Night hung heavy over Legionopolis, like an old blanket doing its best to the keep the city covered against the bitter cold December wind cutting through the streets.
Through that unforgiving night, a solitary figure walked, holding close to whatever errant shadows offered themselves, making his way down the boulevard toward the towering building before him. A step at a time, he lurched forward with an odd gait, one shoulder hunched and his arm held tightly to his body.
Crossing the street toward the front doors of the building, suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a transport vehicle barreled around the corner. A horrible grinding echoed down the empty street as the driver quickly fired the reverse thrusters, stopping just inches from the man.
"Hey!" the driver shouted out, "Watch where you're walking! You trying to get yourself killed?"
As through he was only now noticing him, the man raised his bleary eyes toward the driver and - without saying a word - just continued walking.
"Moron!' the driver shouted, as he drove off in a rage.
Reaching the front door of the building, the man took a deep breath to gather his strength, then rapped on the polymer window.
"Sorry... " the elderly watchman shouted out, walking toward the door, annoyed that he had to interrupt the holo-news program he was watching, "...we're closed. You'll have to come back in the morni... oh!"
Suddenly recognizing the man, the watchman typed in the internal security code as the air-locked doors shushed open. "Heh. Didn't recognize you for a second there, Mr. Nihil. Did you forget your security code?"
"Something like that," Ex all but grunted.
"You working late tonight?"
"Late enough," Ex nodded toward the lift, "Come on... let's ride."
The two made their way inside of the airlift as the watchman said, "Level 22." He took in Ex's appearance. "Say... you don't look so hot, Mr. Nihil... sort of all in."
"I'm fine."
"The holo business keeping you pretty busy, eh?" Getting no response, he continued on, "I used to be in the holos myself... long time ago, though. More your dad's era, I'd think. I had to give it all up, though, on account of my rheumatism."
"Is that right?" Ex said, not really listening.
The lift came to a rest, as the watchman took the hint. "Here you are, sir... Level 22.'
Exnihil exited the lift and stumbled toward his office, breathing a sigh of relief that he was finally alone. Loosening his coat, he all but collapsed into his office chair.
Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, he reached inside of his coat for a package of Cargitte trigarettes. He winced, as the movement caused his shirt to peel away from his skin, the semi-congealed blood of his wound opening up again and starting to bleed anew.
Tossing the packet on the desk, with his one good arm he shook a trigarette free and brought it to his lips. With a laborious effort, he lit it and breathed in deeply. He thought for a moment and then, with sudden determination, he reached across and flipped on his Omnicon. It came to life with a broadcasted voice.
"... all enjoying this holiday season, and keep it tuned right here. Up next: Kent Shakespeare's annual holiday toas..."
Ex hit the screen to shut off the broadcast and switch to record mode. He took another drag from his trigarette and, with a deep sigh, began speaking.
"Communique.
"December 25th, 3011.
"Exnihil to Legion World Security Office, Matlock.
"Dear Matt,
"I suppose you'll be wondering why I'm bothering to record this at all. Least of all to you. By the time you get this message I'll be long gone, anyway. Oh... not in the way your suspects usually try to go... taking it on the lam... I'm talking about a much longer trip... the kind where you don't need any ticket, and you definitely don't carry any baggage.
"I guess in some ways that will make your job easier. If you wanted, you could delete this message altogether. Pretend it never existed and tie up your case in a neat little bow... special delivery, R.I.P.
"But you wouldn't play it that way... of anybody here, I know you wouldn't... and that's why I I felt I owed you this much. Owed you the truth.
"You think you're a pretty hotshot detective... and maybe you are. You called it from the beginning. You said it was a conspiracy: check. You said it went deeper than anybody could see: check. You said it was murder... check."
Ex went to take a drag from his trigarette and suddenly realized it had gone out. He tossed it to the side and resumed.
"But you made a mistake, Matt. When it came to picking the killer, you picked the wrong guy. Oh, I know what you're going to say... that it's the same song I've been singing since Day One, and you're right. But sometimes... sometimes the truth can be the saddest song you'll ever play.
"I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you that my hands are totally clean... far from it. Sure... I wanted something, the same as anyone else. I was in it for two of the oldest reasons there are. I was in it for the money... and I was in it for a girl.
"Well... I didn't get the money. And... as you probably know better than anyone else... I didn't get the girl.
"It all started this past August..."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 1
It was August 13th, 3011 to be exact.
Klordny.
That night when everybody and their brother takes to the streets, throwing back a few - and throwing out their inhibitions - supposedly in the name of "Freedom, Friendship and Frunt".
Well... I've learned a few things over the years: Nothing comes for free; a friend is just a word for somebody who wants something from you; and frunt? Well... the less said about that piece of nonsense, the better.
No - for me - Klordny has always been about one thing, and one thing only: closing the deal.
It's a night to see and be seen. A time to rub elbows with those people who have more money then sense, and try to get them to open up those purse strings just long enough to keep Exnihil Productions running for another year.
Sometimes, it's an easy job. Sometimes, you meet the ones going on about the "art" of it all. Saps, we call 'em. All that type really wants is to impress the other saps when their name shows up in the credits of some documentary about saving the Arcturian Octopods. Those are the easy ones, but they're few and far in between.
Most times, it's hell. Swallowing your pride, and doing things you never imagined yourself doing as you grub around for every last dime. The entertainment world is a seedy, backhanded affair where words like "pride" and "integrity" don't just have to take a back seat - they have to get tied up and gagged, locked in the trunk of a vehicle that's sinking to the bottom of a lake.
I'll let you take one guess which one this past Klordny was.
I sat at my usual table in the Overlook Room of Danny Blaine's Beacon Restaurant, deep into the bottom of my third martini, trying to sweet talk Director Lad into not flying the coop.
"Ex, I don't know, " he was saying, "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I just don't think I'm right for this project. I mean, come on... the Handsome Cartel?"
"The Handsome family, Sudro" I corrected him, still half-trying to convince myself. "The whole 'cartel' business is ancient history - put to bed when Molock Handsome died. The family has gone completely legit."
"That might be... but the public hears the name, 'Handsome,' and all they can think of is that Large Handsome and his brother Molock each basically terrorized the galaxy as the super-villain, Middlefinger."
"Yeah... but that's the hook! For years, the Handsome name has been synonymous with crime, right? Now... what happens with the younger generation? How do they overcome that? Here they are... with more money than they know what to do with, trying to make a name for themselves that doesn't immediately make the world think of their parents. We call it, 'Growing Up Handsome.' The public would eat up a show like that."
"And that's the other thing, Ex," Director Lad said, "Another Reality Holo? That's a little passé, don't you think?"
I saw that I'd have to bait the hook with something a little more to Sudro's tastes. "Well, here's the thing... I didn't want to say anything until the deal was finalized... but, if this does get made, I'm pretty deep into talks with Junior Handsome about fully funding that other project you've been trying to get made for years now."
"The Engine Joe Story?" Director Lad's eyes all but lit up in dollar signs.
It's my experience that everyone has a price... sometimes it's just in foreign currency.
"That's right... you sign on to direct 'Growing Up Handsome,' and I can almost guarantee that 'Engine Joe' is as good as in the theaters."
Director Lad started talking faster than a Mark-10 cruiser. "I... well... I'd have to think about it, of course, but... seriously though, Junior Handsome is really interested in 'Engine Joe'? I wouldn't have thought that a guy like that... I'd want to talk to the rights holders, of course... and I'd have to have final say on the script approval... I don't know... I'd really have to think about..."
"Well... you better think fast, buddy. Here's our guest, now."
Junior Handsome strode into the Overlook Room like he owned the place and - honestly - even if he said he did, there wasn't a man there who'd try to correct him. For twenty years, his father Molock and his uncle Large had ruled the underworld with their iron fists, racking up more bodies than a whole asteroid field worth of Shaghallas could hold. Though he was trying hard to legitimize the family name, it was only human nature to let that reputation precede him, to open whatever doors might stand in his way.
Following right behind Junior, though, was someone else... a dame I had never seen before and who - before the night was through - I'd wind up wishing I'd never seen at all.
Watching her walk into the room, though, I had to swallow hard to keep my heart from rising right out of my throat. This gal had more curves than the Kessel Run, and legs that seemed to go on a lot longer than twelve parsecs. For half a second, the entire room seemed to swirl around her like an event horizon drawing me in closer and faster. I would have been lost right then and there, if Junior hadn't suddenly grabbed my hand into his meat hook like paws and shook it nearly clean off.
"Ex! How you doing, compadre!"
"Junior... baby!" I said, rising to my feet and playing my part. The super-rich always loved when you laid industry cliché on them. "It's been too long. And who is your lovely..."
"Oh... I'm sorry... this is my sister, Lotta." He leaned in closer to whisper to me, "I'm sorry, Ex... she insisted on coming along. Don't worry... she won't interfere with business."
Lotta Handsome - all but ignoring her boorish brother's presence - locked onto to my eyes like a missile guidance system and extended her hand. In a throaty voice that told me this girl had seen more parties than a Venturan DJ, she leaned in and all but whispered directly into my soul, "Charmed... I'm sure."
I took her extended hand and brought it to my lips, little realizing that the next twenty-four hours would cause me to seriously rethink everything I ever believed about the phrase, "sealed with a kiss".
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
fantastic stuff, Exxy! keep it coming!
Posted by Everyday Girl on :
Ohmygod! This story like rocks Mr ExNyquil. I hope you like survive and junk cuz I'm like supposed to tell you...
I'll just wait till you're like done and stuff.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 2
The night wore on... our table filling up with empty glasses just as fast as Junior filled up Director Lad with false promises.
The Engine Joe Story?
Sure... Junior Handsome had about as much interest in financing "Engine Joe" as he did in building a planet-sized incinerator to shovel his money into directly. But he knew - as much as I did - just the right sized carrot to feed Director Lad to get him on board. It's not the type of thing I'm ever proud of doing but, like I said before, it's all part of the game you've got to play.
While Junior and Sudro were sinking each other's battleships, Lotta Handsome was busy with a game of her own. From the way she had been looking at me for the last half hour, I wouldn't have been surprised at all if it was "twister" this girl had in mind.
She let out a long sigh, interrupting her brother's rant about the future of holo-vision. "Junior, I'm bored!"
Junior shot his sister a glare that was cold as a cup of Tharrian coffee and started cracking his too-large knuckles. "I told you that you were going to be, but you had to come, didn't you?" He looked around the Beacon and noticed the dance floor. "Why don't you just go dance for a while?"
"What... alone?" She shot me a quick glance that contained more words than a Bierbaum text piece.
"Oh, that's all right, " I said, coming in right on my cue, "I've been known to trip the light fantastic a bit in my day."
"Aw, Ex," Junior said, "That's nice of you and all, but you don't have to do that. My sister is just being difficult" He hit the last word with a bite that told his sister exactly what might be in store if she didn't knock it off, but it was too late - I was already standing up and buttoning my jacket.
"No, not at all, Junior, it would be my pleasure." I extended my arm to Lotta and started to lead her to the floor, giving a glance back just to make sure that Junior wasn't shooting any daggers in my direction. I didn't have to worry, though - he was already back into his conversation with Director Lad, laying out plans for a project that had as much chance for success as a Daxamite lead-worker who forgot to take his morning pills.
"Finally... Mr. Nihil. I thought you'd never ask," Lotta purred like a kitten as I slipped my hand into hers and the band slipped into some early Naltorian dream-waltz.
"Yeah, well... it's a dangerous game you're playing with your brother right over there."
"Why, I wonder if I know what you're talking about."
"I wonder if you wonder."
Lotta smiled. "Well, don't you worry about Junior. He's really a doll once you get to know him... and has about as much sense as one, as well."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, his little fantasy... about 'restoring' the family name or something. Ridiculous, if you ask me. The public doesn't want some squeaky clean Handsome story... they want the dirt. You know that as much as I do."
"And I suppose you've just got tons of dirty stories, don't you?"
"Mister, I got plenty."
"Too bad that he's the one footing the bill, then, huh?"
"Is that what he's told you?" She laughed lightly. "I guess I sized you up wrong... I thought you'd have better sense than that."
I didn't say a word. I've been around these types long enough to know that the only thing they like better than talking about their money is talking about someone else's money. If she was going to be giving me the inside skinny on the real state of Junior's finances, there was no way I was going to stop her. I just raised my eyebrow and let her go on.
She laughed. "Oh... you didn't know. Daddy didn't leave Junior a dime. Sure, he's the 'head' of the Handsome family, but did you really think that the great Molock Handsome would trust that lunkhead with our family's fortune? Please. He left it to the only one of his children with enough brains not squander it on a bunch of half-cocked pet projects."
"You?"
"Me."
"Well, fine then... if you were going tell the Handsome story, how would you suggest going about it?"
"Hmm..." I felt her hand begin to lightly graze my back, "You are persistent when there's something you want, aren't you?"
Was this gal bluffing? I figured I'd just lay my cards on the table and see how the hand played out. I pulled her closer. "Sure I am... when it's something worth getting."
She smiled a wicked smile as the song ended, as if she were mulling something over. "All right... all right, Mr., Nihil. They say that business makes for strange bedfellows. What say we put that little adage to the test. There's not enough time to talk now... but... later."
As we walked back to the table, she took my hand again and I felt her slipping a small card into it. She whispered, "Zaryan's Palace... the Grand Hotel... Room 247. We'll talk."
We got back to the table and, as Junior gave her a slight grimace, she poured back into her chair. Her every move glided like quicksilver and already I knew this girl was twice as dangerous. They say that sometimes a little danger is the only thing that lets you know that you're alive and kicking.
By the time the morning rolled around... Lotta Handsome would be neither.
[ October 15, 2012, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Exnihil ]
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 3
Lotta Handsome rolled out of the Beacon a little after midnight, coming up with some half-baked line about a headache. I can't say her brother put up too much of a fight.
I stayed on another couple of hours, listening round after round as Junior piled it on to me and Director Lad higher than a plate of Smallville pancakes. After the bomb Lotta just placed in my lap, I didn't know how this guy thought he was gonna be pulling off any of the plans he'd been gabbing about. I guess sometimes a guy just tells the same story for so long that even he starts believing it.
I figured I'd better split the joint before he started plying me with a scheme to do a remake of "The Great Darkness Saga" starring Darkseid himself. I grabbed the tab - neither one of them tried too hard to stop me - and told Junior I'd give him a call in the morning. I said good night to Director Lad, and headed out to my date with destiny.
The streets were still jammed with half-drunk Klordny-festers, so there was no making it to Zaryan's through the city. I figured I'd head down to the boardwalk to let the sea air clear my head out, then cut a path to the Grand Hotel through Zaryan's Casino.
I needed some time alone and, lucky for me, the boardwalk was as deserted as a Trommite shopping mall. That part of town always drew in more of the family crowd and those folks weren't the types to hang around downtown once the Legion World night started showing its true colors.
Walking down toward the Casino, I heard some far off music and saw a light coming in from a bonfire outside of the Vudoo Lounge about a mile down. I think I had heard from one of my guys that there was supposed to be some big Klordny bash going on there for the staff of Quislet Esq's Super Law Firm. Good for them. Those legal eagle types could be a stiff crowd sometimes but, when push came to shove, they were good guys who had pulled my fat out of the fire more than a few times.
I hit the Casino about three AM but, from the scene inside, you'd have never guessed it. Zaryan's always keeps their Casino lit with fusion-lights that make it seem like broad daylight. It's supposed to make the hard-core gamblers lose any track of time, but I don't know if I buy that. For the type of guys I've seen that get hooked on the Planetary Chance Machines, there's really ever only one time of day: that magic hour right before dawn when they still think they're gonna hit the big score.
I took a look around the Casino floor, just to see if there was anybody I needed to watch out for. The last thing I needed was word getting back to Junior that my ugly mug showed up at three in the morning in his sister's hotel. He might not have been the brightest bulb on the planet, but I'm guessing he had enough brains to add up two and two.
I spied Tamper Lad dressed to the nines in a tux over at the baccarat table but, considering he was laying down ten thousand credit bets - and I'm pretty sure that slinky piece of eye candy hanging off his arm was the Venusian heiress, Angora Swetters - unless I started ordering my martinis shaken and not stirred, there was next to no chance he'd even be giving me a second glance.
Another guy I thought I recognized was pumping credit after credit of Venturan walking money into the slots. From the looks of his eyes - which looked like somebody had spent the better part of the night trying to tattoo a red spider web on them - he'd been at it a while. I knew this guy's face from somewhere, but it wasn't ringing a bell at the time. I guessed that unless I started doing my impression of a Kono fruit from Carrgg, though, this guy wasn't getting pulled away any time soon.
Feeling like I had this thing in the bag, I made my way across the Casino and into the Grand Hotel lobby. I popped in a stick of gum, hopped into the airlift, and started thinking about the hand that I was about to play. Lotta had dealt me some pretty good cards so far - Queen of Hearts... pocket Diamonds... and the best pair I had ever seen.
I was just one turn away from finding out that - this whole time - the dealer had been bluffing, holding her aces and eights close to her chest.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 4
I should have known something was up.
You'd think, after so many years, I'd learn to trust my gut. Even before the airlift hit her floor, I started to get that cold feeling in the pit of my stomach - the same one I'd get every time a deal started to go bad, the one that said, "You baited this hook the best you could, Ex, but this fish just ain't biting."
I marked it down to nerves - Lotta was a tough read. Could be that her "talk" meant "talk," or it could be that this gal had other ideas about how we'd be using our mouths tonight. Either way, I got to admit that I was feeling on edge - and that ice ball forming in my breadbasket was the best sign I had that things might not go down the way I'd been imagining when we'd been dancing at the Beacon.
The lift set me down on her floor and I strolled over to the door of room 247, giving it a few raps like a Tulvanian Witch Wolf that needed a shave and a haircut... but just needed to know the price. Before I even got to the "cut" part of my knock, though, the door cracked open a bit on the hinge.
Just like a dizzy dame - give me the key, then leave the door unlocked.
"Candy-gram for Ms. Handsome," I called into the suite.
I poked my head around the corner of the door, but Lotta was nowhere in sight. I heard the faint noise of the sonic shower running from the bathroom. I was just about to backtrack down to the lobby to give her another twenty minutes or so, when I saw the holo-note projected up from the lounge table: "Two shakes of a Tork's tail, darling... fix yourself a drink."
Fair enough. I'm never one to walk away from free hooch, especially when it's being offered by a gal with nothing but a door separating me from her altogethers.
"Heya... Lotta," I called back to the bathroom, "It's Ex... didn't want you jumping out of your skin if you heard somebody strolling around out here."
Nothing.
I shrugged and strolled over to the bar. I did my best... worst that would happen, I figured, is she'd pop out unawares and slug me in a panic if she didn't hear. Wouldn't be the first time it happened to me with a gal, and I was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last. She did leave the door unlocked and set me up with a note, though, so I figured I was all right. I shook my head. Rich dames.
I took a gander at the bar. Top shelf all the way. I grabbed a bottle of Orandan Rye and poured myself two fingers. There was already a glass sitting on the bar with a few half-melted cubes in it. All Lotta had been drinking at the Beacon was Kono spritzers, so I thought she didn't go in for the hard stuff. Maybe that was just a show on Junior's account.
I settled down on the lounge and took a sip of my drink. Smooth. I sat there for a minute or two just relaxing... listening to the steady stream of the sonic shower echoing off the tiles like some sort Tartarusian second-stringer. Lady sure likes getting clean, I thought.
After a while, I started getting bored, so I wandered around, giving the suite a quick once over. I had put a few clients up at Zaryan's before, mostly out of town talent I was courting, but I had never stayed here myself. Nice digs if you can afford them.
I wandered over into the kitchen area and saw Lotta's Omnicom sitting on the counter. It was the newest model, the Omni3012 - these babies weren't even on the market yet. I was still making do with my refurbed 3008. Didn't have all the bells and whistles, but it got the job done. I picked up Lotta's piece, admiring how light it was.
"Say, Lotta..." I called back, "Nice pod. Guess membership has its privileges, eh?"
Nothing.
What was with this dame? She had to be deafer than a tourist in downtown Gryxor.
"Lotta! You hear me in there?"
Nothing.
Right then, that old snowball in my gut started dropping down into Kelvin. I walked over to the bathroom door and saw that it was slightly ajar. I edged up on it... feeling like time itself had just taken a big swig of Professor Potter's elastic serum.
Looking down through the crack at the bathroom floor I saw Lotta's hand - that same one that a little over three hours ago I had felt brushing my back - lying flat down on it.
I didn't think twice. I slammed into the door, forcing it open, as the weight holding it closed nudged across the floor. I gave the door another push and barged in. If I said before that cold feeling in my stomach was worrying me... it wouldn't be for long. In the next three seconds that cold feeling - along with everything else in there - was pouring out with a vengeance as I started retching into the can.
Lotta's body might have been blocking the door, but her head - still as pretty as the first moment I saw her strolling into the Beacon - was sitting all by its lonesome in the sink.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 5
They say it takes a crisis for a man to find out what he's really made of. Well... I got to tell you, I'm ashamed to admit it now but, after seeing Lotta Handsome looking anything but, I found out exactly what I was made of:
One hundred percent, grade-A Elvabird liver.
Maybe somebody else would have done the right thing - picked up the Omnicom and dialed the Security Office right then and there. Called in the crime, maybe, and tried to help out, before whoever did this got the chance to do it again.
I said, "maybe".
Truth is, until you've been there - staring into the cold glassy eyes of a dame's face while the rest of her is underfoot - there's no telling what you'd do.
This guy? I panicked.
I flushed the can, and bolted out of the bathroom faster than you could say, "X2(9YZ)4A". I didn't know what had gone down in this room tonight and, frankly, I didn't care. All I knew was that there was a dead girl on the other side of that door and if I didn't make myself scarce - and pronto - there was a good chance that, when the music stopped, I was going be the only sap scrambling to find a chair. I also knew that the Security Office would be only too happy to help me out in that regard.
I looked around the suite to see if I had left any signs that I was here tonight. Lotta's holo-note was still projected up from the table, but it only said "darling," - not my name. Good... let them try to track down one of Lotta's other "darlings". I'm sure that would be a long list.
I wiped down the bottle of Rye - and the glass I had used - in case they started scrubbing the joint for pore-patterns. Then, using the same cloth, I gave the internal door scanner a once over. I pushed the still-unlocked door open with my foot, then quick hit the autolock, jumping out before it closed behind me. I didn't want some cleaning lady to get the scare of her life. Let Zaryan's have to pry it open to find that mess.
One of the things that makes Zaryan's the place to go for the rich and famous, is their promise of discretion. There's not a single holo-camera in the whole joint. A lot of what I knew went down in the Grand Hotel - senators playing around on their wives with their by-the-hour Durlans, holo actors taking a few Lotus Fruit lost weekends - would make the front page of LMB Enquirer if not for the fact that Zaryan's likes to keep the place a closed shop. What goes on at the Grand Hotel stays at the Grand Hotel.
Even the Casino floor, the place where you'd think they'd want to watch a guy from every angle, is completely camera free. Instead, they employ a staff of Titanian telepaths to keep watch. They are specially trained to not delve directly into the minds of the clientele - only to pick up any thoughts of cheating. If I just made my way casually back through the Casino, and kept calm, there was a pretty good chance I could be back on the boardwalk - and getting the hell out of Dodge - before anybody batted an eye. Nobody would ever be the wiser that I had even been here tonight.
Of course... things never play out that easy.
"Ex? Exnihil?"
I had just gotten out of the airlift and was heading back into the Casino when I heard my name being called from the cashier window. I tried to play it off, but the guy finished cashing out and started heading my way.
"Say... Exnihil! " He headed toward me with a big grin. It was the same fellow I'd seen with his eyes glued to the slots earlier. I stopped short, trying to come up with a story quick, in case this guy started asking too many questions. He sidled up on me and grabbed my hand in a shake. He must have caught the panic in my eyes because he let loose with a big laugh.
"You don't remember me, do you?" he laughed.
"The face rings a bell, but I..."
"Kid Quislet!" he interrupted. "We worked together on that 'Primary Color Gang' deal a few years back."
Of course. Now I placed him. Kid Quislet - he was one of the junior partners over at Quislet Esq.'s Super Law Firm. A nice enough guy from what I remembered, but a little of a behind-the-scenes type - usually letting Quislet Esq. run point. He ran a lot of the legwork during a rights negotiation with The Yellow Kid for a holo-piece I produced back in '08. I remembered being impressed with how thorough he was, cutting through a lot of the red tape. Any other time, I'd buy the guy a drink but, right then, my head was swimming.
"Sure... Kid Quislet," I said, trying to put on a good face. "How've you been... still fighting the good fight?"
"Always, always. You have a good Klordny?"
"Yeah... you? I thought all you double-breasted types were partying over at the Vudoo Lounge tonight."
At that comment, it was his eyes that got a look of panic. "Yeah, that... uh... that broke up a couple of hours back. I figured I'd pop in over here to try out my luck a little before calling it a night."
I did a double take. His story smelled fishier than a Hykraian after a day on Talok VIII. I had seen the Lounge still in full swing on my way over here. Why was he lying to me? I looked at Kid Quislet's face again and, suddenly, it clicked.
I wasn't looking at a guy who "popped in" at the Casino on a whim. From the way he'd been working that fruit machine earlier, I'd be willing to lay odds he had his own chair here, and that the cocktail girls knew him by name. I'd guess there was a pretty good chance that having a chronic gambler on staff wouldn't be something that'd play too well at the Law Office. If I knew human nature, Kid Quis probably wouldn't want word getting out that anybody had seen him any more than I did.
"Oh, yeah?" I said, throwing out just a hint of challenge. It was a crappy play on my part, but I had bigger things to deal with right now. He started backing down in a hurry, getting a little flustered.
"Yeah... so... anyway, listen, I've got to get going, but, uh... let me... uh..." He started fishing in his pockets. "Let me give you a card... hmm... guess I'm out of cards, but... if you ever need anything, you just give a call over to Quislet's, OK?"
"I'll do that."
I was still in a daze over Lotta, but I felt bad about putting the guy on the spot. I gave him a pat on his shoulder. "Listen, you take care of yourself, hey, Kid?"
"Aw, Ex... don't you worry about me. You take care of yourself." He gave me a wink and started walking back into the Casino.
I stood there - drained - and watched him disappear into the crowded floor as my situation came rushing back to me in force. Yeah... take care of myself.
How in the world was I going to do that?
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 6
I made it down to the boardwalk about half past four. The sun was just beginning to crack the horizon, rolling back that long dark night and starting a new day on Legion World.
The whole strand was still deserted - as anybody with half a brain was home safe and sound by then. I saw the fire pit over at the Vudoo Lounge a couple miles down had been doused out. Just a thin line of smoke was still getting pulled out to sea by the morning breeze. Seeing that place made me think again about Kid Quislet. It was a shame but, really, who was I to pity him? Guy gets that old super-monkey on his back, I imagine it takes a pretty strong bit of Kryptonite to knock it off.
Me... I had something a lot bigger than a monkey weighing me down and - unless this entire night turned out to be a dream, a hoax, or some kind of imaginary story - it was going to take a lot more than some hunk of space rock for me to exit the scene with a wink.
I continued padding my way down the boardwalk - a hundred questions spinning around my brain bucket.
What had Lotta gotten mixed up in? Was this thing something that somebody had been cooking up for a while, or was it just random - a stroke of bad luck on her part? I thought about the way she was done in. No... this thing was way too vicious - too personal - to just be some night stalker that picked a random pretty dame to practice his butchering skills on.
She left the door unlocked, so he wouldn't have had any problem getting in, but - apart from the scene in the bathroom - I didn't see any sign of struggle. Did she know this guy? The more I thought about it, the more it had to be. I saw that other glass sitting on the bar, and I was pretty sure that didn't look like the kind of drink Lotta went in for. Somebody was making himself at home before he did the deed.
That was another thing, though. She knew I was coming over, but didn't know when. She only left the Beacon a couple of hours before me. Unless she knew some faster way to the Grand Hotel than I did, that would have been all the time she had to get there, have somebody else over, get herself killed, and have her killer get away before I got there.
Unless the killer was already waiting for her when she got there... or if he was still there when I showed up. I shook my head. I didn't even want to think about that possibility.
No, there were just too many pieces of this puzzle that weren't fitting, and I had a pretty good hunch that the picture on the outside of the box didn't even match.
The early morning sky on the strand was starting to turn all the colors of the time stream. A little ways down the shore I saw some young gal in a tight elastic number doing some stretching out for what looked like a little morning exercise. I didn't want to get too close in case she noticed me, so I figured this was a good a place as any to grab some real estate and take a break before I made it the rest of the way home.
I watched as this girl - a tiny thing with long black hair - was wrapping up her stretches and started going into some tai chi looking moves, all fluid and graceful like. I always admired a person that knew how to move. It was a real pleasure to watch somebody like that in a fight. Me... I had no style. In a pinch, I could lay a guy out with the old Suicide Slum sucker punch, but a lot of those LMB guys had way more approach than I did.
I started wondering if maybe that girl was an LMB member. Well... it was too late now. I was already here and, if she did notice me, I'd just have to make up some story about having too hard a night at Klordny and heading to the beach to clear out my head. Wouldn't even really be a lie. I continued watching her, her arms extending out in arcs smoother than a Durlan's head. It was amazing that, even in world where there were things as brutal as what I'd seen back in that hotel, there was still beauty to be found.
