Mars-Bound Hokie

I'm currently testing a two-man lander in my career save right now. I'll get back to you when the test's over. If successful, it should get to Duna's surface and back home without the need of other ships in the area. Honestly, if you're afraid of running out of dV for the trip back, maybe you should launch a fleet. When you're done with surface ops, launch the lander up to a separate return ship and head back. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T FORGET THE ENGINEER

Which one specifically? I tried looking for the one you're talking about, but found entries for a lot of BoS holotapes on YouTube. Also, what do you think is the significance of the blood in the old engine found in Jeb's Junkyard? Do Bill's plans for handling Irpond and/or Misty seem feasible? If not, what do you think Bill should (ask someone else to) do? Even if he left Eeloo now, Pod 5B15 would still reach Dres years before Bill does. Additionally, there's no military presence on Eeloo. He can't do anything about Misty since she's on Kerbin, but he can at least ask someone to help. SPOILER ALERT: Kerbin has military presences in: Mun Minmus You'd be dumb not to fortify your own moons, especially if criminals try to hide from the law there. Eve REASON: After kerbal terrorists attacked a surface outpost, Mission Control realized that, if the explodium fell into the wrong hands, it can be used as a high explosive. Duna REASON: After the Clivar fiasco, the prime minister deemed it necessary to install a military base near where possible signs of extraterrestrial civilization were found (buried periscope, kerbal face carving). However, as there have not been any incidents on Duna involving possible extraterrestrials for years, the military presence there is weak. The current theory is that the founders of such civilization are either underground and have not shown themselves or they're all dead now. Jool REASON: Hostile Native Laythans - and Jool is the rumored home planet of the Kraken.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: A SEA GOD GETS A DROP POD “Final wave of parts in polar orbit, sir.” “Thanks, Fersy,” said the man strapped to the viewing cupola seat before reaching for a phone. “Okay, boys, this is it. After this, the Mohole Bridge should be sturdy and safe when completed.” “Yes, sir!” a man replied. “Anything else?” “Nope.” “Hey, boss!” shouted another man from behind him. “A meteoroid hit the station’s ore converter. We’re shutting it down until repairs are made.” The boss sighed. “Do what you must.” After his employee left, he took out his kPad and looked at a picture of a kerbalnaut posing in front of the vehicle assembly building. It was Jeb. Jeb Senior, the chief executive of operations of Jeb’s Junkyard, had spent months in Moho orbit overseeing the final phases of the Mohole Bridge construction. When it was finished, surface rovers, robotic probes, and large mobile bases and trucks alike would be able to cross the large hole that covered the planetoid’s north pole. He and Jeb only emailed each other six times since the day Agaden died, and they did not have good news. Though Jeb Senior was saddened that a student died on Jeb’s watch, he was relieved when he learned that Jeb was not responsible for it. Since Jeb was a baby, Jeb Senior had feared that, one day, Jeb’s audacity – and stupidity – would cause the death of himself and/or other people. He blamed his late wife, Amelia Kerman, for Jeb’s general attitude. Though Amelia was a well-known badass pilot, she had been repeatedly cited for air traffic offenses. Jeb Senior thought he could handle a feisty wife, but then she (and a little girl) died in a plane crash; he was not surprised when the accident investigators found Amelia liable. Jeb was only a baby at the time, but Jeb Senior knew to tell him the truth about his mother would scar him for life. Until Jeb was a teenager, Jeb Senior told him that she was an airline pilot who was constantly busy. His lie was exposed when Jeb’s friend, Bill Kerman, dug up Amelia’s accident report. After father and son had a huge argument – which ended with Jeb driving away after storming out of the house – Jeb Senior asked Bill to help Jeb cool off. It was only a partial success, and Jeb and Jeb Senior had not spoken much since then. “What kind of dad lies to his kid about his mom?” Jeb Senior replayed his son telling him. “What kind of dad KEEPS his kid from reaching his true potential?!” “Boss, Commander Trifurt wants to see you,” said Ribgel. “I’ll be there,” sighed Jeb Senior, then he unstrapped himself before floating to Commander Trifurt Kerman. “You wanted to see me, mam?” “Yes, I did,” said Trifurt. “I hear that your project is almost done.” “Well, we got the last wave of parts in orbit,” elaborated Jeb Senior. “Once we connect them and place them over the hole, we should be good.” “Excellent, but that’s not why I called you,” said Trifurt. “Are you trying to flirt with me,” wondered Jeb Senior, “because I quit dating 37 years ago.” “What? No, nothing like that,” stammered Trifurt, “and too bad. Anyway, I don’t know if you’re already aware, but one of your scrapyards found blood in an old car.” “Blood?” wondered Jeb Senior. “Let me guess, one of the guys cut himself?” “Surprisingly, no,” answered Trifurt, looking at her kPad. “None of your employees reported injuries, and the bloodstain was found inside the engine right after the hood was lifted.” “So, maybe the last owner or mechanic cut himself,” sighed Jeb Senior. “Big deal, what does this have to do with me?” “This is what the vehicle in question USED TO look like,” said Trifurt, showing Jeb Senior a computer-generated image of an old rover. “Looks like an old electric car.” “More specifically, an electric car prototype developed by KSP about 30 years ago. However, the design was ultimately rejected on the grounds that the prototype caused someone’s death during test runs,” elaborated Trifurt. “Would you mind telling me why you have one of our rejects in your junkyard, and what it was doing just sitting there for decades?” “Back then, Jeb’s Junkyard was small-time; all we did was buy and sell scrap metal,” explained Jeb Senior. “KSP must have decided to give me one of their rejects after it crashed or something.” “Okay, but how do you explain THE BLOOD on the engine, and why it took until NOW for it to be discovered?” “I don’t know, I’ll have to check the engine’s serial number,” said Jeb Senior. “If we track where it came from, we can probably learn how blood got on the engine. However, I think it was just a random cut.” “What makes you say that?” wondered Trifurt. “As seriously as we take workplace safety in Jeb’s Junkyard, one of my men will occasionally cut himself on the job,” answered Jeb Senior. “If the cut’s bad enough, a medical professional would be summoned immediately.” “Men, don’t you have any women in your junkyards?” smirked Trifurt. “More than I used to, but men still beat women three to one,” said Jeb Senior. “You’d be surprised how many resignation letters or transfer requests I receive from women who got placed with high-risk jobs.” “You’re probably right,” said Trifurt. “I’m not sure I’d want to hang around machines designed to rip my head off.” “Says she who’s sitting in a space station loaded with explosive fuel,” joked Jeb Senior, and Trifurt laughed. “But seriously, any idea how blood got on the engine of one of our reject prototypes from 30 years ago?” she asked. “Until I get the serial number of that engine, no,” said Jeb Senior. “Even then, for all I know, that blood could be anywhere from 30 years to 30 MINUTES old.” His kPad then buzzed. “I think it could be the scrap yard guys… huh.” “What is it?” wondered Trifurt. “It’s Jeb,” said Jeb Senior. “This is a weird subject line; did you ever hear the story of Misty Kerman the hot?” “Misty Kerman,” gasped Trifurt, “the criminal?” “I never got why people still treat her that way despite her acquittal,” commented Jeb Senior before reading his son’s email. “Misty Kerman was a serial killer so clever and so hot she could use her evil eyes to influence the cops to be dumb. She had such a knowledge of badassery and stealth that she could crash entire hypersonic airliners; the radical side of badassery is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be bad news.” “Well, what happened to her?” chuckled Trifurt. “She became so cool that the only thing she feared was getting exposed, which eventually, of course, she did,” continued Jeb Senior. “Unfortunately, she and her daughter got figured out by me and my buddies from Baikerbanur; Bob was too immature to listen. Then, Bill totally blabbed to Mission Control and his friends back home.” “Daughter?” inquired Trifurt. “Real original, Jeb,” Jeb Senior sighed. “He got that from Sun Battles, didn’t he?” laughed Trifurt. “P.S. Seriously, Dad. Misty and Irpond Kerman are the bad guys. P.P.S. Both Bill and Val think so too.” “Val thinks so too?” gasped Trifurt in fear. “Oh no.” “I heard about his jet crashing, the Zeus getting hit, and the Laythe shootings,” said Jeb Senior. “Crashing a hypersonic airliner? That seems like a bit of a stretch, even if Misty DID commit murder a long time ago, from 1 victim to 60 or more AT ONCE.” “More importantly, HOW does one do that and walk out of there alive?” added Trifurt. “Another email from… Bill,” interrupted Jeb Senior. “It’s about… Misty and Irpond in cahoots. Apparently, Bob is their endgame.” He then told the commander about the clues Bill listed in his email. “We gotta do something,” said Trifurt nervously. “Unless they haven’t told Mission Control yet – which Bill has – we can’t. If neither of them are on this planet, then they can’t harm anyone here,” assured Jeb Senior. “If the cops don’t do anything about Misty… uh oh.” “What?” “Unless Misty is in jail, she’s gonna get BLOWN TO BITS,” explained Jeb Senior. “I’d better warn his dad.” “Why? Bill’s a grown man already.” “But his dad still has all his old designs, including the one he wants,” said Jeb Senior. “If it gets built on Kerbin, Misty will die.” “So? If she’s a serial killer, then doesn’t she deserve it?” questioned Trifurt. “Bill almost took the road of revenge once; I’d rather not he drag someone else into it. Plus, Misty deserves a fair trial even if she’s that bad.” Back on Kerbin, William Kerman had left his co-workers during lunch break to meet with recently released pardonee Rob Kerman. Bill had emailed William about Irpond and Misty’s roles in the recent Kerbol system murders, then told him of his idea to send troops to Dres to intercept Irpond. William had replied to Bill in an “I told you so,” manner about Misty before thanking him for warning Mission Control. Bill responded again by telling William about Irpond and Val (and Bob) being in the same pod. “I’m sure Val can handle it,” William said, though Bill didn’t sound so reassured. Bill then told his father of his plan to keep an eye on Misty Kerman – besides involving the police. Since Rob Kerman had beat a violent serial murderer in a prison fight, Bill was confident that he could take Misty if need be. However, he wanted extra firepower in case Misty had any tricks up her sleeve. Bill asked his dad to locate his Iron Kerbal suit design and give a copy to Rob for him to build. “This is the second time he asked me to be his file clerk,” sighed William. “When was the first time?” asked Rob. “One of your brother’s friends asked me for Bill’s old rocket launch reports,” explained William. “Yeah, Bob told me about it,” said Rob. “Why would she want an old launch report from when Bill was a teenager?” wondered William. “Because he thought his rocket hit Misty Kerman’s house,” answered Rob. “Bill KILLED MISTY?!” gasped William. “No, he didn’t,” said Rob. “He thought he set Misty’s house on fire, but further investigation proved that he didn’t hit ANYTHING that night.” “Why would he think he started a house fire if he missed?” wondered William. “Because there were craters on the walls,” said Rob. “Bill thinks that Misty started the fire herself and smashed the holes when she saw falling debris. What we DON’T know is WHY she would burn her own house down.” “Maybe she tried to hide something or cash in on an insurance policy,” guessed William. “Then why did the fire occur the SAME NIGHT of Bill’s launch?” replied Rob. “That doesn’t make any sense… unless she saw the incoming rocket.” “Perhaps it was just a coincidence,” sighed William, handing Rob Bill’s old Iron Kerbal design file. “Did Bill tell you about this?” “Yes, he did,” said Rob, looking through the design. “It’s terrible.” “What’s terrible?” “A conventional RTG’s power output is not even close to what’s necessary for a real-life suit like this,” explained Rob. “Just like in the movies, we’ll need a self-sustaining substitute for this suit that can satisfy its power needs.” “Wouldn’t just a bunch of guns slapped on a suit of armor do the job fine?” asked William. “Yeah, but… who doesn’t want an Iron Kerbal suit?” stammered Rob. “Plus, Bill told me that Misty caused an airliner to crash a few months back; I may need to fly there and save the day.” “Bill built his pet skateboard robot in Jeb’s Junkyard, and it’s still running,” said William. “But a working suit like the one he wants requires a higher-level research facility,” Rob warned. “Well, you’re a scientist. Can’t you do it?” questioned William. “Uh, I specialize in genetic biology,” reminded Rob. “Then why did Bill ask for YOU?” “Because he knows my brother, and that I can hold my own in a fight,” explained Rob. “Misty Kerman’s daughter killed my brother’s girlfriend… and hundreds more.” “HUNDREDS?!” gasped William. “You know what happened to Poseidon’s Palace on Laythe?” asked Rob. “I don’t know where it is, sorry.” “Everyone in it died from radiation poisoning,” said Rob. “Bill thinks Irpond Kerman did it.” “Irpond, Misty’s daughter?” wondered William, and Rob nodded. “If we don’t do something soon, our entire race is doomed.” Five Laythe days later – which equaled almost eleven Kerbin days – Daring had still not been reclaimed by Mission Control. The military was getting restless and eager to take action, but General Jackson didn’t want to risk any more men than was necessary. When he heard of Corporal Augsten Kerman’s operation proposal, which involved Augsten parachuting down from a plane and infiltrating the irradiated outpost before reprogramming Daring to obey Mission Control, he discussed it with Philzer and ultimately rejected it. However, that did not mean that he planned to abandon Daring and Poseidon’s Palace just yet. “You had the right idea, though,” he told Augsten, who had pointed out he was in Cyber Soldier before enlisting in the military. “We’re gonna drop you on Poseidon’s Palace; just not from a plane.” Augsten Kerman and Sanzio Kerman flew a small SSTO to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Victor Kerman before meeting with a scientist named Heidi. Since she was already certified to use tactical weapons, they had given her a gun and a hazmat suit before entering one of the station’s five drop pods. Each drop pod was propelled by six Twitch engines and was designed to safely drop up to seven heavily armed soldiers directly onto any target on Laythe. They were mounted on the Victor Kerman in case the military needed to be somewhere and the enemy – whether they be hostile Laythans or rogut kerbals – had enough anti-aircraft defenses to repel conventional air attacks. “Good luck, men,” Jackson told the strike team before the docking port closed. “You too, mam.” “Got it, General,” saluted Sanzio, then the drop pod was free of the station. “MJ, drop us on Poseidon’s Palace.” “Target coordinates acquired. Plotting de-orbit trajectory.” “If Daring’s guarding the outpost,” said Heidi, “how do we get in without him killing us when we touch down.” “As soon as we make our de-orbit burn, they’re gonna create a diversion by activating one of the trucks and having it drive all around the outpost perimeter,” explained Augsten. “Is Mission Control helping?” questioned Heidi. “The military base will; signal time’s quicker,” said Sanzio. “As soon as we land, we’ll prime our weapons and stick together as we search for the base’s control room. Augsten will restore communications and power before you report your findings to Mission Control. Then, we go looking for Daring.” “Why not just start with looking for Daring?” asked Heidi. “If he’s programmed to keep out trespassers, he’ll come to us,” said Augsten. “However, Kerbin has mandated that we restore communications on the base.” “Where everyone’s dead?” reminded Heidi. “I don’t think it’ll do much good if the base is covered in deadly radiation.” “It’s so that the relays can give a stronger signal from Kerbin to Daring, and so Mission Control can get internal diagnostics to see exactly how the bad guy messed it up,” said Sanzio. “Speaking of which, any idea who IS the bad guy?” wondered Augsten. “They wouldn’t tell us, only that he or she has already left the base,” answered Sanzio. “Yes, Mission Control said, ‘he or she’ in their instructions.” “That doesn’t make sense, why not just give us the name?” sighed Heidi. “I dunno, must be a legal thing,” sighed Sanzio. “Well, if this guy or girl’s off-base, then we can at least know who they’re NOT,” Heidi deduced. “As soon as we’re inside, we can pull their latest crew roster… and check off who’s dead.” “Beginning orbital inclination change in t-minus one minute,” interrupted MJ. “Good point,” agreed Sanzio. “Everyone, strap yourselves in.” A minute later, the drop pod had changed its orbital inclination so that its trajectory would be directly above Poseidon’s Palace at its estimated time of impact. Since the drop pods were only meant for single-use, MJ could burn up its engines until the pod could go straight down to the target coordinates; even if it ran out of fuel, it could use the monopropellant. Duna landers did straight-down landings all the time before descending upon the red surface, increasing their landing accuracy. This was to account for aerodynamic drag during re-entry, which would land the occupants kilometers away from the combat zone when they were needed directly in the middle of it. “Beginning de-orbit burn in t-minus 3 minutes 54 seconds.” “Here goes nothing,” said Sanzio. “So, is this the first time a drop pod was used for real?” wondered Augsten. “Actually, no it’s not,” recalled Heidi. “They drop pods like this on Eve all the time.” “Ah, Eve,” sighed Sanzio. “Easy to get to, impossible to get OUT of.” “Okay, but what about in combat?” elaborated Augsten. “I heard something about a drop pod being used during the attack on Squaddon,” said Heidi. “You guys know about the low-Kerbin orbit military base, right?” “How could we not? We had to fly up there for training before coming here,” said Augsten. “We sent a drop pod since the bad guys had a strong anti-aircraft perimeter,” explained Heidi. “Let me see,” said Sanzio, checking his kPad. “Yeah, but we distracted the bad guys so they wouldn’t notice the drop pod falling out of the sky at night.” He smiled and laughed a bit. “They had to be really stupid to think someone shouting, ‘Hey, I’m the prime minister of Kerbin. Come and get me,’ was the real deal.” “I wouldn’t be surprised if he said that,” commented Augsten. “Trunton WASN’T prime minister at the time,” corrected Heidi. “We’re gonna do the same thing the guys at Kerbin did,” Sanzio told the crew. “Descend on the base undetected at night while we cause a distraction on the land – and the air if possible. Then, we take out their operation from the inside out.” “It’s NIGHT at the base?” gasped Heidi. “We’re striking when he’s most vulnerable,” Augsten told her. “Not only will it be harder to see us, without the sunlight there’s a good chance he’ll enter low power mode and be less likely to detect us prematurely.” They each made sure their suits were secured before the pod made its de-orbit burn. “Drop team to base, we’re beginning our descent.” “Roger that, drop team,” a soldier replied on the radio. “Starting the car now.” The three kerbalnauts held on tight as the pod inflated its heat shield and re-entered Laythe’s atmosphere. A couple of minutes later, Sanzio jettisoned the heat shield and deployed the parachutes before extending the landing struts. The team had touched down 231 meters from the outpost itself, then the three of them disembarked the pod with their guns raised. “Let’s go,” ordered Sanzio as Augsten grabbed the relay assembly kit. Right before they would enter the base, Augsten would set up a small relay that would strengthen their signal to the military base. “I see it, but I still don’t believe it,” commented Augsten when he saw the bodies on the ground. “What kind of monster would do such a thing?” gasped Heidi. “Let me remind you that it’s all circumstantial at best,” said Sanzio. “I mean, it could have been an accidental leakage combined with an unfortunate blackout.” “Or an INTENTIONAL leakage combined with a PLANNED blackout,” argued Augsten. “This guy probe-jacked Daring.” “Is that relay set up yet?” asked Sanzio. “Got it,” said Augsten. “Wait, if you guys need a relay, how was the military able to control a truck?” questioned Heidi. “The truck already has strong antennae on it, but our radios don’t,” explained Augsten. “Remember: communications for the base itself are down.” “Get inside, team,” ordered Sanzio. “We got company at three o’clock.” The team saw lights coming in from the right and they pulled the airlock open before entering the base; Heidi tripped on a corpse when the door shut behind them. “Ugh, gross!” said Heidi, feeling disgusted. “No doubt about it, he died of radiation poisoning.” “I thought you were an environmental scientist, not a doctor,” recalled Sanzio. “During safety training, we were all shown pictures of what certain levels of radiation can do to you,” said Heidi. “I will never forget the pictures of people who died from radiation poisoning.” “Ooh, gun,” said Sanzio, finding a handgun near the body. “A gun?” wondered Augsten before shining a light on the body. “Ugh… he’s a base guard.” “Still loaded, SWEET!” smirked Sanzio. “Let’s move it, team.” “Why would a gun be so interesting?” wondered Heidi. “We’re in an abandoned base covered in lethal radioactive fallout, and all you can think about is finding A GUN?” “I may have to use it,” explained Sanzio as he pried the control room doors open. “Okay, engineer. Work your magic.” “On it,” acknowledged Augsten as he plugged in a laptop to the control room’s computer. “Power’s gone. There should be a backup fuel cell generator behind the main monitor.” “Don’t bother,” said Sanzio, pointing at the fuel gauge. “It’s empty.” “Empty?” gasped Augsten. “Impossible.” “Not really,” Heidi disagreed. “Either they used it up already or the bad guy caused a leak.” “I’m leaning towards used up, since these tanks are designed to alert someone if there’s a leak,” said Augsten. “Are you willing to bet the bad guy didn’t mess with the alert system?” questioned Sanzio. “Let me remind you that no signs of foul play were found until after that pilot died of radiation poisoning.” “Speaking of,” said Heidi, “at the current fallout concentration, if your hazmat suit is compromised, you’re dead in minutes.” “We’ll have better luck at the power grid,” Augsten announced, then he and his partners left the control room – only to face Daring. “Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” “Freeze, robot!” ordered Sanzio as he took aim at the robot with a handgun. Daring then extended his laser and fired at Heidi. “Agh!” she groaned. The beam only scratched her arm, but it cut a hole in her hazmat suit. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Sanzio fired four shots at the rover, hitting it every time. Though it severely damaged Daring to the point of it becoming inoperable, the bullets did not damage the robot’s RTG. “NO!” yelled Augsten, running toward the robot. “YOU KILLED HIM!” “It was either him or me,” explained Sanzio. “Now Heidi’s gonna die from radioactive particles in the air.” “He’s right, Augsten,” said Heidi. “There’s no hope for me now.” “No, there’s gotta be,” Augsten argued worriedly. “I’m done for, boys. Just restore communications.” “But… Daring, you?” stammered Augsten. “Forget about trying to save them,” ordered Sanzio. “They’re lost causes.” “Just restore communications on this joint,” said Heidi. “Tell Mom and Dad I love them.” “LET’S GO,” said Sanzio, and Augsten held on to Heidi’s hand. “There’s gotta be something we can do.” “Just do one thing for me,” groaned Heidi, feeling weak. “Catch this… monster.” “You got it,” acknowledged Augsten, then he and Sanzio left Heidi and Daring to search for the power grid. “Uh oh.” “You can say that again,” remarked Sanzio as they examined the base’s power grid Or what was left of it. “My suit’s radiation monitors are off the charts,” reported Augsten, then he circled around the debris. “Oh my gosh.” “Whatcha find?” asked Sanzio, then Augsten showed him several ruptured RTGs with glowing blutonium-238 pellets everywhere. “Restore communications and power and let’s get the heck outta here.” “You don’t have to tell me twice,” said Augsten before getting to work. “This guy knew exactly what he was doing when he sabotaged the base.” “His endgame was to poison everyone on-base unnoticed,” deduced Sanzio. “The question is who and why?”

You're starting to send probes and pilot-free crewed ships to far-away planets, but either your antenna isn't strong enough or you're trapped in a blind spot. Are you sick of losing contact with probes mid-mission, especially when you need it at the very moment the connection's lost? Here's how I solve my problems: ULTIMATE RELAY ANTENNA Each Ultimate is designed for maximum coverage while maximizing delta-V and minimizing production costs at the same time. Each variant is equipped with: RTGs Solar panels Different types for different variants 1 x RA-100 relay 4 x RA-15 relay Originally, the final stage of the relay was ion-powered. However, due to the engines' extremely low thrust and the inadequate solar panel performance past Dres (RTGs weren't much help either), I had to modify the design while, at the same time, maximizing delta-V. I knew the solution lay in the NERV engines, but my attempts to use four NERVs (to increase thrust) all ended up with $300K launch pad disasters. After some experimenting, I managed to find a viable solution. Below are some photos of the variant I will be using from now until further notice - like if it fails to achieve Eeloo orbit or something like that. The final stage has 3,216 m/s of delta-V. Mk. IVb at the launch pad. It has SRBs to save fuel for the initial ascent of 250 km altitude Mk. IVb immediately after launch. Those SRBs really pack a punch And that is why all Ultimate Relay variants have protective shells during the initial ascension. At that speed, the aerodynamic forces (and heat as a result of friction from air resistance) should be enough to cause a catastrophic failure if it hits unprotected crucial areas. SRBs had just been spent, which happens right before the rocket hits an apoapsis of 250 km. Any lower than that and the SRBs will mess it up - since you can't shut them of. After the parking orbit is established, the rocket should have ~2,050 m/s of delta-V left before it activates the final stage. A Mk. IV (Mk. IVb has SRBs, but a Mk. IV doesn't) Ultimate 750 km above Moho's surface. Provided I timed my transfer burn correctly, I achieved a stable orbit around Moho with ~900 m/s to spare. The best part is that the Mk. IVb costs ~$165K while my other variants cost between $225K and $310K. Feel free to use it and leave a review on this thread. Craft file for the Ultimate Mk. IVb (mods: Mechjeb): https://mega.nz/#!3KhlDILa!JaX7Ns1D9uY-oqHQHG-HnSpuU0zC5SNI31P3LnGl5Bc

