by Sam Sea
“But recently, his activities have been questionable, his dedication...less than optimal. He would not come for work, miss on meetings, assigning and coordinating research… And the department was suffering. We lost over ten million credits in grants because we did not finish certain projects on schedule. And that is a lot of money for any school, you know…
“Yes, of course…”
“That is what the fight was all about. If I believed that he was an asshole who didn’t care or could not do any better, I would not even bother myself with him. Do you understand that?" The end of those words came out almost as loud as a shout.
Val and Li'a looked at each other.
"Our fight was my attempt to shake him up, to change things for the better.” The professor continued after calming down. “You see, I haven't give up on him, like maybe his family or his fiancé did... I saw in him the energy, intelligence, connections... He could have done so much more for the department and the university. Instead..."
“Instead, what?”
“Instead he just wasted his gift, his opportunity to make a difference. It almost seems like he stopped caring about the department, like all his passion for the history and teaching was all gone.”
"Okay, professor, can you please, be kind enough not to leave the Capital in the next few days... And sorry if bringing you here have caused you any discomfort."
The doctor seemed upset, very upset, but to Val it was obvious the reason behind it was not that he was called in the office again, but rather that the dean was actually dead.
It made him think if he was dead, would anyone share such feelings. Did he have a friend at all who would be sorry he was gone? He didn't like to feel the wave of emotions that the answer to that question stirred.
"If I had to guess, I would say he was the one who did it..." Li'a voice brought him back.
"Really? Why do you say that?"
"He has a motive, an experience... knows how to use guns..."
"Yes, but do you judge him to be an actor...? Okay, let's look into it...What emotions did you see him exhibit?
"He seemed very composed almost all the time, certainly didn’t seem frightened of the present situation at all. But then when he started to talk… He was almost upset?"
"Yes... But I am quite certain it was sort of a remorse of not having dean around anymore. I think, at least once upon the time, Dr. Worstin and Teri DiAmon were friends. And I think for the most part of it, doctor was sorry they were not anymore."
"I think you are right..." Li'a shook her head as she thought about it... "That is actually exactly how it looked... Wow... You are good.
“So where does that take us? To the beginning again? Seems we are only running in very small circles."
“No, not really… Obviously, something has changed with the dean about two years ago. He lost his fiancé, lost interest in work… He, as I remember it right, had a big fight with his older brother, the chief commissioner… We have to look into it what else happened to him during that period. Maybe the answer to this whole mystery lies there.”
“Maybe…” Li’a said as she headed out of the office. “Oh… I forgot to ask you when exactly were you planning to tell me that someone took a shot at you this morning?”
Val looked at her. “It may not be related to this…”
“And what if it is?”
“Then we will piece it together along the way…”
“Along the way? And you think you will not get shot along that way?”
“Let’s hope not.”
“Did you run a scan yet to find who the shooter was?”
“Yes, Mr. Vartax ran it… but the guy was not chipped. Other scans came out negative as well.”
“Nobody huh?”
“Yeah… nobody…”
“Well, we will look into his jetter and everything he had on him, but that may take some time…”
“Fine... but we need to wrap this murder thing first…”
“Sure, as long as it does not kill us in the process.”
Chapter 17 – The Clan
The communication from Timor came at the time when Val was looking down the empty coffee mug.. “Hey Chief, have you solved the case yet?” Timor asked with his regular doze of cheerfulness.
But Val was not in the mood to play games. “What do you have for me kiddo?”
“I did what you asked…”
“And?”
“I haven't found who hired the assassination of Teri DiAmon, but I found something else that you may like to know...”
“What is that?”
“I was going over communication of the VArta clan, and found out, after I singlehandedly decrypted their files…
“What have you found out? Please, I do not have time.”
“There is a contract out for the assassination…”
“Not really interested in that right now, just forward it to the police…”
“The contract is on our dear ECI commissioner.”
Now that took Val by surprise. “You are kidding me, right?” he said after a second of thinking about it.
“Nope, it seems our beloved commissioner is worth one million credits it seems.” Val could almost see Timor smiling and enjoying it all. In a short time that Timor worked in the ECI office, he learned to dislike the commissioner almost as much as Val did.
“One million credits? And to think that at one point I was going to do it for free…”
Timor chuckled.
“I know…”
“I would think he was not worth a credit... Do you know who ordered the hit? That may be related to what happened to us recently…”
“No. I did not get that sorted out yet. But if you give me a few days, I might be able to get all communications.”
“No, I cannot give you a few days. And you are sure of the contract?”
“Yes, of course. I told you - I myself broke part of their scripting, well, with the help of… my mother and my computing station here. I got into their network, saw entire file, communications… It has to go down soon.
“Is the contract still open?”
“Why, you want it?”
“Don’t be stupid. I really would have done it for free. I just want to know who took up a job.”
