DETECTIVE MELINDA KATIAMA
Being one of few female detectives on a mostly male detective team wasn't easy for an Earth woman like me. Not only was I good at my job, I was also strong and deserved to be given the promotion that I had been working for over the last four years. Now it was all coming down to this one meeting with my captain, Captain Smith.
He was never on my side, or so it seemed, and I was anxious for the meeting knowing that he was once again going to deny me what I really wanted, a position on the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency as a field agent. The position was everything to me. It was something that I had trained for since I’d joined the police force ten years before. Now I wanted to be transferred from Earth investigations to intergalactic investigations. These cases were limited to an elite task force and I had undergone all the training necessary, including space travel training and intergalactic diplomacy policies. I was the best woman for the job, but something told me the captain would end up picking a lesser man, as he always did anytime an open slot came up in the task force.
"Detective Melinda Katiama, please, sit down," he said to me as I walked into his twelfth floor office.
"Thank you, Captain Smith," I said as I took a seat in front of him in my jeans, boots, a black leather jacket that hid my gun holster, a button up shirt, and my long black hair pulled into a ponytail high on my head.
"How many times, Melinda, have you applied for this promotion?" he said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. His beady eyes squinted at me and his office smelled like cigars.
"Three time before; this is my fourth time, Captain," I said to him.
"And each time you have been passed up, and yet you still continue to try. Why is that?" he asked.
"This is what I've always wanted. Doing detective work in space is the reason I joined the police force in the first place. I will never stop trying," I said to him.
He was quiet for a long time and then he said, “Intergalactic space cases are nothing like they are on Earth. Trust me, I know. The crime bosses and space pirates do not abide by any rules but their own. There is no SWAT team for us to send in to save you in a moment of trouble; the only thing you have is your partner and your wits, and yes… it is harder for a woman," he said to me.
I narrowed my almond-shaped, brown eyes at him in anger and said, “That is merely perspective, Captain," I replied.
"No, it is fact. There are many alien races that do not think a female, no matter what race, deserves the respect and equality that human females are shown. Because of that, it is more dangerous for a human female than a human male in space; there is no working around that."
"Well I've worked around the treatment here on Earth; I'm sure I could work around it in space," I said.
Captain Smith laughed and said, “That is true, Melinda. In all honesty, I have called you in because of a unique intergalactic case that could use the perspective of a female to solve it."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Captain?" I said anxiously as my heart began to pound and I realized that he was inching towards giving me the position. Could it really be? After all these years of trying, it was finally coming true. I held my breath, waiting for him to respond. It seemed like years instead of seconds before he finally uttered the words that I had longed to hear for so damn long.
"Detective Katiama, the position is yours. Welcome to the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency."
I jumped up from my seat to my feet excited. I pushed my hand out for him to shake. “Thank you so much, Captain Smith. You will not be disappointed. I am married to this new position," I said enthusiastically. “I promise to throw everything I have into this case and my new promotion. I simply can’t believe it is finally happening. I will not let you down, sir.”
"Clear out your desk on the first floor and come up to the twelfth floor. You will be issued your assignment today. Now get out of here," he said with a nod of his head toward the door.
I was grinning from ear to ear. It had finally happened for me, after all those years and so much training. I barely had a life outside of work because I was completely devoted to making sure I became part of the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency. It was all that I ever wanted, and now it was mine.
All of this is what I had sacrificed so much for and the reward felt great. I was in a daze as I stepped into the elevator going back down to the first floor to clear out my desk. How envious my colleagues would be. I could not stop smiling.
Ding! The elevator rang as the doors opened on the first floor; I started to step out before stopping cold. I was not expecting a giant wall to be standing in front of me. I stared straight ahead into a strong torso with six-pack abs that rippled underneath a very tight, gray material. I knew before I tilted my head up, passing a broad chest to a thick neck up to a square jaw into eyes with a vertical pupil, that it was a Drackon warrior. As my eyes met his light-gray eyes with a black vertical pupil, his eyes moved down toward my chest. But he wasn't looking at me indecently; instead, his eyes were on my badge.
"A female officer? The things you humans allow," he said to the guys in suits standing next to him. They were top administrators of the task force and neither of them defended me. Instead, they sort of laughed amongst each other. One of them put his hand on the elevator doors to hold it open as the Drackon warrior looked at me and said, “Are you stepping out? Or is there a mystery to be solved inside of it, detective?"
