A Mystery Beyond Science: A Kerbal Mystery Thriller (Ch. 42: Almost There)

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: OBSESSION

 

“HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!” Val yelled at Commander Oswald of Calculus Base. She had just learned that Oswald had authorized a one-man lander to ascend to the Defiant while the planet was on lockdown.

“Admiral, what’s the problem?” questioned Oswald.

“You allowed a lander to fly without my authorization WHILE Dres was on lockdown, that’s what,” said Val angrily. “Don’t you remember that protocol?”

“Yes, but it’s also protocol to allow such flights when excepted by the highest-ranking active-duty kerbalnaut,” recalled Oswald.

“Which I most certainly did NOT,” said Val.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure you did,” argued Oswald. “At least you told Captain Ganz to relay it to me.”

“Yeah, well, he can’t corroborate that,” said Val. “He’s dead.”

“Dead? What happened?”

“Irpond killed him – and everyone else on the Defiant,” argued Val.

“Irpond… eesh…,” stammered Oswald, but Val punched the wall.

“TALK! Why did you send a lander up to the ship?!”

“Someone was really sick,” answered Oswald. “The medical officer said she needed medical supplies from the base immediately, so we packed it all in a one-man lander. I reminded Captain Ganz about the lockdown, but he said that you already approved it for medical reasons. I then suggested I call you myself, but he said you would rather not be bothered.”

“Next time there’s a lockdown and someone asks you to send a spacecraft, BOTHER ME!” ordered Val.

“Hey, someone’s life was at stake.”

“Because there was a MURDERER aboard that ship!” said Val. “She’s now off the grid, and it’s ALL YOUR FAULT!”

“Admiral, as soon as no response came from the Defiant, I got suspicious,” said Oswald. “I then ordered that lander tracked and alerted all active surface exploration crews to look for the craft when it landed.”

“Tell me you found it,” sighed Val, and Oswald accessed the craft tracker on his kPad.

“By the way, how did you know the lander came from my base?” Oswald inquired.

“All craft that ascend or descend while on lockdown get flagged by radar and logged,” reminded Val. “So, Irpond forced Captain Ganz to ask for medical supplies for a sick man. She then forces Ganz to tell you that I gave an all-clear, then you load the lander and blast off. BUT, surprise surprise, it’s just used to get away.”

“She won’t get far… without leaving a trail,” assured Oswald. “Since the planet has no wind, she’ll leave tracks if she either went on foot or rover.”

“What about a jetpack?” said Val. “Can she get far with that?”

“Besides our scanners tracking all active EVA suits, she’ll need to enter a rover, base, or spacecraft to recharge her jetpack. Flying long-distance with those things is extremely risky.”

“UGH!” groaned Val. “If any of your men find that lander, tracks, or Irpond herself, YOU TELL ME!”

“Understood, Admiral,” said Oswald, then Val started her phone application on her kPad.

“Attention all Dres commanders,” she spoke, “effective immediately, a partial lockdown has been implemented. All surface and orbit operations will proceed as planned, but interplanetary-capable spacecraft will stay where they are. They shall not blast off without my direct and explicit permission first.”

“Uh, about that,” stammered Oswald as Val signed off, “that is going to put a serious dent in our Dres operations.”

“How big a dent are we talking?” asked Val.

“Real big. Now that we have new self-mining nuclear-powered landers, you’re effectively grounding our primary crew transport.”

“Well, how much delta-V does it have when fully loaded?”

“About 4,200-something meters per second,” answered Oswald.

“Man, I’m getting old,” sighed Val. “Tell them to use the old fuel-and-oxidizer landers, then.”

“Mam, that would require a fuel truck present at every landing location,” objected Oswald. “At least with the nuclear-powered landers, they can not only mine themselves while the crew does surface operations, but they’ll have a lot more delta-V left in it than the fuel-and-oxidizer craft after landing and ascension.”

“Too bad, you’re going to get delays,” said Val.

“Sooner or later, the crews are gonna demand that you end the lockdown,” warned Oswald.

“I’d rather keep a killer in one planet than risk her escaping,” argued Val.

“Admiral, are you aware of the S.S. Evolution’s mission?”

“Yes; they got the engineers that are installing the new communication systems.”

“As soon as they’re done with surface installments, their next stop is the Jool system,” he told her. “You keep this lockdown up by the time that happens, Mission Control’s going to give you a lot of crap.”

“Fine,” sighed Val. “Send some men to guard the ship.”

“Negative, Admiral. We already have a maintenance detail on board the Evolution while the installment engineers are traveling the surface in their rover convoy.”

“Then tell them to not let any women in that ship.”

“Admiral, you can’t be serious. I counted at least three women in that maintenance crew.”

“Ugh, check that, tell them not to let anyone OTHER THAN myself near that ship. As for the installment crew, when it comes time for them to leave, I’ll check them one-by-one to see if Irpond’s among them.”

“Sounds fair. I’ll call you when they are ready to head back to their ship.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” said Val, “if you think I’m going to get crap for extending a planetary lockdown, just wait until they hear that you breached protocol and allowed a murderer to escape.”

“With all due respect, I don’t think so,” objected Oswald. “I had reason to believe someone needed immediate medical attention and that you had already given clearance.”

“He was forced to lie,” reminded Val.

“If it makes you feel any better, the bad guy could have taken the interplanetary travel pod anyway.”

“Whoa, how do you know you can land one of those?” wondered Val.

“I put two pilots on janitorial detail after they landed one of them inside a crater as a prank,” explained Oswald. “Good thing it didn’t take any permanent damage.”

“Irpond said that she had plans for that pod – or at least one of them,” said Val. “I want at least two men per every pod that’s on standby. And YES, they have to be men; NO women.”

“Why?” asked Oswald. “What’s wrong with women?”

“Our serial murderer’s a woman, so she may pass off as someone who’s on guard detail if I allow females on that job,” started Val.

“You do realize it will generate massive outrage, right?” said Oswald.

“They can suck it, because I’m not risking that criminal escaping when we finally have her.”

“I understand, but I’m not sure they will.”

“If I need to amend anything, I’ll do so accordingly – but ONLY to a logical extent. I will not agree to anything that could mean a great chance of Irpond getting away.”

“Yes, Admiral.” As Val left the control room, she knew that even the partial lockdown would only be temporary. Besides the inevitable demand to resume Dres operations as usual, the S.S. Evolution – a self-mining nuclear-powered lander with its own laboratory and a 19-person passenger capacity – needed to leave Dres for its Jool mission when it was done. She also knew a lockdown wasn’t going to be enough to keep Irpond from causing more trouble. Even though she lowered Irpond’s chances of escaping, she could still harm people on the surface. Not only that, she expected Irpond to use her hacking skills to kill someone by causing a major technical malfunction at any moment.

“I know Bob was your goal,” Val said while gazing at the surface through the window. “What are you up to now?”

 

Meanwhile, after a long shift of working out and double-checking the solar panels and the RTGs, Bill was fast asleep in the pod’s rack room. He started to envision himself in a brightly-lit ring station orbiting Duna. The sun was illuminating the red surface – and a part of the polar ice caps – as well as the interior of the passenger cabin. Though he would agree that the view of the planet was beautiful, he would say that it was nowhere near as the woman who was standing next to him.

It was Val in her leave clothes. He had hoped that, after they were done with Irpond on Dres, the two of them would return to Duna for a second interplanetary date. Though Eve was arguably the most popular romantic place in the Kerbol system, Bill and Val knew Duna was far less hazardous; Ike was also more enjoyable than Gilly thanks to its reasonable gravitational pull – which was approximate to Dres’. Bill thought Duna would be the perfect place for a date after Irpond and Misty were exposed and punished, as he wanted to make up for all the years he never told Val how he felt about her.

“Don’t you just love the ice caps… Fleet Admiral?” asked Bill.

“No, I don’t love the ice caps,” said Val, putting her hand on Bill’s head. “I love YOU.”

“I love you too,” replied Bill, then leaning in to kiss Val.

“Uh… mam?” asked a male crewmember.

“Oh, shoot!” sighed Val. “Uh… as you were.”

“Yes, Admiral.” Val and Bill then walked to their quarters and resumed kissing.

“Is this the second time we’ve been to this planet?” wondered Val.

“Third time for me,” said Bill.

“Huh, the first time was with you and Bob to Ike,” Val remembered, “and the second one was with all three of you in the U.S.S. Ironsoil. When was your third?”

“To test my ski prototypes here,” answered Bill, “then I was going to fly to Eeloo, and then Laythe. Fun fact: I saw Bob here a few times with Sheri.”

“Huh, why’d you plan to start with Eeloo first?”

“Because the transfer window to Eeloo opened first, and I would get there sooner than I got to Laythe,” explained Bill.

“You knew I was on Laythe,” Val reminded him. “Why didn’t you just wait and fly to me?”

“I had a job to do, and I thought whatever feelings we had for each other were long-gone,” argued Bill. “Besides, I needed to make some progress in the testing phase and Mission Control wanted to know how well the skis would do on Eeloo.” He paused for a minute as Val looked at him in disappointment. “If it makes you feel any better, the ORIGINAL mission plan was to travel to Laythe after the Eeloo tests.”

“Original? Why did you change it?”

“Irpond,” answered Bill. “Mission Control knew about my analysis of the virus that crashed Moonjet 314, so they approved my request to go to Dres and investigate the 79 crash further.”

“Then… if you changed your plans to catch Irpond, then who has the skis?” asked Val.

“Wolfe Kerman,” said Bill, then Val looked at his service record.

“You gave him to some fuel truck driver?!”

“Hey, if he can endure both Moho AND Eeloo, he can endure Laythe’s cold temperatures – which, on average, make Kerbin’s winter months feel like heat waves. There were other factors involved, too, like him being able to ski well while on Kerbin. I also couldn’t entrust my skis to him without Mission Control’s approval, so there you go.”

“Wait just a minute,” Val realized, “if you ran into Bob in his last Duna assignment, why didn’t you go to Laythe when he did?”

“Duna testing was unfinished when Bob left,” said Bill. “By the time I was all done with my final reports, it was far too late to fly to Jool.”

“Couldn’t you just give the skis to someone else?” asked Val.

“Val, does it really matter at this point?” sighed Bill.

“Yes. You had your chance to meet me face-to-face and tell me how you felt.”

“Until your drunken confession, I thought we would only stay friends.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were TRYING to avoid me,” argued Val.

“No, I had a job to do and I was going to do it.” Suddenly, Val pointed a gun at Bill’s chest. “Val, just take it easy.” To his surprise, Val smiled and started to laugh. “What is it?”

“I ain’t Val, kid,” she replied, then she ripped a rubber mask off her face. Bill was shocked to see who it was underneath.

“MISTY KERMAN?!”

“That’s right, Bill,” she said, then Bill inched closer to the door. “Don’t even think about it. I disabled the panic button when I got here.”

“No, it can’t be,” gasped Bill. “You’re dead.”

“So, they think,” said Misty. “It was fairly easy to fake a heart attack while I was on death row. I am a scientist, after all.”

“And then you snuck aboard a ship for Duna to make your escape,” Bill figured out.

“Not just to escape, to meet you in person,” corrected Misty.

“Where’s Val?”

“Well… you can at least find her head at the first Ike landing spot,” she answered. “I haven’t harmed Jeb and Bob… yet.”

“Why did you want to meet ME?” asked Bill.

“Like Jeb said, you and I were… oh, what was the term… arch-enemies,” explained Misty. “Once I learned of my daughter’s death, I had to meet the ones that killed her.”

“Your daughter was court-martialled for heinous crimes she ACTUALLY committed and sentenced to death after being convicted,” argued Bill. “That stunt you pulled about 40 years ago didn’t work for you this time.”

“All she wanted was Bob’s love, but then YOU took that away from her.”

“Because she murdered people long before I got in the picture.”

“ZIP IT,” shouted Misty, “the adult is talking here.”

“Uh, we’re all adults here.”

“Compared to me, you’re a kid,” said Misty. “Once I get rid of you, I’ll get off this rock and start a new life.”

“You do realize that’s gonna be GOOD KRAKEN, what’s going on with life support?” said Bill, then Misty turned around. Amid the distraction, Bill grabbed her gun and punched her in the face.

“Is that all you got?” said Misty as she and Bill struggled for the gun. It then went off a couple of times, the bullets penetrating the walls. Bill then knee-jabbed Misty twice before the gun fired a third time.

“Ha ha,” smirked Bill, then he took the gun and backed away to see Misty’s stomach covered in blood. “Time to die.”

“Can you do it?” said Misty, striking a nerve. “You’ve wanted me dead for years; now’s your chance.”

“If Kerbin won’t kill you, I will!” yelled Bill.

“Then do it already,” taunted Misty. “Pull the trigger… I dare you.” For ten seconds, Bill just stood there frozen with the gun trained on her. “Just as I thought.”

“No, I’ll do it,” said Bill. “I will kill you.”

“If you wanted to finish me, you would have done it already,” smirked Misty. Bill then closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. However, as soon as he opened them, he saw that the bullet hit the bedframe. Misty then kicked Bill between the legs and punched him out of the room. As soon as he got back on his feet, she picked up the gun and fired.

“Ha, you missed,” said Bill, but he then saw that the bullet had shattered the window open. Bill was then sucked out of the station and into the cold vacuum of space. Much to his surprise, he then felt himself landing on wet asphalt. He looked up and saw that he was in the middle of a street during a rainy evening. When he heard a siren in the background, he turned and recognized the large building behind him.

It was Baikerbanur Medical Center.

“I’m… home,” stammered Bill, “but how?” Though he knew he was just dreaming, he did not know how or why he ended up in Baikerbanur after being ejected out of a ring station in orbit of Duna. He then ran toward the hospital entrance and removed his jacket as soon as he was inside.

“Your name, sir,” said the doorman, then Bill signed his name on a coat tag. “Please present your tag before reclaiming your coat.”

“Thanks,” said Bill, then he approached the main desk.

“What can I do for you, sir?” asked the receptionist as Bill noticed the computer she was using.

“First of all, why are you using an ancient piece of junk?” he asked her.

“Piece of junk?” she replied, sounding insulted. “In case you don’t know, the Portals Mark VI software is state-of-the-art.”

“Mark VI, state of the art? Please,” sighed Bill. “Portals owners use Mark XIX nowadays, and your computer isn’t compatible with anything past IX.”

The receptionist then took a deep breath to cool off. “Can I just take your name, sir?”

“Bill Kerman,” answered Bill.

“That’s weird. I’ve seen Bill Kerman here a few times and he was far younger and shorter.”

“Oh, you must not recognize me from earlier,” realized Bill. “I’ve grown and changed significantly over the past… thirty-something years or so.”

“Sir, I last saw Bill THIS MORNING,” the receptionist told him. “He was with his dad.”

“Ugh, just look up the first Mun landing on Oogle,” sighed Bill.

“What the heck’s Oogle?” asked the receptionist. “Oh, and FYI, nobody has ever been to the Mun.”

“Are you blind?!” shouted Bill. “How can you NOT know about… wait a minute. Old computer, younger me seen this morning with Dad, and no Mun landings yet… oh, no.”

“What’s the problem?” questioned the receptionist.

“Oh… silly me,” stammered Bill, attempting to smile. “I… must have drank too much last night and it must have caused some strange dreams. But my name really is Bill Kerman.” He awkwardly left the receptionist alone, knowing that, somehow, he got transported to the past when Misty shot him out the station. “May I see the news, please?”

“Remote’s to your left, sir.”

“Thanks.” He then turned on the television and watched the news to find at what specific time period he managed to end up in.

“In a stunning turn of events, the Badgers have gained the edge over the Wolverines after a years-long string of defeats,” the announcer said. Bill then saw someone in the Baikerbanur County High team dodge all the Woomerang players. “Michael Kerman has the ball, he runs… and the Badgers score again!”

“Yes!” shouted a teenager in the lobby. “GO BADGERS!”

“At this rate, the Badgers could grab the planetary championship title!”

“Wait… if Michael Kerman was on the team and we started to get good against Woomerang,” started Bill, “then that means I’ve landed between the spy probe drop and Michael’s graduation.” When the game was interrupted for commercials, Bill switched to the science channel and immediately recognized the man on the screen. “Werner?”

“You look up at Dres,” he started, “and you think ‘Hey, what’s the Mun doing there?’ Well, that’s what the Sultan III is for.”

“What exactly is the objective of the Sultan III?” asked the reporter.

“Basically… get a complete geographical layout of the planet from polar orbit,” answered Werner.

“That’s… impossible,” said Bill. “The Sultan III satellite was never launched until after I went to Basic… and even that failed due to it running out of fuel before it could establish its parking orbit.”

“Boo-ring!” sighed the teenager, then he changed the channel.

“We interrupt this commercial break for some breaking news from Woomerang,” a man started. “An airline pilot has been shot dead by his wife in what appears to be a justifiable homicide.” Bill knew who the reporter was talking about before the alleged shooter was on the screen.

“Misty,” he cursed.

“It… was horrible,” sobbed Misty. “I loved him… but he was beating my daughter. I tried to stop him, but he just… kept going. I had no choice.”

“LIAR!” yelled Bill.

“Hey!” shouted the teenager. “That woman’s daughter was being abused for God’s sake.”

“I know what happened,” spat Bill, “it was murder, kid. Misty shot her husband and beat up Irpond herself.”

“That seems like a wild accusation at a defenseless victim, dude.”

“Defenseless victim MY ASS,” cursed Bill. “She murdered her crush’s girlfriend, tried to frame me for arson, crashed a hypersonic airliner to cover up that arson – and then shot someone at the space center – and was involved in numerous killings all linking back to her and her daughter.”

“Are you high or something?” asked the teenager. “We don’t even have planes that can go past Mach 2 now.”

“Yet the science channel showed a press conference dating back to when we developed fighters that could get up to Mach… 3.5,” pointed out Bill, then he walked to the receptionist. “Mam, what’s going on here? The science channel just showed something from the future; I know because I was there. At this point in time, you could not have reached Dres.” The receptionist said nothing. “What’s going on here? Why am I here?”

“Security!” she requested, then two guards approached him.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Bill ducked under a guard’s arm and ran towards the inside. “The answer must be inside, but what and where?”

“Freeze!” shouted hospital security, but Bob ignored them as he kept running. As soon as he turned a corner, he activated an elevator and hid in the janitorial closet. “He’s going up!”

“He he, suckers.” He looked outside to check if the coast was clear, then he left the closet. “Now to find the answer before the guards see me.” He was astonished to find that he was in the cancer ward of the hospital. “How did I end up here? It’s not for another two floors up, and it’s on the other side of the building.” He then asked the first patient he saw for the date. “Oh no.”

“Coming through,” he heard a man say in a somber tone. Bill poked his head out the window and saw four hospital employees wheeling a covered-up patient in a stretcher.

“No,” gasped Bill.

“Sir, is there a problem?” asked one of the nurses.

“Tell me it’s not her,” said Bill. “It can’t be her!”

“It’s definitely female,” she told him. “Who do you think it is?”

“Edith Kerman,” answered Bill, then he removed the cover from the patient’s face. “NOOOO!”

It was his mother’s body on that stretcher.

“She died of cancer,” said the nurse. “Too bad you can’t say the same for these guys.”

“Wait, what?” asked Bill.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! The nurse took out a handgun and shot her coworkers on the spot. She then removed her hat and surgical mask.

“MISTY!”

“Hello, again,” she announced. “You just can’t let go of me, can you?”

“What are you doing here?” asked Bill. “How’d you get here?”

“You invited me,” explained Misty.

“I would never invite you to anything other than your own execution,” said Bill. “Besides, just a minute ago, you were sobbing in Woomerang.”

“Silly boy,” said Misty, then the guards caught up to them. “Guards, help me! Bill’s gonna kill me!”

“We got you, nurse,” acknowledged one of the guards.

“She’s not a nurse!” shouted Bill as two men grabbed him by the arms. “That’s it!” He elbow-struck one of the guards and slugged the other before dodging Misty’s bullet. Without thinking, he kicked Edith’s stretcher at Misty and it struck her in the waist. While Misty scrambled to reclaim the gun, Bill kicked her in the abdomen and punched her in the face. He then grabbed her by the shirt and raised his fist.

“This is the part where you kill me, right?” she asked, but in a man’s voice. Her face then morphed into that of Edith’s employer before she was hospitalized. “Revenge is sweet, satisfying. You were denied it when your mother died; why hold back for hundreds more?”

“NO!” screamed Bill, then he grabbed a nearby scalpel and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest. After he was tackled by the guards, his head broke through the floor and he fell through a hole. Before he knew it, he was right next to an elementary school playground in the middle of a clear day. “What is it now?”

“Please, I can do the jungle gym with my eyes closed,” a fifth-grade boy bragged.

“Are you sure, Jeb?” his friend asked.

“Jeb?” gasped Bill, then he was astonished to see younger versions of Jeb and himself at the playground.

“Come on, Bill. I’ve been on this thing a hundred times,” he heard Jeb say. “How hard can it be?”

“Excuse me,” he spoke, then he saw what he recognized as a ten-year-old Val look at him.

“Sorry, mister, but we don’t talk to strangers,” she said.

“Smart choice,” said Bill, “but let me just ask you one thing and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Don’t make me tell a teacher,” said young Val.

“Is… your teacher this tall,” started Bill, approximating Misty’s height, “has long brunette hair, and wears blood-red lipstick?”

“Whoa,” said young Bill. “THAT is accurate.”

“Uh oh,” stammered the real Bill. “Your real teacher is not that tall, has short red hair, and does NOT wear lipstick. You need to get out of here NOW!”

“Finally, someone who understands us,” sighed young Jeb.

“No, Jeb!” objected young Val. “First of all, you described the SUBSTITUTE teacher a minute ago. Second, why would we leave the school now?”

“Because she’s a dangerous murderer,” sighed Bill, “and I can prove it.”

“I’ll take care of him,” said a woman before she ordered the kids to get back in the building.

“Mam, you gotta listen to me,” started Bill. “Misty Kerman is…”

“In front of you,” she interrupted before showing her face.

“Why are you torturing me?” questioned Bill. “First my possible future, then the day my mom died, then my elementary school days. What else are you going to ruin?”

“Everything, if you don’t let me go,” answered Misty.

“You know I can’t let you do that,” he replied. “Not until you die!”

“You already tried to kill me, yet you still think about me,” sighed Misty. “You’ve given me more attention than Dilford ever did while he was mine… and you hate me.”

“SHUT UP!” shouted Bill angrily before pinning Misty against the school wall. “Once I kill you, I won’t have to deal with you or your daughter ever again.”

“Speaking of which,” smirked Misty, then Bill noticed a fully-grown Irpond standing next to him with a gun to the child Val’s head.

“Put my mom down,” demanded Irpond, and Bill complied.

“HELP!” screamed younger Val before Irpond muffled her.

“Zip it, rodent!” spat Irpond. “I’m going to have Bob to myself, and there’s no way you’re going to stop me.”

“Not you too,” said Bill.

“End your crusade against us, or I will kill this girl like the little tramp that she is!” said Irpond. “If you think we’ll stop with Val, think again.” As Bill stood there in confusion, a car horn went off behind them and caused Irpond to drop Val. While Irpond and Misty covered their ears, Bill kicked Misty and elbow-struck Irpond before he and Val made their escape. He then stopped when the car door opened, and he saw the driver.

It was Edith Kerman, alive and healthy.

“Hurry! Get in!” she shouted, and Bill got in the car and closed the door behind us.

“Hit ‘em, Mom,” requested Bill, but Misty put her car in reverse. “Uh, Mom, the bad guys are that way.”

“Uh, Bill, that would mean killing them,” said Edith.

“That’s the idea, Mom,” sighed Bill. “They just took younger Val hostage.”

“And the older one can handle herself fine,” started Edith as they left the school grounds. “Here, you take the wheel now. I never actually saw you drive without a permit.”

“Okay,” said Bill, then he and his mother switched seats. “What’s going on here?”

“You’ve been obsessed with revenge against Irpond and Misty for so long,” started Edith, “that it is taking control of your life.”

“But, Mom, the two of them are putting the entire Kerbol system in jeopardy,” he said. “Irpond is also on the run and possibly has Val in jeopardy.”

“You mean the girl you were too scared to make a move on when you were in high school?” chuckled Edith. “If Val can endure her on Laythe and in Pod 5B15, she can take her on Dres.”

“But Irpond got away,” argued Bill, “and she caused a reasonably-warranted panic on that planet. Do you even know what she’s capable of?”

“Yes, and Val does too,” said Edith. “Why do you worry so much about her?”

“I just want her safe,” sighed Bill. “I don’t want to lose her like Dad lost you… and like JEB SENIOR lost Amelia.”

“Yes, the death of a loved one can be quite devastating,” reminded Edith. “But I ask you this: what does my death have in common with Amelia’s?”

“I don’t really know, Mom,” sighed Bill. “You died of cancer caused by long-term radiation exposure which was easily preventable by company management; Amelia, on the other hand, crashed her plane ALL ON HER OWN. It took years for you to die, while Amelia’s was relatively instantaneous. Oh, and Amelia killed a little girl, too.”

“There’s still a similarity between them,” hinted Edith. “It’s the same thing if Irpond kills Val before you reach Dres.”

“Hmm… long-term cancer, pilot stupidity, and a murder,” thought Bill. “Though your boss knew of the safety violations, there was nothing… we could do.” Edith nodded as he continued. “I remember Dad repeatedly talking to doctors and asking… wait. He’s not a doctor.”

“Go on,” said Edith.

“You spent the last few months of your life in a hospital while Dad and I lived at home as usual… of course. Jeb Senior wasn’t on the plane with Amelia when she crashed, and I won’t be in Dres’ sphere of influence for at least another year.”

“See where you’re going?”

“Your death was outside of mine and Dad’s control,” concluded Bill, “just as Amelia’s was outside of Jeb Senior’s… and Val’s would be outside of mine.”

“Exactly,” said Edith as Bill stopped at a stoplight. “Do you still remember how to drive to the fruit farm where we used to pick strawberries?”

“I can try,” sighed Bill, “but it’s been a long time since I was in Baikerbanur – and a lot has changed between this time period and when I was last there.”

“I got that covered,” smirked Edith as she took out a piece of paper from the glove compartment.

“Oh, crud, I forgot about that list of directions you kept,” said Bill. “Of course, nowadays if I forget, I could always use GPS.” As the light turned green, he kept driving straight. “Anyway, I understand that I won’t be there to save Val for a while, but we’re still a team and we help each other out.”

“Just don’t obsess about it, like you’re obsessing over Misty right now,” Edith told him. “Even when you finally reach Dres, she will still be the tough girl you knew since fifth grade.”

“Unless she’s dead,” argued Bill.

“If that is to happen, I trust you would take the right action,” said Edith. “For example, Jeb Senior kept his son out of harm’s way to ensure he didn’t end up like his mother.”

“Well, it’s not like Jeb never TRIED to get in harm’s way,” reminded Bill, and Edith laughed.

“When I died, you and William had different plans; while he wanted to prevent such deaths from happening again, you desired revenge. If you went through with your idea, you would be worse than those who knew of the radiation leaks that eventually killed me.” Bill then turned left after a kid in a tricycle crossed the road with his mother beside him. “Same case for Irpond and Misty; if I was alive now, I would have used your solid-fuel model rocket engines to blow her up. However, I’m not… and I know William most certainly did not raise a murderer after I died.”

“Is it murder if they killed hundreds and got away with it?” debated Bill. “Is it?”

“Absolutely,” answered Edith.

“Misty evaded the law once,” said Bill. “I’m not letting her do it again on my watch.”

“So, the courts failed the first time,” sighed Edith. “Just like with your fancy gadgets, you try again.”

“But, Mom.”

“Shut it,” ordered Edith. “I know about the double-jeopardy rule, but that only applies to Debra Kerman; of course, if the DNA on Bob’s underwear is a familial match to the blood on the engine, you can try asking Kerbin to charge her for perjury.”  She paused as Bob stopped at a railroad crossing. “There’s always the murders she did after Debra… or even getting Irpond to confess. However, while you can offer ideas, you can’t do diddly squat about Irpond – and ONLY Irpond – until you get your boots on Dres’ surface.”

“Understood, Mom,” said Bill as he sniffed the air. “Man, I forgot the trains used diesel fuel.”

“When did Baikerbanur start getting all-electric trains?” asked Edith.

“At least a decade after you died,” answered Bill.

“I thought they were working on an electric system before then.”

“They were having town hall discussions about it, but never went through until much later.” All was silent in the car until the train had passed and the gate lifted. “There’s something else.”

“What?” Bill then told Edith about his dream in the hospital, emphasizing how he was confused about the Sultan III being announced years before it was designed.

“The football game and Misty’s shooting couldn’t have been reruns because I saw you getting wheeled to the morgue a minute later,” he added. “I don’t know about the date of Misty shooting her husband, but I remember missing that specific game to be with you when you died.”

“So that’s why Jeb wasn’t with you and Val,” sighed Edith. “I think that would have been a good time to tell you that Val was the perfect woman for you.”

“So, why didn’t you?”

“Meh, I thought the resulting high-school romance would fade soon anyway; you know how they get.”

“After I wake up, I’m emailing Dad and asking him about it.”

“Ha, we both agreed on that, but it was HIS idea to have you figure it out yourself,” explained Edith. “Well, now that I say that, I think waiting was the best option. You both matured quite a lot, yet you still have feelings for each other. If you started the romance too early, you were bound to make more mistakes.”

“Anyway, any idea why the Sultan III was there the day you died?”

“The same reason you saw Misty at the hospital in Baikerbanur – when you saw her live in Woomerang on TV; something about Dres is bothering you.”

“What?”

“I can tell you that it’s not the fact that Val is on the same planet as Irpond… or that Irpond got away,” said Edith. “I can tell you this; you were on to something when you mentioned timing.”

“What is it, Mom?” Edith then shrugged her shoulders.

“Why are you asking me? The only knowledge I have access to is in your head; you figure it out.”

“Dres and tim…”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” shouted Edith, but in a man’s voice. Bill instantly woke up to see Jeb right in front of Hadgan’s sleeping bag.

“Ugh… Jeb,” sighed Bill.

“Up and at ‘em, dude,” said Jeb. “It’s Hadgan’s birthday.”

“Seriously?” groaned Bill. “You couldn’t at least give me a heads-up?”

“Your alarm went off an hour ago, but you still didn’t wake up,” answered Jeb. “I thought you were dead until the medical scanner picked up your heartbeat.”

“What? I slept through my alarm?” gasped Bill.

“Yep,” said Jeb. “That’s what doubling your workout intensity will do to you.”

“Thanks,” said Bill as he unzipped his bag. “Happy birthday, Hadgan.”

“Thanks, guys,” said Hadgan.

“I emailed a Congo gift code for you,” Jeb told him, “but it won’t do much good until you land.”

“Hey, I’ll just save put it in my stash,” Hadgan replied. “Last I checked, Congo doesn’t deliver outside of Kerbin’s sphere of influence.”

“Actually, yes it does,” said Dilsby, “but they only go as far as Duna and Ike.”

“I can’t wait until we get warp drives,” said Hadgan, then the crew spent an hour celebrating his birthday. When they were done cleaning after themselves, Bill turned on his kPad.

“Let me guess, more love texts to Val,” Jeb predicted.

“Actually, I’m talking to Bob now,” corrected Bill. “I WILL talk to Val after that.”

“Bill, if you’re still trying to warn him about Irpond, forget it,” suggested Jeb. “Take it from someone who has a history of not listening to his friends’ warnings.”

“Yeah,” smirked Bill, “but that’s not it. I’d like to talk to him about possible hypersleep design concepts.”

“Oh, you mean like those beds in the that original Trekkers episode that kept the bad guys alive for 500 years?” asked Jeb.

“Exactly, like that,” confirmed Bill.

“I’d rather you not; remember, they turned bad after being woken up.”

“Not really, they were already bad to begin with,” clarified Bill. “Besides, in the Trekkers: Tier 2.0 series, the crew found a sleeper ship full of GOOD people one time.”

“Oh, yeah. Could you invite Val and I to the convo, please?”

“Why? Bob and I are more qualified to design this than you two.”

“Yeah, but Val knows the regulations that could affect whether or not the hypersleep chambers get built. Besides, I’d like to hear more juicy news about Dres.”

“Fine,” said Bill. “Just don’t suggest anything blatantly stupid.”

“Hey, how exactly is a cupholder on a mini-rover a dumb idea?” sighed Jeb.

“Because it was an OPEN-COCKPIT rover, AND the drink would FREEZE – maybe even implode,” explained Bill. “If it was CLOSED-cockpit, then that would be somewhat reasonable.”

“Hmm… oh, yeah, you got a point there,” said Jeb, and Bill started typing in the group chat.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY: INCONSISTENCIES

 

It had been 12 Dres days – which was equal to almost 19 Kerbin days – since the partial lockdown was implemented, and there were still no signs of Irpond. Though the transponder of the mini-lander Irpond supposedly used wasn’t working, it was eventually spotted by a small surface exploration crew somewhere in the planet’s northwestern hemisphere. Once the on-board engineer left the rover to inspect the lander, he found small rover tracks leading away from the site. The crew leader then reported their findings to Commander Oswald – who forwarded the reports to Val – and they were then instructed to photograph the landing spot and follow the tracks.

A few hours after that, the explorers reported a crashed open-cockpit mini-rover alongside the mountains. The on-board geologist almost threw up when she saw a dead kerbalnaut in a severely damaged EVA suit in one of the seats. Val then ordered the crew to photograph “every centimeter of the crash site” before flagging their position. She first thought Irpond had finally met her end, until the medical officer examined the body after arriving in a moonjet.

“Sorry, Admiral,” he told her, “but it’s not her.”

“Then who is it?” she asked.

“Claire Kerman,” he answered. Val then looked at her personnel file and saw that she was on-board the U.S.S. Defiant at the time Val, Bob, and Matt went to chase Danlong. “And yes, she died from space exposure.”

“Ugh, she duped us AGAIN!” groaned Val. “She must have killed Claire, slapped a suit on her body, and brought it with her down to Dres to fake her death.” To make matters worse, there were no footprints or other rover tracks leading away from the crash site. Val ordered all outposts on full alert in case Irpond showed up, but so far no sightings. Even now, she had no idea how Irpond disappeared without a trace or where she would go. Bob was worried about her, but then Val assured him that Irpond would be found.

Dead or alive.

“Just… how is it possible?” Bob told herself.

“She must have used her jetpack,” answered Val.

“No, I mean how is it possible to slow down bodily functions without increasing the risk of hypothermia,” he clarified.

“Oh, right, you and Bill are talking cryo-chambers,” said Val. “Why don’t you ask Guscan? He practically lived in one for three years.”

“Not really; he was conscious the whole time,” argued Bob.

“He’s right, it was horrible,” agreed Guscan. “I wrote dated log entries on pencil and paper… until I ran out of paper.”

“Really? I thought you were cold in that pod.”

“Yes, I was cold. If it wasn’t for the solar panels charging my life support, I would have died from who-knows-what before I even left Kerbin’s sphere of influence,” said Guscan.

“Oh, so… right, the chambers are supposed to keep your body from aging over an extended period of time,” summarized Val.

“A few times, I wished I aged FASTER,” Guscan commented. “Then I could at least die from old age than letting space kill me.”

“Have fun, you two,” sighed Val as she walked to her quarters. “Bill said something about Dres bugged him; the question is what.” She then heard a knock on her door. “Who is it?” she asked as she loaded her gun.

“It’s Matt,” a man answered, then Val allowed him to enter. “Whoa, Admiral, why do you have the gun?”

“Sorry, but you can’t be too careful around here,” apologized Val, then Matt closed the door behind him. “What is it?”

“Well… where to begin,” stammered Matt. “Do you know about the Duster probe?”

“I’ve… never heard of it,” said Val.

“I thought not; those models were quite unpopular… at least until they got results,” said Matt. “It was an ion-propelled autonomous EXTREMELY low-polar-orbit surface scanner designed to get more accurate ore concentration readings than the regular scanner.”

“Uh, aren’t all our ore scanners autonomous?”

“Not like this one. You see, it had to get REALLY low to get those detailed readings… low enough for it to run into a mountain or crater wall or something,” emphasized Matt. “It was designed to detect that and alter its course as necessary to avoid collisions.”

“Now I know why nobody talked about them,” remarked Val. “Why’d you bring it up, was it YOUR design?”

“NOT ALL the cool stuff is mine,” sighed Matt. “I was talking to an old friend who helped launch the probe, then he told me about this one time the probe had a problem.”

“No offense, Matt, but unless this story has something to do with finding Irpond, I suggest you save it for lunch break,” said Val.

“You’ll freak out when you hear this, trust me,” countered Matt, then Val shrugged her shoulders.

“Surprise me.”

“He said that the probe’s computer was not plotting its avoidance trajectory when it was about to hit a mountain,” started Matt. “If they couldn’t fix it in time, the probe would hit the mountain and it would be game over. Luckily, Dresden Base had a moonjet with their best software engineer ready to rendezvous with the probe and fix it before it was too late.”

“Tell me this guy knows where Irpond is,” sighed Val.

“No, Admiral,” said Matt. “It was Irpond herself.”

“WHAT?!” gasped Val. “Tell me you’re kidding.”

“I wish I was,” said Matt. “I first thought he was messing around… or maybe got the names mixed up, but he insisted it was ‘a quiet Wolverine girl named Irpond.’ I then thought he was talking about SOMEONE ELSE named Irpond, until he pointed at the picture I sent him.”

“Are you sure he was talking about OUR Irpond?” asked Val.

“He SWEARS Irpond was here,” said Matt.

“What? How long ago?”

“Several years ago.” Val’s jaw then dropped.

“YEARS ago? We only got to Dres here about a few days ago.”

“Yet Irpond rescued a doomed probe in Dres orbit years ago,” Matt reminded her, “but that’s not the best part.”

“What is?” asked Val.

“I tried looking for the report in the KSP databse, but didn’t find it,” said Matt. “However, my friend insisted that he personally emailed it to Mission Control the day after that mission. Not only that, guess what else happened around the time of the Duster save?”

“Hmm… no mission report, and it happened years ago… Moonjet 79?”

“Exactly,” said Matt.

“Irpond WAS on Dres!” gasped Val. “That explains everything; Irpond handed the virus over to Danlong before that jet took off. She must have… put it in a flash drive in case Internal Investigation searched her emails.”

“You seem surprised, Admiral. Wouldn’t the fact that Irpond was on Dres show up on her service record?” Matt pointed out.

“You’d think that, but it didn’t this time,” said Val. “Look.” She turned on her kPad and accessed Irpond’s service record.

“Weird. It says that the only time Irpond was on Dres was JUST NOW,” Matt noticed.

“Yet your friend SWEARS she was here EARLIER,” reminded Val. “Don’t let your friend out of your sight.”

“No-can-do, boss; he’s in Aldrin City… on the Mun.”

“Wait, so if he’s on the Mun, how did you show him a picture?”

“I texted it to him… along with photos of five random women in case he’s mistaken,” answered Matt. “Right off the bat, he circled Irpond’s photo.”

“You and your friend should document as much details of your conversation as possible,” ordered Val. “Also tell him to keep his eyes peeled for anything suspicious.”

“Oh, in case Irpond tries to eliminate witnesses,” said Matt, and Val gave him a thumbs-up. “Just how is she gonna do that from here?”

“Uh, hello, she caused someone’s death on Eeloo while she was on Laythe… and she destroyed a space station in Jool orbit while on Laythe’s surface,” Val responded. “Don’t get me started on how she got her mom to do her dirty work on Kerbin.”

“Got it,” said Matt as he left Val’s quarters.

“Okay,” started Val, “Irpond’s service record say that she took a long-ass trip to Laythe before coming here WITH US, but we know she was on Dres BEFORE Laythe. What else have you done before then?”

	Bill, you need to hear this.
Yo, V! What’s shakin’, babe?
	Nice try, Jeb.
Naw, girl. It’s me, your sexy boi, Bill da Boss.
	I know it’s you; I can tell by the way you text. -       Bill does NOT text like that.
Rats.
Bill’s snoozing now. Should I wake him up?
	Not really; just catch him up when he does.
Fine.
What is it?
	One of Matt’s friends – who’s now on the Mun – said that Irpond was on Dres around the time of the Moonjet 79 crash. -       Matt emailed him a photo array and his friend circled Irpond. -       He recalled a mission in which Irpond saved a low-orbit probe from crashing itself.
I thought Irpond never went to Dres.
	I checked the database; no probe save was logged. -       FYI: It was called the Duster.
You mean Crashey McLowflier
	How did you know that was what the probe was nicknamed?
I coined it after Bill designed it. Pretty risky design for a cautious guy.
	Bill designed it?
	Wake him up.
Wait, now?
	Yes.
Gladly.
WakingBillUp.mp4
I’m up, what is it?
	Do you remember designing an ion-powered ore scanner probe named Duster (aka Crashey McLowflier)?
Yes. -       I don’t remember the Duster specifically, but I definitely designed the model that later got known as “Crashey McLowflier.”
	Read my earlier texts (after the part where I unmask Jeb when he tried to impersonate you)
I’m not surprised.
1. I wouldn’t put it past Irpond to erase that report from the database when we started poking around. -       However, I have an ace up my sleeve.
2. I’ve gotten reports of those things crashing into mountains all the time due to software glitches. I would expect a software engineer such as her (or anyone else who’s NOT evil) to be called to fix such an error.
	What exactly is this ace up your sleeve?
Log of the fates of all Exlo Scanners -       That’s what the models were called.
	Awesome. What happened to the one on Dres?
It mentioned a mid-orbit software update during Dres operation – but not by who. -       It’s designated by serial number (EXL-41) and not given name, like Duster.
The mission report was automatically sent to me the day after it was logged. By the way, it was sent not long before Moonjet 79.
	What do you mean automatically?
Level-Three engineers are granted automatic notifications for accidents or missions concerning probes or vehicles of specific designs that they choose. It’s like getting a subscription to what happens to a type of rocket that you like.
	I take it you’re subscribed to Crashey McLowflier.
It’s called the Exlo Scanner
	Whatever.   What else are you subscribed to?
-       Interplanetary Travel Pod (all variants) -       Wally --> several more models of him were made after Basic. -       Ultimate Relay Antenna (all variants) -       Mun Hopper SSTO -       Matt’s Single-Launch Ring Station (e.g. the U.S.S. Werner) -       Mini-Bus -       Fuel Truck -       Hypersonic fighter jet. -       Single-launch moon outpost.   Shall I go on.
	Man, you’re subscribed to a lot of your own designs.
They’re not all my design; the ring station is Matt’s
Anyway, besides the statement from Matt’s friend, I got my log to nail Irpond for document tampering – and Harriet’s murder.
	She’s gonna argue that you added that log entry YESTERDAY just to smear her.
No.   This is a .JRNL file, which means that it timestamps whenever edits are made (like the more commonly used Oogle Docs). -       She can clearly see that I logged EXL-41’s mid-orbital software fix at the time it happened.
Exlo Scanner Fates.jrnl
I would have to be psychic to use a fake a journal entry years ago just smear her now.
	Ha ha, genius.   EXL-41. That’s Duster, right?
It’s the only EXL that’s ever been to Dres that has a mid-orbit repair logged near Harriet’s death.
	Unfortunately, this is not conisistent with her service record – that says that she was on Laythe before flying (with me) to Dres.
	Irpond’s Planet Log.jpg
Why is your photo file named like that?
	I backed it up in case Irpond tries to erase her entire record.
Right off the bat, I can tell you her flight log is a phony.
	I could have told you that.
Yeah? How can you?
	Someone saw her on Dres years ago, but her log says she was never there.
It took me 20 seconds of looking at this screenshot for me to know it’s been tampered with.
1. Take at look at her Kerbin departure time and Laythe arrival times. Notice anything?
	Seems a little long for a trip to Jool.
FAR too long. -       None of our probes took that long a time period to make it to Jool.
2. Who flies to Laythe from Kerbin in the interplanetary travel pod?
	Interplanetary Travel Pod?
Check under “Vessel Used” in the “Kerbin --> Jool --> Laythe” line.
	Oh, Pod 5B9.
Yes.
	I remember the first Laythe explorers using this, but we then started using SSTOs after Victor wiped out the Clivar tribe.
And since none of the first Laythe explorers survived, it can only mean that Irpond should have gone to Laythe in an SSTO.
Unless, of course, she came here from another planet – like Dres. Then it’s perfectly reasonable to assume she could go to Jool in a pod. -       But even then, she needed an SSTO to descend from Laythe orbit to the surface.
	Wait, can you find out what actually happened to Pod 5B9?
Mission Control’s documents say that Pod 5B9 is still docked with the U.S.S. Victor Kerman in orbit above Laythe.
However, my log for Mark Vb variants says that Pod 5B9 splashed down on Kerbin’s oceans after a return from Eve.
	When did it splash?
A year before Harriet died. -       It went from Kerbin --> Duna --> Ike --> Eve --> Gilly --> Kerbin (SPLASH) -       It was a tourist run.
How can Irpond be on a pod to Laythe if the pod in question ended its journey on Kerbin at the same time? -       It splashed down while she was supposedly in-transit.
My babies – Mark Vb.jrnl
	Ha ha ha, you call the ivp your baby.
	Irpond knew we would check her, so she removed all (documented) evidence that she ever was on Dres.
Except the evidence I have.
	Hate to disappoint, but it doesn’t exactly prove that Irpond was on Dres.
It shows the inconsistencies in the archives, proving that they were tampered with. -       And the timestamps on my journal files will also prove that the log entries are legitimate (and not added recently just to frame Irpond).
	Anything else you see wrong with that screenshot?
Do you own a “Kerbol System Time Model” app?
	No, why?
It’s a fun app a lot of people use to calculate when the transfer windows open for each planet.
	Doesn’t Transfer Window Alarm Clock already do that?
Yes, but this one shows where all the planets are going to be at those times. It also shows the phasing angles, too -       If you get the cheap version (rather than the free one), not only will you get no ads, but you can also “rewind.”
	Rewind?
I rewound the solar system model to the time of Irpond’s takeoff – the transfer window to Jool had not opened. -       But guess which window did.
	Dres.
You got it.
That explains why her log says it took over double the usual time for a flight to Jool.
	So, she flies to Dres, causes some mayhem, then goes to Jool. Can you tell if she did anything else between Dres and Jool (e.g. a stop at Duna, maybe)?
Not really, the best timeline I got is: 1.    Kerbin --> Dres  =  Irpond takeoff 2.    Dres landing 3.    Probe Save 4.    Moonjet 79 5.    Dres --> Jool 6.    Laythe arrival  =  Irpond reaches Laythe.
She wouldn’t have had time to go anywhere else between her Dres landing and Jool takeoff.
	You’re awesome.
	Screenshot your solar system model and back it up.
Got it.
You might want to order a protective detail for Matt’s friend. He’s a crucial witness in Irpond’s crimes --> and the facts corroborate him placing Irpond on Dres when Harriet died.
	That’s going to be hard since Matt says he’s on the Mun. -       To give him military/police protection would require the okay from the prime minister.
I’m sure you can convince him. Since his term’s almost over, now he’ll want to do as much as possible before he has to step down. -       And who doesn’t want to be known as the prime minister who helped stop a pair of serial killers?
	Even if he does, there’s no guarantee that the cops will reach Matt’s friend before Misty (or Irpond) does. -       Remember: she could crash the jet/cause his outpost to self-destruct from here.
I think you should tell his commanding officer to keep his/her eyes peeled before you call the prime minister.
The good news is that there’s already a military presence on the Mun, so they should be able to reach Matt’s friend quickly.
	Another win for the good guys. Now we gotta find her.
How’s Wally?
	Still functioning – which I find odd for a robot his age.
	He’s getting scientific readings from inside the Dres Canyon
Cool.
	Maybe he’ll get lucky and find Irpond for us.
Possible, but where would she hide? More importantly, what are the odds that, at Wally’s current location, he’ll even find a trace. -       The canyon’s near the N-S-Western hemispheric line, while you said Irpond’s lander and getaway rover were both spotted in the northwestern hemisphere.
	Dres is a small planet; he’ll find her.
If you send him to look for Irpond, I advise you assign a manned rover escort in case Irpond tries to mess him up. -       She stole his RTG one time, remember.   Besides, he’s now designed for single-person surface transport (via his hidden skateboard) and scientific data gathering – not tracking fugitives.
	Still, he can be used to find Irpond and report back, right?
Possible, but good luck finding out where to begin.
	Hey, maybe I can use that low-polar-orbit probe to locate Irpond and/ore new tracks
	* or.
No-can-do: EXL-41 was landed and sent back to Kerbin after it was done.
Mission Control wanted to preserve as much xenon as possible, so they ordered it be returned.
	Drat.
Can’t you just search the area where she could have jetpacked from the rover crash?
	Tried that, nothing.
At least there’s no chance of escaping a guilty verdict once we catch her.
	She knows it’s over, but what exactly are her plans with the pod?
I don’t know, but I doubt it’s any good.
	I know she plans to use it some time, which brings me to this idea:
	Remove the spark plugs from the pods. If another crew needs to use it, they can re-install them.
Bad idea. 1)    Those things use fission reactors --> if handled improperly, they can be extremely dangerous. 2)    Mission Control will not be happy with you removing radioactive material (let alone a reactor) from a safe storage containment unit. 3)    I don’t think Dres has the resources to safely hide the reactors until they’re needed. Even then, how many engineers do you know (besides me) that are qualified to handle the nuclear reactors in the pods?
	For #2, then why does M.C. not object to splashing the pod’s main body on the surface?
It has an automatic ejection and parachute system to safely remove the ejectors. -       The pod also has an emergency reactor ejection button in case of a mid-flight malfunction. In case the parachutes don’t work, they’re encased in an extremely durable material.
However, I doubt M.C. would approve of you having the reactors ejected only to be re-inserted later.
	Now that you mention it, the kerbalnauts here are demanding I end the lockdown completely. If Irpond doesn’t show up soon, I’ll have no choice but to do it – and increase the risk of her getting away.
Perhaps that’s what she wants; wait until the Dres kerbalnauts get outraged to the point where you’re FORCED to lift all preventative restrictions. Then she can make her getaway.
	Actually, I don’t think it makes sense.
Excuse me?
	I got the feeling that she has something planned for Bob.
Good point, but a “what” and “when” would be nice.
	I assigned a 6-hour guard detail for Bob in case Irpond shows herself. I’m guessing her plan is: -       Watch everyone on Dres get liquided at me. -       Head to Bob’s location when the lockdown’s over. -       Take him and bring him to a pod. -       ESCAPE (but where).
I’ll work on an algorithm that should determine which specific pods are available for interplanetary flight based on. -       Delta-V (I can calculate based on fuel, thrust, and payload mass) -       Transfer window timing.
	Oh, crap, I just realized something.
What?
	Dres has new self-mining interplanetary-capable moon landers.
	Worse: one of the models we have here is capable of reaching Moho (from Kerbin) and back home.
That is going to make things far more difficult. I’d better contact Marhouse and see what he can do.
	Then why would she tell you that she had plans for your pod?
She could have lied to throw me off, or just now realized that there are other feasible escape alternatives
	Too bad we still can’t decrypt Irpond’s and Misty’s secret emails. Otherwise, there may be a clue as to where Irpond is.
	I ordered a complete search of all bases, rovers, and stations – no sign of her anywhere.
Well, if I was a lovesick murderer trying to hide from you, I’d try to blend in with the regular populace. -       I’d also be in favor of ending the lockdown so that I can escape. -       I would even smear you (and/or your boyfriend) so no one will take you seriously if you have a good idea to catch me.
	You basically described every woman on Dres right now. -       And every Progressive on Kerbin.
One guess who associates herself with them
	Misty.
Is it just me or do they deserve to get nuked?
	It’s you.
	I’d rather they get radiation poisoning so they’ll die slowly and painfully, just like the people of Poseidon’s Palace.
I knew you hated them, but I didn’t think you wanted them dead that badly.
	Before Misty resurfaced, I first thought they should be re-educated to use common sense for once.   Now anyone who supports Misty is a traitor to all kerbalkind.
Now you’re starting to sound like your brother.
	1.    Says the guy who fantasizes about using a nuclear bomb on a political party he doesn’t like.
Because they KNOWINGLY aided and abetted a serial killer. -       And that’s just the most recent example I can think of.
	2.    EXACTLY. 3.    It’s not like I’m targeting innocent women and children, too. 4.    This isn’t some alien race they’re protecting; it’s another kerbal (one of their own). 5.    Unlike the Clivar, they have the power to deal with Misty – but they do nothing; the Clivar had a tyrant chieftain with savage soldiers by his side, so the civilians had no choice.
	Not that it matters; it’s illegal to commit genocide.
Tell them that.
	Ha ha. I hope they charge Misty soon.
I’ll text you back when I’m done with Marhouse.

