Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (95 page)

"Where is that
... that...! Oh!"

People would
stare at her, sitting there getting madder and madder at his
thoughtless tardiness. People would notice that SHE was in the
dining salon since a quarter 'til! SHE was here when she said she'd
be here! SHE wasn't keeping HIM waiting!

It was very
important to her that everyone know beyond any question that she
was in the dining salon at a quarter 'til and that he was not.

Kap felt very
relieved to be rid of Bo and his use of her to his own ends. This
would give her every right in their minds to tell him to take his
socalled fascination elsewhere! There could be no blame focused on
HER! SHE was right there in the dining salon exactly on time!

. . . .

Kwold heard the
sound of an emergency call and sat up on the bunk. This storm was
severe, even for here. Could the ship be in trouble?

He looked at
his lifemate, Flish, sleeping quietly next to him and was worried.
He had been on Gliszon twice before and knew what to expect, but
this was far more violent a trip than he would have wanted for his
new mate, though she seemed very much to enjoy it.

Well, it was
different and it was beautiful. The trips he had taken before were
different, but in another way. Had any beautiful woman, even that
Eacheron one, made such obvious advances to him before he would
have probably tried to find a few new and better uses for the
rolling and pitching of the ship. He had in point of fact found
diversion in the pleasures of the bedroom on former trips – and
with women on this very voyage.

Some people
took these trips solely for the liaisons they could form without
making any promises, though his own trips were more for the
pleasures the unusual world itself offered. It was a kind of
magnificence found few other places.

This was much
different. Now he was lifemated and would never consider such a
liaison again. The Kheth were absolutely free in such matters until
they were lifemated, then they became the most monogamous people in
the galaxy.

It was now
17:59 by the clock so they should get ready for the evening meal.
He awakened Flish to tell her he was going to check on the
emergency call, then they would go to meal. He went into the
hallway and followed the sound of the call to find a small group of
people around the body of that Bo character who had made such a
fuss over everyone's woman but his own. He had been stabbed in the
throat.

Kwold wasn't
surprised. There were a number of races on this voyage and some
were known to be violent about some things.

Captain Wahrd,
the huge Feach captain of the ship, was coming along the
companionway with her two Acnian first officers. Kwold knew her
well so waited until they arrived. Most people moved quickly away
from the strange Acnians with their large faceted eyes, but Kwold
knew and liked them. They were Nurlo and Seela and had been on this
ship for many years along with Wahrd. They were her permanent crew
who would stay while the stewards and kitchen help and so forth
would change every few trips. Wahrd recognized Kwold immediately
and called him over after a moment to ask him to inform the
Eacheron's traveling companion of events if he would be so kind.
Kwold was a diplomat at large for the empire and would know how to
handle these things. Wahrd said she wasn't very well versed in
reporting violent crimes to the mates of the victims.

Kwold took a
deep breath and agreed, then went back to get Flish. He told her of
what had happened as they took the long way to the salon so she
wouldn't have to see the horror. He was thinking about another
thing as they entered the dining salon.

Murder
was an extremely rare thing in the Maitan Empire. It didn't happen
very often. Most members in the galactic society had grown past the
stages where murder was common. There were two special detectives
who worked with the emperor and upon whom he was directed to call
in times of needs in his capacities as a diplomat. Kwold supposed
there was little or no hope anyone aboard would be able to solve
this and no one admitted to the crime so they probably wouldn't.
The fact there were Acnians aboard and that the captain was the
last word of law on this ship could lead to a very dangerous
situation.

Acnians are
T-hypnotics. They can hypnotize anyone with hardly more than a
glance. To use their talents was against all law in the empire
unless the subject agreed to allow it, but the captain was the law
in an emergency. Such tactics would definitely find their murderer,
but would violate the rights of every other citizen on the boat at
the same time. That must not be allowed to happen!

Kwold
squeezed Flish's arm and stepped to the message center to ask for a
diplomatic fastcom line.

