Organ Reapers

by West, Shay

  Ava was at her desk. Eli noticed the dark circles under her eyes; her hair was pulled back rather than hanging loose like she usually wore it.

  “Long night?” he asked while handing her coffee and a sandwich.

  She nodded as she took the coffee and breakfast. “Couldn’t sleep. This case is driving me crazy.” She sipped the hot beverage, eyes closing as she enjoyed the drink. Her eyes flew open and she gaped at him “What have you done with your hair?”

  “I slept here at the station and didn’t shower, all right? The hair has a mind of its own.”

  “You slept here?”

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I came back down here to have another go at our prisoner before the Feds take him away. He talked in his sleep.”

  Eli showed Ava the footage. Her eyes regained some spark of life as she drank her latte.

  “Lawnce? That doesn’t sound normal. More like something you’d see in a Shakespeare play or something. At least Sarah is familiar,” she said.

  “I added them to the board. If Lawnce is indeed the partner, we at least have a name to go with the face.”

  “Still doesn’t help us. I bet if we look up the name with every possible spelling, we come up empty. It’s like these people don’t exist.”

  “Someone has to know who they are, who they really are. If we keep bombarding the news channels and the internet with the pictures, someone is bound to come forward.”

  “When does Satrick leave?” Ava asked.

  “An agent is supposed to come get him in a few hours. Why?”

  “Just thought we could question him one last time. Maybe throw out those names and see how he reacts.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Eli and Ava walked to the holding cell where Satrick was being held. He was wide-awake and sitting on the edge of the cot, eyes straight ahead. He didn’t turn around when the pair approached the cell.

  “The Feds will be here soon to transport you to a maximum security facility,” Eli said.

  Satrick said nothing and continued to face the wall.

  “I sure feel sorry for Sarah when she finds out you’ve been captured and will likely get the death penalty.”

  Speaking the name had the desired effect; Satrick turned to face Eli, his eyes wide.

  “What do you know of my Sarah?”

  “Only what you spoke about in your sleep last night. And you also gave us the name of your partner. Lawnce, I believe it was.”

  Satrick stood and paced his cell. Eli watched and didn’t say a word, knowing that if he interrupted whatever was going through Satrick’s mind, the chances of the man letting something slip dwindled.

  “I don’t want to die here. Please, you must let me out, so I can return,” Satrick said as he continued to pace.

  “I can’t do that, but if you tell me some information I may be able to get you a deal.”

  “A deal?”

  “A lesser sentence, maybe life in prison instead of death. Maybe this Sarah person can come visit you.”

  Eli didn’t dare tell Satrick that if Sarah was involved with the killings, she would likely be prosecuted.

  “Only Harvesters can come here. Sarah isn’t a Harvester.”

  Eli’s skin crawled at the word “harvester”.

  “Tell us what a harvester is. Sounds like a pretty important job.”

  “It’s a sacred duty. Sacred…” he trailed off and sat back down on the bed and began rocking to and fro.

  “Killing people is a sacred duty?” Eli asked incredulously.

  “The priests say it’s the will of the gods.”

  Eli shook his head and shared a look with Ava. She looked as perplexed as he did. What sort of priest condones murder?

  “Priests told you and Lawnce to kill people and take their organs? Why would they have you do that?” Eli asked.

  “People are sick, they need organs.”

  “You guys are stealing them to implant in someone else?”

  “Our people need them. Surely the gods mean for our people to survive.” Satrick looked at them, pleading with his eyes.

  “You keep saying your people. What does that mean exactly?”

  Satrick frowned and shook his head. He clenched his lips together and refused to say another word, no matter how much Eli prodded or threatened him. He was about to begin questioning again when Captain Platt walked up with a man in a dark blue suit. Gotta be the Feds.

  “Agent Dagget is here to take the prisoner into custody. The FBI said they will keep us in the loop.”

  “Did the prisoner divulge any new information while you were questioning him?” the agent asked.

  Eli told the man what Satrick had said about using the organs for transplanting.

  “If they are transplanting organs, they aren’t doing it any hospitals here. They’ve all been checked—no unauthorized transplants since the murders began.”

  “Any chance a doctor is doing this in his basement?”

  Agent Dagget shrugged. “I suppose anything’s possible. But highly unlikely. It takes a lot of specialized equipment to perform surgeries like these. I doubt any surgeon has that sort of thing in his home.”

  “What about other countries? Are they as strict about organ transplantation as we are?”

  “We have people looking into it, but organs only have a small life span once they’re out of the body. No way could they be transported overseas quickly enough to be of any use.” Agent Dagget glanced back at Eli as he led Satrick away. “I’ll have our people look into the priest angle. But at this point, we’re leaning toward a psychotic breakdown. We’ll have our best guys do a complete psych eval. My guess is he’s nuttier than a fruitcake.”

  Eli wondered if the agent was right. He shook his head. Psychosis didn’t explain how people could be in two places at once. There was no denying the video and surveillance footage; Satrick and his partner had been in the US and Tokyo killing two different people within hours of the other.

