“We need a plan of action,” Garry advised the crowd. “Everyone is to stick to a partner. If we establish groups, then no one can be picked off while they’re alone. I will be with Doctor Copper and McReady’s with Blair. Our two groups will be working on a way to identify and kill the mimic.” This calmed the crew, and Benning and Clark intertwined their fingers.
“Benning and I would like to be a group,” Clark said. While it was phrased like a statement, it was said like a question. Garry confirmed it with a nod.
“Connant and I are work neighbors, can we group?” Norris then asked. Connant looked like he was sucking on a lemon, but he didn’t have a valid reason to say no. They got the go-ahead as well.
Because Kinner and Van Wall had jobs that were very active and in different places, Dutton and Barclay had no choice about their partners. Dutton and Barclay’s duties were more focused on maintenance and upkeep around the base, so they had to split up to allow Kinner and Van Wall to work without interrupting each other.
By the time the groups were all settled, the mood was a bit lighter. Safety in numbers wasn’t a surefire way to prevent another murder, but it would make it hard for a mimic to kill someone without being discovered. Before Garry let them all go, he gave them one last order to check in with him via a text message every hour.
“Alright, with that being said, I’m going to call this day over. No one’s going to be able to get anything done now, so you should all try to get some sleep tonight.” Garry paused and thought for a second. Sleeping alone was risky, and no one would be comfortable enough to sleep alone anyway. “If you all want to, we can move some mattresses to the lounge. It’s big enough for most of us if we move the tables out of the way.”
“To hell with that,” Connant snapped. “I’m not having a little baby sleepover in the lounge.” A lot of the people who were relieved at the captain’s suggestion were affronted.
Garry glared at him. “By all means, go ahead and sleep alone. But don’t trash-talk your crewmates. This isn’t your first warning, Connant.”
Connant didn’t look fazed by the comment, but he didn’t say anything else.
“Good. Van Wall, Benning, and Kinner, you’re helping me with moving stuff.” The three mentioned were all physically much stronger than Garry, but there was no way the captain would sit by and watch them do all the work. Blair chuckled internally at the thought of Benning helping with the mattresses. In all likelihood, he would be bunking with his girlfriend. “Before we head back though, we should eat something. Kinner, did you get to finish preparing dinner before you were interrupted?”
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“Interrupted is an understatement,” she grumbled. “Yeah, I did. Give me a minute to make sure it’s still warm.”
Garry nodded and got up, putting the chair away. Seeing that the meeting was over, some tentative conversation started, although it was much quieter than usual. Copper got up from his spot and moved to sit near Blair. There was a menacing look in his eyes, and although Blair knew it wasn’t directed at her, it still made her nervous.
“You said you found out about this thing?” The doctor asked in a flat voice.
“Yeah.”
“Do you have any ideas about how to find it?”
“Sorry. As far as I know, it could be able to copy an organism down to the cellular level. I couldn’t tell one apart from a coppershell until it decided to reveal itself. I have no idea if any of your scanning equipment will work.” It was mostly a lie. She didn’t think, she knew firsthand how powerful a mimic’s shapeshifting was. The only thing Copper’s equipment would tell him is that she wasn’t human because she wasn’t properly assimilated, but the real mimic would probably be indistinguishable from the person it replaced. Now that she thought about it, it was Copper rather than Garry who was the biggest threat to her life. Copper had a vendetta, and he wouldn’t ask questions first.
McReady, who had been listening the whole time, chimed in. “I’m sure there will be something you guys can figure out. You two are experts in your field.”
Copper frowned. “I may be a good doctor, but I have limits. Namely, technology. If Blair’s right, there may be no way to tell aside from waiting for it to strike again.”
Blair could only nod. There was simply nothing to say on the matter. Either they had ideas or they didn’t, and the events of that day weren’t exactly the best for encouraging critical thinking. It was a shame Blair couldn’t sense the other mimic. She had been trying to focus on people individually and see if she could feel anything different about them, but after doing a couple of rounds and finding nothing, she gave up on that idea. All she could see was a bunch of people in distress.
Dinner was a blur. Blair couldn’t really taste the food anymore, and the conversation seemed just as dry in the wake of Harvey’s death. Barclay wasn’t joking anymore, Van Wall didn’t have any stories to tell, even Connant didn’t have any complaints for once. At some point, there was an unspoken consensus to head back to the barracks for the night.
Once the group reached the barracks, Blair followed the heavy lifting group. While she wasn’t very strong, she figured she could still help. She would probably be the slowest one there, but no one would be able to say she didn’t do anything. As she passed the lounge, she saw McReady already moving a table with Norris and Dutton, and she chuckled when she heard McReady asking herself where in the world it would go.
Everyone who wanted to move went ahead and opened the doors to their rooms. Connant breezed past them and shut his door behind him. Shrugging, Blair went for her own room first. After taking the heavy blankets off her mattress, she was surprised by how easy it was to lift.
When all was said and done, They managed to fit six mattresses in the lounge and three more in the hallway. Blair offered to sleep on a couch so they could have more room, but Garry shot the idea down immediately and took the couch for himself. Standing around a whole bunch of mattresses in a barren lounge, Blair was again struck by how surreal the situation was. Nine adults, having a sleepover to scare away a monster. Eleven if Benning and Clark counted. As rude as Connant was, he was right about the ridiculousness of it all. There was even a division of which side of the room the men and the women slept on, and McReady brought a stuffed animal of all things. Granted, it looked like a round pillow with a cat on it, but still.
“Welp,” McReady said and clapped her hands together, “I’m gonna go get changed. Sweet dreams everyone.” With that parting remark, she walked straight out of the door, Jellybean skipping along behind her. Barclay guffawed, and the mood was lightened for a while.