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JEANNINE SILVERTON, Simone's roommate was about five ten and model thin. When they commed her to say they wanted to talk about Simone, she hadn't been exactly welcoming, but after a moment, she had agreed. When they arrived, she looked the two girls over as if she smelled something bad. "Well, aren't you just the cutest thing," she said to Judith, with a saccharine smile.
If Jeannine had expected to intimidate the much smaller Judith, she had mistaken her woman. Judith's small stature occasionally led others to think she was as delicate as she was tiny, but as Tash had discovered over the last few days, Judith was about as easy to intimidate as a bag of Cement.
"Why, thank you," Judith said as sweetly. "I'm sorry to bother you when I can see you aren't feeling well. Have you seen a doctor?"
"A doctor? For what? I feel fine."
"Oh, dear, I shouldn't have mentioned the weight loss—sometimes people with your condition are so sensitive. I do apologize."
Jeannine stared at her a moment, before her mouth stretched into a reluctant grin. "Okay," she said. "Points even. You aren't at all the way Simone described you."
Judith grinned back at her. "Pax?"
Jeannine laughed. "Pax," she agreed. "Won't you sit down?"
"Thanks. This is Tash Higgens; she's just arrived from earth."
Once Jeannine started talking, it would have been impossible to stop her. Neither Tash nor Judith tried.
"We're sorry your roommate was killed," Tash said. "Do you know of anyone who might want to hurt her?"
"Just about anybody who knew her, I imagine," Jeannine said. "We're cousins. We started rooming together in college and stayed roommates because neither of us could afford to move out. If I could, I would have."
"Oh, wow," Tash said sympathetically. "What are you going to do now?"
Jeannine grimaced. "Advertise for another roommate, I guess."
"Do you know what Simone was into lately?" Judith asked.
"I tried not to find out," Jeannine said frankly. "She liked to collect dirt on everyone. Sometimes she'd ask for money not to say what she knew, sometimes for other favors."
"What happened when her victims wouldn't cooperate?"
"She got back at them some way. I know she sent anonymous tips to the police hot-lines a couple of times, and I think she caused several divorces."
"Anyone recently?"
"You mean besides your father?" Jeannine asked.
"He told her no, and he told my mom about it," Judith said.
Jeannine laughed. "I heard. She was pretty mad about that. She told me Langeton was the better looking of the trio who own the lab, but he wasn't having any either. She would have liked a chance at the son, but he was off planet when she started working there."
"Wasn't she afraid you might turn on her?" Tash asked.
Jeannine shook her head. "She and I were about even on secrets because of some stuff we did when we were kids."
"The thing with my father happened over four months ago. Did she have any recent victims?"
Jeannine sat still, thoughtfully running a stylus through her fingers. "Maybe. If I were you, I'd check to see if any money is missing from the lab. That's another thing she was into. She'd get a job someplace, stay long enough to figure out how the finances worked and then do a little embezzling."
At Judith's look of surprise, she added, "Simone had a degree in business accounting."
"The missing money would turn up sooner or later. How did she keep from being found out?"
"Simone made some connections with a man who washed the money for her. I think he also got her a second ID. She said the money was her retirement fund."
"Did you ever meet this connection?"
"No, and I didn't want to. I think he was connected to her new boyfriend; a guy named Giulio. He scared me."
"Why did he scare you?" Tash asked.
Jeannine shrugged. "I'm not sure, you know how some guys give you a bad vibe? He was like that."
"Does Giulio have a last name?"
"Ah—Lupin, I think."
"What does he look like?"
"He's tall with curly blond hair and looks like he works out a lot."
"Anyone else you can think of?"
"Well, she ran with Jean Coudet's crew when we were younger. She still hung out with them sometimes. A woman in the last office named Eve something. Eve Covert, that was it. Simone arranged for her to take the fall for the embezzlement there. If she found out, she probably holds a grudge."
"Okay." Judith rose. "Thank you for helping us. If you need a reference for an apartment or something, give me a call."
Jeannine blinked in surprise. "Thanks. You didn't need to say that, though."
"I know I didn't. That's why I did."
"You like her," Tash said as they got back into the sled.
"I did. Let's go see if we can locate this Eve Covert."
"How?"
"Employment hiring records. It will have the last place she worked. We can probably find this Eve Covert by calling Simone's last employer. Providing we can get into the lab."
The police seal was still on the front door of Dreamedia Laboratories. However, workers were being allowed to enter through the side door. Because they had entered through a different door, Tash and Judith didn't start in the reception area. To reach it they had to travel the hall used by employees to the breakroom and employee lockers.
"We need to check in," Judith told Tash, heading for reception. The visitor greeting area held a desk of carved hardwood, polished to a deep sheen. It curved around the perky blond receptionist dressed in a low-cut blouse with enormous sleeves, cinched with a tight bustier, and skintight striped pants. several comfortable, overstuffed chairs for visitors lined the walls. A clear acrylic panel separated the reception area from the main office. Behind this were doors leading to the company labs.
"Hi, Carola," Judith said as she opened the door into reception.
"Judith!" the woman exclaimed. "Are you alright? How is your father? Have they released him yet?"
"I'm fine. Thanks for asking. Dad is home, but he's under house arrest so he can't come to work. This is my friend Tash. Is it alright if we check something in the personnel files?"
"I assume your father wants the information, so I don't see why not. Do you have the codes?"
"No, I don't," Judith admitted.
Carola tapped the desk com. "Yes?" a voice answered.
"Isolde, Dr. Garney's daughter is here. He wants her to look up something in the personnel files."
"I'll be right out."
