Sons of Abraham: J-17's Trial (2 page)

The Guardsman swallowed hard, the lessons from his training returning to his memory. Cybers were fast, able to react at speeds quicker than most predators. Even with the three of them, he was starting to doubt whether or not they could take it down.

“A counter-proposal,” MA Joseph said, his voice dull and void of rising or fall. “You may have my firearm if it eases your discomfort. I shall expect it to be returned to me when I return to my ship. Do we have an accord?”

Accord. Nathan tried not to laugh at the vocabulary of his counterpart. He could swear that the Cyber downloaded more words every day, just to baffle Nathan upon their use. Calloway always intended to study words on his own, just to be able to counter the Cyber’s words with his own.

The three guards looked to one another, silently making a group decision before their visitors. After several seconds, the guard without the rifle nodded, returning his sidearm to its holster and stepping towards MA Joseph. The MA wasted no time, pulling his gray jacket back to expose the pistol that was previously hidden from view. The guard hesitated for a second, his hands shaking as he reached out and took the holstered weapon. He tried to slide it into the slack of his belt, but the square barrel of the MA’s weapon was too large to fit. He hid his embarrassment, choosing to hold the weapon by the barrel instead.

“Are we done here?” Calloway asked. “I’d like to receive Lord Elsmere’s complaint before nightfall. There’s a big ceremony on Eden coming up, I do not want to be sitting in my ship for ten hours at the Gabriel Ring, waiting for my turn to head home.”

The guards paid little attention to the question, reforming their ranks and leading the two investigators to the vehicle waiting for them at the end of the platform. It was a standard transport truck, six-wheeled, silver, and no top. The seats were all bench style: one in front for the driver and a passenger, and two others in the back that faced one another. The seats were light cream in color, bowing when Calloway sat on them, but with a vinyl like exterior. The agent couldn’t help but wonder what they did when it rained as he saw no signs of a retractable top for the transport vehicle. The engine quietly came alive, the electric unit barely making a sound as the driver pulled out onto the street.

“First time in Parasus Agent Calloway?” one of the guards asked.

Agent Calloway looked at the city as they sped through it. The capital was an odd mix of ancient style from Earth and the new technology of the current age. Each building was an off-white, perhaps cream-colored stucco. The streets were made of a light orange brick, angled diagonally. Each building had the old, red clay tiles for roofs, stacked neatly over the top of one another. That was where the ancient style ended. The windows looked traditional from a distance, but a closer view showed that they were transition plastic, the windows automatically tinting as the sun broke free from the clouds. The technologies had proved useful towards reducing the use of energy to heat or cool the structures as the tinting would cease when the sky grew dark.

“No,” he replied. “Was here about five years ago. Similar case as this one, just different victim.”

As the transport made its way over a hill, the full view of the capital unfolded before him. It was a remarkable site as the street broadened to reveal a wide square, stretching on for as far as he could see in all directions. The buildings grew taller, the windows clustered together to form enormous bay views, and a large town center revealed itself between rows of flowers and trimmed shrubbery. Everything he knew of history told him that the city had not stolen any one particular style, such as other planets had, but the view felt historic nonetheless.

The roofs of the taller buildings extended far from the face, each with multiple pillars stretching the entire height of the structure. The pillars were cream colored, each with a strip of clay-colored tile running down them. The buildings themselves were rather dull, in Calloway’s opinion, as none of them was distinct from the next. The same could not be said for the capital building, though. It was a dome, using the same outer surfacing as the surrounding buildings, but with rings of windows circling around it. A quick count of the rings told him that the building was seven stories tall before giving way to the clay tile roof with multiple skylights.

“So tell me,” Agent Calloway started to the lone guard in the back of the transport. “Why the big issue with Cybers? I don’t remember that being on the codex the last time I came here.”

The guard looked uneasily towards MA Joseph, who chose to sit next to Agent Calloway. His eyes turned towards Nathan, taking the man in. Calloway had a long, blue duster, stretching down to his knees. His pants were gray though darker than Joseph’s with a black stripe circling each thigh. A darker gray, button up shirt, folded loosely over the man’s torso, making it difficult to judge the man’s physique. His hair was dark, much more so than the Cyber’s sitting next to him. It was parted to one side, the sides and back trimmed neatly as the MA’s. The agent’s face was slightly plump, with an average size nose and dark blue eyes.

“Nothing personal,” the guard replied. “It’s just the law is all.”

Agent Calloway wasn’t prepared to settle for such a brief answer.

“It wasn’t the law the last time I was here,” he replied. “What changed? I know it wasn’t your King. It is still Monasaul Isom, I presume?”

“It is,” the guard nodded. “But, after the Queen passed, everything changed.”

Agent Calloway pulled his tablet out from under his coat, bringing it to life by tapping upon the upper right corner of the buttonless device. It lit up as he asked it for Parasus laws adopted in the last five years. His eyes shot open as a long list spewed onto the illuminated touch-screen. He read each one, in turn, his lips moving slightly as he did. Some of the laws seemed reasonable enough, such as the capital being a no-fly zone. With older style cities, such as this, the owners often didn’t care for newer technology buzzing past the windows every second of the day. Some of the other new laws, however, were concerning. He had just reached the section on Cybers when the transport came to a stop in front of the capital building.

“Listen,” the guard said, leaning forward in his seat. “Don’t worry about most of it. I will warn you about the new marriage laws, though.”

“New marriage laws?” Nathan stammered, scrolling down the screen with his finger. “What about them?”

The guard turned around, checking to see if the driver and other guard were listening. Confident that he would not be heard, he turned back to the agent and leaned as far as the seat would allow for him.

“It isn’t right,” the guard whispered. “Just so you’re warned.”

