by Neil Hunter
The ploy of changing the subject didn’t seem to work, as Janek pursued his line of questioning. ‘Thomas, did I say something to amuse you?’ asked Janek.
Cade turned to stare at the tall figure.
He was six feet tall himself, but Janek topped him by two inches. Short-cropped white-blond hair crowned the towering, perfect body, above an impassive face.
Janek was in his serious mode.
Cade sighed. This was something he was going to have to work on. Janek’s sense of humor was conspicuous by its absence. Usually it didn’t bother Cade all that much. He’d got used to Janek’s dry approach. But there were times when a little light-hearted banter would have been welcome.
On the face of it, there were a whole lot of reasons for having a dedicated cyborg for a partner. Cade and Janek worked well together. The only objection Cade did have was with the lack of foresight shown by the technicians at Cybo Tech when they had failed to include a fully developed sense of humor in Janek’s function modes.
Janek was capable of impressive feats — physical and mental — but during their two years together Cade had never heard his robot partner laugh out loud.
Chapter Two
It was after midnight when Cade wheeled the travel-stained Ford Turbo-6 into the parking lot behind the police precinct house in the shadow of Manhattan Bridge. He cut the engine and climbed out. He stood beside the car, stretching tiredly. It had been a long day. The drive from Syracuse, trailing the Buick with its load of guns, had been frustratingly slow.
The subsequent running battle with the suspects hadn’t been the kind of ending to the day that Cade would have chosen.
But that was the way life ran. It was frequently a bitch. And he couldn’t complain. He had been told from the start that a Justice Marshal commission was no ticket to an easy ride. That had been just about the only true thing he had been told.
The opposite door banged shut, and Janek came around to join him, looking as fresh as ever. Time of day or night meant nothing to the cyborg. He never looked worn-out. Which sometimes hurt like hell.
‘Let’s go and get this over with,’ Cade said, unable to hold back the edginess from his voice.
‘Is something bothering you?’ Janek asked, concern showing in his modulated tone.
Cade grimaced. Here we go. Now it’s mother-hen time.
‘Yeah, Janek,’ he replied as they walked up the steps into the precinct house. ‘I’m tired. Hungry. I want to hit the sack, but instead I have to talk to this guy, Stenner, because he says he has some information?’
‘I could do that for you, T. J. You could go to the apartment and I could let you know in the morning what I found out.’
‘Yeah? Now, why didn’t I think of that?’
But Cade didn’t pause.
He strode on inside the station and up to the night desk.
There were a few uniformed officers hanging around as shifts changed. In among the human officers were a number of KC-2oo androids. The robot patrolmen stood waiting patiently for their assignments.
The grizzled desk sergeant on duty eyed the Justice Marshal with a less than favorable stare. ‘What?’ he barked.
Before Cade could reply, Janek made a disapproving sound, shaking his head. ‘Is that the way you deal with the public? It isn’t hard to realize why the police have such a lack of cooperation from... ‘
The sergeant half rose from his seat. His beefy face had turned a darker shade of red. ‘Hey, Jack, you want I should come round there and lay one on you?’
Cade took out his badge and stuck it under the enraged sergeant’s nose. ‘My partner’s had a long day,’ he said. ‘On the other hand, I can’t exactly blame him.’
The Justice Department shield had already taken effect. Still angry, but subdued, the sergeant sat down. He glared around the room, daring anyone to make a comment, then returned his attention to Cade.
‘Okay, Marshal, what can I do for you?’
‘You got a couple of cruiser cops who brought in a prisoner earlier. Treat and Dolan.’
‘You the one who busted those gunrunners? Yeah, they took him upstairs to the holding tank. Second floor.’
Cade headed for the elevator, with Janek following silently behind him.
‘That sergeant should be reported,’ Janek stated flatly.
‘And you should be melted down and processed into cans,’ Cade snapped. ‘How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t do that.’
‘Thomas... ‘
‘And don’t use that tone with me. I know your game, Janek. Make me feel guilty when it’s you who shot off his mouth.’
