by Gary Weston
‘Interesting. Do you have any objections if I go see their relatives, ask a few questions?’
Detective Sergeant Bill Webster said, ‘We already have statements. I see no point in harassing already distraught relatives, Miss Jordan’
‘That’s Agent Jordan, Detective Webster. And I don’t do harassment.’
‘Bill,’ said Jett. ‘Pull your head in. Agent Jordan. Your input would be appreciated.’ From a terminal on her desk, Jett took a copy of the case notes on a cube and handed it to Jordan. ‘This has everything we know so far about the case. All the contact details of the relatives are on there. You have a cube player?’
‘In my pocket.’ Tilly got up to leave. ‘If I find out anything useful, I’ll let you know. I may send a message to D S I HQ. Any objections?’
‘None,’ said Jett. ‘This does fall into D S I jurisdiction.’ Jett knew that had she wanted, the agent could have simply taken over the case. She appreciated Jordan’s low key approach.
Tilly said, ‘I’ll keep you posted if I make any progress. I’d also appreciate it if you keep my D S I identity unknown for the time being. It’ll help me to fly under the radar, at least for a while.’
All three detectives nodded their cooperation and Tilly walked out of the police H Q and hailed a hovercab.
Chapter 141
‘I don’t get it,’ said Fritz. ‘We know it works.’
‘One time, Fritz,’ said Corey. ‘That proves nothing. We need to conduct more trials.’
‘Well, we have three subjects left. That should do it.’
Corey shook his head. ‘I doubt it. Sure, we’ll test the other three, but if it works or not, we’ll still have to dispose of them afterwards.’
Fritz shrugged. ‘If we have to, we have to. We’ve come this far.’
Corey grinned. ‘We’ve had one hell of a ride you and I, these last few years.’
‘Sure have. So far not the outcome we had hoped for, but who knows? Perhaps this is what’s meant to be.’
‘Ok. This one next. Jason Wilson. Come on.’
They went to the cells, Corey carrying the injector. With the laser rifle pointed at his heart, Wilson had no choice but to follow Corey to the solitary confinement cell. In one well practised move, Wilson was led into the cell by Fritz, and Corey injected the young man before he knew what had hit him. The usual protestations rang out, ignored by Fritz and Corey, who went about their business while they waited for the drugs to take effect.
* * *
Jason Wilson had no idea what was going on. It had been at least ten days since he had been injected with something that had knocked him out cold. When he had woken up in a cell, this not being his first time, he naturally assumed he had had a night on the town and drank a little too much. A brief conversation with the others in the adjoining cells soon told him otherwise.
One by one they had been taken from the cells, never to return. The others had debated what had happened to those taken at the point of a gun, not to be seen again. He figured he was about to find out. The drixolate was still in his system. He knew that. But if these two jokers didn’t supply him a dose before nightfall, he knew his death would be long and very painful.
Wilson sat on the bunk-bed, contemplating whether or not he had a future. Then he noticed the burn hole in the mattress. That didn’t look good. As he looked around him, he saw the blood spatter on the wall behind him. No. It didn’t look good at all.
Chapter 142
Tilly Jordan sat in her bedroom, looking at the notes on her recorder. She was trying to make sense of what she had. One. All missing people were young men, within the twenty to forty year age group. Two. All were drixolate dependant. Many millions across several planets were. It was no difference on Tryzon as it was on other planets. Three. All were single, or divorced. Not men with family responsibilities. She wasn’t sure why, but she thought that was significant. They were all gainfully employed, mostly with fairly basic jobs. They were all just run of the mill people. Nothing out of the ordinary with any of them.
What about Tryzon? Smallish, reasonable air and water. A stable economy as a tourist destination, small support businesses for that tourism. A modest amount of engineering and self-sufficient in agriculture. Population, a little over nine hundred and seventy thousand, mostly living in Manhatoff. The city was close to the equator, the rest of the planet north and south being frozen wastelands. A range of mountains to the north and south, protected the region from the worst of the polar blasts, and also provided the ski resorts such as the one her stepfather managed. The land surrounding the city was mostly farming land, using many genetically modified plants that survived the cold climate.
