Chapter 22
At the meeting with Quiet Voice, Chris sat next to Homer. Chris had asked if Homer could attend the meeting as an observer, explaining he was studying human problem-solving skills and would benefit from the opportunity. Brown Eyes sat to one side, an equal distance from Quiet Voice and Chris.
Fast Runner stood near a viewscreen, waiting to educate the human male. She was not thrilled with having the case taken over by a nearly useless male.
Inner Strength had other business to attend to. Privately, she had told Chris being in the same room with him, while trying to maintain a professional attitude, would be difficult for her. Chris didn’t allow her admission to inflate his ego. He suspected her biological needs played a bigger role in her decision than his techniques as a lover.
“The murder victim was called Jass-murn, a free trader from Dwocol, one of the League worlds. The disappearance Jass-murn’s ship is an additional problem. It has simply vanished.” Fast Runner said.
Memories from Casey’s time as a sheriff were surfacing. Chris paused and evaluated the new info before saying, “I would like to start at the beginning of the investigation using my own techniques and methods. Please don’t introduce any info to me unless I specifically ask for it. In this way I’ll be starting fresh and uninfluenced by conclusions you may have already reached. Does this approach cause any problems?”
“No, it is as we had assumed it would be,” Quiet Voice stated. “We are under some pressure to resolve this case and a fresh perspective may find something we have overlooked.”
“What kind of pressure?” Chris asked.
“The victim is a League citizen. If we are unable to solve the murder case, they will send in their own investigators. Belaria will lose face if their investigators solve it, where we have failed. It is important to our people to maintain a sense of equality with the League. If we begin to doubt ourselves and to see ourselves as inferiors to the League peoples, the question of joining the League will be asked again. If we truly begin to see ourselves as inferiors, the answer will be yes, and we will lose our cultural and biological identity.”
“What kinds of requirements have to be met before the Belarian people can join the League?” Chris asked.
“Much the same as for your people. Imprinting our genetic coding with the League language and customs. Improving our math and physics skills. Removing our more animalistic behaviors. Our ancient beliefs and ties to Belaria will disappear.”
“No disrespect is meant, but it seems an extreme reponse to not being able to solve a murder mystery,” Chris commented.
“The League is more efficient and more technologically advanced than we are. It is difficult not to admire them. And by admiring them, we begin to compare ourselves to them. It would not take many incidents such as this to bring up feelings of inadequacy and inferiority,” Quiet Voice responded.
Quiet Voice took the lead in escorting Chris to the murder scene, one of the station’s guest suites, which consisted of an entertaining area for meetings, a sleeping area, and a bathroom. She had heard the irritation in Fast Runner’s voice. She might have to separate Fast Runner from the case entirely. Quiet Voice wanted new ideas and a new point of view and the woman would constantly be explaining things and offering her opinions to Patient Hunter.
The room had been sealed off and the body removed.
“Do you have any holographic images of the crime scene?” asked Chris.
“Yes.” Fast Runner said. “I will show them to you when we return to the security offices.
“Could you have someone bring a holographic projector and the images to this suite? It would make it easier for me to understand the crime scene.
“Yes,” the older woman stated with an air of dignity. “Brown Eyes, would you collect the appropriate materials?”
“Certainly,” the younger woman with the startling eyes said, before hurrying off.
“Were DNA samples taken from the suite?” Chris asked.
“A thorough sweep was made. There were only his, and a few left over from the previous guest,” Fast Runner answered.
“Really?”
“It seems unusual to you?” she asked.
“Yes. I’ll have to review your cleaning techniques. On my home world, and on Terra, there would be residual DNA from several of the occupants. How was he killed?” asked Chris.
“He ingested a poison called matzelic. It is related to the addictive hallucinogen, paintel.”
“There is no sign of an intruder and Jass-murn has died from poison. Has suicide been eliminated as a possibility?”
“What did you say?” asked Fast Runner.
“Has suicide been eliminated as a possibility?”
“Try rephrasing the question, Patient Hunter,” Quiet Voice suggested.
“Is it possible he killed himself?” Chris asked.
“Deliberately?” Fast Runner asked, taken aback.
“Yes. A deliberate effort to kill himself.”
