The Agency: Part 1

I am placing this bit of creative writing at your mercy my dear readers. Be kind, though constructive as this is my first attempt at anything really creative. I understand that it may be a bit strained or even a bit over the top...but what science fiction isn't? Additionally, I haven't had it edited yet...so I'm sure there is a plethora of grammatical mistakes and whatnot. I can only say I'm sorry. You're welcome to tell me where and I'd be glad to fix them.

It is my pleasure to present to you the first "chapter" of The Agency.

Chapter 1: The Sacrificial Lamb

“Should I prepare the body for a more extensive autopsy?” The coroner asked.
“Yes. That would be preferable. I’d like to get this figured out as quickly as possible. I’m in a bit of a rush.”
“I’ll have my findings printed up and on your desk in a few hours.”
“Good.” said the detective, more curtly than was, perhaps, necessary.

Turning on his heel, the detective left as quickly as he’d come.

“Not a very good conversationalist” The coroner muttered.
“At least the people in here don’t talk. Where shall we begin my friends?” the coroner turned to the newest inhabitant of his table.
“I think,” he said out loud, “we’ll begin with personal effects.”
Clipping his wireless recorder onto his ear he made the following notes:

“1 large ring (ruby stone with platinum band)
1 pocket watch (platinum, etched markings on face and interior)
2 cuff links (platinum, red crosses inlaid)
1 pair of glasses (medium magnification, bifocals, platinum rimmed)
1 wallet (currency of various denominations from various countries, driver’s license)
1 metal coin (of heavy weight and containing no visible markings)”

The coroner was only minorly intrigued by the presence of such lavish possessions. After all, it wasn’t the job of the coroner to solve the mysteries of homicide. That job, as he had been reminded many times before, fell to the detectives. The initial crime scene report that the coroner was given only mentioned the perceived cause of death and the basic circumstances surrounding the man’s untimely end. It appeared that the man, a Dr. Igor Draminov aged fifty, was walking home from an evening at the theater when he was attacked by a group of three people. In the ensuing altercation, Dr. Draminov was shot in the chest. The bullet, a solid point, had not left an exit wound, suggesting to the coroner that it was still present in the body. After removing the man’s clothing (1 fur overcoat, 1 suit coat, 1 white button shirt, 1 pair black slacks, 1 pair black argyle socks, 1 pair black dress shoes,) the coroner attempted to look for the entrance wound. Finding only a rather small hole, smaller than that of the traditional entrance wound, near the left pectoral the coroner was momentarily stumped. The crime scene report offered no further insight other than the rather extraneous fact that Dr. Draminov held a doctoral degree in experimental physics. Turning back to the body, the coroner realized that something was wrong. The hole, though small before, was gone. Pondering the oddity of this situation the coroner quickly related the phenomenon to muscle contraction. Deciding it best to get the autopsy completed for the detective, the coroner pressed on. Starting with the head, the coroner made his notes:

“Hair graying clean shaven, eyes ok, no anomalies in ears, mouth, or nose.”
“Facial musculature appears unnaturally contracted near left side of jaw.”

In probing the jaw line the coroner made a rather startling discovery.

“There appears to be some kind of crease on the jar, indicating skin reconstruction or some kind of extensive surgery”.

Indeed, upon lifting at the crease, a great portion of Dr. Draminov’s skin fell away, revealing jaw bone, teeth, and tongue. This was somewhat unusual though not unheard of. The coroner continued to make his notes, oblivious to the contraction of the doctor’s fingers on the other side of the table.

“Apart from the past surgery performed on the jaw, and the previously discovered entrance wound, now gone, Dr. Draminov’s body shows little signs of death.”

At this, the coroner paused, confused. Now that he had a moment to look at the full body on his table the coroner realized the rather impressive physical condition of the doctor’s body. If he didn’t know any better, he’d speculate that the doctor was much younger than fifty. The coroner went to his cabinet seeking a scalpel which was needed to perform the rest of the autopsy. Unfortunately, the new intern at the department seemed to have moved the entire department’s scalpels to the cleaning area after his shift.

“Bloody interns… I swear they’ll be the death of me.” the coroner muttered to himself.

Leaving the examination room, the coroner went to the cleaning facilities in search of a scalpel. If the coroner had, perhaps, remained in the room just a few moments longer, he might have noticed the persistent beating of Dr. Draminov’s heart. A few minutes longer than that and he may have seen the chest rise and fall for the first time in over five hours. A minute later, the formidable though lithe body of Dr. Draminov would rise from the table, reattach its faux jaw, and retrieve its precious “personal effects”. After five minutes into the coroner’s absence, Dr. Draminov could be seen standing fully clothed, once again, surveying his situation. The first noise the Draminov would perceive was the whistling of the coroner as he returned to the examination room. With quick steps Draminov hid behind the door to the examination room. As the coroner entered the room Draminov leapt from his hiding place, twisting the coroner’s neck so quickly and painlessly it took several moments for the doctor’s hand to let go of the scalpel it had held. Letting the coroner’s body to the floor, Dr. Draminov dragged the coroner by his leg towards the examination table. Hauling the body of the coroner onto the examination table, Draminov positioned the coroner’s body like that of every other corpse in the exam room. Moving towards the crime scene report, Draminov picked up a pen and changed the cause of death from “bullet wound” to “broken neck” and made a mental note to square everything away later. Putting on his glasses, Draminov reluctantly removed the platinum coin from his jacket pocket. Holding it in his outstretched palm he waited holding his breath. After five seconds had passed the coin began to hum and release a strong heat. Five seconds later there was a sharp snap, a flash of brilliant light, and Dr. Draminov vanished.

It would be four hours before the new chief coroner would enter the examination room. Lying on the table was the body of the new coroner’s predecessor, although, according to all records that man was Dr. Draminov, an aging physicist assaulted outside the theater. The new chief coroner went to work without a second glance. For, as far as he knew, he had been the chief coroner for nearly twenty years. The chief coroner that Dr. Draminov had killed four hours previously was now a non person, another sacrificial lamb to the continuity of the time line.