Their Solitary Way (13 page)

“He doesn’t know yet, but he will soon. That’s why I’m here. I need you to tell me what happened. In detail. I need everything you have.”

Cain nodded, scratching his head, nervously.

“Tell me the whole story.”

“I…was in my room when Abel showed up. He was angry and started yelling at me. He said he was going to tell Father about Lilith, and you know how mad he would get if he knew. I told him not to, but he wouldn’t listen. You know how Abel is. He hates me.” Cain scratched the side of his head. “He wouldn’t listen. I tried to tell him I’d take care of it. I said I’d tell Father the truth, but Abel was mad and…he attacked me. He punched me!”

“He hit you?” asked Seth.

“Yes, and you know, I had to defend myself. I pushed him. It only made him angrier and he jumped on top of me and started choking me. I didn’t know what to do!”

“What happened next?”

“I thought he was going to kill me, Seth. You have to believe me! I thought he was going to do it. I had to defend myself. I had to!”

“What did you do, Cain?” repeated Seth.

Cain paused, squeezing and gripping his hair. “I…I hit him with my pen. Just to make him stop. I stabbed his arm. It was instinct. That’s all. I thought he’d back off after that, but he didn’t. He just kept coming.”

So Michael and I were right. The tool we found was the weapon
. “How did Abel get the wound in his neck?”

Cain hesitated. “It was…it was an accident. He fell on me. I didn’t do it. He fell on the pen. I didn’t stab him. It wasn’t my fault.”

Seth stared at him. “He fell on it?”

“Yes! I promise. You have to believe me, Seth. It was an accident!” Cain gripped his hair and squeezed until a few strands fell out, floating in the air.

Was he truly telling Seth the truth? Something about this didn’t feel right. He was so nervous, so frantic. Seth could chalk it up to the situation, but the way he spoke about what happened…Seth didn’t know what to believe.

“So you understand now, right?” asked Cain. You know it’s not my fault.”

Seth went to the door and knocked. “I’ll be back later.”

Cain pressed his palms against the translucent cage. “Please, don’t let Father hurt me. You believe me, right? You have to help!”

“I need time to process everything,” said Seth. “Try to get some rest.” He left the brig without another word.

He still didn’t know the full story, but the way Cain acted gave him pause. He could be lying. About which detail, specifically, Seth couldn’t say for sure, but he had his own theory.

The wound in Abel’s neck had been well placed, angled from the side. If Abel had done as Cain suggested and fallen on him, he’d have to awkwardly twist his head for the pen to stab him the way it did. The chances of that happening seemed slim, but he supposed anything was possible. Still, it all looked terribly unlikely. Whatever hopes Seth had for his brother’s innocence were quickly diminishing. If only he could turn the clock back and stop this from happening. If only—

His communicator beeped. Another call.

Azura appeared, a warm smile on her face. “Hey, it’s me,” she said. “I can’t talk for long, but I wanted to check in to see how you were doing.”

“I’m good. Just working on the investigation. Making progress. Is everything alright?”

“That’s the other reason I’m calling. We’re about to arrive at the new world. I thought you’d want to come see.”

“Already?” asked Seth. “I thought we had more time.”

“It’s happening within the hour. Come and see it with me. With everything that’s happened these last few days, we could stand to see something beautiful for a change. Don’t you think?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be there soon. I need to talk with my father first. I’ll join you after. Save me a spot?”

“Always,” she said, smiling.

Seth ended the call, then motioned to Michael.

“Sir?” he asked, quickly getting to his feet. He’d been sitting at Uriel’s desk, playing a math game on his communicator to pass the time.

“I need you to stay here with the others. I need to report in with the captain.”

“Sure thing, sir. Will you be gone long?”

“About an hour, maybe. I’ll let you know if I’m longer.”

“We’ll keep things under wraps,” said Steven, who was sitting a few feet away.

“Thanks,” said Seth, patting Michael’s shoulder as he left.

He wasn’t looking forward to seeing his father. The man had suffered so much these last few days, and now to give him this. He’d have to make a call, despite whatever grief he might be feeling.

Seth wished he could save him from it, but the Eden had an actual murderer to contend with—the first one in all the years since they left Fiore. A decision would have to be made, Seth knew, and the result would likely come at a cost.

Seth asked his father
to meet him in the conference room, out of sight from the other bridge officers. There was no reason for them to know about this. Not yet.

“Thanks for seeing me,” said Seth, shutting the door.

The old man nodded, motioning to take a seat at the table. “You have news about Abel?” he asked, a hint of anticipation in his voice.

Seth waited for Adam to join him. “I have a few things I need to talk with you about. Abel is one of them.”

Adam tapped his thumb on the surface of the table, a curious expression on his face. Small whiskers littered his chin, a sign he hadn’t shaved. “What else is there?”

“You asked me to investigate the blackouts and malfunctions happening across the ship,” said Seth. “Along the way, evidence has been revealed that leaves me to believe you were correct. I think someone is sabotaging the Eden.”

“I see.”

“The investigation hasn’t concluded yet, but I’m close.”

The old man thumbed the edge of the desk. “What of Abel?”

Seth took a deep breath, releasing a long and quiet sigh. “Murdered.”

His father balked. “What?”

“The autopsy revealed a puncture wound in his neck, which I discovered was made using a soldering pen. It seems Abel was killed somewhere else before being taken to the population bay where it was made to look like an accident.”

Adam tensed. “Who did this?”

“We have a suspect in custody,” Seth returned.

“Who?”

Seth hesitated. “I’m sorry to say, Father, but it’s Cain.”

Adam fidgeted in the chair. “Your brother? No, that can’t be right.”

“It is,” muttered Seth. “I didn’t want to believe it, but he’s already confessed.”

