The Beast of Tsunam (Rev Smalley: Galactic P.I. Book 1)

by Combs, Scott A.

  “Mr. Prime Minister,” started Magnus coolly and confidently, “I can assure you that I am in complete control of the situation. Smalley will report in bringing the intelligence that will vindicate Earth of any wrong doing.”

  “And what if you’re wrong?”

  “By all means, fire me.”

  “You have balls but that’s not going to get you through this mess. Someone has to pay for this and it’s not going to be me. Do you understand?”

  “I understand completely,” said Magnus understanding that the Prime Minister was nothing more than a political puppet. He’d seen their kind come and go over the years and he hoped that this one would go sooner rather than later.

  “Smalley must be arrested as soon as you have him,” said the Prime Minister.

  “I would advise against that course of action.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Smalley isn’t a man who’ll take to being arrested very well.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass what this Smalley cares about,” said the Prime Minister shaking his finger at Magnus. “He’s a criminal and it’s your duty to follow my orders. I want him detained and extradited back to Tsunam for trial.”

  “And what if he evokes counsel and claims his rights as an Earth citizen against such treatment?” sneered Magnus in a condescending tone.

  “Don’t give me that crap,” said the Prime Minister. “Restrain him and keep him in the dark until it’s too late for him to get representation.”

  “That’s illegal,” said Magnus.

  “You’re telling me you’ve never committed an illegal act all these years as Director of EIA?” demanded the Prime Minister.

  “Never,” said Magnus flatly.

  The Prime Minister’s eyes flared again. He licked his lips and stroked his sweating brow with a handkerchief. “Can you reason with Smalley to do the right thing for his planet?”

  “It’s possible,” said Magnus. “He won’t like it but I could convince him of his duty.”

  “Then do so,” snapped the PM, “and make this problem vanish before Earth becomes a pile of smoldering cinders in space. The Alliance is very unforgiving on matters of this caliber.”

  “I will need a small favor,” said Magnus.

  “Favor?”

  “Yes, I need criminal immunity if you wish to implicate Smalley as the sole perpetrator of these crimes.”

  “How can I justify that? He’s your man acting on your orders.”

  “You do have the power to grant pardons in such cases, do you not?”

  The PM glared at Magnus. “You know damned well I could but it would mean political suicide for me.”

  “Not if you claim that the EIA, as an organization, had no knowledge of these crimes and that Smalley was acting on his own behalf in the pursuit of saving his lover from harm.”

  “You can make such an account hold water?”

  “Absolutely,” said Magnus. “And furthermore, Smalley couldn’t deny the facts under oath.”

  “Would you do this to your own man?”

  “He’s actually only a consultant acting on our authority,” said Magnus. “Besides, what’s one man’s freedom when compared to billions facing an alien invasion?”

  “Now you’re talking sense.”

  “Of course,” said Magnus pausing, “I can’t be expected to betray Smalley without a signed pardon.”

  “You’re a crafty bastard,” said the Prime Minister.

  “Yes, I am,” said Magnus smugly.

  “How do you want the pardon worded?”

  “Start by saying: Magnus Blackheart is pardoned of all criminal acts during his appointment as Director of EIA. Add a few appropriate lines about pardoning future acts as well just in case I’m suddenly out of a job. You know the wording better than I.”

  The PM looked nervous. “And you guarantee that this incident will be cleared up completely?”

  “You have my word,” said Magnus.

  The Prime Minister nodded in agreement. “The pardon will be in your office within the hour. Will that do?”

  “Very, very well Mr. Prime Minister.” Magnus smiled, knowing he had the last piece to his plan.

  The screen disappeared and Magnus pumped his fist in excitement. His mind hummed with new thoughts of power and control. Of course Rev was expendable, as he planned. It wasn’t wise to keep the only man capable of stopping him alive. He had a moment of guilt but it faded quickly as he thought how exciting it would be watching Rev march to his death.

