Free Superego by Frank J. Fleming Page A

trying to relax.” I laughed, since that was supposed to be ironic.
    Wait. I went to a café—a place to relax—which got me attacked by terrorists, which is situational irony. But I don’t think my statement about it counted as irony, as it was merely light sarcasm.
    It’s important to keep that straight.
    Whatever it was, it got only a polite smile in response. “I’m Detective Thompson. I’m here to question you about the terrorist attack. I’d just like to start by making it clear that our main concerns are these terrorists and preventing possible further attacks, so I want to get the issue of your involvement out of the way as quickly as possible. You gave your name as ‘Rico Vargas’?”
    â€œCan you make sure my name and picture don’t end up in the news? I don’t want to sound cowardly, but I’d rather not have all the Calabrai freaks targeting me while I’m here.”
    â€œWe’re not telling anyone you’re the one who ended the attack,” Detective Thompson assured me. “Now, I need to ask: Why were you carrying guns?”
    â€œI’m a police officer from a planet called Rikar.” The planet was in a galaxy red-shifting away near the speed of light; it would take the police on Nar Valdum a lot of effort to contact it. “I carry out of habit, and, to be honest, I didn’t really look into the gun laws here. I’ve been through a lot, and I don’t go places unarmed.” Seemed liked a believable cop attitude.
    She nodded—somehow it came off as a suspicious nodding. “You carry three guns everywhere?”
    That I do, unless I can comfortably fit more on me; I’ve never been in a situation where I was all, “Oh no! I have too many guns!”
    That wasn’t my answer to her, though.
    â€œRikar is a pretty violent planet; I’m used to carrying a gun at all times and a backup just to be safe. The third gun—the old-fashioned little revolver—is almost more of a good luck charm. You ever use a gunpowder-based firearm before?”
    I really couldn’t tell if she was buying it. “They’re noisy.” She looked at her notes. “You often need your backup gun on Rikar?”
    I was going to assume someone saw me firing both guns at once. “Not often, but I taught myself to aim and fire both guns at once. It’s point-shooting—less accurate, but quick. With multiple attackers and limited cover, it’s about all that kept me alive.”
    â€œFrom the results, I could certainly tell it wasn’t your first gunfight.” It seemed like part compliment and part further suspicion. She was challenging; I kind of liked that. It was so easy to fool most people.
    â€œLike I said, Rikar is pretty violent.” True, if I was thinking of the right planet. I pointed to my stabilized leg. “Not my first gunfight or bolt wound.” Certainly true. “I was trying to get away from that, really.” Not true at all.
    â€œSo what brought you here?” She now seemed like she was trying to sound less suspicious. I was successful in engendering politeness, at least.
    â€œI just really needed a break from work and wanted to see some of the universe. I constantly deal with the same problems and finally convinced myself that the whole place wouldn’t burn down without me, and I could take a vacation. I heard about the conference here and the possibility of a stronger galactic government and thought that was worth checking out. There’s so much crime and chaos out there, it’s nice to think something can be done about it.”
    â€œIf by ‘something’ you mean lots of talking and useless measures, then I’m sure something will be done.” She smiled wryly.
    â€œMaybe so.” It seemed that we had now bonded as fellow law enforcement professionals. “So am I in trouble?” I almost forgot to ask that, but normal