The Silent Siege of Mars: Book Three of the Martian Sands Series

By Tom Chmielewski

When tug pilot Ed Ferald returned from his latest trip to Saturn, he brought back a group of researchers and an old friend to a heroes’ welcome on Mars. Ed didn’t know he also brought back a hidden, deadly menace, an alien pathogen discovered from Saturn's moon Enceladus, and brought back to Mars by Earth-based terrorists. T

• Language: English
• Publisher: TEC Publishing
• Release date: Dec 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9780578618326

Tom Chmielewski

A writer and editor who has worked on newspapers, magazines, websites, books, and ebooks, Chmielewski has nurtured a longtime interest in space travel and the science fiction stories that peer into the future of our exploration of the Solar System and beyond. He grew up with the space race and was on a Florida Beach to watch Apollo 11 launch for the moon. His freelance work includes science articles for The Atlantic and features for regional magazines. Chmielewski writes a blog about science, science fiction and whatever else comes to mind at MartianSands.com

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Return of The Titan 11 Plus Two

A LONE MAN skirted the edge of the crowd filling Mars’ Pathfinder Spaceport lobby. He ignored their signs reading Pardon the Titan 11 and Welcome Home Suzanne and Bernie. The man wore a cap to hold in place a wig of unkempt brown and gray hair, and sported a beard streaked with gray and in need of trimming. The man feigned sharing the crowd’s anticipation of the scientists’ appearance. He regretted wearing the wig because of its musty smell, but that smell persuaded people not to come too close. The man had used many names since leaving Earth. His accomplices on Mars knew him as Ryan.

The crowd cheered as the 11 researchers who returned to face criminal charges finally entered the lobby escorted by a security detail. Only the man apart from the crowd didn’t share the others’ joy of the researchers return. The officers in the detail tried to look stern, but they struck the man as appearing more embarrassed. Everyone expected the researchers to receive pardons.

With the crowd focused on the Titan 11, Ryan looked elsewhere until he spotted his target. Ed Ferald, leaning against a support post, hands in his pockets, watched the commotion play out. The man adjusted his earpiece to pick up his voice.

Of all my landings on Mars, Peter, this must be the strangest.

The Cydonia Zach’s pilot surveyed the crowd as OSAR security guided the prisoners he brought back from Titan through the lobby. The crowd renewed their cheers, with some in the crowd adding scattered half-hearted boos for the security detail mixed with good-natured laughter. Everyone in the crowd and apparently the OSAR guards as well knew this was all for show. The officers quick-stepped the Titan 11 to the east side of the lobby, its large glass panes letting the sunrise brighten the spaceport terminal.

Maybe the security detail thought it was all for show, but it was clear other OSAR guards around the lobby was taking the threat of a terror strike seriously. Ryan considered making the attack at Pathfinder as the Titan 11 came through the lobby, but decided the chances of success were slim, and the impact too easily isolated. His plan was more precise, and, he believed, ultimately more persuasive.

He recognized the officer standing next to Ferald as Capt. Peter Lenowitz. The head of the Criminal Investigation Division of Orbital Search and Rescue — the man estimated the captain to be in his mid-40s — looked on with sour bemusement at the scene. Speaking in an Eastern European accent, he agreed with the tug pilot. It is rare for scientists and researchers to return from a far-off science station to a heroes’ welcome.

It’s not the manner of welcome you preferred, is it?

"This is not my preference, no. People cannot decide the law is inconvenient for them and ignore it. There was no need for the researchers to cover up the biologic cause for the Rings of Fire crash."

"They panicked, Peter. The Earth First movement was gaining strength and there was already talk of shutting down Saturn Station back then. Those Titan labs comprise the farthest outpost from Earth. The researchers only had themselves to consider what they should do after the Rings crashed. They made a bad choice and we’re stuck with it."

They broke the law and handcuffed us with the results.

The crowd began changing Pardon, Pardon, as the security ushered the 11 onto the waiting train.

Your officers aren’t giving them much time to enjoy the cheers, the way they’re hustling them off.