After a while, this gal finished up her routine, then moved over to a long bag she had laid down on the sand. She reached inside and pulled out something long and thin. As she grabbed hold of it with both hands and raised it over her head, locking tight into a pose, I realized it was a sword.
"Kiai!"
I heard her voice echoing down the beach as she suddenly spun around, the sword making a clean arc from over her head to straight ahead. I jumped a bit in my seat at the sudden motion.
"Kiai!"
She turned the sword around in her hands and, going to a knee, pushed it straight backward. I winced again, getting a sudden flash of Lotta in the bathroom.
"Kiai!"
She pivoted on her knee, rising up to a standing position, her arms crossing as the sword came to a straight line directly above her eyes, as she faced directly toward me.
I don't whether it was the sharp, clipped violence of the girl's moves that did it to me, or the events of the night suddenly rushing back all at once, but - before I knew what was happening - I felt the hot, salty burn of tears rising up in my eyes.
My god... what was I going to do? I drew in a hard breath as the girl shouted again, spinning away from me as she continued her routine. I needed to calm down. I needed a trigarette.
I reached into my inside coat pocket to grab my pack and felt my hand hit something hard. A little confused, I grabbed the object and pulled it out to take a look. My heart sank.
It was Lotta's Omnicom.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 7
There's bad news... and then there's the kind of news that makes you want to flip off the set, kick in the screen and throw the whole mess right out of a 31st story window.
This was worse than both of them.
I didn't even remember slipping the Omnicom into my pocket. I must have been holding it when I'd pushed my way into the bathroom and just pocketed it without thinking. I didn't know all the features of the Omni3012, but I did know that one thing that came standard - for at least the past decade - was a multiversal positioning system. If anybody was trying to look for this piece right now, it would lead them right to yours truly.
I had to ditch this thing… and fast.
I couldn't bring it back to the Hotel - that would be a chump's move - and there was no way I could drop it here with that girl down on the beach as a witness. I had to get back into town, pronto, and get it into one of those public trash atomizers.
I cut further up the boardwalk, giving the girl a wide berth - didn't want her catching any better glimpse of my mug than she'd already gotten - and beat feet into town. I was a little further uptown than where I had cut in last night, so - looking around the city - I suddenly had an idea.
If I didn't miss my mark, I was only a couple of blocks from a Nova Express station. I took a quick look down at the Omnicom - it was about twenty after five. The Nova ran like clockwork every half hour. If I could make it to the station, I could hop the next train uptown and get pretty close to my apartment. I knew there was an atomizer about a block away where I could dump this piece, and be back at my place inside of ten minutes.
I made my move.
The Nova glided in right on time. I gave the station agent a sawbuck and grabbed my ticket. I figured using my credit chip would be just one more trace that placed me closer to the scene than I needed to be. I climbed on board and just about collapsed into a seat. This night had burned me down harder than an energy release generator and - if I didn't hold it together for a little while longer - I was in danger of drifting off into the dream demon's arms right then and there.
Except for me, the train was empty. Thanks for small miracles. It occurred to me, as the Nova fired up and started its rhythmic pulse uptown, that this would be a golden opportunity to give Lotta's Com a quick once over before it became nothing more than a pile of ash, and a few random quarks. It was a long shot, but maybe there was something on this piece that might shine a little light on who wanted Lotta out of the picture... and why.
I pulled out the Omnicom and turned it over. It was a sleek little number, all right - who knew what a thing like this could do? I pressed the touch screen and the thing came alive.
"Welcome back, Ms. Handsome. Please state your pass code to continue."
Aw, cripes. Of course it would be protected. What was I thinking?
I sighed a depressed, "No..." and went to put it back in my pocket, when it spoke again.
"Pass code accepted. Hello, Ms. Handsome. How may I help you this morning?"
I did a double take. Her pass code was "No"? Whatever else anybody'd say about Lotta, they can't say she didn't have a sense of humor. I looked at the Com again. Where should I start?
"Show me outgoing calls in the last 24 hours."
"No calls available."
Really? A dame that didn't like to gab? That was a little hard to swallow, but then it hit me. It's not that she didn't like chatting. It was just that she was exactly the type of girl that liked games... she wanted them to call her.
"Show me incoming calls in the last 24 hours."
"Incoming calls: 13 August 0930 - Junior Handsome; 13 August 1127 - Junior Handsome; 13 August 1305 - Spiffany Jewelers; 13 August 1325 - Legion World Bank; 13 August 1542 - Junior Handsome; 13 August 1734 - Junior Handsome; 13 August 2116 - Junior Handsome; 13 August 2118 - Junior Handsome; 13 August 2120 - Junior Handsome; 13 August 2122 - Junior Handsome"
Sheesh... either Junior liked keeping close tabs on his sister, or they were having a pretty decent spat yesterday. It scrolled down another ten or so two-minute calls from Junior. From the looks of the gaps, either she wasn't answering, or she was just hanging up. There was a gap for the block that we had been at the Beacon, then one other call listed... on August 14th at 0005 - right after Lotta had split the restaurant.
"14 August 0005 - Private Caller"
Fat lot of help that was.
Somebody was calling that had the means to bypass the Omnicomnal Identification Laws. ID was a mandatory part of the Omnicom contract - marketing was how Omni made the lion's share of their bread, and they weren't about to let some potential consumer slip through the cracks. To have somebody show up as "Private" either meant that this person had paid Omni off with a hefty bribe... or they were jamming their coms illegally. If they were jamming, there was no way I could hack the call, but I figured I'd roll the dice.
"Playback call 14 August 0005."
"Playback unavailable for selected call"
Yeah... that figured. What about a transcript? Even if I couldn't get the other side of the conversation, it might still pull up Lotta's.
"Transcript for call 14 August 0005."
"Partial transcript available for selected call. Text to follow."
In a flood, the screen filled with Lotta's side of the call:
"Hello?" ... "Darling... how are you?" ... "Yes, I know... sorry to have kept you waiting. Dinner was interminable. I assume you let yourself in?" ... "Ha, ha... you got my note." ... "Yes, I know that Torks don't have tails. That's the joke. I mean really, darling, I thought urbane humor was your specialty." ... "Well, you are my 'darling', darling." ... "Sigh... fine. Yes, of course, I have what you're looking for. I assume you have the money?" ... "Well, I had to ask. Listen, we'll have to dispense with any other 'business' tonight, all right? I have someone else coming over in a bit." ... "Oh, stop. It's nothing like that. It's that holo-producer my brother has been courting." ... "Yes." ... "Oh, you know him?" ... "Fine... know 'of' him. You know 'of' a great many people, I suspect. Must you always be so precise?" ... "Yes, I am going to tell him." ... "The world should know the truth. She should know." ... "Well, it's really none of your business, in any case." ... "Yes." ... "Hmm... about thirty minutes I'd say." ... "Well, fix yourself a drink." ... "Ugh. She can wait. I'm certain she can keep herself occupied for a little bit. Perhaps the shiny lights in the casino will amuse her." ... "I'm sorry... I know I'm cruel. I'll be there in just a bit." ... "Kisses, darling."
End of Transcript
The transcript came to end just as the Nova pulled into my station. I powered down the Com and slipped it back in my pocket, climbing up out of my seat.
What a sap I had been.
That holo-note in Lotta's room wasn't even meant for me. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who Lotta had been talking to. Guy goes to all that trouble to block his ID, and Lotta all but spills the beans on it with her catty chatty routine. Just try and prove it, though.
I thought I had it pegged pretty well from who I had seen down in the Casino - but there was nothing explicit in that call that would definitively place old Tamper Lad on the other end. Even if I could prove it - from Lotta's side of the chat, there wasn't anything I heard that sounded like there was murder in the wind. Sure... it sounded like the two of them were mixed up in some kind of shady deal, but, with Tamper, I figured that just sort of goes with the territory.
It was that second part that really caught my eye, though. What was she going to tell me last night that made him question her? Who was this "she" that had to know the truth? And - more to the point - was it something that somebody would kill for?
I would have loved to have more time to go over the rest of her calls like Azra Saugin digging for treasure, but every minute I was walking around with this piece was one minute more that I risked somebody tying it to me... and tying a noose around my neck.
I walked up to the atomizer at the end of my street, gave a quick look down the block for any Johnny Q. Publics, and then dropped it in. It fired up immediately, roared for a second or two, then said, "Thank you for keeping our city clean, Citizen."
I let out a disgusted snort. Keeping it clean, eh?
Brother… this city couldn't get any dirtier.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 8
My head hit the pillow harder than if I'd been laid out by a Rimborian uppercut. This night had dragged me in more directions than a Starhaven tracker on the tail of a teleporter and - whatever else the days ahead of me had in store - right now my body needed sleep.
My mind - on the other hand - was just getting started. I drifted off into that black hole of sleep - the old noodle working overtime, spinning all the pieces of this puzzle around every which way, trying to find any two of them that would fit together.
I was standing in the corner of a boxing ring, my gloved hands resting on the rope looking out into the crowd. It was a sea of faces, all of them laughing like they were watching an episode of "Tenzil for the Defense". I scanned around the crowd looking for anybody I knew - my eyes coming to rest on Tamper Lad, sitting right in the front row.
He was holding a big snifter of brandy, just swirling it around and grinning at me like he knew all my dirtiest secrets. I called out to him, but no sound was coming out of my mouth. This made him grin even bigger, as he raised his other hand towards me in a fist and slowly put up his middle finger.
The bell rang.
I turned around into the ring, but before I could even get my footing, the neanderthal paw of Junior Handsome cracked into my jaw. The whole ring turned blue. I stumbled to my feet and tried to put up my glove, but Junior's fist came in from the other direction laying me out with a body blow. The whole ring turned red.
I fell to the ground as Kid Quislet appeared over me in a ref's outfit, starting to count me down for the count. He looked right in my eyes and slowly shouted, "One". He pointed to Junior standing in his corner. He waited a second, like he wanted me to say something. I just looked confused at him, so he shouted, "Two," pointing to the ring girl waiting on the side with her card. It was Lotta Handsome, a line of stitches across her neck. He waited again, got nothing from me, so shouted, "Three," and pointed to my corner. I turned to look, but the bell rang again.
I forced myself to my feet, collapsing down on the stool that appeared in my corner. I sat facing the ring as a pair of female hands appeared from behind me, wiping my face down with a towel. After a second, the girl dropped the towel, and I felt her hand rest on my forehead. It was the most soothing thing I ever felt. All of a sudden, though, the hand tensed up - jerking my head backward and locking me tight into place. Before I could even react, out of the corner of my eye I saw a sword coming down over me. It arced down in front of me and - with a sudden slam - plunged right into my gut.
The bell rang.
I woke up with a scream - covered in a cold sweat and panting like a space canine patrol agent chasing down a phanty cat. It was already dark outside. I looked down at my Omnicom - already seven at night. I had slept through the whole day.
I heard a bell ringing and - still only half awake - got a little confused. Something about a boxing ring? The bell rang again and I realized it was my room-com. Without thinking, I mumbled, "Connect".
"Hello... Hello?! Ex! You there?!"
It was Junior Handsome, sounding half crazed. What was I thinking... why did I connect the stupid line? I couldn't just ignore him now - he knew the line was live. I cleared my throat and tried to put on a calm voice.
"Hello... Junior?"
"Ex, thank god! I've been trying to reach you all day."
"Junior, slow down... what's the matter?"
I dreaded what was coming next. From the string of calls I had seen on Lotta's Omnicom, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he was trying to call her today, too. A whole day had passed since Lotta was killed... had they opened the room?
"Ex... it's my sister. Something bad's happened."
I tried to keep my voice on an even keel, but already I could hear it cracking. "Wh... what happened?"
"I tried to call her this morning, but I kept getting an error... like her Com was broken or something."
"You know... well... maybe it is..."
"No, that's impossible. She's got a 3012 - it's got auto redirect. Unless it was completely destroyed, it'd connect you to the service. But, look... that's not important right now. Listen... Ex... you gotta be straight with me... did you see my sister last night? After you left the restaurant?"
I didn't know what was going on, but there wasn't a duralim wand's chance in a lightning storm that I was tipping my hand this early - without knowing what he knew.
"What? No... I think she said she was going back to her hotel." I said, trying to shift the focus off me.
"That's just it, though. The call kept erroring out... so I went to her hotel."
I knew this was it - the other shoe was about to drop. From this point on, everything was gonna hit the fan, and I had to make damn sure I didn't get caught in the cross breeze.
"You did?"
"The door was locked from the inside, but I made a big stink with the management - telling them I knew something was wrong. They wound up having to override the system, but they got the door open."
"Y... yeah?"
"Yeah. Ex..." I heard Junior's throat catch, "...she's gone."
"Wh... what do you mean, 'gone'?"
I braced myself. God... this was it.
"Her whole room was empty - just cleaned out! It looks like she flew the coop, Ex... my sister's gone missing!"
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 9
I listened to Junior blubbering away for the next hour in just a numb daze. Turns out that old Junior - for as big a palooka as he came across as - wanted me to believe he was about the straightest shooter in this whole mess.
He came clean with me about the dough. It was true - he told me - Lotta had been holding all the purse strings in the family ever since old Molock had kicked off. Junior was straight about wanted to clear the family name - that's why he came to me with the holo-idea - but Lotta wasn't having any of it. She was on board with making a holo... but she wanted to use it to dredge up a lot of old family business, stuff that Junior said was better off left in the past.
When she found out he was meeting with me over Klordny, she insisted on coming along, or - she had threatened - the money would dry up as far as he was concerned. He had called her non-stop that day, trying to square things over and convince her that she was making a mistake. Starting around nine the night before, she just stopped answering and he had to wound up having to bite the bullet... just hoping that Lotta wouldn't blow the whole thing when we met at the Beacon.
It all matched up with what I had seen on Lotta's com, so either he was telling the truth... or this guy told a better story than a whole parliament of rooks.
He told me that he got worried that Lotta was going to queer the deal when we started dancing but - after she split - he figured she must have tried her play... but I wasn't buying it. At least that's what he hoped. When he called Lotta today and got no answer, he started fretting again. That's when he headed to Zaryan's and found her room wiped out cleaner than a defeated computer tyrant's memory banks.
There was just one other wrinkle to Junior's sob story that might have thrown a sonic screwdriver into the whole works. Turns out he did the one thing that I wasn't able to do... something that maybe would have given the whole thing a different slant if I had... he called the Legion World Security Office.
They showed up with a couple of beat guys and gave the room a once over. They told him that they wouldn't be able to do anything until she'd been missing for at least 48 hours. She was a big girl, they said, and maybe just wanted some time to herself without her big brother breathing down her neck. I told Junior that, given everything, that sounded pretty solid and that he shouldn't worry so much.
It must have done the trick to hear that from somebody he trusted because, after another ten minutes or so, he thanked me for being a good friend, and let me go. A good friend? That fellow must have been pretty spun around to start laying that title on me. If he knew half of what had gone down that night, the only thing he'd be likely to lay on me were his fists.
I couldn't blame him though. Listening to Junior's own story had made me dizzier than a super-spinner beast from Monster World. Lotta's body was gone - her room cleared out. Either that gal wasn't half as dead as I thought she was - not likely unless she had a secret super-hero life as Head-Falls-Off-Girl - or somebody was making damned sure to cover their tracks.
My thoughts, of course, went back to Tamper Lad. I already knew that he had a key to her room - he was waiting for her there when he called her. But he also knew that I was coming up later on. Why would he kill her... let me find her... then come back and clean up after himself? It just didn't figure... why not just leave me holding the bag? Unless, for some reason he didn't want anybody knowing she was dead?
That left me as a very loose end that he'd eventually have to tie up, but - given that I hadn't heard word one from Tamper - it didn't seem like he was in too much of a hurry.
Then there was that guy, Kid Quislet... he'd seemed like he was in an awful big hurry to beat feet back to the Casino after I called him out on the whole Vudoo Lounge thing. I'd marked it down at the time to not wanting his little gambling jones getting back to the boss, but what if it was more than that? Was he somehow mixed up in this? He'd seen me at Zaryan's at the very least, so - once word got out - if he was... and needed a fall guy... I'd probably look like a very tempting bit of bait.
And what about Junior, himself? Sure... he talked a good game, but what if it was all a bunch of guff? What if he was so worried about the money that he was willing to do whatever it took to make sure his sister didn't close down the Bank of Handsome. Could this whole "legit" thing just be a front to the fact that his hands were still as dirty as ever? He couldn't have made it to Zaryan's before me, but he could have had a guy waiting for her to do the deed for him.
Sure... and maybe you did it, Ex. Maybe you're just a psychopath killer who blacks out and doesn't even remember killing a dame. What a crock. Truth is: I'm coming across like I had some kind of crazy lead on what was going on here, like everybody and their brother was a likely suspect, but - at the time - I was flying as blind as a Kathoonian Fruitbat.
I laid low for a couple of days, just trying to get my head together, before heading back into the office. When I finally did, my secretary all but tackled me with a pile of paperwork.
"Where have you been???"
"What... I'm not allowed to get sick once in a while?"
"Not when we've got deadlines pouring down like rain, boss." She snapped her gum and started reading down a list.
"Let's see... you've got about a hundred calls from Director Lad about 'The Engine Joe Story'... apparently, if you don't act quick, the option's running out on 'Whatever Happened to Lev Lad?'.... the Bank called, and we're late on the lease again... the rights for the..."
"Effie... Effie... it will all get taken care of. What's the most important thing on the slate?"
"Right now? There's a guy waiting for you in your office."
"What? Why did you let him in?"
"Oh... I'm sorry, boss... a guy starts flashing a badge in my face, I sorta do what he asks."
"A badge?"
"Yeah... some guy from the Security Office. Says his name is Matlock."
And that's where you came into the story, Matt...
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 10
I got to admit, Matt, the first time I saw you sitting in my office - decked out in that trench coat looking like it had it had been pulled out of some foxhole in Venado Bay - I just about breathed a sigh of relief. If this rumpled flatfoot was the best the Security Office could do, I figured I'd be able forget about this whole Lotta Handsome business faster than a Bloodlines character introduction.
Little did I know that once you got a nagging itch about a case, you'd scratch at it until you just about bled the truth out of every last person mixed up in the whole sorry mess.
I walked into my office, pushing all the fear I'd been feeling those past few days deep down into my gut - trying hard to fill the space with that old Nihil charm.
"Good afternoon, Detective..."
"Matlock."
"Matlock, yes. Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Not a problem... your secretary said you're a little under the weather?"
"I'm all right... just had a bit of a long Klordny."
"Ha, ha... we've all been there."
"So," I said, grabbing my seat behind my desk, gearing up to keep this grilling as short and sweet as I could, "I'm afraid I don't have a ton of time... but Effie said you had a few questions for me about Ms. Handsome?"
"That's right... this shouldn't take more than a few minutes of your time. I'm just looking to clear a few things up."
"Absolutely... any help I can give you. I know that Junior Handsome is pretty broken up about his sister going missing and all."
"Thanks... it's always tough when you think somethings happened to a member of your family. Are you a family man, Mr. Nihil?"
I was a little taken aback by the question, but just rolled with it. "Ah... no, actually. My parents passed away about ten years ago."
"No wife... no kids?"
"Nope, just a happy bachelor."
"Well... you're missing out on a full life, Mr. Nihil. Mrs. Matlock and I have nine kids ourselves - every one of them more full of beans than the last."
"That sounds like quite a handful."
"Ah... wouldn't trade it for the world."
"Hmm... so, uh... Lotta Handsome?"
"Yeah, of course, forgive me. You get me talking about my kids, you'll never shut me up. So... how well did you know Ms. Handsome?"
I shifted in my chair. "Not well, I afraid. I only just met her for the first time on Klordny."
"At the..." flipping through your Omnipad, "... the Beacon Restaurant... is that right?"
"Yes, the Beacon."
"Fancy place... the Beacon. Mrs. Matlock loves all that high society stuff but... you know... detective's salary."
"I suppose. I try to take all the larger backers there. Helps to set a good first impression for people you're trying to get to finance holo-pics."
"I'll bet. So... Ms. Handsome was a financial backer for one of your holos, then?"
"No... Junior Handsome. Lotta was just there as his guest."
"Really? See... I thought..." flipping again, "I thought that Lotta Handsome was the executer of the Handsome estate."
Sharp.
Right then and there, I knew that you probably already knew half of what you were asking me. I figured I'd better start playing straight with you... at least up to the time I went to Zaryan's.
"Yeah... that's right... but I didn't find that out until later. Up until then, I thought Junior Handsome was the sole person with an interest in the project."
"Uh huh... so when did Ms. Handsome tell you the real story?"
"During a dance, actually."
"At the Beacon?"
"At the Beacon."
"Just one dance?"
"Just one."
"Is that right? Hmm. That's a heck of a piece of info to lay on somebody during a five minute do-si-do, wouldn't you say? That Ms. Handsome must have been some dancer. Did the conversation continue after the dance?"
I narrowed my eyes. "No. I have to admit, I was sort of taken unawares by the whole thing. I danced with her, but just played dumb back at the table afterward, figuring I'd have to have a talk with Junior later. He beat me to the punch, though. He came clean about the whole thing the next night when he called me about Lotta."
"How about that. Hmm... so... after the Beacon... was that the last time you saw Ms. Handsome?"
"That's right. She said she had a headache and left around midnight."
"That's sort of odd behavior for somebody that was looking to do business, though, wouldn't you say?"
"Yeah... I would. But who knows what was going through her mind... like I say, I'm not that familiar with the lady. I really don't know what her angle was."
"Uh huh... so did she say anything else... mention that she was planning on meeting anybody else that night... or that she might be leaving town for a while?"
"Can't say that she did... not to me, at least."
I remember you looking at me just then for just a second too long. I was half thinking you were about to jump up and slap me in cuffs right then. But that's when you just closed down your pad, and stood up like you were wrapping up.
"OK... well... thank you for your time, Mr. Nihil. It's not much... but every little bit helps. Some time this week... when you get the time... I'm going to need you to come down to the station and give a statement, if you don't mind."
"Sure... no problem. It'll have to be a liitle later this week, though."
"Perfectly all right. Thanks for all your help... Oh! Just one more thing..."
"What's that?" I said, standing up as well.
"It's a little embarrasing..."
"No, no... what can I do for you?"
"Well... it's Mrs. Matlock. She's just crazy about all this holo stuff. Would you mind... do you think I could get her an autograph?"
"Yeah... yeah... of course. Let me just get a stylus..."
"Oh... that's OK... here, you can use mine... just 'To Mrs. Matlock'. That would be great."
"No problem at all," I said signing into your pad. "I don't know how impressive a producer's autograph is, but..."
"Oh, no. It would mean the world to her. Oh, you're a southpaw, huh?"
"Yeah... Nihil trait, I guess. My dad was too."
"Is that a fact? You know what they used to call lefties back in ancient Rome? 'Sinister'! Yeah... that's the Latin word for 'left-handed'. Isn't that something?"
"Yeah... it's something all right. Well, thank you for stopping by, Detect..."
"Matlock"
"Matlock. I hope I've been able to help you."
"Well... it's a tough one, you know... girl goes missing like that. But... we'll find her, don't you worry."
"Let's hope."
When you smiled and turned to leave, for half a second I almost thought that might have been the end of my part in this drama - that I'd finally be able to get to sleep that night without that impending feeling of doom hanging over me... but then you stopped...
"Oh! One more thing... I almost forgot. Ms. Handsome's Omnicom. You didn't happen to notice if she accidentally left it sitting on the table at the Beacon when she left, did you?"
I swallowed. "Ah... no... I can't say that I did. Why?"
"Well... the strangest thing... these new Omnicoms they're making. The... uh... the 3012s... it seems they've got this little multiverse positioning chip in them. It works on some kind of... I don't know... quantum something... I've never been big on all that fancy science stuff. But, apparently this thing is smaller even than an atom. Well... it seems Ms. Handsome's - the chip that is, not the whole Com - wound up in ones of the dumps where they send all that ash from those trash atomizers they have. It was still sending out a pulse. You believe that?"
"Really?" I could feel the panic rising back up from my gut. I just prayed it wasn't going as high as my eyes.
"Yeah... I figured that it didn't make much sense that Ms. Handsome would have just thrown the Com away herself, so I thought... I don't know... maybe some busboy or something might have grabbed it and accidentally thrown it into the atomizer."
"No... I didn't see..."
"Oh, well. It was worth a shot. It'll be a couple days yet before we're able to get the back-routes from the dump to figure out the general grid where the Com was ditched. I was just hoping to hit a lucky break."
"Me too."
"What's that?"
I shook my head, like I was lost in thought for a second. "I... was just saying that I was hoping you could hit a break, too. I didn't know her that well... but this has to be tough on Junior."
"Yeah. Well... thanks again for your time, Mr. Nihil and... like I say... when you get a chance this week, come on over to the station to make that statement."
"Will do."
I watched as you exited my office and - with you - any hope I had that I could just wash my hands of all this.
I sat down at my desk, nibbling away at a fingernail. You were good, Matt... no doubt... but how good? If you kept on this route, it didn't take a Brainiac to see that the footprints you were following were going to lead you right back to this office.
I had to know exactly who you were talking to... and how much you already knew.
I needed somebody to help me out. I needed my Gal Friday.
I pressed the office-com.
"Effie?"
"Yeah, boss?"
"Get me Emily Sivana."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 11
Emily Sivana might have been about the dizziest dame I'd ever butted heads with... but there was nobody on Legion World I knew I could depend on more.
The first time I met her, I found myself looking down the wrong end of one her razor-tipped arrows. A year later, she found herself on the end of a lip lock I was trying to lay on her. Somewhere in between taking the wrong turns toward killing and kissing, we figured out that we were both heading down the same road... ticking off the miles on our way toward a town named Trust.
I knew the Security Office was breathing down my neck, but I needed to know what doors they were knocking down to get their info. I needed eyes on, and there was nobody on Legion World with a better set of eyes than Emily.
A lot of people figure an archer's best assets are their arms - but even the best set of cables in the world couldn't put that hole in the target time after time without the peepers to match. With Emily it wasn't even a question. This gal could not only spot a family of Imskians dancing on a pinhead at 100 meters... she could make them all change step with a single shot. Not a bad ace to have up my sleeve and - what's more - she owed me one.
I gotta admit, the slap took me by surprise.
"Owe you one??? You've got a hell of a nerve, Nihil!"
The night crowd at SHAKES bar briefly shot a glance over in our direction, but seeing a fellow getting broadsided by a dame's palm was nothing new here. I rubbed my cheek as Emily continued laying into me.
"You drag me out to some shindig that I didn't even want to go to... get half-snookered... try to smooch me... almost get me killed in that whole "Johnny Halloween" business... and then expect a favor from me?"
"I saved you from Johnny Halloween."
"You brought me there in the first place!"
"This is because I didn't call afterward, isn't it?"
"Nihil... I am about two seconds from using your stupid necktie knot for target practice. The only reason I even agreed to meet you here is because your secretary said you had a job for me. Start talking... or start shopping around for another patsy to pull your fat out of the fire. What the sprock are you mixed up in this time?"
I grinned at Emily. She and I might have loved having a go at each other's throats - but I knew, as well as she did, that she couldn't resist the thrill of a job. I pulled her into a corner booth and started laying my cards out.
"All right... just settle down. Here's the deal. You heard about Lotta Handsome?"
"That mob princess that went missing? You didn't kill her, did you?"
"What... no! Keep your voice down."
"You did... didn't you?"
"Knock it off, OK? Number one - she's not a mob princess..."
"Oh, yeah... the Handsomes are just pillars of the community, right?"
"...and number two - they don't even know if she's dead."
"But... you do, right?"
I swallowed hard. If I couldn't trust Emily, then I had nobody. I lowered my voice, and continued on.
"Yeah... yeah, I do. The long and the short of it is that I was working a deal with Lotta. Well... you know better then anybody, sometimes when I'm working with a dame, I don't exactly think with the right part of my brain..."
"Or any part..."
"Yeah, yeah... well... the night of Klordny, she lays some info on me at the Beacon - and then tells me we're going continue the discussion later on in her hotel room..."
"Spare me."
"...except somebody else beat me to the party. I roll into Lotta's room that night and I find somebody else had already been there... and decided to have a field day with a ginsu."
"Grife, Nihil! You're serious? She is dead?"
"As Dillinger. I gotta to tell you, Em... I just panicked. I didn't know which way was up so I just got the hell out of there as fast as I could. But - before morning even rolls around - Mr. "Slice and Dice" must have come back and cleaned the place out. By the time anybody even noticed she was missing... she really was missing."
"God... so why don't you just go to the Security Office with your sob story?"
"Are you kidding me? If you didn't know me... would you believe that cock and bull?"
"I know you and I still don't."
"All right... just cut the smart talk, OK? This is serious. It's just a matter of time before they start connecting the dots and come up with a picture of yours truly."
Emily sighed.
"Yeah... I get it. So, what do you want me to do?"
I looked at Emily and knew I made the right call. If this girl was in for an inch, she was in for a mile.
"There's this detective..."
"Who?"
"Matlock... you know him?"
"I know of him. That guy's a bloodhound, Nihil. If he gets a hint of your scent on this, he is going to track it down."
"Yeah... I got that vibe. He was asking all the right questions. Maybe too on the nose, if you know what I mean. I figure Junior Handsome had to have told him whatever he knows... and Director Lad... but it's like he knew more than either of them could have told him. There's got to be somebody else feeding Matlock info. Somebody's talking... but I can't figure how they could be... unless they're involved, as well, and are doing their best to point him back in my direction."
