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February 3, 2051
Topaz and Claire moved through the large room filled with operators and their workstations. Half of the workstations were active, their computers humming, while the other half remained powered off until they were needed. Operators on the second morning patrol watched over their pilots. Others on regular monitoring duty watched the feeds of the Moon Station’s exterior cameras.
The remaining operators, Topaz knew, were working on getting into the rebels’ network.
Janet wasn’t among them.
Topaz’s stomach tightened, but before she could speak to Claire, her CID buzzed, and she checked it.
A message from Janet: I think something’s in a vent near your room. Can you come here?
Topaz showed the message to Claire. “Should I alert the others in case it’s a rebel trap?”
“If it’s not, dragging the others in won’t help anyone.” Claire rested a hand on her electrical pistol. “Just stay behind me.”
They left for their quarters.
Janet met them halfway there. “My room,” she whispered, gesturing for them to follow.
Once they were inside, Janet shut the hatchdoor and locked it. “Sorry for the misleading messages. It occurred to me it’d be better to meet in private. I found something, and I wanted you to check it before I report it to the temporary station head—I don’t want anyone else to see this.”
She pulled out her CID and typed, then passed the device to Topaz.
Topaz held it so Claire could see too, then frowned at the image on the screen. “Intranet logs?”
“That’s right.” Janet lowered her voice. “Our assumption was any rebels here would connect to their network using their own devices, but it occurred to me, what if they used the CIDs they were issued instead? Those devices aren’t meant to connect to more than one network at a time, but if they disconnected from ours…” Janet pointed. “There.”
Topaz’s eyes scanned a column of numbers. “Eight disconnections from the intranet last night…After the general’s announcement about the recording equipment.”
“Uh-huh. Then twelve this morning—right before the first patrol.”
Claire spoke. “The first eight were CIDs registered to doctors and engineers.”
Janet nodded. “Those eight disconnected once last night and once today. The remaining four were registered to engineers. But you know how the rebels are.”
Topaz set her jaw. “Yeah. Any of these people could be traitors, or none of them could be, and their devices were made to disconnect by rebels who suspected someone would check the logs and wanted to throw us off.”
“Which is why I wanted you to see this first.” Janet’s gaze moved between them. “I want to report this directly to the general, not put it in a report that others could see. Because if they’re accessing our databases…”
“We hear you.” Topaz straightened. “Should we see if the general’s available to talk now?”
____________________________________________________________________________
They decided against contacting the general by CID and instead opted for visiting his office.
When they reached it, Topaz knocked on the closed hatchdoor.
A few moments later, the general answered it, waved them inside, then shut and locked the door behind them.
Alex and Colton stood in front of his desk.
Topaz’s stomach tightened. Oh no, what—oh. She’d seen what was on the desk.
She grinned, feeling a surge of pride for the pilot and engineer. “So, we’re officially bug-free.”
“Yes. I doubt NASA will be happy about it, but yes.” The general took his seat. “I assume it’s all right for Pilot Fletcher and Engineer Close to hear what the three of you have to say?”
Janet nodded. “Sir, please excuse me for not uploading this to the database or sending it to your CID, but I thought it might be best if I didn’t send it through potentially traceable channels.” She offered him her CID.
He took it. “Commendable foresight, Operator—intranet logs?”
“Yes sir.” Janet explained it. “If the CIDs were tampered with, that means the rebels could have any number of theirs among the engineers, the operators, or both.”
Brigadier General Gonzalez nodded. “And they could even be working alongside you and Operator Bailey.” His eyes moved between her and Topaz. “No new Pilots Division personnel came in on the last two carriers, and after what happened on January 19, I’d like to assume there aren’t any more rebels in your section, but at this point, we can’t be certain. From now on, if either of you finds anything else, bring it to me immediately. Don’t put it in a report or tell the others.”
“Yes sir.” Janet and Topaz spoke at the same time.
The general returned Janet’s CID. “We all better be more careful with our intranet usage—anytime you upload something to a database, double-check that it went through. Then read the file within the database later to make sure it’s still the same as the one you added.”
He studied his desk. “As for myself and the other division heads, we’d better limit our use of the Internet, starting by staggering our reports to the government. We can’t risk the rebels finding a way into our network and exploiting it…” He frowned. “Like they did with Barr’s email.”
