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New Terra was a mining planet that had gradually evolved into a regular colony world with far more farms than mines, and now far more people associated with farming than mining. It had only one city, but it did have a dozen hamlets scattered around the planet, these catered for the farmers and miners in much the way that the small towns of the American west had done in the nineteenth century back on Earth. There was law and order, there were also many people who bent, bought or just plain ignored the laws of the land. In its spaceport, there were people of all these sorts and so the Jeanette was never left unattended whenever it had reason to land on this world.
“Let me unload our cargo first Jean and then I will take you to wherever you want to go, remember that you cannot trust too many people on New Terra, and you certainly should not travel around it unaccompanied and especially at night when anything could, and probably would happen to a young woman as pretty as you are. If you have ever read about the old time white slave trade then believe me when I say that this is probably where it still might happen.” Ray said trying to stress the dangers of such a world for a woman such as Jean, rather than just to scare her.
“I will do as you advise Ray, but how long will you be?”
“It should only take an hour to unload the cargo and then to get a signature for it, after that I will be all yours.”
“You will be my own little white slave?” Jean asked innocently, smiling across at Ray.
Ray wanted to answer Jean but somehow the words just wouldn`t come out of his mouth, he just coughed and spluttered a bit and then turned away red in the face and got stuck into his work of unloading the cargo. The two days that they had been together had been mind-blowing for Ray, because although he was ten years her senior, he had never felt this way about a woman before now. Sure, he had enjoyed many a relationship with a woman before, but never had one been strong enough to tempt him away from his path of independence. With Jean, he would certainly have entered her employment as her personal white slave. Harry who had just come down to the ships hold could only just hold back his laughter. Jean didn`t know quite know what it was that she had said to bring about this odd behaviour in Rays part, and the obvious amusement that she had caused on Harry`s part, who didn`t know whether to be jealous or not of Ray for getting to enjoy so much of Jeans company alone. Harry wasn`t sure if Ray looked on Jean as a woman or as the daughter that he had never had, but one thing was sure, Ray could do with a little romance in his life.
While Ray and Harry took care of unloading their cargo, Jean stood just outside of the ship and took in the view, which was pretty much the same as in any other spaceport. It was set on the edge of the city and was filled with hangers and various spacecraft, some like the Jeanette had seen better days, but with the sun glinting off their hulls, it made them look almost new. One large white spacecraft was certainly not old, she wondered just how much they would have charged to carry her, she knew that she probably couldn`t have afforded it. It was a hot cloudless day on New Terra, but at least it shouldn`t get any hotter as the space port was nowhere near the planet`s equator.
Jean had spoken to many a boy before today, she had met them both at school and at the church social events, but she had never met a man before who was quite as interesting as Ray. She whiled away the time while she waited for the two men to finish unloading their cargo spinning romantic thoughts of a life spent with a man such as Ray, it would be so thrilling travelling to so many new and exciting planets, with someone like Ray to protect her.
After completing the unloading, Ray and Jean took a taxi to the hotel where her brother was supposed to be staying, and on entering Jean spoke to the manager.
“My brother Mr Peter Summers is staying here in your hotel; can you tell me if he is in the hotel now?”
“I am afraid that Mr Summers hasn`t been in for a number of days now, and we have moved his baggage into our store room.”
“Do you have any idea at all where he can be then?”
“No Ms Summers, I do not know where he has gone to.”
“Can you tell us what local telephone calls he received while he was staying with you?” Ray said interrupting the conversation by trying to find out something positive to take away from the hotel, and not just the negative information that the clerk was giving out now.
“That is most definitely not allowed Sir.”
“I see, in that case can I pay his bill and take his baggage with us?” Ray Connors asked hopefully.
“I don`t know Sir, it seems highly suspect to me.”
“Look I have my identity card here, and here is a photograph of Peter and me together, you can see that I am his sister, I have come to New Terra to look for him because I think that something may have happened to him, and to do that I need your help.” Jean said a little more aggressively than she had been so far.
“Alright then yes, if you are to settle his account then I suppose we can give his baggage to you to keep safe until you find him again.” The clerk said in a more conciliatory tone.
