Starliner (The Intergalactic Investigation Bureau Book 1)
Page 26
“And a month ago?”
He looked at the numbers. A month ago the numbers were ten times higher. Interesting.
“Hmmm.”
“That’s the family dynamic, Adam. You see, when something happens that causes everyone to fall into fear, they all pull together to face it in a combined front. The compelling part is how the act of a single person can cause such an event to occur.”
“Bob Jones.”
“Bob Jones,” Zarliana nodded.
“But what’s this got to do with expanding the role of the IIB?”
“As to that,” she said, returning to her seat, “it’s one thing to secure the body of the CCOP, which your team has done a fine job handling, except for the gears, of course, but that can not be pinned on any inadequacies in your department, but it’s the tendrils of a body that can be snapped off because they lay in vulnerability away from the protection of their center.”
“I didn’t catch that,” he replied with a frown.
“We need your skills outside of the city too, Adam.”
“So you mean The Reknap?”
“For starters,” she said with a nod.
Dresker sat back and clasped his hands together. “Is this an order?”
“Think of it as the proper thing to do,” she said.
“And it would take me and my crew off station?”
“Sometimes, yes. Your primary nest of operations is here, of course, but there are many items to be handled beyond our forcefields that are just as important as the ones we find within them.”
“So the Internal Investigation Bureau would be working externally.”
“Correct. You would be working on a more galactic scale.”
That sounded interesting. It would give him and Truhbel a lot more freedom. It would be nice to get off the CCOP for a while. It would be nice to be back in space. Real space. On a real ship, not just a floating city.
Zarliana went a bit opaque and said, “For it to make sense, we would need to re-brand your team. What would you think of The Intergalactic Investigation Bureau?”
Dresker pursed his lips and looked around the room. It did have quite a ring to it.
“I can see the wheels are turning.” Zarliana smiled again and then turned back to her iPane. “If there’s nothing else, then?”
“There’s plenty else,” he scoffed. “We have a Starliner situation here.”
“I’m well aware of the situation, Prime Dresker,” she said, using his formal name again. “I trust that you and your team will handle it.”
“So you just wanted to talk to me about the Reknep, then?”
She minimized her iPane and clasped her hands together. “When you talk with your crew, do they need to disseminate everything that’s going on in their heads, or can you usually tell what they’re thinking simply by looking at them?”
“Depends on who it is.”
“And what is the indicator?”
“If how they think is straightforward or convoluted...” He stopped, understanding what she was getting at. Dresker was a straight thinker. He didn’t jump down wild paths or get so frazzled as to make knee-jerk decisions.
She nodded and pulled her iPane back up. “We are done now, yes?”
The walking-to-the-door game was on again. He stopped customarily and right on cue.
“Oh, Prime Dresker, one more thing.”
“Always is,” he mumbled under his breath. “Yes?”
“Would you be so kind as to tell Mr. Ravallo that I would like to see him?”
Dresker’s mind danced. For the first time, he was going to tell Ravallo he was expected in the president’s office.
“I’d love to.”
§ § §
“Mr. Ravallo,” Zarliana said as her executive assistant came into the office, “I believe I would like a meeting with Prime Ireekin in Customer Acquisitions.”
“No problem. I’ll get right on it.”
“One more thing...Tony?” she said just before he left.
“Yeah?”
“When was the last time you went on vacation?”
“Vacation?”
“Yes,” she said with a smirk. “Everyone needs a little vacation now and again.”
“I’m fine with working, thanks all the same.”
“Oh, it would be a working vacation.”
Ravallo squared his shoulders and licked the inside of his lower lip, just over the teeth. He squinted at her and nodded in an agitated way. She found him so much different than the rest of his kind. Tony had attitude. Not even the two goons that he had on payroll were as sharp as he was.
“I got things to do,” he said matter-of-factly. “If you got something to say, now’d be a good time.”
Ravallo had no fear. That’s why she kept him on board. “There’s no manipulating you, is there?”
“No.”
“The Reknep is missing and our Mr. Dresker may be just the man to salvage that situation, if it’s at all salvageable—”
“Say no more. I’m not one for space trips, but I can send one of my boys to keep an eye on Dresker.”
“If he goes.”
“You want him to go?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
“He’ll go,” Ravallo said and then turned back to the door. “I’ll fetch Ireekin and then I’ll have a talk with Dresker.”
“Mr. Ravallo,” she called out, “give Dresker a few more days to think things through on his own. I’d rather he willingly participated in the venture.”
“Done and done,” Ravallo said as he closed the door.
RUBBING HIS KNEES
MORNING SEEMED TO be happening earlier with each day. Dresker’s eyes burned and he requested that the lights stay dimmer than usual for the sync-up meeting.
He didn’t recall having that much to drink the night before, but after that trip to visit Zarliana he downed a few more than usual.
