{"id":2140,"date":"2020-12-12T20:10:21","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T03:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2140"},"modified":"2020-12-19T19:12:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T02:12:07","slug":"insomnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/12\/insomnia\/","title":{"rendered":"Insomnia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a thriller about someone who witnesses a murder\u2026 except there\u2019s no evidence that a murder took place….<\/em><\/em>
available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unable to sleep again, Miria padded around the escort cruiser Karan barefoot. She wasn\u2019t due on shift for another four hours, so she wandered with no fixed destination in mind. Stopping at one of the viewports, she touched the control to turn the window clear. The even, dull grey of super-c travel filled the view; changeless in all directions and so flat in color that the distance of the warp bubble wall could be just outside the window or hundreds of kilometers away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She knew the distance to the bubble, of course. From this section of the ship, it was just over sixteen meters to the warp bubble; from her duty seat on the bridge, it was exactly four meters. Miria watched the even grey, hoping to see the occasional spark of random hydrogen atoms being split apart against the field. What she didn\u2019t expect to see, however, was a body floating away from the ship to be disintegrated into sub-atomic particles in a chain-reaction of bright flashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria slammed the emergency alarm by the window but nothing happened. The door further ahead that led to the airlock beeped and opened. She darkened the window and ducked into the doorway to the mess. She waited until she heard booted footsteps walking away from her to peek. The person walking away was medium height and build, wearing a sterile-room uniform complete with gloves and hood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She knew she could get their ident to show up on her comm if she got close enough but feared what might happen if she did. Instead, she slipped into the mess and called the commander, voice only, on the comm. \u201cColonel Shriber, it\u2019s Captain Blake. I\u2019m sorry to wake you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the emergency, Captain?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just saw someone go out the airlock,\u201d she said, \u201cvaporized on the bubble wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere are the alarms?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tried the alarm, but it wasn\u2019t responding.\u201d Miria moved deeper into the mess, fearing someone in the corridor might hear her. \u201cAnd when someone in a sterile-room uniform came out of the airlock passage I hid. I ducked into the mess and called you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSit tight, Blake,\u201d the Colonel said. \u201cI\u2019m sending someone over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria spent the next three hours with Major Bankole, chief of security. She explained the whole story and followed along as the Major checked the door logs and swept for any evidence in the airlock itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m sorry, Blake, but I’m not finding anything.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sir, can we at least look at the corridor security logs?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sure,” he said. “Let’s go to my office.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pulled up the corridor holo logs and they watched an empty corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s not right,” Miria said, “I was there, watching for\u2013”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis has been tampered. Six minutes are missing.\u201d The Major scrolled the holo backward and forward slowly, the timestamp jumping back and forth. “Captain, what were you doing in the corridor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t sleep,\u201d she said, \u201cso I was taking a walk. Watching the super-c bubble sometimes help me clear my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd do you do this often?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA few times a week, lately. The long runs mess with my sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He fixed her with a stern gaze. “Captain, you are not to discuss this with anyone other myself and the Colonel, understand?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yes, sir.” She looked at the frozen holo of the empty corridor. “Who would be able to erase the holo logs?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA few people.\u201d He sighed. “First thing, though, is to figure out who, if anyone, is missing. Meanwhile, you should get ready for duty. You’re due on the bridge in forty minutes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She gave a crisp salute. “Yes, sir!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria reported to the bridge, replacing the third-shift navigator. She went through her start of shift checklist. She checked the crew and visitor manifest and the 1,938 crew, and sixteen civilians were accounted for by their ident. There was a Member of Parliament aboard, with support and security staff, and a handful of reporters. Total deck weight, though, was 70.76 kilograms below the stated deck weight when they entered the gate out of the Sol system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In normal circumstances, deck weight, or more formally, non-fuel mass, didn\u2019t change. In fact, the only thing that could<\/em> change deck weight was throwing something, or someone<\/em>\u2026 off the ship. She checked the third watch logs for any notifications of the change in deck weight. The logs mentioned an outage in all internal sensors that lasted six minutes, but the deck weight was not among the items checked when the sensors came back online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria finished her start of shift checklist, noting the changed deck weight as it impacted fuel consumption and was ready to settle into her shift when the Colonel arrived on the bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCaptain Blake, my office, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir.\u201d Miria turned to her right and addressed the junior navigation officer. \u201cLieutenant Mendoza, run a re-calculation of fuel consumption based on the new deck weight, and give me an update of shield stats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir,\u201d the young Lieutenant said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria entered the ready room off the bridge. She shut the door and snapped to attention. \u201cSir!\u201d While the Colonel had a larger office off the main corridor, it was mostly used for briefings and any time more than four people needed to meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt ease, have a seat. Bankole told me you\u2019ve not been sleeping?\u201d Shriber motioned to the spot next to her on the sofa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria sat. \u201cNo, sir. At least not very well.