Free Children of a Dead Earth Book One by Patrick S Tomlinson Page A

around a couple times, turning the idea over in his head, giving it a taste. Then he swallowed the rest of the illicit booze in one mighty gulp.
    â€œWe have a deal, detective.”

Chapter Six
    T he call came at a bad time. Benson decided that, if during a Zero Championship game was bad, three o’clock in the morning was definitely worse.
    â€œAccept call,” he said to the dark room. A chime rang, letting him know the call had connected.
    â€œHello, detective.” It was First Officer Feng’s plant voice again, so different from the one Benson had sat through in his office only that morning. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
    â€œFeng, anything I could be doing at 03.00, you’d be interrupting.”
    â€œSorry, but this can’t wait. We’ve found something.”
    Benson’s stomach sank. “What did you find?”
    â€œProbably better if you just come to Command, detective.”
    â€œDo I have time for a cup of tea?”
    â€œWe’ll have a bag waiting for you.”
    Benson shook head. “Right. Give me twenty.”
    â€œHurry, detective.”
    Five locks and two retina scans later, Benson floated through the door into Command. It was only the third time in his life he’d been a guest inside the sphere that was the epicenter of all the Ark’s operations.
    Command was a gleaming beacon, awash in the light of computer screens, holographic displays, and work stations covering every square meter of its inside surface. It was cool here, just as it had been in the labs, but around two hundred people, nearly a fifth of the crew’s complement, busied themselves overseeing every aspect of the Ark’s myriad of automated systems, sensors, and life support systems. It was all slightly overwhelming, even for someone who’d spent as many hours in microgravity as Benson had.
    Hovering at the geometric center of the maelstrom, perched in a sort of cradle, First Officer Feng noticed Benson floating near the entrance and waved him up. No guards stood watch here. None were necessary with only one door. If the crew didn’t trust someone to be in Command, they would never have entered in the first place. David Kimura had been right; this was where the real power was concentrated on the Ark. Most people would never set foot in Command, much less have any real say in the decisions made here.
    â€œGood evening, detective,” Feng called over his shoulder as Benson drifted closer. “Or I suppose good morning, in your case.”
    â€œEither could apply. Where’s the captain?”
    â€œSleeping, I expect. Not her watch.”
    Benson reflected that sleep hadn’t stopped Feng from disturbing him, but let it pass without comment. “So, what did you find?”
    â€œHere, let me show you what we’ve got.” Feng waved a hand, scrolling through a series of menus until he found the icon he wanted. A velvety black hologram coalesced in the air in front of them both. At its center, a faint grey smudge marred the otherwise endless black. Feng held out his hands and made an enlarging gesture with his thumbs and index fingers. The smudge grew and resolved into a slightly more coherent blur tumbling slowly through space. It took a few rotations before Benson’s mind worked out the pattern. A central mass with four extremities.
    â€œA body,” Benson sighed heavily. “Our missing man.”
    â€œAs I said, we don’t know yet, but I wanted you to be the first to see.”
    â€œWell, what else could it be? Unless you’re suggesting a meteor just happened to fall into formation with us at five percent lightspeed.”
    â€œCertainly not, but it may still be a piece of the Ark herself. Some insulation foam, or a chunk of ablative plating from the shield. We entered Tau Ceti’s Oort cloud almost a year ago, after all. We’ve had quite a few impacts in that time. No telling what may have gotten