I woke early, with the first grey light of a damp dawn. After a few minutes of stretching and being comfortable under the covers, I reluctantly got up and began dressing. Then I noticed the blinking status LED on the bed nook access panel. "Do I have email?"
"Three messages. One urgent," replied the computer.
"Urgent message from whom?"
"Sender is RedRock at Police."
From Red! "Speak message from RedRock."
"Message body: Stormy, this situation sounds as weird as some of those stories you talk about. Early Sunrise is missing and it looks like some foul play may be involved. But why would anyone want to kidnap a teecee, why would the teecee let them do it, and who on Equal would do such a thing, and why? See, I'm going around in circles. Come on over and help us think. Coffee's on. Red."
Kidnap a Tau Cetian? I splashed water on my face and arms to remove the stickiness of the night's humidity, then hastily finishing pulling on clothes. Not simply a Tau Cetian, but the Tau Cetian. Early was the only one of its lifeform on Equal. But Early was the size and weight of an easy chair and a good deal less easy to move without its own cooperation.
This sounds like potentially the most interesting thing that's happened around here since the crew of an off-planet freighter tried to corner the market in what they thought were pearls. We speculate there was considerable surprise on board when those 'pearls' hatched.
"Computer. Reply to RedRock."
"Waiting."
"Message body: Red, thanks for letting me know! I'll head over there as soon as I grab some breakfast. Keep the coffee warm. I need more details before I can think about this. End message. Send."
"Message sent."
This is exciting, or rather, the game is afoot! I tidied the bed nook, humming to myself in happiness, and went into the food area, where I watered my plants before fixing a small breakfast of fruit and cereal, washed down with water. I'd have coffee at the Police Station. Why Holmes and Watson didn't die of clogged arteries on their steady diet of room temperature meat is one of the unsolved mysteries of that time.
Taking my bowl and glass to my small table, I activated the wall display to look at news and weather. No ships due in, no bulletins or urgent work details. One birth yesterday and no deaths; we're edging toward six thousand in the colony. The weather forecast was for cool and wet, of course, but it looked like there would be some gaps in the cloud cover later. So, boots, sweater, hooded cloak. No time to loose, I must see what this is all about!
I washed my dishes, put my cabin on standby, closed the door behind me, and set off down the path to the village center.
The rain wasn't much more than a mist, now. There must not have been much rain during the night, either, because the gravel path wasn't particularly squishy. The low clouds just might break for a few hours of sun later in the day.
Most of the year on Equal was like this, which suited me fine. The dust from the dry spells we had during summer always aggravated my allergies, and though snow is pretty, a little bit of it goes a long way with me.
I had been born on Equal—the colony would be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding soon—but I fancy I would have liked the climate of the old British Isles, from whence a good many of my ancestors came. I loved reading the old legends and tales, and imagining them taking place on Equal.
Would Equal ever have its own myths and legends? Some would say that with an indelible record made from day one it's not clear how we could. But being in possession of the facts did not mean that one understood what was happening, as I well knew. For example, the public record of the incident concerning the diplomat, the observatory and the sea bird would seem innocuous to a person who did not know what I know, and that's not in any public record!
Not infrequently of late it was me, Stormy Night, who solved our riddles of human eccentricity. My official job with the colony is as a planning psychologist, helping to guide the growth of the colony into paths that will not be emotionally harmful. But I am also Equal's unofficial consulting detective (for the colony has no official detectives, consulting or otherwise).
And once again the game was afoot!
Equal's Police Station is not large. A waiting/work room, two offices, a washroom, a storeroom, and a secure room in case someone needs to be locked up. Lock-ups are pretty infrequent; usually when someone becomes too emotional in a personal squabble and needs time to cool down. Actual crime is pretty rare.
The colony rules state that if any person is unable to live reasonably with others in the colony, as decided by a vote of everyone the same age as the troublemaker and older, the punishment is to be sent back to Earth, or any other place that will accept the miscreant, as soon as economically possible; cost to be borne by everyone who votes in favor of expulsion. No one had yet misbehaved so badly or for such a length of time as to incur that penalty, and no group had seriously considered undergoing the economic hardship of imposing that penalty.
