Tripping the Tale Fantastic by Christopher Jon Heuer

Author:Christopher Jon Heuer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: horror, literature, fantasy, science fiction, disability, magical realism, deaf, hard of hearing, deaf culture, audism
Publisher: Handtype Press

It was dusk before we found our target quenching his thirst at a downtown bar. Our muscleman actually earned his salary, escorting him out of the bar and tossing a hood over his head before he could recognize Tia or me. One of the advantages of hiring the ex-military was that when Adam marched our captive through the streets, people edged out of the way rather than crowding him with questions. This fortunate trend held until we reached our destination, one of the rundown properties our firm had purchased for precisely this purpose.

Adam wrenched the hood off our captive once he was strapped into an ancient wooden chair for interrogation. He quailed at the army uniform Adam wore, but it wasn’t until Tia, garbed in red, stepped out of the shadows and fixed her angry gaze on him that the man began to talk. And talk.

When the words started to spill from his lips, I stepped forward so Tia could see me, interpreting what our captive said until long after my fingers had grown sore. When he ran out of secrets to spill, I let Adam earn his keep by hooding him again. The three of us stepped into the hall to discuss how this retrieval operation would go.

“The foreign medical company he named is near the port,” Adam said unnecessarily. I’d inferred that already without looking at a map. Foreign companies used the buildings nearest the port as warehouses for holding goods before they were shipped off-world. It made sense that the abductors would be holding the kid there. And there would probably be others.

Tia obviously agreed with me because she signed fast and angry, starting her sentence with an insult about Adam’s intelligence. For the stake of maintaining relations between colleagues, I didn’t translate the insult but instead focused on the logistics of her plan.

We would hire a new muscleman after this case, for certain. There were always unemployed, ex-military types eager to obtain visa permits by working for locals. The alternative was going back to their ruined, war-torn home worlds.

“Tia thinks we should visit the local weapons dealer. Storm the place. Expose the operation and the scientists will scatter like skitters. They know the global government won’t look kindly on this affront to their Silenco citizens. I concur.”

“As do I,” Adam stated, thankfully proving he had read at least one entire document in his life. “What these off-worlders are doing falls outside the Codes and Conventions.”

Our outfit made decisions collectively. Now that we knew how we would handle the situation, the question of when still needed to be considered.

Two hours before the port opens, Tia argued. That way we can catch a few hours’ sleep.

No—

You’re exhausted. So am I. We could use the rest.

The sign she used specified the more personal “we.” My flying fingers froze before I folded them into fists.

It’s too busy this time of night to confront them, Tia added. Besides, the criminals won’t move the kid off-world until the dawn. All ships are grounded during petite-mort.

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