by Josh Leone
“Honored Returned, Caller Vashek will be arriving at the estate at the end of the week. He asks that you remain in seclusion until he arrives.”
“Tell Caller Vashek that I appreciate his hospitality and await his arrival.”
“Very good. I will relay your message to the Caller.”
Sha ended the call. He had an idea. So far, he’d been trying to investigate Pietra’s death from the outside in, looking at the people around his wife. But perhaps he would discover something new if he looked at Pietra herself. Was she murdered only because of her connection to him? Or was there another reason? Something from her past, from before he’d met her. Or perhaps it was something to do with her service to the Legion?
Sha realized that he had a secondary motive in this line of investigation. He wanted to absolve himself, at least a little bit, of his guilt. If Sha could find another reason for Pietra’s death then he would not have to blame it solely on the fact that she’d been his wife.
He decided to start with the basics. He used his neurotech to access the credit accounts he and Pietra maintained. They’d been frozen by the Civil Authority but the banking computer was no match for Sha’s tech. That same tech allowed Sha to sift through his and Pietra’s entire banking history in minutes. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
Sha sat back, closed his eyes, and, aided by his neurotech, examined memories of his wife. He looked for anything odd, his tech once again speeding the process greatly. He recalled that Pietra had been particularly interested in news broadcasts a few months prior to her death. Sha reviewed the relevant broadcasts, looking for similarities. He found one. Each news broadcast had included at least a mention of thefts of Legion property.
The stolen equipment was diverse but appeared to focus primarily on parts for phase engines. Phase engines were unquestionably the most expensive part of a modern ship and parts for one, especially parts of Legion quality, would fetch a very high price on the black market.
Despite security precautions there was always a small amount of what the Legion termed, ‘leakage.’ The Legion was a mind-bogglingly vast and complex organization with supply chains spread across Primacy space. Sometimes parts were just mishandled, other times a supply officer decided to make a few credits on the side by selling excess components.
Sha’s attention was caught by a specific news article. It was hardly an article at all really; just a short retraction admitting that the previous night’s broadcast had been based on information that had subsequently been proven in error.
The article cited had been about a suspected theft at a supply depot Pietra had been assigned to early in her career. Some parts had gone missing and were initially reported as a theft. Unfortunately for the over eager reporter the missing parts were found to be simply a bookkeeping error. A lieutenant named Kevin Jacobs had been questioned by the depot commander about the theft but as soon as the error was discovered Jacobs had been exonerated.
Sha brought up Kevin Jacob’s service record. It was all fairly standard stuff. The usual Legion PoPros, then specialist training in phase tech. One commendation for bravery. Currently serving as lead technician at the primary Legion shipyard on Mars. Pietra had once told Sha that early in her Legion career she had considered becoming a phase technician. Sha brought up Pietra’s service record to compare it with that of Jacobs, hating himself for what he was thinking.
Pietra and Jacobs were a few years apart in age, Jacobs being the older of the two. They had attended several classes together in the Legion PoPros, which only made sense since they were pursuing similar career paths. Was it also just a coincidence that they’d both been sent to the same base for their first assignment? Perhaps.
Sha sifted through information relating to the time Pietra and Jacobs had served together. Only one thing caught his attention; a report of a suspected theft from the base warehouse. Both Pietra and Jacobs had been stationed at that base at the time of the theft. The case had been closed when it was discovered that the missing merchandise was the result of a bookkeeping error. Jacobs and Pietra had been questioned but fully exonerated when the error had been discovered.
Pietra had never mentioned the incident to Sha which was itself suspicious. They kept no secrets from each other. At least that was what Sha had always thought. Perhaps it was just an oversight. Pietra had been barely out of the programs when the suspected theft had occurred.
Sha wanted to forget what he’d learned, wishing he hadn’t begun this line of investigation. But he had, and he had to continue. Now that he’d begun Sha had to know the truth, even if it pained him.
Sha brought up the Legion pay records and found what he was looking for; Kevin Jacobs’ current address. It was an Earth address not fair from Dallin, the capital city of the planet and the Primacy. It was a wealthy neighborhood - too wealthy for a Legion tech. Kevin Jacobs was living far beyond his pay scale, perhaps supplementing his Legion salary with a thriving side business selling “misplaced” Legion property?
Sha opened a secure vid-link, hoping that Jacobs would not be home, that it would be a dead end. It wasn’t. A woman answered on the third ring.
“Hello?”
Sha studied her face for a moment, trying to decide how to begin. As it turned out the woman recognized Sha, probably as yet unaware of his status as a fugitive. The Primacy would still be trying to keep that quiet and there was no reason for someone like Jacobs or those associated with him to know about it.
“Honored Returned!” the woman stammered. “Um, ah, what, why?”
“Calm yourself, citizen.” Sha tried to put the woman at ease. He waited several seconds while she caught her breath and collected herself.
“Is this the home of Kevin Jacobs?”
“Yes, yes it is. Is he hurt?”
“No, ma’am. I’m calling to speak with him about a mutual acquaintance that recently died.” Sha wasn’t sure if she was family, lover, or just a friend of Jacobs but perhaps he could learn something about the man through her. Sha offered his friendliest smile.
