...into the chamber on deck 6, which is where the smell overwhelmed him. Cargo containers were jammed together, leaving only a narrow passage between them if one wanted to move around, which Ajax certainly did. Thing was, it seemed odd that there would be all cargo containers on deck 6, when the cargo bay was another eight decks below. Wiping dust off one of the containers, he was able to make out the writing. Cold Storage. That was it. Now he recognized the smell. It was like rotting meat. The refridgeration system on one of the units must have failed. (Of course, it was odd that they weren't using vacuum storage...utilizing the cold of space.)
He moved around as quietly as he could, though he doubted anyone knew he was onboard yet. It seemed best to stay in practice. His earpiece continued providing him with endless informational chatter; stock market reports, shipping lane control, up-to-the-minute-news. It all ran together, sometimes on top of one another, but he was used to it. In a solar economy, information was the real currency (or wealth.)
Ajax couldn't find a way out, other than the way he came in, which only made the presence of the cargo containers more suspicious. Climbing on top of the containers, he surveyed the rest of the room. A steady stream of air blasted through a grate just above him. No other exits. That settled it. Pulling out his Pi-Tool, he opened the latches on the grate, and climbed up inside, replacing the grill behind him. He tapped the low vision setting on his eyepiece and looked around.
He'd forgotten how much he hated tight spaces. When he was nine, he got stuck in a fire chute back in his homesprawl of Atlanta. Scared the shit out of him, because he didn't think anyone could hear him yelling for help. He was sure he was going to die. To make matters worse, he'd lost power in a one man submersible during his stint in the Go-Tech Corporate Marine Corps. Ajax and tight spaces mixed like water and glue.
He tapped his eyepiece again, this time to bring up a map in the corner of his vision, and then began moving. The air was kept chilly on this ship. The crew must be Martians, he concluded. He'd probably be able to tell when he saw them.
]
After having lost himself in a few ducts that weren't in the schematics (probably replacements), he stopped to get his bearings. He heard talking below, and realized he must have turned his information stream up to distract him from his claustrophobia. He fiddled with the volume so that he could make out what was being said below.
"...not at liberty to discuss that, and you know it. Read your god-damned contract. It's right there." Male. Possibly the captain, or the first officer. Crew rosters were unreliable since the outbreak of RADAS (RApid Degenerative Arterial Syndrome) at Tokyo station. No-one gave their real names anymore, which had really boosted black market identity sales.
"I read the contract, but I think I'm entitled to know." Female. First officer or science officer. Just a guess, though.
"There is no entitlement. There's our jobs. You don't fu-" A blast of icy air drowned out the male for a moment. "-dea. When corporate says jump, we say how high. That's nothing new! Why can't you just accept that!"
"Because I think it's dangerous."
"You think it's dangerous."
"Yeah. I think it's fucking HazMat, and we don't have a permit for a HazMat approach to Delphi station."
"We're not going to Delphi station."
Shit, Ajax thought. There was a pause below before the woman spoke again.
"We're not going to Delphi?"
"No."
"Where the hell are we going?"
"Artemis station, and you are not to tell anyone else, understood? It's command clearance information."
Shit, he thought again. Artemis was not part of the plan.
"I can't believe," she started to say.
"Believe it."
Ajax heard a door open below. Presumably one of them had gone. Didn't matter. He had bigger problems. This boat was going the wrong way, and nobody on board knew about but those two officers. He turned his information chatter back up to audibility, hoping for some clue as to what was going on, and continued crawling toward what he hoped was the server room.