 

Val then signed off on the chat and left her quarters. She headed to the laboratory to see Bob – and a rookie scientist – attempting to heat a rock that they obtained from the surface of Dres. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find the melting point of this substance,” answered Bob.

“I… think you may need to do that outside with a rocket engine,” suggested Val.

“We don’t know that yet,” explained Bob. “Since the surface temperature on Dres is so low, we hypothesized that it won’t take that much heat generated to cause the molecular structure to shift significantly.”

“I thought you would be jotting down ideas for hypersleep pods.”

“Yeah, but Bill signed off,” said Bob.

“He was DM-ing me,” explained Val, “and guess what?”

“What?” asked Bob, then Val told him about Irpond being on Dres at the time of the Moonjet 79 crash. “WHAT?! Impossible, she would have been flagged.”

“She erased that from her service record,” reminded Val, “knowing full-well that we would catch her if it was found out that she was on Dres at the time of the Moonjet 79 crash.”

“Besides this witness Matt knows, you got any other proof?”

“Well, Bill’s journal entries corroborate the witness statement Matt obtained,” said Val. “The only… Crashey McLowflier that went to Dres had a reported mid-flight software change around the time of Harriet’s murder. Irpond erased that from the archives, but Bill has timestamped entries… so HA HA.”

“Okay… but what’s this about the pod she took?”

“The KSP database says that Irpond took it straight to Laythe and it’s still in orbit of the moon,” started Val, accessing her chat with Bill. “However, BILL says that it had never gotten anywhere further than the sun from Duna; it went there, then Eve, then splashed down at home.”

“And that was timestamped too?”

“Yes. In fact, let me ask you this. How can Irpond be flying to Laythe if her pod ended up in the ocean mid-flight?” Bob seemed confused at the question. “Okay, bad choice of words. While Irpond was SUPPOSEDLY in-transit to Laythe – which is too long for a trip from Kerbin, FYI – Pod 5B9 ended up in the ocean.”

“What the…?” gasped Bob as he looked at the file Bill sent Val.

“Oh and get this: Irpond took off from Kerbin when a DRES transfer window opened – NOT Jool. She also would have taken an SSTO to get to Laythe.”

“It can’t be,” said Bob as he gave Val back her kPad.

“Think about that while you melt your rocks,” suggested Val, then she left. A few minutes later, Bob’s assistant spoke to him.

“What’s wrong? Is something off?”

“You can say that,” sighed Bob. “Say… can you do this on your own?”

“Depends on for how long.”

“Uh… give me 20 minutes,” said Bob, then he departed the lab. While Val’s back was turned, he grabbed a phone and asked for KSC.

“Interplanetary call operators, how can I help you today?” a woman spoke.

“Yes, I’d like to make a call to a Misty Kerman, please,” Bob responded politely. “I believe she lives in Woomerang.”

“One moment, sir,” said the operator, then Bob could hear the dial tone.

“I hope she knows where Irpond is,” he sighed, but he was surprised at what he heard.

“Bro?” He instantly recognized the voice on the phone.

“Rob?

[KerballingSmasher]

So... there's a city on the Mun, and bases on every planet... Is there an Eve surface base?

Edited May 6, 2019 by Kerballing (Got Dunked On)

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Yes, @Kerballing (Got Dunked On). You'll see it later.

• Why ask, by the way?

[KerballingSmasher]

4 minutes ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Yes, @Kerballing (Got Dunked On). You'll see it later.

• Why ask, by the way?

Curiousity... Eve surface bases are really advanced space program stuff, so it has to be late-game.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Kerballing (Got Dunked On)

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

@Matt Lowne made it possible when he was filming the Expedition Eve movies - 

 

• By the way, Matt Kerman in this story is basically like @Matt Lowne in real-life; they both designed very awesome things, like an Eeloo ring station and some kick-ass SSTOs for instance.
• Besides, are you really that surprised about an Eve base when there are already at least two Laythe outposts?
  • Poseidon's Palace (now in a fallout zone thanks to an (intentional) RTG leak)
  • The military base.

 

A lot has changed throughout the story. Earlier, everyone could only communicate across planets via texting and email if their planets had strong coverage. Now, they can practically make phone calls to anyone who has the new interplanetary phone system. Not only that, the space program now has self-mining interplanetary-capable moon landers; some of them can hold up to 19 people at the time.

• The S.S. Evolution is based of Marcus House's "Super Trainer" craft.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: MATT THE SECOND

 

“What are you doing, man?” Rob asked as he paced around Misty’s bedroom.

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” Bob responded. “I’m trying to call Irpond’s mom. What are you doing in her house?”

“Duh, looking for clues,” answered Rob.

“How’d you get in without her noticing?” questioned Bob.

“I found her spare key in her birdfeeder,” said Rob.

“Rob, get out of there before Misty sees you,” warned Bob.

“Relax, Bob, she’s not coming back for a while,” assured Rob, holding a folder in his left hand.

“You KILLED her?”

“What? No, I didn’t kill anyone; can’t say the same for her.”

“Then where is she?”

“Krakopolis.”

“KRAKOPOLIS?!” gasped Bob. “How do you know?”

“She left behind a copy of her travel plans for Eve,” explained Rob.

“Eve? She’s taking a vacation there?”

“I don’t see any job offers in here, so that must be it,” said Rob. “Now that she’s gone, I can finally snoop around and get her executed before her rocket takes off.”

“Why did you answer my call? You knew that wasn’t meant for you,” inquired Bob.

“As soon as I saw that it was one of the new space center phone operators, I got curious and picked up. If it was the daughter, I would have asked her to leave a message and I would tell Bill. However, as soon as I heard you were calling… I couldn’t resist. We’re brothers, after all.”

“Apparently, the operators can’t tell the difference between a man and a woman on the phone,” sighed Bob.

“I told her I was a hired housecleaner,” said Rob. “In a way, I am.”

“How so?”

“As soon as I’m done, this house will no longer have a piece of garbage as the owner,” explained Rob as he went to the living room. “Why’d YOU try to call her?”

“Irpond’s AWOL,” answered Bob, “and maybe her mom knows where she’s hiding.”

“On Dres?” questioned Rob, raising his pitch. “Oh, hi, Mom. Yeah, I’m on the run now and I’m hiding in some old warehouse in a crater.” He then resumed talking in his normal voice. “Come on, everybody knows that whenever a person goes missing, you talk to the closest friends and family first. I wouldn’t put it past… HELLO, what do we have here?”

“What is it?” asked Bob as Rob took out a book from the shelf.

“Who keeps an outdated middle-school math textbook when their daughter is a fully-grown woman who travels in space?” Rob responded.

“Uh… nobody?” said Bob.

“Right, dude, so why would Misty have it?”

“Maybe… she tutors middle schoolers in math,” Bob guessed.

“Private math tutoring, really? I’m trying to solve a murder spree here.”

“Maybe it’s a relic of her daughter’s school days,” countered Bob. “How do you know it has anything to do with the murders?” Rob then checked the last owner of the textbook.

“You may be right; Irpond was the last student who logged this book,” said Rob. “Maybe her mom decided to keep it when this version was declared obsolete.” He flipped through the pages carefully. “Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is that it’s nowhere near as dusty as the other books. It was used soon before she headed to Krakopolis.”

“Which can be evidence of her being a math tutor,” said Bob.

“Or something else,” said Rob. “Good condition, by the way. I wish my HIGH school textbook was… huh. One of the pages is dog-eared.”

“Wouldn’t that happen in a lot of old textbooks?” asked Bob.

“Only this one,” said Rob, “and it looks like it’s… been dog-eared REPEATEDLY.”

“Yeah, that does sound kinda strange,” agreed Bob. “If I was a private math tutor, I’d use a bookmark. Heck, I’d use several and place them in commonly-asked subjects.”

“Speaking of subjects, you’re not gonna believe which one this is: Hill Substitution… cipher problems,” stammered Rob. “WAIT A SECOND!”

“Sheesh, bro, not so loud,” Bob responded.

“When Val first tapped your evil girlfriend’s kPad, Irpond and Misty then started to send each other secret messages,” started Rob. “Bill and Val tried to decode them, but no luck.”

“My girlfriend’s not evil,” argued Bob. “Someone’s setting her up.”

“Then why did YOU call Misty and not Val? Better yet, why didn’t the cops show up here?”

“So I can find Irpond and we can clear this up.”

“What’s there to ‘clear up?’ She and her mom murdered hundreds – if not thousands – of kerbals for years. And by the way, even if Misty knew where Irpond was, you really think she would tell YOU?”

“It’s either me or VAL,” retorted Bob. “Frankly, if I was her, I’d pick my daughter’s long-time boyfriend over someone who has it out for her.”

“Good luck with that,” scoffed Rob, examining the math problems. “Why would Misty be so interested in encrypting a message with different ‘key matrices,’ or something?”

“Why don’t you send a picture to Bill and he can tell you,” suggested Bob.

“Hey, great idea,” said Rob as he took a picture with his own cell phone. “Now I gotta look for more evidence that your mother-in-law is a murderer.”

“She’s not my mother-in-law!” spat Bob. “Besides, how can I propose to Irpond if she’s AWOL?”

“Don’t do it,” Rob replied. “Do you even know what happened to her LAST boyfriend?”

“His body was found near the house that BURNED DOWN,” Bob recalled, “but that doesn’t mean SHE did it. For all you know, it was some random psychopath that saw an opportunity to bury a body in condemned property.”

“Yeah, but don’t you know what ELSE happened when she was in school?” countered Rob. “Hint: it was PRACTICE for what went down on Laythe.” He then opened the door to Irpond’s old bedroom, which looked like it hadn’t been used in days.

“This is exactly why I wanted to dial Misty,” sighed Bob. “I can confront Irpond and we can prove that she’s being set up.”

“Who’d want to set her up?”

“Val.”

“Why would Val frame Misty and Irpond for a string of murders that happened in Woomerang years ago?” said Rob. “FYI, at the time Irpond’s high school crime spree occurred, Val was either in space, Krakopolis, Baikerbanur for leave, or Squaddon for political appearances.”

“Okay, somebody else is setting them up,” Bob conceded. “Once I find Irpond, I can get her side of the story and we can finally get the truth.”

“That’s weird,” said Rob. “Irpond’s closet’s not as dusty as everything else; it’s been opened RECENTLY.”

“Let me guess, some old girls’ clothes and a Wolverine Jersey or something?”

“Whoa,” gasped Rob as a man-sized stuffed doll fell out. It had smelly men’s clothes on it and the face was obviously made to look like someone. There was also an 8-centimeter hole where the mouth was, which had a rubber tongue inside.

“What is it?”

“Disgusting,” answered Rob, “ugh, and when was the last time this stuffed doll was cleaned?”

“So, what? Girls like to play with stuffed dolls.”

“MAN-SIZED ones?” Rob mentioned. “And no, she didn’t get the clothes at the toy store.”

“It… must have been a hobby of Irpond’s when she was younger,” guessed Bob.

“Oh, yeah?” argued Rob as he found a plastic bag in the closet full of dirty laundry. “What about this: a bag… AW, KRAKEN!” After he coughed for a minute, he told Bob what was in the bag.

“Men’s clothes?”

“Yeah… dude,” wheezed Rob. “For a person who keeps her house clean, she doesn’t know what to do with the dirty laun… uh oh.”

“What’s the uh oh?” wondered Bob, then Rob dragged the doll to Misty’s bedroom and placed it next to the photograph of her and Dilford. He was even more surprised when he noticed the clothes Dilford was wearing in another photograph.

“This doll isn’t Irpond’s, it’s Misty’s,” he figured out. “It’s made to look like her husband.”

“That’s weird, because Misty SHOT him.” Bob recalled.

“But was it REALLY self-defense or was it MURDER?” questioned Rob. “My money’s on murder.”

“Then why would she keep his clothes after decades?” retorted Bob. “Maybe she feels guilty for having to kill her husband?”

“Because he was beating Irpond, or because he threatened to report Misty to the cops for murder and arson?” Rob told him. “Also, ask yourself why she would keep a bag of his obviously dirty laundry? Hint: it’s the same reason Irpond stole YOUR clothes on Laythe.”

“Val said that the only reason anyone would do that is to get high off their loved one’s scent.”

“EXACTLY, bro. Misty’s still obsessed with Dilford, so she makes a doll in his likeness – and probably sleeps with it – and keeps the dirty laundry he generated right before he died so that she could get high on him.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t she just bring it with her to Krakopolis?” inquired Bob.

“The same reason she hid it in IRPOND’S closet rather than her own,” Rob figured out. “She knew we were closing in on her and her daughter, so she needed to ditch the evidence. However, at the same time, she’s crazy enough to want to access it when the heat died down.” Suddenly, he noticed that Misty’s phone was beeping.

“Call from: Maude Kerman,” it spoke.

“What’s going on?” asked Bob.

“One of her neighbors is trying to call me… her,” explained Rob. “I’m hanging up now; call me back on my cell.”

“Why not just answer the phone and pretend to be her?” suggested Bob, but Rob didn’t listen as he hung up. He didn’t want to answer the call – or even impersonate Misty – or else the real Misty would get suspicious if Maude told her that she talked to her over the house phone.

“Hey, Misty,” Maude said on the voicemail. “Everything’s going great here… just got a job at the school board.”

“Good for you,” sighed Rob.

“I’m glad to hold on to your ‘Misty and Dilford’ diary for you, but I was wondering when you would want to pick it up. Don’t worry, nobody peeked; you picked a good lock, by the way. If you get this, please call me back. Have a nice day.” As Maude hung up, Rob scratched his chin.

“A marriage diary, eh,” he said as his cell phone rang. “Hey, dude.” He then told Bob about what he heard on the voicemail.

“What are you going to do now?” questioned Bob.

“Get it,” said Rob, “but how?”

“Why not just wait until she’s gone to steal it?” teased Bob.

“I think I’d rather tell Bill and Val about it,” said Rob, “along with everything else I found here.”

“I’m gonna try to call Misty’s cell phone,” sighed Bob.

“You mean the one I have in my left hand?” asked Rob as he held a smartphone.

“What… how’d you get it?”

“Found it lying next to some magnets in the kitchen cabinet,” he explained. “She must have decided to ditch it when she went to Krakopolis.”

“Okay… you said she was going to Eve, right?” Rob then confirmed that. “Why don’t I call the space center and ask for her?”

“Don’t even think about telling her I was here,” said Rob. “We never had this conversation, and you know nothing about Misty’s doll.”

“Who’s doll?” Bob jokingly agreed before hanging up. Rob then photographed the rest of his clues before sending them in an email to Bill and Val.

 

Meanwhile, at the Kerbal Space Center, a squadron of cadets was running laps around the perimeter. A few tourists and active-duty members were among them, but some of tourists quit before the first lap was even complete. After they would complete three laps – and a swim to the abandoned airfield – they would return to the astronaut complex and hit the showers before starting their pre-flight classes. The tourists often intermingled with the cadets and standby kerbalnauts whenever they weren’t exercising or going through the pre-flight screening processes; though their spacecraft would be equipped with the new telecommunication systems, they would be stuck with the same crew for a long time when they finally took off.

Among the interplanetary tourists waiting for their ride was Misty Kerman, who was now playing pool with a male tourist at the rec room.

“Phone call for Heywood U. Kismi,” shouted Ned Kerman. “Heywood U. Kismi! Hey, sir, hey would you kiss me?”

“No way,” the man replied, and everyone laughed – except for Misty.

“I don’t get it, what’s the joke?” she asked.

“It’s just some old prank,” the man next to her replied. “You call someone, ask to talk to someone whose name sounds like something ridiculous. In this case, Ned thinks someone named ‘Hey, would you kiss me,’ is in here.”

“Sound kind of ridiculous,” said Misty.

“Now it does since we have caller ID.” The phone rang again.

“What now?” sighed Ned as he picked up. “Uh… Misty Kerman!” He then looked at the oldest woman in the lounge. “Are you Misty Kerman?”

“That’s me,” she replied.

“Phone call from Dres,” Ned told her, then he left as Misty took the phone.

“Hello?”

“Misty Kerman?” a man’s voice responded.

“Who is this?” she asked.

“Bob Kerman,” he answered. “I’m a friend of your daughter, Irpond.”

“I know who you are,” said Misty. “Irpond talks about you all the time. How’d you know I was here?”

“Uh… a friend of mine who works here told me,” lied Bob. Though he knew it was regulation for the tourists to reside in the astronaut complex before their launch, he didn’t want her to know that he knew she was going to Eve after Rob broke into her house and told him.

“Why did you try to call me?” questioned Misty.

“Something bad is going on here,” started Bob. “As a result, your daughter has disappeared without a trace. We tried to look for her but nothing.”

“Disappeared?” gasped Misty.

“Even worse, my commanding officer wants her dead,” added Bob. “Now, if I can locate Irpond before Val does, I can help her clear everything up.”

“And why would I help you?” sighed Misty.

“Because you and I are Irpond’s only hope of getting out of this alive,” said Bob. “You’re her mother and I’m her long-time boyfriend; right now, we’re the only people she has a logical reason to trust.”

“I’m not sure I should trust YOU,” said Misty.

“I would never hurt Irpond,” assured Bob. “She comforted me when I hurt the most. Rob getting sent to prison didn’t come anywhere near how bad I felt when Sheri died, as I knew he was tough and there was a way out for him; nothing can undo what happened to Sheri. I didn’t ask for Irpond, yet she was there to help me heal.”

“Well, what do you expect from MY daughter?” sighed Misty.

“Now everyone thinks she’s a crazy mass murderer,” said Bob. “If there’s a chance I can prove she’s innocent, I’ll take it.”

“You’ll… really do that?”

“Yes, mam, but I can’t do that until I get Irpond’s side – which I can’t do until I find her. And believe me, you’d rather I find her than Val. If SHE finds your daughter first, you can kiss Irpond good-bye.”

“That’s not going to happen,” said Misty.

“I swear, I only want to help Irpond,” Bob told her.

“You can’t talk to her because I don’t know WHERE she is,” clarified Misty. “We lost contact weeks ago, right after her pod made its parking orbit around Dres.”

“What did she say?” asked Bob.

“She said that the two of you made it to Dres safe and happy,” said Misty. “That was the last thing she sent me.”

“Any idea where she would go?” questioned Bob.

“Not in the slightest,” answered Misty. “If I knew anything, I’d tell you right now – and I’m not going to spill it to Internal Investigation. You know Val has them in her pocket.”

“Not even a little hint?” sighed Bob.

“Nope, sorry,” apologized Misty. “Hope you find her before that redheaded liar does.”

“I promise you, once I find her, I’ll uncover the truth,” said Bob, “then Val will have no reason to keep persecuting her… and you.”

“Be careful who you trust,” warned Misty. “Bill already made threats against me years ago, and you know how close JEB is to the two lovey-dovey Badgers.”

“That’s gonna be hard,” Bob replied. “Kerbalnauts are supposed to trust each other when we go interplanetary; that’s a basic survival rule out here.”

“If you’re that paranoid, you can find her yourself,” said Misty. “Solo missions to other planets have been done many times before – as have tourist flights with no official KSP members on board. I’m sure that, if it comes down to it, you can accomplish that. Can you?”

“I’m sure I can, but I’d rather not,” sighed Bob. “If I’m going to find one kerbalnaut on a whole planetoid, I’ll need all the help I can get.”

“Then make sure your help in no way reports back to Val, or else she will kill my daughter when given the chance,” warned Misty. “And one more thing: when you find Irpond, protect her at all costs.”

“I will, Misty,” said Bob. “Could you please tell me if she calls back?”

“Unless there’s a high risk of Val finding out, yes,” said Misty. “Even then, I’ll contact you some other way so that you can find Irpond before Val.”

“Thanks. Wish me luck,” replied Bob as he hung up.

“Good luck.” Misty then finished her pool game – and won – before sitting at the chess board. Almost a minute later, a man sat across from her and told her it was her move. “Okay.”

“I… don’t believe we’ve met,” he told her as he shook her hand. “I’m Jebediah Kerman.”

“Jeb?” gasped Misty. “I thought he was in space.”

“Wrong Jeb; I’m his dad,” explained Jeb Senior.

“Oh, that makes much more sense,” sighed Misty. “I’m Misty Kerman.”

“Hi, Misty,” he replied. “Everybody just calls me Jeb Senior to avoid confusion.”

“Hey, aren’t you the man who owns Jeb’s Junkyard?” asked Misty.

“Yes,” answered Jeb Senior.

“Wow… what brings you to the astronaut complex?” inquired Misty.

“I’m overseeing the construction of a new dirigible airport on Eve,” he told her.

“Eve? No way,” said Misty. “I’m going there too.”

“You’re… a tourist?” guessed Jeb Senior.

“That’s right,” she confirmed. “I’ve only been to space once, and that was to the Mun.”

“I’ve been to... Moho, Minmus, and Duna,” said Jeb Senior. “All of which were for business.”

“Heh, I bet your son rubs it in your face a lot that he’s been to more planets than you,” chuckled Misty.

“We… barely talk,” sighed Jeb Senior. “Ever since he found out what happened to his mother, we weren’t exactly on speaking terms… for… decades.”

“His mother, what happened to his mother?”

“She died in a plane crash when Jeb was only a baby,” he said. “Even though the accident investigation says it was her fault, there’s always this part of me that says I should have seen it coming?”

“How come?” questioned Misty.

“Amelia always had a wild streak,” explained Jeb Senior, “as hinted by her criminal record.”

“Criminal record?”

“She wasn’t violent or anything like that; it was mostly flight violations. As a teenager, she once stole a jet on a dare and did stunts with it.” Jeb Senior paused as he moved his pawn. “My son got his bravery from her, but it also came with her knack for tomfoolery; he used to rack up tickets for road violations before he moved out… and that was before I told him about his mother.”

“Hmm… I wonder why the space program hired him then,” said Misty. “Did you have something to do with it?”

“Well… there’s… actually some secrets I kept from my son for his own good,” confessed Jeb Senior. “For one thing… I had no hand in Jeb’s acceptance to KSP.”

“Oh, you wanted him to do it himself.”

“No, I was AGAINST it until I realized that they wanted him that badly,” Jeb Senior contradicted, surprising Misty. “That’s right, I didn’t want Jeb in the program.”

“WHAT? No way,” gasped Misty. “Why not?”

“Jeb was all I had left; I wasn’t going to let him die if I could help it,” said Jeb Senior. “Hey, wait a minute… don’t you have a daughter named Irpond?”

“Why, yes I do,” smiled Misty. “How do you know?”

“One of Jeb’s friends is dating her,” explained Jeb Senior. “To be honest, I get called and emailed more often by them more than I do MY OWN SON.” They were silent as he captured Misty’s pawn with his own. “Your move.”

“You ever feel like… Jeb’s getting in over his head?”

“All the time.”

“Well… my pawn just cost you one of yours,” remarked Misty as she captured his pawn. “You afraid that Jeb would die out there?”

“More like cause his own death,” clarified Jeb Senior, “or someone else’s.”

“Has he?” wondered Misty.

“So far… actually… only two died while he was piloting,” said Jeb Senior. “However, none of them were his fault.”

“How come?”

“The first death was a guy who had a heart attack,” he started.

“Wouldn’t Jeb be liable for scaring him?”

“In this case, no,” explained Jeb Senior. “He was a chainsmoker, so he was dangerously unhealthy… and it was unclear as to whether or not Jeb could have caused it.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” said Misty. “What about the second death?”

“It was one of his students who died in a moonjet crash,” answered Jeb Senior. “However, further investigation proved that the student was poisoned, and his jet was sabotaged before it took off.”

“Poisoned?” gasped Misty. “Who’d put in that much effort to kill a cadet?”

“Funny, Bill said that he has a suspect in mind,” said Jeb Senior, “but she ran away.”

“Ran away?” replied Misty. “I hope they catch her.”

“Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean she did it,” reminded Jeb Senior. “She’s innocent UNTIL proven guilty.”

“That’s what I said, but I keep getting harassed for something I didn’t do,” added Misty. “For all we know… Bill and Val set her up.”

“Whoa, mam, I’ve known Bill and Val since they were kids,” said Jeb Senior, sounding offended. “They would never frame anyone… and Jeb certainly doesn’t have the brains to pull off a setup THAT elaborate.”

“Sorry,” apologized Misty, looking at the chessboard. “Are you paying attention to your pieces?”

“Of course I am,” said Jeb Senior, capturing Misty’s knight. “Check.”

“Ooh, ambitious,” noticed Misty, then attacking Jeb Senior’s bishop, “but you didn’t see that coming.”

“D’oh,” sighed Jeb Senior, realizing his mistake too late.

“For a businessman who kept his company alive for over four decades,” smirked Misty, “you sure are easily distractable.”

“Distractable?” asked Jeb Senior. “Oh, you should see me when I’m focused.”

“I’d love to,” said Misty. “I dare you to… run around the space center perimeter.”

“If you win, fine,” said Jeb Senior. “If I win, you have to swim to the abandoned airfield.”

“You’re on… Jeb Senior.”

 

“Go, go, go!” shouted the crew as Bill and Jeb arm-wrestled with their left hands. Hadgan kept the pod spinning about its axis in order to generate gravity so that the arm-wrestling matches would be easier to hold. He had to lower the shields on all the windows so that nobody would get dizzy from seeing the stars during the spin. So far, Jeb and Bill have defeated everyone else in the pod except for each other; now they were watching the championship match.

“Come on, you’ve been working out for this for years now,” Jeb said encouragingly. “If you were training that hard, you’d have pinned my arm already.”

“When I’m done with you, I’ll send a picture to Val,” Bill told him.

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” replied Jeb, then the two contestants didn’t say anything for almost a minute as they kept pressing on. “Giving up yet?”

“If I could just… redirect… the force,” stammered Bill, trying to keep his elbow on the floor. However, his knowledge of physics was no use as Jeb managed to overpower him in half a minute.

“Nice job, dude,” said Jeb when the match was over. “Okay, you can stop spinning now!”

“Yes, Captain,” acknowledged Hadgan. “Man, I was starting to get dizzy.”

“I thought you’d be less dizzy since we’re getting a bit of gravity here,” commented Jeb.

“Not really; if Hadgan’s been looking at the stars while the pod is spinning about its major axis, he’ll get dizzy due to the optical illusion of his body spinning,” said Bill. “Remember when Bob and I got dizzy after the flight simulator during Basic?”

“Oh, yeah,” said Jeb, then Bill’s kPad beeped. “Yo, Bill, you got mail.”

“Who from?” asked Bill.

“Rob,” said Jeb. “Subject line: Matt the Second.”

“Matt the Second,” sighed Bill. “Why does that ring a bell?”

“I dunno,” answered Jeb. “Maybe you lost a bet against him.” Bill then opened the email and showed it to Jeb.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Matt the Second

Bill,   Earlier today, I broke into Misty’s house to search for clues. She was unaware of my presence, as I learned that she’s now in Krakopolis getting ready for a spaceflight to Eve. Hopefully, she remains unaware of my activity there. -       However, Bob called her house an hour ago and asked for her – but I picked up. I hope he doesn’t blab to Misty and gives her another way out of justice’s grasp.   If I remember correctly, Val intercepted several messages between Irpond and Misty that ended with the phrase “Matt the Second.” While I was searching Misty’s house, I found an old elementary school math textbook that had apparently been used far more recently than all the other books in the shelf; I could tell by the dust. One of the sections was dog-eared – and rather frequently, by the looks of it – and it was for Hill Substitution.   Before I talk about the other clues I found, I should mention that I read online that Hill Substitution is a method to encrypt (and decrypt) secret messages via matrix multiplication. I decided to let you know about it since I think it is the key to decrypting Irpond’s and Misty’s transmissions.   Not only that, I think I found “Matt the Second.” More specifically, the second designated key matrix the bad guys used.   I hope that works out, and I hope Bob doesn’t let it slip that I entered Misty’s house. If you’re lucky, it can give away Irpond’s location and/or Misty’s next move. At least, it should provide incriminating evidence that would put Misty on death row before the rocket to Eve launches. However, if it doesn’t, I have some clues that at least prove she’s not psychologically fit. -       She has a man-sized doll looking like Dilford (her husband) that she hid in Irpond’s room. -       She has Dilford’s dirty laundry (and I know men’s dirty laundry when I smell it – I worked laundry detail in prison). -       She asked a neighbor to keep a “Dilford and Me” diary. Which reminds me, should I try and get it? If so, how? -       I found her cell phone next to some magnets on the upper kitchen shelf, rendering the data chips useless. There’s only one reason she would do that, and that’s to erase something in it.   Attached to this email should be a zip file with the pictures I took. Awaiting further instructions.   Rob Kerman   Evidence.zip

 

“What? Rob broke into Misty’s house?” gasped Jeb.

“Yes, but why did Bob call her?” asked Bill. “It’s not like he knew Rob would be in there at the time.”

“Wait, how can Bob call Misty if he’s on Dres?” asked Jeb.

“Dres has the new communication systems, remember,” sighed Bill.

“Yeah, but how did Bob get Misty’s house number? It’s not like he had a phone book with it.”

“Maybe Irpond gave it to him,” suggested Bill, “or… someone redirected him.”

“You mean like a phone operator, like our grandmothers when they were young?” guessed Jeb.

“Something like that,” said Bill, “but I’m more concerned about WHY Bob tried to call Misty.”

“Now, if I was Bob, why would I call Misty,” stammered Jeb, scratching his chin.

“Wait a sec,” interrupted Hadgan, “you said Irpond was AWOL, right?”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with Bob trying to call Misty on her home phone?” asked Bill.

“Well, if my girlfriend went off the grid, I’d ask her family where she went in case she told them,” suggested Hadgan, and Bill’s and Jeb’s jaws dropped.

“Holy shoot, you’re right,” gasped Jeb. “Bob must have tried to call Misty to ask her where Irpond was, but ROB picked up since he was already there.”

“And if Rob found Misty’s travel plans to Eve, then that must mean she’s either in Krakopolis or already off Kerbin,” said Bill.

“Can’t you check the launch schedule or something?” asked Hadgan.

“I can try, but without knowing Misty’s flight number I can’t tell if she has already blasted off or not,” said Bill. “However, VAL can tell us exactly where Misty is right now – down to her quarters and bunkmate assignment.”

“Neat,” said Hadgan. “You might wanna ask Val to find Misty for you.” In the meantime, Bill was unzipping the folder that Rob attached to his email.

“Man, Misty’s crazier than I gave her credit for,” Bill commented, showing Jeb and Hadgan the pictures of Misty’s doll and Dilford’s old dirty clothes.

“Eh, whose clothes are those?” asked Hadgan.

“Her husband’s,” said Bill, “who she SHOT DEAD decades ago.”

“Whoa, she SHOT him? Why wasn’t she prosecuted?”

“She claimed self-defense, but I don’t buy that for one nanosecond,” explained Bill. “If it WAS self-defense, then why does she have all THIS?”

“What are you gonna do now?” asked Jeb, then one of the crewmembers approached Jeb with his kPad. “Sweet, I got mail.”

“From who?” wondered Bill, then Jeb frowned when he saw the sender. “Another advertiser?”

“Worse,” sighed Jeb, “it’s Dad.”

“Jeb, how is that worse?” asked Bill. “I’d be glad to hear from my dad every once in a while.”

“But YOUR dad never lied to you, did he?” responded Jeb.

“Come on, man, what’s he gotta say?” sighed Bill. “Let’s open it.”

“Ugh, fine,” said Jeb.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Matt the Second

Jeb,   It’s been almost a year since we last emailed each other. To be honest, I expected you to at least brag that you were out in space catching bad guys. If not that, at least a simple call for fatherly advice would have been fine. -       Why do you always shut me out? I’m getting more communications from Val and Bill than you, and they talk to their own families frequently too. Hell, Bob used to email his little brother frequently while he was in prison.   I’m preparing to go to space again. Jeb’s Junkyard is building a large dirigible airport on Eve; which will hold the blimps that are capable of traveling across the hot planet. While I was relaxing in the astronaut complex, I met this woman and I could tell we really connected. Attached to this email is a picture of the two of us after she defeated me in chess.   I know that one of the major reasons we haven’t been on speaking terms for decades – aside from me being a somewhat overprotective father – is that I never told you the truth about your mother. The truth is that I was afraid to lose you like I lost Amelia, which was also the same reason I didn’t even try to remarry after she died. I thought I found the perfect woman in Amelia, but then she flew straight into a thunderstorm and got herself killed. I wasn’t going to take the risk that my second wife would endanger herself like that – or worse, get you killed.   However, you’re a grown man now and I shouldn’t have to worry about you anymore. I’m finally back in the dating scene, and I plan to have dinner with her later. As it turns out, she’s going to Eve on the same rocket as me. Maybe we can continue dating after we land – and when I’m on break, of course. -       Who knows, you may even return to Kerbin in time for me to marry this woman.   If you get this email, please reply as soon as possible.   Love, Dad   IMG17231.jpg

 

“A little late for that,” Jeb remarked as Bill opened the attached photograph.

“UH OH!” shouted Bill.

“Duh, I’m a grown man now,” sighed Jeb. “I don’t need a mommy at this point.”

“Not that, Jeb,” said Bill. “Look at WHO he’s with.”

“Hmm… I have no idea who she is,” answered Jeb.

“HELLO, that’s MISTY!” reminded Bill, holding his own kPad next to Jeb’s; it displayed an image of Misty “I aged her most recent publicly available photograph from years ago to get a general idea of what she would look like now – assuming no facially-damaging accidents or health problems. THAT’S HER.”

“Wait, WHAT?!” gasped Jeb. “Dad’s dating your arch-enemy now?”

“First of all, Misty is NOT my arch-enemy,” corrected Bill. “Second of all, if they just met today, it seems a bit early to say they’re dating. Third of all, since when did you care so much about what your dad’s doing?”

“I’ll leave you two alone,” said Hadgan.

“Since I just learned that he’s going to make a murderer my stepmom,” answered Jeb.

“You mean just now?” sighed Bill. “If you hate your dad so much to the point of ignoring him, why did you change your mind now?”

“Bill, what are you getting at?” asked Jeb.

“You’re finally reconnecting with your father after years of discontent towards him,” insinuated Bill. “Now you have a reason to do so.”

“Why, because he’s dating a psychopath, or because he’s overdue in getting me the mother I never had?” responded Jeb.

“Jeb, why is getting you a stepmom a big deal? Misty already has her own kid… or at least she will until Val tracks her down.”

“And I’m not going to be Irpond’s stepbrother just because of my dad’s big mistake,” said Jeb, pounding his fist on the floor. “I would much rather live the rest of my life not knowing about my real mom than have THAT PSYCHO as my dad’s wife.”

“So, what are you gonna do about it?” asked Bill. “Answer: talk to your dad.”

“Eh… why don’t you do it FOR me,” sighed Jeb. “He’s more likely to listen to you than me.”

“Not gonna happen,” disagreed Bill. “If your dad’s dating Misty, there’s a good chance that she’s convinced him that I have a personal vendetta against her. In other words, he’ll think I’m just needlessly slandering her even if I give him the facts. However, Misty will not expect YOU to warn him since you’re just a low-intellect sidekick who hates his dad.”

“Hey, I don’t have a low intellect… middle-level AT LEAST,” countered Jeb.

“Jeb, listen to me,” said Bill. “This is your chance to patch things up with your dad AND stop a murderer from taking him hostage.”

“No,” objected Jeb, “You go ahead, you do it so much better than I do.”

“Jeb, Val said that you should call him when you reach Dres,” argued Bill. “It won’t feel anywhere near as hard if you re-establish communications with him early. Besides,” he took out the stylus from his kPad, “I got a personal project to do.”

“Oh… you mean decoding Misty’s secret messages?” asked Jeb.

“I got that covered,” said Bill as he activated the ship’s internal speaker system. “If anyone here can do Hill Substitution ciphers, come forward immediately.”

“I can,” said a female scientist who approached Jeb and Bill. “Captain, what is this about?”

“Dr. Entop, Bill wants you to decode secret messages,” answered Jeb. “You up for it?”

“Secret messages? Cool,” said Entop. “I’m in.”

“Great, I’ll send you the messages and the key matrices,” said Bill. “As for me, I’m going to kill Kerbin’s most dangerous criminal.”

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: THE GANG REUNITED

 

(1.5 KERBIN YEARS LATER)

At last, the Famous Four – Bill, Jeb, Val, and Bob – were reunited on the surface of Dres. After Pod 5B21 established its parking orbit around the planetoid, Hadgan adjusted the pod’s orbital inclination and rendezvoused with the U.S.S. Defiant before docking. A three-man fuel-and-oxidizer lander was already docked with the station, ready to pick up the first surface crew. Jeb, Bill, and Dilsby – a geologist who was assigned to study rock sediments deep in the planet’s crust – would descend on the surface and take a fuel truck to Calculus Base for medical and psychological assessments.

Where Bob and Val were waiting for them.

While Bill and Jeb were waiting for their psychological examinations, which would be performed one at a time via telecommunications to a psychiatrist on Kerbin, Bob and Val caught them up on what happened on Dres. Though it had been over a year since Irpond disappeared, there have still been no reported sightings or traces of her. After there had been no suspicious activity detected, and since Dres operations were functioning as planned, Mission Control assumed that Irpond had died during her escape and could not be found. Bob was heartbroken when he agreed that it was the most logical conclusion, but Val was still suspicious.

“When was the last time the four of us were on the same planet?” asked Bob.

“Eh… actually, I can’t remember,” sighed Jeb. “Sorry.”

“Too bad Guscan left for Kerbin a few months ago,” commented Bill, “and it was in a Mark IVb pod, too.”

“What’s the difference?” asked Jeb.

“The Mark IVb was the model that rescued him from Kerbol orbit, and it has less delta-V than the current model,” explained Bill, turning his head to Val. “So… Val, I know it’s been… forever since we talked face to face.”

“Bill, I know what you’re trying to do,” said Val. “You can ask me out AFTER your psych evaluation.”

“Dibs on going after Dilsby,” interrupted Jeb.

“Hey,” cursed Bill.

“You can get more time to practice with Bob,” said Jeb.

“Or you can ask Val out when Jeb starts, since it’ll be a while before Dilsby’s finished,” suggested Bob.

“Screw it,” sighed Val. “You two, get.”

“But I need to wait here for my psych eval,” Jeb argued as Bob left them alone.

“Belay that,” Val told Bob. “Bill, come with me to my quarters.”

“Yes, Admiral,” said Bill, then he followed Val away.

“So, Bill, you want to ask me out?” sighed Val after she closed the door behind her. “Now’s your chance to finally impress me.”

“Well… we’ve… been friends since fifth grade,” started Bill, “and not only that, we’ve been communicating with each other a lot more frequently since… well… approximately ten years ago.”

“Go on,” said Val.

“I… heard that Dres has a mini-bus sightseeing route next to Dres Canyon,” said Bill, “and I was thinking that, after my psych eval, we could fly there and go sightseeing.”

“Sounds great,” said Val, and Bill started to smile, “but I’m not taking a moonjet.”

“I was going to suggest one of the self-mining landers,” Bill told her. “Besides the fact that we won’t need to move a fuel truck to our landing spot just for our date, I want to be able to feel the difference between riding in one of those new landers and a conventional fuel-and-oxidizer craft.”

“Of course you would,” sighed Val. “However, for a suborbital flight from here to the Canyon, a fuel-and-oxidizer landing would suffice.”

“I know it would,” said Bill, “but to minimize the risk of running out of fuel for the return trip, we’ll need to allocate a fuel truck and I don’t know how long that could take.”

“Only five minutes; there’s a truck already stationed in the canyon zone,” explained Val. “We also haven’t been getting many tourists on Dres lately, so the chances of having to wait long for a mini-bus ride are low.”

“I’ll call you when I’m out,” smirked Bill. “I’ll fly.”

“Nuh-uh. I’m a licensed pilot with lander experienced, so I’M flying,” objected Val.

“You’re going to need to calculate the orbital inclination to reach Dres Canyon from a prograde launch, since retrograde will screw up the landing guidance system,” argued Bill. “Except for planets with atmospheres, it has proven incredibly accurate and precise in terms of landing at the designated coordinates.”

“Yeah, but I know the coordinates,” said Val. “You won’t have to worry about losing fuel; it should be filled up by now.”

“Sounds great,” agreed Bill. “Perhaps we can chat for a bit while waiting for Jeb’s psych eval to finish.”

“Yeah, knowing Jeb’s daddy issues, it will take forever,” sighed Val. “Speaking of his dad, I can’t believe he would date again after that long.”

“I can’t believe he’s dating that psychotic murderer,” said Bill. “The worst part is that they’re both now on Eve.”

“WHAT? They’re on Eve?” gasped Val. “I thought the decoded messages alone were enough to put her away for good.”

“Logically speaking, it would be a slam-dunk conviction,” said Bill. “However, she conned the police into thinking that you and I PLANTED all that just to frame her.”

“How is that even REMOTELY possible? Besides the fact that I STINK at matrix multiplication, you were NOWHERE NEAR Kerbin whenever Misty made HER transmissions.”

“But she argued that our close family and friends ARE, and that we’re more than capable of planning an elaborate evidence forgery campaign against Misty and her daughter.”

Val facepalmed herself in disappointment. “Just… why? Assuming she and Irpond are BOTH innocent, WHY would WE waste so much time framing her and her daughter?”

Bill sighed in agreement. “One of the possible motives involved you covering for your brother by punishing the one who uncovered the genocide. My personal favorite was the one where you and I were plotting to have Wolverines removed from the space program.”

“How is that even possible? One of our best friends is a Wolverine.”

“I know, but that’s not the worst part,” said Bill.

“Let me guess, she could turn Eve into a planet-sized time bomb.”

Bill scratched his chin for ten seconds. “I’ll have to dig through the archives and see if that’s possible, but that’s not what I was getting at,” he responded. “I meant that she got pretty much every vocal progressive on Kerbin sided with her. Since it was an election year, everyone thought that she was a victim of a political witch-hunt and didn’t charge her… at least not in time to stop her from blasting off to Eve.”

Val quickly typed on her kPad as Bill watched the screen. “Not only that, Mission Control allowed her to bring A GUN for the trip.”

“Tell me Jeb’s dad is armed, too,” said Bill.

“Actually, he is,” replied Val, “but I doubt he’ll say yes to being your hitman.”

“If Eve’s military forces won’t do anything about her, I will,” Bill told Val, turning on his own kPad. “For the last year and a half, I’ve analyzed the moonjet virus that Hadgan received and uploaded to 314. My endgame is to modify the virus so that, if a moonjet detects Misty as an occupant, it will try to kill her.”

“One, you might not want to mention that in your psych eval,” suggested Val. “Second, it’s not going to work since Agaden was POISONED and Harriet was HIT IN THE HEAD; everyone else bailed out.”

“That won’t happen THIS time,” said Bill, “since the new virus should disable both the EVA suit dispenser and the airlock.”

Val widened her eyes in surprise. “So, you plan on trapping Misty inside with no chance of escape while she crashes to her death.”

“Y… yes, that’s how I want it to work.”

Val lowered her eyebrows. “I want her to die a slow death as much as you do, but there’s no guarantee it will work. First of all, how and where are you going to test it?”

“I planned to upload it to one of our moonjets here and start with you and I,” started Bill. “Since I would have programmed the virus to ‘kill’ Bob, it should function as normal.”

“You’re going to KILL Bob?” gasped Val.

“No, I’m not,” said Bill. “As soon as you and I are done, I’ll put Bob in there and we’ll test it.”

“How do you plan on getting out?”

“Simple: we bring spare EVA suits with us for when the dispenser jams,” explained Bill. “As for the airlock, Bob and I will blow it open from the inside and bail out.”

“Oh, you mean plant a bomb?”

“Exactly,” smirked Bill. “If all goes well, the virus will get triggered ONLY when Bob’s on board and will try to kill him; I also have emergency plans to stay alive in an experiment designed to kill us.”

“Not only is that wasteful and extremely dangerous, it could open you up to murder charges,” warned Val.

“Hey, sabotaging a moonjet to kill one woman is nothing compared to what the woman in question did,” Bill countered. “If I don’t do something now, she’s going to kill again.”