  * * *

  “HOW HOT AM I?” asked Rev standing in his apartment talking to Magnus on the viewer.

  Magnus grinned raising his left eyebrow for emphasis. “Remember the time when you invaded the ice station on Europa?”

  “That bad?”

  “Worse, I’m afraid.”

  “Then you can’t protect me anymore,” said Rev.

  “That’s not entirely accurate,” replied Magnus. “I can help as long as it looks like I’m on the Earth Coalition’s agenda.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I can detain you. Prepare you to be extradited and . . . ”

  “Send me to my doom,” said Rev. “No thanks.”

  “I was going to say, arrange for a slight miscommunication error and send you to Tsunam but in a slightly different location than the one that Tuloff will be expecting.”

  “You can do that?” asked Flint moving in front of the view screen. Rev swatted the little automaton out of his way and then thought better of it and pulled Flint back to share the screen.

  “How can you disguise our travel to Tsunam?” asked Rev.

  “I have my ways,” said Magnus. “Let’s just say Earth Coalition has been visiting Tsunam for a while. Secretly, of course.”

  “That’s not possible or I’d have records in my memory,” said Flint.

  “Believe me Flint,” said Rev, “if Magnus says he’s been there then it’s the gospel.”

  “We have our own transmat tube in an isolated undisclosed location,” said Magnus. “Some poor tourist bound for the beaches of Nuerillion will be diverted unexpectedly to Tsunam in the same instant you’re to be sent and we reflect your destination to our tube instead.”

  Flint hovered excitedly. “You use an authorized jump and piggyback another transmission along with it! How do you handle the redirection once the signal reaches Tsunam?”

  “Very simple I’m afraid,” said Magnus. “We tie into the local transmat elevator subsystem and pipe the package to anyplace we designate.”

  “That’s brilliant if it works,” said Flint. “The individual travels normally through hyperspace and before he materializes is buffered back into the subsystem out to another jump location.”

  “Correct,” said Magnus. “A slight power surge will occur, well within normal parameters, showing up on the transmat technician’s monitor and hopefully disregarded as a solar flare.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” said Rev.

  “Wait just a moment,” said Flint. “I’ve projected the probability of success and . . . ”

  “There are risks,” interrupted Magnus. “Nothing is fail proof when handling quantum mechanics.”

  “Flint, what are the odds?” asked Rev.

  “One in three chance.”

  “That’s pretty good odds,” said Rev, “I’ll take a sixty-six percent chance of success any day.”

  “But,” stammered Flint.

  “What?” Rev stared at the machine.

  Magnus look stern. “He’s trying to say you have a one in three chance that you’ll either materialize where you’re supposed to or never know that you didn’t materialize at all. But his calculations are wrong. We’ve perfected the data stream to a mere fraction of the risk now that we have the correct frequencies that the Tsunamian government uses.”

  “Well,” said Rev, “how mere are the chances?”

  “Say one in a thousand,” said Magnus.

  Flint fluttered impatient
ly. “We could just as well materialize in the original transmat tube,” said Flint, “with me fused to your body.”

  “Neither of us likes each other that much,” said Rev smiling. “Especially having my partner stuck to my butt.”

  “You make jokes, but it’s a serious possibility,” said Flint.

  “Sorry partner.”

  Flint gave Magnus his sternest face. “How many times have you attempted this?”

  “We’ve had a dozen successful trips,” said Magnus. “Six trips going and six trips coming back.”

  “With no mishaps?” Rev looked skeptical. “Who’d you send?”

  “I sent me,” said Magnus. “Someone had to test the procedures and secure the safe house.”

  “So our odds are we’re going to die in the attempt,” said Flint.

  “It’s a good possibility,” said Magnus. “We are all desperate to vindicate ourselves and save Earth from punishment, which means annihilation. We need proof that Tuloff was in on the murders or at the least his connection to these killer beasts.”

  “I don’t see we have any other choice,” said Rev. “We have to go back.”

