II. The Long Ships

"The victim was found early this morning. The paper-boy felt something fall on his face. He looked up and saw the body . . . what was left of it. He ran and called us. The initial search of the house turned up two other bodies. Both in pretty much the same condition. We haven't gotten to the basement yet. Have you, uh, have you . . . seen them yet McCartey?"

"No. But everyone looks freaked. That bad?"

"Yeah. Inside's the worst. They've been there awhile. I'd hold your breath."

"Thanks, man. Just waiting for my partner. Oh, wait. Is the, uh, paper-boy here?"

"Yeah he's sitting in one of the squad cars. Listen, I gotta get back. We're starting on the basement."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Detective Jake McCartey shivered in the cold morning. Nothing like the near constant warm weather in the west. He's still not quite used to it. But better to freeze than burn, in his opinion.

"Cold. Cold. Cold."

Should have brought coffee.

"Where are you Pez?"

This wasn't like her: to be late. With how she's been going, he wouldn't have been too surprised to see here before they had even gotten the call this morning. Something was up. He didn't know what, but he meant to find out. Soon, if he had his way. He had been teamed up with Sara at his request to Joe Siri almost three months ago. After Danny Woo was taken out. He wouldn't tell another soul that one of his reasons was that he wanted to get a little closer to her. He did need a partner, that much was true. And he had admired Sara Pezzini from a distance for some time. When he asked to be teamed up, he was genuinely concerned for her. And they had both needed someone to cover their backs. Of course, he didn't find it too difficult to watch hers. And he wasn't disappointed with that kiss either. Were crushes a bad thing in police work?

The sound of a motorcycle caught his attention. Jake walked to meet his partner half way, and noted her appearance as Sara removed her helmet.

"Sorry I'm late, Jake. I-"

"Are you Okay? You don't look too good."

She answered him with a half smile and a nod of the head.

"Have I missed anything?"

"Nope. I haven't gone over to look yet. The tech guys says it pretty bad. Everyone looks pretty shook up. Three victims. One pinned under awning of the front porch. Two more inside. Those have been there for a bit. They recommend that we hold our breath."

"Any witnesses?"

"Just the kid that called it in. They've begun to canvass the neighborhood. Hopefully we'll turn something up."

Pezzini and McCartey moved the yellow tape out of the way and made their way towards the house, stepping around the pool of frozen blood on the concrete steps, and looked up.

"Holy god." Whispered McCartey, "Who did this?"

An arm here. A leg there. Portions of the torso and head. Heart, lung, intestine. All stapled and tacked to the wooden roof.

Red. A woman's scream for help in her ears. Silenced by the sound of metal on bone. Sara shook her head to clear it of the vision. They've been getting more intense, and with Dominique gone, there was only one other who can help her.

"Let's go inside, Jake."

"Sure. I wonder . . ."

"What?"

"Where the rest of him is?"

Sara noded her head in agreement and followed him through the front door. The smell hit them as they walked into the bedroom.

"Man that reeks." McCartey blurted out, and covered his nose with the front of his jacket. Sara placed her hand over her nose, and swallowed the bile that had risen to her throat. The photographer pushed through them with a clothes pin on his nose. "Good idea."

As a homicide detective, Sara Pezzini has seen the worst part of human society first hand. The product of such minds are hardly something that is attractive to the eye. But this has to be one of the worst.

Jake McCartey said nothing this time.

The body lay in mostly decomposed pieces on the floor. It's skin, however, was spread out taunt, and hung from the ceiling by wire and hook. Almost like it was laid out to dry.

"I- "

Ringing Laughter and joyful singing. Ignored pleas for mercy. A creature's distorted face.

Sara ran from the house, not bothering to look at the next victim.

"Pez!"

Jake followed her outside and around the house to the back. Away from the rest of the officers. She knelt in the snow, trying to wipe the vision from her mind. "Stop it. I can't take it." She whispered.

"Stop, what?"

Sara didn't see or hear Jake follow her. She turned her head to see his face inches away from hers. Worry written across his features.

"I . . . I don't know."

"We have to go back in there, Sara."

"I know. I, um, I just . . ."

"If you're not well, you should tell someone."

"I'm- I'm not sick. I'm tired. I don't . . . sleep much anymore."

He placed an arm around her, in a half hug. Some reassurance, hopefully.

"Why not?"

"We should get back to-"

"Why not, Sara?"

For the first time in her life, she failed to stare someone down. So much for intimidation.

"Bad dreams."

" . . . All right. We'll finish this later. Let's get some clothes pins, like the photo guy, and finish our job. Then we can get out of here. And back to the station where it's warm."

"Wimp."

Jake stood up, brushed the snow off his pants, and offered her his hand. "Let's get this over with."

Sara let him help her up and they returned to the interior of the house. To see the third body.

"Hey Smitty."

"Yeah McCartey?"

"Where's the third?"

"Master bath. It's not as bad as the other two."

"Thanks dude."

Officer Smitty wandered away mumbling something about the word "dude".

"You know what Pez?"

"What Jake?"

"I don't make fun of them when they say "youse guys" I think they should return the favor."

"Maybe if you did, they'd stop."

"Perhaps."

Like the rest of the house, the master bedroom was devoid of furniture and the walls were bare. The only color in the house was the dirty beige carpet. When they neared the bathroom door, Sara silently prayed that there would be no vision. Clairvoyance wasn't not all it's cracked up to be. She braced herself and frowned at the look Jake gave her. She moved her head in an abrupt 'yes' and they entered the bathroom. The photographer left them saying something about never eating again.

The body was whole this time, and bloated from being submerged in water. A young African male. No more than 25 years old stared at the Detectives from under the red water. A second smile added to him, in the form of the cut that had nearly severed his head. Only one other wound decorated that body. They body had been eviscerated.

"There's no blood except in the tub. He's been moved. There would have been blood on the ceiling if his throat was slashed here." McCartey observed. Furiously writing down notes in his pad in an effort to get out quicker.

"His stomach was cut here though, Jake. The rest of him is at the bottom of the bathtub."

"Taking notes as fast as I can. I'm glad I'm not the one who has to clean this place up."

Jake put his pad back into his pocket, and observed his partner for a moment. "Have you seen enough, Sara?"

"Yeah. Yeah, let's go outside."

"After you."

He was going to find out what was wrong tonight.

* * * *

The ships were coming. She could see their sails from the Library. Soon the General would arrive. How could she have been such a coward to run from the likes of him?

A man.

Inferior.

The Blade had told her as much. She could have beat him to his knees. Humiliated him in front of his Legions.

But no. She had given into her human impulses and ran. No matter now. Her children were safe in India. Nothing else mattered. Not her lover, the Blade, or her death. The empire would go to them, and would soon become a Province of the Republic.

She would take to noble way out. Killing herself would save her, and her people, the humiliation of seeing their Queen's capture. And she refused to be paraded along the Sacred Way in the Capitol in celebration of his victory. She still had her pride.

There was still time. And preparations to be made.