Agent Calloway was about to inquire what the man meant when the guard suddenly sprang from the cream cushioned bench and opened the half-door to the topless vehicle. The two investigators followed suit, each stepping through the opening and down to the bricked road below. The flooring to the entrance of the capital building was nothing like Nathan had remembered. The simple clay tiles had been replaced with some sort of reddened glass, almost allowing one to see all the way to the pavement below. The mid-day sun glared off the tiles, reflecting a red shadow upon the walls and door. The door itself was doublewide, light wood frame with the same red glass in the center. A crest was etched into the glass, a mountain with a sun rising behind it.

Before Nathan could take in all the changes, the doors swung open. Two men, each taking one door, pushed them all the way open, resting their backs against them as they turned to face forward. Unlike the boring attire of the platform guards, the capital guardsmen wore dark red armor, hints of black mixed in with marbled swirls. Their hair was black, slicked backward over their necks and trimmed just shy of where their armor began. Muscles were molded into the armor, giving them a menacing appearance. Each had a firearm holstered at the waist, bright silver in color. The tips of the silver barrels protruded through holes in the holsters, extending another seven inches down the guard’s leg. Agent Calloway didn’t need to inspect the weapons to know what they were. The firearms fired a fragmenting bullet, illegal on Earth and several other planets as well. The bullets would break apart upon impact, scattering through the target's insides. The length of the barrel was due to the length of each bullet needing time to release from the chamber. They were powerful and accurate but seldom left a living target.

The investigators entered the open doorway, taking in the view from the entranceway. The access way raised as high as the top of the building, one red-glassed skylight tinting the entire room in a dark red. One blossoming tree stood in the center of the room, the white pedals turned red as blood through the filtered light. Water ran at the base of the tree through a channel of tiles, which ran to the walls on each side before disappearing from view. Something about the red made Nathan uncomfortable, bloodlust almost pouring throughout the entire entrance. This was not the same bright and sterile view the streets had offered from the outside. This was a means to intimidate one’s guest into cooperation.

The trip to Lord Elsmere’s dwelling was long, requiring the use of the spiraling tiled stairway in the center of the domed building. The investigators traveled relentlessly, taking a moment to glance down each hall as they passed every landing. Finally, upon reaching the sixth floor, the two took the turn. There were four directions from which to choose, but the couple knew where they were heading. One of the advantages of having a Cyber with you was that you never had to ask for directions.

The hallway ended at double wooden doors with blue and red stain glass windows. Unlike the front doors, the pair had to let themselves into the room that opened to an impossible large space, seemingly holding everything the Lord owned within this one confine. A fountain cascaded water down a crystal formation in the center of the room, the stone piece looking out of place amongst the entire clay tile. Sporadically around the room, colorful tiles offered a new perspective to the attire from the hallway. The tiles had different textures, one almost causing Calloway to trip over it when he stepped on it.

“Are you dense?” a high-pitched voice squealed. “Stay to the clay. It even rhymes, just for your Neanderthal brain to remember it. Say it with me, stay to the clay.”

Calloway turned towards the annoying voice, his casual stare melting away in anger. He always preferred to remain calm and cool in all situations, but he wouldn’t stand for anyone questioning his intelligence. The tenured agent hadn’t been on the planet long, but the arrogance of its people was clawing at a nerve.

“Excuse me?” Calloway snarled, stalking towards the man. “Would you care to repeat that? My Neanderthal brain didn’t comprehend the first time.”

The short, thinning haired man took a step back as Nathan closed in. The small man wore red-tinted glasses, void of any frame. Since poor vision was easily correct with minor surgery on most planets, Calloway knew that the glasses were for decoration only. He wore a silk robe, dark red with swirling black, same as the guards at the front entrance.

“Stay to the clay?” the man repeated though all the confidence had long left his lungs.

Calloway looked down at him, making it a point to lean in and invade the man’s personal space. One hand reached for the blue coat, pulling it back over his hip to expose the black pistol the lie holstered one his belt. The little man’s gray eyes locked onto the weapon, his thin rosy lips trembling as he tried to speak.

“Perhaps I’ll make a phrase for you,” Nathan snarled. “Don’t piss off the guy with the gun. How does that sound to you?”

“It…..it sounds quite proper,” the little man whimpered.

“Are you sure?” Nathan asked, his finger unsnapping the strap over the holster. “It doesn’t rhyme. Think you can still remember it if it doesn’t rhyme?”

“Enough!” a baritone voice filled the room. “Terrance, will you please offer my guest something to drink? They are on duty, so I wouldn’t bother with the wine.”

Calloway snapped the strap back to the holster and slowly turned away from the man he now knew to be Terrance. His eyes stayed with the man, watching him scurry across the floor, his silk robes rippling behind him. He made for a tiny table, white with little roses etched on the sides, and poured two glasses of water with fruits that Nathan had never seen before. Terrance filled the second, then quickly turned and shuffled to the investigators. Nathan waited until the man swerved around the ‘special’ tiles before he waved him away with a sweeping hand.

“No thank you,” he replied. “We’ll be just fine.”

“Are you certain?” the baritone voice asked. “Kimyana fruit isn’t available on Earth. You’re passing on an opportunity to try something new Agent Calloway.”

Nathan turned to face his host. Like Terrance, the man wore similar silk robes, but with thin golden strands trimming the edges. Unlike the man scurrying away from Nathan, Lord Elsmere was not tiny. He was tall, six foot four by Nathan’s estimate, though terribly thin. He was an older man, the once blonde hair turning white. His whitening hair was long, framing around one side of his face, furthest from the parting. A small patch of hair hung from the man’s chin, tied in a jeweled crest. His skin was smooth, lacking any visible wrinkles or blemishes, though slightly dark from the sun. His robe hung open, exposing a tightly muscled chest, void of any hair.