The hangman comes to Tyche - part 4
The kitten gets a name
If you’re just joining us, jump back to part 1.
Acid ate at Taggard’s stomach as he followed Sharp out of the cell block into the office. Why had the man arrested his niece? It hadn't even been a day.
“What were you doing in there?” Sharp's nose wrinkled as he studied Taggard. “I know you don’t have a family to speak of — your niece doesn’t acknowledge you, and the only living thing in your life is that bleeding cat.”
Taggard glanced around and saw the grey kitten had followed him.
Sharp's lip curled into a sneer as his foot shifted towards the cat, who skittered back and hissed. He turned his attention back to Taggard. "But have you no pride?"
“I … I didn’t want to leave the prisoner unattended.” Tagged moved himself between Sharp and the cat. “What if he tried to escape?”
Sharp snorted. “Where would that drunk escape to? He’d be shot before he staggered out of town. Besides, here he gets free water.” His eyebrow arched. “Yes, I know you give them water. Pathetic.”
Taggard didn’t say anything. He couldn’t disagree with anything Sharp said. He had no family left now that his mother had succumbed to Tychean lungwort; even though she’d never worked in the mines, the disease had still eaten away at her last few years before consuming her entirely. Despite seeing his niece everyday she barely acknowledged him. He had no friends left; they’d all passed or fled to the stars — or no longer spoke to him given the badge he now wore on his chest. He didn’t even have a job he cared about. He’d only taken the position as a means to return home so he could care for his dying mother.
It’s never pathetic to give the thirsty water, he heard his mother's voice say.
“Why did you detain Nita?” Taggard said instead.
“Your niece is dangerous.”
It was Taggard’s turn to snort. “She makes rasa chola and steamed khorta. The only danger is she adds a little too much spice.”
“You’re not your niece’s confidant, Sheriff. Unlike the dead archaeologist.” Sharp glanced towards the cell block. “You have no idea what she’s gotten up to.” He tugged at the collar of his tunic. “But don't worry — we’ll extract all the details tomorrow. Until then you’ll have a couple of guests.” One of the SIPS officers settled down in his chair, while the other stationed herself on the seat by the door.
Taggard frowned at the invasion. “I —”
“Maybe focus on getting Mx. Arkmeni to confess. Then my interrogator won't need to ask her questions.” Sharp smiled. “It would be a shame to never taste her rasa chola again. It truly is delicious.”
Sharp strode past, out into the setting sun. The kitten hissed and the fur along its back stood on end. Taggard debated engaging the SIPS flunkies in conversation. Instead, he went back to the cell block. The cat padded after him.
He stopped at Sandor’s cell. “You’re sobre enough.” He punched a code into the panel and the bars retreated into the floor and wall. “You’re free to go. Just don’t get into any more fights with Armad Sing.”
Sandor stayed sitting on the cot as his eyes darting between Taggard and Nita. Finally, he rose and shuffled out of the cell. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep. That man’s unbearable.”
“Is that why you keep letting him warm your bed?” Nita’s voice rose over Taggard’s shoulder.
“Hush, Nita Arkmeni Collima." Sandor coughed. "You’re hardly one to judge about bed warming, with you and your foreign archaeologist.”
Taggard inhaled sharply at that, but Sandor paid him no mind. Without another word, he headed through the office and out onto the street, ignoring the two SIPS officers who eyed him the whole way.
Nita arched an eyebrow and gave him a piercing look, as if challenging him to judge her. Instead, Taggard turned to close the door between the office and the cell block. He stared out the square of plex for a long moment before turning to his sister’s daughter.
“What did you do to attract Sharp's attention?” he asked as he approached the energy bars separating them.
She slouched against the wall of packed earth and scowled at him. She looked so much like her mother in that moment. He remembered the weeks she'd spent weeks giving him the silent treatment when he'd questioned her decision to help the squad of Laurentian Brigade fighters marooned on the planet. And Nita appeared just as young.
