The BETA Agency

by Maxwell Coffie

  “Yeah? Tell that to the hundred-and-one energy blasts they threw at me whilst she was on my back.”

  “They shot at you because as far as they could tell, you were not only breaking curfew law, but kidnapping one of their own,” the Director snapped. “Did it ever occur to you that perhaps, they were missing on purpose? Trying to slow you down? You think they would actually try to harm a little girl?”

  I was quiet now, processing the hypotheticals she’d presented. I didn’t want to admit it but, her arguments made some sense. Still, I had an uneasy feeling at the pit of my gut. I did not—could not—regret taking the girl away from that place.

  The Director could see my indignation, because she sighed, leaned back, and finally sipped at her herb again.

  We sat in silence for a moment.

  “What did you do with the little girl?” the Director asked.

  “Handed her to an orphanage in the main city,” I said. “The patrons there seemed very kind.”

  “And did handing her in to them put your mind at ease?”

  “It did,” I said, nodding. “It really did.”

  “Fine. That’s the end of that discussion then,” the Director said, and muttered, “But I can tell you are not telling me something. That displeases me.”

  An image of Evon’s face flashed through my mind, and a shadow of the panic I had felt in that moment gripped me—that moment when I had wholeheartedly believed my inactions would cause my best friend to die again. That hadn’t been…normal.

  “I’ve told you everything,” I said, standing up. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go home now.”

  The Director waved me away. “You are excused.”

  I left her office fuming. Po, Kay, and Imp were in the common room, talking about something; it was probably me, since the moment they noticed me, they went quiet.

  “What is this? A learning centre?” I grumbled.

  “Hear you ran through blast-fire to save some kid in K’har,” Kay said, with a grin. “Meta cosmic. You got some serious glands, sweet.”

  “Um, thanks,” I said, offering an uncertain smile. Of all of them, I was coming to like Kay the most.

  “She’s out of her bleeding mind, is what she is,” Po said, shaking her head.

  “In true Fey fashion, eh?” Kay laughed.

  Po muttered something that sounded like, “That’s what I’m afraid of…”

  Imp made an odd whistling sound. I had no idea if it signified approval or displeasure.

  I took a seat at the table. “So, what did we learn? Were the paper scraps any help at all?”

  Po shrugged. “ABBY is analysing them. The tricky part will be reversing the damage on those charred pieces. It’ll take some very complex mana manipulation to pull it off, but she’s done it before.”

  “I thought ABBY only did virtual reality,” I said.

  “ABBY is a state-of-the art A.I. She does a lot of things.”

  “And what about Haseph?” I asked. “He was going to tell us the Puppeteer’s real name, wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah, we’re not going t’hear from that doe for a meta long time,” Kay said.

  “What?” I looked at their faces. “Why?”

  “After spotting us, the S’renki put two and two together,” Po said. “According to our S.I. sources in K’har, he’s been detained in the capital prison. He’s scheduled to face the Tal K’har council in a week. It’s likely they’ll find him guilty of unauthorized espionage. The Director is going to go down there next week—see if she can’t strike some kind of deal for his safe return.”

  “Oh,” I said, my heart sinking. “That’s horrible.”

  “That’s the job,” Kay said.

  Imp whistled, in what I guessed was agreement.

  “Go home, Everglade,” Po said. “And whatever it is that made you go pitch-muck insane back there in K’har, deal with it before you come back. Because next time, I swear to Light,” She narrowed her eyes at me, “I will leave you behind.”

  “Nice to know I can always count on you,” I said.

  Po threw me a sarcastic smile.

  I said my goodbyes and headed home. Suddenly, all I wanted was my bed.

  As expected, the apartment was deathly quiet when I arrived. I got DEB to call Kattie, but she didn’t answer her cell-comm. I figured that she was probably still at the learning centre.

  “Let’s try calling again in an hour, okay?” I told DEB.

  I have scheduled another call to Katrice for the next hour, DEB said. It is nice to have you back, Arra.

