Jeff nodded. “But why did you want to talk to me?”
Irons reached down to his belt and pulled out his handheld. “You remember the red button on the back of this device?”
“The self-destruct button. Yes.”
“On this device are the transponder codes that enable us to fly into the systems of the core worlds without being attacked. But if we’re captured, it’s my duty too destroy the memory chip.”
Why was Irons talking about being captured? He’d never talked like this before. He seemed to be fundamentally reassessing the situation they were in. Jeff swallowed. Captured… yes, they really were prisoners on this ship, and nobody knew what the computer was up to. “Then destroy the chip,” Jeff said.
Irons cradled the handheld in his right hand. “Something tells me we’re still going to need these codes. In fact, our lives might depend on them.”
Jeff got goose bumps. “What makes you say that, Sir?”
The major shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know. It’s just a hunch. Call it intuition.”
Jeff raised his eyebrows. It was unusual for Irons to be guided by a hunch. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I have another hunch. A premonition, if you like.”
Hunches? And now premonitions? “What do you mean, Sir?” Jeff asked in confusion.
Instead of answering, the major grabbed Jeff’s hand and pressed his forefinger on the display of the handheld.
“Major, I…”
It beeped once, and Irons released Jeff’s hand. “Now the device knows your fingerprint. You are authorized to use it, if necessary. If somebody else tries to activate it, it will self-destruct.”
“I don’t understand…” Jeff fell silent and sagged in on himself.
“I’m convinced Fields won’t be the only one to die on this ship,” the major said.
Earlier, Irons had reprimanded Castle for having the exact same thought. What was up with the major? “Is everything OK, Major Irons?”
Irons sighed and raised his hand. “Everything’s fine, Austin. Don’t worry. My only concern is that you have access to my handheld in case anything happens to me. If you find a way of escaping, you’ll need the codes as soon as you enter the central system. Otherwise you’ll be shot down without warning. But if you don’t escape, you must destroy the chip before this ship enters Earth’s solar system, so that the space fleet can fend it off in time. Is that clear?”
Jeff shook his head in a daze. Was it really that bad? Was it possible this ship wanted to attack Earth? Yesterday, they had been the guests of a helpful extraterrestrial onboard computer, and suddenly they were prisoners of a possibly malevolent artificial intelligence? Hopefully it was all a big misunderstanding.
“Have I made myself clear, Captain Austin?” the major repeated.
Jeff nodded.
“The security of Earth comes first. Destroy the chip if you feel threatened!”
Jeff nodded again.
“Good,” Irons said. “And now please leave me alone. I need to think.”
Jeff got up and staggered outside. Like in a bad dream, he had the feeling that the ground was moving beneath his feet. The walls of the corridor seemed to be closing in on him.
Jeff staggered back to his own room and collapsed on his bed. He doubted he would have a very restful night.
15.
“Man, you look like shit,” Mac said as Jeff walked into the rec room the next day. Castle was sitting next to Mac and grinned. Joanne frowned. Jeff didn’t consider reprimanding the mechanic. He was too tired, and in any case, Mac was probably right. He went straight to the kitchen, where he made himself a coffee with hot water and instant granules, before sitting down at the table with the others. Apart from the major, everyone was up and about.
Jeff grabbed a slice of bread and slapped some peanut butter on it. He took a bite and chewed slowly.
“Who had the last shift?” Joanne asked.
Finni raised his hand, without looking up.
“Did the computer contact us?”
“Nope,” Finni replied.
“Boy, we’re gonna give him an earful,” Shorty said.
“Pfft,” said Mac. “It won’t give a rat’s ass what we have to say.”
“I want to know why it lied to us like that,” Shorty said.
“And what makes you think it’s going to tell you the truth? All it does is lie.”
“It’s time we took things into our own hands,” Castle said.
Joanne rolled her eyes. “And how do you suggest we do that?”
“We confront it with the facts, and order it to take us to Sigma-7.”
Joanne laughed. “Order it? How do we do that?” Castle stuttered, searching for words, but Joanne continued. “We’re in no position to give orders.”
“We could go to the airlock and use the plastic explosives to create a hole to the outside,” Owl suggested.
“Great,” Mac said sarcastically. “And then?”
“Then at least we’re out of this prison.”
“We should wait and see what Major Irons has to say. I reckon he’s made a decision,” Jeff said, but nobody took any notice of him.
Finni laughed in Owl’s face. “Sure—let’s break our way out and we can have fun floating around in the interstellar void. Jesus. We might as well shoot ourselves now.”
“I just want to get out of here,” Owl said in a whiny tone of voice.
“What do you think we should do?” Joanne asked Green, who was sitting opposite her at the table. The engineer was no longer as pale as the day before, but he hadn’t joined in the conversation at all so far. He was sitting and staring at the ceiling, as if all of this had nothing to do with him.
“Dave!” Joanne repeated.
Finally, Green lowered his gaze and fixed his eyes on Joanne. He shrugged. “No idea. Maybe we should go to the center of the ship. Maybe we’ll find some answers to our questions there. After all, it’s where the control center is supposed to be.”
“Are you mad?” Owl cried. “I want to get out of this thing, and not go deeper inside it. Who knows what might be waiting for us there.”
“Calm down!” Joanne ordered in a loud voice.
But Owl wouldn’t calm down. “This ghost ship is cursed! We need to get out of here, or it’ll steal our souls!”
Joanne guffawed. “Woah, did you have a bad dream or something? Jeff, what do you think?”
Now all eyes were on him. He sighed. “Major Irons will decide what to do. I’m sure he’ll let us know what he decided as soon as he gets up.”
Castle looked at his watch. “It’s not like the major to sleep this long. Was he on guard duty?”
Jeff shook his head and looked at his own watch. It was already nine o’clock. True; Irons had never slept this late.
“Maybe he’s thinking things through,” Joanne said.
Jeff was suddenly overcome by a strange feeling as he remembered the almost surreal conversation he’d had with the major the night before. Irons had been so despondent, depressed almost. Surely he hadn’t done anything stupid?
Jeff got up. “I’ll go and see if he’s up already.”
“Majors need to sleep late sometimes, too!” Mac said. He wanted it to sound like a joke, but nobody laughed.
Jeff went into the back corridor and put an ear to the major’s door. There was no sound. Maybe he really was still asleep. “Major? Are you awake?”
Jeff listened again. No answer. He knocked again. “Major?” He must have heard him this time. Still no answer.
Jeff felt his stomach clench. His hands were trembling. He tapped on the square on the wall next to the door.