This is Duel: A Tech-Noir Detective Story
Previously: Black Zaelland is dead, and Bridgett is still in captivity. Detective James McElroy needs a plan…
Sol II System, Eden, New Chalcedon. 12:50 Local time
Tyrone and James slammed the garage door shut just as the police rounded the corner. They listened anxiously at the muffled voices in the alley. Shouts, sirens, cars—all coming and inspecting the alley closely.
James made eye contact with Tyrone, who was sweating and resting his head against the garage door. Tyrone winked at him. Got ‘em.
The Garage was a tight squeeze for the car, the motorcycle, and the hovercycle. They stashed Zaelland in the trunk and hoisted DB431 back into the passenger seat and scrambled to get everything into the garage before the police arrived.
James was sure—sure—that, finding nothing, the police would have no choice but to continue on their way. He just hoped the garage didn’t look well used.
The distant, muffled voices resolved as they drew closer to the door, looking for any sign of the gun-fight motorcycle chase that terminated near here, or the gunshots that would have been easily heard from the street.
Eventually, the voices grew more distant, and the sound of cars leaving the scene. James whispered to his friend, “Raise the door just an inch. Don’t make a noise.”
Tyrone nodded, and grabbed the handle and the side of the door, while James clambered to the ground hoping to get a peek outside. James nodded, and Tyrone struggled to slowly and gingerly lift the door. Tyrone heaved but the door was hard to move slowly—it jolted with a SCREECH.
Tyrone and James tensed every muscle in their body, frozen. James peered out.
Nothing—they were gone. James let out a sigh. “All clear, Ty.” He rolled over onto his back, and breathed deeply.
Tyrone let out a big hearty laugh, “Ohhh MAN James what pickles you get me into. My wife is going to hate you.”
“By the time I meet your wife I will probably hate me too.” James quipped. “That was close.”
“Alright so we got the law off our backs, and Zaelland is dead. Is that it? Are you ok? From what DB said earlier I gather it’s not over.”
“Right.” James sat up and rubbed his eyes. “I need to think.” His mind raced. Oh yeah! He shot up to his feet, and rushed over to the passenger side of the car.
“You OK bud?”
“I do not know how you intend for me to help you think.” DB431 said.
“Quiet for a moment.” James said, opening the door and crouching down, checking the floor near DB431’s feet. When he stood back up again, he had his pipe in hand, and his tin of tobacco. He poured the tobacco into the pipe, and pulled a match from his pocket, lighting it carefully. He drew deeply on the pipe, and let out a cloud of smoke into the garage. “Ahh—” clarity.
“Still with the pipe huh? I thought you quit.”
“I’ve got a plan.”
= = =
“Do you want to know what I think of your plan?” DB431 asked James as they careened down the highway, wind blasting through the gunshot hole in the windshield, a worrying noise coming from the crumpled hood of the car.
“No, DB, I don’t particularly want to know. I have a feeling I know already.”
DB responded with silence.
“What, that’s it?”
“You said you did not want to know.”
An awkward silence descended over the pair.
“Ok what—”
“It is a bad plan.” DB431 interrupted.
James laughed, “OK thanks for that. It’s the ONLY plan. I don’t see you coming up with a plan.”
“I am a detective droid not a strategy droid. The scanner on my face is for looking for clues. I do not have any clues as to why you would commit to this bad plan.”
“If I wanted sass I would have gotten a sass droid.”
“There are no sass—”
“I KNOW.”
The road passed underneath them silently.
“DB?”
“Yes, James?”
“I’m glad you’re ok.”
“I can not move, I am not ok.”
“Well not being able to move is a far cry from being dead. You know what I think? I think DB stands for Droid Buddy. Thanks for being my droid buddy, DB431.”
DB431 was silent for a long moment. At length, he said, “That is not what DB stands for—”
“I KNOW. I’m just—I appreciate you, is all I’m trying to say. I am glad you’re not dead.”
“That is a low bar for appreciation.”
“What is with you, are you making up for lost time or what?”
“All I can do is talk and look, I am using my abilities to their maximum extent.”
“I can see that.”
“How far to the Bergenz Brothers facility?”
“We are almost there.”
“Do you think Tyrone—”
“He knows what he’s doing, he’ll be ready.”
The Bergenz Brothers stockyard came into view. James pulled into the parking lot—the same parking lot where this whole ordeal began—and drove a loop around the outside lane surrounding the lot. When he looped around, towards the gate to the stockyard—he gunned the engine and drove hard towards it.
DB431 said, “James—we took the airbags out.”
“I know.”
“This is a bad—”
They crashed into gate to the stockyard. An alarm began to sound.
“James, why did you do this?”
“So we can talk to our old friend, Gerard.” James stepped out of the car, and pulled his pipe out of his pocket. He leaned against the car, and puffed calmly as security guards rushed out of the building.
Thank You For Reading!
This has been DUEL, a tech-noir serial featuring Detective James McElroy and his Detective Droid DB431. This will be a serial publishing every week because I seem to have gotten my act together! There are twelve episodes tentatively planned, and I reserve the right to end the story as soon as its over and no sooner.
If you enjoyed this episode, please let me know with a like, or a comment! If you REALLY like it, tell your friends with a restack? If you’d like to not miss an episode, be sure to subscribe!
I started laughing at "“I am a detective droid not a strategy droid. The scanner on my face is for looking for clues. I do not have any clues as to why you would commit to this bad plan.” and didn't stop for a minute after. DB! and James are so awesome. I love it!
Just waiting for Sara to read this. Fantastic dialogue, Scoot! I want a backstory on how James and DB met, because their relationship seems so interesting.