The Off-Worlders

by George Willson

  “I'm listening,” Blake said. “Why have you been following us?”

  “You spoke to the police about the murder at the warehouse on third,” the man said with an accent that Michelle had never heard before. It was not very heavy and did not make his difficult to understand, but it was just unfamiliar to her. “I want to know how you got in there.”

  “We were just checking the sights and walked in,” Blake said. “I heard something interesting was there, so I figured we’d check it out.”

  “And I’m sure the police bought that nonsense,” the man said. “But I called the cops myself, and I was watching that building the whole time. They arrived and brought you out. How did you get in?”

  “Through a door,” Blake said.

  “Try again,” the man said.

  “Try what again?” Blake asked.

  “I was watching all the doors, and at no point did I see you outside that building, nor did I see you enter it. If you had wandered down the sidewalk and walked inside, I would believe you, but the fact of the matter is that that warehouse was empty when I left it, but when the police showed up, you turned up as well. Explain that.”

  “Explain yourself,” Blake countered. “Your English is perfect, but you’re not from around here, are you? And by that, I mean this solar system.”

  “What are you talking about?” the man chuckled. “I’m from Northern Russia, and we have a very unfamiliar dialect up there.”

  “So unfamiliar that it sounds like Ashkelian a little bit?” Blake asked. “That’s from the planet of Torlets, I believe, not unlike your rather fascinating shirt.”

  “How could you possibly know that?” the man said in a hollow voice like a man who had been caught in a terrible lie. “Are you from Torlets?”

  “No, but we have come a long way,” Blake said. “We sort of appeared inside the warehouse when we arrived.”

  “Matter transportation is illegal,” the man said.

  “We didn’t use matter transportation,” Blake said.

  “Wait, so like transporters are illegal?” Perry asked, interrupting them.

  “Later, Perry,” Blake sighed.

  “No way, man, you never told me that,” Perry said. “It’s like all my dreams have been shattered.”

  “Who are you people?” the man said. “If you didn’t use matter transportation, how did you get inside that warehouse without me seeing you?”

  “Simplest explanation is an interdimensional portal,” Blake said. “It creates a sort of space-time gap, and you step through. It’s precision point to point eliminates the legal hassles of matter transport, it doesn’t kill you by converting you to energy, and there is no chance of clones, accidental or otherwise.”

  “You know your laws,” the man said. “I’ve not heard of interdimensional portals, though. I’ll have to look into that when I get back home.”

  “Speaking of home,” Blake said. “Where are you from, and what did happen at that warehouse?”

  “I am a policeman from the Orleng Federation,” the man said. “My name is Pingrit Talkisan. I am on Terra in pursuit of a criminal who we’d been tailing and traced to this world.”

  “And this victim was your target?” Blake asked.

  “Yes,” Pingrit confirmed. “When I caught up with him in that warehouse, I tried to apprehend him. Unfortunately, he fought with me, and one of my swings went a bit awry and caught him in the throat. Our standard procedure to alleviate the problem of corpse transportation is to report the death and provided the deceased resembles the local population, allow them to deal with the cleanup. If he had looked like a Nufalet or a Kursas, I would have had to have taken him with me, but since he was human, I could leave him here.”

  “So if your job is done,” Blake said. “Why are you still here? And more to the point, why are you talking to us?”

  “I wanted to know where you came from, and why you were talking to the cops,” Pingrit said. “This planet is outside of the Galactic Federation and off limits due to its technological developmental levels.”

  “We were speaking to the police because they found us next to a corpse,” Blake said. “We did nothing wrong, and we have a standard story we stick to on our different planets. We’ve found that cooperating is the easiest way to get released. It works most of the time.

  “As for why we’re here, you should know that the Federation routinely assesses technological development, and we’re on the team that does that from time to time. We actually just came off a holiday on Sarakis in the Yani system. You ever been there?”

  Pingrit shook his head. Michelle hoped she would not be cross examined on this one. Even now, she would not be able to tell anyone the planet and system Blake just said.

  “What we do,” Blake continued, “is visit planets all over the known galaxy to assess their technological levels and weigh them against our charts to deliver a Viability for Inclusion Report to our superiors. Our input is vital to the decisions made in upper management when it comes to planetary inclusion in the Federation. Earth is still a long way off, so we’ll have to revisit them in a decade or so, but this work is so important. You don’t get Intergalactic Law to work unless everyone is on the same page, am I right?”

  Pingrit nodded, apparently barely able to keep up with Blake’s spiel.

  “Do you have a ship here, Pingrit?” Perry asked.

  “Of course I do,” Pingrit said. “What did you tell the cops when you were cooperating with them?”

  “Just that we were tourists and wandered in there by accident,” Michelle said. “We always say that. It allows us to be unfamiliar with the local laws and such and law enforcement is usually easier on us that way.”

  “We also promised to let him know which hotel we were at,” Perry said. “We can’t forget that.”

  “Why does that matter?” Pingrit asked.

  “Because we don’t need him checking up on us,” Blake said. “Again, cooperating with local law enforcement. If we work with them, we seem less like suspects in a murder on which they will apparently find no more leads. Our stay will likely need to be short, so he doesn’t decide to come back around to us.”

