February 2158
It's been six months after the end of the First Contact War. Since then human relations with other species has been almost nonexistent. But after long negotiations the first group of twenty volunteers was sent on the Citadel. The mission known as The Second Encounter and it was supposed to be humanity's way of presenting itself to other species. The mission was aborted two months later, because, as it turned out, when you start a war with the first alien species you meet (even if accidentally), other races will consider you primitive and aggressive. For their own safety volunteers were sen…
"Mel, can you turn that shit off please? I am trying to work over here!" Damn, I hate these stupid documentary shows.
Eight months later - October 2158
"Hey Melina, guess what?" I ask with a grin after closing the door to my boss' office.
"Judging by your grin he either gave you a blowjob or a vacation. And because the first option is highly unlikely…"
"Oh, c'mon, you just ruined my moment of happiness!" Well, it's Mel. What was I expecting? "But you are right about the vacation. Three weeks without nightshifts, dead bodies or idiots, nothing but me and my skis."
My excitement earns me a happy smile from Mel. She has been a good friend to me since I got here. It's funny that I used to think the guys working in the murder department are killjoys without any sense of humor. Melina is a bit smaller than me, has a short blond hair and athletic figure. Oh and the most amazing blue eyes I've ever seen. It almost makes me wonder where she learned all those sick jokes.
"Well Daniel you sure deserve it," she says with a hint of proud tone in her voice.
Our last case was so far my biggest, not to mention I've been working two years without a break. Heh, now that I think of it, I was never even sick. But I guess I didn't want to be stuck somewhere inside doing a pointless desk job. After two years of service in Chicago Police Department someone decided I deserve a promotion… and well, since then I was working here. It's hard to believe it's been three years already.
"Yep, thanks." With that I look over at my desk and the smile on my face instantly freezes. "Fuck, I almost forgot."
Our office is in the building older them my great grandfather, but meh, it's not that bad. It's just a square room filled with four desks with terminals on top of them, a TV and a large couch. Desk in the right corner, next to window, is occupied by Mel. She doesn't have any personal stuff on top of it and claims it's easier for her to focus that way. On the left side from Mel used to sit Jack. He was sort of my 'mentor' when I first came here and he showed me a few tricks like how to avoid some paperwork plus also a few things they don't teach you in an academy. Two months ago he retired, took his stuff and as far as I know he is in Oregon with his wife. My desk is right behind his and currently is a home for thirty datapads. With a heavy sigh I make my way to it. At least I have a comfortable chair.
"Where is mister moody, I haven't seen him today yet." I ask as I grab the datapad on top of the pile and peek at the last desk.
"He went to check out some body in a metro. That should take him a few hours."
Mister moody is of course just a nickname I gave to Pete when I came. It's more than a bit childish of me, but it pisses him off so I like it. He isn't a bad guy, but when he doesn't have his day you won't get more than one full sentence per hour out of him… or he just won't shut up. Personally, I like the silent Pete more.
Next to his terminal is an old pen, for some reason he is collecting them and a sport magazine right next to photo of his wife and six year old daughter. Pete is forty-three if I remember correctly, average figure and brown hair… Okay no more screwing around, let's finish this and go home.
Three hours, two coffees and thirty datapads later and I am finally done. The clock says it's five already and that means I can leave. "Mel I think I had enough today. I need to pack some things for that vacation and I'm fucking starving," I say rising from my chair.
Funny, I didn't even notice when she moved on the couch. She's watching some kind of documentary show, yeah she really likes those, but as I speak she stands up and comes closer.
"Yeah. Well, have a nice holiday. Don't break anything and take a lot of photos."
"Yes mum sure." I swear that sometimes she acts like if she was my older sister. Before I leave I give her a quick hug.
On my way down the stairs I realize I didn't say goodbye to Pete. Well, it's not like I'm leaving for long. Three weeks at max. If everything will go as planned, for once, tomorrow at this time I should be already in my hotel room in Switzerland. Since I caught a guy trying to steal my motorcycle a year ago I have been a little bit afraid that one day I won't find it in its place. Today is no exception, but to my relief it is right where I left it in the morning.
It feels good to ride it after a long day, but though it's relaxing, electric engine is simply not making that kind of noise the old gas ones did. I heard it once in an old movie and I loved it, but they are banned nowadays, so I don't have much of a choice here. After half an hour of avoiding cars stuck in Chicago traffic jams I'm finally at home. My apartment was given to me when I joined the police. It's nothing big, just a small kitchen, bedroom, TINY bathroom and a living room.
The first thing I do once I am inside is taking a look in the fridge. "What do we have here…" Hmm some milk, cheese aaand lasagnas from yesterday. That will have to do.
I am not much of a cook, but my meals are eatable and I am so hungry at the moment I don't really care what it tastes like. As always I eat my food in the living room while watching TV. Right away when I turn it on I'm looking at some old man who's apparently talking about the same thing everybody seems to recently. Aliens. Since the First Contact War media just can't shut up about aliens. It's always turian this and asari that. I admit, it was interesting at first, but now it's just plain annoying.
"… Doctor Lechov what can you tell us about possibility of coexistence with aliens?" A sexy reporter asks the old guy.
