Chapter 4: Stolen Future

The Chief of the planetary police force had been anticipating this day with excitement and limited patience. He knew that once the Ray UM: Ultimatum was safely in the hands of the police, his title would actually mean something. The police had diminished significantly since the loss of the memory erasure device that had saved civilization from Rahu twice. The system of erasing the minds of criminals was effective until one day it had simply disappeared. Crime had escalated after that, and the police became a much weaker force.

The loss of the device gained a lot of down-lookers and cynics towards the abilities of the police, and they became even less trusted than bounty hunters. The Chief had looked forward to the day that the police would regain trust from the populous and knew that the Ultimatum would do just
that for them.

The Chief had gotten up extra early so as to arrive at the lab on time for the reception of the UM, and gotten dressed in his best police uniform with many of his medals. He wanted to look his best for this day, for it was one that he felt would be long remembered with pride in police history.

He was surprised to find that several of his officers had already awoken and were waiting for him in the Police HQ Cafeteria. They were just as eager as he was to be ready to make history. They began a light breakfast, but hadn't eaten much when another officer walked in with a wireless phone in his hand. "Chief, it's for you. I think you should take it."

The Chief stood up grumpily, having only been awake for a half-hour, took the phone, and walked out of the room. He came back in within 20 seconds, his face pale, and his expression would have led someone to believe that he had just witnessed his own grave. Everyone stopped eating and waited for him to speak.

"Everyone prepare to leave immediately!" he commanded. Nobody questioned as to why. They knew something bad had happened, and they didn't need any confirmation. All of the officers in the room left, then came back minutes later, prepared to go whenever their Chief instructed so.

As soon as they were all ready, they traveled to the research dome by way of underground train. This had become the most popular and effective way of transporting between dome structures, as walking on the desolate, destroyed planet's surface was particularly distasteful, even though possible. A female scientist who had been awaiting their arrival greeted the Chief and his officers. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I'll tell Ray that you're here."

"I'll tell him myself. I'd like to see him as soon as possible," the Chief responded.

"Of course, sir. If you'll follow me, I'll get you to him with no hindrance at all."

The Chief and his officers followed her to the vault that had held the Ultimatum just hours before, where several scientists were examining and repairing the damage that Strike's team had done. The Chief instructed his officers to gather any information they could from the scientists and the guards. They nodded, and set about talking to various employees of the lab. The Chief didn't need to walk far into the room before he caught sight of Ray, the lead scientist, who was examining the damage on the door. Ray acknowledged his entry after turning to view him. "Chief. I'm glad you're here."

The Chief responded, "Judging by your phone call, there isn't much else to be glad about. What happened here?"

A scientist across the room called to Ray before he could answer, "Ray! Come look at this! I think I've found something!"

Ray started walking in that direction with the Chief, explaining as they walked, "Last night, someone disabled all security in this room, forced their way in, and stole the Ultimatum. The cameras didn't pick up anything, but they were disabled when we initially examined the room." Ray was by then standing next to the scientist who had called him.

The scientist picked up a piece of glass from the floor and said, "Whoever broke the glass case wasn't wearing gloves or any sort of hand protection."

Ray looked closely at the glass. He didn't take it in his own hands, for he wasn't wearing gloves, but he did see a faint trace of dried blood on one of the edges. "Good eye. Run this up to the genetics lab and record the DNA of the blood. See if there's a match with anybody else we have recorded, and-" but then the Chief cut him off.

"Wait," he said, scrutinizing the glass shard. "That's not blood."

"What? What is it, then?" Ray inquired.

The chief gingerly picked up another glass shard, and used it as a makeshift magnifier. After a brief examination, he inferred, "It's rubber. Red rubber."

"Rubber?"

"And since there's not any trace of real blood, the commander either had hand protection or very tough hands." The chief had said all he needed to say on the subject. "How did they know about the Ultimatum in the first place? Only the police and the lab staff should have known."

"I think they have somebody within one of our organizations is working for them and told them everything."

"Where were the security guards at the time of the break-in?"

Ray could only answer, "We don't know for sure, but when their relief squad came in, they were lying just outside the doorway there. All three of them."

"I guess you've already assumed that it was also the work of the commander?"

"Yes, we have every reason to believe that one of them used the Ultimatum to get them out of the way."

The Chief sighed. "Where are the guards now?"

"In a coma in the medical wing. They've been out for several hours, we assume."

"I'd like to be notified as soon as they're awake. They're the only ones who saw who did this, and we need that information." The Chief began moving towards the door.

Ray nodded and said, "You'll be the first one I'll contact."

The Chief looked back over his shoulder and said, "In the meantime, illegalize the Ray UM: Ultimatum universally and contact the bounty hunters. Give them no less information than you gave us."

A senior officer heard him, and protested, "Bounty hunters? Sir, we are perfectly capable of-" but the Chief snapped an interruption.

"Look! Right now, I don't care about the pride of the police! That's what destroyed us in the first place! The only thing I care about right now is getting that Robo out of criminal hands before it does more damage to the ones we're trying to protect! It's more powerful than you think, and we'll need all the help we can get to bring it back!" With that, the Chief stormed out of the room, his face a deep hue of red.

Ray gave the orders to the scientists, "Contact every bounty hunter team reachable. Bring them here and tell them everything."

"Everything?" a scientist asked nervously.

Ray's eyes narrowed, "Everything"