“No, but if he thought you’ve seen anything, he would have,” Kai replied.
I could not tell if she believed him or not and then she turned back to me. “You a hunter too?”
I nodded my head curtly once.
“But not for long,” Kai amended. “What have you seen? Do you know where she is?”
“I know there was a death on one of the trains,” she replied, but I noticed that she did not make good eye contact with him.
Kai noticed it too and said, “You’re not telling me something. Did you see her or not?”
She looked carefully between the two of us and then said to me, "When you left earlier after you looked at the map, I saw someone who seemed more out of place than even you were.
"Once she knew I was trying to approach her, she took off, and I couldn't keep up with her. I followed for as long as I could, but the alarm went off, for the dust storm, and I was forced to return here."
“You left her out in the storm?” I asked. She was here while I was too?
“It wasn’t as if she was clamoring to get in with me like a normal person would have. But when she didn’t, I had a hunch who she was and I left her alone. I then went and grabbed you. I didn’t know for sure if it was her.”
“Can you describe her?” Kai asked. We certainly needed more of a description than what Kull had provided us. He seemed to think we would just know when we saw her who she was. Perhaps he thought her clever enough to alter her look, so a description would not have helped. Who knew, but I certainly could not guess at his motives.
“She was petite and quite slender. When she turned around and noticed me, but her face was expressionless.”
“Did you notice anything unusual about her face?” I asked.
“She was very pretty.”
“Was she under ten annos?”
“We must be talking about someone else. She looked about my age.”
I looked at Kai, but he merely shrugged his shoulders. Maybe Kull considered her a child, in comparison to himself, but come to think of it, he never specified an exact age.
“How did she behave oddly?” Kai asked. Anything that would provide insight to her behaviors would only raise the odds in finding her.
"She was wandering around examining things, like the map on the wall." She checked the time and then glanced at the door. "Also, when she caught me staring at her, her face remained an expressionless mask. I was the one who had to break the stare. It was eerie."
“Can you show us where you last saw her?” I asked.
“Down the road, just outside of Quin’s Quids.”
"I know the place. It offers basic headhunting services," Kai said. "Jett, you ready to go?"
“Yes.” I told her, “Thanks.”
“Just doing my part,” she said.
“Here is my oculus identifier. If you see her again, please contact me.”
“Is his device clean?” she asked.
“Yes,” Kai answered her. “But just to be on the safe side, give her a bit of tape instead or interfacing with her ocu.”
She took the spit of tape my ocu produced and then she opened the door and stared at us until we left.
I could not help but wonder why Kore would have run if she experienced no emotions. Running implied she experienced fear. There was a lot Kull was neglecting to tell us, and something told me there was a lot more to be discovered once we found her.
Chapter 8
While we had been along the outskirts of the city, the more densely populated portions had been under the assault of the automated sweepers. The dust, sand, and resulting slush were in the final process of being removed from this section of the city. The machine's characteristic hum could be heard in the distance. Overhead, transport vehicles flew nearly silently on their way to depositing food or water for the rest of Icharus. Light flickered in the plasma lamps; crackling noises echoed in our wake as we made our way to the shop.
We finally arrived at a plain stone building. “Are you sure this is it? Where’s the sign that says Quin’s Quids?” I asked Kai.
“Check it for yourself.”
I took out my oculus and activated the identification program that was connected to the hardware implanted into my right hand’s fingertip. I ran the tip over the seemingly blank copper plaque posted outside of the door. It showed that it was indeed the correct location. I didn’t like hidden bodegas.
After leaving Kai outside, I walked into it. Inside, I found the walls were full of liquor in plazbottles. Next, I spotted a bear of a man who was bald and overcompensated for it by growing a bushy, graying beard. He was also sweaty, which was unusual to observe in Torva. He sat behind a large counter and he barely even looked up when I approached his desk. But what I did notice was his double black eyes and swollen nose.
An older woman was facing him, crying. He told her, “I just don’t have any work for you. Maybe you should go ahead and make your goodbyes and then check yourself into the local d-center.”
I opened my oculus to my identification screen and flashed it up to show the man. He glanced at it and frowned. Then he turned to the woman and said, “Unless you want to be brought in personally by this hunter, you need to leave right now.”
She looked up at me with a horror-stricken expression and then took off for the door, knocking her chair on the floor along the way. She was a runner, but for once in my life, she was someone else’s problem now. Lucky for the Council most of its hunters were in this sector, which was naturally unlucky for her.
The man completely ignored me, as I took the chair off the floor and sat it back up, before sitting down on it. In the meantime, he had taken out a paper sleeve from one of his drawers and opened it. Out came a tiny measuring spoon, into which he proceeded to pour a white substance from a vial he took out of a shirt pocket. Then he took a bandage out from another drawer. He peeled it from a wrapper before ultimately slapping it down on the paper and finally placing it on his neck, where his jugular was located.
