{"data":{"id":13137,"title":"A SEPARATE LAW: PART ONE","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/13137-A-SEPARATE-LAW-PART-ONE","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/13137","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/13137","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"A Separate Law","images":[{"id":640,"name":"SeparateLawFI4.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/n6ik8s2agc03ur\/source\/SeparateLawFI4.jpg","alt":"","size":1558749,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-18T19:23:20+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/640","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/640\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Knowing it was bound to go sideways, Gates went in anyway. Sometimes, stepping directly into a situation was the only way to salvage it. Beyond that, you had to be seen trying to protect your assets. If people learned your snitches could be hurt or killed with impunity, the price of information grew too great for a poor working man.\n\nHe sighed and resisted the urge to check his weapons again. The sensor blister mounted in the elevator ceiling was probably recording. And if they\u2019re smart, Tiger Kitty has someone watching through the nets, so why give away any hints what I\u2019m here for?\n\nThe tenement elevator creaked to a stop, door opening at a decrepit pace Gates found both annoying and symbolic of the general state of the planet and its vast populace of Civilians. Impatient, he turned sideways and slid into a hall marginally less dank and dark than most Civilian housing he\u2019d been in during his near-fifty years working this kind of operation.\n\nLenses adjusting quickly to the dimness, Gates picked out details he would have just as soon miss: the carcass of a rat in the far end of the hall, hard by the fire door, stimstick stubs and less identifiable things littering the rest of the hall, the vacant hall.\n\nNo physical sentry? Not so smart, after all. It is late, but still, I thought Tiger Kitty smarter.\n\nGates walked past the door, put his back to the wall beside it and pulled the local-built compromiser out. He hated relying on local, untested tech, but in this case the possibility of leaving an electronic signature that could lead investigators to suspect an off-planet connection was not acceptable.\n\nHe needn\u2019t have worried \u2014 the local locks proved less reliable than the compromiser, releasing their hold on the door in a few seconds. He put the compromiser back in his pocket and drew his sidearm.\n\nThe cheap door groaned along its tracks as it opened. He stepped inside, gun in the lead and sweeping the corners for targets.\n\nShort entry hall, opening on the left for a kitchenette, another opening straight ahead.\n\nHe checked the kitchen: tiny, full of stinks, smears and discarded food containers, no threats.\n\nMoving on, Gates entered the main living area. A female, snoring lightly, ass-up, on an air mattress laid out in the midst of what appeared to be an incongruously pricey entertainment system.\n\nThe grinding whine of a poorly-maintained waste recycling unit announced the presence of the other inhabitant and identified the room off the living area as the bathroom. Gates crossed the floor in a few strides, put his back to the wall.\n\nThe bathroom door popped open, his quarry shuffling out. Tiger Kitty had looked better in the booking vids.\n\nShortly, he would look a lot worse.\n\nGates kicked out, hard, into the back of his knee. Kitty went down, hard, head caroming off the entertainment console\u2019s casing and activating the system. Sataball scores and standings scrolled through the air between them. Gates closed and snapped another kick into Kitty\u2019s face as he rolled over. Tiger Kitty collapsed onto the mattress, waking the sleeper from her doped slumber.\n\n\u201cWha?\u201c Doper asked.