In Earth's Service (Mapped Space Book 2) (3 page)

The Nisk close to me touched my forehead with cold
metal, a surprisingly delicate, precise touch that caused the last of the
throbbing pain to fade away. It emitted a soft hissing sound, then moved toward
one of the exits. I was no expert, but the smaller Nisk’s exoskeleton was a
lighter chestnut color indicating it belonged to one of the attendant castes. It
carried metallic devices I didn’t recognize in its manipulator arms and wore a telescopic
instrument over one of its empty black eyes.

After the small Nisk had moved out of sight, an
artificial voice sounded from the shadows. “Sirius Kade Human, your damage bone
parietal is repaired.”

I wanted to turn my head toward the voice, but the
field holding me allowed only my eyes to move as another chestnut colored
beetle ambled into view. It wore a vocalizer strapped to its mandible and
slender strip-like devices on its antenna-manipulator arms. It moved in front
of me, then the field rotated my body from the horizontal to the vertical,
leaving my feet a meter off the floor and my face level with the attendant’s
bulging compound eyes. I suppressed my instinctive revulsion at the sight of it,
reminding myself attendants were highly intelligent and – more importantly – in
charge.

“I Katinuuk am, zone open controller. Report
occurrence at five-intersect-twenty-one.”

“Someone hit me,” I replied, determined not to let
the bugs catch and dissect the grunt who’d bashed in my skull. That was my job.
“I didn’t see who it was.”

“Angular analysis indicates Sirius Kade Human
struck from above-behind. Explain,” it said, confirming the Nisk had not only
fixed my cracked skull, but also conducted a forensic analysis of it.

“I was knocked down.”

“By what?”

“Another man. It was an accident. He’d been shot
and ran into me.”

“Is Tiago Sorvino Human known to you?”

“Is that someone you arrested?” I said, feigning
ignorance.

“Tiago Sorvino Human is dead. Killer unknown.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said softly, meaning
it. “I’d never seen him before today.” According to my EIS deception training,
the best way to conceal the truth was with the truth. I hoped it would be
enough to hide the anger I felt that a good man was dead. The moment he’d
ordered me not to shoot, we both knew he was going to die. He’d only made such
a choice because he’d believed the information I now carried was worth more
than his life.

Aleph-null!

“Describe Tiago Sorvino Human attackers.”

“There were three of them. I didn’t get a good
look.” I assumed I was only confirming what the Nisk already knew.

“Sirius Kade Human equipped with weapon primitive
kinetic. Weapon not fired. Explain.”

I glanced down at my holster. My MAK P-50 was
missing. “That’s right. I was told weapons couldn’t be fired here. It happened
so fast, I never got a chance to use it.”

“Sirius Kade Human compliance with Nisk zone open
directives noted,” the Nisk investigator said, then it emitted a short popping
sound.

A drone moved forward holding a metal tray which it
slid into the suspension field surrounding me. It left it floating in front of
me and backed away.

“Identify objects,” Katinuuk ordered.

On the tray was a row of ten millimeter, polysteel
jacketed, armor piercing slugs, one of the loads JAG-40 light assault guns were
designed for. There were at least twenty of them, all twisted and bent out of
shape. Those slugs could punch through two centimeters of durillium armor, not
what I’d have selected for assassinating an unarmed spacer in street clothes,
yet they’d hit something hard to be damaged like that.

“They’re big ass slugs,” I replied unhelpfully.
“Too big for my gun.”

“Projectiles kinetic are military human origin.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not in the military. Never
was.”

“Projectiles kinetic killed two drones security.”

I tried to hide the sinking feeling in the pit of
my stomach. The last thing mankind needed was to make the mighty galaxy spanning
Nisk mad at us. We had enough trouble with the Matarons constantly plotting our
destruction. It explained why Trask and his two clean skins were using armor
piercing slugs, not to kill Sorvino but to eliminate any bugs that got in their
way. Considering how many billions of Nisk were scurrying around just below the
surface, ripping a few security drones apart took crazy guts, and they’d gotten
away with it!

“Are you sure they’re military?”

“Analysis doubt none.”

