Their Solitary Way (6 page)

“Sure,” he said.

“The next part is the 41. That’s how many times the data on this screen was modified. The feeds don’t get dumped or altered very often unless we’re running a maintenance check on them. In this case, camera 225 was altered 41 times.” She clicked on Cam225x41 and the screen changed. A long list of names and timestamps appeared. “This is the log. We can see almost all of the 41 entries.”

“Almost?” asked Seth.

She scrolled to the bottom. “Notice anything next to the final two timestamps?”

Seth leaned in. “There’s no name next to the dates.”

“Right,” she said, nodding. “Someone deleted their name from the log, which frankly shouldn’t be possible. We have security checks in place to prevent this sort of thing.”

“Does this mean the video was tampered with?”

“The feed itself gives no indication of being modified, but this log entry says otherwise. We can see right here that someone accessed the file. First at 1920 hours, then again at 1930.”

“Before and after the explosion,” said Seth.

“Exactly,” said Uriel. She held up her hand. “Don’t get me wrong. This could be a weird glitch. Maybe.”

“But you don’t think so?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It’s just suspicious.”

“I’ll say,” said Seth. “Can you get me a copy of the logs?”

“Sure, but why?” she asked.

“The captain asked me to investigate, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll start with all the names on that list. Everyone who’s touched this file.”

“They’re mostly engineers,” said Uriel. “I know most these people.”

“So do I, but we have to stay impartial. We can’t let our personal feelings stop us from getting to the bottom of this. Understand?”

Uriel nodded and turned back to the computer. She transferred the list onto Seth’s com. “Who are you starting with?”

He pulled the list up and scrolled through it, spotting several names he recognized. They were friends and associates. He couldn’t picture any of them as a murderer. Oh well. Better to start at the end. The last person to touch the file. “Tess Rorsha,” he finally said. “I’ll work my way back from there.”

Seth went home after his meeting with Uriel. He needed some rest before he could continue investigating the incident. When he arrived at his quarters, he found Azura sleeping in his bed. Opting not to wake her, he crashed on the couch.

Lying in the dark, his mind raced with what tomorrow might bring. Earlier today, the idea of sabotage seemed all but impossible, but not anymore.

Now, he wasn’t so sure. If Uriel was right, then the video feed had been intentionally altered, and a killer could very well be living among them. How long before this person grew bored and tried again? How many more colonists would die?

Seth closed his eyes, giving into sleep. He faded quickly, drifting in a sea of dreams.

He saw the cerulean skies of Fiore, stretching far and away over a vast, green country. Alone, he walked through fields of golden wheat, wind blowing against the stalks. Kadmon Farm was near, he knew, somewhere in the valley.

Suddenly, a loud snap cackled through the sky, parting clouds and echoing. The ground shook, wildly. Towards the capitol, a great flame erupted, consuming everything around it, filling the sky with smoke. The burning metropolis raged like the sun, igniting so bright he could almost feel the heat.

Seth ran like a frightened child, trying to escape. As he neared the edge of the field, he found his childhood home atop the solitary hill. The door opened and he paused. Standing on the steps, he saw his mother, crying and holding a basket.

Behind them, the fire swarmed, blazing through the valley towards them. Seth motioned for his mother to stop, to return to the house before it was too late, but she wouldn’t listen. She ran past him, headlong into the flame—the living incarnation of death—smiling as she died, and laughing. Laughing until her skin melted and she collapsed into dust.

Seth ran inside, slamming the door behind him. The fire beat against the wood, taunting him with a whisper. “Let us in,” it said, softly.

“Go away!” he cried.

“Let us in,” it whispered. “Let us in. Let us in. Let us in.”

A girl appeared on the other side of the room. It was Azura, young and wearing the same clothes as the day they’d met. Her eyes were empty, replaced with green and red marbles. “Help me, Seth,” she begged. “I don’t know what to do!”

“Get back!” he told her.

The window nearby shattered, and the fire leapt into the room, laughi
ng as it spread, inching towards the girl, catching on her dress. It consumed her in seconds.
Screams filled the cottage home, shrieks of chaos and boiling blood.

“Come come come come,” whispered the fire. “Burn burn burn burn.”

“Stay away from me, please!” he begged. “I don’t want to die!”

“Everything dies,” whispered the living flame. “Even you. Even us. Even God.”

The alarm on Seth’s communicator woke him. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and accepted the call. “Hello?” he muttered, and coughed. His throat was dry and scratchy.

“Seth, the captain would like to see you. Please report to his office immediately,” said Lilith.

