by Cindy Borgne
“It’s about Bret.” I looked up at Sonny’s blue eyes. At least I wasn’t an island anymore. It was getting easier to spill info, so I blurted it out fast to get it over with. “Bret and Kayla work for Vallar. There’s also a few other spies in that hangar.”
“What the hell?” His eyes widened. “Vallar?”
“Shhhh….”
He paused and lowered his voice. “You know this from visions?”
“Uh huh.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Sonny clenched his teeth and fists. His face contorted in several different expressions of confusion and anger. “No wonder he doesn’t like you.” He sat down at the holo and cleared any trace of the messages from it. “All these years, all these years,” Sonny said, bitterly. “I knew Bret had something shady going on, but I thought he was doing the usual crap like altering production rates. I also thought he was cheating on Rachel because he’s gone so much.”
He hiccupped again, tapped his chest with the side of his fist and held back a burp. “So what did you say about Bret and Kayla being in danger?”
“I saw them get shot down. We might be able to stop them.”
“Shot down in what?”
“He has a midrange that he keeps hidden.”
“Oh - my – God.” After a long pause, Sonny looked over his dirty overalls and touched the stubble on his cheeks. “Let’s get cleaned up quick and get over there.”
****
At 0530 hours, Sonny spoke with Hector on the holo – voice only. “I have some personal business to attend to and I’m taking Ian with me. Not sure how long I’m going to be gone, but I’m leaving you in charge until I get back.”
“No problem, boss.”
“If Williams shows up, tell him . . . .” Sonny wrinkled his face in thought. He turned to me for an idea, but nothing came to mind. “Just tell him I said it was personal.”
“He’s not going to like that.”
“Too bad. He don’t need to know.” Sonny leaned down, unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out an electroshock stunner. “Just blame it on me.”
“Okay,” Hector agreed.
“Thanks, man, see you later.” Sonny shut off the holo.
I followed Sonny out of the office and toward the shop kitchen. An anxious feeling caused me to tighten my jaw. Nervous feelings mixed with anger radiated from a hidden presence. Sonny grabbed a coffee from the processor and took a big drink. I didn’t have to tell Sonny something was wrong. He picked up on my uneasiness right away. His eyes looked over my head and into the shop in a searching way.
“I think it’s Dieter,” I whispered and sighed shakily, not wanting any delays. We had to warn Bret and Kayla fast. Plus the other workers would be coming to their stations in ten minutes.
“Is he alone?”
“Yep.”
“That dope.” Sonny touched the stunner in his pants pocket. “Go have him chase you past the kitchen. I’ll be ready with the stunner.”
I hurried right out to Dieter’s location behind his old station. Dieter sat crouched up between the back of an elevator and a tool bench.
I jumped out in plain view. “Hey!”
He flinched and bumped into the tool bench. His dark hair fell in his eyes.
I laughed. “You stupid bastard. Why aren’t you in your new house?”
Dieter’s eyes lit up with fire. He charged after me with his big feet scrambling on the slippery cement. His work boots made big slapping noises as he chased me. I passed the kitchen, but couldn’t see Sonny. When I reached the shop exit doors, Dieter howled in pain and collapsed with a thud. I turned around. Dieter was on the floor, his legs shaking with spasms.
Sonny stood over him smirking and shaking his head. “Now this isn’t going to look good for you.”
“Don’t tell Williams.” Dieter’s deep voice echoed through the shop. “Don’t tell him.” He held up his hands defensively.
“You want my sympathy?” Sonny tapped his chest, frowning. “This is for Ian.” He jammed the stunner into Dieter’s side. Dieter’s entire body shook with spasms several times before he went limp. His eyes rolled back and even though he was unconscious his huge limbs continued to twitch.
Sonny hiccupped and his eyes darted over to the clock where only two minutes remained. “Help me get him into an elevator.”
I took his legs while Sonny pulled on his arms. We half carried/half dragged him into an open elevator. Sonny entered a code for a location on the other side of Marscorp. As the doors shut, Dieter was in a heap on the floor.