“It is a very unusual concept.” Quiet Voice was silent for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. “Suicide was never considered because it is impossible for Belarians to commit suicide. We have an instinctive aversion to it, so strong an instinct the idea would never occur to us,” the older woman said, almost, but not quite, embarrassed. “The word doesn’t even exist in our language. We made the assumption League citizens had the same instinctive aversion. Such an assumption may have been in error. If Jass-murn did commit suicide, two questions would still need to be answered. Why did he commit suicide and what happened to his ship?”
“Do we have any sort of a file on Jass-murn? Who he was, what kind of business he did, who he did business with?”
“We have not contacted League officials yet. We had hoped to resolve this crime before contacting them. When he arrived he stated he wished to spend a few days relaxing and exploring what recreation the station had to offer.” said Quiet Voice.
“How long has he been dead?” Chris asked.
“For fifty-two hours,” replied Fast Runner.
“Not very long, but you’ll want to contact the League fairly soon.” He paused. “If we could find the ship, we’d have more to work with. I’d like to check the records regarding the missing ship. Things like docking communications, and everything available about the docking port just prior to the ship’s disappearance. How difficult would that be, Quiet Voice?” Chris asked, looking at her breasts as a way to avoid looking into her eyes, and trying not to offend her with his take charge attitude. He was also controlling an adolescent desire to grin.
Quiet Voice answered, “It will not be difficult. I will return to my office. After you have finished here, I will have Inner Strength escort you to the administrative offices where the information is kept. While the two of you are there I will have the results of the autopsy brought to you.”
After Quiet Voice left, Chris asked, “Fast Runner, when was the last time your people were involved in a murder investigation?”
“In the last twenty years there have been five murders on Belaria. In each of murders the killer turned herself in, the guilt being too much to bear.”
Chris was momentarily taken aback. “A very impressive record. On Terra there are hundreds of murders every year. On Mars there’s probably an average of five per year. And people rarely turn themselves in. Needless to say, we have developed murder investigations into a science.
“These are the steps we should take. Perform a DNA sweep on another suite and see if you come up with similar results. Provide me with a detailed description of the cleaning process for suites. See if there are any samples of the poison on the victim’s fingers or lips, or perhaps left over inside his body. We want to examine the poison for trace elements suggesting its place of origin.
“Also, I’ll need to see Jass-murn’s personal effects.” Casey’s memories of investigations were merging with his own. Chris held up his hand and pointed to his finger tips. “These small markings on my finger are called fingerprints. If I touch a hard surface in this room the oils from my skin will leave a likeness of it.
“Later, I’ll want to examine the room for prints. Suicide is a possibility, but if you don’t want the League coming in, you’ll probably need to prove it. The missing ship makes things very suspicious. We really should put some energy into locating the ship. It must be somewhere.”
Fast Runner shrugged in agreement. “I will make the arrangements, Inner Strength will assist you.”
Later, alone in her office, Quiet Voice reviewed her feelings on what had taken place. It had been an unusual experience. Patient Hunter was very much like a Belarian male in appearance. Watching him as he spoke to her had been disconcerting by itself. Listening to him speak with intelligence and authority had caused her to wonder if she was in a dream. It had been so surreal.
She had heard rumors of male children born with the ability to speak. They, like all the male children, were turned over to their fathers as soon as they stopped breast feeding. She wondered if such males could achieve a degree of language skills comparable to Patient Hunter’s. Was an evolutionary step being stunted by cultural prejudice. It would be worth investigating. She had a fair amount of influence with the Belarian Council. If she were right, there would be a great deal of prejudice to overcome. Their culture would change dramatically, and few people, herself included, liked change. But if we do not continue to evolve, we will stagnate.
Fast Runner had been doing her own review of the situation. She was dealing with the embarrassment of being replaced by a humanoid male. In her opinion males were inferior, good only for breeding purposes.
It should be no surprise, she thought consolingly, an intelligent male would be good at understanding a crime scene. Aren’t males good at hunting and killing.
“Behave yourself,” Chris said, with both amusement and concern, as he and Inner Strength stood outside the office.
After regaining their composure they entered the room. Chris recognized Lar Sesni. The other two people in the room he identified as being a female Craner and a Lobsidian.
