SHIAM Conspiracy- Book 1 (3 page)

“If somebody swiped top secret military
technology, you need ASID, not me.”

“Strictly speaking, this isn’t military,”
Grimrok said. “Not quite yet, anyway.”

“Not yet?” Zak smirked. “That sounds close
enough. I take it the military is already interested?”

“The military is aware of it,” Grimrok
conceded. “And yes, they are interested. But it’s not officially a
part of any military program yet. There are certain issues that
need to be addressed before it can go to the military. You need to
help me out on this, Mr. Harris. I’m in a tight spot here. If news
of this theft gets out... Well, you can well imagine what that
would do to our defense contracts. The military does not like it
when their vendors allow things that are supposed to be kept secret
to go missing!”

“Why me when you already have Vennhim?” Zak
asked. His instinct was telling him he didn’t want any part of
this. “I specialize in corporate security now. Before the fact, not
after the deed has been done. I don’t do
cloak and dagger
anymore.”

“Dorjan has other responsibilities,” Grimrok
said. He watched Zak’s reaction and correctly deduced that he
wasn’t buying it. “Okay honestly, Dorjan and the boys spent the
last three days looking for clues and came up empty. And quite
frankly, I would just as soon have someone who wasn’t associated
with Grimrok Corporation conduct the investigation. This all needs
to stay as far away from my door step as possible. An acquaintance
of mine suggested you.”

“You want me to investigate a crime, but not
let anyone know what I’m investigating?” Zak laughed at the
absurdity of it. “That’s going to make it pretty difficult to find
anything out.”

“I know it is a difficult task to ask,”
Grimrok replied evenly. “But I am impressed with your
qualifications, although there are some aspects of your career that
is quite puzzling. You began training with the Te’n Kha when you
were quite young. That is tradition among the Elves, is it not, to
begin training as a warrior at an early age? Your father insisted
upon it, I would guess?” Grimrok paused only briefly for a response
from Zak. When he didn’t get one his leathery face wrinkled further
with annoyance. “Of course, not all Elves are accepted to train
with the elite forces, the Te’n Kha. That is quite an honor. All
those years training and you simply walked away. Why would you do
such a thing?”

Again Zak did not respond, and so Grimrok
continued, “You then enlisted in Aragne Special Forces. Remained
there fourteen years and rose to the rank of captain. Four medals
of Honor during the war in Kurr Tak against the Orkensha. Then you
were recruited by the Aragne Special Intelligence Department and
served as a field agent for another fifteen years. And then again,
you just suddenly walked away from the ASID just as you did from
the Te’n Kha.”

Zak portrayed indifference towards the review
of his career. If Grimrok was waiting for an explanation of why he
did what he’d done, the Dwarf would have a very long wait. Zak
rarely spoke to anyone concerning his personal life and the reasons
for his past actions were his own. Those parts of his service that
was not classified, Grimrok was welcome to.

“Yes, well anyway...I doubt there is anyone
working in the private sector at the moment that is more qualified
than you for the job!”

Zak couldn’t help but notice the cold glare
Vennhim gave Grimrok. Knowing the ex-agent, Zak figured that he had
taken that last statement as more than just a small insult. Vennhim
had always believed he was the ultimate Aragne patriot, unequalled
in his ability to defend his nation. Zak conceded that his training
and skills were above the norm, but he knew that Vennhim was not
the super hero he saw himself as. In fact, Zak considered him a
low-life. The man was unscrupulous, vicious, and amoral.

“I’ve told you, I don’t do that kind of work
anymore,” Zak said patiently. “I’m getting too old for it.”

“If you were Human, I’d say at age fifty,
perhaps you’re right.” Grimrok’s smile took on a manipulative aura.
“But with Elvish blood running through your veins, you are only
just approaching middle age. And you look to be in a lot better
shape than most twenty year old Humans. Come now, Mr. Harris. This
theft offers intrigue beyond anything you’ve dealt with of late.
It’s an unfathomable mystery how these thieves managed to get past
our security without leaving a trace and I’m offering you the
opportunity to solve it.”

