A Mystery Beyond Science: A Kerbal Mystery Thriller (Ch. 42: Almost There)

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

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.”

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

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.

[roboslacker]

I think I was right about Irpond.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Just now, roboslacker said:

I think I was right about Irpond.

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."

[roboslacker]

I don't know enough about the context of the house fire to make a call about it. It is apparent that it was arson, and there was some shady stuff about an incinerator, but that's the extent. And now I present; my theory.

I think that Misty was guilty of the initial crime, and Irpond is aware of this sort of as a fact of life. The effect of this on Irpond's mental process allows her to justify her own crimes, for which the end goal is Bob. She killed Sheri to make Bob available, and then did all the framing so she could have time to bond with Bob during the investigation. She convinces Scott to help frame Val, and then has Scott offed by a mad gunman. She convinces Reid that Val was responsible for blowing the cover on the Clivar genocide, and somehow convinces him to destroy evidence in the control tower incident, and shoot up the place at the team up day meeting- silencing himself in the process. And right before they leave for Dres, she activates her salvaged, reprogrammed rover, and destroys Posieden Palace, thereby getting rid of any evidence she forgott, and creating the illusion that the culprit is still on Laythe. As for munjet 314, this would finally explain the motive for the murder of Agaden- She was Bob competition.

And that's as far as I've reasoned.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

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."

Edited March 15, 2019 by Mars-Bound Hokie
Grammatical error

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

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

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

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.”

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

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?”

[roboslacker]

That sequence in Poseidon's Palace reminds me of the BoS holotape in the Glow in Fallout.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

12 minutes ago, roboslacker said:

That sequence in Poseidon's Palace reminds me of the BoS holotape in the Glow in Fallout.

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.

[roboslacker]

2 hours ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Which one specifically? I tried looking for the one you're talking about, but found entries for a lot of BoS holotapes on YouTube.

It's the Ancient Brotherhood Disk from the first fallout.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: A BURIED LINK

 

“He’s gone… for real,” said Werner, looking at the static on the monitor.

“I’m sorry, Werner,” Gene told him. “He’s gone.”

“That’s what four bullets will do to you,” commented Linus. “What’s worse, Heidi Kerman has just been confirmed dead.”

“What about the other two men?” asked Mortimer.

“Last I heard, they’re rowing a Native Laythan boat to their base,” said Gene.

“Really, nothing more specific?” sighed Werner.

“They’re military, not official KSP members,” explained Gene. “We want specifics, we talk to THEIR superiors.”

“Well, at least they got the base back online,” commented Linus.

“Unfortunately, only enough for communications,” said Werner, reading his clipboard. “All generators, primary and backup, have been put out of commission. Their engineer also reported evidence of a bomb blast and compromised RTGs at the power grid.”

“Bomb?” gasped Gene. “Werner, why would anyone bomb the power grid?”

“To make sure nobody would call for help if they found out the RTGs were split open,” answered Werner.

“Wait, if all the generators were knocked out and the power grid was bombed, how did those two soldiers restore communications?” questioned Mortimer.

“According to their report, they dug up one of the buried RTGs – serial number 843-1875-006 – and placed it in the slot in the control room,” said Werner. “However, the power output was only enough to get the relays online and transmit a full diagnostic scan of the complex to Kerbin.”

“Let’s see,” said Linus as he entered the serial number on his computer. “Here we go, the RTG in question was buried 7 kilometers away from the Laythan village as a backup measure when it got to Laythe.”

“This is Kernobyl all over again,” sighed Mortimer. “Unless anyone who enters the fallout zone is wearing an intact full-body radiation suit, they’re done for.”

“At least we can cross-reference the photographs that the strike team sent with the crew roster and see who we can confirm dead,” said Gene. “Their families will want to know.”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure EVERYONE on-base is dead,” said Linus. “You know what happened to Heidi; that much fallout will kill you in minutes.”

“When the Zeus got destroyed, we thought Val was dead until we realized that she was doing a crew rotation at the time,” reminded Mortimer. “We’re not going to make that mistake again with Poseidon’s Palace.”

“Sorry to interrupt, Gene,” said Purnell, “but you have a phone call in your office.”

“Tell him I’ll be late,” sighed Gene.

“Sir, it’s the prime minister,” added Purnell.

“You’d better take it,” suggested Werner.

Gene sighed. “I’ll be there. Excuse me, fellas.” He left Mission Control and entered his office, where his phone was put on hold. “Hello, Gene Kerman speaking.”

“Hello, Gene,” said Kerbin’s Prime Minister Trunton. “I have received word from military command that you are requesting some soldiers be deployed to Dres.”

“That is correct, sir,” acknowledged Gene.

“May I ask why?” said Trunton, then Gene explained what Bill told Mission Control. “So, this Irpond lady is behind the Poseidon’s Palace incident?”

“Well… we don’t have definite proof…,” started Gene.

“No definite proof?” gasped Trunton. “As much as I want to help you, I need something SOLID before I can send the military to arrest a non-fugitive kerbal.”

“The lab monkeys on Laythe found an unknown woman’s DNA on a stolen shirt last year,” explained Gene. “If we get Irpond’s DNA and match it to that sample, then you know for sure she’s the bad guy.”

“Gene, I’m no cop, but I seriously doubt that a clothesbasket thief would leap to mass murder that quickly,” said Trunton. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It goes to the suspect’s motive, Prime Minister,” said Gene. “Irpond was obsessed with Bob Kerman, so she stole Wenpont’s license, murdered Sheri Kerman, and drove away.”

“Do you have any concrete evidence, like prints, a murder weapon, or even a witness?” asked Trunton.

“According to this report, a Native Laythan saw a mini-bus drive away from the scene; there were also tire tracks and vehicle departure logs confirming his story. The medical officer also reported the hand print on Sheri’s head being too small to fit any of the men on-base – but NOT for any of the women.”

“All it proves is that SOME WOMAN took a mini-bus to Sheri and murdered her,” reminded Trunton. “Please tell me you have something else.”

“Yes, Prime Minister. We know she framed Valentina Kerman for it; Val’s emails said that she killed Sheri to keep her mouth shut about her brother’s massacre, but our records show that she was on board the Zeus the whole time. It takes an expert hacker to break into a secure KSP email account, which should be easy for someone with Irpond Kerman’s skill set.”

“How do you know it’s the emails that are fake and not your flight logs?” asked Trunton.

“At the time Val sent a long email to her brother right before her arrest,” said Gene, “she was flying a supersonic jet to his base. Not only is it odd that she would text and fly, but she never mentioned coming over to talk to him. And furthermore, we have witness statements from Zeus survivors placing her in the station at the time of Sheri’s murder.”

“Okay, so some chick crazy for Bob offed his girlfriend and framed his other friend for it by messing with her email,” summed up Trunton, and Gene agreed. “Then what about the Zeus, the shootings, the Eeloo and Dres crashes?”

“You remember Scott Kerman, right?” asked Gene.

“Yeah, he died last year in the Team-Up Day shooting,” said Trunton. “According to this KBI file, he originally stated that Admiral Valentina LEFT the Zeus before Sheri was murdered and then came back after that. However, he later recanted and said that he just wanted revenge for the Zeus getting destroyed.”

“How did the KBI get that?” asked Gene, sounding concerned.

“Hey, don’t look at me, YOUR boys told the KBI after… Irpond. It says here that Irpond Kerman alleged that Val had henchmen kidnap her mother… Misty Kerman. Makes sense that the KBI would get this file if there was a case against the admiral; they would need to find the victim and/or the kidnappers so they would testify against the admiral.”

“Speaking of Misty,” continued Gene, “Bill also thinks SHE killed Sally Kerman several months ago.”

“Let me see,” said Trunton, and Gene heard typing on the other end. “Actually, Krakopolis Police already have a suspect in custody right now.”

“Krakopolis? Is it her?”

“Eh… not quite.”

 

“Jummy Kerman,” said the man sitting on one side of the table, reading a file. “Three counts burglary, two counts assault, and three counts illegal possession; one of them a gun.”

“Look, officer, I didn’t do nothing,” said Jummy, a fat man with a gold earring.

“Then why are you here?” asked the detective.

“You’re framing me again just because I happen to have a chlorophyll deficiency that requires a controversial drug,” said Jummy. “Unless I’m under arrest, I’m free to go now.”

“Oh no, you’re not,” said the detective. “You’re going away for a very long time.”

“On what, another bogus gun charge?”

“See, that’s the thing.” The detective then showed Jummy a photograph of a woman standing in an EVA suit – with her helmet off – in front of the astronaut complex. “Recognize her?”

“Only from the news and women’s fashion magazines,” said Jummy.

“This is her NOW.” He took out another photograph, but it was of a grave. Jummy read the headstone carefully.

SALLY KERMAN

SHOT DEAD IN THE KERBAL SPACE CENTER

“What does that have to do with me?” wondered Jummy.

“Your gun was used to kill her,” explained the detective.

“WHAT?” gasped Jummy. “No, you got it all wrong.”

“Guns are like fingerprints; no two are exactly the same,” the detective contradicted. “Ballistics have already tested your gun and matched the rifling on the slug we dug out of Sally’s head.”

“I swear to God, I didn’t kill ANYONE,” argued Jummy.

“Yeah, right. You snuck into the Space Center and mugged Sally. When she screamed, you had to silence her – so you killed her.”

“The Space Center? You think I’m dumb enough to sneak into THAT place?” said Jummy.

“Well, SOMEONE did,” replied the detective.

“Or it was someone who was LET in,” said Jummy. “That place is like Fort Steam, man.”

“You know, that kinda does make sense, seeing how your burglary collars were for breaking into low-budget places with LOUSY security.” The detective sighed in disappointment. “Sounds pretty lame if you ask me.”

“Hey, better a small success than a colossal failure,” shrugged Jummy, then the detective asked him where he was on the day of Sally Kerman’s murder. “Ha, now I know you’re lying.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I was in Squaddon, seeing my son.”

“That’s weird, because you don’t have any kids.”

“My ex-girlfriend didn’t bother to tell me she was pregnant,” explained Jummy. “I gotta make it right for my flesh and blood, man.”

“What were you doing there?”

“I came here to wish him a happy birthday, then I hit the local pub before taking a train back here. I got the receipts in my apartment.”

“Okay,” said the detective, “let’s say your alibi checks out. You’re still going down for illegal possession of a firearm. Unless, of course, you tell me WHERE you got the gun.”

“THAT will require my lawyer.”

 

Val was sitting in the pilot’s seat of Pod 5B15, looking anxiously at her kPad. Though she was aware of Bill’s suggestion to Mission Control to deploy dozens of soldiers to Dres before the pod arrived, she was not sure Prime Minister Trunton would allow it. Aside from the DNA evidence on Bob’s shirt – which had yet to be matched to anyone – there was no solid evidence linking Irpond to any of the murders. Sure, she could argue that only a woman of Irpond’s size and skill set could have committed all those murders – and that Irpond was quick to move in on Bob after Sheri died – but Val’s parents’ lawyer told her it was all circumstantial at best. Frustrated by this, Val emailed Prime Minister Trunton suggesting that he order Irpond to be swabbed for DNA when she landed on Dres. If it was a match to the sweat on Bob’s shirt, it would prove that Irpond was obsessed with Bob before Sheri’s murder.

“There’s gotta be a solid link the courts can use,” Val told herself. “She’s not getting away with this… not this time.” She looked at the picture of Sheri next to her autopsy report, then hit the “Record” button. “Sheri Kerman, bashed in the head repeatedly before being thrown in the water, yet no defensive wounds OR drugs in her system. Judging by the severity of the injuries sustained and the lack of defensive wounds, both the victim and the killer knew each other well. As a space program admiral whose brother is Special Forces – or at least was before his arrest – it was not a military hit. This murder was messy, while a soldier would keep himself clean. Also, since the medical examiner found a woman-sized hand print on the back of the victim’s head, one can reasonably conclude that it was a woman that Sheri knew who had a lot of rage building up against her – enough to kill her.

“The next victim: the U.S.S. Zeus. Someone hit Jendun Kerman over the head and dragged him to an EVA suit closet before telling the asteroid redirection probe’s MechJeb module to rendezvous with the Zeus. Given Jool’s massive radius and MJ’s high precision and accuracy, the perpetrator had ample opportunity to leave the base’s control room and mingle with the populace while the probe did its rendezvous sequence. However, the station was equipped with cutting-edge asteroid warning systems. They should have activated, and the crew should have evacuated hours before the rock hit… unless… OF COURSE.”

“Ugh…,” she heard a woman groan behind her. Val turned around fast and saw Irpond floating next to the EVA suit dispenser.

“What are you doing?” Val asked, sounding concerned.

“I… couldn’t sleep,” murmured Irpond. Val was tempted to call her a liar and push her into the airlock, but she didn’t want to start a possible hostage situation in the pod while it was still in-transit to Dres.

“Oh, really?” replied Val, sounding casual. “Why is that?”

“I keep having nightmares,” started Irpond, “about Bob… being taken away from me.”

“Ha,” chuckled Val, “just WHO’S gonna kidnap him? More importantly, HOW are they gonna do that? There’s nobody here besides the seven of us for a million kilometers.”

“Not like that,” said Irpond, starting to sound angry. “I have finally earned Bob’s heart after all I did for him, and I’m not gonna let some skimpy medic or some trinket-happy hag steal it.”

“HAG?” responded Val, feeling offended. “Have you even LOOKED at the age difference between you and Bob?”

“You’re older than him,” reminded Irpond.

“By a little over three years,” counted Val, “but HE’S older than you by what, SIX?”

“While you were covering your brother’s secret, I protected him through everything,” complained Irpond. “I fixed his kPad, I comforted him after he shot Tami, and I helped him figure out all the rumors about your brother are TRUE. You know who else was on to you? Sheri Kerman.”

“Irpond, we BOTH know that I did NOT kill her,” said Val. “You talked Scott into saying I left the Zeus, didn’t you?”

“Whoa, why are you accusing ME of telling Scott to lie?”

“Hmm, let’s see, how about you keep accusing ME of everything bad that happens in the Jool system,” recalled Val, “starting with the murder of Sheri Kerman. Even when Wenpont was arrested, you convinced Bob it was actually ME. And, mose recently, you yanked me out of my sleeping rack and accused me of irradiating the base.”

“All I did was help him put some pieces together,” argued Irpond. “Quite frankly, you look like you could be responsible for everything.”

Val laughed. “Looks more like you manipulating Bob and Scott to turn against me.”

“Now why would I pick Scott to frame you for murder? More importantly, why would I FRAME you?” said Irpond, and Val’s fists were tightening. She thought about reaching for her gun underneath her jacket, but she didn’t want to be cited for pointing a weapon at a crewmember without reason while in-transit.

“Because I’ve been friends with Bob for years, and you just want me out of the picture,” said Val, and Irpond gasped in surprise.

“Now you listen here, if you so much as look at Bob…” threatened Irpond.

“You’ll what, hit me with the nearest asteroid?” interrupted Val. “No, wait, how about hacking the pod so it crashes on Dres’ surface, like you did with Harriet.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about; and even if I did, I don’t care,” said Irpond. “I was going to say that I will tell Bill that you’re cheating on him.”

“Even if I talk to Bob as a superior officer?” argued Val. “There’s a fine difference between just talking to someone and all-out cheating.”

“If you steal Bob, you will regret it,” warned Irpond.

“You harm anyone on board this pod, you die,” countered Val. “I mean it.”

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: STALKED

 

“Let me get this straight,” started Werner, “first you said it was Misty Kerman, then it was a third-class punk, then you said it was Misty again?”

“Yes,” said Gene. “Prime Minister Trunton wrote to me a few days back.”

“I thought he told you two weeks ago that they arrested the guy who shot Sally Kerman,” said Mortimer.

“That guy only had the gun that was USED to shoot her, but he was in Squaddon at the time of Sally’s murder,” explained Gene.

“If he was nowhere near Krakopolis, then how did he get the gun?” asked Linus. “More importantly, how did the police know who to arrest?” Gene then took Trunton’s letter from his blazer.

“He said that the suspect was initially arrested on a gun possession charge,” said Gene, “then Krakopolis Police tested it to see if it was linked to other crimes. When the cops figured out the suspect didn’t commit the murder, he confessed that he bought the gun in a black-market arms dealer in Krakopolis two months after he returned from Squaddon.”

“Black-market arms dealer?” gasped Mortimer. “Let me guess, the real killer sold that gun to the dealer, who then sold it to the punk.”

“Exactly,” said Gene. “Trunton’s letter says that the upon the dealer’s arrest, the dealer described a hooded kerbal who wore high heels and used a voice changer. Other than that, he didn’t get a look at his – or her – face.”

“Yup, definitely a woman,” sighed Linus. “You know any men who can balance on high heels?”

“Nope,” remarked Mortimer. “Misty knew what she was doing. She expected that street gun dealer to get arrested, so she concealed her identity so the dealer wouldn’t blab.”

“She had to get rid of the gun, or else the cops would know she shot Sally,” added Werner, then Barbone Kerman, the head of KSC’s legal department, entered the room.

“I hate to interrupt, gentlemen,” said Barbone, “but we have a visitor who’s requesting to the man in charge.”

“That would be me,” said Gene. “Who is it?”

“Her name is Misty Kerman,” said Barbone, surprising everyone in the room. “She has also brought her attorney.”

“Attorney?” gasped Werner. “The last time she was here with an attorney was 29 years ago.”

“Can you guys handle operations without me for a bit?” asked Gene.

“We’re good,” said Linus, and his colleagues nodded. Gene and Barbone then left the control room and drove a golf cart to the administration building, where Misty and her lawyer – a young woman named Alexey – were waiting patiently.

“Misty Kerman,” said Gene as he sat down.

“Where’s Werner?” wondered Misty, smirking. “I wanted the man in charge.”

“He’s no longer in charge, mam,” replied Gene. “He still works here, in case you want him specifically.”

“Pity,” said Misty. “Well, I asked for the head guy, and it looks like I got him.”

“You got a lot of nerve showing up here,” said Gene accusingly.

“Are you STILL persecuting me for what happened 29 years ago?” snapped Misty.

“No,” answered Gene. “We’d like to PROSECUTE you for what happened LAST YEAR!”

“As you are not law enforcement, you have no power to prosecute,” reminded Alexey. “Moreover, are you going to bring about unfounded accusations, or do you have evidence that would actually hold?”

“How about killing Sally Kerman in our locker room,” said Gene. “She was shot by a woman she knew, and I hear you’re quite popular in Woomerang.”

“So, what? Sally Kerman must have known a lot of women,” argued Alexey. “Furthermore, as Sally Kerman used to work as a kerbalnaut, she could have known one of the female employees currently working here.”

“We checked all the employees working at the center that day; none of them were anywhere near the locker room at the time of the shooting,” said Barbone. “They all tested negative for GSR and drugs, too.”

“And we’re supposed to believe that?” said Alexey. “How can my client sneak in and out of a guarded space center with a loaded gun unnoticed?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” said Gene. “Why have you come here, anyway?”

“Because you employed someone to stalk my client,” explained Alexey, taking a folder out of her briefcase. “Misty installed a rear camera in her jacket and took pictures of THIS man following her.” She then showed Gene and Barbone photographs of a man in black appearing to be following Misty.

“You’re lying. How do we know it wasn’t photosho…,” blurted Gene.

“Not now, Gene,” interrupted Barbone. “What proof do you have that he was sent under OUR direction?”

“This,” said Misty, handing Barbone a letter.

FROM	Bill Kerman Frosty Base, Eeloo
TO	Misty Kerman
Misty Kerman,   I must admit that your performance 29 years ago was fiendishly clever. My favorite part was where you blamed the death of “your dear friend and partner,” on the oil companies.    You may have fooled everyone else in the Kerbol system, but not me. Years after you murdered Debra Kerman, you detected incoming suborbital debris and smashed holes in your walls before setting your house on fire. Luckily for you, you weren’t charged with arson and insurance fraud; I also doubt the death of your husband was really self-defense, too. Yes, I launched a model rocket at your house from Baikerbanur the night your house burned down, but no, I did not hit it. Aside from the rocket only carrying a small spy probe and would have been non-combustible had it hit your walls, recent testing has proven that my rocket was way off-target by kilometers.   Speaking of the tests, I know that you and your daughter, Irpond, are close – close enough to be partners-in-crime. When Irpond told you about Sally Kerman going to replicate my launch, you couldn’t risk Sally figuring out that it was arson, so you had to get rid of her. Irpond told you that Sally Kerman was scheduled to go on Flight LA8202 from Woomerang to Baikerbanur, then told you how to mess up the plane she would be on. “How did she know what to do?” you ask, here’s the answer: besides Irpond’s skill in hacking and software – which meant she was able to see the airport schedule from Laythe – she was on-base with the plane’s designer at the time. She then stole the plans and told you how to cause the plane to crash and kill everyone in it, then you snuck into the airport and tampered with the autopilot and cabin ejection systems. -       I know it was you she gave instructions to and not an airport employee, as they are not authorized to alter the plane’s operation software or manual cabin ejection trigger. Moreover, both the airport and the plane’s manufacturer swear that nobody made any alterations to the plane in question before it crashed.   However, as Flight LA8202 was overbooked, Sally and her class changed planes at the last minute. You thought your mission was accomplished until you saw the casualty list and learned that Sally was not only still alive, she wasn’t even on that plane. Fortunately for your sinister plan, you saw that she posted a picture of her with her SSTO ticket on Chirper, then you went to Krakopolis to finish the job. After Sally landed, you snuck into the women’s locker room – where she recognized you before you shot her dead.   Misty Kerman, you may still be too slippery for law enforcement after 29 years, but your luck has run out with me. As much as I would like to see you get blown up as punishment, I am going to be merciful with you for now. If you want to live to see your inevitable indictment, you shall not harm anyone else in any way. Don’t think I’m bluffing, for I will be watching you. You are a threat to kerbalkind as long as you breathe, and you need to be contained before any more innocent victims die. Consider this my one and only offer.   Remember, I’ll be watching you. If you hurt anyone, you die.   Bill Kerman   P.S. Don’t think for one second that you’re safe outside of Kerbin. Try and leave the planet to escape justice, and I’ll have you hunted down like the animal that you are.

 

“Keep in mind that Misty is admitting to nothing by showing this to you,” reminded Alexey. “Bill is the one making threats and false accusations here, and apparently he’s following through.”

“Legally speaking, this is not a threat,” said Barbone.

“Are you blind?” argued Misty. “Bill said he would have me killed.”

“Only if you commit murder,” countered Gene, “which he has proof that you did. And no, they’re not false accusations; he has listed actual crimes in great detail and figured out the only logical way they could have been committed.”

“Do I need to remind you that MISTY’S the victim here?” sighed Alexey.

“Then what does that make the passengers and crew of Flight LA8202, or Sally Kerman?” said Gene.

“Flight LA8202 was a terrible tragedy caused by a design flaw; NOT a murder,” added Alexey. “And furthermore, the plane was working fine BEFORE it crashed.”

“That’s funny; no other planes of the same design crashed like that,” recalled Gene.

“Just one bad apple,” said Alexey. “Bill also stated that Misty would be hunted down if she ever tried to flee to safety off Kerbin.”

“How is he going to do that?” sighed Gene. “He’s on Eeloo.”

