Edge World

by Michael Guinn

  “We can’t have a civil war here,” Professor Smithe said with some heat. “Anything but that!”

  “I can see how terrible it would be,” Lt. Cope said, “but as I understand it you are just are concerned about some plant or drug found in the equatorial jungles. No matter what happens the plants will be still there, Professor Smithe. You are sounding like it is the end of the world.”

  As it may well be, thought Liam to himself, as it may well be. He showed his Federation I.D. and explained briefly to Lt. Cope what he had told the other Lieutenants previously about his role on Edge World. Lt. Cope had never seen a Federation agent before, in fact none of the Lieutenants had, but they all knew what Professor Smithe had the power to order, and he was just as nervous as the other Lieutenants.

  “Are you taking over command, Sir,” Lt. Cope asked somewhat tentative?

  “No, for now I am just an advisor to local law enforcement. Hopefully we can solve this matter without having to call in Federal resources.”

  Lt. Cope could well imagine that result.

  “Now, Lt. Baker, how many officers do you have on the rolls as of this moment and how many of those could you have gathered here in Atlanta City?” asked Professor Smithe.

  “I think Lt. Adams can answer those questions better than me,” Professor Smithe. “He is in charge of personnel, both civilian and officers.”

  “We have approximate seventeen hundred on staff. I say approximate due to some officers that may be on sick leave or out of communications. These are scattered up and down the mountain route and the river route. Any village or town of any size has an officer stationed there, but in some cases one officer may cover three or more small villages. As to how many we could muster here at headquarters, it would depend on the time. I could have fifty officers here by this evening, but by tomorrow night I could have close to five hundred. Forty or so are the new recruits so they might be iffy. Give me a week and I could have over a thousand here.”

  “Lt. Baker. What facts do we know for sure at this time?”

  Lt. Baker thought for a minute. “We know that Captain Santos’ aircar crashed or exploded, killing Sgt. Onn and that Captain Santos left the crash location, either on her own or with others riding horses. We have not been able to locate her. We do have in custody one of the mechanics from our garage who was caught carrying explosives. At this time he will admit to nothing but relaying a package that was given to him by a stranger to go to Captain Santos. We are still working on him. The communication snafu was deliberate, probably to hinder law enforcement. It has been solved and the City Militia has several individuals that they are currently questioning. At our request, the Militia will keep a small force on the island until this whole conspiracy thing is resolved. Lt. Cope heard Jacob Ericson, President of the Traders Association, propose to the Council that the Pawassa Tribe be relocated to the western part of the equatorial jungle. That proposal is under consideration, but no action will be taken for at least several weeks. A supposed research team that arrived several weeks ago have disappeared, after two of their members were murdered in Atlanta City. There have been several attacks on the caravans, but none the last few days.”

  “That pretty well sums up our situation right now, Professor Smithe,” concluded Lt. Baker.

  “You left out the kidnapping, or at least the disappearance of the two Santos girls,” said Professor Smithe. What about the men and a woman found on Captain Santos’ premises?”

  “Both had been stunned with law enforcement level stunners. It will be another twenty-four hours before we can interrogate them. I am not looking to get much from them, however.”

  “Definitely the girls, then. I wonder if they are going after their mother or their friend Charlie?”

  “As far as we know, the girls were gone before they could have heard about their mother,” put in Lt. Adams. “Of course, it is possible that they learned about her from some other source, but I doubt it.”

  “Then it is Charlie they are looking for. And Charlie is looking for the same plants that everyone else wants. What a mess.”

  *****

  Amanda thought she had been running forever, but without any way of telling time, and with the drug still coursing through her system, it could have been an hour or four hours, she couldn’t tell. She was staying behind the main bunch of tribesmen who thought they were chasing her, but she had to stop every while to listen for any others coming up behind her. Amanda knew she had to be out of the jungle by daylight when the drug wore off.

  Amanda heard shouting on the trail ahead of her, far too close, but the jungle was also thinning out, which gave her hope. Then there was running steps behind her. The only choice was to try and slip though the tangle of trees and vines, silently. Twenty or so feet into the tangle Amanda stopped behind a vine festooned tree, as four or five tribesmen ran down the trail past her. She silently counted to twenty and then started making her way over a particularly large dead tree. As she did so another tribesman came running down the trail and stopping exactly where Amanda had entered the jungle. Amanda froze, but knew it was too late. The warrior had evidently heard her and then seen enough of a trail to start into the jungle behind her. Amanda started running again, thankful the tribesman did not call out, probably wanting the glory of catching her himself. Amanda could feel the drug wearing off, but she could see the edge of the plains less than a hundred yards ahead. As she stumbled the last few yards, the tribesman that had been following her threw a spear that cut a deep slice in her right shoulder. Amanda was so surprised that she fell to one knee. The warrior came charging out of the jungle at Amanda, knife raised over his head in one hand. Just as he reached her, Amanda rose, one hand catching his knife hand by the wrist, and her other hand, fingers folded, into his unprotected stomach. He folded over but managed to hang onto the knife, cutting Amanda’s jumpsuit down the back and cutting her from shoulders to waist. As his head came down Amanda clubbed him on the back of his neck, driving him face down into the dirt, unconscious. She turned and started running as best she could, but pulled up short when have a dozen tribesmen, mounted, rode over the hill and quickly surrounded her. Amanda looked curiously at one much older tribesman wearing a full-face mask of silver. A younger man

  approached her and stopped, watching her intently. Finally he pointed at her and said, “kill her!”

