Transmuted (Dark Landing Series Book 1)

by Robin Praytor

  Her theories relied too heavily on coincidence and speculation for Drew’s taste.

  “Was your dad a religious man?” he asked.

  “No, of course not. That’s an odd question. Why would you ask that?”

  “Just curious—it’s not important.” Drew changed the subject. “The explosive was nitroglycerine. Nitro is an Earth compound no one’s used for at least a couple centuries. Do you have any idea where your father might have gotten it or why he had it?”

  “No. I’ve never heard of it.” She looked genuinely baffled.

  “Okay.” He decided to let that one go for now. “How does someone of your prominence hop a transport and leave Earth without people noticing? If your assistant never explained your absence, wouldn’t the authorities, or at least your security staff, be looking for you as well as for your dad?”

  “I come and go as I please, and no one questions me, though I always keep in touch with Dad and my assistant. I don’t travel with security because it’s safer to remain anonymous. There are exactly ten people on Earth who know me as Letty Taleen—and now more than that number on Dark Landing do as well. I broke the rule here because . . . because . . . ” Her voice wavered. “I was more focused on finding Dad than keeping up a disguise . . . even though he warned me. That’s not important anymore. Without him, I’ll have to be the visible head of the company.”

  She stared over his shoulder, distractedly watching the foot traffic in the corridor. “Dad and I share . . . shared . . . control of Taleen Industries. Dad was the public face—CEO and board chairman. He attended meetings, gave press interviews, and dealt with regulatory authorities. When my parents died, he kept me sheltered from public contact from early childhood throughout college and boot camp—”

  “Boot camp?”

  Her gaze returned to him. “Well, you said it yourself when we first met . . . ” She blushed, perhaps remembering her childish behavior then. “Taleen Industries has a security force larger, better trained, and better equipped than any army in the Known Universe. They’re structured along military lines. After college, I did a year of training, including self-defense and combat skills.

  “Everything till now: school, boot, personal life, I did under an alias. I pretty much live my life in the open, the same as anyone else, with no more concern for my safety than the average citizen. For the last two years I’ve posed as Dad’s research assistant and more recently, department head. Those who know my true identity—a few of my close friends from grade school and my two Taleen assistants—are also trained security staff. They’d die before they’d expose me.”

  A polite attendant delivered their orders to the table. They assured him they had everything they needed, and Letty continued. “Anyway, it was easier to keep me out of the public eye than you’d think. I attended Taleen-owned schools, including our universities. My education was accelerated, and I had a private tutor while I traveled. Dad thought I needed to experience the scale of the company first hand—and to get a feel for each of the Alliance planets and their cultures.

  “I guess there was a lot of curiosity right after my parent’s accident, but Dad held everyone at arm’s length and eventually people lost interest—or gave up.” She paused and took a bite of fruit. “Every once in a while someone will make inquiries or want to meet me, but they’re given the runaround until they go away. Once Dad had to prove I was still alive. We thought that was funny at the time. Sometimes I’m ordered to appear in person at a hearing or some legal inquiry, but we ignore those requests or procrastinate. I’m not ashamed to admit people are occasionally paid off.”

  Drew must have looked unconvinced.

  “You need to understand how large a company Taleen Industries is,” she continued. “It’s difficult to even estimate the company’s net worth to within a googolplex of accuracy. I tried once to calculate how long it would take to divest myself of all interests in the company. I guessed it would take twenty years just to prepare the paperwork. Well, short of offing myself.” She took another bite of fruit, watching Drew’s reaction as he struggled with the enormity of her statement.

  “So, the two of you basically own the K.U.?”

  She smiled. “Just me. Dad’s an employee.”

  With the knowledge of George Speller’s death so fresh, they both struggled with tense as they spoke of him, mixing past and present.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand how two people can run a business that gargantuan.”

