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The story so far: Grim Khonsu is a serialised sci-fi detective noir story, set aboard a vast generation ship. Aveline Peron brought Grim a problem — her partner, Xavier, had changed. The investigation now involves two suspicious deaths, and has Grim working semi-officially for Chief Malo. He’s had another of Xavier’s partners, Natuche, attempt to seduce and poison him. After an argument with Aveline he’s followed, attacked, and drugged. Things aren’t looking good.
I had my eyes closed, but I wasn’t blind to my surroundings. Two sets of boots clomped closer, the echoes suggesting they entered the alcove. So those thugs hadn’t gone far. They’d distanced themselves from Nickson Dakar as he performed his final act.
I lay on the cool ground in that alcove. The slight weight on my right arm was the body of Sickson. I couldn’t decide if he’d released the gas intentionally or if it was a result of whatever was in his body, the poison he’d been infected with.
Because that’s what it was. Some kind of bot kill-switch, or some tech enzyme, triggered to release under certain conditions. A way of ensuring he didn’t talk.
Sickson might not have talked, but his actions spoke. I understood.
The dead thug’s pals approached. One wore a subtle flowery perfume, and they leaned close enough for me to catch the scent of sweet chai on their breath.
“He out?” The voice was male, came from further back.
“Looks like it.” Female, and the words washed over me with that chai aroma.
“You sure?”
“You want to check, be my guest.”
Shuffling boots. “Don’t trust him.”
“Then fucking check him yourself.”
“I’m good. I’ll take your word for it.”
“You mean you’ll let me take the fall if he’s not out of it.”
She got no answer. The grunt and the rustle of cloth told me she leaned in closer. Hands rummaged over my body, checking pockets.
“You called the boss yet?” she asked.
“Not an idiot. Course I have.”
The female straightened again. The perfume remained. “Only asking. So, we wait. And you don’t need to hold that blaster on him. I told you, he’s out.”
I couldn’t hear anything but the two figures shuffling, and I guessed they’d set up a shield on the alcove. They shuffled some more. One of them coughed, clearing their throat for something to do.
I found it surprisingly easy to remain motionless. My body was warm — blood flowing strong, adrenaline primed.
I wasn’t out of danger yet.
“Heads up,” the female muttered. There was more shuffling, and I could imagine them standing tall, brushing themselves down. Then a new voice. It had that soft distortion of a holo-connect.
“Report.” Regina the Rat barked harder than most of Malo’s hounds.
“We got him,” the male thug said. “Unconscious, like you said.”
“You’ve searched him?”
“He’s clean.” This came from the female. “Couple of credit chips. Guy travels light.”
“No weapons?”
“None that I discovered. The stories say he doesn’t need them.”
The male snorted. “Right. That’s why he’s gassed out.”
“We got lucky. And it cost Sickson.”
“No small loss.”
“He served me well,” Regina said. “His sacrifice was worth it.” A pause, then, “Bring him in.”
“We’re on it.”
There was a click as the connection ended, then muttering I couldn’t catch. One set of bootsteps clomped out of the alcove, returned with the grinding squeak of a wheeled trolley. More muttering, then hands under my armpits, another set under my knees, and I was hoisted into the air.
“Skinny fucker’s heavy,” the male said.
“Wimp.” Her voice was strained.
They dropped me on a cold surface that clanged. They lifted side-panels that pinned me in. The soft pressure on my body spoke of a covering.
“Don’t forget his hat,” the woman said. “She’ll want that as a souvenir.”
“You reckon she’s going to off him?”
“Maybe after playing with him. Not a simple corpse job if she wants him inside, is it?”
That should’ve given me some kind of hope. It didn’t.
The trolley’s wheels squeaked as they took me along the street. Sounds washed in — voices near and far, clangs, thuds, the usual sonic background of the Alley. We didn’t move fast. I caught food smells, body odour, something like grease. The journey took ten minutes, then there was the hiss of a door opening, a cool blast from above, and when the door hissed closed the sounds from the street died away.
Footsteps clicked closer. “Good.” The voice was sharp — the Rodent herself. “You’re certain he’s under?”
“His signs indicate as much,” the female thug said.
There was a pause. It contained an audible glare. “Signs can be misinterpreted. Lift the cover, and keep weapons on him.”
The blanket rose. Light burnt through my eyelids. I didn’t flinch.
“How long until he comes round?” the Rat asked.
