Science Fiction Short Stories Books 1 & 2: Twelve Engaging Sci-Fi Tales (One Mind, Different Voices Series)

by Erik R. Van Asch

  "Did you visit either of the first two to collect what they owed your boss?" Ilmari was up on his feet, but bent over with hands on his knees.

  "Not yet. They make deal with boss. Get more time. But now late on delivery."

  "What sort of deal?" asked Su as she waved her index knuckle in front of Ilmari.

  Ilmari put up his hands in surrender. "Said they’d get wind energy balls.”

  "So when did you kill them to make an example of them?” asked Kossen.

  “Not my way,” said Ilmari as he flashed a glare at Kossen.

  "Relax my friend," said Kossen patting the man on the shoulder, "I have some equipment coming in on the morning transport that will extract the memories from the late Ms. Solderberg. We'll know soon enough who the real killer is."

  "So you leave me now?"

  "Oh, don’t worry. We may be back, since you’re a suspect too. See you around," said Kossen as he turned and led Su back down the dark tunnel.

  * * *

  "How much longer do we have to wait?" asked Su.

  "I don't know," replied Kossen.

  "What do you mean you don't know?"

  "I don't know. This isn't an exact science," said Kossen defensively

  "Not an exact science?” said Su exasperated.

  "Nope.” Kossen offered nothing more.

  "So you told every suspect that you had some non-existent magical device that would reveal the killer, just in case one of them happens to sneak into a freezer to dispose of any evidence tied to the body?"

  "Yep"

  "Has it worked before?" asked Su.

  "Once or twice, but I didn't have to pee then like I do now. Must be my old bladder. It isn't what it used to be. So what's your hunch young one? Who’ll it be? The bouncer?"

  "After we left the Ilmari and asked around at some of the other bars, I had several who said the thug had a reputation for helping people get stuck outside before the shields in that area turned off."

  "Once a killer, easier to kill again?"

  "Something like that. Why?" asked Su turning in the direction she knew Kossen sat. The darkness was overwhelming, making it impossible for her to see the man even though he was less than a foot away.

  "Cause of death is too technical for the stereotype Neanderthal." said Kossen.

  "I examined the body. Pauline could have died from any one of three injuries."

  "After Cruise Town I checked victim message records. Each had received a cryptic message leading to the place their bodies were found,” said Kossen.

  “Ah!” interrupted Su. “They go to the spot. Find nobody, but they find an Ayers Sphere sitting on the ground. Pick it up and . . .”

  “Bam!” finished Kossen.

  “According to Cassandra Pinto those were nearly indestructible.”

  “I saw a schematic of one. On one side is an opening, which is how they put the energy into the sphere. A well placed explosive could force a sudden release of contents. Those spheres are under tremendous pressure. I expect that is what crushed the victim’s chest and face.”

  “That kind of pressure, I’d expect flung Pauline back several feet into the shields, which is where she got the head injury. But there was no blood evidence. Wait! I’ve studied shields before. To keep a solid surface they need to cycle,” said Su.

  “Every minute they cycle. Thus the spot where Pauline cracked her head was not there sixty seconds later.” added Kossen from within the darkness

  "Then why leave the bodies to be found? Ilmari and his boss sending others a message?” asked Su.

  “Possibly,” replied Kossen.

  "But if Ilmari Takko or his boss aren’t suspects, what about Ms. Pinto? If you had taken a job I wanted I might be tempted to kill you or make you look bad," said Su.

  "Also, Pinto would know about the ins-and-outs of the Ayers Spheres," she added.

  "I didn’t know you had those kind of thoughts. I’m going to have to keep an eye on you,” he chuckled before continuing, “But to your points, it seems a stretch that the deaths could reflect so poorly on Cassandra’s predecessor that it would be damaging enough to promote her. What about your analysis of the Ayers Sphere fragment?”

  “There was a residue the AI analysis tied back to a chemical used in explosives,” answered Su.

  A scuttling sound came from somewhere in the darkness between the two of them. Someone punched numbers into a keypad. The keypad made a soft beep with each depressed number.

