"Did you ever see Marston confront Weyland?”
Flynn’s mouth scrunched. “They had words yesterday in front of everybody. I thought they were going to come to blows.”
“So much for everybody getting along,” JD muttered.
“What was their spat about?”
“I don’t know,” Flynn said. “Something about supply issues. There was something Marston dropped the ball on.”
“Maybe the real fight was about something else,” Jack said in a knowing voice.
"Did you see anyone enter the engineering compartment prior to the accident?” I asked.
"No. But it's possible somebody went in there, tampered with the breaker, and bridged it, like you said. Then, when Weyland flipped it back on… bingo. It shorts and arcs, sending him across the room.”
"Where were you when all this happened?”
Flynn squinted at me. "You can't be serious?"
"I have to ask.”
"I was in my bunk." Then he muttered. "To tell you the truth, there's not a hell of a lot for me to do around here. I make personal vlogs and talk to people on the Internet. Go out on missions from time to time. But mostly, I'm here to have a good time and bring attention to this whole thing.”
"What about Ross?"
"What about him?”
"Word is Weyland was going to report him.”
Flynn dismissed the notion with a head shake. "Ross didn't kill Weyland. That guy doesn’t have a violent bone in his body.”
“You sure about that?”
“Talk to him, you’ll see.”
“Sometimes it’s the calm, quiet ones.”
Flynn shrugged. “I guess. But my money’s on Marston or Judy.”
We chatted with Flynn for a bit, then returned to the control room.
Tristan was on the main display, giving a pep talk to the troops. He expressed his condolences and told them not to forget the purpose of the mission and the broader vision. "We should all take an example from Judy in this dark time. Her strength, courage, and perseverance to continue are the stuff of heroes. If we ever hope to colonize other planets, it will take a legion of people with Judy's heart and spirit."
Judy watched in tears, still in a daze.
After the communication ended, we found Quinn and asked her to join us in our compartment. When we were alone, I said, “Thanks for getting comms back online."
"Mission-critical.”
“I’ll get to the point," I said. "It's come to my attention that you and Commander Weyland were close.”
Her eyes narrowed. "Close? I mean, we’re all pretty close down here. No choice really.”
"That's not exactly what I mean."
"Come out and say it. What do you mean?” She knew where this was going.
"Were you having an affair with Commander Weyland?”