“Let’s not forget that you monitor all personnel – tourists and crewmembers – that leave the planet,” said Alexey. “It would not be hard for someone of Bill’s rank and connections to find Misty’s exact location and have someone take her out.”

“Assuming she passed the background check and all the screenings before being cleared for interplanetary travel,” finished Barbone. “I’m sure you are aware that decisions are delayed if the applicant is currently under investigation by law enforcement.”

“Which she is not,” said Alexey. “And if she was, the only probable cause the police would have is the word of a misguided engineer who is covering for his girlfriend.”

“GIRLFRIEND?” gasped Gene. “Just WHO is his girlfriend, and even if he had one why would he frame MISTY?”

“My daughter is on board,” started Misty as she took out a folded piece of paper, “Pod 5B15 with her now; it’s Admiral Valentina Kerman.”

“Val?” asked Gene. “Again, why would Bill want to frame YOU?”

“Retaliation for Irpond coming forward about my client’s kidnapping,” said Alexey. “Let us not forget that Irpond said that the admiral had her friends kidnap Misty and forced Irpond to steal an RTG from a robot.”

“I am aware that Misty corroborates Irpond’s claims about the kidnapping,” argued Barbone. “However, until the kidnappers in question are identified and apprehended, these are all just allegations.”

“For all we know, you LIED!” said Gene, glaring at Misty. “Irpond needed a scapegoat, so she picked Val and got you to go along with it.”

“Why would I frame Val?” asked Misty. “I may not like her brother, but that’s no reason to take it out on his sister.”

“IRPOND’S the one framing Val,” said Gene, “or at least she TRIED to. That failed when Bill noticed something wrong with the evidence presented against Val.”

“Okay, that’s it,” said Alexey, refilling her briefcase. “Unless you order this stalker to back off, we’ll see you in court.”

“Bring it on,” spat Gene defiantly. “Hey, Misty, I hope they have prison uniforms your size.”

“Boss, please don’t,” said Barbone as Misty and Alexey left the room.

“Security, escort the visitor and her lawyer out of the perimeter,” ordered Gene as he took out a cell phone. “Don’t let her out of her sight.”

“Yes sir,” a man replied, then Gene hung up.

“Did you tell that man to stalk Misty?” Barbone asked Gene after he swept the room for listening devices that Misty could have planted – there were none.

“No,” answered Gene. “I don’t even know this guy.”

“I anticipate Misty’s lawyer subpoenaing the Internal Investigation Committee, so I’ll ask Roger that same question,” said Barbone. “Another question, did you or anyone in Mission Control ORDER Bill Kerman to contact Misty Kerman?”

“No; either Bill did that all on his own or it’s a fake,” said Gene. “Personally, I wouldn’t put it past Irpond to pose as Bill and write that just to give some ‘victim points’ to Misty.”

“Besides checking the authenticity of the letter in question, talk to him,” suggested Barbone. “If he did write it and he’s not within Kerbin’s sphere of influence, he would be required to give a written explanation as to why he contacted Misty Kerman in this manner.” He paused as Gene took a sip of water. “Hypothetically speaking, Bill would not be charged with stalking as he only threatened to have an unnamed third party take action if Misty committed a serious felony.”

“And if it ISN’T Bill’s?” asked Gene.

“Then the attorney general should press charges against Misty for intentionally making a false allegation; the penalty would be more severe if the photographs of that man are doctored.”

“Assuming he’s real, if he IS stalking Misty, it’s not under OUR direction. Sure, Roger may have hired private investigators before, but they didn’t do anything ILLEGAL.”

“If that man is a P.I. hired by the Internal Investigation Committee, then they would be required to disclose that to the judge,” said Barbone, “as well as the reason for this hire. Moreover, he’d better have a good reason why the Internal Investigation Committee is investigating someone who’s not in the program.”

“On the contrary, as we have reason to believe that a current kerbalnaut is in cahoots with Misty, investigating her would uncover proof of someone in the program committing a string of heinous crimes,” argued Gene. “The kerbalnaut in question is her daughter, Irpond.”

“And where is this kerbalnaut now?” asked Barbone.

“She’s in-transit to Dres from Jool,” said Gene. “She won’t be landing for another several years. However, by then, we should have dozens of armed soldiers ready to arrest her.”

“You do realize that planetary policy requires a more vigorous psychological screening process for soldiers leaving the sphere of influence,” reminded Barbone. “The prime minister can’t just pull troops from the Mun and Minmus outposts and send them to Dres unless they’re fully qualified to go interplanetary.”

“Both Misty and Irpond can wipe out our entire species if they want to, Barbone,” warned Gene. “Now that we’re so spread out across the solar system, the two of them can take advantage of our capabilities and use them for evil. You saw what they did.”

“Okay, boss, I think you’re just exaggerating,” said Barbone, then Gene grabbed his blazer.

“Do you know who their last victims are?” argued Gene. “I’ll give you the answer: EVERYONE in Poseidon’s Palace. They didn’t even see it coming until it was too late.”

“Are you talking about the outpost that’s now in a fallout zone?” wondered Barbone.

“Exactly, only the RTG rupturing was DELIBERATE – and the rover we once thought died from environmental factors was still alive.”

“I thought Daring died from multiple gunshots.”

“That was him dying FOR REAL, which was a long time AFTER it was PREVIOUSLY thought dead,” said Gene. “Connect the dots, man: that rover was declared dead from environmental factors a long time ago, but then it was seen VERY MUCH ALIVE a few days back.”

“Are you saying someone SALVAGED the rover and didn’t bother to report it?” asked Barbone.

“Yes, see, like that,” said Gene, “or maybe falsified its inoperability report. Either way, Irpond had the skill set to reprogram the rover to kill anyone who got near it – like Heidi Kerman and another rover we sent to the dead outpost.”

“Okay, I see how Irpond could be a threat, but what does her mother have to do with it?”

“Barbone, if Irpond and Misty can crash a HYPERSONIC AIRLINER remotely, then how hard can it be for them to do something REALLY devastating… like crashing the prime minister’s jet into an apartment building, for instance?”

“Be prepared to make that point when Misty and her attorney bring us to court,” warned Barbone. “Assuming her stalking claims are true, she has the right to take legal action.”

“Then we’d better find this guy and get his side of the story before Misty does, or it’ll be the Debra Kerman trial all over again.”

 

100 kilometers above Eeloo, the ring station known as the U.S.S. Werner was spinning at a controlled 1.35 radians per second about its axis. Though Matt and Scott ended up designing the station itself, the original concept was thought of by Werner. He imagined a space station that would generate its own gravity by rotating about its axis, hence creating a centripetal acceleration similar to Kerbin’s gravitational acceleration; the ring’s maximum rotational velocity depended greatly on its radius. Once word got out on Kerbin that Werner wanted feasible plans for a ring station, hundreds of people came forward with their designs.

Since then, stations with rings have been placed not only in orbit of Kerbin, but Mun and Minmus as well. Those stations were really popular among paying tourists, as they could almost feel like they were back on Kerbin thanks to the centripetal force exerted on the main habitation modules. Engineers and scientists, including Matt and Scott, have also worked on designs to send ring stations to other planets and moons, like Duna and Gilly. It was only a matter of time before Matt and Scott drew the plans for the U.S.S. Werner, and the rocket boosters that would haul it to Eeloo.

“So, Bill,” said Jeb as he put down his drink of water, “why’d you want to meet here?”

“Jeb, in less than 10 years, we may be going to war with the most dangerous woman in the solar system,” answered Bill. “There’s a good chance that Mission Control would send soldiers to apprehend her before then, but I’m not counting on it.”

“Why not?”

“Politics, late designs, failures pushing the launch schedule back,” sighed Bill. “Personally, I wouldn’t put it past Irpond and Misty to somehow prevent the soldiers from leaving Kerbin’s atmosphere alive.”

“Okay, but… why did you want me to wear my exercise clothes?” asked Jeb. “If you wanted to work out in a place that has gravity, why fly all the way here?”

“Weren’t you in some kind of fight club when you worked your dad’s junkyard?” recalled Bill.

“Yeah, but it was actually more of a protection force than a fight club,” explained Jeb. “Punks kept breaking in and stealing our stuff; since we didn’t have the budget for security guards, we had to defend the junkyard ourselves.”

“Then what were you doing when I walked in on you having a fistfight with that guy?” wondered Bill.

“We were training,” said Jeb, “which I guess is what you want me to do now.”

“That’s right,” confirmed Bill. “If those soldiers don’t make it to Dres, it’s up to US to stop Irpond.”

“Assuming Bob and Val haven’t done that already,” reminded Jeb.

“Don’t count on it,” argued Bill. “Irpond’s already got Bob hooked, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s got something planned for Val.”

“You really think that some 29-year-old computer geek from Woomerang can take a 38-year-old badass that we’ve known since elementary school?” sighed Jeb. “Yeah, NO CHANCE.”

“I’m not betting her life on that,” said Bill.

“You must REALLY love Val to want to protect her like that,” said Jeb. “You know, Dad actually thought the two of you would be an item.”

“Because your dad was an engineer and your mom was a badass pilot?” asked Bill. “I thought we would be too, until I read about your mom.”

“What does my mom have to do with your love life?”

“Uh, hello, I didn’t want to end up like your dad.”

“What? Who DOESN’T want to be rich and famous, not to mention Dad was a ladies’ man back in his day.”

“No, not like that. Jeb Senior lost the love of his life, and he QUIT the dating scene after your mom died. You think I was going to risk losing VAL when she was so close to me?” Bill paused as Jeb stared at him in confusion. “And furthermore, why didn’t your dad just tell me he thought Val and I were perfect for each other?”

“I dunno, why don’t you ask HIM?” said Jeb. “ANYWAY, if you want to practice fighting the bad guy, why fly all the way to THIS place? Why not practice on-base, or Hades Station if you don’t want Commander Gustov to see us?”

“Because a ring station has the ability to control the gravity in the habitation module,” answered Bill. “Also, we can practice microgravity combat in the central part of the station.”

“Microgravity, why would we fight the killer in microgravity?”

“I’d like to stay prepared in case we engage Irpond in orbit,” said Bill. “She may try to hijack an interplanetary travel pod or de-orbit the Defiant or something.”

“Great plan,” complemented Jeb, “but you forgot one thing.”

“And what might that be?” asked Bill.

“This feels like I’m back on Kerbin,” said Jeb. “If we’re going to Dres to arrest Irpond, shouldn’t we change the gravity settings to simulate DRES’ gravity instead of Kerbin’s?”

Bill’s jaw then dropped at Jeb’s question. “Oh, shoot, you’re right.” He walked to one of the on-board computers mounted on the walls and pressed a button. “Helmsman.”

“Yes, sir,” the station’s helmsman replied as Bill did some math on his kPad.

“Set the ring’s angular velocity to… 0.4585 radians per second,” Bill requested.

“But that would reduce the habitation sector’s gravity to 1.13 meters per second,” warned the helmsman.

“That’s the idea,” said Bill.

“You heard him,” added Jeb. “Do it.”

“Yes, Captain,” acknowledged the helmsman, then he hung up.

“You don’t need to worry about the guy in charge walking in on us,” said Jeb, “since I’M in charge here.”

“Keep in mind that the station has a low angular deceleration in order to prevent structural damage,” remarked Bill. “Since it has been spinning at a constant rotational velocity for a long time, a sudden change in the velocity would inflict…”

“PLEASE, speak our language,” said Jeb, and Bill sighed in boredom.

“It will be a while before we reach Dres’ gravity in here,” summed Bill, pointing at a nearby monitor.

Current Gravitational Acceleration	9.81 m/(s^2)
Closest Rlanetary Equivalent (+/- 0.15 m/(s^2))	Kerbin
Ring Status	Decelerating (SAFE)

 

“It still bugs me that you wait until NOW to confess your love to Val,” said Jeb. “Why didn’t you come to me earlier? I could have literally made you a chick magnet in less than a week.”

“Sure, you attracted a lot of girls,” argued Bill, “but how many have you KEPT for over three months?”

“Phoebe Kerman, remember her from Basic?” said Jeb.

“Yeah, you KILLED her in a test flight,” sighed Bill.

“Whoa, I was found not liable,” recalled Jeb. “SHE was piloting it; I was locked in a crew cabin until we were forced to eject. Also, if I remember correctly, Phoebe DROWNED due to a bad life vest.”

“See, this is what I was afraid would happen,” said Bill. “I didn’t want to get close to Val only to lose her.”

“Yet you’re confessing to Val when she’s now stuck in a pod with a murderer,” teased Jeb. “I’m no engineer, but I can tell you that it makes no logical sense to worry so much about her dying then and NOT worry about her NOW.”

“Don’t think I don’t worry,” said Bill. “This is exactly why I asked Mission Control to send soldiers to Dres, have Misty arrested on Kerbin, and ask you to teach me how to fight her on Dres. We HAVE to stop Irpond NOW before she kills Val.”

“Chillax, dude,” assured Jeb. “The solution is simple: just send your soldiers to intercept Val’s pod and arrest Irpond THERE.”

“What makes you think it would work?” asked Bill.

“You sent your super-pod to intercept Guscan Kerman’s capsule in solar orbit,” reminded Jeb. “How hard can it be to intercept VAL’S in one?”

“Real hard,” said Bill. “Val’s pod is currently on a Hohmann transfer trajectory to Dres from Jool, so that would cost a lot of fuel for the trip there – let alone returning to Kerbin. Even if the soldiers had unlimited fuel, there’s a good chance Val would have already reached Dres by the time the soldiers got anywhere within 1,000 kilometers of her.” He checked the monitor and saw that the centripetal acceleration was set to 9.5 meters per second squared. “Also, why send five men when you can send FIFTY… or more?”

“Ooh, yeah, that sounds kick-ass,” agreed Jeb.

“Besides that, if Irpond detects the intercept pod full of soldiers BEFORE it reaches Dres, she WILL take the crew hostage,” added Bill as he accessed a blueprint file on his kPad. “Based on what I remember about the Mark Vb interplanetary travel pod’s design and what I’ve seen on Law of Order, the safest bet for the hostages would be if the negotiator manages to talk Irpond into surrendering without harming anyone. Riskier options would include an uprising among the hostages or someone using an EVA suit to sneak in Val’s pod through the secondary docking port – but that would require Irpond not seeing him coming until it’s too late for her.”

“Dude, why not just use a sniper?” asked Jeb. “Works every time.”

“Uh, HELLO. If they crack that window open, the air will leak out and everyone will die. Even if the rest of the crew can duct tape a leak quickly, there’s still a good chance the sniper will be out of range to make an accurate shot since…”

“All right, I get it,” interrupted Jeb. “Then again, if she messed up two moonjets already, what are the odds that she could mess up the army ships?”

“At this rate, if Irpond stays clinging on to Bob hard enough, she won’t notice,” answered Bill. “However, that doesn’t mean MISTY won’t give her a heads-up. THAT’S another reason why I want to know how to fight her when we get there, in case she somehow takes out the soldiers.”

“Oh, look, you got mail,” said Jeb, then Bill checked his kPad.

“It’s from… Gene Kerman,” said Bill as he activated the antivirus scanner. “Good, it’s safe.” He opened it and read the written messages in the photographs Gene attached to the email.

“What does it say?” asked Jeb, then he peeked over Bill’s shoulder. “Whoa, you threatened to kill someone?”

“Jeb, please stop peeking,” sighed Bill.

“Buddy, you gotta be honest with your friends,” said Jeb.

“Fine,” sighed Bill, then he showed Jeb the pictures.

“Dude, why’d he copy your style?” asked Jeb.

“So I KNOW it’s him and not someone posing as him.”

“Wow, Misty Kerman claims that you sent someone to stalk her, and you sent her a threatening letter to her,” chuckled Jeb. “Does Gene really think that you’re THAT stupid?”

“Uh… yeah,” stammered Bill.

“She’s OBVIOUSLY lying,” said Jeb, then he noticed the man in the copied pictures of Misty’s alleged stalker. “Hey, that looks like Bob’s brother.”

“Rob? NAW, relax,” said Bill, sounding nervous. “That’s not him.”

“Ooh, this sounds badass,” commented Jeb. “If you hurt anyone, you die. Signed… BILL KERMAN.”

“He he he, that… is not me.”

“You must be REALLY dumb to sign a threatening letter like THAT,” said Jeb, but Bill said nothing. “Wait a minute… you didn’t threaten Misty, did you?”

“Eh…,” said Bill.

“You DID!” gasped Jeb.

“Okay, I admit it,” sighed Bill. “Happy?”

“Besides not telling Val how you felt about her when you had the chance, that has gotta be the dumbest mistake you’ve ever made,” said Jeb.

“How so?” argued Bill.

“You straight-up threatened to kill her. Did you think she wouldn’t report that?”

“First of all, Misty is a violent serial killer who does not deserve rights. Second of all, I told her I would have her killed IF she committed another murder. Third of all, I gave her a chance to stand trial for what she did. Fourth of all, had the cops taken action already, she would be on death row by now.”

“You hired Rob Kerman to stalk Misty, didn’t you?”

“Technically, he did it for free,” said Bill. “After I told him about Irpond and how she’s trying to have Bob all to herself, he jumped on board. Rob and Bob ARE brothers, after all.”

“You think that would matter when Misty files a stalking claim?!” shouted Jeb. “She may be a slime ball, but she has the right to say she’s being stalked – only this time, it’s LEGIT.”

“Oh, hi, officer,” said Bill, raising his voice’s pitch and batting his eyelids. “I’m being stalked by my daughter’s boyfriend’s little brother and I was threatened by his friend. Why? I may have murdered… 71 people and I don’t want justice to be served.”

“Yeah, like Misty’s going to say THAT,” said Jeb sarcastically.

“Last I checked, stalking is NOTHING compared to serial murder,” replied Bill.

“You still threatened to kill her.”

“ONLY if she killed anyone else, which shouldn’t be hard for LAW-ABIDING citizens. I just warned Misty that she’d better lay low and show up for trial when it comes – and it will come.”

“Then why did you say she would be hunted down if she left Kerbin? More importantly, HOW are you going to do that?”

“Simple: ask VAL to track Misty FOR me,” sighed Bill. “She’ll then order someone at Misty’s location to apprehend her… dead OR alive. Personally, I prefer dead.”

“Aw, man, does Val know?” said Jeb.

“I told Val I’d keep Misty contained,” answered Bill, “but I didn’t tell her HOW. I wanted to, but she didn’t want to hear it. My guess is that she doesn’t want me to tell her anything that Irpond could find and counter.”

“Ring gravitational acceleration at nine meters per second squared,” a female robotic voice said over the intercom.

“Okay, now Misty has the legal power to have you back off,” said Jeb.

“The heck she does,” argued Bill. “Irpond had to email Misty instructions on how sabotage that plane, so there’s a record of it buried somewhere. Once the accident investigators match the sabotage on the plane wreckage with Irpond’s instructions, airport security would see footage of Misty getting near the plane before it took off for Baikerbanur. Aside from that, since Misty loves to use guns, they’ll match hers with the bullet pulled out of Sally. With any luck… Misty’s been indicted already.”

 

“Oh, Irpond,” said Bob. “Don’t you just love it when we just float in the rack room, looking out the window at the beautiful Kerbol?”

“You know what would make it more beautiful?” asked Irpond. “If we were on a planet with an atmosphere to see it.”

“Yeah, the atmosphere can have an… artistic effect on any sunrise or sunset,” commented Bob. “It can act as a color filter to an otherwise black-and-white surface; and you’ll get the occasional cloud reflections.”

“Which planet would you say is the most beautiful?” wondered Irpond.

“Duh, Kerbin,” smirked Bob, and Irpond laughed.

“Besides that,” said Irpond. “You can’t use the Mun or Minmus, either.”

“Okay… I think I’ll pick… Eve,” said Bob. “Second place would be Duna, and Laythe’s third.”

“You’ve been EVERYWHERE,” remarked Irpond.

“Except Moho, Eeloo, and a couple of Jool’s moons,” corrected Bob. “What about you, where have YOU been?” Irpond said nothing and looked away. “What’s wrong?”

“Actually… it’s kind of embarrassing,” sighed Irpond.

“What’s embarrassing?” asked Bob.

“Laythe was… my only interplanetary assignment,” stammered Irpond. “After I worked software at the space center, I signed up to fly to Laythe. Dres will be my next assignment.”

“I don’t really see what’s so embarrassing about that,” said Bob.

“Back on-base, kerbalnauts and tourists alike used to brag about how many planets they landed on,” explained Irpond. “The fewer you’ve been to, the less popular you were.”

“With my friends, it doesn’t matter how many planets you’ve been to,” said Bob. “It’s what you did on them. Besides, I was never interested in Eeloo much, and there’s NO WAY I’m going to Moho. That place is FAR too hazardous.”

“Yet your favorite planet is hotter AND larger than Kerbin, has a toxic atmosphere, and its oceans are made of an explosive liquid,” laughed Irpond. “Besides that, it’s next to impossible to get off of.”

“Well, at least there’s more stuff to do there than Moho,” said Bob. “The views of the sun are beautiful, whereas on Moho it’s right in your face. The landscape also adds a variety of views.”

“How do you know so much about Moho?”

“I looked at pictures and environmental readings the surface crews sent; it’s basically a super-heated Duna with no atmosphere that takes forever to rotate about its axis,” sighed Bob. “Judging by the probable hazards from both planets, if I had to choose between getting stranded in Kerbol orbit or Eve’s surface, I’d pick Eve in a second.”

“Let me guess, Guscan chose Eve too,” commented Irpond.

“How’d you know?” gasped Bob. “Did you bug my room or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” said Irpond. “If I was stuck drifting aimlessly in a tiny capsule for years, I’d pick anything BUT doing that again.”

“And you have more beautiful sights and cooler things to do than just sit there cooped in a pod waiting for help,” added Bob. “At least on Eve, you can actually do SOMETHING before the new ascent vehicle arrives.”

“Like what, going for a romantic drive on the surface?” suggested Irpond.

“He he, that’d be nice,” sighed Bob. “I could also… row my boat on the oceans.”

“Why not just take a motorboat?” asked Irpond.

“Because I’m basically sailing on top of a time bomb, and I’d rather not increase my risk of getting blown to bits if something goes wrong with a motorboat,” explained Bob. “If you don’t want to wear out your arms AND stay safe, you could always use a blimp.”

“I thought you didn’t get any blimps during your Eve assignment,” said Irpond.

“Well, I was part of the first people… wait, how do you know I didn’t have access to blimps then?” asked Bob, looking suspicious.

“Kerbin never sent blimps to Eve until around the time you… said you were in Duna,” answered Irpond. “How do YOU know so much about the blimps?”

“A friend from Basic earned himself command of an Eve blimp a couple of Kerbin years back,” explained Bob. “He said if I needed a nice view to… propose to Sheri, the skies were the best bet.”

“It’s time you got over her already,” said Irpond, kissing Bob on the neck. “Sheri’s dead, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Bob then kissed her on the lips before he spoke again.

“Funny you should mention that. You’ll never guess who my friends accused of her murder.”

“Which friends?” asked Irpond, then her kPad activated itself. “Sorry… it’s Mom. You mind?”

“Go for it,” said Bob, then Irpond opened her mother’s email. Ten seconds later, she had a look of shock in her face.

“No… no… NO!”

