Silent and grim, the snowy forest stood. In the frozen lands, the elf sorcerer was all alone. The wind howled. On his knees was he praying, his voice melodic. Vaalyun Ilihice was pleading the Gods above to grant him their wisdom. A shooting star on the night sky, an answer to his prayers. His smile brighter than the brightest of suns, he stood up. Tears of joy dripped onto his cheeks.

“Master?”

A faint, mechanical voice echoed in John’s ears.

“Master!”

“Eh?” John woke up, the dream still vivid in his mind. He felt a chilling coldness, as if he had really just been in that snowy forest. ‘I had that dream before, back in Frazzar. Why am I dreaming of this sorcerer?’

“Good morning, Master,” D-4009 said in his cheery mood. “Mister Snow and Doctor Beck are waiting for you in the reception hall.”

“Oh!” John was reminded of the case. He went to the bathroom and freshened up before leaving behind his room and rushing to the reception hall. There, Beck and Lutherson were waiting for him.

“Apologies for the wait!” John said.

“We are on a mission, not on holidays!” Lutherson sternly reprimanded him.

“You sure are excited for a mission forced upon you…”

“I don’t give a fuck about your rebellion; I am just most interested in this case. I spoke with Sean and he gave me more information on it. It is even more intriguing than I initially thought.”

“I will not be going with you,” Beck interrupted the detective. “I’m going to be paying a visit to my cousin. He lives nearby. As I’ve told you, I only came here in hopes of opening a medical practice. I’ll be leaving the investigating to you two.”

“Three you mean,” D-4009 interjected. “I will be investigating along with Master John and Mister Snow.”

“Yeah, yeah, do whatever you want.”

“Does this mean you won’t be staying here?” John asked.

“It will probably take four or five days before I can move out of the hotel, so no. You will have to tolerate me for a few more days,” Beck chuckled.

“Good luck, doc!”

“Thanks.”

“Come on!” Lutherson shouted. He was clearly anxious to leave, he couldn’t wait any longer. “You’ve heard the good doctor, he has work to do. And so have we. We’ve got a case to solve!”

John simply sighed and, along with his android, followed Lutherson as the detective rushed outside the hotel.

Dingy brick row houses lined both sides of the street, crowded shoulder to shoulder. John, Lutherson and D-4009 were in one of the working-class neighborhoods of Biscecenza. The megalopolis was famous for its tall, majestic skyscrapers and the luxuries it offered, but the neighborhoods in the industrial zone were among the worse in the entire planet.

“What did Sean say?” John asked.

“He gave me the police’s report on the case. Apparently at 5 am, their neighbor heard a loud thumping sound and found the husband’s body smashed outside the house. He apparently had jumped from the upper window; while not high, the fall was enough to break his neck and kill him. The police entered the house half an hour later and found the wife lying on the bed lifeless. Her wounds were consistent with a laser knife they found on the floor.”

John couldn’t utter a single word yesterday when Sean told him about it, and he couldn’t say a single word today either. He understood only too well what a tragedy losing one’s family was.

“The husband’s name Greg, the wife Susan,” Lutherson continued. “Their house has more or less remained as it was during the time of the murder. It was a crime scene for some time and hasn’t been rented yet. They moved there eight months ago, when Susan was fired from her job.”

“So, only two months after she was fired from her job, she was murdered?”

“Yup. Do you think there is some connection?”

“I don’t know. You are the detective, not me.”

“I don’t think there is enough evidence to make such an assumption, yet. Anyway, according to the autopsy report, her death was caused by internal hemorrhage as a result of the stabbing. She was stabbed twice, the second stab causing arterial spray out of her body. Hence why she was found in a pool of blood. Greg, on the other hand, was found with his neck broken but no blood stains on his clothes, at least according to the police.”

“Excuse me Mister Snow,” D-4009 interrupted, “but how could Greg be the murderer if there were no blood stains on his clothes? The victim produced a blood sputter.”

“Exactly!” Lutherson loudly exclaimed. “You are right D-4009. You could actually make a good sidekick.”

“Thank you, Mister Snow.”

“Maybe he changed clothes?” John asked.

“He couldn’t. If the report is right, he jumped just a few moments after the murder. And I don’t really think that someone who supposedly murdered his wife and then proceeded to jump to his death would be in the mental condition to do something like that.”

