by Ward Wagher
Smith grinned at her. “And Frank won't give you credit for the effort you put into it either.”
“Darn tootin I won't!'”
“Frank! That's not very nice,” Emily said.
“Of course not. It's business.”
Spanky thrummed around the table to where he stood behind Stephanie and put a tentacle on her shoulder. “Not to worry, Friend Stephanie. Not called Spanky for nothing.”
Stephanie looked up at the one-eyed heterochthon. “What does that mean?”
“Not know. Read it somewhere.”
Across the table Frank rolled his eyes.
§ § §
At ten in the evening most of the group was at the old offices along the waterfront. The furniture had been removed, and Frank was making a final inspection.
“Great job, Spanky,” Frank said. “It's a relief to get this done.”
“No problem, Friend Frank. Stephanie did most work. Should get credit.”
A bedraggled Stephanie stood in the room along with Emily. “If we are done here, I need to get back to the other offices and finalize plans for your trip tomorrow.”
Frank nodded. “We don't up-ship until about noon, so you could probably go home and finish up in the morning. You've had a long day, Stephanie.”
“Good idea, Frank,” Emily said. “It's been a long day.”
“No, if I don't go get it now,” Stephanie said, “I might get interrupted in the morning. Besides, that's why you pay me the big Centaurans, right?” She grinned and stood on her tip-toes, then leaned in to nudge Frank with her elbow.
“Haven't you given the girl a raise yet, Frank?” Emily accused.
“Hey, what is this? She told me she could do the job. She's doing the job.”
Emily folded her arms and glared at Frank. “Stephanie, let me talk to His Royal Majesty here. He's about to release some gold from the privy purse.”
“Give me a break, Ems.”
“I'll break your arm in about two shakes.”
Frank threw his arms in the air. “Okay, okay. I'm not going to win this one. Stephanie, I will get with Emily in the morning and work out a raise for you. I have to be honest; you really have done a great job for us.”
Smith started clapping. “Here, here. Can I have one too?”
“Smith, if you encourage the Colonel to jack up my bill any more, I'm going to send him your head on a platter!”
“Lo, the mighty king!” Emily proclaimed.
“Will you give it a rest, Emily?”
Stephanie held her hand over her mouth as she silently convulsed in laughter. It took her a bit to get control before she could speak.
“I really do need to run. And thank-you, Mr. Nyman for the raise. I think you're sweet.” And she kissed him on the cheek before trotting out of the room.
“You see?” he grinned at Emily.
“Oh poo!”
“While I've got you two here we need to get our ducks in a row for the trip.”
“I'm still not happy with you leaving me and Jones here,” Smith said.
“I'll be with Spanky,” Frank said. “I think he will do okay. Besides there is still a lot of insecurity here.”
“I'm not arguing about that, Skipper. It's just that we're tasked with watching you.”
“Frank, I can take care of myself,” Emily said.
“I'm more concerned about New Stockholm right now, then me. You stay.”
“You say so.”
“I do. Emily will be in charge of the offices here while I'm gone. We'll need to talk to the bank in the morning. Once we retrieve those ships, the ball will start rolling here in a hurry and you need to be ready.”
“Stephanie and I have already roughed in most of the plan,” Emily said. “But you're right. Things will be insane.”
They continued discussing the plans for another ten minutes before deciding to leave.
“I really hate wandering around here this time of night,” Frank said as they locked the building.
“I don't think the low life would want to mess with you, Frank,” Smith said.
“It's not the lowlife, it's that stupid fish. And there he is.”
The V-shaped fin broke the surface of the oily-smooth water and glided to the edge of the boardwalk. The back of the creature eased out of the water, and its eye stared at him.
“If that doesn't give you the creeps...”
“Not to fear, Friend Frank,” Spanky said. “Dimaton likes Frank.” He thrummed over to the creature and used a tentacle to stroke its head.
Frank shuddered. “I'm sorry. It just doesn't do a thing for me.”
