Star Law: A Marshal Cole Series

Chapter 16 (d)

Adjani brought Goroshenko out of his reverie. "It's time," he said.

Goroshenko placed the cards down where he was sitting and then closed his eyes. Using the same process that he used in the beginning, he visualized where he was going. There were different ways to apport at least if he compared himself to the late Ulfson but his way involved knowing where he was going, knowing something of the lay-out and then rising up from his body and travelling in spirit to that place. He never used the word spirit though. He referred to it as "essence."

It was just a few moments after his eyes were closed that he began to reach a state where his breathing and heartbeat slowed to an almost imperceptible level. His body temperature actually began to drop. It was in this instance that his mind felt freer and sharper than at any other time.

He stood up and looked down at himself. Others might find that disconcerting but Goroshenko found it re-assuring. He could see Adisa and Adjani in realtime watching him seated at the table. They were oblivious to his essence as he passed by them with a snarl.

The act of apportation for Goroshenko was not dissimilar to a mindwalk. Quite simply, it was like taking a stroll. He stood up and walked around while his body stayed behind. In this non-corporeal state, door, walls and decks were meaningless. He drifted through them effortlessly. Once outside the room his body was in, he made his way down the corridor. Singh had found space on the same deck to create their poker room so making way to Aubrey Chase Chen's cabin was merely navigating down a series of connecting corridors.

It was always strangely quiet doing a mindwalk. While he could see, he could not touch, hear, smell or taste anything in his essence state. Gaulle had once said he believed Goroshenko capable of it but he was still wedded to certain rules that limited him from doing so. It was annoying that anyone could know or even have an opinion of what he could and could not do. However, at the very end, Ulfson was able to hear as well as see when he travelled. It was Gaulle's pushing that eventually killed him.

None was noticed as he continued to drift down the corridor. A chambermaid felt nothing as he passed right through her. A droid was completely unaware. He was quickly reaching the halfway point. This was a critical juncture and he paused. If trouble ensured, Adisa or Adjani would shake him and he could "snap back" to his body. There was no other way to put it than that. Unlike the trip outward which was a mindwalk, the trip back was instant and immediate.

He was about 5 minutes of travelling in essence. His maximum was about 10 minutes although he'd gone as much as 15 minutes but never told Gaulle. In terms of distance the entire length of the ship was possible for him to navigate. From point to point, he only needed to traverse about 150 meters. He was taking his time though and was about 25 meters from his destination. When no sign of trouble snapped him back, he proceeded ahead.

There was no returning to his original position now. Good, bad or impossible, he would have to appport somewhere after the halfway point. He moved a little more quickly at this point down a corridor and then a little turn until he was at the node of his destination. He saw the police tape around Chen's cabin but this was no obstacle to him as he moved through the door.

The devastation inside made him pause. He had seen the pictures but the amount of blood and debris was substantial. This was the moment of truth time. Before apporting, he had to situate himself for when he materialized. The only sense he could rely on to him he wasn't partially inside a solid object was vision. Goroshenko in his essence form looked all around him to ensure that he was clear of everything. Gaulle believed it was physically impossible for him to apport inside and object; that somehow something inside him would sense it and not allow it to happen. That was possible but it never stopped him from being certain he was in an open spot every time.

When he was certain, he apported. To Adisa and Adjani, it would seem that Gorosehenko disappeared from the poker room in the bat of an eye. And this was true. His apportation was instant and he appeared in the center of Chen's cabin. He was fully dressed. There was a bubble of space around him that apported at same time. It didn't extend far. It allowed for clothes, small arms in holsters, comms, and electronics in pocket pouches. He once tried to take a briefcase and came back only with the handle. Likewise a large backpack was split in half.

Goroshenko took a breath once inside the cabin. It smelled of copper. Blood. The lights, what were left of them were powered down and the room was illuminated by the Black Adder Cloud. It was ill named because at times the purples and blues created surreal pattern similar to the northern lights. It was this glow that showed the eerie devastation in the room.

The bed had been stripped and removed along with many personal items. Still, clothing hung in the closet, toiletries in the washroom and other items belong to Chen. Not everything was removed from a crime scene once the perimeter was set. It simply would be overload. The gathering of evidence was focused on collecting material related to the crime and victim and suspect identification. Given that it was possible to miss something, the scene was sealed for further forensics if needed.

Goroshenko looked down at the floor. It was a mess of dried blood. He reminded himself that all of his clothes would have to be recycled. There was insufficient light so he pulled out a pen torch and shone it down at the floor. Thankfully, he knew what to look for from the photos. He examined the bed table to the right of the bed. Sure enough, there was a handle of a brush barely visible behind the table. With so much littered around the cabin, it was something easy enough to overlook or disregard in the context of the investigation.

Picking up the brush, he noted it was an ornate handle and something created by an artisan and not nanufactured. There was blood on the handle. Goroshenko bagged it and placed in a pouch at the small of his back. He had retrieved the item Gaulle wanted in less than a minute and a half. He took a final look around the room and the stood center and closed his eyes and apported. At no time did he notice the hidden camera in the corner of the room which turned on the moment he entered the room.