A Brother's Shadow: Murder, Friendship and Deception, page 28
Unlike when finding evidence, Archer did have the right to question Green as a suspect. The room he used this time was much smaller than the one used for Jenkins, Jerome and the others. Like the other room, it was dark but also felt extremely claustrophobic. Not wanting Green to have too long to work out what was going on in order to plan a defensive strategy, Archer entered the interrogation room with him. Green’s rear end had barely touched his chair before he began.
Archer pressed on his implant. ‘This interview is being recorded and may be used as evidence if this case goes to trial. You may recognise me, but my name is Francis Archer. I am the head of the ETF and have a few questions for you, Vasquez Butler. You are here as a suspect to the assassination of the Kroaton ambassador, Kirach. Hopefully, this will be over quickly. Anyway, let’s begin.’
It looked as if Green’s mind was working in overdrive as he came to terms with what was happening. He had been mentally prepared to leave with the 13th fleet to the Ramsey system the day before but had been told he needed to stay an extra day. He had been told he was needed for some questions but was not informed he was a suspect for a case closed months ago.
‘How are you doing financially at the moment? Obviously, the markets were adversely affected by the start of the war and some people were hit quite hard.’
Green looked puzzled by the question. ‘You’ve got the wrong person. I had nothing to do with what Marco did.’
‘Just answer my question,’ Archer replied.
Green shrugged. ‘The wage as a pilot is plenty big enough, but I’ve also always had shares in my father’s very prosperous leep business which has not really been affected.’
‘Yes, so you’d agree you’ve an unusually large amount of money?’
Green nodded.
‘As a pilot, I’m sure you are also aware that Vytech want to account for every gun within the civilisation, so getting personal firearms is illegal and extremely costly.’
Green again nodded.
‘So, the standard citizen would not be able to afford such items. However I was looking through your accounts and could not help but notice a very large sum being transferred to an account registered to a fringe world, a hotbed for sourcing such weapons.’
A look of disgust came over Green’s face. ‘You have no right to access my accounts!’
‘To the contrary, I have every right,’ Archer replied. ‘The question is, was it a gun you received for that money because there could be few other reasons for that transaction.’
‘This is disgraceful!’ Green yelled, rising to his feet.
‘Please sit down, Mr Butler,’ Archer said coolly.
‘I’ll take no further part in this farce,’ Green said, moving to the exit. He pulled at the door, but when it opened two bulky guards blocked his exit. Green attempted to push through but, as if carved from rock, they did not move an inch. When Green turned back around, Archer had a hologram rising from a device on the table. On the hologram it could be clearly seen that Archer had been given a permit to question Green.
Archer looked towards Green’s vacant chair. ‘You can either sit back down or I’ll get my two friends at the door to put you back on the seat. But I’d not be too rash if I was you. My friends… struggle to control their strength sometimes.’
Archer’s gaze remained on the chair and it was not long before Green again appeared in his vision and retook his seat. ‘I’ll ask again, did you purchase a gun?’
‘I’m not going to answer that,’ Green replied quietly, closing his eyes.
‘The phrase always uttered by innocent men,’ Archer jested. ‘I’m sure, with a bit more digging, I can find an answer regardless.’
‘If you won’t talk about your curious desire to all of a sudden throw a chunk of money to a fringe world, which I must admit is the only non-dull part of your spending habits, I suppose we shall move onto the day of the assassination.’ Archer paused to inspect Green’s face for any indication of fear or weakness. Green’s stare was as bitter as an unripe plum and as firm as the stone within it.
‘Where were you at the time of the assassination?’
‘I don’t remember,’ Green replied.
‘Come on, everyone remembers where they were when the alarm sounded. The station-wide alarm has literally only gone off twice since we arrived through the S.T. gate and I’m pretty sure that before that it had not gone off for years.’
‘I don’t know, I was probably in my room,’ Green said, shrugging slightly.
