"There are units already enroute to the Ganguly ranch. I'll relay your location," the deputy said.
"We have another situation. We were attacked by Berant Ganguly. I've got him restrained, but we'll need help getting out of here," I said.
"Are there any injuries?"
"Nothing life threatening," I said.
"Are you armed?"
"Yes," I said, snarling at Berant. "I disarmed Berant and am holding his weapon on him."
"Understood, await orders from ground personnel," he replied and signed off.
Shri rested her hand on my arm and leaned her head onto my shoulder. I stroked her hair, trying to offer comfort.
"I knew you'd save me. Just like I knew you'd come for me," Shri said.
"We’ve been through a lot, Shri. I couldn't just leave you."
"You're all she talks about, you know," Berant said.
"That's not helpful," I said.
"What, you going to shoot me? I'm just saying she's not right in the head. Ever since coming back from the hospital, you're all she talks about," he said.
"It was pretty frakking horrific. We're lucky to be alive. You could try not being an asshole," I said.
This made him smile. It wasn't even his standard condescending, jerk smile. "I'm just saying, she's not dealing with a full deck."
"Nice. So you decide to hunt her down in the middle of the night, when your house is burning? Ever heard of the parable of people who live in glass houses?"
"Why would anyone live in a glass house?" he asked.
TROUBLE FINDS ME
A spherical robot, a third of a meter in diameter, descended the chimney and paused in the middle of the room. It was marked with the Olympus Sheriff Department's logo. It spun around and flitted off toward the keyhole, returning a moment later. It then disappeared down each of the passageways that were large enough for a person to traverse, returning again, no more than a minute later.
The robot lowered to the floor of the cavern and a holographic image of a uniformed officer appeared. "Ms. Masters, I'm Sheriff Jux Long. I'll need you to place a safety device on the end of that blaster rifle." A small, clear disc ejected from the robot and landed at my feet.
"Would you be willing to restrain Berant first?" I asked.
"Deputy Ganguly. Please put on the restraint cuffs and we'll get this all sorted once we get you out of there," Sheriff Long said as the robot tossed a thin set of nano-steel thread cuffs to Berant.
"Deputy?" I asked.
"Yeah, you've taken a Sheriff's deputy hostage. How are you going to squirm your way out of this?" Berant asked, his cocky grin returning.
I watched as he pulled the cuffs on and held them up high so I could see that he'd complied. I put the disc on the end of the rifle and watched as it conformed to the barrel. I knew from Navy training that no ordinary blaster round could be fired through the hardened form.
Two more cuffs were ejected from the robot and I scooped them up. I could empathize with Sheriff Long. He had no idea what was going on in the cave and had to ensure the safety of his people. I slipped the cuffs over Shri's wrists and let her help put mine on.
"Alright folks. I'm sending Deputy Marseti in. You'll need to follow her instructions," he said.
A few minutes later a thickset blonde woman in uniform crawled into the room where we sat.
"Looking good, Deputy Ganguly," she said. From the look on Berant's face, it wasn't a compliment. "You first, Berant." She nodded in the direction of the entrance.
"I need some pants," he said.
"Say again?" She chuckled when her eyes lowered to his ruined clothes. "I'm sure we can get you a blanket from one of the squads."
"Shri, can you make it out?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said.
"You follow Berant. I'll help Ms. Ganguly," Deputy Marseti said.
Brightly colored flashing lights lit up the valley where the farmhouse still burned. Over a dozen emergency vehicles had arrived and were parked at strategic locations.
"Miss, are you okay? Do you need medical attention?" A slightly chubby deputy, who'd met us just outside the entrance, asked.
"Nothing life threatening, you have any synthetic nano-patches?"
He looked uncomfortable, as if he was trying not to stare at me and it finally dawned on me that I was wearing only the thin bra and form-fitting undershorts I'd fallen asleep in.
"Not here, but there's some down in the squad," he said looking away, embarrassed that I'd caught him staring.
