by Steve Rzasa
“I don’t envy you the interviews.”
“Yeah, we don’t exactly work like that.” He chuckled at the idea of telling Major Zeuthen that he was going to spend the next month trying to find and interview nearly two hundred spies, diplomats, and assassins. MCID’s usual policy on the rare occasion that a suspected killer was dumb enough to remain on the planet was to drag him in, pump him full of Penta-117, and beat a confession out of him before returning the body to his embassy. He changed the subject. “Any luck with the DNA?”
“If by any luck you mean lots of negatives, then yes. They call it the swamps for a reason, Tower. There’s enough DNA fragments swimming in the muck down there for me to ID an entire mob. Few of whom appear to be able to afford an illegal slug-thrower, let alone a military disruptor.”
“Pity he couldn’t have conveniently died of an overdose.”
“That would have made more sense. There are a couple of traces I want to run down, but I’m not feeling any of them. I’ll let you know what turns up.”
Tower nodded. “You are a credit to the species, Detector Hildreth. And I hope you will accept my sincere apologies for so rudely leaving you stranded amidst the barbarians.”
“Accepted. I survived their savage indignities. Actually, your friend the Prime Captain sent me home in a Zaoyang-Daimler, complete with an open bar.”
“Decent of him.” Tower mentally deducted two demerits from his grudge against the Morchardese officer. “Why don’t you have Victor pair up with Baby and the two of them can parse the statements for any more common threads? She’s got a bit more brainpower, so that might speed things up a little.”
“Well, I do believe you are forgiven in full, Officer Tower.”
“You’re too kind. Tower out.”
“Likewise,” she said crisply and cut the connection.
Tower leaned back and rubbed at his eyes. He very much hoped there was a girl, because if there wasn’t, the chances that an assassin professional enough to hit and vanish without a trace had already left the planet were exceedingly high. Of the one hundred ninety-three known operatives who were believed to have been in Trans Paradis yesterday, seven were already off-planet and outside MCID's reach.
He called up the seven pictures. Only one, an evil-looking security officer with House Novgorov with twelve years military experience, appeared likely. He’d arrived on Rhysalan eight months ago, spent most of it in the capital with six trips to Trans Paradis, and twelve days ago had booked a second-class ticket for Tyrfan, a Tech 17 Unity planet, one-way. He arrived in Trans Paradis three days ago, returned to the capital yesterday, and boarded the shuttle to the transorbital platform about five kilosecs after Tower and Hildy arrived at the Morchardese embassy.
The schedule was tight, but it was possible. And since he’d traveled to the shuttle via suborbital pod, that meant he’d have to have stashed the disruptor and the cloaksuit somewhere in Trans Paradis.
“Find me everything you can on this Ninar-Tikhan Obukhov. Check security cams, debit scans, and map his route yesterday against whatever we have on Prince Arpad.”
Five kilosecs later, he was staring at a moderately complicated knot that wound its way through the ghostly city of Trans Paradis hovering above his desk, swearing softly under his breath. While the Novgorovi had very likely been up to something to which the ducal authorities would take exception, whatever it was had not involved murdering the Morchardese prince. However, the red herring had provoked an interesting thought. The disruptor had to go somewhere and there was enough demand on the black market for such a weapon that it might well surface while he was waiting for the hypothetical xenoplanetary parties to take the expected crack at the younger prince. Assuming, of course, that this wasn’t all a dispute over a woman, or, for that matter, a parking space.
“Someone is here to see you. Two someones,” Baby informed him silently.
He stood up and the door opened. To his surprise, Detector Hildreth was standing there and was accompanied by a young girl.
Tower blinked. The girl before him couldn’t be older than nineteen. Her hair was blond, with startling streaks of orange, and wound up in an elaborate coiffure of curls and ringlets. Her eyes were a deep, chocolate brown and she had an interface implant just above her left ear, similar to the Morchardese bodyguards. She rubbed at the edge of her sleeve with her fingers. She was wearing an expensive grey skirt-suit with an orange sash about the waist. Morchardese, without a doubt.
