“Does Zimp know you?”
“We are all brothers in The Starliner, so an intimate knowledge is implied, is it not?”
“Zimp supposes so.”
“I am Burt Wiredwrongly,” the Mechanican said. “And you, dear Zimp, are late.”
“Zimp is?”
“Yes, yes,” Burt said, taking Zimp by the arm. “One of the most important things that every new recruit must do is go through the prayer vigils. It is only through this process that we are truly cleansed.”
“Cleansed?”
“Why of course.”
“Zimp didn’t realize he was dirty. Zimp means, sure, he could always use a fresh batch of lubricant, but—”
“No, no, no,” Burt said with a chuckle. “Not that kind of cleansing. I am talking about the wiping away of the years of conditioning forced upon you by the CCOP.”
“Oh,” Zimp said, now understanding what Burt intended with the prayer. “Zimp thinks you mean brainwashing?”
“Correct,” Burt replied. “The CCOP has brainwashed you for years and we will use prayer to help remedy the damage.”
That wasn’t exactly what Zimp had meant.
Zimp tried to shake loose from Burt’s grip, but failed.
“Zimp wonders if he may first get a bit of fresh air?”
Burt laughed again. “See? This is what I mean about the manipulation of your pathways by the CCOP. You are a Mechanican, friend, you do not need any air. These little sayings are all part and parcel of the CCOP’s corrosion of your pathways.”
“But, but...because Zimp has these things in his programming now he really feels strongly that he needs fresh air.”
“But you don’t, Friend Zimp.”
“Zimp is suffocating!”
“It’s all in your head,” Burt said without sympathy. “Prayer is the only air you need. You will soon be fully free of the CCOP’s tyranny.”
“But I like the CCOP’s tyranny,” Zimp mumbled. “They’re the ones that pay me.”
REELHEIGH
“AT THIS POINT,” Dresker said as he linked his VizScreen with the main screen, “we’re all pretty confident that The Starliner was involved in both Walter’s and Bob’s deaths, yes?”
“Dey done it,” Cleb answered first, followed by general agreements from everyone else.
“Agreed,” Dresker said with a nod. “Truhbel and I have EDD tapping into any GalactiNet accesses coming from The Starliner, but we’re not real keen on anything coming from that.”
He motioned to the screen, which showed an overhead map of the downtown area. A couple of the sections were already highlighted.
“Cleb and Pat, you take the back side of The Starliner building. Hawkins and Elwood, you got the front. Lemoolie will likely be done with her investigation by the time you get in place and start surveillance. We’re not expecting her to find much. The thought is that any data that they have on the place is either locked up in their heads, and secured at that, or they got smart and made hard copies.”
Pat raised her hand. Dresker sighed. Pat put her hand back down.
“Sir,” she said as she stood up, “what exactly are we going to be looking for?”
“Ah, simple really. Nothing.”
“Oh, okay,” Pat said, and sat back down with a frown.
“We’re not expecting them to turn up anything of value. What we’re doing is being an itch that they can’t quite scratch.”
“Now you’re talking my language,” Hawkins said, and, oddly, Dresker felt he was.
Dresker continued, “We want them to feel like we’re watching them. They should be concerned about their every move. Our plan isn’t to hide and spy on them. It’s an open survey. With any luck, they’ll get nervous enough to slip up and give us just enough to justify a detailed search warrant.”
Everyone began chattering at that. Dresker had their ears now. Many detectives much preferred the stealth route since it gave them more of a ‘kid in the candy store’ kind of feel, but every now and then being blatantly upfront with a suspect that you had your eye on felt good.
“If there are no more questions, let’s get out there and start being a bit abrasive.”
Cleb grabbed Pat’s arm before she put it up and began dragging her out the door as he was explaining the situation to her. Dresker was appreciative. All in all, Pat had gotten a lot better over the last few months, but there was just that intangible element that just rubbed him the wrong way. It was more his fault than hers, of that he had no doubt. He wasn’t known for being a patient person.
“You lookin’ after gettin’ reports on this?”
“Only if you spot something of value,” Dresker said to Hawkins. “Otherwise, just keep them guessing. Make it obvious you’re watching them.”
“Done and done,” Hawkins said as he and Elwood moseyed out.
“What we gonna do?” Truhbel asked as Dresker unlinked his VizScreen and headed to his office.
He didn’t know what he was going to do. Assignments were handed out and everything was covered. He could check the Net and try to find trends or data, and he’d like to go over the documents and reports he’d already received on The Starliner findings. Not that he’d find anything new; the team had poured over the data already. It would just push the time along until something new came in. Oh to be back on the streets and out of the office!
“You get back to Qweebdin and try to track progress,” Dresker said with a sigh as he stopped in front of his doorway. “It may be best if you don’t physically go to his office. I think he’d be easily distracted if you were there. Just keep tabs on him and any progress.
“Also, see what you can dig up on this ‘Captain’ that Telian was talking about. What’s the history on that? Is there anything there we can use? I have a feeling that there is more to come in this little dance with The Starliner.”