\n\n\u201cAngelique sends her regards,\u201d Gates said, stepping forward and sending his boot into the woman\u2019s groin. Doper wheezed, rolling into a ball in a belated attempt to protect herself.\n\nKitty was trying to shake the stars from his eyes. Gates put a stop to that by pressing the barrel of his pistol to the man\u2019s bloody forehead.\n\n\u201cI have money.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bet you do. Unfortunately for you, this isn\u2019t about money.\u201d\n\n\u201cI got dope.\u201d\n\nGates tapped Kitty\u2019s forehead with the pistol\u2019s aperture, \u201cAgain, not what this is about.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, then?\u201d Kitty whined.\n\n\u201cYou beat a girl bloody the other night, you and your friend here,\u201d Gates sent a lazy kick at Doper, sending the wind from her again, \u201ctuned her up real good, all because she had the nerve to come looking to buy from you, money in hand, no less.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe deserv\u2013\u201d Gates shut him up with the gun.\n\nWhen Kitty was tracking again, Gates returned to his narrative: \u201cNow, leaving aside the bad business practice of beating up customers willing to pay for their dope with cash instead of\u2013of, what was it, again?\u201d Gates asked, knowing the answer.\n\nKitty opened his mouth but Gates cut him off: \u201cOh, yes, you wanted her to get in bed with you and your friend here.\u201d\n\nKitty\u2019s only answer was the closing of his bleeding mouth.\n\n\u201cThat particular girl, the one who resisted your advances? Her saying \u2018no\u2019 should have been enough for you, but it wasn\u2019t. Now you have been made aware she has friends. Friends who would be terribly disappointed to learn she\u2019d been harmed, refused service, or even spoken to with less than the utmost respect. Their disappointment will lead to another visit from me or someone like me. That visit will not be a polite conversation like this. In fact, very little would be said, beyond a bit of begging on your part, if the messenger was into listening to such before he blew your brains out the back of your head.\u201d\n\nGates smiled, \u201cAm I understood?\u201d\n\nWiping his bloody mouth, Kitty nodded.\n\n\u201cTell me I won\u2019t have to come back.\u201d\n\nKitty spat blood. \u201cYou won\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan I trust that you speak for your friend here, too?\u201d He gestured with his free hand at where Doper was still curled up and wheezing.\n\nAnother nod.\n\nToo easy, part of him whispered. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t happen to be telling me what I want to hear, would you?\u201d Gates asked.\n\nKitty shook his head, blood spattering the floor between them.\n\n\u201cSomehow, I don\u2019t believe you.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t know what I can say to that.\u201d Kitty looked into Gates\u2019 eyes. He read angry, sure, but there was a healthy dose of fear in there as well.\n\nGates shrugged. \u201cFair enough, I suppose.\u201d He gestured at Doper, \u201cMight want to get your girl to a medstation.\u201d When Kitty looked at his lover, Gates backed toward the door. \u201cRemember what we\u2019ve discussed,\u201d he said from the doorway.\n\nAnother nod.\n\nGates made his exit, but didn\u2019t go far. A moment later he heard a clatter from inside followed by the sound of bare feet on the floor.\n\nStupid. Could have got off with a warning, kid.\n\nKitty charged out, cheap pistol in hand and a snarl on split lips.\nGates, kneeling just outside the door, put him down with two shots. Blood and bone spattered the lower third of the doorway, paired snaps of coherent light superheating cartilage and making a mess of the workings of the dealer\u2019s knees. Kitty slammed into the floor, momentum sending him sliding across the hall to slap face-first into the apartment door on the other side.