“And will the account include all of the telephone calls that he made while he was staying here?” Ray Connors asked.
“Yes Sir, we always include an itemised list of all the things shown on the invoice.” The clerk said happy to get the money for the unpaid bill, and to be of some help to the couple from New Caledonia.
Ray knew that Jean had very little money so he was going to pay the hotel bill, but Jean insisted on paying her brother`s hotel bill, although she thought that it was kind of Ray to offer to do so if she could not afford it. However, she wanted to pay for anything that was to do with her or with the business of finding her brother. Soon though, she realised, she would become short of funds and would then have to take employment on this planet to pay for any prolonged search, but only when her limited funds gave out. When they were standing outside of the hotel Jean turned to Ray.
“Thank you Ray, I don`t think that I would have thought to ask about the telephone bill, or to collect his luggage, this means that we may be able to trace some of Peter`s movements since he arrived on the planet.”
“That is right Jean; we should take his baggage back to the Jeanette and look through it to see if it gives us any leads, afterwards we had better check the hospital, because we may find him there. After that we will visit the police station, but don`t volunteer any information to them, this isn`t New Caledonia, in fact unless it becomes necessary just leave the talking to me.”
“Ok Ray I will leave it to you.” Jean said thankful to have someone like Ray to fall back on, for she had never even been into a police station before.
She wondered just how well she would have fared if she had come to New Terra on a regular flight, thank goodness none of them wanted to know she thought, thanking her good luck in this matter. When they got back to the Jeanette with Peter Summers` luggage they went through it all, but as was to be expected they didn`t find anything, except that is for a small book with telephone numbers in it.
“That one there is the number that I called to try and get hold of Tom Parkinson!” Jean exclaimed. “So why didn`t they put me through to him?”
“Maybe because you have to be on a list of people before you are allowed to speak to him immediately, he probably looks through the list of callers who didn`t make it through to him each day to see if he wants to speak to any of them?” Ray said.
“And he doesn`t want to speak to the likes of me, you mean?”
“From what you have said about your brother`s job, he could well be a federal agent, and in that case Tom Parkinson could well be his boss. Maybe behind the scenes he is already looking for your brother, but he can`t reveal your brother`s real job of work to you in case you inadvertently mention it to the wrong people.”
“Yes of course, I never thought of that. What telephone numbers are on the invoice from the hotel?” Jean asked. Ray opened the hotel bill and looked through it.
“Just two calls, one to Earth, probably to t
hat Tom Parkinson, and one local number that he called eight days ago, I suggest that we try the second one when we get back into town, if they prove to be the bad guys I don`t want them tracing our call back to us here.” Ray replied.
“Good thinking, I would have made a pretty poor investigator had I tried to do this alone Ray.” Jean said ruefully.
“Well a pretty one anyway.” Ray said daring to offer up a small piece of flattery, but even now, he only said it with his back partially turned towards Jean, for he felt that Jean probably saw him more in the way of an Uncle than anything else. If he had been looking straight at her he would have seen the small smile that appeared on her face, and the light in her eyes, as he spoke those words to her, for she didn`t think of him as an Uncle at all.
“Come on Jean it is time to take a taxi ride to the hospital and see if they have him there.”
Harry looked after them as they walked to the space port`s gates, they should have been getting ready to return to New Caledonia now, but Ray seemed more interested in helping his passenger. Well she is a nice girl, Harry thought as he began to ready the ship for a hurried departure, should the need arise, for he had a bad feeling about the fate of the missing Peter Summers.
As Ray and Jean drove through the city Jean noticed that it was similar to the city on New Caledonia where she lived. They were wide roads that were mostly tarmacked; they had a proper drainage system installed, and running along them there were the usual variety of buildings with a mixture of small shops, offices, houses and small factory units. They were mostly built of wood, as this was the easiest material for the people of New Terra to lay their hands on. New Terra had a large number of trees, and like New Caledonia at least all the timber taken from the wild was being replaced with new saplings to ensure that the environment wasn`t damaged too much, Mankind had at least learnt to do that. Jean was quite taken up with looking at the view, the time went by so quickly that she was quite surprised when they arrived at the hospital; it was quite modern for a planet such as New Terra and looked to be reasonably clean.
