Bones Burnt Black: Serial Killer in Space (14 page)

Step Five: open the green-handled valve to flood the
airlock chamber with air from inside the ship
. A jet of white gas sprayed
into the chamber along the wall near her feet. As air pressure accumulated, she
felt a breeze: gentle at first, but growing stronger. Soon, air swirled around
her like a miniature, if harmless, tornado. Smiling broadly, she felt safer
already.

The material of her suit began to lose its rigidity as
the pressure outside it matched the pressure inside. Then, as the external
pressure continued to climb, its material began to press against her skin more
and more tightly.

This was no surprise. Nearly all vacuum suits
maintained air pressures lower than did spacecraft. The less pressure a suit
had to withstand the lighter and more flexible it could be made, and the less
fatiguing it would be on those who wore it while working an entire shift.

The jet near her feet faded from white to clear, then
disappeared altogether. Placing a gloved hand where she’d seen the jet proved
it was still there. It was invisible now because the air pressure within the
airlock had become high enough that the jet no longer expanded enough to
produce a drop in temperature sufficient to make the water vapor in it freeze
into tiny ice crystals or condense into a fog.

When she could no longer feel the invisible jet through
her glove, she counted out sixty seconds and then did,
Step Six: close the
green-handled valve,
and,
Step Seven: unbolt and push open the inner
door; step out of the airlock and into the ship.

The room before her was a cargo deck: wide open and
populated with I-beams bearing coils of yellow rope. Its illumination
oscillated harshly: bright, dark, bright, dark, bright, dark.

Thin parallel beams of raw sunlight stabbed into the
room through the little round windows on the cargo doors. In unison they
pivoted, as if hinged on their respective windows, until their angles became
too extreme and they all disappeared for a moment before reappearing through
the windows on the room’s opposite side. Alternating in perfect synchrony with
the ship’s rotation, they swung up through the room on one side and down
through the room on the other, casting crazily shifting shadows while briefly
illuminating narrow strips of the floor and ceiling and dust specks floating in
the air. So distracting was this bizarre light show that Kim failed to note the
room’s size and shape.

Stepping over the airlock’s lip, she leaned forward and
placed her foot onto nothing. Startled that the floor was not where it should
be, she next discovered that it was not below that or below that or below that.
Leaning forward way too far to catch herself, she fell screaming to a face-down
impact on a hard metal surface four feet below the airlock’s door.

Though her boots fell only four feet, her head fell
nine.

Her faceplate shattered, throwing tiny shards of glass
everywhere. None of the flying glass got into her eyes, however, because in the
quarter of a second before impact she turned her head and squeezed them shut.
But a fraction of a second
after
her faceplate shattered out of its way,
the side of her head bounced painfully off the unforgiving metal surface.

Despite the odds, she had succeeded in getting back to
the ship, even found a way inside. But now—the victim of a high ceiling—she lay
sprawled on her belly with her helmet lights shining into the cold metal
surface in front of them, her face bleeding and her mind unconscious.

_____

Amid the dim glow of three floor lamps Mike, Nikita and
Gideon pulled as a team on a yellow nylon rope which stretched through a
vertical hallway door, looped over a ladder rung and reached down into the
darkness below. Up from this darkness, a wide cone-shaped beam of light played
across the vertical hallway’s walls, sometimes illuminating Tina’s and Akio’s
anxious faces as they stood watch at the door to report on Zahid’s progress.
Behind the three rope-pullers, beams of sunlight swept upward through the
room’s gloominess one moment and downward through it the next.

The rope’s horizontal portion drooped and swayed then
jumped as it became tight again. Inside the vertical hallway the cone-shaped
beam of light grew steadily smaller and brighter but also more erratic in its
movements, then Zahid climbed into view.

Akio and Tina reached to help him. “Be careful of my
foot,” Zahid said quickly. He hopped through the door into deck ten mostly
under his own power and sat on the ceiling. The yellow rope went slack. Mike
and Gideon stepped closer and stooped to help him out of the improvised
harness.

“Mister McCormack,” Zahid said, “is there any way I can
have the medsys look at my foot?”

“No,” Mike said. “Even if the medsys had some kind of
electrical back-up system it’s on deck two and under at least five gees. We
can’t go to it because of the gees and it can’t come here since it’s bolted to
the wall.”

Mike examined Zahid’s swollen and discolored ankle. He
turned to Gideon. “Do you know any first aid?”

Gideon shook his head, sadly.

From behind Mike, Nikita said coldly, “I do.”

Mike stood and turned to face her. “Would you mind
doing whatever should be done for a sprained ankle? I’m not too knowledgeable
about such things.”

“Our resources are limited, but I can do a little.”

“Thank you.”

Walking a short distance from the group—now fully
focused upon Zahid—Mike found himself thinking how similar to the ship’s
computer Nikita had sounded just now, which made him wonder how long it might
be before he would hear from the ship again. He pushed these thoughts aside and
returned to the job at hand. “Akio, would you come here a minute?”

“Certainly.”

