Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 35)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip, along with the rest of the captives, had been tossed through the Confluence by the surprisingly helpful Nib. Now, she returns to the world she knows--or at least, some version thereof. This is the last installment. Thanks for reading, everyone!

Marjorie Loft just wanted a quiet evening at home. She'd unplugged the TV, taken the phone off the hook, and locked the dog in the bathroom. She'd finished her daily housekeeping in record time--dishes, laundry, toilet. Her arthritic hands still ached from the effort.

It would be worth the pain, she'd thought at the time, to have an hour or two of sedate nothingness at the end of it all. She wouldn't meditate. She wouldn't unwind with a novel. She would simply sit and stare at the wall. It was an activity Marjorie often indulged in, the appeal of which spoke volumes for her deprived childhood. She was looking forward to indulging in it again.

Then she remembered: next week was her nephew's birthday. With a sigh, she fetched her knitting needles.

She didn't know why she bothered making presents for him. It wasn't as if they got along. He was, quite simply, a dreadful child. He punched cats, threw rocks at cars, and called his parents the N-word. Once he'd gotten Marjorie arrested at the mall.

"Help!" he'd squealed, while Marjorie held fast to his wrist and tried desperately to shush him. "I don't know this person! This person is not my mother! Somebody call the police!"

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 34)

Warning: Strong Language, Mature Themes, Graphic Violence

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip and company had fought their way to the Confluence with the aid of a severed tentacle. Now, they face a final stand-off against George Lugner and his detachment of pistol-wielding aliens. Not everyone will come out alive...

"Well, George," said Eddie. "It looks like you've got yourself an army."

There was mockery in his voice, but it sounded forced. Standing at the business end of more than a dozen pistols was unnerving. The only encouraging factor was the Nib, who looked equally unnerved. One of them was even sniffling as his body went ashy gray. He had the gun cupped in his tentacle like an apple--a rotten one he was desperate to dispose of.

George Lugner must have seen the bemused look on Pip's face, because he hastened to reassure her: "They can use them. Their ancestors conquered all of Sagittarius with weapons like these." He gave the gray Nib a look that was at once solicitous and threatening. "Didn't they, Kirar'nib?"

"Mm-hmm," said Kirar'nib miserably.

"Nine hundred yearz ago," murmured the green Nib standing beside him. Realizing Lugner had overheard her, she stiffened and immediately backtracked. "Piztolz have been refurbished, zir! Good working order, juzt like you azk."

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 33)

Warning: Graphic Violence

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip--along with Charles, Masha, and Duncan--had survived the sadistic experiment that claimed her ex-boyfriend's life. Now, having run into Eddie and the rest of her fellow captives, she fights her way to the Confluence.

"Eddie!" said Pip.

"Pip!" said Eddie.

"Eddie!" said Masha.

"Masha!" said Eddie.

"Eddie?" said Charles.

"Who the hell are you?" said Eddie.

"Stop zere!" shouted Lirma'nib, flailing her appendages at Eddie and the Dredmillon's entire human population, which stood huddled behind him. With an instinctive alacrity that would have put a juggler to shame, she snatched at all escapees within her grasp. Eddie leapt aside and the tip of a tentacle brushed his face, leaving a viscous streak across the bridge of her nose. Pip was seized by the neck, Duncan by the waist, Masha by the shoulder. Charles dove at Lirma'nib as if to tackle her and was immediately engulfed by her gelatinous trunk. The Nib wrapped an appendage around each of his legs and pressed him further inward, smothering him against her body.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 32)

Warning: Strong Language, Mature Themes, Graphic Violence

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had found her brother aboard the Dredmillon. Now, Lirma'nib offers to set Duncan free--but only if Pip participates in a sadistic "experiment." Note: I included the "Mature Themes" and "Graphic Violence" warnings to be safe. I don't think anything in here is too terribly explicit. It might, however, be a little disturbing.

