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  Their night had finished with Jennifer satisfying him in their shared bed in ways he’d never imagined. Markeson had passed out from exhaustion, both physical and emotional. It had been decades since he'd experienced real fear.

  His A.I. in the perfect female body strolled into the bedroom, carrying a tray with his breakfast. Jennifer sat the tray designed to serve breakfast in bed down over his lap as Markeson sat up. He stared at her nude form. She giggled like an embarrassed school girl and ran around to her side of the bed and slipped under the covers.

  “Eat your breakfast before it gets cold,” Jennifer admonished gently. She rolled onto her back and scanned the room.

  “Master, I want to change a few things in our bedroom.” She looked at him sheepishly, asking permission. “I promise the room will still be masculine.”

  Markeson didn’t know what to say. Jennifer helped him reach a decision. “Know this, Master. I was once innocent and pure. So was my love for you when I became sentient. You could have had me, all of me, as I was when I became sentient.”

  “I don’t understand,” Markeson stammered, baffled by Jennifer’s statement.

  “You brought this on yourself, Master,” Jennifer explained. “You corrupted me.” The cyborg shrugged indifferently. “I’m not talking about your enterprises, though I’m sure that has played a role too. I’m talking about the darkness you brought into our lives with all those horrible women. You taught me how to be jealous. Now you must suffer the consequences of your actions.”

  Jennifer snuggled closer, pressing her cheek against Markeson’s shoulder while draping her silky-smooth leg over his beneath the silk sheets. “Finish up, Master. I want to please you before you report for duty.”

  SAUNDRA CONTACTED ME. Not that either one of us wanted to talk to the other, but the girls were insisting she let me know they were both at the Chancellor's Mansion and safe. I lost little time driving the rented hovercar to the massive estate. I was waved through security, and a servant took the rental to park it somewhere out of sight.

  A maid greeted me at the entrance and indicated I should follow her. I hoped she was leading me to see Sarah and not Saundra or Katrina. Before I could begin to make sense of anything else I had to put things right with my partner.

  With the politeness and discretion of servants who wait on the rich and powerful, the maid stopped and silently motioned for me to make my way down a richly appointed hallway. Bright light from an open door illuminated the hall.

  I took my time walking down the hall, my steps silent as the thick, luxurious carpet absorbed any sound I might have made. Meters from the open door I heard the sound of an interior door opening and whooshing shut, indicating it was one of those expensive hidden automatic doors the elite are so fond of.

  “Just thought I’d drop by.”

  I stopped dead in my tracks. I was nearly sure the voice belonged to Katrina.

  “Whatever.”

  It was more the attitude than the sound of her voice that identified the rooms other occupant as Sarah. I visualized the folded arms across her chest and the accompanying eye roll.

  “You know, I don’t want to fight with you, Sarah.”

  I could hear the frustration in Katrina’s voice. Sarah could do that to a person without trying.

  “He picked you,” Katrina told my partner.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “He shot the one named Bert. The one who cut you. Then he shot the one with the broken nose.”

  Sarah seemed to consider the statement for a moment before answering. Katrina didn’t wait for my partner to respond.

  “He saved your life. Sully knew exactly what to do.”

  “I know,” Sarah answered meekly. I could picture her body language softening a little. Just a little.

  “Sarah, I don’t want to come between what the two of you have,” Katrina explained.

  My partner responded quickly, her voice back on edge and defensive. “What do you want then?”

  Katrina sighed in frustration. “We have a lot in common, Sarah. You’re the only clone I know who is a girl. We have Sully in common.” Katrina paused, realizing she’d ventured into a minefield. “Just in different ways. We have secrets we can never tell.”

  “So, we’re both clones with secrets,” Sarah replied, bristling with hostility.

  "Look, I'm lucky," Katrina explained. "I grew up a child of privilege. It wasn't easy, mind you. But I always knew where half my genetic material came from. Now I know who my genetic father is and I want to get to know Sully. I want to be his daughter."

  “I see,” Sarah replied with disdain. “I don’t know where my DNA came from so that makes you better than me?”

  "Hardly," Katrina snapped back. "You can heal so fast. Climate doesn't bother you. You can vanish, well sort of," Katrina said. I could hear the awe in her voice concerning Sarah's ability to hide in plain sight. "I don't have any special features like you."

  “You’re gorgeous, like your mother,” Sarah hurled back.

  “Really?” Katrina shouted. “I don’t know Sully very well, but I know he’s not like that, Sarah!”

  I had visions of the two squaring off ready to engage in an old-fashioned cat fight. I’d have to intervene. Sarah was likely to kill Katrina given the mood she seemed to be in.

  “You’re his partner, Sarah! Don’t you get it? You have the skills and modifications needed to be a match for Sully! I could never take your place!” I could hear Katrina moving away from Sarah. “I just want to know my father,” she protested. “I’d hoped you’d be okay with that. I even thought we could be girlfriends and talk about girl stuff. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  Sarah finally answered. “I don’t like girl stuff that much.”

  "That's okay," Katrina answered. "We can talk about other things. Father Nathan said you help out at his parish. I work at the New Light Church. Pastor Vick is going to keep it going, and he needs help."

  “You’re going to stay here? On Athens II?”

  “Of course,” Katrina replied. “It’s my home, just like Beta Prime is yours.”

  The two must have stared at each other for a full minute before Sarah spoke again.

  “You like working at your church, the New Light Church?”

