Saturn Run

by Stanley Salmons

  Eventually Quenby turned.

  “Your client will testify in court, under oath, that Mikhael Rostov in person paid him to go to Mars and bring back the cargo?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he’ll say exactly where he went on his instructions, who he spoke to, what they said, what he saw?”

  “Yes, but don’t get too excited about that. As I understand it, Rostov uses a lot of pilots, different pilots on different sectors. Any one of them only sees a small part of the overall operation. Larssen can’t unravel the whole thing for you and I’m not promising that. What he can do is connect Rostov to the run he did.”

  “His evidence would have to be strong, strong enough for me to put Rostov behind bars.”

  “Not good enough. You can’t make my client’s freedom contingent on how well you and Rostov’s lawyers fight their corners. He’s taking all the risks whichever way it goes. Make it that the testimony’s enough to issue a warrant for Rostov’s arrest.”

  There was a long silence, which Romero was pleased to wait out. Quenby returned to his desk and sat down.

  “You’re asking a lot, Julian. If this doesn’t come off, both Larssen and Rostov will end up on the outside. There’ll be hell to pay and I’m the one they’ll blame.”

  “Come on, Jim, you won’t be going in blind, you know that. Larssen’s trial comes up next week and he’ll allocute to the testimony he’s agreed to give.”

  Quenby sighed.

  “All right. But I’m telling you, if your client holds anything back, anything at all, I’ll pull the deal. I mean it.”

  “Good enough.” Romero got to his feet and replaced the chair. He smiled cheerily into Quenby’s thunderous countenance. “Thanks, Jim.”

  19

  A visitor was the last thing Dan expected. As he approached the counter he could see the pale blue uniform of a Fleet Personnel Officer there and he was all ready to say there’d been a mistake. It wasn’t until he sat down that he realized who was facing him on the other side of the glass partition. For a moment he was struck dumb.

  “Neraya!”

  She’d always been beautiful but now she was positively stunning. Her face had lost some of the fullness of youth, deepening her dimples and sculpting an upward curve to her cheekbones.

  They both reached for the handsets.

  “It’s so good to see you!” He bit his lip. “You shouldn’t be here really, you know, associating with a criminal.”

  She spoke softly. “You’re not a criminal.” She met his eyes. “Danny, you didn’t get in touch at all after you left the Academy. I didn’t know where you were or what you were doing until I read about the case. What happened? I have been so worried about you.”

  He sighed. “I was an idiot, Neraya. Got in with the wrong people. Believe me, I had no idea what I was carrying in that freighter. They wouldn’t tell me. They wouldn’t even let me ask. I can’t believe I was so stupid. I should have smelled a rat when I saw what Rostov was paying me. You heard he’d been arrested?”

  “Of course. I have been following all the media reports.” Her dark eyes roved sadly over him. “Look at you, Danny. You are so pale and thin. You must have been in prison for months.”

  “I have.” He shrugged. “It’s no more than I deserve. I may not have known what I was doing but a lot of people will suffer because of me. It’s not easy to live with that on your conscience.”

  “You must not blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault.” She shook her head. “They really should not have put you in prison. Can’t you get out on bail?”

  “We didn’t request bail.”

  “Why not?”

  “For my own good. Look, I was in court last week. I pleaded guilty to a minor misdemeanor and they gave me a probationary sentence in return for testimony they can use against Rostov. But they won’t nail him unless they can call me as a witness at his trial. So I’m in protective custody. Rostov’s people would go to any lengths to keep me from testifying.”

  He heard a slight intake of breath. “I see. What is going to happen now?”

  “My attorney thinks the State will have enough to put Rostov away. Then they’ll release me. His gang’s sure to want revenge, so they’ll give me witness protection. That’s the deal.” He pressed his lips together, tried to force a brightness he didn’t feel. “Now that’s enough about my problems – what about you? You’re looking great. That’s a Fleet Personnel uniform, isn’t it?”

