by James Chalk
What a mess this had turned out to be. Harvey was sure to blame the deaths on me. Perhaps that was for the best, since it would spare Tommy’s poor family from the inquisitors. I wish I had arrived a little sooner. I wish I could have reached Tommy and convinced him to face his future. It is so easy to pull the trigger. And so final. No chance to change your mind. No opportunity for regret. You’re there and then you’re not. And once you’re gone, your family carries the wound for all their years. I know.
I needed to grab the dog and get the fuck out of there before anyone else arrived, but the dog had disappeared. I searched the entire apartment to no avail. While searching, I happened across the Bishop’s data-pad and slipped it into my pocket. I imagined there could be some incriminating evidence about the VIP Lounge or the Bishop’s abuse of young boys like Tommy.
The apartment wasn’t very large. There just weren’t that many places a small dog could hide. I concluded that she must have left through the open front door and was probably wondering the nearby halls. I hurried out to look for her, urgently aware that my time and luck were running out.
I looked all over the private quarters, having to hide several times to avoid detection. But I could not find that fucking little dog. When I had made my way around the floor and back to where the guest apartment was, I heard excited voices. They had found the Bishop, Tommy, and Harvey. They assumed an assassin was in the building and were calling for help. I figured I had about two to five minutes before they initiated a complete lockdown of the building. Then they would search and interrogate everyone. I had to give up looking for the dog and bug out now, or find a really good place to hide until the inquisitors were done. I went with plan A: get the fuck out of Dodge!
Night had fallen. The parking lot lights cast a row of lumpy shadows beyond each row of transports. I stuck to these shadows as I made my way over to the BMW. I was hoping that I could get out of the lot before word got to the inquisitors who were lounging around the doors to the cathedral. Even as I slipped into the vehicle, I saw them receive the call and rush in the doors. I turned to Baihu and said, “Let’s get out of here!”
That’s when I noticed that Baihu was gone.
Chapter 10
Who Let The Cat Out?
“Was it you or I who stumbled first? It does not matter. The one of us who finds the strength to get up first, must help the other.” - Vera Nazarian
“Hearts rebuilt from hope resurrect dreams killed by hate.” - Aberjhani
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” - Benjamin Franklin
*******
“Oh shit!” I thought. “Now what? Where the fuck is she?”
Quickly, I got back out of the BMW and started to look around. I really had no idea where to search and was feeling pretty panicked. “Did she go for another piss, and how the fuck did she get out?” I wondered.
I heard soft voices behind me and whirled around. A young couple emerged from a footpath into the rear of the parking lot and then hurried toward the cathedral. Something about their posture and movements seemed agitated, perhaps frightened? I headed for the path they had been on. Hope and dread battled in my heart as I searched for my furry companion. I began to jog down the path, my head swiveling to take in my surroundings.
The path led to a “cemetery” - a beautifully gardened park, where the strange people of Sanctity choose to store their dead. No shit! They store their dead! They stick the corpse in a sealed synthwood box called a “coffin,” and then they bury the coffin beneath the top soil on the park grounds. They mark each spot with a synthstone sign, giving the dead person’s name, family affiliation, and other information or sentiments. Many of the signs - they call them “tomb stones” - were accompanied by statues depicting angels, religious characters, or various animals. Some of the families had built little synthstone structures - “mausoleums” - where, instead of burying the coffins, they store all their loved ones above ground together. I wondered about the difference. Why do some prefer underground storage and others prefer synthstone storerooms? Well either way, if you ignore the creepiness factor and the fact that in a truly modern society most of those people would still be alive, it is kind of romantic how religiopricks cling to the remains of their loved ones. Maudlin, but romantic.
It’s really only the body storage part that makes it so creepy. I know another colony where they compost the corpse and the remains are used to nurture a tree planted in the dead person’s name. The tree is also marked with a sign, but instead of “Jesus Christ” or the “Holy Ghost,” they give thanks to the “Great Mother” or “Grandfather Spirit.”
The path led down a hill and then split three ways. I paused, unsure which to choose. I didn’t even know if my instincts were right about where Baihu might have gone. I needed to decide, but the cemetery was dark and quiet and provided no clues. I turned up my ears until even the slightest flutter of leaves in the breeze roared and crackled in my head. The sound was overwhelming. All the different noises blended into an indistinguishable auditory mélange. Realizing my mistake, I returned the volume to normal and activated my SAF - Selective Auditory Filter. I began to categorize and eliminate sounds.
All I have to do to filter out a sound is decide that I’m not interested in it; the SAF eliminates the unwanted noise from what I’m hearing. Each time I ran out of sounds to eliminate, I increased the volume. Finally, I found what I was searching for and something extra! In the strangely stark silence left by the SAF, I could clearly hear Baihu’s low chuff and I was startled to also hear little doggy yips. With a thought, I had a bearing to follow and was off running.
I found them a short distance away, beyond a small thicket of trees. They were in a clearing surrounded by a low stone wall. Half a dozen of the tomb stones were arranged in a row at the center of the clearing. All of the stones bore the same family name. Curled at the base of the center tomb stone, just under the words “beloved mother,” was a very happy white tiger.
