I had done it hundreds of times in the past to seem cool and collected before big meetings, recorded appearances, and even my own trial. I hadn’t done it recently, but like a well-worn shoe, I hadn’t forgotten the process, and confidence settled on my shoulders like a mantle.
I approached the table, a tray of cookies in hand. One at a time, the Ceruleans noticed my approach and quieted. Eventually, the princess glanced at me.
I tipped my head in a respectful greeting. “I’m Captain Laika. I apologize that your journey has been interrupted by troubles. I bring a traditional food gift.” I slid the tray onto the table.
The taller female Cerulean inclined her head toward me. “You may call me Vanessa. Please take a seat and drink with us.” She gestured to a chair and slid a teacup filled with dark-brown liquid toward me.
Vanessa was probably not her given name, but many chose a “fleet name” to use when off their home worlds. At the very least, the pronunciation had been altered for UL tongues. It was partially a reflection of their opinion that fleet members weren’t talented enough nor intelligent enough to pronounce their birth names correctly, but maybe some of it was just the fun of picking a name in Universal Language that they felt represented themselves better than whatever name they had been saddled with by their parents. Or maybe it was her real name, and I was projecting assumptions.
I took the offered tea, but before I could sit, I was interrupted by a gruff male voice.
“Captain Laika, I would like to speak to you in private.”
CHAPTER SIX
I followed James and Officer Halston to my quarters for our interview. I’d known it was coming, though the timing wasn’t ideal. I had submitted a detailed account of what had happened with headquarters when I reported the unattended death, but I knew that James would need to conduct his own interview.
When we reached my quarters, I realized with a start that I was still carrying the tea, so I dumped it into the plant that stood to the side of my door as I entered. The thing was practically immortal, which was what I most desired in a plant and explained why it hadn’t already died.
I sat on the edge of the bed and pointed at a chair placed near the porthole. I had arranged the area so I could read on my large recreation tablet and gaze out into space. The cushion had a deep indent, and I smirked a little when James sat and slowly sank down with his knees being pushed into his chest. There was no place left for Officer Halston to sit, so she leaned against the wall.
“Liz, you have to be honest,” James said. “If you killed the Cerulean in self-defense, it is best that you come clean immediately.”
It took me a few moments to gather my thoughts and reply. “I didn’t kill him in self-defense or otherwise.”
“Does someone have something over you? Threatening you? You know that coercion is an extenuating circumstance.”
“What are you talking about? I told the home office what happened.”
“Please, Liz, I want to help you out of whatever situation you have gotten yourself into.”
I stood up. “I haven’t gotten myself into any situation. This is ridiculous. Are you saying that you think I had something to do with the Cerulean’s murder?”
Heather pushed away from the wall and intercepted me, blocking my view of James. “We know what you’ve done, and I intend to prove it, which shouldn’t be hard. You left evidence everywhere.”
I looked her up and down then stepped around her to face James. “Is this some kind of good-cop-stupid-cop situation?”
I had kept some of my attention on Heather and for good reason. As soon as I finished speaking, she lunged at me with a hiss.
I twisted my body low into a crouch, pushing one shoulder in her direction. She hadn’t expected that and was moving too quickly to adjust. Her arms were extended, probably to grab at me, but it left her entire midsection exposed. I body-checked her lower stomach, the power of my legs propelling me. She deflected off my shoulder, her training kicking in far too late. She bounced off my bed and hit the floor.
James reacted only a split second after I did and was already between us by the time she stopped rolling. I had moved out of instinct refined by years of practice. Much of that training had taken place during the time James and I were dating.
I was breathing heavily, my stance low and wide and my hand out, ready to take on whatever threat came next.
“Officer Halston!” James barked at her while also grabbing her hand and jerking her to her feet. “Go to the navigation room and check on the downloading data.”
She stared at him, her face turning red from either embarrassment or anger. I guessed both. She had lost her temper and been thrown down on her butt then was being kicked from the room. If I was a better person, I would have felt bad for her.
But my smirk was wiped off my face the second the door closed behind her, and I remembered what we had been discussing. I looked at James, really studied his face. There was an odd sense of familiarity with him that wanted to return despite my own reluctance. He was a man that I had trusted and loved. He knew me better than probably anyone in all the universes, but like so many in my life, he had turned his back on me.
“James, I don’t know what you are thinking, but I had nothing to do with the Cerulean’s murder, and I can’t possibly understand why you could think otherwise.”
He sat in on the edge of the seat. “People don’t change. The Liz I knew would never let her ship fall into such disrepair. I looked over the information, and practically none of the door sensors work. We can’t get any record of who was where and when. That is the most basic level of security, and not having it work is pure negligence.”
Adrenaline was still coursing through my veins, and I paced the room, hoping to walk it off. “You don’t understand. This ship is old. It’s held together through sheer luck and the work of an amazing crew. Headquarters wants no part in helping me, and I’ve gotten along fine without them so far.”
He perked up a little. “You requested to have these things repaired, and they refused?”
“I did once, but they refused, and I got the message.”
