by James McEwan
Her fingers pushed at something in front of her, something Thorne could not see, so it looked like she was groping the air. “I’m transferring the file now. It turns out your boy is on a little back water moon called Nome, out on the very edge of human controlled space. His DNA turned up in a request for information from a Doctor Hammer.”
“Really, Doctor Hammer? The famous Doctor Hammer, the guy who invented most of the breakthroughs in medical science over the last fifty years?” Thorne asked, as he wondered why the famed Doctor Hammer would have a DNA sample of Marcus’.
“Yes that Doctor Hammer. Apparently, your boy ran into some kind of trouble he couldn’ handle and somehow ended up on the good Doctor’s operating table. He sent off the sample in an effort to identify him,” she said sitting on the edge of her desk, which made it look like she was sitting on the edge of his.
“So, if he did it three years ago, why are we just now finding out about it?” Thorne seemed irritated by the information.
She brushed a long strand of graying hair out of her face, “You have to love the speed of government. It took that long to filter through all the levels of bureaucracy. It would have gone unnoticed completely if it had not been for my A.I. She was running a check on all identification requests.”
Thorne scanned through the file and did not see anything else about his asset, after the identification request. “Are you sure he even survived?”
“Well, if you keep reading the file you will see the good Doctor was killed in a shooting incident almost a year ago. However, the file has nothing about what happened to the man who shot Doctor Hammer. My sources, however, turned up a witness. This witness said a man, who lived with Doctor Hammer, who called himself Thaddeus Hammer, son of Doctor Hammer, went nuts, and single-handedly killed the whole gang of space pirates that had been responsible for his death. Furthermore, it appears the Sheriff and the town folk covered the whole thing up.”
“Wait! Doctor Hammer has no family and no record of a son.” Thorne said, as he looked deeper into the file.
“Exactly, and as you can read for yourself, we have no record of any children for Doctor Hammer until two and half years ago when all of a sudden there is a full record.” She said condescendingly.
Thorne leaned back in his leather chair pondering the new information, “So you think he is my asset?”
“What do you think? You muscle bound moron. I swear if you were not so good at your job, I would have no use for you,” she said as she stood up again.
“Well then, it’s a good thing that I’m really good, isn’t it. I will dispatch a team right away. By the way, who is this witness of yours?” Thorne was really annoyed now.
“A man named Leonard Jensen, the former hotel handy man. Now he mostly does odd jobs, as he can. He is the only one who would talk about Thaddeus Hammer.”
“I wonder why?” He said out loud, more of a question to himself than to her.
“I guess Mr. Thaddeus Hammer had some kind of run in with him, over a girl,” she said.
“That is interesting.” Thorne’s attempt to smile reminded the Ambassador of a shark about to bite.
“I want you to take him alive, if you can. Find out what went wrong and how much he knows about our current operation,” Helen said.
Thorne sighed, “I doubt he knows much. He was only read in on the very early parts of the operation.”
“No matter what he knows, he is still a security risk, and I need to know how much of our plans are out there. I need to know if we have been compromised in anyway. After all, the very public assassination of the new Terrain Emperor is not something I want traced back to me. The Terrains don’t mind killing their own people, but if an outsider does it, well,” she paused. “They have the power to bring down the Federation not to mention destroy all that we have worked for. If this doesn’t work it will mean war, and not the war we are trying to create,” she said.
“I doubt anything has been compromised, if it had been we would not be here talking now, but I will do my best. Anything else I can do for your highness today?” Not giving her time to answer, “No? Good, I will contact you when I have him in custody.” He pushed the off button on his end and the hologram blinked out.
Thorne was pissed after the conversation. He pushed the button on the intercom, “Major, get your ass in here now!”
Chapter 14
A few days before the biggest wedding, or any other event Nome had ever seen, people were busy with the final touches. Dorothy received an invitation, and returned to Nome. Shortly after returning, she found herself amongst the others helping with hanging decorations in the church. When the loquacious Leonard found out she was back, he began stalking her from a distance, staying in the shadows.
