Alien Interludes by Tracy St. John Read Free Book Online

to his body. Not that his fiercely independent Matara would alow either.
    He drew near Lidon, the limping Nobek who quoted scripture from the Book of Life. The dark and dangerous former spy was taking reports from al over the hospital, searching for any anomalous occurrences. The usualy inscrutable Nobek was frowning at his vid, and Clajak alowed himself a spark of hope.
    “Something out of the ordinary?” he asked.
    “More an instinct, my emperor. I’ve learned to listen to my intuition, as unscientific as it may be.”
    “Tel me.” Clajak knew Lidon had been a major player in ending of the war with Earth. The Dramok Emperor had been present when Bevau decorated him and his clanmates for their service. The little Clajak had seen of the elder Nobek impressed him.
    “I’ve received reports from the various departments as to operation anomalies. Nothing of particular interest. Only one department hasn’t reported in: the morgue.”
    “Have you contacted them directly?”
    “I tried, but no one is manning the desk at this time.” Lidon swung around to face Clajak. “Here’s what I know. Nothing realy noteworthy has happened there since the empress’ disappearance. Two bodies were brought in, and al paperwork checked out. Shortly after the second body was dropped off, the security camera covering the admitting desk went out for a period of thirty seconds. Again, this is nothing of particular note as maintenance has been trying to chase down an intermittent loss of power to that monitor for the last month. When the recorder came back on, the attendant was no longer at the desk. He has not returned for the last half hour, but it is conceivable he is having his midday meal.”
    “So why is it bothering you so much, Lidon?”
    “I can’t find footage of the attendant going anywhere. I have checked the recordings of al his possible routes, and he doesn’t show up anywhere at the time of his disappearance.” Bevau’s voice at his shoulder startled Clajak. He hadn’t heard his Nobek clanmate approach. “Is there a guard at the loading dock off the morgue?”
    “Yes, a member of the Royal Guard. No one has gone in or out through there.” Lidon brought up the external video from the loading dock. “A shuttle is just now arriving for a pickup.”
    “Is that being alowed?” Clajak asked.
    “No one can enter or exit the hospital. See, the Guardsman is talking to the shuttle pilot now, probably informing him he can’t pick any bodies up. Admittance for any reason has been completely disalowed—”
    Lidon broke off and the three men went on alert when the Guardsman and pilot entered the morgue together. “Someone didn’t get the message,” Clajak growled.
    Bevau leaned over the seated Lidon. “The bodies that were brought in earlier. Were either of them smal enough to be Earther?” Lidon’s fingers flew over his command keys faster than he could have barked his wishes to the computer. “First one, definitely Kalquorian sized. The second—” They al growled like a pack of rabid animals at the replay of the footage. Lidon was on his feet and heading for the door in a blur despite the limp that plagued one leg. Bevau was quick to folow. His voice faded as he shouted back to Clajak.
    “Relay the information to Breft! Keep an eye on the morgue!”

    * * * *
The door to Jessica’s vault swung open, and she fought to keep her eyes slitted open in the sudden glare. She’d managed to move far enough to be huddled at the far end of the drawer. As she watched, an arm reached in and began to slide the drawer out. She tumbled her stil reluctant body off of it to the smooth metal surface below.
    There was a moment of silence when the shelf, empty except for the body bag she’d been encased in, was drawn into the room outside the vault.
    “Where is she?” a harsh male voice exploded. “It’s a trap!”
    The silhouette of a head and shoulders appeared at the end of the vault. Jessica’s eyes were stil dazzled,