The three of them finally reached Susan’s house. The stone walkway to the front door was consumed by weeds. The house was stone-built. Its dirty windows were framed in metal and beige curtains prevented any peeking at what lay inside. Lutherson took a good look at the house, inspecting every inch of it.

He suddenly pointed at a window. “Greg fell from there,” he said. He then pointed at the pavement. “He fell here. Problem is… he couldn’t.”

“I don’t understand,” John replied.

“The police’s report includs photos of the crime scene. There is no way he could have fallen from that window and reached that spot on the pavement, unless the laws of physics changed since I last checked and gravity now goes diagonally.”

“So… his body was moved?”

“Maybe someone wanted to make it look as if Greg had committed suicide. Probably the actual murderer, since we’ve established that it is unlikely Greg committed the murder.”

They headed to the metallic door. Lutherson pressed a card key Sean had given him and the door swiftly opened. The house was dim, barely any light making its way through the windows. The corridor was eerily silent.

“Hope we don’t run to any sentient androids and Shadow Hunters this time,” John joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

“We should head to the kitchen,” Lutherson replied, untouched by John’s humor.

“Wh-“

Lutherson had already headed to the kitchen before John could finish his question. Returning, he was holding a piece of metal he had found in the kitchen. He hammered it on the front door, to prevent anyone from coming in. “We don’t need any surprises.”

“A tactically correct move, Mister Snow.” D-4009 gave thumps up.

“Now?” John asked.

“Now to the bedroom.”

Lutherson turned to the left, walking fast through the corridor to head to the bedroom. John and D-4009 were struggling to keep up with the enthused detective. The room was even darker than the corridors. The three investigators were barely able to see where they were walking.

“Don’t you have some flashlight?” John pleaded his android.

“Actually, I do have a flashlight.” D-4009’s eyes suddenly emitted a strong light, lightening the dark room.

“Thanks!”

They could see that the bed was dusty and uncovered. The room was simple, with little furniture. The blood stains on the bed had been removed and there was little evidence of the murder that had taken place in the room.

While Lutherson was looking around, inspecting every inch of the room for the slightest hint of evidence he could find, John was standing still. ‘What am I supposed to do?’ he thought to himself. His face was emotionless, trying not to give away his thoughts. ‘Am I doing anything useful other than escorting Lutherson here and there?’

“Interesting…” Lutherson said as he examined the room’s wooden desk. “Most interesting…”

“What?” John asked. He looked at the desk, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“A secret compartment. Apparently one that the police did not manage to find.” The detective pressed it with his finger and a panel on the desk opened. Inside the compartment was a data pad. Lutherson activated it but it was password protected.

“Can you crack it?” The detective handed the pad to D-4009.

“My programming includes a hacking subroutine. Part of that subroutine is the ability to calculate possible passwords.” D-4009 connected wirelessly his mechanical brain with the data pad and began trying one password after the other. The combinations were countless and the android typed hundreds of passwords, faster than any humanoid could. Finally, after a few minutes, he managed to find the right password and the device was unlocked. “Here it is,” D-4009 handed the device back to Lutherson.

Lutherson scrolled the data’s single file, with John too looking at it from over Lutherson’s shoulder. It contained some cryptic and highly complex algorithms which neither man could understand what they meant.

“What doe-“ Lutherson froze. “Project Epsilon.”

“Project Epsilon?” John repeated. “It can’t be…” And yet, those two words were on the file. “That means that Susan had something to do with that sentient android?”

“This goes a lot deeper than simple murder.”

“Do you think she was murdered because of her connections to that project?”

“It would make sense, but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. We should probably investigate that project, though I doubt we will be able to find much about it. Such projects are highly classified.”

“Maybe D-4009 can try and make sense of the algorithms in the data pad? Those algorithms could very well be the key to this whole case.”

“I could do that. My programming includes a subroutine to analyze algorithms. I cannot guarantee you one hundred percent success, but I believe I can accomplish that task.”

“We should be heading back to the hotel,” Lutherson said. “We have no time to waste! This is probably the most exciting case I’ve had in the past ten years!”

John could only nod. ‘Why is this man so excited about murders and investigations? Jeez!’

“You’ve called for me?” William asked as he entered the admiral’s office. Inside were Admiral Natasha and tactical officer Kiroshato, a middle-aged chubby man with balding hair and a grey mustache. Natasha was sitting behind her desk while Kiroshato had just activated a holographic device showcasing a map of that region of space.

