Oleander - Shadow of Angel

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A large group of well-dressed citizens crowded together in front of the Metropolitan Symphony Center. The group was being held back by first grade guards. In Iilos, a small dimension of the multiverse, first grade guards dealt with civilians. Seeing the commotion at the bottom of the hill, Dinah shook her head, feeling pity for the guards. She couldn’t imagine herself doing such a boring job, regardless of how much she was paid for it.

She didn’t know what the dispute was about, but she hoped the show was still on. She had been waiting for this musical for a long time, and it hadn’t been easy to get tickets. Well, admittedly, it wasn’t she who had gotten the tickets. Her girlfriend, Kate, had worked her magic again. Kate had a way with men when she needed to get things done. And Dinah admired her for that.

She hadn’t been in Iilos for long, but she liked this dimension. It had been founded by Moira LeBlanc, a citizen of a country on Earth called Ireland. History suggested that Moira had replicated a model of her homeland in this dimension, and that was why its facade was that of the Irish countryside. But unlike Ireland, the technology that powered this universe was one of the most advanced in the cosmos. What she liked most about Iilos was that the citizens here were mostly human-like, and English was the official language.

Iilos had never been open to those from other universes. But when Moira passed, her daughter had opened the dimension to receive new citizens—those with skills—from other universes. Dinah was one of the skilled migrants.

She didn’t have to migrate. She was a licensed freelance private investigator. She could travel across the multiverse already, using a professional pass issued by the Daimon Gate. But there was something about Iilos that appealed to her, and so she had decided to officially migrate and call Iilos home.

“Ouch!” she said as one of her pointy heels got stuck in a crack in the pavement, throwing her body forward. She fell hard against a low brick wall, stopping her fall with her palms to prevent an ugly face-planting incident. “Damn,” she said when she looked at her palm and saw that a bruise had already started to form. At least she hadn’t broken any bones. Kate called her a klutz for very good reasons.

“I’m not a klutz. It’s these stupid heels. I hate them!” she muttered to herself. She barely hit five foot two. People always said good things came in small packages. But she didn’t believe that to be true in her case. She wore high heels to compensate for her lack in height, but she much preferred her chunky platform boots to these pointy heels because it was easier to hide lethal weapons in them. Her appearance and outfits had landed her a portfolio of high-action cases. Well, high-action was her term. Cooper, her business partner, called them violent cases.

Her wrist unit buzzed. “Engage,” she said. On the screen, Cooper came on. Speak of the devil, she thought.

Cooper blinked his striking blue eyes, looked at her with a grin, and held a flask up to the screen.

“No, Cooper, the compound needs to stay in the flask for one more day.”

“I think it’s ready. I’m going to try it.”

“Don’t you dare. If you mess up my experiment, I’ll tell your girlfriend your abs are fake.”

Cooper frowned. “That’s a nasty threat!”

“You didn’t work for those muscles! You used my chemical! As far as I’m concerned, they’re fake. But that’s not why you called. So what do you want?”

“There’s a job in Xiilok—”

“No, Cooper. We talked about this. We don’t take jobs from Xiilok.”

“But this one is easy, and it’s lucrative.”

“You can take it, but I won’t.”

“We’re pals, Dinah. Come on…help me out. It’s just a delivery. It’s easy. But on the delivery end, the chemical has to be put together, and I don’t know jack about chemicals.”

“What kind of chemical?”

Cooper rolled his eyes. “If I knew the answer to that question, would I be asking you? I have the specs of the merchandise. Do you mind taking a quick look and seeing if we can handle it? It pays thirty thousand credits.”

“How much?”

“See, I told you it’s lucrative.”

“There has to be a catch. Why us? We’re not known for delivering merchandise.”

“It’s not the delivery…it’s the assembly. They said they need someone who knows chemicals. And you do have a reputation for that.”

“Let me think about it.”

