Tek Kill (27 page)

“While you?”

“First off I'm going to visit her
hacienda
and talk to her current husband,” replied the detective. “He's a gent named Ernst Reinman.”

“Which husband is this by now?”

Gomez held up four fingers. “
Cuatro
. I have the distinction of being the first in the series,” he said. “She's been hooked up with this Reinman for a bit over two years and he's an executive with a charitable org called the Starvation Center.”

“During her days with you,” mentioned Jake, “she had a tendency to stray now and then. Would there currently be other gentlemen friends in her life?”

“I've already got somebody researching that for me,” Gomez said. “But I do know that a gent by the name of Mervyn Illsworth has been providing Jill with some of her background information for the script.”

“I'll check on him before I contact any informants,” volunteered Jake.

“Illsworth resides at Tube Village in the Long Beach Sector.”

Jake then inquired, “And why didn't Jill want to bring the police in on this?”

“Mostly, far as I know, because she used to have a rotten reputation with the SoCal law and still likes to avoid them as much as possible,” said Gomez. “During her heyday as an enthusiastic Tek customer—well, she got in several fairly serious tangles with the forces of law and order.”

Jake rose up. “Even so, Sid,” he said, “if we don't find some trace of her within the next few hours—we have to bring them in.”

“Agreed. Besides, once her hubby finds out she's among the missing, he'll more than likely do that himself.”

“What about the Cosmos Agency?”

“I want to talk to our esteemed chief, Walt Bascom, about this whole business
mañana
,” said Gomez. “If one or more of the big Tek cartels are planning some new deviltry—then our
jefe
ought to be able to sell that news to some of his many government agency contacts.”

“My thought exactly,” said Jake.

The night fog hung heavy over the two-acre stretch of simulated beach. Most of the sand was real, but the clusters of large black rocks and the scatters of seaweed and driftwood were all holographic projections.

An actual seagull was dozing beside a twisted, seemingly sea-worn chunk of wood. He made an annoyed sound, unfurled and then refolded his wings, as Jake passed him on foot on his way to one of the entry kiosks to the underground Tube City.

Kiosk 7 was manned by a pair of gunmetal guardbots. “Welcome to Tube City, sir,” greeted the one with
A25
stenciled in white across his wide chest. “You are?”

“Jake Cardigan,” he answered. “I have an appointment with Mervyn Illsworth, who lives down on Level 5.”

The second bot—F14 was his name—opened a panel in his metal chest. “While my colleague is taking you through the identification routine, sir,” he said, “let me show you some of the popular Tube City souvenirs that are available at extremely reasonable prices.”

“Actually, I'm trying,” Jake informed him, “to free my life of any and all clutter.”

F14 had a fairly large shelved compartment built into his upper torso. “Here you see,” he announced, pointing into himself, “our very popular Tube City nearcaf mug, the equally popular Tube City cap, the Tube City plazshirt and—”

“If you'll hand me your ID packet, sir,” requested A25.

Jake obliged.

“You'll notice,” went on F14, “that all our sought-after Tube City souvenirs have an appealing likeness of the famous Tube City mascot, Lowell the Mole, emblazoned on them.”

“Cute little rascal,” remarked Jake as he took back his identification materials. “Can I descend now?”

Nodding, A25 gestured at the grey floor. “Take the ramp to Entry Tube 7, sir,” he instructed. “Then follow the litearrows down to Level 5. You'll find Mr. Illsworth residing in Section 5-N.”

A portion of the floor came sliding open and Jake saw a brightly illuminated ramp slanting downward. “Thanks.”

“We're having a two-for-one sale on the mugs,” called F14 as Jake started down.

Mervyn Illsworth was very fat. Seeing him magnified to twice his actual size up on the high, wide vidwall made his bulk all the more impressive. “I appreciate, truly, your going along with this little quirk of mine, Cardigan,” he was saying in his chirpy voice.

Jake was straddling a chair in the foyer of the researcher's underground apartment, after having made his way down through a succession of snaking tubes and tunnels. “I'm more interested in getting information than in seeing you face-to-face,” he informed the fat man's image.

“I'm not exactly, you must understand, really a complete and total recluse,” explained Illsworth. “Yet, I readily admit, I feel much more at ease if I remain here, snug in my studio, and visitors stay out there and we communicate electronically.” The fat man was sprawled in a large, sturdy metal chair surrounded by keyboards and monitor screens.

“Okay, fine,” said Jake, impatient. “Now what about Jill Bernardino?”

“I was, really, extremely upset when you phoned to inform me that Jill may've been kidnapped tonight, Cardigan,” Illsworth said in his small, high-pitched voice. “Particularly if it might have something to do with information that I supplied her.”

Jake asked, “Would she come here to your place?”

“Yes, frequently. I consider her, truly, a dear friend as well as a valued client,” answered the fat man. “Jill, of course, always remained out there where you are.”

“When did you talk to her last?”

