“Can’t be sure, but he does seem to have a bug up his butt this morning. Go make me some coffee while I put on my clothes.”
Flint was apprehensive but overcame his fear, hovering out into the kitchen. Soon there were the familiar sounds and smells of coffee brewing.
Rev didn’t hurry washing up and putting on his clothes. He wanted to wake up and think about the case and what he was going to tell Tuloff when they met. He felt that saying anything about the plot to overthrow the government was definitely not on the short list, but some other information he could report. It was no secret to tell Tuloff that Sybil was involved and killed for it. Tuloff could formulate whatever he wanted to make sense of that fact. But Rev would need to tread lightly and reveal only what was directly asked. Nothing extra or he could incriminate himself and Flint. Finally he opened the bedroom door where he scooped the coffee from Flint, guzzled a big gulp and went to the door triumphantly with the travel mug.
“All right boys,” said Rev. “Let’s get this dog and pony show on the road.”
They found themselves in the office of Regency Tuloff, again waiting for him to appear. Rev thought the show of power and wealth was a little overdone as he sat waiting for the official to arrive. Rev drank his coffee still contemplating just how much he was going tell the bureaucrat. He had half a mind to skim over all details and let the pompous ass divine whatever he liked. Rev just wanted to find his friends and leave before an all out war started.
Tuloff strolled in with an aide who handed him a clipboard viewer and asked for his signature on a set of lengthy looking digi-docs. Tuloff scanned them, and after careful scrutiny, he signed each screen with the flip of his hand. Once completed, he handed the clipboard to the aide who thumbed through each screen, set the digi-doc down open with his finger pointing to a specific spot.
“And here sir,” the aide said.
Tuloff huffed, reread the section at the aide’s fingertips and scrawled his signature. Apparently satisfied, the aide left.
Flint hovered near the far wall hoping to look inconspicuous.
“You,” commanded Tuloff, pointing to Flint. “Yes you, automaton. Come closer.”
“His name is Flint, if you remember,” said Rev.
“I remember his name. He’s my property and I’ll address him anyway I please.”
Flint flew over and hovered above the adjacent chair.
“Report,” demanded Tuloff.
“What would you like to know?” asked Flint.
“Everything, but that will take too long I suppose. How about the basics.”
“I can answer better than Flint,” offered Rev. And without waiting for Tuloff to object, Rev started in. “There is most probably a creature twice as tall and again as big around as any Tsunamian who was the murderer in both crimes. We believe the murders are related to one Willa Thoust, who was a co-worker to the first deceased victim and an acquaintance to the second. Evidence indicates that our Earth investigators are being held against their will by subversive persons who are against the current government.”
“Where did the creature come from?” asked Tuloff.
“We believe Dr. Tee Sorse, the first victim, was involved in bioengineering the creature from Tsunamian reclamation parts,” said Rev.
“The subversives you mentioned must be the Deviant Resistance Movement,” said Tuloff out loud. “Is that all?”
Flint started to say something but Rev interrupted. “Yes, sir,” said Rev, giving Flint the stink eye.
“Very well,” said Tuloff, shaking his head. “You can keep your little secrets for the time being.”
“Thank you, sir,” said both of them.
“Now, I have grave news for you Mr. Smalley.”
Rev sat up and looked into Tulloff’s face.
“I’m sending you back to Earth for the next few days—”
Rev interrupted again. “I object strongly to this action. What grounds do you have to indicate I have not performed my job?”
“None, that I can prove,” said Tuloff.
“Then let me stay and complete what I’ve started.”
“I’m sure you’ll agree once you understand,” said Tuloff, trying to reason with Rev who was standing up towering over the desk.
“I don’t care if the universe is collapsing into the void. I need to be here. Not on Earth. My two friends are in danger,” he argued.
“I completely understand your position, Mr. Smalley, but please be seated and let me explain.”
Rev sat back down, but he was still too angry at the thought of abandoning Braz and Cassie to hide his expression.
“It’s about your friends, Rev,” said Tuloff, trying to break the bad news.
“What about them?” stammered Rev.
“I’m sorry to inform you that the body of Agent Cassie Townes was found earlier this morning near the eastern entrance to the Memorial Park.”
Rev’s world came to a crashing halt.
PART 2: RIGHT IS WRONG
Chapter 13
FLINT WOULDN’T TAKE NO FOR an answer and said he was going with Rev back to Earth to arrange for Cassie’s funeral. In the end, Rev couldn’t see any reason the little guy shouldn’t, so he let him come. He could use a friend, even if the friend was an automaton. At least Flint could make him great coffee.
The body of Cassie was sealed and marked as a diplomat with full Tsunamian honors on the casket. Rev and Flint watched her wink out in the Stroustop anomaly, transported back to Earth. This time Rev allowed the doctors to sedate him so it would be easier on his body for the travel, even though he felt he was getting used to the process from the little jumps on Tsunam. His stomach didn’t even jump anymore from traveling in black holes.
There was plenty of space for human and machine to travel in the same tube and within no time at all they were back on Earth. Rev was just a little shaken up but Flint didn’t seem to mind it in the least.
