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The man standing before Maret Kovalis was certainly odd. He wore the hooded robes of a desert nomad, yet he did not bear their tattooed markings. He also had hair on his face; no doubt a product of genetic degradation or - worse - a side effect of some tainted purification drugs he'd been sold. Poor soul. He had given his name as Hakim, the archaic name for a physician, so perhaps he had been a healer in his clan before he had been outcast - as Cufic generally were by the nomads. 'So, Hakim, what do you know about crystals?' Kovalis asked. 'I know that you have found… have found crystals on the heads of those killed by… by what you call Nemo.' Hakim spoke as if he had difficulty remembering. 'How do you know this information?' 'I am not certain, Si'id,' Hakim replied. 'My memory is diminished and a man is the sum of his memories, you know.' 'Are you a seer?' asked Kovalis. He didn't believe in such things, but it served his purpose to humour the poor Cufic. 'I think I must be,' Hakim replied. 'If you cannot remember where you learnt this information, you place me in an awkward position,' Kovalis explained. 'You see, only myself, a select few Surti Officers, the Buliseye MDs and my superior are aware of the crystals. The logical conclusion is that the only other person to know about them would be the killer.' The Buliseye let the sentence sink in, but Hakim did not look concerned. 'Yes, of course. Once you logically remove all the parts of a mystery that can be explained, whatever remains, no matter how implausible, must be the truth. All I can tell you is that I am not the killer, Si'id,' Hakim said. 'So why did you come forward. Surely you guessed that this information would implicate you?' 'I know that the killer does not view its actions as murder.' Hakim said, fixing Kovalis with a steady gaze. 'The crystal particles are displaced by the energy it uses to feed.' 'Do you claim to have "seen" these things in your mind?' 'Possible telepathic contact,' replied Hakim, straightening up, almost becoming another person. 'Residual Artron energy. I am not sure which. Can I view the body?' The question took Kovalis unprepared. He stared at the Cufic and grimaced. 'Now you want to see the body?' he snorted. 'I understand your skepticism, Commander Kovalis. Really, I do. But I must examine the body. It's the only way we can find out what's behind these mysterious murders of yours.' Kovalis examined the man standing opposite the desk. His character and bearing seemed to have changed in the space of a few seconds. A moment ago he had been meek and submissive. Now he was driven and confident. It was quite possible that this Hakim was Nemo. He was clearly deranged. Yet some gut feeling told Kovalis that he wasn't the murderer. He shrugged. 'So be it,' he said. Everything in the morgue was clean and cool. Sterility and practicality embodied in clinical steel. Metal examination tables were bolted to the ceramic floor and gleaming implements rested in white plastic dishes. Operating lamps hung over the tables and polished hatches lined two of the four walls Kovalis' had ordered the duty MD to open the one containing the latest victim. The MD had done so and then retreated, hovering nearby, curious as to these odd goings-on. Hakim was alternating his attention between the head of the corpse and the phial containing the minute amounts of crystals found there. He seemed agitated. 'Can you "see" anything?' Kovalis asked. 'These…' Hakim shook the container, staring intently at its contents. The tiny yellowy brown crystals sparkled in the bright operating lights. '... are familiar.' Kovalis snorted. 'Not to anyone else,' said the MD, stepping forward. 'All chemical analyses have proved inconclusive. They are quartz-like, but no one has ever come across them before.' 'Neither have I, but they are like something I have encountered.' Hakim seemed lost in thought for a second and then looked up with a broad smile. 'Do you have an electroencephalograph?' The pathologist looked at Kovalis, who gave his ascent. The MD made to move to the far side of the morgue, but Hakim stopped him. 'I'll need extension leads with crocodile clips and a circuit display screen and is it all right if I use these?' Hakim asked, holding up a tray of instruments. 'What do you intend?' asked Kovalis as the MD busied himself with the medical shopping list. 'Latent neural impressions can sometimes be retrieved from the eyes of the dead,' muttered the hairy Cufic. 'But I'll probably have to link in my own cerebral cortex.' Kovalis just looked at Hakim as he gently popped one of the female's eyes into a dish. The MD returned with the equipment on a trolley. Hakim began to wire up the female's eye to the machine. Then, stooping out of his hood, the bearded stranger connected nodes to either side of his head and nodded to the pathologist. 'Switch on.' He said. As the MD powered the device, Hakim's face contorted in agony and his mouth gaped in a silent scream. Gradually his mouth closed and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Slowly, a fuzzy picture appeared on the display screen. Kovalis recognised it instantly as the alley in which the corpse had been found. Suddenly the image panned up and the MD gasped. Hanging in the air was a rounded gemstone of great beauty. Its tawny surface gleamed in the sunlight and a golden vertical strand down the centre blazed with almost painful intensity. Tendrils of energy appeared from the strand and extended towards the screen, playing over the female's vision. With a crackle of electricity, the screen went blank and Hakim collapsed to the floor, ripping the victim's ocular nerve from the back of her orbit. The MD quickly removed the nodes and helped the vagrant to stand. Hakim, clutched at the examination drawer. 'Tiger's Eye,' he whispered. As the orb of the Yahanan sun crept over the crater rim of Dar-Es-Buraq, clad in its russet mantle, Alf was already awake. Nick's ankle had started to ache in the early hours and Alf had scrounged a painkiller for him from Lynis. While Nick had then returned to a fitful slumber, Alf had been unable to get back to sleep. She was keen to find the Doctor and had been to see Orsah. Together they had checked the missing persons' database, but they'd found no mention of either 'The Doctor' or 'Hakim', nor any description matching that of her missing friend. Orsah had suggested that Alf might do better to try Buliseye headquarters. The online database was only updated every couple of days and the Buliseye would have more recent information in their public records bureau. So Alf had set out for Buliseye headquarters with a map supplied by Orsah and Nick's swordstick for protection. Due to the early hour - Alf guessed it was about 6am (if this planet had 24 hours in its days, which she doubted) - the city's alleyways and canals were almost deserted. The empty thoroughfares gave a new perspective on the bustling metropolis Alf had witnessed the day before. Early morning cities always felt eerie to her as they were missing the one thing they were designed for - people. She hoped Nick would understand her leaving him to rest. He needed it and Alf was confident she could handle this particular mission without him. That was, until she rounded a corner and saw a dull grey vehicle parked beside a boarded up souk. In the shop's doorway, three figures in maroon robes were bent over an old Yahanan male. The Wasi - Alf recognised them as such from Nick's description - seemed to be in discussion with the vagrant until one of the maroon-clad forms produced a hypodermic. Then the man started to shout, but was muffled by the other two. 'Hey!' Alf shouted, running to the man's aid. She already had the cane's blade drawn when she arrived, but she pulled up short. The Wasi's victim had vanished and they now turned, their sleek, tubular weapons pointed at her. 'Another Cufic to "help",' said the stockiest of the three. Alf stared at the Wasi. Although they were wearing maroon robes and hoods, underneath they wore what looked like an upholstered version of knight's armour offset by a domed helmet with narrow eye slits. An uneasy feeling of déjà vu gripped Alf and time seemed to freeze. Before she could shake herself from her stupor, Alf was pinioned by two of the Wasi, both parts of the swordstick falling uselessly to the sandstone pavement. 'You scumbags!' She shouted. 'What did you do to that man?' 'Exactly what we're going to do to you, Cufic,' said the leader, bringing another syringe up to Alf's Neck. 'You are a non-citizen. You serve no useful purpose. You have forfeited the right to exist.' Alf screamed as the hypodermic pierced her skin…
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