“Do you know when Kevin will be home?”
“Oh, he just ran to the store. He should be back in a few minutes. My name is Julie, Julie Marx - though soon to be Julie Jacobs.” She said it as though to remind herself that she was not available. It was a reaction Sha was accustomed to.
“You are Kevin’s fiancée, then? When is the wedding?”
“Next month. We’ve been planning it for almost a year.” She was warming up to the subject, speaking more easily now.
“Lots of guests?”
“From my side, yes. Poor Kevin doesn’t have much family left. Not after the accident.”
“Accident?”
“Oh, yes. His mother and father died just a year ago.”
“How did it happen?”
“They were traveling on a commercial space-liner. It was just a sight-seeing vacation, but the ship was attacked by Pash. They spaced the crew and passengers and scrapped the ship. It was on the news.”
Sha’s neurotech quickly scanned through news broadcasts from a year ago and found the incident. A commercial space-liner had been attacked, just as Ms. Marx said. Among the victims were Mary and Leonid Jacobs. Sha confirmed the connection through an obituary stating that the deceased couple was survived by a son, Legion Tech-Specialist First-Class, Kevin Jacobs.
Julie turned to the sound of a door opening and closing. “Oh, here’s Kevin now.”
Sha listened as Julie told her fiancé there was a call waiting for him. Then she told him who it was that was on the phone. The sound of bags being dropped and feet running across a floor could be heard. Kevin Jacobs’ face was flush but he made an effort to stay calm and control his breathing.
“Honored Returned, sir, how can I help you, sir?” The man looked and sounded as though he couldn’t decide on the proper protocol for this conversation and had elected to observe them all at the same time.
Kevin Jacobs was not what Sha had expected. He’d hoped Jacob
s would turn out to be someone despicable. Sha knew that appearances could be deceiving, but seeing the man’s plain features, his honest, almost humorous fumbling as he tried to figure out why he was being called by an Honored Returned; it was hard to demonize him. Add to that Ms. Marx, soon to be Mrs. Jacobs, and this call was quickly becoming not at all what Sha had expected.
Sha wanted a target, a reason for his loss that wasn’t himself. He wanted a villainous scoundrel who’d manipulated an innocent Pietra into a life of crime using seduction and threats. But it was harder and harder to believe that Kevin Jacobs was such a man. If anything a woman as strong-willed as Pietra would have psychologically dominated a man like Jacobs.
“I’m calling regarding someone I believe you are familiar with.”
“Who is that, sir?”
“Pietra Meot,” Sha said. “She was in Legion PoPros with you.”
“How is Pietra?”
“She’s dead.” This was an important moment and Sha watched Jacobs’ reaction closely. The man looked like he’d just been punched in the stomach.
“We…,” Jacobs paused, trying to find the words. “We hadn’t spoken in years. How did she die?”
“It was ruled an accident.”
“Are they sure? Sure it was an accident, I mean.”
“Why do you ask?” Sha was immediately on alert.
“It’s just that…, well, no. No, it’s nothing. If it was ruled an accident then that’s what it was.”
“No,” Sha said. “You don’t think it was an accident. Tell me why.”
“It’s nothing, really.”
“She was my wife and I know it wasn’t an accident. I want to know why you think it wasn’t.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t?”
“Yes. Now answer my question or I will end your career with a single call.” Sha hadn’t wanted to threaten the man but his patience was in short supply. He felt there was something here that he needed to know.
“I knew it would come back to haunt us someday,” Jacobs said, shaking his head. “It was just after we’d graduated from the PoPros.”
Sha listened as Jacobs told his story.
Kevin and Pietra had been friends. Sex never entered into it. They’d known each other since childhood and their friendship had been a deep one. They’d chosen the same classes and requested the same posting upon graduation.
“One night she came to my apartment in tears. Turned out Pietra had been gambling in town and had run up a debt. I wanted to help but I had no more credits than she did. We came up with a plan. I was in charge of bookkeeping at the warehouse.
“I’m sure you know anything to do with phase technology is highly valuable. My father worked on phase engines in the private sector and made a very nice living at it. Freelancers work for decades just to pay off second-hand phase engines.
“The warehouse carried specialized kits for working on phase technology. We made a few disappear. It wasn’t hard; just a form stating they never arrived. No one looks twice at stuff that small. It just gets filed away and a new shipment gets sent.
We were questioned by the base commander and there was even some bush-league local reporter that tried to make something of it. But the commander was happy enough to just let it go; and what could the reporter do? All the data was in order and the Legion runs on data being in order. If your T’s are crossed and your I’s are dotted then all is right with the universe. I had managed the data and that was the end of it.”
“But it wasn’t the end, was it?” Sha asked. “Because years later you did it again.”
“Yes,” answered Jacobs. “Except I needed more credits than a few tool kits would provide. There’s a big difference between stealing a few kits from a base warehouse, and making an entire shipment of phase regulators disappear. Changing the records on something that big requires authorization from higher up the chain of command.”
“And Pietra, as a higher ranking officer, had that authority?” Sha asked. He was hoping this might provide the justification for Sha to be angry at Jacobs, but it wasn’t Jacobs that answered.