\n\nShaking his head at the stupidity of man, Gates headed for the stairs.\nDoper\u2019s screams started as the fire door snapped closed behind him. Gates barely spared her a thought as he mounted the stair. Kitty would survive if Doper would unlock from panic long enough to call emergency services.\n\nGates exited the stair on the top floor, walking out onto street level. This far into the planet\u2019s sixteen-hour night, the streets were just beginning to return to life. He hailed a passing pedicab and boarded. \u201cCentral Station,\u201d he said.\n\nA few blocks from the station Gates reactivated his MobiGlas. The device immediately pinged with a number of alerts, including an incoming call from Agent In Charge Mitchi Oda.\nSuppressing a sigh, he opened the channel, \u201cGates.\u201d\n\nThe Advocacy Seal was replaced by Oda\u2019s disapproving expression. \u201cWhere have you been, Agent Gates?\u201d\n\n\u201cServing my suspension, remember?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour suspension ended last night.\u201d\n\nGates covered surprise with a shrug, and a drawled: \u201cNews to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t be if you kept your MobiGlas on.\u201d\n\nGates let it pass. She\u2019s not half my age, has barely a tenth my field experience, and, frankly, isn\u2019t worth arguing with. \u201cI assume you aren\u2019t calling to congratulate me on my reinstatement, then?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered, lips twisting as if she found her next words distasteful: \u201dthough I am required to formally lift your suspension for the record: Special Agent Arminius Gates, you are formally reinstated to your rank and privilege as Special Agent of the Advocacy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, Special Agent Oda.\u201d\n\nShe tossed her head. \u201cWouldn\u2019t have happened, were it up to me.\u201d\n\nAgain he let it pass, focused instead on what was important. Suspecting he\u2019d be riding a desk, doing something boring like background investigations on potential civilian contractors, he asked her, \u201cWhat assignment, then?\u201d\n\nHe hadn\u2019t thought she could look more bitter. \u201cYou\u2019re going back to the Black Box: Special Action Division requested you return.\u201d\n\nHome.\n\nHe couldn\u2019t keep a broad smile from creasing his lips. \u201cThank you, Special Agent Oda.\u201d\n\n. . . to be continued","de_DE":"In dem Wissen, dass es zwangsl\u00e4ufig zur Seite gehen w\u00fcrde, ging Gates trotzdem hinein. Manchmal war der direkte Einstieg in eine Situation der einzige Weg, sie zu retten. Dar\u00fcber hinaus musste man sehen, wie man versuchte, sein Verm\u00f6gen zu sch\u00fctzen. Wenn die Leute erfuhren, dass Ihre Spitzel ungestraft verletzt oder get\u00f6tet werden k\u00f6nnten, wuchs der Preis der Informationen zu hoch f\u00fcr einen armen Arbeiter.\n\nEr seufzte und widersetzte sich dem Drang, seine Waffen noch einmal zu \u00fcberpr\u00fcfen. Die Sensorblase, die in der Aufzugsdecke montiert ist, hat wahrscheinlich aufgezeichnet. Und wenn sie klug sind, hat Tiger Kitty jemanden, der durch die Netze schaut, also warum also irgendwelche Hinweise geben, wof\u00fcr ich hier bin?\n\nDer Mietshausaufzug knarrte bis zum Stillstand, die T\u00fcr \u00f6ffnete sich mit abnehmendem Tempo, Gates fanden den allgemeinen Zustand des Planeten und seiner riesigen Bev\u00f6lkerung von Zivilisten sowohl l\u00e4stig als auch symbolisch. Ungeduldig drehte er sich zur Seite und rutschte in eine Halle, die etwas weniger feucht und dunkel war als die meisten zivilen Wohnungen, in denen er w\u00e4hrend seiner fast f\u00fcnfzigj\u00e4hrigen T\u00e4tigkeit bei dieser Art von Operation gewohnt hatte.