  “But that’s the secret to our success.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “We can’t. We don’t even try. There’s no such thing as a perpetual motion machine, but Taleen Industries comes close. Dad has more executive responsibilities, but we tend to focus on tech development projects, and both of us oversee our security force. Everything else is held by subsidiaries with their own boards and CEOs.”

  “Why’s maintaining such a large fighting force so important?” Drew asked, as concerned as he was curious.

  “It’s not our intent to use it as an army, an offensive weapon, though I’ll admit it has that potential. It’s our means of collecting information, networking really. At the same time, we serve the K.U. We freely offer the Taleen Security Force to all of the aligned planets in times of crises. They step in to put out fires literally and figuratively, in response to natural and other disasters.”

  Drew could tell this was a practiced speech she’d delivered often.

  “TSF personnel include medical professionals, engineers, trained technicians, and trades experts. Their humanitarian efforts are legendary. And they provide a source of trans-Alliance information unavailable to any other entity, government or civilian. Our knowledge base is massive.” Her eyes shone with pride.

  “We nose around a bit—read reports, analyze statistics, and Dad attends meetings. But, day-to-day control is superficial. We don’t have any, really. Once in a while we’ll dissolve a subsidiary or divest of a financial interest. Enough to keep people looking over their shoulders, we hope. Though I doubt it lasts long.”

  Drew shook his head. It sounded like Taleen Industries had been surreptitiously manipulating the Known Universe for years. That kind of power was never a good thing.

  “So to everyone back on Earth, other than a handful of close associates, you’re Rebecca Richards?”

  “Yes, for the most part. I use other aliases occasionally. But I used one for this trip that my dad would recognize.”

  “And Jonas Trammel, is that an alias?”

  “I’m sure it is. We both have a bank of identities with well-developed backgrounds to draw from. We wait to switch out the head shots, DNA, and palm prints until the last minute to keep some clerk from stumbling across multiple files with the same identifiers. I’m surprised Dad didn’t make the switch. Maybe he ran out of time, or wanted to avoid accessing the system.”

  More speculation, Drew thought. He couldn’t fault her for trying to make sense of it all.

  When they returned to her room, he promised to look into giving her access to a processor and told her he’d compile formal allegations by the next morning. He didn’t say so, but he wanted to wait until after the command staff met that afternoon.

  Drew contacted Doc and assured Letty she’d be by to talk with her shortly.

  As he turned to leave, she put a hand on his arm to stop him. “I . . . I want to thank you for the way . . . for last night. You were very kind.”

  “I’m sorry about your father, Letty, I really am. I promise to do everything I can to find out what’s behind all this.”

  He left then, his arm warm where she’d touched him.

  Chapter 11: Investigation

  At the top of the meeting, after Drew made sure everyone had reviewed all the reports filed so far, Doc summarized George Speller’s autopsy results.

  “I’ll keep it short. Speller was a human male, early sixties, and in reasonably good health. His injuries and cause of death were consistent with the explosion specifics provided by
environmental. Only two items of note, probably unrelated: He was missing one kidney, and he didn’t have a com implant.”

  “How could he be missing a kidney? Aren’t kidneys replaced before they go bad? I mean, is there any reason someone wouldn’t have one replaced?” Drew asked.

  “New kidneys are easily cultivated in a lab. There are a few situations when a surgeon might postpone the transplant surgery, but none apply here. Mr. Speller’s kidney was surgically removed with a precision I’ve never seen before, by human or robot. Normal healing takes six to eight months, maybe a little longer, and Speller was completely healed. He had no visible scar even under a microscope. I might have thought he was born with one kidney, except the renal artery and veins are all present and ligated.”

  Doc shifted in her chair. “I asked Miss Taleen about it this morning, but she was unaware of his condition. Once all the interested parties are notified, I’ll request his medical history. There may be something that explains the irregularity, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine what.”

  Doc seemed unusually agitated. Drew made a note to speak with her alone after the meeting. “Moving on—Miss Taleen doesn’t have a com implant either. Curtis, start a list of areas for investigation. Why neither of them are implanted should be easy to answer.

