“Yes. I am glad they are doing relatively well.”
“Of course, that still doesn’t excuse your actions, sir. We’ve had a hell of a time trying to coordinate appropriate punishment with the Xalanite government. You’re our first to come here illegally, and your position makes it a stickier situation than if you were a normal Xalanite citizen.”
He lowered his gaze. “I understand.”
“That being said,” the director continued, “we’re not kicking you off the planet. I don’t know what strings you pulled in the past few days, but your father went from ranting and raving and insisting we get you on the next transport to Xalan to negotiating for your paperwork to be pushed through ASAP.”
N’kal and I exchanged surprised glances. Had Killaria managed to talk his dad into agreeing for him to stay?
Director Hall extended her hand to N’kal again. “Congratulations, Prince N’kal of Xalan, on your visa being approved, and allow me to officially welcome you to planet Earth.”
It all sounded too good to be true. How could they get his visa through that fast, even considering who his dad was?
“Ma’am,” I said, “not that I’m complaining, but why the sudden about-face?”
Her lips pressed into a thin line, and I knew then that there was more to it. “Yes. About that.” She cleared her throat. “There is a stipulation. While you’re here, your highness, you’ll be relegated to staying on the intake center grounds, and you’re to have an AARO guard at all times. We’re aware of the attack by Detective Millwood’s former partner, and your father was not willing to let you roam the Earth without some sort of protection. No offense to you, Detective. You’ve done an excellent job of watching over Prince N’kal, but his father insisted.”
I guess I earned that. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard from the CPD on how deep a hole I’ve dug for myself.”
“Pretty deep. Your suspension still stands, indefinitely for the moment, and without pay, I’m afraid. However, I have an offer for you.” She winked and pushed a manila folder across the desk to me. “It seems the AARO is short-handed these days, and it would take too long to requisition more agents from otherdepartments. As such, we find ourselves in need of a temporary agent that we can hire for protection detail.”
Something about this still wasn’t adding up. “Ma’am, I am more than happy to take that assignment, but aren’t you worried about the risk of keeping N’kal here? I mean, by all appearances, it was a Xalanite who hired Jim. Shouldn’t we be keeping him separated from other Xalanites until we know who the culprit was?”
“You have a point, but we’ve already considered that. We think that having a seasoned detective as his guard allows us to both keep the prince safe while simultaneously investigating the incident from the inside, so to speak.” She tapped the file, which I opened. I scanned through the first couple of pages while she continued.
“Since most of the Xalanites authorized to be on Earth stay here for the first few weeks—quarantine, travel arrangements,et cetera—the list of potential assassins and the list of residents overlaps quite a bit. As I’m sure you discovered, it’s hard to hide a Xalanite on Earth. There aren’t many places you can take someone from Xalan where they won’t be noticed right off. Kudos to you, by the way, for your ingenuity. I certainly wouldn’t have been that creative in finding a place, and right out in the open, too.” She chuckled and shook her head.
“Well, you know, when in Rome and all that,” I replied. “But thank you.”
From what Director Hall and the Xalanite authorities had been able to piece together, there were only a few suspects that stood out as having both the means and opportunity to hire Jim with the quantity ofkrinand other goods he’d been given. Coming to Earth was new enough that it still cost a pretty Xalanite penny to arrange, so the ones who could afford it were few and far between. As such, most of them on this side of the planet had blown their savings to get here. Not too many had theresources to get to Earthandhire an Earth cop to kill N’kal, and even fewer would have had the connections in place to hire Jim so quickly.
One such suspect had been on Earth for several months already, making daily monitored trips to nearby Rochester and other surrounding cities, ostensibly to visit the local sights. To Director Hall’s knowledge, the suspect—a Xalanite diplomat named B’ming who had recently inherited a large sum of money—had never slipped his detail, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been able to make the necessary arrangements to funnelkrinthrough secret Earth contacts. His newfound wealth, plus his status on Xalan as a former military rival of N’kal’s father during the recent uprising, made him a prime target for scrutiny.
The other two main suspects were wealthy, high-profile Xalanites, too, though they hadn’t been on Earth quite as long as B’ming. Ty’shal was a retired general in the Xalanite army, outwardly loyal to N’kal’s father but high-ranking enough to look into further, and the third, Giilan, had earned his trip to Earth through shrewd business practices on Xalan. Not necessarily an immediate political threat, but his wealth certainly gave him broader access to things on Earth through sheer buying power, thus casting a spotlight on his activity.
One thing that I didn’t like about the list of suspects was the lack of females. Sure, the Xalanite culture didn’t lend itself to wealthy, independent women, but that didn’t mean such women didn’t exist.
Only a handful of Xalanite women had even made the trip to Earth so far, and even fewer were here alone. N’kal had explained it as a lack of desire on the part of Xalanite females for interstellar adventure, but I immediately made a mental note to ask Director Hall for more intel on our current Xalanitefemme fatales. My gut screamed at me that I shouldn’t discountanyone based on gender alone, and I didn’t want to overlook any potential threats.
I certainly had my hands full with this new job at the AARO. Just because I was dating my charge—yet again—didn’t mean it was going to be all fun and games. I had to prepare for any potential danger and act accordingly.
I wasn’t going to let N’kal end up like Rick.
Never again.
Chapter 19
N’kal
My delight in having Timber assigned to my case was dampened by her somber mood as she accepted the position. When we arrived at our cabin and finally had a moment alone, her request to receive a “crash course” on Xalanite politics confused me. I did not want to experience another motor vehicle accident, and I said as much.
Timber groaned and sat on the bed after giving the cabin a thorough check for devices that could hear our conversation.
“No, N’kal, not like a literal crash. Sorry. I should have said I need you to give me the Cliff’s no—wait. No. I should have said I need you to explain it quickly and succinctly. Is that specific enough?”
Oh! She needed information. “Yes. I understand now.”
“Good. So, whenever you’re ready. Let me have it.”
