Marlowe and the Spacewoman (18 page)

Where the electronics rack didn’t have a gaping hole, it had panels, buttons, LEDs, and small screens arrayed in a seemingly haphazard way.  Marlowe couldn’t make any sense of it, or of the acronyms that labeled each component, but Nina seemed at home.  She pushed the disk into a slot set into one of the panels, which promptly began to whir.  Then it clicked loudly, followed by a shrill grinding noise.  Nina yelped and tried to pull the disk out, but couldn’t.

“Crap!  Do you have a paper clip?”

“A what?”

“Never mind.”

Nina used the screwdriver to pry the front panel off the rack, exposing circuit boards and wires.  Completely non-organic - it all seemed very primitive to Marlowe.  She fiddled with the disk drive using the tip of the screwdriver, until there was a spark and a crackling sound.  Nina and the screwdriver flew backwards, Nina into Marlowe’s arms, the screwdriver into his shoulder where it bounced off the body armor he always wore.  The disk popped out with a pluh sound.

Nina looked a bit sheepish.  “You OK?”

“Yeah,” replied Marlowe.  “Just a slight shock.  You?”

“I’m fine.”  Nina grabbed the disk and stared at it.  “This would help my case a lot, if we could just read it.”

Marlowe groaned inwardly.  “This computer isn’t working?”

“No, there’s something wrong with the drive.”

“So we need to find another hundred year old computer?”

“Yeah.”  Nina frowned.  “You don’t happen to have one lying around, do you?”

“No, but I think I know someone who can help us find one.  Teddy.”

“Really?  Then let’s go!”

Marlowe put up his hand.  “Not so fast.  I’d like to look around here a bit, without you if you don’t mind.  Part of my work to prove you’re really from outer space.”

“I’m not from outer space.  I’m from Montana.”

“You know what I mean.”

Nina shrugged, then went to the back of the ship.  “OK, but let me check for one more thing before I go.  It’s in the sample storage area.”  She stopped short, staring at an opening in the wall at the back of the ship.  A small door, about a meter tall and wide, hung open, with deep gouges in the edge.  Matching gouges were visible in the door frame.  Inside was nothing.

“Damn.  I had samples from Tortoise’s moon in here.  Rock and soil samples.  More evidence of where I’ve been.  And, more importantly,” her tone taking on an angry, petulant tone, “some of my prized personal possessions.  Possessions I should have left behind because of their mass.  I took a risk bringing them back.”

“Obedere’s people have them, without doubt.”  Marlowe sighed.  “If they help your case, he’s sure to have destroyed them.”

“But the rock samples have scientific value!”

“Doesn’t matter.  Now please, if I may, a moment alone in your ship.”

Nina squeezed past Marlowe on her way to the hatch.  “I’ll be waiting for you.”

Marlowe fished a pad of sticky tapes from a pocket.  He started with the mattress Nina had cut open.  He overrode the histamine filters and gingerly sniffed the bedding, nose wrinkling at the rank odor he detected.  Specially modified nano probes embedded in his nasal cavity began a detailed chemical analysis of the odor.   If it was sweat, Marlowe would know in about ten minutes.  And if it was Nina’s sweat, he’d have confirmation in another twenty minutes.  

Marlowe tried to ignore the heat building up in his nose - the special probes generated a lot of it  when running, and he’d learned the hard way to limit their use to the bare minimum.  Fortunately, he’d collected what he needed on that front, and let them power down.  He could feel the redness of his nose beginning to dissipate.  

Marlowe flipped the histamine filters back into place and began placing pieces of sticky tape on the inside of the bedding, the mattress, and the metal railing of the bunk, folding the tape over onto itself after lifting it away.  Then he moved over to the chair, doing the same there.  Finally, he stuck the sticky tapes on several portions of the floor.  When he left the ship to rejoin Nina, he had over fifty samples tucked away in his pocket.  He’d have House start the analysis as soon as they got home; with any luck the results would be in by morning.

CHAPTER 11

HUGGY BEAR STRIKES A BLOW FOR FREEDOM

Finding a computer that could read Nina’s disk moved up to the top of Marlowe’s To Do list.  Rush hour traffic slowed them down on their way back home, but Marlowe didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to start looking for the machine.  His brother might call them in to a tribunal hearing at any moment, and now that he had his first real tangible lead, Marlowe didn’t want to waste any time.

They spent just over an hour in the traffic.  Jebediah made the stop and go journey all the more memorable by whining about being hungry and needing to go to the bathroom.  Noise cancellation keyed to Jebediah’s voice managed to keep his tirades down to a rumbling whisper.  Nina, no longer distracted by the strangeness of the buildings and their zeppelins, started noticing other things to ask questions about.  Questions about the constant roadwork and the omnipresent construction and demolition of buildings were easy to answer.  Others, however, were not.

“Do you normally have such a high police presence on the street?”

Jebediah, who had been happily expounding on his urgent need to relieve his bladder, ducked down as the large number of law enforcement personnel was brought to his attention.  “They’re looking for me I’ll wager!  I’ll be damned if I let them take me!  Marlowe, please, don’t let them take me back!”