“What message?” His eyebrows pulled together in genuine curiosity.
“That I was on my own out here.”
“That is not how the fleet functions. There is no hold on your ship. If you needed repairs, you just needed to submit them.”
My fingernails dug painfully into my palm as I clenched my hands into fist. “You know nothing of how things work. I may have been declared innocent in the eyes of the court, but as far as he’s concerned, I’m guilty.”
“He who?”
“Your boss, the fleet president.”
“You think he has a personal vendetta against you? That’s why you didn’t get your ship repaired? You sound paranoid.”
A sensation like molten lava rolled through my stomach, making me want to hurl or punch him. Maybe both. I really wanted to punch him. “I’m not paranoid!” My voice cracked, and I knew that I was just proving his point. I turned away. “You don’t understand.”
“The Liz I knew would fight for her ship and crew. You could have filed a formal complaint, and—”
“The old Liz is dead!”
“People don’t change that much.”
I spun around, hoping the tears in my eyes weren’t visible. “Everything changes.” I suddenly felt so exhausted that I wasn’t sure if my legs could hold my weight much longer. I collapsed on the bed, willing to take whatever he had to dish out.
He stood and went to the window. “If you killed him, I will do whatever I can to make sure you have a fair trial. But I can’t understand what’s going on if you don’t tell me.”
I let out a long sigh. “I didn’t kill him.”
He sighed in reply and turned to me, his face one of a stranger. “We did a ship scan, and the only weapons that came up were what you and your navigator carry. We found your pajamas covered in your own blood and some of his. Your fingerprints are all over
the victim’s room. Did he attack you?”
A bark of laughter escaped my lips. “Is that what you’re worried about? I can’t tell you about the weapon other than that you missed something. But the rest is easy to explain. Raph and I were in the navigation room when I was notified of the situation. We jogged down there. I tripped over a loose panel and landed on a jagged piece of metal, ripping my pajamas. I lost quite a bit of blood from the wound. I had it taken care of, then we went to the room, where I determined the Cerulean was deceased, and I called it in.”
The muscle in James’s jaw was flexing, and he closed his eyes briefly while taking a deep breath. “I’ll just start at the beginning. Why were you in your pajamas?” He pulled a thin tablet from the pocket on the side of his pants, unfolded it, and removed a stylus.
I went through the whole story of our midnight refueling. He jotted notes as I talked, to go along with the automatic recordings. I had to assume that all my interactions with him would be reviewed eventually.
He looked up, his pen posed in midair. “There is no record of any medical treatment being dispensed. Based on the amount of your blood we found, there should have been.”
I debated lying for only the smallest of fractions of a second, but even as I did, I knew I was going to tell the truth even at the risk of lowering James’s opinion of me yet again. “A crew member broke protocol and handled it himself.” I fidgeted with my clothing, eventually exposing the jagged wound, which was healing nicely despite the seared-meat appearance and deep-purple bruising.
He paled slightly and turned away to cough before continuing. “So I suppose that’s why we found your blood in the victim’s room and his blood on your clothing?”
“I suppose so. I didn’t realize I’d gotten his blood on me. I went into the room and…” I remembered a detail that hadn’t been in the report and grimaced. “And I passed out. All that blood plus my own injury and pain, I guess it was too much.”
He grunted but didn’t question me. He probably remembered the time I’d passed out while attempting to donate blood. It had been humiliating to show such a visible sign of weakness when I felt that I was otherwise at the top of my game. I was no longer at the top of any game, but it was obvious my ego was still capable of being bruised.
I pushed ahead to another point. “I probably got my blood everywhere and picked up any blood that had dripped on the floor. It didn’t even occur to me to say anything about it. I didn’t have my work unit on me, so I used the communication portal in the victim’s room, and the room was secured afterwards.”
He grunted, scribbling notes before circling something on his tablet and drawing a couple of arrows.
I could feel the pressure rising in the room. Maybe I was projecting, but I was sure he was judging me, and it made my hackles rise. “I know that a lot of things I’m saying aren’t exactly ‘according to protocol,’ but it works. We have never once had a late delivery or lost anything in transit. My crew is happy with the delivery bonuses and… happy in general.”
I hadn’t given the crew’s emotions much thought until it was halfway out of my mouth, but by that point, I was sure I was right. I spent most nights holed up in my room, but I had noticed the laughs and easy comradery in the dining hall. Most of the crew had smiles on their faces, and though many moved on after a period of time, almost all had indicated that they enjoyed their time on my ship. It wasn’t glamorous or exciting, but it wasn’t miserable either. In fact, I realized with a start, I was happy on the ship as well, or at least as happy as I could be given the circumstances that held me there.
James looked up. “Liz, no one is questioning your abilities as a captain.”
“Yes, you are. I can hear it just under the surface. You feel my answers aren’t sufficient.”
