The Crimson Sea - Part Two

THE CRIMSON SEA
PART TWO

SHIP: CRIMSON SEA

CREW: 9

ACTING CAPTAIN / PILOT: Imag Splint
CO-PILOT: Lee Splint
CHIEF ENGINEER: Alex Todori
NAVIGATOR: Tim Memphis
DOCTOR: Michelle Tack
MARINES: Jill Kesa, Damien Chowski, Han Kay
PASSENGERS: Silas
DECEASED CREW: Captain Cara Stiles, Drake Vanner

LOCATION: APPROXIMATELY 13 DAYS FROM EARTH

Six hours after the unfortunate events, resulting in the loss of Cara and Drake, Imag had taken command of the ship as acting captain. He found it hard to stop thinking about Cara, but he knew that his mind must be kept on the task at hand, getting everyone back to Earth safely. Todori, Kesa and Chowski had come to see him, so the four sat alone in the cockpit.

“Silas is a murderer, Imag,” said Todori.
“How is that?” asked Imag.
“Cara’s oxygen line to her reserve oxygen was cut. Not ripped or torn through wear and tear, but cut, with tool,” explained Chowski.
“And who do you think is responsible for this?” asked Imag, even though he knew what they were going to say.
“Silas, it has to be,” said Kesa.
“Why does it have to be? What makes him so special?” countered Imag.
“The guy has been on this ship for a small amount of time, saying he wants to get to Earth. Why must he get to Earth? Why did he pay so much to come aboard? Maybe, once he got aboard he liked the ship and thought that if the crew was dead, he’ll gain a ship along with the money he paid back,” said Todori.

Imag slumped down in his chair. His head hurt, and he wasn’t in the mood for people’s conspiracy theories.
“We’ll get everyone together later and we’ll work something out, okay? And because you guys seem so damn sure…put Silas in the brig, for now,” ordered Imag.
The trio nodded and ran off in search of Silas.

“So now we’re playing the blame game?” said Lee, appearing from a small hiding spot in the cockpit.
Imag nearly jumped out of his chair as he saw his brother.
“Fuck! You nearly gave me a heart attack, Lee! No, we’re not playing the blame game,” said Imag.
“Listen, I don’t exactly trust Silas, but then again I’m not trusting of very many people. I trust you, I trust Michelle and I trusted the Captain, everyone else’s verdict is still up in the air,” said Lee.
“This is exactly what we don’t need. The crew are going to fall apart, people are going to take sides and then everything will be really fucked up,” muttered Imag.

In the Chill Out room, Michelle and Memphis sat with Silas, congratulating him on his efforts outside.
“Thanks for going out there, buddy. We would’ve been lost without ya,” said Memphis, shaking Silas’ hand.
“Good job,” congratulated Michelle.

Chowski, Kesa and Todori burst into the Chill Out room and approached Silas.
“On your feet asshole!” yelled Kesa.
Silas slowly got to his feet.
“What’s going on?” he asked nervously.
“Captain wants you in the brig,” said Chowski, grabbing Silas by the neck and violently shoving him towards the brig.

On E Deck, Chowski, Todori and Kesa shoved Silas into the brig and locked him in. Han sat outside the cell to guard him. Once the three had left, Silas spoke with Han.
“What’s all this about?” asked Silas.
“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems like someone thinks you might be responsible for the dying,” said Han.
“Dying? You mean Stiles and Vanner?” asked Silas.
Han nodded in response.

“I had nothing to do with anything! Stiles’ oxygen ran out, how could I have done that?” asked Silas.
Han shook his head. “I don’t think you’ve done anything. But I’m under orders, so I’m sorry.”

In the cockpit, Michelle and Memphis came up to see Imag to ask why Silas had been imprisoned.
“Silas didn’t do anything and you know it,” said Michelle.
“Do I? I don’t even know the guy, I don’t know what he’s capable of,” replied Imag.
“Let him go, Imag,” said Memphis softly. “He’s innocent.”
“Bring me proof and I’ll let him go,” said Imag.
Michelle and Memphis nodded and exited the cockpit.

