Lock looked thoughtful. “If you could send me the list, perhaps a new set of eyes could shed some light on the puzzle itself.” He offered.
Marshall chuckled. “I knew you would say that.” He said and he handed Lock back his device. “It has been loaded with all of our casework data. If you find out anything from that, report it immediately.” He commanded.
“Of course.” Lock replied. “I am assuming that we’ll have plenty of time to peruse this in our cells. You are planning on putting us back there, right?” He said and Marshall lowered his eyes.
“For a time, yes. We need you to remain where the tall man can’t see you. It will drive him crazy that he can’t find you. He prides himself on knowing everything that is going on everywhere. I’m sure this has already cost him some sleep, assuming he sleeps.” He added making a cross sign in front of himself.
“You know that we are actually innocent in most of the charges you didn’t bring against us.” Lock pointed out. “To keep us locked up for something we didn’t do is cruel.” He pointed out to illustrate the reality they faced.
“Yes. But allowing you out to be found would be catastrophic to the plan. When the tall man is agitated enough, he may just make a mistake and we’ll be there to catch him at it when he sticks his hand into the cookie jar. You folks are tantamount to this plan’s success.” He stated excitedly.
“You know that we could disappear without your help.” Lock pointed out.
“The places you disappear to are in his realm. He would find you and we wouldn’t know where to look for you. Here, we have a chance of stopping an abduction and also providing much-needed security.”
“Security is all well and good, but how will we find the evidence you are looking for if all we can see is the four walls?” Lock asked. Tina was ready to pose the same question. The two of them often thought alike.
“I know. You’ll be out of action for a while, but not forever and not for long. That I can promise you. I need you out there finding my evidence. I need you out there distracting the beast while I find ways through its defenses and killing its power base. This is going to have to be a team effort.” He declared.
“Beast? What do you think the tall man is?” Tina’s Mom asked. She was ready to pull the plug on the whole thing here. “I just found my daughter again. I’m not sending her out against monsters.” She declared.
Marshall shook his head. “It is not about monsters. Beast was perhaps a poor choice of words. But what we do have is someone who defies our human standard. He has lived longer than any human ever in history. He commands power from unseen and unknown sources. He cares nothing for life and death. He cannot be traced. He controls my division completely. I was ordered off the investigation when I got too close.” He said.
“Really, so all of this is off the books.” Lock retorted. “How undercover do you want us to be?” He asked now, his patience started to thin a bit.
“You are a miracle, a godsend. You have seen the man himself. You are in a unique position to make him come out into the open. Do you know how rare that is?” He asked.
“The tall man came down to the corridors to talk with us.” Lock said. “He can’t be that hard to find.”
Marshall looked shocked. “He came down in person?” He asked for verification. “Why didn’t you say that before?” He asked excitedly. “You may be already causing him to make mistakes.” He stood up quickly and then realized he couldn’t do anything locked in this room and forced himself to sit back down again. He took a couple of deep breaths and then looked up at the expectant trio before him. “He never goes anywhere. Nobody ever sees him in the corridors or open areas. He must be using some other conveyance to get around. If we can track that, we might be able to find out where he goes.” He said, his excitement building once more despite his earlier attempt to calm down.
“I don’t know how someone so tall could get around without being spotted.” Tina objected. “If he has some kind of transport, then nobody has seen that either. How does anyone covertly get around this ship?” She asked. It was funny because she knew more of the covert ways than anybody of the group. This question was to test Marshall.
“I… I don’t know.” He replied.
“But you are a detective.” Tina complained. “How can you not know how to get around?” She asked.
The detective looked back defiantly. “Oh, and I suppose you do know how?” He challenged.
Lock chuckled despite the seriousness of the moment. Everyone looked at him. Tina looked back, trying not to break into laughter herself.
“Of course I do. I’ve been using covert means to navigate the ship my whole life.” She replied.
Marshall was not ready to just roll over on this challenge. “Okay hotshot, how do you get past the promenade without showing anybody you are moving through the area?” He asked. His tone was defiant.
Tina grabbed Lock’s pad device and pulled up the promenade area. She then pulled to the side the overlay with the air conditioning ducts. These were huge in this area and could be walked through without ducking. She traced a finger over the route, and it highlighted accordingly. Then she handed the device to Marshall.
He stared at the route and while he was doing that, Tina was explaining her choice. “This path allows you to cross the promenade without begin seen, or even having any traffic. You could get to the stores on the far side without issue. If you were being chased, you could duck in here and branch off to come out pretty much anywhere you wanted. Once the ducts get too small to traverse, you simply drop into the corridor from them and be on your way.” She explained.
“Air conditioning ducts?” Marshall asked. “Aren’t those dirty?” He queried.
“They’ve got dust in them, but the air moves in there, so it doesn’t accumulate all that much. There are much dirtier places on the ship than these ducts.” Tina responded.
Marshall shook his head. “All this time, we’ve been under foot to the people really running this ship.” He said sorrowfully. “How could I have known?” He asked.