Two nights before the wedding, Dorothy found herself walking alone from Bob’s Fuel Tank Bar, back up to the hotel when she ran into Leonard. “Hello Leonard,” she was trying to be nice, but the tone of her voice suggested fear.
“Dorothy,” he said as he blocked her way with his body.
“It is good to see you, but I need to get back to the hotel, people are waiting for me.” She tried to step around him, but he moved to block her way again.
“Oh I have missed you, and now you are back.” His tone scared her and made her shake uncontrollably. “I waited for you. I knew you would come back to me.”
“Leonard I’m here for Thad’s wedding, nothing more. Now please let me go.” She tried to push past him.
He let her pass, but then in a quick fluid motion grabbed her around the neck with one arm and with the other, pushed a long knife up against her back. “Try anything and I stick you like a pig.” She started to cry. “Oh don’t cry love, I’m going to take good care of you.” He pulled her off the street into a back alley.
Dorothy knew that she was in trouble. She waited till he stopped walking. He spun her around so they were face to face and with seemingly practiced skill he maneuvered the knife under her blouse. She could feel the cold steel against her bare skin. He slit her blouse from the hip to neck. It fell open to reveal her white bra. He slid the knife under the bra and cut it off too. “Oh how I have waited for this moment.”
Dorothy didn’t care to be raped, nor did she want to have sex with him, but she was terrified of the knife, so she tried to think of him as just another john. “Sweetie, if that is what you want you didn’t need the knife.” She gently brushed the knife hand away and got close to him. “I will give you what you want.”
Something in him snapped, “Don’t you dare try your whore tricks on me” he slapped her face. She screamed and without thinking he punched her in the face. The blow knocked her down. He fell on top of her like a starving man over a roasted turkey. He tore at the rest of her clothing, trying to expose her.
Dorothy was not going down without a fight. She screamed and scratched at his eyes, but she missed. The blow landed on his check, her sharp nails digging into his face, tearing it open. Warm sticky blood flowed down his face. Leonard did not seem to notice the blood because he had torn her underwear free. He was trying to hold her down with one hand while his other was busy trying to undo his pants.
Her screams had not gone unnoticed. Elmore, the undertaker, was in his body preparation room and the door was open into the back alley. The mortician was working late and had heard the noise. He burst from his back door, still wearing his rubber apron, gloves and goggles. In the dimly lit alley he was a horrific figure, spattered with splotches of dark liquid, “Hey you, what the Hell are you doing?” He yelled. This spooked Leonard and in his panic, he tried to silence Dorothy by placing his hand over her mouth.
She bit his hand. He screamed in pain and pulling his hand free, he backhanded her across the face. However, she did not stop screaming for help. The undertaker was getting closer. He stooped to pick up a metal bar as a weapon. Leonard was in a full panic. He was acting on impulse and had not thought this through. Now he did not know what to do. He still had the knife in the hand th
at was trying to unbuckle his pants. Dorothy could see that something had gotten his attention and she tried to wiggle free, but he was just too big and fat to get out from under him.
Then it happened, as the mortician got closer, the more she struggled to free herself, the more the would-be rapist panicked. The knife was in his hand, and before he knew what he was doing, he plunged it deep into her chest. Hot blood sprayed over him. He pulled the knife out, but she was still screaming. “Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up!” he repeated over and over, as the knife plunged in again and again. Finally, she stopped making noise.
The undertaker was close enough to see what was going on, and when he saw the carnage his courage abandoned him, “Oh my God, what have you done?” The metal bar fell from his hand and clinked onto the ground.
Leonard stood up, drenched in blood. He looked at the Mortician, his grip tightened around the knife in his hand, “I loved her, but the stupid bitch just couldn’t be quiet.” Elmore turned and ran for the open street. Leonard took off after him. The knife plunged deep again into human flesh, as he knocked the poor man to the ground. Elmore screamed in abject terror. Several people heard the screams and were running to see what was happening.
