'You are late, Ensign. Care to explain yourself?'

'I was engaged in an EVA practice exercise on my downtime sir. I'm not due to start my Life Support training until next week so I was under the impression that....'

'Enough excuses, Ensign. We have a 75% drop in efficiency at this air exchange. Potential causes?'

'Primary cause for a drop in efficiency at an air exchange is congestion in the filters due to repair or construction works in the immediate area. However, these scenarios would not account for such a large blockage at this junction, given the low level of such activities in the air serviced by this particular exchange.'

'Anything else?'

'The drop in efficiency is most likely caused by an equipment malfunction, possibly with the fans at the exchange or the motor itself. More unlikely causes would be a drop in the power supply to the area causing fluctuations in operating capacity, but there would be secondary indicators of a wider fault in the system, such as dimmed or dead lighting, issues with automatic doors and sensors, all of which would trigger an error code on their own.'

'That is sufficient, Ensign. Although you would do well to utilise the SAN systems more in your diagnostics. The error code and related information is only the surface of what it can supply you.'

'I know sir, but my training in this area is emergency response related, during which time I could potentially be without access to the network to aid in diagnosis.'

'Walk before you run Ensign, we have had this conversation before.'

'Yes, sir.'

At least it had gotten off to a better start than she had hoped for. It was only mild chastisement this time around.

'Now, as the SAN's role with these systems is limited to monitoring and system information, it has limited access to sensors in the area and no visual feedback. We must investigate the area ourselves. I hope you are not claustrophobic Ensign.'

'I think I'll manage.'

Naomi opened the maintenance hatch with a few deft twists of the bolts and hauled herself up into the narrow chute. Without looking back she started off into the dim red light of the maintenance passage before her superior could offer any more advice, stuff that was thought to children in Basic, long before they earned a specialisation. The access shaft to the air exchange was not particularly long, but several bends soon had her hidden from Chief's sight and muted his voice enough that she could almost forget that he was standing waiting for her report.

A red light started flashing in her vision again. He had realised that she was probably out of earshot and had requested a private channel with her. She opened up the channel just as she turned the final corner and started to turn the bolts on the access hatch leading into the air exchange proper.

'Are you at the exchange yet Ensign?'

'Just removing the hatch now. The last person in here over tightened the bolts well past regulation. Just got the last one out now. Looks like we will need to replace the hatch though. The threads are worn away and the surrounding area is warped out of shape.'

'Noted. Move on.'

So much for extra credit...

Naomi pulled back on the hatch and the seals released.

She recoiled backwards. It took her mind a few seconds to process the gruesome stench exploding from beyond the access panel.

Raw meat and fresh blood.

The assault on her senses was overwhelming and turned aside to empty the contents of her stomach. Fragments of her breakfast spattering against her grease stained overalls.

Fuck, what in...

Naomi forced her breath steady as she resisted the urge to heave.

This isn't good...

Death was as much a fact of life as it had been back on earth. But in the sterile environment of an arkship, death from disease was virtually non-existent, and violent death from any cause other than accidents was even more rare. It had been decades since the last known murder on board one of the ships in the caravan.

And even without having seen the interior of the air exchange yet, Naomi was pretty sure she had just stumbled onto one. And on her first day of Life Support Systems training no less.

Naomi paused to gather herself for a moment before she finished pulling open the hatch.

She knew what would lie on the other side, and hesitated at the prospect of proving what she already suspected.

'Ensign Carter, is there a problem?'

'I have found what is causing the drop in efficiency. I am just entering the junction now.'

'Clarify Ensign.'~

'I can smell the obstruction sir. You may want to call security.'

'I asked you to clarify Ensign.'

Naomi didn't respond to his request. If she was going to do this, then she just needed to go ahead and do it. Gripping the handles on the hatch with both hands and taking another deep breath she pulled the panel open.

Naomi had steeled herself for what inside the junction; She thought she knew what to expect. She was certain of it. But what she saw as she slid the panel inside, surpassed anything that she could have prepared herself for.

She scrambled back from the service hatch, and slammed into the wall of the access tunnel, grunting as the blow expelled the air from her lungs. She closed her eyes against a second surge of nausea, her muscles trembling as she fought the urge to flee back down the service shaft.

'Ensign, respond, now!'

