Masks XXVIII: Old School

by

Rodford Edmiston

Part Six

The Monday morning briefing at the Detroit office of the Bureau of Special Resources was always interesting. This one was especially so. Only partly due to having two special guest speakers.

"According to analysis of the evidence - including the power company's security video - from the shooting at the substation, the shooter used a Colt Monitor," said the Detroit Police Lieutenant. "This was the civilian version of the original BAR. Don't know where the shooter got it. It's chambered in .30-'06, and has a 20-round detachable box magazine. All of which fits the evidence from the scene. That's an actual light machine gun, firing a powerful cartridge, and makes modern assault rifles look like pop guns."

"No wonder it sounded so loud," said Vic, nodding slowly. "That's another old gun, too. Where are they getting these?!"

"Could be a cache someone found or remembered," said Drake, with a shrug. "More likely, they were among the items from the FBI property room which went missing. Keep in mind that the same vault was also used to store any weapon the local FBI office was issued but didn't use often. We can't be sure, since the hand-written records are unreadable in some places and in others they used names or terms which aren't standard. Wherever whoever is behind these shootings is getting them, those old guns are almost impossible to trace. Even the factories can only at most tell us what store they were sold to, and that was often over ninety years ago for things like the Monitor. The FBI bought several Colt Monitors in the Thirties, so this could easily be one of them. Weirdly, the two guns we know the most about in these crimes are both collectors' items and worth a lot of money. Which probably means that both shootings were personal, and not mercenary."

The next guy up was also from the city's first responders, but a different branch. He was also less verbose.

"Someone stole an ambulance," said the Fire Marshal.

"They what?!" said Vic.

"Yeah," said the Fire Marshal, with a nod and a sigh. "An EMT ambulance, to be specific. No matter how many times we tell people they don't carry much in the way of narcotics, hopeful addicts believe they're rolling pharmacies. So be on the lookout for an abandoned ambulance. It'll probably be in an unlikely place, since it hasn't already been found. It was probably trashed by the thieves when they couldn't find what they wanted inside.

"Anyway, we're alerting all law enforcement agencies in this area."

"In other news," said Drake, after the Fire Marshal sat again, "the Supreme Court of the United States has upheld the lower court ruling that the use of super detectors without a warrant or defensible probable cause is a violation of the 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure."

"That's good news," said Cal, before Vic could comment. "Should prevent a bunch of false positives. I mean, people being arrested or suspected just because they get a positive reading."

"Hopefully. Don't count on this ruling to stop the abuses, though. Keep an eye out for violations and report them to me. I'll make sure they get forwarded to the right people."

Vic wondered if Drake had mentioned this item at this time so the Lieutenant couldn't later deny being told about it, but said nothing.

* * *

That afternoon, in the building's break room, Cal was echoing Vic's complaints about the transportation problem of getting around Detroit on missions. He didn't understand why "antigravity" vehicles weren't more common than helicopters.

"For one thing, a helicopter can autorotate to generate lift and land safely if it has an engine failure," said Vic, who had not only heard about this from Tricorne but even had it covered in courses at college. "A direct-lift vehicle, like a rocket or an apergy pod, will just drop without power. Which is why most of the pods have two power generating units and many have three. As well as two or three lift modules."

"You'd think someone else would have practical fusion besides Dr. Device. It can't be that hard. I mean, Ike Kenniman figured out fusion by studying rocks from space," said Cal.

"That's a myth, actually," said Vic. She had also heard this from both sources. "The monoliths get their energy from catalytic fusion of the hydrogen in water, yeah, but they release neutrons in the process. Many of the survivors of the initial infestation got radiation poisoning; some even died from it, and not the silicon depletion. Ike Kenniman's process is aneutronic."

"Uh..." said Cal, looking blank.

"That means it doesn't induce radiation. So it's clean and safe.

"Also, the Lunies have fusion generators. They just focus on big ones. Ike pretty much has a monopoly on small ones. For a very good reason. It's hard to do."

"Back to work, people!" shouted Drake, as he entered the break room they shared with some of the other agencies in the federal building.

Several federal employees not under him jumped up and left quickly. However, those present who were under him stayed where they were, leaving the break room to just those three from Special Resources. Though Cal and Vic looked at Drake.

"We have another five minutes," said Cal, who had seen the grin on his boss' face and knew he was joking.

"All the more reason to hurry."

Belying his own words, Arnold Drake sat with his two employees.

"Anything good in the vending machine today?"

"I bring my snacks from home," said Vic, holding up the remains of a ham sandwich. "Had to use the refrigerator for this, or the mayonnaise would spoil."

Well, she did count as a super taster.

"Ditto," said Cal, holding up a bag of sliced carrots. "Need cold to keep 'em crisp."

"I would have healthy people working for me," said Drake, still grinning.

In the end he had just a cup of coffee. He also made small talk for nearly ten minutes, actually running the pair over the official end of their break time. Neither complained. Finally, foamed polystyrene cup empty, he pushed back from the table.

"Well, I guess we all three really should get back to work. There's a lot to be done, and not just because there's still some cleanup from the storm left to do. The Detroit Police told me, just after lunch in an official call, that they are expecting a data dump on the Kubiac crime family, including what Kostinos has done with them over the past few decades. So, we need to clear our figurative plates and get ready for action. Most likely first thing tomorrow."