Leonard pulled the knife from his victim’s back and was about to stab him again, when he realized that he was not alone. The chase had ended in the open street witnessed by a group of about twenty or more.
“Drop the knife son!” the voice was that of the Sheriff, who was pushing his way through the crowd. He had his gun drawn, “I don’t want to kill you son, but I will if I have to.”
Leonard dropped the knife into the soft dirt of the street. He put his head down and noticed the blood on his hands. Three large men in the crowd jumped him and forced him to the ground. Elmore was still alive, but losing blood fast. Doc Burton pushed his way through the crowed, medical bag in hand. He dropped down next to the wounded man and started to work on him. Meanwhile a few of the crowd had ventured down the alley to find Dorothy’s body.
A call was placed to inform Thad that one his guests had been murdered. Not long after the call the dust cloud announcing Thad’s arrival stopped in front of the Sheriff’s office. Before the dust had settled, Thad was off the bike and through the door.
“Where is he?” Thad asked coldly.
The Sheriff looked at Thad. He had seen that look before, “He’s in the back, come on.”
The Sheriff led Thad back to the cell where they found Leonard sitting glassy-eyed, unmoving on the steel cot. It was Thad who spoke first, “Get up and face me you coward!” Leonard did not move. Everything inside Thad wanted nothing more than to tear this man apart with his bare hands, but it was his promise to Doctor Hammer that kept him from smashing through the bars and killing the fat worm where he sat. “Get up!”
Leonard stirred, “Why? So you can kill me too. Like you did Red and his crew?”
Thad grabbed the bars, put his head down, and took a deep breath, “As much as I would like too, I’m not going to kill you.”
This shocked Leonard, “Why?”
Thad thought for a second before answering, “Because…” He paused to collect his thoughts, “I’m no longer that person. I don’t kill anymore.”
Confused, Leonard’s simple mind didn’t get it, “I don’t understand. Then why are you here if not to kill me?”
Thad looked up at him, “I don’t know.”
Feeling confident that he was not going to die, Leonard stood up in front of Thad, “So much for the big bad hero!” Thad remained quiet. “Good, for a minute there I thought you were going to kill me over a whore.”
Thad held his temper. Leonard pressed his head on the bars. “Tell me hero, what was she to you? Did you do her? What was it like? She was so sweet, but the bitch wouldn’t be quiet, just a few more seconds and I would have...”
That was all he got to say, Thad grabbed the rapist’s bloody collar. He pushed him back and then pulled him forward, slamming his head off the bars. His skull made a very satisfying clang. Leonard went limp and fell backward landing on the floor out cold, but still alive.
Thad closed the door to the cells behind him. The Sheriff was already at his desk, “Thad.”
One look at the Sheriff and Thad knew what he was thinking, “He is still alive, but he will have one Hell of a headache when he wakes up.”
“A lot less than he deserves, if you ask me,” said the Sheriff.
“So what are you going to do with him?” Thad asked.
The Sheriff leaned back in his chair, “The Judge is on his way to get things rolling. I guess Judge Parker will move fast. You see Elmore, the man Leonard stabbed, was the Judge’s poker buddy, and Dorothy the poor girl, had been one of the Judge’s favorite girls when she was here. It will be the rope for him I think.”
“By the way how is Mr. Elmore?” Thad asked.
“Doc says he will live, but it will be a while before he is able to prepare bodies,” said the Sheriff.
Thad opened the door, “Good, glad to hear it. Oh and tell Elmore I will send Archie with some service bots to help with Dorothy.”
“Will do,” the Sheriff said as he watched Thad close the door behind him.
The town held Dorothy’s funeral the next day. It was a lovely service with most of the town in attendance. Thad and the twins wanted to put off the wedding, but Xandra would not hear of it saying that Dorothy would not want her death to interfere with their day of bliss.