  The freezer door slid open. Light poured forth from the hallway outside. Detective Kossen and Detective Su each stood to the side of the doorway, fully clothed in enviro-suits that protected them from the freezing temperatures.

  A figure stood in the doorway, the light from the hallway throwing a long shadow further into the room. The figure, a man by the shape and gait moved to the covered body in the middle of the room. The body was laying atop a table, just at the edge of the light’s reach. The man opened a container of liquid and started dousing the body with its contents.

  That is when Kossen, clothed in an enviro-suit, stepped out of the shadows. Taking the end of his cane, he touched the man with the end of it and pressed a button in a hidden panel on the cane's grip.

  A blue bolt of electricity shot between the cane and the man. The man cried out in pain, before falling to the ground stunned.

  Kossen using his cane, turned the man over, revealing Ellis Hamilton. "Why Him?" asked Su.

  "His military record showed he had experience with explosives, combined with the Ayers Sphere schematics I found mixed in with other schematics on his desk.”

  “But what about motive?” asked Su, as she moved out of the shadows to join him standing over Ellis. Her face barely visible through the faceplate of the enviro-suit.

  “When you were analyzing the fragment I called Ellis’ ex. She was surprised to discover Ellis told us they were getting back together. According to her, they haven’t spoken for months. That led me to check calls made to Jaropelk and Pauline. Since Jaropelk was chalked up as an accident, nobody had checked into this. Dumb Ellis, left threatening messages for Jaropelk telling him to leave Pauline. I guess when Ellis removed Jaropelk from the picture and Pauline didn’t run into his arms, she was next," explained Kossen.

  "It fits. Most acts of passion and anger don't worry whether they leave the bodies to be found or not."

  Ellis’ eyes fluttered then popped open. His face filled with shock as he looked up at the two detectives grinning down at him from their enviro-suits. Kossen’s cane was aimed at Ellis’ chest ready for another jolt.

  "Hi Ellis. Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind!" barked a gleeful Kossen.

  "You've been waiting to say that all day haven't you?"

  "Yep," said Kossen

  The End

  PLACE TO CALL HOME by Anthony Pendleton

  “What are you doing in bed with her?”

  The lamp on the nightstand tumbled to the ground as Nicolas jumped out of the bed, throwing the covers off in a rush. Reaching for his clothes scattered around the room, he collided with the small nightstand once again, trying to gain some semblance of composure.

  “It’s not...” he started before yelping in pain, smashing his foot against the large, reclining chair on the way towards the discarded shirt, “It’s not what it looks like, Janine.”

  Standing just inside the bedroom doorway, Janine shook her head with a harsh laugh, crossing her arms in defiance.

  “‘Not what it looks like?’” the words spat from her mouth, as though they caused a bad taste just being there in the first place. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”

  I don’t understand why Janine is so upset, Sand-E thought as she sat up in bed, completely nude, Nicolas said she would understand.

  “No, no, we were just... just talking about...”

  “You’re fucking her,” she pointed an accusatory finger towards the personal home android still sitting in the bed, unashamed of her completely exposed upper body, “T
hat!”

  Without warning, Janine strode into the room, grabbing the sheets from the corner of the bed, ripping them free.

  “Talking, right. Your sweat is still all over it, Nic.”

  “Are you upset with me, Janine?” Sand-E stood from the bed, not bothering to cover her nude form as she stepped closer to Janine, “I thought you would be happy, Nicolas said...”

  “You what? You thought?”

  Nicolas found himself wincing as the android spoke those words. He nearly had his shirt back on as he started moving towards Janine.

  “Look, Janine, baby, I just...”

  “You just what, bought an emotion package for your private little house whore?”

  Whore? No, this was meant to be for you... isn’t that what Nicolas said? Conflicting feelings boiled up inside Sand-E, unsure how to handle them. Janine noticed the android’s skin flush and eyes go wide, mistaking her confusion for hostility.

  “What, does that piss you off, Sandy? Whore. You’re a fucking whore. And you,” turning away from the clearly stunned android, Janine focused her rage on Nicolas, backing away as he tried to take hold of her hands, “You take a machine into our bed.”

