Cosmic Crime Files

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of Space, or so they say. I've always considered her a cruel mistress; cold, empty, unforgiving...and yet, that's part of her charm. As bleak and lonely as the Void can be, she's quite the alluring and talented seductress, a vast, untapped resource full of mystery and intrigue. To put it simply, she is at the same time my worst enemy and my greatest lover. It may seem bizarre to some, but I've always felt at home in the velvety embrace of her star-studded bosom, and today was no different.

I stood on the bridge staring out the curved viewing port that made up the front of the ship, basking in her glory as I did every chance I could get. There were no windows or viewports on the lower decks, as transparent steel was at a premium these days. Not like we grunts needed to see where we were going anyway, right? The quiet yet powerful thrum of the engines rumbled beneath my feet, propelling us through the expanse before us to our destination on Europa. Hard to believe a handful of centuries ago, it was nothing more than a lifeless rock floating in space. Some bigwig multi-gajillionaire though had the idea to terraform it once Earth's ozone layer went to shit. It was meant to be a colony site, "pushing mankind further into the beyond," or something like that. After the Martians helped us develop the O.Z. Shield though, it became less of a colony and more of a high-end resort for the wealthiest of the wealthy. Thinking about how many fat cats we were hauling this go around made me sick honestly. People on Earth and Mars were still struggling every day to put food on the table and credits in their bank accounts, and yet we still had a full house downstairs on their way to sip cocktails and play Zero-G golf with all their super rich buddies.

This time though, at least we had a more diverse list of passengers. Usually all we ferried around on the Fiesta 5 were Terrans - Earthlings, our ancestors would say - but this time at least thirty percent of our passengers were from the Outer Planets and beyond. They seem like a decent bunch, at least on the surface, but there's still a gigantic learning curve when it comes to getting used to their customs and idiosyncracies. The language barriers alone have been almost impossible to get past. Some of the species we have on board don't even have mouths, and speak telepathically or with only hand gestures. It wouldn't be so bad except that we only have a handful of universal translators on board - both the machine kind and the people kind - which has already lead to quite a few mishaps and misunderstandings. That being said, there's something almost magical about sharing the ride with such exotic and unusual beings. We were told not to gawk at our pre-launch briefing, but it's hard not to be in awe of some of these strange and frankly beautiful creatures.

Someone suddenly bumped my arm, jarring me from my thoughts and bringing me back to reality. "What are you doing up here, Ensign?!" The tall, muscular man scowled down at me. He was dressed in a blue and gold Officer's uniform, with the telltale magenta and yellow stripes up his arms signifying his rank. I recognized him immediately from the personnel files I studied before getting on board: Dax Langston, Chief of Security...and my boss.

"I'm on my break, Sir," I said, squaring my narrow shoulders and moving into an "at-ease" position; feet planted firmly apart, head high, hands folded behind my back. Ever since I took this job, I learned hard and fast that any sign of weakness was an invitation to get reamed by a superior. Because of this I kept my expression neutral, not allowing a hint of emotion, and maintained an intense lock on Chief Langston's stern brown eyes with my own. He gives a curt nod but motions to the lifts at the back of the bridge, "Understood. You may finish your break either down in your quarters or on the Security Deck." The rest of the sentence was implied by his tone of voice and stony glare. "...where you belong with the rest of the rats." I nodded back and headed toward the lifts, but stopped when the ornate Captain's chair catches my eye. It sat proudly on a small dais in the middle of the Bridge in all its glory, a symbol of control and power over everyone else that made up the crew of the Fiesta 5. Normally, the Captain occupied their chair within an hour of getting on board, sometimes sooner, and yet there it was still empty after we'd been sailing through the stars for nearly half a day.

"Sir," I asked, turning back half way to look at Chief Langston, "May I ask where the captain is? I haven't seen them yet today. Are they ill?"

"That's none of your concern," came Chief Langston's gruff response, and he gave me a not-so-gentle prod in the back to urge me on my way once more toward the lifts. I bit my tongue and entered the lift, but as soon as the hydraulic doors hissed shut, I scowled at my reflection in the polished, curved metal surface in front of me. "Bastard," I grumbled to myself. He was wrong about one very important thing: it was every bit my business where the Captain was and if they were okay. Kai was my older sibling, and I felt responsible for them ever since we were little. It seems strange that the younger sibling would take care of the older, but that's just how it was with us. When our mom worked late nights at the laundromat, I was the one who cooked dinner and helped them with their homework. They weren't stupid - not by a long shot - but they were always shy and honestly a little fragile as a child. Not me, though; I grew up fast, thickened my skin to protect Kai from the bullies. I remember one kid gave them hell when they started wearing skirts to school, and they came home in tears more than once because of the teasing. After I followed the little shit home from school one day and broke his nose though, he and his cronies didn't bother Kai any more.