“What do you mean ‘no?’” wondered Bob, then Val burst into the rack room.

“What’s going on here?” she asked.

“Haven’t you and Bill persecuted my mother and I ENOUGH?!” yelled Irpond.

“Wait, BILL?” gasped Bob.

“Persecute? Ha,” laughed Val. “I think the term you’re looking for is PRO-secute.”

“For what, speaking the truth?” replied Irpond.

“No, for falsely accusing ME of kidnapping and extortion,” said Val. “I should also throw in murder and witness tampering with the charges.”

“How DARE you poison Bob’s mind with your lies!” spat Irpond.

“I should say the same to you,” said Val. “Oh, wait, I’ll do you one better; how dare YOU poison a hundred people with your smashed-open RTGs.”

“You mean Poseidon’s Palace?” gasped Irpond. “You’re not only a liar, you are a murderer and a manipulator.”

“And why would I commit mass murder?”

“You love Victor so much, you’d do anything to hide the fact that HE committed mass murder,” said Irpond. “He’s not only your brother, he’s your best pal.”

“Best pal,” said Val, “we fought CONSTANTLY. Besides always treating me like a baby, he killed my dog and covered it up, cut me down when I came back from prom night crying, AND he trashed MY room when Jeb scratched his car.” Bob and Irpond looked at Val in confusion. “Victor knew it was Jeb, but he blamed it on ME since I was Jeb’s friend.”

“Then why did you contest the claims…” replied Irpond.

“ZIP IT!” interrupted Val, finding an opportunity to expose Irpond. “Scott Kerman TOLD me what you said to him before he died.”

“Whoa, Scott?” said Irpond. “What did he say?”

“He said that you tricked him into saying I left the Zeus when Sheri was murdered,” lied Val.

“And WHY would I do that?” said Irpond.

“It was YOU who killed Sheri on the shoreline; you then pinned it on ME.”

“Hey, Miss High-Level-Clearance, you can clearly see my license was SUSPENDED at the time,” Irpond told Val.

“That’s funny, I never said anything about the killer using a rover,” Val responded.

“Oh, snap,” whispered Guscan behind Val.

“Just why, I ask you, would Scott lie about your whereabouts at the time of the murder?” questioned Irpond. “More importantly, how could I convince him to lie?”

“The same way you manipulated Bob,” said Val. “You saw a man in mourning, then you gave him false clues for him to piece together. The result: Scott wanting revenge for the Zeus being destroyed, driving him to lie to the guards about me LEAVING the Zeus.” All was silent for ten seconds before Irpond spoke.

“Okay, Admiral… you got me.”

“Irpond, what happened?” asked Bob.

“I DID talk to Scott,” confessed Irpond.

“WHAT?!” gasped Bob.

“A-HA, I knew it!” cheered Val.

“BUT,” said Irpond, “don’t you want to hear WHY I talked to him?”

“I already know WHY,” said Val, “I was the scapegoat for YOUR crimes.”

“What? No,” denied Irpond. “I heard rumors that one of the Zeus survivors was looking into the station’s destruction. When I found out it was Scott – a bald guy with a thick Nye accent – I decided to meet him and offer some help.”

“By telling him to lie that I left the station to kill someone?” said Val.

“No, by simply giving him the facts,” explained Irpond. “You left the station an hour before the asteroid hit, and they don’t just go in rendezvous trajectories. The station’s communication and hazard detection systems were down, so it’s reasonable to say that the systems were sabotaged from the inside.”

“Yes, I left the Zeus – for a PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED crew rotation.”

“So, you told him.”

“Girls,” sighed Bob, “could you please stop it?”

“Yeah,” chimed in Irpond. “As you can see, your lies are hurting him.”

“You hurt him WORSE,” responded Val, “when you killed his true love and turned him against his friends.”

“Then what am I, chopped liver?” interrupted Guscan.

“Stay out of this, Guscan,” ordered Val, and he backed away.

“Okay,” acknowledged Guscan. “I’m just saying that Bob never turned against ME, and we’re friends-by-proxy.”

“I get it, you were bunkmates,” sighed Val.

“I never turned Bob against you and your Badger friends; you did that on your own,” said Irpond.

“Excuse me?” responded Val.

“You seduced Bill and got him to go along with your crusade against me,” said Irpond accusingly. “Jeb was easy to manipulate; maybe you threatened to tell Mission Control about an accident he was liable for if he didn’t help.”

“YOU’RE WRONG!” shouted Val, alerting everyone in the pod. “I stopped trying to seduce Bill when I was in high school.”

“Wait, did she just say she seduced Bill?” Ralo asked Matt, and Val turned her head to the rest of the crew.

“If you must know, all my attempts to get him to make a move on me FAILED,” sighed Val. “That was back in high school.”

“Then how come they worked last Kerbal year?” asked Irpond.

“Actually, he made a move on ME,” corrected Val. “The weird part is that he finally had the guts to admit it after decades of being chicken.”

“If he was too chicken to make the first move, why didn’t YOU do that for him?” wondered Matt.

“It was Badger tradition for the man to make his move, then the woman would either accept it or let him down,” explained Val.

“Kinda like Nye, but not so much in Krakopolis,” commented Matt.

“It’s the other way around in Squaddon,” added Sam.

“Besides that, I didn’t want a guy who’s too scared to even ask me out,” said Val. “If he can’t do that, then how do I expect him to step up when it actually matters?”

“Why should we believe you?” questioned Irpond. “Our tracking systems are capable of detecting asteroids and plotting their predicted trajectories MONTHS before it even reaches the sphere of influence. For all we know, you’ve planned the Zeus hit BEFORE you scheduled the crew rotation.”

“Val would NEVER do such a thing,” said Matt. “EVERYBODY knows she values the lives of her crew; she would never compromise that even for one second.”

“Yet she’s racist against Native Laythans,” argued Irpond.

“RACIST?” gasped Sam. “Val doesn’t discriminate against Laythans; VICTOR does.”

“I can speak for myself, you guys,” said Val.

“You really want Irpond and Misty dead, do you?” sighed Bob.

“If you took one minute to connect the dots, you would too,” said Val. “In fact, I’ll even vouch for you if you killed Irpond.”

“Why, because she misidentified you as the culprit?” asked Bob.

“More like falsely accused for stuff SHE did,” corrected Val.

“Hold on, we don’t even know if she and Misty lied about the kidnapping,” said Bob. “There’s still the chance that someone IMPERSONATED you and forced Irpond to steal Wally’s RTG.”

“Misty falsely accused Bill of setting her house on fire with a rocket.” reminded Val. “In case you didn’t pay attention, it MISSED.”

“None of us knew that missile was Bill’s until recently,” argued Irpond.

“That was not a missile, that was a spy probe,” said Val. “If the two of you framed Bill for arson decades ago, I wouldn’t put it past you to frame ME for Misty’s kidnapping.”

“Irpond, Admiral, can we please just cool down for a bit?” suggested Ralo. “We’re going to be in the same pod for years, and I’d rather we not try and kill each other.”

“Yeah,” agreed Matt. “Why can’t we get along?”

“Do you two really want to start a mutiny?” added Guscan.

“All right,” sighed Val, “but let me talk to Bob.”

“Not without me, you’re not,” argued Irpond.

“That’s an order, engineer,” snapped Val, then Irpond left Bob and Val to their privacy.

“Val, just because Irpond misidentified you as the bad guy doesn’t mean you have the right to threaten her and her mother,” started Bob.

“She didn’t misidentify me as the bad guy, Bob. She IS the bad guy,” argued Val. “Why won’t you just LISTEN to me?”

“Irpond was there for me when Sheri died, but you weren’t,” answered Bob. “You were either doing your job or covering for Vic. Irpond actually helped me with my loss.”

“Until I got the files with definite proof, I thought the Clivar genocide was a lie,” said Val. “Just like I blindly covered for my brother, you’re blindly covering for Irpond. I’m not going to let you make the same mistake I did.”

“Mistake? No, you got it all wrong. Irpond would never do anything to hurt me.”

“Except kill your girlfriend, slander your training friend, and irradiate an entire base. Besides that, you know what happened to MISTY’S husband.”

“Yeah, he was abusing Irpond when Misty shot him.”

“So, you think. If Misty faked being kidnapped under MY orders, then I wouldn’t put it past her to MURDER her husband, hit Irpond HERSELF, and make it look like self-defense.”

“What does that have to do with ME?” wondered Bob.

“Do you really want to risk becoming the next victim?” asked Val. “I’m not speaking to you as a commanding officer, I’m speaking to you as a friend… that you’ve known since Basic.”

“Then why do you hate her family so much like everybody else does?” said Bob.

“Everybody else is just skeptical,” said Val, “and rightfully so. I hate Misty because she framed me for kidnapping, killed 68 people by sabotaging an airliner – that MATT designed, I might add – and shot Sally Kerman at the Space Center.”

“I remember seeing your parents when we graduated Basic,” said Bob. “They seemed like pretty decent people. I don’t know how your brother turned bad, but why are you turning into a genderbent version of him?”

“Did I tell you that… I actually met Misty when I was ten,” stammered Val.

“You met Misty?!” gasped Bob. “What did she do to you?”

“Well… nothing,” said Val. “Mom ended our visit to the space center early when she recognized Misty; Dad almost bashed Misty’s skull in and had to be dragged out by security. Until Misty accused me of kidnapping her – and Bill of setting her house on fire – I thought my parents were just paranoid. Now I know they had every right to want her dead.”

“Look, Val, even if Misty IS a bad person, that doesn’t give you the right to go after her daughter.”

“Unless they’re IN CAHOOTS, but that’s not the point,” warned Val. “We will find the truth, and it will hit you harder than a sledgehammer. Just be sure you know what you’re doing when it does.”

“Who’s WE?” asked Bob.

“You already know Bill and I are looking into it, but I’m not telling who else is involved,” said Val. “I can’t risk you leaking their names to Irpond and giving her potential targets.”

 

Three Kerbin days later, back in Woomerang, Misty was watching her back extra carefully. Even though she had already filed a stalking claim with the police, she was not sure they would take her seriously. Before she turned any corner, she looked behind her and watched for that man she kept seeing follow her. She had yet to learn the man’s name, but she was afraid that he might harm her if he got too close to her.

When Misty arrived at her house from work, she turned on a flashlight and looked around her for signs of an intruder. Much to her surprise, there were none; the doors and windows were still locked. She then entered her house, locked the door behind her, and saw that she had a voicemail on her phone. “Hmm, I wonder who that could be.”

“Hey, Misty,” said Alexey’s voice. “I was just calling to let you know to log any other stalking-related incidents that occur. It could help the police find whoever’s allegedly working with that kerbalnaut.” Misty tried to call her back, but no answer.

“Hello, Alexey, it’s Misty,” she started. “Not once did my stalker show up in the past couple of days, which is weird. Did he get smarter, or did Bill call him off? Either way, I’ll tell the cops if he shows up again. Have a nice evening.” As she hung up, she looked through her mail and noticed a letter from Irpond. “I hope she’s having fun with that new boyfriend of hers.”

FROM	Irpond Kerman (IN-TRANSIT) Jool à Dres Pod 5B15
TO	Misty Kerman
IZHOJDCYCFFEGHCXOBRSTBPXCIDCJPBFU   - Matt the Second

 

“Ooh, a secret message,” said Misty cheerfully. “I wonder if I still have Irpond’s old math book.” She took out an outdated middle-school math textbook from her shelf and flipped to a specific page in the middle. “Nice that Irpond sends me these math challenges, it keeps me on my toes.” Misty then took a graphing calculator, a pencil, and a sheet of lined paper from her counter and started to decrypt the message. When she finished half an hour later, she gasped in horror.

“OH… NO!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: CATCHING ON

 

When Rob Kerman was done with his day shift at a pharmaceutical company, he had received an encrypted email from Bill. It had instructions to talk to Sally’s former employer and current Woomerang Instutute headmaster Evan Kerman about Irpond. Val had discovered that Irpond had attended Woomerang Institute, and she told Bill that it would be helpful to the case against Misty and Irpond if they had more information about Irpond’s background. After Rob saw the last of the delinquents leave in their truck – which had the back end full of water and someone in a swimsuit – he pulled into the visitor’s parking lot and entered the building.

“Can I help you, sir?” asked the secretary.

“Hello, mam,” replied Rob. “I wish to speak to Evan Kerman, please.”

“Your name and ID, please,” the secretary asked.

“Of course,” said Rob. “I’m Rob Kerman.”

“And… you don’t have any flags,” the secretary told him after scanning his driver’s license. “I’ll let him know you’re here. Have a seat.”

“Thank you,” said Rob as he seated himself. “Man, a lot has changed since I was here.”

“You’re an alumnus?” guessed the secretary.

“That’s right,” confirmed Rob.

“Hang on, let me check that,” said the secretary. “Yep, according to our records you attended Woomerang Institute over a decade ago.”

“Say, as long as you’re checking your alumnus database, would you mind checking another student’s name for me?”

“And which student might that be?”

“Irpond Kerman.”

“Irpond… is she current or former?”

“Former,” said Rob. “Fun fact: she’s dating my older brother, who also came here.”

“Good for both of them,” commented the secretary. “Ah, yes, Irpond Kerman was indeed a student here. Why are you so interested in her?”

“Between you and me,” whispered Rob, “I’m not sure I should trust her.”

“Sorry, but there’s nothing I can tell you,” the secretary told Rob. “Besides it being illegal to share her transcript with you without proper reason, I never knew Irpond. I got this job years after her graduation date.”

“That’s why I’m talking to Evan Kerman,” said Rob. “He was principal at the time she was in school, so he must know something.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” The secretary then picked up her office phone and speed-dialed her boss. “Sir, an alumnus named Rob Kerman wants to see you. He’s in the lobby right now.”

“Send him in,” Evan replied, and Rob approached his office. “Rob Kerman.”

“Mr. Evan,” said Rob as the two men shook hands.

“Congrats on the pardon,” commented Evan. “Bet you were itching to get out of prison.”

“Well, those particular scientific regulations at the time were just political tools,” said Rob. “Good thing Prime Minister Trunton didn’t cave in to those criminals in the planetary legislature.”

“Which ones?” joked Evan, and Rob laughed. “So, what brings you back to school.”

“I came here for your job,” replied Rob. “Ha, I’m just kidding. I need to talk to you about one of your former students.”

“I’d be happy to,” said Evan, “if only you gave me the name.”

“Irpond Kerman.” As soon as Rob said that, the smile on Evan’s face faded. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” stammered Evan. “Why are you so interested in her?”

“I’m asking on behalf of kerbalnaut Bill Kerman,” explained Rob, “who has good reason to believe that Irpond is a murderer.”

“A murderer?” gasped Evan. “Whatever gave him that idea?”

“She had the skill set necessary to crash two moonjets,” started Rob, “a solid motive to kill Bob’s girlfriend, and access to the plans to the airliner that crashed itself last year. Oh, and FYI, she’s now kissing Bob in the pod heading for Dres – where the first crime occurred. Shall I go on?”

“Which airliner are you talking about?” asked Evan.

“The one Sally Kerman was originally going to go to Baikerbanur in,” said Rob, “only she bailed at the last minute before it took off.”

“Are you saying that the plane crash was a planned hit on SALLY?” said Evan.

“You got it,” answered Rob.

“Then how did she have access to the plans for that specific plane?”

“She was on-base with the plane’s designer. Bill’s current theory is that she stole the plans and found the weak spots before forwarding instructions to her mom.” Evan shuddered and sat at his desk. “You know who her mother is, don’t you?”

“Everyone knew her mother,” said Evan, accessing Irpond’s permanent record. “I remembered hearing rumors that Irpond was bullied repeatedly in school. To make matters worse, Misty got a lot of crap from parents and staff – particularly the women. The men… I heard they either were nice to her, just ignored her, or outright threatened to kill her.”

“Kill her?” wondered Rob.

“Well… I was unaware if anyone in the staff made threats. In fact, it was mostly parents and female staff members that gave Misty trouble. One time, I had to call in security after one of the dads pulled a loaded gun on Misty in the parking lot.”

“A gun, why’d he point a gun at her?”

“I don’t know,” sighed Evan. “My guess… she turned him down, he had a prior grudge against her… or he sided with the women who gossiped about her.”

“Or he was being protective of his kid,” suggested Rob.

“Yeah, but unless you were a cop or a designated employee, you were not allowed to bring a firearm past the school perimeter,” reminded Evan, “and that guy was neither. But I guess you didn’t come here just to talk gun control.”

“No,” said Rob. “What was she like when she came here. Any problems, rumors… boyfriends.”

“Well, besides achieving valedictorian, she was a… rather quiet student,” started Evan. “She never made any disruptions in class, and she always did well on her assignments.”

“I’m not surprised,” said Rob. “Bill said that she’s in software now.”

“Now that you mention it, in her senior year she expressed her ambitions to go into space,” said Evan. “I think your brother’s Badger friends had a hand in inspiring her.”

“I don’t know, her mom was in the space program before she was born,” Rob disagreed.

“Misty was in the space program?” gasped Evan.

“Yes, but it was nothing back then compared to what it is now,” said Rob. “Misty used to work in the electric car project… before she murdered Debra Kerman.”

“Don’t you remember the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty,” asked Evan, “or did prison harden you to the point where you believe everyone’s guilty of something?”

“Like I said earlier, Misty’s a suspect in that airliner crash,” said Rob, “and the murder of Sally Kerman.”

“Why would she crash a plane and kill Sally?”

“You didn’t read Sally’s students’ field trip reports, did you?” Evan shook his head. “Misty tried to make an arson – perpetrated by her – look like someone launched a missile and hit it.”

“How do you know THAT?”

“If you read the reports, you would have found out that the rocket in question lost control during atmospheric re-entry and crashed kilometers away from the target,” explained Rob, and Evan was confused. “Yes, it was targeting Misty’s house. But no, it was not a missile; it was a spy probe. However, as B… the original designer didn’t account for drag forces in re-entry, the rocket landed way off-course to deal any damage to the house.”

“How do you know that engineer was framed for arson?”

“The rocket launched from Baikerbanur on the same night as the house fire in Woomerang.” Evan’s eyes widened in surprise. “The weird thing is that the police blamed the fire on a faulty furnace – that you can fit an obese man inside, I may add.”

“Indeed,” said Evan. “Irpond’s records show an address change when she was in elementary school.”

“And her first address was,” said Rob as he took out a slip of paper from his shirt, “13 Badger’s Fall Lane.”

“Yes,” confirmed Evan. “After she and her mom spent some time in a shelter, she moved to… 245 Titan Court in Woomerang.”

“Thanks,” said Rob as he wrote the address down. “I can tell you where her LAST address was before she got in that pod.” The principal then dared Rob to surprise him. “Posiedon’s Palace, on the surface of Laythe – the first moon of Jool.”

“WHOA!” he gasped. “That’s awesome.”

“Not really,” said Rob. “A LOT of bad things happened in that base over a period of a year. The last one involved RTGs getting ruptured.”

“Sorry, what’s an RTG?” inquired Evan.

“It’s a power generator that uses decaying blutonium,” answered Rob. “If one were to be compromised, it would leak lethal radioactive fallout.”

“Uh oh,” gasped Evan. “Are you SURE Irpond’s behind it?”

“Y… you’ll have to email Bill and Val about it,” said Rob. “I’m just collecting intel for THEM.”

“Well… there is something I think you should know about,” warned Evan as he dug up a folder from his filing cabinet.

“What is that?” asked Rob.

“Poseidon’s Palace is not the first place that had a string of abnormal events happen with Irpond’s presence,” said Evan, showing Rob a list of people.

STUDENTS
M.I.A.	EXPELLED		ARRESTED		DEAD
Darlene Kerman (F)	Regina Kerman (F)		Kelaii Kerman (F)		Maurie Kerman (F)
Maglie Kerman (F)	Virvin Kerman (F)		Jonble Kerman (M)		Eilner Kerman (F)
Jesble Kerman (F)	Robart Kerman (M)		Starigh Kerman (F)		Namin Kerman (F)
Gregrigh Kerman (M)	Lasel Kerman (F)				Donfurt Kerman (M)
					Ludard Kerman (F)
					Ted Kerman (M)
* ---------------------- *
PARENTS
M.I.A.		ARRESTED		DEAD
Trevor Kerman (M) ·         Gregrigh Kerman (M)		Lo Var Kerman (M) ·         Jesble Kerman (F)		Lightman Kerman (M) ·         Ted Kerman (M)
Diana Kerman (F) ·         Gregrigh Kerman (M)				Madhu Kerman (F) ·         Vicky Kerman (F)
* ---------------------- *
STAFF
M.I.A.		ARRESTED		DEAD
		Wade Kerman (M)		Megda Kerman (F)

 

“When did all this happen?” questioned Rob.

“Since Irpond’s sophomore year in the high school division,” said Evan. “Woomerang Institute saw a rise in expulsion and crime rates. The police say they were all isolated incidents.”

“But you believed otherwise,” asked Rob. “Why?”

“It was more of a gut feeling,” said Evan, reading another sheet of paper. “Rumor had it that the missing female students had a crush on a then-senior named Gregrigh Kerman.”

“Gregrigh,” said Rob. “Why does that name ring a bell?”

“He was a year below you,” said Evan.

“Okay… but Gregrigh is also listed as M.I.A.,” Rob pointed out, “and so are his parents.”

“See, that’s the thing. One day, he just up and disappeared. After that, the only other incident we had was Lo Var Kerman shooting Lightman Kerman.”

“What for?”

“He stated that he had evidence that Lightman was behind his daughter’s kidnapping and disappearance, and he wanted revenge,” explained Evan. “However, further investigation proved that neither he – nor his son, Ted – had anything to do with it.”

“Why is Ted listed as dead?”

“Starigh Kerman claims to have murdered him as revenge for her friend’s disappearance. However, that allegation turned out to be false and she was sentenced to life,” sighed Evan. “The false allegation was… also the reason why Prime Minister Trunton wanted her put on death row some time after his election.”

“What made her say she wanted revenge?”

“She claimed that Irpond helped her figure out that Ted kidnapped and murdered her friend, Jesble,” started Evan. “However, the police investigated and found nothing linking Irpond and Ted; she also denied ever speaking to Starigh.”

“Hmm…,” stammered Rob, “I’m sensing a pattern here. You mind if I take a copy?”

“Suit yourself,” said Evan as he activated the copy machine in his office. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“I hope so, too. Bill says that if we don’t nail this killer as soon as possible, she and Misty could doom our entire species.”

 

“Hi-yah! Hi-yah!” yelled Bill as he kept throwing punches at Jeb, who kept moving out of the way.

“Terrible,” commented Jeb as he punched Bill under his right shoulder. “You leave yourself wide open.” Bill then jumped and tried to kick Jeb in the head, but he ducked and kicked Bill in the gut when he landed. “Too sloppy.” Bill spun around and elbow-jabbed Jeb’s stomach before hitting him in the head with his knee. Fortunately, they were both wearing workout helmets and protective gear; Mission Control made it regulation to pack protective gear for all space station exercise areas in case the equipment got loose and presented a threat to the kerbalnaut’s life.

“You think THAT was sloppy?” asked Bill.

“Good one,” coughed Jeb before jumping toward Bill and tackling him, “but I’ve seen better.” He then slugged Bill and put his hands on Bill’s neck. “You’re dead.”

