Star Law: A Marshal Cole Series

Chapter 20 (d)

Strasser and Nguyen were in the same section as Gaulle's cabin so there was no need to find ways past the still closed pressure doors. There were lots of people stressed and panicky in the corridors so they really took know notice of Adjani and Adisa leading the women. A ship AI repeated warnings to say calm and that further instruction were pending. White strobes flashed the alert. They arrived at their destination and the door slid to one side without them doing anything.

Inside the cabin were Goroshenko and Gaulle. The old man was seated while the Russian paced. He leered as he always did taking in Nguyen's mini-skirt and Strasser's body suit. It was an old game and despite his wandering eyes and rude ways, they never felt unsafe with him... unlike Gaulle. In fact, Nguyen routinely flirted him and as they entered the room, she blew him a kiss.

Gaulle gave Nguyen a withering look. "Singh is dead. We don't have time for your childishness."

Nguyen blinked as if she had been hit. Strasser stepped in front of the younger woman. "Do we know how he died? Murdered like Chen?"

Strasser and Nguyen's only contact while on the ship was periodic communications from Singh. They had heard about Aubrey Chase Chen's gruesome death and it had stunned them.

"Killed, yes," said Gaulle. "Near as we can tell from the surveillance feed, he was killed by security."

This surprised Nguyen. "Why would security kill him? Are we in danger?"

"For the time, no," replied Gaulle. "But we will be. Security has not identified Singh but when they do, they will search his room and track his movements. They will find us then. As far as why they killed him, it would appear he was the one identified as being responsible for what happened on the ship."

"It affected everyone?" asked Strasser.

"People died," said Gaulle flatly. "If they've not figured out it was psionic, they will. And we'll all be exposed."

Strasser and Nguyen looked at each other worried. Even Adjani, Adisa and Goroshenko looked concerned.

"Is that why we're all here?" Strasser asked.

"It is why you and Nguyen are here, yes," said Gaulle. "We need you to go to Singh's cabin as well as enter the ship's AI sub-routine processor called CICI where all the security footage and analysis is stored."

"And you want me to burn it all," said Nguyen with everyone looking at her as she said it.

Gaulle nodded yes.