13 Degrees of Separation

by Hechtl, Chris

  It didn't take him long to lay out the job. Nohar didn't like it right off.

  “You're not serious,” Nohar said, trying hard not to stare. A stare or a show of teeth was as good as a challenge. He didn't mind challenging Solaximara, but he wanted to do it on purpose, not by accident.

  “I assure you I am very serious.”

  “You want me to go down south, to Ring City, and find out if someone is killing Neo's? A hate crime? Why not get the police involved? If they aren't already involved I mean?”

  “Because they couldn't care less unless a human was involved,” the red, white, and black Neolion said with a theatrical sigh. Nohar's eyes narrowed. That was entirely too true unfortunately. If it was a human victim they'd be all over it.

  “I think it is a human or group of humans. Someone who is picking off the weak,” Solaximara said.

  That last statement resonated a little too much in Nohar's tiger mind. “Picking off the weak,” he murmured.

  The politician smiled, thinking he had the tiger hooked now. “And of course you'll be doing a service for the community...”

  “Stuff that,” Nohar said turning and this time not resisting the urge to glare. “You'll get my patriotism rate but that's about it. You are still paying the freight if you want me down there. I'm not going through my savings on an errand of mercy.”

  “I wouldn't dream of it. You want your usual rates?” Solaximara asked, sighing.

  “Plus transit costs, upkeep... the usual, both ways. I'm not getting stranded south. Ring City is a cesspool. Besides, there isn't much little work there. It's a tourist trap and fishing village, nothing more.”

  “All right,” the red neolion sighed. He hated giving in so easily, but Nohar was the best PI in the business. He was also the only Neo Private Investigator on the planet. there were a few canines who got out of law enforcement and tried, but none lasted long. They either ran afoul of the mob or they disappeared... which amounted to the same thing. Nohar had a knack for not only staying alive, but sticking it to anyone who tried to off him. That was most likely because he was a survivor from the great war, the Xeno war some 7 centuries prior.

  He sometimes resented that, Nohar would have made a great ally in politics if he had been so inclined. But no, the tiger had stuck to PI work. A pity, but then again, had he been in politics he would have been a rival of Solaximara's so maybe this was for the best.

  Besides, he may be mercenary in his efforts, but he would serve. Oh yes, he'd serve. “Find the killers, lead them to justice one way or another. Make sure it's an air tight case.”

  “Of course,” Nohar growled. He disdainfully groomed his good arm. Kong's cougar bar maid came over and set a fresh stein down in front of him and then removed the old “The case I'm on has dried up again so I am free for the next three weeks. When do you want me to leave?”

  “Right away,” Solaximara said, nodding.

  Nohar snorted, ears flicking. “I should say, when will your credits clear so I can get moving?” he asked. He knew better than to move out without getting paid his advance.

  The red neolion sighed and flicked his ears. He really shouldn't do that, it made the feather attached to his gold earring in his ear dance. The dangling thing made Nohar want to rip it out. He fought the urge. Solaximara was a study of contrasts, one he wasn't sure he ever wanted to puzzle out.

  First he had an elongated thorax, making him seem like he was stretched. The white belly and chin he could understand, but the red fur? It wasn't a dye job either, someone in the Neo's past had been changed to red. Possibly a werecat, a human with more creds than brains who had fallen for a Neocat. It certainly wasn't a normal Neo, they couldn't see color values very well.

  Neo's had a trade off, in the wild, their ancestors had better night vision, but little or no color vision. Human geneticists had left that alone, the ability to see in almost perfect darkness was much more valuable for the first Neo soldiers after all. Over the centuries though some had altered their eyes slightly, giving up some of their night vision in favor of some color perception.

  Of course in the old Federation they got similar results with implants. Implants better than the one Nohar currently had. His right eye was a prosthetic, one made for a human, and not a very good one. He'd had to take what he could get, just like the other barely adequate parts like his right arm, ear, and ribs. His vision in his right eye barely functioned now after so many years and so many fights. He hated it, but it was just something he had to put up with. Hank didn't have the parts or skills to tinker with it. He wasn't too keen about letting the blue neolion experiment either.

