Sorry this one's a day late, I've been working on Snoggletog 2017. Things progressing on this story too, so should keep close to schedule. Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy this next bit :)

Chapter 74

Private Investigations

Luis Dias glanced out of the cupola window as the Space Exploration Vehicle slowly approached the side of the MTV. During the last thirty six hours Abigail and Calla had not only been working on some of the asteroid processors, but had also fitted out two of the empty bus sized transport canisters that once contained the various machines. Thanks to their efforts, 16 Psyche now had two living quarters attached to its growing network of tunnels and tubes.

It had taken Calla a while to get used to the greatly reduced gravity on the asteroid but in the end she found it quite liberating. On the MTV she only had full gravity in the rotating ring section of micro gravity in the ships main body but on 16 Psyche, she could carefully walk inside the pressurised sections and still lift massive machines as if they were made of Styrofoam.

"Drifter to Star Cruiser; Auto Dock Computer engaged" Abigail voice noted.

The screen in front of him confirmed his daughters report, but some of the other things she said had him wondering. Fortunately for Luis, Blue was not far away for him to ask.

"Blue, what is this Star Cruiser your sister is talking about?" he asked as the Rockhopper Penguin of Confusion did a number on his peace of mind.

"I thought that might surprise you Dad" Blue grinned "Calla thought the name Mars Transfer Vehicle was too boring so she renamed it the Star Cruiser.

"And the SEV is now the Drifter?" Luis asked.

"Calla called it the Star Drifter but Abby thought that sounded silly; I think they're still in disagreement about it."

"And by disagreement you mean..." Luis checked

"Fighting, yes" Blue nodded.

The reality of the argument became obvious a few minutes later when the small ship finally docked to the former MTV.

"I still don't know why you can't accept the fact that it's called the SEV" Abigail could be heard to say as the airlock door opened.

"And what does that mean again?" Calla asked.

"Space Exploration Vehicle; why can't you remember it?"

"I can't remember it because it's so dull, I almost fall into a coma every time I hear it" Calla said under the influence of the Toucan of Defiance.

"I'm willing to go with Drifter, so why can't you be satisfied?" Abigail sniffed.

"Because Star Drifter is cool but Drifter alone makes it sound like my lazy brother."

Abigail perked up when she heard this latest piece of news.

"You have a brother? How old is he? Is he cute?"

"Yes, eighteen and no I don't think so" Calla replied "You're too late anyway because he's already seeing someone; a friend of mine named Doom."

"Doom?" Abigail's eyes widened "Can't you Earth people give anything or anyone a proper name?"

Just when it seemed things could not get any worse on Mars, the general moral had plummeted to an all time new low, which was about fifteen points below the previous all time low. Rumours about the Deep Council allegedly trying to poison the crew of the MTV were moving around the base faster than anyone could have imagined. Surprisingly though, of all the people affected by the latest developments, the one most frightened about his immediate future was Talon Descott. Late the next evening, he found himself hurriedly sneaking through the corridors of the northern residential section hoping desperately that him mother would not call the Security Office to find out why her son had not returned home after his shift. With much relief, he finally reached his destination unchallenged and pressed the door chime.

"What are you doing here?" April asked "I thought your mother didn't want you to be my bodyguard anymore."

"Here; take this" Talon pushed his communicator into April's hands.

"Why would I want..?"

"Download the recording of Professor Topolski's home; and hurry" he insisted before disappearing back down the corridor.

"What was that all about?" Ruth asked as she sipped her drink.

"I don't know" April said truthfully "Do you know how to download a file from one of these things?"

"I reckon I could have a go" Ruth smiled as she arose.

"Oh for heaven's sake mother' give it to me" Saffron insisted as she strode into the room.

"What are you doing out of bed young lady?" April said sternly.

"I heard the door and didn't want to miss anything" Saffron admitted.

April started to object, but soon stopped when she saw how quickly the young girl managed to pair her mother's tablet with the communicator and begin the download.

