In the Black

by Sheryl Nantus

  “The token you got from the captain when she took pity on you and tossed you a bone. The one you cashed in to get an appointment with Halley Comet and the one you left behind in the courtesan’s quarters after you murdered her.” Daniel kept his tone as neutral as possible.

  “No.” The miner shook his head hard, his short grey hair rocking back and forth. “Not me.”

  “You killed her and left this behind. It was a dumb move, Kowalski.” Daniel tapped on the small evidence bag. “A very dumb move.”

  Kowalski turned his attention to Swendson, chewing on his bottom lip and frowning.

  Swendson said nothing.

  “Don’t look over there for help,” Daniel said. “He’s not worried about you. He’s wondering how he’s going to fill your slot when I drag you off to a Justice base. He’s thinking about how you’re screwing up the day’s quota, the week’s quota.”

  Kowalski stared at the one-way window, eyes blazing.

  Sam took a step back, forgetting he couldn’t see her. She felt like a voyeur watching the marshal at work.

  “It’s good.” Huckness touched her elbow, steadying her. “He can’t see us, promise.” He nodded toward the glass. “It’s good,” he repeated.

  Sam didn’t tell him she wasn’t afraid of being seen.

  She was afraid of what she hadn’t seen. What she hadn’t seen in the elderly miner’s eyes.

  Evil. Hate.

  She was intimately familiar with it, and it hadn’t been there. Annoyance, anger at being singled out.

  But not what she’d been looking for.

  Trainer gave a light cough behind her, barely loud enough to hear.

  Back in the interrogation room Kowalski shifted in the cold metal chair. “I got that from the captain.” His gaze went again to the mirror. “The captain gave it to me after I shouted at her.”

  “You called her a whore.” Daniel said. “You called them all whores.”

  Sam flinched. For Daniel to know that meant he’d seen the arrival tape and her presentation to the miners.

  Her flirting with the rookie.

  Her confrontation with Kowalski.

  Not her best moment.

  “They—” The miner swallowed loudly. “They’re all about the money. No love. You need love out here to stay alive, to stay whole.”

  Sam held her breath, felt her lungs ache with the strain.

  “Damned guy’s a philosopher.” Huckness chuckled beside her.

  She didn’t turn to face the chief, afraid of letting him see her face.

  Back inside the room the discussion continued. “This token was found at the murder scene,” Daniel continued. “How did it get there if you didn’t cash it in?”

  Kowalski eyed the mirror again before answering. “I don’t have to answer you. I could ask for a lawyer. I got rights.”

  “You could,” Daniel conceded. “But that’d take time for him to come over from a Justice base or for us to send you out on a secure shuttle, and the longer we keep the base locked down the more pissed-off your buddies are going to be. Sure, they’re getting to use the Belle’s services but they’re a shift behind right now and your pals are going to want to catch up.” He nodded toward the window. “The Belle’s captain needs her crew to be working, not wondering about who killed their friend.”

  Sam tried not to smirk. Friend was hardly the term she’d use to describe Halley.

  Kowalski looked at Swendson. The shop steward gave a half-hearted shrug.

  The miner sighed. “Okay. I didn’t go see the woman. I’ve got morals.” His stare went to the window again. “I don’t need a fast fuck to keep me alive.”

  Daniel ignored the comment. “So how did the token get into her quarters? It sure as hell didn’t fly there.”

  “I tossed it. Right after the presentation was over.”

  “Tossed it where?”

  The older man rubbed his chin. “I threw it in the garbage can on the way out.”

  Daniel stood up and leaned in, knuckles on the cold metal tabletop. “You threw a token good for two hundred creds and a visit with one of the Belle’s courtesans in the garbage.” The disbelief came through loud and clear. “Do I look like an idiot?”

  “No,” Kowalski replied. “But I didn’t want it, didn’t ask for it. She gave it to me.” His voice rose. “She called down temptation on my soul by giving it to me. I couldn’t use it.” His finger drew the figure of a cross on the tabletop. “That’d be an express elevator to hell and I ain’t pushing that button.”