The Titan 11 will receive time later to bask in the public spotlight, but that will not come until after their appearance in court. They will plead guilty to obstructing the crash investigation and perhaps not expect the severe sentences the judge hands out.

Wait a minute, Peter. Are they facing a double-cross?

Lenowitz smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. No, my friend, they will not be double-crossed. But they must play their part in a carefully choreographed legal dance that climaxes with Governor Levann entering the courtroom to announce pardons for all. The courtroom erupts in cheers.

Are the cheers part of the legal choreography?

No, but no doubt the crowd will cheer.

The crowd in the spaceport lobby thinned as the train with the Titan 11 and their security detail left the station. Their short trip across the Martian desert would take them to Tiu City beneath the remnants of the morning’s blue sunrise fading into a peach-colored sky. But many stayed behind to circle a small cadre of reporters asking questions of Dr. Bernard Latas and the pilot who, unknown to the public, stayed in quarantine on Titan for more than 15 Earth years, Suzanne Syeira.

Lenowitz and Ferald turned to leave the lobby and walk toward a restricted section of the terminal. The crowd took no notice of them leaving, but the man noticed.

Come, Ed. Let us get away from this swarm of Titan admirers. I have something important I need to discu… but the conversation dissolved into static. Ryan scowled, tapping his earpiece to regain their conversation. It was a futile reflex, leaving him wondering if the important discussion included him and his plans.

He took a risk being there. Ryan hoped the beard he grew and the wig he wore would be all the disguise he needed in a crowd that directed all its attention on the Titan 11 plus Two, the latter being Syeira and Latas. The man was certain OSAR had stepped up its investigation, but they were too late. Nearly everything was in place. Yet he wanted to size up Ed Ferald before the main event began.

He turned down the volume of his earpiece. The conversation he picked up from a distance revealed more about Lenowitz and his disdain for the Titan 11 receiving pardons. It relieved the man to know not everyone thought of the 11 as heroes.

Ferald, however, was sympathetic to the researchers’ principles, no matter the danger those principles could lead to on Earth. Ferald, clean-cut and somewhere in his thirties in Earth years, didn’t look dangerous. But lately the pilot had a habit of showing up in the wrong place at the right time.

Not this time, Ryan pledged to himself. If you show up at the wrong place, it will be the wrong time for you.

IT LOOKED LIKE Mars News reporters and Earth correspondents cornered Bernie and Suzanne, Ed said as they entered the restricted area. Doesn’t he need to go to court to sign some papers before he’s officially released?

No. Dr. Latas has served his time. He is a free man.

How come the governor never granted him a pardon? I asked Bernie about it on the return trip, but he never explained.

The governor did offer Bernie a pardon, but the doctor refused to accept it.

Bernie refused? Why?

Bernie requested me to tell you after you landed, but he asked for you to keep this in confidence. He felt honor bound not to remove his conviction. Since Dr. Latas knew Syeira survived but kept her survival a secret that first day, Bernie accepted responsibility for the coverup ever taking place. Even though he refused the pardon, the judge saw it as poetic justice to commute his sentence to time already served in quarantine.

That wasn’t a quarantine. That was a honeymoon.

"I agree with you, but it was his work during the 15 years since the Rings’ crash that earned him the early release. And there’s more work to do on finding a vaccine against this pathogen from Enceladus, the Maniae Prion as it’s now named. Despite this prion carried aloft on a geyser and escaping from the Rings’ holding tank, we were lucky. If the pathogen should escape Titan’s labs and reach Mars or even Ceres, its spread would be disastrous."

Security for those labs is tight, but I see your point. It’s better to keep Bernie working to discover that vaccine rather than put him behind bars.

And we must do the same for the Titan 11, despite my distaste for the idea.

"I thought after today, the Rings of Fire story would finally end."

I wish it were so, but this case seems destined for a complicated ending.

When they reached OSAR offices and control center, Lenowitz stopped outside a conference room. We can talk in here.

The two barely sat down around a small table when a JAG officer stepped in to join them, surprising Ed. Captain, is this an official conversation?

I’m afraid it is, Ed.

Should I be calling a lawyer?

