by M. D. Cooper
Isa gave a short nod. “That’s Ada.”
“And Samuel Jefferson.”
Samuel’s familiar figure replaced Ada’s.
The dark-skinned holo figure didn’t take more than a turn before Isa said, “Right again.”
He altered the holo display to show all three holos in a line before studying them carefully.
Finally, he said, “I don’t recognize any of these people. As far as I know, I’ve never seen any of them before.”
Isa recalled all the time she’d spent with the Tyrians, feeling slightly nauseated. She also felt duped.
“And yet,” Tony went on, “I don’t think they intend anything sinister.”
“How can you know?” asked Isa.
“For one thing, they used their real names. If they had something illegal or subversive in mind, I would have thought they would give false names, wouldn’t you? Onyx found them in a flash.”
Isa didn’t answer. He had a point, but something else had sprung to mind that puzzled her. “Samuel told me he makes wine, Ada’s a sanitation engineer, and Rahmin designs servitors. Are those facts true too?”
Tony looked up the information. “Yes. They weren’t lying. That is what they do.”
“That’s a strange collection of professions for a set of friends.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I don’t understand what the connection is,” said Isa. “I mean, I have friends in Placement Services in Landfall because that’s where I worked when I came out of stasis. When I was a miner I knew other miners. What might have brought a vintner, an engineer, and a robotics expert together? They don’t seem to be in a romantic relationship.”
“I don’t know the answer to that,” Tony said, “but don’t forget that with a low population, society is small and close-knit. There’s a lot more mixing of groups here compared to Carthage.”
“Okay,” said Isa, momentarily stumped. Then she said, “How do you think they knew what I was doing here?”
“Ah, now that’s easily answered,” Tony replied. “There was a news report that plans were under way to entice more settlers to Tyre, including the arrival of the settler placement specialist, Isa Chen, who would be filming of an infomentary on the planet’s most spectacular attractions.”
“Ugh, of course,” Isa said. “And then they would have seen the report on a person rescued from a cave and made an educated guess as to who it might be.” She recalled Samuel asking her name when she left the hospital, and Martin had told her that he found out about her accident from Eamon, who had seen a vid of her rescue on the Tyre daily news reports. “So now we know how these three oddballs could spot me.”
“It’s all slotting into place,” Tony said.
“But I still don’t understand…. Why did Samuel lie and tell me he knew you? Why didn’t he and the others just introduce themselves and offer to show me around?”
“If he hadn’t told you he was my friend, would you have accepted his invitation?”
“Now that you mention it, probably not. I was having a good time exploring Tyre by myself, despite my accident. It was only because of Samuel’s supposed connection with you that I took him up on his offer. Actually, there’s something else you don’t know.”
Isa told him about the heated conversation she’d interrupted at the restaurant, and Tony steepled his fingers as he mulled over the facts. While she waited for his response, she looked out the office window over sleepy Ushu. Its streetlights stretched to Mount Athos, which was now a gigantic black shadow hanging over the city’s outskirts.
“Well,” Tony said finally, “I wonder if that argument they were having was about Samuel’s lie? Maybe he’d told them what he’d said and was asking them to back him up, and the other two were telling him he shouldn’t have done it.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Isa said. “It happened soon after they met me, so it fits. The others weren’t there when Samuel told me you and he were friends. They came over afterward.”
Tony eased back in his chair and chuckled. “My first instinct is to call this Samuel out. It would be funny to see his face when I walk up to him with you and make it plain that I have no idea who he is. But that seems a bit cruel. I think it’s because his lie was so easily revealed. It was only a fib he told because he really wanted you to agree to his suggestion. He’s just a Tyrian who’s a bit too enthusiastic about selling Tyre to new settlers.”
“I guess so,” said Isa. She was still annoyed at Samuel, but Tony’s explanation did seem the only one possible. “But I won’t be comfortable hanging out with him and his friends any longer. I’ll make excuses so I don’t have to see them anymore. It’s a shame, because they took me to some beautiful places that aren’t even mentioned in the official guide. Tomorrow won’t be a problem. I’ll tell Samuel that I’m meeting you to do an interview, and he’ll stay well away. Then after that… I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something. I was planning on leaving Ushu soon anyway.”
“Are you sure you won’t reconsider?” Tony asked. “Samuel sounds like a bit of a fool, but I’m sure he and the others are harmless.”
“They probably are, but I don’t like being around people who aren’t straight with me.”
In other circumstances, Isa might have overlooked the deceit, but it wore on nerves already frayed from the nightly dreams of being left behind on Sirius while the other Noctus made their escape.
She rubbed her eyes, hoping that with Martin present she’d finally manage a good night’s sleep.
A TRIP
STELLAR DATE: 03.21.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Erin’s Apartment, Landfall, Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, New Canaan System
After the attack, Tanis had insisted that Erin accept full-time protection.
She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being accompanied wherever she went, but Erin had to admit that Tanis had a point. Until Max Rasner had been found and the investigation was concluded, her life was at risk. Perhaps even afterward, too, if her suspicion that it hadn’t been Max who’d attacked her was correct. Although murdering someone on New Canaan would be hard, it wasn’t impossible, as she’d discovered.
Erin was also well aware that there was no way the governor would take no for an answer, so she hadn’t bothered to protest.
While she waited in her apartment for the guards to arrive, she reread the message from Martin.
y want to get to the bottom of what’s happening.>
Erin said the words as much for herself as for Walter. She was worried about Isa, but she knew that no one would care for her better than Martin.
Her door chime sounded. When she checked who was outside, she was both surprised and delighted.
She opened the door. The major blocked the sunlight for a moment and then stepped into her apartment.
