Chapter Two

Patrica was only slightly surprised to find a security guard standing at her door. He was busy playing with /Scentofhappy/, who was happily chasing the guard's tail. The man looked up with a guilty flinch, “Sorry Sir, the boss sent me down to check that Loki was secure and then this little bundle turned up. I’m afraid I couldn’t let Loki out without you here.” She smiled as the scaly, scary and no doubt battle-hardened creature began scratching behind the dog's ears.

“That’s not a problem. Perhaps you could take her to the Captain? I’m sure he’ll be happy to see her. I’m taking Loki for a walk anyway.” The guard perked up. It was rare that he got to take these odd creatures for what the humans called ‘Walkies’, but he found it immensely satisfying. “With pleasure, Engineer. You’d better let my boss know where you’re going or he will feel left out.” Patrica nodded, “Don’t worry, that’s where I’m going first. I just wanted to take Loki with me.”

Something in her tone struck the security guard and his professional instincts made him pay attention. "Sir?”

She shook her head, “Nothing important. I’ll meet security and then begin a tour of the systems. If someone is messing about I’ll get to the bottom of it. Probably just someone being a little too curious. I won’t be going anywhere that Loki can’t follow.”

She opened her door to a very unhappy Loki, his whining having been ignored when he could clearly hear the puppy playing outside. If she could have planned a worse torture she couldn’t think of one. Happily, Loki didn’t carry grudges once she let him out and let the flurry of nose, wuffs and licks take place.

Once both dogs had established that all was well with the world she spoke ‘/Loki/walkies/guard/no games/’ and then she turned to the puppy, ‘/Scentofhappy/Walkies to Captain/guard/’. She couldn’t imagine anyone would attack the Captain’s dog but certain instincts needed to be trained and now was as good a place to start as any. Loki had been trained long before he had ever seen a Ship.

The guard half-understood what was being said but he got a genuine shock when Loki suddenly stopped playing and went quiet. His nose began sniffing and he took his place to the left of the Engineer. Something suddenly reminded him that they were predators and that humans had had them for a very long time. /Scentofhappy/ yipped a bit until a glare from Loki silenced her and she copied his position beside the guard. Patrica nodded to him and left, Loki matching her pace as he kept his position.

She began her inspections on the way to security. She hadn’t been on board for long enough to deal with much more than half the main systems but she had a bloody good idea of what the rest of them were supposed to look like. She pulled panels while Loki kept a lookout. No one was going to creep up on her while he was there no matter how deep in the tech she was.

She hit the first issue with the Comms panel. Someone had hardwired a parallel system independently onto the node. It wasn’t good work but it was enough and it was old, old enough to be from before the ship left the dockyard. She knew it wasn’t on the designs or her engineering notes. Maybe something for the Captain? She doubted it. She decided the easiest way to find out was to disable it and wait for someone to start complaining so she pulled the whole thing and packed it with her toolkit. On to the next.

Two crewmembers were rudely interrupted when their conversation about what to do about the Captain and his bloody Engineer was suddenly cut off.

The next panel that was just plain odd was the lighting. Who needed to mess with the lighting? Any crew could hit the switch and they didn’t even turn on unless the Ship knew someone was about to arrive. It was such an old system, so seamless that most people thought the ship was constantly bright. Again someone had added another independent line. At best, they could override her controls and turn the ship dark. Another backup? She shook her head. This was another one off-the-books so she was halfway through tearing it out when Loki let out a quiet growl.

She didn’t need a translator for that one, it had been built into humans and dogs for thirty-thousand years. She picked up her plasma-lance, just an engineer holding a tool and not, for example, a weapon that could punch through armour and anyone wearing it.

One of the crew was busy opening the Comms panel she had altered. He had apparently not seen the Engineer or Loki in the alcove that held the lighting systems. Before she had time to think she called out, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The crewman jumped and turned to see the human. He was torn between ending this problem for good or running. Then he snarled. Humans were soft and she hadn’t found anything important yet, better to end this now. He drew a knife and began to run at her.

Loki didn’t know the why or the who but he knew that something was attacking his pack. If the Captain had been there he could have read the story as something like ‘/threat/attacker/GUARD/ATTACK/’ as Loki began. To Patrica, it was almost slow motion as Loki went from a standing start when he saw the blade to his full speed. From start to finish it was only a matter of seconds before Loki had reached the attacker and hurled himself on the limb that held the weapon, his head biting and shaking the arm with enough force to break it several times over. The crewman was thrown to the ground and Loki’s legs spread, braced against the decking as he continued to bite deeper. Patrica turned on the plasma-lance and ran to Loki as the screams began to fill the hallway. ‘/Enough/Loki Good boy Best boy/Guard/’. Loki sniffed at the high praise and stood back, waiting to see if he could do more.