“They’re not looking for you, father.  Just calm down.”

“Sure they aren’t,” hissed Jebediah, his narrowed eyes hovering just over the top of the door sill.  “Sure they aren’t.  That’s what I said eight years ago, when the squadron of goons came for me.”

“Normally,” Marlowe said to Nina, ignoring his father’s outburst, “we don’t have quite so many constables on the street.  Your rather explosive arrival has spawned a firestorm of controversy and a great deal of political jockeying.  Obedere has put more constables on the street in case the right moment comes for him to seize power, and the military have their police out just in case they need to thwart him.  Of course, right now, the Joint Chiefs are making up their minds about whose side they’re on – Obedere’s or my brother’s.  If they choose Obedere….”

“Your brother’s out.”

“And so are you.  Obedere is taking the law-and-order position, while my brother is seeking to find a balance between that and your popularity with the people for destroying all the Brussels sprouts.”

“I’m popular for that?”

“Absolutely!  People hate them, but during the fall, that’s pretty much the only vegetable we have to eat.”

“Just Brussels sprouts?  But that’s crazy!  Why don’t you grow other vegetables?”

“We do, but they’re timed to be harvested at different times of the year.”

“But no wonder people hate them.  You’d get tired of the same thing over and over again.  It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Oh, they took that into account.  These are genetically engineered Brussels sprouts.  They have a variety of flavors – zucchini, asparagus, corned beef.  But the texture – it never changes.”

“No,” broke in Jebediah with a shudder.  “Always that awful leafy texture.  Always the same.”

“Anyway, it seems like history is repeating itself.  If I remember correctly, the last coup we had was precipitated by a rather large public controversy.”

“Nonsense,” shouted Jebediah.  “Nothing controversial about that decision at all!”

“What decision?” asked Nina.

“Never you mind, young lady, never you mind.”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t anything as exciting as a visitor from outer space.”

“Spares, not a word.  I don’t want to talk about it.”

They finally reached their destination.  It had involved a great deal of threading through the morass of City traffic, but the Studebaker finally rolled to a stop next to the James K. Polk Maximum Security Middle School.  Marlowe listened to the sounds of a carefree youth that he had never experienced.  Third and fourth graders laughed and squealed as they played kickball and Flush-Out-The-Traitor, safe behind the high voltage security fence encircling their campus.  Fifth and six graders clustered together with their classmates, each gang eying the other suspiciously as they sauntered up and down their sides of the StyroCork and SimuTurf playground.  A couple of constables watched over them in case any of the older children figured out a way over the fence.

“Follow me,” said Marlowe as he climbed out of the car.  “We walk from here.”

The constables watched the new arrivals for a moment, their interest piqued at someone outside the daily routine.  It gave Marlowe an idea.

“Father, those constables seem awfully interested in us.  No, no, don’t look, that will just arouse their suspicions further, and give them a good look at your face.”

Jebediah blanched.  “Good Governor, they might identify me!”  For a man holding stock still, half in and half out of the car, he became quite animated.  “Are they coming over here?”

The constables had returned their stern glares to the more obvious threat, the schoolchildren, but Marlowe felt a small lie would make Jebediah easier to handle.  “No, they aren’t coming over here, but they seem very curious.  You better get back in the car.  It’s armored, and I can have it drive you around the block and out of sight.”

“Yes, son, excellent thinking.  And to think I suspected you hated me!  I can’t imagine what led me to prefer your brother over you.”

“Probably your ability to judge character,” muttered Marlowe under his breath after Jebediah had slipped back into the car and crouched on the floor.

“Are you sure it’s safe to leave him alone?” asked Nina.  “What if the police do come after him?”

“Constables, Nina.  They’re called constables now.  Only the military have police.  And these particular constables aren’t even remotely interested in him.  They have bigger fish to fry – these middle schoolers.  Besides, I’m positive that Obedere arranged for father’s escape as an obstacle to my investigations, so his constables are hardly likely to snatch him up and out of my hair.  No, that would be far too convenient.”

“And if you’re wrong?”

“I’m not.  Trust me.”

“Fine.  It’s not like I have any choice.”  Nina crossed her arms and looked around.  

“I’m sorry, I keep forgetting all this is new and strange to you.  I’m always forced to play games like this with Obedere.  He hates me because I’ve managed indirectly or directly to obstruct his path to the Governorship on several occasions.  You asked before about the face lifts; more than once has been after one of those cases.  He’s tried to kill me and come very close once, but that only taught him that despite my brother’s distant attitude towards me, I still have enough value in the Governor’s eyes to be protected from out-and-out murder or execution.  So he takes out his frustrations by interfering with my pursuit of happiness and attempting to undercut my effectiveness in the hopes of reducing my usefulness to my brother.  So when I say I know this is Obedere’s handiwork, it is Obedere’s handiwork, and my father would be quite safe walking into the nearest Constable’s Station and declaring himself to them.  They’d just cart him right back to House.”

Nina seemed appeased by the more detailed explanation.  “OK, then who is this Teddy?”

The sun had started to set, spilling raspberry syrup across the sky.  “Teddy.”  Marlowe scratched his chin.  “How to explain him.  The easiest explanation is to meet him.  That said, he’s one of my better informants and, it turns out, an excellent chess player.”

