I chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t want to do a job that was dangerous! Anyway, I can’t be certain they planned to kill me. I sort of forced their hand.”
“Which brings me to your next issue. You left two dead bodies and your blood at the scene.”
There are a lot of good techniques for cleaning up crime scenes—or so I’ve heard. Usually, I want people to know I was the one behind a killing. “They were professionals, and I doubt they were alone.”
“And you say this as something that helps you?”
I flexed my right arm a bit. The medi-gel had stopped the bleeding and the pain, but I had lost a little mobility. “It means their friends should be perfectly capable of making the whole thing disappear. We professional criminals like to handle these things ourselves and not involve the law.”
“So you will continue on as if nothing happened?”
“I will continue with the job until more information presents itself. No use panicking and making rash decisions until we’re sure what’s going on. Who knows, they might have been the allies I was supposed to get in contact with and this was all just a cute misunderstanding. I could be laughing about this by tomorrow.”
“I am having trouble finding the humor in that, using my standard humor algorithms—wait, I think I get it. The statement itself was humor, as you were pretending that double homicide is comparable to an awkward social mishap.”
“It’s not funny when you explain it, Dip. Just keep listening to the police, and tell me if they find the bodies.”
I sat a while longer in the dark. It was very quiet. The modern apartment had almost perfect sound dampers in the walls. That’s always useful.
The lights came on and disturbed my peace. I leapt from the chair and grabbed Nakhai and broke his arm at the elbow before he could even comprehend what was going on. I slammed him into a bookshelf and then the numerous pieces of ancient-looking art he had in his living room. Beating up old men isn’t something I have lots of firsthand experience with, but I thought I did a decent job of rattling him without too much risk of inadvertently killing him. After I used him to break the coffee table, I threw my full body weight into a blow to the side of his knee, shattering it and making sure he wouldn’t try to get back up.
“Sorry for the rough introduction,” I said, keeping my voice quite calm, “but I wanted to make it clear that I am a very violent person who is going to kill you.”
Nakhai stared at me through tears of pain, trying to look defiant. “I am ready to die.”
“But I am not ready for you to die.” I stood over him, keeping my expression blank. “You will get to be a martyr, and you will get your reward from your god, but I first need some information from you.”
“I don’t know anything.”
“I’m no fool. You know things, and we will not be done until you tell me these things.”
He began inching away from me on the ground in a rather pathetic manner. “Who are you?”
It was nice being alone with someone I was going to kill; I could really be myself. I knelt down to appear less imposing. “Let’s say I’m a neutral party. I’m not part of the godless government you oppose. I am no friend of the Galactic Alliance, and, given time, I will cause grave harm to it myself—so much harm that your own people will cheer what I do as God’s retribution. Unfortunately, your people and your terrorist attacks are in my way right now, and thus I have to end them.” I didn’t actually know if I was here to do damage to the Galactic Alliance or not—it was often a tool of the syndicates as much as it was something that opposed them—but convincing Nakhai to open up to me was, of course, more of a consideration than the truth.
He stared at me for a moment, probably trying to figure me out. Good luck with that. “What is willed by Allah, no man can stop.”
“But perhaps I am the will of God.” I stood up, looming tall over him. “In fact, it’s probably best to think of me not as a good man or an evil man but instead as more of a natural disaster—like an earthquake—just destroying everything around it. Sure, I’m going to kill you and some of your allies, but my destruction of your enemies will be much greater. Now, your people will be martyred and receive their reward. You will be martyred and have your reward. And I assure you that one day soon, at my hands, the evil empire of the Alliance will be gravely injured. Now, how hard do you want to fight against such a beneficial outcome?”
Nakhai’s hardened expression of defiance was slowly fading. “I will not betray the faithful.”
“I know you don’t want to. I’m sure you’re as dedicated to your god as any mere mortal could be. But you are a man, and men always break. Always. Your devotion to your cause will determine how long you can hold out but not whether you will break. If there is a God, He surely knows this and will not hold it against you. What’s the expression? ‘The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.’ I forget what religion that’s from, but I am sure the concept is universal.” I put my foot on his chest for emphasis. “Here is what is going to happen. I am going to hurt you. I am going to inflict pain and injury like you have never experienced before and can’t even imagine. Eventually, motivated by the extreme pain, you will begin to accept my logic on these matters. You will know that you can both tell me about the Calabrai and go to your god as a martyr. What I want you to do now is take a moment to think—really think hard—and figure out exactly how much pain and suffering you have to endure to feel you’ve fulfilled your duties to your god.”
I was silent for a few seconds, and he just stared up at me wordlessly, his resolve fading into a pathetic look of desperation.
I took my foot off his chest. “That should have been enough time.” I smiled deeply, and I could see all hope leave him as he looked at my expression. “Let’s get started.”
