by Frank Carey
"Show off," Losira said with a shake of her head.
Chapter 7 - Discoveries
Grendel pulled back from the table and sighed. At Nels' insistence, the two of them had visited a steakhouse near the castle. Having just finished the best cut of meat she had ever eaten, Grendel could only sigh and sip her beer. "Wow. How did you find this place?"
"My sister, Losira, recommended it. Like my other siblings, she occasionally craves a good hunk of freshly-dead meat."
"She is amazing. May I pry?"
"Of course."
"How is it she and Lucien are elf, while you, Randy, Anne, and Jewel are neoLogash?"
He smiled, then launched into an explanation about Josiah Muntz and his efforts to see that Tralaska ran the League. "So you see, I'm a full-blooded elf, but with dominant Logash genes."
"And the crystal?" she asked referring to the glowing blue diamond embedded in his sternum.
"It connects the four of us on many levels. The paleoLogash--Agendor, Rutile, and their family unit--use it basically to synch, sort of like computers on a network. My sibs and I communicate at one hundred times the bandwidth with increased range and type of data transferred. Something about our coming from elf genetic stock."
"Fascinating. And the crystal allows you to transport between points in space-time?"
"Yeah. We call it shunting. I think of where I want to go and I'm there, or I can move things."
"Can't you end up in walls?"
"Naw. There's some kind of interlock. I've tried shunting plants and playing cards into a wall and nothing happens. So, what about you? What's your story?"
"Nothing much to tell. My parents work for the government. I'm an only child. Graduated university with a PhD in information analysis at fourteen. Worked at the Cube for a few years under a scholarship set up by the Prince, then a position opened up in R-Sec. That's when I found out that my auntie ran the place. Got hired anyway, and now I sit here with you eating fine steak."
"You're a genius, aren't you?"
She grimaced. "I prefer gifted. The Creator gave me a gift that I can use to help save people. For that, I am truly blessed."
"Religious? Belief in a single creator?"
She nodded.
"Cool. Several members of my family are polytheist. I can never keep track of all the deities."
"What do you believe in?"
"That my family was created for a purpose. That requires a creator, and I don't mean Muntz. That asshole was just a tool. No, my brother and sisters are here for a reason, which implies a Creator, so I guess you and I are on similar paths."
"You see things differently than the rest of us."
He leaned over and kissed her. "We all see things differently from the rest of us. That's what makes life so damn interesting."
The waiter stopped by to drop-off the check. Nels handed him a debit card, but stopped when Grendel grabbed his wrist with her tail. "What, you want to pay?"
"No, not that," she said, releasing the wrist. "Waiter, could you send over the manager? And no, it's not about you. Your service has been exemplary."
"What's up?" Nels asked as the waiter walked away. "It wasn't the kiss..."
She turned him around and gave him a kiss that twisted his tail into a spiral. "Nope. The kiss was wonderful. No, I think I may have figured out where we can find a lead."
"Really, where?"
"Excuse me, ma'am. This is our manager, Algo Nerm," the waiter said before handing the slip to Nels to sign.
Grendel took out her ID and showed it to Nerm. "Mr. Nerm, I’m R-Sec Agent Grendel Tavish and this is my companion, Nels Irithyl..."
"Irithyl?"
"Yes, that Irithyl. Now, I have a question. When you submit credit slips to the bank processor, what information is included?"
"Card holder name and account number, establishment and staff ID, and a scan of the signature."
"Excellent. Thank you. That's what I needed to know."
"What are you thinking?" Nels asked.
"According to the guard at the site Marta was working at, she and four ladies left the facility for a night out to celebrate the completion of the project," Gren explained. "None have been seen since. All five have their signatures on file."
"Which you can compare to all debit transactions in the city for the last twenty-four hours. When we find a match, then what?"
"We visit the establishment and see what we can find."
"Right. Is that R-Sec talk for you're going to crawl so far up the establishment's financial ass that they'll cough?"
Gren laughed. "Why, yes! Yes, I am. Ever tried spelunking?"
