No, not a device.
“A weapon,” I say, the pieces finally coming together. Probably brought on board by CitiFutura crew themselves when they loaded the Verux equipment for Mira, thinking they were doing a competitor a favor. And possibly showing off a little. At that point, Verux was still struggling to build anything that could compete with a CitiFutura ship. Investors were speculating that Verux would have to hire out to CF for transportation of goods and materials and colonists for their colonies and outposts.
“The MAW 500X was a discovery, an invention,” Max corrects, sounding defensive. “One that had multiple applications for crowd control, safety, and security.”
And driving people insane, it seems.
I look over at Kane, curled up in a ball on the floor. I can picture Lourdes, Voller, and Nysus on the level below, quiet and still and dead beneath their tightly wrapped sheet-shrouds.
The hundreds of bodies on this ship and the escape pods that had managed to jettison successfully, spending their last moments in terror, freezing and gasping for air. Others, dying by the hand of a fellow passenger for reasons they couldn’t understand. Or, tormented by visions of the living and the dead until they saw no further hope in existing and ended their own lives.
Rage bubbles under my ribs, boiling up until I can taste its bitter acid in the back of my throat.
“Once the influencers on theAurorawere done complaining, no one would ever want to board another CitiFutura ship again,” Max says, as if that explains everything.
And it does, in a way. Without the CitiFutura threat of luxury living in space, the Verux-sponsored version of the future—habs and planet-side—would be safe.
“Verux killed to protect their profits,” I say flatly. A statement, not a question. “Just like they held off on sending those air filters to Ferris Outpost.” More deaths on their heads.
Max makes an impatient noise. “That was just business. Someone always has to be evaluating the bottom line. It’s not personal. Ferris should have been fine for a few more weeks. You know that. They’d gone longer than that before.”
“And that makes it better?” My face is growing hot inside my helmet. “I’m sure the people of Ferris don’t think so. Oh, wait, they’re all dead. Just like the people on this ship.” Fury makes my voice shake, and I hate that it sounds like weakness.
Max tsks at me. “I told you, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. CitiFutura changed the damn specs. They used a new alloy formulation in the hull and supports. That was kept under lock and key. No one knew about it. And we had no idea that the vibrations would be intensified because of it.”
“You killed them all,” I say softly.
Reed moves to stand in front of me, his face gone gray and sweaty inside his helmet. “What is he saying?” he repeats.
I turn away from him.
“Look, our man on the inside, he tried to stop it,” Max says. “But the captain, she took the ship off course, we don’t know why.”
Trying to run in the only way she knew how in her confused state of mind? Attempting to escape what turned out to be inescapable. Maybe. “Or maybe your man on the inside was following orders and hiding what you’d done when everything went to shit.”
Their man. I flash to the memory of the first officer with thegunshot wound to his temple and the orange earplugs in his ears. Cage Wallace. That’s why. He knew what was happening.
“We found him. He killed himself,” I say to Max. Whether because of the effects of the weapon he himself activated or because of the guilt, once he saw what he’d done.
“Tell him to let us out,” Reed insists loudly behind me. “Now.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Max says. “What’s done is done. And trust me when I tell you this is not how I wanted to end things.” He sighs. “You were my best success story. Verux victim to Verux employee. Do you know the type of spin it takes to carry that off?”
I’ve always known that Verux’s motives for providing for me were somewhat self-protective in origin. But hearing exactly how selfish—how proud he was of what he’d done—makes my gorge rise.
It doesn’t take me long to assemble the rest.
“You’re going to destroy theAurora,” I say. “With us on board.”
Reed makes a noise, something between a cough and a choked gasp.
“No,” Max says. “You’re going to do it. At least that’s how it’ll look. Engine explosion. Suffering from ill effects of your traumatic experience and secretly going off your medication…”
I recoil. He knew all along. I played right into his hands. And he let me. I’m sure there will be all kinds of documentation of the pill stash I left behind on theAresif there hasn’t been already.
“You were lost in your own delusions. You slipped your guard before we could retrieve more than a few bodies and personal effects from the dead. Who, by the way, died due to malfunctioning carbon dioxide sensors. Nothing so complicated or sinister as what you described when you were rescued. Simply not enough good air.” Max sounds pleased with himself.
And he’s right to. It’s far more believable than the truth. Shit goes wrong all the time out here. And it’s rarely, if ever, due to a deliberate act of malice.
