slammed the door shut.
Then she ran in front of the vehicle to the side door. She put her palm on the entrance, and the doors slid open. She stepped into the school and the doors closed behind her.
He sat there for a minute, feeling a little stunned. Of course, he always felt a little stunned at this parenting stuff. It seemed so easy from the outside and from the inside, it was fraught with tiny but important decisions.
On this day, he made his daughter happy and he got her to school. He supposed it couldn’t get better than that.
He sighed and headed out of the parking area. He wasn’t sure what he’d do today either. He hated Anniversary Day as well, but for different reasons. He wasn’t a celebration kinda guy. Not that this was a celebration, exactly. It was more of an acknowledgement.
But still, it wasn’t a day he enjoyed.
He would just have to get through it.
Like everyone else.
Eleven
“He’s what?” Noelle DeRicci, Chief of Security for the United Domes of the Moon, sank into the chair behind her desk. The chair, designed to accommodate her form no matter how she was sitting, shifted slightly and she wanted to growl at it.
She wanted to growl at everything.
Even her beautifully designed office, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, its comfortable chairs, its green plants at strategic places, failed to calm her.
Or maybe she expected too much, particularly, when her assistant, Rudra Popova, stood next to the desk, threading her fingers together as if she could pull them out of their sockets.
“Mayor Soseki’s dead, sir.” Popova swallowed hard. Her normally impassive features were drawn. Her long black hair, usually as smooth as water, was mussed, and her eyes were red.
She’d known Arek Soseki. They both had.
DeRicci had known him better. She had countless meetings with him since, as mayor, he was the head of Armstrong Dome. He’d often butted heads with the governor-general of the United Domes. He believed the mayors should have more power regulating DeRicci, even though she worked for the United Domes.
DeRicci couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the word “dead” combined with “Soseki.” Arek was a dynamic man, not the kind who keeled over in early middle age.
“What happened?” DeRicci asked softly. She’d had her external links off, leaving only the emergency links and the contact information for people who worked with her directly.
Popova wiped the bottom of her left eye. A tear. Even the great Popova—the calmest woman on the Moon—had emotions.
DeRicci felt faintly surprised at that.
“They don’t know,” Popova said. “He seemed fine, and then he froze and collapsed. His last physical came out fine. He had no health problems, nothing that would have caused this. They’re wondering if it was murder.”
“Wondering,” DeRicci repeated. “It would be nice to know.”
Because if it was murder, she had an entire set of protocols she had to follow. If it was just a death ( just a death; what a thought), she had another.
She had to be able to function right now. She didn’t have the luxury of tears.
“I’ll find out if he died of natural causes, sir,” Popova said, wiping at the other eye as if it annoyed her.
DeRicci wondered why Popova was so broken up about the mayor. She’d been through other high-profile deaths before.
“Who is investigating this thing?” DeRicci asked.
“I don’t know, sir,” Popova said.
“I want some answers, Rudra, right now. I want the place where he died blocked off immediately—the wider the perimeter the better. I want one of our investigators down there—the best one we have—and I want someone from the police department, someone good, there as well.”
“Detective Nyquist?” Popova asked.
DeRicci stiffened. Everyone knew she and Nyquist were involved, but she tried to keep that part of her life personal.
“I don’t tell the police department how to run their business,” she said. “Except for
Then she ran in front of the vehicle to the side door. She put her palm on the entrance, and the doors slid open. She stepped into the school and the doors closed behind her.
He sat there for a minute, feeling a little stunned. Of course, he always felt a little stunned at this parenting stuff. It seemed so easy from the outside and from the inside, it was fraught with tiny but important decisions.
On this day, he made his daughter happy and he got her to school. He supposed it couldn’t get better than that.
He sighed and headed out of the parking area. He wasn’t sure what he’d do today either. He hated Anniversary Day as well, but for different reasons. He wasn’t a celebration kinda guy. Not that this was a celebration, exactly. It was more of an acknowledgement.
But still, it wasn’t a day he enjoyed.
He would just have to get through it.
Like everyone else.
Eleven
“He’s what?” Noelle DeRicci, Chief of Security for the United Domes of the Moon, sank into the chair behind her desk. The chair, designed to accommodate her form no matter how she was sitting, shifted slightly and she wanted to growl at it.
She wanted to growl at everything.
Even her beautifully designed office, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, its comfortable chairs, its green plants at strategic places, failed to calm her.
Or maybe she expected too much, particularly, when her assistant, Rudra Popova, stood next to the desk, threading her fingers together as if she could pull them out of their sockets.
“Mayor Soseki’s dead, sir.” Popova swallowed hard. Her normally impassive features were drawn. Her long black hair, usually as smooth as water, was mussed, and her eyes were red.
She’d known Arek Soseki. They both had.
DeRicci had known him better. She had countless meetings with him since, as mayor, he was the head of Armstrong Dome. He’d often butted heads with the governor-general of the United Domes. He believed the mayors should have more power regulating DeRicci, even though she worked for the United Domes.
DeRicci couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the word “dead” combined with “Soseki.” Arek was a dynamic man, not the kind who keeled over in early middle age.
“What happened?” DeRicci asked softly. She’d had her external links off, leaving only the emergency links and the contact information for people who worked with her directly.
Popova wiped the bottom of her left eye. A tear. Even the great Popova—the calmest woman on the Moon—had emotions.
DeRicci felt faintly surprised at that.
“They don’t know,” Popova said. “He seemed fine, and then he froze and collapsed. His last physical came out fine. He had no health problems, nothing that would have caused this. They’re wondering if it was murder.”
“Wondering,” DeRicci repeated. “It would be nice to know.”
Because if it was murder, she had an entire set of protocols she had to follow. If it was just a death ( just a death; what a thought), she had another.
She had to be able to function right now. She didn’t have the luxury of tears.
“I’ll find out if he died of natural causes, sir,” Popova said, wiping at the other eye as if it annoyed her.
DeRicci wondered why Popova was so broken up about the mayor. She’d been through other high-profile deaths before.
“Who is investigating this thing?” DeRicci asked.
“I don’t know, sir,” Popova said.
“I want some answers, Rudra, right now. I want the place where he died blocked off immediately—the wider the perimeter the better. I want one of our investigators down there—the best one we have—and I want someone from the police department, someone good, there as well.”
“Detective Nyquist?” Popova asked.
DeRicci stiffened. Everyone knew she and Nyquist were involved, but she tried to keep that part of her life personal.
“I don’t tell the police department how to run their business,” she said. “Except for
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