“In other words we have to go to where the flyer is,” Colt said.
“It’s a little more complicated than that. It requires a user’s identification coded into an access fob or a communicator,” Walker said.
“It looks like it’s time to call on Morgan Hildreth,” Colt said. He picked up his communicator. After a brief delay a woman’s voice answered, “Morgan Hildreth.”
“Ma’am, this is William August. We need your help. My fiancée’s son has been kidnapped, and the kidnappers used your flyer.”
“My flyer was stolen last night,” she said.
“Yes, we’ve located it and will be happy to take you to it, but we’d need you to give us access to the last few hours of the trip log before you take it home.”
“I can certainly do that,” she said.
Jeffrey interrupted, “There is a flyer approaching the landing pad. It identifies itself as belonging to Owen Tucker.”
“Perfect timing,” Colt said. “Let’s get moving.”
Tucker stepped out of his flyer as they walked out of the house and onto the porch.
“Owen, thanks for coming. We found the flyer the kidnappers used. We’re on our way to pick up Ms. Hildreth and take her to it so she can give us access to the trip log. Do you want to come with us or follow along in your flyer?”
“Should I ask how you found it?” Tucker asked.
“Probably not,” Colt replied.
“I’d better take my flyer. If we catch these guys, I should bring them in, and my flyer’s equipped for transporting suspects.”
###
Morgan Hildreth was a middle-aged woman in her nineties and a great grandmother. The only indication of her age was her flowing white hair. She expressed her sympathy for Lindsay as she heard the whole story of the kidnapping.
The abandoned flyer nestled under trees in a canyon north of Sykesville. Tucker took his time looking it over before he let anyone else approach it.
Morgan Hildreth spoke to the ship’s AI using her communicator, “Jessica, do you know who I am?”
“Yes, Morgan.”
“Did the people who took you do anything to you?”
“I don’t know, Morgan. I’ve been inactive until you spoke to me just now.”
“Typical,” Tucker said. “An active AI would ‘scream its head off’ to the local authorities when it was stolen.”
“Jessica, do you detect anything hazardous in you?” Morgan asked.
“My outer fusion cylinder is approaching its contamination limit,” the AI responded.
“We don’t have to worry about that,” Tucker commented. “Let’s see what that trip log has to say.”
While the others looked on, Morgan activated the trip log and played back the entries starting from when the flyer was stolen.
“There it is,” Colt said, pointing at the monitor. “It’s the only stop they made between Commager’s and here.” He rolled out his display and laid it on the hood of the flyer. He called up a map of the area and put a marker on the spot the flyer had landed. “They must be in this house. It’ll be dark soon. If we come in low and land in this canyon to the north,” he pointed at the map on his display, “that’ll keep us out of sight. Then Howard, Owen, and I can go up to the house on foot.”
“I want to go too,” Lindsay said.
“No,” Colt responded. “You won’t be able to help, and you’re already on the verge of hysteria. I’ve been trained for situations like this, and I’m having a hard time keeping from screaming myself.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I know, but if anything goes wrong, you may be our only lifeline. We need you at the van.”
Lindsay wasn’t placated and fumed all the way to the canyon. She checked her communicator along with Walker, Tucker, and Colt. Then she gritted her teeth and watched as they started the trek out of the canyon
Tucker waited till they rounded the first bend before he said, “I’m not completely comfortable letting civilians be in this operation, much less lead it. I’ll be responsible if anything happens to either of you.”
“I’m more than happy to let you lead,” Colt said, “as long as it doesn’t involve waiting for reinforcements.”
“No reinforcements, but we will need to take a few minutes to survey the situation and figure out what we’re up against. Especially we’ll need to have some idea of where the boy is and where the kidnappers are. And I don’t want to stumble on a lookout.”
“I understand,” Colt acknowledged. “I’m not suggesting we ignore the possibility of lookouts or sensors, but I believe this kidnapping was spur of the moment. They probably haven’t set up anything yet. Commager said two men kidnapped Brady. We have to assume they have backup here. We know they used a stunner on Vince. That suggests they’re not killers, at least when it isn’t necessary. The rest we’ll have to find out when we get there.”
In ten minutes they had reached the end of the valley. By then Aurora had completely set. The only light came from the stars and a rapidly waning Selene. They stood behind a clump of bushes that stood about a hundred meters away from the house. The only light they could see in the house came from a room in the back.
Before they could determine anything else, Tucker tensed. “There’s a flyer on the other side of the house,” he said. “Howard, take up a position near it so you can keep them from getting away. Gus, I’m going around back. You set up in front to stop them if they try to come out there.”
They had just started to move into position when Howard called, “Flyer coming in low from the south. No lights. Take cover.”
Colt was about ten meters from the front door. He dove under a large shrub. Looking up, he spotted the flyer, a dark spot with no running lights against the rapidly darkening sky. He kept it in view as it approached until it landed behind the house. Moments later the back door to the house opened and a familiar voice yelled, “What the hell did you brainless son of a bitches do?” The voice moved into the house. “Can’t you obey a simple order?”
