same time, I was playing all the data over and over in my mind, looking closely at the loose ends as well as the overall chronology of it. The assassin had only needed one shot to take out the Sentian, and only one shot to kill Beltran’s body guard, assuming both were done by the same person. It is a grave irony that people who kill for profit can do so with a steady eye.
He came strolling in about 7:00 A.M. He gave me a tired, cheery look, didn’t say a word, went straight to the food dispenser and keyed himself a cup of tea. He plunked down in a nearby chair, sipped and smiled.
“Well, you don’t look pale or light headed.”
“It was quite pleasurable.”
“So you got a foot in the door?”
“My entire body, actually. They like me!”
“So are they the ones?”
“Highly unlikely. The ship’s lighting is too bright for them. That’s why they never come out. We played a board game where you throw these little bones and the computer moves your piece based on how they come to rest. The entire game is about mysteries. They love mysteries.”
“Did they want your blood?”
“It did come up, but there was no pressure brought to bear when I said not this time.”
“So where does this leave us?”
“I regret to say we are no closer to solving this than we were yesterday. It may be that the two incidents were separate happenings and unrelated. For all we know the Ancient could be the culprit.”
I winced. “The Ancient! You’re losing your mind! Are you sure they didn’t take any blood? She barely has any skin left on her bones. To quote that very old movie you’ve made me watch more than once; she’s mostly dead!”
“Movie I made you watch? Oh yeah, that’s the, “Have fun stormin’ the castle fellas,” movie. How appropriate! I can tell you’re needing sleep since you stayed up all night worrying. Go ahead. I’m wide awake. I’ll cover you.”
“Maybe you should dig up that old movie and watch it again while you wait. You’ll need cheering up.”
“As you wish.”
I awoke to the sound of the front door “bling.” I sat up on the bed still dressed in my flight suit with not a clue as to what time of Star Seven day it was. The timepiece on the night stand read 2:00 P.M. R.J. was at the door letting Captain Mars in. Rubbing my eyes, I got up and stumbled around and bumped into R.J. on his way to the food dispenser. I beat him to the punch. “Coffee, black.”
“What’ll it be, Captain Mars? Excuse my associate’s manners. He’s not awake yet,” declared R.J.
“Nothing, thank you, R.J. I’ll just be a minute here.”
We grouped around the information center. The coffee tasted like a miracle drink, which it was.
“I really don’t have much news,” said the Captain. “Has either of you made any breakthroughs?”
“Nothing concrete,” I replied. “Although my associate managed not to share blood with the Tagons last evening.”
“I do believe we are narrowing things down a bit, Captain. But as Adrian just said, we aren’t in any position to point fingers,” added R.J.
“I am no closer to solving this mess either,” said the Captain. “We will have all video circuits back on line by tomorrow, at least; Engineering, the entire concourse, and the grand gallery. It will be difficult for anyone to avoid the surveillance cameras.”
“How broad a spectrum do your cameras deliver, Captain?” I asked.
“All of the ship’s video network handles the normal light spectrum, the infrared, and several inter-dimensional spectrums as well. We will try to add to that in other ways, as time allows. R.J., what was your impression of the Tagons. Any suspicions?”
“Only that I doubt they are involved, Captain. They seem to be nice people, believe it or not. They don’t consider the murders to be a big deal. Apparently on Tagonia people disappear or meet untimely ends all the time. The Tagons believe it is your own responsibility to protect yourself at all times.
He came strolling in about 7:00 A.M. He gave me a tired, cheery look, didn’t say a word, went straight to the food dispenser and keyed himself a cup of tea. He plunked down in a nearby chair, sipped and smiled.
“Well, you don’t look pale or light headed.”
“It was quite pleasurable.”
“So you got a foot in the door?”
“My entire body, actually. They like me!”
“So are they the ones?”
“Highly unlikely. The ship’s lighting is too bright for them. That’s why they never come out. We played a board game where you throw these little bones and the computer moves your piece based on how they come to rest. The entire game is about mysteries. They love mysteries.”
“Did they want your blood?”
“It did come up, but there was no pressure brought to bear when I said not this time.”
“So where does this leave us?”
“I regret to say we are no closer to solving this than we were yesterday. It may be that the two incidents were separate happenings and unrelated. For all we know the Ancient could be the culprit.”
I winced. “The Ancient! You’re losing your mind! Are you sure they didn’t take any blood? She barely has any skin left on her bones. To quote that very old movie you’ve made me watch more than once; she’s mostly dead!”
“Movie I made you watch? Oh yeah, that’s the, “Have fun stormin’ the castle fellas,” movie. How appropriate! I can tell you’re needing sleep since you stayed up all night worrying. Go ahead. I’m wide awake. I’ll cover you.”
“Maybe you should dig up that old movie and watch it again while you wait. You’ll need cheering up.”
“As you wish.”
I awoke to the sound of the front door “bling.” I sat up on the bed still dressed in my flight suit with not a clue as to what time of Star Seven day it was. The timepiece on the night stand read 2:00 P.M. R.J. was at the door letting Captain Mars in. Rubbing my eyes, I got up and stumbled around and bumped into R.J. on his way to the food dispenser. I beat him to the punch. “Coffee, black.”
“What’ll it be, Captain Mars? Excuse my associate’s manners. He’s not awake yet,” declared R.J.
“Nothing, thank you, R.J. I’ll just be a minute here.”
We grouped around the information center. The coffee tasted like a miracle drink, which it was.
“I really don’t have much news,” said the Captain. “Has either of you made any breakthroughs?”
“Nothing concrete,” I replied. “Although my associate managed not to share blood with the Tagons last evening.”
“I do believe we are narrowing things down a bit, Captain. But as Adrian just said, we aren’t in any position to point fingers,” added R.J.
“I am no closer to solving this mess either,” said the Captain. “We will have all video circuits back on line by tomorrow, at least; Engineering, the entire concourse, and the grand gallery. It will be difficult for anyone to avoid the surveillance cameras.”
“How broad a spectrum do your cameras deliver, Captain?” I asked.
“All of the ship’s video network handles the normal light spectrum, the infrared, and several inter-dimensional spectrums as well. We will try to add to that in other ways, as time allows. R.J., what was your impression of the Tagons. Any suspicions?”
“Only that I doubt they are involved, Captain. They seem to be nice people, believe it or not. They don’t consider the murders to be a big deal. Apparently on Tagonia people disappear or meet untimely ends all the time. The Tagons believe it is your own responsibility to protect yourself at all times.
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