  “Leave immediately. Tonight,” the red neolion urged. Nohar stared at him and rubbed his right prosthetic arm. He didn't like going off half cocked, that's when bad things happened. “There was another murder this morning, so the scent should be fresh.”

  “Victim?” Nohar asked.

  “Prostitute. From what I've been able to pull together most of the victims have been either prostitutes or homeless. And of course the cops are turning a blind eye to it. As long as a tourist doesn't get involved...” his voice dropped into a snarl that wasn't quite all feigned.

  Nohar nodded. “If it has a scent I can track it. I'm not a blood hound though.”

  “None are available,” the neolion admitted. Nohar snorted. It figured that the cat would try that ploy. “Besides, you're the best. Don't let me down,” he said, getting up from the booth.

  “The creds?”

  Solaximara handed over a slip of paper. Nohar glanced at it, a bank account. “Take what you need and no more. I'll cover it. But I want an itemized expense report.”

  “Fine,” Nohar sighed. He hated paperwork like that. It was retaliation he knew, retaliation for his costs. Many just didn't understand what it took to get the job done. He'd been in the business for years and he could never quite explain how to itemize a bribe. Of course it was easier here on Epsilon Triangula, no one cared.

  “I'll get the ticket,” he said drinking his beer. “Anything else? Useful contact down south?”

  “No,” the neolion said, shaking his head. “I'm afraid not, the last was just killed this morning,” he admitted.

  “Oh,” the Neotiger said softly. His good ear flicked, this time in understanding and sympathy. He understood a little more of the Neolion's reasons, it was personal. “Let me make a call or two and see if I can drum up some intel, or at least get the ball rolling there. I'll be on the move in an hour or so,” he said.

  “Red eye flight leaves in 2 hours,” the red Neo said and then cocked his head expectantly.

  “I'll be on it,” Nohar grounded out. So much for getting any shut eye tonight. Trying to sleep on one of those so called aircraft sucked. He could feel the vibrations of the piston engines through the fuselage, they grated on his artificial ear. He hated heights too, which meant he'd have to get a sedative or he'd claw the chair apart every time the aircraft hit turbulence. They tended to bob and bounce all over the place. He'd wanted to take the morning train, so much for that idea.

  He'd been in the fabled 501st rangers, he knew marching orders when he heard them. He nodded again and brushed the whiskers on his good side. “I was going to try to take a partner on, but I'll have to make due,” he said.

  “Just get it done.”

  “And if it's not a human?”

  “I doubt it is a Neo. No, I'm sure it isn't.”

  “But if it is?”

  “We... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. That is if we come to it. Don't go reading anything into it that isn't there.”

  “I know what to do,” Nohar said. Solaximara nodded to the lion as he turned and left without another word. For a long minute Nohar sat there, hand paws holding the drink in front of him.

  “Need a refill Nohar?” the cougar asked. He shook his head and downed the drink. “Sorry,” he said handing the stein to her. “I've got to be sober,” he ground out, feeling his right arm acting up again. Fortunate
ly the cougar took the bobbing stein easily.

  “Seems like you've had enough already,” she observed.

  “That's just my arm. Waiting on parts from Hank,” he said.

  “He's up in his room,” the cougar said, rolling her eyes. She put the stein on the tray he held against her hip. “Going on a trip?”

  “Can't talk about it,” Nohar admitted, paying his tab and giving her the usual tip. One thing that had easily translated over from the military was OPSEC. Operational Security. Clients didn't like it when you bragged about your mission. They preferred anonymity and discreet action.

  “Oh well, if you need anything,” she said airily, already looking at her next customer.

  “I'll be fine. Tell Jerry I'll look him up when I'm back,” he said getting up. He had some calls to make, and some intel to gather. “Did you hear anything about what's going on?”

  “You mean in Gotham?” she asked. He shook his head. She shrugged. “Some crap Hodges is pulling, the usual. There's not much else. I haven't heard of anything unusual,” she said.

