A few bar patrons thought about helping the cop, but all they did was circle around us at a good distance, filming it all with their tappers and calling for more police. This wasn’t my lucky day.
Taking a chance, I lifted the cop’s pistol and used his numb thumbprint to unlock it. Then I set off at a pace that was half-trot and half-stagger. I headed in the direction he’d indicated Natasha had breathed her last. With luck, I’d find Raash before the cop’s buddies found me.
-21-
It was a close thing, but I made it to the murder scene before any more police showed up. It was a district cop versus city cop thing that saved me. Murders were district business, while drunks were the city’s problem. Sometimes, details got lost in the layers of communication between the two forces.
A circle of police bots were on the scene. They were cleaning up what was left of Natasha. I ignored all that and examined the crowd. Picking out a portly man with a bald head and a nervous look, I grabbed his arm and spun him around.
“Did you see what happened?” I demanded.
He shook his head, looking up at me with a white face.
“The cops say you can identify the killer. Was it a lizard? A blue lizard?”
The man looked shocked. “How did you know that?”
“We’re not all idiots.”
He looked me up and down. “You’re a cop? That’s a legionnaire’s uniform.”
“Yeah, yeah, just tell me which way he went.”
The guy pointed into an alley.
“Why didn’t you tell the cops that?” I asked him.
The man shrugged. “These aliens—you can’t cross them. They travel in packs, you know. You should get out of here too, before his friends sniff you out.”
I let go of him and headed down the alleyway. It was dirty and full of fire-escapes. I could tell I wasn’t in the nice part of town any longer.
After a hundred meter dash, I saw nothing but a random maze of pathways. There were backdoors, apartments, and businesses on the bottom floor of every building. Everything was dark except for the seedy bars. The trail was cold, and I’d lost him.
Cursing, I activated my tapper and called Floramel.
“What’s wrong, James?”
“I’m hunting for Raash. Help me find him.”
I took a few precious seconds to fill her in on recent events. She sounded appalled.
“He… he murdered Natasha?”
“Looks like it. I think he’s a bad grow, and I’m going to have to put him down.”
“Wait, we haven’t scanned him yet. He can’t get another revival if he dies again now.”
“Come on, girl. He’s like a crazy serial murderer loose in the city.”
“Don’t perm him, James, please. We went through so much effort to bring him back. It would all be for nothing.”
“Yeah… all right. I’ll give the peaceful approach a try. Just tell me where he would go in this part of the city.”
She read the address, and she gave me some directions. Apparently, I was close to the Gray Zone of the city. That was the area where all the aliens lived. It wasn’t a slum—not exactly. It was more of a no-go zone for humans.
I was walking straight and confidently by this time. I’d shaken off the effects of the stun-rod. I headed directly into the Gray Zone, and I was all out of smiles today.
The first encounter occurred at what looked like a private pool. It was dark, with all the lights turned down to a dim, cold, bluish color. That was weird enough, but what I saw next was more disturbing. Big dark shapes were swimming in the pool.
“Squids?” I said, standing on the edge of the water.
A tentacle snaked out of the water and touched my shoe. It looked like it was tasting me.
“Piss off, squid,” I said loudly.
The big alien emerged. Water ran down off his leathery skin and a few nasty eyeballs studied me.
“A human… are you a gift, perhaps? A meal arranged by my comrades?”
“That’s right. I’ve got some ketchup for you, right here.”
I pulled out the cop’s gun and waved it in the squid’s direction. He inked himself a little and withdrew.
“Armed and aggressive in our part of this city. No sense of humor. I’m going to have to report you to the council.”
“You do that. Right now, I need you to answer a few questions. I’m looking for a lizard. He’s a rare blue color, about yay-high.”
I described Raash, and the squid listened in a surly fashion. “I assure you I haven’t seen any such vertebrate, but similar beasts dwell in the building to the southeast.”
He splashed up a mess with one extended tentacle, pointing at a building a block or so away.
I made the gun vanish again and trotted off. Squids were easy to cow, but if they thought they could get the upper hand on you, they’d do it in an instant. It was best to get moving while the getting was good.
When I arrived at the apartment building, I was surprised to realize I recognized it.
Long ago, when I’d first met Raash, it had been in this building. He’d lived near Floramel, and he’d been stalking her.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I was puffing by the time I reached the correct floor. I had to break in a few reluctant smart-doors, and by the time I found the right apartment there were alarms and things going off everywhere.
“Raash?” I called, standing in the splintered doorway. “Raash? I know you’re in here.”
A figure moved in the bedroom. I walked in and saw an odd sight. Raash was lounging on the bed.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked him.
“Preparing to die. I’m
