Chapter 9 - The Second Plan
The words stayed in the air after Nicole closed her eyes.
If I had not fought back, they had another plan.
I could think of several possibilities.
None of them were good.
Danner motioned me into the hallway.
"We need the cloud video."
"Immediately."
"Can your office retrieve it?"
"If we get them the account information."
"How?"
I looked at the dead medical phone line.
"Without using anything that reports back to corporate."
Danner rubbed one hand across his face.
"I can get a radio message to the bridge."
"The bridge is not clean."
"I did not say it was."
He lowered his voice.
"But the communications officer owes me money."
I stared at him.
"That is your security protocol?"
"Tonight, it is the best one I have."
Lena stepped into the hall.
"Nicole needs rest."
"Will she be safe here?"
She looked toward Blake's usual station.
"Not if someone can alter her chart."
Danner nodded.
"Move her."
"Where?"
"Crew isolation room."
"That is not a medical space."
"It has a lock I control."
Lena considered it.
"I want oxygen, monitoring, and access for two nurses."
"Done."
"And Blake stays fifty feet away."
"Done."
I looked at Danner.
"You are suspending him?"
"I am about to."
"Will the captain support you?"
"I am about to find out."
He reached for his radio.
The speaker crackled before he touched it.
"Chief Danner, report to the bridge."
We all froze.
The timing was too perfect.
Danner lifted the radio.
"On my way."
He looked at me.
"Stay with Lena."
"That instruction has not worked well tonight."
"Try it once."
He walked away.
Lena and I began moving Nicole five minutes later.
Two nurses transferred her to a narrow rolling bed.
We took a service passage behind the laundry room.
The corridor was hot and smelled faintly of detergent.
No passengers used it.
No one smiled at us.
Crew members stepped aside and watched with the careful expressions of people who knew something was wrong but had no authority to ask.
Halfway to the isolation room, the lights flickered.
Lena stopped.
"That is new."
"Power issue?"
"Maybe."
The lights came back.
Then every fire door in the corridor released at once.
Metal panels began sliding from the ceiling.
"Move."
I grabbed the side of Nicole's bed and pushed.
The nurses ran with us.
The first fire door dropped behind the bed.
The second started coming down ahead of us.
We made it beneath with inches to spare.
Then the lights went out completely.
The corridor vanished.
One of the nurses screamed.
Emergency strips along the floor glowed red a second later.
Lena swore.
"This is not normal."
A loudspeaker clicked overhead.
"Attention crew."
The announcement was calm.
"Temporary electrical fault in crew service section C."
The voice continued.
"Remain in place until further notice."
I looked down the red-lit corridor.
"Do not remain in place."
Lena nodded.
We kept moving.
The isolation room was thirty yards away.
A figure appeared at the far end.
For one hopeful second, I thought it was Danner.
Then the figure stepped into the emergency light.
Blake.
He was holding a keycard in one hand.
"Stop."
Lena did not.
Neither did I.
"I said stop."
Blake moved toward us.
I positioned myself between him and the bed.
"You are off the incident."
"Says who?"
"Your chief."
"Chief Danner is currently being relieved of duty."
My stomach tightened.
"By whom?"
"Captain Avery."
Blake smiled.
"Things move quickly on ships."
Lena stopped the bed behind me.
"Nicole needs medical care."
"She is getting it."
Blake held out his hand.
"Give me her personal effects."
"No."
Lena's answer was immediate.
"That was not a request."
"Then you should have worn a doctor's badge."
Blake's face hardened.
He reached toward her.
I stepped into his path.
"Do not touch her."
His eyes moved to me.
"There she is."
"Who?"
"The violent Marine."
His voice became louder.
There were crew members watching from behind the fire door windows.
He wanted witnesses.
He wanted me angry.
The same structure again.
I dropped my hands to my sides.
"Move away from the patient."
Blake took another step.
"Or what?"
"Or every person watching through those windows gets to explain why a security officer interfered with emergency medical care."
His eyes flicked toward the doors.
I saw the hesitation.
Good.
"You are under observation for violent behavior."
"Then you should be especially careful about approaching me without cause."
He stared at me.
I stared back.
The lights came on.
The sudden brightness made everyone blink.
A radio voice echoed from Blake's shoulder.
"Officer Blake, report to bridge security immediately."