‘Great. So, half of what I want to know you won’t tell me and the other half you can’t remember.’ Archer began to rub his hands together. Pausing, he looked down and spoke again. ‘Maybe this will help jog your memory.’ Just as he finished, footage appeared in front of him of Green entering the Purple Hotel. Archer fast forwarded the clip to where there was a commotion due to the alarms sounding. After showing this, Archer again fast forwarded the footage and slowed it down perfectly in time to see Green walking out of the building with his head firmly angled to the floor. Archer had spent the entire time watching Green’s expression change. As the footage progressed, Green’s squint sharpened, and his mouth slowly began to unseal.
‘But I didn’t do it,’ he said, almost at a squeal.
‘I can agree you did not carry out the assassination from your room. But it would be rude not to ask why you visited the Purple Hotel on that day.’
‘My dad leases a room in the residential part of the hotel, so I often go there to check the place is still in order. I suppose I could have been there that day.’
‘No, Mr Butler, you were there that day.’
‘How would I get into the restricted section where Kirach’s room was?’ Green asked, exasperated.
‘That’s for you to tell me, but knowing the amount of money you have access to, as unfortunate as it is, a donation to the right hands would have sorted that.’
‘Go interrogate the guards then. They’ll have nothing to tell you, I can guarantee.’
Archer chuckled. ‘I’m not naïve. There are many more ways money could have been used other than bribing the guards. But yes, I will do that, unless you feel like sharing now?’
Green did not respond for over a minute, but Archer was willing to be patient. Over that minute, Green’s distress gradually built to a point where he was on the verge of breaking down. Finally, he spoke in a whimpering voice. ‘Look, I did not kill Kirach, let alone set Marco up.’ He paused to compose himself. ‘I would not be surprised if you fabricated evidence against me to save the name of that swine and at the end of the day there’s not much I can do against the disgrace you are.’ His voice was still wet with fear, but Green’s final words contained an undertone of steel. ‘But be warned, I will get my father’s lawyers on you for whatever this is, and they will force you into the dirt like one of the millions of leep plants we bury every year.’
Archer folded his arms and looked to Green with a broad smile. ‘Unfortunately for you, not only are we not done here, but also, money may get you through a doorway, but this is Vytech. It won’t help you avoid the truth in court.’
The pair stared at each other, trying to read the integrity of their threats and whether they should be concerned. Archer was about to move onto his next questions involving the backpacks, which he hoped would fully break Green, when there was a firm set of knocks on the door. Frustrated by the interruption, he quickly got up and went to see what it was.
When Archer opened the door, he couldn’t immediately see who was there. One of the security guards moved his head sideways to indicate where the person was. In the corridor, Admiral Gray was staring at a photo of the Vytech Earth Headquarters. As Archer approached, Gray began to speak.
‘Quite a beauty isn’t she,’ he said, his eyes fondly gazing at the tri-towers of the headquarters. The towers’ dark tinted glass was wrapped in white material which curled up around them like a flame caught in a vortex.
‘Yes, I have always wanted to visit Earth and see the tri-towers with my own eyes,’ Archer replied.
‘It is a shame it’s so difficult to get onto Earth these days.’
Archer grunted in agreement. ‘I do apologise, sir, but what are you here about? I need to get back to questioning my suspect.’
Gray turned to Archer with a dazed expression, as if he had just returned to their reality. ‘Ah yes, unfortunately Squadron Leader Pirretti lost his life in the first engagements with Kroatons in the Ramsey system. Obviously, he will need a replacement and being that they were your squadron, you know them best and they look up to you. So, I’ve got you a place on the next ride to the S.T. gate. You must leave immediately to make sure you don’t miss the shuttle.’
Archer was stunned and even though there were a thousand words he wanted to say, his mouth only managed to splutter a few noises. After giving himself time to collect himself, he finally spoke. ‘But, sir, this can’t be right. I don’t want this. Surely there’s someone more suitable? I run the ETF. I can’t suddenly become a squadron leader again. It’s not protocol.’
