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    Devlin's Team # 2: Farewell to Summer
    Devlin's Team # 2: Farewell to Summer
    Devlin's Team # 2: Farewell to Summer
    Ebook355 pages5 hours

    Devlin's Team # 2: Farewell to Summer

    By Lazette Gifford

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    About this ebook

    (Updated June, 2014)

    Devlin has arrived on Summer where she expects to do nothing more than keep watch over Cha and Dancer. However, even before the two arrive, she's found trouble of a different kind. Even though the people of Summer are leaving as the world begins a long, inhospitable descent into winter, there's still time for deceit, lies and murder.

    She has other news for Cha and Dancer as well, and she's not really certain how well they'll like her new plans.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherA Conspiracy of Authors
    Release dateMay 16, 2013
    ISBN9781936507368
    Devlin's Team # 2: Farewell to Summer
    Author

    Lazette Gifford

    Lazette is an avid writer as well as the owner of Forward Motion for Writers and the owner/editor of Vision: A Resource for Writers.It's possible she spends too much time with writers.And cats.

    Read more from Lazette Gifford

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      Book preview

      Devlin's Team # 2 - Lazette Gifford

      Devlin left the shuttle and breathed in the familiar air of the Inner Worlds Council Complex. This was not her home, but she had spent enough time on Mars to have a feel for the place. She followed a group of tourists from Terra Nova, listening to the chatter about the huge bay and the magnificent columns carved from native stone. Sometimes it was good to see things through the eyes of others.

      The tourists also noted the number of IWC Whites on guard here. She wore the uniform as well, mostly because it was an easy passport around the trouble she would have had to go through as a tourist. She had legitimate credentials as Lt. Devlin and using them when she came to the IWC headquarters worked best for her.

      The Inner Worlds Council Center had none of the usual tan-uniformed port guards who were ubiquitous on most other worlds. Here the IWC's own army kept watch with a well-planned show of power for the visitors. Most of the guards -- at least the ones not standing between assassins and President Pellin -- were new kids on their first assignment. They received excellent training from the older soldiers stationed here, as well as being required to take classes that introduced them to the other worlds where they might be called on to help. Rubbing shoulders with the top politicians also helped them get a feel for the trouble they might face.

      And every now and then, they did stop some real problem right here.

      Devlin didn't expect any problems today. She followed the tourists and looked out through the enormous windows to the left. Mars stretched across the horizon in all its barren glory of browns, tans and even a hint of reds. The view could still take her breath away. She liked it, oddly enough, far more than she had enjoyed any of the vistas on her own homeworld of Tempest.

      Then again, being a Port Rat on Tempest had probably figured into her dislike of her homeworld. Here -- here she had a certain amount of power since she was one of the top Inner Worlds Council Security agents.

      Well, at least she would have the power for a while still.

      Devlin remained by the window as the others moved on, letting the glut of visitors and people here on business move on. Eventually, she headed towards the area where the room narrowed down to twenty scanning booths. Guards stood by each booth, formal and forbidding, and making an excellent show for the tourists. The scanners looked for weapons as it read the IDs and matched them up with genecodes. A visitor had to have a file sent at least a week before they arrived, though people like Devlin did not announce they were coming.

      Devlin knew a dozen ways to get weapons into the complex and how to bypass the booth's ID scan. However, this show did make the tourists feel safer and kept the easy problems out. She stepped forward after an older couple went through, him grumbling about time wastes. Someone always complained.

      Devlin had her gold card in hand, and she fed it into the slot and stepped into the booth. No weapons today. The booth lights signaled green, and she saw the guard on the side do a quick read of her ID as it came up on the scanner by his post. She saw a change in his face, and he suddenly took a step back as though he expected something to explode just at reading her name. She hadn't expected that reaction, but she saw that he was not one of the younger soldiers now. This one had been here for a while.

      Hell! You're Devlin.

      She did have a bit of a reputation with the Whites here on Mars. She'd helped to test their security a few times and had gotten through without ever being caught. She'd also found other trouble that they'd missed on two occasions, so maybe he had a reason to look so worried.

