An Imposter Among Us

6: Realization of Vulnerability

Astrid (3rd-person POV)

It was Jericho. Astrid had never been more sure.

The fact that he had disappeared from security, neglected his job, and tried to throw her under the bus...it had to be him who killed Maeng.

But how could she coax a confession out of him? Would she be able to, or would she just have to let him be ejected and wait a week to see if anyone else dies?

Astrid shivered at the thought. They were all in danger. Any one of them could be next. She couldn't be in a room alone with anyone else, least of all Jericho. How could she bring attention to him without looking like she was trying to brush the accusation off herself?

She figured everyone had their suspicions about her. After all, they all knew that at one point she and Maeng were both in electrical. Astrid could have killed her, dropped the weapon, and faked a horrified scream. Or she could have killed her, left, come back, and acted like it was the first time she had beheld the bloody mess. If anyone else had replaced their vote for hers...she would have been dead already.

So she supposed a more important question was how she could prove her own innocence before she was the next to be shoved down a trash chute.

She straightened up after a long and frustrating process of putting indicator into a glass pipette. She repositioned the mirror that pointed to the door, and right then someone trudged in. It was Light, his back hunched and his eyes fixed on his feet. Her heart automatically raced. It was just the two of them in the room. He could have a weapon concealed in his clasped hands, waiting for the gap between them to become narrow enough so he could make his move without a word.

"I..." he started, very quietly. "I've been...nauseous all day. I just...I don't know because it, it could be M-Maeng and all, but..." He looked up for a second, and Astrid heard footsteps coming from the upper engine room.

"I don't know. I'll just leave. Sorry." He scurried out towards the cafeteria. About a million alarms were going off in Astrid's head, but when Jericho took his place, her previous thoughts about the all-too-quiet crewmate all but disappeared.

"So you live another day," he said. "I'm surprised they didn't find it obvious."

"Oh, shut it. I know it was you." She set down the pipette in an empty vial and stood, subtly swiping a nearby scalpel into her hand. For self-defense. "If you're here to kill me, know that I will not make it easy."

"I'm not the killer," Jericho said.

"Oh, really?" Astrid spat. "Thank goodness for that! I feel so much better now!"

Jericho huffed, and held out both his arms to display empty hands before coming a step closer. "I wouldn't be worried about me. Not when everyone could turn against you in a heartbeat."

"You think I don't know that? Maybe if you would open your eyes a bit you would see the truth. I am innocent."

"And Calypso is your real name."

"Jericho, you killed Maeng," Astrid said, tightening her grip on the scalpel as he kept coming forward. "I know it."

"Oh, really? And your say is more important than mine?"

"I know that because you're a criminal. You've smuggled items onto this ship, including yourself. I saw you evading the police."

"And I saw you commit identity theft." He was now at arm's length. Astrid's back hit the wall. "Maybe neither of us are supposed to be here, but only one of us committed the murder." He pressed his forearm against her shoulders and slowly grabbed her hand, the one that clenched the scalpel.

Their faces were inches apart. Jericho slid the weapon out of her fingers and held it up between their noses. "And you are more suspect than me."

-----

Despite her determination not to let Jericho shake her, their encounter in the medbay stuck with her for the rest of the afternoon. Jericho knew that if she made one wrong move, she was dead. She could loiter outside a room for a second too long and be voted out just like that. If she was the one to find another body...

No, it was too much to think about. Maybe she could barricade the entrance to the medbay with all the beds and hole up here. Then no one could get to her, and no one would blame her for the next death if or when there was one. But then Jericho would be running rampant through the Skeld, and it seemed like no one else but her knew that was a bad thing. It was also her obligation as a medic to try and save people, and if someone fell victim to the killer again, and there was any chance she could save them, than she had to keep her doors open and try.

And maybe doing her job would help prove that she was the opposite of a killer.

She booted her mini-tablet, expecting to see her task list but seeing only a single message:

Error: Connection Not Found.