by K. C. Sivils
She wrinkled her nose up and tilted her head to the side, deciding whether or not that was good enough.
"Okay. I'm not mad at you anymore."
“Good, now, I’ve got a bone to pick with Miss Sarah.”
Sarah frowned at me, pushing her lips together in a pout.
"I was mad at you. You wouldn't listen, Sully. If you want me to be your assistant, you have to listen to me when I know something. I know a lot more about clones than you do. I know a lot more about what happens to clones, and I definitely know more about the people who hunt us."
“I pay you to work.”
"You pay me to work, AND so you can keep an eye on me," she replied without batting an eye.
Josephson couldn’t stop the snicker that her response triggered. I gave the pup my evil eye, the cybernetic one no less. That stopped the snicker and removed the grin from his face.
“Besides, I kept an eye on Father Nathan for you.”
“Who said I wanted somebody to keep an eye on Father Nathan?”
Sarah responded by reaching for a fresh roll sitting on my plate and taking a bite out of it. She chewed it quickly and swallowed.
“You want to know what I saw or not?”
Needing to finish the word games with Sarah and settle her down so Josephson and I could finish our respective searches, I decided to play along.
“What did you see?”
“A watcher was following him. Pretty good too. Not as good as me, but he gave Father Nathan the slip the one time he spotted the watcher."
“Are you sure?”
"Yes, I'm sure," Sarah replied in exasperation as she buttered her bread. "Sully, you seem to forget I've managed to avoid capture while traveling from planet to planet." She gave me a good eye roll while she chewed.
“I listened in too.”
“Listened to who?”
"The watcher. He called the "Boss Man" whoever that is. I think they're going to try to hurt Father Nathan, so you need to do something about it."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I didn’t need more stress. Sarah deciding to be cooperative was a positive. The news Father Nathan might have a hit on him was not. Josephson, sensing an explosion was impending, did the only thing he could think to do.
He went and got Alice.
She took one look at me and promptly announced Sarah needed to be fed and led the child-woman off to the kitchen to see to feeding her.
"Get Joe or Ralph. I don't care which," I ordered Josephson.
The pup headed off in search of Ralph, Alice’s cab driver husband, and Joe, the owner of the fine establishment.
“Priorities,” I whispered aloud to myself.
As important as dealing with the murder of the dead SP was, clone or not, I wasn’t going to let someone else who mattered to me get hurt.
Father Nathan was not going to be cooperative. Of that much I was certain. He was determined to find this Boss Man and remove him as an influence on his kids’ lives. As far as the good priest was concerned, the sooner the two met, the sooner the issue would be resolved.
Truth be told, I had to admit to myself if the fight was fair, just the Father and the Boss Man, whoever he was, I wasn't worried about Father Nathan.
It wasn't going to be a fair fight.
“I couldn’t find Ralph.”
I looked up to see Josephson standing there with Joe.
“Joe, we’ve got a little bit of a problem.
---
A warm front was coming through, bringing above freezing temperatures with it. At least that was what the weather report claimed, such that these things can be trusted.
It would make things easier. Having lost one man already, the mercenary Captain had changed the plans for the second raid. Two men would be hidden on the container flats as the mixed freight left Brownstown.
The train would not be stopped a second time. His men would simply uncouple the container flat coupled to the last passenger coach, allowing the train to simply pull away, leaving the three container flats with the “packages” to roll along to the siding.
His men would use the hand brakes to keep the automatic brakes from setting when the brake line separated. If the weather cooperated, the ice so often found in the points of the switches would be melted for once, allowing the cars to roll on the siding under their own momentum. Then the hand brakes would be used to stop the cars.
Fifteen minutes later, the hovercraft would arrive, and nobody would ever be the wiser the theft had taken place.
It was a good plan. Better than the one the Colonel had ordered.
---
Things were going to have to change. In fact, if things were going to change, Markeson decided, they might as well change a lot. His timetable called for him to push O'Brian into retirement gradually, or arrange for a scandal and force the man out.
Fuming at the hour's worth of questions from O'Brian, many of which he hadn't had an answer, was making him rethink things. For some reason, the Chief of Police had decided to actually take an interest in doing his job like an efficient, honest cop.
Efficient was one thing. Honest was another thing altogether. An honest boss would make his life miserable, not to mention the negative impact it would have on his income and plans for the future.
Then there was the timing of it all. Police work, especiaully administrative police work, was not what he needed to be doing at the moment. Investigating the scam the Colonel and her henchman were running was his priority. Markeson sensed a highly lucrative opportunity was at his fingertips. If only he could determine what the game was and take advantage of the situation, he might make enough money and collect enough political currency to get off Beta Prime and get himself appointed Chief of Police on a decent planet.
One with lots of opportunities for wealth and political gain.
---
Kilgore adjusted his scope. Just as he expected, the local switch engine had made up the train for the morning mixed freight back to Capital City. The night train had just departed, a long drag of loaded ore cars. The evening passenger train had left just minutes before.