Chapter 15
On the morning of the wedding day Thad found himself lying on his back covered in mud with a pig as a pillow. Archie stood over him and splashed him with a bucket of cold water, “excuse me Mr. Thaddeus Sir, but it is time to get up and get prepared for your wedding.”
Thad sat up and held his head. It felt as if it weighed a ton. He looked around to find he was not alone in the pigpen. Carl was snoring away next to him, cuddled up to a large sow. Thad held up his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, “Damn Archie, not so loud.” Thad was hit with a second splash of cold water in the face. “Damn it Archie, I’m awake already!” Carl was jolted awake when the ice-cold water splashed off Thad and onto him.
“The second one was for the smell,” Archie said. Thad caught a whiff of himself, and nodded in agreement.
Archie held out his hand and helped both men to their feet. Thad turned to Carl, still holding his head with one hand, “Carl, you can throw one Hell of a party, but I swear no more of that Eli stuff for me.”
They had tried other alcohols, but it was the Eli White Lightning that finally had a high enough alcohol content to outpace the Nano bots in his blood. They expelled alcohol almost as fast as he could drink it. The Eli White Lighting was able to allow Thad to get drunk alongside the other partiers, and by the looks of things he had done a damn good job of it.
Carl threw his arm around Thad and his big beefy hand patted him on the back, “Thad my lad, it’s not a good party unless you wake up in a pigpen. But I think your right about that Eli swill, it’s a bit like drinking kerosene. My poor head feels like a Ralnai gourd, all swollen and ready to burst.”
Thad was going to say something, but was interrupted by a third blast of cold water. Both men said in unison, “Archie!”
Archie sat the bucket down and shrugged, “What?”
Two showers and a pound of soap later, Thad was finally in his changing room at the church. Archie was helping him dress. “You know Archie, I can kill a man without even a thought, but face two woman in church, in wedding dresses, and I’m all nerves and thumbs. Damn it. I can’t tie this stupid tie!”
Archie pushed his hands away, “Then it is a good thing that Miss Eve downloaded a gentlemen’s attendant program, which includes seven different ways to tie any type of neckwear.”
“Oh shut up and tie the tie, damn it.” Thad said.
“Shutting up Sir! Although I would point out it is impossible for me to shut up because I have no moving mandible.”
Thad groaned, “Of all
the robots in the universe I get the one that’s a smart ass.” Archie’s mouth light lit up, but Thad stopped him, “Don’t say anything unless you want to spend the next hour trying to extract your head from the waste unit.”
In the girl’s room, things were going much better, with Eve running the show and Rhonda helping. It turned out to be a good thing they both had physical bodies. They were able to put out every little fire that sprung up. Jenna and Xandra were there as bride’s maids and it had been a very long time since either of them looked as good as they did today.
Everything was perfect, the guests were all there on time, and the food was ready. All the little problems had been handled by the dynamic duo, as Thad had taken to referring to Eve and Rhonda. What could possibly go wrong?
Because almost everyone in town was at the wedding, no one noticed the sleek black ship landing at the spaceport. Quietly, the mystery ship landed, the loading ramp dropped and a black armored van exited. It drove straight to the Sheriff’s office. The van door opened and a woman stepped out. She looked like a Russian-Asian mix, with long black hair pulled back tightly into a bun. She was dressed in the same style black body armor Thad had when he first came to Nome, form fitting, and over the top of the armor she wore a long black coat. Strapped to her legs were laser pistols.
She entered the Sheriff’s office to find a deputy sitting at the desk, his feet up, reading a copy of Law Enforcement for Dummies. “Excuse me?”
He didn’t bother to look over the book, “Yeah, what do you want?”
The woman who looked like she had escaped from a dominatrix convention kicked his feet from the desk. He was so startled he fell over backward. Before he hit the ground, she grabbed him by the neck. Still holding his neck she pulled him in close, “I’m looking for this man, Leonard Jensen.” She held up a small disk that emitted a 3-D hologram of his face. “Would you happen to know where I can find him?” She said in a very teasing tone.