“Couldn't find that out, but somebody did. I have it only under the code. Do you think it might be Mikka?”
“Stop thinking about Mikka. You seem unable to stop thinking about her, can you? I told you already, she is probably on far away planet by now...you don't need to worry about her.”
“So what do we do?”
“Space Lord! If I have to solve one more mystery, I will never leave... Why don’t you forward the information using my ECI’s clearance? Maybe they can do something about it.”
“I have no time to worry about him right now.”
Li’a could not believe her eyes. “You are really not going to help your commissioner? Why?”
“Nope... I won’t. Hey, don’t give me that look. You don’t know the guy. And if you do and you like him so much, why don't you order some added protection for him?”
“I already did… we already sent extra security to guard his hospital room, ten cops all in all. But I can’t believe you do not want to look into that”
“No… I don’t have time right now… Besides I don’t like him. He made my job so difficult in the past. He tried even to put me away.
“Can hardly blame the guy... Now that I know you, I completely understand why.”
“Please, don't continue giving me that look. There are EI’s with nothing to do right now. Let them work for their credits. They love that guy much more than I do anyway. A good way to show their loyalty. I did my share, more than my share anyway.”
“You mean, your young friend did?”
Val got very silent and thought it was better if he just let go of it all.
Li’a had to laugh at the situation. “You are so loved in the ECI department, aren’t you? No wonder
you prefer to work from my office.”
Val just shrugged his shoulders. “I stopped worrying about popularity contests decades ago…”
Then he turned to face Li’a. “I would like to go and talk to the clan’s boss… It is this guy called Gaf. I think I will need to do this in person…”
“So you are just going to leave now? And all these people here? what do I tell them?”
“What people?” Val smirked his eyebrows. “They have time on their hands. Plus, you can’t tell them anything… Aren't you coming with me?”
Two of them took one of the cruisers parked on the 55th floor dock.
As soon as the door slip close, Val issued the command to his communicator, “Tracker, locate Gaf Insgrim, id 54*563fde451k.”
“One moment please, ECI Val…” the communicator’s warm woman voice answered and seconds later aired the map with a red pin showing the location of the clan’s head.
“You can do that without the court order?” Li’a asked him surprised.
“You forget I have the power of the judge, with my gold badge.”
“Yes, I guess I forgot, you have all the power of the judge and the investigator, and the executioner...with your golden badge.”
“Yes, actually there are only three of us wearing golden badge right now.”
“One too many, if you ask me.” Li’a remark made Val smiled.
As the cruiser steadied itself on a green highway, five feet from the soil, Val whispered more to himself “With your point of views, you would make a great EI… They would love you there. Too bad I already have an apprentice.”
“The kid you constantly talk to?”
Val nodded his head. ”Yes, he is young… you could tell, huh?”
“Seems so very innocent. Must be to work with you. I wonder how long he will stay that way.”
The thought bothered Val. “You are right. He is…young and innocent. But he is also very smart. Extremely smart. He can figure people out, connect dots, make sense of things better than anyone I’ve seen.”
“Why isn't he here?
“Problems…”
“With you that is all you get, so no, no thank you , even if your apprentice place becomes available, please do me a favor and don’t consider me.”
Although he said it, Val had not seriously thought about it. But as soon as she mentioned it, and the way she did it, he knew she wanted him to. She wanted to be asked, and she wanted to become an ECI. He was sure.
“And to think my father has thought so highly of you…”
“Your father, Derran, I think I know very well what he thought about me and why… That is not the question I need to answer. But, what do you think he would think of you? Would he even want you to become an ECI?”
Val bounced the idea inside his head for a very long moment.
“I am not so sure… To tell you the truth, I am really not sure at all.” He said fully noticing how disappointed she was with his answer.
“Where are we going now anyway?” Li’a finally interrupted a minute long silence.
Val took his eyes out of video bits he was watching. “It is a dump in the Old City…” Val placed a map in the air, and zoomed in on the location, then gave her a live camera feed of the place.
“Those two men there…”
“Just show-off guards. They won’t give us trouble.” He answered before sinking his consciousness back in analyzing deans video files.
“You know, I probably watched over five years of his life on video during the last twenty-four hours, you know, and the thing that I am noticing, the most important thing I am noticing about him is that the man was overly polite to everyone who he could use to advance his career… He was very ambitious, you know. But then, suddenly he stopped. He took this trip to Vezna. He stayed there for three months, doing some minor archeological digging and archiving, it seems. But when he came back, it seems a lot things changed. He became less patient, short tempered, toward almost everyone, especially to people who worked for him. What could have happened to him there? If I only had more time…”
Li’a didn’t interrupt and offer answers, so without interruptions he sunk back into watching videos.
After a while, he lifted his head up. “Are we there yet? You know, your standard vehicles are extremely slow.” Val jerked up his whole body, felt he had no time to lose. “At this speed, we’ll get there tomorrow.”
