Somebody Among Us- To The Stars

The Aftermath

"So, doctor, is that the report?", the detective asked, whipping out his notepad.

"Yes, sir". The doctor picked up her clipboard and started reading.

"On the scene of the crash, we found five crew mates. One male, and four female", she started. "They were all unconcious at the scene, and none have woken up since. The organization they all worked for confirmed their identities"

"Perfect, let's start with the man", the detective suggested while taking notes.

The doctor flipped through the papers on the clipboard, until she got to the one she needed.

"Here we go. Dylan Yates, he's an electrical engineer", she read.

"What injuries did he sustain?", the detective asked.

"Three fractured ribs, a mild contusion in his left knee, and a broken arm. From a crash like that, it could've been a lot worse. But prior to the crash, he had been shot in the right side of his chest, which caused severe interior damage. Worst case scenario, he may lose a lung. But we are far from even considering that"

"I see"

The detective wrote as fast as he could, his hand running across the paper very quickly. When he stopped, the doctor flipped the page on the clipboard again.

"Trinity Grove, a mechanics expert", she continued. "She suffered severe brain and spinal damage, probably didn't get into safety position when the crash occurred. She's in ICU right now, we hope we can save her"

"Hold on, one second", the detective mumbled, writing down everything. "And there we go. Who else?"

The doctor flipped the page again.

"Brooke Sparks, mechanical engineer. Suffered a noteworthy amount of head trauma, they're currently comatose. But we have high hopes; they'll wake up in a timely manner, and they should regain most, if not all, of their cognitive function"

"Got it. What else?"

"Anya Mercia, medical expert. She didn't suffer major injuries in the crash, thankfully, but prior to her crashing, she had been shot in the leg, and the wound got severely infected. We're trying to combat the infection, but it doesn't look great. Worst case scenario, she'll lose it"

"If I did the math right, we have one left?"

"Correct. Ashley Yates, electrical engineer"

"Is she related to Mr. Yates?"

"Yes sir, siblings. Ms. Yates doesn't seem to have sustained severe injuries in the crash either. But her condition is still horrible. She looks like she's been tortured!"

"Torture? What makes you think that?"

"She has marks on her neck, which match the shapes of hands, and her left eye appears to have been crudely stabbed, with some sort of a small knife. Not to mention, her right pointer and middle fingers are missing, but the wound is open so this happened somewhat recently."

"Say these were all somehow related to the crash? Can you prove it was torture then?"

"Her lungs were full of water, and there's a tiny scar on the side of her neck, matching a hypodermic needle. Also, she's severely malnourished. As is the rest of the group"

"Alright then. We'll need to figure out what happened, are any of them in condition to talk?"

"Oh, that's not all. I've listed off the obvious, now onto the more mysterious"

"Alright, do go on"

"They all seem to have been branded, with a symbol nobody here has ever seen before. Here, we copied it"

The doctor handed the detective a piece of paper.

"Now, that's not all. Mx. Sparks in particular, there was a needle scar on their arm. And their blood pressure is very high. These are signs commonly seen in blood donors. However, we checked the records, and they have never donated"

"Hm... what do you think that could mean, doctor?"

"Considering the nature of whatever happened, we shouldn't exclude the possibility that maybe the blood was taken against their will"

"I see"

"Another thing. Most of the crew on that mission is still gone. It sent off with a crew of fifteen, we only saved five. We don't know what happened to the others, or why five of them crashed on an escape pod. Especially since we have confirmation that the pod was not of the same kind as the ones on the SKELD"

"So it didn't come from the SKELD?"

"No. And when they're in condition to talk again, we'll need to ask"

"Have they awoken since they arrived, ever?"

"No. It's been almost 72 hours"

"Not that it's relevant to the investigation, just a personal concern... but they have people to come for them, right? Family?

"Mx. Sparks and Dr. Mercia are both accounted for. It'll be more complicated with the siblings, because they had each other down as their emergency contacts.. and we're struggling to find Ms. Grove's family"

"Oh, that complicates things. I'll take these notes back to the station, and we'll see what we get out of this"

"Alright then. And I don't think I need to tell you this, but please do not spill this information to the media"

"Of course not. I've had journalists hassling me for information since the crash, but we're professionals here. And these are people's entire lives"

"Tell me about it... we've contacted two out of five emergency contacts, and it's a daily ordeal with those two. They're worried"

"Of course"

"Anyway. Good luck with the investigation. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Owens"

"Same for you, Doctor Timbermore"