“And?”
“Inspector,” Kyte cut in. “We have no time. Let’s go get her in cuffs.”
“Please don’t rush this. We can’t round them up until all of the customers have evacuated. They’re armed, remember?”
“But what if they hide themselves within the crowd and escape!?”
“Look, we’ve got surveillance cameras on them, and I’ve placed some of my people at the exits. Now then, Mr. Manager, hit me with the rest.”
“There’s not much else to add,” he said, disinclined to continue but compliant all the same. “Apart from my own speculation, that is. Who’s jamming the airwaves, I ask you? There’s only one solid possibility. Why’re they doing it? Again, there’s no two ways about it. So I have trouble believing you haven’t already pieced it together yourself, Mr. Inspector.”
“I was out of the loop. Stuck here the whole time. Come to think of it, I haven’t gotten any reports from my people in a hot minute. It just hadn’t been that long since the last word, so I didn’t think much of it...”
“Well, thanks to them, we’re forced to give the machines simple instructions through voice command. See for yourself.” The manager poked at the screen. “See the giraffe chasing them? You might think you want to see the video feed from its eyes, but look what you get.” The manager changed the channel, and a cloud of dust appeared on screen.
“You know something, don’t you?” said Entryua, his eyes on Kyte. “Was there some kind of hiccup up in space?”
“I know nothing of this,” Kyte denied, defensively. “I was with you the whole time, Inspector. Don’t you see we’re in the same boat?”
“But I saw you taking a peek at your portable computer from time to time,” said Entryua. “Maybe you got notified through it. About the radio jamming, and what’s behind it.”
“That is a matter of internal military communications. It has nothing to do with you, Inspector,” replied Kyte, his expression looking stiff indeed.
“Is that right?” Entryua adopted a gentler tone. “I seem to recall that you’re expected to keep reporting to your brass about how the search is going. Yet now that the Abh’s turned up, you didn’t even try to report in. Tell me, what’s that about? I’ll tell you what I think. It’s because you know you can’t. Give it to me straight, Lieutenant old pal. I trust you do know the reason why. And if you try to hide it, well, me and my people, we’re going to start feeling a mighty urge to slack off on the job.”
“Do you mean to threaten me!?” Kyte turned white-faced and hot-blooded.
“Damn right I do. Intimidation’s a tool of the trade for us. Most suspects aren’t usually very cooperative, if you catch my drift.”
“Fine,” said Kyte, his expression intense and upset. “I did receive additional word at 11:55 military time, which is to say, thirty-seven minutes ago. I was told that radio interference would be conducted starting at 12:00 military time, and that while sending notice or orders would be unavailable for the time being, I was to continue my current mission.”
“And the reason behind the jamming is?”
“That, I don’t know. I honestly haven’t been informed. You’re going to have to believe me.”
“I see,” said Entryua, narrowing his eyes.
No, he didn’t seem to be lying. It didn’t matter how different their culture or upbringing was — he was quite confident he could tell whether somebody was lying by looking at them. But while this was disappointing news for Entryua, he could infer even without a clear-cut answer from him.
“The Abh’re back, aren’t they?” he muttered.
“Please wait!” said the white rhinoceros.
“Please wait!” said the emperor penguin.
“Please wait!” said the puma.
Jinto and Lafier were surrounded on all sides by charming animal friends. Since there were no children left to entertain, it appeared they had no other tasks to fulfill.
“Step aside!” Lafier thrust her phaser at the head of a beaver.
“Please wait!” said the beaver, with its adorable buck teeth.
“You aren’t sentient creatures, correct?” asked Lafier.
“Yes, that is correct. We have no free will.” The beaver closed one eye. “However, we ask that you keep that fact from the children. It would shatter their dreams.”
“We’ve no choice. Jinto, we’re destroying them.”
“Got it!” Jinto yelled. “Can’t say I’m too thrilled, though; They’re so endearing.”
“I’m none too thrilled, either,” said Lafier, though she didn’t hesitate to shoot the beaver down. “Sadly, we’ve no other options. If we linger here, they’ll come for us. Besides, you weren’t fussed when you were shooting at other human beings.”
“Only because they were shooting at us, too. And most importantly, they weren’t all that cute, either.”
“Warning!” said the animals simultaneously, raising their voices. “We are property of Guzonh Dream Park, and if you destroy us without cause, you will be committing vandalism, as well as charged with indemnities for all damaged goods. Incidentally, the average price for one of us is...”
“Then you’d best retreat while you’re still intact!” she said, slicing the puma to rounds. Yet the animals didn’t flinch at the death of a comrade; on the contrary, this simply allowed them to tighten their circle around them even closer.
“Sorry about that...” said Jinto, who’d shot down a hyena, though given that the hyena was the one most often made to play the villain, he didn’t feel too guilty over it.
“Nooo!” shrieked the manager, cradling his head as he witnessed his valuable assets become so much scrap.
“See, I told you they were brutal killers,” said Kyte, his face the picture of smug.
But the manager wasn’t paying him any attention. “Run away from the intruders! Function 24 is rescinded!” His orders reached the animatronics through the parkwide announcement speakers.