Janek’s impassive features formed into a puzzled frown. ‘What does ‘shot off his mouth’ mean, T.J.? It’s not a logical expression.’
‘As far as logic goes, pal, you are way off base,’ Cade said. ‘Do me a favor tonight, Janek. Flip to your mean-cop mode and make life easy for me. Okay?’
Janek merely shrugged. He had never quite managed to master the movement fully, and it always came out lopsided.
The elevator lurched to a stop, and the doors opened in fits and starts. They emerged in a featureless corridor that stank of disinfectant and a whole range of body smells. The concrete floor echoed as they made their way to the electronic door at the far end. Cade punched the key that activated the vid-screen.
‘What’s your business?’ asked the guard as his face appeared on the tube.
‘T. J. Cade. Justice Marshal.’ Cade held his badge to the ID grid. The grid scanned his badge, picking up the bar code.
‘And the other one,’ the guard said.
Janek in turn placed his badge to the grid.
‘A cybo?’ The guard’s bored expression lightened. ‘Hey, maybe the scanner is a relative of yours.’ He chuckled at his own joke and looked at Cade, obviously expecting a response.
‘Just open the damn door,’ Cade snapped. ‘And be careful what you say about my partner. He hasn’t had his plugs changed for a week and he’s getting touchy.’
The door slid open, allowing them through.
‘What plugs, T.J.?’ Janek asked, but Cade ignored him.
They reached the desk. The guard smirked at Janek, but didn’t say anything.
‘You’ve got a suspect in the tank. Name of Stenner. Couple of beat cops brought him in earlier. I collared him on a gunrunning charge. I need to talk to him.’
The guard’s expression changed. He suddenly looked uncomfortable.
‘Is there a problem?’ Janek asked sharply, picking up on the guard’s unease.
The guy glanced at Janek, not liking the hard gleam in his gray eyes. He turned to Cade, expecting a little comfort from a fellow human. He was wrong. Cade’s expression was colder than his partner’s.
‘Lost your voice, pal? I’d get it back fast unless you want trouble.’
‘Well, ah, he’s no longer here,’ the guard replied. ‘These suits from the Urban Crime Squad came and took Stenner away about an hour ago. They had the paperwork. Nothing I could do.’
‘Where did they take him?’ Cade asked.
‘I didn’t ask. They didn’t say. You don’t fuck with the UCS.’
Cade leaned across the desk. ‘You got that wrong. What you don’t fuck with is a Justice Marshal.’
He turned and strode away, with his partner on his heels. Janek didn’t speak until they were back in the elevator.
‘What does the Urban Crime Squad want with Stenner?’ he asked.
‘Good question.’
‘I know, T.J. That’s why I asked it. Now answer me.’
‘How the hell do I know?’ Cade said, but he was beginning to smell something bad going down. ‘Get me the number for UCS.’
Somewhere in Janek’s brain, memory chips searched for the required number.
‘Area code... ‘ Janek began.
‘Just the damn number, not the history of the New York telephone system,’ Cade growled. He was not in the mood for one of Janek’s intricate replies to a simple
question.
‘There are times, Thomas, when I fail to understand your surliness. You should learn to control your inner feelings when dealing with people.’
‘You know your problem? You just don’t know when to shut up.’
‘I find it’s better to bring these things into the open. Why bottle them up? Talk to me, T.J. Describe your feelings at this present time.’
Cade grinned suddenly. ‘Don’t tempt me, Janek. Just don’t ask.’
‘Can we talk about it later?’
‘Much later,’ Cade muttered to himself, forgetting Janek’s highly sensitive
hearing.
‘Fine, T. J. Later.’
The desk sergeant eyed them warily as they emerged from the elevator.
‘Why didn’t you tell me the UCS had dealt themselves into this business?’ Cade asked.
The sergeant held his ground. ‘One, you didn’t ask. Two, I don’t interfere with the UCS.’
‘Did you know they took Stenner away?’
‘Hey, they didn’t come through here with him.’
‘He knows, T.J.,’ Janek said.
