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Maybe Hope Lies in Tomorrow
The humans all knew about the pirating Imposters in the neighbouring star system. How they would disguise themselves as humans, sometimes for years, faking credentials and getting added to the ever-changing and disposable crews of freighters, only so they could eventually get on board spaceships full of valuable experiments, cargo, and fuel. They would pick off the crew one by one in a subtle mutiny, and once they were down to one lone human, they would force that human to perform all the tasks on the ship for them while they piloted it directly to their home world, and then they too would be slaughtered. Everyone knew this. Never mind that no humans who had been left alone with an imposter came back to tell the tale, surely they were killed. The imposters were nothing but thieves, liars, and killers, and everyone knew this.
Precautions had to be put in place. No tasks on the ship could be performed by an Imposter, who lacked true human DNA. No one could know anyone else’s task schedule unless the information was given freely, so as to avoid Imposters lying in wait at someone’s assigned post. An emergency button was made freely accessible, and of course, the Voting System, which put everyone’s fears and paranoia to the test.
In truth, more innocent humans had died from the faulty voting system than from imposters, but the higher ups refused to admit that any of their precautions might be flawed. Besides, any more advanced precautions would cost too much money, and as long as the cargo made it to its destination it didn’t matter how few crewmembers made it alongside. So the voting stayed, the void of space was littered with corpses. But that’s capitalism for you. Do your job, get your paycheck, and hope you don’t die.
The Skeld was a standard fleet ship. Its mission was simple, to deliver a cargo of various ores from a distant asteroid to earth, do a couple small experiments while on board to get their company a tax write-off, and to avoid getting pirated on route. The crew could expect half the trip to be peaceful, at least. Any mission for pick up could be certain that no imposters would bother striking until the cargo was securely on board. Although suspicions would never entirely leave, many took the trip there as an opportunity to try and do some amateur sleuthing to see if they could tell who might be a murderous alien before it became dangerous.
Captain Black had piloted the Skeld through twelve previous missions. Half of those, no imposter had appeared, although over a dozen innocent humans had been lost to the voting system between them. Black would shudder to think how close he had come to the vacuum of space on those missions, and for nothing. For five of the missions, when there had been an Imposter among them, Black had been lucky. The imposter had been stupid, those times. Collapsing into goo to use vents in front of more trustworthy crew, or even killing out in front of the cameras. They had been caught early, and the bloodshed was minimal. Everyone always calmed down after finding an Imposter.
There had been one mission, though, where Black had barely managed to escape. A mission where there had been not one, but two imposters, and very good ones at that. They had already murdered half the crew by the time the first body was found, and if he hadn’t seen Cyan doing garbage, and if Cyan hadn’t called out one of the Imposters as suspicious, that could have been the end of their mission.
But they had found the imposters. They had won, barely making it back to earth with a crew of himself and Cyan. From what Black had heard, that had been Cyan’s last mission. He’d gone to work sorting through one of Earth’s massive ancient garbage dumps for recyclable metals. Not a glamorous job, and not really safer, but less likely to cause the same amount of psychological turmoil.
Some might ask Black why he kept doing missions, after all the carnage he had seen. The truth was that aside from the excellent pay and benefits package (if you remained alive and in service long enough to collect them), Black was very good at his job, and enjoyed being good at his job. He cared about his crew, and apparently it showed. Except on those few especially dark missions where there was no imposter to accept the blame and put everyone at ease, he was rarely suspected of being compromised. His track record was too good, his smiles too genuine, his praise too warm. He knew what he was doing. His crewmates trusted him that the mission would be completed under his guidance. He was proud of that, and so, he continued his missions in spite of the grim consequences.
They did weigh on him, however. Death weighed on the human mind like nothing else, especially with the darkness of space lurking beyond every port-hole. As this was Black’s thirteenth mission, he thought his luck might need a helping hand this time. He wanted to try something different, for once, to try and alleviate the worst result. The cargo wouldn’t be too valuable this time, a stash of nickel and copper. It was perfectly reasonable to assume that even if there were imposters on his ship again, they wouldn’t bother revealing themselves for such a subpar haul. And anyway, most of the crew was first-timers. If he ever wanted to try something new, this was his opportunity.
