Incident at Ida (part three) (standard:science fiction, 1668 words) [3/3] show all parts
Author: Goreripper	Added: Jan 18 2002	Views/Reads: 2641/1952	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Sladed and Bartlett descend onto Ida to further investigate the xenomorph incident.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

you that guarantee. If we find evidence of illegal activity, we are 
obliged to pass on that evidence to the correct jurisdiction. If you 
act in any way to prevent that, we could place you under arrest for 
obstruction of justice." 

"I'm quite sure you could do that, Agent Slade," he replied, quite
calmly, and both agents were further impressed by his cool, 
business-like manner. "But I am equally sure that both of you are 
obliged to protect the ordinary citizen. As I have already stated, I am 
not a criminal, nor do I believe that criminal activity goes on in my 
area of control. I needn't remind you who my employer is and his, let 
me say, dubious reputation among the law enforcement community. Given 
that reputation, don't you think that I could be in extreme danger if 
you were to bring evidence against him, after I personally assured him 
you would not?" 

Slade and Bartlett exchanged glances for a long moment. Bartlett
shuffled in his seat. 

"Well," he finally said, "under the provisions of the law, we are
required to report any suspected illegal activity to the necessary 
agencies responsible. But the most important thing here for us at the 
moment is finding out what's going on in that hangar, and putting a 
stop to it before the 'Schwarzkopf' blows us out of the sky. So yeah, 
we'll let anything else we find slide for the time being." 

Yale appeared to accept that, and relaxed considerably. A screen opened
in the wall behind him and the image of a barren, benighted landscape 
appeared. In the centre was a cluster of large drab grey buildings. Two 
large vehicles with oversized tyres and what appeared to be pulse 
cannons mounted on them were patrolling the perimeter. 

"I didn't know the Marines were here," Slade remarked when she saw the
tanks. 

Yale smiled sheepishly. 

"I guess they came down in a surplus shipment," he suggested. 

Bartlett rolled his eyes. He'd filed a report to Eugenia on the flight
down to Ida, so he'd bought another three hours; there wasn't time to 
make an issue of hijacked military cargo right now. 

"Can we speak to this Fuller character?" he asked. "So far he's the only
survivor." 

"He was the only survivor," Yale replied ominously. "Obviously Mr
Cordeja didn't tell you that Kelvin Fuller committed suicide last 
night. Two of my guys had to scrape him out of the airlock this morning 
before anyone could start work. Fuller was a hard bastard, let me tell 
you. If he saw something bad enough to make him even think about 
killing himself, it might be best if the Navy does us all a favour and 
nukes this shithole." 

Slade knew what was coming next. 

"Probably wouldn't be a bad thing no matter what," Bartlett observed,
rising from his seat to circle Yale's desk. The Sector chief gave him a 
filthy glance, but slid back his chair so the agent could see the image 
on the screen more clearly. 

"What other measures have you taken, Yale?" he asked. 

"We're not even letting anything fly over there at the moment," Yale
said. "I worked for Apollo on Ganymede before I came here, so I know 
all about locking down in possible xenomorph scenarios. Never had to do 
one for real before, though." 

He shuddered, and not just from dread at what might be lurking in Juliet
Sector's cargo docks. He also knew he couldn't keep the workers hanging 
on for much longer. Ortega didn't pay so well when his employees just 
sat around playing cards and accessing pornography, even if the 
situation was unavoidable. Yale had been able to get some of his men 
work in other areas while the crisis played out, but most had been 
forced into idleness. As they sat around with nothing to do but drink, 
screw or fight, there had already been an increase in the number of 
violent incidents on the asteroid, even more than usual. 

"Did Fuller say anything to anyone before he pulled the plug?" Bartlett
asked without looking from the screen. "Anything that made sense, of 
course?" 

"Not really," Yale replied. A thought came to him. "You know, now that I
think of it, I think he killed himself more out of shame than fear of 
anything he might have seen. He wasn't the sort of guy that would let 
himself look weak in front of others. He probably couldn't bear to live 
with himself thinking he might have looked like some kind of coward." 

Slade agreed that was a possibility, but pointed out that if this Fuller
character was as hard as he'd been made out to be, he would have had 
plenty of ways to ensure no one ever thought he was yellow. 

"Well, we better go check it out," Bartlett said at last. "No point
standing around here philosophising about some bully doing himself in. 
The ship in the hangar with our alien friend... does it have a crew 
somewhere we can talk to?" 

"Yes of course. We have them in quarantine at the moment." "Quarantine?"
Bartlett said, turning around at last with a heavily raised eyebrow. 
"That's an interesting choice of word." 

Yale ignored the insinuation and tapped a key on his desk console.
"Morris can take you down to see them," he said. "If you need anything 
further from me, I'll be here." 

The agents thanked him and left the room to wait for their escort. Fred
Yale opened his terminal and called up the file with his transfer 
request in it. He heard Mimas was good this time of year. 


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