Cosmosis

Fruit

(Starspeak)

For the first time since we arrived, Pudiligsto had blue skies.

Not that they weren’t also filled with thick clouds, but there was at least some sun peeking through. Bonus, most of it had shone on Cadrune’s estate.

It left my minions some stellar lines of sight.

Johnny said.

he replied.

Yeah, psionics opened up new possibilities for pattern analysis and codebreaking. Alan Turing would have killed for even a fraction of our schtick.

<…Try to get a look at the ground of the patrol paths,> I asked.

he said.

“Hey Caleb!” one of the munchkins yelled.

“What, Bryce?” I sighed. A little too wearily. Kids could smell weakness.

“Catch!”

A water-balloon sailed straight for my face. My fingers snatched at it on reflex, right on target. But the balloon burst on my hand and sprayed me with water.

It took all my patience and magnanimity to pretend I was unbothered by my sudden soaking.

“Very rude,” I said. “I’m not playing.”

“But hey, if you want him to…” Tasser said, almost sing-song, “just keep at it.”

Water-balloon fights were something of a staple among the youngest abductees. Not just among the Flotilla crew either. Last year, an Archo newspaper had written a piece on Nora and the Mission’s water-balloon games.

It was one of the safer ways we’d found to practice Adeptry, and it could be fun for more than just the Adept kids too. Water was a simple material to make, and adding the challenge of creating the balloons pre-filled posed just the right amount of difficulty to be stimulating without being frustratingly impossible.

Cleanup was so easy that eight munchkins could stomp around the cargo bay and only leave a mess that could be cleaned literally with a thought.

The days festivities had brought the youngsters outside though, supervised by Tasser, Nemuleki, and myself. A few minutes ago I’d heard talk of fishing in the spaceport’s reservoir…I’d have to make sure that was allowed.

Goodness knows we were certainly getting up to plenty that wasn’t allowed today.

So far we were already guilty of (probably) illegal surveillance, wiretapping, definitely a dozen or so counts of stalking. All not even before lunch.

And depending on how Jordan’s task evolved, there would more than likely be some breaking and entering before supper.

I asked Jordan.

<…Wait, really? How?>

It took a few seconds for her to properly route the video through psionics, but grainy video flickered into my mind. The view was high up, overlooking a small park of townhomes. At first glance, it seemed like the drone was perched atop a building across the street. But…no, it was in one of the many trees interwoven through the neighborhood.

The picture was really grainy though.

<…Is the camera on the drone stock?>

I complained.

Donnie said.

Jordan chastised.

I asked.

I sank into the lounge chair I’d materialized on the Jack’s floating launch platform. Honing my mass limit had been so worth it. The difference between materializing twenty kilograms and forty was night and day in terms of options. A comfy-yet-sturdy chair like this one on demand?

Bliss.

Tasser and Nemuleki were a bit more active than I was in corralling the kids, staying on their feet, and at least partially participating in the nonsense they were getting up to.

Horsing around on a spaceport launch pad would normally be a horrible idea, but the airspace was shut down for the day due to the region’s weather, even if our specific local weather was pleasant and clear.

Some of the kids were taking to skipping stones across the reservoir. Someone in the spaceport tower control had noticed the activity too and sent a query to the ship. They were satisfied knowing the stones were Adept-made though.

Right, dumping permanent matter would affect the reservoir over time and surely broke codes. Honestly throwing in exotic matter probably did too. But even the spaceport staff could be kind and accommodating with kids at play.

Sid had mentioned the munchkins being very cooperative, respectful, and downright interested in the tour of the spaceport they’d received days ago.

Tasser was losing a shouting match with Peyton and Ulrich about why swimming would not be tolerated even if fishing might be on the table…when the ship’s inbox received another query from the tower.

It read ‘visitors?’.

Oh? Two Vorak asking for me…Psionically inscrutable…carried themselves like experienced Adepts.

I asked, sending the signal toward the concourse.

Mav said.

I asked.

It was a small hassle going back and forth with the M&Ms and spaceport security on how the two of them could be allowed through, but once again the staff were very cooperative when I said I trusted the two Vorak.

A couple minutes later, Macoru’s motorcycle came to a halt atop the levee encircling the reservoir.

“What’s this?” her brother asked, strolling down the gangway. “Looks like a lazy day.”

“Does illegal surveillance count?” I asked.

“It could. Depends on how relaxing it is, I suppose.”

“Well we’re stuck in a ‘hurry up and wait’ stage on all our goals. But it’s not so bad. The kids are enjoying the day, even if we can’t go out in the city today.”

“Why not?” Macoru asked—no,

The Macoru Simulacrum in Mav’s head had asked.

I frowned.

“Oh don’t do that,” I sighed. “I’m already watching camera feeds and trying to pay attention to what Nai’s cascade is feeling for…”

“Sorry,” Macoru—the real one—chuckled. “But what’s the problem with going out today?”

“Too many moving parts,” I said. “Nai, and Johnny are sitting on Cadrune’s place looking for signs of Ingrid’s doctor making an appearance, while Donnie and Jordan are watching Cadrune Pothi’s last known address.”