“But, Colt almost caught me. We had to teach him a lesson.”
“All you did was make him mad, and you left enough clues that it won’t take long before he finds you. Where’s the kid?”
“In the basement,” another voice answered. “Want me to get him?”
“You’ve already done enough,” the first voice said.
“Hey! Wait!” one of the voices frantically shouted.
Colt heard two blaster bolts, and the lights in the house went out. He was on his feet charging through the front door before he thought. A dim form in the next room turned toward him and raised its arm. He dove to the side and hit the floor rolling. A blaster bolt shrieked past, barely missing him. A large part of the front wall burst into fiery particles that showered into the front yard. He continued to roll to keep out of the line of fire, but there was only the single shot. He looked up in time to see a retreating back hurrying out of the other room.
Surging to his feet, Colt pulled out the hunting pistol Walker had given him. He sprinted into the next room, tripping over a body lying on the floor. As he hit the floor, the silhouetted figure fired at the back door, blowing out the door and the wall around it. Colt scrambled to a crouch and cautiously moved toward the hole. When he reached the smoldering back wall, the shooter was already in his flyer with the canopy coming down. He looked Colt’s way.
For an instant Colt saw Grainger, the sergeant in charge of keeping tourists away from the Clermont. Then the canopy closed and the interior lights switched to flight mode. The flyer immediately rose from the ground, turned away, and began climbing and accelerating. Before it could disappear into the deepening murk, Colt was dazzled by the distinctive purple beam of a Franklin two-phase that sliced through the flyer cutting it in two. The halves tumbled in the air and smashed into the ground, bouncing and knocking down trees until they came to rest.
Tucker came trotting around the building, holstering his blaster. “Damn, I wanted to
take him alive, but I couldn’t get in position.”
Colt said, “Maybe it’s better this way. He was a professional militiaman named Grainger. You probably wouldn’t have been allowed to hold him.” He turned back to the house. They had said Brady was in the basement. “Owen, do you have a light?” He grabbed the light and ran for the basement door while the others checked the two bodies in the kitchen.
He ran down the stairs. “Brady!” he shouted.
“Gus?” Brady’s voice trembled. “Gus. Is that you?”
Colt made a beeline for his voice and found Brady tied to a support beam. Making quick work of the knots, he freed the boy, picked him up, and hugged him.
“Am I glad to see you!” he said.
“Me too, but be careful. I need to go really bad.”
###
Charging up the stairs with Brady in his arms, Colt fumbled for his communicator. He flipped it open to call Lindsay. “I’ve got Brady. He’s okay. See you at the landing pad.”
After a brief delay they walked out the front door and started down the path toward the landing pad. Tucker and Walker joined them. “I presume this crime scene is in your hands now, Owen. Do we need to stick around?” Colt asked Tucker
“I know where to find you,” Tucker said. “Off the record, thank you. I don’t know what’s going on between you and the commandant, and I’d just as soon not know. The militia may not like it, but you helped solve a major crime today.”
They were waiting by the pad when Lindsay set the van down. Colt put Brady on the ground and let him run to her waiting arms. Smiling, but with tears streaming down her cheeks, she held his hand as she walked up to Colt. “I think it’s time we all went home,” she said.
###
On the way back to the farm, Colt gave control of the flyer to Amelia. He turned to Brady who was sitting in his mother’s lap. “So, partner, were you scared?”
Lindsay shook her head, frowning at him.
“He’ll be okay. The sooner we get him talking about it, the sooner he’ll get over it,” Colt told her. She was still frowning but nodded hesitantly.
“How about it, Brady? It’s all right. I sure was afraid.”
“Yeah …” Then, “Why did they do that, Gus?” Confusion wrinkled his face.
“I wish we knew, Brady. I wish we knew. Can you tell us what happened?”
“I was playing with Jason in his fort when these two guys flew up. They got out, and one of them said, ‘Hey, which one of you kids is Brady Hansen?’ Jason pointed at me. The guy said, ‘Brady, you have to come with me. Mister August said to bring you home.’ I didn’t believe him.” He stopped.
He looked down as if ashamed. “I was going to run away, but Mr. Commager came up and said, ‘What’s going on here?’ and they shot him.”
“Yes, but he’s all right. It was a stunner,” Colt assured him. “It just put him to sleep. What happened next?”
“I couldn’t run.” He paused again. “I was too scared. Was that okay?”
“Yes, Brady. You did the right thing.”
Over the next several minutes Colt got Brady to talk about being taken to the hideout and being tied up in the basement. Colt was careful not to make it too serious, but he still wanted to make sure that Brady knew to be careful in the future. Talking seemed to help because by the time they landed Brady had settled down and was dozing off.
Colt was tight lipped as he and Lindsay returned to the common room after putting Brady to bed. Inside he was raging. When he stopped, he stood silent for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry I got you involved in this. It was supposed to be a relatively safe way to put stumbling blocks in front of the rebels. Then they kidnapped Brady.” He paused. “I don’t know what Grainger would have done if we hadn’t arrived.”
“You think he would have killed Brady?”