“Detector,” he greeted her with a query in his voice. “How did you get on base and where did you find Miss…”
“Her name is Annaliese van de Boer. She’s a communications assistant at the Morchardese embassy.”
“van de Boer…”
“Chief Tower,” Hildy greeted him, her eyes bright with self-satisfied amusement.
“Come in, both of you.” It slid shut. Tower gestured toward the couch. “Please, sit.”
The Morchardese woman obediently took a seat on the edge of the sofa. Hildy remained standing, her hands behind her back. “As Baby has no doubt informed you, this is Miss Annaliese van de Boer from the Morchardese embassy. She’s a comm gal.”
“Right.” On cue a series of profiles flickered through the vision in his right eye, courtesy of Baby. It stopped on a smiling version of the pale, nervous girl before him. “And while I am naturally delighted to see you, Detector Hildreth, why is Miss van de Boer here?”
“I had a pair of drones that triggered on her departure from the embassy this morning. They intercepted her, checked her drive plan, and found out she was coming here to see you.”
“Me?” Tower looked at the girl, astonished. “Why were you coming here, miss?”
“The Prime Captain said Prince Janos had ordered that no one on the staff was to talk to the police unless the police asked. But he was a little afraid of you, I think, and he was shouting at one of the data techs about MCID and how they weren’t police. So, I knew I could talk to you without disobeying the prince’s command.”
“The Morchardese are very letter of the law,” Hildy commented.
“Yeah, it would appear that way. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Prince Arpad.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “There was something I thought you should know.”
“And what was that?”
“He had a girlfriend. She was a commoner. In the city.”
Tower met Hildy’s eyes. They were triumphant. He nodded in acknowledgment. This was exactly the breakthrough they needed, and best of all, was a strong indication that the case would soon be off his plate.
“Any idea why his bodyguards and his mother failed to mention this?”
“They did not know. None of them, although one or two of the guards, his personal detail, must have suspected it. He was unable to see her often, but I sent her messages a few times a week. He trusted me.”
“And why is that?” Tower asked. “The two of you ever…”
“No, sir!” she sat bolt upright on the couch, an expression of horror on her face. “I would never! He was of the blood royal! I was loyal to him as my duty demanded!”
Hildy cocked her head at him and narrowed her eyes. He didn’t need Baby to tell him what she was thinking.
“Really?”
Hey, it was a possibility.
“I apologize, Miss van der Boer.” Tower licked his lips. “You have a name for us?”
“Mara. I can give you the comm code she used, but I don’t know anything else about her. It was a blind shot, with no visuals or holos.”
“That makes sense. Did anyone else at the embassy know about this?”
“There were three of us who handled his personal communications. We all knew. We never talked about it, but both of the others knew. I’m certain of it.”
“And why is that?”
“Things they said, the way they looked when Prince Janos or the Prime Captain would tease Prince Arpad about him liking one of our girls.”
“Miss
Van de Boer, why was this such a secret?” Hildy looked skeptical. “Prince Arpad was a grown man. Why did he hide this woman from everyone in the embassy?”
“I am not sure, Detector.” The girl twisted her mouth back and forth as she considered the matter. “I think that it would have been hard for everyone. The prince was very concerned about keeping up the spirits of the people. I think he felt the pressure, and maybe with this Mara, he could just be a man, not a prince who was destined to lead us back to our homeworld. He tried very hard to live up to his brother’s memory, but that was not truly him.”
“His brother the war hero,” Tower said.
“Yes. Prince Arpad was a good man. We all loved him. He was sweet, and very kind. He was full of plans for how he would change things when we returned to Morchard. But he never spoke of how that would happen. He was not a warrior like Prince Pons-Radu or Prince Janos.”
