by Frank Carey
"Well, the off-switch we got from the Negrue didn't work, and I'm not sure if my fire breath will work a second time. We need a backup plan."
"I'm on it, Kel, but I could use some help."
"Robot? Feel like some old fashioned sleuthing?" Maeve asked Rex.
"Sure," he replied. "How about you, Percy?"
The young Tegan got up and joined the others at the computer console.
"I've got to call in a report to EMEF Command. They need to know what we found," Nayla said. "Kel, what about you?"
"I need to study the record to find out everything I can about the Tegan in that picture, the weapon they created, and the monster they planned to use it against."
"Copy that. Hey, Kel, you do remember that it's not your responsibility to kill the mutated samsar copy, right?"
Kel just smiled at her while he brought records up on the holo display.
"Damn crazy dragon," Nayla muttered as she got to work contacting her leadership.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Flashback
Gus sat at the bar, finishing his report to a client over a beer and a fish sandwich. Say what you will, but Storens truly loved fish—raw, seared, broiled, baked, it didn't matter. Gus preferred his batter-dipped and deep fried, London-style with chips and slaw.
"Mister Curran?"
Gus turned and saw an elf woman in a black blazer and pencil skirt. She was stunning. "Yes, I'm Gustav Curran. What can I do for you?"
"My name is Neta Tavish..."
He looked up and stared at her. "Agent Neta Tavish! My gods, how long has it been? Ten, maybe fifteen years? You haven't aged a day. How do you do it?"
Neta gave him the classic WTF look. "You have me at a disadvantage, Mr. Curran. Have we met before?"
"Ventos Prime General Hospital. I was part of the crew of the freighter River’s Edge. You were investigating my father's involvement in an antiquities smuggling operation. You were very stern. Are you still stern?"
Her eyes crinkled with belated recognition. "Yes, of course. I remember now. You seem to have found a path in life after such a terrible loss."
"Yes, it seems I have. What about you? Still an R-Sec agent?"
"Actually, I'm the director now."
"Heavens, the Director of Ventos Prime Royal Security is looking for me? Please, have a seat," he said while pulling out a stool from under the bar. "Or do you prefer a table?"
"The bar will do, thanks."
"Can I get you a drink?"
"Sure. A unicorn fart," she replied while stealing a chip from his plate.
He raised an eyebrow. "Jerry," he called to the Alturan barkeep, "a unicorn fart for the lady."
All three of Jerry's eyes swung around to stare at Neta. "Damn. Coming right up."
"I had one of those while on a job," Gus said. "Went blind for three days."
"Your physiology isn't compatible with some of the ingredients. How are the eyes doing now?"
A Storen's eyes were twice the size of an elf’s. He put his face close to hers. "Working very well, thank you. Tell me, what's a beautiful woman like you looking for in a place like this?"
"I remember, now, that charm of yours. Do you use that line on all your clients?"
"No, not since a Goranthi took offense and tried to break my jaw." Jerry took this moment to deliver the drink. He used radiation-proof gloves and tongs to place an armored metal mug on the counter top. Vapor and sparks flowed out of the cup and down its sides.
Neta picked it up bare handed and downed half of it. "Damn, Jerry, that's good."
Jerry removed his safety goggles and nodded thanks before heading off to serve other customers.
"OK, I'm impressed," Gus said. "What can I do to impress you?"
She opened her jacket and took a photo from an inside pocket. She handed it to him. "Have you heard of the Erdexi?"
"Yeah. An offshoot of the Erdexi, the Halcyons—or is it the other way around?—tried to start a war with the Martok."
"Correct. A lot of very old Erdexi artifacts made their way onto the black market where they were sold to unsuspecting buyers. Many of them were dangerous before OffSec retrieved them and sent them to the Cube for disposal. The picture you're holding is of a highly-dangerous experimental device thought to have been destroyed fifty thousand years ago. It’s called a nucleonic bomb."
"How big is it?"
She reached into her purse and pulled out a lipstick case.
"Highly-dangerous?"
