Severance Pay- a Novella

[Lupine]

(I wrote this in hopes of getting it published in one of the magazines, but in retrospect I think it is a little too esoteric. So here it is)

Having no gender, Jessen O’kanel had little idea what was taking place between them.
Granted s’he was into hisser forties at this point and obviously had been around gendered people hisser entire life. Most of the population of the floating city of Altotorre were made up of men and women with the neutral population making up the minority. And this wasn’t the first time s’he had been out for evening after work with hisser job partner Tamara Dici.
Yes, Tamy was pretty- one didn’t need genitalia to realize that. Tall with chocolate colored skin and curly blond hair that would cascade down her back when she’d release it from the bun she kept it in at work, she was the envy of many women.
And men too apparently.
Not too long after they had arrived at the lounge after work a man approached Tamy. About her height, same skin tone, but with his hair shorn close to his head. He was smiling broadly, his gaze fixed upon her in a way that would have made Jessen uncomfortable had s’he been the target of it- which s’he had been in the past by various people. To hisser surprise though Tamy seemed to be reciprocating the facial pantomime: the smiles, the decided twinkle in her eye when she would return his gaze.
She flicked her hair.
Jessen wasn’t sure but that might have been a gesture of flirtation. It could have been some clandestine call for assistance that she forgot to clue Jessen in on, but considering how close they were sitting now, s’he doubted it.
So not wanting to interfere with Tamy’s sex life, Jessen found a seat a short distance away and observed the pair. And s’he felt… jealous. Not in a sexual way as Jessen had no reproductive urges or reproductive organs. Hisser entire ethnic group were clones after all. But s’he was jealous that s’he wouldn’t have Tamy to himmerself tonight.
Tamara Dici had been one of Jessen’s closest friends since s’he had joined Altotorre’s Constabulary, and they had partnered up soon after. They spent most of their days together, but that was work. Some time to unwind together was always pleasant.
It just wouldn’t be tonight.
Before Jessen knew it s’he had finished hisser beer. S’he sat looking at the empty glass wondering if s’he should order another, or just go home. Hisser sibling, Senen, was away at some medical conference and s’he would have their residence to himmerself. There were than a few movies and series s’he could catch up on.
But Jessen had overheard women talking about “dates” that had gone bad and Tamy had had a medical scare recently. So s’he decided to order another beer and to be on hand if needed.
Jessen’s people were rather lithe and not particularly large but they did have a reputation of being tougher than they looked. Between that and hisser training s’he didn’t have any doubts about hisser ability to handle the man in the unlikely event something unpleasant happened.
“Got stood up?” A male voice asked coyly.
“Knock it off, Merle,” a female voice added. Jessen turned in time to see Kaitlin Roden looked up from a card game she was playing with a small group of similarly off-duty Constables, including the currently annoying Merle Riva. “Want to join us, Jessen?” Kaitlin asked. “Friendly game. No wagers.”
Jessen glanced over to Tamara one last time, but she was still intimate conversation with the man. “What are we playing?” s’he asked, taking the offered seat.
“Aragoni Veintiuno,” the woman replied, dolling out the cards to Jessen. “Merle has no luck tonight, so you should be in good shape…”
“Merle never has any luck,” another player quipped, but in a manner that bespoke no real ill will. Jessen didn’t know the man’s name but s’he did know he was Merle’s duty partner.
“Oh, funny,” Merle replied, giving the man a light shove. He then looked down at his cards. “Hit.”
Katilin tossed him a card, then looked over to himmer. “Jessen?”
It had been a while since s’he had played but s’he did know that a Regent, a Flux, and a Three added up to either a 14 or a 24, so s’he’d have to play the Flux as a One.
“Hit,” s’he said.
Kaitlin threw himmer a card while Merle’s companion declined.
“Anything exciting happen today?” she then asked the group.
“Not really,” said one of the other players. It was another one of Jessen’s co-workers that s’he didn’t really know.
“All we had was a drunk and disorderly,” the woman sitting beside the previous speaker said. Jessen did know her, at least in passing. Jordynn was her name. “Hit. What about you, Kait?”
Kaitlin shrugged as she looked at her cards. “Thought we might have had a murder…”
That piqued Merle’s interest. “And?”
“Don’t get excited, it was just a false alarm.”
Why do the Flux cards have cats on them? Jessen wondered, looking at the second such card now in hisser hands. It all added up to 15 now. S’he had a hunch s’he wasn’t going to win this hand.
“So,” Merle’s companion asked of Kaitlin. “What happened?”
“Apparently the woman in question was trying to prepare a meal by hand. Ended up cutting herself pretty badly and left for the infirmary, leaving blood all over the kitchen. Her wife came home, missed the message that had been left, but saw all the blood.”
“So no murderer for Merle to go after.”
“The man is obsessed with murder,” Jordynn muttered, throwing her cards down.
“No I’m not!” Merle protested. “Just interested on a purely academic level. It’s not something you see too much of anymore. Hel, only Katilin and Jessen here have actually investigated one.”
“Hit,” Jessen said to Kaitlin as they passed a glance at each other. That was something in their shared history they didn’t want to reminisce about.
S’he now held another Regent card bringing hisser total up to 25. S’he placed her cards down.
“You have been going on a lot about the Severer,” Merle’s partner continued.
“Hobby,” Merle replied with a shrug. “Like I said, you really don’t see mass murders anymore. Some say that the Severer is the last.”
“If he even exists,” Kaitlin commented.
“Oh, there’s good evidence that he does.” Merle then held up his cards with a grin. “My luck has changed! Twenty-one!”
The table grumbled.
Jessen noticed that Tamara and her new friend had stood up from the bar and were now heading for the exit. That meant s’he wouldn’t be seeing any more of her tonight.
S’he paced hisser cards down. “I know when I’m beat,” s’he said, standing from the table.
“Tamara bailed on himmer,” Merle said lightheartedly.
“I’m not her parent,” Jessen replied as s’he left. It would be nice to have an early evening anyway.

And s’he had over a week of those as Tamara spent more time with Simon Lucero. And over their midday meals Jessen heard all about it. Apparently he was a bit of a “spaceling”- a person whose heritage originated from multiple worlds. In Simon’s case it was Arago, Gefjon, and Leandra. Tamara was thankfully tasteful enough not to go into details about their sexual encounters, though she wasn’t shy about the fact that such things were taking place. That part didn’t bother himmer as Tamara had asked early on in their own relationship on whether sexuality offended himmer or not.
It didn’t nor did it offend most of Jessen’s people, the Æsānn. Being genderless didn’t mean that most would view gender as unnatural or offensive.
Still by the eighth day Jessen was starting to get bored with the subject. And on the morning the unscheduled briefing was called, s’he did make a point of sitting a little farther away from her than normal. S’he had to admit privately that it seemed a little petty on hisser part, but the distance would deter any unnecessary conversation.
“Good morning,” Director Sergai Reui said when he strode into the chamber. He stopped at the front of the room, gazing over the collected Constables. It was a habit of the stereotypically no-nonsense Director of Security for the city. “I’ll be brief this morning and come to the point.” He then pressed a button on the device in his hand and a scale model of a rather antiquated looking starship appeared before them. “This is the Aventuras. She’s a sublight freighter currently one light-year out. She departed Kepra 16 tyers ago carrying passengers and supplies. But more importantly we’ve received a tip that the individual known as the Severer is onboard.”
Jessen noticed that Merle Riva suddenly perked up.
“On that fossil?” Tamara spoke up.
“It’s the perfect place to hide,” Merle chimed in rather excitedly. “Hardly anyone uses sub-light vessels anymore. Only people with spiritual beliefs or medical issues that prevent them from traveling on MLC vessels would be on board. Once in deep space these ships are almost completely ignored.”
Reui cleared his throat, bringing the room’s attention back to himself. “That being said, we have been asked to inspect the Aventuras and determine if this ‘Severer’ is in fact onboard.”
“And how are we to do that?” someone asked. It might have been Jordynn. “Do we even know what this… person looks like?”
“Unfortunately no,” Reui replied. “Information on the Severer is limited and interlaced with myths. So we don’t know if this person is male, female, or neutral. No information on age or ethnicity. All we know is the planet of origin, Leandra, but that’s not much help.”
“Which does bring us back to the question on how are we to identify the suspect?” Jessen heard himmerself ask.
“That is one of the reasons why I’m authorizing an intercept while the Aventuras is still a tyer out. This is an investigation that could last weeks depending on the number of people aboard. Every person onboard will have to be looked into in detail. Every databank. Every piece of cargo.”
“Um, Sir, if I may?” Merle spoke up. “In the past the Severer has managed to elude capture by being tipped off by inspections like this. I recommend that we keep personnel to a minimum. We should consider making the inspection look routine.”
Reui seemed to contemplate it for a moment before turning to Tamara. “Dici? Do you agree?”
“It sounds a bit… melodramatic, but if everything Riva was telling us the other day is true; I think caution would be warranted.”
“Very well,” Reui replied. “Sublight interstellars are subject to standard inspection, so we’ll use that as a pretense…”
“Sir,” Merle spoke up again. “I want to volunteer for this assignment. Nobody here knows more about this than me.”
“It does seem to be his hobby,” Tamara concurred. “And I’d like to send Jessen along,” she continued, looking over at himmer. “S’he can interface with the ship’s systems. Give the databanks a good once over.”
Merle frowned at the request but said nothing.
“Agreed,” the Direction replied. He turned to Merle. “Requisition a sloop and a MLC Drive. Take whatever time you need on the Aventuras. If the Severer really is onboard, I want them.”
“He won’t get away from us,” Merle replied enthusiastically.
Director Reui dismissed the meeting with no comment and everyone started to file out. However Tamara put a hand on Jessen’s arm in a sign that she wanted himmer to stay a moment. When the chamber had cleared she spoke.
“I know you have more experience here, Jessen,” she said. “But Merle is senior to you.”
“I know that,” Jessen protested.
“I just want to make sure you don’t end up stealing his thunder on this one. You know he’s rather jealous about your role bringing down that Arloe bunch.”
“I’d trade places with him if I could,” Jessen replied, not wanting to relive that incident again. The first time s’he had been involved in someone’s death.
“Understood. But Merle really wants some glory here…”
“He can have it.”
Tamara smiled. “That’s not the problem. The problem is that you’re far more talented than he is.”