  “Nice to be back,” I said. I poured myself a glass of wine, and collapsed into the living room sofa. DEB switched on the screen for me.

  As I calmed my nerves with sweet alcohol, the news came on. One of the more peculiar stories caught my attention: apparently, for the past month, bodies had been going missing in the morgues around Metro State. The previous day, a crew of dredgers had stumbled across five bodies at the bottom of the Crystal Lake. A lab had identified them; they were all from the Crystal Lake city morgue. The Metro Enforcement Bureau was currently investigating the disappearances, the presenter said.

  “The bleak?” I muttered, “This city is going downhill. First, stolen faces, and now this muck?”

  “Tell me about it,” someone said next to me.

  I cried out and jumped, throwing out my fist. I struck the intruder right across the face.

  “Ow! Relax,” the Ruby man said, rubbing his jaw. “It’s just me.”

  But my initial alarm was only replaced by a starker, more absolute horror when I realized who the man was.

  “Sol King?” I whispered, my heart threatening to explode.

  “Were you expecting somebody else?” he said.

  Not you, I thought. King wasn’t supposed to be back for days. What was he doing here? In my living room.

  King crossed his legs and got more comfortable in the sofa.

  I swallowed, and forced some composure. “You scared the bleak out of me.”

  “Dear Light, you’re too easy to sneak up on now,” he chuckled. “And that punch? You’ve grown soft Fey.”

  I knew Fey was supposed to be a teaser, so I mumbled the only snappy comeback I knew, “Yeah? Well, that’s not what your mother said last night.”

  He looked incredulous at first, and then he burst into laughter. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

  “Yes, it does. When you think about it.” I forced a smile.

  He smiled back, but there was sadness in his eyes. He tapped the spot on the sofa next to him.

  I hesitated, and then sat down.

  His eyes scanned my apartment. “Wow,” he mumbled. “When you move on, you really move on, huh?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that.

  His eyes rested on mine. “I guess it would be too much to hope that you’ve found it in your heart to forgive me.”

  “Forgive you?” I repeated, not having a clue what he meant. The document the Director had given me had not mentioned any conflicts between Fey and King. Well, so far, anyway. I was still only half-way through the document.

  I flinched when King reached out his hand to touch my face. But of course, it didn’t hurt. His touch was warm. Hot, even. His palms were rough; no doubt, from years of training and field work.

  My heart was still pounding away—now, for different reasons. I swallowed, as he put his hand around my waist, and pulled me closer.

  Would the real Fey pull away? Rebuke him? Encourage him?

  “What are you doing?” I finally whispered, my throat dry.

  “I know I mucked up Fey. I should’ve taken that leap with you, when you were ready. But I’m ready now.”

  I took a deep breath. “I…don’t know what to say.” Because I didn’t.

  “I just want to know if there’s still a possibility of ‘us’,” he said.

  A full moment went by and I couldn’t speak. “I need time,” I finally stuttered. It was the vaguest—and safest—respo
nse I could think of.

  He withdrew his hands, and some relief washed over me. But it seemed he wasn’t done. I watched as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a thin gold necklace with two tiny linked hoops. The hoops sparkled wildly, even in the weak fluorescent light; they were encrusted with diamonds.

  “Take this back,” he said. “We’ll make it work. I’ll make it work.” He smiled. “And I’ll be better.”

  What the bleak is going on? I was screaming in my head, but I smiled back and—mostly out of fatigue—nodded.

  A grin slowly spread across his face. His eyes danced, as he reached out and clasped the necklace around my neck. Then before, I could stop him, he pulled me into his arms and held me tightly.

  I could feel my rubriq, inexplicably, begin to react. They started to heat up, but they did not burn. I could feel a tingling over my skin—a mana current that made the tiny hairs along my back stand on end. And that feeling—it should have alarmed me. But it didn’t.

  It almost felt…nice.

  “I’ve missed you, Fey,” King breathed into my ear.

  “Yeah,” I whispered back. “I’ve missed you too.”