Isolde Botrel was a tall, slim woman, with a pair of pince-nez spectacles perched on her elegant nose.
"Miss Garneys it's good to see you here. How is your father?"
"He's home but he's under house arrest. Can we get a look at Simone's personnel file?"
"Of course. You can have a copy of what I gave the detectives. Follow me."
Isolde led the way through the maze of desks to a door the back of the room. She laid an empty crystal on a monitor and asked for a copy of Simone Gusset's personnel file.
"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," Isolde said, looking at Tash.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Judith exclaimed. "This is Tash Higgins from earth."
"I'm Devon Morton's assistant," Tash said.
Isolde frowned. "Devon Morton? I don't recognize the name."
"He's the Portal expert who came back from earth with Randal," Judith said, accepting the crystal and dropping it into her pocket.
"Is there anything else happening I should let Dad know about?"
"Nothing major. I'll send him an update about the progress on the Bradstane and Albyn projects later today."
As the two girls got into the carriage, Tash noticed another vehicle parked close to theirs. It was huge compared to Judith's carriage and resembled a sleek bird of prey. She glanced out the window as she closed the door.
Two burly men got out of the sled and were approaching their vehicle.
"Judith, do these doors have locks?" she asked urgently.
Judith looked up from reading the data contained on the crystal. "Yes, it's that button there." She pointed to a panel on the side of the carriage wall. "Why?"
Tash quickly pushed the button and the lock's clicked; She was barely in time; as the doors locked, the two men attempted to drag them open. "That's why," Tash said grimly.
When the first attempt failed, they yanked harder on the doors, rocking the carriage.
"Let's get out of here," Tash said.
Judith tapped her wrist com. "Code red," she said, "leave now!"
"My sensors say there are two individuals close by who might be damaged by this action," a robot voice said. "Do you still wish to proceed?"
"Yes!" Judith snapped. "We are in danger! Don't let those men enter the vehicle!"
"As you command," The carriage abruptly shot forward, throwing Judith back against the seat and almost spilling Tash forward onto the floor. The two men hung on to the doors and were dragged several yards before they were forced to drop off.
Their would-be kidnappers scrambled to their feet and raced to their own vehicle, which took off in pursuit.
"They are following us," Tash said.
Judith tapped her com again, "Call Randal," she said.
A few seconds later, his face appeared as a holo vid. "Judith? What is it?"
"We just left the Lab. Two men tried to get into our carriage. We managed to lock them out, but they are following us."
"We're on our way to you. Did you instigate the security protocol?"
"I called a Code Red. It's what we use for emergencies," she said.
The sled following bumped them and the carriage jerked.
"They're playing bumper cars," Tash said. "How much armor does this thing have?"
"No more than ordinary," Randal said grimly. "Judith did you bring your pistol?"
"No, but Dad always has a couple in the carriage." She dropped the data crystal back into her pocket and reached under the seat, pulling out two plasma pistols. She handed one to Tash, who took it gingerly. Her sister's husband had made sure everyone in the family knew how to fire a variety of pistols, and these were like the ones issued to Police in Laughing Mountain.
The carriage jerked as the sled behind them hit it again.
"Okay," Randal's voice came out of the com unit. "I've got your location now. We'll be there in a few minutes. Is your driver equipped with combat protocols?"
"I don't know. I don't think so."
"Damn! Okay, you need to take manual control of the sled."
"Alright, I've got it," Judith said as a control wheel and console popped out of the floor. "Now what do I do?"
"This is a little tricky. Push the altitude level down and hit the brakes. Hopefully they'll sail right past you. Can you do that?"
"Okay, here goes nothing," Judith said. The big sled chasing them slid by overhead. Judith almost panicked when she realized the nose of her sled was still aimed at the ground. She pulled upward frantically on the control wheel attempting to level off the craft. Unfortunately, she had over controlled the command and their sled shot skyward.
It took her a few minutes to regain the proper altitude. When she had, she saw the two sleds ridden by Randal and Devon position themselves between the carriage and the pursuing sled. It looked like two falcons confronting an enormous raptor. Randal and Devon were mounted on sleek, fast, single passenger sleds shaped like falcons, The smaller sleds gave them more speed and maneuverability than the big raptor.
"We're here. While we engage the other sled, turn around and head for my parent's house."
"But—"
"I don't have time to argue about this Judith. Just do it!"
Judith cast a worried glance behind them but obeyed the order and headed for the Langeton home.
Randal had added a few modifications to the sleds used by his family. He squeezed a button on the handlebars and a plasma bolt shot toward the raptor shaped sled. It was a fair hit, tearing a hole in the side of the vehicle, but it didn't bring it down.
The recoil from the heavy plasma bolt nearly caused Randal's sled to turn turtle.
Taking warning from what happened when Randal fired, Devon shot his plasma bolt too, but when his sled tried to turn over on him, he turned into the circle, coming around to face the other sled again.
Nothing else was necessary. Devon's shot had hit the sled's power source, and it pancaked on the muggy ground below them.
Both men landed carefully near the wreckage and went to examine it.
"See if you can find out who it's registered to," Randal asked. He was searching the two men for identification.
"It looks like a corporation called Midnight Express owns this," Devon said. "Are they alive?"
"Yes, but both of them seem to be out cold," Randal replied, as a patrol sled slid to a halt beside them.
"What happened here?" the officer was an older man, probably close to retirement.
"It's a long story, officer," Randal said.
"Why don't you see if you can shorten it?"
"This vehicle attacked my fiancée and her friend as they were coming home from picking up some things for Judith's father. When it wouldn't back off, we fired at it."
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