You have that right. You also have the right to remain silent. Anything you…

… say can and will be used against me. If I can’t afford a lawyer, blah, blah. I remember how it goes, Peter. What’s this about?

The JAG officer spoke up. Do you waive your right to have an attorney present?

I’ll decide when I hear the question.

The JAG officer was about to say something, but Lenowitz stopped him with a subtle wave of his hand. It is all right, Lieutenant. Ed, I do not mean to ambush you on this. In fact, I wanted to get you away from the reporters without any of them seeing us leave the lobby. This will not take long. My questions are simple.

But the answers may not be, is that it?

Possibly. Do you know if Carl Chubeck funded research into the alien pathogen?

Sure he did. But that’s already on the record. Now we know how some of the money was used. Back then it was just another research foundation he helped fund.

Do you know if he provided funds not recorded on the public record?

If he did, my uncle didn’t tell me.

Do you know if Chubeck placed any conditions for receiving those funds?

Conditions?

Requiring confidentiality.

Such as demanding secrecy about the coverup and the Maniae Prion before receiving funds?

Yes.

Can’t help you. I don’t know. I didn’t know there was a pathogen back then, or that Syeira was alive.

"You knew when you returned from the Zach’s first trip to Titan. Did you ask your uncle about it then?"

No. There didn’t seem much point to asking him.

But you suspect that’s what Chubeck did, isn’t that right?

I admit it’s possible, but if my uncle has kept that secret this long, I can’t imagine him telling me now.

Lenowitz studied Ed’s face for several seconds before nodding to the JAG officer. The officer, he never said his name, left the room, closing the door behind him.

That’s it? No more questions?

You gave me what I needed. Lenowitz leaned back in his chair and sighed. You asked when we started what the interrogation was about. I have yet to give you an answer.

"I think your questions made the answer clear, Peter. When I flew my first trip to Titan on the Zach, we heard persistent rumors that someone had something on me to use as blackmail. The day I returned, you asked me about the rumors. I told you the truth, then. I had no idea."

And now?

Someone may have something on my uncle, and you suspected that would be enough to keep me quiet.

We have uncovered evidence to suggest that.

I told you the truth, Peter. I don’t know. Why are you bringing it up now? You could have asked me about this months ago.

Months ago we were still investigating those responsible for the crash. They were our prime targets.

Now you’re tying up loose ends.

No. We uncovered new threads hinting at more dangerous threats than tripping over loose ends. Those loose ends must wait. But as we pull at those threads, we uncovered more rumors, suspicious trends, and convenient coincidences. These rumors and trends have grown since news of the pathogen became public. They suggest new dangers for us on Mars.

That doesn’t sound good. Ed leaned forward, setting his arms on the conference table. What kind of dangers?

"A backlash of some sort. I am sure you heard of political rumblings from Earth, even talk of a quarantine. But these new rumors are worse.

In what way?

A threat, a physical threat to our very existence on Mars, linked to unknown radical eco-terrorist groups, unknown but easy enough to guess. What evidence we have is tantalizing, but not enough to act upon. Not yet.

Peter, I’ve never known you to take the word of those groups seriously.

Their words convince me of nothing. But when money talks, I listen. And their money is having some very intriguing conversations off Earth. We have yet to trace the source, nor who’s spending it out here.

Why are you telling me?

Because these rumors began appearing, and the money flow increased, soon after 4th Orbit announced it was developing the Averink Drive. The commander agreed I should tell you this much.

You’re saying 4th Orbit and, I imagine, the new spin-off company, Argo Navis, are the targets if the rumors prove true?

I am afraid the rumors are not that specific and we have found little substantiation to verify what we heard so far. I can tell you nothing more, at present.

Just when you reach the good part. I trust you’ll let me know if you discover something heading my way.

I will warn you if I can. But I may also need your help to confirm or discredit these rumors. That is why I needed your answers on the record, to give you legal credibility.

I could be lying.

Then you would have just committed a crime, an action which is not part of your well-established reputation.

OK then, how can I help?

Listening to rumors and loose talk you hear on the docks, at the Wahoo! or elsewhere. If the rumors we have heard so far are even partly true, we could be in grave danger. I must leave it at that.