  “Never struck me as a religious man. Not to that degree,” Huckness murmured to Sam. “I knew he was a bit of a hardliner, never drank too much or used recreational drugs, but I never figured he’d be that hardcore.”

  “I guess you never know.” Sam studied the miner through the glass. “I sure didn’t think I was condemning his soul to eternal fire by giving him that token.”

  Because you’re already on the way there.

  “There’s always a handful, don’t care for the Guild ships for whatever reason. Some are married, some disagree with the concept. We tell them to stay in their bunks and enjoy the break, take a chance to get some alone time.” Huckness scowled. “Assholes like this ruin it for the rest of us.”

  “It’s not mandatory to visit the Mercy ships,” Trainer said from behind them, “or the Charity ships.”

  “It’s not,” Huckness agreed. “But we’ve always managed to keep the peace between those who want to partake and those who choose not to. No judgments.”

  Sam turned her attention back to Daniel, still leaning over the desk and glaring at Kowalski.

  “Did anyone see you throw the token out? Anyone who can verify this?” Daniel pressed onward.

  Kowalski spread his hands and shrugged. “Not that I know of. Just wanted to get rid of the damned thing.” He shifted again in the chair. “It’d have caused a riot if I tossed it on the floor.”

  “You could have given it to one of your buddies,” Daniel offered.

  The elderly man drew back as if Daniel had slapped him. “And help contribute to his delinquency? I think not.” He jerked a thumb at the window. “If they want to lose their souls they can pay for it themselves. I ain’t taking no responsibility.”

  “Okay. Explain to me why didn’t you use it for something else?” Daniel tilted his head to one side, arms crossed in front of him. “You don’t have to have sex with these women and men, you know that. You could have gone in, taken your hour and done nothing but chat. Play chess, get financial advice, have a cup of tea. No one would judge you, no one would know what you did or didn’t do, no one would even know you had a damned appointment. Why throw it out?”

  “Because I’m going home soon with my conscience clear and my soul clean.” He jabbed a thumb at the hatch. “Back to Mars and my family. Going to live with my grandkids and collect my pension. Don’t need any good memories of this place. Don’t want to be thinking about this hellhole with any sort of smile.”

  Swendson made some sort of noise but didn’t interfere.

  “Okay. You say you threw it in the garbage. That doesn’t explain how it got into a dead woman’s cabin.” Daniel closed the file folder. He reached over and drew the bagged token toward him. “You understand we’re going to keep you in custody until we can verify your story, right?” His eyes narrowed. “And even if we do find that you did toss it in the garbage, you could have dug it out again and still made an appointment, gone in and killed her. You’re not off the hook yet.”

  Kowalski looked from left to right, rocking in his seat. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something. He placed his hands on the cool steel tabletop, thick fingers pointed at the marshal.

  Daniel picked up on the miner’s nervousness. “Kowalski, if you have anything to say now’s th
e time to say it. If you gave it to a friend you can’t cover for him—we’ll find out and toss you in the brig for being an accomplice.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t be stupid. We can cut a deal with the system, make it easier for you in the long run.”

  Kowalski didn’t answer. He turned his hands sideways and began inspecting the curled fingers.

  Huckness frowned. “What’s his problem?” He turned toward Trainer. “Your boy got something wrong with him?”

  “Not that I know of,” Trainer said quickly. “He’s never been in big trouble before, you know that.”

  Sam shook her head. “His hands, his—” She flashed back to her encounter with Kowalski. “Shit.”

  She dashed out into the hallway and walked into the interrogation room, hearing a stuttered question behind her from Huckness.

  Kowalski shoved his chair back and got to his feet as Sam strode around the table to stand in front of him.

  Swendson, surprised, moved out of the way without comment.

  Daniel stood up as well, kicking his own chair away. The initial shock on his face at being interrupted disappeared to be replaced by one of sheer annoyance.

  She didn’t care. If she was right—

  “Take my hand.” Sam stuck out her hand. “Like you did before. In the hall.”