“That elevator is gonna be gone a long time,” Sonny said.
I chuckled, forgetting my problems for a second. The doors of the elevator opened next to us.
“Hold that elevator,” Sonny said. “I’m not leaving without my coffee.”
“Hurry.” I entered the code for Bret’s shop and held the doors.
Sonny hurried back with coffee cup in hand. I let the doors shut.
He sat down and wiped his brow. “Whew.”
I couldn’t help, but laugh at him. “That was great.”
“Thanks.” He hiccupped and took a sip of coffee.
I sat down next to him and realized that I had no idea what I was going to say to Bret. How can I explain my information? He would want to know how I found out about him.
If we managed to catch up to him in time, Bret still wouldn’t hold off on any assignments without a good reason. The display built into the elevator rattled off the sections quickly, coming closer to Bret’s shop with every second.
I rolled a lose knob on the railing. “Bret gets nervous about anything that might compromise his position. It’s possible he might kill us both.”
“Kill? No, he won’t. When my daughter died, I almost drank myself to death, but Bret found out and he covered for me for four days.” Sonny took another long drink of his coffee. “Why would he do all that if he wasn’t my friend?”
I shrugged, finding Bret hard to understand and couldn’t take my eyes off the display. The idea of confronting him – an ace pilot, genius engineer, and operative made me feel like a speck of dust. Hurry, think, think!
Chapter 18
The elevator made the same familiar squeak it always did within five minutes of Bret's shop.
“Stop worrying.” Sonny stood up and stretched as if this was just another workday. “Bret and I go way back, uh, even if he is living a double life that he never told me about.”
“But how do I explain what we know? I can’t tell him I’m psychic. I have to come up with some other explanation.”
“The hell you do,” Sonny said. “He hid this from me for years, so he’s not entitled to an explanation.”
Sonny was right, and just when I gave up on it, the answer came. As everyone reminded me all the time, I was an elite with access to classified information. That’s where I’d say I found out things. It would be enough for Bret.
The elevators doors opened into the early hours of shop production. Workers arrived at their stations. Distant clanks echoed across the hangar. A few men were on the roof of a large midrange installing a new laser cannon.
Florescent light glowed from Bret’s office. Rachel sat at the desk in front of a monitor. She wore her long black hair pulled back into a long pony tail. Another woman I’d seen briefly in the vision of the hidden hangar stood behind Rachel. A cap covered her brown hair, which barely reached her shoulders. Her short sleeve shirt showed off somewhat muscular arms for a woman.
I guessed her to be about thirty-five. “What’s her name?”
“Alexis, she’s an electrician. Is she one of them?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
Sonny took a final gulp of coffee, tossed the cup into a bin and knocked on the door. Rachel stood up, only standing about five-feet tall.
“Good morning, ladies,” Sonny said.
Rachel smiled and waved. “Come in.”
As I stepped into the clutter and du
st free office, a familiar vibration went through me. The same type I’d felt before when passing through highly protected areas – caused from a scanning device. At first I was glad we didn’t have any type of weapon on us, but a second later I remembered Sonny had put the stunner in his pocket. I sighed inwardly, regretting not having made sure to come here unarmed.
Bret’s office was twice the size of Sonny’s. Behind the desk, plaques hung on the walls for production and quality awards. Another wall had five monitors built into it displaying different areas of the hangar.
“What are you guys doing here so early?” Rachel asked.
“We need to speak to Bret about an urgent matter,” Sonny said.
Her cheery expression dissolved. “Uh, he’s not here right now.”
“How about Casey?” I asked, keeping an eye on Alexis.
“They both had to attend a meeting.” Her slanted eyes narrowed even more. She glanced between us in an analyzing way.
“More meetings,” Sonny mumbled. “Sure.”
My stomach sank with fears of being too late. An older man, wearing grease smudged overalls knocked on the door.