But apparently Nita had things to say that were more important than ignoring him. “What do you care?” she said. “You abandoned us. Me. Gran. You left us to fend for ourselves. Through the rebel witch hunts. Through the Lean Years that followed, before they found the new seam at the mines.” She gestured towards the north with a hand, which startled the kitten that had curled up beside her on the cot. Realizing the animal was there, she stroked its back. “You should find a new person, Grim. He doesn’t care for anyone.”
“That’s —” He stopped, his throat choked with raw emotion. “That’s not true. I did care.” He wanted to shy away as she glared at him, but he held his ground. “I do care. It’s why I always buy from you. I know you blame me for your mom’s death.”
“What?”
“It was my fault. If she hadn’t come back for me, she’d still be alive.”
Nita snorted. “No she wouldn’t. My mother was headstrong and determined to join the rebels. She was bound for the wrong end of a gun.” She leaned forward as far as she could with the kitten in her lap. “Even I saw that, barely old enough to wrap a chola though I was.” She shook her head. “Is that really why you left us? Because you felt guilty?”
Taggard shrugged. “And if they associated my face with her, you might be in danger.” He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and, in the left, his fingers found his mom’s bauble. He ran his thumb over it. “But mostly guilt.”
“This Sharp doesn’t even realize Mom was a wannabe rebel. All they care about is the part you or I can play in their plans now.”
“So what did you do?” Taggard asked again.
“Nothing.” She leaned back once more, causing the kitten to mewl in protest as it was dislodged. She sighed. “I let Felicity, that archaeologist, warm my bed.” Her voice dropped low. “She claimed she’d discovered something over at Tem Cylla, something that could change the course of the Dominion, or so she said.”
“Not ….” The rumours always swirled back to the Celeste, the last of the lost treasure ships.
“No, no treasure ship. But she wouldn’t tell me what. Too dangerous, she said.”
Taggard took off his hat and ran his other hand through his hair. “Sharp wouldn’t arrest you for having sex.”
“Of course he would. He’s SIPS.” She glanced at the closed door, and her voice was even quieter when she continued. “And I think he reports to someone else. A person other than his commanding officer.”
“Do you have anything we can give him to convince him to let you go?”
Nita’s eyes glistened as she stared at the floor in front of him. She shook her head slowly as she lifted her gaze to meet his. “He’s not going to let me go no matter what we give him.”
“But he’s a Dominion officer.”
“Really? Are you really that naive? I’ve never been to the stars, and I know that he’ll string me up tomorrow regardless. He's the hangman. He was sent to extirpate rebellion … and he'll do it even if he can't find any rebels.”
“Maybe I can make a deal. I’m a Dominion officer too, after all. Felicity Pell must have shared something with you.”
Nita press her lips tight, but a flicker of hope flared in her eyes. “She did leave something behind, a notebook … but it’s indecipherable.” The cat purred as she scritched its head. “She wrote in her own personal code.”
“Where is it? I can offer that in trade.”
Nita’s eyes narrowed, and the look of distrust pierced Taggard to the core. “No,” she finally said, her tone firm. “Not for a deal. You need to get the book and take it to Professor Keys.”
“Who? Why?”
“Her mentor. If there really is something important over there, he’ll know.”
“No.”
“Yes.” She stood, dislodging the kitten again, and came close to the energy bars. “Sharp won’t abide by any deal. This is the only option.”
His forehead furrowed, but he nodded.
As she told him where to find the notebook, Taggard stared at the floor, debating what to do next.
The kitten wound through his legs, purring loudly.
“Why Grim?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“You called the cat Grim.”
“Oh.” Her eyes went wind for a second as she gazed at the cat, then she looked at him. “Because if he’s following you around, he has no hope. I —”
He smiled. “Fair enough.” He peered at the cat, who looked back at him with its green eyes. “You stay with Nita, Grim. Keep an eye on her.”
The kitten meowed then darted under Nita's cot, chasing a beetle. Taggard put his hat back on and nodded at his niece. Then he walked out of the cell block, through the office with barely a nod to the two SIPS officers and out into the darkening street.
Read part 5 now. Feel free to share if you know someone who likes scifi stories.
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