Act Normal, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 9

by William Manchee

know?

  "Does anyone know you're pregnant?"

  "No. You're the only one."

  "How do you know for sure?"

  "All women on Tarizon have a pregnancy sensor implanted in their uterus. The moment they become pregnant it is activated and sends out a signal to a monitoring device that tracts the babies vitals for the duration of the pregnancy. Mine came to life about the time they put you in the ambulance."

  "Jesus! Do you realize what a problem this will be for me?"

  "No. It won't be a problem. Nobody will ever know that the baby is yours. I'll go back to Tarizon and have the baby there."

  "But I thought it was better to have the child on Earth and then take it back after it's a few years old."

  "That is true, but I don't want to cause a problem by staying. I'll be all right."

  "You can't worry about me. You've got to do what's best for the child."

  She smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. I would rather stay until the baby is older."

  "What will Kulchz say when he finds out you are pregnant?"

  "He'll be happy. Like I told you, all women of Tarizon are encouraged to have children. I'm doing my patriotic duty as a citizen of Tarizon."

  After breakfast we went to Valley View Mall and shopped all afternoon. Tehra was in a great mood and enjoyed herself thoroughly. I wasn't so enthusiastic knowing that she was carrying my child. I still couldn't believe how it had happened. Then I started thinking about the baby. Would it have gills like Tehra? Would it have her webbed feet? Goose bumps broke out on my arms and legs just thinking about it. When we got to the apartment, I was exhausted and feeling rather depressed. While I was putting some appliances together Tehra came up from behind and began to give me one of her rubs. It felt good, but I just couldn't relax enough to enjoy it. I turned around.

  "Don’t you understand what this will do to me? Rebekah will sense that something is wrong. As soon as you start showing, she'll know what happened. My marriage will be over."

  "I'll leave you before I begin to show. She'll never know."

  I looked her in the eyes. She was a good woman. She meant me no harm. All she wanted from me was to have a child, nothing more. I wasn't mad at her. In fact, the thought of her leaving with my child was rather unsettling. How could I let her go? I already had one child I'd never see again. Could I live without another? She turned away.

  "There is something else I should tell you. It will complicate matters even more, but you need to know."

  "What?" I asked concerned with the gravity in her voice.

  "Tarizon has been ruled by a coalition government. There are many political groups involved in the government, but the two most powerful are the Loyalists who support the Supreme Mandate and believe in Sandee, and the Purists who control the TGA and follow Tarizon’s dictator, Videl Lai."

  "The TGA?"

  "Yes, the military—the Tarizon Global Forces. They will support Videl."

  "Hmm."

  "Anyway, civil war is about to break out on Tarizon and everyone will have to take sides soon."

  "Take sides?"

  "Yes. Maybe not openly at first. But eventually we'll have to choose between Vidal and the Loyalists."

  "Damn! What are you going to do?"

  "You'll have to choose too."

  "Me? But—"

  "Kulchz will support Vidal. He's a ruthless tyrant and will destroy democracy and liberty on Tarizon. I cannot follow him."

  "But if you don't, what will become of you?"

  "I'll have to seek sanctuary with the Loyalists. They will have friends and allies on Earth."

  This was blowing my mind. How could the Tarizon Repopulation Project go on when Tarizon was in the midst of a civil war? Which faction would the United States support? I shook my head in disbelief.

  "Will you stand with me?"

  "Against Vidal Lei and Kulchz?"

  "I don't know. This is all so sudden."

  "Some say Vidal Lei intends to colonize Earth."

  "What!"

  "They say he doesn't believe Tarizon can be saved, so his plan is to conquer Earth and evacuate an elite portion of the human population of Tarizon here."

  Just when I thought matters couldn't get any worse, I felt myself slipping deeper into the quicksand. Now suddenly Tehra's pregnancy seemed insignificant to the plans of Vidal Lei to conquer Earth. There was no doubt I'd stand with the Loyalists, but I doubted my support would have much significance when the civil war broke out.

  "I don't have any choice. I'd have to do what I could to protect Earth from an invader. How much time do we have before this civil war breaks out?"

  "A few months, a year, I don't know exactly, but it will be happening soon. Your son Peter has already joined the Loyalists."