  “I agree,” said Magnus. “You’ll go back, rescue Cassie and tie Tuloff to these crimes and vindicate yourselves, EIA and Earth. That will lift the death sentence from your head.”

  “I’m scheduled to be deactivated also,” said Flint looking worried.

  Rev paced, thinking. “I don’t like it. It’s clear you can’t send anymore agents to help.” He stuck his hands in his back pockets while he paced.

  Magnus waited as long as he could before interrupting. “You haven’t got any options but to go and vindicate yourself.”

  “I know,” said Rev. “I just can’t shake this feeling I’m being manipulated.”

  “You can blame me for getting you into this mess if it helps,” said Magnus sympathetically.

  “It’s beyond placing blame. You’ve helped as much as you can. Any more and the Earth Coalition will remove you from office and prosecute the crap out of you.”

  He paced some more muttering under his breath. Flint was close enough to hear the words, “I’ve done everything wrong on this case.”

  Magnus grew impatient and tossed in the topic sure to get Smalley going. “You were right about one thing. I had Cassie’s body exhumed. It was definitely a clone.”

  Rev looked at the screen, the director couldn’t make out what the man was thinking.

  “You’ve got to make a decision and soon,” said Magnus. “The Prime Minister himself has ordered your warrant.”

  “That little puppet couldn’t wipe his own ass if someone wasn’t pulling his strings,” sneered Rev. “I don’t trust him to know the right thing if it slapped him in the face.”

  “Do you suspect he’s mixed up in this affair?” asked Magnus.

  “Him?” said Rev shaking his head. “I doubt it. He only reacts to stimuli. But he’s being used at the expense of the whole planet.”

  Magnus felt worried that Rev might not follow through, he pushed the emotional button again. “Whether the PM is involved or not we must help Cassie.”

  “I’m not stupid,” snapped Rev. “She’s being kept alive for some reason and we can assume it’s part of what’s going on in the basement of the Eugenics Lab on Tsunam. There’s no way we can enter that facility without alerting the whole Tsunamian government.”

  “Now there you’re wrong,” said Magnus. Rev looked into those purple eyes, willing him to continue. “You told me you’ve seen the Director of the Eugenics Lab?”

  “Yes?”

  “I know for a fact,” said Magnus, “he’s on the list of personnel authorized to enter the twentieth sub-level.” Magnus paused. “If you kidnap him or take his security pass without alerting anyone,” he paused again thinking, “and if you then reach the basement undetected . . . You might find out what is so important on that floor and hopefully rescue Cassie if she’s still alive.”

  “That’s a lot of if’s,” mumbled Rev not convinced.

  Chapter 24

  MAGNUS’ IMAGE FADED. Rev’s apartment felt small and confining. A lingering feeling of dread hung on his mind like a damp cloth placed on a forehead for a fever. Now he was a criminal on both worlds without so much as a rope to hang himself with. All of the clues just didn’t add up, so he plopped himself down in his favorite old leather chair and brooded on the turn of events. He stroked the old burgundy-colored leather chair with the palms of his hands feeling the soft suppleness of the worn arms. His brows furrowed as he contemplated what Magnus just offered.

  Flint noticed his partner’s uneasiness and hovered nearby watching the human. If Rev could think through the issues, then he could too. So he mimicked Rev and instead of sitting in a chair he positioned himself in a similar stance with two translucent arms extended as if he was sitting in another chair and stroking the imaginary arms. His neural brain ran through the clues. Soon his little body was humming with noise as he attempted to figure out who was behind the kidnapping and for what reasons.

  Rev peered over and smiled at the little automaton. Suddenly Flint broke the silence. “How well do you know Magnus?”

  “We go way back.”

  “And you trust him?”

  Rev raised his hand and wobbled it back and forth, shaking his head. “No, but I don’t think he would betray me to end my days in an alien prison.”

  Flint was surprised by this answer. “Why not?”