“That’s bit exaggerated.” Zak’s instinct was
still saying
‘no’
, but the fact was that the adventurer
within him was feeling bored and this sounded more interesting than
writing security code for corporate network systems. He could feel
his resolve begin to weaken. “What exactly was taken?”

“First you must agree to take the assignment
and sign a confidentiality agreement.” Grimrok slid an electronic
document and digital pen across the desk toward him.

Zak left the offered document on the desk.
There was still some resistance in him. Something didn’t feel right
about this whole thing. And Vennhim was another negative. He had no
desire to work with the man again.

“To help you make up your mind,” Grimrok
said, “Here’s a little incentive.”

His stubby fingers quickly tapped at the
keyboard in front of him and he swung the monitor around for Zak to
see. The amount on the screen was more than Zak made in a year with
his security business. It didn’t sooth Zak’s instinct any, but
things
were
getting even more interesting.

He still resisted picking up the pen.

“Mr. Harris, this
could
become a
matter of national security if it is not handled correctly!”
Grimrok was somewhat flustered over Zak’s resistance. “I’m not
asking you to follow my wife around to find out who’s doing her
this month. This is serious business. This could have a very
detrimental effect upon our nation!”

He paused for a moment then continued more
calmly. “I need someone who can quickly learn the playing field and
who can also fly below the radar, as it were. I can’t afford to let
the government, or the press, get wind of this. It would put an end
to our military contracts. You’re the man we need, all right.
Anyone who could pull off what you did in the Kremloch Colonies
during the Tel Ghar incident... Infiltrating the Goblin’s capital
city and safely extracting two prominent hostages was no small
feat. So you see, I am confident that you can get this job
done.”

“I told you, I don’t play cloak and dagger
anymore.”

“This figure is just a retainer, of course,”
Grimrok said, indicating the monitor screen. “Twenty-five percent.
You will be paid the rest upon completion of the job.”

“Mr. Grimrok,” Vennhim broke in. “It’s pretty
obvious that Zak’s not interested. I did try to warn you that he’s
lost his edge after...”

Grimrok held up his hand to cut Vennhim
short. “Let’s give Mr. Harris a moment to make up his own mind,
shall we?”

Vennhim’s words rubbed at Zak and his ability
to rationalize dropped a few notches. He couldn’t for the life of
him figure out what Vennhim was doing working as head of corporate
security. After all, there just wasn’t a whole lot of opportunity
to torture and kill in corporate life. Or was there?

In spite of the insistence of his better
judgment not to do it, Zak picked up the pen and signed the
agreement.

“Excellent!” Grimrok grinned.

“
H
ow the hell do you lose a fully
functional SHIAM from a high security location!”

Zak couldn’t believe what they were telling
him. He had expected stolen technical drawings, or a secret
formula, or some outrageously valuable software that had been
stolen. Something electronic that could be obtained by hacking into
the Grimrok network through the company’s public link to Comm Net.
A SHIAM unit was simply not what he had expected.

“What in a demons curse am I doing here? You
need a detective, not a computer consultant. I work with network
security. I don’t do cops and robbers!”

He got up and began pacing. After Grimrok was
certain that Zak signed the nondisclosure agreement, he had made an
abrupt exit, claiming to have an important meeting to attend.
Vennhim and the security guard, Jonas, then accompanied Zak to one
of the building’s many conference rooms, where Dr. Tabitha Rose was
waiting. Once there, the three Grimrok employees provided Zak with
the details of the break-in and theft. That is, if you consider the
limited information they provided as details.

“You guys have nothing!” Zak said, sweeping
his hand through his hair in frustration as he continued to pace.
“You don’t know how they got in. You don’t know how they got out.
You don’t have any physical evidence that a break-in even
occurred!”

“But Derek is missing,” Jonas said with a
puzzled look. “Is that
not
evidence that someone took
him?”

Zak glared at the SHIAM, trying to determine
if it was really that clueless or if it was simply yanking his
chain. He was pretty sure he wanted to hit the android. He decided
to continue with what he’d been saying instead. “There were no
alarms tripped, no indication of intruders on your security cameras
or your internal sensors. And your fancy-ass SHIAM security guards
didn’t see a thing!”

