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Chapter 7 Chapter 9

Alternity 2 - Chapter 8

They got back into the car and Tyr punched the destination code into the cars autopilot. The vehicle took off and began guiding itself towards the destination. This time Tyr let the auto control itself.

"Who do you think it was?' asked Beka "I doubt it was a simple robbery. Do you think one of our allies has decided to go solo and sent in their own agents to recover the data?"

"That would be my guess," replied Tyr. "Despite the good Captain Hunt's rhetoric about the desirability of a new Systems Commonwealth with all planets working for the common good of the entire Commonwealth, the reality of the situation is that his new Commonwealth is still more a figment of his imagination than an actual fact. Most of the members would gladly feed the other members to the Magog if they thought they could gain an advantage from it. So yes, I imagine that the individuals who killed the Than are working for one of our members which is planning to use the information for their own benefit."

"You know," said Beka slowly, "we could do the same. Get the information and then sell it to the highest bidder. We could probably even arrange it so each planet thought they had won and sell copies to all of them."

"We could,' agreed Tyr, "but we're not going to. As much as I doubt that what the Captain envisions will ever come to fruition he's right about one thing. If the Magog have access to the technology the High Guard suspects they do then the only way we are going to be able to have any chance of defeating them is to make the Commonwealth work."

In spite of the seriousness of the situation Beka couldn't help but grin. "You're starting to sound like the Captain. Don't tell me he's converting you." Tyr's only response was a disgusted 'Bah' which effectively ended the conversation.

They drove on in a thoughtful silence, each of them considering the possible ramifications of the murder in the University. The virtually silent electric motors that powered the car kept them moving at a good pace. Mohendjo Daro was a sparsely settled planet and the inhabitants tended to build out rather than up. With modern communication systems there was no need for workers to commute to their work on a daily basis so there were a few relatively densely populated areas, such as Palmyra, the majority of the population living instead in small towns. Ninevah was no exception being essentially a small commercial district where the inhabitants could shop and a scattering of individual houses separated by tracts of native vegetation which despite their seeming wildness were as carefully maintained as the garden of a planetary potentate. Less than an hour after they had left the university their call pulled up at a small house surrounded by a copse of trees. Beka couldn't identify the architectural style of the house but with the large porch supported by columns it reminded her of some of the houses she had seen on historical vids.

Tyr parked the car along the road by the house and they got out of the car and began walking up the drive. There were no cars in the drive but Beka didn't intend to assume that meant the people who killed Venst's assistant weren't in the house; she checked her gauss pistol to ensure it was charged and loaded and noticed Tyr doing the same. Walking as quietly as possible the approached the door. As they got closer Beka noticed that it was ajar. Deciding to err on the side of caution she drew her gauss pistol. Tyr did the same then pointed at Beka, the door and made an hand movement to the right. He did the same for himself but made a movement to the left. Beka nodded her understanding they would go in quickly weapons drawn she would move go the the right while Tyr went to the left that way if the Thanks killers were still in the house they wouldn't get in each others way and would have clear lines of fire. If the Professor was alone they could apologize, show their ID's, and explain. Weapons at the ready they moved into the house.

The doorway led into a living room. Neither the killers nor the professor was in evidence but unless the Umbrite researcher was an extraordinarily bad housekeeper the two men who had searched the professors office had been here as well. Like the office the room had been ransacked. Unlike the office there was no body in the middle of the room. Moving quickly the two checked out the rest of the house, kitchen, study, two bedrooms and bath. All were deserted and all had been ransacked. Even the furniture cushions had been ripped open.

"I suppose this is a good news bad news situation," Beka said more to herself than to Tyr. "The good news is that there is no dead professor and if our opposition had found him they probably wouldn't have needed to ransack the house . The bad news is there is no professor at all. Where do we go from here?"

Beka's musings were abruptly interrupted by an unexpected and hostile voice from behind them.

"Freeze," demanded the voice. Both of you put your hands behind your heads. You woman, turn around slowly so I can see your face." Beka knew the voice, she and Tyr could be in serious trouble. The voice sounded to her old adversary Harkness.

Chapter 7 Chapter 9