I NEED A HERO (𝓒𝓞𝓜𝓟𝓛𝓔𝓣𝓔)

CHAPTER TWENTY

The morning started out much the same as previous mornings - with coffee, pastries and flowers in her vase. Yet Nemera was aware of something subtly different in her outlook.

You learned a lot about a person gaming with them. Tau Zuberi had a quick mind and good instincts. He was fair minded and ethical, and could be counted on in a pinch. And, while she would never have believed it two months ago, they had a great deal in common, including their core values and what they wanted from life. Orr had been right - he was damned near perfect.

Tau had stirred her instincts from the first. Now he had touched her heart as well, and that was a first for her. It was, she admitted, rather scary. Yet she knew she could not settle for less than a full emotional commitment, so she had to take the chance. She was encouraged by his apparent understanding of the difference in her makeup, while at the same time he was undisturbed by her hybrid quirks.

This morning a pink rose had joined the carnation and the red rose in her vase. The inference of something deeper and fuller added to the passion and attraction made her smile. He seemed inclined to take his time and let things develop naturally, and since she knew he was staying in Simaliki, she didn't mind that.

Once the guys arrived in the case room, however, there was little time for romantic speculations. Their searches for Rakshasa's residence had to be narrowed to a minimum, with data and evidence for each place they wanted to surveil if they were to get the proper warrants for it. By mid-afternoon judicious probing helped them narrow their initial list from around thirty to ten. Out of those, they would ask for drones to watch eight of them, while they would have manned surveillance on the two most likely.

Within 2 days they had eliminated four of the residences, and Nemera and Tau had another cycle ride with dinner and dancing and another round of online gaming. That left six with drones along with the two under manned surveillance and one love struck detective - or more likely two.

On day three Sekani Prass called them to her office, where they were surprised to find Xavier Anais lounging in a chair, a briefcase at his feet. Captain Prass welcomed them in, then shut the door behind them.

"Mr. Anais has brought some of Eamon's latest devices for us to try out," said the captain, "But I'll let him explain." She sat down behind her desk and nodded to the entrepreneur.

"First," said Anais, setting the case on the corner of the desk, "let me assure you that, although these devices are technically prototypes still, they do work perfectly." He opened the case and pulled out a small plastic case. Inside were several plastic disks. "These are something we've been working on for three years. We finally perfected the miniaturization while maintaining the durability of the circuits." He handed each detective and Captain Prass one of the disks.

"These are alternating frequency trackers," he explained. "But unlike the ones currently available, they don't simply switch frequencies in a rotation. These trackers have a check and feedback circuit that detects any jamming and switches almost immediately to a non-jammed frequency. Combined with our spread spectrum receivers, they enable you to track these units anywhere despite the presence of jamming signals, whether intentional or accidental. They will work even with multiple frequency jammers.

"Each disk is backed with a super strong waterproof adhesive. They can be stuck inside clothing, on the back of a belt or even to the skin. You can put them under the insole of a shoe or inside a boot and they will come to no harm. They're waterproof, dust-proof and unaffected by temperature variances. In short, they are practically indestructible for a minimum of two weeks.

"Now these ..." Anais pulled out a small box from which he took what appeared to be small squares of paper with a round sticker on them. "These are low frequency microdot trackers. They are designed to be stuck to the expandable memory chip in personal comms, at which point they become almost invisible. They transmit a signal in a frequency far lower than anything used in any current appliance or device, which means that the chances of them being jammed are practically non-existent. However, they can be found easily with the companion receiving device. They transmit even if the comm is turned off or destroyed, unless the dot itself is burned, crushed or otherwise demolished.