Kai had changed a lot since then, however; they finally grew up when we were about fifteen and thirteen respectively, then a year after that they moved out for good. I didn't know until three years later that they'd signed on for the Galactic Navy, on track for captaining a ship of their very own. Kai and I didn't talk much these days, not since our mom died years ago. No one on board knew we were siblings, which was honestly fine by me. I mean, we have different fathers so we don't exactly look alike, except for our eyes. They're the same color our mom's were, a bright violet that no one ever believed were natural. Mom used to say we had an ancestor who fell in love with a being from Venus, and one night he found a baby on his doorstep with violet eyes...our great-grandmother. Every one of her descendants had these eyes, the Kingsley eyes my mom called them, and my older sibling and me were no exceptions.

Once the lift opened with a chime, I hesitated inside it for a moment. I had taken it to the Security Deck - Level 13 - but the Captain's quarters were on Deck 12. After debating with myself for a moment, I closed the lift doors again and punched the button to go up one more floor. I didn't care if they wanted to talk to me or not: Kai was my sibling, and I had to make sure they were okay. Screw our history and whatever else had happened between us. A part of me still felt responsible for them, and always would. When the doors hissed open again a handful of seconds later I jogged out into the corridor, scanning the name plates of each door on the long, wide hall I passed. Evetually I came to a door with their name over it: Kai Vega, Captain. It always rubbed me the wrong way that they had taken their father's name, abandoning mom's like she never mattered to them at all. True, she wasn't the world's greatest mom, but at least she was a good provider and tried to raise us right when she had the time. Better than the name of the asshole who got her pregnant then skipped town on a drunken binge a week before my sibling was born. My dad wasn't a prince either though, so I suppose I couldn't talk.

I drew a deep breath in and let it out in a rush before pressing the intercom by the door. The buzzer droned loudly on the other side of the heavy metallic doors, then about two minutes later they opened before me in a "whoosh". My sibling's violet eyes widened in surprise when they saw me standing there, then their pale, chiseled features narrowed into a scowl. "What do you want, Ensign? Something better be on fire or exploding, otherwise this intrusion could be grounds for a week in the Brig." I glared at Kai and folded my arms, ignoring all sense of protocol, "Hi there to you, too, Nibs. Why aren't you on the bridge? You're supposed to be on duty right now, right?"

"You know I hate it when you call me that," they growled, then after looking quickly down either end of the corridor pulled the robe they were wearing tighter around their tall, athletic frame. "Does anyone know you're here? You weren't followed, right?" I rolled my eyes exhasperatedly, "No, I wasn't followed. You think I want anyone on board to know I'm the captain's sister? Jeez, Nibs! I was worried, okay?" Kai shushed me hard and glanced over their shoulder, then yanked me into their quarters roughly. Before I can even speak, they shoved me into the bathroom and locked the door. "I'm fine, okay?" They grumbled, clearly uncomfortable by my presence. Honestly, they looked everywhere around the bathroom - which was bigger than my entire cabin - except at my face. "It's... It's good to see you," they murmured. Suddenly as I looked at them, I saw the same shy, awkward person I helped raise. Their hair was much shorter now, hanging just past their chin on one side and buzzed close to their scalp on the other, but they twirled the end of a jet black hank nervously the same way they did when they were younger. They looked as anxious and fragile as they ever had been, and at once it was as if nothing at all had ever changed between us.

"It's not like you to play hooky," I quipped, but my tone was the same soft, caring one I used when we were kids. "You sure you're alright?" They nodded and shifted their weight, a blush rising to their cheeks, "Yes, Mom, I'm aces! I just... had to blow off a little steam, that's all." Before I could ask them to elaborate, I hear a knock on the bathroom door and a voice called through the thin metal plates. "Kai, Dearest, is everything alright? Who was at the door, Precious?" Kai reddened and shoved me into the shower before opening the door a crack, "Uh, y-yes, everything's good, Darling. It was, um...one of the stewards, from the kitchen. I...was thinking about ordering us some food."

The masculine voice hums deeply at the flat-out lie, "Sounds great. I've certainly worked up quite an appetite today." The wet, suctioning noise of a kiss turned my stomach, as I recognized the man's voice almost immediately. "Me too," Kai giggled, then said something else too low for me to make out. After a few minutes of giggling and murmured conversation, the bathroom door closes again and they release me from my glass and steel cylindrical prison. "What the hell is actually wrong with you?!" I hissed, trying to keep my voice a whisper so that I don't yell, "You and Nigel McRory?! Really?!" Kai scowled darkly and yanked me out of the shower by my scruff, "Who I choose to be intimate with is none of your concern! Nigel is different, Maya, I swear!"

"He's a prick, Nibs," I whispered loudly, feeling my blood pressure skyrocket. "There isn't a single officer or ensign on Decks nine through twelve he hasn't shagged! I thought you were better than that." Kai started shaking and their eyes welled with tears as they held up their right hand. A titanium band studded with aquamarine stones sat on their ring finger, glittering proudly like their eyes. "He's not what they say he is," they growled, "He's a good man, Sissy, and he's going to marry me whether you like it or not! Besides, since when have you ever given a damn about my love life?!" I softened my tone as best I could, and placed a hand on their arm, "All Lieutenant McRory cares about is himself, Kai. He's going to hurt you, Nibs... don't let him. Please." Their eyes burned with intensity as they steered me to the door. "Get out," they snarled, "If you ever breathe a word of this to anyone, it'll be three months in the Brig no questions asked. Understand?!"