"You know zizz perzon, yez?" Lirma'nib openly drank in Pip's astonishment: the widening of her eyes, the clenching of her fists, the soft "oh" that gusted from her gaping mouth. The alien was studying her reaction with as much care as a scientist bent over a Petri dish. Part of Pip rebelled against the scrutiny, but that part was so quiet as to be almost sub-vocal. Her mind was occupied with other things.

Like the man in front of her, whom she did in fact know. Very well. In the Biblical sense, even. He shuffled across the floor like a zombie in a white shift until he reached Duncan's chair. There he stopped, turned, and raised his head to look at Pip.

Pip gasped again. He did not look well.

"Ron," she said. "What are you doing here?"

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 31)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had confronted a vengeful George Lugner and been reunited with Charles. Now, Charles takes her and Masha to the place where Duncan is being held. What they find when they arrive is not what they expected.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Pip said as she balanced precariously on the back of a bicycle seat. Charles was standing to give her more room and to apply more force to the pedals, which were difficult to turn beneath the weight of three people. Masha sat on the handlebars, one leg propped on either side of the clip-on flashlight that was their only source of illumination in the darkened corridors of the Dredmillon.

The arrangement was every bit as preposterous as it looked and only marginally faster than walking. Pip had advised Charles to ditch the bike, but he had refused. He'd been glued to it ever since he's found it in the debris catch. It seemed to serve as a security blanket, a token of familiarity amid the absolute weirdness of their surroundings.

Charles nodded. "I know," he panted. "The only question is where to begi-"

THWACK. The bicycle careened into a wall, sending its occupants sprawling.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 30)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had searched high and low for her brother with little success, hindered by her lack of tentacles and the overly-curious Nib. Now, with the ship on lockdown and Charles on the loose, she confronts a vengeful George Lugner.

"Charlie," Pip said, a half-second before the Nib burst into a frenzy of hushed buzzing. They'd forgotten all about Pip and Masha. Likewise, Pip had forgotten all about them.

"Charlie!" she shouted. "Charlie, we're here!"

She groped in the dark for Masha's hand, catching several tentacles before she finally found it. Then, with a tug that caused Masha to cry out, Pip began dragging her through the crowd. They shoved and jostled amid the sea of viscous bodies. The Nib didn't seem to notice. Perhaps, in light of more interesting developments, they simply didn't care.

Pip broke free of the crowd and started running.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 29)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had escaped her artificial habitat and caught a glimpse of her brother among the alien horde. Now, she and Masha search for Duncan and for a way home. Things get complicated when the ship goes on lockdown.

Suddenly, the corridor erupted with sound. Shrill semitones pummeled each other, raising such a dissonant clangor that Pip squatted down and covered her ears.

The crowd stilled. Excitement drained from Nib faces like helium from a punctured balloon. Grumbling, they began to shuffle off in different directions.

"Where are you going?" Pip asked them, shouting over the din.

"Work work work," one of them said.

"Work work work," another echoed, gesturing toward a round speaker in the ceiling. "Thizz zound meanzz break over. Now all Nib izz working."

Seconds later, the noise died off and silence fell over a newly abandoned corridor. Pip uncovered her ears and shook her head to stop it ringing.

"You okay?" she asked Masha.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 28)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had been languishing in the artificial environment provided by her alien captors. Now, she and Masha escape, and Pip catches a brief glimpse of the one person she's been hoping to find.

Pip took the unusual step of announcing her escape before she made it.

"I'm going to escape," she told Eddie while gnawing on a raw potato. She'd temporarily broken her fast, in the interest of building strength for the coming ordeal.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "I could tell you not to bother, but you wouldn't listen. Everyone tries it some time."

"Even you?"

"Especially me." Eddie shook his head. "Four times. And look at me. I'm still here."

Pip spent a few moments considering this. She bit off a mouthful of potato. Chewed thoroughly. Swallowed. "So you don't have any advice," she said.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 27)

Warning: Strong Language

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had pumped Eddie Schulz--the original one--for information about their strange shared home. Now, she befriends the other inmates and struggles not to fall into despair. An escape attempt is pending...

