by Sam Sea
He shook his head.
“So can we start again?”
He nodded again.
“Who was your client?”
“Her name is…” he started to talk slowly, trying to gain time, but accepting that he had to say something. “…Madam Vilksy of the Carting family… She worked through some sub-contractors, but I know it is her…I put a tracer on the paintings and traced them to her… she was not careful and smart as she thought she was. But please don’t tell her what I did, what I said...”
Mikka laughed. “You really worried about her? Now? At this very moment? You are really that stupid??”
Mikka was still shaking her head, looking at him “You know, I will pay my own money to put your photo under the word ‘stupid’ in the dictionary. Don’t you know who you have to be worried about?”
“I swear it’s her… I would not lie to you.”
“Oh, I believe you… So, Madam Vilksy bought those paintings from you. How much did you get for them?”
“Two million credits.” Mikka turned around and looked at the shadowed corner which hid Irkoniss.
“How did she pay you?”
“Cash…”
“On rings?” She dug inside her pocket and showed the rings in her palm, the ones that were previously on his fingers.
Wall’s face said enough before she could hear the answers.
“Can you, please, tell me now, how did you get those paintings?”
“I hired a rough I used sometimes…He got them for me…”
“Who is this rough?”
“His name is Irkoniss, he is illegal from Levia. I have his brain signature, his DNA, everything in the safe in my shop….if you want I can give them to you. Just please let me go…”
“You are way too stupid for that. But, let’s see… where can I find him?”
“I..I do not know…he just stops in sometimes and asks if there is any work. If I do have anything, I give him. I can, if he ever comes to my shop again, call you…right away…”
Mikka let go of a loud laugh. “Don’t kid me… where do I find him???”
“I… I really do not know… But he contracted someone to cut the juice to the house… he may know more.”
"Okay… So tell me now something else…” Mikka was still laughing half inside, half out as she asked..”How many thieves have you approached to try and do the job before you gave it to this stupid thief?"
"Ten, twenty, I tried anybody I knew… nobody would take it... They all said it was crazy job to do.”
“Why? Why would they say that?”
“Don’t, don’t you know?” Wall was suddenly surprised, not understanding why the question was being asked in the first place.
She slapped him so hard that he knew he was lucky to lose only two teeth that flew out of his mouth and got lost in the darkness away. “You… know… how… I… work… so tell me…” Mikka spaced her words as her grip on his throat tightened to the point of stopping any flow of air to the man’s head.
As she let go, his words came rushing out. “The man that was ripped off is brother to the Security Commissioner… nobody wanted to mess around with that…” Mr. Wall suppressed the question, really wondering who his captor really was.
Mikka really let her laughter out that time. But it was not directed toward Mr. Wall. Irkoniss knew that very well.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid…” was all that was coming from her mouth for a whole minute.
“You…you are not an ECI?” Mr. Wall whispering and trembling question came out as an answer to himself.
“No…I already told you who I am, but… you are really going to start asking questions again?”
“N…” Her eyes cut him like knife “…sorry, I will not.”
“Good…” She petted his head. “Now, let’s go to that safe of yours…What exactly you have in there and…Where exactly is it located, and what security do you have? You answer that right, and if my friend comes back with its entire content before you bleed out, then who knows. Who knows what might happen to you…?”
She slit a long line up his hand, and the blood started to come down.
“Don’t mean to rush you, but, your blood is… dropping down, Mr. Wall, wetting my floor.,” she said as the tip of her knife again danced slowly across his face.
Less than an hour later Irkoniss was back with a dark bag in his hands. Mikka had already packed the shopkeeper in a large plastic container.
“He is still alive… I just gave him some sleeping pill and stopped the bleeding. I let you deal with him,” she said as she gave him a long look.
“Please don’t kill him…” Silent who just woke up said from behind. “I do not want you to be killing anyone now…”
“He will still talk about this to anyone who asks him… You know he will. Your time working in the Capital as a thief is over. If he lives, you know what that means?”
“I know. But…I don’t want to kill him.” Irkoniss said calmly and have already picked up one end of the container.
“It’s your call.”
“I’ll take him upstairs to the sedan and dump his ass in the Old City. Let gods decide his fate.” He said as he left the place.
“Thank you for not killing that man.” Silent said as soon as they were left alone. “You see, you don’t need to kill everyone you meet.”
Mikka narrowed her eyes as she stared at Silent…”You know, you have a really nice manner for someone who was raised on Pluk.”
“It was my father who raised me,” Silent was saying…”He always said that just because we live around the beasts, we do not need to become ones.”
“That is so wrong…You do not only need to become the beast, you need to become the monster beast, beast of the beasts, or else, you become beast’s food. I thought you understood that. Maybe I was wrong.” Mikka was unapologetic.
Silent put her head down, unsure what to say next.
“You know, if that man ever get to have a chance, he will hurt me back ten-folded. You know that, right? And that is all right with you?”
