Paper or Plastic

by Mackey Chandler

  "So Josh stayed with the other ship? Are we going to set down beside them and transfer the stuff?"

  "No, he's watching for me to lift off and then he will take off too. We don't feel safe to sit here now. We're going way up in the mountains and dump the bodies far from any road and wash the deck out. Then we'll go to the truck as we planned later. He said he thinks we can back in between some big pines and hide under them until dark. He's pretty sure both starships will fit in the truck and as he said, 'Why walk away from a perfectly good starship those fellows don't need anymore?' I really couldn't think of any argument to that."

  "Oh, thank God," Roger expressed his incredible relief.

  "What? That your friend is OK after all?"

  "No, that I'm in the ship you are flying."

  Chapter 16

  "Fasten your belt Roger. You don't want me to get a ticket do you?"

  "You really think we have too many rules don't you?" Roger asked, fumbling with the strange belts.

  "Who me? The lady who travels to forbidden worlds, imports prohibited technology, shoots cops, carries banned weapons, adopts native customs and is preparing to export forbidden cultural items? I have enough trouble with my own rules. Breaking Earth rules would be no thrill. I could get crazy and wild and go out the in lane at Keith's after breakfast, instead of obeying the arrows on the pavement, or sneak in the housewares section of the department store and rip all the labels off the pillows."

  "I see. You're really intent on breaking our system at its core then."

  "You got it," she said cheerfully. "Here we go."

  Martee had washed the front glass while he slept, or at least rubbed it with wet snow. It would have driven him nuts to leave it that dirty on his truck. Her side was cleaner than his side though. Add windshield wipers to the list of things it would take to make it look like an Earth van. That would take shafts through the pressure hull, which didn't seem like such a good idea. He suspected Josh was dreaming with that crazy idea.

  Martee lifted slowly enough there was no elevator sensation, but he faintly heard the branches scrape down the sides. The scene rotated after they had lifted clear of the rocks and they were pointed back looking down at the hillside.

  The ship they were preparing to steal was visible now and it was apparent why it had not been visible. It was a brilliant white compared to the slate grey of Martee's ship. It blended in with the snow on the rocks much better. If a bit of it had been visible sticking up he probably wouldn't seen it. As he watched, Josh saw them and lifted straight up then back down a little. After a brief hover he turned it around clockwise and then back the other way.

  Martee seeing him fairly steady, moved in closer until he could see Josh's face. He had a maniacal grin and waved with his right hand at them. His left hand would be operating the joystick sort of manual control like Martee was using.

  He turned the nose away from them a bit and backed up by mistake into a pine tree. The branches bent and the top of the tree swayed a bit, but it didn't seem to do any great harm. Then he got it going forward like he wanted and moved away from the hill.

  Martee stayed behind and to the side and followed.

  "You are following him?" Roger asked. "Why not the other way around?"

  "He knows where we can dump these fellows in the back and where there is a small lake we can clean up. Besides I'm safer back here, where he can't overtake and run into me and I don't have to keep looking to see if he's still back there and hasn't crashed. You know, I might like some rear view mirrors like your cars have, even if Josh doesn't get to put the wheels and all that other stuff on it."

  "Some of the more expensive cars and SUVs have a camera in the back, so you can see parking or backing up. I'm sure Josh could rig you one with a cheap web cam and a microform computer."

  "Maybe he can do that for me in Seattle. He wants us to take a couple extra days to get there. He intends to quickly make sure that ship doesn’t have any devices onboard to track it down, while it is in the back of the van. He said it would be his chop-shop. I love expressions like that in your language."

  "He did huh? He looks like a good old boy in his pickup truck headed home from the bar." Josh was not so much swooping across the valley floor as weaving. Every motion seemed to go too far and then he would overcorrect. It made Roger queasy just watching him and he closed his eyes for a moment to disconnect.

  "I could be talked into stopping very early today and resting up in a motel pretty easily. That stun gun took the juice out of me. I just can't imagine Josh is in much better shape. You guys have to be exhausted from dragging the cops in here and marching around in the cold finding their ship."

