CHAPTER 10 - EXSANGUINATION

DATE POINT: MARCH 18th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL

LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST

“We need to bring the captain down here to see this.” Jenkins said, having recovered somewhat after losing the contents of his stomach into the corner. The smell simply added to the foulness of the air in the enclosed space.

“He’s sleeping finally, Chantal already told me a few hours ago to make sure nobody bothers him. He’s been averaging less than three hours for weeks now. At least for the moment, this is our problem to deal with.”

Paul shined his flashlight over the gruesome scene in front of them. A pale young woman in shredded BDU’s had been found in a pool of her own blood, hidden away between two reactor coolant overflow tanks. Paul’s first thought was suicide thanks to the long gashes on the insides of her arms, but the bruising around her neck and the deep gashes on other parts of her body made him reconsider. When he flashed his light in the back wall and it illuminated a message written in her blood, he knew something much worse was happening.

TURN BACK, just like in Henry’s mirror.

He busied himself with taking pictures to be able to revisit the original scene how it was for clues later. Turn back… it was too strange to be a coincidence. Nor could it be coincidence that she had died in one of the few camera dead zones in the entire ship. They had a big problem on their hands. He had to check back in with Alvarez anyway, so Paul sent him a comm request.

“Paul, good, I was about to check up on you. What are you seeing down there? I have a few MA’s on the way with a forensics kit too, they should arrive any moment now. I know they mentioned there was a lot of blood. Does it look accidental, or do we have a homicide to look into?”

“I'm no expert, but this is no accident. Hell, Jenkins go get Dr. Maxwell, and see if you can find Chantal after that. If Henry is awake then him too, otherwise, let the poor man sleep. He has more than earned it. I doubt he will be getting very much sleep any time soon after this.”

“Damn it. Well, I will be waiting on the report then, I trust you can handle organizing the investigation until help arrives?” Alvarez asked, pointedly.

“Yeah, I have it covered, you can focus on keeping us flying in the right direction and well away from the antimatter. I’ll get the investigation started, gathering intelligence is one of my specializations anyway. Solving a murder mystery can’t be that different. Do we have anyone onboard with relevant experience that can help, maybe a former detective or something?”

“Not that I can immediately remember, and I ran most of the recruitment runs, at least the ones you weren’t handling. So if neither of us can remember bringing a homicide detective onboard, then I doubt we did. Most of those with LE experience are already MA’s. They should be competent enough to at least gather evidence and work the tools in the forensics kit.” Commander Alvarez said.

Paul cursed internally. They had been so careful in their screenings, how had they let a murderer on board? Psych screenings, gonna have to check those. They had considered the possibility of violence between crew enough to bring a forensics kit onboard, but not enough to make acquiring an experienced homicide detective a priority apparently.

"Well, looks like I am playing Sherlock Holmes, then. I’ll find our killer, they have nowhere they can run out here. Oh, good, It looks like Dr. Maxwell and the MA’s are here. I’ll get you and Henry a preliminary report in a few hours once I have marshaled our resources and we have reviewed the case.” Paul replied, turning towards the newcomers.

“Sounds good, I’ll let you get to it.” The strange sensation of hearing the audio directly in his head thanks to his officer’s neural implant was replaced swiftly by the sounds of a natural voice heard by his physical ears.

“Jesus wept, that poor young lady. Have you touched the body or the crime scene?” Dr Maxwell asked.

“No, just pictures and a perimeter search looking for anything out of the ordinary.” Paul replied numbly.

“Alright then, these gentlemen here were nice enough to bring along the one forensics kit we have on this whole godforsaken ship. I am sure you will want to debrief them when you are done.” The doctor said.

“Yeah, but first I want you dusting for prints and you two asking around to see if anyone saw anything strange or anyone that didn’t belong down here. The doctor and I are going to examine the body together now.” Paul said, taking charge. The doctor pulled on some gloves before he knelt down next to the body to begin his examination. “Some bruising around the throat, these here are defensive wounds, blood and tissue under the fingernails. Lieutenant, it looks like we have ourselves a murderer on board.” Dr Maxwell said with grave concern as he scraped the underside of her nails and sealed it away in a sterile evidence container.

