“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 we 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.”
“You did not clean—”
“Did anyone go upstairs after Loow did?” the marshal asked.
“Soggibiscuit used the toilet, so did two Capolamps, but don’t ask me which ones, they all look alike to me.”
“Can you remember the times on that?” Marshal Harry asked.
“I do not record the times my friends go for a wiz- sorry.”
“Pity you didn’t, then we could discount your friends from the investigation. As it is, the people in the basement are our only suspects.”
“The Capolamps are ruthless,” I pointed out.
“But why stick around till morning? Why not kill, grab what they came for and get off the planet as fast as they could?”
“They are not all that bright,” LB pointed out. “And they still seem to be looking for something.”
“Would they have left that shroom behind?” Marshal Harry asked.
“Unlikely,” I said.
“Come on, we’ll head back to the office. Tomorrow I want to take the bar apart brick by brick.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Whatever’s driving me crazy,” she said. I opened my mouth. “No comments from you, please.”
I closed my mouth. I had been out on the thin ice enough for one month.
CHAPTER 16
Darkness had dropped like a log while we were visiting Doc. The people swarming the streets were the dangerous kind.
“I don’t like the look of this,” Marshal Harry said. “Feels like a powder keg.”
I looked the term up in my lexicon app and had to agree. People were out of place and going where they shouldn’t. Heavily armed people. I heard shots and activated my sensor net.
“That came from Rodor’s place,” I said. “Hope he’s okay, his species are not fast movers.”
A scream echoed down the street. I’m better at smells than sounds.
“That came from Malphi’s Tooyr Bar,” LB pointed. “But what could make a Tooyr scream?”
“Right, we stick together, start with that scream,” Marshal Harry headed for Malphi’s. “And work our way along the street.”
Everyone in the bar ignored my drawn guns. A Nodnolly staggered around, stepping on people. Tooyr males average three metres tall, and weigh over a ton, so they were experiencing something new. The bright blue patch on its throat marked it as a male in heat, which may have been a worry for the Tooyr it was holding in one hand and waving around to the music. The marshal got in front of it, held up her badge and demanded to know what it thought it was doing?
I got in front of the marshal and sighted Old Number Seven at its head. Isamary stepped in front of LB, squared his shoulders and failed to notice LB sidestep, draw his sidearm and keep the rest of the bar covered.
“Dancin’ an’ that?” it replied. “Having a wee laugh?”
Its skull frill brushed the ceiling as it moved. My claw tightened on the trigger.
“The Nodnolly bar is three doors down- why are you in here?”
It peered around slowly and gave the Tooyr in its fist a
bit of a sniff. It started to clop its foot again, the marshal raised one eyebrow. The clop was aborted.
“Just... having a wee dance?” it tried. Marshal Harry raised the other eyebrow. “Just... going home for a’ early night?”
“Put that guy down, and we’ll call it quits,” the marshal said. It dropped the Tooyr, and he had the good sense to scramble for the back wall. The Nodnolly headed for the door, but I didn’t holster Old Number Seven until it was in the street. I drew the flegmatic pistols, because it was a Tooyr bar.
“Seeing something that big talk,” LB admitted. “Freaks me out every time.”
“Yeah, but what’s happened at the Nodnolly place to send them wandering about?” I pointed out. “They don’t normally mix with Tooyr.”
“The Nodnolly owner is a friend of Loow Alsh,” a bartender said. “He closed for the night as a mark of respect, and I’m thinking of doing the same.”
“Could be a wise move,” Marshal Harry agreed. She led us back out into the night, heading for the next scream.
By the third incident, she decided we were not working quickly enough, and needed to split up. Neither LB, Isamary nor I thought that was a good idea.
“You two stick together, stay calm and you will be okay,” Marshal Harry told the two Moordenaap. “Chunglie, do not kill anyone tonight, and you will be okay.”
“I can’t protect you,” I repeated for the third time. “If I’m not with you.”
“That’s right,” LB nodded. “We can’t protect you if we are not with you.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll take the Mochra place- they’re shorter than me. LB and Isamary take the Irish Bar, they’re mostly Moordenaap, talk them down if you can. Chunglie, take Sid’s. I repeat, do not kill anyone if you want to keep that badge.”
I turned and marched across to Sid’s. My feelings stepped on. Okay, I had a blind spot for amphibi-forms, but Sid’s was where the arthropods hung out, I’d be fine. I head butted the door wide. A riot was in full gear, bodies wrapped around bodies, grappled across the floor. The pheromones of anger and fear were overwhelming, but the only sounds were the click of hard bodies banging into each other. Was a time I would have enjoyed the view. A female mantis-form tried to tear my head off, and I drew and fired.
When Harry Met Chunglie Box Set Page 15