Jita Ripper - Part 6 - Two's Company, Three's a Party

Inspector Avi was pondering over the star maps. He'd come so close. He had picked the right station last time, he'd just been too late. Whilst he was sat in the bar looking for the perp, a poor woman had probably been begging for her life as that sicko cut her to ribbons. Just 24 hours, if he'd been 24 hours earlier they'd have caught him and she needn't have died.

The perp was clearly using the Interbus shuttle network. There were three stations he might strike in next and the Inspector had officers in every bar matching the profile. This time they'd got ahead of him. This time they'd get him. He'd seconded attractive female officers from anywhere he could. Even from other forces. They were dressed to impress and told to work on anyone who looked like a capsuleer. Each bar had a SWAT team assigned to it. They would take him down before the officer was in any real danger.

Only one thing bothered him. The last victim was found in the garbage hold of the starship hanger. All the previous victims had been found in living quarters. Either their own or one rented by the perp. Why did he dump the last body in that fashion?

Inspector Avi went back to the lab results from the last victim that he was so close to saving. Something caught his eye. The blood-work showed elevated O2 content. He hit the comm channel for the lab.

"Hi Mike, this is Avi, got a sec"

"Sure Inspector. What do you need."

"The last victim. Her blood O2 level was up around 23%. That's not normal is it?"

"Well depends. Medical workers commonly have that after a day’s work if they have been working in O2 rich environments, however it usually drops after an hour. Also some starship crews will be up there. Oh and also welding crews using...."

"Sorry Mike, can I stop you there. You said some starship crews?"

"Yeah. Not your average industrial as they are usually lower O2 content than regular air. High performance ships have a higher O2 content with a slight reduction in atmospheric pressure. That gives the crew the boost of enriched air without the problems with O2 poisoning over a long period."

"O2 poisoning?"

"Yes, it’s not a common known fact but oxygen can be poisonous to humans. If you breathe too high an O2 content for too long at too high a partial pressure then it can poison your central nervous system. The high end ships that need crews on peak performance drop the atmospheric pressure and increase the O2 content. That stops any problems with CNS poisoning but still gives the crews the boost of enriched air"

"You said only on high end ships?"

"Yeah, you only get that sort of atmosphere processing on top flight Navy ships..... oh and the larger capsuleer vessels such as battlecruisers and battleships."

Avi was suddenly distracted, an alarm had gone off at his workstation. The alarm could only signify one thing. One of the bait officers had made contact.

"Sorry Mike, got to go" Avi aborted the call and rushed to his desk.

-o0o-

Marcus smiled as he sipped his drink in the crowded bar. This was going to be a good one.

"So what do you say we ditch this bar and head back to my vessel to really start the party? Would you like to see my enormous warship?"

The reply was just a very girly giggle.

Marcus signalled the waiter for the bill and prepared to leave the bar.

-o0o-

Inspector Avi sat transfixed at the comm station in his office. Given that there were multiple possible target stations he had stayed back at base in case he was at the wrong one. One of the bait officers had just pressed the warning button that was hidden in her purse. It signalled that she’d made contact and was leaving the bar.

"Tac Team 4 get in position. She's leaving the bar now with him. Security feed has eyes. They are heading your way Tac Team 4. Stand by."

They'd got him!

"They are heading for the elevator. We need this guy alive Tac Team 4. Don't make this personal. Remember he has a friendly with him. 50m from the corner. 25m, get ready, 5m!"

Officer Constance rounded the corridor corner with the man from the bar. As they turned she hiked up her cocktail dress to free her legs and dived to the side. The man stood there gobsmacked as five SWAT officers in intimidating tactical masks yelled at him to lay face down on the floor as the laser-sights from their carbine-blasters danced across his chest.

The man dropped to his knees, a look of sheer terror on his face. One of the Caldari SWAT team approached and pressed him face down onto the cold space station floor.

"This is Tac Team 4. Suspect apprehended!"

-o0o-

Elena started to come around. Her head was fuzzy and it felt like the room was spinning. She dare not open her eyes as she thought she might throw up. She thought back to the previous night. She'd been drinking, but not this much. Her and her friend had met a man, a capsuleer. He'd invited them both for drinks on-board his ship! They'd been so excited. They'd partied the night through in that ship. "Oh god" she thought as she remembered what had happened. “How am I going to face Yammi again after last night”? She recalled putting on a show for the capsuleer, her and her best friend together.

Her body felt numb but there was an ache in her arms. She tried to move them but she couldn't. Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her arm and sensations and feel flooded back as a stim-stick was injected into her. She suddenly realised she was hanging by her wrists. She opened her eyes and saw Yammi, also hanging by her wrists, staring back at her in sheer terror.

The ‘capsuleer’ suddenly appeared between them. He held a long serrated knife in his hand. He looked at both girls.

"Shall we REALLY get the party started ladies?"

-o0o-

"He's a wanna-be sir. A fake."

"Are you sure?" asked Inspector Avi

"100%" replied Officer Constance over the vid-call, she was still wearing the cocktail dress "The imitation implants are of a very low quality, the glue doesn't match our samples and he's got a rock solid alibi for the previous murders. He's a miner and his company has provided us movement tracking for him for the last two months at the colony he works. As he’s a rock jockey he’s surgically implanted with a locator-beacon in case of an accident so they can find him."

"Shit!" exclaimed Avi "What the frack was he doing?"

"Apparently he'd heard parts of the story on a pirate news station. He thought he could get some classy action above his station by pretending to be a capsuleer too. I doubt murder was on his mind, just bedding some hot woman who thought he was a pod jockey."

"You know, that’s the third this week" Avi sighed "Book him for wasting Police time and let’s move on"

-o0o-

Macrus lifted the lifeless head of Yammi by the chin so she was facing Elena.

"You know what? I think she's had too much fun for one night" Marcus laughed.

Elena was screaming, she'd been screaming for an hour straight as she'd been forced to watch him mutilate and kill her best friend. He’d spared her face, but her body was a mess. The only thing he had done to her head was to gouge out one of her eyeballs so she could “have a better view of what was happening down below”. The eye hung there on her cheek suspended by the optic nerve.

Marcus retrieved a jar with preservative and held it under the eye as he cut the optic nerve with the knife. The eyeball fell into the jar with a plop. Elena threw up again.

"Right she’s finished with. One down, one to go!" he said cheerily “So what should I take from you? May be an eye too? Oh don’t worry, I don’t have to decide now. We’ve got hours of fun together before I need to choose!”

Elena screamed at the top of her lungs as Marcus approached her with his bloodied knife held in front of him.