“Depends,” said the male thug.. “Sickson said he wanted to give the raker a monster dose.”
Fingers prodded — pressed my carotid, my wrist, then peeled back my eyelids. My body rolled my eyes so I didn’t see the woman’s ratty face. Her breath was surprisingly sweet. I suppose even rats aren’t all bad.
Then she moved away with those clicking steps. “I have to talk to someone,” she said. “You both cover him. And anything you hear, it stays in this room. Clear?”
Murmurs of agreement.
“Byron?”
“Apologised for last time,” the male — Byron — said. “Won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“You won’t get a chance to make it a third time. Now, give me silence.” There was a pause, then she continued, her voice hushed.
“I have him… Yes, I’m sure. And any problems my people encountered, that’s none of your business. He’s unconscious. To look at him like this, you’d never believe he caused so much trouble. Things will be so much easier with him out of the way.”
A pause, then, “I can’t say when he’ll wake. And, as I told you before, it will be a waste of time trying to learn what he knows. He’s too careful with his words… You always knew I’d take this opportunity… No, I’m not going back on our little deal. I said I’d bring him in alive, and that’s what I’ve done. And, as I said back then, I know he’ll tell me nothing of use… You think I haven’t wanted him out of the picture before? You think I haven’t strategised? He’s too tight with Zhusie. And Malo. His body turns up, too many people start prodding. But no body, no crime… Oh, what do you think? If I can’t recycle him, I’ll exclude him. I doubt even the mysterious Grim can survive the void.”
There was a longer pause. There was shuffling from two directions. The Rat breathed steadily.
“No,” she said. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. I don’t care. You’re not Alley.” She growled, deep in her throat. “You listen to me, sister. Our mother might’ve spawned you in the Alley, but you ran the moment you could. That doesn’t make you better than me. That makes you a deserter. You’re a traitor to your own kind.”
Another long pause.
“You won’t find anyone else. Even if you have contacts, I can break them. I call the shots, brat. And the deal’s off. Keep your funds. Use them to buy a nice pedicure or whatever you have done to yourself now. The deal’s off, and we’re finished.” The edge to her voice grew keener. “Yes, I know that leaves me with our shit-raker. And I’m fine with that. He’s finished digging dirt now. When I’m done, Khonsu will be needing a brand new investigative consultant or whatever the fuck he calls himself.”
Regina muttered under her breath. Her steps clacked closer. I felt her looking over me like an eclipse.
“Finish him, then dispose of the body. And get rid of that fucking hat as well.”
She clacked out of the room. The door thudded shut.
My body tingled. I heard everything, smelt everything, felt everything.
And, as soon as my eyes snapped open, I saw everything. The female to my left, four paces away, twin blasters aimed in my direction. The male, Byron, same distance away to my right, a two-handed pulse rifle held ready.
My tensed body released. I bounded from the trolley, over those side-panels. Grabbed the female’s right wrist as she fired, the blast missing me by a hand’s width. Jerked her arm back, weapon slamming into her nose. Twisted her as I grasped her left hand, squeezed onto her trigger finger.
My — our — aim was perfect. The blast slapped into Byron’s chest. He spasmed into the wall, dropped his pulse rifle. Hadn’t even let off a shot. I yanked the female’s gun free, shot the unlucky Byron in the head. There wasn’t much of his face left.
Blood streamed from the female’s nose. I still gripped her right wrist. She writhed, wanted to aim the blaster at me. She was strong. I was stronger.
And smarter.
I dropped tensions, let her believe she’d won. But it was too sudden. The swing of her arm unbalanced her. I threw my shoulder into her approaching face. I’d clear the blood from my coat later.
Her head jerked back. The pressure in her arm dropped, and I shot her with her own weapon. Twice, both head shots.
The glimpse I’d grabbed when I first opened my eyes, she’d been attractive. On the outside. Inside, I didn’t reckon she’d been nasty. She’d been desperate. Trying to get by.
She wouldn’t have to bother about that anymore.
My body still tingled, but I felt control returning. I felt the heat and the tautness in my muscles. It would pass.
Two more bodies. I wouldn’t wait for Malo’s hounds this time, though. Might give them a shout when I was back through the alley. Someone might come along later.
There was a door behind the female. It didn’t open. I was sure it was locked. I was certain Regina the Rodent wouldn’t want to face me on her own.
My hat lay on the floor by the door we’d come in through. I picked it up. The door opened as I approached, and I left the Rat’s lair with more questions than answers.