Free Wrinkle in Time (9781458093967) by Kris Katzen Page B

collar. Parillo doubted the top of her head
would reach his shoulder. With her tiny frame, he was sure she was
often mistaken for a child from a distance, or even sometimes up
close.
    Next to the diminutive woman, the other
officer appeared that much more imposing. Easily six feet tall, big
boned and well muscled, her almond-shaped eyes and straight black
hair, flowing to her waist and worn loose except for a headband,
showed her Chinese decent. Parillo had never seen such a tall
Asian. He estimated her age at somewhere in the mid forties. She
held a medical kit in one hand and a medical scanner in the
other.
    Dennis introduced them. "This is my Chief
Engineer, Alynda Burnette, and my CMO Jairgage Chen. Professor Luke
Parillo."
    "A pleasure, Professor," Burnette flashed him
a sparkling smile even as she went to work with her handheld
scanner. Following the tracks Dennis had just made, she scanned
each station around the bridge.
    "Nice to meet you," Chen said, her own smile
much more low key and serene than her crewmate's. "Saran and his
security team are right behind us, Captain They're setting up a
perimeter"
    "Can you tell what killed them?" Dennis
asked, gesturing around the compartment.
    Chen consulted her medical scanner before
saying, "Not with this, Captain. Perhaps more sensitive instruments
on board can help. Whatever happened, happened a millennium ago
from our perspective."
    "Maybe," Burnette said, still circling the
room. "Unless they somehow died before getting thrown to the past.
I'm getting conflicting readings. But that's to be expected,
considering. The ship has been here over a thousand years, but it
definitely originated in the future." She gave a satisfied "Aha!"
then brushed away some grime. "2613. That's the old-Earth year on
the placard. The only question is, how long after that did the ship
end up in the past."
    "What about..."
    Burnette anticipated Parillo's suggestion.
"All logs have been completely erased, Professor. There is nothing
left."
    "Deliberately wiped? Or as the result of some
attack or accident?" Dennis asked.
    "I can't tell yet. After we check everything
over, we'll see if she powers up. If so, that might give us some
answers."
    As if on cue, the security team arrived. Six
of the bunch carried loads of equipment with them in cases both
hand-held and with shoulder straps. Each carried a hand weapon.
Three others, including a strapping brunette man, wore heavy rifles
slung across their backs.
    "Captain, I'd like to start with
Engineering," Burnette said.
    Dennis nodded. "Report in every ten minutes
until the ship is confirmed clear."
    "Aye, Sir," Burnette took off across the
bridge with Saran at her heels. A hoverlamp, set at much lower
luminosity, floated behind them courtesy of Parillo.
    Using a magnetic handle, Burnette opened one
of the accessways and would have started down the ladder but Saran
tapped her on the shoulder. She gave a laugh that was almost a
giggle. With a bow both elegant and exaggerated, the engineer
stepped back and allowed the head of security to go first.
    "See what you can find here," Dennis told the
rest of the scientists, "Then work your way down deck by deck. You
two," she spoke to the security personnel, "are with us. We'll
scout ahead." She gave a knowing half smile, "Assuming you care to
join us, Professor."
    "Need you ask, Captain?"
    Despite dirty looks from the two remaining
security officers, Dennis took the lead and swung around onto the
ladder. The light spilling in from the bridge showed that the
accessway led the height of the ship, meaning all five decks. Based
on its apparent size, Parillo estimated the ship would have had a
crew of about forty.
    One of the men from security followed Captain
Dennis and the other went last after Parillo, who activated another
lamp to track them before he descended the ladder.
    It took Dennis a moment to get the door open
below. Once she was finally able to break the seal, she swapped the
magnetic handle for her pistol