Sonny grimaced and opened it. “We’re busy. Come back later - much later.” He shut the door, locked it and looked at Rachel. “Can you call Bret? This is serious.”
“I-It’s not easy to r-reach him.” Rachel stammered and glanced at Alexis.
A few workers walked past the office window, so I drew the blinds down. “We have to speak to him.” I tried not to sound tense, but I imagined the Marc’s chasing the Phantom while we were speaking.
Alexis bolted for the back room, but Sonny stepped in front of her and blocked the door. “Going somewhere?”
Alexis glanced at Rachel like she had no idea what to do next.
“What’s gotten into you, Sonny?” Rachel demanded.
“We know who you are,” I said. “Bret and Casey are in danger.”
All the color drained out of her face. She weaved and was about to faint. I felt horrible for saying it so bluntly. Sonny went to catch her, but as she slumped down she reached under the desk and came up with a laser pistol.
Sonny backed up, smiling in nervous amusement and raised his hands. “Whoa, c’mon now.” He put his hand in the pocket with the stunner.
Rachel’s face reddened with a scowl. “Hand it over.” Her eyes lowered to the pocket.
Sonny took it out and rolled his eyes. “I didn’t bring this to use on you.” He set it on the edge of the desk.
“Get in the back room, both of you.” Rachel pointed with the pistol.
Sonny smiled in a teasing way. “She won’t shoot anyone.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
Sonny’s shoulders slumped. “Oh please,” he grumbled. He moved to the back room, only playing along.
Alexis shut the back door and locked it. The room turned out to be Bret and Rachel’s bedroom/living room. It was more than double the size of Sonny’s room with a queen sized bed and a couple of dressers. There was a large holo, couch and small food processing area. The wall on the office side had a several monitors displaying different areas of the hangar. Rachel kept the pistol aimed at us.
Sonny stepped back with his hands up. “The delicate Rachel is actually a fierce warrior. A veritable ball of fire. Did Bret teach you that little trick?”
“Shut up, Sonny.” She steadied the pistol with both hands. “And by the way, you smell like that cheap Marc ale.”
Sonny tucked in his unshaven chin. “Do I?”
I shrugged. “A little.”
While keeping the pistol aimed at us, Rachel looked over all the monitors. Worry wrinkles on her forehead deepened as if she expected a bunch of Marc guards to charge into the shop. “How do I know the Marcs aren’t paying you both to locate Bret so they can arrest him?”
“We don’t have time to debate this,” I said, my patience gone. “If I wanted to, I could’ve had you all arrested three weeks ago.”
“But how could you have known?” Alexis talked down to me, scowling in disbelief.
“It wasn’t that hard to tell who broke into my house, so I decided to do some spying of my own. The amount of trips Bret takes looked even more unusual. Then I noticed certain people coming and going in cargo hovercrafts.”
Sonny looked sideways at me. “He’s very observant.”
“This is crazy. How do we know you’re not lying?” Alexis’s nose tilted in a smug way.
“Listen,” Sonny frowned. “Don’t you call my friend a liar. He got his ass kicked for refusing to do their dirty work, and he deserves some respect.”
Alexis shook her head, bewildered. “You guys are nuts.”
“Are we?” I paused. “As you know, I have access to high-level communications. There’s been mention of a trap to catch the black ship in the Red Ridge area.”
Rachel and Alexis’s faces went white in horror.
“We’re trying to save their lives,” Sonny continued. “Rachel, you know my daughter died a year ago yesterday. Even though Bret hid shit from me, I don’t want to lose him.”
She hesitated, still with the pistol pointed at us.
Sonny groaned with frustration. “Dang, I can’t believe it’s taking so long to decide,” he said with sarcasm. “If you’re going to shoot me because I found out the truth, then go ahead. I guess that will mean even your friendship has been fake.”
“Sonny, stop.” Rachel’s eyes shifted on me. “It’s not so much you.”