“Where did you grow up?” Tina asked. “If you had run of the ship, the urge to explore would have found this and many others. There are places all over the ship that can allow someone creative to get through. Why do you think we have no record?” She challenged.
“I assumed it was because you didn’t do anything wrong.” He replied and there was a question hidden within that answer.
“I never did anything really bad, but never getting caught certainly helps.” She replied, to help answer his fears a bit. “There are places where you can float like a butterfly. There are places that are so noisy you need hearing protection to get near them. There are places where the best food you have ever smelled is made. This ship is a world of wonders.” Tina explained. “If you didn’t experience that as a child, then you need to begin to experience it now.” She urged.
“I… I had no idea.” Marshall admitted.
Lock chuckled again. “We know.” He didn’t put any sting into it either. They were simply enjoying his discomfort but were not eager to enhance it. “Look, this evidence you are looking for, it is most probably not in the main thoroughfares. We’re going to have to explore everything in order to find the impossible information you want.” He said.
“Not just yet.” Marshall replied. “I need you to stay put for a bit longer. I must look into a few things of my own before allowing you free access to the very ship that is looking all over for you. There’s even been a cash reward offered for your apprehension.” He told them.
“Really? How much?” Tina asked.
“Young lady!” her mother replied quickly.
Tina shrugged her shoulders “What? I was just curious.” She admitted.
Lock supported his friend. “It would tell us how badly they want us.” He suggested.
Marshall started to fidget. “They are offering a large amount of money for your capture.”
Tina looked stern. “How much?” She pre
ssed.
Marshall lowered his eyes. “For you? Two million credits.” He replied. Tina’s mouth fell open and when she looked, everyone else’s mouth was hanging open. The amount was more than ten years’ worth of her pay. How could it be so much? Who had that kind of credit to spend? She already knew the answer to both questions.
“Does it say that I must be alive?” Tina asked.
Marshall smiled, but there was no humor in it. “Fortunately, yes.” He replied. “But I have never seen anyone with a bigger bull’s eye on them than you.” He added. It was no laughing matter. The entire ship would be searching for this teenager. Images of her would be plastered over every screen. It was like a lottery and she had drawn the black spot. This was not good.
“You are going to have to lock at least me up again then.” She concluded.
“For your own protection, yes.” Marshall replied. The tone of his voice suggested that he hated this situation. She had to admit that his emotions had a point. She hated this situation as much, if not more, than he did. She was wanted, very wanted. The tall man would see her brought before him and who knows what would happen then? He had the power to make her, and anyone who knew her, disappear. That was a lot of power.
“It’s hard to believe that all of this began from one innocent little search.” She mused. There was disgust in her voice. Lock felt that disgust like a knife stab.
“It’s all my fault then.” He said aloud and everyone looked at him. He used the opportunity to explain before anyone could contradict him. I discovered the maintenance logs with the problem in them. The missing saboteur. I herded my friends down into the corridor for a bit of excitement to research the cause. Then you, smart little you Tina, searched and actually found the person responsible for the activity.” He rubbed his forehead and then barreled on. “If I had just minded my own business, none of this would have happened.” He said, thoroughly beating himself up emotionally for this.
Tina punched him in the shoulder, and he was startled out of his funk. “If you think you can take the blame for all of this, you are gravely mistaken.” She said in warning. “I was the one who went to the café and searched for the culprit. You had dropped off our personal grid by then. It was just curiosity by then. I had no idea, just as you didn’t, what kind of trouble was hiding beneath the surface of this pond. The serpent lashed out and now we are both reeling. But no one person is at fault here.” She declared.
Marshall countered her though. “The tall man is at fault.” He said just as genuinely. “His search for you is part of his personal defense and who else has that level of paranoia?” He asked.
Tina’s mother had just sat back and watched this whole exchange. “Now that we’re all done laying or taking blame for this debacle, how about we discuss how to get out of it?” She asked.
Everyone looked at the detective expectantly.
“Oh great, now it all falls to my plan.” He said, shouldering the burden he was just handed. He knew that whatever the future held it was now his duty to orchestrate these people’s lives. It was unfair, but it was also expected.
He took a moment to collect his thoughts before proceeding. “The first phase of my plan has already taken place. That was to find you and to hold you safe from the tall man. Honestly, you are not all that easy to find. We checked all of the places you normally go and found nothing. When you want to be lost, you are truly lost.” He said, having gone down a tangent and then reigning himself in again.
“Secondly, we put pressure on the tall man. We need him to think that we are close to breaking open his operation. He will get pressured and frustrated and he will begin making mistakes.” He sat back for a bit instead of leaning forward in the chair as he had been doing. “It seems by visiting you in the corridors, he has already begun making mistakes.”
“The next step requires you to find the evidence I need even as we chase the tall man through the ship. With our teams keeping him moving, you should be able to move freely about and get whatever you need to take this monster down.” He fidgeted a bit in the chair before continuing to his next point.