"So... you want me to tail Matlock, right?"
"For starters. Find out where he's been going... who he's been talking to. Use your instincts, though. If the flatfoot winds up leading you to a better mark, feel free to change your target. Whatever you think is the better lead."
"Don't tell me how to run a tail, Nihil. This isn't my first time on a job."
"I know...I know. I trust you, Em... more than anybody... I just don't want you getting too aggressive, you know? Info only, no engagement."
"Or... I could just not do it at all. Whatever you want, you know?"
I grimaced. I knew Emily tended to get caught up in the chase, but what choice did I have?
"All right, all right... I get it. Do what you need to. But Emily - seriously - thank you for this."
"Grife, Nihil... don't go getting all sappy on me. When this is all over, though... you're going to owe me one."
"Whatever you want, baby."
"Well, we can start with you never calling me 'baby' ever again, or the Security Office won't be the only ones trying to put you six feet under." She stood up from the booth, muttering under her breath as she walked away, "...never took me to the Beacon, you know..."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 12
In the days after I put Emily on the case, I started to breathe a little easier. Sure... I was still more mixed up than Joe Meach after he stood next to that statue case in that lightning storm - but knowing that I'd be getting the inside scoop on the way things were playing out made me feel like I could get back to something a little closer to my normal rhythm. It might sound cold - but Lotta pushing up daises didn't mean I still didn't have bills to pay.
I got a few more calls from Junior, but they were getting less frequent as the days went on. It goes without saying that "Growing Up Handsome" wasn't the top thing on his mind anymore - and god only knew if any funding would come through now, anyway. I just filed that one away in development hell for the time being and moved on. I was also doing a pretty good job of dodging Director Lad's calls. Poor kid. It was going break his heart when he found out that I had to back-burner "Engine Joe" for about the twentieth time.
I had a couple of reminders, too, from the Security Office that they still wanted me to come downtown to give that statement. I'd been doing my best to put that off until Em made contact with me, but - as the days starting ticking off - I figured it had to be starting look pretty suspicious. After a week of nothing, I figured I'd just have to bite the bullet and go in blind. I'd just stick to the same story I gave in my office, and play dumb if anything started to go off script.
Lucky for me, though, nothing did. I wound up giving my statement to some stylus-pushing desk jockey who looked like he had as much interest in my story as a Naltorian hearing yesterday's headlines. Twice I had to tell the guy that there was no "U" in "Handsome".
I wrapped up inside of about a half hour and, with that behind me, I was feeling about on top of the world. I made my way down the front steps of the Security Office and back onto the pavement and was just about to light up a celebratory trigar, when my Omnicom buzzed.
"Hello?"
"Nihil... it's me."
"Emily? What the sprock, Em? It's been a week. You're supposed to ke..."
"Listen..." she interrupted, " I don't have a lot of time. My shuttle's leaving in ten minutes."
"Your shuttle? Emily what's going on? Where are you?"
"Grand Central Space Port, but that's not important. Listen... you haven't talked to anyone else from the Security Office, have you?"
"What? Yeah... actually I did. I just got out of giving my statement. I couldn't wait around anymore, so I just parroted the same spiel I gave Matlock."
"Fine, keep it that way. Listen... this thing is bigger than you think. This isn't just some tarted-up mob princess getting knocked off."
"Emily, what are you talking about? Listen you've got to come in now... meet me at my off..."
"No time. I'm going to Earth.
"Earth? Are you still following Matlock?"
"Matlock? No... I stopped following him four days ago."
"What? Who are you following now?"
"You let me worry about that, OK? The less you know right now, the safer you'll be."
"Safer? Em... seriously... slow down... what in god's name are you talking about?"
"I have to go. Listen... as soon as you get the chance, you need to get to the West Side. There is a place in the 240's called Greenbucks - a cheese shop..."
"A cheese sh... what?"
"Ask for Eddie Stilton. He'll fill you in.
"Eddie Stilton? Blue Cheese Lad? That guy's like eighty years old. What's he got to do with..."
"Just stop asking questions, OK? Talk to Eddie. I told him you'd be in touch. And whatever you do... do not talk to..."
I never heard the last part of Emily's call because just as I came around the corner - totally oblivious to anything but the craziness Em was spewing - I slammed smack into some girl walking the other way.
"Hey!"
"Oh, my god... I am so sorry," I said, scrambling to help her pick up her things, "I was talking on my com... and I wasn't looking where I was going... I just..."
All of a sudden I stopped short. At that moment, you could have knocked me over with a bowl of Rann Antar's feathers.
It was the girl I had seen at the seaside that morning. It was the girl with the sword.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 13
"Go on... you just what?"
Still half in shock - as much from even seeing this girl again, as from realizing what a looker she was up close - I stood up and handed her the handbag she dropped.
"I... I'm just sorry... here you go."
"No problem," she said with the barest hint of a smile, taking my stupor for embarrassment, I guess, "I was late for work anyway. Another minute's not going to make a difference."
I looked in her eyes for any glimmer of recognition, but she wasn't reacting at all. Maybe I had been too far away that morning for her to get a good look at my mug, or maybe she had been too caught up in her routine to even pay attention. Either way, at least I had one less person to worry about tying me back to Lotta. Good thing, too, because I was in no shape right then to start making up new stories.
I got to admit, I was a little flummoxed by how gorgeous this gal was. She was a tiny little thing with skin the color of one of Cafe Cramer's chai lattes, and beautiful eyes like a twin pair of Winathian almonds. Her straight black hair fell over shoulders that you could tell had been toned to precision. I was guessing that little demo I'd seen on the beach was just the tip of the iceberg of the hours of practice this girl had logged.
I could have looked at this beauty all day - and probably would have - if she didn't speak up after a second or two of me gawking at her.
"Well... thank you... and be careful where you're going, OK?"
She smiled and started walking away.
"Wait... I..."
"Yes?" turning back around.
"I... uh..."
"Yes?"
"Can I... can I make it up to you, somehow?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's not necessary... it was just a small accident."
Cripes, what a mess I was. Here I was - in the middle of the biggest crisis of my life: Security Office bearing down on one side... Emily going nuts on the other... a missing dead girl right in the middle - and all I could think about was keeping this graceful little creature in front of me for as long as I could. I'm really a sap when it comes to a pretty face, I got to tell you.
I listened to the hackneyed words coming out of my mouth almost like somebody else was saying them. Once again that Nihil mouth was moving faster than its brain.
"I know, but could I... could I maybe buy you a cup of coffee?"
"Are you serious?" she laughed with a confused grin as she walked back toward me. "Do you always hit on girls you run over?"
"Only the ones that are running late."
"Late... oh, god... I am late... I'm sorry, Mr..."
"Nihil."
"Nihil... wait, Exnihil... the holo producer?"
"Yeah... why? What have you heard?" I smiled, trying badly to be charming.
"Listen... Mr. Nihil... I really do have to go, right now... but... um... this is really weird, but... OK, sure, why not... I'll get a cup of coffee with you. I usually go to Cafe Cramer after work, anyway. You want to just meet me over there, tonight?"
"Absolutely. I'll be there. What time do you get off?"
"Nine o'clock."
"All right, nine it is."
"OK, then." She smiled and nodded, giving a quick wave before starting away in a hurry back down the street.
"Oh... wait!" I called after her, "I don't even know your name..."
She laughed and called back, "I'm sorry... My Whee Fem."
My Whee Fem.
I started to smile as I continued to watch her trot away. This day was looking up. Before my smile even had time to fully form, though, I saw her take a left turn. She bounded up the same Security Office steps that I had just gone down not more than five minutes before. She worked at the Security Office?
Grife... I could just not catch a break.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 14
Ain't it always the way?
Guy meets girl... girl agrees to a date... girl turns out to be a flatfoot who'd just as soon slap a pair of cuffs on you as look at you. Under any other circumstances that last bit might actually be sort of fun - but not when you're the guy who's about one piece of evidence away from being the prime suspect in a murder case.
I padded away from the Security Office as the old noodle started spinning again. I was thinking I should maybe just blow off the whole thing and leave My Whee sitting by her lonesome later that night. The last thing I needed was to slip up and spill anything else that might get back to Matlock. On the other hand, though... who knew? Maybe chatting up My Whee might be just the thing I needed to get some inside skinny on where the Security Office really was with the Lotta case.
God knows I needed some news. My last best hope with Emily Sivana had just hopped a shuttle - bound for god knew where on Earth. Yeesh... what a nutty dame. I should have known that once she got on the trail of something big, she'd start tracing it back harder than a Kwai pathfinder. She'd been underground for a week without a word, then suddenly pops up with a lead to Eddie Stilton - the old "Blue Cheese Lad" from the Primary Color Gang.
Emily... what were you getting yourself into?
I started running down the list of folks I needed to keep tabs on. Junior... Tamper... Emily... Matlock... and now Eddie. My dance card was getting fuller than a contestant's at a Jandan shurg-off.
I tried the reconnect on my Omnicom back to Emily for about the twentieth time, but it still was coming back as unavailable. Her shuttle must have already flown and - if her bird was taking the express route - there wasn't any way I could get her until she passed through the solar radiation belt.
Well... if Eddie was all I had to go on, I figured it was better to meet him as soon as possible. I couldn't imagine how he could possibly be mixed up in all this. Sure... Eddie Stilton had been a crook and a half back his heyday, but he done his time years ago and was now a respectable Legion World citizen. If Emily said he had some info, though, I'd better beat feet and find out. The West Side was a bit of a hike from downtown, so I figured I'd save myself some shoe leather and make my way down to the nearest Nova Express station.
I was about three blocks away when I realized I was being followed.
I'd just pulled up my Com to try pinging Em again, when I caught their reflection in the screen. Two hulking guys were lurking behind me about a half block back, looking like a pair of gorillas from a Silver Age sci-fi cover. Could be I was reading it wrong and these heavies were just out for a midday stroll - in their matching trench coats with their hands bulging their pockets out - but "better paranoid then dead" is a motto that's always served me well. I started picking up my step.
As I starting walking faster, I shot a quick glance over my shoulder. Sure enough... the brothers simian picked up their pace, too. I knew this wasn't going to end well if I kept on heading to the station, so as soon as I reached the corner, I bolted to the right. Even as I started running, I heard their heavy footsteps following suit. I darted into an alleyway, hoping they hadn't turned the corner yet.
Wrong call.
I found myself face to face with the alley wall. Crap! I spun around, but it was too late. Tweedle dumb and dumber were already at the alley entrance blocking my way. A second later I heard the sound of a hover transport rounding the corner, as well. It pulled up behind the two and came to a stop. I gritted my teeth and was about to make a hopeless lunge into the two of them just swinging my fists, when one of the two spoke.
"Just take it easy, huh, Mistuh Nee-hill? Dis ain't what cha think. Da boss just says it's time you two had a chat."
"Oh, is that what he says? Well, you just tell your boss - whoever he is - that I've got nothing to say. Now, back off!"
"Yeah... he said you was gonna say dat. C'mon... Mistuh Nee-Hill. Don't make dis hard, kay? I just got my coat pressed. Just get in the transport and we'll all have a nice little ride, huh?"
"You're crazy if you think I'm getting in that transport. You just tell your boss I said... this!"
Against any better judgment, I jumped toward the one guy who was talking, and threw a punch as hard as I could toward his face. I must have slipped, though, because my fist connected squarely with his ear as I fell to the ground.
"Aggghhh! Grife! What cha do that for? Grife, dat hurts! Rocco... just get dis guy into the car, will ya?"
"Sure ting, Al."
Lumbering thug number two reached down and picked me up by the back of my collar like I was nothing more than a Venusian Sneep.
"Come on, you."
I spit at him.
"Aw, cripes! Fine! Da boss said not to do dis, ya little runt... so just considuh dis one from me."
I don't remember exactly how hard his fist connected with my cheek, but I'd guess somewhere in the neighborhood of "hard enough to crack a fusion power sphere," because... the second it hit... all my lights went right out.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 15
I floated for god knows how long in a blackness that made midnight on Kathoon make seem like the kind of place where you'd reach for your sunglasses. I'm not sure how long I was out but - after a while - the dawn started to crack, as I came around.
I was still groggy as hell but, little by little, I started to sense that I was lying down on something soft, with classical music playing softly in the background. What was going on? I forced the old eyelids open like a post-crisis Kryptonian trying to push a planet, and tried to sit up.
"Ugh!"
I grunted, my consciousness coming back around and - along with it - the throbbing echo of that back alley thug's fist. Raising my hand to my face, I cradling my aching cheek-bone as I squeezed the fog out of my head and looked around.
Where the hell was I?
The first thing that hit me was how expensive everything in this joint looked. Every single object around me - from the velvet covered chaise I was laying on... to the leather library chairs flanking the oversized globe across the room... to the antique oak and mahogany woodwork in every last baseboard, wainscot, banister, molding, and any other corner or crevice - looked liked it cost about my salary for a year.
The whole room was bathed in a warm yellow fourth-dimensional light that seemed to come from both nowhere and everywhere at once. It gave the whole place the feel of being the most elegant - but inviting - room you'd ever been in. Whoever owned this joint was stacked and - given who the players were in my little drama - I had a pretty good idea who it was. The voice from across the room at the bar confirmed it.
"Ah! Mr. Nihil..." Tamper Lad called across the room, "... welcome back to the land of the living!"
Yep, sure enough. I had been waiting weeks for the other shoe to drop with Tamper Lad, but I hadn't counted on it dropping into my face.
"Whu...? What's going on?" I mumbled, swinging my legs around to the floor. I knew Tamper had my number regarding the whole Lotta business, but I figured that he had nothing on me that I didn't have on him. I decided to just play dumb for the time being until he said his piece.
"Apologies... I'm certain you're a bit disoriented after your little nap. You're in my establishment, the Evil Genius Supper Club. Don't let the name alarm you, though, it's merely an affectation... my actual intelligence is rated far above 'genius'. I notice you're admiring the room. This is the Balduurian Library, a room - I must admit - is a bit of a point of pride for me. Feel free to..."
"Ugh..." I rubbed my cheek in pain, already tired of this. "Can the grand tour, already, huh? What the hell is going on here?"
Tamper Lad grinned, pouring a small amount of brandy into a snifter.
"Right to the point, is it, Mr. Nihil? Very good... I admire a man of action. I would have expected nothing less from your reputation. I apologize for all the theatrics... I couldn't very well have sent you an embossed invitation, you know. Let me stress that I cannot apologize enough for the actions of my men. They were expressly instructed that no harm should come to you, but... the heat of the moment, and all that. Hmm... that eye does not look good, though, does it? I'm afraid our chef has already begun preparing the evening's dinner, so I don't think I would have any raw meat available to help... but, could I offer you a drink? How do they put it in those holos you enjoy so much... 'What's your poison?'... ha! I believe you are martini man, correct? Will Khundish vodka do... I have a nice 3002..."
"Just save it, all right? I don't want a drink, I don't want a tour, I don't really care what you think you're up to... you tell your thugs if I ever see them again, they better be wearing inertron vests."
Tamper Lad swirled the brandy around the glass, coating the sides, and clucked his tongue.
"Tt...tt...tt... now, Mr. Nihil. It won't do to have you issuing threats against my men. Those in my employ are amongst the finest of gentlemen, if perhaps a bit exuberant regarding their duties. In any case, I had formed a rather positive opinion of you, thus far. Let's not sully that with such talk, shall we?"
"Fine... whatever... so let's just get to it, then. What the hell did you drag me to your little den of overly-decorated delights for?"
"'What for,' indeed. That is the question, isn't it, Mr. Nihil?" Tamper regarded me for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. "To begin with... I'm afraid you have me at a bit of a disadvantage - not a position I'm particularly fond of, you must realize. Shall we dispense with the pretense? Let us say that it is not unknown to me that this past Klordny, you had occasion to meet with an acquaintance of mine... a young lady by the name of Carlotta Handsome?"
I played coy. "What... that sister of Junior's? Yeah, I met her... at the Beacon Restaurant that night."
Tamper Lad walked toward me, pulling a chair close to the chaise where I was sitting. He frowned and sat down.
"Mr. Nihil. I'm afraid I really don't have time to engage in games of amateur cat and mouse. I already know that you were due to meet her at about three AM that evening at her room in Zaryan's Palace. She told me as much herself... an arrangement regarding her family history, and a potential business venture for an exposé, correct?"
He wanted to start laying out cards? Well, I had a few trumps of my own. I was pretty sure that even though I had seen him in the Casino, he hadn't caught sight of me. I figured he had to be just fishing at this point, so I decided to see how much he really knew.
"Fraid not. That was the plan, but I never made it Zaryan's that night. And since Lotta turned up missing the next day, it doesn't seem like it's too likely that 'arrangement' is going to be anything more than a dead project."
Tamper Lad sighed and leaned slightly backward, removing his Omnicom from his breast-pocket. He tapped the screen and replaced it.
"I must admit, I'm disappointed, Mr. Nihil. Lies do not befit men such as we." The door to the Library opened, as a man walked in. "I believe you've met the most recent addition to my legal staff. Mr. Quislet... would you be so kind as to prepare our guest a martini... vodka... stirred, not shaken."
"Sure thing, Tamper. Hiya, Ex."
Kid Quislet smiled an apologetic smile at me as he walked past us toward the bar. So that was how Tamper was playing it, huh? Blackmail. He had Kid Quislet under his thumb, too - maybe playing on his gambling problem - and had squeezed out the fact that he had seen me at the Casino that night. Fine... two could play that game. I bit back.
"All right, Tamper... you want to start reciting history lessons? How about the fact that I know that you met with her, too, the same night?"
"Indeed... anyone who cared to take a look at my official itinerary would learn as much. The difference between our meetings, however, is that following my discussion with Ms. Handsome, she joined me for a short time in the Casino... departing in full sight of several thousand witnesses, while I remained for the remainder of the evening. That, I'm pleased to say, made for a very brief interview with the Security Office after which, I assure you, no return visits will be forthcoming. Are you in a position to say the same?"
I sat, looking at him without saying a word. He nodded slightly and continued.
"Hmm... yes... I thought as much. So. Here is where we stand as I see it, Mr. Nihil. I will tell you that Carlotta Handsome and I were in the midst of a very delicate negotiation - the details of which I had been planning for several years. That evening at Zaryan's was to have been the final meeting between she and I in this matter and... I don't mind telling you... I had invested a rather large sum of money in the outcome. Prior to her upholding her end of the bargain, however... she went 'missing'. The only person that I know had seen her after me... was you. So, you'll forgive me if I'm too direct in my next question but... did you kill her?"
"What? You're off your rocker, Tamper! Sure... I saw Lotta at the hotel that night, but the only reason I was even there is that I was working on a holo deal with Junior Handsome, but I found out it was Lotta that was holding the purse strings."
"Junior Handsome... ugh... do not mention that oaf to me. If it hadn't been for his foolishness, I wouldn't even be in this predicament. Let's be frank, Mr. Nihil, shall we? I am fully aware of the details of what Carlotta was going to tell you that evening regarding her family, but I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in that nonsense. Let the dead marry the dead, and all that. That is your business and I assure you, nothing we discuss here will interfere with your plans."
I was starting to get the feeling that this whole conversation was going off script. Tamper Lad sure wasn't acting like someone who had anything to hide, at least from me. I gave him a serious nod, as though his assurance to me was just what I was looking for before hearing more. He nodded back and continued.
"Good. We understand one another. Quite honestly... I don't care one whit whether you killed the woman or not. To be honest, Carlotta was an insufferable minx and it was only a matter of time before someone did, but... the fact remains that dead... missing... or whatever... my business with her remains unfinished. I do not take the loss of that amount of money lightly... nor the loss of what it was to have brought me."
"I'm sorry you got stiffed... but how does involve me?"
"Come now, Mr. Nihil, surely you must realize the position in which I find myself? Carlotta or no... this transaction must be completed. It seems I find myself in the unique position of being the one individual separating you from a very long appointment with the Security Office. From this moment on - until I receive what is rightfully mine - you are going to be serving in the same role as the missing woman. You are going to be my new 'partner'."
"Partner in what?"
Tamper grinned and leaned in toward me.
"You are a worldly man, Mr. Nihil, I'm certain. Tell me... what do you know of... The Middle Finger of Ekron?"
Before I could say a word, Kid Quislet appeared at my side, handing me the martini he had been preparing.
I swallowed it back in one toss.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 16
"I'm sorry... the what of what?"
I might have thought this guy was off his rocker before, but this all but sealed the deal. Kid Quislet, seeing my skepticism, shot me a quick look - as if to say, 'just let him go on'. The Kid and I were going to have to have a long talk as soon as I got out of here. Tamper Lad grinned at me, swirling his brandy around in his glass as he continued.
"Ah... I see that I have caught your interest. Yes, Mr. Nihil, I speak of a fabled treasure - spoken of for years in hushed tones, rumored at times to be nothing more than a myth."
"But you know different, huh?"
"Indeed I do. I'm certain that a man of your caliber and profession must have heard some astounding tales in his day, but none - I assure you - as astounding as the tale that I am about to relate. Tell me... what do you know of the Khanate of Carthac?"
"Barbarians or something, right?"
"A dismissive word, to be certain, but not entirely untrue. Prior to their latter-day incarnation as the religious zealots known as the 'Khanate of Sol Invictus', the former Khanate of Carthac was the most feared and aggressive of all the so-called 'Barbarian Hordes'. Their prowess and ferocity were legendary - leaving thousands of conquered cultures in their wake."
"Yeah, they were pretty tough."
" 'Pretty tough'? Mr. Nihil... they were ruthless! They pillaged, raped, and plundered with nary a thought to the cultures they overran. It was not until the rise of the half-Khund leader known as Dominus that the Khanate took on a more organized, militaristic bent and thought was given to more than simply their short term needs. It was Dominus who implemented the policy of tribute - leaving conquered cultures intact, but demanding that each pay yearly tribute to the Khanate. It was - in this way - that the Khanate of Carthac was able to ensure that their coffers remained full, and that expansion of their empire could continue unabated. Precious metals, fine silks, rare gems - all manner of wealth was soon flowing in as the spoils of war."
"Not a bad haul."
"To put it lightly. One of the worlds conquered under this new regime was the ancient world of Ekron. You may have heard legends of this world... the creation of rare objects of power whose very origins stretch back into antiquity. Let me assure you, Mr. Nihil, these tales are not merely legend... they are a matter of fact. Not schoolbook history, of course... not the type of thing you would read in the Encyclopedia Galactica... but history nonetheless.
"The Ekronians, no strangers to those who would attempt to wrest control of their secrets, devised a plan to minimize the tribute they would pay to the Khanate, while still giving the appearance of fealty. Each year, they would send as tribute a small piece of a structure they had named 'The Rainbow Man of Ekron'. The first year they sent a small piece called the Topaz Toe; the second - the Sapphire Sole; the third - Aquamarine Ankle. Each piece of this immense structure was - by itself - worth more than the entire value of some worlds, so the Khanate was more than willing to accept it... never realizing that what they were receiving were merely elements of something far greater.
"So it continued for years... until the late 2990's. With the growing influence of the religious cult of the 'Black Sun' within the Barbarian territory, it is fair to say that the attentions of Dominus became less focused on the finer details of the various tributes as they had once been. Emboldened by decreasing security, rogue band of pirates began to stage raids on errant convoys passing near the edges of the Khanate Territories. It was one such convoy that carried the yearly tribute from Ekron... that year, the Malachite Middle Finger."
"The pirates had no more interest in the Middle Finger than any other piece of booty they might have raided. To them it was merely another shiny trinket to be bartered on the black market. Suffice to say, the trail of the treasure from that point enters into several years of obscurity. Little realizing the value of what they held, the Middle Finger traded hands several times in the ensuring decade. Had it not been for the legends that persisted in the lower dregs of the underworld, one might have feared that this treasure was lost to the ages - the only piece of the Ekronian Rainbow Man still 'in the wild' so to speak.
"In 2995 it surfaced in Paris... in 2997 in Istanbul... then, for years... nothing. You must realize the allure of such a rarity to a man such as I. The value of such a thing - while immeasurable - was always, to me, merely a secondary aspect... it was the possession of the thing that fueled my imagination. Several times throughout the years I caught wind of the Finger surfacing, only to find naught but worthless baubles. It was not until the turn of the century, through the exploits of a dear acquaintance of mine, one Colonel Wellesley that my hunt began to bear fruit.
"While on an adventure quite unrelated to this current pursuit, the Colonel happened to meet a dealer in antiquities who told him the origin of a battle that had been raging for several years throughout the underworld, all centered around a criminal moniker which - I assure you, not coincidentally - shared its name with this very singular object of my pursuit. It had somehow come into the possession - quite by accident - of a small-time swindler from the Planet Kisom by the name of Shoc Kerr. By this time, the Finger had acquired a coat of black enamel to hide its true nature, resembling nothing so much as merely a fairly interesting objet d'art. Not realizing what the object was - Kerr was, nevertheless, inspired enough by its appearance to adopt the symbolism into his own criminal pursuits, operating from that point on under the nom-de-crime of 'Middlefinger'.
"Yes, Mr. Nihil... I see by your expression that you disbelieve me, but it is true... the entire Middlefinger criminal legacy was born out of nothing more than a charlatan's momentary fancy for a small statue he had stolen! Kerr, himself, was not to be long for this world, however. He came into conflict shortly thereafter with the Handsome cartel - an unhappy turn of events that resulted first in his death, and then the passing of both the Middlefinger name - and the object itself - into the possession of the cartel head, Large Handsome.
"As I'm certain you are well aware, the 'Middlefinger' criminal legacy continues to this day - with felon after felon murdering the previous bearer of the name and assuming the mantle for himself. What has not changed hands among that community, however... is the object itself. Following the death of Large Handsome, the Finger became the property of his brother Molock, and the following Molock's own demise, that of his daughter, Carlotta.
"My hunt well could have ended with the aforementioned young lady... had it not been for the petty internal monetary struggles between she and her brother - your small-minded associate, Junior Handsome. Following their father's death, Carlotta kept close watch over the family's fortunes, keeping her brother on what amounted to little more than a weekly allowance. Of course, such an arrangement could hardly have satisfied the appetites of one such as Junior, who surreptitiously began to sell off various family possessions to supplement his own finances.
"Unbeknownst to him, however, I had already entered into negotiations with his sister for the purchase of a certain statuette. Of course, the woman had no idea why I was so interested in what she viewed as simply another piece of art, but the very fact of my interest caused her to set what she viewed as an exorbitant price. Feigning the attitude of a simple collector, I had negotiated a price which - while still meeting the demands of her greed - was far below what I would have been willing to pay.
"And this... I'm sorry to say, is where my tale goes horribly awry, The night of Carlotta's 'disappearance' I arrived at her hotel in good faith, the agreed upon sum having already been deposited in her account but, as you would have surmised... her portion of the arrangement was nowhere to be found. It seems that Junior Handsome had already brokered a deal through Spiffany Jewelers - not more than a day prior - to sell the object to a private collector for a rather tidy sum. It had already been delivered to the Jewelers, and shipped to the planet Earth via shuttle.
"You can well imagine my displeasure, Mr. Nihil... to be so close to the object that I had sought for years... only to have it stolen out from under me by such incompetence and ignorance a day before I was to hold it in my hands."
"Yeah... I guess not everybody can be a genius."
"You would do well to hold your tongue, Mr. Nihil... I assure you this is but a momentary setback in what will result in the Finger being mine. Even as we speak, the shuttle rests in orbit around the planet, held in customs for a period of one month before being released. For certain legal reasons, it is not possible for me to travel to the planet Earth under the present political climate. It was, to that end, that I... well, let us just say I 'insisted'... that Ms. Handsome was to serve as my authorized envoy, intercepting the shipment upon arrival and ensuring that particular crate was returned to Legion World under my rightful ownership."
"But... then... Lotta pulled a disappearing act."
"In so many words, yes. Now - as I have previously stated - the incidentals of Ms. Handsome's fate truly don't concern me. If she is dead... well... honestly, that is more your concern, and I leave you well to it. But - and here is where we may be of mutual service to one another - it could be arranged that her 'disappearance' becomes quite a bit less of your concern in the days going forward."
"You can smooth it over with the Security Office, you're saying."
"Not me, personally, you understand. But, it is not unheard of that certain pieces of evidence often go missing during such complex investigations."
"And in return, I go to Earth and make a stink about the shipment. It gets sent back to Legion World, and you get your dingus."
"We understand one another wonderfully well, Mr. Nihil."
"And what about this guy?" I nodded toward Kid Quislet, who had been sitting quietly throughout.
"Mr. Quislet is to be your companion for the journey to Earth. He will ensure the full legality of the arrangement and serve to protect my investments - both of them, as it were."
"Me and the dingus."
"You and the 'dingus', as you so eloquently put it."
"And what if I say no?"
"That would be a rather unfortunate decision for you to make, although a certain detective named Matlock would be only too happy to hear it."
"Yeah... I get it. Fine... say I do make the trip, how do I know you're on the level?"
"That is already underway. I believe you have a meeting later this evening with a young lady... a 'My Whee Fem,' is it?"
"Wha... How do you kn...?"
"Please, Mr. Nihil. Would you really have assumed that the Office of Security is that secure? I have my moles in all avenues of Legion World. Let us just say that keeping that meeting will do great efforts toward you realizing that you will be well taken care of in this matter."