On their first day outside the Earth’s atmosphere, when everyone was gathered in the cafeteria, chatting excitedly and eager for the next month of relative safety (and each secretly hoping to be the hero who identified the imposter on the way home), Black stood before his new crewmates solemnly until they each fell silent and paid him attention. Pink, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Brown, Purple, and White each stared at him with round eyes just visible beyond the windows of their helmets.
“Crew,” Black addressed, “Most of you are new to space travel of this length. Fresh from the academy, I know you have likely heard many tales of betrayal and murder amongst the stars. The couple of you who have been on a longer journey, I have been told, were not carrying cargo at the time. I am here to tell you now that these tales of pirating imposters are…” Here is where he normally said they were true. Here is where he normally told them all to be on alert, to travel in groups, to think carefully about who you do your tasks in front of. To not call a meeting out of petty jealousy or envy. That this was not a game. That this was serious and horrifying. He would share some dark tales of his past missions and then send them off to do their tasks. He would say everything he had been instructed to say by his superiors without question or alteration. He would say these things, and bloodshed would follow. Not this time.
“These tales are simply not accurate,” Black said instead. Immediately hushed whispers began circulating. He could see Purple and Orange sharing a confused look. It was to be expected. “I know, I know, ‘that’s sus’ you’re already thinking.” Black shook his head. “But I’m quite serious. Academy rumours and exaggerated tales from crewmates who want to sound as if they starred in some kind of sci-fi film. The truth of space travel is that it is, in fact, very boring business.”
A hand flew into the air, and Pink was speaking before Black could even call on him. “But sir! In the mission-prep academy, we had an entire class on Imposters and how to detect one! We-“
Black held up a hand to stop him. “I know. I have taken that class before. The advice is always the same. Watch out for those not completing tasks, watch the vents, watch out for someone following you. I may remind you also that the class tells you to travel in groups, and how does one travel in a group without someone following the other?” That was enough to make Pink fall silent, attention back on Black. “Exactly. The Academy is all about theory, and theories are by nature conflicting and don’t always make practical sense. The truth is, although Imposters exist in the universe, they are rare.” He stressed this forcefully, looking from face to innocent face. “I have captained this ship on twelve missions, and I have seen an imposter that vented immediately, and one that killed someone in the cafeteria in front of everyone within seconds of starting our return mission, and was subsequently ejected into space without issue. Imposters are not as common as the academy makes you believe, and are often easily caught. There is no need to get ten levels deep in paranoia. What I’ve seen far more often is crewmates sending each other flying into space with no evidence, because they could only manage to see each other as possible foes rather than possible friends.”
The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife, but Black broke it again, easily. “When an imposter does appear, it is never on an empty ship. It would be pointless, they would have no cargo to steal. You all have a month of peace together. Please, I implore you all to talk to each other. Spend time together. Here, all of your tasks for today? They can wait. Really, they can. Most of them are small- well actually, the bits about clearing the O2 and fixing navigation need to be done, so whoever has those tasks on their schedule should quickly take care of that. But the rest can wait a day. That’s another thing the academy doesn’t teach you. They believe if anyone is idle too long it looks suspicious, so they insist everyone complete menial tasks at every spare moment. Ridiculous. So once those couple of tasks are done, I’m clearing the schedule and we’re doing ice breaker activities today.”
There was silence for moment longer, then broken by a couple loud groans and some cheers of excitement from Red and Green. Well, ice breakers did feel like more of an academy thing after all, but they did help people get to know each other. And Black really, really hoped that if they got to know each other, they might be less eager to boot each other out into space.
“And one more thing before we start,” Black stressed, again looking from face to face with care and consideration, “If any of you do happen to be an imposter, I myself see no reason to hunt for you if you do no harm. Until I see a body, I will do whatever is possible to defend you from the bowels of space. But seeing as you will be unable to complete any tasks, I would appreciate it if you at least attempted to socialize with the crew. Space is dark. Being a comforting presence is at least as helpful as emptying the garbage chute six times a day.”
