35

The next day, Lu was late for their daily meal. This was remarkable, for everyone was usually very early. Some people—especially Hood—made a practice of waiting in the galley as much as two hours before the meal, simply floating and staring at the table. No one was ever late.

Lu’s absence made everyone nervous. After a full minute had passed, during which the others stared at each other in silence, Hood said, ‘Where the hell’s Lu?’

‘Maybe the sedative made him oversleep,’ said Richards. ‘Do you want to go check on him, Ge Ge?’

‘Okay,’ said Ge Ge, but it was clear that he didn’t want to.

‘Don’t bother,’ said Back. ‘He’s dead.’

‘What do you mean, he’s dead?’ said Ge Ge.

‘I think he hung himself.’

‘How do you hang yourself when there isn’t any gravity?’ asked Akaitcho.

‘Go and see for yourself,’ said Back. I’ve seen my fill. I just didn’t want it to shock you.’

Ge Ge launched himself out of the galley, and into the access corridor. He descended to the level of the sleeping chambers, while the others followed at a slower pace.

They heard Ge Ge screaming, the moment they entered the corridor. As they drew closer, they saw dark red bubbles bobbing out into the corridor from Lu’s chamber. Ge Ge was spinning around in the small chamber, trying to catch Trim. Scraps of Lu’s flesh and bubbles of his blood swirled about in the turbulence.

Trim pirouetted, caught a small chunk of something visceral, and powered out the doorway into the corridor. His motorized diaper was faster and more agile than any of the debilitated crew. He was quickly out of their sight. Ge Ge was about to race after the cat, but Richards got in his way, and restrained him.

‘What happened?’ she shouted.

‘The cat!’ said Ge Ge, but he couldn’t find any more words.

Akaitcho shut the door to Lu’s chamber, in order to contain the mess as much as possible.

‘Tell us what you saw when you got here,’ said Richards.

‘He was all torn up. The cat was eating him,’ said Ge Ge, who was covered in blood, and breathing very heavily.

‘What the hell happened?’ said Back, just arriving. ‘Why are you all covered in blood?’

‘It was the cat,’ said Richards. ‘Why did you say he hung himself?’

‘I got up to take a shower, and his door was open a little. I looked in as I was going back to my bunk, and I saw him floating in there with a strap around his neck.’

Now, Back had planned on blaming the cat for the mutilation of the body. It was the weakest part of his plan. The fact that the cat had actually shown up, drawn no doubt by the scent of a fresh kill, was simply good luck.

‘You didn’t check on him or tell anyone? You just left him like that?’

‘There was nothing I could do for him. He was obviously dead. I was tired. Besides, I didn’t think we had to worry about scavengers!’

‘We’ve got to take care of this mess,’ said Richards. ‘Somebody go and get me one of the body bags form the medical cabinet.’

No one else volunteered to clean up what was left of Lu’s body, and so Richards assumed the responsibility. When she emerged, an hour or two later, covered in blood, she said, ‘We have to find that cat. He stripped some places down to the bone.’