“They aren’t. I don’t think you realize what’s at stake here. These aren’t just some run-of-the-mill travelers. They are on an important mission, and there have been death threats. No one knew the details of their itinerary, and the time of travel has been kept secret from everyone. Cerulea is putting great pressure on the fleet to find the criminal, which is why it is so important that—”
I snorted loudly. “No one knows anything? Five minutes of data searching, and one of my crew members discovered that Vanessa is engaged to the king of Cerulea, and their wedding is within the week. I am sure that information will come up during your investigation of ships transactions, and you will see that it was discovered after the murder was already committed. I didn’t know anything about who they were until then, but it would have been easy for anyone else to figure it out.”
“What do you mean? Figure it out how exactly?”
“There is some big show based on Cerulea, and the upcoming wedding is a big topic. It isn’t as covert as the king has led you to believe. If one of my crew members could put it together while in transit, then anyone on a planet with a dedicated data center could know in seconds.”
James groaned and scrubbed his face. For a split second, I felt the urge to comfort him, but that was quickly overrode by disgust that he actually thought I could murder a passenger for either money or political favor. We had broken up, but I wasn’t a monster.
“I didn’t realize that. I’ll be interviewing them again.” Admitting that he had missed something appeared to cause him pain, though I wished I could add some literal pain to the situation.
I went to the door, which I opened to the hallway, and gestured for him to exit. “I am sure it will be very informative. And you might what to warn your little girlfriend that if she attacks me again, I won’t be so gentle next time.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
I gave myself a few minutes to splash some water on my face and freshen up. I didn’t want to admit how rattled I’d been or how naïve I felt. I thought I had lost the last of my naïveté during my trial, but I had been disillusioned all over again.
It was my ship, and I needed to take control. Since I still hadn’t eaten, I headed to the dining hall again and picked up food first. I shoveled it into my mouth as fast as I could without actually getting sick.
I was finishing up my meal when Raph entered and caught my eye. I gestured for him to join me, and before I could even say hi, he was speaking.
“Cap, I really have an uneasy feeling about this whole mess.”
I nodded. “I know. You’re right.”
He stared at me for a second. “Oh… good. I thought Horton and I were going to have to convince you. He just left to check a reading in the engine, but he should be back any minute. He agrees with me that something is off.”
“I should have listened to your gut. James and Officer Girlfriend basically accused me of being the killer.”
“I knew it. What’s their angle?”
“Chloe told you what she found, right?” I waited for him to confirm that he knew. “James knew as well but seemed to believe it was a big secret. He implied that I was either being paid or being blackmailed into it. He also tried to convince me to say it was self-defense, probably just to get me to admit something. He seems convinced that I am behind it.”
Raph whistled. “Harsh.”
“I’m not getting blamed for something I didn’t do. Not again at least. I don’t know if I could survive another trial.” I could feel the anxiety growing in the pit of my stomach and crawling up my throat, threatening to suffocate me.
Something must have shown in my face because Raph was quick to respond. “You’re not going to trial, Liz. We’re going to figure this out. I know some people who owe me favors I can cash in. I’ll see what I can find out. Should I be asking for any particulars?”
I twisted my seat to stare out the window. The information we had was so limited that the possibilities were endless. “I haven’t gotten that far. Do you know the Ceruleans’ names?”
He pulled out his work unit. “Yes, more or less. Vanessa, Wylene, Rick, and Todd. Those are all that are on the manifest. Oh, and Mike was the one who died. No other names were used, so
these are either fleet names or throwaway aliases for travel.”
“If all the information I have so far is correct, then Vanessa is the one that is going to marry the king, so Wylene must be the other female. Rick and Todd would be the two males. But don’t assume too much without confirming. See if you can find out more… well… everything, I guess. Real names, if they have them. Where they were before this trip? What are their jobs or roles normally? Relationship to each other? Does anyone know them at the port we picked them up or the port where we were dropping them off? Cast as wide a net as necessary.”
I leaned in closer. “You also might want to run a check on all paid staff here. We have a lot of crew members transitioning in and out. That’s a big ask. I’m not sure about what your contacts are going to want in exchange, but if you need—”
He held up his hand. “Don’t even say it. I’ll handle everything.”
I let out a breath and sat back. I knew that his connections weren’t always on the up-and-up, but I was backed into a corner. I hadn’t imagined how good it would feel to have people in my corner, but when he offered to take care of it, no questions asked and nothing in exchange, it was as though I was inhaling a deep breath of fresh air after a long shuttle ride.
I felt lighter and brighter. “Thank you.”
A strange look crossed his face. “Of course, we’re a team. Hold on. Let me tell something to Chloe.”
He stood up and strode across the room to disappear into the kitchen. I took the chance to take a shaky breath. I had pictured myself as alone in the world, but slowly, I had built up a team around me. I trusted Raph. Though we had started out bumpy, we had found a groove. It was the same with Chloe and Horton. They had always been honest and forthright, never letting me down without an honest explanation of why. It had happened so naturally that I hadn’t realized it until then. Maybe everything would be okay after all.
A noise pulled my attention around to the entrance, where Vanessa stood with her fellow Ceruleans as they faced off against James. They caught sight of me only a few seconds after I spotted them.
Space Murder Page 4
