Here is the next chapter in my upcoming new Finder novel. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Vince usually set both of his holoscreens to cycle through stunning planetary or space holos when he wasn’t watching anything or using them as giant secondary screens. The one on the wall to his right currently displayed a gorgeous view of sunlight glinting off a lake at sunset with blue-gray mountains in the distance, while the other displayed an incredible shot of a pink, purple, and blue nebula from somewhere on the other side of the galaxy.
Swiping his palm over the right-hand corner of his jade green desk, Vince triggered a pop-up holographic panel and touched a translucent silvery button. The nebula on the holoscreen to his left dissolved into the round, dark-skinned face of one of the Station’s most popular newscasters.
“…reporting live from Zone 5, we have Zach Melawi.” Marissa Nedo’s melodic voice and stunning smile were famous all over Zyga Station, but the newscaster wasn’t smiling now. She looked somber.
The screen split to show Nedo on one side and a young man with light tan skin and stylish dark hair on the other, standing in front of a string of shops and eateries Vince recognized as being somewhere around Level 6. Not the ritzy upper-class Levels 1 and 2, but definitely above the lower levels.
Melawi nodded solemnly to the cam. “I’m here in Level 6, where celebration of a local bakery’s twenty-fifth year in operation was interrupted by a power outage that lasted approximately four and a half minutes.”
Four and a half minutes? Vince made a soft sound in the back of his throat as he rested a hip against the edge of his desk. It had felt like much longer.
Maybe that was because he knew too much about what would happen to people aboard Zyga Space Station if the power died permanently. He’d grown up on a planet; you didn’t have to worry about losing oxygen on most worlds. Depending on where you were, you could maybe freeze to death, but outside of drowning or being in a fire, lack of breathable air wasn’t typically a problem.
“Is everyone all right?” Need asked, looking concerned.
Melawi nodded again. “Some residents are pretty shaken up, but as far as we can tell, everybody is okay.” He motioned to the shops and eateries behind him. “As you can see, the power is back on.” He did a good job of keeping his expression only pleasantly concerned, but he couldn’t quite hide the fear in his brown eyes.
On a space station orbiting a gas giant, one of the last things anybody wanted was a power outage.
“That’s a good thing,” Nedo said.
Vince snorted, before exchanging a disbelieving look with Bella. “That has to be the understatement of the decade.”
His assistant nodded silently from her chair behind her desk.
“Today’s celebration will continue,” Melawi continued earnestly, “but residents of Zone 5 want answers. Why did this happen? And, more importantly, how can we keep this from happening again?”
Nedo smiled slightly. “I think I speak for everyone on Zyga Space Station when I say we would all like those answers. Thank you, Zach.”
Melawi nodded solemnly, and then his feed vanished.
Nedo then faced the cam. “In addition to Zone 5,” she said briskly, “Zone 2 also temporarily lost power. We have footage from the captain of the Elantris, a freighter en route to dock in Zone 2.”
Her face disappeared, to be replaced by a vid feed from the approaching freighter. As seen from space, Zyga Space Station resembled a giant wheel, with five spokes connected to a large outer ring and a smaller ring just outside a spherical center known as the Core. The outer ring, known as the Rim, held the ritziest, most expensive living quarters on the Station, while the inner ring, called the Hub, provided the best Zone-to-Zone access. The Core held the Station’s massive engine and life support complex, along with what had become living quarters for the Station’s detritus.
Two of those spoke-like Zones were black splotches against the deeper blackness of space, while the rest of the Station remained aglow with golden light.
It was the eeriest footage Vince had ever seen—the more so because he knew he’d been right in the middle of one of those black splotches.
“…Zyga Station’s Council Chairman issued a brief statement assuring everyone there is nothing to worry about and that the Council and Station Authority are looking into the power loss.” Nedo smiled reassuringly at the cam. “In the meantime, Station Authority urges everyone to stay calm and continue as normal. We will continue to keep you updated on this breaking story as it—”
Vince tapped the holographic button on the corner of his desk, shutting the holoscreen off. He hadn’t expected much in the way of real information, but he couldn’t help the ever-present hope of that possibility. Not today, apparently.
