Flash Fiction # 472 -- Partners

 "Detective Fisher."

Fisher knew several things before she ever looked up.  First, although she didn't recognize the voice, this person recognized her.  Second, the accent was not from Terra Nova.  Gender she couldn't guess and didn't care.

She looked up.  What she hadn't expected was a Port Guard's tan uniform or the slight curiosity in the person's face.

"Yes?" she finally said.

The guard handed over a chit, official seal from the Port Guards, and one her desk comp accepted.

She read quickly and hoped she hid her own surprise.  Rune Samson, provisional partner assignment.

"Ah," she said and looked up.  "We're the test, I see."

Rune nodded.  She waved him to a chair (the chit report did say gender preference as male) and looked him over.   Hard to guess age in the era of regen -- and it was something no one bothered with for the reports.  She thought he might be a little younger than her, though.  He had that sort of uncertainty about him.

Though he seemed to be looking her over with the same care.

"From Tempest?" she asked, knowing the answer from the chit.  It was only an opening.

"Yes," he said and looked into her face for the first time.  He had lovely brown eyes.  "What the chit doesn't say is I was born a Port Rat and a distant cousin of the De Veleras."

Even she knew that name.

"You haven't asked about me," she offered.

"I've been on Terra Nova for a year.  You've been involved in two high-profile cases, and that has made it impossible for you to do undercover work at this time."

"Huh.  So we get to be the poster children for cooperation between the Militia and the Port Guards," Fisher answered.  " What do they expect us to do?"

"Walk around, look friendly, and act competent."

"I can manage the first."

"I can do the second," Rune offered.  Then he smiled.  "I think we're both going to have a problem with the third."  

Fisher stood and brushed down the blue jacket of her Militia uniform.  "Let's give it a try."

They drew attention all through the building and out into the street.  Fisher imagined a nice, quiet walk through the downtown area.

It didn't go that way.

After a few hours, they stopped for a quick lunch at a nicely shaded cafe.  Fisher suggested the soups, and he accepted her recommendation.  So far, she'd found nothing objectionable about walking around town with him, but she was not trained to do PR work. Neither, she realized, was Rune.

It was almost a relief when people started yelling down the street.

"That sounds like trouble," Rune said with a bright smile.

"And our food isn't here yet.  Doesn't sound too serious.  Shall we?"

"We can at least make a showing," Rune agreed as he stood.

The trouble seemed to be heading their way anyway, so it was just as well to get out ahead of it.  A dozen people were coming at a run --

And then the rest of the crowd surged around the corner, a couple hundred or more yelling --

Fisher had grabbed her communit.  So had Rune.

"Riot in midtown," she warned.  "North of the Liberty Plaza.  Several hundred.  I have no idea what set them off!"

She had heard much the same conversation on Rune's side.  Then they were yelling for people to get off the street and for shops to lock up.

The first dozen people neared.  Port Rats.  Panicked Port Rats and two of them carrying children.  That made her think the Rats had not done anything to warrant the hostility of those behind them.  Rune must have felt the same thing, but maybe he just naturally took the side of Port Rats.  Didn't matter.

"In here and out the back door.  Get to the Maze as quick as you can!" Fisher ordered.  

The cafe owner almost protested, but he let them through, and now it was up to Fisher and Rune to keep the others from following.  They took up a spot outside the now closed and locked door and drew their laser pistols.

The crowd slowed.  It did not stop.  However, the area in front of the cafe gave the rioters little room to move in on them.

By the time both the Militia and the Port Guards arrived, Rune was down but still fighting, and Fisher had just kicked another man in the knee with enough power to hear it pop and watch him go down.

But the fight ended in the next couple of minutes.  Dozens went off to jail.  Some went off for medical treatment, including Rune.  Fisher got a ride back to HQ, made her reports, and checked on Rune.  He'd been sent home.

No one knew how the riot had started. Some thought a crazy woman had been yelling something and others took it to mean the Rats had killed someone.  The Port Rats had gotten away and weren't likely to come out of the Maze to make a report.  Several people had been injured, and some businesses were damaged, but no one had died.  Many were going to be in jail for some time.

Two days later, a woman in the tan uniform of the Port Guards showed up and handed over her orders.  Fisher read them, made a few notes, and politely sent the woman back to the Port Tower.

Two hours later, Rune limped in.

She looked up at him.  "Any complaints?" she asked.

"Yeah."  He settled in the chair by her desk.  "I never got my soup."

So they went out for lunch.  The soup was excellent.

They caught a pick-pocket.  

Maybe PR work wouldn't be so bad after all.