The Craner had to be female, because the males stood an average height of three and a half meters tall, and she was just a little over one meter tall.
He knew almost nothing about Lobsidians.
The Craner was semi-humanoid, with four arms ending in delicate three-fingered hands with opposable thumbs. She had lavender skin with a kind of slick-smooth texture. She wore a simple white robe.
The Lobsidian reminded Chris of a crab. Six legs extended out of a hard orange shell. Two eyes peered at him, each eye attached to a short stalk. All intelligent space-faring life forms had some way of handling tools. Chris couldn’t figure out what this creature used for hands and made a mental note to look it up later.
Inner Strength made the introductions. “You have already met Lar Sesni. This is Group Leader Wenzall.” The Craner came forward and extended her hand.
“How do you do, Patient Hunter. My associate is Group Leader Accountant. He is in charge of the accounting department and I am in charge of the personnel department. Group Leader Accountant communicates through a form of telepathy. I have a device installed in my cranium which allows he and I to read each other’s thoughts. I will be doing the talking for the two of us. Please understand if I pause periodically to listen to my colleague.”
Chris was immediately charmed by her. Her voice had a beautiful, melodic quality. The touch of her skin as they shook hands was soft and warm. She looked him directly in the eye and smiled, showing the Craner version of teeth, which seemed to be a solid wall of lavender bone. Homer suddenly arrived and Chris introduced the Gredorian, “This is Homer. He is observing human problem-solving skills.”
“In three hundred years of operation, this station has never had a ship simply disappear from its docking port,” Group Leader Wenzall explained softly. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. We have checked our records thoroughly, and the ship did not leave. It simply disappeared, and we have no explanation. We understand Quiet Voice has her reasons for wanting the murder mystery resolved, but we have our own reasons for wanting the ship found. Having a ship disappear without a trace from our docking port is bad for business. We received a message from the owners of the ship twelve hours ago asking if it had arrived. We haven’t responded yet because of the minimal information we have. We will have to respond soon though. We would like to have some sort of an explanation for them.”
“I understand your concerns,” Chris said. “I’ll do everything I can to help. I’d like to start by reviewing the info available about the ship itself.”
“I have that information,” Lar Sesni offered. “I took the liberty of having the central computer tied into this comm link. It will automatically translate all the written material fed through it into written English.”
“Thank you, Lar Sesni,” Chris replied, feeling genuinely grateful.
Wenzall tilted her head slightly. “My colleague believes you will find no useful information in the records. They have been thoroughly reviewed. He suggests you begin your investigation at the docking port where the ship was located.”
Chris thought of a time when he had worked at the starship repair business. A captain there had been certain the chief mechanic was looking in the wrong place, but the chief could have cared less about the captain’s opinion. The chief had been gathering information and was looking in the easiest, most accessible place first. Though the problem wasn’t in the first place the chief had looked, neither was it were the captain had expected it. The problem turned out to be in the second place the chief looked, which clues from his first inspection had led him.
“Please, thank Group Leader Accountant, but I would prefer to begin my investigation with the records,” Chris stated as he scanned the comm link. “I see the vessel is Lobsidian. Manufactured by Lobsidians and owned by Lobsidians.” Chris had an uneasy feeling. “Is it normal for Lobsidians to contract free traders from Dwocol to pilot their ships?”
“I’m sorry,” interrupted Wenzall, “but Group Leader Accountant believes you are making a mistake and you should begin your investigation fresh, starting at the docking port. He also wishes to inform you he must leave to complete a report.”
A little bit of a control freak, aren’t you, Accountant? And why are you leaving so fast? The thought confused Chris slightly because he had never used the phrase ‘control freak’ before, though it did feel like his own thought. He decided to stand his ground. “No. I ‘will’ begin my investigation with the records. If he has to leave, then he has to leave. But before he goes ask him if it is normal for Lobsidians to use free traders as their pilots.”
Chris observed the reddish crablike being as he waited for an answer.
Wenzall answered, “Group Leader Accountant states it is not unusual.”
As she spoke the Lobsidian left the room.
“My apologies,” Lar Sesni interrupted as the door slid shut. “To the best of my knowledge Lobsidians pilot their own ships.”
