Read Online Hearts Akilter by Catherine E. McLean - Free Book Online
Authors: Catherine E. McLean
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result…drinking too much alcohol.
It irked, but before transferring Deacon to a regular room in sickbay for a mandatory two-day rest, the CMO relied on two psych tests and a scheduled meeting with one of the station’s mental-health counselors. Yet, what elated Deacon most was as long as he didn’t try to leave sickbay, he could move about at will.
That night after lights out, Deacon lay in his hospital bed staring at the mottled ceiling. All this mandatory rest and he couldn’t sleep. No, what bothered him was the light spilling in from the hallway.
Out in the corridor beyond his doorway, the brilliant overhead lighting seemed brighter than a summer’s day. A second later, feet first, a man clad all in black, slipped down from his room’s ceiling air vent.
The assassin!
Terror sent Deacon reaching for the gamepad under his pillow to pull off the little welder-weapon Marlee had installed on it.
The assassin soundlessly stepped into the room’s darkest corner and made his way down the narrow room toward Deacon.
As Deacon gripped the little rodgun to pull it free of its moorings, the intruder said in a hoarse whisper, “Relax, Deacon, it’s me, Nick.”
For a second, shock replaced terror, then anger kindled. “Go away, you bastard.”
“Keep your voice down. We need to talk.”
Deacon lowered his voice. “I have nothing to say to you, you traitor.”
“Okay, okay, I made a mistake yesterday. I apologize.”
Commander Nicholas Asuka apologizing? The universe must have turned inside-out. Deacon let go of the little weapon and grabbed his bed’s controller, pushing the button, raising the top of the bed until he was sitting up.
Nick remained in the shadows.
“You know you could have come as a regular visitor. Why the clandestine black and dropping from the ceiling—and the whispering?”
“Visiting hours are over, and I couldn’t risk the hall monitors noting my presence. No one must know I’ve come to see you.”
“Why?”
“Forensics released the incident report on the accident that fried your arm. You were right. Insulation had been filed off a power node. Current discharged directly into a blasting cap, setting off the incendiary. Because the saboteur didn’t take off enough insulation, only one square ignited instead of all four, and you’re alive, not dead.”
“Yesterday, you accused me of deliberately tampering with it, insinuating I was acting out, crying for help because I was mentally unstable, dangerous to myself and others, and had me committed!”
“Would you use a polishing wheel to file insulation off a terminal?”
“What?”
“The lab found particles of the grit.”
“So an amateur mucked up, and now you’re willing to believe I’m not crazy?”
“There’s more. After reading the report, I admit I had second thoughts. I wanted to believe you. I went to your quarters and discovered three sensor bugs.”
“What? Where?”
“One on each exit.”
Which meant—
Deacon softly swore. “What were you thinking, Nick? Now my killer knows you were at my place.”
“Wrong. You know me. Always prepared. I considered that katachin incident of yours and brought along a few detectors. When I found the bugs on the doors, I neutralized them.”
That accounted for the two doors, two bugs.
“You said three bugs, Nick. Where was the third?”
“In the head. A vid-unit. It was aimed at the end of the counter where you keep your burn meds. The perp wanted to watch you poison yourself.”
What a disgusting thought.
“By the way, Deacon, while I was in your quarters, I went through your trash.”
“Why? What were you looking for?”
“Proof you weren’t drinking in excess.”
“I’m not an alcoholic.”
“JJ said you were hitting the sauce.”
“She’s lying!”
Although the darkness of the shadows hid Nick well, Deacon instinctively knew the man shrugged.
“Deacon, you said you met JJ a few times after you arrived on Kifel, the most recent was for
It irked, but before transferring Deacon to a regular room in sickbay for a mandatory two-day rest, the CMO relied on two psych tests and a scheduled meeting with one of the station’s mental-health counselors. Yet, what elated Deacon most was as long as he didn’t try to leave sickbay, he could move about at will.
That night after lights out, Deacon lay in his hospital bed staring at the mottled ceiling. All this mandatory rest and he couldn’t sleep. No, what bothered him was the light spilling in from the hallway.
Out in the corridor beyond his doorway, the brilliant overhead lighting seemed brighter than a summer’s day. A second later, feet first, a man clad all in black, slipped down from his room’s ceiling air vent.
The assassin!
Terror sent Deacon reaching for the gamepad under his pillow to pull off the little welder-weapon Marlee had installed on it.
The assassin soundlessly stepped into the room’s darkest corner and made his way down the narrow room toward Deacon.
As Deacon gripped the little rodgun to pull it free of its moorings, the intruder said in a hoarse whisper, “Relax, Deacon, it’s me, Nick.”
For a second, shock replaced terror, then anger kindled. “Go away, you bastard.”
“Keep your voice down. We need to talk.”
Deacon lowered his voice. “I have nothing to say to you, you traitor.”
“Okay, okay, I made a mistake yesterday. I apologize.”
Commander Nicholas Asuka apologizing? The universe must have turned inside-out. Deacon let go of the little weapon and grabbed his bed’s controller, pushing the button, raising the top of the bed until he was sitting up.
Nick remained in the shadows.
“You know you could have come as a regular visitor. Why the clandestine black and dropping from the ceiling—and the whispering?”
“Visiting hours are over, and I couldn’t risk the hall monitors noting my presence. No one must know I’ve come to see you.”
“Why?”
“Forensics released the incident report on the accident that fried your arm. You were right. Insulation had been filed off a power node. Current discharged directly into a blasting cap, setting off the incendiary. Because the saboteur didn’t take off enough insulation, only one square ignited instead of all four, and you’re alive, not dead.”
“Yesterday, you accused me of deliberately tampering with it, insinuating I was acting out, crying for help because I was mentally unstable, dangerous to myself and others, and had me committed!”
“Would you use a polishing wheel to file insulation off a terminal?”
“What?”
“The lab found particles of the grit.”
“So an amateur mucked up, and now you’re willing to believe I’m not crazy?”
“There’s more. After reading the report, I admit I had second thoughts. I wanted to believe you. I went to your quarters and discovered three sensor bugs.”
“What? Where?”
“One on each exit.”
Which meant—
Deacon softly swore. “What were you thinking, Nick? Now my killer knows you were at my place.”
“Wrong. You know me. Always prepared. I considered that katachin incident of yours and brought along a few detectors. When I found the bugs on the doors, I neutralized them.”
That accounted for the two doors, two bugs.
“You said three bugs, Nick. Where was the third?”
“In the head. A vid-unit. It was aimed at the end of the counter where you keep your burn meds. The perp wanted to watch you poison yourself.”
What a disgusting thought.
“By the way, Deacon, while I was in your quarters, I went through your trash.”
“Why? What were you looking for?”
“Proof you weren’t drinking in excess.”
“I’m not an alcoholic.”
“JJ said you were hitting the sauce.”
“She’s lying!”
Although the darkness of the shadows hid Nick well, Deacon instinctively knew the man shrugged.
“Deacon, you said you met JJ a few times after you arrived on Kifel, the most recent was for
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