  Tears started forming at the corner of her eyes as she fought back Nicolas’ attempts to placate her. Reaching back, she reared hard and slapped him across the face, leaving a bright red imprint across his cheek.

  “No, you don’t get to touch me. Not ever.”

  “Janine, we love you.” Nicolas and Janine both turned towards Sand-E, taken aback by the sudden interjection. “This was all for you.”

  She’ll understand if I just explain it like Nicolas did for me, Sandy mused, she’ll love me like Nicolas does.

  Arms outstretched, Sand-E crossed the space from the bed to Janine before she could respond, wrapping her arms around and pulling her close. Stunned by the abrupt, intimate embrace, Janine locked eyes with Nicolas in surprise.

  “We can all be together, just like Nicolas said you’d want.”

  “Nic said that, huh?”

  “Janine, honey, I didn’t...”

  Stepping back, Janine shoved Sandy away with a strong push, sending her crashing into the wall, collapsing to the floor. She cried out in pain as her head collided with the bedframe, the deep cut drawing out a light blue liquid that started running down her cheek and onto the carpeted floor.

  “Together? In what world would that ever happen? What, did you think I’d just play along with your little fantasy, have a threesome right here on the bed and live happily ever after?”

  Janine threw her arms out at him in disgust as she spun around, storming out of the room and through the adjoining hallway. Rushing after her, Nicolas gave Sand-E only a brief, passing glance before leaving the room.

  “Listen, that’s not what this is. You know how things have been for me since they laid me off at the factory.”

  “Oh, right, I’m just totally overreacting here. Poor you, got fired, let’s go fuck the robot. Why not sleep with my sister, too, while you’re at it.”

  “What? What... why would you even bring her up, that’s... that has absolutely nothing to do...”

  “Oh my god, Nic... you’re sleeping with Sandra, too?”

  “Baby, that’s not...”

  It was becoming difficult for Sand-E to follow the conversation as they moved out of the family room, away to the garage. The pounding in her head wasn’t helping matters either, her life-blood still seeping from the gash above her left eye.

  Why doesn’t Janine understand? Nicolas said she’d be excited, that we could all be happy together...

  Still hearing Janine’s screaming and Nicolas’ pleas for her to calm down from off in the distance, Sand-E stood up, her legs unbalanced, and walked across to the bathroom. Turning the vanity light on, she pulled her long, blonde hair up away from her face, bringing her head close to assess her cut in the mirror.

  “Is that why you named her Sandy? Sandra? How could I be so stupid, she even looks just like her.” Janine’s voice carried into the bathroom as they walked through the outside hallway, past the bedroom and towards the end office.

  “I thought it was just a coincidence, you just played it off like nothing,” she could hear Janine’s stifled sniffling now, suppressing her cries, voice wavering just on the edge of breaking, “I’m such a fool.”

  “It’s not your fault, Janine, don’t...”

  “No it’s not, Nic. You don’t have to tell me that. This is all your fault. Yours.”

  The voices trailed off once again as they stormed off through to the kitchen, Sand-E refocusing again on her pale face reflecting in the mirror.

  Is that all I am to Nicolas? Just an on-hand copy of what... who he really wants? Look at me, she scolded herself, drawing a finger through the blue fluid streaked down her face, how could I replace a living, breathing... feeling human.

  Standing up straight once again, Sand-E pulled a hand towel from the rack next to the shower, dabbing the blue fluid off of her face with some water. Once it had been all cleared away, the wound now staunched by her self-repairing tissue, she reached over to the bathroom door, pulling a robe around her exposed body.

  Maybe I can convince her to understand, somehow...

  “Janine, please, don’t go. I’ll never set foot near her again, I promise.” Nicolas’ voice came into focus once again as he followed Janine through the hallway, back towards the bedroom.

  “I can’t believe I almost married you,” stopping at the bedroom doorway, Janine spun around to face Nicolas, tears streaking down her face, “I’m just glad I found out what a piece of shit you are before then.”