  “Didn’t have much else to tell past that,” Michelle said. “We only just got here.”

  “It kind of worked in our favor,” Perry added.

  “The only problem we had was that none of us are carrying a phone,” Blake noted. “By this time in history, everyone is walking around constantly connected to everyone else. It gets worse before it gets better. Of course, that meant the detective was really confused when none of us had a phone.”

  “What do you mean, ‘it gets worse before it gets better?’” Pingrit asked.

  “Not important,” Blake said. Michelle had realized that Blake had not said anything about time travel, so the implication that he knew what was to come would probably come off as strange to Pingrit. “So how long as you been here?”

  “It took about a week in Terran time to find the man,” Pingrit said, “So not that long.”

  “I suppose you’ll be leaving soon then since your guy is dead,” Perry said.

  “Well, there’s a problem,” Pingrit said looking a bit sheepish. “Turns out I need something off the body.”

  “That would have been good to know before you called the police,” Blake said.

  “The thing is, I called the police and stayed there until they arrived, and I saw you all leaving,” Pingrit explained. “I reported in what had happened, and they said it was all right, but they need what the man stole off of his ship. I found his ship, but it is only accessible with a badge that he has on him. I didn’t realize it was even there. I didn’t search him when it was over. Didn’t even think of it. Now the cops have him.”

  “That’s some bad luck,” Perry said.

  “What are you going to do?” Blake asked.

  “Steal it from the morgue, of course,” Pingrit said.

  “They won’t leave the deceased clothed in the morgue,”
Blake said.

  “They won’t?” Pingrit said in surprise.

  “They usually strip the body for examination and put personal effects in a storage room,” Perry said. “Or that’s what I get from crime dramas.”

  “So they’ll put that badge somewhere in their facility,” Pingrit said. “How am I supposed to find it? This is such a mess. I’m really going to get it this time.”

  “Trouble at work, I assume,” Perry said.

  “I’m on my last leg out there,” Pingrit admitted. “I was supposed to come down here, grab the fugitive, and bring him and his cargo back. I killed the fugitive, and I can’t get to the cargo. I’m off the force for sure.”

  “Well, it is possible that they won’t strip and store the deceased’s belongings tonight,” Blake suggested. It might not happen until tomorrow. The coroner might have already gone home.”

  “That’s hopeful,” Perry said.

  “So you might be able to break into the morgue and get what you need,” Michelle said. “I can’t imagine the morgue would be too heavily guarded.”

  “Would they have even moved the body yet?” Perry asked.

  “Whether they have or not, the area would be blocked off,” Blake said. “No one will be leaving that place alone for hours.”

  “What if we intercepted it in transit?” Perry asked.

  “Are you serious?” Pingrit asked.

  “Plausible,” Blake said. “If we could acquire the vehicle carrying the body to stop, we might have a chance to get at it. There would probably only be the driver and a partner. We just might have time.”

  “You all are going to help me get this back then?” Pingrit asked hopefully.

  “Sure, why not?” Perry asked.

  “We just need a few minutes to get our thoughts together,” Blake said. “Can we meet you downstairs in five minutes?”

  “Sure,” Pingrit said. “I actually rented a car to get around town. It is far more convenient than walking.”

  “That’s for sure,” Perry agreed.

  “I’ll be waiting for you downstairs,” Pingrit said.

  After Pingrit had left, Blake waited a moment to make sure he was gone. He looked out in the corridor to confirm they were alone before closing them back in the room.

  “What are you thinking?” Perry asked seeing that look on Blake’s face.

  “He’s lying about something,” Blake said. “He’s not from Earth. That much is true. Everything else though… He needs that badge to access that person’s ship. But is he an interstellar policeman? Not sure. Was the victim actually a fugitive? Also uncertain. We’ll proceed as we planned in investigating the area and the crime and such, but we need to be wary of this Pingrit Talkisan.”

  “Should we check in with the detective before we go?” Michelle asked.

  “Yes,” Blake said. “Go to your rooms and make the call. He might be able to see the number calling him, so we want to ensure it is different for each of us.”

  “We can’t just blow him off?” Perry asked.

  “As we said a moment ago, this will be a crime with no answer,” Blake said. “They’ll keep backtracking until they find someone to pin it on. If we are the least bit uncooperative, that someone will be us. Better to be safe about it. You and Michelle are probably still out there somewhere. I’d hate for your future selves to be called in over this.”

  “I like how you said ‘probably,’” Perry said.

  “Eh, it’s habit,” Blake said.

  They all split up to spend a moment in their rooms to do what they needed to do as well as contacting the detective. They each called him in turn, and to each he gave a curt acknowledgment and thanks before hanging up. From there, they all descended together in the elevator and found Pingrit waiting for them in a full-sized sedan. They piled into the car, and the next piece of the adventure began.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Pingrit traveled through the streets with Blake in the front seat and Michelle and Perry in the back. It was a very short drive from the hotel to the warehouse, and Pingrit stopped at a street corner about a block away from their target. They walked down the street until they found the building, and they were quite happy to see the white coroner’s van still parked out front with its back doors open.

