Chapter 9

**Chapter 9** is the ninth chapter of the *Astra Lost in Space* manga and the second chapter of the Shummoor Arc.

## Synopsis

Kanata's revelation stuns the crew into a dead silence. When he repeats the sentence again -- "Put them in B-5, and we'll eliminate them all" -- Quitterie demands that Funicia promise that she is not lying, and Funicia repeats that she listened intently to the conversation between the head of the orphanage and the mysterious man in sunglasses, leaving no doubt that Kanata's belief is true. He further cites the numerous close calls they have had on their journey so far that have kept them alive: all of them having their helmets up when the orb first attacked them, the odd presence of the *Astra* so close by, Zack having a list of habitable planets to chart them a course home. Lacking even one of those coincidences, Kanata states, they would all be dead, making it possible that someone has arranged to have them killed and intends to paint their deaths as an accident.

Charce and Zack mention that both Aries and Funicia, as they have already said themselves, recently underwent sudden changes in their lives; Aries transferred to Caird High School after suddenly being granted a scholarship, while Funicia was adopted almost immediately after the death of her mother. Thoroughly shaken by the implications of the conversation, Quitterie snaps, screaming that she doesn't know why anyone would want her dead, a question equally unanswerable by any of the others.

Aries proposes they focus first on who is responsible, rather than why they are being targeted. Luca posits that they would have to be someone with ties to the school itself, capable of arranging which individuals were placed in each group and bringing Aries to the school by having her transferred. Ulgar, leaning against the lounge door, mentions that his father is Caird's vice principal, another piece of the puzzle that, having fallen perfectly into place, leaves the rest of the crew shocked again. Ulgar adds that his father is easily embarrassed by Ulgar's perceived lack of performance, and that it wouldn't surprise him to find that his father wanted him dead. Charce proposes they leave speculation out of their theories for the moment, and, at Zack's prompting, Kanata reveals the information that only the two of them have known: that someone on the crew sabotaged the communications system, and that that person, whoever they are, is likely conspiring to murder all of them.

More stunned disbelief follows. By this time, Quitterie is in the midst of a mental break; screaming again, she demands that the complicit individual reveal themselves immediately. Aries tries to calm her, but Quitterie, now deeply suspicious of everyone, reels backward, openly inviting the possibility that Aries is the culprit. A tense silence follows, as Aries and Quitterie stare at each other and the rest of the crew looks on, with Kanata remarking to himself that no one is capable at the moment of vilifying or exonerating themselves. The tension breaks when Aries' stomach gurgles, and she uses the embarrassing moment to ask everyone to eat something, calm down, and talk their situation over, a proposal that the group accepts and for which Kanata is deeply thankful, albeit silently.

As they eat, a much calmer Quitterie apologizes to Aries for her outburst, and the general mood of the whole group is much lighter. In his mind, Kanata considers Ulgar's isolationist behavior with suspicion before addressing the group, asking if anyone has any ideas or clues to offer as to why they would be worth killing. No one has any solid leads, since no one has any information or details that all of them have in common. Aries turns the group's attention to the issue of the orb: if the orb was a part of the plot, the culprit was sucked into space with the rest of them, raising the question of how the culprit intended to get home. Luca posits that the *Astra* was intended to be an escape craft for the culprit, but Aries shuts the idea down, stating that the ship was not equipped for long-distance travel even before the comm system was sabotaged. When Ulgar then asks how the culprit intended to return home, Aries cautiously suggests that the culprit may have been meant to die along with the rest of the group.

Aries' suggestion leads Zack to point out that if the suspect, whoever they are, was supposed to die, then they may make further attempts to finish the job they started. Kanata then voices the fact that killing the rest of the crew is as easy as damaging the *Astra* so that they are stranded in space. No sooner has he said this than the water distributor, sitting near the wall behind Funicia and Zack and to the right of Ulgar, explodes, sending a spray of water flooding into the room. As the crew dashes away from the broken distributor, the room's atmosphere rapidly begins venting into the vacuum of space through a tiny hole that has been punched in the hull.

## Characters

* Funicia Raffaeli
* Quitterie Raffaeli
* Kanata Hoshijima
* Yun-Hua Lu
* Aries Spring
* Luca Esposito
* Charce Lacroix
* Zack Walker
* Ulgar Zweig