I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for you and let you know if I hear anything. But I better get going. Both men stood and Ed turned to leave. I’m supposed to meet up with Faizah at my place.

She will not be there, Lenowitz said.

Ed pivoted to face the captain. What do you mean?

At about the time that legal dance for the benefit of the Titan 11 plays out in the main courtroom, Faizah will be in a smaller court on the second floor answering questions before a grand jury.

RYAN HADN’T EXPECTED to learn much eavesdropping on Ferald and Lenowitz. He learned enough, however, to affirm his belief the pilot was a threat to his plans. Ferald didn’t hide his immunity to the Maniae Prion, but Ryan had other ways to deal with him if situation opportunity arose. He didn’t worry about there being a need. An opportunity would be enough.

He got off the maglev at the downtown stop and walked back to the industrial district. Ryan varied where he caught and left the train in Tiu City to avoid OSAR security cameras pinning down his movements. He passed by the courthouse on his walk, not surprised that another crowd had gathered there to support the Titan 11.

Spotting Faizah Westerhof, however, surprised Ryan. She entered the courthouse through a side door, accompanied by someone he guessed was her lawyer. They weren’t attending the Titan 11’s court hearing. Ryan was certain of that. But he didn’t risk entering the building himself to find out what they were up to. He had other ways to find out.

A short walk later he entered an industrial building mostly empty except for two apartments on the second floor. They were hardly luxury living quarters, but they were private from casual observation. All entrances to the second floor remained locked.

Ryan entered the code to gain entrance to the floor and nearly collided with his co-conspirators about to leave. Jake, Perry, where are you two going?

Viking Glen, Jake answered. Perry got a tip that Westerhof’s been called before the grand jury.

This gives us a chance to set up in the empty house across the street, Perry said. Since we already have access to the place, we can listen in if she and Ferald discuss her testimony. If they do, we might use what we record to our advantage.

All right, go.

Ryan regretted giving his consent almost as soon as they rushed past him. But he planned to send the two there anyway to watch and listen as best they could on Westerhof and Ferald. Ryan intended to have them go to the empty adobe early tomorrow morning. They’d pose as workers to apparently refurbish the place, even though their toolbox and equipment could do nothing of the sort. But a chance to overhear the couple’s discussion about Westerhof’s testimony and what Lenowitz told Ferald was too good an opportunity to miss — provided no one caught them at it.

Ryan decided the risk was low and worth taking. He accepted the risks would only grow in the days ahead.

WHEN ED ARRIVED at the downtown Tiu City courthouse, a small crowd waited at the front entrance for the legal dance to reach its closing number. He bypassed the crowd, using the side entrance to escape recognition and took the back stairs to the second floor. Only a lawyer and OSAR security stood outside the courtroom. A lone maintenance tech was in a side hallway, programming a janitor bot. The smell of cleaning fluid and polish hung in the air.

The lawyer, Carol Russo, on retainer with 4th Orbit, spotted the pilot and headed for him. Ed, what are you doing here?

Waiting for Faizah. Has she been in there long?

About ten minutes is all. How did you hear the prosecutor called her before the grand jury?

Lenowitz told me. I believe he asked me the same questions the grand jury is asking her.

Say nothing more. Carol took hold of Ed’s arm and guided him down the hallway. There’s an empty room we can use.

She led him into the small room with a narrow table and three chairs. Carol closed the door and sat across from Ed.

What questions did Lenowitz ask?

"He wanted to know if my uncle made a large donation soon after the Rings’ crash to research the alien pathogen. If he did, Peter asked if that funding came on the condition he and the researchers maintained the coverup."

Did he?

I never asked Uncle Carl.

Does Faizah know?

I doubt it, Ed said. She has a habit of not finding the answer to a question if she prefers to stay in the dark about it.

Faizah can face big trouble lying to the grand jury.

She won’t be lying. But she can look at data and spot the story behind it. If she fears it’s a threat just by her knowing it, Faizah doesn’t dig any deeper. Is Lenowitz in there?

They waited for him before starting.

Is he the one questioning Faizah?