      I'm just passing through, Pirolo, she said, reading his tag. I'm not here for any trouble.

      Not yet, anyway. Not until Devlin talked to her boss, Epona. She pushed that worry from her thoughts and kept the emotions from her face. Years of training; she wondered how long that would stay with her.

      He gave her several quick nods and bowed his head as she went past as though she was a visiting princess. She saw his hand already going to the comm on his wrist, though. Word would spread about her arrival before she even reached the end of the long, narrow hall that led out into the foyer.

      She didn't hurry. No reason to.

      The foyer seemed as unchanged as the Martian scenery. She looked at the holos that lined the walls in their niches, where famous statesmen gave their speeches, day-after-day and long after they had died. She'd listened to them all at one time or another. They'd especially intrigued the young port rat who first came here with Epona. At the time the woman had then been a top IWCS agent, just as Devlin was now.

      She thought about stopping to listen, but that would only make the guards nervous today. She could already see them watching her. Devlin walked past the line of restaurants and shops and past the boards whispered about what committees were in session, what they were discussing, and when the central council would meet tomorrow. The single hotel at the end of the room already had a lineup at the door.

      Devlin went to the elevator and used her card to get access to the third floor and the balcony that curved around the entire foyer. She stepped off with a nod to the guard who had, plainly, expected her.

      Devlin spent a moment watching the crowd below, as many of them moved from spot-to-spot. Interesting people. She could almost name their worlds based just on how they dressed and how they walked in the lighter gravity of Mars.

      Putting off the inevitable.

      Devlin pushed away from the view and turned to head down a hall almost directly behind her. This area remained plain and austere. Meeting rooms opened on the right: small places for little gatherings, unlike the larger halls where all the committees met. Down another hall and around a corner and she came, at last, to a coded door. She quickly keyed in the sequence and then let the device do a palm scan.

      The door opened to the main office of the Inner Worlds Council Security. Agents rarely came here, but couriers -- even IWC Whites -- passed through here at all hours, which gave a little bit of a cover story for someone like Devlin. The person who sat at the desk just to the side of the door had already stood. The tall, thin woman's eyes had gone wide. She had grey in her hair Devlin hadn't noticed the last time she'd been here.

      Son of a bitch, Devlin. You could give a little warning before you show up so some of us can clear the area. What the hell are you doing here?

      I work here, Dia, she said, feeling uncommonly perverse. Can I go through?

      You think any of us is going to try and stop you? Dia asked. She glanced at her desk and gave a quick nod. Epona has given the clearance. Go ahead.

      Devlin gave a nod of thanks and headed into the maze of desks where office workers scanned report after report from every world -- including Mother Earth and the fringes beyond IWC control. They looked for trouble, but they never went out and faced it the way she did.

      She could hear the whisper of her name as she passed. The gold card agents didn't often come to the main office. Even she went a couple years without visiting, despite that she liked it here.

      Besides, she did have that odd reputation for trouble.

      She could see Epona at her own desk inside a glass-walled booth, the only bit of semi-privacy in the room. Epona looked up once and stared, and Devlin could tell she wondered what had brought her star agent back to the fold. Epona knew Devlin had an excellent sense of paranoia and didn't like to show up in places where people might actually watch for the faces of spies. Even when she had come to Mars the last time, she and Epona had met elsewhere. Devlin couldn't say she trusted the officer workers all that much.

      She didn't slow on her way to Epona. Devlin walked up to the glass cube, and the door opened. She stepped inside, and the door closed behind her, cutting off all the little clacks and sighs of office workers.

      Epona looked up at her and frowned. You want something.

      Yes. I want to quit.

      She had never seen Epona shocked before and she could imagine how the look gave the office workers a chill. Epona finally sat back in her chair, her eyes narrowed this time. She waved for Devlin to sit down and she did, reluctantly. The chair -- the entire office and being on show -- felt uncomfortable. It had never felt that way before.