“Which brings me to the second thing: what if SOMEONE ELSE is on board that jet with her, or if there’s a surface outpost where the jet would crash? Do you really want to kill innocent people just to end one scumbag’s life?”

“I… eh…,” stammered Bill.

“Come on, Bill, be honest,” ordered Val.

“Why are you objecting, Val?” said Bill. “Misty is a dangerous criminal who won’t stop. How many more must die before YOU accept that some sacrifices need to be made?”

“Oh, so you’re perfectly fine with killing… schoolchildren just to get revenge on Misty.”

“I thought you HATED her.”

“Yes, but I won’t let you endanger more civilians with YOUR lame plan,” argued Val, “which brings me to Point Number Three. HOW do you expect that plan to work when Misty’s ON EVE?”

“I could get her to ascend to Gilly and ride one of them,” answered Bill.

“Yeah, along with WHO-KNOWS-WHO-ELSE – like other tourists and the designated kerbalnaut,” Val mentioned as she checked her kPad. “Besides that, there’s only one moonjet stationed on Gilly and there’s NO guarantee that your weapon will work there.”

“That’s what TESTING RUNS are for,” argued Bill.

“Even if it worked perfectly here, how are you going to plug it into Gilly’s only moonjet?” countered Val. “Are you also going to tell them to poison Misty for good measure, too?”

“Val, you and I both agree that Misty must die; why are you saying no to my plan?”

“Because it’s far too risky, and you’re FAR too likely to kill innocent bystanders in the process. I can’t let that happen.”

“Well, do you have another idea?” asked Bill.

“Yeah; order the Eve forces to arrest Misty.”

“DON’T COUNT ON IT!” yelled Bill.

“Why not?”

“Kerbin’s government had its chance, now it’s MY turn.”

“Whoa, YOUR turn?” said Val. “What you’re planning is not only incredibly risky in the testing phase alone; I figure the chances of it working for real are SLIM. Furthermore, your plan has HIGH chances of you killing someone you’re not supposed to. Our mission is to eliminate Misty without endangering anyone else in the process.”

“Open your eyes, Val. Misty needs to be stopped at all costs.”

“AT ALL COSTS? What happened to the Bill that I knew, the one that had ethical boundaries?”

“That Bill failed to save hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives.”

“And killing more is NOT the answer.”

“Val, you’re no stranger to desiring revenge – even for me,” reminded Bill. “You remember the nights we spent planning how we were going to get back at the scumbags that irradiated Mom.”

“Yeah, as in ONLY those scumbags,” added Val. “Even when your dad decided to use lawsuits instead of battle suits, he only targeted the ones directly involved.”

“But the legal methods didn’t work for Misty, so now we need to get just as dirty as she is if we’re going to stop her.”

“By needlessly putting more lives on the line?” questioned Val.

“PLEASE tell me you have a FEASIBLE idea,” sighed Bill.

“I do,” interrupted Jeb. “Get a doctor on Eve to poison Misty, whoop-bam-done.”

Bill and Val then frowned at Jeb. “Really, dude? Even if you nailed Linus’ credentials, a medical officer should be able to detect a lethal poison within seconds of reading your recipe,” Bill told him.

“That’s… actually not a bad idea,” said Val, surprising Bill and Jeb. “However, you should tell YOUR DAD to do it.”

“Eh… yeah… and you could tell him that you learned of a new beverage someone made,” added Bill. “If you pose as Linus and say that it’s a medicine, Jeb Senior will check with an actual doctor and then learn that it’s actually toxic.”

“Well, now that you mention it,” started Val, “Jeb Senior will also check your drink recipe and see if it’s even safe for kerbals.”

“So… yeah, that’s not gonna work,” sighed Bill. “Sorry.”

“Oh, I know,” chimed in Jeb, “we pose as Misty’s doctor and trick her into killing herself.”

“Lame,” said Bill. “Besides the fact that you don’t know who her doctor is, she’s a scientist; she’ll figure out that you’re trying to kill her.”

“Yeah,” agreed Val.

“Why not just launch a missile at her?” suggested Jeb.

“From where, my house in Baikerbanur?” asked Bill sarcastically.

“Actually, from one of the military installations on Eve,” said Val. “They have long-range missiles ready in case of a terrorist attack. However, aside from the fact that Bill doesn’t trust them anymore, their launch controls have military-grade encryption and Misty’s location is bound to have civilians in the blast radius.”

“No sweat, just ORDER them to kill Misty,” said Jeb.

“It’s not that easy,” said Val. “Unless I’ve been selected for a joint interplanetary operation, they don’t have to take orders from me.”

“Prime Minister Ryan is coming down hard on progressives nowadays, so it shouldn’t be hard to convince him to tell those guys to blow her up,” Jeb pointed out.

“Technically, he’s being tougher on criminals in general; the reason you believe he’s cracking down on progressives specifically is because some of the crooks in question just happen to ally themselves with that political party,” corrected Bill. “In Misty’s case, however, I hope Prime Minister Ryan has the guts to do what’s right.”

“Don’t be surprised if they don’t kill Misty,” warned Val. “Unless she actively resists arrest or is an imminent threat to life and limb, the best they could do is capture her and put her on trial.”

“Not good enough,” sighed Bill. “They had the chance BEFORE she blasted off; she needs to die NOW before someone else does.”

“Says the guy who was willing to kill up to five more people just to get her locked in a doomed moonjet,” teased Val.

“Too bad Dad hasn’t come to his senses yet,” said Jeb. “Then again, when has he ever?”

“You’re getting your psych eval done first, Jeb,” ordered Val.

“But Bill has homicidal schemes,” countered Jeb.

“Only because of a criminal who keeps slipping away from justice, whereas you had issues with your father… pretty much all your life,” explained Val. “Don’t even think about avoiding it, for I will ask Mission Control if you addressed the subject. If you have not, I will order you back in there until you do.”

“Uh, since when do YOU give ME orders?” said Jeb.

“You’re a captain and I’m an admiral, so I technically outrank you,” reminded Val. “Besides, for a badass who loves to needlessly face dangerous challenges, you sure love to run away from family problems – and those are the ones you HAVE to face.” Val sat down and hung her head in shame. “I should know; I felt like I couldn’t face Victor after realizing all the rumors about him were true.”

“Okay,” said the doctor, “which one of you is going next?”

“He is,” said Bill and Val simultaneously as they pointed at Jeb.

“Captain Jeb?” asked the doctor.

“Fine,” sighed Jeb, “let’s get this over with.”

“Well, that went well,” said Bill as Jeb left with the doctor.

“Word of advice: DON’T mention your murder fantasies,” suggested Val. “In fact, let’s save the Misty-killing plans for tomorrow – after our date at Dres Canyon.”

“I’ll call you when I’m done with my psych evaluation,” said Bill.

“You may not need to; I’ll be on-base the whole time,” Val responded. “What are you going to do between now and when Jeb’s done?”

“Talk to my dad with the new phone,” answered Bill. “I’ve been itching to try one of them.”

“They work like a charm,” Val commented.

 

Two and a half hours later, Bill’s psych evaluation was complete, and he and Val were on their way to Dres Canyon. To save time and fuel (and oxidizer), they ascended to a low Dres orbit of 15 kilometers before landing near the fuel truck parked at Dres Canyon. Unfortunately, the mini-bus that was previously stationed there was summoned to pick up a couple of daredevils who flew the canyon length in their EVA suits. As a result, and since nobody else needed it, Bill and Val decided to take the fuel truck instead.

“Sorry we couldn’t take the mini-bus,” apologized Bill.

“Meh, I kinda like the fuel truck better,” said Val. “Easier to control, more stable, and can refuel spacecraft faster.”

“Yeah, but you gotta admit the mini-bus didn’t do so bad for its intended purpose,” countered Bill.

“Why’d you make it in the first place?” asked Val. “Were you in some kind of… low-cost refueling rover challenge or something?”

“No. Mission Control made the mistake of putting a couple of double-moon tourists on board a mobile base; to make matters worse, it crashed almost an hour after it landed. Though all the occupants survived, we had to get the tourists out before their contracts expired.”

“Why didn’t we just put them in EVA suits and call in a lander?” wondered Val.

“The last time we tried that with a non-EVA-certified tourist, he died and Mission Control faced a massive lawsuit from his widow,” reminded Bill. “I built a vehicle that could carry the stranded tourists out of the wreckage and put them in a rescue lander. BOB then suggested I put an ISRU unit to refuel the lander… hence the design everyone knows and loves today.”

“Neat,” said Val. “I remember reading about the tourist rescue, but I didn’t think that was you. Heck, you didn’t even tell Jeb or I.”

“I didn’t tell Jeb since I figured he was very likely to crash it,” explained Bill. “As for you… I was just doing my job as a space program engineer, so I didn’t bother.”

“I had no idea you had this heroic side,” gasped Val.

“Really?” said Bill. “I mean… not that I tried to impress you or anything… oh, shoot, that came out wrong, didn’t it?”

“Totally,” smirked Val, then she started the truck. “MJ, run the Canyon Sightseeing Route.”

“Plotting course… done,” said MJ, then the truck drove itself alongside the canyon edge from 100 meters away.

“I thought you would at least be A BIT experienced with asking out girls,” said Val. “Remember Melissa, that engineer you dated on Duna before you got sent to Eeloo.”

“Yeah, about that… um…,” stammered Bill.

“Let me guess, it was just a ploy to get me jealous,” blurted Val, and Bill’s jaw dropped.

“WHERE did you get that?”

“Jeb,” admitted Val. “While I was in-transit here, Jeb gave me this theory that you dated Melissa just to make me jealous and force my hand.”

Bill lowered his eyebrows. “And you believed that wild theory?”

“Well… you gotta admit that DOES seem credible,” countered Val. “People do that all the time.”

“I assure you, that was no ploy,” said Bill. “However, while I dated Melissa during my Duna assignment, I never really felt… complete. I got the strange sense that something was missing; you know… like that feeling you get when you suspect mid-mission that you didn’t pack enough electric charge for a probe.”

“You seemed pretty happy in the pictures you sent us,” recalled Val.

“I thought you were no longer available for me, so I tried my best to make it work with Melissa,” confessed Bill. “However, we never really… oh, come on, how do I put it… connected fully. I mean, we ‘clicked,’ but the passion between us never lasted as long as I thought.”

“So, after you broke up, why didn’t you try to date again,” said Val. “Better yet, why didn’t you try and take your shot at me?”

“Who said I didn’t?” replied Bill. “I had requested that I go to Laythe to test my skis.”

“You did?” gasped Val. “You KNEW I was there, right?”

“Yes, but that was denied and I had to hop the first pod to Eeloo,” explained Bill. “That sucked.”

“Well… I understand why Mission Control would want you on Eeloo,” said Val. “Laythe is more of a water-focused tourist attraction than a snow-focused, so they threw you to that snowball.”

“Too bad the best surface outpost is still in a fallout zone,” commented Bill. “Mission Control is debating over whether they should start another outpost or clean it up.”

“I’ll have to ask you and Bob, but I’d go with the cleanup option,” said Val. “That base is sitting on one of the richest ore deposits on Laythe; we can’t just abandon it just because some psycho loves playing with blutonium rods.”

“I’m actually on the fence for that one,” said Bill. “On one hand, the cleanup option is cheaper and we could reclaim the base. On the other hand, we’re bound to have better technology for a new base… probably one that would detect a fallout leak and keep everyone safe.”

“Honestly, if an evil genius with Irpond’s skill set were to get his hands on the base plans, he’d find a way to cause mayhem,” remarked Val. “Too bad we haven’t found Irpond’s body yet.”

“I definitely want to see MISTY’S body soon,” sighed Bill. “I hate her with a burning passion.”

“So do I, but you don’t see me endangering civilians in the process,” agreed Val. “Meanwhile, Jeb suggested that we blow up Eve or… set off the staging decouplers early when she ascends.”

“Besides getting the prime minister to issue a kill order for her,” said Bill, “maybe you could… uh… trigger an explosion… or cause a rover crash.”

“How are you gonna do that?” sighed Val. “It’s not like you could light-speed to Eve and mess up her car before flying back here.”

“Maybe I could remote-control her car and have it run off a cliff or into a rock or something,” suggested Bill. “I could also cause it to self-destruct with her in it.”

“How are you gonna do that without Irpond… who I’m sure will refuse if you had her?” reminded Val. “More importantly, how are you gonna do that and make sure nobody else gets hurt?”

Bill facepalmed himself in disappointment. “All the good non-bureaucratic ideas either need Irpond’s skill set or have a high risk of endangering civilians… or BOTH.”

“Well, you might want to isolate Misty in the hacked vehicle in a way that’s not suspicious until it’s too late,” said Val. “Besides that, we’ll have to cover our tracks after Misty dies.”

“You know, for someone who wanted to save the Misty-murdering plans for tomorrow, you sure are having quite a lot of fun discussing them,” Bill pointed out, and Val’s eyes widened.

“I really loved the times we had when we just… talked,” said Val. “Sometimes, I would even draw weird invention ideas just so I could get you to review them.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“The only thing I DO remember was the sketch of a light-up promposal poster,” answered Val.

“I bet it was just a string of parallel-circuit Christmas lights arranged in a pattern that would form the desired words,” guessed Bill.

“As a matter of fact, it was… whatever ‘parallel circuit’ means,” confirmed Val. “That was how I was going to prompose to you.”

“But you didn’t. Why not?”

“By the time I found a suitable battery for the lights, Vic had already hidden them,” explained Val. “He said that if I wanted you, I needed to march straight up to you and ask you. Boy, we were in SO much trouble when our fight woke up our parents.”

“Bet Victor almost tore your head off,” commented Bill.

“The next part made me feel like tearing YOURS off,” replied Val. “By the time I found my lights and put my card together, Jeb told me that you had already asked out Gretchen… it was too late.”

“Sorry if I ruined your special night,” sighed Bill.

“No, I ruined it for both of us,” Val disagreed. “Vic was right; I should have straight-up asked you instead of tried to be fancy.”

“Well,” said Bill, pointing at the stars, “now we got a second chance.”

“Lame; we’ve been stuck seeing that every day for years,” remarked Val.

“What?” asked Bill, then Val pointed at the setting sun over the canyon.

“Now THAT’S a view worth remembering,” she explained as Bill looked at the breathtaking view.

“No wonder you wanted to come here an hour before lights-out in this op zone,” Bill figured out.

“It’s not every Dres day you get to see that,” said Val.

“Tell that to the guys working in the Dres Canyon region.”

“They get a different view from the foot of the canyon, where their base is located.”

“You think Dres sunsets are beautiful?” challenged Bill. “You should fly to Duna and see those.”

“Try LAYTHE sunsets; you get both the sun AND Jool in the sky,” said Val. “Poseidon’s Palace used to have the best views from the upper antennae levels.”

“Hey, remember when we flew a robot plane all the way to Woomerang to drop our spy probe?” asked Bill.

“How could I not?” said Val, then she noticed that she and Bill were holding hands. “It was one of our… best moments… together.”

“It sure was,” agreed Bill. “Well, Mission Control has tasked me with designing a rechargeable robotic aircraft that can transmit scientific and photographic data from the fallout zone.”

“Can’t the guys at the military base send one of their recon jets to do it?”

“No, Val. This one must be equipped with the new interplanetary comm system, run on pure electricity, and rest in the fallout zone between missions without taking damage,” explained Bill.

“This is simple,” scoffed Val, “just slap your old plane design on a fighter jet transport rocket and BA-BAM!”

“No, Val, Mission Control explicitly stated it had to be electric.”

“Really? Didn’t you use an electric plane?”

“No, it was a simple air-breathing fuel-powered jet engine plane,” clarified Bill. “I needed that much thrust to haul the spy probe to Woomerang and fly the plane back home.”

“Oh, my bad,” apologized Val. “I don’t think you’ll need that kind of thrust if you’re going to keep your plane near Poseidon’s Palace.”

“My point exactly, but I will need the power supply to last long if it’s going to get valuable data and return to the ‘charging pad’ safely,” said Bill.

“If you’re that worried about saving power, why not just use a blimp?” suggested Val, then Bill’s eyes widened.

“You know, I was thinking the same thing,” Bill told her. “However, if I take the blimp route, I must consider how the surrounding air temperature, pressure, and fallout will affect it – starting with the balloon alone. For all I know, the blutonium-238 could cause the exterior to decay… or the low temperatures will cause the balloon to not inflate with helium sufficiently enough to take off.”

Val then smiled at Bill. “Oh, you. You should… hey, why DID Mission Control task you with it in the first place?”

“Because they know about our mission to drop the spy probe on Woomerang all those years ago,” explained Bill.

“Oh, you did?” asked Val, and Bill nodded. “I didn’t think you told them about that; only the part where your rocket actually missed Woomerang the night Misty set her house on fire.”

“Not like that; I meant I told them about the plane mission when I enlisted.”

“WHAT?” gasped Val. “You told them about that?”

“Yes; they wanted to know a big moment in my life that I accomplished something as a team,” explained Bill. “After the Mun mission, Werner told me that my mission report – and my logs – for that mission were a major factor in our acceptance into KSC. Once I showed them the football team’s stats and recon files, they knew I was legit.”

“Whoa…,” said Val. “That’s amazing?”

“Is it just me,” stated Bill, “or are our noses two centimeters from each other?”

“Just turn your head 30 degrees clockwise about its nose axis and move forward one centimeter,” whispered Val. “Don’t forget to open your… docking port.”

“But I don’t have mono…,” said Bill, but he then noticed Val’s lips were locked with his own. Ten seconds later, they had stopped kissing. “Oh… I get it now.”

“You are such a nerd,” laughed Val. “I gotta ask… was that your first kiss since your Duna assignment?”

“Yes,” answered Bill. “Man, you had no idea how long I wanted to do that.”

“Probably as long as I did,” said Val. “And now… that moment… has finally come.”

“We came really close once – when we had returned from the Ike mission,” said Bill. “I remember when we were on the roof of the vehicle assembly building… then Gus told us to get down.”

“Speaking of Gus, where is he?” wondered Val.

“Last I heard, he’s still in prison for his role in covering up the Clivar Genocide,” answered Bill.

“He was our best ops planner until those documents surfaced,” added Val.

“Even before they were… leaked… WAIT A SECOND!” gasped Bill.

“You got that ‘I have a crazy idea,’ look,” commented Val.

“There’s a look?” wondered Bill, then he smiled. “Since no arrest warrants were issued until AFTER the genocide-related documents were leaked, why don’t we wait and see what happens when we leak the decrypted emails?”

“What decrypted emails? I thought they were already made public years ago.”

“We’re talking about the ones between Irpond and Misty,” clarified Bill.

“Oh… yeah… those,” realized Val. “We can at least show the entire kerbal race exactly the kind of monster Misty is and who those political hacks are protecting. Pretty soon, they’ll HAVE to arrest her and put her on trial.”

“The families of the Bill’s Revenge victims are BOUND to want her head when they find out that Irpond and Misty had the most to gain from that ship getting blown up,” agreed Bill as he took out his kPad – but then Val put it down. “What?”

“Not now, Bill,” she told him as she kissed him in the neck. “I’ve been waiting too long for this.”

“But… we need to stop Misty,” said Bill.

“That can wait until morning,” argued Val while she held Bill close. “Don’t tell me you don’t want this, too.”

“Wait, are you talking about kissing and hugging you or defeating Misty?”

Val lowered her eyebrows. “What do you think?”

“Oh… I get it,” said Bill. “I’ve been too scared to even try it then; I won’t be now.”

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: TAKEN

 

As the sun rose over Eve’s horizon, Misty was walking along the shoreline in an EVA suit enjoying the view. Due to Eve’s gravity being almost twice as much as Kerbin’s, she could feel her body expending more energy than usual just to walk the same distance. After her walk, she would hit the showers and either socialize with other tourists at Firebird Base or take the sightseeing bus that docked and left on a regular basis. The base was built low to the ground to increase stability, but it was long and spread out because it was sent to Eve in pieces. The delivery crafts were all designed to not only survive the harsh re-entry temperatures during Eve descent, they had to land less than 3 kilometers from the designated landing spot. That way, the transport rovers wouldn’t have to travel as far during the assembly stage.

The four-person sightseeing bus was a mini-bus that was designed differently from the standard mini-bus. Though it was capable of docking with bases and ascent and descent vehicles, they did not have refueling capabilities. Rather than have two adjustable airlocks on both ends, it had a fixed-height clamp-o-tron jr. docking port in the rear end; besides that, the sightseeing bus had two exits rather than one. It also had goo and materials for scientific study on the go, as it was the original intent of the vehicle’s design; it also had a drill and ore container for geological analysis, though they were dismantled on the rovers designated for tourist transport.

“Where to, mam?” asked the MechJeb rover autopilot.

“The Jeb’s Junkyard site,” answered Misty.

“Plotting course… done,” said MJ, then it undocked from the base and headed off. A few minutes later, Misty heard a man address her on the radio.

“Jeb’s Junkyard security to Tourist bus Six, state your business.”

“This is Misty Kerman,” she responded. “I’m here to visit Jeb Senior.”

“Hang on,” the guard replied, then there was radio silence for ten seconds. “Ah, yes, there you are. You are clear to enter the perimeter; we’ll take your rover from here.”

“Copy that, sir,” acknowledged Misty. A minute later, the rover had docked with the complex and the airlock opened. Much to her surprise, when she disembarked from the rover, there were three armed guards waiting for her. “Uh… sir?”

“Get down on the ground, now!” ordered one of them as his friends took aim at her.

“What in this world is…?” asked Misty, but the muzzle of the third guard’s gun was then two centimeters from her head.

“I WILL shoot you.” Before Misty could react, he knee-jabbed her in the groin and pistol-whipped her in the face.

“Can we do it now, Sarge?” asked one of the other guards.

“Sid, remember what we planned?”

“GUN!” shouted one of the subordinate guards.

“She’s got a gun!” yelled the other as Sid fired his pistol at the side wall.

“Wha…?” gasped Misty as Sid threw it to her. “AAGH!” The sergeant in charge then aimed at her kneecap and shot her, causing her to bleed and collapse in pain.

“THAT’S for blowing up Bill’s Revenge, you monster!” he told her before kicking her head as hard as he could. “Ralph, have her fire again.” The second subordinate then approached Misty and placed her hand on Sid’s gun. “Now you’re gonna pay for all you did, Misty.”

“WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?” asked Jeb Senior when he arrived at the airlock. “Misty?!”

“Boss, this crazy lady stole my gun and opened fire,” Sid told him as he reclaimed it – making sure to take it from Misty’s hands in front of Jeb Senior.

“He’s… lying!” groaned Misty.

“So what, she des…,” argued Ralph, but his sergeant placed his hand over his mouth.

“She what?” asked Jeb Senior.

“She tried to kill us,” lied the sergeant. “If we don’t stop her, someone else could be next.”

“I want full reports from all of you,” ordered Jeb Senior as an emergency response crew rushed to the scene. “Medics, she has been accused of shooting at security personnel. Can you test her to verify those claims?”

“Didn’t…,” sighed Misty as the paramedics checked her knee. After she was loaded on a stretcher, a random employee then charged toward it and knocked it over.

“You killed my mother!” he yelled. “PREPARE TO DIE!” He then raised a ballpoint pen at her, ready to stab her throat.

“Hold it!” objected Jeb Senior as he tackled the employee. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What are YOU doing, boss? SHE’S the bad guy.”

“What are you talking about? What makes you say THAT?”

“This.”

DECODED COMMUNICATION EDITED FOR GRAMMATICAL PURPOSES
FROM	Misty Kerman
TO	Irpond Kerman (IN-TRANSIT) Jool à Dres Pod 5B15
I DON’T KNOW HOW BILL AND VAL FIGURED US OUT, BUT THEY SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PROVE IT IN COURT.   THEY HAVE NO EVIDENCE I WAS ANYWHERE NEAR WOOMERANG AIRPORT BETWEEN WHEN FLIGHT LA8202 LANDED AND WHEN IT TOOK OFF.   DESPITE YOUR SKILL SET, MATT IS THE ONLY ONE IN POSEIDON’S PALACE CAPABLE OF DESIGNING (AND PROGRAMMING) THE FOXY BOX. FURTHERMORE, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN THE SPECIFICS ABOUT SALLY’S FLIGHT PLAN. -       OR WHEN SHE WOULD LAND AT KSC.   VAL’S CREDIBILITY IS SHOT NOW THAT HER BROTHER IS A CONVICTED MASS MURDERER – AND SHE DEFENDED HIM. DON’T LOSE BOB TO ANYONE, INCLUDING HER.   LOVE YOU, MOM   - Matt the Second

 

“H… how did you get Misty’s emails?” wondered Jeb Senior.

“They were leaked on Kerbnet a few hours ago, boss,” explained the employee. “That particular message is just one of many.”

“Why did you say that Misty killed your mother?”

“She was on Flight LA8202 when it crashed.”

Jeb Senior then glared at the employee. “Tell me you didn’t plan this with the guards.”

“No, sir.”

“Under normal circumstances, I would have the guards arrest you on the spot for assault and battery,” said Jeb Senior. “However, I will expect a report to HR from you by sundown. Now, where exactly can I find these leaked messages?”

“Everywhere; news outlets, social media, emails,” said the employee as Jeb Senior dismissed him.

“Boss,” said Jeb Senior’s secretary, “you have an email from Admiral Valentina Kerman.”

“Val?” gasped Jeb Senior. “What’s it about?”

“Subject line: Undeniable Proof that Misty’s a Psycho.”

“Gah,” sighed Jeb Senior as he turned to a security guard. “I want a protective detail around Misty in the sick bay. Don’t let anyone besides me and designated medical personnel in.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jeb Senior quietly returned to his office and opened his email. “As much as I preach workplace safety, I’d rather have to deal with a fatal accident than a murder.”

 

Meanwhile, Calculus Base operations were running smoothly. Jeb and Bill had been fully cleared to resume active duty, but all they had to do was perform routine maintenance checks on the spacecraft parked within the designated base perimeter. While Bob was inside the base supervising the laboratory personnel, Val was outside in an EVA suit talking to her friends.

“So, dude, how’d it go last night?” asked Jeb.

“It was nothing like I expected,” answered Bill. “For starters, the probability of having our date in the fuel truck stationed next to the canyon was next to negligible.”

“I heard that,” said Val, “and why was that?”

“Because the refueling truck was not meant to be a sightseeing vehicle, whereas there’s a mini-bus already stationed there just for that purpose,” explained Bill.

“Well, then, you’re welcome,” said Jeb.

“What do you mean ‘you’re welcome?’” wondered Bill.

“I’m the one who dared those to guys to fly the canyon length in their suits,” explained Jeb.

“WHAT?!” gasped Val.

“Really, not even a ‘thank you?’” sighed Jeb.

“Just… why?” stammered Val. “You put kerbalnauts’ lives in jeopardy, not to mention you forced Dres Command to relocate a tourism vehicle just to rescue those guys.”

“Hey, relax, Val. Everybody knows that given the choice between a fuel truck and a mini-bus, most people will take the truck; same capacity, but more stable and better refueling capabilities. Plus, it’s got a buttload of power.”

“The mini-bus was sufficient for the canyon tour route,” said Bill.

“And as a math-happy engineer, you should know that there are far more tipping instances involving mini-buses than there are with fuel trucks,” argued Jeb. “Besides, it’s not like I FORCED those guys to jump. I put the dare out on Chirper, and those two wanted in.”

“Well, then, why didn’t you go yourself?” asked Bill.

“I wanted to, but I had to stay on-base before I was fully cleared,” said Jeb. “Plus, the psychiatrist said I should… call… my dad.”

“I checked the call logs and confirmed that,” said Val, “but you were on there for only two minutes. Why?”

“He was asleep,” recalled Jeb. “Yeah, he was really drowsy.”

“Nice try,” said Bill, “but it was midday where he was when you called him.”

All was silent for five seconds. “All right, fine, BIG WHOOP! He wasn’t asleep. You told me I had to talk to him, but you didn’t say for how long. Bill, how long did you talk to YOUR dad?”

“About 45 minutes,” said Bill. “I had to cut it short when it was time for my psych eval.”

“Big deal,” sighed Jeb. “You and William were ALREADY close, whereas MY dad and I are farther apart than Eeloo and Moho.

“Jeb, he’s the only real family you have left,” Val told him. “Why do you insist on shutting him out from your life?”

“Number One: he’s held me back all my life. Number Two: he’s always treated me like I’m some fragile piece of equipment. Number Three: he lied to me about what happened to my mom.”

“And I suppose you’re gonna say ‘Number Four: he’s now in love with a sadist,’” chimed in Bill. “Oh, and by the way, if you’re going to compare distances, a better analogy would be Eeloo and JOOL when they’re on opposing ends of their relative orbits.”

“Eh… I don’t get it,” said Jeb, shrugging his shoulders. Bill then extended his right index finger and drew on the surface.

“Oh, I get it now,” said Val. “Speaking of that sadist, did your dad mention her?”

“Only that he went on a date with her after they landed,” sighed Jeb.

“You might wanna call him tonight to check that he’s still alive,” suggested Bill.

“Why, you think his private blimp will blow up?” said Jeb.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” answered Bill.

“I thought they abandoned hydrogen dirigibles long before we were born,” said Val.

“I meant if Misty planted a bomb,” clarified Bill.

“Oh…,” realized Val. “I hope that, with all the intel we leaked, he’ll know better now.”

“PERFECT!” shouted Jeb.

“Please, Jeb, that’s a bit too loud,” complained Val.

“Oh, sorry,” apologized Jeb. “If he’s still dating Misty, I can rub it in his face that he’s a hypocrite.”

“How so?” asked Bill.

“He keeps drilling safety into everyone’s heads – especially my own – yet he’s dating a murderer,” explained Jeb.

“Well, at least you’ll have a reason to call your dad,” said Bill. “You could also warn him.”

“Why bother? Val ALREADY warned him, and he’ll never listen to ME.”

“He may THIS time,” remarked Val, “since he’s hearing it from both you and your rational-minded friends.”

“Hey, I haven’t caused any accidents in years,” said Jeb, sounding offended.

“That’s because you’ve been stuck in a pod for years,” finished Bill.

“Not even before that,” argued Jeb, “and the moonjet crash doesn’t count since it was sabotaged and Agaden was poisoned BEFORE the flight.”

“Nice try, Jeb, but I know what you did to Elsa before I got anywhere near Eeloo’s sphere of influence.”

Jeb frowned under his helmet. “Who told?”

“Who’s Elsa?” asked Val.

“Some robot I crashed on Eeloo,” sighed Jeb.

“It’s not just a robot,” said Bill. “It’s a third-generation Wally-class surface exploration probe.”

“So, it’s just Wally’s granddaughter,” Jeb summed up.

“Speaking of which, where is he?” asked Bill.

“He last pinged in one of the southeastern craters,” answered Val, “but that was a week ago.”

“You LOST HIM?!” gasped Bill.

“No, no, we didn’t lose him,” said Val. “He’s been in autonomous exploration mode since he landed here.”

Bill then pressed some buttons on his helmet. “Bob, can you please find Wally for me?” To his surprise, there was no answer. “Bob, it’s Bill. can you hear me?”

“What’s wrong? He won’t respond?” asked Val.

“He’s probably busy or something,” Jeb guessed.

“I’ll go inside and talk to him myself,” said Val as she headed for the airlock.

“Now that it’s just us guys here, let’s talk more about your date,” Jeb told Bill.

“Besides discussing ways to deal with Misty,” started Bill, “we talked about our latest missions and stuff we’ve been tasked to do. For instance, I told her about the electric plane I’m supposed to design for the fallout zone on Laythe.”

“I bet you did MORE than just that, dude,” said Jeb.

“What makes you say that?”

“Uh, the fact that I found you IN VAL’S ROOM this morning,” replied Jeb. “I thought the rules said that you had to…,” Suddenly, he was cut off.

“Jeb, what was that?” asked Bill, but no answer – even though Jeb was gesturing with his hands. Bill then kneeled and wrote on the surface.

To Bill’s shock, Jeb shrugged his shoulders and began writing.

Bill and Jeb tried to contact the base and change their communication channels, but nobody replied. To make matters worse, the lights went off on the base. Bill then pointed at the nearest airlock and he and Jeb ran toward it before entering.

“Exterior conditions sustainable,” the suit’s computer announced when the airlock re-pressurized, but Bill warned Jeb not to remove his helmet.

“Why not?” he could hear a muffled Jeb ask.

“Something’s wrong here, and I don’t want to risk it being bad suits,” said Bill, though Jeb had a hard time understanding him. When they left the airlock and saw a scientist walk around with a flashlight, Bill and Jeb knew it was safe to take off their helmets.

“What’s going on here?” the scientist asked.

“That’s what I want to know,” said Bill. “Where’s the admiral?”

“I don’t know; it’s dark in here.”

“No lights or communications…” stammered Bill, then his eyes widened. “Irpond’s back.”

“Who’s Irpond?”

“Some girl who died last year,” sighed Jeb.

“She was ASSUMED dead, but her body was NEVER found,” corrected Bill. “I’d better get Val.”

“No,” argued Jeb. “You restore lights and communications, I’LL get Val.” Before Bill could respond, Jeb put his helmet back on and switched on his headlights. “Hello! Anyone?!” he shouted, but his voice was muffled through his helmet.

“Eek!” a woman shrieked as he rounded the corner.

“Whoa, whoa, take it easy,” said Jeb as the woman backed away.

“W… who are you?”

“It’s me, Jeb,” answered Jeb as he put his hands underneath his helmet. “Uh… you don’t have a flashlight on you, do you?”

“Well, I have one on my kPad.” The woman shined her light on Jeb as he revealed his face. “Oh… sorry, Captain. You scared me.”

“Kinda hard to see my face with that helmet on, isn’t it?” said Jeb as they shook hands.

“Cassie Kerman, ISRU engineering.”

“Help me find Admiral Val,” ordered Jeb. “Have you seen her?”

“I saw her heading towards the science bay before the lights went out,” answered Cassie.

“Great, thanks,” said Jeb. “Take me there.”

“Why do you need ME?” questioned Cassie.

“I just got here and was confined to sick bay until I was cleared to resume duty,” explained Jeb, then Cassie led Jeb to the science bay.

“Captain,” said Dilsby, “our power’s out. We have no lights, communications… and life support has stopped. We sent engineers to the control room to see what’s wrong.”

“Get it up and running before this base becomes a deathtrap,” Jeb emphasized. “Where’s Bob?”

“He said that Admiral Val told him to meet her at the eastern airlock five minutes ago,” answered Dilsby.

“That’s not true,” said Jeb, confusing Dilsby and Cassie. “She was outside with Bill and I chatting on the suit radios.”

“Back up,” gasped Cassie, “what are you saying?”

“Oh no, Bill was right,” said Jeb. “Someone get me a flashlight.”

“Yes, sir!” One of the scientists gave Jeb a flashlight from the tool shelf and Jeb took off running.

“Val! Bob! Can you hear me?!”

“Jeb,” replied Val’s voice, “is that you?” Jeb rounded the corner and almost blinded Val with the flashlight. “Aagh!”

“Easy, Val. It’s me.”

“What’s going on? Where’s Bill?” inquired Val.

“I sent him to restore power,” explained Jeb. “Irpond’s back, Val.”

“BACK?!” questioned Val. “How do you know?”

“She’s knocked out our commlinks, she’s shut off the lights – as well as life support – and she lured Bob out of the lab pretending to be you.”

“Oh no,” said Val. “Where is he…” Before Val could finish, Jeb saw something hit her in the head from behind. He was then blinded by helmet lights before getting punched in the face.

“Who are…” started Jeb, but the assailant kicked Jeb through the hallway; Dres’ reduced gravity forced Jeb to fly to the other end.

“What was that?” asked Dilsby after he noticed the sound of the flashlight dropping.

“Intruder,” responded Jeb as he propped himself back up. “Get security!”

“Uh… we don’t have that here,” said Dilsby, then Jeb put his helmet back on.

“Okay,” he said. “Who are you?” Nobody answered, then the intruder grabbed Val’s hair and punched her in the face before running away. “Oh, really? You’re just gonna punch Val and run?”

“TCHH… SHHH… j… you hear me?” a man’s voice said with static in the background.

“Who is this?”

“This is Bill Kerman,” he replied as the voice became clearer. “Can anyone hear me?”

“Yeah, I can hear you,” said Jeb. “Someone just whack-a-moled Val.”

“I’d better help her,” said Bill.

“Negative,” argued Jeb, “life support is out. Fix that first.”

“But, Jeb!”

“That’s an order! I’ll get her a medic!” Jeb made sure to align himself with the hallway and turned on his jetpack to fly forward. “I got you NOW!” However, he bumped his head on the ceiling and started to slide on the floor. The intruder then put his thumb down and continued running. “Bill, close the airlocks!”

“But I need to…”

“NOW!” The attacker then approached an airlock and tried to open it, but the doors wouldn’t budge. “HA! What now, dude?”

“Still working on life support,” replied Bill.

“Wasn’t talking to you,” said Jeb, but then the assailant spun around and punched Jeb in the gut. He then took a flash drive from his suit pocket and plugged it into the control panel.

“Caution: eastern airlock opening,” the suit’s internal computer spoke. As the doors opened, the intruder entered the airlock and closed the doors behind him.

“The eastern airlock’s been opened,” Bill reported.

“I KNOW, BILL!” said Jeb angrily.

“It’s docked to a mini-bus,” added Bill. “Uh oh, it’s undocking.”

“Warning: multiple leaks detected at eastern airlock.” As soon as the suit computer gave him the alarming news, the lights came back on.

“Life support’s fixed,” said Bill, “but there’s a leak problem at the eastern airlock.”

“Have a repair team fix it,” ordered Jeb. “Bill, track that mini-bus. Val also needs a medic. As for me… if anyone asks for me, tell them I’m in pursuit.”

“Copy that.” Jeb then ran toward the nearest airlock and ejected himself out of the base.

“Up, up, and away!” He flew upwards at full throttle and started looking down at the surface.

“Target has just turned northbound; its current acceleration is one-half meters per second squared,” said Bill.

“What does that mean?” sighed Jeb as he saw a mini-bus leaving the base perimeter. He then checked his helmet’s heads-up display to see his heading; sure enough, he was heading north.

“It’s gaining speed,” clarified Bill. “I’m locking it as your target.”

“Thanks,” said Jeb.

“Distance: 250 meters and decreasing. Relative speed: 10 meters per second and accelerating.”

“Okay, this is it.” Jeb pushed forward on his jetpack and headed straight toward the getaway vehicle.

“Jeb, you’re coming in hot,” warned Bill.

“Chillax, dude, I got this,” assured Jeb.

“At your current trajectory, you’re gonna miss it,” added Bill. “Aim further in front of it.”

“Got it.” Jeb fired his lower thrusters to get higher, hoping to land directly on the mini-bus.

“Jeb, he’s turning left.” He put his jetpack at full throttle to adjust his trajectory, but he was still flying north very fast.

“Man, jetpack flying’s harder than it looks,” commented Jeb. He started to smile when he was directly above the mini-bus, but it quickly became a frown when he passed over it. “Oh, COME ON!”

“He stopped turning,” said Bill.

“Great, where would he go?!” sighed Jeb.

“His heading indicator says that he’s heading for… oh no, Lander 24.”

“I’ll intercept him there,” said Jeb. “Target change: Lander 24.”

“Acknowledged. Target locked,” the suit’s computer responded, then Jeb quickly changed his trajectory to fly toward the lander.

“The bus is decelerating, but it’s moving to the left of the lander,” said Bill. “Jeb, time for you to slow down before you fly over it.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Jeb instantly applied the reverse thrusters and moved to land on top of the lander. When he was ten meters from the surface, he saw someone in an EVA suit disembark from the mini-bus.

And he was carrying someone else in a suit with him.

“I have visual on the intruder,” reported Jeb. “He’s got someone else with him.”

“Accessing lander camera,” said Bill. “Jeb, are you sure you saw only ONE intruder?”

“Yes,” said Jeb, “but then who’s that?”

“He looks unconscious,” Bill told him.

“Tell me something I DON’T know.”

“And… the wearer’s still alive,” said Bill. “I got his bio monitor… BOB!”

“Easy, dude, we’re on commlink here,” reminded Jeb.

“Sorry. Bob’s in that suit,” explained Bill.

“Bob’s the intruder? That’s a stretch.”

“No, Jeb. Bob’s in the second suit,” clarified Bill. “Irpond must have come back to kidnap Bob, then knocked out the base’s power to buy herself some time.”

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” The intruder then pulled a lever on the lander and extended the ladder. However, as he was carrying the unconscious kerbalnaut up to the hatch, Jeb jumped off the shielded docking port and tackled him. “HA!”

“Hi-yah!” The bad guy kicked Jeb between the legs, forcing him upward by at least five meters.

“Jeb, why’d you bounce?” asked Bill.

“I was… kicked,” groaned Jeb. “Good thing the man-diaper protected me from the worst of it.”

“She’s getting in with Bob,” warned Bill as Jeb accelerated downwards. “QUICK, she’s starting the engines.” The second Jeb touched the lander, he felt it lurch upward. He then grabbed the ladder with his right hand as it blasted off from Dres’ surface. “HURRY, she’s taking off!”

“I know,” said Jeb as he held on for dear life.

“Uh, Jeb, your transponder says that you’re… right next to the lander,” said Bill, sounding confused. “Is everything okay?”

“What do you think?!” shouted Jeb. “I’m holding on to a lander ladder while a killer and a hostage are in it!”

“So… is that a y…,” started Bill, but Jeb interrupted him.

“YAAAAHHHHOOOO!” he screamed on the commlink.

“She covered her ears,” said Bill. “Uh oh, she’s listening to us.”

“Then that must mean…” stammered Jeb before he noticed the ladder was starting to retract. “Uh oh.” With all his might, he scrambled to hold on to the capsule railing before the ladder was fully retracted.

“No,” a woman said on the radio.

“Who are…,” inquired Jeb, but he noticed the monopropellant thrusters spinning the craft counterclockwise. He was forced to let go as the lander continued making its ascent burn.

“Jeb, are you okay?” asked Bill.

“I’m fine,” sighed Jeb, “but they got away.”

“You’re currently on a suborbital trajectory with an apoapsis of 12,547 meters,” said Bill. “I’ll send a craft to pick you up, but you should buy yourself some more time before you hit the ground.”

“How do I do that?”

“Fire prograde at heading 90 degrees with a 15-degree ascension angle,” suggested Bill.

“Got it.”

“Oh, and please stop when I tell you to. I don’t want the MJ rendezvous autopilot to constantly change its rendezvous trajectory if you keep accelerating.”

“Ugh, FINE!” Four minutes later, a moonjet flew toward Jeb and slowed down to match his velocity when it was twenty meters from him.

“Get in,” said Bill, then Jeb entered through the airlock and strapped himself in as he removed his helmet; Bill was sitting next to him in the copilot’s seat.

“Aw, YEAH!” smirked Jeb as he circularized his parking orbit. “Now, where did you go?”

“Lander 24 is currently on a suborbital trajectory with an apoapsis of 35 kilometers, but it’s going to make its circularization burn in 30 seconds,” said Bill.

“Dude, why are you in here? I thought you were at the control room?”

“The base engineers have that covered, and you said that Irpond was monitoring our channel – so I got in the jet and accessed the object tracker while programming MJ to rendezvous with you,” explained Bill. “Anyway, the only reason I can think of for her to use the lander and kidnap Bob is to dock with something capable of getting her out of Dres’ sphere of influence.”

“Why not just use the lander AS the getaway ship?” asked Jeb.

“Lander 24 is a fuel-and-oxidizer craft that doesn’t have the delta-V for safe interplanetary flight,” said Bill. “Now, if she took one of the new nuclear-powered landers, THEN we may have a problem.”

“Like we don’t already,” remarked Jeb. “Irpond’s got Bob locked in a lander and we don’t even know where it’s going? I mean, what transfer windows are even open now?” Bill accessed Transfer Window Alarm Clock on the jet’s control panel and gasped.

“Eve.”

“What was that?”

“The transfer window from here to Eve is open,” said Bill. “However, while the lander can barely make its ejection burn – and whatever fine-tuning burns are necessary – it cannot make the insertion burn when it reaches Eve’s sphere of influence. Even if the plan is a straight-up splashdown on Eve’s surface, the craft will get destroyed upon entering the atmosphere as it has no suitable heat shields; it also has no capsule decouplers, for that matter.”

“You said it yourself, Bill, she took that lander to dock with something,” Jeb reminded him. “The question is WHAT.”

“Moonjet 19 to Calculus Base, do you copy?” asked Bill.

“Affirmative, we read you loud and clear,” a man responded.

“How much delta-V would it take to reach Eve from Dres?” he continued. “Include the capture burn.”

“Approximately 4 kilometers worth.”

“Thanks.”

“Really, you couldn’t just use your kPad?” sighed Jeb.

“I didn’t have time to get it,” said Bill. “Bob was taken prisoner, Irpond was getting away, Val was clobbered in the head, and you were on a suborbital trajectory in just an EVA suit. I wasn’t going to waste time getting it and putting it in a space-safe container while your life was on the line.”

“Appreciate it, man. Thanks.”

“So, let’s narrow down the rendezvous targets by selecting the ones that currently have 4,200 or more meters per second of delta-V,” started Bill.

“I thought the guy said you only needed 4,000,” Jeb told him.

“I’m adding a bit in case she plans to make a rendezvous with a descent vehicle,” explained Bill. “I mean, I’d include a ‘safety net’ for further maneuvers in case something goes wrong or something like that – evil getaway pilot or not.”

“Yeah, I suppose… that makes sense,” agreed Jeb. “If I was Irpond, I’d splash down on Eve’s surface.”

“Really? What makes you think she won’t end up on Gilly?”

“In case Bob tries to escape, it will be much harder for him to do so on Eve than on Gilly,” said Jeb. “On Gilly, he could just bounce and make an escape trajectory off that moon.”

“And the fact that Eve offers various romantic views makes it the perfect spot to make a getaway,” added Bill. “Even so, I don’t know if she wants to rendezvous with a descent vehicle or make the splash herself.”

“Well, if I was her, I’d do it myself,” said Jeb. “It’ll be a while before she reaches Eve, so there should be guards by the time she gets there. If she tried to dock with a station, she’ll end up arrested before she even got to the drop pod. However, if she made the drop herself, the guards will have a harder time catching her before she splashes down.”

“Hey, you’re right,” Bill responded. “There’s only one vehicle type in Dres orbit capable of such a mission, and that’s the Mark Vb pod.”

“But which one?” asked Jeb.

“Calculus Base, come in. Do you copy?”

“We read you, over.”

“Any Mark Vb pods in Dres orbit that currently have 4,200 kilometers or more worth of delta-V?”

“Just one: Pod 5B31.”

“What?” gasped Bill. “Where is it?”

“Standing by at 350 kilometers, inclination 24 degrees.”

“Any occupants?”

“No, sir. It’s empty.”

“Thanks. Over and out.”

“How do you know Irpond will take THAT pod?” asked Jeb, then Bill pointed at the ship’s computer screen.

“Look, she’s changing her orbital inclination now,” said Bill. “MJ, rendezvous with Pod 5B31.”

“Okay, adjusting planes in T-minus 53 seconds,” acknowledged MJ.

“Since we’re at a lower orbit than Irpond,” commented Bill, “we have a shorter orbital period. Therefore, we have a good chance of reaching the pod before SHE does.”

“Really? I thought fuel-and-oxidizer landers were faster than moonjets,” said Jeb.

“Because they have a higher-thrust engine. However, in the case of orbital mechanics, chances are we don’t have to wait as long to make our Hohmann transfer burn due to the greater difference between our orbital radius and the target’s than that of Irpond’s and the target’s.”

“Eh… I hope you’re right… whatever you said,” said Jeb, still confused.

“Even if that’s not the case, I hope she’s on the dark side of the planet when she does,” added Bill.

“What difference would that make?”

“Uh, A BIG ONE. If she burns prograde relative to the planet while on the sunny side, she’ll technically be burning retrograde relative to THE SUN. Since Eve is closer to the sun, she’ll need to burn that relative retrograde to decrease her solar orbit periapsis to match that of Eve’s orbit at the time she gets captured in the planet’s sphere of influence.”

“I…uh… I give up,” sighed Jeb.