"Name and code
of respondent?" the servo asked.

"Emperor Maita
or T-K Detective Agency," Kwold replied. "I believe the code is TRD
sixty Perfect Three."

Even the
machine hesitated when the emperor was mentioned, but that was just
said so there would be no hesitation whatever in getting the
message to the detectives. It also ensured them of absolute
privacy.

The emperor was
always available on a special line, but there were thousands of
worlds in the empire so all operators were asked to route calls to
other stations whenever possible to avoid jamming of comlengths in
case of emergency. Theoretically, anyone could call the emperor
anytime and Kwold knew of one case where a Zeenan citizen had
called him on a dare (One did NOT dare a Zeenan!) from a public com
in a nightclub and the emperor had answered and had even asked the
Zeenan a few probing questions about how people were reacting to a
recent policy change. That Zeenan would never let go of that
fastcom sheet with the emperor's personal seal on it!

The fastcom
printer spat out a bit of paper.

~TRD60 ready:
Go ahead.~

~Murder aboard
vacation ship 'Wavewalker' Gliszon S two thirteen plus two S two
twenty six ten. Situation dangerous. Use of Acnians must be averted
all costs. Please come.

~Kwold, ME
Diplomatic Corps.~

They waited
less than a minute for the message to be relayed across the almost
forty thousand plazsis (MGS lightyears) and back.

~Kwold RSPNS:
In vicinity Gliszon. Will arrive within two hours. Record
everything at scene. Take no other action. Seal victim's rooms and
other property immediately. Do not enter.

~Tabori R.
DeSixtee.~

He had reached
the famous head of the agency himself! Tabori R. DeSixtee himself
was near Gliszon! This was a stroke of major good fortune against
all odds. Kwold felt immensely relieved as he called Captain Wahrd
to have the rooms sealed and to say he had called the detectives.
Wahrd said she was pleased the empire people would handle it, which
relieved Kwold. He didn't want to appear to be usurping Wahrd's
position.

He then took
Flish on into the salon where he saw Kap, the very same one who was
always throwing herself at him, sitting with the other Eacherons,
Zezz and Klom. He told her as gently as he could that Bo was dead –
murdered. She looked startled and shocked and Kwold could almost
have sworn for an instant she looked almost gleeful. She was
certainly not reacting like someone who had just lost a lover!

That would be a
thing to note for Tab. He must note any small reaction or word that
was out of place here. The little oddities were what solved a case
if he could believe the books he'd read that were supposedly
written by Tab.

* * *

"Fastcom coming
in," TR announced on the silent channel to Tab and Kit. T6, Kit's
ship, would be receiving the message itself, but both of the robot
detectives were aboard TRD-60. They "read" the message and sent a
reply very quickly, having discussed the case thoroughly in a few
milliseconds. It was all done on their internal computer
circuits.

"We'll be there
in an hour and three quarters to two hours in TTH fourteen," TR
suggested. "T Six will stay here to work on its ideas for the use
of the atomic architect. I'll get you two on board the ship and
wait in orbit or something. They're in the middle of a typhoon so I
can't drift along fifty meters above the liner. Typhoons, believe
it or not, are normal weather for the stupid world! That's the
basis of the tourist industry, which is one hundred percent of the
industry there. You can go aboard as yourselves. Everybody will
know you're detectives called by the Kheth diplomat. I said we were
in the area so it would seem normal for us to get there fast enough
so the Acnians won't be used.

"Do you think
anyone would actually do that?"

"Probably not –
unless there's another killing," Kit answered. "Feach captain? Not
very likely.

"I'll fit in
well with Kwold. We can eliminate the Kheth as a suspect, and the
Acnians. Get a list of how many and who aboard the ship, TR."

"It's here," TR
answered. "We can worry about who might or might not have done it
when we get the facts."