\n\nObjektive, die sich schnell an die Dunkelheit anpassen, w\u00e4hlten Gates Details aus, die er ebenso schnell vermissen w\u00fcrde: den Kadaver einer Ratte am anderen Ende der Halle, hart an der Feuert\u00fcr, Stickstiche und weniger erkennbare Dinge, die den Rest der Halle, die leere Halle, verunreinigen.\n\nKeine physische Wache? Nicht so schlau, schlie\u00dflich. Es ist sp\u00e4t, aber trotzdem dachte ich, Tiger Kitty w\u00e4re kl\u00fcger.\n\nGates ging an der T\u00fcr vorbei, stellte seinen R\u00fccken an die Wand daneben und zog den lokal gebauten Kompromissler heraus. Er hasste es, sich auf lokale, ungetestete Technologien zu verlassen, aber in diesem Fall war die M\u00f6glichkeit, eine elektronische Signatur zu hinterlassen, die Ermittler dazu bringen k\u00f6nnte, eine Verbindung au\u00dferhalb des Planeten zu vermuten, nicht akzeptabel.\n\nEr h\u00e4tte sich keine Sorgen machen m\u00fcssen - die lokalen Schl\u00f6sser erwiesen sich als weniger zuverl\u00e4ssig als der Kompromissler und lie\u00dfen ihren Griff an der T\u00fcr in wenigen Sekunden los. Er steckte den Kompromissler wieder in die Tasche und zog seine Unterarme.\n\nDie billige T\u00fcr st\u00f6hnte beim \u00d6ffnen entlang ihrer Schienen. Er trat ein, schoss mit einer Kanone in die F\u00fchrung und machte die Kurven nach Zielen durch.\n\nKurze Eingangshalle, links \u00f6ffnend f\u00fcr eine K\u00fcchenzeile, eine weitere \u00d6ffnung geradeaus.\n\nEr \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte die K\u00fcche: winzig, voller Gestank, Abstriche und weggeworfene Lebensmittelbeh\u00e4lter, keine Drohungen.\n\nWeiter geht es, Gates betrat den Hauptwohnbereich. Eine Frau, die leicht schnarcht, auf einer Luftmatratze, die inmitten eines scheinbar unpassend teuren Unterhaltungssystems liegt.\n\nDer Schleifjammer einer schlecht gewarteten Abfallverwertungsanlage k\u00fcndigte die Anwesenheit des anderen Bewohners an und identifizierte den Raum au\u00dferhalb des Wohnbereichs als Badezimmer. Gates \u00fcberquerten den Boden in wenigen Schritten, legten seinen R\u00fccken an die Wand.\n\nDie Badezimmert\u00fcr sprang auf, sein Steinbruch schlurfte heraus. Tiger Kitty hatte in den Buchungsvideos besser ausgesehen.\n\nKurz darauf w\u00fcrde er viel schlechter aussehen.\n\nDie Tore traten hart in den hinteren Teil seines Knies. Kitty ging unter, hart, mit dem Kopf vom Geh\u00e4use der Unterhaltungskonsole herunter und aktivierte das System. Sataball-Tore und Tabellen scrollen durch die Luft zwischen ihnen. Gates schlossen sich und schlugen einen weiteren Tritt in Kitty's Gesicht, als er sich umdrehte. Tiger Kitty brach auf die Matratze zusammen und weckte den Schl\u00e4fer aus ihrem dotierten Schlaf.\n\n\" Was?\" fragte Doper.\n\n\"Angelique sendet ihre Gr\u00fc\u00dfe\", sagte Gates, trat vor und schickte seinen Stiefel in die Leiste der Frau. Doper keuchte und rollte in einen Ball, in einem versp\u00e4teten Versuch, sich zu sch\u00fctzen.\n\nKitty versuchte, die Sterne aus seinen Augen zu sch\u00fctteln. Gates setzte dem ein Ende, indem er den Lauf seiner Pistole gegen die blutige Stirn des Mannes dr\u00fcckte.\n\n\"Ich habe Geld.\"\n\n\"Ich wette, das tust du. Leider geht es hier f\u00fcr dich nicht um Geld.\"\n\n\"Ich habe Dope.\"\n\nGates klopfte Kitty auf die Stirn mit der Pistolen\u00f6ffnung, \"Nochmals, nicht, worum es hier geht.\"\n\n\"Was dann?\" Kitty jammerte.\n\n\"Du hast neulich ein M\u00e4dchen blutig geschlagen, du und dein Freund hier\", schickte Gates einen faulen Tritt auf Doper, schickte den Wind von ihr wieder, \"stimmte sie richtig gut ein, nur weil sie den Mut hatte, zu kommen und von dir zu kaufen, Geld in der Hand, nicht weniger.\"\n\n\"Sie verdient es...\" Gates hat ihn mit der Waffe zum Schweigen gebracht.\n\nAls Kitty wieder auf der Spur war, kehrte Gates zu seiner Erz\u00e4hlung zur\u00fcck: \"Abgesehen von der schlechten Gesch\u00e4ftspraxis, Kunden, die bereit sind, f\u00fcr ihr Dope mit Bargeld zu bezahlen, anstatt es mit Geld zu bezahlen, was war es dann noch mal?\" fragte Gates und wusste die Antwort.