"One megaton equivalent. Not quite Tennosh-sized," she said, referring to the planet nearly destroyed right before the onset of the Martok incident, "but it will ruin someone's day if it goes off. Here is its file." She handed him a folder .
Opening it, he scanned through its contents. "Ummm. Yeah, I can do this."
She handed him a single page contract. "Are these sufficient fees?" she asked while pointing to a table.
He signed the paper and handed it back to her. "Where will you be in three days?"
"Three days? I'll be at the Cube for a meeting. Why?"
He handed her a card. "Call me if your plans change." He reached into a vest pocket and pulled out a credit note. "Keep the change," he said as he handed it to Jerry.
"Wow, thanks buddy."
"Consider it hazard pay." He took Neta's hand and kissed the back of it before she could withdraw it. "Enchanté, Mademoiselle. Until we meet again."
"Right," was all she could muster for a reply as the Storen walked out. "Is he for real? Three days? We've been looking for that thing for months."
"Oh, he's the real deal alright," Jerry replied. "He once found a client's ring before she knew it was missing. He has the gift. He's also been touched by the Creator."
"Huh?" she said after finishing her drink.
"He returned from the dead," Jerry replied as she walked away, drying a glass with a bar mop as he went.
"Huh?"
###
Neta returned to her office and set up a search of all databases for any information about Gustav Curran. The search turned up a blank prior to a few years ago—no mention whatsoever of the River’s Edge incident. He suddenly appeared on the private investigator scene when he found the kidnapped child of an Earth ambassador. After that, stories appeared chronicling his finding of things and people. It was as if he dropped from the sky to find things. Even the most sophisticated searches turned up nothing prior to his finding the kid.
"Computer, deep scan League database concerning Gustav Curran. Is there any evidence of erasure or deletion?"
"Working... There is a 1% discrepancy in data prior to the ambassador's child being kidnapped and found. This suggests extremely sophisticated erasure of data, possibly using a class twelve holoworm program."
"Class twelve! Is the data conclusive enough to get a search warrant?"
"No. No crime has been committed, so there is no basis for a warrant."
"What's your secret, Gus?" she asked while sitting back and twirling a pencil.
###
Three days later, Neta arrived at the Cube for her meeting with Director Ciara Devlin. When she got to Ciara's office, the Director's assistant informed her that Director Devlin was called away, but that Neta was to meet her at another location. A security force arrived and escorted Neta to the meeting place.
"LT, where are we going?" she asked the Katalan team leader.
"Weapons Lab 32. Someone brought in a nasty, and the Director was called in to observe it's disarming."
"Never a dull moment, eh, LT?"
"Not here, ma'am. Here we are," she said while a team member palmed the lock. The door opened to an observation room. The viewer showed the interior of a remote asteroid lab where only the worst of the worst was handled. Neta recognized Ciara immediately. It took her a moment before she recognized Ciara's guest. "Gus?"
"Hey, Director," he said while handing her an invoice. "As promised."
"You... You found it?"
"Oh, he found it alright," Ciara noted. "Even br
ought it in contained inside a temporal stasis chamber. Good thing too, since it's about to blow. We're trying to salvage it..." A flash of light signaled failure as the image disappeared. Ciara turned to Gus. "Nice work, Gus. Stop by my office on the way out. I have a job that's up your alley."
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "Thanks." He turned to leave, but stopped to take Neta's hand and kiss the back of it. "Enchanté, Mademoiselle. Jusqu'à ce que nous reverrons."
"Until we meet again," a bemused Ciara translated for the befuddled elf.
They watched Gus leave. "Who the hell is he?" Neta asked.
"Charming," Ciara replied. "Come on. You have a briefing to give.”
###
Ciara finished feeding her plant things and was putting away the dishes, when her assistant called over the intercom. "Yes, Zen?"
"A Mr. Curran is here to see you."
"Curran? Oh, yes, the finder. Send him in."
The office door opened followed by Zen walking in with Gus close behind. "Will there be anything else, Director?"
"Nope. Thanks, Zen." She reached into her fridge and pulled out two beers. "Drink?"
