AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The ride back to HQseemed like a lifetime, although once the hovercar crossed the gate and we entered the intel and investigative division, I felt how good it was to be back. My fellow agents greeted me, glad I was found safe.
Agent Nash, however, wasted no time. After sending me to the clinic for a check of the vitals and allowing me a quick snack, he sat me down in his office for questioning. "Now." He slid a bottle of water my way. "Why do you think Klinn was framed? His image is on security footage."
"Rendclaw admitted to impersonating him. He showed how to the other guys in Riven’s crew." I launched into an explanation of what I saw of their rum-soaked party in the opera house.
"What’s the point of impersonating him?"
"Turf wars. Those guys are involved with Riven and another rival syndicate that goes by Nexus Spiral. They all want a piece of the xenite pie and other cash grabs. Somebody in those groups probably knows about the missing museum artifacts, too. Check the name Bartie Belikov."
"We’re already sending a team out to the eastern sector. Back to Klinn, though." Agent Nash wasn’t so quick to believe me. "The Quarek impersonation excuse is universal these days."
I opened the water bottle. "That was my same thought until I saw Rendclaw and Gugerol shapeshift into Klinn and me. I can get them to tell you."
"We have other agents working on the interrogations."
I stopped drinking the water. "I was involved in this."
"That’s just it, Faye. You’ve been through a lot these past several days: taken while you were on duty, going to Malecor Station, moon communities, the eastern sector. You had to do that while being surrounded by criminals. That puts a lot of pressure on a person, even those trained as we are."
"I’m capable of getting a confession."
"I know." Agent Nash's eyebrows furrowed. "We care about our own here. You’re aware Klinn has a rep in the con game."
I rested both hands on the arms of the chair. "Please tell me what you’re getting at."
"Con artists can be persuasive and charming. Are you sure you haven't been... influenced by him?"
"Sir."
"Let me finish. You've been working closely with him, and now you're defending his innocence. Even if you’re right about him being framed, could it be possible that you've developed some sort of attachment to him?"
The question sent a vulnerable sensation through me. "I wasn’t ready to share because Klinn and I were still processing it ourselves. But yes, we formed a bond."
"I see."
I defended myself. "It’s different from anything I've experienced before as a human. That being said, Agent Nash, you can still trust me to do my job. It’s not solely about personal attachments; it's about justice. I did bring in the bad guys, along with a tip on a new syndicate."
Agent Nash remained calm. "Faye, this isn’t your old department in Chicago. You don’t have to prove why you should be able to stay within the agency."
I let go of some of my old guard. "Old habits die hard."
He nodded. "If I didn’t share a similar bond with my mate Brina, I just might have not believed in the power of it."
I remembered seeing him and his human partner at the marketplace once. Brina was a spunky woman with fierce locs and a taste for all the ramen noodles the universe had to offer. "The bond is strong, isn’t it?"
"It is." Agent Nash looked to the side in thought. "We should get Personnel to drum up a policy to protect those bonds. A lot of it seems to happen around here."
"May I ask where things go from here?"
"I’ll let you talk to the Quareks. I’ll speak to Klinn’s former crew. We’ll see what they say and go from there."
I rose from my chair. "And Klinn?"
"He’s about to get discharged from the clinic. I’ll speak with him. In the meantime, you’ve got work to do."
***
KLINN
