Doctor Who_ Match of the Day - Chris Boucher [68]
Once the plate was opened a slight reverse airflow kicked in and pulled the lecea back, allowing Keefer to drift out of the silo without taking half the contents with him. It seemed the in-flight inspection of bulk cargo was allowed for in the freighter‟s design: he only hoped it wasn‟t allowed for in the crew‟s routine as well.
„Corruption and murder?‟ Sergeant Lars Driftkiller Ronick narrowed his piggy little eyes so that they almost disappeared, and snorted contemptuously. „Yeah very scuffling probable.‟
Sita felt her wrist and ankle bands start to tighten and placed one of the wrist bands against a wall-mounted scanner plate. „I‟m touched by your good opinion of me,‟ she said.
Ronick grunted contemptuously. „Don‟t be. Takes talent and balls to get away with heavy stuff like corruption and murder. You‟re short on both, girlie.‟
„Get away with it?‟ Sita brandished one of the electronic restraints at him. They were all beginning to loosen now.
Before very long they would routinely start to tighten again and failure to key in would keep them tightening until they amputated hands and feet. While she was awake they were time and space sensitive. „I face the interrogation controllers tomorrow. How does that shape up as getting away with it?‟
„And you‟re supposed to have committed these offences when?‟
They started walking again, setting out across the exercise gardens that bordered the cell precinct.
„While I was undercover.‟
„Investigating corruption at „Space Main?‟
Sita hesitated. He wasn‟t supposed to know that. Had he worked it out for himself or had he been told? Maybe he had been sent in as part of the frame. But what would be the point. They could hardly expect her to incriminate herself, especially as she was innocent of all the official charges.
Maybe they were looking for charges that would stick: breach of security for instance. „While I was undercover,‟ she repeated.
Driftkiller spotted a surveillance stalk in one of the ornamental flower bushes, hawked copiously and spat in front of it. „As I said, very scuffling probable.‟
„Must you do that?‟ Sita asked with obvious distaste.
„P‟raps the administrator doing the monitoring is an officer-class girlie too,‟ he said and laughed loudly. „I‟ll take a crap on the next one, make her really earn her money.‟
Sita had been surprised by Ronick‟s unscheduled visit to the police lock-up. Apparently he had bulled his way in using his naturally intimidating presence and his detective credentials. She still had no real idea why, and she was getting tired of waiting for him to get to the point. She certainly wasn‟t looking for sympathy or moral support, if that‟s what this was about, and if she had been, Driftblubber Ronick was the last person she would go to.
„What are you doing here, Driftkiller?‟ she asked ungraciously. „What do you want from me?‟
His chubby face clenched itself into a smile that once again hid his eyes almost completely. „I came to help.‟
„As you said, very scuffling probable.‟
He stopped smiling and his eyes came back out. They showed his irritation. „Listen, girlie, you made me look untrustworthy. I can‟t afford to look untrustworthy, it‟s bad for business.‟
„I did? When was this?‟
„You ask questions, I get answers. We have a meet, you get lifted.‟
„Not immediately.‟
„Close enough. You‟re not taking me down with you.‟
„Don‟t flatter yourself. You‟ve got no place in this. This frame took organising and some serious power. I doubt whether you‟ve got the first idea what‟s involved here.‟
„You still don‟t get it do you?‟ There was contempt in the eyes now. „I don‟t give a curly crap what‟s involved here. You officer-class types can scuffle each other over or scuff yourselves I don‟t care. What I care about is my good name.‟
„Driftkiller is a good name?‟ Sita said wryly.
„As it happens it is,‟ he said. „And where it matters it is.
And if you‟d ever had to make your own way in the world, girlie, you‟d know without having to be told that when challenge