Kimiyo was behind him leading Arulio by the hand. Her hair swayed in the breeze as she too swiveled her head from side to side, looking for danger. The landing pads on either side of the Blue Moon Bandit were empty. She remembered a shuttle being on one when they arrived but it was gone now.
Their footfalls made the only noise to be heard across the area, their boot heels echoing off the building behind them in the empty air. Cole’s long steps were less pronounced than the staccato produced by Kiniyo’s low heeled leather boots. Cole didn’t like being so exposed. The distance was less than a hundred meters but to his way of thinking it took too long to reach the ship. When they did, he stepped to the rear of the ship near the entrance ramp.
Cole pushed the intercom buzzer and the small screen set into it flickered to life. “Duncan?”
Marla’s face filled the screen. “He’s in the engine room, Cole, trying to figure out a way to bust us loose. Hang out there. He wants to talk to you. I’ll let him know you’re here.” Cole nodded.
The back entrance ramp dropped and Duncan walked down before it even touched the tarmac. The big man was wearing gray workman’s pants, a grease stained white t-shirt, a blue vest with a dozen pockets and a wide tool belt. His heavy boots thudded down the ramp and he was perspiring.
“How we doing on these locks, Duncan? Nathan wants to get out of here.”
Duncan walked over to the nearest landing strut and knelt down. “Not too good. These are good restraints, better than I would have expected out here. The lock mechanism is armored here” he said pointing to a heavy metal box. “Very tough.”
“Can you cut through?”
“Oh yeah, no problem there. I have a saw and a laser that will cut through them but it will take time. Do we have time?”
“Not really. We’re expecting company sooner rather than later. The guy we came to see has pissed off some very dangerous people. What if I help you and Richie? Could we all take a strut and speed things up?”
“That would help. Individually it will take about a half hour per strut. We’ve got four altogether. Can you help?” He said it looking at Kimiyo.
She looked startled. “I’ll do what I can but I’ve never touched a power tool.”
“If you, Richie and I all take one it will take about an hour,” Duncan said. “The first one done moves on to the last one.”
“I hate to even bring this up but could Nathan just hit the engines and bust loose?” Cole said. “Like we did with the Martha Tooey?”
Duncan looked shocked. “Really?”
“I just thought I would ask.”
“Look, that kind of stuff is fine with other people’s ships but not this one. If he did something like that with the Blue Moon Bandit he would likely rip the whole undercarriage out of her. I’m not sure we would still be space worthy.”
Cole looked around. Nothing had changed yet. They were still alone. He was still calm. Their line of work often involved high pressure, low time situations and they always came through. He clicked his fingers.
“Are these controlled mechanically or by a computer system?”
“Looks like either or.”
Cole turned to Kimiyo. “Can Arulio hack this system? Cut us loose?”
She looked back over to the bottom the ramp. Arulio still stood there, lost in the transmissions only he could perceive. “I don’t see why not. He breaks into everything else. By the way, I should have told you to wipe your phones of anything private. He doesn’t really have a lot of morals so odds are he’s strip mined them of anything interesting.”
Cole smiled. “Go talk to him. See if you can get the process started. If he needs to go inside to keep from being distracted, take him in. I’ll be out here helping Duncan.”
He watched as Kimiyo lead Arulio up into the Blue Moon Bandit.
“How did it go in there?” Duncan said.
Cole sighed. “It was as terrible as I expected.” He filled Duncan in while they pulled a saw from one of the ship’s outside storage lockers. Duncan wrestled the large tool to the landing strut and Cole hefted the batteries.
“I knew nothing good was going to come of this,” Duncan said. “I warned him that getting involved in anything like this was stupid no matter how good the money was. The fact that Celeste is involved only makes things ten times worse.”
“Nathan told me you were all for taking the job before you knew Celeste was involved.”
Duncan scowled at him. “Okay the money was good. Once we found out Celeste was involved I really did think it was a bad idea.”