“I`m all mixed up Ray, one part of me wants to find Peter here while the other part would rather not, for it would mean that he was seriously ill for him to not contact me.”
“I know what you mean Jean, but hopefully if he is here he won`t be in too bad a way.” At the reception desk, a young woman looked up as they walked towards her.
“Can I help you?” The receptionist asked politely.
“Yes I am trying to trace my brother, he has been missing for up to eight days, his name is Peter Summers. This is a photo of him here; it was taken a couple of years ago and shows the two of us together.” Jean said handing the photograph across to the receptionist who after looking at it shook her head.
“Can you check to see if he might have been brought here for some reason?” Jean asked for she now found that she was hoping for a positive reply. The receptionist checked the book in front of her.
“Peter Summers, no there is no one of that name listed over the last two weeks, and there are no patients listed as identity unknown.” The receptionist looked at the photo again to make sure that she didn`t recognise him. “You could try round at the emergency department; he may have been brought in there, they might recognise his face. Follow the corridor to you right and it will take you straight there.” The receptionist smiled at them as they thanked her and watched as they walked away along the corridor towards the emergency department before getting back to her work.
The receptionist at the emergency department was not too busy and had time to check her files also before referring them to the head nurse who also said no, she hadn`t seen anyone who looked remotely like her brother, so it looked as if the police station was there next place of call. Here Ray did the talking but apart from the constable filling in a missing persons form they didn`t get any further here.
“It is time now Jean to try that telephone number and see if it leads us anywhere, if we get no joy there then we could try Tom Parkinson`s number again?”
“Let`s have a coffee and something to eat first Ray, then if we get anywhere with the telephone number we can get straight down to it without worrying about our stomachs.” Jean said with a feeling of hopelessness slowly pervading her mind, her brother had disappeared, probably murdered by an alien spy ring and she would never find out what had happened to him. Ray could see the depressed state of her mind, for it was clearly written across her pretty face.
“Sounds like a good idea to me and then afterwards as you say, we will be free to follow any leads to wherever they take us.” Ray tried to sound confident to cheer Jean up.
They found a small café with an empty seat by the window and spent half an hour resting there while they had a coffee and a sandwich that didn`t taste too bad. Ray told her funny stories about some of the places he had visited which seemed to cheer her up, but in the end Jean couldn`t wait any longer and so they left to find a public telephone box from where they could call the number.
“I hope it isn`t the speaking clock.” Ray joked still trying to raise their spirits a little. Ray called the number and soon got through.
“Lyre import export, how may I help you?” The voice of a woman said in answer to their call.
“I am trying to locate a missing friend, a Mr Peter Summers; he called this number eight days ago. Can you tell me if you know of him, or have any idea where he may be right now?” Ray asked.
“I am sorry Sir, but I don`t know any person of that name, however, if you call at our offices after two o`clock this afternoon I will have asked around for you by then to see if there is anyone here who might know your friend. You can find us in the Balsams Market Square.” The receptionist sounded genuine so Ray took her up on her offer.
“Yes we will do that, and thank you Ms ...?” Ray asked politely.
“Ms Celia Dalton, you will find me at the reception desk.”
Ray put the phone down and turning to Jean related to her all that had been said.
“They are called ‘Lyre import export’ and with your brother being a possible spy then it would seem that we have a definite lead, as Earth and Lyre are currently heading towards a war, although at the moment it is more of a skirmish with some explosive incidents thrown into the mix.” Ray said grimly.
“Then it might be dangerous to call at the offices, if they are enemy agents they might think that we too are agents from Earth?” Jean said feeling just a little worried, but she forced these worries away as she remembered why she had come to New Terra, it was to find Peter and she decided that she would call at the offices anyway, whatever the risk to herself. She realised that she wouldn`t get anywhere if she allowed fear to govern her search.
“Not when they see you Jean, for there is no way that a young woman like you could ever be a spy.” Ray said deciding the matter for them and then laughing. With time to kill, they decide to return to the café and have another coffee, and a sticky bun this time.
