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~~Mr.Mike.~~ · (This post was last modified: 02-27-2018, 06:19 AM by Mr.Mike..)

Part 3

Alaska system, 823 A.S. 10 days after attack. Juneau shipyard.

Michael was in the engineering compartment. No one is near. Not a soul. There was a deathly silence. He began to walk toward cargo hold. And then a scrape was heard. Just a meter from Michael, behind him. Michael took the blaster out of its holster and turned abruptly. But nothing happened. The scrape began to move away. Michael, holding his weapons at the ready, followed the sound, hoping to find his source. Sound abruptly stopped. Maybe it's just some kind of breaking? The scrape was heard again behind Michael's back. This time, almost at close range. Michael again turned sharply. Somebody grabbed by the throat, blaster fell. Michael began to fight back, but an unknown person nailed him to the wall and held it. The attacker opened his mouth, from there something began to climb...

And then Michael woke up in his cabin. The front door was closed, but Michael reached for the holster in which the blaster was. He pressed the flashlight on the blaster and checked his cabin. Nothing. Just a bad dream... Apparently, after him was told how the whole cruisers was gone, his fantasy decided to come up with exactly how the infected infects others. Michael lay down again, but did not fall asleep. He put on his uniform and went to the captain's bridge.

On the bridge was only Barney. He sat on the windowsill and looked at the patrol ships passing by.

After that murder case, the checks on Hampshire did not stop. Always set time when everyone had to take their cabins. After test began. In some cases, nothing was noticed. Two nights the crew spent in insomnia from endless firing in the engineering and weapons compartments. Agents tried to check places where the infected person was most often noticed, but unsuccessfully: this person knew where they would go next time.

"Can not you sleep, too?" - Asked Michael. Barney winced, jumped off the window sill and pretended, as if he had not even been sitting here.
"Damn, you scared, sir!" - He was indignant. - "I really thought it was..."
"Infected?"
"Aha... Do you have dreams too, I suppose?"
"Yes", - Answered Michael and sat down in his captain's chair. - "I still can not take it into my head: why did he attack those guys? Could just hide and wait until everyone is gone."
"Perhaps he wanted to carry infection to shipyard. But, something went wrong and the shootout started. Or he was just detected and Liberty Security guys opened fire, and he began to defend himself. But who knows these infected? Maybe they have a priority target: to kill any person whom they detected", - With these words, Barney climbed back onto the windowsill and again began to look at the patrol ships. - "There are many possible options. The problem is that with these assumptions we do not even know where this reptile is now."
Michael sighed. He had a feeling that he lost his way in three pines. More precisely not only he, but his entire crew of 69 people. He was still trying to understand where this infected person could go and what his next step.

So an hour passed... Two... In the end, Barney and Michael did not sleep until the morning. Both thought about the infected. Barney had his own thoughts, he was worried about his brother Jason, who was the head of the engineering compartment. Michael was worried about the crew as a whole. Sometimes Michael and Barney exchanged glances, as if to check if one of them had gone.

They had a common thought: where is this infected now? For a long time they did not have to think.

Closer to noon, when life began to boil on the cruiser again, one of the agents ran up to Michael:
"Sir, we need you in the engineering compartment. Immediately."
"What happened?"
"The infected pilot was found", - All those who were in the command deck were silent. Everyone was waiting for something.
"Barney, you're with me", - Ordered Michael and rose abruptly from his chair.
"Yes, sir!"
"The rest - keep working!"

They went and went... Time for Michael stretched for eternity. Really - all? Finally, the crew will breathe a sigh of relief? What if Michael is already infected and does not suspect this? That dream was not spontaneous.
Maybe his fantasy really went too far, but it was fantasy? What if the infected person somehow created this dream in Michael's head?

Michael slightly panicked, as he knew nothing about the infected and about how this infection spreads, and what it does to a person. In short - he did not know anything. While he was trying to mentally answer his questions, he, Barney and the agent were in the engineering compartment, where they were already waiting for Alex and two other agents. It was a water purification unit, they stood between two generators.

Alex again obstructed the review. Seeing Michael, he said: "Well, look." Michael saw the body of the infected and this time did not turn away: there was not such a heap of blood and meat as last time. There was a lot of holes in the body from laser weapons. Three shots were also fired into the head. Part of the pilot's jacket (on the left hand) was burned, but skin was not touched: apparently, they tried to shoot, but bullets hit the jacket around the arm.
"Who kill him?" - Asked Michael.
"We do not know. We found him that way", - Answered Alex.
"Okay", - drawled Michael. - "How long have you found it?"
"Five minutes ago. At first we thought that it was someone from your crew, but we checked everything. We, too haven`t such person."
"The options? I mean, do you have any idea how he was killed?"
"I think it was somehow so: infected was noticed and given a line of shots at him. It is possible that all these shots fell on his left arm. Then this guy were driven here and made several shots in the body. Apparently, this did not stop him, and someone made three shots in his head", - Intervened Barney. - "Perhaps it was after the shots in the head that he died."
"If he died at all", - said Alex. All looked at one another and at the same time pointed the weapon at the infected. - "Michael, can you check?"
Michael got a little scared, but pulled himself together and asked for gloves. He was given them. He remembered his dream and decided to check that in the mouth of this creature. He spread the jaws of the deceased and said: "Barney, I need light here." Barney went to Michael, turned on the flashlight and aimed straight at the mouth of the infected.
"Do you see anything?"
"Uh, I do not know the anatomy very well, but there's some kind of extra thing out there. This is a second mouth... Damn it, it's moving!"

