“Where are you?” he mentally asked Janux, glad telepathic messages couldn’t be overheard even by another telepath.
She answered immediately. “He’s taken me to the beach. Hurry.”
Curtis knew that Sly had once propositioned Janux when Roscoe was alive. Now he was going to rape her, Curtis was sure of it, because she had once turned him down.
He raced down to the sand, relieved his wrist band was on so his bones wouldn’t glow. Sly had no way of knowing that Janux had sent Curtis a message. But where were they?
It was a warm night and the beach looked beautiful in the moonlight. Almost immediately to his left he saw Sly’s glowing bones in the distance. Where was he taking her?
He had sneakers on and ran after them as silently as he could. He knew Sly could use his powers of levitation if he chose to so he wanted to take him by surprise. As he drew closer he could see that Sly had hold of Janux by the left arm and was pulling her along.
Then they stopped and Sly turned. “Stay back, Curtis McCoy, or it will be bad for you. This woman is mine tonight and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“No, you’re wrong.” Curtis began to run straight at Sly but it wasn’t easy in the soft sand. Then everything went quiet and he knew Sly was concentrating so he could use his powers. Curtis kept running towards him but suddenly his feet were running in the air as he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He fought back, concentrating all his powers on doing the same to Sly. Then he remembered Rule No 1 in his Ryxin PI Handbook. Always carry a bag of strong peppermints. If he’d done that he could have been sucking on one now and Sly wouldn’t have been able to levitate him.
He was by now about six feet above the sand and Sly, still gripping Janux by the arm, laughed loudly. “You’re in a pickle, boyo. Can’t save your lady friend like you wanted to, eh?”
Curtis hardly ever used his levitating powers, but he was fighting to get them going. Getting past the power of Sly, which was like a force-field, was difficult. Curtis closed his eyes and cranked his powers up to the max. All the while he was suspended six feet in the air like a Human hovercraft. He began to get frantic. Why wouldn’t his powers work?
Then he remembered he had to take off the anti-glow band. He flung it away and it fell to the sand. And at last he saw Sly begin to rise. Janux fought her way free of his grip and Sly floated skyward, yelling obscenities at Curtis. He looked like a skeleton hanging in the sky. For a while both men hovered, facing each other. Neither could do anything but remain suspended by the will of the other.
Curtis concentrated as hard as he could until his mind narrowed like a tunnel and he was looking down it. Faster and faster he went until there was only a pinpoint - and then nothing, as if he’d come out into a huge, dry, grassy plain. He opened his eyes and saw Sly floating above the sea, still calling out obscenities.
Slowly he lowered himself to the beach and ran towards Janux, who had dropped onto the sand. “Are you all right?” he said, wanting to put his arms around her.
“Yes. He was going to teach me a lesson for refusing to allow him to father a child for me years ago.”
“That man is crazy and evil,” Curtis muttered. He was feeling extremely tired now, from the exertion of levitating Sly to such a height and distance.
“What will happen to that bastard now?” she said, looking towards where he was glowing in the sky. “Are you going to make him drop into the ocean?”
“I’d like to, believe me, but that could mean losing ten or twenty years of my life-span. I’ll leave him to get down on his own, using what’s left of his power. That should weaken him for a few weeks with any luck.”
“You must come to my bach and rest.”
Curtis found he could barely drag himself along through the sand. Luckily the bach wasn’t far.
Next morning he slept until ten and woke up still feeling exhausted. Janux made him a breakfast of toast with sausage and eggs and he tucked in thankfully.
“I asked that bugger about Roscoe,” she told him. “I accused him straight out and demanded to know everything.”
“What did he say?” Curtis forked up his last mouthful of sausage.
“He said something very strange. He said, Did Roscoe ever tell you who his father was? I said no. His mother was sworn to secrecy about who she’d had an affair with, and he was told never to try and find out.”
“Maybe Roscoe was descended from one of The Ten.”