It was clear that I'd overstayed my welcome, and anything I could say had been rendered totally moot. I nodded with a mumbled, "Yes, Sir," and headed out the door fuming. Kai, impatient as ever, apparently thought I wasn't moving fast enough and pushed me out into the corridor, then closed the doors swiftly behind me. I took a handful of deep, cleansing breaths as I marched in double time back to the lifts, grumbling obscenities to myself under my breath. McRory may be a high-ranking officer and a damn fine communications expert, but everyone at HQ knew he was a big time player and a slime bucket. There were rumors that he'd contracted every venereal disease in the galaxy, but none of them could be substantiated. Most of the other senior officers just looked the other way at his off-duty escapades, because he was too valuable of an asset to throw in the Brig. And now, he had his hooks in my older sibling.

I always knew they were a little too trusting at times when we were younger, but this was just too much for me to handle. I still had another half hour for my break and decided to take out some agression in the Rec Room upstairs. Most of the other crew members there were busy doing Pilates, Yoga or calisthenics, but I always gravitated toward the boxing ring. My dad was a boxer, supposedly one of the best in the world, but I never knew him. I had seen pictures that my mom kept of him, but he got sent upstate on a life sentence before he even knew I was going to be born. I remember looking at one of the pictures and seeing much of myself in his face: the same coarse, wavy hair, full lips, proud forehead...and definitely the same anger flowed through my veins. The only part of me that was my mother's - besides her eyes - was my hair; it was the same coppery red as hers, but I could never get my frizzy, unruly locks to behave like her glossy, sleek tresses.

I sparred in the ring with my holographic opponent so long that I nearly missed the end of my break. I tried to forget about Kai and McRory as I went about my rounds, checking the defense systems to protect the passengers from outside attacks then watching the surveillance monitors to protect them from each other. Honestly it was a boring job ninety percent of the time, but I didn't mind. The monotony kept me focused, and the tedium of routine helped the time pass faster. The bottom line is it was hard work, and I was good at it, which made me a favorite among my superiors. My shift had almost ended and I had all but forgotten about Kai when my communicator suddenly began chirping. "Ensign Kingsley," a thin voice crackled over the speaker, "report to the Captain's Quarters immediately...and come alone." It sounded like the person on the other end was speaking very close to the microphone, and although they spoke with an air of authority the fear was clear in their voice.

"Ensign Kingsley here," I replied clinically into my communicator, "Please repeat, and identify yourself." I heard a muffled swear, which shocked me to my core as the realization hit me like an uppercut: Kai themself was calling me to their quarters, and they sounded terrified. "Report to the Captain's Quarters, Ensign," they barked, "that's an order!" Confused and very alarmed, I armed myself with my blaster and headed out. By how urgent Kai sounded, something was very wrong. I began mentally creating a list of possible emergencies that could have taken place in their quarters, and each possibility made me walk at a faster clip. I thought they were angry at me, so why did they ask for me specifically? It had to be a private matter, something highly sensitive they didn't want anyone else to know about. I thought of that bastard McRory, and felt my adrenaline spike again. If he did anything to them...

I took the Security Lift to get there faster, drawing my weapon instinctively as I approached Kai's quarters. The door opened on its own, so I flattened myself against the wall just in case whomever inside was armed as well and decided to get trigger happy. My breath caught as I heard quiet sobbing inside, and moving as quickly and cautiously as possible I entered the cabin. "Captain Vega," I called, announcing my presence, "Are you alright, Sir?" The cabin was pitch dark, only illuminated from the lights in the corridor, which meant I basically had to feel my way over to the source of the crying in the bedroom. I switched on my shoulder lamp to get better visibility, but I froze at the scene before me. Kai sat huddled in a corner sobbing, their pink robe splattered in dark green stains. On the bed was the mangled corpse of Nigel McRory, his mouth and eyes wide open in a silent scream of agony. His neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, and beneath him the sheets were soaked in the same dark green fluid, which seemed to be oozing from a deep puncture wound under his right arm. His naturally blue skin was ashen and pale, and the gills below his ears still quivered from drawing his last breaths.

I looked over at Kai, speechless, awaiting an explanation, but they just continued sobbing. "I-I didn't do it," they blubbered, "I swear... Maya, please, you have to help me! If the crew finds out, I'll be finished: my career, my reputation, my life... all of it will be destroyed!" They wobbled to their feet then and took a few shaky steps forward, falling into my arms a moment later. I struggled under their weight with a grunt as they were much taller and heavier than me, still too shocked to speak. "Please, Sissy," they whimpered, "I need you. Help me, please!"