Sitting on a siding next to the waiting mixed train consist were three container flats with loaded and sealed containers sitting. Whatever those containers carried would be safe for the night. The Railroad Police hated insurance claims. Once in possession of a customer’s cargo, they did an excellent job of making sure thieves kept away from loaded cars in the freight yard to prevent vandalism or theft.
Kilgore decided to return in the morning to watch the mixed train depart for its run to Capital City. He was confident between now and the train’s departure, those three cars would be coupled onto the train.
---
“Colonel, the cargo is in the freight yard. The Railroad Police have it under both human and CCTV surveillance.”
"Good. Things are moving forward nicely," the redheadedad replied. "I believe if you act quickly, you will catch the next hovercraft back to Capital City without any problem Sergeant.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
An empty pause filled the link.
“I believe it is time you made your visit to our friends on Savannah II to finalize the arrangements.”
“Do you feel confident the detective will be able to fulfill his end of the agreement?"
The redhead smiled a particularly wicked smile. "He will be duly motivated. I promise you Sergeant. Make sure you are properly motivated."
Closing the link, the Colonel thought of her pleasant tryst with Markeson. "Yes, Sergeant, Detective Markeson will be adequately motivated. By money as well as other things."
On the other end of the broken link, the loyal NCO seethed. He'd ended his career in the military to serve the woman he loved. A forbidden love, not because of her beauty, but because he was a lowly non-com and she was an officer.
She had threatened him! After all he had done for her, his Colonel had threatened him! At the same time implying she planned to take the corrupt detective in
to her bed. He could overlook her occasional dalliances with men. They meant nothing. But this loathsome detective had caught her fancy.
Despite his loyalty, his love for the beautiful creature who inspired him, the Sergeant’s greatest loyalty was to the cause they had both pledged their lives to serve. As he hurried to his hover car to go to the air terminal, worry crept into the Sergeant’s mind. Mixed with the anger he felt, doubt began to worm its insidious way into his mind.
Could his Colonel have lost sight of their goal? Could her weakness for men and the luxuries of life have caused her to stray from the mission?
This he would not allow. If necessary, he would terminate the detective himself once the man no longer served a purpose. As to the Colonel’s needs in the boudoir, he decided it was time to eliminate the barrier between them. If necessary, he would even use force. It wouldn’t be the first time.
---
Father Nathan looked less than happy surrounded as he was by Joe, Ralph, Josephson, Sarah and me.
“It’s my business. Nobody else needs to be involved.”
“Wrong,” I told him. “It’s my business and the business of Josephson here. We’re the cops. You’re a priest. Besides, I promised you I would find this guy.”
He glared at me with a rage I had seen before in men, but not the good Father. It was the kind of rage that could lead a man to kill.
"Those kids are more afraid of this "Boss Man" than the Lord or me. He has some kind of evil hold over them. Do you understand me?"
“I read you loud and clear, Father. You need to calm down.”
“I’m not going to calm down, Inspector. I no longer hold you to your promise. I am perfectly capable of dealing with this on my own.”
“Which do you want me to do Father,” I snarled, matching his anger with my own. “Identify your dead body in the morgue, or would you rather I arrest you for murder? Which is it, because the way you’re acting, that’s how things are going to end!”
“What do you care? You certainly don’t care about these kids! You care about your dead victims! You want to know why? Because you don’t have to feel Sullivan! The dead don’t cause you any grief! The living? The living terrify you! You might have to care!”
I stood up from our booth shaking in rage.
"You don't have a single clue what you're talking about. You have no idea what I've been through in my life."
I didn’t say another word. I just left. I had plenty to do. Things that would keep other people from winding up dead.
---
Bones flipped through his security systems visual image data. It was Sullivan. He deactivated his alarm system and entered the codes to release the locks to the entrance. Phase pistol in hand, he waited just inside his living room, giving himself a line of fire without being seen by whoever entered the room.
Sullivan stepped in and shut the door behind him.
Bones motioned in silence for the Inspector to follow him. He reactivated the alarm system and secured the locks again before holstering his phase pistol. Only then did he lead Sullivan to his secure room where the real autopsy results were waiting.
---
Joe looked at the group of concerned faces at the booth. He didn't like getting involved. It would lead to trouble, and he knew it. But two of his friends, not to mention good customers, were about to get themselves into a dangerous situation. Besides, Alice would be furious if he didn’t act and Joe had seen the tongue-lashings Alice gave Ralph when he screwed up on occasion.
It was a matter of which situation would be the most trouble. Joe decided intervening in the mess Sullivan and Father Nathan had caused would be the lesser of the two evils.
“Ralph says Father Nathan made it safely back to the vicarage. My guess is they’ll snatch the Father sometime tomorrow, probably during shift change when the streets are crowded. We just need to keep an eye on him. Once they grab him, we follow them to this Boss Man. Josephson, you and Sully arrest the guy and put him away. Problem solved.”
