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“It doesn’t belong to you either. It was given to a friend by the Arasetan king’s advisor.”
“So, you stole it from her,” I taunted her.
“She gave it to me!”
“Well, you should be aware, I’m not the only one who wanted it. After you left for Jericho, somebody ransacked your apartment,” I said. Or maybe the others had been searching for something else. I had a bad feeling that maybe they’d just been after her. When she wasn’t there, they tore up her place, and followed her to Jericho.
She shrugged as if she didn’t care, but then her eyes widened with panic. “James Bond—my cat—”
“Is fine. I found him under the bed. I took him to your neighbor, Mrs. Abercrombie.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You spoke to her?”
I shook my head. “No. I slipped the cat inside and left.”
“How did you—never mind.” She huffed then muttered, “Thank you.”
“You don’t believe I’m LOP, but you believe me about the cat.”
“I noticed the scratches.” She motioned to my hand.
I decided it would be best not to mention I’d stunned the animal. “Your cat is as dangerous as you are.”
That got a grin. “His name is Bond. James Bond. He has a license to scratch.”
I didn’t get it but realized I might be able to soften her up, get her to relax her guard, by talking about her pet. “Why did you name it James Bond?”
“He’s black and white—that’s called a tuxedo cat. James Bond was a suave, debonair spy in an old novel series immortalized in early movie vids. He often wore a tux.”
“A tux is black and white?” I guessed. I had no idea what a tux was.
“Black suit, white shirt, black bow tie. It’s worn on formal occasions. Used to be. I don’t think anyone has worn a tux since Earth was destroyed.”
“The Great Nuclear War isn’t an event to celebrate?” The snide remark slipped out.
Most of the galaxy knew how a couple of nations on planet Earth had gone to war and wiped out every single living species in a nuclear holocaust, rendering a beautiful planet uninhabitable. If not for the colony established on New Terra, the human race itself would have gone extinct, too. The humans’ bellicose, hotheaded, unstable behavior and culture prompted the decision to isolate New Terra to protect everyone in the galaxy. Secondarily, the embargo was designed to give the endangered species time to regenerate their population without diluting the gene pool with DNA from other species.
Her eyes flashed. “For your information, we did not cause the Great Nuclear War. Artificial intelligence did. Unbeknownst to our leaders, it had become sentient. Two countries did have a political disagreement and had hit an impasse, but neither would have chosen mutual annihilation as a solution. But the AI, protected in underground bunkers, had no fear of dying, just a win-at-any-cost attitude. It fired off a nuclear missile. The other nation’s AI responded, and that was the beginning of the end. With the sentient AI in control, they couldn’t stop it.”
The scenario was not implausible. AI would have been new to humans back then, and, if they hadn’t established safeguards, yeah, that scenario could happen. I jotted a mental note to pass on the information to Jovi. However, hearsay wouldn’t suffice. “How do you know? The holocaust occurred before you were born.”
“There were survivors. Government officials went underground and lived out their lives in nuclear-proof bunkers. The radiation prevented them from going topside, so they couldn’t leave the planet. But the survivors remained in contact with New Terra until the last one died. We have records of what happened.” Her green eyes sparked with ire. “I’m so damn sick of hearing how we destroyed ourselves.”
“I understand.” I nodded. “That’s kind of like the misconception the LOP isn’t doing anything to fight trafficking.” I don’t know why I needled her, other than I liked seeing her animated. Specks of gold flashed in her green eyes when she got angry.
“Three hundred Star Cross passengers and crew members were abducted—how’s that for proof of LOP inaction and incompetence?”
“You presented your side of the misunderstanding about Earth; allow me to share my side about the League of Planets.”
“Fine.” She took a drink.
“The investigation into alien species trafficking has been ongoing for a long time. Our agents and informants are embedded across the galaxy. We are working not just to apprehend the individual slave traffickers but to take down the cartel, which accounts for 90 percent of the slave trade.”
“The Copan-Cerulean Cartel.”
“Yes. Most of the smaller cartels and individual slavers are connected to it. In exchange for cartel protection, they pay a fee.”
“Sounds like an organized crime racket.”