  Before any tribesman could raise a weapon, the man wearing the silver mask yelled HOLD.

  “She is not to be killed at this time but rather bring her back to the village and see if we can keep from letting her escape again, said the man.

  There were some dirty looks thrown at him but they obeyed. Amanda’s spirit reached rock bottom when she realized that her only chance at escape failed. Two of the tribesmen started to dismount when a patrol car appeared heading for them. The tribesmen headed back to the jungle and Amanda passed out.

  *****

  Senior staff, Professor Smithe included, took a quick break for the bathroom and to grab something to eat from trays of food brought in by staff whenever long meets occurred. Professor Smithe was the first to return to the meeting room and was deep in thought when the other staff arrived. His thoughts, however, were not on the current problems but rather on Amanda Santos. It was with effort that he tore himself away from the thoughts of what he should have said to Amanda, and back to work.

  “After some thought, I am afraid that I am going to take command of the law enforcement organizations here on Edge World, specifically OSI and the City Militia,” stated Professor Smithe. “I will be exercising my authority only in regards to this conspiracy; I have no desire to get into your day to day operations. I will meet with Captain Carlos as soon as we break here.”

  “Lt. Cope, who, exactly, is responsible for the Spaceport Center and Space Control?”

  “That would be Mr. Jessie Holmes. He is the President of Spaceport Administration, the name of the company that operates the spaceport,” said Lt. Cop.

  “Good. Get
with him immediately. I want a total shut-down of all exports until further notice. They are not to accept anything or anyone for export and they are not to ship out anything they might have on hand. You can use my authority as a Federal Agent for the action. This is not a request; it is an order!”

  “Certainly, Sir, I will get right on it after the meeting.”

  “I said ‘immediately’ Lt. Cope. Why are you still sitting there?”

  Lt. Cope struggled out of his chair, still somewhat slowed by his recent injuries, and hastily left the room.

  “Now, Lt. Adams, start pulling men back here into headquarters. Everyone you can reach. Southport Militia is going to have to handle their own problems till this mess is cleaned up.”

  Lt. Adams didn’t wait for a dismissal but rose immediately and headed for the OSI communications Center now that the static problem had been somewhat cleared up. Smithe thought to himself that allowing the resumption of clear communications was the first major error made by those fermenting this conspiracy.

  “Now then Lt. Baker, as the Officers report in, I want them assigned to patrolling the edge of the jungle in addition to the ones we already have patrolling. They are to stop anyone from entering or leaving the jungle.”

  “But sir, you are talking about several hundred miles of jungle just in the areas of the settlements,” protested Lt. Baker. “We don’t have enough patrol aircars to keep everyone from going in or out of the jungle! We have half a dozen aircars patrolling the edge of the jungle right now.”

  “I know we can’t stop everyone, but we should be able to stop most large groups. When we run out of aircars, start adding officers to each car. I would like to see a minimum of four officers in each aircar. As soon as we have enough men we will start raids on the different villages”

  “So you think the villagers are behind the conspiracy,” asked Lt. Owens?

  “I think some of the jungle tribes are in this up to their necks. With the raids I am hoping to find out which one or ones. While we are waiting, I am going to see Captain Carlos over at the City Militia.”

  *****

  “Investigator Tracy Townsead and Investigator Yuri Yugoslav were having santee and coffee in the little coffee/santee shop that was a second cop central used by both OSI and City Militia.

  “I haven’t seen you in several days,” Tracy said, “and even more you haven’t been knocking at my door.”

  “I am sorry, Tracy. Between the murders and shutting down the company operating Satellite Central, I haven’t had a minute to myself.”

  “You shut down Satellite Central?” Tracy said in some surprise. “But my comm is working better than ever. No static to speak of.”

  “No, no, we didn’t shut the Communication System down. Just some of the crooked administrative staff that was taking bribes to allow outsiders to dictate work schedules and to obtain confidential information about the Satellite Control System. We don’t know yet how far the corruption goes in the Company. In any case they must have screwed up because whoever is behind this had to kill two of the employees out at the satellite center. That is all we know right now but we are sweating out the other employees with dirty hands. We will know more tomorrow.”

  “Well, we haven’t found a trace of Captain Santos but we are still looking. I heard a rumor that the ‘Professor Smithe’ is really a federal agent here to take over all of the law enforcement agencies,” Tracy said.

  “A Federal Agent? I don’t believe it. I have never seen one, only heard about them, but I can’t believe one is here on Edge World.”

  “I said it was just a rumor,” Tracy replied.

  “I think we would have at least a rumor in the Militia, but I haven’t heard a peep. Anyway, I am off duty now and don’t have to report back until tomorrow night. What say I take you out to dinner?”

