Inflow ✔️

5 - Upstream

His stomach emptied in the lavatory, and his leg wrapped in a proper roll of gauze, Wyatt braced himself on a crutch (one of many emergency provisions provided with the rover), and hobbled over to the suitport. Suit mended or not, he could no longer trust opening that seal. He grabbed a role of caution tape from his workbench, and marked off the suitport exit with a giant X.

Won't be making that mistake, he thought. Then for good measure he scribbled the word NO in big bold letters with a black marker by the unlock panel.

That done, he eased into the chair by his workbench. Outside that stupid dust swirled, visibility had dropped considerably, and a body waited in Inflow Two for his decision.

A body. A damn Hoover drifter. The clothes had been ragged, and though that easily could have been from the elements to which they had been exposed, drifters falling into the cisterns or even the occasional waterline were not uncommon. When you had no means, you took water wherever you could find it. Hoover had begun overcrowding decades back, and one of the Kembhavi-Cooper Inflow pipes could have been a lifesaver for one of the city's homeless.

"Idiot," he shouted. Wyatt dropped his head against the workbench, relishing for a moment in the fresh wave of pain.

He had risked his job, risked Kelly, risked everything over a damn drifter. If his over-inflated ego hadn't run amok, if his hatred of Ellison Cooper hadn't got the better of him, he wouldn't be in this situation at all. And even then, had he found himself at this pipe with that body clogging the adapter joint, he probably would have followed the company line.

Official procedure demanded bodies be reported (again they weren't unheard of), and an investigation to be initiated by official representatives from the source colony. This, of course, meant the body would have to remain unmoved until proper authorities could arrive on scene to document the incident. Pipes remained closed for days during such procedures and water rationing, the same rationing he had sought to prevent, was always a sure-fire consequence of these incidents. People would suffer. The least among them would die.

The company didn't care so much about the impact of the rationing. They did, however, care about profits. Rationing meant upset colonists, and they always blamed the water service for their troubles. Rationing meant bad PR and that threatened profits. So, unofficially, the company encouraged any bodies discovered in the pipes to be removed, incinerated, and left unreported, even to the company itself.

   All things considered, Wyatt reluctantly agreed that it was the right call. For the company it preserved profit and prevented any fallout from the associated press. Wyatt didn't give a damn about that. For the colonies, however, the discreet disposal of bodies kept the water flowing and prevented the hardship that rationing always brought upon the colonists, especially the most disadvantaged of them.

Yes, there had been a day when Wyatt would have disposed of that body, repaired the line, and let the water flow once more. He still could. If he did, perhaps he might even have a job waiting for him back at the crater. The Coopers' secret, if it was more than just the body, would remain hidden, the colonies would thrive unhindered, and Wyatt could return to his isolation.

Or he could call Ellison back, accept his offer, and disappear to the People's Republic of Northern Aeolis. Maybe Ell would follow through and wire him the money, maybe he wouldn't, but Wyatt could live with either scenario. The longer he stayed at kilometer 37, the more the Coopers' cleanup crew gained on him. Once they arrived, he would be left with no choice to make. He would disappear as easily as the body in that pipe. It wasn't worth the risk.

"Shit," he muttered, banging his head once more against the workbench. He couldn't do it. He couldn't leave it alone.

Even the most desperate of drifters typically avoided a pipe with the type of current that was rushing through Inflow Two. It was possible a drifter could have fallen in, but not likely. No, it was far more probable this death was intentional, and if the Coopers wanted it concealed, the safe bet was they ordered the hit. The man's clothes had been in tatters and covered in grime, but no matter who you were, days in an untreated return flow was a great equalizer. The more Wyatt thought about it, the more he realized he needed to know who was in that pipe.