January 29, 2363 AIA

Ionu

The sun had set, and the interminable day gave way to night. Creed had long ago left the tamped dirt that marked the developed territory of Ionu. Now he was out in the endless wasteland.

When he’d first arrived on the planet, he’d inspected the orange horizons with dismay. Everything looked so blank and dead. He was lost, and he was far from home.

People had told him Tombstone was different.

On several occasions, he’d kicked himself for not asking for a few more details.

Within a month, he’d learned to differentiate one land mass from another, so the eerie illusion of the landscape’s uniformity dissolved. He was still far from home, but at least he no longer felt lost.

He heard footsteps off to his side and stopped.

Ionu had no moon, but the galaxy’s arms, drifting nearby, created two crossed belts of glowing stars that filled the sky. Since the small settlement bled hardly any light pollution, it was easy for him to see the figure approaching him.

It was Wyss.

With no threat of sunburn and no uniform requirements, she’d decided to wear a tank top and short shorts. A familiar sense of jealousy pricked him. Every time he saw her like that, he became keenly aware of how heavy his t-shirt and long pants were. Like him, she was carrying a bag slung over one shoulder.

She walked up to him and passed by without a word. Creed smiled and fell in step beside her.

He was the one that broke the silence. “I don’t think your boss would be happy if he knew what you were doing.”

“As much as I respect and admire Dr. Davis, he doesn’t get to tell me what to do with my weekends.”

“You know, I don’t think he likes me much.”

“He doesn’t like anyone he has to fix up more than three times.”

“Except for Fenn?”

“Except for Fenn.”

“Is that why you’re the one who treats me now?”

Wyss flashed him one of her broad smiles. “Maybe I’m the only one that thinks you’re worth saving. But, of course, you always take me to the most romantic places.”

Creed lowered his head to hide his blush. He knew she said things like that to get a reaction out of him, and he hated to reward the behavior.

As they got close to the ridge, the black mass blocked out most of the stars. They stopped in its shadow. Wyss knelt down to rummage in her bag while Creed scanned the landscape behind them. On the horizon, he could see the soft glow of the settlement. Nothing moved between him and it.

When Eve stood up, she passed him a surgical mask and some gloves. He put them on while she pulled out a similar set for herself. Once they were ready, they scrambled up the short climb and stood at the top of the ridge.

There, in the distance, a pile of corpses slowly mummified in the Ionu heat.

[https://i.imgur.com/6iM8gcI.png]

They started with the photos. No flash.

Then they lifted away the bodies to scour the pile for new offerings. When they found them, they lined them up in rows.

Creed would take samples of DNA. Wyss searched for any signs of why they died. All their notes were kept on a clipboard. The paper was so gritty with dust, the pen crackled whenever they wrote.

They worked mostly in silence. When they had to speak, they muttered to each other. Every few minutes, the deputy would scan the ridge for any indication that someone might be watching.

“Another flu-20,” Eve said.

Creed looked down at her.

She sighed. “That’s the fifth one. The second tonight. The outbreak’s getting worse.”

“You didn’t write that down.”

“I don’t have proof, Tyler. I’m guessing based on their state of dehydration and the flecks of matter at the edges of their nose and mouth.”

Creed took a deep breath to calm his stomach. Someday he’d learn not to ask her to explain.

“Paper, please,” she said.

The deputy passed her the pen and clipboard.

As she wrote, she said, “We finally had an Ashtell employee come in. He hasn’t been off-world in over five years, but the test was positive for the virus.”

“Can you get me his name?”

Their protective suits were loose enough it made reading body language difficult, but Creed thought he saw her shoulders drop.

“I don’t think so, Tyler,” she said. “He came in to the day crew. I only learned about it by hanging around the coffeepot.” She tapped the pen on the edge of the clipboard. “I guess if I—”

“No.”

When she stood to face him, her keen blue eyes met his.

“I mean, please, no.”

Her eyes crinkled at the edges. “Oh? Look who can learn his manners.” She turned and put the clipboard down on the ground. “But I may have to. Those people need help, and he’ll know where they’re hiding.”

“Evie, if you do that, they’ll know what you’re up to. At best, they fire you. At worst, I come out here and find you on the heap.”

She stared at the body by her feet.

“Please,” Creed said.

More silence.

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“Fine,” Eve said. “You’re right.”

Tyler let out his breath for the first time in what felt like an hour.