“We need to talk about the expedition,” Natasha replied. “We will soon be reaching the Kairer asteroid field. The eastern edges of the field are under firm Helian control. We will be making a short stop at Daxiturn.”

“I believe I’ve heard that name before…”

“It is the most populous of the Kairer asteroid colonies,” Kiroshato explained. “It is a hub of commerce. We will be resupplying there. The pirates haven’t dared to attack the colony directly, as it has powerful defenses.”

Natasha nodded affirmatively. “The campaign to clear the asteroid field of pirate presence might take time, so stopping at Daxiturn for supplying is a necessary step to ensure the success of our mission. Logistics is everything in warfare.”

“Will our soldiers be getting shore leave?” William asked, uninterested in the strategic details of the campaign.

“Some will,” the admiral replied. “I have already had the officer in charge of such affairs to draft a list of those who performed well enough in the past to deserve a shore leave. The rest will remain at the ship.”

“You will be going too, I assume?”

“Indeed. I will be leaving Kiroshato in temporary command. I believe he can make it for a few hours.” Natasha grinned and her officer responded in kind.

“Won’t be disappointing you, Madame!”

“I am confident you won’t.”

Kiroshato bided farewell to the two of them and left the office, leaving William and Natasha alone.

“So… does Daxiturn have any good clubs?” William grinningly asked.

“I know one; I went a few years ago when I was still a junior officer. I will be paying it a visit.”

“I thought you weren’t drinking.”

“I would be on shore leave, right?” Natasha smilingly replied. “Let me tell you a secret; when I am not in command, I love to drink. My friends tease me that I am an alcoholic!”

“Then I will be coming with you to that club.” William paused for a brief moment. “I have to say, admiral, I like you a lot better when you are not in command.”

“Then you will be having one unpleasant journey since we won’t be making any other stops,” Natasha laughed.

Ron was walking down the aisle of Deck 2 of the Ravager. His entry in the Helian military had been due to his extraordinary good luck. In his village’s tournament he had been beaten, but the champion – John – became a fugitive wanted by the authorities. So here he was, a soldier aboard a capital-class Helian starship heading for the Kairer asteroid field.

“Ron!” a boisterous, tall, slim red-faced lad exclaimed. Even though he was the corporal in command of Ron’s squad, he was friendly with his men and treated them more as his buddies than as his underlings.

“Karter,” Ron replied, saluting his superior. “It seems we are among those granted shore leave.”

“Indeed! You know… they say that Daxiturn has some nice brothels…”

Karter laughed loudly but Ron responded with a faint, awkward smile. “The admiral, I believe, gave strict orders that those on shore leave can only go to certain designated recreational facilities.”

“So what? Come on, you want to have some fun, don’t you? For the next months, we will be seeing only asteroid rocks and pirates, so let us enjoy ourselves now that we can.”

Ron sighed but nodded in agreement.

Karter patted him on the back. “Good. Stop constantly worrying! Since you’ve joined my squad, you’ve always been tense. No need for that, my man!”

The music was pumping loudly. The club was crowded with people dancing and drinking. William and Natasha headed to a corner, to sit on one of the few tables available. As soon as they sat, a man in a white formal suit rushed to serve them.

“Bring us two glasses of whiskey!” Natasha ordered and the waiter obliged. Their first drinks finished, a second round was ordered. A few minutes later the waiter came back with two drinks. Natasha gulped her drink down.

“Maybe this mission isn’t so bad…” William commented as he sipped his drink.

“It will be, unfortunately. The pirates in the Kairer field are not the ragtag bunch of bandits found in other parts of the system. They are relatively disciplined and well organized. All of pirate factions obey Prince Raoul Xensor, so we will be facing a unified front. The prince is charismatic, competent and has humiliated our military more than once.”

“Do we really have to talk about the campaign?” William complained as he gulped down his whiskey. “We came here to relax and forget about that staff.”

“Your father ordered me to instruct you in the art of war, so we will have to talk about it eventually. Besides, what else could we possible be talking about?”

“Well…. We could instead be talking about us.”

“Us?” Natasha scoffed, laughing a little. “There is no us. Not now and not in the future.”

William gave her his most charming smile as he moved closer. He touched her hand and looked her in the eyes. “Want to join me for a dance?”

Natasha pulled her hand away from him. “I am not much of a dancer.”

“You don’t have to be. Don’t tell me the grand admiral who is about to face an armada of pirates is afraid of a little dance?”