“Remember when you were flying back home from Minmus?” said Bill. “You were ordered to wait until your craft was on the side facing Kerbin before you could make your escape burn. If you were on the shady side, you would have increased your Kerbin periapsis to larger than that of Minmus’ and probably ended up lost in solar orbit.” Jeb still didn’t understand. “Now, imagine Dres as the U.S.S. Werner, which is… 100 kilometers above Eeloo, then imagine Eve as Hades Station 40 kilometers above the planet. If you were to detach from the Werner, you would need to burn retrograde to rendezvous with Hades Station. Same concept for when Irpond needs to make her retrograde burn relative to the sun to get to Eve.”

“Hmm…,” mumbled Jeb as he scratched his chin. “Oh… I think I get it now… but why not just make your escape burn on the dark side?”

“Since the pod is on a prograde standby orbit, she’ll end up wasting fuel just to make a retrograde orbit if all she wants is to make her escape burn on the dark side,” explained Bill. “After that, there’s no guarantee she’ll have enough fuel to make an accurate landing on Eve – or a successful ejection burn, for that matter.”

“Hohmann transfer burn in T-minus five minutes,” said MJ.

“We’ll be there in no time,” cheered Jeb.

“Irpond Kerman, here we come!”

 

Almost an hour later, Jeb and Bill had successfully rendezvoused with Pod 5B31 with no sign of Lander 24 or its occupants. While Jeb (manually) docked with the pod’s front port, Bill had laid out the action plan for when Lander 24 arrived. The first step involved draining the pod’s fuel tanks into the moonjet’s and loading the pod’s monopropellant tank so that, should Irpond manage to overpower the two men and undock the jet, her delta-V capacity would be lower. Since the moonjet was already taking the pod’s front port – which was the primary docking port – the secondary side port would be harder to reach for the lander. Though Jeb suggested to simply “keep the doors pulled shut,” Bill insisted on a contingency plan in case Irpond had a virus to remotely override the pod’s control panel commands.

“Why not just change the pod’s orbit and make it even harder for her to reach it?” suggested Jeb. “Isn’t that why you asked me to stop when I jetpacked myself into Dres orbit?”

“I can’t risk an airlock compromise if I fire up the pod’s engines while it’s docked to the moonjet,” explained Bill. “Besides, this is our chance to catch Irpond once and for all.”

“And save her prisoner,” said Jeb. “So, to recap, we drain the pod’s fuel, load it with monopropellant, and keep the side door locked while occupying the front one.”

“Eventually, she WILL dock with the pod – and bring herself and Bob right to us,” added Bill. “That port is the only way she can get out of Dres’ sphere of influence at this point.”

“Wait, so… if we’re setting her up,” said Jeb, “shouldn’t we send the moonjet BACK so she won’t notice that we’re here until it’s too late?”

“I thought about that, and no,” objected Bill. “The lander can only hold three people, and there will be FOUR to send down when we’re done.”

“So? You or I can stay in the pod and wait for a pickup,” Jeb pointed out.

“Negative. Bob will need medical attention, and it will take BOTH you and I to contain Irpond.”

“Hmm… oh, I know. After we catch Irpond, you send Bob back down ALONE in the lander to get medical help,” said Jeb. “In the meantime, we contain Irpond in the pod. We’ll either wait for a pickup or land the pod on Dres ourselves.”

Bill scratched his chin as the moonjet’s docking port touched the pod’s. “Excellent plan; let’s do it. By the way, who told you about the pod’s thrust-to-weight ratio?”

“Some Photogram daredevil,” answered Jeb. “He and his buddy landed one of them on Dres and then took selfies before sending it back up.”

Bill facepalmed himself in disappointment. “Seriously? Just because it has a thrust-to-weight ratio of over one doesn’t make it a landing craft.”

“Moonjet 19, this is Admiral Valentina,” Val said on the jet’s radio. “Do you copy?”

“This is Captain Jeb,” he replied.

“My tracker says that you’re…,” she continued.

“Tchhh,” said Bill. “What’s that… tchhh? You’re breaking… tchhh… up.”

“What’s goin…?” asked Val, but Bill shut off the radio.

“What’s the big idea?” questioned Jeb as he opened the airlock to the pod.

“Irpond’s monitoring the comms,” reminded Bill. “At the same time, we need to get the moonjet away before Irpond gets here.”

“Why not use the MJ landing autopilot?” sighed Jeb.

“If Irpond detects the jet flying away from the pod without accompanying reason, she’ll suspect a trap,” said Bill. “However, I got a plan.”

“Speaking of, why don’t you start with draining the pod’s fuel?”

“Oh, yeah.” Bill entered the pod and activated the control panel. “Ugh, dang it.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Even if I fill the jet’s liquid fuel tanks completely, the pod will still have plenty of delta-V to make the flight to Eve,” said Bill, “and that also includes the insertion burn.”

“What about monopropellant?”

“Not good enough. Besides the fact that it will make no significant difference in the pod’s delta-V capacity, we still need some in the jet for it to undock.”

“Jeb, your radio’s off,” said Val. “What’s wrong?”

“Pretend to be sick,” whispered Bill.

“But why?”

“Just do it.”

“Cough… everything’s okay… cough,” lied Jeb.

“Really? THAT’S pretending to be sick?”

“What? If I oversell it, Val would get suspicious.”

“At least TRY to make it sound like you need medical attention.”

“Wait, did Bill just say you needed medical attention?” gasped Val.

“No, he didn’t,” said Jeb.

“YES, I DID!” argued Bill. “You’ve been like that since we got in the jet.”

“Bill, look at me, I’m fine,” said Jeb, then Bill coughed.

“You’re OBVIOUSLY… NOT,” sighed Bill before leaning in. “Take off your suit.”

“But, dude…”

“Shhh… the pod already has seven more ready.” He grabbed a pen and a sticky note and wrote on it before placing it on the control panel.

“EVA me,” said Jeb, then the pod’s dispenser placed him in a new EVA suit. “What now, genius?”

“Strap the suits we previously wore to our seats so Val would think they’re occupied,” said Bill, then Jeb did so quietly as Bill put on a new suit himself.

“Is everything okay in there?” asked Val.

“No, everything’s not okay,” said Bill.

“Ugh… I think I’m gonna… BLEH!” added Jeb.

“We got ourselves a biological fluids situation here,” responded Bill.

“Nah… I’m good,” said Jeb.

“You’re blowing it again,” argued Bill as he covered the microphone.

“No, I’m not. That’s how I always talk, faking or not.”

“Ugh, fine.”

“I can fly just fine,” said Jeb. “Ugh… I’m feeling… kinda…”

“Jeb, if you can hear me, you’re in no condition to fly,” Val told him. “Bill, what about you?”

“Physically, I’m fine,” said Bill. “However, I don’t know if I will be for much longer. There’s a good chance that Jeb’s contagious.”

“I’m transmitting you the coordinates to a designated landing spot,” said Val. “I’ll send medics there to pick you boys up.”

“Roger,” acknowledged Bill as he received Val’s coordinates. “Inputting them into the MechJeb landing autopilot now. Jeb, get some rest.”

“Uuuhhh… you’re probably right, dude,” Jeb spoke, then he floated into the pod as Bill entered the landing coordinates. “Now what?” he whispered.

“Beginning landing trajectory now. Over and out.” Bill then closed his airlock, separating himself from Jeb, and used the RCS controls to separate the moonjet from the pod. After inputting a thirty-second command delay, he quickly got outside and used his jetpack to get back to the pod.

“What was THAT for?” asked Jeb.

“I needed to get the jet to land at a specific spot,” explained Bill.

“Why not just do it yourself and drop the sick act?” wondered Jeb.

“Aside from the fact that it’s protocol to announce your landing as well as the intended coordinates, if Irpond detected the moonjet heading back down and the radio was silent she’ll suspect a trap. However, if she thinks we’re landing suddenly because you’re SICK, she’ll think we’ve given up and will be free to come here – right into our hands.”

“Ooh, I get it now,” smirked Jeb. “So, what now?”

“Stay out of sight of the on-board cameras and wait until Irpond gets here,” answered Bill. “Could you hand me that helmet there?”

“Sure,” said Jeb as he threw Bill an extra helmet. “Say, how long until she gets here?”

“Give me a minute,” answered Bill as he covered the cockpit cameras with the spare helmets and suits. He then checked the pod’s navicomputer and noticed Lander 24 was on an intercept trajectory. “She’ll need to match her velocity approximately four minutes.”

“What do we do in the meantime?” sighed Jeb.

“We’ll wait in here and hide until she docks with the pod,” started Bill. “Once she’s inside – and not a moment before – we’ll surprise her and save Bob.”

“Hide, she gets here, surprise her, save Bob,” Jeb recalled as he counted on his fingers. “Sounds easy enough.”

“Once we defeat Irpond, we’ll radio it in and send Bob down in the lander alone while we keep her contained in here,” continued Bill. “Val will then send in a ship to pick us up.”

“Okay, two questions,” interrupted Jeb. “First off, if your plan is to get Bob during the fight, why bother sending him back down in a lander?”

“We may need to give him first aid then and there,” explained Bill, “depending on what Irpond did to him. Alternatively, depending on how bad he is, Val may have to send in a higher-occupancy vehicle to pick all four of us up at once.”

“Seems to make sense,” agreed Jeb. “Another thing, if Irpond needs to be on the sunny side to fly to Eve, then what side of the planet will she match our speed at?”

Bill widened his eyes. “Shoot, I’d better check the navicomputer.” He was shocked when he saw where the lander’s intercept trajectory met the pod’s. “On the western edge of the sunny side.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“BAD!” explained Bill. “At this point in the pod’s orbit, it won’t be long between when Irpond sets up her maneuver node and fires up the engines. If we’re going to stop her, we’d better move fast.”

“Why not just stall her?” asked Jeb.

“And how do we do that?”

“Simple, just stand in heroic poses outside of the docking port and force Irpond to wait until she’s on the dark side to make to move.”

“Jeb, she’s a serial murderer. She’s not gonna care if her lander’s shield doors crush us.”

“Well… ooh, I know, we could keep the pod spinning around and drive her crazy trying to align her lander’s port with ours.”

“First off, she’s taken Bob hostage,” reminded Bill. “While that idea would definitely force her to spend more time aligning herself, she could threaten to kill Bob unless we comply with her demands. As much as I hate Irpond, I’m not going to sacrifice Bob in the process.”

“Eesh… you’re right,” said Jeb.

“Second off, you remember that she disappeared once a year and a half ago. She could just do it again if she knew we were on board. I can’t let that happen, and I also can’t let her take Bob with her.”

“Whoa, dude. I thought MISTY was your arch-nemesis; Irpond was VAL’S.”

“Third of all, this could be our last chance to get rid of Misty once and for all,” finished Bill as he lowered his eyebrows. “She butchered our people, so I need to butcher her… I HATE HER!”

“Dude, I think you’re the lucky one; she’s not dating YOUR dad,” assured Jeb.

“Would you even have brought that up if he fell for some OTHER lady?” wondered Bill.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” replied Jeb. “He said that my mom was just a busy airline pilot, but she actually died right after I was born. He said that he never remarried because he loved Mom, but he’s dating someone else now. Since it’s been established that he’s a world-class liar and hinderance to awesomeness, now for all I know he’s been dating LOTS of women after he died.”

“That seems like a hasty accusation to make, doesn’t it?”

“Bill, you remember how I knew Dad was a ladies’ man, right?”

“You mean those gossip magazines with the articles featuring him?” asked Bill.

“No. Back in seventh grade, Mrs. Jane Kerman called my place to tell Dad about my history grades. Since I picked up first, I pretended to be him – but what came next was not just class stuff. Turns out, Jane actually dated Dad before he met Mom.”

“Pretty much a lot of women in Baikerbanur dated Jeb Senior before he married,” summed up Bill, “one of them MY mom.”

“Really? No wonder you and I are like brothers?”

“I get what you’re saying, but no,” sighed Bill. “I had you and I tested; we’re not related.”

“And I didn’t figure your mom was the kind to cheat,” added Jeb.

“Anyway,” chimed in Bill, “here’s how I think we should proceed. Once she docks with the pod, we’ll tackle her while she’s distracted programming the transfer node.”

“I got a better idea,” said Jeb. “Right when she opens the docking port, we’ll be like ‘Surprise, jerk,’ and THEN we’ll jump her. That would keep her further away from the pod’s control panel, now. Wouldn’t it?”

“But that would also put her closer to Bob,” reminded Bill.

“Us too.”

“Warning: Lander 24 within 1 kilometer of the pod,” the pod’s navicomputer warned.

“It’ll be a while before she docks,” said Bill, “but by then she should be able to fire up the pod’s engines within a minute of docking.”

“Exactly why we need to keep her as far away from the pod’s control panel,” reminded Jeb. “Pretend we’re in a football game; Irpond’s the Wolverines, we’re the Badgers, and the controls are our endzone.”

“I get the concept,” sighed Bill.

“Oh, crap, what if Irpond doesn’t plan to dock with us?” asked Jeb. “She could just eject from her lander and fly herself to the hatch.”

“Possible, but too risky for her considering that she has a hostage in the capsule,” Bill disagreed. “Without her to stop him, Bob could regain consciousness and break away – leaving her without any bargaining chips or fallback methods should her exit go awry. If she’s in the pod with him, he’ll be less likely to perform an escape attempt.”

“Why not just drag him in a suit?”

“Lander 24 within 500 meters,” reported the navicomputer.

“Because the chances of Irpond losing her grip on Bob – whether it be due to him escaping, our open-space engagement, or microgravity-related complications – are very high. See where I’m getting at?”

“Yeah… I suppose you’re right,” agreed Jeb.

“250 meters.”

“Come to papa,” smiled Bill.

“Speaking of, you might wanna test Val when we’re done,” commented Jeb. “I don’t think your mission on Dres needs to get complicated by any pregnancies.”

“Don’t worry, we didn’t do… THAT,” assured Bill, reluctant to discuss any further details. “Oh, look, she’s matching velocities with us.”

“She’s now pointing the lander at us,” said Jeb. “Don’t you think we should move it?”

“Not now, Jeb. She’s now moving her lander into the ‘closest approach’ position. She’ll then activate the docking autopilot and dock with one of the ports.”

“Which one?”

“Most likely the front one, but it will be obvious which one she plans on using,” said Bill. “Now, we wait here.”

“Lander 24 is 150 meters from the pod.”

“Any minute now,” sneered Jeb.

“Oh, yeah. Just match your velocity at your closest approach,” smirked Bill, “and align your docking port with ours. And then… you’re mine.”

“So… one question,” said Jeb. “After we beat Irpond and rescue Bob, what are we gonna do with her?”

“100 meters,” the computer interrupted.

“I told you, send her back down with us,” sighed Bill.

“Dead or alive?” asked Jeb. “Even if the answer is ‘alive,’ are you going to kill her when we land?”

“To be quite honest, I don’t know,” said Bill. “I’m seriously considering tossing her out the airlock and telling everyone her suit was punctured during a fight outside the ship.”

“If that happens, I’ll back you up,” assured Jeb.

“50 meters.”

“Really? You’d do that?” asked Bill, surprised.

“Well-past the end, buddy,” said Jeb. “She killed hundreds of people, turned the best vacation spot on Laythe into a radioactive wasteland, and caused all kinds of mayhem on both Dres and Eeloo. You think I’d let you get in trouble for something which HAS to be done?”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Jeb.”

“Relative velocities matching at 34.7 meters.”

“I see it,” said Jeb, pointing out the cockpit window.

“Time to get to the starting point,” smiled Bill.

“Uh, Bill, we got a problem,” said Jeb. “She’s exiting the lander.”

“What?” gasped Bill, then he witnessed what he assumed to be Irpond in an EVA suit leaving the lander cockpit and flying towards the pod. “She must be getting the pod ready for action so that it can blast off to Eve when the lander docks.”

“What do we do?” inquired Jeb.

“You watch her,” said Bill, “I’ll stall her.” Bill jumped toward the pod’s control panel and started inputting random maneuver nodes in the pod’s orbit.

“She’s heading for the cabin airlock,” whispered Jeb.

“Get out of sight,” warned Bill.

“Caution: passenger cabin airlock is opening.” Jeb then hid in the suit dispenser.

“On my signal, we attack,” reminded Bill as he behind a cockpit seat. A minute later, he saw Irpond’s face enter the pod and look around.

“Huh… neat,” she said, seemingly oblivious to Jeb’s and Bill’s presence. “Engines, check. Power, check. Life support… and check.” She grabbed on the railing and moved herself to the cockpit. “Oh, Bob…”

“SURPRISE!” shouted Bill as he leapt toward Irpond and tackled her; the force of the collision pushed them toward the cockpit window.

“WHAT?!” gasped Irpond.

“Sorry, was that the signal?” asked Jeb.

“YES, JEB!”

“Oh, okay,” said Jeb. “BADGEEERRRRS!”

“WHAAAA…!” stammered Irpond, but Jeb then hit her in the back of the head with a spare helmet.

“HIT THE BEACON!” shouted Bill as he threw a punch. While his fist landed square on Irpond’s nose, his center of mass was thrown off-balance and he started to slowly float uncontrollably.

“Red alert protocol activated,” said the computer as the pod’s lights started to flash red. At the same time, a siren was going off.

“Ha!” smirked Jeb. “What now, Irpond?”

“Pod 5B31, this is the U.S.S. Defiant,” a woman spoke on the pod’s radio. “We’ve received your emergency beacon. What’s your situation, over?”

“Irpond’s here!” exclaimed Bill. “IRPOND’S HERE!”

“Uh… you might want to tell Admiral Valentina about this,” said Jeb.

“Roger. Patching you through to the admiral.”

“UGH!” Irpond used her hands to propel herself feet-first towards Bill, who then slammed against the wall.

“TAKE THAT!” After the force of Irpond’s kick pushed her back, Jeb then collided with Irpond and crashed on the pilot’s seat.

“Is THAT all you got?” spat Irpond. She then knee-jabbed Jeb between the legs and moved him off her, but then Bill knocked her back toward the control panel.

“Now aiming at the anti-normal,” said the navicomputer as Irpond’s body hit a button.

“NO!” shrieked Irpond, but then Bill put his right hand on her throat.

“Misty!” he demanded, then he raised his left fist. “NOW!”

“Boys,” said Val, “what’s going on?”

“Nowhere to run, Irpond,” reminded Bill.

“Except Eve,” chimed Jeb, and Bill glared at him in disappointment.

“Really? Don’t give her any ideas.”

“W… which is where you’re clearly NOT going,” said Jeb.

“AGH!” Irpond first punched Bill under his right arm before using her own to spin around and elbow-strike Bill in the face. While Bill was forced let go of her, she kept spinning about her vertical axis.

“You two are pretty smart for a couple of knuckleheads,” said Irpond after she grabbed a seat to steady herself.

“And you sound pretty alive for a dead woman,” Val responded.

“W… what?” gasped Irpond.

“Keep her talking,” mouthed Bill, and Jeb nodded in agreement.

“You snuck back into Calculus Base,” started Jeb, “pretended to be Val, then knocked out Bob after you lured him to you. You then shut off all power – including lights, communications, and life support – to buy you time to escape.”

“That was also your chance to kill the REAL Val,” continued Bill, “but something went wrong.”

“Me,” smiled Jeb, “I’M what went wrong. At that point, it was either escape with Bob in a mini-bus and leave Val, or fight me and kill her.”

“You then chose the only logical option and retreated,” said Bill, “but something else went wrong.”

“Me,” said Jeb.

“Well… not necessarily,” corrected Bill. “You still needed to get to a lander with Bob as your prisoner, but you needed to hurry since Jeb was chasing you. You then stuffed him in a suit and dragged his unconscious body to Lander 24 to blast off.”

“But something else went wrong,” interrupted Jeb.

“You again,” sighed Irpond.

“You tried to toss Jeb off an accelerating lander after he caught your ladder,” said Bill, “but his apoapsis was high enough for me to catch him and establish a parking orbit. You knew what transfer windows were open at this time, and what pods had the delta-V for it – so you picked THIS pod for Eve.”

“But SOMETHING ELSE went…,” said Jeb.

“Please, stop,” sighed Val.

“I was going to say that Bill leaked all your secret emails on Kerbnet,” explained Jeb, “then I was gonna say ‘Bill was too awesome,’ or something like that.”

“W… WHAT?!” gasped Irpond in surprise, “you… decoded mine and Mom’s emails?”

“Yep,” said Bill, “all of them.”

“H… how… how did you get the key matrices?”

“I’m not telling you anything, you worthless piece of garbage,” replied Bill.

“Ooh,” gasped Jeb. “Oh no, he didn’t.”

“Tell me where Misty is, or I’ll kill you right here and now,” threatened Bill.

“Really, dude? Are you kidding me?” groaned Jeb. “She’s on Eve canoodling with Dad.”

“Canoodling?” asked Irpond. “Your… DAD?!”

“What, your mom never told you?” questioned Jeb.

“No, she didn’t,” said Irpond.

“She’s right; they stopped emailing each other since Irpond went AWOL,” added Bill. “I checked the timestamps already.”

“Well… I never thought Mom would find someone else.”

“I get what you’re feeling,” agreed Jeb.

“Since you already figured out that I’m going to Eve,” said Irpond, “I must tell you that… I originally planned to fly there just with Bob.”

“Duh,” sighed Bill.

“However, now that you told me about my mother dating Jeb’s father – who is also the CEO of Jeb’s Junkyard – on that same planet, I actually won’t mind Jeb as a third wheel. Who knows, we may even become step-siblings.”

“I’m sorry, but the ‘sister figure’ position is already taken,” smirked Jeb.

“Ooh, beat me by one second,” commented Val.

“And now that you’ve learned that I cracked your code and exposed yours and Misty’s crimes,” Bill told Irpond, “as a fellow engineer, I urge you to think this through logically. Since Jeb Senior is a fanatic for safety, he won’t want to marry your mother when he knows that you and her are a pair of murderers. And don’t think she’ll murder him THIS time; assuming some vengeance-obsessed kerbalnaut…”

“Like you?” interrupted Irpond.

“Oh, snap,” remarked Jeb.

“As I was saying,” grumbled Bill, “assuming some vengeance-obsessed kerbalnaut hasn’t killed Misty already, he’ll be in a tighter-security area on a planet full of soldiers that’s extremely difficult to leave.”

“But not impossible, right?”

“ZIP IT!” barked Bill. “As for you, everyone now knows that not only are you a murderer, but you’re also still alive. Even if you managed to overpower us both and make your escape burn, they’ll track you all the way to Eve.”

“You know what I’m capable of, right?” reminded Irpond. “I could disable the transponder and become invisible to Mission Control.”

“Okay,” said Bill, “let’s say that you disable the pod’s transponder to try and become invisible. They STILL can see you through the infrared asteroid scanners.”

“Ha ha, I thought of that,” smirked Irpond, “which is why I wrote a virus that will disable the scanner network so nobody can see me. Oh, and I also anticipated you trying to track me through the pod’s communication network.”

“Bad idea,” said Bill. “You need the navicomputer’s connection to Kerbin to make an accurate fine-tuning burn AND give you an ETA to your Eve encounter. If you DO manage to knock out our solar orbit telescopes, Mission Control will have plenty of time to fix the problem before you get anywhere near Eve.”

“And even if they don’t, they could just launch another telescope and track you then,” added Jeb. “Did you think about THAT?”

“Notice: Lander 24 has docked with the front port,” said the pod’s computer.

“Perfect,” smiled Irpond.

“Something else you should consider is our ability to intercept you,” Bill told Irpond. “Once you arrive at Eve’s sphere of influence, you’ll have soldiers everywhere – no matter where you go or what your orbital characteristics may be. They WILL catch you, save Bob, and have you and Misty executed.”

“Alternatively, Bill could just BLOW UP Eve with you on it,” remarked Jeb.

“Nice try, but it’s theoretically unlikely,” Irpond retorted.

“She’s right,” sighed Bill, “I checked with Bob yesterday.”

“Speaking of Bob,” asked Jeb, “what exactly did you do to him?”

“I drugged him to sleep,” said Irpond. “Even without your interference, it was going to be a bumpy ride.” Jeb then noticed that Irpond’s hands were at the controls, but Bill raised his hand to tell him to stop.

“Tell me you didn’t overdose him,” said Bill.

“Come on, do you really think I would be as clumsy as to do THAT… especially to Bob?” asked Irpond.

“I wouldn’t put it past you to,” commented Bill. “I also wouldn’t put it past you to murder Bob, like you murdered Gregrigh Kerman.”

“And like your mom murdered your dad,” said Jeb. “How’d she do that, by the way?”

“Jeb, she shot him,” reminded Bill.

“No, I mean how did she get away with it,” clarified Jeb.

“Something seems off here,” said Irpond. “I’m sitting right in front of the controls, and you know where I plan to escape. And yet… you two would rather float there and chat than try and take me out.”

“What are you getting at?” wondered Jeb.

“You’re STALLING,” Irpond figured out. “You’re hoping that I would be on the dark side when this conversation is over to buy Val’s rescue craft more time to rendezvous with us, reclaim Bob, and bring me down to the surface.”

“Well, what did you expect was going to happen?” sighed Bill. “You didn’t think we were going to let you get away with Bob, did you?”

“We’ll see about that,” smirked Irpond. “MJ, plot a course to Eve and execute the next node.”

“Roger,” said MJ. “Plotting escape burn to Eve.”

“Really?” questioned Irpond as Bill still hung on to the window railing. “You’re just going to float there?”

“Wait for it.”

“Executing next node in T-plus two minutes,” said MJ.

“WHAT?!” gasped Irpond. “Impossible.”

“Jeb, grab onto something,” warned Bill as the pod oriented itself for its next plotted maneuver node. To everyone’s surprise, the pod fired up its engines and threw everyone back.

“You added maneuver nodes while I was out,” said Irpond.

“Executing next maneuver node in T-minus four minutes, seven seconds,” announced MJ.

“NO!” shouted Irpond when she noticed that the pod was now in a suborbital trajectory. Right when she erased all the maneuver nodes that Bill had previously plotted, Bill lunged at her.

“GET… BOB!” he yelled as he unlatched Irpond’s restraining harness.

“Got it!” acknowledged Jeb, then he jumped to the nearest seat before opening the docking port door to the lander. “Hey, Bob. You alright?”

“GO!” shouted Bill, then he used Irpond’s body to push himself to the controls. To Jeb’s shock, he hastily pulled the lever to shut the port door.

“Caution: front docking port decoupling.”

“NO!” yelled Irpond as she floated to the controls – and got punched in the face by Bill.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he told her.

“Dude, what are you doing?” asked Jeb on the radio.

“She’s not getting away THIS time,” replied Bill, then he ducked as Irpond tried to hit him. He quickly reached for the RCS controls and backed the pod further away from the lander.

“BILL!” shouted Jeb.

“Get Bob to a medic,” ordered Bill.

“I ain’t leaving without you,” argued Jeb.

“Just GO, I’ll catch up,” assured Bill, then he kicked an incoming Irpond. However, Irpond grabbed his leg and threw him across the cockpit.

“MJ, circularize our… OOF!” started Irpond, but Bill bounced off the ceiling and landed on Irpond, interrupting her.

“MJ, land the pod,” ordered Bill.

“At what coordinates?” MJ asked.

“Anywhere,” said Bill. “HURRY!”

“M…” started Irpond, but Bill covered her mouth and pushed her away; though he himself was pushed back, he quickly reached for the “Mute Microphone” switch.

“Acknowledged, plotting landing trajectory.”

“HA,” bragged Bill. “It’s game over, Irpond.”

“Jeb, Bill, I want explanations NOW!” said Val.

“Bill and Irpond are in the pod,” answered Jeb, “and I’m in the lander with Bob. I’m going in to help Bill.”

“Negative,” said Val while Bill and Irpond kept fighting. “How much delta-V do you have?”

“Let me see… about 1,704 meters per second,” replied Jeb.

“Circularize your orbit and land at the nearest base,” ordered Val. “I’ll have a medic on standby.”

“But our friend’s in that pod,” argued Jeb.

“Just go, I got this,” replied Bill. He then grabbed onto his seat as the pod’s engines activated to slow down its downward velocity; Irpond was thrown all the way to the back of the passenger cabin.

“If I didn’t know any better,” said Val, “I’d say you’re trying to LAND the pod.”

“Have someone pick us up, over,” Bill responded.

“Roger. Dispatching nearest ground transport to your estimated position.”

“If I’m going,” said Irpond as she disabled the MechJeb landing autopilot, “YOU’RE coming WITH me.”

“Are you crazy?! DON’T crash the pod!” argued Bill.

“And why would I listen to YOU?”

“I’m your only chance of getting out of this alive. If you don’t re-activate the landing autopilot, WE’LL BOTH die.”

“So what if I do?” sighed Irpond. “You’ve already exposed me to front of everyone. Not only that,” Irpond then started to cry, “you took away the one man I really loved.”

“Oh, so Gregrigh was just practice for Bob?” smirked Bill as he slipped his hand toward the MechJeb controls.

“Landing autopilot enabled.”

“Everything I worked for… taken away by YOU TWO,” sobbed Irpond; Bill kept typing some commands on the control panel. “I needed Bob to feel whole.”

“Did you feel that way when you killed Gregrigh and his folks?” asked Bill, then he slammed his right palm on the seat armrest. “DID YOU SHED ONE TEAR?!”

“Why do YOU care so much?” said Irpond.

“DID YOU CRY FOR GREGRIGH?”

“Yes, I cried,” said Irpond. “I loved him, but not as much as I loved Bob!”

“Then WHY’D you kill him and his parents?” questioned Bill. “We found all three of their bodies in your yard.”

“I DIDN’T kill them,” Irpond denied, “MOM did!”

“You’re lying,” said Bill angrily. “Why would SHE kill a boy YOU loved… and killed for?”

“Because he was going to destroy us,” answered Irpond. “Though I managed to catch him, I could not bring myself to do it.”

“Yeah, right,” sighed Bill. “Even if MISTY pulled the trigger, you’re just as guilty of his murder as she is.”

“Trigger… what? She didn’t SHOOT him, she STABBED him,” corrected Irpond. “When the parents came looking for him, she poisoned them and buried all three bodies in our old house yard.”

“You mean the house she set on fire the night I launched my spy probe?” asked Bill, and Irpond was shocked.

“You just couldn’t let that go, could you?” she groaned. “MJ, circularize our orbit NOW.”

“I’m sorry, Irpond,” said Bill, smiling. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Mom was right about you,” sighed Irpond, realizing that Bill had disabled the voice command function. “You don’t know when to quit.”

“Takes one to know one, then,” commented Bill. “Too bad for you both, your luck has run out.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes. Even if you killed me now and disabled the emergency beacon, they’ll STILL figure out where we’re landing and catch you. Even if you somehow manage to elude the search parties again, it will still be a long time interval between when you land and when you make a stealthy reappearance within Bob’s… let’s face it, you’re not seeing Bob again if you run.”

“And why is that?”

“He’ll most likely be off the planet by the time you’re able to make a reappearance,” explained Bill. “On the other hand, there is a way you can be within five meters of him again without having to sneak around.”

“And I guess it involves surrendering to you and Val,” sighed Irpond.

“It’s the only logical approach,” confirmed Bill. “You have the right to be confronted with the witnesses against you when you’re court-martialled, not to mention you can call witnesses in your favor.”

“How do I know you won’t just kill me before the search party picks you up?” asked Irpond.

“How do I know YOU won’t kill me and fake self-defense?” replied Bill. “I’m seriously considering doing that to you right now.”

“See? Let’s face it, you’ll do anything to get me and my mother killed.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about YOU,” said Bill. “It’s MISTY I want dead.”

“Brace yourselves,” MJ notified the pod’s occupants.

“Besides,” Bill continued, “this is your last chance to see Bob while you’re still alive. I’d take it if I were you.”

“Why do you care so much?” sighed Irpond.

“I’m just telling you to think this through logically,” explained Bill. “If having Bob is your endgame, well… you had seven years cooped in a pod to enjoy it. After this incident, you could either cooperate and have guaranteed time to be near him again, or escape and have little to no chance of getting near him without being apprehended or killed first.”

“UGH!” Though Irpond was holding onto the engineer’s seat, she was slammed against the floor as the pod slowed down its descent. “If I surrender, will you give me ten minutes alone with Bob?”

“Try to fight or escape, deal’s off,” reminded Bill. “I’ll have you killed, then I’ll transmit the video to Misty. Did you get it, Val?”

“Got it,” confirmed Val, then Irpond sat down on the seat next to Bill.

“DEAL!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: FATHER’S SECRET

 

Finally, the nightmare on Dres was over.

When the pod had landed on the surface, Bill grabbed the duct tape from the pod’s supply rack and bound Irpond’s limbs; she did not resist. It was a quarter of an hour before a small mobile base arrived at the landing site to collect Bill and Irpond – and drop off a pilot to send the pod back into orbit. About an hour of bumpy driving later, the rover stopped at a self-mining lander ready to fly to Dresden Base. Bill and a male pilot stuffed Irpond in the cabin airlock to better contain her for the duration of the flight. Bill occasionally put his finger near the “Depressurize” button so Irpond would die mid-flight, but the pilot preferred if there were no more deaths on Dres – especially murders.

“Fine,” sighed Bill. “At least she’s likely to cooperate if she’s in an airlock.” The lander soon touched down near Dresden base, where Jeb and Val were waiting for them. Bill rushed over to hug Val as two men dragged Irpond to the empty bunk that Val designated as a holding cell.

“That was AWESOME!” cheered Jeb as he and Bill high-fived. “I gotta be honest with you, I thought you were a goner.”

“Well, given that I expected her to resist and attempt to escape,” Bill bragged, “it was very likely that, if I were to die, Irpond would die too.”

“Yeah, because I would have cracked her helmet wide open,” added Val.

“Though helmet-cracking was an expected outcome, it was far more likely to happen from a crash-landing or detonation,” clarified Bill.

“Yet you brought Irpond in ALIVE,” said Jeb. “I trained you well, my student.”

“Wait, what do you mean trained?” asked Val.

“Jeb and I practiced brawling in reduced and zero gravity before we arrived,” explained Bill. “I also doubled my exercise schedule to be more than capable of beating Irpond.”

“Oh, wish I could have seen that,” sighed Jeb. “How’d you manage to not kill her, by the way?”

“I… uh…,” stammered Bill.

“He struck a bargain with Irpond,” finished Val.

“WHAT?!” gasped Jeb. “Bill, you do NOT negotiate with the enemy.”

“Could you at least let me give you the specifics?” asked Bill.

“Fine,” said Jeb. “What was the deal?”

“She would cooperate and come with me back here without a fight,” started Bill. “In return, she gets ten minutes alone with Bob.”

“Don’t worry, Jeb,” said Val. “I heard Irpond and Bill on the radio, then planted a bug in the holding cell. We’ll get every second of whatever she tells Bob.”

“Uh, hello! Whatever ‘crazy shenanigans,’ I get into, Irpond’s got WAY WORSE planned,” reminded Jeb. “And I honestly don’t even plan most of MINE.”

“I got that covered,” said Val. “The only way in or out of a sleeping room is through the door.”

“What about the window?” asked Jeb.

“It’s too small for her to fit through, not to mention extremely durable and equipped with vibration sensors in case of quakes or objects hitting it,” said Bill. “Even if she were to somehow penetrate them, either the steel doors would shut before the room depressurized completely or she would die.”

“I had some guys remove everything Irpond could possibly use to fight or escape,” added Val, “and Irpond was searched from top to bottom.”

“Admiral,” said Matt, “we found your uniform on Irpond during the strip search.”

“What? My uniform?” asked Val. “How did she get that?”

“More importantly, WHY would she get that?” wondered Bill. “Was she going to pass off as Val when she got to Eve?”

“Maybe that’s why she tried to kill the real Val,” said Jeb, “until I interrupted her.”

“She’s in exercise clothes as ordered, mam,” said Matt. “She’s secure in the holding cell and the three guards are ready and in position.”

“Good,” replied Val. “As you were.”

“Yes, mam.”

“Admiral,” interrupted another man, “the prisoner has requested that she talked to ‘the three boys,’ starting with Bob.”

“What three boys?” questioned Jeb.

“Unknown, sir. She was not specific.”

“She’s talking about YOU TWO,” Val told Bill and Jeb.

“Then she’s lying. How can she ask for three boys if she meant TWO of us?” countered Jeb.

“You CAN’T be serious,” sighed Bill. “Us two PLUS Bob equals us three boys.”

“Oh,” said Jeb, embarrassed. “My bad.”

“Let’s see how Bob’s doing,” said Bill, then the three of them headed off to the sick bay.

“Ugh… my head,” groaned Bob. “What happened… why am I in… hey, I’m in Dresden.”

“Rise and shine, Bob,” said Val.

“How does one rise and shine when it’s dark on this side of the planet?” commented Jeb.

“You’re probably right, Jeb,” agreed Bob, “I need to… WAIT A SECOND. One minute I was looking for YOU in Calculus Base,” he started, pointing at Val, “the next, I wind up in DRESDEN’S sick bay? How did I get here?”

“Irpond snuck into the base,” started Jeb, “then she tranqed you before running away. However, Bill and I stopped her before she could escape with you to Eve.”

“Tranqed?” asked Bob. “Doc, what actually happened to me?”

“Powerful sedatives were found in your system upon your arrival, sir,” said the nurse. “It was enough to render you unconscious for hours.”

“What?” gasped Bob. “Let me see that.” He borrowed the nurse’s kPad to look at his blood test results. “Huh… that’s odd. Jeb, did you say Irpond snuck into Calculus Base and knocked me out?”

“Yes, I did,” said Jeb. “We got her in the end, though.”

“Wait, you KILLED HER?” asked Bob.

“No, we didn’t,” said Bill. “She’s locked up somewhere on-base.”

“She’s HERE?” said Bob as he scrambled to get back on his feet.

“Sir, you need to rest now,” the nurse told Bob.

“Nurse, I need to borrow Bob for 15 minutes,” argued Val.

“Admiral, he needs to rest and be observed for residual effects of the drugs,” said the nurse.

“Can it wait?”

“Unfortunately, no. To make matters worse, KSP regulations say you can’t compel a crewmember back into active duty…”

“If they are ordered otherwise for medical reasons, I know,” interrupted Val. “Tell me when he’s ready to leave.”

“Yes, Admiral.”

“Well, Bill, looks like you’re going first,” Val told her friends.

“Hey, why don’t I go first?” asked Jeb.

“Why do you WANT to go first?” questioned Bill. “Besides, the room’s bugged; you can listen to us and ask unanswered questions when I’m done.”

“Okay, fine,” said Jeb, then the three of them headed to the holding room.

“Sir, I can’t let you in there without a proper search,” said a guard.

“Of course,” sighed Bill as the guards checked him for weapons.

“You’re clear.” Bill opened the door and locked it behind him as he glared into Irpond’s eyes.

“I ordered a Bobby-pie,” said Irpond. “WHERE is he?”

“Sick bay,” answered Bill. “Believe me, Val tried to get him out; the nurse said no, and regulations mandate he stay in there until he gets medical clearance. Once he gets it, you’ll get him as promised.”

“You’d better keep that promise,” said Irpond, “unless you want to face dishonesty charges from Internal Investigations.”

“You’re looking at much worse,” argued Bill, “starting with hundreds of murder counts, kidnapping, assault, illegal drug use, hijacking, vehicular sabotage, deliberate probe misuse, and RTG theft. Shall I go on?”

“Hundreds?” gasped Irpond. “That seems like A LOT.”

“Knowing your skill set, I’m not surprised,” sighed Bill.

“You are confident about my guilt,” started Irpond, “and you threw me in an airlock without a suit. And yet, you left me alive; I think I know why.”

“Take your guess,” dared Bill.

“You want Mom, don’t you,” said Irpond. “You wanted me alive so that I would confess the details of MOM’S crimes – resulting in her execution.”

“And WHY would I want your mom to die?” countered Bill.

“I’m not the only one in this room who once had a thirst for blood,” answered Irpond, leaving Bill confused. “Tell me, what was it like when you were… unsatisfied?”

“Get to the point, dirtbag,” glared Bill.

“Geez, didn’t your mother ever tell you not to talk to a lady like that?” commented Irpond. “Speaking of which, did you really need your dad to avenge her?”

Bill was surprised at what Irpond said. “Avenge? My mother?”

“You know, I once considered specializing in nuclear engineering,” said Irpond. “That was… until I read about the Nuclear Battery Lawsuits your dad spearheaded.”

“LAWSUITS?!” gasped Bill.

“Yes. You and your dad must have been pretty upset after your mom died because of her employers’ negligence,” continued Irpond. “How did you plan on striking back? Were you going to launch a missile attack against the CEOs? Did you contemplate… splitting open your RTG – or were you saving it for Wally?”

“How did you know?” said Bill.

“You know I stole his RTG, right?” said Irpond. “Before I hid it in Val’s closet, I ran the serial number. Turns out, your parents bought it for you when you were just a boy. You’ve kept it safe and useful since… until you signed Wally over to Bob for his use. Why?”

“KSC allowed me to keep him in the program under the condition that he was modified for gathering scientific data on other planets,” answered Bill. “After the modifications were installed, Bob and I agreed that he had better use for Wally than I did.” There was a knock on the door and Bill excused himself. “Yes?”

“First off, keep Irpond talking,” whispered Val. “It’s gonna be a while before Bob can leave sick bay, so keep her busy and blabbing.”

“No problem,” sighed Bill. “What’s the second off?”

“We located Wally,” said Val before unlocking her kPad. “He took this picture about an hour ago.” Bill was shocked when he saw the image on Val’s screen.

It looked like a surface base, but with the lights off (aside from Wally’s) and bootprints everywhere on the surface.

“How come you’re telling me about this just now?”

“He was ordered to transmit all images to Dres Command after taking them,” explained Val. “They analyzed the photograph, cross-referenced the coordinates on the geotag with Mission Control’s old files, and then they sent it to me with their report.”

“Why would they need to look through the old files?” asked Bill.

“That outpost Wally found is not currently operational,” said Val. “It’s been abandoned for years.”

“How could they tell it was ours and not… built by Dres-based life?” questioned Bill. “I mean, I recognize the design as one of ours, but I don’t know how much the surface ops guys know about that.”

“The surface ops guys ARE new, so they wouldn’t know about that old design. Regardless, they were SUPPOSED to report to Mission Control,” said Val. “They wrote back with the Outpost Eight plans and mission history.”

“Outpost Eight, you say?” wondered Bill. “So THAT’S what it was called. Why was it abandoned?”

“I dunno, I’m guessing everybody wanted to use the new designs,” sighed Val. “Regardless, I’m going to dispatch an exploration crew to fly to that base and check it out.”

“Sounds like a… wait,” gasped Bill. “Could Irpond have accessed the files that gave the base’s status and location?”

“Without a doubt,” said Val. “You think she hid there?”

“Well, only one way to find out,” sighed Bill.

“Irpond may deny that, but the explorers can find the truth FOR SURE,” reminded Val as Bill re-entered Irpond’s room.

“What was that about?” she wondered.

“It’s going to be a while before Bob’s clear to leave sick bay,” answered Bill. “That’s what drugs will do to you.”

“He didn’t need to feel the bumpy ride to our freedom,” smirked Irpond. “Of course, he would have been much happier with me had you not interrupted.”

“Until the security force on Eve intercepted you, rescued Bob, and shot up your mom,” said Bill, “but I’m not interested in potential alternate scenarios right now.”

“Really? What ARE you interested in?”

“Where you hid after going AWOL,” answered Bill. “Outpost Eight… was it?”

“H… how?” gasped Irpond, her eyes widening.

“Wally found your hideout not too long ago,” said Bill, “along with tracks everywhere.”

“So what, it’s an abandoned outpost,” sighed Irpond. “There’s no wind on Dres, so OF COURSE you’re gonna find tracks there.”

“That’s funny, I never said anything about the outpost being ABANDONED,” smirked Bill.

“OH, SNAP!” the two of them heard Jeb say through the door.

“Val just dispatched a group of explorers to check it out,” lied Bill, knowing that it would be at least an hour before any crews could reach Outpost Eight. “They’re gonna know if you used it recently or if it’s as dusty on the inside as it is on the outside.”

Irpond was silent for ten seconds. “Well, well, looks like you finally figured me out.”

“I bet you’re glad we’re photosynthetic,” added Bill, “otherwise you would have starved to death.”

“I was surprised they didn’t just empty and disassemble it,” remarked Irpond. “Of course, it being a single-launch outpost and all would make it hard to take apart. Wouldn’t it?”

“You knew nobody would check abandoned outposts since they’re not maintained and regulated anymore,” Bill figured out. “You determined Outpost Eight to be your safest bet for survival and jetpacked there after you made your escape from the Defiant.”

“You got it,” confirmed Irpond.

“But you had to lay low or else Val would track you,” said Bill. “You then cut off all communications with Misty and waited in the base to make your move.”

“It was difficult to survive, to say the least,” started Irpond. “For starters, you had the RTGs removed when you decided to abandon it. I had to extend the solar panels manually just to get life support up and running. Luckily for me, not only was the ISRU converter still operational, but you left some perfectly good ore in the storage tank.”

“You then converted that ore to fuel and oxidizer, then started a combustion reaction in the base to create water from the products,” Bill figured out.

“That’s amazing,” complimented Irpond. “I was also lucky to have found flammable objects in there, otherwise I would have died.”

“And you couldn’t pull water from the thermal control systems since you had no idea if it were safe or not, so you stuck with making clean water from the chemical reaction,” said Bill, scratching his chin. “Guess we should have… done a better job at checking for flammable objects when we left it.”

“Then I would have died,” finished Irpond.

“So what?” replied Bill, shrugging his shoulders.

“Then you’ll NEVER know how I destroyed Bill’s Revenge,” smiled Irpond, shocking Bill.

“How do you know about that?” he questioned. “HOW DO YOU KNOW?”

“Why don’t you shut up and I’ll tell you,” sighed Irpond, then Bill sealed his lips. “After you threatened Mom, and after Val accused me of manipulating Scott into lying about her leaving the Zeus before Sheri died, I figured you would concoct a plan to stop me. ‘How did I know the specifics?’ you ask. Let’s just say you should pick your friends more carefully.”

“Friends? You mean someone… BETRAYED me?” gasped Bill.

“Cut him some slack, Bill; he didn’t MEAN to,” smirked Irpond.

“HE?” wondered Bill. “You mean… JEB was the mole?”

“Yes… and no,” said Irpond.

“WHAT?!” yelled Val behind the door.

“I dunno what you mean, I swear!” replied Jeb.

“You BLABBED the plan to Irpond?!” shouted Val angrily.

“I never talked to Irpond or her mom a day in my life.”

“Excuse me,” said Bill, then he opened the door partially to see Val shouting at Jeb. “Could you keep it down, please? I’m trying to get a confession here.”

“Aren’t you the least bit angry that Jeb cost hundreds their lives?” asked Val.

“I did no such thing,” argued Jeb. “Well… at least not intentionally.”

“What do you mean not intentionally?” questioned Val.

“Val, have I EVER been responsible for ANYONE’S death – accident or not?”

“Try that one guy you literally scared to death,” said Val.

“He smoked, so that’s NOT my fault.”

“GUYS!” sighed Bill. “If you just kept quiet, you can hear Irpond tell you how she TRICKED Jeb into telling her the plan.”

“See, Val? I was tricked; I didn’t betray you.”

“How do I know you didn’t just GLOAT?”

“Why don’t you let me talk to Irpond and find out?” said Bill, then he closed the door. “And I thought YOU had issues.”

“I HEARD THAT,” replied Val.

“Then hear this, Val,” said Irpond, “you know how good I am at impersonating you. Guess what happened from there.”

“Oh, no,” gasped Bill. “You spoofed Val and contacted Jeb, knowing full-well he’d tell you the plan. He didn’t know that was you.”

“TOLD YA!” shouted Jeb.

“All I had to do was say ‘Hello,’ and ‘How’s it going on Eeloo,’ then he was quite talkative,” confirmed Irpond. “I asked him what you had planned. Aside from a few spelling errors here and there, he then went on and on about ‘Matt’s insanely big plane,’ and how it was going to carry ‘A buttload of soldiers with kick-ass gear’ to Dres. I believed his claims – since Bob said that the three of you were very close friends – but I verified them once I broke into Matt’s kPad. Sure enough, he was designing an armed mass-occupancy Eeloo-capable SSTO. I thought the prime minister had decided to establish a military presence on Eeloo, until I saw the munitions storage and the brig. Though Matt may not have known at the time, he was making it just for me.” She then fluffed her hair as Bill’s eyes widened. “Tell Matt that he WOULD have made it to Eeloo, by the way.”

“How did you destroy it?” inquired Bill. “Misty was nowhere near its construction site, nor was she in Krakopolis when the SSTO took off.”