“Retry,” wheezed Bill.

“Come on, get out of this!” barked Jeb. “HIT ME!”

“Whe…” said Bill.

“Two seconds,” said Jeb, then Bill punched Jeb in the teeth.

“Sorry, man,” apologized Bill.

“Don’t apologize,” said Jeb. “Remember, pretend I’m the bad guy.”

“Maybe if we watched some Special Forces training v…,” started Bill, but Jeb kicked him between the legs before punching him in the nose.

“You don’t blabber,” reminded Jeb, stepping away from Bill. “You hate your enemy so much you have nothing to say.”

“Then… how do we get Irpond to confess?” asked Bill as he picked himself back up – and avoiced Jeb’s tackle.

“You either do it before or after the fight, NOT during,” answered Jeb, then Bill’s kPad showed a notification.

“Can we take five, please?” asked Bill, spitting blood out of his mouth.

“Nope,” said Jeb.

“Dude, it’s Val,” argued Bill.

“Ugh, fine,” sighed Jeb. “FYI, you left yourself wide open going high. If you went LOW, you can deal some real damage.”

“Got it,” said Bill as he read Val’s text. “Oh, yeah!”

“What, did the Badgers beat the Krakens?” wondered Jeb.

“I don’t know, but we definitely beat a Wolverine,” said Bill. “Val got Irpond to confess to talking to Scott.”

“WHAT?!” gasped Jeb. “No way.”

“But,” interrupted Bill, “Irpond denied telling Scott to lie to the guards about Val leaving the Zeus.”

“Yeah, right,” said Jeb, and Bill nodded his head in agreement. “Wait… maybe SOMEBODY ELSE told him to lie to the guards.”

“Jeb, who stands to benefit the most from framing Val for Sheri’s murder?” questioned Bill, and Hadgan stopped as he was passing by.

“Clivar conspiracy theorists,” guessed Jeb, but Hadgan chimed in.

“The correct answer is… the one who ACTUALLY killed her,” he answered.

“Bing bing, we have a winner,” said Bill. “Oh, and Hadgan, we know who tricked you into killing Agaden.”

“What?” gasped Hadgan. “Where is he?!”

“SHE is currently in-transit to Dres,” said Bill, “along with Val.”

“Too bad we can’t just force the pod to pull over,” commented Hadgan.

“And even if we could, the only logical way that would happen is if it established a parking orbit around a planet,” added Bill. “Speaking of which, I find it odd that while Moonjet 79 crashed in the same manner as 314, Irpond’s personnel file shows that she was never on Dres.”

“She was never on Eeloo either, but that didn’t stop her from murdering Agaden,” reminded Hadgan. “What’s her name again?”

“Irpond Kerman,” said Bill. “She’s a software specialist.”

“That… makes sense,” sighed Hadgan. “Only a software geek would know how to reprogram a moonjet to lose control and crash itself without raising any flags in the operation code.”

“And she hacked Gus and Linus and transmitted the virus to you – along with the instructions to what poisoned her,” added Jeb.

“I thought Gus was actually guilty, since he’s now in prison,” remarked Hadgan.

“For covering up a genocide,” corrected Bill. “It had nothing to do with Agaden.”

“Why?” gasped Hadgan. “Why did she kill Agaden? Why’d she pick ME?”

“Because she’s a psychopath,” chuckled Jeb.

“She desired Bob,” said Bill. “Agaden not only had Bob as her number-one ideal match, but she and Bob wrote to each other; Irpond had to remove the competition.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hadgan disagreed. “Why assassinate someone who’s not even on the same planet as your crush?”

“Easy, she’s a psychopath,” repeated Jeb.

“Dude.”

“What? Bob already had a girlfriend with him, so what LOGICAL reason would she have to kill Agaden?” questioned Jeb.

“So nobody else could take him when Sheri died,” answered Bill. “She takes out whoever likes Bob, he’ll get lonely, then she has him all to herself.”

“Okay, but why did she have ME do her dirty work?” inquired Hadgan. “Unlike the bad guy of Moonjet 79, I wasn’t on board.”

“Why didn’t she pick ME?” asked Jeb.

“Because she knew you would probably screw that up and raise flags too early,” said Bill.

“HEY!” yelled Jeb. “Just HOW would I screw up a plan to crash a jet?”

“Yeah, if anything, he’s more likely to mess up a plan to NOT crash it,” agreed Hadgan.

“Knowing Jeb, he was more likely to cause the jet to be inoperational when he tried to upload the virus,” spoke Bill. “Once Jeb would explain that he was ordered to replace the operational code, the plot would be discovered earlier and Agaden would still be alive.”

“But what about the poison?” asked Hadgan. “She didn’t die from the crash.”

“She must have expected Jeb to screw THAT up, too,” said Bill.

“Okay, THAT’S more accurate,” commented Jeb. “Even so, why not get a scientist to make the poison or an engineer to switch the codes?”

“Doy, a scientist can easily tell if what Irpond wanted to give Agaden was toxic,” said Bill, and Hadgan put his thumbs up. “An engineer… well… there was a far greater chance of an engineer detecting a virus than anyone else. Therefore, the logical choice would be a rule-following pilot who cared so much about safety.” He then pointed at Hadgan. “She KNEW you were extra careful since you lost your leg, so she chose YOU as her unwitting pawn.”

“Sounds about right,” said Hadgan, “only she didn’t ask me to bash Agaden in the head and leave her to die in space. You said she never went to Dres, right?”

“That’s correct,” confirmed Bill.

“Then how did she convince that other girl to help with her evil weapon test on Dres?” asked Hadgan.

“Here’s my theory: she DID go to Dres, but she erased that from her personnel file,” suggested Jeb.

“I doubt it,” Bill disagreed. “If she could mess up her own flight log… why didn’t she mess up VAL’S to say she flew to Laythe when Sheri was killed? Everything we do gets logged on our service records to the second: EVAs, crew transfers, surface ops, surface-to-orbit flights, landings, ore runs, et cetera.”

“Okay,” smirked Jeb. “I dare you to tell me when your last flight was… to the second.”

“Easy,” said Bill, accessing his service record. “At the 23^rd second of 0415 hours on Day 194 this Kerbin year, I disconnected the mini-lander from the Werner to fly to the Fragipan to perform an EVA to repair the Yeti rover. Shall I get down to specifics?”

“Oh, so that’s why you left a while back,” said Jeb. “Okay, I don’t need to hear anymore.”

“You get the point; if Irpond could tamper with her own records, why didn’t she tamper with VAL’S while she was at it?” reminded Bill.

“Maybe the two of them were partners-in-crime from before,” said Hadgan.

“THAT makes a bit more sense, seeing how they both went to Woomerang,” recalled Bill. “Irpond must have asked Danlong to help her test the virus and not leave any witnesses.”

“And when Danlong texted her the results, Irpond saved it for when she needed to use it for real,” finished Hadgan. “The poison was an additional measure.”

But something doesn’t add up,” interrupted Jeb. “Why would Irpond wait a long time after testing the virus to use it for real?”

“Maybe she didn’t wait,” suggested Hadgan.

“No, she waited,” said Bill. “I double-checked the accident archives; no other moonjet hackings between 79 and 314.”

“How do you know she didn’t just ERASE them?” asked Jeb.

“Good question, and I anticipated that by asking contacts stationed on each celestial body in the solar system,” answered Bill. “The only thing even remotely close to a hacking was a malfunctioning surface harvester that misread the ore concentration readings – and that was just a minor inconvenience.”

“Bill: One. Irpond: zero,” cheered Jeb.

“Technically, she didn’t do anything since 79… until 314, that is,” reminded Bill. “She had the weapon ready to use and found the chance with Agaden.” He turned to his kPad and continued reading. “Well, Val’s got good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“The bad news,” said Jeb.

“Irpond and Misty know we’re on to them,” answered Bill.

“Who’s Misty?” inquired Hadgan.

“Irpond’s mom, and her partner-in-crime back on Kerbin,” said Bill.

“And Bill’s arch-nemesis,” chimed in Jeb.

“Really, dude? Why would she be my arch-nemesis?” sighed Bill.

“You threatened to kill her if she killed anyone else, and you had Rob stalk her,” said Jeb. “Right now, Misty’s probably telling Irpond that you know what they did.”

“Then wouldn’t that make Bill IRPOND’S arch-nemesis?” wondered Hadgan. “After all, Bill DID figure out Gus and Linus’ emails were spoofed from Laythe.”

“She’s already taken by Val,” said Jeb. “Hey, that would be an interesting team rap battle: Val and Bill vs Irpond and Misty.”

“I’d be more interested in watching Bill go Kerbal of Titanium on Irpond’s ass,” remarked Hadgan.

“Actually, I’d think it’d be more like Superkerbal II,” Jeb spoke. “At least he didn’t wreck all the buildings.”

“Heh heh, if Bill tracked Misty down to Gilly, he could probably smash her with a whole outpost,” chuckled Hadgan.

“Depending on the mass of the outpost in question, I suppose that’s possible,” agreed Bill. “I honestly hope they execute Misty before she can leave Kerbin’s sphere of influence, but best to stay prepared in case they slip. Anyway, Irpond and Misty have resorted to writing in a secret code.”

“Secret code?” gasped Jeb. “Well, what is it?”

“Here was their last communication.” Bill then showed his friends what Irpond last wrote to Misty.

FROM	Irpond Kerman (IN-TRANSIT) Jool à Dres Pod 5B15
TO	Misty Kerman
IZHOJDCYCFFEGHCXOBRSTBPXCIDCJPBFU   - Matt the Second

 

“Now, what the heck does that mean?” asked Hadgan. “I know that ‘Matt the Second’ is supposed to be the clue, but to what?”

“The only ‘Matt’ I could think of now is Matt Kerman, an engineer who’s also in the pod with Bob, Val, and Irpond,” said Bill.

“This Matt dude is obviously the key to cracking the code,” said Jeb. “We gotta look up this ‘Matt the Second’ and see what he left behind.”

“I’ll first run it through a wheel cipher and see what turns up,” said Bill.

“Uh, dude, you forgot Matt the Second,” reminded Jeb.

“If Misty and Irpond are sending each other coded messages, it means that she knows her kPad’s tapped,” countered Bill. “Matt the Second could be an inside reference to what wheel setting is necessary… or it’s just to throw us off.”

“Wait, you tapped her kPad?” asked Hadgan.

“Yes, which… was the good news,” sighed Bill. “Unfortunately, until we crack this code, all we’ll get is gibberish.”

“Then we’d better move fast,” said Hadgan, and Bill received another email. “Who’s that?”

“Mission Control,” answered Bill as he activated the antivirus scanner. “I hope the IP address proves it’s legitimate… and it is.”

“Email and attachments clean,” the kPad spoke, and Bill started the attached video file.

“Attention all space program engineers,” Gene Kerman started. “Mission Control has decided it’s time to improve our interplanetary communication systems.” His face was then covered by a couple of pie charts. “Recent personnel surveys have shown that 74 percent of deployed active-duty kerbalnauts and 64 percent of veteran kerbalnauts are unsatisfied with Kerbtext and want a faster means to talk to people on other planets.”

“Any of you guys remember taking this survey?” asked Bill.

“I did,” said Jeb.

“Same here,” added Hadgan.

“Mission Control has decided to host a challenge to design a new way to communicate across the solar system. More specifically, we want this.” Gene then grabbed an office phone and there was a ringtone. Five seconds later, the screen split to show a man standing next to a phone inside what appeared to be a Duna surface outpost.

“Hello, Gene,” said the man. “How’s Kerbin?”

“Great, Eric,” replied Gene. “How’s Duna treating you?”

“It’ll take more than a dust storm to knock over THIS guy,” chuckled Eric, and Gene laughed. “Well, I’m scheduled to check on a pod that just made a fine-tune orbit. Gotta go.”

“Hang on, just where is this pod coming from?” asked Gene.

“Eeloo.”

“EELOO!” gasped Gene. “Well, good thing we got these new phones.”

“Same here, boss. Later.” As Gene moved out of the way, Eric hung up and dialed a number before the screen was split in two again.

“Hello,” said a young woman Jeb and Bill recognized as Hanina. She was floating in the cockpit of a Mark Vb interplanetary travel pod.

“Hey, Hanina. It’s Eric, from the Duna outpost,” responded Eric.

“Hi, Eric. We just set our Duna periapsis to 500 kilometers,” said Hanina.

“Perfect,” said Eric. “Say, how’s your friend doing?”

“Excellent, now that she can talk to her boyfriend with this new phone system,” said Hanina.

“Hold it,” interrupted Jeb as he hit the pause button. “Hanina’s friend is DEAD, and I last saw Hanina driving a mini-bus two weeks ago.”

“Dude, chill, she’s just acting for a concept demonstration video,” said Bill. “Besides, she could be talking about a different friend.”

“True,” agreed Jeb as he resumed the movie.

“Tell her to thank the inventor,” said Eric, then Hanina hung up. “An interplanetary phone system, just how cool is that? Answer: as cool as YOU make it. If you have any ideas or designs, please submit them to the email address below. Further instructions are provided in your attached PDF. If you have any questions, please contact Mission Control and we will get back to you as soon as possible.”

“Dude, you should SO do it,” Jeb told Bill.

“Agreed.”

“Have fun and remember… a connected kerbal is a happy kerbal.” The video file then ended.

“Guscan came up with that phrase,” Bill informed Jeb and Hadgan. “Wouldn’t surprise me if he spearheaded this.”

“Why, does he get a payout from the phone companies?” guessed Jeb.

“No, Jeb, he was stranded for three years in Kerbol orbit with no communication,” reminded Bill, “… at least until we launched a Mark I Ultimate Relay Antenna at our closest point to him.”

“You in or out?” asked Hadgan.

“I’m SO in,” repeated Bill. “Even though I do not expect OUR pod to get this new upgrade before I rendezvous with Val on Dres, it would be nice to use the phone for when we get separated again.”

“Hey, you should see what I drew,” said Hadgan, then he showed the two men a drawing of Bill and Val kissing inside a Duna ascent vehicle at night.

“Who blabbed?” asked Bill, and Jeb whistled innocently. “Jeb, was that you?”

“No,” denied Jeb, but Bill was unconvinced. “Yeah.”

“Buddy, why are you telling other people Val and I have crushes on each other?” asked Bill.

“None of us said ‘no,’ to people drawing fanart of VAL and I,” reminded Jeb, “especially not Val and I… or YOU.”

“That was just a popular romance prediction,” said Bill, “and it still is, in fact. I’d rather NOT make my feelings for Val PUBLIC.”

“They’re gonna know about it eventually,” Jeb warned him. “Let me tell you secret marriages either end up with total exposure or deadly heartbreak.”

“Marriage… DUH!” snapped Bill, then he accessed his email. “Ask… about… Misty’s… marriage… before she… shot… her husband.”

“Genius,” said Jeb. “Say, Misty, how was your life with old-whats-his-name before your murdered him?” He then batted his eyelids and spoke in a higher pitch. “It was horrible, man. He was always complaining about how I killed his girlfriend and messed up our daughter big-time. The worst part was that I did it so well that I got Jeb Kerman as an arch-enemy.”

“Okay, first of all, if you’re going to pretend to be Misty Kerman, at least say something that’s realistic,” sighed Bill.

“I am,” argued Jeb.

“‘Jeb Kerman as an arch-enemy,’ really?” countered Bill. “Point one-and-a-half, knowing you she won’t need to sabotage anything to get you to crash.”

“Oh, roasted,” cheered Hadgan.

“Second of all, I’m talking about Rob asking NEIGHBORS, friends, and other people that knew Misty and Dilford,” emphasized Bill. “Something tells me that Dilford’s death was NOT in self-defense.”

“Maybe Rob can find this Matt the Second guy and crack the code for us,” said Jeb.

“Ooh, that was fast,” said Bill as he received a reply from Rob. “Uh oh.”

“What do you mean uh oh?”

“Poseidon’s Palace isn’t the first place Irpond wreaked havoc on,” read Bill.

“Duh; she caused trouble on Eeloo and Dres before that,” reminded Hadgan.

“How about Woomerang Institute… as a student,” clarified Bill.

“Okay, that’s freaky,” agreed Jeb.

“How is that even possible?” asked Hadgan. “More importantly, how is that even possible for her to cause that much trouble in school and NOT get red-flagged when she enlisted?”

“Maybe the guy who reviewed applications was a Wolverine,” joked Jeb.

“Rob said that Evan told him that the police couldn’t link Irpond or her mom to any of the incidents,” said Bill. “However, we should investigate further just to be sure.”

“No kidding,” sighed Hadgan.

“Misty escaped once; I’m not letting her do it again,” said Bill, sounding determined.

“Dude, we were nine when she messed up that car,” reminded Jeb.

“And I was 37 when she messed up THAT PLANE – which, I should remind you, is a remarkable feat of engineering,” countered Bill. “It is because of HER that her daughter is messed up to the point of endangering Val, Bob, and the rest of our friends.”

“You might want to subtract Bob from that, since she’s in love with him.”

“Misty was also in love with Dilford, but that didn’t stop her from killing him. Odds are that, if Bob turns against Irpond, HE’S her next victim. I can’t let that happen.” Bill then received another email.

“Ooh, aren’t you popular,” commented Hadgan, then Bill’s antivirus scanner confirmed the email was clean.

“This one’s from… Sally Kerman?” gasped Bill. “That’s impossible; she’s dead.” He then noticed the email had an audio file attachment.

“Well, go on… let’s hear it,” suggested Jeb.

“This is weird,” agreed Hadgan, then Bill started the recording.

“I know what you’re up to, Bill,” a woman’s voice began. “You think you can get away with slandering me and my daughter?”

“Who here thinks it’s Misty?” asked Bill, then Hadgan raised his hand – Jeb did not.

“You also had the nerve to hire some low-life to stalk me… intimidate me,” Misty continued. “I won’t be moved by your tactics, and I’m choosing to fight back.”

“Good,” sighed Jeb. “Let’s see how well you do against the prosecutor.”

“You know she can’t hear you, right?” reminded Bill.

“I am giving you ONE Kerbin day to call him off me. If I see him again, I will kill him and claim self-defense. And don’t say that you didn’t get this email, for I enabled a ‘read receipt’ function.”

“Dang it,” cursed Jeb.

“You also made the mistake of putting a full parental monitor program on a top-notch software engineer, who happens to be my only daughter,” continued Misty. “Tell your girlfriend to remove it permanently in three Kerbin days or I will sue YOU BOTH for illegal surveillance – as well as Mission Control for enabling it. This is my final warning. You know who I am.”

“Illegal surveillance?” sighed Jeb. “PLEASE.”

“Actually… to tap someone’s kPad would require a warrant,” said Hadgan. “If Val had one, Misty can’t really do anything about Irpond’s kPad getting tapped.”

“But if she found the parental monitor program on her kPad, why didn’t she just try and jailbreak it?” wondered Jeb.

“Because Val would notice,” answered Bill.

“Here’s an idea; you get the warrant for Irpond’s kPad, then Val would either KEEP the tap or have it replaced with something that’s HARDER to find,” started Hadgan. “You then tell Misty that you got it removed, then Irpond and Misty will give up the goods when they think they’re safe.”

“Great idea,” said Jeb, “except you forgot the part where she could use some other guy’s kPad.”

“I got that covered,” said Bill. “Val tapped the other kPads in case Irpond gets smart, but I told her to allow the monitor program to only raise flags on the others’ if transmissions containing certain keywords are detected. Oh, and FYI, she’s REQUIRED to keep a tap on MATT since he’s a key spacecraft and SSTO designer.”

“Then you should have no problem getting the warrant for Irpond’s pad,” finished Hadgan. “Even if she was not a suspect in an ongoing murder case, she is still a high-level software engineer – which means that she’ll have plenty of trade secrets to steal and/or sell.”

“Ha ha, joke’s on YOU!” Jeb yelled at Bill’s kPad.

“And I should have no problem telling Rob to stop following Misty,” added Bill, “since he’ll be doing some detective work elsewhere. When he’s done, there should be enough evidence to have her executed.”

“Bill: three. Misty: two,” commented Jeb. “Ha ha ha.”

“I’m gonna tell her that, while I’m calling off Rob (without giving his name), I have eyes everywhere,” said Bill.

“No, you don’t,” argued Jeb.

“One, yes I do. Two, she doesn’t HOW MANY eyes I have on her,” reminded Bill.

“Ooh… snap,” said Jeb. “When she can’t tell who’s working for you and who’s not, she’ll slip up and then the cops will nab her.”

“Or she’ll get off the planet,” replied Hadgan, “but even then, they’ll catch her.”

“Unless she’s not in a military-occupied planet,” added Bill. “Even if she did go somewhere with a military presence, whether or not they catch her before she escapes depends on their strength and resources.”

“Then where would Misty go to avoid armed soldiers?” asked Hadgan.

“Gilly, Ike, Moho, Dres, or Eeloo,” answered Bill.

“What, you just remember planets with no soldiers off the top of your head?” commented Jeb.

“Val found all the active-duty interplanetary soldiers’ locations and gave me a list of where they were stationed,” explained Bill. “Think, Jeb: if I was a bad guy trying to escape the law, I’d go where there are fewer armed men in uniform.”

“Why didn’t you list Eve and Duna if there are no military bases on their moons?” inquired Hadgan.

“Good question,” replied Bill. “Eve ascent vehicles are super-expensive to transport only a few people at a time, and the explodium can be used as a weapon of mass destruction in the wrong hands. As for Duna, it only has a weak presence since there were strong signs of prior civilization found during surface ops.”

“Neat,” said Jeb. “Speaking of Moho, I wonder how Dad’s doing.”

 

On the surface of Moho, Jeb Senior was driving a small open-cockpit rover while wearing an EVA suit. Since large rovers – particularly fuel trucks and mobile bases – were next to impossible to transport to Moho, Mission Control decided to send only smaller vehicles. As a result, only very fuel-efficient landers and small rovers were allowed; however, there were rumors that Mission Control was working on a design for a self-mining Moho lander. The fuel trucks sent there for the ore transports were relatively small compared to conventional fuel trucks and could not store any liquid fuel, oxidizer, or monopropellant on its own. Rather, it did the conversions at the landing site of the craft in question.

When Jeb Senior heard the news that the Mohole Bridge was completed, he flew a one-man lander to the north pole to test it. Commander Trifurt objected to it until Jeb Senior reminded her that he was EVA-certified, then she returned to her viewing cupola to see the bridge christening on the monitor. After Jeb finished driving on the bridge, he drove to the other side to do some exploring.

“I can’t wait to get off this rock,” he told himself as he drove around a boulder. “This place is hotter than the desert foundry.”

“Well, boss, the good news is that the transfer window to Kerbin opens rather frequently,” answered one of his employees on his EVA suit’s commlink.

“And the bad news?”

“There’s a greater chance of getting stranded in Kerbol orbit during the return flight,” Jeb Senior was reminded.

“How long before I’m in that dump you guys call an outpost?” sighed Jeb Senior.

“Let’s see… and your ETA to Mohut Seven is five minutes at your current velocity. Need me to set an autopilot for you?”

“No thanks, I’m good,” replied Jeb Senior as he drove along the surface. He then looked up at the starry sky, thinking about his late wife. “Amelia…”

“Did you say something?” someone asked on the commlink.

