An Imposter Among Us

19: The Day I Threaten My Superiors

Genesis (1st-person POV)

As soon as the gunshot rang out, everyone hit the deck. I pressed my head against the cold floor, expecting to hear the cry of a crewmate. The bullet pinged off the walls, and someone hurried away. The grating of the vent was the last thing I heard before silence took over.

I looked up to find Elara sitting against the wall, stirring. Astrid was on her hands and knees in the entrance to security, taking in ragged breaths and holding her throat. Jericho was crawling to her side and asking her quietly if she was hit.

Zan was gone. So was Ceres.

"Everyone okay?" I asked them, the reality of the situation finally hitting me. Ten crewmates came on this ship, and now four were dead and two were killers. We were weakened, and unarmed, and we had no idea what the Conclave had planned for us. What they had planned for me, if they didn't want me dead.

If Nareem didn't want me dead.

"We need to find somewhere safe," Jericho said, threading his arm behind Astrid's shoulder blades. "Before they come back for us."

"A place with weapons," Elara said pressing her back against the wall to stand. "And protection."

I slowly stood and pulled up my mini-tablet, a long crack snaking across the screen. I was about to pull up the blueprint of the Skeld when I remembered what Stella had said. About them being tracked. Ceres and Zan were both good with technology, especially with hacking.

"We need to destroy our tablets," I said. "That's something for us, at least, if they can't track us."

Elara leaned on her cane and rubbed her head. "Or we could...use them as a decoy. Hide them somewhere and lead them away."

"We need a safe place first," Jericho pressed. "Placing traps and distractions for them will do nothing if we're vulnerable like this."

"What about the bunks?" I suggested. "There's one way in and out, no vents. We can use the bedframes as weapons if needed, and—"

Elara's eyes widened. "The space suits are down there."

Jericho, supporting an almost-limp Astrid, immediately started down the hall. "Then we don't have any time to waste."

"Let me go first," I said. "Elara, you take the back. Everyone stay quiet."

I stayed on the balls of my feet as I jogged to lower engine and peeked around the corner, clutching the rim of my tablet. I saw nothing, but my heart hammered at the thought of Ceres hiding behind a crate in storage, or just on the other side of the rumbling engine. As I inched forward to check the rest of lower engine, I half-expected Zan to come flying out and hold a cold blade to the small of my back.

Zan.

Before the gunshot, I wanted to beg her to tell me why. Why her? Why did it have to be her? I had trusted her before anyone else. I had opened up to her, and let her pat my knee. I thought she had supported me, that she knew what I was going through. But all of it was a lie.

"Clear," I whispered, waving them forward. We trailed down the next hallway, past electrical, the first crime scene. Maeng's blood would forever stain that corner.

We took our time getting past storage. I searched every shadow, around every single crate. I passed by the garbage chute and swallowed a lump. In a panic, I had allowed Graham to fall down there, never to be seen again. I couldn't even stomach doing it myself, so I let the impostor do it.

No. The kill-happy impostor volunteered. How could I have been so stupid?

We made it to the next hall without any conflict. The lack of action was comforting and unnerving at the same time. Their silence here meant they were somewhere in the vents, or the top half of the ship, planning something big. They could be waiting in the bunks for us. Or right behind us, quiet as a mouse.