Chapter 11
Starliner Athos Nexus Main Chat
Chattykaffi: Good morning and welcome aboard, Aetrean cruisers! We’re so pleased to have you with us on the next stretch of our journey. It’s my honor to serve as your cruise director and to ensure that your trip is as pleasant as possible. Don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything. All of us who call the Athos home are happy to help!
1001Stories: Welcome, cruisers! Ellis here, head librarian of the Athos. If you’re looking for some extra entertainment, we have a fantastic selection of books, movies, video games, and audiobooks for you to check out. Stop by the library and let us recommend something.
HappyCruiser_Babs: So kind of you, Chattykaffi! I’ll definitely be in, 1001Stories!
HighFlyer: Breakfast was great, but I need more coffee. Where’s the best place to go?
Nexus_Mod2: HighFlyer, try Rocket Roasters on Deck 30.
Starliner Athos Nexus Chat 3
SkyWalker: Anyone have an update on the Woolsey death? I haven’t heard anything new. Makes you wonder…
ASF_Officer: Rumors and insinuations help no one.
SkyWalker: Asking for an update isn’t starting a rumor. If you’re really an ASF officer, tell us what’s going on.
ASF_Officer has left the chat
SkyWalker: That was helpful.
H arry and I went into the library early the next morning so I could have some uninterrupted time in my office, doing some research, namely on one Sarah Fenchurch. He lay down on the side of my desk, pushing aside a video photo screen that showed pictures of Hazel from birth to present day. My favorite was the one of her with Ned at Christmas. He’d been dressed up as Santa.
With a smile, I put it back into position, then fired up my screen. As the head librarian, I had limited access to personnel files, but I could easily see what books and movies a person had checked out. There was a lot to be learned from that, trust me.
Before I did anything, I called for a messenger and sent Vashti’s chocolates on their way to her.
With that taken care of, I looked up Sarah’s listing on the starliner’s staff and crew pages and read her bio. She was indeed a scientist. A botanist, much like Andrew, so they’d been working together. Didn’t mean she knew what his big project was, but she might.
Next, I searched for Sarah in the library’s records and scrolled through her history. She hadn’t taken anything unusual out in the last few weeks. Her reading list leaned toward Amish romances, cozy culinary mysteries, and historical women’s fiction. Viewing-wise, she’d just returned When Calls The Heart , a Hallmark series, and two days ago had checked out Season One of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman .
She definitely had a specific lane of interests but certainly nothing that screamed she was looking for a way to kill a fellow scientist. I kept going further back and eventually found something that did raise my eyebrows because it just didn’t fit her usual choices. The New Antiquities of the Modern Interstellar World .
Sarah Fenchurch was a botanist, but were antiques a hobby of hers? Or had she been trying to learn more about the planets we’d be visiting? Either way, she’d never taken out anything else with a similar subject matter. To be sure of that, I went to the very beginning of her record. Not a single other book along those lines.
Whatever that meant, it would have to wait. It was time to open the library. I got that done with Harry’s help, then went behind the front desk. Sarah hadn’t yet returned the copy of The New Antiquities of the Modern Interstellar World, but like most digital books, there were several more available, which was why her copy hadn’t been automatically expired from her list.
Even so, the book was overdue. The library’s system would have already sent her a reminder, so there wasn’t anything more for me to do about it. Yet.
I checked out a copy of the book for myself and downloaded it. I wanted to look at it on the big screen in my office, but I didn’t like to leave the front desk unmanned. There was no rule against it, but that wasn’t my idea of providing a good library experience.
I settled for downloading the book to my tablet. I was about to start paging through the book when some patrons came in. They headed straight for the desk, which made me think they were some of the new cruisers who’d come on board from Aetrea.
They were, and they needed library cards for their cruise. That was pretty much my morning, but being busy with folks interested in books was never a chore. I loved talking to other bibliophiles, loved helping them discover new authors and find their next great read. It was one of the main joys of my job.
Thankfully, the only things that came out of Harry’s mouth were a few feline-standard meows.
Miriam came in at eleven, bright-eyed and eager, as usual. She was a decade or so younger than me, loved books about as much as I did, and coached the women’s simdeck bowling league. She’d been trying to get me to join since we’d been on board, but it wasn’t for me.
Ned had been a big bowler. He’d been good at it, too. Joined a league and everything. Me? I was the queen of gutter balls, and all bowling seemed to do for me was ruin my manicure. Not that I was so vain about such things, but I was a big believer in keeping up one’s appearance, especially as I got older.
“How’s it going?” Miriam asked as she returned from putting her lunch in the fridge, reminding me it was something I’d forgotten to bring again .
“Busy with all the new intakes.”
“I bet. What do you need me to do?”
Lunch was only an hour away, but I really wanted to have a peek at that book Sarah had taken out. “Can you watch the desk while I run to my office for a few minutes?”
“You bet.” She scratched Harry’s head. “Hiya, Harry.”
His only response was to twist his head upside down and purr.
I stopped a few feet from the desk. “I’ll try not to be too long, but if you get busy, ping me.”
“Will do.”
Harry hopped down, and we went to my office. I was surprised Miriam hadn’t asked me about Andrew Woolsey. I knew word was spreading on the ship, and Miriam was a known gossiper. Actually, that wasn’t accurate. Gossiper wasn’t a nice word, and Miriam was very sweet. It was more like she was a hub of information.
Apparently, the women’s bowling league was a fount of news. Miriam had told me on more than one occasion that the women on the team seemed to know everything before anyone else. Not sure why that was. They came from all areas of the ship. Maybe they just overheard a lot?