Rev saw Magnus directing an honor guard to take Cassie’s body back to the EIA’s morgue for autopsy. “You can’t cut her open like she was a chunk of meat,” exclaimed Rev rushing over.
“It’s just procedure,” said Magnus. “I have to file a report and notify the next of kin.”
“That’s a load of crap and you know it,” he said, grabbing Magnus by the shoulder. “She doesn’t have any next of kin.”
“We have to be sure it’s her,” said Magnus. “I’ll take care of her, I promise.”
“Yeah, buddy,” shouted Rev. “Your promises ain’t worth the time of day. Do what you have to do, but don’t let those butchers go too far.”
Magnus patted Rev on the shoulder and left looking miserable.
The EIA arranged for the funeral and the headstone. The services were to be on the next day. Rev decided to mill about his old office feeling sorry for himself to while away the time. Flint never left his side unless Rev wanted something to eat or drink, which wasn’t very often. The automaton felt the big man was about to explode with grief but he didn’t know how to console him.
“Is there anything I can do for you Rev?”
Rev pounded the tip of an old-fashioned pencil into an even more ancient day planner on the desktop. “No, not much can be done. I just wish we had found Braz before we left. It’s going to be harder to pick up his trail if he’s gone underground.”
“We’ll find him,” assured Flint. “We haven’t exhausted our search. There’s both of their apartments. Maybe Cassie and Braz left something there that’ll help.”
“It’s possible. It’s more probable that whoever is behind this has already ransacked the rooms and taken whatever evidence they might’ve left behind.”
“We don’t know that for sure. What about locating Taki and helping Willa? That’s important too.”
“I did make a promise to her to find Braz, and by the Maker, I will.”
“In the meantime you should figure out a way for us to infiltrate that twentieth sub-level of the Reclamation Center,” said Flint. “I’m not ver
y good at those kinds of things.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” said Rev. “Why do you think no one is allowed access to that level?”
“It’s obviously a sensitive area to the security of the government.”
“Right, but what makes body parts so important? Parts that everyone supposedly knows what happens to them anyway?”
“They are the building blocks of all Tsunamian life,” said Flint.
“I understand that, everyone says that. In the course of an average day on Tsunam, generally speaking, the Reclamation Center said they usually only handle a hundred or so individuals wanting to pass on.”
“That’s correct.”
“What happens if you need thousands or even millions of parts to create an army of new soldiers? How would you get them?”
“I don’t like where this conversation’s leading,” said Flint.
“You would need to take them from the populace, right?”
“This is really bothering me,” stammered Flint.
“But you wouldn’t want to make it look like you were reclaiming parts from the populace beyond the norm, so you’d have to cause a global panic so people would want to self-terminate.”
“Like a gruesome Tsunamian eating monster?” said Flint.
“Bingo!”
Flint flitted around tweeting with delight. “That fits exactly!”
“You’re catching on pretty fast,” said Rev.
“But the scale of the project would be immense,” said Flint.
“Like the size of a government?”
“Or even two governments,” replied Flint. “It would be easier to blame aggression on both sides while a faction from either side steps in and takes over.”
“That never occurred to me,” said Rev. “A collusion between two similar-thinking factions. That’s an interesting thought.”
Flint hovered back and forth like someone pacing. Rev continued, “Tell me how an agency can be completely controlled outside of standard government procedures? It’s like one of our black ops divisions, but one that everyone knows about.”
“What’s so special about that?” asked Flint.
“Well, if it’s so secret, then how come everyone knows of its existence. That kind of defeats the purpose of being secretive.”
“I think I can answer that,” said Flint. “The Tsunamians are a technologically advanced race. They rely heavily on that technology to stabilize their way of life.”
“I can’t argue that,” said Rev.
“To keep their society balanced, the people have given up their rights and freedoms to exist within the confines that the government has established.”
“So what you’re saying is,” said Rev, “if the government needs to keep a secret facility that does God-knows-what, the people accept that fact without questioning, so long as their lives aren’t affected by it.”
“Absolutely,” agreed Flint.
“There’s a whole lot of people like that on Earth too. I’m just not one of them. I don’t want to be a sheep.”
“You’re an honorable man, Mr. Smalley,” said Flint.
“Don’t make me out to be some kind of saint. I’m not. Look what I’ve done. Cassie’s dead, Braz is still missing, and I want to beat the crap out of my boss.” Rev paused, then smiled picturing himself pummeling Magnus. “I wonder who’d come out on top, Magnus or me, if it came down to that.”
“I can see you aren’t a saint and I can definitely say you aren’t a martyr either,” said Flint. “So what do we do now?”
“We get some grub,” said Rev, “find a bed, and wait for tomorrow to have a long chat with a pathologist.”
* * *
REV RAN HIS FINGERS over the sign feeling the grooves of the letters. In his mind he recited the letters as he read:
P-A-T-H-O-L-O-G-Y L-A-B
Someday he’d be the one on a slab, but not this morning. He tried not to envision Cassie laying inert, cold and lifeless before entering. He wasn’t ready to see her that way. His lips quivered slightly as he wiped tears from his eyes.
