19 CORRUPTED EVIDENCE

11 CORRUPTED EVIDENCE Lunar day 190 Really early in the morning There may be no better way to cause chaos at a moon base than to set off the emergency alarm, rouse everyone from sleep, and then reveal that someone has just tried to kill you with a giant robotic arm. Nina was so apoplectic she didn't know what to get angry about first. Instead she kept starting to yell about one thing, then changing her mind and yelling about something else. Within only thirty

seconds she freaked out about my irresponsibility, the wrecked rover garage, the shattered solar panels, how expensive the robot was, and how I had deliberately violated a direct order from her by pursuing my investigation. At no point did it ever occur to her to ask how I was doing after my near- death experience. However, my family was plenty concerned about me. My parents hugged me tightly and fawned over me, at once relieved to see that I was alive, annoyed that I'd done something so risky, and angry at Nina for how she was treating me. Violet's usual gleefulness had soured upon learning that I'd been in danger. She clung to me and cried while I tried to reassure her that the threat was over and everything was all right. Meanwhile, around us in the staging area, the Moonies were all going nuts. Lars Sjoberg was his standard jerkwad self, yelling at everyone within earshot about the alarm, as though this were merely another instance of bad service at MBA, like a hotel wake-up call that had come too early. Daphne was devastated by how her precious robot had been used for evil—and severely damaged in the process. Some people, like Chang and Dr. Kim, were trying to

make sense of what had happened, while others, like Roddy, were panicking and wanting to know if the alarm meant we had to evacuate the base. Even Dr. Howard was displaying emotion for the first time since he'd arrived. Once Kira returned through the air lock safely, he threw his arms around her and began sobbing. The only people who remained silent were Mr. Grisan, who was figuring out how to shut the alarm off, and Zan Perfonic, who hung back by the wall, studying everyone carefully and taking everything in. Eventually, I got the chance to tell my story: how I'd gone out to retrieve Dr. Holtz's phone and been attacked, but the attacker had fled before I could see who it was, and the phone was now a total loss. Chang took the phone from me and examined it closely. "Maybe not," he said. "Mind if I try to salvage something?" I wasn't sure I could trust Chang, but no one else volunteered to help. I glanced at Zan and she nodded that she thought it was okay, so I handed over the evidence. Chang promised to stay within sight and went to work on it at the computer station in the control room. Meanwhile Nina finally settled on one thing to be

angry at: me. "Do you have any idea how much damage your reckless behavior has caused?" she demanded. "Millions of dollars for sure. Maybe billions!" Mom placed herself between Nina and me, anger flaring in her eyes. "Dashiell's behavior didn't cause any of this! Whoever was controlling that robot did. So why don't you stop chewing him out and try to find whoever just tried to kill him?" "Because for all I know, your son made the whole thing up!" Nina shot back. "Oh, right," I said. "Kira and I decided to play with the robot arm, destroyed it by accident, and then went outside to fake our own deaths to cover it up." "I wouldn't put it past you," Nina snarled at me. "Oh, for heaven's sake!" Dr. Howard yelled. "Give it a rest, Nina!" His words caught everyone by surprise, because few of us had even heard Dr. Howard speak, let alone raise his voice. Every last Moonie stopped what they were doing and turned his way. He was standing beside Kira now, still clutching her tightly, glaring at Nina. "We all know you're afraid of a scandal here, but there is now irrefutable

evidence that there is a killer on the loose at this base! So stop pretending that Dr. Holtz's death might have been an accident and face the facts!" It turns out, the second best way to cause chaos on a moon base is to reveal that one of the residents is a killer. Everyone who had finally calmed down now went nuts again. Moonies ran off to lock themselves in their rooms, or demanded Nina explain why she'd covered up the crime, or pointed accusing fingers at who they thought had done it. "I'll bet it was Lars!" Roddy announced, and half the other Moonies quickly agreed with him. "This is an outrage!" Lars shouted. "I am sick and tired of being treated like a common criminal!" "This sounds like a job for Squirrel Force!" Violet announced. "Silence!" Nina roared. And when everyone kept talking, she added, "The next person I hear a peep out of gets thrown out the air lock!" Everyone shut up. "I have never covered anything up about Dr. Holtz's death," Nina informed us. "Until now, all evidence has indicated that he died due to reckless behavior and personal error. And as of this moment

there is still no evidence that indicates otherwise. However, the Gibsons and Dr. Howard are correct. Someone on this base has caused some serious damage to our robotic arm and some of our facilities, most likely while Dashiell and Kira were on the lunar surface. Now, I intend to find whoever did this—and if their motives were, in fact, to bring harm to Dashiell and Kira, then I will see to it that they are prosecuted for what they have done. However, until that point, we are going to have order on this base! There will not be a witch hunt! So, for everyone's safety, I'm sending you all back to your rooms right now until further notice." "You mean you're grounding us all?" Lars asked indignantly. "I'm ordering you," Nina growled. "As is my right as base commander, per the bylaws of Moon Base Alpha, section seventy-eight, subheading A. Anyone who sees fit to violate that order will be locked in the medical bay with Dr. Holtz's corpse and held there until I see fit. Is that understood?" Everyone nodded obediently and started back to their rooms. As my parents reluctantly turned away, Chang whispered from the control room, "Not so fast."