Harry led the way to the door, turned at the threshold and said: “Isamary, stay here and guard the prisoners. If we’re not back in a couple of hours, hit that red button over there and someone will come down from orbit to investigate.”
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t die. I’m not ready to be an orphan.”
“Dying’s the last thing I’ll do,” LB forced a laugh.
“Not helping. Be careful.”
The marshal rapped the top of my head as I crossed the threshold.
“Just remember, this isn’t a western and you’re not Clint Eastwood,” she said. “You stay behind me and I do the talking.”
“Of course, Marshal Harry. But... who’s Clint Eastwood?”
“Look him up.”
CHAPTER 14
We took my taxi. I looked up Clint Eastwood and downloaded the Man With No Name trilogy into my brain. I enjoyed the music. We climbed down from the taxi in a warehouse area.
“Can we do one of those scenes where the bodies drop in slow motion?” I asked.
“No, I told you we are not doing a western.”
The address we wanted was in a part of a quadrangle of other warehouses. They looked abandoned. The flat roofs had high parapets. I saw movement and my scanners showed metal and heat sources up there.
“Men on the roofs with guns,” I said. “I’ve counted fourteen, so far. Fifteen... sixteen.”
There was a cargo container fifty metres from the door but my scanners could not penetrate the walls.
“So, I’ll leave you guys here,” InyagoM said. “Call me when you’re ready for—”
“Don’t you move a centimetre,” I told it. “We may want to leave in a hurry.”
“I want to leave now,” LB admitted.
“Wish we had brought Daisy Tubes,” I said, as I tracked movement on the roof of the target warehouse. Whatever was in there needed a lot of protection.
“We’re not here to start a fight,” Marshal Harry said. She looked over the door, spotted the button and rang the bell. “We are here to talk.”
“But they might start the fight for us, you see?” LB pointed out. He had one hand on the butt of his gun. “What do you suppose is in that cargo container?”
“Trouble, like a big gun or a lot of guys,” I said. “This kicks off, you take the guys on the roof, I’ll take that container then lay down suppressing fire while the marshal runs for that corner.”
I pointed over my shoulder with a claw.
“This kicks off, I’m not running. Besides, once Port Authority impounds the ship, they will need me to release it.”
I wish I’d given that bit of logic a harder look, I really do. The door was armoured and impenetrable to my sensors. The walls were concrete, and I tracked a figure approaching the door. It was four metres tall and heat signature identified a mammal. The door opened and a huge muzzle poked through the narrow gap.
“My name is Marshal Ward,” Harry said. “I and my deputies are here to talk to your leader about a serious matter.”
“We didn’t do it,” the door keeper said.
“Did not do what, sir?”
“Whatever you think we did?”
“Why would you think I think you did anything?”
There was a long pause while the muzzle wrinkled, the tongue licked the lips and nose, which was then scratched industrially with a nail.
“I’ll get the boss,” he decided. The door closed.
“I’ve identified fourteen Neshers armed with blast rifles and six Curren,” I said in a whisper. “Ignore the Neshers, they`re hopeless shots. But the Curren are lethal.”
Curren were three ton reptiles, with no conscience. The adults of both sexes hired out as mercenaries. Nesher were lighter but taller, with shaggy hair and long muzzles filled with teeth. Still, everyone I’ve met has fought an urge to pet Nesher ears. They are that cute.
“I know,” LB said. “Mind that war I was in? It was against the Curren.”
“That doesn’t narrow it down for me,” I admitted. “The Curren fought in a lot of wars.”
“It will not come to a gun battle,” Marshal Harry said. She did not sound confident. I had lost my enthusiasm for a fight. We were up against a wall, with no cover, surrounded by a firing squad of experienced gunmen. It would be a short battle.
“Why is it I can trust you to have my back,” Marshal Harry said, looking round at me. “But I can’t trust you not to burn the street down while I’m away?”
“At this point,” I said, tracking movement on the roof across the way. “I believe I can promise it won’t happen again.”
The door opened and an auburn muzzle poked through.
“Good day, my name is—”
“Marshal Ward,” a voice growled, all the more impressive because he was speaking Terran without the aid of a translator. “I heard we got a marshal on Smuds now. I also heard my friend Loow is dead. Hope you realise the Rehd Shirts are the last who want him dead, since he has money for us?”
“I realised that, sir. Since you know my name, may I know yours?”
“Got a warrant?”
“No.”
“Then my name is none of your business.”
“Would it be Fouler Welch?” LB asked. “There is only one auburn Nesher in the Rehd Shirts.”
“Alright, yas,” he said in a slow yawn of a voice. “That is I.”
The head came out on a long shaggy neck and looked round and down at Marshal Harry.
“Been told of you, little man. They say you clever sort. About Loow, imagine me being a not happy emoji. Unless you bringing our money?”
“I am in fact a little woman. Relative to yourself, at least. Mr Alsh’s payment has been secured, sir,” Marshal Harry said. “But it is not our place to pay for your cargo.”
“Why not? Don’t you want my cargo? Them are cute little cubs. Oh well, someone will pay our price.”