“Then why didn’t you say something? I told him how horrible all this was and you just sat there.”
Cole handed Duncan a charged battery and shrugged his shoulders. “You know how he is. There are two things Nathan does not have a clear head about; money and Celeste. The minute Saji Vy offered him a wad of cash for this ridiculous job and told him Celeste was involved, he was going to do it. The real question is; why are we here?” He pointed to himself and Duncan.
“Marla and I would like to retire someday and keeping the cash coming in is the only way to do that.” He positioned the saw over the manacle holding the landing strut.
“Okay,” Cole said, smiling slightly.
“What?”
“The two of you have been investing like crazy for the last couple years. You could have skipped this job.”
Duncan handed Cole a pair of safety glasses. “So? What about you? Why are you here?”
“Every once in a while Nathan goes off the deep end and needs someone to look out for him, especially when it comes to Celeste. She has some crazy hold over him. I thought if I came along I might be able to steer him clear of whatever craziness ensued.” He looked around. “I’m going to guess I failed.”
Duncan grimaced. “Yeah, well, nobody’s perfect. Besides, Celeste and Nathan together are a truckload of crazy.” He pointed to a section of the locking mechanism. “Richie is bringing out the other saws. When he does, make sure you cut here.” Cole nodded. “Let me know if you have a problem.” Duncan brought the saw down on the manacle and sparks began to fly.
Nathan followed Celeste down the hallway to her room. He watched her walk, enjoying the way her hips swayed. It was futile, he knew, to think anything could ever happen between them again but there was a part of him that enjoyed just being in her presence. Then she spoke.
“This is turning into a real cluster,” she said as she opened the door to her room.
“Yeah,” Nathan agreed, “This thing has certainly gone off the rails.”
She snapped her head around looked at him and rolled her eyes. Then she grabbed a duffel bag and began shoving things in it. Clothes, a tablet computer and various other things she had on the dresser top.
Nathan stood watching her. “You think this is my fault somehow?”
She stopped for second. “What are you even doing here? Did you volunteer for this? I mean, I saw you walk in and I couldn’t even believe it was you. We’re divorced. You’re obligations to me are at an end.”
Nathan laughed. “Don’t worry, Celeste, I…I mean, we didn’t come for you. We’re here for the money. Saji’s paying top dollar to get his ship back. I don’t know if you remember but that’s sort of our thing. We do it well.”
“That must be why we’re running for our lives,” she said. “Just like old times.”
Nathan shook his head. “Come on, we rarely, if ever, got into jams this screwed up. You’re exaggerating.”
“Oh that’s right, just like I always do.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. It was amazing how fast they could fall back into these patterns. Maybe it was time to break the pattern. “You know what? I am here because of you.” He pulled the chair out from the small desk and collapsed into it. “I admit it. I mean, I would have taken the job anyway because of what Saji is paying but once I heard you were involved, in trouble, well, that sealed the deal.”
Celeste stopped packing and looked at him. “O
h, no. Come on. Don’t tell me you still have feelings for me.”
He held up his hands. “I don’t know about all that but I have to admit that when I saw you outside, you took my breath away.” He considered for a moment before going on. “You still look great.”
She started jamming things into the duffel bag. “I’m not doing this. Not now.”
“What do you mean? Do what?”
She pulled the drawstrings tight on her bag. “I am not going to start examining my feelings right now. First this idiot kidnaps us and now you show up to save us. I think I’ve had my fill of men for a while.”
“I guess that’s fair.”
“Well I’m glad you agree.” She swung her bag over her shoulder. “Now let’s go get the captain and get out of here.” She walked into the hallway and turned right. Nathan shook his head and followed her.
Montario and Caleb lay on the carpet in the conversation pit. Caleb turned his head to look in Montario’s direction. “Did you really think you could get away with this? How stupid are you?”
Monatrio smiled. “I did get away with it. The money is mine.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. He did that a lot and Montario thought it was probably his most irritating trait.
