The Ghost Of Alastair Xero Part I : A Reeves Calder Mystery

Vertz, Holland and Schwartz Employee Anonymous Complaint Chatline. 

*Please be assured. Your complaints are completely anonymous. If they weren’t we would be well within our legal rights to punish unwarranted complainers to the full extent of company policy. Lucky You.

Thank you for being a part of feeding the galaxy!*

Anonymous Employee 637201: Something freaky is going on in J7. People keep saying it’s that Xero guy. 

Anonymous Employee 637208: I don’t know what happened. I just passed out. They said I was gone for an hour. All I remember is the face. Those red eyes. I don’t care if I get bought out. I cant stay here anymore. 

Anonymous Employee 637219: something happened to me in J7. Sanders is completely ignoring it and even docked me an hour's pay. I know the stories sound two pickles short of a printburger but they’re true. It was late shift when I went down the corridor. I suddenly felt cold and dizzy. I saw a face with red eyes. Covered in frost. It came toward me. Next thing I knew it was an hour later. 

Anonymous Employee 637226: J7 is haunted. Nobody else wants to say it but I will. It's Alastair Xero and it’s all VHS’s fault. 

*Thank you for submitting your complaint. We take all feedback very seriously here and want you to know we do our best to provide an economically safe work environment.* 

“Just who the hell are you?” Archie Sanders could be a professional scowler.

“Detective Reeves Calder,” I say with grit and intention, like a blues solo. I extend my hand.

The tall lanky man doesn’t take it, “Detective? This is a corporate system.” 

“Yes, I expect their name will be on the invoice,” I smile annoyingly. 

The Administrator for the Chateau Gliese sits behind an ornate faux wood desk. The administrator's office drips opulence like a melting bourgeois ice cream cone. 

“Uh huh. Either way I don’t see why an overly dramatic employee complaint would warrant such a thing.” 

“I make it a habit not to try and rationalize the decisions of rich people. They’re much more likely to pay me if I don’t.” 

Archie shook his head back and forth.

“I oversee the operation of Gliese’s premier destination. Thousands come from lightyears away to watch the geysers from our climate controlled viewing bubbles.” 

“This is a space station, isn’t everything climate controlled?” 

“Ugh!— That is to say I find this entire premise ridiculous.” 

“Duly noted, Administrator, I'm sure this is just the home office ticking off a box on a form. Both you and I know that deaths not related to documented employee discipline are strictly forbidden in intergalactic code. Best to nip this in the bud now before you have Inter-Gal breathing down your neck.” 

Archie let out the air he’d been keeping in. He slumped a little, seemingly realizing his position, “Where do you intend to start?” 

“Take me to where the people are.” 

“Fine, detective. Let’s see if we can find you a ghost to arrest.” 

~~

Chateau Gliese sat a few thousand kilometers above Gliese Cc. A dwarf planet covered with frozen N2 in the 667 system. Archie didn’t lie. It was the premier destination in that it was the only one. 

“The bulk of the station is the hotel and about a quarter is used for N2 storage and shipping. Chateau Gliese can accommodate over five thousand guests at any given time.” Archie led me down the employee corridors to the cafeteria. 

“How many currently?” 

“Uh—,” he seemed reluctant to answer. 

The corridors were dimly lit and cluttered with all sorts of service and maintenance equipment. 

Archie continued, “Heinrich Vertz established the hotel almost two hundred years ago when he first set eyes on the Crystal Nitrogen Geysers from the bridge of his beloved ship, Kartoffelsalat.” 

“That’s the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard,” Watson, my aristocratic AI assistant, chimed in my earwig. 

“That sounds fascinating,” I responded to Archie. 

“Yes, Mr Vertz’s ship is still here. A crew takes it out weekly to keep it running.” 

“Potato salad, Reeves. The owner of a ten trillion dollar company named his ship after a side dish.” 

I chuckled. 

“Everything okay, detective?” Archie as we stopped at the doors of the eatery. 

“Just thinking of a joke.” 

The room looked like a standard cafeteria. Silver tables and benches lined the center with different food stations around the perimeter. It seemed pretty full. 

“Your arrival itself will be enough to stir the rumor mill. Discretion is paramount, detective.” 

“Me?” I pointed to myself, “You won’t even know I’m here,” I gave him another big annoying smile. 

“Thank you, I appreciate your cooperation.” 

“Discretion is my middle name. To this day I haven’t told a soul that the owner of Zeckscorp likes to be stepped on by women wearing high heels.” 

The administrator’s eyes shot open. I could see a few trickles of sweat drip down his furrowed brow. I stepped forward into the cafeteria. 

“Excuse me, do you have a moment?” I said to a woman walking by. 

“Sorry, shift starts in five minutes,” she said quickly and hurried off. 

I tried to approach a few more to no avail. 

“Hmmm,” I glanced back at Archie who seemed to be enjoying my failure, “no worries, I got this,” I walked further to one of the center tables, shooting another look and giving him a wink. Then I climbed on top of the table, “Attention employees of Vertz, Holland and Schwartz! My name is Detective Reeves Calder!” 

