Stewart raced into I.P.F. Divisional Headquarters. He wondered why the chief of their division had issued a call for him, but he knew better than to ask questions before their time. He arrived at the chief's door at the same time as Robbins.
"What are you doing here, Robbins?" he asked her.
"Same as you," she said. "Chief Crane called all four of us."
They entered the chief's office and found Payton and Milligan already inside, and the chief sitting behind his desk. "Sit down," he said.
The four of them sat down. Crane said, "You did a great job last week--you recovered a huge chunk of gold and toppled a dictator who, up until then, was unknown. But I've got a new assignment. I want you to track down a killer."
The chief showed the officers a mug shot of the accused. "This being goes by the name of Garloch," he continued. "He has killed at least twenty humans."
"This is a Bourian," Stewart said. "They see humans as food. We're considered a delicacy, and it's not illegal to kill us on Bouria. So why is he in trouble with the law?"
"Because," Crane said through clenched teeth, "he killed Carpathian humans."
A space explorer discovered a planet inhabited by creatures who weren't only humanoid, but nearly identical to humans. He named the planet Carpathia after his ancestral homeland, on Earth, and called the natives Carpathians. Since the natives had no name for their planet or their race, the name stuck.
Carpathians' only differences from humans were hair color (generally a green or purple shade) and subtle differences, such as in cell structure, that could not be surmised by mere observation. Also, the Carpathians were incompatible with humans, having 48 chromosomes where humans had 46. However, because of the similarity between the two species, many mistakenly referred to Carpathians as humans.
"Carpathians aren't humans," insisted Stewart. "They're a completely separate species. But you're right--this is trouble. It may be legal to kill humans on Bouria, but not Carpathians."
"Correct," returned the chief. "So I want you four to find this guy and arrest him."
"Whoa, wait," Payton said. "We can't go to Bouria. We wouldn't last five minutes there--we'd be eaten alive."
"You don't need to go to Bouria, and besides--"
"Yes we do," Robbins said, "unless you know where he is."
"Well...besides, I gave an order to the Bourian governor not to let anyone eat you should you need to go there."
"I feel like I'm the blue plate special," Robbins said as the quartet walked through the streets of a Bourian town. "Everyone is staring at me, licking their chops."
"You are the blue plate special," Milligan reminded her. "Relax. They've been given explicit orders not to harm us in any way."
"Yeah, but it still makes me nervous."
"This is the place," Stewart said, stopping in front of a shop. "Triakon said the guy who owns this place knows about all the shady deals that go down on this planet."
The foursome entered the shop and was instantly greeted by a drooling Bourian.
"Back off," warned Stewart. "We're from the I.P.F."
"Sorry," the Bourian said. "Old habits die hard."
"Are you the owner of this establishment?" Payton asked him.
"Yes," the alien replied. "I am known as Black Sky."
"Where's Garloch?" asked Stewart.
"Listen, I don't care who you are--information isn't free."
"How much do you want?"
"Well, let's see..." The Bourian considered it for a moment. "How does 32,000 sound?"
"Thirty-two THOUSAND? That's insane!"
"Fine," Sky said. "Find him yourself."
Stewart sighed, then said, "All right. Here's the cash." He handed the Bourian a handful of credits. Black Sky counted it, then lifted his head and stared at Stewart.
"He's on the planet Oxellan, in the Alpha Centauri system."
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Robbins asked as their spaceship raced toward the Alpha Centauri system. "I mean, the Alpha system is pretty far from Bouria."
"What choice do we have?" Stewart asked her. "Garloch may be there, and he may not. Regardless, Sky said he was there--we don't have any other leads."
"What if Black Sky was lying?"
"Then I'm going to rip his spleen out."
"Hey, Petrovka," Stewart said as the four entered the I.P.F. Divisional HQ on Oxellan. "Any news on our killer?"
"Are you kidding?" Petrovka said. "The guy's a Bourian. Even if anyone had seen him, they would be afraid to step forward."
"Why?"
"Fear of being eaten alive," came the reply.
"Terrific. How the hell are we supposed to find him now?"
Petrovka shrugged. "Oxellan's not a very big place. It shouldn't take more than a few days to find him."
"We don't have that much time. He may be tipped off to our presence and try to leave the planet. Can you put your men--"
"A-hem!" Robbins interjected.
"--and women--on full alert?"
"Sure," Petrovka said. "We'll tell you if we find anything."
A few hours later, as the four patrolled in a hovercraft supplied by Petrovka's division, a voice crackled over the radio. "Sir," the voice said. "A disturbance has been reported at the West Region spaceport. A Bourian has forced entry onto a ship. Thankfully, no one was on the ship at the time; however, he made his way into space."
"That sounds like our man," Payton said.
Stewart picked up the receiver and said, "Did you get all that, Petrovka?"
"Every golden word," Petrovka said.
