THE MULTIVERSAL CRIMINAL

Chapter 7: Observance

In a crowded street, the passersby smiled as they glanced at the male denitian peeping out of the corners, thinking he was afraid of the massive dog standing metres away. After all both of them were nearly the same height. Denitians were like dwarf elves from the human legends.

Yet, the spy felt solace in their mistake as he watched a woman close by. She was nearing the marble palace- a picturesque tourist destination in Zeve, the captal city of Densir.

The planet he was on was in the neighborhood of the Orion nebula, and the divine colours in the sky beckoned many photographers from across the galaxy to come and capture the perfect picture. One such photo had become a modern legend- where the sky displayed it's colours in full glory with the stars like glitters sprinkled over it, and the forests at the sides cupping the centre in a natural frame.

Orion Nebula as seen from Earth

He had been assigned to a contract, and by the looks of it, he was working for Lord Juvo, the infamous ex- lieutenant that had wreaked havoc on NCC8 a few galactic months ago. But Juvo had his reasons for his actions. And they had satisfied him. So, working for Juvo now gave him nothing but pride.

"You are receiving a call from your contractor," said a voice in his earpieces. Ugh, not now! Of all times, when his concentration was at its fullest did the call have to come. A small bit of frustration creeped its way into his body.

But as he watched now, he saw the woman now stood at the doorstep of the marble palace and had stopped for a conversation with somebody. It was a friendly chat, nothing serious. He kept his eyes on her and said, "Accept" softly, at the final stages of the ringing.

"How far did you get? Lord Juvo came to visit me, earlier today. He was asking for the item. I managed to make him understand that it'd take a bit more time," the voice said excitedly.

A cool breeze fluttered through the spy's jacket. He hitched it closer and replied, his gaze fixated on his target, "I'm following her. She's conversing with somebody at the moment. It's seems to be a casual conference, so I received your call. I managed to track her down early in the morning today. She's actually quite popular. A business icon of Densir."

"It's beyond me how you manage to track these people."

He smirked. "It's not unreasonable and is kinda obvious why I was selected for this job. I know. It's difficult to connect the dots. Not anyone can do that," he said proudly. "From the beginning I followed through her orations and her every move. Her sentiment, her actions- it all points out in just the right way. And I'm telling you, it's definitely not easy, when you have whole galaxies full of beings of whom probably many could be one of them. Thanks to my A.I friend, that task has been taken care of, for if suspicion arises, I can look into that person. Now, many targets must have slipped through because there must be more of them, but even tracking down one is immensely advantageous. I would see what I can do. For now I just need to observe her. I know the lord is waiting. I will be quick, don't worry."

At the other end, his dealer seemed to be relaxed hearing his words. "I have faith in you, Mockie. I know you won't fail him or me. Carry on with your work. Off I go to sleep!" He heard him chuckle as the call ended.

The woman had not moved. Neither had he. In the recesses of his mind, he planned to propose his girlfriend with gifts he could buy with the remuneration he'd receive by finishing the work at hand. She loved him, and so did he, but presenting himself with gifts to ask her hand at marriage would completely win her over. He smiled at just the thought. If he had the courage to turn her from his crush to his girlfriend, he must have the courage to turn her from his girlfriend to his wife.

He noticed the conversation was ending. She will go in now... He tapped his shoulder, and a small robot fly came out of the metallic box located near one of his collar blades He saw the woman go inside, and with her, the fly.

Now, Jill, his A.I friend would handle the rest. His work was done for now. He checked up on his family by calling, saying that he was still at work but would get home soon. Then to his surprise Deina, his significant other, called him. She was upset with him working late and finding little time for himself, and for her. But she was understanding. She was perfect. He kissed her goodbye and good night.

One could argue, why should he be there on the ground in the first place when the fly could pick up on the woman? The answer was- even with the advancements of technology, studying the target being physically at the spot was more thrilling and useful. Well, there was no logical explanation as to why, but organisms don't always rely on rationality. It was the classical way- how it had been for ages save the few centuries since the electronic revolution. Though he was born into a world of drones and flying cars, he preferred the physical presence better, and when he had the chance, he didn't care about the risk. Being a spy, he was observant and cautious, so there was little to none chance of anybody finding him out.

He hopped on his LAAV and sped home.

__________

Now finished with dinner and about to go to sleep, he turned his flex-tech on to see what the woman was doing.

Her name was Rissa. She was a human mutant, with genes of Gurgagian, that made her skin glow in a pink shade and added two extra pair of eyes at the back of her neck, which obviously kept close most of the time. She also had the speciality of sensing her surroundings in infra-red. Mutants were costly, and upon further research he had learnt that her father was a wealthy businessman too with her mother being a successful actress. Her father was Gurgagian.

She had returned to her room and was lying in her bed, when a call came. She sat up and placed the flex-tech on the ground. The projector showed a man dressed in a military outfit. "The line is secured?" he seemed to ask one of his fellow men and nodded when he found the answer to be positive. "The Council has reported about a girl who illegally traversed 'verses. The Gods are after her..."

Mockie's eyes flew open. He had been right. Damn right. But from the conversation, it seemed that Rissa was only a partner. It was the military man who was a member of the Council. The organisation which had little over a thousand participants and was very secretive and not very well known. But there were rumours that it was connected with the secondary Gods. The ones that enlightened countless races with gifts of basic knowledge.

What started the conversation was about a girl traversing 'verses? Did it mean that she had gone to another universe? The idea was mind-boggling to him and he had trouble believing that something like that could happen at all. But it coming from a member of the Council, a secretive organisation which might involve the secondary Gods, was not something to take lightly.

Lord Juvo sought the map, to reach this Council. There was a good chance that Rissa had it. But was it a digital copy? Or was it actually a physical page? Or was it something entirely different, for an effective disguise? There were many questions. But he had to find the answers to them. He had managed to get close. He had to retrieve the map, in whichever way necessary. The promised sum was too good to miss.

After he made sure Rissa was deep in her sleep, he entered commands into his flex-tech. The fly instantly changed its position from monitoring her, and soared to her drawers. Let's see what we find here... The night had just turned to be the part two of his expedition. Goodbye sleep, his voice echoed in his head in reluctance as he set forth to find something he had no idea of what to expect, for he didn't even know how it looked like.

Arms came out of the sides of the fly, and it pulled the drawer open, quietly.