Chapter 18
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With the capture and death of one of the Alpha sector’s most wanted, Joni and I were again given a three-day break. Portal travel to and from SS5 had been restored, and we soon found ourselves stepping through a portal on Balimus II. It was then a twenty-minute ride on a pair of rented helocycles out to my home. I settled into the Beutcher family farm and smiled as I looked around at the full and thriving livestock pens.
Joni spoke as she dismounted. “Wow, you have a nice farm going here. When you said farm before, I thought you would just have a couple fields of crops.”
“My wife is very driven and industrious. That gallig pen is new and I see it is full; she must be preparing to move them to market. They look healthy and fat.”
As I walked toward our den, the word of my arrival got out and a herd of little Gruntas came pouring from its doorway. I was soon covered in Grunta youth, the last of which knocked me backward onto the ground. Joni giggled at the sight of all the wiggling, nubby tails and then scowled as the Grunta began licking their father. To me it was pure joy. There was nothing like the welcoming one received after a long time away from home.
When the excitement of the welcome had died down, I rose and brushed the dust from my back. My wife was standing in the doorway as I approached. We soon joined foreheads. My wife began to make that soft cooing sound that would fill my thoughts while I was away. Joni’s smile over the cute and loving connection soon turned to shock as my wife began to savagely pound me on the chest and shoulders with her fists. It was the final sequence of the welcome-home process, and although bruised from the episode, I could not have been happier.
“I see you added galligs while I was away. They appear to be doing well.”
Getta Beutcher smiled. “Yes. I used the pay increase from your promotion to invest in a gallig sow who was expecting. Your children have done an excellent job of tending to their every need. They should be going to market soon, and gallig is selling at a premium right now. With the struggling economy, people are shopping for the lesser meats. With the proceeds from the sale, I should be able to expand our small herd to a second breeding pen. Although, I have had thoughts of purchasing a breeding pair of dillets instead. The market for those is strong as well.”
Joni looked around. “You have quite the farm here, Mrs. Beutcher. You must be proud.”
“I am proud of Getta and the little ones. This is all their doing. My income has gone toward paying for our land. Getta is responsible for all of what you see here. It is a much different culture than that of Humans. Our women are strong, much like you, Joni Salton. Grunta men are not so driven. If our livelihoods were left entirely up to us, I’m afraid we might all starve.”
Getta smiled as she said, “Grunta men are not good decision makers. Knog is an exception. Most have no ambition or direction unless they have a strong woman behind them. Those are the Grunta who thrive and prosper.”
I replied, “It's true. In our history books, before the AMP or the New Alliance, they talk of our women as great warriors. We were a species that was in the great War of Wars before the Humans freed us all. Our ancestors settled here on Balimus II and have lived in peace and prosperity ever since. Our numbers at the end of the war were only in the hundreds of thousands. We now approach three hundred million. All because of our strong women.”
Joni was shown the farm and introduced to each if my offspring. Conversations lasted well into the night. In the morning, the pleasant trip to Balimus had came to an end. After several portal jumps, we found ourselves back on the Daunte, waiting for a new mission.
Gretchin came over the comm. “I take it the trip went well?”
Joni replied, “Knog’s family is wonderful. They were all well behaved and well spoken, and even had a good sense of humor. I was glad I got to meet them.”
Gretchin smiled. “It sounds like you had a good time. This morning, however, it’s back to work for us. You two did well on your last mission. We were certain the rebel Shieka was moving through that area, we just didn’t know how.
I said, “We followed on a hunch and just happened to get lucky.”
“Now for our next mission. We believe a similar situation is happening in and around Zanus I. You will be swept over to SS6, after which you will make your way out to the Zanus system to observe. You may be out there for a month, so I again took the liberty of ordering supplies. I take it the last stocking was adequate?”
Joni replied, “We've been eating well, Gretchin, thank you. When do we leave?”
Gretchin sent over the mission data. “You may ask for the portal jump as soon as you have your supplies aboard. I would expect that to happen at any time now.”
I said, “Can you give us any more info on what it is we're looking for? Send us some data on the Free Alliance. If we can study up on them, it will be a lot easier for us to recognize behavior that would fit what we would expect. At the moment, we really don’t know anything about this movement other than what they call themselves.”
Gretchin was quiet for a moment. “I will turn in that request for you, Mr. Beutcher, but for now, we will just have to use what little information we have available to us.”
The supplies arrived and were stocked. Joni coordinated our portal sweep to SS6. As we mapped out our observation plan for the Zanus system, a thought came into my mind.
“I think we should go aboard the station before heading out to Zanus.”