“I was really afraid that the Director would send Dici on this assignment,” Merle said from the control seat of the sloop they’d been given at the port.
Jessen was standing a short distance behind him, simultaneously performing the final check on their sublight thrusters and gazing down at the cloud tops far below. “You didn’t hear?”
Merle spun his seat around. “Hear?”
“Tamara can’t travel on MLC craft anymore. She had a Conversion induced seizure when we were bringing a prisoner back from Haiyang. The doctors advised her against any further faster-than-light travel.”
Merle swung his seat back and clicked his tongue. “Shame, but not unheard of. Don’t be surprised if some of the passengers on the Aventuras have the same problems. Say, check out fuel intake while you’re back there. We’ll be needing a lot of it.”
Jessen took the needed seat and called up the appropriate monitor. “There can’t be that many people with health issues, can there?”
“Well, there’s a couple of trillion people in the Local Space Compact. If only 1% of them have issues… Do the math. Plus you have people with religious restrictions, the paranoid, your general Luddite, and the occasional individual who just wants to drop out of sight for a few tyers and you can actually get quite a few passengers. Not to mention there aren’t that many of these ships still around.”
“Still seems incredibly anachronistic,” Jessen replied. “By the way we’re fueled up.”
“Uncouple us then,” Merle said. “And remind me to tell you about the sailing ship races I used to watch back on Leandra.”
There was a metallic pop as the sloop broke away from the station. Jessen kept hisser seat while Merle performed a quick engine burn to propel them away from the space station known as Fountainhead.
“ETA for the MLC Drive is 1.6 thours. We should probably do a quick inspection in the meantime.”
There wasn’t much to inspect, as the sloop was only 13 meters long and roughly wedge-shaped. There was a narrow cockpit, some general utility rooms that could serve as cabins or storage, a very small engineering chamber complete with an interface tank, and an airlock at the rear of the craft. There was a first-aid kit stowed on the rear hatch itself. They obviously weren’t expected to spent much time in the vessel as only one of the four utility rooms was set up for occupancy- and that was most likely for their prisoner.
Should he or she be captured.
The first of the other rooms Jessen checked had emergency rations in the event they became stranded in deep space. The second was empty. And by the time Jessen reached the third Merle was leaving it having completely his inspection.
“Everything checkout?” he asked, closing the door behind him.
“We’re good.”
Merle clapped himmer on the shoulder as he strode back to the cockpit.

The Modified Light Conversion Drive there were assigned was in a “parking orbit” about the planet and looked very much like the larger ones Jessen had seen on hisser few excursions outside of the system. Visually it was little more than a ring with a central axis with a thruster pack and two hard points, one of which would accommodate their sloop.
Merle connected the two vessels easily with the smoothness of someone who had done it before. And after another quick checklist he advised Jessen to buckle himmerself in.
Which was hardly needed.
Traveling faster than light was at once quite thrilling while at the same time almost anti-climatic. While the outside universe would perceive the passage of time, all the passengers of said craft would experience was a bright flash of light then be instantly at their destination.
As they now were once their own flash had faded.
“Where’s the Aventuras?” Jessen asked, looking around the black void around them. Except for a bright point of light s’he assumed was their primary star a light-year away, s’he could only see the stray star.
“She’s still several million klicks off,” Merle reported as he started a hard burn. “You ever travel at high PSOL before?”
“PSOL as in the Percent the Speed Of Light?”
“You know your physics.”
“I can’t say that I have.”
“The Aventuras reaches about 90 PSOL during her flight. She’s decelerating now, but still moving pretty fast. We’re going to have to accelerate to match her speed… it would be easier if we didn’t have to drag this Drive unit with us. Can’t leave it behind though. It’s probably going to be almost a day before we intercept her however, so you might want to take a nap or eat something. Probably both. But look outside occasionally. Once we hit 50 PSOL things will start changing outside.”

Jessen did so, but remotely. S’he wasn’t really tired but decided to take advantage of the interface tank at the rear of the sloop. Their acceleration was causing a strain on their Inertial Compensators, without which they would likely be crushed to putty by now. Everything was checking out so Jessen took the lull to access the case file about the Severer.
True to the briefing little was known about the Severer beyond the general horrors of his crimes. But ironically since his offenses were usually committed against other underworld figures he/she/s’he avoided widespread public outrage. Though that both surprised and disappointed Jessen as the individual’s crimes were disturbing. The day-to-day crimes weren’t particularly as he/she/s’he was the head of an extensive crime syndicate. It was what he/she/s’he did to the competition that garnered the most attention and hence the moniker.
The Severer had what could only be called a fetish for cutting off various body parts of his/her/hisser victims. S’he saw a couple of evidence files of the person’s handiwork, but stopped after seeing what had happened to Jerome Duvay- one of the Severer’s main competitors. After that s’he didn’t want to see any more.
It was then that Jessen noticed the date on the file.
“Riva,” Jessen asked over the ship’s com. “Just how old is the Severer?”
Through the vessel’s internal optics s’he could see the man at the control seat look up. “Actually nobody knows,” came the reply. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m looking at some of the files here and one of them is a hundred and thirty tyers old.”
“People suspect that he might have been operating as long as two hundred. I’ve seen some speculation that he might be as much as two hundred and fifty to three hundred. That’s another reason why I’m speculating that he’s been using sublight stellars. The combination of cryogenics and Relative time dilation could account for his longevity.”
“With any luck we’ll catch him/her/himmer still sleeping,” Jessen said as Merle stood up from his seat and walked back to the engineering chamber.
He entered the space and looked at Jessen’s folded up body inside the tank. It must have been quite a sight for someone unfamiliar with it. A nude form, curled inside a transparent tube filled with thick, yellowish fluid.
“How does this work exactly?” Merle asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“It’s rather complicated,” Jessen replied through the ship’s audio. “Long story short…ish, is that my ancestor’s pituitary glands were genetically engineered out and replaced by a nerve bundle that allows us to interface with electronics. The fluid inside the tank acts as a medium for that.”
“So you can control the ship?”
“Mostly, if I wanted. The tank can also act as life-support and promotes recovery from injuries and illness. I had to spend weeks in one once after a gunshot wound.”
“It must be interesting.”
“Not as much as you think. I actually don’t like it. I find it… confining.”
Merle thought a moment. “No pituitary gland? Is that why your people don’t have genders?”
“That’s the speculation. Our history is actually a little fuzzy about that and naturally not everyone agrees. Say, how long before we intercept the Aventuras?”
“Mmm,” Merle mused. “we’re moving at around 40 PSOL now, so she should coming into naked eye view by the time we hit 50, so… probably another couple of thours.”

