It was a bomb.
Albeit, a tiny, unfinished bomb, but a bomb, nonetheless.
Bombs always gave Russo a headache. No matter how big or how small, how advanced or how crud, always a headache.
Because the psychological profile of a bomb-builder was one of the most dangerous. The combination of an inflated self-worth mixed with the feeling of being overlooked and social isolation made for a very volatile individual who could easily justify the loss of innocents in their quest.
Their personality made them weird to those around them, but their isolation made them secretive. Historically, bombers were hard to locate but obvious after they were caught. However, they were usually only caught because there was enough evidence to track them down and that usually meant they'd set enough bombs to hurt a decent amount of people.
They were relatively rare among criminals and had only gotten rarer when humankind moved to space, because the sheer level of devastation a bomb could cause on a ship or a colony with a controlled atmosphere was far beyond what they could do on Earth. Even during the civil war, when sabotage was at an all-time high, no one was setting bombs on enemy ships.
It was a slightly odd line that everyone in intelligence had respected.
There had been one famous mad bomber after the move to space. On Mars of all places. Albert Von Streek had been born on the 100th Anniversary of the Mars Colony's founding and had grown up in a family of miners. Despite a relatively normal upbringing and no significant family issues, he'd become radicalized in university by a professor who thought Mars should be an independent planet.
It was not an opinion shared by most of Mars' population since the colony wasn't self-sustaining when it came to food or water. Albert had taken up his professor's cause and then gone a whole lot further.
He'd set three bombs before he was caught, each one more devastating the last, and killed just over three thousand people in total. He'd also caused 2.6 billion dollars' worth of damage to the colony and forced the relocation of another two thousand colonists for the year it took to repair the damage.
He'd gone completely under the radar until his fingerprints were found on one of the bomb components and then suddenly his fellow students had remembered his rants about independence and the questionable professor. He'd been convicted on all counts and died in prison only a few years later.
His family had been driven off Mars by the backlash from his actions and harsh laws had been enacted to discourage anyone from following in his footsteps.
Russo sighed again.
Olympia shifted, impatient. "It doesn't look like its finished. There's no explosive that we could see."
"I agree. Do you have a scanner?"
Olympia handed him one and activated the scanner. The advanced LIDAR system was so sensitive it could pick up the oils left behind by contact with human skin and even estimate how old it was, but they'd have to take apart the bomb if it didn't pick anything up on the outside.
The scanner beeped, identifying a partial print on the side of the rectangular bomb. It flashed a notification of thirty potential matches, which was too many for Russo to put people on.
They'd have to take it apart.
Russo grabbed his radio. "Nemo, Russo."
"What?" Nemo's entire existence was a study in cranky. The closest he came to not cranky was when he was with Nemo, but even then, he was only ever just slightly less sarcastic than his baseline.
"Report to engine storage, starboard side."
Nemo didn't even bother responding. He was too good of a soldier not to come, and Russo knew from personal experience that he had no issue telling a superior officer to fuck off if he was busy.
He was also one of the best mechanical engineers Russo had ever served with. He could build a Hell Engine from scrap with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back.
He got away with his attitude because of how damn good he was at his job.
And also, because aside from being cranky, he didn't cause problems. Any good officer overlooked a sarcastic subordinate if they did their job without being asked and didn't start office drama.
It only took Nemo a few minutes to find them, and he went straight to the bomb. "Fuck."
"Yep." Russo tapped out a quick message to Finley updating her on the situation as Nemo poked at the bomb. "Well?"
"It's just the control box. There's no explosive attached yet." Nemo lifted it out of the crate. Several wires hung off of it, waiting to be connected to whatever explosive the bomber had been planning to use. "Pretty standard. It's just an alarm clock that's been turned into a timer. Old fashioned, but reliable. Can't be interrupted using a electronic signal. Can get the parts pretty much anywhere."
"Take it apart and see if you can find a better print."
Nemo was already fiddling with the screen and nodded absently.
"Don't send the scans to anyone but myself and Finley."
Nemo glanced up briefly, but that was the only sign of surprise he gave.
Russo turned back to Olympia. "Did you search the other storage rooms?"
She shook her head. "We didn't see any other rooms open while we patrolled."
Her partner shook his head. "Usually there's one or two that people are working in. Kind of weird they're all locked up right now."
"Hell of risk to warn people off. Especially without giving away what you were doing." Russo muttered.
"Mid-day meal just started," Nemo pointed out. "People cut out early. Might have gotten lucky."
"Might have planned on that." Russo added. He turned to Olympia. "Lock it up, then pull the security feeds. Finley doesn't want to make a fuss about the attempts on her life, but someone stupid enough to build a bomb on a ship is too dangerous to ignore."
Olympia and her partner nodded sharply and followed Russo and Nemo out, closing and locking the door behind them.
~ tbc