Brigadier General Gonzalez turned to Colton. “We also need to find out how the rebels access their network, whether it’s through CIDs or other devices. CIDs can scan for signals. I want you and Engineer Burke to place some throughout the station to do that and also alert us to any anomalies. Make sure they are well-hidden.”
“Yes sir.”
“Another thing—make sure you place devices around personal quarters, particularly near the rooms of our new medical personnel, Dr. Rogers and Dr. Long. Dr. Hampton will tell you where their rooms are. She suspects them of being rebels.”
Oh, wonderful. Topaz thought. More rebels in medical, just in time for Henry’s birthday tomorrow.
“Any thoughts or questions?”
“Yes sir.” Colton spoke. “Is there a way Dr. Hampton could get Drs. Rogers and Long out of medical so they won’t see Engineer Burke and me there?”
“I’ll speak with her about it.”
Alex stepped forward. “I might have an idea, sir. If there were a medical problem somewhere, doctors would be sent out to deal with it. If Dr. Hampton sent those doctors…”
Topaz eyed her pilot. “You’re not thinking of fake-injuring yourself, are you?”
“No. If I did, they might suspect a setup. I was thinking of asking Station Guard Duy to do it—I think we can trust him, and I don’t think the rebels would automatically suspect him. He hasn’t worked as openly with us on apprehending rebels as, say, Station Guards Stewart and Hernandez.”
The general nodded. “You and Dr. Hampton can coordinate that with him.” He stood. “I’ll inform the others of this new development.”
____________________________________________________________________________
As the first evening patrol started, Alex hid in the corridor that led to the engine room. His weapon drawn, he kept watch over Station Guard Duy sitting on the last step of the stairs to the station’s second level, holding his ankle and groaning.
They would have done this earlier, but it had taken Colton and Albert a while to get the CIDs from the main storage area and modify them for the general’s purpose. It took even longer to plant them in different parts of the station, starting in engineering.
Now all that was left was medical. And that would soon be taken care of.
Drs. Rogers and Long appeared from behind the station guard, and Alex watched them crouch in front of him. Alex didn’t think they’d pull anything, but one never knew.
“What happened?” Dr. Rogers asked.
Ordinarily, doctors coming to help an injured person would already know what had happened because that person (or someone with him or her) would have explained in a CID message.
Station Guard Duy had made sure to be as vague as possible. “I slipped. I’m sure it’s not serious…”
Dr. Long tried to pull the station guard’s hands away from his ankle. “Let me see.”
Duy resisted. “Ow! I don’t like doctors.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Planting CIDs near the doctors’ quarters was surprisingly simple. Between every two rooms was a low bench perfect for two people to sit together, or for one person to lie down (especially in the event of a medical emergency).
Colton attached a CID to the underside of each bench, after thoroughly checking to make sure the rebels hadn’t had the same idea.
Albert kept an eye out for doctors. “Is that the last one?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
They’d had to modify the CIDs’ software so the CIDs would automatically scan for signals, identify them as coming from specific devices (as much as was possible, given how many signals they’d be receiving), record the data, and then send it to other CIDs Colton and Albert had modified. Those CIDs would be divided between the general, Autumn, and the personnel they trusted, including Lew, Janet, and Station Guards Hernandez, Duy, and Stewart.
The engineers headed to Autumn’s office to test whether the devices would properly communicate with the other CIDs.
Autumn let them in when Colton knocked. “I have to meet with the general. If you finish with the CIDs before I get back, please wait for me.” She lowered her voice. “Alex will alert us when Rogers and Long are on their way.”
Colton nodded. “Thank you.”
She closed the door behind her, and the two engineers began checking the CIDs.
“This one’s receiving signals.” Colton separated it from the others.
“So is this one.” Albert placed another one next to it.
When they finished, each engineer collected the CID meant for him, and then they sat and waited.
Albert broke the silence. “Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask you, what’s the deal with you and Major Barr?”
Colton’s chest tightened. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, he always seems mad at you.”
Colton didn’t want to think about it let alone talk about it. He considered himself fortunate to have only had brief contact with Major Barr since January 21. The longest conversation they’d had after that had been when Colton and Alex were in the major’s office earlier. He was sure that at some point, Major Barr would call him to his office again, and he dreaded it.
After a heartbeat of hesitation, he said, “A long time ago, he got mad at me, and he’s been mad ever since.”