Any of the
detectives could access the machines on the various worlds through
the fastcom so there was no delay in getting the records of that
particular tour. TR and T6 were partners in the agency so were
detectives, too, though they didn't advertise the fact.

"Well, Kit,"
Tab announced. "When you said you didn't think the detective
business would be anything like our first couple of cases this is
what you had in mind. Now you'll learn that direct murder
investigations aren't much different."

"What else can
we do before we arrive?" TR asked.

"Until we know
more about it, nothing," Tab replied. "Have all times of
reservations and any special requests noted in case it comes down
to something that was planned before the trip started."

"That isn't
likely," TR argued. "The fact it was ON the ship would limit the
suspects too much so it's likely it's something that happened
there. I've got an Acnian named Seela on fastcom. She says the
knife was a typical table knife anyone could have taken from the
dining salon at any time. She'll check the servos to see which
table it was from if that will help and which shift it turned up
missing from the salon or elsewhere."

"It'll probably
be missing from the dining salon and from a table very near the
exit on the latest setting," Tab guessed. "We're going to have
trouble getting aboard that boat, aren't we?"

"You'll go in
on the big floater," TR said. "It's a matter of timing. No
problem."

"Let's hope
there won't be anymore murders," Tab replied. "It would make this
one easier to solve, but the price would be a bit high."

They didn't
have much trouble getting aboard the "Wavewalker." The floater
timed the rise and fall of the ship nicely and they sat without a
jolt. They got off the carrier and sent it back to TR.

"We're on our
own, now!" Tab said.

They entered
the safety hatch to meet Captain Wahrd, the two Acnians and
Kwold.

"Take us to the
body, then to where it was found, then to his rooms," Tab
suggested. "We'll probably need a room where we can talk with
people. Don't tell us too much yet. Just answer questions. If we
get too much information at once we lose the chronology and may
miss something important.

"Was there
anyone around before he died? Someone he may have spoken to?"

"There was a
Sorvich citizen named Nord Flar," Wahrd said. "He turned in the
alarm. He didn't mention that Bo had spoken at all. I didn't
question him because I don't have any idea what to ask."

They went to
the spot in the hall where Bo died and checked the area
carefully.

"Everything was
recorded," Nurlo informed them. "Seela has her reports ready
whenever you wish to see them."

Tab nodded,
then they checked the room. It was typical. Bo had obviously been
on this tour before as there were mementoes of two previous
voyages. That may or may not be important.

The body told
them little other than that he had died within no more than three
minutes of receiving that wound. The knife was a steak knife from
the dining salon.

"Where and when
was the knife taken?" Kit asked. "Have you determined that
yet?"

"It was taken
after seventeen ten from the table second from the companionway
entrance at salon door four B," Seela answered. "That's one of the
doors that open onto that very companionway only a few meters from
where the murder took place."

Tab nodded. He
had predicted that one.

"Let's check
out the restaurant and that table," Tab suggested. "Then we'll need
a room to ask questions. Get us the recordings of the scene,
please."

They checked
the dining salon and the table where the knife had turned up
missing. It was just another table.

Tab slowly
turned and recorded everything in the salon from the bar to the
entertainment stage, the plantings by the doors with the emergency
lights above them, the servo positions, the doors, the food
delivery slots and the serving utensil and eating utensil storage
and deposit areas.

Kit grinned as
Tab shook his head and headed out of the room.

"Get this Nord
Flar person here first and show us where our operations will be
based," he requested. They wanted to appear to be organics, so he
also asked for a large pot of gincha.

. . . .

Nord Flar
watched as the two detectives come into the dining salon and look
things over and knew the Swaz hadn't missed one slight detail. His
look hadn't missed a single square centimeter of the room and Nord
would also bet the man had a photographic memory. If there was a
utensil or plate out of place or a crooked tablecloth he would have
noted it.

He finished his
meal and waited. He had no doubt he would be asked some questions
and he didn't want to appear a fool.