by Tom Shepherd
At first, Tyler argued with Inspector Platte about calling the managing partner “Boss.” He said it evoked too many racial slurs and stereotypes of the past.
Demarcus always shrugged and said, “Mr. Matthews, who’s the boss of this law firm?”
Chief Paco León, maintenance wizard on the Patrick Henry, and his stocky wife, Dorla, also called Tyler Boss. When Lovey Frost—tough, black, former Navy JAG prosecuting attorney—joined the firm and upped the ante by calling Tyler “Boss-man,” he accepted defeat and withdrew the objection.
Tyler respected the sleuthing skills of Demarcus Platte almost as much as his ability to network with law enforcement. In fact, no matter where they went, Platte tapped resources from the lofty echelons to the odious underside of a civilization, everything from chiefs of police, to pay-to-play informants, to ex-convicts and the dons of organized crime.
Platte’s best contacts came from other LEOs, alien and human, who saw a kindred spirit in his rugged professionalism. He was a no-nonsense cop, intensely loyal to the Star Lawyers team.
Dr. Solorio checked Arrupt’s vitals. “He’s dazed but no concussion. Normal readings for an ectotherm.”
“How hard did you hit him, Dee?” Tyler said.
“Didn’t hit him at all,” Platte said. “The fool hit me. Turned a corner and he came flying down a row of skimmers. Guess he was too busy looking behind himself, running from you, because he leap-frog crashed into me.”
“Are you okay?” Tyler said.
Julieta laughed. “You’re checking the wrong patient, Primo. After that Dengathi bag of water bounced off Demarcus, he’s lucky to be alive.”
“When we’re done with this mission, can I shoot him?” Rosalie said.
Tyler scoffed. “Very funny. Can he walk?”
He could not, even with a little booster shot from Dr. Julieta’s medi-bag. Inspector Platte watched as she worked on the cold-cocked amphib.
“I gotta tell you, Boss, the idea of bringing a pirate aboard the Henry is raising the hairs on my neck.”
“We need him, Dee,” Tyler said. “We’ll never get into Pirate space without a pirate navigator.”
“You still haven’t told us why we’re going,” Julieta said. “Other than Tia Bianca asked you.”
“Suzie knows,” Rosalie said. “But she won’t tell.”
“Following Mom’s instructions,” Tyler said. “I’ll explain when we’re away from G-4.”
“I need two more hours, to make a little side trip,” Julieta said.
“We need to get moving,” Tyler said. “Flávio’s trial date is fast approaching, and we still don’t know how to find the Pirate Court.”
Julieta said, “Look, I know you’re in a hurry, but I need to go—”
“Nobody’s going anywhere.”
“Pollas en vinagre!” She tossed her arms wide. “I am going shopping. We need a supply run.”
“Me, too.” Rosalie stepped beside her cousin. “Never been to MJC. Good chance to see the sights.”
“Are there any good restaurants?” Mr. Blue said cheerily.
“Forget it, Indigo.” Tyler frowned at Julieta. “What kind of supplies?”
“Paco is procuring meds for the Henry and the Beagle,” Julieta said. “I need to make sure he gets my whole shopping list.”
“Don’t we have meds aboard?” Tyler said.
Julieta put her hands on her hips. “Am I the team doctor, or just a pretty face with a kinetic blaster, Primo?”
Tyler sighed. “What do you need?”
“We are not going into Pirate space without a full stock of smart-meds, stasis wraps, nanites, and painkillers. And I want more UBK, radiation neutralizers, anti-toxins—”
“All right, all right. Two hours.” He pointed to Arrupt, and Demarcus snatched him off the pavement and tossed the unconscious Frog over his shoulder.
“It is dangerous on a colony world,” Mr. Blue said. “Don’t you think I should escort our female crew members?”
Everyone but the Quirt-Thymean broke into laughter. Tyler said, “Let’s go, friend Zenna. Nice try.”
Two
They loaded the woozy Dengathi onto their rented skimmer and flew to the Patrick Henry, parked at a nearby spaceport. As the autocar approached their assigned berth, Tyler could hear the Henry’s engines purring on standby.
