The Murderbot Diaries, #6
Fugitive Telemetry
by Martha Wells
Contents
Chapter One
Overview
A dead, unidentified human is found in an unusually safe part of Preservation Station, turning a low-risk public junction into a murder scene. SecUnit’s forensic estimate proves accurate, but Station Security’s slow identification process and delayed Medical response reveal how unprepared the station is for homicide.
Dr. Mensah worries the death could be connected to GrayCris and pushes SecUnit to work with Senior Officer Indah despite mutual distrust. SecUnit agrees, making the investigation both a potential security crisis and a test of whether it can build a functional place for itself on Preservation.
Summary
In a quiet junction of the Preservation Station mall, the SecUnit narrator examines a dead human lying beside a broken feed interface. Using scan data and archived forensic comparisons, SecUnit estimates the time of death at approximately four hours, an assessment that Senior Officer Indah doubts until Security Tech Tural independently reports the same result.
Station Security has not identified the victim because there is no marker, augment, clip, or intact interface to read. Tural explains that a body scan is delayed because the mobile medical scan unit is occupied at a school health check, and because the victim has already been pronounced dead, Medical has downgraded the situation. Indah is frustrated, while Dr. Mensah points out that the station port has been closed and the armed responder deployed, but Security is still only guessing that the victim was a visitor rather than a resident.
Mensah leads Indah and SecUnit away from the scene to speak privately near the Trans Lateral Bypass. Indah asks whether SecUnit has experience with this kind of investigation. SecUnit says it has investigated suspicious fatalities in isolated corporate work installations, and Indah recognizes those places as corporate slave labor camps.
Through a private feed, Mensah asks SecUnit whether the death might involve GrayCris. SecUnit says there is not enough data, but Mensah wants SecUnit to work with Station Security both to investigate the threat and to improve SecUnit’s relationship with Preservation authorities. SecUnit resists because Security distrusts it and lacks experience with corporate attacks, but SecUnit knows cooperation may help it stay in the Preservation Alliance.
SecUnit agrees to assist if Indah increases security around Mensah according to SecUnit’s earlier specifications. Indah says all security levels, including those around the council and Mensah, will be raised because a murderer may be loose on the station. Mensah expects an employment contract, and Indah agrees one will be arranged, joking that she does not need Pin-Lee, the terrifying solicitor, sent after her.
With the arrangement settled, SecUnit asks to examine the dead human again. Indah, tired of SecUnit’s phrasing, asks it to refer to the body as the victim or the deceased during the investigation. As Indah walks away, Mensah silently warns SecUnit to stop provoking her.
Who Appears
- SecUnitNarrator; estimates time of death and reluctantly agrees to assist Station Security’s murder investigation.
- Dr. MensahCouncilor and SecUnit’s ally; pushes for urgency and wants SecUnit involved with Security.
- Senior Officer IndahHead security officer; distrusts SecUnit but accepts its help and raises station security.
- Tech TuralSecurity technician; reports the victim remains unidentified and confirms the time-of-death estimate.
- Pin-LeeMentioned solicitor whose contract expertise protects SecUnit’s rights in potential employment.