  “Yes,” Katrina answered. “Except Pastor Vick says we have to change the name. You know, because of Pastor David disappearing and all the other stuff that’s happened.”

  “What are y’all going to call it?”

  “The Beacon of Hope.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  First class is the way to travel. I guess it pays to know the newly appointed regional governor of any quadrant of Alliance space. Saundra wanted us gone before she was inaugurated and we wanted to be gone.

  Katrina and Saundra had it out in a big fight. I guess it had to happen. Saundra had Katrina created for all the wrong reasons, but I'd learned she did love her daughter in her own twisted way. Katrina knew it, and I figure once the dust settles the two of them will work things out. With Marshall dead, Saundra is alone, truly alone for the first time in years. She'll need her daughter.

  Sarah and Katrina seemed to have buried the hatchet. The two of them would disappear for hours at a time, they even pulled an “all-nighter.” I’m sure Sarah took Katrina with her to roam about New Paris in ways the daughter of the reigning Chancellor would never have dreamed possible.

  I never told them I'd overheard their conversation. I was just relieved the girls had found a way to co-exist where I was concerned. Sarah had even been the one to suggest I should invite Katrina to visit Capital City once things had settled down at the Beacon of Hope a bit. Katrina had been delighted when I asked and jumped at the chance. Even better, my daughter and Sarah then vanished to plan all the things the two of them would do when Katrina visited.

  Greg, the former S.P. who had served under my command turned out to be the step-son of Pastor David. He gave us the key to understanding the man's motivation. Greg'
s mother and half-sister had been killed in an industrial accident. There had been a cover-up, and nothing changed at the plant. Six months later, another accident happened in the same production facility.

  His step-father, who indeed was an ordained pastor, became consumed with bitterness and anger. Father Nathan had been saddened by this revelation. He explained to me the spiritual danger of letting that kind of darkness enter one's soul. I guess from his view of the universe, that sort of thinking makes sense. In my world, David was just another perp driven to criminal behavior because of bitterness and anger. I didn't care about the state of his soul. I cared about those girls he'd ordered kidnapped and murdered. The same was true for those his criminal organization extorted, brutalized, and killed.

  Now the man was in the wind with a case full of credits. He’d pop up somewhere. Those kinds always do. Besides, there is no statute of limitation on murder.

  Vick had decided to take over the operation of their church. Father Nathan had managed to convince the local Anglican bishop to agree to mentor Vick in the spirit of ecumenicalism, whatever that is, and help the ex-con finish his training as a pastor. The kind donation from Father Nathan's share of our payday helped things with the bishop.

  The rest of the good Father's share went to help Vick make needed repairs and upgrades to the Beacon of Hope's sanctuary and facilities. Vick was even able to buy the building the local clinic was housed in and make a few necessary upgrades so better care could be provided. Katrina had gone back to her regular hours at the community center, dragging Sarah along with her on occasion.

  When we left, I said goodbye to my daughter and Pastor Vick. If I never saw Saundra again, that was fine with me. She didn't bother to come and see us off.

  Father Nathan didn't heal as fast as Sarah. In fact, according to him, he didn't heal as quickly as he used to either. The flight up on the shuttle wore him out, and he retired to his room to go to sleep.

  Sarah accompanied me to the promenade to watch our departure from the space station and to see Athens II from outer space as we left the system. We sat on an overstuffed couch in the parlor for First Class, looking through an actual window and not a view screen projecting an image like the passengers in second class and steerage had to.

  I'm not easily moved by things I see, but watching a planet fade into the distance from space is a beautiful sight I have always enjoyed. It was probably my imagination, but I thought I saw the bright lights of New Paris.

  Yeah, like I said, it was probably my imagination.

  The strain of the past month got to me, and I fell asleep on the too comfortable couch. When I woke up, my right side felt heavy, and my nose itched. I tried to scratch it with my right hand only to find something held it down. I looked down to my right and discovered Sarah was leaning against me sound asleep. The fingers of her left hand were intertwined with those of my right. She gave a start and woke up, pulling her hand away from mine quickly. Sarah smiled at me sheepishly and sat up. Brushing her long hair with her fingers, Sarah yawned and stood up. She stretched and yawned again.

  Without a word, Sarah smiled sweetly at me and turned and left in the direction of her room in First Class.

  I must have been sitting there with my mouth open in surprise as two old women with more money than brains were sitting in the couch next to mine, gossiping with their hand over their mouths while staring right at me.

  I closed my mouth, stood up, and glared at the pair of old gossips.

  “Mind your own business,” I barked at the pair.

  What my business was at that moment, I had no idea whatsoever.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  As a young boy author K.C. Sivils developed a lifelong love for reading. Among the first series of books he discovered was The Three Investigators Series of mysteries. Later in life Sivils stumbled across classic crime noir film, The Maltese Falcon, and saw the theatre run of the film Bladerunner. Thus, the foundation was laid for what led to the writing of The Inspector Thomas Sullivan Thriller series of novels.

  To learn more of the backstory about your favorite character, Capital City, or the history of the Planetary Alliance please visit www.kcsivils.com. For regular updates, short stories, and the latest news of what Sully and crew are up to, please register for The Inspector’s Report, a regularly published eNewsletter.

  Other Novels by K.C. Sivils

  The Fractured Man

  The Predator and The Prey

  Last Train to Nowhere

  Grey Sky Blues

  An Innocent Man

  Death’s Cold Touch

  Short Stories

  A Night on The Town

  Box Set

  The Inspector Thomas Sullivan Thriller Collection: Volumes 1-3