by M J Gauntlet
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
As usual, the skycab let Zax off at the edge of the Littleton city limit, over two kilometers from Last Town. No skycab service would take the chance of sending one of their units any closer to Laster settlement. After exiting the skycab, instead of walking away and letting it auto-return to the nearest staging depot, Zax reinserted his pre-paid eunit disk and pressed the ‘wait’ button. As the unit hovered in place, he wondered if he was taking too much of a gamble. Deciding that taking a big risk was the only option left to him, Zax attached one of the off- planet bugs beneath the skycab’s cushions and the other Imperial bug underneath the aircar’s rear skirt.
Jik had instructed him on how to reactivate the tracers by using a delay circuit board he had purchased. Standing outside the cab, he verbally instructed it to proceed to the harbor outside the port city of Bulldog. Feeding enough eunits into the meter to complete the journey, the skycab closed its canopy and rose into the airways. It was a five- hour trip, and once the skycab was over Plex, the timers would reactivate the tracers. Hopefully, whomever had placed the bugs on him, would think he had left Plex and had headed southeast to Bulldog. Maybe, they might meet each other and be too busy with that confrontation to pay much attention to him.
Zax watched the skycab’s departure, pulled his hood over his head and started the long trek towards the tree line around Last Town. Even though it was dark, he knew where he was headed. Eventually, he found himself standing at the site where his house had once stood, now only a darkened, burnt, ugly scar on the ground. Quietly, he eased his way into the woods behind the ruins. He was only a few feet away from the gap in the trees, when he heard a familiar voice.
“Hold it right there, son,” commanded Lieutenant Fuller. Zax froze and turned slowly to face the policeman. The man emerged from the shadow cast by the spread of the boughs of two ‘weeper’ trees. Instead of his uniform, the lieutenant was wearing a one-piece dark running suit with its hood pulled over his head.
“Lieutenant Fuller… I sorta figured I would find you here. What was the idea of that message? And why the mysterious secret meeting?” Zax said warily.
“Because I wanted to warn you that you are in a shit load of trouble.”
“Why? Don’t you think I know that you or someone had placed a telltale tracker on my backpack back at the precinct? What’s it to you, if a Laster is in trouble?” Zax said resentfully.
“Look son, if you want to go around with a stick up your ass, then fine, but I’m risking my career, my pension and very possibly my freedom by even talking to you. Some might even interpret what I am doing as a treasonous act. So, if you don’t mind, I’ll have a little less taking shit from you. Just shut up and listen, ok?” Fuller said, with fire in his eyes.
Mollified, Zax lowered his head. “Ok, ok, I’m sorry.
It’s been a rough few days for me.”
Fuller’s eyes softened, then he continued.
“I’m sorry to see you again under these circumstances, but before I tell you what I know, I need you to tell me everything that you have done in the previous two days.”
Zax went on to explain, in detail, his activities of the previous two days. When he got to the visit to the safe deposit vault, he hesitated momentarily, then told him about the Tri-D cube and the scribbled notes, but for some reason he omitted showing him the oddly shaped, multicolored cube. Zax then went on, to outline his activities through the previous night and the morning he had spent with Lauria. His voice caught in his throat, as he realized that had been the last time, he had seen Lauria alive.
“…and that’s all I know, Lieutenant Fuller, honest. When I last saw Lauria, she was getting ready for work. She told me that she had a big meeting that morning and it could have meant a promotion for her at the bank. We had arranged to meet for lunch after the meeting, but I arrived a little early. When she was late for the luncheon date, I went to the bank thinking she had been delayed by the meeting. That is when I had found out that she not reported to work at all. I knew something was wrong and took a cab back to her apartment complex. When I arrived, I found that the area had been cordoned off by the police and there was a morgue van sitting at the gates. As a screened body was placed in the van, the shield flickered, and I saw her lying there… dead! I…I… just didn’t know what to do…I…” Once again, Zax could feel the hot tears welling up in his eyes and his throat constricting.
“Take a moment son. I know that this has been a very hard few days for you,” Fuller said soothingly. After waiting for Zax to compose himself, he asked a question. “Tell me, Zax, what were you doing at the land offices?”
“Huh? How did you know I went…oh yeah, I forgot...” Zax said, absently as he fingered the image scrambler around his neck, “I turned this off when I left Lauria’s. To tell you the truth, I went there to find out where I stood in the upcoming LAG. You see, after meeting Lauria, I sorta had this crazy idea that she and I…that is…Look, I know it sounds crazy, especially since I hardly know her, but I thought that maybe she and I could have gone in together into a joint venture. You see, I think I was in love with her,” Zax ended miserably.
“I see,” Fuller said, ignoring Zax’s obvious discomfort. “So, tell me Zax, why did you call the Imperial Base in Botany? And why the sudden interest in antique toys?” Fuller inquired, eyeing him critically. Zax blinked twice in surprise, then remembered that he had made that call and web search unencrypted.
“I just wanted to find out a little more about my father’s service record. I felt that I somehow need to know a bit more about the man he used to be,” Zax responded sadly.
“And the antique toy search?” Fuller probed.