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: BILL’S PLAN “Why is it taking so long?” sighed Gene. “I didn’t count on a firewall being installed on Daring,” sighed Richell Kerman, one of the rover software engineers who designed Daring. “He’s a robot gone haywire, what did you expect?” “Not my fail-safe to fail,” countered Richell. “Normally, if that happened, I’d send a fail-safe command to the rover and it would shut down and reboot itself.” “What if the receiver’s broken?” “The robot’s programmed to automatically repair itself,” explained Richell. “We tested it many times in many different scenarios.” “Did that include it REMOVING its receiver?” “No, but since when do we expect our rovers to turn evil?” “Maybe we should contact the military base and have them send a squad over to Poseidon’s Palace to check it out,” suggested Linus. “Not good enough,” Mortimer disagreed. “They don’t have enough Hazmat suits to protect themselves from the radiation.” “Dang it,” sighed Gene. “Richell, have you practiced reconnecting with the rover before?” “Yes, many times,” said Richell. “However, none of them involved Daring getting sabotaged on-site OR a redirecting firewall installed in its system.” “I thought there were sabotage scenario tests,” recalled Werner. “By Native Laythans, which are nowhere near as technologically proficient as this guy,” argued Richell. “Don’t WE already have a firewall?” asked Gene. “For the controls here, not the rover itself,” answered Richell. “As for off-planet controllers, they need to get permission from us before using it.” “Whoever messed with this rover knew exactly what he was doing,” sighed Werner. “He knew we would try and reconnect with it if we found out Daring was still alive, so he made it next-to-impossible for us to do so.” “You think this saboteur KILLED Daring before reprogramming him?” wondered Linus. “Linus, he was killed by the environment messing with his power systems,” reminded Gene. “Are you willing to bet the bad guy didn’t CAUSE that?” questioned Linus. “I see where you’re going with this,” agreed Werner. “Another possibility is that the bad guy FAKED Daring’s post-mortem inspection and claimed it was environmental factors when it was actually temporary sabotage.” “Either way, the saboteur would fish the rover out of the scrap heap, reprogram him to guard his dirty little secret, and kept Daring in the shadows until the RTGs leaked,” concluded Gene. “Ugh, it didn’t work again,” cursed Richell. “Sir, permission to hack into Daring’s system.” “Permission granted,” said Gene. “What?” gasped Mortimer. “Gene, you can’t be serious.” “I agree with Mortimer,” said Linus. “If we mess that robot up, we may never be able to explore Laythe again.” “That robot’s ALREADY messed up as it is,” Gene argued. “Anyway, Richell, what have you got?” “Well, besides programming Daring, I was in Baikerbanur’s Cyber Soldier team,” said Richell. “Traitor,” muttered Werner. “Don’t mind Werner, he grew up in Woomerang,” joked Gene. “Give it a shot, Badger.” “Sir, incoming transmission from… Eeloo,” announced Holly. “Eeloo?” wondered Werner, “what is it?” “It’s an email from Bill Kerman,” said Holly. “What is it now, a hydroelectric application of underground water deposits?” guessed Linus. “No. The subject line says, ‘I know who the killer is.’” The four administrators gasped in shock. “Well don’t just sit there. Open it, and put it on-screen,” demanded Werner. When Holly opened the email, all she saw was a zip file with several images loaded in it. “Open them.” “Why didn’t Bill just write it down?” wondered Gene. “Maybe it’s because he needs to show the evidence,” said Mortimer. “Yes, but he didn’t write anything other than what’s on the subject line,” Gene pointed out. “Huh, he did. Look at that,” said Linus, pointing at the first photograph. It was Bill holding a kPad with typed words in front of him. “I wonder why he would do that,” said Werner. “To Mission Control, this is Bill Kerman. Next.” Holly then clicked on the next photo. “Sending pics so you know it’s me… and not some random spoofer.” “He does have a point,” said Mortimer. “Without the pictures, for all we know it could be some random guy impersonating him.” “Holly, when we’re done reading the pictures, can you check the IP address and make sure it came from Eeloo?” asked Gene. “I think so,” acknowledged Holly. “Irpond Kerman is the killer,” Werner read aloud. “Stole Bob’s stuff for ‘Stalker Shrine,’ offed Sheri Kerman and stole Wenpont’s license… and destroyed the Zeus… to kill Val.” “Someone get me Irpond’s file,” ordered Gene. “That’s funny, I thought Val wasn’t on the Zeus at the time,” Linus recalled. “She may have been at the time the probe was hijacked,” suggested Werner, “but left for the crew rotation some time before it hit.” “For a while, I thought she was involved,” sighed Mortimer. “Mort, why would you think THAT?” gasped Gene. “This is Valentina Kerman we’re talking about.” “Whose brother is a genocidal sadist,” countered Mortimer. “If you think Victor exterminating the Clivar was bad, you should see this SERIAL KILLER’S kill count,” Linus argued. “All of them INNOCENT kerbals.” “Drugged Tami Kerman to kill Dora Kerman… framed Val and manipulated Scott Kerman… to lie and say she left Zeus… when Sheri died,” continued Werner. “I would like Tami’s, Dora’s and Scott’s files too,” demanded Gene. “Blew up control tower and kidnapped Reid Kerman… told him to shoot up base on T-U Day. T-U day?” wondered Werner. “I think it stands for Team-Up Day,” said Mortimer. “Remember: a mad Special Forces Op named Reid Kerman shot up Poseidon’s Palace on Team-Up Day.” “Email came from Frosty Base on Eeloo,” interrupted Holly. “It’s legit.” “Reprogrammed Daring and told him to break RTGs… now in Pod 5B15 for Dres,” read Werner. “Why would Bill think HE did that?” asked Linus. “Irpond’s A WOMAN,” said a man who found Irpond’s personnel file on the computer. “It says here that she was a software specialist before enlisting in Basic, then she… flew straight to Laythe to run software in Poseidon’s Palace.” “Why’d you pause?” wondered Gene. “I’m just a file intern, but that seems like a really long time to be in-transit from Kerbin to Laythe,” said the man. “Looks suspicious, doesn’t it?” “Actually, no it doesn’t,” said Werner. “Transit time alone makes up A LARGE percentage of interplanetary missions.” “Okay, that makes sense.” “Give me that, thank you,” said Gene as he looked at Irpond’s file. “Hey, you’re right, that does seem a little long.” “Hang on,” interrupted Werner. “She reprogrammed Daring before irradiating… Poseidon’s Palace. I don’t know how she split… open an RTG unnoticed and unaffected.” “Irpond’s currently in-transit to Dres in Pod 5B15,” said Gene. “How did Bill get the number.” “Two of his friends are on that pod,” said Linus. “One of them probably gave it to him.” “Wait a second,” said Richell. “Was Irpond in Cyber Soldier?” “And what if she was?” asked Gene. “Then she could be capable of preventing me from accessing Daring,” explained Richell. “Let me check… yes, she was,” answered Gene. “I think Bill may be right,” gasped Mortimer. “She may have blocked you from Daring, but that doesn’t necessarily mean SHE salvaged him and irradiated Poseidon’s Palace,” argued Linus. “Besides, given Laythe’s weather conditions and the rate it takes for leaked blutonium-238 to spread, the RTGs should have been ruptured two Kerbin days after Pod 5B15 made its exit burn.” “Then how do you explain the bomb residue on the solar panels?” said Gene. “Fun fact: you can easily smash those with a hammer.” “He’s right,” agreed Mortimer, checking his kPad. “67% of solar panel losses are from accidental smashings alone. Seems overkill to use A BOMB for it.” “Sorry to interrupt, guys,” said Werner. “She tipped off Misty Kerman…” “MISTY KERMAN?!” gasped Linus. “Debra Kerman’s killer?” “ALLEGED killer,” corrected Mortimer. “She tipped off Misty Kerman… about Sally Kerman’s experiment… and Misty tried to kill her,” continued Werner. “Misty sabotaged plane but that didn’t work… then shot Sally in KSC locker room.” “Boss, I know about the story of Misty Kerman,” started Richell, “but how are Irpond and Misty even connected?” “Misty is Irpond’s MOTHER,” answered Gene. “Misty used to be in the program, but not anymore.” “Why, was she fired?” wondered Richell. “She quit,” explained Gene. “Why, you ask. Misty set fire to… her own house 22 years ago… and blamed it on me,” Werner read off the screen. “Impossible, Bill would have only been a teenager back then,” said Gene. “And the fire was in Woomerang,” added Mortimer. “Bill should have been in Baikerbanur at the time. How is that even possible?” “His rocket,” answered Werner before explaining the experiment Sally was conducting before she died. “So, he launched a missile at Misty’s house?” gasped Mortimer. “No, it was a small surface probe,” said Werner. “However, atmospheric drag forces took Bill’s antenna clean off and he lost contact. Furthermore, upon further testing recently, debris trackers and collision tests prove that not only should the debris have landed too far away to damage Misty’s house, any pieces that were lucky enough to hit it should not have caused any kind of combustion.” “Talk to Sally’s class and they’ll… prove I didn’t start her house fire,” read Gene. “That doesn’t make sense,” sighed Linus. “If Bill’s rocket missed the target, why were there craters on the walls?” “Why would Misty set fire to her own house and pin it on Bill?” asked Mortimer. “It makes no sense.” “Irpond also hacked Moonjets 79 and 314,” said Werner. “79 was a test run; she had help… from her partner, Danlong Kerman. 314 was the… main event; Agaden was in… love with Bob Kerman and… Irpond wanted her dead.” “Oh no,” gasped Mortimer. “Arrest Misty for the deaths of those on… board Flight LA8202 and Sally Kerman,” said Werner. “Load high-occupancy Eeloo SSTO… with armed soldiers and send it… to Dres before Pod 5B15 arrives. Tell them to arrest Irpond and Danlong Kerman… and send them back to Kerbin for trial… and execution.” “High occupancy SSTO?” wondered Gene. “How many can they carry?” “Let’s see,” said Linus. “We got… 60, 136, and our last prototype can carry 208.” “Wow, that’s a lot,” gasped Gene. “If what Bill said is true… we need to do something fast.” “I think Bill’s idea is a good one,” said Linus. “I mean, how do you reasonably expect one woman to take AT LEAST 59 big men with guns?” “We may have a problem,” objected Mortimer. “Aside from the SSTOs in question being VERY expensive, this idea will require cooperation from Kerbin’s military.” “We brought soldiers to LAYTHE many times; how hard can this be?” wondered Gene. “Very,” said Mortimer. “Laythe military personnel are required to undergo microgravity sustainability training for the journey before blasting off. They are also required to undergo extreme cold training, but that’s on the military’s budget. If we were to send soldiers to Dres, we would have to send them through the full kerbalnaut training program before who-knows-what-else is necessary for Dres combat.” “Not to mention we’ll need to develop useful weapons for Dres,” added Werner. “Though modern-day gunpowder has its own oxidizer, the act of firing a gun will still give you an intense kickback.” “So, if I’m on Dres and I shoot at the bad guy, I get pushed back?” Gene summed up. “Exactly,” said Werner, “and there’s a greater chance of you MISSING.” “Besides extra training for 60 or more men, we need to make guns for Dres use,” said Gene. “But first, we need to find out how exactly those RTGs were cut open on Laythe,” added Linus. “If Irpond is the culprit, then she must have made some device that would do it either via remote trigger or on a timer.” “Ugh, DANG IT!” cursed Richell. “Sorry, boss. It’s too well-protected.” “It’s too risky to send any men in there, even with hazmat suits,” said Linus. “Hey, maybe we can get the military’s hackers to break into Daring for us,” suggested Mortimer. “If they won’t help us intercept this killer, at least they can help us get Daring back.” “I concur,” said Gene. “They’re just helping a man who got locked out of his own house.” “I’ll contact Prime Minister Trunton,” said Werner. “Psst, Guscan,” whispered Val. “Admiral,” said Guscan. “Shhh,” said Val. “Quietly.” “I thought you were supposed to be asleep.” “That’s what I want her to think,” explained Val. “What’s going on?” asked Guscan. “Not here,” said Val, then she led Guscan from the controls to the EVA suit dispenser. “Val, if we need to do an EVA, why the secrecy?” “Jeb, Bill, and I are convinced that one of the crewmembers is a murderer,” said Val. “A WHA…?” gasped Guscan, then Val covered his mouth. “Do you want to wake her up?” whispered Val. “Wait, her?” “Irpond Kerman’s the bad guy,” started Val. “She made a virus that crashed my student’s jet, almost killed me with an asteroid, tricked Scott Kerman into framing me for Sheri Kerman’s murder – that SHE committed, I should add – and irradiated Poseidon’s Palace.” “How? She was in here with us when the RTGs ruptured,” argued Guscan. “She salvaged a dead rover and reprogrammed it to hide her secret,” said Val. “Buddy didn’t just malfunction and die; he was murdered.” “By another rover?” asked Guscan, and Val nodded. “Strange, rovers don’t just target and destroy one another.” “Unless someone TOLD them to,” added Val. “Last I heard, Mission Control’s having problems reconnecting with Daring – the rover that was presumed dead some time ago.” “WHY would Irpond salvage Daring and kill everyone on-base?” wondered Guscan. “To cover her tracks,” answered Val. “They can’t figure out she’s guilty of murder if they’re all dead. Even worse, nobody would dare go near the base to process the evidence they have now that it’s a fallout zone.” “Is this just retaliation for her alleging your friends kidnapped her mom?” questioned Guscan. “You don’t know who her mom is, do you,” said Val. “It’s Misty Kerman.” “Misty who? Never heard of her,” remarked Guscan, and Val looked disappointed. “What?” “You mean to tell me you have never heard the story of Misty Kerman once in your life,” she sighed. “No. I mean, what did she do? Was she a bank robber… or some politician’s wife?” “Not even close. 29 years ago, she murdered Debra Kerman by sabotaging her car and got away with it.” “Sounds more like a politician’s wife if you ask me,” commented Guscan. “I… see why you think that, but no,” objected Val. “She was in the program in its early days, when I was about 10 years old.” She turned on her kPad and searched for an old Daily Kerbin article. “LOOK.” “Wait, Misty was acquitted?” gasped Guscan. “What makes you think she actually did it?” “It would not surprise me if she did it 29 years ago, since we have strong reason to believe she killed 69 people LAST year,” said Val. “69 people?” “She sabotaged an airliner on Kerbin to crash to kill Sally Kerman; but Sally changed planes at the last minute since it was full. Misty learned that Sally survived, then she went to Krakopolis to shoot Sally.” “Sally… the woman who got shot at the space center?” asked Guscan. “Yep, that’s the one,” said Val. “What makes you think MISTY did it?” questioned Guscan. “Means: Matt designed the airliner in question, and Irpond’s more than capable of stealing his plans,” started Val. “Irpond also had the know-how to hack Woomerang Airport’s schedules and finding Sally’s flight. Opportunity: Irpond was on-base with Matt at the time, and I’d bet she’s in constant communication with her mother.” “How do YOU know she’s been talking to her mom?” inquired Guscan. “How else did Misty know Sally was going to be ON THAT PLANE and HOW TO SABOTAGE IT?” replied Val. “Answer: Irpond told her. Also, except for Jeb, I don’t know any Kerbalnauts who AREN’T constantly talking to family on Kerbin.” “You know that’s right,” sighed Guscan. “I’ve been emailing my parents at least once every three days after I returned to the program from my extended leave.” “Seems like a lot,” commented Val. “Yeah, well, that’s what three years of being stranded in solar orbit and cut off from Kerbin will do to you,” sighed Guscan. “I want to talk to my family and friends back home while I still can.” “I’m recommending an honorable discharge for you,” said Val. “As long as I’m on Kerbin when that happens, I will not object,” agreed Guscan. “Anyway, you listed the means and opportunity, but what about the motive?” Val then told him about Bill’s experiment from 22 years ago before explaining Sally’s attempts to replicate that launch. “So what if Bill crashed his rocket into a house?” “Excuse me?” “If it wasn’t for him crashing things on Kerbin, I would be long-dead by now,” explained Guscan. “He didn’t hit ANYTHING,” sighed Val. “Misty detected Bill’s rocket and smashed some holes in her wall to make it look like a suborbital debris strike, then set her house on fire.” “I… see where you’re going with this. If I committed arson and someone was close to figuring it out, I’d want to take action myself,” said Guscan. “Exactly,” agreed Val. “However, the question is WHY would Misty set fire to her own house in the first place? If it was just insurance fraud, why not blame it on Bill then?” “Because the cops would know Bill missed and Misty faked it. But you’re right, that is confusing; I doubt that Irpond would give us a straight answer.” Nobody spoke for a minute before Guscan told Val his assessment. “That explains it.” “Explains what?” asked Val. “You remember when you caught me with that woman the day before you were arrested?” said Guscan. “I’ve had my eye on her for a while. Until Irpond coached me on seducing her, I never had a chance.” “Wait a second… what did she ask in return?” “Just that I recommend her to Bob whenever he had tech trouble,” answered Guscan. “Until now, I didn’t think she’d actually kill… Sheri. For that matter, why would she kill YOU?” “Because I’ve been friends with Bob for years,” said Val. “In her mind, I was a threat to her; that’s why she blackmailed me.” “Blackmailed you, with what?” “Proof that Vic committed genocide.” “Is that where you got the files you gave Bob?” asked Guscan. “Exactly,” confirmed Val. “When the caller first told me to stay away from Bob, I thought he – it sounded like a man, but I think she used a voice changer – was just lying. However, when I verified the files I found in my quarters, I was shocked to learn that all the conspiracy theories were true.” “That’s why you got drunk,” Guscan figured out. “And why Vic’s wife killed herself,” added Val. “Everything make sense now?” “Yeah, especially the laundry,” sighed Guscan. “Who else besides some crazy lover would want to steal dirty clothes? If it was a man short on workout attire, he’d steal the CLEAN clothes.” “I need you to do one thing for me,” said Val. “What’s that?” “Say you saw Irpond step out the cabin herself,” Val answered nervously. “You KILLED her?” gasped Guscan. “Shhh… not yet,” whispered Val. “Why are you gonna kill her now?” “It’s either her or the rest of my crew,” argued Val. “I’m not gonna let her endanger them.” “Now you’re making me very uncomfortable,” warned Guscan. “At least being stuck adrift didn’t involve crewmembers plotting against one another.” “You were Bob’s bunkmate before liftoff, Guscan, not to mention his contribution to ion and nuclear propulsion research was what got you back,” replied Val. “If Irpond’s obsessed enough with Bob to kill, then you can bet you’re on her hit list.” “Then why hasn’t she tried yet?” “She may not have had the chance then, but she does now,” said Val. “Even worse, she can easily say that you got claustrophobic and either killed yourself out of desperation or stupidity.” “Like you’re any better,” scoffed Guscan. “You want me to lie and say she committed suicide when you actually threw her out the airlock.” “Your choice, pilot,” reminded Val. “Either she dies, or someone else in this pod does. You, me, Bob… anyone. Personally, I think she has a lot to gain from killing MATT.” “First of all, nobody’s going to die in-transit if I can help it. Second of all… how do you know she wasn’t just FRAMED?” “Doy, she has the perfect means, motive, and opportunity,” sighed Val. “That’s funny, I said the same thing about YOU,” said Guscan. “Even for the moonjet hackings which were NOT on Laythe?” “Yes; Bob told me about Moonjets 79 and 314, especially the part where 79’s pilot was your student,” explained Guscan. “She could have threatened to expose VICTOR’S dirty little secret, then you killed her to shut her up. As for 314, you could have done that either to throw us off or Agaden knew something about Victor.” “Sorry to interrupt,” said Val as her kPad buzzed. “Told Mission Control about Irpond and Misty and asked for mass troop transport to land on Dres before you do.” “Who sent that?” “Bill,” said Val. “Not only is your plan to kill Irpond immoral, but it will ultimately backfire,” warned Guscan. “Now that Mission Control knows your suspicions, they’re gonna KNOW you tossed her out.” “Oh, shoot. You’re right,” groaned Val. “I kinda like Bill’s plan better. Not only will she stand trial, but none of us get in trouble for murder… besides her, of course. Plus… she could be totally innocent.” “Or totally guilty. Either way, she could have killed us all by the time the pod arrives.” “You know, Bob told me that you confessed your love for Bill while you were drunk,” started Guscan. “I’m not gonna let you throw away your future.” “Either Irpond ends it for me, or I end it myself… and her with me.” “You don’t get it, Val. I owe Bill MY LIFE for not giving up on me all those years ago. If I keep HIS true love safe for the rest of the trip, then my debt to him is as good as repaid,” explained Guscan. “Then if I die, you must avenge me,” said Val, extending her hand. “Deal?” “How do I know you won’t just kill YOURSELF just to pin it on Irpond?” questioned Guscan. “Don’t be ridiculous. Also, if I didn’t care so much about MY OWN life, I’d have thrown BOTH of us out ALREADY; I wouldn’t have even bothered getting for an EVA suit.” “Fine, deal,” swore Guscan, then he shook her hand. “I won’t kill Irpond unless she’s immediately threatening me or other crewmembers,” promised Val. “However, if something happens to ME, you WILL kill her.” “Whatever I can to repay the man who saved me,” sighed Guscan. “Oh, another message,” said Val. “Bill… wants someone on Kerbin to build his Iron Kerbal suit prototype from long ago and… OH, YEAH!” “What?” wondered Guscan. “If the cops won’t prosecute Misty OR do anything about Irpond,” smiled Val, “Misty will DEFINITELY pay for what she did.” “You’re gonna BLOW UP Misty Kerman?” gasped Guscan. “She killed Debra Kerman, Sally Kerman, and at least DOZENS more,” sighed Val. “If we don’t take action now, someone else could be next.” “You know, you’re starting to sound like your brother,” complained Guscan, then Val grabbed him by his shirt collar. “Do not compare me to Victor, Guscan. I am NOT my brother.”

What do you all think the Famous Four and/or Mission Control should do? What do you think is their next move?