"I guess you got it all figured, eh, Tamper?"
Tamper Lad took a small sip of his brandy.
"That is why they call it 'genius', Mr. Nihil."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 17
Tamper Lad spent the next hour or so filling me in on the finer details of our little arrangement. He laid out when I was leaving; who I was supposed to be meeting on Earth; what to do if anything started going funny, but - the whole time he was talking - all I kept thinking about was the camelephant in the room... Kid Quislet.
If there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was a rat.
I get that things get rough... I do. Hell, I wrote the book on hard times. A guy gets in trouble he's willing to do a lot of things to make sure his head stays above water. But no matter how bad it gets, the one thing a stand-up guy never does is to start dragging other people down with him. Kid Quislet had crossed that line, and about ten others. Because of his loose lips, Tamper had me over a barrel. I guess they don't call lawyers, "mouthpieces," for nothing.
I played it cool, though. I let Tamper finish his spiel, just nodding the whole time like some comic book writer being told his story was being put on hold for a company-wide crossover. I thought the whole thing sounded absolutely crazy... but what choice did I have? If didn't play nice with Tamper and his crazy scheme, pretty soon I'd be taking a long Security Office-guided tour off a very short pier.
Tamper wrapped up, telling us to lay low for a couple weeks and he'd be in touch when we were going to leave. Then he called in his two goons from earlier to "escort" me and Kid Quislet out of the Supper Club through the back door so we wouldn't be seen. I gotta admit, as much as my old mug was still hurting from that one gorilla’s fist, it gave me a bit of pleasure to see the other one with his ear bandaged up. I might be short, but never let 'em tell you I'm not scrappy.
They waltzed Kid Quis and I out the back into an alley that opened back out onto the street. Shooting us a threating glare, they shut the door behind us, leaving the two of us standing by our lonesome.
It took about two seconds before Kid Quis started making with the gabbing.
"Well... I guess this is goodbye for now, Ex..." he started saying, "...I'm sorry that you got dragged into all thi..."
I didn't even let him get the words out before making my move. I lunged for his lapels and went to slam him up against the alley wall. I must have misjudged the angle, though, because he slipped his arms under mine and busted out of my hold like it was nothing. I laid in to him.
"You're sorry, huh?! Well... 'sorry' don't begin to make up for this! You couldn't just keep your trap shut, could you? You had to give Tamper Lad a sprocking day planner of every Tom, Dick and Harry you ever ran into!"
"Ex, you don't understand..."
"Don't under... why, you...!" I cocked back my fist to take slug at his sorry kisser but, as I lunged forward to connect, he threw his arm up, deflecting my punch. The only thing my fist wound up connecting with was the wall.
"Grife!"
"Oh my god... Ex! Are you OK?"
I held my hand underneath my arm. I could tell it wasn't broken, but it hurt like hell. Add another thing to the list of body parts that were getting a beating today.
"Fancy moves for a suit, Kid! They teach you that in law school?"
"I used to do some boxing back in the day... just muscle memory, I guess. Listen, Ex... I am sorry you got roped into this, but you really don't understand."
"Oh, yeah? Maybe you better start spilling, then. That's your specialty, ain't it?"
Kid Quislet looked at me with what almost seemed like pity in his eyes. He paused a moment like he was thinking, then seem to deflate a little as he let out a sigh. He nodded, but then silently pointed - first to his ear, then to the door that we just got ejected from. Yeah... of course. We couldn't talk here - Tamper had made it pretty clear he had eyes and ears everywhere. Kid Quislet started walking out of the alleyway, making like he wanted me to follow him. Cooling off a little, a swallowed a bit of my prideand let him lead on.
He led me up a couple blocks toward the nearest Nova Express station. Yeah, that made sense, I suppose. Nova had a lot of problems in the past with their internal coms getting disrupted by all the Omnicom traffic so, a couple years back, they started sending out disrupter pulses around their stations, making sure the only broadcasts that could clear were their own. It made the whole area an outside-com dead zone - perfect for anybody looking to have a private chat without any prying ears.
I didn't know what Kid Quis was planning on laying on me, but - whatever it was - he must have had a pretty good reason for not wanting Tamper to find out.
Turns out it was the best reason of all.
We rolled into the station as Kid Quislet started scouting out the departure waiting rooms for one that was empty. He spied one and pulled me in, hitting the auto-door close button behind us.
He wasted no time. With a hurried look on his face, he leaned in close and started laying out a story that I swear I wouldn't have seen coming even if it had been decked out with all the flags of the United Planets.
"All right, Ex... You seem like a nice guy so I'm going give you the straight story, OK? I'm risking a lot by even doing this, so I'm only going to go through this one time. If anybody calls you on it, I'll deny it until the day I die and leave you hanging, you understand?"
"Seems you've done a pretty fair job of that already."
"Just hear me out, OK? That night you saw me at Zaryan's Casino... that night that Handsome girl went missing? Well... I feel like you already figured as much out, but... I'd been there the whole night, OK? I never went with Quislet Esq. and the other guys to the Vudoo Lounge that night for Klordny."
"Yeah," I nodded. "Yeah... I had that pegged from the second I saw you. I seen enough guys get that look you had in your eyes to know when I'm looking at a guy with a gambling problem. How deep you in for? Is that how Tamper looped you into this... blackmail?"
Kid Quislet smiled and shot a quick look around. He leaned in a bit closer and continued. "That's just it, Ex... I don't have a gambling problem, at all. I don't even like casinos. The whole thing is just an act."
My face must have screwed up tighter than a lug wrench on Nullport because the Kid let out a quick laugh. He smiled and continued.
"I know, I know... this is probably going to be the craziest thing you hear all day and - trust me - after that 'Ekron' nonsense with Tamper Lad, that's saying something, but... I feel like if this is going to work, you've got to know. The truth is... I'm undercover. Quislet Esq.'s boys are working together with the Security Ofiice to bust Tamper Lad's organization wide open. I'm a mole."
"A mole? You're a mole? You seriously expect me to believe that? Buddy, I'm in the holo business. I know when somebody's acting, and... that night at Zaryan's... that was the real thing. Cut the crap, huh? What the hell is going on here?"
"I swear, Ex... I'm completely on the level. The Security Office has been working for years to try to get an inside man into Tamper's organization. When it came to light that there were crooked officers inside the Office on Tamper's payroll, they knew it was time to take a more aggressive approach. It couldn't be somebody inside the Office, of course... Tamper Lad would get word of that right away. It had to be a civilian."
I shook my head. "So why you?"
"The Office figured the best way in was using somebody in Quislet Esq.'s Firm. Tamper has nothing if not legal troubles... you heard him say that he's not even allowed to go to Earth anymore. The Office figured that an attorney with money troubles would be a piece of bait Tamper couldn't resist. On the one hand, it would be easy picking for him... the Office has been dealing Tamper long enough to know that a key part of his M.O. is blackmail. On the other hand, once somebody did get in, who better than somebody intimately familiar with the law to make sure that everything was above board and that they could make a clean case?"
"And, so... what? They just put you out there to start playing the slots? Start racking up enough debt that Tamper gets wind of it and just hope he acts on it? That seems like a pretty big gamble... no pun intended."
The Kid grinned again. "It's a little more involved than that, but we don't really have time to go into all the niceties of the operation right now, but - long story short - you're in the middle of a sting operation."
This was too much for me to process. My head was swimming faster than a Devilfish and I didn't even know what to ask next. I wound up just making a blind stab at the part of the whole thing closest to me.
"And... and Lotta? How does she fit into this?"
"Lotta Handsome? You got me, Ex. I never even met the girl. I've been trying to bait Tamper Lad for a while, but it wasn't until she went missing that he finally made his move. With her out the picture I guess he needed somebody to see through this whole Ekron deal - somebody that he didn't have any real connection to if the deal wound up going south, I suppose. He approached me two days after Klordny saying that if I took this job on - and provided all assurances to Quislet Esq.'s Firm that it was on the up and up - that he could make my 'debt' disappear. I was in."
"Except for one little detail, right? Me."
"Ex, you've got to believe me when I tell you that part was just an honest mistake. I had no idea that he was looking for you - or that either of you were mixed up in this Handsome thing. When he was laying out the deal for me, I mentioned that I saw him at Zaryan's on Klordny, and accidentally mentioned that I'd seen you, too. As soon as I said it, though, his eyes lit up and I knew I made a mistake. I'm so sorry."
"Well, 'sorry' don't exactly keep me out of cuffs though, does it, Kid?"
"Tamper Lad said he was taking care of that for you, though. I won't do anything to mess that part up for you. You've got my word that I won't mention a single word of that conversation to the Security Office. Let them ferret out their own moles, right? I never even heard that conversation tonight, OK?"
"Why on earth would you do that? That seems a little shady for somebody supposed to be working for Johnny Q. Law."
Kid Quis shrugged. "I don't know. The fact is - I like you, Ex. You've always been square with me, you know? You cut me in on that whole 'Primary Color Gang' holo deal a few years ago, and that really helped me get a leg up in the Firm. I know you're in a rough spot right now, but I don't believe for a second that you could have done anything to that girl. Who knows if anything even happened to her, right? She might have just run out on her own. I mean... you didn't kill her, right?"
"That's what everybody keeps telling me."
"Fine. That's good enough for me. Whatever went on with you and her, that's none of my business. You'll be all right, you'll see... and, once we get done with this Tamper Lad business, so will I. You've got nothing to worry about."
I looked at Kid Quislet. He was absolutely right - even after everything with Tamper Lad, this was the craziest thing I'd heard all day.
But - as I'd find out just a couple hours later - the day was still young.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 18
I hopped next train uptown, leaving Kid Quislet at the station. There'd be plenty of time over the next few weeks - before we headed to Earth - where I'd be able to drill him for more details about this whole Security Office thing, but right now I didn't think the old melon could take any more twists.
Kid Quis was a mole... or so he said. I gotta admit, I thought the whole story had more holes than a Vrygan's travel itinerary, but I was in no mood to sort it all out right then. I'd been beat up, knocked out, lied to, blackmailed, and had my fist become best friends with a brick wall. I was tired, dirty, and in too much pain to keep going like this for much longer. What I needed right now was my own place - and a little while to think.
I made it back uptown on the train, and somehow stumbled my painful way over to my flat. I scanned my keychip, as the door shushed open and I was greeted with the sound of my room-com beeping. Not now - whoever it was would just have to wait.
"Room-com disconnect. Send all calls to messaging."
The beeping stopped. With a groan, I stripped off my jacket and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Cripes... that thug had given me quite a shiner. I raised my hand to my cheek to rub it, and saw how cut up my hand looked in the reflection. Oh well, at least I was a matched set.
With an achy effort, I stripped off the rest of my clothes and climbed into the sonic-shower. I punched up my preferences as the sound waves started pouring over me in a warm relaxing rush. Oh, yeah... I needed this.
What a day.
Twenty-four hours before I would of thought my biggest trouble was going to be dodging the Security Office long enough for Emily to come up with something solid enough for me to skate out on the whole thing permanently. Now she'd flown the coop, and was trucking off on a shuttle for god only knew where on Earth, without me having the slightest clue what she was up to.
The only guy I knew for certain might have had some connection to the whole Lotta business - Tamper Lad - turns out to think that I'm the one who did her in... but doesn't even care if I did. Instead, he just wants to use my own bad spot to blackmail me into acting as his personal delivery boy - tracking down some jewel that half the galaxy doesn't even think exists.
Meanwhile - I got this lawyer, Kid Quislet, telling me to just go along with this crazy scheme 'cause it's all part of this big sting that the Security Office has rigged up to nail Tamper to the wall. And the best part - this legal eagle says that he's really a double agent, playing at being a gambling fiend to trick Tamper into letting him in on it.
To top it all off, the one good thing that does happen to me today - meeting that cute little gal, My Whee Fem - turns south when I find out that she works at the Security Office, too. But I can't just skip out on meeting her because then Tamper tells me that she's got some info that's gonna be the key to solving all my worries about being a suspect.
Everybody's got info, it seems.
Everybody but me - the guy that keeps getting bounced around more than that delivery boy who accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle at the robo-gladiator match. If only Emily could have kept me in the loop, I wouldn't have felt like I was just falling without a net. If only she would have given me something to...
Crap.
Blue Cheese Lad! Emily said I was supposed to head up to the West Side to talk with Eddie Stilton - but then, right after, I got jumped by those two gorillas of Tamper's.
I jumped out of the shower and looked at the clock. Eight at night. I was supposed to meet My Whee at nine at Cafe Cramer. There was no way I could make it all the way up to Stilton's joint, and still make it back in time for that. Oh well, Eddie... it looked like your cheese would just have to keep aging for a little while longer. Given the choice between spending the evening with an eighty year old ex-con who might have a tip for me, and a beautiful young gal who I knew would, my decision was easier than that of a Daxamite at a filling station figuring out if he should go with unleaded.
I wrapped up my hand in a plasti-bandage, threw on a fresh set of clothes, and started beating feet down to Cafe Cramer.
Cafe Cramer's always has such a warm look about it - a nice glow that sort of sets it off from the other buildings around it - like it's saying, "Yeah... we know you're having a rough one. Come on in, have a cup, and forget all about it." Right about then, that's just what I needed to hear.
I walked across the street, as the patrons inside started getting clearer through the plate-polymer window up front. It took a moment, but I spied My Whee sitting on a small couch over by the side wall. She was sitting sort of curled up, with her legs underneath her, looking like she was deep into something she was reading on her Omni-pad. She looked just as beautiful as she had earlier outside the Security Office - even more so, if that was possible, sitting there all relaxed with her guard down.
Man. In another life... in another time... this was exactly the type of girl that I'd go for, but - right now - things were so messed up I didn't even know why I had asked her to come. Old habits, I suppose. But when Tamper Lad had said that I absolutely should keep this meeting - that she would have info about the Lotta case that would help me out - well... I'm not one to talk about things like fate, but, on the other hand, I'm not one to spit in its face, either.
I took a deep breath, and opened the door as the chimes jingled.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 19
"Wanna know how it ends?"
I smiled at My Whee Fem, pulling an easy chair up closer to the couch she was sitting on. She looked up from her Omnipad, a little confused.
"I'm sor... oh... Mr. Nihil! Oh, I am so sorry... I completely forgot that I was supposed to meet you tonight."
"Aw, that's all right..." I grinned, my heart sinking a bit, but playing it off with a joke, "I forgot about it, too. I just accidentally walked in this joint thinking it was the off-track betting parlor for the Kangabronc races. I was just about to ask what a pretty girl like you was doing in a place like this."
She sat up, closing down her pad. That relaxed attitude that I noticed through the window was fading fast as she started putting on her public face. "I am sorry, though. I've just had the most insane day, and I wasn't... oh, god... your face!"
I sort of half-chuckled, as she did a double take at my black eye. "Now, that's what every guy wants to hear."
She laughed a little self-consciously, putting her hand to her mouth. Damn, this gal was cute.
"I didn't mean..."
"I'm just giving you the business, kid... you can probably tell I had a pretty interesting day, myself."
"Are you OK? Does it hurt... what happened?"
"It's nothing... I just got hit by a stray cross beam saving a bunch of orphans out of a burning building. All in day's work, you know." When I said the word, "orphans," I could have sworn I saw her tense up a bit, but - before I had a chance to say anything else - one of Cramer's barrista girls sidled up beside us with an order-scanner.
"Hello, sir... what can I get started for you?"
"Start...? Oh... just a cup of drip. Black."
The barrista tapped in my order and walked away, as My Whee smiled slightly at me, "Cup of drip? That sounds like something they say in one of those holos you make. You don't go out for coffee much, do you?"
"Yeah, no... well... once in while, you know. I just..." I started fumbling a little over my words. It's not usually like me to get like that, but there was something about My Whee that put me a little off balance.
"Relax... I'm just giving you the business, 'kid'."
Nice.
This girl had my number. She smiled at me and went on, "Seriously though, what did happen to your eye?"
"The eye? Aw... don't fret it. I just took a bad step in my flat. It looks a lot worse than it is. You should see the door. Sorry to hear that you had a bum day, too, though. Everything OK?"
"Ugh," she shook her head, and briefly rubbed her temples, "Just work stuff."
"You work over at the Security Office, right?"
"Yeah, how did you... ? Oh, of course... you ran me over there today."
"How else was I gonna meet you? So, what happened... bad guy get away or something?"
She let out a disgusted breath. "Let's hope not. It's really just impossible is the thing, though. I know I filed it exactly to protocol."
"Sorry... you lost me, there."
"I don't even know why I'm telling you this - it's just boring office routine - but, I'm an Evidence Handler at the Security Office. There was just some information that one of the detectives has been holding on - a backtrace on an Omnicom for this missing persons case. Well, it finally came in last night, but he was already gone for the day, so I just filed it on the overnight. When I went to retrieve it this morning, though... nothing! No file, no receipt invoice, not even a sequencing gap where it would have been. It's like it didn't even come in."
I leaned back in my chair, still listening to My Whee but my mind - of course - racing back to Tamper Lad. So that's how he was playing it. He knew - even before he talked to me - exactly what he'd need to do to get me to play along. That's why he waited so long to make his move. He wanted to intercept the backtrace and have it in his palm before he nabbed me.
There was no way he could have known that I would accidentally run into the very person that was supposed to be handling that evidence, though.
Was there?
No... now I was just being paranoid. Me running into My Whee had to have been a coincidence that Tamper just exploited for the maximum theatric effect. He was playing a great game of 3-D chess, but I was just his pawn.
I figured I'd better be up front as soon as possible if I ever stood a chance of seeing My Whee again. I cleared my throat and asked, "So, uh... this 'missing person'... it wouldn't happen to be a gal named Lotta Handsome, would it?"
"Wh... how did you..."
"I was working a holo deal with her brother, and I saw her the night she went missing. That detective friend of yours - Matlock I'm guessing, right? He came by to ask me a couple questions right after, and he mentioned that whole Omnicom thing."
"Ah... then you know how long he's been waiting on this. Did you know her well?"
"No, I just met her that night, but she..."
"I'm sorry... could you hold that thought for just one second?" She reached down to her own Omnicom that was buzzing with a new message. She looked down to read it, then pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, Mr. Nihil... it looks like we'll have to get that coffee some other time. I'm getting called into something over on the West Side."
"No problem, I get it. A badge's job is never done. Hey, wait a minute, though... I've got to head over to the West Side tonight, myself." I figured if I was gonna get stiffed on the date, I might as well just head over to Eddie Stilton's that same night, and maybe squeeze out a few more minutes with My Whee in the bargain. "You want to split a ride?"
"Thank you... but I have my own hover right around the corner. I could give you a ride if you like, though."
"Hey, that'd be great, thanks. So... what's the big rumpus tonight that's got the Security Office calling all cars?"
My Whee stood up, packing up her Omnipad. "I'm not sure... there weren't a lot of details in the message but, apparently there's been some sort of accident. They've already taken the man to Medicus, but they've locked down the site. It's one of the old members of the Primary Color Gang. Have you ever heard of the Blue Cheese Lad... Eddie Stilton?"
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 20
I watched My Whee Fem sitting silently behind the controls as she barreled her hovercraft toward Eddie Stilton's place.
I wanted to say something to her - but the determined look on her face as she drove through the night made me think that she was deep in thought. I figured I should let her break the silence if she wanted. Fact of the matter was, right about then, my own mind was swimming faster than a Tritonian merman.
Why hadn't I listened to Emily? She had told me that Eddie was the one guy in this whole mess that could of helped me, but I'd thought it was more important to see My Whee - and now it might be too late. The old guy was laid up in Medicus and, with him, any chance I had to meet him in private. Sure, I could always pay a visit to him at the hospital, but I barely knew the guy, and that might look fishy. Little did I realize at that time, though, that it would be a long time before Eddie would be in any shape to talk to anybody.
We drove for maybe about ten minutes without saying a word before, finally, it got to be too much for me. I cleared my throat. My Whee looked over at me in the passenger seat and, for half a second, it was like she was seeing me for the first time.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Nihil... just lost in thought."
"Nah... that's all right. You can cut the 'Mr. Nihil' stuff if you want, though. You can just call me Ex."
"Certainly... Ex... I'm sorry if I'm being rude, it's just... well, I just haven't thought about that name in a very long time."
"Who's that... Eddie Stilton? Did you know him?"
"Yes... well... no... not really. I've never spoken to him. He probably doesn't even remember me... but I remember him. He was one of the men who worked for my father when I was a child."
"What... here on Legion World?"
She sighed wearily, like she was suddenly hit by a wave of sadness. I saw her eyes dart up to the rear projection screen like she was meeting her own gaze. After a moment, she looked back at me and I almost thought she was about to cry. She took a breath and continued.
"No... I'm not from Legion World. I was born on Earth. I came here after my parents were... after they died."
"Oh, hey... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
"No, no, it's all right. I can talk about it... I want to. It was all a very long time ago, anyway. I was only five years when I came to the Legion World Orphanage. I don't even really remember much of my time on Earth."
"You said that Stilton used to work for your dad? Sorry if I'm out of line but, what exactly did your dad do? I thought that up until he got out of prison about five years back, Eddie Stilton was a crook. Did he used to be legit back in the day?"
"No. This was before his time with the Primary Color Gang but, trust me, he wasn't doing anything different when he worked with my father. I... I'm sorry, this is very strange to talk about this after so long, but... I'm actually the daughter of My Yeol Min."
At that name my jaw dropped open wider than a Bismollian tunneling out of a super-stalag.
Nowadays, you only hear that name pop up in those lurid late night docu-holos about "true-crime," but - at one time - the name, "My Yeol Min" was almost synonymous with the Terran underworld. He was a vicious crime lord out of the Sino-Koreapolis district of Earth and - at the peak of his power - it was said that the Chinese Tong, the Japanese Yakuza and the Korean Kkangpae had all been consolidated under his single rule.
There had been other crime lords that had risen through the ranks, but none with the level of blood thirst that My Yeol Min was known for. It was said that he had a standing offer of one million credits to any member of his organization that could not only personally kill a rival cartel boss... but who could also deliver him their severed head.
With that kind of power, it was only a matter of time before a rival family would be looking to knock you down off that throne and steal your crown. Sure enough, My Yeol Min met with the same end that he sent so many others to before.
It had been a young upstart member of rival gang - someone looking to make a name for himself in a big way. Although it was never proven, it was said that there must have been a traitor inside of My Yeol's organization... someone who had allowed this man access to My Yeol's private quarters. No name for the traitor was ever ferreted out but - somehow - this man had been allowed to infiltrate the sanctuary and had beheaded both My Yeol Min and his wife as they slept.
By the next morning, there wasn't a single member of the underworld that didn't know... and fear... the name of the assassin. It was a junior member of a fledgling crime family named... Molock Handsome.
Suddenly the world felt very small.
My Whee must have seen me sitting there, mouth open like a Vornian Maw, because she continued on.
"I take it by your expression that you must be familiar with my family's history? It's true - I'm a Legion World Security Officer who was born into a notorious crime family. There were a lot of people who would have paid a lot of money for that information a long time ago, but I think that's long gone. I was taken off-planet very quickly after my parents' death and hidden in the Legion World Orphanage where I grew up... just another forgotten little girl."
"But, aren't you still afraid someone will find out? I mean, why would you tell me this?"
"I stopped being afraid a long time ago, Ex. I learned the hard way that if I wanted to survive in this world - and not be a prisoner to my past - I had to take control."
I remembered the way I had seen her on the beach that morning, swinging that sword. Girl had a point... there wasn't nobody with half a brain that would try to go up against that. I nodded as she continued.
"But, all of that is ancient history. At least... I thought it was until a couple weeks back when I heard that Lotta Handsome had gone missing. Just because I've made my peace with the past doesn't mean that I don't still harbor resentment toward that family. Molock Handsome died a long time ago, it's true, but every time I would see Junior Handsome's name in the paper... or Lotta's... I would think of how he just got away with it. I don't know... maybe things have a way of coming back around. All I know is that here I am - handling evidence about a missing girl - and all I can think is how little I would feel if it turned out that she was dead."
At the word, "dead," I felt myself jump a little. If only My Whee knew the real story... that Lotta was dead and that I had seen her that night - done in the exact same way as My's father. What the sprock had I gotten into?
I cleared my throat and tried to be a voice of reason.
"Aw, come on... you don't mean that."
"Don't I?" She exhaled audibly. "Yeah... I guess I don't know what I mean. I'm sorry I told you all this. You must think I'm an insane person."
"Don't fret it, My... I know it's got to be hard thinking about all that."
"And now, Eddie Stilton on top of all this. Just too many old ghosts, I guess"
"Come on, now," I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder, "you don't even know what happened to Eddie. Maybe he just slipped and fell."
"Well... I guess we're about to find out."
She started slowing down the hovercraft, as we pulled around the corner into a scene that looked like something out a Braal-Imsk War docu-holo. The whole front of Stilton's building was sealed off with electro-tape and there were more flashing lights than the inside of a 20th century Coluan skull-ship.
My Whee put the vehicle into park-mode as a rapping came on the driver side polymer-window. She lowered the window and asked up, "What have we got?"
"It's pretty bad, Fem..." the voice from outside came, "...the whole joint is tore up. Stilton's already gone to Medicus, but it doesn't look good. He's lost a lot of blood. It looks like he'd been lying there for hours before anybody found him. I need you to get up there right away before anybody else starts touching things."
"Right away, Detective." she quickly climbed out, turning around to say goodbye to me, "I'm sorry, Ex, you'll have to catch another ride from here... I'll call you as soon as I can."
"Ex...?" The detective from outside lowered his head to peer inside the hover, as My Whee ran off toward the door of Stilton's place. "Well, well... Mr. Nihil... just the guy I've been looking for!"
You always did have a way of hitting a guy when he was least expecting it, Matt.
I climbed out of the hover, gearing up to meet you for round two.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 21
"Sweet kid, isn't she?"
I watched My Whee disappear into the front door of Eddie Stilton's place, then turned to face you.
I gotta admit, Matt, it struck me a little odd that you'd call the gal who'd lost the evidence for your case a "sweet kid," but - if this day had taught me one thing - I wasn't taking anything for granted.
"I wouldn't know, Detective Matlock. I only just met her today. We were just grabbing a cup of coffee together when she told me she had to dart over here. I was heading this way anyway, so I just hitched a ride over."
"Is that right? Just met her... and already she slugged you? You've certainly got a way with women, Mr. Nihil."
As usual, I had no idea what you were talking about - but I was getting pretty used to that fact. Conversations with you always seemed to have more angles than a stack of tesseracts.
"I'm sorry... who slugged who?"
"Ah... I'm just kidding you," you pointed up to your eye, "It's just the shiner... how'd you pick up that beauty?"
"Old war wound... acts up around cops."
"Come on, now... there's no call for that. I'm just giving you a hard time. My Whee Fem, though - you ought to be careful with that one - she's a tough cookie. I should know, my wife is the exact same way. The stories I could tell you about Mrs. Matlo..."
"Another time, perhaps."
"Of course, of course... I'm sorry... I know you're a busy man. So, what brings you to this end of town so late?"
"Just meeting a backer later on at the Beacon," I lied.
"Always living the life, eh, Mr. Nihil? Who is it this time?"
"Sorry, I can't really discuss deals that are still ongoing."
"I understand... I understand completely. It is funny that I should run into you tonight, though. You see... I've got a bit of a problem and you're just the guy that I think can help me out."
"I already gave my statement about the Handsome case at the station this morning."
"Good... that's good. But this isn't really about the Handsome case... it's about this craziness going on right here," you shot a thumb back toward the cordoned off building. "It's about Eddie Stilton."
"So, what happened to the guy?"
"Now, Mr. Nihil... I can't really discuss cases that are still ongoing." You winked. I was really getting to dislike you.
"Well, I don't know how I can help you. I don't even know Eddie Stilton."
"Well... now that's not entirely true, though. If I'm not mistaken, the two of you worked together... on that... uh..." you paused, flipping open your Omnipad, "... on that Primary Color Gang documentary a few years back, isn't that right?"
I sighed. Nothing got by you.
"Well, I wouldn't say we worked together. He was one of the guys who was interviewed - but I didn't meet him personally."
"Is that a fact? Well... that's all right. It's not really Stilton I'm interested in - it's more what happened to him."
"Which you can't discuss."
"That's right. But... I wonder, Mr. Nihil... would you mind doing me a favor?"
I exhaled impatiently. "What do you need?"
"Oh, thank you... this will only take a minute... but it would really be a big help to me. Could you..." you reached into your trench coat, "... could you just hold this stylus for a second?"
I reached out and took the stylus. "Yeah... and...?"
"All right... now just... just come at me with it. No... hold it up like this... over your head, and sort of... yeah... just pretend you're bringing it down. No... no, higher... and sort of bring it down like this... like you're going for my neck."
I followed your lead - not liking where this was going at all.
"Exactly!" You snapped your fingers and took a step back, looking like the parakat that ate the elvabird. "I knew it... sinister!"
"What in god's name are you talking about?"
"A leftie! I was thinking that the cut looked strange. There was no way it could have happened accidentally, but the angle looked off-kilter - down and to the right. Whoever had a go at Stilton had to have been left-handed!"
I literally felt the color draining out of my face. I didn't know what kind of game you were playing, but it sure as hell wasn't moopsball. So... Stilton had been cut in the throat. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that you already knew how the attack happened, so this little demo had to have been just for my benefit.
