● ● ●
Owens woke up three days later in a hospital recovery capsule. The clear canopy was retracted and he had only a single monitor patch on his temple. He felt his side and found it completely healed. A patch of faded pink skin was all that remained of his wound and soon that would disappear as well. The recovery capsule obviously did its work.
His thoughts immediately turned to his dead partner. A wave of guilt crashed against his consciousness, remorse threatening to overwhelm him. It was his fault his partner was dead. What had happened to his Loder reflexes, his so-called special abilities when Starling needed them? He had failed, failed to guard his partner’s back. His vision blurred as he relived the events that led to his failure.
He remembered it from the beginning, stepping through each event as it occurred. His thoughts led him up to Starling’s death and abruptly stopped. Nothing, he remembered nothing beyond Starling’s death. He immediately broke out in a cold sweat, stomach clenching in cold, hard knots. He could not remember what had happened after he shot the woman who had killed Fred.
The recovery capsule had been monitoring his growing distress. The canopy slid back in place and a fine tranquilizing mist filled the capsule. He thankfully returned to the comforting, dark oblivion of drug-induced sleep.
Two days later, he was out of the recovery capsule and feeling better. Another day passed and he felt almost back to normal. Although he still carried the guilt for Starling’s death, he found he was beginning to cope with the loss of his partner and his amnesia. He was transferred to a recovery hospice for psychological evaluation and treatment. After a few more days, he was finally given a clean bill of health and was told by his attending physician, he was being released that evening.
That afternoon, as he was getting dressed, he received an unannounced visit by the Police Commissioner, along with the head of the taskforce and his Captain. Up to that point, no one had visited him. He was left alone with his thoughts, interrupted only by his psych-therapy sessions. His parents had been notified but because of the great distance from Lode to Central, he convinced them he was almost fully recovered and they didn’t need to come. They agreed only after he promised to visit them soon.
He quickly found out the three officials knew the extent of his amnesia. They told him they had reconstructed what had happened after he shot the security guard. It was clear from their reconstruction that Owens had likely been in a state of shock from his loss of blood and based on what must have happened, quite out of his head over the death of his partner. They told him that he must have decided to go to the office of the man named Wallenberg to confront him and force him into revealing the identity of any others responsible for the attack.
Failing to get the security-locked lift to operate, Owens apparently ran up the emergency stairwell all the way up to the twenty-fifth floor. There, Owens had approached a very surprised Wallenberg. The exact circumstances were still not clear, but Wallenberg likely had attempted to use a weapon on seeing Owens still alive. By Wallenberg’s own account, Owens disarmed him quickly. In doing so Wallenberg sustained a number of serious injuries. The speed and ease with which Owens had handled him, convinced the man to tell Owens everything he had wanted to know.
Using the security code Wallenberg had been forced to give him, Owens took the lift to the sixtieth floor. An eyewitness attested that a welcoming committee comprised of security personnel, patrol robots along with a number of unknown men with weapons waited just outside of the lift to greet Owens. The witness gave an incredible description of the fierce confrontation that ensued.
Leaving a trail of broken bodies and destroyed security ‘bots, Owens fought his way into the executive offices. There, after what was reconstructed as another brief struggle, he overpowered and arrested one of the twin brothers heading up the syndicate, Braden Lawrence. Owens continued to search for a while longer but was unable to locate Braden’s twin. He then must have had his first lucid thought since Starlings’ death. He called for backup and when they arrived, he promptly passed out.
The final tally for Owens’ rampage was eight dead, four wounded, three robots disabled and two arrests. No innocents were injured. Fortunately, sufficient evidence was immediately uncovered to support the arrests of Wallenberg and Lawrence. Upon further investigation, it was revealed the Lawrence brothers had taken over the local planetary branch of Stone Billings. They had replaced a few key people in the executive offices and most of the security team. The real Wallenberg and number of other executives were replaced by doubles. The remains of these employees were still being recovered.
The Lawrence twins continued to run the company’s legitimate business with the replacements. As far as the corporate headquarters knew, business was going on as usual. But under the Lawrence brothers’ guidance, the fake employees used the company as a front for shipping the stolen technology to illicit buyers across Confederated Planets territory. It was a highly organized and sophisticated scam.
The Commissioner took over and cleared his throat. “Practically every rule and regulation were broken by you and your partner in this incident. By not notifying the taskforce when you first discovered the shipping receipt, you jeopardized the entire investigation.” He described a number of other departures from official procedure in great detail.
After a time, he paused and took a breath, “I have to admit, however, the outcome broke the syndicate’s back. You caught them all by total surprise. They had no time to destroy incriminating documents. As we speak, members of the taskforce are arresting more of the syndicate and their clientele based on the information we found at the Stone Billings building. The other Lawrence brother has gone to ground, but the whole operation is busted.”
His voice became harsher, “But make no mistake, I cannot condone your methods in this case, and a price will be paid. However, at the same time I cannot help but applaud the results.”
