by Mark Iles
She was awakened by the screen beeping to let her know that a call was waiting on a secondary line. It was Staff.
“Commander, the training team and I will be landing in Capulet City shortly. Sorry for the delay, some of the guys were out on exercise and we had to go find them, pick them up and get them sorted with their gear.”
Bearing in mind his aversion to the Lenars, Selena said, “Okay. I want you patrolling the outside of Capulet City. Be visible. I want you there both as a deterrent and to reassure the population.”
“Roger that.” There was a slight pause. “Ma’am If you could update us with any news about Lieutenant Philips and the others, we’d really appreciate it.”
“Will do. You’re his second in command, so keep an eye on things for him until he gets back. Any problems, you call me immediately.”
“Understood.”
When Staff had signed off, Selena realised that getting further rest was out of the question, so she wearily made her way back to the control centre, where she sat in silence watching Jenks working away at the screen. Three mugs of coffee later he turned to her.
“Good news, they’ve found your guys. The pulse had interfered with their trackers, but they’re working perfectly now and Roberts reports that there’s no serious injuries. Luckily, they were flying low when the pulse took out the skimmer’s engines. They’ve only bruises, mild concussions, sense of humour failure, that sort of thing.”
Standing, she said, “Jenks, you need to find those ForeRunners. We’re fast running out of cities—and people, come to that.”
Knowing there was nothing else she could do, Selena returned to her quarters. It was still dark outside, and she watched the pale glow of the moons rising over the city. Entering her accommodation, she found the soft snoring coming from Jas strangely comforting. For a moment or two she watched silently, until it was interrupted as Jas turned over on the couch and muttered yet again. The blanket had fallen to the floor and as Selena picked it up and gently replaced it, wondering how long it had been since Jas had slept so peacefully.
In the morning, Selena contacted Jenks “What news?” she demanded
He looked back at her from the wall screen, his hair in the usual disarray. “Your team is fine and they’ve all been released from hospital. The doctors recommend rest but they’re ignoring that. They were incredibly lucky—had they been travelling at a different height it might have been a completely different story.”
“They can rest when they’re dead. What about casualties in the cities?”
“Total, no survivors at all—in fact, there’s nothing left but ash. God knows what kind of weapon that was, our people are still trying to get a handle on it. The civilian population here are beginning to panic and are already leaving in droves.”
“And you’re surprised? We need to give them some good news. Find something, anything, but above all I want those responsible found. Oh, and stop all outgoing civilian flights for the time being—we don’t want the enemy escaping. If people ask why, tell them it’s a security matter. You’d better let the colonel know; perhaps she could talk to the queen about incentives for the workers to stay here. Financial rewards usually work—perhaps the queen can offer bonuses.”
Jenks ran a hand through his goatee, a habit that was becoming more apparent each day. “That’ll be the day, but I’m on it. I have some more troubling news for you. Corporal Baron called me last night, about an hour after you’d left. Said he had to keep you updated on a few things, but he’d heard what’d happened to the cities and thought this could wait until morning, given priorities and all that.”
“For heaven’s sake Jennings, just tell me what he said.”
“Two bodies have just been found in Capulet, both girls, both about fifteen or so —twins most likely.”
“That’s all we need,” Selena said with a wince, as if a weight had just fallen across her shoulders. “Where were they found?”
“In a back alley, not far from the arena. The only way to describe it, he said, is that they’ve been … filleted.” His lips twisted and he clenched his eyes shut for a moment.
“How the hell can someone do something like that, especially to children?” Selena said.
“If you like, I’ll ask him to meet you there.”
“Tell him to send the details of where it happened to my hand-held, I’ll be there shortly,” Selena replied.
Collecting Singh and Shadow, Selena found Baron waiting for them when they arrived. To her surprise, he was wearing the uniform of the Royal Bodyguard.
“Nice to meet you at last, Commander,” Baron said, saluting as he led the way. “A shame it’s under such circumstances. Like many here, I’ve followed your exploits. Tell me, is it true you once fed an enemy their own pets and didn’t tell them until they’d finished their meal?”
Selena gave him the once over. “No, but it’s an idea. Why, do you have any pets?”
He gave a half smile. “Ah, we’re far from enemies Commander, despite my uniform. I want this killer caught as much as you do. And no, I don’t have any pets, thankfully.”
Baron was a tall but slim man, his gray hair crewcut with a large balding area on his crown. He looked wrinkled and haggard, tired beyond belief. Yet his green eyes were kind and his voice soft.
She eyed his uniform. “You’re a member of the Royal Bodyguard. How come the colonel put you forward for this?”
“I believe that Her Majesty thought it a good idea and had a word. I can advise on protocol and other such matters.”
Putting her distrust to one side, they followed him, and passed through the military cordon and under the high white-stone arch into an alleyway that was so narrow daylight struggled against the gloom. The rough concrete buildings around them were obviously some of the first made by the colonists when they arrived, their ancient machines churning out concrete from native material to quickly provide the housing and protective walls needed for the settlers.
