Dark Energy Supernova - An Anthology of SF SD Shorts

Part 5 Birds in the Hand

"Only the best kind, inspectors!" a dry, almost humorless voice flatly announced.  Quinn and Duncan both found their eyes jerked to the door where a tall, cadaverously thin figure in a white hooded trench coat was waiting for them.

"Welcome to Eta Level, inspectors," the figure made a slow, sinuous bow in greeting.  "I am your host, Chief Minister Vaughn.  If you will be so kind to step inside, we'll get this rather unsavory affair out of the way, yes?"

"Unsavory?" Quinn heard Duncan mutter under his breath.  "Sounds like our kinda' party!"

With the troopers at their backs, the two stepped into the relative darkness of the storage building's interior.  Immediately the air freshened and thickened, telling of secondary atmosphere pumps and filters in action.  Overhead lights also flickered to life and by their illumination Quinn could see that they were now in a space filled with all varieties of machines she didn't recognize.

A skeletal finger directed the two to a pair of plain plastic chairs.  With a full dozen soldiers at their backs, Duncan and Quinn had little choice but to comply.  Sitting, they were immediately manacled into place before the three white coats approached Vaughn.

"The inspectors are delivered as per your request, Chief Minister,"  Talaran reported with an audible tone of diffidence.

"Well done, Talaran,"  Vaughn replied without turning to face her as a small control pedestal rose out of the rickety floor in front of him, the shiny metal and plastic on contradiction to the grimy, dark and worn building.  "I'll have a commendation placed on your service record.  You three are dismissed."

"Sir," the MEBI agent replied as all three respectfully inclined their heads.  Then they were marching back out without a backward glance at the restrained inspectors.

Quinn followed them for a moment while noting the soldiers weren't leaving before Vaughn's voice recaptured her attention.

"So, not to be too cliche but I'm sure you two are wondering why you're here," Vaughn spoke, still without turning away from the control pedestal, which he was now working over.  As he worked, Quinn began to hear the machines all around them come to life with low thrums of power audible over the roar of the atmosphere pumps.

"The thought had occurred to us, sir," Duncan replied with a quick look at Quinn, "we were investigating a murder on Delta Level,..."

"Of Kenzington Wilkes-Boothe," Vaughn finished the sentence for the big inspector.  "He was a sector coordinator in my ministry.  Until he accidentally discovered what I was doing up here, on the meta levels, away from our facilities on the surface."

Quinn's eyes immediately narrowed.   It wasn't difficult to imagine Vaughn as the villain in this scenario, if by reputation alone.  And any time a villain openly confessed to a crime, it's because they either thought they were powerful enough to get away with it regardless of what law enforcement did.  Or the officers overhearing the confession wouldn't be allowed to live.

Almost as if on cue, there were three sharp shots audible from beyond the building's entrance.  Quinn felt her blood go cold.  That could only be the three white coats who had escorted them here.

"Sounds like you don't want any witnesses, minister," Duncan dryly pointed out, echoing Quinn's thoughts.  By the tone of his voice, he was under no illusions about getting out of here.

"Yet we saw nothing until you brought us here.  Why tap us?  It'll just stir things up with MetaEarth Law Enforcement."

"You hadn't seen anything,..yet," Vaughn replied as a large apparatus descended from the darkness above them.  "You and I both know that you had ignored the MEBI request to cease and desist and were about to uncover that Wilkes-Boothe had been killed by his own ministry."  He paused to glance over a bony shoulder at them.  "Ironically that dogged resolution was the trait I've been looking for."

"For what?"  Quinn automatically asked before she could stop herself and immediately chided herself.  The man was a master of secrets.  Confessing to a crime because you know you're getting away with it is entirely different than revealing a deep, dark secret.  And a master of such secrets certainly wouldn't be forthcoming.

So the slender inspector was more than a little surprised when Vaughn actually answered, albeit a little tersely.

"I need operatives." The InterOp minister said and Quinn had to bite to her tongue to stop the next logical question that would've popped out.  Which, coincidentally enough, would've been the same as the first.

That didn't stop Duncan though.

"You have plenty of operatives, minister.  Why would you need a couple cops?  We have no where near enough training, ..."

"Says the ex-counterintelligence military officer."  Vaughn almost casually replied, his revelation earning Duncan a quizzical look from Quinn.

"Counter-intel, Dunk?  Like what the hell!  Why didn't you tell me?"  She asked.

"Because the man can keep a secret, inspector."  Vaughn replied as a chagrined expression appeared on Duncan's face.  "You both possess traits that I want.  In fact, I've been watching you two some time now, looking for the opportunity to take you."  A thin smile appeared on his lean face.

"Who would've guessed you would give it to me yourselves!"