  "I could use a nice stack of hotcakes and half a dozen eggs over easy on top," Martee admitted. "Then maybe a little snooze."

  "Snooze? You're really expanding your vocabulary."

  "I was looking at a couple your novels," Martee told him. "The language is much more interesting than the newspaper or websites. I couldn't read the whole thing. Just paragraphs really, since I had to stop and look up so many words. I want to go to a bookstore in Seattle. You left all your books on the shelf at the cabin. I'd like my own anyway, then I can make marks on the pages where I have to look up definitions and circle parts I really like. I can't click on the word to look it up but it's much more comfortable sitting on the couch with my feet up, than reading at a computer."

  "Who did you like? Which writer?"

  "There was a Hiaasen, who wrote about Florida and a Grisham who writes about lawyers. They both helped me with a lot of words, by how they used them. But they also gave me a lot on the list I have to ask you about," she admitted.

  Roger opened his eyes again and wonder of wonders Josh was not weaving near as bad. He just made an occasional twitch, instead of oscillating back and forth. However as soon as he started to get some control he also started flying lower. A couple times he flew so close to the treetops, that the very tips of the pines whipped around from his passage.

  They were climbing steadily and then Josh turned to the west suddenly, like he recognized something. There was a small lake nestled in a cup in the side of the mountain. It was almost above where the trees could grow, but there were some stunted and wind sculpted pines in the hollow that held the lake.

  Slowly now, displaying caution again, he landed on a band of gravel, that formed a section of the shore. It was interesting to see the landing struts ease out, as soon as he was about knee-high to the ground. Martee informed him that was automatic.

  When Martee eased down behind Josh, Roger could hear the gravel crunch under the uphill landing pads first and then as the ship rocked the downhill side too. It hadn't made any noise lowering the landing gear. That was nice design work. Josh was walking back to them by the time they were down. Martee went back and opened the door, but Roger just stayed in his seat. He didn't trust his legs quite yet.

  "Oh jeez, Rog, you puked too," he said, screwing his face up and glaring at him. Why didn't you just take a dump in the corner to cover all the bases?"

  Martee slid her computer out of her pocket like she usually did when the conversation was incomprehensible.

  "You won't find it in there," Roger quickly told her. "Josh is just being crude and ornery again." She still punched a few things in.

  "Martee, how about if you fly back down a little lower than the lake, where the trees are thicker and I'll toss these fellows out the door? Captain Vomit here can help me if he is steady enough now."

  "We can do that but I have to find a place open enough to land. I know the ship won't lift with the door open. It's a safety feature."

  "My goodness, that's almost as petty as an Earth law," Roger observed.

  Martee stuck her tongue out at him. She must have seen that on TV, he figured.

  "I don't think that will be a problem," Josh assured them with a smile. "Just give me a couple minutes to make some adjustments."

  Martee sat back down in one of the rear seats and reached
under the front edge. Pretty soon she swiveled it around to face the back. Roger didn't know you could do that, so he came back all shaky and took the other seat instead of craning his neck. Sure enough there was a bar below the front edge and when he pulled it he could turn. He turned to face the door and then released the finger bar. The seat turned just a few degrees and then a detent engaged with an audible snap and it locked in place.

  Josh went back to the emergency cabinet and got a few hand tools. He went around the edge of the door slowly until he found a little button right by the gasket.

  "Try lifting it just a little bit," he asked Martee, pressing on the bump.

  She went back to the controls and in a moment they could feel the ship stir and heard a few pieces of gravel roll. Josh pulled away the screwdriver he’d been pushing with and the ship fell an inch or so to the gravel with a loud crunch.

  The textured metal sheet covering the inside, was a solid piece from the forward port to the door. In an Earth-human aircraft a panel like this would have been plastic. There were probably thirty screws holding it on and a couple lines of screws across the middle. Josh got a pocket knife out and started testing the material, turning the point in it like a drill.