The men laughed at his sarcastic remark. I narrowed my eyes at him as I squeezed out of the elevator beside him while saying, “Maybe if there wasn't a brick wall standing in front of me, I could step out, or do you think all females are invisible, enough to pass through walls?"
I heard the Drackon, as well as the men, laughing as I walked away from them toward my department. I was angry and my Latina feistiness was antagonizing me to turn around and slap him in the face, but I told myself, “Calm down, Melinda. You just got the promotion of a lifetime; you don't want to ruin that with a quick satisfying slap."
The Drackon warrior made my blood boil and had ruined the high I had from getting the promotion. Those damn Drackon warriors with their good looks, confidence, arrogance, and of course the mystical ability to shift into dragons, were annoying to me. They were one of the reasons why I wanted to join the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency.
At first when I had finally met the weredragon creatures, I was fascinated and turned on by them like any other Earth woman, but over time, meeting one arrogant jerk after another, I knew that I had acquired a skill that allowed me to not be seduced by them, which many human females were not able to do. I considered this special skill aiding my ability to investigate cases involving the Drackon without bias. I still saw their extremely hard physiques and eight-foot tall stature as attractive, but I didn't let it blind me. Just as in the case on the elevator, I was able to overlook that quality as soon as he opened his mouth and showed his true colors as a Drackon warrior, the race that treated women in a submissive position. “What a jerk," I said under my breath as I grabbed a box and set it on top of my desk.
"Who? Captain Smith? Melinda, did you just get fired?" Alfonso, my former partner, said to me.
"What? No, not him. Someone else. In fact, I have great news," I said with a big smile.
"Don't tell me! You got the promotion?!" he asked enthusiastically.
"I got it!" I shouted.
"Yes! Finally! Damn, chica! No one deserves this more than you. It's about time those idiots saw that you are better than anyone they have promoted," he said, giving me a high-five.
"Thank you, Alfonso. It's nice to know you are backing me up," I said as I grabbed my notebooks and put them in the box.
"Always got your back, chica, even when you are upstairs or out there in space… know that you can contact me for support on the ground floor," he said to me.
"You know, there is something already," I said to him quietly.
"Of course there is. You wouldn't be Detective Katiama if there wasn't. Lay it on me," he said as he sat on top of my desk, ready to lend an ear.
"Well, it was something that the captain said; it has been bothering me."
"That scumbag didn't make sexual favors part of your promotion, did he? I'll punch him in the face," he said to me.
"No, no, no. Nothing like that. You know that if he had, I wouldn't be here right now. I would be in handcuffs and the captain would be in the hospital," I said smiling.
"All right, what then?" he asked.
I looked around to see if anyone was listening in on our conversation before I continued. “He said that he had a case that could use a woman's perspective. It is the main reason for my promotion. Do you think it is what I think it is?" I whispered in his ear.
"About the kidnappings? The abductions?" Alfonso responded.
"Exactly," I said to him.
"Why do you think that?" Alfonso asked.
"It is just a feeling. You know how much I have tried to get in on that case. But because most of the females have been kidnapped in space…" I said to him.
Alfonso finished my sentence, “The I.S.F.A. won't let you touch it."
"Yes, but now I am part of the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency, so I should have access to those case files about the kidnappings. I should have clearance."
"Maybe. But don't start your new job by poking your nose in case files that you are not cleared to handle. That is a way to get fired."
"Yes, but you know my theory, and I think I am right."
"Yes, you think that the kidnappings are orchestrated here on Earth by humans before the women are even sent into space. But there is no proof," he sent to me.
"How do we know that? We have never been able to look at the evidence, or at least not more than just what is in the newspapers about the stolen women. Something is not right, I will tell you that," I said to him, putting the last of my belongings into the box.
"That's going to die," Alfonso said.
"What?" I asked him.
"Your plant. It is going to die when you are gone in space for months. Who is going to water that thing? I don't have clearance to be on the twelfth floor. Even your plant is going to miss me," he said with a smile.
"I think you are right. Here, keep it. It will need an Earthling to look after it," I said laughing.
"Melinda… are you sure? You love this plant," he said, grabbing it out of my hands.
"Yes, and I love our friendship. Think of it as a friendship gift. I should get going upstairs. I get my new assignment today and I'm not sure when," I said, picking up the box and walking towards the elevator.
"Good luck. You are going to crush it; I know it. Let me know if you need anything," he said to me as I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then walked to the elevator. I looked back at the department floor that was my home for years. Even though I would be seeing it again, it was no longer my workstation. A huge smile came over my face as I entered the elevator, ready to begin the job that I had worked for my entire life. It was all happening.