The Chief Engineer's voice now carried a sharp edge of concern, his previous annoyance forgotten. Naomi barely heard him speak, her full attention focused on stilling her trembling limbs and beating back the panic screaming in her chest. The soft projection of the Chief's face in the corner of her vision was long forgotten. All of her attention was focused on the small corner of junction she could see through the service hatch.

The scraps of uniform, the only recognisable part remaining of what had once been a human body, were horrifyingly familiar. Only officers from the bridge crew were issued with that specific shade of green. Whoever's remains were inside that would be well known to her, a good friend, or close family.

She opened her mouth to respond, but couldn't manage anything more than a strangled wheeze. Every effort at speech caught in her throat, every effort piling on top of the previous until Naomi felt like she was going to choke. Her eyes darted back and forth across the scene, searching wildly for some further indication of who the mangled body had once been, rank insignia, jewellery, personal effects. Anything. Anything to quell the worst of fears growing in her gut.

But her search pattern was too random, too driven by surging adrenaline and fear to be of much use. The interior of the air exchange was chaos; shreds of clothing and ripped flesh jostled wildly with the blood and gore still dripping steadily for the ceiling for her attention. She chastised herself inside even as she continued in her wild random sweep of the area.

Discipline. Focus. Attention to detail. Those were the traits she prided herself on.

I need to slow down. I'm not going to get anywhere like this.

Naomi imagined herself back outside in the void. Floating endlessly alongside the ship. Nothing but the thin skin of her EVA suit between her and the universe. Nothing but her and the stars, stretching off to infinity in all directions.

She felt her heart rate begin to slow and the trembling in her muscles starting to subside.

I can do this.

I must do this.

Slowly Naomi opening her eyes and began her methodical scan of the carnage. Slowly scanning one small section of the scene before moving onto the next.

This is just another job. Nothing personal. Just a job.

A glint caught her eye, something stuck to one of the walls of the air exchange chamber, clinging to a congealed patch of blood. But it was too far away to see clearly and she couldn't get much closer to it without disturbing the contents of the air exchange.

So far she had managed to keep enough presence of mind to avoid contaminating the scene.

Her stomach twisted again, an unpleasant reminder of how close she had come to doing just that.

She took a few more breaths; fast and deep followed by a long slow release.

Naomi reached into her tool belt and fumbled for the miniature camera drone she carried to inspect tight, otherwise unreachable spaces. She tossed the small, nail sized cylinder into the air and it hovered gently in front of her, tiny jets of air keeping it aloft.

The view from the drone's camera appeared to the right of her vision. She focused her attention on it, and the picture expanded until she could see the area covered by the tiny lens in sharp detail.

She coaxed it forward with a few quick hand gestures and it floated over to within a few feet of the metallic glint. Directing it to the object of interest, the camera picked up on the metallic glint and zoomed in on the small piece of metal.

Naomi cut her connection to the drone as she slumped back against the wall.

The image of a stylised elephant head still burning in her mind.

The rank insignia of the Ganesha's captain.

Her voice came back in a croak.

'Chief,' there was another pause as she tried to catch her breath, 'Can you please contact my father immediately.'

'Naomi clarify your status now. What has happened?'

'Chief, just contact the bridge and ask for my father. There has been a murder on board the ship.'

The words came out fast, all in one breath.

'Ensign, if someone has been killed it is a job for security not...' he trailed off as he picked up on the quivering note in her voice, the barely restrained hysteria floating just below the surface.

Naomi stared blankly into the air exchange, listening absently as Chief added a second comms channel to their link and pinged the bridge.

'Bridge, is the Captain on duty presently?'~

It took a few seconds comms officer to respond.

'Negative Chief Williams, he is not scheduled on duty for another...six hours. Can the XO help with anything?'

'Negative, Bridge. Can you patch me through to his personal comms?'

'Attempting now Chief.'

Thirty seconds passed, then a minute, then the voice link with the bridge expanded into a video. The XO's face appeared looking concerned.

'The Captain's comms are offline Chief. No connection, never mind a response'

'That's not possible Marcus. The Captain is always reachable. That's protocol!'

'Chief, his ID-tag is still active.' Marcus' eyes glanced to the side towards his terminal, uncertainty growing on his face, 'He appears to be with you, or at least close to your position currently. What is...'

He wasn't given a chance to finish his sentence.

'Call security to my location now Marcus. We have a problem. A very fucking large problem.'