Fox Hunt (Fox Meridian Book 1) (30 page)

‘Okay…’

‘Also in Norse mythology, Vali is the son of Odin and a giantess, Rindr, born to kill Hodr in revenge for the death of Baldr.’

‘Oh. You think Vali might be responsible for these… Let’s call them “leaks” for now and you think your boyfriend is responsible.’

‘He’s not my– Are you making fun of me?’

‘A little bit. You think it’s him?’

‘I have a trail of evidence which would not convince anyone if they simply looked at the facts. I find it hard to believe that someone, even a programmer of his obvious skill, could obtain this information alone. The video evidence was obtained from a vast array of sources
very
quickly, and the message was clipped from the NAPA internal servers. Could a single person achieve that? I also believe that he is helping us.’

‘Well, we can both agree on that last one. Unless we find out he’s doing things we think are… less helpful, we’ll keep quiet on the source. I think he’s earned that much.’

‘Thank you, Fox. I was hoping you would say that.’

‘You were worried I’d want to arrest him or something?’

‘The thought had crossed my mind.’

‘Maybe I should,’ Fox said, ‘but the evidence is hugely circumstantial and I already quit NAPA.’ She looked up at the AI’s image and smirked. ‘And I couldn’t bring myself to lock up your boyfriend.’

11
^th
February.

It was as Fox rolled around to slip her legs out of bed that she noticed that her arm was responding normally for the first time. She paused, lifting her arm and looking at it as she flexed her fingers, watching them respond as she would have expected them to. Stroking a finger over her palm gave the sensation she expected, and she realised that she had felt the sheet under her hand when she sat up.

‘My hand’s working,’ she said aloud.

Kit appeared beside the bed almost instantly. ‘There is still a little inflammation around the joint, but integration is almost fully complete. The processors in your arm are functional. Wait a second… There!’

Fox blinked as a second copy of Kit appeared beside her, also looking at her arm. ‘Uh…’

‘Running full diagnostics,’ the second Kit said.

‘Kit…?’

First Kit smiled. ‘Your arm contains a pair of quantum processors. The cooling required for those is not compatible with implantation in a body, but works well enough with prosthetics. One of those is powerful enough to run a slightly downgraded copy of me as your VA.’

‘That’s me,’ second Kit added. ‘I’m not quite as bright as she is, but I should be quite capable of handling your needs. Your arm is essentially fully functional. You should rest for at least another day before using it normally, but light exercise is suggested. You should try out the blade.’

‘Oh…’ Fox said, lifting her hand again and peering at the skin between her two middle knuckles. You could not really see it, but there was a slit in the skin there. Closing her hand into a fist popped up an in-vision control, which was more or less there to point out that the weapon mounted in her hand was there. A thought popped ten centimetres of ultrafine-edged ceramic blade out from between her knuckles. It was not long, but it was sharp and, in an emergency, a nasty thing to have available. ‘That’s… got a fair bit of punch even without me swinging it.’ Another thought pulled it back and there was a brief instant where she could see the skin closing behind it, then it was more or less impossible to see again. ‘Seems to work. So, you’ll be able to come with me everywhere I go now?’

‘Yes,’ the second Kit said. ‘I’ll handle your personal requirements, synchronising with my other self when required. We will be an exceptionally effective personal agent for you.’

‘We promise,’ first Kit added.

‘Okay,’ Fox said, looking between them, ‘but try to keep it to one avatar at a time in the house. This stereo thing is confusing.’