The noisy crowd was silenced instantly. I know how to speak to the back of the room. Archie was most certainly scowling a hole through my back. I’m sure glad we haven’t invented laser eyes yet. I continued; 

“I’m an independent investigator. I’m here about the recent incidents in corridor J7. If anyone has any information regarding said incidents I would like to talk to you. Totally confidential.”

I watched the crowd whisper to each other. I noticed a tall dark chiseled man eyeing me suspiciously. He wore a blue warehouse uniform with the sleeves rolled up. 

I continued, “If everyone who saw a ghost and passed out could line up right here.” 

I motioned in front of me like a Girl Friday. Heads zipped back and forth as everyone waited to see what would happen. 

“Totally confidential folks!”

Watson piped in over the earwig, “Could you for once, be a professional?” 

“I could. I even have a tie saved for that occasion— but not today,” I whispered back. 

After a short while a short ginger woman stood up and walked toward me. Freckles dotted her nose. How do you get freckles in space? She stood silent and awkward looking at the floor. 

I waited a few more moments then turned to get down. I noticed a handsome burly onlooker walking in my direction. I elegantly slipped off the table and fell to the floor. 

I felt two flesh tree trunks catch me inches from the floor. I felt like a schoolboy again. I really need to get off my ship more often. 

“Easy there bucko,” the man said as he gently embraced me. I promise there’s a point to this. 

“Oh gosh! Thank you so much!” If I were in a hoop skirt I would have been waving a fan in front of my face, “You saved my life,” I held out my hand, “Detective Reeves Calder.”

The man took it, “you don’t do warrants do you?”

“I’m not here for anybody alive if that's what you mean,” 

He laughed, “Charlie Kilroy, nice to meet you.” 

His forearms were covered in scratches and red irritation marks. 

“Can I buy you a beer later? As a thank you?” 

“I never turn down a brew,” he said 

“I can second that— three hours work for you?” 

“Ah— I’m gonna be in the warehouse until at least one thirty, don’t suppose you’ll be up that late?” 

“We’re in space. Might as well be two o clock in the afternoon. I’ll meet you there. 

I tipped my hat and then beckoned the ginger to follow. We started back to Archie with her trailing slightly behind. 

“Did you come out and not tell me? And did you just make a date in the middle of an investigation?”

I whispered, “No, Watson. If you didn’t notice, I only got one hotel employee to talk— now I have a warehouse worker. Besides— I am not in that guys league.” 

The ginger caught up as I approached the administrator. 

“What was that!” His hands were balled up at his sides. 

“Investigating.” 

“Investigations are supposed to be quiet.” 

“My last investigation could be heard by two of the planet's three moons, I consider this a whisper,” I turned to the woman, “Thank you for agreeing to talk, Ms?” I held out my hand yet again. 

“Velouria Drake,” she accepted. Her skin was rough but you could tell she was trying. She smelled like she bathed in lavender. 

I returned my attention to Archie, “Is there somewhere we can have some privacy? I’d hate to make a scene.” 

Through his scowliest scowl yet he answered, “I’ll get you a conference room.”

~~

Velouria Drake looked bored and scared at the same time. She fidgeted with her bottle of water while avoiding eye contact. I watched her shift her weight back and forth as she sat across from me. Some would read that as suspicious. 

To be clear, I suspected a living perpetrator. 

“How long have you worked here, “Ms Drake?” 

“About two years, my contract’s for six,” she barely opened her mouth when she talked but I had no problem understanding her. (Must be a hell of a ventriloquist).

“Any plans after that?” 

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

Not so nervous after all, eh? 

“Not much. I’m just trying to make you comfortable. If you want to just dive right in I can skip the small talk.” 

She pursed her lips and closed her eyes for a moment, “I’m a bubble attendant. I did housekeeping until recently.” She opened them. Calmer now. 

“I assume that means you’ve been in J7?” 

“Yeah, a few times. It’s closer to the sleeping quarters. It’s more like a maintenance tunnel so it’s darker— which considering the rest of the service tunnels, is saying something.” 

“They do seem to keep staff areas pretty dim.” 

“For reactor safety they say,” she mimed quotes, “all penny pinching if you ask me,” she put her hand over her mouth in shock. 

“Don’t worry, Ms Drake. I’m an independent contractor who’s just here to find a ghost. My clients only need to know what pertains to that. Anything else, they can go flux’ themselves.” 

A guttural snort exploded from the speckle faced woman, “You don’t act like any kind of police I’ve ever talked to.” 

“I only worry about what I get paid to worry about. And I try to only take jobs that make really nasty people worry. You don’t seem like a very nasty person. Did you have an experience in the corridor?” 

Her face got serious again, “My, uh, friend did. About a month ago.” 

“Mmhmm?”

“Yeah. She was running late from her break. So she went through J7.”

“You’re friend did?” 

“Yes, yes. She said it must have been a little after twelve thirty— she was about halfway down the hallway when she started feeling weird.”

“Weird how?”

I could see the pulse quicken in her neck. 

“She said she felt dizzy and it was hard to breathe,” she took a deep breath. I could tell she was there. 

“Take your time,” I said, waiting for her to get to the point. 

“The room got darker and colder. I— she said she heard ringing and then—.” 