CHAPTER TWENTY: POTENTIAL MOTIVE “Okay, Agaden. Remember me,” Bill said to Agaden’s kPad in his base room. “You have the reason why you died, and you’re gonna give it to me now.” After unlocking it, he accessed her text messages. “Let’s see what you have here.” So far, her most frequent correspondent before she died was Hanina. “Strange, your timestamps show that you were texting each other while you BOTH were in the pod. The question is why.” “Teenage girls and young women do that all the time,” interrupted Jeb. “They text each other all the time despite the fact that they’re literally next to each other.” “I’ve never seen that happen at school,” said Bill. “Because we grew up in the time BEFORE cell phone and social media popularity,” Jeb remarked. “We had cell phones then too,” reminded Bill. “Yeah, but they’re lame compared to what’s out now.” “I’ll take whichever one does the job right,” said Bill. “Man, why do you two keep texting each other even though you’re on the same pod? You’re practically rack room neighbors.” “Anything in there that screams ‘someone wants to kill me?’” asked Jeb. “So far, no,” said Bill. “I got the student files for you,” said Jeb. “Before their final trip to Eeloo, none of them have left Kerbin’s sphere of influence. The farthest they got was a rendezvous with one of the polar orbit relays in the Hamsterwheel, but they returned days after that.” “They ARE daring,” commented Bill. “To venture out that far WITHOUT leaving the sphere of influence… takes some real guts.” “Why do we call it the Hamsterwheel?” asked Jeb. “Because we needed to cover Kerbin’s sphere of influence so probes wouldn’t go blind on us. Our arrangement of relay orbits happened to look like a three-dimensional hamsterwheel.” Bill scratched his chin as he scrolled through more text messages. “At least we know one of the other cadets didn’t… HELLO, what do we have here?” “What is it?” wondered Jeb. “More like WHO is it, look at this,” said Bill, showing Jeb one of the pictures Agaden sent Hanina. “Look familiar?” “Hey, that looks like Bob,” noticed Jeb. “It IS him,” said Bill as he accessed his own kPad. “However, at the time that picture was sent, Bob was… on Laythe.” “Then what is she doing with a picture of Bob?” asked Jeb. “I don’t know,” said Bill, “but we’re gonna find out.” After he was done scrolling through Agaden’s messages with Hanina, he decided to check the message thread with Lisa Kerman. “Lisa… she’s Agaden’s sister, right?” “Yes,” confirmed Jeb. “I thought she did it until I DM’ed Val. “You DM’ed Val?” gasped Bill. “I mean… what did she say?” “Hang on,” said Jeb as he turned on his kPad. “She said that Lisa Kerman tried to apply for Basic a few months ago, but she was REJECTED due to medical reasons.” “That makes perfect sense,” agreed Bill. “Currently having osteoporosis is a disqualifying factor for the pre-enlistment physical exam.” “Osteo-what?” “A disorder that significantly weakens the bones to the point of rendering them fragile,” explained Bill. “She couldn’t have flown to Laythe OR Dres, so it couldn’t have been insurance fraud… unless she wasn’t the only beneficiary.” “Let me check… nope. Lisa was the only one who would get paid,” verified Jeb. “Let’s see what’s in here,” said Bill. “Okay, I admit, frequent texting to your sister makes sense if she’s ON KERBIN.” “Oh, great,” groaned Jeb. “What?” asked Bill. “It’s my dad,” answered Jeb. “What’s the big deal, man?” wondered Bill. “You’re a grown man now; shouldn’t you have forgiven him for being overprotective?” “All he did was hold me back all my life,” said Jeb. “I would have flown your planes A LOT MORE if he didn’t keep me on the ground.” “Well, maybe it’s because he didn’t want you to kill yourself when you were a child,” said Bill. “Being a single dad is hard work; that’s why MY dad hung out with YOURS after Mom died.” “The weird thing is that Dad used to be a ladies’ man back in the day, yet he never once tried to find me a stepmom,” said Jeb. “All the kids in the playground used to tease me on how I had no mom.” “I remember finding out what happened to your real mom,” said Bill. “Amelia Kerman was killed in a plane crash when you were only a baby. A little girl named Vanessa died, too.” “Dad told me Mom was only at a difficult job until I showed him the accident report you dug up,” grumbled Jeb. “Why didn’t he just tell me about Mom?” “Because he couldn’t face the truth,” said Bill, “that your mom was liable.” “LIABLE?” “If I remember correctly, your mom had been cited numerous times for aerial tomfoolery,” sighed Bill. “Witnesses and the plane’s black box all claimed that your mom was performing stunts before losing control and crashing; she was also dumb enough to fly on a stormy night.” “What does that have to do with Dad lying to me for years?” “Do you really want your son to know that his mother was responsible for not only her own death, but an innocent child’s?” “No, but… that plane must have been HACKED?” “Jeb, it happened 37 years ago; planes back then did not have the computers like they do now. Also… there were no signs of foul play found on the wreckage.” “Why do you know so much about my dad?” “Because I got closer to my own dad after Mom died of cancer,” said Bill. “I asked him the same questions, and he gave me the same answers I’m telling you; of course, I was the one who found the accident report for you.” “Good for you,” said Jeb. “Anyway, let’s resume,” sighed Bill. “New boyfriend at school, boring in the pod, flying a kilometer from the pod in an EVA suit… huh. She mentions Bob again.” “Dude, I think she was CRUSHING on Bob,” conjectured Jeb. “Just HOW, my friend, is that possible?” said Bill. “They were NOWHERE NEAR each other, not to mention Bob would have died from massive internal and external injuries years ago.” “For a math nerd, you sure don’t get how badasses talk,” sighed Jeb. “I mean that she LIKED Bob.” “That makes MUCH more sense than Agaden using the mass of the pod to crush Bob,” commented Bill, “yet I still find that odd. Given Bob’s age, location, and the fact that he was dating Sheri at the time, it seems very unlikely that Agaden would have a reason to grow an emotional attachment to Bob.” “We used to have crushes on famous actress Sindley Kerman when we were teenagers,” reminded Jeb. “Don’t tell me you didn’t have one too.” “Mine was Kallen Kerman,” Bill recalled, “but that was only a month-long phase. I actually wrote to her once.” “What? No way,” gasped Jeb. “I mean… Sindley looked hotter then, but we never actually went as far as to WRITE her.” “OF COURSE!” shouted Bill, snapping his fingers. “Of course what?” “Why didn’t I think of that earlier?” He exited out of Agaden’s text messages and accessed her email account. “Okay, you gotta be here somewhere.” “What’s the big surprise?” wondered Jeb. “BINGO!” cheered Bill. “Just as I wrote to Kallen, Agaden wrote to Bob.” “What did it say?” questioned Jeb. From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: I’m Available Bob Kerman, Hello, this is Agaden Kerman. I’m currently a first-class elite cadet pilot in-transit to Eeloo from Kerbin. I had just received the results of Interplanetary Matchmaker, where we learn who our ideal matches are. I was surprised to find out that you made #1 on my list. After reading more about you – and some of your science reports – I knew the questionnaire was right. I really liked the way you outlined how the heat generated off RTGs can be used to warm bases and large rovers on Ike. I would like to let you know that I’m “single and ready to mingle.” If you want to talk to me more, please reply to this email. Thank you, Agaden Kerman. P.S. I heard that Captain Jebediah Kerman would be supervising our piloting final. Interplanetary Matchmaker Results.jpg “When was it sent?” “Two years ago, when Agaden was in the pod,” said Bill, looking at his own messages. “Bob was on Laythe at the time.” “Bob replied,” noticed Jeb, then Bill showed him Bob’s email. From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: I’m Available Agaden, It’s rare that I get emailed by cadet pilots. Usually, when I get from trainees, they’re either science or engineering students or just fans of me and my friends. I am currently unable to enter a long-distance relationship with you. As you can see in the attached photo, I am already dating a pilot named Sheri Kerman. We first met on Dres before getting re-assigned to Duna. After that, we were sent to Laythe. Through that time, we’ve grown closer together. To end it now would break her heart as well as my own. I am sure that you will be able to find true love some time. Right now, you should focus on excelling in your training. After that, you’ll have all your life to meet him. In fact, the best relationships usually happen by chance and not through matchmaking websites. I’m sure, as you get older, you’ll understand. - I originally entered the Interplanetary Matchmaker on a dare. Though Sheri didn’t pop up as my #1, we believed our hearts over an automated algorithm. Another word of advice: DO NOT fly like Jeb. He may be your training officer, but even he is bound by regulations. If you flew like Val (who outranks Jeb, by the way), not only will you be as skilled as Jeb, but you’re far less likely to cause a serious accident. Have a nice trip to Eeloo, and good luck with your final exam. Sincerely, Bob Kerman. Bob x Sheri on Duna.jpg “Hey, I DID NOT crash that plane,” argued Jeb. “So, Bob let her down easy,” said Bill. “That was the last they spoke.” Suddenly, he remembered something from over a Kerbin year ago. “Wait a minute, I got why she spoke to Bob.” “Why, because he’s handsome?” said Jeb. “No… maybe, but why HIM?” said Bill, looking at Agaden’s photographs. “Answer: he popped as her number one for Interplanetary Matchmaker.” “So, she contacts Bob and tries to start a long-distance relationship with him,” Jeb theorized. “Yes, only he was taken,” said Bill. “That doesn’t really sound like a motive for murder if you ask me,” commented Jeb. “I mean, come on. How do you expect to take a man who already has his own girlfriend AND is on another planet? Also, it’s not like we get to see other peoples’ results.” “Unless the website was hacked,” said Bill, “which should be no problem for the moonjet hacker since… oh no.” “What?” “Agaden gets matched to Bob, but he turns her down. After she lands, she ends up dead,” started Bill. “Bob’s dirty clothes gets stolen; according to multiple sources I found on Oogle, the one logical reason why any woman would steal your dirty clothes is to have ‘a piece of you’ right next to her.” “How do you know a woman stole it and not a man?” “Because an unknown WOMAN’S DNA was found on Bob’s clothes, AND it was found in a woman’s room; surprised, she was framed. Sheri’s soon killed by a mystery woman, but it had nothing to do with the Clivar genocide. Val then gets blackmailed to stay away from Bob or else the files incriminating Victor for mass murder get leaked. She apparently doesn’t, so the files get leaked prematurely.” Bill then stood up and looked at Jeb in the eye. “You see where I’m going with this?” “Some crazy Bob lover… KILLED THEM ALL?” gasped Jeb. “You got it, dude,” said Bill. “The moonjet hacker and the Laythe murderer are THE SAME PERSON.” “Whoa,” said Jeb. “You got any suspects?” “I got one, but Val would disagree with me,” answered Bill as his kPad beeped. “I’ll get it,” said Jeb. “It’s from Bob.” “What does it say?” “It says that he and Irpond… oh, no he did NOT.” “He did not what?” “He made out with Irpond in the rack room a few days ago,” said Jeb. “Oh no,” gasped Bill in shock. “SHE did it.” “Wait, SHE’S the killer?” asked Jeb. “How so?” “Irpond was in the Cyber Soldier competition in high school, AND she’s in software; hacking moonjets should be a snap to her,” said Bill. “She also was the one person Bob said was close to him after Sheri died.” “So? She must feel sorry for him, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she killed Bob’s girl.” “OR she killed Sheri to eliminate the competition and move in,” theorized Bill. “Hey, Jeb!” shouted Gustov. “Time for another ore run.” “AGAIN!” sighed Jeb, leaving Bob’s quarters. “You might wanna warn Bob and Val about it if you think it’s Irpond.” “Okay,” said Bill as he turned to his own device. Bill @Bob, @Val, you need to have Irpond heavily monitored and locked up upon landing Val Bob: This is outrageous. >:( Real Val: Why do you say that? Bill Because Irpond is the killer. Val How dare you! That was Bob. What makes you say that? - Me. Bill @Bob, you never told me you emailed Agaden Kerman before she died. Val B: What about? Bill She tried to start a long-distance relationship with you after you popped as #1 on her Interplanetary Matchmaker. I have the emails on her kPad with me now. Val V: How did you get in her email account? Bill She left her password hidden in her kPad shield. Bob Just checked my kPad. I never emailed her. Bill Perhaps this will help - IMG9751.jpg - IMG9752.jpg Val B: Odd. That’s my address, yet it never showed up on MY inbox. I also don’t remember erasing it. V: What does this have to do with Irpond being the killer? Bill Everything If you can hack KSP’s high-security servers, how hard can it be to break into Interplanetary Matchmaker’s? Agaden’s little sister has osteoporosis, so she had no opportunity to sabotage Moonjet 314 (or 79, for that matter) Val B: What does a girl with a bone disease have to do with this? Jeb She was on Agaden’s life insurance policy, so she gets cash if Agaden dies. However, she was kicked out of Basic because of health issues. Val V: Sounds right, not to mention that she had no time to make it to Dres AND Laythe when the moonjets were hacked? B: I don’t understand, why would Irpond kill Agaden Kerman? Bill She was eliminating the competition – for @Bob. - Any girl who tried to get too close to you ended up dead (e.g. Agaden and Sheri) Val V: Makes sense, seeing how she tried to frame me for kidnapping and murder. However, I never had a romantic interest in @Bob. Bill Then why were you blackmailed and told to stay away from @Bob IN PARTICULAR? Whoever leaked the files implicating Victor for genocide also had documents implicating YOU for: - Sheri’s murder - The Zeus destruction - Dora and Tami getting drugged. Oh my gosh, that’s why Wally attacked Irpond. Bob Yes, because someone dressed up as Val’s friend, kidnapped Misty Kerman, and forced Irpond to steal Wally’s RTG Bill She did that on her own and decided to pin it on @Val when Wally attacked her. - That’s how the RTG ended up in Val’s closet. Irpond planted it. By the way, if she can spoof Gus and Linus’ emails, she can spoof Val’s just as easily. Bob I double-checked the list (after 147 other times on previous days). Irpond has never been to Dres. Bill Strange Jeb Theory 1: - Irpond wanted Bob for years, but she couldn’t get him because he never paid attention to her (even though they’re both Wolverines) - She creates the Moonjet virus while either on Kerbin or in-transit, but she needed a place to test it before she could use it. - She pays Danlong to test the virus on Dres, who then kills Harriet upon the virus’ activation on 79. - Irpond hears of the Moonjet 79 crash, then keeps it ready while flying to Laythe --> to intercept Bob - Once Irpond finds out of Agaden’s kerbnet crush on Bob, she sets up Hadgan to kill Agaden. Val V: That explains why Bob’s stuff was stolen. Irpond was obsessing over him enough to steal his dirty laundry – and his toothbrush. - She then planted them in Wenpont’s quarters later to get the guards off her back. And who’s Hadgan? Bill - She picked Wenpont as her first fall guy (or girl) – for Sheri’s murder. Val B: For an engineer, you sure are unethical. By the way, she accused @Val of murder – not Wenpont. V: Then, I thought she was just another conspiracy theorist. However, she knew ALL ALONG my brother committed murder – and tried to pin the other homicides on me. Jeb I don’t get it. If Irpond knew about the massacre, why not just come forward earlier? Bill Irpond was using it as leverage against Val if she got too close to Bob. Val B: I try to get you to form a solid relationship with Val, and THIS is how you repay me? Bill Yes. I’m protecting you (and @Val), from a dangerous serial killer. Val V: Even if Irpond is the killer, we can’t do anything about it now. Bill Sure, you can. Just toss Irpond out the hatch. Val V: Are you crazy? Even if she was guilty, I could go to prison (and so would any crewmembers who went along with it). I’m not going to let that happen. Besides, we need Danlong to tell us who she was in cahoots with when she sabotaged Moonjet 79. Bill You have her in your pod, yet you won’t do anything? Val V: If you wanted me to be your girlfriend after you arrive, you’re doing a terrible job at it. Jeb Wait, are @Val and @Bill DATING NOW? Bill How am I being a lousy boyfriend? I thought you hated Irpond. Val @Bill, DM me (Val) Jeb Not yet, guys. Are Bill and Val and item now? Bob Since we’re ruining perfectly good relationships right now, YES. They are an item. Val (DO NOT DISTURB) “UGH!” groaned Bob before accessing his direct message thread with Val You want me to break the law on our personal prejudice against Irpond? If “the law” was competent, Irpond would have never been born and lots of people would still be alive today. - Including MY MOTHER (if they enforced their nuclear safety codes) I beg your pardon? I reviewed the accident archives. Only FOUR were classified as MURDERS. - (29 years ago) Debra Kerman’s rover sabotaged --> Misty Kerman strong suspect. - Moonjet 79 --> recently re-classified as a murder because it crashed in the same fashion as Moonjet 314 - Moonjet 314 --> had computer virus transmitted from Laythe to Eeloo - U.S.S. Zeus --> asteroid redirection probe hijacked remotely Make that FIVE. What is it? Poseidon’s Palace has been irradiated. Irradiated? Why? So far, it looks like an RTG was compromised sometime after we left. The odd thing is that the rover Daring, which was originally declared dead months ago, is still alive - And Mission Control thinks it murdered Buddy. How does a rover murder another? Simple: it was reprogrammed in secret to guard the base in case someone started snooping around after it got irradiated. - I’m assuming that it involved killing Buddy in case it got too close to the method in which the radiation was leaked. It couldn’t have been negligence/suicide, or else Daring wouldn’t need to kill Buddy. Any reports of RTG leakage? No, but at this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if the base was sabotaged to prevent anyone from calling for help while the radiation leaked. - Just like she did with the Zeus On a related note, why would she destroy the Zeus? She was trying to kill you. ME? Why me? - There were nine more on board with me - Matt’s a survivor, and he’s with the pod with me right now. MOTIVE: you were a close friend of Bob’s, so Irpond had to get rid of you. - However, while you were on the crew roster, she didn’t know you would be out to oversee a crew rotation when the asteroid hit. MEANS: it’s not hard to use MJ to tell the asteroid craft to perform an orbital rendezvous with the Zeus; she also could have easily hit the pilot over the head and dragged him to an EVA suit closet. OPPORTUNITY: (MOST LIKELY) she was on-base at the time Playing Kraken’s advocate, she could have been on another part of the base. Maybe, but that’s because: - She needs to establish an alibi. - Jool is such a large planet, so there’s a longer waiting period between burns. - MJ has such a high rendezvous success rate that all she needs to do is make sure the asteroid hits when it reaches the target. You may be right. Then again, can you explain: - Tami shooting Dora (thanks to a Mystery Goo + volitium cocktail) - The Team-Up Day massacre* * Irpond was shot I’d say look through their belongings to find clues, but kind of hard to do that when the base is covered in radioactive particles. No, they’re not. Their belongings – and their bodies – are in-transit to Kerbin. - A mass troop transport loaded the dead and their belongings – along with the soldiers that were scheduled to fly home. Perfect. You can get one of your (or your brother’s) army buddies to look over them. FYI: all the kerbals flying home in boxes are supposed victims of Irpond’s killing spree. - 2 or 3 of them asked to be buried on Laythe in their wills. Sounds great. Since all the other motives point to “love-crazy,” I’m willing to bet: - Dora had the hots for Bob - Irpond drugged Tami and forced her to shoot Dora. Yeah, but then BOB shot her. According to witness statements, Tami pointed her gun at bystanders before Bob killed her. Oh no, now I know why Reid killed Scott Kerman. Scott Kerman tried to frame me for Sheri’s murder since he believed that I was responsible for the Zeus’ destruction. You think it was Irpond who manipulated Scott? Yes. Who else besides the ACTUAL killer stands to benefit the most from getting ME executed? - Scott would have been able to name Irpond as the woman who talked him into framing me, so she needed to keep his mouth shut. - She then convinced Reid to gun down Scott before having him cause mayhem on Team-Up Day At the same time it makes sense, it doesn’t. Reid was Special Forces, right? - If so, he should have been able to take out Scott UNNOTICED – or at least not make himself known to half the security force. Victor gave me his personnel file; Reid was diagnosed with PTSD - He was scheduled to leave for Kerbin with the returning soldiers due to mental health reasons. Irpond must have known he was vulnerable and exploited that in order to silence Scott – and had him shoot up everyone else to cover her tracks. - She then either got hit in the crossfire or shot herself. Why would she shoot herself (non-fatally at least)? To throw us off. - How can we suspect her of involvement if she was shot? I wouldn’t put it past her if she shot herself just to get Bob’s attention. It’s also possible that the bullet that hit her was from Reid’s machine gun, right? Yes. What are you going to do if not throw her out of the pod? You can’t let her plan her next move, or else someone will die. I can at least keep an eye on her for the next six years. Someone will need to keep an eye on Misty, too. I’m willing to bet a single-use Ike lander that Irpond and Misty have been in constant communication. You are such a nerd On that note, you may be on to something. - Seems odd that the attempts on Sally’s life took place after you and Bob asked Sally to recreate your old rocket failure. Theory 1: - (22 years ago) Misty sets her house on fire --> she must have detected incoming debris and lit it up, removing the radar system so the cops wouldn’t see through her alibi (they would have known the rocket missed) - Bob tells Irpond about the rocket after Irpond confronts him about the craters (or he otherwise lets it slip during a date). - Irpond warns Misty about Sally’s investigation, then hacks the airport’s database to find Sally’s flight. - Irpond then steals Matt’s plans, then tells Misty how to sabotage the jet. - Misty learns her first plan failed, so she sneaks into KSC and shoots Sally. Why would Misty have radar on her house? Bob said that, at the time, homeowners in his town were starting to install radar dishes. That explains why our plane was detected (and almost shot down) when we flew into Woomerang to drop the probe. - I thought only Woomerang Institute had radar. Man, I remember you looking beautiful in those warm-ups that day. Finally, you noticed. Every boy in school BUT you paid attention to me. I wore them FOR YOU. I was paying attention to the GPS and probe’s diagnostics. It’s not like I had time to stare at you. I would have been satisfied with a simple, “You look great,” but you didn’t even do that. We had a mission to do; I couldn’t get distracted. - The results speak for themselves. Prom night was supposed to be the happiest time of my life, but you ruined it. ME ruin it? You never looked at me for ONE KRAKEN-DARNED SECOND. I had calculated that YOU would ask ME out, given your reputation as a badass. You went out with Gretchen Kerman, the one cheerleader who happened to get A’s in science and math. Why didn’t you ask ME? Because I thought you were no longer interested in me, so I went with my Plan B. Gee, I wonder how well THAT turned out. I bet you had SO much fun with that beauty queen. That’s not true. Why deny it; she was on your arm pretty much the whole night? I did not have as much fun as I thought I would; Gretchen was so immature for a female her age. What did you expect? She was one of those brats who terrorized the school. Technically, they didn’t kill anyone (at least not intentionally) - Death by car accident/drug overdose/suicide, maybe. - They only “murdered” their parents’ bank accounts. She wanted to go on a late-night mall spree before prom ended, and experience with Mom shows that they take forever to spend a lot of money on products they don’t even need. After ditching Gretchen, Jeb needed me to drive him and his date home (he was drunk). Good thing I had Wally to take me to my own car back at the school. And you didn’t even give me a second thought? Believe me, I did. For weeks, I dreamt up alternate scenarios that would have occurred had I asked you out. All of them ended up with a happier prom night than what actually happened. You couldn’t have done that BEFORE you decided to move on to Gretchen? I did that, but I thought about long-term consequences. - I wasn’t going to risk losing you like I (and Dad) lost Mom. I’m not going to die from nuclear plant-caused cancer, Bill. 1) You may decide to work in one after quitting KSP. 2) You know what happened to JEB’S mom – she died in a plane crash that was HER FAULT 3) Your chances of surviving the trip to Dres are UNACCEPTABLY LOW now that you’re bunking with A MURDERER! That murderer is also the same person who gave me suggestions on how to get you to like me. Funny. Bob has been coaching me for the past several months. SEVERAL MONTHS. Anyway, how do you plan on keeping an eye on Misty and Irpond? Misty: I could ask Rob to keep an eye on her Irpond: I’ll have all communications coming in and out of the pod monitored - If I tell the rest of the crew, they might panic or do something that would jeopardize the mission I’ll set up the parental monitor program for you. Be sure to install it on EVERYONE’S devices. - Irpond may want to steal someone else’s kPad to talk to her mom/Danlong. Rob – Bob’s brother? I thought he was in prison. Not anymore. Prime Minister Trunton pardoned him two months ago. Odds are Rob > Misty - Bob once told us that Rob once defeated convicted serial killer Charnson Kerman in a prison brawl. On one hand, Charnson was ruthless, dangerous, and without mercy or remorse. He once killed three cops all by himself before getting away in their car (and one of their uniforms). If Rob can take that monster, Misty’s toast - Rob was in for illegal genetic experimentation. On the other hand, Misty carries a gun and loves to use it. Good point. Plus, there was the chance Chanrnson’s health was deteriorating at the time. ALTERNATE THEORY: Sally’s HUSBAND could be the culprit on Kerbin. What makes you say that? There’s only one man any woman would expect to see in the ladies’ room --> her husband. You bring up a convincing argument. However, I’m still betting on the “Misty killed Sally to cover up arson,” theory. Same here Merely monitoring crewmembers won’t be enough. Knowing Irpond’s proficiency with computers, she’ll wise up and probably do something desperate. Agreed. If you can’t throw her out, you’ll need to keep her contained – but how? At least she won’t plan something with Misty/Danlong without you knowing. - I’ll be a backup measure in case she kills you Since Irpond has developed an attraction to Bob, I’d say keep her there. If she’s focused on Bob and doesn’t get torn away from him, she won’t endanger the crew. I was going to suggest trick her into doing something which warrants killing her (and tossing her corpse out the airlock), but have fun explaining that to the higher-ups. That would mean possibly losing an innocent crewmember (e.g. Bob) in the process, and I won’t sacrifice any of them just for a chance to kill that sleaze. You might want to have your medical officer check Irpond for pregnancies on a regular basis. She already does that for all female kerbalnauts on board (herself, Irpond, me) - The other four are men. Anyway, if Irpond knew that we were on to her, she will end up jeopardizing the mission (and not all of us are going to Dres early just to chat with Danlong). I can see why you would want her to stay attached to Bob for the remainder of the trip --> she cannot attack anyone else if they don’t interfere with her love life with Bob. Exactly. However, I would like to know more about how she thinks/acts. That way, I can anticipate her next move (if she has one) and stop her before she can carry it out. Try studying the victims and the kill patterns to find something. You got that from Law of Order: BKU, didn’t you? Yes, I did. In real-life, the cops caught Charnson Kerman by studying his victims/kill patterns and anticipated where and when he would strike next. Sounds like a good idea. What are you going to do? You’re in charge of the pod, so try and keep her contained in a manner that will not endanger Bob, you, or anyone else. As for me, right now I need to communicate with Kerbin. Why, you got an idea? Yes. If Mission Control approves, Irpond’s not going anywhere but death row as soon as she reaches Dres. Good luck with that. “Time to call in some heavy artillery,” said Bill as he left his quarters and headed for the base’s control room. “Yo, Jeb.” “What up, dude?” asked Jeb. “I’m gonna need you and your kPad."

In my fanwork (click on the link in my signature to read it) - and in a prequel novel I plan to write - Kerbin is more or less united. However, there is a social rivalry between Baikerbanur and Woomerang. Just like with Blacksburg and Charlottesville in real life (GO HOKIES!), whenever their schools/sports teams/businesses face off against each other, everyone's pretty much cheering for their respective towns. Though there are other prominent institutions in other cities on Kerbin, there is one rivalry that shadows the rest: Baikerbanur Badgers vs Woomerang Wolverines The Baikerbanur launch site, aka the "Old Launch Site" (since older KSP versions launched from there) could be named after the town it's close to. Same case for Woomerang. It is mentioned in my fanwork, and it will be brought up in my prequel (starting date TBD), that Jeb, Bill, and Val attended Baikerbanur County High before enlisting in KSP. One time, Bill made a rocket that would drop a spy probe into Woomerang Institute's practice field so that the Badgers could spy on the Wolverines. He met Bob, who was at least 2 years younger than him, at Woomerang when he went to test his rocket booster. At the time, Baikerbanur County High's STEM department was seriously underfunded. When a suborbital approach didn't work (Bill's antenna snapped off during re-entry and he lost contact), he decided to drop the probe from a plane. Val piloted the rocket AND the plane. When Jeb piloted the first rocket prototype, he didn't even read the instructions and it resulted in him cluster-bombing Baikerbanur County High's parking lot. The last time Jeb flew a plane of Bill's design, Bill was in a coma for months (they were 10 at the time) This mission is a crucial part of the plot in "A Mystery Beyond Science," --> did Bill's rocket cause a house fire or not? While Bill, Jeb, and Val go to Baikerbanur in the same class (before KSP), Bob is 2 or 3 years below them in Woomerang (he's younger) It is mentioned in "A Mystery Beyond Science" that Bob's ex-girlfriend from Woomerang, Sally Kerman, was rivals with Val during Basic. Resembles the (indirect) competition between Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) and Sally Ride (USA) to be the first woman in space. Glad you liked my ideas, by the way.

Here are my suggestions: KSC could be located somewhere near KRAKOPOLIS (#16) Woomerang and Baikerbanur could be their own cities In my fanwork, "A Mystery Beyond Science," while Bill, Jeb, and Val come from Baikerbanur, Bob was originally from Woomerang You might want to add a city on Nye Island - or at least some establishment. SQUADDON (#20) could be the capital of Kerbin. Just like the U.S., the planet is a representative democracy The leader of the executive branch is an elected Prime Minister What do you think?

Good question. At least four occupants have to be tourists or non-pilots (six if your craft has 7+ capacity), since the tourism contracts usually involve four or six people at once. If you have good signal coverage around Kerbin (I made a "Hamsterwheel" surrounding the SOI) and at least a 2G antenna, I think you can get away with going without any pilots. If you want to fulfill Mun/Minmus contracts as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, you might want to cram in as many tourists as you can that will be satisfied with what your craft can do. It's okay that you do it in Sandbox. I put the "price" criteria in the rubric as an extra incentive to make it cost-effective as well as creative. Though some people may make their rockets SUPER-expensive, they could easily make up for it by performance and/or high passenger capacity. Does that answer your question?

Scoring Format: PERFORMANCE 100 pts - Land on BOTH Mun AND Minmus before returning to Kerbin 50 pts - Land on the Mun and orbit Minmus If you can do that, then your craft is capable of landing on Minmus and orbiting the Mun before returning to Kerbin 25 pts - Only capable of landing on Minmus and orbiting the Mun; cannot do the other way around CAPACITY +5 points for each additional occupant past 5 (baseline: 20 pts) e.g. 25-seater -> [20 pts baseline + { (25-5=20 more occupants) * 5 pts each =100 total} = 120 capacity points] PRICE 30 pts if price<$100K 20 pts if $100K=<price<=$400K 15 pts if price>$400K AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION IF ANYONE DIES OR GETS STRANDED EVERYONE RETURNS ALIVE Does that seem like a fair format, @Johnster_Space_Program?

What do you think was her motive? Did she have the means and opportunity? Also, where do you think MISTY fits in all this? We know Bill's rocket missed her house by kilometers all those years ago, yet craters were found clustered close together in the walls. The question is how did they get there and why? And do you think this has something to do with the two attempts on Sally's life (back on Kerbin)? 1) Airliner hacked and ejection system sabotaged --> FAILED since Sally made a last-minute change due to overbooking 2) Shot dead in the ladies' locker room at KSC, but not before saying "It's just you."