True to Merle’s prediction Jessen did notice that the universe around the sloop did change as they reached ever higher percentage of the speed of light, or PSOL. At 45 Jessen noticed that the stars behind them started to distort and change color and at 50 a black void began to form. Small at first, it increased in size warping the stars around it like some force had poked a hole in the cosmos itself and was now forcibly stretching it wider.
But something else drew hisser attention. As the void grew s’he noticed that a bright ring started to form around it. As time passed it grew ever brighter.
“Merle, what’s that bright ring behind us?” Jessen heard himmerself ask.
In the cockpit the Constable laughed. “That’s the Aventuras! Well, actually the light from her engines. Everything’s being distorted by Relativity now.”
As time passed the void grew and the ring began to coalesce to one side until it was a bright point of light brighter than Groombridge 1618 was ahead of them. Jessen used the sloop’s optics to zoom in on the vessel but found that the distortion rendered the craft unrecognizable.
Then they started getting an EM signal from it. At first Jessen thought that the communications of the Aventuras were malfunctioning as it seemed oddly drug out, but then remembered that the same space/time distortion was affecting all transmissions as well.
“We got a message from the Aventuras,” Jessen reported.
“Let’s hear it.”
“This is Captain Madesen Thornight of the LSCS Aventuras,” a husky voice said. “Please identify yourselves and your heading.”
“This is Constable Merle Riva of the Sixten Security force. We’re requesting an intercept for inspection.”
A few moments later the reply came. “I’d rather inspection take place closer to your primary. I’ll have to pause our burn for you to dock.”
“Understood, Captain. But we’re already here and it’s only a routine inspection.”
The response, delayed as it was, seemed to take a little longer. “Very well,” the Captain said in obvious resignation. “I’ll turn the lights and gravity on for you.”
At 80 PSOL, when the black void covered nearly a third of their view, they had nearly come parallel to the ship and Jessen realized that the scale model he had seen back home did not come anywhere close to capturing the actual size of the Aventuras. Judging scale in space was always tricky, but Jessen knew that the craft had to be over a klick long. Its massive engines were pointed towards their star, obviously to slow itself before entering the system.
“We’re ceasing our burn,” Thornight signaled. “Synchronize your propulsion with ours.”
“Understood, Aventuras,” Jessen replied as that was now up to himmer since it would be easier for himmer to do so while in the tank.
Both ships ended their burns simultaneously and were now coasting together. Quickly Merle decoupled the sloop from their Drive and began easing towards the larger craft. Jessen took control of the MLC Drive and rotated it 180º so it could match the Aventuras’s deceleration when it resumed.
There was a jolt inside the sloop and Jessen could hear the docking clamps take hold. And almost immediately the ships resumed their thrust.
“See how much fun that was?” Merle declared lightly. “Better get dressed back there. We’ll be meeting the Captain in a short bit.”

Captain Madesen Thornight was not as large a man as his voice would have implied. He looked to be not much taller than Merle and had roughly the same build. Thornight was dressed smartly in a white uniform that set off his dark skin. He was by himself as he met them at the airlock.
“Constable Riva, I presume?” he asked taking Merle’s hand. He then looked to Jessen questioningly.
“Constable Jessen O’kanel,” s’he said and took the offered hand.
“I had an opportunity to visit your people’s homeworld once,” the Captain said. “Probably the best engineers in the LSC. Did wonders for the old Aventuras here.”
It was flattery, and not even totally accurate at that, but Jessen let it go as the compliment was apparently given in good faith.
“So welcome aboard the Aventuras,” the Captain continued. “What can we do for you?”
“Just a routine inspection,” Merle reiterated as the man led them further into the vessel. “We’ll be looking at your cargo and passenger lists. Might want to talk to your crew.”
“Well they’re all still in cryo. Not that I have much of a crew. You caught us quite a ways out. Until you arrived I didn’t even have the gravity tuned on.”
“You like zero-G?” Jessen asked.
Both the Captain and Merle smiled in a way that signaled to Jessen that s’he was being naïve about something.
“The dead don’t need gravity, Constable,” Thornight replied.
“I’ll explain later, Jessen,” Merle added, though s’he already had an idea.
They encountered no one as the Captain led them down a series of seemingly endless corridors until they came to a large common area at the very front of the ship. Comfortable lounges and table indicted a space that would be pleasant when the ship would be orbiting a planet. At the moment though the Aventuras was facing the unsettling black void behind them and the twisted, off-color stars surrounding it.
“This is our Orientation Lounge,” Thornight announced. “Since no one else is awake and I don’t need to eat, the space will be all yours.”
“What is your ship’s compliment right now,” Merle asked, looking around the room.
The Captain shrugged. “Three crew and forty-eight passengers. It’s mostly cargo this run.”
“The usual elements?”
“All the stuff you can’t take through Modified Light Conversion. Plus we have some livestock in cryosleep and building materials- but they’re not bound for Sixten.”
“We’ll look into it anyway,” Merle said.
“Very well then,” Thornight replied. “I’ll leave you to your work.”
And the man evaporated.
“Quantronically preserved?” Jessen asked.
Merle raised his eyebrows. “I’m surprised you’ve heard of the process.”
“We’re one of the most remote systems in the LSC, but we’re not idiots,” Jessen grumbled. The process, common on Leandra, involved making what was effectively a copy of a person’s consciousness after their physical death. An artificial afterlife.
“Keep in mind,” Merle continued. “There are probably more onboard, but I’ll leave that part to you and your interface tank. For now we should start a head count of the living passengers.”

The Aventuras had eight chambers for cryogenics but on this journey only two were being used- with twenty-four people in each. Merle took one and assigned Jessen to the other.
The first chambers s’he came to had a whole family group in them, headed up by a grizzled patriarch who looked like some relic from a prehistoric era. Gray, bearded, with simple clothes that looked to be organic, the man was part of a rather Traditionalist sect from Tal’khash. The family, like many of their culture, herded bovine on that planet’s northern plains. However Tal’khash, like most worlds, was a constantly changing place and their lifestyle of living off the meat and milk of their animals was no longer popular or welcome. So the man opted to take his people and bovine to a new world, Meiliertong, and try their luck on the vast plains there.
Probably not the Severer though Jessen concocted a scenario where the entire tableau s’he was seeing was an elaborate ruse to… No. It would easy enough to check on the bovine and s’he doubted that someone like the Severer would be such a Luddite.
The next chamber did contain someone that Jessen pegged as a person of interest.
Aida Edmee was a real-estate investor from Leandra who had been caught up in a scheme that saw the defrauding of the poor residents of the Sombre Hills area. She had only been a bit player and hadn’t even benefited financially from it, but nonetheless her career on Leandra was over. Adding to her problems was that she, like Tamara, had suffered from a Conversion-induced seizure, thus forcing her onto the Aventuras. Again it was unlikely she was the person they were searching for, but considering her history it was something to keep in mind.
The woman next to her had also suffered a seizure but she was elderly and was seeking to retire on the climateformed moon Longshore. She was a retired teacher with no criminal history.
Telfer Nouel was a divorcée who was using the long convalescence on the ship as a ploy to delay having to turn over any of his estate to his ex-wife. That must have been a fun marriage. The story was absurd enough that Jessen marked him as another person of interest, but really wasn’t liking him as a suspect.
The next man was only known as Sennet and was an author who frequently wrote about the evils of modern technology. He was another heading for retirement on Longshore.
And so on. Jessen found that almost everyone present had slightly off-kilter back-stories that could easily have painted them as the Severer in hiding. It was likely that ships like the Aventuras simply collected society’s loose pieces, but it did make for the perfect hiding place. Hide an oddity with other oddities.
Merle entered the chamber as Jessen was checking on the last passenger; an elderly man who had suffered a Conversion-induced stroke some 40 tyers back but was now immigrating to Sixten. According to his bio he was planning on spending the final tyers of his life studying the neutral-buoyancy life there.
“Anything?” Merle asked.
Jessen transmitted his files to him. “Aida Edmee, Telfer Nouel, and a Sennet, but honestly I doubt that any are our Severer. You?”
Merle shook his head. “I didn’t even get that many.” He looked at Jessen. “That just leaves the crew and any quantronically preserved passengers. I’ll take the former and leave the latter to you.”
And s’he was still a bit soggy from hisser last foray inside the interface tank.

The databanks aboard the Aventuras were almost as extensive as any planet’s. So much so that Jessen nearly had a mini-panic over the daunting task before himmer. But after calming down s’he realized that s’he didn’t have as much data to shift through as it appeared.
Most of the files were routine log entries, which s’he didn’t have access to at the moment, and items needed for day to day operation of a sublight interstellar. It was only files dedicated for any quantronically preserved passengers that Jessen had to worry about.
Though those were pretty extensive as well.
S’he found that the technologically undead had numerous and incredibly detailed virtual reality habitats inside the databank. There was an entire city modeled off the Leandran capital Araignée and even a virtual planet called Evermore, which appeared to be based off a hoary sword and magic motif. The system indicated that The City was empty at the moment save for the AI characters that populated it. Evermore had three people listed as participating, but they were involved in a rather harrowing siege of some adamantine fortress and Jessen didn’t want to be involved in that. S’he’d wait until it was over.
That left smaller environs and those individuals who opted to “sleep” during the voyage and Jessen found those to be empty.
So, counting the Captain, Jessen thought. Only 4 “undead” are aboard.
But the system kept indicating five.
Jessen began looking at individual scenarios and eventually narrowed it down to a series of “live-in novellas”, based on various works of literature. Some s’he recognized that others s’he didn’t. Jessen was even tempted to try out the Leandran ChasE as it was a story s’he and hisser sibling enjoyed in their childhoods. But the one that drew hisser attention was one titled “Mi Hombre Godfrey”. The files indicated that it was written in Gefjoni, which looked very similar to Aragoni, which Jessen could speak. But more importantly the novella looked to be set on a perpetual play loop and had been so for the past decade.
Jessen stepped inside.

