Chapter Text
Prologue: Julie
Julie had enough. She had been stuck in this cell for 8 days. Cell was a polite term. Storage Locker was more accurate. Eight days of emergency rations of explosions, gunfire, screams, and, then, nothing.
Three days ago, the crew had stopped responding to her screams, had stopped delivering food, had stopped everything. The ship had stopped accelerating. It was time to make a stand. Her father, or his men rather, could not keep her locked in this locker forever.
Julie balanced her weight against hatch and shoved it hard with her back, she did it again, and on the fourth time, it burst open.
Julie floated out into the hallway and magnetized her boots. She took a moment to tie down her wild hair. As she did, she realized she would need to visit a hair salon when she got back to Ceres, Zero-g did funny things to hair. She looked around; the ship was not accelerating. She saw some blood in the hallway. As she was walking, Julie saw a control panel, that declared an SOS alert in Engineering. Julie started walking to the aft section of the ship. As she walked, she passed more bloodstains, tools, and an empty vac suit. The lighting was down to emergency levels. She shook her head; something was not right. She pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on, right before she saw glowing blue goop, for lack of a better word on the wall.
She got to Engineering, with the only closed door on the ship. Julie tried overriding the lock, but without success. She walked back and grabbed the cutting torch she had passed. In minutes, she cut through the door and walked through. The Engineering section was darker than it should have been, and the reactor was a pulsing mass of something. Then she saw what used to be a human writhing in agony. Her eyes widened. She looked down at her purple gloves and sighed. Warehouse Agent Julie Mao’s vacation was quite clearly over.
Chapter One:
The Message
Five Days Earlier
Ceres Station
Josephus Miller was walking through the Ceres Market, looking over the latest imports from Ganymede station. He was debating the purchase of an apple as he listened to the impassioned speech of a local, regarding the rights of Ceres citizens. Miller mused that he was technically a Ceres citizen. He was born and raised here. Now, though, he stood apart. He had ever since Ms. Claudia Donovan smacked him over the head with an invitation to endless wonder.
“Hey you, Badge!”
Of course, it’s not like someone sent a memo to the rest of the station. Miller turned around and looked at the speaker.
“Day is coming soon, caya? And when the blood is on the wall what side you on SasaCae?”
“Yeah, I’ll know.” Miller’s on the side of humanity, not the belters, or the inners, but all of them.
“See you then, Welwalla.”
Miller scoffed to himself. To the rest of the station, he was a senior member of Star Helix Security on detached assignment. He answered directly to the bosses on Earth. He was the ultimate traitor to his people. That was true, from a certain point of view, in that his superiors were on Earth. However, were not part of the UN, and certainly were not some two-bit security corporation. They were dedicated to the continuing survival of humanity. Miller walked away, toward a noodle shop nearby. As he sat down to lunch, his comm buzzed. He flipped the top and a message popped up:
Farnsworth V 5.3
Delayed Delivery Message
From: Agent Julie Mao.
A video appeared, of Julie sitting at her desk.
“Miller, if you’re getting this, then I’m in trouble and I screwed up. Pass this along to Ms. Donovan and tell her I’m sorry.”
As Miller listened, he started frowning. His bowl of noodles sat uneaten. This was not good, at all.
Eurekan Space Ship (ESS) Henry Deacon
En Route to Earth
“Ship’s Log, ESS Deacon, Captain James Holden commanding. We are presently undercover as the Beratnas Gas Freighter Rocinante. Our current mission is to escort an Artifact from Vesta back to the Warehouse. Systems are functioning at 98% efficiency, and we expect to arrive at Home Plate in five days at present speed. End Log.”
Holden turned to his pilot and executive officer. Lieutenant Commander Alex Kamal, “All good, Alex?”
Alex nodded, “Smooth sailing, Boss. Slow as molasses in January, but smooth.”
“You know the drill; no speed runs inside of the Asteroid Belt unless it’s an emergency.”
“I know, stealth and all that, but seriously, we have the fastest beauty out here; just once I’d like to see what she can do.”
Holden tapped Alex on the shoulder, “tell you what, after we do this milk run, I’ll get us cleared out to Eris for a bit. Then we can see what these new inertial compensators can take.”
“Sounds sweet, Boss.”
“I’m going to get some coffee, I’ll be back.”
“Bring me back a cup, would you?”
