A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution

by Saxon Andrew

  Ana shook her head, “How are you able to see all of this?”

  “It comes with training. Now, I have a question for you.”

  “What is that?”

  “I am going to have to leave you soon. Do you have access to any accounts that you could withdraw funds to assist you in hiding?”

  “I have my own personal account.”

  “How much is in it?”

  “Half-a-billion credits.”

  “WHAT?!”

  Ana smiled, “You don’t surprise easily. This is the second time I’ve startled you.”

  “Why would you have a personal account with that much in it?” Leo asked shaking his head.

  “The official reason is for taxes but the real reason is that it’s a slush fund for doing things outside official scrutiny. My Unity income taxes are nothing compared to what Serge has to pay at his income level. He uses me as a tax dodge.”

  “I want to move those funds into another account that only you can access. If you withdrew any funds from it now, I believe this Spider would be on you in a heartbeat.”

  “So how are you going to do this?”

  “Do you have the card you use to access it?”

  “No, but I know the number.”

  “Good enough.” Leo stopped walking and sat down on bench under a tree. Ana sat down beside him as Leo took his communicator out of his pocket, punched a button, waited a moment, and then said, “I need a blind, black transfer.”

  “Do you require cards?”

  Leo looked at Ana and she shrugged, “I suppose.”

  “Yes, cards are needed and where will the final institution be located?” Leo asked.

  “How much is being transferred?”

  “Five hundred million credits.”

  There was a long pause and then they heard, “The Government Bank on Cartis.”

  Ana’s head went back and Leo asked, “Why did you choose that one? It’s located in another galaxy.”

  “Because the politicians there transfer those level of funds pretty much every day and the funds will be available to the master account I set up in this galaxy. The bank employees on Cartis know not to question them, so the transfer could be done and go unnoticed.”

  “Are you certain you can make this transfer without being caught?”

  “Who would be looking for it?”

  “Romanov Industries.”

  “Are these funds being stolen?”

  “No, they are not. The one making the transfer is the name on the account.”

  “That makes it easier. It will require a spread to prevent discovery. LEO, this is going to cost you.”

  “How much?”

  “Two million is my fee and I need an additional two million to go into the scarecrow account.”

  Leo looked at Ana and she nodded, “Done.”

  “What is the account number?” Leo put the communicator in front of Ana’s mouth and she began reciting the account number. “Got it. Give me a moment.” A minute passed and Leo’s communicator beeped. A white card began emerging from the slot at the bottom of the communicator and then another card began emerging. He put his backpack on the bench and allowed the two cards to fall on it. The voice said, “The funds will not be available for two weeks; then the cards will activate and you’ll have access to them. I’ll start the funds transfer now.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Leo looked at Ana, “Pick up the first card and hold it with your thumb in the center of the dull white side.”

  “What does that do?”

  “It sends the account number through your nervous system to your brain’s storage center. It will imprint the number where you won’t forget it.” Ana lifted the card and did as he instructed. Her eyes went wide and she smiled. Leo said, “Now do the second card.”

  “No!”

  “Ana, you may need to give the card to someone to withdraw funds for you.”

  “If that needs to happen, I’ll give them this card. I want you to take the second card.”

  “Ana, I can’t do that.”

  “Leo, there is a stipulation.” Leo stared at her. “If something happens to me, I want you to find out who did it and kill them. I also want you to make sure my sister and her son are taken care of. I can’t do it now without being caught; I’m sure she’s being watched closely. If I die, then these funds die with me. I need someone to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Why would you want me to do this, Ana?”

  “Who else can I trust? I at least know you’ll keep your promise if you accept the card.” Leo stared at her and Ana said, “Take the card, Leo, please.” Leo sighed and picked up the card. He pressed his thumb into it and saw the account number in his mind.

  His communicator beeped and he looked at the display, “Yes?”

  “Uhhhh…do you want all of the funds in the account transferred?”

  “How much in in there?”

  “Eight-trillion-five hundred-million.”

  Ana’s head went back as Leo said, “Do you honestly think you can make that large of a transfer and not get caught?”

  “I look at this as a challenge, Leo, and you know how much I love a challenge. What I’ll do is transfer the funds in half-billion blocks into blind investment accounts tied to the stock computer on Cartis. I’ll make all of them operate through the account number on the master account card you just received.”

  “How will those accounts go unnoticed?”

  “They’ll have a Cartis address and the stock market knows that funds larger than that are routinely set up. You’ll have access to them but there will be a slight delay while stocks are sold. There will be the usual taxes taken out but the accounts should go pretty much unnoticed.”

  “And what happens if they are noticed?”

  “The Stock Market Manager will not willingly give up information and especially if he thinks the accounts were established by someone in the government on Cartis. A Government Decree will be required for him to release any information and I’m pretty certain that no politician on Cartis will approve any investigation concerning blind accounts. Most all of them have established blind accounts and will not want an investigation into them.”

  “Why haven’t you done this before?”

