25. One side of a coin

John let the line ring. He grew restless, walking circles into the steel plating, if he continues like this, the Irondome will require a structural repair next time in dry dock. Finally the comm connected:

• “How may I help you today, sir?” — the officer assigned to him by Captain Victoria smiled on the screen.
• “I need to talk with the Captain.”
• “Let me see what I can do, but she is very busy lately.”
• “Come on, it has been three days already and you say the same thing every morning.”
• “And you keep asking the same thing every morning.” — the momentary side-look and smile burned John’s face — “However today in the afternoon she has an open slot, will tell her to drop by your cabin at fourteen hundred hours.”
• “Thank you, looking forward…” — and the connection was closed — “to… well, and I am rude.”

John settled back to his daily routine. Still waiting for his assistant to arrive from central office. He managed to recruit the top physicist and drive specialist to join his investigation team, yet he needed one more member to focus on the cyber aspects. John could take care of the crew and processes, but he was no techie.

He lamented if the cyber expert is really important, he could have used a few more people on the ground instead. The safety board was stingy with the resources, he got only one plus three team budget, and after what happened, knew he is in no position to request more.

He could do rudimentary data analysis on the recorders, yet his basic code snippets did nothing on what he acquired so far. Usually he could quickly find anomalies, and as there are no perfect crew out there, he did even when no accident happened. This recording was too clean. He called again, this time a shadow took the call in a second.

Instead of talking, just a single word flashed on the screen: Wait. Their picture got distorted on both sides as the additional encryption kicked in.

• “Hey, John, I was just preparing a response for you.”
• “I can imagine, I asked three days ago.”
• “That long, indeed.”
• “And? Are you in?”
• “You guys are buzzing all over the net. And not on the good kind of buzz, if you catch my drift.”
• “No, you drifting too much from the topic. It is a serious investigation and I need your skills here.”
• “Hell, I don’t need this kind of attention. You gonna burn my ID with this.”
• “Then you just forge a new one.”
• “But I like this one…”
• “Ben, families lost loved ones and they need the truth. And to avoid more families losing loved ones.” — it was a low hit.
• “Well, hell… will be there. Only if you get me a ride.”
• “Will…”
• “Not with safety board.”
• “Will figure out something. Later.” — John pumped his fist in the air after the connection closed. Ben, or however he was called this time, was the best he knew.

The next couple of hours he spent reviewing interviews, news reels. He even kept digging in the tech specifications and blueprints for the Giant of the Stars, just to keep himself occupied. He went through the day he arrived so many times, he lost count. His own reel felt like a distant evidence, not his own memories at this point.

He focused so much, he didn’t hear the doorbell the first time. He forgot lunch, even drinking water until now, yet Victoria barged in without waiting for him to open.

• “Heard you wanted to talk with me.”
• “Yes, and, who are you if I may ask?” — John found himself face to face with a black suit.
• “Gary Coldman, special counsel.” — his hand extended in the air — “Let’s discuss your situation, shall we?”

John nodded silently and they set around the plastic coffee table.

• “So it went up to the Attorney General already?”
• “Ah, kid, no, I am here to maintain stability between Earth and the Perseus Arm colonies. However your little action threw in a wrench to that, I hope you are aware.”
• “A-hm” — he looked somewhat older than John, at least showed more gray hair, this still did not lower the weight of the hidden insult. Victoria leaned back and kept her eyes strangely fixed on John, staying silent the until now:
• “Gary, focus and get over with it.”
• “Sure, sure, alright, so, John, I saw your recording, verified by dear Victoria here that it is authentic and talked with the workers. And to be honest, it does not look good for you.”
• “What do you mean? You could see I was surrounded and my life threatened.”
• “Indeed, however I saw that you knocked down the lone worker first.”
• “I caught him destroying evidence in an active investigation zone. And I did not hurt him, actually if I recall correctly, he swung the hammer first toward me.”
• “Anyone could testify beyond your own recording? None of the workers had similar tech.”
• “Michael could verify my helmet was cracked. It was from the hammer.”
• “One of my analysts matched a blunt weapon to be the cause of the cracks.” — Victoria spoke fast while her left eye shined bright blue.

John recognized the heads up display implant most navy officer was equipped with. Only in one eye, so if any glitch or electric warfare interferes, the other eye still functions, being fully biological.

• “Okey, dear. And about the gun, why were you armed? Is it a new procedure of the safety board?”
• “I was not. Initially. Found the gun in a room, I think it was one of the VIP booth at the concert hall. A few bodies around, none of them had a bullet wound.”
• “So you were watching your own recordings. Could not notice that detail during. And how many times you fired?”
• “Only once.”
• “The weapon was fired multiple times.” — again Victoria’s interruption.
• “Not by me.”
• “Correct, analysts found two different people used the weapon. Another profile matches with a known Swordfish muscle, little fish in the sea. His remains matched with parts in the room.”
• “Thanks, Victoria, as usual, please file all this. Except the next 5 minutes. John, if I may call you John, the hell you were thinking?”
• “Excuse me?”
• “You opened fire without any warnings, then you threatened another worker on your way out. I know this was a scary shit you experienced, but the situation here is a powder keg. And the workers of course blame you as an aggressor.”
• “You know if I open a channel and warn him, all the others will know my position and I would not be here arguing.”
• “One more mistake and we find a new investigator anyway. Sigh… Victoria, we need an eye on him. And John, let me handle the colonials from now on. You stay away even from interviews.”
• “I can assign two of my officers to conduct those interviews.”
• “And the colonials will do the same.”
• “Mr. Coldman, you mean they investigate on their own?”
• “This is the largest catastrophe of a civilian vessel in the last few centuries… hell, from the moment we stepped outside of Earth. Here everyone investigates, mostly who they can put the blame on. I know, I know, the Galactic Transportation Safety Board does not assign blame. But hope you have enough political savvy to understand, others will, and will use you too.”
• “So, am I free to go?”
• “For now, if Victoria has no objections. Have a nice day, Mr. Sotomayor.” — with that Gary took off and promptly left the cabin.

John would have bet on he saw Victoria smiling for a moment as she followed.

If you enjoyed this scene, read the story leading up to it so far here:

Giant of the Stars

Fictional story of a luxury starliner’s catastrophy

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