“Oh, sorry, I was… talking to myself,” explained Jeb Senior.

“I thought so, since we don’t have anyone named Amelia within Moho’s SOI,” said that employee. “Who is she, anyway?”

“My wife,” answered Jeb Senior.

“That’s weird. Why’d you come here alone?”

“She’s dead.”

“Oh… sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks, but you’re a little late,” replied Jeb Senior. “She died 37 years ago… when my son was only a baby.”

“That must have been hard on him.”

“I’m silencing my radio, sir.”

“You’re still connected in case something goes wrong.” Jeb Senior shut off his commlink and continued driving his rover. A few minutes later, he saw the lights to a small outpost and parked his rover next to the solar array.

“Hey, boss!” greeted Brandon Kerman as he walked on the surface and shook Jeb Senior’s hand.

“Take a look, Brandon,” said Jeb Senior, pointing at the stars. “Such beauty in a place so hellish.”

“You want hellish, you should go to Eve,” remarked Brandon.

“Uh, this is the closest planet to the sun and the surface is scorching hot,” reminded Jeb Senior.

“Only during the day; it gets cold at night,” added Brandon. “On Eve, it STAYS hot day and night thanks to the atmosphere’s greenhouse gases.”

“My point exactly, the Moho sunset is a moment to be cherished,” explained Jeb Senior.

“Uh, boss, I’d like to tell you something inside the outpost.”

“Yeah, let’s get inside,” agreed Jeb Senior. “I need to use the bathroom and they don’t have rest stops between here and the bridge.”

“Sir, you have a maximum absorption garment,” said Brandon.

“I’d rather not soil my pants, thank you,” sighed Jeb Senior as he entered Mohut Seven through the airlock.

“Uh, boss, that thing…,” said Brandon as he removed his own suit.

“Wait until I’m out,” ordered Jeb Senior, then he returned five minutes later. “Okay, now what?”

“You know about that old engine with the blood?” started Brandon.

“Could you be a little more specific, please?” asked Jeb Senior.

“The one from the 29-year-old electric car prototype one of our junkyards found,” specified Brandon. “I thought Moho Command notified you about it.”

“Now that your mention it, it does ring a bell,” said Jeb Senior. “Why’d you bring it up?”

“They ran the serial number on the engine, and you’ll never guess where it came from.”

“I thought we’ve already established it came from an old reject car,” sighed Jeb Senior.

“That’s where you’re wrong, boss; it was NOT a reject,” said Brandon. “It was sabotaged.”

“SABOTAGED?” gasped Jeb Senior. “Why would anyone sabotage a 29-year-old car that KSP made, and how the heck did it even end up in the junkyard?”

“Boss, after the guys at the junkyard checked the engine’s serial number, they contacted KSP and Krakopolis PD,” started Brandon, and his eyes widened. “And before you ask, ‘Why did they need to call the police?’ here’s why. 29 years ago, that car crashed during a test run in KSP; the police then got the wreck, then they gave it to the junkyard when they were done.”

“Why did the police get the wreck?” wondered Jeb Senior.

“Because the driver DIED,” answered Brandon. “The KSP engineers found out the car crashed due to deliberate sabotage, then the higher-ups called the cops.”

“If Mission Control called the police, why’d they dump it in the junkyard?”

“They said the case went cold, so there was no use in keeping the car around,” said Brandon.

“Well, then… how did blood end up on the engine unnoticed?”

“We traced the car’s chain of custody logs, and we found out that it was being taken apart only for doors, tires, and most recently the exterior framework. The police took the engine two Kerbin days ago and they’re testing the blood.”

“Hopefully, it doesn’t belong to any of MY employees,” said Jeb Senior. “Just who was the victim in this cold murder case?”

“Debra Kerman."

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: BILL’S REVENGE

 

(5 KERBIN YEARS LATER)

Years of research and development, testing, and psychological evaluations were about to finally pay off. Both the Kerbal Space Program and Kerbin’s military have worked on making weapons that not only worked in a vacuum, but that reduced the kickback force after firing; for instance, if a soldier were to open fire while in orbit above Dres, the jetpack in the EVA suit would provide enough force to counteract the kickback the gun would provide. Aside from the new weapons testing and mass-production – since they were in high demand among military bases both in and out of Kerbin’s sphere of influence – Prime Minister Trunton had to order psychological evaluations on all the candidates who applied to go to Dres.

Meanwhile, both KSP and BDArmory were hard at work designing a new armed high-occupancy nuclear-powered SSTO called Bill’s Revenge. Though taking Dres by force was never the objective, it needed to fend off any form of attack that came at it. Not only was it carrying soldiers and their equipment, but it was also transporting dozens of civilians; it also had its own laboratory and its (arguably) most important part, the top-security brig. The SSTO was equipped with omni-directional radar and ion-powered boosters to counteract the force of the large rapid-fire guns, both fixed and swivel-mounted. These guns, as well as the missile launchers and the electromagnetic pulse bomb cannons – all had laser-guided targeting systems to ensure maximum accuracy (and damage). The Bill’s Revenge was also fitted with docking ports at both its side and the center of mass so that it could be refueled as well as dock with space stations in orbit; it also had monopropellant tanks and thruster blocks for that. KSP wanted to “cover its bases,” for what Bill’s Revenge was constructed for in the first place.

To generate demand for civilian tourists for Dres, Mission Control offered a discount for anyone brave enough to travel to the surface. At once, numerous civilians – and military personnel who were on leave – signed up and paid their fees. While it generated a lot of revenue for the space program, Mission Control had ulterior motives for wanting this high demand. It was also the same reason why 100 soldiers were selected for the trip, as well as 12 lawyers, 5 judges, and 4 scientists – and why the plane was heavily armed.

The objective of Bill’s Revenge was to apprehend Irpond Kerman, put her on trial for her crimes, and punish her if convicted.

Out of the 60 civilians who were selected to fly to Dres, 12 of them would be selected to serve on the jury while one of the judges would preside over the trial. Besides someone selected by the prime minister’s attorney general to act as the lead prosecutor, Irpond would have the option to select one of the designated defense attorneys. The scientists would also collect Irpond’s prints and DNA and process them; if it was a match to the sweat found on Bob’s stolen clothes from years earlier, then the prosecutor could establish a clear-cut motive for the jury. At least seven of the soldiers were software specialists, so they would look through Irpond’s kPad and collect evidence that she committed the crimes that she was being charged with.

Besides hunting down and catching Irpond, the charges had to stick for the jury to convict her. If she is acquitted of all charges, Bill’s Revenge would return to Kerbin and the fleet of accompanying armed moonjets would be disarmed. However, if she is convicted, she would either be executed on Dres or be transported to Kerbin in the brig of Bill’s Revenge to serve a life sentence in prison. But first, they needed to locate Danlong Kerman and get her to talk about Moonjet 79. The prosecutor was open to offering a plea deal to Danlong in exchange for her cooperation since, even though Danlong murdered Harriet Kerman, that was nothing compared to all the atrocities Irpond (allegedly) committed.

“Okay!” started Prime Minister Trunton as he stepped behind the podium in the Vehicle Assembly Building. All the Special Forces men were standing at attention in a 10 by 10 square in front of him. “Now I know you’re thinking that just whipping out your weapons makes you look intimidating. You think just because you’re Special Forces that the bad guy’s knees will just buckle, right? WRONG! This is possibly a soulless a serial killer we’re talking about.” He paused as the two monitors beside him showed Irpond’s ID photograph with the word “Wanted” in all caps above the face. “So whatever you do, don’t let her out of your sight or allow her to endanger anyone else, whether it be your teammates or a random bystander.” He paused as the men saluted him in respect. “If she can destroy a space station, poison an entire surface outpost, and disrupt the framework of our ever-expanding society, she alone can pose a threat to our entire species. As much as I want to put this scumbag on trial and nail her ass, I don’t care if she gets out of Dres alive. I care if YOU do.”

“YEAH!” shouted the soldiers as they all raised their right fists.

“Good luck, everyone,” said Trunton. “Remember: the fate of kerbalkind depends upon you.” The soldiers did an about-face and left the building single-file to the Spaceplane Hangar before entering Bill’s Revenge.

“I want a sound-off on all personnel, civilian and military!” ordered General Reggie as he was holding a clipboard. As soon as all the passengers and soldiers were accounted for, he continued. “Now, everyone, pay attention. For those of you who have not yet been briefed, you are here for more than just simple tourism. No, this is the mission that will determine the fate of kerbalkind. The soldiers will hunt down the bad guy, while 12 of the designated tourists will be selected to serve on the trial jury.” He paused as the tourists murmured among themselves. “Hey, eyes on me!” he ordered, and all fell silent. “You’ll all get your chance to explore the surface, but your families will remember you as the men and women who served justice on another planet.” After he was done with his speech – and after the soldiers on steward detail were done with the safety tutorial – the flight engineers made sure that the aircraft was working perfectly before it was towed to the runway.

“Bill’s Revenge to tower, all systems go,” the pilot radioed.

“Roger that,” said the man at the control tower. “You are cleared for takeoff.”

“Copy that.” While the plane accelerated to takeoff speed, SSTO engineer Alva Kerman was doing her best to not throw up. She had been assigned to the mission as a witness against Danlong, as she was in the Moonjet 79 crash. The KBI had issued her false documents passing her off as a tourist under a different name so that Irpond or Danlong couldn’t find out that Alva was returning to Dres to testify against them.

“I never thought I’d see that rock again,” Alva told herself.

“You’ve been to Dres before?” a man sitting next to her asked.

“Eh… no,” lied Alva, as it was part of her cover story. “I’ve been to the Dres Simulator somewhere on Ike one time.”

“Really, no way?” gasped the man as he shook her hand. “I’m Oc Kerman.”

“Bethy Kerman,” said Alva, remembering her fake name.

“Nice,” said Oc. “Any idea why this plane is called Bill’s Revenge?”

“Maybe it’s because the designer lost someone he loved to this bad guy,” lied Alva.

“Bill Kerman designed this plane?”

“Actually… I’m not sure who was the lead designer,” confessed Alva. “I mean… it could be someone on Duna for all we know.”

“Speaking of, did you hear about the new phone systems that are being installed?” asked Oc. “If they work, we can talk to our friends back home without waiting for email replies.”

“Nice,” said Alva.

“Please remain restrained to your seats and keep all items stowed in a safe positon until the captain says it is safe for you to do so,” said the pilot. “We are now reaching 1,500 meters altitude.”

“Hope we don’t catch fire on the way up,” remarked Oc.

“I just hope it doesn’t detonate all those weapons,” commented Alva. Back in the cockpit, the pilot was doing his best to maintain his speed and rate of climb.

“Hold it steady. Come on, hold it steady,” said Mission Control. Five minutes later, he noticed that he was 20 kilometers above sea level before he activated the nuclear engines. As soon as the air intake was insufficient for the CR-7 rapier engines, they closed and activated rocket mode; this involved using the SSTO’s supply of oxidizer to provide an extra kick for the craft to reach the desired apoapsis of 85 kilometers above Kerbin.

“Apoapsis reached,” MJ told the pilot, “initiating orbital circularization.” Though the craft was on manual control for the initial ascent, MJ was activated once the pilot saw that the desired apoapsis was achieved.

“Smooth sailing,” he said as he cut the engines. Suddenly, a female voice he did not recognize went on the plane’s intercom system.

“I’m afraid not, pilot.” Outside the cockpit, everyone started to panic.

“What’s going on?” asked the pilot.

“You think you can stop me?” the woman’s voice continued. “You’re wrong.”

“Sir, what’s go…,” said Mission Control, but the radio started to get staticky.

“Poor Bill. He worked so hard to push this mission, only for it to come down in flames… literally.”

“Who are you?” the pilot demanded.

“Kerbol’s true ruler.”

 

Two hours later, Trunton was looking out the window of the Mission Control building. So far, there was no word from Bill’s Revenge other than an interrupted transmission from the pilot. The last message it received was an automated notification that the desired apoapsis was reached. When Mission Control received no word that the parking orbit was established, they started to grow concerned about the mission status. Though they repeatedly tried to contact Bill’s Revenge, there was no response. To make matters worse, the transponder went dead. Trunton ordered the military and law enforcement agencies west of the KSC to search for the SSTO in case something went wrong. A mun hopper was also launched to intercept Bill’s Revenge in case it was still within low Kerbin orbit.

“Prime Minister,” said Corporal Cobrles as he entered with two secret service agents beside him, “we located the spacecraft.”

“I take it there’s bad news to go with it,” guessed Trunton.

“Yes, sir,” sighed Cobrles. “Evidence points to a bomb going off as soon as the spacecraft reached the high point, sending debris down on the ocean and small towns under the equator.”

“Please tell me you found survivors,” said Trunton, though he knew what was coming next.

“We’re still searching, but Mission Control has no reason to believe anyone could survive that,” responded Corbles, and Trunton sighed in disappointment.

“Don’t assume the worst just yet. Keep looking.”

“Yes, Prime Minister,” said Corbles and he left – while Gene entered.

“Prime Minister, I have put word out to look for parts of the SSTO,” he told Trunton.

“Walk with me to the administration building,” said Trunton, and he – and his protection detail – left Mission Control with Gene. “Are you sure all systems were operational according to design before the flight?”

“Yes, Prime Minister,” answered Gene, “but I doubt that it was caused by any design flaws or operational negligence.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Trunton. “Regardless, an incident investigation must be carried our or else we’ll look like some vengeful crusaders.”

“Of course,” agreed Gene, “but that would require getting the debris itself.” He then sat down as he entered the conference room. “Oh, Kraken, this is worse than the Rebel.”

“I trust that Roger will lead his investigation to the best of his ability,” said Trunton, and Gene nodded. “In the meantime, my security detail is working with the space center’s to look for signs of intrusions or sabotage.”

“Why bother, we already know who benefits the most from ending this mission?” argued Gene.

“Actually, with all the underhanded shenanigans the so-called ‘Progressives,’ have attempted over the years, I wouldn’t be surprised if they committed this heinous act instead,” remarked Trunton.

“I disagree. They would probably whine about how you want to conquer an innocent moon or something like that,” commented Gene, and Trunton laughed. “Heck, they don’t even have the brains to make OR plant a bomb that would only go off when it reached apoapsis.”

“Regardless of who the culprit is, I need solid evidence before I bring her – or him – to a grand jury,” reminded Trunton.

“Can you at least bring her in for questioning?” asked Gene.

“You bet your ass,” answered Trunton. “Tell the admiral – and her boyfriend – that they’re on their own.”

 

“TALK!” yelled KBI Agent Fin Kerman as he slammed his fist on the table.

“What?!” gasped Misty Kerman as she backed away. “I… didn’t do anything.”

“LIAR!” he replied angrily as he kicked Misty’s chair off-balance.

“Did you just try to hit a woman?”

“I! DON’T! CARE!” Fin grabbed Misty by her shirt and pinned her against the wall. “I don’t care if you’re the etiquette mistress of Squaddon; when you kill hundreds of innocent kerbals, you’re in for a world of pain.”

“Hundreds… of kerbals?!” gasped Misty.

“Don’t play dumb with me, you lying piece of trash! Good men and women were on that jet heading for Dres… to strengthen our expanding frontiers. They were all wiped out when they reached apoapsis.”

“Apo… apo-what?” stammered Misty. “What is it…?”

“Like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” said Fin, pinning Misty’s head against the table. “You knew what those guys were doing, and then you planted a bomb in the jet.”

“Bomb? What jet?”

“How about I snap your neck right here and now. At least you’ll go quickly, like your victims.” As soon as he said that, Misty started to cry. “Your kerbodile tears won’t work on me, scumbag!”

“I… want… a lawyer,” sobbed Misty.

“Well, TOO BAD!” Fin then threw Misty across the interrogation room; the impact caused a gash on Misty’s forehead. “No lawyer will save you THIS TIME, you stupid…”

“Agent, that’s enough!” shouted a female agent who stormed into the room.

“Kygena, you know she’s guilty as much as I do!” argued Fin. “She escaped once; I’m not…”

“She invoked! Leave, Agent!” spat Kygena, then Fin stormed out of the room in anger before Kygena got Misty back on the chair.

“I want that man fired and charged with assault and battery,” complained Misty.

“In due time,” said Kygena. “Would you like some water?”

“No thanks,” replied Misty, looking around her. “Until today, the last time I was in an interrogation room was… 34 years ago.”

“I gotta admit you covered your tracks real well,” said Kygena. “Your handiwork is… impressive, to say the least.”

“What do you mean?” smirked Misty.

“You have a daughter, correct?” asked Kygena.

“Yes; you put a tap on her kPad without probable cause,” answered Misty. “I filed lawsuits against you for unlawful surveillance, but you still want to persecute me by invading my daughter’s private life.”

“Well… the tap was for her own protection,” said Kygena. “Your daughter – Irpond, was it – is a top-notch software engineer. Someone’s bound to compromise her and steal her secrets, hence stealing KSP secrets.”

“Bull.”

“Oh, really? We also have a tap on an SSTO engineer who’s on board the same pod as Irpond, and HE didn’t object. In fact, it’s regulation to have high-clearance engineering projects guarded and tapped to trace criminal activity easier.”

“Yet Admiral Val tapped her kPad to illegally spy on her as payback for a simple case of mistaken identity,” replied Misty. “Right as I try to do something for my daughter, Bill swoops in and tries to kill me.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be ridiculous,” sighed Kygena. ‘He’s on his way to Dres now, and what’s his beef with you?”

“Well, I don’t know about HIM, but I think it has something to do with him being in love with Admiral Val,” Misty stated. “Val hates Irpond, Bill loves Val, so… logically speaking, Bill must hate Irpond too.”

“And you knew that Val would stop at nothing to harass Irpond while they were in the pod,” said Kygena, and Misty nodded. “I know what it’s like to want to protect your child.”

“You have a daughter?” guessed Misty.

“No; two sons,” said Kygena.

“Wow, that’s a handful,” sighed Misty. “I know Irpond’s a big girl now, but… Val’s not going to stop tormenting her until she’s ordered to.”

“And if Val stops, Bill stops going after you,” said Kygena, then Alexey entered the room.

“Good Kraken, what happened to your head?” she gasped.

“Fin Kerman,” said Misty, then Alexey glared at Kygena.

“This interview is over,” she spat at the agent. “Not only do you have legitimate excessive force and civil rights violations complaints against you, but I will have your badges and your department’s paychecks when I’m done.”

“Don’t celebreate just yet, counselor,” replied Kygena, opening a folder. “Woomerang Police was more than happy to provide us with this new evidence linking your client to a string of murders dating back about two decades ago.”

“What murders?” wondered Misty, then Kygena showed her a skeleton buried next to a recently-placed tape measure.

“Gregrigh Kerman,” started Kygena, then she produced two more crime scene photographs. “His mother… and his father. All buried in your yard.”

“That’s weird, because you never tore up my yard,” said Misty.

“Shh,” advised Alexey.

“We’re talking about the property associated with the house you owned that CAUGHT FIRE,” reminded Kygena.

“So, that doesn’t mean she or her daughter did it,” said Alexey. “For all you know, some random person saw an opportunity to bury the bodies in an abandoned yard where a condemned house was; they could have also been buried there at separate times. And furthermore, any physical evidence you find on the bodies linking my client to them would be significantly degraded and rendered unreliable.”

“Actually, soil and layer testing prove that they were buried in their shallow graves at around the same time,” Kygena contested. “Besides that, it looks bad that three bodies – one of which belonging to your daughter’s rumored crush – just happen to wind up in a property you once owned. Care to explain that?”

“My client does not need to explain anything,” said Alexey. “You, on the other hand, need to explain how you were even led to Misty’s former residence.”

“We got a tip that your old property had bodies buried in it,” answered Kygena, then showing Misty and Alexey pictures of the walls. “It also said that these craters were caused by a sledgehammer strike and not space debris.”

“You’re still accusing me of arson, aren’t you?!” shouted Misty.

“Calm down,” said Alexey. “As the Woomerang Police have already established at the time of the incident, Misty and her family were nowhere near the house when it caught fire.”

“Then why, I ask you, were there no reports of incoming debris when Misty was a registered home radar owner?” countered Kygena. “And before you assert your right to remain silent, allow me to show you the real cause of the fire.” She then showed Misty and her attorney three pictures: one was an old photograph of a furnace, one was a recent photograph of the same furnace, and the last one was a manufacturer’s picture of the same model furnace. “There was only one way that furnace could have caused the fire, and that was if it was SABOTAGED.”

“See, I’m being set up AGAIN,” sighed Misty. “Bill must have disabled the radar and told his girlfriend to launch a missile at it. However, when that failed, he messed up my furnace and caused the fire.”

“Nice try, but Bill’s dad and his mission log place him in Baikerbanur during the launch,” smirked Kygena. “Oh, an FYI, at the time Bill was not Val’s girlfriend – despite them recently admitting to having feeling for each other.”

“Then someone else with that skillset did it,” said Alexey. “If you’re going to keep throwing out easily refutable claims, I suggest you let us leave before I add your name to the I.A.B. complaint.”

“Not so fast, counselor,” interrupted Kygena. “You’re still on the hook for causing a spaceplane to explode mid-flight.”

“What now?” sighed Misty.

“Hundreds of good men and women died, and you stand to benefit the most from that plane not making it to Dres,” explained Kygena.

“You mean Bill’s Revenge?” asked Alexey. “Please, those troop transports didn’t go to the Space Center just for show.”

“There were innocent tourists on that plane.”

“Yeah, right. Why would you name a tourist transport Bill’s Revenge and have a whole battalion at KSC right before and after it launched? Answer: you’re sending soldiers to Dres to murder Irpond as Bill Kerman’s revenge.”

“Well, now that the mission is declared failed, you must also know that we planned to put Irpond on trial for her crimes against kerbalkind,” mentioned Kygena. “Yes, we sent soldiers to apprehend her; but rest-assured we had a large jury pool, a small but adequate crime lab, impartial judges, and competent lawyers.”

“So, you say,” argued Alexey. “How do we know that you didn’t tell them to rig the trial against my client’s daughter?”

“You can’t prove or disprove that since they’re all dead.”

“That’s too bad,” said Misty, “but you got the wrong guy.”

“You were in Krakopolis when you were arrested,” reminded Kygena.

“I was in Woomerang Airport when the SSTO took off,” clarified Misty. “I was getting on a plane TO Krakopolis.”

“Why did you fly to the city?”

“Misty, you don’t need to…,” reminded Alexey.

“Please, I’d like to clear this up as soon as possible,” said Misty. “I was going to Krakopolis to get EVA certification training. I’ve been saving up for a vacation to the surface of Eve.”

“How convenient. Do you have an appointment?”

“I did, but then you arrested me on my way to it.”

“Then why did you run?”

“Because, thanks to your spiteful admiral and her corrupted boyfriend, she can no longer trust law enforcement,” answered Alexey.

“We’re still investigating the incident, but you’re the only one on Kerbin with a clear motive to blow up that plane,” said Kygena as two men entered the room. “Put her in the holding cell.”

“Yes, mam!” They handcuffed Misty’s hands behind her back and hauled her away.

“Don’t doddle checking her alibi,” warned Alexey. “Remember: you’re already on the wrong end of a massive civil lawsuit and possible criminal charges.”