Tower remembered that this sweet peaceful prince who wasn’t a warrior had nevertheless survived a professional hit and personally killed the pro with a dagger. He reflected that any violent confrontation with the Morchardese was best avoided if at all possible.
“Why was he called Crown Prince instead of King?” Hildy asked.
“The king can only be crowned at Rambaudt. Until we return to Morchard, a new king cannot be crowned.”
“But for all intents and purposes, the senior prince is king, is he not? Or does the Queen rule in his stead.”
The girl smiled. “Queen Beatrice is officially an advisor to the crown prince. But…”
“The princes tend to take their mother’s advice.” Hildy finished the girl’s sentence for her. “She is a strong woman. I noticed that.”
“How were Prince Arpad’s relations with his brother,” Tower broke in. “Did they get along, did Janos envy him the crown, or anything like that?”
The young Morchardese girl stared at him reproachfully. The distaste in her voice indicated her total contempt for his implication. “No, sir. I know what you are suggesting and it is impossible. Prince Janos admired Prince Arpad. He did not covet the crown; his only interest was regaining the planet for the monarchy. He was a true warrior, and if he envied anyone, he envied Pons-Radu his heroic death. There is no Morchardese man more honorable than Prince Janos and he would have died rather than question his brother’s command. Never would he have raised his hand against his brother or against the crown!”
“All right, all right,” Tower raised his hands in apology. “I’m very sorry, Miss Van de Boer, but it is our job to ask these questions and you are our best insight into the royal family.”
She nodded, slightly mollified, and wiped away an angry tear from her left eye.
“I understand. I only want to help you catch whoever did this.”
“If it had anything to do with this Mara, we’ll get him,” Tower assured her. “Will you permit my augment to retrieve the comm code from your interface?”
She nodded and pulled back the strands of blond hair that were covering the interface. It was a standard 64-pin HDI port and Tower had six different wireless transmitters that fit it in his desk. He withdrew one and handed it to her. She adroitly plugged it into the interface, then nodded at him.
Go ahead, Baby.
“I’ve got it. Want me to pull the calendar schedule she’s got in here too?”
No, don’t touch anything else. We don’t have permission, a warrant, or probable.
“You can take it out now.” Tower smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. “Thank you so much, Miss Van de Boer. Your assistance has been precisely what we needed. Do you anticipate any trouble upon your return to the embassy?”
The girl looked at Hildy.
“She told them she was going shopping downtown. After I picked her up, Victor spoofed her tag, wiped the var’s record of the intercept and sent it to the south lot at the Octoplaza. I’ll bring her there and drop her off; she can hit a few stores and no one will be the wiser.”
Tower nodded. Is there anything left in the department kitty?
“Enough to buy an armored var if you leave off the missile rack.”
Throw a cento into her account and book it to investigative expenses.
He rose from his chair and bowed slightly to the Morchardese girl. “Lunch is on MCID today, Miss Van de Boer. On behalf of the Duke of Rhysalan, I thank you for your civic service.”
She flushed slightly, but rose gracefully off the coach and curtsied to him. “It was my honor to do my duty to the prince, sir.”
He escorted her out of his office, and turned around to see that Hildy had lingered behind. She was smiling and shaking her head. “Excellent work, Detector Hildreth. Drones and a cut-out? I’m impressed. If you were a man, I might tell the major to recruit you.”
“That’s very flattering, but I’m more interested in helping people than killing them, Tower.” She gestured toward the young woman waiting at the end of the hall. “Would you have any time this afternoon to pay a visit to this Mara or has MCID lost interest now that we know a girl was involved?”
“No, MCID remains very interested,” Tower assured her. As he’d hoped, that inspired a smile from her. “If you’re up for a second date, I promise not to bug out on you this time. I’ll have her name, records, and current location before you drop Miss Van de Boer off at the mall.”
“You’re on. Can you pick me up at the station again? I have some paperwork to fill out. Some of us can’t just claim all of our expenses as an imminent threat to planetary security.”