Did you know about Lotta? And why this whole cat and mouse routine? I had the feeling you could see through me like a Bgtzlian shower curtain. I finally lost it.
"All right, Matlock, " I said, throwing down the stylus, "I've had just about enough of this. If you've got something to say to me, just go ahead and..."
"Detective Matlock!" A voice suddenly called across the street, as we both looked over at the rumpled guy beating feet our way. I saw you roll your eyes.
"On your toes, Mr. Nihil," you said, leaning into me, "This guy's from the LMB Enquirer - Phil Marlowe. Guy's been bugging me non-stop for two weeks now about some crazy... oh, hey! Mr. Marlowe! How you doing, pal? How's the fourth estate... you keeping the lawn all groomed?"
"Knock it off, Matlock. Did you follow up with the rehab?"
"Good to see you, too, Mr. Marlowe. I don't know if you know Mr. Nihil?"
Marlowe looked at me briefly and - not even acknowledging me - turned back to you. "Did you?"
"Marlowe... if you can't tell," you pointed back to the scene at Stilton's, "I'm a little busy right now. I already told you, you've got to talk to Vice."
"Yeah... and Vice said I needed to go through Investigations. I'm tired of getting the run around, Matt! They're not going to release the names of their patients without an official Security Office order."
"Well, that's got to be a tough break, isn't it? Why can't you just leave that poor girl alone, Marlowe? Is this how your brother got his Pulitzer? Harassing celebrities about their problems?"
"I'm not my brother... and regardless of what they say, that girl is not in that hospital!"
"I tell you what, Marlowe... you see this guy here? This is Mr. Exnihil - he's a famous holo producer. He knows all the big shots. Why don't you talk to him for a little while? You guys should have a lot in common, you're both in the 'fiction' business. Excuse me, gentlemen... I've got some real crimes to solve."
"This isn't over, Matlock!" Marlowe called after you, but you were already on your way toward Stilton's door. He turned to me with a grunt, "So, what's your story, bub?"
"Me? Just the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess. So who's this dame you're so hepped up about?"
Marlowe pulled out a pack of trigarrettes and lit one up.
"Hmph. Just a story I'm chasing down. She's not an actress or anything... just one of those high society gals. Supposedly - the night after Klordny - she checked herself into a rehab clinic out on the Outer Rim, but I have it on good authority that she never showed up there. She went missing en route... but nobody's talking."
"Anybody I might have heard of?"
"Maybe. You ever hear of the Venusian heiress... Angora Swetters?"
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 22
"Angora Swetters, huh?"
I listened to Marlowe laying out his conspiracy theory about Swetters' disappearing act but - I'll be honest - with everything that I was going through right then, my brain was already auto-filing that one under "N"... for "not my problem".
I had seen Swetters that night at Zaryan's, hanging off of Tamper Lad's arm like a high-priced Spiffany Christmas ornament. Sure, I'd only caught a quick glance of her - but she didn't seem like somebody ready to check into rehab. Then again, what did I know? I've been in the holo business long enough to know - if you've got enough dough - it's as easy to hide an addiction as it is to predict a heat wave on Mercury.
I'd seen a lot of good talent over the years wasting away into the bottom of a bottle. Some of 'em do try to clean up - but just as many keep spiraling down so far you can't even see 'em anymore. Maybe Swetters did head off to the hospital that day, but got cold feet at the door. Who knows? I'd bet credits to doughnuts that Marlowe would find his headline - but it was more likely to be about another lost weekend for that girl than a conspiracy.
After a few minutes gabbing with Marlowe, I figured I'd better split the scene. I had told My Whee that I had other business in this part of town, and if I was still hanging around when she got out of Stilton's it would look fishy. I wished Marlowe good luck and good chasing, and started making my way back to my flat, my head still spinning over what had happened to Eddie.
I couldn't believe it. Who would want to have a go at a guy that old? And the way they did it - slicing his neck - it was just too much like what I had seen with Lotta to be a coincidence.
I thought about what My Whee had said about Stilton - about how he used to be one of her father's crew back in the day. My Yeol Min... Lotta Handsome... Eddie Stilton... all of them mixed up in this cartel business - and all of them winding up with a knife to the throat. Was this some sort of mafia vengeance code or something?
What was I looking at here?
My Yeol was twenty years dead. If you believed the hype, Stilton had been legit ever since he got out of prison. And Lotta? As far as I knew, she had never even been a part of all this... she just had the bad luck to have been born the daughter of a hood. If these things were connected... if this was a mafia thing... it had to go deep. Something like this had to be years in the making.
I shook my head. Listen to me... I was starting to sound like Marlowe.
No... no, this wasn't a conspiracy. It was just some rich dame who had crossed one too many people, a random robbery gone wrong on some over the hill business owner, and a late night spook story I'd heard from a gal whose every word I'd been hanging on. Put it all together and it just added up to me having about the worst luck this side of a Ranzz twin... but not a conspiracy.
And I would have gone right on thinking that way... if I hadn't been dumb enough to answer that damned com.
I scanned the keychip to my flat and collapsed onto my bed.
"Holo-news on," I called out, as the set came to life.
"...dition, at this time. Again, if you're just joining us, we have been speaking with Medicus-2 physician, Doctor One, who informs us that local businessman Eddie Stilton - formerly known as the Blue Cheese Kid - remains unresponsive, in critical but stable condition following a viscous assault at his Upper West Si..."
"Holo-news off."
I'd had enough violence for one day. I rolled over and had just about started drifting off to sleep, when I remembered that I'd switched the room-com to messaging earlier. If there was any more bad news waiting I figured I'd better face it head on.
"Room com messaging off. Playback all messages."
"No messages pending. Twenty-two missed calls"
Twenty-two calls - but no messages? Somebody must have wanted to talk to me pretty bad. Before I could even start thinking about it though, the room-com starting beeping again.
"Room com connect. Exnihil, here. Talk to me."
A couple seconds passed, then a voice spoke quietly.
"Are you alone?"
"Emily?! Is that you?"
"Are you alone?" she repeated.
"Yeah, yeah... I'm alone. Where are you? We got cut off earlier, but I figured your shuttle wouldn't clear the radiation belt until tomorr..."
"I'm not on the shuttle anymore... it was too dangerous. I stowed in one of the jettison mail pods en-route to Europa. I'll reroute tomorrow. Where have you been, Nihil? I've been trying to get you for two hours now."
"Wh... what? Europa? Emily, what the sprock is going on?"
"Just cut the 'what's going on' routine, OK? I don't have a lot time - I'm hopping my signal right now to avoid any backtraces, but it's only good for about five minutes. Did you talk to Eddie Stilton?"
"I... uh... no..."
"Grife, Nihil! I told you to do one thing! Do you think this is a game? What the bloody nass have you been doing all day?"
"I don't begin to know how to answer that, Em. Look... there was some kind of attack on Stilton. He wound up in Medicus with his throat slit before I could talk to him."
"Damn it. He said they were after him, but I just told him he was being paranoid."
"They? Who 'they'?"
"Never mind that. Listen... here's what you need to..."
"Emily, stop! Seriously... this is my life we're talking about here. I asked you to follow Matlock to get me some info on who he was talking to and - the next thing I know - you're halfway across the galaxy, and I'm mixed up in another stabbing. I need some answers, and I need them now. Just what was Stilton supposed to tell me?"
"I don't know."
"What?"
"Fine. I'm going to keep this quick, all right? I tailed Matlock for a few days and - within that time - he went to Stilton's place three times. I figured that if this detective was so hot on this one ex-con, it was either because he was a suspect... or an informant. Eddie Stilton's eighty years old - I'll give you one guess which it was."
"Stilton was a stoolie?"
"One of Matlock's go-to guys. After Matlock left the third time, I paid Stilton a visit and put the fear of god into him."
"You beat up an old man?!"
"Grife, Nihil... give me some credit. Of course not... but I did intimidate him enough that he started spilling his story. Ever since he got out of prison, he's been living a double life. On the one side he still talks to his old cronies, but - on the other - he's been feeding that info right to the Security Office. He knew that Matlock liked you for the Handsome case, but he also told me that he knew you were innocent."
"How could he know that?"
"He wouldn't tell me... no matter how hard I pushed him. He was afraid, Nihil - really afraid, and with good reason, I guess, from what you said happened. He told me he would only talk about it directly to you."
"That doesn't make any sense, Em. He doesn't even know me... why would he care what happens to me?"
"Trust me, Nihil, I wonder the same thing myself... all the time. He did give me another lead, though. He said if I wanted the truth - 'the real truth,' he called it - that I should talk to an old crony of his, a guy by the name of The Red Fist. You know him?"
"Yeah... well.. of him. He's another one of the old Primary Color Gang."
"Exactly. That's why I'm going to Earth - to track down this Fist guy. Apparently, he's a boxer now. He's got this big match coming up in about a month in the Sino-Koreapolis district...
"I'm sorry," I interrupted, "...the where? Say that again."
"Sino-Koreapolis? Does that mean something to you?"
"It's just a weird coincidence, is all. I was just talking today to a girl who was born there."
"Nihil... so help me... if you say the name, 'My Whee Fem'... "
"Wh... why?"
"You are a sprocking idiot! What did I say on my last call? I said, 'Whatever you do, do NOT talk to My Whee Fem!!!"
"You got cut off, Em! I never heard the name."
"Grife! So what did she tell you?"
"Well for one thing... the evidence she was handling in my case - that backtrace on Lotta's com - has gone missing."
"Really?"
"Yeah... but I already knew about that part, because Tamper Lad told me he was having one of his plants in the Security Office clear it out."
"Tamper Lad? Why in god's name would he do that?"
"He wants to hold it over my head as blackmail. He's trying to force me to act as a courier to retrieve some artifact for him... the Middle Finger of Ekron."
"The what?"
"But all that is just part of a sting operation that the Security Office is setting Tamper up for. One of their civilian agents - this lawyer, Kid Quislet - is working undercover to bust him when we go to retrieve it."
"Stop. Please... just stop. Are you listening to yourself? Can we pretend... just for a minute... that for some bizarre reason I actually give a damn about your sorry excuse for a life? Nihil... can't you tell when you're being lied to?"
"What... which one? Who's lying? Tamper? Kid Quislet? My Whee?"
"Grife, Nihil! ALL THREE OF THEM!!!" Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 23
Emily's words hung in the air like a gang of Kryptonian criminals jeering at me from the Phantom Zone. I sat in stunned silence, trying to gather my thoughts.
"I... no... no, you're wrong, Em. You've got to be. Tamper, I can see - I mean, 'double cross' is that guy's middle name. Kid Quis? Sure, OK, I admit it... his story did seem like it had been out in the sun too long. But... My Whee? No... no, I don't buy it, Em. She's just a sweet kid who..."
"A sweet kid? Open your eyes, Nihil. Your 'sweet kid' was meeting with Matlock at least twice a day for an hour at a time, the whole time I was tailing him."
"She's an evidence handler - she works with the guy. Like I said, she was supposed to process the backtrace for him."
"All the more reason you shouldn't trust her. Come on, stop being such a sap. If that's all she was doing, why would Matlock be chatting her up for that long? You know it doesn't add up. Matlock's got it in for you - you know that. Out of nowhere, this girl he works with, who - out of all the badges in the Security Office - just happens to be the one handling the evidence in the Lotta case, starts talking to you? You don't think that's a little convenient? How did you wind up meeting her?"
"I accidentally ran into her outside of the Security Office."
"Amazing... and tell me... was that the first time you ever saw this girl?"
"No, I... I saw her the morning after Klordny. On the beach a liitle ways down from the casino. I didn't think she saw me, though."
"No... you're right. Cute little ninja girl who... you know... trains non-stop to counter all enemies - whose discipline demands that she be completely aware of her surroundings. Yeah... she probably just overlooked the creepy guy walking all alone on the boardwalk at four in the morning."
"All right, Em, enough. I get it. I'm an idiot."
"Glad to finally hear we finally agree on something. Seriously, Nihil... I'm just trying to keep you safe here. You've got to trust me. I'm going to reach Earth in a couple days; I'm going to find this Red Fist guy; and I'm going to get to the bottom of this whole thing."
"I know. I do trust you."
"Good. You just lay low for a couple days, OK? Try to keep Tamper at bay - but don't do anything stupid. Be careful with that Kid Quislet guy, too. I don't know what his story is. Maybe he is a mole like he says, but - even if he is on the level, the last thing you need is another Security Office entanglement. And whatever you do, just keep away from that Fem girl, OK?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"All right. If you want to do something useful, try to find out what Stilton was so hot to tell you. From what you said, I imagine it's going to be a while before he's able to tell you himself, but maybe you could dig something up. You've got a lot of contacts in the entertainment world. Some of them have to be a little crooked, right?"
"Yeah, I'll see what I can do. Emily... thank you."
"You want to thank me - just stop acting like you want to get caught. Crap... the signal hop is giving out. OK, Nihil... I've got to go. Just take ca..."
The room com crackled as the line went dead.
Emily was right. I had been acting like a grade-A sap - letting every Thom, Dirk and Shikari spin me around like I was a planetary chance machine. It was time I started to take charge of my destiny here. It was one thing to sit back and let Emily run point in tracking down the "red" piece of this puzzle, but I had almost had the "blue" in my sight, and I'd just let it slip away.
It was time to fix that mistake.
I rolled into the my office at Exnihil Productions the next morning, surprising my secretary who was sitting behind her desk, filing her nails.
"Boss! What are you doing in this early? You never get in before ten."
"I've got a lot of work today," I said, tossing my coat on the rack.
"You've got a lot of work every day, but I've just never seen you do any of... oh, my God! Boss! What happened to your eye? Did you get in a fight?"
"Never mind that... I need you to take down a few things. You ready? All right... first thing... get me Director Lad on the com - I'm going to need a few names. Then, I need you to call down to the LMB Enquirer, ask for a guy named Marlowe. Let him know that I think I can help him out - but that I'm going to need something in return. Tell him I need every last reference to either 'The Blue Cheese Kid' or 'Eddie Stilton' that's run in the last twenty years. Then, I need you to pull all the holo tapes from that Primary Color Gang documentary we made a few years back - not just the final cut, I'm going to need all the deleted footage, too. Send it down to the screening room... and, Effie... put on a pot of Kono. I'm gonna be a while."
"Boss... what's this all about?"
"Just trying to solve a puzzle, Effie darling... but first, I need to find out where the edge pieces go."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 24
(for Art)
"... had the Orrery surrounded. It was all I could do to keep the Secondary Color Squad in formation. The Green Extreme were flanking the west side, while the Orange Agents were charging the front... but that's when Phineas really started to..."
"Stop... Skip to scene 22, mark 7... Play."
I sighed as the scene on the holo screen changed from the Bluetooth Kid to the Gay Green Giant.
Ten days.
For ten days, I'd been heading to my screening room trying to weed through all this junk, and I was still about as close to finding a clue as a Teallian looking for a place to be alone. I took another sip of Kono as the holo continued.
"... larger then I'd ever grown before. The Yellow Kid just looked at me and - bless his heart - said, "Do you think you can do it, Bob?" Well... I didn't miss a beat. I kissed him on the top of his adorable little bald head and said, "Billy... I was born to do it." I flew out of the air lock and..."
"Stop... Skip to scene 31, mark 2... Play."
I rubbed my eyes. I was getting nowhere fast.
"... ackout joined. I'm from a different time, I suppose. These days, it's all 'punch this' and 'destroy that'. Once that detestable Kid Blackout arrived, there was really no place for a 'Red Gentleman', was there? These days? Well... I do admit there is the occasional trip to the museum, but - I assure you - I haven't the slightest notion about any missing painti..."
"Stop. Just... stop."
I stood up as the holo-screen went black. What was I even looking for here?
"Random... 15 second interval... Play."
I paced around the room, letting the holo just run random snippets. Anything had to better then the method I'd been using.
"... never really got over Blue Boy. That lady loved him, and she always blamed the Primary Color Gang for his death. I can't say it was much of surprise to us when she showed up a little later calling herself 'Lady Dismal'. She atta..."
Eddie Stilton had wanted to tell me something. Something so important he was willing to put his life on the line to make sure I heard it. But it was ten days since the attack and he still hadn't regained consciousness. Anything I was going to get out of him was sitting right here with me in this room.
"... think I'd be sitting 'ere in prison today, if it 'adn't been for that soddin' Sketch Lad? 'S'right, mate - the old powers never came back after 'e drained 'em. No way they would a caught ol' Red Roger if I'd been at me full..."
I hoped at least Emily was having better luck with the Red Fist than I was here - but I had no way of knowing. Ever since her last call, her com line had just gone silent. Part of me thought she might be in trouble, but the other part - the part that actually had, you know, met Emily - knew she was just fine. If I knew her at all, by this point she'd probably just about infiltrated the whole Chinese underworld and was keeping com-silent to not blow her cover.
"... to Shanghalla where Big Blue Mean Mutha and the Red Menace were laid to rest, their noble sacrifice to save the life of Faraway Lad remembered forever. Sadly, it would not be the last time a member of the Primary Co..."
The one bit of luck in all of this is that I had been able to secure the files from the Enquirer. I'd remembered a rumor that, years ago, there had been some drug scandal with a big name actor on the holo-vid program, "Metropolis Place" that I heard had been hushed up. I knew that Director Lad had worked on that show early in his career - back when he was still just Assistant Director Lad - and that he might know the names of the people involved. Sure enough, Sudro got back to me with pay dirt. A couple com-calls later, and I had the rival studio head eating out of my hand. I told him he had nothing to worry about - I wouldn't squawk - provided, of course, that he'd slip me the name of the Outer Rim Clinic doctor who'd been paid off. He was only too glad to oblige.
"... don't believe that nonsense, do you? That whole thing is just a wild story dreamed up by the fringe press. For the last time, there is not now - nor has there ever been - some sort of secret branch of the PCG called 'The Deep Purple'. I just ca..."
Turns out that a little bit of info goes a long way. Once I had the doc's name in hand, I gave old Phil Marlowe a buzz. Well... I don't know what he found out about the Swetters business, but it must have been something pretty darned juicy, because - the next thing I knew - I was getting piles of old Primary Color Gang stories from the Enquirer. I didn't know what I'd find in there, but I figured that sooner or later, between watching these holos and looking through all the Enquirer stuff, something would have to jump out. Like I said before, though... ten days.
"... been a contender, I really do. There's a lot of people who thought he might of had a shot at the title. But, once the commission found out he took a dive, well... it was over, really. That's when he turned to crime. It was the boss's daugh..."
And it was ten days, too, since I had seen My Whee. She called me the day after that mess at Stilton's, but - after everything Emily had said - there was no way I was taking that call... or the one after that... or the one the next day. After that, the calls dried up. I admit it - I felt like sort of a heel about the whole thing. The girl had opened up some, been straight with me about her family - that can't have been easy - and I then I just gave her the brush off. But what choice did I have? The way Emily had laid it out, it really seemed like My could have been setting me up. I just couldn't take that chance.
"... wasn't with the Gang very long, but the Red Rascal will always be a hero to us. The way he died - trying to rescue that little old lady's social security check... sniff... I'm sorry... I get a little upset when I think about how they said it was a muggin..."
Besides - I was thinking - it wasn't as though My Whee even... and then I paused. What was that clip saying? I stopped in my tracks and called out to the player.
"Reverse order... Previous clip plus one... Replay last five seconds."
"...really. That's when he turned to crime. It was the boss's daugh..."
It was Eddie Stilton... but he was talking about the Red Fist. What clip was this? I punched up the info on the control console. It was deleted footage that didn't make it into the final cut of the documentary. It looked like the editors had flagged it as "libel". This I had to hear.
"Current clip... Play in full."
Eddie's face appeared up on the holo screen, looking pretty pained, like whatever he was talking about was hard for him. He cleared his throat and started talking.
"It's true... not a lot of people know that. We were never in the Primary Color Gang together, but it was actually me who told Billy... the Yellow Kid, that is... about the Red Fist. I don't know... maybe it was sort of my way for making up for what happened to him. I always felt like... well... sorry, this is a little hard..."
I heard the interviewer's voice in the background quietly saying, "That's OK, Mr. Stilton... take your time." Eddie continued.
"The Red Fist wasn't always a hood, you know? Before he got booted out of the Association, he was a real up and coming fighter. He went undefeated in his first twenty fights. I think he coulda been a contender, I really do. There's a lot of people who thought he might of had a shot at the title. But, once the commission found out he took a dive... well... it was over, really. That's when he turned to crime. It was the boss's daughter who did him in.
"You see, Red had a real thing for the ladies... and them for him. When he met the boss's daughter, though - well, that was it. I don't know how it happened, but those two... well, anybody with half a brain coulda seen they were in love. Problem was her dad - my boss at the time. If he found out, there was no way he was gonna let that fly. A guy like that letting his daughter run around with some palooka? Not gonna happen.
"I knew it was just a matter of time before the boss got wind of it, so I figured if maybe I wised him to it, it might - I don't know - show I was loyal or something. That whole mob thing gets you a little crazy with the loyalty business. Well... he goes nuts. He sends a couple of his boys around to tell Red two things: One - it's over with the girl - immediately. He was never gonna see her again. And two - to really put the grind to him - his career was over, one way or another. The next fight, Red had only had one choice to make - either he takes a dive to the mat... or a blaster to the brain.
"What was the guy gonna do? He took the dive, sure. But - a guy like Red - he just couldn't make it look good enough. They knew. Right away, they knew, and before the week was out the commission had stripped him of his license. I sort of lost track of the guy after that, heard he was doing some 'enforcing' work for one of the smaller players, or something. But one thing was sure, as long as the boss was kicking, he'd never box again.
"Well, life has a funny way of turning out sometimes, you know? Just a couple years later the boss did wind up getting knocked off, himself. It was around that time that I first hooked up with the Yellow Kid. What a different kind of guy he was. I had some crazy times with the Primary Colors, I can tell you that - running around, pulling all those capers - really a nice change after all the mob stuff I'd been mixed up in. But, then I got pinched and... oh, wait... I already told you that story. What was I... oh, yeah... the Red Fist.
"So I was sitting in the big house, just waiting out my sentence and, you know, all that time really gets a guy to thinking. I was just looking back, thinking about all the folks I'd done wrong by over the years. And I think about Red. I know the boss would have found out sooner or later but, fact is, it was me that squealed. It's not a proud feeling knowing that somebody else had to go down just so you could go up.
"So, the next time the Yellow Kid came to see me... what's that? Oh yeah... he'd do that all the time. One of the most wanted crooks in the galaxy, and he'd just put on a fake mustache or whatever, and walk right into the jail. The Yellow Kid was one of a kind. So, anyway, YK tells me how Red Roger got pinched after he lost his powers and how he was in the market for a new "red". Well, with everything I'd been thinking about, I told Billy that maybe he could do a lot worse then to ask around about a guy named the Red Fist.
"A couple months go by, and then I hear this big holo-story about how the Primary Color Gang took the LMB head on, even destroyed their whole Headquarters. They're going through the names - YK and Kid Blackout, and the Gay Green Giant and Big Blue Mutha, and then, right at the end... The Red Fist. Good for him, you know? Guy's been through so much, losing everything he had, having to pull punk jobs that were way below him... and for what? Because he had the bad luck to fall in love with a girl.
"I always wondered - you know, now that it's all said and done - now that her dad is dead and buried - I always wondered whether the Red Fist ever looked her up again.
"I imagine it's gotta be the hardest thing in the world to stay away from the love of your life... especially when that love is a gal like Lotta Handsome." Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 25
The clip wound down as the holo screen went black.
Lotta Handsome.
No matter how many twists and turns this thing threw at me, it all just kept coming back to that dame. I didn't know for sure that what I just watched was what Eddie Stilton had been wanting to tell me that day, but - three weeks from the night I had found Lotta dead - it was the closest thing to a lead I had.
I stood up and shut down the holo console. So... what did I have?
It seems that old Lotta had a secret love back in the day that turned out not to be so secret. She fell for some palooka named the Red Fist, but daddy didn't approve. Rat fink of the year, Eddie Stilton had sung like a space-roc to his boss Molock Handsome about the whole thing, and that was all she wrote for Lotta and Red. But... wait a minute... how did Eddie wind up working for Molock in the first place? If what My Whee Fem had told me was true - and no guarantees there - Stilton used to work for her dad, My Yeol Min - the guy that Molock had killed. Unless... unless the traitor inside of My Yeol's organization, the guy who gave Molock a free pass on the hit, had been none other than Stilton himself!
I shook my head. Oh, Eddie... you were a fickle boy. He'd talked a good game in that holo clip about feeling guilty about selling out Red - but it was nothing new with that guy, was it? Credits to doughnuts, Stilton had sold out My Yeol Min to Molock Handsome, just the same as he did with Red. And here it was - probably a decade on - and he was still playing the part of a squealer. Only the sides had changed. Emily said he was one of Matlock's go-to stoolies for inside skinny on the underworld. That guy had spent a lifetime bending whichever way the wind blew. The only surprising thing was that it took eighty years before somebody got the bright idea to take a knife to his throat.
But who? It can't have been a coincidence that what happened to Eddie was just the adventure comics digest version of what had happened to Lotta. Somebody in this town was running around trying to settle old business - trying to rack up heads like pool balls. The only reason Stilton was still breathing over in Medicus is that - for some reason - they didn't finish the job. The docs might have been doing their best to patch up old Eddie, but - if I was a betting man - I'd say it was only a matter of time before whoever put him in the hospital would be back... to put him in the grave.
The smart money seemed to be on the Red Fist. From what I'd just heard, he had all the right reasons. Sure... Molock Handsome had put the screws to Red, but it was Stilton that even gave him the idea to go to the hardware store. Red lost his love, his career, and any hope he had in this life - all because of Stilton. Sounded like motive enough to me. But... why go after Lotta, too? As long as Molock had been alive, Red couldn't go near her, and - by the time the old man kicked it - Red was already in jail. But he'd been out a couple years now... even started boxing again on the smaller, non-Association circuit. He was nowhere near the fighter he'd been in his day, but he was building enough of a following that the fight Emily had talked about - the one in a few weeks on Earth - was getting a lot of buzz. 'The Return of the Fist,' they were calling it.
Would he really throw that away - the chance to maybe get back some of what he'd lost - just to settle the old score? Who knows? You'd like to think that people are predictable - that there are rules and such that they follow, like a game of cards or something. But even the best card player knows that you might as well throw the rulebook out the window when there's a wild card in the deck. And, in this game, no card was wilder... than love.
It had been a long time since Red had been with Lotta. A lot of years had passed, and it sure didn't look like Lotta had been waiting around. A reputation's one thing - a lot of that could just be people talking - but, I was pretty sure from the message I had heard on her Com that she'd been playing around with Tamper Lad. Who knew how many other 'business associates' she had. Maybe I had the wrong idea at the Beacon about what she'd been playing with me, but the very fact that I'd thought it meant that I probably wasn't the first guy who'd made that mistake. Maybe it had been too much for Red... maybe he couldn't stand the idea of his one and only messing around with anybody else, and maybe - now that he had the chance - he decided to finally do something about it.
That was a lot of maybes - but right then, it seemed to make more sense than anything else I'd been hearing these past few weeks. If it was the Fist behind these slashing, then Emily might flying right into the belly of the ultra-energy beast. I knew that girl could hold her own - but how good could an archer be when the target was right on top of her?
Right about then - my mind already spinning out a hundred different scenarios, all of which wound up with Emily on the wrong end of that killer's blade - the door to the screening room suddenly popped open. I jumped.
"Grife, Effie... you scared me. I told you to call down first if you needed anyth..."
"I'm sorry, boss," Effie interrupted, "I told her you were busy, but she wouldn't take no for an answer."
"What? Who?"
"Me."
My Whee Fem stepped into the room, as Effie turned back around, leaving us alone.
"My..."
"Just don't, OK? I only came here to tell you..." she looked around the screening room. "Ex... what's going on here?"
I looked around at the stacks of holos and piles of old news stories. It did look like I was starting up competition for the Talus junkyard. "I'm just... I'm cleaning out some old inventory clips."
She let out a short breath. "Hmm... yeah... looks really important. So... is that why you're not taking calls?"
She stood there, arms crossed, waiting for me to say something. I had been all set to put on the tough guy act, to start in with the flip patter, but - I don't know - looking at her then, I just didn't have it in me. I met her eyes and, for half a second, they softened. What was I doing here? I started to doubt what I'd been thinking about her over the past ten days. Emily had made a good case, but - face to face with My - it just didn't seem to scan. I cleared my throat, and was about to say something, but then she spoke again.
"Look... I just came by to tell you that Detective Matlock is holding a press conference this afternoon."
Matlock.
That cut it. At the sound of your name, Matt, I felt my guard go back up, as all the distrust just flooded back in, like the ocean filling in the gap behind a sinking Atlantis. Before I could even think, the words started out on ther own.
"Is that a fact? What.. he announcing that you've been named as his new partner or something?"
"What? Ex, what is this even about? You're acting so different. I thought you and I hit it off the other night. I know I had to run, but I really was having a good time. You made me laugh, you know? That's not really something I do a lot. And then, in the hover ride, I... well, I never open up like that with somebody I just met. I thought... I don't know... I thought..."
"I guess you thought wrong, sister."
At that comment, My Whee's eyes went cold as inertron. Any hint of the connection we might have had suddenly drained away, as - right before my eyes - the relaxed warmth I'd seen in the girl reading on the couch in Cafe Cramer, suddenly transformed into the cool focus of the girl with the sword on the beach.
