“If I’m forbidden to strike your head, I will strike your ankles until your head is close enough to accidentally get in the way.” Heaven.

On their knees around the coffee table, Ben, Trumo, and Aggi watched Affe pry the back of the watch loose as he explained. “The sampler was deliberately damaged. Some think that by doing so, you damage the tracker. Not so. Just as I thought, this is an F. A. F. Aggi dear, bring a light.”

Ben asked, “What’s an F. A. F?”

“I think,” said Affe, “one of the fs stands for frequency or feedback.” Aggi returned to kneel with a small light. Affe continued, “I’m pretty sure the a stands for amino acid. Most people don’t know that this kind of tracker can be reversed to track the last sample.”

Trumo asked, “Can you find her?”

“Oh yeah,” replied Affe. “Way too easy. Aggi, bring my thingy.”

Aggi jumped to her feet and was startled by Heaven’s presence. “Constable,” she hailed, then ran to fetch her satchel.

“What’s going on?” asked Heaven, curious.

Ben Jumped to his feet with a smile. “Heaven,” he said with more than evident delight. “Affe is going to find Cora.”

Aggi produced a small instrument with two leads. Affe placed one of the leads to one side of the F. A. F. while Aggi handed the light to Trumo and placed the other lead. Affe tapped a pad and smiled for Trumo. “There you are,” said he.

Heaven scanned the information into her wrist comm and passed it through local archives for coordinates. Worried, Trumo stood close to Heaven watching.

“Well?” asked Trumo.

Heaven replied, “I know where she is.”

“Let’s go,” said Trumo.

“You stay,” said Heaven in full authority. She turned and emptied the bag she had set on a recliner. “Guess I’ll get to use these.”

Wide eyes watched Heaven load charge packs into shiny hand pulsers. She had to smile at the admiration of Ben.

“Whoa!” exclaimed Ben, wholly impressed.

“You kids stay put,” said Heaven, tucking the weapons under her uniform belt. “I’ll be right back.”

Ben gaped as he followed her to the lift. The door slid shut; Heaven shook her head slowly. Ben seemed so young. The skid opened to her, and the engine purred as Heaven took off from the roof heading northeast. She knew the area well; there was a small cabin in the woods. She would be there in five minutes.

The force of the grav engine kicked up pine thistles and snow as Heaven’s craft fell into the clearing. She maneuvered the craft in a three-sixty, sweeping the woods for hidden sentries. Returning to face the humble cabin, Heaven saw two armed guards run through the door and take aim at her skid. She heard the pings of solid projectiles as she continued her spin. The door on the right side of the skid was opened as she came back around and fired twice. The guards fell.

Heaven surveyed her hand pulser with satisfaction. It was modeled after an old-style chrome .38 revolver. With the skid on the ground, Heaven replaced the pulser in her belt. She donned her borrowed coat and walked to the cabin. Inside, she found a young girl bound in a straight chair. Cora’s dark eyes were wide with fear.

Heaven approached. “Don’t be afraid,” she said. “I’m here to help. Trumo sent me.”

When Heaven walked Cora through the lift door, Trumo jumped to his feet. Brother and sister ran into each other's arms with joyous weeping. Trumo held Cora at arm's length to examine her; he saw her intact and unharmed. Trumo pressed his sister into his embrace, sniffing back tears to meet Heaven’s eyes.

Ben stood by Heaven’s side, it seemed to her, with pride. The twins hugged on the sofa feeling a personal closeness to the union of Trumo and Cora. Heaven was simply glad to help.

Heaven cleared her throat with a polite cough for attention. “When you two are done,” she said, “I’ll put you on a planet hopper to Pendragon, and Trumo, I’ll expect better from you.”

The jowly face of Police Chief Mack O’Leary sprang up from Perfekto’s wrist comm projector. The Chief was a no-nonsense administrator, and Perfekto could appreciate a character trait that played into his hands. As long as the Chief served his needs, Perfekto could easily manage a smile.

“Why are you making me wait?” demanded the Chief. The Chief’s voice rumbled with disapproval. “These damn aliens give me no peace.”

Perfekto smiled at the wavering image. “For that, make use of your contacts among the Judges. As for the mark, I placed the matter in the hands of a pawn. Since he has failed me, I will see to it personally. Give me an hour; I will have him for you dead or alive.”

Perfekto tapped off before the Chief could respond, and snapped his fingers. A goon jumped forward and awaited instructions. “Give me twelve men,” he said, staring ahead into his anger. “We’re heading out.”

His men ran to make ready, leaving Perfekto alone in the warehouse. Above his chair, the light in the high ceiling flickered once. With a nod to his thoughts, Perfekto stood and smoothed the material of his suit.

Perfekto sat in the back of an air-conditioned limo skid. Beside the driver, his top man occupied the front. The streets rolled by as his man turned from his wrist comm to report. The goon faced Perfekto.

“The men at the cabin didn’t check in,” said he. “I sent out a man. He found them dead and the girl missing.”

“That kid had us all fooled,” answered Perfekto. “Pass the word. Whoever brings me the toad gets a bonus.”