“I don’t know.” Tower glanced back and eyed the pretty Morchardese girl. “She looks dangerous to me.”
Hildy laughed and rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Tower. Touch me when you’re good to go.”
Tower nodded and enjoyed the sight of Detector Hildreth walking away from him. Her tight grey uniform pants nicely flattered her backside, an effect that was considerably enhanced, in his opinion, by high black leather boots and the GHK strapped to her side.
“She didn’t mean it that way, you know,” Baby informed him. “In fact, her vital signs show no evidence of a physical response indicating an attraction to you.”
As the door opened, Detector Hildreth glanced back and waved at him. Tower simply nodded, and when the door closed, went back into his office. “The thing about being an artificial intelligence means that you can’t possibly understand these natural urges of the sort that are quite clearly drawing our fair policewoman to me like an asteroid to a miner’s stripship.”
“Heart rates, elevated monoamine levels, dilated pupils, and core vaginal temperatures don’t lie, Tower.”
“Are you kidding me?” Tower quickly glanced around to see if anyone in the nearby offices had heard the augment. Fortunately, all of the nearby doors were closed or he would never have heard the end of it. “Zip it, Baby!”
“I am merely observing the lack of customary physiological changes—”
“Yes, thank you. Remind me to never bring you along on a real date.”
“That is unlikely to be necessary seeing as you haven’t been on one since—”
“Just find this Mara person, will you?”
Tower sat down heavily in his chair, wondering, not for the first time, if his life would be more easily lived without such technologically advanced augmented assistance.
CHAPTER SIX
Attractive young citizens. Beautiful, intelligent, and ambitious university students, aspiring actresses, and models. Are you struggling in the dawn of your career? Do you seek a comfortable lifestyle and the finer things in life? Are you in search of an experienced and sophisticated partner with whom you can expect to enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship?
—from an advertisement for The Gentleman’s Society for the Advancement of Interplanetary Relations
It didn’t take long for Baby to hunt down the crown prince’s secret paramour. The face of a very pretty young woman with a broad, fair-skinned face, short jaw, and unusually large eyes abrupt
ly appeared in the space above his desk.
“This is Mara Tanabera, age 23, no husband or civil partnership. Born on Rhysalan, full citizen, only two exoplanetaries, both vacations to Arène Soleil three and five years ago. She resides on the 332nd floor of the Tower Flora and is employed as the second-shift hostess at Il Gatto Giallo in the Emeraldia.”
“That sounds about right. Our late prince’s secret depravities look downright respectable. Nothing in the destination unless she went there with someone interesting.”
“Some sort of school group the first time, girlfriends the other.”
“Nothing there, then. Got a current location?”
“She’s at home. According to the restaurant’s staff schedule, she’ll be working tonight. Second shift starts at seventeen hundred. Do you want to see her before then?”
Tower thought about it. Hildy would be busy with paperwork for at least four kilosecs and the stress of being questioned at work would probably reveal faster results. He shrugged.
“No, but touch Victor and see if sixteen fifty works for Hildy. We can pick them up and be there in time for Happy Hour.”
“They’re in,” she replied almost instantly. “Your blood sugar is crashing, why don’t you eat something?”
“I will,” he said absently. “But first, let’s see what we can learn about this Auroran Republic. For all we know, Miss Tanabera may have ties to one or more of the xeno suspects. Either of those exo-holidays on Morchard, by any chance?”
Despite it not yet being the official end of the work day, the traffic in Trans Paradis was already well into rush hour. There was a steady stream of aerovars out on Resplendent, moving out from the center of the city toward the prosperous eastern suburbs. There, the soaring towers abruptly yielded to jagged cliffs of white ashstone. The Emeraldia jutted from the cliffs overlooking a broad cove, and as far as Tower was concerned had every right to the name. It looked like a giant green crystal had been dropped from orbit and lodged itself against the cliffs. Yellow lights glittered across a surface as smooth as his canopy.