"You didn't let me finish... Mr. Nihil.
"I was about to say... I thought you might like to know it's been three weeks since Lotta Handsome went missing. There's hasn't been much progress tracking her down, so your friend Junior filed a motion with the court. He must have some friends in high places, because they issued the death certificate this morning.
"That's right, Mr. Nihil... as of nine AM this morning, the Security Office is no longer looking for Lotta Handsome... we're looking for her killer."
Posted by Exnihil on :
End of Part I
Posted by Exnihil on :
Part II
Chapter 26
There used to be an old saying, Matt - maybe you've heard it - "Three can keep a secret... if two of them are dead."
Then again, the guy who spouted off that bit of wisdom also made a name for himself by flying kites in lightning storms, so I guess you can take that for what it's worth. All I know is, for a month running, that femme fatale called "Lotta Handsome" had done a pretty fair job of keeping her secrets. I could have told you from day one, though, that it was only a matter of time before they slipped out. See, out of the three folks who knew the real truth about Lotta - me, her, and the guy all the papers started calling, "The Klordny Killer" - only Lotta herself had the good sense to wind up dead.
It had been a month since that Klordny night that I'd made the bad call to take Lotta up on her offer for a chat in her hotel room. Well - as you know by now - the only chatting I wound up doing that night was with the toilet bowl, when I found that somebody had beat me there and decided to separate Lotta's body from her head. The story might have ended right there, except for the fact that I chickened out. I had run out on the scene, while the third guy in the mix - the guy who actually did the slicing and dicing - covered all of his tracks... not the least of which was the body.
Over that next month, I spent half my time trying to stay one step ahead of you and your Security Office boys, as you breathed down my neck on what you were calling a "missing persons" case - but were tracking down like the murder you knew it was. The other half, I spent getting batted back and forth faster than a magnoball between everybody and their brother who seemed to have their own hooks into the ever-expanding story of Lotta Handsome.
I said "everybody and their brother," but what I should have said was, "their brother and everybody," because - of course - the first player in this little game was Lotta's brother, himself... Junior Handsome. The only heirs to their dead father Molock's criminal empire, Lotta and Junior were trying their hardest - each in their own way - to clean up the family name. After Lotta went missing, it was Junior who rattled the legal chains loud enough for the courts to finally declare her dead, conveniently making sure that every last penny of the Handsome fortune wound up in Junior's pocket.
Every last penny, that is, except for the ones that Lotta had been taking from Legion World's resident evil genius, Tamper Lad. Lotta and Tamper had been deep into some shady territory together. Just before she turned up dead, Lotta had taken a huge payoff from Tamper in return for some artifact he'd been tracking down for years, and which - thanks to Junior skimming off the bottom - had been snatched out of his hands the day before Lotta was supposed to deliver it.
I wouldn't shed too many tears for Tamper, though. When it came to dirty dealings, that guy had his fingers into more pies than a Ggrrggian food-taster looking for poison. On top of whatever extracurricular activities he was running with Lotta, turns out Tamper also was waging a private war with the Security Office, planting his moles into any corner of the legal process he could. Lucky for me, one of those corners was where the Lotta Handsome case was housed, because - even before it came to light - any trace of my involvement had been wiped clean.
It wasn't out of any goodness of his heart that Tamper had helped me out, though. Turned out that was just his little way of blackmailing me into helping him track down his missing artifact. To hedge his bets, Tamper had also played the blackmail card with a fast-talking lawyer by the name of Kid Quislet. If you believed the tall tale that guy was telling, though, he was right where he wanted to be. Kid Quis claimed he was a counter-mole for the Security Office, involved in a sting operation to bring Tamper down. If half of this was true, this thing had more sides than a pair of fifth-dimensional dungeons and dragons dice.
One person who definitely did not believe Kid Quislet's story - or Tamper Lad's for that matter - was my gal Friday, Emily Sivana. Early on, when you'd pegged me as mixed up in the Lotta business, I had Emily start a tail on you to find out what was what. Before I even knew which end was up, though, Emily had traced the whole thing deep down a rabbit hole, opening up what seemed to be a conspiracy that stretched back twenty years... and spanned two planets.
Right at the heart of this crazy mess were two old members of the Primary Color Gang: the Blue Cheese Kid, Eddie Stilton, a stoolpigeon who was mixed up in both sides of the war - and wound up in a coma with his throat slit as a result; and the Red Fist, a washed up boxer who just happened to be Lotta Handsome's secret lover from years ago. Emily had followed the trail back to Earth almost three weeks prior - but then she went underground herself, leaving me to suss out most of those details on my own.
The one detail that Emily did make sure that I dropped, though, was the little matter of your fellow Security Officer, My Whee Fem. I had spent some time cottoning up to My Whee to try to eke out a detail or two about what the Office really knew, but - before I knew it - I found myself falling for her... and hard. All that came to a quick end, though, when Emily tipped me that My was deep in cahoots with you, Matt, and was probably just playing me for a sap. To see My's reaction when I gave her the brush off, though - well... either she was a good enough actress to be cast in my next holo... or I had made the stupidest mistake of my life.
A lot of players in our little drama, Matt... every one of them - even you and me - were holding on to a secret of their own.
It was hard enough to juggle these balls when only one or two of them were in play. I couldn't begin to imagine what would happen when they started to cross.
Who would bend? Who would break? Above all... who would start giving up their secrets?
Little did I know at the time, as I sat in the back of the hovercar, making my way to Lotta's funeral... but I was about to find out.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 27
"...was always like a second daughter to me. It seems like only yesterday the sounds of Lotta and Tiffany playing outside would..."
I shifted again in the back pew listening to what seemed like the hundredth person sharing their memories of the dame that half of them probably hadn't even seen in more than a decade. No offense to old Horace Spiffany up there - for all I knew he probably was pretty broken up about his daughter's childhood friend - but the thing about a funeral that's always harder for me to swallow than organic material on Bismoll, is just how many friends a person suddenly has... after they kick off.
People who would of just as soon spit as look at you while you were still kicking, suddenly come crawling out of the woodwork to pay their last "respects". They throw on a dark suit and a sad face, and pull up in droves to get one last look at you before they start shoveling on the dirt. Lotta Handsome's funeral was no exception. To look at the crowd gathered in the church of the Mourning Greens Cemetery, you'd of thought that the Bacard Barley circus was in town.
And what a crowd!
True, the Handsome family didn't have a fraction of the power or influence that they did back when Large and Molock had been running things, but the name alone still carried enough weight to bring out the rich, the famous, and - looking around - the infamous, as well.
There was the Spiffany family, of course - the wealthiest "legitimate" clan on Legion World. Lester and Tiffany, the heirs to the fortune, were sitting in the front row listening as their father continued on, flanked by their granddad, Cornelius, and his sister Cornelia. It looked liked they even dusted off the old patriarch, Leonidas Spiffany, although - to see him nodding in his hoverchair - I had my doubts that the old guy even knew where he was. Almost as if to provide balance to the room - to keep it from tipping over from the weight of the Spiffany money bags - their chief rivals, the McCauleys, were also in attendance, with both the patriarch Leopold III and his grandnephew, Leland, making a showing.
Near the front - making sure he got a good view - was that shady Venturan governor, Gruertis Nyebif. I had spied his roving eyestalk on my way in as I'd walked past a crowd of the Zaryan boys talking loudly about their casino business. Nyebif wasn't the only politico who'd made the scene, though - not by a long shot. I'd caught a few glimpses earlier of quite a few folks I knew from the government pages - not the least of whom was the Taltarian ambassador, Thora. Not even she could stifle her scowl, though, when probably the most notable attendee - Princess Makarona of the Pyngwyn Colonies - had breezed by with her entourage. Yep... it was clear the Handsome family had made some powerful friends during their heyday.
Even the LMB had a small contingent present, although not in any official capacity. When I first rolled up to the church, I had seen a somber-faced Lash Lad smoking outside with his fiancée, Josh Siegel. I remembered - back in the earliest days of the LMB - that Lash had been romantically involved with Lotta's late uncle, Large. That whole thing had gone south, of course, when Large betrayed him - brainwashing Lash into playing the part of a criminal during his run as Middlefinger. I was a little surprised that he showed up, but, I suppose if you loved somebody once - in the end - that's not something that ever really goes away.
My friend, Director Lad was there, as well, having gotten pretty tight with Junior Handsome when we'd been trying to pound out the details on that reality-holo. That whole thing was off the table now, of course - but still, it was good of Sudro to have put in an appearance, and I admit it was nice to see a familiar face in this sea of devilfish.
And speaking of bottom feeders - of course, no gathering of people who had more agendas than a week-long Weber's World summit would be complete without the number one double dealer himself, Tamper Lad.
If I said before that this scene reminded me of the Bacard Barley circus... well... then Tamper was the star attraction - the Composite Clown himself. He arrived late, sitting in the back pew, those two gorillas that my face had made the acquaintance of a couple weeks prior standing behind him like a wall. Even though the church was packed to the gills with the rich and powerful, a wave of nodding respect seemed to pass through every one of them, people craning around in their seats to make eye contact.
To his credit, Tamper played it respectful, this being a funeral and all. He just quietly removed his coat, giving a few subtle nods to some of the politicos and a small wink to a couple of the young ladies, then settled in. For half a second - even though I was in the pew opposite to him - I thought he hadn't noticed me. Thought? Hell, I hoped he hadn't. I knew that the time had to be getting close to Tamper calling in his "favor" of me - sending me and Kid Quislet off to Earth to retrieve his precious "Middle Finger of Ekron," or whatever - but, right then, that was really the last thing I wanted to be reminded of.
"Thank you, Mr. Spiffany," the reverend was saying, taking his place again in the front of the room, "And our final eulogy for Carlotta will be delivered by her beloved brother, Molock Handsome, Junior."
I watched as Junior stood up, slowly moving toward the front of the room, papers in hand. Poor guy. Junior was a galoot, no doubt. I had my own thoughts about why he'd pushed to have Lotta declared dead - every one of them rung up with credit signs - but, the fact of the matter was, the guy had lost the only family member he had left in this world.
I raised my palms to my eyes briefly and took a deep breath. For the past month I'd been so wrapped up in my own troubles - either trying to dodge the Security Office, or puzzling out who was behind this whole thing - that I hadn't let the real weight of the situation hit me.
A girl was dead.
Sure... it was a girl who'd been mixed up in a lot of crazy games - any one of 'em dangerous enough that she should have known better - but that didn't change the fact that somebody had changed all the rules and flipped the spaceopoly board right over.
I thought again about that scene in her bathroom at Zaryan's. Even a month out, I could still only get it in flashes. Her hand laying on the bathroom floor though the crack of the door... the weight of the body as I pushed the door open... and that horrible sickening moment when I'd caught a glimpse of that blonde head in the sink.
Nobody deserved to go that way, no matter what they'd done. And the final insult to her memory was the fact that the killer had hightailed it with the body, meaning that all that was getting planted today was an empty coffin.
For a month, I'd been running ragged, doing my best to avoid the reality of it... to stay as far away from the thick of things as I could. But, as I - and everybody else in the church - was about to find out, while I'd been running away, somebody else had been digging in deep.
Junior cleared his throat, and began speaking.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 28
"I believe... in Legion World."
The church was grew as quiet as a five year later darkness as Junior began speaking.
"Legion World has made my family's fortune. For the past sixty years - from the time when my grandfather, Tzoldarkin Handsome, first arrived from the old planet with only five credits to his name, and speaking next to no Interlac - Legion World has been our home.
"I look around the church today at the people who knew our family when we first started out... Spiffany... McCauley. These were the names that - when I was a kid growing up - I heard talked about like legends. 'Someday, kids,' my father would say, '...someday, you'll take your place among them.' Senator Handsome... Governor Handsome. He knew that sort of life wasn't in the cards for him, but this was the dream my father had for my sister and me."
He paused for a moment, placing his hand on Lotta's empty casket. After a moment he continued on.
"My father may have been a lot of things in his life, not all of them pretty. I know, a lot of times, history doesn't always paint a full picture but, whatever else he may have been to the world - to me and Lotta, at least, he was always just, 'Dad'.
"Like any dad, my father was always trying to teach us what was important. I know it seems I'm talking a lot about my father, but it's just because - as I stand here now, thinking about my sister - I keep remembering one of the most important things he ever taught the two of us. He taught us that, no matter what, we always had to stick together.
"It was a long time ago - I was probably about eight years old or so, and Lotta was probably just about five. Anyway, my dad was in his office with some of his guys, and the two of us were in the study just horsing around, like kids do.
"I don't exactly remember how it happened - maybe Lotta and me got into a shoving match or something - but, long story short, she pushed me pretty hard and I stumbled against one of the shelves where our mother used to keep all these fancy sculptures she used to collect. Before I even knew what was happening, one of those pieces - some charcoal looking thing - tipped over and started falling down toward the floor.
"I saw the thing dropping like it was in slow motion. I tried to get to my feet to catch it, but it was too late - I watched it hit the ground and crack right in two. It took all of about ten seconds before I heard the door to my dad's office click open. He walked into the study and, without saying a word, looked down at the broken pieces, and then at Lotta and me.
"Like I say, some of the details are kind of hazy after all this time, but the one thing that I remember quintile-crystal-clear to this day was the tiny voice that broke the silence. Choking up with tears forming in her little eyes, Lotta said, 'It wasn't Junior, daddy... I broke it.'
"Well, even as an eight year old, I knew that there was no way I could let my kid sister take the rap if it meant she was going to get punished, so I jumped right to my feet and said, 'That's not true, sir... it was my fault.' Lotta didn't miss a beat. 'Junior's just trying to protect me, daddy... it was my fault,' she says and, again, I come back with, 'No, I did it.'"
Junior smiled to himself, lost for a second in a happier time, then went on.
"So, the whole time we're going back and forth, my father is just looking at us - his hands in his pockets - just waiting, I guess, to see if either one of us is gonna back down - but neither one does. After about a minute of this, he puts up his hand and says, 'All right, you two... I guess I'll never find out who's responsible, so I'll just have to say that neither one of you are.'
"We both got really quiet, then - I guess trying to figuring out, if neither one of us was responsible... then who was supposed to get punished?
"Turns out, neither one of us did. Instead, he just looked at us like he was the proudest father in the world. He bent down and picked up the two pieces himself and said, 'Make me a promise, you two... just stay like this forever." He started back to his office and, as he tossed the pieces into the atomizer, called back, "Oh... and don't tell your mother.' "
A light laugh went through the church.
Junior looked out at the crowd and - slowly - the smile he'd had faded away. He waited a moment for the crowd to go silent and began speaking again, his face deadly serious.
"I want to thank everyone who came out today, and everyone who had some kind words to share about my sister.
"I know that, for a lot of you, this is probably the strangest funeral you've ever gone to. There's no body to lay to rest, there's no closure to be had... hell... half of you might not even believe my sister is dead."
There was the sound of people shifting uncomfortably in their seats.
"But, standing here in front of you, I want you all to know that I do believe.
"I believe in my sister... and I believe in Legion World. But, today - somewhere out there - there's a Legion Worlder who's done wrong by them both. I'm Lotta Handsome's brother and, because of that, it's my responsibility... my duty... to stand up for her.
"But... what's more... I'm also Molock Handsome's son.
"And because of that, I vow today, on the name of my family, when the person responsible is found out... one way or another... they will be punished."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 29
"Quite the rousing little speech, wouldn't you say, Mr. Nihil?"
I turned around on the church steps toward the sound of Tamper Lad's voice behind me, descending the steps with his two goons in tow. After hearing Junior's eulogy for Lotta, I was in no mood to hang around for the trek to the cemetery. I was hoping I could just slip back out to my hovercar and head out without running into anyone but, apparently, Tamper had other ideas. I tried to give him the brush off.
"Junior's been under a lot of stress. The guy lost his sister."
"Mmmm... well, someone lost her, that much is certain. But I was rather impressed with young Junior. Perhaps he is his father's son, after all." Tamper Lad began pulling his gloves on. "In any case, quite the speech - definitely got the blood flowing. Oh... my apologies. I had forgotten, you have a bit of a sensitivity when it comes to flowing blood, don't you?"
"What do you want, Tamper?"
"Come, Mr. Nihil... you know what I want," he smiled wickedly. "I just wanted to inform you that the day has come. It seems appropriate - this being a day for final farewells, and all that - that you should be making yours, as well. I've just received word that my... property... will be released from orbital customs into a receiving area on Terra within the week. You and Mr. Quislet will be leaving first thing in the morning."
"First thing in the... that's a little short notice don't you think?"
"It can't be avoided. Time, I'm afraid, waits for no man. I've taken the liberty of arranging a hovercar to the station. It will meet you at your flat promptly at seven AM. In the mean time, I suggest your arrange your business affairs and... oh, yes... I had nearly forgotten. I'm going to need your presence at the Supper Club this evening."
"Tonight? Are you kidding me? If I'm leaving tomorrow, I don't have time to..."
"Ah... make time, Mr. Nihil. There is an additional matter we need to discuss prior to your departure, and I'm afraid I'd much prefer doing so within the comforts of my own establishment. Fewer errant ears about, you understand."
I sneered involuntarily and it absolutely didn't go unnoticed. Tamper smiled again and, giving a final tug to his gloves, beckoned to his two bodyguards to ready his hovercar. "Very good. I will see you tonight, then and, Mr. Nihil, do try to wear a nicer suit, would you? There's a good lad."
I watched as Tamper and his goons made their way toward their hovercar, then crunched over the gravel toward my own waiting in a long line outside the church gates. As I approached, I noticed a bunch of guys in suits scanning all the car plates.
"No rest for the boys in blue, eh, Ex?"
I turned to look at the voice calling over and saw the rumpled form of Phil Marlowe - that reporter from the Enquirer - making his way toward me.
"Oh... hey... Phil Marlowe." I reached out to shake his hand. "What's the rumpus, pal?"
"This?" He nodded toward the pack of guys scanning the plates. "You think old Matlock would let a gathering of nogoodnicks this big go by without trying to gather up some intel? While he's still got a murder on his hands? Not a chance."
"Hmph." I grunted noncommittally. It made sense, especially given the cause for the gathering but, I got to admit, Matt, I really didn't like being reminded of your involvement I turned back to Marlowe. "So it's good running into you, Phil. I never got a chance to thank you for all that Primary Color Gang material."
"Not a problem... that help you out?"
"Time will tell, I suppose. So, what brings you all way out here? You're not covering the Handsome funeral, are you?"
"No, no... that's on the society beat. Believe it or not, I actually came down here to try to catch you."
"Me?" I lowered my voice. "This about your side of things?" I figured that Marlowe must be making some progress on that Angora Swetters drug story he'd been chasing after that tip I'd given him.
Phil looked around, a little unsure. "You got time to go for a ride? I got my own car over here if you want to let your driver go."
"I'm heading downtown."
"That works fine. Come on."
I dismissed my driver and climbed into the back of Marlowe's hovercar. The driver partition was up, but he just rapped on it, and we started moving. I knew that I had a lot to get done before tomorrow, but Marlowe had done me a solid, so I didn't mind giving him a few as we split a ride.
"So, what's the skinny, Phil? That tip I give you about that Outer Rim doctor pan out?"
"In spades, Ex. Seems that doctor's been supplementing his income for years now by running a little cover-up scam. For the right amount of scratch, he'll book a room in somebody's name - even fake up a bunch of records - without the patient ever having to show up. It seems his little 'empty room' con is a real hot option with celebs looking to skip out on their court-ordered rehabs."
"Nice work. So, you going to publish?"
"No... the doc is small potatoes. He's just the first in to a story that goes a lot deeper."
"Angora Swetters?"
"For starters."
"She was supposed to have gone into rehab the day after Klordny, right? But you said you didn't think she showed up. She pull the 'empty room' thing to go off on a binge or something?"
"That's what you'd think, right? Except... it's a month on now, and nobody's heard a peep from her. Trust me, ain't no celeb on a bender going to avoid the paparazzi for a month. And there that room sits... still being paid for."
"Call me crazy, Phil, but... isn't there a chance that she really is in there?"
"There's always a chance... but I've been in this racket a long time, and my reporter's nose is telling me that something here stinks to high heaven."
"Fair enough... but why come to me with this? I appreciate the help you gave me with the Primary Color stuff and all, but that tip on the doctor was really all I had. I had heard about that a few years back with some holo actor but, beyond that, this is all a little out of my wheelhouse."
"Maybe, Ex... but maybe not. I did a little more digging, trying to follow the money on this Swetters thing - to see who was fronting the dough for the Clinic space. Turns out it's not coming from the Swetters family - or anything even remotely related to her. Get this: If you believe the records, her stay at the clinic is being paid for in full by some defunct invoicing company."
I raised my eyebrow. "I... I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Yeah, I didn't at first, either. Until I dug a little deeper. It seems this company was bought out by a bigger corporation years ago. They closed down operations, but kept the name on the books as a shell corporation to move smaller transactions around. It's a pretty complex web of ownership and rights holder connections but - when you trace it down - it turns out this company is owned by a division of Wellesley Logistics."
"Wellesley? As in..."
"As in Colonel Arthur Wellesley... the oldest and dearest friend of Legion World's resident evil genius, Tamper Lad."
I put my hand to my head. I couldn't begin to make sense of what Marlowe was telling me. I had seen Angora Swetters with Tamper Lad in Zaryan's Casino the night of Klordny. The very next day she checks into to rehab - or not, if you believed Marlowe - and the whole thing just happens to be paid for by a company owned by Tamper's best friend? What the hell was going on here?
I turned to Marlowe again and asked, completely befuddled, "And... and so - if this is true - why not go back to the Security Office? I know Matlock thinks you're a conspiracy nut and all, but I know for a fact that the Office is gunning for Tamper. This sounds like exactly the type of thing that Matlock would pounce all over."
"Oh, you think? Not a chance, Ex... not until I've got some hard proof. Number one, Matlock hates my guts, and number two, he'd never buy it. Like I say, I know it's connected, but half of what I've told you was found out illegally, and the other half is based on hearsay. I need hard proof. I need somebody with an in to Tamper."
"And why on earth would you think I have that?"
Marlowe grinned wryly. "Ex... come on. I know where you're supposed to go tomorrow."
I swallowed. How could Marlowe possibly know that Tamper was sending me to Earth the next day when I didn't know myself until just ten minutes before?
He continued. "Yeah... like I say, I can't go to Matlock with this. But... Matlock isn't the only one that's been collecting intel."
Marlowe reached forward and rapped again on the hovercar partition. It started to retract downward, as the driver turned around to me.
"You miss me, Nihil?" she said, tipping back her chauffeur's cap.
"Emily?!" Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 30
"Em... how in the hell did you...?"
"Not now, Nihil... the clock is ticking." She pulled the hovercar off the side of the road in front of the LMB Enquirer building, and put it in park. She swung around to face Marlowe, "OK, tell him."
"Here's the deal, Ex," Marlowe began explaining. "Like I said, I need some hard proof that Wellesley Logistics is engaged in some sort of illicit activity. To be honest, it doesn't even matter what - just something that would open the door to an official review of their books. If we can get the access to their records, I know for a fact I can tie them back to this Clinic scam and get the real story on what happened to Angora Swetters. This could be big... I'm talking Pulitzer big."
I looked at Emily. Even though her mouth was grinning at me, her eyes were staring me down intensely, like she was trying to tell me something. Then it hit me - Marlowe was only talking about the Swetters thing. He had no idea about anything going on with me and the Lotta Handsome mess. I didn't know what Emily was playing at here, but I had to trust her for the time being. I played along.
"OK, Phil," I said, turning back to him, "I get where you're coming from, but - no offense here - how does me knowing Tamper Lad help your play?"
Phil smiled. "That's the beautiful part of it. I'm heading back from the Outer Rim yesterday, and who do I wind up sitting next to on the shuttle? Your friend, Emily, here. We get to talking, and pretty soon it comes out that we have a mutual acquaintance - you! I don't believe in coincidence, Ex. Here I am, basically at a dead end and - out of nowhere - I meet somebody that can totally provide the next piece of the puzzle. It's almost like there was a psychic connection or something."
I looked at Emily with the smallest hint of a sneer. "You vouch for this psychic business?"
"Very funny, smart guy. Just hear him out."
Phil continued, "So, anyway, Emily mentions that you're traveling to Earth soon to intercept a package. A malachite statuette, right?"
I looked at Emily briefly and she subtly nodded to me. We were going to have to have a long talk, she and I.
"Yeah... that's right, Phil. Is that important somehow?"
"It could be the most important thing of all to cracking this story wide open. I don't know if you know this, but - for the past twenty years - there's been an embargo against the importation of malachite to Earth. It's illegal to transport it through Terran airspace. If you can get a hold of the shipment record on this package for me - I'm not talking about the physical invoice, but the actual holo-record on who handled the shipment - I'll have the proof against Wellesley I need to kick off a full scale audit."
"What even makes you think that Wellesley is the one who handled the shipment?"
"Come on, Ex... think. What company has enough clout to be able to get a shipment through customs without it going through a full-scale cargo scan? There's only one - Wellesley."
"All right, just say for a second that I am going to pick up a package for Tamper. What makes you think Earthgov customs is going to just hand me over the shipment records? That kind stuff is government property, isn't it?"
"Yes, and no. You're right - normally a civilian couldn't get access to those, but... there is one exception. There's a special clause under the Information Act of 2995 that says that any publicly-held government info can be examined upon request... by a member of the press."
"OK, so why don't you just do it yourself, then?"
"I can't. That info is only held until a package is retrieved. There's just not enough time for me to get the clearance I need to get in the facility before you're due to check it out. It's got to be in the next few days."
"So... what... I'm just supposed to pretend I'm a reporter to the customs officials? How in the world do you expect me to pull that one off?"
"That's why we're here. You have your Omnicom on you?"
"Yeah..." I reached into my jacket and pulled out my Com. Marlowe looked at it.
"A 3008? A little old, isn't it? Well... it will have to do."
"Wait... have to do for what?"
"I can have the Enquirer issue you temporary press credentials. I just need to take this upstairs for a sec."
"Whoa... hold on, Phil. I can appreciate that you're over a barrel here - and, yeah, I get what you're saying about me having the best chance for access to this info - but come on... that's a hell of a risk you're asking me to take, here. You want me to lie to Earthgov about being a member of the press, for something that you don't even know for sure is true. What am I getting out of this whole thing?"
"Always thinking with your wallet, eh, Ex?"
"No, no... it's not that... well... not just that... it's..."
"I know, I know... trust me, I know the risk you're taking. Listen, Ex... I would never ask you something like this if I didn't feel it was big. This might be the biggest story in my career. You do me this favor - and really, you don't even have to take the records, just get me a quick scan - and I'm willing to give your company, Exnihil Productions, the right to first refusal on any adaptations of my stories... for the next ten years."
I looked at Phil, then back at Emily - who was still half grinning, half staring at me intently. This whole thing was crazier than a Bismollian who'd been nibbling on a Miracle Machine. I didn't have the slightest idea what any of this had to do with my situation, but obviously Emily had a plan going on here. I had to get her alone to talk. I sighed and turned back to Marlowe, handing him my Omnicom.
"Fine. OK, Phil... go load up the credentials. I'm not making you any promises, OK? But, if I get to Earth and feel comfortable with the whole situation then... yeah, sure... I'll see if I can get you these scans."
Marlowe beamed. "That's great, Ex! Trust me, you're not going to regret this. I'll be right back."
He exited the hovercar and bounded up the steps of the Enquirer building as I turned back to Emily, still sitting there in her chauffeur's cap, grinning at me like Zeroxian archmage.
"You look ridiculous - you know that, don't you?"
"Whatever, Nihil. Clearly you don't know the first thing about espionage."
"I know that you don't go riding around on Outer Rim shuttles - in a paid-for seat, no less - chatting up some fringe tabloid reporter... unless you're after something. What the hell are you trying to do here, Em?"
"Grife, Nihil! What have I been trying to do since day one? I'm trying to save your ass! Your little girlfriend, Lotta Handsome, is now officially dead, right? How long you think it's going to be before the Security Office comes pounding on your door again?"
"You think I don't know that? But how is all this stuff supposed to help me? What is Marlowe going to give me that's going to help me clear my name?"
"In about five minutes, he's going to give you the only thing that can!"
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 31
"Enough already with this whole enigma routine, Emily! This has to stop. You go into radio silence for three weeks, and then show up with this nonsense... on the day of Lotta's funeral, no less? I'm glad you're having fun playing superspy and all, but you had better start spilling with some straight answers... and pronto!"
"Don't you yell at me, Nihil! I'm the one who's been taking all the risks - for almost a month here - while you've been spending all your time chasing after some pretty girl who was only trying to set you up. Which - by the way - I shouldn't have to remind you... is the exact same thing that got you into this in the first place!"
"Is that what this is about? Don't tell me you're actually jealous?"
"Arrrghh!" Emily balled up her fists and, clenching her teeth, turned an almost disturbing shade of red. "Nihil... so help me... if you don't shut your mouth, right now, I'm about to fix it so you'll never be able to go skirt-chasing again!"
I backed down. "All right, all right... just cool your heels. I know this whole thing has to have some semblance of sanity at the bottom, so... fine... what's going on here?"
Emily stared at me for another couple of seconds, then slowly began to calm down. "Fine... Marlowe's going to be back down any minute, so I just need you shut up and listen, OK?"