“Well, that about tops the list of potential bullshit we didn’t need to deal with. What are we looking at here, crime of passion? This is a camera dead zone though, so to me that says there was at least some element of planning.” Paul commented.

“Could be, we are going to want to run some additional tests on her to be sure. Looks like her name was Sarah Callahan, she worked here in reactor control according to her tags. It’s an extremely..… messy scene, yet as you say it was in a camera dead zone. The latter implies premeditation, the mess and chaos at the scene could simply be from her fighting back, or it could imply a crime of passion. It is still too early to tell until I can perform an autopsy.” Dr Maxwell replied flatly.

“So far no fingerprints, I will keep checking, I found some hair in the blood and bagged it.” The first of the Masters-at-Arms reported.

“Good work, search everywhere. I will go pull her files and see if she had paid a visit to Dr. Amani recently. If she did know her attacker, maybe she mentioned something in therapy. We can circle back around after the autopsy to compare notes, keep me posted doctor.” Paul replied before heading off to pull her personnel files from his workstation.

“Paul! What the hell is going on?!” Paul heard Chantal call from across the room. Jenkins walked behind her, looking accomplished. He waved them over before speaking in a hissed whisper.

“Not here, we can discuss this in my quarters.” She narrowed her eyes but didn’t complain, much to his relief. They made it to his room in record time and in silence. Chantal barely waited for the door to slam shut before she folded her arms and fixed him with a steely glare.

“Now talk.” She said simply and in a tone that made her mood quite clear.

“We just had a murder occur on board. A reactor control tech named Sarah Callahan, Dr. Maxwell and the MA’s should have some more info for us within the next few hours. In the meantime, we need to work on possible motives and suspects. There is also one other thing that you need to see.” Paul pulled up the photos on the datapad, scrolling through until he found the one he was looking for. Chantal visibly paled at the sight of the words.

“Turn back…. It’s the same message as in our bathroom. I wish we had thought to take a picture for comparison, but Henry’s main goal was to make sure there wasn’t someone lying in wait for us, we didn't even think to document it.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and paced. “Have you told anyone about this link so far?”

“No, I want to see what they come up with on their own while I work my own angles. I don’t want to inject a red herring into the investigation if it is just a coincidence.” Paul said. “To be honest, its been a week and I still am more than a little spooked by that bathroom incident. Nothing should have been able to enter that room without setting off the motion detector by his door, that one usually gives me at least some reading even with your sabotage. By the way, I also ran the audio, muffled as it is, through every filter and enhancement I could and still found nothing.”

“I have been meaning to ask you about that… but to be honest we have mostly put that incident out of our minds. I don’t think that is going to be possible anymore though. Look... promise me that I get to be the one that tells Henry, alright? Can you send these photos to me?” She asked in a resigned manner.

“Yeah, sure, already done. I am going to check on my sister, see if she has any insight to share, and then pay a visit to Dr. Amani. Once I get the preliminary forensics report I will get in contact. If Henry wakes up soon let me know how he handles the news. Now, if you don’t mind?” Paul gestured everyone out of his room, pulled the datapad from his workstation, and walked into the corridor with the others.

“I’ll go with you, sir.” Jenkins said, Paul simply grunted and started power walking towards Ariana’s cabin at the other end of the floor. As they approached the corner, they were nearly bowled over by a young man running for his life, dressed only in his boxers. His back was covered in painful looking red marks, some of which were bleeding, which only added to their confusion.

“She’s crazy! That bitch is fucking crazy!” He yelled, scrambling to his feet again after barely avoiding a collision. Jenkins and Paul looked at each other before they charged around the bend, ready to fight.

“Be ready, we might have found our killer!” Paul yelled to Jenkins, who looked scared for a moment before steeling himself, following close behind. What they saw stopped them in their tracks until Paul blinked and understood what he was seeing. Ariana stood in the doorway to her quarters in leather dominatrix gear with her breasts exposed, wearing a strap-on, and waving a leather flail down the corridor while sneering.

