Space Case: Lurking Shadows
Behind every shadow could be an enemy
Play with me!
Shitpancake is doing his best to engage Jayne, but Jayne isn’t having it
Heads up to new readers:
This story is part of a series. Luckily, you can read the whole Space Case series for free!
…Time for this week’s story…
Space Case: Lurking Shadows
“Marco, I love seeing you, and I’m glad this gig worked out, but I thought you were leaving when this was done. Why the hell did your hotel charge me for another night?” Booker stood by the table where Marco awaited with a large plate of wings and beer. Marco was already halfway through his beer.
“I love that you always speak your mind and shoot straight, Book. The wings just got here. Sit down, man. Have a beer, relax.” Marco gestured to the beer. Booker stopped to breathe, leaving them inundated with the sounds of video game explosions, dings, trills, and teenagers arguing and celebrating.
“I would have been here sooner if you didn’t make me go home and change into my civs first.” Booker sat and took a drink. “Why are we here, anyway? Since when do you go to gaming halls like this?”
“Since a couple of days ago. I did a favor for someone. Did you know this building blocks external signals? It’s supposed to prevent cheating. Really, though, it makes it easier to avoid being tracked or monitored remotely. Pretty handy, actually.”
“Yeah, that’s probably why some of the people here look so shady. I’ve heard stuff about this place, never been here, though. Why’d you insist I change?” Booker asked.
“Your uniform records everything. If any higher-ups in your department are dirty, we’d be in trouble when those recordings get back to them,” Marco took a sip of his beer, watching Booker’s reaction. Booker looked back at Marco, puzzled, then pondered his words and leaned in closer.
“What are you talking about, Marco?”
“Did someone in your department die recently?”
“Yeah. A guy named Furgeson. Didn’t really know him.”
“That bounty. I thought he was alone. After I removed him from the equation, I heard a thumping sound. There was a woman tied up in the closet. I told her I was going to get her to the police. First thing she said when I pulled off her gag was, ‘No police.’ So, I left her out of my report and found somewhere to hide her. Turns out, Furgeson was working with her to gather evidence of corruption.”
A long pause followed. Marco ate a chicken wing and had a drink of his beer while Booker processed the information. Once he finally accepted it, Booker rested his face in his hands and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“So, since this is your fault, I’m still using your card to pay for my hotel room, and you’re going to help me straighten all this out.”
“What? How’s this my fault?” Booker put his hands up.
“Because you said this was going to be easy. If any part of it isn’t, you’re partially responsible.”
“Damn.” Booker shook his head with no retort.
“Since we agree, I need a favor.” Marco pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table. “This is her address. Let me know if there are units watching it. If you can get me the local layout, that’d be great. Also, she mentioned that patrol cars were monitoring her apartment not long before she got snatched. If you could find out who that was, that would help.”
“I’ll get you whatever I can.” Booker slipped the paper into his pocket. Grumbling and cursing his luck, he picked apart a chicken wing.
“Man, I love real meat. It’s expensive off-planet. I tend to get the lab-grown stuff,” Marco shared.
“Artificial meat isn’t as good. I don’t know if I could live in space. Why are you out there, anyway? Weren’t you going to work for Hammer? I thought you wanted to help people and make a difference,” Booker said.
“I am helping people and making a difference.” Marco had another drink.
“Yeah, but not like being in Hammer. You used to always complain about corruption. What better place to go than Hammer? Cracking down on corruption is their whole thing.”
“That’s one way to look at it. Every hierarchical organization can become corrupt. It’s entropy, man. The universe is built on it. Hammer can work on cleaning things up in their own way, but who is there for the people? You can’t just crack down on corruption from the top down. You’ve got to do it from the bottom up, too. Also, I just couldn’t be another cog in the machine again. I spent enough time in the service.”
Considering Marco’s words, Booker nodded unconsciously, recognizing the logic and ethos of Marco’s perspective. Although unexpected, it was a logical move in line with his ethos.
“You know, these days, it feels like it’s getting harder and harder to follow your heart. But, somehow, you found a way. Respect, man.” Booker reached out to bump fists with Marco. The two ate, drank, and enjoyed the next few hours together.
The next day, Booker got Marco the information he wanted. Marco received a layout of the area and mapped out a path to Luna’s apartment. Another gift Booker sent him was the police access code to the building’s service entrance. Unfortunately, there was no record of units surveilling the apartment. It made sense that it wouldn’t be official, but it made their job harder. It was up to Marco to scout the area and ensure nobody was watching the apartment. Even if there were no police, someone else could be watching.
Marco spent a couple of hours scoping out the area to ensure it wasn’t under surveillance. He suspected a few vehicles that were parked on the street. Binoculars and walk-bys could only do so much to assuage his concerns. When he felt they were as safe as they were going to get, he carefully guided Luna through dark back alleys and into the building. With Luna wearing a large hoodie and a short skirt, they pretended to be a drunk couple so they’d be dismissed by anyone watching.