“What do you want?” he finally asked me, visibly more relaxed.
“I’m looking for a girl.”
“Aren’t we all?”
“I’m looking for a specific girl.”
“Of course you are. A runner?”
“Not exactly.”
“Since when is the government sending out its agents to locate its honest citizens?”
I did not bother to answer him.
He finally asked, “What’s her ranking and sector?”
“Senja Β.”
“Kuthic. She’s probably slumming it with a Torvan class Φ. Hard to believe that a Β would remove an implant and trash her oculus to come here. This is a fracking strathole, not a vacation destination. If you ask me, our ancestors should have skipped over this planet and waited for something better.”
I was not here to sympathize with him. “Now back to this girl. Has anyone come into this shop looking for work recently that was not credentialed or off the grid?”
He looked away for a moment and then he said, “No.” He was lying.
I sighed. What was he hiding? I leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "Be honest with me, and certain things will be overlooked. I am simply looking for a girl. Have you seen anything strange in the last dag?"
He was checking his oculus while I asked him, but he stopped and looked up at me. "I have seen something odd, but no one would believe me."
“Try me.”
He set down his device and really looked at me for the first time since I had come into his building. "There was a girl, standing outside my door about twelve oras ago before the storm hit. When the sirens went up, I tried to get her in here for her own protection."
“Let me guess, she wouldn’t come in.”
“Yeah, that’s right, she ignored me.”
“Why didn’t she?”
"How the frack should I know? When she didn't respond to my requests, I made a grab for her, and this is what I got for my trouble," he said as he pointed to his face
.
“How tall was this girl?”
He frowned and then blushed as he said, "Not very. She had an almost childlike body, but I quickly discovered my error."
“How old did she look?” I asked.
“She looked about ten annos your junior, and she had long straight white hair.”
“That doesn’t stick out or anything,” I added sarcastically.
He chuckled and said, “Being outside during a sandstorm won’t either, huh? When I went out after the storm had passed to clear my entryway, I saw a pillar of hardened slush outside my door, where she had been standing.”
“Was she buried in the snow?”
"I don't think so, because footsteps led away from it. But if I was guessing by the size of the pillar that was left behind, she must have been standing there during most of the storm."
“Which direction did the footsteps go?”
“Further into the interior of Torva.”
I looked over my shoulder and contemplated his words. “Do you mean where the air transport station is?”
He took a moment to consider my question and then he said, “I think you may be right. It was in that general direction.”
“Hand me your oculus please.” He hesitated and then I said, “I merely need to make a connection to it, so if she comes back here, you can contact me on a secured line.” He nodded his head and complied with my request.
"You should put some ice on that. There certainly is enough of it around here.”
“Pffft, it gives me character.”
I left with a newfound urgency since she could have hitched a ride anywhere off of Icharus, and maybe even the entire solar system if she had made it to the station before we did.
• ѻ ● Ѻ • ○ ☼
Kai was around the corner, and I strode right past him, not saying a word. He fell into step beside me. "I won't be able to report your body for a while, she's en route to the air transport station,” I told him.
“I won’t be able to go in with you,” he replied.
“Wouldn’t want you too. You’re going to watch the exits.”
“If you find her first, bring her directly back to my hotel room.”
“Why not directly to Kull?”
“I want to know why he wants her so badly.”
I was not in so deep that I could not back out of my deal with Kull, so I replied, “Fine by me, but what if she has escaped on one of the transport vessels?”
“Can you get clearance to commandeer a vessel?”
I considered his question and decided that I could request it if she were as crucial to the government as she was to Kull. The only problem was that they would most likely deny my request and search every vessel until they found her themselves. I would be cut out of the search. Besides, Damus would be furious with me. I did not want an angry Damus coming after me.
“No,” I ultimately told Kai.
“The way I figure it, it should take eight oras on foot, if she didn’t stop for nourishment. Then she’ll need to analyze the docking and loading procedures, before finally deciding on which flight to take.”
“I wish we knew precisely how much she did and didn’t know about the planet. If she is as unique and special as everyone seems to think she is, then she must have led a cloistered life.”
Kai looked around and spotted something that interested him. I followed his line of sight. “Well, let’s take a delivery vehicle to shave our time down to the station. Then we might have a fighting chance.” He was referring to the synth supply vehicle only half a k-lo from where we were.
“I should be able to handle this,” I said.
“No, let me handle this. That way they won’t know you are in hot pursuit of her.”
I nodded my head because he was right. "Where do you want me to wait?"
"You are going to ask the delivery man if he has seen her. Then point to anywhere that is not the direction of his vehicle and while he is looking that way, I'll steal it. I'll meet you two streets over that way," he told me pointing away from where we were standing.
“All right.” I took out my oculus and then started approaching the delivery vehicle. Kai, in the meantime, slipped into the shadows. He had always been good at that.
