It took less than a minute for McReady to carry out the captain’s orders. Soon enough, she called back to confirm things with Garry.

“Everyone’s headed to the cafe, sir. Also, I’m looking through the camera feeds, and Harvey passed by the southeast camera around 45 minutes ago. At that time, I was with Blair and she hasn’t left my sight since then.” McReady sounded somber even through the low-quality audio transmission. Blair was almost relieved that there was proof that she didn’t do this, but it was hard to find even a shred of positivity in this situation.

“Noted. I’ll meet up with you and the rest of the crew in a few minutes, Blair and I need to inspect the body.” Garry hung up and looked to Blair for an assessment.

“I’m not sure what there is to inspect. I mean, it’s obvious a mimic did this.” Blair gestured towards what was left of Harvey. No human would have killed someone and only left half of them. Besides, the captain and the lieutenant were the only ones with access to any weapon, and there wasn’t anything that could do this. “There has to be another onsite. Dammit, where did it come from?”

“You said you killed the one that attacked you, right?”

“Yes. If it was alive, it had a whole night to kill me while I was out cold, but it was still motionless by the time I woke up. It couldn’t have been that one.”

Garry nodded and turned around, unable to look at the body any longer. “Then there’s a chance this thing doesn’t know about you. Will you be able to tell it apart from the crew?”

“I have no idea. If I can, I will let you know, but chances are we have to find another way to tell it apart.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Garry started walking in the direction of the cafeteria where everyone was probably already gathered.

“Wait.” Blair stood but didn’t follow him just yet. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. “What are we going to do about the body? We can’t just leave it- no, we can’t just leave him here.”

Garry didn’t move, and Blair felt like he was staring into her soul. Did she say something wrong? With his helmet on, Blair had nothing to indicate what he was thinking. Before she could ask, Garry finally responded. “We can bury him later. Right now, I have to make sure the people who are still alive don’t start a panic.”

Blair thought that was a reasonable answer. If she hadn’t already experienced a lot of messed-up stuff today, she probably would have been no better off than Benning was when she arrived. Looking at the body one last time, she followed the captain to the cafeteria.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Inside, the atmosphere was thick and heavy. People were scattered across the tables, murmuring about what had happened. Doctor Copper, who was seated closest to the airlock, looked up when they entered.

“Captain, where’s Harvey?” Blair noticed his eyes were wet, and she belatedly remembered that Harvey and Copper were close friends. Garry simply shook his head before going to find a seat where everyone could see him. Copper looked devastated, but he didn’t make a sound. Like a wave, the whispers stopped when the crew saw their captain’s response. People started looking between Garry, Copper, and Blair. Seeing people’s attentions turn to her, Blair rushed to find a seat. She ended up sitting down next to McReady, as she was the only person Blair felt close enough to be comfortable next to.

Garry opened up a folding chair at the front of the cafeteria and sat down. For once, he was slouching with his hands clasped in front of him.

“Harvey is dead.”

There was an uproar. Barclay and a few of the more vocal crew members stood up from their seats, exclaiming things like “No way!” and “Impossible!”

“Quiet! Everybody sit down.” They complied, and Garry continued, louder this time. “Benning and Clark found his body east of the labs, near the animal pen. I have reason to believe that the killer is one of us.”

Everyone shifted a little in their seats and looked around them. Benning, who was huddled together with Clark, looked confused. “Captain, how can that be? The b-body, it was- there was only- who would do such a thing?” Benning stuttered, and the people who didn’t know what was going on were even further confused.

“There was only half of Harvey left.” Clark finished for Benning, and her voice carried through the room even though it was just barely over a whisper.

“Yes, we’ll get to that in a bit. It may seem a bit far-fetched, but Blair and I have just about figured out what happened.” He locked eyes with Blair and nodded at her. Blair broke out into a cold sweat when every pair of eyes in the room landed on her, but she stood anyway.

“Uhh, yes. Last night, I discovered a creature that can change its shape at will. I haven’t been able to figure out much yet, but from what I can tell, it has the ability to look almost identical to other creatures. Captain Garry and I think that a mimic, for lack of a better term, could have replaced one of us.”

“Are you saying that something ATE Harvey?” Copper asked. “What the hell?”

Blair nodded. “I saw Harvey’s body. It’s the only explanation.” Blair sat back down after she said her piece.

Connant, the astrophysicist, let out a hysterical bark of laughter. “This has gotta be a joke right? Seriously, someone’s dead and all you can say is ‘a monster got him’?”

“This isn’t a joke, Connant.” McReady interrupted. “Why in the world would we joke at a time like this?”

“I don’t know, this is just… surreal.” Connant shut up and put his head in his hands.

“I believe it. I’ve seen some crazy things outside, a shapeshifting people-eater isn’t that far-fetched.” Van Wall remarked. There was silence, and Blair could almost hear the gears turning in people’s heads. As soon as Connant registered what Van Wall said, he shot up like a rocket and scrambled away from Van Wall.

“It's him! He’s the one that goes out to capture those weird animals all the time, it’s gotta be him!” Connant squealed as he hit the back wall. Benning and Dutton seemed to think the same thing and scooted down the table to put some distance between them. Van Wall suddenly realized the implications of what he said and started to object. Dr. Copper didn’t move, but he narrowed his eyes at Connant.

“Awfully quick to start pointing fingers, huh Connant?” The doctor’s voice was cold and sharp.

“Enough!” Garry interjected. “I understand that this is very stressful, and we are all scared for our lives here, but now is not the time to turn on each other. If we start killing each other on a whim, pretty soon there won’t be anyone left for this thing to kill.”

Blair looked nervously between Garry and McReady. If she isn’t careful, that could be her receiving suspicion. It would be completely warranted, but she was no killer. She was lucky to have people watching her back, but she couldn’t relax until the mimic was caught.