"Talon told you to hurry so I thought I'd better not let you two slugs stare at the screen wondering which button to press for the next twenty minutes."

"Saffron Hikaru Dias; you apologise for that remark right now!" April chastised her daughter.

Ruth smiled and nodded "Why April? You know she's right."

"Yeah but she didn't have to be so blunt about it" April pouted.

"Right; let's see what's on this thing" Saffron gave an evil grin as she scrolled through the downloaded files.

"Oh no you don't!"

April grabbed Saffron firmly by the shoulders and lifted her out of the chair and as the young girl protested, the concerned mother marched her daughter back to her bedroom.

"After all I've done for you..." Saffron barked.

"Yes thank you; I'm very grateful" April declared in a deadpan voice before half throwing Saffron into her room "Now go to bed and don't come out till morning."

"Why so rough?" Ruth questioned when April returned.

"I don't know what's on Talon's recording yet and I don't want Saffy to see what we saw."

"Was it that bad?" Ruth asked.

April closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she remembered what greeted her when Talon had opened Topolski's door

"You may not want to see this" April warned.

Ruth could see the pain in her friend's eyes and knew April was not coping very well. She smiled reassuringly and placed her hand lightly on April's.

"We'll look together" she nodded.

When April check the screen in front of her, she could see Saffron had already found a file labelled Topolski/Klein and she realised if she had been any slower ejecting her daughter from the room, it may have been too late.

"You ready?" April asked.

"No... but go ahead anyway" Ruth replied.

The video started very roughly as Talon positioned the camera at a point on Topolski's left wall. When it had steadied, the image moved slowly to the right in an establishing shot of the entire room.

"Oh good lord!" Ruth gasped when the bodies of the two men came into view.

There were stains on the floor and couch from the foam that had run from their noses and mouths and the disturbing distorted looks on their faces told the story of a very unpleasant death.

"Saffron must never see this" April insisted.

"No argument from me" Ruth agreed.

The women watched intently as the camera was moved closer to certain details in the room like the floor around the bodies, the couches and the coffee table between them. When Talon had finished with the close-ups he had gone to several other points in the room taken more pan shots from different angles. It was partway through the second of these when the image began to jump before turning to static.

"Odd place for him to stop recording" Ruth noted.

"I was just outside the door, but I remember more Security Officers arriving; he must have stopped because of them."

"Did you notice anything odd or out of the ordinary watching the recording?" Ruth asked.

"I must admit I wasn't concentrating on the details; maybe we should run through it again."

"This is going to haunt me tonight" Ruth admitted as she pressed the replay button.

"Main engines online; electrical input twenty percent and rising" Abigail reported.

Luis Dias followed Marshal Baron's order to return as quickly as he could, but first he made sure he and his young companions had set everything in motion for Sarah Spencer and the people of Earth. While the robots had done most of the work of course, the crew of the MTV had set up a substantial base using the leftover supply pods and with the help of the SEV.

"You mean the Star Drifter" Calla corrected.

Hey; I'm the author and I'll call it what want. Besides I took the name straight from the NASA web site.

"Star Drifter is cooler" she insisted "You should have called it something like that right from the start."

I can change characters names as well you know; and it's not too late for me to rewrite this story.

"You wouldn't... would you?"

I had a grandfather named Gerwin and I put his name in the story, so how would you like to be named Mavis after my grandmother?

"I can't believe you're going to use you power to force me how to think" Calla sniffed.

These are not the droids you're looking for.

"Huh?"

Never mind Calla; you can call the ships whatever you want but don't tell me what to write.

"Well... alright" she agreed reluctantly before reaching out to close the small hatch in the fourth wall.

And if you're feeling angry about this, don't you dare take it out on Blue!

"Yeah yeah, I know he's your favourite" Calla hissed little realising Blue wasn't my favourite character; she was.

