Dark Matters

Chapter 2

Chapter 2I'll give it to captain Brice's people. They are efficient when they set their minds to it. While teams deployed around the building, those at the murder scene worked steadily to document the body. Kelley did most of the photography. I stayed back out of the way and nursed my Torlian coffee. It was starting to get cold despite the mug's insulation. I thumbed the dial, and the heating element warmed up the liquid. Much better. Nothing is worse than cold, congealed Torlian coffee.

Medics arrived in another flitter which drifted down out of the sky like a falling leaf. The medics settled down up the alley and brought over a stretcher and body bag. When captain Brice gave the word, they bagged the body and carried it out. The officers gathered for the entry, moved up alongside the building. They wore armor made from galactic material technology. Nearly impenetrable by most modern weapons. I knew from experience that it hardly weighed anything. It was like a lot of the technology gleaned from the Galactics – mysterious and defying explanation. Of course, to everyone's shame, it was simply, according to the galactic civilizations at least, because humans and other 'inferior' species were less intelligent. So far all of the data gathered indicated that it was true. The myriad of species that made up the Glittering Throng, as the galactic civilizations were called, really were more intelligent than humans, Torlians, and all of the others. I'd spent more time on the problem than most, and it seemed pretty clear to me. Our neocortex is six layers deep and hosts over thirty trillion connections – but one of the lesser members of the Glittering Throng might have a neocortex or its equivalent with three hundred trillion connections. The math was clear. They simply were smarter than us.

Captain Brice waved at the officers with the tools to open the door, to move up. I shook off thoughts of the Glittering Throng. Right now there was a cold-blooded murderer to catch. I pulled my own weapon but kept it at my side in my coat. A Lottier 45 firing nanoparalyzers coded to over 150 Rim species. There was always a chance that the initial penetration by the projectile might cause a fatal wound but the Lottier was considered to be the safest weapon available. As long as the target was one of the coded species. Anyone else, it might just piss them off. Brice and his men carried Lottiers as well, but they only had the standard service-issue, a 25 with a third as many species.

The officers with the door cracker moved up. They jammed the tip in between the door and the frame and activated the device. There was a high-pitched whining noise followed by squealing metal, and the door popped open. The officer deftly caught the cracker and stepped back to allow those with the guns to move up into position. It was dark inside the building, at least to the police because they snapped on their lights.

"Wait," I called out.

Brice held up a hand then looked over his shoulder. "What?"

I pointed with my free hand. "There's blood on the floor."

Brice pointed his light down and spotted the drops scattered on the floor inside the door. He eased to the side and motioned his people to do likewise. Once they were out of the way, he snapped his finger. Kelley moved up and snapped off some quick shots of the pattern. I walked up behind her.

"He stopped to clean off his instruments," I said.

She looked over her shoulder and tried a weak smile.

Brice jabbed a finger at us. "You stay here. The rest of you let's start the sweep."

Kelley eased inside as the team moved further into the building. She took some more pictures. I followed and walked further inside.

The place was huge and decaying inside. It had been left alone for a long time. There were holes in the floors above. Ahead, towards the street, there was a large atrium space that reached up through the floors, probably to the roof. The windows were all covered, so it was dark except for the officers' flashlights. I could see the space clearly enough, but I doubted they could see much beyond their lights. I started to follow.

"Mr. Marsden," Kelley said. "The captain told you to wait here."

I smiled at her. "I'll be careful. Besides, they can't see worth s**t in here. I'm far more likely to spot someone."

Kelley flicked her light around us. "You can see in this?"

"Yes. I have an increased number of rods and cones in my eyes as well as modified pupils and a tapetum lucidum which helps me see in the dark."

"That's why your eyes are glowing?" Her voice sounded a bit unsettled.

I smiled. "Exactly."

Her expression changed to one of wonderment. "I can't wait until we have a chance to talk more."

"I'm looking forward to it as well. I have to warn you, though, Officer –"

"Call me Jillian, please."

"Jillian. If you're thinking of becoming a Moreau, you'd better be careful about it. Your captain doesn't approve. He thinks Moreaus are nothing but junkies."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said.

I turned and followed the officers deeper into the building. There was a good deal of dust, but it didn't hold prints. The dust here was light and tended to fly up and settle back down to the ground. It was hard to get any idea of which way people had gone. I doubted the murderer left any tracks I could follow, and there wasn't any more blood.

"He stopped to clean his tools so we couldn't follow."

Jillian joined me. "What?"

"It's like I tried to tell your captain. The murderer came inside then stopped and cleaned off his instruments. He knew that the dust wouldn't leave tracks."

"So how do we figure out which way he went?"