William led Natasha to the dance floor. The dance floor had been filled, mainly with couples but also a few Helian soldiers on shore leave. The music was going good, and it was loud. Natasha didn’t have the moves of the other dancers, but she found it easy to get into the music. William, being more experienced, was far more comfortable and confident in his moves.

After a few minutes of dancing, William slid his arm around Natasha’s waist and eased her into his embrace. His lips brushed against her temple as he took in her scent. He felt a shudder through her, and couldn’t contain his satisfied grin.

“Let me go,” she said, her voice barely audible over the loud music.

William smirked looking at her flushed cheeks but released her. “It seems you were wrong about us.”

“You wish!” Natasha defiantly scoffed. ‘I hope so…’ She at once left the dance floor and headed outside the club, wanting to end the night before doing something she could regret.

Ron and Karter were walking through a narrow, dirty alley, in one of the most disreputable districts of Daxiturn. They had managed to sneak there without their superiors finding out.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ron asked. “The admiral gave rather strict orders.”

“She doesn’t have to learn about it if we don’t tell her, or anyone else. Some fun won’t hurt. Don’t be such a killjoy.”

As soon as they reached the building, they saw an immaculately dressed man standing guard outside the door. Karter confidently greeted him, while Ron spotted an awkward smile. The man had a cold expression on his face and his voice was stern. “Costumers?”

Ron and Karter nodded.

“Don’t make any trouble, don’t hurt the girls and cash up front. Understood?”

The two soldiers nodded once more and the man led them inside. They sat on two red silk sofas and waited. A middle-aged blonde woman soon came, dressed in a long blue silk gown. “Gentlemen,” she smilingly said, “What is it you want?”

“My friend will be using an AI simulation,” Karter said. Before Ron could protest, Karter reminded him of his finances. “With the money you’ve got, you are lucky you can afford that.” He then turned again to the older woman. “As for me, a brunette girl. I would prefer a slim one.”

“Please wait here. I will be leading you to your rooms shortly. I am sure you will enjoy yourselves.”

Karter was naked and making love to a beautiful brunette woman with slender figure and pretty brown skin. Her name was Cleva, as he had learned from the bawd. Karter was sliding back and forth, slowly at first and then faster. His thrusts elicited sharp cries of pleasure from Cleva. Her nails were scratching his skin. Karter felt a sudden pain as Cleva’s fingernails slightly penetrated his back. He let out a moan. ‘This hurt. Kinky but hurt!’ he thought as he kept going deeper, ignoring the pain. It took a few minutes before he finally came and left the room, leaving Cleva lying alone on the silken bed.

Beep! A comlink device on the bedside table ringed.

Cleva grabbed the comlink and answered the call. “Simone, you were right. They did come here. Good job spotting them. I inserted a microchip on the back of one of them. Mission accomplished.”

“Good,” Simone replied. “Now we’ll be able to track down their movements. You’ve done a good job. The Prince will reward you richly.”

“You know I am not doing this for the money. I am doing it for you.”

“I haven’t forgotten about it. When the times come, we will be together.”

Cleva smiled, her smile innocent and bright. Her eyes became teary. She closed them and dreamed of the future, a future where she and Simone could be together.

The bald man in the blue guard’s uniform was in his late forties. A rather unremarkable individual with a bland and easily forgettable face, he knocked the door of the office of the richest CEO in the entire Helian system.

“Come in!” the CEO’s voice was heard and the man walked inside.

The office spotted floor-to-ceiling windows and a polished wooden floor. Hanging on the walls were priceless expressionist paintings. The CEO, Walden, was sitting behind his clean, slim, circular white desk.

“The professor has finally cracked, sir,” the guard reported.

Walden’s laugher echoed across the room. “At last! I want Professor Jay to continue his translation of the ancient text at once! We’ve got no time to waste.”

“I was also told to inform you that the Helian authorities took care of the project Epse.. Epsile…Epsilon, yes, project Epsilon’s complications.”

“It seems my luck has finally turned around. I want you to head to Office B-5 and tell Harkans to take care of the final details regarding the fallout of project Epsilon.” Walden handed the guard a round metallic device. “Give it to him.”

“I’ll do so at once, sir!”

The guard left the office and Walden could go back to reading the latest corporate reports. ‘Hope that Harkans won’t screw this up,’ he thought as he grabbed the data pad containing the latest reports. ‘Project Epsilon must disappear. For good.’