11 STRONG ACCUSATIONS

11 STRONG ACCUSATIONS Lunar day 252 T minus 21 hours to evacuation "You can see Zan?" I asked Violet. "Duh," Violet said. "She's right here with us." "I know she is," I said. "But I didn't know you knew. I, uh " After a day of startling revelations, I was surprised how much this was throwing me. "How long have you known each other?" "For a few weeks," Zan answered. "Once Violet stumbled upon you and me talking to each other, I felt I should present myself to her."

"And you didn't tell me?" I asked. "It was our little secret," Zan said. I looked to Violet. "You've never been able to keep a secret in your life!" "Yes, I have," Violet said. "I keep secrets all the time. I didn't tell you that I ate your Skittles today." "You ate my Skittles?" I asked. Violet flushed red, embarrassed. "Not all of them. And we're going home soon, so it doesn't matter." Normally, I would have been upset by this, but there were more pressing issues at the moment. I turned to Zan. "Have you two been talking regularly?" "About as often as you and I have been talking," Zan replied. "Why?" "Because I'm awesome!" Violet exclaimed. "I thought she was an interesting representative of humanity," Zan replied. "Given that you are closely related, your dispositions are surprisingly different." "No kidding," I said. "I showed Zan how I can burp the alphabet," Violet said proudly. "Great," I muttered. "That's exactly what

humanity needs to prove its worth to the universe." "Zan was very impressed," Violet told me. "I'll bet." I turned to Zan, expecting her to back me up. Instead she shrugged apologetically. "It might not have been a Beethoven symphony," she said, "But it did require some talent." There was a knock at the door. "Dashiell!" Nina called from outside. "I need to talk to you. Now." I looked at Violet and put a finger to my lips, hoping to make Nina think we weren't there. Violet nodded understanding. "I know you're in there," Nina said. "I heard you talking through the wall. If you don't come out on your own, I will drag you out." "All right," I said. "I'm coming." I turned to Zan and spoke in my thoughts. "Please stay here. I'll try to make this quick." "I'll do what I can," Zan replied. As I headed for the door, Violet turned her attention to Zan and said, "What would you like to learn about today? Turtles?" "That sounds lovely," Zan said. I wasn't sure why, but I felt upset that Zan had been secretly talking to Violet. A mixture of jealousy and betrayal. Which was odd, because up until that

point I had felt like being the only person to stand trial for humanity was a burden. And even though my conversation with Zan had been taxing, I was still annoyed with both Violet and Nina for interrupting it. So I was in a pretty bad mood when I stepped out onto the catwalk. It didn't get any better when Nina ordered, "In my office. Now." She pointed to her open door. I walked into her residence. Nina followed me in and shut the door behind us. I didn't sit down on the InflatiCube. I didn't want Nina to think I'd be staying a long time. She didn't sit either. "Have you learned anything of importance in this investigation?" "I thought my father told you he didn't want me to investigate." "He did. That doesn't mean that I agree with him. So, have you learned anything?" "Yes," I said. I figured avoiding any arguments with Nina was the fastest way to get back to my conversation with Zan. "Well ?" "Cyanide can be made from apple seeds. Dr. Goldstein had some apple seeds in the greenhouse,

but now they're all gone." It was hard to read Nina's face, but it seemed as if this might have been news to her. "Do you think Dr. Goldstein made the poison?" "Not necessarily. Anyone could have gotten the seeds. They weren't locked up or anything." "I asked you to come to me with any information you learned right away. Why didn't you do that?" "I forgot," I admitted. "You mean, you got too carried away eavesdropping on me." "There was also the fact that we're evacuating the base tomorrow because the oxygen is leaking out and we all might die otherwise. That was a little distracting." Nina obviously didn't appreciate my sarcasm. "I'm aware that Kira has suggested that I might be the killer," she said coldly. "I can assure you that I'm not. Lars Sjoberg may be a constant problem for me, but that doesn't mean he deserves to die." I noticed that she hadn't offered any alibi. She seemed to simply expect me to take her at her word. Still, I didn't want to challenge her on it. If she actually was the killer, it seemed like a bad idea to confront her by myself in her locked room. As Kira

had said, Nina had probably been trained to kill. "All right," I said. "I'm sorry that we even thought it was you." I started for the door. "We're not done here, Dashiell." I froze, not liking the tone in Nina's voice. "We're not?" "There is a killer on the loose in this base, and I still need your help to find them." "But my father—" "Your father is not in charge here. I am." Nina strode over to her SlimScreen table. "I need you to break into Chang's room and look for evidence." "What?" I gasped. "Why?" "Because I have further suspicions that he might be the killer." Nina brought up a video file on the SlimScreen. "This is from last night, in the mess hall." The footage was from one of the many security cameras mounted inside the base. This one was up in the ceiling of the mess hall, giving an angle down toward the food-storage area. It was time-stamped at the bottom: 00:24:35. Twenty-four minutes after midnight. There was no one in the mess hall, which made sense, given that it was the middle of the night. Then Chang entered. It was easy to recognize him,