Justice (13 page)

“
You saw her bring in the body?” Bruce asked, stepping towards
the Hunter.

The young man
nodded. A squeak escaped from between his lips.

“
So she’s managed to scare you into vouching for her? Or did
you kill him yourself, you little runt!” Bruce took another step
forward and grabbed hold of Jimmy’s shirt.

At first Jimmy
nodded, and then realizing his mistake, shook his head violently
from side to side.

“
Did you or didn’t you?” Bruce yelled.

“
He was like this when- when she brought him in,” Jimmy
whispered.

Bruce shoved
the boy back against the wall. “He’s so scared he’d jump out into
the plants if he had a chance. No way this pip-squeak did it. Which
brings us back to you.”

“
Look, Bruce,” Nova said. “We don’t have to answer to you.
We’re
external
security, remember? We’ve established that I found the body
outside. Now if you’d get out of my bloody way I’d like to start a
real investigation, so I can get off of this damned
planet.”

“
You can do whatever the hell you want, but I find it very
convenient that you walk out into the jungle and manage to find
him. As far as I’m concerned, you’re suspect number
one.”

Meaghan looked
up at Nova with red eyes. “You- you did this?” she said, barely a
whisper.

“
No,” Nova said.

“
Why would you kill poor Geron?” the woman asked, continuing
as if Nova hadn’t spoken.

“
I didn’t kill the President!” Nova yelled and the room fell
silent. Even Leon’s sobs subsided.

“
Bring in that blabber-mouth of a medbot to get the real cause
of death. Unlike you people, I want to find the
real
killer,” Nova said, glaring at
each of them in turn.

Right on cue a
small red robot rolled into the room. It had a bright light on the
top of its body that flashed as it moved along. The creature came
up to Nova’s knees, but moved extremely fast.

The robot went
to Geron’s side and a beam of light traced up and down what
remained of the body. Beeps and whirs emanated from the robot as it
carried out its diagnosis. The rest of the room remained silent; a
kind of mutual agreement of respect for the recently departed.

After the
lights the robot extended a small metal arm from its side. The end
of the arm was tipped with a sharp scalpel that the robot used to
scrape up a piece of Geron’s skin. The precious sample was taken
back inside the robot where more noises accompanied its
analysis.

“
Medbot 337 of Drigoon reporting that Geron Feders, also known
as President Feders, is dead as of this moment. The suspected cause
of death is poison; specifically from a plant native to Drigoon.
Further analysis will require additional time. The body will be
taken for a complete autopsy.”

A stretcher
shot out of the side of the medbot and with practiced ease it
scooped Geron up and zoomed out the door, leaving the silent humans
to digest its announcement.

“
He’s gone. He’s really gone,” Meaghan whispered with a bent
head and troubled eyes.

“
Who had access to the planet’s surface?” Nova
asked.

“
All the security have access,” Meaghan said, voice
shaking.

“
And a lot of the serving staff and maintenance staff,” Leon
spoke up from his position by the wall.

“
The old fool probably walked straight out there himself,”
Dustin’s dry voice cut through the room.

Nova’s eyes
snapped up to stare at the younger man.

“
Is that true?” she asked. “Would the President have had
access to the surface?”

“
Of course he does, he has top level clearance,” Bruce said,
his tone terse.

“
It could have been an accident?” Meaghan said.

“
No,” Nova replied. “There was a robot with his body. It had
been tampered with. This wasn’t some accident.” Her eyes moved back
and forth as she thought over Geron’s disappearance. She looked
around the room from face to face but only doubtful glances met her
gaze.

“
President Feders knew this dome better than anyone. He could
have navigated it blind-folded. He wouldn’t walk out accidentally,”
Bruce said.

“
Maybe on purpose though,” again Dustin’s voice was like a
hard rock banging against the metal walls of the room. It was so
lacking in emotion that it made Nova’s skin crawl.

“
You’re suggesting it was suicide?” she asked with her brows
raised.

“
Maybe,” Dustin shrugged. “Or maybe he thought he was immune
to the poison. He’s always been a crazy bastard.”

“
Dustin! How dare you speak of your father that way!” Meaghan
glared at Dustin.

“
Oh c’mon Meaghan, don’t tell me you haven’t thought the same
thing a hundred times,” Dustin said, stomping away. He pushed past
Jimmy and the barricade and left the shipping bay.

Nova watched
him go with widened eyes.

“
Alright,” Nova said, making a decision. “As per Geron’s will,
and as the most senior member of the external team, I’m in charge
of this investigation. As such—”

“
No way. You’re suspect number one. Me and the other members
of Geron’s security will take this.”

“
Wrong. As his personal security you and your men are excluded
from this investigation. Geron’s will is very clear, not to mention
that under interplanetary law, suspicious deaths of heads of state
are to be investigated by an external third party. That would be
me.”

Nova stared
hard at Bruce, daring him to question her authority. There was
nothing the large man could say. She was right. If Geron’s personal
security tried to wrest control from her they would be breaching
interplanetary law, and the final wish of the planet’s President.
Such a crime would mean instant death.

When silence
met her statement, Nova allowed herself a sigh of relief. “Good. I
want this entire dome to stay locked down - no one comes or goes. I
want all exits manned by at least one of your people and one of
mine at all times.” She looked pointedly at Bruce.

“
As you command.” Bruce sneered and bowed towards Nova before
pushing his way out of the room.

“
I’m going to require statements from all of you, and probably
from the other guests as well. I would suggest you go and get some
rest and try to remember just where you were when Geron went
missing.”