If someone actually had abducted and perhaps harmed Early, though, that might be about to change. As a colony psychologist, I hoped nothing that bad had happened; as the colony's consulting detective, I hoped that at least something interesting had happened and that it wouldn't be cleared up by the time I got there.
I shook the large drops of water from my cloak, wiped my boots, and entered the Police Station. Red Rock and Three Stone were siting at the table in the work area, preparing their report.
"Hi Stormy," said Red. "Have a seat and we'll tell you what we know."
"Which isn't much," added Three Stone.
"I'm all ears. Just run through it once, and then I'll ask questions," I said, settling down in the chair and taking out my notepad so I could key in the relevant points.
"We received a buzz at 0745 this morning from the shift supervisor at the Port, saying that Early had not checked in and was not in the workshop," said Red. "You know, Stormy, since you're friends with Early, that Early's workshop is a combined living quarters area, Early being the only Tau Cetian currently on Equal."
"Right."
"When the supervisor went to Early's workshop, the door was hanging open, almost busted off its hinges, some of the furniture was overturned, and there was some kind of mess inside. But no Early. Immediately, we were contacted. I requested that the supervisor keep people out of Early's quarters until we arrived. Then we sent for you, and if you have no burning questions, I suggest we high tail it over there."
"One question," I said. "You've pulled Early's computer trace?"
"Yep," said Three Stone, "and it's blank after Early logged in at 0715 this morning in the workshop."
"You think there was foul play?" I asked, recalling the email message sent to me earlier.
"I may have been a bit hasty in saying that," said Red. "I have trouble now imagining anyone getting in a fight with Early. Certainly one person couldn't abduct a teecee; Early must weigh 600 kilos. If a teecee doesn't want to move and pulls in its head and legs, you'd need a truck to take it anywhere. And then there's the minor problem of this business making no sense at all, no way, no how."
"Hey, look at this you two! I've been running a check on all vehicles around the Port." Three Stone turned the computer screen so Red and I could see. "There's a low-truck missing from the Port, or at least its transponder isn't sending."
Red's notepad beeped.
"Now what?" I asked.
"Hmm, the plot thickens," said Red, reading the new email. "It now looks like Soft Rain is missing, too."
"Soft Rain is one of the Port workers, right?" put in Three Stone.
"Yep. Should be at work, but isn't. Not at home. Doesn't answer a buzz," said Red, reading from the screen.
"So there is a truck missing, and a person missing who could have driven the truck," I said. "But there's still the question of why would anyone want to do what we conjecture has been done?"
"If this had seemed to make sense, Stormy, we wouldn't have sent for you at the beginning," said Three Stone.
"Too much for the official force, eh?" I said in my best English accent.
"Sure thing, Shylock," said Red, with a long-suffering look.
"That's Sherlock, and you know my methods, which have actually helped you before."
"We know. And you're always good for a laugh or two, which we may need. Let's get moving, Stormy." Red and Three Stone pushed their chairs back and headed for the door to grab their cloaks. I was right behind them.
We parked the police van next to Early's combination living quarters and workshop, a self-contained building that had probably been a small warehouse before the teecee took it over. The shift supervisor, Slick Rock, was waiting for us. The first thing we wanted was a look around the workshop area, the scene of whatever it was that had happened.
Red and Three Stone went in first, Red taking photos and Three Stone making a voice record. I followed, trying to observe what I saw without forming theories as to what anything meant.
There was a foul odor in the single large, high ceilinged room. Carpet was ripped, furniture overturned and there was an awful mess on one of the workbenches. I noticed that the door had been opened with such force and haste that one hinge was almost ripped out of the frame.
"Has anyone been in here since Early was reported missing?" I asked the shift supervisor.
"Absolutely not," said Slick Rock. "I figured you'd want to look at it in as much an undisturbed state as possible. I could tell from just looking in the door that something unusual had happened in here and that Early wasn't here. That's all I needed to know before I buzzed for police help."