The elevator doors opened and Denise from human resource was standing there, waiting for me.
“Welcome to the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency, Detective Katiama. My name is Denise, and if you will follow me, I will get you set up with your badge and issued weapons, gear, and, of course, the fun paperwork. Follow me to your desk where you can lay down your personal items. You are in luck: the available space is near the window," she said as she pointed out a desk that was against the glass walls. It was an awesome view of the city from the twelfth floor.
I smiled and said, “This is awesome. Thank you." I placed my box on my desk and then followed her into a hallway.
"I already have an issued weapon,” I said as I grabbed my leather jacket and pulled it open, showing her my pistol in its holster.
Denise laughed and said, “That won't work in space. The I.S.F.A. requires you to carry a blaster gun that works in space. You did train with them before, did you not?" She stopped walking.
"Yes, I have. I just assumed they were issued before a mission in space," I said to her.
"That used to be the deal until one of our agents had to stow away on a ship in the heat of the moment. Of course, he was unprepared because a good detective does not wait around to get a weapon issued, so he went into space on an enemy ship without a blaster gun. After that case, the I.S.F.A. decided that all agents will carry a blaster gun at all times, just in case," she said as I followed her into a room.
"Right, of course," I said as I followed her into the human resource office.
"This pack of paperwork is yours. For now, just fill out these three forms and take the rest back to your desk, as it takes quite a while. But I need these three forms before we can continue," she said to me.
"I am supposed to get my assignment today. Did they tell you anything about that?" I said as I quickly signed the forms that would give me my gear and weapons.
"No, assignments are highly classified and only the captain and the higher ups know who gets assigned what. I just deal with the paperwork and gear," she said to me.
I continued filling out the forms and she continued talking about herself. She was a very girly girl with her red hair piled high on her head and a loose bun. She wore a very tight business suit consisting of a miniskirt and fitted blazer. She was elaborating on her duties as a human resource secretary when something she said caught my attention.
“But I would much rather be in guest relations than in human resource. Had I known that guest relations not only act as concierge to high profile clients, but also act as concierge to the Drackon warriors involved in cases, I would have definitely applied for a guest relations position. I am on a waiting list to be transferred," she said.
I looked up from my paperwork and said, “What do you mean act as concierge to the Drackon warriors?"
"You know… if a Drackon comes in to see the captain or any other detective, they need to be greeted and offered water, refreshments, food, and shown where to be seated and wait. The normal things that guest relations take care of for other clients that come in with a case, but this is obviously more exciting because… well, you know," she said.
"No, I don't," I said, arching an eyebrow at her.
"Because they are so damn hot," she whispered to me. Then she continued, “If I'm going to have to work, I might as well have some eye candy to look at and flirt with. And boy do they know how to flirt. Anytime I have spoken to one when they come into the office, I am left overheated and anxious to the point where I have to excuse myself to the ladies room and, you know... relieve myself," she said smiling.
"Oh, I see," I said, smiling as though I agreed with her even though I did not. Sure, the Drackon were extremely attractive, but it did not give me the same effect that it gave Denise.
"Did you see the one that came in today by any chance? Wow. He may be the most attractive one I have seen yet. I wouldn't mind if he took me for a ride, and I don't mean flying," she said with a wink. “I spoke to Lydia in guest relations and was so jealous of her interaction with him. She said that just bringing him a bottle of water made her panties wet! Isn't that something?"
"Yes, it is. I'm done with these three pages. Now, about my gear and weapons," I said, enthusiastic about getting my gear and changing the subject. I did not need to hear about every woman's infatuation with the jerk Drackon I had encountered.
Moments later, I was in my new, thin, bulletproof suit underneath my clothes, with a blaster in my hand. I was inside the underground firing range where I was testing out my new weapon. I had a grin from ear to ear knowing that I was being prepped to go on an intergalactic mission.
"Badass," I said after firing my blaster and hitting the center target dead on.
"You are a natural," the firing instructor said.
"Thank you, sir," I said to him. After I was done and had my new holster on that carried my pistol on one side and my blaster on the other, I was all set to go back to my desk and wait for my new assignment. Maybe I would even have time to look through the files, using my new I.S.F.A. ID to get into the system. Perhaps I could find the case files for the kidnapped females.
I sat down at my station and logged in. I was about to try digging into the case of the missing female brides when I heard, “Detective Katiama!"
I turned to see Lieutenant Kendall gesturing at me. “Yes, Lieutenant?" I said.