The park inmates--just under a dozen, Pip saw, now that they were gathered together--ambled toward the noise. There was indeed a steel door. It sat in one of the towering white walls like a security gate at a suburban Home Depot. As it rose, it revealed a metal cart flanked by two Nib. The one on the right was larger, firmer, and orange in hue. The one on the left was a mound of gelatinous ecru.

"Hello!" the orange one chirped. "Pleaze to be eating now."

"Pleaze to be eating now," the other echoed in a voice that sounded like an obese man squirming around in a vinyl chair.

They prisoners held out their hands to receive their rations: two uncooked potatoes, a fistful of cabbage, and a strip of jerky. The Nib divvied up the vittles with casual precision, seemingly unconcerned that the steel door was still wide open behind them.

Pip looked at Eddie. "Aren't they worried that someone will make a break for it?" she murmured.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 26)

Warning: Strong Language

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had been stripped, re-clothed, and dumped into an enclosed park aboard the Dredmillon, chief research vessel of the Nib fleet. Now, having run into Eddie Schulz--a man who's supposed to be dead--she pumps him for information about their strange new home.

The dissociative fog fled his eyes in an instant. He looked at Pip like she had just vomited a litter of puppies. Pip felt Hamza tense beside her.

There was a long, still interlude.

"Sorry," Eddie said at last. His voice was creaky with disuse. "Do I know you?"

Then, without warning, he burst out laughing. The sound was bitter, and horrible, and it sent Hamza leaping backward. "I'll see you later," he murmured, giving Pip's shoulder a quick pat. He turned and hurried away. Eddie's laughter chased him across the park.

Pip stood her ground, though she was more than a little disturbed. The cynical lines and rueful contortions of Eddie's face were wrong, were a perversion, did not belong to the Eddie she knew. Her Eddie--she had to think of him as hers, if only to differentiate--had been an innocent. He'd been naive, single-minded, hopelessly dedicated to an organization that would throw him aside at the first sign of trouble. He couldn't help it--not if what Pip had managed to piece together in the last few days was accurate. He'd been created that way.

This Eddie was a different animal entirely. Pip could tell just by looking. He knew things. He'd suffered. He was angry and suspicious and too terribly experienced to believe in anything, let alone a vacuum cleaner company. If he'd ever possessed the other Eddie's wide-eyed faith in authority, it had been crushed out of him decades ago.

She wished he'd stop laughing.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 25)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had thrown herself into the Confluence and wound up aboard a research vessel floating near the planetoid Haumea. Now, with the help of a business magnate and a bio-luminescent alien, she struggles to figure out just how screwed she actually is. Things are made more confusing when an old friend returns from the dead.

Pip slept again.

When she awoke, the bald man was still there.

"George Lugner," she said. "The owner of the Martell Argus?"

He nodded. "And the Bank of Martell. A bunch of restaurants and bars. Hell, the Martell Police Department, if we're laying out our cards here. But I'm not much involved with my holdings these days." He smiled. "I've left their management to my brother Larry. He takes care of business down there; I take care of business up here."

"And where is 'here?'"

"I told you. The Dredmillon. Chief research vessel of the Nib fleet."

"You say that like it's supposed to mean something to me."

"Not yet, maybe. But it will."

A dark look accompanied his words. Pip shivered.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 24)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, her brother had met an untimely and horrific end. Now, still reeling with shock, Pip casts herself into the Confluence and finds herself transported across the galaxy.

The police arrived twenty minutes later. Neither Pip not Charles knew which of the neighbors had called them. One officer--a rookie, judging by his fresh face and compassionate attitude--turned away from Duncan's remains and immediately vomited. The other--a middle-aged woman with a severe set to her mouth--asked Charles a few perfunctory questions and scribbled the answers in her notebook.