Holden nodded and climbed down from the cockpit and past the empty Operations Deck. He stepped to the hatch and pressed the call button. A moment later, the hatch opened, and there was an anti-grav pad waiting. He stepped on the pad and announced, “Galley.”
The pad slowly descended through the ship until he reached the galley. There, he found his tactical officer, Lieutenant Roberta “Bobbie” Draper nursing her own cup of coffee. The Samoan moved to stand as he approached. Holden waved her back down.
“Good morning, Lieutenant.”
“Sir.” Bobbie turned back to system’s daily news feed on her handled
As he put a pod in the coffee maker, he asked, “How is our package?”
The New Zealander powerful shoulders shrugged, “Contained. What is it exactly?”
Holden chuckled a bit, “Neil Armstrong’s Left Sock according to the manifest.”
“Just the left?”
“Warehouse has the right one. No idea how it ended out at Vesta.”
“Properties?”
“Lunar gravity projection.”
Bobbie shook her head, her straight black hair swaying from side as she did “Lovely. A sock that makes you bunny hop like you’re on Luna.”
Holden corrected, “Or, depending on what rock you’re on, puts lead in your boots.”
Holden pulled his coffee cup out of the maker and inhaled deeply. He took a moment to admire the steam coming off the liquid surface. As he was about to take a sip, the comm chimed.
“Flight Deck to Holden: Captain, you and Bobbie better get up here, we got a message from home.”
Holden walked back over and pushed the call button twice, summoning two anti-grav pads to take him and Bobbie back to the Ops Deck. Alex had stepped away from his pilot seat and was standing at the conference table/tactical plot in the center of the deck.
Holden asked, “What is it?”
Alex gestured at the plot, “See for yourself.”
Holden pulled up the tight-beam text message. It was mostly verification codes for the Deacon’s onboard computer, with one word, “Fastball.”
Bobbie shook her head, “We’re already on our way home, what could be so urgent to get us back there now?”
Alex waved his hand at the message on the table, “Or so secretive? Sending a one-word recall code under our tightest encryption is not exactly standard, it’s not even like anyone can break our lesser stuff.”
Holden nodded, “Well, we’ll find out soon enough. Alex, charge the FTL and get us docking coordinates, Bobbie, get the Landing Field on the line and get strapped in.”
While Faster-than-Light travel was not exactly a daily occurrence on the Deacon, it happened on a regular basis. One of the successes of the failed Astreaus mission to Titan at the turn of the 21st century had been the development of an FTL drive that allowed for near instantaneous travel within Sol’s heliopause.
While the theoretical limit of the drive was measured in light-years, it had never been used outside the solar system. Over the past few years, Eureka had used the Deacon and her sister ship, the Douglas Fargo, to release a series of experimental FTL communication buoys at the edge of the system. In short, these experiments were making sure future missions could call home in a timely fashion.
Holden shook his head, sat in his chair on the Operations Deck, and strapped in, He connected his sub-dermal commlink to the external system, as Bobbie came over the comm, “Sir, I have the Catcher’s Mitt on the line.”
Holden addressed the control tower about two AU away, “Catcher’s Mitt, this is Deacon, ready for a fastball.”
“Deacon, this is Catcher’s Mitt 01 we are ready to receive on your count.”
Holden replied, “Acknowledged, Catcher’s Mitt, Alex, at your discretion.”
Alex’s voice came over the comm, “Coordinates set, thrusters secured, and drive charged. Here comes the goo. Oh, by the way, you owe me a coffee, Jim.”
Holden rolled his eyes, “It’s free, Kamal.”
Eureka’s own blend of G-Juice was based on almost 250 years of studying FTL g-stress. While the inertial compensators on the Deacon kept force from going above 6.3g on even the most extreme sub-light maneuvers, it was still possible for a crew to blackout from the stress of FTL travel. The ‘Goo’ prevented that from happening. Holden felt the mild tingling sensation of it coursing into his veins.
“Uh, huh, Captain, jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”
For a moment, Holden felt like he was being shoved through a straw, and then, he blinked, and they were home.
Landing Field 01
Eureka Space Port
The City-State of Eureka (Oregon)
Holden unstrapped himself and walked to the anti-grav lift. He took it to the level below the command deck, where the gantry was rolling out an umbilical to the airlock. As it attached, he was joined by his crew. Bobbie handed him a briefcase containing the artifact that he had retrieved from the Cargo Hold. Holden opened the airlock and was greeted by the Landing Supervisor.