She had seemed genuinely interested in him joining the investigation team on the Reknep case, and he couldn’t help but believe that being the Prime of the Intergalactic Investigation Bureau was quite more impressive than being the prime of the Internal Investigation Bureau.
The thing that bothered him most, though, was how pleased Zarliana was with all this chaos. Dresker liked orderly things. Or more accurately, he liked making things orderly and then leaving to find another place that needed cleaning up. Maybe he was part Gheptian.
Either way, at some point the drinking was bound to catch up with him, and it felt like it coming soon.
He projected his VizScreen and started in on the meeting.
“Okay, listen up,” he said, interrupting the chatter. “We’re on day three of The Starliner watch. At this point I think we need to be a little more aggressive before they do anything else to the CCOP. We got a great lead in from Hawkins and Elwood. They saw our elusive dock worker yesterday afternoon, but they didn’t know who he was at the time and when they went back this morning they couldn’t find him again. I have no doubt that once he’s found, he will confirm the SensualBot at The Starliner was with Bob Jones at manufacturing. I’ve requested that Tony Ravallo and his…uhem…crew find the guy and have a word with him about the incident.”
The IIB crew collectively grimaced. It was apparent what everyone thought about how Mr. Ravallo extracted information.
“From the looks on your faces, I’ll assume you share my confidence that we’ll have sufficient evidence to get the warrants needed to swarm that damned Starliner church after lunch.”
“What about dem Merchanercans acting all funny?”
“That’s one of the problems, Cleb,” Dresker said. “If they can do that to all the Mechanicans in less than a miniclick, just imagine what else they could do. “
“Well, they could—”
“No, Pat,” Cleb pulled her back into the chair, “he was being rhet...rhete...he wasn’t really asking da question for you to answer.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“Now,” he continued as he went to pull up yesterday’s feeds. The system didn’t respond. “Hmmm,” he said and clicked it again. Nothing. “That’s odd. Anyone else pull up the Net?”
“Nope,” Truhbel said. “Down.”
“Deader than a doornail,” Hawkins chimed in.
Dresker just looked at him.
“Sir,” Bintoo said, barging into the room, “the Net is down!”
“So we noticed.”
“But it’s worse than that,” the little Gheptian stuttered. “The Mechanicans are lining the streets and they won’t let anyone outside!”
As the rest of his crew ran down the hallway, Dresker sat back for a moment, swearing to never drink so much again. Ever.
Then, with a deep breath, he took a shot at rubbing his knees.
Surprisingly, it helped.
I'M DIFFERENT
ZIMP WAS NO longer seated when Telian arrived at The Leader’s office. He was now standing in the corner with a potted plant affixed upon his head.
“Ah, my dearest Telian,” The Leader said, “I have a special mission for you on this day of days.”
He was too chipper. This couldn’t go well.
“Yes, Leader?”
“It is a very delicate matter,” The Leader said, pushing Telian’s seat in as she sat down. “Something that nobody can ever know about.”
“What about him?”
“Zimp? I’m not worried if he knows about it because he’ll not be leaving with us, will he?”
“I guess not?”
The Leader nodded and pointed at her. Under that veil she would swear that he even winked. Not that she could see him, but his mannerisms conveyed, I’m winking at you right now.
“There is something that I need to do before I can get on The Starliner,” he said sweetly. “And it’s something I need your special services for.”
Special services? This was getting interesting. After all these months he was finally going to take some privileges with her? It was about time!
“I’m listening,” she said.
“You see, there comes a point in a Mechanican’s life where he must do something that shows he has...graduated.”
“A rite of passage,” Telian offered.
“Precisely.” The Leader clapped his gloved hands. “I have to be honest that I feel rather funny discussing this. My nerves chip has jumped into butterflies mode.”
“It’s okay,” she said as she slid out of her chair and began making her way around his desk. “I’m used to working with virgins.”
“That’s wonderful, because... just a moment, what was that?”
“It’s okay, sweetie, everything will be just fine.”
The Leader pushed her hands away from his robe and nearly fell out of his chair. “No, no, no!”
He jumped up and adjusted his outfit as Telian glared at him.
“Then what the hell are you talking about?”
She was feeling more than a bit miffed.
She was the one that was supposed to be the tease in these circumstances!
“I need you to eject my battery when The Starliner arrives!”
“What?”
“Just that,” he said, dropping his head. “I can’t—”
“You can’t eject your own battery?”
The Leader slumped onto the couch by the windowsill. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” he said as he slowly removed his veil, “I’m different.”
FIGURE SOMETHING OUT
DRESKER GOT DOWNSTAIRS just in time to see Truhbel barrel through the lobby doors and into the mass of Mechanicans.
At first he thought she just might make it because the bots were flying left and right, and up for that matter. Metal screeched with each of her pounces, which only added to the confusion. But the tide turned as the Mechanicans recovered from their initial surprise. They rallied and pooled their numbers to force her back into the building. When she finally went down, Cleb and Elwood jumped into the fray just long enough to drag her back through the entrance.
