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Confessions of a Dragon: Chapter 7

On the Prowl â€" The Chase of the Case:

Ted informs Jim, the leader of our organization, about the new hire and approves it without needing much convincing. I know that would not be a problem since Jim trusts the head of security and often accept his decisions. The two worked together for over two decades and know each other well. Jim started his career in the military while Ted in law enforcement. Over twenty years ago, when the gates reopened, the government created a highly classified new agency to manage them. Both Jim and Ted became the earliest members of the High Technology Research Investigation Agency (HiTRIA), which houses the Alien Intelligence Research (AIR) and Science and Technology Transfer Integration Group (STTIG) programs.

I just love these government acronyms, even back at the empire they get a lot of usage. I'm a researcher myself, stuck here on earth for the time being as the gates still having issues and not fully functional. I am one of the few dragons that traveled through the gates and now one out of three still on this side.

David heads the engineering team and works hard to ensure transfers between my original and this world working safe again. No one, human or dragon, can get permission to travel through any the gates until the exact cause of the problem comes to light. Only cargo travels now. I feel kinda sorry for David as the pressure getting higher to get them fully functional again. The knowledge of the gateways disappeared along with their mysterious creators all those tens of thousand years ago. So is makes the repair process very hard. Even operating the portals amazing in of itself.

Our newest member Freddie rushes through his orientation, only a couple of days to learn the above information. Things like who's who and our purpose of operating the gates, facilitating transfer of technology through it, regulating cargo and the most important, keeping it safe and secret. Of course that last point Jim and Ted drills into him. No one needs to know what we are doing. Such knowledge would be way too disruptive. Perhaps one day but not now.

Freddie absorbs information all that surprisingly well. He even gets more comfortable around me in spite scaring him so much in our initial meeting. I see him getting more out of his shell. Only when he talks about Mary that he gets teary eyed. But he has a purpose now, to help find her killer. Hopefully before the next victim.

To that end, Ted issues one of the specially modified 2-way radios to Freddie. David and his team made those modifications to not only extend the range of the transmissions but also add super strong encryptions to it. Even with all that security, everyone uses codewords and assume someone is always listening. Ted, as the security chief, makes sure that any possible breakdown in security is reduced to the lowest it can be by implementing those codes. For example, the killer goes by "The Blight" on the radio, Freddie as "The Seeker" and me as "Guiding Angel". Seems Ted has a weird sense of humor n assigning those terms. Yeah, real cute, Ted.

Freddie not exactly happy to go back to the streets but I did give him a special treat. I grab my saddle and harness and give him one of my wonderful dragon ride. Back on my home world, some dragons consider giving rides as a disgraceful thing of a dragon to do and beneath them. I could never understand that as I love to share my gift of flight. I don't get to do it all that often here as I have to stay out of sight. Plus humans here tends to be shy about it.

Since Freddie is now my responsibility as now falls under me, I decide to give him a short ride over the lands surrounding the vast complex. Think of it a tour of sorts. Of course convincing him to take a ride on my back (mostly draped over my shoulders actually) is not the easiest thing to do. But eventually my charm works its magic and off we go. Too bad the flight only lasts less than an hour. I could sense Freddie feels relived after landing though he did enjoyed the flight. I refrain from doing my (in)famous loops and barrels rolls. Not doing those probably adds a lot to the enjoyment. But I do plan on it after all this mess blows over. It would be like a thrill ride, only better. Well, I think so anyway.

Then it is back to business. Ted drives Freddie back to the streets while I go to the new communication room (larger than that cramped recording room).

Here I study the interrogation videos to see if I cloud gleam any more information from them as well as monitor the radios. Even going through the records with a fine toothed comb, Freddie's was the only one that is useful for our case. Others filled with wealth of data about other crimes that will be transcribed for the police. Not exactly admissible to the courts be hopefully provide many leads.

Freddie (The Seeker in radio terms) reports a day later that Mary's pimp might have some possible location of that camera. We hope it contains clues as to who might be the killer. The pimp, Eddie (The Hipster) Jones, cleaned out her apartment and could have the camera in his procession. Ted's police contacts is familiar with Eddie, a low tiered pimp with a brash attitude.

Another fine day for an interview... and a meal:

Of course Eddie is tight lipped when they picked him up. In fact, he boast that nothing will stick as his "girls" won't talk and they had nothing on him. Every question met a stone wall. This means I'll have to personally give Eddie my famous talk.

Eddie freezes in his chair as soon as I walked in, never saw a dragon before much less smiling with a toothy grin. I hear the plops every time a bead of drool slides off mu chin and launch itself toward the ground as I step ever closer to the seated, frozen figure. I tilt my head, "Hello there. I here to asks a few questions. I sure you would provide the answers I seek."

He sits there a few seconds with blinking eyes before he starts laughing. "Nah, you're a robot. Damn, you look so rear too. What did they do? Got some special effects dudes build it? You got me scared for a second. Wow, you coppers tried to play me. Damn, you try anything."

Well, if he thinks I'm a robot, then he is in for a surprise. "Oh, think I'm a robot will you. I'll show you." I lift my tail up high and smashes the table next to Eddie, showing wooden splinters all over the room. He jumped back in his seat from the shock of the blow before regaining his composure.