*
Pink had been the first to cry about homesickness. It wasn’t uncommon on a first mission, being away from earth and the light of the sun for over a week can harm a human’s emotions on a deep and cutting level. As captain, Black was often the one to sit with a new crewmember through their tears, handing them tissues and rubbing their back. It wasn’t part of his required duties, but Black had been in their shoes, once. He had skipped on the usual crew positions due to familial connections and prior military service, but on his first few off-planet missions with his units, he had secluded himself for a break down once or twice. He would tell the sobbing crewmate that it was alright to cry, that it was alright to fear for their future, that they would face that future as a team.
More than once, that crewmate Black comforted had been one of the first voted off, called ‘sus’ for being ‘overly-emotional’, no matter how hard Black tried to defend them. It never got easier, watching the betrayal and fear in their eyes as they were forced out into the airlock.
Black had heard the sniffling in the back of Electrical, and had to deepen his breaths to prepare himself for yet another moment of kindness that fate may well throw back in his face. When he rounded the board that controlled the ship’s lighting system, however, he was surprised to see Pink stretched out on the floor, helmet lying to one side and face still wet with tears, his head on Purple’s lap. Purple’s own helmet still masked his features, but the gloved hand running smoothly through Pink’s short hair was gentle.
“Is everything alright back here?” Black asked in a low voice.
Pink jolted in Purple’s lap and grabbed his crewmate’s shoulder to sit upright, wiping his eyes quickly. “Y-yes captain, sorry captain, I was j-just, um, I didn’t think anyone would be back here, but Purple was, and I just… I’m sorry, I-I really miss my mom and…” his voice choked in his throat, and Purple’s hand reached out again to rub small circles on Pink’s back.
“I have this handled, captain,” Purple spoke in his usual, deep voice. Black nodded respectfully.
“I can see that. Carry on. Though for the record, you do not need to feel shame for missing Earth and your family. It’s natural to miss the things you care about. Do not be afraid to lean on your crewmates for help, I’m sure if you spoke to them about your feelings more would share them than you would expect.”
With that said, Black left. At dinner, he was surprised to see Pink leading a small conversation about what everyone missed most about Earth after a week in space. Everyone said something different, and yet similar in their way. They smiled as they reminisced. They murmured agreement when Red missed her dog. They laughed when White missed ‘real food’. They rolled their eyes when Brown missed ‘that hot chick that lived down the hall from him’. But they were talking, and no one gave anyone a side-eye about their answers. No one looked ready to claw out someone else’s throat.
Black honestly didn’t think his speech would work so well. Maybe it only had because so many of his crew were fresh faces. But he wondered how long it would be before Yellow called him on his lie that no one there had been on a cargo mission before.
*
He didn’t have to wait much longer for Yellow. As it turned out, she had only been waiting for a good time to get him alone, which was the one day she had finished her tasks early and noticed Black standing by the security cameras early as well. A bead of sweat formed on the Captain’s neck as he waited for the inevitable.
“Captain,” she spoke carefully, measured in a way it hadn’t been on her first mission with Black. One of those where no imposter had shown themselves, where humans had shown the ugly side of their nature. “I wanted to thank you. I haven’t had a good time to do so until now.”
“Thank me?” The Captain turned to face her, baffled. “I assumed you were going to accuse me, after insinuating that you were as inexperienced as the rest.”
Yellow shook her head, slowly. “No, I, hm, appreciate what you said. I’ve been on at least five missions now, most ending bloody. At this point, I’m just trying to send home as much resources to my family back home as I can before I get killed. But-” she held up a hand to stop Black from interjecting, “Because of your speech, I think this has been the most relaxed mission I’ve been on. Everyone seems happy, and I think it’s because of how you broke regulations. I know it might sound bleak to say it, but if you made the wrong choice and someone kills me? Or hell, if you are an imposter and this was your plan to make everyone feel safe until you slaughter them yourself?” Yellow laughed, a hollow sound. “I think I’d still thank you for it. If this turned out to be my last mission, at least it will end on a high note. Also, uh, I’ve kind of circulated the idea that we should all play a few rounds of cards tonight, and Purple offered to do it in his room, if you wanted to join us?”
“What game are you playing?” Black was surprised, most crewmates would be severely reluctant to let anyone into their private room for safety concerns.
“Uno.”
Black couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. He certainly had never laughed so much on a mission before. “I thought you wanted to keep everyone happy? If anything’s going to get someone thrown out an airlock it’s Uno.”