The animatronics turned their backs to the interlopers. When he saw that the two of them ceased firing in response, the manager’s shoulders relaxed with relief.
“Have the animatronics withdraw,” said Entryua. “They’ll only get in the way of the arrest.”
“We can’t through voice command. Either the technicians will have to go to them directly, or we have to direct them through radio command. But never mind that, Mr. Inspector,” said the manager, glowering at Entryua angrily, “What are you still doing here? Go and catch them already, please!”
Entryua shrugged. “That’s why I told you to let me place some of my people by the emergency exit. You were the one who was against it because it could ‘damage the park’s reputation.’”
“Okay, I was wrong, I admit it. So please...”
“We can’t go in until the parkgoers have evacuated. We’re the cops people love and respect, and we aim to keep it that way,” said Entryua, who then pointed at one of the screens.
It was the terminal screen of the computing crystals pertaining to visitor management, and it showed that there were still one hundred and twenty parkgoers left. That number hadn’t changed much in some time, either. For one reason or another, the hundred and twenty stragglers seemed reluctant to exit.
“But there aren’t any near them,” the manager fired back.
“He’s right,” said Kyte. “Let’s move to apprehend them at once. Because we can’t use phones, communications will take that much longer.”
“And whose fault is it that we can’t drop them a line?” said Entryua, who pushed his smoke into the ashtray. “Though you have got a point there. I guess we do go and get ‘em now.”
“Let’s,” nodded Kyte vigorously.
Any sign of humans in the vicinity vanished while the two were playing tag with the park’s menagerie. The mechanical fauna was still present, but it didn’t try to approach them. That said, they didn’t avoid them, either.
“Sorry,” said Jinto, who almost bumped into a squirrel.
/> “No, I apologize,” said the squirrel, which continued on its merry way.
At the moment, the duo were stuck in a veritable labyrinth. On each side of the lane, store display cases vied for their attention. The cases contained all sorts of products, including clothing, convenience goods, and stationery, all bearing animal designs. Tending shop were the animatronics.
Jinto stopped by the front of a clothing store, and glanced at his filthy jumpsuit , but he quickly gave up on the idea. They had no time to spare appraising articles at their leisure, or to change. The layout of the alleyways was complex, and they still hadn’t managed to stumble upon a wider path. By looking up at the ceiling, they could tell they were near the center, but they hadn’t the faintest clue in which direction lay the exit.
The animals minding each store were scrutinizing them rather fixedly, but they never appealed to them to purchase their wares.
“Wait,” Jinto told Lafier, who had begun to outpace him.
“What?”
“I just thought of something. Let’s ask the animals where the exit is.”
“Good idea,” she concurred.
Jinto drew toward an otter-staffed shop selling miscellaneous merchandise.
“Welcome!” The otter spread its stubby arms invitingly.
While Jinto didn’t give the variety of commodities on offer much of a scan, he did notice they all bore otter designs.
“What will you be purchasing?”
“No, uh...” Jinto faltered.
“Ah, yes, I understand. Anything is fine as long as my picture’s on it. Here, take our featured product.” It picked up a nail file in its paws. “The price point’s reasonable, and it works like magic. Not to mention you could always use another nail file, since they’re easy to lose, plus...”
“That’s not what I’m here for,” Jinto interrupted. “I’d like to ask you where the exit is.”
“What did you say!?” shouted the otter. “You’re leaving so soon? Please, stay and enjoy the day with us just a little while longer. You could at least stand to take a look at the nail file. Has something got you in a hurry?”
“Haven’t you heard? The park’s temporarily closed.”
“You jest. Guzonh Dream Park is open 24 hours...”
“I said temporarily. Are you gonna tell me or not?”
“How cold. I suppose it can’t be helped. Go straight down this lane...” And so the otter gave him the directions.
Jinto thanked it and took his leave. “It’s over there!” he told Lafier, and together they once again trotted forward.
Suddenly, the rip of an explosion.
“They must’ve missed the emergency exit controls ,” said Jinto.
“Who the!? Who’s the idiot that...!?” cried Entryua inside the command car.
He thought some subordinate of his had been careless enough to jump the gun and start the attack. Then it dawned on him that no officers were equipped with explosive weapons. Or at the very least, his people weren’t.
Then, could it have been the Abh? Was she trying to massacre officers who wielded only needleguns ? But that didn’t make sense, either. It hadn’t come from the direction the Abh currently was thought to be.
At last, he remembered the other guys who were after the Abh. “Looks like your comrades are here,” said Entryua, glancing at Kyte.
“Is that so?” The military police lieutenant hung his head.
Entryua thought about calling it a day then and there. He’d been less than enthusiastic about this whole venture to begin with, and if the police did lay off, they’d be detained by the occupying army anyway. They were talking about one or two petty car thieves here. In the end, he could afford to forget about getting them under their custody...
No! We can’t back down now! They’d come this far, come so close... or, more accurately, they’d put up a net around where those soldiers were chasing them toward, but in any case, he couldn’t stand idly by and let perfect strangers take the credit while the suspects were so tantalizingly in reach.
“Hey, pedal to the metal!” he said, jabbing at the driver’s back.