“Sorry, folks, short turn around today. Captain Holden, the Sheriff is waiting downstairs to take you to GD. Commander, Lieutenant, I don’t even think you’ll have time to stop off at Café Diem, but if you want to grab some sun on the port while we’re refueling and replenishing, feel free.” He gestured down to some pallets of supplies being loaded into the cargo bay, and what looked like a science module being traded out for most of the Deacon’s extended machine shop.
Holden nodded and walked through the umbilical to the launch pad. He got in the elevator and took it down to ground level. As he did, he noticed the ground crew quickly removing Deacon’s gas freighter disguise as the paint rippled into the grey and white of the City-State of Eureka Space Service. Wherever his ship was going, apparently the powers that be felt it did not need a cover identity. Holden took a moment to breath in the natural air of Earth, albeit mixed with the smells of fuel and ozone from the spaceport’s support systems.
Building the port outside allowed for the Deacon and her sister ship to take off and land without FTL use if necessary. While Eureka had multiple underground drydocks based on the original Astraeus berth, the port was more economical for standard departures and arrivals.
At ground level he was met by the tan and gold of the City-State of Eureka’s Sheriff. While most vehicles in Eureka were anti-grav, the sheriff’s vehicle remained a four-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee. Supposedly it was for reliability and authenticity, but Holden’s sneaking suspicion was that it was due to the expense of it being totaled on an almost monthly basis. He hopped in the passenger side and buckled the seatbelt.
“Good Morning, Captain.”
Holden looked over at Eureka’s Longest Serving Sheriff as he climbed in, “Is it morning, Sheriff?”
“It is indeed, 0930 Eureka Standard Time.”
“Great, you know this interrupted my morning coffee, right?”
Andy handed him a biodegradable coffee cup, “Got you a Vincespresso.”
As they took off, sirens blaring toward town, Holden commented, “Andy, you are a lifesaver.”
Andy nodded, “3.5 million at last count.”
“Is that individual or does that count duplicates from multiple catastrophes?”
“Individual. Considering the number of times, the City-State has been in danger, the actual-”
Holden held up his hand, “I get the point, how are SARAH and the kids?”
“SARAH is good, she misses having you around the house. The kids are well, but raising artificial intelligences can be a bit, nerve-wracking.”
Holden shrugged slightly, “I hear that is most parenting.”
They quickly drove down Main Street and through to Global Dynamics.
“Do you know what is going on or what I am supposed to do with this,” Holden asked, gesturing to the briefcase.
“I don’t know what is going on, but I do know that they’ve called in the entire Triumvirate, so you’ll be able to hand that off directly to Ms. Donovan.”
As they pulled through the already open security gate and parked at the main entrance, Holden commented, “I don’t know if that’s reassuring.”
Sheriff Andy and Holden quickly badged their way through GD security and walked through the atrium to the Director’s Office. Holden gulped slightly at the thought of facing all three Triumvirs at once.
Eureka was ruled by a Board of Regents. Three regents were elected for two-year terms with a two-term limit. One was elected for a four-year term as Mayor, with a two-term limit.
However, the remaining three seats were another story.
One was occupied by the Warehouse Caretaker, Ms. Claudia Donovan. Thanks to the power of the Warehouse’s relationship with its Caretaker, she had served in that position since the mid-21st century.
Two were ‘lifetime’ appointments made by Dr. Trevor Grant, the owner of Global Dynamics in his will. Lifetime was relative in Eureka though.
The Director of Administration was Ms. Eva Thorne, a lab assistant, turned corporate efficiency expert, turned diplomat/trade minister/treasurer. Thanks to a substance simply known as Element X and a botched experiment during World War II, she had not aged a day since the 1940s.
The Director of Science was Dr. Holly Marten, an astronomer, with a photonic processer for a brain, who could reprint her body at will.
Because of their positions, the last three were the ‘commanders-in-chief’ of the Eurekan Space Service. Holden’s reporting structure changed based on the assignment. Amazingly, it worked.
He had never met with all three at once though. Holden and Andy walked into the Director of Science’s office off the atrium. Inside, Dr. Marten was sitting behind her desk, while Ms. Thorne was standing behind her. Ms. Donovan was sitting on the couch, looking through a report. Ms. Thorne greeted them, “Captain Holden, Sheriff Andy, good to see you.”
Holden handed her the briefcase, Ms. Donovan smiled and sarcastically commented, “Ooh, a sock, finally I have a matched pair.”