  “I have a question,” Mattie said.

  Drew nodded.

  “Do we care that no one but us and the Taleen broad even know we found Speller? Shouldn’t we send an announcement to Earth officials and Taleen Industries so they can stop their search? And are we charging Taleen with anything or just keeping her locked up in the local inn like Rapunzel for the heck of it?”

  Mattie had always been outspoken, but she was displaying more attitude than usual. He didn’t appreciate it in this setting. He addressed her questions nonetheless with a monotone calmness. He knew everyone in the room would recognize it as his I’m-in-no-mood-for-this-crap voice.

  “I wanted to wait until after this meeting to bring charges, if there are any. I’m not sure she committed a crime other than traveling under false documents. Do any of you really think she had something to do with Speller’s death? I don’t. As for unlawful access to station systems—well, she’s given me a plausible explanation for that, but I still need to confirm her story.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Drew saw Curtis’s head snap to attention. He alone was unaware of Letty’s breach. Drew figured it would come out. He might as well be the one to introduce it.

  “When we’re done here and everyone’s signed off, and when I’ve decided to bring charges or not, I’ll send reports to Earth and CoachStop. Then Miss Taleen can inform her office of her father’s death. Any objections?”

  “I’d like to know her explanation for having access to station systems,” Doc said dryly.

  Drew picked up on the challenge in her tone. He hoped the others had missed it. The three chiefs never challenged each other in front of staff. Differences of opinion occasionally surfaced, but they aired them privately. Again, Drew sensed Doc’s uncharacteristic agitation.

  He disliked the direction the meeting was taking. Everyone seemed touchier than usual. On the other hand, his command staff were pretty straight arrows. He was asking a lot of them to disregard proper channels and keep all that’d happened under wraps for much longer.

  He had a reputation, and some of his off-hand comments may have led them to believe he had feelings for Letty. They were right to question any prejudice that might influence the investigation, especially one of this magnitude. However, even to people he trusted with his life, which he could say with certainty about everyone in the room, he couldn’t reveal the information Letty had shared with him about the security breach. Somehow, he needed to confirm her story. But how to do that and still keep the details confidential was a problem.

  “Look, I get what some of you are thinking. Maybe I made some comments, but my feelings for Miss Taleen are nothing more than a natural attraction to a beautiful woman and sympathy for the spot she’s in.” He paused. As soon as he spoke the words, he realized he was trying to delude himself. In the short time since meeting her, he’d developed feelings for Letty beyond physical desire. He took a quick breath and continued. “I need you to trust me. I can’t tell you why she has system access. I promise you my judgment hasn’t been compromised. And,” he added, looking pointedly at Mattie, “She’s still detained because she admitting lying about being our boss. I believe her story, but I won’t risk putting the lives of everyone on Dark Landing in jeopardy by allowing her to wander freely about the station. I’m asking for everyone’s support for a few hours longer.” He looked at each of them in turn.

  Curtis sat ram-rod straight in his chair, appearing shocked to learn of Drew’s attraction to Letty. He spoke first, though, as usual, his phrasing was suspect. “Chief, I figure you have a good reason to withhold information. I trust you.”

  “Thanks, Curtis. If anyone feels different, speak up. I won’t hold it against you. I expect to hear whatever’s on your minds if it’s in the best interest of the station.” Heads nodded assent all around, and Fitz gave Drew an endearing thumbs up.

  “Good. Let’s keep going.” His com purred before they started. “Cutter here—what is it, Hernandez?”

  “I’m on the Taleen detail, Chief. She says it’s urgent she speaks to you.”

  Considering the discussion they’d just had, Drew wanted everyone to hear what Letty had to say. If she meant it for his ears only, she’d need to sit on it until later. “Okay. Tell her I’m putting her on speaker at our end and you do the same.” He paused a second while Hernandez linked the tap.

  “Miss Taleen, I’m currently meeting with my command staff and this conversation’s being recorded.”