  “Leo, you don’t use your best hole card unless the reward is worth it.”

  “Take a hundred million for yourself,” Leo said. “I suspect you’re going to have to disappear.”

  “Thanks, LEO. I was only going to charge an additional ten million.”

  “Reggie, I’m serious; I’d take the money and run if I were you.”

  “You don’t need to worry about that. I have one button to push and then I’m headed across the universe. I hope you don’t need my services in the future.”

  “I suspect I won’t but there is one thing I need you to do before you fly.”

  “What is that?”

  Leo turned his communicator toward Ana and snapped an image. “Do you remember the list I gave you?”

  “I do.”

  “Send me some identity documents and use the fourth one on the list.”

  “Will do. You’ll receive them within twelve hours. I’ll send them on the run.”

  “Thanks, Reggie. Contact me if you need me.”

  “Let us pray that won’t happen.”

  • • •

  Leo ended the contact and Ana said, “The eight trillion that was paid for the teleportation company was put in my account.” She looked at Leo, “What does that mean?”

  “It means your father was the owner of the company from the beginning and set up the sale to pay himself. If this teleportation device actually works, then it was developed by one of your father’s scientists. He went out and convinced investors to buy into it and then paid himself, which, by the way, is highly illegal.”

  “What do you think is going to happen once the funds are taken out of the account?”

  “Well,
currently, you have the Spider operating inside your father’s company trying to find you. I suspect your father will be joining in that effort shortly.”

  Ana sighed and shook her head as she stared at the ground, “What chance do I have of avoiding their finding me? The resources my father has to find me defies belief.”

  “We’re about to give you some tools to help make that happen. Come with me.” Leo stood up and Ana followed him a few blocks to a Rent-A-Room hotel. He paid for a room in cash and took the key around the side of the building where Ana was waiting for him. He unlocked the door and looked around before calling her over from the shrubbery. She went in and Leo said, “I need you to go into the bathroom and fill up the tub with warm water.” Ana started to ask a question but caught herself. She went to the bathroom and Leo put his back pack on the bed and pulled out a clear credit card sized package. He went into the bathroom and said, “Get in the tub.”

  “With my clothes on?!”

  “No, take everything off.”

  “Leo!”

  “Ana, I respect your modesty but I have to be here to make this happen. I promise not to look too hard.”

  Ana rolled her eyes and did as she was directed. She had kept her back to him with one arm over her breasts and the other covering her legs as she stepped into the tub and laid down in it. Leo knelt beside the tub and pulled the seal off the clear package. “Now listen carefully. First, take the two molds out of your cheeks.” Ana reached into her mouth with her fingers, pulled them out, and handed them to Leo. “I’m going to empty the contents of this package into the water and I’m going to need you to submerge yourself completely. While you’re submerged, I need you to take some of the liquid into your mouth and open and close your eyes.”

  “Leo?”

  “It won’t cause you any pain. However, the water will appear to be a form of a liquid plastic substance as soon as I empty this packet into the tub. You need to do this quickly before it degrades and falls apart. Are you ready?” Ana blew out a hard breath, inhaled deeply, and nodded. Leo emptied the contents of the package into the water and said, “NOW, ANA!”

  Ana fell back in the tub and was completely submerged. Leo was thankful her hair was tied in a ponytail and all of it went below the water. After ten seconds, Leo grabbed a brush and tapped her on the head. She came up out of the water and sprayed the silver liquid out of her mouth. Leo had stepped back from the tub and none of the liquid touched him. “That stuff tastes terrible!!”

  “But it wasn’t painful.” The water had changed to look like a liquid silver metal and then it began changing back into water. Leo kept his back turned as he said, “Stand there and let the liquid change before you take a towel to dry off.”

  “What is this?”

  “I’ll tell you once you dry off. I’m stepping out to give you some privacy.”

  Ten minutes later, Ana stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her and stepped into the motel room. Leo looked at her and smiled, “Good, the changes are starting?”

  Ana’s eyes narrowed, “CHANGES?!”

  “I’ve changed your surface DNA.”

  “You’ve what!?”

  “You do remember the drone that flew past us?” Ana nodded. “Today, searchers don’t need to recognize anyone they’re looking to find. You simply run a DNA scan of the people where you think your target might be located and it will immediately let you know if they’re present. If you can afford it, you can use satellites to search an entire planet to find who you’re searching for. The only way to make you safe from a DNA scan is to change your appearance as well as the DNA your stalkers will see in a scan. That bath you just took changed your surface DNA.”

  “TO WHAT?!”

  “Calm down, you knew you were going to have to change your appearance didn’t you?”

  “Well…I just thought I’d have to color my hair or wear contacts or use those cheek balls…”

  Leo interrupted her “All of those things won’t work against a DNA scan and Serge Romanov can afford to use satellite DNA scanners to find you if he knows the planet you’re on.” They heard a noise and Leo said, “Ah, they’re here.” He lifted his communicator and two cards came falling out of the printer. He looked at them, smiled, and handed them to Ana.