Suzie met them on the starboard cargo bay ramp. Her honey-blonde hair was pinned at the back of her head. She was breath-taking. A buxom, light blue eyed goddess. Every time he saw her, Tyler gave silent thanks to God, and to older brother, J.B., for assisting when he created her.
Created.
What an odd word, considering he was helplessly in love with her.
She came into existence as a Yoruba 397-T Artificial Intelligence program and reached self-awareness when installed as the Main Library Computer aboard his two-person scout ship. She was sassy and smart and relentless in her duties aboard the Sioux City.
Naturally, he called her Suzie.
Their first year and a half together, Tyler and Suzie communicated by text and computer readouts, plus whistles and beeps when she disapproved of a command Tyler fed into her systems.
That happened a lot.
When Tyler’s brother learned he had obtained an unauthorized, battleship-rated AI program to run the petite Sioux City’s upgraded network, he was both scandalized and intrigued. J.B. bludgeoned Tyler into completing the AI package by giving Suzie a full personality and speaking voice.
Tyler asked for Neo-British, cheeky, sultry, strong-minded, and sexy. With a hint of Cockney and a little rebellion in the ethical subroutines thrown into the mix. He gave Suzie completely free will, let her select the sound of her voice and choose other components of her personality.
The result was an independent, sensual, brilliant woman. When they acquired the holograph-capable starship Patrick Henry, she appeared to Tyler at the Matthews Trade Embassy party on Suryadivan Prime.
They had been lovers since their first night. And that was before she became a bio-energetic, fully human female through the super-science of the mysterious alien known as Father Yajik.
Suzie kissed Tyler and stood aside while Demarcus took the unconscious prisoner aboard. Mr. Blue ambled up the ramp after the security chief, giving Tyler a private moment with his fiancé.
“Your brother is upset,” she said. “You really got his last nerve.”
“Last nerve?”
“You pissed him off, luv.”
“He doesn’t want to defend a pirate.”
“More importantly, J.B. doesn’t want you keeping secrets from him.”
Tyler shrugged. “I always have. He never likes it.”
“Might be time to mend your evil ways.”
“Not with this case.”
“We better get aboard.” She gave him another peck, with hints for later.
“Since when have you worried about being on time?” he said. “All the way from the Quirt-Thyme Empire, you made us late for every morning staff meeting by insisting I had to eat breakfast in the cabin.”
“I am not habitually late.” She frowned. “I’ve only begun to realize there’s more to life that making deadlines.”
“I’m calling an all-hands meeting once we’re in FTL.”
“I’ll be there. On time, Captain Stopwatch.” Suzie strutted up the ramp, and he lingered on the runway to watch that wonderful ass from a distance, then hurried after her.
Before liftoff their new guest, Arrupt Kilub Riff, was sedated and stowed in a locked cabin. Demarcus insisted on the locked door; Julieta insisted on sedation. With their passenger accommodated, Tyler ordered Lieutenant Arabella Mahboob to go to orbit and set course for Meenaz Gate as soon as the Patrick Henry received permission to depart from flight central.
When the Henry entered FTL, Tyler notified his officers and primary staff to report for a mission briefing in half an hour. He ran a few shipboard errands and caught up with Suzie outside the conference room.
“Come with me.”
She leaned against the bulkhead and smiled wickedly. “Fancy a nooner?”
“Don’t tempt me. We gotta talk to my mom.”
They stepped into an unoccupied office down the corridor where an Apexcom-capable console and monitor waited. Suzie watched over his shoulder while Tyler opened the link.
“J.B. can’t come with us to defend Flávio Tavares, can he?” she said.
He wrinkled his nose at her. “Your bio-energetic matrix doesn’t give you a mind-reading option, right?”
She smirked. “Do you get a regular ear-bashing, luv? You’re safe.”
“Good.” He tapped a set of colored squares and the screen activated.
