DEADWALKER SUBDIVISION (SAMPLE)

SAMPLE CHAPTER 2

They entered a hall with thick double doors that closed behind them and a small chime told him they were off the air, not being recorded, and completely isolated. He checked his neural net, running his own surveillance app, and then took her by the arm.

"Let's get one thing straight, little girl, I'm here to catch a killer and despite your popularity and good looks," he ran his glare up and down her exquisite form, "you are guilty in my book, until proven otherwise. Is that clear?" Fortunately for him the cameras were off or his popularity would have tanked.

She bit her lip and held back a tear, remembering what she'd been through in the past. Slowly the determination returned and she pulled away. "I can manage myself, thank you very much.

Jet was impressed at her emotional control. He had to size her up, get to know her character from more than a video clip or fan blog. Still, he was irritated at having to travel so far to protect her. "You have six months to get over it. Now, let's move. The freighter Armonann is waiting and it's costing you a pretty penny to hold over." Inside he was kicking himself. Under different circumstances he might have considered being nicer, but he couldn't let her cloud his judgment. Not now, not ever. He was a bloodhound when it came to solving a murder, and his integrity had been challenged in every way imaginable. Black mail, sex, money, and idle threats to what family he had. That was a joke since he really had no family to speak of, except his Uncle Artage. But he had never succumbed to being influenced in an investigation, so he couldn't get soft now.

They moved past the second set of doors where tiny cameras hovered at every corner. A silent drone flew overhead and he could see the feed she constantly played from her own perspective, as if he was inside her mind looking out. "You really like the entire Galaxy watching your every move?"

"Since I was a baby there has been constant monitoring," her mood shifted and she skipped ahead, flashing a smile over her shoulder. "What's the difference if my people know what their leader is doing?" She was in her element and she was unashamed, while Jet felt old, as if society had passed him by, but he brushed the feeling aside. Something else was stirring, long dormant, since the death of his first wife. He pushed that memory aside as well, and any thoughts towards the little girl in front of him. She was only ten years younger, but he didn't entertain the notion. This was work and there was a long road in front of them.

"There are many shows like yours which charge a lot of money to watch, but yours is the favorite by far. Are you an attention junkie?"

"I have all I need and it's not about the money, silly. This is real. Have you watched my feed?" He had for a couple hours, boring stuff like any politician, but she seemed to make the best of every circumstance. They entered an air car which brought them directly to the spaceport. He'd been here a few hours ago, and the freighter was waiting out on the black carbon tarmac. He checked his blaster and set it to hard stun even though there was a private security detail to the rear.

"Follow my lead just in case." She could see the worry in his face, the way his eyes drew up into tiny crow's feet, and when he got out, he hit the ground running. "Move it."

"I can manage on my own," she pulled free and kept an even pace onto the freighter. Once on board the ramp closed behind them and they were alone in the darkness.

"From here on out you need to do as I say."

"I've killed aliens before, I think I can take care of myself," she hissed. In the dark, his other senses kicked in, the way she smelled up close, the rustle of her dress, the shallow breathing of light exertion, strong but not labored. She was in good shape despite her girly appearance. He felt her hand brush his face, searching to get her bearings. It was warm and light, catching him off guard.

"Come on," he grunted, taking her wrist and stumbling towards the light. He showed her to a small cabin, pulling up a chair while she sat on the bunk. He laid back and tried to gather his thoughts but his mind wandered. He could feel the freighter pressing against the paltry gravity of a planet being rebuilt one hopper ship at a time. He knew the first alien war had seen Sigon Six completely destroyed, but none of that concerned him. The capital planet was thriving now. On a galactic scale, even his complex mind crumbled in an attempt to comprehend everything happening. He narrowed his focus to the task at hand, recalling the crime scene like it was yesterday, though it had been sixty six days since the pungent smell of blood had sucker punched him in the gut. Photographic memory was a misnomer in this day and age because it was simply a matter of accessing his neural network and running through the files stored in his head. These were the ones with vivid detail he experienced the first time he saw them. Zoom, panning, auto focus down to a million dpi, it was better than the best high definition because he saw the images as if he were standing in the room. For him, his neural net was like a dusty table full of old files and pictures which he could rummage through at will.

Pon-shea was laying on the bed now, eyes closed. "This murder seems very personal, don't you think?"

"Yes," he agreed. "The victim was Jason Knobb, founder of tech giant Pippen. He was a clone to be sure, but human nonetheless."

"Cloning of ancient DNA has only recently come into its own," she said. "Many of the large tech companies revived their founders in an effort to rekindle the creative genius to which they owe their success. Some believe these clones are nothing more than meat for the glue factory, but under Galactic Law they are human."

Jet knew history well, starting from the intellectual age on old earth over nine thousand years ago, when big name start up's like Intel, Microsoft, and Apple were tadpoles in a puddle of water. The neural network adapter by Apple interfaced directly with a person's mind like a hot knife through butter. It was intuitive to the human thought process and utilized dormant portions of the brain for storage. Jet knew Steve Job's dream of touching the human heart had gone a step further with the Mind-pod which touched the human spirit, until Pippen came along. In the tech savvy race for galactic expansion, the smaller firms which had spurred development allowing humans to leave old earth were crushed under the competitive nature of the new market. Nine thousand years later, Steve Jobs had been cloned in the form of Jason Knobb, with all his quirks and idiosyncrasies.

But now Jason Knobb was dead. Jet turned to Pon-shea pouting next to him. Could someone as striking as her know anything about history? "Did you realize Pippen stripped the older company it resembled and destroyed everything which it represented?"

"Of course, that cut throat business model is one reason my Subdivision is a free society," she smiled and gave him a taste of his own medicine. "Jason Knobb was no nicer than the man from who he was cloned, Steve Jobs. Ruthless to a fault, his insufferable attitude towards running Pippen left many people and relationships by the wayside. But none of that mattered to Jason Knobb. He wanted to see the ultimate human/machine interface honed to a seamless nature. He wanted to go beyond the original dream and touch the human spirit."

"Seems like the neural net adapter is as efficient as it will ever be," said Jet.

"Jason said there's always room for improvement. He hinted at the next best thing, a quantum leap in communication."

Jet filed that away for future reference. "So tell me why you went to see him in the first place?"

"He'd been hounding me incessantly since we drove the Baird aliens from my home Subdivision. We call it Ketty's Subdivision now. He said he wanted to strike a deal to legalize Dark Matter transmissions and incorporate his neural net technology into our society, as if we need him?" Jet noticed the childish defiance behind those eyes, like she was one upping a classmate on the playground.

"That's a long way to travel for something you already have illegally."

"It's not illegal, it's fair."

"By Galactic Law your Subdivision has broken every copyright and patent law known to man."

She fidgeted under his penetrating gaze, until finally blurting out, "Ok, it was a date. He asked me out on a date and I accepted."

"You traveled twenty four thousand light years and two quarter light year jumps to go on a date?"