“That wasn’t in the mission plan.”
I nodded. “You're right, it wasn’t. However, we've been given latitude to use our discretion, and part of our mission here is to sniff out the Free Alliance rebels. I haven’t told this to anyone, but the rebel who killed himself was a three-star detective on this station. I think we should poke around and see what we can find out about him.”
“If they find out you left out that huge piece of information, they're going to be livid.”
“Well, now you know as well, should we try to use it to gain knowledge about the Free Alliance? Or should we just call it in and let the organization handle it?”
Joni shook her head. “They aren’t telling us anything, so I think we should reciprocate. Besides, it might be kind of fun to do some real detective legwork.”
I furrowed my brow as we walked down the Daunte’s ramp-way. “Real detective legwork? What do you mean by that?”
Joni rolled her eyes. “OK, maybe that wasn’t the best use of words. Real detective as in traditional sense of a detective, not that we aren’t real detectives. I wasn’t trying to—”
I held up my hand. “Relax. I was joking with you. I know what you meant.”
“You really need to work on that dry sense of humor. I have a hard time telling when you're serious and when you're just jerking me around.”
“I will take that thought under advisement.”
We left the docking bay and headed to the nearest commercial section of the ship. I wore my uniform, while Joni walked beside me in civilian dress. When we reached an area of restaurants and bars, we split up with a goal of meeting back in two hours’ time.
I walked into a bar and grill restaurant and sat down at the bar.
The Human bartender took my order. “What can I get for you?”
“Frozen fruit twist, please.”
The bartender looked at me suspiciously. “OK, you know that has alcohol in it, though, right?”
I nodded. “I am familiar with it.”
The bartender turned around to fill the order as he looked over his shoulder. “You’re a Grunta, right?”
“I am.”
After blending in several frozen fruits, the bartender turned back around with the frozen pink drink. “Here you go. Not that it’s any of my business, but that doesn’t seem like something a Grunta would drink.”
I picked up the tall glass, and with two chugs the frozen concoction was gone. “I’ll have another, please.”
The bartender held up hi
s hand. “Even though those look harmless, they're quite heavy on the liquor. You might want to pace yourself.”
I half smiled. “Alcohol doesn’t affect Grunta. I drink because I like the frozen feeling in my gullet.”
The bartender nodded his head. “That would explain why we rarely see any Grunta at the bar. Not that there are many of you around anyway, but I would have pegged you as drinkers.”
I looked down the bar at an Igari who was having one too many. I changed stools and sat beside him.
After watching him chug two shots and half a beer, I said, “Looks like you have something on your mind.”
The Igari looked up. “My job is crap and my wife is leaving me.”
“OK, that sounds like you have reason to be upset. Is it from the economy?”
The Igari nodded his head. “The economy is crap, my job is crap, and my wife is leaving me.”
The Igari then looked back up at me. “Four stars. You don’t see many cops with those.”
I replied, “Well, I’m not really a cop. I’m an inspection detective. You know, I check ships for people smuggling stuff.”
The Igari ordered another round. “Smugglers. How’s that working out for you?”
I laughed. “Business is good, which means my job is crap. With this economy, everyone is wanting to sneak things around without paying their taxes on it. It used to be a cushy job, but now it's all work.”
The Igari held up a shot. “Your job is crap!”
He turned up the small glass, downing the syrupy alcoholic mix inside it. “My job is crap. Did I tell you my wife left me?”
I nodded. “You did. That’s crap.”
The Igari smiled. “Hey, I like you. For a cop, you aren’t so bad.”
Before I could speak, the Igari fell off his stool, passing out on the floor.
The bartender came around from behind the bar. “He is in here every week, and every week he falls off that stool. I want to refuse him service, but the owners won’t let me. They say they need the money and it’s not their place to stop him from something he obviously wants to do. Can I get a hand from you? I want to put him in that booth over there.”
I stood and picked the Igari up by the waist. Four steps later, I had him deposited in the booth the bartender had indicated. The Igari was dead to the world.
I sat back on my stool at the bar. “So, he’s a regular. What kind of job does he have that he hates so much?”
The bartender laughed as he slung his rag across the bar. “He’s a civil servant. He gives out business licenses. With taxes the way they are, everyone gives him grief when they find out what they have to pay. He says it’s one of those thankless jobs where everyone hates him because he is the one who has to collect. I think there's a little of that and a little of him just not liking people.”
“I can’t say that I'm viewed as being popular with the public either. Either I’m holding someone up from getting to where they want to go or I’m locking them up for transporting illegal contraband.”
