The klaxons had finally gone silent as the last of the atmosphere was blown out into space leaving just the flashing lights to evidence the alert. Every screen showed an evacuation command or arrow to an escape route. The same calm words and bright, but not unfriendly, colours to induce a sense of urgency without panic.

Drick adjusted the breather unit and ensured that it was firmly attached before launching up from the deck where they had fallen after the initial explosive decompression. Rubber boots scraped gently against the floor offering no grip until Drick activated the magnetic clamps. Drick looked the corridor up and down. No sign of any others. It had only been moments but the corridor was clear.

Calming themselves with slow breaths and a relaxed attitude Drick took a few cautionary steps making sure to roll the boot off the deck and snap back on from the heel to activate and deactivate the magnetic grip. It wouldn’t do well to throw oneself into a bulkhead or out of the tear in the side of the hull.

Drick walked towards the bridge and main officers stations. They cannot have been the only one to put on a mask in time, they also were not the only one with regulation environment suit and boots. Surely they were not alone. Hopefully though there were no more activists. One breach in the hull was enough.

Drick reached the door to the forward section and noted, with a small amount of relief, that the airlock section was intact. From the readings on this side of the door there was a breathable atmosphere beyond. Drick started the process for cycling the airlock clear so they could safely enter and checked the door seals to ensure there was no obvious cracks. The act of bending down to check the bottom seal was the element that saved Drick’s life as the harpoon bounced off the airlock door just a few centimetres above their head scraping a thin tear across Drick’s suit as it did so.

Drick rolled and tried not to scream in surprise or panic as the harpoon was reeled back on a high tensile cable. The harpoon unit was a recovery device used for snagging ore samples or lost equipment. Magnetic ejection of a tungsten spear on a mixed fibre cable. It would easily spear straight through Drick and whomever was using it was aiming for the head.

Drick managed to get behind a chair that was fixed to the bulkhead moments before the harpoon sailed past them again. This time it tore a fist sized hole through a small table. Drick checked the damaged suit, it wasn’t leaking air but the outer layer had been ripped and the inner latex layer exposed.

Drick knew they had only a second or two before the harpoon would be fired through the chair they hid behind and into them. But that was all Drick needed. The first shot had given a rough position, they were hiding behind a bulkhead. But Drick had rolled a long way across this room and they would have had to step into the doorway the get that next shot. This position meant the attacker was exposed with the tear in the bulkhead behind them.

Drick quickly unslung the oxygen bottle on the outfit and loosened the safety release. Then rolled at high speed across the floor to the bulkhead opposite the door. By now the assailant would be tracking Drick as they became visible from behind the chair. Drick felt a bead of sweat roll down their spine at the thought that they were in a cross-hair.

Drick reached the wall and deactivated the magnetic boots. Drick used a full leg thrust to push against the wall away and slightly upwards directly back towards the doorway. Drick had a second to look up and see their assailant. A figure in a soft environment suit holding the bulky harpoon ejector. Drick saw the look of surprise as they fired below Drick’s arrow like form. Then Drick rotated in the air and brought booted feet into the victim, legs opening at the last minute to wrap around as they both now tumbled towards the breach.

Drick had a moment while the assailant, disorientated, flailed around. Then Drick smashed at their faceplate with the oxygen bottle they had unhooked. A grim smile played across Drick’s face as the mask cracked and there was an instant explosion of oxygen.

The assailant panicked which was what Drick wanted. They let loose the ejector and placed their hands onto their mask to stop the flow of precious air. Drick had hoped this would happen. They grabbed the ejector before it could float free or be knocked away and spun it around. The assailant saw too late what their error had been but barely had time to move their hands before Drick fired the harpoon and shot a hole through their helmet pinning the harpoon into the ceiling.

Drick had less than a few moments to enjoy the victory as they were still spinning towards the breach in the ship’s hull and there was an annoying beeping in Drick’s head.

Drick shook themselves but the beeping wouldn’t stop. That cannot be right, there was no beeping, there was… Drick opened their eyes and looked at the inside of the holomask. A memory, just a memory. They were dreaming of the past and there was an incoming call beeping for attention in an annoying fashion. Drick reminded themselves never to go to sleep in zero gee again, too many bad memories.