"I'm listening."
She sighed. "OK... so I told you I was going to track down this boxer, right... the Red Fist?"
"Yeah, Eddie Stilton told you he'd be the one to have the real story on Lotta."
"Right... well - I found him, all right - but, trust me, it's easier to break out of the Super Stalag of Space than to get in to see the guy. He's got his big comeback fight happening in Sino-Koreapolis in a couple weeks, and his training camp is locked down tighter than one of Grimbor's practice dummies. And with good reason. Apparently, the location of this fight is no coincidence. It's the exact same venue where he got caught taking a dive years ago... the fight that wound up getting him banned from the Association for years."
"Yeah, I know. I came across that same info when I was doing my digging."
"Yeah? Well, what you probably didn't know is that - even after all this time, old Red still has a target the size of Alderan on his back in Sino-Koreapolis. If you know about the dive, then you probably know that it was Molock Handsome himself that ordered Red to take it. Well, apparently, for as much of a hood as he was on Legion World, Handsome was just about public enemy number one in Sino-Koreapolis. Some really bad blood that goes back twenty years. Some thing about Molock taking a sword to the local mob boss's neck. Sound familiar?"
It absolutely did. This was the same story that My Whee Fem had told me. It was My's real father that Handsome had killed but, reading Emily's face, I knew she didn't know that part. She was just talking about the fact that this mob boss was done in the same way as Lotta - and the same way that somebody had attacked Stilton. I just nodded.
"I thought so. Well, get this - it turns out that the new boss in town had laid down a pretty hefty bet that night for Red to take the fight. You can probably imagine, once word got out that it was Handsome that had fixed the fight, what had just been bad blood turned into an all-out vendetta. The entire Sino-Koreapolis underworld declared a price on the head of both Handsome... and the Red Fist. Well, you know Handsome didn't live long enough for anybody to collect on him, but it's still open season on Red. That's why this fight is taking place there. It's Red's way of spitting in the face of everybody that took him down once - to show them that he's not afraid. It really is "The Return of the Fist" in more ways than one."
"This is all great, Em... but how's any of it tie into me."
"I'm getting to that. So, yeah - Red thinks he's taking on the world, but he's no dummy. He has a crew of bodyguards with him around the clock to prevent any would-be assassins from trying to collect the bounty on his head. It's next to impossible to get him alone."
"Let me guess, though... somehow you did?"
"What... did you have a doubt about that, or something?"
"How?"
"Oh, now you want to know about espionage? Forget it, Nihil - trade secret. It took some doing, trust me, but I eventually got in to talk to Red alone. I told him I had talked to Stilton - and that I knew he had the word on Lotta. It turns out that the day before he left Legion World for Earth, Red met with Stilton... and with Lotta. I'll give you exactly one guess what day that was. Yep... Klordny."
"What?! You're telling me the Red Fist talked to Lotta the same day she was murdered? Bloody Liberty! Emily... what does he know?"
"Something that he says can get the Security Office off your back and clear your name for good. Only..."
"Only what?"
"Only, he wants something in return. He says that you have something he wants. Some clip of holo-film that only you, him and Stilton know about. Apparently it's some clip of Stilton talking about the dive... something that didn't make it into your Primary Color Gang documentary? He says that if you can deliver this to him - in person - then he'll come clean about what he knows went down the night Lotta was killed. So... I'm seriously hoping you know what this guy is talking about... or I just spent a month undercover for nothing."
I swallowed, "Yeah... yeah, I know the clip he's talking about. But... that's it? I bring him this clip - and he goes public with the truth on Lotta?"
"That's what he says."
"And you buy it?"
"Nihil, I've spent years reading people. Trust me, this guy is on the level."
"Well, I suppose that's that, then - I have to give this a go. But... seeing as how I don't have your... uh... skills for espionage, how am I supposed to get in to see this guy?"
Emily never got a chance to answer me, though, because, just then, the door to the hovercar opened.
"All set, Ex," Marlowe handed me back my Omnicom, "You now have the press credentials high enough to open up whatever doors you might run into." I looked back at Emily, as she winked at me.
When all this was over, I might have to buy her that dinner at the Beacon, after all.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 32
"You're awful quiet back there, Nihil... how's it look?"
Emily turned the corner, shooting me a look in the rear view holo-screen as I continued to scan through my Omnicom at the info Marlowe had loaded. He had told me, before we had left him at the Enquirer, to make sure that I was familiar enough with my creds to be able to field any questions. If all else failed, he said, the phrase, "That's confidential" was usually a reporter's best friend.
"Yeah... yeah, it looks OK, Em. Marlowe was pretty thorough. But why all the smoke and mirrors? If the Red Fist wants to talk to me, why doesn't he just tell his security guys to let me in?"
"It's not Red that's the problem. If it was up to him, he'd be doing daily windsprints through downtown Beijing. Seriously... the guy's got a set made of inertron. But the government isn't having any of it. They need the money this fight is going to bring in, but the local gov is walking on elvabird shells. For as much as they'd like to pretend they're in charge, the Sino-Koreapolian mob is still incredibly powerful. They're going to do whatever it takes to get to Red. The only way the government would even sanction this fight happening is if they provided the security."
"Wonderful... so I'll be lying to the government."
"Twice, if you actually go through with Marlowe's plan."
"Grife, Em... since when did trying to not get arrested suddenly involve me committing a bunch of crimes."
"Since the moment you decided to hightail it out of Lotta's hotel without calling the Security Office. Now, get it together, Nihil. In a week or two this whole thing is going to be just a distant memory, and my responsibility for you will be over."
"Your responsibility?"
"Yeah. Did you really think I'm doing all this because I actually like you or something? Please. You're the most infuriating man I've ever met but... you're my partner. You asked me to help you out that night at SHAKES, and that's what I'm going to do until you're free and clear."
"What... is that like the Emily Sivana code of honor or something?"
"Listen, this won't do any good. You'll never understand me, but I'll try once, and then give it up. When somebody's partner is in trouble, she's supposed to do something about it. It makes no difference what you think of him. He's your partner, and you're supposed to do something about it... and it happens we're Legion Worlders. Well, when somebody here gets killed, it's... it's bad business to let the killer get away with it. Bad all around. Bad for everybody on Legion World."
I looked at Emily's eyes in the rear view holo. I'd never heard her talk like this before, almost like she had a soft side. Well... not on my watch. I grinned.
"Yeah... you like me."
"Out, Nihil."
She pulled in front of Exnihil Productions, and put it in park. "You've got a lot of stuff to wrap up before you head off to Earth tomorrow and time's wasting. I'll make contact with you again when your shuttle docks."
I climbed out of the hovercar but, suddenly remembering something, turned back to Emily's window.
"Say... that's another thing. How did you even know I was leaving tomorrow? Tamper Lad didn't even tell me that until a couple hours ago."
"Grife, give me some credit, will you? When I saw Marlowe boarding the shuttle, I realized I had a golden opportunity. Instead of stowing in the cargo hold like I was planning, I just hacked into the shuttle's ticketing system and booked myself the seat next to him. Since I was in there, I figured I'd better check to see if there was any booking activity from Legion World to Earth in the next week or so, and that's when I saw the four tickets that Tamper Lad reserved. I swear, Nihil... talking to you is like talking to a Vornian slith."
She shifted out of park and drove off, as I smiled and typed in the security code to my office building. As the door shushed open, I suddenly did a double take.
"Wait... four?"
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 33
Four tickets... what was Tamper playing at this time?
As I rode the airlift up to my screening room, I tried to puzzle out what he could have in mind, but - if I'd learned one thing since I first got looped into his scheme - it was that, with Tamper, I always had about as much idea of where I stood as a character in a Rob Liefeld drawing.
Well, I wasn't gonna waste any more brainpower on it - another couple hours and I'd know for sure. For now, I had bigger things to take care of. In a little over half a day, I'd be on a shuttle bound for Earth for who knew how long. I knew that Effie could keep Exnihil Productions trucking along - hell, she'd been doing that exact thing since the day I hired her - but, I figured I'd better at least leave her word of where I'd be. And, of course, I had to grab that footage that the Red Fist seemed so hot on.
The whole thing still seemed a little crazy to me. Emily said Red was holding on to something that would help me skate out on the whole Lotta business but, before he'd give it up, he wanted me to hand deliver that holo-clip. I'd watched that clip and - although at the time it seemed about the nearest to a clue I'd be likely to find - I couldn't figure why Red wanted me to jump through so many hoops to get it to him.
What was in it that was so important? I thought back, trying to remember what it had said. I remembered that it was an interview with a pretty broken-up Eddie Stilton talking about the bum hand that he'd helped Red get dealt. He'd talked about Red running around with Lotta Handsome back in the day, and how, once Eddie had blown the whistle, her old man had put a stop to it. It talked about the dive Red took, and him getting booted from the Association, having to turn to petty crime to keep his head above water.
It was a sorry story, sure, but it didn't seem like anything in it was a big enough secret that anybody with half a mind would need a drill beast to unearth it. The dive was a matter of public record. All anybody'd have to do was scan some news holos from the time to read about Red getting banned. The crime stuff? Well, Red had been in the Primary Color Gang during some of the biggest clashes with the LMB - done time for it even. It's not like that wasn't all over the news. And him and Lotta? I could see, with everything that had gone down with her - and especially with the fact that Emily clued me in the Red had seen Lotta that Klordny - that he might not want people connecting the two, but all the clip talked about was their ancient history, and I couldn't figure that Stilton gabbing away on some holo clip was the only proof of that.
It had to be something more.
Maybe something that wasn't said on it. I remembered that the editors had marked the clip as "libel". At the time I'd figured that had something to do with the fact that Stilton was laying out personal info about two people based on second-hand info, or maybe on account of that fact that he'd linked a mob boss to the Boxing Association's business... but what if it was something else? Well... one thing was sure - I wasn't gonna figure it out here. The answer lay with Red.
I exited the lift into my screening room. It was still a mess from the last time I'd been up there a week prior, with stacks of clips and old news holos all over the joint. After My Whee had been up to give me the news about Lotta being declared dead, I didn't have the strength to keep going through anymore of this stuff. I'd told myself it the weight of the knowledge that - with Lotta now officially R.I.P. - time was running out for me to steer clear of it all. Yeah... that's what I told myself. But even I knew that story was about as believable as a Kryptonian hiding behind a pair of spectacles.
No... it was My.
Even now I can see her face, looking genuinely hurt when I'd given her the cold shoulder. The girl had opened up to me - told me all that stuff about her father, and about how much she hated the Handsome family - and I'd just shut her out. And for what? Because I was so concerned with saving my own hide that I'd started seeing threats coming at me from every direction. Who knows, Matt... maybe My was working with you to bring me down but... you know what? Maybe she wasn't.
I was innocent, I knew that. If My was only cottoning up to me to see what I knew then... so what? In a week or two, I could be scott free, and then it wouldn't matter what she'd been doing. It was her job and, to be honest, hadn't I been doing the exact same thing, that first night when I met her at Cramer's? Hadn't I been playing her, just to try to get some inside skinny on what the Security Office was holding? Yeah, I was holding on to a double standard bigger than a Janusian's political leanings, and had played a real heel move with her.
What had Tamper said? That this was a day for final farewells? Well, maybe it was but - then again - maybe it was also a day for second chances.
The next day I'd be on that shuttle - heading into god only knew what. I was rolling the dice that Tamper Lad, of all people, wasn't planning a double cross; I was taking a risk for Marlowe that could, just as easily, wind up earning me a one way ticket to Takron-Galtos; I was walking blind into a lion's den of Earthgov security forces to meet with a heavyweight fighter that could knock off my block if he looked at me too hard. Everything in my life was stacked up against me, and I might never even get a chance to see the one bit of beauty in this whole mess that I'd had the good luck to have thrown my way.
Like hell.
I grabbed the holoclip and headed back to the airlift with a purpose.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 34
Checking my Omnicom to keep an eye on the clock, I made my way downtown.
It was a Sunday afternoon, so I knew My Whee had the day off. I knew that she liked relaxing at Cafe Cramer, so I headed over that way - just taking a gamble that I might find her there. In my crazy head, I was imagining her all curled up with a book or something, the same way I'd seen her before. It was just a sappy fantasy, I know, but - with everything going on my head - I guess I needed to hold on to something nice.
I arrived at the neighborhood where Cramer's was and, sure enough, there was My's hovercar parked outside. I started to cross the block to head in when, all of a sudden, I stopped dead in my tracks. Looking through the front window of Cramer's, I saw My sitting there at a table, hunched over an Omnipad - but she wasn't sitting alone.
Right across from her - pointing down at the pad like he was explaining something very serious to her - was my soon-to-be partner in crime... Kid Quislet!
I made a beeline to the left, ducking around a corner. The two of them had looked deep into conversation, so I was pretty sure they hadn't spotted me, but - I got to admit - I was a little dumbfounded by the whole thing. What business did the two of them have together?
Kid Quislet had told me - that day after Tamper had me pulled in - that his whole "gambling problem" deal had been nothing but an act. He said that the whole thing had been cooked up by the Security Office as part of some sting operation. They were having him act as bait, he told me, trying to get Tamper Lad to bite so they could get a man inside. I admit - even as he'd been telling it to me - Kid Quislet's cockamamie story had sounded about as believable as somebody named "Nemesis Kid" passing himself off as a hero.
And, yet... here we were, heading off to Earth together tomorrow for Tamper Lad's scheme, and I see him meeting with a Security Officer. Maybe he was on the level. I suppose it was easy enough to find out. What if I were to just waltz into Cramer's right then? If it was part of the whole plan, they couldn't just lock me out, seeing as how one word from me to Tamper could queer the whole deal.
As I stood there making up my mind, though, I wound up losing my chance. Suddenly, I heard the jingle of Cramer's door and, sneaking a peek around the corner, saw Kid Quislet exiting and heading the opposite way. Damn. Oh, well... I suppose I had a whole shuttle ride to grill that guy for info.
For now, I had a more immediate problem to deal with. I'd come all the way down here - fired up like a Mark V rocket thruster... now what the hell was I going to say to My?
I tossed my caution to the wind and walked inside.
"Uh... hello, My."
She looked up from her Omnipad, confused for a moment, but then her eyes narrowed.
"Oh... you. I'm a little busy, right now, Mr. Nihil... why don't you just..."
"Listen, My," I interrupted and, uninvited, sat down across from her, "I know what you're going to say. I acted like a grade-A heel the other day. I just... I just wanted to say I was sorry."
She looked at me incredulously. "Wh... look... you don't have anything to apologize for, OK? I'm sure you're a busy man."
"No, I was wrong to brush you off like that, especially after you..."
"Mr. Nihil..." she interrupted.
"Ex."
"Fine... Ex... whatever... I'm sure you're a wonderful guy, and all that. I've no doubt that you've got a hundred little holo-starlets waiting by their Omnicom for you to call, but - believe me - this is really the last thing I need right now. I've got too much going on in my life to play whatever little game this is supposed to be."
"It's not a game, My. I made a stupid mistake - I know that, now."
She closed her Omnipad and sighed. "You really are amazing, you know that? Do you even think before you act? Or do you just run around, hoping that the person you accidentally run into will be the one who has all the answers?"
"Wh...?"
"Today! Today of all days... after everything I told you... somehow you thought that coming to me the day of Lotta Handsome's funeral to apologize for not calling me was a good idea? Did it cross your mind for a second that the entirety of Legion World might not revolve around Exnihil and his problems?"
"I... uh..."
My Whee looked at me, and I guess she suddenly realized how loud she was talking, because - almost visibly - I saw her face change. She regained her composure and continued.
"Wow... I'm sorry, that was way out of line. Look, Ex... you seem like a nice guy, and all. We had a nice time that night - you made me laugh. But, honestly, I've really just got too much on my plate right now to worry about things like this. If circumstances were different... but - right now... they're not."
I didn't know what I'd been expecting. I'd only had one date with the girl - half a date, at that - then ignored her for almost two weeks. Whatever was going on with her, she was well within her rights to not want a repeat performance. Part of me was going to ask her if any of this had to do with Kid Quislet - but I thought better of it. It wasn't the time and, besides, I'd have nothing but time with Kid Quis on the shuttle tomorrow. Instead, I just stood up.
"No, I get it, My. Fair enough. I want you to know that I really am sorry, though... for everything."
She shook her head. "It's fine."
"So, I guess this is goodbye."
"Well, there's no need to be overly dramatic about it. It's not like we'll never see each other again."
"Yeah, I know, it's just..."
I looked at her, trying to discern what she knew. What was I thinking... this was ridiculous. She was just with Kid Quislet, and I knew for a fact the Security Office was working to bring Tamper down. She had to know. I looked into her eyes but - like it always was with My - it was like trying to read a poker player. I decided to go all in.
"Well... you know... I'm heading to Earth, tomorrow... to retrieve that package for Tamper Lad?"
The color drained from My's face.
"You're doing what???"
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 35
"Ex... what possible reason could you have for agreeing to that? I know that the holo business has its shady side, but... Tamper Lad? That guy is mixed up in a lot of bad stuff. If you knew how long the Security Office had been trying to... are you in some kind of trouble?"
I looked at My Whee for some sign that she was playing with me - that this was just an act.
Was it possible she didn't know what was going on with me? Had I been calling it wrong all these weeks? I knew that Tamper had made the evidence linking me to Lotta's death go missing, so I knew My wouldn't have seen that... but what about everything else?
For starters - if Kid Quislet was the Security Office's man inside Tamper's org, then she had to be in the know about the sting. For god's sake... she was just talking to the guy. And what about the morning of Lotta's murder, when I had seen My on the beach? The way Emily told it, I was sure there was no way she could have missed seeing me there. And if My wasn't gunning for me, then why - the day that Lotta had been declared dead - did she specifically make it a point to come to my office to tell me about it?
Suddenly it all clicked.
All at once, I felt like a bigger heel than bottom of Gim Allon's boot. My Whee hadn't come to my office that day to tell me about Lotta for my sake... she'd come for hers.
The night we rode to Eddie Stilton's together - the night of our interrupted date - she'd all but laid it out for me. She'd told me how - when she was a little girl - her parents had been murdered by Molock Handsome, and how she was shipped off to the Legion World Orphanage. She'd said that - even to this day - every time she'd see Junior or Lotta's name in the news, she was reminded of the pain of losing her family.
That's a pretty heavy weight to be carrying in the first place - and then to be assigned as the evidence handler in Lotta's disappearance? That can't have been easy for her. To top it all off, Eddie Stilton - the only guy My even still remembered from her life before losing her parents - winds up in a coma after getting attacked in the exact same way as her folks did.
My said she wasn't the kind of girl who shared a lot, and yet - she shared all that... with me. The day that Lotta was officially declared dead, she must have come to my office looking for somebody to talk to - but I was so caught up in my own paranoia I couldn't see it.
Grife... I couldn't blame this gal one bit for not wanting to talk to me again.
I sat down.
"My... I've got to ask you something - and I wouldn't you blame you one bit if you didn't tell me - but, I've got to know... am I a suspect in the Lotta Handsome murder?"
My Whee started, clearly taken aback. "I... I'm sorry... what?"
"Look... I know Matlock has been on this case from day one - before it was even being called a murder. In all that time, has my name come up as a suspect?"
"I don't even know how to answer that. Of course not. I mean... well... to the best of my knowledge... no. I'm only the evidence handler in the case, but... no, I think I would have heard something. I mean... Matt knows that I know you. Why would you even think that?"
I had to tread very carefully here. If my name wasn't connected to the investigation, I didn't want to start giving the Security Office any reasons why it should be.
"I don't know... I mean, I told you that I'd met Lotta the night she went missing... and then - the night of Stilton's attack - Matlock seemed like he was..."
"Eddie Stilton? What makes you think that the Stilton attack is at all connected to Lotta Handsome? You're making it sound like there is some sort of sinister plot to..."
"Ah! Exactly! That's the exact thing Matlock said... 'sinister'. He kept going on about how the Stilton attack was done by somebody who was 'sinister'... left-handed. And then - the day he questioned me about Lotta - he made a point about me being left-handed. That guy is gunning for me."
My shook her head. "Ex... you're talking crazy. That's just a thing of Matt's. He's always going on about antique crime solving methods... fingerprints... and stray hairs... and whether somebody is left- or right- handed. He's just an old school-detective at heart. Trust me, almost half the evidence that comes across my desk is minutia like that from Matlock. If all he was looking at is whether or not the killer is left-handed, he'd have to question half of Legion World. I mean, even I'm ambidextrous. I taught myself how to use both hands equally well as part of my martial arts training."
"So... I'm not a suspect?"
"I can't tell you that for sure - I'm not privy to everything that goes on in the department - but I would highly doubt it."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well... I can't speak for the Handsome case, but... at least with regard to Eddie Stilton... Forensics thinks they've determined that the weapon used had to be some sort of small sword - like a Sino-Koreapolian hwando, or something."
"How does that eliminate me?"
My snickered slightly. "Ex... no offense, but I've spent over half my life training in the martial arts. I think I have a fairly good eye for sizing up an opponent. You really don't look like the type who has spent a lot of time swinging a sword."
"I don't know whether to feel relieved or offended."
"Offended." My smiled. "So, is that why you've been acting so crazy this whole time? Because you thought the Security Office was after you?"
"Crazy, huh?"
"Just a bit. But none of this explains why you're planning on going to Earth for Tamper Lad. Did he somehow give you the idea that you were a suspect? Is he trying to blackmail you, or something? Whatever this is, we can help you. Let's just go to Matlock and..."
"My..." I said, quickly changing the subject, "....is the Security Office working to take down Tamper Lad?"
Her eyes darted down, almost imperceptibly, toward her Omnipad - then back to mine. "Ex... even if they were, you know I couldn't talk about that. That's confidential."
I grinned.
That was all the confirmation I needed. As crazy as it sounded, Kid Quislet was a Security Office mole. Whatever they were working, it was clear that this trip to Earth was the key. Well... if Kid Quis wanted to risk his neck playing undercover man for Matlock... let him.
If I believed My Whee, there wasn't any good reason for me to even get involved. Whatever info the Red Fist was holding onto... whatever backhanded dealings Marlowe was trying to suss out... whatever god knew what Tamper Lad was trying to pull... apparently none of it was my business.
And the crazy thing was... I did believe her.
I stood up again.
"Listen, My... I've got to go. I'm sorry I looped you into to all this crazy rambling, but I think you've just given me exactly what I need to put an end to all this."
"So, you're not going to Earth?"
I shook my head. "I've got to go have a little chat with somebody, but - when all this is over - do you think I can call you?"
"Good lord, Ex... are you serious? After all this, you're still trying to hit on me?"
"Is that a no?"
"Goodbye, Ex."
I grinned at My Whee, and walked toward the door of the cafe, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders.
Little did I realize that - inside of an hour - I'd know that was just numbness setting in... before I was crushed.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 36
"That's it, Tamper... I'm out!"
I stormed into the Wellesley Room of the Evil Genius Supper Club, walking toward Tamper Lad, who was at the bar with his back toward me.
"Ah... Mr. Nihil... you're early..." He turned around, eyeing his brandy as he swirled it, before slowly looking up to meet me. He sighed. "...aaaand you're still wearing the same suit. Tt... tt... tt... I'm afraid our partnership is going to be rather short-lived if you're not able to maintain a slightly higher sense of decorum."
Before I could respond, Tamper's two bodyguards came running around through the door behind me, slightly out of breath.
"No, no..." Tamper held up a hand to them. "Mr. Nihil is my invited guest this evening - although he does demonstrate a rather misguided sense of timing. I'm certain the both of you would understand. Dismissed."
The larger of the two goons - the one who had punched me two weeks before - shot me a dirty look. I narrowed my eyes and snorted slightly as they left, closing the door behind them.
I turned back to Tamper Lad.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, pal - but there isn't gonna be any 'partnership'. I'm out."
"Yes... you had indicated as much. I apologize if I'm being a bit obtuse here - I wasn't quite prepared for your company this early, you understand - but, what is it exactly that you believe you are 'out' of?"
"The whole thing. I'm not going to Earth tomorrow. I'm not picking up your 'Malachite Middlefinger', or whatever it is. And I'm not playing along with your whole 'puppet-master' charade for another minute."
I stood there, not quite knowing what to say to that, as Tamper placed his brandy down on the table and returned to the bar. He called back to me, "You enjoy a Khundish Martini, correct?"
"Tamper... I'm serious. I know you think you've got something over me, but I talked to the Security Office and they aren't even looking at me for the Lotta Handsome case. That little farce you played with the tracking info from Lotta's Com? For all I know, that could have been as much for your own..."
Even as the words were coming out, it dawned on me. Tamper turned back and grinned.
"It was!" I shook my head. "You had just as much to lose if that info came back linking her movements to you as I did to me. You were planning on that evidence going missing whether I agreed to play along with you or not, weren't you?"
"Guilty." Tamper placed a freshly-made martini on the table and sat down in his chair. "I must admit, however, it did make recruiting you to my cause quite a bit easier."
"Well, you can forget it. There's absolutely no good reason I should go trekking halfway across the galaxy for you to pick up some dingus. You've still got that shyster, Kid Quislet in your pocket. Let him be your errand boy."
"No... no, I'm afraid that's not possible."
"And why not, exactly?"
Against my better judgment, I sat down. I didn't really care what he had to say, but I figured I owed it to My Whee to hear him out if he was going to lay down some intel about Kid Quislet.
"That exact matter is what I had invited you over to discuss this evening. It really is a pity you decided to arrive so early. I had a wonderful meal planned. My chef was to have prepared a delightful Llornish Game Hen, followed by..."
"Can the run down of the blue-plate specials, all right? What the hell are you playing at?"
Tamper narrowed his eyes. "Mmmm... always the impatient one, aren't you, Mr. Nihil? Well - if you must know - it's quite impossible for Mr. Quislet to retrieve my property for me... as he will not be traveling to Earth with you."
I raised my eyebrow involuntarily. Well, that little piece of info was going to throw a wrench into the Security Office's plans. Without their man on the inside to see through this illegal shipment, they might not be able to pin anything on Tamper. I took a sip from my martini.
"Oh, no?" I replied, trying to sound casual. "And why's that?"
Tamper stood up, crossing his hands behind his back. He began to stroll idly around the room.
"You are a man of influence in your chosen field, aren't you, Mr. Nihil? A man of power?"
I chuckled slightly, taking another sip. "Well... that might be putting it a little strongly. I do my fair share of grubbing."
"Yes... well... all those who rise through the ranks must initially put forth a good deal of labor to achieve their status. But when it comes time to reap the fruit of that labor... well, that, Mr. Nihil... that is the time when one must be ever vigilant against the worms."
"Worms?"
Tamper turned to face me.
"Yes... worms, Mr. Nihil. Men such as we live precarious lives, surely you must realize that. For half of those lives we spend our time climbing to the highest precipice... and the other half? The other half we spend defending that position from those who would attempt to usurp it."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Tamper." I tossed back the rest of my drink.
"It is not unknown to me that - for some time - the Legion World Security Office has been attempting to infiltrate my organization. Turn about is fair play, and all that - I've had my own men positioned within their hallowed halls for years. But, it has recently come to my attention that there have been certain... sensitive... pieces of information which have - quite to my displeasure - reached the ears of those who would attempt to usurp me. I believe - after all this time - the Security Office has finally been successful in their quest."
"You've got a mow... um... a mole?" I was starting to slur a bit. That drink must have been stronger than I thought.
"Indeed... a mole. And - as with any vermin - it is imperative that, at the first sign of infestation, the pest must be eliminated... else we would soon find ourselves overrun."
I didn't like where this was going. I pushed my chair back and stood up, a little uneasy on my feet. Tamper continued talking.
"I pride myself on the efficiency of my organization. I have not reached the position I hold by being a man of indecision. As I have said, I'm afraid that - regardless of your misgivings - it really does have to be you who completes the retrieval of my property. You see, Mr. Quislet will not be completing the journey to Earth with you. He will be traveling with you on the initial leg - the both of you accompanied by my two men, of course - but then the group of you will be making a slight detour. To Luna."
"The mmooo..." My tongue felt heavy and thick in my mouth as the room began to spin.
"The moon of Terra, quite correct. It is there that Mr. Quislet will, unfortunately, be departing your company... quite permanently, I'm afraid. It is a pity that I will not have the legal representation I had wished present during the retrieval of my property, but it cannot be avoided. An organization such as mine simply cannot allow breaches of this nature to go unattended."
I tried to lunge for Tamper Lad, but the floor itself seemed miles away.
"No... that's quite all right, Mr Nihil. I think you'll find that the sedative I placed in your drink will make movements of that sort quite difficult."
My foot took a misstep, and blackness started to creep around my eyes as I fell. The last thing I heard were Tamper's words, fading into the distance as I began losing consciousness.
"Well, it seems you were correct, after all, Mr. Nihil - you are, in fact, out."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 37
I was laying on the mat... the roar of the crowd filling my ears.
A man stood over me, yelling - but my head was deep in a fog. I tried to look up at him and speak, but the words just garbled in my mouth.
"Uuuhhh... whuuuh?" The sound came out of me, slow and slurred. With every bit of effort I could summon, I forced myself to my feet as the man leaned in close to my face, his voice shouting again.
"Hooooow maaaaaaany fiiiiiingers?" he shouted. The fog began to lift, my eyes focusing in on the man in the ref's outfit.