      Epona clicked a few things on her computer, obviously shunting work off for a moment. When she looked back up, her eyes no longer showed anxiety. Why the hell do you think you want to quit? she demanded.

      This has been building for a while, Epona. My last two assignments --

      You did damned well on them. Not a single problem. You are good at your work, Devlin. You have not had a single problem case for a long time, in fact.

      Not since Forest, Devlin answered. She sat back, her hands in her lap, trying not to let them form into fists. She fought back the anger, the frustration. And I screwed that one up big time, Epona.

      Not from where I sit.

      She hadn't expected such an answer. The words took her by surprise and unsettled her for a moment. Epona saw it and frowned again. She must now realize off-kilter Devlin had become, and maybe she just hadn't seen it in the reports. Maybe Devlin had hidden all the problems very well over the last two assignments. She couldn't lie anymore.

      "I did screw up, she said. If I hadn't happened on Cha and Dancer, I would still be there trying to figure out how to get into the Bear Camp. I'd be thinking what a shame that the IWC's top Etech died in that accident."

      Ha. Epona waved those words away and came close to annoying Devlin, seeing the things that had gnawed at her for so long now so easily dismissed. She had expected better from Epona. No, you wouldn't be sitting there, Devin. You never would have put up with that bullshit for so long, and you certainly wouldn't have believed it was chance the scientist died right then. Too easy, too quick -- and once you saw that the last one had died as well -- you'd have been all over it.

      Devlin started to argue, but then the sense of what the woman said got through to her. She finally nodded agreement.

      We're both glad that wasn't the way things went. You were smart enough to get in with the Etech. You did not screw the case up. She frowned this time. And you can't be serious about leaving the IWCS. What would you do if you left the field?

      You quit the field, Devlin pointed out.

      Epona leaned forward, bowing her head in a move Devlin knew made it harder for anyone beyond them to see. Devlin leaned forward as well so they could have an intimate discussion in the middle of a glass room.

      I had to leave the field, Devlin, she said softly and with a touch of pain Devlin had not expected. I took a serious injury in my last case, and I couldn't do the field work anymore. Morris retired, and I got the position. He left specifically so I could move in here and he went on as a private consultant for the government. This is as close to real work as I can get, Devlin. And I am not going to retire and hand it to you.

      Her heart thumped a few times as she thought about Epona stuck here. Then the rest of what the woman said started to seep through as well. Epona must have seen her sudden worry. She gave a grim nod.

      So, if you retired, you'd go out with a good pension. You'd never be back in the field, and you certainly wouldn't go to work for someone else. We don't allow that, you know -- not the people who held gold cards. You ready to spend the rest of your life sitting in a nice apartment somewhere watching vids all day and hitting the bars at night?

      Hell, Devlin whispered, feeling her mouth go dry.

      Yes, that's what it would be. So that's not what you want is it?

      No.

      Then tell me what you really want, Devlin.

      I want to form a team with Cha and Dancer.

      She didn't think she could have shocked Epona twice in one day. The older woman sat back again and looked at her with eyes gone wide yet once more. The reaction amused Devlin suddenly.

      Is that really what this is about? Epona asked.

      I think so, she admitted.

      It is not what you intended when you came in here.

      No. I hadn't even thought of it until just then. Or at least not consciously, Devlin admitted. There had been dreams, she thought; things half remembered when she awoke and found herself anywhere but where she wanted to be.

      Why do you think this is a good idea? Epona asked and drew her attention back again.

      We worked well together, Devlin said, pulling her thoughts into place and outlining this new insanity in her mind. I found out there are far too many matters outside my limited expertise and I could use Cha's help. I could have used it before, to be honest, and solved some problems far more elegantly and quickly. And ... I trust them both at my back. I've thought about Forest, Epona, and I've thought of other cases I've had where I chanced on something that worked. Just chance, really, and we know it. If I had had Cha and Dancer with me on those --

      What cases? she asked.

      Alveris. Monte Noel. Fishton.

      Epona nodded at each of them, the look on her face changing. Epona looked intrigued.