“We sell those things to anyone, human or not.”

“Non humans have use none for weapons kinetic.”

Maybe not, but our primitive kinetic weapons had
taken down two of their combat drones before they even knew what was happening.
“Can you prove humans fired those slugs?”

“Knowledge none. Proof none. Sensors disrupted.
Field interference active at five-intersect-twenty-one.”

A cold chill ran down my spine. “What kind of
interference field?”

“Counter-harmonic resonance.”

It wasn’t anything I’d ever heard of, which made
it my ticket out of here.

“Do humans have such technology?” I asked, knowing
the answer but wanting Katinuuk to acknowledge the obvious.

“No. Sirius Kade Human to identify weapon users.”

“They were humanoid, maybe human. That’s all I know.”

Katinuuk studied me a moment, then made a short
strumming sound. A drone retrieved the tray displaying the JAG-40 slugs, then I
was lowered to the rock floor and freed from the suspension field.

“This drone security to guide Sirius Kade Human to
surface. Landing rights revoked.”

The attendant headed off into a tunnel as one of
the drones near the rock wall approached me carrying my gun in one of its
antenna-manipulators and a dull gray circular device in the other which it
unceremoniously aimed at me. I holstered my P-50, then it motioned its weapon toward
a tunnel to the right. The combat drone was not fitted with a vocalizer, so expecting
no conversation, I moved in the direction indicated.

The tunnel was wide enough for two drones to pass
each other comfortably and was lit by dull gray illuminator panels. Several
times, the tunnel opened onto ramps leading down into vast galleries filled
with multilayered metal frameworks linked by single arch bridges. They swarmed with
tens of thousands of worker drones operating machines and carrying raw
materials, parts and finished products. The industrial galleries were crowded
and chaotic, yet frighteningly efficient. Each time I tried stopping to take in
the frenetic activity, the security drone would motion for me to move, giving
me no time to loiter.

Soon we were on a ramp leading up to a circular
door which rose on four telescoping pylons. The drone stopped, sending me up toward
the gray light. I emerged in the center of Nisport at an intersection of metal
grill covered roads. The door lowered back in place behind me, melding into the
center of the intersection as four men approached. They’d obviously been
waiting for me to appear. The leader was well dressed and unarmed, while his
companions wore dark clothes and aimed pistols at me.

“Captain Kade,” the leader said. He was a swarthy,
silver haired Indo with a short manicured beard and a diplomat’s polite bearing.
“I’m Ambassador Singh and you sir, are under arrest.”

One of the Ambassador’s security men reached down
and retrieved my gun, unaware that the Nisk had unloaded it before returning it
to me.

“While the Nisk normally do not allow weapons fire
on their planet,” Ambassador Singh informed me, “my security men are exempted
from that law providing they shoot only humans. I trust that exemption will not
need to be exercised in your case.”

I smiled grimly and raised my hands in surrender.

* * * *

There were no holding cells
in Nisport’s tiny Earth Council embassy so with restraints on my wrists, I was
ushered into the ambassador’s well appointed office for questioning. Two guards
stood watch while Ambassador Singh took his seat behind a modest simwood desk
and activated a holofield displaying several official looking data forms.

“The Nisk proxy has advised me,” Singh began,
“that they have no direct evidence against you, however, they have lodged a
formal complaint with Earth Council stating that human citizens have violated
the terms of our concession. Do you know what that means?”

“No more niskgel anti-aging cream for the super
rich?”

The Ambassador gave me a dark look. “It could cost
us our landing rights. At worst, they may declare humans to have murdered two
of their citizens. It would be up to the Forum to decide if that qualified as an
Access Treaty violation which could very well extend our probationary period.”

I was well aware of the consequences, although the
lack of evidence would save us from any sanction and I suspected the royals
cared more for our sugar than for the lives of two insignificant drones. Even
so, any complaint to the Forum could complicate mankind’s forthcoming admission
to the Galaxy’s big table.

“One of our citizens was also killed,” I added.

“By Union Regular Army ammunition! Humans killing
humans is our problem, no one else’s, but humans killing nonhumans is another
matter entirely!”