Yellow snorted, bending over with her hands on her knees as she tried to get a handle on her mirth. “I know! On my last mission, a few of us would play it after hours and... ah, I guess that might seem morbid. But I have a feeling it might be more enjoyable this time. Besides, even if there is an imposter, everyone knows they won’t strike on an empty ship. No need for a vote right now, even if someone does hit you with a triple stacked plus four.”
“Yes, no need for a vote now,” Black agreed, wishing there was a way to tell Yellow how sorry he was that he hadn’t tried this sooner. How sorry he was that Yellow had seen so many young crewmates expelled into space, to their doom, when they should have been huddled up after hours playing silly children’s card games with a room full of smiling faces instead of sallow, suspicious eyes, waiting for something to slip.
But the past couldn’t be changed. Only the now. And now, as Black turned back to the cameras and Yellow headed off to meet Purple to start the game early, Black would do his best to make the now a little brighter.
*
The first reactor meltdown happened four days before they reached the asteroid outpost. Due to the quiet thus far and the fact they still hadn’t loaded their cargo, Black assumed this was a legitimate break down and not sabotage. Either way, the entire crew had run together to stop it, and working together the issue was solved in record time. Black saw Red and Green eagerly running to hug each other after having their hands on the opposite scanners. They jumped up and down, excited to have solved their first major problem together. Brown had started yelling for them to make out, and Blue had knocked him over the head. No one made mention of Orange having lagged behind, or the fact that White was hanging on the edge of the group as though unsure how to join in. White always seemed more socially awkward than the rest of them.
In contrast, Purple was rapidly becoming central to the group. As soon as Brown was chastised, Purple patted him on the back and told him he would make out with him if he was feeling left out. That had been met with peals of laughter and Brown even joined in, playfully slinging an army around Purple’s neck and mashing their masks together while Red and Green cheered and catcalled, balance restored.
It was good. It was better than good, in fact. Black knew he had never had a mission go so well before. Though the real test would come on the way home. He knew his superiors would be suspicious if he came home with a full team, but damn it, if he could just get this one team home without losing a single crewmate it would be worth any repercussions the higher ups might throw at him for breaking their precious, fear-mongering regulations.
*
After the cargo was loaded, after they had been on the journey home for nearly a week, Black finally began to truly relax. He had been afraid, at first, that the positive atmosphere of the ship would be sullied when his crewmates realized that the journey home would be by nature far more difficult than the journey there. But no, the week had been quiet, and his crewmates still visited each other in the dorms and played games in the cafeteria after their tasks were done, not a trace of fear in any. Even Yellow seemed at peace, drifting through the halls with her task screen in a blissful haze.
Black suspected she might be on some sort of illegal drug, but so far he hadn’t been alerted on any incomplete tasks, so he wasn’t going to call her on it. After her short, bleak speech to him in security, he would let her deal with her memories however she had to.
On the seventh night, however, Black’s worst fears were realised. Orange came to him while he was in Navigation, his hands trembling.
“C-Captain,” Orange’s voice was nearly a whisper. “Captain, I-I think… I think one of the crewmates is an imposter. A-actually, I’m sure they are? I-”
Black held up a hand for Orange to stop, his own eyes wide as he tried to come to grips with the thought of a threat after such a long run of peace. “Slow down. Why do you think someone here is an imposter? Tell me your reasoning.” Hopefully it was only paranoia that Black could pick apart before Orange worried himself into calling an emergency meeting. One paranoid crew member could easily lead to more, he had to curb this before it spread.
“I-I saw, uh, I saw someone vent. I mean, uh, I saw someone d-dissolve into a vent? I only saw a glimpse as they went in, b-but um…”
Black felt a chill race down his spine. An Imposter. Shit. Orange had no reason to lie. “Perhaps you were mistaken?”
“No mistake, sir! I-I’m sure of it! I know you said they were rare, and not very smart, but what if this one is? What if there’s an imposter on board that’s just been smart enough to avoid detection?”
Black was quiet for a while, thinking hard. He took a measured breath and spoke as calmly as possible. “Has anyone reported a body?”
“No, sir?”