"We're returning to HQ. I need you to get our ship fueled up and ready the moment we get there. Also, we need the directional heading of Garloch's ship."
"Will do."
The spaceship streaked off in the same direction that Garloch's ship had been going, according to the readouts supplied by the computers.
"We're going at full speed," Payton said, "but it'll take a while to catch up with him. Assuming he is also going at full speed, taking into account the limitations of the commandeered vessel, it may take several hours to reach him."
"What if he strayed off course?" asked Stewart.
"Unlikely. To make any major course changes, one would have to drop to sub-hyper speeds. According to my figures (and they are always correct), if he had attempted that, our scanners would have picked him up already."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. He stayed on the same course at least until he left the system, and he certainly stayed on that course as he engaged hyperdrive. He wouldn't have maximized the drive and then slowed down drastically--that can sometimes prove fatal."
"What do you mean?"
"The forces generated could rip the ship apart."
"He wouldn't take that chance?"
"Not in a million light-years."
"So taking all that into account--"
"He's still right in front of us."
A few hours later, Payton was proven correct when the Bourian's ship came into view via the scanners.
"He must know we're here," Payton said. "He's dropping to subhyper speeds, probably to engage us."
Instead, the ship made a gentle turn to the left. Stewart, though surprised, dropped their own ship to subhyper and followed suit. Suddenly Payton saw the reason for the turn-off--Garloch was leading them into an asteroid field.
"Captain--" Payton said.
"I'm staying on him," Stewart insisted. "No way are we letting him slip through our fingers now. Cannibalize all reserve power to weapons and shields."
"We're turning our shields on?"
"Isn't that what I said?"
"But that'll suck our power dry in--"
"We'll have enough time to get through. Now do it!"
"Yes, sir."
"Milligan, blast anything you think will be dangerous. That includes that ship."
"Will do, sir," Milligan said.
"Captain, if I may be allowed to express a concern--" Payton began.
"You may not."
"Captain," Payton urged, "we really have to talk."
"Payton, I order you to--"
"Shut up, Charlie!" Robbins screamed, interjecting herself into the conversation. "Let the man talk, for God's sake!"
"Who asked you?" Stewart said angrily. Without replying, Robbins socked him in the jaw. Stewart was so stunned he fell out of the pilot's seat.
"Talk, Dan," Robbins said. "I'm assuming control while Charlie's recovering from the shock."
"My concern was not having the power remaining to chase the Bourian down when we got through the field. The sort of transport ship he stole was better equipped for flying through particle storms and asteroid fields than this one."
"Damn cheapskate police force."
"Yeah. So I want you to see if you can sweep around him and cut him off--we don't want him to get into that field. Milligan, when we get to him, blast him with all your might."
"Gotcha, Payton," Milligan said.
Robbins shoved the throttle forward and arced the ship around to the side of the pilfered vessel. Milligan let loose when the ship was in his sights. Two of his shots struck the ship, which began to spin out of control but regained its equilibrium quickly. It continued towards the asteroid field.
"It's no good, Dan," Robbins said. "He's not stopping."
"I see that," Payton replied. "Get directly behind the ship, and ride his tail through the field. That should protect us from most of the rocks. I want to conserve as much energy as possible, so we'll only give our shields half power. Milligan, only blast dangerous planetoids--I don't want to engage that psycho in here."
"I've got the controls," Stewart said, sitting back in his chair. "I'm better qualified for it."
"All yours," Robbins said.
The two ships entered the subplanetary mine field. Garloch tried to shake the other ship, but Stewart stayed on him. A few moments later, both ships emerged from the field unscathed.
"How much power do we have left, Payton?" Stewart asked.
"Plenty," Payton said, "no thanks to you."
"Sorry, Payton. I got carried away."
"I don't understand. You always--" His eyes grew wide. "Break off, Captain! He's engaging hyperdrive!"
Stewart yanked the throttle back and pulled the stick to the right. The energy discharge from the other ship's hyperdrive engine just missed them. He then steadied the ship and pointed it in the direction that the other craft had gone. "Engaging hyperdrive," he said. He pressed two buttons, and the starship shook, then shot off after the Bourian.
"As I was saying, Captain," Payton said as they all regained their breath, "you always trusted my judgment before. Why not now?"
"I thought I knew what I was doing."
"He's heading for Bouria," Payton said as they approached Garloch's home system. We'll have to take him on there."
"It's a bit unnerving going up against someone who sees you as little more than the interplanetary equivalent of a cow," Robbins said.
"Don't worry," Stewart said. "That just means he has a false sense of confidence."
"There's another problem," Payton said. "He has sent a message to Bouria, allegedly from the head of the I.P.F., which has declared open season on all humans."
"Terrific. Make sure you have your armor on the instant we land."
Both ships landed at a Bourian spaceport without incident, and the police chased the murderer into the terminal. Instantly, seven Bourians were upon the quartet.