“I have something to say about that,” the marshal said. “But first, the enterprise you and Mr Alsh were involved in- is there anyone connected to it that would want him dead?”
“I don’t have answer questions.”
“No, sir, you do not,” the marshal admitted. “But you claimed Loow was a friend so ans—”
“Still not answering questions. Point of principal.”
I could tell the marshal was getting angry, she was sticking her chin out. “Okay, then you might find it profitable to listen. We know you have a group of people in this building, that Loow Alsh was paying you to transport.”
“It’s no secret we transport people,” Fouler Welch growled. “It is not against the law.”
“Selling them is. Where were you two nights ago?”
“I was where I do not answer questions, same as today.”
“Right, so listen. Mr Alsh had the money to pay you for transporting those children.”
“Good. Hand it over and you can take them now.”
“The marshal service does not work that way,” she said. “We cannot legally access Mr Alsh’s resources. There is a will, if you are prepared to wait a few days...?”
“No waiting. We completed a job, we deserve paid. No pay, we sell the cargo to someone else. Them’s our rules.”
“You leave me no choice. Port Authority from Marshal Harry Ward the 23rd. There is an outstanding warrant for ship DH33 dash double dash, also listed as Thrombosis Racer. I request that you impound that vessel until I bring this matter before the Mother of all Mothers for final judgement.”
The sigil Port Authority uses to identify itself appeared above Harry’s portable holo-projector.
“Done,” it answered. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“Yes, set security so only I can dissolve the lockdown.”
“Unusual request, but done.”
“You can’t do that,” Fouler Welch barked.
“Already have,” Port Authority said. “It was a pleasure to assist the marshal. Hope you burn in
hell, Fouler Welch.”
In spite of myself, this impressed me. First time I’ve met anyone actively disliked by an AI.
“Thank you, that is all,” the marshal said. Port Authority hung up.
“You impounded our ship?”
“Yes. We don’t get those people, you don’t leave. That’s my rule.”
“No, you don’t leave,” Fouler Welch looked up to the rooftops and took a breath. The marshal grabbed one ear and pulled her weapon. The speed of the move took me by surprise.
“Do not press me further,” she hissed. “Tell your men to leave their weapons where they are and get off those roofs.”
“No. You are not going to—”
“Do not tell me what I will not do. I am not the one selling kids out of a warehouse. You, sir, are the lowest piece of shit I have met in a long time.”
No word of a lie, that shocked me. The marshal never cursed. A Curran reared up from the rooftop and sighted down his rifle, I drew and dropped him. Guns appeared along the rooftops. I pulled my weapons and woke Trembling Bob.
Fouler Welch bellowed.
“No one else shoot!”
“Wise choice,” the marshal said. Her knuckles were white on Welch’s ear and her service weapon. The leader of the Rehd Shirts was one wrong move away from getting a fresh hole in the head. Looked like the rest of us would be seconds behind him.
“I cannot believe impounding our ship is legal,” he said. “I will call our lawyer.”
“You do that,” Marshal Harry said. “Meanwhile, you step out here and lie down in the road.”
“Are you arresting me?”
“Not yet. This is our insurance. We are going to get into that taxi and leave. Anyone even looks like shooting at us, my centipede friend erases you from history.”
Fouler Welch looked me over.
“What happened to you, guy? You used to have a quality rep, now you work for wages?”
“I still have a quality rep,” I pointed out. “I dropped your man from a hundred metres with a pistol.”
“We will be in contact with the Azusefulaz embassy,” Marshal Harry said. “Who will want to send representatives to the court hearing. They will be here in nine months on a fast ship. Your ship stays locked down until we resolve this. You understand me?”
Fouler Welch lay down without a word and turned his face away from us.
“Release those kids into my custody and I release you,” Marshal Harry said. “Meanwhile, we continue the investigation into Loow Alsh’s death and –”
“The Rehd Shirts had nothing to do with that,” Welch said without turning. “We had his cargo, and he had our money, why would we kill him?”
I backed across the concrete to the taxi, Trembling Bob locked on the container and Old Number Seven locked on Welch. I clambered on the back of the taxi while keeping my aim steady. LB threw himself into the car and InyagoM hit the power, spun and bolted. When we cleared the warehouse district he said.
“I cannot believe you are not dead. You people are crazy.”
“That went better than I expected,” LB admitted.
“But we didn’t have the gunfight,” I pointed out.
“Exactly, we’re still alive.”
CHAPTER 15
InyagoM did not slow down until we reached the office. He landed and slewed to a halt.
“Debt paid, right? I’ve decided I want to live.”
I clambered down. “We’ll see.”
The marshal paused on the stoop, swivelled on her heel and marched across the road to the Full Mental Packet. I sighed and followed. She would worry at this thing until something fell out.
Entering the empty lounge, felt odd. The lights were on and in the hard glare, the room looked old, stained and tired.
“Here be monsters and legends,” I said.
“Here be puzzles,” the marshal said. She perched on a bench opposite the booth where we had found Loow’s remains. The socbots had removed them for further examination, but left Big Sam in place. “And I feel like I’ve missed something.”
She darted through to the bar. I followed, and she tripped over me, returning to the lounge.