"You are up on deck! The captain wants to see you," he said.
"Right away, sir," I said as I grabbed a pen and a small pocket notepad and stuffed it into my back pocket. I didn't want to look underprepared or overprepared. I didn't know how the I.S.F.A. cases would work. My heart was pounding in my ears as I grew excited about my first case. I walked very fast as I could not get there fast enough.
"Detective Katiama, all settled in?" the captain asked as I walked into the conference room.
"Yes, Captain, all geared up and ready to go," I said as I stood waiting for direction.
"Detective, as I said before, this case is being assigned to you because you are one of the best female detectives that we have. I think it would do the case good to get a female perspective, considering the victims are all female," the captain said.
As soon as he said it, I knew that I was right: it was the kidnapping case. Female brides had been disappearing for over six months now and no one seemed able to stop it or find them.
The captain walked back and forth in the conference room as he continued talking. “I assume you have heard of the very famous case of the kidnapped brides?"
"Yes, sir, I am familiar with the occurrences, but not the details of the case," I said to him.
"Of course not, because that case is classified. Now you shall have access to it and anything else you need. Lieutenant Kendall is the lead on this case, but you are the lead out in the field, you and your partner… new partner, that is," he said.
I furrowed my eyebrows at him as I said, “I wasn't aware that I would be getting a partner. Sir, I thought I.S.F.A. agents worked alone out in the field?"
"They do. But in this very special instance, you shall have a partner. You see, Melinda, yesterday a very important female was stolen away. Katie Cormick is the daughter of Diplomat Cormick, and she is betrothed to a very important commander."
"I have not heard about this Katie Cormick. There's nothing on the news about it, or even chatter in the office," I said.
"Yes, that is because it has been kept quiet as long as it possibly can. Something like this would cause more outrage than we need."
"I do not understand, Captain. So far the females that have vanished are females registered to marry a Drackon. They have vanished while in space in route to Mooreah, or before they are set to depart Earth. Was this diplomat’s daughter on a bride ship? It doesn't seem like a diplomat’s daughter would be in a bride ship with the rest of the registered females?" I asked.
"You are correct. She was not supposed to be there. You see, Katie Cormick is betrothed to a very high commander and she was merely saying goodbye to one of her girlfriends at the port when she vanished. Five women vanished with her; all and were registered to be married to Drackon warriors, and they are nowhere to be found," the captain said.
"And the commander? Is he in the city? Has he been questioned?" I asked him.
"The commander is here. He just arrived today. He is adamant about being involved in searching for his bride to be. He is going to be your partner on this case. Here he comes now," the captain said.
I looked through the blinds on the glass windows that faced the hallway. I could not believe my eyes: it was a Drackon warrior. Not just any Drackon warrior: it was the jerk from the elevator. I turn to the captain and said, “A Drackon? She is betrothed to a Drackon commander? You failed to mention that part, Captain," I said to him.
"He is not just any Drackon. He is a very high ranking commander in the Special Intelligence Forces of the Drackonian army. It is the equivalent to the CIA here on Earth. He is one of their best and brightest in the intelligence forces and their king, King Jarith Rykor, has demanded that this Drackon be involved in the search for his bride. Our government has granted that wish and we will comply with it. That means you will comply with that, Detective Katiama. Is that clear?"
"Captain Smith, are we ready to get started yet, or will we continue to burn time so that my bride’s captor can have all the time in the world to get as far away from us as possible? I swear the way you do things here on Earth would get absolutely nothing done on Mooreah," the Drackon warrior said as he strolled into the room, taking command of it and almost taking up all the space.
"Commander Handor, this is the detective I was telling you about. Meet our best female detective, Detective Katiama."
"You again?" he said as he laughed. I crossed my arms in front of my chest in order to keep them from punching him.
"You are acquainted?" the captain asked.
"We exchanged words," was all I said as Commander Handor and I stared each other down.
"Good. Lieutenant Kendall will be right in to brief the both of you. Good luck, agents," the captain said as he walked out of the room.
"You can't be serious about sticking me with a female!" Commander Handor shouted out to the captain as he walked out of the room. I narrowed my eyes at his response, but he was right: I would not get any work done with this arrogant buffoon around. I followed the captain out of the room quickly. As I caught up to him I said, “Captain, a word. I do not need a partner for this case. Let me handle it on my own. This arrogant Drackon is only going to be in the way."