Flint floated silently with Rev, waiting for him to open the door. Rev made a move to leave just when Dr. Wilcox opened the door, almost hitting the little automaton.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” he apologized. “Rev? Is that you?”
“Hi doc,” said Rev, trying to give his best smile.
“Come in, come in,” Wilcox said, guiding Rev towards the interior. “Actually, I was just on my way to talk to you.”
Rev looked apprehensive. The examining table could be seen illuminated with a glaring spotlight. To Rev’s relief, Cassie’s body wasn’t there.
“It’s all right Rev. Cassie’s body is gone now.”
“Why?” asked Rev, following Dr. Wilcox into the lab, getting a clearer view of the autopsy room.
“I released the body for burial this morning.”
“So there’s no doubt it’s her then?” asked Rev.
“None.”
“You sure?”
“The DNA matched,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I could’ve identified her anyway, of course, from her appearance. She was a very pretty woman as you know.”
“That she was,” said Rev.
Flint tried to get a look past the doctor into the operating room. He crammed in close to get a view. Annoyed, Rev nudged Flint out of his way.
“You were close weren’t you?” said Wilcox, signing a report clipped to an aluminum chart holder.
“Yeah, we were close once,” said Rev. “I wanted to get married and it just didn’t work out.” It wasn’t like him to volunteer information like that, but he was feeling pretty low and vulnerable. If he was going to show his true, caring self, this would be one of those times.
“I heard Magnus drove you two apart,” said Wilcox, watching Rev with one eye.
“Water under the bridge, doc. It seems pointless to hold a grudge now that she’s gone.”
“You know she never saw him again after you left, don’t you?” said Wilcox.
“I thought they were still together,” he said surprised.
“No. Cassie felt awful and told Magnus to take a hike. Scuttlebutt says she was trying to teach you a lesson, but I think she regretted the whole affair. Magnus can be a real bastard when it comes to women.”
“So why didn’t she just come and tell me?”
“We’ll never know now, but my guess? She was embarrassed.”
“Cassie knew I’d understand,” said Rev.
“As I remember you were pissed as hell when you quit the EIA.”
“I was,” agreed Rev. “But she had to know I loved her.”
“It probably wasn’t so easy to look you in the eye,” said Wilcox.
“Am I that bad?”
Wilcox gave Rev the stare. “You’re tough as nails emotionally. Not to say anything about your physical body.” Rev nodded. “At five times her age, even though you don’t look it, she might feel like she couldn’t explain her feelings. You’re not the easiest man to get to know, if you know what I mean.”
“I think I do.”
“You’ve got a lot of baggage you carry around, if you don’t mind my saying.”
“All too true, doc,” said Rev. “Maybe it was meant to be this way.”
“Who could say,” said Wilcox.
“I just—”
“It’ll have to be what it is,” said Wilcox, putting a hand on Rev’s broad shoulder. “She’s gone now, but not forgotten.”
“Thanks doc, I guess there’s only one thing left to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Say my peace,” said Rev. “See you at the funeral?”
“I’ll be there,” said Wilcox.
Rev corralled Flint as he zipped over to another piece of lab equipment. Rev redirected him towards the door to leave. Half way down the hall, Dr. Wilcox ran out and stopped Rev and Flint.
“Rev, wait up,” said Wilcox, panting as he got to them. “I almo
st forgot to get your opinion on a puzzler.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s probably nothing,” he said, having second thoughts.
“Maybe. Maybe not. Spill it.”
“You know we typically review the dental records, along with the DNA during an autopsy?”
“Yes,” said Rev, wishing he’d get on with it.
“Cassie didn’t show any signs that she ever had braces on her teeth.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Cassie took great care of her teeth, never having a cavity in her adult life, but her teeth were slightly out of position as a young teen, buttressed from early x-rays we had on file.”
“They were her teeth, right?”
“Absolutely, but according to the x-rays I took this morning for comparison, they were crooked.”
“That’s strange . . . unless there was some damage to her mouth when she died?”
“None that I could see. In fact, there was very little head trauma at all. She did have a few lacerations on the forehead, but they were superficial.”
Rev thought for a moment, rubbing his chin. It did seem odd. This was meaningful. “So before she left for Tsunam her teeth were straight and when she came back they were crooked but not from any trauma?”
“You got it,” said Wilcox with a nod.
“Interesting, wouldn’t you say Flint?” said Rev, giving Flint a jab of his finger.
“Is this one of those things to be scared about?” asked Flint, pondering why teeth were so important.
“No, little buddy,” said Rev. “I’m thinking this is pretty good news.”
“Do you mind telling me what’s on your mind?” said Flint.
“I’d like to keep it to myself for the time being.”
Dr. Wilcox looked puzzled. “You think it might be important then?”
“Let’s just say, doc, this is the best news I’ve heard in a long while. See you when I get back.”
“Where are you going?” asked Dr. Wilcox as Rev rushed down the hallway with Flint trying to keep up.
“No time, doc. Bye.”
“Aren’t you going to the funeral?” shouted Wilcox.
“No,” said Rev, getting to the end of the hallway. “You’ve seen one funeral—you’ve seen them all.”
The Beast of Tsunam (Rev Smalley: Galactic P.I. Book 1) Page 10