Two o`clock came along and it saw them standing outside of the Lyre import export offices, over the door was a sign with the firm`s name upon it and a picture of a Lyre, the Greek musical instrument made famous by the god Apollo.
“Maybe we were seeing spies where there weren’t any, maybe the owner is a fan of ancient musical instruments?” Jean suggested.
“We shall soon see if you are correct Jean, but it sure made a great lead, and one that I am reluctant to let go of just yet.” Ray Connors said doubtfully. Ray and Jean entered into the small office and approached the reception desk.
“Hallo, we spoke earlier on the phone about my friend Peter Summers.” Ray said to the young woman sitting behind the desk.
“Oh yes, well I am afraid that I asked around but no one seems to know your friend, maybe he got the wrong telephone number?”
“Yes maybe he did, well thank you for checking anyway, we will just have to continue our search elsewhere.” Ray said smiling at the receptionist and then ushering a baffled Jean out of the
door.
“Is that it, what about it being our best lead, aren`t we going to insist on speaking to the manager?” Jean wanted to know getting angry and just a little disappointed with Ray.
“No because I happened to see a very shady character peering at us from behind the blinds of the Managers office, a shady character that I happen to think is behind many of the illegal deals that happen on this planet.” Ray said steering Jean away from the office.
“And you think he could be behind Peter`s disappearance?” Jean asked.
“I think it is a bit early to say that, but as I said before, it is our best lead and one that we must follow, but not now, later when the moon is getting tired and every honest citizen is in bed.” Ray replied grimly.
“What shall we do until then Ray, head back to the ship and rest up?” Jean asked.
“No Jean, we will go round to a bar that I know and see a man about a dog.” Ray said with a smile.
“A dog, what do you mean?” Jean asked wondering just what Ray meant.
“The name of the man in that office is Terrier.” Ray answered with a large smile across his face.
“Oh very funny Ray, you should be on the stage. Well come on then where is this bar with the dog lover?” Jean said smiling up at Ray.
“Jean, one thing I must stress before we enter the bar, never raise your voice above a whisper and especially when in a bar full of potential enemies. They will be interested anyway, in a pretty woman such as you.” Ray warned Jean.
“Ok Ray I will remember to speak quietly at all times on this planet.” Jean said pleased with yet another unsolicited compliment.
New Terra city was a bit like the Chicago of Earth`s early twentieth century except for the fact that there were only two gangland bosses here, and they had both agreed to keep to their own side of town and not to start a destructive gangland war. Working alongside the gangsters there was a collection of crooked law enforcement officers, and of course crooked and corrupt politicians. The population of New Terra was some fifty thousand people within the city and another twenty thousand people farming or mining on the large continent that was home to the city, and which was the first part of the planet to be colonised. The rest of New Terra`s people lived in the remaining three large continental land masses with approximately fifty thousand people on each of the them. Five minutes later found Ray and Jean seated in a plush bar talking to its owner Joel Planter.
“Joel what can you tell me that is interesting about Karl Terrier, my friend here is missing someone dear to her and he may be mixed up in it?” Ray Connors asked quietly of the large man who owned one of the best bars in town. Joel was large in size but small in stature being only five feet seven inches in height, and some said about the same in circumference. His face was always full of smiles and he could have been quite good looking if he didn`t like his food quite so much, his grey eyes took in his two guests. Ray was the only person that he trusted with his life, for Ray had saved him from a couple of thugs years ago and demanded nothing in return even though Joel had offered him plenty, including the job of running the bar that they were currently sitting in, and with a large salary to boot. Ray had declined it as at the time he still had a very large travel itch and enough money for the moment.
“As I like you Ray I shouldn`t tell you anything, but I know that you must have more than mere curiosity to even mention his name. Even in here he has his ears and eyes, the couple over there by the wall are two of his paid spies who earwig on conversations in the hope of learning something valuable to sell to him.” The two men that Joel referred to looked like a pair of weasels. One was painfully thin with matching hair while the other matched his looks but was just a little bigger in stature.