Albert shifted in his chair. “Let me guess, you didn’t actually do anything wrong.”
“No.” It had taken him far too long to realize that.
“I figured.” Albert gave him a sympathetic smile.
That reminded Colton of something he’d wondered. Maybe that was too personal of a question. Well, he apparently didn’t think it was too personal to ask about Major Barr’s problem with me. “Albert, why does Major Barr dislike your mother? Not that he needs an actual reason—”
“I know what you mean. It probably started when they first met and he realized she wouldn’t be another lemming for him. But once she became a name for helping build the station, I think it got way worse.”
I’m sure it did.
Albert’s mouth twitched. “He reminds me of my father, actually.”
Colton hadn’t expected that—he’d assumed Albert had a good dad. “I’m sorry.”
The other engineer shook his head. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
“Don’t be…And don’t feel compelled to, but if you ever want to talk about him, you can.”
Albert smiled sadly. “Thanks. Same goes for you. Speaking of which, there’s another thing I wanted to ask you…what happened the day after your fingers got injured? You left engineering looking…I don’t know. And then Henry was outside your room looking for you, and he looked so…distraught.”
Colton swallowed hard. Henry thought I was dead.
Albert fidgeted. “Sorry. It’s not my business. Forget I asked.”
Colton hesitated. He didn’t want to tell Albert about it, but maybe Albert needed to know what the major was capable of. Then again, he doubted Albert would believe a division head would do what Barr had.
And if Colton told him what he’d almost done, Albert might take it the wrong way and try to report it to someone.
Besides, what Henry and the others had said and done for him—Colton couldn’t express the half of it, and he doubted he ever would.
No, he couldn’t tell him. “Don’t worry about it—it was just a bad time.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you…And thank you for stopping the engine.”
“You already thanked me for that.” Albert smiled. “You’re still welcome.”
The door opened, and Autumn walked in. “Ah—I see you’re finished.”
They rose, and Colton held out a device. “Yes, Doctor. Here is your CID.”
She took it. “Thank you. I guess you can return to your regular duties now. And Colton, I finished checking the ingredients. You can bake Henry’s cookies tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
She got the door for them, shutting it as they entered the main section of the medical bay.
Albert glanced at him. “Henry’s cookies?”
Colton nodded. “It’s a surprise.”
“Oh. Birthday?”
Colton figured Henry would be okay with Albert knowing. “Yes.”
“Nice. That’s cool you can bake.”
“Thank you. This will be my first time preparing Henry’s family’s recipe, though.”
They entered the corridor, heading for engineering but taking the long way through the rec area so it wouldn’t look like they’d come from medical.
They passed through the rec area in silence, then as they entered another corridor, Albert asked, “Do you think Henry would mind if I knew the recipe”—he broke off as Dr. Oakes appeared in front of them.
They all stopped, and the doctor smirked. “Cat got your tongue?”
“Met any good rebels lately?” Colton retorted, then fought a smile. That sounded like something Alex or Claire might have said. Colton hated how the other doctors treated Henry.
Oakes glared at him, then smiled at Albert. “You said something about Henry and a recipe…” He raised his eyebrows. “Henry cooking something? Oh, wouldn’t it be awful if it somehow got ruined?”
Colton knew that wouldn’t happen; when she wasn’t testing them, Autumn kept the ingredients locked in her desk. “Why don’t you ask Henry?”
Oakes must have expected more of a reaction. He stared at the two engineers, then shouldered past Colton.
Colton watched him until he disappeared. “If he ever messed with Henry’s food, I’d have to rewire his room.”
Albert’s eyes widened. “Wow. You’re always so quiet and polite, I didn’t expect that from you.”
Colton was surprised to find himself smiling. “No one told you that it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for?”
“I’ve heard that, and I do, but I still feel like it’s more the loud pillars-of-the-community type I need to watch out for.”
Colton hadn’t expected that either—it sounded a lot like how he felt.
Thank you for reading “The Cookies” (Part 1). Read the next part of this episode here.
The previous installment in this series is “The Bugs” (Part 3). Read it here.
Copyright © 2026 Li Mitchell All Rights Reserved
Note: Everything I write is written without AI—even if I do use a lot of em dashes (and some semicolons).
Hmm...more nefariousness afoot... 🧐 But I do like Albert. Hopefully he doesn't end up another Olive. 🫠