* * *

Michelle did not like hearing this, after Vic got home that evening - since it likely meant even more late nights for her wife - but took it gamely. Indeed, she was actually curious about something else involving local criminal activity.

"Have they found the van, yet?" said Michelle, concerned. "The missing ambulance, I mean..."

"Not yet," Vic replied. "Like the Fire Chief told us, since it hasn't already been found it's probably well hidden."

"How did someone steal an ambulance, anyway?"

"Both EMTs went inside on a call, leaving the ambulance unattended. The engine was off, the cab was locked, one of them had the keys and they were in a supposedly low-crime neighborhood. Somebody got the door open and the engine running and just drove it away. Probably with help, to close the rear doors and reduce the amount of time needed."

"Wow. Was it a legit call?"

Vic looked startled.

"You know, he didn't mention that. It would figure if it wasn't, though. Makes a lot more sense that a theft like that would be planned out and set up than that it would be just an impulse crime. I'll bring that up with my boss tomorrow morning."

* * *

There was a meeting a day and a half later, in the office of the relatively new Commissioner of Police for Detroit. Captain Anders - head of the Detroit SWAT - was there because one of his people was there, though waiting outside the office. Having seen who that was, Anders had a very bad feeling about the outcome of the meeting.

"Did you know that Martin Harmody contacted us, saying he had inside info on Conrad Kostinos and the Kubiac crime family?" said the the Commissioner.

"Yeah," said Captain Anders, warily. "SWAT - that is, I was told that in confidence, in person by Lieutenant Danville, and I didn't spread it around. I was told in case we had to rescue him. So I could be prepared."

"Well, he - Harmody - was found in an alley this morning. With a thirty-eight caliber bullet in his upper back. Fired at a distance from something with a short barrel. Perp probably emptied his revolver trying to hit a running man at a distance with a snubby, and only got him once instead of making multiple hits. However, that turned out to be enough. He was barely alive when he was found and died before the ambulance could get there. We're still looking for the other bullets."

"Damn."

"Yeah. We immediately got a warrant for his place but the first officers on the scene say that his computer is missing."

"Damn," Captain Anders repeated.

"As I noted, he was still alive when he was found, and tried to tell the man who found him where the files were."

"Who found him?" Captain Anders already had a pretty good idea, considering who was there with him. Though that man had been left to wait outside the office while his boss was briefed first.

"Magrum," said the Commissioner, reluctantly.

"That figures. The SWAT team he's on was responding to a report of shots fired. Magrum was supposed to use the fire escape to get to high ground. Now I know why he never got there."

Captain Anders scowled.

"Not that he told me..." Anders muttered.

"Great," muttered the Commissioner, in turn.

"What does he say about the matter?" said Captain Anders.

The Commissioner's main assistant, Lieutenant Harvey Danville, also present for the meeting, was the one who replied, looking at a small notebook.

"Well, when asked, he said that Harmody's last words were 'It's on the dark side of the Moon.' As noted, though, we had to ask him if Harmody said anything. Getting the guy's full statement took persistence. He just didn't think giving a report about the matter was important, since he - Magrum - didn't shoot him."

"Did you ask the Lunies about that?"

"Yeah. They said 'When?'"

"What?!" said Captain Anders.

"No, 'When?' The guy I spoke to explained that the part of the Moon which faces the Sun changes with the Moon's rotation. That it has days, just like the Earth, only longer, since it rotates with respect to the Sun about every 29 days. So, when was it dark on which part of the Moon?"

"When Harmody died?" guessed Captain Anders.

"Could be, but that still leaves a huge area facing away from the Sun. You know; in the dark. The Moon has a huge amount of surface area, most of it still unexplored. Which leaves unanswered how Harmody got the data there and how the Lunies didn't notice. Most likely he didn't mean what he said literally, but what did he mean?!

"So we have a puzzle to figure out," said the Commissioner of Police. "I just hope there's more to it than what I've already heard, or we may never get the information."

He sighed, and pushed a button on his intercom.

"Send Magrum in."

The sharpshooter was in his dress uniform, and he saluted the Commissioner smartly.

"I want you to tell me exactly what Harmody said to you. That is, in that alley, as he was dying."

"Well, he was pretty weak," said Magrum, confidently. "However, after a couple of attempts he clearly said 'It's on the dark side of the Moon.' Then he repeated it. Then he died."

"You're sure those were his exact words."

"That's exactly what he said," said Magrum, nodding. "'It's on the dark side of the moon.' Twice."

"He didn't say anything else?"

"No, sir. Nothing else."

"What about those attempts before he actually spoke?"

"He didn't make any sounds. Just tried to."

"Looks like we have to do this the hard way," said the Commissioner, with a sigh. "Okay, you two are dismissed."

After Magrum and his boss left, the Commissioner turned to Lieutenant Danville.

"I do not need problems like this so early in this job. Breaking this crime syndicate would make my career; letting this slip through my fingers could make my tenure in this office one of the shortest in the history of Detroit."

He jabbed a finger at his assistant.

"I want you, personally, to supervise tearing Harmody's place apart. If he thought it was important enough to try and tell us where the data was with his last words, he must have made a copy and left it somewhere. Talk to his friends, check his safe deposit boxes, have someone watch in case he mailed it to himself. You know the drill."

"Yes, Chief," said Lieutenant Danville. "I'll go straight to my office, organize the search, and get over there myself as soon as I do all that. There's already uniforms there, standing guard."