Making their way to where the spacesuits were kept, Michelle and Memphis were focused completely on proving Silas’s innocence. Once the pair found Cara’s suit, they went over the thing completely, examining each part of it. Memphis located the line of oxygen cut in two.
“There’s no doubt about it, this was tampered with,” noted Memphis.
“Cut?” asked Michelle curiously.
Memphis saw the line cleanly cut in two. “No doubt.”
Michelle nodded. “Well we know it was cut, but who cut it?”
“That’s the million dollar question,” Memphis replied. “We’ve got to find the tool that cut it, maybe it has fingerprints.”
“Maybe. Look, I’ve got meds to move to the infirmary, I’ll leave you be for a while,” said Michelle, getting up and exiting the change room.

Memphis looked everywhere in the change room for some wire cutters, pliers, scissors, anything that could’ve cut the wire. After coming to the conclusion that the instrument wasn’t in the change room, he decided to check the only other place the suits had been, the airlock. He moved from the change room to the airlock, passing Todori, Chowski and Kesa in the chill out room. He overheard them talk about Silas being guilty.

In the cockpit, Lee continued to try and convince Imag to let Silas out of the brig.
“The guy has done nothing wrong, Imag. And you know it. Let him out,” said Lee.
Imag thought hard for the moment. Was Silas a killer? Did he really kill Stiles? There was no proof for either sides of the situation, no proof he did, yet no proof he was innocent. But then again, no one else had any proof that they were innocent. Imag, reluctantly, agreed with Lee.

“Alright. He goes free, but he tries anything and he will be killed,” said Imag, making himself clear.
The pair made their way down to the brig where Han chatted to Silas through the bars of the cell.
“Let him out,” ordered Imag firmly.
Han nodded and opened up the cell, Silas gladly stepping out. Imag approached Silas and brought him away from the other two.
“I’m giving you a break here, cause we got nothing solid against you. But if I let you go and then find out you were responsible, I will cut your fucking throat, are we clear?” whispered Imag into Silas’ ear.
Silas nodded silently.

While Imag and Lee returned to the cockpit, Han and Silas went into the Chill Out room, where they were greeted with ugly, despising looks from Todori, Chowski and Kesa. Rather than sit and be shot icy looks, Silas went off on his own somewhere in the ship, leaving Han to face the others alone.
“So you guys are all buddy-buddy now?” asked Chowski coldly.
“Go fuck yourself,” snapped Han.
Chowski and Kesa chuckled while Todori continued to stare Han down. Michelle came in and broke the deadly silence, needing some help.
“Two of you guys come and help me move some meds to the infirmary please?” she asked politely.
Chowski and Kesa nodded, following her out of the room, leaving Han and Todori alone.

“What’s your problem, Todori?” asked Han.
“My problem is that you’re siding with that guy,” he answered sharply.
“What’s so bad about that? He’s innocent and you know it. You can see it in his eyes,” said Han.
Todori leaned forward and put his head into his hands and sighed. He then started to chuckle.

“This is why I like you, Han. You always see the truth in people, from their eyes. So tell me, Han. What do you see in mine?” asked Todori slowly and coldly.
He leant forward and stared directly into Han’s eyes, Han looking straight back at him. Han’s spine tingled and his blood went cold.
“Oh shit,” he muttered.
“Goodbye Han,” said Todori.

Swish!
A large slit appeared in Han’s neck from the large knife Todori had been holding the entire time. Blood spurted out from Han’s neck, dying the carpet red. He fell to the ground, landing hard on the floor, blood still oozing out of his neck, struggling to breathe. The world went dark as Han Kay died.

Todori wiped the blood from his knife and slipped it into his pocket. He looked down at Han’s body and made sure that he was dead.
“Three down, seven to go,” muttered Todori to himself. “Time to get rid of another weasel.”
Todori made his way to the airlock, where Memphis searched for the tool.