  “Do you think it's loaded yet?” Michelle asked.

  “I don't think they would leave the doors open if it were,” Blake said.

  “Could we just swipe the body once it’s loaded?” Perry asked.

  “Not likely,” Pingrit said. “There are police officers all over the place. The chances of getting all the way over there without being seen, taking a human body, and getting out are slim to none.”

  “Not only that,” Blake noted, “but once they load the body, they’ll be looking to leave immediately, so we’d be trying to open the van doors in the back as the driver and escort are getting in the front. As if that weren’t enough, if they catch us over here, we’ll probably end up in jail because we were already brought in for questioning from the scene of the crime. Anything we can do to stay out of sight and be as subtle as possible will work to our favor.”

  “So we’re not going over there,” Michelle said.

  “Definitely not,” Blake said.

  “We could try to catch it en route,” Pingrit suggested.

  “Between here and the police station?” Michelle asked.

  “Taking it to the station will depend on whether they have a morgue there,” Pingrit said. “Most of the time, the morgue is somewhere else. Once they’re done on site, they’re mostly done with the victim, but they’ll keep him on ice somewhere.”

  “From where we stand, banking on the station is all we have,” Blake said. “If we miss that, we’ll have to chase down wherever the morgue is. So from here, if I recall correctly, the police station was about a mile to the west. The van is facing this direction, and there appears to be a path leading out from that mess this way as well. The policemen standing right there will move that barrier out of the way for the van when it’s time for it to go.”

  “The road where I parked goes directly to the station,” Pingrit said. “Or along the side of it.”

  “That should work perfectly,” Blake said. He pulled his scanner out of his pocket and reviewed it briefly before he put it away.

  “What was that?” Pingrit asked.

  “My cell phone,” Blake lied. “The body is still in there. There is time to head down that road and prepare to stop the coroner van so you can snag the body out of the back. I’d like to get closer to what’s going on over there.”

  “You aren’t coming with us?” Michelle asked.

  “I want to see if I can overhear anything regarding their investigation,” Blake said. “If we end up in the middle of it, I want to know what they think they know so we can work around it.”

  “We don’t have a plan for stopping the van at this point,” Perry said.

  “So we’ll make one,” Pingrit said. “That fugitive was a lightweight. I can carry him myself. I don’t need any help with him. You two just figure out how you want to stop the van.”

  “Where are we going after this?” Blake asked.

  “I’m sorry?” Pingrit asked.

  “You said you needed access to the guy’s ship,” Blake explained. “I assume you know where that is.”

  “Oh, sure,” Pingrit said. “It’s in the wooded area right over there.” He pointed to a tree line right behind the warehouse.

  “It’s right here?” Michelle asked. “That’s convenient.”

  “It was where I traced him to finally,” Pingrit said. “I should have known he’d stick close to his ship.”

  “You all had better get going,” Blake said. “They’re carrying the body out now. I’m sure it’ll be a few before they leave, but it won’t be long, and you’ll want to be ready.”

  The three nodded, and they ran back down the street to the corner where Pingrit had parked. Going on the assumption that the van would travel dow
n the most convenient road to the station, they went about another block and a half before stopping at an alley between buildings. This part of town had a lot of apartment and condo style buildings which were multi-story and shared walls between them with the occasional alley which was little more than a walkway to storage behind the buildings about every half a block or so. Cars were parked along the street on both sides of the two-lane road leaving very little room for error for any driver brave enough to drive down it. They looked down the street to the west and could see the lights of the police station a little over a dozen blocks away.

  “So there are two guys in that van,” Perry said. “It’s just a van, so we either have to knock these guys out, or we have to distract them to the point that Pingrit can open the back door, swipe the stiff, and then close it without being noticed.”

  “This is going to involve walking in front of the van, isn’t it?” Michelle asked.

  “They won’t be going very fast, and there is certainly a risk to it,” Perry said.

  “I don’t want to just pop out from between these cars,” Michelle said.

  “Be walking down the street already,” Pingrit said. “They’ll see you out there without any surprise and slow down in plenty of time.”

  “So much for subtle,” Perry said.

  “I could just give them a clueless look like I don’t understand why they’re honking at me,” Michelle said.

  “Even if one of them gets out, that isn’t enough,” Perry said.

  “How can we get both of them out?” Michelle asked.

  “I’ve got something,” Perry said.

  “The van is coming,” Pingrit said.

  “Follow my lead,” Perry said. “Just be sure and act really stupid and helpless. You have to make them do everything.”

  They ran out into the single lane of traffic and started walking. Despite all the things she had done, nothing made her more nervous than attempting to stop a van by walking in front of it. One distracted conversation and they would both be flattened. They heard the noise of the van’s engine close in behind them and then rev down. Michelle was grateful it slowed. She channeled her best “old person walk,” and then opted to take Perry’s arm as if they were supporting each other. The van honked. They ignored it. Her heart skipped a beat nervously. The van stopped, and one of its doors opened and closed.