  Ana looked at the Unity ID card and said, “This woman is a blonde with green eyes!” Leo shrugged. Ana turned and rushed into the bath room and looked in the mirror. Her hair was blonde from the roots to half the length of the shafts. She leaned forward and saw most of the brown was gone from her eyes and was replaced by green. She went back into the bedroom and looked at Leo with an angry expression, “You could have asked me about this before you did it!”

  “You’d have refused and soon you would be dead. You father has now had time to pay for the satellites to start scanning for you and if you went outside, you’d be found. This is the only way to keep you alive.”

  “You could have persuaded me. You didn’t have to change me…”

  “Without asking you? I know, but you’d have still said no. No one is willing to give up how they see themselves. The point is, this way you can assume this new identity and take a ship away from here and be safe until I can find out who is trying to kill you.”

  “Have you done this before?”

  “I haven’t been in a situation that called for it. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it if someone nasty gets a scan of my DNA.”

  Ana looked down at her chest and her eyes narrowed, “My breasts are larger.”

  “And your face and body are a little thinner.”

  “Just who is this person I’m changing into?”

  “You wouldn’t know her.”

  “WHO IS SHE!?”

  “Calm down. She’s a good cover for you. Her name was Victoria Lenora De La Pascal.”

  “What do you mean was?”

  Victoria owned her own luxury starship and was quite wealthy. She lost a very rich older husband to incurable cancer and inherited all of his wealth. She would travel from planet to planet enjoying the high life of the rich and famous and didn’t really ever go back to her home world. She told everyone that it reminded her of her former husband, whom she missed terribly. The truth was that her husband’s family challenged the will but could do nothing without her being present to file the case. So she pretty much became a traveling gypsy enjoying her wealth and having a good time.” Leo paused, “Unfortunately, she had the misfortune of traveling through a star system that went supernova as she approached it on a filament. She died and there was no trace of her disappearance.”

  “How did you know about this? And where did you get the technology to do this?! We’d know about this if it was out there!”

  “I didn’t know about it. I was sold the information by an Insectoid who had a real crush on Victoria. He pretty much stalked her wherever she went but to my knowledge never approached her. He collected a sample of her DNA and was thinking about cloning her but after her death, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.”

  “The Insectoids don’t interact with anyone outside their species. They’re great scientists but are antisocial,” Ana said severely.

  “I know. But this one was different. I collected Victoria’s DNA along with the bath packet and paid a high sum for it and twenty others. I don’t know if it was really in love with her but he had more than fifty DNA samples of humans that died without being reported. Victoria’s DNA is perfect for you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you can go to Luminus, purchase a luxury starship, and hire a crew to fly it for you. You can take Victoria’s place and go wherever you want until this little problem resolves itself. You should go to the other side of the known universe for a time to avoid any chance encounters that might blow your cover.”

  “How would I blow my cover?”

  “You go and visit your sister or someone else close to you. I’m reasonably certain anyone that comes near your sister will probably be taken and a full body
exam will be conducted.” Ana opened her mouth and Leo quickly said, “You must avoid communicating with your sister!”

  “Why?! She’s my only family!”

  Leo sighed, “Ana, do you think your father would hesitate to use her as a hostage to bring you back in?” Ana stared at him in silence. “If you attempt to contact her, your father will intercept the conversation and tell you that she will die along with her baby unless you immediately come back.”

  “He could do that anyway.”

  “No he couldn’t.”

  “Of course he could!”

  “Ana, in order for his threat to work, you have to know about it. Either from his mouth or by a sent message that he knows you’ve received. If he doesn’t know for certain you’ve heard it, he won’t waste the only thing he has to get you back. Your sister is safer now than before you came with me. Think about this, Ana, and you’ll see I’m right. I suspect she’s screaming at Serge at this very moment demanding to know where you are. He’ll see her emotions are real and know she has not spoken with you. He will be prepared to intercept any communication you make to her and issue his threat immediately before you could end the contact.”

  “I don’t want her to worry and suffer over me, Leo.”

  “It’s that suffering and worrying that will keep her alive, Ana.”

  Ana took the card and went back into the bathroom. She looked at the card and then into the mirror. She looked several more times and then walked out of the bathroom, “This Victoria was nice on the eyes.”

  Leo smiled, “She usually got what she wanted from admirers.”

  “Did you ever meet her?”

  “I did. And it was my conversations with her that caused the Insectoid to speak to me after she died.”

  “I know I’m asking a lot of questions but why would it speak to you?”

  “Because it knew I was carrying a Purple Card and hoped that one day I’d bring Victoria back to life. You don’t hide things from an Insectoid. It found me after her death and offered her DNA at no charge. I guess it must have had sincere feelings for Victoria. I developed a relationship with him and I’ve used him numerous times since.”

  “Who trained you to see everything?”

  “Why do you ask?”