Bales wasn’t writing anything down. To Novitskiy’s surprise, Bales’ hardened expression had melted to one that seemed almost concerned. ‘Thank you, Captain. That is helpful, if worrying news. And I hear that Gardner has returned with you?’
‘Yes, sir. And Williams.’
Bales seemed distracted, troubled.
‘Sir, I have to ask,’ Novitskiy said, breaking Bales from a distant thought. ‘When is Sally Fisher returning?’
‘We’re looking into assembling a mission as soon as we can.’
‘I want to be on board.’
‘I’m afraid that’s not possible.’
‘But I made a promise—’
‘That’s not my problem, Captain. This is my mission, my concern. Not yours.’
Novitskiy figured out what didn’t feel right. It was Bales that didn’t feel right.
‘I’m sorry,’ Bales said. ‘I’m sure you understand.’
‘Will that be all?’
‘Yes, that will be all.’
Novitskiy stood and left the room.
‘I’m not sure this is a good idea,’ Aleks said, touching the almost faded bruises on his face as if the memory of their origin had risen anew.
‘It’ll be fine,’ Sean said.
They rumbled through Moscow, Grigory at the wheel, heading for the last place Sean wanted to be right now: the RFSA building.
‘They aren’t going to be there, you know,’ Aleks said. ‘There’ll be no interview. It’s another set-up.’
‘I know, I know. I’m not stupid.’
And he did know. He knew that Sally Fisher and Robert Gardner were still on board the ISS. It was simple math. Three guys had come down; two must still be up there. NASA could try and bluff them with whatever fabrications they liked, but he knew in his gut that the conversion of Progress had been intended for one thing and one thing only: the transportation of humans.
‘So what are you going to do?’
That, he didn’t know. Maybe he could just wing it, turn up and see what was what. That’s pretty much how he plied his trade, and it had got him what he wanted in the past — but in the past the US Department of Defence hadn’t been trying to shoot him dead.
‘I’ll probably go in for a quick recce first, assess the situation.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ Grigory said.
Sean was going to refuse, but then he realised that having an ex-special forces bodyguard wasn’t that bad an idea. ‘Thanks.’
They pulled up a few streets away and Sean and Grigory got out. Aleks slid over to the driver’s side.
‘I’ll be waiting for you,’ he said. ‘Don’t be long.’
Sean and Grigory set off towards the RFSA building, its tall structure just about visible between a couple of industrial units. Sean walked fast and stuck to the shadows, checking back over his shoulder every few seconds to catch the eyes he felt sure were watching him. They turned the corner at the end of the street and the entrance loomed open.
‘Are we going in?’ Grigory asked.
Sean looked around. An emergency escape ladder scaled the building next to them, leading up to the roof. ‘Let’s climb up there,’ he said. ‘We’ll get a better view past the entry barriers and into the lobby. See if there’s anyone waiting for us.’
They climbed up to the flat roof and shuffled on their bellies to the edge. They watched a delivery vehicle arrive; it checked in at the gate and went though. People milled in the lobby: one was talking to a receptionist, who pointed down a corridor; another mopped up a pool of something spilled; others stood about, chatting.
‘There doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary,’ Sean said.
Another man entered the lobby. Although he walked with a limp and was supported by a walking stick, he walked fast. Two suited men followed close behind. They were talking to him, but he was ignoring them. Sean watched as the man left the building, forcing his way past a group that had decided the doorway was a good place to stop and chat, and marched on towards the barriers.
‘Hey,’ Sean said. ‘I think that’s Captain Evgeny Novitskiy. I wonder what he’s doing here?’
He squinted, trying to make out the man’s face as he approached. As he reached the barrier, one of the two men following him tried to grab his shoulder. He responded with a quick thwack of his walking stick, sending his aggressor hopping on one leg. He walked around the barrier, nodded to the gatekeeper and continued up the street. The man who had been whacked was helped out by the other, and together they followed after him.
‘That’s definitely Novitskiy,’ Sean said, scrambling back along the roof and down the ladder. Grigory followed.
The two suited men caught up with Novitskiy. Having learned from their mistakes, they snatched his stick away and he fell. Between them they took his arms and legs to carry him away.
‘Hey!’ Sean yelled, breaking into a run. ‘Leave him alone!’
The two men reached into their jackets, but it was too late. Sean thundered into them, crashing head first into one man’s chest as he tripped up the kerb. They all clattered to the ground, including Novitskiy, but one of the men was quick to scramble up again. He kicked Sean in the ribs, winding him. The other man got up and reached into his jacket. Sean flinched just as Grigory’s colossal fist piled into the side of the man’s head, knocking him out cold. The man still standing turned to Grigory, deflecting a blow and landing one of his own. Wheezing, Sean crawled over to Novitskiy, who was trying to get up. There was a loud crack, and Sean turned to see the second man dropping to the floor with a bloodied nose.
‘Are you okay?’ Grigory asked, shaking his hand and wincing.
‘I’m fine,’ Sean said, breathing fast. ‘What about you, Captain?’
Novitskiy had backed himself up against the wall.
‘Who the hell are you?’ he said, looking terrified.
Chapter 21
There was so much to be learned, and Sally was learning it fast. She had successfully completed her black hole analysis, gathering data that to her knowledge had never been seen before, and as each day passed, her time on board was proving to be more and more lucrative. She had only hit one dead end: with UV One, she had discovered nothing.
There was a battery of equipment with which she could analyse the vessel. She had performed tests, repeated them and varied them, all to no effect. She was running out of ideas, and so for the time being, she stopped experimenting on it altogether. Whatever its secrets were, whatever it wanted to do, she felt it would be done in its own good time. A little disappointed at this anti-climactic conclusion, she focussed her attention on the puzzles for which she at least had a few of the pieces, and relished her time doing so. The annoyance at her failure to understand UV One disappeared fast, as the runner-up prize turned out to be even better than she’d hoped. She was in space, doing research she never thought she’d get to do, so she was the happiest she’d ever been.
With the station operating in a low energy mode for the three crew before her — compared to the station’s usual compliment of six to ten — she had little by way of daily chores to do, but still there were some. As it happened, she didn’t resent the time away from her studies: it gave her a valuable opportunity to distract her mind and let her subconscious figure out whatever her conscious was stuck on.