The Bishop’s greasy little dog was making delighted little yipping noises while she tried to bite the tuft of Baihu’s tail. Each time she got too close, Baihu would whisk the tuft away. A little girl with blond hair tied in a pink bow that matched the one on the dog was lying on her back with her head resting on Baihu’s stomach.
Baihu looked up at me and her chuffing picked up in volume. The tuft of her tail fluttered a greeting and startled the dog who started yapping, while running and hopping in a circle. I couldn’t help but smile as I took in the astonishing scene.
“Hi,” I said to the little girl.
She beamed a heart-melting smile up at me and replied, “Hi, is she yours? She told me it was okay to cuddle. She’s very soft you know!”
I grinned back at her and said, “Yes, I know. Her name is Baihu and you are very welcome to cuddle with her.”
“I’m Annie,” she said. “I’m watch’n the Bisop’s puppy while Tommy an him have a terview.”
My heart seized up in my chest as the realization grew in my head. Annie was Tommy’s little sister. The sleazebag pedophile had used his dog to separate the siblings. The poor girl, who looked so happy and carefree now, was about to have her entire world turned upside down. I tried to fight down the gorge in my throat as tears welled in my eyes.
Annie suddenly sat up and turned away from me to stare into Baihu’s eyes. Meanwhile, the dog came over and started to sniff my feet. I triumphantly scooped her into my arms. Annie turned back and said, “I gots to go now. Gots to be brave for Ma and Pa. Thanks for watching Fifi!” Then she got up and scurried away toward the cathedral.
Still speechless, I stared after her, wondering what had just happened. I fixed my gaze on Baihu. She flicked her tail, stood up and stretched, then sauntered over and began to rub against me. I scratched behind her ears and ruffled her fur. Feeling great relief that I had found her and the dog, I banished my dark thoughts about religious organizations that shelter and promote sexual s
adism and pedophilia. Instead, I focused on my plans to get away: first to the BMW, and then to the spaceport and Intercol. Once off Sanctity, I was never, ever going back. Fuck that place and all the religiopricks in it!
“This way,” I called to Baihu as I set out for the parking lot. Baihu loped in front of me for a while and then suddenly veered away from the lot. I called out, but she just paused, looked at me, and then took off again. I hurried to catch up, barely able to keep her in sight as she streaked through the cemetery.
Near the far end of the grounds, I followed her into one of the mausoleums and shut the door behind us. I wasn’t quite sure if it was to hide us from the outside or to keep Baihu from running off again; either way seemed like a good idea. I looked around, but there was not much to see - only three stone walls covered with carvings and inscriptions. I figured the stone was a facade covering up the creepy corpse coffins. There were no windows and the only exit was through the door behind me.
It was a good, defensible hiding place, but I didn’t like that we were trapped inside. As a matter of fact, I didn’t like it a lot! The walls felt so close. I wondered if they could be moving closer? I wanted out before they crushed me! I reached for the door with my right hand as my left struggled to hold the dog, who had started to squirm. I felt Baihu’s jaws clamp gently but firmly around my right forearm. She was not going to let me open the door. I sighed and gave in. Baihu released me and I released Fifi, who ran over to the corner and peed.
I stepped into the center of the mausoleum, took a deep breath, and swung my arms back and forth. I focused on how the room was really much bigger than I had been imagining and of course the walls weren’t closing in. It must have been all the creepy corpses fucking with my head! My heart rate returned to normal and the adrenaline subsided without me artificially suppressing it.
Baihu settled down in front of the door and resumed taunting Fifi with her tail. I needed something to distract my mind, to keep from spiraling back into claustrophobia. I pulled out the Bishop’s data-pad and began to peruse his files. There were a lot of them, too many for more than a quick skim. I decided that it would be easier if I uploaded the entire contents of the pad to my neurointerface. That way I could delegate a personal search agent to cull through the data for items that might interest me.
Once the upload was complete, I set the agent loose. It was only a few moments before tidbits of knowledge about the Bishop’s business began bubbling up from my subconscious processes…
I suddenly understood that the bikini bar was just a small part of the operation. “Meat dolls” were being shipped all over the colony and even more were being exported off colony….
Abruptly I knew that the Bishop worked for Father Timothy and he had been blackmailing priests and other VIPs at Father Timothy’s behest…
I also knew that the Bishop was the man behind a number of Father Timothy’s “special” projects…
I remembered that Brenda and I had been called “Specials” …
“Specials”…
My heart was pounding, my emotions far out-pacing my intellect, as I processed the revelation that word summoned from the search agent. My mind suspended almost all further thought. Brenda and I were not the only “Specials”…
There were others! There was Carla! CARLA WAS ALIVE!!!
Or, at least she had been very recently. Carla had been sent by the Bishop to Father Timothy as a “special gift.” Apparently the Bishop had noticed that the usually sexually disinterested Father was attracted to the bikini-bar’s weapons check girl. So the Bishop had his private security team invade Carla’s house, kill her parents, kidnap her, and leave a dead “meat doll” in her place.
That sick fucking bishop was so lucky to be dead because, at that moment, all I wanted was to spend eternity tormenting his fat ass!
