Space was a premium in the city, every way of maximising was considered. Los Brezos had been planned from the very beginning as a truly monumental city. Despite the immense amount of work to complete such an undertaking from scratch, there was one major benefit, the design was not in any way confined by earlier planning and design.
The city of LB used an extensive underground rail network connecting the entire city, including the suburbs. Electric trams ran through the city streets. An additional higher speed and more expensive rail network operated above the huge tower blocks of the city centre, covering the primary business districts, economic centre and all of the wealthier inner city districts. To this several airports were connected as well as a city star port.
Earth no longer exported much at all to the rest of the Solar System, it rarely being cost effective to ship items through the atmosphere and into space, due to the astronomical cost of fuel to do so. However, as by far the single largest population centre of the known world, it didn’t need to rely on other colonies for trade. Additionally, Earth had kept extremely close ties to the government of the Moon, it was within easy reach of the planet, and ideal as a construction base for exports due to its low gravity.
Kaufman pulled on his usual attire, every day the same. He didn’t own anything but clothes suitable for work, other than as his dress blues. His social life never extended beyond the men and women he worked with, so it seemed pointless to own anything else. He clipped his gun and holster onto his belt and pulled on his coat and hat. The shower had helped, but he still felt dizzy.
Moments later he was out on the busy street on the ground of the city, he barely remembered getting from his apartment to the ground level, perhaps he was on autopilot, or perhaps his head was still fried. There was never a quiet time in the city, bicycles shot past him. They had become quite fashionable among many city folk, some attempt to get exercise that wasn’t in a climate controlled and mind numbing gym.
A tram passed in front of him. Gliding almost silently along the metal tracks set into the road which providing electricity to them. Eric walked out onto the road after the passing tram and in between two cyclists. Jaywalking was illegal, but few people cared. He walked into a small street cafe situated in the apartment building opposite his own. He never had time to sit down for breakfast on workdays, but enjoyed doing so on the few days he didn’t have to go in.
“Hey Eric, good work last night!”
The plucky man behind the counter shouted, a man he’d come to know a little through his visits, he co-owned the shop with a friend. Eric nodded in return.
“Pancakes?” he asked.
“Hell, yeah, Eddie.”
He sat down on one of the high stools in front of the counter. It was a small place, seating for just twelve people, as most got take-out, eating on their busy route to work and back. There were hundreds of little places just like it littering the city, demand never being low. This particular one was by no means the best, but it was convenient.
Eddie turned away to get to work on his food while three others busied themselves with taking care of the constant flow of customers to the take-out desk. A TV screen built into one of the walls of the shop had the morning news playing. They must have already aired his exploits of the night before because it was onto the increasing number of heists.
Breakfast was served before him, the freshly cooked smell and sugary sweet syrup was instantly gratifying, before it had even touched his mouth.
“This one’s on the house.”
Kaufman grinned and nodded in gratitude, the morning was getting off to a fine start. He was about to dig in when his cell rang, he sighed at the interruption.
“Crime never sleeps, hey, Eric?” asked Eddie.
“Evidently.”
He picked up his cell, the expression of disappointment clear in his face.
“Kaufman?”
It was Chief Miller, who never called unless he needed him to work. He hadn’t even heard what the man was about to say but he already knew it would mean missing the free breakfast that had been placed in front of him.
“I’m listening.”
“Eric, I know it’s your day off, but I have Senator Wilks on the line, he wants to talk to you personally, Eric, he’s got an offer for you.”
“An offer to work on my first day off in two weeks is not too appealing.”
“Please, Eric, Wilks controls our budgets, talk to him and for God’s sake give him what he wants!”
Kaufman looked down at his breakfast, commuters pouring past him, and in and out of the shop. He couldn’t believe he had got within touching distance of a nice meal to start the day.
“Alright, patch him through.”
“Detective Kaufman?”
“Speaking.”
“Senator Wilks here, Homeland Security.”
“I know who you are, Sir, what can I do for you?”
“I have a job offer for you, but it’s an urgent matter that I’ll need an answer on this morning. Can you head over to my office, we’ll talk it over?”
“Sir, this is the first day’s rest I’ve had in weeks, can you not lay it out on the phone?”
“Sorry, Kaufman, this is too important, be at my office in thirty minutes, Suite 891 in The Spire!”
“Yes, Sir.”
He put the phone down, sighing for a moment as he got to his feet.
“Sorry, but I’ve just been called on urgent government business.”
“You want to take-out?”
“Love to, but I got to run.”
Kaufman ran out of the shop and immediately crossed the road, weaving between bikes and cabs. Slipping his key card through the door’s entrance, Eric ran to the elevator and hit the button for the parking level, which was just below the penthouses in his building. He had no desire to be rushed on his day off, but neither did you ever risk being late when a senator asks you to be somewhere.
The elevator pinged as it reached the parking lot and he stepped out onto the rather small platform, holding his key fob up to the reader. Moments later the car was lowered to his position through a large door opposite. The doors at the end of the tunnel opened to the open air, the bright morning rays of sunlight bursting into the tunnel and striking his Ford.
