by Random, Alex
“One I knew of, but I hardly like to mention his name here because it may seem to you that I’m trying to take advantage of this situation.”
“You are talking of Captain Graham, I’ve no doubt!” Paine nodded slowly. “Lieutenant Anders has given me the full story, and I must say that I have misgivings about Graham! The way he’s been handling this matter of trying to get evidence of your connection with the smugglers has been most unfortunate and unprofessional. Then there’s the fact that a man in his position should not be concerning himself with such an unimportant matter. Graham is Chief of Security for the entire Star Cluster Seven. I can only assume that it is a personal interest in your case that makes him want to handle it himself.”
“Those two witnesses who said I left the Cradle of Stars with Allie Carpenter, the murdered woman, were lying, sir! I think they could be used to get at the truth. They told me that Allie Carpenter had left the bar with a policeman fifteen minutes before I asked about her. There is a discrepancy in their statements, and it ought to be checked upon by an independent investigator!”
“I think you’re right.” The Governor nodded gravely.
“I must admit that this business is outside my immediate sphere of duties, but I’m not satisfied with the way Captain Graham is handling this, and I’ll appoint someone to look into it. In the meantime you had better remain in the Palace as a house guest to keep out of further trouble. I’m sure Carmel will agree with that. If something turns up which bears out your story to any extent then I’ll make an issue of your case, Alston. I can promise you that, and I won’t take the action just for my daughter’s sake. You were an invaluable member of the Starfleet, and if you were wrongly accused and sentenced then the injustice must be rectified.”
“Thank you, Sir! All I ask is for the chance to prove my innocence. I’ll do anything you say to help out.”
“There may be a long way to go before we reach the happy point of reinstating you, Alston. But don’t despair. You have Carmel on your side, and as far as I’m concerned she’s the most important ally you have.”
Alston got to his feet. “I’ll go and find her, Sir!” he said. “She’ll be waiting to hear what you have decided.”
“Good luck,” the Governor retorted. “I have the feeling you are going to need it. This business is covered by several years of inactivity. It may be impossible to resolve satisfactorily, but at least we shall do our best!” Alston nodded and walked out of the office as if he were walking on air. This was better than a dream come true, and already he was trying to work out how he could help matters along, for he had no intention of sitting idly and waiting for developments. He wanted an active part in this!
CHAPTER SIX
Alston found Carmel waiting in the hall for him, and the girl stared impatiently into his face as he approached her.
“Well?” she demanded. “What did Father have to say?”
Alston glanced around before replying. He didn’t want anyone to overhear. He had the feeling that the less said about it the more chance he might have of proving his innocence, although he had no idea at all how he would set about it.
“I’m to stay here in the palace as a guest until your father can get an independent investigation going,” he said, and saw her eyes widen. He thought she would have been overjoyed by the news, but there were shadows in her eyes and she seemed uneasy. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “I thought the news would make you ecstatic!”
“I’m worried, that’s all,” she confessed. “If Father is keeping you here under his eye then it’s likely you are either in danger of losing your life or Father still suspects you and wants to put you off guard until he can get proof one way or the other.”
He thought about that for a moment, then stubbornly shook his head. “I believe in your father,” he said. “I can sum up a man. I was trained to do it. I think I’ll get a fair deal from your father. He’ll be true to his word. He won’t let them put anything over on me.”
Lieutenant Anders appeared from a small room across the hall, and he paused in the doorway and stared in shocked surprise at Alston, then hurried across to him, peering first at Alston, then at the girl.
“How did you get in here, Rex?” he demanded, glancing towards the front door. “The guard is on duty out there, isn’t he?”
“He’s still there, Frank,” Carmel said, and explained the situation.
Alston, watching Anders’s face closely, saw the same concern show briefly that he had seen on Carmel’s face, and he wondered about it.
“The Governor has just summoned me!” Anders said. “I expect it is about you, Rex. Don’t go away!”
He went on along to the office and entered, and Alston let his face show his doubts.