“Just like with that supersonic airliner, I extracted the operation code from Matt’s files and altered it,” said Irpond. “HOWEVER, since you figured out Mom and I were responsible for that plane, I had to make it look like a fatal design flaw.”

“But you didn’t; the accident investigators determined it was caused by a bomb,” reminded Bill.

“One of THEIRS,” clarified Irpond. “Besides reprogramming the ship to cut itself off after a certain altitude, its own ammunition detonated when it reached its apoapsis.”

“How’d you implement the code into the spacecraft without help?”

“Simple: I posed as Matt and told the manufacturer to ‘Correct a fatal error in the operation code,’” explained Irpond. “It was all too easy.”

“You seem to have a nasty habit of posing as other people,” commented Bill. “Speaking of which, why did you steal Val’s uniform when you infiltrated Calculus Base?”

“I was wondering when you would bring that up,” said Irpond, “and allow me to disclose my ingenious escape plan.”

“You mean the one when you fly with Bob to Eve?” sighed Bill. “Yes, we’ve already established that.”

“THAT is where you’re wrong,” smirked Irpond. “You already know I would have killed Val if you and Jeb hadn’t rudely interrupted me.”

“I take it that means you were gonna do something with the body,” guessed Bill.

“That’s another reason why I disabled the power, especially the life support and lights; so nobody would notice me burying it under Dres’ surface,” confirmed Irpond. “Yes, I flew the lander to the pod and programmed the pod to fly to Eve. NO, I didn’t plan to fly there.”

“That’s weird,” said Bill. “Why did you program that maneuver node?”

“To throw off the trackers. The plan was to program the pod to automatically fly itself to Eve and splash down on the surface when it got there.”

“Back up, are you saying that you planned to send an EMPTY POD to Eve?”

“Now you get it,” said Irpond. “I had to make it look like Bob and I flew away to Eve, or else you would have found us before we left for our REAL destination.”

“That’s why you had the lander dock with the pod,” added Bill, “to sell the deception.”

“You got it.”

“Then you would undock the lander right before the pod made its ejection burn,” Bill continued. “The radar boys would think you were just dumping the lander, but you were actually taking Bob… to your hideout.”

“Go on,” smiled Irpond.

“I then take it your plan was to take Bob SOMEWHERE ELSE while passing off as Val,” said Bill, “but that would not have worked anyway.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wally found your abandoned outpost BY CHANCE,” explained Bill. “Even if you turned the lights off, he still would have transmitted evidence of recent activity – like the bootprints you left everywhere – and an exploration crew would have found you and Bob.”

“That would have put a damper in my exit strategy,” said Irpond, “but no matter. By the time the exploration crew got there, ‘Val’ and her new associate would already be in a self-mining lander for Laythe.”

“Okay,” said Bill. “Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you manage to fool everyone into thinking you’re Val; you’re STILL gonna fail.”

“Oh, yeah? How so?”

“Duh, Bob could scream once those tranquilizers wore off,” started Bill.

“Don’t think I haven’t accounted for that, Bill Kerman,” countered Irpond. “I would have convinced Bob to keep his mouth shut, either by hook or by crook.” She then batted her eyelids at Bill and smiled.

“You forgot several other factors,” he argued. “For starters, how do you even know your lander even had the delta-V to make it to Laythe?”

“I ran the numbers,” said Irpond. “The plan was a simple splashdown on Laythe’s surface and we could begin our new life together.”

“On a frozen moon swarming with soldiers? Let’s not forget that the best romantic spot for Laythe is now in A FALLOUT ZONE – thanks to you.”

“There were many more places to go to,” explained Irpond. “Besides, since Victor was implicated in the Clivar genocide – and, of course, the blutonium-238 leak – the demand to go to that planet has dropped and most of its military has already pulled out by now. Genius, isn’t it?”

“Actually, NO,” disagreed Bill.

“Ugh, what NOW?”

“The four of us are in CONSTANT communication with each other,” said Bill. “Jeb and I are expecting to hear from Bob and Val. Cutting him off completely will get us suspicious, but having him respond to Jeb and I is like ASKING to get caught.”

“By then, I will have gained complete control over Bob – like Mom controlled Dad,” countered Irpond.

“Ha, FAT CHANCE,” scoffed Bill. “Even if Bob replied normally, you STILL can’t keep up the Val act for as long as it takes to make the transfer burn.”

“And what makes you think THAT?”

“Jeb and I knew Val since elementary school, so you’ll very likely to slip up and give yourself away. There’s also the issue of Val’s PARENTS – and her older brother; they can EASILY tell it’s not really Val – even if you pulled all records of her and backed them up on a portable hard drive.” Bill smiled as Irpond started to sweat. “That’s right. Your unmasking is inevitable; whatever military forces still remain in Jool’s sphere of influence will catch you and rescue Bob when they get notified. And don’t think that shutting down your transponder would work, for we can detect all objects that are at least a centimeter in size within Jool’s sphere of influence.” For nearly a minute, all was silent. “What’s the matter? No contingency plan?”

“I… uh… there’s also… ugh.” Irpond kept stammering for 30 seconds, then she started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Irpond calmed down as her left eye twitched.

“I’m not saying another word until Bob gets here,” she explained, “and ONLY him.”

“Then here you go,” said Jeb as he opened the door. Bob then entered the room as Bill left and shut the door behind him.

“I thought the nurse said he needed to rest a little bit longer,” Bill told Jeb.

“Who said the nurse let him out?” smiled Jeb. “Val helped him escape while I flir…”

“Shush,” interrupted Val, then the two men listened as Irpond kissed Bob all over his face.

“Oh, Bob,” she moaned, “I missed you so much.”

“So did I,” said Bob as he stepped away.

“Oh, Bob, why won’t you come here?” asked Irpond as she gave Bob puppy-dog eyes.

“Because I heard about what you did… what you had planned,” explained Bob.

“I thought you were in sick bay.”

“I was, then Val helped me escape while Jeb distracted the nurse,” said Bob. “I got here just in time to hear the part where you rigged Bill’s Revenge to self-destruct.”

“Rigged?” gasped Irpond. “Well, I wouldn’t say ‘rigged,’ necessarily. More like…”

“Hacked, we get it,” sighed Bob, then his eyes widened in horror. “Danlong was YOUR accomplice, wasn’t she? The moonjet virus was YOURS!”

“How do YOU know?”

“The virus that was used to hack Jeb’s jet was sent from Poseidon’s Palace,” started Bob, “and it crashed in the same manner as Moonjet 79 here.”

“What makes you think I had something to do with either one?”

“Your service record says your only assignment – before this one – was Laythe. However, Val mentioned the timeline didn’t fit. There was also a witness who placed you ON DRES at the time 79 crashed.”

“And WHO figured out this so-called misfit timeline?”

“Well… Bill did,” sighed Bob. “He then told Val, who told me.”

“Ah, yes. Bill,” said Irpond. “For so many years, he’s been hounding me and my mom.”

“Now I know it’s for good reason,” Bob responded.

“Whatever it is you want, I’ll give it to you,” Irpond offered.

“All I want is straight answers,” said Bob, then Jeb noticed that Bob was starting to tear up.

“Here it comes,” he told his friends.

“Did you kill Sheri?” asked Bob, then Irpond held his hands.

“Yes.”

“No…,” stammered Bob, then he started to cry.

“Told ya,” said Jeb.

“Val was right,” said Bob. “It WAS you.”

“I HAD to,” said Irpond as she attempted to hug Bob – only to get pushed away.

“Why?” cried Bob.

“Sheri was reckless; she was going to get you killed,” confessed Irpond.

“By YOU?”

“No, by Val and Victor.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I would NEVER let anything bad happen to YOU,” cried Irpond. “If you stayed with Sheri, her stupidity would have gotten you killed… for NOTHING.”

“LIAR!” shouted Bob. “You tracked Sheri down, murdered her, and framed WENPONT for it.”

“She was ineffective, not to mention a bad influence on you. I HAD to protect you.”

“Protect me? By killing anyone who so much as shook hands with me?”

“Here comes the juicy part,” commented Val.

“You KNEW Val was ONLY A FRIEND,” continued Bob.

“That’s how they always start,” argued Irpond. “She may have been your friend then, but she would have either stolen you or murdered you.”

“WHY would VAL murder ME?”

“Because you were so close to uncovering her dirty little secret.”

“That wasn’t HER secret, that was VICTOR’S.”

“WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? Victor’s her brother, and she listed him as a role model in her application.”

“You what?” Bill asked Val.

“So, what?” Bob asked Irpond.

“They were close, just like you and Rob,” started Irpond.

“Is that why you redirected that asteroid to destroy the Zeus?” questioned Bob. “To kill Val before she killed ME?”

“That’s right,” confirmed Irpond, “but I didn’t know that she had left earlier.”

“Then you changed your strategy to FRAME her,” Bob figured out. “but you had already set up WENPONT for Sheri’s murder. So, you forged Val’s emails and talked Scott into lying… oh no. You’re the one who bombed the control tower, aren’t you?”

“That wasn’t the original plan,” said Irpond. “I was only going to erase the entry and exit logs to delete evidence that Val was innocent, but then YOU came in.”

“You SHOT me!” argued Bob.

“It was just a graze, you were fine,” sighed Irpond. “I wasn’t finished deleting all the files when the guards arrived, so I took a plane and bombed it before flying away.”

“One question,” interrupted Jeb as he waltzed into the room, “if you’re a software engineer, how could you fly a fighter jet?’

“Excellent question,” replied Irpond. “When my father was alive, he used to take me to flight simulators at the arcade in Woomerang. His pilot credentials enabled me to use them free.”

“They had flight simulators in Woomerang?” gasped Jeb.

“Shut up, Jeb,” said Bill and Val simultaneously.

“I remember those,” said Bob, “but their controls were nowhere near as complicated as the Laythe fighter jets.”

“Even after he died, I still went there occasionally,” continued Irpond. “When I was in high school, I got an online flight simulator that came with some controls and a headset.”

“Weird that your mom let you buy that, since SHE’S the one who shot him,” sighed Jeb.

“In cold blood,” interrupted Bill.

“Actually, it was her idea to get it for me,” corrected Irpond. “Of course, she kept it while I went to Basic; it was one of her reminders of what Dad used to do before he died.”

“That’s weird,” said Bob, “since Rob never mentioned any flight simulators when he searched your Mom’s place.”

“What?” gasped Irpond, acting surprised. “Wait… so that was YOUR BROTHER who stalked Mom?”

“Yes,” said Bob, “on Bill’s orders.”

Irpond scratched her chin in confusion. “I don’t know what happened to it. Mom must have thrown it away or sold it to the school or something.”

“How could you not know what she did with it?” asked Jeb.

“I already told you, I haven’t talked to Mom since I left the Defiant,” Irpond told Jeb.

“Why should I believe you?” asked Val.

“Eh… about that…,” stammered Bob, “I… actually tried to call Misty a year and a half ago.”

“You WHAT?!” gasped Val, Jeb, and Bill.

“I wanted to know if Irpond told her where she was, but ROB picked up instead,” continued Bob. “He then told me he found Misty’s travel papers for Eve, then I contacted the Kerbal Space Center and got a hold of Misty.”

“What did she tell you?” Val asked Bob.

“N… not much, only that she and Irpond lost contact,” said Bob.

“Did she mention my dad?” asked Jeb.

“Why would she mention him?” wondered Bob.

“Guess what: they’re now playing hanky panky on Eve,” sighed Jeb.

“Misty’s dating your dad?” gasped Bob.

“Yes,” said Jeb.

“I thought the deal was that I would be alone with Bob,” reminded Irpond.

“Oh, sorry,” apologized Jeb, then he and his two Badger friends left her and Bob alone.

“As I was saying,” continued Irpond, “I was flying over the water when someone shot me down. Fortunately, my suit kept me alive long enough to remain hidden from his recon fly-bys. I then swam to the nearest kerbal installation, which just happened to be a military base.”

“How did you get past the guards?” wondered Bob.

“With ease,” smirked Irpond. “They were already cracking down on whoever participated in the Clivar genocide that I exposed, so they were so busy focused on each other that they didn’t notice me enter.”

“Then you found Reid Keman, a mentally vulnerable soldier, and brainwashed him into doing your bidding,” said Bob. “You then flew back to Poseidon’s Palace and had Reid shoot Scott to keep his mouth shut before he blabbed about you convincing him to lie.”

“Glad you’re catching…,” said Irpond, but Bob interrupted her.

“Wait a second… I remember that you were SHOT when Reid opened fire,” he recalled.

“And I cherished the moment when you came to me,” added Irpond.

“While he was having a psychotic break,” Bob started, “he must have seen you and tried to kill you. However, though he managed to put a bullet in you, you killed him before he could blab about you.”

“Wrong,” Irpond disagreed. “I didn’t kill Reid Kerman, the guards did.”

“Then how did you end up getting shot? Was he targeting you, or was it a random bullet?”

“Neither,” said Irpond, surprising everyone watching. “I shot myself.”

“Why?” Jeb asked his friends, but Irpond answered the question.

“You wouldn’t suspect me of any involvement if I was shot,” she explained. “Of course, I had to get rid of the bullet they pulled out of me before they realized it came from a handgun.”

“And you then rigged Daring to leak radiation to kill everyone else,” said Bob, grabbing Irpond by her shirt. “WHY?”

“They were all a threat,” said Irpond. “They were so close to breaking us apart, so I had to do something.”

“You knew they had the clues to figuring out YOU’RE behind the Laythe killing spree,” said Bob, “so you got rid of them before they could piece it together and alert Mission Control – who would later alert Val.”

“That’s right,” said Irpond. “But now…”

“But nothing,” spat Bob. “I still can’t get over the fact that not only am I staring at Sheri’s killer right in the face, but that I made out with her for years.”

“You’d better believe it, because we are meant for each other.”

“Is that what you told Gregrigh?” asked Bob, striking a nerve. “I should have listened to Val and Bill earlier.” Without another word, Bob stormed out of the room and walked past his friends.

“Uh, Bob?” stammered Jeb.

“Not now, Jeb,” replied Bob. “I just… you don’t know what it’s like.”

“Actually, I d…,” started Jeb, but Val then put her hand on his mouth.

“Let him go,” said Val. “He needs time to process all this.”

“But Val, he and I BOTH lost someone who meant a lot us,” said Jeb. “In my case, it’s my mother.”

“That you have almost ZERO memory of,” added Val. “Bill, on the other hand, knows what it’s like to lose someone close to you.”

“At least he didn’t live with the ones who killed her – or in MY case, lie about where she was,” argued Jeb.

“For the hundredth time, Bill’s mom was NOT murdered. She died because her employers were careless with their safety precautions,” sighed Val. “Regardless, Bob needs time to piece together the information he has just received.”

“What’s there to piece together? His girlfriend’s dead thanks to the daughter of my dad’s new booty call.”

“Whoa,” gasped Val, “you need to watch your mouth.”

“Val, listen. Bill and I both lost…”

“Shh,” interrupted Val, pointing at the window – where Bill was talking to Irpond.

“So, you admit to sabotaging Daring and rigging him to split the RTGs open in Poseidon’s Palace,” he started.

“Just like I told Bob, yes,” sighed Irpond. “What more do you want?”

“How EXACTLY did you get Daring? His file said that he died of environmental factors some time before you left Poseidon’s Palace.”

“I knew I needed a rover to help me cover my tracks,” started Irpond, “but I also had to acquire it in a manner that didn’t arouse suspicion. So, I hacked into Daring’s environmental regulation controls and waited for a surface op crew to pick him up once he stopped working.”

“But when the surface ops guys took him back for Poseidon’s Palace, how did you fix him AND convince the repair engineers he was done for?”

“In case Val didn’t already tell you, I was part of the repair team,” said Irpond. “I was told to make sure that there was nothing wrong with the software; of course, you know I lied. I then hid the spare parts and altered the inventory logs to trick the other two guys into thinking there was no hope for fixing Daring.”

“Then once he was officially declared dead, you fixed him and altered his programming to cut open the RTGs when you were gone,” Bill figured out.

“Oh, I told him to do MORE than that,” smirked Irpond. “Merely cutting open the RTGs would have alerted the entire planet of a radiation leak and the base would have been evacuated. I then embedded a remote-controlled virus into the base’s central computers as well as planted some bombs on the solar panels. After I left Laythe, I activated my… ‘going away’ present.”

“Mind if I take a guess as to what it did?” asked Bill, and Irpond nodded. “Once the virus was activated, all power and communications systems were disabled so no emergency countermeasures could be taken.”

“Go on,” said Irpond.

“I assume you then blew up the solar panels so that the base would run entirely on nuclear power,” continued Bill. “Amid the chaos resulting from the bomb blast – topped with the power outage and communication blackout – Daring then cut open the main power generators and leaked radioactive blutonium-238 particles into the area. The result: depending on how many RTGs Daring opened, everyone within a kilometers-wide radius from Poseidon’s Palace died and nobody knew about it.”

“Until the weather satellites detected the fallout and sent some soldiers to investigate,” sighed Irpond, “but not even they could link it back to me.”

“Because you wiped out the only evidence connecting you to Daring and him going nutso,” finished Bill.

“Except for one person,” said Irpond. “However, as much as I wanted to get rid of her, I knew it was too risky.”

“You mean Val, don’t you?” sighed Bill. “Even if the rest of the pod’s occupants DIDN’T figure out you killed her – or if you cut off all the ship’s comm systems and took the crew hostage – we still would have smelled a rat. Either way, you were done for by the time you got to Dres.”

“Not really, since I rigged Bill’s Revenge to explode,” bragged Irpond.

“Only because you tricked Jeb into blabbing the plan,” said Bill. “Scenario A: you kill Val and manage to get away with it. Jeb and I would get notified; even if you passed off as Val and spoofed Mission Control, someone else in the pod would tell us about Val. Whatever the case is, we’d STILL ask for that SSTO to arrive at Dres. Only THIS time, you can’t pass off as Val since she’s dead.”

“Oh, yeah? What if I passed off as Bob?”

“That won’t work either since Jeb and I would be too busy WARNING Bob about you – and so would Rob,” pointed out Bill. “Scenario B: you cut off communications and/or kill Val, effectively taking the pod crew hostage. I can think of… three possible outcomes that all result in your defeat.”

“Surprise me,” smiled Irpond, shrugging her shoulders.

“Outcome One: the hostages band together and apprehend you before you kill them,” started Bill, noticing the smile on Irpond’s face fading. “Outcome Two: you pose as Val and talk to Jeb and I. You may fool Jeb, but there’s a good chance of NOT fooling ME – or her family; same case if you spoofed Bob. Outcome Three: no communications go in or out of the pod. That’s like BEGGING for red flags with Mission Control.”

“Get to the point, Bill,” begged Irpond.

“Your schemes were doomed to failure, lower life-form,” explained Bill. “We can talk about this all night, but we both know you were going to get caught sooner or later.”

“Y… you…,” twitched Irpond, then all was silent for 15 seconds. “Y… so what if my discovery was inevitable? It was worth it.”

“How so? Bob despises you now,” reminded Bill, “and everyone knows about you and your mom’s true nature.”

“The time I spent with him was when I truly felt… complete,” said Irpond. “I felt like I truly had a purpose in life; something worthwhile to pursue. I mean, there has to be more to life than just programming computers on other planets.”

“I hope you get burned by a rocket, you rotten psychopath,” spat Bill as he headed for the exit.

“Is that what you told your mom’s boss after she died?” inquired Irpond, then Bill stopped in his tracks. Before she knew it, he turned around and punched her in the face.

“DON’T mention my mother,” said Bill.

“Okay, Bill, that’s enough,” ordered Val as Jeb pulled Bill off Irpond. “It’s Jeb’s turn now.”

“Fine,” sighed Bill, then Irpond and Jeb were alone.

“Just out of curiosity,” Jeb told Irpond, “did your mom always have the hots for Dad?”

“You have no idea,” replied Irpond, surprising Jeb. “It broke her heart when he tried to leave her…”

“Wait, Dad dated her BEFORE?” interrupted Jeb.

“Before Debra… wait,” said Irpond, “are you talking about MY dad or YOURS?”

“MINE,” clarified Jeb. “Did your mom have the hots for MY dad?”

“Oh… this is the first time I’ve heard of it,” answered Irpond. “After Mom shot Dad, she tried to find someone else to fill the void she felt. Though some men found her attractive, most were… disgusted.”

“Because she’s a hot psycho,” said Jeb.

“Really, Jeb?” Bill sighed in disappointment.

“And the hot ones are always the most dangerous,” added Jeb.

“Amen to that,” agreed Val, nodding at Bill.

“Her plan to steal Dad’s money will never work, scumbag,” Jeb told Irpond.

“Whoa, whoa, who said anything about money?” said Irpond.

“No, this is the part where you ZIP IT,” spat Jeb. “The CAPTAIN is talking here.”

“If Mom is dating your…,”

“ZIP IT!” repeated Jeb. “You tried to frame me for Agaden’s death.”

“No, I didn’t,” argued Irpond.

“Yes, you did. I saw the emails you sent Hadgan; you TRICKED him into killing Agaden and then everyone blamed it on me.”

“No, I didn’t you… dummy,” sighed Irpond.

“Oh, yeah? Prove it.”

“Uh, you said you saw the emails I sent Hadgan, right?”

“Yeah, so?” asked Jeb, and Bill rolled his eyes.

“I knew Hadgan would come forward with them, so… technically, I framed Linus and Gus – NOT you. Besides, I figured the autopsy would clear you of any liability. Well, didn’t it?”

“Who cares? You still got Gus arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“Actually, I got him arrested for a crime he DID commit,” said Irpond, then Val entered the room.

“Jeb, don’t be stupid,” she said.

“Well, she admitted that she framed Gus and got him sent to prison,” argued Jeb.

“He got sent to prison for COVERING UP A GENOCIDE,” explained Val. “He was cleared of suspicion for AGADEN’S murder, remember?”

“Genocide, murder, what the heck’s the difference?”

“Gus ACTUALLY helped to cover up the CLIVAR Genocide,” said Val. “If not Irpond, somebody else would have leaked that intel and gotten him and Walt implicated.”

“See, at least SHE’S being rational,” sighed Irpond.

“Don’t you have some kind of Admiral paperwork to fill out?” asked Jeb.

“As a matter of fact, I…,” started Val, but Bill knocked on her door and interrupted them.

“Excuse me, but the nurse is furious. She’s threatening to call Internal Investigations for your involvement in pulling Bob out of sick bay prematurely.”

“Fine,” said Val. “Bill, you can kill Irpond if she tries anything funny.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” agreed Bill.

“And you have my explicit permission to smack Jeb on the back of the head if he does anything stupid,” added Val.

“Aw, come on,” groaned Jeb. “So… of all the people on Frosty Base to manipulate, why choose Hadgan?”

“Hadgan Kerman was a stickler for protocol,” said Irpond. “His service record also indicated he paid attention well, like that one time he needed to perform emergency surgery on a scientist on Minmus when the nearest medic was too far away. Since he was super-concerned for crew safety, it wasn’t hard to convince him to implement the virus into the moonjet and administer the poison to Agaden.”

“Speaking of which, what kind of poison did you use?” asked Bill. “No such formulas exist on any known toxin database, natural or synthetic.”

“Because it was technically a reject formula,” answered Irpond.

“I disagree. I think it killed Agaden fine,” countered Jeb, and Irpond scoffed.

“Not for poison, for mistanol,” clarified Irpond, surprising Jeb and Bill.

“T… that would explain why it never showed up after a normal Oogle search,” stammered Bill. “The recipe for mistanol would be a corporate secret.”

“Wait, how did you get it?” asked Jeb, and Bill smacked him over the head. “What? Why would any corporation keep a file for REJECT fake fuel?”

“They keep files on ALL their failures so that they don’t repeat the same mistake,” explained Bill.

“That seems like a waste of shelf space if you ask me. I mean, DON’T tell me you have a folder full of reject Wally robot designs.”

“Actually, yes I do.”

“Boys,” interrupted Irpond, “I didn’t check any corporate databases. Since my mother invented it in the first place, I just looked through HER stuff.”

“And I take it this particular formula was harder to detect during ingestion and would kill the victim at the right time,” guessed Bill.

“How exactly is it hard to detect? I can smell fake fuel a mile away,” argued Jeb.

“Dude, she said it was a reject,” said Bill. “It may have had an indistinctive scent and/or taste, but it would have failed performance standards.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” said Jeb, turning toward Irpond. “Now, what exactly does your mom have planned for my dad?”

“How should I know? I haven’t talked to her in over a year.”

“Crud,” sighed Jeb.

“Jeb, ask her something that she’s bound to know the answer to,” said Bill. “Would you please stick with questions NOT concerning her mom for the past year and a half?”

“Sorry,” said Jeb. “What did your mom do with YOUR dad before he married her?”

“Excellent question,” smiled Irpond. “After the Debra Kerman trial, she was seen as a victim of a corporate frame-up conspiracy. Since my dad was still heartbroken from his girlfriend’s loss, Mom saw her chance to move into his heart and took it. For about a year, she grew close to Dad… and then… she proposed to him. Aw, you should see the wedding photos Mom had.”

“I did,” said Bill, “Rob showed them to me. She looked pretty happy in them.”

“Before I was born, it was the happiest day of her life,” continued Irpond. “Now, Jeb, let me ask you this question. Why do you care so much about my parents’ love story?”

“Yeah, Jeb. Why DO you care so much about their love story?” agreed Bill.

“Duh, to figure out Misty’s next move and warn Dad,” said Jeb.

“Bob DID tell me you had daddy issues,” remarked Irpond. “I find it hard to believe you would find a reason to initiate contact with him; especially when you tried for decades to shut him out.”

“Shut up,” said Jeb. “Honestly, it’s bad enough I get that talk from Bill and Val.”

“And I’m with you,” remarked Irpond. “Of course, my mom and your dad are complete opposites of each other.”

“Doy, she’s an average woman and he’s a CEO,” said Jeb.

“No,” disagreed Bill, slapping Jeb, “she’s a psycho mother and he’s a caring father.”

“Or is he?” said Irpond. “She’s honest with me, whereas your father LIED to you all your life.”

“You mean about how Mom died in a plane crash that was HER fault?” sighed Jeb. “Yes, I know about that.”

“And Vanessa,” said Irpond, and Jeb’s eyes widened.

“That kid who died in that same crash?” he asked.

“Oh, she was more that,” smirked Irpond, then she gestured Jeb to lean into her lips and whispered into her ear. Ten seconds later, Jeb was livid and stormed out of the room – knocking over Bill in the process.

“What’d you do?” questioned Bill.

“Exposed one more lie Jeb Senior kept buried.”

“What lie?”

“Why don’t you talk to Jeb yourself and find out?”

 

It was nearly midday at the Jeb’s Junkyard outpost, yet a crew rotation was taking place due to the planet’s extended rotational period. While the employees were heading to the bunks or mini-buses, Jeb Senior put a suit on and drove an open-cockpit rover to the nearest medical station. He had alerted the security of his arrival and asked to meet Misty Kerman in private. Fortunately, she was out of sedation and able to talk.

“Hi, sir,” said a soldier standing outside Misty’s door. Jeb Senior then showed him his ID. “Hands against the walls and legs spread, please.”

“W… why the weapons search?” asked Jeb Senior as he complied.

“Orders from the top. All visitors are subject to a full-body search of their person.” He then took out a kPad from Jeb Senior’s jacket. “Is this yours?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay,” said the guard when he was done inspecting it. “You’re clear to enter.” Jeb Senior retrieved his kPad and walked toward Misty’s bed.

“Ah… Jeb,” groaned Misty.

“I hear you’re going to be fine,” said Jeb Senior.

“I want those men in prison for attempted murder,” demanded Misty.

“In due time,” replied Jeb Senior, “but first, I came here to address some serious allegations against you.”

“How serious?” wondered Misty.

“While the military is detaining the guards who shot you, I DID get the Human Resources conversation with the employee that assaulted you,” explained Jeb Senior. “Given the circumstances, I… understand why he did it.”

“Are you blaming me for what happened to me?” asked Misty. “Are you TRYING to blame the victim here?”

“If even HALF of these decoded emails are true, then… I guess NOBODY would call you a victim,” said Jeb Senior.

“I AM the victim,” argued Misty. “Val and Bill are mad at my daughter for exposing their secret, and now they’re FRAMING me as REVENGE.”

“That was almost ten years ago,” countered Jeb. “Why would Val and Bill CONTINUE to frame you and your daughter for years since then?”

“They’re persistent a-holes, that’s why,” sighed Misty. “You know that large SSTO that blew up a few years back? It was called Bill’s Revenge for a reason, you know.”

“I know about Bill’s Revenge; my company provided some of the construction personnel,” said Jeb Senior.

“In case the name wasn’t obvious, Bill wanted revenge on Irpond,” spat Misty. “He was going to smear her good name all over the stars.” As soon as she was finished her sentence, her kPad gave a short tune. “Wh… it can’t be.”

“Don’t look at your kPad,” barked Jeb Senior. “Look at me, you need to address these allegations against you.”

“It’s my daughter,” countered Misty. “We haven’t spoken in years.”

“Ugh, fine,” said Jeb Senior. “What does it say?” To his surprise, when Misty accessed her email, she threw her kPad across the room. It didn’t take any damage thanks to the device’s protective shield; it was standard-issue for all kPads that left Kerbin.

“No, no… NO!” screamed Misty.

“What is…,” started Jeb Senior, but then Misty sprung out of her bed and lunged at him.

“Mam, control yourself,” said an orderly who immediately rushed to the room.

“He’s got Irpond!” complained Misty, then Jeb Senior approached Misty’s kPad and read the email.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Sucks for you

We have your daughter. She confessed to everything; we have it all on audio   YOU’RE NEXT   Bill Kerman   IMG20192.jpg Confession.mp3

 

Jeb Senior opened the photograph file and saw a picture of Bill and Jeb posing with a taped-up Irpond Kerman inside a base.

“Tell those boys to release her,” said Misty as two nurses restrained Misty.

“Mam, you need to rest now,” one of them told her.

“Here’s your kPad back,” said Jeb Senior.

“Sir, we’re putting her under sedation so she can calm down,” said the nurse. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Uh… all right,” said Jeb Senior as he left. Right when he closed the infirmary door behind him, a man ran up to him.

“Excuse me, are you Jeb Kerman Senior?”

“Yes.”

“Patched phone call from Dres.”

“Dres?” gasped Jeb Senior as he followed the man to the control room. “I wonder who that could be.”

“He says he’s your son.” Jeb Senior then picked up the phone and smiled in anticipation. Was it the day that his son would finally re-establish a relationship with him?

“Hi, dude,” said Jeb Senior.

“You got some serious explaining to do, DAD!” Jeb said angrily, shocking Jeb Senior.

“Jeb, what’s your problem?” asked Jeb Senior.

“Over four decades, and you’re STILL a dirty liar,” explained Jeb.

“What are you talking about?”

“What was Vanessa, chopped liver?” Jeb Senior then shuddered at what his son said. “Why didn’t you tell me about Vanessa?”

“I…,” stammered Jeb Senior.

“You’d better start telling the truth, or I swear to the Kraken I will tell all of kerbalkind what a terrible father you are,” threatened Jeb.

“Jeb, are you really gonna threaten your own dad?” Jeb Senior heard Bill ask in the background.

“He’s a lying piece of filth, Bill,” replied Jeb. “What if Val's parents hid VICTOR’S existence from her - let alone you.”

“Enough!” sighed Jeb Senior, then he asked the outpost engineers that his call be taken to a more private venue. “I… thought you would never know.”

“Never know WHAT?” asked Jeb.

“Your mother… killed your sister.”

Edited July 31, 2019 by Mars-Bound Hokie
Important detail missed

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

How are you all liking it so far? Any questions/concerns/comments?

[VA7NFH]

It's great!!!

[Railgunner2160]

Really enjoying the read so far, been probably checking at lease once a day for any updates you may have posted!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Thanks, @Railgunner2160.  

 

Sorry I've been held back with the story chapters. I've been busy IRL (brother and I leaving for (separate) colleges, preparing to see my girlfriend again), and I just got finished with a summer statistics class. Besides that, I've been working on a couple of super-cool mission threads in Kerbal Space Program (and some ongoing tourism/construction projects)

 

• Details a series of missions set for Laythe. 
  • I think I got an SSTO ready, but I just need to figure out how I'm going to get it to Laythe.

 

• Talks about the colonization efforts being done on Eeloo.
• Originally started out as a rescue mission, but I decided to expand my presence on that snowball.

 

 

I promise that the next chapter of this story will come soon. In the meantime, if you're interested, feel free to read these mission reports and leave your input. Have fun.

 

 

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: DAMAGED FAMILY

 

“WHAT?!” yelled Bill and Jeb.

“That’s right, Jeb,” said Jeb Senior on Jeb’s kPad. “Vanessa was your older sister.”

“And you didn’t even TELL ME!” spat Jeb.

“You wouldn’t have remembered her anyway,” sighed Jeb Senior.

“That’s the same thing you said when I exposed the lie you kept telling about Mom,” argued Jeb.

“But you’ve always asked about your mother, didn’t you?” reminded Jeb Senior. “You wanted to tell the other kids what your mom was doing… or where she was.”

“As if lying about Mom wasn’t bad enough,” said Jeb, “but now I know that you’ve also hid the fact that I had a sister.”

“Back up,” said Jeb Senior, “who told you about Vanessa?”

“Irpond,” said Jeb, then Bill figured out what she told him.

“Wait a minute, are you talking about Misty Kerman’s daughter?” wondered Jeb Senior.

“Yes,” answered Jeb. “We just locked her up about an hour ago.”

“I know,” said Jeb Senior. “I saw the picture you sent Misty.”

“Wait, how did you get it?” asked Bill.

“Misty received your email and then threw her kPad across the sick bay.”

“Sick bay?” gasped Bill. “What happened to her?”

“She was shot and assaulted at the construction site,” said Jeb Senior.

“DON’T change the subject,” barked Jeb.

“You don’t tell ME what to do, boy!” countered Jeb Senior. “I am YOUR FATHER, young man!”

“Are you really?” argued Jeb. “Are you?”

“What do you think, crazyhead?”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, you liar!”

“Jeb, you need to…,” spoke Bill.

“Get some straight answers, yes,” finished Jeb, then he heard Jeb Senior breathing heavily on the phone.

“It was bad enough for me to lose Amelia,” he started, “but it was worse when the police told me it was her own fault. To top it off… my daughter was on board the plane.”

“Tell me everything that happened that night,” Jeb demanded. “EVERYTHING!”

“All right,” sighed Jeb Senior, “if you’re alone.”

“Okay, sir,” acknowledged Bill, then he left Jeb alone in his quarters.

“After Amelia gave birth to Vanessa, I quit my previous job at the warehouse to raise her,” started Jeb Senior. “Your mom brought in more money than I did, whether it be from her aerial acrobatics or her transport pilot job. Heck, she also took a job as a flight instructor… until her boss fired her for making her students perform stunts they weren’t supposed to. Either way, she was the major breadwinner while I took care of Vanessa; same case for you.”

“Then… how did you start Jeb’s Junkyard when you…,”

“Shut it,” said Jeb Senior, and Jeb was quiet. “By the time Amelia was pregnant with you, we decided to buy an airfield outside of town. Before you ask, yes, it’s the abandoned airfield you frequently visited. Anyway, that was when I saw an opportunity for profit – and profit we did. Though Amelia was pregnant at the time, she… well… you know where you get your impulsiveness from.”

“What happened?” wondered Jeb.

“I’m getting there,” said Jeb Senior. “One day, your mom was invited to an air show in Woomerang. Your sister wanted desperately to see her in action, so Amelia agreed to take her with her. I wanted all four of us to go, but I then heard a report of a MASSIVE thunderstorm in her intended flight path. I asked to wait until the storm cleared the next morning to fly, but she insisted on going that night. I even offered to book a last-minute ticket to Woomerang from the regular airport, but all the flights were cancelled due to the storm.

“‘But I want to see Mom fly,’ Vanessa begged me, but I promised her that her mom would fly the next day. I don’t know if you remember, but Amelia was furious when I told her flying to Woomerang that night was a no-go.

“‘I can’t wait until tomorrow morning!’ she yelled at me.

“‘You could either wait a day or kill us all tonight,’ I replied. She then went on to remind me what she was capable of, but I told her that such tomfoolery would put not only herself in danger, but me and the kids. After twenty minutes of arguing – and trying to get you to sleep – she conceded.

“However, little did I know at the time that she had a backup plan.”

“What kind of backup plan?” wondered Jeb.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Jeb Senior. “Amelia told me that you and Vanessa were asleep and decided to get intimate with me for a few minutes. For some reason, she was wearing her pilot’s jacket and cargo pants. I thought it was just to look sexy, but then she told me she was going to change into something more comfortable. I waited for her to come out of the bathroom for a few minutes, then I heard an engine start. I rushed outside to see a plane getting on the runway, then I knew that Amelia had left the house to take off. I tried to chase it, but it was too fast. I then fired up the radio and called her.

“As I guessed, Amelia had replied. I asked her what she was doing, then she told me she was going to Woomerang – no matter what. I was about to tell her to come back until I heard…,”

“Heard what?”

“Vanessa,” sighed Jeb Senior. “‘Dad’s trapped in the plane wheel,’ were the last words I heard her say. I warned your mom to turn back, but she told me that I couldn’t stop her.

“‘If anything happens to Vanessa, I’ll kill you,’ was my last response before she cut me off.” Jeb then heard his dad sobbing on the phone. “Fortunately, she didn’t take you with her. I then realized that she was only distracting me while Vanessa escaped and got in the plane.

“The next morning, I called Woomerang to ask if Amelia and Vanessa made it. When they said that they never did, I began to worry.”

“As much as you worried about me when I got into Basic?” interrupted Jeb.

“Worse. I hired a babysitter to watch you while I went to Town Hall and called every air traffic and radar tower in Amelia’s flight path, then one of them told me about a small plane crash that took place the night before. I thought Amelia had bailed out – as usual – but the woman who replied told me that two people were found dead and yet to be identified. Two hours after I got back home, the cops showed up to tell me your mom and sister died.”

“That’s the same thing you told me when I dug up Mom’s crash report,” said Jeb, “only you said that Vanessa was A RANDOM STRANGER!”

“Since you and Bill had already found the finalized KAA report, you would have already read the part that proved that it was ALL Amelia’s fault,” explained Jeb Senior. “She caused not only her own death, but that of your sister.”

“Why didn’t you at least tell me Vanessa was my sister?” asked Jeb.

“You would not have remembered her anyway,” said Jeb Senior. “At your age, if I told you the truth about Vanessa, you would see your mother as a careless psycho.”

“I don’t believe it, Dad. It’s not like Mom MURDERED Vanessa.”

“She might as well have,” argued Jeb Senior. “Your mom KNEW the risks of flying straight into a thunderstorm, and what’s worse… she put HER OWN DAUGHTER in danger.” Jeb heard his father sniffle on the other end. “That’s why I never remarried after Amelia died… if my wife was careless with our daughter, who could I trust with MY SON? Now, you didn’t make it any easier to keep you alive.”

“But… she was my sister,” cried Jeb. “You lied to me.”

“I had to,” said Jeb Senior. “I had already failed as a father with Vanessa; I couldn’t bear to fail again with you. Unfortunately, that meant keeping the truth of your mother away from you.”

“You said the EXACT same thing that one night in high school.”

“No, I didn’t,” countered Jeb Senior. “Even if I did, it was better that you remembered Amelia as an unfortunate daredevil than the worst mother on Kerbin… your own.”

Jeb said nothing for about a minute. “Who else knew?”

“Who else knew what?”

“That Vanessa Kerman was my sister instead of some passer-by.”

“You mean besides whoever manned the citizen records room in Town Hall?” asked Jeb Senior. “I’m surprised you never went THERE to read about Vanessa.”

“Who else knew?” demanded Jeb.

“Hmm… let me think,” said Jeb Senior. “Bill.”

“Wait, BILL knew?” gasped Jeb.

“Wait, no, that’s not it,” corrected Jeb Senior. “I meant Bill’s PARENTS.”

“His PARENTS?!”

“I was Edith’s last boyfriend before she met William,” explained Jeb Senior. “She comforted me during Vanessa’s funeral. I don’t know if William knew at the time or if he figured it out on his own later, but I confessed to him about Vanessa right after Edith died.”

“They must have told Bill,” Jeb realized.

“Not necessarily,” objected Jeb Senior. “Just because Bill’s parents knew about Vanessa doesn’t mean that any of them told Bill. After all, Edith never told Bill about your mom dying in a plane crash.”

“Actually, she did,” said Jeb. “Edith told him the night she died.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Jeb Senior. “I was wondering why the two of you found Amelia’s accident report after.”

“One last question,” said Jeb, “if you owned that airfield, why did we need to pay rent whenever I used it?”

“Simple, I sold the deed to the house, the airfield, and then sold the planes for scrap,” answered Jeb Senior. “Not only did I get us a new house closer to town, but I used the remaining money from the sales – and Amelia’s life insurance policy – to start Jeb’s Junkyard.”

“Well, congratulations,” sighed Jeb. “You’re now one of the richest men in the world.”

“Am I, son?” argued Jeb Senior. “Am I?”

“Okay, so there are maybe… I can think of TWO people off the top of my head with more money than you have,” said Jeb.

“No, no, nothing like that,” countered Jeb Senior. “Despite all I have gained from my company’s success, Amelia’s and Vanessa’s deaths created a void not even money could fill up. If I lost you… I don’t know what I’d do.”

“That’s also why you’re a big workplace safety buff,” Jeb figured out, “to keep anyone else from ending up like Amelia and Vanessa.”

“Not quite,” Jeb Senior disagreed. “Though their deaths were a huge motivating factor, workplace safety in my warehouse job was almost nonexistent. Did you really think I would have been as successful as I was if employees and/or customers kept dying due to negligence?”

“I… suppose… that makes sense,” said Jeb. “Then again, I doubt you were concerned about business success when you kept telling me not to do some cool things when YOU KNEW I would turn out okay.”

“The last person who said that to me before you died in a thunderstorm,” reminded Jeb Senior, “and had the nerve to take her own daughter with her. That’s why I forbade you from flying after you put Bill in that coma; though you came out okay, the next time you may not be so lucky.”

“Yet you were perfectly fine with VAL flying Bill after he got out of his coma.”

“Because she knew what she was doing and the consequences of messing around,” said Jeb Senior. “After all, Bill DID warn you that the plane was not designed for aerial stunts.”

“Come up with as many excuses as you want, Dad,” sighed Jeb, “but the fact still remains; you’re a no-good fraud.”

“Excuse me? I built my company from the ground up, AND I raised you right?”

“You raised me to tell the truth, yet you KEPT LYING to me. ME, your OWN SON, about my mother and sister,” continued Jeb.

“Come back to me when you have kids and your wife kills one of them,” sighed Jeb Senior.

“Oh, I will, all right,” replied Jeb. “Better yet, now that you no longer have any kids to worry about, you can go back to being the ladies’ man.”

“Well, I think I might,” spat Jeb Senior.

“I think I know the perfect woman for you,” said Jeb. “MISTY KERMAN.”

“Misty Kerman?” gasped Jeb Senior. “The woman who you said was a murderer?”

“Yeah, Dad. I’m sure you’ll have the PERFECT life together – however short she makes it.” Before Jeb’s dad said anything else, Jeb hung up and left the quarters. “Hey, where’s Bill?”

“I don’t know, Captain,” a medical officer replied. “I don’t even know what he looks like.”

“Great,” sighed Jeb, then he had an idea. “Hey, where’s Admiral Val?”

“Control room, that way,” the medical officer replied, pointing down a hallway.

“Thanks.” Jeb then marched to the control room and saw Val talking on the phone.

“What do you mean medical consequences?” said Val. “Reduced gravity affecting his recovery? Bull, he’s been on Dres for the last year and a half. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“What’s she doing?” asked Jeb.

“Talking to Internal Investigations,” said one of the engineers. “One of the nurses reported her for breaking a patient out of sick bay.”

“Like I said, nothing seemed wrong when he was talking to Irpond,” continued Val. “YES, it was necessary. Bill said that if Irpond surrendered, she would talk to Bob; THAT was the deal.”

“Speaking of Bill, where is he?” wondered Jeb.

“One minute,” said Val. “No, Roger, that was Jeb. He just wanted to know where Bill was.” Jeb leaned against the wall as Val continued. “Oh, so now you want to stick it to ME for getting a patient out of sick bay prematurely. Just be glad I got a full UNCOERCED confession out of Irpond. She won’t get away this time, like her mom did.”

“How long is this going to take?” Jeb asked himself.

“She was shot?” gasped Val. “Good… wait, still alive? What happened to the shooter… arrested for attempted murder?”

“Wait, someone shot Misty?” interrupted Jeb.

“Not now, Jeb,” said Val. “I implemented a full lockdown of Dres just an hour ago and put a full security detail around Irpond. She’s not so much as blowing her nose without my knowledge.” Jeb started to scratch his chin in boredom. “I understand there will need to be a trial. Why don’t we use telecommunications? I can’t just turn Dres into a prison planet for as long as it takes for a new spaceplane to get here.” Val kept talking for another minute before she finally hung up. “That nurse snitched on me.”

“She should have snitched on ME,” said Jeb. “I mean, that was MY plan.”

“Doesn’t matter, Jeb; you just flirted with the nurse while I, the kerbalnaut in charge, helped a recovering patient escape,” reminded Val.

“I’m not the only one who pulled off that stunt,” said Jeb.

“Oh, I’m sure that prank has been used LOTS of times before that,” commented Val.

“Anyway, where’s Bill?” asked Jeb.

“I dunno, I thought he was with you,” said Val. “What were YOU doing?”

“Permanently ending all relations with my dad,” answered Jeb.

“What do you mean PERMANENTLY?” wondered Val.

“I’ll tell you everything when we find Bill.” As soon as he said that, they saw Bill around the corner.

“Jeb, Val, I’ve been looking for you,” he said.

“That’s funny, I’ve been looking for you,” said Jeb. “Where’s Bob, by the way?”

“Still in sick bay,” said Bill. “How’d your talk with your dad go?”

“Your dad? What happened with your dad?” asked Val.

“Not here,” requested Jeb, then they locked themselves in a vacant sleeping quarters before Jeb told his friends about Vanessa.

“WHAT?!” shouted Val. “Vanessa was your sister?”

“Yes,” said Jeb. “What’s worse, Bill’s parents knew.”

“What do you mean they knew?” asked Bill.

“Your mom and dad BOTH knew about Vanessa being my sister instead of some random passer-by,” explained Jeb. “Now, did YOU know?”

“No.”

“Don’t lie, Bill,” demanded Jeb. “I’ve had far too many liars in MY life.”

“I swear, I had no idea Vanessa was your sister… until just now,” answered Bill.

“Wait a second, if YOU called YOUR DAD, then someone else told you about Vanessa,” Val deduced. “Who was it?”

“Irpond,” said Jeb.

“What were her EXACT words?” questioned Val.

“Yeah, Jeb. What did she tell you before you stormed away?” added Bill.

“Vanessa was your older sister,” Jeb recalled. “As soon as she said that, I left to call Dad.”

“Speaking of your dad, where’s Misty?” asked Bill.

“A medical base on Eve, being treated for a gunshot wound,” answered Val.

“Gunshot wound?” gasped Bill. “What happened?”

“A couple of guards tried to kill her and make it look like justified homicide,” explained Val. “Yeah, AS IF.”

“Personally, I don’t care if some guards DID plan to murder her,” commented Bill.

“They also said a Jeb’s Junkyard employee assaulted her as she was being transported out,” added Val. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say SHE assaulted HIM, and he FOUGHT BACK.”

“And SO WHAT if he attacked her. She deserves it,” said Bill, surprising Val and Jeb.

“I… guess you don’t need to implement that moonjet deathtrap virus after all,” commented Val.

“Wait, what?” wondered Jeb, then Val told him about Bill’s idea to modify the moonjet virus to trap Misty (and anyone else who happened to be inside) while the craft would crash to its doom. “Man, you’re really out for blood.”

“You can work out your daddy issues later,” said Bill. “If we don’t stop Misty now, you won’t even HAVE a daddy anymore.”

“Hmm… oh, I know,” gasped Jeb. “Bill, you could implement your ‘Kill Misty’ program.”

“Uh… specifics, please?” requested Bill.

“I talk Dad into taking Misty on a moonjet tour, you plug in your virus, and then KA-BOOM!” suggested Jeb, surprising Bill and Val.