Now then... where was I? Oh yes; I remember now. The Star Cruiser, I mean MTV, pulled slowly away from the massive asteroid and recommenced its long trip to Mars, leaving behind a swarm of automated machines to continue their various tasks.

At Aprils request Jarred and Ruth Kinderman arrived at her front door straight after breakfast the next morning. Now they had fulfilled her wish, all that remained was for them to discover why they were there so early.

"Saffy asked to see the recording we downloaded last night so naturally I told her no and warned her never to ask again" April explained "I described what was we'd seen to her, without the horrific details of course, and when I told her about the rough static at the end, Saffy realised something we'd missed."

"Ruth told me about the recording, but didn't mention the end of it" Jarred admitted.

"Saffy said it should have finished at the point where Talon stopped recording and suggested we should do another download to see if we could get hold of the rest of the file. But when she connected the communicator to my computer, it had been totally wiped."

"What do you mean wiped?" Ruth asked.

"There was absolutely nothing on it; all files deleted" April informed them.

"Just the video recordings?" Jared checked.

"You're not listening" April insisted "When I say everything, I mean video, voice notes, call logs, personal information and applications; Talon's communicator had been totally re-formatted."

"Where is it?" Jarred asked.

April pointed to her work desk so Jarred walked over to check it out.

"Have you had a chance to ask Talon about it?" Ruth wondered.

"I tried to contact him last night and again this morning but I haven't been able to find him; and of course I can't just call his communicator."

"Maybe we should ask at the Security Office" Ruth offered.

"Good idea" April agreed and called out to Jarred."

"I'm keeping Saffron home today" she said "Can I leave you to look after her?"

"Sure thing" Jarred replied as he removed the back cover of the communicator.

"Thanks... and make sure she does NOT see that recording."

"No problem."

April slipped on a jacket and picked up her computer tablet before following Ruth out the door. It took them fifteen minutes to get to the centre of the base where the new Mars Security Force was located, between the main control centre and Central Administration, but their visit did not last long. It only took her a few minutes to find out Talon Descott was no longer in Mars Base One.

"I WANT TO SEE BARON; RIGHT NOW!" April stated forcefully as she strode into the administration section.

"Marshal Baron is currently in a meeting with the Deep Council Investigation Team" the receptionist reported.

"Good" April gave an evil grin "I want to talk to them too."

"Wait; you can't go..." but April and Ruth had already gone.

Much to April surprise, the three people she expected to find inside Baron's office were actually four with Gretel Descott also present.

"Oh... April" Marshal looked up "It's a pleasure to see you out and about once more."

"Stow the chit-chat Marshal; why have you sent Talon to Base Two?" she asked before turning to Gretel "Or was this all your doing?"

"For heaven's sake Dias" Gretel Descott sighed "Why would you think Base One would be the only site with security officers?"

"Talon knows a lot about what happened with the three recent deaths so we need him here for..." April paused as her eyes widened "That's it... you needed to get rid of him so he couldn't tell what he knows."

"What does he know?" Gretel asked.

"IF I KNEW THAT, I WOULDN'T NEED TALON BACK HERE!" April shouted.

"It sounds to me like you are grasping at straws" Gretel sniffed.

"I may not know what it is, but I'm sure he knows something about the murder of Leonard Topolski and Florian Klein" April noted.

"For someone who is so against the Deep Council, I'm surprised you are so concerned about the deaths of two of its members" Gretel smirked "And besides, the initial report from the Security Office says it was almost certainly suicide."

"Well almost certainly is not good enough for me" April hissed.

"I wouldn't push it if I were you April" Marshal added "because if it wasn't suicide, then one of them murdered the other before killing himself. Do you really want to tarnish the reputations of these men who were once your good friends?"

"I want to find out the truth Marshal; something that has been sadly lacking around here."

"We already know the truth" Gretel insisted "It's not my fault you can't seem to accept it?"