It was Kid Quislet.
"Uuuhhh..." I tried to clear my head. "W.. w... one?" He shook his head, pointing to the corner of the ring where Junior Handsome stood, pounding his gloves together.
"T... two?" Again, Kid Quislet shook his head, pointing to Lotta Handsome, holding the round card.
"Three?" Kid Quislet smiled and nodded, as the bell rang.
"Go to your corner."
All at once, I felt comforted - as though giving him the right answer had made all my troubles float right away. My body filled with relaxation, like everything was going to be all right, now... and forever.
The lights of the crowd flickered like a thousand stars, their steady roar pulsing through me in warm, tangible waves. Smiling, and nodding like a small child, I slowly turning toward my corner... and felt the blade plunge right into my gut.
*************
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"
I woke up, screaming.
"Shaddap, back there, already! If I gotta listen ta ya moanin' and groanin' fer another minute back there, I'm gonna give ya somethin' to moan about!"
I clenched my eyes together again, trying to clear the fog out of my head. My whole body ached, and my throat felt as scratchy as the inside of a parakat's cage. "Whu... where am I?"
"Right now? Yer about twenty minutes from da shuttle port. Just kick back and enjoy da ride, huh?"
"Unnnhh..." I rubbed my eyes with the balls of my palms, then looked around. I was in the back seat of a hovercar - with one of Tamper Lad's goons at the controls. "Shuttle port... h... how did I get here?"
"Yer a real thinker, ain'tcha, Nee-hill? I hadda just about drag you in. You was out pretty hard."
"Out?" My mind was coming around in a hurry, as I started to remember what happened. "Tamper Lad! What the hell did he dose me with?"
"Search me, bub. Somethin' pretty strong I'd say, from da looks of ya. You been out all night."
"All night?" My brain was starting to function. "So we're...?"
"...on da way to the shuttle, yeah. I already said dat. Get it together, willya? I don't need no funny looks from da 'port cops wit you lookin' all hopped up. We gotta getcha to Luna in one piece."
Luna... Kid Quislet! I all but jumped out of my seat.
"Where is...?"
"Just siddown, huh? If yer wonderin' about the shyster, he's in the other hover wit Rocco. I was hopin' you'd wake up. Give us time to have a little chat before we get da two of ya together."
"Get us togeth.... wait... Tamper honestly thinks I'm getting on that shuttle? I'm just supposed to sit here and let this go down? I know why we're going to Luna! You're planning on killing that guy! You do know there are Space Rangers at shuttle ports, don't you? What's stopping me from flagging one down as soon as we get there and blowing the whistle before we even leave Legion World?"
"You like da beach, Mistuh Nee-hill?"
"I... I'm sorry... what?"
He cracked his knuckles and - looking at me in the real holo projection - smirked like he'd just read a three panel Hembeck strip.
"Da beach. Sand... sun... water. Me? I love da beach."
"Good for you... what the hell is this supposed to...?"
"But..." he interrupted me, "I don't really got a lot a time to go, ya know? On account a da job, and all. Well... you know how it is."
"Does this have a point?
"It does... yeah. Trust me, dis is a good story. It's... uh, waddyacallit... relevant. See - a couple weeks back - I get this crazy job. Yer gonna love dis. Fer two weeks straight - right - I get set up in a room at Zaryan's. You know the Casino, doncha? Yeah, course you do, what am I talkin' about? So, it's top floor... balcony... whole nine yards. Great view of da beach. And alls I gotta do... is watch."
I grew very silent.
"Now... me? I like to get up pretty early. Dat's da best time, ya know - before anybody else is awake? Well... I say anybody... but dat's not all true. Dere is dis one little gal who gets up pretty early, too. Wow! Cutest little thing you ever seen. Chinese girl... or Korean... I dunno, sumthin'. Now, her? She's down on dat beach every mornin'. I guess she likes da quiet... ta do exercisin' and stuff like dat."
My face started to get warm.
"But I'm thinking... dat's prolly not a good idea, ya know? Doin' somethin' all da time like dat? Every day. Makin' a kinda, uh... waddyacallit? Pattern? 'Cause, ya know... havin' a pattern like dat? It sort of makes a person kinda easy to find. Ya know where dey are. Ya know when dey're gonna be dere. Dat kind of thing leaves a person pretty... exposed... don't ya think?"
I felt the heat rising around me. I let out a sharp laugh.
"You're insane. That girl isn't exposed. She's a freaking martial arts expert! She could take you apart."
"Oh... hey... ya got me all wrong, Mistuh Nee-hill. I ain't suggestin' nothin'. But... it does get ya thinkin', though, don't it? Now dat ya mention it - I suppose it would be sorta silly to go up close against a gal like dat."
He pretended like he was thinking, then made like he suddenly had an idea.
"But, what if - just fer instance - what if it didn't hafta be dat close? Like say... welll... I was up pretty high there at Zaryan's. Say somebody did want to try somethin'. I figure dat's gotta be a much better way to try an' go for somebody like her... don't ya think?"
My blood was starting to boil. I felt my jaw clench.
"Yeah. You get a guy up dere... somebody dat's got a real good eye. And den - when she's doing her little moves out dere... getting all caught up in it... wit her guard down and such..."
He raised his arms in the shape of a blaster rifle.
"Boom."
"You bastard!!!"
I leapt over the seat at the goon, my fist drawn, but - still feeling the effect of having been out so long - he slapped me right back down like I was nothing more than a cockroach bothering a three-worlds time trapper.
"You just siddown, Mistuh Nee-hill. We're almost at da shuttle port. Now you listen, and you listen good. Yer gonna get on dat shuttle... yer gonna go to Luna... and you ain't talkin' to no Space Rangers, ya get me?"
"So that's it, then?" I spat, wiping the blood from my lip with the back of my hand, "That's the big play - I'm just supposed sit by while an innocent man gets murdered... or else an innocent girl gets murdered?"
"Ain't nobody innocent. Dere's a thing dat needs doin', and it's gonna get done. So what's it gonna be?"
"Yeah... like I have some choice here, right? You're basically telling me that if I want to protect My Whee Fem, I've got to let you kill Kid Quislet!"
"Why do ya keep sayin' dat? Huh? Dat we're gonna kill the shyster?"
"Wait... you're not?"
"No... you are."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 38
When I was a little kid, Matt, I used to be amazed by how many different ways there were to say the same thing.
Take my old man, for instance. My dad had come up through the streets as a kid, so he always put things in a real simple way. Like - whenever he was in a tight spot - he'd always say he was between "a rock and hard place". Now my ma... on the other hand... she'd gotten a real good education, so she'd always pull out some crazy obscure thing, like saying she was "caught between Scylla and Charybdis". Then there was my dad's old friend, Huntz Hall. That guy had a twisted way about him - always putting things in a real dark way, like, "between the devil and the deep blue sea."
I know it was a funny thing to be remembering, right then - as I was getting pushed through Grand Central Spaceport toward that shuttle - but any way you said it... I was stuck. Here I was, on my way to Luna, being told I had to put a blaster shot into Kid Quislet, and - if I didn't - then they were gonna put one in My Whee Fem. I just couldn't see any play that wouldn't end up with somebody dying, or worse - two somebodys.
I couldn't flag down the Rangers at the 'port; I couldn't try to make a break for it; I couldn't even get word to Kid Quislet himself, because Tamper's goons weren't about to give the two of us a moment alone. No matter how I looked at it - the devil had me tied to a rock, sinking me down to the hard place at the bottom of the sea, while old Scylla and Charybdis argued about who'd get to eat me.
They hustled us through the check-in without too much trouble - though I did wind up getting a couple strange looks as I stood there swaying, still trying to shake off the last effects of Tamper's drugging. Then Al - the thug who'd drove me in and laid out the skinny on My Whee - and Rocco, who been driving Kid Quis, led us both into the first-class shuttle room that Tamper had set us up in. Nice and private, just the four of us... all the better for them to keep me from trying anything funny.
"Pretty nice... eh, Ex?" Kid Quislet said, settling himself in, as the shuttle began taking off, "This is high class, right here. I only ever flew in business class for the Firm."
"Yeah... yeah..." Al said, "... it's a real fraggin' luxury cruise, OK? Now quit yer yappin', you two. Dis is a long flight, and I aim ta get some shuteye. You got first watch, Rocco?"
"No problem, Al," Rocco said.
"First watch?" Kid Quislet laughed. "What... does Tamper think we're going to try to jump out of a moving cruiser, or something? He must really be worried about this package, huh?"
"Yeah, he's a just mother hen, all right? Now, shut it."
Kid Quislet looked across to me with a look of fake terror, then grinned, as if to say, "Can you believe these guys?" then kicked back himself, closing his eyes.
I just couldn't peg Kid Quislet. How could he be so calm in all this?
Sure, he didn't know that his number was up - that the stop off on Luna was due to be his final stop off - but he seemed to be taking the whole addition of the other two guys to this trip like it was no big deal. I just couldn't figure it. Was this supposed to be part of the Security Office's plan or something?
It all seemed so convoluted but, the more I starting to think about it... the more it slowly started dawning on me that there really was more going on here than met the eye.
Kid Quislet had told me that the Security Office was setting up a big sting against Tamper - that he'd been laying as bait for a long time before Tamper finally bit, right after Klordny. Tamper was supposed to have gotten this "Malachite Middlefinger" from Lotta that night, but he told me that the deal wound up going south because Junior had already shipped it off to Earth to some anonymous buyer. If I believed what Phil Marlowe said, the package was being shipped through Wellesley Logistics to avoid the cargo scan... but was Junior sharp enough to have realized that?
Unless... unless it was the buyer who requested it go through Wellesley?
Oh my god... I'd been so blind! How had I not realized who this package was being shipped to? It was the Security Office themselves! It all started to fall into place.
The Security Office needed some sort of crime to tie Tamper to... something that was big enough to have real repercussions. The importation of malachite to Earth was a galactic level crime - it violated an interplanetary embargo. Somehow, the Security Office must have gotten wind that Tamper was looking to buy the statuette off Lotta, and seen their in. They must have gone around Lotta and - pretending to be a buyer - approached Junior... knowing that he was strapped for cash. They had him ship it to Earth to violate the embargo, knowing that Tamper would chase it down. Having Junior ship it through Wellesley was just the icing on the cake.
Tamper himself was legally barred from Earth, but that didn't matter. He'd paid Lotta to retrieve it so, legally, she was his agent. As soon as Lotta went to pick it up, they could have nailed her and - in one fell swoop - gotten the goods on both Tamper and Wellesley. But, then... Lotta went "missing". Tamper must have been scrambling and that was when he must have finally bit on the Kid Quislet bait.
Tamper had seen Kid Quis for weeks playing the part of a degenerate gambler. Who better to loop into a scheme like this than some poor schlub who'd be desperate to make a little scratch... and wouldn't squawk about it, for fear of blowing his own spot in the Firm? When Quis accidentally dropped my name into the mix, it must have been like Christmas for Tamper... two patsies for the price of one.
I was betting that package that was sitting there in Earthgov customs was the whole key to the Security Office bringing Tamper down... it had to be.
That's why Kid Quislet was acting as cool as a space-cucumber. As far as he knew, there was probably a squad of Security Office guys waiting at the customs office who would rush in the second the pick-up was made. Adding in of a couple of Tamper's goons didn't make any difference to him - in fact, it would probably make the bust all the easier. He'd probably met with My Whee Fem the day before to go over the plan one more time to make sure everything went off like the Clock of Many Worlds.
Nobody except me even realized there was a huge spanner in the works - Tamper had gotten wise to the double-cross. He might not have known that the package was a set up, but he definitely had Kid Quis pegged as the mole.
If Tamper had his way, Kid Quislet was never even gonna get to Earth . Inside of ten hours, all that was gonna be left of him was another crater on Earth's moon... unless I could figure some way out of this. Ten hours wasn't a long time, but everything is relative. If there were Security Office boys on Earth, they'd be able to make it to Luna in a fraction of that time. But how was I supposed get word to them?
I shifted in my seat uncomfortably.
I felt disgusting. Insult to injury - I never even had time to get to my flat to pack for this whole thing. All I had on me was the suit I wore to Lotta's funeral and whatever I had in my pockets. A few creds, the holoclip I'd nabbed from my office, and my...
No... no, they couldn't have been that dumb.
I waited until I was sure that Rocco was looking away, then - slower than an Ogyptuan watching a dust cloud - I reached into my coat pocket. When my finger finally touched it, it was all I could do not to jump up like I'd bet on the winning kangobronc. I couldn't believe it. They go to all the trouble of knocking me out... dragging me into a hovercar... threatening people I care about... and then leave me with an Omnicom sitting in my pocket?
That's how you're gonna beat 'em, Ex... they keep underestimating you.
I cleared my throat, as Rocco looked over at me.
"Whaddya want?"
"I... uh... I need to go to the bathroom."
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 39
"Don't make it all day, willya?"
"Give me a break, bub," I said, stepping into the vestibule, "I don't need some ten-credit hood playing babysitter. You think I can get a little privacy here?"
Rocco grunted as I hit the autolock on the shuttle bathroom, the door shushing closed behind me. That guy might not have been the brightest star in the western spiral arm, but he did hit it right on the mark with that one. Whatever I was planned on doing, I had to do it quick, before he started getting wise. I figured I had about ten minutes, tops.
Little did I realize how right I was.
I pulled out my Omnicom and tapped the screen. I couldn't believe those two goons didn't think to frisk me. Well... their mistake was about to be my way out. The screen started firing up, but it was really sluggish.
"C'mon... c'mon..."
I tapped the screen again, trying to get a response. These 3008's could be touchier than a Vulcan trying a mind-meld. Finally, it started to come to life.
"Welcome back, Mr. Nihil. Please state your pass code to continue."
"T...R...U...B...I...L," I whispered.
"Pass code accepted. Hello, Mr. Nihil. How may I help you this morning?"
"Place a call to Legion World... Sivana, Emily."
"Warning... virtual memory at a critical level. Maximum available call length - three minutes. Proceed?"
Three minutes? I looked at the side sensor - it had a full charge. What the sprock was going on here? Something had to be sapping the mem.
"No, cancel call... give me a virtual memory read."
"99.7 percent in use. Largest use, source file - root/LMBEnquirer.cr"
LMB Enquirer! I palmed my face... it was the sprocking credentials that Marlowe had loaded! I knew the 3008 wasn't meant to handle files that big. The damn things were sapping up almost all the space on my Com. I could start dumping them, but that would take too long - and I didn't know if I'd get another chance like this again.
Rocco started banging on the door. "Hurry up, you!"
"Give it a rest, huh?" I shouted back. I had to adjust my plan... and quick.
I'd been planning on calling Emily, then My Whee, and then maybe you, Matt - if I could squeeze that all in without Rocco busting down the door - but it was looking like I only had time for one call. I had to make it count.
"Place a call to Legion World... Fem, My Whee. Cancel memory error alert."
"Calling... calling..."
This had to work. My Whee was my best bet to cover as many bases as I could in one shot. I was praying she picked up.
"Connected..."
I guess those days of playing altar boy as a kid were finally paying off.
"Exnihil? Ex... sigh... look, I'm sorry if I wasn't clear yesterday, but I really don't think we sh..."
"My... please, I don't have a lot of time here," I whispered frantically, "We're both in danger."
"Danger? Ex... what are you talking about now? Your voice sounds strange... you haven't been drinking this early, have you?"
"What? No, I... well... OK, I was drugged last night, but that's not..."
"Drugged???"
"My... seriously... I'm in an emergency situation, here. You've got to listen to me. Whatever the Security Office has planned for Tamper, he knows. I'm on the shuttle right now to..."
"Shuttle? I thought you weren't going to... oh, my god... Ex, what have you done?"
"I didn't really have a choice, OK? I'm on my way to Luna..."
"You're going to... oh, for grife's sake. Look... what you asked me yesterday... about the Security Office working against Tamper? I don't know how you know that but... yes... it's true, OK? I only know about it peripherally - I just process the incoming coms, but - if this is what I think it is - you have to believe me when I say that you are in the middle of something potentially very dangerous, right now. There's a man inside Tamper's org who's planning to..."
"Yeah, yeah... I know all that, OK? I don't have time to recap but... I know. Listen... there's two things I need right now. Number one - you. You've got to stay safe, all right? They've got eyes on - I don't know how often... for all I know, they might be watching you right now."
"Wha... watching me? Who?"
"In the mornings... when you're on the beach... they've got a sniper up in Zaryan's scoping you out. I don't know where else, but you've got to break your pattern... ASAP. And two - I need you to call whoever you have to... talk to Matlock, maybe... those guys the Office has waiting on Earth? They've got to hightail it to Luna... pronto! It's Shuttle 301 from Legion World - Luna - that's where they're planning to bump Kid Quislet."
"Earth? Ex, what are you... there aren't... wait... Kid Quislet? My la... ?"
"Call ended... virtual memory depleted."
Damn it! I kicked the bathroom door.
"Hey! What's going on in there?" Rocco called in.
"Nothing! Just gimme a minute, all right?"
I looked down at the Com. A hundred percent virtual memory used - that was it.
My last best hope for pulling out of this mess without Kid Quislet winding up as part of the dark side of the moon, My Whee getting plugged during a morning stretch, or - even worse - both of those scenarios playing out with maybe me thrown in as the cherry on top of the Martian ice-cream, lay with that single call. I sighed, as I put the Com back in my pocket and released the autolock, the door shushing open.
"Heh... thought ya got sucked out the vaccu-seal in dere. Was kinda hopin' ya did."
"Whatever, ape. Just follow me back to my seat like a good little trained monkey, huh?"
"Get goin', wiseguy," he pushed me, as I started heading back to the room.
My thoughts were going faster than a pair of winged boots on a cosmic treadmill. I only had a handful of hours left until the moment of truth. Would My Whee be able to get in touch with whatever badges were sitting there on Earth, and have them head off Tamper's twin lunkheads at the pass? It was all I had to hold on to - I had to believe she would.
But - as you and I both know, Matt - she wouldn't.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 40
"Hey... I don't mean to tell you guys your business... but wasn't that the transfer station we just passed?"
Al and Rocco sat silently in the front seat of the rental-hover, ignoring Kid Quislet's question. He turned to me with a look that said, "Do you know what going on?"
What was I gonna do? I felt like Antonio Stefanacci after a tour of the Mystic Arts Museum - I didn't have a single trick left in my bag. I just pursed my lips and looked away out the window.
Where did things go so wrong?
That call I'd made to My Whee had been my last hope of getting out of this mess a free man. I knew I hadn't been able to get a lot of info across but, somehow - in my crazy head - I figured we'd roll into the Luna shuttle port and the Security Office cavalry would just come riding over the hill to slap the cuffs on these two gorilla city rejects. But... no dice. I didn't know if My Whee hadn't been able to get in contact with them... or if she didn't believe me... or if the whole thing was just some crazy dream that I couldn't wake up from. All I knew was, so far, I was on my own.
Through the landing... through deboarding... through security... through the hover rental... through all of it - and not one sign of any boy in blue. With every step I took - with every moment that passed - I felt my fate hanging over my shoulder like a 25th century security bot. This just couldn't be happening. They couldn't make me become the thing that - for over a month - I assumed the Security Office thought I was. They couldn't make me a killer.
But now - as we drove past the last outskirts of Lunaport-1 and into the gray wasteland beyond - the reality of it all started sinking right in. I was out of options. The only other thing that was gonna be through today... was Kid Quislet.
"Seriously, guys..." Kid Quislet said, "We've only got a couple hours before the connection to Terra. What are we doing heading out this way?"
"Shaddap, you." Al called back over his shoulder, "Ya ask a lotta questions for a guy dat went so long without givin' any answers."
"Giving any ans...?" Kid Quislet stopped short. I looked back over at him - his eyes were starting to widen. This guy was looking genuinely scared, and I can't say I blamed him a bit. The Security Office had sent him into the heart of the dralgo's den, then left him hanging there while it just spun him up in a cocoon. He swallowed and tried to continue.
"But... but Tamper knows that I..."
"Tamper don't wanna hear any more of yer excuses."
Excuses? This was a new wrinkle... what the hell was Al talking about? Sure - I didn't know all the ins and outs of what the Office was having Kid Quis play at - but this sounded more involved then Tamper just finding out he was a mole.
"I... I don't..." Kid Quislet started stuttering. He turned to me with a look of horror that looked a hundred percent on the level. "Ex? Ex... are you in on this?!"
I started to say something but - before I could even get a word out - Kid Quislet made his move.
Lightning-quick, he threw a left forearm into my chin, taking me by surprise and knocking me backward into the door. Before the guys up front even knew what was happening, he launched a quick punch at Al's head, causing him to jerk the controls. As the hover swerved off hard to the right, Kid Quislet threw the back door open and leapt right out - rolling away into the dust as we kept moving the opposite way.
"Dat sprockin'...!"
Al slammed on the reverse thrusters, bringing the hover to a stop. He craned around to look behind us. Kid Quislet was up and running off toward the empty horizon as fast as he could but - it was clear from the way he was lurching - he must have hurt his leg in the roll.
"Out... get out of da hover, now!" Al yelled at me, as both he and Rocco leapt out of the front.
"Ha... look at him!" Rocco laughed, as he pointed at the fleeing Kid Quislet, "Da dumb shyster's headin' right for da crater. Where's he think he's gonna go? All he's doin' is blockin' himself right in! Whaddya think... ya got dis one, Al?"
Al was wiping a trickle of blood from his ear where Kid Quis had clocked him. "You kiddin' me? I ain't climbin' down in no crater... dis is a brand new pair a shoes. Besides..." He nodded at me, climbing out of the hover, "...da boss wants Mr. Bigshot here ta do da honors."
"What?" Rocco looked at Al in disbelief. "Nee-Hill? Fuggedaboutit... ain't no way I'm lettin' ya arm dis joker."
"Hey! What did I say? It's what da boss wants. Don't worry about it... me an' him had a little talk. We got ourselves a little understandin'... don't we, Nee-Hill? Trust me... dis guy ain't tryin' nothin' funny."
I looked at the two as I rubbed my chin. Try anything funny? What the hell could I even try?
Everything last bit of my soul knew that what they were making me do was gonna spell the end of life as I knew it. Once that blaster was fired there wasn't any turning back... I would have Kid Quislet's blood on my hands, forever. But these guys had me over a barrel, dead to rights... if I didn't do this, My Whee was as good as dead, and - let's call a spade a spade - so was I. The Security Office dropped the magnoball in a big way. The only thing I had to hold onto at this point was that - if anybody was responsible for Kid Quislet's death - it was them.
I shook my head, "Nah... nothing funny."
Al grinned. "Dere's a kid. I knew ya'd see da light. OK..." he reached inside his coat and pulled out a blaster, handing it to me. "Now... you know how to use one of dese, dontcha?"
I turned the blaster over in my hands like a dead dirj. Nothing had every felt heavier in my life.
"Oh, fer grife's sake... " Rocco said, grabbing the blaster from me, "Look... dis is the settin'... ya don't have ta worry about any a dat... just take off da safety here..." he flipped a switch, "Ya just get close to da guy... anythin' under about two meters should do it... and then... two shots, OK? Yer first shot puts him down... den ya put one in his brain. Den he's dead... den we go home."
He handed me the blaster again, as I looked toward the crater. I saw Kid Quislet off in the distance, still limping toward it, but - the speed he was moving - I could tell I'd be able to catch him with no problem. I looked down to the blaster in my hands.
"Aw... don't worry, Nee-Hill," Al said. "Yer first one is always da toughest. Now... you just go leave us a nice new dark spot up on dis moon..." he pulled out his own blaster, looking first at it... then back at me, "... so's I don't gotta leave two, huh?"
I looked up at him, steadying myself and meeting him with a gaze as hard as inertron. This wasn't over... not by a long shot.
I flipped up the collar of my coat, and started off toward the crater.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Chapter 41
I crested the lip of the crater.
Kid Quislet was about a hundred meters up - still trying to limp forward, but now dragging his leg behind him.
Shooting a quick look behind me, I saw I was out of the line of sight of Tamper's guys. Craning around like that, though, made my foot slip on the crater wall, and I knocked down a few rocks. The noise echoed down, making Kid Quis spin around and trip to the ground. He struggled to get back on his feet again - but whatever he messed up jumping out of the hover was looking like it was gonna take him down for the count.
I continued walking toward him.
"You can't do this, Ex!!!"
His shout echoed across as I continued advancing. "You don't bump guys! You're not like them... you're not like those animals back there!"
I kept walking.
Kid Quislet tried again to get to his feet - but he only took one step before he collapsed again. He turned again to shout back to me.
"It's not right, Ex! They can't do this! They can't make us different people than we are! We're not muscle... we're just two guys caught in a wrong situation. Somebody hands me an angle, I play it - it's just my nature. I don't deserve to die for that! Do you think I do?!"
What was he talking about? What angle? The Security Office scam? He wasn't making any sense.
"I get that you're mad at me, Ex... I get it! I shouldn't have lied to you - I know that. You were just so angry when I told Tamper you were at Zaryan's that night. I didn't know what you were gonna do... so I just... I just said the first thing that popped in my head - what I thought you wanted to hear. I know it was dumb. The Security Office? Ha... I know... dumb, right? I should have known you wouldn't buy something like that for long."
I stopped in my tracks.
What? Was he trying to say that he wasn't a Security Office mole?
No... no, this couldn't be true... the guy just knew his number was up and he was saying anything he could now to save his tail. I started walking again.
"What was I supposed to say... huh? What do you want to hear? That I'm a bum? That I was in so much gambling debt that I'd take whatever kind of loan I could get... even if it was from Tamper Lad? Is that what you want to hear? Fine! Yes! I tried to pay him back... I did... but it just kept getting bigger and bigger. You don't know what it's like... I had to agree to go to Earth for him... it was the only way out! But... that's all over, OK? I can pay him now... the money from Junior Handsome is going to be..."
I stopped again. I was now close enough now to talk to him... and to take the shot.
I went with the first.
"What?" I demanded, looking down at him. "What did you just say?"
"Junior Handsome," he said, seeming to relax a little now that I was finally talking. "Now that Junior is getting the money from his sister's death, I'll be able to pay Tamper... and... and you, if you want, Ex! Yeah... Ex... just turn back... just tell them what I said and I promise I'll cut you in. Really... it will be enough to..."
"I don't want your money! " My anger was starting to rise. "I want the truth! What the hell business do you even have with Junior?"
"Wha... I... Ex... I thought you knew... I thought he would have told you....it was me that helped Junior get his sister's death declaration pushed through the courts so quickly."
"You did what?" I shook my head in disbelief. "What the hell would you do that for? You knew I thought the Security Office was after me... why would you give them more ammo?"
"It was just the money, Ex... plain and simple! I had to get out! I... I wasn't even thinking about the murder case."
"You weren't thinking?" I started to seethe. "You weren't thinking? That's two times, Kid! Two times now I got thrown right into the line of fire because of you! And the whole time... you're just feeding me a line about the Security Office? You expect me to believe that?"
"It's the truth, Ex... I'm not with the Security Office."
"The truth? What do you take me for?! Grife... everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie! You're not with the Office? What the hell do you think Tamper sent me out here for? Huh? Because you owed him a few credits? That's a bunch of nass and you know it! You think you're the only person I talk to? You think I don't know about My Whee Fem?"
"My Wh...?"
"Yeah... what... you think your little afternoon coffee shop visits were just gonna go unnoticed? She told me there's a mole! She told me there's a sting going on! But... I guess she just made all that up, huh? I guess you weren't meeting with her yesterday to hand her over coms?"
"I... I wasn't... I..."
"Bullnass!" My anger was reaching a fever pitch with this guy. I reached into my coat and took hold of the blaster.
"Ex! Stop... you can't do this! Just... just... yes... OK! Yes... I met with My... but it wasn't anything to do with the Security Office. My's just a client of mine... I'm handling some things for her about her paren..."
"Enough! Enough with your lies!"
"It's not a lie, I swear... when I told Tamper that My Whee was..."
"What?"
My arm extended - almost on its own - pointing the blaster right at Kid Quislet. He raised his arms over his eyes.
"Ex! Please... you can't do this!"
"You stupid dirj!!!" I thrust the blaster closer, pointing it almost right in his face. "You told Tamper that you were meeting with My?"
"Ex... it was a mistake... please... this isn't us! This is just a dream... I can't... I can't die!"
"You stupid sprocking... shut up! Do you know how many lives you've put in danger? Because you couldn't keep your mouth shut?"
"Please..." his voice starting to crack as he began to cry, "...please... I can't die out here in space... like an animal... like some dumb animal..."
"Shut up!"
My arm holding the blaster tightened and started to shake. The air was suddenly broken by a voice calling out from above.
"HEY... NEE-HILL!"
It was Tamper's man, Al, standing at the lip of the crater with Rocco. "Ha... look at 'im, Rocco... the bigshot is freezing up. Hey, hurry it up, Nee-Hill, huh? We gotta get outta here."
I looked back to Kid Quislet, still weeping - his arms over his face. His words choked out.
"I'm begging you... look in your heart, Ex..."
"Forget this!" Al's voice echoed down as he pulled out his own blaster. "Nee-hill! You got exactly five seconds to pull that trigger, or I'm gonna pick you off!" He aimed his blaster across the chasm, lining me up in his sights.
"Look in your heart... I'm begging you..."
My arm shook, the blaster aimed right at Kid Quislet.