{"id":372,"date":"2013-06-02T00:00:06","date_gmt":"2013-06-02T04:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=372"},"modified":"2013-06-01T22:57:43","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T02:57:43","slug":"twenty-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=372","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-one"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sometimes, the dead don\u2019t stay dead, even when we think we\u2019ve buried them.<\/h3>\n

— Willow McLeod, Beyond Lies<\/i>, c. 2017 AD<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

14 Decem, 5249 PD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim was impressed despite himself as he stared at the stonework of the old Grace house at Halo Ridge.\u00a0 Far below, he could hear the waves crashing on the rocks and as he turned back toward the road, he could see Nova Spexi laid out below them, tumbling from the edge of the woods all the way down to the sea.\u00a0 The newly elected Speaker hadn\u2019t been lying\u2014the view was certainly nothing short of amazing.<\/p>\n

The Speaker patted him lightly on the shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cCome on.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want to keep the Marshals waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course not,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 He glanced back over his shoulder, toward the skimmer.\u00a0 The pilot had climbed out as well and was staring out over the city, his gaze vaguely wistful.<\/p>\n

He just returned from off-world,<\/i> Tim thought.\u00a0 Came home to the world that adopted him as one of their own.\u00a0 I wonder if he\u2019s seen this view before.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has,\u201d the Speaker said softly as she drew him toward the house.\u00a0 \u201cCommander Cho and Ezra Grace are rather close friends.\u00a0 He was in Dr. Grace\u2019s care when they passed through the Whispers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim startled.\u00a0 \u201cIn his care?\u00a0 What is that\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long story,\u201d she said gently.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it\u2019s not my story to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why bring it up?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her lips quirked toward a smile.\u00a0 \u201cTo make you curious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim shook his head, gaze drifting toward the shadowed porch of the house where he could see four figures in the shade of the roof.<\/p>\n

Four?\u00a0 Someone else is with the Marshals, then, right?\u00a0 All of our data says there\u2019s only three of them.<\/i><\/p>\n

Could one of them be Dr. Grace?<\/i><\/p>\n

He\u2019d heard of Ezra Grace\u2014a pioneer in the field of decybernization, an old field that hadn\u2019t changed in the better part of three centuries.\u00a0 Mankind had spent centuries using biotechnology and cybernetics to modify themselves, but it had only been recently that scientists had begun to apply themselves to the mission of removing and reversing those modifications.\u00a0 Ezra Grace was a pioneer and well-respected throughout the Commonwealth for his advances.<\/p>\n

Of course, he\u2019s probably had more than enough willing volunteers to work with, considering that refugees may end up here with modifications they never asked for.<\/i><\/p>\n

The idea shot a shiver down his spine. Things like that shouldn\u2019t happen in the Commonwealth\u2014but everyone knew that they did and no one seemed to be able to do a damned thing about it.<\/p>\n

How far we\u2019ve fallen as a species,<\/i> he thought mournfully as he studied the four.\u00a0 There was huge bear of a dark-skinned man leaning against one of the porch\u2019s columns, his arms crossed and his expression blank.\u00a0 Braced against a rail stood a second figure, his dark hair peppered with gray and his eyes seeming to gleam with a mixture of mystery and mischief as he met Tim\u2019s searching gaze.\u00a0 Tim recognized Daciana Rose from newsvids and an image or two in Sephora\u2019s office\u2014the loss of her husband had aged her, but not so much that she was unrecognizable.\u00a0 She was tucked against the side of an older man, tall and slender, leaning on a cane.<\/p>\n

Bloody\u2026why does he seem familiar?<\/i><\/p>\n

No.\u00a0 No, it couldn\u2019t be.<\/i><\/p>\n

Tim stopped dead in his tracks.\u00a0 The Speaker went two steps beyond him before she turned, tilting her head to one side and looking at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m seeing a ghost,\u201d Tim said, his mouth dry as he stared blankly at the man standing with Daciana Rose.<\/p>\n

Frederick Rose is dead.<\/i><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t he?<\/i><\/p>\n

He must be.\u00a0 The Inspector General still cries every year on the anniversary of his death.\u00a0 Everything that I\u2019ve ever\u2026they were so close.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t have left her in the dark.<\/i><\/p>\n

Not unless it was a matter of life and death.<\/i><\/p>\n

Staring at the slender man, Tim realized he wasn\u2019t sure that it hadn\u2019t been a matter of life and death.<\/p>\n

The Speaker took him by the arm and gently steered him toward the porch.\u00a0 The man leaning against the porch rail grinned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you won the bet, Freder.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man with Daciana Rose smirked.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m thinking you\u2019re right, Grumpy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim shivered.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2014\u201d He stopped and then began again, trying to gather his scattered wits.\u00a0 \u201cMy name is Timrel Winston. I\u2019m an Inspector First Grade with the New Earth Commonwealth Office of the Inspector General and I\u2019ve been assigned to look into the attacks at the Whispers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man with the cane stepped down from the shadows of the porch and moved to meet him.\u00a0 He was taller than Tim, though not by much, and his smile was warm and sad all at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re young to be First Grade,\u201d he observed quietly.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s him.\u00a0 I\u2019m positive it\u2019s him. Gamble.\u00a0 If you\u2019re wrong, at least it\u2019s an honest gamble.\u00a0 <\/i>\u201cSo were you, sir,\u201d Tim said.<\/p>\n

One corner of the man\u2019s mouth lifted in a wry smile.\u00a0 \u201cSo I was.\u201d\u00a0 He extended his hand.\u00a0 \u201cRetired Inspector First Grade Frederick Rose.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Tim\u2019s hand slid into the older man\u2019s, he tried to swallow the words that escaped his lips.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re correct,\u201d Frederick said.\u00a0 \u201cAs far as the Commonwealth is concerned, I died when that transport blew.\u00a0 I would say that my survival is a state secret, but even the government here didn\u2019t know that I was still alive until a few weeks ago\u2014most of the members of the Rose Council still don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had too many questions for the elder inspector, his superior\u2019s mentor\u2014a legend in front of him, living and breathing.<\/p>\n

A dead legend.<\/i><\/p>\n

Tim swallowed hard, then looked at the Speaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did this on purpose.\u00a0 Arranged this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cNot entirely correct, but not entirely incorrect, either.\u00a0 When Frederick heard you were coming, he said that he would be involved in your investigation whether we liked it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frederick smiled faintly.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s true.\u00a0 How is Sephora?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStill in mourning,\u201d Tim said, meeting the older man\u2019s gaze.\u00a0 \u201cHaunted by the ghost of a mentor she couldn\u2019t save\u2014that she didn\u2019t have to save.\u201d\u00a0 He swallowed bile, looking at all five of them.\u00a0 \u201cWhen she sent me to investigate the Whispers, she said that I\u2019d find people here I could trust, that would help me.\u00a0 Tell me she wasn\u2019t wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all,\u201d Frederick said, leaning against his cane.\u00a0 \u201cDid she find it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim blinked.\u00a0 \u201cFind what?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head with a faint, sad smile.\u00a0 \u201cNever mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Tim said, stepping closer.\u00a0 \u201cI won\u2019t.\u00a0 What are you asking me about?\u201d<\/p>\n

Daciana came forward along with the man leaning against the rail, both clearly poised to stop Tim if he made any threatening moves toward Frederick.\u00a0 He tensed slightly, but waited, staring Frederick in the eye.<\/p>\n

The dead inspector began to laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Sephora!\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI like<\/i> him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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