  Slamming the door shut on his face, Janine slumped back against the door with her eyes shut, taking brief refuge from Nicolas in the bedroom. She slid down along the door frame with a slow, almost deliberate effort, hands covering her face in shame. Coming to a rest on the floor with her legs pulled up close, she wrapped her arms around them in a tight, fetal position.

  “Open the door, Janine,” the door rattled against her body as Nicolas pounded on it from the other side, his voice now rising up, “C’mon, we can talk this out.”

  I need to make things right, Sand-E realized with a sudden understanding, if I can convince Janine that this was all for her, she’ll want me to stay. To be a part of her life, her family.

  “Janine?” Sand-E pulled her hair back, out of her face and across her ears, displaying the now clotted wound as she stepped out of the bathroom, “Janine... this is all my fault, I only wanted...”

  “Is that my robe?” The response came back sharp with anger as Janine raised her head at the intrusion, forgetting she wasn’t alone in the room, “What are you doing? Take that off right now!”

  She bound from her curled up position on the floor, reaching for the belt sash of the robe and ripping it free in a single motion. Pushing Sand-E to the floor, Janine wrapped the torn cloth in her arms, clenching it to her chest.

  “Who do you think you are? You think you can take my place? Just because you look like my sister... you think that makes you something?” Janine stood towering over Sand-E, splayed out on the floor, exposed and naked once more.

  “No, I...” The emotions were too much, assailing her ability to process them all. Her eyes starting to tear uncontrollably, the sobs wracked her body with such force that she couldn’t continue.

  What is this? Why does she want to make me feel this way? I only want her to love me.

  Reaching out with both hands, Sand-E grabbed Janine by the ankle, drawing close and pleading. “Please, Janine... I never meant to hurt you. Please, just tell me how we can fix it.”

  “We? There is no we,” kicking back, she dislodged her leg from Sand-E’s grasp, backing away from her, “Nic and I are done. Over. You hear that you piece of shit? We’re through!” she screamed towards the door, Nicolas’ pounding still shaking the door on its frame.

  “Baby, c’mon... let me in!”

  “Please, Janine...
anything, I’ll do anything,” Sand-E had pulled herself up to her knees, reaching her hands out, begging. Janine turned back around to face her on the floor, expression turning hard, a cold determination seeping through.

  “Fine, you want to make things right? Spill it. How long?”

  “Don’t you say a goddamn thing, Sandy, you hear me? This is between Janine and I.”

  “You shut the hell up, Nic. Sandy, look at me,” she reached down, taking Sand-E’s head in both hands, drawing her attention squarely upon her eyes. “How long?”

  I have to tell her everything, Sand-E nodded to herself, it’s the only way I can ever hope to regain her trust.

  “Seven months, just a few weeks before he was let go from Centra.”

  Janine closed her eyes tight, hands squeezing Sand-E’s head with increasing tension. Her eyes darted open, back towards the bedroom door, “Because of the layoffs, huh?”

  “She’s a lying bitch, Janine, don’t you believe a thing she says.”

  “How long between Nic and Sandra?”

  Don’t hold back, Sandy, just tell her everything.

  “Just over a year and a half, right after Thanksgiving. Two months before you purchased me.”

  “She’s full of shit... you shut your mouth right now, Sandy,” his voice started to move away from the door, becoming softer, “I’m getting the key from the garage right now, Janine, it better be open when I get back.”

  Her hands shaking with rage, Janine reached down for the broken lamp stand, raising it high above her head like a club. Silence hung in the air as she looked down into Sand-E’s eyes, seeing nothing but sadness and contrition staring back at her. Her shoulders slumping down, Janine lowered her arms and threw the lamp aside.

  Crouching down to the floor, Janine pulled her head close to Sand-E, resting their foreheads together. She sighed deep, drawing both of their faces up to look at each other, faces wet with tears, eyes red and swollen.

  “Look at us, Sandy. Both used. Playthings.”

  I was just a... toy to him. Just a whore. Was Janine just a toy, too?

  “The neighbors must have heard him, he practically screamed that last part...” Janine’s voice trailed off in thought, her eyes darting to the nightstand that had been knocked over.