CHAPTER NINETEEN: BEEN THERE FOR ME When the sun rose over Laythe, Buddy the science rover set off on his journey towards Poseidon’s Palace. He had received orders from Mission Control on Kerbin to leave the Ryagii village and investigate the kerbal settlement kilometers away, but decided it was more energy-efficient to set off in the morning when his solar panels could work. He had spent years in the village studying the climate and taking photographs of the native Laythan culture, and he had gotten bored. Though he was autonomous like his older counterpart Wally, Buddy was more obedient to commands. Also, unlike Wally, he was programmed to talk. “Why would Kerbin want me to investigate one of their bases?” it asked itself. “Don’t they already have kerbals for that?” As soon as Buddy climbed the mountain and got in sight of the base, he extended his antenna and continued. “Well, time to check it out.” “Proceed to the base and enter through the garage,” Mission Control told him. “We’ll send you the clearance codes. Keep your camera running at 20 shots per minute and continue transmitting scientific data.” “Acknowledged,” replied Buddy before driving to the base. “I wonder where that old delinquent is now.” “Wally’s not here,” said Mission Control. Half an hour later, Buddy was in the base perimeter. As soon as he got near the garage, he backed away in horror. “The kerbals are DEAD!” “Check for radiation levels.” “Uh oh,” Buddy reported. “They’re OFF THE CHARTS.” “You’re right, that is an uh oh,” remarked Mission Control. “Go inside.” “You got it,” said Buddy. “Great, now I’m cut off. Looks like I’m on my own now.” He entered Poseidon’s Palace, which was now riddled with dead bodies and ice crystals everywhere. “The temperatures here are low enough to kill someone, which is odd since I trust the kerbals are smarter than that. Then again, the atmosphere wreaks of decaying blutonium-238. Wait a minute.” He went outside to get a better signal and transmitted his data before he got another order. “Check all power generators, primary and backup.” “Got it.” Buddy drove to the side of the base and took the rover service ramp to the roof. “Hey, what happened to the solar panel array?” Besides solar panel pieces scattered all over the roof, there were craters all over the place. “Activate your GCMS and check the nuclear power generators.” Buddy obeyed and transmitted his data before driving down the ramp and headed for the nuclear power generators. “If I didn’t know any better,” Buddy told himself, “I’d say the radioisotope thermoelectric generators were split open and the blutonium-238 pellets were compromised. However, that does not explain why their emergency safety measures did not take into…” Suddenly, his audio sensors detected movement around the corner. “Who’s there?!” Nobody replied. Buddy reached the primary nuclear power generator and was surprised to see that the RTGs were not only still there, but intact; the surrounding environment still had dangerously high radiation levels. He was ordered to re-enter the base and check the control room, where he later found several frozen corpses lying next to fried computers. After going outside to transmit the data, he had received an alarming command. “Get out of there now.” “Acknowledged.” Buddy was about to drive away when he heard movement behind him. “Who is it?” He turned around and shined his lights. “You’re still al…” “What happened?” asked Gene. “The signal takes a while to travel, sir,” Mario Kerman advised him. “Why couldn’t he transmit while he was inside?” questioned Mortimer. “It’s probably because their communication systems are down,” predicted Werner. “No signal traveling through the base means that it’s nothing more than a blockage for Buddy, so he needs to go outside to communicate.” “Why did you tell him to get out?” Gene asked Linus. “I analyzed the results of the ion mass-spectrometry readings near the solar array,” explained Linus. “There were traces of bomb residue found on the roof.” “A BOMB?!” gasped Mortimer. “Are you sure it wasn’t just falling debris?” “Yes, otherwise the damage would be much more extensive,” said Linus. “Great. Stealthy murderers, mass shooters, and now panel bombers,” said Mortimer in a panic. “What’s next?!” “Nothing from Poseidon’s Palace, since everyone’s dead,” answered Werner. “Are you sure?” said Linus. “Buddy said ‘Someone’s here,’ a while back.” “Hang on, we’re getting something,” said Mario. “And… he’s still al.” “Still al… what?” wondered Gene, reading Buddy’s automatically-generated report. “Holly, pull up the crew roster for Poseidon’s Palace. I want to know if anyone named Al was in there.” “Let me check… nope,” replied Holly from the computer on the other side of the room. “We got a picture,” said Werner as a picture started to form on the screen. Much to his disappointment, it was too blurry to make out what exactly it was. “Oh, great,” sighed Mortimer. “At least we got a fuzzy image,” said Werner. “Looks too short to be a kerbal, so I’m guessing… a Laythan creature.” “He’s still al, he’s still al… hmm,” repeated Mortimer. “Anyone on-base have any live animals?” questioned Linus. “Nothing in the archives, sir,” answered Holly. “All I see are crop reports.” “Unless we have figured out a way to take the Laythans with us safely, they’re doomed,” sighed Gene. “At least the tribes near the base,” said Linus. “The rate at which the radioactive fallout is spreading is starting to drop.” “He’s still al… he’s STILL ALIVE,” Mortimer figured out. “Who’s still alive?” asked Gene. “Daring,” answered Mortimer. “Daring?” gasped Werner. “I thought that rover was declared dead several months ago.” “Look at the photo Buddy sent,” said Mortimer before asking for a reference photo of the Daring rover. “Now, if we blur the reference photo…” “They look alike,” finished Linus. “Any other rovers of the same design on Laythe, dead OR alive?” “Only one, but its pieces were found in the Clivar village,” said Holly. “They were used as scrap metal and the memory chip was backed up and wiped clean.” “Any OTHER rovers besides Buddy stationed near Poseidon’s Palace, dead or alive?” “Wally’s in-transit to Dres, and Daring was declared dead 97 days ago.” “Thanks, Holly,” said Linus. “Contact Daring,” ordered Gene. “Weird. How come he’s still alive yet we couldn’t reach him after 97 days?” said Werner. “The base had no problems with communication or radioactive fallout then, so why couldn’t he reach us after revival?” “Keep in mind that the LAYTHE personnel declared him dead, not us,” reminded Mortimer. “I’m more concerned about why nobody reported him reviving – let alone attempting to fix him.” “What was the cause of death?” wondered Gene. “The on-base engineers ruled it as power system performance deterioration,” answered Linus. “Manner of death: environmental factors.” “Someone brushed him out and put him back in action, but who and why?” said Werner. “Sorry, sir,” said one of the rover technicians. “We can’t contact Daring.” “Blast. Try Buddy.” Several minutes later, there was still no signal. “That’s odd. Keep trying with Buddy. If you need to break, rotate crews until you get a signal.” Two hours had passed, but nothing. “Uh oh,” gasped Mario. “Boss, I think Daring MURDERED Buddy.” “Nice try, kid, but our rovers don’t just wake up in the middle of the night and decide to kill each other,” said Gene. “Unless someone TOLD him to,” explained Mario. “Think about it, boss. Daring supposedly died of electrical failure a long time ago, but Buddy reports him as alive JUST NOW. There is only one reason how a rover came back to life after a full-system examination: somebody FIXED him and decided not to report it.” “That… explains EVERYTHING,” agreed Werner, writing down a list on a clipboard. Exhibit A The solar array was bombed - Bomb residue detected - Craters and scattered panels everywhere Exhibit B At least one RTG ruptured and caused large-scale radiation poisoning - Blutonium-238 particles detected in atmosphere - Orbital scanner blocked around vicinity of base - Private Justin Kerman died after fly-by of the base from radiation poisoning (after landing in the military installation) Exhibit C Everyone on-base dead - (DOCTOR’S REPORT PENDING) - So far, it looks like they died from either radiation poisoning or hypothermia (temperatures low enough to kill) Exhibit D Buddy was murdered - Last words were “He’s still al(ive)” before sending blurry photograph. - So far, all attempts to reach him have failed Exhibit E Daring killed Buddy after being reprogrammed - Daring reported dead 97 days ago, yet a rover of similar design appeared in Buddy’s last picture (most likely the same rover) - Only one other rover like Daring stationed on Laythe, and he was scrap metal years ago - “He’s still al(ive)” à could be referring to Daring - Why did nobody report fixing him? Exhibit F Someone intended to kill everyone on-base - No reports/other evidence that the base was sabotaged or that the communication systems were down before outside sources reported it. - Blutonium-238 is a synthetic isotope found only in RTGs à someone managed to cut them open and leak it into the atmosphere. - Daring reprogrammed to protect whatever secret the killer had inside. “Seems like a bit of a stretch,” commented Gene. “Ask yourself why hide Daring getting repaired,” replied Werner. “He was kept in a storage closet with his power systems removed after being declared dead. Also ask yourself how else did bomb residue end up on the solar array.” “Maybe someone was playing with the bombs,” said Mortimer, and Werner facepalmed himself. “Playing with bombs, really?” “Jeb Kerman did WAY worse stuff than that,” reminded Mortimer. “Oh, yeah? What about this: no reports of leaked radiation.” “What the…,” stammered Linus, reviewing the base’s reports on the archive database. “Now I believe the comm systems were sabotaged.” “Back up, guys,” said Gene. “You think someone fixed and reprogrammed Daring to protect his secret?” “What secret?” wondered Mortimer. “How he managed to cause a large-scale radiation leakage unnoticed AND not get himself killed,” explained Gene. “Or it’s the most diabolical suicide scheme ever,” Mortimer disagreed. “I remember one time we lost a fuel truck on the Mun after the driver drove right into the arch.” “Then why bother reprogramming Daring if the guy was going to kill himself?” countered Werner. “It could have been SOMEBODY ELSE who fixed him,” said Linus, “and that the report didn’t get through.” Gene’s response then blew the minds of everyone in the room – except for Mario. “Then why did Daring kill Buddy?” “They’re gone,” sighed Bob, looking out the window of the pod. “All of them.” “I’m sorry, dude,” said Guscan, hanging on to the railing. “They’re gone.” “Ersen, Eli, Wenpont, Jendun, the plants... poof,” continued Bob. “Our chance to welcome the Laythans to our society… now in a fallout zone.” “At this rate, the Ryagii are next in getting irradiated,” added Sam, then Irpond joined the men. “Okay, Guscan. Your turn.” “For once, I’m glad I’m cooped in a pod,” said Guscan, attempting (and failing) to smile. “After my Dres assignment, I’m retiring for good.” “You said that before, when you were stuck in solar orbit,” reminded Val, “yet here you are.” “I expected space travel to be crazy,” said Guscan. “I didn’t expect it to be THIS crazy. I mean it this time. After Dres, I am DONE.” “We’ll throw you a retirement party when you return,” said Bob, then Guscan left the group for his medical examination. “I hear my brother’s being transferred to another prison on Kerbin,” remarked Val. “Heh… at least he’ll be on our home planet.” “Whoever this psycho is, he seems to be worse than 10 Clivar tribes put together,” commented Matt. “Heck, I think he alone would have been formidable competition for the Third Regime,” agreed Val. “Danlong had better tell us who it is, or I will blow her brains out,” said Bob angrily. He then noticed that he was floating closer to Irpond. “I’ll be in the command section,” said Val, then the rest of the crew left Bob and Irpond alone in the rack room. “I can’t believe it,” sighed Bob. “Now I’ll NEVER know who killed Sheri, or… if we can transport non-photosynthetic Laythans with us.” “It IS a shame,” agreed Irpond, then the two of them held hands. “Irpond, I need to tell you something.” “You do?” gasped Irpond. “Ever since Sheri died, I’ve been feeling lonely,” started Bob. “Sure, I’ve had the friends stick with me… but my heart had a hole in it. Through everything that’s happened, the one person who stuck with me… is you.” “Oh… I don’t know what to say,” replied Irpond. “I’m… glad you noticed.” “Let me just ask… why?” “It’s because… I love you,” said Irpond. “Aww… but why me?” “You were so handsome, caring, and smart. A three-for-one package,” explained Irpond. “Men like you… are rare among our kind.” “Women with all three core traits… are even rarer,” said Bob. “Unfortunately for kerbalkind, you are so right,” agreed Irpond, then they leaned in closer and kissed. “That was… sweet,” said Bob. “After Sheri… I’ve only been kissed by two others: Val – but that was to get her to talk, and she thought I was Bill – and some immature pilot fresh out of cadet training. I mean… she just randomly approached me and kissed me right in the middle of the lab.” “I wonder where she is now,” giggled Irpond. “About a year ago, she went AWOL,” said Bob. “As far as I know… nobody’s heard from her since.” “I’m sure she’ll turn up,” said Irpond. “Can we… kiss… some more?” Irpond embraced Bob as they kissed again. Bob held on to a railing with one hand while holding on to Irpond with the other. “Oh, use both arms, silly.” “I don’t want to float uncontrollably,” explained Bob, “and I don’t see any tethers here.” “I’ll take care of that,” said Irpond, then she strapped Bob to his sleeping bag. “There, now you won’t float away. I got you where I want you.” “At least Val won’t yell at me for being unrestrained in microgravity,” remarked Bob. “Val would never understand,” smirked Irpond. “She’s a Badger, we’re Wolverines. She also never had the courage to approach Bill and just TELL him how she felt. If she did, they would be a married couple by now.” “Or they would have broken up after realizing it wouldn’t work out,” said Bob. “Either way… she would understand by now.” After Irpond kissed him again, he hung his head in shame. “I never imagined we’d have a SERIAL KILLER among the kerbalnauts. Prejudiced hothead, tops.” “Yeah, this one’s real crafty,” said Irpond. “You could look her in the eye, and you won’t even know who it is.” “Danlong Kerman could be kerbalkind’s only hope,” said Bob. “If she doesn’t give us the killer’s name, we’re all easy prey.” “How do you even know she’ll talk?” “Because if she doesn’t, I’ll contaminate Dres’ soil with her brain matter,” Bob answered angrily. “You know she’ll only lie, so you might as well shoot first,” suggested Irpond, “but now’s not the time to plan an assassination.” “You’re right,” sighed Bob. A few seconds later, he and Irpond kissed again. “My heart… is pounding… so fast,” said Irpond. “I have actually dreamed of this moment for… a really long time.” “It’s like… a sugar overdose from my chloroplasts,” added Bob, and Irpond smiled. “One thing that I like about you… is that you’re a nerd inside AND out,” she told him. “I’m… just so happy. I never… felt… complete like this before.” “You know what… until today, I’ve never had such a fulfilling experience,” added Bob. “I want you to know that, no matter what happens, I’ll be there for you… always.” As the sun rose over Kerbin, Misty was outside admiring the birds in her yard. After her acquittal in the Debra Kerman murder case, she kept working in the space program until she married her then-boyfriend, Dilford, five months later. Misty then had a beautiful daughter, whom she named Irpond, and the family moved to Woomerang. Misty and Dilford’s marriage did not last long, however. When Irpond was seven, their house burned down and they were forced to move away. After a long argument and an intense fight with her husband, Misty shot Dilford in the head and the police ruled it self-defense. Since then, she had worked extra hard to be a good mother to Irpond. Misty had tried to get herself to date again so Irpond could have a father figure in her life, but every man she approached either threatened Misty with a gun or a restraining order. “I don’t date criminals,” was the most frequent response. “Either stay away from us, die, or go to prison,” some more people had warned. It broke Misty’s heart; sometimes, she had wished some of those men just shot her then and there, ending the stigma associated with being accused of murder. “I can’t give up on Irpond,” she had reminded herself. “She needs me… and I need her.” Irpond had graduated the top of her class in Woomerang Institute, then enlisted in the Kerbal Space Program immediately afterwards. She had worked programming unmanned probes and manned vacuum-operating vehicles before going to Basic Training for interplanetary travel. DING DONG! Misty heard the doorbell rang, and she walked through the house to the front door. “Special delivery for Misty Kerman,” the mailman shouted, then Misty opened the door. “A letter,” said Misty. “I wonder who it could be from?” “KSC,” answered the mailman, “but it’s on behalf of someone off the planet.” “Off the planet,” said Misty. “Wouldn’t an email do the job just as well.” “Lots of people prefer they get their mail in paper envelopes,” explained the mailman. “That’s why I’m still employed.” “Thank you, kind sir,” replied Misty. “Uh, mam, you’ll have to sign for it,” interrupted the mailman. “Under Section 20, Subsection F of the Postal Service Act, all tangible mail delivered on behalf of senders who are currently off-planet must be signed by the receiver in question before he or she can acquire it.” “Of course,” sighed Misty as she signed her name on the appropriate blanks. “Say, your boss wouldn’t mind if you took a break, would he?” “SHE would mind it, and I have a ton of birthday presents to send this kid in half an hour,” answered the mailman as he drove away. “It’s from… Irpond,” said Misty. “She knows how I like getting my mail.” FROM Irpond Kerman (IN-TRANSIT) Jool à Dres Pod 5B15 TO Misty Kerman Mom, After all this time, I have him. Love you, Irpond “I am so proud of you… my daughter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: RADIO ACTIVE In the residential sector of Krakopolis, computer game developer Lars Kerman was working on his latest project. He had once worked in Mission Control as an intern but was fired when he was repeatedly caught playing games with company computers. Since he had a knack for computer programming, he decided to turn his love for computer games into a suitable profession. Lars spent a few years with the developers of the game Human Space Program before saving enough money to start his own company. “Hmm, I wonder who that could be,” he said as his desktop pinged. He saw that he received a direct message from his KSP account. “That’s odd, I haven’t used that in years.” Lars Kerman, is that you? Yes, it is. How did you find me? Your KSP Messaging account was never shut down when you were fired. I thought it was, since nobody’s talked to me via that DM since my termination. Who is this? Bill Kerman (Level 5 Engineer) Wait, are we talking about one of the three men who first walked on the Mun? Yep, that’s me - Jeb’s here too if you want me to mail you an autograph Awesome. Where’s Bob? He’s in-transit from Jool to Dres (along with Admiral Val). Victor Kerman’s sister? Yes; she had nothing to do with any crimes. What brings you to me? You developed Psycho Simulator – the one where you play as this woman who kills people to gain the love of this pilot. That’s right. You want to submit a review/suggestion? No. I have some questions about it. Why ask me? - My guess: you spotted an engineering inaccuracy with a spacecraft/weapon design. Not yet, but I’ll let you know if I find any - Once Jeb stops blowing up/irradiating the base prematurely Ha ha. If you find any flaws/inaccuracies, talk to my employees. Again, why me? The outpost design looks just like Gromit Base on the Mun, both inside and out. I know because my dad took vacation photos in there years ago. It just so happens that I spent some time on the Mun a while back – I was a tourist. - Great service from the robots, by the way. Why did you make Psycho Simulator? What was your inspiration? Did you ever hear the tale of Misty Kerman? Yes. Bob Kerman is with her daughter, in fact. Tell him to run while he still has a chance. How can he? They’ll be cooped in the same pod for years. He’s doomed. We’re getting off-topic. It’s still legend in Krakopolis; the trial was in the city 29 years ago. Why did you bring up Misty Kerman? Duh, she was the inspiration for Psycho Simulator. The tale of a lovesick scientist who used her wits and dedication to achieve her goal. No sacrifice was too great for success, not even one’s life. - Like KSP in the early days (despite the high failure rate) You also must admit it takes some real brains to commit murder like that and get away with it. I included an easter egg referencing the Misty Kerman trial in the game (I won’t tell you where it is). So, Misty Kerman DID kill Debra? For sure, I don’t know. Even if she did, she cannot be tried again. Let me get this straight, you based this videogame off the planetary legend of Misty Kerman. And you used Gromit Base as the setting? Yes, but Gromit Base is one of many bases in the game. And vehicular sabotage is a method of murder you can use? Yes. Why ask? Because something like the events in your game is going on in real-life. For instance: - Moonjets getting hacked (79 on Dres, 314 on Eeloo) - Bob’s girlfriend murdered by a woman (M.E. could tell by handprint size) - U.S.S. Zeus destroyed by hijacked asteroid redirection craft. - Drugged tourist shooting someone else (only Bob shot her before she could shoot A SECOND VICTIM) à she had Mystery Goo and volitium in her system. - Airliner hacked with cabin ejection system sabotaged. - Sally Kerman getting shot in the KSC (by someone she knows) - Val being framed for murder There were also mass shootings on Laythe (one unidentified who also destroyed the control tower, another crazy soldier who was gunned down by base guards) That’s terrible. I heard about the Zeus getting hit by an asteroid, but I had no idea it was deliberate. Sally Kerman’s death was all over the news here. Do they sound like things your game has? Except the parts where Bob’s girlfriend and Sally Kerman were murdered (and Val getting framed), not exactly. - Vehicular sabotage in the game involves messing with the mechanics of the vehicle in question, not the software (and it’s just a displayed sequence of buttons, nothing specific). - There are no asteroid redirection crafts (or asteroids, for that matter) in the game. While there is a space station you can ascend to, you cannot destroy it from outside (plant a bomb in it, maybe) - Torture into submission involves psychological forms, not drugging. Even then, your victim will only kill ONE designated target before killing himself/herself. - While I am getting petitions to expand the game’s setting to Kerbin, the farthest you can get is low Mun orbit. - Mass shooting, though possible, is a very unpopular form of homicide used in the game. Any idea who did this and/or why? Since you mentioned Bob’s girlfriend getting murdered by a woman who left a handprint, I’m guessing someone who had the hots for him. Other than that, I don’t know. I also don’t see how the other events are connected either. That’s what I want to find out. Just where did these crimes take place (an order would be nice, please)? - Moonjet 79 (Dres) (YEARS IN BETWEEN) - Moonjet 314 (Eeloo)* - Bob’s girlfriend (Laythe) - Zeus destroyed (Jool orbit – probe’s controls were on Laythe) - Drugged tourist shooting (Laythe) - Val indicted (Laythe) - Airliner sabotage (Kerbin) à LA8202 - Sally gets shot (Kerbin) - Control tower destroyed and guards killed (Laythe) - Val’s charges dropped (Laythe) - Mass shooting on Team-Up Day (Laythe) à Scott Kerman died with them. * the virus that caused the Eeloo crash was emailed to an unwitting pawn from Laythe. According to KSP accident reports, Moonjet 79 and 314 crashed in the same manner. RIP Scott. I actually admired the guy. I’m no space scientist OR cop, but I’m guessing the long gap in between Moonjet 79 and 314 is because the perp was in transit to Laythe à where most of the crimes took place. How exactly was this pawn tricked into plugging a virus into a jet? Gus Kerman’s and Linus Kerman’s emails were spoofed (I tracked their IP address to Laythe, where Gus and Linus were NOT) FYI: this guy was also tricked into poisoning the virus’ intended target (for 314 – no poison found in 79’s occupants) My friends and I believe 79 was practice while 314 was the real thing. We’re planning to fly to Dres to talk to someone we think is the hacker’s accomplice. - The poison was a backup plan in case Agaden and Jeb bailed out (the virus was programmed to go off if Agaden was in it) You might want to dig deeper into Agaden’s stuff to find a reason why anyone would want to kill her. Why wait until you’ve landed to send a second virus? A friend of mine heard about someone thinking he could get away with threatening the prime minister by sending threatening emails on a flight back from Duna. They traced his IP address to his pod in a heartbeat and he was thrown in jail upon landing. Your killer is an expert with software, which means she knows how to keep herself hidden. However, they always leave some sort of trail. Assuming these events are connected, someone close to the killer on Laythe is on Kerbin and s/he carried out the airliner sabotage and Sally’s hit. Why you ask? Why don’t you dig through your victims’ personal lives and find out? I looked through Agaden’s stuff a couple of times, but nothing that screams “Here’s why someone would want to kill me.” Dig through it again with fresh eyes. I’m sure you’ll find something. - Same case for the other victims, including the drugged tourist and her victim. The control tower bombing, however, means that the perp viewed it more as a threat to his/her goal (most likely getting detected) It was intended to destroy evidence of Val’s innocence (that didn’t work since KSC archives everything) Makes sense. As for the Team-Up day shooting, it screams more “Crazy Whack-job with a Gun” than “Planned Hit.” - Even if the guy was enslaved. What about the Zeus? No evacuations were held, and all the detection systems were down (sabotage?) It was either a two-person inside job or someone managed to sneak a virus into the station’s computers. Either way, the asteroid hit was intended to kill one of the occupants, but it needed to look like an accident. I don’t know what to say about the airliner, though. I think it was intended for Sally Kerman, but it was overbooked, and she changed planes at the last minute. Then the killer on Kerbin went to the space center to finish the job. He or she must have known which flight Sally was originally scheduled to take but decided to go to KSC after seeing the casualty list. Bob thinks it could be someone in the Woomerang Institute staff, but I doubt it. There were children and other staff members with Sally. Why would they kill the other targets too? Again, dig through Sally’s personal life and find out who had: - Motive - Means - Opportunity (visitor log to KSC also helps) Thanks, Lars. No, thank YOU. I’ve gotten some new ideas on how to make the game more interesting (e.g. hijacking asteroid probes/hacking scanners) No problem. One more thing. I suggest you keep and eye on Misty’s daughter in case she decides to follow her mom’s footsteps “What an interesting conversation,” said Lars. “I hope they catch this killer… unless.” Any reason why Sally was murdered? We think it was to cover up the fact that Misty Kerman committed arson 22 years ago. Arson? Misty Kerman (may have) set fire to her own house to hide something. - Last year, her daughter blamed it on one of my old science projects. Turns out, it’s impossible for my rocket to have done the deed. Okay, I know about the fire (but not what caused it) Was Sally dating Bob? No; she has a husband and kids - She USED to date Bob a long time ago. I’d say jealous lover of Bob, but I doubt you can travel planets that quickly. - On the other hand, SALLY’S HUSBAND may have something to do with her murder (jealous; revenge for cheating?) - She would expect no other man but him in the ladies’ room. Why didn’t I think of that? Thanks. Another thing. If your hacker tricked someone on Eeloo into plugging in a virus, there’s a good chance s/he tricked A DUMB AIRPORT EMPLOYEE into messing with that plane. “Why would anyone commit such heinous acts?” Lars asked himself. “I mean, maybe the Krakenites and the Third Regime, but they committed LOW-TECH atrocities in WHOLE ORGANIZATIONS – and all of them confined to Kerbin. This guy or girl did it with about… two partners in such a high-tech fashion ALL ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM.” “Hey, boss,” said a male employee on his office phone. “We just got mailed another petition from Nye Island asking that Psycho Simulator be expanded to Minmus.” “Tell them game development is harder than it looks, Tomhat,” said Lars. “Anything else.” “More angry parents asking our game be banned,” sighed Tomhat. “Ignore it. It’s not my fault their kids find it appealing,” replied Lars. “Are there any letters NOT from whiny parents or annoying suggesters?” “Well… we have gotten letters from kids in Woomerang asking you to make a video of a REAL space engineer playing Psycho Simulator,” said Tomhat, and Lars gasped. “What are we gonna do, sir?” “I know just the one,” said Lars. “I just hope he’s not too busy.” “Really? Who is he?” “Bill Kerman,” answered Lars. “He’s on Eeloo.” “EELOO?!” shrieked Tomhat. “Why would you want an engineer THERE? I know at least SEVEN who are back on Kerbin right now.” “Yes, but I talked to him a few minutes ago,” explained Lars. “If he says no, then we’ll try it YOUR way.” “So…,” stammered Bob, “who’s gonna talk to the admiral?” “I nominate Ralo,” said Sam. “She’s the medical officer.” “I nominate Bob,” Matt disagreed. “He was Val’s friend for years.” “No!” objected Irpond. “Val can get over it on her own.” “That’s what you said yesterday,” started Guscan, “and the day before that, and the day before THAT, and the WEEK before THAT.” “She’s gotta stop moping sometime,” said Irpond. “Wait, what’s going on again?” asked Ralo. “Sorry, I was asleep.” “The jury convicted her brother 23 DAYS AGO,” said Bob. “He’s been sentenced to 40 years in prison with a chance of parole after 20.” “I thought Laythe didn’t have any prisons,” Irpond recalled. “He was transferred to the brig in the military installation, where it’s WAY harder to get in and out of than Poseidon’s Palace,” explained Guscan. “Val’s been crying since then, and I had to assume command. And believe me, it’s harder than it looks.” “I thought overseeing life-supporting ops was easy for you,” said Bob, “given your experience with being stranded in a pod for years.” “When I was stuck in that pod, I only had to worry about myself,” said Guscan. “I was cut off from everyone, with nothing but the life support system and hope I would be found. Now, I got to worry about SIX MORE – and a surface robot – and I need to CONSTANTLY communicate with everyone. It can get very stressful, man.” “Our program made some leaps and bounds in interplanetary travel because of you,” reminded Bob. “We made the Ultimate Relay Antenna to connect you to us, and the Interplanetary Travel Pod was first invented just so we can pick you up. Let’s not forget that you raised the standard for psychological screening for interplanetary kerbalnauts.” “Yeah,” agreed Matt. “If anything, you should have been in command of this mission, not Val.” “I second that,” said Irpond. “Until Val pulls herself together, I AM in charge,” reminded Guscan. “I hereby order that one of you go in the rack room and talk her out of there. Any questions?” “Yes,” said Bob, “can’t we just phone a base psychiatrist?” “Excellent idea, Bob. Maybe we can get some tips on how to calm her down. Anything else?” Nobody spoke for five seconds. “Good. Unless you all have other scheduled tasks to perform now, I want you all to have a volunteer ready to go inside by the time I hang up. If you can’t decide – either because nobody stepped up or you’re split between volunteers – I’ll pick FOR you.” “Yes, sir,” acknowledged Sam, and Guscan held to the railings to the pod’s control panel. “MJ, how long until I leave Jool’s sphere of influence?” asked Guscan. “29 days, 2 hours, 8 minutes,” answered MJ. “Approximate Dres periapsis.” “250 kilometers prograde, sir.” “Good,” said Guscan, ensuring the stability augmentation system was active and the power levels were optimal. “Let’s see… Poseidon’s Palace.” “Connecting,” the on-board computer replied. Guscan waited patiently for the operator at the control room to pick up, then he would ask her to redirect his call to the base psychiatrist. However, 90 seconds of waiting later and he was still not connected to the base. “That’s weird,” said Guscan before hanging up and pressing a button with a wrench on it. “Communications.” “All communication systems are fully operational,” said the computer after running an internal diagnostic check. “Okay, let me try again,” sighed Guscan. Much to his surprise, he still got no answer from the base after a two-minute wait. “Irpond! Matt!” “Yes,” the two of them replied. “I’m having some trouble contacting the base,” started Guscan, “yet the automatic diagnostic check says my end’s okay.” “I’ll do a manual check,” said Matt. “It could just be a snowstorm or they’re rebooting their communication systems,” suggested Irpond. “Maybe they’re just in a blind spot now.” “Then you might wanna call ANOTHER base in Jool’s sphere of influence just to be sure it’s not a problem on your end,” said Matt. “Okay,” agreed Guscan. “I think I’ll pick… the Dead Kerbin.” “Tylo’s mobile base?” gasped Matt, and Guscan nodded. “Good luck with that.” “Dead Kerbin, this is Pod 5B15. Please respond, over,” said Guscan. “Loud and clear, Pod 5B15. This is the Dead Kerbin, over,” a man replied. “Sweet,” cheered Guscan. “Uh, we’re running communication tests. Everything seems okay on our end, over.” “Confirmed. Everything okay here, over.” “Are you having trouble connecting with Poseidon’s Palace?” asked Guscan. “Funny you should ask,” the communications officer on board Tylo’s mobile base responded. “We cannot contact Poseidon’s Palace.” “You too?” wondered Guscan. “How long have you had this problem?” “Eight days.” “EIGHT DAYS?” gasped Guscan. “We tried to call them once an hour, but nothing. The weird part is that the relay network display shows it being cut off despite the strong coverage in those areas.” “Cut off?” wondered Matt. “You know if we had problems like this before?” asked Guscan. “Well, we have sustained one-or-two Laythe day-long snowstorms that cut us off every once in a while,” answered Irpond. “But nothing THIS bad,” added Matt. “Have other people had the same problem contacting Poseidon’s Palace?” inquired Guscan. “Yes, sir. I’ve talked to at least eight stations and bases in the Jool system, and they all said they couldn’t reach Poseidon’s Palace.” “Yo, Sam! Get over here!” ordered Guscan, and Sam arrived. “Are there any storms in the vicinity of Poseidon’s Palace?” “Let me check,” said Sam as he accessed his kPad. “Nope. Looks clear.” “I’ll try again, over,” said Guscan, but no success in connecting with Poseidon’s Palace. “That’s odd. I can’t reach them.” “Nor can I,” replied the man from the Dead Kerbin. “How is this even possible?” “I could try and contact the military base,” said Guscan. “Don’t!” Irpond blurted. “For all we know… they’re the ones who did it.” “What makes you think THAT?” asked Guscan. “The mass shooting on Team-Up Day was committed by a Special Forces op,” reminded Irpond. “How do you know the WHOLE SQUAD wouldn’t RETALIATE for Victor’s imprisonment?” “It’s worth a try,” said Guscan. “Even if they were guilty, it’s not like they can intercept the pod.” “Why not just report it to Mission Control?” suggested Irpond. “I mean… let’s let the military think we don’t know a thing for now.” “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” agreed Guscan. “I’ll get Val out,” said Irpond. “Wait what are you…?” asked Matt, then Irpond opened the hatch to the rack room. “Okay, you hag. Talk!” yelled Irpond, throwing Val to where the ceiling was (relative to her). “I know you had something to do with this!” “With WHAT?” sobbed Val. “LIAR!” shouted Irpond, punching Val across the face. “Your brother and his friends stormed Poseidon’s Palace and EXTERMINATED everyone in it!” “Impossible, he’s locked up,” cried Val. “You told his army buddies to spring him out!” alleged Irpond. “YOU had them take the base after you left AS REVENGE.” “Let her go, Irpond!” ordered Guscan. “But the admiral knows why you can’t contact Poseidon’s Palace,” argued Irpond. “Can’t contact Poseidon’s Palace?” gasped Bob. “And I thought I was the only one.” “Wait, what happened to you?” wondered Guscan. “I tried to call Wenpont about the plants for the past several days, but nothing,” answered Bob. “I contacted Mission Control and told them about it.” “That happened with the pod’s comm system too,” said Matt. “We can talk to the Dead Kerbin on Tylo, but for some reason NOBODY can reach Poseidon’s Palace.” “What about the military installation on the other side?” asked Bob. “Anybody reach that?” “I did,” said Ralo. “I talked to their medical officer yesterday.” “What?” gasped Guscan. “Did he say anything about not be able to contact Poseidon’s Palace?” “It… was never brought up,” answered Ralo. “I’ll tell Mission Control what’s going on before contacting the military base,” said Guscan. “If enough reports come in, they’ll FORCE an investigation.” “How do you know the military won’t ambush the search party once they arrive?” warned Irpond. “I trust Mission Control will plan for that,” assured Guscan. “Like they PLANNED to cover up Victor’s genocide,” said Irpond. “Why should we trust them?” “Only TWO of the higher-ups knew of the massacre, and they have been indicted,” added Guscan. “Besides, who’s in charge here?” “Me,” said Val, “and I say contact Kerbin.” “At once, mam,” acknowledged Guscan. “Now why would I do that if I was involved?” Val told Irpond. “Even then, if not Guscan, many others would.” “Well… shoot,” said Irpond. “Sorry about that.” “At least you got me out of the rack room,” Val responded. “This is very odd,” Gene said after his coffee break. “A whole communications blackout, yet no indication of inhibiting factors,” added Linus. “Odd indeed.” “You think it was a power failure?” wondered Mortimer. “No,” answered Werner. “There are backup measures in case that happened, but so far NO signs that they were ever used.” “The military base sent a jet to check it out after it repeatedly failed to contact Poseidon’s Palace,” started Gene, showing aerial shots of the base. “So far, everything looks intact, but that’s not the worst part.” “I don’t know. Everything looks fine to me,” said Linus. “Indulge us.” “That pilot was perfectly healthy before the flight, but he died 12 hours after landing,” explained Gene. “Let me guess, he was shot,” asked Mortimer, and his colleagues looked at him. “WHY would you think he was shot?” questioned Linus. “Statistically speaking, kerbalnauts on Laythe are most likely to die from GUNSHOTS,” said Mortimer. “Then again, we haven’t gotten any mass shootings directed towards kerbals until less than a Kerbin year ago.” “Nice math, but he WASN’T shot,” said Gene. “Poisoned,” guessed Linus. “You can say that,” answered Gene, now showing an autopsy report for Private Justin Kerman. “Damage to organ tissue,” read Werner, “massive internal bleeding, scar tissue.” “Hint: when he landed, he looked perfectly fine,” said Gene. “Wait, was it… RADIATION POISONING?” gasped Linus. “Their medical officer thinks so, and now his sick bay’s been quarantined,” answered Gene. “I don’t believe it,” said Mortimer. “People have been going flying to and from Poseidon’s Palace hundreds of times and NOBODY’S been irradiated.” “Until now,” corrected Linus, “but why?” His kPad then pinged. “Ah, here we go. I had the probe boys do a full orbital scan of Laythe as soon as we got the reports of Jool personnel losing contact with Poseidon’s Palace.” “What did they find?” asked Werner. “Well, we’re about to find out.” Linus then showed his coworkers the images his employees sent him. “Uh oh.” “What do you mean uh oh?” wondered Mortimer. “The scanner’s BLOCKED at the coordinates of Poseidon’s Palace,” said Linus. “Only one thing can cause a total blockage of those probes’ instruments.” “Massive snowstorm?” guessed Gene. “Worse,” said Linus. “Radiation.” “Oh, dear God,” gasped Mortimer. “That may explain the pilot getting radiation poisoning and why nobody can contact the base,” said Werner. “At this point… everyone’s dead.” “Not until I see bodies,” Gene announced. “Do we have any surface rovers in the vicinity of Poseidon’s Palace?” “Only one still alive,” said Linus. “Buddy’s stationed at a native Laythan farm several kilometers away from Poseidon’s Palace.” “What about Wally?” inquired Mortimer. “Admiral Val’s crew took him on their flight to Dres,” said Werner. “I’ll have the crew check him to see if his RTG’s leaking.” “I want Buddy under OUR control now,” demanded Gene. “Have our best rover driver here take him to the base to investigate.” “Sir, you are aware of the communication lag time between Kerbin and Jool,” warned Mortimer. “It’s FAR too dangerous to have someone do it from Laythe,” argued Gene. “Besides, last I checked, he’s built to detect radiation levels. Correct?” “That’s right,” agreed Linus. “And one more thing,” finished Gene, “if the problem gets bad enough that contingencies are useless, I want all personnel on that rock safely evacuated.” “Seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it?” said Werner. “As much I want to expand our kind to all planets and moons, I would rather not if that moon becomes a deathtrap,” explained Gene. “Let’s go.” “Wait,” interrupted Linus. “M… maybe we can take control of a mini-bus or fuel truck already parked there.” “You can try,” said Gene, “but they can’t go indoors. Buddy can.” “I’ll get all relevant software crews ready immediately,” said Linus. “Let’s hope to heaven it’s just an isolated incident,” sighed Gene. “Meeting adjourned.