“Oh, come on! I’ll give you seventy percent of the fees. I’ll buy you breakfast every day for a whole year. I’ll—”

“I said I’ll think about it. I’ll get back to you tomorrow, okay?”

“Promise? It’s important. I need ten thousand credits, Dinah. I need them.”

“Why? You don’t need many credits to live in Iilos.”

“A guy I know found a way to migrate to Eudaiz.”

“What’s wrong with Iilos?”

“Nothing. But Eudaiz is everyone’s dream. Don’t you want to live there?”

“I don’t daydream. Plus, Eudaiz doesn’t take people based on wealth.”

“I know. So when this guy finds a way, it costs.”

“He’s conning you.”

“Well, I don’t want to have regrets for not trying. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Okay. Yes, Cooper.” She hung up. A group of women walked past her. One of them was more than six feet tall. She wore a bright orange dress and raised her voice as she said, “If they think we’re just going to go home without a refund, they’re crazy. I paid twenty credits for my ticket.”

Another woman said, “Consider yourself luckier than Kate Windsor. She died with her ticket in her hand. Those credits aren’t worth your life!”

Dinah rushed toward the woman. “Excuse me, what happened up there?”

The one in the orange dress looked her up and down and then said, “We were lining up in the cloakroom. The woman in front of us swiped her ticket. The screen shouted out her credentials, and then boom, she fell to the floor—dead.”

“It must have been a heart attack,” the other woman added.

That was all she heard. She kicked her shoes off and charged up the hill. She refused to believe what she had just heard. It could be a mistake. These strangers didn’t know Kate. Her friend was young, fit, and strong. She couldn’t be dead for no apparent reason. She called Kate’s phone, but there was no answer.

A large area in front of the theater had been barricaded. She sneaked into an emergency tent and saw a thin white suit hanging inside. She grabbed the suit and put it on, sliding on a pair of plastic shoes to cover her bare feet. Taking a small medical toolbox with her, she headed toward another section of the secured line.

Two individuals wearing heavy blue suits and large plastic face masks moved in the same direction. She followed closely behind them, matching their stride.

The three moved into the plastic tunnels. She broke off from the two and quickly made her way toward an open tent at the north end. The tent was made of clear plastic walls and was stuffed with people wearing both suits and regular clothes. Computers and other medical gadgets were set up all around the tent. There was a lot of commotion.

The interior of the theater filled with pale yellow smoke. A first grade guard tapped her on the shoulder. “Medical staff aren't allowed,” he said.

“But I was called here.”

“Detective Tanner said we don’t need any medical staff. We need the troops.”

“But he called me. Can I just go in and talk to him?”

“No, he left for headquarters.”

Dinah waved her arms in the air. “A woman had a heart attack, and medical staff aren’t allowed in? What are you talking about?”

The man lowered his voice. “Kate Windsor exploded and killed five others. It’s a crime scene.”

“Exploded? I didn’t hear any explosion.”

“It wasn’t like a bomb. I wasn’t allowed inside, but Detective Tanner said the area was contaminated with some kind of toxic chemical. They’re trying to get the people who were exposed but left the theater back to the tent.”

“I saw them down the hill. Three women. One in a bright orange dress. She was talking about being in line next to the victims.”

“Really?”

There was shouting outside, and the first grade guard to whom she was talking was called on his communicator. “Damn it, more dead people!” he muttered. “Oh, by the way, do you have an ID on you, doc?”

“Huh?”

“May I scan your wrist unit for an ID?” His communicator shouted out again. “Oh, damn it…”

“I told you the three women were heading to the south gate. Go get them before more people die.”

He nodded and turned on his heel. As soon as he was out of sight, Dinah darted over to the transparent wall and peeked inside. She couldn’t see into the cloakroom, but she spied a red high-heeled shoe on the floor close to the door. The shoe was unmistakably Kate’s. They had each bought a pair while shopping in town together last month. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she shrugged off the white coat and ran out of the tent.