“You DO realize your father will die, right?” sighed Val.

“That’s THE IDEA,” explained Jeb. “Kill TWO psychos with one virus.”

“W… WHAT?!” gasped Val.

“Dad’s been nothing but a thorn on my side my whole life,” Jeb ranted. “It was bad enough when he wouldn’t let me fly… or when he lied about my mother, but that fraud had NO right to keep my sister in the dark.”

“Jeb, your dad is NOT a fraud,” replied Bill. “He started his company from the ground up since when you were a baby.”

“Yeah, after he PROFITED off Mom’s and Vanessa’s deaths,” argued Jeb.

“Profited? What do you mean profited?” asked Val.

“After they died, he sold the airfield and used Mom’s life insurance money to start the company,” explained Jeb. “You all know how Dad made his claim to fame; getting rich from the company he started from… BLOOD money.”

“Blood money?” gasped Bill.

“He wouldn’t have gotten that much money had Mom and Vanessa died,” sighed Jeb. “Now for all I know, he PLANNED it just to make a quick buck.”

“Really, Jeb?” Bill disagreed. “HOW could your dad plan to have his wife and daughter die in a plane crash – in A THUNDERSTORM?! Sure, he may have seen the crash coming, but so would I if I knew a plane was going to go right through a storm like that.”

“There WAS no storm!” shouted Jeb.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure THERE WAS,” said Bill. “Remember, we checked the weather reports for the crash site for that night.”

“Then I bet HE sabotaged the plane,” theorized Jeb.

“Really?” interrupted Val. “First of all, sabotaging vehicles is NOT Jeb Senior’s style; it’s MISTY’S.”

“Besides, there was a general no-fly order issued in the area that night,” added Bill. “Even if your dad DID plan to murder your mom and sister that way, he didn’t have to do anything to the plane in order for it to crash in the middle of that storm.”

“To sum up, there’s NO WAY your dad could…,” started Val.

“SHUT UP!” yelled Jeb before he stormed away.

“Come on, Jeb,” said Bill. “You dad must have…”

“Not now, Bill,” interrupted Val. “Just like with Bob, Jeb needs some time to process all this.” Val hung her head in shame as she put her hand on Bill’s shoulder. “I should know… I felt just like that when I learned that Vic was a murderer.”

“That’s different, Val,” argued Bill. “Vic shot Laythan civilians and covered it up, while Irpond killed hundreds of kerbals just to have Bob to herself. JEB SENIOR, however, just lied to Jeb about two of his family members that died in a thunderstorm. Regardless of whether Vanessa was Jeb’s older sister, I should also add that AMELIA was blamed for the crash.”

“Jeb’s had daddy issues his whole life, so whatever plans you got to help him likely WON’T work,” said Val.

“They can at least TRY to patch things together,” countered Bill.

“I don’t see that happening… ever,” said Val.

“What do you mean?” asked Bill.

“First of all, now Jeb has a semi-valid excuse never to talk to his father again,” started Val. “Second of all, there’s a good chance Misty could recover from her attack – and later kidnap and/or murder Jeb Senior. Third of all, Jeb actually WANTS him dead – either from Misty’s hand or from yours.”

“Hmm… that makes sense,” agreed Bill, “which brings up this question: how do we kill Misty now?”

“Unfortunately, not by releasing the guys who shot her,” sighed Val. “I have too low a rank for that, and I’m in enough hot water from Internal Investigations for stealing Bob from sick bay.”

“Then I guess asking her doctor to kill her is out of the question,” remarked Bill, and Val nodded. “I wonder if Jeb Senior took our warnings seriously.”

“Why don’t we ask him?” asked Val, then she walked toward the nearest phone and asked to connect to Jeb Senior. “This could take a while.”

“Where is he?” questioned Bill.

“Dresden Base, this is Venus Airport Construction Site,” a man replied on the phone. “How can I help you?”

“This is Admiral Valentina Kerman,” said Val. “I need to speak with Jeb Senior NOW.”

“Hang on, let me find him,” replied the man, then all was silent for 20 seconds. “Sorry, mam. He’s not here.”

“What?” gasped Val. “Where is he?”

“He said he was going to a nearby medical center.”

“Oh no,” said Val.

“What is it?” wondered Bill.

“Jeb’s dad is at a medical center – where MISTY is,” said Val.

“You mean the woman who was attacked earlier today?” asked the employee on the phone.

“Just patch me through,” ordered Val. “The fate of the kerbal race depends on it.”

“A moment, please.”

“Um… Val,” interrupted Bill, “how does helping to resolve Jeb’s issues affect the fate of the kerbal race?”

“If Misty gets her dirty little hands on Jeb Senior, she could use him as a bargaining chip,” warned Val. “With all the resources Jeb Senior has at his command, who knows what Misty could do… like rendering a construction project unsafe… or bribing the cops again.”

 

After Jeb Senior finished his phone call with his son, he ran toward the closest EVA suit dispenser and boarded the first open-cockpit rover available. He then programmed the suit’s navicomputer to direct him to the nearest operational airport and departed the medical center perimeter at full throttle. His plan was to fly to an Eve Ascent Vehicle launch site and get off the planet as soon as possible – preferably before Misty had the chance to escape. Though he was confident that security would keep her contained, he did not plan on being complacent – especially not with her.

Before deciding to drive down to the medical center to confront Misty, Jeb Senior spent most of his waking shift – called that due to Eve’s day being over three times as long as Kerbin’s – reading the decoded emails between Misty and Irpond. He was so shocked by the contents of the messages that his secretary found him passed out in his office once. Though it was against company policy (and the law) to commit assault and attempted murder, Jeb Senior understood perfectly why the guards and the employee attacked Misty and tried to kill her. He then told his accountant to pay the attackers’ legal fees and left his signature on the order before heading off to the medical center.

“Boss,” a man spoke on his radio.

“What?” sighed Jeb Senior. “Now’s not really a good time now.”

“Sorry, sir, but Admiral Valentina Kerman is DEMANDING to speak to you.”

“Hmm… now?”

“Yes, now.”

“Patch me through,” said Jeb Senior gloomily. “What is…?”

“Jeb Senior,” said Val nervously, “where are you?”

“On my way to the nearest working airport,” answered Jeb Senior. “Why?”

“Are you alone?”

“OF COURSE, I’m alone. These rovers can only carry one person at a time,” said Jeb Senior.

“Phew, that’s good,” sighed Val. “Are you okay?”

“Actually… no,” said Jeb Senior.

“All right, Misty,” interrupted Bill, “wherever you are, the jig is up.”

“Not that,” clarified Jeb Senior. “I meant that I have now really lost the only family I have left.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” agreed Bill. “The worst part is that Jeb wants me to execute a plan to kill Misty that would also result in YOUR death.”

“You’re planning to KILL Misty?” gasped Jeb Senior.

“There is no other way,” argued Bill. “Aren’t you the least bit concerned that Jeb wants YOU dead TOO?”

“Perhaps I deserve it,” sighed Jeb Senior.

“Then why are you running?” questioned Val. “Your transponder shows you going at 25 meters per second AWAY from the medical center.”

“Wait, how did you get my suit signal? I thought you were on Dres.”

“I am; I’m just connected to the Eve GPS network,” explained Val.

“An EVA suit’s transponder signal is too weak to reach Kerbin directly – let alone Dres,” added Bill. “Val’s high-level clearance grants her access to all individual GPS networks for their respective celestial bodies.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” said Jeb Senior. “I don’t know what she has planned now, but I’m pretty sure it involves ME.”

“Better pay for good lawyers for those guys who tried to kill her,” suggested Bill. “There’s a good chance they saved your life when they threw a wrench into her next move.”

“Uh, how is that?” wondered Val.

“Whatever her plan is, it was delayed by a trip to the medical center and/or her own death,” explained Bill.

“Enough,” sighed Jeb Senior. “Even if she escapes sick bay, I’m gonna catch the first rocket outta here.”

“Great idea,” said Bill. “Run, run while you can.”

“Hey, those single-use EAVs cost money,” Val disagreed. “I don’t think they’ll let you take one of those things just to run away.”

“Are you saying that I SHOULDN’T run?” wondered Jeb Senior.

“No, I’m saying that you CAN’T… at least not outside of Eve,” clarified Val. “Besides, where would you even go?”

“That rock… Gilbert, was it?” suggested Jeb Senior.

“Gilly isn’t exactly a good hiding spot,” countered Val. “It’s really small AND really bouncy. Heck, you could seriously drift into Eve orbit with your suit alone. All Gilly-related factors aside, I still doubt Eve Command will let you blast off the planet just to run from Misty.”

“Then how am I supposed to keep myself as far away from her as possible?” argued Jeb Senior.

“It shouldn’t be too hard. Since she was shot earlier today, she should still require medical treatment. Even during the recovery phase, she would still feel weak and… personally, if I was her, I’d try not to re-injure myself.”

“You could still fly to the other side of the planet,” suggested Bill. “If, for some reason, Misty escapes sick bay, there would be guards everywhere.”

“Yeah, they track the heck out of everything on Eve due to its hostile climate and explosive oceans – despite the fact that it’s larger than Kerbin,” reminded Val. “To sum up… I’d say just be careful as always.”

“O… okay,” stammered Jeb Senior. “How’d Jeb take the news about Vanessa?”

“Boy, was he mad,” sighed Bill. “Any other day, I’d agree with him and support him cutting you off forever.”

“What changed?” wondered Jeb Senior.

“I’d much rather not let Misty have you as her next captive husband,” explained Bill. “If you and Jeb were to make up before then, you would turn her down and break her heart for good.”

“You’re lying,” said Jeb Senior. “You’ve been trying to talk Jeb into patching things up between us since high school.”

“So, what? How do you know I didn’t just change my mind after learning about Vanessa?”

“Because I’ve known you to be persistent in your goals,” answered Jeb Senior. “Even when you found out that rocket contract for the football team was only a prank just to get locker room shots, you still worked on that probe bound for Woomerang. You also didn’t quit planning revenge against those who irradiated your mom – at least until your dad told you to stop – or on Guscan when he was stranded… or when you found out who killed Jeb’s student. I know for sure you’re not quitting now on helping Jeb with his trouble.”

“But you kept a secret so crucial to his life away from him,” argued Bill.

“So did your mom,” said Jeb Senior.

“Wait, what are you talking about?” asked Val.

“Edith KNEW she was dying, yet she waited until the cancer reached the final phase to tell you,” explained Jeb Senior. “Why do you think she did that?”

“She didn’t tell me until AFTER I confronted her about the medications she was on,” said Bill. “She said that she wanted to ‘live her life to the fullest’ rather than spend her final days rotting in a hospital bed.”

“That’s not true,” countered Jeb Senior. “She told your dad, who later told me, that she didn’t want you to worry too much. More specifically, she didn’t want your last memories of her to be a weak cancer patient who gave up on life.”

“What does Edith’s death have to do with Amelia and Vanessa?” asked Val.

“Like I said earlier, Jeb would almost NEVER remember his mother and sister,” said Jeb Senior. “It’s bad enough when your final memories of your mother are in a hospital, but it’s worse when your ONLY memories are from an accident report. And to top it all off…” Jeb Senior then started to sob, “Amelia was responsible for our daughter’s death. No child should remember their mother like that, and that’s why I told Jeb he was an only child.”

“Tell MISTY that,” sighed Bill.

“Bill,” spat Val.

“Jeb was a daredevil long before he knew what happened to Amelia,” said Jeb Senior. “Misty, on the other hand, bred Irpond to kill.”

“Not to mention she TWISTED Irpond’s memory of her dad after she SHOT him,” added Val. “Sure, you twisted Jeb’s memory of his mom, but at least it was from a painful negative to a small false positive; Misty did the OPPOSITE.”

“Still, you should have told him when he was a little older,” said Bill.

“Don’t think I didn’t plan to,” countered Jeb Senior. “Unfortunately, when Jeb learned about his mother… I could sense he wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Probably because you lied to him,” guessed Bill.

“Because I was a protective father… while he wanted to spread his wings,” argued Jeb Senior. “If only he knew about what his mother was really like, he… will cut off all connections to his family. Nobody should have to lose their family.”

“Except M…,” stammered Bill.

“Shut up, Bill,” interrupted Val. “Anyway, Jeb Senior, I agree with you that you should run away. While you’re at it, get some protection; and don’t get near ANY women.”

“Uhh… why not?” asked Jeb Senior.

“Misty could impersonate one of them and snatch and/or kill you,” explained Val. “Just like I did with Irpond back on Dres, DON’T take any chances with Misty.”

“I don’t think the ‘no women,’ part is necessary,” Jeb Senior countered. “Kinda hard to impersonate someone when you just took a bullet to the knee at point-blank range.”

“Don’t count on it,” argued Bill. “She’s crazy, so there’s a good chance she’ll disregard medical advice and pursue you.”

“And risk killing herself by worsening her injuries?” Jeb Senior pointed out.

“She risked getting caught and/or killed when she infiltrated the Woomerang Airport,” reminded Bill. “What’s to say she wouldn’t try leaving the hospital prematurely?”

“As much as I preach workplace safety, I also know when there’s an excess in precautions,” said Jeb Senior.

“With Misty, there is NO excess in preventative measures,” said Val.

“Don’t worry, Val. I’ll be careful,” assured Jeb Senior. “If I was careless, I’d STAY at the medical center – or go back to my construction site. If she were to break out, that would be the FIRST place she’d look for me.”

“Oh… great plan,” remarked Bill. “I’d have tried the construction site, where a bunch of angry armed-to-the-teeth interns are waiting for her.”

“I’d rather not put anyone else at risk and try the NEXT airport, where the PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERS are,” Jeb Senior told Bill.

“Good luck, sir,” said Val, then Jeb Senior hung up.

 

Back at the medical center that Jeb Senior had left, a few rovers were docking with the building to deliver the next shift’s crew. A small portion of the personnel bunked in the outpost itself, while others took open-cockpit rovers to their quarters. As for the patients that needed to leave the outpost, most of them were transported out in a large high-occupancy vehicle destined for either nearby bases or an operational airport to be transported back to their assigned locations.

“Man, I’m getting exhausted,” said Nathan Kerman, the medical center’s acting director.

“You might wanna hop one of the carpool rovers,” suggested Matster, the chief of security. “Can’t have you driving drowsy.”

“Of course,” Nathan concurred. “Why are there so many soldiers here, anyway?”

“Didn’t they already tell you?” asked Matster. “They just got word that one of the patients is a murderer.”

“They most certainly did not,” said Nathan. “Also, a MURDERER? Who is it?”

“Misty Kerman,” replied Matster, then Nathan started to scratch his chin.

“Misty… Misty… isn’t she the woman who came in here for dehydration-related issues?”

“No, that’s someone else,” said Matster. “Last I heard, she was attacked by an angry mob at the Jeb’s Junkyard site.”

“Oh... you mean that woman who was shot in the knee?” realized Nathan, and Matster nodded. “Well, I hope the soldiers contain her without incident.”

“Better get going before the carpool rover leaves,” said Matster, then Nathan displayed his ID card before heading to an exit docking port. He spent the next couple of hours checking everyone going in and out of his section of the building before clocking out. His replacement, a cadet fresh out of Basic named Oraldo Kerman, had promised to not let “that dirty scumbag escape,” while he was on-duty.

“Good… evening, I guess,” greeted a nurse that approached him.

“HALT!” barked Oraldo, aiming a gun at her. “Identify yourself!”

“Whoa,” gasped the nurse, “no need to point that at me.”

“Identification, now!”

“Geez. No need to get so paranoid.” The nurse then produced her ID card from her pocket. “My name is… OW!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Oraldo as the nurse grabbed her left leg, dropping her card.

“Ugh… eesh… cart accident,” said the nurse as Oraldo checked the card.

“Emma Kerman,” Oraldo read, then he tapped her name on his kPad. “Huh, you’re a little early to be clocking out now, aren’t you?”

“I’m needed OUCH… at… af… AGH!” started Emma.

“You need what?”

“Geez… Aphrodite Colon… eesh,” sighed Emma.

“Aphrodite Colony?” gasped Oraldo. “What for?”

“Personnel transfer,” answered Emma, still in pain from what was going on in her leg.

“Looks like you could use some medical help yourself,” said Oraldo.

“Nah, I’m good,” remarked Emma as she injected her leg with morphine.

“That’s weird,” commented Oraldo, “there’s no mention of a pending transfer to Aphrodite Colony. In fact, you have no pending transfers at all.”

“Short-notice,” explained Emma. “Someone must have forgotten to send the paperwork.”

Oraldo raised an eyebrow at Emma. “We don’t use papers.”

“Paperwork, electr-eesh,” stammered Emma, “… documents, what’s the difference?”

“Do I need to call in a medic?” wondered Oraldo.

“No… no medics, I can handle it,” said Emma. “I need to get to Aphrodite Colony as fast as I can.”

“Well, you could try the rocket plane,” suggested Oraldo. “However, I hear that thing doesn’t have much fuel in it, and Aphrodite Colony is pretty darn far away. Besides, you don’t have a pilot’s license?”

“Who says I need one?” smirked Emma, trying to balance herself. “I hear everything’s automated or remote-controlled these days, and my husband was a pilot.”

“I don’t remember you mentioning you were married,” remembered Oraldo.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” said Emma. “Besides, my marriage… isn’t something I really want to talk about.”

“You divorced?”

“He’s dead,” answered Emma. “Now, can you please take me to the rocket plane?”

“I don’t think I should, mam,” objected Oraldo. “Those things are tricky to fly – even with computerized pilots – and I can’t risk anyone with morphine in their system getting in one.”

“Fine,” sighed Emma. “I’ll get to that place sooner or later.” She then approached the EVA suit closet before stopping short of the door. “Oh, and by the way, that woman you’re paranoid about… is still in sick bay.”

“Okay.” Emma had put a suit on before leaving the building, then Oraldo went to sick bay – where several doctors and guards were standing over a bed with a blanket over its occupant. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“She’s dead,” said one of the guards.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO

 

“Where’s Jeb Senior going?” Val asked Bill as she showed him Jeb Senior’s EVA transponder signal on her kPad. “He’s been zig-zagging for hours.”

“Let’s see.” Val then sent him a screenshot and he started to draw on it. “Hmm… just as I thought, there’s a central line in the zig-zags.”

“Central line?” asked Val, then Bill showed him his picture.

“Given that the suits have heading indicators and that Jeb Senior seems to always have a plan,” started Bill, “it’s reasonable to say that he’s heading for… Aphrodite Colony.”

“Aphrodite? The planet’s central colony?” gasped Val. “Why the zig-zags?”

“My guess: to throw off anyone who’s following him,” said Bill. “However, even if he took the straight-line approach, it would be days before he reached the colony at his current speed.”

“Well, he did stop at the construction site for half an hour before heading off,” pointed out Val. “However, he could have just used an aircraft to get there faster.”

“What aircraft would he use? The airport’s not operational yet, and they probably need whatever blimps they have for the construction,” said Bill.

“Then why bother go to the site at all?” argued Val.

“He must have told his second-in-command – whoever it is – to keep the project running and that he would be leaving,” suggested Bill. “How’s Bob?”

“He hasn’t left the base chapel in a day,” said Val. “Two hours ago, someone reported him saying the words ‘Please forgive me, Sheri,’ over and over again. Where’s Jeb?”

“I dunno,” sighed Bill, then he approached a woman standing near one of the airlocks. “Hey, miss.”

“Yes,” the woman acknowledged, then she saluted Val. “Admiral Valentina.”

“At ease, mam,” said Val. “Where’s Captain Jeb?”

“He took a rover out yesterday and hasn’t returned since,” answered the woman, then Val grabbed her shirt collar. “Hey!”

“The base was on lockdown,” reminded Val angrily. “Why did you let him leave?”

“Technically, the planet was on GENERAL lockdown at the time – which means that rovers are okay,” said the woman. “Besides, I heard the bad guy was a woman.”

“Oh, great,” sighed Val. “You two, go find him.”

“Yes, Val,” said Bill, then the woman elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow.”

“You do not refer to your superior officer like…”

“That’s okay, mam. He’s a friend,” said Val, then Bill and the other woman left. She then stopped in front of the men guarding Irpond’s quarters and handed over her gun before entering.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” wondered Irpond.

“I just sent him to look for Jeb,” answered Val. “Boy, was he mad when you told him about Vanessa.”

“To be honest, I was surprised he didn’t already know by then,” confessed Irpond. “I mean, COME ON, didn’t he at least check the town records – or even read on the papers that the second body was that of Amelia’s daughter?”

“How did you get that information?” asked Val, then Irpond waved her finger side-to-side.

“Seriously? You already know the answer to that.”

“Okay, better question. WHY BOTHER reading about Amelia and Vanessa’s crash? Since you cut off contact with your mom before she met Jeb Senior, if he told Misty about it, she COULDN’T have told you.”

“I did the research before leaving Laythe,” answered Irpond. “I figured that, if I kept Bob’s friends busy, they wouldn’t pay attention to him and I would move in. You would end up in jail, Jeb would have daddy issues, and Bill… well, he would at least be distracted by either you, Jeb, or both.”

“Why didn’t you tell Jeb EARLIER about Vanessa?”

“I didn’t need to; Bob was already mine. Even better, he was not heeding your warnings. That’s also why I didn’t kill you back in the pod; not only would it raise flags with Bob, I figured you had a contingency plan in mind.” Irpond paused as she straightened her hair. “Besides, I… assumed that Jeb had already known. After all, I was only a teenager when I learned of what Mom did to that poor Debra all those years ago.”

“If you weren’t a psychopath – and if Jeb was within the designated base perimeter – I’d have you try to help him work out his parental issues,” sighed Val. “You and your mom were very tight, but Jeb and his dad… let’s just say that they haven’t been on good terms for decades.”

“Hey, don’t blame me for what’s going on with Jeb now. It was BOUND to have come out,” smirked Irpond, then she saw Val typing on her kPad. “What are you doing?”

“Speaking of your mom,” she said, “she’s just been hospitalized.”

“Hospitalized?” gasped Irpond. “What happened?”

“She was attacked by an angry mob at… that’s funny.”

“What’s funny?” wondered Irpond, and Val gave Irpond her kPad.

“She’s dead,” said Val.

“No… NO!” shouted Irpond, throwing her kPad at Val. “You KILLED…”

“Guards!” Two men then burst into the room and separated Val and Irpond.

“Take THAT!” One of them slugged Irpond before slamming her down and stepping on her head.

“Enough!” ordered Val, then she left the room with her kPad intact and Irpond locked inside. “That’s weird,” she told herself. “Jeb Senior said that she was shot in the kneecap and then tipped over as she was being carried on a stretcher. What happened?”

“You okay, Admiral?” asked the medical officer.

“I’m fine,” said Val, then she walked towards the base’s chapel – where Bob was sitting alone with a picture of Sheri showing from his kPad.

“I’m sorry for betraying you,” he told the picture. “I fell in love with the woman who killed you… and I was warned about it. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to my friends, and that I tried to replace you.”

“You’re right about one thing,” said Val, then Bob turned his head. “You should have listened to us when you had the chance.”

“Then hundreds of people would still be alive now, won’t they,” said Bob, “but that’s not the worst part.”

“Uh… then what is?” wondered Val.

“I tried to replace Sheri,” said Bob, “with the woman who killed her in the first place. I should have realized that, no matter how hard you try, you CAN’T replace her.”

“Did… you talk to someone else about this?” asked Val. “Parents… friends… Rob?”

“Rob just gave me the ‘I told you so,’ act,” answered Bob, “Dad has Alzheimer’s, Mom didn’t pick up, and… after the way I turned my back on you, I couldn’t bring myself to talk to you three. Where are Bill and Jeb?”

“Jeb’s having more daddy issues,” said Val, “and I sent Bill to find him.”

“I just keep thinking… should I have dumped Sheri for Irpond, or go hard on Irpond when you told me to?”

“That’s an odd question, considering that you said that she couldn’t be replaced,” commented Val.

“If I dumped Sheri, then Irpond probably wouldn’t have killed her and everyone else in Poseidon’s Palace,” snapped Bob.

“She was a sick freak, even before Basic,” said Val. “Who knows what she had planned for you if you broke up with Sheri? For all you know, she was going to kill every girl who so much as looked at you… or frame me for covering for Vic. Heck, she could have just kidnapped you if she made a move at you and you didn’t notice.”

“Why would I not notice Irpond trying to make a romantic move on me?” questioned Bob, and Val sighed in boredom.

“Why don’t you ask Bill?” she joked. “I tried that with him many times before, but he didn’t even so much as complement me. The only times he even asked me out was for team projects.”

“Eh… yeah, you’re probably right,” sighed Bob.

“Besides, her mom killed her crush’s girlfriend – and… that was how Irpond’s parents met,” reminded Val. “Misty and Irpond are masters at this sort of thing… or at least Misty WAS.”

“I’ve noticed you put some emphasis on ‘was,’” said Bob. “Why is that?”

“She was just declared dead half an hour ago,” explained Val. “However, what I find odd was that she was shot in the kneecap and someone tipped her stretcher on its side before she got to the medical center.”

“Back up,” Bob requested, “where was she?”

“Eve,” said Val. “Fun fact: she was dating Jeb’s dad at the time – and now he’s trying to get away.”

“What did you say Misty sustained again?” asked Bob, then Val repeated herself. “Yeah, I do find that odd. What type of medical station was she sent to?”

“A Surface Class C,” read Val.

“Assuming that she didn’t have to wait too long due to limited patient capacity,” stated Bob, “that means that the doctors should have been able to properly disinfect the wound and remove the bullet – and take care of wounds sustained from the stretcher tipping – in accordance to the Kerbal Medical Board’s designated procedures.”

“Could you dial it back a bit, please?”

“Misty should have been fine,” Bob summed up. “Now, it would be a lot more helpful if there was a cause of death.”

“Let me see,” said Val. “Preliminary cause of death… asphyxiation.”

“Yeah, very odd indeed,” agreed Bob. “Since when do gunshot wound patients, especially those who took one to the LEG – die from oxygen deprivation? Was she smothered?”

“This report says there were marks on her neck, which means she was strangled,” answered Val, “but that’s impossible. Security was tight around that place, not to mention the military was involved.”

“Maybe someone went rogue and did it,” said Bob, “or maybe the guy who attacked her came back to finish the job.”

“It was more like an angry mob,” corrected Val. “Three guards and an intern attacked her at the Jeb’s Junkyard construction site.”

“Wait, if Misty was shot, then how come the shooter didn’t just go for her head?” questioned Bob.

“The guards probably wanted her to make it hurt,” said Val.

BLAM! BLAM! Suddenly, two shots were fired somewhere in the base. Both Val and Bob ducked, then Val drew her weapon and turned the safety off.

“What’s going on?” gasped Bob.

“Stay down,” said Val, then she stormed out of the chapel and rushed toward where the noise was.

“Drop your weapon!” she heard several men shout in front of Irpond’s holding cell, then there was the sound of a gun hitting the floor.

“Status report, now!” demanded Val.

“Someone stuck his gun down the prisoner’s mouth and fired twice,” said one of the guards. “We managed to capture the guy without incident.” She saw Hadgan getting dragged out of the holding cell with blood on his clothes and his hands behind his back.

“Wait,” said Val, then Hadgan and the guards stopped. “Why’d you do it?”

“She was the one who tricked me,” answered Hadgan calmly. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have Agaden’s blood on me.”

“Why kill Irpond now?” asked Val.

“Because you WON’T,” spat Hadgan. “You knew what had to be done, yet you didn’t have the nerve to do it. You should be praising me.”

“Get him out of here,” said Val, then the guards dragged Hadgan away.

“I’ll see you in court martial, Admiral,” he told Val as she approached Irpond’s holding cell. She almost puked at the sight of Irpond’s corpse on a pool of blood – her head showing two outward bullet holes.

“She’s dead,” said a medical officer. “Irpond’s gone.”

“Good riddance,” sighed Val.

“Val,” Bill spoke on her kPad, “I found Jeb.”

“Where is he?”

“He parked a science rover about five kilometers from here,” said Bill, “but his EVA transponder’s active. I’m going in.”

“Get his green ass back here,” ordered Val.

“Roger,” replied Bill.

“Oh, and one more thing,” added Val. “Irpond’s dead.”

“Wait, for real?” gasped Bill.

“Hadgan shot her twice just now,” explained Val. “Don’t come back to celebrate without Jeb.”

“Copy that.”

“What is it, Val?” asked Bob, then he saw Irpond’s corpse. “Oh my God… how did this happen?”

“The guy who she manipulated into killing Agaden,” said Val, “took his revenge.”

“Oh,” gasped Bob. “Where is he now?”

“In custody, awaiting court martial proceedings,” said Val. “Though he did not deny killing Irpond, he said he would see me again in court martial.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Why bother having a court martial if you’ve already confessed to the deed – and in front of everyone, too?”

“It’s his right, after all,” reminded Val. “Had he not killed Irpond, she would be the one on trial before getting her sentence. I’m guessing… he wants the attention.”

“Wait a second,” said Bob as his eyes widened, “Bill had it out for both Irpond AND Misty for years, right?”

“So?” wondered Val.

“Maybe Bill HIRED that guy as a hitman,” conjectured Bob, “and some OTHER GUY to kill Misty.”

“Huh, you may not be that far off,” agreed Val before dialing a number on her kPad. “Internal Investigations, this is Admiral Valentina Kerman. Do you copy?”

“Affirmative, this is Roger Kerman of Internal Investigations,” said Roger. “What’s the problem?”

“First of all, aside from the psychological damage sustained from learning that his girlfriend was a killer, Bob seems fine to me,” started Val.

“Why should I trust the woman who broke the patient out of sick bay?” sighed Roger.

“Because THAT WOMAN is also a close friend of THE PATIENT,” spat Val.

“I’d rather hear it from the patient himself AND the medical professional,” argued Roger. “Unfortunately, our attempts to contact Bob have failed and the medical officers couldn’t find him for assessment.”

“What are you talking about? He’s standing right next to me,” retorted Val.

“Hi, Roger,” said Bob. “I’m okay.”

“Get yourself checked before you can say that with certainty,” recommended Roger. “As for your mental issue, I’d see a psychiatrist if I were you.”

“That… would have to wait,” said Val. “I’d much rather save the shrink for Captain Jeb and his daddy issues.”

“I don’t even need to access his file to know that it’s been a problem of his for a long time,” Roger commented. “What I DID read was that it was addressed in his psych evaluation when he landed a few days back.”

“There’s been a new development,” explained Val, “but that’s NOT why I called. I just learned that Misty Kerman’s dead.”

“Hold on,” said Roger, then Val heard typing on the other end of the line. “Ah, yes, Misty Kerman. She was strangled from behind and found dead in a sick bay on Eve.”

“Did they get the guy?” asked Val.

“So far, no reports of that,” said Roger. “You might want to talk to them.”

“Can you patch me through?” requested Val.

“One minute.”

“What do you mean ‘new development?’” Bob asked Val. “What happened?”

“You remember what happened to Jeb’s mom, right?” Val inquired.

“Hmm… didn’t she die in a plane crash when Jeb was a baby?” asked Bob, sounding confused.

“Yes, but do you remember WHO ELSE was in that plane?”

“Hmm… sorry, Val. I don’t know if she was with anyone else.”

“She was with a little girl named Vanessa,” said Val. “Jeb Senior told Jeb that she was some random stranger, but Jeb found out JUST NOW that Vanessa was actually his older sister.”

“That’s terrible,” gasped Bob.

“But that’s not the worst part,” said Val. “Jeb ACTUALLY WANTS his dad to die, either by Misty’s hand or in the crossfire of whatever plan Bill has to kill Misty.”

“Admiral Valentina Kerman,” a second man spoke, “this is Doctor Eugene Kerman.”

“You’re the acting director, correct?” asked Val.

“Yes. What is it about?”

“I heard that one of your patients, Misty Kerman, was killed not too long ago.”

“If you ask me, she had it coming,” remarked Eugene. “The only reason I’m even helping the guards is because I want to pin a medal on the guy who did it.”

“You got any suspects?” wondered Val.

“Are you kidding me? A LOT of people – both in AND out of the base – have good reasons to kill her,” said Eugene.

“Anyone who stuck out?” clarified Val.

“One of the guards reported a nurse named Emma Kerman clocking out early,” said Eugene. “She took our rocket plane to Aphrodite Colony.”

“Wait, how do you know that?”

“She told the guard that she needed to go there for a crew rotation, then insisted on allowing her to take the rocket plane,” explained Eugene. “The guard, however, refused to let her use it since she was experiencing A LOT of pain in her leg and he saw her inject herself with morphine.”

“Then how do you know SHE took it?” questioned Val.

“Security heard the engine ignite five minutes after Emma left the building with a suit on,” answered Eugene. “We tried to track it, but the transponder is off.”

“Is that thing even capable of reaching Aphrodite Colony?”

“If you know what you’re doing, yes,” said Eugene. “That is exactly why we only allow licensed pilots to control it – either from the cockpit or via remote-control. In this case, Emma is neither a licensed pilot nor is anyone else who IS controlling it FOR her.”

“You think SHE killed Misty?” wondered Val.

“Good chance of it,” agreed Eugene. “Besides clocking out early, she told the guard that she was needed at Aphrodite for a personnel transfer. However, she has no pending transfers on her file – nor was she scheduled to get any for at least six months. Also, why didn’t she report a workplace accident when she hurt her leg?”

“Workplace accident?”

“She said that she injured her leg when a cart hit it,” said Eugene. “The problem is that, from what Oraldo told me about her pain and the morphine, that would constitute a workplace injury that was required by regulations to be reported – of which, there are none.”

“Hmm… that’s funny,” said Val, scratching her chin. “Emma first gets injured – and doesn’t bother reporting it – finds Misty when she’s alone, then she strangles her… WAIT.”

“Something wrong?” asked Eugene.

“Yeah. If Misty was lying on her back, how could Emma strangle her FROM BEHIND?” explained Val. “Also, why not smother her or poison her – or just stab her in the heart? That would do the job fine, wouldn’t it?”

“W… WHAT?!” gasped Eugene. “What are you saying?”

“Either Emma turned Misty around and strangled her, or she d…,”

“Hang on,” interrupted Eugene, then Val heard him talking to someone else. “She’s what… that’s not Misty? Then who… Emma? Then why did you guys think it was Misty?”

“Uh oh,” said Val, then Eugene returned to Val.

“We goofed up,” Eugene admitted. “Misty’s not the dead body in sick bay… EMMA is.”

“EMMA?” Val asked in surprise. “How could you mistake Emma for Misty?”

“Well, in our defense, the body looked just like Misty. Apparently, the body has no bullet hole in the left leg… and it has a scar on the right hand.”

“What does the hand scar have to do with anything?” wondered Val.

“Emma’s file says that she sustained it during medical school,” answered Eugene. “As for the bullet hole, if that was Misty then it would still be there.”

“That explains everything,” Val figured out. “Misty must have escaped, strangled Emma and swapped places, then tricked the guard into letting her get away. That also explains why she needed the morphine; she was still recovering from that gunshot wound.”

“I doubt she would get far,” said Eugene. “Misty’s not a licensed pilot, and she’s very likely to worsen her condition if she does not get medical attention. Besides, those rocket planes have a REALLY short burn time.”

“Yet they’re capable of reaching Aphrodite Colony,” pointed out Val.

“I hear it’s mostly gliding, so I doubt a psycho on morphine will do it right,” commented Eugene.

“Don’t underestimate her,” warned Val. “Besides, her husband was a pilot.”

“Jeb Kerman? I didn’t know he was a pilot.”

“Not Jeb SENIOR, I meant Dilford Kerman,” corrected Val. “He must have shown her a few tricks before she killed him.”

“I’ve already alerted the authorities at Aphrodite to look for the plane,” said Eugene, “but one thing doesn’t add up. If Misty’s on the run, why fly to a heavily populated area? Besides that, the bad leg will make you stick out like a sore thumb, so why leave NOW?”

“Eve ascent vehicle,” guessed Val.

“I doubt it,” Eugene disagreed. “There’s another EAV parked about 150 kilometers from here, which is WAY closer than Aphrodite.”

“I should have asked how you knew she was even going there,” sighed Val.

“The radar guys tracked the plane’s heading before it went out of range,” answered Eugene. “It was pointed toward Aphrodite.”

“Huh… if I were Misty, I’d try to get the heck out of Eve with as little attention as possible,” stated Val. “Instead of flying towards an isolated EAV, I chose a crowded colony. Why?”

“Could be the morphine messing up her thinking,” suggested Eugene. “Why don’t you ask someone who knows her, like her family or something.”

“Her daughter’s dead,” said Val, “but I know a guy who’s had Misty on his mind for years.”

“And… who might that…” Suddenly, there was a loud BANG coming from the other end of the line. The next thing Val knew, there was static on her kPad.

“Eugene Kerman, do you copy?” gasped Val, but no answer. “Eugene, it’s Val. Please respond.” Again, nobody replied. “What’s going on over there?”

“Val, this is Bill,” he spoke on her kPad. “We got Jeb. On our way back to base, over.”

“Acknowledged, now make it quick. We need to talk NOW, over.”

“Hi, Val,” said Jeb. “Bill just told me that someone shot Irpond.”

“That’s right,” confirmed Val, “but we got another problem.”

“What, was she infected?” wondered Jeb.

“No. Why would you think she was infected?” sighed Val.

“I saw this episode of KMCIS last night where the bad guy infected himself with a virus and infected everyone in a ring station after he was shot,” explained Jeb.

“I saw that episode too, but that took place over KERBIN,” said Val. “The chances of that happening here are a million to one.”

“Yeah, Jeb,” agreed Bill. “If Irpond DID infect herself with a deadly virus – and assuming we didn’t catch her and Bob – odds are she would have died before she left Dres’ sphere of influence.”

“Hmm… I suppose that could be it,” said Jeb. “So, what’s the problem?”

“Misty has escaped, and she took a rocket plane to Aphrodite Colony,” answered Val.

“Aphrodite Colony?” gasped Bill. “JEB SENIOR’S heading there.”

“Chillax, Bill,” assured Jeb. “First of all, why should I care if some psychopath grabs Dad?”

“Because he’s the only family you have left,” answered Bill.

“WHO CARES?” said Jeb.

“I do,” said Val. “Besides, if Misty grabs Jeb Senior, who knows how many other people she’ll kill.”

“She won’t get him anyway,” argued Jeb. “Rocket planes may have kick-ass speed, but they come with a TERRIBLE range.”

“Actually, the guy I talked to said that the plane she stole WAS capable of reaching Aphrodite Colony from the medical base,” said Val.

“I’m gonna need the coordinates for the medical base and Aphrodite Colony,” Bill requested. “I also need the model of the rocket plane she took.”

 

As soon as Bill and Jeb (and the third kerbalnaut) returned to base, they were decontaminated and searched by the guards before rejoining Val. Kerbal Space Program regulations mandated that, whenever there was an on-base death (regardless of cause), all returning personnel would be thoroughly decontaminated in order to prevent the spread of harmful biological agents. Not only would they reduce the chances of interfering with the investigation, but there was a concern in the medical community that foreign contaminants combined with anything found on the corpse (like decaying flesh or bodily fluids, for instance) could cause a serious health problem in the outpost.

“This is stupid,” complained Jeb. “We were nowhere near Irpond when Hadgan shot her.”

“I agree,” said Bill. “If anything, Val and Hadgan should have been decontaminated.”

“I get Hadgan, since he got her blood on him,” agreed Val, “but why ME?”

“You were the last one to get in touching range of Irpond before the shooting,” explained Bill.

“No, I wasn’t,” said Val. “After Irpond attacked me, the guards stormed in and subdued her; that was MINUTES before the shooting.”

“As much as I appreciate this measure,” said Bob, “I think it is excessive in this case. I mean, if Irpond was SICK or POISONED, then it makes sense to be extra careful on what loose microorganisms you bring in – or out, for that matter. However, there’s no real reason to decontaminate INCOMING kerbalanuts after she died from TWO BULLETS TO THE HEAD.”

“Okay,” Bill told Val, “what kind of rocket plane did she use?”

“Let’s see,” said Val as she checked her kPad, “a Kerlington Ke-402 Comet.”

“Thanks,” replied Bill. “Let me see… yep. Pretty decent thrust for Eve.”

“Whatcha doing now, dude?” asked Jeb.

“I need to do some math to calculate if the director’s claims about the Comet being able to reach Aphrodite Colony from the medical center is true,” explained Bill.

“Bill, I don’t think he was lying,” countered Val.

“He could have been mistaken,” reminded Bill. “Also, these calculations will help me determine HOW Misty can get to Aphrodite. That’s also why I needed the coordinates of the medical station.”

“You do that,” said Val, “and make it snappy. If we hurry, we can catch her.”

“Wait,” blurted Bill.

“What now?” sighed Val.

“What runway did the Comet take off from?” he asked.

“Bill, the medical center only has one runway,” said Bob, showing Bill the satellite view.

“Which heading?” clarified Bill.

“Let me see…,” said Val as she checked the incident report, “she used Runway 3-1.”

“Thanks, that should be it,” said Bill, then his three friends left him alone to his math.

“Jeb, you have to warn your dad about Misty,” ordered Val.

“NO WAY,” spat Jeb.

“That is an ORDER, Captain,” replied Val.

“Uh, Val,” said Bob, “he’s your friend.”

“Lives are in jeopardy, Bob,” reminded Val. “And Jeb, this is no time to argue.”

“This is the PERFECT time to argue,” countered Jeb. “As far as I’m concerned, that man is dead to me.”

“I’m not asking you to patch things up with your father,” said Val. “I’m ORDERING you to WARN him about an ESCAPED CRIMINAL.”

“And if she wants him, she can have him,” sighed Jeb. “They can live together forever; Misty can spend her life keeping Dad out of my hair instead of killing people. That’s two birds with one stone, Val.”

“Um, YES, she WILL murder again,” said Val, “starting with the soldiers guarding the EAVs. Just tell your dad to go somewhere safe.”

“Uuuuuuuugggggghhhhhhh… FINE,” groaned Jeb, “but it’s not my problem if…”

“Shut up,” ordered Val.

“What are you and I gonna do?” asked Bob. “If Jeb still refused to call his dad, I could have done that.”

“Between you and me,” Val whispered into Bob’s ear, “it’s time Jeb planted the seeds of healing.”

“Neat,” said Bob.

“Anyway, Eugene told me that she needed to glide a lot if she was to reach Aphrodite,” started Val. “However, according to Misty’s file, she is NOT a licensed pilot.”

“Is that her current file or her old one?” wondered Bob, pointing at Misty’s picture on Val’s kPad.

“Current,” answered Val, “and it’s just for a tourist. Why ask?”

“A friend of mine in Records told me about a digital preservation effort for old files that started two years before you and I got to Dres,” explained Bob. “Surely, someone with high-level file access like yourself would know about it.”

“Oh, yeah,” remembered Val. “What good will checking Misty’s OLD file do?”

“She COULD have had some flight training back then,” said Bob, “but it didn’t show up NOW because her license expired.”

“Okay… wouldn’t hurt to try.” Val then typed Misty’s name again and tapped the PDF of Misty’s old personnel file. “Let me see… and… sorry, Bob. No flight training here.”

“Drat,” cursed Bob, “then how did she expect to fly… WAIT. Couldn’t she just use MJ?”

“Negative,” said Val. “Aircraft not designed to go into orbit are to be equipped with the MJ Aircraft Bundle.”

“What’s the difference?” wondered Bob.

“MJ Aircraft Bundle costs less than the full package, and it’s ONLY the functions required for aircraft use and navigation,” said Val. “Even then, VERY few people – licensed pilots or not – use the MJ autopilot functions; in fact, Bill has read MANY reports about plane crashes when MJ was active.”

“So much for that,” said Bob.

“He’s not picking up,” interrupted Jeb.

“No, we’re too late,” gasped Val.

“Or there could be interference,” Bob disagreed.

“How do you know Misty didn’t catch him yet?” Val asked him.

“Well, so far, we haven’t seen ANY evidence that Misty would know how to get to Aphrodite,” Bob mentioned. “Even if we did, for all we know Misty got there TOO LATE to get Jeb Senior.”

“Now that you mention it, he WAS going in a zig-zag path to Aphrodite,” said Val. “She could have also gotten there TOO EARLY… or the guards intercepted her.”

“Now, if I was Misty, where would I go to learn how to fly and NOT get certified?” Jeb asked, scratching his chin.

“Dilford,” said Val.

“Her husband… who was a pilot, OF COURSE,” Bob added.

“That she shot decades ago,” said Jeb. “How do you even know she remembers the gliding part?”

“Well, do YOU?” asked Val. “I do.”

“Easy for you to say, we’re both licensed pilots,” countered Jeb. “Besides, Dilford’s flight school could be WAY different from OURS.”

“Wait a sec,” blurted Val, “hey, Jeb. Remember Flight Math from Basic?”

“Not really,” said Jeb. “To be honest, I didn’t care for Flight Math.”

“So THAT’S why you were a third wheel,” realized Val.

“Wait, third wheel for what?” asked Bob.

“I was struggling with Flight Math and tried to get Bill to help me with it,” said Val. “However, every time I met Bill for help, Jeb was there too.”

“Sounds lame, if you ask me,” sighed Jeb.

“Excuse me?” gasped Val.

“If you liked Bill that much, why didn’t you say so?” he explained. “It’s not like he didn’t already have feelings for you.”

“And at least you didn’t wipe out half the planet to get him,” added Bob.

“Less dating Bill advice, more catching Misty advice,” said Val.

“Question: did Dilford have the same Flight Math course as Val and Jeb?” asked Bob.

“Better question: who cares?” sighed Jeb.

“Uh… gliding was part of the curriculum,” reminded Val.

“For US, maybe,” scoffed Jeb. “How do you know if DILFORD had it?”

“Only one way to find out,” said Val as she accessed a PDF of Dilford Kerman’s personnel file. “Wow, they even got detailed course performance records in the OLD files too.”

“Does it say how well he did in Flight Math… if he had it?” asked Jeb.

“And… yep. It says here he did pretty well in Flight Math… and yes, it included ‘Gliding Triginometry.’ In fact, his pre-graduation team project was about using gliding to reduce overall fuel consumption.”

“Uh oh,” gasped Bob. “If Misty got a hold of that, then odds are she would calculate how to get to Aphrodite from the medical center.”

“Assuming she still remembers that,” reminded Jeb.

“That’s strange,” muttered Val, staring at a part of Dilford’s file.

“What is?” asked Jeb, then Val showed the screen to Jeb. “His practical instructor… WHAT?!”

“His instructor what?” wondered Bob.

“Dilford’s instructor was Jeb’s mother,” said Val.

“Val, can you please look for Mom’s file?” requested Jeb.

“Jeb, how is that gonna help us get Misty?” asked Val.

“It’s not, but we’ve already established Misty should know what she’s doing,” argued Jeb. “I already tried to warn Dad, but nothing.”

“Until we can establish communication with Jeb Senior,” remarked Bob, “all we can do now is sit here and wait for Bill to calculate Misty’s course of action.”

“How do you even know your mom was even in KSP?” Val inquired.

“How do you know she WASN’T?” smirked Jeb.

“Any other day, I’d say you were being a smart-mouth again,” sighed Val. “However, given the recent episode between you and your dad, I’ll look.”

“If your mom WAS in KSP,” said Bob, “how come nobody in Admin told you?”

“Because she was REJECTED,” answered Val. “And yes, they kept the files for rejected applicants from that long ago.”

“Wait a second, if Mom was rejected, how could she have taught Dilford?” asked Jeb.

“Because she was hired on an instructor contract,” said Val, “which meant she was not officially a KSP employee. She was rejected from the kerbalnaut program due to her criminal and accident liability record.”

“I thought instructors WERE official KSP employees,” countered Bob.

“NOT when Dilford and Misty were just trainees,” explained Val. “The program couldn’t afford its own training academy then, so they hired a contractor.”

“So… if Dilford was Mom’s student…,” stammered Jeb, “then that must mean that… Misty is my student… sister-in-law.”

“Really, Jeb?” sighed Val.

“Actually, now that he mentions it,” said Bob, “you now have ANOTHER reason to go out and help your dad.”

“Please elaborate,” said Jeb.

“Your mom, the love of Jeb Senior’s life, trained one of Misty’s victims,” elaborated Bob. “Don’t you think your dad has a right to know that?”

“Nope, since he already violated MY right to know I had a sister,” countered Jeb.

“Huh,” Val told herself, “Dilford graduated Pilot School almost a year before Amelia died.”