“What my partner did in there was nothing compared to what your client did to hundreds of innocent victims.”

“My heart goes out to them, but harassing Misty and her daughter won’t let them rest easier,” said Alexey.

“If you took one second to look at her daughter’s handiwork, you’d puke,” argued Kygena. “One way or another, they’re both headed for death row for their crimes.”

“Please, you’re just spewing more sexist rhetoric generated by Trunton.”

“The Prime Minister had nothing against Misty or Irpond until AFTER they started killing people,” clarified Kygena. “And by the way, if you want to sue someone for making false allegations, try the progressives you advocate for.” Meanwhile, Misty was led to the holding cell and processed before the guards locked her inside and removed her handcuffs. She then put her hands in front of her mouth and murmured to herself.

“You’ll have to do better than that, boy.”

 

“SHOOT!” Bill cursed near the life support controls. “Oh, shoot! Shoot! SHOOT!”

“Dude, what’s the problem?” asked Jeb as he floated from the rack room. The two of them – and five others (including Hadgan) – were in a Mark Vb interplanetary travel pod en route to Dres. After Jeb and Bill spent years training and doing ore runs – as well as other scheduled tasks – they were ready to go to Dres. Commander Gustov wished them luck as they left Eeloo’s sphere of influence to catch Irpond Kerman. Right now, they had approximately four Kerbin years left before they got captured in Dres’ gravitational pull.

“The SSTO carrying the soldiers blew up when it reached the orbital apoapsis,” complained Bill. “NOW how are we going to catch Irpond?”

“Hey, relax bro,” said Jeb, sounding laid-back. “Val and Bob are in the same pod as Irpond, right? They got her already.”

“Not quite,” said Bill. “Bob STILL won’t listen to us, and I don’t want Val to face Irpond alone.”

“She’s not some damsel in distress, Bill,” replied Jeb. “She’s a tough girl.”

“So were the women of Poseidon’s Palace, but they’re all dead,” argued Bill, punching the wall – and pushing himself back. “She’s willing to endanger entire planets to get what she wants, Jeb – and for what, Bob?”

“No sweat, dude. Val knows all about Irpond by now, so she’ll think of something,” assured Jeb.

“Yeah? What about Bob?” responded Bill. “Misty shot her husband, and Irpond’s high school crush wound up dead – and so did his parents and several others. Now, Bob is making out with Irpond and hundreds of people are dead.” He paused to let the information sink into Jeb’s head. “She’s ESCALATING, Jeb. She’s not going to stop until either Bob dies or she does.”

“You can’t do anything to Irpond until you land,” Jeb told him. “For that matter, why do you want to nail MISTY so badly anyway? I thought you idolized her as a kid.”

“What do you mean idolized?”

“Don’t think I didn’t forget our childhood together. After you got out of your coma, you were fascinated by electric cars. Guess who was working on them in KSP’s old days: Misty.”

“Hold up,” said Bill as he turned on his kPad. “Good thing I asked Dad to scan my old stuff and back them up as PDF files… ah, yes, here we go. Turns out, I DID draw design concepts for electric cars after my coma. I also… starred Misty Kerman as a contact in case I wanted to talk to her about what she did to her prototypes. However, at the time, I had no idea she had already committed murder. How did you know about Misty’s involvement in the old electric car project?”

“Val showed us Misty’s service file, remember?” answered Jeb.

“Oh, yeah,” sighed Bill.

“If you used to like Misty then, why do you hate her now?” continued Jeb. “Just like with your feelings with Val, you gotta get it off your chest.”

“You want the whole story, fine,” said Bill. “When I first read about her contribution to making more eco-friendly cars, I thought she was a woman we could all look up to. It was when we drove by her house years later and my parents geared up for a fight when I learned about her murder case.”

“Whoa, you actually drove by her house?” gasped Jeb.

“Yes, but I had no idea it was her at the time; it was also the house that caught fire soon after. At the time I read about her acquittal and heard the rumors, I was still developing a rocket-launched spy probe intended for Woomerang’s football team. I then decided Misty’s house would be a good place to test it and launched, but – as you’re already aware – that failed. Bob then wrote to me about the fire, but when I didn’t see any cops near my door for a couple of weeks, I figured something else caused it.

“Years later, I remember Irpond alleging Val forced her to steal Wally’s RTG by having some cronies kidnap Misty, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, why would Val want IRPOND to steal Wally’s RTG in the middle of the night while it was near a restricted area?’”

“Better yet, why didn’t Val steal it herself?” interrupted Jeb.

“She wasn’t in Laythe’s sphere of influence at the time of the theft,” explained Bill. “A better question is, ‘Why didn’t she just tip off the guards about Wally’s presence in a restricted area?’ He wasn’t even authorized to be there; that’s when things started to look fishy. When I heard that Val was being charged with Sheri Kerman’s murder, I asked Roger to check the archives to see if Val even went to Laythe at the time; turns out, she didn’t. It was after I heard about the control tower getting blown up that I knew someone was setting up Val.”

“Because someone tried to erase evidence of her alibi,” guessed Jeb, and Bill gave him a thumbs-up.

“Exactly. Now, if Val had a partner-in-crime, why would she have him erase evidence that would have CLEARED her anyway? When you add the part where Scott lied about Val leaving the Zeus, you know he talked to the one person who stands to gain the most from discrediting Val.”

“The guy who destroyed the Zeus,” said Jeb.

“No, the guy – or girl, in this case – who killed SHERI,” corrected Bill. “But you’re not that far off; when Scott said that he wanted revenge for Val destroying the Zeus, I knew someone talked to him and led him to believe it was Val.”

“All that proves is that someone did a good job at framing Val, but not necessarily who.”

“Until I read in the paper that Sally was shot by someone she knew – followed by the experiment report that my rocket would have missed Misty’s house – and Bob saying that Sally’s flight crashed before she was shot. I knew something was going on involving my launch and Misty’s house fire, and it involved someone peeking into Matt’s blueprints.”

“Big deal, the bad guy could have stolen them from the factory.”

“Then how did they know which flight to crash – OR the time when Sally would return to Kerbin after learning she survived? More importantly, why was SALLY the intended target?” asked Bill. “Besides that, on the Team-Up Day shooting, we were confused about why the shooter started with Scott before he opened fire. Lastly, when I found the love emails Agaden sent to Bob – who then told you that he was kissing Irpond – everything came together.”

“Irpond told that guy to kill Scott to keep his mouth shut,” said Jeb.

“That’s when I figured out her mom was involved in all the events that took place on Kerbin; Irpond stole Matt’s plans and hacked the Woomerang Airport database, then she told Misty when and where to hack the plane. When she found out Sally wasn’t on the plane, Misty had to finish the job before we found out that the house fire was arson. If Misty was willing to kill to cover up an arson, then I wouldn’t put it past her to kill Debra Kerman just for a man’s love – just as Irpond killed Sheri and Agaden to get Bob all to herself.”

“And then you realized that Misty is a bad person,” concluded Jeb.

“We all have to be held accountable,” said Bill. “You, me, Victor… everyone; even Misty and Irpond. If nobody was going to do anything about Misty, I would.”

“What were you gonna do, nuke her house?”

“No; at least I could reveal her true nature to everyone. I then warned her to lay low or I will take action.” Bill then put his head on the window. “I should have known Misty and Irpond were prepared; I couldn’t even crack their secret messages.”

“No sweat, bro. At least they can nail Misty for blowing up that SSTO.”

“Even then, the fate of the Kerbol system is in Val’s hands now.”

[KerballingSmasher]

HOLD ON TIMEOUT did I see a Lo Var Kerman in there? holy heck... @Lo Var Lachland you got a reference, dude!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

25 minutes ago, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

HOLD ON TIMEOUT did I see a Lo Var Kerman in there? holy heck... @Lo Var Lachland you got a reference, dude!

I don't even know who @Lo Var Lachland is; I just picked a random kerbal-for-hire in my career save's astronaut complex.

• Besides that, nobody mentioned my references to Scott Manley or @Matt Lowne?

 

How's the story so far, by the way?

[Kerbinchaser]

7 minutes ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

I don't even know who @Lo Var Lachland is; I just picked a random kerbal-for-hire in my career save's astronaut complex.

• Besides that, nobody mentioned my references to Scott Manley or @Matt Lowne?

 

How's the story so far, by the way?

I'm a fellow writer. I had no idea a "Lo var" Kerman could even spawn anyway. 

And I am loving the interesting use of tables and the MASSIVE amount of dialogue. I will follow this closely. 

 

[KerballingSmasher]

O_O you... wow. That's impressive. I did notice the references to Matt Lowne and Scott Manley, though!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Just now, Lo Var Lachland said:

I'm a fellow writer. I had no idea a "Lo var" Kerman could even spawn anyway. 

And I am loving the interesting use of tables and the MASSIVE amount of dialogue. I will follow this closely. 

 

Nice. I'm from Virginia too, by the way.

• Let's go Hokies!

[Kerbinchaser]

1 minute ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Nice. I'm from Virginia too, by the way.

• Let's go Hokies!

I don't follow sports but Hokies all the way anyway.

Oh, you also play GeoFS. Cool.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Lo Var Lachland

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: BASE PURSUIT

 

(2.5 KERBIN YEARS LATER)

Finally, after an approximate total of seven Kerbin years drifting in orbit around the sun, Pod 5B15 was within Dres’ sphere of influence. After MJ notified the crew of the gravitational pull change – which was triggered whenever the pod entered or left a celestial body’s sphere of influence – Guscan adjusted the pod’s course to approach Dres at an inclination of 15.9 degrees and a periapsis of 70 kilometers above the surface. When the pod made its insertion burn, Guscan told MJ to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Defiant.

While Pod 5B15 was adjusting its orbital plane for the rendezvous, Val ordered a full lockdown of all SSTOs and ascent vehicles unless she explicitly authorized their flight on or off the surface. After the pod docked with the Defiant, two three-man landers were waiting; one to take Bob and Val to the surface, and another for a surface crew rotation. Guscan, Samuel, and Matt entered the second lander and undocked with the station while two burly men got on either side of Val; a smaller man followed them and floated to the command module.

“Do not let Irpond leave this station or contact anyone,” Val whispered to one of them. “If she tries to escape or hurt anyone, you have permission to use deadly force.”

“Yes, Admiral,” he replied.

“Remember: nobody goes in or out of this station,” repeated Val. Much to her disappointment, she caught Bob and Irpond kissing in the lander – in only their undergarments.

“Mmm… mmm,” Bob moaned, and Irpond breathed heavily as she put her arms all over Bob’s back.

“Hey, hormone testing’s over!” interrupted Val.

“You were perfectly fine with it while we were in the pod!” argued Irpond.

“Only if you turned up healthy, did your duties as expected, and never got pregnant,” replied Val. “Bob, get changed and put an EVA suit on.”

“Yes, Val,” sighed Bob, then Val pretended to bump into him on his way out.

“Give your undies to me and put on new ones,” she whispered before speaking in a normal voice. “Bring Wally with you.”

“Oh, he’s been assigned to the surface,” said Irpond as Bob left the lander through the docking port. “And… I see you’re already in a suit.”

“Out, now!” ordered Val.

“Oh, am I going too?” cheered Irpond in excitement. “Sweet.”

“Actually… no, you’re not,” objected Val.

“WHAT?!” gasped Irpond.

“This surface op does not require a software engineer,” said Val. “Furthermore, one is needed up here to ensure the new telecommunication systems are working fine.”

“You’re lying,” spat Irpond. “That requires other engineers who are already experienced with the system.”

“And we need to make sure our veteran software engineers can use them just as well as the new ones,” argued Val. “Now get changed into something more appropriate.”

“But… the surface crews…,” stammered Irpond.

“That’s an order.” Irpond then floated out of the pod, looking disappointed. “Oh, and before you complain about how we’re lacking an engineer on board, I already got that covered.” Matt then entered the pod with his kPad and EVA suit on. “Matt, do you have the plans to Edwards Mobile Base?”

“Let me check… no, Admiral,” he answered.

“What? What do you mean no? I thought that was your design.”

“Admiral, I designed a lot of mobile bases in my career – but not THIS one,” explained Matt.

“Well, can’t you find it on the schematics database?” asked Val.

“It’ll take me a while,” said Matt. “Why do you want ME to get the plans?”

“I’ll explain everything,” Val told him. “Just get me the schematics for the mobile base.”

“Yes, Admiral.” A few minutes later, Bob had returned to the pod with his suit on and Wally in his hands.

“Everything’s ready, Val,” he said.

“You forgot your gun,” argued Val, showing her sidearm holstered at her hip.

“Oh, okay. Be right back.”

“A gun? Why would he need a gun?” asked Matt as he strapped Wally to the floor. “Are we gonna… shoot up the base?”

“As soon as everyone’s ready, I will answer all your questions,” said Val. Bob then returned with his gun, and the lander undocked with the Defiant.

“Bob, why do you get a gun and I don’t?” asked Matt.

“Okay, boys, listen up,” started Val. “As you may be aware, I told Edwards Base that we’re sending a lander for a crew rotation, right? WRONG, I lied.”

“What?!” gasped Matt.

“Please hold all questions until the end of the presentation,” said Val. “We’re actually coming down there to talk to a scientist named Danlong Kerman.” She then showed Bob and Matt Danlong’s picture on her kPad. “’Why does the admiral want her?’ you ask; she’s a suspect in a years-cold murder case.”

“Who’d she kill?” interrupted Matt, and Val facepalmed herself.

“I was getting to that,” she said. “Since Bob’s been smooching Irpond for most of the trip here, I feel the need to repeat to him anyway. The victim is Harriet Kerman; she was killed in a moonjet crash where Danlong survived unscathed. You may think that Harriet was texting and flying, but that’s a lie; not only was she hit over the head before the crash, the plane crashed in the same manner as the one on Eeloo.” Matt was about to raise his hand, but he then remembered to not interrupt his commanding officer. “And no, Harriet wasn’t poisoned; she was left to die from exposure to space during the crash. There was a third passenger, but she survived since she was knocked out and put in an EVA suit. Now ask yourself ‘Why did the third person get an EVA suit while Harriet did not?’ By itself, it looks like a simple accident. However, when you widen your scope, you’ll get suspicious yourself.

“Now, there is reason to believe that Moonjet 79 – the crash Danlong and Harriet were in – was merely a test run. More specifically, Alva – the third crewmember – was knocked out from behind before Harriet caught Danlong in the act. Danlong then overpowered Harriet before triggering the virus; she had to kill Harriet before she could talk, but she couldn’t do the job then or else Mission Control would look suspicious. So, while the plane lost control, Danlong texted with Harriet’s kPad and bailed herself and Alva out – leaving Harriet to die.” She paused as Matt gasped in shock.

“Since you know that Agaden was poisoned and it’s already established that 314 – the crash Agaden was in on Eeloo – came down in a similar manner, one can reasonably assume that Danlong knew the real bad guy.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” said Matt, “but aren’t you supposed to program the landing coordinates?”

“Not now, Matt,” replied Val. “Danlong is currently on board that mobile base, whose captain I ordered to halt. Our mission will involve boarding that oversized school bus and getting Danlong to talk. One way or another, she’ll tell us who asked her to test the virus that crashed 79. Bob and I are bringing guns for our own protection, while MATT stays on the lander with schematics in case of an emergency. NOW, I’m finished.”

“I got something to say,” said Matt. “I’m offended that you referred to a mobile base as an ‘oversized school bus.’ Do you really think even high-prestige mistanol engine designers have ANYTHING on the guys who build fully-functioning habitats?”

“Do either of you have anything to say RELEVANT to this mission – and NOT the terminology?”

“I got one,” said Bob. “What if Danlong says it’s NOT Irpond?”

“She will,” assured Val. “Why else was Agaden killed, huh?”

“Irpond? What makes you think it’s her?” wondered Matt.

“Because the guy who UNKNOWINGLY killed Agaden believed Gus and Linus told him to do it – or at least do the things that led to her death,” answered Val. “However, further investigation proved that their emails were spoofed from Poseidon’s Palace – where Irpond, a former Cyber Soldier and software specialist, was stationed at the time.”

“Then why did you tell me to bring my underwear with me?” asked Bob, patting one of his pants pockets.

“Because I’m sure Irpond left her DNA all over it while you were making out in the lander,” explained Val, lowering her eyebrows.

“Ugh, gross,” said Matt.

“No, I didn’t catch them doing THAT – but I told Ralo to test Irpond for possible pregnancies in case they did it before I caught them,” clarified Val. “If there’s a female’s DNA on there, and it matches the DNA from your stolen exercise clothes from years ago, then you know for sure Irpond was stalking you before Sheri was killed.” She turned her head to look at the controls. “MJ, target Edwards Mobile Base.”

“Searching… target locked.”

“Land us 71 meters from the target,” ordered Val.

“Acknowledged. Plotting landing trajectory.”

“Oh, and one more thing, MATT,” said Val. “She tried to kill me with an asteroid to the Zeus, then tried to frame me once she realized that I was out at the time.”

“Wait, so… Irpond tried to KILL ME?!” gasped Matt. “She tried to kill Scott, too?”

“Well… I was the intended target; the rest of you were just collateral damage,” elaborated Val. “She also had access to the plans to your hypersonic airliner – the same kind that crashed when the cabin ejection system didn’t work.”

“Impossible. She couldn’t have gotten to Kerbin and back in time.”

“Then how else could she have done it? Answer: she had a partner.”

“Spoiler alert: Val’s accusing Irpond’s mom of it,” interrupted Bob.

“Since she committed murder before,” added Val.

“Why, is she an ex-con?” asked Matt.

“You don’t know who her mother is, do you?” sighed Val. “It’s Misty Kerman.”

“Misty Kerman, the inventor of mistanol?” gasped Matt.

“And the murderer of Debra Kerman,” continued Val.

“Hey, just because Misty was put on trial for murder decades ago doesn’t mean she did it,” argued Bob. “Oh, and Matt, how do you know she invented mistanol?”

“How do you NOT, scientist?”

“I only learned its properties and molecular structure, not who invented it,” said Bob.

“Because your school didn’t want to associate a murderer with one of the first pioneers of gasoline-free cars,” argued Val.

“You’re just prejudiced.”

“You’ve been duped for the past eight Kerbin years,” said Val. “Why else did I invite you to fly with me, so you can hear Danlong tell the truth herself.”

“How do I know you’re not going to COERCE her to say Irpond’s name?” responded Bob.

“You and Matt can listen,” said Val. “Speaking of,” she then unlocked her kPad and gave it to Matt, “if she gives a name, I need you to check their service record and see if they were ever on Laythe at the time of the 314 crash.”

“Got it,” acknowledged Matt, then Val activated the lander’s communication system.

“Edwards Base, this is Lander 41. Please respond, over,” she spoke.

“Edwards Base, transmission received, over,” a man responded.

“We’ve activated MJ and now on landing trajectory 71 meters from your current position,” continued Val. “ETA is 30 minutes, over.”

“Copy that. We’re stationary as you previously ordered, over.”

“See you later, over and out.”

“Copy.”

“Beginning inclination change in t-minus one minute,” announced MJ.

“Everybody strap in,” ordered Val.

 

Several kilometers from Dres Canyon, Edwards Base was resting in a flat area with its panels retracted and lights on. Even though it was daytime and not using solar panels seemed counterproductive, it was regulation to turn on all lights and retract solar panels if and landing craft was within three minutes of landing near the base; this was in response to numerous craft landing close enough to break the solar panels off in the dark. Though Val planned to land a distance from the mobile base, the base driver was prepared to move if it detected the lander about to come right on top of it. Though the occupants were frustrated that their research operations were stopped abruptly, they seemed to be excited to meet Val and Bob; some of them were happy for the chance to see Matt.

“Hey, if Jeb ain’t flyin’, I’m good,” said an engineer, and his friends laughed. At least a kilometer above the surface, MJ was firing its engines to slow down its descent so that it would touch the ground at half a meter per second.

“So, Val,” said Bob. “Once we get Danlong to talk, how are we gonna get back up? We’ll need to refuel the lander before we ascend again.”

“I dispatched a refueling truck to our position,” answered Val, “but we’re still gonna wait her a while before it arrives.”

“But what about other landers that will need that truck?” wondered Matt.

“Until I’m back on board the Defiant, nobody else is going up or down,” said Val. “I have Dres on lockdown, remember?”

“Touchdown in 45 seconds,” announced MJ.

“Edwards Base, this is Lander 41. We’re making our touchdown, over.”

“Copy that. I have visual contact, over.” Less than a minute later, the lander gently touched down on the surface 24 meters away from the mobile base. “Cutting it kind of close, aren’t we?”

“We also have a surface robot with us,” said Val as she switched on Wally after his wheels touched Dres’ surface. “Permission to bring him on board with us.” To her surprise, there was no response. “Uh… I’ll take that as a yes.”

“WO, WEE!” screeched Wally.

“Yeah, that is weird,” agreed Matt. “Uh… everything okay in there?”

“Stay in the lander,” Val told him, then Matt got back inside the lander. “Edwards Base command, this is Admiral Valentina. Please respond.” No answer. “That’s odd. They were more than happy to chat, but now they’re quiet.”

“Maybe their communications are down,” suggested Bob.

“No, it was working fine right after we touched down,” argued Val. “Matt, how’s the reception?”

“A-okay, mam.” As soon as he said that, the lights on the mobile base shut off.

“What’s going on?!” asked Val sternly. To her surprise, the base then spun around and sped away; its rear wheels kicked dust into Val’s and Bob’s helmets.

“WHAT?!” gasped Bob.

“Dang it,” said Val as she turned on her jetpack. “She must have seen us coming.” She jumped with all her might and pressed the joystick forward, propelling her toward the mobile base. “Wally, skateboard!”

“WO, WEE! WEE!” Wally deployed its skateboard and Bob gently stepped on it before strapping his boots down.

“Whoa!” he said as the robot gave a great lurch. He didn’t need Val to tell him that he had to chase Edwards Mobile Base.

“Everything okay?” asked Matt.

“No, everything’s not okay,” said Val, “They’re getting away!”

“There’s an emergency brake next to the side hatch,” Matt told her.

“Left side or right side?”

“Right; there’s a drill on the left,” answered Matt.

“Right side, emergency brake, got it,” said Val.

“Come on, Wally. Turn those wheels!” said Bob encouragingly.

“BEEP, BOP!” Bob screamed in terror as Wally jumped a small bump on the surface, but Wally managed to safely land on his wheels and continue pursuit.

“Whoa… who programmed you to be a badass?”

“Dres Command, this is Admiral Valentina. I need a trace on Edwards Mobile Base. It is currently making an unauthorized rover trip near Dres Canyon.”

“Roger that,” a random man replied. “Activating trace program now.”

“Doesn’t it already have a transponder?” asked Matt.

“This one is programmed to log the base’s precise coordinates every ten seconds,” explained the man on the radio.

“Almost… got it…,” stammered Val as she reached for the right side of the base. However, before she could touch the ladder, it moved to the left. “Dang it!” She then moved her jetpack forward to get closer, but then it moved to the right to try and hit her. A second before impact, Val applied maximum power to the upward thrusters and moved just in time. “That was a close one.”

“Status,” said Matt.

“She tried to hit me with the truck,” explained Val.

“Try getting inside through the top airlock,” suggested Matt. “You can apply the brakes from inside.”

