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Saph did not like working with Star Corp. They were always uptight and evasive. Worse, they often interfered with his job, making it impossible to close a case.
While the Equinox belonged to Star Corp and all its crew were Star Corp employees, every incident concerning space-faring vessels fell under the jurisdiction of Allied Investigations, the corporation Saph worked for. With so many competing interests and conflicts between the colonies and the organisations that profited from them, it was necessary to have an impartial judge to investigate and mediate conflicts. Most commercial entities, including Star Corp, voluntarily signed up to the agreement, recognising the benefit in having a neutral third party investigate potentially damaging incidents.
The Equinox had gone dark two months ago. A ship passing along its projected route had detected a weak distress beacon, but had been unable to locate the wayward vessel.
Saph didn’t think they’d tried too hard.
Saph sat in the cockpit of the small ship he’d commandeered for this investigation, next to its pilot, a red-blond man wearing a Star Corp uniform.
“Do you see anything yet?” the pilot asked, green eyes flashing briefly to Saph before returning to his console.
Saph glowered down at his own screen, dissatisfied with the ship’s sensor data feed. “There’s something here, but we’re still not getting a clear read,” he grumbled.
His companion gave him a brief smile before his fingers flicked blindly across his console, his eyes still on Saph. “I’ll adjust our course to take us further from the sun,” he said. “We could be getting radiation interference.”
The course change worked. Saph was soon able to confirm that the odd blip on the sensor was the Equinox, though its beacon was no longer emitting any signal.
As Saph sat on the bench in the ship’s airlock, watching the pilot check the seals, he said, “It’s strange that the Equinox has gone completely dark. There’s no hull damage and none of the escape pods were launched.”
“Yes, it’s very odd.” The pilot’s expression was troubled as he entered a confirmation code into a panel. “The final check is clear. It should be safe to enter the Equinox now.”
“Thank you, Captain Albion.”
“Theresa.”
Saph nodded vaguely as he stood, his mind already focused on the mystery awaiting him. His protective suit was cumbersome but Saph had been trained to cope with it. His helmet hung from a clip, not needed yet as the Equinox’s environment systems were fully operational. In fact, everything, including the silent beacon was reporting as fully operational. Had someone intentionally shut the beacon down? If the ship’s engines were working, then why was the Equinox drifting? Where was the crew? Certainly, there were no life-signs detected.
“Theresa moved aside to let Saph approach the outer airlock door but as Saph got close, Theresa took hold of his arm, halting him. “I should go with you,” he said. “Something isn’t right about this situation.”
Used to dealing with arrogant Star Corp employees who thought they were better than him, Saph almost snapped back an angry response. Then he remembered that Theresa had been nice to him throughout their time together. He’d even let Saph take on some of the responsibilities of the ship. Theresa did not doubt Saph’s competence—rather, he was genuinely feeling uneasy about this situation. Saph would be as foolish as the Star Corp employees who derided him if he ignored or dismissed Theresa’s concerns. To say nothing of the fact that Theresa deserved better than a thoughtless, reactive response from Saph.
Saph gave Theresa a thin smile. “I agree that this is very unusual and worrying,” he said. “Unfortunately, we need someone here, safe, in case something goes wrong. If we lose communication, I promise I’ll come straight back.”
Theresa’s frown remained, as did his hand on Saph’s arm. “Why were we the only two sent after the Equinox?” he asked.
“Because it’s a scientific research vessel which probably has classified data in its system,” Saph replied. Surely Theresa already knew that.
“But why us?” Theresa persisted. “NDAs exist.”
Theresa had a point. The classified material did not fully explain Star Corp’s insistence that only one investigator be assigned, with one pilot for backup.
A ‘preliminary investigation’, they’d called it. Saph called it bullshit. But he had a job to do here and so did Theresa. Space was not a fair or forgiving place.
“I know what you mean,” Saph said, gentling his voice. “I promise I’ll be careful.”
Theresa was not satisfied by that response. He pressed his lips together, still refusing to let Saph continue on.