  We stayed that way for what felt like an eternity. King eventually pulled away, and cocked his head. “I think your fake sister is coming,” he said.

  “Kattie?”

  “Is that her real name? Or is that made up?”

  “Um…made up.” I smiled.

  He grinned back. “Well, I was going to go anyway. I have a few friends to interrogate before the night is over.”

  “Oh,” was all I said.

  He stood up. “Do you want me to meet her? Kattie?”

  I pretended to think about it. “Better if you don’t,” I finally said. “She thinks she was hired to play my sister because I’m in witness protection. Explaining you will be complicated.”

  My first smooth lie to King. I was proud of it.

  “You can just say I’m a colleague,” he countered back.

  I made a face. “Um, I don’t think that’s very convincing.”

  “Fine.” I could tell he was disappointed. “I’ll see myself out.”

  I was going to ask how, but then he slid the balcony door open. He threw me one last longing smile. “See you around.” Then with two effortless hops, he leapt onto the balcony railing, and off it into the night. Like a bleedin’ K’har assassin.

  “What have I gotten myself into?” I muttered, starting to breathe regularly again.

  My hand was shaking. Somehow, I managed to guide the rim of my glass to my mouth, and downed the rest of my wine. I heard Kattie come in just as I swallowed.

  I looked up to see my sister. “You’re back,” she said, when she saw me.

  “Yes, I am,” I said. “Where have you been?”

  “Where do you think?”

  Of course. The Learning Centre.

  “Did you get the government job?” she asked.

  My memory failed me for a split moment. I’d almost forgotten that I had lied to Kattie about where and why I was traveling.

  “I think I did the interview justice,” I said. “That Public Transportation gig just might be mine.”

  “Can you really stand an office job?” she said, taking a seat next to me. “I worry about you, Arra. You are more intolerant of process and order than you realize.”

  “Am I?” I smiled.

  “You are,” she uttered, matter-of-factly. She paused. “It’s nice to have you back, sister. I find that I enjoy taking care of immature adults.”

  “Hey,” I said.

  She offered me a well-practised smile, so that I knew she was joking.

  “Ha ha,” I said. “Sort of.” And then, I laughed for real and kissed her on the forehead.

  After we’d said goodnight, I went to my room, changed into something comfortable and slipped into bed. I read the Watters file on my tablet for a few hours, hoping that somehow, I would drift off. But I didn’t. I was tired, but not in the least bit sleepy.

  “Curse me,” I mumbled.

  I looked up from the tablet, and saw Evon staring at me from the foot of the bed. I placed the tablet down.

  “What’s she like?” she asked me. “Fey Watters.”

  “Wild,” I said.

  “How wild?”

  “Insane.” I slid through the pages on my screen. “According to these mission briefs, she took a lot of risks.”

  “So, she was you.”

  I shook my head. “Yeah, even I’m not crazy enough to crash through the walls of a secret base of assassins…on the back of a K’har bull. Watters was in a class of her own. A class of crazy.”

  Evon smiled. “Worried you won’t be able to match up?”

  “I can’t ride a K’har bull, Evon.”

  “Who’s asking you to do that?”

  “You know what I mean. Maybe, I could’ve made a pretty good Watters surrogate a few weeks ago. But I’m not that person anymore,” I said. “Not after you…you know.”

  “Moved to Hiti?” she finished for me, her tone teasing.

  I frowned at her. “Died,” I mumbled.

  “King seemed pretty convinced tonight,” Evon said, pointing at my new necklace.

  I touched the encrusted rings, cold against my chest even through my nightshirt. I admired them in the light.

  “They look crazy expensive,” I muttered.

  “He must’ve been crazy about her,” Evon remarked.

  I smiled at her dumb joke. “My luck is he seems to already expect that Fey has changed. Hope he’ll just chalk up any inconsistencies in my act to that.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Evon said.