The crewman was a mess. Lokis claws had raked his face on the way to the ground and his arm was broken in several places. He thought it couldn’t get worse until the human held a plasma torch close enough to his wounds to cut off the leakage. He hissed in pain. The human spoke in that odd accent, “Well I was on my way to security anyway. I hope you don’t mind answering a few questions. Incidentally, if you move I will let Loki tear your throat out and eat whatever is left. Are we clear?” Her prisoner simply whimpered since Loki was keeping himself and a surprising number of teeth firmly in view and growling a warning.

Patrica pulled her Comms and called the Captain. He should hear this first was a useful rule of thumb, “Captain I have someone here that thought it would be a good idea to attack me while Loki was watching. He’s going to need a med bay and someone needs to ask him a few questions. I’m at the Comms panel on deck C.”

The Captain had been fervently hoping that this was all a mistake and that he could return his ship to its normal, happy self. The smells on the bridge were of concern, doubt and even a little fear. He had issued extra rations to the canteen as his crew gathered to murmur about what was happening. No doubt they would create their own version of events. When his Comms lit up he was hoping the Engineer had some good news. Instead, he was faced with the worst. He assured Patrica that they were on the way, although she hadn’t sounded worried. After he called his Security Chief and raced to join them, it occurred to him that the Engineer should have been worried. She weighed less than he did, she was unarmed and, if he was to be honest, nobody’s idea of a soldier. What had she done?

The first smell was of Loki triumphant, then the battle chemicals of his human. Then the blood. He slowed down, trying to endure the assault on his senses. He could see Patrica standing over her fallen attacker holding a plasma-lance while Loki was locked in place and growling. The scents were mixed and very, very loud.

‘/Threatwarning/surprise/angeratttack/pain/bloodregret/fear/’, the event played out as he tasted it from the beginning. Patrica was glad to see the cavalry arrive as the Captain and his security guards came down the corridor.

She guessed that they hadn’t seen the little puppy determinedly following the Captain on her tiny legs. She told Loki, ‘/Scentofhappy/puppy/protect/’. Loki sniffed and decided that his pack was safe for now and went to intercept and explain to his friend. With a last growl and a yawn that displayed all his teeth, he ran to meet her.

The Captain saw Lokis ears perk up as the Engineer said something and then the dog turned towards him and began to run. He could see blood on the thin sides of its face as it raced down the corridor. He could smell his own surprise and fear jolted by some primitive instinct as Loki went past him and woofed a /welcome/bravePuppy/ at the little /Scentofhappy/ that had apparently followed him down. The two of them went into a circle of tail-wagging and sniffing as Loki explained, ‘/Lokibrave/AttackPack/Sharpclaw/’ he huffed in pride, ‘/LokiGoodBoyBestBoy/’.

Patrica watched as the Captain sniffed around the incapacitated crewman that had attacked her. Her plasma-lance had been replaced by the security guards plasma rifles pointed directly at the man’s face. Medbay staff were on their way to install him in some nice, comfortable room with a heavy lock. She figured this was now someone else’s mess and went back to rebuilding the lighting panel. The Captain had been clear that her next move was a conference with himself and the Chief of Security so she whistled for Loki.

The security team swung around at the high-pitched sound from the human, automatically raising their weapons while the Captain looked up with astonishment. It appeared that the Xenos around here didn’t know humans could whistle. Only Loki reacted as if it was normal, chuffing at /Scentofhappy/ to follow and running back to his companion. Still delighted with all the recent praise he ran quickly and the Captain got to see those long legs hurl Loki down the corridor in seconds.

It gave him a much clearer idea of how the attack had happened. He nodded to himself. Whistle codes made sense for a hunting animal, much more useful than shouting out in large spaces. He guessed it had become a habit since this was hardly such a place. Alas, his species had never developed such skills. Perhaps there was a device he could use? Questions for another day. “Engineer, you never cease to amaze me. I will meet you at Security once I’m done here. Please go there directly.” He nodded to one of the guards, “If you would accompany her? I think Loki has had enough excitement today.”