  She shot him a shy smile. “Yes. I graduated from the Academy a few months ago.” Her face clouded again. “You should have been there with us, Danny.”

  He passed over it. “And they gave you a Fleet job straight away? You must have been top of the year.”

  She blushed and lowered her eyes and he knew he was right. Fleet always headhunted the top graduates from the Academy.

  “How about Bunny? Did she get through all right?”

  “Oh yes, she did very well. She has gone to New Zealand to study terraforming.”

  “That’s great. Say hello from me if you’re in touch with her.”

  The guard called time.

  She said: “Oh, I have to leave. Danny, I hope it goes well.”

  “Neraya…” He looked earnestly at her through the glass. The wretchedness of his current situation had suddenly become too hard to bear. He felt a pricking behind his eyes and a lump rose into his throat. His voice was cracking even as he struggled to control it.

  “Thanks for coming, Neraya. I… It’s meant a great deal to me.”

  They held each other’s gaze for a long moment. Then they replaced the handsets and she left. His head dropped forward. He stayed in the chair until he felt the heavy hand on his shoulder.

  Afterwards he went over what they’d said to each other again and again. Somehow the conversation itself was less remarkable than the fact that it had taken place at all. He’d said they’d always be friends. By coming here she’d been more loyal to that sentiment than he had. But there could be a price to pay for such loyalty.

  While she was at the Academy he’d been reluctant to contact her, anxious that she shouldn’t become a victim of the same malign influences that had ended his time there. Now that she’d left the situation should have been better, yet it was incomparably worse. She had a promising career ahead of her in the ranks of Space Fleet, whereas he was a disgraced pilot with a criminal record. He could only drag her down. The decent thing would be to try to forget about her.

  His stomach knotted at the thought.

  *

  Dan’s testimony proved crucial. Rostov had a team of highly paid lawyers, who came well furnished with alibis and character witnesses. He was successfully distancing himself from the operation when Dan took the witness stand. That was the turning point; the State established the crucial direct link between Mikhael Rostov and the deadly contents of the freighter. After he’d been examined and cross-examined Dan returned to the public area to watch the rest of the proceedings. It didn’t last long. Rostov was found guilty of trafficking in narcotics, to be recalled for sentencing at a later time.

  As they conducted Rostov from the court he passed close to Dan. This time when he flashed the diamonds in his teeth he wasn’t smiling.

  “You wait, Larssen,” he hissed. “You see. We catch up with you. We catch up with you all right.”

  *

  Dan met with Romero in one of the interviewing rooms.

  “It’s all over, Dan. You’re free to go.”

  “What happened?”

  “Rostov’s been sent down. They’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, so they didn’t squander the opportunity. He’ll be out of circulation for twenty years, maybe fifteen with good behaviour. The two arrested by Customs after the firefight at the dock also got long sentences.”

  “Good. I hope everyone’s satisfied.”

  Romero looked ill at ease. “Er, not entirely.”

  Dan’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “Th
ere’s some bad news, I’m afraid.” He took a deep breath. “Dan, your assets have been frozen.”

  Dan got to his feet. “That’s outrageous! I gave them my full cooperation!”

  “That was the criminal authorities. This is the tax authorities. They’ve accused you of evading tax.”

  “Tax? I didn’t even think about tax! All my work was casual. My annual earnings must have been way below threshold!”

  “Makes no difference. You should have filed a return.”

  Dan dropped back into the chair and ran a hand through the short hair on the back of his neck. He would never be paid for the third Mars trip and now he didn’t even have access to the earnings from the first two, or to the money he’d struggled to put away before that. He’d nursed a vague hope of working his way back up. It seemed like they were stripping him even of that.

  “I don’t believe this. It’s going to be tough enough getting a job – any job – now. How am I going to live?”

  “They agreed to free up a small amount for living expenses. But that’s it.”

  “They’re good at heaping on the misery, aren’t they? When is someone going to give me a break?”