‘That’s twice you got up my nose tonight,’ the sergeant said. ‘You are pissing me off.’
‘I’m all shook up about that,’ Janek said.
‘What’s with him?’ the sergeant asked.
‘He means you don’t scare him,’ Cade explained, realizing that the sergeant wasn’t aware he was dealing with a cyborg. ‘Did you know the UCS men?’
‘What? No. Never seen ’em before. All I got was their names. Pair called Feldstet and Miles. Couple of charmers.’
‘Where do they hang out?’
‘UCS building up near Brooklyn Park.’
‘I need a phone,’ Cade said.
The sergeant jerked a thumb in the direction of a closed door. ‘Empty office there.’
Janek followed Cade and closed the office door behind them. Cade sat down behind the cluttered desk and picked up the receiver. The vid-screen on the unit flickered to life. As he punched in the UCS number, Janek reached out and put the first finger of his left hand on the unit’s input cable. Delicate sensors just below his artificial skin picked up the electronic signals pulsing through the cables and transmitted them to his electronic receiving banks.
A woman’s face appeared on the vid-screen.
‘UCS. How can I help you?’
The uniformity in her voice told Cade she was a cyborg.
‘Justice Marshal Cade. I need to speak to whoever is in charge.’
‘Just a moment, Marshal Cade.’
Cade glanced at Janek. ‘You’d like her,’ he said. ‘She’s just your type, Janek.’
The cyborg’s face expressed contempt for the remark. ‘This base reduction of everything to sexual innuendo is so immature, Thomas,’ he said in his most patronizing tone.
‘Yeah, I know,’ Cade said. ‘Great, isn’t it?’
The vid-screen filled with static, cleared, and Cade found himself looking at a broad-faced man with hard, unflinching eyes.
‘Captain Connor,’ he identified himself. ‘What can I do for you, Cade?’
‘Two of your people stopped by the Manhattan Bridge precinct house a while ago and took away a suspect being held for me. I’d like to know why. And just who the hell overrode my authority?’
‘Who were the officers?.
‘Feldstet and Miles,’ Cade told him.
‘I can tell you they operate out of here,’ Connor affirmed, ‘but I can’t help you more than that. I haven’t heard a thing about any prisoner being pulled in by our people. You sure about this, Marshal?’
‘Do I look like I just came off the farm?’
‘I wasn’t suggesting... ‘
‘If I were you, Connor, I’d run a check on Feldstet and Miles. Maybe they’re doing a little moonlighting. Could be your squad needs a visit from the Justice Department. Tighten up, Connor, or I’ll have it done for you.’
Cade broke the connection, slamming down the receiver. He slumped back in the swivel seat, pulling his pack of cigars from his pocket. He lit one, his glance defying Janek to say a word.
‘So?’ he asked.
‘Connor was recording the conversation, T.J.,’ Janek said.
Cade smiled. ‘This had really looked like nothing as much as a waste of my time with Stenner. But it is getting to look as though it will be worth my while. So maybe, after all, he hadn’t just made a wild shot in the dark about the Darksiders. Someone got wind of Stenner wanting to talk, and they don’t seem anxious to have that happen.’
‘Whoever these people are, they clearly have police officers on their payroll.’
‘We live in a wicked world.’
‘Do you think Connor’s in with Feldstet and Miles? Or was he just covering his back by recording your conversation?’
‘I figure we’ll find out soon enough.’
Cade leaned forward and picked up the phone again.
‘Who are you calling now?’
‘This one’s personal,’ Cade said. ‘You go and find a computer terminal and plug yourself in. I want everything you can find on Feldstet and Miles, and also anything about missing Darksiders.’
Janek nodded. He turned and left the office.
Cade watched the vid-screen. It remained blank as the call was connected. The moment it was through, the screen was filled with a text message:
‘This number is temporarily disconnected.’
‘Damn!’ Cade muttered. He broke the connection and punched in a new number.
The vid-screen showed a tired, unshaven face. ‘This is Tom Cade, I want to speak to Kate Bannion.’
‘She’s not here.’