The Chief of Security was a deeply unhappy man. His Ship had run like a dream until the human had kicked over a rock, a rock he had never even suspected existed. It made him feel foolish and unprofessional. In order to try and regain some self-respect, he was running every test that he could think of on his systems and checking over every crewmembers background. So far he had found nothing. Normally that would have cheered him up but now that meant that obviously, someone out there was better at this than he was. He fought the gloom that was descending and started again.

The Engineer packed her evidence and began the short trip to the Security Office. Loki was skipping ahead and scouting, his nose poking into everything. /Scentofhappy/ was excitedly doing the same, faithfully copying his actions. Patrica smiled at the sight, knowing that one day that puppy would have a nose that equalled or surpassed Loki’s. The Captain was a lucky man. She listened in on the conversation between them,

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

‘/peoplesSmell/Old/many/searchingNewSmell/’ Dutifully the puppy sniffed around. ‘/Old/notGood?/’ Loki sniffed, ‘/Guarding/NewSmellsGood/Warning/’ They continued to check ahead as the Guard and the Engineer watched with amusement.

The Medics bound the offender’s arms as he lay quietly on the ground. Satisfied, the Captain moved with one of his Security team to meet with the Engineer, leaving one to get the prisoner into custody. He was still at a complete loss as to what was happening on his ship and the criminal was unhelpfully completely unknown to him. All he could scent was the blood and the pain, with some small suggestion that he came from the Cargo hold.

After they had left the Medics carefully loaded the man onto a stretcher and sprayed the air. The remaining guard sniffed, “What’s that?” The Medic grinned evilly, “That’s our alibi.” He stepped out of the way just in time for the guard to see that the other medic was holding a gun. The accomplice swiftly shot the guard in the face, letting him stumble and fall to the floor. The prisoner quickly climbed off the stretcher and carefully put on a medical coat handed to him by his accomplice, hiding his bloodstained clothes. “Thanks, that bloody animal was a nightmare. Who allows something like that on a ship?” The guard had now crumpled into a heap and the two medics lifted his body onto the stretcher and began wheeling it away.

The compound sprayed by the assassins began dissolving away any and all scent traces in the corridor. It left a nice pine-like smell instead, one that would tell the Captain exactly nothing.

The Engineer was laying out the dubious equipment she had uncovered, waiting for the Captain to arrive. The Chief of security was unfamiliar to her and seemed to have little interest in conversation right now. The dogs had stationed themselves at the door, making sure that they would be undisturbed. Seeing /Scentofhappy/ trying to imitate Loki’s stance was adorable. She glanced around the office, obviously home to many passing shifts and littered with personal items. Odd flags, coats and the debris of long hours sitting in front of screens. The equipment looked old and unloved. She silently pushed it higher up her things-to-do list. The Ship seemed to have such an unexciting and stable trade route that she hadn’t spent much time thinking about it.

The Captain arrived, leaving the Security guard outside to amuse the dogs. He could scent the suppressed panic from his Security Chief and the breakdown of the human battle drugs. His Engineer seemed to have recovered remarkably easily from what could only be regarded as attempted murder. She seemed absorbed in the bits and pieces of tech lying in front of her. “Engineer, I hope you are well. I cannot fathom how such a thing has happened on my ship. Never have we had violence against a Ships Officer, please forgive me for such a failing.”

Even as he said it, it occurred to him that she was entitled to break her contract without penalty. She had been promised a safe working environment and no one would quibble if she decided a knife-wielding lunatic qualified as a reason to leave. Patrica looked up, still absorbed in the technology, “Oh that. It’s fine Captain, I have Loki if I feel worried. This is more interesting.”

She held up the first part, “Captain, I don’t recall exactly when you took Command here but this stuff is older than me. This ship seems to have a parallel system running through at least some of the systems. I’ll need to go back over the work I did earlier since I may have just chucked this stuff into the recycling. It could have been linked somewhere and I wouldn’t necessarily have noticed.”

The Captain was just happy that he didn’t seem to be losing his human and her dog anytime soon. “Patrica, if you don’t mind, can you explain to us why that is important? There are many redundancies in our systems.” The Chief of Security dragged himself away from his screen and paid attention. Even he could take the hint about which ‘us’ the Captain meant.

She nodded, “Okay, say you have some dark plan and you’re building ships. Say you want to do things that should perhaps stay hidden, well why not wire up a few ships with a separate system.” she paused for a minute, “Call it a parasite system. It can just sit there for years, it doesn’t interfere with anything unless that ship is doing something or heading somewhere of interest. Then you put your people on board and you have the perfect cover. This is pure speculation, right up to the bit where a crewman attacks me with a knife. Why do that if you are going to be caught standing over a body? Unless your pretty sure you won’t be found and, probably neither will the body.” She turned to the Security Chief, “I’m sure you have cams on that corridor. Can you show us the attack?”

