The False Admiral by Sean Danker

would he want to take explosives outside? What is there here to blow up?”
    â€œI was hoping you could tell me, Admiral.”
    We gazed at each other.
    â€œI don’t even have a guess.” I was being truthful, and she could tell.
    â€œIs that what all of this is? Weapons?” She turned around to look out at the bay, at the stacks of crates.
    â€œI prefer not to comment.”
    She gave me a flat look. “It’s a little late for you to play innocent.”
    â€œIt’s not my ship.” I shrugged. “But yeah, probably. There was just a war on, after all. But that’s not our problem right now.”
    We looked around the container. “The airlock cycles only once, and they die burning. It doesn’t make sense,” Deilani said.
    â€œWhy were they going outside in the first place? Well—now that we know about that damage, that’s probably why. There may be more damage we don’t know about. Something they had to address.”
    â€œWith 14-14
?
”
    â€œThat’s where it catches, isn’t it?” I rubbed at the stubble on my chin, as if that could help me make peace with it.
    â€œYou really don’t know what this is about?” The look she gave me was almost pleading.
    â€œYou’re just now getting that?”
    â€œI guess so.” She looked down at her gloved hands, perhaps wishing she could bite her nails. She was scared. So was I.
    â€œPrivate, anything on the scanner?”
    â€œNo, Admiral.”
    â€œI don’t think there will be. We’ve confirmed there were only supposed to be six people aboard, and the computers weren’t
always
down—particularly the security—so you can ease up if you like. I think we’re dealing with faulty equipment.”
    â€œYes, Admiral.”
    â€œNils?”
    â€œSir?”
    â€œYou think it’s possible the bay loaders might be on a different log than the personnel airlocks?”
    A slight pause. “It wouldn’t surprise me, sir. This ship has been extensively repurposed at enormous cost. If someone was going to cut corners, it would be with nonessential systems.”
    â€œI was thinking the same thing.” I folded my arms and looked at Deilani. “Suppose Tremma and his PO weren’t leaving.”
    She frowned, considering it. “What? You think they were coming back in?”
    I shrugged. “It’s possible. Look.” I pointed at an empty rack inside the crate. “There’s a charge missing. They opened this cargo; they must have done something with it.”
    â€œYou think they blew the ship open?” Her eyes widened.
    â€œNo—no, I’m sure they didn’t. That damage wasn’t caused by explosives.”
    Deilani grimaced. “So they took it somewhere.”
    â€œThey must’ve.”
    â€œBut what did they want to do with it?”
    â€œI don’t know, but I’m dying to find out. Private, Ensign—take whatever you’re lining up to Medical, then get down here to the cargo bay. We’re taking a walk.”
    â€œBelay that,” Deilani cut in. For a moment I thought I had another fight on my hands. “We can’t open the hangar doors or cycle the airlocks without power. That hull breach is the only way out. We’ll have to meet up there,” she said.
    I let out a covert sigh of relief. “She’s right. Shall we?”
    â€œLet’s go.”
    We left the cargo bay, but it was a long walk. I looked at the containers that were intact and still stacked after the blast and swallowed hard. If that crate of explosive charges had been a little closer to the shuttle, we’d all be part of a small, but very smooth glass crater right now.
    The wreckage of the shuttle was ugly. I’d seen an overloaded spacecraft go up before. It never really looked like an accident, but with no explosives used, you could never be sure. We’d been lucky. Deilani had