And the maelstrom s’he found himmerself in was almost as disorienting as if s’he had joined in that battle in Evermore. After a few moments though s’he realized that it was a party and perhaps not quite as raucous s’he initially thought. But it was apparently malfunctioning as Jessen couldn’t see any color just monochrome. The oddly dressed men and women around himmer were indeed speaking Gefjoni and s’he could understand it mostly.
Most of the scene’s attention seemed to be focused on a conversation between a small group. They were discussing the history of a nearby servant, which was causing obvious consternation with an exceptionally pretty blond woman. And at the mention of the servant having five children she pushed by Jessen and confronted the man.
For the most part all the characters in the scene were ignoring Jessen and a quick check of the program indicted that it was intended for single use. So despite hisser different appearance and attire s’he was drawing no attention.
So who’s the user? Jessen wondered looking about the room.
The servant, the titular “Godfrey” was clearly the main character but even as Jessen approached him s’he saw no signs that he was paying himmer any mind, other than wordlessly offering himmer an appetizer off the tray he was holding. The blond, clearly another important player, also ignored Jessen in favor of confronting Godfrey about his five children. And in a pique she immediately rushed off and publicly announced her engagement to some bystander who apparently knew nothing about it.
It was all an extremely strange scene that perhaps would have made more sense had s’he started at the beginning.
“Looks like Irene got herself engaged again,” a snobbishly bored looking brunette stated from one of the room’s lounges immediately behind Jessen.
S’he turned and to hisser surprised this one took noticed of himmer.
She had been sipping a drink from a tall glass when her eyes focused on Jessen’s face. She froze, glass held in place, as if she had been spotted by some predator.
“Who are you?” Jessen asked.
“Don’t be rude, Gloria!” an older woman spoke from a nearby table. “answer the girl!”
The woman, Gloria, lowered her glass….
And the scene ended.
Jessen was now in a different room with an older, rather rotund man eating at a table. Gloria was there with him.
“Will you be joining us, madam?” Godfrey asked, appearing behind himmer with another tray.
“Um, no,” Jessen replied and the man continued on. Clearly the program was starting to adapt to himmer.
Quickly Gloria wiped her month and rose from the table. “I have to go,” she said, hurrying from the room.
“Wait!” Jessen called after her.
But after a few steps she was gone, her sudden and completely out of place disappearance causing no alarm with either Godfrey or his employer. Obviously Gloria was the program’s user.
And she wasn’t in the mood to talk.
“Jessen,” Merle’s voice intruded, pulling himmer out of the novella. “What’s your status?”
Had s’he been outsider hisser tank Jessen would have taken a frustrated breath. “Following a lead,” s’he replied.
“Well, if you can, take a break. The Captain has invited us to dinner.”
“Is that wise? And what about regulations?”
“I understand, but it will probably be easier to question him over a casual meal than during a formal interrogation.”
Made sense. “I’ll get cleaned up then.”
Jessen dipped back into the novella but there was still no sign of Gloria and Godfrey was merely discussing finances with the man at the table.
The program’s not going anywhere, s’he reminded hisserself. And a light-year from anywhere, neither is Gloria.

And while Merle’s idea of questioning Captain Thornight over a meal seemed like a good idea at the time, Jessen became uncomfortable with the idea when s’he saw the elaborate meal that had been prepared for them. Far from a simple dinner what was laid out before them was a full banquet.
The Director is not going to like this, s’he thought, knowing what a stickler for propriety the man was.
But since s’he was already committed Jessen did nibble at the food laid out before himmer. Thornight and Merle seemed to be hitting it off, though the latter hadn’t yet asked anything of pertinence. The subject currently revolved around the “Cosmic Dot”. Apparently as sublight ships drew ever closer to the speed of light the eerie black void behind them would grow until all the visible stars would concentrate into a point of light just ahead of them. Then at 99.99999 PSOL even that light would be Doppler Shifted out of the visible spectrum. After that the light of the “Big Bang” would begin to shift back into the range of human sight directly ahead of the ship; the famous Cosmic Dot.
“We tried to see it once,” the Captain was saying. “Way back when I was in the Academy. Some friends of mine got hold of a ship and tried accelerating to Cosmic Dot velocity.” He shrugged helplessly. “But the old hulk wasn’t up to it and we barely made it to Black Out velocity.” He paused to take a bite of his food, which was a slab of meat of some sort.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Jessen spoke up. “You mentioned earlier that you didn’t need to eat, so…” And s’he gestured to the meal.
“Don’t need to and can’t are two separate things, Constable,” Thornight replied with a smile. “Obviously I can’t consume the same food you are, but I can indulge in a simulation- and to me it’s just as real as your meal.”
Merle glanced at Jessen then back to the Captain. “So, what made you take up sublight travel?”
Thornight’s mood darkened slightly as he picked at his food. “For the same reason most people do. Nothing at home and with an effectively unlimited lifespan I had plenty of time on my hands. And sublight travel is nowhere near as confining or tedious for us as it is for the living.”
“And your family?” Merle asked.
Too soon! Jessen fretted, whipping hisser attention to his superior officer. It seemed to himmer that it was much too soon for such a personal question.
Another shrug from the Captain. “Don’t really have much left now. As far as I know no one else opted for Quantronic preservation. Religious prohibitions, you know. When I mentioned my plans to my family they seemed supportive… or at least accepting. But the moment I came back after my physical death…” Another shrug.
Better change the subject, Jessen thought. “I was curious about the other Quantronically preserved passengers onboard,” s’he said, earning a slightly annoyed look from Merle. “You don’t have the same health risks from MLC travel as the living passengers.”
“And you’re wondering why they’re here?” Thornight completed. “That’s just economics. Compared to faster than light travel this is, as they say, dirt-cheap. And as I mentioned, it’s not as confining for us as you.”
Merle took up the conversation after that and they began discussing whether the Aventuras had ever encountered anything of extraterrestrial manufacture. Thornight stated that he hadn’t but a sister ship, the Viaje, had once came within a few thousand klicks of a rather famous derelict halfway between Sol and Alpha Centauri.
“Well,” Thornight stated, clearly signally the evening was coming to an end. “I have duties I have to attend to and I’m sure you’re both quite tired at this point.”
Merle rose. “We’ll pick up our work tomorrow.”
And the Captain, including the remains of his meal, evaporated.
The senior Constable glanced at Jessen before sitting down again. “Just what were you doing, O’kanel?” he grumbled.
“In reference to…?”
“Don’t be facetious with me. You interrupted my questioning.”
“You were prodding into the man’s background and being fairly blatant about it.”
“I’m the senior officer here, Jessen,” Merle replied harshly.
“Senior, yes, but this isn’t some ancient military where you have absolute authority. If I stepped on your toes, I’m sorry. But there’s no need to rush this.”
Merle however didn’t look persuaded, but he did take a breath and cooled slightly. “I will have to report this to the Director, Jessen,” he said. “For now it is late and we should get some rest… If that’s alright by you.”
Maybe I did overstep my bounds, Jessen thought. But s’he still thought Merle was overreacting a bit. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” s’he ended up replying as Riva proceeded to march away. And I didn’t get a chance to bring up Gloria.

Sleep wasn’t necessary inside an interface tank, though it was an option. During hisser recent convalescence Jessen did opt to sleep and recovering from gunshot wounds it was even recommended.
But Jessen wasn’t convalescing now and s’he opted to dive back into Mi Hombre Godfrey and found himmerself in the midst of some kind of family gathering in a spacious and ornate room. The older woman was present again, doing most of the talking. Almost rambling really. Two younger woman, one standing, one seated were glowering at each other. Jessen did recognize them from hisser earlier foray into the Live-In Novella. A new man was present mentioning something about a concert.
But no sign of Gloria.
It was possible the character she was playing simply wasn’t in this particular scene, but then again there were no guarantees the character was even originally in this story.
Now a rotund man entered, obviously a patriarch, commenting on the family gathering together. Then his eyes fell on Jessen with a look of confusion.
“And who might you be?” he asked.
“Um, I’m a friend of Gloria’s,” Jessen replied. The program was continuing to adapt itself to hisser presence. S’he wondered how much it would do so.
The man let out a “humph”. “One of her classmates from that over-priced school I sent her to, I suppose.”
“Why, yes!” S’he looked about the monochrome room. “You wouldn’t know were she is at by any chance?”
“She’s…” the man began to respond, then like reality itself had hiccupped, he turned to his family and started discussing “last month’s bills” as if Jessen no longer existed.
Obviously a glitch in the system, though when Jessen stepped out to check on that s’he found no programming errors to speak of. The possibility that it was an original work by Gloria herself crossed hisser mind, but as Jessen examined the program in more detail s’he saw that it looked like it had been stitched together from several different files.
And Gloria was still listed as participating in the story.
And when Jessen stepped back in the scene was now in an entirely different portion of the home. A kitchen this time which oddly had living quarters attached towards which the pretty blond was now floating to as if in the daze.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where Gloria went, would you?” Jessen asked yet another character in the story. Another servant s’he guessed.
“Upstairs,” the woman replied flippantly, jabbing her finger upward.
The program did allow himmer to return upstairs though the home was now eerily empty and still. Not even any ambient noises.
“Gloria!” Jessen called out. “I only want to talk!”
Silence.
Once they arrived at Sixten and Fountainhead, Jessen was sure that specialists could easily force her out of the system for questioning though that would likely be traumatic for her.
Give her some time, Jessen thought. The ship is almost literally going nowhere at light speed.

