02-07-2019, 12:18 PM
“There,” said Lih, concentrating as he made last minute adjustments to the dial of his microbead set. “I’m picking up voices, very faint...”
He handed the microbead to Bell the CCDPD technician, who pressed it against his ear and listened.
“It’s very faint...” Lih repeated.
“Shhh!” Bell said, “I can barely... Viktor, can you put this back on?”
“Of course Bell, can you boost the signal at all?”
“Trying,” Bell replied, “better?”
“A little,” Lih listened hard. “Huh. Yeah, there’s talking. I hear the captain. Couple of other voices. Talking about waiting. Waiting to learn something. Hang on.”
Bell got to his feet and opened his battered case. He rooted around in the remains of its contents.
It seemed an age for Lih to hear enough. Finally, the pale detective looked up at Bell. “Extraordinary, thanks— I owe you.” He smiled.
Lih hated being pushed around. He found he wanted to think of things for himself, and do them. He wondered if Dorian felt the same.
He came to a halt. His low light vision was scooping nothing in this temperature controlled world. Heat on heat. But he trusted his eyes.
The lead figure approached...
First things first, Lih thought. He’d waited for this. He waited to see what Dorian had in store for him. If it was nothing so be it. But if it was something, then Lih wouldn’t be ruining their chances with hasty preparations...
Minutes swelled into hours. Time seemed to pass at the most laborious rate. Around him, the quiet domovoi department seemed to match the crawl of time.
Who knew why the older detective joined the police force in the first place. Dorian had an escort of channelers and hackers. What did he need with the cops?
He’d considered what Dorian said about this case and decided what to do about it. His job. Were the same monsters that took the scientists searching for Dorian? The heavy security around the Vega estate strongly discouraged other outsiders. And what was that about making deals? “The sort of monsters who are looking for us won’t be interested in deals,” he muttered. He retrieved his weapons and got mobile...
Lih stalked his way over the taller detective.
He raised his gloved hand in greeting.
“Morning, Sir,” he called out.
Lih held out one gloved, long fingered hand and showed Dorian the glinting “Vaia Plus” badge he’d taken from evidence. “I ran a test. Using my kit. It’s not definite. I haven’t got the equipment our lab has for it to be definite. But I trust the result. It’s not good. Nothing’s here to track the missing scientist with, unfortunately. Not by pheromones or by the wake of any DNA he left behind him.”
He shrugged, “it’s a bust.”
He handed the microbead to Bell the CCDPD technician, who pressed it against his ear and listened.
“It’s very faint...” Lih repeated.
“Shhh!” Bell said, “I can barely... Viktor, can you put this back on?”
“Of course Bell, can you boost the signal at all?”
“Trying,” Bell replied, “better?”
“A little,” Lih listened hard. “Huh. Yeah, there’s talking. I hear the captain. Couple of other voices. Talking about waiting. Waiting to learn something. Hang on.”
Bell got to his feet and opened his battered case. He rooted around in the remains of its contents.
It seemed an age for Lih to hear enough. Finally, the pale detective looked up at Bell. “Extraordinary, thanks— I owe you.” He smiled.
Lih hated being pushed around. He found he wanted to think of things for himself, and do them. He wondered if Dorian felt the same.
He came to a halt. His low light vision was scooping nothing in this temperature controlled world. Heat on heat. But he trusted his eyes.
The lead figure approached...
First things first, Lih thought. He’d waited for this. He waited to see what Dorian had in store for him. If it was nothing so be it. But if it was something, then Lih wouldn’t be ruining their chances with hasty preparations...
Minutes swelled into hours. Time seemed to pass at the most laborious rate. Around him, the quiet domovoi department seemed to match the crawl of time.
Who knew why the older detective joined the police force in the first place. Dorian had an escort of channelers and hackers. What did he need with the cops?
He’d considered what Dorian said about this case and decided what to do about it. His job. Were the same monsters that took the scientists searching for Dorian? The heavy security around the Vega estate strongly discouraged other outsiders. And what was that about making deals? “The sort of monsters who are looking for us won’t be interested in deals,” he muttered. He retrieved his weapons and got mobile...
Lih stalked his way over the taller detective.
He raised his gloved hand in greeting.
“Morning, Sir,” he called out.
Lih held out one gloved, long fingered hand and showed Dorian the glinting “Vaia Plus” badge he’d taken from evidence. “I ran a test. Using my kit. It’s not definite. I haven’t got the equipment our lab has for it to be definite. But I trust the result. It’s not good. Nothing’s here to track the missing scientist with, unfortunately. Not by pheromones or by the wake of any DNA he left behind him.”
He shrugged, “it’s a bust.”