Shadowy doorways beckoned, boxes were piled against the walls, amidst occasional pools of water. Cats and rodents slipped through the gloom while rubbish scampered over the flagstones, driven by the soft breeze tainted with the stench of refuse.
“You look familiar somehow,” Selena said to Baron, after a while. “Do we know each other?”
His bottle-green eyes remained on hers. “No, but I was born on this world so we could easily have bumped into one another. We may even have mutual friends. You never know. I pop up in all kinds of places and work all hours, but when working exclusively for the queen I mostly do nights. I like the way the moons dance.”
Selena froze as he uttered the last phrase, recognising it as a rebel recognition code. Knowing the others will have noticed the phrase was slightly out of place, she just gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. At that moment, they stopped at a doorway and her eyes slid over the blood splattered wall and passageway. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“A citizen came through here late last night and found them. They’ve been eviscerated—gutted if you will. There’s not a single organ remaining, not even their brains or eyes.”
“There was just their bodies?”
“Aye Ma’am. They’ve been taken to the morgue. We’ve never had anything like this before, I think we’re a bit out of our depth.”
“What about the other cities,” Singh asked. “Anything similar?”
“Nope, nothing at all. It appears these killings only happen in Capulet City, which obviously points to someone living here. The other murders we’ve had recently have been pretty much the same.”
Selena looked at Baron’s gray-bordered, scrunched-up expression, wondering whether his parents had grabbed his face and squeezed hard when he was a child. He looked like he was sucking a mouthful of chilli. “How many murders are we talking about, Corporal?”
He looked away. “With these two, twelve in total that I know about. All girls.”
Singh’s jaw dropped. “Twelve females killed like thi
s, and all kids?”
“Yup,” Baron said grimly. “The powers that be have been keeping it quiet— they didn’t want a panic.”
“Okay,” Selena said, after a moment. “I want constant drone surveillance on these alleyways and anywhere else this fiend could hit. The orphans are to be rounded up and brought to the citadel. Baron, liaise with Lieutenant Commander Singh here. If the children aren’t out here exposed to danger, they can’t be killed. See to it.” She turned away and left the alleyway, Singh and Shadow beside her.
They remained silent on the way back. Selena’s thoughts flickered back to Baron. Well, well—the rebels hadn’t given up. The fact they had someone so close to the monarch meant they could pick their moment. She suspected that they hadn’t done anything so far was itself because of the conflict, and while the Queen was acting in the planets’ best interests.
Jas was waiting when Selena returned to her quarters. “I hope you don’t mind, I was hungry and thought I’d make myself something.” She took one look at Selena’s face and put down the slice of burnt toast she was munching. “What’s happened?”
Selena told her about the cities and the murders. As the young girl’s face fell, Selena said, “Jas, I need your help. I’d like you and I to pop out this evening. I want us to get all of your friends that are hiding in the alleyways, and anyone else, back here. Singh’s working with the Colonel’s P.A, to arrange safe quarters. They’ll be warm, fed, and well-looked after. But most of all, they’ll be out of danger.”
Jas stood instantly, food forgotten. “I’m on it now.”
“No, you’re not—like I said, we’ll go out later tonight. Singh will be here before long and he’ll update us on the accommodation, so we’re armed with the latest information. Also, I don’t want you going anywhere at night without an escort, at least until we find the killer. Is that clear?”
Jas nodded.
“In the meantime,” Selena added, looking at her meal, “it looks to me like I’ll have to show you how to make toast.”
Chapter Five
“What is it?” Jas said, yawning as Selena woke her by sitting next to her on the couch. The girl was still dressed in the tattered and torn all-in-one Selena had found her in, the still-grubby quilt held tightly to her cheek. She looked quickly around the room and then relaxed. “I’m still tired after roaming around the alleys last night.”
“Well, it was a good job done. Like you said, all your friends are safe now. I’ve transferred some credits to your account,” Selena said, tapping the data chip embedded in Jas’s right arm as she made a mental note to wash the quilt, wrinkling her nose at the fusty smell. “Spend it carefully, I’m not loaded by any means, but I can top it up if need be. I have a few things to do this morning, so why don’t you go out into the city and buy yourself some clothes and shoes—or whatever else you need. Do you feel up to that? If you’d rather I came with you, we can do it tomorrow.”
Jas shook her head.
“Okay. Speak to Singh and get him, or a guard, to go with you.”
Jas eyed her warily. “I’m not a child, you know. It’s daylight, the murders are all done at night.”
“I’m well aware of that, but I want you to promise me you’ll take someone with you and spend these credits on what they’re for, and not anything stupid or illegal. Oh, and here’s a list of a few things I’d like you to pick up. I thought we could cook a meal together tonight.” Selena handed over a small sheet of paper, which Jas glanced and stuffed in a torn breast pocket.
“I can’t imagine you cooking.”
“Why?” Selena laughed. “I wasn’t always so hard-nosed. My Aunt taught me well. It’s just something I don’t have reason to do very often.”
The girl studied her. “Why are you being so kind to me? I’ve heard about you, everyone has. Scary bitch, I’m told.”