Pip was far outside herself. There were countless miles between her senses and her understanding. She didn't feel, didn't see, didn't hear the officers as they went through their procedures. She remained still and upright only because Charles held her there, gripping her shoulder like a rope tossed from a ship to a drowning castaway.

An ambulance showed up. The EMT's stared at the pile of bones and intestines and scratched their heads. They weren't even sure how to get it all in a body bag. After a few minutes, a neighbor arrived on the scene with a shovel. The female officer took the opportunity to suggest Pip wait inside.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 23)

Warning: Strong Language, Mature Themes, Graphic Violence

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip, along with Charles and Duncan, had ventured to the vacant lot by moonlight to discover the secret that Eddie hinted at and gotten shot at for her troubles. Now, following an unproductive debriefing, horrific tragedy strikes.

"Okay," said Pip. "So. Is anyone else thinking the 'U' word, or is it just me?"

"The 'U' word?" said Charles.

"UFO." Pip cast a somber look at her companions. She was serious. She wanted them to know that. "The thing that came out of the sky. That was a UFO, right? Not a weather balloon. Not a Russian satellite."

Charles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The internal struggle between belief and perception was writ large across his face. "I don't know," he said.

"You do know," said Pip. She struck Duncan's sofa with a fist. "You do know, Charlie. You just don't want to say the word."

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 22)

Warning: Strong Language

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, Pip had deepened her relationship with Charles by taking him to bed. Now, the two of them plus Duncan venture to the vacant lot by moonlight to discover the secret that Eddie only hinted at and get shot at for their troubles.

In the end, Charles went because Pip went. He'd made various protests: it was technically trespassing, and there was no point now that there was no story, and anyway, maybe the whole "vacant lot" scenario had been a figment of Eddie's disintegrating mind--a cascade of misfiring synapses flowing over fragmentary memories of a dozen conspiracy films. Pip was dismayed that he had come over to Duncan's way of thinking.

"This is about satisfying our curiosity," she argued. "Don't you want to see this to the end? I mean, we've come this far."

She could tell that Charles was burned out. Any curiosity he had was outbalanced by sheer exhaustion. He was ready to be done with the whole thing. And yet, the recent change in their relationship left him unable to deny her. With a sigh that trundled down the telephone line like a heavily medicated elephant, he agreed to meet her at the lot at 10 pm.

He appeared at the promised hour newly shaven and washed, wearing a black button-up shirt with no tie, which was practically casual for him. Pip and Duncan, meanwhile, had dressed themselves like a pair of cat burglars. Duncan had even drawn camouflage splotches on his face with one of Pip's eye pencils. In response to Charles' mumbled greeting, he demanded: "How the hell can you see me?"

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 21)

Warning: Mature Themes, Sexual Situations

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, she'd come to the aid of a drunken Charles while heroically drunk herself. Now, the two explore the depth of their feelings for one another. Be advised: this installment contains graphic sexual content. Proceed with caution.

Charles was kissing his way along Pip's jawline when she announced: "I've had a crush on you for a very long time."

"Hm?" said Charles. He managed to work several different emotions--surprise, disbelief, embarrassment--into one little sound. Perhaps to avoid responding, he redoubled his amorous efforts, suckling at Pip's pulse point while running a hand through her hair.

"I did," Pip said. "For ages. I started listening to your show after I moved out of my mom's house. Your voice made me feel like my brain was melting."

Charles pulled away from her neck and shot a bemused glance upward. "That sounds awful."

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 20)

Warning: Strong Language, Mature Themes

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, she'd suffered through an inept intervention, stolen a cell phone, and stumbled across the bloody remnants of her informant. Now, overcome with the horror of her situation, she gets drunk. Charles does the same. Indiscretions ensue.

"This isn't over," Charles told her, his features assuming a suspiciously hopeless cast. "I've got other sources. Other avenues I can explore. We can still make this story work."

