“What’s going on here?” the captain asked.
Jonathan glanced over his shoulder. The screen had gone dark, but he had no doubt that the crew knew exactly what they had been doing.
“Uhm—we were just watching something on the big screen.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“I’ve had a breakthrough in my investigation.”
“Oh? Are you still on about that missing person?”
“Not so much the person, but I’ve discovered how it was done.”
The captain flicked up his eyebrows. He sat down, his arms crossed over his chest.
There was nothing for it. Jonathan had to tell him what he and Gaby had just discovered.
Throughout the story, the captain listened, showing little emotion.
When Jonathan finished, he said, “So you think we have a murderer on the loose in the station. Do you really suggest that we catch this man and take him on board this ship? My first concern is for my passengers. They won’t be happy when they hear about this. I suggest we leave this to the authorities.”
Jonathan said, “We can leave him on the station, but if we need to wait until those authorities arrive, he won’t live that long.”
Gaby added, “The air quality is marginal at the station and deteriorating every day. He doesn’t have a lot of resources, and the recycling plant is already at a tipping point at which it will rapidly start to emit carbon dioxide and methane. That’s a recipe for disaster.”
The captain glanced at her. “What would you want us to do then?”
Jonathan said, “Apprehend the man and take him to the first available port. Then the authorities can deal with him and all the data we will give them.”
“We don’t have the facilities to take prisoners on board. He’s already in a prison. Let him stay there.”
“He will die there, and he will never be brought to justice, we’ll never find out what happened, or whether there were other people involved.”
“Yes. Yes, sure.”
Jonathan couldn’t help shake the feeling that he was uneasy.
He asked, “Why did your crew go out and collect the camera footage for the air lock in question?”
“My crew received the orders from headquarters that we were to take records from all cameras, especially ones that showed the operation of our drones. They’re patented by Prosperity Mining and we protect them from our competitors. I hope I don’t need to remind you that you’ve signed a non-disclosure agreement before boarding this ship.”
Whoa, was that a threat?
“Why that airlock in particular?” Jonathan asked.
The captain replied, his face stiff. “Because the detection process is automated and if the record contains footage of any drones, my crew was to obtain and secure it. They were given a list.”
It was almost convincing. Save that one of their precious drones had been used to bring the comet into the station—by someone who was considered to be an expert on drones. And no one had noticed or questioned why a drone had come to this airlock that was even on the wrong side of the station?
Jonathan didn’t want to push harder on this matter. In fact, when they went back to their rooms, Gaby was surprised that he’d asked about it at all.
“I can’t believe you mentioned that camera,” she said while they walked back to their cabins. “I think it was clear that they were trying to hide something from us.”
“I wanted to let him know that we know about it. I would like to doubt that this is about covering up for Shelton. Knowing companies, I believe him when he says it is about some trademark company secret stupidity. For one, if they really knew what was on that footage, they wouldn’t have put the data box on the seat where I could see it.”
“I hope so,” Gaby said. “I really don’t want to think about the alternative.”
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Jonathan said. “Let’s get some sleep.”
Sleep seemed a good idea.
But before Jonathan drifted off, he received a message.
The captain had agreed to send Jonathan and Gaby back into the station with a team to try to capture Shelton. He balled his fist. Yes, they were giving in.