Chapter 45: Investigation

“Good job Laine! Take pictures and scans of the damage. Share them with Ship and Tal,” I said. “Ship, are those marks included in the failure analysis?”

“Negative Commander,” replied Ship.

“Could those marks suggest damage to the seal, enough to cause failure of the stasis field?” I asked.

“Confirmed. A tiny damage such as this could breach the seal over the extreme duration of stasis,” replied Ship.

“So the damage caused the failure. But what caused the damage?” I asked.

“Did it happen when Tal moved the stasis capsule?” asked Laine.

“Ship, can you tell when the damage occurred?” I asked.

“The scans supplied by Laine suggest the marks date back to the time the crew entered stasis,” replied Ship.

“If that is the case, maybe someone sabotaged the stasis capsule before they themselves entered stasis. Laine, what you think?” I asked.

“I agree with you,” said Laine.

“Ship, Tal, do you agree?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Confirmed,” replied Tal.

“Tal, the failure analysis missed the damage. Is that because of a protocol shortcoming? Your failure analysis should have detected the marks,” I asked.

“There is a shortcoming in the protocol for failure analysis,” replied Tal.

“Update the protocol, share it with Ship and Quon. I am surprised that this happened. AIs are normally so thorough,” I said.

“Confirmed. I have updated the protocol and propagated it to Ship and Quon,” replied Tal.

“Commander. It is possible that the damage to the vessel included damage to the AI,” said Laine.

“Good point. Ship, add a full diagnostic scan of Tal to the repair schedule. Add a summary of the results to our investigation,” I said.

“Confirmed. I have updated the schedule,” replied Ship.

“Good. Now we need to locate when and how the damage happened to the stasis capsule. You said before that you fabricated them just before when the crew entered stasis. Correct?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Tal.

“Ship, examine the logs between the time of fabrication of stasis capsules and when the crew entered stasis,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

I had a premonition, and it wasn’t good. I looked at Laine while we waited for Ship. Her worried look mirrored my own.

“Attention. I have examined the logs. The logs show damage to the stasis capsule happened after the fabrication and before the crew entered stasis,” said Ship.

“Do the logs show who damaged the stasis capsule?” I asked.

“Gaps in the logs suggests someone erased relevant data from the logs,” replied Ship.

“Oh crap!” I said. We found the smoking laser pistol.

“What do we do now?” asked Laine.

“We return to Ship. Thank you Tal for cooperating with our investigation. Please continue to keep this stasis capsule safe and unchanged,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Tal.

I took Laine’s hand and led her away from medical and back to the airlock.

Our shuttle trip back to Ship was brief and uneventful. If I had more time, I might stop to marvel at the sight of Baglogi vessels before me. It was probably the most vessels in a system in over a millennium.

We went through decontamination and changed into new jumpsuits.

“Commodore, we are back aboard Ship,” I said via an internal communicator.

“Acknowledged. Meet us in the main dining lounge,” replied Jem.

I ended the call. Laine and I hurried along to meet up with Jem and Mina.

We entered the main dining lounge to find Jem and Mina seated at a table, drinking coffee. They had two cups of coffee waiting for us. Laine picked up a cup and took a seat.

“Commander, what have you discovered?” asked Jem.

“Commodore, we found evidence of sabotage of the fifth stasis capsule, resulting in the occupant’s death,” I said.

Jem put her cup down on the table and stared at me in shock. “That means someone murdered the fifth crew member.”

“Yes, Commodore. Laine discovered evidence of damage that compromised the seal and caused a failure of the stasis field after the crew entered stasis,” I said.

“You ruled out a flaw in fabrication or accidental damage after that?” asked Jem.

“Yes. Someone erased logs that might reveal who sabotaged the stasis capsule. Ship found gaps in the logs around the time the damage happened,” I said.

“So you are certain it was murder?” asked Jem.

“Yes, unless you include suicide as a possibility,” I said.

“Very well. Thank you for conducting your inquiry. It shocks me that a Baglogi could commit murder. But we don’t know who did it,” said Jem.

“We don’t know yet. There is more to do,” I said.

“How are the four crew members doing?” asked Laine.

“They are progressing well. They are no longer inside stasis capsules; Ship transferred them to medical beds. It should be another day or so before they awake,” replied Jem.

“So we have to devise a strategy,” said Mina.

“Brian, I need you to focus on this,” said Jem.

“Understood. I recommend we limit their access to sensitive parts of this vessel,” I said.

“Agreed. Ship, you heard that?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“If we unmask the murderer, I need to get myself familiar with Baglogi laws on murder. I am the ranking senior officer who is not a suspect,” said Jem.

“Laine, Brian, please come with me and check out the progress on our lido,” said Mina.