“Sly knows who Roscoe’s father was. He told me that when I found out I would know why he would never have harmed Roscoe. So I said, But you are prepared to harm me. He said, You are a Ryxin woman and your reason for being born was to have children. If I make love to you on the beach, that is not harming you. You’re wrong, I said to him. It is not my will to do this.”
“He has a warped Ryxin mind. He is making his own world with his own laws.”
“We need to find out who Roscoe’s father was. Maybe that will help us find out who murdered Roscoe and why.”
“We’ll succeed together, you and me,” Curtis assured her.
“You’re a good man, Mr McCoy.”
“Call me Curtis and I’ll call you Janux. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
Curtis stayed the rest of the day with Janux. By evening he felt stronger but Janux still looked shaken up so he offered to stay that night as well. He checked out the beach but could see no one. When he returned to the bach they discussed what to do next.
“I’ll make a request of Kieran,” Curtis said, “and ask him who Roscoe’s father was.”
Kieran was the Ryxin God-like sage, appointed when their first ancestors arrived on Earth. There had been many Kierans since then, whose task was to keep track of Ryxin genealogy, blood ties etc. The current Kieran now kept the information on a vast computer file – who each Ryxin married and how many children they had. He had twenty staff working for him, continually updating the files and gathering knowledge of Ryxin movements throughout the world.
Consulting Kieran was mostly done via the website. For a small fee, paid in advance on line, Kieran - or more likely one of his staff - would find the information you required. This might take a few hours or even a few days but they would keep trying until they found it. The large number of secret and illegal Ryxin babies made the searching a long process sometimes, but Ryxins were required by their own authority to report all births so they could count the increase in their numbers. However secret births were recorded only on the data base of Kieran, to prevent arrest and imprisonment by Human authority. Consequently security on the data base was very strict to ensure no Humans could get this secret and dangerous information. Over the years there had been many attempts to get into Kieran’s data base and even one or two successes, so security was often reviewed and updated. Special passwords, which could be used once only, were the preferred method. Plus scanning your ID card and sending it through.
Kieran also had ancient knowledge passed down to him and he was entrusted to keep it safe and secure. He was a God-like person because of it, and some believed he had special powers to heal and even answer prayer.
Next day, Curtis returned home and went straight to his computer to go into Kieran’s website. After an hour on the internet passing information through special codes as instructed, he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone, and silently cursed the fact that he had not switched it to silent.
“Claudette Peace here,” she said quietly.
“How are you, my dear, and how was the party the other night?”
“Most unusual in that I was asked if I wanted a male friend for the evening.”
“Nothing shocks me any more.”
“I refused and this was met with some hostility.”
“Did they know you were Human?”
“I don’t think so. Vandy had gone off to talk to someone but he came back and saw what was going on. He was furious and told them I was his Human companion.”
“Lucky for you. I hope th
ey apologised.”
“Not really, but after that Vandy told me about the breeding programme, to explain why I’d been asked such a question in the first place.”
“Good old Vandy.” Curtis used his free hand to work the computer.
“But listen to this, Curtis. Besides women being roped in to have babies, sometimes they also get men against their will to get the women pregnant, especially if they’re high standing without much Human blood in them.”
“I’d heard that. Did you happen to see any of these guys?”
“No, Vandy stopped talking then because someone in authority came by and stopped near our table. Later Vandy said it was a secret breeding programme and Humans weren’t supposed to know about it. I assured him I would tell no one, but I simply had to tell you. I’m back home now, editing my manuscript.”
“I wish you every success. Um...” He hesitated. “Any word of Marzy lately?”
“Isn’t it better you forget about her, Curtis dear?”
“I’ve got to know. Has she had the baby yet?”
“Yes, she had a boy three weeks ago. But she’s not happy with Vogx. I can tell you now he decides everything - completely rules her life. Marzy’s mother is rapt with her new grandson, as you can imagine.”
