A Justice Provider's Tale 11

Chapter 11

Dead, yeah right. I didn’t believe Shin Tsuro to be dead if they paid me. Either he managed to escape or he struck some sort of deal with the Counter spook service. While I had my money on the second possibility, either way, wasn’t good enough for me. That sun-baked goon would not have the last laugh.

Now, my friend here is your next lesson. This time the prey is much more cunning and just might even have government help. I needed to find out if he did accept a deal.

That chrome skinned Intel officer was way to fast on the scene for being there by accident.

I went straight to the next public library and to the desk of the OOCA, I knew I would find there.

Well, I am sure this is one thing I don’t have to explain to you, right? Office of Citizen affairs? Ah well, I might have to explain it anyway, since you might wonder what I would do in a Library. Any Union colony of this size has a public library. It has to do with the Freedom of Education and Information act stipulating that every Union citizen must have access to free info and all tools to further his or her education. The libraries have as you know, or as you should know have a librarian who is also an Office of Citizen Affairs officer. In the case of the library of Blisterbahl Green, it was the many times’ size reduced Avatar projection of a Bandrupo. The only vaguely human-shaped being was very friendly and after it had greeted me, I came right to the point.”I am here to complain about the post office employee of Gullster’s paradise. The postmaster has shot and killed an Andorian and has been apprehended by Union police on Blisterbahl Green for unrelated espionage and clandestine activities. As a citizen, I demand to see the police report.” I transferred a copy of the signed incident report, Tsuro had given me.

I had the great fortune that this was a Bandrupo. While any librarian would have taken my complaint and sent it to appropriate entities, a Bandrupo was not only the largest known planet-bound life form and of mountain size. While their size limited them in many ways, there was hardly a species taking the concept of citizenship more serious.

“One moment Citizen Marifou. I am in contact with the Investigation Department of the Union Post Office and Police headquarters. You are correct, there are inconsistencies. Your complaint has created an official OOCA investigation.” The Bandrupo gave me a case reference and promised a follow up as soon as possible.

I grinned as I left the library. That would stir up things nicely. If they thought I was an uninformed joker who would take the word of a spook, they banked on the wrong ideas. As I mentioned, I am a lawful Union citizen. Captain Pulzier quoted Citizen rights and duties, well he had to learn that I paid attention in Union school.

I decided to visit the knowledgeable Plato one more time, just to make sure I covered the other possibility, of Tsuro being on the run on his own that is.

Leaving the world on a construction material freighter was out for a while, but there was always a way if you had the money and found a good connector. Maybe Lun could point in the right direction. After all, he had done so before.

I needed to check on my Angel’s wing anyway as I wanted to see if the police had delivered the Monoflash for me as they had said they did.

Sure enough, the Monoflash was sitting there before my ship. The speeder was crusted thick with dead bugs and sported a thin coat of slimy green algae.

Before I had a chance to use the call box and ask for Lun, the canopy of my Monoflash folded back and I stared into the business end of a Shiss blaster.”I don’t have time for pleasantries, Mr. Marifou. I need to get off-planet and you will provide that service. Open that ship of yours, now!”

He waved the ugly, but quite potent Ion based weapon with an impatient move.

“So you didn’t fall to your death after all.”

“Neither did you.”

“Fooling a telepath might come in handy for me. You wouldn’t share how you did that?”

“You can’t fool a telepath, but you can hide from them and your own Intel service was providing me with the necessary tools, I just didn’t see much future in cooperating with them. Playing both sides was fun while it lasted, I have nothing to lose, Mr. Marifou. You will open your ship and get us out of this system, with all of your limbs or not.”

I pressed my hand on the Cargo hatch release and the AI recognized my biometrics. “Alright, alright. I told you before I do this for money, all you had to do was make an offer. It would have been far less costly to you than all this.”

“Take me to Shist-Taa and you will get paid. Now drop your weapon belt. Slowly. I will be able to fire no matter what you do.”

I did and he picked it up.

“I am going to load my Monoflash, leaving it here would cause suspicion. Something neither one of us can afford with Wolfcrafts and a Battleship in the system.”

He waved his gun. “Hurry up.”

“So why are you after me in the first place?”

“Because I had to improvise when you showed up. I knew the second you landed why you’ve come, but that dim wit had something in his pocket that didn’t belong to Sodiban and I didn’t know Marigor had in his possession when I shot him and handed his corpse to you.”

“I just had a feeling there was more to that Shiss poop behind your place.”

“Hurry up! Quit staling!”

The Monoflash was in its cradle and moving up in its compartment.

He had to come closer as I was lowering the boarding ramp. I could see he was hesitant to let me in first. The melodic chime of an arriving people transport across the corridor and the parked ship made him turn and I jumped.

He was much stronger than he looked. It took all my augmented strength from keeping him aligning the Shiss weapon for a clear shot.

It was my fortune that the had chosen this for humans unyielding weapon. Had he kept his Neuro ripper or something else more compact than the Ion blaster, I would have been dead already.

He groaned.”You are strength augmented!”

I did not answer. That he had similar enhancements was self-evident. While he tried to bring his ungainly weapon into play, I found enough room to pound my fist into his bearded face. The second punch drew blood and made him alter his strategy. While I welcomed the crimson deluge from his nose, I was disappointed that he wasn’t knocked out or dazed at least. He did, however, take one hand of the Shiss weapon and tried to gauge out my left eye. I managed to deflect the finger jab just barely, he skillfully followed up with an underarm blow to the side of my head that made my ears ring. But I wasn’t out for the count just yet and buried my knee in his groin, which finally showed some real progress in the form of a loud howl. He was a tough customer, but his stubborn insistence on holding on to the big Shiss weapon played in my favor, as he once more tried to use both hands to get it under control. Freeing my right hand long enough, to hammer the base of my fist with everything I could muster into his already bleeding nose.

While I held the Shiss weapon on its business end he staggered on rubbery feet back, one hand raised to his face, his other reaching into a leg pocket.

I did not want to know what he was about to pull into the open. So with both hands around the barrel of the Ion carbine, I swung it like a club against the side of his head.

The man from Gullster’s was driven to the side by the force of the blow, and collapsed on the black-coated hangar floor, making a gurgling sound before his body went limp.

“Good job, Bounty hunter.” a high pitched voice said.

I turned, and there stood the Holdian and again someone aimed a weapon at me. “Remember me?”

The Ion weapon roared and only the feet of the rodent remained.”Yes and I don’t care what your role in all this was.”