“They can’t prove humans did the shooting.”

“The charges pending against you are carrying a
weapon in a prohibited nonhuman jurisdiction, being implicated in the deaths of
one human and two nonhumans and damaging relations with a major nonhuman power.
Should the Nisk lodge a protest with the Forum, additional charges related to
initiating an Access Treaty infringement will be laid.” He gave me a stern
look. “These are serious charges, Captain Kade, charges that come with heavy penalties.”

It could have been worse. Infringements bought
mostly jail time. Only genuine violations were punishable by death.

“I’m an innocent victim in all this.”

“You’re a smuggler and a trouble maker,” Singh said,
unconvinced. “You’ll be held here pending transportation to Draconis Station
where a formal court of inquiry will be conducted by the appropriate
authorities. Do you have anything to say?”

I considered telling him UniPol civil law orbitals
were a little dull for my tastes and Draconis Station was no exception, but
decided a more direct approach was needed. “I’d like to make a private statement.”
I glanced at the two guards meaningfully.

The Ambassador looked surprised. “My security team
are fully apprised of the circumstances of this case and have full diplomatic
clearance.”

“I’m bashful,” I said, making it clear I would not
utter another word until the guards were gone.

Singh gave me an irritated look, then nodded for
the guards to leave. When we were alone he touched a control on his desk,
activating his holorecorder. “OK, what do you have to say?”

“No recorder.”

Singh looked surprised. “I thought you wanted to
make a statement?”

“I do, to you. Not to that,” I said nodding to his
recorder.

“This is highly irregular,” he said, switching it off.

“Do you have an eidetic implant?”

Singh arched his brow curiously. “Of course.”

Eidetic implants were standard equipment for
senior diplomats. It allowed them to retain every document they read and every word
of every conversation they heard with perfect accuracy for both diplomatic and
intelligence gathering purposes.

“Good. Listen carefully.” I retrieved a highly
classified, fifty character recognition code stored deep within my bionetic
memory and repeated it to the Earth Ambassador. The astonished look that
appeared on his face was hardly surprising, considering he would never have received
such a code in his life and never would again. “Check that against your
diplomatic ciphers. Save yourself some time and start at the highest level.” I
leaned back, relaxing into the padded chair. “I’ll wait.”

He was gone less than ten minutes, returning with
one of the guards. “Release him.” When the guard gave the Ambassador a puzzled
look, Singh added impatiently, “And give him back his weapon.”

The guard removed my restraints and returned my
P-50, then Singh nodded for him to leave. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said, once the
door closed. “I wasn’t advised you were coming.”

I sometimes took a perverse pleasure in pulling
rank on self important bureaucrats, but the Ambassador had only been doing his
duty as he understood it. “Nothing to apologize for. You weren’t advised
because of the sensitivity of my mission.”

“Is there anything you require from me?”

“Yes. Recover Tiago Sorvino’s body immediately.”
If we froze it and shipped it to Lena Voss, the regional EIS commander, her
people could tap Sorvino’s bionetic memory and reconstruct his movements.

“I can’t,” Singh said uncomfortably. “The Nisk
have already processed it.”

“Processed?”

“When the Nisk die, they are rendered down into elementary
biomatter for dispersal on the surface.” He shrugged. “The Nisk are a
remarkable species, but they have no regard for the customs of other races.”

So the only clue as to what Tiago Sorvino had been
doing was the encrypted data block locked in my bionetic memory. “Do you have
an identity register?”

“Yes sir, updated monthly.”

“How secure is this facility?”

“The entire embassy is protected by quantum
suppression fields.”

“No guarantee the Nisk can’t penetrate that.”

“Scrambling quantum signatures is the best we can
do. If they can read through that…” he shrugged helplessly.

He was right and I was in a hurry. “I have three
DNA scans I want checked. Your eyes only. Don’t use any of your staff. Once the
search is complete, give me the results and destroy all record of it. The name
of one of the subjects is Domar Trask. I have nothing on the other two.” If the
Nisk saw what he was reading, it would do them no good. Trask’s hit squad would
already be long gone.