  Somehow, my hallucination had moved from the foot of my bed, to the sheets beside me. She huddled up to me, and I felt her against my skin, smelt the fragrant spiciness of her chloro-hydration shampoo.

  “Thanks, by the way,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “That kid in K’har. You saved her life.”

  “You saved her life.”

  “And,” I said. “Thanks for being here.”

  “Arra,” she said, stroking my arm, “I’m not going anywhere.” She kissed my neck. “Ever.”

  CHAPTER 37

  The next day, when I returned to the Beta base, only Po and Kay were at the conference table.

  “You’re early today,” Po remarked.

  “I don’t sleep much. Gosh, thank you.” My second sentence was to Kay, who had just handed me a hot mug of kho’late. “Have I told you that you’re my favourite person here?”

  Kay blushed, much to my amusement.

  “Where’s Imp?” I asked.

  “In K’har, tracking down Haseph’s mystery employer,” King said to my right.

  I turned to look at him. He was standing in the kitchenette doorway, with his own cup of kho’late in hand. I wondered if Po and Kay knew that he had already been by my apartment. And if they didn’t, was I was supposed to act like I was surprised to see him?

  “Hello Sol,” I said, uncertainly.

  He grinned. “Hello Fey.”

  “Good to have you back on the team,” I said, as he took a seat and put his feet up on the table.

  “Good to be back.” He sipped his drink.

  “What’s the status on the waste paper reconstruction?” I asked.

  “What do you think?” Po said. “It’s the reason Imp is in K’har. ABBY finished the reconstruction of course, but the final product was less than exhilarating.” She tilted her face to the ceiling. “ABBY, show her.”

  A crisp hologram appeared before my face. I took a step back, and inspected the image. I touched it, so that it would rotate.

  “It’s a calendar,” I concluded.

  “Oh, is it? Thanks,” Po said. “We couldn’t tell by the little boxes and dates.”

  “Year 6067,” I read off it. “So, it’s from this year. But, who still prints paper calendars?” I asked. I looked at the picture of a smiling healer in the design backgrou
nd, and then searched the footer of the calendar. “There’s no endorser? No logo?”

  “No, there isn’t,” Po said. “We should crown you Queen Obvious.”

  I frowned. “No, what I mean is: there should be an endorser or a logo.”

  “Should be?” Po said. “If you don’t see a logo now, then there was no logo on the original. ABBY doesn’t make mistakes.”

  “Nobody goes through the trouble of paper printing these days, unless they’re some kind of multi-dimensional corporation or institution,” I insisted. “In which case, adding a logo for branding purposes would be rudimentary.”

  ABBY’s voice came from above. Pieces forty-five to sixty were too badly damaged for restoration. Said pieces would have constituted the left half footer of the given document. I substituted it for white, in consistence with restorable pieces sixty-one to seventy-three of the right half footer. Thus, there might have been additional text or images in the original document that I was unable to reproduce. I apologize if I misled you.

  “It’s okay, ABBY,” I said, giving Po a look. “Computers make mistakes too.”

  Po rolled her eyes.

  “The logo should belong to some kind of health-focused body, judging by the background image,” I continued. “It might belong to a pharmaceutical firm, or a health institution. But I’d place my bets on the more obvious possibility first: a hospital. I don’t see a government body doing any traditional printing. Too expensive. So, the hospital would have to be private, and it would have to be premium.”

  “Why would the Puppeteer have a calendar from a hospital?” Kay asked.

  I shrugged. “Why would he rip off the faces of young Metro city black-bloods? Right now, this investigation is just a lot of groping in the dark.”

  “Investigation?” King sounded amused. “What are you now, a detective?”

  His question caught me off guard. “Um...,” I stammered, before switching to offense. “What? We can’t think deductively every now and again?”

  “We’re making a lot of assumptions,” King said.

  “Well,” I said, “there’s a lot of missing information.”

  “Why would a logo matter, anyway?” Po said, her tone impatient. “The Puppeteer could’ve picked up this calendar anywhere from this city to the Rim world. It probably has no significance.”