Evolution

by R S Penney

  The sound of coughing interrupted her train of thought, and when she focused on the awareness that came through her bond to Seth, she saw the silhouette of Inspector Grimes with a fist pressed to his mouth, hacking up a storm. “Portable SlipGates?” he said from behind her. “Is that possible?”

  “Apparently so.”

  “Portable SlipGates…”

  Two uniformed officers, both tall men with broad shoulders, came down the stairs from the upper level. They wore black pants and white shirts under dark-armoured vests, their faces shielded by the brim of a round cap with a silver badge in front. “Ah, here we are,” Inspector Grimes said.

  The man shuffled past her to greet his two officers at the foot of the stairs, craning his neck to stare up at them. “Constable Sinclair, Constable Davis, this is Special Agent Lenai with the Justice Keepers.”

  Tilting her head back, Anna smiled up at the men. “Pleased to meet you,” she said, nodding to each. “Let's make sure we've covered the basics. Have you interviewed any of the shop employees to find out if they saw anyone who matches our perp's description?”

  The one on the left – Constable Sinclair, unless she was mistaken – directed a tight-lipped frown at his supervisor. “We talked to several,” he said, speaking to Grimes and not to Anna. “No one saw anyone who matched the description.”

  It took some effort to suppress the little surge of irritation she felt at that. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't happen almost every time she was forced to interact with a male cop. They seldom took her seriously, choosing instead to speak to the other men present. Back home, this had never been an issue. She would never have imagined being the target of such rampant sexism before she came to this backward little planet.

  Irritation turned to guilt when she realized that those were her mother's sentiments. Sierin Elana had nothing positive to say about Earth.

  “All right, let's get our bases covered,” Anna broke in. After nine months here, she had picked up a little Earth slang. “Requisition security camera footage for both SlipGate terminals: the one here and the one at Victoria Station. I want copies sent to the forensics team on Station Twelve. We'll run it through our facial recognition software. Maybe we'll get lucky. Check in with bus terminals, car services, anything that might provide our guy with a means of escape.

  “We should also consider the possibility that the killer is still hiding somewhere in the city. Contact hotels in the immediate area. See if anyone recalls booking a guest that fits the description. I want samples from the crime scene forwarded to my team within the hour. I don't care if it's pocket lint, a stray button, dried up chewing gum. Whatever you've got, I want it.”

  The two constables exchanged a glance with each other, then directed a questioning stare at their inspector. “You heard her, gentlemen!” Grimes barked. “Get on it! Nobody goes home tonight until every item on that list is ticked.”

  Exhaustion crept in the instant she was done talking to them, and she was forced to once again wonder if she had done any good since arriving on this planet. Well…perhaps on her first trip. Things had seemed so much simpler back then. She and Jack side-by-side against an unquestionably evil man and his plans to harm an innocent life form. Now, she often wondered if she was the evil one

  Subduing those cops to prevent them from harming Kevin Harmon had been the right thing to do – there was no doubt in her mind about that – and yet, she couldn't help but wonder why the people here despised her. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. They either despised her, or they ignored her.

  Anna strode through the station with her head down, thin strands of red hair falling over her face. No time for self pity, she thought to herself. You can contemplate whether or not you want to stay on this world later. For now, you have a job to do.

  A quick walk brought her to the train platform, and she hopped on the Circle Line to make her way to the new Scotland Yard station. The long, narrow cars were packed with blue seats along each wall filled by the bodies of men in suits or women in light sundresses. Children in shorts and baseball caps.

  The space in the middle of the car, where passengers stood, offered her very little room to maneuver. Her view was cut off by the broad back of a man with gray hair who stood clinging to a metal bar that ran from floor to ceiling.

  Anna bit her lip, then lowered her eyes to the floor. The prickle of sweat upon her brow was a minor nuisance. Jack and Harry should have checked in, she noted. If that damn Overseer tech offers any more surprises…

  A hand squeezed her ass and held on tight long passed the point of what could be called an accident. In her mind's eye, the silhouette of a skinny young man behind her practically trembled. This close, she could tell he was smiling.