“Report”

The voice was calm though the officer in charge knew this to be deceptive, they were clearly very upset and this wasn’t going to change. The officer looked at the vidscreen and tried to keep their tone neutral and passive as they responded. “Situation is now under our complete control and evidence is being collected and disposed of in a timely fashion.”

“Expand on evidence and the manner of its disposal.”

“There were several vehicles involved in the incident, these have been located and sent to repair or recycling. Structural teams are working on the damage to road and buildings. We have locked down almost all of the footage from any non-controlled cameras or monitors. We calculate there is a less than one percent chance of anyone having footage that could be compromising.”

“Continue.”

“We have requested all information on the vehicles that were in the nearby vicinity that were not company controlled. There is a slight issue there.”

“What issue?”

Again the voice was calm but there seemed to be more menace in that statement. “The incident involved most of the evening security team. Once it became obvious that we couldn’t prevent the involvement of the judiciary before removing any potential problems the commander in charge ensured that all monitors, cameras and digital evidence was secured safely for the period of the entire incident.”

“That is an acceptable approach. Why is that an issue?”

“They did not secure full information on everyone who was in the area at the time. it is conceivable that there were vehicles we were unaware of now that may have witnessed something. It is also possible that there were people on foot or small gliders. Since we no longer have any footage or sensor information it is possible we may not have covered everyone who may be a witness.”

“Who might be a witness?”

“There was gang activity in the district. That is why the judiciary were so quick to the scene of the incident. It is the cause of our current issues.”

“I don’t like issues.” There was a deep intake of breath. “However this is proceeding in a manner that is tolerable if not desired. Now tell me the bad news you have been avoiding.”

The officer in charge took a moment to steady themselves. This was not going to be pleasant. “It would appear that the organic survived the incident unharmed. They were detained and because the judiciary drones couldn’t determine what had occurred they were assigned a K-tag and taken to the judicial central processing.”

“That is not optimal. It is essential they are recovered or disposed of. I will not accept any other solution.” The voice was raised and edging towards real anger. “Have you managed to obtain legal representation so that we can block judiciary from interfering? If you have there must be no links back to us, there is already too many loose ends and potential issues.”

“I am afraid that there is a problem with that.” The officer took a deep breath before continuing, noticing that the superiors face had a look growing upon it that gave them real fear. In the past such a look was a prelude to someone being deleted. “There was an investigator already in the prisoner transfer vessel. They have placed the organic under their investigation and already had a legal put a lock down on the organic. They have initial control. Would you like me to have our legal teams look into a solution?”

“Naturally. This is most unacceptable. I would have expected this to be done immediately when the organic was recovered by the judiciary. Why did that not occur?”

“I am afraid that the officer in charge was concerned with an immediate response to evidence disposal to prevent detection of the events. They didn’t fully focus on the judiciary. By the time I was assigned the investigator had already had the organic assigned to them.

“Who is the investigator?”

The officer tried not to let a smile of fear cross their face, this was not going to be news the superior would tolerate well, not if the file assignment to the investigator was known, “they are currently using the name Drick. Though we know them as.”

“I know who they are,” the superior snapped. All trace of a calm voice was now gone, “assign as many resources as you need, we must cover all traces of evidence. I don’t care who you have to retire to do this, clean it up.”

The officer in charge nodded to a blank vidscreen as their superior cut the connection. They sighed slowly and opened up the file on the investigator known as Drick, no sense in not knowing what they were up against.

Drick boarded the shuttle for the return trip from the central judiciary and selected a seat near the back. Drick activated the privacy screens so as not to be disturbed and slipped the harnesses on in a manner that suggested they had done this a thousand times before. A quick tightening of straps and then a helmet was lowered over Drick’s short cropped hair.

Now that they were alone Drick was able to put a call through to Krennar, as usual the line was busy so Drick left it on hold and triggered to activate into full screen once Krennar picked up.

There was a slight bump of the main hatch sliding shut and then the usual announcements made over the tannoy. Drick partially listened in case anything different was stated. As usual the gravity and inertia compensators wouldn’t be turned on for the whole of the journey which would take about five hours.