“It wants you to meet the Redeemer,” Spanky said.
“What? Where did you get that?”
“Dimaton told the Woogie. Speak about Redeemer.”
“Time to go home,” Frank said. “I'm starting to have waking nightmares.”
“I left my comp term back there,” Emily said suddenly. “Go on, I'll catch up with you.” She trotted back to the building. Frank and the sergeant walked along the boardwalk. Spanky remained behind with Charlie.
“I don't know what's worse,” Frank said. “That fish, or the way the Woogie belches or... what was that?”
They were walking past the opening of an alley. “I thought I heard something.”
From the darkened alley came an squeal, that was cut off quickly. The two men stopped walking and looked at each other.
“Got your Eterna-Light, Cedric?”
“Right here.”
“Quiet, then.”
Frank eased into the alley with Smith alongside. Next came the sound of a sob. Smith flicked on his light. The two men stood transfixed at the tableau before them for about a half second, then Frank sprinted ahead. He aimed one well-placed kick, and with a guttural croak, Fillbee rolled over into a fetal position.
“Oh, my God!” Smith said.
Frank took off his jacket. “Give me your jacket, Cedric. Go get Emily.”
Frank laid his and Smith's Jackets on Stephanie.
“Oh, no, Stephanie!” he said, “I am so sorry! We have you safe now.”
Stephanie broke into a full-throated sobs. Spanky thrummed down the alley so quickly he looked like he was flying. “What problem?”
When the Woogie saw Stephanie lying on the ground, he blasted what sounded very much like an old-Earth fog horn. “Help the Stephanie! Help the Stephanie.” The Woogie thrummed back and forth and gesticulated frantically with all five tentacles. “Help Friend Stephanie. Help the human. Terrible thing!”
“Settle down, Spanky.” Frank said. “We're helping.”
“Terrible! Friend Stephanie. What has happened?”
Emily came wailing in at that moment. “Oh, my God, Stephanie!” And she dropped to her knees and hugged the girl.
Frank and Cedric stared at each other. “We've got to get her to a hospital.”
Smith glanced over at Fillbee, who was still moaning. “And what about this trash?”
“We gotta get the cops involved, Cedric.”
“Why? Nobody else is here.”
“We've got to let the law run its course. We no longer have an excuse.”
“Frank,” he said. “Get the girl to a hospital. I'll clean up here.”
Fillbee scrambled to his feet and tried to run towards the opening of the alley.
“Oh, crud,” Smith said, as they watched the half-naked man staggering away. “I'd better go catch him.”
“At least he's not moving very fast after the way I rang his bells,” Frank said.
“There is that,” Smith said as he trotted after the rapist.
“To catch Boopooga,” Spanky said as he thrummed into the chase.
Fillbee managed a good turn of speed as he crossed the boardwalk and then dove into the water.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Smith yelled. “I do not want to go into the water tonight.”
“Wait one,” Spanky said as he slithered to a stop next to Smith.
&nbs
p; The smooth canal was criss-crossed with ripples, but then the surface fountained as an apparition erupted. The Dimaton rose from the water with a screaming Fillbee in its mouth. The scream turned to a gurgling croak mixed with a loud crunch as the Dimaton closed its jaws. The sea creature deposited Fillbee's body on the boardwalk and then slid back into the water. Smith was speechless.
“Dimaton killed Boopooga. Boopooga hurt Friend Stephanie. Boopooga now dead.” Spanky spun in circles waving his tentacles in the air. “Dead Boopooga!”
Frank stepped on to the boardwalk with Stephanie in his arms. “We're headed to the hospital, Smith. Get the Inspector down here. Spanky, can you wait with Smith?”
“Certainly. Stephanie hurt. Dead Boopooga.”
“Let's go, Ems.”
CHAPTER FORTY
The town of Gustav had a small hospital with an alert night crew. When Frank carried Stephanie in, the two nurses immediately swung into action. One helped ease her onto a floating medical support bed, and the other called a doctor in. The first looked shocked when Frank explained what happened.