The Chief hit a few buttons and the main screen lit up. The cam followed Patrica as she dismantled the Comms panel and they watched as she pulled out the unwanted additions. Then it followed her to the lighting alcove. It watched as Loki sat on guard, then the alarm as he warned the engineer. They saw Loki bound away at speed towards the attacker, still unseen on the recording. Then Patrica ignited the plasma-lance and moved towards the event. At no time was the assailant visible. Patrica held up her hand, “Okay stop it there. I know how this system is supposed to work and there is no way that the Cams should have ignored the attack. Someone or something kept it off your systems. So now we have another problem.”

The sheer scale of the human’s suggestion and the logic of it hit the Captain hard. “I am being used as some kind of puppet? This Ship, my Ship is being run by some cabal for their own purposes? Do you think I am shipping murderers about the galaxy like some kind of gullible fool?”

Patrica held up her hands, “No Captain, I imagine that it would be very rare to actually use one of these ships. On Earth, we had such a thing as a Q-ship, a military ship disguised as a civilian vessel in times of war. Would it be such a stretch to start building that into your ships just in case? Or perhaps such a system could be discovered and used by criminals. I have no idea. Your people are a complete unknown to mine, I have no idea if such things are allowed. I can tell you that any Ship’s Engineer worth the name must have known about it.”

Neither of them was prepared for the blistering explosion from the Chief of Security. He immediately began ripping the panels from his console, swearing in a variety of languages. Patrica raised her eyebrows at the Captain, “Sir, it might be better if I looked after the systems…”

The Chief of Security was still raging when Loki came in to see what all the fuss was about. ‘/Packmate?/Attack?/’, Patrica shook her head, ‘/Packmate/lostPride/BadHunter/’.

The Captain smiled briefly at this description of his Chief. “Chief, can you stop for a moment? I will have our Engineer go through your systems and root out the problem. I would prefer that you go and check on the prisoner and find me some answers.” Glad of a task and a target for his ire the Chief nodded and stomped out of the room.

The Captain sighed, “He’s a good man, just not ‘/FlowersinWinter/’, more ‘/PickerofWeeds/’. It took Patrica a moment or two to figure out the metaphors even as Loki huffed in agreement. She was definitely earning that first-contact bonus.

She moved over to the Chiefs station, carefully removing the newly damaged panels. Even the most cursory examination found issues. In the middle of the usual Xeno muddle was what looked to be an entirely separate system hardwired in.

It would take her a while to map the thing but she felt confident enough when she turned to the Captain, “Sir, this thing is a mess. I can see lines running to Cams, doors, databases...everywhere. It would probably be easier for me to just build a new one in engineering and take this apart for Intel. I wouldn’t let it run, not while these attacks continue. I suspect someone else is getting more information out of this room than we are.”

Loki let out a low growl, responding to the Captain's scents. “Engineer, please shut this down and ensure that whatever creeping evil is on my ship is crippled. Use whatever you need to build me something, anything that can restore my Ship to me. I will be on the bridge.” Then the mystery of why the lights had been mucked about became clear as the ship went dark.

The darkness of space is rarely seen in a Ship, except for the odd glance out the window. No emergency lights kicked in, just the absolute night falling like a curtain. Occasional flashes from the equipment did more to highlight the strangeness than anything else. In the security office, the Captain and Patrica jumped a little in surprise. The Captain called into the darkness, “Engineer, please explain! What did you do?”

Patrica grabbed her lighting pack from her toolbox, fumbling as she relied on muscle memory and habit. It only took her a minute to slap the lenses in place and her suit now radiated a powerful sphere of light around her. She thanked the gods of small miracles that some distant Engineer had mandated must be carried at all times, regardless of circumstance. “Captain, that wasn’t me. I think we are about to meet whoever is messing with our ship. Are you armed?”

The Captain snorted loudly, “They want to fight me in the dark? I don’t need a weapon.” He sniffed slowly and listened to his ship. “The Crew is upset. I will open the weapons locker for them and we will scour my ship clean. Give me a few moments and get to Engineering.” He paused, “Perhaps you could look a little less like a spotlight as you move? I will keep Loki informed where I am.” Patrica nodded and whistled for Loki. Behind him stumbled a very scared little puppy who had run out of /brave/ and may have left a small puddle. The Captain swept her up and reassured her as he went to deal with the intruders.

