Personal Matters
Berg Katse was out for revenge. He had silently promised it, and he kept his word. The problem was finding a rationale that would satisfy anyone who asked (especially Leader X). He was after a rapist. Helen Geary's rapist.
It had been all well and good to make that vow in the privacy of his head. But how to keep it?
This rapist used drugs that made his victims docile and cooperative, and either prevented them forming memories of the attack or eliminated them afterwards. No weapons, no threats, no violence before, during, or after the crime. No follow-up. No evidence of rape. Her word against his.
Galactor does not exist for revenge. She had not joined for that. She had not told him her attacker's name, perhaps as a message that she was not asking for vengeance.
The micro-expressions that had flitted across her face when she told him had been uninformative. So many conflicting emotions. Shame. Guilt. Fear. Had she wanted more from him than a sympathetic ear?
Geary had strength. He had known it since childhood. Mixed with the other emotions had been determination, courage, and tenacity. She did not need her assailant's head on a plate. Except for the emotions called up with the memories, she had recovered.
She wanted the bastard stopped for the sake of his other victims, and for the sake of the women who might cross his path in the future.
Not all Galactor personnel lived and worked in self-contained bases. Many had jobs in the companies and corporations that Galactor controlled, and in the government and law-enforcement agencies they had infiltrated. They went out. They met people.
Katse smiled. He'd found the public-consumption excuse.
Galactor protected its own. This man was a known threat.
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Narrowing the suspect pool required no special effort. The company, Midlothian Pharmaceuticals, had not significantly restructured since Geary's time there. People had moved up or sideways, but few had moved out. Its stability had attracted more investors, including the interest of a Galactor-controlled corporation.
After setting aside those hired or promoted to supervisory positions after Geary's firing, Katse had a fair-sized list. Then he eliminated those who would not have met her under normal work circumstances, and those who might meet her, but only under limited, specific circumstances. She had not said so, but in her telling, her assailant had been polite, and not over-interested. Which meant she saw him enough to not be surprised that he would speak to her.
He tried to keep his activities from Geary.
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No such luck.
She met him in his office one morning with a simple question: "What are you doing, sir?"
Normally, she did not ask such open-ended questions. She had an instinct for knowing which questions he would likely answer with lies or other prevarications. "Which answer do you prefer? The truth, or the one I tell people?"
"Both."
And because it was her, Helen Geary, one of the few people he did not want (and rarely, so rarely, needed) to manipulate, he answered. "Here's the second answer: he has a successful system. You weren't his first victim, or his last. One of our subsidiaries is angling for a controlling interest in the company. He's an obvious danger to Galactor personnel." He wondered how she had found out.
"I see." She blocked his way to his desk. "And the first one?" Even though she knew the answer.
"Nobody hurts those I care about."
Her mouth tightened, but her mask hid her eyes, so he could not read her thoughts.
"What is it?"
"Get the door, first, please." Well-hidden fear threaded her voice. "I don't want anyone interrupting."
Why was she afraid? Certainly not of any of the suspects. They could not harm her or Galactor. He locked the door.
She removed her mask. "One fool in this room is more than enough, sir," she stated, jerking her thumb at herself.
What did she mean? He read her expression, her body language, her voice. She's not afraid for herself. She's afraid for me. "What's wrong?"
"Leader X, sir. Were you even thinking this when we had the audience?" She crossed her arms at her middle.
"I was." What did Leader X have to do with this?
"Oh, shit." Her hand went to her mouth, continued up her face and along the top of her head. "You belong to Leader X and Galactor, sir. You've said it a thousand times in words and actions. Everything and everyone is secondary to Galactor."
"This does affect Galactor."
"Not enough. You can dress it up all you want, but this time it's not enough. At most, it's half and half. I don't think Leader X likes to share."
That was it. Two weeks after the accident at the mecha base, Leader X called them both to Cross Karakoram. Helen's second audience with the true leader of Galactor. She'd been just as shaken as at her first.
"Gods are jealous, sir. You know that." She grabbed his upper arms, then his face. "Leader X might tolerate you thinking something like this. Doing it is another thing entirely."
"Helen …." He took her hands, held them between his.
"Don't try to reassure me. I'm pretty sure 'I'd know if God was angry at me' are the last words of the zapped.
"I'm nothing. I'm just one person. Galactor got along without me and will continue after I'm dead.
"You are important. Leader X chose you. Chose you. I don't know why it's interested in me, but you are important to it, or to its plans, or both. I just don't think you're so indispensable that it won't do something to punish you."
He wanted to tell her she was wrong. Wanted to, but could not.
Leader X was alien. There had been times that he had displeased his overlord, and been thoroughly and painfully corrected. Even now, after much thought, he could not determine what he had done wrong that required such punishment.
He smiled at her, ran his fingers along her temple. "You are hardly 'nothing', my fool. You keep me on track, and remind me of things I ought not to forget. I shall consult Leader X about this."
"Thank you, my lord."
"Dismissed."
A flash of mischief before she donned the mask. "Never, sir."
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Leader X's audience chamber had imitations at the larger bases. Every once in a while, a recalcitrant Galactor or other individual needed to be reminded who ran things. When it wanted, the alien could intimidate people over the communications feed.
Only a few people knew that Leader X was not being merciful when it directed underlings to carry out certain punishments. It was not always delegating when base captains or other minions were ordered to kill those who displeased it. Powerful as the alien was, it still obeyed the laws of physics. Distance affected its ability to do things.
Which did not keep Berg Katse from trembling as he contacted his lord and master. There were plenty of defense mechanisms in the chamber, and Leader X could use any of them.
He was certain that the alien already knew what he wanted. The being had a telepathic link with him, but never stated whether it was technological or biological (or both). So he spoke carefully and candidly, lest Leader X misunderstand the inevitable faulty mental image or any difference between words and thoughts.