He ignored it.
The message repeated.
"Officer Blake, report immediately."
Lena pushed the bed forward.
Blake stepped aside.
I stayed between him and Nicole until we passed.
He leaned close as I moved by.
"You keep making this worse."
"For who?"
His eyes turned cold.
"You will find out."
We locked Nicole inside the crew isolation room.
Lena connected the monitor.
I checked the door twice.
"You know that is my job."
She gave me a tired look.
"Tonight everybody is doing everybody else's job."
The second nurse handed me Nicole's folded photo receipt.
"This was in her clutch."
I looked at the six-digit code again.
"I need a computer that is not on the ship network."
Lena laughed quietly.
"On a ship?"
"A passenger laptop."
"Security took yours."
"Someone else's."
She thought for a moment.
"There is a dialysis patient in 1024 who travels with two laptops and complains if Wi-Fi drops for more than three minutes."
"Does he like you?"
"No."
"Perfect."
Ten minutes later, Lena returned with a silver laptop and a handwritten note.
I read it.
IF YOU BREAK THIS, YOU BUY IT.
I almost smiled.
"Who is he?"
"Retired tax attorney."
"Of course he is."
The laptop connected to the guest satellite network.
I opened the cloud service Nicole had named.
The six-digit code did not work as a password.
I tried it as a recovery code.
The account opened.
There were twelve videos.
Most were ordinary vacation clips.
Sunrise.
Pool deck.
A band playing in the atrium.
Then I saw one labeled EMBARKATION - WEIRD GUYS.
I clicked it.
The screen showed Nicole's view from the upper atrium.
The camera pointed down toward the luggage loading area.
Gregory entered the frame.
The bat was under his arm.
Blake stood beside him.
Then Charles Hartman walked into view.
The sound was faint.
I turned the volume up.
Gregory's voice came first.
"How long will the hall stay dark?"
Blake answered.
"Twenty-three minutes."
My pulse jumped.
Gregory looked annoyed.
"I need longer."
"No."
Blake glanced around.
"Longer creates a report."
Charles stepped closer.
"Twenty-three is enough."
Gregory looked at his father.
"What if she just freezes?"
Charles's answer was clear.
"Then provoke her."
Gregory shifted the bat beneath his arm.
"She might not swing back."
Charles smiled.
"Make sure she does."
The video shook slightly as Nicole adjusted her grip.
Blake lowered his voice.
"And if she doesn't?"
Charles looked directly toward the loading doors.
"Then we use the pills."
Lena inhaled sharply beside me.
I paused the video.
"Pills."
My mouth went dry.
Lena looked toward Nicole.
"The sedative order."
I thought of the champagne bottle in the cabin.
Gregory had expected me to suggest opening it.
I had.
He had ignored me.
Maybe because the bat became Plan A.
Maybe because the champagne was Plan B.
"We need a copy."
I opened a new browser window.
"Send it to your office."
"Not just my office."
I created a temporary email account.
Then I sent the video to Renee, Asteron's general counsel, two personal addresses I controlled, and a former Marine friend named Caleb Morse who now worked in federal cyber investigations.
I had not spoken to Caleb in six months.
I hoped he checked old addresses.
Lena watched the upload bar.
"How long?"
"Forty seconds."
At thirty-two, the Wi-Fi disconnected.
"No."
I hit reconnect.
Nothing.
The ship's guest network disappeared entirely.
A loudspeaker announcement began.
"Attention all guests."
Captain Avery's voice filled the ship.
"Due to a technical issue, satellite internet service is temporarily unavailable."
Lena looked at me.
"Coincidence?"
"Not anymore."
I checked the sent folder.
Two messages showed complete.
Three showed pending.
Renee had the video.
General counsel did too.
That was enough.
I closed the laptop.
The door rattled.
Lena stood.
"Who is it?"
No answer.
The handle moved again.
Then a keycard beeped.
Red light.
Denied.
Another beep.
Denied.
I moved beside the door.
Lena picked up the emergency call handset.
It was dead.
The lights flickered again.
Nicole opened her eyes.
"He came back."
I turned toward her.
"Who?"
Her face twisted with fear.
"The man who pushed me."
The keycard beeped a third time.
This time the light turned green.
The lock clicked.
May you like
The door began to open.