Silent continued saying nothing.
“You are just a little girl, but I thought, through things you saw on Pluk, that you knew how things worked. Maybe I need to drop you off in an orphanage someplace. This world, this world of mine, is way too cruel for you. You-”
“Please, please don’t. I will not ask anything else from you…Please. Ever.”
“You know begging does not work with me. It just shows me you are weak. Saying ‘please’ once shows that you are polite, but begging…I do not like that. If you want to change my opinion, give an argument why I should, but don’t beg, don’t beg for me to be stupid…”
“Please don’t send me to an orphanage. I want to learn how to be like you, I need to become like you so I can survive, and so I can revenge my family…”
“And how do you plan to revenge your family?”
“By killing every one of the wolf man on Pluk!” Mikka saw a rage in her eyes, the same rage very much like she saw sometimes when she looked in the mirror.
“Now, that is a bit better.”
Chapter 10 - ECI’s Job
He logged into the ship’s system, and started the engine. For a second, nothing happened, nothing at all, but then he started to feel almost unnoticeable vibration of the floor, and as he ran out of the vessel, he saw the flame of white light coming from behind.
Val never got to that lunch with inspector Li’a.
After long hours of conducting interviews took a toll on his ability to think, with each additional cup of coffee only aggravating him even more, he decided to retire.
But the rest he needed he didn’t get…He was together with Li’a on the elevator coming down the police building when his communicator started blinking. It was Timor.
"Chief, I went over the list of the black market art dealers. Interestingly, one of them seem to be experiencing very strange activities…a lot of red flags…a 2 million credits deposite
d to his account, and he takes all the money out of bank and places it on a ring.”
“Well, that is as good as cash…can take it anywhere then…”
“Yes, like he was trying to run, maybe?”
“Yes, most definitely…that might be our man…”
“What is his name?”
“Wallace Alborn, he has a pawn shop in the Old City called The Wall…also interesting… I just scanned police wires for his name. It seems three of his employees were executed at that shop …Police cruisers were there examining the crime scenes…I am sure you can get those reports…”
“Do we know where he is right now?”
“Yes, I used the tracker with your authorization. He is at his home right now.”
"Can you send a nearby unit to go and hold him,“ Val told Li’a. “Make sure they are on alert, who ever wasted three of his employees, might be just warming up to get to him.”
“Sure…”
“We'll go over there and have a chat with him."
"You don't want to bring him in?"
"No, we are already out. It will be faster this way, so let's go there now.” Val really had enough of the office space, and fresh air might be what his dulled brain needed.
Seconds later, he remembered his communicator and placed a call to his assistant. "Hey, Tim, how are you coming on looking into clans?"
“I may have something for you later today or tomorrow first thing…”
“Clans…?” Li’a jumped in asking.
“Chief, can you put the camera on…” Timor suddenly got curious hearing her voice.
Val felt too tired to argue and a second later Timor screamed at him "You double-crosser! I see you already found a substitute for me!"
"No, Tim, this is just police investigator Li’a…there is really no substitute for you." Val signed out before Timor could say anything else.
Fifteen minutes later, they were still riding in the car toward Old City’s Section 10 where Wallace Alborn lived.
Li’a interrupted the silence and made Val open his eyes as she said, "It must be nice to be an ECI."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"You can look into other people's bank account, their lives...All of the information is there for you. If we had that kind of information available to us at the police, imagine how much more efficient we could be…"
“It would not work…It would make police all too powerful over citizens. Give them that kind of power, and there would be abuse, corruption…It was tried before number of times. It always ended up failing. That’s why ECI was created in the first place.”
“I know, I know, still… Must be nice to have all that power…”
"Well, sometimes... But, it has its drawback. Many of them actually."
"I know, like a short life expectancy."
"That is one of it. You are everyone’s target. That can be very stressful. People tend not to like us very much. Usually, ECIs don't complete their thirty years service.... Very few do. They either quit or they…"
"I know...My father was... one of you."
"Yeah, your father was an ECI?"
"Yes."
"What is his name?"
"Was his name... he is dead now, and I do not want to talk about it."
Val thought better not to ask any more questions. Besides, he didn't want to talk about it either.
By the time Val and the inspector got to the house, there were already four police vehicles blocking all exits there.
"Where is he?"
"You are going to love this Li’a. He is in the front room." One of the officers said with a grin spilled across his face.
When they opened the door and looked at Wall, they understood why.
"It seems like you've been questioned already. I am surprised that you are still alive." Val told him as he saw a man with completely smashed nose, cut out cheeks and an arm that was obviously cut as the foam used to stop it from bleeding still didn’t completely dry.
"Please, can you hurry up. What do you want? I need to get to the hospital right away!"
"Sure you do." Val actually took his badge out and showed it to him. "You know who I am, you know my reputation, so tell me, what is it that I need to know?"
