Daisy Wong, Space Marshal: The Case of the Runaway Concubine by Freddi MacNaughton (parable of the sower read online .txt) 📗

Daisy and Muffy explained that they were looking forbackground information to help with a case.  Technical stuff.  Biological androidsand such.  Whom could they talk to?

The uniforms in the security kiosk sent them to the publicinformation officer.

They soon had the public information officer stumped.

"Look, this case is important," Daisy said. "Every case is important, of course, but this one is special.  Political,if you catch what I mean."

He did.

He directed them to the executive vice president foradvanced technological research.

The executive vice president's office gleamed.  Theexecutive vice president himself, however, did not gleam.  He radiatedcompetence and self-confidence, topped off by a genuine desire to help, but hedid not gleam.

Within a matter of minutes, Daisy knew she'd found her man, aguy who could help, whether he wanted to or not.

He was in his middle fifties and had a ruggedly handsomeface.  He also had a straight European nose . . . or he didhave until Daisy smashed it down onto his gleaming mahogany desk.

She grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up.  Bloodstreamed from his nose.

He spluttered about civil rights and police brutality andhaving her job.

When he had finished his rant, Daisy said, "Listen tome, you smug Gweilo bastard, I've chased halfway across the solar system to getto you, so answer my question."

She pulled his head back a bit more, preparatory to slammingit onto the desk a second time.

"No, wait!" he said.  "A woman answering thatdescription was here."  He pointed at a tastefully designed displayscreen.  It gleamed.  "Let me show you."

Daisy let go of the executive-vice-presidential head.

He jabbed at page after page until a picture of Meizhenfilled the left side of the screen.  She looked tired and pale, as though she'dbeen pulling double shifts in a waste-reclamation plant for the past six weeks.

Text filled the right side of the screen.  The textidentified her as Delphinia Taylor-Boyd, a volunteer subject.  There was a listof the projects to which she'd been assigned.  The list was short but therewere no entries beyond the previous month.

Daisy pointed at the screen.  "I need to talk to theseproject managers."

"Of course.  I'll make the arrangements rightaway."

"Good.  Thank you," Daisy said.  "One morething.  You will not call security the instant our backs are turned.  You willwait here quietly until we tell you to do otherwise.  If you don't I willpersonally send you to the Hell of the Disobedient Sinners."

His face paled.

"I see you understand your predicament."

"Which tong?" he asked, his voice ragged withfear.

"Never mind which," Daisy said.  "Do as you aretold and you might live to tell about it."

"Yes, ma'am."

"On second thought, you will never tell anyone aboutit.  Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am.  Perfectly."

#

Outside the executive vice president's office, Daisy pausedat the executive vice president's chief executive assistant's desk.  The chiefexecutive assistant was a lovely young woman.  She was wearing a very shortskirt and a very revealing open-necked blouse.  She had a lot to reveal.  And acresof gleaming hair.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"No, but your boss took a spill and hit his head on hisdesk."

Something like surprise wiped the attentive expression fromthe executive assistant's face.

Daisy continued, "I don't mean to tell you how to doyour job, but if I were you, I'd call the medics."

"Yes, ma'am.  Right away."

Daisy went on down the hallway toward the elevators, Muffyat her heels.

On their way down in the elevator, Muffy said, "TheHell of the Disobedient Sinners.  You are in excellent form today.  Ganges IVis agreeing with you."

"The Hell of the Disobedient Sinners is real,"Daisy said.

Muffy shook her head.  "By the way, why do you get to haveall the fun?  I always have to play the bad cop or the silent cop or the goodcop, but whenever it is coming down to the actual mayhem, it is always you whoare twisting the arms, socking the jaws, and breaking the noses.  Are those notskills I ought to be learning?"

#

There were four project managers on their list.

The first three had less than nothing to say.  They wereconducting routine cybernetic research.  Yes, they'd run various tests onTaylor-Boyd.  Nothing unusual.  Blood work.  Encephalographs.  No, theycouldn't disclose the nature of their research.  No, they couldn't commentdirectly on Taylor-Boyd beyond what was already in the official company records. Her identification and so on had been authentic and in good order.  She hadbeen helpful, cheerful, and pregnant.  What mattered to them was that shecooperate, which she had.

The fourth manager gave Daisy and Muffy the same song anddance until the moment they were about to leave.

He said, "You know, Himalayan does a lot of work offthe books.  Fee-for-service work and so on."

"Was someone working with Meizhen off the books?"

"According to the rumor mill."

"Which managers?  What they were doing?"

"From what I can tell, they weren't working with her. It was her baby they were interested in."

"Interested how?"

"It could have been anything.  'Weird Shit' is ourmiddle name."

Daisy's cop alarms went off.

"Why are you telling us this?" she asked.

"Every once in a while, the weird shit can be a littletoo weird."

"What was so weird about what they did to Taylor-Boyd'sbaby?"

He shrugged.  "I didn't sign up to turn babies intobombs."

#

On their way out of the building, they commandeered a screenat the security kiosk.  This time their spider popped back in less than tenseconds.  One Delphinia Helen Octavia Taylor-Boyd, now with close-cropped blondhair, had been living in an exclusive guesthouse in Novi Sochi until two daysago.

At that time, she and her baby had boarded a flight for LosAngeles, Mars.

#

Daisy and Muffy took a taxi directly from the Himalayanoffices to the spaceport.  On the way, Daisy commed Snakeskin.

"Meizhen left New Ganges two days ago," Daisysaid.  "She's headed your way.  Look, Uncle, when she gets there, don'tlet her or her baby anywhere near you."

"Why not?  Their return has been my goal from thestart."

"I don't care about your goals.  I care about you. Listen, I'll explain it all when I get there.  Trust me.  She's out forblood."

#

Daisy and Muffy were waiting for their flight to Mars whenJimmy Fingers commed.

"I've chartered a fast shuttle for you," he said. "It's waiting at Gate G26-A."

That was fast work, even for a tong with the reach andinfluence of