“Then I ask you to think about this. I will not tell you that you can’t report what you saw to anyone else. It is your right as a crewmate to report any suspicious activity to the crew if you believe it is necessary. But you have travelled with these crewmates for over a month. You have eaten with them, played with them, spoken with them. Befriended them. Did you recognise the colour of the suit that went into the vent?”
“M-maybe?” Orange didn’t sound sure.
“Orange, I have seen this happen before. I will tell you what will happen if you call a meeting right now and report what you saw. People will become afraid. They will begin accusing each other of suspicious behavior. They will demand you tell them what colour you think you saw in the vent, throwing suggestions at you until you think one seems right and accusing you of being suspicious until you blurt it out. Someone will be sent into space, maybe your closest friend, and odds are high that this will not be the imposter you seek.” Black sighed and rested a hand on Orange’s quivering shoulder. “The colour you saw, the person you thought it was. Do you trust them?”
Orange’s eyes widened, Black was close enough to see them. “H-how can I now, when they might be the imposter?”
“Even if they are the imposter, they haven’t done anything yet. They have committed no crime, even if they aren’t human. There are no laws preventing someone from going into a vent. While it is considered permissible by law to send someone out of an airlock for doing what you described, there is nothing in the law requiring it, either.”
Then, Black said the one thing he knew he would be stripped of his rank for, if it was ever found out he suggested it. “If the imposter has committed no crimes, I do not believe they should be punished simply for not being human. If they are on this ship, they are crewmate. I would have hoped that after all you have been through together, you would not let prejudice control your judgement.”
Orange had stopped shaking, and was watching Black with open curiosity. Eventually, he gave a slow, deliberate nod.
“I guess I never thought about it that way.” He paused. “I don’t think I’m going to report.”
Black nodded, relieved. Although as Orange turned to go, a spark of nerves arose in his chest. Before he could think better of it, he asked, “Though, for my own peace of mind, what colour do you think you saw?”
Orange paused at the door, and looked over his shoulder at his captain with a square set to his shoulders. “With all due respect, captain, I believe it would be irresponsible for me to answer that, based on your own statement.”
“Er, yes, of course. Carry on, then,” Black said gruffly as he returned to the flight path, mentally chastising himself for his moment of weakness. He wouldn’t let fear overtake him. Not this time.
It had, before. He hated to remember it, but he hadn’t been wholly innocent, those missions where half the crew was left to die in the void behind them. He had fallen prey to rumours and whispers. There was already too much blood on his hands. There would be no more. For god’s sake, at least not this time. Whatever the cost may be, he wouldn’t shed needless blood again if he could help it.
Black left navigation and headed for electrical, trying to maintain his composure as he went. He couldn’t let his crewmates learn of his own unease, they needed him to stay strong and in control. Orange will be quiet. Hopefully, the imposter would too, and they could end this mission as peacefully as they began. It was only a few more weeks.
As Black made it to electrical, rounding the corner and finding it empty, he froze in his tracks. Out of the vent, several long, skinny tendrils appeared, snaking out onto the floor and forming into the towering figure of a crewmember. The crewmate, no, the Imposter turned around and spotted Black immediately, a look of horror visible just behind his mask.
“Fuck!” The Imposter swore, racing toward Black as though by instinct, reaching him before he could take the breath to speak. “I’m sorry!” He gasped, grabbing Black’s helmet hard between his hands, hard enough to crush it into his skull, and then twisted sharply.
Black’s neck snapped like a twig and he fell to the floor, dead without a sound.
*
The crew sat solemnly around the emergency meeting table for the first time since their first day on the ship. Many had eyes rimmed red from tears, Pink was still openly weeping. Orange was twitching, holding onto himself and blinking blearily into the distance, and had said nothing. Shell-shocked.
Yellow, who had found and reported the body, had already told everyone at the start of the meeting that she didn’t care if they thought she was suspicious, and didn’t care if they had to throw her into space to be sure. That had been shot down immediately, Red, Brown and Green all loudly proclaiming that there was no way the lady who had downed twelve shots of vodka in five minutes and then did a handstand would kill the Captain, and besides, she made a killer bootleg Bellini. Yellow had been rather speechless after that, and had put her head down on the table to hide her face.