“Just buy the clothes and the food, Jas … and grab a shower while you’re at it, you could do with one,” Selena said, her good humour vanishing. “I’ll be back later today. In the meantime, the door has your handprint and voice recognition, so it’ll open for you. By the way, you don’t need to worry about your friends. After your help getting them out of the alleys last night, they’re all being well taken care of and you’ll be able to see them soon, once all the data work has been sorted. We’ll talk when I get back, okay?”
Jas nodded, laid back on the sofa and closed her eyes, clutching the quilt to her face once again.
“Just one more thing,” Selena added. “Those knives of yours, keep them with you. Just in case.”
***
Sitting in Colonel Delmar’s office, Selena noted that this time the door to her bedroom was closed. To her surprise the Colonel was in full uniform, which in her opinion was far more appropriate than the garments she’d worn the last time Selena was here. Dark tattoos peeked from under the sleeves on her wrists. Flat-chested Delmar seemed almost boyish. Her ghoulish black eyes regarded her as Selena spoke.
“Good morning, Colonel. I thought I’d take the chance to update you on the situation as I see it. The loss of the two cities, tragic as they were, has released the teams I’d just allocated to them. Consequently, they’ve been redeployed to begin a systematic search of the areas surrounding the remaining bases. It’s all we can do at the moment, although I’m obviously open to any suggestions. I don’t suppose your people have come up with any ideas?”
“Not a thing,” Delmar replied. “With all the traffic being checked, along with the frequent street patrols and building inspections, I don’t think the enemy are hiding here in the city—they’d have been picked up by now if they were. We just need to figure out where they are, and how the hell they’re moving around without being detected. I’ve asked Skar if he can help but he says he doesn’t have the equipment he’d need. He also said that they only have a few remaining ships that could detect them, and can’t spare any at this moment in time. He did say something rather odd though.”
“Ma’am?”
“He said it won’t matter soon. They are coming.”
“Who is?” Selena asked, eyebrows raised.
“Skar wouldn’t elaborate, and, as I’m sure you know, the Manta are hard to read.” Delmar paused before saying at length, “As to our other problem, I have wondered if the murders are down to organ smugglers.”
Selena shook her head. “If they were there’d be nothing left of the bodies at all, they’d have taken everything. People still need limbs, muscle tissue, skin— that sort of thing. They’d probably keep the bodies alive as long as they could, and then farm them to order. These murders are either a scare tactic by the enemy, in which case I don’t understand why just here in Capulet City and not anywhere else, or we have a real psycho loose.”
Delmar nodded her agreement. “My thoughts exactly. Personally, I think we’ve a serial killer on our hands. But why take their organs? All we seem to uncover is more and more questions.” She rose from behind the desk and moved across the room to a percolator. “Coffee, Commander?”
“Yes, black please,” Selena said, pleasantly surprised. “We’ve been out rounding the vagrant children up. According to Jas, we’ve all of them already. Corporal Baron has found accommodation and civilian staff to look after them. I guess we have to figure out how to bill the Queen for it all now.”
Delmar’s thin lips spread to a smile, as she placed two mugs in front of them and sat in her chair, rocking backwards. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. It’s taken care of. I simply pointed out to Her Majesty that if she doesn’t take care of these waifs then the settlers will up and leave, and others won’t come here. No sane person would risk their children being left to starve out on the streets. This reassures the workers that their children will be well taken care of, if something untoward happens. That, and the offer of bonuses, seems to have calmed things down.”
Delmar ran the fingertips of her right hand on her desk, her alloy nails making a light drumming sound as she contemplated Selena, her lips t
witching. “When all this is over, and you’ve finished your sentence, you should seriously think about a political career.”
Selena snorted. “How many ex-cons do you know have done that? Besides, it’s the last thing I’d think about doing.”
“Why?”
Before Selena could reply, the colonel’s screen chirped. She instantly swung to face it and said; “Delmar. Speak.”
A fresh faced young male officer, looking flustered, appeared and said, “I’m sorry to disturb you Colonel, but there’s a Sken vessel approaching and it’s asking permission to land.”
Another screen switched from displaying the forests to the black, amoebic craft swinging into orbit.
“Did they say what they want?”
“Yes, they’re demanding an immediate meeting of all the races. Apparently they contacted Skar first, he’s already waiting in the conference room.”
“Very well. Permission to land granted, and prepare the room. Inform Admiral Van Pluy, send him my respects and ask him to attend via screen. You’d better inform the Queen too, she likes to be kept in the loop, but stipulate that it’s a military-only meeting.” She turned the screen off and added, “Commander Dillon, you better come along.”
They waited for a moment, watching the screen silently as the Sken vessel slipped into orbit and the organic craft elongated. A piece detached and floated majestically towards the surface, fluidly changing shape as it came.
“I can never figure out if those ships are alive, or not. There’s something almost … surreal about them.” Selena mused.
“Well, well, Commander,” Delmar replied with a half-smile. “Something that actually flummoxes you. Come on, we’d better get ready to greet our guests.”