“We have not had an assault of this type in five years,” the first nurse said. “We just do not have that kind of animal on New Stockholm. Did you catch him?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Frank replied. “He's not in a position to ever bother anyone again.”
She nodded. “You understand we are obligated to notify the authorities.” It was a flat statement.
“I understand,” Frank said. “I left my assistant with the body. He was contacting the police.”
The other nurse came back, and they began to push the floater to the treatment area. Stephanie had grabbed Emily's hand and wouldn't let go. She had been weeping quietly as she lay there.
“Why not come with us,” the nurse gently suggested to Emily.
“Thank you,” Emily responded.
Frank moved to the small waiting room and pulled out his comm. Spanky thrummed into the waiting room accompanied by an invisible cloud of butterscotch fumes.
“Where friend Stephanie? Is Friend Stephanie alive?”
“The nurses took her for medical attention,” Frank said. “Emily is with her.”
“Why did the Boopooga attack Friend Stephanie? Not understand.”
“It was a sexual assault, Spanky,” Frank said. “It really defies explanation.”
“What is this sexual assault?”
Franklin looked around the room. “Oh, man,” he said to himself. “Um, it means he forced Stephanie into procreation against her will.”
Spanky started moving quickly back and forth in the small room. “Glad Boopooga dead. Evil. Vile. The poor Friend Stephanie. Spanky mad sad.”
“I'm sad too, Spanky,” Frank said. “It's all my fault. People around me keep getting hurt.”
He punched a code into his comm.
“Cedric? Frank. Did the police get there?”
He held the unit away from his ear as someone on the other end grabbed it from Smith.
“Who's this?” came the voice.
“This is Frank Nyman. Who is this?”
“Inspector Standish, Mr. Nyman. I need you back here at the crime scene right now.”
“No can do, Inspector. One of my employees was assaulted. I am at the hospital with her. As soon as I am certain she is out of danger, I will be happy to meet you.”
“You will come right now, Mr. Nyman.”
“Excuse me?”
“I'm telling you to come right now, or I will send someone to arrest you, and bring you here by force.”
“Unless you are prepared to swear out a warrant, Inspector, you have no grounds for an arrest.”
“I do not need grounds. You were a witness to a murder. You will, by God, come down here.”
“Tell you what, Inspector,” Frank asked. “would it help if we called the Mayor for an opinion?”
There was a long pause. “Perhaps I was hasty, Mr. Nyman. But, I need to speak with you at your earliest convenience.” The police inspector was more subdued.
“If you want to come by the hospital, I would be happy to speak with you here. I may be here all night.”
“Oh, very well. We are working the crime scene right now. Say in an hour?”
“That would be fine. Now, may I talk to the owner of the comm?”
Standish mumbled something and then Smith was back on.
“All in order, Smith?”
“Yeah, Skipper. They got an undertaker out here to scrape up Fillbee's body. It was quite a mess.”
“I noticed. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person as far as I'm concerned.”
“How's Stephanie?”
Frank turned to watch as a man walked into the hospital and through the door to the treatment area.
“I think the doc just arrived. Emily is with Stephanie. I don't know much yet. The staff here seems efficient.”
“I've heard good things about them.”
“Are you okay with the Inspector, Cedric?”
“One moment... okay, I had to walk away from the scene. Yeah, I get along okay with Standish. But he really does not like you for some reason, Skipper.”
“I surmised that when he played games with Franklin at the starport. But, I can deal with it. Do you need any help?”
“No. Jones is on his way to you. I don't like leaving you uncovered.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Part of the job, Skipper. Is Spanky there?”
“Yep. He got here shortly after I did.”
“The Inspector wants to talk to him too.”
“When the Inspector comes out here, he can kill two birds.”
“Gotcha. This is a real mess, Frank.”
“Isn't it just? I've managed to destroy the life of another person close to me.”
“Frank, can't you let it be?” Smith asked.