Patrica dropped her lights and fitted the infrared filters to her mask. It felt weird to be wearing it indoors but right now she wished she was in her full suit. She took out her plasma torch ‘/Loki/intruders/StrangePack/Guard/PackLeader/Hunting/’ She reached down to her pet, ‘Sorrow/NewHomedangerous/BraveLokiBestBoy/’ Loki huffed and sniffed as the Captain had, ‘/Prey/LokiGoodBoy/Hunter/Happy/’ The first problem was apparent immediately. The infra-red wasn’t telling her anything useful as the ship was carefully heated to a uniform temperature and systems were insulated to keep it that way. If the intruders were clever they just had to ensure they stayed at the ambient temperature, a little trick she couldn’t do in her crew uniform. She needed to get to her shop quickly. Hopefully, Loki’s nose would warn her.

A sudden thought struck her and she stopped at a vent, ‘/Loki/Guard/’ and pulled it out. The thermostat was bog-standard and normally a question for the Engineer alone which worked out nicely. She punched in her code and raised the ship’s temperature by fifteen degrees. If the enemy weren’t paying attention, they would stand out as a cold spot. In about an hour.

The Captain moved carefully, perversely enjoying the lack of incessant lighting on the ship. The Ship spoke to him, telling him who was nearby, who was frightened or angry. In his mind, he built up a careful picture of what was around him. He considered it a given that someone was going to attack since it made no sense to show your hand and do nothing. The only question was the target. He huffed at /Scentofhappy/ now burrowed deep into his jacket. ‘/PackleaderHunt/PuppySafe/Loved/’

He scented the wrongness ahead. Two crew, /anticipation/bloodlust/fear/ and /angry/tracesofregret/determination/. He didn’t recognise them beyond the base smell of the ship on their clothes. He hissed to himself. They were /Crewnotcrew/. Traitors. From his scent map, they were using torches, something handheld and occasionally sweeping the corridor ahead. He felt he was a reasonable man, honest in a Galaxy that didn’t value his people very much. His people didn’t have great glorious wars, they didn’t try and steal worlds from others but right now these.../Rottedfruitsonapoisonvine/ would discover that he wasn’t powerless. He hushed the puppy and moved quickly ahead.

Loki growled a warning softy. ‘/Prey/AmbushHiding/ClawandotherClaw/’.Patrica swore to herself. Why bother trying to find her when they knew where she would go? Two attackers just waiting around the corner from Engineering, certain that she would fumble her way there. Loki seemed certain that they were only carrying knives right now while they knew they had the advantage. Unlikely those were their only toys.

Patrica worked out a plan of sorts. “/Loki/FlushGame/NoAttack/FlushtoMe/”

Loki didn’t pause, flying on his great legs with his head down and ears back. He flew past the awaiting intruders without a sound, a sudden shape rushing past the confused duo. Then when he was at his appointed spot he began to howl. It started low and soft, increasing to a solid threat from the dark. Loki was thoroughly enjoying himself.

The ambushers started off worried but slowly it became a genuine fear. They looked at each other, “That’s the thing the human owns. Some kind of war beast. It nearly took Anjoks arm off when it attacked him. He said that it only stopped when the human asked.” He looked down the corridor, “It wanted to tear his throat out.” The other Xeno followed his stare, “Well we are not here for that. I suggest we go and look for the human. The security office has a nice secure door. I imagine she’s hiding there. Probably.”

While they were distracted by Loki's antics Patrica had made it to Engineering unnoticed. She knew he would never get trapped by such a pair and was too well-trained to take chances. The prey might be larger than he was used to but he enjoyed the game too much to spoil it. He would haunt those two until he could safely return to her. Her office wasn’t pretty and with a sniff, she realised that a little organisation might be due. However, her suit was prepped and ready and that was what she really wanted. Humans tended to keep quiet about how they worked or what they could do but once she was wearing that it would take more than a plasma rifle to hurt her. The only difference between it and a combat suit was the bright orange colour and the lack of obvious weapons.

Generations of Engineers had designed it against ‘hostile environments’ and had taken a pretty broad view of what that meant. Time to go and get her dog. She hit her Comms and let out a call at 54 kHz and went to meet him.

Loki’s tail whipped a little faster when he heard the whistle. He had no idea why only he could hear it properly but that sound meant that his pack leader was on the way. He howled down the corridor again. The hunt could begin.