“Pothi…isn’t that Cadrune’s kid?” Mavriste asked. “They’re tied up with Ingrid?”

“Nope,” I said. “Well, maybe. We dug up their name searching for the corpse. They’re involved in the accounting of it all.”

“Oh, that accountant. I heard about that,” Mavriste nodded.

“You did?”

“You have your law enforcement contacts, we have ours,” he said sagely.

“Well I just don’t want the kids running around the city while we’re trying to sniff around,” I said. “Besides, our [bench] is thin right now because the rest of our crew are—”

I cut myself off.

“…Are?”

“Doing something confidential,” I said. “Unrelated to you, but y’know.”

“Opsec,” Mav nodded. “Indeed, indeed.”

“Well we came to offer our services,” he said.

“…With?”

“Ingrid, your corpse hunt, whatever,” he said. “We were planning on offering the city our psionic skills to help coordinate preparation for the hurricane’s second landfall, but it seems someone scoured that eel-hole.”

“Scoured the eel-hole?” I asked, utterly aghast.

“Yeah,” Macoru frowned. “Yank the eel out of the hole and scorch the inside before the next diver can get there and…steal the… eggs.”

“I’m not even going to begin peeling away the layers on that,” I said. “What about the rest of your people?”

“Ah, we’ve put them to work. Repairing roads, draining flooding. All the heavy labor: the kind of work you hate while you’re doing it, but miss really badly when you’re getting shot at instead.”

I snorted.

“And you would never think to stoop to the same back breaking labor as your troops?”

Mavriste was one millisecond away from melodramatically agreeing when his sister cut him off.

“We would, but decided we’d see if you all needed help too.”

“Well I appreciate the offer, and I’ll take any ideas you have. But like I said, we’re in ‘hurry up and wait’ mode. Until we find the doctor or Cadrune Pothi, we’re stuck in place,” I explained.

“I can help with Pothi,” Macoru said.

“I can think of a few ways to track down a doctor,” Mav nodded.

“…Okay,” I said. “Let’s hear what you’ve got in mind.”

·····

I was wrong.

The day’s breaking and entering came just after dinner, after the sun had dipped below the horizon, but still before the last of the color had drained from the sky.

Mavriste was elbow deep in the kaleidoscope tower that Cadrune ran their business out of, and he was apparently quite adept undercover, infiltrating secure areas. And since Nai and Johnny’s assignment was turning out to be slower to unfold, I’d had them stay psionically in the loop with Mavriste. The bonus to that arrangement was the knowledge that Itun was also assigned to help Mavriste, and I was just giddy imagining Itun being terrified to be in the same psionic call as Nai.

Macoru had brought the other Missionary Marine I recognized: Vo. We were going to smoke out Cadrune Pothi.

Psi-radar confirmed that the condominium Jordan and Donnie were surveilling was empty. But getting more active with the mosquito drone revealed that there was little chance anyone had been inside for days—well before the search warrant was served on Opal’s offices.

It could be that Pothi just had that much advanced warning. But it could also be that they hadn’t had the opportunity to return home undetected yet.

Macoru coached us to revise our strategy.

“There’s two reasons to watch a person of interest’s residence,” she explained. “You either want to find the person in question…or you want to find who else is looking for them.”

“We haven’t noticed anyone else come to the house,” Donnie said. Their vantage point was very high atop the roof of a brick building half-a-block from Pothi’s condo park. The drone hidden much closer in the trees gave them a perfect view of the place.

“But you haven’t been watching the whole condo park,” Macoru explained. “Look, see that boat on the far side of the canal? It has a perfect view of Pothi’s door too, doesn’t it?”

“…Yeah,” Jordan realized.

“It’s the law,” she said. “You said you found this name with a local cop, right? Give them a call, I’ll bet you a meal, they pick up and they’re on that boat.”

I quietly pulled out my handbook and dialed Mashoj.

“”

they replied tiredly.

“Surveillance is more exhausting than people usually think,” Macoru said. “It’s attention intensive and boring. Draining in both of the worst ways simultaneously. That means…”

She beckoned for Donnie to hand her control of the mosquito drone. He reluctantly turned it over, and she panned the mosquito’s view to the section of the condo park across from Pothi’s front door.

Just like the munchkins horsing around outside the Jack, this neighborhood was bustling with kids at play too.

But as the seconds dragged on, the pattern showed itself. Every sixty seconds or so, one of the kids would turn their head. Or two. Or multiple would notice each other looking and check for themselves.

It was subtle, but not subtle.

“Someone paid neighborhood kids to sit on the house too,” I said.

“They could even have put a camera pointed at the front door so they can cover the night shift too,” Donnie realized. “So we’re no the only ones looking for Pothi.”

“No, this isn’t actually surveillance,” Macoru explained. “Real surveillance, you want skilled and attentive watchers. Quality, not quantity. Those whelps? That’s quantity. Vo?”

She turned to her subordinate with an expectant look. Neither Mav nor Mac were ones to pass up an opportunity to teach.

“…It’s counter-surveillance,” they said. “They aren’t watching to see who exactly shows up. They’ve probably been paid to ping or call a certain phone number just if anyone shows up.”

