The Cockroach Crusade by Arlene F. Marks

Author:Arlene F. Marks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: space thriller, space war, alien technology, alien politics, science fiction series, science fiction mystery, space opera, space adventure, sociological sf, first contact, sf spy story, Earth’s ancient past, Sic Transit Terra, Drew Townsend, Earth Intelligence Service, Daisy Hub, Barry Novak, Juno Vargas, Corvou, Nandrians, Stragori, tekl'hananni, Thryggians, Forrand-Dedrick family, speculative fiction, scifi, action adventure, literature, novel, indiepub, amazon, Book, Books, story books, paperbacks, eBook, ipad, iTunes, iBook, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, google PLAY
Publisher: EDGE-Lite
Published: 2019-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Doomsday minus 516 Earth days.

Lydia was late for her shift on AdComm. This wasn’t like her. Seated at his desk, Drew was keeping one eye on the tube car doors and the other on his computer screen. Not until he stood up to peer over the top of his filing cabinet wall did he see the light flashing on her console. He hurried across the deck to respond to the incoming message.

“This is Daisy Hub Control. Station Manager Townsend speaking.”

“This is the Marco Polo. Please stand by for Captain Takamura.”

A moment later, Takamura was on the comm screen, informing him, “It’s been an interesting couple of days, Mr. Townsend, but we must resume our patrol. We are ready to depart as soon as you release the docking clamps. I also wanted to thank you and your crew for the hospitality they’ve shown us, and advise you that we will be remaining in your vicinity for the next several days, just in case our friend Odysseus should return. And…” Takamura paused briefly. “Considering what lies ahead, I don’t know whether we shall have the opportunity to speak again, so I also want to wish you the best of luck in the coming year.”

“Thank you, Captain. And the same to you.”

Both men took a step backward and bowed toward the screen.

Drew closed the commlink and released the star cruiser. Then he spun on his heel, intending to return to his desk. He was brought up short by the sight of Ruby McNeil standing in front of the tube car door with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

“Did you tell O’Malley that he could dig up bodies?” she demanded.

Townsend spent a couple of heartbeats groping for words. What the hell was getting into people today?

“Well? Did you?” she repeated, taking a determined step forward.

Ruby looked like a bull about to charge. Drew raised a placating hand and asked, “What are you talking about? He’s not actually exhuming corpses, is he?”

“Figuratively, he is. He’s been sifting through the population database, looking for the dead relatives of crew members. When I challenged him about it, he swore to me that you’d given him the assignment.”

Townsend searched his memory and came up with a match. “About a year ago, I asked him to find out whether my sister’s death notice was genuine, and he did it. End of story. Is he claiming I gave him instructions—?”

“To keep going? Yes. As it happens, the most recent body he investigated belongs to Walt Garfield. I don’t know about your sister’s death notice, but O’Malley was able to confirm that Walt’s was bogus. Lydia’s husband, whom she has been mourning for the past six standard years, is alive and well, it turns out, and living under another name on Earth. Our large-mouthed hacker delivered the news himself. He thought she would be pleased to hear it, and was astonished when she took a swing at him instead.”

“I know a lot about grieving,” Lydia had told Drew with a catch in her voice when he was still reeling from the loss of Bruni Patel.

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