  Clenching her teeth, Anna drew in a hissing breath. “Get your hand off me,” she growled, turning her head to speak over her shoulder. “Bleakness take me, didn't anyone ever teach you how to behave in public?”

  To her right, she saw an older woman in her forties – a beautiful woman with sun-kissed skin and curly hair – who watched the whole thing with concern on her face. No doubt she was worried that things might get rough.

  The man squeezed her butt again.

  “I said get your hand off me.”

  She whirled around to find him standing maybe half an inch away. A tall, skinny young man with scraggly blonde stubble along his jawline and pimples on his face, he offered a sheepish grin for an apology.

  Anna pursed her lips as she stared up at him, slowly arching one thin, red eyebrow. “You think that's funny, do you?” The calmness in her voice surprised her. “Well, I'm on my way to a police station; how'd you like to come with me?”

  “Piss off, bitch.”

  “I think not.”

  She lifted her forearm to tap at the screen of her multi-tool with three fingers, and less than five seconds later, a hologram appeared in the air between them. A four-pointed star on a field of blue. The symbol of the Justice Keepers. Her personal dossier appeared half a moment later, displaying her picture along with her rank, badge number and years of service. “I'm Special Agent Anna Lenai with the Justice Keepers,” she said. “And you are under arrest for assaulting an officer of the law.”

  She let the hologram vanish.

  The boy's face went white with fear, and his eyes grew wider and wider until it seemed as though they might fall out. “It was just a joke,” he said, backing away from her until he bumped into the man behind him.

  “No, it was a crime,” she shot back. “And the problem is that entitled little pissants like you keep getting away with it. Well, not today, my friend. Today, there are going to be some consequences for your actions.”

  Everyone on the train clapped.

  A dart landed smack-dab in the middle of a bull's-eye, sliding gracefully into place with a satisfying thump. Half a second later, a second one joined it, landing half an inch to the left, so close the tips must have been touching beneath the surface of the dartboard.

  Anna sat on the surface of a wooden table with one leg crossed over the other, her face set with a firm expression. This little pub in Westminster had walls of dark brown bricks lit mainly by shafts of sunlight that came in through rectangular windows. There were also Tiffany lamps with orange shades spaced throughout the room.

  To her left, the bar was operated by an older woman with curly red hair that fell to the small of her back. Vin Taeral – a Justice Keeper who operated primarily in the United Kingdom – had told Anna about this place over a month ago. Apparently, they had a policy of giving free food to Justice Keepers. The potato-leek soup was particularly good. So good she had ordered two bowls.

  The silhouette of a woman in a pretty sundress came up behind her, pausing just a few feet away. It wasn't hard to recognize Gabi or to sense the tension evident in the other woman's posture. Was Gabrina worried that she wouldn't find a warm welcome? For that matter, did she deserve a warm welcome? Anna knew that taking sides was almost never a good idea, but she wo
uld be lying if she said she didn't feel the urge to protect her best friend from anyone who might hurt him.

  Anna let her head hang, then forced out a breath. “Come to cheer me up, Gabs?” she asked, suppressing a pang of guilt at the exasperation in her tone. “You might have better luck convincing Harry to let loose on the dance floor.”

  Gabi stepped forward to stand beside her with arms crossed, directing a tight frown at the dartboard. “I take it the locals are less than cooperative,” she inquired. “More men who aren't used to taking orders from a woman?”

  Anna threw her head back, blinking at the ceiling. “It never ends,” she said, deep creases forming in her brow. “I give them an order, and they exchange glances with each other and wonder if they should follow it.”

  “It must be infuriating.”

  Anna bared her teeth with a hiss, then shook her head in contempt. “You have no idea,” she said, hopping off the table to stand on the carpeted floor. “At times, I wonder how anyone who lacks a Y-chromosome gets anything done on this planet.”