The goon turned and began issuing commands over his comm. Perfekto sat in the cool back nodding to himself. Suddenly, he slammed his fist into the door. “You fooled me,” he said to himself. “That will not happen a second time. Trumo the trickster. Enjoy your moment. It is about to end.”

The goon in front turned to report. “We have Nab and Turner. Our men have reached the apartment.”

“Good. Good,” said Perfekto. “I was too nice. I gave him a chance. When he sees what I do to his sister, I’ll be the one smiling.” He met the eyes of his man in the front seat, his plan expressed in a self-satisfied nod. “Kick it in,” said Perfekto.

The gate swung in with a clang, and twelve dark-suited men swarmed the plaza. People around the heated pool were gathered into a confused, frightened huddle, while men raced up the stairs to kick in doors. There were muffled screams as tenants were dragged from their homes.

Ben followed Heaven to the rail only to be summarily shoved back inside and have the door slammed in his face. Heaven saw the frightened people below and took note of the clamor on the lower tiers. Entering the apartment, she took Ben by the arm and walked him roughly to his room. He seemed confused.

“Look at me,” she demanded, shaking Ben, and staring intently into his eyes. “Lock yourself in your room and answer no voice but mine.”

Only when she heard the lock click did she race to her room. There, she took one hand pulser and ran to the railing to hide behind a solid column. She heard the innocent weep and beg. She heard the dark-suited men demand silence. The clamor from the lower tiers was closer. Heaven took a breath and exhaled slowly. Let your training be your wings. She took a quick peek around the column as a tall thin man strode in through the gate.

Hands clasped behind his back, Perfekto surveyed the effective work of his men. He walked a pace and stopped to look at the upper tiers. With a nod, he filled his lungs.

“Bring me Ben Shuller!” yelled Perfekto. “Minutes lost are lives cost.”

Heaven knew the yelling man was the leader. She knew the armed men had the advantage. There was but one way to diffuse the unfolding tragedy and swing the advantage in her direction. She turned, aimed, and made the shot. From the corner of her eye, as she returned to cover, she saw the thin-suited man fall. Immediately, the column face exploded in all directions. Pig blasters and projectile weapons rained destruction on the top tier. Heaven’s cover was quickly being chewed to shreds.

Dark-suited men appeared at the top of the stairs, one to the left and one to the right. Two quick shots took them down. There was a pause, and Heaven understood that the men below realized they had no leader.

Heaven called out, “Your leader is dead! The police are on the way!” She listened and heard silence. Tapping her wrist comm, Heaven made a priority connection with the APD.

Heaven looked at a curly-haired Detective whose card identified him as Naijik Arman. Various officers scoured the crime scene and took statements. She and Arman stood over the inert body of the crime lord. Arman pressed the corpse with the toe of a shiny shoe and speared Heaven with dark eyes.

“I'll need your weapon,” said Arman with a thick accent.

Taking the pulser with a field cloth, Arman placed it in a synth bag and passed it to a junior. He nodded toward Heaven's comm. As she held out her comm to be scanned, a white-haired Chief with bushy brows and wide jaws walked through the gate. The card that hung from his neck identified him as Mack O'Leary. He stood before Heaven with a scowl on his face. Looking at the corpse, the Chief gave it a perfunctory kick. He grunted satisfaction and trained his eyes on Heaven.

Heaven introduced herself. “I'm Constable Langley of the Royal Constabulary of Pendragon representing King Albert.”

O'Leary answered in a low rumbling voice. “Way out of your jurisdiction aren't you, missy?”

Heaven said in response, “I've filed the proper form.”

The Chief shot back. “I know who you are. I've denied your request. This will be handled under Ashpall PD code.” He called two juniors. “Don't let her out of your sight. I want her downtown.” He said over his shoulder as he turned to leave, “Bring Ben Shuller with her.”

Arman followed the Chief, leaving Heaven to stare into the blank eyes of officers who wanted nothing more than to get through the day.

“I'll need to go to my apartment,” said Heaven.

Red flags whipped in the gale of sudden alarm. The Chief should not have known that Ben was with her. The fact that he did made her suspicious. Consenting to her authority was a mere formality, a courtesy. His denial of her request made her thoughts race. A lackey tried to take Ben and failed. His boss tried to take Ben and failed. Heaven could not help but feel that the Chief was in on it. He would also fail.

The officers followed Heaven up the stairs. That gave her time to map out a rough plan to take down the officers and escape with Ben. There was no way she was simply going to walk into their hands. She opened her apartment door.

“Come in,” she said quietly. “I just need my coat.”

One of the officers took her arm at the bedroom door. As he held her back, the other officer opened the door and looked inside.

“Go ahead and look,” said Heaven.

With their attention on the room, Heaven struck immediately. Two precise blows below the mastoid dropped the officers where they stood. She placed her second pulser under her belt and called loudly for Ben. She took the packet of alien instructions and turned to find Ben standing over the fallen officers with wide eyes.

“Hurry!” snapped Heaven. “We have to leave.”