“Wait… so,” stammered Bob before drawing a timeline on his own kPad.

“What are you getting at?” wondered Val.

“Do you think that Misty… KILLED Amelia and Vanessa?” asked Bob.

“Why would she do that?” questioned Val.

“Because Amelia was too close to her target,” guessed Bob.

“I seriously doubt that,” Val disagreed. “If she did, she didn’t need to waste time going to Baikerbanur and wait for her to fly THROUGH a THUNDERSTORM – and when there was a NO-FLY ORDER in effect.”

“Irpond managed to force Tami to shoot Dora – and Reid to shoot up the base,” reminded Bob. “What’s to say Misty didn’t force Amelia to fly into that storm with her daughter?”

“Dad said that Mom wanted to take ALL of us to Woomerang, but Dad refused and asked Mom to stay for the night,” said Jeb. “After that, she distracted Dad while Vanessa snuck on the plane and ran for it.”

“Doesn’t really sound like she was forced to do anything, especially given Amelia’s record,” agreed Val as she looked up Debra Kerman’s file. “Besides that, it was almost nine years between Amelia’s crash and Debra’s; why would she wait that long between making moves… or to confess her love to Dilford, for that matter? And furthermore, while Amelia’s crash was on a stormy night, DEBRA’S was on a clear, sunny day.”

“What are you saying, Val?” inquired Bob.

“If Misty WAS guilty of causing Amelia’s and Vanessa’s deaths, you’d think that she would know better and kill Debra in more HOSTILE weather conditions,” explained Val. “Sure, Debra’s car was a prototype, but the sabotage was more obvious.”

“Hmm… you’re right,” murmured Bob. “At this point, the only way Misty COULD have been involved in Jeb’s mom’s death is if she DARED her to fly through bad weather.”

“Seems reasonable,” concurred Val, “but even then, only AN IDIOT would try that.”

“Even then, we know there’s a good chance Misty would know what she was doing,” said Bob.

“Then why is Bill even doing math?” asked Jeb. “Her gliding math is bound to be rusty by now.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean she can’t do it,” warned Val. “Her old file says that she worked in propulsion, so she can definitely do the math.”

“Assuming she knows what math TO do,” emphasized Bob, then Bill interrupted them.

“Whatcha get?” asked Val.

“She’ll need to accelerate to 100 meters per second at full throttle before pitching up,” started Bill. “After she’s airborne, she will have to change her ground track to 290 degrees and ascend at full throttle to an apoapsis of 60 kilometers meters at a pitch angle of 45 degrees. After she reaches…”

“Save the math for bedtime,” sighed Jeb. “Can that rocket reach Aphrodite or what?”

“Yes,” said Bill. “Assuming that she descended at…”

“That’s enough,” said Bob.

“Not yet,” Val responded. “Could she intercept Jeb Senior?”

“Since she took off at 0024 Hours Krakopolis time, she should still be airborne right now.”

“Uh oh,” gasped Val. “Jeb, try your dad again. Bill, you have to disable the ascent vehicles.”

“How do I…?” questioned Bill.

“I don’t care how, just do it so Misty CAN’T use them,” spat Val. “Bob, call Roger.”

 

Inside the Aphrodite Colony perimeter, Jeb Senior was being extra careful to move unnoticed. After he had stopped at the Jeb’s Junkyard site, he told his lieutenant to take charge and recharged his rover before reloading his suit with water and power. Though his destination was Aphrodite Colony, he moved in a zig-zag pattern to throw off anyone in case anyone was tracking him.

As an additional measure, he shut down his kPad and removed its battery so nobody could use its Kerbnet signal to track him. While that meant he wouldn’t be sending or receiving any calls, he guessed nobody would want to call him at this time – especially not his own son. When he arrived at the colony entrance, he parked his rover and presented his identification to the guards before walking the rest of the way.

He spent nearly an hour walking to throw off anyone who might have been following him before entering a small hotel with a mini-bus parked next to it. He then walked into the main lobby – not removing his suit after getting through the airlock – and approached one of the kiosks.

“Welcome to Increased Gravity Inn,” a female computer voice spoke. “How can I help you?”

“I need to use the phone, now,” demanded Jeb Senior after he switched on his suit’s external speakers.

“Okay. Who would you like to call?” Jeb Senior’s eyes widened when he saw one of the call options.

“Emergency Services,” said Jeb Senior.

“Are you sure you want to contact Emergency Services?” asked the computer.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“One moment, please.” Five seconds later, a man replied.

“Aphrodite Colony Emergency Services.”

“Hello, sir. This is Jebediah Kerman Senior,” Jeb Senior whispered. “I’m at Increased Gravity Inn now.”

“Copy that, sir,” said the responder. “What’s your situation?”

“I’m running from a psychopathic murderer named Misty Kerman, and I require immediate protection,” explained Jeb Senior, panting nervously. “Can you send someone over?”

“Calm down, Jeb Senior. Do you see Misty now?”

“No, but I know she’s coming for me,” warned Jeb Senior. “Please hurry.”

“Stay out of sight. We’ll send a military escort to your position.”

“Thanks.” Jeb Senior remained in his suit while he went to the outpost’s rec room, where a base engineer approached him.

“Hey,” she said, “why do you have a suit on?”

“Show me your left knee,” demanded Jeb Senior.

“Uh… sir?” gasped the engineer, then Jeb Senior brandished a screwdriver that he had in one of his suit pockets.

“Left knee, NOW!” The engineer complied and lifted her lift pant leg up to her mid-thigh.

“You happy?”

“No gunshot, so yeah,” sighed Jeb Senior as he put away his weapon. “Sorry about that, miss.”

“If you’re looking for gunshot wounds, I have one in my right shoulder from a teenage hunting accident,” the engineer told him. “Why check the left knee?”

“Because the woman I’m running away from has one there,” explained Jeb Senior.

“Ooh, is she like an ex or something?” wondered the engineer. “I’m Michaela, by the way.”

“Name’s Jebediah,” said Jeb Senior as he shook hands. “Everyone just calls me Jeb Senior.”

“I was wondering if you were Jeb’s dad,” said Michaela.

“I am,” smiled Jeb Senior, “though I don’t know for how much longer.”

“Why, is he in danger?”

“More like he never wants anything to do with me,” said Jeb Senior.

“Aw, that’s too bad,” said Michaela, “So, can I help you?”

“Well… now that you mention it, can you get me a room for one under your name please?” Jeb Senior requested. “I’ll reimburse you for all expenses.”

“Um, can’t you just do it yourself at the kiosk?”

“No. I need YOU to do it FOR me,” clarified Jeb Senior.

“Why me?”

“I can’t risk Misty knowing I’m here,” said Jeb Senior. “If she sees my name in the tenant roster, I’m a dead man.”

“Can’t you just call the colony guards?” questioned Michaela.

“I did, but… to be honest with you, I’m not counting on them arresting her before she kills me,” sighed Jeb Senior. “Just send me the bill after I leave, and I’ll add a 20 percent tip.”

“Okay,” said Michaela. “Could you remove your suit, please?”

“Can-do,” answered Jeb Senior, then he left her to take off his EVA suit. “Oh, and you might need a biohazard crew to take care of the suit diaper.” A few minutes later, he was out of his suit and Michaela had arranged his room for him. “Thanks.”

“KMCIS!” a soldier announced loudly as more entered the base.

“Not necessary, corporal,” said another. “Jebediah Kerman Senior?”

“Thank goodness you’re here, soldiers,” sighed Jeb Senior.

“Secure the area, boys,” he ordered, then his men spread out with their guns raised. “Jeb Senior, we’ve received word that Misty is on her way to Aphrodite Colony right now,”

“WHAT?!” gasped Jeb Senior.

“The good news is that her plane is still airborne,” the commanding officer told him. “As I understand it, you knew Misty Kerman well?”

“Yes, we… dated for a while before her emails were leaked,” answered Jeb Senior.

“We’ve been sent here to protect you, but odds are that other soldiers will catch her before she gets anywhere near here.”

“Good, because I need to rest now,” said Jeb Senior. “Michaela, what room did you reserve for me?”

“Bunk Eight,” answered Michaela, then she gave Jeb Senior the keycard. As soon as he got into the room, three soldiers swiped the card through the lock and burst inside.

“All clear, sir,” they told him, and Jeb Senior lay down on the sleeping bag with his kPad on his chest.

“Finally, some well-deserved rest,” he said to himself. As tempted as he was to spend a few Eve days here and relax, he knew that it would make him a sitting duck. After a few hours of sleep and an Eve morning photosynthesis, he would leave the hotel and arrange to be flown off the planet. Though he was aware that it would take him a while to get the clearance to get in an EAV, he would at least be in a protected area while the flight arrangements were being arranged.

When the sun rose over the horizon, Jeb Senior slowly woke up and stretched his body. After changing his clothes, he inserted the battery into his kPad and waited for it to reboot. A minute later, he saw that his Kerbtext inbox was full of unread messages; he didn’t think anything of it until he saw the sender for most of them.

“Jeb?!” he gasped.

I know you can read me.
I called you three times, but nothing.
In case your phone app’s broken, Misty’s on her way to Aphrodite Colony in a Comet. -       A rocket plane she hijacked from the hospital she was at.
Come on, Dad. Why are you ignoring me?
Is this because you’ve been taken hostage, or are you just being a jerk?
For the record, Val told me to contact you.
Since you haven’t been responding, she told me to “ping” you every 30 minutes. Please respond when you get back online so we know you’re alive.
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping
Ping

 

“Oh, dang it,” cursed Jeb Senior. “I should have turned the kPad back on when I was on the… wait, there’s no road.” He then noticed that the timestamps on the “pings” were on perfect 30-minute intervals. “Either Jeb used the auto-send feature, or he’s been paying more attention to the clock… just to warn me.”

	I’m all right, Jeb.
What happened? You’ve been off the grid for days?
	My fault; I removed the battery from my kPad.
Why would you do that?
	I couldn’t risk anyone tracking me from my kPad signal.
Where are you?
	Somewhere in Aphrodite Colony. -       Can’t give you specifics since there’s no word of Misty getting caught.
Drat.
At least Irpond’s dead.

 

“Room service,” a man announced while knocking the door. Jeb Senior then looked through the peephole and saw his face before opening.

“I didn’t order any room service,” said Jeb Senior.

“All tenants receive vitamin supplements after their first night here,” the employee explained before giving him a small bottle full of pills. “Don’t worry, it’s safe.”

“Wait a second,” said Jeb Senior as he walked toward the front desk and saw a kerbal receptionist. “Excuse me, but do you really offer vitamins to the guests?”

“Yes,” said the receptionist. “It’s on our webpage, see.” Jeb Senior then examined the receptionist’s computer and carefully read the part about the complementary vitamins.

“Okay, good to know,” said Jeb Senior. “I thought it was drugs.”

“You don’t have to take them if you don’t want to,” the receptionist told him.

“I’ll take them anyway.” Jeb Senior then opened the sealed can and swallowed a couple of the vitamin pills. “I’m going to need all the energy I can get.”

“Then you might want to head to your room to get cleaned up,” said the employee, then Jeb Senior entered his room. After he took a quick shower, he started to feel a little bit relaxed. “Aphrodite Command has requested that we transport you to the military outpost in a closed-cockpit rover.”

“Thanks,” said Jeb Senior, then he noticed that his eyelids were starting to drop. “Sir, I feel… drowsy.”

“Bet you would be after driving for days,” sighed the attendant, then Jeb Senior slumped into a rover seat after walking through the airlock. Before Jeb Senior said anything else, the hotel employee got in the vehicle and sealed the door.

“Uh… sir,” groaned Jeb Senior, “I don’t think you’re supposed to be here.”

“Actually, I am,” the employee replied, but in a more feminine tone.

“No…,” gasped Jeb Senior, then he saw the driver remove his had and wig – revealing long, brunette hair. “Cannot… be.”

“MJ, take us to the nearest EAV.”

“Target locked… plotting destination… moving now at 10 meters per second.” As the rover started to drive itself, Jeb Senior’s abductor revealed herself after she removed the voice changer under the collar.

“Hey, my little Jebby-poo? Did you miss me?

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: SECOND LOVE

 

“Ugh,” groaned Jeb Senior as his eyelids fluttered open, “w… what happened?” He tried to recall what had transpired before he had lost consciousness. One minute, he was in a mini-bus to the Aphrodite command center; the next, he was strapped to what seemed to be a seat in a Mk. 1-3 Command Pod. He tried to move his arms, but his limbs were taped to the rests.

“Where am I? What’s going on?” He looked out the window and saw purple sky, so he was still on Eve’s surface. “Those vitamin supplements… oh no.” Next to him, he heard a door opened and saw a kerbalnaut in a flight suit enter the cockpit. “You gotta help me. Misty Kerman tied me up and has taken me hostage.”

“Taken you hostage?” a female voice said on the suit’s external speaker.

“Please, just cut me loose and get me out of here,” begged Jeb Senior.

“Not just yet, honey,” she replied, then she put a helmet on Jeb Senior. “Strap in; this is going to be a bumpy ride.”

“Aphrodite Command, this is Jebediah Kerman…!” shouted Jeb Senior, but the kerbalnaut put her right thumb down before flipping some of the switches. Suddenly, he felt the ground vibrate underneath him; he guessed that his abductor was activating the ignition sequence.

“Don’t even think about using radio communications,” she told him, “for I disabled that feature on your suit. You can only hear me through the data feed I plugged into the suit.”

“I know how the cockpit suit data cord works,” sighed Jeb Senior. “What are you doing?”

“Why… getting us off here,” said the kerbalnaut as she removed her own helmet.

“Misty!” gasped Jeb Senior.

“Now, it’s okay to be afraid at this stage,” she assured him. “Since Eve is larger than Kerbin, it may fail, and we could end up here forever. And we don’t want that, now do we?” She put her helmet back on. “Misty Two to Mission Control, all systems are ‘go’ for launch.”

“Do you even know how to work this thing?” sighed Jeb Senior.

“Quiet, you,” said Misty. “T-minus ten seconds and counting.”

“You don’t want to do this,” argued Jeb Senior. “I’ve read that a million things can go wrong...”

“Five, four, three, two, one,” interrupted Misty, before uncovering the red rectangular staging button. “IGNITION!” After she pressed it, the cockpit started to shake as the EAV blasted off. Nobody said anything as the rocket flew through Eve’s thick clouds; Misty tried to talk, but she was sure Jeb Senior couldn’t hear her over the sound of the rocket engines – and the staging decouplers going off.

Several minutes of flying later, the main component of the EAV was in a stable 150-kilometer orbit above Eve. Jeb Senior looked down at the planet, hoping that someone noticed and would come to his rescue. However, Misty seemed to read his mind and took off her helmet and seatbelt as she started to float.

“Now, I’m going to take off your helmet now,” she told him. “Screaming won’t do any good, since sound doesn’t carry through space.” She then removed Jeb Senior’s helmet and smiled at him.

“You… kidnapped… me,” groaned Jeb Senior.

“You ran away from me,” said Misty. “Why?”

“Because you’re a psychopath who kills people for fun,” sighed Jeb Senior.

“Fun?” gasped Misty. “Why, I should be insulted. You think I just target people for the sheer thrill of it?”

“Yes,” said Jeb Senior, then Misty laughed. “Am I your next victim?”

“If I wanted you dead, I’d have kicked you out of that bus without a suit,” said Misty. “Did you get dizzy on your way up?”

“Yeah,” answered Jeb Senior, “did you?”

“Getting you dizzy wasn’t part of the plan,” complained Misty. “Had things gone as planned, we would have made it into orbit earlier.”

“What went wrong?” questioned Jeb Senior.

“Someone drained the batteries and cut off the power flow,” complained Misty. “The saboteur also scrambled the staging sequence and removed the alternators. It took me a long time to fix the ship before taking off.”

“I… honestly have no idea how that happened,” sighed Jeb Senior.

“I do,” said Misty. “It is spelled B-I-L-L, and he is crazy obsessed with me.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” complained Jeb Senior, then Misty slapped him – sending her to the wall.

“Oops, I almost forgot Newton’s Third Law,” she said. “At least I don’t threaten your child or smear you all over the solar system. In fact, last I heard, your son hates you.”

“You got the part about Jeb right,” sighed Jeb Senior. “If he wasn’t ordered to ask for proof that I’m alive, he wouldn’t bother contacting me at all.”

“MJ, get me to Kerbin ASAP,” Misty demanded. “Let’s see what he said, shall we?” She took out Jeb Senior’s kPad – along with its battery – and activated it as soon as she re-inserted the battery. “Wow, that’s a lot of unread messages.”

“Maneuver node plotted,” said MJ. “Warning: you are planning to fly to your target 193 Kerbin days before your transfer window.”

“Can I make it to Kerbin?” sighed Misty.

“Yes,” replied MJ. “While you have enough delta-V to make the ejection burn, you may not be able to fine-tune your approach to your target – or slow down your approach before re-entry”

“Do it,” said Misty.

“Acknowledged. Ignition in T-minus 27 minutes and counting.” Misty then deactivated the voice command system and kissed Jeb Senior.

“Unlock this kPad,” Misty demanded, and then it received another message. “Oh, I wonder who that could be.”

“Probably Jeb, asking for proof I’m all right,” sighed Jeb Senior, surprising Misty.

“Jeb?” inquired Misty. “Whoa, all these unread messages are from Jeb. What happened, did you two finally make up?”

“No chance,” answered Jeb Senior.

“Then give me the combination and let’s find out,” said Misty.

“It doesn’t have a combination lock,” said Jeb Senior, then Misty took off Jeb’s left glove and forced his index finger on the scanner.

“Thanks a lot,” said Misty, then she looked at the messages. “All of them say ‘ping,’ and are 15 minutes apart. Hmm… I wonder why. Anyway, let’s see… WHAAAAAT?!”

“Could you keep it down, please?” Jeb Senior requested. “The ascent rockets are bad enough.”

“No… impossible,” continued Misty. “Is it true?”

“Is what true?” wondered Jeb Senior.

“Jeb told you that Irpond’s dead,” said Misty, showing him the texts. “Is it true?”

“I dunno,” said Jeb Senior, “but why would he lie about it?”

“She killed her,” stammered Misty. “SHE KILLED HER!”

“WHO killed her?” asked Jeb Senior.

“Val, that’s who,” answered Misty. “SHE… murdered… my daughter.”

“How can you be so sure?” wondered Jeb Senior. “I mean, for all you know, it could have been a legally sanctioned execution.”

“All she wanted was Bob’s love, and Val took that from her – even though she liked Bill,” argued Misty, then Jeb Senior’s kPad received another message. “Speaking of which.” She opened it and saw that it was from Val this time.”

“Who’s it from? What did it say?” questioned Jeb Senior.

“It’s from Val,” said Misty. “It says, ‘I don’t know if Jeb told you this, but Amelia was Dilford Kerman’s flight instructor a year before she died.’”

“Amelia was a contract instructor for the early space program,” explained Jeb Senior. “She COULD have crossed paths… hang on.”

“What?”

“Did you KILL Amelia and Vanessa?” gasped Jeb Senior.

“No,” said Misty. “If Amelia WAS a threat to me, I would have tracked you down and told you that she was cheating on you. And if that didn’t work, I would have sat down and WAITED for her to kill herself.” She smiled as she embraced a taped-up Jeb Senior. “Now, we have each other – and you’d better get comfortable, because we’re going to be stuck in this capsule for a LONG time.”

“Until we reach Kerbin, but even then, that’s suicidal on your part,” reminded Jeb Senior. “Everyone on the planet will be looking for you, and you heard what MJ said; you could miss the target since we’re making our exit burn too early.”

“Ha ha, I thought of that,” smirked Misty. “You may ask ‘What is your plan?’ Well… I can’t spoil it now, can I?”

“How did you find me?” asked Jeb Senior.

“When the nearest EAV hadn’t blasted off yet, I figured that you would go somewhere else to run – and where better than Aphrodite Colony,” started Misty. “I also figured that the medical center would alert Eve command of my departure in the Comet, so I made a bomb using some of the chemicals found in the base and set it to go off after I was airborne.”

“Well, it didn’t work,” said Jeb Senior. “Jeb and his friends knew you were coming.”

“Oh, really?” smiled Misty. “Well… in my defense, I was pretty rushed, and I had morphine in me from treating my gunshot wound. Though I accounted for a slow departure, perhaps I set the timer a little TOO long.”

“I hope it didn’t go off at all.”

“No matter,” sighed Misty. “I was lucky that the Comet had access to military transponders. I wonder why they did, though; did… the manufacturers not believe that they would be a threat due to their very short burn time? Either way, I saw an unusually large concentration at the Increased Gravity Inn and figured that was where you were. After all, driving for days would wear you out.”

“How did you get past them?” questioned Jeb Senior.  

“I distracted them by crashing the plane at the central communications outpost,” continued Misty. “They HAD to move quickly to address the issue; not only that, the entire city was in a virtual blackout. Amid the chaos, I snuck through the city and got to the hotel.”

“How’d you even know which room I was in?”

“I lured the on-base engineer outside and forced her to tell me where you were,” answered Misty. “Quite clever that you had her register your room under HER name; I almost thought you were cheating. After I punctured her suit open, I went inside and dressed up as a male employee. I then took a syringe from the medical supply closet and poked a small hole in the bottom of the vitamin container before tainting them. After I took you to the car, I drove to the nearest EAV, put you in a flight suit, and taped you to the chair.

“However, I couldn’t just start the ship; someone had sabotaged it.”

“And you blame Bill for that?” inquired Jeb Senior, and Misty nodded in agreement. “That’s impossible, he’s on Dres.”

“He must have told one of his friends on Eve to do it,” Misty told him. “He’s good, but I’m better.”

“You sure about that?” asked Jeb Senior. “I’ve known Bill since he and Jeb were in elementary school; he’s not one to give up easy. Even when he learned that the Woomerang rocket contract was a sham to get locker room pictures, he still worked on dropping a probe on their football team.”

“Oh, you still think that he’s going to come to the rescue?” said Misty as she tampered with Jeb Senior’s kPad lock settings. “Well, looks like I’d better tell him that he finally met his match.”

 

While night fell on Calculus Base, Val was fast asleep in her bunk. She had previously told Jeb to text his father every 15 minutes after the second time he lost contact – which was after Jeb Senior had woken up at the Increased Gravity Inn. Bill, in the meantime, called a colleague on Eve and asked him to tamper with the EAVs so Misty couldn’t use them. Bob contacted Internal Investigations while Val alerted Eve Command about Misty’s escape. She was horrified when she heard that they lost contact with the medical center near the Jeb’s Junkyard construction site, knowing full-well that Misty had something to do with it.

After she was done requesting that Eve Command put all military forces on full alert, she got a call from Roger – who, at the time, was on an SSTO to the Mun. He had been notified of the shooting in Dresden Base, and Kerbin’s central government had already decided on the details of Hadgan’s upcoming court-martial. Commander Oswald would be the presiding judge while twelve kerbals who had nothing to do with Irpond’s killing spree would be part of the jury. While Hadgan and his counsel had the right to call forth witnesses, Val would be called as a prosecution witness since Hadgan talked to her during the arrest. She told her friends about it, and the four of them agreed that Hadgan would most likely beat the murder charge due to the severity of Irpond’s actions.

Later that night, Val was off-duty and asked Bill to spend the night with her – while in separate bags, of course. However, Bill had other plans for the night; he was assigned to work at the Bielefeld Interplanetary Observatory, located 20 kilometers from Calculus Base. While Bill slept, Val flew him in a moonjet to Calculus Base and waited for the surface transport to pick him up. The rover was specifically designed to limit – if not eliminate – the chance of radio and electronic signals interfering with the observatory data. As the observatory was in a “quiet zone,” transmissions could not go in or out of the outpost unless they were carried by “messenger robots” – which were somewhat designed to look like Wally.

Since Bill’s kPad would be useless – if not an obstruction – in the quiet zone, Val decided to hold on to it until Bill returned. She found a bunk to sleep in and kept Bill’s kPad next to her while she looked at some pictures on her own.

“I hope Jeb Senior’s okay,” she told herself, then she accessed one of the folders in her photo album. She started to look at a picture of what seemed to be a younger version of herself standing next to a boy in a hospital bed. “Aw, you looked so cute.”

It was Bill while he was in his fifth-grade coma, which took place after Jeb crashed Bill’s prototype plane.

“Kinda nice that Mom scanned the photo album and sent me these pictures,” said Val before swiping to the left. “Very impressive for a sixth-grade science project; drawing a design concept for an air-breathing 30-kilometer altitude plane. Too bad that some engineer in Woomerang beat you to it.” She moved through a few more photos before stopping at a picture of her and Victor at a football game. “Dang it, Mom. You always were a shutterbug.”

Suddenly, Val noticed Bill’s kPad buzzing, indicating that someone was calling him. She checked the caller ID and read Jeb Senior’s name on it.

“Finally,” sighed Val as she accepted the call. “Jeb Senior, you okay?”

“Who is this?” a woman responded, surprising Val.

“Admiral Valentina Kerman of the Kerbal Space Program,” answered Val.

“Hello, Val,” the woman told her. “Can I talk to Bill, please?”

“You can’t,” said Val, “he’s in a quiet zone now. He won’t be available for a while. Now, who are you?”

“MMM MMPH!” she heard a man grunt on the other end, then Val’s eyes widened in shock as the man was slapped into silence.

“MISTY KERMAN!”

“You guessed it,” acknowledged Misty. “Is it true that Irpond’s dead?”

“Yes,” said Val, “and no, it wasn’t me. The shooter is going to trial.”

“It… must have been Bill,” sobbed Misty. “For years, he’s wanted my family wiped out.”

“I can’t imagine why,” said Val sarcastically. “And no, it wasn’t BILL either. It was some other guy Irpond tricked into killing one of her rivals.”

“I trust that you’ll prosecute the shooter to the fullest extent of the law… and go for the death penalty,” said Misty.

“I’m just a witness,” sighed Val, “and personally, I don’t think he’s going to do any time. After all, everybody knows what she did – both in Woomerang and in space.”

“Gah,” groaned Misty. “Where is Bill now?”

“He’s working at an observatory several kilometers from here right now,” answered Val. “You can’t reach him at this moment because he’s in a designated radio quiet zone.”

“Get him back here,” demanded Misty, “and have him call me back, or else I will slit Jeb Senior’s throat right now.”

“Can’t I just leave a message for when he comes back?” sighed Val.

“NOW!” shouted Misty angrily. “He has 15 minutes to call me back, or Jeb’s father dies.” Before Val could respond, Misty hung up. Val then stormed out of her quarters with Bill’s kPad and got a suit from the dispenser (and a space container for the kPad) before exiting the nerest airlock.

“Come on,” she said nervously as she turned on her helmet lights. Once she saw a fuel-and-oxidizer lander nearby, she climed aboard and switched standby mode off. “Come on, navicomputer. Help me out here.” She hastily for the observatory’s coordinates and programmed MJ to plot a suborbital trajectory that would allow it to land within 100 meters of the outpost.

“Course plotted,” said MJ. “Warning: you are attempting to fly below the 1.5-kilometer surface altitude ceiling at night in a quiet zone. Increased risks include…”

“Shut up and get me there,” ordered Val.

“Acknowledged.” Almost a minute later, the lander had touched down near the observatory and Val jumped out and entered with her suit on.

“What’s going on here?” asked Emanuel Kerman, an astronomer who saw Val coming out the window.

“Get Bill over here, NOW!” ordered Val.

“Hey, Bill! It’s for you!” shouted Emanuel, then Bill showed up thirty seconds later.

“Who are you?” wondered Bill, then Val took off her helmet.

“No time to explain,” said Val. “Get a suit on, we gotta go.”

“Wait, now?”

“Yes, now!”

“EVA me,” said Bill as he approached the spare suit dispenser, then he and Val quickly left the observatory. “You got a lander here?”

“Just get in there!” said Val, and the two of them were soon in the lander. “MJ, ascend to a 30-kilometer parking orbit.”

“Roger that,” replied MJ.

“WHAT?!” gasped Bill, then the spacecraft blasted off while he wasn’t strapped to a seat. A few seconds later, he was spread-eagled flat on his chest while Val was buckled up. “A little more time to buckle my seatbelt would be nice.”

“She’s got Jeb Senior,” explained Val.

“OH, NO!” said Bill.

“If you don’t call her back NOW, he dies,” she told him. “THOSE was her demands.”

“You got my kPad?” asked Bill, and Val showed it to him. “Just let me strap in first.”

“Make it quick,” said Val, then Bill called Jeb Senior’s kPad after he was finished buckling up.

“Hey, Bill.” Misty responded.

“It’s over, Misty,” said Bill.

“Is it, Bill?” said Misty. “You may have bested my daughter, and I will admit you almost had me.”

“I still do,” bragged Bill. “There’s nowhere to hide now.”

“You really think so?” said Misty. “You may also have damaged my love, but rest assured I will repair that damage?”

“How could I have damaged your love if YOU killed him?” sighed Bill, then he and Val high-fived each other.

“Not Dill, I meant JEB,” corrected Misty.

“Fun fact: Dilford’s flight instructor was Jeb Senior’s late wife,” said Bill.

“I know that,” said Misty. “I wish I had met her before she died; she was one common thread between Dill and Jeb.”

“What do you want, Misty?” asked Bill.

“To let you know that you’ve been defeated,” boasted Misty. “You were a worthy match, but I won in the end. Jebby-poo and I are going to live out the rest of our days in happiness… probably even make a child to replace the one he lost.”

“And the one YOU lost too, apparently,” sighed Bill. “Was THAT what you thought of Irpond? Some kind of… love trophy?”

“Bill, don’t tease her when she’s got a hostage,” Val advised him.

“At least SHE AND I were close, as mother and daughter should be,” argued Misty. “Jeb’s daughter is dead, and his son HATES him.”

“Really, since he sends out pings every 15 minutes just to check on him,” Val argued.

“Nice try, but the timing is TOO perfect for Jeb to have done that manually,” said Misty. “Besides, Jeb JUNIOR was bound to have been asleep when some of those messages were sent.”

“Ooh, she’s got you there,” whispered Bill.

“I think you’re missing the main point here,” Misty told Bill.

“That you’ve replaced the love of your life with Jeb’s dad?” asked Bill.

“That the game’s over. You lose, I win,” bragged Misty.

“You really think so?” sighed Bill. “You just kidnapped the CEO OF Jeb’s Junkyard, which is BOUND to raise flags and start investigations. Besides that, you’re now a fugitive of the law. Where are you gonna go?”

“Ha, like I’m telling you,” responded Misty. “But… if you want to keep chasing me, do so. I’m just saying… you’re just wasting your time. You might want to save us all the trouble and give up now.”

“You know I can’t do that, Misty. And if not me, somebody else will capture you.”

“Good luck with that, BOY.” Misty then disconnected her call, and Bill started to act like he was preparing for war.

“We gotta intercept her,” he told Val.

“Which would require knowing where she’s going at what times,” she reminded him.

“And fast,” added Bill. “Now, there’s a small chance that she’s still on Eve’s surface and has yet to blast off, but I’m not counting on it.”

“I thought you said you talked someone into sabotaging the EAVs,” said Val.

“I had to compromise and settle for minimal modifications,” clarified Bill. “The guy I talked to only agreed to drain the batteries, remove the alternators, and alter the staging sequence.”

“Uh, wouldn’t the last part increase the chance of blowing up the EAV?” asked Val.

“Assuming Misty restored the power flow, no,” answered Bill. “The new EAVs have a safety feature that don’t allow engines still encased in their decoupler fairings to ignite. However, if Misty DIDN’T restore power yet, the staging sequence still won’t work even if it was correct.”

“Yes, that would be an important feature,” commented Val. “A large chunk of Eve’s record death rate is because of EAV failure rate alone.”

“I thought Laythe had the highest death rate outside of Kerbin.”

“If we excluded murders, then EVE wins,” explained Val. “I’ll check Eve’s object tracker on… oh, crud. I left my kPad at Calculus Base.”

“I’ll do it,” said Bill. “Okay, let’s see… hang on. Where did this EAV come from?”

“Wait, what EAV?” asked Val, then Bill zoomed in toward’s a ship’s orbit. “I don’t remember giving clearance for that one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told Eve Command to notify me when Jeb Senior was cleared to leave,” said Val. “They needed verbal confirmation from me before he blasted off.”

“Misty’s in there,” gasped Bill as he facepalmed himself. “I TOLD them to remove the spark plugs so that the engines wouldn’t work, but NO. I was lucky they even agreed to alternators.”

“Now, where would she go?” sighed Val.

“The farthest EAVs can go are a direct burn to Kerbin,” said Bill as he looked up the specifications for the Eve Ascent Vehicle. “However, it makes no sense for Misty to go there.”

“Why, because Kerbin is crawling with cops and soldiers?”

“No,” disagreed Bill as he showed Val Transfer Window Alarm Clock. “The next window from Eve to Kerbin opens in approximately 193 days, which would give Eve’s forces plenty of time to rendezvous with her capsule.” He then switched to the object tracker and pointed at a space station. “Sure, she escaped the ground forces, but the U.S.S. Sulfuric Acid should dispatch a jet and catch her within a day.”

“Now, why would she wait that long to make an exit burn?” questioned Val, then her eyes widened when she realized something. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” asked Bill.

“Unless she made her exit burn NOW,” Val figured out.

“What makes you think that?”

“The first time she tried to call you, she told me I had 15 MINUTES to have you call her back or she would kill Jeb Senior,” recalled Val. “Now, why would she have such a short time limit? Why not wait until you got out of the quiet zone to try again, or at least ask me to leave a message?”

“Hmm… give me a minute,” said Bill as he began running numbers and drawing on his kPad. “It IS possible to reach Kerbin if she made her burn NOW, but it’s also RISKY.”

“How so?”

“Assuming she had enough delta-V to fine-tune her closest Kerbin approach, she could STILL re-enter Kerbin at too high a velocity since she won’t have enough fuel to adequately slow herself down,”

“Bill, I love you, but my nerd speak is still rusty.”

Bill smirked at Val. “Misty has a HIGH chance of running out of fuel. If not, then she could BURN TO DEATH during re-entry.”

“And Jeb Senior, too,” said Val. “Can’t the Sulfuric Acid send a rescue team?”

“Hmm… sorry, Val. No-can-do,” answered Bill. “By the time they’re in position to make their transfer burn, Misty would have already made escape velocity. You know how hard it is to rendezvous with objects with that kind of trajectory?”

“Hard, but not impossible,” countered Val. “We do that all the time with asteroid catchers.”

“Yeah, but in the approach part of the trajectory to allow more time to redirect,” reminded Bill. “Protocol mandates that we set up catcher craft to match a flagged asteroid’s orbital inclination well in advance to save time and fuel while the asteroid is still inside the sphere of influence.”

“Inclination… UH OH!” said Val.

“What?”

“Look at Misty’s capsule,” she said, pointing at the icon. “It’s going RETROGRADE.”

“SHOOT!” cursed Bill. “She KNEW we would consider an asteroid catcher.”

“Wait,” said Val, “do WE have any in retrograde orbit?”

“Let me check,” said Bill as he filtered out the ships that were not in retrograde orbit; the only one that was displayed was the one EAV capsule. “Sorry, but no.”

“I KNEW blowing our budget on that luxury ring station hotel was a bad idea,” spat Val.

“Tell Mortimer and Gene that,” said Bill. “Why is Eve such a popular tourist spot, anyway?”

“The demand for Laythe plummeted after the Clivar scandal and the fallout leak,” answered Val. “Looks like Misty won this round.”

“Even if she made her exit burn on the sunny… wait, she’s going retrograde… I meant the DARK side of the planet, she’ll burn out of fuel before making a successful retrograde solar orbit,” said Bill. “In other words, she has one of two options: fly to Kerbin, or float in a prograde solar orbit. Either way, it shouldn’t be too hard to rendezvous with her and rescue Jeb Senior.”

“I know that, but… my gut tells me that she has a plan for that, too,” sighed Val.

“What? Planting a virus in the rendezvous vehicles? She just lost Irpond, and they haven’t spoken since BEFORE Misty blasted off for Eve. What are the odds that Irpond gave Misty the correct operation codes to Misty before she went off the grid on Dres?” argued Bill.

“More like threatening to kill Jeb Senior unless her demands were met,” clarified Val.

“One thing’s for sure, we need to warn Kerbin that Misty took Jeb Senior,” said Bill. “As soon as they reach the planet’s sphere of influence, we’ll be all over them.”

“But what if they CAN’T make it to the planet?” asked Val. “What if Misty either runs out of fuel… or INTENTIONALLY detaches the capsule from the engine after achieving solar orbit?”

“Um, excuse me? Have you forgotten what I did for Guscan?” said Bill. “I could just send an interplanetary travel pod to her capsule, rescue Jeb Senior, kill Misty, and return to Kerbin.”

“You contact Jeb, I’ll notify Kerbin,” said Val.

“Not yet, Val,” objected Bill. “They still need me at the observatory right now, and Jeb’s snoozing on board the Defiant.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Val. “Boy, I’m going to get so much crap from Roger for violating the quiet zone boundaries and extracting an active crewmember while he’s working in the observatory.”

“As if you weren’t in enough for pulling Bob out of sick bay prematurely,” remarked Bill. “Now you know how Jeb feels.”

“Not really,” Val disagrees. “At least I didn’t try to FIGURE SKATE on the surface with a lander – and play hopscotch with flips, too.”

“Wait, when did he do this?” asked Bill.

“THIS MORNING,” said Val, “at least where I was.”

“PLEASE tell me it was a fuel-and-oxidizer lander,” sighed Bill. “The nuclear-powered landers have their engine nozzles hanging so close to the ground and right next to the landing legs.”

“And I thought he matured,” said Val. “I’ll drop you off at the observatory, get out of the quiet zone, then radio it in.”

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

How is everyone liking it so far? What do you expect to happen next?

• Will Misty run away with Jeb Senior, or will Bill come to the rescue?

[Railgunner2160]

Been loving the series so far, and honestly either outcome just leads to more options. You've also done a decent job of keeping the world of KSP real through words only. An excellent achievement in my opinion!!

[KerballingSmasher]

14 hours ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

How is everyone liking it so far? What do you expect to happen next?

• Will Misty run away with Jeb Senior, or will Bill come to the rescue?

 

13 hours ago, Railgunner2160 said:

Been loving the series so far, and honestly either outcome just leads to more options. You've also done a decent job of keeping the world of KSP real through words only. An excellent achievement in my opinion!!

Indeed to both!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: THE NEXT MOVE

 

“SO, WHAT? If Misty wants to keep Dad trapped in a capsule forever, LET her.”

“Are you kidding me?” gasped Bill. “Have you forgotten that your father was KIDNAPPED?!”

“Who cares?” snapped Jeb.

“I do,” said Bill, “and so does the rest of his company and customers.”

“Not until I tell everyone what a lying piece of trash he is,” sighed Jeb. “The only reason YOU still care is because you want revenge on a woman you never even laid eyes on.”

“She STILL needs to pay for what she did, REGARDLESS of whether or not we crossed paths.”

“Well, looks like we have a win for you too,” argued Jeb.

“Excuse me?”

“Misty AND Dad can rot in that ship for the rest of their lives,” explained Jeb. “You’re basically sending her to prison WTHOUT having to waste money on police and court costs.”

“Not gonna happen,” said Bill.

“Oh, that’s right, you want to KILL Misty,” said Jeb. “You’re just wasting your time.”

“Not that, Jeb,” countered Bill as he turned on his kPad. “Their current trajectory will put them at a 50-megameter periapsis above Kerbin.”

“So, what? They get to see Kerbin whyle they float through space.”

“But what has she got planned after she gets there?” asked Bill.

“Better question, why bother go after her at all?” sighed Jeb. “As long as Misty’s stuck in that capsule, she’s not huring anyone else.”

“She doesn’t deserve to live with him,” retorted Bill. “She doesn’t deserve to live PERIOD.”

“Dad can die too, for all I care.”

“Are you SERIOUSLY wishing that psycho would kill YOUR OWN FATHER?”

“I DON’T CARE!” spat Jeb. “Dad gets a girlfriend, Misty gets Dad, we both have them out of our hair. Everyone wins.”

“Except Jeb’s Junkyard – and the people it contracts for, INCLUDING the space program – and the families of Misty’s victims.”

“Misty basically put herself in prison for life, so why bother going after her?”

“Even if Kerbin’s central government abolished the death penalty – which it DIDN’T, by the way – your dad doesn’t deserve that.”

“YES, HE DOES!” shouted Jeb. “He had DECADES to tell me about Vanessa, but NO! He had to bury her and make sure she was forgotten.”

“It STILL doesn’t warrant getting imprisoned with a killer for life,” argued Bill. “Besides, it’s not like he MURDERED your mom and sister; it was an accident that was all YOUR MOM’S fault.”

“Could you keep it down, please?” asked a random scientist. “I’m studying the effects of sound waves on Dres’ soil in zero gravity here, and you’re causing a lot of interference.”

“Oh, sorry,” apologized Bill. “Jeb, wanna chat in a lander cockpit?”

“Sure, whatever.” Bill and Jeb then floated to the nearest docked lander before closing the airlock. To Jeb’s surprise, Bill then disconnected the lander from the Defiant. “Hey. I thought we were resuming our discussion here, not going down there.”

“We ARE resuming our discussion here. I undocked the lander since sound doesn’t carry through space, which means the chances of vibrations reaching that guy’s lab are down to zero.”

“Be sure to dock this thing when you’re done,” reminded Jeb.

“Anyway, I’m not letting Misty end this the way she wants it to,” said Bill.

“Bill, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that they’ll make it to Kerbin before we do,” sighed Jeb. “If her endgame is to burn to death during re-entry with Dad in the capsule, how are YOU gonna stop her? Besides, why would you WANT to; it ends with her dead.”

“As well as Jeb Senior,” argued Bill. “I can’t let that happen.”

“You gotta compromise sometime, dude,” said Jeb, “just like when you made that deal with Irpond.”

“Because Irpond was already defeated, deal or no deal,” explained Bill. “Misty, however, WANTS to be in that capsule with her prisoner – and my gut tells me that she’s after something else. Why else would she aim for Kerbin in her Eve escape burn?”

“Bill, you really gotta let her go,” said Jeb.

“And WHY would I do that?”

“She’s been living rent-free in your head for years,” answered Jeb.

“Says the guy who’s done that with HIS DAD for LONGER,” countered Bill.

“No. I shut Dad out of my life – at least, to the best I could – whereas YOU couldn’t STOP thinking about killing Misty,” retorted Jeb.

“And what makes you think this is an UNHEALTHY obsession?”

“I’m not the only one in this lander with Double-I complaints,” said Jeb. “Yesterday, after you fell asleep in the Calculus Base rec room, a long-haired male tourist poked you awake. You then punched him in the face and tried to STRANGLE him before realizing it was A GUY. I had to tell Double-I that you just had a nightmare about Misty, and you know how hard it is to convince Roger.”

“I appreciate that – and yes, I DID have a nightmare about Misty,” said Bill. “Until she’s dead, nobody in this solar system is safe.”

“Even if I wanted to rescue Dad – which I DO NOT – how are we gonna follow Misty?” asked Jeb. “Assuming she doesn’t plan to kill herself during re-entry, she’s flying to another planet – but WHERE? You’d better get it right the first time, or else we’re playing Ring Around the Rosie for the rest of our lives – then Misty will die of OLD AGE before you kill her.”

“Which means that she’ll have to steal an interplanetary-capable spacecraft,” finished Bill, “but where would she get it? It’s not like the KSC would just HAND her and Jeb Senior the keys to a suborbital flight capsule, let alone a Moho-capable ship.”

“She could just SNEAK in and steal it,” reminded Jeb.

“And HOW would she do that – and with Jeb Senior, too?”

“Same way she snuck into the space center when she shot Sally,” answered Jeb.

“Possible, but unlikely,” countered Bill. “First of all, besides the chance of Jeb Senior screaming for help, they’re bound to have increased security due to the shooting. Second of all, assuming Misty didn’t get intercepted in space first, her chances of her landing within 25 kilometers of the space center are…,” he paused as he did some math on his kPad, “at 0.043 percent.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“That’s good… FOR ME,” said Bill. “Unless Misty plans to get caught by a recovery crew, she’ll have to drag Jeb Senior for a LONG time until she reaches the space center. A lot of things can happen between touchdown and her arrival at KSC – like getting arrested by local police forces or the KBI, or Jeb Senior running away.”

“Which would mean that Mission Control would have to track where Misty’s ship would land, so that they can alert the cops AHEAD of time,” Jeb realized.

“We do that all the time, especially with incoming asteroids,” reminded Bill. “My guess: she’s gonna ask for a pickup, kill whoever’s piloting it, and rendezvous with an interplanetary-capable vehicle that can carry both her and Jeb Senior.”

“How do you know that she won’t just adjust her expected landing spot?” inquired Jeb.

“Good question, and the answer is because she’ll be very low on delta-V to make a significant difference by the time she’s within Kerbin’s sphere of influence,” answered Bill. “She’ll either miss Kerbin completely, do a gravity assist into an adjusted solar orbit, or splash down right in the middle of a police trap,”

“Or burn to ashes as soon as she hits the atmosphere,” added Jeb, then his eyes widened, “unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless she aerobraked,” said Jeb. “She could just evade the recovery crews and land somewhere else.”

“I… suppose it’s possible,” gasped Bill. “However, you do realize that our guys will get the capsule, right?”

“It will take them at least two hours to get to the new landing coordinates. By then, Misty and Dad would be long-gone. Heck, they could be waiting on land and Misty could end up in the water instead. Let’s hope she can’t swim.”

“Yes, she can,” said Bill, “but she doesn’t HAVE to necessarily. All capsules are equipped with life rafts, so she could take Jeb Senior and herself to the nearest shore… but where would she go?”

“Which brings us to the perfect life-saving plan,” said Jeb.

“Which is?”

“We tell everyone how much of a lying scumbag Dad is,” started Jeb, “then NO women will want to be with him. Therefore, Misty has Dad ALL TO HERSELF, and won’t kill anybody else. They can live happily ever after and stay out of our hair as long as we stay out of theirs.”

“Not gonna happen,” argued Bill. “Even if Jeb Senior becomes the most undesirable bachelor on Kerbin, they still want MISTY’S head on a platter because she killed people. You really think they’re just gonna quit looking for her?”

“Huh… yeah, you’re right,” Jeb agreed, “but HOW will we know where Misty’s going? You can’t read her mind or anything.”

“True, but I can predict her next move based on her orbital trajectory… and transfer window timing,” Bill told Jeb. “I just need to calculate the orbital periapsis boundaries for an aerobrake and write an algorithm connected to the EAV’s transponder.”

“What exactly would this algorithm do?”

“Duh, predict Misty’s next move based on what she’s doing with the ship,” said Bill.

“You got PLENTY of time for that, dude,” assured Jeb. “Val already alerted Mission Control, I’m in no rush to save Dad, and it will be a while before Misty reaches Kerbin.”

“Then I’d better get started on that code, shouldn’t I,” said Bill.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Jeb disagreed. “Personally, I’d get in some time with Val first.”

“Great, she can help me,” smirked Bill.

“Not yet, dude. She’s had feelings for you for years, so you need to be the boyfriend she wants now,” suggested Jeb. “I’d give it a couple of days before you need to get to Misty-hunting time.”

“Let me make a note of it,” said Bill as he wrote a reminder to write his algorithm on his kPad. “Very well. Can you send me down, please?”

“No-can-do, Bill. Double-I says I can’t be in a lander alone again, so I’ll be STUCK on the surface until you come back,” sighed Jeb.

“Oh, right, you ice-skated with a lander yesterday,” Bill remembered. “Jeb, you really gotta lay off the stunts. You know that?”

“They wouldn’t have hired me if I wasn’t a daredevil,” argued Jeb. “Sure, it takes brains to build the rockets, but it takes guts to fly them. Besides, if I recall correctly, YOU TOO were kind of a daredevil yourself.”

“Up to a point,” sighed Bill, “but at least I used the spacecraft for their intended purposes; NONE of them were slipping and sliding on Dres’ surface.”

“MJ, dock the lander,” ordered Jeb, then the docking port shield opened. “I’d grab something if I were you.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Bill. “Why else did I undock the lander in the first place, because the laws of physics were still in effect.”

“You know, I wonder what would happen if we repealed the laws of physics,” commented Jeb.

“Then nothing would make sense, would it?”

 

“I need a status report, now!” Gene demanded. “Where is he?”

