"Were you scheduled to go on this mission alone?"
"I'm not alone anymore, am I?”
"I guess not.”
"We’re required to do a certain number of solo excursions. But I don't mind the company.”
"All part of your immersion therapy," I said.
"You could say so.”
"This is definitely a tight space.”
"Somehow I find this liberating,” she said. “I feel like I'm in control of my own destiny when I pilot this thing.”
"So it's a control issue?”
She lifted an intrigued eyebrow. "Could be.” She thought for a moment. “Yes, I think a certain degree of control soothes me. It's a lack of control that I find problematic. The helplessness. You’re very perceptive, Deputy.”
“It’s my job.”
“And how is your job going? Are you any closer to the killer?”
“Perhaps,” I said with a grin.
She smirked.
"What if I told you control was an illusion?”
"I’d say something dismissive, then cling to my illusion.”
I chuckled.
"So, what is it I can do for you, Deputy?”
I got right down to business. "Why did you go into the engineering compartment before the incident?”
Elana gave me a curious look. "I went in there as part of a routine inspection. It's protocol to survey vital habitat processes when we come on our shifts. It helps us catch something before it becomes a problem.”
"Apparently, you didn't catch the problem with the breaker.” Then I added, “Or maybe you did?”
Her eyes narrowed at me. "Are you suggesting I sabotaged the breaker in order to kill Commander Weyland?”
"That's what I'm trying to figure out.”
"I went in there and took a quick look around. I didn't notice anything unusual. There were no alarms, no red lights flashing. I ran a diagnostic looking for faults, then returned to my station. That was three hours before the accident.”
“That’s not what Marston says.”
“What does Marston say?”
"Isn't that Quinn's job? Isn't she your technical officer and systems analyst?”
"Like I said, the operational readiness of this facility is everyone's responsibility.”
"Why didn't you mention that during our initial interview?”
"I thought I did. I guess it slipped my mind.”
