The Predator and The Prey

by K. C. Sivils

  I looked back at Josephson who was turning to leave. The miner merely shrugged helplessly. I wasn't leaving without paying a visit to the infirmary.

  With my left hand, I grabbed the barrel of the phase rifle and crushed it with my bionic fingers. With my right, I threw a haymaker at the startled guard's chin. It connected right on the button. His knees buckled as his eyes rolled up into his head. I caught him before he collapsed and carried him to his guard shed and sat him gently down on his chair.

  When I turned around the other guard had his phase rifle leveled at my face with the safety off.

  “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “He shouldn’t have prevented me from entering the plant. Also, never point a weapon at someone unless you’re willing to pull the trigger. He wasn’t ready or willing to shoot me.”

  “I’m willing,” the second guard replied nervously.

  “You might just be,” Josephson said shakily. “But you don’t know if I’m willing to pull the trigger or not.”

  I was proud of the pup! He’d pulled out his standard issue Mark 3 phase pistol, a complete piece of junk, thumbed the safety off and was aiming it at the head of the guard.

  “Let me explain this to you,” I told the guard. “We have police business in the infirmary. If you pull that trigger, my partner is going to shoot. I may or may not be dead, but you sir, you won’t have a head to bury with your body.”

  The guard turned his head slightly to take stock of Josephson. It was all I needed. I lunged for the phase rifle, striking up with my right hand as the guard fired. The phase pulse went over my head, leaving a searing wave of heat behind as it harmlessly passed into the sky, heading toward the outreaches of Beta Prime’s atmosphere. Its energy would dissipate after traveling several hundred meters.

  Before Josephson could pull his trigger, I grabbed the guard by his collar and yanked him forward, tripping him with my left leg in the process. He landed hard on his face and I sat on his lower back, letting him feel my full mass. I yanked his arms hard behind his back, pulling them up as far as possible before doing ligament damage. Reaching under my coat, I retrieved a pair of cuffs and slapped them on, adjusting the pulse, so the blue beam was as tight around his wrists as possible.

  “Slap a pair on his ankles and load him in the squad car. Cuff his partner too. We’re hauling them in.”

  Josephson nodded, relieved the situation appeared to be defused. I yanked the guard up and held him in the air, his eyes level with mine while his feet dangled helplessly nearly two decimeters off the ground.

  “If I show up again, know this. I have the legal right to enter these premises. By telling me to return with a mine inspector, you only confirmed you have something to hide here. Next time, tell me to go and get a warrant, which I will have to do. That will give you time to remove or hide whatever it is you don’t want me to see. Instead, you gave me probable cause to enter the facility without a warrant.”

  I gave the hapless guard a nasty smile and tossed him aside. He grunted as he landed hard on the rough frozen ground. “You can’t do this,” he protested.

  I gave him another hard look. "Sergeant read him his rights. He's under arrest for attempted murder, assault on a law officer, interfering with an active investigation and lying to a law officer. When his buddy wakes up, repeat the process."

  I left Josephson to it and glanced at the now frightened miner.

  “After you.”

  HE CLICKED THE MOUSE, closing the video feed from the drone watching the mine’s entrance. Without hesitation, he picked up his private comm and clicked on two numbers and hit send. In seconds the comm link was formed to the two individuals he’d contacted.

  "Let me make this perfectly clear to both of you. This has become a mess that could bite all of us in the behind. That cop who was supposed to be incompetent just took out the two guards at the Number Two mine and entered the complex."

  Silence filled the link between the trio.

  “I want this problem eliminated. Completely. I don’t care which of you does it, but I want this handled before it gets out of hand.”

  He ended the link and stood up. Deveraux ran his hand through his hair and walked over to the window of his office and looked out over Capital City. He’d invested too much into this planet for things to go belly up now.

  Pulling the comm out of his pocket again, he searched for another number and sent a link. Like before, the link was answered quickly.