\n\nKitty \u00f6ffnete seinen Mund, aber Gates schnitt ihn ab: \"Oh, ja, du wolltest, dass sie mit dir und deinem Freund hier ins Bett geht.\"\n\nKitty's einzige Antwort war das Schlie\u00dfen seines blutenden Mundes.\n\n\"Dieses besondere M\u00e4dchen, diejenige, die sich deinen Ann\u00e4herungsversuchen widersetzt hat? Ihr Nein h\u00e4tte dir gen\u00fcgen sollen, aber das war es nicht. Jetzt wurdest du darauf aufmerksam gemacht, dass sie Freunde hat. Freunde, die furchtbar entt\u00e4uscht w\u00e4ren, wenn sie erfahren w\u00fcrden, dass ihr Schaden zugef\u00fcgt, der Service verweigert oder sogar mit weniger als gr\u00f6\u00dftem Respekt gesprochen wurde. Ihre Entt\u00e4uschung wird zu einem weiteren Besuch von mir oder jemandem wie mir f\u00fchren. Dieser Besuch wird kein h\u00f6fliches Gespr\u00e4ch wie dieses sein. Tats\u00e4chlich w\u00fcrde sehr wenig gesagt werden, abgesehen von einem bisschen Betteln von deiner Seite, wenn der Bote solche h\u00f6ren wollte, bevor er dir das Gehirn aus dem Hinterkopf schoss.\"\n\nGates l\u00e4chelte: \"Habe ich verstanden?\"\n\nAls er sich den verdammten Mund abwischte, nickte Kitty.\n\n\"Sag mir, dass ich nicht zur\u00fcckkommen muss.\"\n\nKitty spuckte Blut. \"Das wirst du nicht.\"\n\n\"Kann ich darauf vertrauen, dass du hier auch f\u00fcr deinen Freund sprichst?\" Er gestikulierte mit seiner freien Hand, wo Doper noch zusammengerollt war und keuchte.\n\nNoch ein Nicken.\n\nZu einfach, ein Teil von ihm fl\u00fcsterte. \"Du sagst mir nicht zuf\u00e4llig, was ich h\u00f6ren will, oder?\" fragte Gates.\n\nKitty sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf und Blut spritzte den Boden zwischen ihnen.\n\n\"Irgendwie glaube ich dir nicht.\"\n\n\"Ich wei\u00df nicht, was ich dazu sagen kann.\" Kitty sah Gates in die Augen. Er las w\u00fctend, sicher, aber da war auch eine gesunde Dosis Angst drin.\n\nGates zuckte mit den Schultern. \"In Ordnung, nehme ich an.\" Er gestikulierte zu Doper: \"Vielleicht will er dein M\u00e4dchen an eine Meditationsstation bringen.\" Als Kitty seine Geliebte ansah, ging Gates zur T\u00fcr zur\u00fcck. \"Denke daran, was wir besprochen haben\", sagte er von der T\u00fcr aus.\n\nNoch ein Nicken.\n\nGates machte seinen Abgang, ging aber nicht weit. Einen Moment sp\u00e4ter h\u00f6rte er ein Klappern von innen, gefolgt von dem Ger\u00e4usch von nackten F\u00fc\u00dfen auf dem Boden.\n\nDumm. H\u00e4tte mit einer Warnung davonkommen k\u00f6nnen, Junge.\n\nKitty st\u00fcrzte auf, billige Pistole in der Hand und ein Knurren auf gespaltenen Lippen.\nGates, kniend direkt vor der T\u00fcr, legte ihn mit zwei Sch\u00fcssen nieder. Blut und Knochen spritzte das untere Drittel der T\u00fcr\u00f6ffnung, paarweise Schnappsch\u00fcsse von koh\u00e4rentem Licht, die den Knorpel \u00fcberhitzten und das Funktionieren der Knie des H\u00e4ndlers durcheinander brachten. Kitty knallte in den Boden und lie\u00df ihn durch die Halle gleiten, um mit dem Gesicht nach vorne in die Wohnungst\u00fcr auf der anderen Seite zu schlagen.\n\nGates sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf \u00fcber die Dummheit des Menschen und ging zur Treppe.\nDoper's Schreie begannen, als die Feuert\u00fcr hinter ihm geschlossen wurde. Gates lie\u00df ihr kaum einen Gedanken, als er die Treppe bestieg. Kitty w\u00fcrde \u00fcberleben, wenn Doper sich lange genug von der Panik befreien w\u00fcrde, um den Notdienst zu rufen.\n\nTore verlie\u00dfen die Treppe im Dachgeschoss und gingen auf Stra\u00dfenniveau hinaus. Bis weit in die sechzehnst\u00fcndige Nacht des Planeten hinein begannen die Stra\u00dfen gerade erst, ins Leben zur\u00fcckzukehren. Er hagelte eine vorbeifahrende Pedik\u00fcre und stieg ein. \"Central Station\", sagte er.\n\nEin paar Blocks von der Station Gates entfernt reaktivierte er sein MobiGlas. Das Ger\u00e4t wurde sofort mit einer Reihe von Warnungen versehen, darunter ein eingehender Anruf von Agent In Charge Mitchi Oda.