‘This is war; there’s no time for protocol. Just having the Saviour of the Blue Star present could turn the tide,’ Gray said in his smooth voice.
‘But my suspect—’
‘Is of little importance.’
‘Well, he’s not leaving.’
‘Have you got anything to charge him with?’ Gray asked.
‘Not yet, but he’s about to break, I know it, and then I’ll find his backpacks and prove what he did.’
‘You can’t hold him,’ Gray said without changing his tone but bringing across an air of assertiveness.
Archer could not help but argue. ‘But he’ll dispose of the evidence in the backpacks and stop his meetings with the supplier. The trail will go—’
Gray raised a single finger which instantly stopped Archer in his explanation. ‘You can’t hold him.’
Archer clenched his fists as he tried to restrain his emotion. Taking a breath, he ran a hand through his hair. Gray looked over him with a slight scowl. ‘Do I have to remind you, we are Vytech and not like the miscreant Horizon.’
‘Well, as squadron leader, I suspend him from duty,’ Archer said sarcastically.
‘Okay,’ Gray replied.
‘What about Emily?’ Archer asked. Gray looked confused. ‘My wife and mother of my child.’
Gray went into thought mode, moving his tongue within his mouth. ‘Oh, her. If you run, you can say goodbye.’
35.
Marco and Jill were crowded together by the cooker, chopping vegetables for their next meal. Manny was sitting at their feet and was putting small scraps, which had fallen, into a range of patterns. It was midday but the lights were on inside due to a rampant dust storm which had been smothering the sunlight for over a day.
While chopping at a lumpy, orange vegetable, Marco spoke. ‘I think this storm is my chance.’
‘You can’t be serious?’ Jill replied, accidently knocking a piece of her vegetable to the floor.
‘Yellow,’ Manny croaked from beneath them as he gathered up his new prize.
‘How on earth do you even plan on gettin’ back in there?’ Jill said, forcing Manny back with her hand so she could take back the piece she had dropped. Manny squawked in complaint but did nothing to stop her.
‘When I was in the embassy, I found a piece of paper that indicated that a rover leaves every Monday. Tomorrow is a Monday and yes, I’ve no idea if they will still leave in this storm, but if they do, I could sneak through the gate as it opens.’
Jill put down her knife and turned to Marco. Lightning crackled outside, lighting up the side of her face. ‘You must be the most reckless person I ever met,’ she said with her hands on her hips. ‘And I’m as shocked as you that I’m sayin’ that to a V-clone.’
Marco shrugged. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
‘I’m not sure what it was meant to be,’ Jill replied. ‘Even say you somehow get through, then what?’
Marco angled his head from one side to another. ‘Improvise, I guess.’
Jill let out a lengthy hum. ‘You sure about this?’
‘I can’t sit around like a lamb waiting for slaughter, and this is as good a chance as I’ll get.’
‘Well, okay then, guess for first time in a while I be goin’ to the domes alone tomorrow. If there’s anythin’ I’ve learnt while you been here, there ain’t much point disagreein’ with you.’
‘Glad that’s settled then.’ Marco smiled before turning back to his vegetables.
At the supposed crack of dawn the next day, Marco was camped across the road from the Vytech Embassy. With him was a rope stringing together a series of oxygen tanks. He had no idea how long he would have to wait but refused to give up due to lack of oxygen. Visibility was extremely poor, but from his position, Marco could still just about make out the base of the wall. He was using a large blanket as a cloak as it blended into the dirt extremely well. Due to the size of the canisters, he had to leave all but one of them where he was so that, when by the wall, he would be sure to fit under the cloak. Wind whipped around him viciously, throwing his cloak into a flapping banner behind him. In his suit it sounded like he was in the downdraft of a helicopter.