  “Governor, we have to meet.”

  MARKESON FUMED. TYPICAL he thought. These idiots create a mess and expect me to clean it up. Order me to do all the dirty work. Well, not this time. Markeson considered the situation carefully, thinking about what he suspected.

  “Maybe he’ll do the job if I take my time and don’t do anything rash. He’s responsible for this mess anyhow.”

  Reaching for his bottom drawer, Markeson opened it and pulled out his bottle. Not bothering to grab the glass sitting next to it, he opened the bottle, wiped its mouth and took a long swig. The harsh alcohol burned all the way to his stomach. Markeson considered taking another belt and thought better of it. Sealing the bottle up, he replaced it in the drawer and closed it.

  As the alcohol began to warm him, he considered how he could play the unfortunate hand dealt him. There had to be a way to turn this to his advantage.

  NOBODY TALKED TO HIM like that! Nobody! Who did Devereaux think he was? His hands began to shake as the rage began to build inside, fueled by the unwarranted criticism. He'd made them all a lot of money. It was his professional career that had been at risk, not anyone else's. None of them appreciated that little fact.

  Now, this arrogant piece of human debris had ordered him, HIM, to clean up the mess. The mess that he created? Hardly. It was the timidity of the others that had created the mess. Miners were a credit a dozen and not worth the expenditures of taxpayer revenue required to purchase the preventative. A medicine worth millions on the black markets of the rim worlds. A wonder drug that prevented the so-called miner’s cough on Beta Prime and had the unforeseen perk of killing several nasty infections found only on the rim worlds.

  He needed to calm himself. Detailed planning required clear, orderly thought. His rage was building and would not allow him to think as clearly as he needed. Yes, he decided. It was time to end this game, time for him to take his rightful place. He'd need a long, calm evening to think about what needed to be done.

  It was a shame, but necessary. He'd planned to take his time. But, things happened that were at times out of his control. That would end. He would see to it. When finished, he would never be in the unfortunate position of not being in control of the situation again.

  Once he’d made the decision, he began to feel a calming chill run through him, lessening his rage and clearing his mind. He made his way down the hall from his home office, taking his time as he walked toward the elevator that would take him down to the newly finished room beneath his house.

  The Cowboy smiled as he thought about the lovely young prey that waited for him. She was a feisty one that one. He'd have to rush now, but it would calm him. Allow him to plan what he needed to do.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  I FOLLOWED THE MINER to the infirmary. He opened the door and motioned for me to enter. I stepped in and without a word, the man disappeared. I can't say that I blamed him. Events had not turned out the way he'd thought they would.

  Slowly I walked down the hall, seeing everything as if it were a crime scene. Given the attitude of the guards, it probably was. A noise came from what appeared to be an office. I peeked in through the door and saw a nurse practitioner staring at a screen.

  “Could you help me please?”

  She started quickly, looking at me. “You startled me.”

  "My apologies. I was supposed to meet one of the foremen here. Nobody was waiting for me, so I had to find my own way."

  I took my time examining the woman. I liked what I saw. Evidently, she didn't t
hink too much of what she saw.

  “I want to see some ID.”

  I showed her mine.

  “Paul said he was going to call the cops, but I haven’t heard from him.”

  “I know about as much as you do lady. But I do know this. The message I got was I had to be here quickly because miners were going to die and something needed to be done to stop things from getting out of hand.”

  “Paul didn’t meet you?”

  “No. In fact, I got a less than pleasant reception from the guards.”

  She didn't just dislike how I looked; it seemed she didn't like anything I had to say either.

  “Something’s happened to Paul.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  She looked at me with a focused intensity. I knew that look. She was deciding if she could trust me.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Inspector Thomas Sullivan.”

  She pulled a lock of her hair down by her ear and began twirling it around her forefinger, thinking.

  “Look, if it helps any, I’m not from Beta Prime. I just got sent here. Sent here to...how shall I say this...clean things up? I'm not a local who's bent.