“It was me wasn’t it?” It wasn’t a question, not really. Julie Marx looked at Jacobs with such love that for a moment Sha felt the wound in his own heart open again. It was how Pietra had looked at him. It was accepting and unconditional.
“Honored Returned,” Jacobs said, his voice filled with grief. “I had to do it. I had no choice. I never wanted to get Pietra involved, but things got out of hand.”
“Mr. Sha, please don’t blame Kevin.” Julie Marx leaned into her fiancé, trying to comfort him. “He did it all for me.”
“Tell me,” Sha said, his voice low but not threatening.
Sha listened as Julie Marx told him she had been in a terrible accident. A garbage bot glitched and ran into her car. Her injuries were significant.
“I don’t know if you know this, Mr. Sha, but the insurance available to all Primacy citizens only covers the bare essentials, just enough to stabilize and maybe resume one’s life. Very little thought is given to the quality of that life.”
The image of Julie Marx shrank to a corner of the screen, the majority replaced with a vid of what looked like a family gathering.
“This was taken at a family reunion after the accident.”
The vid showed Julie, but not the same Julie Sha had been speaking with. The woman in the vid was damaged. One entire arm had been replaced with a skeletal prosthesis; functional but in no way natural. Her face was absolutely without expression, a common problem with cheap synthetic skin.
“The real damage was inside. My lungs had been burned by superheated air when my car caught fire. The replacement system was enough to let me live but not much more. The company that owned the bot eventually settled but they delayed as long as they could. It all just seemed so hopeless. I became depressed and thought of suicide almost every day.”
“I couldn’t stand to see her like that.” Jacobs, had been silent while his fiancée spoke but appeared to have regained some of his composure. “Julie had been so vital, so alive. Seeing her hate her own body, hate her life, it was too much. I had to do something.
“Before the settlement finally came through, Julie and I didn’t live in the best neighborhood. It wasn’t hard to find the right people to talk to. I made my proposal, they accepted, and the plan was set.”
“But something went wrong,” Sha said. “Someone found out.”
“Yes,” said Jacobs. “A single supply drop can be massive. Thousands of items in a single drop and they all have to be checked down to the last chip and bolt. Even with bot help it can take days finish the count. But that worked in my favor. I could pick and choose my sections of the count and leave the rest to the bots. I scheduled myself to count the section with the regulators.
“It would have worked but we got hit with an emergency repair order, a battleship. All specialists were ordered to drop whatever they were doing and assist. By the time I got back to the count the bots had taken up the slack, counted the regulators, and filed the data. I had to find a way to change the data, but to do that I needed command override authority.”
“And Pietra could give you that,” Sha said.
“Yes. I hated to ask but it was my only chance to get Julie the help she needed.”
Sha knew he’d have done the same thing in Jacobs’ position. How could he blame the man for loving his future wife as much as he’d loved Pietra? Julie Marx reminded Sha so much of his lost wife, so vibrant, so alive. It almost brought tears to his eyes. Of course Jacobs had done what he had to do. How could he have not? Sha had gone rogue for Pietra, risked a scandal that could damage the Primacy, killed a man in cold blood and injured others, all to avenge Pietra’s death. What were a few stolen phase regulators compared to that?
“You said it was a bot truck that caused the accident?”
“Yes,” Jacobs said.
Sha had a suspicion he had to pursue. There’d just been too many coincidences. Sha was not
willing to accept that simple fate had been responsible for any of it. He realized he might be getting paranoid but that didn’t mean he was wrong.
“Was the theft entirely your idea?” asked Sha. “Please be sure of your answer. It’s very important.”
“Yes. Well, me and a co-worker. It started as just one of those hypothetical things people talk about. It was upsetting that criminals could make all kinds of credits any time they wanted. Meanwhile good people like Julie suffered simply because they followed the rules.”
“Think about this very carefully, Kevin. Who actually started those talks? Was it you or your co-worker?”
“It was something we’d talked about for months but… I suppose it was Len. Yes, now that I think about it, Len was griping about money or something and that started it.”
“What is his full name, this ‘Len’?”
Jacobs told him and Sha’s tech sifted the records, bringing up a picture of Len Moore, a civilian contractor and inventory analyst. He sent the picture to the vid-screen.
“Is this the man you’re speaking of?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“Are you certain?”
“Absolutely, that’s Len. He retired after the theft. Said he wanted to buy a boat or some such thing.”
“When was that?”
“Maybe a week after things got cleared up.”
“Len Moore’s body was found two weeks afterward. According to the examiner there were signs of cryogenic preservation.”
“Why would someone kill him, freeze him, and then dump him all within such a short span of time?”
“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Sha said. “I think the man you knew as Len Moore was a fake, maybe someone wearing a nano-mask. I think the real Len Moore was dead long before that first conversation.”
Sha accessed the court records for the accident that had crippled Julie Marx, found the name of the company that owned the bot and checked their maintenance record. The bot had been checked out just that morning. Everything was determined to be in perfect working order. Once again, a seemingly unlikely series of glitches had resulted in devastating consequences.
