Personal Log 84: 14th - 20th December, 3301
06 Oct 2016Jemine Caesar
14th - 20th December, 3301 I had several more encounters with the blonde woman. Her name was Roxanne Kelly, and she was the prison bully. Nothing too serious; snide comments, the odd shove in the back when the wardens weren't looking, that sort of thing. She seemed to prey on new arrivals. I did my best to stay out of her way.
There had still been no word from Sam. All sorts of thoughts ran around inside my head, and I was scared that he had decided enough was enough and left me. So it was with enormous relief that I received a k-cast from him on December 16th. Jenna had given birth by elective caesarean on December 13th, to a baby girl, weighing 3.64kg, to be named Isla Rebekka. Andrew was more than glad that the baby had been born at this time, as the miners' strike has intensified a little; Sam had been dispatched to deal with matters on the surface of Beta Hydri 7.
Sam then told me he had spoken with Admiral Remi, who was using his influence to negotiate for my eventual sentencing. "The Federal authorities on Mars are somewhat narked off about the way your case is being handled," said Sam, "so it may yet be thrown out even before it reaches a judge."
Sam's message contained one more piece of incredible information. "Aoife Hohnlein went missing this morning, and the New York police have found a body a few kilometres from one of JG Industries' manufacturing plants. It could be Aoife."
*****
The next day, the 17th, I was visited by Detective Rooke from the New York Police. She brought me some astonishing news.
The woman's body found near one of JG Industries' manufacturing plants was indeed Aoife Hohnlein. She had been shot in the head at point blank range. The pistol was found next to her body. Time of death was sometime after midnight, in the early hours of 16th December.
When detectives searched Aoife's Manhattan apartment, they found an entry on her dataslate. Detective Rooke told me it was Aoife's full confession to the murder of John Graham.
In it, Aoife said she had always loved Graham, but had murdered him in a fit of jealous rage over his proposal of marriage to me. When Graham and I returned to Battery Park in the Camilla back in June, Aoife had been waiting. She had persuaded Graham to take her out to sea, and then murdered him. After dumping his body overboard, she had radioed for help, giving my name to the Coastguard Officer in an attempt to implicate me. Finally, unable to live with the guilt any longer, she killed herself.
The police were satisfied, since Aoife's confession contained certain details which were never made public. The case against me had been dropped.
I was free.
*****
I was released from prison later the same day, once the prison authorities had completed the necessary datawork. I was happy to get out of the orange prison jumpsuit and into my own clothes again. Then I spent a few hours wandering around a chilly New York City. I took a walk down to Battery Park, half expecting to see the Camilla, John Graham's skimmer, moored at the dock. Thankfully it was not there. A little later I strolled into Central Park. I stood at the spot in Shakespeare Garden where, in July, I had met Aoife Hohnlein. Why had she confessed to Graham's murder, and then killed herself? It didn't make sense.
I caught a shuttle to Abraham Lincoln starport, where I reclaimed The Last Thing I Do from the security compound. Three friend requests had come in from commanders newly registered on the Pilot's Federation social media site; their names were Meihemu, Kaparov, and Chiral. I accepted all three. Then, once the pre-flight check was done, I left the starport and set course for Beta Hydri.
*****
I had never been so happy to see Sam. We were at the Rose, along with Jenna and her baby. "Hello, Isla Rebekka!" I said, taking the child in my arms.
"Oh, Sam! Isn't she adorable? Look, she has Jenna's eyes! Oh, she's gorgeous!"
Sam smiled. "Yes," he agreed, "She really is her parents' child isn't she? And Jenna's already been broaching the idea of having us do some babysitting from time to time!"
Later, when Sam and I were alone, conversation turned to the puzzle of Aoife Hohnlein's confession. "I don't understand," I said. "Aoife told me she hated John Graham for the way he treated her. Maybe she finally decided she couldn't bear to live without him, and concocted the murder confession out of some mad devotion. We'll probably never know. Love is a strange thing..."
Sam nodded. "I think," he said, "that Aoife was being used as something of a pawn by John Graham Senior. It's purely speculation, you understand. The human mind is a complex instrument after all."
I realised I had been toying unconsciously with my locket, and thought about the message it contained from mama.
"Sam," I said. "I've made a decision. I'm going to LHS 3447-A5. I have to tell my real mother that I know the truth of my birth."