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: ESCAPE BURN Several months had passed and still no luck on finding any suspects for Agaden’s death. Victor, and several of his subordinates, were arrested and imprisoned in Poseidon’s Palace’s brig for war crimes while their trial progressed. Most of the base personnel and tourists wanted him sentenced to death, but Val thought he only deserved prison time. After all, he not only was following orders, but it was Mission Control’s idea to cover up the massacre. Irpond tried to convince Bob to replace the knockout gas in the brig holding cells with nerve gas, but Bob refused since, like Val, he believed in the rights of the accused. “Says the guy who wanted to stuff Val in a booster engine,” she had told him. “AFTER being found guilty without a reasonable doubt,” said Bob. Victor’s trial was still progressing by the time the transfer window to Dres opened. Luckily, Val had testified as a character witness before being cleared to leave the Jool system. Most of her crew would fly into Jool orbit with her from Laythe, where the rest of the crew would be waiting in a Mark Vb interplanetary travel pod. “Okay, let’s see who’s here,” started Val. “Sound off.” “Bob.” “Guscan.” “Irpond.” “Matt.” “Ralo.” “Samuel.” “WO, WEE! WEE!” “All here,” said Val turning to her Laythe plane pilot. “We’re good to go.” “Good luck,” replied the pilot as he shut the airlock. “Give me a full go/no-go for launch,” demanded Val. “Software.” “Go,” reported Irpond. “Life support.” “Go,” answered Bob. “Thrusters.” “Go,” said Guscan. “Controls.” “Go,” replied Matt. “Medical supplies.” “Go,” said Ralo, the medic. “Power.” “Go.” “Comms.” “Go.” “RCS.” “Go.” “Rec systems.” “Go.” “Wally.” “He’s a go,” acknowledged Bob. “MJ.” “Go,” replied MJ. “Poseidon’s Palace, all systems go,” said Val. “Copy that,” a man replied on the radio. “You are clear to make your escape burn in t-minus 5 minutes 13 seconds and counting.” “Plotting escape burn to Dres,” said MJ. “Roger that,” said Val. “Strap yourselves in, everyone.” “Yes, Admiral,” said Sam and the crew obeyed. “Can’t believe I’m going back to Dres,” said Bob. “Feels like only yesterday that I first met Sheri.” “Bob, are you really not yet over her?” sighed Irpond. “Well… I’ll be over her as soon as they catch the creature that killed her,” said Bob, and the rest of the crew joined in the conversation. “T-minus five, four, three, two, one, zero,” MJ said minutes later, and the crew was thrown to the back of their seats as the pod made its escape burn out of Jool. “Escape burn to Dres complete,” it said several minutes later. “Confirmed,” said Guscan, checking the navicomputer. “If you feel like calling someone to say good-bye, now’s the time.” “Power levels and communication strength optimal,” added Matt. “We’re all set for Dres.” “ETA to Dres capture in… 6 years, 155 days,” said Guscan. “Better get comfortable,” said Val. “Ralo, I want chloroplast checks every 25 days and full medical exams every 75.” “Yes, mam,” acknowledged Ralo, setting alarms. “Engage SAS.” “Done.” After several more system checks, the crew was all set. Hours later, Bob was fast asleep in his sleeping bag. He was dreaming about going on a beach date with Sheri on Kerbin’s shores. After he proposed to her on Eve, they would return to Kerbin to get married and retire as kerbalnauts. “How are we doing?” asked Bob, looking at Sheri wearing a one-piece. “Well… the doctor says she’s healthy at this point,” said Sheri, rubbing her stomach. “Are you sure it’s a she?” inquired Bob. “Of course it’s a she,” chuckled Sheri. “She’s got her mother’s fighting spirit.” “I’m gonna bet it’s a boy,” said Bob. “Statistics have proven that childbirth patterns are more likely to follow the DAD’S side of the family.” “Silly, then we’d have no women,” replied Sheri. “True,” said Bob, looking at some dolphins. “I wonder how many of THOSE we killed with space debris.” “None directly,” said another woman. Bob turned around and was surprised to see Sally in Sheri’s bathing suit. “We just killed their food.” “Where’s Sheri?” asked Bob. “Dead,” answered Sally, and Bob started to clench his fist. “You KILLED her?!” “How could I have killed her; I was on Kerbin,” said Sally. “You need to…” BLAM! Before Bob’s very eyes, her forehead exploded in a pool of blood and she fell on the sand. Behind her was a figure – which looked female from the silhouette – standing behind her with a handgun raised. “Surprise!” said the woman. “It’s ME!” She took aim at Bob and fired. “GET DOWN!” An old man then tackled Bob and shot his own gun at her, but the woman poofed away as soon as the bullet hit. “Werner?” gasped Bob after recognizing him. “In your dreams,” said the man, “which, in this case... is true.” “What are you doing here?” asked Bob. “Why did Sally show up, and who was the gunman?” “I’m here to open your eyes… figuratively speaking,” answered Werner. “Let me give you a hint why: it has something to do with Sally’s murder.” “She was shot at the space center, but they haven’t caught her yet,” said Bob. “But you know who it is, and you know why,” said Werner, then Bob found himself in a laboratory wearing a lab coat. On the whiteboard was a diagram of a suborbital spaceflight. “You think Misty Kerman did this?” gasped Bob, and Werner nodded. “But… how?” “Think, Bob. Had it not been for atmospheric drag, Bill would have hit the target.” Werner then drew blue lines coming from the suborbital trajectory to the surface – to the left of the target. “His trajectory 22 years ago would have put him several kilometers away.” “Maybe… one of the chunks got lucky,” said Bob, then Werner drew another diagram. “There were craters on her wall that were CLOSE TOGETHER, yet the precision of the debris was TOO LOW to have caused it,” reminded Werner. “If anything hit the house, it should have been isolated.” “You think it was… ARSON?” gasped Bob. “You got it.” “How? I read the file front-to-back; no traces of accelerant were found at the scene.” “Did you also read the part about the faulty furnace?” reminded Werner. “So, what? Furnaces malfunction all the time,” argued Bob. “You remember what Misty was put on trial for,” said Werner, and then he and Bob were in an empty courtroom. “Killing someone,” said Bob. “More specifically, sabotaging a rover to cause someone’s death,” added Werner. “You think she would have been put on trial if she didn’t have the means, motive, and opportunity?” “But… she was acquitted.” “She’s a master at covering her tracks, Bob,” warned Werner. “Back up, are you saying she sabotaged HER OWN furnace and hammered some holes in the wall to make it look like a space debris hit?” “You got it,” confirmed Werner. “But… why?” gasped Bob. “It makes… no sense. To even have a reason to hit the walls would require prior knowledge about the incoming debris. More importantly, why would she set fire to her own house… and not report something falling out of the sky?” “Because she knows the walls are NOT combustible,” said Werner. “As for her motive, you’ll have to talk to her daughter about it.” Before Bob knew it, he was in the Hall of Fallen Heroes near the astronaut complex. “Are you the Ghost of Spaceflights Past, or did Yet to Come steal your time card?” “Very funny, Bob,” said Werner, showing him one of the names. SHERI KERMAN “Why are you showing me this?” “You still haven’t moved on from her death,” explained Werner. “I’ll move on when I catch her killer,” said Bob, then he noticed he and Werner were starting to sweat. “Why is there a sudden increase in temperature?” “Search your mind, you KNOW who it is.” Bob slowly woke up and found Irpond floating near his sleeping bag. “I… Irpond?” he gasped. “What are you doing?” “Oh, just… checking to make sure you were all right,” said Irpond. “Why aren’t you in your sleeping bag?” whispered Bob. “I saw you were having a nightmare,” said Irpond. “You can say that,” sighed Bob, and Irpond unzipped his bag. “Wanna get some more privacy?” asked Irpond, then the two of them floated to the medical supply closet and shut the door behind them. “What happened?” “Well… I seemed to have been visited by Werner Von Kerman,” started Bob. “He led me to believe that… your mom SHOT Sally Kerman.” “That’s ridiculous,” said Irpond. “My mom wouldn’t hurt a fly.” “I didn’t believe it either until I thought about the evidence again,” continued Bob. “Your mom wouldn’t have even been on trial 29 years ago if she didn’t have the know-how to sabotage that car.” “Why would you accuse my mom of murder?” “Think about it, Irpond,” said Bob. “Bill’s rocket wasn’t even close to landing there.” “But… the craters,” stammered Irpond. “I saw them on the walls.” “And how did you think they got there? It couldn’t have been rocket debris since the pieces were scattered KILOMETERS apart… and the walls weren’t combustible if any of them hit.” “But… how?” gasped Irpond. “What does that have to do with Sally?” “It’s a long shot, but… your mom may have committed arson and shot Sally to cover it up,” suggested Bob. “Sally knew Misty from the folktales; since they’re both women, you’d expect her to say, ‘It’s just you’ if they saw each other in the locker room.” “How did you know what Sally said?” gasped Irpond in shock. “One of her students heard the shot,” answered Bob. “Hopefully, I’m wrong and SOMEBODY else committed arson and murder.” “You’re WRONG!” objected Irpond, almost scaring Bob. “Then again… why tamper with the furnace when accelerant will do the job just fine?” said Bob. “And why plant craters on the walls?” “It… must be a really crafty criminal,” said Irpond. “Maybe Debra’s REAL killer planned to finish off Mom when he happened to see Bill’s debris falling out of the sky. After sabotaging the furnace, he smashed some holes in the walls to make it look like an orbital strike.” “That… makes sense,” agreed Bob. “However, Bill launched when he KNEW the house would be empty.” “Wait, how did he know it was empty?” “He said he planned the launch time from the usual work and school times at Woomerang,” said Bob. “He wanted to arrive at the target while the house was empty.” “So… if a Badger knew when she’d be out… either it was a poorly planned hit or it didn’t intend to kill anyone,” concluded Irpond. “It could have been just some random angry Joe who wanted to spite Misty and set her house alight,” said Bob, “regardless of who was in it. Once she saw the incoming debris, she took a sledgehammer and smashed some holes to cover her tracks.” “How do you know it was a ‘she’ who started the fire?” wondered Irpond. “I remember more WOMEN talking about Misty than MEN did,” answered Bob. “One time I snuck into the restricted section of my school lab, and I saw the female teachers bad-mouthing your mom; the males didn’t really care. It was also MY MOM who warned me about her.” “She must have never taught you not to judge a book by her cover,” guessed Irpond. “Actually, she did,” said Bob. “Everyone will take ONE look at my mother and cry murderer,” Irpond told him, “despite the facts to the contrary. I… can’t believe that you would cry arsonist too.” “Think, Irpond. Sally’s plane to Baikerbanur was sabotaged to send her crashing to her death, only she wasn’t on it. Then, someone followed Sally to the space center and waltzed into the ladies’ room and shot her – someone SHE KNEW. Why would anyone go through all that trouble… and why kill her THEN?” “You’re the scientist, you answer.” “Actually scientists… pretty much ask questions,” sighed Bob. “What other logical explanations do you have?” “It could have been someone IN THE STAFF,” suggested Irpond. “Remember: she had to have a meeting before she could perform this experiment.” “That… makes… sense,” Bob conceded. “A woman 45 or older with computer AND mechanical expertise could have sabotaged Sally’s plane after catching her flight number, then went to Krakopolis after learning she survived to finish the job.” “What makes you think she’s that old?” “Uh, if a man entered the women’s locker room, there would have been guards everywhere before he left,” said Bob. “As for age, that’s old enough to commit an elaborate arson 22 years ago.” “Did anyone tell you that you’re cute when you run mental if-then-else loops?” smiled Irpond. “I wouldn’t know an if-then-what loop if it bit my arm off,” joked Bob, and Irpond laughed. “I thought you worked with computers all the time,” said Irpond, “like that robot.” “All I do is input data and record the analysis; it’s the software guys who program the math SCIENTISTS tell them.” “Hey, I can code as well as any guy,” said Irpond. “If I tried… I can even get Wally to talk.” “Really, you can?” asked Bob. “Yes. I just need to clone his hard drive and program his voice box to speak words… just like MJ does,” said Irpond. “You’ll have to take it up with Bill,” sighed Bob. “I didn’t program him, HE did… and that thing’s pretty old for a robot. About 20 years old, in fact.” “Man, I don’t think any of our surface probes have lasted longer than five years after deployment,” commented Irpond. “ORBITAL RELAYS, on the other hand, last longer.” “For a Badger, Bill was ahead of his time,” said Bob. “Hey, he said that he and Val have been emailing each other for the past few months.” “You want to fix them up?” guessed Irpond. “Yeah,” said Bob. “Sounds great. I can help Val while you talk to Bill,” suggested Irpond. “You have experience with dating, after all.” “Perfe… wait, what about you?” “I used to date this guy from school… before we broke up,” said Irpond. “That was the last I heard of him.” “Neat,” said Bob, “but let’s wait until wake-up. I gotta get some sleep now.” “Oh, but you’re already up,” said Irpond, grabbing Bob before he hit the shelves. “Somebody else used to say that to me,” sighed Bob. “It was… Sheri, whenever we were in-transit or we woke up early on-base.” “It’s been about a year already. Why have you not gotten over her yet?” “Because I was going to marry her,” answered Bob. “If I can’t have her, I’ll be just as satisfied with the lower life form responsible.” “Ooh, you’re gonna date her killer?” asked Irpond. “What? No,” said Bob. “I’m gonna pick his method of execution.” “I guess we’ll never know,” said Irpond. “So many killings have happened on Laythe, so… the one you’re looking for is probably dead already.” “Then I’ll pay Wenpont to spit on their grave when they find her.” “Many cases go unsolved, like Debra Kerman. They haven’t caught the real killer after 29 years,” reminded Irpond, holding Bob’s hand. “It’s time to move on, Bob. And in time, who knows… they’ll find whoever killed her.” “That’s what my parents said,” said Bob. “You’re right, I’m still overdue for some healing.” “I can help you catch up,” said Irpond. “You mind if I… bunk next to you?” “Go ahead, but NOT in the same rack as me. You’ll float off and hit your head.” “I meant in my OWN bag, silly,” laughed Irpond, then they left the closet and floated to their sleeping bags. “See you in the morning… cutie.” “Yo-yo-yo-yo, Biiiiilllll!” shouted Jeb as he spun himself in Hades Station. “Jeb, how did you achieve that angular velocity?” sighed Bill after arriving. “IIIIII uuuusssseeed thuuuuuuu raaaaaiiiilllllsssss,” said Jeb, still spinning. “This may sting a bit,” said Bill, pushing Jeb toward the wall. “Wheeeeeeeeeee!” Jeb’s angular velocity was disrupted after hitting one of the station’s joints, then he grabbed one of the railings. “Man… I feel sick.” “Yeah, that’s what happens when you spin uncontrollably in microgravity,” reminded Bill. “I needed to enforce Newton’s First Law of Motion to keep you from a perpetual state of motion.” “What are you talking about? I spin lots of times in EVA suits and I turn out fine.” “Because the jetpacks apply a force intended to disrupt an object ALREADY in angular motion,” reminded Bill. “If we left you alone, chances are you would have been stuck like that forever. What are you doing up here anyway?” “I’m glad you asked,” said Jeb. “Since we’re going to be stuck here for at least another year, I might as well enjoy ourselves before we blast off.” “I see your point, but I doubt you flew all the way here just to break the world record for longest time spinning in microgravity at four pi radians per second,” sighed Bill, leaving Jeb confused. “I literally have no idea what you said, but I didn’t come here just to spin. Since the station has a stronger signal and a higher power capacity than the surface base, I figured that I could come here and download this new game I found.” “Uh huh, what new game?” “It’s called Psycho Simulator,” said Jeb. “I read it’s like Hitguy, only you do it for more than money.” “Why would you download that?” asked Bill. “Hitguy is basically a game where you murder people for cash.” “So is Skies on Fire, but I don’t see you complaining about it,” countered Jeb. “Besides, you can do more than just kill people. You get to do tasks, invent things, do awesome heists…,” “Wait, did you say invent things?” asked Bill, and Jeb nodded. “You mean like Human Space Program?” “Yes, like that,” agreed Jeb. “Why would you get this game?” wondered Bill. “Dude, so I can enter the mind of our killer,” answered Jeb. “To find him, you gotta THINK like him.” “Well… so far Sherlock Kerman and Law of Order failed,” sighed Bill. “At this point, I’m willing to try anything. Where’s your kPad anyway?” “I put it on the cupola seat,” said Jeb, and Bill facepalmed himself. “What? I lowered the restraining harness.” “That’s not good enough.” He jumed to the front cupola and saw Jeb’s kPad floating in the cockpit. “You couldn’t have picked a LESS secure spot to keep it?” “All the sleeping bags were full,” sighed Jeb as he caught it. “Oh, sweet, it’s done.” “Let’s see if I have anything else planned for today… nope. I already checked the ISRU unit on the station so ore conversion operations can resume.” “I got nothing else planned,” assured Jeb. “Are you sure?” Jeb checked his assignment list and gave a thumbs-up. “Awesome, let’s see what it’s got.” “For as long as I can remember, I was incapable of emotion,” a girl said as the game started. “Despite my efforts to conform to others’ social norms… I felt… empty inside.” “You need some light,” teased Jeb. “The doctors have tried everything to fix me, but it was no use. Honestly, I do not care. I have become… a kerbal computer, so to speak.” “Dude, I saw gameplays of this and she’s not a robot,” remarked Jeb. “That all changed when I met him. He was so handsome… the way he took off his helmet.” “Helmet?” wondered Bill. “Is he a soldier?” “No, he’s a pilot on the Mun,” said Jeb, then the screen displayed an image of a handsome man stepping out of an SSTO with Kerbin in the background. From the planet’s diameter relative to the viewer and the texture of the moon’s surface, Bill guessed that this game took place on the Mun. “For the first time, I felt… whole, complete. It was then I realized I needed him. But… someone’s trying to steal him from me. The worst part is that she does not appreciate him the way I do. I must have him, for he is the reason… for my existence.” “Wish the cheerleaders were like that for me,” commented Jeb. “He is my primary objective; nobody else matters. I have the power of a computer brain, so I must use it or else I’m nothing.” “Same here, Jeb,” said Bill. “The computer brain part, not the psycho.” “Oh, goody. You get a career and sandbox mode,” said Jeb. “I’m gonna start with sandbox.” “Okay,” agreed Bill, then they found the place called the “Weapons Lab” concealed underground in a Mun base. “Huh, I wonder what they got here.” “Blutonium?” gasped Jeb, “Timer fuse, remote-control detonators… are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “Hang on,” said Bill, who was on his own kPad. “You’re practically competing for the right to mate with this guy, but you want to NUKE the base? You’ll wipe out everyone in it.” “Like the crazy lady said, nobody else matters,” reminded Jeb. “Besides, it’s MY sandbox. I can build all the kick-ass inventions I want.” Bill shrugged his shoulders. “Knock yourself out, but remember your performance when building stuff in Human Space Program.” “Building nukes ain’t rocket science, dude,” said Jeb. “It’s a close second,” disagreed Bill, noticing Jeb’s bomb construction. “Enjoy your premature detonation.” “Oh my gosh, is that a nuke?” gasped one of the game characters. “He he he,” chuckled Jeb. “Tremble before the powah of…” His villainous speech was interrupted when his bomb detonated, engulfing the entire base in a mushroom cloud that disappeared in a second. “Aw, COME ON!” “If not the blast, you would have died from radiation poisoning,” added Bill. “Here, let me try.” He reverted the mission to the Weapons Lab and built his own nuclear bomb. When he was done, he spawned in the middle of the base with his bomb and hid it in the supply closet before activating the timer. “I only have ten minutes to get out of here.” “Why were you so picky about the blutonium?” asked Jeb. “What’s the difference between 238 and 239?” “238 is used to power things, while 239 is for WEAPONS,” reminded Bill. “DON’T mix them up. Right now, it looks like I need to find this guy and get him out of the base before the bomb detonates.” Bill and Jeb then rushed to look for the pilot – whose name was Chuck Kerman – and then found him with 2 minutes 26 seconds left. With no time to lose, they convinced their target to follow them into a mini-bus and drove away with 19 seconds to spare. “Um, where are we going?” Chuck asked the player character. “Why are we taking a bus?” wondered Jeb. “Why not just steal a jet?” “No oxygen, no blast,” said Bill. “The mushroom cloud will be isolated to the base until it’s engulfed, then it’s gone.” Shortly after, the timer reached zero and the base was vaporized. “Wha… what happened?” questioned Chuck, then Jeb was given several options. “Uh… it was a… circuit malfunction,” Jeb told his character to say. “It looked more like a nuclear weapon explosion.” “Look, dude, if I was going to blow up the base, I wouldn’t make it look like a nuclear weapon explosion, would I? I’d make it look like a circuit malfunction or something,” said Jeb. “What kind of idiot to fall for that?” sighed Bill. “Trishnova, did you blow it up?” asked Chuck. “Okay, new plan,” said Jeb. “Darn right I did, foolish mortal. Soon, I will take over the Mun and nobody, not even you, can stop me. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!” “Dude, the plan was to gain the love of this guy, not cause random mayhem,” reminded Bill. “Why can’t I do both?” “Why’d you pick a game with A GIRL as the main character?” wondered Bill. “You usually go with MALE characters.” “I thought I could help Bob and Val out, since Sheri’s killer’s a woman,” sighed Jeb. “The doc could tell by the handprint size.” “Well… it’s a long shot,” said Bill. “Knock yourself out, but don’t come crying to me if your weapon system malfunctions are due to negligence for basic safety procedures.” “Unless it’s literally rocket science. You know how bad my rockets turned out in Human Space Program,” said Jeb “Because you had no concept of thrust-to-weight ratios, structural OR aerodynamic stability, minimizing drag, or even calculating delta-V,” reminded Bill. “Your PLANES weren’t that much better due to the center of mass and lift placements being WAY off.” “Speaking of planes, still no ideas why the moonjets were hacked?” wondered Jeb. “I still believe 79 was rehearsal and 314 was the main act,” sighed Bill. “For 79, if all the killer wanted was to kill one or more occupant, why didn’t she just hit them BOTh in the head and steal the controls herself? At least that would pass off as pilot error better than a drill sticking out of the payload bay.” “Remember, one of the witnesses Bob and Val talked to said that he saw Danlong get in the jet immediately after it landed for its next mission,” said Jeb. “We know she plugged in the virus, but we don’t know who she did it for and why.” “Duh, practice.” “Yes, but why THAT jet? Couldn’t she just sneak on board some random jet and hack that one instead of use it where everyone’s watching?” “If a spacecraft crashed uncontrollably and one person – who’s NOT a fully-licensed pilot – was in it, people will start to blame you. If the crash happened with a ‘clearly negligent pilot’ on board, then they won’t suspect you.” “But why Harriet’s jet? Since she was Val’s student, nobody would fall for the ‘she was texting and flying’ act.” “Excellent point, since Val is famous – or, rather, INFAMOUS – for strict discipline among the students,” concurred Bill. “Then again, who could argue with timestamped messages? Additionally, if I had a teacher like that, I’d do everything she told us NOT to do by the time I was done with her.” “I wouldn’t wait,” said Jeb. “Of course you didn’t. You remember how many launches were delayed because you crashed your ships into the VAB? We almost went broke because of you.” “And I cleaned up my act.” “Even so, I’m still asking Commander Gustov to have Hadgan be the pod pilot for the trip to Dres,” argued Bill. “Really, what does he have that I don’t?” “Lower accident liability record, for starters.” “Uh, he lost a leg… AND he was responsible for killing Agaden.” “He lost his leg after YOU were flying, AND he was TRICKED by someone POSING as Mission Control.” “Why him instead of the graduate?” inquired Jeb. “Because the graduate’s new, and I know what kind of mayhem you’re capable of,” replied Bill. “Besides, he wants a chance to make up for what he was tricked into doing.” “You know what’s more confusing than NOT letting an old friend fly the pod?” started Jeb. “Why would anyone from Laythe go through the trouble of hacking my jet and getting a student poisoned?” “I think I can top that,” remarked Bill. “How come Misty’s house had craters on the walls while my debris scattered kilometers away?” He took out his own kPad to check his math. “The furthest east any survivin pieces should have gotten was at least 20 kilometers west of the target. So… even if the rocket worked as designed, I would have been off by a long shot – or worse, landed in the ocean. The poor trajectory planning was MY fault… which is why Val and I decided to take the plane option.” “I understand why you didn’t let me pilot the rockets; I crashed your first prototype cluster-bombed the parking lot,” said Jeb, “but the plane? Why’d you have VAL fly it?” “The last time I let you fly any of my planes WITHOUT your dad’s permission, I almost died,” answered Bill. “Dude, it was just a toy spy car. What’s the worst that could have happened?” “Uh, crashing it into someone’s house and killing everyone in it,” said Bill. “Not to mention you would have gotten spotted and shot down before it reached the drop zone?” “What makes you say that?” “You tend to fly high and fast; your engines will make too much noise at full throttle and flying too high meant you could be seen and/or detected by radar from kilometers away. VAL, on the other hand, had the discipline to fly in a stealth fashion until I dropped the probe on Woomerang’s practice field.” “You’ve been flying with Val since fifth grade,” recalled Jeb, resuming his game. “Man, now my nuke didn’t work.” “Let me guess, you got the blutonium isotopes mixed up?” “No, I picked blutonium.” “What’s the mass number?” asked Bill, leaving Jeb confused. “The number coming after the element name.” “Let’s see… 238,” Jeb told him. “Yeah, wrong blutonium isotope, nuke head. Why are you even going with the bombs?” “Why not, nukes are KICK-ASS.” “Jeb, you wanted to get into a criminal’s mind, do ya?” asked Bill, and Jeb nodded. “Try playing that game in CAREER mode.” “Fine,” groaned Jeb, starting another save. “Aw, man. No nukes.” “Then you’d better work your way up that tech tree,” suggested Bill. “Hopefully, by the time you get to unlocking the necessary materials, you’ll be more careful with what parts you put in and how you assemble them.” “Or I could download the craft files online,” said Jeb. “You need a rest, dude. I got this.” “I CAN’T rest. We need to get that pod fully gassed up before blasting off to Dres.” “Hey, dude, if you worrying made the refueling ops go faster, we’d be done already,” assured Jeb. “Why the rush, anyway?” “Our friends are… OW!” said Bill as a tennis ball hit him in the head. “Sorry, sir,” said a male cadet floating behind him, retrieving the ball. “At least the tennis ball won’t exert enough force on my head to cause any serious damage due to its mass,” replied Bill. “Likewise, in compliance with Newton’s Third Law of Motion, my head applied equal force to the ball.” “So… you’re fine?” asked the cadet. “Yes, I’m fine,” said Bill, then he floated to the airlocks and accessed his direct chat with Bob. How’s it going? Still in Jool’s SOI, but we’ll be out in a couple of months. It’s a large gas giant; of course you’re going to be in the SOI for a while. I figured out a way to secure your relationship with Val. How? I won’t see her for ~9 years. I’ll give you pointers on how to get her: - I have experience dating girls. - I’ll be cooped in here with Val for 7 years, so she’s bound to let useful details slip. Irpond Kerman will help Val connect with you – she already knows about Val’s drunken confession. Val and I have been direct-messaging very frequently lately. Perfect. With our help, you two should be a secure couple by the time you and Jeb arrive. Who’s Irpond again? A software engineer who worked at Poseidon’s Palace – and a darn good one at that. With your help, she may even get Wally to talk. Wait a second. Isn’t she Misty Kerman’s daughter? Yes, why? I’m not sure I should trust her. What’s the problem? 1) Call me prejudiced, but she’s the daughter of a murderer who got away with her crime. 2) Why were there craters on the walls of her house if my debris was nowhere near the target? 3) How can she (logically) accuse me of arson if my rocket couldn’t have hit the house OR combusted with the walls (or even penetrated them)? 4) Why was there no mention of incoming space debris in the arson investigator’s file? 5) She and/or her mom tried to frame Val for coerced RTG theft Now that you mention it, a lot of us in town were starting to install anti-aircraft radar around the time. Really? Then how come my debris wasn’t logged 1) It is possible that those systems didn’t go online until after the fire. 2) They may not have been designed for incoming suborbital debris (too small to get detected) 3) The cops ignored it as you couldn’t have hit Misty’s house. But wouldn’t they know who my target was from the heading? I can name at least ten others in Woomerang whose houses required the same heading as Misty when launching from your house. - Nobody else reported debris. Then again, it’s possible they either didn’t have radar or just had theirs turned off. But if nobody saw it coming, why were there holes in the walls – and with such precision too? Irpond and I think it was A WOMAN IN THE STAFF of Woomerang Institute that caused the fire 22 years ago and shot Sally. What makes you think that? A) Sally knew her. B) Sally had to have a staff meeting before getting approval for this project, meaning that they would know when and where Sally was going à getting her flight number. C) Woomerang teachers DEFINITELY have the knowhow to sabotage Matt’s box-wing jet (but didn’t expect Sally to miss that flight) D) Sally would have informed Woomerang staff about the alteration in the experiment procedure (bringing a second model into orbit), so they would know to meet her at KSC when she landed. E) Some of the current staff members are old enough to have committed arson 22 years ago (most likely a woman, since I saw women talk trash about Misty a lot more than the men did) F) There’s a lucky chance one of them saw the debris coming the day of the fire but didn’t report it. Or Misty started it herself and killed Sally to keep her mouth shut Then how did she know Sally was flying to Baikerbanur? Irpond could have told her. I guess, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Irpond knew Misty committed arson (if at all). She claimed she AND her mom were nowhere near the house at the time. Then she’s lying, just like she lied when she claimed Val had crooks take Misty hostage and force Irpond to steal the RTG. You’re just mad because she happened to suspect Val of murder, aren’t you? Don’t forget you were on that boat too. Also, for all you know, someone else kidnapped Misty and PRETENDED to be Val’s henchman Then why was Sally killed after she started to experiment with my rocket? Don’t forget that the airliner crash was like Debra Kerman 29 years ago (vehicular sabotage). - Not to mention that Irpond was on-base with the plane’s designer, Matt Kerman Matt keeps his designs locked at all times. Are you willing to bet she can’t hack into them? If Val had reason not to trust Irpond, she wouldn’t have let her get on the pod with us. - Same case for the higher-ups. It’s too late now to change her mind. Drat. Just keep an eye on her. Does she have permission to mess with Wally so he can talk? No 1) There’s no point; Wally’s useless in microgravity (ask again when you get to Dres) 2) Val may trust her enough to bring her on board, but I don’t. 3) Nobody touches Wally’s brain but me. 1 and 3 make sense, but 2 is just prejudice. I thought we were screened to not have it. Besides, what is Val gonna do, toss her out the airlock? Even if Irpond was in an EVA suit, Val would be facing serious charges. - We’d also get a pass on mutiny if she does it. I’d say bring it up with Val yourself, but I would rather you not start a serious relationship with arguments (that comes later). Just be careful. By the way, Jeb downloaded Psycho Simulator earlier today. Why would he do that? I thought that the main character was a psychopathic female. He said he wanted to “enter the mind of our killer.” Makes sense, seeing how it’s a stealth action/physics-based mission game. On the other hand, this game’s storyline intertwines two separate events going on now into one. - Sheri’s killer’s a woman, like the protagonist. - Vehicular sabotage is a useful murder method, like with Moonjet 79 and 314. You can also shoot people in the game, just like our killer on Laythe Wait, you play it? No, Sheri used to before she died. Just out of curiosity, did she try to craft nuclear bombs with blutonium-238 Yes – and her RTGs blew up when she had blutonium-239 in them - She got better with her nukes when I told her about the isotopes. Why’d you bring up nukes? Because Jeb was trying to construct nukes – and did a terrible job at it too. “Ugh, I dunno why my text positions flip-flopped, but I’m gonna check it out,” said Bill, realizing what had happened with his direct messaging page. “At least I was able to talk to Bob.” “Yo, Bill!” shouted Jeb, then Bill floated to him. “What is it?” asked Bill. “I’m installed a new battery for the mini-bus, but it’s not working,” explained Jeb, pointing at a stopped mini-bus on his kPad. “Well, is it fully charged?” “Yes.” Bill sighed. “Did you place the positive end at the positive port and the negative end at the negative port?” Jeb tapped on the bus’ battery compartment and saw that the ports were switched. “Oh… that would do it, huh.” Bill then facepalmed himself. “And I thought you had mastered battery placement at age 15.” “Okay, the bus is working,” said Jeb. “Where’s the nitro?” “Jeb, it’s an electric rover. Why would you need a nitrous oxide engine?” Bill questioned. “Because it’s AWESOME,” said Jeb. “Hang on,” said Bill as he accessed the accident report archives. “15 years ago, someone on Minmus thought it would be fun to modify a mini-bus with a nitrous oxide engine. Two died and three were injured as a result of the explosion.” “PERFECT!” shouted Jeb. “Thanks, dude. Now, the Mun shall be mine!” “Good luck finding a nitrous oxide engine on the Mun,” Bill replied. “They were forbidden in repair kits since the accident.” “Dude, it’s just a game,” said Jeb. “It could have a nitro hidden somewhere, or a recipe for one.” “Jeb, you heard what I said; installing a ‘nitro’ on an electric rover is dangerous.” “I know. Perfect bombing method, right?” “Bomb?” gasped Bill. “Well, I suppose you can try… wait a minute. You said that you can sabotage vehicles in this game?” “Yes,” said Jeb. “However, I’m going for explosions.” “Why’s that?” “If it doesn’t blow up when you start it, you can bail out,” explained Jeb. “Does that look familiar?” “Yeah, every time I flew something,” sighed Jeb. “No, the moonjet hackings,” said Bill. “Just who DEVELOPED this game?