  "This is just aluminum or something just as soft. It's no trouble," he announced. He took a pen from his pocket and drew a neat rectangle beside the switch. There wasn't anything to use for a hammer in the kit so he got a stone from outside. Tapping the back of the blade, in just a couple minutes he had a hole cut. He set the small plate he'd made aside.

  Martee looked distressed at him cutting holes in her ship, but didn't say anything. Inside was a fluffy dead white, insulation. Under the insulation was a box with a cover and a plastic conduit going in a compression fitting on the bottom. The cover, once removed, revealed a very ordinary switch and wires held on with two screw-type terminals. He removed one wire and bent it away.

  "Try lifting," he commanded.

  After a pause Martee called, "Nothing."

  Josh loosened the other terminal and inserted both wires, tightening it.

  "Try it again."

  The ship lifted smoothly and hovered about knee-high, door wide open.

  "Josh belt yourself in a seat and I'll go find some trees like you want. I don't want you falling out the door while I fly. I wish we had some kind of a…you know, like a belt but long, to keep you from falling out, but wait until I hover and you can leave your seat then. OK?"

  "I'm safe," Josh called sitting in the seat Martee had vacated. He clipped the belt across his waist and looked over at Roger with a grin.

  Martee looked over her shoulder to satisfy herself and the scene out the door wheeled around. In moments the view out the door was pine tops, so close you could almost reach out and touch them. Josh unbuckled when Martee gave him the OK and walked back to the bodies. The ship rocked just enough you could feel him moving around. Roger stood very cautiously. He didn't seem dizzy at all and his knees were steady, so he joined Josh and just like Martee had with him, grabbed an ankle and dragged the first fellow to the door.

  "You checked their pockets?" he asked Josh.

  "Of course. They didn't have many. They seem to make a pocket if they have a specific thing to carry in it, but I checked."

  They pulled the body parallel to the door and Roger just held on to the door edge, letting Josh push first legs and then torso with his foot, until it rolled off the edge. They could hear the branches whipping as it fell, but no impact. The ship rolled a little when it went off but not enough to make you lose your balance. The whole gory, disgusting task was over in minutes.

  "Martee," Josh called as he belted back in, "would you set it back right on the edge of the water so we can dip buckets of water and wash the deck down?"

  There was no sort of rag or brush, so Josh took his jacket and shirt off and sacrificed his undershirt to swab the deck down. The ship was tilted toward the lake, so it was easy to splash full buckets of water and let it run out the door. He went outside and washed the front glass better too and wrung the shirt out and left it in the bucket.

  By the time they finished the sky had turned grey and a fine sleet was falling at a steep angle on the chill wind. Martee and Josh both wanted to fly back while they had visibility. They still had a couple of hours of daylight, but if the sleet turned to snow they could be stranded. They agreed to get back in the same valley from which they left, but a kilometer or so from the original spot. Even that proved difficult. The wind was gusting and the sleet was a snow squall by the time they got back.

  Martee and Roger watched Josh settle down against a line of huge pines. He hovered along looking them over and then rotated in front of a cleft between two giants. Their branches came down to the ground and blended into each other, but at their extremities were pliable and weak. He backed into them and they parted easily until just his front viewport was visible and he stopped. Right away Roger could see it would be almost impossible to get out with the branches bent against the outside of the ship.

  Martee just sat down nose to nose with him. "The snow will cover us in no time at all," she explained "I'm not worried about anyone looking down on us with a satellite in this weather. There isn't anyone crazy enough to be out walking around in this, is there?" she asked. Rog just shrugged.

  The glass in front of them stayed clear of snow, as did Josh's. The body of the ship was well insulated, but the glass heated up as long as they stayed powered up. They talked for awhile of other things beside the ambush, not ready to deal with it quite yet and then ran down tired and sat in silence. Roger wished they had some coffee left, or even a few sandwiches along. He meant to make sure they did in the future. It slowly got dark until they couldn't see Josh. In fact they could barely make out where his front view port was in the gloom. An occasional clump of snow would slide down it from above and be visible.

