FUBAR

[Ethan Neufeld 0]

Ethan was silent as he returned to the visitor's center. His face must have looked like his interpretation of Vulcan detachment. Those who knew him well enough would have recognized the subtle frown he always wore when things looked grim.

 

Too many people suspected that they knew.

 

It took less than two hours to bring months of planning and execution to the brink of failure. Infiltrate Dr. Phantos's staff and hide out on Xorax for weeks without a hiccup. Meet one handsome Orion woman with a good memory for faces on obscure posters. Flush. She didn't do it intentionally, but using her ODRI and then talking to Xorax Security had effectively burned his bridge to Zoalus. The only path left gave him less latitude than fishing wire. A tightrope would have been generous.

 

When he heard of the expedition, disguising himself as a Vulcan hybrid had seemed like a passable idea at first. The bounty was making it difficult to move around near Tranquility. Genetic doubles between species weren't unheard of and Xorax attracted academics more than it did mercenaries, particularly Vulcans. But now that it was no longer passing, Ethan couldn't just stop being Vulcan and come clean. It'd be stupid to hope that Xorax would take the whole thing lightly and still let him accompany Dr. Phantos. They'd probably throw him to the Guardians and tell them to 'chew well'. Or, if in transit, they might just throw him out the airlock. The disguise had to stay; with a problem.

 

The problem wasn't Pher or the Qob. He was still convinced that Joe was more interested in the expedition and wouldn't jeopardize that or let his crew do it for him. More than that – ignoring rumors of shady dealings – their history implied they might be good allies if they knew the story. Once he was certain they knew he wasn't Vulcan, Ethan had considered taking a gamble and explaining himself to Joe and Pher. He didn't like solo gigs and was growing weary of it. If they didn't want to work with him, maybe he could have offered something for their silence. That was until he'd learned about Taurik and his theory. Get a little too friendly with the Qob now and no doubt his Vulcan logic would make them out as Ethan's extraction team – if Taurik hadn't already explored that possibility. Both he and the Qob would lose their tickets to Zoalus. He wasn't interested in causing collateral damage to a group that'd only made the mistake of recognizing who he was. It hadn't taken long to understand how important money was in Bull's Head.

 

In fact, it'd been a lucrative paycheck that got him tangled up in this charade. She had originally hired him to conduct this search. But as the pieces came together he'd uncovered a few unattractive things and intentionally went dark. By then, he'd developed his own reasons for continuing and without her help or knowledge; this was too big to just casually let it go. He'd used the last of his first fee to undergo cosmetic surgery and booked passage to Xorax.

 

But it would take just one word to the wrong guy at the wrong time to bring all of it down on Ethan at once. It was Vulcan judiciousness that kept him out of the noose as a corporate spy and to Ethan it felt paper-thin. Taurik didn't have hard facts to corroborate his speculations. He was a Vulcan but still sensitive to the consequences if he accused Ethan now. It was just one bounty with a mysterious benefactor that Xorax officials wouldn't honor. Delay the expedition and he could lose his standing within the colony if they decided he'd cried wolf. Still, that could change in a heartbeat if Ethan somehow slipped or Taurik got bold. Show too much interest in the archeological aspects of the expedition and Ethan could kiss it good-bye. Get rid of the problem and more people would start to dig around and delay or end the whole expedition before it started. Right, wrong or academically indifferent, the clever bastard had him pinned.

 

Everything Ethan knew was telling him to pull out; evasion before escape.

 

His original employer would get him to Zoalus if he left Xorax and made contact. But he wasn't about to go crawling back to her now. The fact that she had concealed their associations still irritated him and, ironically, he was doing this as much for her as against her. He wasn't going to let them bury the truth or worse, lead them right to it so they could play like lemmings.

 

He couldn't abandon the expedition. He didn't have the resources to conduct his own trip to Zoalus and everything he had so far told him that place was the key. He had to get there. He couldn't leave Rodney either; he'd probably come under suspicion if Ethan disappeared. It wasn't common knowledge that they knew each other, but it would be once Taurik reported his theory.

 

Call it a total wash and leave it hidden if he gave up now: the rationale felt shaky at best, but it had convinced him enough to see it through.

 

He had to admit, Rodney wasn't off when he'd said he was crazy. He felt crazy.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Ethan Neufeld