I had to surmise that Miriam hadn’t said anything about Andrew because I was her superior and she wasn’t sure how or if she should broach the subject. Given enough time and the right opportunity, she’d probably find a way.
I closed my office door behind Harry. I could be proactive and just tell Miriam my side of things, knowing it would be shared. That would be one way of getting my story and the truth of what had happened out there.
Deciding to mull that over a little more, I found the book in my downloads and opened it on the big screen. It was a beautiful book with lots of full-color pictures and video segments in the chapters that gave brief but informative talks on the various pieces.
The book was divided by planets, and each one given a fairly substantial chapter. But there were only twenty-four chapters. At present, there were over a hundred known habitable planets in this galaxy. Maybe twenty-four was as many as were able to be researched at the time of publication?
I scrolled to the front and read the author’s note I’d skipped over. I nodded as I read the explanation. That’s exactly what had happened. Volumes II and III were currently in the works. I laughed as I saw the co-author’s name. Vivak Diptha. He was currently on board the Athos . In fact, he’d given a lecture a few weeks ago on the tree cities of Gusten Prime, a planet we were due to visit in another four months.
I guessed if there was anything in this book I didn’t understand or needed to know more about, I could track him down and ask.
I went back to scrolling through the pages. It was easily the kind of book I could get lost in. Not just because of the antiquities, which were fascinating, but because it was knowledge I didn’t yet possess.
That kind of resource never failed to enthrall me.
Another chapter in and my wristband beeped. Miriam. I closed the screen and went out to help, feeling a little guilty that I’d been using library time for personal work.
I made up for that by staying busy straight through to lunch, when we finally had a lull. I went to the dining hall and grabbed a cup of tomato bisque along with a cold sandwich from the Ready Meals case. I took them back to my office and spent my break eating and going through more chapters.
My lunch was gone and my break about over when I came to a chapter on Rygger, home of the Sha’rossi, the tribe responsible for Andrew’s amazing rug.
I stared at the screen as the strangest feeling seeped into me. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he had that rug and Sarah Fenchurch had taken out this book, could it? My gut said it wasn’t, but I was out of time. I’d have to dig deeper when my shift was over.
I went back to help Miriam. Generally, the day after taking on new cruisers, no classes were scheduled at the library because we could get pretty busy, but Mrs. Fenton had requested a small room for herself and three honors students.
I got them taken care of while Miriam continued to deal with handing out new library cards. She stayed on that task as I worked with existing patrons. The place was hopping, not a bad thing at all, but it did make me nearly miss Zanya’s visit.
I got back to the desk in time to greet her. “Hi,” I said with a big smile. “How are you?”
“Good. Except for the fact that I’m out of books.” She handed me her card. “What can you recommend? I’m open to anything.”
I scanned her card, looked at what she’d just finished, and added five new audiobooks that seemed right up her alley. I knew she listened while she worked in the laundry, one of the real perks of that job. “There you go. That should hold you for a week or so.”
“Thanks.” She took her card back, then sidled closer to the desk. “I heard you went planetside with someone tall, dark, and handsome last night.”
I blinked at her. “Who did you hear that from?”
She giggled. “Um, you know my son works in Staff Disembarkation.”
I groaned, then laughed. “Yes, I did know that. Xavier must have been busy because I didn’t even see him. And, yes, I did go planetside with a friend.”
Her brows lifted as her eyes filled with amusement. “I thought the friend you were supposed to go planetside with was Vashti. Last I heard, she was short, dark, and beautiful, so not quite the same thing.”
I shook my head. “Vashti had a medical emergency and couldn’t go. Frank was there, and so we decided to go together.”
“Frank, huh?”
I pursed my lips. I wouldn’t be hearing the last of this for a while. “I’ll tell you all about our time on Aetrea at dinner.”
She nodded. “You’d better.” Laughing, she waved and headed out.
Not until my shift was over did I get a chance to think about Sarah and the book again. I locked my office, collected Harry, and we walked back to our quarters so I could get ready for dinner. My mind was testing out possible scenarios.
Had Sarah gotten the book out to learn more about Andrew’s rug? If so, had she realized what it was worth? Maybe she had. But what was the plan? Kill him and steal the rug? You couldn’t just walk through the corridors with a thing like that and not be noticed.
Not to mention, the rug was still in his apartment, so when did she think she was going to get it?
Or had she convinced him to leave it to her in some kind of will? That might be a possibility. If they were romantically involved. So … were they? I had no idea. I needed to find that out.
My mind wandered further, this time to Vivak, co-author of the book. Was there any chance he knew about Andrew’s rug? Of course there was, if Andrew had told him. That was exactly the kind of thing Andrew would have done, too.
I knew he’d been at Vivak’s lecture. I’d seen him there. The amphitheater had been packed, but Andrew liked to hold court, and until the lights had dimmed, he’d been surrounded by a group of cruisers fawning over the Morning News Report anchorman.
So what if Vivak did know about the rug? He’d certainly know its value. But Vivak didn’t come off as the sort to murder someone over a thing like that. Or to murder anyone at all.
Then again, what did I know? I’d never interacted personally with the man. I’d only heard him speak. That was no indication of character.
For all I knew, he could be working his way through the galaxy, collecting valuables wherever he found them and leaving a trail of corpses in his wake. Wouldn’t that be something?
I pressed my hand to the printlock outside my door. Nah, that probably wasn’t what was happening. But the pool of suspects had definitely gotten deeper.