The Commissioner then turned to the man standing next to him. The head of the taskforce was a dark, burly man in an ill-fitting suit with dead gray eyes lurking under bushy eyebrows. He proceeded for the next ten minutes to berate Owens for his and Starling’s unprofessional behavior. When he finally finished, he too grudgingly expressed his satisfaction with the ultimate result. It was then his Captain’s turn.
Captain Davis first took the time to ask how Owens was feeling. On Owens’ positive reply, the Captain said in a soft voice, “I think you have a pretty good idea of how badly you and Starling screwed up. I won’t repeat what has already been said. I’m sure you’re not going to be surprised to find that as of now, you’re on official suspension pending an inquiry by IA.”
Owens shrugged. At this point, he really didn’t give a damn what they did to him.
Then the Captain said, “But it’s strictly a formality. In a week you’ll be reinstated with a slap on the hand.” He actually winked, “And six months of remedial training on police procedure. If it were up to me, I’d give you a goddamn medal. You ended up saving a hell of a lot more lives than you took and their deaths certainly won’t be mourned.”
The Captain looked at the other two men to see if they had any more to add. They didn’t. To Owens he said, “Well, I know this isn’t much notice, but you’re due at the station at 9:00 o’clock tomorrow morning to start your debriefing.”
Owens just looked at him.
“Well, before we leave, do you have any questions?”
“Just one,” Owens replied. “Why did they bother to try to take out a couple of cops? What was the point? The guy posing as Wallenberg could have just stopped when he pointed out the receipt didn’t match their tracking numbers. By the time a standard surveillance was setup, if ever, they could have been long gone.”
The Captain nodded, “That was one of the first things we asked the fake Wallenberg. It seems when he received your story from the guard in the lobby, he checked you out. He had a plant at the precinct, right inside the taskforce.”
“Who was it?” O
wens asked.
The Captain frowned. “It was Helms, Jason Helms. As the dispatch coordinator, he verified your assignment, your previous calls and that you two hadn’t checked in or informed anyone of your whereabouts since early that morning. Wallenberg was reluctant to take a chance and lose the sweet setup they had going, and since no one knew where you were, he decided to take you out right then and there. He would dispose of your bodies and vehicle; you and Starling would just disappear. No one would link you to the Stone Billings building.”
He smiled, “The bogus Wallenberg couldn’t have foreseen that a detective named Janus Owens would single-handedly topple their operation.” Then the Captain asked, “Any more questions, Owens?”
Owens started to shake his head and then thought better of it. “No, no more questions, for now.”
After they left, he had another visitor; one of the in-house shrinks. He came to discuss Owens’ loss of memory. The doctor assured him that there was no permanent damage, that it was likely the trauma of the event that caused Owens to sub-consciously suppress the memories. He told Owens that if he wished, there was a procedure that was about ninety percent effective in treating a memory loss of this type.
Thinking back on what he had just been told about his activities following Starling’s death, Owens decided against the procedure. The doctor allowed it was, of course, Owens’ choice, but said there was also a good chance the memories would return naturally, on their own. Owens would take that chance. Maybe he would get lucky and the memories would stay buried.
It turned out that the Captain had been wrong about the length of his suspension. It lasted a full month; he was docked that time in pay and was put on six months’ probation along with the remedial training. During his probation, he underwent psychiatric evaluations and counseling by the police shrinks. The counseling actually helped. After receiving a clean bill of health from the police psychiatrists, his probation was over and he was fully reinstated, he waited a week and then quit the force.
He wasn’t resentful of the punishment. In fact, it was much lighter than he thought he deserved. He just didn’t want to be put in the position of being responsible for anyone’s life but his own, ever again. He would live with the guilt of Starling’s death, for as long as he lived, but he would start over… this time on his own terms.
● ● ●
“Boss, is everything alright? I said we’re ready to engage our subspace generators three times. You haven’t answered me.” Hec’s tone was anxious.
The AI’s gruff baritone brought Owens back to the present. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Hec sounded a lot like Starling. He briefly wondered if that had anything to do with his decision to take Hec along. He mentally shrugged off the thought and said, “I’m okay, just doing a little wool gathering, I guess. I’m heading for the bridge now.” He stepped into the corridor and quickly made it to the pilot’s seat and sat down. He looked up at the holo-screens and then scanned the console’s indicators. As expected, everything was green.
“Let’s go,” he told Hec.
CHAPTER 17
It was early morning and the sun had barely crested over the hills. The Cathedral was empty. It was cool and dry inside. The not unpleasant scent of oiled wood and waxed stone permeated the air. The Grand Patriarch and his daughter sat in one of the darkened side galleries. He began without preamble, “Sharné, I have just received word that Janus Owens’ ship has crossed the quarantine’s boundary. He is approximately two weeks away from Berralton. At last, our salvation is at hand.”
“I am relieved he remains safe,” she said. “He encountered no further trouble on his trip?”
“Not as far as we can tell, however, our intelligence network is not what it once was.” Nothing is what it once was, he thought. “I had a communiqué sent to his ship with the coordinates for the location of the rendezvous. You will leave in three days and join the two ships Talin already has in position. That will allow you enough time to arrive before Owens and be waiting to escort him back to Berralton.”
