The Unexpected Guest - Part 3
A body is found and an Achilles designed medi-drone is sent to recover it. All Saul can do is wait... but who is it?
Read the latest instalment of Allen Stroud's short story 'The Unexpected Guest'.
“He was a Jameson, a Peter Jameson by all accounts.”
The name gets my attention. Everyone knows the Jameson dynasty. Two centuries ago, a two-bit trader bought a Cobra Mark III from Lave for all the cash he had in his pocket and set out into the darkness. When he came back, he was still in the same ship, but he’d made a fortune.
His name was Peter Jameson too.
Roberts is standing over a terminal in the exo-stomper garage. I’m sat on a bench. The decontamination team has finished with me and I’m dressed in fresh overalls. My skin feels raw, like it’s been steam blasted.
“Can’t be the same Jameson,” I say.
Roberts turns to me and shrugs. “Could be a clone?” he says.
“Why would a rich corporation clone be found dead in an Imperial Clipper’s cargo hold?” I ask.
“Don’t know,” Roberts says. “I’m only telling you what I heard from the investigators.”
“Investigators?”
“Yeah, station security appointed some contractors.” Roberts rubs a hand over his stubbled face. He came on shift after I went out. We’ve known each other for three years, since he started here. He’s a slob at the best of times, but today he looks worse, as if he hasn’t slept for a while. “New people. Never seen them before.”
I stand up and walk over the terminal. “What did you find out about him?”
“Just an old story.”
“Okay, let’s hear it.”