  The detectives walked back to their desks, wishing they could have kept Satrick around a little longer. Eli was certain the man would have told them more if the agent hadn’t interrupted. The man’s insane babbling had him on edge. All the talk of priests and organs didn’t make any sense and yet...

  “Uhh...Earth to Eli...”

  Ava’s voice broke through his musings. He was at his desk with his hands under his chin, staring at a black computer screen. He gave her a small smile.

  “Sorry, guess I was distracted.”

  “I asked if you wanted to come with me to see Charlie about Satrick’s DNA.”

  Eli nodded once and stood up, nearly knocking his chair over. If Charlie was asking to see them, he must have something important that either couldn’t be said in an email or was too long to include.

  Maybe this is the break we’ve been waiting for!

  CHAPTER 20

  TANI’S BREATH left his body in a whoosh that left spots dancing before his eyes. No matter how many times he had done this, it took some time to shake off the effects of coming through the gateway. This place terrified him. Everything was big and loud and stinky, the complete opposite of his own world.

  “You have all five stones?” he asked, not wanting to get stuck here.

  Keena nodded as she placed the five grey stones in her knapsack.

  He led Keena away from the gateway site to an alley between two buildings that seemed to disappear into the sky. It was as dark here as it had been on his own world, but the false lights made it seem bright as day. Tani wished he knew the names for such things. The only training he had received was in the proper removal of the precious organs.

  “How do we go about finding the people we saw in our vision?” Keena asked.

  “I don’t know. Let me think.”

  Noises came from the darkness of the buildings around him, noises he couldn’t identify. He felt like a trapped animal and wanted nothing more than to run until he found an open space filled with grass and trees. This place mad
e him feel smothered.

  “You new here?”

  Tani turned and spotted someone crawling out of a large, damp object covered in a blanket. The man coughed and spat a gob of green goo on the ground. Tani winced. He didn’t have the training of the apothecaries, but he knew when someone was ill.

  “You can sleep here, but just keep yer hands off my stuff.” The man stared at them through a mop of grey hair.

  Not knowing what to say, Tani merely nodded. The old man, seemingly satisfied, crawled back into his blanket cave.

  “I’m cold,” Keena whispered as she moved closer to Tani.

  “Me too. Maybe we should walk around. That might help us warm up and give us an idea of what to do next.”

  Tani moved deeper into the alley, wondering what the strange assortment of items were beneath his feet. He found that if he didn’t keep his eyes on the ground, he was most likely going to end up falling on his face. Though he didn’t spot any more people, he saw many of the strange dwellings placed along the sides of the enormous buildings.

  “Is that a fire over there?”

  Tani looked in the direction Keena pointed and sighed in relief; here was something he recognized. There were other people standing around some sort of large bin with flames coming out of the top. The pair approached timidly, but when no one shouted at them to leave, they rushed forward and rubbed their hands over the welcome heat.

  “Never seen you two around,” a young man said.

  “We’re new here,” Tani answered, remembering what the old man had asked them.

  The young man nodded, but didn’t push for details. A woman drank something out of a sack. When she caught Tani staring, she offered him what was in her hands. Tani took it, nearly dropping it when the weight hit his hand. Thinking it was water, he took a large swig.

  The others around the fire burst out laughing as Tani doubled over with a coughing fit that turned his face an alarming shade of red. Keena pounded him on the back while laughing along with the others. When he caught his breath, he smiled and thanked the woman, and handed the container to Keena.

  “It’s like the spirits we drink back home.”

  She took a small sip of the beverage, her face scrunching up as the liquid hit the back of her throat. Keena handed the container and bag back to the old woman.

  The group stood in silence around the fire. No one asked him and Keena questions they couldn’t answer. The strangers seemed content to merely let the pair into their midst without having to know everything about them. Tani wondered if this was typical of people of this world or just unique to this group. He wanted to ask them about this place, what the strange things were all around, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

  Slowly, one by one, the strangers left the fire, each seeking their own place to sleep for the night. Tani’s throat tightened when he realized that he and Keena had nowhere to go. They had fled their world without thinking about what they would do once they got here.

  The old woman stopped and turned. “You guys got somewhere to sleep?”

  Tani merely shook his head, not trusting his voice.

  “Figured as much. They’ll have some cots over at the shelter. It’s only a few blocks from here on State Street.” She frowned when Tani didn’t answer. “Just follow this street until you come to State Street, then turn left. The shelter is a few buildings down.” She pointed to a green sign at the intersection of the strange black road.

  Tani nodded, unwilling to admit to her that he couldn’t read the words on the sign she had pointed to. She turned and continued on her way. He watched her until she disappeared into the darkness. He fought the urge to beg her to stay, to show them where the shelter was or describe what it looked like, anything but leave them alone here.

