Chapter Five
The body hit the floor, and Miranda screamed. “Althea! Oh Universe, that’s Althea!”
Dante tucked Miranda’s face against his chest, turning her away from the gruesome sight of the decomposing corpse. “Don’t look,” he said.
A sickening sweet odor of decay floated off the remains.
She squeezed his waist, but then pushed him away. “I can handle it. I need to see.” She’d probably witnessed a whole lot worse on Verde Omega during the invasion. Reluctantly, he released her.
“You said the last time you saw her was about four days after you boarded the Crimson Hawk?” he asked, recalling she’d reported several disappearances, which Lieutenant Commander Brack had rebutted.
“Yes—when Sparky scared her.” She glanced at the K9-500. It was sitting on the table, its access panel open, still connected via cable to the code reader.
He tapped his commlink.
“Yes, captain?” his chief medical officer responded.
“We have a ninety-four in the robotics lab.”
“A crew member is dead?”
“No, a colonist.”
“Accident?”
“Homicide.” How the hell had this happened on his ship? Insects did not exist in space, but when a person died, his or her own bacteria and enzymes broke down the body. Judging from the progression of decay, Althea had been dead for a while—but for how long? Had she been alive or dead at the last roll call?
“Homicide?” Shock reverberated through his medical officer’s voice.
“The body appears to have been partially disemboweled,” Dante said grimly. “I want a full postmortem. Get me much information as you can, as quickly as possible.”
“I’m on my way.”
Next, he notified security, ordered a full investigation, placed the Crimson Hawk on yellow alert, and had additional guards placed in the New Utopian area. Then he contacted Lieutenant Commander Brack. “Get Mr. Ochoa and meet me in my consult room, stat.”
“Is there a problem, captain?”
“A New Utopian has been murdered.”
“Which one?” the first officer asked calmly.
“Althea Withers.”
After he disconnected, he hugged Miranda. “I’m so sorry. I’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.”
He couldn’t fathom that a crewmember could be involved. More likely, the victim had had a run-in with another New Utopian. He and his crew knew next to nothing about any of the colonists. They’d conducted a bio scan to verify species and check for communicable contaminants, but there hadn’t been time to vet their backgrounds. They were refugees, survivors of a massacre. Just because the New Utopians were pacifists didn’t mean their group didn’t have a few sociopaths. Perhaps the killer had been imprisoned and got released during the invasion.
Dante knelt beside the body. Intestines spilled out of the abdominal cavity. He was no doctor, no anatomist, but it appeared organs were missing. Althea had no other marks. No photon blaster burns, no cuts across the throat, no bashing to the skull. He hoped he was wrong, but he had a horrible hunch the horrific wounds had been inflicted premortem. The killer had chosen a little-used laboratory area, cleaned out a storage locker, and stuffed the body inside.
That’s why the first two lockers had been jam-packed.
If he hadn’t tried to work on the K9-500, there was no telling how much time would have passed before anyone discovered the body. Lockers were sealed airtight, so odor wouldn’t have permeated the lab.
Miranda had reported multiple colonists as missing. A bad premonition settled in his stomach as he eyed the other cabinets. Dante rose to his feet. “You may not want to see this,” he said to her.
The handle of the fourth unit turned easily enough, but as soon as he cracked the door, the decay hit his nose. He froze.
“Another body?” Miranda pulled her tunic up and over her nose and mouth.
“It appears so.” He eased open the door and let the gassy corpse slump to the floor. The final cabinet yielded another body. Not nearly as bloated, it appeared fresher. A more recent death.
Dante compressed his lips. “You said nine colonists had disappeared?”
“At the time I reported it, yes. I haven’t counted, but think there are more now.”
He’d brought the New Utopians on board to save their lives, and now it appeared a serial killer had targeted them. The perpetrator was probably one of them, but he’d failed to deliver the safety he’d promised.
He turned to Miranda. “I would like you to be there when I meet with Lieutenant Commander Brack and the liaison to review and update your missing-person list. We need to begin a search and a roll call.”
“Of course.” She moved to the table where the K9-500 sat quietly. She disconnected the cable, closed its access panel, and reached for the on/off switch. “I’ll shut him down.”
“No, don’t,” he said. “Leave him activated.”
“He might react—”
“Keep him with you at all times.” He hated to scare her, but in truth, he would feel better if she had a little extra protection. He didn’t know if the killer had chosen his victims for a reason or if he had taken advantage of whatever opportunity had come his way. If he’d caught Miranda alone, she could have ended up a body in the locker. The robot’s protective programming may have saved her life.
Miranda set him on the floor. Metal nails clicking, the bot padded to Althea’s body, tilted his head back and howled. A chill traveled up Dante’s spine. It was almost as if Sparky knew Althea was dead—and cared. A bot’s programming allowed it to differentiate between organic and AI, between living and dead, but it didn’t develop feelings.
“Althea used to play with him,” she said. “He always reacted positively to her—until he tried to bite her.” She motioned to the bot. “Come here.” The dog trotted to her side and sat.
The medical officer and two security team members rushed into the lab. Miranda tightened the leash around her hand.
“Good galaxy!” the doctor gasped. “I thought there was only one body.”
Sparky’s ears shot up, and he eyed the medical officer, but he remained at Miranda’s side, quiet and still.
“At the time I notified you—I did too,” Dante replied. “Unfortunately, I suspect there are more victims. To begin with, I want to know time of death and the weapon used. Don’t wait for a full report to update me.”
He addressed the security chief. “Up the warning status from yellow to orange. Run a ship-wide bio scan. Get an exact headcount—and search the ship for bodies. Check every duct, every conduit, every locker, every nook and cranny.”
“Aye, captain,” the security chief replied.
“I’ll be in my consult room with Lieutenant Commander Brack and the liaison. Keep me informed.”
He beckoned to Miranda. He cupped her elbow, and with her leading the K9-500 bot, they left the lab.