      I don't know that I can get Cha and his new assistant to work with you, she admitted. Devlin wasn't particularly surprised the woman knew Dancer had gone to work with Cha. Devlin had kept track, somewhat, herself. Science isn't likely to let their top guy go to the IWCS. Maybe someone else--

      No. Cha and Dancer. This isn't just a position to fill. I have to trust them, Epona.

      And you expect him to give up his work? she asked.

      No. I expect sometimes we'll be working on my assignments and sometimes on Cha's -- he told me he's had trouble before, and I think he could use a guard now and then. She didn't mention how well Dancer could probably fill the role, but Epona likely knew. I imagine we would often be working apart, too. However, I want this team, Epona.

      And this is the cost of keeping you on, is it? she asked with one raised eyebrow and her hands still on her desk.

      Devlin sat back and took a couple deep breaths, forcing calm through her thoughts. Chaos would not help. You don't want me if this isn't going to happen. I came here to quit. I really did. I figure I would go off to some far fringe and start over. You wouldn't find me, even if you wanted to. I'm that good, at least.

      Yes, you are. But you'd turn up, Devlin. You couldn't possibly keep your hands out of trouble.

      That was sadly true. Devlin gave a little laugh of an agreement. But I'd still go. I saw something wrong with my work Epona, and it has been eating at me. I've kept at the job, thinking I could get past the feeling. I've had three cases since Forest. I've blustered my way through them all -- just as I always have in the past. I know that there is going to be another Forest out there, the kind of case where I can't even see all the factors. I don't want to face that kind of trouble without a clue about how to deal with it and without anyone I can trust. The work I do is too important. That's why I have the damned gold card, after all.

      Epona looked at her for a long moment, saying nothing at all. Devlin couldn't tell how this would go. She might, in fact, get her original wish after all. She wondered what part of the fringe she could disappear into ... at least for a while. Epona was right about that, of course. If trouble started up and she was nearby, she would have to step in and do her best to set things right.

      This had never been just a job to her.

      Go have lunch, Epona said. She waved her hand before Devlin could speak. I'm still your boss. Go have lunch. I'll talk to you again later today. I need to think about this. I'm not dismissing the idea out of hand, Devlin. I just need to check into a few things before I make any decisions.

      Devlin stood, feeling stronger than when she had come in. More assured. How odd. Thank you.

      Damned good thing you were professional enough to hand in your resignation in person or the gods know where you might be right now. Go. I'll talk to you soon.

      Epona was known for making fast decisions. She had to in a business where news might already be days -- sometimes even months -- getting to her and any time wasted could mean disaster. This wouldn't take long.

      Devlin left Epona to her thoughts and headed back out of the glass cubicle. She threaded her way through the maze of desks which were set up, so there was no direct line of attack straight through to Epona.

      Devlin had thought she would be handing over her gold card before she left. Instead, she still had it in her hand and had been holding on to the card without even thinking about it. This was better.

      Although maybe she should have contacted Cha and Dancer about it first...

      Chapter Two

      Mid-afternoon light sent the shadows of distant trees falling across the window and the desk, marking the passage of time Dancer hadn't noticed until now. He looked up from the comp with a frown and stared out at the forest that stood so close and yet out of his reach. He dared not leave the Port. People who had seemed otherwise reasonable were starting to blame him for the changes in their world that they didn't understand, including the more extensive deployment of IWC Whites that had arrived a few weeks ago. The locals had been fools. The rioting they had started just after they learned the truth about the bears had gone on into general lawlessness. The Founders could do nothing to stop it and had even seemed to delight in the chaos at times. Things had been going to hell.

      Dancer stayed on the Port, and he learned things. He rarely looked towards those trees these days or thought about life in the Bear Camp which had burnt down. Sometimes he thought of friends he missed, but those were people who had almost all died in the ring before this later trouble.

      Today he turned his attention back to typing up new reports for Cha. Dancer had spent most of the morning correlating data from both Cha's reports and those of some of the new people who had arrived. Much of the work had even begun to make sense to Dancer, although there were often passages where he still had to look up every other word. Studying the things outsiders wrote about Forest proved fascinating. He loved to learn, something that had been all but forbidden to him in his previous life as a bear dancer.