\nEr unterdr\u00fcckte einen Seufzer und \u00f6ffnete den Kanal, \"Gates\".\n\nDas Advocacy-Siegel wurde durch Oda's missbilligenden Ausdruck ersetzt. \"Wo waren Sie, Agent Gates?\"\n\n\"Ich diene meiner Suspendierung, erinnerst du dich?\"\n\n\"Deine Suspendierung ist gestern Abend beendet worden.\"\n\nDie Tore bedeckten die \u00dcberraschung mit einem Achselzucken und einem gezogenen: \"Das ist mir neu.\"\n\n\"W\u00e4re es nicht, wenn du dein MobiGlas anbehalten w\u00fcrdest.\"\n\nTore lie\u00dfen es passieren. Sie ist nicht halb so alt wie ich, hat kaum ein Zehntel meiner Felderfahrung und ist es, offen gesagt, nicht wert, mit ihr zu diskutieren. \"Ich nehme an, dann rufst du nicht an, um mir zu meiner Wiedereinstellung zu gratulieren?\", fragte er.\n\n\"Nein\", antwortete sie und die Lippen verdrehten sich, als ob sie ihre n\u00e4chsten Worte unangenehm fand: \"obwohl ich verpflichtet bin, Ihre Suspendierung f\u00fcr das Protokoll formell aufzuheben. Special Agent Arminius Gates, Sie werden offiziell wieder in Ihren Rang und Ihr Privileg als Special Agent of the Advocacy aufgenommen.\"\n\n\"Danke, Special Agent Oda.\"\n\nSie warf den Kopf. \"W\u00e4re nicht passiert, wenn es nach mir ginge.\"\n\nWieder lie\u00df er es geschehen und konzentrierte sich stattdessen auf das Wesentliche. Er vermutete, dass er einen Schreibtisch reiten w\u00fcrde, etwas Langweiliges tun w\u00fcrde, wie z.B. Hintergrunduntersuchungen \u00fcber potenzielle zivile Auftragnehmer, und fragte sie: \"Welchen Auftrag dann?\"\n\nEr hatte nicht gedacht, dass sie verbitterter aussehen k\u00f6nnte. \"Du gehst zur\u00fcck zur Black Box. Die Sondereinsatzkommandoabteilung bat Sie, zur\u00fcckzukehren.\"\n\nNach Hause.\n\nEr konnte ein breites L\u00e4cheln nicht davon abhalten, seine Lippen zu knittern. \"Danke, Special Agent Oda.\"\n\n. ... wird fortgesetzt","zh_CN":"Knowing it was bound to go sideways, Gates went in anyway. Sometimes, stepping directly into a situation was the only way to salvage it. Beyond that, you had to be seen trying to protect your assets. If people learned your snitches could be hurt or killed with impunity, the price of information grew too great for a poor working man.\n\nHe sighed and resisted the urge to check his weapons again. The sensor blister mounted in the elevator ceiling was probably recording. And if they\u2019re smart, Tiger Kitty has someone watching through the nets, so why give away any hints what I\u2019m here for?\n\nThe tenement elevator creaked to a stop, door opening at a decrepit pace Gates found both annoying and symbolic of the general state of the planet and its vast populace of Civilians. Impatient, he turned sideways and slid into a hall marginally less dank and dark than most Civilian housing he\u2019d been in during his near-fifty years working this kind of operation.\n\nLenses adjusting quickly to the dimness, Gates picked out details he would have just as soon miss: the carcass of a rat in the far end of the hall, hard by the fire door, stimstick stubs and less identifiable things littering the rest of the hall, the vacant hall.\n\nNo physical sentry? Not so smart, after all. It is late, but still, I thought Tiger Kitty smarter.\n\nGates walked past the door, put his back to the wall beside it and pulled the local-built compromiser out. He hated relying on local, untested tech, but in this case the possibility of leaving an electronic signature that could lead investigators to suspect an off-planet connection was not acceptable.\n\nHe needn\u2019t have worried \u2014 the local locks proved less reliable than the compromiser, releasing their hold on the door in a few seconds. He put the compromiser back in his pocket and drew his sidearm.\n\nThe cheap door groaned along its tracks as it opened. He stepped inside, gun in the lead and sweeping the corners for targets.