Murder on a Moon Trek

Chapter 28: Nothing to Lose

Neptune walked to the locked cabinet mounted on the wall. He entered a ten-character code into the keypad and the cabinet opened. Inside were uniforms unlike any I'd seen on the ship. Thick, flame-retardant fabric with accordion-like pleats at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. Orange reflectors were evenly spaced at ten-centimeter intervals. It was big enough to accommodate a separate uniform underneath.

Neptune pulled one from the top of the pile and handed it to me. "Put this on. It's insulated against temperature and pressure changes. I'll supply you with fresh oxygen canisters after you're suited up."

"Okay." I took the uniform from him and undid the zip closure. I put one foot into it. Neptune tapped my shoulder. When I turned around, he was holding the black security staff uniform I'd planned to retrieve. "Wear this underneath."

"Why?"

"I'll be able to hear you through the transmitter." He handed me the uniform. "I'll wait out front."

"Neptune." He stopped just before reaching the door. "No matter what happens tonight, you'll still have a problem. Someone wants to destroy Moon Unit 5, and they've already killed once to protect their identity. Focus on the murder and you'll catch them."

"Why do you say that?"

"It was the secondary crime. It was sloppy. I've been thinking about what I saw when I found the body, and I've come up with a list of suspects."

"We'll talk about this later."

"There might not be a later."

"You're coming back, Stryker." He raised his hand and the doors opened.

I needed to make him listen to me. I knew more than he did: about D'Nar's nail polish and Pika hiding in the uniform room and Vaan and my history. I knew Doc Edison had tanks of gas in Medi-Bay and could easily have smuggled carbon monoxide onto the ship. I knew Purser Frank lied about nitrous oxide at Happy Hour, Uma Tolst had access to the reserve of gas tanks as well, and Martians had baited me before I attacked them.

Neptune had to listen to me. I had to make him. I said the one thing I'd been holding back. "I know you were stripped of your title."

He froze. He turned his head slightly to the side. "Get into uniform. We'll finish this conversation in the repair chamber. I'll wait outside." He turned away from me and left.

I changed from my temperature-adjusting jumpsuit into my security uniform and pulled on the white space suit over it. The sleeves, hem, and neck of the suit had metal grooves that would lock onto my boots, gloves and bubble helmet. I secured my boots to the hems of the suit, picked up my bubble helmet and my gloves, and left the safety of the uniform ward behind me.

We walked in silence. It wasn't unlike the other times I'd walked with Neptune through the ship, except this time I wouldn't have minded some innocuous chatter. We took the elevator down to the security level where I'd spent time in the holding cell before proving myself a hero. I guess there were some things I was doomed to repeat.

The pressurized entrance to the repair chamber was on the wall behind the desk where Neptune had sat. He activated a number of buttons on the control panel and then flipped a large red switch on the wall. The dial behind him spun slowly. He grabbed one of the spokes, leveraged his body weight against the concrete wall with one of his boots, and pulled. For all the times I'd seen him flex his sizeable biceps, this time he did it out of necessity and not intimidation. He opened the round door and tipped his head.

"Get inside. We'll talk once we're secure."

I stepped into the chamber. Unlike the dinginess of the rest of the security level, the repair chamber was bright white, shiny, and pristine. A channel of air jetted past me into a vacuum, designed to keep anything from settling inside.