  The older man glared at her.

  “Here.” She grabbed his right hand and wrapped her fingers around his, squeezing. “Arm wrestle me.”

  Kowalski glanced at Daniel with a look of disbelief. “What?”

  Sam kneeled down, resting her elbow on the steel tabletop. “You know the game. Put my hand down.” She rapped the metal with her free hand. “I’ll pay you five hundred creds if you can.” She tugged, pulling him toward her. “No tricks, nothing up my sleeve. You beat me, I pay.”

  Kowalski licked his lips, eyes darting from the marshal to Sam to Swendson to the window.

  The shop steward tilted his head to one side, studying Kowalski. He didn’t move to say anything or stop anything, at least not for the moment.

  “Come on,” Sam urged. “Five hundred. Be a nice present to take home to the kids. Clean money, nothing evil about it. Simple bet, same as you’d make with your buddies in the rec hall.”

  His fingers curled tight against hers and she knew she had him.

  “No practice, no do-overs,” Sam repeated. “Put my hand down. Do it.”

  She could feel Daniel’s stare on the back of her neck. She’d broken a handful of rules coming in here unasked and unannounced. He had every right to toss her ass out of here and kick it right back to the Belle’s cockpit.

  She hoped he wouldn’t.

  Kowalski locked eyes with her. They were bloodshot and wide as he exhaled loudly and nodded.

  His skin was cold and clammy. Sam resisted the urge to let go and wipe her hand on her pants.

  Instead she smiled, fixing her muscles in place. “Whenever you’re ready—go.”

  The miner’s fingers tightened, his wrist locked as he grunted and pushed against Sam’s grip. Her elbow remained still on the tabletop.

  Kowalski’s face went red, his eyes bulging out. He stopped and grunted a curse before huffing and trying again.

  Her hand didn’t move.

  Kowalski let out a pained burp and wrenched his hand against hers for a third time, panting like he’d run a marathon.

  Enough. She wasn’t there to embarrass the poor guy.

  Just save his life.

  Sam slammed Kowalski’s hand down with a noise of her own and pressed the top of the miner’s hand against the cold metal before releasing it.

  “Sorry,” she whispered before turning to Daniel.

  Kowalski grabbed his right hand and cradled it against his chest. His eyes brimmed with tears as he glared at the two of them.

  “He couldn’t have killed Halley,” Sam said. “The bastard’s got advanced arthritis. He can barely shake hands, much less wrestle with a young woman. He wouldn’t have the strength to do it.”

  Daniel shook his head and said nothing. A smirk touched his lips for a second before disappearing under a stoic, professionally neutral look.

  The door flew open.

  Huckness strode in, his face flushed. “I’ve got Danforth on the way. He’ll be able to verify that soon enough if it’s true.”

  Trainer appeared in the doorway. He glared at Kowalski, ignoring the rest of them. “You fucker. You goddamned fucker.” He clenched his fists. “If there wasn’t a marshal here right now I’d beat the shit out of you.”

  Swendson shook his head. “Goddamn it.” He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “What were you thinking Kowalski? What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Don’t—” A teary Kowalski grimaced as he flexed his fingers. “Don’t judge me. You got no right to judge me.”

  Daniel turned to Sam. “How did you know?”

  She motioned at Kowalski. “When I took his hand in the hall his fingers were cold and didn’t instinctively grab onto mine like they should have.” She flexed her fingers. “It’s natural to curl your fingers around, take hold.”

  Trainer interrupted. “That doesn’t mean anything. How did you know he wasn’t just repelled by your offer?”

  “I didn’t, not until I pushed him right now. I’ve seen old soldiers with arthritis like this keep on going, desperate to work until retirement. I’m willing to bet he’s been getting his buddies to cover for him until he ships out.”

  Trainer went through a series of curses under his breath, most of them having to do with Kowalski and his parentage.

  “Is that true?” Daniel turned to the suspect.

  Kowalski stayed silent, massaging his right hand.

