Justice by S.J. Bryant

drops.
    “ What? That looks like water. I’d hardly call it a mystery
solved,” said Jack.
    “ Where would it have come from?” Nova asked, waving her hand
around the landing bay.
    “ It could have come from anywhere. Looks like water,” said
Jack, kneeling next to Nova with a puzzled expression on his
face.
    “ I think it came from outside,” she said.
    She traced her
finger along the floor towards the exit door. A little further
along was another drop, and after that another. They led from the
exit door towards the centre of the room, getting smaller as they
went until they disappeared altogether.
    “ Outside?” Jack said. “But what would be coming from
outside?”
    His eyes
widened as he turned to her. Nova could understand. The thought of
a sentient plant finding its way into the complex through the
airlock was terrifying. Her own heart pounded faster as she thought
on the possibility. She remembered a story from old-Earth about
plants that invaded and enslaved humanity. On a planet like
Drigoon, that was more than possible.
    “ Look under the suits,” Jack said, pointing his
finger.
    Nova looked
closer and frowned. Beneath one of the suits spread a bigger puddle
of water that reflected the grey metal of the shipping bay.
“Someone went outside. Recently; judging by the dripping
water.”
    “ Why would anyone go out there?”
    “ To hide a body?” Nova said in a low voice.
    Jack’s eyes
went wide. “You don’t think?”
    “ Why else would anyone go out there? The footsteps come from
outside and one of the suits is soaking wet. Someone definitely
went out there.”
    “ Dammit,” Jack said.
    “ You know what this means?”
    “ We have to extend our investigation to outside,” Jack
whispered. She nodded. “But that’s suicide! You know Drigoon is
covered with all kinds of carnivorous and poisonous plants. None of
the animals that were released here during the terraforming
survived, and they could breathe the air! It’s just too deadly out
there.”
    “ What other choice do we have? We’ll do a room search first
but I think we both know that we won’t find anything.”
    “ What about a DNA scan of the suit? If someone wore it, their
DNA will be all over it.”
    Nova tapped
her foot and pursed her lips. “Cal, I need a full DNA sweep on this
suit.”
    Cal hovered
out of Crusader and came to a stop by her side. A small hose
extended out from his panels and disappeared into the white folds
of the suit.
    “ That won’t be possible.”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “ It’s been flushed with bleach or something. There’s no viable
material.”
    “ You’ve got to be kidding.”
    “ Can’t we just write it off? You know, the President is MIA
assumed dead?” Jack said, glancing at the door to the outside and
rubbing his neck.
    “ You can try, but after the scene with the dignitaries they’ll
likely hang us up in front of a black hole. Not to mention there’s
five thousand credits at stake,” Nova said.
    “ Right. You’re right.”
    “ Always am,” replied Nova with a grin. “Now you organise a
room search, I’ll get ready to head out.”
    “ Okay, but don’t think you’re going out there alone. I’ll come
with you.”
    “ If you insist. If you can handle it.”
    She winked at
him and got to her feet. There was a lot to do before heading out
into the untameable wilds of Drigoon.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER
EIGHT
    10 Hours after
Power-Out…
    Cal secured
the final strap holding Nova’s suit together and hovered a few feet
away. His camera eye moved in and out as he studied the outfit. It
was fully sealed and equipped with an air-recycler. The suit was
bright white, a poor colour choice for camouflaging in the deadly
Drigoon wilderness.
    Nova lifted
her hand in front of her face and it felt twice as heavy as usual.
The finger portions of the suit were streamlined so at least she’d
be able to use a gun but the rest of her was covered in a bulky
layer. The rounded