Leader X chuckled. "She is perceptive."
"Leader?"
"Fortunately for you both, her concerns are groundless."
For now. This time.
"Carry on with your plans, Berg Katse."
"Yes, Sire."
I'm on notice. I allowed my personal feelings to influence my decisions and judgment.
He would presume that Leader X was giving him a pass, this time. No such mercy if it happened again.
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Midlothian Pharmaceuticals became a part of Galactor, although nobody in the company knew it. They knew only that they had become a subsidiary of a corporation with interests in chemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and related fields. The researchers dreamed about the new cures and treatments they could devise in conjunction with other scientists.
Rupert Wakeman, still a mid-level supervisor with reason to be in both the executive offices and the labs, did not worry about his record or background checks. He did not think of himself as a criminal. Criminals used violence to get what they wanted.
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"He wouldn't prey on too many fellow employees," Geary said. "Too much risk of them getting together for a casual chat and one topic leading to another until they figured it out. If he impregnated another victim, they'd have some evidence."
She and Katse were in a small London office used by Galactor. Neither was in uniform, and Katse was disguised (as usual). Anyone looking in would have seen a young executive and his aide.
Katse commented, "If he's smart enough to use drugs, he's smart enough to use a condom."
"And I was on the pill. He got me at the wrong time. Not all rapists use condoms. If he's doing this to feel manly and virile, going bareback might be part of his signature."
He snorted. Anyone who needed to drug a woman for sex was not 'manly and virile.'
They were the only ones on this mission. He was certain that he was on a short leash from Leader X. No sense risking anyone else's life.
For a week and a half, they had watched Wakeman. He went to work. After work, he would visit a pub or restaurant, but never twice in a row. He ignored the women who were looking for sex in favor of those who were alone but not aloof. During the surveillance, he never found a woman who met his criteria. They recognized at least one dressed-down Member of Parliament, back home for a visit.
The plan was simple: while Katse (in another disguise) kept watch, Geary would search Wakeman's flat. She would take nothing put pictures. Whatever she found would determine their strategy.
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Wakeman's flat was part of a block built a few decades ago. Plenty of elevators and stairs. Geary made no real effort to hide. Looking like she belonged there was better camouflage. She broke in and found a rather depressing, Standard Middle-Aged Bachelor flat. Even if the drug wore off, who would be scared of a man who lived here? Or was he just that drab outside of his 'hobby'?
Most serial criminals keep trophies. She doubted that Wakeman kept anything the victims would miss. No jewelry or underwear for his stash. His trophies would be things that the victims would think they'd lost or misplaced elsewhere. Would she recognize that, or had she looked right at it?
She found the answer in a bottom drawer of a dresser. Photograph albums, filled with pictures of women posed with Wakeman. Each photo had the woman's name, address, and the date. If one looked closely, one could see that the women were drugged.
Evidence. She scanned each page, wondering if they could find some of these women and investigate them as possible Galactor candidates. We can't use this as a tool. 'Hello, we found your name in a rapist's trophy book: would you like to join Galactor?' would not work, even with Lord Katse's powers of persuasion.
So many women. How long had he been doing this?
After a depressing amount of time, she finished scanning. She put away the scanner and carefully replaced the albums.
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Katse shook his head as he looked through the downloaded photographs. "Two hundred and ten. Busy little bastard."
She watched him. He hesitated a fraction of a second longer over her picture before continuing his perusal.
Two albums later, he said, "This one is in Galactor. Deborah Graham. She was a member when he assaulted her. She's Astrid's lover. If only we'd known this before."
Geary swore. Astrid was a Devilstar. No wonder Graham had kept it to herself. "She probably second-guessed herself. Or she felt stupid. Might even have thought she had simply gotten drunk and that nothing had happened. Wakeman looks and acts like a guy who'll call you a cab and never lay a finger on you." She was certain that Leader X was not one for retroactive apologies or approval. They could find a baker's dozen of Galactor personnel in here, and that would not change the alien's mind. It had only approved because Katse had made a valid argument. "What's your plan, sir?"
"We still don't know if he has accomplices. You didn't find any sign, either way. He could be communicating by coded e-mail. These photos imply that he's alone, or that he likes to keep track of what he brought his friends."
Damn. Hell. "I had all the same thoughts. But I think he is alone. If he had friends, they'd take turns hunting. He's on the prowl every day."
"We keep this simple. He's assaulted two hundred and ten women. Some of them must have siblings, spouses, parents, or lovers." He looked up at her, laid his hand on hers. "You can't have been the only one to speak up."
"A part of me wants a dramatic end for him. Introduce him to his new boss for a performance review."
Katse chuckled. "Amusing as that would be, it carries too much risk for Galactor and for us."
She shrugged. "The rest of me refuses to dignify his actions with Lord Berg Katse's personal attention. He deserves the angry boyfriend."
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An anonymous tip led police to Wakeman's flat. Inside, they found Wakeman's body on the sitting room floor. Someone had bludgeoned him to death with a cheap hammer. The photo albums were strewn across the floor, the most recent one pillaged. His weapons of choice were in the refrigerator.
There was a shake-up at Midlothian Pharmaceuticals after the investigation revealed that he'd obtained them from the research lab. Security over the various drugs increased, and the supervisory positions were changed so that no-one could take advantage of one to get hold of so much as a pain reliever.
Investigators found most of the women in the albums. The majority had no idea they'd been the victims of a rapist, if they thought about it at all. Those few who suspected something had, like Geary, been silenced by their inability to articulate their feelings. None of them admitted to telling anyone their suspicions.
Over time, the case fell down the list of cases on the homicide squad, and finally went cold.