I started to pace. My rage toward the Bishop was quickly replaced with anxiety for Carla. Was she still alive? What had they done to her? What might they be doing to her even as I stood there? I had to do something. I had to get to her immediately!
I headed toward the door, but Baihu started to growl a warning. She was not letting me anywhere near the frigging exit. “Shit!” I thought, “Well she can’t stop me from networking into the BMW’s sensor suite. And the Inquisition is way too backward to detect me. So, here goes…”
I used my neurointerface to access the BMW. The sights and sounds of the parking lot streamed into my visual and auditory processes, but not in an overlay and not as a replacement for my external senses, which would be way too dangerous. Instead, I used some of the Harkon military wetware my royal status had ‘earned.’
The BMW’s sensor stream projected into my mind simultaneously with my own senses. Kind of like when you see something and at the same time hear a sound. Your brain has no problem multitasking sight and sound, they are processed in parallel. This is no different; it’s just two more parallel channels. You see with your eyes and through the stream without any confusion. Same goes for your hearing. It’s really very cool! However, I wasn’t thinking about that then. I just wanted to get back to the BMW and go save Carla.
The parking lot was almost empty and the big security commotion I was expecting was nowhere to be seen. I realized they must have been covering up the death, and any search for me would be clandestine until the news broke.
Baihu arose and began to pace the floor. I watched her motion, admiring the supple play of her muscles across her still maturing body. At the same time, I watched the last members of the congregation drive away. The lot had emptied except for a smattering of unattended vehicles that probably belonged to staff members.
Baihu’s pacing became more urgent. She seemed tense. I wondered if I should instruct the BMW to become invisible. I weighed the odds of someone noticing it fade away against someone wondering about the strange vehicle. I tried to see inside the cathedral windows, but they were all stained glass.
Baihu stepped up to the door and began to scratch at it while huffing and whining. The beautiful white fur on her back was standing straight up. Fifi was barking from between my ankles.
I’m not stupid. A little dense sometimes, but not dumb. I grabbed Fifi and threw open the door. Baihu burst outside and down the path. I sped after her. Moments later I found myself on the ground curled around Fifi. She was licking my face and dual explosions were ringing in my ears. My connection to the BMW was gone. I looked behind me and saw a smoking crater where the mausoleum had been. Looking up, I saw another cloud of smoke was rising from the parking lot at the top of the hill.
Baihu roared and took off down the hill. Once again, I grabbed Fifi and followed my tiger. She set a punishing pace, crashing through thickets and leaping hedges with abandon. I caught up with her at the bottom of the hill. We cut left behind another mausoleum and made a quick right to head out the gates of the cemetery. Once beyond the gate, we turned and ran parallel to the wall.
Behind us, a section of wall exploded outwards in a huge gout of fire and stone. My eyes tracked the vector back to a man on a hoverbike. He saw me see him and nodded, launching two more micro-missiles from the front of his bike. They only missed us because Baihu and I accelerated well-beyond anything he could have reasonably expected.
Suddenly, Baihu came to a complete stop. At her feet was a round, man-sized hatch. I grabbed it and threw it open. Baihu jumped in with Fifi and me right behind. I pulled the hatch closed. We were in one of the underground maintenance tunnels that line all of Sanctity’s rings. I pulled out my multitool and used its nanowelder to permanently seal the hatch. Our pursuer would be able to find another access point, or just blow a hole in this one, but at least it would slow him down.
With no time to waste, we began to run through the warren of tunnels, randomly choosing our turns, hoping to lose our pursuer amongst the myriad pipes and conduits. It was well into the night and the tunnels were empty. The sparsely spaced lights did little in the way of actual illumination, broadly spreading shadows around
small pools of glare that seemed more designed to ruin your night vision than help you see where you were going. Except not for me. My night vision is enhanced. With a thought, the glare from the lights faded and the shadows brightened. I could easily see anyplace I looked.
Soon, we were lost deep within the maintenance substructure. Hopeful that we had eluded our pursuer, I stopped to rest. I dared not put Fifi down, so I sat on a pipe with her in my lap. Baihu noticed and returned to stand nearby. Uninterested in sitting, she watched the tunnel from whence we came. It made me nervous, so I reactivated my SAF and cranked up the volume. Sure enough, I could hear them.
The leader was whispering commands, “Ralph, take point. Ed, you’re the sweeper. The rest of you, watch your spacing and keep sharp.”
“So, at least five guys, maybe more?” I thought while Baihu began a low growl, deep in her throat.
“Easy girl,” I said, reaching down to stroke her fur. But she was gone again! Even though the nearest intersection was a good hundred yards away, I couldn’t see her anywhere.
“Oh fuck! How the fuck did she do that?” I thought. “Which way did she go?”
My still-amplified ears heard a meaty ‘thunk,’ followed by a dragging sound. I smiled grimly and headed toward the noise. Before I even made the intersection, I heard another ‘thunk,’ and then the screaming started. The volume overrides cut in and I deactivated the SAF as I started to run toward the noise. Baihu’s deafening battle roar filled the tunnel, followed by more screams and the explosive blasts of ballistic weapons.