I didn’t say anything. Just nodded my head. 

“She saw something.” 

“What?” I leaned in close. 

She looked unsure. Looking around even though she knew we were alone. 

“It’s— it’s just silly,” she chuckled, “I mean, you’d have to be two pickles short of a printburger.” 

My ears perked up at that. I gently placed my hand on top of her and looked at her reassuringly, “What did you see, Velouria?” 

Through half tears that hadn’t dropped, “Alastair Xero.” 

“Sir, I’ve checked the database for his name once I was connected. He worked here from twenty eight thirty to sixty five. All it says is that the contract was terminated ahead of schedule.”

“Interesting,” I stroked my chin, “who is this Alastair Xero?” 

“Some guy who died in an accident like a hundred years ago,” Full tears stained her face but her expression looked more bewildered than sad, “This is stupid! I don’t know why I put myself out here. They’re going to end up selling my contract to a scrappin’ Motel Six in some backwater system!”

The perpetual crap shoot of contract life. In the end, the house always wins. 

“I’m not going to let that happen,” I said assuredly. 

I couldn’t actually guarantee the company wouldn’t declare her and everyone else who was attacked a loony. The way the system worked any one of them could be bought out by a competitor and shipped off to a mining colony. 

Unless I proved them right. 

“Do you know if anyone is selling drugs? I don’t care if you use. Maybe you got caught in the middle of a drug smuggle.”

“Not anybody I know. Getting caught using can get you bought out. Getting caught selling—,” she sliced an imaginary line across her throat. 

“Do you know many of the N2 workers?” 

“Some. You see the same faces obviously but there’s a lot of staff between the two businesses. I wouldn’t claim to know everyone.” 

“Charlie Kilroy?” 

“That lughead? He gets drunk every other Tuesday and offers to pay off any woman’s contract who’ll go back to his quarters.” 

“Has he ever been true to his word?” 

She gave me an incredulous look and a scowl that could rival Archie, “Not that I’d know! He’s a jackass. And who would have that many unicreds anyway?”

Who indeed. 

“No offense. Needed to be asked. One last question. Did you see any medical personnel after the incident? I’m sorry— did your friend?” I winked. 

“The night nurse looked at me for five minutes. She don’t even use a scanner. I told her I had had trouble breathing. She said for me to breathe from an oxygen tank for a bit and get back to work.” 

“Hmm,” I stood and tipped my Jeffcap, “Thank you for your time, Ms Drake. I’ll be sure to let Archie know you were totally helpful and a model employee,” I started for the exit. 

“That’s it? You don’t think I’m crazy?” 

I turned to see her pleading face, “I try not to think if I can help it. I have a computer for that.”

~~

“Your flirtatiousness was much more natural with that Charlie fellow.” 

I turned back and forth in the command chair of the Sir Arthur, “I wasn’t flirting with either of them. Especially not the rock monster. He was sizing me up the entire time I was talking.”

“With that display I seriously doubt he was the only one. Regardless, what’s your plan now?”

“J7— in all the complaints we went through that reported time of incident they all responded sometime between twenty four twenty and forty. I’ll get there at midnight just to be safe.” 

“So you plan to get knocked out?” 

“I’ll be wearing my biomonitor the whole time as well as a camera,” I started to gather my things as we talked. Clipping the tech on my lapel, “No one’s been injured so far so the perp isn’t looking for blood.” 

“If enthusiastic stupidity were a sport you’d be the top contender.” 

“You have a better idea?” I asked as I laid down for a power nap before my stakeout. 

“Perhaps placing surveillance equipment and remaining in safety?” 

“You’ve seen all the information I have. None of their tech recorded so much as a burp in that corridor. They probably have some sort of jamming tech. I’m hoping our stuff won’t be affected but I can’t rely on that— I need my eyes. 

The stout British AI didn’t answer for a bit. 

“You will be careful though. Won't you, sir? I mean I’d hate to see the Sir Arthur being sold to some ruffian, present company excluded.” 

“Love you too, Watson. Wake me at eleven thirty.” 

~~

Corridor J7 was a small off branch of the main corridor system. Used to ferry employees behind guests' eyes it was a maze into itself with lots of connecting service tunnels. The station had lots of nooks and crannies. 

I waited until just a little after 2400 and entered the tunnel. It was definitely dimmer than the main hallways. Dim enough that the very end looked pitch black. I stood waiting, ready to make it seem as if I was walking down the hall casually when I heard scuffling from far off. It echoed through the corridor in a menacing way.

I could see shapes coming from the far end. Faint outlines moving slowly and methodically. The scuffle of something being dragged. 

Suddenly the room felt as cold as space. I had to brace myself as the floor started to pulsate. It became hard to breathe. I gasped for air and dropped to my knees, looking for cleaner air near the floor. 

The room got darker and darker. I could only see hazy images in front of me. A frost covered red eyed man. Moving as if it was floating. Unnaturally fast. As my eyes closed and I fought for breath in the cold corridor I heard the loud clanging of chains against the ground. 

I didn’t feel any pain at all. 

“Watson! It’s Alastair Xer— Xe—.” 

To be continued