Pip nodded, though in truth she was no longer thinking about the story. Her mind was troubled. Something about the blood slurry on the sofa had driven home just how horrific her life had become.

She didn't hear from Charles for a week. Nor did she sleep. She lay in Duncan's living room and tried to ignore the scenes of carnage that had tattooed themselves on the back of her eyelids. She saw Sandra Watts and Masha Bogolomov. She saw Eddie. She wondered how many others had died, and why, and how many people at Kerry knew.

Did Ron know? Had she slept with a murderer? How could one even begin to atone for something that hideous?

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 19)

Warning: Strong Language, Mature Themes

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, she'd been forced to apply to her ex-boyfriend for help contacting Eddie. Now, she finds herself the unwitting focus of an inept intervention and learns that sometimes, despite all one's best efforts, one is simply too late. Please note, there's a joke in this one that's really pretty dirty. I apologize.

Pip sat down, less out of deference to Ron than because she was tired as hell. Actually going to class took a lot out of a person. Between her and the assembly sat a coffee table, and on that coffee table sat Ron's cell phone. She gazed at it longingly.

With an imperious nod, Ron gestured to the group. "We're gathered here this evening, Pip, because we're worried about you. You've been spiraling out of control for months. We've all seen it."

"Even Preston, who's met me twice?" said Pip. She knew the quickest way out of this makeshift intervention was through it, yet she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Preston raised his hands defensively. "Dude, I came for the cat. I don't know anything about your drug problem."

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 18)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, she'd moved in with Duncan and shared vital information with Charles. Now, she struggles to set up an interview between Charles and Eddie. Meanwhile, Ron conducts a smear campaign aimed at destroying her reputation.

Things moved quickly after that.

Having obtained enough evidence to form the basic outline of a story, Charles set about filling in the blanks. He wheedled the identity of Pip's deceased neighbor out of the complex's leasing agent. Then he drove Pip out to Francia to locate the house where she'd found the dead body, afterward combing through property records to determine who owned it. He ended up with two names: Sandra Watts and Masha Bogolomov. Additional research unearthed their next-of-kin, who were only too eager to talk. Pip, it seemed, wasn't the only one who smelled a cover-up.

“Sandra was murdered,” her father said. “I don't care what the Argus says. And I don't care what the police say. If they did their duty and investigated properly, they'd see that it had to be murder. But they're not interested in that. They're sitting around with their thumbs up their collective asses.”

“I think it was poison,” said Masha's brother, Filip. “Some kind of neurotoxin. She was sick for a long time before she went. I'd call her up, and she wouldn't make any sense. I'd ask her, 'Masha, what's wrong?' and she'd start crying. Always the tears with her, toward the end. And the sound effects. 'BRRM BRRM BRRM.'”

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 17)

Warning: Mature Themes

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, she'd had a mysterious telephone conversation with Eddie, Kerry's positivity-emissary-turned-informant. Now, she moves into her brother's apartment and gives Charles visions of greener pastures.

Duncan's roommate was less than welcoming. He swept a critical eye over Pip and her backpack.

“I don't approve of the C-word,” he informed Pip.

Pip's eyebrows shot up. “The C-word?”

“Cohabitation,” he clarified.

“Oh,” she said. “That C-word.”

Nature Abhors a Vacuum: A Murder Mystery (part 16)

A serialized science-fiction mystery created exclusively for this blog! When last we left our heroine, she had broken things off with her fiance in rather spectacular fashion. Now, she receives an unexpected phone call which promises to blow the whole mystery wide open.

Pip drew in a long breath.

“Who said anything about an investigation?”

“Don't bother, Pip,” said Eddie.

“No, really. What makes you think I'm conducting one?”

Eddie sighed. “My eyes. You're not the first to go undercover at Kerry. I've become attuned to the signs.”

Trying in vain to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach, Pip shifted her car into reverse and began to maneuver out of the parking lot. When she spoke again, she sounded much steadier than she felt. “The signs, huh?”