Ignoring the official police, I took out my notebook computer link and my magnifying glass and went to work. I began with a careful examination of the carpet. I looked at the furniture that had been knocked askew. Finally I examined the stinking mess on the workbench and in the sink. A light bulb went on in my head, but I shuttered the glow.
An increasingly bored Red Rock and Three Stone were watching me. "This is most intriguing," I said. "What do you two think?"
"Oh, clearly a fight, then someone dragged Early out the door. Must have interrupted some work in progress, hence that mess you're looking at. Considering the damage to the door, Early didn't go easy." Red looked smug.
"That is a possible interpretation," I said, "if one ignores all the important details."
"Huh, like what, Stormy?" asked Three Stone.
Ticking them off on my fingers, I said, "The carpet is not gouged, rather it looks like it was chopped at with scissors. The furniture that is overturned is in a line between the sink and the door. The latter looks to me as if it were forcibly and quickly yanked open, from the inside. You'll have noticed that the dent in the wall matches the handle on the door as it hangs on its damaged hinges, not as it usually hangs, and the mess in the sink, yes, that's most interesting."
"What is it, other than disgusting?" asked Red, taking another look.
"Melted plastic. The same plastic, I think you will find, as is used to make this hideously colored shag carpet."
"You've lost me now, Stormy," said Red. "Does this add up to anything useful?"
"I think so. I must have a long talk with Early about the idioms used in nineteenth century British fiction. But let's go look at from where the low-truck was taken."
The supervisor took us across to an outside wall of a maintenance shed about fifty meters away and showed us the recharging station from which someone had improperly taken a vehicle. The recharging cable was lying on the ground, not coiled on its rack, and it looked as if the downlink cable had been ripped from its socket. I paid careful attention to the ground around the docking station.
Walking out a few paces from the maintenance shed, I looked slowly around the Port facility back in the direction of the road. Ah, just as I expected. There was a covered loading dock on the way to the vehicle exit, with a small pile of debris on the ground next to the dock. I walked over and picked up a box trailing wires and a twisted antenna and handed it to Red.
"What's this?"
"Looks like a vehicle transponder."
"Exactly," I said.
"Wow! So the kidnaper parked next to the dock, climbed up and ripped out the transponder! Good work Stormy!" effused Three Stone.
"Well, that's a possible explanation," I said, "but..."
"What else could have happened?"
"That transponder could have been scraped off by the support beam for the loading dock roof if the driver was paying attention to something else. You might want to bring a ladder over and take a look for scratches," I suggested. I was quite confident that the scratches would be there.
"I think it's more likely the 'napper hopped out, jumped up on the dock, and ripped the transponder out, Stormy. Kind of risky to try to scrape it off on the roof beam," mused Red. "But maybe I'll take a look later. After we catch the villain and are tidying up the loose ends."
"Right." I was convinced they were inventing loose ends and ignoring important clues, but now did not seem a good time to argue my point.
"Let's return to the Police Station and see if Early or Soft Rain has put in an appearance anywhere," I suggested instead. It's hard to go very long on Equal without accessing the computer network and logging an access trace. "If not, I'll tell you where I think we should look for them."
Red checked email as soon as we returned to the Station, while Three Stone queried the computer to see if Soft Rain had made any accesses. I stood by the large topographic map on the wall, waiting to see if they would turn anything up. Nope.
"Okay, Stormy. You said you had an idea?" said Red.
"Yes," I said, "I don't quite have all the pieces fitted together, but I believe that Early was not abducted, that Soft Rain may still have been the cause of this set of events, and that we are likely to find them together."
"Could you make that just a little more clear, Stormy?" sighed Red.
"I believe that Soft Rain was up to something, not necessarily having anything to do with Early. Somehow Early became aware of what Soft Rain was doing, decided to intervene, and is now somewhere with Soft Rain." And I hope they are both okay, I added silently to myself.
