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The story so far: Grim Khonsu is a serialised sci-fi detective noir story, set aboard a vast generation ship. Grim’s investigation into Xavier Peron grows more complex, with two suspicious deaths and a suspect who knows what Grim’s up to. Add to that, Chief Malo has now forced Grim to semi-officially look into the death of Lin Leven-Jacobson. But first, Grim has a meeting with Natuche Peron.
It was late when I left the kennel. I passed a couple of night-spots, was tempted to take a moment, but I wasn’t in the mood for company. I wandered back to my place and had Lola set up the files and kick in the sounds.
The scattershot battery brought together separate strands, and the horn’s wailing looped around them, making some kind of sense. The picture was hazy, and I had no idea if it was reality or fantasy, or some kind of twisted nightmare. But the pulse of the low end told me it was a start. It was an anchor.
Lola had done the digital dance with Natuche Peron’s Slinky. The woman had a room booked from mid-morning, same area where I’d found Lin Leven-Jacobson’s body. That might’ve been a coincidence. I wasn’t sure.
I slept on it, woke early enough to have a long shower. The picture had continued to twist overnight, but still not enough for me to see it properly. I wandered to a food-booth for breakfast. Nancy threw a mean fry, ,and the bench gave me a clear view of the street. Known faces passed. Some nodded warily. I tipped my hat to let them know they weren’t of interest to me.
Not yet. I registered them all, though. The way this case was falling, anything could be important.
I washed the fry down with chilled water. One time, Nancy tried adding a twist of lemon. She meant well, so I didn’t come down hard, simply laid things out for her, then added a tip as a sweetener. I couldn’t fault Nancy’s sincerity.
I took the scenic route to the room Natuche Peron had booked. Malo’s hounds had the door to the crime-scene sealed and taped, a peeker set in the frame. Showing interest would’ve brought a hound or two out, and I didn’t want any more dogs sniffing around, so I walked on by.
The room Natuche had booked was along a broad corridor, the doors spaced wide. This wouldn’t be a one-shot room like the one that contained the corpse. And Natuche was monitoring. The door opened as I approached. I stepped inside.
“There’s a hook for your coat and hat to your left.”
She’d spread herself over a sofa, a bare arm along the back-rest, right leg stretched across the cushions, left foot tucked under right thigh. She wore a small black clingy thing I guess you’d call a dress. Her legs were so smooth they glistened. Her toenails, like her fingernails, were painted with a black sheen that perfectly matched both her dress and her hair. The lighting in the room gave her an otherworldly glow.
“You comfortable enough there?” I slid my coat off and hung it where she’d suggested. I brushed my hat down before adding it to the hook. My shirt was fresh on that morning, but after the walk over it felt dirty.
“I thought a talk would be easier if we were both relaxed.” She waved a long-fingered hand at the far end of the sofa. “Won’t you join me, Grim?”
There were two glasses on the low table by the sofa. The one her end was cloudy, lighter at the top where the ice had started to melt. The one at the opposite end was clear and crisp.
I sat, keeping my back straight. The sofa was long enough that her foot almost rested on my leg. I noticed that she sat fairly straight, too, and her leg wasn’t fully extended.
Her toes angled closer, brushing the material of my trousers.
“You’re not what I expected,” she said.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“I didn’t say you were a disappointment. You look younger in the flesh.”
“You call this ‘in the flesh’?”
“But you talk like someone older. How old are you, Grim? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“You wouldn’t mind me asking the same of you?”
“It’s bad form to as a girl her age. You know that.”
“Yeah. Especially when there are public records. You look good for thirty-six, Natuche. Very good.”
“I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.”
“Could be both. Or neither. And I’m on public record too. You’re smart enough to have done your homework. Or got Slinky to do it for you.”
She shook her head. “Now, that’s just nasty. Slinky is a perfectly good name for an assist. I don’t think it’s healthy to give our assists human names.”
“So you don’t know anyone called Slinky? Thought it might be a private name for someone special.”
“You’re being nasty again. Or naughty. I can’t decide which. But, no, Slinky isn’t named after anyone. Is Lola?”
“Just a name.”
“But a human name. Do you think of your assist as a person, Grim?”
“A bunch of algorithms and programming. Nothing like a person.”
“But you give it a human name, you start thinking of it as human. I notice you didn’t give Lola a pronoun. You didn’t say ‘she’, but neither did you say ‘it’. “
“Does it matter?”