  Her face told me she’d made a decision.

  “Two miners have died of miner’s cough.”

  “Jamaal and Karl?”

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “A miner asked me about them when I got here.”

  “Look, I don’t know if this place is bugged or not, but I’m going to tell you what I know and then I’m leaving. I don’t want to die either.”

  “Bugged? Why bug the place. Most companies just have CCTV all over their facilities.”

  “I turned the CCTV off. Disabled it. Look, Inspector, these two miners should never have died of the cough. The planetary government is required by law to provide each mine on this planet a drug called melanothorazine. It’s a preventative. We don’t know why, but any humanoid who works in the mines for any length of time contracts miner’s cough. We don’t know how or why. They just do. Wearing breathers doesn’t prevent it and it’s pointless wearing sealed suits. They just get punctured or torn because of the nature of the work.”

  “I see. It just somehow gets in the body.”

  “Yeah. But it’s not a big deal anymore. The preventative works like a charm. Each miner takes one dose a day. No infection. Amazing drug.”

  “Then how did these two miners get the cough?”

  “Someone replaced the last shipment of melanothorazine with a placebo.”

  “Let me guess. There’s a black market for this drug.”

  "Not only does it prevent miner's cough, but it also kills a lot of strange infections found on the rim worlds. Planets whose governments can't afford to buy it because they aren't developed enough yet or the corporations won’t spend the money. The Alliance doesn’t care. The drug is expensive so needless to say, buyers can be found on the black market. People on the rim worlds are like anyone else. They want to live.”

  “How do you know the meds were switched?”

  “I went and took samples. The last shipment was all placebos. My bet is this has been going on for a while. Except who ever is behind this hasn't been taking all the preventative. Probably taking just enough so the miners only miss a dose now and then. That would keep things under control disease wise."

  “Somebody got greedy then.”

  “Yes. Somebody got greedy. And now I have two dead miners in my quarantine facility.”

  I thought for a moment. The guards had to have known which meant others knew about this as well.

  “Have you got somewhere you can go?”

  She looked at me for a moment.

  “I’m a widow. My husband was an ice fisher. He died in a bad storm. An ice surge crushed him. We had a cabin out by the ocean. I can go there. Nobody knows about it.”

  “How will I find you?”

  “You won’t. Sorry, Inspector but I don’t know you from Adam. People are going to die because of this and I don’t plan on being one of them.”

  “Here,” I told her. I wrote down the number to my private comm and gave it to her. “You call me. We’ll go from there. Call me in two days and I’ll fill you in.”

  She took the piece of paper and scowled for a moment and then pocketed the paper. “I’ll think about it.”

  “That’s all I ask. I want to get whoever is behind this. I have a personal issue with corruption.”

  I watched as she packed up what looked like medical test samples and pulled a data stick out of her computer. She carefully bundled it up and placed it in her bag.

  “If you hear from Paul, tell him I’m okay. Tell him he was right.”

  Without another word she left. I realized I’d failed to get her name.

  ANNA COULD HEAR FOOTSTEPS coming again. She squirmed into the corner and made herself as small as possible as she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins, tucking her head down between her chest and her knees. She heard the door to her prison open and felt rather than saw the light that fell on her.

  The footsteps were suddenly quick, angry as the monster lunged at her. Anna didn’t look up when the sharp object struck the flesh of her right shoulder, slicing through it. She bit her lip, determined not to cry out and give the monster the satisfaction of hearing her scream in pain.

  A second blow came, slicing her left forearm to the bone, ripping muscle and skin as the blade passed through her flesh. Anna could feel the blood seeping from the wound. It felt strangely warm and gave off a coppery smell. A loud grunt from her assailant warned Anna another blow was on its way.

  Anna lost count after the eleventh blow, passing out as she sprawled on the floor, covered in her own blood and bodily fluids. Standing over her, gasping from exertion was the Cowboy.

