Killer Bay

Dead Space

"Adalet, I'm not sure what to make of Colonel Spangler's story about this train crash and the escaped alien..." Andrea sighs as she addresses the cops.

Amy cocks her head in confusion, "what's there to understand? Spangler's clearly lost his mind! Too much top-secret work isn't good for your mental health."

"While that may be true," Adalet agrees, "the only way we can prove that Spangler is delusional is by investigating further."

"Spangler left us a message saying we should look for answers at the Pacific Bay Space Agency's launchpad, so that's where we're going next," Andrea announced, "and tomorrow is a big day for PASA: Examiner-1, the first manned expedition to Mars, will be launched! Every precaution is justified."

"A manned expedition to Mars! How exciting! It must be the biggest thing that ever happened in Rhine Canyon!" Amy cheered.

"That's why I want my best cop to visit the launch pad, and make sure all's in order! Ground control to Adalet, prepare for liftoff!" the Chief jokes.

Adalet and Amy drove out to the launch site Andrea had directed them to and began walking around the area. Upon reaching the launch pad, they discovered an astronaut resting against a PASA vehicle. At first, they thought he was just relaxing, but after getting closer, they saw a gaping, burnt hole in the centre of the man's chest. Looking around the area, Adalet spotted a blue clipboard with a small bundle of paper clipped to it and a small model space shuttle near the right foot of the body.

"My goodness, Adalet, that man has a hole in his chest big enough to see through it!" Amy gasped, able to see the grill of the vehicle through the hole, "I've never seen anything like it! He's dead, without a doubt."

"The victim's wearing a spacesuit..." Adalet remarked, looking over the orange suit, "so he must be an astronaut!"

"Wait a minute... I recognize him! It's Tom Nelson, the astronaut who was meant to go to Mars! Girly Gossips interviewed him last week about the mission. He was so excited!" she remembered, "an astronaut dropping dead one day before a space mission! And look how he died... Adalet, we're dealing with another murder!"

The Turk held up the clipboard and model space shuttle, "this paper has the victim's name on it! It looks like his schedule..."

"Better make the rest of it legible!" the rookie said, noticing the missing information, "and you've also found a tiny spaceship? Hmm, is that screen asking for a password? Go on, hack it, Adalet!"

Plugging the USB into her table, she opened up the passcode application. After selecting the correct sequence of numbers and letters, the screen on the USB lit up light blue and now read UNLOCKED.

"Adalet, good job cracking the password on that miniature spaceship! Which turned out to be a USB key!" Amy notes.

"It was next to the victim... What was it doing on the crime scene?" Adalet wonders, placing it into her case, "let's ship it to Hannah!"

Grabbing her brush and powder from her case, Adalet dusted the header of the victim's schedule. She recovered the title PASA Rhine Canyon Training Facility.

"Rhine Canyon Training Facility," Adalet read out loud.

"So PASA trained their astronauts in the desert... And if Tom Nelson went to this training facility, we should go too!" Amy decides.

Once Roxie had arrived to take the body and USB back to the lab, Adalet and Amy drove out to the desert training facility. When they arrived they found that the area had been set up with model buildings and equipment and in the late evening light, the sand and rocks had a reddish look to them.