“COWARD! Oh, it's you two, did you see that pig run? His only thought was to try and fuck anything that moves, constantly pushing, begging, manipulating his way through boundaries left and right. If nothing else, this little experience should teach him a lesson in the meaning of the word no. Make him think twice about his actions.” She said with a shrug. Jenkins stared wide-eyed and stammered like an idiot. Paul just closed his eyes and took active control of his breathing.

“Ariana, how many times have I told you?” He began before she cut him off.

“He has been harassing me and other women for weeks now, refusing to take fuck off for an answer and nothing is being done about it. I would have left it alone but I caught him getting handsy a few too many times, even after some very clear rejections. Most of these girls were too afraid to do anything, so I stepped in and taught the predator a lesson that it will never forget. You should really be thanking me; in the old days he would have been missing body parts.” She said calmly.

“Fine, but I am not bailing you out if the MA's come to pick you up for assault over this. Would you at least cover up properly before you make Jenkins here go into puberty all over again? Jenkins, put your goddamn jaw back in place and stop staring. We have an actual matter of life and death to discuss. Honestly, how am I the only person acting like an adult in the room right now?” Jenkins finally got control of himself and looked away, his face beet red. Ariana simply rolled her eyes and beckoned them into her quarters.

“Do I need to revoke your access to your own quarters? I have a number of junior officers who would love to have their own room, you know.” Paul growled as they entered the tiny room. Ariana simply snorted as she stripped and donned a fresh set of BDU’s.

“You can look now, Preston.” Ariana said, sidestepping Paul’s threat entirely before she turned serious. “Now tell me what we have going on here that is so important.”

Paul handed her the datapad. Her face settled into an icy fury as she scrolled.

“When was the body discovered? Do we know who did this? Do you need me to help make anyone talk?” She asked in rapid succession, showing her fangs with her smile on the last question.

“About an hour ago, and not yet, we don’t have a suspect at this point. I have sent you her personnel file and the photos. I want you to look everything over with me later when I get the autopsy results. We can compile a list of suspects and then I can turn you loose on a few tasks. Just.... Don’t kill anyone or break any bones, oh and no waterboarding. In fact, no enhanced interrogation of any sort, am I clear?” Paul said with as much authority as he could muster.

“Killjoy. Fine, this girl didn’t deserve this, it would be my pleasure to help bring her murderer to justice. Put them through two lacerations for every one given to her.” She said with a predatory smile. Paul stared her down to absolutely no effect.

“Thank you, look over what I have so far and let me know what you think. I am off to find Dr. Amani now so I can pull her psych records and see if she mentioned being stalked or harassed during her last session. Perhaps there is a boyfriend that needs questioning, something, I figure the more I can find out about her the more likely it is that I will find a clue.”

“Good idea, I will ask around myself too, see what I can find out about her. Maybe I can get someone to talk who wouldn’t normally speak to an MA.” Ariana said.

“Only if you think you can do so without causing panic or arousing suspicion.” Paul said, “We already have enough of a morale crisis on this ship right as it is right now. For the moment, the secret is safe, so we should be able to make an announcement that spins this in a way that won't kill morale.”

A text message popped up in Paul’s expanded vision that shattered his mood.

WE FOUND ANOTHER BODY, DECK FIVE, MA’S ON SITE SAY IT’S A MALE VICTIM, SIMILAR MO. SAME MESSAGE WRITTEN IN THE BLOOD. THEY HAVE A CROWD GATHERING, NEED YOU AND THE CAPTAIN TO GET DOWN THERE AND SECURE THE SCENE TO HELP CALM PANIC AND PREVENT CONTAMINATION OF EVIDENCE, WE WILL HAVE SARAH'S BODY MOVED SOON AND WILL MEET YOU AFTER. - DR. MAXWELL

PAUL, MA’S ARE REPORTING ANOTHER BODY ON DECK FIVE, GET YOUR ASS DOWN THERE. I WILL WAKE HENRY AND HAVE HIM MEET YOU. – CMDR. ALVAREZ

“Motherfucker…. We have another body on deck five.” Paul said. “We might very well have a serial killer on board.” Paul said, a chill running down his spine.

“I’m coming with you.” Ariana said, Paul simply accepted the help without complaint. It was going to be a very long day and he was going to need all the help he could get.