“Got it!” Val aimed her right arm at the ladders on the top and pressed a button on her forearm. A small claw then fired from a small wrist-mouned railgun and grabbed on to the ladder, then Val reeled herself in. It was a feature of the new EVA suits that were stored in the Defiant, but Val only got the chance to try it out once before the new crew arrived.

“Twist the airlock handle to the left and pull it to the left to open,” Matt told Val.

“Thanks,” said Val, then she followed the instructions painted on the airlock door. “Hey, how convenient.”

“Airlock secure,” a female computer voice said as Val shut the door behind her. “Re-pressurizing to save levels.”

“How long will that take?” sighed Val.

“Let’s see… 20 seconds,” answered Matt.

“Great,” said Val as she felt a bump lift her off the floor – her helmet protected her head from the worst of the impact.

“Guys, why is the back end opening?” asked Bob.

“Wait, what do you mean opening?” inquired Val.

“It’s the mini-rover deployment hatch,” answered Matt.

“Mini-rover?” gasped Val. “How many can it carry?”

“Two, mam.” As soon as the airlock was pressurized, Val could feel intense vibrations in the ground.

“The door’s touching the ground!” said Bob. “The door’s touching the ground!” Despite the airlock door and her helmet, Val could hear the screams of panic coming from the main cabin. They were so loud she could barely hear Bob reporting a small rover being deployed from the mobile base.

“Bob, go after that rover!” she ordered.

“But Wally’s low on power!” warned Bob.

“Then use your jetpack!” argued Val as she entered the cabin. “Matt, you have to tell me how to stop the base.”

“It’s not working!” yelled one of the occupants, pointing at an emergency brake in the wall.

“The driver’s dead!” said another.

“Controls, now!” ordered Val when she removed her helmet, then a scientist took her to the viewing cupola at the front. “Oh my God.” Though the driver’s stabbed corpse was horrifying to Val, she was even more terrified at where the base was going.

It was heading right for Dres Canyon.

 

Meanwhile, Bob and Wally were in hot pursuit of the mini-rover that had been deployed from the back of Edwards Base. He could make out someone in an EVA suit sitting in the left command seat, but he couldn’t tell who it was; he couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman. To make matters worse, Wally was running low on power. Even though his solar panels were exposed to sunlight and his RTG was operational, the power output was not enough for accelerating to catch the mobile base.

“PULL OVER!” he yelled.

“Ain’t gonna happen,” a woman’s voice replied.

“WOOOOO!” Wally beeped weakly, then Bob unfastened his shoe restraints before activating his jetpack.

“You stay here, Wally,” said Bob as he jumped and started to fly. “Guys, I’m airborne and in pursuit of a woman in the mini-rover.”

“Can’t help you, Bob. I’m busy with Val now,” said Matt.

“Stop right where you are, Danlong,” said Val.

“Or what?” teased the woman. “Last I checked, you have an… oversized school bus to catch.”

“It’s a mobile base, not a school bus!” shouted Matt. Bob then swooped down on Danlong from above, but she drove to the right and he almost hit the surface.

“Strike one, Bob,” taunted Danlong as Bob regained altitude. “How low can you go?” Bob then tried a side-jump, but Danlong dodged it again by slowing down. “Ha ha. Whatcha gonna do?”

“Try leading her to a boulder,” said Matt.

“I heard that, Matt. There aren’t any boulders within 20 kilometers of here,” responded Danlong. Bob then carefully got out his gun and turned the safety off. “What, are you gonna shoot a fleeing girl in cold blood? The opposing force will push you back so far you won’t get another accurate shot.”

“She’s right, you have no counteraction,” sighed Matt.

“And we need her alive,” added Val. Bob then held his gun with his left hand and converged on his target from above and in front of it.

BLAM! Right before Danlong could move, he fired his gun at the interior section of one of the wheels. Though he was pushed forward (relative to the rover) as a result of the shot, he could see Danlong losing control and start to crash.

“No!” she yelled, then she ejected from the command seat and turned on her jetpack – leaving the mini-rover to its fate. When Bob regained control, he had realized that he dropped the gun during the kickback. Not that it mattered now; he could tackle Danlong above the surface and force her to talk while Val dealt with the mobile base.

“Nowhere to go, Danny!” said Bob. “Just give up now!” But as soon as he approached Danlong, she kicked him in the midsection and increased the distance between her and Bob.

“You’ll never catch me!” Bob then put his jetpack on full throttle and managed to tackle Danlong, He then oriented his body upward and turned on the downward thrusters. Danlong then tried to stab Bob with a screwdriver, but he threw her downward to accelerate her descent to the surface. As she re-activated her backwards thrusters to move away from Bob, he grabbed her by the suit and started to fly upward.

“Listen up, scumbag,” said Bob, “because I’m only going to ask you once!”

“Ooh, big bad boy is picking on a girl half his size,” chuckled Danlong.

“We know you killed Harriet Kerman and caused Moonjet 79 to crash!” said Bob. “Who gave you the altered operation code?”

“Ha,” smirked Danlong. “Haven’t you figured it out already?”

“You’re LYING!” shouted Bob.

“Sheesh, Bob, we’re on commlink here,” remarked Matt.

“How did you know who I was going to name?” asked Danlong, then Bob slowed down his landing velocity before slamming Danlong against the surface.

“You know just as well as I do that it wasn’t Irpond,” said Bob angrily, then Danlong knee-jabbed him in the groin and pushed him off her.

“Then you are doomed, like those who came before you.” She then put her hands below her helmet.

“NO!” shouted Bob, then he witnessed Danlong remove her own helmet in front of him. “Guys… she’s dead. Matt, can you…”

“Forget it,” replied Matt. “I gotta keep Val from plunging into the canyon.”

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: DEFIANCE

 

Val did her best to remain calm as Edwards Base was speeding closer to the edge of Dres Canyon. Behind her, the occupants were either panicking, screaming in terror, or bailing out in EVA suits. Val noticed an overall drop in air pressure from the rapid airlock use. After noticing that the brakes weren’t working, she went on the rover’s intercom and told everyone to exit calmly; but then someone told her that the suit dispenser jammed.

“Matt, I need to stop this thing NOW!” she said. “Brakes aren’t working and evac’s not an option.”

“Have you tried MJ?” asked Matt, and Val facepalmed her helmet.

“MJ, stop the car!”

“Do you wish to end your journey now?” MJ replied.

“DO IT!”

“First Bob, now you,” sighed Matt.

“Rover autopilot disabled.”

“Autopilot?” gasped Val, then she sat on the pilot’s seat – after removing the driver’s dead body – and applied the brakes. Though she noticed that her speed was dropping and the anti-lock system was active, she knew it was not enough to stop her before it plunged over the canyon wall. “Matt, I need help. I have control, but I’m going too fast.”

“Turn right, you’ll get more space to brake.” Val turned the steering wheel to the right, then felt her weight shift to the left.

“Everybody hold on!” she told the remaining occupants before she noticed that she was skidding. “Come on, Val, how do you counter skids?”

“Hit the stability control and turn into the spin,” advised Matt, then Val activated the reaction wheel and turned her wheels to the left.

“We’re gonna die!” shrieked a woman from the science lab. As soon as Val heard a loud snapping noise, an alarm went off next to the steering wheel.

“Warning: rover deployment door has snapped off.”

“I know!” yelled Val in frustration. “Come on, come on, come on!” A few seconds later, and Val’s rear wheels were barely touching the downhill slope of the canyon. “Everybody to the front, now!” All the occupants obeyed as Val applied full throttle to the rover, and soon they were safely 300 meters away from the canyon.

“Admiral, you okay?” asked Matt.

“I’ve felt worse,” sighed Val. “We’re all right.”

“Three cheers for Val!” three men shouted, then they celebrated Val’s efforts to save the base.

“I’m so telling Bill,” said Val before silencing the base crew. “Engineer, damage report.”

“Two suit dispensers are jammed,” said a woman in an EVA suit who removed her helmet, “the joints connecting the mini-rover hatch are deformed, the suspension system has taken a toll… and we’re noticing cracks in the airlocks.”

“Then don’t just stand there, start taping them shut,” ordered Val as she clapped her hands. “Life support, now.”

“Temperature regulators are operational, mam,” a man responded, “and so are the atmospheric regulators. However, there’s been a 15 percent drop in habitat pressure.”

“You’d better hope you didn’t lose the duct tape,” said Val. “Medical officer, status report.”

“Counted four dead and seven injured,” the base’s doctor answered. “I need to pick up the guys that bailed for a full report.”

“Can we drive now?” asked Val.

“Yes, mam.”

“Good. Start picking up survivors,” ordered Val, then she met with the doctor. “How did they die?”

“Two were stabbed to death, one had his throat slit, and the fourth was trampled to death during the panic,” he answered. “Not exactly your average everyday crash injuries.”

“The trampling I understand, since everyone was panicking,” said Val. “You think someone MURDERED the other three?”

“No doubt about it.”

“Danlong,” sighed Val.

“Now that you mention it, she seemed to be in a hurry a few seconds before we noticed some scraping on the base,” the doctor told her. “I also noticed blood on her shirt, but she didn’t stop to talk.”

“Aw, Kraken,” cursed Val. “She KNEW I would board the base, so she set the rover to plunge over the canyon and deployed the mini-rover for a quick escape.”

“Wait, you were after her?”

Val sighed. “Yes, Doc. She’s a suspect in a murder that happened years ago on this rock; one of my students was the victim.”

“That must be why she hijacked the base. Our captain told us that you and your friend would board while we were stopped, so I knew we were hijacked when we started driving away – and at higher-than-regulation speed, too.”

“I’ll take it from here, Doc,” the captain spoke, then he shook Val’s hand before saluting her. “Captain Touston.”

“Admiral Valentina,” replied Val.

“Thanks for saving my crew,” said Touston.

“Well, where were you?” asked Val.

“I was knocked out and shoved in a suit dispenser, see,” explained Touston, showing the bruise on the back of his head. “Don’t tell anyone I was knocked out by a girl, please.”

“You know I have to include it in my report,” said Val. “If it makes you feel any better, she has a habit of hitting people over the head from behind.”

“Well, this puts a dent in your plans to talk to her,” remarked Touston, “and… a few more… dents.”

“I just hope Bob caught her,” said Val. “I… know I outrank you, but do you mind if I put on my helmet to talk to my friends?”

“Why don’t you try the new phones? We got them installed two days ago,” suggested Touston.

“New phones?” wondered Val. “Why’d you get new phones?”

“We can now phone people across the solar system,” explained Touston. “Didn’t you hear?”

“I… never got the chance to try them,” said Val. “Can it call anyone in an EVA suit?”

“Yes, just give their name and confirm their location,” said Touston. “Fun fact: just yesterday, I called my son who was on EVA around Gilly at the time.”

“GILLY?! EVA?!” gasped Val. “That’s some serious power you got there.” She then grabbed a wall-mounted phone and asked for Bob. “Hello?”

“Val?” asked Bob.

“No, it’s the ghost of girlfriends past,” said Val sarcastically. “YES, it’s Val.”

“Is that a new commlink?” wondered Bob.

“It’s the base’s,” answered Val. “Did you catch Danlong?”

“Well, I got good news and bad news,” Bob answered.

“Did you catch her?” Val repeated.

“Yes, I caught her,” said Bob. “However, that was the good news.”

 

“She’s DEAD?!”

“She did it herself, Val. She removed HER OWN helmet.” Bob – and Matt – were now inside Edwards Base. While Bob was talking to Val in the rack room, Matt was helping with repairs.

“Did she say anything, Bob?” asked Val, feeling frustrated. “What were her final words?”

“’Then you are doomed, like those who came before you,’ was the last sentence she spoke,” remembered Bob.

“Like those who came before you,” said Val. “At least tell me she named names.”

“Not exactly. After I caught her, she told me ‘Haven’t you figured it out already?’ I knew she was talking about Irpond, but she was lying.”

“Pardon the interruption,” said Touston, “but why would you think she was lying?”

“First of all, what does ‘those who came before me,’ supposed to mean?” answered Bob. “Second, if Irpond created the moonjet virus, how did she convince Danlong to test it here if she’s never even been to Dres?”

“Sir, I seriously doubt that one would lie before killing themselves,” Touston disagreed.

“Yeah, Bob,” said Val. “Even her partner gave her up.”

“No!” barked Bob.

“Okay, that’s it,” said Val, extending her hand. “I’m gonna need your underwear.”

“Admiral, do you really want a hazing charge on your record?” asked Touston.

“I don’t mean the pair he’s wearing now,” clarified Val. “I mean the pair he has in his pocket.”

“Fine,” said Bob as he gave Val the underwear.

“Can your lab run DNA?” asked Val.

“Yes, but I heard that was trashed during the chase,” said Touston. “I’ll let you know when it’s fixed.”

“Thanks, Captain,” replied Val, then she and Bob moved to a private location in the mobile base. “Why won’t you listen to me OR Bill?”

“I don’t know, why do you two hate Irpond and Misty?”

“Because they’re criminals who must be stopped.”

“Irpond would NEVER do such a thing,” argued Bob.

“To you, maybe,” sighed Val. “Oh, wait, yes she would. Remember: those who came before you.”

“Who exactly came before me?”

“Dilford Kerman, husband of Misty Kerman, was shot to death,” started Val. “No charges were filed, even though the shooter was standing in front of them.”

“So, what? That was self-defense,” reminded Bob.

“So, she says,” countered Val. “Even if that was legit, then where’s Irpond’s FIRST boyfriend? The one from high school.”

“She said that, the last they spoke, he was working at some auto shop in Baikerbanur,” answered Bob. “Right?”

“WRONG! Just a few years ago, Gregrigh Kerman’s body was found buried in Misty Kerman’s backyard; his parents’ corpses were there too.”

“Okay, now I know you’re making this up,” sighed Bob.

“I’m NOT making this up,” argued Val. “You know who found them? YOUR OWN BROTHER!”

“Oh, really? Well, then why didn’t Irpond bring up that someone dug up bodies in her mom’s yard? Better yet, why didn’t Rob?”

“Who wants to admit that they found bodies in their own yard… besides Jeb?” sighed Val. “Second of all, Rob said you muted him after he tried to warn you about Irpond. Third of all, unless Misty frequently visits her old house, there’s no way she could have known.”

“Val, what are you talking about?”

“Gregrigh Kerman was buried in the same yard belonging to Misty’s OLD house – the one she BURNED DOWN and blamed on Bill,” answered Val. “Can’t you see the pattern? Those two women kill to get their crushes and cover their secrets, then kill their lovers before moving on to the next one.”

“Oh, yeah? Then how come Misty never remarried?” sighed Bob.

“That’s NOT the point,” spat Val. “She’ll FORCE you to be her lover, and then she’ll kill you.”

“Really? Well, if she was a killer, why didn’t she try to kill me – or even you, or Guscan – in the pod?”

“Because I had a contingency plan,” explained Val. “I told Irpond that if she harmed anyone on the pod, she was dead. If I turned up dead, then Guscan would avenge me and toss her out the airlock without a suit on.” She paused. “Secondly, I studied the recent string of homicides connected to you and Irpond over the past eight years.”

“Then Irpond going love-crazy over me makes no sense, since most of the victims were MEN,” Bob pointed out. “FYI, all the gay ones were taken.”

“Except for Scott… and the entire base population, the men were only collateral damage,” elaborated Val. “This serial killer only targeted WOMEN who seemed to be close to you – starting with Sheri and I. Agaden was chosen to be poisoned because she wrote to you and wanted to start a relationship, and those emails shouldn’t be hard to steal for a high-caliber hacker like Irpond. Those two tourists… a search of their stuff turned up digital notes detailing their crushes on you. One of them even had ‘Write love letter to Bob Kerman,’ on their day planner.”

“I doubt that a woman-killer would be behind this,” said Bob. “Both the Zeus and the airfield tower were mostly men, and so was the base population. Why would she destroy those places, too?

“The Zeus was an attempt on MY life; she didn’t care that other people were in it,” said Val. “As for the shootings and radiation poisoning, they were only to cover her tracks. You know the airfield was bombed to erase evidence of my INNOCENCE, and Scott was targeted first in the Team-Up Day shooting. Why? It’s because Irpond told Scott to lie about me leaving the Zeus, then she had to keep his mouth shut before he named names. As for the base, she knew that she had to keep them off her back.

“Days before we left Laythe, she salvaged Daring and fixed him – after either killing him herself or falsifying him being permanently disabled – and then told it to crack open the RTGs when she was clear of the planet. With everyone in Poseidon’s Palace gone, then nobody could solve the crimes she committed there.” Val sighed as Bob stood there silent. “Do we have to go over this AGAIN?”

“What proof do you have?”

“Proof? Well, why else did I ask you to bring the underwear that you were making out with Irpond in? So we can match it to your sweaty exercise clothes?”

“So, what? That was eight years ago.”

“And it was planted in someone else’s room to frame them for murder,” finished Val. “Besides that, Irpond and Misty have been sending each other secret messages in the years we were in the pod.”

“You tapped her kPad?” gasped Bob.

“I HAD to,” said Val. “She was a high-risk software specialist – which meant a tapping was required under KSP regulations – and I had probable cause that she committed serious crimes.”

“Well, if I knew my pad was tapped, I’d send my mom secret messages too,” argued Bob.

“For casual family chats, or plotting capital crimes?”

“Uncovering your brother’s dirty secret was considered a capital crime not long ago. Irpond and I had good reason to believe you would continue persecuting Misty until one or both of them died.”

“Yeah, I want them dead. You know why, BECAUSE THEY MURDERED PEOPLE!”

“Is everything okay?” asked a random bystander.

“Yes,” answered Val.

“No!” Bob shouted.

“That’s it,” said Val, then she shoved Bob aside and headed to the nearest phone. “Eh… Matt Kerman, please?”

“Matt Kerman… located on the surface of Dres in Lander 41,” a female computer voice said. “Connect now?”

“Yes,” said Val.

“One moment, please.” Ten seconds later, she could hear Matt’s voice.

“Hello.”

“Matt, this is Val.”

“Oh, hey Admiral.”

“How long until we’re refueled?”

“Still another few hours.”

Val groaned in disappointment. “I need to get up there as soon as possible. Can you tell him to pick up the pace a bit?”

“Sure,” As Val hung up, she turned around and saw Bob on another phone.

“… in danger,” shs heard him say. “Val’s gonna kill you.” In anger, she yanked the phone from his hand and hung up.

“Who was that?”

“Irpond,” answered Bob defiantly. “I had to do it; you were going to murder her.”

“No. I was going to tell her Danlong talked, then get her to confess… and then I was going to toss her out the airlock without a suit,” Val admitted.

“Why?” gasped Bob.

“If that SSTO didn’t blow up on Kerbin orbit years ago, then she would have been… put… on… trial… wait a second. Did Irpond respond?”

“Yes, she did,” answered Bob.

“Did you ask for Irpond herself or to connect to the Defiant?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. I asked for Irpond, then it told me she was on board the Defiant,” answered Bob.

“That’s… not supposed to happen,” said Val. “I gave the men specific instructions not to let her communicate with anyone outside the ship.”

“Admiral,” interrupted Touston, “there’s a moonjet with more medical supplies waiting to take off from Dresden Base. Can you please give them the okay?”

“What’s the issue?” asked Bob.

“She ordered Dres on lockdown,” explained Touston.

“LOCKDOWN?” gasped Bob. “Val, why’d you put Dres on lockdown?”

“Doy, so Irpond can’t escape,” sighed Val. “I wanted her contained in the Defiant until I got back.”

“Then what, were you going to kill her?”

“No. I was going to tell her that Danlong talked, then she was going to confess while I recorded it,” said Val.

“Yeah, then you were gonna kill her,” said Bob.

“Okay, fine, she was gonna die – but not by MY hand.”

“Like tossing her into space would absolve you of any responsibility.”

“She killed Sheri, Bob. Once she confessed that, I would let YOU kill her.”

“That’s not gonna happen since I know you COERCED her.”

“By telling her that her partner blabbed and that we know everything. That doesn’t sound like a coerced confession, does it?”

“And if she denies it?”

“Then we show her the results of the DNA test,” said Val. “It will prove that Irpond broke into your quarters and stole your laundry before planting it in Wenpont’s room.”

“What does that have to do with Sheri’s murder?”

“EVERYTHING! It means Irpond had ample opportunity to steal Wenpont’s license and drive the mini-bus to intercept Sheri before killing her. It also means she planted your stuff in Wenpont’s room to frame her for murder.”

“Wait a Kerbin minute, I’m a qualified scientist. I should run the DNA.”

“Not gonna happen; you’re so in love with the suspect that there’s reason to believe that you would TAMPER with the results.”

Bob was insulted at Val’s remark. “You know just as well as anyone else that I would never falsify scientific data.”

“I do, but the friends and families of her victims don’t,” replied Val.

“Then they could also believe you ORDERED the scientists here to say it’s Irpond,” argued Bob.

“If I wanted to falsify results, I wouldn’t wait for the lab to get fixed.”

“Pardon me, but I would like to speak to the admiral,” said Touston. “Is now a bad time.”

“As a matter of fact, I just remembered that Bob needs a medical exam,” chimed in Val. “Off to sick bay with you.”

“I feel fine,” said Bob.

“You were in an open-cockpit high-speed chase on the surface of Dres, got in an altercation with a kerbalnaut, and I don’t know how badly the recoil of the gun messed up your wrist.”

“But, Val…”

“That’s an order, scientist.” Bob left Val and Touston in frustration. “Now, Captain, what is it?”

“I notified Mission Control of our current situation and how you saved the base,” he told her. “I also told them about you and Bob pursuing Danlong Kerman, but they said they would rather hear it from you two.”

“Wow, they replied that quickly?” gasped Val.

“Yes. Didn’t I tell you that we can phone people across the solar system now?” said Touston.

“Before I do that, I’d like to see what your new communication systems can REALLY do,” said Val. “Anything else?”

“I also reported your desire to test the man’s underwear for DNA and run it against the stolen exercise clothes you mentioned earlier. However, they said that there was no digital file regarding stolen exercise clothes anywhere.”

“WHAT? IMPOSSIBLE!” shouted Val. “How did this happen?”

“I thought they were digging in the wrong place,” said Touston, “but they said that they couldn’t find ANY such cases. Any ideas why?”

“Irpond,” muttered Val. “She must have erased the DNA file before leaving Laythe.”

“I suggest we still run the DNA on the underwear and file it for future use,” said Touston, “just in case she strikes again.”

Val’s eyes widened in excitement. “Good idea. Tell your engineers to fix the lab on the double.”

“I respectfully object, Admiral. We repair life support and affecting structures FIRST, then it’s the sick bay, then communications. The rest of the repair priority depends on the situation.”

“I understand; you need to keep your crew alive,” said Val. “When you start with secondary repairs, have your guys fix the lab.”

“Yes, Admiral.” Val then left him and headed for a nearby control panel. “Whatcha doing?”

“Making a personal call,” she answered.

“You’re using the comm panel to make a personal call?”

“Yes, to Kerbin. If I can call this guy, then I can definitely reach Kerbin.”

Touston sighed. “Fine, just make it quick. Fair warning: I’ll have to cut your call short if one of my crewmembers needs to contact someone – and it’s relevant to our operation.”

