The Children of Zion

Chapter Seven

D.R. Hurley

Seven

The tall candles in Inspector Baxi's office burned long into the night, reducing them to little mounds of melted wax that dripped frequently onto the floor. The Inspector had remained locked in his office for hours on end, searching for anything regarding the traitor Leos and his despicable life of crime.

Jyonti held the largest magistrate courts in all the Empire and as such, had earned the title of, the Iron City, on the account of its many prisons. If the law was broken, Jyonti was usually the place they'd take you to stand trial.

Baxi's desk had come to resemble a miniature city of stacked paper towers, loitering across his work surface as he continued to ransack the building's archives. But his attempts were futile. There was no file, no record, no other information regarding the traitor Leos. Nothing except the report sent to him by the Imperial Commission, detailing the first interrogation of the now re-appointed Inspector Sarsso. It was like the man didn't exist.

Baxi rubbed his tired eyes with the palm of his hands, trying to stem the mounting fatigue slowing his weary mind. Another useless file landed on his cluttered desk, just like all the others.

The Inspector cursed his luck, then threw himself back into a large leather chair, which creaked loudly in response. He sat there for a time thinking. His fingers toyed idly with the golden signet ring on his finger.

Breath of the Mother, I've been through everything and still haven't found any reference to this, Leos. The man's a ghost!

The Inspector felt a dull ache in his mind from the rise of emotions coming from outside his office, but chose to ignore it. Being a Medion meant Baxi had the ability to detect one's feelings, whether he wanted to or not. He also had the power to delve into a person's mind, and seek out the truth of their past. A useful tool for any officer of the law trying to find out if a suspect was guilty or not, and one that could be presented in court. Though it came at a price.

It takes great skill and control to see into someone's memories, and even more to cope with them. Over the years Baxi had gone into the sub-conscious minds of hundreds of criminals, thugs, rapists and murderers, and seen terrible horrors that no man should witness. Naturally he'd become hardened to it. Yet sometimes there would be visions that even he could not deal with, and be forced to lock them deep down in the furthest reaches of his own mind.

When he entered the traitor's mind the other day there were so many things that hadn't made sense. And that troubled Baxi greatly. Never before had he seen a mind so empty. It was like all of his memories had been somehow, removed. The fact he had to travel so deep just to find a few meagre glimpses of the suspect's worthless past was frustrating, and curious. He couldn't even use the fractured memories as evidence for the trial, the High Courts would not be able to except such limited images. Something had happened to that man, of that Baxi was certain.

Yes, the guards had been a little heavy handed on the prisoner, but that was irrelevant. A polar baton's bite would only suppress a subject's memories temporarily, and still be a mere trifle to unlock for a skilled Medion such as he. But this man Leos was almost wiped clean. Either he was especially adept at deception, or something far more sinister was at work.

He doubted the former notion since the emotions he felt from the traitor during the interrogation were genuine. Leos really didn't have a clue about anything Baxi had talked about, and was completely terrified of the potential consequences bestowed by treason.

Then again, the man was able to expel Baxi's presence from his mind on two occasions, a sign that he was potentially a Medion like himself. Convenient how the report failed to mention such an important and dangerous fact.