“Oh, that was nothing, I was just curious about an old toy my father used to talk about during one of his Blitzo fevers,” Zax dissembled.
The lieutenant eyed him sternly for a few seconds and then let the lie pass. Fuller took a long deep breath and seemed to come to a decision. Leaning against one of the faux pine trees, he looked Zax squarely in the eyes.
“You should know that right now, there is a planetwide manhunt going on for you. It’s being kept quiet. No news or fax flashes…yet, but they are sparing no effort behind the scenes to find you. It’s a damn good thing that you have taken the precautions you have, or you would be in the hands of the Imperial Special Branch by now.”
Zax looked up, startled. “Lieutenant Fuller don’t tell me that the police think I have anything to do with Lauria’s death. I loved her and would have never harmed her. I would have…” Fuller held up his hands to stop the flood of words spilling from Zax’s lips.
“Frankly son, I know you had nothing to do with Ms. Talbot’s murder, even though your fingerprints and DNA were all over the apartment, and traces of semen were recovered from both the bed and from Ms. Talbot’s body. Forensics indicate that these traces were several hours old, which somewhat collaborates your account of what had happened the previous night. The gate cameras registered your departure from the premises at about 0800 pre-first sunrise, but they seemed to have been shorted out soon afterwards. The way they were disabled, is similar to what happened to the recording devices of that attorney you went to see. There were signs of a rather intense fight, at the entrance to Ms. Talbot’s apartment. She was killed by an energy weapon discharge at close quarters, but before she was shot, it was obvious that whoever attacked her sustained some injury during the scuffle. There was blood found at the scene that matched neither hers, nor yours.
“I seriously doubt that you suddenly decided to kill Ms. Talbot, leave a trail a kilometer wide that a blind cave fish could follow, then calmly waited in line at the LAG offices as though you hadn’t a care in the world. Besides…” he said, looking Zax over, “I don’t see a mark on you, and like I said, whomever attacked her took quite a beating themselves.
“Here’s what I think…” Fuller said, leaning close to Zax, “someone or a group of persons are after something, either information or an item, that the
y believe your father possessed. After killing your father, I believe by accident, they somehow got wind of his lawyer, probably by following the bugs they placed on you…” he stopped abruptly and shot a quick question at Zax. “You got my message about the tracers that had been placed on you and got rid of them, didn’t you?” When Zax nodded, Fuller sighed appreciatively and continued, “…but they seemed to have gotten to the attorney too late to get any useful information. Either, on the way into the lawyer’s office or upon leaving, they encountered members of a street gang and dispatched them efficiently.
“It appears that they used their tracer bugs to once again locate you in Plex, followed you to the bank, where they learned about your attachment to Lauria Talbot, who happened to oversee the safe deposit vault, to which you had just gained access. They then waited and using their tracers, followed you to her apartment…” Zax held up his hand, to stop Fuller’s monolog.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see how anyone could have traced me back to Lauria’s, because I discovered the bugs long before you told me about them. I had found out about the bugs earlier that same day, had them deactivated and removed. In fact, right now, they are on a skycab headed towards the port city of Bulldog. As for locating me by my scanned image…” Zax opened his coat and pulled up the scrambler around his neck. “…I purchased this image scrambler at the same time I discovered the bugs. It should confuse any electronic image capture, so, for the time being, I should be alright.”
Fuller stared in mild wonder at Zax, as a note of suspicion crept into his voice. “Suddenly young man, you seem to know an awful lot about things you shouldn’t. Have you been entirely on the level with me here?”
“Look lieutenant, I just got a little spooked when that shadow man…er… the Imperial agent, started telling me about all the things he knew about my comings and goings, so I stopped into a security store to see if there was anything I could do about it. That’s when I learned about the bugs by the way, and the clerk there sold me this scrambler I’m wearing now. That’s the truth. I’m just a little scared right now with all the people I know and care about dying around me. Maybe you were right. Maybe I am some sort of ‘Typhoid Mary of death.’” Zax relented, eyes beginning glisten with tears as he thought again of Lauria.
“To be honest, you have every reason to be frightened because it appears that not only is the ISB agent after you, but there also seems to be a Marcosian agent on your trail as well. The blood stains recovered from a knife found at the scene of the gang killings had a Marcosian signature. Even more recently, two bodies were uncovered in a hotel room, both shot with an energy weapon very similar to the one that killed the lawyer, an energy weapon bearing a unique Marcosian signature. Early analysis seems to indicate that at least one of those bodies were involved in the attack on Ms. Lauria Talbot.
“I don’t know why the Imperium or the Marcosians are so interested in you, but I have a feeling that if either of them gets their hands on you, it will be the last anyone hears from you in a long while, if ever. Whatever it is they think you know or have, seems to be important enough, that neither is going to stop until one of them gets what they want.”
“But what if I went to the planetary police and explained all that I know, surely between what you’ve told me and the evidence they now have, they would no longer think that I’m responsible for the killings,” Zax said plaintively.
“Zax,” Fuller said sadly, “it really doesn’t matter what the police think. The case has been taken out of local law enforcement’s hands. The Imperial Special Branch has taken over the case and has been spearheading the search for you. They have suddenly become very interested in you.
