Bones Burnt Black: Serial Killer in Space Read Online Free Page A

mental note to never mention it.
    “Aha!” the medsys said as it withdrew the black snake
from Val’s throat and swung the snake’s tip around to a small and rather
delicate looking section of the examination array. Mike got the impression it
was passing something from the snake to much tinier manipulators. “I’ve found
it. I have discovered— Hmmm. No, I see that I was wrong. I thought I’d found
the remains of a poison pill, but it’s actually just a small piece of paper
rolled into a ball.”
    “Paper?” Mike frowned in confusion.
    “Yes. And odder still: unraveling the paper ball, I’ve
discovered a small tangle of hair wrapped inside. Wait; someone has written
tiny words on the paper.”
    “What? What does it say?” Mike craned his neck as if
expecting the medsys to show him the words. It did not. Instead, it just read
them aloud:
     
    Years of waiting are over.
    All plans have been laid.
    For injustices suffered,
    old debts must be paid.
     
    “Sounds like somebody killed her for revenge,” Mike
said. “But, why would there be hair in it? Is it human?”
    “We’ll know in a minute. I’m running a genetic
analysis.”
    “Can you? I thought hairs weren’t alive.”
    “They aren’t. Hair is just extruded protein; it’s not
composed of cells and so contains no genetic material. However, there are often
microscopic flakes of skin clinging to the outside of a strand of hair. In this
sample I’ve found sixteen such flakes, and it is their genetic material I am
analyzing.”
    “How long will it take?”
    “It is complete. A search of available medical records
indicates these hairs belong to one Michael Tobias McCormack.”
    “How can they belong to me?”
    “There are at least two possibilities: someone could be
trying to implicate you in this death; or you, yourself, could be her
murderer.”
    “But I tried to save her!” Mike spread his arms
and showed the machine the palms of his hands, as if a lack of malicious intent
could be proven by a lack of weapons.
    “When you called me she was less than two minutes from
death. A knowledgeable murderer could have timed it that closely.”
    “But I didn’t do it!”
    “I’m not saying you did; only that there is
circumstantial evidence that supports the notion that you might have
done it. If you are innocent I am sure there will be plenty of other evidence
to support that fact. In the meantime, I must notify the captain. Her family
must also be notified, but that task will probably fall to the captain.”
    Mike looked down and stared very intently at nothing.
“Yeah.” He sounded dazed. “I guess so.”
    “And since this is a highly suspicious death, there
will be a thorough investigation once we reach the City of Von Braun. So, if
you will excuse me, by law I must begin a full autopsy.”
    All this had happened less than hour ago, back before
the weird gees had kicked in. Now, in the upside-down hallway, Mike stepped
over another fluorescent light fixture. Who could have killed her? That
skinny Arabic guy with the big black mustache? He looks pretty slimy. Maybe
even slimy enough to be a killer. Or that Russian woman with the bright red
hair? She looks dangerous in a femme fatale kind of way. Mike frowned at
his own stupidity. Looks don’t make you a killer; only killing can make you
a killer; and that means it could be anyone.
     
    _____
     
    The pain behind Kim’s eyes now throbbed in time with
her pulse. She wished she could reach in through her helmet and massage her
temples with both hands.
    A length of nylon rope swung out slowly around the left
side of her body. Its loose end waved in front of her like a slow motion whip.
Striped in red and yellow, it looked to be about twelve feet long.
    Safety tether?
    She checked her belly ring—a three inch diameter
stainless steel ring mounted on the front of her vacuum suit just below her
belly button. Vacuum suits have a lifting harness of woven nylon strapping sewn
into them. The belly ring