Starbase Human (6 page)

He always found it ironic that the crimes they accused him of were crimes he’d never think of committing, and the crimes he had committed—long ago and far away—were crimes they had never heard of.

Now, all of his activities were legal. Just-inside-the-law legal, but legal nonetheless.

Or so his cadre of lawyers kept telling the local courts, and the local judges—at least the ones he would find himself in front of—always believed his lawyers.

So, a meeting like this, coming in the middle of the day, was an annoyance, and nothing more.

He used his trip down the stairs to stay in shape. His office was a penthouse on the top floor of the building he’d built to house Deshin Enterprises years ago. He used to love that office, but he liked it less since he and his wife Gerda brought a baby into their lives.

He smiled at the thought of Paavo. They had adopted him—sort of. They had drawn up some legal papers and wills that the lawyers assured him would stand any challenge should he and Gerda die suddenly.

But Deshin and Gerda had decided against an actual adoption given Deshin’s business practices and his reputation in Armstrong. They were worried that some judge would deem them unfit, based on Deshin’s reputation.

Plus, Paavo was the child of two Disappeareds, making the adoption situation even more difficult. The Earth Alliance’s insistence that local laws prevailed when crimes were committed meant that humans were often subjected to alien laws, laws that made no sense at all. Many humans didn’t like being forced to lose a limb as punishment for chopping down an exotic tree, or giving up a child because they’d broken food laws on a different planet.

Those humans who could afford to get new names and new identities did so rather than accept their punishment under Earth Alliance law. Those people Disappeared.

Paavo’s parents had Disappeared within weeks of his birth, leaving him to face whatever legal threat that the aliens his parents had angered could dream up.

Paavo, alone, at four months.

Fortunately, Deshin and Gerda had sources inside Armstrong’s family services, which they had cultivated for just this sort of reason. Both Deshin and Gerda had had difficult childhoods—to say the least. They knew what it was like to be unwanted.

Their initial plan had been to bring several unwanted children into their homes, but after they met Paavo, a brilliant baby with his own special needs, they decided to put that plan on hold. If they could only save Paavo, that would be enough.

But they were just a month into life with the baby, and they knew that any more children would take a focus that, at the moment at least, Paavo’s needs wouldn’t allow.

Deshin reached the bottom of the stairwell, ran a hand through his hair, and then walked through the double doors. His staff kept the detective in the lobby.

She was immediately obvious, even though she wasn’t in uniform. A slightly disheveled woman with curly black hair and a sharp, intelligent face, she wasn’t looking around like she was supposed to be.

Most new visitors to Deshin Enterprises either pretended to be unimpressed with the real marble floors, the imported wood paneling, and the artwork that constantly shifted on the walls and ceiling. Or the visitors gaped openly at all of it.

This detective did neither. Instead, she scanned the people in the lobby—all staff, all there to guard him and keep an eye on her.

She would be difficult. Deshin could tell that just from her body language. He wasn’t used to dealing with someone from the Armstrong Police Department who was intelligent
and
difficult to impress.

He walked toward her, and as he reached her, he extended his hand.

“Detective,” he said warmly. “I’m Luc Deshin.”

She wiped her hands on her stained shirt, and just as he thought she was going to take his hand in greeting, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her ill-fitting black pants.

“I know who you are,” she said.

She deliberately failed to introduce herself, probably as a power play. He could play back, ask to see the badge chip embedded in the palm of her hand, but he didn’t feel like it.

She had already wasted enough of his time.

So he took her name, Noelle DeRicci, from the building’s security records, and declined to look at her service record. He had it if he needed it.

“What can I do for you then, Detective?” He was going to charm her, even if that took a bit of strength to ignore the games.

“I’d like to speak somewhere private,” she said.

He smiled. “No one is near us, and we have no recording devices in this part of the lobby. If you like, we can go outside. There’s a lovely coffee shop across the street.”

Her eyes narrowed. He watched her think: did she ask to go to his office and get denied, or did she just play along?

“The privacy is for you,” she said, “but okay….”

She sounded dubious, a nice little trick. A less secure man would then invite her into the office.

Deshin waited. He learned that middle managers—and that was what detectives truly were—always felt the press of time. He never had enough time for anything and yet, as the head of his own corporation, he also had all the time in the universe.

“I’m here about Sonja Mycenae,” she said.

Sonja. The nanny he had fired just that morning. Well, fired wasn’t an accurate term. He had deliberately avoided firing her. He had eliminated her position.

Deshin and Gerda had decided that Sonja wasn’t affectionate enough toward their son. In fact, she had seemed a bit cold toward him. And once Deshin and Gerda started that conversation about Sonja’s attitudes, they realized they didn’t like having someone visit their home every day, and they didn’t like giving up any time with Paavo.

Both Gerda and Deshin had worried, given their backgrounds, that they wouldn’t know how to nurture a baby, but Sonja had taught them that training mattered a lot less than actual love.

“I understand she works for you,” the detective said.

“She work
ed
for me,” Deshin said.

Something changed in the detective’s face. Something small. He felt uneasy for the first time.

“Tell me what this is about, Detective,” he said.

“It’s about Sonja Mycenae,” she repeated.

“Yes, you said that. What exactly has she done?” he asked.

“Why don’t you tell me why she no longer works for you,” the detective said.