April was careful not to mention the communicator but knew she had to keep pushing until she got her way.

"Marshal... when did Talon leave the base?" she asked calmly.

"Early this morning; on a transport with three other officers to establish the Base Two Security Team."

"Then they can't have gotten very far yet, so you can call them back" April insisted.

"Mrs. Dias you have resigned from the probe into the Deep Council so you have no right to make such demands anymore" Gretel Descott said plainly.

"Maybe she doesn't" Victor Kittredge stood up "but Sierra and I do."

"I think I'd like to talk with him" Sierra Corbin agreed.

"Well I'm the new head of this investigation so I will decide which direction we will go" Gretel insisted.

"W-wait a minute..." April's eyes widened "You're my replacement in the Deep Council Investigation?"

"Someone had to step up when you quit" Gretel sneered.

"Seriously Marshal; how can you have a probe into the Deep Council headed up by a member of the Deep Council?" April huffed.

Everyones eyes quickly turned to look at a very guilty Gretel Descott.

"Wha... I... YOU HAVE NO PROOF OF THAT!" she protested.

"But you don't deny it" Sierra noted.

"Ah... I... of COURSE I DENY IT!" Gretel came to her senses.

"Exactly how did this happen Marshal?" April asked suspiciously.

"You see I needed someone to replace you and..."

"And Gretel told you to appoint her" April finished his sentence.

"Well... actually yes."

"This is all falling into place" April began to pace "An unknown member of Deep Council has something put on the supply ship sent to the Orbit Station and Marshal knew about it."

"What makes you think...?" Marshal began.

"I was there Marshal and I saw the way you reacted when Luis mentioned the supplies; and I also saw the panic in your eyes when the medic got scared and ran. I believe there was something on the Supply Ship to make the MTV crew ill, giving you a reason to ban any further new arrivals. But when that clever little girl from Earth saw through your plan, it all began to fall apart; and when Florian openly said he would break his silence, the Deep Council decided he and Leonard had to die in order to keep them quiet."

"N-now you're just making up stories" Gretel Descott replied "You've got no proof about any of it."

"The proof is currently sitting in a transport headed for Base Two" April insisted.

Sierra Corbin shook her head as she pondered what she had been hearing

"Sorry April but I have to ask; what makes you so sure Talon Descott knows something we don't?" she asked her good friend.

"Late last night Talon came to my home and gave me his Security Team communicator" April admitted "He told me to download a video file of Leonard's home taken when we discovered him and Florian. Something happened and the files were wiped, leaving me with only a partial copy. This is why I want Talon to return; so he can tell us what was on the rest of the recording."

"But we have the full recording" Marshal revealed "Talon submitted a copy to his superiors in the Security Office during their investigation. It was a vital piece of evidence that pointed to a probable double suicide."

April and Ruth glanced at each other in confusion; what Marshal said just didn't make sense.

"You've seen it?" April asked.

"Yes; as Base Leader I was called in to receive a briefing from the security team that investigated the incident and I was shown all relevant evidence."

"I want to see it" April insisted.

"I don't know" Marshal pondered "It is very disturbing."

"I was there when it happened Marshal" April stated "And we've already seen most of the recording."

Victor Kittredge glanced over at Sierra Corbin, who nodded in reply.

"We want to see it too" he stated "It could have an important bearing on our investigation."

Marshal looked worriedly at Gretel Descott who just threw up her arms in resignation.

"Fine; if you ghouls want to see it, who am I to stop you?" she sighed.

"Indeed" April agreed "And it makes me wonder why Marshal felt he had to check with you first if you're not a member of the Deep Council."

"You are really starting to annoy me" Gretel said through clenched teeth.

"I thought I'd been annoying you for years" April replied with a smile.

Reading back over this chapter, I probably could have moved events along much faster, but I really wanted to make the characters work and not just have the answers drop into their laps easily. Thanks again for reading and I'll be back soon.