It once amused Drick that they always saved energy on the return shuttle flights by turning off the gravity. When transferring prisoners and working law enforcement officers the gravity was kept on, but for the innocent schmucks returning they could float. In reality it made practical sense not to let prisoners float around, they could cause more damage to themselves and others in a weightless environment. But it was still amusing.

Drick’s comlink beeped and they noticed that Hooper had been true to their word. A full breakdown of the justice bots report was in the archives along with the names of any witnesses and organisation involved in the incident. Drick noted the route and made a task to drive it on the way over to Volstron Services.

Although it would be easier just to vid-call Volstron Drick often found that faceless companies always employed an organic receptionist. It was the official way to humanise any emotionally deficit entity. A meatspace meeting was always a good way to get a read on a company and more often than not a good way to get extra privileges.

Drick’s screen flashed and the notification warned Drick there was an incoming transmission, it was the on-hold call. Flicking the screens gave Drick a view of Krennar, as usual they looked tired and angry. Also as usual a small credit charge window appeared, Krennar had put Drick on the clock.”

“Good localtime to you Drick, how are you today?” Krennar was all polite words but the face read that they didn’t care what the answer would be.

“Let’s cut the small talk, Krennar, this is costing me money. I need you to sit on a K-tag for me and I want them unmolested if possible. Goes by the name of Marsh and they were taken in today. You can get all the details from Hooper.”

“Well that’s good, I am also well if a little tired from the heavy workload I have. It was kind of you to ask if I had time in my calendar.”

“If you didn’t have the time why did you take the call?”

“Maybe I like to be social.”

“Looks like I am paying for your likes, if this is social why am I being charged?”

“Oh, just habit. Who did this Marsh kill?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“Have they been found?”

“Yup but the victim cannot be identified just yet, and neither can Marsh. Marsh has no skin dents. In fact they have no implants except for a vocoder unit. Recently fitted.”

“Sounds delightful. You realise I am going to charge more for any extra services I might use or need?”

“Same old. If I were you I would take along one of your lumpier pets, there is a lot that stinks about this and someone might try a little strongarm persuasion.”

“I still haven’t agreed to help.”

“You’re not helping. You’re being employed. Let’s be honest, you rarely have anything better to do except chase divorces and custody battles.”

“Very well. I will get the next shuttle. I assume they have been taken to the judicial processing centre?”

“They have, I will probably meet you in the terminus as I am heading back, so you could be a sweetheart and swing by my apartment and pick up a few things I might need.”

“Such as?”

“I’ll text you the list.”

“Thirty blocks, the entire regional section had no monitoring or cameras?” Drick took a deep intake of breath and let it out quickly, “that’s a heck of a lot. Was there a power disruption?”

“Not in that area last night. We had a couple of small outages on the fringes, but you always get them there, mostly the corps penalising people for late payment. But Yee On Kline is a central sector. Power stays steady for the wealthy, even if it is the lower levels that are affected.”

“So what’s the reason for the lack of monitoring?”

“There hasn’t been one given as yet,” Hooper read some script from their eye once more, “looks like a request has been placed for all information and the bots are doing a standard search across businesses and vehicles to see if any of them have footage. But nothing yet.”

“Did you get the bots to check the vehicle auto-upload, most of the fleet vehicles have tracking on central servers.”

“Wow, you know, we never thought of that even though it has been a standard practice for half a millennia. Sure we did. But the system was down for the whole area and that includes all the relays.”

“That’s might odd, or is it mighty convenient.”

“Smells like trouble to me. I told you to drop this one. Too many complications.”

“Sure, can I get a copy of the witnesses, you must have some of those. Also maybe a list of any vehicles that went in or out of the same area as the reported collisions, say thirty minutes either side of them.”

“Sure, you want anything else? A nice meal, a personal servant to wash dishes, do the laundry and clean your backside, maybe?”

“That’d be nice, save me the effort. So can you get me those or do you want me to beg?”

“I can get them, I just don’t know why I should. You know this is looking to be a heap of effort for likely little to no reward.”

“Yeah. I know. But there is something about this that makes me interested. I guess I can never resist intrigue. Do Yee On Kline control the power and services in that district?”

“Yes, but not directly. The monitoring, cameras and traffic control are managed by Volstron Services, but they are almost completely owned by a hedge fund which is a Yee On Kline managed organisation, they are principle share holders.”

