"The goal for this facility is to become completely self-sustaining. Food, water, scrubbed oxygen. Ultimately, the point is to build a colony in a hostile environment that could survive and thrive indefinitely."
"What about Ross's contraband?”
"I'm not concerned with Ross's contraband as long as he keeps it to himself and gets his job done. My leadership style is somewhat different from Commander Weyland’s. I'll admit that. I don't care what someone does on their off time as long as they don't pose a safety risk. If Ross wants to get high on his own time, I don't have a problem with that.”
"What about in an emergency situation?”
"Do you honestly think we’re going to colonize another planet and that none of those first colonists are going to indulge in a little relaxation from time to time? People will drink, do drugs, have sex. That's what people do. You can't clamp down too hard, or that will cause conflict within the group. I am no psychologist, that's why Elana is on board. It's her job to counsel and assess the mental health of all of these people. If she comes to me with a concern, I will address it. I didn't anticipate this, and I didn't want it, but it is now my responsibility."
"You can't tell me you didn't want your own command," I said, egging him on.
"Of course, I wanted my own command. Not like this. Notnow. I wanted to earn it. I didn't want it to be gifted to me like this.”
"So you would call this a gift?”
David glared at me. "No, I would not call this a gift. I would call this a tragedy. Now we have to make the best of a bad situation. We must carry forward. It is the motto that we have shared since the beginning, and will be our guiding light in times of trouble."
"Is there anything else I need to know? Anything you're not telling me about the group or the dynamic here aboard the habitat?”
David hesitated for a moment, then said, "I don't tend to get involved in the private lives of crew members, but I think this is relevant and probably a good time to go ahead and say it." He took a deep breath. "I did not see this with my own eyes, but I have heard rumors that Weyland was having an affair with Quinn.”
I lifted a surprised brow. "Is this something that started aboard the habitat, or had it been going on before?”
"Like I said, I can't say with any certainty. But I believe it has been an ongoing situation.”
JD and I shared a look.
"Does Judy know?”
David hesitated again. "I've never talked to her about it. But how could she not know? The gossip was going around the habitat. I assume she was aware.”
"What about Quinn’s husband, Mitch?”
19
"Idon't know," David said. "I haven't discussed the subject with him." He sighed. "I guess that would be a plausible motive for murder. But why do it here? Now? At the start of a 21-day mission? Why not do it on land? Too much chance of getting caught down here. Doesn't make sense to me."
"Most of the time, killings don't make sense,” I said. “People behave irrationally. Crimes of passion. Not crimes of deep thought."
Wong smirked. "True.”
"If you hear anything, I trust you will let me know.”
"My loyalty is to the mission. Having a killer aboard disrupts that mission. Be assured, if I come across any evidence that may be helpful, you’ll be the first to know.”
I thanked him for his cooperation. David left us to get settled in.
Flynn joined us not long after he left. "This is some crazy shit, ain't it?"
"It's certainly unexpected," I said.
"I've only been down here three days, and I'm already going batshit crazy. No alcohol, all the women are married except for Dr. Hartwell, and she has this thing about patients." Flynn frowned. “But I'll tell you, Ross has some killer edibles.”
I just shook my head. Expecting Flynn to go 21 days clean and sober was a little much.
"What can you tell me about Weyland and Quinn?”
"Well, that's the scuttlebutt. But I try to keep my nose out of it.” Flynn made a face of envy. "She is a good-looking woman, I will say that.”
