Trouble Walked In by Mike Kupari

Author:Mike Kupari
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Crime & Mystery, Action & Adventure, Fiction
ISBN: 9781982192037
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2022-08-02T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

The Bauhaus Gaststätte restaurant was closed when I arrived there an hour or so later. That wasn’t surprising; they were never open on Sundays. What was unusual was the Baron wanting to see me outside of normal business hours. I figured he liked to keep up the appearances of me just being a fan of the restaurant (which was true, I loved the food). Having me come over when they were closed was more suspicious, though. I could only assume that whatever testing he had done had verified the authenticity of the Seraph fragment.

I parked around back, by the staff entrance, and got out of my car. It was a cool but clear day, a pleasant break from the normal rain and gloom of autumn in Delta City. The door slid open with a quiet hiss as I approached and closed behind me. One of the server robots was waiting for me inside.

“Please come this way, sir,” it said. Without another word it pivoted around and rolled away. I followed the bot across the restaurant and was led to Deitrik’s private office. He was waiting for me inside, sitting behind a large desk that appeared to be fashioned from real wood.

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” Deitrik said. He didn’t stand up to greet me. He looked tired, like he hadn’t gotten any sleep. He motioned toward a plush chair facing his desk. “Please, sit down.”

I took my hat and coat off and held them in my lap after taking a seat. “Why do I feel like I’ve been called to the principal’s office?” I asked, only half-jokingly.

The Baron didn’t smile. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His hands were folded together on the desk in front of him, almost like he was praying.

“Deitrik, are you alright?”

He slowly shook his head. “No, I am not.” He looked up at me. “I had the object you brought me tested in a laboratory. They were unable to identify what material it is made from, and it displayed properties that they described as . . .” He trailed off.

“Anomalous?” I said, finishing the statement for him.

“Yes. I did some more checking. I wanted to make sure I had investigated every possibility before reaching a conclusion. For example, it is not illegal for a corporation to have small samples of alien technology to study. There is a process which allows for this outlined in the Conventions on the Discovery and Control of Alien Technology, Organisms, and Remains, and it was possible that Ascension had acquired the sample legally. That might have also explained why Dr. Ivery was apparently planning on smuggling it off-world.”

“An artifact like that would be immensely valuable on the black market.”

“Indeed. However, Ascension has not requested nor been granted the legal authorizations to acquire and keep a sample of alien technology for research purposes. Nothing of the sort is to be found in any of the company’s records, going back a decade.”

“If they didn’t acquire it legally, that means it was either brought to Nova Columbia off the books or they found it here.

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