I considered the problem. If I were the murderer, carrying tools and the container with Chrissy's brain which way would I go? The roof offered one avenue of escape if he had a flitter up there. But a flitter might be seen by someone, particularly on an abandoned building like this. The other option would be to go down and use the aqueduct tunnels. That felt right, ramps led down into the tunnels. The murderer could have come up from the tunnels and departed the same way. Easier than going up and down flights of stairs and no one would be likely to notice.

"I think he probably went down. There could be an aqueduct tunnel under this building, right?"

"I don't know," Jillian said. "It'd make sense if there were."

"Let's check it out."

"Let me tell the captain first."

"Do you have to?"

Jillian gave me a look as she activated her comm. "Captain, Kelley here."

"Go ahead."

"Marsden thinks the perp might have gone underground. He wants to check it out. Should I go with him?"

Brice swore over the comm. "Sure, fine. Keep him out of trouble and radio if you find any sign of the perp. Do not engage. Do you understand me? Call for backup and wait."

"Understood."

Kelley smiled at me. "Let's go."

I looked around and pointed off to the side where there was a stairwell. "That way."

We moved off together. I watched the floor for signs anyone else had gone this way, but there was nothing in the wispy dust to tell one way or another. It blew about us in clouds. When I looked back, there was no trace of our passage either.

A scream shot through the darkness behind us. I spun around, bringing up my Lottier and saw a flashlight ascend rapidly up into the atrium. There was a loud flapping noise, and then the flashlight fell, tumbling end over end towards the ground. As far away as we were, I couldn't even tell for sure what was happening. There was another officer standing in the atrium swinging his flashlight around. I started running towards him and knew deep in my gut that I was going to be too late.

I yelled as I ran. "Turn it off! Turn the light off!"

Something swooped down out of the atrium. I saw a dark blur of motion then it crashed into the officer. The light spun away and smashed against a pillar, going out. My eyes were adapting to the low illumination. It was easier to see without the lights. Two child-sized shapes crouched on the officer. He screamed in short, frantic pants. I heard a wet tearing noise, and then he was quiet. I took aim and fired but too late. The shapes sprang upwards into the air with the officer dangling in their grasp. Shrill noises that could have been laughter floated down out of the atrium. The noise was picked up and repeated. It sounded like a classroom of children up in the dark laughing at us. I skidded to a stop, dimly aware that Brice was yelling over the comm Jillian held, demanding explanations.

"We have to get out of here," I said. I recognized that laughter. We were all in trouble.

With my dark-adapted eyes, I could see other eyes up there. Eyes which dimly glowed in the faint illumination which seeped in through cracks in the window coverings. Lots of eyes looked down at me, and the laughter continued. I turned to Jillian and pushed her back towards the door.

"Move! Get out of here!"

Police officers ran towards us. Their flashlights were too bright, and I had to cover my dark-adapted eyes. I waved them at the door. "Out! Get out!"

I felt a wind ruffle my hair and I dropped to the ground, rolling. As I stopped, I saw two of our attackers swoop down at Jillian. Her mouth opened in a small 'o' of surprise. They caught her arms and swept her back, flying on either side of a pillar. Helpless to do anything else I closed my eyes at the last second. I heard her scream and then a wet-tearing sound followed by more of that crazed child-like laughter. When I opened my eyes a second later Jillian's armless torso lay at the bottom of the pillar.

There were more screams around me, and I saw two more flashlights spin off into the darkness. Once more I sensed movement, and I rolled. A shape skimmed above the spot I had just occupied. I lunged up and caught furry ankles. I slammed him against the ground. He jerked and kicked then lay still. I picked up my Lottier and looked up. Glowing eyes looked back at me, and I fired. A hit from a Lottier 45 in the face could be fatal. I picked two more targets and fired. Three bodies dropped out of the air and hit the floor. Hard.

The remaining police rallied and joined me in the atrium. The police pointed flashlights upwards to guide their shots. Captain Brice ended up beside me. He held his light and gun steady. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Turn off the flashlights! You're making it easier for them."

Brice didn't look at me. "What the hell is going on?"

"Nosferans, captain."

One of the officers with us swore. Brice glanced at me. "You can't be serious."

The Nosferans' laughter filled the building.

"Turn the lights off. Now!"

Brice grimaced and flicked the switch. The other officers didn't. I stepped away from the group and kept looking up. Nosferans silently dove out of the building's upper reaches. They stayed outside the lights. I raised my Lottier and fired. The police fired, but I doubted any of their shots hit. Then I heard wings flapping behind me. I turned. I'm fast, but with the shooting, I heard them too late. Two Nosferans grabbed my arms and flew me right at the police. They scattered and the Nosferans, laughing, carried me up into the air.