“For now,” Alice said.
"What do you mean," Ralph asked. "Father Nathan will be happy. The kids won't have a reason not to move into the dorm and go to school. Sullivan won't have to worry about Father Nathan and one more criminal will be in prison."
“Until the next time this crops up,” Alice pointed out.
"Alice is right," Joe said, sighing. "These two see the world differently. They both see the evil in people, but Father Nathan sees those who want to be redeemed. Sully just sees the evil. They’ll clash again.”
The group sat in silence, knowing Joe and Alice were right.
“Sully does too see the good in people,” a tiny voice whispered. “He’s just been hurt by too many things, too many people. So he just made a choice not to get hurt more.”
Everyone looked at Sarah who had not spoken once other than to describe the watcher.
“Sully tried to save my sister. He saved me,” she said softly before nodding at Josephson. “He worries about you, feels responsible for you. It eats him up that you got hurt in that raid. Sully worries about all of you, even you Joe.”
Josephson's face flushed red with embarrassment at the surprise of learning his boss liked him. "How would you know," he snapped at Sarah. "You're never around most of the time. You don't talk to anyone. So, like I said, how would you know?"
“I listen,” Sarah hissed back, snapping her body forward like a snake striking. "Everybody talks because they want to be heard, but they never listen to anyone else. I listen. People say the most without using words. Sully is easy to listen to. All you have to do is just watch and listen. You can read him like a book!"
---
Sometimes it’s nice to know I’m not the only paranoid person on this planet. What Bones had learned from the autopsy on the dead SP had scared him plenty. There was no doubt the man was a clone.
A genetically enhanced clone.
Based on what Bones could determine from a dead example of the geneticists work, the dead clone could withstand extremes in temperatures, go for extended periods of time without food or water, simple wounds would heal faster than normal, and the man possessed better than normal sensory ability.
He was a male version of the mysterious Sarah. I didn’t mention her ability to present herself as an adult female in a range of ages from her twenties to her late thirties. I certainly wasn’t going to tell him about Sarah’s ability to hide in plain sight. If it weren’t for my enhanced vision due to my cybernetic right eye, I would probably never spot Sarah when she was of a mind to not be seen.
I asked Bones if he could make any determination about the mental capacity of the dead clone or his state of psychological development. His comment about not having all the dead clone’s brains being a problem was pretty snide, but then I guess I had it coming.
I told Bones to secure the evidence, which he assured me had been taken care of. I loaned him my .38 caliber revolver and some rounds. He appreciated having a kinetic energy weapon to go with his phase pistol. Bones understood the value of a large exit wound instead of just burning some flesh off.
---
Kilgore lay on his bunk, trying to decide the best course of action. Sullivan had sent a secure message confirming the dead SP, one John Brown, was indeed a clone, military grade and highly illegal.
He thought again of the research facility on the base. Nobody knew what went on inside, making it a constant topic and source of speculation at mealtime or during the dead time all military bases have. Kilgore wasn’t worried about what went on in the facility.
He worried about who else knew.
---
I looked at my comm. Josephson had messaged me about the situation with Father Nathan. I messaged back we'd meet in the morning at Joe's. In the meantime I wanted him researching the shipping manifests for the freight shuttles lifting cargo containers up the space sport where the big freights docked and the barges carried cargo to Beta Prime's two moons.
A front was com
ing through. I figured a walk would do me some good to clear my cluttered mind. I was furious with Father Nathan.
I had a dead body on my hands. The answer to who the dead SP really was, who killed him and how he got to Beta Prime might cause, or prevent, an interplanetary war.
It might also get Sarah killed.
I could not let that happen. My mistake had cost Sarah one sister.
Father Nathan was a good man. I didn't believe all the things he believed. But the priest was a good man. How he couldn't see that his actions placed his friends in jeopardy was beyond me.
Helping the widows in our neighborhood was great. Working with troubled youth, that was great too. But risking his neck over kids who were already criminals? No. That’s where I drew the line.
I found myself standing outside the parish church's grounds. I had no idea how I wound up there, but there I was. A warm breeze blew, carrying with it a damp smell, like standing water on a planet where it was wet and humid.
The wind howled as the front blew in quickly, bringing with it an ominous fog.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It doesn't happen often, but on occasion, Beta Prime's weather changes for the better. A warm snap will come through. Temperatures get above freezing. It's nice for all of about thirty minutes. Then the snow and ice start melting, and water is running everywhere. When a warm spell hits, the next cold front is not far away. And that front never starts out as snow.
It rains.
This morning was one of those days.
I walked the streets, looking for Father Nathan. I was wet and cold.
As I looked for the good Father, I had to wonder why he was so determined to help the people of this planet, this city. To look at them, it was hard for me to understand why.
Most of them don't deserve help.