Looking all over the place, in the sealed compartments and other places, Memphis found nothing. Memphis was ready to give up until something on the ground caught his eye.
He looked closer and saw what he’d been looking for. Pliers. He moved over and picked them up with his sleeve over his hand, careful not to rub off fingerprints. Memphis smiled and turned to leave the airlock, only to be met with a closed door.

Memphis moved over to the door and pulled on the handle, but it was firmly shut and locked. He peered out of the small window in the door and saw Todori standing just outside.
“Alex! The door’s jammed or something, let me out,” said Memphis.
Todori strolled over to the window casually.
“It’s not jammed, Tim,” he said happily.
Memphis was confused. “C’mon, let me out! I found the pliers!”

Todori stopped smirking. “What pliers?”
“The ones that were used to cut the Captains oxygen line,” Memphis replied.
“Oh! Those pliers! Well it’s a good thing I found you,” said Todori sarcastically.
“Y-yes, it is. Can you let me out?” asked Memphis nervously.
“No. I said it was a good thing, but not for you. You’re about to die for god’s sake,” laughed Todori.

“What the fuck are you going on about?” asked Memphis, starting to get very nervous.
“Nothing much. Goodbye, Tim,” said Todori, slamming his hand on the open button for the airlock.
The door behind Memphis snapped open and almost immediately was he, and the pliers, sucked out into space. With no suit on, Memphis would lose oxygen and then freeze to death. Todori laughed as he watched Memphis float around helplessly in space, kicking and waving his arms and legs. Memphis finally went still as he floated further and further away from the Crimson Sea.

“Four down, six to -,” started Todori before he was knocked to the side from a powerful punch to the face.
Silas grabbed Todori and slammed him into the wall, then turned the man around and punched him again and again and again in the face, making his nose and lips bleed.
“You killed them! You fucking killed them! You prick!” screamed Silas with each punch.
Silas threw Todori to the ground and kicked him hard in the stomach. He then moved over to the wall and clicked on the intercom system.

Before he could say a word, the power went out and the world went dark, emergency lights dimly lit the place in a dull shade of red. Silas looked down to Todori and saw that he’d opened a small panel in the wall and shut off the power. Todori got to his feet, a large knife in his hand. Silas turned and ran, Todori following.

Silas ran into the chill out room, only to fall over something hard on the ground. Landing face first on the floor, Silas’ face was covered with a strange liquid. He turned and saw the object that he’d tripped over was Han, and the liquid was his blood. Todori came sprinting into the room, moving towards Silas who pulled himself off the ground and started running again.

Todori launched himself through the air and wrapped his arms around the running feet of Silas, tripping him to the ground. Todori plunged the knife into Silas’ legs several times, Silas screaming in agony with each stab. Todori pulled Silas to his feet and head butted him hard, jolting his head backwards. Todori then lunged the knife forward, right into Silas’ heart! Silas grunted as the blade entered his body. It stung like hell.
“Y-you son o-of a b-b-bit…” muttered Silas before Todori twisted the blade inside of him, killing the poor man.

Todori let Silas’ body slump to the ground. Still holding the knife, Todori heard running footsteps coming in his direction.
“This is going to hurt,” he muttered to himself, as he stabbed the knife into his own right shoulder.
Todori got to the ground and slumped down in the corner, just as Lee and Imag came around the corner.

“Holy shit,” muttered Lee.
“Lee, get some lights on,” ordered Imag, rushing over to Todori’s side.
The lights sprang on and lit up the place as Lee reactivated the lights. The pair grabbed Todori and carried him to the infirmary where Michelle, Chowski and Kesa were.
“What the fuck happened?” asked Chowski, seeing the wounded Todori.
“Silas! That little fuck,” muttered Imag, putting Todori on the table, allowing Michelle to get to work on him.

Imag, Lee, Chowski and Kesa exited the infirmary and went to the chill out room where they found Han’s body.
“Fuck me,” muttered Kesa as she saw the horrific sight.

Back in the infirmary, Michelle worked on patching up Todori’s knife wound.
“You’ll be fine, Alex. You’ll be fine,” she said over and over.
Todori lay on the table, hurt from the self-inflicted wound, yet still, he could only do one thing. Smile.