@FuzzyHead, how do you plan on getting back to Kerbin when you're done? I don't see any screenshots of that.

To my readers, how are you all liking this so far? Feel free to post questions/comments/concerns/criticisms on this thread (please be civil about it). Who do you think the killer/s is/are? Why? Why do you think Sally Kerman was shot - and by who? Why did Reid start with Scott Kerman before causing a massacre on the base? Does Bill have a chance with Val?

Yes, you're right. If you can land on the Mun and orbit Minmus, then how hard can it be to do the other way around in the same craft type? I eagerly await your entries.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: MEANS, MOTIVE, AND OPPORTUNITY Today was a special day for the people in the Jool system, for it was the annual Team-Up Day celebration. On the 245th day of each Kerbin year, the kerbalnauts in the Jool system would commemorate the day where the Strike Force teamed up with the Ryagii Tribe and formed an alliance between Laythe and Kerbin. Though many today decided not to celebrate after learning about Victor’s massacre, many others celebrated anyway for they believed there was no other alternative. “If you’re going to protest Team-Up Day, at least do it after we’re done,” said Captain Rabal, whose crew was gathered around Vallhenge in their EVA suits; there was a base close by. “Pastor, would you like to start us off?” “Why do we have a pastor here?” whispered one of the kerbalnauts. “They think this place used to be a religious site,” answered his friend. “Save it for AFTER the prayers,” ordered Rabal, then Gerdon – a pilot who also functioned as a pastor – thanked God for their alliance with the native Laythans and the opportunity to make the moon safe to explore. “Captain,” said a base engineer named Donbin. “We got company approaching.” “What now, more protestors?” sighed Rabal. “No, it’s Admiral Val,” answered Donbin. “Admiral Val?” gasped Rabal. “Yes, mam,” acknowledged Donbin. “She said that she wants to speak with you as soon as she lands.” “Give her the coordinates and tell her I’ll be there,” ordered Rabal. “At once, mam.” A few minutes later, Rabal was saluting Val – who was accompanied by Bob – at the base airlock. “I was actually expecting you,” Rabal told Val. “Expecting her?” gasped Bob. “Yeah. With all these recent protests, I figured you’d might wanna come here and clear things up,” explained Rabal. “Oh, I thought it was about something else,” Bob sighed in relief. “And you must be Bob Kerman,” guessed Rabal as she and Bob shook hands. “How’d you know?” asked Bob. “I saw you give a eulogy at Sheri Kerman’s funeral,” answered Rabal. “Sorry for your loss,” Rabal then looked at Val, “and congratulations on your exoneration.” “Someone FRAMED me for killing Sheri and destroying the Zeus,” remarked Val, “and the airstrip was trashed.” “Am I glad I’m NOT on Laythe,” commented Rabal. “This place looks LESS cursed by comparison.” “I’ve already ordered a full lockdown on that moon,” said Val. “Nobody gets on, nobody gets off. Everybody stays within the atmosphere if they need to fly.” “Yet here you are,” Rabal pointed out. “Only me and two other people I KNOW weren’t involved in the tower bombing,” said Val. “Bob was chasing the shooter – along with several guards – Duvey was reparing the base’s ore converter, and I was in jail.” “You were CHASING the shooter?” gasped Rabal. “Even for a civilian, that’s gutsy.” “Helps if you have your own gun,” said Bob. “Can we get to why we’re here, please?” “We’d like to speak with three of your subordinates,” Val told Rabal. “Sounds pretty specific,” commented Rabal. “May I ask WHO exactly?” Val then took out her kPad and showed the captain a list with three names circled on it. “Kafield Kerman, Penelope Kerman, and James Kerman. Yep, they’re on-base. What is this about, and why THEM?” “They were on Poseidon’s Palace around the time a moonjet on Laythe was hacked,” explained Val, “and they were on Dres at some point in their careers. We would like to speak with them one-by-one.” “Okay, but I doubt you’ll get anything out of Penelope,” commented Rabal. “She hates you.” “Let’s find out why,” said Bob as Rabal led him and Val to a massive group standing silently around the bunk doors. “Val, I don’t think this is your fan club.” “There she is!” said one of the protestors. “There’s the devil’s sister!” “You should kill yourself!” shouted another. “Everyone, remain civil,” Rabal commanded. “They just want Penelope Kerman.” “Or what, you’ll wipe us out in cold blood?” a woman yelled. “No way I’m going with you.” “That’s her,” said Rabal. “Corporal, you’ll just have to come with them.” “What, so she can finish the job?” replied Penelope. “She tried to kill us once; she’s gonna try again.” “First of all, I had NOTHING to do with the Zeus getting destroyed,” said Val. “Secondly, I am just as disgusted at what Victor did as you are. That does NOT give you the right to take it out on me.” “Why should I believe you?” asked Penelope. “He was your brother, and you had everything to lose if his secret went out. THAT’S why you covered it up.” “Until a few days ago, I thought it was just slander,” said Val, “but that’s not why we’re here.” “Miss, whatever protests you have planned can go on without you for ten minutes,” said Rabal. “Fine, Captain,” sighed Penelope, turning to the crowd. “If I don’t make it back, avenge me.” “I swear, your brother made things worse here,” Rabal told Val. “You know how many mutiny threats I got if I went ahead with the Team-Up Day ceremonies?” “You and me both, Cap,” said Val, and the four of them left the crowd. “What is this about?” asked Penelope. “You were on Dres several years ago, right?” started Bob. “That’s right,” said Penelope. “My first interplanetary assignment.” “What did you do there?” questioned Val, and Penelope sighed in boredom. “Just ore runs and truck driving,” she answered. “Nothing really cool, especially coming from that boring planetoid.” “Hey, if it’s larger than a Class E asteroid and has no other celestial bodies orbiting it, it’s a planet,” Bob disagreed. “Cool it, Bob,” said Val. “I understand you got promoted on Dres.” “Yeah, for doing the same thing over and over for years,” sighed Penelope. “The only ‘fun’ thing I got to do there was remotely pilot a lander to the Defiant after the OTHER one got sick.” “So, why’d you leave?” inquired Val. “Meh, it was the closest transfer window open by the time I got around to it,” said Penelope. “Plus, that was my chance to serve under the legendary Admiral Valentina Kerman… or at least you WERE a legend.” “Why were you in Poseidon’s Palace several months ago?” asked Bob. “Doy, the Zeus survivors were sent there for medical and psych evals,” said Penelope. “After that, I flew up here to Vallhenge and I’ve been here since.” “You weren’t there for anything else?” questioned Val. “No. I started my Jool assignment on Bob – doing MORE ore runs – and then I was stationed on the Zeus before it was destroyed.” “That’s funny, I thought you were flying in from Pol,” stated Val. “Bop, Pol, what the heck’s the difference,” sighed Penelope. “Yeah, a lot of people get them mixed up,” commented Bob. “Off to a good start,” said Val. “How well did you know Harriet Kerman?” “WHO’S Harriet Kerman?” responded Penelope. “A Dres pilot like you,” answered Bob. “Well, then I’d better ask her how much fun she’s having now,” said Penelope. “Then you’d better fly to Kerbin and buy a shovel,” said Val. “She’s dead.” “What?” gasped Penelope. “What happened?” “She was killed in a moonjet crash on Dres,” answered Val. “Her body was then transported back home in a sealed cooler.” “Moonjet?” said Penelope. “I’m not surprised; more crashes involve SSTOs than rovers AND conventional landers. Why are YOU asking about her?” “She was my student,” sighed Val, “and we think that her jet may have been tampered with.” “Ha, please,” scoffed Penelope. “Those things will kill you even if you DON’T mess with it.” “Okay, do you know Agaden Kerman?” asked Bob. “Yes, I do. It’s that elite cadet on Eeloo who got poisoned,” said Penelope. “And her jet crashed in the same fashion as Harriet’s,” finished Val. “BOTH were hacked, and it caused them to crash and almost kill their occupants; Harriet was just unlucky.” “Hacked… wait, you’re SERIOUS?” Penelope gasped in shock. “They were sabotaged? Another reason to stay AWAY from the moonjets here.” “Okay, did you notice anything weird going on while you were on Dres?” started Bob. “Rumors, suspicious deaths… blackmail ops?” “The only thing fishy I knew about was the guys smelling like fish after entering the truck,” answered Penelope, and Bob smirked. “Yeah, we do that a lot,” he commented. “Really, nothing else?” asked Val, leering at Penelope. “Okay, so I heard talk about this guy who was blackmailing crewmembers,” admitted Penelope. “You get a name?” inquired Bob. “If I knew who he was, I’d tell you,” said Penelope. “The weird thing is that he was said to blackmail WOMEN more than he did MEN.” “Why?” asked Bob, but Val interrupted him. “Thank you for your time, Corporal,” she told him, then she, Bob, and Rabal left Penelope to resume the protest. “What was THAT about?” wondered Rabal. “One of the passengers who was on the moonjet Harriet piloted was repeatedly accused of extortion,” explained Val. “Penelope knows nothing.” “How did you know? She said that she knew about the blackmail operation,” asked Bob. “Only that there were rumors about them,” said Val, “but she thought it was a MAN.” “Wait, so this blackmailer’s a woman?” inquired Rabal. “You got it,” said Bob. “The part about her blackmailing more WOMEN than MEN, we DIDN’T know.” “I kinda guessed,” commented Val. “Speaking from experience, women tend to find juicier secrets when gossiping with other women than they do men.” “I don’t get it,” replied Bob. “If the program is mostly male, why target the females? Wouldn’t it make more sense to target the MEN, where there would be more dirt available?” “Maybe there are more women on Dres than there are men,” guessed Rabal. “Like I said, women are more likely to dig up dirty gossip when talking to other women than they are talking to men,” said Val. “Bob, name the most scandalous thing you remember happening while you were in Woomerang.” “Like the legend of Misty Kerman, the murderer who avoided punishment,” said Bob. “Besides that,” Val requested. “Hmm, well… I remember hearing about a bunch of guys in our football team who hired the science students to douse the cheerleaders in a dopamine-increasing love potion,” Bob recalled, then he started to chuckle. “The cheerleaders fell in love, all right – with US.” “You think that’s funny?” asked Rabal. “Yes, since the football players’ plan wasn’t thought through,” explained Bob. “Where’d they come from, Baikerbanur?” “If Sally was alive, she’d tell you TEN TIMES dirtier stories than that,” said Val. “Trust me.” “Speaking of Sally, one of her students thinks Misty Kerman shot her,” commented Bob. “Bill emailed us and said that his rocket COULD NOT have caused her house fire.” “I know, I got it too,” Val responded. “Just because Bill’s rocket didn’t commit arson doesn’t mean that Misty Kerman shot Sally.” Her kPad then buzzed and she unlocked it. “Whatcha got?” asked Bob after Val read it for 30 seconds “YES!” cheered Val, bringing her fist down in triumph. “Eh… Captain, you have clearance to your base personnel files, right?” “Yes, Admiral,” acknowledged Rabal. “Good,” said Val. “Look for Kafield Kerman and James Kerman.” She then left for some privacy as Rabal and Bob walked in the other direction. “What’s with her?” asked Rabal. “I don’t know,” said Bob, then the two of them approached one of the bunks and Rabal unlocked the doors. “Get up!” ordered Rabal as she tossed a man out of the bed. “Oh, I’m awake, Cap,” he stammered as he hastily stood up. “Sergeant Kafield, reporting for duty.” “Relax, Sarge. We just want to ask you some questions before you resume sleeping,” said Rabal. “Remember: you got the night shift.” “Yes, Captain,” acknowledged Kafield. “How can I help you?” “You were on Dres a few years ago, correct?” started Bob. “That is correct, sir.” “What were you doing?” “I was an SSTO pilot,” answered Kafield, surprising Bob. “Uh… what kind?” “Moonjets and mun hoppers,” said Kafield. “Fun fact: I flew myself to Laythe in a mun hopper.” “Really, you didn’t take an interplanetary travel pod?” asked Bob. “Also, those things can only take three people at a time.” “At least I can land directly on Laythe while I need to wait for someone else to pick me up if I use the pod,” said Kafield. “Did you ever fly Moonjet 79?” questioned Bob. “How should I know? It’s not like they let you keep the rental receipts.” “But they keep it in your file,” reminded Rabal. “Search all you want,” said Kafield. “Why are you so interested in that ONE jet?” “Hmm, let’s see… hey, you did,” said Rabal, and Bob glared at Kafield. “Were you involved in the death of Harriet Kerman?” he questioned, and Kafield’s eyes widened. “Harriet Kerman?” Kafield gasped. “No, we loved each other. When I heard about her death, I was devastated. Mission Control had to put me on leave for five days.” “Then why were you piloting Moonjet 79?” “I don’t know; I only did small crew transfers,” answered Kafield. “He’s right, the last time he flew Moonjet 79 was for a crew rotation to Edwards Mobile Base,” confirmed Rabal. “Does it have a date?” asked Bob. Rabal scoffed. “What DOESN’T.” He looked at Kafield’s file, then accessed his notes on his own kPad. “Wait a minute,” said Bob. “His landing time was an hour before Harriet took off… from that same mobile base.” “What does that mean?” wondered Rabal. “Kafield’s crew rotation was the last flight Moonjet 79 did before it tried to kill Harriet,” explained Bob. “Wait, how does a jet try to kill someone?” asked Kafield. “I’ve heard of poor designs before, but since when does it TRY to kill you. Is it like that old movie, The Asteroid Odyssey?” “Something like that,” said Bob. “Did you notice anything fishy going on between when you landed that day and when Harriet took off?” “Let me think…,” started Kafield. “Well, there was that one girl who Harriet didn’t like that got on board the jet with her.” “Why didn’t she like her?” wondered Bob. “Because that girl was blackmailing Harriet and a bunch of the other crewmembers, including Harriet,” said Kafield. “If I hadn’t kissed Harriet at the last minute, she would have clawed her eyes out.” “Does ‘that girl,’ have a name?” questioned Rabal. “I think it was Danny… no, wait, it was Danielle… or Dana. I DO remember it started with ‘Dan’ or something like that.” “Danlong?” inquired Bob. “That could be it,” said Kafield. “How did you know.” “There were two others in that jet when Harriet crashed; Danlong Kerman and Alva Kerman,” clarified Bob. “I also know Danlong was accused of extortion, and she now has permanent residence on Dres.” “I don’t know who Alva is,” commented Kafield. “Do you remember anyone… hanging around too close to that jet?” said Bob. “Anyone… mess with the hardware or plug something in to the probe core?” “Let me think… now that you mention it, Danielle DID enter the jet before MY guys were all out of there,” said Kafield. “I don’t know why the rush; it’s not we ever have seating trouble.” “Did you see her do anything?” “Besides shutting the airlock behind her right after I disembarked, no.” “Did anyone else get in besides these three?” asked Bob, showing Kafield pictures of the three women. “Hmm… nope. Where are you going with this?” “We think Moonjet 79 was sabotaged and reprogrammed to kill Harriet,” said Bob. “I doubt it. The investigative board said that she was texting and flying,” contradicted Kafield. “While she was HIT OVER THE HEAD?” replied Bob. “I don’t know about that, but I guess that’s expected in a fatal plane crash,” said Kafield. “Why do you think it was sabotaged?” “We’ll get to that later,” said Bob. “Why were you in Poseidon’s Palace several months ago?” “I was on leave,” answered Kafield. “I flew to the military installation to see some buddies from the military.” “That’s on the other side of the planet,” argued Bob. “Why were you at Poseidon’s Palace?” “Captain, are you seriously allowing him to question what I do on my leave time?” said Kafield. “Under normal circumstances, I’d have thrown him out,” answered Rabal. “Now, what were you doing at Poseidon’s Palace?” “Okay, fine, I was looking for chicks,” Kafield confessed. “Before I could return to Vall, Laythe was on lockdown. I figured I might as well go to base and… find… someone to fill in the hole my heart sustained from losing Harriet.” “Lockdown?” wondered Bob. “Why?” “Nobody really knows,” said Kafield. “Some say that someone drowned some girl and set up Admiral Val, others say… the admiral really did do it.” “He’s talking about Sheri,” Bob told Rabal, “and yes. Admiral Val WAS framed.” “Where did you land when going to Laythe?” asked Rabal. “The runway near the military base,” answered Kafield. “I took a mun hopper to the installation, then I rode an air-breathing jet to Poseidon’s Palace to… put myself out there. Any other questions?” “We’ll need to confirm your story,” said Bob, then Kafield asked to type a number into Bob’s kPad. “A girl named Grarey gave it to me before I left,” said Kafield. “I’ve been calling her since. Anything else?” “How well do you know Agaden Kerman?” finished Bob. “I didn’t even know she existed until that story about her getting poisoned blew up on Kerbnet,” said Kafield. “Why ask?” “Because her jet crashed in the same manner as Harriet’s,” said Bob. “Only this time, Agaden wasn’t hit over the head; she was with Jeb.” “I’m surprised she was poisoned,” commented Kafield. “Knowing Jeb’s reputation, he doesn’t need POISON to kill anyone – just his crazy head.” “Eh… one last question. Was Moonjet 79 working fine the last time you flew it?” “Worked like a charm,” said Kafield. “Thank you,” said Bob as he and Rabal left him. “We gotta tell Val we found her student’s boyfriend – AND the last one to pilot Moonjet 79 before it crashed.” “Admiral!” shouted Rabal, but she found Val in the EVA suit closet with the door open. “What am I gonna do?” she asked herself, looking at her kPad. “What am I gonna say?” “Admiral are you okay?” interrupted Bob, and Val turned to him. “Oh, hey guys,” said Val. “Whatcha get?” Bob and Rabal then told her everything they learned from their discussion with Kafield. “Whoa, I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.” “Probably because you prohibited romances in your cadre,” commented Bob. “Sounds right,” said Val. “Just who was that?” asked Rabal. “Was it General Jackson?” “No, she can write her own emails to him,” said Bob. “I’m guessing… the prime minister.” “The PRIME MINISTER?” gasped Rabal. “Why would he contact YOU?” “It’s not the prime minister of Kerbin,” said Val. “It’s… personal.” “We’re gonna talk to James now,” said Bob. “Wanna come?” “No, you go ahead,” answered Val. “I’ll wait here.” “Not in that closet, you’re not,” objected Rabal. “Fine,” sighed Val. “I’ll go with you.” The three of them put on EVA suits and found James working on the ISRU converter outside. “Hey, James,” shouted Rabal. “Yes, Captain,” said James, putting away his power tools. “This is Dr. Bob Kerman and Admiral Val Kerman,” explained Rabal. “They would like to ask some questions about your activities on Dres and Laythe.” “Okay, shoot,” said James. “I opted out of Team-Up Day ceremonies by taking extra work, so I have all day.” “What were your duties on Dres?” asked Val. “I was the in-situ resource utilization specialist,” answered James. “I was moved from base to base – and even several trucks – to assist with ore conversion to fuel, oxidizer, and monopropellant.” “So, basically, you were an ISRU handyman,” Bob summarized. “Yes, like that,” confirmed James. “Whenever I got comfortable with one place, I was yanked into another. Not even the mobile base could hold on to me; why not just drive to that spot?” “Did you work with the hardware or software?” asked Bob. “Hardware,” said James. “No software in the solar system will do any good if the machine’s broken. Besides, how many ISRU systems malfunctions have failed because of SOFTWARE glitches?” “He’s right. Usually something overheats or gets jammed before we need to call him,” confirmed Rabal. “Did you ever work with Moonjet 79’s converter?” questioned Val. “How should I know? I don’t pay attention to the numbers; just their PHYSICAL converter problems,” said James. “Did you work with any moonjets?” asked Bob. “Yeah, but like I said I don’t remember their numbers.” “Do you know Harriet Kerman?” questioned Val. “I KNEW her,” sighed James. “She died in a plane crash years ago… terrible thing.” He kicked a nearby rock away from the base. “But… that’s to be expected when you’re texting and flying.” “She wasn’t texting and flying,” said Val. “She was hit over the head and her plane was sabotaged.” “Whoa, are you saying she was MURDERED?” gasped James, and Bob and Val nodded. “Let me assure you I had NOTHING to do with that. I was in-transit to Eve when I heard about Harriet’s crash.” “Eve, what were you doing on Eve?” “Well, I’m an ISRU specialist,” started James. “I was assigned to handle new converters designed to NOT set off raw explodium.” “Okay, so you went to Eve,” said Val. “Where’d you go after that?” “Home for extended leave,” sighed James. “If it were up to me, that would have been the end of my career as a kerbalnaut.” “Yet here you are,” commented Bob. “Why did you come here if you planned to quit?” “As much as I loved space travel, I wanted a place to call ‘home,’” explained James. That’s what getting pushed back and forth among bases on Dres will do to you. When I found an opening for an ISRU specialist on Laythe, I took it.” He then turned to Rabal. “I… also applied for permanent residence on Laythe, since it at least has breathable air and friendly neighbors.” “Then why are you on Vall?” asked Val. “Guess,” sighed James. “We… had an underperforming converter,” explained Rabal. “How well did you know Agaden Kerman?” “Agaden Kerman?” repeated James. “She was my math teacher’s daughter.” “Finally, someone who REALLY knew her,” said Bob. “Were you close?” “Not really,” said James. “Well… I was closer to her dad than I was her. Not only was he my math teacher, he wrote a letter of recommendation for me to join KSP.” “Did you think she was hot?” asked Bob. “Dude,” said Val. “What, unrequitted love can sometimes be a strong motive for murder,” explained Bob. “I… hope you guys are discreet about this,” said James. “I’m… actually gay.” “James, nobody cares,” sighed Bob. “It does if you want to find whoever poisoned her,” James replied. “My boyfriend’s… a base guard on Laythe. As soon as I’m done up here, I’m going back there to rejoin him.” “Base guard… Eli?” guessed Bob. “How do you know?” asked James. “He told me he was gay, but didn’t say with who,” explained Bob. “Ask him, he’ll tell you I am NOT a killer,” said James. “Nobody said anything about a killer,” pointed out Val. “Then why would you ask me about a cadet who was poisoned on another planet?” asked James. “If it was an ACCIDENTAL poisoning, you wouldn’t care.” “Good point,” commented Val. “We’ll be in touch.” “Anything to catch Laplace Kerman’s daughter’s killer,” said James, and the three kerbalnauts left him. “How did you get a base guard to tell you he was gay?” wondered Rabal. “It slipped out while interrogating me about Sheri’s death,” said Bob. “I heard that,” said James. “If you want privacy, either change channels or take it inside.” Once Bob, Rabal, and Val were back inside, they removed their EVA suits and took notes on what they remembered from their discussion with James into their kPads. “Assuming they’re all telling the truth, the only person who looks capable of committing the crime is James,” commented Bob. “Penelope said that she only went to the base for a medical exam after the Zeus was destroyed, which makes sense given the fact that Matt and Scott are there too. Kafield went to Poseidon’s Palace from Victor’s base to look for girls around the time Sheri died, which was AFTER Moonjet 314 was hacked. James, however, had full access to the base at the time.” “Keep in mind that all the other three went straight here from Dres,” said Val. “James went to two planets in between Dres and Jool; remember how you and Sheri went to Duna after Dres, but before Laythe.” “He didn’t have to be there for the 79 virus to work; he just needed Danlong to do his dirty work for him,” reminded Bob. “You remember what Kafield said about Danlong barging in to the jet before it took off.” “Yeah, but… why wouldn’t you stay and watch the fireworks?” said Val. “To throw people off in case they know it was sabotaged,” suggested Bob. “Being in-transit to Eve while your accomplice cries bad pilot… perfect cover.” “But Agaden was his math teacher’s daughter. Why would he want to hurt her?” “Everybody gets mad at their math teacher for something,” said Bob. “Even you?” asked Val. “Yes, and don’t tell me you didn’t,” replied Bob. “In some cases, they’ll hurt the teachers’ kids to get back at their targets.” “Even if that teacher wrote them a letter of recommendation?” “Some people just won’t let go of grudges,” said Bob, hanging his head. “For instance, I’m still mad at Flash Kerman for replacing my dissolved chloride salts with explosives.” “You told us that story a million times,” sighed Val. “You tried to make a firey rainbow for the science and art convention, KA-BOOM!” “After getting out of the hospital, I was ARRESTED for unlawful possession and handling of explosives,” explained Bob. “The only reason I don’t have a criminal record is because some kid filmed Flash making the switch. Did HE get any jail time, NO! Makes me wish I used blister agents on him when I had the chance.” “How do you hire agents to give him blisters?” wondered Rabal. “It’s a type of chemical weapon,” clarified Bob. “They are lethal, EXTREMELY dangerous, and illegal. Some formulas are also classified as weapons of mass destruction.” “I get that feeling,” said Val. “Bill and I almost built an Iron Kerbal suit to blow up the corrupt businessmen who KNEW his mom was getting irradiated but did nothing about it.” “Better idea than using the blutonium in Bill’s RTG to resurrect his mom,” commented Bob, “AND for turning Bill into the Hunk. Like THAT’S scientifically accurate.” “Worst ideas ever,” commented Rabal. “The blutonium ideas, I mean… but the Iron Kerbal suit just to murder people is also a bad idea.” “You see my point?” asked Bob. “Yes, I get it,” said Val. “Even if James wanted to hurt Laplace, why take it out on the girl?” “Maybe it’s THE GIRL he’s mad at and NOT the teacher,” suggested Rabal. “Why would he want to kill HER?” countered Val. “She’s on another planet and taking a different track than he did. Chances are that they might have never seen each other again.” “Interplanetary travel sometimes does things to your mind,” said Rabal. “Several of my cremembers have gone insane after a while here.” “Yes, see, like THAT,” agreed Bob. “Even if he buried the hatchet years ago, he must have dug it up in a rage and decided to finally settle a score amid the chaos in his mind.” “We’ll have to check everyone’s alibis,” said Val. “Thank you, Cap…,” she was then interrupted by a man running through the airlock as his EVA suit disassembled. “What is it Duvey?” “Admiral Val,” he panted, “there’s… been a sh… a shoot…” “Deep breath and spit it out,” demanded Val, and Duvey obeyed. “There’s been another shooting at Poseidon’s Palace,” he reported. “Last I heard, 17 dead and 33 wounded… including Victor.” “VICTOR?” gasped Val. “We’d better get down there. Thank you, Captain.” “Anytime, Admiral,” said Rabal as Val, Bob, and Duvey got in their suits and headed for their SSTO. “Status report,” said Val after they entered the jet. “I heard a soldier went to the outdoor Team-Up Day gathering and opened fire with a machine gun,” said Duvey. “It was at Poseidon’s Palace.” “If it was at Poseidon’s Palace, what was Victor doing outside of his base?” asked Val. “I dunno, why did that guy shoot up the Palace?” replied Duvey. “Get us down to Laythe,” ordered Val. “But aren’t YOU the pilot?” asked Duvey. “You can do it, engineer,” assured Val. “If you’re not, just use MechJeb.” “Okay,” stammered Duvey as he asked MJ to get him to an altitude of 15 kilometers. “Yes, I did it.” “That wasn’t so hard, was it,” said Val. “How long until we get to Laythe?” “The next window opens in two days and it’s another one day and five hours to get there,” answered MJ. “Great,” sighed Val. “Well, gentlemen… I’m going to space and I’m bringing… an antenna. Bob, your turn.” “I’m going to space and I’m bringing an antenna and… a barometer.” “I’m going to space and I’m taking an antenna, a barometer, and a… come on… a Clamp-O-Tron.” As they waited for their transfer window, they continued with their games and chatter. After the three of them landed near Poseidon’s Palace, they were carefully inspected by base security and examined by a doctor before boarding a mini-bus back to the base. When Bob saw that the driver was nobody he knew, he asked why Guscan wasn’t there; apparently, Guscan had been wounded during the shooting. When they arrived at the base, Duvey headed to his quarters while Bob and Val looked for Eli. “Just who were you emailing during the flight?” Bob asked Val. “None of your business,” said Val. “It’s okay if it’s the prime minister,” said Bob. “Remember, all four of us had dinner with him after the Mun mission.” “I’ll tell you it’s NOT him,” answered Val, “current OR former.” “Eh… okay,” remarked Bob, then they found Eli. “Where’s Vic?” Val demanded. “Sick bay, with the rest of the wounded,” said Eli. “Where’s the shooter?” asked Bob. “Dead,” said Eli. “The guards shot him; he didn’t even try to run. Even when we told him to surrender, he kept on firing.” “Hang on,” interrupted Bob. “Was… he tested for volitium?” “Why do you think that?” asked Val. “Tami did more or less the same thing, only SHE was drugged,” explained Bob. “The guy who shot up the tower fled, which meant that he planned this on his own.” “Tami had a handgun while Reid had an ASSAULT RIFLE,” Eli pointed out. “Dr. Melinda had to delay the autopsy to tend to the wounded, but she tested his blood. He was CLEAN.” “Bill said that our bases were more likely to get attacked by rival Laythan tribes than other kerbals,” commented Val. “Can I see Victor?” “You’ll have to get permission from Dr. Melinda first,” said Eli, then he escorted Val and Bob to sick bay. “Hey, Doc. The admiral wants to see Victor Kerman.” “Yes, Eli,” said Dr. Melinda, and she led them to Victor’s bed. “What are you doing here?” asked Val. “I thought you were confined to your base.” “I HAD to come here,” explained Victor. “They were briefing the heads of Laythe operations on catching your tower bomber.” “He’s right,” confirmed Eli. “All military and civilian command personnel were summoned here to discuss how to apprehend the guy who shot up the airfield.” “Well, did you catch him?” questioned Bob. “No. Base security said that it’s just a matter of IDENTIFYING him now,” sighed Victor. “For all we know, it could be someone in this VERY ROOM.” “That doesn’t make sense,” said Bob. “Why swim all the way back to the base you tried to run away from after getting shot down?” “Yeah, and YOUR base has SSTOs ready,” added Val. “Why not go THERE?” “Uh, because my base is LOADED with big men carrying big guns,” replied Victor. “Anyone tries to steal a spaceplane, it’s scrap metal in seconds.” “Speaking of stealing planes,” said Eli, “did you notice anything strange about Reid Kerman before the shooting?” “You’ll have to speak with my lieutenant,” said Victor. “I was here when he was reported AWOL.” “When was he reported AWOL?” questioned Eli. “About… two Laythe days before the shooting,” answered Victor. “An hour before I got shot, I was notified that one of the hypersonic fighters had gone missing.” “We know, it’s parked at the landing strip,” said Eli. “We cross-referenced the ID tag with the stolen vehicle report.” “Can you think of any reason why Reid would fly here and cause mayhem?” asked Bob. “I heard he had PTSD from his previous deployment against the Krakenites on Kerbin,” said Victor. “However, if anything, he was more likely to shoot up HIS OWN base and not do it ALL THE WAY HERE.” “What makes you say THAT?” wondered Val. “He lost his family in a Krakenite attack on his hometown,” explained Victor. “I heard rumors that he had nightmares where he was the last man standing in a burning town being overrun by those terrorists.” “It actually makes perfect sense,” commented Bob. “His family and town are gone, so he flies to the enemy base to exact revenge.” “No, it doesn’t,” said Victor. “There are five charted Laythan settlements close to my base, so he was more likely to attack THEM.” “Did you see him target anyone in particular,” asked Bob, “or was it some random rampage?” “Yes, and no,” answered Victor. “I saw him approach this bald guy before shooting him five times, then he started shooting indiscriminately.” “Bald guy… Scott,” Bob figured out. “Yes,” said Eli. “Scott Kerman’s dead.” “Wait a minute,” said Val, “why would he target SCOTT? Why not just use a sniper rifle from far away?” “And you didn’t shoot back?” spat Bob. “How could I? The MPs confiscated my gun after Val got arrested for murder,” explained Victor. “The guards even took my ankle pistol when I was summoned here.” “That sucks,” commented Bob. “You know what else sucks?” Victor responded. “You getting chastised for only doing your job.” “Committing murder?” said Bob. “Hey, they were savage hostiles with blood on all their hands,” said Victor. “Anyone who dares favor the sacrifice of their own kind for another kind’s mere existence is a TRAITOR TO NATURE, just like those whiners and the guy who keeps giving you trouble.” “Ugh,” they heard a woman groan. “B… Bob?” “It’s Bob lady again,” sighed Victor. “She wouldn’t stop moaning about you, now talk to her before she worsens my bullet wound.” Bob moved to the other side of the curtain and saw Irpond lying on another bed. “You okay?” asked Bob. “I am, now that you’re here,” replied Irpond. “I meant your injuries,” clarified Bob. “I’m fine, I was just shot in the side,” said Irpond. “Nothing serious.” “That’s good to hear,” said Bob. “Why did Reid target Scott?” “Scott?” gasped Irpond. “I… don’t know.” “That’s odd,” said Bob, scratching his chin. “A soldier with PTSD who just snapped seemed to put in a lot of time and effort just to start with Scott.” “Actually, we have evidence that he killed several others at the landing strip before opening fire at the base,” corrected Eli. “The alarms didn’t go off since they were silent killings.” “Strange, seems like a stretch to go from silent assassin to loud rampager that quickly,” said Bob. “And why start with Scott?” “THAT is strange,” agreed Eli. “Even stranger than him turning up negative for drugs.” “Why would Reid… do such a thing?” sobbed Irpond. “The real question is why would Reid do such a thing in such a manner?” said Bob. “Even if Scott did something horrible to Reid, why kill the civilians too? He should have known that he was never gonna walk out of there alive. I mean, if that were me, I’d have just used a sniper rifle and beat it.” “Also, wouldn’t a fighter cause more destruction than an automatic rifle?” added Eli. “He could just destroy the ENTIRE BASE and bail before sufficient reinforcements arrived.” “At the same time I’m willing to say ‘planned hit,’ all the evidence points toward random crazyhead,” remarked Bob. “If all he wanted was to cause as much bloodshed as possible, why did he wait until he was near Scott?” “I’ve investigated mass shootings before leaving Kerbin, but THIS makes NO sense,” said Eli, and Bob looked at him. “I used to be a cop before I heard of a job opening on Laythe.” “I thought you needed to be… smarter and/or a licensed high-grade pilot to go interplanetary,” said Bob. “Yes, but they needed extra security for the bases,” explained Eli. “I was glad to enlist.” “Uh… can we talk outside the room?” asked Val, and she, Eli, and Bob left sick bay. “We located your boyfriend, James,” said Bob. “He was on Dres before getting assigned to Jool, but he was on Eve and Kerbin in between then.” “That’s right,” said Eli. “Why are you bringing this up?” “He had ample opportunity to hack Gus and Linus’ emails and hacked Moonjet 314,” explained Val. “Not only was he on-base at the time the false emails were sent, he knew Agaden personally.” “How so?” asked Eli. “She was his math teacher’s daughter,” said Bob. “Laplace Kerman?” gasped Eli. “No, you got it all wrong. James spoke HIGHLY of him; he was James’ hero.” “What about Agaden?” wondered Bob. “He mentioned her a few times before she died,” said Eli. “One time, she had a crush on him while he was at school.” “She was crushing on HIM?” inquired Val. “Yes, but… he was gay then,” said Eli. “At the time… it was a big deal regardless of what side you were on. Still is here, in fact.” “I thought the crewmembers didn’t really care,” commented Bob. “Try the tourists and the military installation,” said Eli. “I thought you said you were interviewing other people on Vall.” “Yes, but they have alibis,” explained Val. “Penelope never set foot on base until AFTER the Zeus was destroyed, and that was for a medical exam before she could resume duty. While Kafield took leave on Laythe around the time the phone emails were sent, he was at the military installation; he went to Poseidon’s Palace after Sheri died just for a chance to pick up some women.” “To sum up, they didn’t have the chance,” said Bob. “James, however, had ample opportunity – not to mention he was the only one we talked to who knew Agaden BESIDES from the news.” “Opportunity, but not the means or motive,” Eli contradicted. “He’s good with fixing ore converters, but terrible at programming them – let alone vehicles. Trust me, he tried to reprogram a mini-bus to go faster; we had to get him out with a laser cutter before fixing the software. As for motive… I’m the closest guy he has, and I can’t really paint him as a killer. Sleep-deprived occasional hothead, tops.” “He does have a point,” said Val. “I mean, current base personnel had PLENTY of opportunity… and maybe even… TOURISTS.” “I checked all the tourist files; NONE of them have ever been to Dres,” countered Eli. “Maybe another space agency sent them there,” suggested Bob. “Even so, all interplanetary travelers are required to have a complete record of where they were at what times and what they did – REGARDLESS of WHO sent them into space,” reminded Val. “Exactly,” agreed Eli. “We haven’t completed all the interviews yet, but so far none of them look good for hacking Moonjet 314. Some of them we’ll NEVER get to since they died in the shooting.” “Like I said earlier, very odd indeed,” said Bob. “Why start with Scott?” “And why did he need an automatic rifle for the job?” added Val. “Wouldn’t a handgun be easier to hide?” “Maybe it was a planned hit that was supposed to LOOK LIKE a random rampage, but the gunman went rogue,” thought Eli. “Again, chances are… we may never know.” “I hope the military has better luck on ITS end,” said Val. “Why steal an armed fighter and an assault rifle and fly all the way to Poseidon’s Palace to land here and mow down the Team-Up Day gathering. Makes more sense to just use ordinance now that the tower’s out of commission.” “Hey, you know any other bald guys here?” asked Bob. “Oh, you think that Reid was going for SOMEONE ELSE but picked Scott by mistake,” said Eli, and Bob nodded. “As far as I know, the only bald guys on this rock are at the military base.” “Okay, so Scott was the intended target,” said Bob. “The question is why.” “He definitely wasn’t just a hired gun,” said Val, “since hitmen are typically SMARTER than that… and so are regular soldiers.” “Actually, Admiral, he was Special Forces,” corrected Eli, “but you’re right. He’s too smart for that.” “Besides psychotic breakdown, I got nothing,” said Bob. “What about you, Val?” “Maybe if you look into Reid’s personal life, you may find something tying him to Scott,” suggested Val. “You might wanna full molecular scan of Reid’s blood in case you missed anything,” added Bob, and Eli thanked the two of them. “You think they missed something?” asked Val. “Maybe,” said Bob. “I’m just not convinced that some Special Forces under a psychotic breakdown would take the time to fly all the way here and kill Scott before moving on to other civilians… and his commanding officer.” “Maybe he had no plans to get taken alive,” replied Val. “Then why start with Scott… and kill innocent bystanders too?” sighed Bob. “It makes no sense.” “I’ll be in my quarters now,” said Val. “What are you gonna do?” “Plants again,” said Bob, then Val walked to her bunk and activated her kPad. How was your day, Bill? Weird. Mine too. How so? One of Vic’s men shot up Poseidon’s Palace. The weird thing is he started with Scott Kerman after a mini-bus ride from the landing strip. - He also took a fighter to the base. Why didn’t he just blow it up and run? If you think that’s weird, my rocket COULD NOT have caused Misty’s house fire. - Even the craters found on her walls weren’t caused by my debris. Also, one of the students accused Misty Kerman of killing Sally. Did s/he see her? No. If she was in the building at the time, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did it. The weird thing is that there was a close cluster of craters on the walls even though I should have landed KILOMETERS away from the target. She probably took a sledgehammer to the walls and smashed some holes. Why would she do that? More importantly, HOW? That would require prior knowledge about the incoming debris. - Also, why didn’t she just SAY that she saw meteors (in my case, debris) falling out of the sky? Are you just prejudiced? Not as prejudiced as my parents (or my brother towards Laythans), but yes. Why WOULDN’T I be if I was set up by her and her computer-geek daughter? Misty could have ACTUALLY been kidnapped and the perp impersonated you. - And why are your parents prejudiced towards Misty? I was 10 when Misty was on trial for murder. Even after her acquittal, Mom and Dad hated her guts – despite the fact that we’re in two separate towns. I think I was in a coma at the time of the trial, but I remember my parents telling me to stay away from Misty’s house whenever we visited Woomerang. When Mom died, our anger was directed towards the Nuclear Battery and away from Misty – yet he knew safety negligence did not warrant murder. If Jeb were here, he’d accuse Misty of killing your mom via radiation poisoning. Impossible. The cancer took years to kill Mom, and we’re in different towns. Besides, the schematics for the safety measures show serious inadequacies. Whatcha doing now? Right now, refueling a Mk. Vb travel pod for the trip to Dres. You? Fun fact: one of the graduating cadets is going with us. Awesome. We’re looking at possible suspects for the moonjet hackings – but found no really good ones. Hope they catch him. Victor said that we may die from Laythan hands if we stayed here. I didn’t think we’d die from KERBAL hands. Seems like it. Why did you write to me after so long? Same reason I told Roger to check Mission Control’s archives. Spit it out. I think I’d rather wait until we see each other face-to-face. That’s in ten years. Tell me now. Fine. I’ve had a crush on you since high school. Really? Took you THAT long to admit it? I was scared, okay. There, I said it. What was there to be scared about? I already lost my mom. Considering the long-term consequences, I didn’t want to lose you. Bill, nobody thinks that far ahead when asking each other out. I do. You’re also no stranger to thinking things through in the long-term. What was the worst that could have happened? 1) You reject me and get yourself hurt dating some jock (like Jeb’s football friends) 2) You accept, but I fail to meet your standards à you know how girls have standards for their mates à and it eventually results in outcome 1. 3) You accept, and we date for a while, but we break up with no chance of reparation. 4) We eventually get married and start our own family, but one or both of us dies prematurely. If we have kids, it wouldn’t work out too well. 5) Our marriage ends in divorce, when we realize too late that we weren’t meant to be. I get it. If you were so scared, why did you even write that love email to me? It’s about time I got it off my chest. I just found the news of the Laythe shooting on the news. At this rate, you’ll die before you and Bob can leave. Since you put it that way, I need to tell you something while I’m still alive. I’ve liked you since high school. And if you didn’t see that, then you’re a dumber engineer than Mission Control thinks you are. When I lost Mom, I lost her insight. Didn’t you dad tell you to just get out there and not be afraid. The guys who did that were the jerks. I didn’t want to turn out like them. Says the guy who wanted to blow up his mother’s employers. Because they practically murdered Mom. Enough of the past. Now that our confessions are out of the way, what do you want to do about it? I’d say dinner and a movie, but that’s ten years from now – in Dres. We could send love emails to each other before then. Seems like our only option. If you had a crush on me, why didn’t you tell me? I wanted you to make a move on me. That’s odd. I was expecting the same thing from you. It’s traditional for the male to make the first move – you know that’s how it’s done in Baikerbanur. It was NOT tradition for the female to be a sensible badass like YOU are. I thought you had the guts to ask me out. You think I was going to date a guy who didn’t even have the nerve to ask ME out? Knowing you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you started it. Were you just testing me? Darn right, and you’re 20 years overdue. You just gave up? Didn’t you have some fail-safe measure in case that didn’t work? Didn’t you have yours? Val sighed in disappointment. Her crush had admitted to having feelings for her, only he delayed confessing his own love to her for decades. Though she had wished he asked her out when he had the chance, she had to admit he was right. Val certainly had the courage to ask him out on a date, but she didn’t even when Bill never made a move. She then realized why her brother called her a coward after she came back from prom crying. “That was the opportunity of a lifetime and you just BLOW IT!” he had told her. “He was in your grasp, and you LET HIM GO… and NOW you want him back. You don’t just wait for him to notice you; you GET OUT THERE!” At the time, she thought it was just more unwarranted sibling rivalry. Now, she understood what he meant. “I had you,” she sobbed on her uniform. “I had you… I’m not going to let you go THIS time.