The first interplanetary detective

Chapter 5. The Will

Bernard trimmed the stubble and changed the yellow hoodie for a green one. He looked much better. Only the reddened eyes showed others that he had a hard night. And he had quite the morning!

From time to time, blue trees and amber houses flashed behind the window of the car. However, Alisa had no desire to look at the beauty of Irbug. Her mood already wasn't fantastic, but detective Rasek made it even worse. He seemed intent on awarding Bernard, the first place in the list of suspects. Why did he take away pills and the shirt? Why did the friend make her lie to the police? How does all this relate to Tornor? There were a dozen questions in Alisa's head, but she decided not to ask Bernard yet. Let him get over morning's stress, and then he would tell her everything in detail.

The sun shone brightly, but it was not hot. A cool breeze flew into the car through the open windows, blew pleasantly over Alisa's face and ruffled her hair. Jeans were still slightly wet after yesterday's story in the shower, but Alisa did not want to wear shorts to the official event.

"Are you sure that I won't be there in the wrong place?" She asked timidly.

"Don't be silly," said Bernard. "You'll meet my brother. Besides, you like to learn aliens traditions, don't you?"

"I do," Alisa looked out the window and quietly added: "But I like more fun traditions."

They fell silent. Bernard watched the road. And Alisa remembered that once she had read an article by a Belarusian blogger. Twice a year the guy went to Irbug for several months, collected information about local customs and wrote a report. In his words, irbugmen didn't say goodbye to their dead. At all. They cremated bodies in hospitals and disposed of the ashes. No graves and no funerals as well.

But irbugmen made a testament and didn't hide it. Instead, they stored the last will on a secure server. Relatives might read the document any time, but only his owner could redact it. Some irbugmen closed access to their will, but it was unconventional.

A red dot lit up on the windshield. Bernard stopped the car.

"Is it a traffic light?" Alisa guessed.

"It is."

The first Irbugish car concept was presented on Earth three months ago. Since then, humans debated whether to change the steering wheel, which they were accustomed to, into spherical steering.

Alisa watched Bernard's hand was gliding over the matt-white sphere, and she thought that the Irbugish technology was universal. The car seemed to be racing along the road by itself. Bernard only occasionally shifted his hand from side to side. He pressed on the sphere to slow down and moved his hand forward to accelerate. There were no pedals or gearboxes. And it looked convenient. But the wheel still seemed more familiar.

What Alisa would definitely like to have was the screen, demonstrating everything happening outside of visibility. And she adored the road scheme which was shown on the windshield.

They drove onto a broad, eight-lane highway. Bernard's car moved at a speed of one hundred to one hundred and twenty kilometres per hour. Alisa jerked whenever other cars flashed from the left side. Compared with them, Bernard hardly moved.

"How is your courier career going?" He turned his head slightly in her direction.

"Nothing new," shrugged Alisa. "I go through the Gate, deliver messages and get fees. Everyone happy."

"What about parents? Did you tell them?"

Alisa's hand itself reached for the pendant. A small silver house was hiding behind the collar of a T-shirt. When her parents gave her a gift for the twenty-fourth birthday, Alisa realized that she would never be able to tell them the truth. "I design houses, and you sell them," said her dad, handing a box tied with a red bow. "Who knows, maybe one day, we will work together."