The still-stunning, middle-aged face of Bianca Matthews-Solorio filled the viewer. Dark blonde hair parted by a streak of silver, sleek face with wide forehead, full lips and strong chin. Long ago she had weaponized her beauty to intimidate friends, foes, and Family. Today, at fifty-two, she was a little heavier, but it only added to the roundness that gave his mother a wholesome yet sensual, aristocratic yet plebian look. And the dark brown eyes redeployed from velvet to steel, depending on the spin of her Latina temperament.
“Tyler, mi hijo. Ah! Susanita. How lovely you are. Seeing you both gladdens a mother’s heart.”
“Me complace ver a mi futura suegra,” Suzie said. It pleases me to see my future mother-in-law.
“Mom, we’ll be in Pirate space in a few days without Apexcom,” Tyler said. “Do we need to discuss anything, real-time?”
“Por ejemplo?”
“Any last instructions?”
“You received your father’s warning about Tsuchiya Galactic, yes?”
Tyler nodded. “Increased tensions with them after M-double-I filed a lawsuit against Tsuchiya for bankrolling that pirate armada.”
“You must be on guard against any vessel bearing the Sakura House emblem. And beware of assassins. That perro amarillo has deployed ninja all over the galaxy, looking for chances to kill our people. Especially the Family.”
“We’re already on high alert.” Tyler paused. “So, before we go off the Apexcom grid, is there anything special you want me to say, to anybody?”
“To Flávio?” She pursed her lips. “Tell the Capitão I am grateful he has kept our secret all these years. And inform the pendejo he had better lead you to the ancient derelict, or show his face in the Commonwealth never again.”
“Will do.”
She raised an eyebrow. “This is not why you called, yes?”
“Uh, no.” Two women in his life read him like a billboard, one at each end of this conversation. “I need a favor. You may have to confront Dad.”
“What do you want?”
“We just left Burl Cain. The Warden is a guy named Voden-something—”
“Vodenicharov,” Bianca said. “Petty bureaucrat from Bulgaria. Thinks he is important.”
“Good character sketch.” Tyler shifted in his seat. “Look, I’ll just say it. Less than three months ago, you rounded up forty-six thousand bad guys from that pirate armada, but the Warden says the Commonwealth already tried the prisoners under the ESA, found everybody guilty, and sentenced them to death in the next few days.”
“And your point is…?”
“Don’t you have a problem with that?”
“They are enemies of civilization, Tyler.”
“Who deserve a fair trial. Unless they are prisoners of war, in which case they get no trial whatsoever and are held under humane conditions until resolution of the—”
“Ay, ay, ay! Am I hearing Uncle Dennis lecture me in ethics?”
“Mom, the Law means nothing unless it’s meted out equally. If our Terran Commonwealth stands for equity, we gotta preserve the rights of everyone. Innocent until proven guilty in an impartial court of law.”
“Your Lady Justice wears a blindfold because she does not dare look upon the real world,” Bianca said.
“No, Mom. Because she wasn’t an eyewitness, and neither were you.”
“Susanita, do you agree with Tyler?”
“Yes, ma’am. British common law, the United Nations Charter, Acts of Confederacy of the Terran Commonwealth—”
“Okay, okay. I shoot people. We do not give them a trial first.” Admiral Mom sighed. “But I agree with your point. What do you want me to do?”
“Get them all re-tried. Individually. Fairly.”
“How shall I accomplish this impossible dream?”
“Talk with Dad. Have him call in some markers with the Commonwealth, maybe talk to Rodney’s dad.”
She grunted. “Noah’s stubbornness is the cross I bear.”
“Well—yes or no?”
“Tyler, for you, I do this. Not for los piratas.”
“Thank you.”
“They will probably all hang anyway.”
“After they’re found guilty? No problemo.”
“That is not Español Nuevo. No problemo.” She laughed a little, then smiled and touched the viewscreen. “You fly into danger again, with my heart aboard. Vaya con Dios, y vuelve con migo.” Go with God and return to me.
“Sí,” Tyler said. “Te amo madre.” The screen went dark and he shut down Apexcom.
“She is a great lady.” Suzie kissed his cheek. “Does anyone else know the grotty details?”
“I told Yumiko.”
Suzie nodded. “Sworn to Bushido’s code of honor. Absolutely trustworthy. Good choice.”
