Murder on The Skeld

Chapter 5: Ejected

"I knew it!" Grady exclaims. "I told you it was Buck but none of you would believe me!"

I back up into the corner, trying to keep my distance from the approaching mountain of muscles that is Benny. Luckily, he stops just two steps in front of me, but his arms are ready.

"I didn't kill her," I say, loud enough that the entire group can hear. "I was just the first to find her."

"Then who did it?" Grady asks incredulously. "Because we were all in electrical."

Benny is blocking most of the room so I take a careful step to the side to get a better view. The entire group is coming inside, their focus either on me or Rachel's body. Understandably, they look both horrified and furious.

"Oh, you are not getting out of this one," Charlet says, coming up right behind Grady.

"How could you?" Yuki yells from the floor.

"They're using the vents!" I shout. "The alien killed Rachel and escaped through here!" I point to the hole in beneath me. "That's how they get around!"

"Really?" Grady says. "That's your best defense? I repeat: we were all in electrical. And you were here."

"Are you sure about that?" I ask. "Because Rachel died before the lights came back on. And if they're using the vents..."

"Excuses, excuses," Owen says. "I say we throw him in the airlock and see if anyone else dies after that."

Nobody seems to disagree. They're too angry, too influenced by raw emotion and groupthink to listen to reason. I'm scrambling to come with anything that could convince them but my brain is having a strike. There's too much going on.

So I guess this is it.

But then Benny takes a step back and turns his head slightly to address Grady.

"You disappeared for a while in electrical," he says calmly. "While it was still dark."

Grady drops his chin.

"Yeah, because I thought I heard something back there," he says, waving his arms around wildly.

"There's a vent in the back of the room," Benny continues and looks down.

Grady takes a step back. "You actually believe him? I don't fit through there."

"A shapeshifting alien wouldn't have any problem getting a bit thinner," I say.

Grady points at us. "You're... teaming up against me? It's you! It's the both of you!"

"No," Benny says and takes another step back. He turns to address the rest of the room, while still keeping me in his sight. "It wouldn't make sense for Buck to be an alien and tell us that he saw twelve lifeforms on board. He could have killed several more of us before anybody had any idea what was going on. And killing Rachel just now would have been a stupid move, as we knew Buck went here alone. I think he's smarter than that."

"I don't buy it," Pich says, emerging from the crowd. "Buck could have screwed something up just now - maybe he meant to escape through the vent. Rachel was about to find out who the aliens were so he got desperate. The only reason he and I split was because he wanted to 'check on' Rachel."

I feel like I'm losing my mind. It seems like every piece of evidence is pointing toward me. But then I manage to grasp at my memory, to recall the details.

"No," I say, pointing a finger, "I said we should check on Rachel. You ran off to electrical when the lights went out and you told me to go alone."