Jessen spent the rest of the night in Evermore locating the three individuals living there. The grand battle from earlier was over, or at the very least pausing. S’he located the first, a grizzled man in chain mail, leaning tiredly on his sword. He took notice of Jessen immediately and his demeanor changed instantly, brightening with a wide smile.
“We can’t be at Groombridge already!” he said.
“We’re a light-year out yet,” Jessen replied. “Are you companions nearby?”
The man sighed and looked around. “Well, Laci is… busy with a woman she met before the battle. And I’m afraid Wyll is on the other side. He’s probably ‘busy’ too at this point.” The man looked back at Jessen. “If you’d like I could round them up and meet you in the City. Say, about a thour in the Café Détente?”
Jessen agreed to that.
And 1.5 thours later Jessen was having simulated tea with the three. They were long time friends who had met even before their deaths some 90 tyers ago. The first man s’he met was a Chiram Adley who hailed from the frozen world of Grisgelée. It was in the same system with Leandra. Laci Bucer, despite playing a woman in Evermore, was a man from Leandran Capital of Araignée. The last was Wyll Kai, also from Araignée, and was in an open marriage with Laci.
The trio had spent the last half-century on vessels like the Aventuras, traveling from one system to the other. This was their first foray to Groombridge 1618 and the long travel time was giving Laci second thoughts.
“I was have opted to stay closer to the core of the Local Space Compact if I had realized we’d been in deep space this long,” he said. “I’m telling you, Wyll, I’m not sure how many more battles in Evermore I can go through.”
“Go to sleep if you don’t like it,” Wyll shot back and it sounded to Jessen that this was an on-going argument.
“Have you met any other of the passengers?” s’he asked to head off the coming fracas.
“Not any of the living ones,” Chiram replied.
“I did talk to one of the young women with those Traditionalists before they went into cryo,” Laci said. “She was just curious what it was like to be… like us.”
“What about your fellow ‘dead’?” Jessen asked.
The trio shrugged, almost in unison.
“Only the Captain.” Chiram said. “But the reality is we went into Evermore almost the moment we came onboard.”
“I’ve raised an entire fiking family in there,” Laci quipped, earning an eye-roll from Wyll. “I had a grandson in the battle today.”
“That must have been distressing,” Jessen said.
Laci waved that away. “I gave him plot-armor. He’s fine.”
“Do you know anyone named Gloria? She’s in the Live-In Novella Mi Hombre Godfrey?”
The ground shook their heads. “I’ve never even heard of it,” Chiram said.
“I saw it when I came onboard,” Wyll added. “But I didn’t recognize the title and all the Live-Ins looked to be empty at the time.” The man scratched his chin. “As for Gloria, I’m afraid I’ve never heard of her.”
“Probably isn’t her real name,” Laci added. “May not even be her original gender.”
Chiram concurred with the previous statements.
Jessen spent longer with the group than s’he had intended, but they were pretty open about their lives and by the early “dawn” s’he had enough about each of them to be able to confirm or deny their stories. But overall Jessen highly doubted any were the Severer.
That still left Gloria.

The scene was outside of the ubiquitous home most of the novella had taken place in and was now in a public establishment superficially similar to the Café Détente. Crowded with music that no one was really listening to playing in the background. The titular Godfrey was there as expected, sharing a drink with a man Jessen remembered from the first time s’he had entered the program.
And a quick visual scan of the space showed that another familiar face was present. A dark haired woman s’he had seen in the previous scenes was seated at the counter. Beside her was a man Jessen didn’t recognize.
Along with Gloria.
In the hustle and bustle of the room Jessen found it easy to stay out of sight of the woman until s’he was nearly upon them. The other woman was asking her male companion to have a Tommy Grey called. The man seemed dubious but hurried off to comply with the request, pushing past Jessen on the way.
At which point Gloria saw himmer.
This time though she didn’t flee only sighing heavily in resignation. She downed her drink in one quick gulp and slapped the glass down.
“Will you excuse me, Cornelia?” she said to the woman then stood up. She took two quick steps towards Jessen before speaking again. “You’re not going to go away, are you?”
“I only want to talk to you,” Jessen replied.
Gloria placed her hands in her hips. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“I’m Constable Jessen O’kanel from Sixten. We’re here inspecting the Aventuras.”
“Sixten?” Gloria said to herself. “We should still be a year… I mean a tyer away.”
“We are. It was decided to perform the inspection early.” Jessen looked around. “Is there someplace we could talk?”
Gloria sighed again. “As you wish. Cornelia’s going to be talking with Godfrey for a few minutes before the next scene begins… but I can hold the novella here for a little bit.”
Gloria led Jessen through the room until they came to a table somewhat removed from the activity. Not too far actually from where Cornelia was now speaking with Godfrey.
Taking a seat Gloria ordered a “gin” then looked at Jessen questioningly.
“The same,” s’he replied, though s’he wasn’t sure what a “gin” was.
“The same for mistmiss O’kanel,” Gloria said to the servant.
“You’re familiar with Æsānn honorifics.”
Gloria shrugged. “The Aventuras had to get repairs at Hōm. I got to know quite a few Æsānn.” She sat back, looking at himmer. “You went through quite a bit of effort to talk to me.”
“You went through quite a bit of effort to avoid me.”
“This is a single person Live-In, you know. I wasn’t expecting any company. ”
Jessen looked around the monochrome environment. “Just what is this anyway?”
“This is a fragment,” Gloria replied as their gins arrived.
“A fragment… of what?” Jessen asked, taking a sip of the gin. Tastes in the simulation were muted for himmer, but it was an alcoholic drink with a berry-like flavor.
“Of a movie, from Old Earth actually, before the Gray Wars and the destruction. Before my death I was in a shop on Gefjon that dealt with supposed Old Earth antiques. In reality most are misidentified or outright forgeries, but every so often you come across something genuine. I found an old data file, horribly mangled. Most of the data was beyond repair. But I did find fragments of various movies, serial programs, and digitalized books. I even found a complete episode of a show called Doctor Who. But this,” She gestured to their surroundings. “did something for me. I only found one complete scene, but it was enough to pique my interest.”
“I take it you found other fragments of it?”
“It took a while. It wasn’t until after I died that I started looking in earnest. I found bits and pieces of the film all over the worlds of Alpha Centauri. I even went out to Kepra once looking. I thought I found some more but eventually decided that it was from another film since Godfrey doesn’t own a dog named Asta.”
Gloria paused to look at the table the man and the woman named Cornelia occupied. They were standing now and the man named Gray returned. Barbs were traded and Cornelia stormed off leaving the men to return to the their drink.
“The scene’s ending,” Gloria stated. “But I’ll hold us here for a little longer.”
Jessen looked at the two men then back to Gloria. “Why did you choose your character and not a main one?”
“Oh, my character wasn’t in the original. I don’t really like role-playing, too restrictive, so I just created a new one for me.”
“So, you just live in there permanently? Reliving the same movie over and over again?”
The woman smiled. “You’re not dead, so it doesn’t work like that. I’m in the entire novella. Start to finish. I experience it in its entirety, all at once. In the early days I would step out to watch the plot unfold normally… but…”
“Jessen?” Merle’s voice intruded. “Are you awake yet?”
“Pardon me,” Jessen said to Gloria and stepped out of the novella. “Actually I never went to sleep,” s’he replied to hisser superior. “I’ve been interviewing some of the quantronic passengers.”
“Tell me about it later,” Merle said. “For now we should inspect the cargo holds. This is supposed to be a routine inspection after all.”
“On my way,” Jessen replied, then stepped back into the novella.
To hisser surprise Gloria had let the scene end and the new one start with the pretty blond commiserating with the kitchen servant. Even being fictional characters Jessen didn’t want to interrupt and looked around for…
She was standing in the stairwell.
“I have to go,” s’he said to her. “Can I speak with you again? Later?”
Gloria smiled and nodded. “It’s nice having company again,” she said, then looked at the characters. “I have work to do on this scene anyway. You’ll notice they’re not speaking Gefjoni anymore.”
Jessen took a step towards them. True enough they seemed to be speaking a language rather similar to Baahaa, the native language of Jessen’s people.
“I think it might be the original language the movie was made in. All other copies I’ve found so far have been translated into other languages, but this fragment I believe is an unaltered original. Unfortunately I have no idea what they are saying.”
“Look up Baahaa. You’ve been to Hōm. It’s the predominant language there. I’ll be back.” And s’he stepped out.

