‘You know,’ said Dakota, ‘I came down here and ran a scan on myself the first chance I had after coming on board. Just to be sure. Anyway, I’m clean.’

The corner of Lamoureaux’s mouth twitched slightly. ‘I did the same thing. Also clean. Did you tell the others that?’

‘You think they’d just accept our word for it?’

They pulled apart as Schiller and Corso re-entered the med-bay.

‘Commander Martinez is on his way here,’ Nancy announced, still glaring at them both. ‘Nobody moves until he gets here. Got that?’

The several minutes before Martinez arrived were some of the most uncomfortable Dakota had ever experienced.

She could have communicated with Lamoureaux via their implants, but her gut told her that Nancy would only become even more paranoid if she guessed what they were doing. So they waited in silence, trying to avoid looking directly at Nancy, while Corso checked data-files on the med-bay’s terminal.

Martinez, when he arrived, studied the ruined equipment with a defeated expression. ‘Well, looks like nobody’s getting scanned any time soon,’ he muttered.

‘Or maybe one of them did it,’ said Nancy, her eyes burning into Dakota’s. ‘It’s what we’re all thinking, isn’t it?’

Dakota did her best not to flinch from her gaze. ‘Or maybe you did it, Nancy,’ she suggested. ‘It’s not like anyone doesn’t know you’ve got a problem with me and Ted.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Nancy snapped, gripping her weapon closer to her chest. ‘Nobody’s going to smash this stuff to pieces unless they were scared of what it might reveal.’

‘Shut the hell up, Nancy,’ growled Martinez. ‘I don’t want to hear one more word of idle speculation.’

Nancy fell silent, but still looked defiant.

‘Lucas,’ Martinez continued, ‘how long would it take for us to build some new diagnostic units?’

‘We can’t,’ Corso replied wearily. ‘I just checked the fabricator databases and the med-bay blueprints have all been wiped as well.’

Nancy’s gaze once again settled on Dakota, as if she had just heard a piece of particularly damning evidence. ‘Well, what do you know,’ she murmured, and stepped back out of the room.

Corso stared after her with an alarmed expression. ‘Eduard—’

‘Don’t worry about her,’ Martinez interrupted quietly. ‘She’s not going to do anything stupid. She’s just scared – like the rest of us.’

Scared people do dangerous things, Dakota almost observed, but thought better of it.

Martinez declared the bay off-limits and sealed the room with Schiller’s help, placing a couple of dedicated sensors on the door that would sound a full alert if anyone tried to enter without permission. Corso and Lamoureaux made their way back to the bridge together.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Lamoureaux pulled Corso to a halt. ‘We have to talk about Whitecloud,’ he said urgently.