“I used to have a dog like you,” she said, unfairly in my view. “Always underfoot.”
“It is in my job description to keep you safe.”
“What am I missing? I’ve... almost got something.”
“Do you want to search the place again?”
“No, we’ll wait for the socbot reports. Should be in tomorrow. I want to talk to your ex-wife again, and then LB and his son.”
“Must you?” I said. “I’ve concluded that I shouldn’t make life-changing decisions while blind drunk, They seldom work out.”
“How seldom?”
“Okay, never.”
“Doc mentioned a game of cards, and no one else did.”
“Ah... I can explain that,” LB said. I stuck my head out of the short corridor that joined the lounge and bar, to find Long Barnacle looking long faced by the door. “I promised Isamary that I would not gamble on this trip. But he had one glass of snouser and turned in. I didn’t see the harm in a friendly game or two.”
“Did it finish around four in the morning?” Marshal Harry asked. LB closed the distance and took a seat.
“Maybe? I lost more than I wanted and bowed out. Your ex-wife has amazing luck at cards.”
“It’s not luck. Her eyesight is acute enough to read people like a large print book.”
“Damn,” LB threw up his hands, and we waited for them to land. “You might have told me that before I—”
“Can we keep to the point?” Marshal Harry said, pacing the floor. “And next time you don’t want to tell me something in front of Isamary, instant message me.”
“Sorry, didn’t think of that. I hope I haven’t held up your investigation?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s go talk to Doc.”
“Can we call back Chunglie’s taxi?” LB asked. “Please?”
We followed the marshal out the door and down the street. It was a bright day, but the afternoon storm clouds were gathering. I hoped we made it back to the office before the rain, because working seven umbrellas is difficult. The streets we were passing looked familiar.
“Do I want to know where Doc is?” I asked.
“When I let her go last night, she said she was staying with Schemiedan until the bar opened up again.”
“This gets better and better. You escape one gunfight to go huddle in a small room with two old gunfighters.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe I met the Schemiedan,” the marshal admitted. “When I was a girl, they used to make up VR games about his adventures. What was the name of his Starfighter?”
“Queenie,” I said. “I think he hocked it for drink.”
“Shame the way legends fade with time.”
“I haven’t faded,” I said, punching air with six claws. “I’m still sharp.”
“You are not a legend,” the marshal stated. “You are a nightmare.”
That hurt me, I don’t mind admitting. We walked in silence for a while.
“I could have been a legend,” I said. “If I got the same lucky breaks as some legends. I was in that war between the Curran and the Moordenaap, but they stationed me at Ryan’s Deep, in the Forests of Slound.”
“What happened there?” Harry asked.
“Nothing,” LB said glumly. “The Curran task force dropped in the Forbidden Desert of Droy. Guess who was stationed there?”
“But you were military police?” Harry pointed out.
“Yeah, but the Curran don’t care what uniform you’re wearing, they still shoot you dead. Once they breached the walls of the Invisible Citadel, everyone fought.”
“See? If I’d been there, I’d be a legend by now.”
“Well, if you ever find a time machine, I will swap places.”
We arrived at Schemiedan’s place. The narrow alley had not changed. Nothing had moved. But it felt wrong, as if w
e were being watched. The marshal knocked the door and Doc answered.
“What?” she said, opening the door just wide enough to poke her snoot through.
“We would like to talk to you again about the night of Mr Alsh’s death? You mentioned a card game?”
“He was there,” Doc pointed at LB with one dainty finger. I had a flashback that curled my claws. “Why not ask him?”
“Because you cleaned me out, and I went to bed before the finish.”
Doc grinned, displaying a row of sharp yellow teeth that gave me a shiver. “I remember. You don’t know betting strategy from a hole in the ground.”
“What nonsense, I—”
“Lost your money in an hour,” I pointed out. I put claws to the door, pushed it in and trundled through. Doc hissed and leapt onto the bed. “And we are here because Marshal Harry has questions.”
“Right.” Marshal Harry slipped through the door and got in front of Doc. “What time did the game start?”
The room was the same dusty mess as before, with a circle of the bed bunched into a nest, lined with down feathers from Doc’s chest and belly. I wasn’t jealous. Well, a little. Schemiedan leant against the wall, rigid as a plank.
“After closing... one or two in the morning?”
“There isn’t a regular closing time?”
“No, Loow just shut the doors when the drinkers’ money ran out, or the bots needed recharging.”
“Then you trooped downstairs together?”
“The game was going for an hour before Loow joined us. Good player, made small gains.”
I climbed onto the bed, Doc stepped back and hissed, but I only wanted a closer look at Schemiedan. His eyes were closed and his lips were undulating, left to right.
“She can tell you every hand dealt and bet made from that game,” I pointed out. “But she can’t tell you my birthday.”
“I only mind important things,” Doc said. That brought back the bad memories.
“What’s wrong with Schemiedan?” I asked.
“Nothing. He asked me to give him something to sober him up, so I did.”
“What time!” The marshal raised her voice. “Did Loow go back upstairs?”
“An hour after I cleaned out Long Barnacle.”
Curse of the Full Mental Packet Page 8