"Detective Katiama, that arrogant Drackon knows his way around the galaxies, and you do not. He knows his ways around the intergalactic crime rings, and you do not. You need him, and he is more motivated than anyone to solve this crime spree. He has a personal stake in it, and that makes him a great asset. Now our government wants a Drackon involved simply because it rules out any funny business on our part. Don't you see? He is a watchdog. They have sent him to make sure we are not covering up something. Now go back in there and do your duty, or I will find someone else that will," he said as he walked away from me.
I sighed and then dragged myself back into the conference room. As I did so, I saw that Commander Handor was sitting on the desk with his arms crossed over his chest, giving me a grin as he said, “You cried to daddy? I don't need you hanging around; I can do this on my own. I don't know why I let the king talk me into waiting around for the I.S.F.A. forces. She is my bride, after all, and I am the one that should be seeking her out. I should have left as soon as it happened," he said.
Yes, he should have. Anyone that was madly in love would have thrown caution and government to the wind and gone after her. I turned to him and looked at him suspiciously, “Yes, Commander Handor, why did you not leave?" I asked him. “Are you hiding something? Why did you not throw caution to the wind and take off after your bride?”
"I had orders from my king. Us Drackon do not take that lightly; we are very loyal to our king," he said in a tone that was different from what I had heard thus far. It almost startled me, but it was refreshing to see that he had a serious side instead of the sarcastic jerk that he had shown me so far. His eyes were focused on me with a hard stare. It was like he was a soldier at attention, even though he was sitting on top of the table. He was taking his warrior duty and loyalty to his king very seriously.
"I take orders seriously as well. You should know that I have every intention of finding these women; it is very important to me," I said to him. He looked at me with narrowed eyes and opened his mouth about to say something when the lieutenant walked in, preventing him from saying whatever the hell he was going to say. I was sure it was some sort of put down.
"Let's make this brief so that both of you can get on with the assignment," the lieutenant said as he slid one black folder to each of us. We both opened them and began to look through them while the Lieutenant talked.
“You both leave on the Simeon in forty-eight hours. Your destination is Sala, the Drackon planet that neighbors Mooreah. We have gathered intelligence and all signs point to that planet as a possible location for the criminals responsible for these vanishings. You will infiltrate the crime ring and see what you can find out. You will gather information and report it back to me. Then we will go from there. Again, you leave in forty-eight hours. All the information that we have on the vanishings you will find in this folder. Do not let these folders out of your sight, as they are classified. I'm available for questions after you have read every piece of information in there. The conference room is yours today and tomorrow. Get to work, agents," he said. Then he left the conference room.
I looked at Commander Handor and he looked at me. We were both quiet and then we sat down and began to read, digging into the evidence and taking notes. I was surprised that his ego was allowing him to sit with me, a female, while he read the information. His eyes were focused, and the light-gray color was fascinating to me. I had to pull my gaze away from his eyes and focus on the information in front of me. As soon as I did so, I felt heat on my body, as though I was being stared at by him. I quickly glanced up to see that Commander Handor was looking at me.
"Can I help you with something?" I asked in order to distract myself from the nervous feeling that my body was suddenly sending to my brain. Damn it.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. You were staring at me, Detective," he said as he looked at me.
"I was merely surprised that you would actually be doing the work. I half expected you to start complaining that the information should be read to you. That you were too good for this," I said, pointing to the information sheets in front of me.
"I don't allow room for error. By letting someone else read the information to me or describe it to me, there would be a risk that they might leave something out. There is a risk that something could be lost in the translation of information that I would only see with my own eyes. Now if you're done criticizing the way I'm working, can I get back to looking at the information? Or would you rather continue to cluck away like a chicken, like most females do?"
"Ugh! How dare you speak to me that way!"
"I only speak from experience," he said to me. “And you are proving me right by continuing this conversation instead of working the way you should be," he said as he looked back down at the notes in front of him and continued to work.
I let out a series of huffs and moans, but he was right, I was wasting time. I put a lid on my anger and moved my eyes back to the work. I couldn't let his arrogant ways throw me off from the work even though the more he opposed me, the more I found myself becoming attracted to him. It didn't help that his long brown hair fell in front of his eyes just a little with his head down looking at the notes. His large form barely fit in the chair and his broad shoulders were almost the length of the end of the table where he sat.
I was doing it again, damn it. I was staring at him. I pulled my eyes away and began to read the notes and shifted my body to the side just a little so that if I looked up, I was looking at the wall and not him. This case was not going to be easy with him involved, and with my attraction to him growing by the second.