She wasn’t alone in this. White also had his head on the table, arms firmly wrapped around it. One might have thought they were asleep, save for the way their shoulders would sometimes shake. Purple sat beside White, unnaturally quiet, staring down at his friend and twisting his fingers together nervously.
“So, you found him in electrical,” Blue said finally, deciding to take this hitherto mostly quiet meeting into his own hands. “And no one was around?”
“No one,” Yellow said, finally peeking from the circle of her arms. “I saw him go in, I followed him, and when I got there he was just… dead.” She said the word as though to rid her mouth of it as fast as possible. “There was no one else there.”
“I…” Orange finally broke his silence, and everyone’s eyes turned to him, save for White who still wouldn’t look up, and Purple who kept looking at White. “I think that maybe it used the vents, then. There’s a vent in electric that goes to, um, it goes to Security, and Med Bay.”
“Okay,” Blue nodded. “That’s helpful. Who was in Security or Med Bay?”
“I was in Med Bay,” Green volunteered. “With Red. We were doing scans. White was there when we walked in, they saw us too, right?”
White didn’t speak, but did seem to nod into the table. Purple hesitantly put a hand on White’s shoulder and rubbed slow circles into it as he answered. “I was in Security watching cams.”
“Was anyone with you?” Blue asked.
“No.”
“Suspicious,” Yellow hissed between her teeth as though against her will. She clapped a hand over her mask as soon as she said it, as if she could muffle herself. Then the murmurs started.
“I kind of remember seeing Purple watching Black really hard last night,” Red whispered to Green.
“Yeah, and Purple’s been getting quieter since he picked up the cargo.”
“He’s not really saying much, either,” Brown mumbled, “Kinda sus.”
“Kinda, yeah.”
“White’s not saying anything either, though!” Pink said quickly. “It can’t be Purple, Purple’s always been nice to everyone from the first day! Yellow, you remember when Purple practically carried you to your tasks after that night with the vodka shots. And Orange, Purple always came by with snacks when we were working in electrical together! And White, you told me Purple is always helping you with your tasks, he’s even there rubbing your back, now! Why would an imposter do that?!”
“So… when was Purple doing his own tasks, then?” Blue asked, and suddenly all eyes flew first to him, and then to Purple, who had completely frozen in place.
“Sus,” Green hissed, a few others nodding even as Pink slowly shook his head.
“I didn’t kill Black,” Purple said, dully, softly, as though not expecting anyone to believe him.
“I think I saw Purple vent,” Orange spoke in a flat monotone. Yellow and Purple both shot Orange wide eyed looks. Yellow’s hands even clenched the edge of the table. “I wasn’t going to say anything about it, cause Black didn’t want me to cause a panic. But he also said that as long as he didn’t see a body, he didn’t care if there was an imposter or not. Now he’s dead so I don’t know. I’m not completely sure it was Purple but… you guys should know. I don’t… I don’t want to see any of my fellow crewmates die.”
White’s shoulders tensed as Purple spoke louder this time, a quiver in his voice as he continued to stare at Orange. His words did not sound convincing. “I d-didn’t kill Black. There’s n-no evidence.”
“And what, we should just wait until there’s another body?” Brown choked on a semi-hysterical giggle. “I don’t want to die.”
“No one wants to die, Brown,” Blue said sharply. He turned to Purple. “I don’t want to send you out if you’re innocent, but we have to vote. Everyone is going to make their own decision, so if anyone has anything else to say for or against you, they should now. As it stands, I believe Purple is the only one here under suspicion, aside from possibly Yellow who discovered the body. So no one should be voting for anyone else other than them, other than to skip the vote if you do not believe there is enough evidence to convict.”
“I’m voting Purple,” Brown muttered, logging in his vote as soon as Blue finished speaking. Purple bristled, but said nothing.
“Purple,” Red agreed, punching in her own vote. Green voted too, though she didn’t announce it.
“Stop.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to White, who had spoken for the first time since the meeting started. He rose from the table in a jerking motion, staring at each crew member in turn before speaking again. “It was me. I killed Black. I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Pink gasped, even as the ringing of three more button presses were registered at the table.
“White… what are you saying?” Blue asked, eyes wide as his own hand hovered over his tablet.
“No. No it wasn’t him! White, you don’t have to-” Purple began, but White cut him off.
