Cold ends

Attempted murder in space - possible set-up for longer plot.

The Captain screamed, and the void reacted with the silence of a vacuum. It was a horrible shock. Her tether desperately dragged her back. Air painfully filled her lungs. 

“She’ll live.” A voice above her. “But this was sabotage.”

Days later, the Captain breathed gingerly from her bed in sickbay. She wanted to get up, but everything hurt. Of her five fellow crew members, who would want to kill her?

Danny had rushed to drag her back in. He was a mellow sort of person, kind, not a killer. No motives for murder came to mind.

The doctor could have easily let her pass from complications. He had plenty of opportunities. He could have killed her anytime in the twelve years they had worked together. Again, no motives. Come to think of it, no one really had a motive. Kesa, the pilot and first officer, would be taking over the captaincy, but that would happen anyway since this was the incopacitated Captain’s last run. Also, Kesa’s movements had been accounted for by both the internal cameras and computer logs. No opportunity.

That left the botanist (confirmed asleep) and the entomologist (who was on camera staring at his experiment the whole time). The Captain didn’t know either of them well. This was their first trip, and they kept to themselves a lot.

So Danny and the doctor had an opportunity. No one had a clear motive. Assuming the logs could be tampered with (and those logs had been safely locked down until the ship could dock), then it would have happened after she checked it, and before she left the ship. She furrowed her brow. She had fully checked her suit immediately prior to putting it on. It had been fine. The doctor had helped her with a few of the attachments, then left. Danny was there, also suited up to follow her out. They left her alone for about five minutes while she was getting into the suit. Anyone could have come in once the bulky thing narrowed her field of vision, assuming the culprit stayed behind her, and was very quiet. Doable, but sneaky. Kesa was out - they were in a tricky gravity, and leaving the bridge would have been dangerous. Even if she left, it would take about seven minutes to make it there and back without bumping into anyone. So it would be extremely difficult, with a high risk of getting caught. The biologist was out. He was farther away then Kesa, and-

The entomologist came into the sick bay.

“Feeling better?” He asked awkwardly.

The captain nodded.

“Hey look, I don’t know how to say this, but, well.” He paused with annoyance. “Look, it’s just a job, alright? The company doesn’t like to pay out their retirement promises, and if anything happens, there’s insurance that covers it.” He raised his arms in a peaceful gesture. “Just a job. Here you’d have a quick end, the doc would take the fall, and I would take the payment, and steal the next ship before my retirement time comes due. Now half the crew are loose ends, if you follow my meaning, and I’m concerned that there would not be enough lifeboats if we were suddenly fired upon, say by that very well armed ship which will pass close in about two hours. So I need your help to steal this ship, and we all make our retirements a little earlier and less permanent.”

“Doctor!” Called the captain.

“We don’t need him for the plan.”

Author's Note

I'm trying to improve. Tear it apart, I don't mind, just here to learn.

Reviews

[augustus]

Not bad at all ! There is one criticism and I hasten to add, it's only a small one! it seems altogether rushed!
You need more detail and the ending needs work. Otherwise it's fascinating!