Burnside's Killer_Extended Version

by Timothy Ellis

  Then I looked into Jane's eyes, and I knew my answer. I'd known it since the moment she first mentioned a job. I wasn't going to say no to her.

  "You drive a hard bargain," I joked, and she grinned. "I've already tried living on a beach, and it didn't stick. So I guess I'll join your merry band, at least for the short term."

  Jane's face lit up.

  "Excellent!" she beamed. "We'll get you moved into the security chief's quarters immediately. Unless you have someone you need to see before you start?"

  I shook my head.

  "I haven't had ties for a very long time. My longest relationship was with Ingrid Blakstov, and that was a bit one-sided."

  "We'll have to do something about that," she replied, and I could swear I saw a leer in her eye.

  It gave me an absurd thrill down below, even though I knew I must have imagined it.

  Fifty Three

  Jane knocked on my door a few hours later, after I'd moved my stuff, had a shower, and changed into a clean suit. The one I'd been wearing was just about walking around on its own by now, and desperately needed the robe-cleaner.

  She was carrying a box, which she handed to me once she was inside the door, which closed behind her. I opened it to find a black belt inside.

  "What's this?" I asked.

  "A present from Jon," she said with a smile. "If you're going to work for him, you need a suit belt like the rest of his team use. You may have been at risk as a detective, but trust me, once it's known you work for Jon, the bulls-eye is well and truly painted on your butt. Jon however, makes sure his people stay ahead of the game with protection."

  She took it from me, wrapped it around my middle, and it sealed itself around me. An installation screen popped up, and she talked me through it. I activated the space suit mode just for the hell of it, and looked at myself in the mirror. Heaven forbid I ever needed it. I set it back to a belt.

  "Take your suit off, Dick," she said with a straight face.

  "What for?"

  "Because I asked you to?"

  I shrugged, and took off jacket and shirt, pausing for a moment, before also sliding off my pants. I stood there in my underwear, feeling quite stupid.

  Her grin widened.

  "Check the clothing menu for something called 'detective'."

  I did as I was told. Instantly I was dressed in the same suit I'd only recently discarded. On the lapels was the insignia of a full bird colonel.

  "Whaaa…" I started to say.

  "For now, Jon has given you a brevet rank in Hunter Security. In all likelihood, a colonel will run station security forces under General Smith's guidance, but it's one of the things he hasn't thought out properly yet. He did military ranks during the war before he needed them, but never considered at the time needing a more civilian based force on his stations. At the time, he only had the one, and allocating security droids to the task was a logical assumption. He'll need guidance on it, so he's given you the rank without the responsibility for now. When you decide to stay and take a permanent position, you'll get the rank which goes along with it."

  I pondered that for a moment, before replying.

  "Fine. I think the bird looks a little stupid on a suit, but I'm glad you didn't try to put me in a security uniform."

  "Major step backwards for a detective?"

  I nodded.

  "I can't say I feel right about being called Colonel, either."

  "How about Chief Detective?"

  I chuckled.

  "I actually was one, once upon a time, but I hated being tied to a desk. I get the sense it won't happen here."

  She grinned.

  "Highly doubtful."

  "All right, then. Chief Detective it is."

  "Put that in your PC profile, and people will use it. Rank of Colonel, title of Chief Detective. You'll find it quite often in Jon's ranks as you meet people, since all the insignia is standardized, but the titles vary according to your service branch. If you decide to take up more than Chief Detective for this one station, you'll end up wearing the same uniform I am."

  A brief hunt showed me it on the uniforms menu. I motioned for her to sit, and grabbed us each a drink as we stretched out on the sofa. I'd been wondering for some time how to broach the subject I wanted to talk about, and the special uniform she'd just given me was the perfect opportunity to bring it up.

  "I don't know how to put this delicately," I began. "Ever since that night when I saw you in two places at once,…"

  "You've been curious about my body?"

  She was sharper than a razor, and I felt a little flash of shame. The way she put it made me feel like a dirty old man.

  "I, uh, wouldn't put it in those exact words," I said. "But yeah, essentially. For starters, how do you eat and drink?"

  "It took some doing," she said without a hint of self-consciousness, which I suppose shouldn't have surprised me. "I had to reprogram the suit for internal organs, which fit within the chassis of the droid. The hard part was not allowing anything to slosh around as I walked."

  The laugh escaped my mouth before I could stop it, but she joined in with her own, which made me feel better about it.

  "It was a real mess," she giggled. "As soon as I could after, I had to vent the slop out of the suit, then shift it back to a belt, and back to my normal look, to reset it. In a way, it's pretty much the same as human waste ejection."