Jessen realized that s’he had never actually seen a real bovine before. They were surprisingly large, though nothing compared to the lighter than air behemoths that were native to Sixten. Still this was one of the life forms that had come with humanity from Old Earth and it was the largest s’he had ever seen.
The Traditionalist family had brought an entire herd with them. And surprising, and in defiance of their rather Luddite appearance, they also were bringing numerous semen and ovum samples from the animals as well. Though it was doubtful that there was anything sinister about the creatures Jessen scanned them thoroughly anyway. It would be the first time someone had tried smuggling items inside people or animals. But not surprisingly s’he found nothing with hisser scans.
The family was also bringing various small land vehicles with them, a couple of which were obviously intended to be lived in. They were clearly planning for a nomadic lifestyle once they reached Meiliertong. Because of the long journey the craft were in a disassembled state and it took Jessen some time to make sure all the parts were accounted for.
Then there was the standard cargo.
The majority of the sublight interstellars income came from the transport of elements that couldn’t be taken into Modified Light Conversion. And the largest share of that was the rare mineral qurilsine- ironically the very element that made MLC possible. In hisser primary education Jessen had been taught about the interstellar market for qurilsine and how it operated but that had mostly faded over time. Now the economy seemed just as labyrinthine as it had then. S’he remembered something about a “floating market” but no longer was sure what that had meant.
Other radioactive elements made up the rest of the cargo, though these were more common elements like uranium, plutonium, and americium on this voyage.
“Do you happen to remember what happens to this stuff if it is taken through MLC?” Jessen asked, halfway through the inspection.
Merle smiled. “It blows up,” he said. “All radioactive elements react badly to MLC, but some are worse than others.”
“Now I remember,” Jessen replied. That was one of the reasons some people, like Tammy, had health problems due to it. Atoms with less radioactivity like carbon, magnesium, potassium, and the like would react and occasionally interfere with brain activity causing seizures and strokes.
It’s a miracle more people aren’t hurt, Jessen thought as s’he closed the hatch s’he had been looking in.
S’he paused for a moment. “So this ship doesn’t even have MLC capability, even for emergency purposes?”
“Nope. If something happens someone either as to run to the rescue or they have to figure a way out on their own.” Merle appeared at hisser side sudden. “Any luck on our primary search?” he asked quietly.
“I have a possible suspect among the quantronics,” Jessen replied. “I want to go back in for further questioning.”
Merle thought about it for a moment, perhaps a longer moment than Jessen would have expected. “Agreed, but honestly I think we’re done here. After you’re done we’ll confer with the Captain then head back to Sixten.”
“Then you don’t think the Severer is here?”
“No,” Merle said with a sad smile. “It was probably just a pipe dream on my part. But nobody here strikes me as a sadistic killer. You?”
Jessen sighed. “True. I’ll finish up in the quantronic systems then meet you in the common area.”
Merle nodded then started sauntering off in a manner that belied the disappointment he must have been feeling. Apprehending an infamous figure like the Severer would have been a crowning achievement for Merle’s career. More so considering how much study he had put into the subject. It would have been an amusing coincidence if the criminal had come to the very system where someone like Merle Riva…
Coincidence.
Jessen stopped and leaned against the wall. It would make for a truly amazing coincidence indeed. More so as they had gotten the tip when the Aventuras was only a light-year from Groombridge 1816. Just close enough for them to hurry out to the ship.
Coincidence.
And Jessen didn’t trust coincidences.

Before Jessen went into the interface tank s’he sent a quick message back to Altotorre, specifically to Tamara Dici. Then when s’he was inside the tank s’he checked once again on the cargo. Valuable elements like the qurilsine were kept in a heavily secure vault, but the less valuable elements- especially the americium- only required an official clearance to access. Like the kind Jessen had.
Then s’he stepped back into Mi Hombre Godfrey.

The scene was much darker, in both tone and lighting, making Jessen wonder briefly if s’he had entered the right Live-In Novella. It was a rather confusing setting as well. It was night and the setting was on the bank of a river. It looked for all the world like a refuse pile, but there were also people making their homes there. The people themselves looked rather disheveled… except for the four individuals in more upscale attire.
They were talking with one of the downtrodden inhabitants and Jessen suddenly realized that the men was the titular Godfrey.
I should really watch this all the way through, s’he thought, wondering how the man had come to be in such a predicament.
Cornelia was doing most of the talking while Irene and Gloria stood nearby. The former looked as flustered as she usually did. Gloria for her part looked annoyed until her eyes fell on Jessen.
Her mood brightened as she strode quickly to himmer.
“You almost made it in for the beginning!” she declared when she had reached himmer.
Jessen looked at Godfrey who was now menacing Cornelia. “Your characters found their servant living on a refuse pile?”
“That’s explained later in the story. And thank you for the tip on the language. I’ve already started translating the scene.” She then sighed and looked at himmer in resignation. “You want to question me more, don’t you?”
“Just once more. Then I’ll be leaving the ship.”
“You can’t stay? This really is a good story if you see it in the right order.”
“Maybe when you reach Sixten, I’ll come back. But for now… why are you here, Gloria?”
The woman paused looking back at the scene playing out. Cornelia and her male companion (did the poor idiot even have a name?) were beating a hasty retreat leaving Irene with Godfrey. Luckily their conversation was more civil.
“Can we wait until the next scene?” Gloria asked.
“It doesn’t take place in a refuge pile?”
“No, the Waldorf Hotel.”
“Sounds pleasant.”
“It won’t be at first. They’re having a scavenger hunt, so it’s going to be chaotic. But we’ll find…” Godfrey and Irene were now leaving. “I have to go with them,” Gloria said to Jessen.
“Gloria!” Irene called out. “Hurry! Or won’t beat Cornelia!”
“I’m coming!” Gloria yelled back, then to Jessen. “Look for me!”

And the scene changed.
True to Gloria’s word it was open pandemonium with people shouting and hurrying in carrying various items. Jessen was superficially familiar with the concept of a “scavenger hunt” though s’he couldn’t remember exactly where s’he had come across the term. The people present were presenting all manner of arcane items including some kind of primate and small livestock that the Traditionalists might have recognized.
No sign of Gloria yet however. Jessen saw a few familiar faces in the bedlam, but soon enough Irene entered leading the disheveled Godfrey. And on their heels was Gloria. She saw himmer and nodded towards the rear of the establishment while Irene and Godfrey continued on.
“There’s a dining room through here,” she said to himmer, taking hisser arm.
The chaos of the lobby was muted as they entered the new space and Gloria ordered a pair of martinis from a passing servant.
“There!” she declared after she had found them a table. “That’s better!” The drinks appeared rather quickly and Gloria took a sip of her before looking to Jessen expectantly. “Well? What is it you want to know?”
Jessen ignored hisser drink as s’he sat back. S’he had no fears of becoming intoxicated in this environment, s’he just didn’t want the distraction. “How long have you been in here, Gloria? In this Novella?”
The woman sighed. “I’m not sure. I suppose I could look it up in the file logs… But I just haven’t cared.”
She’s hiding from something, Jessen thought. “Why?” s’he asked.
It was Gloria’s turn to sit back, placing her martini down and looking at the ceiling. “Family issues. I didn’t think it was bothering me at first but as the tyers went by…” She looked at himmer. “Do you have family?”
Jessen nodded. “I live with my younger sibling and I have a grandparent living in Hōm.”
“It must me nice.”
“And your family?”
She took up her martini again. “They lived on Leandra last I heard, though I think my youngest moved to Eyeball some time ago. It’s been a long time so I think most of my children are dead now.”
“They didn’t opt for quandronic preservation?”
She shook her head. “No. They, we, were devout Ptists. They believe that the soul departs the body at death, so anyone quantronically preserved doesn’t really have a soul and therefore aren’t the original people.”
“So why did you opt for it?”
Gloria snorted. “I’d been ill for sometime before my death. Gives you time to think about what you really believe in. And I couldn’t shake the thought that what if there really isn’t anything after death. No souls, no afterlife, no rebirths, just nothing. Quantronic preservation though is real. A second chance. So I figured I would sign up for it. If my soul went to heaven, fine. If not… well, at least something would be left. I told my family about my plans and they seemed supportive about it. Not totally happy, but they were respecting my wishes.” Gloria sniffed and a tear rolled down her cheek. “At least that’s what I thought. I came to after my death. Young again. Feeling better than I had in decades. I was expecting them to call me. They never did. I tried calling them, but they wouldn’t respond. I though for a few tyers that they’d come around. That one of them would reach out. Then I heard Geoffrey was sick…”
Gloria then hurtled her glass at the nearest wall, shattering it. She then sank into her seat, covering her face.
“Why didn’t they ever call me? Why?”
Jessen finally picked up hisser glass and took a drink though s’he really wasn’t tasting it. But it did give himmer something to do while the woman collected herself. It must have been a common plight on Leandra if both her and the Captain…
Coincidence.
S’he put hisser glass and down leaned forward. “Gloria?” s’he asked gently. “What is your name. Your real name? I think it’s time you told me.”
The woman lifted her head, swallowing. “Maddy. My friends call me Maddy.”
“Maddy? Maddy as in…?”
“Madesen Thornight.” She laughed slightly. “I’m actually Captain of this tub.”