Once inside, they took the service elevator up and crept through the halls. They snuck into her apartment, quietly closing and locking the door behind them. The corners of the apartment were lined with dim automatic lights, illuminating everything with a soft, purple and blue glow. Luna started walking, but Marco stopped her. With a finger over his lips, he signaled for her to be silent, then motioned for her to wait. He gently pressed her against the wall, then drew his pistol and slinked through the apartment, checking every room.
The living room was minimalist, walls lined with paper books. Her bedroom was simple, albeit full of stuffed animals and collectibles. Her second bedroom was her office. Neat and organized, it was filled with computers and organized tools, and spare parts. Neatly placed wires connected everything. This was no surprise, as commonly, the more tech-savvy someone is, the less they use wireless signals.
Luna waited patiently until Marco returned and gave her a nod. She tiptoed to her office, pausing at the doorway. She leaned into Marco and whispered, “I keep my curtains closed.”
“Stay low,” Marco whispered back. “Can you get what you need without standing in front of the windows?”
“Yeah, but this room is going to light up.”
“Grab only what you need.”
“Okay.” Luna cringed, then got down on her hands and knees. Staying low, she reached above her to grab a tablet. She pulled a backpack from under a desk and stuffed it inside. Next, she crawled under another desk and tucked herself into the corner as best she could, then reached above her and grabbed a laptop. When she opened it up, physical screens around the room turned on. The light was still dim, but significantly brighter than it had been. If anyone was watching, they would know someone was there.
Luna typed quickly on her laptop. Examining the room and his defensive options, Marco closed the door. Behind the door were sliding glass doors to a closet. Marco opened it, pressing himself against some clothes so he could stand behind the door if it opened, keeping his eyes on the windows.
“What are you doing? What’s taking so long?” Marco asked after a minute.
“Let me work,” Luna said, typing frantically.
The front door burst open, followed by hurried footsteps running down the hall. The door flew open, and through the crack between the hinges, there was a body. Four loud gunshots ripped through the apartment, with Marco firing through the thin wooden door.
“Stay here,” Marco said in a hurried, hushed tone. He ran into the hallway and stood in the bathroom, back against the wall.
Seconds later, someone rushed through the front door. Two men passed by the bathroom, pistols drawn. They stopped just past the bathroom and fired at the open door where their comrade’s body lay, shattering the sliding glass doors. The holes in the door gave away Marco’s former position. While they fired, he stepped into the hallways behind them and fired one carefully placed shot in the back of each of their heads. Their bodies collapsed, and the thunder of gunfire stopped.
For the first time, he looked down at the attackers. If they were police, they were dressed like street thugs. Returning focus to his task, Marco kept his pistol pointed down the hall and walked backward toward the office. “Seriously, what’s taking so long? We need to get out of here,” he rushed Luna with a harsh whisper.
“I’m almost done,” she whispered back.
Marco checked the office. Luna crawled around, stuffing things into the backpack. She crawled to the closet, getting off her knees so she wouldn’t cut herself on the glass. Staying low, she reached into the closet and grabbed a backpack and a duffel bag. As she hurried around the door and into the hallway, gunfire shattered the windows. With a startled scream, she rushed into the hall. She quickly pilfered the electronics from the attackers and stuffed them into the backpack.
“Let’s go.” Marco grabbed Luna and rushed to the front door. Checking around the corner, he made sure they were clear before rushing into the hallway, guiding them back to the service elevator.
Waiting in front of the wide metal double doors, he grabbed Luna, then pulled her to the other side, pressing their backs against the wall. He kept his pistol ready, holding it inches from his face. When the elevator dinged, two men ran out of the doors, rushing around the corner and down the hall toward Luna’s apartment. Unnoticed, he pulled her into the elevator. He pressed the button and pulled her against the side of the elevator. Two more men erupted from the stairwell and ran by as the elevator doors closed. Marco and Luna remained unnoticed.
Hearts racing, they hurried away from the building. Once back to their hotel, they retrieved Marco’s stuff and he moved into her room out of an abundance of precaution. There, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“What the hell took so long? Did you really need to loot the bodies? This isn’t a video game!” Marco barked.
“I’m sorry it took so long, okay? I grabbed everything I had, wiped my drives, brought some tools so I could work from here, and yeah, I did need to loot the bodies. Do you want to know why, or just complain?”
“Fine.” Marco took a deep breath to calm himself. “Why did you loot the bodies?”
“I stole their stuff so that I could hack into it. This can help us gather any evidence we need and get to the bottom of who is behind all this.”
“Okay, that sounds helpful. Not admissible in court, but a start.” Marco pulled out his phone and turned it back on. “It looks like I got a message while I was scouting the area. The police want me to come into the station tomorrow.”
“For what?” Luna asked.
“I guess we’ll find out.”