Mike led the young computer engineer through a sparse
forest of stainless steel I-beams and stopped near one of the cargo doors.
Narrow strips of sunlight swung downward through the not quite dust-free air
and swept across their bodies with perfect regularity. He’d chosen a place
where they could talk in relative privacy, but not so private that if Akio
pulled out a weapon no one would see.

Turning, suddenly, Mike faced the young man and asked
in his harshest tone, “Where were you and what were you doing when the ship
announced that a power failure was imminent?”

Akio stammered. “I… I…”

“Answer me!”

“That beautiful woman…”

“Tina?”

“Yes. After Gideon hurt her feelings with his joke, I
followed her. I only wanted to talk to her. To make sure she didn’t do anything
rash or foolish.”

“And?”

“She talked me into going down to deck nine with her.”

Mike leaned closer. “And!”

Akio took a half step backward. Sunbeams swept down
across his face. The sunbeams seemed bright now. So bright Mike had to force himself
to continue looking directly at the little man. Akio remained rooted to the
spot, frozen with fear. His voice quaked. “She was trying to… to…”

“To what?”

Akio lowered his face and hid it in his hands. “To
seduce me.”

A smile broke through the rigid wall Mike had made of
his face.
Wow, that’s got the ring of truth!
Suddenly, he not only
believed him but felt sorry for him too. Mike had learned the hard way how easy
it was to get suckered under Tina’s erotic spell. He almost asked if she’d
succeeded, but instead forced the smile from his face and asked a more
practical question: “Did you see her do anything that might trigger an
explosion by remote control?”

Akio dropped his hands but did not raise his head.
“No.”

“Were you with her all the time she was away from the
group? Was she out of your sight even for a few seconds?”

“I was with her every moment.” Akio lifted his head and
looked straight into Mike’s eyes; his voice took on a pleading tone. “You will
not tell my Yoshiko about this?”

“Who?”

“Yoshiko: my fiancée.”

“No, of course not. Mum’s the word. In fact, maybe we
should both forget about it.”

Akio looked off into some imaginary distance, seemingly
blind to the one sunbeam that kept sweeping across his face. He whispered, “I
will spend the rest of my life trying to forget my guilt.” The way he said this
indicated it was a goal he did not expect to achieve.

Yeah, I know the feeling.
Mike began walking
back toward the group. Halfway there he stopped and looked over his shoulder.
Akio was still standing near the cargo door. Perhaps he’d started trying to
forget.

Mike recalled an image of a French-kiss under
water-balloons then remembered watching a small feminine hand tugging on a
little white ribbon.
I know the feeling well.

Minutes later, Mike took Tina aside but to a spot
without the annoying sunbeams. He led her around behind a vertical hallway and
asked her where she’d been and what she’d been doing when the ship announced
the coming power failure.

“That dreadfully clumsy oriental man was trying to make
a pass at me.”

Mike failed to hide his astonishment. “He was?”

Tina didn’t seem to notice. “Yes. Silliest thing. He
should have known he didn’t have a chance with a woman like me. I have rather
high standards, you know.” And with that she tossed back her imaginary long
hair.

Mike squinted.
Hair?
“Did you see him do
anything that might trigger an explosion by remote control?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

Human hair in the fuel tanks. Lots of hair.
“How
long has it been since you had long hair?”

She smiled as if flattered and ran the fingers of one
hand through her flawless blonde coiffure to show it off properly. “How ever
did you know that I used to have long hair?”

“Just a guess.”

“I had it cut about six months ago.” She shook it, as
though to straighten any strands that might be out of place. “It’s much easier
to take care of now. But you know, sometimes I miss it.”

Mike nodded. “That’s understandable.” He had no idea
where he was going with that last bit of questioning. Did he really think it
was
her
hair that had clogged Corvus’s fuel filter; and if so, did he
think that she was the one that clogged Richard’s fuel filter too? Richard died
seventeen years ago. She would have been… What? Five? Choosing her as the
murderer didn’t make sense; not if both sabotages were by the same person.
Well,
maybe they weren’t. And maybe I just don’t have enough clues to make a judgment
yet. Damn, I wish the ship would call and give me all the answers!

“Mister McCormack?” Suddenly Mike realized Tina was
again twirling between her fingers that fragile white ribbon: the one that held
her blouse closed. Her voice softened into a playfully sensual caress. “Is
there anything else you’d like to ask of me?” She smiled up at him and gave the
ribbon a tiny tug.

“Huh? Umm. No, not right now. Maybe later. Thank you
for your help.” And he turned and walked off as briskly as deck ten’s low
gravity would allow.

Chapter Ten

Mike woke from a fitful sleep to the piercing sound of
a woman’s screams. His head was groggy and his neck was stiff and his stomach
insisted it was time to eat.

Raising himself into sitting position, he looked around
for the screamer but couldn’t see any details smaller than a human head. He’d
had trouble falling asleep thanks to the bright flashing sunbeams and had
chosen this part of deck ten for its relative gloom and darkness, gloom and
darkness, gloom and darkness.