Sonny rested his hand on my shoulder. “Ian’s never lied to me, but you have.”
Rachel winced. “I’m sorry about that.”
I blinked and tried to focus. “I know it’s hard to trust me, but we’re running out of time. You must tell Bret to stay away from the Red Ridge area now.”
A bead of sweat ran down Rachel’s cheek, and the determined resolve in her eyes fell away to worry. “If this is all true, it’s probably too late. They left around midnight for a classified location.”
Her words hit me like a brick. “We have to find out what happened.”
“The only way we can message them is from the sub-hangar. Alexis, take them to the back airlock.”
“M-Ma’am?” Alexis asked.
“Just do it. I’ll meet you there.” Rachel handed Alexis the pistol and led us into the office. “This way.” She let us out the door and motioned toward the rear of the hangar. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
Alexis led us, keeping a hand on the pistol she’d tucked into a big pocket of her overalls. Workers were busy at their stations, most not even giving us a glance. We walked past the big vessel airlocks. At one of them workers maneuvered carts pulling in a large hovercraft.
She brought us into the airlock farthest to the back. Inside were two smaller roughed-up cargo vessels of the same model. We boarded one of them, through the rear ramp. Rust bordered the metal sheets that made up the interior of the hovercraft. A light layer of dust covered the floor of the cargo hold. Alexis pressed a button on a panel. The ramp retracted under the floor, a hatch lowered and sealed with a suction noise.
She stopped in the doorway before the bridge, turned and blocked the way. “You two are going to have to stay here.”
“You’re locking us in the cargo hold?” Sonny asked, appalled.
“That’s right.” She reached for the switch.
“But, but, wait!”
She ignored him as the doors slid shut and locked.
“They’re not getting how serious this is,” I said.
“I know, I know.”
I tried to think of a way to gain their trust faster.
Sonny looked out one of the viewports. “Here comes Rachel.” He pounded on the port and yelled at her. “What’s the deal?”
Rachel raised her eyebrows at him and went out of view. The rumble of the engines increased.
“Finally.” I said. “At least we’re headed in the right direction.”
“Yeah, as prisoners or something,” Sonn
y grumbled and sat down on a short bench mounted along the wall.
Beyond the viewport, dust blew away from the door as the airlock depressurized. The craft lifted up and maneuvered to the outside. A few cargo vessels lumbered about as the sun came up. When we reached the border check point, Rachel transmitted a cargo clearance code. I could see a man through the viewport of the surveillance hovercraft, not even in a suit, give a friendly salute like he’d seen this vessel a million times.
We passed over the tall border pillars with red, circling lights on top without question, and headed toward a group of small hills in the distance. Everything moved too slow and pent up nerves made it impossible to stand still.
Rachel’s voice came over the intercom. “Are you guys okay back there?”
“What the hell do you think we’re going to do?” Sonny complained. “Take over this tin can?”
“Just relax.” Rachel’s voice sounded scratchy over the cheap speaker. “There’s only two seats up here, anyway.”
“That’s no excuse,” Sonny said.
The cargo craft gained speed at an agonizingly slow pace.
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” I asked.
“This isn’t a jet,” Alexis snapped, over the intercom. “These cargo vessels are designed to hall – not for speed. I can’t risk blowing the engine.”
The barge rattled, straining to reach its top speed, which wasn’t that impressive.
As I waited, I sensed something more about Rachel’s relationship with Bret. After a few minutes, I figured they probably followed the old tradition of marriage and had made some sort of lifelong commitment to each other. The first vision of Kayla came to mind, kissing in that elevator. Something made me wonder if we had been married in that possible future.
My actions had changed the future, so it was unlikely. Not that I was ready for marriage. She was out there somewhere. I had to know what happened. Rachel needed to trust me. My vision of Argyre came to mind.
“Are you still there Rachel?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve wanted to tell you that there’s also been talk of an attack on the Argyre Farming Colony.”
“I will, uh, make a note of that,” she said, cautiously.