Hitting the button on the fob, the doors open and Eric climbed aboard, feeling the aches and pains from a long day at work and an equally long night on the town. He didn’t bother imputing a location or checking the map, his destination was unmistakeable, the vast Spire building.
The car’s engines fired up and it began rolling towards the entrance. Up ahead Kaufman could see a continuous stream of traffic zooming by, there never being a quiet moment on the highways of the city. His car reached the doors and he put the power down and pulled out onto the open road. It was going to be tight reaching the Senator’s office in time, but it wasn’t as if Eric kept to the speed limits regularly anyway.
The sky was a hazy fog, the pollution from the city dulling the light of the sun. It was rare to be able to see the stars from the city limits, the light pollution being massive. Off to his right, Eric could see a star ferry lifting off from the star port. At least six such ferries left the planet from that port alone each day. The cost had been driven down over the years, but was never what one could call cheap.
Space travel had become relatively affordable, but departing from Earth had remained expensive due to the atmospheric conditions making it so expensive to lift off from. This also limited the size and weight of the ferries massively, where such restrictions were barely a problem in space and the other colonies.
Kaufman had only ever been off world once in his life, a short visit to the Moon when he was a boy. Going to the stars had never appealed to him much, the necessity of such controlled environments being unappealing. The city that he drove through was a marvel of technology to behold, but it was also a dirty place. The city never employed enough cleaners and workers to maintain everything, barely focusing on more than im
portant public buildings.
Heading down the main highway route to The Spire, its imposing silhouette stood at the end of the road before him, towering above everything. He had only moments to spare as he passed through the security barrier of the parking lot and rushed into the lobby. There was a long queue of people waiting to make it through the security checks. Kaufman didn’t have any time to waste so he pulled out his badge and stormed towards the front of the line.
“Sir, stop right there!” shouted one of the guards.
The guard’s hand was already hovering over the grip of the pistol on his belt. Security was always tight at The Spire, it containing so many important officials. He flipped open his wallet and held up his badge as he kept moving forward.
“Detective Sergeant Kaufman, I have a meeting with Senator Wilks.”
The guard reached out with his spare hand and carefully took the badge from Eric, who stood impatiently awaiting confirmation that he could pass. The guard walked back behind the security gate and scanned it with the reader hanging from his neck, looking at the screen of the device. He looked back up at Kaufman, comparing the on file photo to the man who stood in front him.
“You can pass, check all weapons in here!”
Kaufman looked at the man with dismay, as he hated being parted from his gun. He knew the reasons for security, but he had found the necessity for its use in the most unlikely of situations. He knew he couldn’t argue the point with the guard. The man was already growing impatient, another cop wannabe flaunting his little bit of power and enjoying it.
Looking up the corridor to the entrance into The Spire he could see two soldiers with their rifles at port, the real guards of the building, he was just dealing with a clerk. He reached into his coat and slowly pulled the beloved gun off his belt, along with the holster, placing it down on the counter. The guard put Kaufman’s badge on a scanner beside the table. A second later the gun disappeared below into a storage facility, labelled with his police identification.
“You can go through.”
Kaufman stepped through the body scanners and on down the corridor, past the guards of the building. He turned a corner into the lobby, a truly breathtaking sight. For all of the shortages in floor space in the city, the lobby was massive, the size of a football stadium, lavishly decorated with marble and TV screens as large as some buildings running the full height of the walls. Water fountains decorated the open space. A space shuttle hung from the ceiling as an historic display, the first ship to take humans to Mars.
The far wall was entirely translucent from floor to ceiling and the whole width of the room. The lobby was just half way up the titanic building, but it was high enough to see right across the sprawling city. Kaufman didn’t break stride, heading for the lines of elevators running along both sides of the room.
The large number of high-speed elevators meant that once you were in The Spire, there was rarely a moment you had to wait for anything. Eric walked straight into the nearest open one and hit the button for Wilks’ floor. It rose through The Spire at an astonishing rate, making those not accustomed to it light-headed. The doors shot open and two men in suits greeted Kaufman. They were obviously wearing handguns beneath their jackets.
“Can I help you, Sir?”
Eric handed the man his badge. Looking around he could see the floor was occupied by a number of important officials, but then, so were all the upper floors in The Spire. Only the super rich and government officials could have offices in such a prime location. The guard passed his badge through a handheld scanner and then called through on his comms to the Senator’s secretary.
“I have Sergeant Kaufman to see the Senator.”
The man nodded as a reply came through, handing Eric his badge back.
“Right this way, Sir.”
He was led down a corridor and through a door into a modest office where the Senator’s secretary sat. A woman who would be better suited to the modelling world than anything clerical, but it was obvious to anyone but a fool why she got the job. Kaufman liked that fact, as he already knew he would not be dealing with a stickler for procedure.