Tilly tried to join up the dots. It didn’t make any sense to abduct ten men for forced labour by withholding their sustaining drixolate. It would be uneconomical to transport them to another planet. With a relatively small population like on Tryzon, anyone exploiting people that way would soon be noticed. Their families were not wealthy, so extortion or blackmail wouldn’t work. The men were already drixolate dependent, so again, no point in taking them to make them dependent.
Something was eluding her. One piece of the puzzle tantalisingly out of reach. She had done all she could for the time being, and she knew that Boss and Raven would interpret her coded message that something was very wrong on Tryzon and be getting backup ready to go to her aid the minute she asked for it. She knew neither Boss nor Raven knew where she was, and that suited her plans for the time being. The less radio communication bouncing back and forth could have a remote possibility of being picked up by those responsible, so it wasn’t worth the risk to contact them unless absolutely imperative. Tilly heard her mother’s voice.
‘Tilly. Come and join us for dinner.’
This was the reason for her visit to Tryzon in the first place. To spend quality time with Sally and Ian. Tilly put her work safely away.
‘Coming, Mom.’
Sally Jordan was always a good cook, but had been unable to pass on her culinary skills. Tilly’s talents lay in other directions. Tilly was conscious of the sly glances she was getting from Sally and Ian. She knew that was to be expected after such radical facial reconstruction, but it still made her feel uncomfortable. In time they would get used to it and take her looks for granted, she hoped.
‘I hear our police still have no idea about those young men going missing,’ said Ian, making conversation.
‘I doubt if Tilly knows about it, Ian,’ said Sally.
‘I think I heard something,’ said Tilly. ‘Do you know any of them?’
‘Not really,’ said Ian. ‘One I met a couple of times. Watson. No. Wilson. He has his own little runabout company. He brings visitors to the lodge from time to time. Always a polite young chap.’
‘And these men just vanished, did they?’
Sally said, ‘Yes. Mostly at night. Out for an evening on the town. Never returned home.’
‘All drixolate dependent from what I heard,’ said Ian.
Tilly said, ‘It wouldn’t be their choice to be dependent, Dad.’
‘I know. I’m just saying they were all dependent, that’s all.’
Sally said, ‘Beats my why our scientists haven’t been able to come up with a cure by now.’
‘Hmm. Be worth a fortune if somebody could,’ said Ian.
‘Surely not,’ said Sally. ‘They wouldn’t be allowed to profit from something like that, would they?’
‘Business is business,’ said Ian. ‘There would be costs. Labour. That sort of thing. A company would have to turn a profit to make a cure for millions. Like I said. A lot of money for somebody.’
‘Are you all right, Tilly?’ asked Sally.
‘Sorry? Oh. Miles away. Something you just said, Mom. Say. I don’t want to be rude, but it’s seemed like a long day. I’ll have an early night.’
‘Of course,’ said Sally.
Tilly got up and went to her mom and hugged her. ‘It’s wonderful seeing you two again
.’
Sally smiled. ‘I feel like I’ve got my little girl back again.’
‘You have, Mom. Goodnight, Dad.’
Tilly went to her bedroom and lay on the bed. Something Ian had said was praying on her mind. A lot of money was to be made by anyone finding a cure for the drixolate dependency. Damn. Something. She knew it meant something, but what? She got ready for bed and then lay there, feeling as if the answer was floating about in the air, so close she could snatch it. With that on her mind, she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 143
‘No.’
‘Tagg.’
‘No!
‘Tagg!’
‘No. Boss. I do not want or need an assistant. Joy. Tell him, will you?’
‘Nothing to do with me.’ Joy Dainty was deciding on a choice of maternity-wear, indifferent to the debate. She wasn’t “showing”, but it didn’t hurt to plan ahead.
Boss looked pleadingly at Joy. ‘Joy. This is what I get for a report off this man of yours.’
Joy sighed, unrolled and looked at the screen Boss passed her.