Shri and Deputy Marseti finally made it through the key-hole. They'd taken the time to put Shri's blades on her legs and she made her way to me, shivering.
"Shri's had a bad night. I think we need to be concerned about shock," I said.
Marseti looked at me skeptically, but pulled a medical scanner from her belt pouch and waved it in front of Shri. "Frak, she's right. Shri's system's all messed up. Augie, help me get her to the squad. You two, go in front of us and I don't want any screwing around."
A medical tech met up with us and wrapped blankets around our shoulders. It was ten degrees outside and the blanket felt good.
"What's she got in her system?" he asked.
"She had Septicemia. AI programed a nano-series," I said.
"Blood poisoning? How'd she get that? And aren't the Ganguly's anti-tech?"
"I injected her," I said. "I'll show you." Fortunately I still had a small amount of smart clothing left so I loaded the events related to Shri's blood poisoning treatment onto Berant’s mini-pad.
"Sheriff's going to want to hear about that," Deputy Augie said.
"Why don't you take 'em down to the station," Marseti said. "We'll need to question everyone."
"Are we being charged with something?" I asked.
"A woman died tonight, so we'd really appreciate your cooperation," she said. Intended or not, she sounded hostile.
I didn't think we'd be getting out of it, so I didn't push back. Deputy Augie loaded Berant into the front seat of his squad and put Shri and me into the back. I laid my head back and closed my eyes. I felt Shri's head on my shoulder as Augie flew us over to the small town of Dios.
It was 1200 when Sheriff Long finally made it back to the small town's rustic station.
"I'd like your permission to upload the data from your smart clothing," he said.
"For what timeframe?" I wasn't about to give anyone carte-blanc access to my personal records.
"Say, the time you arrived at the Ganguly Farm up to now?"
Sheriff Long had a rugged face that didn't appear to get shaved very often. His eyes were tired and bore the look of someone who'd seen too much to be surprised by anything. I imagined he'd had a very long night.
"I grant Sheriff Long fifth-amendment, restricted access," I said. The reference to fifth-amendment was a throwback to a predecessor of the North American government. Basically, the AI data gathered from a person's own equipment couldn't be used to implicate them in a crime without their permission.
My AI would allow Sheriff Long’s system to upload the data for his viewing only. It wouldn't be available to the court for prosecution, if it came to that. I was convinced of my innocence in all things, but wasn't about to open myself up to spurious legal actions. I also knew that if he found something particularly incriminating, I wouldn't be able to stop a seizure of the information.
He nodded with a slight smile of thanks.
"Could you tell me what happened tonight?" he asked.
I related the story to the best of my knowledge. He stopped me several times along the way, asking for clarification.
"So, it's your assertion that you don't know who started the fire?"
"Right. I was sleeping. Shri woke me up and the house was already on fire," I said.
"Why did you come to the Ganguly's?" he asked.
"I'm not sure why it's relevant, but Shri and I became friends after we met in the Veteran's Hospital. She wanted to see me after my surgeries," I said. I w
asn't about to tell him that she'd been struggling with depression after being discharged. "We'd been planning to get together for weeks and this was just when it worked out."
"Would you share any transcripts of your conversations about her mother with me?" he asked.
I looked at him in surprise. I understood that Mrs. Ganguly had died, but his question implied something I couldn't fathom. "Seriously?"
He just stared at me, waiting for my response, which caused me to squirm. I had to appreciate his steely gaze and was grateful that I hadn't actually done anything wrong.
"Yes. Fine. Same deal, retaining my fifth-amendment rights," I said.
He nodded in acceptance. I believe that's all I have for you for now, Ms. Masters. I'd request that you stay in the area for a couple of days while we sort things out. Do you think you could do that?"
"Sure."
"I believe you have a visitor waiting for you," he said.
"I'd like to wait for Shri," I said.
