Author: Derin

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Lina, Denish and I gather at a small table that had been set up near the laundry room for Arborean Trumps. Denish makes the obligatory joke about me having a natural advantage by being Arborean, Lina deals us twelve cards each while explaining that … Continue reading 089: TRUMPS

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> I watch the footage several times, as if that will somehow make it make more sense. It doesn’t. There’s no reason for Heli not to be involved, I guess, I just… why? She’d been awake for less than a week at this point! Renn … Continue reading 088: RIFT

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> Sunset’s eyes widen, and I regret my words immediately. They’re correct, but the immediate aftermath of a murder in a confined space probably isn’t the time to be reminding people not to trust their neighbours. If anyone in Habitation Ring 1 is involved, the … Continue reading 087: ACCOMPLICE

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> We head for our temporary interrogation room. The Friend collapses onto the bed and puts its head in its hands. “I’m going to be up-front with you, Friend,” Sands says. “You don’t look to be in a physical state to have killed anyone. Were … Continue reading 086: CONFESSION

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> “You saw Adin?” Captain Sands asks. “Making his way in the direction of Renn and the Friend, right before the murders?” “Yeah, but he wasn’t going to NEAR 2,” Tal says. “He was just dipping into Storage Ring 5 to grab more alcohol, it … Continue reading 085: DRUG

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> “So you guys didn’t find any bloodstained clothing, then?” I ask. “Any signed confessions? Nobody broke down crying and explained why and how they did it?” “Not yet. They are, very suspiciously, doing a lot of laundry at this exact moment, so I daresay … Continue reading 084: INTERROGATION

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> The six of us – Heli, Sunset, Sam, Celi, the captain and I – stare at the scene in Network and Engineering Ring 2. It’s exactly as I’d left it – the Friend (the non-doctor one) sprawled face-first in a pool of blood almost … Continue reading 083: SCENE

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> It’s movie night. And for once, it’s fairly sparsely populated. Seven of us gather in Network and Engineering Ring 1 to play Sunset’s favourite computer game about twelve hours after my talk with Captain Sands, and it’s not the people I would’ve expected to … Continue reading 082: ALIENS

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> “Um,” I say, intelligently, like the seasoned intellectual that I am. “What?” “Aspen, do you know why the Javelin Program took off in the first place?” “Of course. With the Kleiner Array, people saw viable exoplanets with a clarity never before seen, and the … Continue reading 081: ANTARCTICA

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Map] .......... Next> .......... Last>> We set ourselves up at one of the nearby picnic tables. We still have a couple of hours before everyone crowds in for lunch, and from the table it’s easy to see if anyone comes close, so we should have some privacy. I tap … Continue reading 080: ACACIA