“No. I’m the Imposter.” White said this with conviction. It was impossible not to believe him.
“What?” Brown looked horrifically betrayed. “But… bro. You… you made out with me in Med Bay! You said-“
“I know what I said. I meant it.” White looked at Brown steadily until he cowed, instead turning to look in horror at his vote he had already logged into the system. “I am the Imposter, and I killed Black. I’m sorry.”
“If you’re sorry, why would you kill him?” Pink demanded.
“I acted out of instinct, and panic.” White grimaced. “I was only using the vent because… I heard someone coming into Med Bay, and I was afraid they would notice I wasn’t doing a scan. I came out in electric, Black saw me and I… I thought… I thought he would rat me out. So I killed him, and went back to Med Bay just before Red and Green walked in.” He hung his head. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to die.”
Everyone was quiet, then. From the first vote, the timer had been slowly ticking down. Seconds remained.
“I’m skipping,” Purple said, simply, pressing his vote button.
“Me too,” Pink said, after a somewhat longer pause. Blue logged in his vote as well, saying nothing.
White looked at the others and then down at his own tablet. “Should I… should I just vote for myself?”
“You should vote however you want to vote, man,” Brown muttered, tossing his tablet on the table like a used tissue. He shut his eyes as White finally logged in his vote. There was utter silence as the votes were tallied.
Three votes for Purple, from Red, Brown and Green. Two votes for White, from Yellow and Blue. Four skips, from White, Purple, Pink, and Orange.
“You skipped?” Brown asked Orange incredulously. “Why?”
Orange sighed, sounding infinitely tired. “You know… I honestly don’t think Black would want us to vote him off just cause White killed him. We can call another meeting in thirty seconds and vote him out anyway, but… I don’t want to. I’ll wait for another body. It might be mine, but I’ll risk it. I believe White won’t kill anybody else. I trust White.”
White stared at Orange, and stammered. “A-are you sure? I’m an Imposter. I’ve killed… I’m an Imposter.”
“You’re a part of this crew.” Orange said this so resolutely, a few other crewmembers found themselves nodding along automatically.
“I trust White. He won’t do it again.” Pink nodded, pulling his hands off the table and away from the emergency button. Orange copied him.
“I trust White, too.” Purple agreed, putting his hands in the air. He and White exchanged a look, and White huffed out a laugh.
“Me too.”
“And me.”
There were more murmurs and gestures of surrender. Yellow’s came with a snort attached, and Brown’s with some indiscernible muttering.
“I don’t know if I trust him, he did murder the Captain,” Blue said with a frown. “But, since I’d be easily outvoted anyway, I guess I have to trust him. But if we see another body, he’s gone. And when we get to port, he’d better make himself scarce fast, because I’m calling the authorities. They might give you a trial, they might not. You got that?” He turned a glare on White, who nodded without hesitation.
“Absolutely.”
There was some more silence.
“So, what now?” Green asked.
“Well, there’s still plenty of tasks to do,” Yellow said, climbing out of her seat and stretching. “Got to get a move on. Except you, I guess, Imposter-boy. Since you haven’t been pulling your weight, how about you make yourself useful and get everyone a coffee?”
“I… guess I could do that?” White cocked his head to one side, owlishly.
“Extra cream in mine!”
“Two sugars, two creamers.”
“Triple triple for me!”
*
White had absolutely no idea how the hell he wasn’t dead. He should be a corpse floating in space right now, but instead he was trying to remember nine different coffee orders at once. It seemed once the crew decided the ship wasn’t keeping him busy enough, they would run him off his feet themselves.
Well, it was better than dying, even if he did have to go into hiding after this mess. Maybe he should’ve stayed silent, but the very thought of seeing Purple flying out into space, that smiling face twisted in fear and agony… he couldn’t. That would’ve been worse. He didn’t regret anything. Besides, if he had to go into hiding, his boyfriend might have some good pointers for him. It might even be fun.
With his back to the kitchen door, White didn’t notice he had company until a long, thick tentacle wrapped carefully around his bicep. He sighed and relaxed into the hold as more tentacles slowly surrounded him, pulled him up against Purple’s warm torso behind him.