“Well Volstron Services might be able to tell me a little more about why the monitoring system was down. I assume you’ll bounce that list onto my personal net?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“And I want the K tag, Marsh, assigned to me for full investigation, I will fire the paperwork to Krennar. Make sure you inform your enlightened superiors so they don’t move Marsh to someone else. I want them here and I want to be informed of any questions, investigations or analysis related to them.”

“Damn, Krennar, really? You still working with that bloodthirsty critter? Okay, I have already had the K tag assigned to you and placed in holding, I will make sure your leech gets whatever access they need.”

“Thanks Hooper, I owe you. Oh, and throw me that triple death I will do it on my way off base. No sense in not earning a little credit.” Drick started moving towards the exit that led to the shuttle lounge, “Rack up a few on my tab at the Tanz.” Drick smiled and flicked a three fingered salute, “later Hooper,” they said walking through the doorway.

Hooper stared at Drick for a few moments, “going to get my rear in a bind for this. You know I could have given that sweet triple to any other investigator and they’d feel like they owed me a favour. You, you make it sound like you are doing me the favour and you want me to stick my face into a nest of stinging crap for the pleasure. You’re a piece of work, Drick.”

Drick smiled but not coldly, “still ain’t fessing up on those details Hooper.”

A world weary sigh and then Hooper nodded in resignation. Drick watched as they looked into the near distance obviously reading from a retinal screen. “Well there isn’t much to tell. Perp has no previous priors, not unusual as they have no identity to link anything to. We are waiting the trace from biologicals which should at least give us their closest genome types and that way we have some route to trace their origins.”

“Sure all that’s sweet,” said Drick impatiently, “but tell me about the killing.”

“Well at this point it is only a presumed manslaughter charge that’s being held. They are still investigating the case and so I don’t have much except the scene of the arrest.”

“And…”

“Pulled out of a hover vehicle in the Yee On Kline District on lower lane six, looks like the vehicle lost stability and flight capabilities after a collision, or potentially multiple collisions, with other vehicles or structures. The vehicle hit the barriers and then the ground at enough force to mangle it. Luckily for our perp the vehicle had full safety foam and impact deflection but not well maintained and the side ejector on one of the seats didn’t trigger. The other occupant of the vehicle suffered massive injuries and died in the incident. That’ll be why your perp has a K-tag as they were sole survivor and the investigation teams haven’t worked out who was driving.”

“So they pulled someone out of a vehicle and then instantly sprayed them. Doesn’t seem friendly even for justice bots.”

“Well they were holding a weapon, tight stream beam ejector, and were screaming incoherently. So the bots pacified them for their own protection, and until exact circumstances could be ascertained.”

“That’s a nice official line. We nuked them for their own good. Same old bull Hooper.” Drick sucked on a lip, “there’s a lot wrong with that. How and why did it crash. Why did only one side fail on the foam ejectors, they’re pretty tight systems, well integrated to vehicle controls preventing usage in failure at start, even the older models have that. They also emit a warning if they don’t work or become unstable and restrict vehicle speeds. Any chance it was damaged during the final crash? Or maybe disabled? You said several other collisions? Who is the stiff?”

“The other occupant,” Hooper over emphasised the words, “hasn’t yet been listed, like the events leading up to the crash as that’s what is being investigated.”

“It’s been a few hours Hooper, what is taking them so long? Surely there is vid footage. I know the lower lanes have fewer monitors but they do have some. We have any anything I can look at? Oh, and surely the other occupant had a skin-dent? Or do we have two of them as total unknowns?”

Drick waited as Hooper did a retinal search and raised a speculative eyebrow as that turned into a search on their hand pad. Hooper breathed in thoughtfully and muttered to themselves.

“Problem Hooper?”

“Just a couple of small ones. They had an ident but it isn’t listed on the system as to who they are. The second problem is that it looks like the monitoring for that section was down the entire time so there is no footage or sensor readings.”

“The whole section?” Drick asked with eyebrows reaching for their hairline.

“Yes, the whole thirty blocks.”

Drick had been waiting in the almost featureless ‘central processing’ main lounge for greater than forty minutes and was beginning to run out of news headlines to read on social feeds. Drick had been focusing on seeing if there was any hint of who Marsh might have murdered from around the time they were picked up, but there were enough deaths that single incidents were not reported unless they had some additional news value.