\n\nShort entry hall, opening on the left for a kitchenette, another opening straight ahead.\n\nHe checked the kitchen: tiny, full of stinks, smears and discarded food containers, no threats.\n\nMoving on, Gates entered the main living area. A female, snoring lightly, ass-up, on an air mattress laid out in the midst of what appeared to be an incongruously pricey entertainment system.\n\nThe grinding whine of a poorly-maintained waste recycling unit announced the presence of the other inhabitant and identified the room off the living area as the bathroom. Gates crossed the floor in a few strides, put his back to the wall.\n\nThe bathroom door popped open, his quarry shuffling out. Tiger Kitty had looked better in the booking vids.\n\nShortly, he would look a lot worse.\n\nGates kicked out, hard, into the back of his knee. Kitty went down, hard, head caroming off the entertainment console\u2019s casing and activating the system. Sataball scores and standings scrolled through the air between them. Gates closed and snapped another kick into Kitty\u2019s face as he rolled over. Tiger Kitty collapsed onto the mattress, waking the sleeper from her doped slumber.\n\n\u201cWha?\u201c Doper asked.\n\n\u201cAngelique sends her regards,\u201d Gates said, stepping forward and sending his boot into the woman\u2019s groin. Doper wheezed, rolling into a ball in a belated attempt to protect herself.\n\nKitty was trying to shake the stars from his eyes. Gates put a stop to that by pressing the barrel of his pistol to the man\u2019s bloody forehead.\n\n\u201cI have money.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bet you do. Unfortunately for you, this isn\u2019t about money.\u201d\n\n\u201cI got dope.\u201d\n\nGates tapped Kitty\u2019s forehead with the pistol\u2019s aperture, \u201cAgain, not what this is about.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, then?\u201d Kitty whined.\n\n\u201cYou beat a girl bloody the other night, you and your friend here,\u201d Gates sent a lazy kick at Doper, sending the wind from her again, \u201ctuned her up real good, all because she had the nerve to come looking to buy from you, money in hand, no less.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe deserv\u2013\u201d Gates shut him up with the gun.\n\nWhen Kitty was tracking again, Gates returned to his narrative: \u201cNow, leaving aside the bad business practice of beating up customers willing to pay for their dope with cash instead of\u2013of, what was it, again?\u201d Gates asked, knowing the answer.\n\nKitty opened his mouth but Gates cut him off: \u201cOh, yes, you wanted her to get in bed with you and your friend here.\u201d\n\nKitty\u2019s only answer was the closing of his bleeding mouth.\n\n\u201cThat particular girl, the one who resisted your advances? Her saying \u2018no\u2019 should have been enough for you, but it wasn\u2019t. Now you have been made aware she has friends. Friends who would be terribly disappointed to learn she\u2019d been harmed, refused service, or even spoken to with less than the utmost respect. Their disappointment will lead to another visit from me or someone like me. That visit will not be a polite conversation like this. In fact, very little would be said, beyond a bit of begging on your part, if the messenger was into listening to such before he blew your brains out the back of your head.\u201d\n\nGates smiled, \u201cAm I understood?\u201d\n\nWiping his bloody mouth, Kitty nodded.\n\n\u201cTell me I won\u2019t have to come back.\u201d\n\nKitty spat blood. \u201cYou won\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan I trust that you speak for your friend here, too?\u201d He gestured with his free hand at where Doper was still curled up and wheezing.\n\nAnother nod.\n\nToo easy, part of him whispered. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t happen to be telling me what I want to hear, would you?\u201d Gates asked.\n\nKitty shook his head, blood spattering the floor between them.