“I'm responsible, Cedric. Stephanie works for me. Wendy was my wife.” He choked up.
“Try to hold it together, Frank. A lot of people are counting on you.”
“Oh, heck, yes, Cedric! Maybe I can get them killed in job lots, rather than in ones and twos.”
“Right. I gotta go, Frank.” And he disconnected.
A few moments later the green comm light began blinking on Spanky's vocoder. The Woogie stood still as he communicated with whoever had called him. A couple of times he spun around to gaze at Frank, then turned away again. After several minutes the green light went out.
“Let me guess, that was Sergeant Smith on the com with you,” Frank said.
“To be personal comm call.” The sniff didn't quite come from the vocoder, but it was clear Spanky didn't want to be pressed.
Frank walked over to the far corner of the room and sat down. He leaned back and put his arm over his eyes and sighed. Spanky spun around to follow his progress and stared with his single, large, blue eye. He said nothing further, but his tentacles gradually drifted down to his side.
Ten minutes later Jones walked in. “All clear, Skipper?”
“Yeah. Grab a chair. We're probably going to be here for a while.”
An hour later the man Frank had seen entering the treatment area came out again.
“Mr. Nyman?”
Frank quickly stood up. “Yes? That's me.”
The younger man stuck out his hand. “I'm Doctor Cone. I've just been attending Stephanie Howard. I understand she is your employee.”
“Yes, yes. How is she?”
“Well, she was rather badly beaten, I'm afraid. Fortunately there were no broken bones. We are watching for signs of internal injuries.”
“Do you have a tank here?” Frank asked.
“Yes, we do, however she was not really injured seriously enough for that. We've got her on the IV meds. The meds will have the soft tissue injuries fixed within a couple of days. But she will be very sore for a couple of weeks.”
Frank shook his head. “I can't believe I allowed this to happen.”
“You can't bla
me yourself, Sir. I understand the assailant was Fillbee Murdock?”
“Was. Yes.”
“He has been headed for trouble for a long time,” the doctor said.
“Well, his activities were ended rather permanently tonight, Doc.”
“Oh. I see.” Cone nodded slowly. “I can't say I'm sorry to hear about that. And there is a bit of good news. I think we can definitely classify this as an attempted rape. He was apparently not able to... consummate the act.”
Frank raised an eyebrow.
“While the beating was a horrible experience for a young woman, she still maintains something she values highly. Because of that I think she will recover with few after-effects. She is quite plucky.”
“She is that.”
“Is the Friend Stephanie okay?” Spanky asked suddenly.
“Yes, Spanky,” Frank said. “It seems she will recover.”
“Good news, then,” the Woogie said. “Must thank the Redeemer.”
The doctor looked between Frank and Spanky. “Well, er, I suppose I should get back in there. We want to get the patient settled for the night.
After the doctor left the room Frank turned back to the Woogie. “Spanky, you are one of my best friends. I need a favor.”
“Of course, Friend Frank. A human in need is a human.”
“I want you to quit talking to me about the Redeemer. It really bothers me.”
“Why should it bother Friend Frank? The Redeemer is the Son of the Creator. Died for all humans. Died for Friend Frank.”
“I just can't handle it right now.”
Spanky sidled over and placed two tentacles on each shoulder. “Relax, Friend Frank. The Woogie not nuisance Frank Friend.”
“Okay. Thanks, Spanky. You really are a good friend.”
“Not so sure about that. But the Frank is perfectly welcome.”
Another figure drifted into the room. The sport jacket and homburg hat identified Inspector Warner Standish of the Gustav Police. Jones was on his feet and eased over next to the policeman.
“Thank you for waiting for me, Mr. Nyman. And you must be Spanky.”
The Woogie held out a tentacle. “To be pleased policed.”
Standish blinked at Spanky's response and then turned to Frank.
“I must apologize for being slow to pick up on things. After speaking to Mr. Smith I understand there was an assault in addition to the murder.”