The guard pressed a button next to a large wooden door in the office, a few seconds later the automatic bolts within the door slid across and the door swung open. The office was one of absolute decadence, not because it was lavishly decorated, but because it was almost empty. The room was ten times the size of Kaufman’s apartment, but featured nothing more than one desk with three chairs, and a drinks cabinet beside it.
Two figures were sat at the desk, one either side, with a spare chair on his side. The men were mostly silhouetted by the light coming in from the back wall that was entirely thick Perspex, like he had. It revealed an even more impressive landscape, being so many floors higher than the lobby. The man behind the desk stood and walked to greet Eric, the man sat his side stayed put, his back to him.
“Mr Kaufman, I am Senator Wilks.”
He reached out his hand in greeting, which Eric took. The Senator was in his late fifties or early sixties, grey hair, but with a good tan, something which was rare in the city. He had a well-tailored double-breasted suit with matching waistcoat and a tie beneath it.
“Thank you, Senator, can I ask what you have called me here for?”
“In good time, my dear man, please, sit down.”
The Senator walked back and sat behind his desk, signalling for him to sit down beside the other gentleman. Kaufman was uneasy about the whole situation. He had never been called in to see an official before, nor expected any kind of promotion. He sat down at the desk, not recognising the man who was sitting in the other chair.
“Firstly, Mr Kaufman, may I say well done, and thank you for your efforts last night. You did a fine job.”
“Thank you, Senator.”
“Now, I won’t keep you hanging. I’ve brought you here because we have a major issue which needs addressing and I think you could well be the man we need.”
“Not sure what you’re asking of me, Sir, but I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“Eric, I’m going to be straight with you on this. You must have seen the drastic increase in highly organised robberies in the last month?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Well, these are no ordinary heists, they are by highly organised gangs, some are connected, others independent. It is a new crime wave that’s getting out of control. The trouble is, the crimes are being committed across many different colonies and stations, and they are often getting away with it by crossing borders. We need to step on this as quickly as possible, as it is bringing instability to many regions already.”
“Is that not a job for the planetary defence forces, Sir?”
“No, they are not permitted under law to get involved, and the leaders of the colonies would never agree to a change of the constitution to allow it. Problem is, Eric, this is going beyond monetary theft. This crime wave is leading to a severe increase in anarchist movements and colony unrest.”
“How can I help, Sir?”
“This gentleman is Herbert Denton, he’ll be running a new interplanetary organisation that will be given free rein to track these criminals across all colonies and bring them to justice. But he needs someone to spearhead the operation, I think that could be you.”
“Mr Kaufman, I will be organising this new outfit from an office in this city, but I need someone with plenty of experience in the field. You have tracked down some of the most vicious of criminals and have proven yourself more than capable in combat, I need a man like you to lead this,” said Denton.
“But I am a homicide detective, Sir, I have no experience in this field, and I know nothing about the colonies,” said Eric.
“No one is perfect for this job, because it doesn’t currently exist. Fact is, we need someone with balls and imitative in equal measure, will you at least hear us out?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“The is how it is, the colonies’ authorities do not like working toge
ther, and they have barely any communication and co-operation when it comes to crime. If it is happening elsewhere they simply don’t care. The President has given this new outfit the authority to work on all colonies, but with the caveat that they may only operate with twenty field officers at any one time throughout the System. The colonies are concerned about conceding power, this outfit will not be liked in most places they go.”
“Sounds like it’ll be as much work to get any co-operation as it will be to hunt down these criminals, Mr Denton.”
“Indeed, which is why we need a man like you. We need someone who is uncompromising. There will inevitably be hard decisions to be made in this job, and many occasions when you have to step on other people’s feet, a man who hesitates will get nowhere.”
“Sir, the sort of job you are describing, it will be impossible to do under colony laws.”
“We know. The laws intended to help protect civil liberties, privacy and freedom are becoming ever more abused to create a society of crime and lawlessness. This task force will not be above the law per se, but it will be given as much leeway to stretch the rules as can be done.”
“Do you have any other candidates for the job, Sir?”
“This organisation is in its infancy, we have not got the time to search through lists of potentials. Your name stood out and we think you’ll fit the bill so we’d like you to take it on. Finding someone else will only delay us further,” said Denton.
“How long have I got to make a decision?”
“The President has authorised funding and has insisted it get moving immediately, so we need a man straight away. I’m sorry to put this on you so suddenly, but we need an answer within the hour. Assuming you take it, you start tomorrow.”
Kaufman shook his head in surprise. The stress of the last few months had finally come to a close and he was enjoying the relief the closure had brought. The last thing he would ever have expected was to have such a large opportunity and burden to be placed on his shoulders.
“I appreciate this has come as a surprise, and it’ll be a big change from your current work, but we are confident that you are the man for the job,” Denton continued. “There’s a cafe two floors down, go and have a coffee and think it over. We’re keen to have you on board, but either way, we must know within the hour.”
Starforce Ganymede Page 3