  A chill shot through my veins. I just stared at Tehra for a moment trying to fathom her remark. "Peter's involved in this?"

  "Yes. Kulchz spoke of it when I first arrived. He apparently was training with the TGA on Pogo Island and escaped with some fighter planes."

  "You're talking about my Peter? He doesn't know how to fly a fighter."

  "I don't know. I'm just telling you what I overheard Kulchz saying."

  This was all too bizarre. Peter had no military training and couldn't possibly be involved in a civil war. It just wasn't possible. Tehra shrugged and took a deep breath. Why would she be lying to me about something like this? It didn't make any sense. If she was right, what did all this mean? Was Peter in danger? Obviously he was, if he was in midst of a civil war. He'd be in mortal danger at any moment.

  "Okay. So, if what you say is true, what should we do?"

  She shook her head. "I don't know. That's why I'm telling you. I need your help in figuring it all out."

  I laughed. "You think I can help you figure this out. I'm sorry, but I didn't take intergalactic relations. A year ago I didn't even know alien life existed!"

  "But you're smart and perceptive. Together we can develop a strategy for survival. We have no choice. We not only have ourselves to worry about, but our child as well."

  Our child. Tehra had said all she wanted from me was a child, nothing more, but that apparently was a lie. She wanted not just a child, but a father, a mate, and most of all an ally to help get her through this impending civil war. But had she made a good choice in selecting me? This was all so overwhelming it made me dizzy to even think about it. I just looked at her and shook my head. She came over to me, put her head on my shoulder, and squeezed me tightly. I ran my hand through her smooth black hair and kissed her on the forehead.

  "It will be all right," I said. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out. In the meantime, like Kulchz said, we've got to just act normal—just focus on the task that has been assigned to us. For now, that's the only way we can survive."

 

  34

  Undercover

  Paula Waters

  The following morning when I passed Maria in the reception area, she reminded me that I had a luncheon appointment with Simon Barber. She said she had made reservations for us at Vincent’s. I thanked her and proceeded to my office. As I walked passed Tehra's cubicle, I couldn't help but look at her. What was she up to? I smiled.

  "Good morning," I said. "How's it going?"

  She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. There's just so much to do, I feel overwhelmed."

  I nodded. "Welcome to the practice of law. You can work sixty hours a week and still never feel like you're on top of everything."

  "How is Stan holding up after the Waco fiasco?" I asked.

  Tehra sighed. "Not well. He feels so bad about what happened to Ben. He blames it all on himself, although I don't know what he could have done to prevent it."

  "Yeah, that's why it's not a good idea to get too friendly with your clients. It's just too painful if you can't help them the way you'd like."

  Tehra nodded. "Yes, I guess you're right."

  "Anyway, I've got to get to work. Thanks for the update on Stan, he's not always
very communicative."

  Tehra smiled and I continued down the hall to my office. When I thought about it, I realized that was the first cordial conversation I'd had with Tehra since she'd come to work for us. Perhaps I had misjudged her. The rest of the morning went quickly as I worked on my witness and evidence lists for the trial. I added every person and every shred of evidence I could think of to the lists. I could cut out those I didn't need on the eve of trial once our strategy was set. The next step was to prepare questions for each witness and consider each piece of evidence for admissibility and relevance to our case. It was a long tedious process but one that had to be done early or it would probably never get done properly. At eleven-thirty I got my things together for my luncheon meeting with Simon Barber.

  We met at Vincent’s near North Park. I'd picked the location because they had corner booths that were tucked away and out of view of patrons coming and going. It was a good place to talk privately without fear that someone was watching or listening. We ordered and the waiter brought us some garlic rolls to work on while we were waiting for our entrees. Barber was medium height, in his mid-forties, and wore an expensive silk shirt. His long black hair was combed straight back, like what had been popular in the 60's. He was in mint physical condition for his age. I could imagine him working out in a gym every morning before the sun came up.

  "Before we start," I said, "I want to thank you again for doing this."

  He shook his head. "No thanks are necessary. This is for our mutual benefit, right?"

  "Exactly. You get the Pulitzer, I keep my client from dying by lethal injection."

  "Okay, then. How can I help you?" he said.

  "First, I'd be interested in knowing how you