“I am ready. As you have instructed, I am prepared to act as Golstar’s official representative. I will present the assignment to Janus Owens. I will ensure he is kept in the dark about the true reason for why he was summoned. I will assure him his help is needed to investigate a problem he is uniquely equipped to solve; the recovery of a stolen religious artifact. As is my duty, I will make sure he is satisfied with my explanation. When we arrive on-planet, he will be brought to you and the first phase will be complete.” She paused. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to resort to acting, but it will be necessary.”
The Grand Patriarch nodded his understanding. “I grant you, there remains some role playing on your part, but it is limited. Remember, the original plan was quite a bit more… creative. As it is now, we must rely solely on our simplified plan and hope he will accept your story and the ensuing events that will follow.”
“Yes Father, I promise to monitor him most carefully for any sign his suspicions are aroused beyond what would be normal... under the circumstances. I will do everything I can to make sure he believes me, believes the story.”
The Grand Patriarch nodded. “If he accepts it, and his knowledge remains limited to what we allow him to see and hear, then the information he provides his government on his return should cause us minimal exposure.” He smiled sheepishly, “If all works well, he will return to Confederated Planets without an inkling of the true aid he gave us.”
“It will work, Father.”
“One can only hope. But I must admit I preferred my original plan. It was tailored to Janus Owens’ experience and interests. It would have allowed us to study him at length and through him, his culture. In addition, we would have been better able to maintain Golstar’s image of impregnability.” He sighed, and then chuckled, “It would have made a good story.”
Sharné smiled, “Maybe so father, but I was not comfortable in my original role as a damsel in distress.”
“Nonsense,” he scoffed, missing her meaning. “You would have pulled it off brilliantly.”
“Perhaps, but it would have been difficult for me. It is not our Way to give any outward displays of sexual differentiation; physical or emotional.” She frowned. “As Keeper of the Way, you know I am obligated to uphold these tenets.” She searched for the words. “It would have been difficult for me to appeal to Owens’ masculine sense of protectiveness. Even in Confederated Planets’ multi-cultural societies, this type of behavior is not typical.”
Her father nodded his agreement, “That is true, at least outwardly. But the use of what is archaically termed as “feminine wiles” continues to be exploited to this day. Putting aside the longstanding social and legal equality of the sexes, Confederated Planets citizens are still governed by their emotions and sexuality.”
Sharné blushed. She was uncomfortable talking about this subject with her father. She chose to paraphrase the Founder, “That is why public displays of affection between men and women are not allowed. Demonstrations of emotion are to be discouraged. Only platonic discourse and meetings between uncommitted opposite sexes are allowed in public. To act otherwise sows the seeds of decadence and decline.” She stopped when she saw her father’s broad smile.
“I believe I am somewhat familiar with that premise,” he said dryly.
“I am sorry. I must admit to still being a little nervous but,” she quickly added, “I will not fail you.”
“I know,” he said gently.
CHAPTER 18
“We’re approaching the rendezvous. It looks like the welcoming committee has already arrived,” Hec announced. “Talk about a rousing Golstar welcome… there are three big ugly ships waiting for us. They’re definitely military. I read weapons, a whole lot of them, and right now, more than a few of them are locked on us.”
“Great,” Owens fumed. “What else can you tell me?
“I can tell you that their energy signals are unfamiliar, but that’s not too surprising. I c
an’t determine much more without a full sensor scan. Did I tell you that they are big, really big?”
“Yeah, you did, but don’t try a scan or attempt anything else that might upset our hosts. The instructions in their message were pretty damn clear on the subject of scans and you know what happens when they get pissed off. I don’t have any desire to add our disappearance to the legend.” Owens looked up at the holo-screen, straining to make some sense out of the three green diamonds flickering on the three-dimensional grid.
“Okay, I won’t rock the boat, but I can’t help but be a little curious.” Hec paused. “Well, that didn’t take long. Our mysterious clients are hailing us. And of course, it’s a voice-only transmission.”
“Open the link. Let’s hear what they have to say.” Owens leaned forward in the pilot seat.
A distinctly feminine voice filled the room. The voice was soft and clear but he thought that he could detect a slight edge of steel lurking just beneath the surface. The woman spoke in an ancient dialect of English. Owens was thankful that he learned the archaic tongue during the voyage to Golstar.
The woman’s voice sounded youthful to Owens’ trained ear. “I give you greetings Janus Owens. May the Light of the Way be your guide in all things. I bring you the personal blessings from the Grand Patriarch. I am the Keeper of the Way and I am speaking to you from the bridge of the battleship, Light Saber. I will provide your final approach coordinates. Use these coordinates to bring your ship alongside of the Light Saber in preparation for docking. I ask that you do not deviate from these coordinates.”
Owens knew it was not a request.
“I also remind you the conditions given in the first message continue to be in full force. Other than basic navigation and proximity scanners, your ship’s tactical sensors are to remain off-line. All weapons are to remain off-line. At no time during your stay will communications with Confederated Planets be allowed unless we give you our express permission. We will of course expect full compliance with all other conditions as well.” The coordinates of the Light Saber were then transmitted and before Owens could reply, the communication link was severed.
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