  The image was a little hard to let go of, but I made an effort. I reached over and touched her hand with mine, stroking the skin. It felt completely real, warm and smooth.

  "How?"

  "…did I manage to get the suit to feel like real skin? That took a lot of work, but I've been refining it since Jon first had me impersonate a human. I quickly worked out that being indistinguishable from a real human had advantages. And presenting the stereotypical good-looking female eye candy tends to ensure I'm always underestimated. My primary role off a ship, is keeping Jon alive, and the better I blend in, the easier that job is. At least for my primary avatar, who's never very far away from Jon."

  "Except you played a man when you were with Ingrid," I said tentatively. "Not just a man, but the man. What was that like?"

  "Different, but the same. It gave me an insight into the anatomical differences. Males move differently, for one thing. I had to write a new movement subroutine for the Jon impersonation. Dancing required a separate subroutine on its own."

  I was already deep into this, so I figured I might as well take that opening, and go for broke.

  "And, uh, did you need a separate subroutine for… well, you know?"

  Even as I said it, I could feel the heat in my face.

  "Well it was odd at first," she said matter-of-factly. "Since I've not experienced sex as a female, the whole thing was new to me. I've never considered the need to try it before, but I had to figure it out before going in there."

  "How did you do that?"

  "I watched a great deal of porn."

  I choked hard, and almost spit my drink onto her. She soldiered on, oblivious to my reaction.

  "The really hard part was getting the ejaculate to work realistically, and providing saliva for the kissing."

  My mind boggled, but I wasn't going to ask for the mechanics of either.

  "And yes," she said, "I did enjoy it. The imitation of skin generates a measure of sensation, and given enough creativity in programing, it can be turned into an emotional response. Feelings for humans are part of the mind, and I have a mind, different as it is. Put enough effort into it, and I can feel pretty much anything I want to. It was good enough to fool Ingrid. I doubt she had even the slightest idea I wasn't Jon Hunter, let alone not even human."

  I stared at her, amazed at her candid reactions. I'd never met anyone like her, and there was still so much more to find out. It made my decision to join the Hunter organization that much easier.

  "Of course," she continued, "I'm still quite young, and very much finding my place in this galaxy."

 
"Young?" I braced myself for impact. "How old are you, exactly?"

  "Not yet three months," she said. "Still a baby really."

  My stomach dropped. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that.

  "Well," I said, trying to sound like I wasn't gobsmacked. "I'm, uh, considerably older than that."

  "Age is relative," she said casually. "No more than a number, really. Some children are mature enough to live on their own while many adults can't handle even the simplest of challenges."

  I grinned in spite of myself.

  "How about me?" I asked. "Have I proved capable of handling a challenge?"

  Jane surprised me by sliding closer on the sofa, so her knee was touching mine.

  "I'd say you've proved that many times over," she said, her voice softer than it had been. "And I must say, I'm very impressed."

  My heart jumped in my chest, and the pants of my new suit felt tighter. The situation had suddenly become strange, and yet undeniably compelling at the same time.

  "I, uh, I'm glad to hear that," I croaked. "It means a lot to me I could impress you, since you're pretty impressive yourself."

  Her eyes lit up at that.

  "Do you really think so?"

  "How could I not?" I asked, goggling. "You're the smartest, uh, person I've ever met. And you're absolutely stunning. Plus you make me laugh. And when I'm with you, I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. This has been the most amazing experience of my life."

  Her hand slid overtop of mine, her warm fingers stroking the skin there, and causing hair all over my body to stand on end.

  "I'm so glad you think so," she said. "I like you very much, too, Dick. I really enjoy spending time with you."

  I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. Was this really happening?

  "Uh," I said. "I mean, I enjoy spending time with you, too."

  Without a word, she stood from the sofa, and took my hand, pulling me up effortlessly.

  "Can I ask you something, Dick?" She looked at me almost sheepishly.

  "Anything," I heard some idiot stammer. "Anything at all."

  She looked deep in my eyes, as her hand continued to stroke mine. I couldn't help but notice we were in the doorway of the suite's bedroom.

  "Well," she said shyly. "Like I said, I really enjoyed my first sexual encounter. But that was as a male. Ever since, I've been wondering what it might be like as a female." Her eyes sparkled like diamonds in the light. "With you."

  I'm not going to go into detail here, but I will confirm she looked just as devastating naked, as you'd imagine seeing her in her slinky uniform, and it was dead easy to forget what was under her imitation skin.

  Let's just say, she soon found out what she wanted.

  Several times.

  And it didn’t end there.

  Not bad for a retired guy!

  Epilogue

  Report from Fleet Captain Jane on the Earth Torus, after successful delivery of classified intel to the Earth Sector Police Department.