  The other woman was blushing, her eyes downcast as if she felt a deep sense of shame. “I hope I'm not bothering you,” Gabi muttered. “We're still friends, right?”

  “Of course, we're still friends!” Anna said, rounding on her. “I'm legally obligated to hate you with a burning fiery passion, but I don't see why that means that we shouldn't be friends. Honestly, Gabs, who do you take me for?”

  The ghost of a smile appeared on Gabi's face, and she let out a soft sigh of relief. “Good,” she said firmly. “Then tell me honestly, are you still feeling overwhelmed by the hostility you find here?”

  “Sometimes.”

  Gabi hunched over, then reached up to run fingers through her long black hair. “It's the same for me,” she replied in a hissing whisper. “The truth is I've felt out of place here for weeks, if not months.”

  “Why didn't you say something?”

  “For the longest time, I dismissed the idea of taking another assignment because of my relationship with Jack, but now…”

  Anna dropped into a vacant chair with her arms folded, doubling over until she was almost bent in half. A ragged breath passed through her lips. “Have you told him? Do you plan on telling him?”

  Gabi winced, shaking her head. “I'd like to,” she answered in a voice as smooth and as cool as ice on the surface of a lake. “But I'm not sure Jack wants to hear from me, and what's more, I'm not sure I'm up to the conversation.”

  “I'd kind of hoped you guys might get back together…”

  It took only a second for Anna to realize that giving voice to that thought had been a mistake. Much as she might dream of a future where her friends were happy together, Gabi's reasons for ending her relationship with Jack were valid. True, the woman had known that he was a Justice Keeper, and therefore unable to have children, but people were complicated. You often didn't know whether or not something was a deal-breaker until you tried to live with it for a little while. “I'm sorry.”

  “Don't be.”

  “So, are you leaving?”

  In response, Gabi sat down in a chair that faced her, crossing one leg over the other and folding hands in her lap. “I've considered resigning from the Service,” she said. “I'm getting older, and a life of danger no longer holds the appeal it once did.”

  “Thirty-two is hardly old.”

  “No, but…”

  Anna closed her eyes, sucking in a rasping breath. She pinched the bridge of her nose with thumb and forefinger. “But you want a family, a little place of your own and a job that doesn't involve gunfire.”

  When she looked up, the other woman wore a grin that could light up the night sky. “Exactly,” Gabi said with a nod. “I remember when we infiltrated Camacho's mansion six months ago.”

  Mention of that night left a sharp pang of loss in Anna's heart. She had to pause for a moment to figure out why, the answer came with only a little effort. That had been the night that she had seen Jack kissing Gabi for the first time. The start of their relationship. And afterward, I took the first chance I had to pick up a cute nerdy boy at a chess club.

  Pain turned to panic when she considered the implications of her own relationship. Now was not the time for that, however. She smothered those feelings quickly, and that made her aware of Seth's attempt to offer support of his own. “It was quite the evening,” Anna muttered. “I kept expecting someone to pull a gun on us.”

  “As did I,” Gabi mumbled. “When it was over, I went home and realized that I felt none of the satisfaction I used to experience after a successful mission.”

  Setting her elbows on the arms of her chair, Anna laced her fingers and rested her chin on top of them. “So you're thinking it's time for a career change,” she said. “And I guess that means you're going home.”

  “And you?” Gabi asked. “Do you want to stay here?”

  “I don't know anymore,” Anna admitted with some reluctance. “But I do have one good thing tying me to this world.”

  Bradley was here, and she had come to realize that she really did love him.

  “Maybe you should think about that.”

  Before she could respond, her multi-tool beeped, and Anna swiped a finger across the screen to answer the call. Jena's face appeared with the window in her office visible behind her. “You might want to get up here,” she said. “We have news.”