“Asked her to brief her blue hubby and sister wife Lovey Frost, but only that we’re going to Pirate space to defend Tavares.”
“Do you really believe he is J.B.’s father?”
“Mom believes it.” Tyler wiped his short yellow hair with both hands, rubbing off an impending headache. “Think about it, Suzie. They named me, their second son, Tyler Noah Matthews IV. Why didn’t the lineage name fall to the firstborn male?”
“Did the subject ever come up?”
“Sure.” Tyler sat in a black leather chair at the smallish table. Suzie remained standing. “Mom always said she wanted Barry to be his own person, not just heir apparent. But now we know she had other motives.”
“Your parents raised him. Bianca is his mother. Jeremiah Berechiah Matthews is their son, regardless of where half his DNA originated.”
“Babe, we can’t take the chance. Mom is terrified she’ll lose her husband and eldest.”
“Did she run tests to confirm—”
“I don’t know!” Tyler beckoned with his arms and Suzie slipped into his lap. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re an honest scallywag, luv. Keeping secrets is one thing, but lying to the people you love isn’t natural to your behavioral repertoire.” She kissed him lightly. “We better get to the meeting, or they’ll suspect we’re doing the rumpy-pumpy in some dark corridor.”
He smiled slightly. “Tempt me, please.”
* * * *
Most of the senior staff had gathered around the oblong table in the large conference room when Tyler and Suzie entered together. Julieta and Rosalie slapped hands—high five—and giggled.
Tyler called the meeting to order and asked Dorla León to take roll. She refused, as usual. “Everybody is here. Even Lt. Rooney. My Paco is on the engine deck. Ensign Myong Li is flying the ship with two other holographic ladies assisting. Mr. Blue, Lovey Frost and Yumiko are having a family meeting in their quarters.”
“Dorla, that is calling the roll,” Tyler said.
She grunted and crossed her arms. “Well, I didn’t name everybody at the table. And Lucy is here, too.”
On cue, Lucy hopped from rug to tabletop and meowed at Tyler. The crew laughed and the kitty scampered to Rosalie, who held the shapeshifter in her lap.
“Can we start the meeting?” J.B. said.
“May I go first?” Rodney said brightly. “I have great news.”
J.B. waved a hand. “Not now, Lieutenant.”
/> Tyler overruled his brother. “Let’s have it, Mr. Rooney. I could use a dollop of good cheer today.”
“Chief Léon and I have devised a screening method to keep everything in the cargo bay and boat deck safe from invasive sensor scanning. We use the Henry’s holographic capability to mask the—”
“Let’s move on,” J.B. said.
Tyler held up a hand. “Good work, Rodney. But if you’ve got time to improvise, does that mean you finally completed my special assignment?”
“Yes, sir. The Chief helped me. It’s stored in Cargo Bay two.”
“Does it work?”
“It works swell, although the Chief had to jockey the holo-programs, and I improvised a few modifications to the hardware.”
“What are we talking about?” J.B. said.
Tyler snickered. “Top Secret, Bro. I’ll brief you privately.”
“Let’s move on,” J.B. repeated.
“Thank you, Rodney. Keep improvising.” It’s great to have an engineering genius working for penurious wages. Dad would approve.
“So, what’s going on, Ty?” J.B. said. “You’ve been abnormally taciturn during our return flight to Terran space.”
No shit. “Guess I have.”
“And why did you insist on three weeks layover at Emily 4? I mean, visiting with Aunt Violet at her Starship Command School was nice, but you said we’d been called back to Terran space because an urgent case was pending.”
“I did. We were. It is.”
“Usually I can’t shut you up about new assignments. Why the uncharacteristic silence?”
“Sorry.”
“You’re sorry, that’s it?” J.B. said. “Do we get a full briefing now?”
Absolutely not. Mom’s orders. Lie with a smile.
“Of course,” Tyler lied. “That’s what this pow-wow is all about.”
He waited for comments, but they were waiting for him. Tyler swept the crowded table with a glance.
“We’re ready,” J.B. said impatiently.