“My wife and I decided that we didn’t need a nanny for our son. I called Sonja to the office this morning, and let her know that, effective immediately, her employment was terminated through no fault of her own.”

“Do you have footage of that conversation?” the detective asked.

“I do, and it’s protected. You’ll need permission from both of us or a warrant before I can give it to you.”

The detective raised her eyebrows. “I’m sure you can forgo the formalities, Mr. Deshin.”

“I’m sure that many people do, Detective,” he said, “however, it’s my understanding that an employee’s records are confidential. You may get a warrant if you like. Otherwise, I’m going to protect Sonja’s privacy.”

“Why would you do that, Mr. Deshin?”

“Believe it or not, I follow the rules.” He managed to say that without sarcasm.

The detective grunted as if she didn’t believe him. “What made you decide to terminate her position today?”

“I told you,” Deshin said, keeping his voice bland even though he was getting annoyed. “My wife and I decided we didn’t need a nanny to help us raise our son.”

“You might want to share that footage with me without wasting time on a warrant, Mr. Deshin,” the detective said.

“Why would I do that, Detective? I’m not even sure why you’re asking about Sonja. What has she done?”

“She has died, Mr. Deshin.”

The words hung between them. He frowned. The detective had finally caught him off guard.

For the first time, Deshin did not know how to respond. He probably needed one of his lawyers here. Any time his name came up in an investigation, he was automatically the first suspect.

But in this case, he had nothing to do with Sonja’s death. So he would act accordingly, and let the lawyers handle the mess.

“What happened?” he asked softly.

He had known Sonja since she was a child. She was the daughter of a friend. That was one of the many reasons he had hired her, because he had known her.

Even then, she hadn’t turned out as expected. He remembered an affectionate, happy girl. The nanny who had come to his house didn’t seem to know how to smile at all. There had been no affection in her.

And when he last saw her, she’d been crying and pleading with him to let her keep her job. He actually had to have security drag her out of his office.

“We don’t know what happened,” the detective said.

That sentence could mean a lot. It could mean that they didn’t know what happened at all or that they didn’t know if her death was by natural causes or by murder. It could also mean that they didn’t know exactly what or who caused the death, but that they suspected murder.

Since Deshin was facing a detective and not a beat officer, he knew the police suspected murder.

“Where did it happen?” Deshin asked.

“We don’t know that either,” the detective said.

Deshin snapped, “Then how do you know she’s dead?”

Again, that slight change in the detective’s face. Apparently he had finally hit on the correct question.

“Because workers found her in a waste crate in a warehouse outside the dome.”

“Outside the dome…?” That didn’t make sense to him. Sonja hadn’t even owned an environmental suit. She had hated them with a passion. “She died outside the dome?”

“I didn’t say that, Mr. Deshin,” the detective said.

He let out a breath. “Look, Detective, I’m cooperating here, but you need to work with me. I saw Sonja this morning, eliminated her position, and watched her leave my office. Then I went to work. I haven’t gone out of the building all day.”

“But your people have,” the detective said.

Deshin felt a thin thread of fury, and he suppressed it. Everyone assumed that his people murdered other people according to some whim. That simply was not true.

“Detective,” he said calmly. “If I wanted Sonja dead, why would I terminate her employment this morning?”

“I have only your word for that,” the detective said. “Unless you give me the footage.”

“And I have only your word that she’s dead,” he said.

The detective pressed her hands together, then separated them. A hologram appeared between them—a young woman, looking as if she had fallen asleep in a meadow. Until he looked closely, and saw that the “meadow” was bits of food, and the young woman’s eyes were open and filmy.

It was Sonja.

“My God,” he said.

“If you give me the footage,” the detective said, “and it confirms what you say, then you’ll be in the clear. If you wait, then we’re going to assume it was doctored.”

Deshin glared at her. The detective was good—and she was right. The longer he waited, the less credibility he would have.

“I’m going to consult with my attorneys,” he said. “If they believe that this information has use to you and it doesn’t cause me any legal liabilities, then you will receive it from them within the hour.”

The detective crossed her arms. “I suggest that you send it to me now. I will promise you that I will not look at anything until you or your attorneys say that I can.”

It was an odd compromise, but one that
would
protect him. If she believed he would doctor the footage, then having the footage in her possession wouldn’t harm him.

But he didn’t know the laws on something this arcane.

“How’s this, Detective,” Deshin said. “My staff will give you a chip with the information on it. You may not put the chip into any device or watch it until I’ve consulted with my attorneys. You will wait here while I do so.”

“Seems fine to me,” the detective said. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

SEVEN

SHE DIDN’T HAVE
all the time in the world, of course. DeRicci was probably getting all kinds of messages on her links from Lake and Gumiela and Brodeur and everyone else, telling her she was stupid or needed or something.

She didn’t care. She certainly wasn’t going to turn her links back on. She was close to something.

She had actually surprised the Great Luc Deshin, Criminal Mastermind.

He pivoted, and moved three steps away from her. He was clearly contacting someone on his links, but using private encoded links.

He was a much more formidable man than she had expected. She had never stood up close to him before. He was taller, broader, and more animated. His eyes were warm, and he had a charm that she hadn’t expected.

It made sense, of course. The man had run a large group of people, and convinced them to continually break the law.