‘Hi, Rick,' Pete began. 'I’m working with the police to provide an assessment of the investigation into Elsie’s death last night—’
‘Oh, such a tragic thing, isn’t it?’ Rick spoke with a French-Canadian accent. ‘And I’m so glad someone’s conducting a review of things. The public will want to know what happened – and they’ll want to be sure that justice was truly done. Of course, I’d be happy to help with your inquiries. As a seasoned interviewer, I’m sure my participation in interviews will be absolutely vital to your investigation. I’ll spur people on, making sure they answer all our questions honestly and fully. People who don’t have the training I’ve had can find it difficult to tell when interviewees are twisting the ques—’
‘Sorry, no.’ Pete didn’t like to interrupt, but he suspected Rick would have carried on talking forever. And she definitely had the wrong end of the stick. ‘I’m not asking for your help in interviewing people—’
‘You should be.’
‘—but rather, I need to interview you.’
‘Oh!’ Rick managed to infuse the single syllable with a sense of absolute joy. ‘My goodness. It’s been ages since I was on the other side of the camera. How novel. My, my – how the tables have turned. It would be my pleasure. My ship has an excellent interview suite with all the very best equipment at your disposal.’
Pete had intended to interview Rick in the station’s interview room, but perhaps Rick would be more comfortable in her own space instead. A comfortable interviewee was more likely to be frank than one who was on edge. ‘Sure, that would be good. Can I come now?’
‘Splendid! My ship is the largest and newest of the ones docked with the station. You can’t miss it.’
Pete nodded. ‘Thanks, buddy. I’ll see you in a minute.’
Rick’s ship was lime green and shaped like a brick. A hologram of the Outer Worlds News Network logo danced in three dimensions on top of the ship.
Pete placed his hand to the sensor next to the door. It wouldn’t unlock for him, but it would alert Rick to his arrival. After about a minute, the door slid aside. Rick was almost as tall as Pete. She had a broad, flat face and her body was covered in thick, tightly coiled light pink fur. Conversely, her limbs were artificial.
‘Pete?’ Rick motioned for Pete to come into her ship. ‘Welcome. Come on in. Let me give you a tour of the old home away from home. I’ve got some state-of-the-art tech here – it could prove vital to your investigation. This lovely welcome space here is just the teaser for what’s to come.’ She turned and walked further into the ship – though she didn’t stop talking for so much as a heartbeat. Pete decided he wouldn’t interrupt until they got to the meeting room – he didn’t want to put Rick on the back foot.
‘The interview suite is on the top floor. I think you’ll find it’s everything you’ve ever dreamt of – our resources at OWNN have a touch more wiggle room than the space police’s. And this is our gourmet kitchen-dining room. It may be smaller than you might find in the galaxy’s top restaurants, but I’ve got a non-sapient robot chef that was programmed by some of the most famous chefs. Anything you want, he can make it. Go ahead, tell it what you’d like to eat. Anything at all. You name it.’
Pete held a hand up. ‘I’m sorry, Rick. It’s important we get right into the interview if you don’t mind. I’ve got a limited amount of time to conduct my investigation, so every minute counts.’
