Free Alan Dean Foster by Alien Nation Page A

silently back among the work benches.
    Francisco replied as blandly as usual. "Going on? Why, nothing. "
    Sykes's brows crinkled. "Nothing?"
    The Newcomer's gaze rose to the table across the room that held Raincoat.
    "We have examined the two bodies and obtained what information we could.
    Shouldn't we now examine their personal effects? They could be revealing."
    He headed for the door.
    Sykes glared at the retreating back for a long moment, then followed, his thoughts churning.
    OTtiz was pretty enough. Sykes had no serious interest in her, though. She was too young for him, and busy working her way through college. Smart women made him uneasy. Not that he felt intellectually inadequate in their presence, whether he was or not, but Edie had done the college bit.
    Anything associated with his ex-wife's likes and dislikes made him uneasy.
    She glanced up from her homework and recognized him. "Sykes, isn't it?" He nodded. "Been a while. You not working homicide much these days?"
    "Naw. Just got back from six months in the Bahamas. What do you think?" He smiled to indicate his sarcasm wasn't serious.
    She rose and went behind the property counter. "What do you need?"
    "A tall blonde, a Tesstarossa, six figures in the bank, and a new face. "
    She grinned playfully. "No got. What else?"
    He sighed elaborately. "Effects of two stiffs named Hubley and John Doe.
    The latter's an alien, gunshot, brought in in a black vinyl raincoat. I doubt you've got more than one of those. "
    She shook her head. "Only the one is right. Wait here."
    A few minutes later she was back with the requested materials. Young, yeah, but efficient. College, he thought,

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    and dismissed the thought irritably. Everybody had different abilities, and his weren't measurable by quarter-end tests and weekly quizzes.
    The pair of regulation-issue storage packets she unceremoniously dumped on the counter were both filled. Sykes went through the effects of the dead alien while Francisco studied Hubley's. Ortiz watched for a while, then returned to her homework. She'd seen it all a hundred times before.
    Francisco paused with a small foil packet, held it up to the light before confessing his confusion to his partner, 'What is this?"
    Sykes looked over. "A rubber." When Francisco failed to react he added,
    "You know. A condom. Coney Island whitefish?" The Newcomer detective still looked dubious. "Me"uman males, put them on their, uh, penises to protect against having babies. "
    It was clear that his new buddy was having a tough time with something that was clear as crystal to Sykes. He glanced back at Ortiz.
    "You need this?" he asked her, indicating the packet.
    She looked up from her books. "Nope. Anything you guys don't use gets shoved back in storage."
    Sykes nodded, turned to Francisco with his hand outstretched. The alien obediently passed over the foil packet. Ripping it open, Sykes unrolled the contents and dangled the condom before the Newcomer's curious gaze.
    "Get the picture now? Or should we stop by a bookstore on the way out and buy you a manual?"
    Francisco frowned at the pale membrane. "And that fits?"
    It wasn't exactly the response Sykes expected. "Well, yeah. It's rubber.
    It stretches."
    "And still it fits?"
    The detective stared hard at his partner for a long moment, but Francisco's expression was utterly serious. Finally he tossed the condom and empty packet back on the counter and continued probing the dead Newcomer's effects. Francisco returned to his examination of Hubley's pile. The subject of birth control was not mentioned again.

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    Sykes started in on Raincoat's clothes. The heavy workboots the alien had been wearing came last and he handled them gingerly. They were still coated on the sides and sole with some thick, viscous black material. He took a tentative sniff of the stuff and was gratified it wasn't what it might have been. Sticky, but not tar or asphalt. Either of those would have dried to rock hardness by now from their time in