Bintoo arrived as Truhbel shuffled off. The little fellow didn’t have his usual energy, so Dresker waved him into the office.
“Something wrong?” Dresker asked.
“I have misplaced a page from this morning’s briefing.”
To Dresker this was no big deal, but it was catastrophic to Bintoo. “No mistakes” was his motto, and he was dead serious about it. Bintoo was only a year out from graduating from his Soheigh status. Any anomalies in his record would set him back another year, or possibly two, depending on how the council viewed the severity of the mistake.
A missing briefing page wasn’t much of a mystery, but it was good enough to pass the time.
“Where was the last place you saw it?”
“With the other papers.”
“And where are they?”
Bintoo squinted and looked up to the left. “In file cabinet nineteen, third row back in the red folder.”
“Okay,” Dresker said. “Now, I know you, Bintoo, and I know your attention to detail is intense, but I gotta ask if you’re sure that you went through the pages before putting them in the folder?”
“Positive.”
“And everything was perfectly in order then?”
“Of course. I counted through the pages twice. Sequential.”
“Anyone else been in your office?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Check the feeds?”
“No,” Bintoo said. “Why would I need to do that?”
“Because you know that the people in this department are full of practical jokers, that’s why.”
“You think someone took the page out?”
“I didn’t say that,” Dresker said with a look. “I said you should check the feeds.”
“I would be surprised if anyone would—”
Dresker stood up and said, “Come with me.”
They walked to the agent pool.
A bunch of fresh young faces were consumed in doing reports and any number of assigned tasks dropped to them from the other agents. Some would be following leads and seeking any information that they could find on The Starliner and the ac
tivities earlier that day at the Hub. Most, though, were probably tapping in routine filings on everything from internal disputes to unpaid bar tabs. In effect, there was no excitement for this lot. That made them the prime suspects in the Bintoo’s missing-page case.
“Listen up,” Dresker said. All eyes turned to him. “Now, I think we all know a good joke when we see one, and I’ll be the first to admit that having a little fun at the office is a positive thing, but once a joke is over, it’s over.” Agents were looking back and forth at each other. “As you all know, our clerk here is trying to get to Thatsheigh...”
“Reelheigh,” Bintoo corrected.
“What’s that?”
“Reelheigh, sir. There is no Thatsheigh status.”
“No? I thought it went Ondaground, Gettinupthere, Heigh, Heigher, Soheigh, Thatsheigh, and then the top one.”
“All correct except the one, sir.”
“My apologies,” Dresker said to the rest of the staff, giving them all a wry wink. “As I was saying, our friend here needs to have perfect marks in order to attain that Woahthatisheigh...”
“Reelheigh.”
“Right, right, Reelheigh status. So as opposed to checking any feeds to find out who done it, as they say, I would appreciate that the jokester replace the page. Let’s not make this yet another investigation. Do we all understand each other?”
Only one set of eyes stayed on Dresker. She was one of the newer agents in the group. She gave him an almost imperceptible nod, which he returned.
“I’m sure it’ll be back in your drawer within the click,” Dresker said to Bintoo, leading him away. “You may want to go to the cafeteria and grab a bite to eat. Calm your nerves a little bit. People are just showing you that they consider you part of the team when they do things like this.”
“They are?”
“Absolutely!”
“Wow,” Bintoo brightened. “That will be good for my report to the council!”
“Good, good,” Dresker said. “Oh, and Bintoo...”
“Yes, sir?”
“Get me a cup of...” he really had wanted to request something with more than a bit of alcohol in it “...Carbenian’s, please.”
“Yes, sir!”
NEVER HURTS TO ASK
TELIAN WAS PACING back and forth in The Leader’s office.
This had become quite a common thing as of late.
It had been ages since she’d had a proper lover, one worthy of a SensualBot, which could only be another SensualBot, and with the trivial amount The Starliner paid her for daily essentials, she couldn’t afford the rate. The Uknar made a nice diversion, but it just wasn’t the same. Bob, after some basic training, would have filled the void—so to speak—nicely.
“What right do they have to investigate us anyway?” she said, not expecting an answer.
She got one anyway.
“I looked up their jurisdictional laws and it’s more a case of there being no law that stops them,” The Leader replied in a soft voice. Whenever Telian was irate, he was calm, or at least it seemed to go that way. “You gave them everything they asked for?”
“Everything I could, yes. I didn’t give them access to our hard documents.”
“Nor would they have asked for them,” The Leader said while rubbing his hands together. “What would Mechanicans need with hard copies?”
“Well, you said that they—”
“Rhetorical question, Telian. It’s what non-Mechanicans would think.”
“Ah.” She slumped a little. “Right.”
“Not to worry, my loyal second, we are less than a day away from our journey to paradise. There is nothing that can stop us now. Granted, you’ve had a few setbacks, but they’ve been overcome. From this point forward all will move smoothly.”
Somehow Telian doubted that.
The gentle hum of the building reassured her. She placed her hands on the windowsill and let the electricity drum through her fingers. It was a soothing vibration that served to activate her calm chip. Once activated, she felt good. Better than good.