  Chapter 6

  The blue sky stretched on forever over a forest of tall conifers in Northern Ontario. Peering through the canopy window of his shuttle, Jack found himself mystified by just how much of this planet remained untouched by civilization. They were coming up on the coordinates Ven had given.

  Jack sat in the pilot's seat with his hands on the control console, his posture stiff as he squinted through the window. “Just another minute or so,” he said for Harry's benefit. “Really, the computer does most of the work.”

  “It's all right, kid; I trust you.”

  Jack winced, trembling as he drew in a hissing breath. “Yeah…” he said, tapping in a few commands on the console. “It's just that this is my first flight without supervision, and I remember my family's joking about getting their affairs in order every time they got in a car with me after I got my license.”

  “You're fine.”

  The trees scrolled slowly upward in the window as he lowered the shuttle into an open clearing about a kilometer from the designated coordinates. This was the closest landing sight he could find.

  A light jolt told him the shuttle had touched down, and then he powered down the systems, deactivating the artificial gravity and life-support. Half a second later, the soft hum of the engines died.

  Jack swiveled around.

  Harry sat facing him at the starboard-side console, resting comfortably with his hands on his knees and a vacant stare on his face. “Nice place,” he said with a nod. “I'm suddenly feeling the urge to go camping.”

  Closing his eyes, Jack bowed his head to the other man. “Yeah…” he said, getting out of his seat. “You know, as long as we can be sure there are no Overseer traps. I'm not looking to star in a Joss Whedon film.”

  “Joss Whedon?”

  “When that guy does horror, he goes all out.”

  Jack strode to the back of the cockpit, then paused in front of the doors that led to the cabin. “Come on,” he said, instinctively checking the pistol on his hip. “Let's get this over with and get back to Jena.”

  The doors slid apart, and he descended the steps into a room with a square table in the middle and a SlipGate along the back wall. The tall, metal triangle caught the light in a way that seemed unnatural, Jack avoided looking at it. On his right, the airlock was shut tight. He opened it with a few quick taps.

  Another set of doors opened, these ones producing a loud hiss as they revealed a dense forest of Red Pines. Thankfully, most were tall enough that their branches easily cleared the top of Jack's head; he didn't have to worry about being assaulted by needles w
hile they made their way toward…whatever it was they would find at the coordinates Ven had provided.

  Normally, he loved forests – and Jack made a mental note to do some exploring as soon as he got a few days to himself; it was sad how little he had seen of his own country – but today, he wanted expedience over anything else. At this moment, Anna was going over crime scene evidence with the good people of Scotland Yard; of course, she would be working with Keepers from other teams – there was pretty much no chance of Jena getting sole jurisdiction over this thing – but he still wanted to be there. On top of that, the dull ache of sadness made him cranky. He had never realized just how much he cared about Gabi until she was gone.

  He tapped at his multi-tool and watched the screen light up, displaying a squiggly blue line that represented a sonic wave. “Ven,” Jack said. “We've landed. I figure it will take an hour to get to the coordinates.”

  The blue line pulsed as Ven spoke. “I will monitor you as best I can, but my ship is currently hidden behind your planet's moon, and there is very little that I can do without entering orbit and exposing my presence here.”

  The blurry image of Harry approached Jack from behind, carrying a brief case that contained the device Ven had jury-rigged to detect Overseer technology. Jack had offered to carry it several times, but Harry insisted that he wanted to hold onto it. Maybe he was feeling like he had to prove his usefulness. “I thought Ven was on Station Twelve,” Harry muttered. “He's controlling his ship remotely?”

  Jack grinned, then lowered his eyes to stare at the ground under his feet. “Ven is software,” he said, shaking his head. “In terms of his physical location, he's wherever the computers that run him happen to be.”

  “Quite right, Agent Hunter.”

  Harry strode past Jack, approaching the line of trees just a few paces away from the tip of the shuttle's wing. “Shall we go?” he asked, pausing there. “You're not the only one who wants to get this job over with.”