"No, but I'm a quick study."
"Excellent. Let's go back to my office and start a search. Once we have an address, we can get a warrant and go do some of that there agent stuff, she said as he took her in his arms.
"I am looking forward to that," he said as they disappeared in a flash of blue.
###
Once they were back in her office, Gren set up several intricate searches of databases from all debit processors on the planet. Each search comparing the signatures of the missing women with every debit slip generated in the last 48 hours.
"Nice office," Nels said as he walked around. "Who's the artist?" he asked while he examined a lovely floral still life.
"Oh, those are mine. I find painting to be relaxing."
"Wow. Nice work. Gren, you are a woman with many talents."
"So, what do you do?"
"I work with Lucien, mostly. I'm kinda between jobs right now."
She looked at him. "What did you do before coming here, to Ventos Prime that is?"
He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know how to put this."
"Spit it out."
"My siblings and I were only born a few months before the Suit Fighting League incident. Muntz needed a natural source of biocrystal to seed his gate project."
"Wait. That would make you..."
"Twenty-0ne standard years physically, thirty-five emotionally and intellectually, and almost three chronologically."
"You're like Chasm or Shenda's twins in a way."
"Yeah, us GELFs. The four of us are just plain, ordinary twenty-one year olds with dazzling stares and built-in jewelry."
The computer chimed, signaling it had found something.
Gren sat down and accessed the computer, her hands flying over the keyboard. "Got it. A tavern not far from here. A debit slip was signed by a woman named Meena less than an hour before General McMurphy dropped the vid off at the Marta. She worked closely with Marta on the Can Crusher."
"Who was the bar keep on duty?"
"Our Mr. Jericho."
"Wonderful. Would you like me to drive?"
"Definitely," she said as he took her in his arms and shunted them to the tavern.
###
The tavern was empty except for a couple of regulars nursing drinks at the end of the bar, and the keep, an older elf, who was drying glassware with a bar mop. He looked up as the front door opened followed by a young elf woman and... The keep looked closer when he saw the glowing eyes and blue crystal. The woman walked up and flashed a badge--R-Sec. The keep glanced up, his eyes momentarily wide with fear. "Can I help you?"
"Agent Tavish and Mr. Irithyl. We're looking for Jericho."
"Not in," the keep said as he returned to his glassware.
"I need to speak to him right now," Gren said.
"Can't help you..." he stopped when the glass he was holding and every other glass in the room--including the ones in the regulars hands--disappeared, then reappeared on the ceiling at the center of the room with a flash of blue light. They dropped to the floor, shattering upon impact.
Nels reached across the bar, grabbed the keep by his lapels, and dragged him across so the two were eye to eye. "The pretty lady asked you a question, and you're going to answer it unless you want every bottle of hooch on the wall behind you to suffer the same fate as your glassware. I'll then do
the same thing to you, but from a much greater height."
The keep swallowed hard. "You can't do that..."
The bottles behind the bar disappeared, then joined the glassware on the floor.
"My bad. Now, I'm going to count to three..."
"Nico's! He's at Nico's working the back bar!"
Holding the keep with one hand, Nels reached into his pocket and extracted five platinum coins, each with the likeness of Lenora engraved on it. "These should cover the damage. One more thing. Don't call ahead. We want to surprise Jericho."
"Yes, sir."
"Good," Nels said as the janitorial robots made short work of the mess in the middle of the floor.
"May I borrow your comm?" Gren asked with a cute smile.
"Yeah, sure," the keep said as he grabbed the unit from behind the bar and handed it to her. She dialed a number. "This is Agent Tavish. I need agents and a CSI team at the following address." She reeled-off the specifics before hanging up. "Bar keep, your establishment will soon be inundated by a large number of techs and Agents. I suggest you fully cooperated with them."
"Yes, ma'am."
"What are you thinking?" Nels asked.