CHAPTER 18
I slept in my hotel room. Yes, I know—it was a bit daring since a rival syndicate might have been out to kill me. But I had learned the building and the area around it pretty well, so it was a battlefield of my choosing. Plus I don’t like running or hiding. I really, really don’t like that. Perhaps that’s unreasonable, but it seems every man needs to have a few unquestioned principles.
I only got a couple hours’ sleep and awoke hoping to not have anything in particular to do that day. “Dip, did you find Nakhai’s information useful?” Nakhai hadn’t made me stay up that late before telling me what I wanted to know and pointing me to his hidden files.
“Yes, there was enough data in his files for me to identify and locate members of the three additional cells. I anonymously relayed the information to the police as you requested, and they are closing in on the Calabrai as we speak.”
“So that’s over, then?”
“I would think so. The files contained evidence of an additional plan to crash a cruise ship into the Nar Valdum capitol building during the conference, but they apparently encountered the same problem I have with Nar Valdum’s air security.”
“Sounds like I’m done being the terrorist-fighting hero. This whole affair has been very much beneath me. Have you heard anything about the two ladies I danced with?”
“Not yet.”
I hated waiting, but waiting for my contacts to seek me out was all I had now that the terrorism nonsense was finished. And those people would certainly owe me some explanations. I began to wonder if the Nystrom executives would care if I killed one of my contacts to demonstrate how seriously I should be taken—because they had obviously not gotten that memo.
I figured that was probably a bad idea if I had to work closely with them anyway; murder makes people touchy. I just hoped they had more worthy targets of my violence than silly terrorists.
Small animals ran around the park, along with the flying things of Nar Valdum that seemed analogous to birds. I found it interesting that these city creatures were mostly unconcerned with the larger predators that surrounded them, apparently assuming all sentients meant them no harm. They certainly weren’t worth my time to kill.
“It’s peaceful. I like it.” It was a very large park—almost a forest, really—in the center of the city. People like to be able to escape into nature to get away from the horrors of their technological progress—though this was a rather artificial version of nature, with mowed lawns and carefully planted trees. Still, it was large enough that many areas seemed quite secluded—maybe secluded enough that one could dispatch someone there without notice. It’s always calming to be some place where you could shoot someone in the face and not worry about being surrounded by sirens minutes later.
“I thought maybe you would like to do something the opposite of exciting, considering your last few days,” Diane said. “Are you…doing okay?”
“Yeah, just needed a night to sort myself out…I don’t want you to get the idea that I don’t enjoy your company, though.”
“No…no. I understand.” She smiled. I smiled back, and it wasn’t an act. I did enjoy her company…which was certainly odd for me. Perhaps I just liked that she was a bit more challenging to deal with than most people—not so predictable as everyone else. I just wasn’t sure what my intentions were with her anymore, though. I hoped the city’s law enforcement was marginally competent, which would mean the terrorist annoyance was now over. I didn’t know if she’d be useful to me for whatever was coming next, but I didn’t figure it would hurt to keep her nearby just in case. Yes, that meant there was further risk of her finding me out, but I was supposed to be on a big job isolated from an easy escape, which made it seem nice to have a…well…friend.
So friends care about each other and their problems. That was something I’d have to remember to fake. “You okay being off duty right now?”
“I guess everything is in capable hands.” She wasn’t very convincing; she seemed antsy having to just sit there instead of act. She whispered to me, “I heard that a member of the Calabrai called the police with information on all the other cells out there.”
“Wow. So there are more cells?”
“Yes…but I guess the feds are on top of it.” Again, she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than me. “There’s nothing for me to do right now except pray. And I heard that someone in the Calabrai grew a conscience and is helping us end the attacks.” She smiled. “So maybe that’s working.”
I believe the ancient expression is “God works in mysterious ways,” but beating information out of an old man and then having my AI program pretend to be a Calabrai member to pass on the information to police didn’t seem very mysterious from my perspective.
I’d never prayed myself, even in desperate situations. I certainly remember a moment of desperation, but while I was lying there in my own blood sans my right hand, I wasn’t praying—I was screaming. Plus, if I’d prayed and God had answered my prayer to let me live, He’d have been simultaneously ignoring other prayers by people not wanting to be killed. I’ve put down praying men before.
“I never really got the point of praying. It just doesn’t seem like there is some big, powerful entity putting everything together.”
She nodded. “It’s easy to see the world as random chaos, no meaning or purpose to it. I’ve certainly been there. But then there’s the beauty of the universe—the life forms and the simple joy of living. In the end, you get to choose how you look at the world.” She blushed. “I’m sorry. You probably aren’t looking for a theological debate when you’re on vacation.”
“Well, if it’s between that and being in a shootout with terrorists, I’d probably choose the religious discussion.” Not really.
She smiled again. I certainly would have liked to know her carnally if I’d had the time, but I figured that whole religion thing would get in the way.
I heard a beep, and Diane pulled out a handheld device. Her casual glance at the handheld quickly turned to an intense stare. “Nakhai was found dead. Beheaded.”