  Enraged she'd not screamed, not acknowledged appropriate levels of fear in his presence, the Cowboy threw his knife, an ancient tool of pain he'd obtained years ago, an American Bowie Knife. The massive blade clattered as it struck the wall and then landed on the plastisteel floor. Hurrying toward the door, the Cowboy grabbed his cane from where he'd left it leaning against the wall. In his rage, he bounded toward his helpless victim lying on the floor bleeding out.

  With a single blow to Anna's head, he brought it to an end. Standing over her lifeless body, the Cowboy stood panting. He watched Anna's blood drain from her lifeless body. As the life-giving fluid ebbed from her damaged body, the Cowboy felt his anger and rage drain from him, giving him the calm he would need to consider his options, to craft his plan to take control of the situation.

  Picking up his beloved Bowie Knife, the Cowboy took his trophy. He felt much better.

  I HAD THE PUPPY TAKE me to Joe's. I gave him strict orders to drop off our two prisoners and process them as quickly as possible. I also told him about the two sets of bugs and mini-cams the size and thickness of a snowflake hidden in my desk. He was to set them up before tossing the two guards in the cell. They would transmit to the tiny receiver in my desk.

  Those guards were in trouble and they knew it. They first protested their arrest as we headed for my part of town. Then they started bargaining. I added bribery and attempted bribery to their list of charges. That was when they started begging. Their lives weren’t worth spit and they knew it. Not that I really cared. They worked for people who were willing to sell the very medicine that made a dangerous job a little safer.

  “You get those bugs set. Get those guys in there and you get out of there. Vanish until you hear from me. I don’t want to know where you go.”

  The puppy looked at me funny. I sighed. He had to learn everything the hard way it seemed.

  “If I don’t know where you are, I can’t tell anyone.”

  He thought for a moment and I saw the light bulb go on.

  “How will I get in touch with you?”

  “You won’t. I’ll get you on your comm. Now get going. I don’t want to see you till I want to see you
.”

  I stood in the shadow of the corner of Joe’s building, watching Josephson get into the hover unit and merge recklessly into traffic. It had been a long day and I was hungry. Joe’s two bouncers nodded respectfully as I entered and we skipped the song and dance of them searching me. They knew better.

  Ralph was sitting at the far end of the bar looking tired from a long day of driving his hover cab. Joe would be somewhere. They were the two I needed to talk with. I made my way to my regular booth and waited for Ralph's wife Alice to come and take my order.

  I didn’t have to wait long.

  “Hey, Inspector. You look tired. Any closer to catching the freak who did that little street girl?”

  "No, ‘fraid not. Can you get me a burger, fries, and coke?"

  “Sure, but you need to eat a little healthier Inspector. Joe’s got plenty of healthy stuff you can eat too.”

  I smiled. Alice meant well.

  “I need comfort food tonight.”

  Alice smiled back and nodded as she wrote with her finger on her tablet, placing my order.

  “Hey, I need to talk to Ralph and Joe. Think you could get them for me?”

  Alice’s smile disappeared.

  “Ralph isn’t in trouble is he?”

  “No. No, Alice, I just need some advice from Ralph.”

  Alice frowned and tilted her head.

  “What advice can my husband give an Alliance Inspector?”

  “He’s a cabbie. He knows Capital City like the back of his hand. I don’t. He can tell me things about this city I need to know.”

  Alice thought for a moment. “Don’t get Ralph in any trouble Sully. He’s been on the straight and narrow now for a long time. I like having my husband with me, you know? I don’t want him behind bars again.”

  “Alice, I need information, nothing else. I like Ralph. I don’t want him in trouble either.”

  She shot me another glare for good measure as she left. I watched Alice stop by Ralph and whisper in his ear before vanishing into the kitchen. Ralph turned on his barstool and looked for me. He spotted me in my booth and got up, carrying his beer with him and made his way over to my booth.