“You haven’t even said what he done. For all I know you could be giving him a reward.”
“Funny guy. He’s going to the Royal Wing.”
“You got anything to sweeten the deal?” he muttered.
I looked at MTB, but he was not a fan of compromise.
“Sure. If you turn him over, you get one free… pass,” I said.
“Pass? Pass what?”
“Like a pass. If you get caught you can use your pass.”
“Yeah, but pass what?”
“Pass out of trouble. I’ve arrested some of you guys, right?” I asked.
“Gave us fines,” he replied.
“Broken some bones,” another said. He was sitting so far in the shadows I hadn’t even seen him there.
“Fine, so next time an arrest or fine comes up, you can use your pass.”
“And we won’t get arrested?”
“Right.”
“Huh. So what if we like, just for instance, killed a Kommilaire?”
“No. No. It won’t work then. Come on, man, think.”
“How should I know? I never heard of no pass!”
“I just came up with it now,” I said.
“Maybe we could list the crimes it’s good against?” MTB said uneasily.
“Crimes?” I asked, annoyed. We didn’t even have a list of crimes, how would we have a list of crimes to invalidate? “If you see him, we’ll make it worth your while,” I clarified.
“Can’t you just offer a reward?” Busange asked.
“If I had money to throw around on rewards I wouldn’t have to threaten people.”
CHAPTER 6
Blackheart Alley was, as always, black.
Belvaille got all its lighting from the latticework superstructure that surrounded the city. But it had seen better decades and many of the lights were now permanently damaged, which left areas of the city in perpetual darkness.
With our backs pressed against the walls, I waited until the voices grew louder and louder and then I stepped out into the middle of the street.
“Hong. Are you just out for a stroll this fine evening?” I said.
About a dozen men armed with pikes and spears and other long hand-to-hand weapons stood in front of me bathed in the flashlight glow from my Stair Boys.
I had gotten a tip that the Totki Clan was going to make a serious attack tonight. Apparently the information was correct, as this was far from their home turf. It had been a quiet week since my court trial and I wanted to keep things quiet.
However, as I stood there feeling pleased with myself, more and more Totki stepped into the light. They had been walking a staggered distance apart.
There must have been a hundred of them. What, did they have some kind of breeding program?
Hmm.
I only had fifteen Stair Boys with me. A small riot had broken out and the rest of my men were trying to put it down.
My original plan had been to arrest all the Totki, let them cool off a bit, and then turn them loose, confiscating any weapons. But we couldn’t do that to a hundred.
Hong was the second-in-command of the Totki Clan on Belvaille. He was a small man and to assume the traditional Totki ethnic appearance he had dyed his skin a bland yellow, had stretched his ears, put a plate in the bridge of his nose to elongate it, shaved all his head except for the very top in a circle, and wore blue caps on his teeth.
Hong carried a long, metal, bladed weapon, and I knew from reputation he was skilled with it.
“Are you carrying any illegal guns?” I asked him, assuming an official tone.
Firearms were technically banned on the city, though they were still common. Because of this, most gangs carried hand weapons and trained with them. I suppose it was a bit safer that you had to get murdered with a sword instead of a pistol, but it was a lot messier.
“Why you always bother us? Why you always say we break law? Why every time Totki move in our own system, we get trouble?” he spat.
Hong was a firebrand. Maybe not a great orator, but he was energetic. And right now he severely outnumbered us.
“You’ll shut your hole and answer the Supreme Kommilaire when he asks you a question,” I heard Valia shout from next to me.
There was a pause as this surprised just about everyone. Valia was unarmed. She was about the size of a baby’s eyelash and twice as cute. And the Totki did not have an over-appreciation for women in non-domestic roles.
“This your new bodyguard?” Hong teased. “Kommilaire grow smaller and smaller.”
MTB was helping quell the riot. I hadn’t thought this was going to be a difficult task.
I had to handle this with tact. I was not concerned for my safety. I was concerned for the safety of my men. We had guns, but likely some Totki did as well. And they could just hack my Stair Boys to pieces and scatter. Then I’d have to hunt them down for the next six months and I just couldn’t do that.
“You have no firearms?” I asked again.
“No, these legal,” Hong said at the wicked array of spears, the Totki’s favorite weapon.
“Do you have a Type-B carry license for them?”
“What that? No such thing!”
He was right. But I wasn’t sure how to defuse this situation. Not only that, but I had to make it so we didn’t look bad or they would take it as a victory and it would make dealing with them in the future more difficult.
The only reason anyone listens to our orders is because they listen to our orders. If they simply stopped, we wouldn’t be Kommilaire any longer.
“Let me see that,” I said.
Hong reluctantly let me take his pike. It had some kind of triggering mechanism on it.
“That pneumatic. Not gunpowder.”
I activated it and the blade shot out like a rocket-propelled cleaver. It clanged off the ground and people jumped out of the way.
Hong saw my expression.
“What? That legal. You only bother Totki.”
“I search everyone. I was just in a trial earlier, prosecuting your friends the Olmarr.”
The Totki nearby who heard, spat and cursed at mention of the name of their rivals.
“And he get off! No punishment. See?” Hong argued.
“You tell me where their weapons are and I’ll go take them,” I said.
Hong looked away.
“I’m here to protect everyone,” I continued.
“We don’t need protect. Everyone say they protect the Totki Clan. These our solar systems! These our planets for ten thousand years until you come and take our resource.”
“Well, it wasn’t me, I wasn’t alive ten thousand years ago.”
“Boss,” I heard Valia say to me.
I looked at her curiously. It was like she was oblivious to the danger she was in.
“Yeah?”
“Can I talk to you a moment over here?”
It was such an odd request, I handed Hong back his pike and walked with her. I had to lean down because she whispered.
“If you want to get out of this while still saving face, there is one guy carrying a Boli .44 on the inside of his jacket.”
“Who?” I asked.
“He’s four to the right of Hong and one back. Has a white scarf.”
I looked, couldn’t see him in the dark, then turned back to Valia.
“How do you know?”
“I saw it. Not everyone is as blind as you.”
I stood up and returned to Hong, taking my precious time.
Hong was about to launch into another rant, but I walked past him without making eye contact. I approached the one Valia had fingered, the crowd having no choice but to part for me and my girth.
The man seemed unsure what to do.
I put my left hand on his shoulder, firmly anchoring him to the spot, and then opened his jacket.
I turned around to Hong holding up the .44 pistol.
“What’s this?” I demanded. “You just told me, told the Supreme Kommilaire, that there were no guns here.”