Natuche shrugged her bare shoulders. “You tell me. Is anthropomorphising a bunch of code good or bad?”
“Long word.”
“But you understand it.”
“Sure. And is it good or bad? Depends on the situation. Like a lot of things. Like being in this room with you.”
“You’re not sure if you should be here? Do I scare you that much, Grim?”
“Never said you scared me.”
“But I do, don’t I? You’re not sure how to act in my presence. You’re worried I might do something like this.” She stretched, at the same time tugging the front of her dress. The material parted enough to show smooth, plunging curves.
Damn straight the woman made me nervous.
“Didn’t come here for a show,” I said. “You know why I’m here.”
“I know why you tell yourself you’re here. But there’s no reason we can’t have some fun. Besides, I’m intrigued. I’d like to get to know you better. In the flesh, if you like.”
Her shuffling had shifted her whole body, and she lifted her foot onto my thigh. With a smile she started rubbing my leg, the foot creeping closer to my crotch.
I grabbed it and moved it aside. Her flesh was too warm, too soft. I reached for my drink and took a long sip.
She smiled. “I’m not your type? Don’t tell me you prefer someone like Aveline.”
“What’s wrong with Aveline?”
“Did I say there was something wrong with her? Maybe you prefer a challenge. Is that your game? I’d be interested to see you break her down.”
“You’d like to watch?”
“You’re putting words in my mouth.” She lifted her foot onto my leg again, started that slow rubbing. “I’d prefer something other than words, you know. Xavier always enjoys it when I do that. I can make him quite the rag-doll.”
“Even with the way he’s changed?” I nudged at her foot, but her leg tensed and the foot remained on my thigh.
Her sigh was long and breathy. “You need to relax. Forget about your work for a while. You’re too uptight. You’ve barely touched your water.”
The glass was tempting. I reached forward, moving the woman’s foot from my leg in the process. The liquid cooled my throat.
“Better?”
I took another gulp, placed the glass on the table and leaned back. Too suddenly — the room spun for a moment. Or maybe that was down to the low lighting.
It wasn’t low enough for me to miss her hand sliding along the back of the sofa towards my shoulder as Natuche leaned forward.
“What do you want, Natuche?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
With her other hand she unfastened the front of her dress the whole way. She had a gem in her navel. The gem twinkled. I watched it. When she spoke her voice was softer, almost like I heard it through water.
“Don’t you find me attractive, Grim?”
She moved in a way that drew my attention away from that gem.
“I know what you’re trying to do, Natuche,” I said. Or I think I did. I’m not sure the words came out right.
She shuffled again. Up close, her lips were a brownish-red, complimenting her skin. She licked those lips to leave them glistening.
“I want you to relax,” she whispered. “Although not everywhere.” Her hand was already on my shoulder, and I couldn’t remember when that happened. It moved down my arm.
When I detached, it was usually when violence bubbled up. But it happened at other times too. It happened now.
I felt my body, and I observed.
My right hand came across, grabbed her hand so hard she gasped. Her eyes widened, but there was confusion in the gaze, and she shot a glance at my half-finished drink.
It tasted of water, and it didn’t have any strange aroma. That didn’t mean it was only water.
I understood this, even as I saw myself rise from the sofa. I still had hold of Natuche’s delicate hand. I threw it back at her.
“I’m not into games,” I heard myself say, my voice strong. “You want to tell me something useful, I’ll listen. But otherwise, I think we’re finished here.”
She reached out, and I stepped back. “You’re making a mistake,” she said.
“Whole job’s a mistake. And, for the record, I reckon Aveline’s got a better body than you. At least it looks real.”
Her lips grew thin, as did her eyes. She muttered something that sounded like ‘bitch’. The way I saw things, she could’ve been talking about anyone. Including herself.
I stepped to the door. Natuche didn’t move from the sofa. She sat upright, her dress open, bare flesh revealed. She’d have looked exposed and vulnerable if it hadn’t been for the glare she threw at me.
I slipped my coat on, placed my hat on my head, and tipped the front to her. She pushed her shoulders back, and I reckoned that was an unconscious reaction, a last-ditch attempt to get me to stay, to show me what I was missing.
What I was missing was an opportunity to get deeper into the screwy Peron arrangement. And I could do without an opportunity like that.
She muttered something else as I reached for the door.
“Might want to save that pretty mouth for Xavier,” I said. “ Not like Aveline can help him like you can, right? Or Colville.”
I wasn’t sure why I said that, but I noted the reaction. And then I left Natuche in her anger.