“I’m on my way,” he said.

“Acknowledged,” she said. “See you soon.”

The call ended and he sat up on the couch. With a deep breath, he got to his feet and wiped his eyes. “Azura?”

There was no answer. He peered into the bedroom, but found it empty. She must have gone to work already.

He changed his clothes, then splashed his face with some water. He’d shower on his break if time allowed. For now, he had work to do.

When he arrived at the office, he found his father working busily behind his computer. “Come in,” said Adam, motioning for him to have a seat. “Any news from yesterday?”

Seth nodded and sat down. “Yes, sir. We have some leads, but I’m still working on it.”

“What did you find?”

“The logs may have been tampered with, but we don’t know how or why. There’s no concrete evidence, but Uriel thinks there’s reason to be suspicious.”

Adam leaned back in his chair. “What do you think?”

“I agree with her. I pulled a list of names from the logs…everyone who’s touched the video feed. I’m planning on questioning each of them, starting with the most recent entry,” said Seth.

“Right,” said Adam, glancing at his computer. His eyes lingered on the screen for a while, and he sighed.

“Something wrong?”

“This couldn’t come at a worse time.”

Seth didn’t know what to say. His father looked so stressed, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Maybe he did. “I’ll start with the names on the log. It shouldn’t take long.”

Adam nodded. “I’d send you some help, but I’m afraid they’re all busy. Between the mission and repairs, the crew’s spread pretty thin.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Seth. “I can handle asking a few questions.”

“You’ll keep me informed, right?”

“The second I know anything, you’ll be the first.”

Seth examined the list he received from Uriel and decided to begin at the most recent entry, Tess Rorsha. He recognized the name, but didn’t know from where. When he pulled up her profile and saw her face, he knew he’d seen her around.

She was an engineer, sticking mostly to the lower decks, which kept her under the radar. According her profile, she wasn’t scheduled to work for another three hours. If Seth hurried, he might be able to track her down before her shift started.

He left the security office and headed straight for Tess’s quarters, trying to work out which questions he’d ask first. He wasn’t accustomed to playing detective, but it couldn’t be that hard. As he neared her quarters, he took a deep breath, and tried to relax. “Here goes nothing,” he whispered to himself.

Seth buzzed the door, swiping some lint from his jacket. A moment later, a short, blonde girl with glasses answered. She had a button nose, wide eyes, and thin lips—an anxious look on her face. “Oh, my goodness. Who are you? What’s going on?” The words poured out of her.

“Hi, I’m Lieutenant Kadmon. I’m here to—”

“Kadmon? Are you the captain’s son? Goodness. Did I do something?”

“No, nothing like that,” he said, calmly. “I just need to ask you a few questions. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

“Is this about the accident yesterday?” she asked.

“What makes you think—”

“It’s so awful, isn’t it? I was on shift when it happened. I couldn’t believe it. I spent half the night running scans in the population bay. Oh, my. To think something like that could happen on our ship. It’s unbelievable!”

Seth let out a short sigh as the girl rambled on. When she finally took a breath, he seized the opportunity to interject. “According to the logs, you accessed and altered camera 225 two weeks prior to the incident. Do you mind telling me why?”

She blinked. “Uh, I don’t know, exactly.”

“You don’t know?” he asked.

“I’m so sorry! Cameras break all the time, so sometimes we have to make repairs. We also run maintenance checks every few months. You could be talking about one of those.”

“In other words, you can’t be sure.”

“Please understand, Lieutenant. I do this sort of thing almost every day. I’d bet I fix a camera at least once a week. Every population bay has at least a dozen active feeds going all day long, you know?”

“Sure,” said Seth.

“Anyway, what’s the problem? Did you find something in the logs?”

“We think someone altered them, but there’s no name attached to the timestamp. From what I’ve been told, it’s unusual.”

“Oh, maybe,” she said, tapping her chin.

“You have another idea?”

“Well, the logs can get buggy sometimes. You should check with anyone who was working in that section. Sometimes they can disable them accidentally while making repairs to the electrical system.”

“Alright, I will. Thanks for the suggestion.”

She nodded. “You sure you can’t tell me what this is about?”

“It’s nothing serious. It’s my job to look into security issues. It’s probably nothing to worry about.”

She adjusted her glasses. “There’s a list we keep for scheduling. My supervisor has it. She can probably tell you more about who was working in the area where the camera is.”

“Your supervisor?”

“Ariel,”’ said Tess. “I bet she can clear this up in no time.”