  “Dinner, and…”

  “You see right through me. I have to sleep somewhere tonight, and your apartment is just a few blocks from ‘Andy’s where I had thought we would eat.”

  Tracy laughed at that. “Yes, I will go to dinner with you, and all the trimmings, including having you spend the night…at that moment the recall sounded on Yuri’s pager.

  “Guess I will have to have dinner by myself unless I can find another hansom man to escort me.”

  Yuri frowned at that, even though he knew Tracy was just kidding him. Then Tracy’s recall alarm sounded.

  *****

  Dawn was trying to break through by the time that Professor Smithe made it to the City Militia Headquarters but a Sgt. that he had reached said the Chief was already in the office. Headquarters was busy with officers coming and going but the Sgt. showed him right in to the Captain Carlos’ office.

  “Good morning Captain Carlos, I was a little surprised to find you in the office so early,” Professor Smithe said to the standing City Militia Captain.

  “And a good morning to you. I believe you are Professor Smithe, a specialist in cultural anthropology. Did you come to our fair planet to study our tribesmen and tribeswomen? I actually have been home tonight. We have a number of crises going on right now and I gave strict instructions that I was not to be interrupted,” said Captain Carlos in a displeased manner. I don’t know what you said to Sgt. Abrams that convinced him I should see you but as long as you are here, I will give you five minutes of my time, so talk fast.”

  “I am actually a professor of xenobiology, but for this assignment it was demined prudent to not have any type of biology connected to my name. Here are my actual credentials. Without speaking, Professor Smithe handed Captain Carlos his Federation I.D. Liam had seen men turn white before, but never so quickly or as white. Captain Carlos collapsed into his chair.

  “That…that isn’t real. Is it?” Captain Carlos stammered, knowing full well that federation I.D. was virtually impossible to duplicate, and to do so resulted in life imprisonment in a government mine.

  “Yes, it is real, and at this moment I am in charge of all law enforcement on Edge World. I do not intend to interfere with your daily operations, and I will be here only until we clear up the conspiracy we have here.”

  “What do you want me to do,” Captain Carlos asked tentatively?

  “So, continue with your everyday schedule. I understand that you have several employees from the Satellite Control Company that you are questioning in regard to the static problem you had with the communication systems. Is that right?”

  “Yes” Although they actually fall under OSI jurisdiction. I will turn them over to OSI if you want.”

  “No, continue with that investigation. In fact, I want your office to handle the two murders also. I don’t have enough OSI officers as it is. I may want some of the City Militia temporarily transferred to OSI as soon as I can figure out what to do with them.”

  Captain Carlos seemed more relaxed now, Liam thought. His behavior has been somewhat strange but I guess I will put it down as his reaction when he realized I was a Federal Agent. It takes all kinds.

  “I will start making a list of those officers I feel can be pulled off of regular assignments and loaned to OSI,” said Captain Carlos. “Do you know how many you will need?”

  “I won’t know that, Captain Carlos, until we figure out where we will use them. Just make the list as long as possible. I need to get back. We have some officers coming to headquarters that I want to talk to. Just make sure everyone on your force is aware of my authority.”

  As Liam turned to go, he caught a very strange express on Captain Carlos’ face. Not resentment, as such, which would be expected, but more like a combination of anger and fear. I could deal with anger,” Liam said to himself, “but fear. If I have the head of a third of the law enforcement on this planet fearing me, we are in more trouble than even I may be able to handle. What a mess!”

  CHAPTER 15

  It was early morning when Ethan, George and the Twins woke up. Neither Tamara nor Kristina had slept well: they had camped out many times with their mother when they were y
oung, but never with a number of strangers sleeping in the same temporary building. But they were young and quick to bounce back.

  “Ethan,” Tamara asked while trying to brush out her tangled hair with her fingers,” are you coming with us today?”

  “I don’t know Tamara. George, how long will it take to get to where these plants are supposed to be?”

  George was still wiping sleep out of his eyes as he said, “it is a two-hour walk. Overall it will be about five hours I would guess for you to come with us and the go to your village.”

  “Well girls, I guess I won’t be going with you. I have to be back to my village in just a couple of hours,” Ethan replied to Tamara’s question.” You will be fine with George. Make sure you get them back to me when they are finished, George,” Ethan said.

  “Sure Ethan. I will try and get them back to the Landing in time to catch the evening shuttle run to Atlanta City. If I can’t I am sure someone will put them up for the night. Maybe your Uncle Vann?”

  “He is gone to the river route but his wife, Therme, will put them up for as long as needed,” replied Ethan.

  “That is great. Come on girls, we need to get started.”

  Initially Tamara and Kristina were a little uncomfortable being in a strange part of the jungle with someone they knew nothing about. But the beauty of the jungle relaxed them. The Edge World jungles had very few insects that would bite or sting. This may well have been because there were few large animals to be prey. Evolution here took different paths resulting in no dinosaurs, and few mammals evolving very early in the evolution chain. Some mammals and birds yes, reptiles no.