40

The body was discovered several hours later. Franklin, having to relieve himself, opened the door to the bathroom and saw Akaitcho. He immediately apologized and shut the door. It was only after he had waited there for quite some time that Franklin began to wonder about what he had seen. Franklin knocked on the door, and when there was no answer, he opened it again.

Akaitcho was floating aimlessly in the bathroom, tethered to the wall by the urinal funnel and its hose. His face, already emaciated and withered, was grossly shrunken, like a mummified corpse.

The crew decided that the slight vacuum in the tube must have caused a hemorrhage, and when he was unable to turn off the system, it sucked all the blood from his body. This, at least, was the most plausible explanation they could come up with.

‘What are we going to do with the body?’ asked Back.

‘I guess we’ll put him with the others,’ said Richards.

‘And let the cat get him, too?’ said Ge Ge.

‘We could jettison him,’ said Greenstockings.

‘That’s a waste,’ said Back.

‘Well, we’re not going to just chop him to pieces!’ exclaimed Richards.¹

No one had to ask what she meant.

‘You’re right about the cat, Ge Ge,’ she continued. ‘It’s probably best that we just jettison the body.’

‘You’re not being realistic,’ said Back. ‘We have an opportunity here. This isn’t about manners or morality, this is life or death.’

‘We’re not going to eat him,’ said Richards. ‘No.’

‘Maybe George is right,’ said Hood. ‘I mean, how much longer are we going to survive like this?’

‘I’m not hungry enough to eat a human being,’ said Richards.

‘Okay,’ said Hood. ‘But maybe we should keep him...it—I mean, the body—on board, just in case. We might get to a point where we are that hungry.’

‘But what about the cat?’ said Ge Ge.

‘It’s been a month since anybody’s even seen the animal,’ said Hood. ‘I doubt it’s still alive. But we can put him with the other bodies and make sure the door is shut. I don’t think a cat can open one of these doors.’

Richards was clearly uneasy with the plan but everyone else was in favor, and so she reluctantly agreed.