We all followed her down to the deck where the lido was. We entered and looked around the beach.

What we discussed before was now complete. In one corner near the entrance was a sign that said ‘Beach Club’. In the wall, I saw a food dispenser, with a roof above and a bar.

Near the bar were tables and chairs. Mina added palm trees, and a few had hammocks on them. Laine picked up a towel from a rack loaded with towels and sun lotions.

On the beach was a row of recliners for sunbathing. It was all coming together.

“Awesome job Mina. It is looking much better,” I said.

“Thank you. Ship did most of the work. I only had to give our requirements. We have the choice to enjoy meals in here from now on,” replied Mina.

“I thought of another use of the holographic projectors in the walls. Ship, put up a large tactical display on the back wall,” said Jem.

A tactical display appeared to be floating above the ocean. It showed the vessels and probes throughout the system.

“We can monitor status from here without going to the main bridge? Fantastic,” I replied.

“Ship, please hide the tactical display,” said Jem. The floating display disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

“This could become the most popular location aboard Ship,” said Laine.

“Agreed,” I said.

I woke up the next day in my cabin. Laine was asleep next to me. I got up and did my morning routine. Then I left for the main dining lounge.

I took a cup of coffee from the food dispenser and sat in a sofa in front of the large display. “Good morning Ship. How goes the repairs to Tal?”

Schematics of the Baglogi vessel appeared on the display. “It is going well. The hyper drive engines are now working,” replied Ship.

“Excellent. Any other visitors to this system?” I asked.

“Negative,” replied Ship.

So nothing urgent demanding my attention.

I sipped my coffee. “Ship, what do you think of the death of the fifth crew member?”

“Evidence points to sabotage, as you discovered,” replied Ship.

“I know that. But what are the consequences? We save four crew members, and one or more of them might be a murderer.”

“The Baglogi criminal code for murder prescribes confinement. We have not used it in recorded history,” replied Ship.

“Tal, are you there?” I asked.

“Confirmed Commander,” replied Tal.

“It is possible that one or more of your crew may be a murderer. Once they are awake, they may try to take a vessel and escape. Can we guard against that happening?” I asked.

“The Commodore can suspend their respective ranks until we conclude the inquiry, as the senior ranking officer in this system,” replied Tal.

“Ship, is the Commodore awake yet?” I asked.

“Confirmed. She is on her way to join you, Commander,” replied Ship.

A moment later, Jem entered and sat beside me.

“Commodore, good morning. I need you to do something before the crew from Tal awake. Please order their respective ranks suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry,” I said.

“Sure, as the Commander said. Suspend the respective ranks of the surviving crew from Tal, pending the outcome of the inquiry,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied each of the AIs in succession.

“So what was that for?” asked Jem.

“If one of them is a murderer, and they hold command rank, they might use it to escape. It is a precaution to stop them getting away with a Baglogi vessel,” I replied.

“Good thinking,” said Jem. She got up and fetched herself a coffee.

She returned to sit beside me. “The inquiry concerns me. In my knowledge, Baglogi don’t kill each other.”

“I understand. We must tread gently. Something significant must have caused their extreme behaviour. We need to uncover what happened before they went into stasis,” I said.

“At least two of them are older and more experienced than me, and I’m a higher rank,” said Jem.

“I’m a higher rank than them, at least until the inquiry is over,” I said.

“You know what I mean,” said Jem.

“I do. When they are awake, we should separate them and confine them to quarters. If one is a murderer, they might kill again. If we separate them, we can compare their answers to find discrepancies,” I said.

“Ship, as soon as our guests are no longer in need of medical, I want you to separate them and restrict them to separate quarters,” said Jem.

“Confirmed. I can move them now. They are not yet awake, but they are no longer in need of intensive care,” replied Ship.

“Excellent,” said Jem.

A day later, Jem, Laine, Mina, and I were enjoying the lido together. Ship alerted us. “Attention, the crew from Tal are awake and asking to speak to someone.”

“Thank you Ship. Please inform them we will be along shortly,” said Jem.

Jem and I were relaxing in recliners under the sunlight. Each of the ladies wore fetching two piece bathing suits. Mina was in a hammock and Laine was swimming lengths.

Jem turned to look at me. “We best get ready and start interviews with our guests.”

“Agreed. As the senior ranking officer, you need to be present. I will be present for support,” I said.

“Do we need Laine and Mina involved?” asked Jem.

“We can handle the first round of interviews. Let them rest,” I suggested.

Jem nodded. We got up and left the lido. I entered my cabin, with Jem in tow. We showered and put on clean jumpsuits.

Ship directed us to our first guest. Jem pressed the chime, and a moment later the door opened.