“I want you to just think about what has happened to you in the past eighty-four hours. Zax, you have been either directly or indirectly connected to eleven deaths and one explosion. The Special Branch agent has convinced Captain Ombulo, this alone is enough to issue a warrant for your arrest. But make no mistake, it is the Special Branch that wants you, not the local police. I think, that if you try to use it, you will find that your eunit disc has been suspended. They are actively searching every public and non-public imager for your profile. I don’t know what you have gotten yourself into, but it means serious trouble for you. I strongly suggest that if there is anything that you haven’t told me, you do so now!”
Zax almost capitulated and told Fuller about the warning his father had given him about the Rubik’s Cube, but some inner voice halted him. Two things became crystal clear to Zax in that moment: the chances of him finding those who were behind the murders of his father and Lauria would be nil if he divulged that information, and whatever it was that was connected to the ancient toy artifact and the random notes, had cost him and his father dearly. It was worth a great deal in human lives.
No! Zax was determined to keep that secret. It was the only link he had to all the people that he either loved or come to love in his life. If he were to simply give up now, then he would be forever haunted, by the image of Lauria’s bloodied body and the smoking lump of flesh that was all that remained of his father.
“I am really sorry Lieutenant, but I have told you all I can about what has happened,” he said finally.
“Very well, but if I were you, I’d make myself scarce. Your best bet is to get off-planet. Hop a tradership and head away from the core worlds, go out towards the frontier and stay beneath the sensors of the ISB. But before you can do that you will need a new planetary ID number.” Fuller stopped talking, reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulled out an eunit disc and what looked like a standard planetary ID card. “Here, take these also…” Fuller said, as he reached behind a tree and pulling out something Zax thought he would never see again…the rucksack and floater he had left in Lauria’s apartment. Tossing them to him, Zax caught them and started to thank him, but the lieutenant put up his hand.
“Don’t thank me yet, the pack is almost empty. The various clothing and toiletry items have been removed tagged and placed in a separate bin. All I could retrieve was the pack, some doodled notes, a thin film of what looks like plasticine and a spray atomizer of some sort, that were in a hidden compartment. There was also that strange, metal, tubular mechanism. Several of the officers thought it might be a weapon of some kind, while others thought it a kinetic sculpture.
“I was able to use my authority as a planetary law enforcement officer, to confiscate the rucksack from the police property room in Plex, under the pretext that it was possible evidence in a previous crime in my jurisdiction. They had gone over both the floater and the rucksack with every scanner available and had determined that they were of no significance to their case, so they let me have them. That ID card I just gave you, will remain usable for about ten to twelve days after its first use, before the computers tag it as invalid. Try to stay away from planetary and Imperial terminals, their security is much tighter, and I doubt if it would pass inspection. Make sure you use the ID only when you have to.” Awkwardly grasping the pack, Zax activated its contragrav and murmured his thanks.
“I suggest that you keep that illegal image scrambler on full time and stay away from anyone that you have met in the past two days. I’m sorry I can’t do more for you son, but at least you might have a fighting chance. I’ve done all I could, and a damn site more than I should have. I gotta go now. Be careful,” Fuller said. Zax saw real concern in the lieutenant’s eyes, and touched Fuller’s shoulder halting him as he turned to go.
“Why are you doing this Lieutenant Fuller? You are a Firster, so why are you so concerned about what happens to me? Why are you risking your job and possibly your freedom for someone you hardly know?”
Fuller paused, and Zax could see that the man was debating something in his mind. Finally, the police officer took a deep breath and turned back to Zax to looked him in his eyes.
“Remember when I told you that about the Last Town riots your family was involved in years back?” Zax nodded, as he remembered the conversation that took p
lace seemingly an eon ago, in that interrogation room. “Well, there was a little more to the story than that. You see that night when the mob came through Last Town looking for trouble, I was there. I was about what your age is now, and I was drunk and full of myself. I was one of the goons at the back of the mob, yelling my fool head off and acting like I was the only thing that was worth a damn. The mob had already set fire to a few empty store fronts in our sick rampage, and was headed deeper into the residential zone. The inhabitants simply hid in their homes or ran into the woods. Nobody showed their faces. Your parents were the only ones who faced that mob down, and in doing so, probably saved the entire area from being razed to the ground, and no one lifted a finger to help them. I remember seeing your mother as she faced down the angry faces that were shouting insults at her. I stopped dead in my tracks and just stared at her. She was the most beautiful and courageous person I have ever seen. For the first time in my life I could see myself for the stupid, ignorant, asshole that I was. I dropped my club and just turned around and headed back home. The last thing I heard, was the mob behind me getting angrier as it built itself into a frenzy. The last image I remember, was the beautiful face of your mother standing the mob down.
Afterwards, when I heard that this beautiful, brave woman had been killed, it made me sick to my stomach. It really tore me up inside, but not enough for me to do or say anything. When it came time for someone to appear in court to identify the men who were there and had a hand in killing your mother, no one, not even myself came forward. My parents… everyone just turned a blind eye towards that brave woman’s death. We all knew who they were, but Firsters stick together, or they run the risk of being ostracized. I was too frightened and intimidated to speak up.