Eve raised her eyes to the empty desert. “I hate this.”

There was nothing to say to that.

“Let’s move on,” she said as she knelt down by the next corpse.

Later, as Creed was writing down what she dictated, he stopped with the pen frozen mid-word. “Say that again.”

“What?”

“The wound.”

“…There’s a wound to his right elbow?”

“No,” Creed growled. “No, no, no.” He crouched down by the body.

Wyss backed up to give him room. “You know him?”

Creed checked the corpse’s face, then turned over the arm. “His name was Yamen Okoth”

“A friend?”

“Hardly. We got a sample of his DNA. The results came back today. He was more precious than a friend. He was a known enemy—one we could prove was at the scene of a crime.”

“And that’s why he’s here?”

The deputy retrieved the clipboard and stood up. “Check the back of his neck.”

Wyss carefully turned Okoth’s shoulder enough she could examine the base of his skull. His hair was too dark and the light was too dim; she had to feel for the entrance wound with her fingers.

“He was assassinated,” she said.

Creed went back to writing.

Hours later, they finished. They consulted the photos and replaced the bodies as close to their original positions as possible. It was Creed’s job to arrange the limbs. Wyss never said anything, but Creed knew she turned away so she wouldn’t have to watch. While he did that, she focused on decontaminating the things they’d brought with them.

When they were clear of the heap, they stripped off their suits and stuffed them into a containment bag.

They returned to the ridge. Wyss waited near the top until Creed motioned to her, then they quickly cleared the ridgeline, only returning to a sedate walk once they were hidden by the silhouette of the hill.

Their return to town was silent—not out of caution, but because neither felt like talking. They never did.

As they got further into town, their reticence, which had seemed so natural out in the wasteland, felt more and more out of place. The boisterous noise of the celebrations grew around them. The only thing to celebrate on Ionu was that the sun had gone down, but since it went down every day, the bars were open every night.

“Tutear?” Creed asked.

Wyss pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and nodded.

Tutear wasn’t a bar. It was a small restaurant. That was one of the things Creed liked most about it. The other was that he knew the owner, and the owner knew how to keep his mouth shut. Sebastian welcomed them and led them back to the table in the furthest corner. Creed sat so he could see the door.

“Your regulars?” Sebastian asked.

“Please,” Wyss said.

Sebastian waited until Creed was watching him, then rolled his eyes with a you-can’t-help-a-fool smirk. He left them alone.

“What was that about?” Eve asked.

Creed had to clear his throat before he could explain. “He took me aside last time we were here and told me I should be ordering wine.”

There was a pause, then a huge smile broke over Eve’s face. “I told you people would talk! Did he tell you to be more charming too?”

“No.” Creed’s cheeks were red again. He damned them as traitors. “But he did tell me to lean in more and ask you questions because women like to talk.”

“He’s not wrong. You’ll have to be careful, Tyler, or I’m going to ruin your reputation.”

“You know I’m more worried about you.”

The deputy’s statement was blunt, and his voice was low and serious. The easy mood between them sobered.

Sebastian returned with their drinks. “Two icy beers and two frozen glasses.”

Four napkins were expertly flicked onto the table. The moment he put down the glasses and bottles, they were soaked with condensation.

“My lady.” He bowed as he presented Wyss with the bottle opener.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Enjoy.”

He bowed again as he left.

“I like him,” Eve said.

Whenever Eve opened her bottle, she always made the same ridiculous face, bracing herself for the spurt of air that would spit out of the crack. Creed had to cover his mouth so she wouldn’t see his smile.

She passed him the bottle opener and started pouring her drink.

“Evie?”

She looked up.

Creed had already opened his bottle and set aside the lid. He didn’t look at her, but, as he transferred his beer, he said, “Why did Dr. Davis think what happen to us was his fault?”

Eve leaned forward to whisper, “Tyler, I’m not sure that’s the kind of question Sebastian meant you to ask.”

Creed’s smile was twisted with frustration. He shook his head, but it was too late. Wyss had already seen his chest shaking with suppressed laughter.

She leaned back in her chair and finished pouring her drink. “That sounded like a serious question.”

“It was a serious question.”

“Then you’re asking me as the deputy. What are my rights again? Do you have to arrest me?”

“Eve.”

He’d managed to turn her name into a one-word caution. Clearly, he was being more serious than normal.