“Reporting for your guard detail, ma’am.”
Erin could see the shadow of another Marine who had stationed himself outside.
“It’s great to see you again,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting this at all. I thought I would be assigned a couple of privates. What a coincidence that it’s you.”
Usef was standing at attention and looking straight ahead.
“When the General put in a request with my division for civilian guard duty and mentioned who it was for, I suggested that an experienced officer such as myself might be appropriate along with a regular detail. The general agreed.”
Erin found it amusing how the military never called Tanis ‘governor’; to them, she was always ‘the general’.
“You volunteered yourself? That was sweet of you, Usef.”
The major’s expression flickered, as if he was wincing inwardly, and Erin remembered the agreement they’d made aboard the Odyssey. “I mean, ‘Major’.”
Almost imperceptibly, Usef’s facial muscles relaxed.
“This is Private Karla,” Usef said, gesturing to the Marine outside the door. “She and several others from the battalion will be on the rotation. Currently, they’re outside securing the building’s perimeter and setting up monitoring. I won’t always be here, but when I’m not, there will be a lieutenant present.”
“Are you sure that’s necessary?” Erin asked. “It’s a lot of trouble.”
Usef gave a barely perceptible shrug. “General Richards thought it was necessary. I’ve learned to trust her judgment in these matters.”
Erin knew there would be no dissuading the man. She pulled the door wide, stepping out of the way. “Why don’t you sit down? Can I get you a drink?”
“I’d prefer to stand, ma’am. And I’ll take refreshment when I’m off duty. I’d like to do a sweep inside your apartment and then I’m going to check on the perimeter myself.”
“And then will you come inside?” Erin asked.
Usef inclined his head. “It will depend on what our threat assessment is.”
“So that’s a ‘yes’?”
“Perhaps, ma’am. Excuse me.” Usef stepped past her and performed a sweep of the apartment, her own limited augmentations noting that he’d deployed a host of nanoprobes and drones.
Glad I took the time to tidy up, she thought, as he wordlessly completed his sweep and then nodded to her as he pulled open the door to leave.
As the door closed, Erin asked the major,
Erin chuckled. Usef’s refusal or inability to loosen up even over the Link while on duty was entertaining.
Recalling Usef in his thong as he surfed a tsunami, Erin said,
Erin rolled her eyes. It was no use. It didn’t look like Usef was capable of being anything other than perfectly professional while in uniform.
Just as she was about to give up on getting an interesting conversation out of him, he added,
Erin smiled at the note of challenge in Usef’s mental tone. He was mostly joking, but not entirely. The major has a human side while he’s on-duty, after all.
She returned to her work. Others were combing the scene of her attack for clues. For Erin, nothing had changed. Aside from the possible introduction of an accomplice for Max, the investigation details remained the same. She went over everything she had relating to the sabotage, Max’s background, and the incident at the warehouse, for what had to be the fourth or fifth time. The report from the Eos had come in a couple of hours previously. The missing antimatter hadn’t been found, despite a thorough search of the ship. No one knew exactly when it had disappeared, only that the discrepancy hadn’t been noticed until Angela had requested an eyes-on verification of the reserves.
It didn’t look like Erin would be able to prove who had taken it. And the sabotage site on Irridia was utterly destroyed, including any evidence of who had planted the antimatter that had caused the explosions.
Erin ground the heels of her hands into her eyes. She was at a dead end. She needed more information if she was to move forward with her understanding of what was going on. The best source of that information was Max, she guessed, but he was nowhere to be found. The constabulary had spoken to the few contacts he had, but they’d all reported that they hadn’t seen him since his previous downtime on Carthage.
She was missing some important pieces to the puzzle. Where could she find them?
The only other potential sources of information were Pippa and Anwen. They’d both been on the Eos too, and they might have noticed something important, even if they didn’t know it was significant. Neither of the engineers had been officially excluded from the investigation, and Erin hadn’t had the opportunity to question them properly before all hell had broken loose at the warehouse—though with the suspicion landing squarely on Max, there had been little reason to do so.
Her mind made up that the engineering twins were her next avenue of exploration, Erin prepared to leave, telling Usef that she was going out for a while.
She laughed, realizing that the major had just made a joke.
During their banter, Erin had looked up where Pippa and Anwen lived. Predictably, they shared an apartment only a few streets away. Most workers employed on off-planet projects rented small places in downtown Landfall;
unless you had someone at home on a more permanent basis, there was little point in living anywhere more substantial.
Erin drew plenty of stares on her way to talk to Pippa and Anwen, flanked as she was by Major Usef and Private Karla. Yet the major was correct; it really was better than being strangled. Then again, most things were.
A body modification center occupied the first floor of the twins’ apartment block, and several clients of the center passed Erin and the Marines as they drew closer to their destination. One of the customers had a third eye fitted into his forehead, but Erin couldn’t tell from the glimpse she caught if the eye was functional. Another had a row of long protrusions shaped like canine teeth running down her spine—which were easy to see, as she wore only a thin, skimpy top. The effect was striking, but Erin suspected that the woman would soon tire of struggling to sit and lie down comfortably.
The twins had been told not to stray far from home while the investigation was still underway, but when Erin tried to tell Pippa she was coming over, the woman didn’t answer. Erin contacted Anwen instead. She replied immediately.
Another body modification client emerged from the clinic. Erin stepped aside for a man whose skin was scaly like a fish’s. She suppressed a shudder, then smirked as she thought of someone she knew who might be interested in that adaptation.
She was tempted to admonish Anwen with a reminder that she’d asked them both to stay available, but the woman sounded upset about something.