  “Is that true?” Daniel slapped the tabletop, making Sam jump.

  Spittle flew from Kowalski’s lips. “You don’t understand—I’ve got nothing but my pension. I leave early, I get mustered out for medical, and I only get a portion of it. Not enough to live on, not after all the time I’ve put in here.” He glared at Trainer. “Greedy bastards’ll take any chance they can to screw us over, keep from giving us our fair share.”

  “I understand,” Sam said, “but you were ready to go down for killing my woman. What were you thinking?”

  “I wouldn’t have gone to jail. Not for too long, anyway.” Kowalski gave a half-assed smile. “By the time I got my lawyer and we got through the preliminary hearings my time would be up and I’d be going home. It’d never have stuck once the medical report got made.” He nodded at Swendson. “Union wouldn’t let me fry.”

  “But the real killer would still be out there.” Daniel leaned in. “Did you think of that? The real murderer going free while you fucked with the system to get your early ticket out of here?” His voice rose. “Did you think about that while you sat here, waiting for us and wondering if we’d catch on to your little stunt? How many sins is that in your little black book?”

  Kowalski shifted away from the marshal. “The woman’s dead. I didn’t kill her. I’ll pray for the man who did but I’m not sorry she’s dead.” He glared at Sam. “Fucking whores. All of you.”

  Daniel reached out and grabbed the miner by the front of his shirt. He dragged the man across the table despite Kowalski’s squeaks and gasps.

  Trainer cleared his throat but he didn’t move. Neither did Huckness.

  Swendson inspected his fingernails.

  “You apologize to her now,” Daniel said, nose-to-nose with Kowalski. “You turn your head that way,” he glanced toward Sam, “and you apologize to the captain.”

  The older man swallowed hard and loud. A bead of sweat appeared at one temple.

  Daniel didn’t move, his fists wrapped tight in the threadbare fabric.

  Kowalski broke first and twisted to one side.
“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

  Sam nodded, unsure what to say.

  Daniel’s grip lessened. Kowalski slowly slid back into his chair, panting.

  The door opened and Danforth entered. The medical officer made a clucking noise with his tongue.

  “I hear you’ve been a bad, bad boy.”

  Kowalski spread his hands with a sheepish grin. “What’s up, Doc?”

  Chapter Seven

  They’d all retreated to the observation room to allow Danforth room to examine Kowalski.

  “I want him locked up.” Daniel looked through the one-way window. “I want him locked up until I leave this base and not a minute before. I don’t care how you justify it in your files but I don’t want that bastard wandering free.” He turned to Trainer. “Your thoughts?”

  The foreman held up his hands. “Kowalski fucked this up big time. I’m not going to the mat for this fool.” He glanced at the miner. “I’m going to have to go through his squad and see who was helping him cover that up.” His attention went to Swendson. “You?”

  “He’s—” The shop steward shook his head. “He’s all yours. I don’t even want to start thinking about the report I’ve got to write.”

  “I can keep him in lockup for causing a disturbance. I’ll postdate it to the presentation,” Huckness offered. “That’ll keep him still. Marshal, do you want to press further charges for him screwing this investigation up?”

  “No. I want the real killer to think we’re still focused on Kowalski.” Daniel held up the bagged token. “Whoever dug the token out of the garbage planted it in Comet’s suite to make Kowalski a suspect. I want him to think he succeeded and we’re still going down that path.”

  Huckness peered through the glass at Danforth, who was still examining the reluctant miner. “Idiot. Rather go to jail than help us find who killed the woman.”

  Trainer stood nearby, arms crossed and scowling. “He’s fucked now.”

  “Don’t be too hard on him,” Sam said, ignoring the glare from Daniel. “He’s caught between a rock and a hard place. If Halley hadn’t been killed he would have finished out his tour and no one would be the wiser. As soon as he knew we were onto him he had to either keep the bluff going or admit he’s injured.” She flexed her fingers. “If he’d put me down I doubt we’d have heard the truth from him.”