“You were so elated when you came out of the office,” Carmel said softly. “I’m sorry to kill your hopes, Rex, but you are still in a lot of trouble. I think Father will be as good as his word, but we mustn’t under estimate Quill Graham!”
“I’m thinking that Graham could be in a lot of trouble once this new investigation gets under way,” Alston said. “But I’m just going to watch points, Carmel, and if I find that things are going against me I’m not going to remain and take whatever Graham is fixing up for me. I’m going to make a run for it. I can fly a spacecraft, and there are always plenty standing around on the cosmodrome along the coast.”
“That would be an act of folly, Rex, and you know it,” Carmel said in scared tones. “Give Father a chance. He’ll do his best. But I’ll keep at him, and I’ll find out just what progress will be made.”
“Try to keep me one jump ahead of Graham and I’ll have a chance,” Alston said.
Anders emerged from the office and came towards them, a grin on his face. His brown eyes were twinkling.
“Well?” Alston demanded. “Was your summons to do with me?”
“Yes! You’re to share my quarters here in the palace. But I’m to make an independent enquiry into the events taking place around you now, Rex!”
“You!” Alston felt a pang of hope start through him. “Then I’ll get a fair crack of the whip, Frank. I can trust you to do what is right.”
“Well let us begin immediately! Say goodnight to Carmel and come on up to my quarters. Tomorrow we’ll collect some of your clothes from your place, but tonight you’ll have to make do with some of mine. I want a rundown on everything that happened to you from the time you walked out of the Governor’s office this morning after your review of sentence.”
“Keep me informed of what’s going on,” Carmel said, and she stood on tiptoe and kissed Alston on the lips. Then she started up the stairs. “I’ll look for you first thing in the morning, Rex!” She paused and fixed Anders with a firm gaze. “You’d better do your best for him, Frank!”
“If I don’t then no one will,” Anders replied, and Alston knew that was the truth.
They went along to Anders’s rooms, and there was a spare bed in a small room that would suit Alston. Anders sat down and produced a notebook, and he motioned for Alston to seat himself.
“This may be boring,” Anders said, “but I’ve got to get all the facts. Tell me everything that happened since this morning, Rex.”
Alston nodded and let his mind roam back over the day. He explained talking to Carmel, then Graham, in the park outside the palace, and went on to his return to the play complex and the news that awaited him there.
“I heard about the man who died at your place,” Anders said, looking up from his notes, and there was a puzzled light in his eyes. “I don’t know why Graham put pressure on you over that because it was patently obvious to everyone that you had nothing to do with the death. You were released almost immediately after I had seen you at police headquarters weren’t you?”
“That’s right! I thought you had something to do with that,” Alston said.
“What happened after you were released?”
Alston narrated his actions, his voice hard and taut. He fancied that he had
been permitted to go free in order that more incriminating evidence could be laid against him, and when he explained his movements in the search to contact Allie Carpenter he saw a frown on Anders’s face. When he had finished with the Governor’s appearance at police headquarters, Anders nodded.
“I don’t mind telling you that I don’t like it, Rex,” Anders said. “I shall see the two witnesses, but if they are working for Graham then we won’t be able to shake their story.”
“That doesn’t matter so much, so long as you believe me when I say they are lying! If I’m under arrest and can’t make enquiries for myself then you can handle it, Frank. I’ve got no reason to lie about this. You know I was upset by the decision I got this morning regarding my review of sentence, but you know me well enough to accept that I wouldn’t deliberately murder a girl. The point is, I was looking for Allie Carpenter to try and learn something about the man who was killed at the play complex earlier. I had every reason for wanting Allie alive!”
“The Governor told me he gave Graham permission to use that police agent in the hope you could be deceived into talking about the smugglers. Allie Carpenter seems to have been tied up in that business, and I’m going to be hard on Graham when I get to him. I have special powers in this case now, and even Graham, as Security Chief of Star Cluster Seven, cannot refuse to answer any question I feel like putting to him. I’ll get to the bottom of this, Rex, but while I’m doing it you’re going to have to be very careful! If it is Graham out to get you then he’ll redouble his efforts if he feels that you’re slipping away from him. I think you should stick close to this place until I get some idea of what’s been going on!”