‘An unauthorised un-licenced mining company was suspected of using drixolate in a settlement on Solaron. The workers were recruited with the lure of high wages, only to be turned into drixolate slaves and kept in slum conditions, on a subsistence diet. D S I Military were dispatched and the suspicions were substantiated. Using the illegal drixolate usage law 113, sub-clause B3, evidence was examined and validated, and the management of the settlement were subsequently executed. All slaves were returned home to receive medical treatment and prescribed drixolate medication.’
Boss said, ‘See?’
‘What?’ said Joy. ‘Do you like the blue or the yellow?’
‘The yellow,’ said Boss. ‘Joy. What do you mean, what?’ He had hoped for support off Joy, but didn’t see much. ‘Tagg may as well have written, we found some bad guys and shot them.’
Tagg Raven shrugged and said, ‘I thought I’d pad it out a bit.’
‘Care for more cake, Boss?’ asked Joy. ‘I baked it myself.’
Boss took his third slice. ‘Don’t mind if I do. Is there zest of orange in this?’
‘You noticed. Just a hint.’
‘Very nice. Seriously though, Joy. The whole idea of reports is to build up history, experience and the database. Details. Names. Time-frames. Is this outfit still operating on any other planets? That sort of thing. Butter?’
Raven said, ‘Butter? I missed butter off the report?’
‘No. Butter in the cake or the synthetic stuff?’
‘Fifty-fifty,’ said Joy. ‘A bit of a compromise.’
Boss said, ‘Hmm. A good tip. I’ll remember that. Tagg. You are a great agent, but when it comes to paperwork, you suck.’
Raven said, ‘I just see different priorities to you.’
‘Tagg. You can smell a bad guy halfway across the galaxy. People can learn a lot from you. Which is why I’ve assigned you to the R T D for two days a week.’
‘R T D?’ asked Joy, deciding on both the blue and the yellow smock-dresses.
Raven said, ‘Recruitment Training Division.’
‘Sounds nice,’ said Joy.
‘It is not nice,’ growled Raven. ‘Boss is only punishing me for not having an assistant.’
‘I am not,’ said Boss. ‘Because you are having an assistant. Not up for discussion. The R T D thing, is for you to pass on the experience you have gained in the field, but also, to appreciate the importance of concise reporting of operations. Having to give lectures will…’
‘Bore me to death?’
‘Help you convey your practical work into logical, systematically written and verbal exchanges, that others can benefit from.’
‘If I agree to do the R T D thing, can we forget about the assistant?’
Boss looked at Joy. ‘Is he like this with you? Never listening to anything you say?’
‘He wouldn’t dare. But then, I’m having his baby. You aren’t.’
Boss stood up to leave. ‘No comment. Tagg. Your new assistant starts tomorrow. Be nice to her. And your first R T D class is the day after. Be there at eight. Report to Commander Garfuncle. Nice cake, Joy. I’ll have the recipe off you one day.’
Chapter 144
Tagg Raven expected his day to start badly and go downhill from then on. The ability to smile had skipped his gene-pool and his mood made faking it impossible. Raven was quite consistent in things he hated. Drixolate, being cold, and women with bigger muscles than he had were all high on his list. The woman sitting at the spare desk was shorter but much heavier, and could bench press her own weight without even thinking about it, and that was a lot of weight. Maj Saltoe, fifty-four-years-old, had also come from a long line of descendants born with a natural humour bypass. She had also been warned by Boss about Tagg Raven.
‘Good morning, Agent Raven,’ she scowled.
‘Good morning,’ Raven scowled back.
‘Agent Raven. I think it’s important that we set ground-rules from the offset, just so we understand one another.’
‘You’re a damn civilian, aren’t you? Not D S I at all.’
Saltoe nodded slightly. ‘I’ve been transferred from the general administration office. Boss asked for me quite specifically.’
‘I’m sure he did. What are they?’
‘What are what?’
‘The ground-rules.’