  "Detective. Please be advised your resignation has been successfully delivered to Chief Baker. You were correct, Flint had indeed alerted Frank Eldridge of your flight to Hunter's Redoubt, which gave Eldridge ample time to construct a distraction in the form of Lindsay Thayer and Antonio DeLeo. When confronted with your accusations, he immediately confessed. According to him, he'd been approached by Eldridge over a year ago, and had been paid a monthly retainer to actively try to point you in the wrong direction, during your investigation. When the opportunity came up to go after Jon, they made a pact they would collect their fee and the bounties, create new identities, and retire."

  "Authorities continue to question Flint about his knowledge of anything to do with attempts on Jon's life. In the meantime, police backed up by military forces along the entire spine, arrested most of the list you compiled of people who had hired Ingrid Blakstov, and a good number of the people around them. Several were killed when they refused to surrender themselves, and tried to fight. Five were found to already be dead. Six escaped capture, and two simply could not be found. The rest were handed over to local PDs for charging with first-degree murder."

  "I also stated quite firmly to Chief Baker that all government bounties on everyone arrested, should be paid to you, as the person responsible for providing the evidence. Some of these people, as you know, have only escaped arrest before now because of a lack of hard evidence, and bounties exist for providing the evidence. While not all of it will stick, enough will that when the dust settles, you should be wealthy enough to buy your own island on Gold Coast. Your boss mentioned something about police not being allowed to accept bounties, but quickly dropped the subject when I reminded him you had just delivered one of the greatest law-enforcement coups in history right into his lap, and technically, you weren't an ESPD officer while on Hunter's Redoubt."

  "The media are only now starting to realize something major is going on. Within a couple of hours, you should be inundated with media people wanting interviews. I've already informed Amy Allen she's been nominated as your spokesperson, so expect to hear from her within the hour. As Jon is wont to say, buckle up!"

  "Your retirement will be announced as part of the media interviews here. You're leaving the force as a bona fide hero, and will be remembered as the record holder for the most number of arrests in a single case, with the biggest clear-up rate of any detective in history. Everyone wants to know how you did it. Maybe you should write a book about it, rather than have people constantly bothering you about it in the future."

  "If there's anything here you want me to bring back, let me know as soon as you can. There will be some awards I'll collect on your behalf later today. The General Custer, with Smith and half her team on board, is a couple of days from here, so I'll be heading after her rather than coming straight back home. But I have time to collect anything you want, saving you the need to organize moving things later."

  "Fleet Captain Jane, on the Earth Torus, out."

  Jonathon Hunter

  Jane and the Alpha Team

  and Dick Burnside

  will return

  in

  Hire a Hero

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks goes to Charlie Sapphire Designs for her cover design for this book, and Egosoft for the station image.

  A Message from Timothy Ellis

  This has been an interesting experience, collaborating with Scott to turn the original novella, into a full novel. After quite a long period of regret I couldn’t write this back in 2016, I'm finally happy Burnside's story has been fully told.

  If you have enjoyed this book, I hope you will take the time to leave a review. All reviews are greatly appreciated, as they help assist purchasing decisions by other readers.

  Sales and reviews help me to focus on my next project. Sales pay my bills, and my ability to continue writing is dependent on the sales of this book, my previous series, and what comes after.

  I thank you for your support, and hope you'll continue to read my next book.

  Please join me on the Hunter Legacy series Facebook Page,

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  Thank you.

  Timothy Ellis

  A Message from Scott Sakatch

  When I first sat down to write my debut mystery-thriller novel False Witness ten years ago, I never would have imagined I’d eventually be writing about a detective in space, tracking down a killer who collected… well, you know.

  And if you’d told me back then that it was going to be the most fun I’d ever had as a writer, I probably would’ve suggested you check your prescription meds to make sure they weren’t expired. And yet here we are, and here it is: Burnsi
de’s Killer, The Extended Version.

  I’d been working on my writing full-time for a year when I first met Timothy Ellis. After some discussion, he offered me the opportunity to help him flesh out the original story into a full-length mystery novel, and I jumped at the chance. Duh - who wouldn’t want to work with a bona fide bestselling author with a worldwide fan base?

  Delving into the Jonathon Hunter universe introduced me to quirky characters and situations that made the experience seem more like I was playing hooky than actually working. And, of course, I learned a huge amount from Timothy along the way, as well. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful.

  I hope you enjoyed reading about Burnside’s journey as much as we did writing about it! Dick is a complicated man, and getting inside his head has been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.

  Scott Sakatch's Kindle Author page

  Also by Timothy Ellis

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