“Why don`t you tell them to leave then Joel, if they listen in to your other customers private conversations?” Jean asked innocently. The two men quietly laughed as Ray went on to explain.
“Because Karl Terrier would get to hear of it and he would then send some thugs around to the bar to exact revenge, and Joel`s future co-operation.” Ray explained.
“Oh, and do I also take it then that the local law enforcement agency will just sit about and do nothing to stop it, that`s terrible?” Jean exclaimed, although she had read stories of such things, she was still shocked, having never experienced anything remotely like it.
“Yes Jean, unfortunately there are many in his employment, and those that aren`t are too few to do anything.” Joel said sorrowfully.
“To business Joel, what is our friend up to lately, nothing good I am sure?” Ray asked.
“He seems to have some new buddies, from off world by all accounts, it also appears that he has taken up an interest in nature and takes trips into the outback with some of his new friends who are supposed to include a couple of geologists.” Joel quietly informed them. “Is that any help at all to you? Oh and the off worlders have a large white starship that is sometimes parked in the space port.” Joel said.
“Oh I think that I saw it earlier today Joel.” Jean said. Ray Connors looked at Jean for a moment, very interested in what she had said, and he made a mental note to have a closer look at the starship, when there was time and when the dark hid him from prying eyes. However, for the moment Ray was more interested in what his friend had to say so he turned back to Joel.
“Yes Joel, that ties in with what we have deduced from our investigation so far, we believe that the off worlders may be from the Lyre Federation.” Ray replied thoughtfully.
The war between Earth and Lyre was still only an assortment of skirmishes and had not been of interest to the people of New Terra, although that would soon change.
“Can you tell me why you two are looking for trouble from the likes of Karl Terrier; you most certainly are not federal agents?"
Jean looked at Ray who nodded to indicate to Jean that she could tell Joel the reason why they were poking around in so much potential trouble.
“My brother has been missing for eight days and our only lead is his interest in the Lyre Import Export firm, and today Ray caught sight of Karl Terrier in their offices, when we called to ask if they knew my brother, which they said they didn`t.” Jean replied quietly.
“Did Terrier see either of you two?” Joel asked worriedly.
“Yes he did, we phoned their offices two hours before we actually arrived there and were asked to drop by after lunch so that they could ask around to see if anyone knew anything about Jean`s brother. He may have been waiting to see who was interested in Peter Summers.” Ray answered.
“Then the two of you had better take care to keep to public places in future, ones that have plenty of people about, just in case he decides to get rid of any potential problems.”
“I am sorry to drag you into my problems Ray, if you want to get back to your ship and your work then I wouldn`t complain, I couldn`t complain anyway after all the help that you have been.” Jean felt compelled to say these words, but she was terrified that Ray would actually accept her offer and go. Joel knew that Ray wouldn`t leave Jean in the lurch, not only could he see that Ray was very interested in Jean romantically, but Joel knew that even if Ray wasn`t he would never leave a friend in the lurch.
“Just what sort of person do you think that I am Jean; there is absolutely no way that I would leave you to the tender mercies of Karl Terrier, or his cronies for that matter.” Ray complained, but quietly so the weasels couldn`t over hear their conversation. Jean had seen Ray surreptitiously looking across at the two men and she had seen the weasels looking back across at them. She wasn`t sure if it was because they were interested in the conversation or just her. Jean was used to some attention from the male population wherever she went, for she knew that she was good looking.
“Now we have that settled Ray what is your next move?” Joel asked diffusing the tension that had risen between Ray and Jean.
“I will have to go back to the Lyre offices early tomorrow morning, before they open their doors to the law abiding public and see w
hat I can find out.”
“Just take care the place will be alarmed, so you will need someone who can bypass such pedestrian things and allow you access without the prospect of the law demanding to know what you are about. It just happens that I know of the very person, someone who also happens to owe me a large favour. Come back to the bar an hour before closing for a drink and I will introduce you to him.”
“Thank you Joel, but are you sure that you can trust him not to drop you and us in it?”
“This gentleman is ok, so don`t worry on that score.”