Different Paths (5 page)

“Ah, I see. But you and I both know that the
government can and does screen all calls for just such a reason.”

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “True, but these
particular calls made by Sgt. Major Spenton were shielded and encrypted.”

“Old habits die hard I guess. You still haven’t
told me why you want to know about those calls.”

Special Agent Johnson shook his head. “I’m sorry
but I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.”

“Then gentlemen, we are through here.” Iaido
gestured to the door. He could tell that Diana was already hacking into the
Federal database by the silence of her typing.

Agent Smith added, “You know we can come back with
a warrant for the records of those calls?”

“Go right ahead. I’ll have my lawyer meet you at
the courthouse.”

Staring into Iaido’s grey eyes, Special Agent
Johnson spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “Mr. Spartan, be reasonable.”

“I am being reasonable. From my perspective, you
want the contents of a private conversation that could be full of personal
information without telling me anything.” Shaking his head, Iaido said, “Nope.
It’s not going to happen. Unless you want to come clean, you and junior there
can just leave.”

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “All right. You will
find out soon enough. Sgt. Major Spenton died last night.”

“You mean he was murdered last night.”

Agent Smith asked, “How would you know that unless
you had something to do with it? It could’ve been an accident or suicide?”

Iaido fixed the younger agent with a stare.
“Listen here junior, if it was an accident or suicide it wouldn’t involve the
Feds and there would be no reason for your visit and these questions.” He
turned his attention back to the senior agent and asked, “What does this have
to do with me?”

“Homeland Security communication logs show that Sgt.
Major Spenton placed a call at 2128 hours to this office, he talked for exactly
twenty-six seconds before disconnecting. Furthermore, he placed a second call
at 2131 hours to your starship Nemesis, which was in hyperspace at the time,
although that call lasted only twelve seconds. The medical examiner estimates
his death at 2137 hours which means the last two calls he placed prior to his
death were to you and we want to know why?”

“The Sgt. Major called to ask for my help in
tracking a bounty.”

Both agents perked up at this revelation but it
was the senior agent who asked, “Who was the target?”

Iaido shook his head. “I’m not sure. The Sgt.
Major didn’t say who; just to call him when I got back to work out the
details.”

“Anything else you can tell me?”

“Nope.”

“Could we get a copy of the transmission?”

“Of course.…Diana?” Iaido gestured to his
assistant as she moved forward and handed the senior agent a memory crystal.

Placing it in his pocket, Special Agent Johnson
nodded slightly toward Diana. “Your government thanks you for your service.”

Iaido turned his back on the agents and said over
his shoulder as he disappeared down the hallway. “Don’t bother Special Agent
Johnson. I have seen the thanks of our government first hand and it leaves much
to be desired.”

*   *   *   *   *

As the two agents exited the building, Special Agent
Johnson paused and looked back. “He’s not telling us everything.”

Agent Smith cracked his knuckles. “Should we lean
on him?”

“Smith, you have a lot to learn. If you try to
lean on him, he will chew you up and spit you out.”

“What makes you say that? What is it that you
know?”

“Know? Not much. Suspect? Plenty. Did you record
our meeting?”

“Of course, it’s standard ops to record all
meetings with suspects and informants.”

Climbing into their black skimmer, Special Agent
Johnson faced his young protégé. “Access your files and accurately describe to
me the suspect”

“Why? Couldn’t you just tell me what you know?”

“I could but you wouldn’t learn that way. Now,
describe the suspect in detail to me.”

Agent Smith’s eyes became slightly unfocused as he
internally reviewed the video of the subject.

“The subject is one Iaido Achilles Spartan,
apparent age mid-thirties although there is no date of birth in his files. The
subject stands exactly six feet tall, weighs approximately two-hundred and
twenty-five pounds, well-built but not overly muscular. He has a shaved head, a
coal black goatee and mustache both neatly trimmed. His eyes are steel grey and
alert. A large scar runs vertically down the left side of his face, due to the
whiteness of it; I would judge it to be many years old. A tattoo was visible on
the subject, a glyph of some sort on the base of the neck surrounded by tribal
markings overtop an interface port.”

