Why Not Murder

27. Precautions

27. Precautions

When Maya woke up the next morning before sunrise, she found Dog had been up all night working at his computer. He was desperate. The police realized that their system had been hacked and were taking further precautions while this was being investigated. It was someone else, not Dog, whose hacking the police found. Dog was able to find out who the hacker was and sent him an email from one of the police email addresses so that it would appear to the recipient that the police investigator had sent it. The email said 'we know what you did'. Dog hoped the hacker would do whatever it took so that he would not be apprehended by the police.

Dog told Maya that he had received an email for her from Patty saying to drop in on them today and gave an approximate time. After that, Dog deleted his email addresses. He kept his business website up, because his clients needed some way to get in touch with him but he was seriously considering taking it down as well. He also disabled his cell phone.

"You're taking very defensive measures," Maya said, "obviously because you consider them warranted."

"Definitely so," Dog said, "I need to go completely off grid and live a life where I am untraceable but I can't let go quite yet. My life is being ruined yet again. I love my business. The police have already begun interviewing all the people who stayed on our ancestral lands in spite of the pollution and disaster. Some have been taken into custody for no other reason than they are possible suspects because they fit a profile. Such a general profile it would cover all adults. They even took Blind Joe into custody on the basis that since he's blind, he may have been privy to information others weren't!"

"Do you think your parasite sub-internet may be discovered?" Maya asked.

"I'm not taking any chances there," Dog said, "I have already disabled it and destroyed all its physical components to a point they cannot even be recognized as computer parts. But now, it means we are ignorant of what's going on with the police or about anything else."

"We will have to go back to the old ways," Maya said and gave Dog a big hug which he reciprocated. "We will always have each other," Maya added and Dog gave her an additional squeeze. It was time to go for the train and Maya left saying she would be by when she returned.

The train ride was smooth with no delays although several armed police were walking up and down inside the train, moving from car to car. Once in the city she went to the address of Dark-Sky, one of the names on the police short list. Maya found that he lived in a room on the top of a four-story rooming house. It wasn't really a full room, but a landing at the top of the stairwell that led outside onto the roof. There was a dilapidated mattress on the floor and a old computer with a Milky Way screen saver. A telescope on a stand was on the other side of the stair top. Dark-Sky was putting a roof board back in place.

"Keeping my telescope under cover, in case it rains," Dark-Sky said, "I know you!," he exclaimed, "Maya! At long last! Do not talk of the past, unless it be of the night sky, the only honest representation of the past that exists. Otherwise, it's only now and future possibilities." Maya was happy that he was so obviously pleased to see her. They had been friends while they were neighbours for a time when they were seven and six years old. Even back then, Dark-Sky was looking through tubes pretending they were telescopes and they would talk of the stars and the center of the galaxy.

"I notice you have a computer," Maya said, "so I assume you have heard about the attack and executions."

"I only use that to participate on an astronomy forum I'm a member of," Dark-Sky said, "What are you talking about?"

Dark-Sky's computer was on, tuned to the forum. Maya called up a new tab and searched for news items on the executions. Dark-Sky was shocked and asked, "Who are they?" turning to Maya with heavy ridges appearing between his black eyebrows pushing upwards.