No. A deputy attorney general is questioning her. Carol took out her legal e-pad and started jotting down notes. Tell me, did Lenowitz read you your rights?

He waited until a JAG officer stepped in, a lieutenant. Peter began to read me my rights, but I recited them myself. I had them drilled into my brain on Titan when he deputized me and Faizah until we returned.

Did either of them ask you if you waived your right to an attorney?

The lieutenant did. I said I’d wait until he asked his questions first.

What precisely did Lenowitz or the lieutenant ask you?

Basically, what I told you in the hall.

Precisely, Ed. What did Lenowitz say?

Ed filled the lawyer in on the short interrogation by Lenowitz and the unnamed lieutenant. Carol looked annoyed that Ed didn’t call in one of 4th Orbit’s lawyers, though she didn’t think Ed’s answer at the start did any damage.

What else did they ask you?

Lenowitz asked if my uncle agreed to or demanded any conditions in return for his funding. I had no idea. Lenowitz dismissed the JAG officer at that point.

Carol scribbled down more notes, then asked, What happened when you two were alone?

Before Ed could answer, the door opened and a law clerk stuck his head in. Carol, Ms. Westerhof is coming out now.

Faizah, looked grim with a hint of anger Ed recognized as passed down from her mother’s Swahili genes. Yet as she stepped out of the courtroom, Faizah maintained a calm demeanor she learned from her British father. She brightened when she spotted Ed in the corridor.

My intrepid space pilot, home from Titan’s shores. Faizah hugged Ed as she asked, How was the trip?

Uneventful. How was the grand jury?

Faizah loosened her grip and stepped back. Boring. The prosecutor kept asking me questions I couldn’t answer.

That caught Carol by surprise. You invoked self-incrimination?

I didn’t know the answers. I swear by the end if they asked me my name again, I would have said ‘I don’t know.’

As she talked, Lenowitz walked up behind her. I am sorry that we did not keep you entertained.

Faizah turned tight-lipped as she faced the captain. I didn’t expect you to entertain me. I wish I could have been of more help.

Now that I do not believe.

But I’m not under oath.

Then, my dear Faizah, you need not worry about my disbelief.

Wait, Peter, Ed said. You spent the morning listening to Faizah and me saying we had no answers to any of your questions. You barely let me get off my tug before you grilled me. This couldn’t wait a day or two?

No. I needed to get both of you on the record today.

Why?

Because you leave for Earth soon, and you may find you have decisions to make before you launch. Carol, I am sure you wish to confer with your clients. I did not mean to intrude. Good day.

Lenowitz walked off, leaving Carol, Ed and Faizah puzzled.

Something’s not right, Faizah said.

So it seems. Let’s go to my office to talk.

JEFF HAROLDSON, THE lead reporter for Mars News Network, skipped the crush of freelance correspondents trying desperately to prod comments out of the Titan 11. Standing across the street, brushing his long hair out of his eyes, Jeff relaxed and let the newest reporter on the Mars News staff, Karen Sainsbury, deal with the crush. Karen worked to come up with a few breathless comments, grateful to Jeff for leaving her on her own to find the quotes for the story’s finale.

She didn’t realize Jeff wanted no part of that crush, swelled by cheering spectators. He already had his quotes from the governor. It was nearly a foregone conclusion the governor would grant pardons to the 11. But Levann dropped hints that he was leaning toward not pardoning all the scientists and researchers from the Saturn Science Station.

Jeff recognized it as a ploy. Earth officials, especially those in the American administration, criticized granting blanket pardons to the researchers. They stopped the alien pathogen that infected the Rings’ crew from spreading beyond Saturn’s orbit, but they also helped cover up the cause of the ship’s crash.

It didn’t take long for Jeff to find a source confirming Levann’s plans to pardon all 11. One source wasn’t enough to run with the story. But it was enough to pull a bluff on the governor when he showed up at his office two hours before the court ruling. The reporter thought Levann wanted to tell him the story anyway. Jeff gave the governor time to explain his reasoning calmly in his office rather than to a gaggle of correspondents surrounding him on the street

When the governor entered the court to announce the pardons, the correspondents rushed out to transmit the breaking news. Jeff stayed in his seat and pressed send on his com to transmit one word to his news editor, Confirmed.