‘Of course. Right. I will be addressed as Miss Saltoe. I will address you as Agent Raven. I will not tolerate rudeness, puns at my expense, inappropriate comments, bad language, or perform unnecessary menial tasks.’
‘Ah!’
‘Ah?’
‘Define menial.’
‘Let me see. Running non-work related errands, typing non-work related…basically, anything non-work related.’
‘Coffee?’
‘Thanks. I’d love one.’
‘Do you make my coffee?’
‘If requested politely, I’ll consider it. No milk in mine, thank you.’
Raven wondered if Boss had bugged his office and was rolling on the floor of his own office laughing hysterically. Payback would come eventually, Raven swore. He made coffee for two and sat at his desk. Saltoe was staring at him in a most disconcerting way.
‘What?’ he asked.
‘I’m waiting for my instructions so I may begin working.’
Raven sipped his coffee and thought about it. ‘Have we had any messages?’
‘Yes.’
‘What are they?’
‘I do not know.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because they are all marked confidential. For your eyes only.’
Raven turned on his computer. ‘Please transfer the messages, Miss Saltoe. Hmm. Mostly junk-mail by the look of it. Nothing classified. You may open all of it.’
‘I see you have one marked urgent from Commander Garfuncle. Requesting a luncheon meeting for this morning. Shall I cancel it for you?’
‘No. Please accept it at the suggested time and place. In fact, I’ll make my way there right now.’
Miss Saltoe raised a disapproving eyebrow at him. ‘But it is only eight fifteen, Agent Raven. The appointment isn’t until eleven-thirty.’
‘Quite right, Miss Saltoe. I’ll have to get my skates on.’
As he went to the door to make his escape, Miss Saltoe asked, ‘What would you like me to do in the meantime, Agent Raven?’
‘Just respond appropriately to the rest of the messages.’
‘Is that all? Nothing else?’
‘Not for now. Page me if anything urgent pops up. In the meantime, if you have any problems, don’t hesitate to solve them.’
‘But Agent…’
Raven was already out of the building.
Chapter 145
Donna Garfuncle, Commander of the Recruitment Training Division, was a sharp and welcome contrast to Miss Saltoe. Late thirties, and a very fit specimen of womanhood, in Raven’s opinion. He stood and
shook her hand, and invited her to sit. Then he called the waiter over and ordered refreshments.
‘You are nothing like what I expected,’ said Raven, admiring…everything. The mane of auburn hair, the green eyes, and lips that could make a man forget to breathe.
‘And you are exactly what I expected, Agent Raven. Then again, Boss did say…’
‘Ah!’ said Raven. ‘Let me put you right. Boss often doesn’t appreciate my finer qualities.’
Garfuncle grinned. ‘I quote. “Raven is the D S I’s most capable and experienced agent.” Unquote.’
‘Hrmm. Well. I…errr..’
‘Agent Raven…’
‘Tagg. Seeing as we are going to be on the same team. ‘
‘Agent Raven. Boss did express concerns about your communications skills. By developing these skills, your experience will be invaluable in training recruits as well as being useful to the D S I in general.’
Raven weighed up his options. Spending two days a week with the delightful Donna Garfuncle, meant two days less with Miss Saltoe. It was a no-brainer.
‘My fiancé is always trying to instil in me the noble art of compromising, which in our case means me doing as I’m told, so I should embrace this as an exciting opportunity.’
Garfuncle stood up. ‘I will be reporting your progress to Boss. You should be aware of that. Tomorrow, Agent Raven, eight sharp.’
‘I’ll be there, Donna.’
‘Commander Garfuncle. Eight sharp.’
Raven watched the shapely rear walk out the door. This wasn’t turning out to be one of his better days. It seemed he now had more bosses than he could shake a stick at. There was the real deal, Boss, and now he’d suddenly acquired two more, and both were female.
‘Maybe I should wrangle myself a mission where I can go shoot people. Cheer myself up.’
Chapter 146
‘But he is coming back?’
Miss Saltoe said, ‘Boss. All I can say for certain, is that Agent Raven is not here at the moment.’