  “Loyalty to Earth mostly. If he’s helping us to escape then he’s also getting something for his efforts. My guess; he’s leveraging himself enough time to cover his tracks against prosecution.”

  “I computed that too,” said Flint. “There’s something about his eyes that trouble me.”

  “They’re purple.”

  “Color? It’s more that they are cold and unfeeling. He appears to be genuine on the surface but his expressions indicate he hates you.”

  “He can come off being cold and calculating but I still think he’s concerned for Cassie.”

  “I detect you have your doubts,” said Flint retracting his arms and floating closer. “It bothers you enough to brood about his conversation. Therefore you must be thinking it’s a trap of some kind.”

  Rev stared out the window letting his mind clear. “Let’s ask the basic question: why bring me in on this case?”

  “If you’re asking me,” said Flint, “it’s a good way to place the blame on you.”

  “It does seem like I’m expendable,” said Rev. “Everything up to now has felt like someone has been manipulating us. I just don’t understand why, or better yet, who would benefit from getting rid of Cassie, Braz and myself.”

  Flint scratched his translucent outer shell with an equally transparent arm. “Only Cassie’s welfare remains unknown. Braz is safe, for the moment at least. Although we don’t actually know where the Deviants took him, he’s with Willa and that’s got to be a good thing.”

  “Yes,” said Rev. “I’d say Braz and Willa’s rescue wasn’t something the bad guys wanted.”

  “Then we can assume that their plans aren’t fool-proof. We’ve made them change to adapt to our interference.”

  Rev pointed his index finger at the little automaton and nodded. “A very good point. We’ve survived and mucked up their plans somehow. Taki and his people were saved from a swarm of rampaging beasts, and hopefully they’re finding ways to gain sympathy with the Alliance wherever they ended up.”

  Flint nodded. “Soon the Alliance will take control and impose order on Tsunam.”

  “Will they?” Rev shrugged.

  Flint thought about it and shook his head. “I guess not. Not until Tsunam is a threat to another planetary government. Or . . . ” Flint spun around completely in a moment of revelation.

  “Or what?”

  “Why do we think that there is an internal plot to overthrow the Tsunamian government?”

  “Because there’s a civil war about to erupt and p
anic in the streets,” said Rev.

  “What if someone else wants the war?” asked Flint.

  “Why would anyone else want that?”

  “Tsunam doesn’t allow inter-planetary relations,” said Flint matter-of-factly. Rev just stared. “No visitors,” said Flint reinforcing his point.

  Still, Rev didn’t get it. “Everyone knows that.”

  “They don’t share what they have⁠—⁠their planet, their people, and certainly none of their technology.”

  “You think this is all about technology?”

  “I see no other reason,” said Flint. “Tsunam has had a stable society for millions of years. During that time our technology has expanded into all facets of the scientific universe. Look at me. I’m self-sufficient, self-renewing and self-aware. Technology like myself would be worth billions to some on the lesser worlds.”

  “It can’t be just about money,” said Rev.

  “No, but the power that could be purchased with the money would be immeasurable.”

  “A wealth of information and the only way to get it out of Tsunam is to tear Tsunam apart by civil war,” said Rev. “The government falls apart and then the regulations against sharing their science fade away.”

  Flint nodded. “It is a good theory but we have no proof.”

  “We will,” said Rev. “Did you understand enough of what Magnus was saying about redirecting the transports to do some changing of our own?”

  “I believe so,” said Flint. “At least in theory. Why?”

  “If my hunch is right, we have to stay out of both Tuloff’s and Magnus’ hands and start making our own mischievous plans.”

  Flint bobbed up and down excitedly. “I’m in as long as our plans have something to do with staying alive long enough to capture the real criminals.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way. You up for a little game of cat and mouse?”

  * * *

  REV AND FLINT STROLLED into the munitions office and found Jimmy reading. Rev caught a glimpse of the shapely breast of a blonde as Jimmy quickly hid it under the counter. “I was hoping you’d show up today,” said Jimmy.