      He glanced over two new reports as they came in and made quick notes. He recognized certain words that allowed him to categorize the reports into specific groups. Adaptation, biogenesis, and cline all belonged the study of bears and more recently, humans. Augin, blade, lenticel were workds that marked another report as being about trees. Alluvium, conglomerate, and mesa described the world in which they all existed.

      With every report, he understood his world better.

      Well, everything except the people. He suspected he would never understand them.

      He'd just done the last of the tags on the reports when the door opened, and Cha came into the small building they shared as both office and home. This worked well for them since they were apt to continue typing through dinner and late into the night and would have disturbed people if they were in the barracks with others. Dancer also thought the newer scientists didn't appreciate having Cha around precisely because of his high rank.

      Dancer looked up to see Cha unexpectedly standing inside the door, looking around with a worried glance.

      I take it the meeting with the scientific board didn't go well? Dancer asked. He wasn't surprised. The meetings had stopped just short of shouting the last time Dancer had attended, and Cha had said they hadn't improved. Cha had fully mapped the patterns of dust motes in two buildings now, which just amused and amazed Dancer.

      Cha looked at him as though he had difficulty focusing on here and now. Dancer had seen that look a few times too. Cha finally nodded. It went well enough. They have agreed, finally, that the bears are not animals. You and I are leaving.

      Leaving? Dancer said, testing the word. He didn't quite know what to make of this odd idea and looked around the little office with a start. Going where?

      Cha crossed to his desk beside Dancer's and dropped into the chair, looking worn and worried. We are going off-world as quickly as we can, Dancer. Neither of us wants to be here when they make the announcement.

      What announcement? he asked.

      The board has decided to remove the settlers from Forest.

      Removing, he said, testing the word. Taking the people off world.

      Yes. Cha reached over and began keying up things on his computer, his fingers moving out of habit. When he looked back at Dancer again, his face had calmed at last. It's the right thing to do. We should never have been here at all, the humans. However, this comes generations too late to do it right. And once they make the announcement --

      Oh hell. Dancer felt a sudden roller coaster of emotion. How soon can we get off world? They're going to come after you and me, Cha.

      I know. Start clearing the comp of our work. Get copies of everything into the pocketcomps. Then we'll start packing up the portable equipment and all our belongings. We'll be out well ahead of the settlers. Only a science group and a few soldiers are going to remain.

      Cha looked around the room, apparently taking inventory. Dancer, though, sat in a moment of stillness, trying to get his thoughts in line to ask the right questions. So much he didn't understand about Cha's work. He looked out at the trees once more and considered what he didn't understand about his own world. So much left to learn.

      But really, there was only one question to ask now.

      When will we go?

      He saw Cha glance out the window as well and couldn't mistake that look of loss. Cha had loved studying this world. Why should he have to leave?

      There's a shuttle landing in the morning, Cha said. He sat back in his chair. The board will hold off announcing anything until we are aboard and out of reach, but they've already sent word to the IWC to get things moving. Word is spreading among the soldiers. I don't think it will take long for that news to spread to the population.

      Why do you have to go? If they are taking the people away, we could be safe here, couldn't we?

      Probably. The truth is that the new board thinks I'm too emotionally involved in this world to do my work properly.

      That's stupid.

      He smiled brightly. It's an excuse, Dancer. My name is already all over the reports as the person who identified the first non-Terran sentient race. They can't change what we've done -- but they can make certain the subsequent reports have their names on them. They want some of the glory. And that's okay, really. I never did any of this for the fame.

      Dancer nodded agreement. Do we have somewhere to go?

      We've got a provisional assignment to Summer, he said. I've had the request sitting in my files for a few days already, but there was no hurry to go. Summer is off in the Pegasus sector. The world is about to go into a two-hundred-year winter. The world is closing down, the people moving off world.

      They settled there? They had to know this would happen, right?

      "Yes.

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