He fumbled about for a flashlight long enough to become
annoyed at his failure to find one. And all the while, the screaming never
ceased.

Flashlights burst to life around him. Their beams
searched for the screamer and for whatever it was that the screamer thought was
so all-fired important.

One beam found the screamer and was quickly joined by
others. Tina was as hysterical as Mike had ever seen anyone. Her mouth was
open, her eyes were closed and she was jerking her hands up and down as though
trying to fly away.

Jumping to his feet, Mike hurried across the ceiling to
her: carefully, since he had no flashlight with which to inspect his path. The
temptation to slap her theatrically across the jaw was as strong as it was
stupid. He fought it, then fought it harder, and finally fought it hard enough
that he didn’t do it. He yelled above her screams, “What’s wrong?”

She moved her mouth as though speaking but suddenly no
sound would come out of it.

“What!?” he demanded.

She pointed behind him. All the flashlight beams left
her to the alternating darkness and converged on the spot she’d indicated.

Zahid Mohammed Kaseem lay still and silent. The blood
on his neck and pooled on the ceiling around him suggested his throat had been
cut. His eyes and mouth were open wide as though in fear. His shirt had been
pulled open and there was a poem crudely painted on his chest—apparently with
his own blood:

An eye for an eye.

A tooth for a tooth.

A life for a life.

Forsooth, forsooth.

A large thick hand reached down into the beams of light
and touched Zahid’s neck. “His trachea was cut just below the larynx,” Gideon
said. “Perhaps to prevent him from calling for help.”

Akio whispered nervously, “He looks terrified.”

“His mouth is open only because the muscles are relaxed
in death,” Gideon said calmly. “He may truly have been terrified but whatever
facial expression he had just before he died is long gone.”

Mike turned and looked at Tina. “What happened? This is
exactly the kind of thing you people were supposed to be watching for and
prevent!”

Tina looked from Zahid to Mike, then back to Zahid,
then collapsed. She hit the ceiling at Mike’s feet so hard he wasn’t sure if
she’d fainted or if someone had killed her too.

The plan they had all agreed on was that only half the
group would sleep at a time. Akio, Tina and Zahid had been allowed to sleep
first. So now Mike, Gideon and Nikita were supposed to be asleep and Akio, Tina
and Zahid should be awake, guarding them. The idea—or at least the hope—was
that while it might be easy for a lone murderer to surprise or overpower one
witness, two would make it difficult enough that the murderer might decide not
to take the chance. Apparently, however, something had gone wrong.

“Akio?” Mike said. “Where are you?”

“I am here.”

A light shone in the young man’s face. He squinted,
shielded his eyes and turned his head to one side. But whoever held the light
showed no pity; it continued to light his face.

“So what happened?” Mike asked.

“Zahid fell asleep,” Akio said. “I didn’t want to wake
him. It seemed the man had suffered so much already.”

“Then what?”

“I tried to stay awake!” Akio pleaded. “I really did.
But later I must have fallen asleep too.”

“He was alive when you fell asleep?”

“Of course! Do you think I killed him?” Akio sounded
genuinely amazed at this idea.

“Well, somebody killed him! And you’re somebody! Sounds
to me like you’re a definite candidate.”

Tina interrupted this exchange by moaning as she
regained consciousness. Gideon helped her sit up. When she sounded lucid, Mike
asked her, “Do you remember what happened?”

“Yes. Zahid fell asleep, then I fell asleep. When I
woke I saw someone huddled over Zahid. I asked them what time it was but they
ran off. I didn’t understand why they would run, so I pointed my flashlight and
discovered what they’d done.” Tina’s irises disappeared under fluttering lids
and her mouth started to go limp.

Worried she might faint again, Mike steered the
questions away from the dead body. “Did you see Akio fall asleep before you?”

Her irises reappeared and she blinked a few times.
“No,” she said. “He might have, but I didn’t see it.”

“Akio?” Mike turned toward the young man. Someone’s
flashlight beam swung to where Akio had been standing but he was not there. The
beam searched but came up empty. Mike looked around. “Akio, where are you?”

There was no answer.

“Where’s Akio?”

“I don’t know,” Gideon said. “He was here just a moment
ago.”

“Nikita, did you see where Akio went?”

Again, there was no answer.

“Nikita?”

Nothing.

“Where in the world is everybody going?”

Gideon pressed a flashlight into Mike’s hand. “We’d
better search the deck. Their throats’ could be cut. They could be dying in the
shadow of a ventilation duct or behind a vertical hallway or against a cargo
door where the sunbeams can’t shine.”

Searching the deck turned up nothing except the fact
that Nikita and Akio really were gone.

“I’ve found no signs of a struggle,” Gideon said. “I
guess they just snuck off.”

“But why?” Mike asked.

“Fear of being murdered, I should think; or of being
accused
of murder; or both.”

Tina had her own theory. “Maybe one of them is the
killer, and left the group to avoid capture.” Her eyes grew wide, “And will
return to kill again!”