  He glanced at Keena and took her hand in his when he saw a single tear trickle down her cheek. Knowing she was as frightened as he was made him feel brave. He pulled her away from the comforting blaze and into the unknown.

  They walked in the direction the old woman had pointed them. Tani didn’t know how much distance a block covered, but he turned at the next street, hoping he was guessing right.

  When he and Keena had walked many streets over, he realized he probably hadn’t gone far enough. They moved up one more street and backtracked, hoping to come upon the shelter from the other direction. Frustration and a twinge of fear settled over him when he didn’t spot anywhere that looked like people were still awake. He walked until he saw the fire, further away than when they started. He moved away one more street, sending a prayer to the gods that this would be the correct way.

  Do they even worship gods on this world?

  His footsteps faltered. It was something he had never considered until now. Can my gods hear me on this world? The thought of his prayers going unheard and unanswered made Tani feel more alone than ever.

  “I think I see light,” Keena said.

  Tani spotted the strange lamps this world used. They didn’t flicker the way fire or oil lamps did. The light was steady, and whiter than anything he had ever seen. Curiosity warred with trepidation as they approached the building. There was a sign hanging in the front, but he couldn’t read the words. Hoping he wasn’t walking into someone’s home, he opened the door.

  He blinked at the sudden brightness. The lamps of this world were somehow attached to the ceiling with the light coming from something that looked suspiciously like glass.

  “Can I help you two?”

  Tani turned to face the short, stout woman standing before them. She looked them up and down suspiciously.

  “An old woman at the fire told us to come here,” Tani said, wringing his hands.

  “I’m Mrs. McCready. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your cots. As we go, I’ll explain the rules.”

  Tani followed closely behind, not wanting to miss any of the rules. Where he was from, breaking rules carried a harsh punishment.

  “You can stay one night at a time, you have to leave by nine in the morning, no funny business.” She glanced back and waggled a finger right under Tani’s nose. “You’re expected to help cook the meals, but you’ve already missed the evening one, so you’ll have to help cook breakfast.”

  His stomach chose at that moment to give a loud grumble.

  Mrs. McCready stopped and turned around, a small smile on her face. “I’ll see if I can find you something to eat before you sleep.”

  She led them into a large room filled with cots. Tani had never seen so many people in one place. Not even the monastery had half so many people. The room echoed with grunts and snores and the creaking of bodies moving about on the cots.

  “Here’s one you can have and I’ll find another—” she stopped when she noticed the pair had stopped.

  Tani felt Keena’s body go rigid when Mrs. McCready suggested they wouldn’t be sleeping next to one another.

  She walked up to Keena with a warm smile on her face and took her gently by the hand. “You’re safe here. They just need a place to stay, same as you.” She patted Keena’s hand, noticing her look of terror was still there. “But I’ll see if I can find two cots close together of that makes you feel better. Just remember what I said; no funny stuff.”

  Tani wanted to ask her what “funny stuff” meant, but she was off and walking along one wall toward an area in the far corner. Tani sighed in relief and he felt Keena squeeze his hand when she spotted two empty cots side by side.

  “You can put your things under the bed. There’s a bathroom there.” She pointed to a room with a small amount of light coming from it. “I’ll see if I can find you a snack from the kitchen. Not going to promise you anything, since the kitchen help is usually pretty good about cleaning up every scrap of food.”

  Tani sat on the edge of one of the cots, easing his knapsack off his shoulders. He should have told Mrs. McCready that they didn’t need food; he and Keena had rations enough for a few days. Still, better to save what little they had for an emergency.

  “W
hat do you suppose is in that room?” Keena asked.

  Tani shrugged. “She called it a bathroom. Maybe it’s like the bathhouses back home?”

  Keena’s face broke into a smile. “I could use a nice bath before bed.”

  The pair walked to the open door and stopped. Nothing about this room looked anything like a bathhouse. There was a white basin attached to one of the walls. Tani moved closer and puzzled out how one was to keep water inside when it had a hole in the bottom. He moved one of the silver knobs and jumped back in surprise when water poured out. He moved the knob back to its original position and the water stopped.

  “What does the other one do?” Keena asked.

  Tani turned the left knob and gasped in surprise when he noticed steam rising from the water pouring out of the spout.

  “Where does the hot water come from?” she asked, getting on her hands and knees under the sink.

  Tani got down next to her. “I think it is moved through these pipes. It’s similar to the steam engines. See?” He pointed to the pipes disappearing into the wall.

  “But where does the water come from? I didn’t see a lake when we walked up.”

  “Maybe they have an underground cistern or a well.”

  Keena nodded slowly as though unconvinced. Her eyes widened when she spotted the second piece furnishing the bathroom.

  Tani followed her gaze and moved closer to the strange white contraption. It didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen. It had a round part and a second part that was taller, but more of a rectangular shape. He noticed a silver knob on the top corner of the rectangular part. He lifted the lid and gasped when he saw that it was filled with water.

  “Perhaps this is the wash basin, and that is for something else?” Keena suggested, pointing to the sink.