"It will be a few hours. I'll be happy to have Augie ping you when we're done, if you'd like to get cleaned up," he said, standing.
He escorted me to a waiting room where Liam stood, waiting for me.
"Oh, Tabby, what happened?" His face fell as he took me in.
Augie had supplied me with loose grey pants and shirt, but the clothing didn't hide the multitude of med-patches on my body and the grime covering my face.
Seeing Liam standing there reminded me how much I loved him. He'd always be there for me and it almost made me cry to think about it - if that were my thing, that is. I hugged him and kissed his face.
"How'd you get here so quickly?" I asked.
"I had Dad take the load. Call it intuition," he said.
"Paranoid much?" I asked.
"I brought Hotspur, how about a shower?" he asked.
That sounded incredible. "Where?" I asked reverently.
He took my hand and led me out of the station. He'd set Hotspur down in a field a few blocks from the Sheriff's station and it was getting a fair bit of attention from the locals. A small crowd had gathered around the ship.
We had to push our way through the crowd, but finally made our way up the stairs and through the hatch. Once onboard, I stopped in the galley for a meal bar and a pouch of water. The med-patches were effective, but caused my metabolism to burn through calories at an extreme rate.
After I'd eaten and showered, I dressed in a suit-liner and lay down on the bed where Liam was waiting for me.
"Thanks for coming for me," I said, kissing him on his cheek.
"I can't leave you alone for a single day without you getting into trouble," he said.
"What can I say? Trouble finds me," she said.
TRANSFERENCE
Safe in bed on Hotspur, I fell asleep.
"Tabbs, you need to get up," Liam said shaking my shoulders gently.
"What's up?" I asked groggily.
"They've released Shri and she's asking for you," he said.
I reached up to my earwig, wondering why I hadn't heard anything, and realized I no longer had the device.
"Frak, my earwig, it got destroyed," I said.
Liam didn't hesitate, but pulled his earwig off and handed it to me. "You need it more than I do right now. I can replicate a simple one for myself until we get back to Puskar. You want me to come along?" he asked.
I accepted the earwig gratefully and plugged it into my ear. It was the second time in as many days that I had shared an earwig. I knew they were sanitary, but the whole idea was a little gross.
"You want me to accompany you?" Liam asked.
"Sure, why not?"
Much of the crowd around Hotspur had dispersed, although there were a few kids hanging around, clearly in awe of the powerful ship.
A shower and a nap had done amazing things for my attitude and I found myself looking around the quaint little town. There wasn't much in the way of industry, but there were a few promising shops. I wondered if I could find a shirt. I wanted to replace the one I'd lost in the fire.
Just as I'd been when Liam picked me up, Shri was a mess. She was wearing the loose gray clothing provided by the Sheriff's department and her dirty face was streaked with tears. My heart went out to her. She'd just lost her mother and we'd had a horrible night running from an unknown assailant.
She ran over to me as soon as I made it through the door and hugged me, refusing to let go. I wasn't comfortable with excessive displays of affection and finally broke away from her.
She looked at Liam and then back to me with some confusion. I'd forgotten that she'd never actually met him, which I thought was odd, given how often Liam had been at the hospital during my stay.
"Who's this?" she asked.
"Shri Ganguly, I'm pleased to introduce you to my best friend, Liam Hoffen," I said.
She nodded her head and stuck out her hand for Liam to shake.
"Great to meet you, Shri," Liam said, giving her an awkward hug. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"You mean boy-friend," Shri corrected me, ignoring Liam.
"Definitely," I said. "You want to come over to the ship and clean up?"
"I want to go home," she said.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I think they're still working on your home. We've got showers, food and a nice bunk for you. We can even find you some fresh clothes," I said.
She grabbed my hand and looked up at me, completely lost. It nearly broke my heart. I wrapped my arm around her waist and walked her out of the waiting room. Liam took the cue and held the door open for us.