Agent Smith paused as he accessed more background
information.

“He is a registered galactic and intergalactic
bounty hunter. According to records provided by the Galactic Marshals, he has a
one hundred percent capture rate and no strikes against him for excessive
force. However, their information on him only stretches back five years but
there is a note in their files that his background check is good and approved.”

Special Agent Johnson maneuvered their black
skimmer into traffic. “Anything else of note?”

“Hmm…” Agent Smith thought for a few seconds
before adding, “He stands with his weight evenly distributed on both feet and
he moves exceptionally quiet.”

“And what does that tell you? Remember your
training.”

“There is an eighty percent chance that our
subject has studied the martial arts.”

Special Agent Johnson shook his head. “Wrong; one
hundred percent chance trained, probably a martial arts master.”

“Where did you get that information? It’s not in
his profile.”

“If you want to survive in this job Smith, use
more than just the profile generated by Intel. Had you looked, you would’ve
noticed that the two books in the lobby were ancient treaties on warfare; one
in Japanese and the other in Chinese. Couple those with his occupation, the
scar, the interface port, the way he moves and his association to Sgt. Major Spenton…now,
what do you get?”

“A retired member of Strike Forces.”

Agent Smith frantically scanned through the files
once more, looking for any reference to the military. It wasn’t there. Looking
at his mentor, he cocked his head and asked, “But why wouldn’t that information
be in his profile?”

“Now that is a good question. Pull up the file on Sgt.
Major Spenton. Is there anyone listed in his last unit that is here in New
Atlanta?”

The young fed scanned the related files before
answering. “Just one, a Lt. Commander Charles Kristopher. He is now a
lieutenant on the NAPD.”

“Then let’s pay this lieutenant a visit.”

Special Agent Johnson punched a few buttons on his
controls and their skimmer shifted lanes.

*   *   *   *   *

The New Atlanta Police Department -- NAPD -- had
its hands full on any given day. With a population of over sixty-seven million
and the largest spaceport on the eastern seaboard, they had their fair share of
crime. Police Officers of the twenty-second century had numerous advantages
from their ancient counterparts.

First, with the advancements in biometric
technologies, nearly every citizen of New Atlanta was hooked into the Core-Net.
This was a great convenience to the citizens. It allowed them to surf the web
on the go. However, it also allowed the government and the police to track
their every move. Sure technology helped in solving crimes but not stopping it.
That took manpower, lots of manpower.

The police fell into three major groups; Squints,
Flatfoots and Bots.

Squints were the nickname given to all the
technical people who monitored, tracked and shifted through the deluge of
information of the Core-Net. They were the geeks who called on the Flatfoots to
do the actual police work.

Flatfoots, also called grunts, were the men and
women who felt the call to work long hours for low pay while trying to make a
difference in their community. As part of their training, every cop was
augmented to some degree. The lowest ‘aug’ required by the department was a
simple memory backup that recorded everything an officer did during their
shift. Its primary purpose was to protect the officer and the department when
some lawyer decided to try and cut their teeth on the NAPD. More advanced
augments were offered to the officers depending on their duty assignment from
enhanced reflexes to enhanced senses, to the level of SWAT members with full
combat augs. These select few men and women gained the highest level of
augments available outside of the military.

The only problem was that there weren’t enough
officers to really make a difference, enter the Bots.

Androids were completely synthetic beings that
looked human but weren’t technically alive. They ran a complex series of
programs and were extremely helpful in aiding the manpower shortage. Androids were
cost effective, not needing time off from work for family issues, were
ruthlessly honest and they operated within their programming. Nothing more and
nothing less. Unfortunately the courts didn’t recognize their legal status and
therefore would sometimes call their judgment into question in court. So, every
android had a human partner, usually two; one for day shift and the other for
night shift.