“There’s nothing for it, Inspector,” said the young officer. “These cutesy-wootsies don’t seem to know traffic laws!” And even as they spoke, a blissful looking tanuki came very close to smashing into them.
“Because we’re not on the road!” Entryua banged his right shoulder against the back of the seat. “If it was going to be like this, I should’ve taken a hoverboat!”
“Do we call for backup?”
“You think we’ve got that kind of time, dummy!?”
A big BOOM from behind. A patrol car was sticking out of a building from the front. Meanwhile, the tanuki peeped with evident concern.
Entryua heaved a sigh. This was turning into more of a laugh-and-cry procedural drama than he’d been anticipating.
“EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY!” shouted the speakers frantically. “Customers still within the premises, please hasten to the exits. We can’t be held liable for your safety any longer. As for the parkgoers, no, the trespassers who blew up the emergency exit, we ask that you refrain from making a commotion on park grounds, and to exercise discretion with your acts of destruction! For heaven’s sake, what could possibly warrant going to such extremes!?”
“Over there, Inspector!” Kyte pointed forward.
There stood a young pair, a boy and a girl. The girl’s hair was black, but she had on an Abh circlet .
“Go, go, go!” Entryua roared. The sooner he was free of this farce of an errand, the better.
“They found us!” Jinto froze in his tracks.
A row of hovercars crossed over toward them. Lafier tried to brandish her gun, but Jinto had snapped to, and seized her hand. “No! Not here, at least! Let’s go back to the market area!”
She cocked her head, doubtful, but soon she nodded assent. The pair turned on their heels.
“Wait right there! This is the police!” a menacing voice resounded through a megaphone.
Jinto wondered how many people in the whole galaxy would actually stop when told to.
“Inspector, we can’t go any farther!” The command vehicle came to a sudden stop. It was true that the “road” in front of their eyes could hardly be called a road at all. Not even three people could walk side-by-side down the lane safely, let alone a car. If they were to cut a swath through the shops, it would be a different matter, but an officer of the law beloved by the citizenry would never do that.
“Employees, evacuate as well!” continued the announcement. “Those with Level 3 or higher technician qualification, adjust as many animatronics as possible for automatic storage. If you’re in either Area 6 or 7, evacuate regardless. Get a move on! C’mon, get! Bloody hell, what’s it all come to!?”
“Everybody out!” said Entryua, commanding his officers to alight from the cars.
He took the initiative and issued the same order to the subsequent patrol cars as well. Not being able to use phones was frustrating.
A police squad of twenty formed a line on the street. The suspects weren’t in plain view, having seemingly ducked into either a store or a side street somewhere.
“All hands, ready, aim.”
The officers whipped out their needleguns , and switched off their safeties in unison. Kyte took that as his cue to do likewise and set his own weapon to fire.
“Now, after them!” Entryua rushed into the maze of alleyways.
Military Police Lieutenant Kyte and the twenty-strong police squad followed in after him.
“Sorry, coming through!” said Jinto as he climbed over the display case of a turtle’s parlor.
The turtle simply shrugged without a word.
“You will forgive us,” said Lafier, as she too climbed over it.
The turtle quickly made its way past the side of the horned owl sitting with its back to the turtle’s.
“Bad children!” said the owl, whose merchandise they’d just rendered in disarray. “Bad ch
ildren! You’re being very bad!”
“Sorry!” said Jinto, without looking back.
“May I draw your attention to something?” said Lafier through pants and gasps.
“What?”
“We’re going down the same path as before.”
“I mean, what else can we... oh.” Jinto remembered now. “The enemy soldiers are here, too, aren’t they.”
“You forgot? You are so easy-going it’s impressive. You have my admiration.”
“...Thanks...”
“Well if it isn’t you! Weren’t you going to leave?” said the otter from before. “Might as well have you buy something now, if you don’t mind!”
“Got any hoverboats or spaceships?” Jinto asked while rushing past storefronts.
“Of course we do!” answered the otter enthusiastically.
“Say what?” Before he knew it, Jinto was looking over his shoulder.
The otter waved a toy spaceship in its hand. It probably had one or more otters on it, too. Behind the otter, the distant forms of police officers came peeking into view.
“Crap.” Jinto veered right, where there was a conveniently-placed side path. This time they wouldn’t have to rough up any stores.
“Lafier, this way!”
“Huh? Where are you headed, sir!?” shouted the otter, rearing up.
“So you won’t come quiet, huh!?” The officer’s voice pelted them from behind.
That lane didn’t connect to any lateral paths. Right in front of it sprawled a lawn, and beyond it they could make out a stone building. Jinto was suffering from some mild agoraphobia, since in a wide-open space, he felt as though bullets and lasers could come flying from any direction. Yet this was the only option left to them.
Argh, give me a damned break, Entryua seethed. My daughters are reaching sexual awareness age, and here I am, dashing like mad chasing perps on foot like some caveman. Why’s it gotta be this way? If the phones were online, I could’ve avoided this travesty. I could’ve laid back in the command car, split everyone into teams of two to search the maze, and then come running right when they’d been smoked out.
The Return to Strange Skies (JNC Edition) Page 9