I was cognizant of the stares we received as we walked down the street. I suppose I had received the same stares just a few hours ago, but at the time I'd been in survival mode. I wanted to scream at the people to mind their own business, but held it back. We finally made it to the ship and I led Shri to the aft bunk-room.
"We need to get you cleaned up," I said. "Liam, can you get me one of Ada's suit-liners?"
"Sure," he said.
"I thought we'd be alone," Shri said.
"We are," I said, helping her remove her clothes.
"Clothes are outside the door and I left a robe, too," Liam called from the hallway.
"Thanks, Liam," I said and turned to Shri. "Liam's a gentleman, he'll respect your privacy."
I took a robe from the pile of clothes Liam had left and wrapped it around her shoulders, helping her stand up. She seemed so fragile. I led her down the hall to the shower. Liam had thoughtfully started a pot of coffee, but was otherwise nowhere to be seen.
"Stay," Shri said as she stood in the shower.
She must have been hurt more than I realized, so I helped her get soap and tried to stay out of the spray of the water. I'd have to get a change of clothing, but I was an 'in for a penny, in for a pound' type of girl. After we washed her short hair, I turned the water off and grabbed a towel, handing it to her. I hoped she'd be able to dry herself.
"Tabby," she grabbed my hand. "I'd be so lost without you." She pulled in close, wrapped her arms around my back and reached up with her lips to my own.
To say I was shocked was an understatement. Somehow, we'd turned a corner that I wasn't expecting.
"Whoa. Hold on, Shri," I said, pulling back and pushing my hands between us, trying to get some separation. As fragile as she was, she was nearly impossible to peel off.
"Is it about Liam? We can tell him together," she said.
"Tell him what?" I asked, still trying to squirm away.
"We were meant for each other," she said. "You said it yourself, we're two of a kind. Why else would we both be saved on the Dunham?"
I finally achieved some physical separation by prying her off of me.
"I don't feel like that for you," I said. "You're my friend and I'll do anything I can for you, but not this."
She looked at the ground, even more pathetic than before, her body shuddering.
"Look, Shri, my feelings for you haven't changed. It's just…"
"You
have Liam," she said.
"I do," I said. I wasn't sure what else to say.
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No, sweetie. You've had a terrible couple of days. It's confusing for everyone. Let's get you into some warm clothes and find you something to eat," I said. I felt bad for her. She'd lost more in the Battle for Colony 40 than her legs.
"You still like me?" she asked.
"You'll have to work harder than that to get rid of me."
I helped her dry off and get into Ada's suit-liner. Even though Ada was forty-five kilograms soaking wet, the liner was almost too large for Shri. She hadn't been taking care of herself.
"Where will I go now?" Shri asked.
"You're going to stay with Liam and me for a few days and we'll sort things out. But first, you need to eat something," I said.
Shri nodded and I led her to the galley. The reefer unit almost always had something worth eating in it and today was no different. I found a few pre-made sandwiches, neatly bundled in containers. I pulled two of them out and heated two containers of a tomato cream soup in the galley pro.
Shri’s eyes had a thousand-meter stare and I hoped it was just the shock of the events she'd endured. I wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and placed the food in front of her. I had to push to get her to eat, but once she started, she finished without complaint.
"Let's get you down for a nap," I said.
"Will you lie with me for a few minutes?"
"Of course." I was still a little concerned about her confusion in the shower.
As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. After ten minutes, she fell off into a deep sleep. I slowly extracted myself from the small bunk, quietly closed the door behind me and joined Liam in the office, next to the Captain's Quarters.
"How's she doing?" he asked. I wondered how he'd had the good sense to let me work with her alone.
"She's having trouble adjusting. She made a pass at me in the shower," I said.
"Whoa, what'd you say to her?" he asked.
"What else could I say? I told her I wanted to just be friends," I answered.
"How'd she take that? I'd have been crushed if you'd said that to me."
Out of the Tank (Privateer Tales Book 7) Page 5