“I see. What about her dad? I used to get on okay with him. What does he think of Vogx?”
“He doesn’t say much - he’s ruled by his wife every second of the day too. Well, I must go, Curtis dear. Don’t worry, and please take care of yourself. We’ll talk again soon.”
Curtis put the phone down and walked out onto the back porch. He poured out his heart to the sea and cried for the child he’d wanted but couldn’t have. He also cried for Marzy and her unhappiness.
After a while he went back inside and looked on Kieran’s website again. He had a job to do.
From Kieran and his helpers Curtis discovered that Roscoe’s mother had had an affair with a Ryxin man who was already married. The man’s name was Taygir Onyx and he already had a son called Sylvester.
Once Curtis found out that, everything Janux had said made sense. Sly Onyx obviously already knew he was Roscoe’s half-brother, but Roscoe himself hadn’t known.
CHAPTER 11
Janux remembered everything Roscoe had told her about his mother. Scheren had thought that the idea of mating with an alien was romantic, and when she got pregnant she’d stayed at home with her parents and brought up Roscoe. After her parents died she kept the beekeeping business going. She was an only child and inherited both home and business.
When the nurses at the hospital noticed Roscoe’s glowing skeleton when he was placed under the Ryxin detecting light, they were excited for her. Scheren rejoiced in the alien features her baby displayed.
“You’ve got a wee alien boy,” one said and whispered to the others.
Scheren said, “Yes, I know. Isn’t he the most wonderful baby?”
“He’s going to be photographed like that,” a nurse had said, “with his wee bones all a glowing. It’s the law that they must show in his birth certificate.”
“Yes, I know all that,” Scheren had said, “and I’m going to give him my own name, Chamonix. His father wants it that way. His father wants to remain anonymous. It’s best all round, you see.”
“So are we to believe that your Ryxin boyfriend is already married?”
“Perhaps you’re right, perhaps not. That’s not for me to say,” Scheren answered the nurses. There was no way she wanted to fall out with a top Ryxin leader who had the power to make her and her son vanish altogether if he wished. Of course it would be made look like an accident. She’d lived on Muritai all her life and had grown up hearing the stories, which she would now pass down to Roscoe when he was old enough.
She didn’t want him to associate with the dark side of Ryxin society - the ones who openly resented the Flim-Flam laws. Scheren had once seen a truck floating through the air over the sea at Pohatu Cove with two people inside it. As she watched, the truck suddenly dropped like a stone into the sea and was never seen again. Nor were its occupants, a Mr and Mrs Zendrige, who’d been going to testify against Sly Onyx for vanishing their pet dog which once attacked him. Probably sensing the evil emanating from within him and around him.
Not that Sly did the deed himself – he’d persuaded three of his young friends to vanish the Zendriges for him. But afterwards the teenage boys began aging unnaturally fast. Soon they began to look like forty-year-olds though they were barely twenty. They had abused their powers and this was the result. No wonder Sly hadn’t taken part.
So Scheren knew better than to say anything to anyone about Taygir Onyx. But at the same time she was still attracted to these strange and sometimes frightening Ryxins who had such extraordinary powers. She wondered why they hadn’t taken over Earth.
Curtis and Janux had been drinking coffee in a café near the library, discussing the revelation about Roscoe’s father.
“Taygir Onyx is the pig’s father too,” Janux said, grimacing. “The thought of that scum being related to my darling Roscoe makes me sick.”
“They’re definitely half-brothers,” Curtis said feeling empathy for her.
“So I suppose he wouldn’t murder his own half-brother. Mind you that only proves he has a portion of compassion and it’s probably limited to blood relatives.”
“Don’t worry, Janux, we’ll find Roscoe’s killer.”
CHAPTER 12
That evening while Curtis was preparing a simple meal for himself of poached eggs on toast, the phone rang. He ran to pick it up and came back, so he could tend to the eggs with one hand as he talked.