\n\n\u201cSomehow, I don\u2019t believe you.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t know what I can say to that.\u201d Kitty looked into Gates\u2019 eyes. He read angry, sure, but there was a healthy dose of fear in there as well.\n\nGates shrugged. \u201cFair enough, I suppose.\u201d He gestured at Doper, \u201cMight want to get your girl to a medstation.\u201d When Kitty looked at his lover, Gates backed toward the door. \u201cRemember what we\u2019ve discussed,\u201d he said from the doorway.\n\nAnother nod.\n\nGates made his exit, but didn\u2019t go far. A moment later he heard a clatter from inside followed by the sound of bare feet on the floor.\n\nStupid. Could have got off with a warning, kid.\n\nKitty charged out, cheap pistol in hand and a snarl on split lips.\nGates, kneeling just outside the door, put him down with two shots. Blood and bone spattered the lower third of the doorway, paired snaps of coherent light superheating cartilage and making a mess of the workings of the dealer\u2019s knees. Kitty slammed into the floor, momentum sending him sliding across the hall to slap face-first into the apartment door on the other side.\n\nShaking his head at the stupidity of man, Gates headed for the stairs.\nDoper\u2019s screams started as the fire door snapped closed behind him. Gates barely spared her a thought as he mounted the stair. Kitty would survive if Doper would unlock from panic long enough to call emergency services.\n\nGates exited the stair on the top floor, walking out onto street level. This far into the planet\u2019s sixteen-hour night, the streets were just beginning to return to life. He hailed a passing pedicab and boarded. \u201cCentral Station,\u201d he said.\n\nA few blocks from the station Gates reactivated his MobiGlas. The device immediately pinged with a number of alerts, including an incoming call from Agent In Charge Mitchi Oda.\nSuppressing a sigh, he opened the channel, \u201cGates.\u201d\n\nThe Advocacy Seal was replaced by Oda\u2019s disapproving expression. \u201cWhere have you been, Agent Gates?\u201d\n\n\u201cServing my suspension, remember?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour suspension ended last night.\u201d\n\nGates covered surprise with a shrug, and a drawled: \u201cNews to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t be if you kept your MobiGlas on.\u201d\n\nGates let it pass. She\u2019s not half my age, has barely a tenth my field experience, and, frankly, isn\u2019t worth arguing with. \u201cI assume you aren\u2019t calling to congratulate me on my reinstatement, then?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered, lips twisting as if she found her next words distasteful: \u201dthough I am required to formally lift your suspension for the record: Special Agent Arminius Gates, you are formally reinstated to your rank and privilege as Special Agent of the Advocacy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, Special Agent Oda.\u201d\n\nShe tossed her head. \u201cWouldn\u2019t have happened, were it up to me.\u201d\n\nAgain he let it pass, focused instead on what was important. Suspecting he\u2019d be riding a desk, doing something boring like background investigations on potential civilian contractors, he asked her, \u201cWhat assignment, then?\u201d\n\nHe hadn\u2019t thought she could look more bitter. \u201cYou\u2019re going back to the Black Box: Special Action Division requested you return.\u201d\n\nHome.\n\nHe couldn\u2019t keep a broad smile from creasing his lips. \u201cThank you, Special Agent Oda.\u201d\n\n. . . to be continued"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":80,"created_at":"2013-07-11T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"12 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-09 08:25:28","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":13136,"next_id":13139}}