"Early and I have spent some time together," I continued. "Early is also a fan of what one would call detective fiction, though the Tau Cetian version has nuances I don't as yet fathom. I've been of some assistance helping Early understand the often unusual language and idioms used in human detective fiction. As is not uncommon among fans of detective fiction, Early fancied it wouldn't be too hard to solve a mystery if one came along." I ignored the insinuating snicker from Three Stone.
"My time with Early gives me an insight into what probably happened in Early's workshop, which I'm not yet ready to share." Because it's too bizarre, I thought. "I think Early's hurried exit interrupted Soft Rain, who was by coincidence at that time doing something Early thought was wrong. Early persuaded Soft Rain to come along for a talk, and headed in a state of some excitement for what Early would consider a suitable location."
I turned to the map on the wall. "I suggest we take a drive here," I said, pointing to a spot about a kilometer outside of town.
"Why there?" asked Three Stone.
"It's the closest freshwater lake. A spot that I know Early finds relaxing."
"Tau Ceti II is a watery world," said Red, "not simply damp and squishy like Equal. So I can imagine that a nice lake would be attractive."
"For Early, at any rate," I said, cryptically. "Let's go see."
It took us about twenty minutes to reach the lake. The gravel road was as squishy under our balloon tires as the path had been earlier in the day. On a damp planet such as Equal it makes sense to go with the flow rather than attempt to impose an artificial rigidity, so we didn't pave our roads. When we had enough people that transportation became an issue, we'd probably build maglev trains. No one wants a repeat here of what automobiles had done to Earth's resources or social structure.
We did not talk much on the trip. Red was driving, watching for wash-outs. Three Stone had plugged in earphones and was listening to music. I was thinking about what to do if my theory proved correct. Could Early handle this alone? Probably. Did I want competition as the planetary consulting detective? Perhaps I should consider taking on a business partner, which might not be bad at all. Early Sunrise and Stormy Night, Consulting Detectives Extraordinaire. It had a nice ring to it.
As we neared the lake I could see the low-truck parked on the side of the road. Off in the distance, by the shore, I thought I could see shapes in the mist that might be Early Sunrise and Soft Rain.
We parked next to the low-truck and walked toward the shapes. It was very quiet out here by the lake, only the gentle lapping of waves on the shore and a few avian creature noises. Amazing how noisy it is in even a small town. We remained silent as we walked.
We approached to within perhaps thirty meters. Soft Rain was seated on a rock, back towards us. Early Sunrise was speaking. We stopped and listened when we were close enough to understand the Tau Cetian's guttural voice.
"So you see, my friend? This way can lead only you to no goodness?"
We couldn't catch the mumbled response from Soft Rain.
"No, official I am not, but in high places I have friends who rub noses with the law. This we can handle and deal with. If, and only if, no further acts of rashness there will be."
Ah, yes, the Father Brown approach. Ask the criminal to repent and reform. That's okay on Equal. We have a relativistic view of right and wrong, as we do of everything. But what had Soft Rain done? I made a noise. Early and Soft Rain turned and saw us.
"Ah, Stormy my friend companion in arms on the chase!" said Early. "And the official force duo of two, also. Justly in time for the conclusion of this caper you are."
"Hi, Early, Soft Rain," I said. "I have a feeling some considerable explanation and clarification is in order, so how about if we go to the Police Station where us humans will be more comfortable? Sorry, Early. I know you prefer it out here."
"Comfort as you say is in the eye of the holders," said Early, "but agreeable to me this is. Soft, you will with no troubles come with us?"
Soft Rain, looking embarrassed and dejected said, "Of course. What else can I do? I can only ask for mercy at this point."
Red and Three Stone took Soft Rain with them in the Police van. I rode with Early. I had a few questions to ask in private.
After we had returned to the Police Station and fixed suitable hot or cold beverages—Early drank a slush of root beer and ice in a half-gallon container—the humans sat at the table and Early squatted on the floor by the door, lower legs retracted.
"Go ahead Early," I said, "let's hear the tale from your point of view first. Then we can ask any necessary questions."
