The Cosmonaut's Requiem

The red telephone on the console sits silent—a direct line to the Kremlin that delivered only devastating news. Major Yuri Volkov, Hero of the Soviet Union, is dead. Two hundred kilometers above Earth, orbiting in the classified Soyuz-23 mission, the decorated cosmonaut asphyxiated when his oxygen supply was sabotaged. In the tense corridors of Soviet mission control, someone ensured that Volkov would never return from the stars. The final medical telemetry transmitted before his death reveals the horrifying progression of oxygen deprivation. The mission schedule and activity log pinpoint the exact moment disaster struck on day twelve. His pre-flight medical records show he was in perfect health—this was no accident.

Five individuals had the access, knowledge, and opportunity to commit this crime: Ekaterina Sokolova, the medical officer; Misha, the grizzled communications specialist; Dmitri, the ever-watchful political officer; Galina, the telemetry analyst; and Viktor, the veteran cosmonaut now confined to ground control. In this world of classified secrets and Cold War paranoia, trust is a luxury no one can afford. Someone in this room is a murderer. Can you uncover who turned the cosmos into a tomb?