"Yes, thanks," Gus said. Taking the proffered bottle, he used a claw to pop the top. "They still make these?"
"Craft brewery near my family home on Earth. They also make pop-top cans."
He took a drink. "Nice. Thank you. Plant things?" he asked while nodding toward their enclosure.
She nodded. "For many years now. Do you collect?"
"No, but I once visited the sanctuary on Stora. In fact, I did a job for them recently."
"What kind of job, if I may ask?"
"A find and retrieve. A Semper Augustus Thingus went missing. It took a couple of days, but I was able to retrieve it."
"A Semper! That's the most valuable plant thing in the League! You got to see it?"
"I found it on Earth—some kid had taken it home as a souvenir. The poor thing was traumatized, so I held it all the way back to Stora."
"I've always wanted to see one," Ciara noted. "But the sanctuary's waiting list is a mile long."
"Yeah, the kid's mom is some corporate muckety-muck on Earth which is how he got to see Charlotte." Gus grabbed a pen and a pad from the table and wrote something. He tore the page off and handed it to Ciara. "The sanctuary's director told me to contact her if I wanted anything. Here's her private number. Tell her Gus sent you."
Ciara nearly melted. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yep. Oh, and Charlotte loves being stroked under the forward petals. So, you mentioned something about a job?"
"Right, job," she said as she carefully placed the paper in the top drawer of her desk and locked it. "You're discrete, right?"
"Of course."
"Good. One of my employees needs help finding an object."
"An object? Is it bigger than a breadbox?"
"It’s a small statue of a Sokuhl deity. She needs to put it back before Monday morning."
Gus leaned against the back of a chair and gave the Director a long look. "I... Never mind. Sure, I'll take the job. Standard fee plus expenses. Who's this agent... Excuse me, where can I find this employee?"
"Her name is Dr. Sheila Minty. Where's your ship docked?"
"Bay eighteen."
"She'll be waiting for you there."
"How will I know her?"
"Here's her picture." The director handed him a photo of a young Sokuhl woman with intense eyes.
"A doctor?"
"Doctor of Political Science."
"Cool. Well, I should not keep the doctor waiting," he said as he held out his hand. She pushed it aside and opted instead for a hug. Smiling, Gus left the office and headed to the docking bay to meet his guest.
He arrived at the departure lounge and visually swept the area, looking for his passenger. He found her near the bar, talking to the human barkeep.
"I'm telling you, the Demons will be in the playoffs. Mark my word!"
"Dr. Minty? My name is Gustav Curran, and I..."
"Gotta go," she said to the keep before downing the remains of her drink and dropping a couple of large credit notes on the bar.
"Thanks, Sheila. Hey, Gus," the keep said to the Storen. "Time for a cold one?"
"Hey, Marv. Not today. Got a job. Doctor, do you have any luggage?"
"I bribed the ground crew to load it aboard your ship. Who calls their ride Furball, anyway?"
"I do."
"Right. Swell. Shall we go?"
Gus realized he was talking to the leading edge of a storm.
"Let's."
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
"Hardy116 to Irithyl actual, do you copy? Over," Nayla said over the secure and scrambled comm channel.
"Hardy116 this is actual. Go for transmission."
Nayla pressed a button on the console which sent a compressed and encrypted copy of her report to headquarters through two transgalactic gates and the hypercomm system back in the Milky Way galaxy. She waited for a response.
And waited...
Then waited for a little longer.
"Actual, this is Hardy116 requesting confirmation of reception of report, over."
"Reception of report confirmed, Hardy116. Standby."
"Standby? Are they kidding me?"
"Nayla, this is Royce. Do you copy? Over."
The general never used his first name when he was talking with her. This had to be bad. "Yes, Royce, I'm receiving you five by five, over."
"How accurate is this information?"
"Kel thinks it’s authentic. Sir, what the hell's going on?"
"Put on your headphones," he said.
She complied. "OK, headphones are on. What's up?"