"Now what?" Robbins whispered.
"We run," Stewart said.
The four humans sprinted past the salivating Bourians and continued to chase after Garloch. The Bourian raced into a waiting craft, and it sped off.
Stewart spied another Bourian mounting a Turbo Wing. "I need this," he said, knocking the creature off the bike and getting on it. "Come on, Robbins," he said.
Robbins ran over and mounted behind Stewart. "What about them?" she asked, motioning toward Payton and Milligan.
"You guys will have to find your own way," Stewart called to them. "I'll leave the homing signal in the communicator on." The Turbo Wing shot off after the killer.
"What do we do now?" Milligan asked Payton.
"Find a way there," came the reply.
The Bourian's craft, though it had a head start, couldn't shake Stewart and Robbins. It stopped in front of a small fortress, and Garloch leapt out and raced in. Stewart and Robbins dismounted and followed him.
"Not so fast, Garloch!" Stewart shouted, tackling him in the middle of a long corridor.
The Bourian threw Stewart off, then tossed a small energy bomb at him. The blast threw him off his feet, and as he fell he tripped up a pursuing Robbins.
"You okay?" she asked him.
"Yeah," he said. "You?"
"I'm fine."
The pair continued their pursuit. They followed Garloch to a flight of stairs, where they encountered some sentry robots and a few Bourians. The guards opened fire upon Stewart and Robbins, and the two dove behind a pillar.
"Got any more ideas?" Robbins said.
"If we circle around from opposite directions, we might confuse them enough to bring them down to a reasonable number before they realize what's happening."
"It's worth a try."
"On three...one, two, THREE!" Stewart and Robbins circled around the column in opposite directions and blasted at the guards. Four robots and three Bourians hit the ground, and the rest scattered.
"Come on, Charlie," Robbins said. "He's getting away." The two ran up the stairs and came to a hallway that branched off to the left and to the right.
"Spilt up," Stewart said. "If you find him, call me." He hurried down the right corridor, and Robbins went the opposite way.
"I've got him in my sights," Robbins said through the communicator.
"All right," Stewart said. "Don't do anything foolish until I get there."
"What, and then do something foolish?"
"You know what I mean."
"Of course I--" Suddenly there was a loud crackle of static, and the communicator went dead.
"Robbins! ROBBINS!" He turned around and sprinted down the hallway.
Stewart arrived on the scene to see Robbins lying on the floor, unconscious and with her helmet off. Garloch was ready to take a bite of her flesh, but Stewart blasted him before he could.
"If you know what's good for you, human," the Bourian said, "you won't interfere further."
"You're outclassed," Stewart retorted.
"You're outnumbered." With that, a few sentry robots came out of the woodwork and fired their cannons at Stewart. His armor's power dropped to zero, and it fell apart around him. "And now I will take extreme pleasure in eating you alive." He threw a massive right hook that knocked Stewart to the floor, and opened his tremendous jaws.
Just then a small craft crashed through the window and struck Garloch at an acute angle, scattering the Bourian, the craft, and its two riders across the hall.
"Sorry, Captain," Payton said, getting up and pulling Milligan up with him. "We would have been here sooner, but we got stuck in traffic."
"Never mind the fact that we had to swipe--I mean, borrow--this craft," Milligan said.
"Get the meddlers!" Garloch shouted at his robots. The obedient sentries charged Payton and Milligan, and wound up the losers. Payton and Milligan's cannons made short work of the threat.
The Bourian growled at them, then turned around and started running.
"Get him," Stewart groaned. "I'll catch up with you."
Garloch entered a code on a keypad to open a door, then used the keypad on the other side to close it just as Payton and Milligan came upon it.
"Damn!" Milligan drove an armored fist through the fingerboard.
"Milligan--" Payton stopped as he saw Milligan connecting wires in the hole he had punched. The door slid open.
"There he is!" Milligan said. "And he's going to open another door." He stopped and aimed his cannon carefully. He fired, and the blast struck the keypad, shorting it out.
The Bourian whirled around and smirked at Milligan. "You missed," he said.
"No I didn't," Milligan said. "It was a direct hit on the door control. You're trapped."
Garloch looked at the panel and saw that he spoke the truth. He spun back towards Payton and Milligan. "A Bourian is never trapped," he said. He tossed a voltage field generator onto the floor, and a wall of electricity instantly separated the cops from the criminal.
"You expect that to stop us?" Payton asked, sticking an armored hand through the ethereal partition. His armor absorbed the current for a moment, allowing Milligan to leap through unscathed.
Garloch laughed. "And how do you expect to get back over? Your friend's armor has no power."
"I figured you could go first!" Milligan shouted. He shoved the Bourian through the field and followed through before the charge regenerated. Garloch absorbed the charge and slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Payton slapped the cuffs on the unconscious beast. "Piece of cake," he panted.
"Yeah," Milligan said. "No problem at all."