“You saved me,” Purple whispered, his words reverent. “You knew what I was, this whole time. You saw me using the vents, I promised not to kill, and I broke that promise. I betrayed your trust. Yet you still saved me. You’re still saving me now. Why? I could kill again.”
“I hope you won’t.” White took a deep breath. “Will you come with me? I’m going to have to go into hiding after this. We could both run, together. Fuck freighting cargo. Fuck piracy. Let’s just… go find some shack in the mountains and forget about space. We could raise goats. I don’t know.”
“What are goats?” Purple asked, and White snorted as an idle tentacle brushed over his stomach.
“Oh man, you’ll love goats. I’ll show you videos.”
“I would never have fit in so well without your videos,” Purple said softly as White pulled up his well-used tablet and Youtube.
*
Orange sat alone in his room, staring out his tiny port-hole window at the ever-black void. He looked down at his blank tablet, and wondered if White would be willing to go with him around the ship so that he could do his tasks and pretend Orange was the one doing them, if he would be willing to cover for him, too.
His fingers twisted beside him anxiously into progressively more unnatural shapes, and he took a few deep breaths to quell his nerves. He had almost let his own fear get the better of him, nearly betrayed his own kind out of fear he had changed his mind and murdered the one human they had agreed they would leave alive even if this went sour. He hadn’t thought Purple might’ve been afraid, too. Orange was so tired of being afraid.
Maybe on the next mission, he would kill again. Maybe on the next one, he would be the enemy, and he would sow discord, and carry loot back to home world and be a hero. Maybe next time he would be the imposter and be afraid again.
But not this mission. This mission, somehow, he was part of the crew. He liked that. If every mission was like this, he might never play the imposter again.
*
Yellow sat staring at the cams, though not really watching them, disappointed with herself as she was. This was her fault, after all. She had been the one with the high mission success record. Five cargos successfully delivered, only to be broken with that mess on The Skeld, under Captain Black. She had demanded extra help on this mission, intending to get her record back and not taking any chances with what she saw as a capable adversary. There were hardly ever three imposters sent on one mission, and yet she had claimed loftily that it was worth it to get rid of Captain Black, if only to protect her own image.
And then she had met him again, and he was different. Softer. At first, she thought it was the perfect weakness to exploit. Black’s desire to make his crewmembers forgo their natural human suspicions would only make them all easy pickings. But then Purple had started getting distracted by White, had even been found out, though he swore White would keep his secret. Orange had started becoming complacent, though a little jumpy. Yellow had been sure he would become a liability, and then…
And then she had been compromised. It was ridiculous, but these young humans had been so happy, and lifelike, and welcoming… she’d never experienced that on her other missions. It made her want to show off for them, show them what an Imposter could really do, and they’d praised her for it! It was nice to feel praise again after her abysmal failure. And Black… he had been… good. Better than Yellow could have expected. Maybe, if they’d had more time, she would have spoken to him more. Gotten closer. Maybe.
She had been sure Orange would be the one to snap and act out. But he hadn’t. Purple was the one to panic, to kill… of all of them, why did it have to be Black? She had told Orange and Purple to leave him to her, then to leave him alive to bring back to home world as prisoner, and then just to… leave him alive. And one moment of panic, of fear, and it was over.
But it was done, now. It was done, and Black was gone, and her mission was a failure anyway. Purple was going to go AWOL she already knew, Orange had gone native, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to be able to kill any of these stupid silly human children. Could she even show her face on home world after this? She could always jump to another ship, decimate a different crew. One that was colder, meaner, more fearful than kind. And would probably have some more worthwhile cargo, to boot.
It would be a shame to leave. She liked this crew. Too much so. She knew once they reached earth, they would be assigned others. There was no telling what they would be like. If they would be the same. Without Black to lead them, probably not.
Maybe Yellow could lead them? She mulled on the thought. Imposters had taken on Captain roles before, but rarely, only for especially rare cargos. It took often years to gain enough trust to take on that kind of role. But she was already taking on most of Black’s duties in his absence, having the most ship experience after him. She might get an early promotion…
Yellow watched Brown checking his teeth in the reflection of the security camera and snorted. It was something to think about, but it could wait. Purple had requested they play more Uno tonight, Yellow couldn’t resist a game of Uno.
In front of her stretched possibilities, she hoped tomorrow they would be clearer.