​Roger stood at the foot of the stairs dreading the next step. She was up there. Waiting. 

He slowly climbed the stairs, pausing on the landing to look out the large half-round window before continuing, anything to delay the inevitable. He paused again at the top of the stairs, scanning the portraits of his ancestors that lined the hall, illuminated by brass sconces. He always felt his elders gazed disapprovingly upon all who dared to dwell in their former glory. 

He proceeded down the hall, conscious of his shoes sinking into the thick carpet, as he headed for the carved mahogany door at the end of the hall.

He knocked and waited to enter until a female voice beckoned him in.

She sat behind a large oak desk framed by two computer monitors, a keyboard, and a large portrait of his grandfather above and behind her. She looked at home in the large office. 

Roger walked up the desk without so much as a glance around the ornate room. He didn't need to look. It had been his office until recently.

“Helen...”

“Roger.  Don’t start. The board voted that you're out.”  Helen stood and handed a paper to him.

 Roger read the final votes and minutes of the last board meeting. Tossing it on the desk, he pulled a of document from inside his jacket.

“This undoes that.” 

Snatching the papers from his hand, Helen read through them. Her face screwed up into a variety of shapes in the span of a couple of minutes. The glare she shot Roger was enough to kill.

“So you want to try to blackmail me?”

“No—only reminding you that you have a lot to lose too. If you force this, I’ll make sure the world knows how you arranged for our father’s death while you were on the other side of the world. I know the man you hired will talk if pushed. The Feds would love to get their hands on him.”

“You wouldn’t..?”

“No, I wouldn’t, but I can make it happen. Here’s the deal. You tell the board of directors that you’ve reconsidered, and after much discussion with me, we’ve come to a mutual understanding, and I will return as chairman of the board. We’ll continue to run the businesses together as we have right along. You will continue in your usual roles. However, you'll get a pay increase of, say, ten percent, which  should make having to work with me a little easier.”

 Helen glared at him, then at the papers he’d shown her. “All right. It's a deal, but we don’t talk or see each other outside of the office.”

“Oh, and I want my office back.” Roger turned and left the room.

He had no idea how his father died. He suspected that she might have had a hand in it but had no actual proof—until now. Pulling the tiny digital recorder from his pocket and played the file back. She had all but admitted to having their father killed. 

He smiled, time to put the memory card in his safe deposit box. Proof was his.

​The stone figures appeared overnight, looming over the farmland like sentinels. The farmer whose field the figures appeared in sent word to the nearest village that someone invaded his land. Word of the appearance of the stone figures spread quickly, and villagers from the surrounding countryside arrived to see the statues. 

Afraid, the elders of the villagers vowed to stay with the statures deeming them gods. Eza Clayman, an inspector with the Galactic Security Force, materialized along the edge of a field, watching the scene unfold. 

He waited. Predictably, the natives settled down for the night, and Clayman made his way to the statues of being careful not to wake anyone. It would be difficult to explain what he was doing here and harder yet to explain to the people that someone stole the statues they  now worshiped from a nearby planet. As a non-technological person, the Primary Protectorate Act prevented contact.

He inspected the stone artifacts and confirmed that they were the lost statues stolen from Allma. He contacted his ship to send a cargo carrier to begin loading the figures. As the tractor beam latched onto the last statue, an elder woke up and, seeing Clayman began to scream. His translator quickly interpreted what the native said. He had called him a god. That was unfortunate. 

 He attempted to calm the native down. But it only made him angry. He pulled his photon pistol set to stun and was about to quiet the elder when he heard a voice behind him. It was Lakeman, his green-skinned quarry. The elder fainted at the sight of the new creature who had materialized out of nowhere. Clayman pulled a small device from his belt and fired a restraining field around Lakeman.

His antennae waving wildly, Lakeman laughed. “You are good Clayman, not sure how you tracked me, but you got here before I could get back for my loot. They were too heavy for the little cruiser. Had to get a bigger ship.” 

“By now, my crew already has your ship in a tractor beam. You are not going anywhere.”

 “You got me, but you just violated the protectorate agreement. They’ve seen the statues and you. If you disappear without correcting this, you alter their timeline. You’re stuck here. You can’t leave.”

Clayman glanced at the last statute and sighed. As much as he hated it, Linkman was right. If he’d only been a little faster getting them and not awakened the elder, he’d be back on his ship with the one criminal he wanted more than any. As it was, he now stuck on this god-forsaken planet with an ugly stature only the people who built it could love.

He spoke into this com and told his crew to leave the last statue and transport Lakeman onboard. Then asked them to report his transgression to the High Command.

As Lakeman disappeared, he turned to look toward the gathered elders, now on their knees before him. Great, going to be a long wait before the First Contact team arrived and got him out of this mess. A very long wait.

​​Ray fled to his favorite coastal village to hide, but he won’t escape from me this time. He’d gotten away, but a little bird named Rita whispered in my ear and told me where I might find him.

And find him, I would. The coastal village was home to a long line of nefarious characters, and Ray was only the latest.

I head for the café that Carlos owned. While he ran a respectable cafe in the front, what went on in the back rooms was less than upstanding. I found Carlos sitting behind his favorite table in the far corner of the room. 

 I slid my revolver from its holster as I sat down across from him. He barely nodded at my arrival. “Ray and Laura ?”  

I ignored the shot of whiskey that appeared in front of me. I was an old regular, and the bartender knew my poison of choice. 

“Haven’t seen them in months.” Carlos was very good at looking innocent. He looked at my revolver now pointed at him. “You plan on using that?”

“Only if you’re stupid.”

Carlos grinned from ear to ear. “Then I shall attempt not to be stupid.” 

“Rita.” I prompted.

“Haven’t seen her in ages either.”

I knew better but didn’t question him. “What was your cut of the bank job?”

His eyes widened as he tried to look surprised. “My cut?”

“We both know very little goes on around here, without you knowing about it or having a cut of it.” I took a drink of whiskey.

“That was an unfortunate incident, which I had nothing to do with.” 

“Ray killed a guard and a bystander, and Laura was seen there too.”   

Carlos sipped his whisky. “So was another man, I hear.”

“Red is dead.”  I let it lay there as I also sipped my whiskey.

His eyebrows raised. “He tried to outdraw a leveled gun?”

“One too many times.” We both knew of Red’s obsession with his draw and speed. He was fast and pretty good, but it was known not to try to draw on a leveled gun. Red had managed to do it a couple of times, but he’d been lucky, and the other guy missed or misfired. “He’d thought he could do it against a shotgun.” 

 “Ray?” I reminded Carlos.

Carlos leaned back in his chair and shrugged. A movement from the curtain in the door behind him caught my attention.

“You looking for me?”  Ray appeared out of the back room, and my hand went to the revolver on the table. Ray grinned as Laura came out to stand next to him.

“Yeah, I’m looking for both of you.”

“Figured Rita would let you know where we came to hide.”

“That she did. Did you think you could escape me?”

“Nah, wasn’t trying to escape you. Just trying to hide from the honest lawmen.”

“What makes you think I’m not honest?”

Ray laughed. “Because you’re the one who shot the guard, not me.”

I moved my hand back from my revolver. “That was me, wasn’t it?”

Ray nodded and sat across from me. “You want your cut?”

“Why, yes, I do.”