  Romero’s mouth was tight. “You may as well have it all at once.”

  “There’s more?”

  “Afraid so. You failed to admit the tax evasion. Quenby’s using that as an excuse to pull the witness protection.”

  “What?” Dan sank back, eyes closed, face to the ceiling. Rostov and two of his gang had been jailed but that was all; the rest of the organization was still at large, no doubt instructed in some detail about what to do to the pilot who’d helped to put their leader inside. He returned his gaze to Romero.

  “Maybe I should just stay here in prison. At least I’d be safe and I’d have a roof over my head and regular meals.”

  The lawyer smiled grimly. “Sorry, Dan, that’s not an option either. Look, I told them it was unreasonable, that you’d put your own life on the line to give them what the prosecution wanted. I extracted a concession.” He dipped into a pocket and placed a small communicator on the table. “If you run into trouble use this. You’ll be put through to one of the probation officers. I’ve had a word with him. I told him you don’t need direct supervision but if you have a problem he’s to extract you double quick.” He opened his hands. “It was the best I could do.”

  Dan sighed and picked up the communicator. “Better than nothing, I guess. Thanks, Romero. What’s this guy’s name?”

  “Andy Quiller.”

  *

  “Mr Navarro? This is Jerry. Listen, you know that pilot fella Mr Rostov wanted us to find?”

  “Larssen, you mean? Yeah, what about him?”

  “I’ve found him.”

  “Where?”

  “I’m sitting in a greasy spoon called ‘Jack the Snack’. It’s on 34th, two blocks west of Fraser. A guy I know said he seen him round these parts ’bout ten days ago so I been keeping an eye on some likely places. He’s in here now, up the other end, having a coffee and a sandwich.”

  “Okay, Jerry, good work. Stay with it. I’ll get a snatch team down there right away. Give us a call when he comes out. We’ll take him off the street.”

  “Do I get the special bonus, Mr Navarro?”

  “Looks like it. Listen Jerry, are you carrying?”

  “Sure.”

  “Well don’t use it. I’ll tell the others too. We’re going to have weeks of fun with this guy and we don’t want anyone to spoil it for us.”

  *

  The customer at the other end of the fast food joint had looked twice in Dan’s direction as he’d made a call. There wasn’t any doubt about it, he’d been spotted. He slid along the padded bench far enough to be out of the direct line of vision. Then he took the communicator off his belt and put in a call.

  “Could I speak to Andy Quiller?”

  “I’m so sorry, Mr Quiller is on another call at the moment. Could I have him call you back?”

  “Would you interrupt him, please? It’s very urgent. Tell him it’s Dan Larssen.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, I couldn’t possibly do that. But I will have him call you as soon as he finishes. Does he have your number, Mr Lawson?”

  “Larssen. L-A-R-double-S-E-N. Yes, he’s got it.”

  He clicked off the comm.

  This was crazy. The longer he left it the more time these guys would have to set things up. He paid and left quickly. As he reached the door he glanced over his shoulder. The customer was putting in another call.

  Out on the street he looked briefly both ways, then turned right and started to walk fast. A block later he felt the communicator vibrate and lifted it from his belt. At that moment a skimmer came down fast and landed on the street next to him. He didn’t hesitate. He spun round and ran – straight into the arms of a big man who had come up close behind him. The impact knocked the breath out of him and the communicator flew from his hands and bounced across the sidewalk. He couldn’t move – the man had enveloped him in a bear hug that made it impossible. The skimmer pilot leapt out and between them they hustled him off the street and into the back of the skimmer. The big man got in next to him, the other man resumed the pilot’s seat and took off at high speed. It had taken only a few seconds and not a word had passed between any of them.

  *

  A curious youngster picked up the communicator and pressed the receive button. A voice said:

  “Larssen? Andy Quiller. What’s the problem?”