“You mean Group Leader Accountant just lied to me?”
“Perhaps he was simply mistaken,” Wenzall offered placatingly.
“Hmmm. I’ll need to speak with him later. Is there a visual recording of the docking port used by.... What was the name of the ship that disappeared?”
“The Abratzi,” Inner Strength offered helpfully.
“A visual record of the port where Abratzi was docked?”
“Yes,” said Wenzall. “You can view it from this console.”
“Computer, give me a visual history of Dock 7, starting five ships prior to the arrival of the Abratzi,” said Chris.
A silver, streamlined cargo ship appeared above the holo projector. The League number ‘7’ could be made out at the top of the dock.
Homer’s subroutine sharpened his focus on the console, scanning at subtle levels and recording everything. Technnologies were often merged and something as simple as holographic imaging might provide a clue to discovering the secret of the Belarian’s heat-resistant force fields.
“Computer, identify the type of ship shown.”
“This ship is a generic League cargo ship. It has a crew of twenty, with space available for twelve passengers. It can carry up to twenty tons of standard mass. It uses an interdimensional warp system to pull itself through space at faster-than-light speeds.”
“Fast forward to its departure,” Chris said.
Nothing seemed unusual as the ship left the dock.
“Fast forward to the next ship’s arrival.” An egg-shaped ship, light green in color, appeared as a holographic projection above the console. “Identify this ship.”
“This ship is a Lobsidian vessel named Catchcan. It has a crew of 12 and can carry up to five tons of freight or one hundred and fifty passengers. It has a drive system based on antigravity thrusters with corbinite coils as a power supply.”
“Computer, stop.”
A Lobsidian vessel? A little odd. Too odd to be a coincidence?
“Computer, did previous record reviews cover the Catchcan’s arrival?”
“Previous reviews covered only the arrival of Abratzi.”
“Who was in charge of the review process?” Chris asked Wenzall who was standing next to him.
“Group Leader Accountant,” she answered, some of the melodic quality had left her voice.
Chris could see Group Leader Accountant in his mind’s eye. Don’t make any accusations yet, Chris advised himself, but a pattern certainly seems to be taking place. Was he trying to sabotage my investigation by suggesting I begin at the docking port?
“Computer, fast forward to five minutes after the arrival of the Abratzi. During fast forward scan for unusual energy patterns or anomalies.”
“Scanning.”
The Catchcan left the station abruptly. For several minutes the docking port was empty and another ship docked. This, too, left the station abruptly and was replaced by another ship, which repeated the process. Then a graceful ship with an arrowhead-like body appeared and docked in rapid motion.
“Scan complete.”
“What were the results?”
“As Abratzi arrived, there was a rise in electromagnetic energies.”
“Do you have an explanation for this increase?”
“The pattern of electromagnetic wave distortion corresponds to those of a holographic image. The probability of a holographic projection in the immediate area is ninety-eight percent.”
Okay, we have an illusionary ship arriving at the station and disappearing. The owners of this illusion are asking if their ship has arrived. A Lobsidian ship was docked there before the illusion and a Lobsidian handled the investigation of the missing illusion. It’s unusual for a Lobsidian ship to be captained by a nonLobsidian. The nonLobsidian is dead, possibly a suicide. Could this somehow tie in with Javis’ delivery of the corbinite? Maybe, maybe not. Don’t get ahead of yourself.
“Lar Sesni, did you greet Jass-murn as he arrived at the station?” Chris asked.
“No, I don’t know who did?” the three-legged individual answered.
Inner Strength had been watching the holoscreen as he researched the history of the docking port. She turned to look at Chris and spoke, “Computer, contact Quiet Voice and ask her to send a security team to administrative office 16 to detain Group Leader Accountant for questioning.”
“Group Leader Wenzall,” Chris asked, “what would happen if the ship was considered lost by the station.”
“We would have to purchase the ship,” she answered.
“I think we need to set a trap for the Lobsidian owners of this ship. I would suggest sending them a report stating you believe the ship arrived, but due to a computer malfunction you can’t be sure. Then ask them for a detailed description of the ship and its travel route to the station. If you’ll prepare the message, Inner Strength and I will go give Quiet Voice an update and get permission to proceed.”