\u201d Miria sighed. \u201cThese long jumps mess with my sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019ve been wandering the ship in bare feet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI, uh,\u201d she stammered, \u201cy\u2014yes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiria, until you walk out of this room, we\u2019re dispensing with the formality. Call me Liza and tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSi\u2014Liza, I\u2019m sure you already heard the report I gave to Bankole. Our deck weight is down almost seventy-one kilos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shriber leaned forward. \u201cThat\u2019s\u2026 we\u2019ll come back to that, but that\u2019s not what I meant. Tell me what\u2019s going on with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not sleeping, you\u2019re wandering the ship barefoot in pajamas, and you panicked when you thought you witnessed a crime.\u201d The worry line between her eyes became pronounced. \u201cThat\u2019s not like you. You\u2019re not one to run and hide and call for help. Why didn\u2019t you follow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2014I\u2019m not sure,\u201d Miria said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel safe\u2026 not like I usually do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou grew up on a ship,\u201d Shriber said, \u201cmost of us didn\u2019t. We grew up on planets, a few on stations, but you\u2019re the most comfortable person on a ship I\u2019ve ever met. If I wanted to, I could cite you for violating safety policy by not wearing mag boots when around the ship, but you\u2019re the last person I\u2019d worry about getting hurt if we lost grav.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we had the fire in the grav generator last year, you were the first one there. You didn\u2019t hesitate to turn off your mag boots to grab an extinguisher and get there faster. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d ever seen anyone use an extinguisher as a propulsion device while putting out a fire with it at the same time.\u201d She pointed to Miria\u2019s chest. \u201cYour actions earned you that commendation and, if I remember correctly, one hell of a concussion and a fractured wrist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your point? That I\u2019m reckless?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she said, putting a hand on Miria\u2019s shoulder, \u201cthat you don\u2019t run from trouble. You run to it<\/em>. That\u2019s how I knew something was wrong when you called me, scared.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2026,\u201d Miria began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen, you\u2019re one of the best officers I have. You don\u2019t know this, and you didn\u2019t hear it from me, but we\u2019re having a rescue training drill sometime between 23:00 and 04:00. I need you all there. Our guest<\/em>,\u201d the word dripped with disdain, \u201cwill be watching.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, si\u2014 Liza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo,\u201d Shriber said, \u201cI want you to report to the medic; get something to help you sleep. You need it. Take the rest of the shift off and I\u2019ll see you later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat about the deck weight? And the other\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBankole is investigating. With the shift in deck weight, it certainly looks like someone tossed something out the airlock while in super-c. That\u2019s an offense right there. But the Major tells me all persons are accounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I looked at that first thing, too. 1,938 crew and sixteen civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shriber\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cYou mean seventeen civilians, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, there\u2019s only 16 civilians on the manifest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShit. You go get some sleep. Don\u2019t talk about this with anyone<\/em> but me. That includes Bankole.\u201d The Colonel\u2019s tone left no doubt that she was giving a direct order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria sat on her bunk and looked at the pills from the medic. Two small, yellow pills that would put her to sleep. Breathing a heavy sigh, she swallowed the pills and lay down, still in her full uniform. As sleep overtook her, a thought rattled around in her brain; seventy-plus kilos of high energy particles on the bubble wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alarms jolted her to consciousness. Her last thought before sleep slammed back into mind: Seventy-plus kilos of high energy particles\u2026.<\/em> Miria bolted for the bridge. The alarm changed, four short chirps \u2014 they would be dropping out of super-c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She ran to the navigation station and took the unoccupied assist position and took control of navigation from there. \u201cCaptain, what are you\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo time, Lieutenant Koln.\u201d Miria was curt. \u201cPrep for extra de-bubble shielding. Seventy-one kilograms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKilos? Don\u2019t you mean milligrams?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo! Kilos!\u201d Miria got ready to divert the energy currently used to hold the ship to the warp bubble to the shielding which would push the high-energy particles away. \u201cWe lost a comm tower,\u201d she lied, \u201cand I don\u2019t want any of that blowing back on us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir! Seventy-one kilos input, calculations complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colonel Shriber called out to the bridge, \u201cDropping to sub-c in thirty seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThirty seconds, aye!\u201d the bridge crew shouted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colonel watched the time on her terminal and called, \u201cDrop!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria shut down the warp bubble containment and dragged the shield power sliders up full, while Lieutenant Koln watched. The steady grey nothing of super-c was replaced with a flash of blinding white and then the darkness of space. The shield held and Miria let out a breath she didn\u2019t know she\u2019d been holding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked at Koln. \u201cIf you don\u2019t mind, I\u2019d like my seat back, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, sir.\u201d They switched chairs and Miria pulled control back to the main navigation console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNavigation, report.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCurrent location, sector Fox Alpha 349, bearing to Bul system gate locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComms, report.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWormhole stable\u2014 we have interstellar; comm tower deploying, twenty seconds to local.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bridge sat silent, many just now noticing the interlopers standing just inside the entrance. A Member of Parliament and a handful of reporters. The parliamentary police detail was stationed outside the door of the bridge. As actual members of the Federation Defense Force, they probably had more right to be there than the civilians, but it wasn\u2019t something anyone, including the Colonel, was likely to mention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSir, distress beacon, 14,323 kilometers, heading left 64.2957, up 18.3001.