Thorne winced slightly, hundreds of years and Claudia’s enthusiasm still rubbed her the wrong way, “Thank you for coming back so quickly, Jim.”
“Yes, Ma’am, but no one has told me what is going on.”
Ms. Donovan answered the implied question, “Two hours ago, a message was related to us by Joe Miller, a Warehouse Agent on Ceres station. The message was from the other Warehouse Agent on Ceres, Julie Mao.”
Ms. Donovan waved over to a viewing screen, which played the message, “Miller, if you’re getting this, then I’m in trouble and I screwed up. Pass this along to Ms. Donovan and tell her I’m sorry. About three weeks ago, I picked up chatter about a new bioweapon being developed on Phoebe, something game changing, something that could wreck the balance of power in the system. However, the chatter didn’t point to an artifact, so it’s outside of our mandate. But, with Phoebe being involved, my head is telling me that my father must be involved, and that can’t be good.
“I’ve rented a freighter, the Scopuli, to take me to intercept the bioweapon, as it’s being moved, I’m not sure where, possibly for testing.” Julie shook her head and smiled a bit, “Don’t worry, I used my own account, not the expense account. If you’re receiving this message, then I’ve missed a check in. All my data is on my terminal in my apartment. I hope you and the Warehouse can put it to some good.”
Julie gave a watery smile, “Joe, don’t come looking for me, don’t let Ms. Donovan go looking for me, this is something that we can’t risk the Warehouse for, we can’t risk what we do. Joe, I…I’m sorry.”
The message ended, Ms. Donovan picked up the briefing, “Obviously we’re going after her. The Fargo is scouring the space-lanes between Ceres, Pheobe, and Eros, but all three are on opposite ends of the system this time of year, so it’s going to take a while.” Ms. Donovan flicked a 3-D map of the solar system up in the room to demonstrate this.
Andy asked, “Her terminal?”
Ms. Donovan shook her head, “The one in her apartment was wrecked before Agent Miller got there. He’s trying, but it’s going to take some time, and some…gumshoe work.”
Holden commented. “The Deacon can obviously join the search, but I’m not sure why you called us back here to discuss it.”
James Holden had known Holly Marten his entire life. When he was younger, she was his babysitter. She was best friends with his family’s house. She was always chipper and happy, bit of a talker. Yet today, she had said nothing. Until now, “We got an Article Twelve request.”
The Epstein Accords were the bilateral treaty between Earth and Mars which affirmed Martian independence. The Accords were negotiated by Eureka, in their perpetual role as a neutral party to solar system politics. Article Twelve covered the jurisdiction and authority of Eureka and the Warehouse. This included, “The City-State of Eureka shall maintain primary jurisdiction over all matters of extra solar affairs and items beyond human understanding.”
“An hour after we got the message from Ceres, Captain Theresa Yao of the MCRN Donnager contacted us with a disturbing report of a disaster at a research station on Phoebe. Caused by unknown means.”
Holden’s eyebrows rose as his eyes widened, “Which means whatever Agent Mao was after, is under our jurisdiction.”
Thorne nodded, “Presumably. Jim, understand this, in 128 years, the Martians have never filed an Article Twelve request before. In every case of artifact retrieval, we’ve had to assert jurisdiction. Whatever is on Phoebe has scared them, or at least Captain Yao into doing the right thing.” Eva sounded scared. Holden had known her for most of his life. Eva was Holden’s many times great aunt. When Holden’s father, a resident of Eureka had met his mother on a UN inspection tour of the Midwest, she had no idea that she had a distant ancestor living in Eureka. It was surprising to say the least.
Dr. Marten continued, “Phoebe is officially believed to have come from the Kuiper Belt. However, recent theories, backed up by the Columbus Archive here in Eureka, suggest it could be from much further away. This could be an extra-solar incident!” Now Holly was sounding excited.
Thorne cleared her throat while Ms. Donovan smiled indulgingly before Holly continued, “The Deacon will escort Sheriff Andy and myself to Phoebe to investigate the Article Twelve request and Agent Mao’s disappearance. We are ready to leave now.”
Ms. Donovan jumped in before they could leave, “Captain, Agent Mao’s father is Jules-Pierre Mao, the sole owner of Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile. If he is somehow involved, he is dangerous.”
Thorne added her thoughts too, “It also means that both Earth and Mars were doing something on Phoebe, something dangerous, without us.”
Holly stood, “We’ll figure it out though!”
She almost skipped out the door, Holden and Andy following close behind.