The bartender smiled. “Sounds like you have a crappy job.”
I shook my head just before chugging another frozen fruit twist. “No, I actually love my job. I’m just not very popular with the people.”
The bartender laughed and served up a drink to another patron before returning. “Another?”
I held up my hand. “Don’t want to get brain freeze. Say, you ever have anyone hanging out that is fed up with the New Alliance? I know I have all these stars on my shoulder, but that doesn’t mean I like all the politicos who are now running our government.”
The bartender shook his head. “I try to stay out of all that. Not good for business, if you know what I mean. People fall on one side of that or the other, very few in the middle.”
I nodded as I held out my credit store for payment. After leaving a decent tip, I stood to move to the next watering hole. The bartender leaned forward on the bar. “If you are looking for the rabble-rouser crowd, you might check out the Gaxos Lounge. Go down four hallways and make a right. You can’t miss it.”
I nodded thanks as I left the restaurant. After a short walk, I found myself in Gaxos. Igari music was blaring, and a lively crowd of Igari men and women were packed around one end of the bar. I sat on a stool as close to them as I could without crowding their space. The four stars on my uniform quieted things down.
I ordered another frozen twist. When the bartender placed it in front of me and I chugged it down, the group of young Igaris burst into laughter. I ordered another round.
A thin Igari male then stepped up beside me, obviously trying to impress the females that were with the group. “I don’t get you. Two meters tall and built like a borak, and you're slamming frozen drinks. Something doesn’t fit.”
I smiled. “Gruntas like frozen drinks. I just got a bonus at work. Bartender, give them a round of whatever they're having.”
The bartender looked at the Igari standing next to me, who nodded in response.
The Igari said, “What’s your name, and what are all those stars on your shoulder? You don’t look like a cop.”
I shook my head. “No, no cop. Just a ship inspector. I try to catch smugglers. It’s a thankless job, and I sometimes wonder why I do it. My bosses are all political now. I’ve been thinking of retiring.”
The Igari held out his hand. “Rolta, Fex Rolta’s my name. I think you’ll find a lot of like-minded people here when it comes to politics.”
I downed my second round to smiles and laughter. “I used to have a great job. Now, with all the politics and new taxes, people are doing things they had never done before. It seems with this crappy economy, everyone is a smuggler. Sometimes I just want to wave them on through and skip writing all the reports. Most of them aren’t real crooks. They're people just trying to get by.”
Fex smacked me on the shoulder. “I hear you, brother. Two of my friends here, just out of university, and they can’t find a job better than a retail clerk. We've been circulating petitions asking the governor to ease up. So far, it hasn’t helped.”
“Yeah, there are a lot of unhappy people out there. I don’t think the decision making at the top is helping anything. The media tries to paint a bright picture, but word on the street says otherwise. I just wish there was something I could do.”
I was laying it on thick, and the young Igari was eating it up. I wasn’t one to deceive others, but there was a revolution in the works, and I needed insight as to who was behind it. After an hour of making friends with the group, I decided it was time to go check on Joni.
As I was coming out of Gaxos, I caught a glimpse of Garrett Rourke as he slipped into a store across the way. I followed him into the store, coming up behind him as he watched the door of a bar on the opposite corner.
“Picking up a few things in here?”
Garrett turned, startled at the sight of a Grunta standing behind him. “Ah, I was wondering where you were. I don’t like her going into these places. Too many Igari sympathizers on this station. If they knew who she was, she would be grabbed before we could do anything about it.”
“They don’t know, and other than being Human, no one would suspect her of anything. She's practiced at not being known as a Salton.”
Garrett raised his hand to his mouth. “Keep it down. You say that name, you're going to draw attention.”
I grabbed Garrett on the shoulder and squeezed. “I’m glad you are out here watching after her. Say, while we're here, what can you tell me about the Free Alliance?”
Garrett shook his head. “I’ll be honest with you: not much. I have put in numerous requests for information on them so I have a shot at staying a step ahead of any plans to grab her, but the management doesn’t give any of that info out. They want me to just stick close and watch for anything unusual. It would be nice to be able to act sometimes rather than always having to react. As far as the Free Alliance goes, all I know is they're getting bolder and stronger.”
I released Garrett??
?s shoulder and walked back into the hallway only a moment before Joni emerged from the bar she had patronized.
“Any luck?”
Joni shook her head. “I got nothing. You?”
I nodded as we turned back toward the Daunte. “I had a disgruntled drunk and group of youths that were anti-government. They might be good for future prospects. I would say we've spent enough time here today. We might hit a few more places on our way back through. Let’s get on out to Zanus.”