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria plotted a course to the indicated beacon and readied it on her console. \u201cCourse ready, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go pick it up,\u201d Shriber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria thumbed the command in, \u201cCourse laid in.\u201d She switched the ship to auto. \u201cEngaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComms, identify beacon source.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmergency escape pod, two-person, steering thrusters only.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colonel entered a command on her terminal, starting a new alarm deep in the ship. \u201cEngineering and security: prepare for pickup. Two-person pod, load through cargo lock Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The response came back a few seconds later. \u201cCargo lock Delta clear, ready for pickup of two-person pod. Security in place, tow-line throwers locked and loaded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With nothing to do but wait, Shriber spoke with the politician on her bridge. Miria decided she\u2019d take advantage of the interstellar comms and loaded in the latest news. Just the headline stories and the latest football scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The civilian entourage left to watch the retrieval process and Shriber breathed a sigh of relief. \u201cFirst watch, except Captain Blake, go back to bed. Captain Blake, my office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria followed her into the ready room and closed the door behind herself. Before she could speak, the Colonel did. \u201cWhat was that about a comm tower?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSorry, sir. I had to think of something to explain more than seventy kilos of material in the bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, good thinking. But why the hell was Koln questioning you in the first place? You going to write him up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll talk with him,\u201d she said. \u201cIn this case, though, I understand the push-back. If my superior was just rousted from sleep and told me to expect anything more than a few milligrams of material I\u2019d be concerned it was a mistake, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStill, not the right way to raise his concern. Speaking of, how did the shields fare?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did fine. Captured about a thousand times as much as a normal de-bubble, reflected the rest. If we\u2019d stripped the bubble in a gate, the gate would have been destroyed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colonel pointed to the sofa as she crossed the room. \u201cJoin me for a coffee, Miria?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, thank you s\u2014 Liza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile we\u2019re en route to the pod I took the liberty of updating my comm with the latest news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria laughed. \u201cYou, me, and probably half the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shriber returned with two cups of coffee and sat. \u201cYou said sixteen civilians. I signed seventeen on. I keep an off-line copy of every manifest I sign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, we know who\u2019s missing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do. A reporter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria checked her comm. The headlines were about the disappearance of a reporter who was logged at the gate for the Karan but never boarded and disappeared. The same reporter who had exposed a bribery scandal that had unseated two MPs and was said to be investigating another scandal. She showed the story to the Colonel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMotive and opportunity,\u201d Shriber said, \u201cbut without evidence it isn\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you think we can find any?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, but you and I are going to meet with the Criminal Investigation Department when we get to the Bul system. Until then, Miria, all that happened is we lost part of comm tower six.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhich reminds me\u2013\u201d Shriber tapped her comm. \u201cComm tower six is now marked as down due to breakage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miria finished her coffee and took the empty cups to the sideboard. \u201cSo, what do we do in the meantime?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a pod coming in, and you\u2019ll need to recalculate fuel usage for the new deck weight, then we need to finish our trip and get rid of the civvies. I would send you back to bed, but it seems Koln could use some direct guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd Major Bankole?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs soon as the civilians are gone, he\u2019ll be locked up, pending CID investigation,\u201d she said. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t look good to do that while he\u2019s leading his friend from parliament around on a tour.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you really think it was him?\u201d Miria asked. \u201cHe said there were a few people that could alter the logs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe logs weren\u2019t altered; they just weren\u2019t recorded. He is the only<\/em> person on this ship that can disable all the internal sensors, override the alarms, and<\/em> alter the manifest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShould I be concerned?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been talking with him every chance I get,\u201d Shriber said, \u201cand I\u2019ve got him convinced that we<\/em> are sure that you were hallucinating due to lack of sleep. He also doesn\u2019t know that I keep an off-line copy of the manifest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happens if CID can\u2019t find anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the very least, disabling the logs and sensors is a felony. Dishonorable discharge and six months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was going to ask how you can prove that but it\u2019s probably better I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d Shriber said, \u201cnow, let\u2019s get back to work and pick up the training pod so we can get home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Write a thriller about someone who witnesses a murder\u2026 except there\u2019s no evidence that a murder took place….available at Reedsy Unable to sleep again, Miria padded around the escort cruiser Karan barefoot. She wasn\u2019t …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[213,210,228,209,224,223],"class_list":["post-2140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-federation","tag-fiction","tag-science-fiction","tag-short-story","tag-suspense","tag-thriller"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sxT7i-insomnia","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2141,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions\/2141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}