“Still in Eve’s sphere of influence,” answered Werner, “on an escape trajectory.”

“Why haven’t we rendezvoused with his capsule yet?”

“Misty put her EAV into a retrograde orbit when she blasted off,” said Mortimer. “We have no other vehicles in retrograde orbit above Eve, so a rendezvous at this point is impossible.”

“I told you that hotel was a bad idea,” sighed Linus. “If you hadn’t blown our budget on that thing…”

“Then we’d NEVER clear our tourist backlog,” argued Mortimer. “Aside from that, we seem to be bringing in a lot of money from that station alone.”

“Oh, so luxury space hotel profits are worth more than rescuing a kidnapping victim, then?” replied Linus. “How do I know you’re not getting kickbacks?”

“Save it for the budget meeting, you two,” ordered Gene. “Werner, where does the EAV’s current trajectory go?”

“It’s expected to reach Kerbin at a 50,000-kilometer periapsis,” said Werner. “However, I have reason to believe that Jeb Senior’s kidnapper will fine-tune her orbit while in-transit.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Even if she launched at the transfer window, the EAV wouldn’t have enough delta-V to circularize its orbit at periapsis,” answered Werner.

“Okay… what does that mean for those of us who DIDN’T go to Woomerang?”

“Misty could only land on Kerbin or drift off,” clarified Werner, “and you do realize you burned yourself, right?”

“Crud,” sighed Gene. “Anyway, can we intercept the ship in solar orbit before it reaches Kerbin?”

“No-can-do,” said Linus. “I recommend having rescue crews standing by in orbit of Kerbin for when the EAV arrives.”

“You can try,” said Mortimer, “but if Misty still has fuel left, she could juke us and change her trajectory to miss our rescue craft.”

“I… suppose that’s possible,” agreed Werner, “but she should have less than 100 meters per second left. If she wanted to alter her incoming orbit, she’d be wise to do it early – but that would mean WE would get more time to prepare.”

“Ugh, it would be A LOT more helpful if we knew her endgame,” Gene told his coworkers. “What’s worse, she won’t bother talking to us; we tried the EAV’s radio already.”

“I also tried Jeb Senior’s kPad myself, but she said she’ll only talk to Bill Kerman when and if she wants to,” added Mortimer. “Any ideas why him specifically?”

“Probably because he’s her arch-nemesis,” sighed Gene.

“That’s… very unlikely,” said Mortimer. “Bill never met her; I double-checked their personnel files. Misty quit years before Bill got into Basic.”

“Maybe he DID meet her,” suggested Werner. “Even if they didn’t, so what? They got plenty of reasons to be enemies?”

“By proxy because of Misty’s daughter, maybe,” argued Mortimer. “What reason would Bill have to be Misty’s DIRECT arch-enemy?”

“Misty tried to frame him for arson,” replied Werner. “As a result, she caused a loaded airliner to crash in an attempt to cover up the fact that SHE did it HERSELF. When that failed, she snuck into the space center and shot Sally Kerman – and… that’s why we have heightened security here.”

“And she falsely accused Val of ordering her kidnapped,” Linus mentioned.

“Because Irpond needed a cover story to frame Val for murder and RTG theft,” said Mortimer.

“She also kidnapped his friend’s dad, who just happens to be Misty’s current hostage in that EAV,” reminded Gene. “Keep in mind that Misty called BILL’S kPad via Jeb Senior’s.”

“I thought that she called VAL,” said Linus.

“She MEANT to dial BILL, but Val was holding on to Bill’s kPad while he was in a quiet zone,” explained Gene. “Val’s report said that Misty demanded that Bill call her back within 15 minutes of the first call or she’d kill Jeb Senior, then Bill complied when Val got him.”

“Anyway,” said Werner, “Bill mentioned that he planned to write an algorithm that would predict Misty’s next move and how to catch her based on her orbital trajectory.”

“He’s free to offer input,” Gene told Werner, “but in the end, WE’RE running it from HERE.”

“You DO realize we’ll need aid from military and/or law enforcement if we’re to rescue Jeb Senior and arrest Misty,” reminded Mortimer, “regardless of whether or not Misty breaches Kerbin’s atmosphere.”

“I’ll contact the prime minister,” said Gene, “but I doubt he’ll help unless we had a plan to pinpoint where she’s going. He doesn’t like allocating resources for wild goose chases.”

“Nor do I,” agreed Mortimer.

“Says the guy who blew our Eve budget on a luxury space hotel,” argued Linus.

“And it has proven a valuable investment,” said Mortimer. “Besides, Eve has a significantly lower chance than the outer planets of seeing an asteroid going in retrograde orbit. How was I supposed to know a killer would try that?”

“We have to keep the rescue effort a secret from the public,” warned Gene, “or else Misty may end up killing Jeb Senior.”

“Which would require confidentiality agreements with all parties involved,” added Linus.

“Um, remember the LAST time the KSP was involved in a cover-up?” reminded Mortimer.

“This is different, Mortimer,” said Gene. “While Gus and Walt planned to hide an extra-terrestrial genocide forever, WE need to hide our rescue efforts from the public until Jeb Senior’s safe and Misty’s either dead or behind bars. If Misty gets word of this, Jeb Senior could end up dead.”

“Then you and Werner had better pick people who AREN’T likely to blab to the media,” warned Mortimer. “Same case for whoever in the central government is assisting with the capture.”

“But first, let’s discuss the general plan before choosing the capture assessment team,” said Werner. “What we know now: it will be approximately 214 days before she reaches Kerbin’s sphere of influence.”

“I’d like to be done by 200 to allow more time to prepare and get in position,” stated Gene. “What else?”

“She’s expected to approach Kerbin at a 50-kilometer periapsis with a 74-degree inclination,” continued Werner. “She also has less than approximately 100 meters per second of delta-V left in her EAV since she made her exit burn from Eve too early.”

“Since she cannot circularize her orbit,” said Mortimer, “it’s safe to assume that she plans to either re-enter Kerbin or drift off into space.”

“As we have proven with Guscan, a solar orbit rescue should be easy,” recalled Gene. “While the EAV has less than 100 meters per second of delta-V, an interplanetary travel pod has over 7,000 at its final stage. Even if she tries to adjust her orbit to make a rendezvous difficult, she’ll eventually run out of fuel and be a sitting duck.”

“Unless we catch her first within the Hamsterwheel first,” said Werner. “We catch and bring back asteroids like that all the time, so the EAV should be easy.”

“Perhaps we should send a craft with an armed rescue crew into solar orbit NOW,” suggested Linus.

“Why bother?” Werner disagreed. “You can’t reach Misty before she gets here.”

“Who said anything about a solar rendezvous BEFORE she reaches Kerbin?” countered Linus. “Possibility number one: she changes her flight path to AVOID the sphere of influence – hence, reducing her chances of being captured.”

“He does have a point,” agreed Mortimer, “but that would mean that she could be stuck in solar orbit forever.”

“Or go around again for Kerbin, which brings me to a second possible scenario,” said Linus. “She could do a gravity assist with a low Kerbin periapsis and fine-tune her orbit for re-entry during her second solar orbit.”

“Oh… I suppose it’s possible,” gasped Werner. “I’ll let the rescue planning team know about it.”

“Wait, IS IT?” asked Gene. “Assuming we can’t capture Misty inside Kerbin’s sphere of influence, will she even have enough delta-V for a second fine-tune burn?”

“Well… maybe not after the second go-around; third or fourth, maybe,” answered Werner. “Like I said, I’ll let the planning team run the numbers.”

“Excellent point, Linus,” said Gene. “I’ll be sure to ask that the prime minister send a rescue team into solar orbit to rendezvous with Misty in case that happens.”

“I hope Misty doesn’t plan to mess with our heads too much,” sighed Mortimer. “The good news is that, with her daughter gone, she won’t have any backup.”

“This is even worse than Guscan,” warned Linus. “Sure, Jeb Senior has company, but she doesn’t want to be rescued while he does. What’s worse, she’s willing to kill anyone who gets in her way.”

 

“You do realize that this is insane, right?” Jeb Senior told his captor.

“Hmm, I wonder how many times you said that to your son,” sighed Misty. “A million, two million? You’d think you’d have given up by now.”

“You’re not my son,” argued Jeb Senior, “but I do care about what happens to you.”

“Of course you do,” smiled Misty. “You wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to me, would you?”

“I’ve seen Jeb do all kinds of crazy stunts before he enlisted in the KSP,” said Jeb Senior, “with number one being the time he launched a rocket at the high school without reading the instructions. This, however, STOMPS Jeb’s antics.”

“How so? This is the first time I’ve piloted a spacecraft without Mission Control’s help, and I seem to be doing fine here.”

“If you think that you can just re-enter Kerbin without getting caught, then you’re crazy,” complained Jeb Senior. “I mean, come on, they’re bound to have a lock on us by now.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” said Misty. “The real question is can they predict my next move and anticipate it in time?”

“I’d be surprised if they didn’t,” answered Jeb Senior. “Even if you missed Kerbin to do one of those slingshot tricks, they’ll still send a ship to catch us.”

“I thought of that,” said Misty, “but it’s a surprise. Now, let’s see what’s on the news today.” She unlocked Jeb Senior’s kPad and opened the news app. “Oh, look, you made the front page.”

JEB’S JUNKYARD C.E.O. KIDNAPPED

“Like I said before, this is insane,” said Jeb Senior. “They’re gonna find us in here, and you’re going to end up in prison.”

“Bill will try,” smirked Misty as she tapped the headline. “Stocks going down, concerned employees, last seen leaving … ooh, looks like I found a big catch in you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Apparently, A LOT of women who say they’re your girlfriend are begging for you to return,” explained Misty. “Ha, FAT CHANCE.”

“Well… you can’t trust the news these days,” said Jeb Senior.

“Oh, I do believe you are right,” agreed Misty. “Look at what your son said.”

“What? My son?” gasped Jeb Senior, banging his head against the capsule ceiling. “What’d he say?”

“He said, and I quote, ‘Don’t bother trying to save Dad. If he dies or gets trapped with a psycho for the rest of his life, it’s because he deserves it.’”

“W… WHAT?!” Jeb Senior was shocked. “Whoever wrote that article is either lying or mistook someone else for Jeb.”

“That makes sense,” said Misty, then she clicked back to the news list. “Hmm, teacher strike in Nye Island; boring. Badgers triumph in Krakopolis, new SSTO airport in Woomerang, lawsuit pending following a car factory accident, the usual blah blah blah. Would you like to read any of them?”

“What’s the catch?” asked Jeb Senior.

“For every article you read, you must kiss me,” proposed Misty. “Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?” Jeb said nothing in refusal. “Why so shy, Jebby-poo? Are you still faithful to Amelia?” Again, there was silence. “She’s gone, Vanessa’s gone, and Jeb… doesn’t need active parenting anymore.” Before she knew it, there was an email on the kPad. “Speak of the kraken.”

“Is it Jeb?” gasped Jeb Senior.

“This one’s free,” said Misty, “but we BOTH read it.” She unlocked the kPad and opened the email.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: (no subject)

If you want Dad, you can have him.   I want nothing to do with that pathetic excuse of a father anymore.   Jeb   P.S. In case you’re wondering, Bill wants you dead.

 

“Looks like that guy wasn’t far off after all,” remarked Misty. “You’re better off with me anyway.”

“Except for the part where you’re holding me against my will,” said Jeb Senior.

“If I left you out there, you would have no family left… no real friends, no real lovers,” argued Misty. “Those women who say they love you, they only LOVE your money.”

“Not Amelia!” spat Jeb Senior.

“She’s been dead for over 40 years, Jebby-poo. Let her go,” sighed Misty. “Now you’re with me, someone who truly cares for you.”

“And if I refuse, you’ll shoot me and claim self-defense like you did your LAST husband,” said Jeb Senior. “Oh, I forgot, you’re still wanted for murder.”

“To protect not only myself, but my daughter,” cried Misty before pulling herself together. “We both lost people we loved. You lost your wife; I lost my husband…”

“Since you murdered him!” interrupted Jeb Senior.

“Oh, he was lost BEFORE I shot him,” explained Misty. “We both lost our daughters… and your son wants to permanently cut off all ties with you. Come on, Jeb, admit it. You’re better off with me.”

“My… family…,” stammered Jeb Senior.

“As far as you’re concerned, they’re dead to you – two of them literally,” said Misty. “You haven’t felt real love since the crash, especially not from YOUR OWN SON. I can fill that void, if you just… let me back in.”

“Ugh…,” groaned Jeb Senior. “What’s this about the Badgers winning in Krakopolis?”

[KerballingSmasher]

5 hours ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

What’s this about the Badgers winning in Krakopolis?

HA! Classic Jeb Senior.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

10 hours ago, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

HA! Classic Jeb Senior.

Yeah, since he's from Baikerbanur.

• Their mascot is the Badgers.

 

Now that you know that Jeb currently doesn't give a rat's ass about his dad's fate, do you really think there's a chance father and son can settle their issues after so long?

• And will Bill finally get his revenge?

[KerballingSmasher]

On 10/18/2019 at 8:32 PM, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Now that you know that Jeb currently doesn't give a rat's ass about his dad's fate, do you really think there's a chance father and son can settle their issues after so long?

Nope.

 

On 10/18/2019 at 8:32 PM, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

And will Bill finally get his revenge?

ABSOLUTELY! NEVER UNDERESTIMATE BILL!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: TANK DUST

 

On board the U.S.S. Defiant, Jeb was busy helping Bob with his science project while Bill and Val were doing a routine inspection of a docked self-mining lander.

“Life support systems, check,” said Bill. “Reaction wheel, check.”

“Is the testing system ready?” asked Val, then Bill activated the system that enabled the pilot to use the controls without moving the ship itself.

“Ready, Val.”

“Reaction wheel, all systems check,” started Val. “RCS thrusters… all online. Monoprop tanks… hang on, there’s something wrong with the left tank.”

“What?”

“It says, ‘Additional mass detected,’ and ‘Uneven pressure.’” Bill then took the controls and redirected the monopropellant from the lander’s tanks to the Defiant’s.

“Huh, it still has a different internal mass and pressure relative to the right tank,” he noticed. “Looks like I’m going out. EVA me.”

“I’ll log this,” said Val as an EVA suit assembled itself on Bill. He then jumped through the airlock and out into space before flying to the left tank. “I hope you don’t lose the bolts as you take the cap off.”

“Don’t worry, the ratchet bits are magnetic – and so is the holding container,” said Bill. “Ready, Val.”

“Stand by for further instructions,” ordered Val. “As long as you’re outside, we can get external checks out of the way.”

“Good idea,” agreed Bill.

“How’s the hunt for Misty going?” asked Val.

“She’s expected to hit Kerbin’s sphere of influence in about 200 days, give or take a few,” answered Bill. “However, her current trajectory places her at a high periapsis above the planet’s surface. We have reason to believe that she’ll fine-tune her closest approach to the target soon.”

“Tell me you’ve got asteroid catchers ready,” sighed Val.

“They decided against using the standard asteroid catchers to rescue Jeb Senior in Kerbin’s sphere of influence,” said Bill.

“What? Why?” gasped Val.

“Last I heard, the plan was to launch SSTOs full of armed rescue squads to rendezvous with the incoming EAV,” explained Bill.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” said Val. “They might want to launch a bunch of them in a Hamsterwheel configuration.”

“That’s going to be costly,” reminded Bill, “especially since you’ll need to launch SIX planes and not three in case Misty goes the opposite of any of the regular Hamsterwheel planes.”

“Not to mention the number of space-ready troops it will take,” added Val. “Bet arranging that will keep the centrals busy.”

“If she somehow gets past that line, Mission Control is busy with increasing the precision of the landing trajectory predictor.”

“Isn’t it already accurate?” wondered Val. “I mean… I haven’t heard of any recovery crew mishaps since the time I was in-transit to Laythe.”

“It’s accurate up to a point. Mission Control is trying to LOWER the margin of error so that the recovery crews can get to the capsule faster.”

“I’d just send some paratroopers to shoot Misty and save the capsule for later,” commented Val.

“As cool a plan THAT is, we also need to get Jeb Senior to safety,” reminded Bill. “Hopefully, Misty doesn’t alter her trajectory enough to throw off the trackers before she reaches the atmosphere; but if she does… I don’t know if she can re-enter without blowing up first.”

“She managed to fix a sabotaged EAV, launch it, and send it on a solar trajectory to Kerbin. What makes you think she can’t re-enter? It seems pretty straightforward.”

“To YOU, maybe. Do you know how many rookies fail the capsule LKO re-entry simulations in Basic?”

“I dunno, but I bet some of them fail ON PURPOSE.”

“Why would a cadet INTENTIONALLY fail to splash down correctly?”

“I dunno, seeing an explosion or something on fire… satisfying the need for speed,” sighed Val. “You know… something JEB would do.”

“Guess I should ask whoever’s in charge to take that into account when reporting performance stats, huh,” remarked Bill. “The point is that we need to catch Misty before she reaches her Kerbin periapsis, or else there’s a chance she won’t survive re-entry – and if that capsule blows up, Jeb Senior dies too.”

“BEFORE she reaches periapsis, you say,” said Val. “What about after?”

“Performing an orbital rendezvous with an object in a hyperbolic trajectory AFTER it passes periapsis is next to impossible,” argued Bill. “Sure, there’s a chance you can match velocities at the closest point after periapsis, but you’re TOO LATE if you wait until then to make your transfer burn.”

“Then shouldn’t Mission Control account for Misty doing a gravity assist or an aerobrake?”

“Gene said that they should have a pod in solar orbit in less than a month in case Misty decides to drift instead of land or surrender. As for the aerobrake part… Mission Control needs to calculate the periapsis altitude range that would put Misty in an elliptical orbit rather than a direct re-entry OR a hyperbolic orbit.”

“That’s gonna be tricky,” commented Val. “It’s not like they could just use trial and error with incoming objects from Eve.”

“If Misty did a REGULAR transfer burn from Eve to Kerbin, we could calculate her orbital velocity relative to the sun when she hit Kerbin,” added Bill. “However, since she made her exit burn TOO EARLY, it’s gonna be harder to find her orbital velocity – let alone that relative to Kerbin – since she’s at an abnormal trajectory.”

“Even if they could do it in two seconds now, they STILL need to work with the atmosphere to calculate that altitude range,” said Val. “Honestly, do you really think that she’ll try that?”

“If it means throwing off recovery crews, yes,” Bill answered. “I’m also guessing that her velocity relative to Kerbin will be higher than that of an Eve returner coming in on a regular trajectory.”

“If I remember correctly, you get more aerodynamic resistance as you go lower in the atmosphere, right?” inquired Val.

“That’s right,” confirmed Bill. “Additionally, as Misty’s EAV is equipped with an ablative heat shield, she would have less surface area for the atmosphere to act on than the inflatable one.”

“It’d be really cool if the lab guys made a scale model of Kerbin’s atmosphere,” sighed Val, “and fired an object at a speed that could mimic the EAV’s.”

“I doubt playing Human Space Program would help either,” agreed Bill. “Our best bet to rescue Jeb Senior is to rendezvous with the EAV before it hits the atmosphere.”

“Which would require building… six armed SSTOs with a whole lot of delta-V in each,” said Val. “Kinda makes you wonder who’s paying for them.”

“You know, now that you mention it, the ‘Double-Direction Hamsterwheel’ would make a very effective planetary defense plan,” commented Bill. “Any bad guys going in or out of Kerbin would get intercepted quickly.”

“Hang on,” said Val, “I just got the instructions.” She then told Bill how to remove the monopropellant tank cap to look inside; there was some soil from Dres in it. After she reported Bill’s findngs to Mission Control, they ordered Bob to come outside with sample containers for Bill to put the soil in.

“How the heck did Dres soil end up in your monopropellant tank?” wondered Bob. “It’s not like Dres has dust storms… or weather, for that matter.”

“Yeah, how DID it end up in the tanks?” concurred Bill.

“Maybe it got in through the surface harvester or the ore converter or something,” suggested Val. “Someone could have also left the docking port open and let dust get inside while another lander sent it flying everywhere.”

“Eh… I don’t know if the drill or ore converter are to blame,” Bob disagreed. “Though this hasn’t been tested yet, wouldn’t the heat generated from either of them vaporize the solid soil?”

“That could be your next science project,” said Val, “but aren’t they cooled off by the radiators?”

“Yeah, but they’re designed to prevent the drill and ISRU unit from reaching CATASTROPHIC temperatures,” reminded Bill. “That doesn’t mean they’re not hot enough to vaporize the soil.”

“What’s the big problem?” interrupted Jeb as he flew to the boys in his suit. “Couldn’t you just install a dust shield on the ore converters?”

“Good question,” said Bill. “You might want to ask Mission Control about it.”

“Hey, Jeb,” Val spoke on the radio. “How’s it going?” There was no answer.

“He can’t talk now,” explained Bob, “he’s on a different channel.”

“Then I think I should ask if it’s a good time to bring up his dad,” said Val.

“He’s gotta forgive him sometime,” sighed Bill. “Until Jeb marries and has kids of his own, Jeb Senior’s the only family he has left.”

“Even then, they gotta meet their grandpa sometime,” added Bob.

“Assuming Misty doesn’t kill him first,” said Val.

“Believe it or not, Jeb’s perfectly fine with that outcome,” said Bill.

“Oh, I believe it, all right,” commented Val.

“Hey, maybe you can be a better help than I can,” suggested Bill.

“What makes you think I’m better?” wondered Val. “You’ve been friends with him WAY longer than I have.”

“But you have a brother in prison for genocide,” reminded Bill. “M… maybe you can calm Jeb down since you both have family members that you despise.”

“Hey, do you guys remember doing that ‘egg parenting’ experiment in school?” asked Bob.

“Nope,” said Bill.

“Me neither,” Val mentioned, “Vic, on the other hand, did.”

“What, you two didn’t?” questioned Bob. “Why’d they get rid of it?”

“Probably because there were too many cheaters,” sighed Val.

“I just thought it was due to budget cuts,” said Bill.

“Really, Bill? Budget cuts?” commented Val. “How expensive do you think eggs are?”

“You know how bad the administration was at handling their money, especially when it came toward the school’s STEM department,” argued Bill. “That’s why I had to fly to WOOMERANG to test my rocket boosters.”

“Seriously, it should cost about… 15 minutes of overtime just to afford two dozen eggs,” Val responded. “Anyway, Bob, what’s the point?”

“First off, now you know why Mission Control employs more Wolverines than Badgers; you guys are careless with your cash,” joked Bob.

“Tell Jeb Senior that,” replied Bill. “Speaking of which, how does some childish parenting experiment connect with what’s going on with him now?”

“Jeb Senior was so afraid of losing that egg because of what happened to the last one,” explained Bob, “especially since the first egg died at the hands of the other parent. As a result, Jeb Senior didn’t trust his child with anyone else’s hands other than his own. However, he couldn’t just tell him the truth about his mom, or else he would be devastated.”

“That’s what I told Jeb,” sighed Bill, “but he didn’t listen.”

“Would you rather Jeb Senior tell him as a kid, when he would have been VERY impressionable?” argued Bob. “At that age, it would have devastating consequences. As an adult… Jeb SHOULD be mature enough to understand.”

“Got it, guys,” interrupted Jeb. “They said that they tried sealing up the ISRU unit, but the machine blew up even with radiators and north pole temperatures.”

“Well, how about that?” said Bill.

“Anyway, what are we talking about?”

“Um… hey, Bob, any ideas how the dust got into the monopropellant tanks?” lied Bill.

“Someone must have left the docking port open while the lander was on the surface,” guessed Bob. “I’ll have to compare the soil composition at this craft’s previous sites to the samples we collected from the tank to determine if molecular structure was affected.”

“Yeah… but HOW EXACTLY did it get in through an open port?” argued Bill. “It’s not like Dres has dust storms.”

“I hate to break up the scientific debate here,” interrupted Val, “but Bill needs to get back inside the Defiant. He and I are heading down to the surface for Hadgan’s court martial in two hours.”

“Why does he need to get back inside, Val? You got a lander right there,” said Jeb.

“Actually, Mission Control told us to leave it docked until the regular checks were completed AND you guys have answered how dust got in the monoprop tanks,” explained Val. “A fuel-and-oxidizer lander is on its way.”

“Speaking of the dust issue,” said Bob, “any ideas how it got in the tanks?”

“Someone probably left the docking port open while ANOTHER LANDER was blowing dust next to it,” guessed Val.

“The force provided by a landing rocket may compensate for a lack of wind,” agreed Bill.

“Either way, I’m taking a closer look at the dust from the tank to study how its molecular composition was affected – if at all,” said Bob. “Is this all of it?”

“Yep,” said Bill. “We may also want to see how the Dres dust affected the monoprop in the tanks.”

“Bob, you get started with the soil,” said Val. “I’ll send someone up here to take care of the monopropellant.”

“Wait,” gasped Bill, “do you remember which tank you put the lander’s monoprop in?”

“Relax, Bill. I put it in Tank Five of the Defiant,” assured Val. “And yes, it was empty; I’m not Jeb.”

“Hey,” Jeb remarked.

“Everyone, remember that tank number,” said Bob. “Odds are that the dust didn’t affect monopropellant performance, but I want to be sure everything is accounted for when we do this experiment.”

“Speaking of experiments,” started Bill, “we’re still calculating the altitude range Misty needs to conduct an orbital aerobrake.”

“Why would she do that?” asked Jeb. “Seems like a lot of hassle, if you ask me.”

“To throw off recovery crews,” answered Bill. “Aside from that, I need to calculate what orbital trajectories are ships in a Double-Direction Hamsterwheel arrangement least likely to successfully rendezvous with before the target reaches periapsis.”

“Could you dial that down a few notches, please?” Jeb requested, and Bill sighed.

“Finding the Hamsterwheel’s weak spots.”

“Weak spots? It’s pretty obvious, dude; they take forever to make a full orbit.”

“First of all, when Misty hits the sphere of influence…,” started Bill.

“Tchhh. What’s… that?” asked Jeb, then he made static sounds again. “You tchhh breaking u… tchhh!”

“Jeb, I’m floating right next to you,” said Bill, and Jeb pointed at his own helmet. “Comm status report on Jeb.”

“Jeb Kerman’s communication systems are functioning normally,” answered Bill’s suit computer.

“Bill, time to get inside,” said Val. “The lander already made its intercept burn.”

“Coming,” Bill responded, then he entered the station through the airlock while Jeb came in from the other side. “Man, Jeb’s being a baby today.”

“How come?”

“He used the old static trick on his comm, even though I was right next to him and his communication systems were fine,” explained Bill. “He did that the first time I mentioned Misty.”

“Because catching Misty would also mean rescuing his dad,” Val figured out.

“Wait,” gasped Bill, “we forgot to finish lander maintenance.”

“I sent a replacement crew to finish up,” assured Val. “Even when that’s done, we can’t use it until we sort out the issue with the dust.”

“Gives me more time to figure out Misty’s next move,” smirked Bill.

“Not now, you’re not,” objected Val. “First off, we need to be at court martial soon. Second, what are YOU gonna do about Misty. Unless you got a hyperdrive hidden on this rock, you’re not gonna catch her; someone on Kerbin will.”

“Then why can’t I help?”

“You can at least tell them what Misty may plan to do based on your knowledge on both her and Irpond,” suggested Val.

“I am,” said Bill, “see.”

“That’s not what I meant,” clarified Val. “I meant figuring out what her endgame was.”

“I’m an engineer, not a criminal profiler,” said Bill.

“You know more about Irpond AND Misty than anyone else who’s alive AND accounted for,” argued Val.

“You have access to their service records.”

“So does Mission Control, but they won’t tell you everything,” reminded Val. “For instance, the incident involving your rocket and Misty’s house fire won’t show up because neither mother nor daughter were active KSP members at the time. Even if one of them was, their personal lives won’t go on record unless it either affected their job performance or that of the program’s.”

“I’m pretty sure everything I got from Irpond and Misty’s emails, I forwarded to Double-I,” said Bill. “If you want to get inside Misty’s head, talk to someone in the KBI.”

“Then you should focus more on what’s going on in Dres’ sphere of influence rather than in Kerbin’s,” assured Val. “By the way, your aerobrake mapper won’t work.”

“How so?”

“You could have bad weather where she’s re-entering,” explained Val. “Aside from that, I read on the news a year ago that someone went through three aerobraking passes after returning from Eve.”

“Let me see,” sighed Bill, then he searched on Oogle for the article Val mentioned. “Hey, what do you know, someone did do three aerobraking orbits. Hang on one sec.” He carefully inspected the publication date and rewound Transfer Window Alarm Clock. “This guy said he flew to visit Gilly, and the capsule he used is for solo Gilly landers, so he must have had a high Eve parking orbital period before blasting off. Taking that into account and subtracting the average Eve-to-Kerbin transit time from the landing date, I can say he most likely left Eve’s sphere of influence at the NORMAL TRANSFER WINDOW.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Misty left early, remember,” said Bill, “so her incoming trajectory and velocity will be different from that of what you’d expect from a craft leaving Eve at the regular transfer window. Even if she managed to get this tourist’s initial Kerbin periapsis, there’s no guarantee it will work for her the same way it worked for him. That, and their capsules have different drag.”

“Mission Control can work all that out and implement the solution faster than you can,” said Val.

“You should have told them that before I noticed a discrepancy in Irpond’s service record,” countered Bill. “I figured out Irpond was the killer, I calculated that she was on Dres, I led Bob’s rescue. If anybody’s going to stop Misty, it’s…”

“NOT you,” interrupted Val.

“Last time you said that, nearly 200 people died in an SSTO explosion,” Bill recalled.

“Because Irpond hijacked Matt’s kPad and messed with the operation code,” Val mentioned. “This time, Misty doesn’t have Irpond to help her mess up rescue craft.”

“That doesn’t mean that she won’t have aces up her sleeve.”

“What’s she gonna do? It’s not like she can have military spaceplanes self-destruct, not to mention that Irpond hasn’t communicated with her since she escaped the Defiant.”

“Then I gotta figure out what she can do, and fast.”

“Right now, you gotta be ready for court martial,” reminded Val. “Get dressed and compile your notes should the court ask for them.”

“Uh, Val, I don’t have a dress uniform.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Val. “Well, in that case, you’d better put on some… oh, crap.”

“What?”

“I don’t have my uniform either,” realized Val.

“Where is it?” asked Bill.

“Calculus Base,” answered Val.

“Where our court martial is?” questioned Bill, and Val nodded. “Then what’s the problem?”

“I can’t wear it since they’re using it as evidence,” explained Val. “I always go to court in my uniform.”

“Why would they use your uniform as evidence? I thought Hadgan was on trial, not to mention that you were in the base chapel when he shot Irpond.”

“Irpond got her DNA all over it when she tried to impersonate me during her second escape,” explained Val. “I’ll just keep my suit and explain why I’m not wearing my uniform right now.”

“Too bad Dres doesn’t have a formalwear rental shop,” sighed Bill. “That would be cool.”

“If more tourists came here, then there would be a demand for it,” added Val. “Back in Poseidon’s Palace, it was very profitable.”

“And now you have a bunch of expensive clothes – along with equipment and bodies – trapped in the fallout zone,” said Bill.

“Thanks to that monster, both tourist and personnel demand for Laythe has dropped to almost zero,” Val told him. “Even worse, many blamed me for causing it.”

“You? Why you?”

“The evidence: I was Vic’s sister,” sighed Val.

“Oh,” said Bill. “Shouldn’t matter now; we know it was actually Irpond – NOT you.”

“To some idiots, it doesn’t matter,” replied Val. “In fact, some are even going as far as to say I FRAMED her.” Bill looked confused as he lightly pushed himself off the ceiling. “Didn’t you read the news?”

“Only the STEM section,” Bill admitted. “The rest is just irrelevant garbage and does not concern me now that I’m in space.”

“I probably should do the same,” commented Val. “On the other hand, don’t you wanna know what’s going on in Baikerbanur?”

“If it was of any concern or interest, either Dad or Mission Control would contact me.”

“Well, after we get our notes straight, we should…,” started Val.

“Bill,” Bob’s voice spoke on his kPad, “could you meet me in the lab, please? I need some help with this Dres dust thing.”

“On my way,” replied Bill, “but I can’t stay long. I need to get down for a court martial, remember?”

“Won’t take long.”

“Later, Val,” Bill told her before leaving.

 

45 minutes later, Bill and Val were in a lander awaiting their de-orbit burn.

“So, what’s the story about the monoprop?” asked Val.

“The dust appeared to have dissolved in the monopropellant, but the process was extremely slow thanks to the cold temperatures,” said Bill. “Assuming that the dust went unnoticed, it would have taken…,” he stammered as he checked his notes, “8 days, 1 hour, and 23 minutes for that much dust to have dissolved completely.”

“You didn’t need to be that precise,” sighed Val. “Couldn’t you have figured out when the dust GOT IN the lander?”

“Actually, no,” answered Bill. “We don’t know how much dust got in there in the first place, nor do we know if it got in all at once or accumulated through repeated use.”

“Good point,” agreed Val. “That’s probably why Mission Control ordered that lander shut down until further notice.”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely have problems if dust is getting into more than just the monopropellant tanks,” remarked Bill. “I checked for similar incidents and found two; one on Duna with a spaceplane, the other on Moho with a fuel truck.”

“Okay. You got your notes for the trial ready, right?”

“Yes,” said Bill. “I don’t even see why we need to try Hadgan? Irpond was a mass murderer who was too dangerous to be left alive.”

“They say that, if we don’t convict Hadgan, then people will start killing criminals themselves rather than go through the legal system,” explained Val.

“Yeah, like we trust them one bit,” remarked Bill, and Val laughed.

“I do see their point. Though Irpond was CLEARLY guilty, what’s to stop us from killing someone who’s actually INNOCENT?”

“Hey, here’s an idea,” said Bill, “you call the prosecutors traitors for siding with Irpond.”

“Funny, that’s the same thing Vic told me,” Val recalled. “I could try that, but we’re just witnesses in the court martial.”

“I hope Mission Control doesn’t focus too much effort on this sham trial,” said Bill angrily. “We need to focus on getting Jeb Senior back.”

“Why don’t we just read something to take our mind off this,” suggested Val. “Here, let’s start with… aw, man.”

“What?” wondered Bill.

“Our swim team lost AGAIN,” answered Val, then she showed him the headline.

SCIENCE GUYS CRUSH BADGERS

“I don’t think it’s THAT big a deal,” Bill disagreed. “I mean, I’d bet against us too if we were up against the Science Guys.”

“Me too, if we were against a bunch of ten-year-olds,” said Val.

“From Nye?”

“From ANYWHERE,” clarified Val.

“Uhh… is our swim team REALLY that bad?”

“Yep,” sighed Val. “We’ve been sucking for the past two… hey, wait a minute. How do YOU know Nye’s that good? I thought you only read the STEM section.”

“Actually, Nye’s winning streak was the main focus of an article there… and here we go.”

VICTORY PROVEN NYE’S BIRTHRIGHT

“What the…” gasped Val as she kept reading. “Training since birth?”

“When it comes to swimming, going against the Science Guys is suicide,” explained Bill. “First thing they do with their kids when they learn to walk is get them in swim classes. It’s a part of their annual school curriculum, in fact.”

“Wow,” said Val. “No wonder Matt and Scott took the submarine job.”

“Scott, you mean the bald guy who Irpond convinced to frame you?”

“Yes, who else?”

“Huh, that makes sense,” said Bill. “Speaking of Matt, he told me that he was assigned to design a luxury ring station orbiting Laythe.”

“Ring stations are the ones that generate gravity, right?” questioned Val, and Bill nodded. “I thought we already had a station in orbit.”

“That’s what I said, but Mission Control wanted a new tourist attraction to replace Poseidon’s Palace until they figure out what to do about the Fallout Zone,” explained Bill. “And yes, they OFFICIALLY renamed that region of Laythe the Fallout Zone.”

“It’s not just Poseidon’s Palace and those kerbals we lost,” Val lamented. “The Ryagii Tribe was wiped out, the crops were killed, and their village is now a poisonous wasteland.”

“Have you ever interacted with them?”

“Well… I do recall driving a sick child to our medical wing a few weeks before Sheri was killed,” said Val. “The doctors said that Laythan medical practices were inadequate to save his life, but OUR facilities were.”

“That’s weird, because our medics are trained for KERBALS, not Laythans,” Bill pointed out.

“I think you’d better read the report if you want further details, or ask Bob about it,” Val suggested. “Heck, I was just a driver while someone else spoke with them. If you want to talk to someone who’s ACTUALLY interacted with them, try Bob.”

“I wonder if we’ve made contact with any tribes OTHER than the Clivar and Ryagii,” said Bill.

“We probably have,” replied Val, “but you hear about those two more often because they were a major part of our first exploration missions… and the military’s biggest scandal.”

“First the Clivar, and then the Ryagii; two tribes wiped out by kerbalkind,” Bill mentioned. “Kinda makes you wonder what we’re even doing on that rock.”

“Yeah, kinda does,” agreed Val. “It also makes me wonder if it’s even worth it to colonize Laythe anymore.”

“Why, because of Irpond?” shrugged Bill.

“More like Irpond AND Vic,” said Val. “I’m not sure the other Laythans will be too happy with us killing two tribes that were total opposites of each other. Besides, it’s not like we can extradite Irpond to Laythe to face justice… even if we struck a deal with them.”

“Another reason why I picked Duna as a ret…,” said Bill.

“T-minus ten minutes to de-orbit burn,” the autopilot interrupted.

“You do realize the air isn’t breathable, right?” reminded Val.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly remove my helmet on Laythe either,” argued Bill.

“At least we get to use air-breathing engines when we fly,” said Val, “whereas on DUNA, you have to use closed-cycle engines.”

“True,” said Bill, then his kPad pinged. “Ooh, Spaceplane Monthly.”

“What are they rolling out of the hangar now?” wondered Val.

“Huh,” said Bill as he downloaded the PDF. “They’re building a new spaceplane airport in Woomerang.”

“Let me guess,” sighed Val, “Jeb’s Junkyard is building it.”

“No, it’s Dinklestein Kerman’s Construction Emporium,” corrected Bill.

“Wait a second, I thought Woomerang ALREADY had an airport,” recalled Val.

“Well, according to this, it ‘didn’t have the proper facilities,’ to maintain and operate spaceplanes,” said Bill.

“Then why not just upgrade the airport for spaceplanes?” questioned Val. “Wouldn’t that cost less money than building a whole new airport?”

“It says that upgrading Woomerang Airport would require shutting down about half of it for construction space,” explained Bill. “Besides that, a bunch of environmentalists were protesting that adding spaceplanes to the air traffic would increase the sound pollution concentration.”

“Yeah, that would do it,” agreed Val. “So, where in Woomerang is the new airport located?”

“A few kilometers southeast of the city.”

“Wait a second,” said Val, scratching her chin. “Baikerbanur’s closer to the equator than Woomerang, so why build a spaceport in Woomerang at all?”

“Hey, you’re right,” gasped Bill. “Whatever planes they’ll use are going to need a lot of LKO delta-V for inclination changes… hang on.”

“What is it?”

“In a few days, their CEO is flying in a docking-capable spaceplane to the Gaia Hotel; located in 45-degree orbit 250 kilometers above sea level,” said Bill. “Aw, kraken, Dinklestein’s building the airport just for his new hotel.”

“What’s wrong with that?” questioned Val.

“The airport is being used to get people on and off his new space station, not for anything more,” complained Bill.

“It’s his own money being spent here, and we have plenty of high delta-V planes in commission,” argued Val. “Relax.”

“I can’t relax,” said Bill. “I just learned that not only is the new spaceplane airport being built in WOOMERANG, but its sole purpose was an LKO luxury vacation starting point.”

“What’s the problem with the airport’s location?”

“Hello, it’s at Woomerang, home of Team Misty and Irpond,” reminded Bill. “Misty could steal a plane and make her getaway.”

“Hmm,” said Val. “I doubt it.”

“How so?”

“If I were Misty, I’d get this,” said Val, showing Bill a headline on her kPad.

ALL-TOURIST JOOL-5 PLANE LANDED

“JOOL-5?” gasped Bill. “Let me see that.” Val then gave Bill her kPad and he read. “Four tourists use a mining-capable SSTO to land on ALL FIVE of Jool’s moons? They even brought back samples to give to the KSC when they were all done. Everything was fully recovered. Wow, whoever designed this was awesome.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that, if I was on the run with a hostage, I’d go for something with a whole lot of range and able to refuel itself,” Val pointed out. “Since the name of the plane model is also on the news, Misty would be able to know what to steal.”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Bill. “It says here that, for the Tylo landings, open-cockpit landers were deployed from the main craft. Both she and Jeb Senior are EVA-certified, so she may use them to land on larger bodies while the plane is in orbit.”

“Or she could use the lander as a decoy,” said Val. “If she tried to return to the ship with the lander, odds are that someone would have intercepted her.”

“Oh, yeah, like we did,” smirked Bill. “Now that you bring up the Jool-5 plane, there’s no guarantee that she’ll end up anywhere near Woomerang. I mean, assuming she doesn’t miss the atmosphere or blow up during re-entry, for all I know she could end up in the middle of Squaddon.”

“That’s what Mission Control is doing, predicting where she would land based on her trajectory.”

“Then what’s she going to do after that, huh?” asked Bill. “To be safe, we should put a full lockdown on Kerbin. Nobody gets on the ground, nobody gets off.”

“Easier said than done,” disagreed Val. “Sure, Prime Minister Ryan is hard on crime – probably even more than Trunton was – but implementing a full lockdown on KERBIN to catch ONE CRIMINAL would cause massive outrage. Worst-case scenario, we have a thermonuclear war on our hands.”

“Yeah, like you didn’t anger every kerbal on every other planet or moon you did that on,” countered Bill.

“Oh, if I thought the crap I got for the Dres lockdown was bad, wait until I tick off 99 percent of the Kerbal population – and on their home planet,” warned Val. “Someone may even give Misty an Ultimate Challenge rocket out of spite for me.”

“Hedge Kerman implemented such a lockdown on Kerbin when he was prime minister, yet I don’t remember much public outrage then,” said Bill.

“So your parents say,” reminded Val, “we were starting preschool when the Krakenites attacked our cities on 297. Also, the Krakenites were ORGANIZED GLOBAL TERRORISTS while Misty is just a lovesick maniac with a captive boyfriend. Even I think a full lockdown is too much, and I’m sure a good part of the central government would too.”

“Says she who implemented one on Dres when the lovesick maniac’s DAUGHTER escaped.”

“Because we had limited alternatives and resources to track her,” explained Val. “Besides, things are run on other planets differently than on Kerbin.”

“Well, do YOU have any ideas to catch Misty?”

“I do like your idea of a lockdown, but NOT on all flights,” started Val. “Flights with three or less occupants should be grounded, sure, but that won’t cause too many problems since they’re only small exploration crews and private spacecraft owners.”

“What about cadet training flights?” questioned Bill. “If you were so concerned about the lockdown backfiring, then you should consider the possibility that Mission Control will demand they continue – especially if Misty ends up NOWHERE NEAR Krakopolis.”

“I thought of that, said Val. “If you read the performance stats for the spaceplane they use – which is the… Lovebird, I think – then you’ll know that it can’t go any further than LKO before making a safe de-orbit burn.”

“They use the JL-4 Lovebird for cadet training?” gasped Bill, then he started looking through his kPad. “I thought those were for customers who paid for a couple’s trip to LKO.”

“I heard that they’re good for early-level cadets who signed up for the spaceplane track,” said Val. “If Misty gets her hands on one of them, she won’t get far since they don’t have much fuel and oxidizer.”

“And they have a Mission Control override system in case something goes wrong,” added Bill after accessing the design specs for the JL-4 Lovebird spaceplane. “Even if Jeb Senior tries to escape, and Misty uses the instructor override, we could just bring her back. Furthermore… even if she cuts off all communications with the ground so that Mission Control can’t transmit the override command, she won’t go anywhere without… ooh, a docking port.”

“Docking port?” wondered Val. “Let me see that.” Val then spun the model of the plane on the screen and looked underneath the fuselage. “How about that, an underside docking port. ‘To be used for rendezvous drills or orbital refueling.’ If Misty needs any more fuel, she’s gonna get a death squad along with it.”

“Okay… but she still has Jeb Senior hostage. She could just hole herself in the plane and threaten to kill Jeb Senior if anyone gets near that plane. Apart from that, she snuck in the space center.”

“Yes, but she was alone and waited for her target to land,” Val recalled. “Ever wonder why she didn’t just hijack Sally’s plane and kill her before crashing it? Security was tight in the boarding areas, but NOT TIGHT ENOUGH around where Sally was shot. Misty would know that sneaking aboard a low-capacity spacecraft that’s scheduled to launch is too risky, so she backed out; even if she took a Lovebird, we have a fail-safe option.”

“Okay, but we should keep planes like the Mun Hopper and Dirtblood on lockdown,” reminded Bill. “They’re designed for interplanetary flights – the Dirtblood after a refueling stop – and they fit your three-or-less criteria. Speaking of which, why let flights with four or more occupants go?”

“The public’s not going to be too happy with stopping commercial flights on Misty’s account, so the government will HAVE to let them go,” said Val. “HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean we can’t watch who gets on and off.”

“Don’t we ALREADY do that?”

“Yes, but recent KAA regulations mandate that all occupants are checked one-by-one to see if they’re designated passengers and crew,” Val elaborated. “Moreover, they also greenlit using facial recognition software and well as fingerprint scans.”

“Okay, but… what about stowing away?” questioned Bill.

“Dude, do you really think that she’s going to stash herself and her captive in an airliner after what happened in Woomerang?” sighed Val.

“I’m just considering every possibility, that’s all,” said Bill.

“We have entire bureaus dedicated to tracking criminals like her,” reminded Val.

“None of which have seen the likes of Misty OR Irpond,” argued Bill. “Name one criminal other than them who killed hundreds of people on two or more planets.”

“Victor Kerman and his Laythe commandos,” answered Val.

“But they technically weren’t fugitives; ALL of them were accounted for before their arrests. By the way, the Clivar Scandal got blown wide open thanks to Irpond.”

“YOU’RE MISSING THE POINT!” shouted Val. “Just like with Irpond, Misty will slip up and then KERBIN’S law enforcement will catch her. When they do, she won’t get away with it THIS time. YOU just need to relax and do your job.”

“But what if they don’t save Jeb Senior?”

“Unless you were in the same sphere of influence, there was nothing you could do except offer some clues. Now, either you flirt with me or get back to reading Spaceplane Monthly.”

“But…,” stammered Bill.

“THAT’S AN ORDER, engineer.”

“Yes… Admiral,” sighed Bill, then he got back to reading his kPad. “Oh, no.”

“What?”

“WinterOwl and C7 are teaming up to REPLACE the interplanetary travel pod,” Bill complained. “Who would dare dethrone MY pod?”

THY TIME HATH COME, TRAVEL POD

 “You knew this day was coming, dude,” said Val. “Your pod had a great run, but EVERY king must lose his crown SOMETIME. How do you think the ones who designed the craft YOU replaced felt?”

“But… but… I shaped space travel for our species.”

“And it’s time for it to evolve. I’m actually surprised your pod didn’t get replaced SOONER, in fact.”

“Which would you rather take, Val? My creation that has worked for almost two decades already, or some new spaceplane fresh out of the hangar.”

“Honestly, assuming BOTH prototypes work, I’d take the spaceplane,” answered Val. “I mean, you gotta admit, we are leaving debris everywhere whenever we launch a pod.”

“At what cost?”

“You don’t know that.”

“The interplanetary travel pod has boasted the highest delta-V capacity of any spacecraft that can carry more than five people in a closed capsule AND has a thrust of over 60 kilonewtons. Consider what you’ll be giving up when you get on one of those planes.”

“Look, Bill, let’s face it. You cannot stop them from trying to replace you… I mean, your pod. All you can do is offer your advice on their design trade-offs, but they won’t let you on the design team unless they accept you.”

“Good luck with that,” said Bill sarcastically. “I’d rather be in a craft that can get me anywhere.” He said before he started reading. “Wynter Kerman the Fourth has stated that she intends for one of the ‘Throne Planes’ to be able to land on… Tylo. This lady’s getting pretty ambitious.”

“Whoa,” gasped Val. “Reusable Tylo ascent and descent vehicles are pretty hard to design, let alone operate. If she can do that, then she can do the Jool-5.”

“That’s… her goal,” said Bill, pointing at the article. “I hope she has enough delta-V for her next stop after the orbital ascent.”