‘Not in the office or not in the building?’ Cade asked.
‘She’s on a special assignment for the paper. Can’t be contacted.’
The connection was cut, and Cade was left staring at the blank screen.
‘Damn,’ he grumbled.
What was Kate up to now?
It would be something crazy, he knew.
In all the time he had known Kate Bannion, she had never been content to work on anything ordinary. Every story she went after for the New York Century was either controversial or dangerous. She enjoyed a challenge. Thrived on risk. It was the reason he liked her. Liked? What the hell, he thought, it was the reason he wanted her. He’d never known any woman quite like her. Or loved any woman like her.
‘Thomas!’
Cade glanced up and saw Janek standing in the doorway.
‘Yeah?’
‘I have the information.’
‘Good. Let’s go. You can give me a rundown in the car.’
‘Where are we going?’ Janek asked on their way to the front doors.
Cade pushed through the station doors and went down the steps. ‘You got addresses for Feldstet and Miles?’
‘Of course,’ Janek replied stiffly. ‘You asked me to get them, so I did. You shouldn’t need to question my reliability, Thomas. I’m not a domestic droid. I can think for myself.’
‘Yeah? Well, think while you drive,’ Cade said. He tossed the car keys to Janek. ‘Time you started earning your keep. Those fancy clothes you wear don’t grow on damn trees.’
‘Naturally,’ Janek said with his robotic logic. ‘Only wood grows on trees.’
‘Just drive, smart-ass.’
Janek rolled the car out onto the street.
‘Miles is the closest,’ he said.
‘Let’s go, hotshot.’
Janek, as always, drove perfectly but fast. His advanced intelligence and control allowed him to anticipate far ahead of any human driver. He could judge road and vehicle conditions to a precise point. It meant that he could drive to the limit and still be in control.
When he had first partnered Cade, the cyborg’s driving had scared the hell out of his human companion. After two years Cade was well used to Janek’s driving and trusted him to a degree he never would have trusted a human partner.
; They cut across to Roosevelt Drive, flanking the murky strip of the East River.
Mist blanketed the dirty water. In the distance foghorns threw their mournful cries out of the gloom. Whatever changes transformed the city, the river remained constant.
The muggy night sky over the city glowed with multicolored light. Gigantic advertising vid-screens, fixed to the sides of buildings, threw out their eternal consumer messages, everything from the latest-model cars to forthcoming attractions on one of New York’s hologram-TV channels.
Janek gave Cade a word-by-word rundown on Feldstet and Miles. The official biographies gave no indication of any suspicious dealings involving the two officers, but Cade wouldn’t have expected anything else. Police officers who had gone dirty were usually clever enough to keep their clandestine activities off the record. Feldstet and Miles warranted some closer examination.
Before Janek started on the Darksider information, he took a look in the rearview mirror and made a soft sound that was a confirmation of something he’d been checking.
‘We have tails,’ he informed Cade.
‘Closing fast. A dark blue Chevrolet and a gray Buick. I’ve been monitoring them, just to be sure.’
‘And?’
‘I’m sure, T.J.’
Cade sighed. He reached for the combat shotgun clipped between the front seats. The Franchi-SPAS Model 16 had remained the most formidable combat weapon of its type for over sixty years. Its basic design, originated in Italy, had never been bettered. Now it was standard issue for law agencies, and in the right hands its destructive power was formidable. Cade checked that the weapon was fully loaded, making sure that the laser sight was functioning. He counted the extra shells in the ammo rack under the dash.
‘Your side, T.J.,’ Janek warned. He jammed his foot hard on the gas, sending them hurtling forward. Tires screeched in protest as the pursuing car swept around the Ford’s rear, its front bumper scraping the fender. Janek gripped the wheel, keeping the swaying car on line.
Cade rolled down his window as the Buick roared alongside. He caught a glimpse of hunched figures inside the darkened vehicle.
Light glanced off the barrels of weapons as they were thrust into view. Then auto-weapons opened up, and streams of slugs hammered the Ford’s bodywork. A rear window imploded, filling the interior with glass particles.