“35, this is 17. I’m phoning you with news.”
His breath caught. “Hello, 17. What news?”
“I spoke to 72 yesterday. He’s being kept locked up with the young woman I told you of. She’s known as number 10.”
“What did he say?”
“He’s worried about his grandfather. He wants you to tell him he’s all right.”
“Thank you, 17, I will pass that on. His grandfather has been worried sick, so he’ll be most relieved. Do you know how much longer he’ll be there? Is he being well treated?”
“Yes, he’s okay, but he’s there as a punishment because of his father, Oro Garvey, who was one of The Ten and broke Ryxin law by marrying a Human.”
“So they want offspring from Jack, right?”
“Of course.”
“What about Roscoe Chamonix? Heard anything?”
There was silence on the line. “Are you coming to see me again?”
“You mean if I don’t then you won’t give me any more information?”
“I want to see you, 35. You have good ancestry and you are strong.”
Curtis hesitated. He found 17 extremely attractive, but he was sickened by the whole setup. Nevertheless he needed to find out what she had to say. “All right. Where do you live?”
“On the mainland at number 7 Xlesky Street, by the river in the town. It’s a green weatherboard house. Come at six tonight.”
Before he could say anything he heard a click. She was gone.
He could feel himself being drawn inexorably into her net. But she had inside knowledge, that much was clear, so he felt duty bound to go. Besides it was flattering to be wanted in this way, and after the refusals encountered in his marriage 17 affirmed his manhood. She actually wanted his children. The snag was that he was being treated like a rooster who would never see his chickens.
He picked up the phone again and called Siegfried Plante. “He’s okay, Siegfried. With them it’s all about Ryxin babies and breeding them in secret. He’ll come to no real harm.”
“He’s just a boy. He doesn’t know about these things.”
After soothing the mayor down by pointing out Jack was probably in randy-teenage heaven, he put down the phone again and returned to the kitchen. The poached eggs still looked edible so he took his meal out to the back porch and sat there at his small table and wa
tched the sea as he ate. He was looking forward to seeing 17 again.
7 Xlesky Street was in a quiet suburban area next to the Xlesky River. Curtis had caught the 5 p.m. ferry from Seal Bay. The trip took half an hour and he then had to walk two kilometres to the house. A rotund woman in tight track pants and a bright yellow t-shirt answered the door. “Yes?”
“I’m 35 and I’ve come to see 17.” He felt like some kind of a spy as he stood there waiting.
The woman smiled thinly. “Come in - she’s expecting you. You are permitted one hour. Down the hall and take the second room on the right.”
The hall was very long - there must have been at least eight rooms. He tapped on the door he’d been directed to which had no number on it.
“Come in, 35.”
He went in and saw 17 sitting on the side of a large bed dressed in a loose-fitting gown. Once again the bed was covered with a white sheet but no overthrow or blankets. The curtains were drawn, keeping the room in semi-darkness. He thought he could easily fall in love with this young woman who wanted him to give her children.
“Do you know who killed Roscoe Chamonix?” Curtis asked.
“No, but Mister Onyx, my boss, is also trying to find out. He’s been questioning the girls on the breeding programme and instructing them to seek as much knowledge as possible from each number assigned to them.”
“Do you still have to sleep with other men?” Curtis already hated the idea for this beautiful being.
“Yes, I am assigned numbers by my boss, Mister Onyx. We must refer to him as Master and obey all his commands. When I have a permanent breeding mate he said I can change levels to single partner status. But he must interview my choice first, before I can go to this level of the programme.”
“Have you had any children yet?”
“I had a miscarriage two months ago. Now I am starting again.”
Their union was passionate and Curtis told himself that although he was being used he didn’t care now. He wanted to continue seeing her and was filled with despair that she had to sleep with numerous men until she fell pregnant. It was true that 17 was just one of many Ryxin breeding cows. But if he consented to being her partner then she would sleep only with him.
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