She sighed. “He feels responsible for everything that happens to Fenn.”

Tyler hadn’t been expecting that. He sipped his beer to give himself a moment to catch up, then returned his drink to the table. “How does he figure that?”

“He’s the one that told Fenn what was going on.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got here after you, Tyler. The best I can give you is pieces of a second-hand story I picked up from Davis.”

“It’s better than nothing.”

“If that’s what you want.” She picked at the label of her empty bottle. “You know, Davis. He’s a good doctor, but he can be rude, and he’s got nothing to lose, so he says whatever he wants, and he’s never liked what’s happening here. Late one night, the new sheriff came in for his standard check-in. As Davis was looking him over, he made a couple of snide remarks.”

“Why?”

Wyss tilted her head and gave Creed a look of pure pity—after all, it would be hard to go through life being that stupid.

Comprehension dawned. “He thought Fenn was one of them?”

“Yes.”

“Were the other sheriffs in on it?”

“Yes. At least according to Davis. But they hadn’t appointed Fenn the normal way. Davis still can’t figure out how he wound up here.”

Wyss eyed the deputy, but if Creed knew anything, he wasn’t giving it away.

“What happened?” Creed asked.

“Well, Fenn had no idea what Davis meant, but he didn’t say anything. You know him. He probably stored it away to think about it.”

Creed nodded. That sounded exactly like what Jun Fenn would do.

She went on, “But he learned something from it all. He knew that Davis would talk about things no one else would.”

The deputy leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He felt as if he was beginning to understand.

Wyss said, “Fenn showed up one day with a death certificate—not one of Davis’s—but he asked him why it wasn’t filled out properly. Dr. Davis said something about how Fenn should know better than to ask that question, and Fenn asked him why.”

“That’s when Davis learned Fenn wasn’t a stooge,” Creed said.

“When Davis figured out Fenn didn’t know anything,” Eve said, “he took him out for a drink and explained the situation. Davis told him everything he knew, everything he suspected—abuse, prostitution, drugs, corruption, everything—only, Fenn didn’t take it as a warning.”

“Not him.” Tyler rubbed his eyes. “He was probably taking notes for his to-do list.” The deputy took a drink from his glass, then returned it to the napkin. “Eve, why are you here?”

“That’s rude. You asked me here, you know.”

He gave her a reproachful look. “Why are you here on Ionu?”

She put her arms on the table. “You know why I’m here, Tyler Creed.”

The deputy felt his hands grow cold at the memory.

Eve was always so bright and confident, when you thought of her, you couldn’t picture her without a smile. But on that night, he’d tackled her, throwing the crook of his elbow over her mask to mute her wail. It was a sound he’d never forget. It was so savage and painful that he felt his own heart ache, as if wounded by empathy.

She’d found her brother. She could still recognize his desiccated body despite the fact he’d been missing for over a year.

Creed forced his mind back to the present. “Then why are you still here, Wyss? If Davis tries to warn Fenn, he must lecture you.”

“He gave up. Now all he does is yell at me. ‘Are you still here, stupid?’”

Tyler almost laughed.

Eve took a drink of beer. “There are people here that need my help. Including you.”

“I was getting by fine—”

Wyss let out a dramatic groan and pushed away from the table. “Oh, whine, whine, whine.” She snatched up her glass, gulped down most of its contents, then dropped it back to the table with a loud thunk. “You all sound the same, did you know that? I’m a big girl, Tyler. I can decide what to do with my life. Besides, you have no right to be questioning my motives.”

“Oh?”

“If you do, I might start asking about yours.” She gave him a challenging look, then sipped what was left in her glass.

Creed tried to hide his discomfort by muttering, “You and your lost causes.”

“You’re one to talk.”

He pretended not to hear her. They knew what their bill would be, so they left the coins on the table and departed.

As they walked along the street, Wyss saw Creed run a hand through his dusty hair until it got caught in a knot.

“You look tired,” she said softly.

He pulled his fingers free. “It’s been a long night.”

“Really? I’m barely waking up.”

“You work the night shift. You probably only got up a few hours ago.”

“Yeah,” she said with a smile. “Hey, Tyler, you don’t have to walk me home.”

“Evie, you can let me walk you home, or I can follow you.”

“You and Fenn have been making a difference, you know. Things are a lot safer now.”

“Good. But we’re not done yet.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I know.”