Handsome’s name was Jeff. Age twenty-five. What I was most surprised to hear was that he was the sheriff of Aslaville. He wasn’t a police officer. He was a ranking officer in a vigilante group. Aslaville’s infrastructure isn’t exactly complete, so citizens were responsible for protecting themselves. That’s why there were no restrictions on guns and when they couldn’t settle a situation on their own, they went to the sheriff. That’s why the citizens chose Jeff as the best man for the job. Oh, and they were so right! This kind of gorgeous man could do no wrong. I mean, I would elect him for sheriff, too. Though I really didn’t know anything about him, besides the fact that he was hot.
Learning we were WWWA Crime TCs, Jeff took us to his office to give us a tour. Truthfully, I wanted to go with Jeff to his office by myself, but I couldn’t really leave Yuri and Mugi to loiter around by the car. I had to let them come, too. I made sure to set the ground rules with Yuri. Jeff was mine. I saw him first.
Yuri was quiet and hunched over at the news.
His office was on the first floor of a small building. The structure itself looked pretty flimsy, but naturally it had a solid-looking door.
There were no windows facing the street. That’s how they make a sheriff’s office.
We parked right out in front, and Jeff led us into his office. It was a small space cramped with Jeff’s desk, a sofa, a gun locker, and a data console filling up the room. But it didn’t seem disorganized or cluttered. This must have reflected Jeff’s personality. He knew how to clean up after himself.
The far wall was transparent. On the other side was a small room with a bed. On the bed a red-faced old man lay asleep, snoring loudly.
“That’s the detention cell,” said Jeff.
The old man had passed out in front of the Sheriff’s office stonedrunk around lunchtime, and the only option was to toss him in the cell, Jeff told us. He was so nice. The see-through wall was bullet-proof glass, ten centimeters thick. Naturally the holding cell didn’t have any windows, either.
Jeff directed us to the couch. He took a seat in a chair in front of his desk and casually crossed his long legs. Oh baby… he could do no wrong in my eyes. He really looked like a movie star.
“You really took me by surprise earlier,” I said, selecting my words carefully.
“I thought you were trying to kill us,” Yuri sputtered out. I pretended to adjust my seating as I elbowed Yuri in the kidney. Yuri kept quiet.
“I really should apologize,” said Jeff. “Here shoot-outs are forgivable. As are pursuits with the sheriff. It’s my job to make sure things don’t get out of hand, like the beam that clipped you, and that’s my fault. I didn’t do my job. I am sorry. That’s all I can tell you.”
Jeff bowed his head. I reflexively did the same.
“No, no, it’s all right. I wasn’t hurt. And thanks to that we were able to meet each other. I consider it a stroke of good luck.”
Jeff beamed an invigorating smile. Oh, so nice. That grinning face made my heart throb.
“So, about this guy, Landis, do you know where we could find him?” Yuri piped in.
Are you—Are you completely nuts? Did you forget who called dibs on him? I ask the questions. He is with me. I am also the one who gets to gaze at him. Pull it together, you dizzy birdbrain!
I went to pound Yuri’s side with my elbow. But Yuri was no amateur. She amazingly anticipated my move and leaned forward. My elbow met air, and the momentum of my missed strike knocked me off balance. Unh… how embarrassing.
Fortunately Jeff was deep in thought over the answer to Yuri’s question, and didn’t notice my failed attack. Thank heavens! Nothing to be ashamed of.
“Since the WWWA has been called in, this seems to be quite a big deal. But unfortunately, I don’t know anything about what happened,” said Jeff, lifting his head after a few moments of consideration.
“I don’t know Landis personally, but if I look his name up, I should be able to find him. After my night patrol, I will try and track him down.”
“Really? But, you must be so busy…” I said, setting my balled hands under my chin and opening my eyes as big as I could. From behind me Yuri didn’t say a word, but from the tremble in her shoulders I got her message. Hey, little lady, I’ll take care of this when we have a minute alone, just the two of us.
“No, it’s all right,” said Jeff, lifting two fingers and shaking them in the air lightly.
“It’s the least I could do after all that’s happened.”
And on top of everything, what a sense of honor!
“But I can’t help but wonder who it was that reported this mysterious incident to the WWWA…,” Jeff thought out loud, tilting his head.
“If we knew that, then we could probably learn more about Landis.”
“It was the Aslaville mayor that made the request,” I said. It wasn’t any secret that the mayor was the person who’d asked for the investigation to take place.
“So this isn’t a private matter, but a government investigation.”
The WWWA isn’t an interplanetary police force. And it isn’t a special unit of the United Space Force, either. It’s an organization of Trouble Consultants. With the freedom to land and depart from any of the United Galactica planet-states at will, and with complete freedom in how we conduct our investigations and what weapons we carry where, we resolve the missions as we are assigned. Perhaps, moreover, the advice we get before we arrive depends on the information we get from the people at the actual case location. This function exists for mankind’s benefit, and that concept exists for the prosperity, or more simply, the welfare of humankind throughout space. That is why it is named the Worlds Welfare Work Association.
Cases to the WWWA are mainly brought on by individual governments. Often an incident happens and the local authorities are overwhelmed or at a dead end in the case.
When a new case arrives it is given a thorough examination through United Galactica’s Central Computer. Every angle and detail is researched completely, and if there are still questions remaining, an appropriate TC is selected and dispatched to the location of the incident. If it is related to economics, then an Economics TC is dispatched, a medical issue merits a Medical TC, and a police case means Crime TCs like us are called. But this case didn’t really appear to be a police case. This was more of a job for an exorcist.
“Even if the mayor made the request, I certainly hadn’t heard anything about this case,” said Jeff.
“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding what he meant.
“In this town, the mayor and the town people aren’t exactly connected well.”
Jeff added just a slightly stronger intonation on his last sentence.