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Xion gestured that the two Riders follow him toward what seemed like a wall of rock. Kage studied it on approach. It seemed too well-defined, and the stones aligned almost too perfectly. ‘It’s artificial.’
‘Right, first time,’ Xion said drily. Then he walked right through the rock face.
‘Force field,’ Riv murmured. ‘Clever.’
‘A hidden entrance,’ Xion called from the other side. ‘Get yo asses in here. We hacked the field’s generator, and you can enter it at will.’
Kage and Riv stepped through. Once inside, it felt like they’d entered a hidden world, far from the dark, damp cave walls outside.
The hideaway was spacious and well-lit, with smooth surfaces and a high ceiling. It was also well-ventilated thanks to a top-shelf circulator churning fresh air.
Along two walls were all the amenities of a modern home, including a comfortable bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom built into the smooth surface. It was comfortable, with sturdy furnishings and soft lighting.
A third wall was filled with shelves covered in boxes, gear and ammunition.
A forensic team was swarming all over the room.
Kage whistled under his breath. ‘A bolthole complete with a weapons cache?’
Xion nodded curtly. ’Better believe it. And here is its owner.’
On the floor beside the bed was a figure. Slumped upright as if they’d been trying to escape the confines of death. The pale, cold face was unmistakable.
‘Ruben Rinnax, Esquire,’ Kage rasped. He felt immediately flooded with guilt. He’d been responsible for gunning down the man.
‘How did we find him?’ Riv asked.
Xion pointed out a thin, nervous-looking man seated at the far end of the space, sweating at the questioning of two of his security officers. ‘A medic, a koko head from a clinic in East Pikani at that, got the call out. Ruben promised to pay him well, so he agreed to come. ‘Cept he got too busy during the day and took hours to get here. When he finally did, the man was gone. He freaked out and called us in.’
‘Damn shame,’ Kage growled. ‘Couldn’t be helped. He was going to gun down Harlow otherwise.’
‘You did what you had to do, brother,’ Xion reassured him. ‘We’ll need an official statement logged from you, but it’s pretty clear you had no choice.’
Kage stared at the slumped body for a long moment. ‘Sad shame,’ he finally ground out before abruptly turning away.
‘My team is on the scene to collect and analyse any physical evidence that may be present. From fingerprints, DNA samples, bloodstains, and other trace evidence. They’ll carefully collect and document everything they find to preserve its integrity.’
‘We’ll need to catalogue all those weapons too,’ Riv said.
‘I can help,’ Kage offered
‘It’ll take a few days,’ Riv warned.
‘Needs to be done. We probably need to track all the gear and find out who and where they were purchased from. It’s quite the arsenal.’
‘Naam,’ Xion agreed. ‘You guys do that. After that, I’ll focus on all the other evidence here. Once it’s collected, we’ll take it back to our sec lab for further analysis. See if we can extract any useful information from it. Anything that can help us nail these Rinnaxkinais. Plus, rule out any foul play in Ruben’s death - but as I said, you’re in the clear, brother.’
‘Something else you should see,’ Xion continued. ‘Follow me.’
The Riders, led by their dark-skinned brother, walked to the cave’s far end, past the weapons cache and into what seemed to be a massive storage area. Where a fleet of lunar ground vehicles and a few armed flyers sat.
One of them looked very familiar.
‘That’s the bird that crashed into Harlow’s suite. Further proof, Ruben was our unwelcome guest the other night. See here?’ Kage said, pointing to the tail of the flyer. ‘That’s an inbuilt signal jammer console powerful enough to scramble any incoming transmissions and communications for a few klicks.’
The trio of Riders swarmed around the vehicle, examining it closely.
‘Can’t wait to pull it apart,’ Kage said, opening the craft’s doors and peering inside the cockpit.
