Notes: …Ahh Ebonezer! You were right! I read it again and I'm really sorry! I guess I got carried away! That's what I got from watching too much DEADWOOD!!!!
Thanks to all you who still read and review!
Thanks to my lovely beta!
TWO BY TWO
Alliance Space Station Hanover
"General…"
The broad-shouldered man, who had spent the last hour standing in front of a giant computer-screen going through various reports and pictures from the cortex, turned around with an impatient glare.
"Yes, Conroy?" Even though his hair and moustache were showing the first streaks of grey, the man himself didn't look a day older than forty. His features held a stern, concentrated expression.
"We have analyzed the data we were able to salvage from Mr. Niska's vessel."
The young officer cringed inwardly at the annoyed look the general gave him. He had been working for General Haylan for two years as a personal secretary, but only lately had he found this duty wearing on him. Ever since the allusive Mr. Niska had contacted the general with a very short, enigmatic message that had his commanding officer travelling at top speed from the core halfway across the galaxy. Only to find Niska and several of his men dead, the inside of the vessel looking like a barbarian horde had marched right through it and the ship's computer destroyed. The mysterious package that the general had hastened to collect on Hades, willing to pay a king's ransom for it, had not been found either.
'Till this day Conroy had not the slightest idea what this "package" might have been. Since that day general Haylan had been in a very bad mood, striving to find out what or who was responsible for the incident on Niska's vessel. Conroy didn't doubt for a minute that once Haylan knew who the culprits were, he'd hunt them down. Even if this task seemed to be getting more complicated by the minute.
There had hardly been any data left to retrieve from the destroyed computer core and what little they had salvaged was turning out to be completely useless. But right now, that was the last thing Conroy was worrying about. A far more pressing matter had presented itself just minutes ago and the implications of this matter made Conroy want to hide under his desk. Never in his life had he thought that a few strands of hair could have such an impact…
"I want that report on my screen in fifteen minutes!" The general snapped, already turning away again. Conroy cleared his throat nervously, looking over his shoulder.
"Sir …"
"That will be all for now, Conroy."
The officer could feel cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"Sir, I hate to disturb your work, but … there is something else."
Out of the corner of his eye Haylan saw his assistant throw a nervous glance over his shoulder… again. It irritated him, especially since Conroy had done that three times in the last five minutes.
"What is it?" Haylan barked in annoyance.
"Sir ….the hairs we analyzed, the hair we found on Niska's body…"
"Yes? Didn't we go through this already? I thought the DNA was not in the criminal or military database…."
Conroy took a deep breath, steadying himself. "It wasn't, sir… but… Apparently something else came up."
The general gave him another impatient glare, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Stop stammering, Conroy and speak sense, man!"
"When we sent the data of the tested DNA through the cortex for comparison it sent up a red flag…."
Conroy could tell from the expression on Haylan's face that the general didn't like what he was hearing. "That's impossible! How can that DNA be red flagged if it's not even in our database?"
"She is in ours, general…" Haylan turned around at the smooth, cold voice answering his question. His narrowed eyes went over the two tall, thin men in dark grey suits who had appeared behind him without making the slightest sound. One of them was a little taller and more haggard than the other, with pale blue eyes that never flinched from the general's haughty gaze.
"Ahh..." Haylan nodded with irritation, scowling at the two newcomers. "That explains some of the problems we've been having gathering information, I guess."
He gave them a nod, holding out one arm to show them the way into his private office.
Once the door had closed behind them, Haylan sat down behind his desk, waiting. He knew better than to offer them a handshake. Both men wore blue gloves over their hands, neatly folding their arms in front of their bodies.
"Can I offer you any refreshments?" Haylan asked.
"Thank you, general, but all we will be needing is your help in tracking something down that we have lost."
"And what would that be?" Haylan couldn't really say he had an interest in helping Alliance's secret police, but on the other hand their lost " property" and his lost " package" seemed to be somehow connected. As far as he could assess the situation, this might be his best lead.
The second man still didn't talk, he simply handed his taller companion a white envelope.
The envelope contained only one thing; a simple headshot of a young girl in her late teens.
Haylan studied the picture being pushed towards him across his desk by one blue-gloved hand with mild interest.
The girl seemed to stare right into the camera with something close to horrified fascination. She was pale, her hair in slight disarray and there were dark rings under her eyes that made her skin look almost translucent. Haylan couldn't shake the impression that it wasn't a girl staring back at him on the photograph, but a ghost. "When did you loose her?"
"Almost a year ago. We came very close to taking her into custody a few months back on Ariel, but she escaped and until now she seemed to have vanished. We were very glad when her DNA turned up again."
Haylan looked up from the picture, arching an eyebrow at his two guests. So this girl had eluded this secret police almost for a year… interesting indeed. He leaned back in his chair, looking the two agents up and down. They weren't really agents of the secret police; he knew that the moment his eyes had fallen on their blue-gloved hands. Theirs was a sub-branch; the disturbing, spine-chilling kind that nobody liked to think about.
They might wear the uniforms and the insignia of the secret police all day long, if they wanted to, but it would not fool him.
"And you still want her back? Alive, I presume?" He didn't really care why they wanted to get their spidery hands on that girl, but he was ready to venture a guess. Whatever they had done to her before this picture was taken, it did not look very healthy.
They both smiled at Haylan. It didn't even look amicable; it didn't look like anything at all in fact: a simple movement of muscles without even a hint of feeling. Haylan returned the smile, just as fake as theirs. As long as tracking down this girl would enhance his chances on tracking down the woman that had dared to turn him down… Haylan didn't care if they intended to dissect this girl alive in front of him.
The first man nodded, still smiling. "Of course. She is one of ours and we need her back… alive."