I put on my shocked face—mainly just a blank expression with mouth slightly open. Don’t hold it too long, or you look really stupid. “The terrorists thought he gave us information?” Incidentally, cutting off someone’s head and not getting a huge mess on yourself is not easy.
“I…I suppose.” She stood up. “I think I should…”
I got up and put my hand on her shoulder. “Diane, other people are handling it. I think we’ve both done enough for now.”
“Sure, I guess.” She looked ready to bolt, and then I’d probably have to go with her to be supportive or risk my cover as an awesome, trustworthy cop. Easier to convince her to let it go, for both our sakes.
“Diane!” A woman Diane’s age was coming toward us. She was a slightly plump brunette in clothes that didn’t look quite casual enough for the park. She didn’t appear to be a threat, but I had been wrong before. She quickly looked at me and smiled. “Who is your friend?” she asked.
Diane turned red and forced an awkward smile. “Hey, Hana…What a coincidence running into you here. This is Rico Vargas; he’s from the planet Rikar. Rico, this is my friend Hana.”
I stood and shook her hand and was instantly ready to hate her. Her smile was way overenthusiastic, and it filled me with dread. I had a feeling that I had stumbled into a completely asinine social situation, one that was going to stretch my patience for being polite.
“Diane has told me all about you!” With the excitement in her voice, you’d have thought she was meeting her favorite rock star. “This is a great planet, isn’t it? Have you ever thought of living here?”
Diane briefly glared at her. “Thanks, Hana, but I think Rico may have gotten too much of the planet already.”
It was actually a little amusing to see Diane this embarrassed. Her friend had confirmed what had become quite obvious—that she liked me. I really didn’t think I could be around someone this much without slipping enough to scare her off, though, so that felt like an accomplishment. “I don’t know. I could see living here,” I said. For maybe a month, tops, until boredom led to escalating violence and I ended up in a massive gunfight that would go down in the planet’s history. Also, I presumed the syndicate had more violence in store for me that would give me cause to leave the planet much sooner. But for the moment, feigning a romantic interest in Diane—not just of the one-night-stand sort—would be an interesting challenge. “It’d be a nice change of pace from being in the backwater places of the universe. Just might not want to live right in the city.” I chuckled a bit. “It’s a bit too hectic here.” That’s funny, because I’ve been constantly shooting terrorists.
Is it pathetic that I pick up habits from Dip?
“There are some beautiful countrysides here,” Hana said without missing a beat, though completely missing the joke (Diane didn’t brag about how often I shot people?). “Maybe Diane could show you some. I know she’s been considering getting a place out there.”
“That might be neat to see.” I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. Maybe my contact would want me to stay here, but by this point I was of the “Screw them!” attitude. Not professional, but so far this whole job didn’t seem very professional.
“I can show you some nice areas…you know…if you’re really interested,” Diane said with a forced nonchalance. She seemed quite tough for a woman, and I found that interesting, but she was adorable when vulnerable. Like a puppy. Like a puppy I didn’t find annoying or want to kill. By now, I really did hope this wouldn’t end with my killing her. I fantasized that maybe she would try to hunt me down, and we’d run into each other again one day, but as sworn enemies. That could be fun.
“I think you’ll love
it. I really think you will,” Hana said, giggling a bit. Her I did not care for. Were it socially permissible, I would have already decked her.
“Well, maybe we’ll do that.” I could tell Diane was more annoyed than embarrassed. “Anyway, it sure was nice running into you here, but I assume you have lots of errands to run.”
“Not really. I just dropped the kids off at school, and now…” She took in Diane’s expression. “Oh, actually, I’m going to…You two have lots to do. I’ll see you later. Nice meeting you, Rico.”
“Nice meeting you, too.” I gave her my warm, friendly smile, which took a tiring amount of effort. Then she mercifully left.
All in all, I really hate people. All sentients annoy me, but it’s that closer connection with my own species that allows humans to get under my skin. As a child, I fantasized about killing all humans until I was the only one left, though that really was infeasible without access to weapons that could destroy on a global scale. A daydream, really.
Diane turned to me. “Sorry about that. She’s a friend. I mentioned that I was showing a visiting officer the city. I didn’t think she’d just show up like that.”
I laughed a little and then stared a little too long at her eyes. I quickly turned away as if catching myself. “So…um…what do we have planned next?”
“Well, whatever you’re interested in. I don’t think you actually want to go house hunting in the countryside. There is a carnival in town, though. It’s a bit like an old-fashioned one from Earth, with funnel cakes and rides and games.”
“You mean where you knock down bottles to win a gratuitously large stuffed animal?”
“Exactly.” She smiled. “Which is good, because I recently realized that none of my stuffed animals are quite large enough. Anyway, they also have lots of displays from other species, since there are so many visiting the city this week, so it might be interesting.”
Sounded insipid. “Sounds fun. Might be worth checking out.”
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