  “Thanks anyway,” he said, getting up. He was old, nearly past his prime, but his implants and training more than made up for that. He'd had the anti geriatric treatments before the war, he'd been fortunate, he'd been in the army before it had started. Kids who had signed on during it had been shorted, near the end few even had the basic ident implants and inoculations.

  “Okay, well, take care,” the cougar said, smiling slightly and flicking her ears.

  “What fun would that be?” he asked, flicking his tail. She turned to swat at it and he chuckled, leaving.

  He held his right arm to his side, unsure what to do first. He would normally stay in Kong's and feel up for any intel, but he couldn't because the neolion had approached him in there. Everyone would know what he was up too, so that was out. He could check a few other places in town, but what was the point? Hazard was nearly 2,000 kilometers away from Ring City. The gulf and ring islands were between the two cities. No, he'd have to go in cold, which sucked.

  But there was something he could do, well several something's. First was check that bank account out. He wasn't going anywhere until it cleared. After that he'd have to go get his gear from his locker.

  Chapter 2

  Nohar sighed, feeling his claws rake into the upholstery instinctively. He'd shut his right eye and ear off, but the flight still bothered him. He had to pee badly but refused to get out of the seat. He knew he couldn't, he was too big to fit in the damn cubby the humans called a bathroom. He growled slightly, eyes closed, ears flat.

  He didn't have a seat mate, which was amusing. The female human who'd been there had wet herself when he'd snarled during a patch of turbulence half way to their destination. The stewardess had given up her seat to let the girl stay there. She was standing, holding onto a strap bolted to the air frame. He could smell her, she had some powerful lilac perfume on, another source for his discomfort and growing headache. At this rate he was going to be a mess when they landed. IF they landed he thought.

  “We're in final ladies and gentlemen, third in the landing cue. You will feel some turbulence again as we bank around in a holding pattern. This is our last bank so we should be landing momentarily,” the pilot said from the overhead.

  Nohar didn't react, but he did try to retract his claws. He got them almost all the way in when the plane started to drop. It felt like his stomach was trying to get into his throat. “I hate flying,” he ground out in a growl.

  “Then why'd you come?” the human behind him asked, moving his leg to bump the seat. Nohar growled again, not moving.

  “Stupid cat,” another human said.

  “Not stupid, I didn't have a choice. Boss says go you go,” he ground out finally. That shut them up.

  Which was true, his client said go, and the case was urgent. Urgent enough to risk his life and limb in this death contraption anyway.

  He'd become a PI because that was just about the only honorable thing for a Neo of his type could do on this planet. There wasn't a military, and the only mercs were the two bit hoods the mobsters and gangs employed. You had to be from the right neighborhood to get in though, and since he was an offworlder, well, tough luck kitty.

  Sure he could have been a cop, if he'd wanted to stoop that low. Cops were little more than hired muscle for the gangs in some towns and cities. You just wore a pretty badge and got to strut more, he thought. He could do it, but he didn't want it. Too much of a headache.

  Besides he was old, a sleeper. He'd managed to survive the Xeno war after all. He'd actually lived to the end of it, only to get his damn liner shot out from under him by a mine of all things. He'd drifted for the centuries until someone had found him a couple of decades ago. He'd been sold a few times until he'd gotten on his feet and paid off his debt. Now he was free and intended to stay that way, beholden to no one! That's right! no one! Free. Free as a bird, even though his time in space had traumatized him enough to never want to go into space or be in tight quarters ever again.

  Which was why he was here, trapped on this space forgotten mudball backwater mob infested excuse for a planet. Sure, in theory he'd love to be oh, on Kathy's World with all the other Neo's, or even Antigua, but at least here it was warm. He had to keep thinking about his declining years. They weren't pretty in a Neo. Besides, to get to any of those locations he'd need a big pay off... and he'd have to get the nerve up to get on a ship and spend a year trapped in a flying coffin. Nope, he would pass on that.

