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I’d been careful from the moment I’d stepped foot on the ship. I didn’t know how he knew. There was no point in arguing the point with him because it was the truth. Even if I was qualified to be on board. Even if I had studied at the space academy, continued with my education after I was forced to drop out, applied for a job like everybody else, and aced the entrance exams. I was more qualified to be a part of this ship’s crew than almost anybody here.
Stupid Plunian blood. It was one more thing to blame my dad for.
I left the uniform closet wide open and joined Neptune by the door. He held a space gun, but it was pointed at the floor. The BOP dictated any time security had to manage a crew infraction, they were to have their weapon in hand. I looked at Neptune. “I know the BOP says you have to have your space gun out, but you won’t have to use it on me.”
“Standard procedure,” he said.
“Fine.” We walked side by side down the hall toward the elevator. The walls were smooth and white, and the carpet was an industrial orange weave. Even though Neptune was almost a foot taller than I was, I kept pace with him. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of prodding me to move faster.
We reached the end of the hall and unlocked the elevator. Two men in green shirts—food and nutrition crew—rounded the corner when we did. Neptune held up his hand and the men stopped. We got onto the elevator, and he inserted a key in the control panel. After he hit a series of colorful buttons, the elevator dropped straight down into the basement of the ship. My stomach didn’t get the message, and, for a few seconds, I entertained a little bit of queasiness. I grabbed the railing and turned my back to Neptune while I made sure my breakfast was staying down. I felt, rather than saw, his movements behind me.
I didn’t trust myself to let go of the railing or to look at him, so I glanced behind me and saw his space gun pointed at my back. “You can put that thing away. I’m not going to try anything. When we arrive at the subsection, I’ll go directly to the holding cell. I just wasn’t expecting the elevator to go so fast, that’s all.”
He relaxed his arm. The space gun once again pointed toward the floor. The elevator came to a stop as suddenly as it had started and my knees locked. The door swooshed open.
“Nice ride,” I said. I turned left and followed the hallway to the large console that surrounded a master computer. To the right of the computer was a bare-bones holding cell. “You can’t just lock me up,” I said.
“Yes, I can. I know you aren’t the uniform lieutenant.”
“I told you, the original uniform lieutenant broke her leg and couldn’t make the departure date. I was a last-minute replacement.”
“No, you weren’t.” He turned behind him and pressed a couple of buttons on the computer. The screen lit up with the employee ID card for a brown haired, blue eyed woman who might have looked similar to me if her skin was purple. “Daila Teron was hired as the uniform lieutenant. But Daila isn’t here, and you are. And judging from how you knew exactly where the holding cell was without me telling you, information that has been classified since the ship was designed, I’m going to assume you know more about the Moon Unit than most members of the crew. What I don’t know is what you’re planning to do with that knowledge.”
I hadn’t expected him to figure me out so quickly, and considering how long it had taken me to hack into the Moon Unit 5 database and replace Daila’s information with my own, I wasn’t in the mood to confess all my secrets. He thought he could figure me out? Let him.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You’re on this ship illegally. You’re impersonating the real uniform lieutenant. And you found a body this morning and didn’t follow protocol.”
“Hypothetically speaking, if I’m not a member of this ship’s crew, then I’m not bound by protocol, so you don’t get all three of those as points. But I did follow protocol, and if you look into it, you’ll find out I’m telling you the truth.” I walked into the cell and leaned against the far wall.
When they’d designed the Moon Unit spaceships, no expense or imagination had been spared. Passengers wanted to feel like they were part of a space adventure, and talented visionaries had responded to the call with fiberglass furniture, colorful Bakelite fixtures, and technologically advanced fabrics that could change their appearance through heat and light absorption. But down here in the unseen part of the ship, things were bleak. The floor and walls were coated with magnetic paint to block any communication, location, or radio signals that a prisoner might try to send, which made it slightly more challenging to move about properly since my uniform contained trace metals in the way of closures, zippers, and decorative trim. Either the supplier didn’t anticipate the crew being locked up, or someone had a twisted sense of humor. I’d planned to customize my uniform and remove the metal trim when I had the chance. I just hadn’t expected to get thrown in the clink mere hours after departure.
“I didn’t lie about who I am.” I reached into the pocket of my uniform and pulled out a square disc with a small chip embedded into it. “Run my credentials. I’m Sylvia Stryker. My family owns the ice mines on Plunia. We supply most of the ice that’s used to create oxygen on other planets. You should be thanking me, not harassing me.”
“Your dad is Jack Stryker?”
“Yes.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Neptune pushed a thick red button on the wall outside the cell and beams of blue light appeared from the ceiling and the floor. Where they met in the middle, the light glowed orange.
Neptune took his finger off the button. “I trust you know what will happen if you try to cross the beams.”
“I don’t feel like talking,” I said. I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“Good. I was afraid you’d be a crier.” For the first time since I’d met him, he smiled. His smile was genuine, but since it came at my expense, I didn’t smile back.
Neptune attached his space gun to his belt and then watched me from the other side of the beams of light. I looked away from him, but after a few seconds, snuck a look back to see what he was doing. He hadn’t moved and was still watching me.
“What happens now? I mean, you locked me up so you might think you have everything under control, but I had nothing to do with the death of the second navigation officer, so you still have a problem.”
“I have two problems: the safety of everybody on this ship and a problem in engineering. You’re not a problem. You can either cooperate or get dropped off at the space station. Your choice.”
The head of security giving me a choice on whether I wanted to stay on the ship? This was great. This was better than great. This was so outside the realm of possibility that my mind spun with the sheer beauty of the moment, which was how I missed what he said next.
“You won’t be sorry,” I said.
His brow furrowed. “Did you hear me?”
“Most of it. Tell me again, just to make sure.”
“There’s somebody on this ship who intends to cause problems. I’m working on the assumption that if it were you, you would not have followed the BOP, so for now, I’ve decided you’re less of a threat to the ship security than the person who is. I need to find that person, and I think we can help each other.”
“I can help. Just tell me what you need.”
“I pulled the passenger manifest. There were discrepancies. I can’t do two things at once.”
“You want me to take over ship security?”
“No. I need you to surveil the passengers and crew.”
“But how will that help me?”
“I’m not interested in helping you. It’s either that or get dumped on Colony 13 where you can share a cell with your father. Your choice.”