Early took a big slurp of root beer and said, "Aware I had been being of actions by Soft Rain a pattern of not goodness seemed to make." Early turned to me, "Stormy, I your methods tried to applicate. To aid in thought, burning shag in a pipe even I tried. Horrible it was! Drips of burning plastic attached to my leg. I panicked in pain and was the proximate cause of damage to my quarters as I exited in haste. Apology, restitution, to follow."
I chuckled at the expressions on the faces of Red and Three Stone. "I explained on our trip back from the lake that that's not at all what 'shag' and 'pipe' mean in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Not that the real thing would have done you much more good, Early. Next time, please ask me about words you don't understand, before you try experiments."
"Understanding thought I did have. Words 'shag' and 'pipe' in the dictionary with clear meaning." Early made the movement of its upper trunk I interpreted as cocking its head. "Overloading and ambiguity of your language bites me again, yes?"
"Yes, Early." I smiled. "It's next to impossible for us to make a statement that doesn't have more than one interpretation. We are a very context sensitive lifeform."
"Expanding my consciousness is every moment with you!" said Early. "Will be pleased to partner so more grokking can happen."
"Grokking? Where did you dig up that word, Early?"
"Science Fiction Ancient Classics library I have downloaded. Many questions begin I to have now, and fear of incompleteness of dictionary."
Oh, no! Explaining nineteenth century detective fiction was hard enough. Now Early was reading in the context of a hundred invented and not necessarily consistent universes. "Later, Early. Go on with your story."
"Saying as I was, Soft Rain in course of duties more parts and tools than needed for jobs was taking, not returning. Without good reason this is theft, yes?"
"Yes," said Red, looking uneasily at Soft Rain. "What kind of parts and tools?"
"Small, expensive, with value off world." was Early's answer. Soft Rain nodded. "Was developing theory of middle management, greasy palms, and picket fences when precipitous exit this morning tossed me into fray of crime."
"Uh, Stormy,..." Three Stone looked somewhat dazed by Early's use of language.
"What Early means is that there's no way a single person could profit from stealing such items. There has to be a path off-world, someone to receive the goods from Soft, some way to get credits or goods back to Soft in payment." Early was making the floor vibrate with what I knew to be head-shaking in agreement.
"But, Stormy!" gasped Red.
"That's organized crime!" shouted Three Stone, with eyes wide.
"Sure sounds like it. Welcome to galactic civilization, Equal!" I said with a smile.
Soft Rain explained that the goods were left at a certain location at a certain time, picked up by an unknown person. Contact had been with printed notes, no email to trace. Soft Rain still had a few of the notes, so we'd give fingerprints a try, but I knew it wouldn't do any good.
This went far beyond anything that had ever happened on Equal. We were at something of a loss as to how to proceed. If we called a colony meeting to pass judgment on Soft Rain, the cat would be out of the bag and we'd have no chance to figure out who else was involved.
This morning's events had been bizarre enough with Early's seemingly inexplicable behavior that we had probably not tipped off the intermediary and mastermind, if those were not the same person. Soft Rain did not want to turn informer, but was willing to simply have cold feet and drop out of the deal without further explanation.
If, as Early phrased it, Soft Rain a nose clean kept, that would be the end of it for Soft, with no need for a colony meeting. Frontier Justice at its best!
But that did not solve the very real problem that Equal seems to have reached a size such that one informal consulting detective would find it hard to satisfy demand. So it's a good thing Early and I had that private talk on the way back from the lake. Early Sunrise and Stormy Night, Consulting Detectives Extraordinaire, was in business!
Early and I decided to move in together. It'll be convenient for our consulting detective business, and we understand each other pretty well. I also had a feeling, shared by Early, that two very observant individuals, though of different lifeforms, could manage to have a meaningful relationship on a personal level. We're willing to give it a try, and the colony of Equal is certainly the place to do it. "All Things Relative," is our motto and a good part of our governing philosophy.
Early was in a jovial mood. "Do I obtain Stradivarius or do you? Is necessary for mating waltz of the Valkeries?"
Perhaps we can make beautiful music together. We shall see. And the game is still very much afoot!
(August 2002)
(Did you see any indication in this story of the gender of any of the characters? If so, I messed up.)