Nova’s tone
was firm. The more she considered the situation the more she
doubted it was some kind of freak accident.

The rest of
the tired bodies shuffled out of the room one by one, each casting
a glance first at the blood smeared across the floor and then to
Nova. Meaghan was the last to leave. She stayed kneeling on the
floor long after the others had gone.

“
Mrs Feders, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to move
along. This is now a crime scene and quite frankly you’ve
contaminated it enough as it is,” Nova said.

Meaghan cast a
spiteful glare up at Nova, but got to her feet all the same. The
woman turned and stalked out of the room. For the moment her grief
outweighed her indignation.

Nova clicked
the comm-device at her waist. “I need three Hunters in the shipping
bay straight away. We’ve got a crime scene to scour.”

Nova looked in
on what was left of Geron’s body. Medbots whirred around it,
slicing through his abdomen and removing his organs. She sighed and
her breath fogged up the glass.

“
Cal, I’m going to need your help. Meet me in room
720.”

“
Confirmed.”

Nova trudged
away from the med-bay and its sterile white lights, back through
the twisting corridors. She knew where she was going; it was almost
as if she’d spent her whole life in the dome, rather than just the
last few days.

She arrived at
room 720 at almost the same time as Cal. The door slid open when
she pressed the green button to reveal the simple room beyond.
According to the maps, room 720 was an unused office and it
certainly fit the description.

The empty room
contained a single desk and chair that sat in the very centre.
Three undecorated metal walls surrounded the desk, while the fourth
wall was taken up almost entirely with a glass window that
overlooked Drigoon.

The desk and
chair faced out of the window, the back to the door.

Nova shook her
head at the arrangement and marched to the chair, lifted it into
the air, and hoisted it to the other side of the desk so that it
faced the door. She scowled at the large window but there was
nothing she could do about that now.

She tossed her
satchel into the far corner of the room and took a seat at the
desk. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her temples, reflecting on how
it had come to this.

“
Cal, get me Tanguin,” she said, her face serious.

In just a few
seconds Cal projected a video display onto the wall beside the
door. Tanguin’s face filled the display.

“
What’s up?” Tanguin asked. “You’ve looked better.”

Nova rolled
her eyes.

“
So?” Tanguin asked.

Her straight
black hair reflected the glow of her computer screen as she gazed
out with her pale eyes. As usual, Tanguin wore a simple black
singlet with dark trousers that contrasted her white, almost
translucent, skin.

Unlike most
first generation Un-Connected, who had succumbed to depression,
she’d picked herself up from the sudden sting of reality and left
Xenon. She’d travelled away from her crumbling home-world and
fallen into life at The Jagged Maw. Her computer skills made her
instantly valuable and she settled in like she’d always
belonged.

“
This place has been buzzing with what happened on that-
um…
artefact
hunt,” Tanguin said, her eyes not blinking.

“
Yeah, I know. Tanguin, I need you to run some searches for
me. This is important,” Nova cut straight to the point, her hard
eyes conveying exactly what they needed to.

“
Are you in trouble?” Tanguin asked, sitting up
straighter.

“
No. Well… not yet. Not anymore. Not right now. But I might be
if I don’t get to the bottom of this straight away.”

“
Just tell me what to do,” Tanguin said, leaning closer to the
screen.

“
This is completely off the record. You never heard it and you
won’t mention it to anyone.” Nova stared intently at the screen,
watching Tanguin’s face.

“
Cross my heart,” Tanguin replied.

“
President Feders is dead,” Nova said with finality. “It looks
like murder.”

Tanguin’s eyes
widened. President Feders was well known in Hunter circles for his
terraforming and planet exploration.

“
But how?”

“
Poison plant, but that’s all we know.”

“
Bloody hell.” Tanguin shook her head and leant back in her
chair.

“
Yeah, tell me about it. But look, the security guy here has
got it in his head that I did it. I’ve taken control for now but I
better come up with another suspect soon.”

“
You could just leave..?”

“
I kind of, sort of, agreed to take the lead when I heard
there was a monetary reward.”

Tanguin
groaned.

“
But that was before I knew how bloody complicated it was
going to be.”

“
Alright. What do you want me to do from here?”

“
I want his complete history. Emails, bank accounts, Cloud
history – everything.”

“
Shouldn’t be too hard,” Tanguin said. “What will you
do?”

“
Do it the old fashioned way; interview the possible
suspects.”

“
Do you have any idea who it might be?” Tanguin’s face lit up
with curiosity.

“
Conveniently all the video feeds have been fried. I’ve got no
record of what happened, hence the old-fashioned interview method.
The son seems to have a chip off his shoulder. He certainly didn’t
seem worried about his old man.”

“
No way! You think the President’s own son killed
him?”

“
Anything’s possible, but I’ve got to get to work. Call me as
soon as you have that history,” Nova said.

“
Right on it.” Tanguin’s video feed went blank.

Nova sighed
again; this was going to be a very long night.

“
Cal, layout a projector sheet for me.”

Cal’s
projector swivelled around to point at Nova’s desk and a white
square covered the surface.

Nova looked at
the blank space for a while. Her mind raced over the last two days,
connecting dots and reviewing everything she’d seen and heard. She
forced her mind to go back and recover every tiny insignificant
detail of every moment since landing on Drigoon. She pointed to one
corner of the page.

“
President Feders is found murdered.”

An image of
the President, smiling and very much alive, appeared on the white
screen beneath her finger.

She tapped her
finger again and beside the happy picture of the President an image
of his body as it was first found popped up.