“She dropped down here just yesterday afternoon to discuss some of the new material I'd unearthed relating to Sonny Hokori and his Tek activities. By the way, I'd very much like to interview you someday soon, Cardigan, about how the late Sonny attempted to destroy you and frame—”

“Let's get back to Jill,” cut in Jake as he stood up and moved close to the giant image on the wall. “Did she mention being worried or talk about something she'd discovered in the course of her digging into the history of the Hokori Tek operations?”

Illsworth shook his massive head. “No, there was nothing like that, Cardigan,” he answered. “She did seem a bit depressed, but …”

“Well, what?”

“Oh, it occurs to me that Jill did make a rather odd remark yesterday,” said the fat man. “She and I were, as I've explained, dear buddies and sometimes we'd just talk about our personal lives and problems.”

“She was seeing somebody?”

The researcher's immense body quivered when he sighed. “You know, then, about her unfortunate habit?”

“She tends to sleep around, yeah.”

“Can't help it really.” Illsworth sighed once more. “At any rate—Jill made this remark. She said something along the lines of, ‘Maybe I didn't need you after all, Merv dear. I've just now found out I've been involved with somebody who knows more about this whole damn business than you do.'”

“Who would that be?”

“I really haven't even a vague idea.”

“Didn't she confide the names of her boyfriends?”

“Not actually, no. She'd simply say, ‘I saw the professor again last night,' or, ‘I think it's time to drop the artist.'”

“Are those actual designations—there really was a professor and an artist?”

Illsworth gave a jiggling affirmative nod. “Yes, but I believe she did jettison the artist, whoever the devil he is, over three weeks ago,” he piped. “The professor, she was still seeing on the sly.”

“You don't know which of these guys has a possible Tek link?”

“No, I don't,” he said apologetically. “With most of the research I do, while it's not always orthodox and strictly kosher, I try not to do anything that'll annoy active crooks and criminals. However, if Jill continues missing—well, I intend to do some very intrusive digging.”

“You come up with anything, contact me at the Cosmos Detective Agency,” requested Jake.

“I will,” promised the fat man. “You don't, do you, suspect that the poor dear might already be dead?”

“That's just one,” answered Jake, “of several unpleasant possibilities.”

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A Biography of William Shatner

William Shatner (b. 1931) is a celebrated Canadian actor, author, and film director known for his irreverent charm and his star turn as Captain Kirk on the first
Star Trek
television series, as well as many other roles.

Shatner was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. He majored in economics at McGill University and upon graduating took a job as the business manager at Montreal's Mountain Playhouse, where he also pursued classical Shakespearean training. In 1954, Shatner began performing at Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival, appearing in
Henry V
,
Oedipus Rex
, and Christopher Marlowe's
Tamburlaine the Great
—the play in which he would make his Broadway debut in 1956, as the understudy for Christopher Plummer.

After his first film appearance, in MGM's
The Brothers Karamazov
(1958), and roles in the television series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
and
The Twilight Zone
, Shatner was cast in NBC's
Star Trek
, playing the courageous, unpredictable Captain James T. Kirk. Though cancelled in 1969 after three seasons,
Star Trek
became a cult hit in syndication, leading to an animated series and a number of spin-off television series and movies. Shatner starred in seven
Star Trek
films beginning with
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
in 1979.

Shatner went on to star as a veteran police sergeant in
T. J. Hooker
(1982–86) and as aging trial lawyer Denny Crane in
Boston Legal
(2004–08). He has also remained in the public eye with frequent television guest appearances.

Shatner has published a number of novels, most notably
TekWar
(1989), a science-fiction thriller that inspired eight sequels as well as video games and a television series. His autobiography,
Up Till Now
, was published in 2008. He has also released three musical albums, including the infamous
The Transformed Man
(1968), which introduced Shatner's unique spoken-word style, and the critically lauded
Seeking Major Tom
(2011).

In 2012, Shatner returned to Broadway after a fifty-year absence, in
Shatner's World: We Just Live in It
, a one-man show based on his life and work. After a three-week run in New York City, he took the show on the road, touring around the country. When he isn't working, Shatner and his wife, Elizabeth, divide their time between Southern California and Kentucky.

After graduating from McGill University in 1952, William Shatner began participating in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. This headshot dates from his early days with the festival. (Photo Courtesy of William Shatner.)

Star Trek
, the iconic science-fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, follows the adventures of the starship USS
Enterprise
and its crew, led by Captain James T. Kirk, played by Shatner. The series first aired between 1966 and 1969. Shatner's voice-over before each episode explained the starship's mission: “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” This photo shows the crew from the original
Star Trek
. (Photo courtesy of Photofest, Inc.)

Shatner's debut musical album,
The Transformed Man
, was released in 1968 while he was still starring in
Star Trek
. The concept album combined famous pieces of poetry with pop lyrics; for instance, Shatner read Bob Dylan's lyrics alongside Shakespeare's verses. (Photo courtesy of Universal Music Enterprises.)