  After a while Josh turned on his flashlight and illuminated his interior. He made a shooing motion with his hands but kept his eyes closed to preserve his night vision. Martee lifted away and turned around. They could feel the wind rock the ship when it gusted. She waited for Josh to assume the lead, but he stayed behind them. After a minute he flashed the light at them a couple times. Roger pulled out his phone and tried it, but as he suspected they were too far from a tower and down in a valley so he got no signal.

  "I think he wants you to lead," Roger guessed. "Why don't you pull away real slow and if he sets back down, or shines the light again I'll let you know."

  Martee did go incredibly slow. Josh was right behind but he stayed offset just slightly, which made Roger feel safer. They were flying starships below treetop level and going at what was a fast walk. It was bizarre. The dark and snow made visibility so bad all they could see was the ghostly-white snow below and the dark trees to each side. No details at all, just vague shapes. The sky and even the treetops were lost in a white out of snowflakes.

  The meadows on the valley floor ran right down to the creek, but they passed it almost to the edge of the parking lot before they saw the lights. The tourist season was over and it was past dark on a snowy night, so there were only a half dozen cars parked behind the strip of stores along the creek. One or two of them might even be there all night. They were all undisturbed, with snow covering them.

  Martee circled back over the creek and dipped down low near its surface to get out of the wind. She went back upstream to the end of the lot where their truck sat. Josh followed along, but then cut away and parked carefully on the edge of the lot, like any car that had taken a parking space. In the snow and the dark it made sense. You couldn't see anything but a boxy shape. The two big lights on a pole meant to illuminate the whole lot were just a bright glow lost in the haze of snow. She sat down just like him, trying to look like another car. You'd have to be standing right beside them to see there were no wheels.

  Josh was at their door. "Let me turn the truck into the wind and it will be easier to pull the ships in. I want you to put both of
them in Martee. I don't trust myself."

  He slammed the hatch closed without waiting for her to agree and proceeded to start the truck and turn it around, without even clearing the windshield.

  When he was positioned he went to the back and rolled the big overhead door up.

  They looked down the parking lot and there was no activity. Martee insisted Roger get out and let her insert the craft alone. She lifted and swept around, lining up on the dark opening. The snow was sweeping around both sides and it was easier in the lee. Rog held his breath as she eased in the opening without contact. Inside it was too dark to see the end of the box, or any of Josh's possessions.

  Martee briefly turned on some lights that were angled down at the front. They hadn't been shown those before, but Rog could see why she avoided them. They were brighter than the headlights on his truck and would attract way too much attention. She twisted the ship at an angle in the cargo box. Almost touching corner to corner and shut the lights down at the same time she dropped to the truck bed.

  All of Josh's things were piled in one corner, not evenly across the front, so they didn't lose any room at all. He’d planned well. When she got out on the right side, the driver's side, she stepped out up against his stuff. She had barely left room to squeeze around at the rear corner.

  "I want you to pull the truck door down when I back it in," she instructed Josh, speaking up over the wind. "I want the door on the second ship to the open space, not jammed up against the side of the other ship. When you can get it closed past my nose, I will set it down, so we have as much room as possible between them."

  Martee hurried into the other ship and looked down the parking lot. Everything was as dead as before. She picked it up and made a circle to put the rear to the opening. She eased in and rotated it gently. She could see somebody coming out of one of the stores further down the lot, but they had their hood up holding their head down against the snow. She ignored them and concentrated on backing up.

  She felt the back corner bump the inside of the truck. What does it matter? Josh is tearing it apart anyway, she figured. She kept the back corner pinned against the wall and rotated until the front corner swung against the other wall. It was still hanging out. She eased it back and heard it rub in the back as it slid along the plywood lining the cargo box. Finally Josh pulled the door to about head high. He held his palms apart to show how much she needed to pull the corner in and she eased it back with a sound of splintering wood. The door went all the way down and she was in the dark.