“Correct,” Macoru agreed. “This is a warning system designed to tell Pothi when people have come for them.”

“Awesome,” I grinned. “Then it’s just a matter of—”

“Ah-ah,” Macoru cut me off. “Give Vo a chance to get there…or either of your soldiers.”

Jordan and Donnie could see all the pieces, and they were putting them together…just not quicker than Vo.

“We can steal it,” they surmised.

“Correct,” Macoru and I both said.

·····

The night sky was darkening quickly, and the vibrant night lights of Pudiligsto were beginning to glow when Jordan and Donnie strolled right up to Pothi’s door.

Within seconds, one of the Vorak whelps loitering across the condo park darted toward another who’d fallen asleep with their arm draped over some kind of picnic basket. They reached inside and withdrew a blocky cellphone just barely smaller than a loaf of bread and started dialing.

“Yoink,” I said, snatching the phone out of the whelp’s hand.

They let out a small shriek and panicked.

Vo grabbed their scruff and hauled them off the ground before they could bolt though, and the half-a-dozen or so friends with them froze, unsure if to come to their friend’s aid or run.

I checked the phone’s screen to confirm what number was dialed, before tossing the phone back to the rak still flailing in Vo’s grip.

“Calm down,” they said. “And listen to us before you call that number.”

I materialized three pens and blank cards to go with them, tossing them towards the gathered kids.

“Three of you, write down what you were promised for watching the house. If you all have the same answer, we’ll double it,” Vo explained.

To punctuate our generosity, Vo took that moment to drop the kid and let them scamper back to their friends. They almost started chattering amongst themselves to decide what to do when Vo shut that down too.

“If anyone says anything out loud before you write on those cards, I’m going to assume you’re cheating and coordinating answers,” they said. “What were you offered?”

Exchanging some nervous glances, three of the whelps snatched up the cards, scrawling the answer.

It was a good sum for kids. Roughly the equivalent of a hundred bucks. But all three cards specified ‘each’.

“Good,” Vo grabbed bills from their pocket and began paying off the kids. “Now, since I’m paying double, you’re going to forget what number you were told to dial, right?”

Nervous nods went around, but they all agreed. The first kid even thumbing the buttons on the phone to erase the memory.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Vo said, all sickly sweet.

The whelps eyed her with a mix of gratitude and suspicion, giving me the same look but with no gratitude. But they didn’t complain, wandering away back to their previous activities.

“Got it?” Vo asked.

“Sure do,” I said, pulling out my handbook again. “”

I explained.

·····

“Who’s this?” Mashoj asked.

“Agent Mashoj, this is Macoru and Vo,” I introduced. “Vo and Mac, meet Mashoj.”

“You took that submarine by yourself,” Mashoj recognized.

“Yup.”

The agent glanced between me and Mac.

“You two just…don’t get too active,” they requested. “The paperwork on this is already going to two kinds of wet hell.”

the door team called.

“Ready?” Mashoj asked us.

Donnie, Macoru, Jordan, and I all gave our thumbs up.

Mashoj turned to Vo and gave them the nod. With a much sleeker and modern looking cell phone, (still hilariously bulky to anyone from Earth though) Vo dialed the number.

…ringing

…ringing

“Speak.”

“Couple aliens showed up at Cadrune’s doorstep. Banged on it a few times. Pay up.”

“Aliens? What kind—describe them!”

“Tall. Long arms. No fur. Looked Farnata but kinda…wheat colored?”

“Kopi-avo! Tell me more. What did they—”

“Nah, not another word until you pay up,” Vo insisted. “If Cadrune Pothi can’t get you the money to give us…”

“I have the money!” the rak on the line’s other end hissed. “Just tell me about the aliens at my tides-drowned house!”

Vo immediately snapped the call off.

“” Mashoj commanded.

Two stories above us, armed officers burst into Pothi’s hotel room. Gunshots rang out, and all of us on the ground waited with baited breath.

one of the breaching officers shouted.

I was slow. Translating the Tarassin to Starspeak saw me react a split second behind Donnie and Macoru.

High above us, a window burst open and a flailing Vorak figure leapt from it.

Vorak were very bad with falls. Heights to Vorak were what spiders or snakes were to humans. Yet the gorilla-otters still built skyscrapers, and apparently still leapt out of third story windows in desperation.

Rather kindly, Macoru materialized a cushion the size of a mobile home to break the rak’s fall.

Donnie surged ahead though, ready for when the rak materialized a heavy looking club to swing at their first confronters.

Puppy though he was, Donnie was not caught off guard so easily.

He ducked under the swing, jamming a taser into the rak’s ribs. The sharp jolts made them flail even more wildly, showing a brandished pistol in their other hand! Electrical convulsions and guns were a bad mix, but Donnie was on top of that too.

Arm immobilized. Leverage applied. Weapon dropped.

Macoru had been ready to rumble too, but Donnie was on top of it so quickly…

It hardly seemed necessary.

He tossed Cadrune Pothi to the ground with a heavy thud, wrists pinned behind the rak’s back by heavy cuffs.

“Cadrune Pothi,” he panted. “You are very under arrest.”