Alternity 2 Chapter

Alternigy 2 - Chapter 7

They arrived at the university at mid-morning.The Mohendjo Daro branch of the All Systems University, like most universities in the more technologically advanced parts of what had once been the Systems Commonwealth, was more of a research park than a teaching institution consisting of a handful of buildings scattered around an open park like area. With high speed computer connections the majority of students and teachers worked out of their own homes. However there were still some tasks that were best learned by, or required, hands on techniques, and of course equipment and artifacts had to be stored somewhere. Additionally many of the faculty found it convenient to have an office outside of their homes.

Tyr parked the car in front of the prominently marked administration building and he and Beka entered the building A young man was sitting at the reception desk, his eyes were totally glued to the flexie he was holding before his face. He was totally oblivious to the two visitors. Tyr made a throat clearing sound but the receptionist still refused to look up. Deciding that the direct approach was going to be more effective, Beka reached out and pulled the flexie away from the receptionist's face. As she moved it she caught a glimpse of what had been holding the young man's attention and while she had never considered herself a prude, images of an overly endowed woman sexually gratifying five men at once were not something she found appealing. She had to resist the temptation to wipe her hand on the fellows shirt.

"Hey! What? Give me.... Oh," The young man finally noticed that he had company.

Beka reached into her jacket pocket and removed her ID and flashed it by the receptionist's eyes. "Argosy Criminal Investigation Service Special Investigations Division. We're here to see Doctor Venst regarding an criminal investigation," she said using the name they had obtained from Trance's copy of All Systems Quarterly. "Is he in and if so where's his office?"

The receptionist made a show of checking his computer. "He might be in. The access logs show that his assistant Midnight Velvet Sky opened the office this morning and there's no record of anyone leaving. Sky usually opens up and the Doctor comes in later so they might still be in the office. That's interesting," the man was still looking at the computer monitor. "There were two other visitors asking for the doctor before I came in. He doesn't usually get many visitors. Four in in one day must be some sort of record."

"Did they sign in?" asked Tyr.

"Yes. Bob Smith and John Doe, according to the logs they're still there too. Now if you'll sign in I'll direct you to his office."

As they left to follow the receptionists directions. 'It's the building that has the flowering flame trees in front of it. You can't miss it.' Beka glanced back towards the office. The receptionist was leering at the images on the flexie. She could have sworn he was drooling.

The building that contained Dr Venst's office was directly across the quadrangle. As they walked Beka's nose was assailed by numerous odors. She wondered to herself why planetside air was called 'fresh air'. It generally stank and wasn't nearly as fresh as the pure filtered air of a starship. As they approached the building Beka noticed the door to Venst's office was open. She started to go enter but stopped when Tyr abruptly placed his hand in front of her blocking her progress. He had drawn his weapon and his nostrils were twitching as if he was catching the scent of something.

"What," she started to say but was cut off as Tyr waved his open hand palm down hand across his throat in the 'silence ' gesture.

Moving carefully, weapon ready Tyr went through the doorway. A moment later he called out. "It's clear. You can come in"

Beka entered and let her eyes sweep the office. The room was a shambles. Furniture had been ripped apart, flexies scattered everywhere and the contents of shelves dumped on the floor. A computer was lying on the floor, it's monitor still displaying the All Systems University logo. However none of those things were what really caught her attention. What caught her attention was the dead Than lying across the overturned desk. It's limbs were bent at totally unnatural angles even for a Than and there was a gaping hole in its sapphire blue carapace, the blue green fluid that served a Than as blood covering the body and much of the desk.

"This isn't good," said Beka. "A dead research assistant and no professor. Now what? Do you think whoever did this has the professor?"

They may have the professor but I doubt that he was present when the Than was killed," answered Tyr.

"What makes you think that?" asked Beka.

"Look at the fingers," commanded Tyr.

Beka did. All the fingers on the Thans's left hand were crushed as were two on the right hand blue green blood was still leaking through the crushed chitinous exoskeleton.

"My guess," said Tyr, "is that when our Smith and Doe arrived the Than was here by himself and when he didn't reveal the location of professor the information was forced out of him."

"Then maybe they haven't found him yet. Maybe the Than lied to protect his boss. We need to find him first. Whoever these guys are, judging by what they did to his assistant they aren't planning to whisper sweet nothings in his ear."

"Agreed," said Tyr, "but I don't think that going back to the reception area would be a particularly wise thing to do. Nor do I think calling in the authorities would be a good idea. By the time we convinced them that we weren't the killers, the real killers will probably have found Venst, gotten what they wanted from him and departed the area. Lets see if we can find something here in the office that can give us a clue to the good doctor's whereabouts."

The two commenced to search the already ransacked office. It was Beka who found the clue. Sandwiched in the space between the bottom drawer of the desk and the bottom of the desk was a small pressboard card bearing the All Systems University logo Imprinted over the logo was the name Venst and several communicator codes.

"It looks like our professor was a traditionalist," remarked Beka. "He must have handed out business cards to acquaintances. One of these numbers is probably his home number but which one and how do we find the address if we do figure out which one is which?"

Tyr picked up the computer from the floor, pressed a few keys experimentally and gave a grunt of satisfaction. "The computer has an open access to the university public database. Our esteemed engineer is not the only one who can hack a computer when needed. I'll have the information we need in a few minutes.

"What do you want me to do while you're busy?" asked Beka.

"Stand by the door and keep an eye out for any visitors."

"What do you want me to do if we do have a visitor?"

"Pretend you're Harper and talk them unconscious." A few moments later he announced. "I've got the information. We're going to someplace called Ninevah."

Chapter 6

Chapter 8