“The final stage is a trial. I know that the tall man owns the courts. He owns the people running them. He even owns the people that lock culprits up in our jails. But what he doesn’t control, is the internal police force. The officers that police other officers. So, despite the ludicrousness of the suggestion, we are going to make the tall man an officer of the law in order to prosecute him legally. He will get locked away for his myriad of crimes and justice will be served. During the court process, it will be revealed who was the actual killer and that will automatically absolve you of your murder charges. You will be safe to walk the ship once more.” He looked around and not just at Tina. “All of you.” He said.
“Your plan hinges on us getting the evidence you need. How do you think this will go down if the tall man discovers we are out and snooping into his affairs?” Lock asked. “He’s already paranoid about our involvement and the sensitive nature of our data and our relationship to his organization. He would have us killed without a second thought. There may even be a price on our head that you are unaware of just to get our heads on proverbial pikes for his amusement.” Lock added, trying to make sure everyone understood the stakes in this deadly game.
Marshall held up his hands in an exaggerated shrug. “What choice do you have?” He asked. “At this point your lives are already forfeit. If the tall man doesn’t get you, then the murder charges will do his business for him. All of your hopes for a normal life also hinge on you finding the evidence to put the threat against you away. Don’t you understand? We’re all in this until the end now. There’s no turning back. There’s no easy way out.”
Tina protested. “But you have the evidence that I am innocent.” She complained.
“Yes, and that evidence is a key part of our presentation against the tall man. It cannot be revealed until we are ready to bring him down. If he found out about it, the evidence locker, or even the precinct could be destroyed, taking the evidence with it.” Marshall countered. “Don’t look backwards or to the side, forward is our only path now.” He pressed.
Mrs. Hull had heard enough. “You’ve been talking about our lives as if they are cards in a bad hand of poker. You are looking at us as expendable assets and I don’t appreciate it. We are valuable citizens of this ship and we have duties to perform, lives to live, colonies to plant. We mean something more than the downfall of some mafia boss.” She said.
Marshall’s eyes went wide. “No, quite the contrary. You are not expendable. You are key to the success of my mission and the saving of this ship from whatever plan the tall man has in store for us all. You are monumentally important. If I could put bodyguards on you I would. But that would reduce your effectiveness right when we need you the most.” He explained.
Mrs. Hull stood up quickly. “You are holding key evidence in my daughter’s case. This is basically ransoming her future to us in exchange for cooperation in your plan. I don’t know what kind of shady mission you are running here, but I am here to tell you it smells really bad. You are taking advantage of an opportunity that dropped into your lap. It’s clear and simple. You need to give us that video so that we can begin to collect our evidence to clear Tina’s name.” She demanded. How did you think we would react to this level of exploitation?” She asked in conclusion.
Marshall pushed his chair back from the table. It almost hit the back wall of the room. He was aghast at the reaction he was getting. His dreams of completing this mission were vanishing in smoke. “But you have to do it. We can’t even get close.” He just sounded whiny more than anything else now. This whole deal was turning sour as he watched his plans unravel. He needed their help. He was the first to admit that. “What would convince you of our intentions?” He asked, sure what they were going to say.
“We need that video.” Mrs. Hull replied.
“If I give you this video, it will not keep the tall man from coming after yo
ur daughter. In fact, it might escalate things even more.” He said. “Plus, it would no longer be a secret to be revealed in the tall man’s trial.” He added.
“Secret or not, it is still key evidence.” Tina protested. “I have a stake in this too! If this tall man will never let me go, then we need to get him out of commission. It’s not like I can just disappear on board a ship like this.” She said and all faces turned towards her.
“Wait, why not?” Mrs. Hull asked. “A witness relocation program, right?” She asked, moving her gaze to Marshall.
“Whoah, this is an unsanctioned mission. We don’t really have you in custody remember?” He replied. The cost to give you a new identity that our department could not trace would be high. We can’t really justify the expense.” He said.
Tina slammed her hand on the table. “Just how much is my life worth to you?” She asked and her tone was dangerous.
“Look, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. What I meant to say is that I can’t authorize an expenditure for a mission that doesn’t even exist in the logs. No mystery money is floating around to do things like that. Everything is tracked.” He said in explanation.
Lock picked up the thread. “…and if everything is tracked, the tall man could figure out who you became. It would be disastrous to hide and then have his goons come and pluck you out of the crowd easily once the excitement had calmed down.” He said, finishing the grim thought.
Marshall pointed at Lock. “Exactly! We have a problem that running and hiding will not solve.” He said.
Tina locked eyes with Marshall. “I don’t see your wanted picture on the vids. My neck is on the line here. You can go about your business of hating someone from afar if things hit the fan. I am in this too deep for that to work. That is what you are telling me.” She concluded.
“It is.” Marshall admitted. “I wish it wasn’t so, but I have waited for an opportunity like this one for quite some time. This is my one, and probably last chance to nail this guy. I need you to do this. I need all of you. If not, then we might all just throw ourselves into an airlock for the tall man and save him some legwork.” He said. His tone was very serious, and he looked defeated.
Eternals Among Us: Book one Page 9