I approached the vehicle and noted that no one was currently in the driving position. I next watched for anyone exiting one of the nearby businesses. One was selling shoes, while another was a food dispensary. There were a few people, off from their work shifts, entering and exiting the different shops.
Then out from a hort store came a man dressed in the tell-tale green jumper uniform of the delivery division. He was tall and lean but walked with purpose holding a new apepalli plant, which was heavy with seed pods. Traditionally, they grew from the homeland of my youth, but they were well adapted for hobbyists in any sector if kept indoors.
I walked briskly towards him, intent on interrupting his course. He saw me coming up to him and stopped, unsure whether to address me or continue to his vehicle. He grew nervous looking back and forth between the two.
“Hello! That is a fine specimen of apellalli that you have there. Is that the blue strain?”
He hesitated. He must not have been picking up a package at all, but instead, was indulging his own personal pastime.
“It’s all right,” I reassured him. “I’m a sanctioned hunter in pursuant of a lost girl. Can I ask you some questions?”
He kept eye contact, but did not answer me as he started edging back towards his vehicle.
“I’d be happy to commend your service in my official report,” I told him, “If you help me.”
That got his attention for a moment, and he froze. Everyone knew that a commendation could get you extra synth or dags off. He smiled, lowered the plant in his arms and said, "Sure." His voice was higher pitched than his frame might have indicated, and I smiled to myself.
"Can I show you the last location we saw her?" He looked at his vehicle, and I added, "It will only take a moment."
"Can I put this down first?" If the man dropped it off in his vehicle, he would never see it again, and if it were discovered that he was conducting personal business while on duty, then he would be reassigned to a less favorable position than the one he had now.
“Nah, this won’t take but a moment, bring it with you,” I said in a casual tone.
He looked down at his plant and licked his lips once. Then he said, “Okay. Tell me what she looks like along the way.”
As we walked, I said, "She is petite, young, and has white hair. Have you seen her?"
“No, I haven’t seen anyone who fits that description.”
“Are you certain?” I asked as we approached a cleaning supply store. We stopped in front of its windows showing basic cleaning systems and repair kits.
“I think I would remember seeing anyone who looked like that.”
In the reflection of the glass, I saw Kai slip into view and jump into the vehicle. It might take him a few tigs to trip the identification system and have it identify himself as the owner.
“She was last seen in this store,” I told the delivery man.
“You said she was a runner?”
“Yeah, she is.”
“Why would she be in this shop?”
Before I could answer, someone else came into view behind me: Damus. “You should go into the store and don’t come out,” I told the nervous delivery man.
He scrunched up his pale, freckly face. He was going to fight me on this. He must have been behind in his schedule. I could open the door and shove him into the store and then fry the lock with my CO2 gun, but that might look suspicious to Damus who was walking straight to me.
“Why?” he asked.
"There was a sighting of the girl in this store. I haven't a clue as to why she went into this particular location, and the owner didn't know either," I lied. "Just go in there." Desperation painted the tone of my voice, but still, the man would not budge. Maybe I could convince Damus he was a witne
ss. I took out my oculus, as if I was about to take some notes, but left my left hand on the butt of my gun.
A heavy hand grasped my shoulder and turned me around. I stood face to face with my partner. I said with false surprise, “Damus! It sure is great to see you.” If we ever were to fight, and we were to fight fairly, he would win every time. But if I could stack the odds in my favor, I would do just that in any way possible, and then we would see who would win.
“Have you found the nab-and-grab?”
“Not yet, but I think we are getting close.” Had they found Kai’s body double yet? Could I get away with just telling him that Kai was just another hunter who had been helping me? Doubtful at best. He was just as likely to get jealous as he would be gun happy.
He took out his gun and shot the poor delivery man in the head. He fell down in a heap at our feet.
“Why did you do that?”
“Remove all witnesses. I took care of that Quin fellow back there too. Who else knows about her?”
Me.
“The man in the store.” I knew I would feel bad about this later. Did Damus know already about Kai? Kai had better be as good as I thought he was when evading Damus.
Then he went into the store and shot the man behind the counter.
I had options. I could stay and shoot Damus in the back while he was distracted, but not many people owned guns. The Council would sic their med and science officers on his body. In conjunction with the wound, they would know, via my oculus transmissions, that I was the one who killed him. I could use this opportunity to run to the vehicle, in a blind hope that Kai had figured out how to commandeer it by now. Would Damus think that I was being abducted by an enemy, or would he think that I had gone rogue? Either way, I would never be able to get into the transport facility before he reported it.
I heard the cracks of sound associated with using a plazgun, and before I could make a decision, Damus was back out of the store.
“Did you get any information from the clerk?” Before you killed him?
“Just a loose description of what she might look like,” I lied.
“Good,” Damus more grunted than said. “I have a location of a possible sighting, the air transport facility. Follow me, I have a vehicle we can take, the next street over.”
Icharus_ARC Series Page 6