"We sent in a team to destroy the samsar after retrieving a sample of the weapon. That was hours ago. So far, attempts at contact have been unsuccessful."
"Sir, why?"
"Your last report convinced us that you were overmatched, that this samsar was way more powerful than we thought. We felt it was time to implement our contingency plan, so we sent in Team One."
"Sana Irithyl's team? Shit, sir! What do you want us to do?"
"Stand down from your mission. The samsar is active. Once it finishes with Team One, it will more than likely head toward the expedition and their insurgent friends. We'll take it from here. Under no circumstances are you to tell Dr. Hardy and his team what is going on else you risk his life and the lives of his companions. Do you understand, Nayla? Stand down, immediately."
"Yes, sir. I understand. Nayla out." The young Sokuhl leaned back in her seat and pondered resigning. When she opened her eyes, she found everyone in the room looking at her.
"What's up. Cuz?" Kel asked.
"There's been a complication. We've been ordered to stand down immediately."
"Why?" Kel asked.
"I can't get into it, but those are my orders."
"I see. And if we don't obey those orders?"
"I could lose my job. Maybe end up in jail. Some of us could get killed and that would be on..." She dropped to the ground as a stun bolt hit her. Heads turned to Dash.
"What? If she's stunned then she can't be court-martialed. Help me get her into the cabin."
Kel walked over and picked his cousin up, then carried her to the bed in one of the cabins. Once she was safely inside and disarmed, Dash locked her in. "Think she'll be mad?"
Kel looked at the Logash. "Nah. I do suggest you make out a will, though."
"Wonderful. Gracie, be a darling and play back the conversation Nayla had on the radio."
"Sir, this course of action could anger the major."
"More than stunning her?"
"I see your point. Working..." In moments, the complete conversation between Nayla and Royce played-back over the cabin speakers.
"Damn, this just gets better and better," Rex noted.
"Sir, we are twenty minutes out from orbital insertion," Gracie informed Dash.
"What do you want to do, Kel?" Maeve asked.
"The six of us have to save the expedition members, EMEF Team One, and the insurgents from a threat none of us know much about."
"I think the scientific term for that type of mission is 'Snowball's chance in hell,'" Rex noted.
"I have to agree," Maeve said. "Can't we just leave the insurrectionists to their own devices?"
"If I may," Gracie said. The image of the bodies of the dead smugglers flashed on the screen. "And leave them to this type of fate, mistress?"
Maeve shuddered. "Point taken. I withdraw the suggestion."
Kel looked at the screen. "Gracie, open a hailing channel to the freighter Liberty, but make sure everyone can hear us."
"Everyone?"
"Yes, everyone. Tegans, League, Negrue, and insurrectionists. It's time we end this shit."
A moment later, Gracie announced she was ready. "You are go, Dr. Hardy."
"This is Dr. Kellen Hardy of the League of Planetary Systems. I would like to speak to the leader of the insurrectionist group holding my mate and colleagues hostage on the planet we call Cerberus. I'll hold."
In seconds, a female voice came on the line. "This is Danyr."
"Danyr, are my wife and the other members of the expedition safe?"
"Yes. You have my word that neither she nor the others have been harmed in anyway. May I request a visual link be established to show this?"
Kel nodded to Dash who pressed a button. The image of Danyr appeared on the screen. Standing next to her was Sheila. "Hey, Kel," she said.
"Hey, Sweety. How are they treating you?"
"Good. No one's hurt or roughed up. They want me to find the samsar's off-button."
"Nice idea. The ones we have don't work, though. Danyr, do you know where the samsar came from?"
"The Negrue."
"And what do you plan to do with this weapon if you get your hands on it?"
"I plan to use it as leverage to force my parents into returning control of the government to the people of Tega..."
"First off, the Negrues didn't create the samsar. It's a poor copy of an ancient weapon they found on your race's original home world. Your government stole it from them, then they stole it back. The source code Sheila's been working on is some rush-coding job both the government and the Negrue slapped onto the original code so they could delude themselves into thinking they controlled the samsar. They didn't, which is why that ship's crew died."