"What?" the man asked, confused.
"Haven't you already had a bad day?”
Val got into his face and wiggled his nose just as Mikka did a few hours ago. Sound of broken bones could not be heard as Wall screams overpowered everything.
“Yes, I think that is broken…I think you really do need to get to the hospital.” Wall looked at him with fanatic stare of fear and lunacy, the tears running down his face.
“Fuck you!” Wall spit at Va. Seeing the presence of uniformed officers, many of whom were his constant clients, migh had given him an illusion of strength.
“You can’t do this to-“ He never ended the sentence as he screamed even louder as Val place his two fingers deep inside the foam that was supposed to prevent his cheeks from bleeding.
“Who ever questioned you was not an ECI, right?”
Wall decided not to say anything.
“Do I really need to show you how an ECI does questioning?” Val cared little how nervous Li’a was feeling behind him.
“What? You thought that your day could not possible get any worse?"
“No answer again…do I need to continue?...Just tell me, did you really think that you could knock off the house of the Commissioner’s brother, and that they would not send the meanest, the ugliest, the craziest son-of-a bitch ECI to hunt your ass down? …Really?”
"I didn’t steal the paintings…The man called Irkoniss did….” His mouth ran fast, faster than even the urine running down his pants.
“Yeah, but you contracted him, right? And gave him the security system blueprints, right?”
Wall said nothing, but the ECI didn’t care to stop. “The paintings taken... Who paid for them?"
“Madam Vilksy Carting”
"Funny how we were already on the way to see her...I guess one more reason to go and see her right away." He said as he turned around and looked at Li’a. But before they left through the door, he turned around.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I ,ECI Val, judge you to 60 years to Pluk for the trafficking in the stolen properties." Val said in his badge, then took out a little needle that popped out of it.
'Stick this into his back, would you, sergeant." He told to the officer guarding the door.
"Sure will do, sir." The officer answered with the smile creeping back on his face.
If Val was not in such a hurry to solve the case in the two-day time, if he wasn’t so warn-out from long hours of interrogations, from getting his ship online, he probably would have stayed and questioned Wall in a great detail as he would have certainly liked to know who was the person who broke the man's nose and scalped both cheeks off his face. If he was not in the hurry, maybe he would have found out it was Mikka who did it, and that would have alerted him enough to her presence.
Maybe then he would have been on guard and more careful and would stop her from putting a bullet in him the very next day.
But he felt he needed to rush, and the feeling of a severe agitation returned...And it only got worse. Suddenly everything seemed to bother him, how slow the vehicle was going, how many floors they had to pass to get to the office, how impolite her male secretary was, informing him nonchalantly that the Madam Vilksy was busy, and was really not interested in seeing him.
He was tired of talking, felt like he talked more during the last day than during the whole month. So on his communicator, he checked where exactly Madam Vilksy was. Her tracking code clearly revealed she was but a meters away, beyond the thick black closed doors ahead.
He left Inspector Li’a arguing with the secretary and walked over to the door.
Two men, both head taller than Val, muscled overrunning their tight shirts, with their hands already placed on the low carrying handguns, threatening, suddenly appeared from n
owhere and blocked his way.
They had a stern look, practiced in front of a mirror for hours to look as stern as possible.
Val took his badge out and pointed it to them.
He took a deep breath and like he was already tired of saying it for that day said,
"I, ECI Val order the present men to move from my path and...”
They seemed not to even register him, not even to move a muscle.
"You will probably shoot me if I try to enter right?"
One of them dared to move his lips to form acknowledging smile.
"Good, then I..." Val pulled his gun out faster than that smile had a chance to fully materialize. He put one slug in each of their heads. "… judge you for a termination."
The noise of the argument behind him quieted before their bodies hit the floor. The roar of his guns created a silence that lasted until he decided to step forward, toward the door.
He opened the door, gun pointing forward.
That woman might think she can do anything…That is dangerous, and crazy…And you know the rule, don't mess around with the crazy bitches. You know crazy is crazy...
He saw Madam Vilksy sitting at the table, mouth wide opened. Two familiar paintings were in front of her, placed right across the table.
"Crazy bitch..." Val said to himself seeing out loud with the paintings there in the plain sight.
"You, you ...you..." she seemed all of the centuries she spend living, accumulating vocabulary, and all she could say was that single word.
"Yes, I am ECI Val, and I find you in the possession of the stolen artifacts." Val took his badge out pointed it to her "I order you not to move, not even your little finger, or I swear, I will judge you to die and put a bullet in your head."
"Do...do..do you know who I am?" the women screamed.
"Sure I do. You are one crazy bitch who paid two million credits for those two paintings to be stolen, and right now I am debating of whether to sentence you to Pluk for 60 years or something much worse.”
"You are that crazy ECI, aren’t you? Lunatic! What are you doing here? Weren't you demoted recently? Weren't they supposed to take your badge?"
