Blink: Phantom (Book 3)

06

The file on the missing girl, Bryn Harvard, lay open like a grim challenge on the screen of Darien's data pad as he rode the ram-liner with Idas out through the dark, craggy plains of Alura. An ironic name, he thought, as his eyes drifted to look out of the ram-liner's view port. The planet could be described as many things, but 'alluring' was not one of them. Its twisting, grasping rock formations had been burnt into shape by long years of erosion and searing blasts from its blue-giant star as it rotated.

Well out on the periphery of human space, he'd seen immediately why their mysterious kidnappers had come here. When they'd landed the port 'authorities' hadn't even bothered to run the registration plate of their shuttle or check their ID passes. A bunch of bored, inattentive rent-a-cops, they barely qualified as a security detail.

It made him a little sick to see it.

That also left the trio with another problem. The communication between the various blips of human civilisation was sporadic at best. Frankly he was amazed that the missing person report had even reached Blink in the first place. Maybe that meant there was at least one person on this rock trying to do their job properly.

He drummed his fingers thoughtfully against the well-worn armrest of the seat. While he and Idas went out into the wastes to try and trace the girl, Uther had the unenviable task of confronting what passed for port-control on Alura. There had been no reports of the strange energy signature of their mystery ship, but that didn't mean somewhere buried in the automated logs of the planetary buoys they wouldn't find something. If that ship had stopped here, Uther would find out.

It took the better part of an hour for the ram-liner to reach the settlement where the girl's address was registered. Gratefully the two operatives dismounted from the cold, dank interior and stepped out into Alura's unwelcoming atmosphere. The terraforming process could only do so much, and Darien grimaced – even the air tasted burnt.

The buildings that made up Alura's settlements were squat, shovel-shaped bunkers, embedded deeply into the ground. Their dark metallic exteriors deflected the worst of the wind and the sun-blasts of the planet. The one good thing about it was that, owing to the nature of the planet's elements, each cluster of buildings had to be built in a rigid pattern, in arcs facing the horizon, and navigating around the settlement was simple.

Following the address on his console, Darien trudged through the twilit streets, keeping his head down and ignoring the smattering of other people that were out and about. It didn't take them long to locate the sin-black abode where Bryn Harvard had been registered. He walked up to the low, arched doorway and pinged the door-tone. Through the thick metal he heard the sound of scuffling feet and muffled voices. Then, with a hissing-groan the door slid open revealing a haggard looking woman.

"Yes?" she demanded.

"Is this the residence of Bryn Harvard?" he asked, trying to ignore her black eye.

Her expression darkened. "It was."

"My name is Darien – this is Idas. We just want to ask a couple of questions about your daughter's disappearance."

Her eyes narrowed and she didn't move from the mouth of the doorway. Darien wasn't surprised by her mistrust, given the state of this planet and the fact that her daughter had been taken away from her.

"We're navy operatives," he half-lied, passing over his ID card. She glared at it for a long moment.

"Who is it?" a thick, rough voice called suddenly from deeper inside.

"Some little policemen, asking about Bryn," she called back.

The thump of heavy footsteps answered her and a moment later an unshaven, overweight man appeared, pushing her to one side. His eyes were red-rimmed and even from a couple of feet away Darien could smell the alcohol on him. His face twisted with anger when he looked at them.