“This is absurd,” Adam fretted. “It has to be a mistake.”

“I wish it were.”

He held his forehead with the cuff of his palm, staring at the table. “Tell me what happened.”

Seth recounted the details of the events leading up to the arrest. “We found Cain on several of the feeds. In over half of them, he was present before the incidents. I approached him about the evidence and he gave me an alibi. I considered it done.”

“What alibi?” asked Adam.

“He claimed he was spending time with a personal friend.”

“What friend?” asked his father.

“Lilith.”

“Lilith?” repeated Adam. “What are you talking about?”

“Apparently, they’ve grown quite close these last few weeks.”

“So? She’s a family friend.”

“I believe there may have been some romantic involvement. The confrontation with Abel happened because he threatened to reveal this relationship.”

Adam scoffed, almost in disgust. “This can’t be accurate. Lilith would never do something like that. She’s been like an aunt to you boys.”

“Maybe you’re right,” admitted Seth. “Regardless, Abel heard about the evidence I had on Cain, deciding to confront him about it. From what I’ve been able to gather, a fight broke out and Abel was killed. Cain took the body to population bay four and made it look like an accident.”

Adam swallowed, chewing the words for a moment.

“What do you want to do, sir?” Seth asked.

“Talk to Lilith. Yes, I need to get Lilith on the line.”

“I already talked to her. She said—”

“Don’t worry,” said Adam. “She’ll be able to fill in the gaps. I’m sure there’s more to this story.” He tapped the com system on the table. “Lilith, please respond. It’s important.”

A knock at the door. “Sir?” called a woman’s voice.

“Not right now!” replied Adam. He tapped the communicator again. “Lilith, are you there?”

“Sir, I’m sorry, but we need you on the bridge,” said the woman outside.

“What is it?” asked Adam.

The door cracked. Azura peaked inside. “We’ve arrived at our destination. I need your authorization to begin procedures.”

“Already?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” she said, eagerly. “After all these years, we’re finally here.”

Adam and Seth reported to the bridge, per Azura’s request. The monitor screen, which took up half the forward wall, displayed a star chart with the ship’s location.

“If you’re ready, sir,” said Azura, motioning to the display.

“Show it to me,” said Adam.

In a flash, the screen changed, and suddenly a swirl of blue, green, and white came into view. Planet 2930-1193.C revealed itself before them, filled with continents that spanned a hemisphere, divided by staggering oceans covering most of the surface. A cloud of silence fell across the bridge.

Here it was at last. The planet they traversed a galaxy to find.

Seth began to count the islands, but gave up after twenty. The crew could colonize any one of them, not to mention the goliath continents, of which there were several. He wondered how long would it take humanity to fill it all up. Not anytime soon. Not on a planet this big.

He felt like he was going to fall into it.

“What’s the status on a landing zone?” asked Adam.

“I have several potential candidates,” announced Lilith over the com system.

“There you are. I was trying to reach you a minute ago,” he answered, looking annoyed.

“Apologies. Maneuvering the ship through the system’s heliosphere took a bit of concentration. I was a bit distracted.”

“Heliosphere?” asked Seth.

“The outermost region of a star’s gravitational field,” explained Lilith. “Nearly every star has one. There, the solar wind dies to nothing, so it’s full of ice and rocky debris. This is where most comets come from. The system we’ve entered has a particularly dense debris field, which required some extra work on my part.”

“I see,” said Seth, regretting the question.
And that’s why I’m not a pilot.

“When can we send the first landing party down?” asked Azura.

“A few hours. I’ll notify the department heads to send their designated personnel. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Very good,” decided Adam. “Did the scans reveal anything out of the ordinary?”

“Nothing substantial. The only thing worth noting was the native animal population, which is far more diverse than any previous world we’ve visited. Even more than Fiore.”

“Should we be concerned?” asked Azura.

“We’ll have weapons,” said Seth. “Anyone who has training in security procedures will be authorized to carry.”

“How many is that?” asked the captain.

“Eighteen, I think. Uriel knows better than I do.”

“She’s with Eve. We can bother her later.”

Lilith appeared in a small window near the corner of the forward viewscreen. “Several hundred of the colonists have combat experience. Once we verify the landing zone is safe, we can begin waking them in order to—”

The ship shook suddenly, letting out a thunderous crash and dampening the lights. Several of the bridge crew fell to the floor, while others gripped their seats in panic. Seth collapsed against Adam’s chair, clinging to the back of the seat. A few screams penetrated the bridge from the outer hall.

“
What the hell was that
?” shouted Adam. “Lilith! Report!”

Azura struggled to her feet, rattled. “Did something hit the ship?”

The video of Lilith flickered. “I’m detecting several malfunctions throughout the ship,” she said. “I’m still running scans, but we have at least three hull breaches. Several decks are losing atmosphere.”

“Captain, your orders?” asked Azura.

“Seal the affected areas and assess the damage!” he barked.

“I’m closing them as we speak, but I don’t know the extent of the damage,” Lilith explained

Adam’s eyes twitched as he seemed to absorb the situation. “Azura, contact the other departments. Tell them to coordinate with Lilith to contain the situation. Anyone not pertinent to repairs should report to their designated evacuation areas. We’ll need them near the escape pods in case anything goes wrong.”

Seth watched as the bridge crew frantically scurried around, dazed and confused. Where had this come from? It couldn’t be Cain. He was locked up in the brig. How could he be behind this? Unless he found a way to cause these disasters ahead of time, but was he coordinated enough for that? Seth recalled how stressed Cain looked. Fear all over his face. Could a man that tense still take the time to commit such a widespread attack?

Seth placed a call to his office, expecting his new deputies to answer right away, but got nothing. He called again, and then a third time. Something was wrong. Where had they gone? Was the security office hit? He had to go check on them.