“Where do we find him?”

“Oh, we keep walking.  He’ll find us.”

Marlowe strolled down a side street, keeping up a steady patter about the weather and the trees they were walking under.  On one side, City workers were trimming back branches that had extended too far and too low into the personal space of the street.  The trees on the other side were dropping their leaves, shedding golden tears for their injured comrades.  Marlowe thought the leaves, resting on the black surface, looked like yellow lily pads floating on an asphalt pond.  

They kept moving, turning left again at another small street, walking past almost-but-not-quite modest homes.  Marlowe pulled a small plastic device out of his pocket.  It was triangular, with a grille on one side, and a handle on the other.

“What’s that?” asked Nina.

“Sniffer,” replied Marlowe, lowering his arm and discreetly passing the device over tree trunks and fences as they walked.

“What’s it do?”

“I’m looking for a certain scent.”

“Scent?”

“Yes.  Dogs like to mark their territories, and I’m looking for a particular dog.”

“And his scent is programmed into the sniffer.”

“My, you’re learning fast.”

The device sniffed softly as they passed a fence post.  Marlowe stopped, whistled loudly a couple of times, and crossed the street.

“He likes to zigzag across the street.  Doesn’t believe in straight lines, wreaks havoc on traffic.  Fortunately, he knows to look both ways first.  Course, that would get him in trouble if he didn’t have eyes set on either side of his head.  He can be very discreet about checking for traffic.  Close one eye, open the other, then switch.  He’s a smart one.  Gonna get him into trouble one of these days.”

The sniffer sniffed again, the same volume as before.  “Hmm, not the freshest scent, but not that old either.”  Marlowe whistled again, then leaned close to Nina and lowered his voice.  “Teddy is a very special dog.  Kinda like the special parrots, only not evil.”

They crossed the street, almost getting hit by a passing car that honked angrily at them.

“Oh.”  Nina looked up and down the street.  “What’s he look like?”

“Big.  Dark.  And don’t be surprised when he talks.  In fact, try not to attract any attention to us when we find him.  Some people don’t care about his disposition and lifestyle, they just fear him because he’s a dog AND smarter than them.”

The sniffer snorted a little louder at the corner.  Marlowe started tapping his fingers with his thumb.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to remember the pattern he uses when he reaches a street corner.”  He touched each finger with his thumb.  “Index left, middle right, ring turn around, pinky stay the course.  I think.  I can never remember.”

“I think I may be of some assistance,” said House in Marlowe’s ear and Nina’s wrist communicator.

“You know, House, we need to get her an ear piece so the whole world can’t hear when you talk to us.”

“I did suggest that, but you were in a hurry and didn’t want to keep looking once you’d found the wrist communicator.”

“Well, there is a sense of urgency here, isn’t there?”

“I can disable her speaker during critical communications,” said House, suddenly only in Marlowe’s ear, “if it looks like someone undesirable may be able to overhear.”  Then his voice issued through just Nina’s wrist communicator.  “And if you don’t trust my judgment, we can agree on a code word you can use to tell me to disable communications.”

“That will be fine, House.  No code word needed.  When we’re not alone or with someone we trust, turn off her speaker.”

“Very good,” said House.

“Is Teddy a Rottweiler?” asked Nina.

“Mostly,” said Marlowe, “but with a little Shetland thrown in.”

“Then I think we’ve found him.”

Marlowe turned to where Nina was looking, too late to avoid Teddy’s pounce or the sudden trip to the ground.  Teddy started licking his face and neck.

“Stop that, Teddy!”  Marlowe squirmed and flopped around.  “That tickles!”

“Rrruf!”

“Hey, I thought you said he could talk.”  Nina couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Teddy stopped and looked quizzically at Marlowe, who slid out from under him and sat up.

“Teddy, this is Nina.  She’s OK.  I’ll vouch for her.”

“Not here,” hissed Teddy.  “It’s too open and there are too many coppers running around.”

Teddy leapt to his feet and trotted down the street.  Marlowe picked himself up and followed, Nina ahead of him.  The taciturn dog led them into an even less almost-but-not-quite modest neighborhood of ratty apartments and sagging carports, stopping to mark a post before turning right down an alley.  Marlowe’s sniffer sniffed loudly as he walked past the post, prompting him to turn it off.

Marlowe was huffing a little harder than he cared to show when he finally caught up.  Teddy was sitting against a fence, Nina rubbing his head, his tongue lolling and eyes rolled back blissfully.  A barren field with the skeleton of a wrecked car and several rusted-out drums tilted at obtuse angles lay on the other side of the fence.  The faintest remnants of biohazard labels peeled and curled away from the drum surfaces.  The nearest house, with boarded up windows and a huge gaping hole in the roof, gave the distinct impression of being abandoned.

“We weren’t supposed to get together for another couple of days, Marlowe.  What’s up?”

“I need to find a computer.  A really old computer.”

Teddy cocked his head and twitched an ear.  “Lots of old computers lying about.  Probably an even dozen one meter underneath that field over there.”