  20

  Dan opened his mouth, then closed it. It was pointless to ask what was going on. Even if these two guys felt disposed to say anything – which he very much doubted – he had a fair idea what the answer would be. He stole a quick glance at the big man sitting implacably next to him. They could have finished the job back there on the street if they’d wanted to. They obviously had other plans for him. He tried to suppress the panic but his palms were sweating and his heart was pounding.

  The driver expertly negotiated a series of interchanges that took them to the centre of town. Then he descended five levels and flew the skimmer down into the basement park of a large building. The engines whined quickly into silence. The two men bundled him out and escorted him through an underground corridor to an elevator. They rode up in silence, the doors slid back, and they emerged into a thickly carpeted corridor. At the end of the corridor they stopped outside a door and knocked. A voice said “Come in”, they opened the door, and he was marched inside. The room appeared to be an office, expensively furnished in what looked – and smelled – like real wood and black leather. The man who rose behind the desk was dressed in an immaculate black suit. He signalled Dan to a chair and nodded to the escort, who promptly left the room. As soon as the door closed behind them he sat down and looked levelly at Dan, taking his time. Then he said:

  “You’re a lucky young man, Mr Larssen.”

  Dan tried to get his breathing under control. “I am?”

  “Yes. We intercepted a call from one of Mr Rostov’s people. You were about to be abducted. I’m sure they’ll be very cross when they find out we beat them to it.”

  Dan blinked and passed his tongue over dry lips. “You’re not… sorry… who exactly are you?”

  The man smiled. “My name is Raymond Virgilius. Now I expect you’d like to know where you are.”

  “Yes, all right. Where am I?”

  He smiled again and steepled his fingers. “This office is part of a suite on the top floor of a large hotel – you won’t have realized that because they brought you in via the underground skimmer park. We own the hotel and there’s a casino downstairs. We have similar establishments in every major city on Earth, and we recently opened one in Tharsis City on Mars. As you can see, Mr Larssen, we’re a large organization. It doesn’t stop at hotels and casinos: we have a wide range of other business interests. In some areas of activity we have in the past had an unfortunate, er, overlap of interests with Mr Rostov. So we were quite pleased that yo
u helped to put him out of circulation for a while.”

  Dan swallowed. “What do you want with me?”

  “I’m told you’re a good pilot. You’ve done some flying for Mr Rostov. I’m wondering if you’d like to do a little flying for me.”

  He could hardly believe his ears. They wanted his services? Not his head on a plate?

  Virgilius continued, “The only thing that worries me – in view of the evidence you gave at the trial – is whether I can rely on your discretion.”

  Discretion. Rostov had used that word. Here it was again. By now Dan had recovered his composure.

  “Well, Mr Virgilius, that depends on you as well as me. It’s a matter of trust. I’m a pilot, nothing more. I need to know what’s on board – that’s not curiosity, that’s professional self-interest. Mr Rostov wasn’t honest with me. When I found out what I was actually carrying I didn’t feel under any obligation to him because he misled me. That’s what I mean by trust. If you want me to carry freight I think it’s reasonable to expect you to tell me what’s in it. But I can tell you now that I’m not interested in carrying contraband. They gave me probation last time; if they catch me at it again they’ll throw away the key.”

  He was wondering if he’d gone too far. Bearing in mind the way he’d been brought in he was by no means sure what would happen to him on the way out if he turned the job down.

  “I don’t want you to carry contraband, Mr Larssen, I want you to carry passengers. We have a lot of business meetings around the world and beyond. I need a pilot available at all times, at a minute’s notice, licensed for all types of craft, who can take people wherever they need to go. I won’t tell you who they are, and I don’t expect you to ask or try to find out.”

  “In that case, Mr Virgilius, you can rely on my absolute discretion. I have no interest in who your passengers are. All that interests me is to get them quickly and comfortably to their destination.”

  He smiled. “Excellent. I won’t pay you by the trip – too much paperwork involved. You’ll be on the payroll and you’ll earn the same whether you make ten trips a month or none at all. But it’ll be a generous salary and you’ll be able to make use of the facilities here.”