  “Thanks, Alberto,” Letty said to Hernandez. It appeared she was on a first name basis with her guard. Drew needed to conduct remedial training with his staff on becoming too familiar with suspects. Do as I say, not as I do . . . or want to do. He winced inwardly.

  Letty continued. “Chief Cutter, Dr. Jameson told me you were meeting to discuss everything thing that’s happened over the last two days. I’d like to be there. I’ll submit to any questions that might speed up your investigation. Plus, I’d like to know if you’re charging me with anything.”

  “We were just discussing that. I’ll file charges in the morning if there are any. Maybe you should wait until then to speak to us if you still want to.”

  “No, I want to know what’s going on as much as you do. Even if you don’t believe me, I’ve done nothing wrong . . . illegal . . . well . . . anyway, I behaved badly, and I apologize for that.”

  “I’ll discuss your request with the others and get back to you,” Drew said. He didn’t think they could conduct the investigation effectively without her help, and he’d planned on suggesting her participation himself. This was better; the idea wasn’t coming directly from him. Surely the others would agree that she could provide valuable information and save them a lot of time.

  “Hernandez, I’m taking this tap off speaker.” A slight, initial increase in volume indicated that Hernandez had done the same at his end. “You understand, when you’re guarding Miss Taleen, you should do it from the exterior of her quarters?” Drew asked.

  “Yes, of course, sir. But, she—”

  “End all,” Drew said, cutting Hernandez off.

  Doc spoke first. “She’s got a point, Drew. I have a lot of questions for her.”

  Fitz nodded his usual agreement to any suggestion made by the other two.

  Drew tried to look contemplative. “Okay, I agree with Doc. First, let’s finish building our investigation. We have questions that fall into each of your areas of expertise.”

  They worked another forty-five minutes then took a break.

  When they returned, Drew tapped Hernandez. “Yes, Chief?” he answered immediately.

  “Bring her up,” Drew said.

  More than twenty minutes passed while they dis
cussed different approaches—and they were still waiting for Letty. Drew was pissed. He pictured her changing clothes or messing with her hair. This had been her idea, even if he did agree with it, and her disrespect was maddening. Finally, he ran out of patience.

  He tapped Hernandez again, but got no response. Drew’s annoyance turned to alarm. “Mattie, have two men meet me at the Inn, and check if Hernandez’ com is enabled. Keep trying to reach him. Everyone stay here.”

  ~ ~ ∞ ~ ~

  An hour passed before Hernandez came for her. Letty was relieved Drew had agreed to let her join their meeting. She wanted to learn the direction the investigation was taking and any details he may not have disclosed earlier. Though she doubted there was much she could contribute. Surely Drew understood there must be no mention of the Taleen Industries security issue.

  With a quick check of her hair and sparse makeup, she stepped across the hatch rim and breathed deep, relieved to be out of her room. How could they leave her sitting by herself for hours at a time? All she did was pace and think about never seeing her dad again, never sharing the serious or silly episodes of her life with him, never hearing another of his dumb jokes, never getting another hug . . . She forced back the tears. If I don’t stop this, I’ll go crazy. The air in the passage seemed fresher, more invigorating than the stale air of her room. From the inn lobby, they entered the main corridor. It was an hour to dinner break and several hours before a shift change, so pedestrian traffic was light, but still noisy. Conversations and laughter echoed the length of the hallway.

  ~ ~ ∞ ~ ~

  When the woman and her guard exited Landers Keep, he fell in close behind. He needed to pass them unnoticed. This was his first opportunity since she debarked the Temperance. But he didn’t like it one bit. How could he pull this off with so many people around? The money was good, yeah, but for the rest of it—what a bunch of bullshit. Just knowing she was Katherine Taleen the famous heiress, if he could prove it, might pay better than killing her. He was taking a big risk on a spur-of-the-minute plan. If he got caught and the boss thought he would keep his mouth shut for the promise of a reward he might never see, he had a surprise coming.