“I agree with you,” Alston said immediately. “There’s not much chance of Graham pinning anything on me in here, but outside I’m open to everything he may care to try. But if Graham is behind my trouble now, was he at the back of that smuggling charge?”
“That is something I hope to find out.” Anders was serious as he looked into Alston’s eyes. “I remember Graham was jealous of you in the old days. You were too good for him. You stood between him and his promotion. Nobody could match your achievements, Rex, and there were a lot of starship captains who were jealous of you.
“I never had the chance to go into the smuggling charge from the outside,” Alston said slowly. “I was under close arrest from the moment the contraband was found. But you were on the outside, Frank. You must have heard the rumours and talk that went around. There’s always a certain amount of that sort of thing. What was being said about me and the charge?”
“It was four years ago, Rex!” Anders shook his head slowly. “Apart from that, there wasn’t much said, and that seemed strange to me at the time. Our crew was behind you solidly, that goes without saying.”
“But one of the crew must have planted the stuff! It didn’t get in my cabin by itself, and I certainly didn’t put it there.”
“Then it must have been a conspiracy.” Anders shook his head slowly. “Someone put one of our crew up to it.”
“Why would one of my crew do that? For personal gain, or promotion? Can you check on the records of all the men serving with us at that time, Frank? Find out how their careers have fared since I was sentenced.”
“I’ll do that. I’ll chase up every lead we can find. Four years is a long time, but I’ll do it. Meanwhile I’ll put an agent to watching Graham and checking up on his movements. If Graham is the man we want then it’s going to be difficult to prove it.”
“The way he’s handling this business now smells to high heaven!” All the doubt that Alston felt showed momentarily in his face. He shook his head as he considered. “I don’t hold out much hope of getting anywhere, but if you can clear me of the murder of Allie Carpenter it will be something, Frank.”
“The sooner I get started the better! Anders got up. He studied what he had written in his notebook for a moment, then looked at Alston. “Rex, don’t leave the palace for a couple of days. I’ll send a man with you tomorrow to the play complex to pick up your clothes. We’ll make it appear that you are under special arrest here in the palace, and that should kill Graham’s suspicions that your case is getting special handling. If he is up to something then he must be pretty worried right now.”
“Am I under arrest, Frank?” Alston looked into the lieutenant’s eyes. “Am I under restraint here or could I walk out the front door right now, and come back when I wanted?”
“Do you want to go out alone?” Anders countered.
“I don’t know! I was merely wondering if I was being held.”
Anders sat down again and produced a transparent card which Alston recognised as an official pass. Anders filled it in and signed it, then handed it over. Alston studied it, finding that it gave him free access to the palace. He could come and go without hindrance if he felt like it.
“Thanks!” Alston put the card in his pocket. He felt easier with it in his possession. “I won’t leave the palace until you’ve had a chance to look around, Frank. I’ll call Helga at the play complex and ask her to pack my clothes. She could bring them over tomorrow when she’s off duty.”
“That’s a good idea. Use the communicator there. I’ll leave you now. Don’t stray from the building, Rex, just in case!”
“I’ll stay put, and I’ll be here when you get back,” Alston promised.
Anders departed, his face showing determination, but Alston knew he had an almost impossible task, and he didn’t expect any developments in his favour. But if the immediate threats to his security were removed then he wouldn’t feel so badly about it. After what had happened during the day he would be satisfied to sit out the rest of his exile in comparative peace and hope that his unknown enemy would leave him alone.
He called Helga at the play complex, and the girl’s voice was filled with concern when she spoke to him.
“Where are you, Rex?” she demanded. “Captain Graham and some special agents have been here! They searched your quarters and took away all your clothes. They wouldn’t tell me what was happening to you.”