“‘Nothing to worry about’,” Bella echoed, her tone sarcastic. “Of course not. We’re only talking about a power outage on a space station in the middle of, you know, space.”
Vince shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to be on the Council or in Station Authority right now.”
“I wonder what happened.” Frowning, Bella tapped her full red lips with one finger. She leaned back in her ergonomic desk chair, which matched Vince’s, even though she didn’t have to ever worry about things like carpal tunnel or neck strain again. “Do you think it’ll happen again?”
Vince glanced at her. He was sure that same thought was currently running through everyone’s mind. “No telling.”
His pulse had settled back into something approaching normal now that the Station was functioning like it was supposed to. “The real question is whether or not Station Authority will actually tell the rest of us what actually happened.”
Bella bolted upright in her chair, her dark eyes wide again. “I know there’s a lot of corruption aboard Zyga Station and all, but surely they wouldn’t actually try to keep us in the dark about this?” She made a slightly exaggerated face at her accidental pun.
“Depends on what ‘this’ is.” Vince lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “And what’s at stake.”
He’d lost any illusions he might have had about the people in power here doing the right thing simply because it was the right thing a long time ago. But, in that, they weren’t any different from the people in power anywhere else he’d ever been.
And Vince liked living aboard Zyga Space Station. Even with its problems, he’d rather live here than anywhere else in the galaxy.
The implications of a recurring power outage, however…
The Finder gave himself a mental shake. No point worrying about that now. Zyga Station had better minds than his to put to work on that particular problem.
Setting the mystery of what had caused the power outage aside, Vince turned to survey the damage in his office. Since the Station’s inertia dampener and grav generator had only quit working for a few seconds before the emergency backup system kicked in, his furniture hadn’t had much chance to migrate. His desk and the two brown armchairs in front of it had only moved a few centimeters.
The matching brown couch on the wall perpendicular to the front door had fared about the same, as had Bella’s desk and the jade green credenza on the back wall facing the front door. The drink-maker on top of it had, surprisingly, landed without tipping over, but Vince’s basket of different teas had fallen over, spilling teabags across the surface of the credenza.
The scent of aloe vera permeating the office told Vince that his potted plant on a tiny glass stand between the couch and the concealed door that led up to his apartment above the office had not fared as well. He glanced at it and frowned. The pot had drifted just enough in those few seconds that only part of it had caught the shelf when gravity returned. The plant had crashed to the floor, the source of the loud crack they’d heard.
Still frowning, Vince crossed to the glass stand and straightened it before he picked up his plant and gave it a critical once-over. Several of its broad dark green leaves were bent and broken, but apart from that it seemed to be all right. The glossy red pot was intact, despite the horrible sound it had made. Shaking his head in small amazement, Vince set the plant back on the glass stand.
He liked having a plant in his office, and this one had the added benefit of occasionally being useful beyond producing oxygen. Zyga Station encouraged its citizens to buy plants and take care of them, but only certain kinds of decorative plants were allowed. Just about anything that required pollination was not allowed to leave the Restricted Agricultural area of Zone 2. Responsibility for the potted trees, bushes, and other plants spread throughout the Station fell to Maintenance.
Just before Vince turned back to Bella, his eyes caught on the door leading up to his apartment. Only then did it occur to him that there might be a be a few things out of place up there as well. He gave a mental shrug. He could deal with the mess later. It wouldn’t be anything major.
At that moment, his comlink vibrated with an incoming call.
Hope this isn’t Mrs. Kawana again, Vince thought as he strode back across the small office and swiped his comlink off his desk. He didn’t recognize the comm number, but then, most of the calls he received on a regular basis were from complete strangers looking to hire someone to Find people or things for them.
He’d barely said hello before a familiar gruff voice said, “Grable, this is Detective Ron Commosky. We need to talk.”