"I'm thinking she was here. The setup is perfect. The facility is right down the road. The spaceport is close by..." She stopped and checked something on her datapad. "And this place is owned by one of Adrestia's shell corporations." She watched the keep as she mentioned Adrestia. Noting his complete lack of reaction, she glanced at Nels who was watching the others in the room. He shook his head.
A few minutes later, several agents and CSI techs showed up. The lead agent walked up and identified himself. "Agent Tavish, Prince Nels, I'm Agent Melchior. I assume you want the full package?"
"Yes. Make sure DNA samples are taken from the tables, booths, and bathrooms. Also, check any dirty glassware. I want comparisons with General McMurphy and the four missing women. Also, run both sets of DNA against Interpol, League, and royal criminal databases."
"Yes, mistress. Anything else?"
“I want every inch of this place checked for even the smallest trace of Aphrodite's Kiss.”
"Yes, mistress."
"Contact me the moment you get results."
"Yes, mistress. Where will you be?"
"Why, at Nico's, of course," she said as Nels took her in his arms and swept her away in a flash of blue light.
###
"Council member Pereara, your table..."
A blue flash and two people appeared, one with glowing blue eyes. Council member Pereara went down on one knee. "My Prince!"
Nels reached down and helped the councilman up. "Mars, I keep telling you how much I hate that, but thanks. Who's your friend?"
"Prince Nels, I would like you to meet Ambassador Tressa of Telescu."
Nels and Tressa exchanged pleasantries, including an introduction of Gren, in the Telescu language. When finished, they bowed. "Mars, I wish you and your companion a pleasant lunch."
The maître d'hôtel motioned to a waiter to seat the councilman and his guest before turning to Nels and Gren. "Can I help you?" she asked.
Gren flashed her ID and identified herself. "I think you already know my friend."
Nels bowed.
"We need to speak to Jericho on R-Sec business."
"Do you have a warrant?"
Grendel pulled one from her jacket and handed it to the woman. "Jericho! Now!" she said, having had enough of the stalling.
The maître d'hôtel bowed before tapping her earpiece and whispering something into her microphone.
An elf male appeared a few minutes later, wiping his hands in a bar mop. "My name is Jericho. Can I help you?"
"Is there someplace we can talk in private?"
The maître d'hôtel led them to a side room. Once she was gone, the three sat down. "Mr. Jericho, I am R-Sec Agent Grendel Tavish and this is my companion, Prince Nels Irithyl. You have the right to remain silent. You may have an attorney present, either your own or one supplied by R-Sec. Do you understand these rights?"
"Yes. What would you like to know?"
"Have you seen any of these women at your tavern recently?" She showed him pictures of the missing women from their official files."
"Nope. Never seen them."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. They're all beautiful, even the human."
"Even the human?" Nels asked. "You have problems with humans?"
"No offense, but she's not an elf, is she?"
Nels leaned over the table to look in Jericho's eyes. He could see his reflection in those yellow-irised orbs. "What about me?"
"Well..."
"Perhaps you don't know my parents. This is my mother," he said as he threw down a platinum sovereign. "And here's my dad," He said following up with a silver one. "Is that enough elf for you? Oh, and this is the human woman's husband," he said, throwing down a gold sovereign with Lucien's likeness on it. Recognize him?"
Jericho swallowed hard. "Look, I want a lawyer. Right now."
"Lad," Nels said quietly. "When I was put together in the lab, the techs added a few things to my DNA which makes me a little more than elf."
"Nels," Gren said quietly.
"One of those things was Venlanten DNA, which means I can take a look in your soul and see if you know something that we need to know."
"I want my lawyer!"
Nels eye glow went out, replaced by jet black, bottomless orbs."
"Nels! Stand down! Now!"
Nels eyes returned to normal. "Sorry, I seem to have my siblings' temper." He smiled at Jericho, winking for emphasis.
Gren's comm chimed. "Behave!" she admonished Nels as she stepped out of the room, only to return moments later with a strange elf in tow.
"I am John Gelt, Mr. Jericho's lawyer. I'm advising Mr. Jericho not to answer any more questions.”
