guns into his hip pouch. “I’ll try taking one apart later and see if I can figure out where it was made. Right now, I’m more curious about this deadly accident of yours.”
“I’ll admit right up front that it’s got
me
stumped,” I said, feeling disgusted with myself. Strange and unpleasant things were happening all around me, and so far I didn’t have a handle on any of it. “I ran a diagnostic across the whole system, and I can’t figure how the grav generator kicked in when it did.”
“You are, of course, hardly an expert in such things,” Ixil pointed out, not unkindly. “There are three main locations where the generator can be turned on: the bridge, engineering, and computer.”
“Right,” I said.
That
much I knew. “I was on the bridge—and
I
didn’t do it—Revs Nicabar was in engineering, and Tera was handling the computer.”
“Both of them alone, I take it?”
“Nicabar definitely was,” I said. “The only way back there is through the wraparound, which was serving as airlock at the time.”
“Odd design,” Ixil murmured, glancing around.
“Tell me about it,” I said dryly. “I don’t know ifTera was alone, but the only person who could have been with her was Hayden Everett, our medic.”
“Who you also said helped Jones on with his suit before the incident,” Ixil said thoughtfully.
“You think there’s a connection?”
He shrugged, a human gesture he’d picked up from me. “Not necessarily; I merely note the fact. I also note the fact that if Everett
wasn’t
with Tera, that means all the rest of the crew were alone.”
“Actually, no,” I corrected him. “Geoff Shawn, the electronics man, had come to the bridge to watch Chort’s spacewalk on my monitors.”
“Really,” he said. “Interesting.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “In what way?”
“I said there were three main places where the grav generator could be turned on,” he said, stroking his cheek thoughtfully with stubby fingertips. “But there are probably several other places where someone could jump power into the system.”
“I was afraid of that,” I said heavily. “I suppose it would be too much to ask that there would be no way to set that sort of thing up with a timer.”
“You mean so that Shawn’s appearance on the bridge might have been solely to establish an alibi for himself?”
“Something like that.”
He shrugged again. “If he could tap into the system, I see no reason he couldn’t set it up on a timer, too.” He paused. “Of course, for that matter, the same thing goes for Chort and Jones.”
I frowned. “You must be kidding.”
“Must I?” he countered. “Look at the facts. Chort wasn’t injured in the fall, at least not very seriously. And if Jones set it up, he may have planned to catch him before he fell too far.”
“And his motive?”
“Whose, Jones’s or Chort’s?”
“Either one.”
Ixil shrugged. “What motive does anyone here have? That’s the main reason I hesitate to ascribe any of this to malice.”
I sighed; but he was right. Considering the
Icarus
’s haphazard design, glitches could easily turn out to be the rule rather than the exception. “What about Jones’s rebreather?”
Ixil hissed softly between his teeth. “That one I don’t like at all,” he said. “I don’t suppose you still have it.”
I shook my head. “We had to turn over the suit and rebreather both with Jones’s body.”
“I was afraid of that,” he said. “I would have liked to have looked it over. Frankly, I don’t know if it’s even theoretically possible for a rebreather to malfunction that way on its own.”
“Then you’re thinking sabotage?”
“That would be my guess; but again, for what purpose? Why would anyone aboard want to kill Jones?”
“How should I know?” I asked irritably. “These people are total strangers to me.”
“Exactly my point,” he said. “From your description of how Cameron was hiring his crewers, all these
“I’ll admit right up front that it’s got
me
stumped,” I said, feeling disgusted with myself. Strange and unpleasant things were happening all around me, and so far I didn’t have a handle on any of it. “I ran a diagnostic across the whole system, and I can’t figure how the grav generator kicked in when it did.”
“You are, of course, hardly an expert in such things,” Ixil pointed out, not unkindly. “There are three main locations where the generator can be turned on: the bridge, engineering, and computer.”
“Right,” I said.
That
much I knew. “I was on the bridge—and
I
didn’t do it—Revs Nicabar was in engineering, and Tera was handling the computer.”
“Both of them alone, I take it?”
“Nicabar definitely was,” I said. “The only way back there is through the wraparound, which was serving as airlock at the time.”
“Odd design,” Ixil murmured, glancing around.
“Tell me about it,” I said dryly. “I don’t know ifTera was alone, but the only person who could have been with her was Hayden Everett, our medic.”
“Who you also said helped Jones on with his suit before the incident,” Ixil said thoughtfully.
“You think there’s a connection?”
He shrugged, a human gesture he’d picked up from me. “Not necessarily; I merely note the fact. I also note the fact that if Everett
wasn’t
with Tera, that means all the rest of the crew were alone.”
“Actually, no,” I corrected him. “Geoff Shawn, the electronics man, had come to the bridge to watch Chort’s spacewalk on my monitors.”
“Really,” he said. “Interesting.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “In what way?”
“I said there were three main places where the grav generator could be turned on,” he said, stroking his cheek thoughtfully with stubby fingertips. “But there are probably several other places where someone could jump power into the system.”
“I was afraid of that,” I said heavily. “I suppose it would be too much to ask that there would be no way to set that sort of thing up with a timer.”
“You mean so that Shawn’s appearance on the bridge might have been solely to establish an alibi for himself?”
“Something like that.”
He shrugged again. “If he could tap into the system, I see no reason he couldn’t set it up on a timer, too.” He paused. “Of course, for that matter, the same thing goes for Chort and Jones.”
I frowned. “You must be kidding.”
“Must I?” he countered. “Look at the facts. Chort wasn’t injured in the fall, at least not very seriously. And if Jones set it up, he may have planned to catch him before he fell too far.”
“And his motive?”
“Whose, Jones’s or Chort’s?”
“Either one.”
Ixil shrugged. “What motive does anyone here have? That’s the main reason I hesitate to ascribe any of this to malice.”
I sighed; but he was right. Considering the
Icarus
’s haphazard design, glitches could easily turn out to be the rule rather than the exception. “What about Jones’s rebreather?”
Ixil hissed softly between his teeth. “That one I don’t like at all,” he said. “I don’t suppose you still have it.”
I shook my head. “We had to turn over the suit and rebreather both with Jones’s body.”
“I was afraid of that,” he said. “I would have liked to have looked it over. Frankly, I don’t know if it’s even theoretically possible for a rebreather to malfunction that way on its own.”
“Then you’re thinking sabotage?”
“That would be my guess; but again, for what purpose? Why would anyone aboard want to kill Jones?”
“How should I know?” I asked irritably. “These people are total strangers to me.”
“Exactly my point,” he said. “From your description of how Cameron was hiring his crewers, all these
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