Mars News broke the story minutes before anyone else, complete with his exclusive interview with the governor.

Jeff watched the correspondents try to build up their reports. A few ran up to him, desperate for the governor to offer an original quote. Levann gave them several short responses before stepping into a government van that sped away. The correspondents would spend the rest of the day trying to confirm details of Jeff’s report.

Jeff only had a reporter’s round table to join late in the afternoon to wrap up the story. For now, the pressing items on his schedule were a long lunch and maybe a stop at the Barsoom after the roundtable to commiserate with the correspondents he scooped.

It’s good to get this story finally behind me, Jeff thought. I’ve been covering it for too long, and now I can finally close the file on … Wait, where are they going?

Jeff spotted Faizah and Ed leave by a side door of the courthouse with a woman who looked … no it was the 4th Orbit lawyer. Jeff drew a blank for a second then said out loud, Carol, Carol Rosso. What’s happening here?

Neither Ed nor Faizah, or their lawyer, had been in the courtroom for the Titan 11 sentencing. They must have been in the second-floor courtroom, where the grand jury meets.

Jeff stepped into a shop and watched through the display window as the three walked down the street and entered a building two doors down. The building housed Russo’s law firm.

Maybe this story isn’t over after all, he said to himself.

Jeff waited for the crowd to leave, then headed up to the second floor on a made-up excuse about checking minor records. But he stopped first to talk to Darryl Herrmann, the maintenance tech programming robotic cleaners to empty wastebaskets and sweep the small courtroom and halls.

Hi, Darryl. Did you catch any of the circus downstairs with the Titan 11?

No, I had work to do up here.

I’m surprised that I didn’t see Lenowitz in the courtroom.

The captain was up here in this court.

Really, Darryl? What was going on in there?

I don’t know. The guard wouldn’t let anyone else in.

Jeff feigned boredom. Probably some minor legal detail, and turned away.

Suit yourself. Darryl went back to his equipment, sending off a robot to sweep the hallway. Didn’t seem minor to me.

Why do you say that?

That 4-O consultant who was in the news a few months back, she was in there.

You mean Faizah Westerhof?

Yeah, that’s her. And then your pilot friend, Ed, showed up. When Westerhof came out, the two of them and their lawyer burned out of here fast.

The reporter walked out of the courthouse convinced a grand jury had renewed the investigation of the coverup. Lunch could wait.

CAROL USHERED FAIZAH and Ed into the secure conference room before speaking. I’m surprised we got out of there without being spotted.

Unlikely, Ed said. A gaggle of reporters surrounded the Titan 11 when they left the court house, but all the correspondents concentrated on the scientists. None of them looked our way.

Not all of them, Faizah said, taking a seat. Haroldson was standing across the street.

Did he see us? Carol asked.

I don’t know. I saw him first, but I turned away before he looked in our direction. As we entered your office, I looked over my shoulder but he was gone.

The lawyer took a breath then sat down at one end of the conference table. We can worry about the press later. What we need to figure out now is why Lenowitz appears to be re-opening an investigation everyone thought was closed.

Everyone was wrong, Faizah said. There’s still a gaping hole on how the research was funded. It took much more than the public numbers we’ve seen.

What do you two know about that?

Ed and Faizah both shrugged.

I don’t know anything other than what I told you earlier.

I don’t know what Ed told you, Carol, but I know nothing about that gaping hole, either.

What do you think you know? What do you surmise? Faizah, let’s start with you this time.

I think when we heard someone had something to hold over Ed, it wasn’t something Ed did, but what Carl did.

You think Carl provided funds for the research in return for maintaining the coverup.

I have no evidence of that.

Ed, is that what you think?

I’ve come to suspect that, but I have no evidence of it either.

The two of you conferred on this?

No, Faizah said.

Ed agreed. Not a word.

Carol raised her hand to rest her chin on it and thought about Ed and Faizah’s answers for a minute. Lenowitz spends the morning first asking you, Ed, a series of questions you can’t answer, and basically the same questions of Faizah before the grand jury. Why?