"Neat trick, robot. You can't fool me. I seen the things they can do in Disneyland. Nothing more than those piston things. Battery operated is all."

I grab one of the table legs and stick it between my jaws. With a loud snap, I bit it clean in half. Then I spit the severed chunk at Eddie's feet. He only looks half convinced by my demonstration so I took a step out to roll in a covered cart I had prepared. Yanking the cloth, I reveal the side of beef very much like the one I used with Freddie. "How many robots you know that can eat meat, like this one here."

I only need to take two very large and noisy bites before Eddie wrinkle his forehead in concern. "Um, y-y-you don't scare me. Just a b-b-big robot."

I lean over and take a big wet lick on the side of his head, leaving a sickly smear of my saliva. That really got him to jump with those deer in the headlights wide eyes look. "Okay, let's get started, shall we. I lover to chat..." I crunches off another wide piece of beef and chew it loudly before making a good show of gulping it down, "but I don't have all day. I just have a few simple questions really. And if I feel you answer them to my satisfaction, I let you go out of here alive. Otherwise, you end up like that slab of meat." I then take yet another showy bite, eyeballing Eddie in an intense glare.

"We know you are Mary's pimp. We have plenty of evidence so no need to deny that. We also know you went to her apartment after her death and clean it out. What we are most interested in is her digital camera." I lean in just an inch from Eddie's face, close enough for him to feel my beef scented breath, "We need that camera. Where is it now?"

Eddie just about crapped his pants. I do smell the sharp odor of human piss as he wets his pants. "I don't k-k-know what you talking ab-b-bout."

"Don't toy with Me, meat!" I yell at the top of my lungs, knocking my reluctant subject down on his ass with a wet squish. The toppled chair I kicked away with my tail and hears it shatter on the far wall. "I don't have all day for this!" I most angerly grab Eddie's puny body with my paws, gripping tight on his upper arms. Then easily picking him into the air while crushing his arms to his side painfully, I declare my displeasure in his stalling. "You will talk, now!"

He whimpers out, "Noooo, I know nothing." I got really angry now, shoving his head into my maw. My wet tongue thrashes his trapped upper body while I tears off his shirt. After poking his screaming head into my throat, I spit him out on the floor with a loud thud which sounds like a sack of potatoes.

"Stop lying or I will bite off your arm, taking it off easier than what I did to my side of beef! My patient is wearing thin. Now talk!" Eddie crawls backward until he bumps against a wall. I follow and poke my claw into his chest, pushing just enough to prick the skin with the sharp tip. Small droplets runs down the bare skin as I ripped off the shirt recently. Beads of sweat mixes with the blood, thinning it out and making it slither down faster. I give my claw a small twist to add emphasis to my insistence for answers.

With me so close, I can sense his resistance breaking down. Robot or not, he knows he is in deep trouble. "okkkkay okay, I took her things. The bitch still owes me. That whore..."

"What did you call her!" I smack him hard with my other paw with enough force to turn his head to the side. I could have broken his neck if I wanted to, but held the full blunt of my blow. "Mary did not deserve what happened to her and a scumball like you should give her more respect."

Eddie holds the side of his head with tears welling in his eyes. He softly replies, "sorry. I won't call her that again."

"Good, now tell me more." I give my claw another twist, reinitiating the small trickle of blood.

"Aggghhhh, you're cutting me open!" He squirms a lot while pressing his back harder against the wall.

"Look, I barely penetrated your skin. I'll rip it all off if you don't tell me what you did with Mary's property."

"I-I-I put everything it in several foot lockers at a storage place. I can get you the key to the room. Just don't kill me. I had nothing to do with her death." Eddie sobbing much more now, begging for his life.

I decide to toy with him a little more before letting him off the hook as it were. I continue to twist my clawtip while getting into his face, still coated with my saliva. "Oh? You didn't directly killed her, but guilty of keeping her being a prostitute. She tried to get out but your kind kept her enslaved to work the streets. And then take almost all of the earnings. You prey on the unfortunate souls, robbing them of their lives. As this day forward, you will stop taking advantage of them, no longer pimping. You hear me?"

Eddie gulps, feeling his life coming to an end. "Nooo, don't kill me!"

"I'll let you go but you will find some honest work. I will be watching and if you involve yourself in any illegal activity, I will know... and I won't be so nice. That I promise."

The ex-pimp sighs a big breath of relief. Tonight he won't become a meal of the dragon. But that thought will always simmer in the back of his mind. He knows it is very unwise to cross a big hungry dragon. "I-I-I will."

"Good. Pay off your workers and leave the area. If I hear anything bad I will come looking for you." I pull my clawtip out and cover the wound with a swath of the torn shirt.

Eddie winces once I pull my paw out. "But what will I do. I been pimping since I was sixteen. That is all I know to do." He looks down at that admission. "I can't even work in a fast food joint."

"I tell you what. I'll talk to a few people and you can become an informant. Now the pay won't be much, but it will at least help go a long way to repay for your sins. I strongly suggest taking some night courses. Find a trade outside of the underworld." I watch him nod, a new chapter of his life lies ahead of him.

But now this one finally is done. The next will feature an intermission with my fine doctor. That will be fun indeed. ^.^