 

In the corporate headquarters of Jeb’s Junkyard, currently located in Krakopolis, Jeb Senior was looking out the window at the moonlit city. His office was very clean and well-organized, and so was his rather expensive desktop. Jeb Senior dimmed the lights and put the computer in sleep mode so he could enjoy the view before he returned to his penthouse. He looked down and saw the rows of streetlights and the cars moving smoothly. After checking out the tall buildings, he looked at the stars and sighed.

“How did this happen?” he asked himself. “How?” Not only was he talking to his son less frequently now, he had learned from Bill and Val that Jeb was heading to the same planet as a mass murderer. For all his son’s life, he was afraid that Jeb would die from an accident caused by his own stupidity – like his fifth-grade plane crash, for instance. As much as he wanted his junkyard to succeed, he was even more concerned about Jeb’s well-being. He had already lost his wife to her own tomfoolery; he wasn’t going to lose his son.

At the moment, he was not concerned about Jeb causing an accident that would kill him and other cremembers. Rather, he was scared that Jeb was heading straight to a planet where a mass murderer was lurking.

“Sir, you have a patched call from Dres,” his secretary told him on his office phone.

“Dres?” gasped Jeb Senior. “How is that even possible?”

“They’re issuing new interplanetary phone systems,” explained the secretary.

“Oh, yeah,” remembered Jeb Senior. “I’ll take it.” He took his phone and waited for the call to connect. “Hello.”

“Jeb Senior, this is Val,” a woman replied. “Remember me?”

“Wait just a minute,” said Jeb Senior, “how do I know it’s really you? How did Baikerbanur gain the edge over Woomerang in Jeb’s high school years?”

“Bill built a recon drone that you could drop from a remote-controlled plane,” started Val, “and I flew it to a drop zone.”

“Wow!” he said in shock. “You really ARE calling from Dres. How did you know I would be in the office?”

“There’s this app that tells you the time anywhere on Kerbin,” said Val, “and my files show you haven’t left Kerbin since your return from Moho years ago.”

“Sounds right,” confirmed Jeb Senior, “though my employees have been hearing rumors that KSP needs Jeb’s Junkyard for a construction project on Eve.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they were true,” agreed Val. “I heard that KSP’s changing the vehicles they’re starting to send now. One such change involves allowing self-mining NINETEEN-MAN landers to go on and off Duna.”

“I vaguely recall your boyfriend telling me about it a year ago,” remarked Jeb Senior. “Duna fuel trucks may be obsolete now, and yet they’re still using his baby today,” remarked Jeb Senior.

“Boyfriend? What baby?” asked Val.

“Don’t worry, I’m talking about his nuclear-powered pod,” explained Jeb Senior. “You know Bill’s a great engineer when they still haven’t found a replacement design that works.”

“Did Bill tell you he was my boyfriend?” sighed Val.

“I don’t know; he said that the two of you have been writing each other for years now,” said Jeb Senior. “The weird thing is that I’ve been getting more emails from Bill – and you – than I have from MY OWN SON.”

“Sad,” commented Val. “His mom’s been dead for over 40 years already, and he’s STILL mad at you for lying to him.”

“If I’m guilty of anything, it’s of being an overprotective father,” Jeb Senior told her. “Now that my son and your boyfriend are heading right for a serial killer… I don’t know how to tell him I love him when he won’t even listen.”

“Maybe Bill can get talk Jeb into reconnecting with you,” said Val.

“Just out of curiosity, who is this murderer you’re trying to nail?”

“Irpond Kerman,” answered Val. “Oh, and FYI, her mother is eco-friendly car pioneer Misty Kerman.”

“Misty Kerman…,” sighed Jeb Senior. “Now that’s a name I haven’t heard since… several years ago.”

“Several years ago? You mean you knew her recently?”

“What do you mean RECENTLY?”

“I thought everybody knew her from a murder trial that was DECADES ago,” said Val.

“Well, Admiral, allow me to elaborate,” started Jeb Senior as he accessed his company files on his computer. “At the time I was on Moho, one of my scrapyards found an old engine with blood on it. We first thought someone bled in a workplace incident, but nobody reported sustaining such injuries around that engine. After running the serial number on the engine, we learned that not only did it come from an old electric car prototype from KSP, but that specific car was used in an unsolved murder from over 30 years ago.

“Since our old logs say that Krakopolis PD gave us the scrapped car, we called them and KSC and asked for further details. They said that the car was sabotaged, and it ended up killing someone named… Debbie, or was it Bonnie… Cobra.”

“Debra Kerman?” finished Val.

“Something like that,” said Jeb Senior. “The last I heard about that engine, the police ran the DNA but found no matches before they offered to give it back. I told them to keep it.”

“Why’d you let them keep it?”

“There’s almost ZERO demand for old engines like that – especially from failed prototypes – and I’d rather they have it so that they could find this killer.”

“No matches?” questioned Val. “You mean it’s not Debra’s?”

“Let’s see… it says here that the police dug up the victim for a DNA comparison, but it’s not hers. All they know is that it’s an unknown woman’s DNA that could be over 30 years old.”

“Unknown woman? 30 years old?” gasped Val. “YES! Thank you, Jeb Senior.”

“Eh… you’re welcome,” stammered Jeb Senior. “Oh, there’s something else.”

“Misty’s dead?” guessed Val. “PLEASE, tell me she suffered.”

“What? NO,” sighed Jeb Senior. “I knew you and Bill had feelings for each other since high school, but I didn’t tell him OR Jeb.”

“Why not?” asked Val.

“That was something he needed to face on his own,” explained Jeb Senior. “I didn’t tell Jeb since I knew he would blab.”

“You’re not Bill’s dad, William is,” argued Val

“William? He agreed with me that Bill needed to confess to you himself,” said Jeb Senior. “It’s not like you were bad news, like some of the other girls in Baikerbanur.” He sighed as a plane flew over the city. “You know, Bill worries about you.”

“We all worry about each other,” remarked Val. “That’s what makes us a good team.”

“No, I mean more than usual,” added Jeb Senior. “I could tell that he feels the same way to you as I did to Amelia… before she died. In a way, you reminded me a lot about her – and you still do.”

“Bill mentioned that once,” commented Val. “In fact, it was because I reminded him of your wife that he was more afraid than ever to ask me out when we were younger.”

“How come?”

“He was afraid I would die prematurely,” sighed Val. “At first, I was mad at him for being chicken. I would have said ‘yes,’ if he asked me out.”

“That’s what I told him,” said Jeb Senior. “On the other hand, since both you and Amelia had a knack for laughing in the face of danger, he was scared you would end up killing yourself.”

“Amelia was an immature adrenaline junkie… no offense,” said Val, and Jeb Senior told her none was taken. “Rest assured that, though I may have her bravery, I still have the common sense to know when to NOT do stupid stuff.”

“I kinda wish my son was like that, but he got both,” sighed Jeb Senior. “Can’t believe it took you getting drunk for him to admit his love to you.”

“Wait, what?”

“I asked Bill what made him decide to confess his feelings to you, then he said he saw an opportunity when you confessed to Bob.”

“Why would I confess to Bob?”

“Man, how drunk were you? Anyway, Bill said you thought Bob was him, then you told Bob that you had feelings for Bill since high school.”

“Okay, I guess…,” stammered Val. “Well, now that I know this phone works, all I need to do now is run the DNA and then Irpond’s OURS.”

“Talk to you later,” said Jeb Senior, then Val hung up.

 

Like all Mark Vb interplanetary travel pods, Pod 5B21 had limited space for an exercise section. A mass-pulling machine – which pulled the weights down with as much force as would affect the weights on Kerbin – and a bolted-down bike machine were often used by the kerbalnauts since microgravity would cause the kerbalnauts’ bones and muscles to weaken, they used it as often as possible. Jeb and Bill were the most frequent users; Jeb wanted to maintain his “ripped beach bod,” as usual, while Bill strived to be physically ready for his confrontation with Irpond – and, possibly, Misty.

When he learned of Bill’s Revenge blowing up, he anticipated both Mission Control and Kerbin’s government deciding to try again would be too costy – both in time, money, and manpower. He thought Misty Kerman would finally get punished for this, but he was disappointed when Gene told him about her release; not only was she nowhere near Krakopolis during the assembly and launch, but an accident investigation proved that it was caused by a design flaw in the craft’s ammunition magazine. Since he received the news, he doubled his exercise schedule and intensity so that, if he ever faced Irpond or Misty (or both), he could easily overpower them. Jeb assured him that such a vigorous routine was unnecessary for fighting one or two women, but Bill said he was “not taking any chances with murderers.”

After Val texted him about entering Dres’ sphere of influence, she and Bill discussed a plan to keep Irpond contained while Val talked to Danlong. Since Val reported Bob still not heeding her warnings, Bill suggested that she brought Bob with her so that he could hear Danlong’s confession for himself. Val added that she would take Matt with her to check the base schematics in case something went wrong. Though Bill warned her that Matt did not design all the program’s mobile bases, Val told him he could at least access the blueprint database in case the base wasn’t his. The last time they spoke was when Val said that her pod was safely docked with the Defiant, then Bill wished her luck.

“Dang, Bill, who are YOU trying to impress?” asked Jeb.

“Impress? Why would I want to impress anyone at this time?” Bill denied.

“Come on, Bill. I saw you try that in high school when you gave your engineering projects to your freshman assistants so you can spend more time in the gym,” reminded Jeb.

“Why would I double my efforts to impress Val when we’re already in love with each other?” said Bill. “Besides, we all need to stay in shape or else microgravity will cause us serious health problems.”

“Yet you’re doing double the regulation workout routine,” Jeb pointed out.

“As are you.”

“Hey, who’s captain here? ME, so I just hand over the jobs, giving ME more free time to look swole,” argued Jeb. “Besides that, HADGAN’S piloting the pod, NOT me.”

“You still need to send captain’s logs to Mission Control.”

“And it’s basically the same thing over and over again; everything’s okay, no arguments, no health issues, done.” Jeb scratched his chin. “Hey, I’m single while YOU got Val locked and loaded already.”

“I’m not sure she wants to see her crush losing his health when he arrives on Dres – if she’s even alive when that happens.”

“Alive? What makes you think she’s…,” Jeb stopped himself when Bill lowered his eyebrows, “oh, right. The bad guy. Wait… you’re still gearing up for a fight, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Jeb. Why else are we going to Dres in the first place, so we can catch her.”

“Relax, B,” sighed Jeb. “I’m pretty sure you can take both Irpond AND Misty just fine.”

“I don’t take chances with killers, Jeb,” replied Bill. “By the way, would you be telling me to relax if Irpond was a 0.9-meter-tall MAN?”

“Actually, yes,” answered Jeb. “If you keep getting buff now, you’re gonna wear yourself out by the time we actually arrive on Dres. Petite woman or large man, you can’t catch this killer if you’re tired – or worse, injured.”

“Says the guy who spends a lot of his waking hours getting ripped.”

“Hey, I gotta look good for the ladies,” said Jeb in a suave tone. “I also take the time to relax. Ladies LOVE well-balanced men.”

“Excuse me, Bill,” said a male scientist named Dilsby, “but your kPad just pinged.”

“Dilsby, can’t it wait for five more minutes?” asked Jeb.

“I don’t think so; it’s Val,” answered Dilsby. “She mentioned you and Captain Jeb.”

“Well, don’t just stand there,” said Bill, “give it to me.”

“Uh, dude, how can he be standing there if he can’t even stand in space?” remarked Jeb as Dilsby handed Bill his kPad.

Val @Bill, @Jeb, I got good news, bad news, and even worse news
	Bill @Val, is that really you?
Val Why would it not be me?
Jeb Yeah, @Bill, why would you ask if it’s not her?
	Bill You’re in the same planet as a serial killer who knows how to spoof your email.   Oh, and @Jeb, why are you using your kPad if you and I are in the same pod?
Jeb So I don’t forget who said what --> and so Val and Bob can tell if it was me or Bill
	Bill That makes sense.   @Val, when’s my birthday?
Val Big deal; that can easily be obtained by peeking at your personnel file.
Ask me something I’m not likely to find there – or already texted you about?
	Bill Okay. Whose idea was it to use my spy probe to peek at the girls’ locker room?”
	No hints, @Jeb.
Val Michael Kerman
Jeb Sounds legit
	Bill I’ll buy that. What’s the news?
Val Good news: I saved Edwards Mobile Base from plunging into Dres Canyon
Jeb What? No way.
Val Yes, way.
Danlong hijacked the controls and tried to get away. When I boarded, she hard-wired the rover autopilot and made her escape in a mini-rover – leaving everyone inside to die.
I managed to stop it and turn it around before it drove itself over the edge.
Jeb @Val, that’s awesome
	Bill Wish I could have seen you in action.
Val You can; the crew posted videos of it on Photogram and Chirper. -       My base save is also all over the news.
	Bill Everyone okay?
Val -       4 dead (3 murdered during hijacking, 1 trampled to death in panic) -       9 wounded
	Bill Not bad, considering that: -       The casualties could have multiplied if you hadn’t intervened. -       The one death that was NOT a murder was caused by a terrified crew (which wouldn’t happen if the killer didn’t mess up the controls).
Val Which brings me to the bad news.   Danlong (indirectly) confessed Irpond’s guilt before killing herself – by removing her helmet.
Jeb What do you mean indirectly?
Val She said that Bob should have figured it out already, and he is doomed “like those who came before him.” -       Ring any bells?
Jeb Misty’s husband and Irpond’s former boyfriend?
Val Exactly --> and here comes the even worse news.
	Bill Let me guess, @Bob’s still not listening?
Val Worse. -       By the way, that’s not exactly news.
Irpond’s AWOL – and so is everyone else on board the Defiant.
Jeb Why, did they go to a party?
Val No, @Jeb, they couldn’t have – Dres was on lockdown.
Bob Then how could they have left the Defiant if there were no other landers docked to it?
	Bill The Mk. Vb interplanetary travel pod has a TWR of 2.04 on Dres when fully refueled.
Jeb What’s that supposed to mean?
	Bill It means that the pod can safely land – and take off from – Dres’ surface (since the thrust-to-weight ratio is over 1)
Val Only 5B15 was docked to the station when @Bob, Matt, and I left the station – and it’s STILL DOCKED.
Jeb Wait a second, didn’t Dres get new self-mining landers a few years ago?
Val Yes, but waiting for a loaded fuel truck doesn’t take nearly as long as it does for the new lander to refuel itself.
	Bill Why bother refilling it? Assuming it was fully refilled before it first reached the Defiant, it would still have plenty of delta-V left in it if you didn’t start refueling when you landed.
Jeb There goes Bill rambling on about his latest creation again
	Bill @Jeb, that’s not mine. -       Although I drew a concept plan for a self-mining lander, it was MARHOUSE KERMAN that made a feasible design – and with a high delta-V capacity, too.
Val If no other landers rendezvoused with the Defiant, then how else did Irpond get away – and how come everyone else is gone?
Jeb Maybe they got out with their jetpacks
Val That is among the Top 10 dumbest theories I’ve ever heard.
	Bill Actually, it is very possible – but EXTREMELY risky. -       600 m/s in jetpack > ~500 m/s needed to make a safe Dres landing (cutting it close) -       Even if they all left in jetpacks, there’s no guarantee they landed anywhere near their intended target (most likely a rover/outpost) -       The suits are not equipped with MJ landing guidance.
Bob Now that you mention it, I’ve heard rumors that KSP is considering implementing MJ autopilot in the 4.0 suits.
Jeb 4.0. What happened to 3?
I know 1 was the first prototype, and 2 was the one where you say, “EVA me” and it slaps itself on you.
Val 3.0 has a grapnel and a better Kerbnet connection speed
	Bill Awesome.
Val We’ll look into where the missing crew is and how Irpond managed to get away, but at least she left something behind. -       Until we meet again.mp4

 

“Hmm, I wonder why she left it,” said Bill as he downloaded the video file and pressed the play button.

“Hello, Bob,” said a woman’s voice Bill assumed was Irpond’s. “I was so happy to hear that you’re safe. Thanks for telling me about Val, by the way. I knew she had it out for us since the beginning, but I didn’t imagine her ever crossing the line.”

“Wait, did she just say Bob tipped her off?” asked Jeb, but Bill continued the video.

“You’re probably wondering why the station’s deserted. As you know already, Val tried to kill me. Since you prevented her from doing it in the pod, she took you with her to the surface and told HER MEN to do it. I swear, it was all self-defense – just as you shot Tami to save me.” She paused as the camera showed the window looking at a one-man lander docked with the Defiant. “I knew Val would return to finish the job herself, so I had to… borrow a lander to escape.”

“Why couldn’t she just use the pod?” commented Bill.

“Because it’s not capable of landing, that’s why,” responded Jeb.

“It’s not designed for moon landings, but it is possible – albeit risky – to land a Mark Vb pod on the surface of Dres,” argued Bill.

“Oh, and Bill,” said Irpond, “I anticipated Val showing this to you. You’re probably wondering ‘Why didn’t she take the pod if it has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 2.04 on Dres when full?’ Well, I don’t want to hurt your baby. I’ve got plans for it.”

“Yeah, like escaping,” sighed Jeb.

“Actually, the next transfer window from Dres to anywhere doesn’t open for another 63 days – and that’s to Moho. Even when fully loaded, the pod does not have enough delta-V to reach that place,” said Bill.

“Val, you can screw off,” continued Irpond. “You’ll never kill me or my mother, nor will you ruin Bob with your baseless slander.” She then turned the camera back to herself. “Bob, no matter what happens, no matter what anybody says, I just want you to know that… I will always love you.” The video ended, leaving Bill and Jeb confused.

“Just HOW did she get a lander up to the station if the planet was on lockdown?” asked Jeb. “It’s not like she could… mimic Val’s voice or something.”

“I’m more concerned about her plans,” added Bill. “First off, do you really think she killed the Defiant crew in self-defense?”

“Nope,” said Jeb, shaking his head.

“Second of all, how is she gonna stay out of sight for long? EVERYBODY knows we could just track the lander coordinates, right?”

“Couldn’t she just pretend to be Val and summon a rover to her landing spot?” asked Jeb.

“Even then, she’ll leave tracks on the surface,” reminded Bill. “It’s not like she’ll waste her time going back to cover them. Third of all, just WHERE would she go?”

“I’d say an outpost, but I’m pretty sure Val would have those places guarded,” said Jeb.

“Yeah, and more importantly, if all she wanted was Bob’s love, why would she run like that?” sighed Bill.

“Maybe she’ll make a comeback,” suggested Jeb.

“Comeback… OF COURSE.”

	Bill @Bob, @Val, expect Irpond to return.
Val My thoughts exactly. If Bob’s her endgame, then she’s going to do anything to get closer to him.
	Bob You guys need to track that lander and find her.
Val We should have her contained before you and @Jeb arrive. Kerbalnauts don’t just go AWOL on other planets without leaving a trail.
Bob The only reason she ran was because you were going to kill her and her mother.
Val If Misty didn’t blow up Bill’s Revenge years ago, Irpond would be on trial by now
	Bill Unfortunately, the investigation into the explosion says it wasn’t her. -       She had an alibi (nowhere near Krakopolis when it was being built) -       The explosion was caused by faulty ammunition.
	But for some reason, I think Irpond and/or Misty had something to do with that.
Jeb Wait a minute, if Irpond said she killed the Defiant crew in self-defense, why do you say they’re AWOL?
Val Without their bodies, I don’t know if she’s telling the truth. -       As much as @Bill and I hate her, I want solid evidence to confront her with before she gets what she deserves.
Bob You were going to kill her regardless.
Val Hey, if you took five minutes to piece it together, you’d want to kill her yourself.
Oh, and @Jeb, I talked to your dad earlier. He’s worried about you
Jeb Duh. What else is new?
Val First off, his secretary emailed me and asked me to tell you to call your dad as soon as you arrive on Dres?
Jeb How am I gonna do that?
Val Dres got new interplanetary phones installed. Didn’t Bill tell you?
Jeb He told me he was in that challenge – but he lost. -       At least it involved him keeping the ultimate relay antennas.
Val Second, and I hope you’re reading this @Bill.
Jeb’s Junkyard has the car that killed Debra Kerman 36 years ago
	Bill How do they know it’s the same car?
Val They ran the serial number on an old engine – that had blood on it – and it came back to the electric car prototype that was sabotaged when Debra died.
	Bill Tell me they tested the blood.
Val They did, but it’s not Debra’s – or anybody else we know.
Jeb How did blood get on the engine?
Val I don’t know; your dad said that it was shed over 30 years ago by an unknown female.
	Bill I think that blood is Misty’s. -       + 30 years old --> closer to the time of the murder -       There weren’t any women working in those junkyards at the time.
Jeb Sounds right.
Val Misty could have cut herself while she was messing with the car.
Jeb So, I guess the plan is: -       Run Irpond’s DNA (from wherever you got it) -       Match it to the bloodstain on that engine. -       Tell the cops on Kerbin to arrest Misty for murder.
Val Unfortunately, that won’t happen. Misty cannot be tried for the same crime twice.
	Bill What about perjury? If the DNA on Bob’s underwear is a familial match to the engine blood, that means Misty DID tamper with the car and lied about it.
Val I can try. I just need to wait until the lab’s done with the tests.
Bob That doesn’t mean anything against Irpond, since she wasn’t even born yet.
Jeb It totally does, man. Irpond’s mother is a woman who got away with murder (until now, that is). What do you expect from the daughter – and when atrocitys like the base poisoning and the moonjet hacking are happening.
* atrocities
Bob Your dad’s overly cautious, yet you’re frequently careless. Maybe Irpond swore to be nothing like her mother.
And let’s not forget @Val is the total opposite of her brother.
	Bill Even if Irpond’s not a murderer, she has some serious explaining to do.
Val Yeah, like how the DNA file for Bob’s stolen clothes disappeared.
	Bill What?
Val The file’s gone, and so is our evidence that Irpond was stalking Bob.
	Bill Irpond knew exactly what she was doing. She made sure to erase all traces of herself from all her crime scenes – and she irradiated the base to cover her tracks.
Jeb Idea: -       Arrest Misty for Debra’s murder. -       Offer her a plea deal: lighter sentence in exchange for Irpond’s location.
Val That could work – except that they’re on two different planets. Irpond may not even tell Misty where she is in case Misty gets captured.
Jeb It’s worth a try.
Bob For once in several years, I agree with you guys – if the DNA on my underwear matches the old bloodstain.
Then we can find Irpond and clear things up.
Val Glad to see you’re thinking rationally for once.
Bob Just because Misty committed murder doesn’t mean Irpond did.
Jeb The cops can also offer a deal if Misty confesses the details of Irpond’s crimes --> just like one of the bad guys in a BKU episode I watched 12 hours ago.
	Bill Now it’s just a matter of finding Irpond.
Val And when we do, we can tell her that her mom ratted her out. After that, she’ll get mad enough to betray her --> confessions from BOTH of them.
	Bill And since the RECENT murders she committed won’t be covered in her plea deal, she’ll definitely go on death row after Irpond turns on her.
Jeb Double-whammy, OH YEAH

 

“So, did we get her?” asked Jeb.

“If the DNA on Bob’s underwear is a familial match to the blood on that old engine, we got THEM BOTH,” answered Bill.

[KerballingSmasher]

Wow.