“We are not allowed to go faster than it is allowed.” Li’a reminded him.
“That rule does not apply to ECIs-“
“Do any rules apply to you?”
“Just take it off autopilot, and give me controls.”
“ECI Val, overriding vehicles safety modes… Safety brakes off.” He said to the vehicle control mode, and then right away power-maxed the engines, lifting the vehicle over hundred feet higher. Then he blasted it forward.
“I do not want to die…! At least not today.” The inspector screamed holding for the hand rail. They zoomed past the tall buildings before they could even have a good look at them.
“Are you sure you know what you are doing?”
“Yes, I used to race. Relax, you are making me nervous.”
“I went last night over the files you were looking at,” she said closing her eyes, trying not to see how fast they were flying.
“And?”
“There seemed to be a lot of problems within his department… a lot of discrepancies.”
“Like what?”
“Seems they were doing something on the side...”
“Yes, everything to make a credit. He was pressed for money, you know…” Val said as he suddenly and abruptly stopped the vehicle, and started to descent. “We are here.”
The house was an old, fifteen story apartment building. On the tenth floor, there was a two-story tall entrance which they used to slowly move through to the atrium.
Five floors down was a docking station and the main entrance of the Gaf’s clan.
As they landed, Val took out his communicator and gave surrounding area a thermal scan. “Four men by the door, another five guarding windows on the two floors above, and probably about two, three hundred watching us on the windows above, probably all fully armed.”
Li’a looked at him, trying to see if he was afraid and placed her hand on her handgun, and then opened her door. “I guess this what feels like getting into bees hives.”
“Yeah…Bees with guns. But, this time around, you wait in here.” Val said as he pulled back Li’a. grabbing her by her sleeve. “It’s safer and better that way… At least until you have a badge of your own.”
Two men, almost twice the size of Val instantly appeared in front of him even before he could take his other leg out of the cruiser. They were not dressed as fancy as the two bodyguards he dealt with yesterday in Madam Vilksy’s office, but seemed more assertive, yet very cautious.
He flashed his badge.
“Here to see your boss Gaf. I would prefer to do it inside his office.”
Val stood eye to eye with the one who wore glasses. A second or two was enough for a communication to come back.
“The boss is asking what exactly is this concerning?”
“It’s concerning his mother, and why she couldn’t have enough of me last night. What the fuck does he think this is about?”
Val dropped his right hand down. He knew they had at least one sniper on him. He would have to kneel then shoot, then run and hide. But where? If shooting starts, his odds never looked bleaker.
But another second of silence was enough to the bodyguard to receive a confirmation from the inside, and he made a room, lifting his hand to let the other guard know to do the same.
“The boss does not have a mother…” He said with hardly moving a muscle on his ironclad face.
“Oh, yes he does… She is the woman he sleeps with every night.” Val uttered as he walked by and entered the house.
The inside was dark with the only light coming through the door an
d two second floor windows. The lobby seemed to be really fancy two hundred years ago, and seemed not to be changed since.
Two men stood on the second floor, with their hands on their rifles, which were not pointed toward Val, but actually more toward the windows.
The man, almost a whole head smaller than Val, with nervous eyes and a face carved with wrinkles, rushed out of one of the doors to meet him. “ Why all these unpleasantness, Val-“
“Shut up, Gaf! You fucked up! And you know it!” Val looked at him, and saw the fear. That’s why all the guards. Must be a whole army of them here. But not because of me… He is not only afraid of me. Why would he do this, take that contract…? He knew the risk…
“Well, usually you get that when you manage a contract to dust the ECI Commissioner… But relax!” Val interrupted him as his mouth opened up to comment. “We’ll talk about that later. But right now, I am not here about that… If I was, I would not be even bother with showing you a badge. Although I bet you knew I was here before I even came out of the sedan.”
He looked at Gaf whose face was still twisted in agony, eyes twitching, moving around. He is very spooked. Whoever ordered the hit on the commissioner must have laid really heavy on him… This was not about the money… Val was examining him, without commenting.
“We can talk in my office…” Gaf interrupted the silence.
The office was in the middle of the building, with no windows, its bare walls obviously insulated against scanners and listening devices.
As they set down with a spotlessly cleaned glass table separating them, Gaf offered Val a drink, but Val wasn’t about to waste any time.
“You know, while we are at it, concerning the commissioner contract-“
“How did you find out?” Gaf interrupted him.
“Just to get that out of the way right now, there are three things you can do about it… One is, you can take the contract on the commissioner back. The second one is, you can tell me who ordered the contract…” Val let that option hang in the air, and looking at how fast Gaf’s eyes started to blink, he knew that thought caused a major confusion inside Gaf’s brainwaves. “The third one is that you give me the person who took the contract, the assassin…”