Marco was unsure how intense the security at the embassy was. If it was a military base, they would have endless types of cameras and sensors which would detect him almost instantly. However, being an embassy in an unimportant city on an almost abandoned planet, he doubted it was too extreme. He had noticed a small handful of guards still patrolled the exterior in the storm, but the drones they were usually accompanied by were not present. Since discovering his loss of strength and skill on his last trip to the embassy, Marco was more averse to combat than usual. However, as Jill and Bon slept, he had been training intensely.
Marco took a deep breath through his suit and, on his haunches, scuttled across the road. He dived against the wall and threw his cloak over himself in one swift action. There was a clank as his canister impacted the wall, but the noise was lost among the raucousness of the raging storm. Fortunately, the wall provided good shelter from the wind, so his cloak only gently rippled over his back, meaning he was almost invisible.
Over the next few minutes, Marco slowly shuffled along the base of the wall until he was metres from the gate. There he waited for hour upon hour, occasionally making the trip back to switch oxygen canister. He was waiting for so long that he started to lose faith. It was highly possible the intel he had discovered was outdated or that he had missed the rover when he went back for oxygen, or even as he had considered before, the sandstorm had halted the plans. Guards had walked past several times, but they had not noticed Marco against the wall.
Another few hours passed and on Marco’s next trip back he realised he only had two canisters left, including the one he was attaching to his suit. He could not comprehend how this had occurred, although if he did run out, then the rover was not likely to appear. Disheartened, he returned to his spot by the gate.
Marco was ravenous. With his visor buried into the dirt, he laughed to himself. He was immensely bored from spending hours gazing at occasionally shifting particles yet protest to the activity had not entered his mind. On Aurum Terra, if his parents had simply told him to practise his mathematics for half an hour, he would resist with vigour. Marco’s mind drifted to the sensation of Vardova’s natural, warm breeze. He longed for it like nothing he could have comprehended back then. Suddenly, he was pulled from his daydream by a large clunk. With immense glee, Marco watched the two parts of the gate slide apart. Lightning dazzled his eyes and the instantaneous thunder signalled him to make his move. Before the gate was fully open, he was by one of the sides it retracted into. With his amplifier, he could just make out the buzz of the rover and a radio conversation coming from it. The rover could not have been more than a few metres away, but it was hidden behind the gate. A wheel appeared. Marco held his breath. He had attempted to cover himself with his cloak, but as he peered at the emerging rover through a small gap between the cloak and the ground, he had no idea how hidden he actually was.
The crunching, caused by the wheels crushing the dirt, ceased, along with Marco’s breathing. Dust being blown into Marco’s visor intensified, momentarily blinding him completely. There was a thud as a person leaped out of the buggy followed by crunching footsteps. Marco’s field of view was very limited, but he saw legs passing right by him before going out of sight.
‘It’s here!’ a voice shouted over the storm.
Soon, the legs passed Marco again, and the person once again boarded the buggy. As the wheels began to roll, Marco sneaked through the open gate. On the other side, a guard post had a clear view of him, but fortunately, the guard inside was focused on a tender spot on the back of his hand.
Through the gate, Marco pushed straight towards a faint silhouette he assumed to be the embassy entrance. He did not have a set plan, but the longer he hung around, the more likely he would be caught. Gradually, more details of the building were revealed. He could see the beginning of an airlock which usually led to security on the other side where suits would be removed. Marco’s heart jumped as he noticed someone in Vytech gear standing at the seal to the airlock. Fortunately for Marco, the person was currently attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to get their face scanned. It was a comical sight that provided a minor respite for Marco as the person leaned forward with their visor forced against the scanner. They were clearly unaware of the button glowing by their right shoulder that would hail security to let them in.
Mercifully, the doors eventually parted, and the person walked through, throwing their arms to their side like a toddler having a tantrum. Marco darted in behind him, squeezing through the gap as the doors sealed. Inside the airlock, his vision returned in its entirety and the small amount of dust that had followed them fell to the floor. The person had heard Marco’s entrance and turned with an astonished expression.