It was common for relationships to develop between shipmates in space. The isolation, coupled with the stress, led to deep emotional connections being formed. Nothing had happened between Saph and Theresa yet, but the tension was definitely there. Saph had held himself back, knowing that his attraction to Theresa was too strong to be taken lightly. Once this investigation was over, both Saph and Theresa would receive new assignments. Theresa would move on to another conquest, and Saph would be left to nurse his wounds. No, thanks. Better to be left with fantasies of what could have been rather than to agonise over losing the one true love of his life.
As if he’d sensed Saph’s feelings, Theresa had never pushed for more. He’d merely indicated his interest in subtle ways and left room for Saph to reciprocate. Saph hadn’t.
“Please, at least take a weapon with you,” Theresa pleaded.
“There’s no sign of hostile action,” Saph argued. “And I have a knife. I can only carry so much with me, and in this situation, diagnostic and medical equipment are much more likely to be needed.”
“Which is why I should go with you,” Theresa pressed, bringing them right back to the beginning.
Saph sighed and brushed Theresa’s hand away. “I swear at the first sign of trouble, I’ll be right back here. You can monitor my vitals through my suit. You’ll know I’m fine.”
Theresa finally stepped back, still frowning. With one last glance at him, Saph opened the outer door to reveal the airlock of the Equinox.
Since both ships, smaller and larger, were built by the same corporation, they looked much the same inside. Bland silver walls with glowing panels here and there. Saph entered, then sealed the door behind himself. It wouldn’t open again without his or Theresa’s code.
The silence of the Equinox was eerie. Saph could hear the whoosh of the air recycling units, functioning as intended. The air tasted clean and normal. No contaminants had been detected by Theresa’s systems.
As Saph progressed through the ship, first going to engineering and verifying that the engine and power routers were not damaged, then heading for the medical bay, which he found tidy and devoid of life, Saph became more and more unsettled. Everything was in place, everything was undamaged, yet there was no sign of life. The Equinox had been home to forty-five crew and scientists. Where were they?
The bridge, likewise, yielded no clues. All of the ship’s systems were operational, though non-essential systems had been shut down. Saph did notice that one of the science labs was drawing a rather large amount of power, though.
Time to investigate that. Saph would take a quick look, and if he found nothing immediately concerning, he’d retreat back to Theresa’s ship and discuss the matter with him. Saph had located the wayward ship, determined that it wasn’t damaged, and been unable to locate the crew. His bosses could decide what to do from here.
As Saph approached the lab, the hall began to warm uncomfortably. Saph checked his suit’s readouts, noting that nothing was amiss there. The temperature of this part of the ship was just high, because of the high power drain, maybe?
“Sapphire, is everything all right?” Theresa’s voice came through Saph’s earpiece, startling him. So far, Theresa had been quiet, which was a little odd, now that Saph thought about it. The light on Saph’s wrist panel still glowed steadily green, indicating that communications was functional. “Your suit’s readouts show that your temperature is rising.”
“I’m fine. I’m near one of the labs, which is drawing a lot of power. I guess that could explain the high temperature,” Saph replied. He waited for Theresa to suggest he turn back, but Theresa didn’t.
There was a clunk behind him. Saph whirled, but saw nothing in the hall. No strange shadows or lights. He made his way down the hall to the door of the science lab. Like every other door here, it opened at his override code.
The heat immediately hit Saph in the face like a punch. He stepped back, fanning his face, before peering in. No way would he actually enter.
At first he couldn’t make anything out. The lights appeared to be off—and then Saph realised that they weren’t off. They were just covered by… something thick, something oozing, something that sent a whiff toward him of… ugh, roadkill?
Yeah, this had to be the source of the problem that had turned the Equinox into a ghost ship. Saph was no longer interested in investigating further. This was well above his pay grade. Just as he was about to shut the door, something smacked into his chest. Saph reeled back.
A dog? He wondered as he stared blankly at the thing that had just plopped down at his feet with a wet splat.