The room they were now in was as luxurious as
the other parts of the building Zak had seen. The oversized
conference table could easily accommodate two dozen people,
complete with plush leather cushioned chairs. There was a wet bar
and a small food processing unit in one corner of the room. The
bright and cheery atmosphere, combined with the expensive decor,
did nothing but further sour Zak’s mood.

“Perhaps if you would calm down we
could...”

“I don’t want to calm down!” His glare cut
Tabitha Rose off short. “You’re telling me you had a fully
functional SHIAM stolen. There is no sign of how the thieves got in
or out, no sign of how they breached your security, no witnesses.
Your circuit head was fully activated, but apparently didn’t put up
any struggle, just waltzed out with whoever took it. You don’t have
one single clue. And I just signed an agreement that I’ll solve
this break-in and recover the unit. All without telling anyone what
I’m doing, who I’m working for or what I’m looking for.”

Everyone was silent. As Zak paced he looked
to each of them in turn. Dr. Rose sat straight and proper, refusing
to lose any appearance of dignity to his tirade. Jonas sat hunched
in his chair, as though he was attempting to make himself as small
as possible. And then there was Vennhim. The smug look on his face
was not unfamiliar to Zak. Vennhim was enjoying Zak’s tirade. But
there was something more, something in those cold and calculating
eyes. He couldn’t pin down what it was about Vennhim’s expression
that bothered him.

Zak locked onto Vennhim’s gaze and added,
“And this is what I have to work with...a cut-throat and two
circuit heads.”

“Look, Harris, I don’t need this shit!”
Vennhim’s voice maintained a threatening chill. “Grimrok wanted
you, so I agreed to work with you. But if you can’t maintain a
professional attitude, I’ll tell Grimrok this isn’t going to work
and you can go back to that pathetic network security company of
yours and continue trying to scratch out a living.”

“Mr. Harris,” Tabitha Rose interrupted before
Zak could reply. Her voice was calm, without any trace of anger
over his use of derogatory slang towards Jonas and herself. “You’ve
already agreed to help. Are you going to live up to your agreement,
or are you going to spend this time insulting us all?”

He shot the android an angry look, but her
words made him feel rather foolish in his over-reaction. His anger
diminished somewhat as he watched her. It would be easy to forget
that she wasn’t Human. She quite naturally portrayed the
well-educated Human scientist. And she was easy to look at. But
that would never change what she was, he reminded himself. With a
sigh of annoyance he sat down at the table again.

“Okay, I’m going to need to know as much as I
can.” He brushed a hand through his hair once again, this time
speaking in a calmer tone, “Why this android? Grimrok has been
selling SHIAM to corporations for several years now. Hell, the rich
and famous are even beginning to buy them. It would have been a lot
easier to go after one of those, one that wasn’t in a high security
building, although the security didn’t seem to be much of a problem
for whoever took it. So, what’s so special about the SHIAM that was
taken?”

“Derek - that is his name - was a prototype
for a new generation of SHIAM.”

“New generation,” Zak repeated. “New,
how?”

Dr. Rose hesitated and then asked, “How much
do you know about SHIAM technology?”

“Not much,” he admitted. “What I’ve read on
News Net or seen on the comm. Some fancy bit of programming
combined with hi-tech materials. You look real, act real, and I
assume you are one of the new models that can also mimic emotions
because of some gadget called SPERM.”

“Hmm,” Dr. Rose responded in what Zak
interpreted as a show of being unimpressed. “We, Jonas and I, and
most of the SHIAM currently on active duty, are fourth generation
units. Some of the others are third and even second generation. Our
skeletal frames, from one generation to the next, are not that
different. Grimrok Corporation developed the special bio-plastic
used for the skeletal structure twenty-five years ago and it has
remained unchanged for the most part. DermoSynth is a biosynthetic
epidermis product that has been developed much more recently. The
product actually emulates both the epidermis and dermis layers of
Human skin. It was first introduced on third generation SHIAM.”

“DermoSynth is quite realistic,” Jonas
suddenly broke in. He leaned forward in his seat, obviously anxious
to participate. “It is now widely used on Human patients requiring
skin grafts. Did you know that, Mr. Harris?”