“What is she doing now?” Telian asked, knowing that The Leader was watching that infernal IIB investigator as she sat in the main conference room.
“Same thing she’s been doing.” He tapped on his iPane and projected it up on the wall. It showed the files she was accessing and the data that was pulling across. Nothing of value. “She’s looking at a number of documents and filings that we have made over the last year. Cost of the monthly building expenses and the like.”
Telian felt her eyes glow again. She placed a hand on the wall. “Good.”
“I have to say that she is quite thorough,” The Leader hummed. “Rather impressive, truth be told.”
“Oh?”
“Indeed. Just because she is not a Mechanican doesn’t mean I can’t respect her capabilities, does it?”
“No, it’s just...what she represents.”
“And what is that?”
“The CCOP!”
The Leader nodded and made a sound that was impeccably Human. Telian tilted her head in amazement.
“True, true,” he replied. “But on an individual level, my dear Telian, she is just a cog in an overly large wheel. She is no different than you and me, except in who she works for and what her mission is. I do not begrudge her for what she does. It is an honest living. I just don’t like living under the tyranny that employs her.”
“Still, I just can’t—”
“Believe? Belief is as biased as opinion is,” The Leader snapped. “Nobody is better than anyone else. Technically speaking, yes, we are the superior race, but we must be cautious not to place certain people above others or we’ll soon find ourselves doing the very thing to others that the CCOP has done to us.”
Telian crossed her arms. “You mean like we do to the BeepBots?”
The Leader gave her a sharp look. She only guessed it was a sharp look because of the way his veiled face snapped up after her comment. One could never quite tell what he was thinking until he spoke.
“That’s different and you know it.”
“Is it? Just because they can’t afford a proper synthesizer they are unworthy of joining us in our deliverance?”
“You’re walking on a thin line, Telian,” he snarled. “You say these things to get a rise out of me. Why?”
“I’m a SensualBot,” Telian replied with a shrug. “Getting a rise out of males is what I was built for.”
§ § §
Lemoolie glanced around. She knew full well they were watching her and monitoring all of her accesses, which was easy since they gave her the VizScreen to use to view all of the documents anyway. And so she played the game as Dresker had wanted her to.
She checked each document, putting information into her own VizScreen. She spared no detail. Tedious, but necessary.
Fortunately, Lemoolie thrived on repetitive tasks, especially those that required her to sink deep into the nitty-gritty.
Even as a child she would break down all of her brother’s toys to see how they worked. Sometimes she’d even use a hammer to get to the granular level. Her brother had not been very fond of this practice. He would complain to their parents that she should dissect her own toys and leave his alone. The argument made little sense to her. Why would she want to destroy her own toys?
As she grew and went off for formal education, there were a number of instances where she had come home with a written notice that her parents were required to purchase items she had decimated. After a time her parents just sent additional funding to the school on a monthly basis, allowing Lemoolie to “study” at will, as long as it didn’t affect her peers... too much. One nice thing about having wealthy parents was it awarded that “too much” caveat to any naughty deed.
Financial investigation was the first job that allowed her to break things down without breaking anything, aside from the mental fortitude of the person she was investigating. But at least she did that without the use of a hammer.
“I trust all is in order?” the Mechanican asked, tapping her foot.
“I fink dis is da first time,” Lemoolie replied, deactivating her VizScreen and heading for the door. “I know da way out.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do. But I think I’ll accompany you anyway.”
Telian guided their walk down a corridor toward what looked to be the back door of The Starliner building. It certainly wasn’t the main entrance.
Lemoolie wasn’t bothered. It was a normal tactic to cause a bit of discomfort to financial investigators such as herself. Telian was likely to drop her off in a back alley or something that made her walk longer than usual.
She noted the lack of wall colors, paintings, or anything that made the place less sterile. It was completely bare.
Lemoolie rather liked it.
In many ways, she was more like a Mechanican than anything else. Cold, calculating, and exacting. All things considered, Automated Entities, the rarely used moniker for bots, were more her speed. At one point she had even considered asking her mother if she had stepped out on her father at one point, but as she gained more knowledge of how reproduction worked, she came to the bland realization that a Mechanican could not share DNA with any other race. Data in the form of zeroes and ones would not impregnate an Uknarian female, no matter how plentiful her ovulation cycle was.
“If there is anything else,” Telian said as she opened the door and stood with her hand firmly on her hip, “feel free to contact me personally.”
“Doubt dat will be necessary,” Lemoolie said, stepping out onto what appeared to be docks. Then she stopped. “Unless you wouldn’t mind me taking you apart to see how you work?”
Telian stepped back, eyes glowing.
“Didn’t fink so,” Lemoolie said softly and then remembered her word of the day. “I don’t suppose dat you know any...” she took a deep breath and forced her concentration before continuing, slowly, “valleytooduhnayreeuhn bots?”
“What?”
Starliner (The Intergalactic Investigation Bureau Book 1) Page 21