"Fine," Gren said as she put the photos back in her bag, while retrieving a pair of wrist restraints. She walked around and grabbed his wrists while saying, "Mr. Jericho, you are under arrest on the charges of kidnapping, illegal dispensing of a controlled substance, grand theft, and espionage. I would suggest you listen to your lawyer and don't speak."
"What is the meaning of this?" Gelt demanded.
"We just swept your client's establishment and found evidence he was there when General McMurphy was kidnapped. We also have evidence that he dispensed an illegal substance to General McMurphy. Oh, and one more thing. One of the women at the bar with Ms. McMurphy has been identified as Hera, an elf assassin wanted on five worlds. I could go on, but why bother? You two are due for an emergency hearing at the castle where it will be decided whether or not Jericho will face a team of Venlanten interrogators.
Jericho slumped forward in his seat as screams could be heard from outside. "Dammit!" Gren said as she checked Jericho's neck for a pulse. "He's dead." While Nels ran outside, she rolled Jericho onto the floor where they could see foam coming from his mouth. "Poison. Gelt, dial emergency services and get an ambulance here stat!" She pulled out her comm and dialed her office. "This is Agent Tavish. We have a code one emergency at Nico's restaurant. I need teams and CSI here stat. I repeat, we have a code one emergency at Nico's restaurant."
Gelt just sat and stared at the body.
"Gelt! Focus!" she yelled while grabbing her commlink in one hand and the door handle with the other. "Emergency Services, now!"
She ran outside and saw a surrealist painting of hell. Around her, dead wait staff, including the maître d'hôtel, lay on the floor while groups of patrons clustered in small groups around the room. Some were on their comms while others just stared, hands to mouths in shock. She saw Nels kneeling down next to a body.
"Dead?"
"Yep, all of the wait staff. Looks like poison."
She looked over at several members of the kitchen brigade standing in the doorway. "Chef! Any bodies in the kitchen?"
The chef held up four fingers.
"Don't touch anything.
Everyone! Don't touch anything and don't leave. Help is on the way."
As if hearing her, emergency services and a R-Sec team ran in and took control of the scene. She felt a hand on her arm.
"You OK?" Nels asked.
"I don't know. I honestly don't know."
Chapter 8 - Revelations
With Aerith's help, Lucien accessed League files and databases he hadn't seen since his reintegration. They searched for trails and signs which would lead them to Marta and her kidnappers as Jewel and Torren flew the ship into Earth space.
Lucien pulled up a map of the spaceport and pointed at a spot on the property. "There's where the ship landed at Jack Simpson. The cargo was off-loaded and stored in Warehouse 83G. According to this, the cargo is still there."
"When did the ship offload?"
"Today, 1753 Zulu."
"Computer, satellite imagery, Jack Simpson Spaceport, today, 1745 Zulu to 1845 Zulu," Lucien ordered. "Access Irithyl ultimate."
"Working..." An overhead image of the port appeared.
"Overlay location of Warehouse 83G and ETV Southern Cross.”
"Working..." A spaceship symbol appeared, but it was nowhere near the warehouse.
"Well lookie there. I think someone been fibben’," Jewel noted.
"Yep. Those look like trucks. Computer, designate trucks tango 1, tango 2, and tango 3. Identify," Aerith ordered.
"Working..." tags appeared next to the truck images.
"Road trains," Lucien said.
"What's that?" Torren asked.
"A tractor-trailer rig almost 174 feet long carrying up to 120 tons of cargo. They're a staple of Australian outback hauling. Computer, identify destination of Tangos 1, 2, and 3.”
"Working... No destination filed. No permits pulled."
"Smugglers. My kind of people. Computer, scan sat phone records for given time period and correlate with id tags for tangos 1, 2, and 3."
"Working... On screen."
A table of numbers appeared next to each truck.
"Computer. Set trace on each ID number. Monitor and record all conversations."
"Working... Trace on, recorders on."
"Computer, set alert for tango 1, 2, and 3 when velocity equals zero kph."