Sergei Lukyanenko - The Genome

“Yes, Holmes must have really scrambled for evidence there,” Alex agreed.

Paul drained his glass. Winced.

“Must not be the best year.”

“Probably not,” Alex acknowledged. “Don’t worry, Paul. Holmes is just provoking you. To watch your reaction to being accused.”

“I thought so. He also said I was too decent a young man. That I had too few reasons and opportunities to kill the Zzygou. And that was the most suspicious thing of all!”

Alex burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry, no court would ever uphold an accusation based on that kind of reasoning. Especially not the Zzygou. They need ironclad proof.”

“So who killed her, Captain?” Paul lowered his voice. “Could it really be… Janet?”

“Well, actually, I already know who the killer is.” Alex took out his cigarettes, lit one up. “Everything is really kind of simple.”

“You already know?” cried the engineer.

“Of course. I’m not sure Holmes knows yet. He’s still just watching us and gathering information. But I… do know.”

“But you’re not a detective!”

“So what?”

The youth looked at Alex with admiration. Then asked:

“So, who is it?”

“I won’t tell just yet. I have no proof, either. But I will have it. The killer did make a blunder, after all. Now I will let him make the next one, and after that, the Zzygou will have their scapegoat. There won’t be a war.”

“So it’s not Kim or Janet?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well… you said ‘he.’”

“I was talking in general. A murderer is a genderless creature.” Alex grinned a crooked grin. “Don’t try to guess.”

“I knew you would protect us, Captain.”

“That’s my job,” said Alex. “All right, Paul. Morrison is on his way. I’ll have to hear him out, too….”

“Then the rest have already visited you?” Paul quickly guessed.

“Exactly. Everyone came running to me and complained about Holmes.”

Alex took Lourier by the shoulders and softly nudged him toward the door.

“Off you go now. You made your complaint, now let your fellow crewmember do the same.”

The door signal beeped again.

Morrison also had to be revived with some cognac. Unlike Janet, the co-pilot was not thrilled with the prospect of war. Unlike Kim, he didn’t believe that Alex was capable of protecting him. Unlike Generalov, he wasn’t converting his fear into anger. And unlike Lourier, he had real reasons to be afraid of being accused. He was pale as a ghost.

“Xang, things will work out,” Alex repeated yet again. “The detective-spesh won’t falsely accuse an innocent person. So, if you didn’t kill the Zzygou…”

“I didn’t! Right after my shift was over, I went to bed. I was exhausted!”

“Then you have no reason to worry.”

“And I did want to drop by to visit Kim…”

“You should have. You’d have an alibi. And so would she.”

“I was at her cabin door, but it didn’t open.”

Alex frowned.

“That’s bad.”

“I asked Kim later, and she just said she had been fast asleep.”

“Nonsense. She’s a fighter-spesh. The signal would wake her.” Alex winced. Stupid girl… Couldn’t think of a better lie…

Xang’s eyes grew wide.

“Kim? Kim did it?!”

Alex just waved this away. “Hold on…”

He turned on the computer screen. Quickly sketched a chart, slightly resembling Holmes’s data grid, except simpler. Six lines—crewmembers and time dots. He murmured:

“That’s why she wasn’t worried… she has the ace of trumps up her sleeve. So… who else has an alibi here?”

“Kim was with someone?” asked Morrison, confused.

“Of course. She was either busy shredding the Zzygou, or having sex with someone.”

“No other alternatives?”

“Nope. The girl’s too much in love with me. She feels it’s her duty to remain faithful, but it’s hard for her to challenge the other component of her personality. She needs a healthy variety of sex.”

“Alex, have you, by any chance, been specialized as a detective?” Morrison couldn’t help asking.

“No, Xang, I haven’t. But circumstances force me to be….” Alex nodded contentedly, deleted the chart from his screen. “How wonderful that Generalov is one hundred percent homosexual!”

“I don’t get it,” the co-pilot admitted.

“Everything is still tangled up,” Alex said. “I have to work with the assumption that there is only one terrorist aboard. And that hasn’t been proved.”

He stretched, throwing a mocking glance at Morrison.

“Unlike you, I have a duty to protect all my crewmembers. Everyone but the murderer… that is, if he is a member of the crew. It’s hard work.”

“Wouldn’t want to be a captain…”

“Oh, come on! It’s interesting. Let’s walk over to the recreation lounge, Xang. I’m sure everyone’s already there.”

“The show goes on…” said Morrison despondently. “You have nerves of steel, Captain. Mine seem to be much weaker.”

“One false move, and the show will end in the destruction of humanity,” said Alex. “Gotta keep my cool despite myself. Let’s go. I want to grab a bite to eat.”

They say all people can be divided into two types: those whose appetite increases when they’re stressed, and those whose appetite disappears entirely.

Among the crew of Mirror , Generalov was the only one in the latter category. He had been picking at a plate of salad in a lackluster way, but as soon as Holmes and Watson appeared, he laid his fork aside altogether.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” The detective was bright and cheerful. “May we join you?”

He seemed to expect a cordial welcome from the same people he had recently accused of murder.

“Of course, Mr. Holmes.” Alex gestured toward the least-occupied sofa. As soon as Holmes and Watson sat down, Generalov demonstratively got up and moved over to Kim and Janet. Janet, who had just made supper and was now setting the table, showed no intention whatsoever of offering any food to Holmes and Watson. A dull silence filled the air.

“Once,” said the detective, completely unabashed, “the esteemed Dr. Watson and I investigated a theft of natural emeralds in the mines of Basko-4. We had to spend three days and three nights among the miners… to eat at their table, to stand shoulder to shoulder with them down in the tunnels, among many other things. If you only knew how many hateful stares drilled into our backs! How many times the timberings would ‘accidentally’ fall or the mining-robots lose their grip—And yet, when I, with the invaluable help of dear Dr. Watson, managed to find out the truth—everything changed. The workers cried, seeing us off from the planetoid.”

“Tears of rapture at seeing you go,” grumbled Generalov.

“I doubt that you want war to break out,” Holmes continued. “I doubt you are harboring the murderer. And I doubt that you hated the poor princess Zey-So. The conclusion is simple—you object to my method of leading the investigation. You have, of course, all shared your impressions with each other and realized that each of you has been falsely accused.”

“‘Falsely’ is the wrong word,” said the navigator hoarsely. “You deliberately insulted me, Mr. Clone!”

“And now you are insulting me,” rejoined the detective calmly. “And before that, you were insulting C-the-Third Shustov. Puck Generalov, I am unmoved by your references to my cloned origin. But it was your intention to insult me, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was!” said Generalov defiantly.

“This kind of behavior would not be characteristic of a murderer,” Holmes observed. “If the murderer were an ordinary xenophobic maniac. But an assassin-spesh can lead a game on five or six different logical levels. Captain, could you please invite the esteemed C-the-Third and the grieving Sey-Zo to join us?”