Read The Ripple in Space-Time: Free City Book 1 (The Free City Series) for Free Online

watched a worried old butler hobble by several times
with yet another thick stack of white bath towels to sop up the gushing muck.
    Finally the young woman who had
met them at the front door returned wearing clean khaki pants and a heavy brown
traveling coat.
    “ Thank you for waiting, ” she held her hand out in
greeting, “ I ’ m Agent Keira Norton of the Free
City Fiefdom Liaison Office. ”
    The alluring woman shook the men ’ s hands.
    “ I...well...hello, ” Lev stammered giddily.
    “ I ’ m Inspector Trop, ” Ryo chuckled at the younger man ’ s reaction, “ I believe that Mr. Fesai is relieved that you are not an overweight
middle-aged gent.”
    Agent Norton glared at the shaggy
tongue-tied man, “ This is Dr. Fesai ’ s son? I read through the case
files last night, but I had no idea that we ’ d be working
with family members. ” She studied his quirky and unconventional clothing, “ There was some mention of Mr. Fesai ’ s baffling fascination with the
Enlightenment Crusade. ”
    Ryo ’ s communication
device chirped softly, “ Hi Boss, what ’ s up? ”
    “ Have you located Agent Norton? ” Helga inquired.
    “ Yeah, we just found her at the Consular ’ s residence. ”
    “ Good, ” his irritable supervisor
continued, “ O ’ Neal in Bank Fraud just
discovered a large and suspicious transaction that is undoubtedly a payoff of
some sort. ”
    “ What does this have to do with the moon lab? ”
    Helga rubbed her forehead wearily, “ The recipient was just let go as a Lunar Orbit Traffic
Controller. He was on duty during the explosion. ”
    “ Interesting. ”
    “ He just charged several drinks in a Dublin bar, I ’ m sending you the particulars. ”
    The image of Helga changed to
flashing text. Ryo studied the information for several seconds.
    “ Well; we ’ ll get right to it, I suppose. ” He showed the address to Agent Norton, “ Do you know
where this place is? ”
    She nodded in dismay.
    Keira winced, “ I ’ m afraid that ’ s not one of Dublin ’ s finer districts. ”
    Ryo tugged at Lev as he
absentmindedly ogled their new colleague, “ We have transportation, let ’ s head over there now. How is it that you were unstopping the Consular ’ s commode, Ms Norton? ”
    She smiled proudly to the old
Investigator, “ Well, as a Fiefdom Liaison, I ’ ve been
procuring and screening new household staff members for the last few weeks. The
Consular is quite particular about the credentials of his domestic employees.
My guest room is upstairs right next to the misbehaving facilities. ”
    Keira pulled open the front door
and led the men out, “I plunged out the toilet twice on my first day here and
the Consular fell in love with me. ”
    “ How did you pick up such a strange old skill? ” Lev wondered as the threesome stood on the front porch. “ Everyone in Free City uses waterless waste disposal, I don ’ t think I ’ ve ever seen anything else. ”
    Keira scowled briefly at Lev, “ My parents ran Leitrim Imports in Free City when I was a kid and we were
always moving around in the fiefdoms in search of new products. I ’ ve been to Mars twice and I lived in Dublin for several years. ”
    “ When difficulties present themselves, ” she shivered fleetingly before buttoning up her jacket against the
chilly wind, “ you learn really quickly how to deal with the copious crap
in the fiefdoms. ”
    • • •
    Relegated to the tattered rear
section of the lumbering old vehicle, Keira studied the two men in the only
slightly more favorable front seats.
    Ryo Trop was well-known and highly
admired by the staff of the Liaison Office. Keira considered herself especially
lucky to be included in the particularly high profile case with such a
respected Investigator. Certainly a favorable outcome to the inquiry would
greatly enhance her prospects at the Liaison Office.
    Although she had reservations
about working with someone as inexperienced in investigative work as Lev