Pity that Marsh didn’t kill someone important, or sensitive, or famous as then there would be a few dozen casts and maybe a punditry vlog with enough comment routes to trawl. But there was nothing. Part of Drick’s mind suggested it was unusual to find nothing at all, so was it a cover up? But Drick silenced that quickly. The likely explanation was that aside from the peculiarities around Marsh the death was something mundane.

Drick set a few tracers onto the news feeds as a matter of habit and then used a known trick of searching recent keyword bombs from some of the journalists and investigators they stalked. Might as well see if anyone else had found a trail.

Without meaning to Drick yawned emphatically just as one of the roller doors, there were twelve that led into this waiting room, rolled up with the slight scraping of a poorly fitted, or overused, panel.

The person that came through made Drick roll eyes and stare at the ceiling letting out a loud enough to be clearly noticed exasperated sigh.

“Well shaft me with a synth marrow, when I was given this task I should have known it would be you, Drick.” the voice was world weary and spoke of a lifetime of processing the sectors criminals and judiciary cases. “Shouldn’t you be out lurking in a hospital waiting area or vidding pervos at a todder gym?”

“Not my scene.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time though, would it?”

“Got to make a living. Got to make another credit to stave off the inevitable poverty charge.” Drick stood and looked the beleaguered public servant up and down. Clothes were pressed but had been worn all day on a long shift, they were also patched where wear and tear had taken their toll. Hair was thinner than the last time Drick had seen them and the waistline had a little more breadth.

“You could make an honest credit, you have a good enough mind and times have changed. You could always give judiciary a shot.”

“I’d love to shoot quite a few of you, but that’s going to get me into a little bit of trouble, or it might get me a medal.”

“Always with the smart mouth, Drick, always with the comeback. Without that attitude you could go a long way in the service.”

“You mean like you have?”

“Well that’s not fair, I managed to work my way sideways to a position where they mostly leave me alone, where they think I wont make a damn.”

“You make a damn,” Drick smiled, “good to see you Hooper. How’s the partner and podlings?”

“Tolerant for the first and taller, louder, faster, more expensive and mouthier for the latter two.” There was a sudden warm smile and Drick was hugged.

“You’re showing signs of wear and tear, Hooper,” Drick drew back a little but kept palms on a slightly out of shape waist, a little jiggle “this is a little less firm?”

“It’s the gravity difference, at my age I don’t have the belt adjust as much so the walking is easier in the lower gravity. But you know that makes everything looser.” A warm smile and eyes twinkling.

“That and all the cake you eat.”

“More partial to facon and feggs myself with a side of grits.” there was a laugh. Drick drew back and laughed a little as well. “So why are you here Drick?”

“Came in with someone, landed in section seventeen eleven. I thought it would be an easy percentage claim, K tag so definitely one with the chances of a payout for an either way answer. But it has a few unusual elements.”

“Such as?”

“K-tag calls their self Marsh but has no ident-tag.” Drick noticed the almost surprised look. “I guess that news is spreading a little.”

“You sure I can’t pair you onto a different case? I got a triple murderer came in with the same load and so far no one has sniffed onto them. Would make your life a little easier.”

“Well that’s interesting. How likely is it to have a payout?”

“Very, there’s little doubt of it being an open and shut murder, they should process within forty eight hours. Company will have to payout but you’ll get a nice percentage on a triple, not as high as a denial but good enough.”

“Well, that’s too tempting isn’t it. I’ll take both of them,” Drick smiled.

“Damn it all Drick, you would be wise to drop this, it stinks. Something is wrong and that means that someone up high is going to get interested, you really want to lock horns with the JDI?”

“Wrong question, Hooper. It’s whether they are dumb enough to get in my way. There’s a bigger story and you know I like the truth.”

“Of course you do. That’s what got you where you are now.”

“So, what can you tell me about the killing?”

Drick stood and placed their arms outwards from the side of their body showing the palms with fingers outstretched as the roller door lifted. The door hadn’t even made it to the halfway point before three enforcement drones shot in under the gap and came to a hovering stance less than a metre from Drick’s face.

