Onekka - The Tragedy of Jaqui Fennet by Michael E Bell Read Free Book Online

Thus far, her dream companions had not
been deceitful or mistaken about anything. Jaq found herself wanting to ignore
the rational thoughts that battered against her mind like a bee against a
window. She wanted to believe them, if only because it made things simpler.

"You only need to remain true to your course, and all will be well. We are
here to help. You have done well, Jaqui. We are very proud."

She chuckled, an edge of hysteria present in her head. "I have a few hours
of freedom left, then I'll be found with Garret's dead body, and I'll be placed
in suspended animation for the next hundred years."

"You have less than that - we have kept you here until your mobility
returns - but we will help you, Jaqui. You know what must be done. Let us
begin."

Their forms diminished into nothing and her awareness tumbled into a chasm of
confusion.

*

Jaq came to, and everything was a haze. She was back in Garret's office, and
it was dark as death, but everything was visible enough to navigate. Her body
felt stuffed with lethargy, but she was able to move all her parts with a
little effort.

As soon as she wiggled things, she felt herself drift. The ai gravity was off.
Of course! Witching Hour was long finished. The only internal systems currently
active were core life support and the backup generators, which remained in a
state of readiness at all times.

Jaq floated into the centre of the room and looked back at Garret's body. It
didn't seem strange that she could see well enough, or even that the room was
bearable in temperature when it should have been near freezing - kept at a
warmth high enough only to avoid overnight damage. Even the lack of pain from
her wound seemed appropriate. These things she simply accepted, whilst
acknowledging internally that they should bother her.

She had a job to do, and a harsh time limit.

As she neared the ceiling, she pushed from it, sending herself down to the
desk. Jaq sent a brief thanks into the ether that part of Onekka's induction
course was an introduction to zero gravity navigation. The desk drawer opened
without resistance, revealing several empty sweet packets, a plastic pass-key,
and a slip of paper with an apparently random collection of symbols and numbers
scribbled on it. As she pocketed the key and paper, along with an empty plastic
bag, Jaq felt a loose object shift beneath the rubbish in the bottom of the
drawer. Plunging her hand in, she grabbed something solid with a handle, and
pulled out a chunky pistol.

That caused her to pause for a moment. The weapon was large calibre - fifteen
millimetres, if she was any guess - and that meant ammunition beyond standard
ballistics. Not to mention, such weapons were strictly prohibited on Onekka. In
an environment where even the tiniest hole could grow to compromise entire
sections of the station, even the security forces packed non-damaging hardware.

Jaq slipped the weapon into her belt, unsure what else to do, and checked the
bottom drawer. Sure enough, wrapped in a canvas bag, she found two boxes of
15mm High Explosive bullets. Garret was a complete lunatic! She transferred the
gun to the bag and tightened it shut before fixing it to herself. Only the
insane carried such a weapon on a space station, but she was rapidly
re-evaluating her own mental qualifications.

A small part of her mind was zipping back and forth in a rage, urgently trying
to get her attention, but she knew that was a bad idea. At this time, she
needed to accept this calmness, and the strangeness of the situation. It was
her only chance at getting clear of this.

Taking a deep breath, she launched herself across the office to Garret's body.
The Sector 5 door had every type of security lock one could imagine. She had
the key and what she thought was a password, but there were two more devices
that she needed to beat, assuming even Garret had appropriate access. His knife
- the one he'd used to stab her - was drifting near the floor next to his
corpse.

Jaq