Before Jessen knew it s’he was outside of the interface tank, drying himmerself off. It was a few moments before s’he realized that s’he’d been rude to Gloria/Maddy for leaving without so much as a word. S’he’d just have to make it up to her later.
If there was a later.
Jessen nearly hit the call button for Merle, but then stopped himmerself. There was actually another call s’he was expecting and s’he checked on that.
“All communication systems are offline at the moment,” the ship’s systems responded. “We apologize for the inconvenience and you will be notified when the system is restored.”
Jessen dressed quickly and made hisser way to the cockpit, sitting himmerself down in the nearest chair. S’he began to tap into the Aventuras’s systems, and again stopped himmerself. There were only a few people awake on the vessel at the moment and only one other person could have easily took the sloop’s interstellar coms offline.
“Jessen?” Merle’s voice suddenly blurted out over the com. “Are you out of the tank yet?”
“Just getting out now,” s’he replied.
“Good. Get yourself up to the common area. We’ll say our farewell’s to the Captain then head home.”
“In that case,” Jessen replied. “I’ll perform some preflight checks. Give me a few moments then I’ll be up.”
“Understood,” Merle replied, much to Jessen’s relief.
And a few moments was all s’he had for what s’he needed to do. Jessen just hoped it would be enough time, but the first thing s’he needed to do was leave a note…

The silence in the common room would have been eerie if Jessen hadn’t expect it when s’he entered the space. In fact the room probably looked much as it had for the past several tyers while the vessel quietly plied its way through interstellar space.
“Merle? Captain Thornight?” Jessen called out to keep up pretenses.
Silence.
Off to hisser left was an alcove that appeared to have schematics displayed in it. S’he had a strong suspicion what it was and hurried towards it. Yes, it was just as s’he expected: a simple deck plan for the passengers. The common room was at the forward end of the ship, with its wide windows looking out into space- which was at the moment the dark Relative void.
The bridge was two decks above himmer.
Jessen didn’t want to wait for a lift, nor would s’he have trusted one right now. Instead s’he barreled up the stairwells until s’he was standing before the entry to the Aventuras’s command decks.
And they were sealed.
“This is an emergency,” Jessen called out. “Law enforcement override.”
“Override requires clearance by the Captain or nearest planetary legal authority.”
“Contact the Trans-Sixtenian Constabulary.”
“I’m sorry. Our interstellar communications are offline at the moment. Please contact maintenance.”
“I’ll do better than that,” Jessen said. “Captain to the bridge!”
S’he waited hoping that the right Captain Thornight would materialize, but moments passed and no one appeared.
“Captain to the bridge!”
And Gloria appeared.
Only she wasn’t Gloria now. Captain Madesen Thornight was a bit taller than her fiction doppelganger and cast a far more impressive figure of authority.
“What’s happening?” she demanded.
“I need entry to the bridge. I believe we have a suspect fleeing the ship.”
Without a word from Thornight the doors parted and she led himmer inside. A wide hallway led them to the command area, which like the common room had wide windows looking out into the twisted space beyond. The Captain stepped to one of the control panels, frowning at what she saw.
“We’ve ceased our burn,” she announced.
Jessen hurried to the right side of the bridge and looked out at the MLC ring of their starboard. True to hisser expectations the sloop had detached itself from the Aventuras and was moving to intercept.
“The interstellar communications are down,” Jessen said to Thornight. “Can you do anything about that?”
The Captain blinked out of existence for a moment, then looked at himmer. “No. But I’m waking the crew up.”
Jessen looked back out as the sloop was now angling itself to dock with the ring. “What about Relative communications?”
“They’re still up, but it will be a tyer before we reach anyone.”
“I don’t need to call home,” Jessen said. “Only that sloop.”

I wonder where Jessen it at now? Merle Riva wondered as the sloop rotated to align itself with the MLC ring.
In all reality there was probably little the neutral could do. They made sure that the interstellar communications were disabled. And Merle had been assured that it would take weeks or even months to repair. By that time they’d be light-years away. Possibly outside of the Local Space Compact.
“People are going to ask why we didn’t kill O’kanel,” Merle said.
“You really hated your colleague that much?” the Severer asked through the audio systems. The sloop had to way to project a quantronic individual so the man was confined to the ship’s systems for now.
“No, of course not. I liked Jessen. It’s just that… well, a loose end you might say.”
“You know I have not trouble killing, but you can’t be sloppy about it. Killing a law enforcement officer would only instigate a vendetta against us. I’ve been careful only to target my direct competitors. People whose misfortunes wouldn’t give rise to any righteous indignation amid the public. This way, it will only be an embarrassment. Something that your former colleagues would rather put behind them than pursue further.”
Merle was about to inform him about how single-minded Jessen could be when the com crackled to life and that very neutral’s voice came through.
“Merle? I know you’re listening.”
“Don’t respond,” the Severer said. “There’s nothing s’he can do to us.”
“I left a short message for you on the display screen to your right, Merle,” Jessen continued. “I highly recommend you read it before activating your Drive.”
Merle did and found the fusion status display. It was small, only needing to indicate whether the sublight engines were functioning properly or not. Now it displayed the words and numbers “am 95”.
“That is the atomic number for americium, Merle,” Jessen continued as the sloop docked with the ring. “You do remember the americium, don’t you? It was kept in a lightly secured vault on the Aventuras. But it is radioactive… and it’s on your ship.”
“S’he bluffing!” the Severer blurted.
“Is s’he?” Merle replied, feeling the blood drain from his torso.
“S’he can’t possibly have planned this out this quick.”
“If s’he had found the Captain, the real Captain, yes s’he could have.”
The Severer was quiet for a few moments before he spoke again. “Then we will have to make a bluff of our own.”

Jessen was seated when the call came from the sloop. But it wasn’t Merle’s voice to came through, it was the former “Captain” of the Aventuras sounding far less congenial than before.
“I don’t think your going to kill your colleague, Constable,” the man said. “Your friend is my guest. If I’m allowed to leave he’ll be left at the next system unharmed.”
“No, I don’t think so. Merle’s been working for you. Probably has been for tyers. He’s been spending the last several months playing up your legend, then by amazing coincidence we get a tip that you’re on an inbound ship. Coincidences do happen, but there are limits. A point where plausibility becomes strained. Merle is from the same planet as you. And by my calculations he left Leandra soon after you boarded the Aventuras. And he kept referring to you as a ‘he’ before we even knew of your gender. Granted that could have been due to some kind of gender bias on his part or taking various crime statistics too literally, but coupled with the other evidence I think it’s a fair assumption he’s in your employ.”
“Are you willing to bet his life on that?”
“Well, it’s not just his life is it now? If you don’t already know, ask Merle what happens when you try to take radioactive elements into Modified Light Conversion. He’s probably in back now looking for your unexpected cargo. He’ll come back shortly saying he couldn’t find it. You’ll likely come to the conclusion that I am bluffing. The conversation should get interesting after that.”

“Well?” the Severer demanded the moment Merle returned to the cockpit.
“Nothing,” he breathed in response. “I checked everything.”
A grumble emanated from the audio systems. “Does s’he ever bluff?”
Merle took another breath. “I… I don’t know. S’he’s krap at cards, but…” He shook his head.
“What?”
“S’he likes traps. Hisser previous partner turned out to be working for the Arloe Trade Network. S’he tricked him into coming out in the open.”
“And?”
“There was a fight.” Merle looked up at the bridge’s optical orifice where the Severer would have been watching. “S’he killed him. Jessen O’kanel will kill me if s’he has to.” Merle was sweating now.

There was a jolt on the bridge and Jessen looked over to Captain Thornight questioningly.
“I’ve started our burn again,” she said. “If your friends don’t do the same, we’ll start to lose them.”
“They will,” Jessen replied. “They only have three options right now: First they could hope I’m bluffing about the americium and activate their MLC Drive. Second the Severer could try to sacrifice my soon-to-be-former colleague and try to make it to the nearest human outpost, which is eight months away at best at sublight. I’m sure Merle will object to that plan as there’s only a week or two of emergency rations onboard. Or thirdly they could surrender.”
“They could try to retake the ship,” Madesen said, looking over to himmer.
Jessen smiled. “Only if we allow them to dock. Our friends have serendipitously placed themselves in the perfect holding cell. Time is on our side here.”

“I’m going to activate the Drive, Merle,” the Severer said through the audio.
“You can’t!” Merle yelled, standing.
“My life is over in any event,” the quantronic man replied. “I’ll be erased. They don’t let people like me remain preserved. I have nothing to lose.”
“But I do!”
“Your friend is bluffing, Merle! If s’he had placed a trap like that s’he wouldn’t have told us about it. S’he would have just let us activate our Drive and let us be vaporized.”
“I said that Jessen could kill, I didn’t say s’he was a murderer,” Merle stated flatly. He took a breath and held up his hands imploringly. “Let me have one more look. The americium has t be onboard somewhere. It will take them awhile to get the communications back. We made sure of that. We have time.”
“Only a few moments,” the man responded as Merle hurried from the cockpit. “The Captain is probably already waking the crew. I’m sorry, Merle, I…”
“Just give me a moment!” Merle shrieked as he reached the first of the cargo chambers. The one where he and Jessen had stowed their gear. He emerged a moment later and started for the room where the Severer’s database had been placed.
His hand wasn’t empty.