From the mouth of the infected there appeared some blue tentacle and snatched the weapon Barney from his hands and threw it aside. Alex immediately ran up and started shooting directly into his mouth. The tentacle tried to take and Alex weapon, but after a series of shots, it fell to the floor, sticking out of the mouth of the infected.

"Michael, I held this weapon in my hands!" - Screamed Barney in fright. - "And if it grabbed my hand? Would I be like that, too?"
"Calm down, do not be hysterical!" - Ask Michael. - "Alex, you're on time."
"Still with the service habit: nothing to wait, act right away", - Answered Alex, turned to two of his agents and said: "That's all in a special capsule and on our research lab too."

There were already four people in the interrogation room: Michael, Barney, John and Alex. There was no commander of the wing "Sunrise": he was somewhere in the Hudson system with his wing on the next patrol. Now Barney and Alex were standing in opposite corners, and Michael and John were all sitting at the table against each other. Next to John lay a small tape recorder, on which the whole interrogation was recorded.

"So you found the body of the infected in the engineering compartment, between two generators for water treatment."
"Yes, you right", - Answered Michael.
"And you indicated that there were a lot of holes in the human body from the laser rifle, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I have a question: why did not anyone hear the shots? You somehow complained to us that we make a lot of noise with our shooting in the engineering compartment."
"Well, firstly, I did not complain. I just pointed out the fact that you can damage something important on the cruiser. Secondly, generators for water treatment are very noisy. The walls have high sound insulation. I believe that the shooting took place indoors, and no one heard anything from behind the walls."
"Well, did you find out who killed that infected person?" - Asked John, turned to Alex.
"No, without result."
"Hence, we will consider the case closed..."
"Wait, and you will not even try to find out who killed that pilot?" - Asked Barney.
"Barney, the victim killed, the cruiser is safe. It's up to you to find out who killed the infected person. We fucking do not need this. We only care about the data, not the extra stuffed ones with the guns at the edge."
"I agree with Alex", - Said John. - "Information is important in our services, not weapons. You can find out for yourself, it's not our business. But if you find that person: give him a medal for courage and all that. We'll close the case. And this means that your cruiser will finish the repair here, and then again will patrol Liberty, where the high command will tell you. On this I have everything, thank you", - With these words, John turned off the recorder, stood up, opened the door and left the interrogation room. Alex followed him. In the room were only Barney and Michael.
"Somehow it does not fit", - Said Michael to Barney. - "How you think?"
"I also have something on my mind", - Answered Barney. - "Okay. Let's try to build and find the one who killed the infected man."

Barney also left the interrogation room. Only Michael remained. He did not understand: if a person killed this creature, then why did not he report everything to the captain at once? The charter states: any incident on the cruiser must be reported to higher of rank or to captain of ship. In the higher of rank was Jason, but he would not hide the information from Michael (especially so). So Jason too didn`t know about it. Be that as it may, the construction must open all the cards.

It was in the morning. Already 13 days have passed since the repair of the cruiser began. There was only one day left. Michael built all the crew cabins. The first thing was a roll call. All were in place. Barney held in his hand a box of medals for courage.

"Attention!" - Ordered Barney, but Michael said: "Freely. Gentlemens, I would like to inform you of three important news that brought me here: first, repair of our cruiser is almost complete, we will soon return under orders of Liberty's High Command. Secondly, infected pilot was killed two days ago in the engineering compartment, murder case was closed, so you can breathe a sigh of relief. And now the third one: the killer was never found. As I understand it, it is not the tsar's business to report this to senior officers on the incidents in their compartment. Be that as it may, who killed the infected, committed a feat, risking his life. I would like this man out of order so that I give him a medal for courage."

A minute passed, two... There was silence. Barney opened the magazine and looked at it: maybe that hero simply did not show up for the roll call? But no, the roll call shows that everything is here. Ten minutes passed, but no one moved.

Barney went to Michael and said in his ear: "It is necessary to finish, this is nonsense."
Michael nodded his head, closed the box with the medal and said: "Dismiss!" But no one moved. Barney had to intervene:
"You gave the order, do not you hear?!" - Only after these words the crew began to disperse on their business.

Why did not anyone fail? Roll call indicated that everything is here, which means that one of all 68 constructed killed that infected one. But why did not he come out? What kept him? So the whole crew thought. Michael twice tried to repeat this construction, but to no avail: no one ever left. And what if the pilot was not alone? No, this is some kind of nonsense. If the pilot were not alone, then agents would not leave here and case would not have been closed.

Whatever the case, the cruiser completed its repairs and came to life again, returning to patrolling the Liberty space. Everything was finished. At last...

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