  He knew the fear of heights and of confined spaces was all in his head, he'd had the training. Psychosomatic transference, Anxiety over being high up, of flying because of his sleeper trauma. Bullshit. Well, not all bullshit, but some. He'd always hated being cooped up. He'd take the great outdoors any day.

  But that didn't mean he wanted to be a Luddite like the Neo's on Kathy's World though. No, he'd take the big city, smells and all over trying to hunt at his age. He picked leaves out of his coat. Rain, snow... Shit, a squat in the snow to take a shit, no pass. He liked modern conveniences. Call him spoiled, call him old, he didn't care, he thought, flicking his ears in wry humor.

  He could feel the aircraft drop its landing gear. Only a few minutes more, he promised himself, only a few moments more to put up with this crap, this canvas seat, the smells...

  He'd almost missed the flight, he wished he had. But putting it off would have made it worse. Hodges's banker hadn't been thrilled about opening up, but their 24/7 promise had to be kept. The threat of waking Hodges to complain had the banker scurrying to do his job. All it took was a phone call to get the funds moved to his account. He'd doubled his usual starting rate... now he regretted it. He should have tripled it. Hell, quadrupled it.

  He felt the bump and skid sounds as the plane hit the ground. He sighed, relaxing explosively as the plane's tail gear touched the ground and the plane began to brake.

  “Made it again,” someone in the back of the plane murmured. Nohar snorted. His seat had been in the back originally, he'd been the last ticket to book. But the humans had swapped, apparently they didn't like the idea of a predator behind them. An angry, scared predator. He couldn't blame them, he thought, relaxing. He cracked his good eye and reached for the switch buried in his right arm.

  He'd had Hank install the thing a while back. Sometimes it worked, other times... it was getting tricky, the damn implants didn't want to come back online, sometimes they balked. Hank had muttered something or other about too low a starting voltage. He didn't believe that. Electronics weren't like ignitions they didn't need a burst of power to boot. He may not remember a lot from school, it had after all, been centuries ago, but he did remember that much.

  Fortunately, after he flipped the plastic tiger striped cover over his bicep up and hit the switch, his right eye immediately flickered. He hated that, the sudden burst of light, but had no choice. It added to his pain. He growled again, feeling his left eye water a little as static filled part of his vision.
It would take a minute or two until the thing booted. Already he could see distinct shapes in the snow.

  His right ear flopped uselessly and then raised. The ear was a little better, the volume went up and down, adding to his discomfort, but he was used to that by now. The inner ear thing though... his left hand gripped the arm rest again as his stomach flopped. Damn thing, he thought, feeling it settle down as its internal gyro-compass stabilized. He hated that, it did an inversion during boot. Just another stupid thing to someday, somehow get fixed.

  “We all right?” the female asked. He could hear people babbling behind him.

  “Just peachy,” he growled, eyes open. He turned his head, feeling abused muscles complain, but ignored them for the time being. His back felt like a stick had been shoved up it. “Ground sweet ground. I'm getting too old for this,” he grumbled.

  “I was going to ask if it was your first time but from the arm and eye...” the woman said indicating his right side.

  “Yes I'm a sleeper from the Xeno War, I caught a plasma mortar round. Corona of it actually, otherwise I would have been dust,” Nohar said unbuckling his seat belt. They'd had to improvise it for him, though not by much. Apparently there were some fat humans who liked to fly on this flight a lot.

  “Ah, I see,” the woman said, touching up her hair and white ascot. “Almost there folks,” she said peering through the port hole in the door. The aircraft engines were winding down, the aircraft slowed and then stopped. They could hear the whine of the engines as the fuel was cut off. The steady chop, chop, chop started breaking up as the propellers slowed. There was a bump and a clang, then a shave and a hair cut knock. The stewardess smiled slightly and then turned the wheel and opened the door outward.

  Sunlight and warm wet air swam in past her. She made herself flat against the door briefly and then used a chock to prop the door open. “Welcome to Ring City, I hope you enjoyed your flight,” she said, sounding bored. “Please get your things from the overhead, the plane will not be available if you misplaced or lost anything. Your check-in luggage will be available in the terminal. Thank you for flying Red eye express.”