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SINGLE STAGE TO DEATH 90 kilometers above Kerbin, Sally was doing the final checks on the model rocket her class had built. She was in an SSTO, along with a pilot named Obcal and an engineer named Maglock. Though this was not part of Bill’s instructions to recreate the launch which may or may not have set Misty’s house on fire, Sally thought it best to recreate the launch in the most similar conditions by launching the rocket at a condemned house built like Misty’s. This model had not been finished, as Bill’s original design (and the class’ launch replica) had dropped the solid rocket boosters and the initial ascent engine before its apoapsis reached 75 kilometers altitude. It wasn’t hard for Sally to acquire a spot in the next orbital tourist flight. As she was once a kerbalnaut in the so-called “Golden Age,” – the time when the program made excellent progress in crewed missions (and stranded Guscan in Kerbol orbit) – the administrators were more than happy to offer her a discount. She had received an additional discount when Werner saw the replica of Bill’s rocket, recalling a time decades ago when a younger Bill asked him how it was possible his rocket failed during the re-entry phase. Sally smiled at this deal and gave the administrators a copy of Bill’s old mission log, as well as the coordinates the Krakopolis city government gave her for the condemned house. The mission plan was to take off from the space center in a mun hopper – which was the predecessor to the moonjet – then ascend into an equatorial orbit around the planet. After the orbital circularization, the plane would adjust its orbit so that, when the rocket was deployed, it would come in at a safe heading toward the condemned house in case the debris missed the target; Mission Control did not want to put any citizens in danger in case that happened. The plane would also descend so that the rocket would be dropped near the apoapsis of the original suborbital trajectory and begin its descent on the target. If all went as planned, the antenna would snap off and the rocket would lose control, causing it to break apart from aerodynamic forces and rain debris on the target. “So, remind me, when were you in the program?” asked Obcal. “Over a decade ago,” answered Sally. “Everything set, Maglock?” “Yes, Sally,” said Maglock. “I heard rumors that you and Admiral Val were cadre rivals.” “That’s right,” said Sally. “She’s now in jail for murder.” “Actually, I heard that she was let off,” corrected Obcal. “What? She was let off?” gasped Sally. “That’s right. She was framed,” explained Obcal. “She was FRAMED? By who?” wondered Maglock. “I don’t know, but rumor has it that it was some guy who destroyed a control tower on Laythe,” said Obcal. “What happened, did he crash into it?” asked Sally. “No, he bombed it,” clarified Obcal, “and he shot several others too.” “Okay, THAT’S a murderer,” remarked Sally. “Duh, who else could it be?” sighed Maglock. “I remember destroying the VAB one time in my cadet days,” said Sally. “By accident, of course.” “Yeah, our insurance rates skyrocketed because of people crashing into the VAB,” commented Maglock. “Do you know how many times people tried to land on the roof?” “Lots,” guessed Sally. “Can it, girls,” interrupted Oblong. “T-minus two minutes until release time.” “Hey, I’m older than you,” reminded Sally. “Maglock, can you help me put my suit on please?” “First of all, we don’t allow civilians outside of spacecraft,” said Maglock. “Second, we don’t put on suits like that anymore.” “How do you do it then?” Maglock then gave Sally the rocket and floated in the middle of the cabin with her arms and legs spread. “EVA me.” The suit closet opened and then Maglock had a self-assembled spacesuit on. “Pretty cool, huh,” she said through the plane’s radio. “Kinda like Iron Kerbal,” remarked Sally. “Yep,” said Oblong as he attached a tether to Maglock’s suit. “At the right time, you let go of the rocket and I’ll pull you back in. Then we program it to go on a crashing trajectory with the target and watch the fireworks.” “Got it,” said Maglock as she stepped in the airlock with the rocket. “Wish me luck.” Once she was outside, she waited for Oblong’s signal to let go of the rocket – which was at an altitude of 87 kilometers. Once the rocket reached the designated burn point, Sally would control the rocket to enter a re-entry trajectory that would take it to the targeted house. Maglock had insisted on controlling the rocket instead, but Mission Control gave that to Sally as she was more familiar with Bill’s model than Maglock’s was. Oblong and Maglock also suggested that they take aerobraking into account when targeting the house. However, as Bill originally did not consider that when plotting his trajectory to Misty’s house, the replica’s mission would not in order to simulate the original mission. Sally hypothesized that, if the rocket didn’t break up and disintegrate upon re-entry, it would land kilometers away from the target – introducing a strong possibility that Bill’s rocket had nothing to do with Misty’s fire. “T-minus five, four, three, two, one, release.” Maglock then let go of the model rocket and signaled Oblong to pull her back in. Almost a minute later, it was time for Sally to fire retrograde in order to create a trajectory that would take her to the target house at the same angle as Bill’s did – not accounting for aerobraking. “You know, your friend’s old mission log said that he lost contact with HIS rocket after it re-entered the atmosphere,” Maglock told Sally. “We have better communication strength than we did 21 years ago.” “Doesn’t matter if the antenna comes off,” reminded Sally. “Now let’s enjoy the show.” “You know, if all you wanted was to destroy a house with a rocket, you could have just stuffed it into a bazooka and aimed at the house itself,” said Oblong. “For the record, this experiment wasn’t my idea,” said Sally. “I mean… yes, I wanted to go into orbit to test the rocket… but the rest of the experiment was Bill’s and Bob’s idea.” “Two of the Famous Four?” asked Oblong. “Why would THEY want to know if Bill’s toy rocket was accurate? We have WAY better toys than THAT.” “They think it could have set Misty Kerman’s house on fire years ago,” explained Sally. “MISTY KERMAN?!” gasped both kerbalnauts. “You don’t mean THE Misty Kerman, do you?” asked Maglock. “Uh… what do you mean?” wondered Sally. “You mean to tell us that you don’t know what she did?” said Oblong. “I know about her being accused of murder,” sighed Sally. “However, she was innocent.” “So, you think,” said Maglock. “She covered up her crime well, then stole her victim’s one true love. The only reason she’s not dead yet is because of the double-jeopardy rule.” “Wait, so Bill tried to KILL her?” asked Oblong. “No, he didn’t try to kill her,” answered Sally. “He just wanted to drop a toy spy car into her house, but the mission went horribly wrong.” “Why did he need a suborbital rocket to do it?” inquired Oblong. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to drive near the house and deploy the probe there?” “He launched from Baikerbanur, and the house was in Woomerang,” explained Sally. “Bill also said his parents refused to let him go near it.” “I’d have just packed high explosives and targeted her house at night – WHILE accounting for aerobraking,” commented Maglock. “That means she gets blown up,” Sally pointed out. “That’s the idea,” spoke Maglock. “She deserves it, she’s a criminal.” “Even if she WAS guilty, that makes you a murderer,” said Sally. “Also, what if you miss? You’ll hit some random house in Woomerang.” “Who cares, we’re Badgers,” sighed Oblong. “Oblong, be nice,” said Maglock. “It is true, though; he and I are Badgers.” “Wait, if Bill was launching from home, how did he know about Misty’s house in Woomerang?” questioned Oblong. “He needed to get the geographical coordinates of that house before he could plot his suborbital trajectory, which means he needed the address.” “Bob said that he came by Woomerang to test one of his rocket boosters when he was working in Jeb’s Junkyard,” Sally told him. “That’s also when Bill and Bob first met. Bill then saw this ‘haunted-looking house,’ on his way out and wrote to Bob about it.” “He was building a rocket?” gasped Maglock. “Why?” Sally then accessed the email Bill sent her. “He said that the football team hired him to build a remote-controlled spy probe to watch the Woomerang team practice,” started Sally, “but they lied and were actually going to use it on their own girls’ locker room. Though the car itself worked on a separate occasion, the prototype would not have reached Woomerang – despite a 45-degree ascent angle and Jeb… not flying it.” “What’s the deal with Jeb flying it?” wondered Oblong. “It says here that Bill refused to go along with the football team’s plan once they told him the truth, so they got Jeb to fly it,” said Sally. “However, he didn’t read the instructions and the rocket had a rapid unplanned disassembly instead.” She paused as Maglock facepalmed herself. “He’s one of the reasons our insurance bill is high.” “Meanwhile, Bob and his little brother tried to sneak into Misty’s house – but they chickened out before they entered. Bill was also confident his… seventh prototype was sufficient to safely drop a toy spy car in Woomerang from Baikerbanur; he just needed a field test that was NOT the mean girls of Baikerbanur… which did not require suborbital trajectory. Bill was also curious about Misty’s house, and he and his friends – Jeb and Val – researched it. Bob then gave him the address, Bill got the geographical coordinates, and blastoff. Then, as you already know, Bill’s antenna broke during re-entry; the next he heard of his rocket was when fishermen pulled debris out from the ocean.” “Mam, could you please put away your kPad?” requested Oblong. “We’re about to descend.” “Oh, thanks,” said Sally as she put her kPad in her purse – which was stowed under her seat - and fastened her restraining harness. When the plane had landed, Sally was approached by a doctor after she had disembarked. As she was a civilian and not currently an official KSP member, she was required to undergo a medical examination after landing to ensure she did not catch any diseases (especially contagious ones) or otherwise any life-threatening health issues. She had passed with no problems and decided to hit the showers before leaving for the Krakopolis Airport to fly back to Woomerang. “If Bill didn’t anticipate aerobraking during re-entry, he should have missed Misty’s house,” Sally told herself. “But if that’s the case, then how did craters end up on the walls? Maybe Bill DID take that into account and forgot to log it, but even then with a loss of control it should have gone off-course and…,” Suddenly, she heard a door creak open and footsteps enter the locker room. “Who is it?” There was no answer, and Sally stepped out of the shower before changing clothes. “Uh… hello? Anyone.” Once she heard more footsteps, she turned around and saw someone standing behind her. “Oh, it’s just you.” Sally then heard a click and was surprised at what came next. BLAM! Inside Frosty Base, Bill was drawing design concepts for a power plant to place on Eeloo’s surface. Sure, the base had the means to generate its own electricity, but due to the planet’s far distance from the sun the Gigantor solar panels were arguably useless. Whatever idea was implemented by Mission Control would require cables designed to survive Eeloo’s climate and long enough to reach the base. Bill’s favorite idea involved a massive solar array with a lot of RTGs in the middle, all with an RA-100 relay antenna at the top. Though his job was to design a power station, he knew that Eeloo had spotty coverage and it needed to be addressed. Even the Mk. II “Ultimate relay antenna” in geosynchronous orbit over Frosty Base tended to be useless every few nights. “Man, I wish I could be back on Kerbin testing my rocket,” sighed Bill, then he decided to take a break and write an email to his father. From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Facing my Fear Dad, I saw the email that Sally sent to me on your behalf. I don’t know why you didn’t email me yourself, but I doubt it matters at this point. I led the investigative board to clues that proved Val was innocent. They haven’t caught the real killer yet, but Bob and Val believe that it’s the same person who hacked moonjets both on Dres and Eeloo. They also think it’s the same person who hijacked an asteroid redirection craft and caused it to hit the U.S.S. Zeus. · Don’t worry, I was nowhere near those planets at the time. Since I’m done testing my skis, I’ve now been assigned to draw design concepts for a power plant on Eeloo. Looks like I’m stuck using the RTGs · It will take more than just a solar farm due to the planet’s immense distance from Kerbol, rendering even the Gigantor solar panels almost useless even during the day. · A wind farm will do no good at all since the planet doesn’t even have an atmosphere. · Mission Control explicitly stated no fossil fuels – or use of fuel cells. · Unless it has ports to charge rovers, the station is useless without cables to reach the base/s. All work-related stuff aside, I really want to tell Val how much I feel about her. You and Mom are the ones who told me I should do it face-to-face; if that is not possible, I should do it over the phone. Even though that was in the days before texting and social media became popular, that lesson is still valuable. However, since Val is on a different planet from me (and since my Kerbnet coverage is spotty here), I can’t call her. We both plan to meet on another planet some day (for work), but due to transfer window timing I won’t be in range to call her for 10 years. It seems like the only option would be to send her a love email, but I am clueless as to how I word it. · If I tell her that I know that she has a crush on me, she’ll ask why and I’ll have to tell her about how Bob impersonated me to get her to spill her password (it was for work, and at the time she was a murder suspect) · I don’t want to lie to her. She’s a friend and lying is a direct violation of the Engineers’ Code of Honor. Can you please give me pointers on what to put on my confession email to her? Thank you. Your son, Bill. P.S. I will also formally request Mission Control to name the power plant “Edith Station,” in Mom’s honor. She worked in a nuclear plant… which killed her in the long run. Bill then sent his email and resumed calculating prototype power outputs compared to the inputs necessary to sustain themselves in Eeloo’s climate. For those with a negative net power, he either modified them or placed them in a folder labeled “Rejects.” He didn’t want to trash them in case he or someone else thought of a way to make that design work. “Hey, dude,” said Jeb. “Hi, Jeb,” replied Bill. “Whoa, first painting now architecture,” commented Jeb. “Looks like you’re the next Kerbalangelo.” “They were not paintings, and this is NOT architecture,” sighed Bill. “Hmm, they look just like buildings. No question: architect.” “I’m NOT taking up architecture,” Bill repeated. “I’m drawing design concepts for a new power plant to install on Eeloo.” “So, you’re designing a new base,” said Jeb. “Yep, definitely architecture.” “Uh FYI, all our surface bases were NOT designed by architects,” reminded Bill. “The ‘buildings’ are just to store the IMPORTANT stuff, like generators.” “Okay, chill, dude,” said Jeb, looking at the math. “Neat. You should definitely enter this one in a contest.” “For the hundredth time, it’s… actually, this design does look kind of beautiful,” said Bill. “Only one problem: this is a REJECT.” “Why, did someone call it ugly?” “No, Jeb, it has a negative net power production,” explained Bill. “It drains more than it generates.” “So, what? It may not work here, but it definitely will on Kerbin,” argued Jeb. “Hey, maybe you can put it on the Mun to test-land it.” “Great idea, Jeb… for the Mun test part,” agreed Bill. “Glad to know you’ve paid attention to the fact that solar panels DON’T work as effectively on Eeloo as they do on planets closer to the sun.” “Yeah. My Chirper keeps getting cut off because the first super-relays didn’t get enough electric charge to even circularize their orbits.” “You got any ideas for an Eeloo power plant?” asked Bill. “Hmm… how about a hot tub,” suggested Jeb. “Jeb, I’m building a power plant, not a new hotel,” said Bill. “By the way, a hot tub will actually DRAIN more power… unless…” He spent several seconds doing some math in silence, confusing Jeb. “Of course.” “Told you a hot tub was a good idea.” “Not a hot tub, a self-heating system that uses the excess heat generated off the RTGs,” explained Bill. “Our thermal control systems use liquid coolant pumped throughout the craft in question to remove excess heat from the hot parts and have it radiated out into space. Theoretically, with the proper liquid and pipe arrangement, dipping the RTGs in liquid will generate enough heat to slash the energy cost of heating the power plant.” “You mean a reverse radiator?” gasped Jeb. “Something like that,” said Bill, then Jeb’s kPad pinged. “Oh, the Daily Kerbin just came out,” said Jeb. “And today’s headlines… some woman got shot at the space center.” “Come on, man. What can possibly be so interesting about… space center?” “Yeah,” said Jeb. “The victim was an astrophysics teacher named… Sally Kerman.” “Oh no, dude,” gasped Bill. “According to this, one of her students said ‘Oh, it’s just you,’ before she heard a muffled gunshot,” continued Jeb. “She didn’t see the shooter, though.” “Where was she found?” asked Bill. “Let’s see… the ladies’ showers.” “Tell me she had just landed from an SSTO trip in Kerbin orbit,” sighed Bill. “Hmm… holy crap, she did,” gasped Jeb. “Are you, like, psychic or something?” “Actually… I…,” stammered Bill, then he told Jeb about the experiment he and Bob planned. “So, like, you blew up someone’s house 21 years ago?” asked Jeb. “Maybe, maybe not,” said Bill. “So far, I’m leaning towards ‘Maybe Not,’ because of the low chance of my debris setting a house on fire upon impact. I first thought it may have hit flammable objects NEXT to it – like trees or fallen wood – which then set the house on fire, but the arson report found no evidence of that.” “Well, what did you expect?” sighed Jeb. “If you’re gonna launch a missile at a house, expect it to catch fire.” “Says the guy who wrecked my prototype after neglecting to read instructions,” said Bill. “And NO, it wasn’t a missile; it was that toy car protype that you tried to get in the girls’ air duct.” “I thought it got destroyed before it hit the ground.” “Well, if you PAID ATTENTION to the staging sequence, you probably would have safely landed… on Victor’s car. Anyway, I built another one; it was the same design of the spy car that you found in the mean girls’ most frequent hangout. However, the rocket design was inadequate, and I had to redesign it to get me to Woomerang via suborbital trajectory.” “Why would you want to spy on some lady in Woomerang?” asked Jeb. “You said no to girls your OWN AGE, but you were perfectly fine with ones over twice that. That makes no sense.” “So does girls saying yes to men twice THEIR age, but that’s NOT the point,” sighed Bill. “My parents said that it was forbidden, and I wanted to know why. Besides, if I could land my probe in someone’s house, how hard could it be to land near Woomerang’s football team?” “But you didn’t, you screwed up.” “At least Val and I paid attention to what we were doing,” said Bill. “Yeah, I asked Val to fly it. You know why, because she PAYS ATTENTION.” “Wait, if Val was on board your mission 21 years ago, why wasn’t she involved in your experiment TODAY?” wondered Jeb. “Why is Bob involved, too? He was in Woomerang, AND younger than us.” “I tested my boosters at his school – you remember how underfunded the science department was – and he gave me Misty’s address,” explained Bill. “In return, I would give him all the data I had from inside the house… but that didn’t work. As for Val… I decided to scrap the rocket design and just drop a solar-powered spy car from a small plane. She flew to the drop zone and deployed it before turning around, the car got inside intel from Woomerang, end of mission.” “You know, we were totally lying about getting intel on Woomerang,” reminded Jeb. “I started that mission, and I was gonna finish it,” said Bill. “Besides, how else did your team captain anticipate Woomerang’s every move? He recognized the patterns from the practice videos I sent him.” “Man, you’re good,” said Jeb. “So… who on Kerbin would want to kill Sally?” “Someone she knew,” answered Bill. “Remember, someone heard her say ‘Oh, it’s just you,’ before she was shot. That meant she knew the woman who shot her.” “Or man,” remarked Jeb. “Uh, how many men do you see in ladies’ rooms?” sighed Bill. “Uh, a few… myself included,” admitted Jeb. “Dude, you’re have a serious discipline issue,” commented Bill. “The fact that it was a muffled gunshot meant that it was a planned hit and not some meeting gone bad.” “Planned hit? Like Agaden was?” said Jeb. “Yes, only the killer didn’t just mess with a moonjet – or in the most likely case, a mun hopper – and/or poison her. She straight-up shot her,” clarified Bill. “I’d better tell Bob and Val.” “Val? Why would you tell Val?” “Hopefully, her admiral-level clearance can get us who Sally knew at the space center that would want to kill her.” Commander Gustov then entered the room. “Captain,” he interrupted, “your turn for ore collection.” “Yes, Commander,” acknowledged Jeb. “Man, ore runs have doubled quite suddenly.” “That what comes with preparing to leave for Dres,” said Bill as Jeb left. “How are the power plants going?” asked Gustov, then Bill showed him his designs. “Impressive. Be sure to consider power loss in the cables when energy is going from the station to the bases.” “I also think we could benefit from an RA-100 relay or two on there since our coverage is bad,” added Bill. “Actually, what we need is a triangular arrangement of ultimate relays in Eeloo orbit,” remarked Gustov. “You are right, though; surface ops could really use some ground coverage.” “Selecting which design to use is gonna be the tricky part,” said Bill. “Aside from power output, I need to consider the assembly cost and means of descent.” “Just submit your best designs to KSC, let THEM worry about money and descent,” assured Gustov. “THEY’RE paying for it, NOT us.” “Not that it matters for Jeb and me,” said Bill. “We would have already left Eeloo by the time it gets here.” “Why are you going to Dres again?” asked Gustov. “To track down the woman we believe to be the accomplice to Agaden’s real killer,” reminded Bill. “Ah, yes… I never trusted Dres,” commented Gustov. “Being at the bottom of the program’s food chain would give scumbags a good place to hide, doesn’t it?” “Yeah, even our own moons get more funding individually than Dres,” said Bill. “The good news is that she has permanent residence on Dres. She’s not going anywhere for a while… hopefully not until AFTER Bob and Val catch her.” “What if she names the killer and he’s on Laythe?” asked Gustov. “Tell base security and the military,” said Bill. “Laythe’s on the TOP of the budgetary food chain.” “Oh, because the air is breathable like on Kerbin,” said Gustov and Bill nodded. “Carry on.” As soon as he left, Bill’s kPad beeped. Jeb @Bob, @Bill and I just learned that your friend Sally died. Bob I know, I saw it on the news days ago Jeb Days ago? I read about it on the Daily Kerbin just now? Bob Are you sure? Her plane crashed en route to Baikerbanur – NO SURVIVORS Bill Plane crash? What are you talking about? Bob Her box-wing airliner was sabotaged so that it would crash itself and the ejector cabin wouldn’t deploy. That was HER flight number. Jeb Are you sure there were no survivors? Bob Yes. 68 seats à 68 bodies Bill Then either Sally rose from the dead or she never got on the flight. Jeb @Bob, you gotta be honest with us. Is Sally running a cult of the undead? Bill Come on, @Jeb, don’t be ridiculous. By the way, aren’t you supposed to be flying an ore transport? Jeb I’m waiting for my circularization node. And it makes perfect sense. Zombies can only be killed with a bullet to the brain. Bob What the heck is going on here? Bill Sally was found dead at the space center JUST NOW – she was SHOT. Bob SHOT? Bill Yes, in the head. She was in the locker room when she was shot. It was after she had returned from an orbital flight around Kerbin. Val Sorry I’m late to the party, guys. Sorry to hear about your ex-girlfriend, Bob. Bob First my current girlfriend, then my ex-girlfriend. Who’s next, my mom? Bill Your mom’s still alive? Bob Last I checked (two days ago), yes. Val Mine, too. Jeb Mine’s not. She died in a plane crash a little after I was born. Bill @Jeb and @Val already know this, but my mom died of cancer when I was 15. On the other hand, we know that Sally knew her killer Bob How so? Bill Someone heard her say “It’s just you,” before she got shot. Jeb I know who we need to talk to. Joosyu Bill You got that idea from Purple Parrot, didn’t you? Jeb At least it worked Val That only works in movies Anyway, we at least know it was a woman that Sally knew. Jeb Or a man. Val She was killed in the ladies’ room. Bob @Jeb does have a point. A man could have waltzed in there when nobody was looking and shot her. Val @Bill, pull up the accident report for that plane crash @Bob mentioned. I want to know HOW EXACTLY that plane was sabotaged. Bill It was a box-wing airliner with a maximum capacity of 68, right? Bob Yes, @Bill. It was supersonic too. Bill Give me a minute. Bob Sally’s plane was sabotaged (only she wasn’t on it), only to end up getting shot. Definitely a hit Val What was Sally doing before she died? Bob She was testing to see if @Bill’s toy rocket set Misty Kerman’s house on fire 21 years ago. Bill You were with me that night we went up into space à and then the signal went dead. Val Oh, yeah. I remember. You then had the idea to just drop the probe into Woomerang with a plane after a suborbital flight didn’t work. Bill Got it – Flight LA8202 The fuse connecting the emergency manual switch to the ejection system was cut, rendering it useless. Additionally, a virus was discovered in the aircraft’s computers. - It was set to activate as soon as it reached a cruising altitude of 15 km above sea level. - Once activated, it would alter the controls and cause the plane to crash. Bob I can tell you that it’s NOT the moonjet hacker. - Too far away. - Different plane à different sabotage style. On the other hand, it may have happened before. I’ll ask Matt about it. Bill I could just find it myself. Bob Matt’s an engineer too – who also designed the aircraft in question. Bill Neat Val One thing’s for sure: Moonjets 79 and 314 and Flight LA8202 are connected by the same thing: hacked to cause death to the occupants. Jeb It’s perfectly clear who’s responsible: a ring of sinister jet hackers. Bill I’m thinking two different people with the same skill set – only Kerbin’s hacker had to get to the hardware too to ensure death. Val Or one helping the other. Jeb See, like that. Plus, can you imagine how much money you can get for selling computer viruses intended to crash planes rather than fly them? Bill Either way, Sally knew one of them. Bob And @Val and I need to find the other one before leaving for Dres. Val Assuming their cameras didn’t work at the time, here’s a list of parameters I think Mission Control should follow to find Sally’s killer. - (OBVIOUSLY) was within the space center perimeter, visitors included. - Physically capable of firing a gun. - Sally knew her (or him, @Jeb) well. Bill And was at Woomerang Airport right before LA8202 took off to Baikerbanur. The plane was working fine the flight TO Woomerang before the crash, so the killer had to sabotage the jet between landing and takeoff (giving him/her about an hour) Val I agree that Sally was the target. Since hacking the airliner failed, the killer went up to her and did the job herself. Bill Why? Bob I don’t know, but I don’t think @Val or her brother have anything to do with it. Bill Maybe this assassin’s the same person who kidnapped Irpond’s mom (and impersonated @Val). Val You really believe that con artist? Bill What? Misty confirmed Irpond’s story about being kidnapped – look it up. Val I think they’re BOTH lying. Bob You said it yourself, @Val. Whoever’s framing you is doing a good job at it. Her partner-in-crime (I’m saying her since Sheri’s killer is most likely female) on Kerbin could have kidnapped Misty and impersonated you to force Irpond to steal Wally’s RTG just so you’d get blamed for everything. Val OR Irpond stole your RTG all on her own and convinced her mom to lie about getting kidnapped (by me). Bill There are only three reasons why anyone would steal an RTG: - Sell it – but even then, one could easily dig up a spare RTG from the ground unnoticed and make a quick buck. Why steal it off an active robot that could recognize you once power was restored? - Use it - @Bob said that it was found in @Val’s closet, and it was not powering or heating anything. - Remove blutonium-238 from it – it was working fine once re-installed. If the blutonium was removed, chances were that a lot of people would have died from radiation poisoning. Val Reason Number 4: Pin it on someone else and say that her mom was kidnapped once the robot woke up. Bob Reason Number 5: Make sure Wally didn’t work at night when I snuck him into the Clivar site. - Not that it matters now. Those soldiers were pulled out of there after @Val was arrested. Bill Why would this guy (or girl) want to kill Sally? Bob Victor said that it was probably some lovesick psycho who killed Sheri. - More specifically, someone who has an unhealthy obsession with ME. This killer could also be the same person who stole my stuff and framed Wenpont for it. Bill Why bother having your ex-girfriend killed if only the current one posed a threat? Bob I agree, @Bill – and @Val’s obviously on Laythe, so a cadre grudge is NOT a motive Bill You think it could have something to do with Misty’s fire? Val What do you mean? Bill - Sally was going to take LA8202 to Baikerbanur, but somehow didn’t catch it (my guess, it got overbooked due to the maxed-out passenger capacity and she got booted out at the last minute). - The saboteur worked quickly to ensure that all fail-safe measures wouldn’t work when the plane lost control. Either this was some random psychopath and it was a coincidence, or someone who wanted her dead KNEW she would be on that plane. Bob But it didn’t work; she wasn’t on it Bill Like I said, there’s a good chance she was kicked out at the last second due to overbooking. - Once the saboteur saw the casualty list, she realized that her attempt to kill Sally DIDN’T WORK. So, she had to make a Plan B - She then hacked the KSP servers and waited until Sally landed to shoot her – when a witness happened to catch her say “It’s just you.” Jeb Actually, she posted a picture of her with her SSTO ticket on Chirper before she died. I’m guessing that’s how our killer knew where and when to strike next (space center after it landed) Bob Why not shoot her BEFORE the launch, or just use a sniper rifle? Val The space center will be crawling with guards until after the landing, then the security measures loosen à PERFECT time to slip into the locker room and shoot someone (somewhat) unnoticed. Bob Why would a scientific investigation pertaining to a house fire that was closed 21 years ago be worth killing over? Bill Maybe it REALLY WAS arson. - The arsonist then killed Sally to ensure nobody finds out that my rocket DID NOT start it. Bob But the arson report never mentioned falling space debris – and the outer walls are NON-FLAMMABLE Bill Not to mention the structure should have withstanded enough kinetic energy from broken-up debris if it withstood a direct hit. - If the windows were hit, then the shattered glass should have been in the crime scene photos Jeb Unless the house had termites, then the walls would have weakened. Val If that was the case, then the killer had to know she would be flying to Baikerbanur à that’s how she got Sally’s plane number. Jeb Why didn’t the killer just try to hack the next flight (the one that Sally actually took)? Bill - She didn’t anticipate overbooking. - She didn’t want to risk getting caught à someone hanging around too long would look suspicious. Val She had to know Sally’s game plan in great detail. Besides anyone who was at the space center that Sally knew, the cops should also look at WOOMERANG STAFF. Bill Or maybe PARENTS. Jeb Why not the students? Bill I highly doubt that they’re capable of hacking an airliner unnoticed. Bob Don’t underestimate a Wolverine’s potential Bill Also don’t underestimate how tight airports monitor everyone inside (especially student groups) - And Sally should have noticed a student acting fishy – disappearing for a long period of time between the plane’s arrival and boarding time. Oh, and FYI, if Sally and her class DID get on that plane, that student would have died too. Val Theory 1 - Older staff member has dark secret à she set Misty’s house on fire 21 years ago (Sally should have been shocked if there was a man in that locker room) - When she gets word of Sally’s new experiment, she knew that she couldn’t let Sally uncover the truth. - She then gets Sally’s flight number and hacks her plane à but the flight is full. - Once she sees the crash, she celebrates… until Sally’s not on the casualty list. - She then checks Sally’s Chirper then heads to Krakopolis for the space center. - She then waits for Sally after she disembarks the SSTO à Sally recognizes her à BA-BANG! Bob I’ll have to disagree with your parent theory, @Bill. If that plane wasn’t overbooked, they would have killed their own child. Bill You’re right. Maybe it was a parent of a student who DIDN’T go. Bob That’s more likely. Jeb Or the parent of a staff member – they would be old enough now to have committed arson 21 years ago. Theory 2: - Someone paid a hitman to kill Sally, and this hitman just happened to be someone Sally knew. Theory 3: - Sally was involved in a ring of jet hackers, but her cult deemed her a threat. - She KNEW her plane would be hacked so she decided to take an overbooked flight. - Sally counted on getting booted off so she could take the next flight – avoiding death. - When that idea didn’t work, her cult sent a (probably smoking hot) hitman to the space center to shoot her. Bob What makes you think she’s hot? Jeb Nobody suspects the hotties. Val I do. As a female, I should know the tricks of the trade. I actually helped @Bill spy on the bullies of Baikerbanur one time. - Until @Jeb blew it. Jeb How was I supposed to know you’d launch a toy car (THAT DIDN’T WORK) at their house? Bill It worked, all right. The only reason it didn’t the first time was because you set off the staging too early. Val You couldn’t get to their oversized house to cause a distraction in time for @Bill to deploy the probe, so we sent you before lift-off. Bob Who flew the rocket to Misty’s? I know @Bill built it, but I doubt he controlled it. Bill @Val did. Bob Oh. If @Jeb did, I’d have blamed the mission failure on bad piloting. Bill If not Misty’s fire, what would be worth killing Sally over? Bob Mission Control gone corrupt (like they did with Victor’s genocide). Val I didn’t know it was true until someone blackmailed me – AND I checked the documents for legitimacy (they’re real) S/he also asked me to stay away from @Bob or else they would be leaked. Bob But you didn’t, we talked constantly since you got drunk. Jeb I saw that video of you, @Val. I haven’t seen you that happy since we came back from Minmus for the first time. Bob The same guy who blackmailed you is also the same guy who was hiding at the landing strip after you took off. Val What guy at the landing strip? Bob After you took off, I heard a sound from behind. A guard and I looked around, but nothing. Val @Bob, next time you see Wenpont, can you please ask her where she was and what she was doing when I took off. Bill We doubled ore harvesting operations here for the pod’s trip to Dres. I suggest you do the same for your pod, @Bob and @Val. Jeb You might wanna write down your crew roster for your Dres flight, @Val. Bob Don’t forget me. Bill Here’s my idea for the Eeloo pod - Me - @Jeb - Hadgan (he insisted) - (Medic) - (Engineer familiar with the moonjets) - Dilsby Kerman à scientist reassigned to Dres (he’s going anyway) - (I DON’T KNOW) Bob - Me - @Val - Irpond - Matt - Scott - (Medic) - Guscan Val No way I’m letting Scott on board, not after what he did. Bill Wait, what did he do? Val He lied and said that I left the Zeus before Sheri was murdered – he tried to FRAME me Bob In his defense, he wanted revenge for you (supposedly) destroying the Zeus. At the time, he didn’t know that you were framed for that too Val For all you know, he orchestrated everything. Bill Even his own death? If he was on board the Zeus when the asteroid hit, there was a far greater chance of suicide. Jeb Just like the Kerbalnational Space Station was a huge insurance scam Bill @Jeb, the monopropellant tank was hit by undetected debris in retrograde orbit, causing a leak that caused the staton to de-orbit. Bob We get it. Bill NOT insurance fraud. Val Speaking of which, @Jeb, what makes you think that Agaden’s death was for insurance money? Jeb Who, me? Val Who else could come up with a ridiculous theory like that? Jeb I did not. Val Then how come @Bob told me about your theory about Moonjet 314 being an insurance scam? Jeb He’s lying – I never said that at all to him (I double-checked my text logs) The only time I mentioned insurance to anyone was to one of your students, Neiling Kerman. She said that it was highly unlikely someone took out a life insurance policy on Agaden, but I checked anyway. Turns out, her 19-year-old sister with osteoporosis has a life insurance policy on Agaden – NOT SO RIDICULOUS NOW. Val What’s her sister’s name? Jeb Lisa Kerman – but I doubt KSP lowered the minimum age limit for enlistment. Either Neiling told @Bob – who told you – or he’s lying. Bob Okay, you got me. It was MY idea (all mine) I was just too embarrassed to admit it and pinned it on Jeb – seems ridiculous that Agaden (and Harriet) was insurance fraud. Bill Aside from the medically problematic sister, that does sound kind of ridiculous. I read the moonjet insurance policy front to back – not a cent if it was pilot error, but Mission Control gets the money if it was proven sabotaged. If that was the case, then we’d hear of LOTS more crashes besides 79 and 314. Bill’s connection then broke, cutting him off from his friends on Laythe. While he waited for the connection to be restored, he resumed drawing his designs for the Eeloo power plant. Besides that, and more ski testing, he, Jeb, and Gustov needed to finalize the crew roster for the pod to Dres 100 days before it would launch. He knew he and Jeb were going, and Dilsby was ordered by Mission Control to head for Dres at the next transfer window. Dilsby was skeptical at first, until Gene emailed him a recorded video of him giving the orders; it was procedure to send video files to personnel in case someone in the program was getting spoofed for malicious purposes. He also needed someone who was a qualified transit medic to travel with them, tallying the passenger count up to four. Hadgan had insisted earlier on going to Dres, as he wanted to make amends for killing Agaden by finding the one who tricked him; after Gustov approved it, the count would then be at five. Bill wanted to take the Mark Vb interplanetary travel pod to Dres, but Gustov reminded him that there were more options available – like Matt’s high-capacity SSTO, for instance. He thought that was unnecessary and wasteful; it was meant to serve as an evacuation measure for Eeloo, and he didn’t need all the personnel on Eeloo to catch Danlong. Gustov eventually conceded when Bill convinced him that the SSTOs could not be trusted until the hacker was caught. Almost an hour later, Bill received a direct message from Bob I lied about whose theory the insurance fraud was Whose idea was it actually? Val’s. Why didn’t you just say so? She was drunk in sick bay. If I tell her about it, she’ll recall giving me her password. You could just say she was so loaded that she let it slip. After I asked. Her memory will be fuzzy. Here’s an idea: I ask for her password WHILE SHE’S SOBER. Not only can we check the people on our list faster, but she won’t think I got her password before. No-can-do - In compliance with KSP regulations, she has to grant you temporary clearance (that can either end by expiration or revocation) so you can look at complete personnel files. - You know how much of a rule-follower Val is. Okay. Doesn’t hurt to try. Does she have a boyfriend? No, why? I have a crush on her, but I need help on how to approach her despite the fact I’m on a different planet from her (literally). I emailed my dad for help, but since you have more recent experience (Sheri), you are also a valuable source of information. Wait, how long have you had a crush on Val? I’d rather not talk about it. First step in getting a girl: you gotta be honest with yourself High school. I just never had the guts to tell her. Dude, you totally missed out. She practically confessed her deep-rooted love for you when she spilled her password. - Keep in mind she thought I was you and she was drunk The next time I will be in range to phone her will be in about 10 years, so I’ll be stuck with email and direct messaging. I want to tell her I like her, but I much rather do it face-to-face or over the phone. It seems like I’m stuck with the love emails until we see each other. Please let me know when your dad replies. Wait, I know someone else who can help Who? Jeb Senior. According to my parents’ friends, he used to be “The Ladies’ Man,” before he met Jeb’s mom. - He even dated my mom for a while before she met Dad. Seems like you got that covered. I’ll forward you one of my love letters to Sheri. Are you sure about its reliability? The two of you have been in the same crews since you first met (Dres à Duna à Laythe). - Val and I are on different planets. If I had to guess, I’d say that your dad will tell you to give it a shot. DON’T BACK DOWN. Bill didn’t feel confident in his chances with Val. If she had a crush on him since they were in high school, he should have seized the opportunity to ask her out on something besides rocket and aircraft testing. He first met Val in fifth grade, after he woke up from his coma. She told him that she wanted to fly Bill’s plane; Bill refused since he didn’t want to crash again, but Val promised him that she was not as crazy as Jeb. Though Bill installed ejector seats in his new plane, Val managed to fly the plane and land it without a scratch. Jeb got jealous that Bill didn’t let him fly the plane, but Val dared him to fly better than her. Jeb accepted the challenge, and both he and Val tied in the resulting airshow; they had to do it in the flight simulators at the space center Baikerbanur, since the city government prohibited the children from flying planes without valid licenses. Val, Bill, and Jeb had been close friends since then. The three of them had gotten involved in numerous antics in their school days, from winning dodgeball matches – with Bill’s new turret – to performing musical numbers at their school talent shows. They even helped each other out whenever one of them needed it; examples included getting Jeb out of prison for reckless driving (through proving his speedometer was improperly manufactured), comforting Bill after his mother died, and helping Val spy on the popular girls in school. Though Val was the pilot of that delivery rocket, she was more disciplined and focused than Jeb was – as he almost killed Val and Victor with Bill’s first prototype by not reading the instructions first. When that mission was successful – until Jeb blew it by dimwittingly exposing Bill’s probe to the girls – Bill and Val decided to launch a probe into suborbital flight at Woomerang. Their target was Misty Kerman’s house, where rumor had it a murderer resided. However, despite Val’s piloting and Bill’s proven-successful navigation system and calculations, they lost contact with the probe during re-entry and the mission ended in what was presumed a catastrophic failure. Val suggested that Bill give it a rest, as the football team originally asked for a rocket-delivered spy car to get pictures of the girls in the locker room; but Bill was determined to get some recon shots of Woomerang’s team. Jeb wanted to fly the plane that would drop the probe into Woomerang, but Bill refused for two reasons: Jeb was more likely than Val to get spotted and shot down before entering the drop zone, and Jeb Senior had forbidden Bill from letting Jeb fly anything he built unless Jeb had a valid pilot’s license. Eventually, their mission was a success and the Badgers were able to gain a foothold on their sworn rivals. “Why did I miss out?” sighed Bill, then he got another email. “I wonder who that could be.” From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Experiment Summary Mr. Bill Kerman, Hello, this is Barlas Kerman, a student at Woomerang Institute. I am aware that you were expecting an email from Mrs. Sally Kerman. Unfortunately, she was murdered at the space center earlier today. Before I go on and rant about how I want to butcher the monster who did this, I would like to inform you about the progress we made on the experiment concerning your rocket. According to your old mission log, you plotted your suborbital trajectory to land at Misty’s house. However, as there is no mention of you accounting for aerodynamic forces during re-entry BEFORE launching, you missed your target completely. · Both times we launched replicas at targets in the same manner as you did, all the debris ended up scattered kilometers away (according to the debris tracker site and our student recovery teams) · There is also a news article from 21 years ago about fishermen in Woomerang recovering debris from the ocean months later. The pieces looked just like your original prototype. · Contact was lost with both replicas during re-entry, so if you were spot-on with your trajectory you would have lost control and missed; there was no mention of an autonomous program in your mission log. Even if you did account for aerodynamic re-entry in your design and trajectory plotting, chances were you should have been able to land your spy car in the house with no problem – except for the broken window. We also built a third replica but tore it apart for debris collision tests. In other words, we checked to see if the re-entering debris would have enough kenetic energy to penetrate and/or ignite Misty’s walls. More specifically, we heated them up and fired them at the model walls at the same velocity as they would at that point in re-entry · The most damage the debris did was put some dents in them. I found that weird since the arson investigation report found holes in the walls. · We also weakened some walls in case the house had a termite infestation. Though it caused some holes in the models, the debris was embedded in the walls and did not ignite. To sum up, you did NOT cause Misty’s house fire. I’m no arson investigator, but I find it very suspicious that someone would blame it on you. · Personally, I think Misty lit it up herself – and used the falling debris as an excuse to cover it up. Even so, why would the cops say that it was faulty furnace – that you could stuff an obese man inside? · I also think she shot Sally to cover up her crime, then ran away before that student – who I’m not at liberty to name – saw her face. Sincerely, Barlas Kerman “That’s weird,” said Bill. “If I DIDN’T start Misty’s fire, then what DID?