The drones were squat objects around the size of a football with a circular gravity inducer on the bottom. They were fitted with scanners and a direct connection to the justice department data streams. This model also had autobinder arms and ejection ports for dispensing gas or sprays. They had a flashing light that currently pulsed quickly around the upper section in a red, blue, red repeating pattern of trailing colour.

“Don’t move,” a hollow automatic voice spoke from one of the drones as the same information was flashed holographically in front of the middle drone. The text was in the four main scripts used locally and the common dialect of Terran. Drick saw the same message scroll across the bottom of their retinal implant.

“Hold out your arms, palms towards us and fingers spread” the drone continued needlessly repeating the standard script. Drick knew the procedure and had been a recip[ient of it many times.

Drick saw that the drones had their spray ports activated and if Drick moved they would likely gel them with the same stuff they used on Marsh while making the arrest.

Drick stayed still as one of the drones moved closer and triggered the skin-dent to run a full DNA and identity display. Drick watched the flowing symbols and diagrams dispassionately and waited for the inevitable.

“Identity confirmed,” the drone hovered backwards and moved over to Marsh and attempted the same procedure. Drick watched with more curiosity as it repeatedly sent the activation code but got no response from Marsh’s wrist.

“Identity denied, this K Tag is an illicit person of unknown origin,” the drone hovered back to its companions. There was a small wait while they no doubt confirmed what was going to occur.

The doorway had fully rolled up now revealing the connecting passage that led to the airlock, decontamination and central processing area of the judicial centre. Drick noted that they were in section seventeen eleven.

The drone turned back to Drick, “proceed to central processing, you will be met by an organic officer.”

“What will happen to Marsh?” Drick asked.

“The prisoner’s identity cannot be confirmed. They will be processed by a higher grade. You will proceed to central processing where you will be.”

“I get it,” Drick cut them off, “I will proceed to central processing.” Drick marched past the other two drones who obediently hovered out of the way and stomped down the corridor as loudly as their boots could manage.

“It was hundreds of years ago?” surprise and then quickly it turned to disbelief, “that’s not possible, that can’t be true.

“It might be impossible, Marsh, but it is true. So however unlikely it feels it doesn’t change a thing.” Drick felt a sense of puzzlement wash over them, “I am confused as to why, if you are from the twenty-first century that you can understand me. I didn’t think they had sub-dermal implants back then.”

“Sub-dermal what? No. I don’t know what that is. I understand you because you are speaking English.”

“I can assure you that I am not. I am speaking the Rillish dialect. The officers who arrested you would have been using a pulse language, all droids do. Yet they processed you which would have involved some communication if only them telling you to stand still and you can understand me as well. Which makes me believe you have a sub-dermal translation unit. The monitor wouldn’t scan for it automatically and I can’t re-callibrate it even if it could, lean forward and let me see behind your ears.”

“A what? Do what?” A shake of the head “I am not going to do anything you say until you explain who you are and what is really going on.”

“I told you who I was.”

“You haven’t told me anything, you said your name is Drick, what does that even mean? Who do you work for? Why are you in here with me?”

Drick sighed. “Look. Okay. Let me explain a little more. Normally it doesn’t help and people clam up, but you seem especially confused. I am a private insurance investigator, Marsh. I work freelance. I know someone who gets me onto the prisoner transports with anyone who has committed a crime that’s likely to have an insurance claim attached to it. You’re a K tag, you killed someone in some way, so that means there is a body. It is law here to have a personal insurance plan to cover any eventuality such as causing an accident, being in an accident etc. The only people with no personal equity insurance are people with no equity and they don’t get arrested, if they’re caught they go through a different kind of processing. So this is just about a claim for me.’

“A claim?”

“Sure, an insurance claim, as I said private investigator. You sure it’s just your memory that’s messed up? Look, when there’s anything like a death, a serious injury, or a major crime like grand theft there is always an insurance claim. The companies will always put out a contract to investigate. I like to get ahead of the competition. You are worth two point three percent of any claim I can disprove and point zero four percent of any I cannot.” Drick smiled, “So I am likely to be your best chance of help right now, marsh. Because anything that I learn that reduces the payout of the insurance companies will increase my percentage so I have a vested interest in everything you say. So put your head forwards please.”