Jessen’s attention was drawn back to Thornight as she made an appraising murmur from her panel.
“You’re friend’s started a breaking burn,” she said much to Jessen’s relief. “She’s holding position about five million klicks ahead.”
“And your crew?”
“Still waking up,” Madesen replied. “This will take time.”
Jessen hit the ship-to-ship com again. “Merle? Are you there?”
S’he waited patiently as their separation was enough now to cause significant delay between sending and receiving the signals. However this delay was longer than that making himmer worry that the Severer had done away with his underling and would try for option number two of his available plans.
“I’m here, Jessen,” Merle’s voice then said. “I’ll be surrendering when your reinforcements arrive. The Severer… The Severer’s been dealt with.”

It took the Aventuras’s crew two days to repair the interstellar communications systems and by that time the sloop had pulled back alongside the ship. And the moment that happened Jessen immediately called for assistance from Sixten. S’he also found that Tamara had been busy in the interim and had learned that the “tip” that had started the whole situation had in fact originated on the Aventuras.
It was easy enough to deduce that the Severer himself had sent it, but that still left the question of how he had gotten aboard. To Jessen’s surprise the crew reported that the transmission had originated from The City. And while the man was impersonating the Captain he still didn’t have access to her ciphers and had to use his own.
“He had done a good job erasing his files from the system,” the engineer reported to Jessen. “If it wasn’t for that we’d probably have never known he was onboard.”
“So you have a name?” Jessen asked hopefully.
“Um,” the lithe man muttered, looking at his display. “Yes. The transmission was made by a Jonas Riva.”
“Riva?” Jessen gaped.
The little man looked at himmer perplexed. “Um, assuming that was his real name.”
“It was,” Jessen breathed and the true horror of what had transpired in the sloop dawned on himmer.
“And just for the record,” Captain Thornight chimed in from her position. “I just detected the re-entry flash of your reinforcements. Judging by the light, I’d say one or two more sloops, if they’re using the same Drive.”
Jessen thanked the technician and went to join her.
“ETA?”
“Two days before they can match our velocity and deceleration curve.”
Glancing around to see if anyone was within easy earshot, Jessen continued. “And you? Will you be all right, Gloria?”
Madesen grimaced slightly. “Your Severer was able to impersonate me, but he didn’t actually compromise any of the systems. But… I was negligent of my duties so I imagine there will be a hearing over this. It wouldn’t surprise me if I’m dismissed after this.” She sighed. “I hope I get a decent severance pay out of this.” She flinched. “That was a bad pun, wasn’t it?”
“It could have been worse.” Jessen turned, leaning against the panel, and looked over the bridge. “If you want I could make inquiries about your remaining family. With the presumed loss of… what was his name?”
“Geoffrey. He was my son.”
“The loss likely affected his siblings as well. That has a tendency to change people’s priorities. When the Aventuras arrives at Sixten…”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“But I think you need it. Give it at least one more try.”
The Captain nodded. “I’ll think about it. For now I have to start cleaning up the mess I made.”

True to Thornight’s assumption there were two sloops docked with the Ring and once the Avenuras and the other sloop paused their burn they detached with one docking with Merle’s craft and the other with the main ship.
“Craft is secure,” Kaitlin Roden’s voice reported from the other ship the moment Jessen was aboard the third sloop.
“What is the status of the Severer?” the senior officer asked, seeing Jessen entering and gesturing for himmer to have a seat.
“We found his database. Looks like Merle put a shot right through it. Preliminary examination indicates someone was in there.”
“We’ll confirm that when we get home. And Constable Riva?” the senior officer replied.
“We’re going to confine him to quarters on the return trip. But he wants to have a word with O’kanel, if that’s permissible.”
The man looked to Jessen. S’he had seen him around but hadn’t met him personally. He had the reputation of being a hard but fair officer. “O’kanel?”
Jessen nodded.
“Put him on,” the man replied.
“Jessen,” Merle’s deflated voice came a moment later. “I have to know. Were you bluffing about the americium? I killed my great-great-grandfather and I have to know if it was… worth it.”
“I couldn’t let the Severer escape, Merle,” Jessen replied. “Kaitlin, are you still there?”
“I’m here, Jessen.”
“You’ll find that the First-Aid kit on the rear airlock door has been emptied and a cylinder has been placed inside. The Aventuras will be wanting that back before you head home.”
“And we have to hurry,” the senior officer added. “The Captain informs me they have to start their burn again.”
“We’ll pull in the moment you detach.”
“Anything further, O’kanel?”
Jessen sighed. “We’re done here for now.”

And it was a little over a tyer later when the Aventuras arrived at Sixten. Enough time had passed that it came in with little fanfare and only warranted a brief mention on the news due to its connection to ending the Severer’s reign of terror- which was being played up much more now than it had during his “life”.
Due to an ongoing case Jessen found that s’he couldn’t go out to the ship immediately but on hisser next day off s’he made the journey to where the massive vessel was docked.
It was rather jarring to see the previously silent craft now bustling with activity. The sleeping passengers were awake and preparing to go along their ways. New passengers were coming aboard. And cargo was being loaded and unloaded. So busy in fact that Captain Thornight didn’t even meet with Jessen immediately but had himmer wait in the Executive lounge, which did give an excellent view of Sixten’s largest moon, Arago.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Madesen said the moment she entered the room. “But we have a new passenger who’s not only phobic about MLC travel, but about going into cryosleep as well.” She stopped before Jessen who had risen from hisser seat to greet her. She looked at himmer for a moment, then reached out and pulled himmer into a hug. “How have you been?”
Jessen shrugged as s’he pulled away. “Good. Merle Riva took a plea deal so I was spared from being a witness. And you?”
Madesen sighed and took a seat. “I got a formal reprimand and I’ve been ordered to undergo counseling while I’m in this system. A virtual psychiatrist will be joining us for the return trip. But, I get to keep my command. I just hope I’m allowed to keep my hobbies.”
“You might be a little too busy for that in the near future,” Jessen said with a smile.
The Captain sat up. “Did you…?”
“An Estel Oliveras is coming in from Eyeball with her family. She’s your youngest, isn’t she?”
Madesen nodded and took a shaky breath.
“She’s bringing her grandchildren so be prepared for a lot of introductions.”
“I can’t believe… she’s actually coming?”
“My grandparent would always say that only the young had the luxury of being unyielding moralists. Estel is no longer young.”
Madesen smiled. “I’ll make this up to you. I promise.”
Jessen waved that away. “Law enforcement. I’m not allowed to accept gifts.”
“Oh, I’ll find a way.”

And she did.
Weeks later Jessen was informed that a large donation of ancient literature and visual arts had been made to the Library of Altotorre in Jessen’s name. Novels, short stories, movies, and episodic serials of every description. Everything that Madesen Thornight had collected in her travels.
Jessen perused the literary collection first seeing names like Alcott, Heinlein, Bradbury, McCaffrey, Hammett, Hutchins, Hallam, Du Pre. Some names s’he recognized, others s’he didn’t. S’he then watched the lone episode of Doctor Who and found it quite moving even though s’he didn’t know who Van Gogh was. But there was one particular movie Jessen wanted to see, though it wouldn’t be the same without Gloria in it. S’he went though the menu and found it. S’he quickly went to hisser pantry and found a snack and something to drink.
S’he then started Mi Hombre Godfrey.

***

[RJDiogenes]

I'm posting here so this will show up in my history.

Also, would you prefer to have this in the hidden Writer's Club forum?

[Lupine]

^It's fine here. Maybe it will get more views and maybe it'll spark some book sales.

[RJDiogenes]

Sure, that's great.

[RJDiogenes]

That was great-- I especially liked the last paragraph. It was nice to see Jessen again, solving another mystery, and to get a look at another aspect of his universe-- the shadowy off-the-grid world of the sublight transports. I also love the virtual reality afterlife of the Quantronic ghosts. Mi Hombre Godfrey cracked me up, but is also a sobering reminder that everything we know will one day be the equivalent of a cracked scroll at Herculaneum. But the other reason I find the part about the ancient books and movies intriguing is that it's very much like what I have in mind for Spacious Skies-- at least Professor Barnes' part of it.

Also, I don't really think it's too esoteric for publication. Granted, I've read other stories set in that world, but I think everything is sufficiently explained in context.

[Lupine]

^Thanks!

Also, I don't really think it's too esoteric for publication.

I was worried that the references to My Man Godfrey would leave most people scratching their heads. It's one of my all-time favorite films, but I'm not sure most people are familiar with it.

[RJDiogenes]

I got it immediately. I think it's a pretty well-known movie.