My tourist contracts require me to put tourists on the Mun and/or Minmus, and it's economically efficient to do as much as possible with as many tourists on board as possible. Even if a few of them don't have their contracts fulfilled on the first run, you can always try again. So, I designed a high-occupancy Mun lander. Here are the requirements for this challenge: Crew capacity of 5 or over Nobody gets left behind Probe core required. No pilots on board means more seats available Power source Antenna All stock parts (MJ okay, since it's just a navigation aid) Final stage must be able to survive Kerbin re-entry Must be able to at least land on one moon AND orbit the other before returning to Kerbin Extra points if you can land on both before returning. BONUS: Costs less than 100 grand Here's mine landed on Minmus. At the rocket stage before capsule ejection, it has 2,431 m/s of dV. Not enough to make secure orbits and land on BOTH moons, but it can at least land on one of them. Perfect if you want to get some extra training in for the kerbalnauts

Are you sure Agaden was killed because of something she knew, or something else? Remember: in Chapter 7, I mentioned "Interplanetary Matchmaker" results - and Bob was #1 on Agaden's list. It may be relevant to Irpond's motive, it may not. Also, why would Irpond want to kill: Agaden The U.S.S. Zeus And why do you think she talked to Scott? Sheri She also alleges Val's partners threatened Misty's life if she didn't steal Wally's RTG, and Misty corroborates her story. Are they both lying, or is someone else doing a good job at framing Val? If that's the case, you can reasonably assume that it could be the same person that hacked the moonjets. Also, why do you think Matt's box-wing airliner was sabotaged? If Irpond is on Bob's list, then your guess about Irpond being the moonjet hacker may be right. Also, who else could be the partner in Jool (Danlong's still on Dres)?

What do you think's going on behind the scenes? Who do you think is the killer now - and why?

Pee-scented reverse snow pineapple. I'll have the Laythe seafood special, please.