain. “So, there’s nothing you can do to make it better, Onaha?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Not if the commissioner is planning on flying out today. If I had a few weeks or a month to disassemble it, fabricate some new parts to replace the old—”

“Understood,” said Gutassi. “Make sure all the hatch covers are back on and clear out of the bay for the commissioner’s departure.”

“It’s just as I found it, Captain,” said Onaha. “You said you only wanted a diagnostic—”

“Then head to the commissioner’s chambers. You’ll find Tipohee in the corridor, outside,” said the captain as he stepped back into the airlock. “And talk to no one.”

# # #

The captain stared at the atmospheric status panel. The krakun had reset the air to that of Krakuntec, so there was no way he could go in without an environmental suit. A single breath of the sulfurous air could prove deadly.

He cleared his throat and pressed the big red intercom button on the wall. “Commissioner Troykintrassa?” he said. “This is Captain Gutassi. I just finished speaking with my engineering chief. She said that your shuttle…” The geroo went silent and cringed. He hated having to deceive the commissioner—so directly, at least—but he really needed the krakun to invite him in. “But she said that she can’t…”

“What?” shouted the commissioner. “You dropped out there. Speak up, Captain!”

“She said that…” Gutassi waited a few more agonizingly long seconds. “But she would need…”

“Damn it, Captain! I can’t hear a blasted thing through this intercom,” growled Troykintrassa. “Just come in here and address me in person.”

The pumps whirred and the sulfur levels on the display screen dropped. Soon, the geroo was able to safely cycle the airlock and enter the commissioner’s chambers.

“I’m really sorry about the intercom, sir—” lied Gutassi.

“Just give me your report,” snapped the krakun, “and get out.” The air smelled even worse than before, the commissioner’s temper more on edge.

The captain aimed the tablet computer’s sensor-laden edge toward the krakun as he pretended to read from the display. “All I was saying is that my engineering chief doesn’t think she can do any quick repairs to your shuttle.” He tapped the screen to sweep through a range of the electromagnetic spectrum. “To make any difference, she’d really need to rebuild—”

“There’s no time for any of that. Ugh—” The commissioner squeezed his eyes shut and groaned.

“Are you okay, sir?” asked the captain. While the krakun wasn’t looking, Gutassi carefully swept the room with the tablet’s sensors, pausing for a moment on the open drink container sitting to the creature’s side. “Should I call a doctor?”

“A slave doctor … that’s just what I need now,” hissed Troykintrassa. His lips peeled back, exposing meter-long teeth. “Might as well just kill me now. Put me out of my misery.”

“I could contact emergency services on Krakuntec—”

“Just go!” shouted the commissioner. “I’m almost done here. I’ll take something for my stomach when I get home.”

The captain emerged from the airlock to find that his engineering chief had joined the group in the corridor. He gave her a nod but focused on the doctor. “The commissioner is complaining of stomach pains. I saw one open beverage container, so I took a lot of footage of that and as much of the commissioner himself as I was able.”

The doctor tapped on the display in silence. Onaha peeked over his shoulder. “What does that green area mean?”

Amhela didn’t look up. “Green indicates gamma radiation.”

The chief’s ears drooped, but she said nothing more.

“That can’t be good,” whispered Tipohee. In places, the green areas were so saturated that they were completely opaque, obscuring the visual range image beneath. “How much above background levels?”

Having seen enough, Dr. Amhela stood and stared at Gutassi with solemn ears. “The readings are off the charts, Captain—like he’s been drinking from a reactor pool. That beverage container must have been the source.”

Tori looked between the officers, unable to remain silent any longer. “So, someone really poisoned him? Can… Can the krakun withstand much radiation?”

“As a species, they’re extremely resilient to exposure,” said Amhela. “They have very tough hides and their skin naturally rejects replication errors due to mutation.”

“But if the source was ingested?” asked Tipohee. “If the exposure was from the inside out?”

Amhela didn’t respond. He just flipped furiously through documents on the tablet.

Tipohee groaned. “We need to know if it was a lethal dose. Will he survive?”

“Well, there’s certainly nothing I can do for him here,” said the doctor. “We need to get him back to Krakuntec immediately.”

“It doesn’t matter,” sighed Captain Gutassi.

“No, early treatment is incredibly important,” said Amhela. “The sooner they can flush the isotopes from his system, the better his prognosis—”

A cold chill ran down Tori’s spine as the reality struck her. “No, the captain’s right, isn’t he? It doesn’t matter,” she agreed.

All eyes turned to the rusty red geroo. The doctor still protested, “It does matter—”

“Not to us, it doesn’t,” explained Tori. “We have a serial killer that’s been attacking the ship’s power structure, an underground video fomenting unrest, and a crew that’s siding with the killer over the victims. Whether the poison succeeds in killing the commissioner or just nearly kills the commissioner, the company’s reaction will be the same.”

Everyone had to be thinking it, but the captain didn’t shy away from saying it out loud, “They’ll purge the ship.” He flopped back against the wall.

The doctor and engineer gasped in unison, but it was clear from Tipohee’s expression that he’d already connected the dots.

“Right. No matter what we say, no matter how we beg, they will only see this as a revolt,” said Tori. “They’ll kill us all and start over fresh. They won’t take any chances that a rebellious mindset could spread to other ships.”

The captain spoke to his chief of security. “Cordon off the corridor. Post a guard at either end.” Then he turned to Onaha and put a paw on her shoulder. “First, I need you to send a crew around to the commissioner’s airlock. They need to work quick, and they need to work quiet. Weld his door shut so he can’t return to the shuttle bay.”

“What?” shouted Tori.

Ignoring her, the captain laid out more instructions. “We can’t let him out, can’t let him into any area where he can reach the crew. The moment his door is secure, I need you to cut off all his power, all his data, cut all wireless access ship-wide.”

The captain covered his eyes and trembled slightly. “Then shut down the trinity.”

“Captain, no!” shouted the chief engineer. 

Captain Gutassi opened his eyes with a glare that could melt tungsten. “That’s an order. Do it.”

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Reviewer's link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aZ20pV6WZicAlND16-o4bBYqOTfFhFfUzldkJfmgxFE/edit?usp=sharing

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