No, not a dog. That was just Saph’s brain’s attempt at making sense of something that did not make sense at all. It was a slimy, flesh-coloured creature about the size of a cat, but there was nothing cat-like about it. It had human ears and its paws were… human hands?
Definitely above Saph’s pay grade. Saph backed off. “Good… kitty?” he said warily. “Stay there…” He reached for the door control.
The creature moved forward, a high-pitched noise escaping its open mouth. Saph slid his knife out of its sheath as he backed up to the opposite wall of the hall.
To Saph’s horror, another of the creatures emerged from the room, this one the size of a doberman—and it had long, very sharp teeth in a shark-like mouth.
Shit.
Saph weighed up his options. Run or fight? There was no telling how many of these creatures were in that room. Saph had to seal the door, but the two were still slowly advancing on him. So far, they seemed more curious than aggressive, but who knew when that would change?
The sharp sound of gunfire broke the stand-off. The largest creature fell sideways, toppling onto its smaller companion, blood spraying from a wound in its shoulder. A tooth landed near Saph’s foot.
Near the bend in the hall, Theresa stood, gun in hand. Guns weren’t typically carried by investigators as one needed to be careful to not puncture the outer hull of a ship wit them, plus ricochets were a concern, but Star Corp appeared to not have any such worries.
Saph darted toward the safety Theresa represented. Theresa kept his gun trained on the struggling creatures, who didn’t appear to remember how to stand after being knocked down.
“Back to the ship,” Theresa ordered. “We’re done here.” The bitterness in his tone was as obvious as an emergency alert.
As they headed back to the airlock, both of them taking turns to watch their backs, Saph said, “Thanks.”
“I knew something about this wasn’t right,” Theresa replied. Since it was Saph’s turn to watch behind them, Theresa had hold of Saph’s arm, guiding him along the hall. “I suspect Star Corp doesn’t expect either of us to return from this little mission.”
That… made an unfortunate amount of sense. Star Corp had never wanted a true investigation of the Equinox, which was why they’d put so many limitations on it. They’d assumed that Saph and Theresa would investigate, would find the source of the problem, and be killed by said source. Star Corp would then use their disappearance as an excuse to stonewall Allied Investigations, claiming that the Equinox was too dangerous to pursue, and only Star Corp had the resources and expertise necessary to deal properly with it.
“Are they… are they going to make us disappear?” Saph asked.
Theresa laughed. “No. They’ll take the data we’ve already gathered and pay us an exorbitant amount of money to stay silent, then they’ll destroy the Equinox. If I don’t retire, they’ll give me a quiet, safe and boring job in one of the outer colonies. You, I’m not sure. Your organisation will likely pretend this never happened. And if we ever tell anybody about this? Who will believe us?” Theresa shrugged. “We’ll be branded as crazy.”
That was all true. “Honestly, I wish I could just think of it as a bad dream,” Saph confessed.
“Star Corp likes that sort of attitude,” Theresa replied. “It’s very convenient for them.”
After detaching from the Equinox and setting a course for the nearest Star Corp base, Saph sat across from Theresa in the ship’s small galley, enjoying a bottle of brandy from Theresa’s stash, which Theresa said he rarely indulged in. Saph agreed that this was just the occasion to do so.
“What do you think they were researching there?” Saph queried. “Those creatures had… human appendages.” Were those horrible creatures… the Equinox’s missing crew?
Theresa shrugged before taking a swallow of brandy. “I don’t want to know,” he said. “Whatever it is, I doubt it will benefit humanity.”
“I feel… a little sorry for them,” Saph confided. “I don’t think they were malicious.”
“Perhaps not. Nonetheless, you aren’t responsible for creating them and you aren’t responsible for whatever Star Corp does with them.”
“I wish I shared your pragmatism,” Saph said with a laugh. “I’d sleep so much better tonight.”
Theresa met his eyes with a smile, one edged with empathy. “The brandy will help,” he said, “and so will not sleeping alone.”
Saph returned the smile. This time, he’d accept Theresa’s subtle invitation. Why the hell not? After the sickening scene he’d witnessed today, his worries over a broken heart seemed frivolous.