Androids didn’t solve the police department’s manpower
issue but it did lessen it.

Lieutenant Kristopher’s day had gone from great to
terrible in a manner of hours.

It had started great with the capture of Jagger
Jax; the notorious smuggler and murderer wanted in just about every civilized
port. He had been at the top of the NAPD wanted list for the last year after he
had killed a prominent judge and raped his wife. Of course, it was a feather in
the cap for whoever prosecuted the scumbag and his capture should’ve helped his
standings with the administration. But shortly after returning from Starbase
Alpha, the police commissioner had blasted him on the cost of the bounty hunter,
completely forgetting their conversation a week earlier concerning the same
subject. Never mind, that it was legal and he had approved the hiring of
Spartan.

He had just been leaving the commissioner’s office
when the distress call came in. Some gang banger had shot one of his men.
Normally, when a ten-thirty call (Officer in Distress) goes out across the
police band, it’s an all force alert with every able-bodied officer responding
but since the officer in distress was an android, the Police Commissioner had
called off the alert.

The commissioner was a former Squint who had
gotten promoted through political connections and didn’t want to waste
man-hours or the overtime involved and had called off the alert. Their
‘official’ position was that is exactly what the ‘Bots’ are for…to stand in
front of the real cops. The lieutenant didn’t agree with administration’s stand
but his hands were tied on the subject.

Additionally, Lt. Kristopher also had to juggle
resources for twelve different bomb threats on the government buildings located
throughout New Atlanta. Not to mention finding enough manpower for the increase
in security for the upcoming Presidential visit. And now, his door opened to
reveal two men in dark suits…Feds.

Lt. Kristopher tossed down the file he was looking
at and gestured to an empty chair. “Have a seat gentleman. What can I do for the
FSA today?”

The senior agent flashed his badge and
credentials. “I am Special Agent Johnson and this is my partner Agent Smith, it
has come to our attention that you know a bounty hunter that goes by the name
Iaido Spartan.”

“Yes, I do. He is fully registered. The pickup was
legal. I’ve seen the video on it. He identified himself, produced the proper
documents and used only enough force to affect capture. Nothing the Feds need
to worry about.”

Special Agent Johnson shook his head. “We are not
here about the capture of Jagger Jax. Actually, I’m pleased that someone
finally brought him in. We can mark him off our list.”

A puzzled look crossed Kristopher’s face. “Then
what do you need to know?”

“What can you tell us about this bounty hunter?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“He is somehow involved in a recent
murder-suicide.”

Picking up the file he was looking at when they
entered, Kristopher gestured with it. “I was just reading the official report
of the Sgt. Major’s murder. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for Federation
involvement.”

“The murder-suicide was…unusual. Judging from
their psych profile and prior service records, their deaths caught our
attention. But, I am not here about the Sgt. Major. I am here about Iaido
Spartan. I understand he served with you during the war?”

Lt. Kristopher moved to a small refrigerator and
poured himself a glass of orange juice before asking, “Special Agent Johnson
were you in the war?”

The senior agent nodded. “Fleet. I served five
years on the Yorktown, battleship class.”

“Then you understand some of the horrors of war
but Fleet had it easy compared to Strike; no offense intended. Now, don’t get
me wrong, I would’ve hated Fleet. Your whole life in the hands of the ship’s captain
and if you got holed, you were dead men.” Lt.. Kristopher shook his head, “No,
I didn’t want your job but Strike had to get up close and personal.”

“I have heard this argument before.”

“Good, then you understand how deadly men in
Strike can be. Well, in a time when kills were a judge of a man’s merit, Iaido
was king.”

“What did his duties involve?”

With a shrug of his shoulders, Lt. Kristopher
snickered. “What didn’t they? It was war. It was nasty business. Officially, he
was a member of Omega Squadron.”

The younger agent heard the sharp intake of breath
from his partner. Glancing between the NAPD lieutenant and his partner Agent
Smith asked, “What? What’s so special about Omega Squadron?”