‘We will,’ they chorused, and then they started giggling. Fox shook her head and started for the shower.

~~~

‘I’m going up to Jenner on Monday,’ Terri said from her position leaning against the wall of the room where Fox was being checked by her surgeon. ‘I was thinking maybe we could go out Friday night, or Saturday?’

‘Let me consult my physician,’ Fox said, looking at the man who was going over the skin on her arm with a multispectral visor.

‘As long as you don’t stress this too much, that should be fine,’ the man replied without looking up. ‘Limit your alcohol, and if you’re going to engage in intercourse, be a little careful. This is meshing in very nicely, but it has a little more to do before it’s completed.’

‘All the function seems to be there. Kit says the internal diagnostics are good.’

‘They are,’ Kit supplied. ‘I checked them this morning when I was able to load myself onto one of her internal processors.’

‘That sounded so wrong,’ Terri said, grinning. ‘How’s her calendar looking, Kit?’

‘We have agreed to a meeting with Captain Canard on Friday morning.’

‘Better make it Saturday night,’ Fox said. ‘Always the possibility that he’ll lock me up for the night.’

‘No,’ Terri said. ‘He might lock you up, but he’s not going to keep you there longer than five minutes.’

13
^th
February.

Fox had taken her jacket off when she walked into the interview room and was busy examining the skin on her forearm when Canard and Cant walked in. She did not look up as the two men took seats across from her.

‘Captain Grant J. Canard and Inspector Johnson P. Cant initiating interview with Tara Meridian,’ Canard intoned.

‘Inspector Tara Meridian,’ Fox stated. ‘My resignation isn’t final yet, unless you’ve rushed it through.’

Canard glared at her. ‘
Inspector
Tara Meridian. You are aware of your rights, Inspector?’

‘I am, Captain. Do I need to be? Are you detaining me?’

‘Not at this time, but–’

Fox smiled. ‘That’s okay then, please continue.
I
have nothing to hide so I don’t believe I require an attorney at this point.’

Canard pulled in a slow breath and let it out. ‘You’ve been asked to attend here today regarding the death of Detective Joshua Sandoval. You don’t deny shooting him and we have the record of your weapon’s sighting camera indicating that you fired on him.’

‘Correct.’

‘I’d like you to explain, in your own words, why you did that.’

‘You have my report on the shooting, Captain. He was trying to kill me. You also have video evidence of him meeting with known UA terrorists.’

‘How did you get that evidence?’ Canard snapped out, his eyes narrowing.

‘Anonymously. It doesn’t matter, does it? The video timestamps and metadata allowed you to pull the feeds from the city video logs. MarTech’s lawyers requested and obtained it. The video is genuine. That makes Sandoval dirty, right?’

‘Sandoval was
not
dirty,’ Canard growled. ‘He was–’

‘A NIX agent embedded in Wayden Executive Services who moved on to covering NAPA. Yes, I was aware of that. However, given that his task here was to obtain information on new processes being researched by MarTech Technologies, he was engaging in industrial espionage. That would be illegal for NIX to undertake, so they aren’t going to acknowledge that he was doing it under their orders, even if they acknowledge he was one of theirs. You can write him up as a dirty cop, but NIX won’t let you hang this on them.’

There was silence as Canard glared at her, and she got the distinct feeling that he had already figured that one out or been told it by NIX. ‘You went in to get Teresa Martins on your own rather than getting official backup and a proper NAPA antiterrorist team–’

‘NAPA’s antiterrorist and special action units aren’t that good. Jackson Martins was within his rights to take action himself to free his daughter, and he asked me to assist because he knows I have experience in hostage rescue and counterterrorism. The operation was successful.’

‘Internal Affairs are
very
interested in your relationship with Martins,’ Cant said, his face forming into a rather malicious grin.

‘They can investigate all they like. They won’t find anything improper.’ Fox fixed her gaze on Canard and affected a slightly unhappy expression. ‘If they do wish to investigate fully, however, they’ll find some additional evidence I was sent regarding Sandoval which I have, to date, kept private. I’ll be
required
to disclose certain emails between Captain Canard and Detective Sandoval.’

‘What?’ Canard asked.

‘Discussions on my assignment to the Hunt case which make it clear that you knew he was NIX and that he wanted me on it.’ She let her eyes widen. ‘Oops. I
do
hope IA won’t be listening to this.’ Canard’s face was turning scarlet, but Cant put a hand on his shoulder which seemed to pull him back. Fox shook her head. ‘I’m not sure why you’re pushing this, Captain. I shot Sandoval, sure, but he was trying to kill me and you’ve got enough evidence to put him down as a bad cop. The Martins kidnapping is resolved, favourably. I’ve resigned so I’m out of your designer-cut hair. Unless you think my resignation makes you look bad and you want to make it look like I’m
having
to resign. That it? Are you trying to save face?’

‘I’m trying… Officer-involved shootings need to be handled carefully and–’

He stopped as her eyes narrowed, the words choking in his throat. ‘That would be why you dismissed Sandoval’s recent
entirely
unrecorded shooting of Donovan Bucksbridge after a couple of hours of interviewing then. That would be something else you wouldn’t want IA looking at, I’d imagine. They might conclude that you were colluding with him in the cover-up of one murder and one attempted murder, the latter of a NAPA detective. You
really
have more to lose by continuing this harassment, Canard. Just let me finish up my time and move on. I thought knowing which battles to fight was one of the main skills of a politician.’

Apparently he did, if you pointed it out to him. ‘Interview terminated,’ Canard said. ‘I’ll put through a recommendation that you be released from your contract on medical grounds following the damage to your arm.’

Fox’s smile was more or less genuine. ‘Thank you, Captain. I’ll stop off and clear out my office before I leave.’

14
^th
February.

Kit could only really see things which Fox looked at. She could pick up all the v-tag signals in the area, which meant she could construct a full image of the viron of 27Lex, but she only got to match that with a visual image of the real world when Fox’s eyes looked in a given direction. It was not stopping her from standing there, visible only to Fox, Terri, and Sam, and peering around as though the club was
the
most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

‘She’s been in Niflhel,’ Fox commented. ‘She’s seen clubs before.’

‘I have mostly been to Vali’s farm,’ Kit pointed out.

‘You came in with me and had a little tour of a few places on Thursday night.’

‘And they were interesting, but this is a physical club with real people. People are interesting and a little strange at times. That man there appears to be attempting to see through your shirt despite it being opaque.’

Fox bit her lips to avoid laughing and Sam said, ‘Imagine what they’d be doing if they could actually see our little fox-girl.’

Terri giggled. ‘I don’t think Kit’s ready for
that
much attention yet.’

‘And what would her boyfriend say?’ Fox added.

Kit’s cheeks flamed. ‘I do
not
have a boyfriend, except in the sense of having a friend who happens to be a boy.’

‘I think I need to meet this Vali,’ Terri said, ignoring her creation. ‘If he’s wooing my Kit, I think he needs to be vetted.’

‘I did already ask him about his intentions,’ Fox told her.

‘You didn’t!’ Kit squeaked, clutching her hands to her cheeks.

‘He said they were honourable, but–’

‘He did?!’

‘–I don’t believe him.’

‘Stop embarrassing the poor girl,’ Sam said, all ‘voice of reasonableness.’

‘That would be nice,’ Kit said meekly.

Sam grinned at her. ‘My pleasure, Kit. So, Fox, what’s next? You’re out of NAPA. Are you taking the job at Palladium?’

Fox shrugged. ‘I’ve been working for one form of governmental agency or another since I left home. Time to strike out, I guess. Try something new. It’s either go private or go corporate.’

‘And we have all the best toys,’ Terri pointed out, grinning.

Fox lifted her hand, curling her fingers as she looked over the skin of her arm which was now all a uniform, very natural colour. ‘Yeah… you sure do. But do me a favour, would you, Terri?’

‘Uh, if I can, sure. What?’

‘Try to avoid getting kidnapped for the next five years or so. It’s getting to be a habit.’

###

About the Author

I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.

Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.