"Lenowitz told me he’s tying up loose ends on the investigation. The Americans are putting pressure on him to uncover who funded covering up the cause of the Rings’ crash and discover who else became involved. Interrogating us was a logical place to start."

The timing strikes me as strange, Ed. Lenowitz could have talked to either of you much earlier, or waited a few days. Why interrogate both of you today?

Something’s come up, Faizah suggested, a new development in the case.

You think someone confirmed Carl funded the coverup?

If Carl did secretly contributed funds with conditions, someone on the Argo Navis board may already know it.

Faizah’s probably right. I can think of one or two board members who may know.

You mean the Astech rep, Gerald Heikkanen, and Jessica Cantrell, Carol said. But if Carl did fund research on the Maniae Prion in return for continuing the coverup and either of those two know it, why haven’t they exposed him already?

Astech execs may see an advantage in not exposing Carl’s involvement, Faizah said. A controversy of that scale as Argo prepares to move into full production could be disastrous for all concerned. But if Carl set out to fund the coverup, I find it difficult to believe someone at Astech doesn’t know.

Hiekkanen’s among those who knew?

Unlikely before Gerald came to Mars. It’s not a secret they’d want to spread around. But after the news broke, the company might have filled him in. That could give Gerald leverage on the Argo board at a critical moment.

If they did, Ed said, then Jessica knows.

That caught the lawyer off guard. Oh?

She has ways of finding out things, and she’s getting better at it since she’s been on Mars.

Ed’s right, Carol, and she doesn’t have to be horizontal to learn what she wants.

I’ll take your word for it.

Even if those two know, we may be on the wrong track, Ed said. Lenowitz seemed worried about other issues he’s facing, new but related to the cover-up and the pathogen. I had the sense he wanted to clear us off his suspect list to concentrate on what he’s discovering now.

WHILE RUSSO THOUGHT the questioning of Ed and Faizah was puzzling, she conceded their answers were harmless. Carol could only assume they spoke the truth, though she suspected not the whole truth.

On the maglev back to the agridome Viking Glen, Ed and Faizah didn’t mention the pilot’s uncle, the grand jury, Lenowitz or other topics they desperately wanted to discuss. Instead, they engaged in something rare for them, small talk. It was mindless banter, meant to take up time and fill space.

But they weren’t ’very good with small talk. The two soon retreated into silence and their own thoughts. When the train reached Viking Glen, they made for the commuter cart rentals. Faizah inserted her ID and instructed the cart to Drop us off at my place. The cart recognized the voice, waited for the two to close the doors, then headed for Faizah’s home.

Ed, didn’t you have at least a duffel to bring back with you?

I did, but I knew security wouldn’t let me into the courthouse with it. I dropped it off at the 4-O ticket office at Pathfinder. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.

They said nothing else until the cart stopped at Faizah’s adobe, halfway between Ed’s home and Chubeck’s two-story villa and 4th-Orbit Farms. As the cart returned to the station, they heard a bark. Ed smiled for the first time since they left the courthouse as he spotted Ariel, a black and white Aussie shepherd, running full tilt from the farms toward him. Ed knelt and braced himself for his dog’s welcome.

Faizah laughed as Ariel’s momentum nearly knocked him backwards. I told Jake to give her light duties this morning and not to expect her back after lunch. But she already knew you were returning today.

She always does. I don’t see what tips her off. I swear she’s too smart for my own good. Ed ruffled Ariel’s fur on her back, then stood up. C’mon girl, let’s go inside.

As they entered, Ed noticed a new dog bed by the couch. She’s staying with you now?

She seems to enjoy the company when you’re gone. Faizah reached into a jar on the kitchen counter and tossed a biscuit to Ariel. She caught it without leaving her feet and settled onto her bed. Frankly, so do I.

Faizah turned to a window/screen and with her neural contacts switched it from exterior view to internal systems. Security, do a level one scan, interior.

Lights dimmed and all other electronics in the home switched off. A diagram of the home appeared on the screen and the security scanned room-by-room for any listening devices.

Interior scan complete, the security system announced. Proceed to exterior scan?