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Once home, I draw up my list of known suspects. First, we have Prelonisha, the crew member on the cargo ship who is believed to have smuggled the boral crystals aboard. Next, we have Norifen, the young man who made that inadvertent remark in Dorinor’s body art shop. He is a medical student, working at a clinic in the hilly quarter of the city. Both he and Prelonisha have been closely watched, but so far their activities have appeared to be wholly innocent.
Then, we come to Dresishan, the person with the deeply malicious energy that Melistor sucked out. Before his death, he was a doctor, working in the same clinic as Norifen, which is why he was on my list of people to scan.
And now, we have this new suspect, the body artist who has set up shop in the hilly quarter. The one thing that links Norifen, Dresishan and this new individual is their location. It is a loose connection, granted, as thousands of Krovatians live in that quarter. But it is a lead, no matter how small.
I check my communicator as a new message arrives from Denishar. In it, he informs me that the body artist has been named and located. He is Leristor and his body art shop is in the arcade on the southern reaches of the hilly quarter. I take out my boral crystals and light one up on the incense burner. Closing my eyes, I intone a prayer to Taya and enter into a trance. I let my mind wander to the location of his shop and call out his name. It does not take long to locate him. I focus all my energy on him, reading his aura. As I suspected, his aura is suspiciously perfect, with no hint of evil or negative thoughts. Another person in league with our other suspects. With a sigh, I come out of the trance and send a quick message to Denishar confirming the results of my scan on Leristor. He answers back immediately.
Denishar:I will send out instructions to have him watched and make a list of all his known associates. Scanning them is your top priority.
Me:Melistor and I will work on this just as soon as we receive the list of names.
Denishar:Good. I sense we are close to uncovering the nature of this plot.
Me:I sense that too. I hope we can stop them before they succeed in whatever they are planning.
Denishar:May Taya hear our prayers. Please keep me informed of your progress.
Me:Of course.
While I await Melistor’s arrival, I continue scanning the long list of people who have associated with our first three main suspects, but find nothing of note. At midday, right on time, I go to the front atrium of my house to greet my successor and his family. I have asked Merostena to be there too, so she can help Melistor’s drashas and children settle in for their prolonged stay here.
“Melistor, it is good to see you again, and your family too. Come in.”
I press my hand to his chest and he returns the gesture, then we both bow. “This is Merostena,” I say, indicating my soon to be ex-drasha. “She will help you all settle in. In the meantime, work is pressing. Melistor, will you follow me?”
“Of course.”
I guide him out to the temple where I like to do my trances. As we walk, I fill him in on the latest developments. He listens earnestly, then remarks, “The fact that three of our suspects seem to be located in the hilly quarter strikes me as significant.”
“Yes, it is something we must consider.”
“My geography of the area is not detailed. Is there anything of note there, perhaps something to do with our planet’s security, that would explain why our suspects are concentrated in this one area?”
“I have had those very thoughts and have pulled up a large map of the area for us to scrutinize.”
By now, we have reached the temple. We both remove our sandals and walk in, bowing in respect to Taya’s shrine. I invite him to sit in my thinking nook, a cushioned area at the back of the temple. Once comfortable, I tap my communicator to display a map of the hilly quarter. I point to the south part. “Here is where Leristor has set up his body art shop, in this arcade.” I move my cursor to a location north east of the arcade. “Here is the clinic where Norifen currently and Dresishan used to work.” I point to the west of the quarter. “This is mainly a residential area.”
“And what is this?” Melistor has identified a large building in the north east end of the quarter.
“This is the command center which monitors activity around our planet and manages the force field which shields us. They authenticate ships that request entry and lower the shield for them.”
Melistor’s tail starts wagging, betraying his excitement.
“You are thinking what I am thinking,” I say.
“Anyone wishing to harm our planet would want to bring down that command center.”
“Yes, but security is very tight. The airspace above it is protected by an internal force field, so no drones can land there. And the perimeter is highly secure too.”
“Nevertheless, this must be an area of focus for our attention. Could we perhaps begin a scan of all personnel working at the center?”
“I will request the information from Denishar. I am not sure whether this enquiry will bear fruit though, as all personnel of high security areas are thoroughly vetted and scanned by me on their employment. I would have noted anything unusual in my logs.”
“What if these people were ‘turned’ after their employment? How often are they re-scanned?”
“After their initial employment check, personnel are re-scanned every two sun rotations.”