“I’m all right, Helga,” he assured her. “I’m under special arrest at the Governor’s Palace, but I’m being treated fairly. I was permitted to ring you because I need my clothes and other stuff, but if Graham has taken everything then it can be collected from him tomorrow.”
“Are you in a lot of trouble?” the girl demanded.
“I don’t know yet. You heard what happened to Allie Carpenter?”
“Yes. It’s terrible, Rex! Poor Allie! I didn’t think she had an enemy in the world! But to think they are accusing you of killing her! I can’t believe it, Rex!”
“Well I didn’t kill her. I wanted information from her, so I would have been the last man to harm her. That’s why I’m calling, Helga. Can you tell me anything at all about Allie? I never met her. I didn’t get to meet her when I went out to find her.”
“She had a small circle of friends on Cyra, but she was on the Earth run and didn’t stay on the planet long at a time. The police have warned me not to talk about her, Rex! I’m an exile too, remember, and I can’t take any chances. There’s really nothing I can tell you, anyway. I just told you that Allie knew the man who died here earlier. If you didn’t meet her during the evening then I don’t know what to suggest.”
“It’s all right, Helga. You’ve done more than enough as it is. I’ll be in touch with you later. Thanks for what you have done.”
“I feel I’ve got you into more trouble than you would have found,” she retorted. “If I hadn’t sent you to see Allie then she might still be alive. I don’t know what to think, Rex.”
“You feel that I might have killed her, huh?” He nodded slowly. “That’s the whole trouble, Helga. It looks as if I had the opportunity to do so, and someone is banking on that fact to pin the murder on me.”
“I don’t think you killed Allie, Rex! Don’t think that.”
“Okay!” He smiled. “But there is an element of doubt. I don’t blame
you for being suspicious. If you weren’t, you’d be all on your own!”
“When will they release you?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll see you when they do. Goodbye!”
He hung up and sat thinking it over. Everything pointed to Quillon Graham being at the bottom of his troubles. For some reason Graham wanted him out of the way, and it seemed likely the captain had caused an innocent girl to be murdered in order to provide the means of removal. If that was a fact then Alston knew he was in serious trouble. If Graham wouldn’t stop at murder to achieve his obscure intentions then the future seemed fraught with danger.
Alston went to bed with his mind filled with conjecture. He couldn’t really believe that Quillon Graham wanted him dead. Surely jealousy alone was not sufficient motive to hound a man to death! But there could be no other reason! Had Graham been responsible for the contraband that had been found aboard Alston’s spaceship four years earlier? If so, was that the reason why all this trouble had started? Was Graham afraid that something of the past might come out now to embarrass him? With Rex Alston dead the past would also be dead!
The power of his thoughts prevented Alston sleeping immediately, and he tossed and turned in the strange bed, unable to find relief. Time passed, and finally he got out of bed and went to the window, staring at the moonlit grounds beneath his window. No matter how he tried to figure it out, there was no way of piercing the unknown to get at the truth. There had been no evidence at his trial to suggest the identity of anyone connected with the smuggling. There was still no fact that could point the finger of suspicion in any direction.
The sky was dark velvet around the bright pinpoints of stars. A gentle breeze lifted to Alston’s nostrils, bringing wild scents from the flowers in their beds. Trees in the garden were limned with silver, and the lunar light was soft and deceptive. An aura of peacefulness closed in about Alston and he took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly and intently. The scene before his eyes was so violently at variance with the tumult of his mind. He looked again at the sky, and his past life as a starship captain came up into his mind, unbidden and hurtful. He had always likened the stars to broken diamonds, and had spent countless hours watching the astral screens, noting the changing patterns as the trackless light years of Space had been uncovered. He had never overcome the sense of awe that had gripped him. Now, with his flights denied him and all responsibility gone, he could only feel wistfulness that his experiences were now denied him, and he turned away from the window to return to his torturous bed.