"Well, so far all of our efforts have failed. It's mostly because of that horrible misunderstanding with turians. I think that if …"
"Excuse me, but turians have already paid us reparations after the Council admitted that they acted too harshly. After all, they were the ones who started it. Why are we seen as the aggressor?" Now that is a good one.
"You are probably talking about The Second Encounter mission."
"Yes, I am. As far as I know the mission has failed because of xenophobia and distrust from aliens." The statement ears the reporter a small nod from 'the doctor'.
"You have to look at the larger image. The well-known and trusted council race attacks invaders and lawbreakers. They are met with opposition and after some time Council makes them pay reparations to some aggressive primitives no one has ever heard of until then."
Ou, I think you put it too sharply man.
"So doctor, you think it's our mistake we didn't know the laws of the aliens we have never even heard of?" Yep, he definitely overshot it.
"No, no, no. That's not what I'm trying to say here," he quickly responds and brings up his hands in defense. "I just think that many of the council races simply can't look at the things from our point of view. They are not omniscient. But to finally answer your question, yes I think that we'll be able to overcome our differences and work together. Maybe even in the near future. I heard that the Alliance has been recently again negotiating with the Council."
That guy definitely deserves bonus points for being an optimist, though I'm not so sure I agree with him. I mean, people have been killing each other because of different skin colors, religions, opinions and so on. To be fair, it's much better nowadays, but it took us a long time to get to this point.
The debate went on forever and the each question was always weirder than the one before. And so when the reporter asked about similarities between us and aliens I knew what her next question is going to be. And I DON'T need to listen about interbreeding. Not now, not ever. I turn off the TV and drag myself to the bedroom. It's pretty big, at least compared to the rest of my apartment. In the corner is my bed with all of my luggage on top of it. Next to the bed is a cubicle and on the other side of the room a desk with a computer. And that is pretty much it.
I start to take off my clothes and soon only my underwear remains. After I freed my bed from the luggage I only have to do one more thing before I can go to sleep. Standing in front of the mirror in my bathroom and brushing my teeth I can't help but examine myself. Hmm, I don't look half bad today. My brown hair is a mess as always, but I think it fits me. I shaved this morning so there is no beard, but there are some small bags under my green eyes. A good long sleep and a vacation should help with that.
As to my figure, I'm that kind of guy whom eats as much as he wants and never gets fat. So my waist is slim and generally I am in a pretty good shape. That reminds me I should find more time for exercising, work was consuming a lot of my time lately.
Then there is my scar. Some scars are sexy, but if someone shoots you with a revolver to your chest… Well it's not exactly the sexiest thing ever. Though it is barely two inches long it is still red and has ugly zigzag corners. It's been three years since the shooting and I can still feel where the bullet hit.
After few more minutes of brushing my teeth and thinking about Switzerland I am finally ready for some shut eye. I lie down on my bed and grab my smartphone. It's actually more of a computer than phone and this one also has some cool functions necessary for a detective. Fingerprints scanner, access to police registers, hacking programs and the most importantly alarm clock. I set it at seven and finally kill the light.
Next day
3 a.m.
"What the FUCK?" The ringing of my phone wakes me up within a second, but it can't be seven just yet! Clumsily I shift under the warm blanket and reach for the phone. "What asshole… right."
The screen says Jacob Stevens.
Basically my boss, he's head of the entire murder investigation department. We write reports for him and he passes them higher to his bosses. It works also the other way around. If some important investigation is taking too long he gets the lecture about how he is supposed to do his job and then we get a lecture how are we supposed to do our jobs. He is also the one who approved my vacation and if he's calling me this early in the morning it means something is going on.
"Please just tell me I fucked up some report." I mutter and accept the call. "Yes sir."
"Daniel please tell me you're still at home." Shit, he called me Daniel. This is bad.
"Ehm... yes sir, but my shuttle leaves at nine. Is there a problem?"
From the other end of the line I hear a loud sigh of relief. "Daniel, I know you've been waiting for that vacation, but I just got instructions from Arctus station. I'm not supposed to tell you details just yet, but I think that you won't catch that shuttle"
I instantly perk up at the mention of Arctus and almost fall onto floor: "Sir, what is this supposed to mean? Arctus why would they… they can't just cancel my vacation! " when I think about it I had this kind of argument with him. Couple of times. And it's always the same. Two months ago, a date with a hot chick. NO! A dead guy was found in the junkyard. Seven months ago, motorcycle trip to Canada. NOPE a woman was found shot in her apartment, half eaten by her cats. Both times I was arguing with Stevens for half an hour. And both times I loose. Now with those politicians from Arctus involved… I'd have a better chance to win a fistfight against a polar bear.
"… ahh so?! What am I supposed to do?" As soon as he hears my reply his voice loses the sympathetic tone and instead switches to his casual cold professional one.
"There is an alliance official on his way to brief me. So far I just had to make sure you won't get too far away. You have paid time off until that official gets here, but then he will want to speak with you," he makes a small pause. "And Stoll, I appreciate it. I know you've been looking forward to that vacation."
"Yeah. Good night sir." It's not like you gave me a choice in this.
Author note:
I am new to this, so it'd be really great if you could give me some advice. Because I am writing this to improve my English I don't really know how long this will get. Reviews would be a great motivation :D
Update: Just to let you know, first few chapters are really short, but then they get longer (and better writen I hope). Thanks for reading.