“He might have planned to get rid of any witnesses, or he might have dropped Brady off here with a note about how easy it had been. I don’t know, but I don’t want to put you and Brady in that position again”
“What can you do about it?”
“I’m going to have it out with this so-called commandant,” he said.
“What do you mean, have it out?”
“I’m going to walk into her office and tell her enough is enough.”
“Are you crazy? You won’t get within twenty meters of the commandant. You’ll probably get yourself thrown in prison, or worse, killed.”
He took her hands. “Look, I got you and Brady involved in this, and I don’t want to risk anything more happening to you. I will be taking a chance, but I don’t believe the separatists would want the bad press if something were to happen to a ‘concerned citizen.’ All I need to do is get the media involved, and I know just how to do that.”
“But if your image gets on a webcast, someone could recognize you.”
“I have to take that risk. This harassment has gone on long enough. I can’t have you and Brady in danger because of me.” He led her to the couch and sat down beside her. “Grainger killed the two kidnappers because they weren’t supposed to kidnap Brady — at least, not then. They’ll take at least a few days to get organized to start harassing us again, but just in case, I’m going to get a reliable guard to stay with you and Brady while I’m gone. I’m going to make sure you and Brady are safe, and I’m going to make certain it stays that way.”
She sat in silence, her emotions playing over her face. “But what about you?”
“Look, something about this rebellion shouts there’s more going on than they want the public to know. If I go in with live video coverage, they won’t be able to do anything without exposing themselves. As long as I stick to discussing the harassment, I can get in and out without forcing them to do anything drastic.”
He got up, walked over to the web terminal and started typing. A few minutes later he received a coded message back from Fitzhugh: Dave Cavanaugh is Jana’s cameraman. I’ll contact him and Martha Fletcher of Corona News Service, tell them your story, and have them in Sykesville by 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Good luck.
Colt beckoned Lindsay over and showed her the message. “That should take care of me. Now I need to contact Toby to help me find a guard.”
Chapter 28
The next morning Walker flew Colt Sykesville. “Are you positive this is the best way to do this?” Walker asked as they approached the reception center.
“No I’m not, but it’s all I have for now,” Colt answered.
As they were touching down, Walker glanced at the flyer’s clock. It showed 9:00 am. He frowned. “I don’t see anything that looks like media.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll be here. I trust my contact.” Colt got out of the flyer. “Thanks for the lift. I’ll call Lindsay when I get done.”
“You’re sure you don’t want me to wait?” Walker asked.
Colt nodded, waved, and turned toward the reception building. Inside the same clerk was behind the counter. He stood up from his desk. “Good morning, Mr. August. In for more farm supplies?”
“I’m here to see the commandant.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m here to see the commandant,” Colt repeated.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I assume she has a time for seeing disgruntled citizens.”
“I’ll have to check. Please have a seat over there.” He walked back to his desk and sat down in front of the web phone.
Colt started toward the indicated chairs. “By the way,” he turned back to the clerk, “have Mr. Cavanaugh or Ms. Fletcher shown up yet this morning?”
The clerk looked at him over the video unit. “No, you’re the first out-of-towner today.” He turned away from Colt and started talking to the video.
Colt watched as the clerk made the calls. Although he couldn’t see the display, it was clear that the clerk had to talk to several different people. Midway through his conversation, he stopped and glanced at Colt, “Yes, sir. I understand, sir.” He continued
to talk, glancing furtively at Colt several times. Colt got the uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong and started looking for the nearest exits.
A few minutes later the entrance door opened, and four militiamen came in with stunners drawn. The clerk nodded toward Colt. The militiaman with corporal’s stripes said, “Mr. August, you’ll have to come with us.”
Colt carefully stood up. “What’s going on? I’m here to see the commandant. I don’t need an armed escort.”
By then the militiamen had surrounded him. The corporal addressed the man on Colt’s right, “Pat him down and shackle him.”
Colt protested, “Hold on. What is this?” He turned to face the man who was approaching him. He glanced at each of the militiamen, realizing that the corporal was the only one who had actually armed his stunner.
Without taking more time to think, he grabbed the approaching militiaman and swung him into the corporal, knocking the stunner out of his hand. He dove and picked up the fallen weapon, bringing it up and firing as he rolled. He stunned all four of the militiamen before they could react. Standing up, he faced the clerk, “Sorry, my friend.” He thumbed the charge to its lowest setting and fired.
He started for the door but paused. A set of video displays in the back of the room caught his eye. Vaulting over the counter, he trotted back to the displays. They were for cameras monitoring the parking lot and the reception building. He realized someone was probably watching what had just happened and had a unit on its way to recapture him.
Taking a quick look at the control panel, he began switching off the cameras and the transmission circuit. Then he began searching for the building’s power module. He wanted to make sure the sensors couldn’t be restored by remote control. There was no circuit breaker panel visible inside the building, so he dashed out the front door to look for the access on the outside. He found it on the end of the building. He pulled the master switch, powering down the entire facility. Then he threw the stunner down by the front door of the building and headed for town at a trot.
Peacemaker: The Corona Rebellion 2564 AD Page 22