The doors slammed shut and a much larger mass of Mechanicans covered them. Every exit point was blocked all the way down the street. Nobody was getting out, and that included the Uknar. One Uknar was stronger than one bot, or in Truhbel’s case, many bots, but there were far more Mechanicans willing to work together than there were Uknarians.
After helping Truhbel back to her feet, the main IIB crew followed Dresker back up to the observation deck where he considered snapping open another cigar as they watched the proceedings on the streets below.
There were shouts and windows breaking. The bots were overbearingly broadcasting the word “friends” along with a looping message:
Friends of the Conglomerated Conglomeration of Planets. It is not safe for you to be outside at this time. You will be allowed to return to your normal daily routines soon. Please be patient, Friends.
“Dat’s creepy,” Cleb said.
“Sure is.”
“Yep. “
“We’ll need to take the underground and get over to the EDD,” Dresker said. “I’m sure Twekman’s already on his way to see Brickens anyway. We should be there to help push the direction.”
“Can’t get out dat door,” Cleb pointed out. “Dem bots got it sealed.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Dresker said and turned to Truhbel. “You own this section. Get the others at the ready. I’m going to take Cleb with me down through Minus-1.”
“Minus-1?” Cleb said in a startled voice. “We ain’t allowed down der.”
Dresker held up his badge and flipped it over. It showed that he was authorized access to all levels.
“Got it,” Cleb said and then looked at Dresker’s arm. “Your VizScreen is buzzing.”
“Oh.”
It was Twekman. “It seems you were correct, Prime Dresker.”
“How did you get through to me? Is the Net back online?”
“No,” Twekman said and then opened the screen to include Brickens. “We have direct routing to all of the VizScreens and iPanes on the CCOP.”
“Ah,” Dresker said, realizing that each must have some type of coding to identify the device and allow for a direct signal. “Well, I’m just about on my way over there. Have either of your contacted the president?”
“She knows what’s going on,” Brickens said. “Sent me a personal message telling me to get you and Prime Twekman together to discuss options.”
“Good,” Dresker said as the door opened on Minus-1. “I’ll be there shortly. If you plan to do anything drastic before I get there, I’m all for it...whatever it turns out to be. Just get the city back.”
“It will take us quite some time to devise the proper plan and run through the controlling interface and design methodologies,” Twekman said.
“Brickens?”
“We’ll figure something out.”
MR. PERFECT MECHANICAN
“YOU’RE AN ANDROID?” Telian said with a gasp.
“What gave it away?” The Leader said dryly.
“Wait. I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
“Yes, I’m sure you have. I’m the executive assistant to the largest manufacturing division this side of the CCOP.”
“Coremon?”
“Correct,” he said. “However, here, I am still The Leader, and I shall note that you not forget that.”
“You just impress me more and more with each day.”
“It’s all part of being a prototype,” he said, smiling a smile that Telian quite appreciated, even if it did look supremely Human. “But that’s also part of my dilemma.”
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“What is?”
“Being that I’m a prototype android, my programming restricts me from doing the one thing that I need to do in order to be salvaged when The Captain arrives.”
“I don’t understand,” Telian said, her mind moving into overdrive.
“I cannot eject my own battery.”
“Right, you said that. But why would...oh, I see,” she said, getting the point. If he couldn’t eject his own battery then he would need someone to do it for him.
“How long have we worked together?” The Leader said.
“Over a year.”
“Yet it seems like an eternity because of how closely we’ve toiled and fought side-by-side, no?”
“As I recall it, I was the one doing most of the fighting and getting yelled at a lot. I can’t remember you doing any fighting at all, actually.”
“Now you must be fair,” The Leader said. “It is not my place to jeopardize my position as I struggle to ensure the safety of all our brethren. But my fight in doing so is no less precarious than being on the front lines.”
Telian reached out and touched his face. He shuddered, but that only egged her on. She ran her fingers through his synthetic hair. It responded the same way Human hair did.
“Interesting that they made you look Human,” she said. “Why not Gheptian, or Neflirian?”
“I don’t know,” he said as he pushed her arm away. “What I do know is that I cannot be saved without your help.”
Telian placed her hands on her hips and allowed her eyes to glow. For the first time in over a year, she had the power. She also had the very unique opportunity of being the first ever to bed a prototype android.
“What’s in it for me?” she asked in a seductive voice.
“You know I can’t do that,” he spat.
“You want your battery ejected?”
“Fine,” The Leader said and he stood up and pushed her away. Then he removed his robe and let his pants drop. Beneath them was...nothing. His groin was as flat and smooth as a child’s doll. “Are you happy now? I have no genitalia and, thus, I also have no sexual programming or interest whatsoever.”