“Do you understand who is on their way here right now?” Caleb asked. “Do you know what they do to people who steal from them?”
“Quit nagging me,” Montario said. “You’re like every woman I’ve ever known. ‘Do you know this? Do you know that?’ Here’s the thing Caleb, I know what the Syndicate is about, that’s why I don’t plan on being here when they arrive.”
“Well you’re doing a fine job of getting away.”
Montario twisted himself around and pushed himself up to a sitting position with his back against one of the sofas. He huffed a little bit, out of breath from the effort.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Caleb said.
“I’m not lying on the floor with my face in the carpet; seems a bit undignified.”
Caleb looked up at him and started rolling around. With a great effort he squirmed into a sitting position and pushed himself back against the sofa. “I don’t think you are taking this as seriously as you should. You stole millions of credits. I mean, I’ve seen some dumb things in my time but this is light years beyond anything else.”
“Well, we can’t all be middle managers in a vast criminal enterprise, eh?” Montario threw him a smirk just to rub some salt in the wound.
Caleb looked at him, eyes glaring. “Just wait. Just wait ‘til they get here.”
Montario smirked again.
Forty-five minutes later, Duncan and Richie were working together to saw through the last lock on the landing pad. The metal was tough but the two of them were making good time. Duncan was used to cutting ships free. In their line of work someone was always coming up with new ways to hold on to their ship after they stopped paying for it.
Cole walked the perimeter of the landing pad. There was no one within sight. He caught a glimpse of faces at the windows of the temple. They pulled back when he caught them. He wished he could hear better but the saws Duncan and Richie were using made a high pitched whine as they cut through the locks. The rain slowed to a slight drizzle, just enough to make someone miserable but not enough to be a real bother. Cole stared at the door to the temple and wondered where Nathan, Celeste and her crew were.
A roar ripped through the air and Cole’s head snapped around. He could hear it even over the sound of the saws. The Blue Moon Bandit was blocking the view of the section of sky Cole needed to see. He ran around the ship, ducking under the starboard engine housing. A ship was coming in fast, screaming down through the clouds. He watched it for a moment hoping that it was heading in the wrong direction but it wasn’t. It banked slightly, burning off some speed and then it roared toward the temple. Cole grabbed his phone from his pocket and texted a short message to Nathan and Marla as he ran for Duncan. He almost ran into an open equipment locker door and ducked around it. He tapped Duncan on the shoulder. The big man turned and looked at him, pulling his safety goggles down around his neck. He stood up and Richie took over the saw.
“What’s up?”
Cole pointed toward the other landing pad. The other ship hadn’t set down yet but he knew where it would be in a minute. “We’re out of time. There’s a ship on the way in and it’s coming fast. How are you doing?”
Duncan looked down at the lock holding the landing strut. “I need another minute. Where’s Nathan and Celeste?”
“Hell, I don’t know. They’re probably arguing about their divorce. I sent him a message. Do what you can. I’ll try and buy you some time.” Duncan nodded, pulled up his goggles and moved to help Richie.
Cole walked back toward the rear entrance ramp and thumbed the lock on another equipment locker. It scanned his thumbprint and popped open. He reached inside and pulled out a rifle and a bandolier holding spare magazines. He loaded one into the rifle, racked a round into the chamber and closed the locker door. From his vantage point he could see the next landing pad but he had no cover except for the landing ramp. It was thin and offered little protection and everyone would be using it. Drawing fire toward it seemed like a bad idea.
The ship circled the temple and landing pads, presumably getting a good look at the situation before they set down. Cole stayed back under the Blue Moon Bandit, making sure they wouldn’t see him. Marla appeared at the top of the ramp.
“Do we have company?” She asked.
Cole nodded. “We sure do. The guys are just about finished cutting us free. How soon can we lift off once everyone is aboard?”
“I’ve already done the pre-flight checklist and started the engines so we’re ready to go.”
Cole noticed silence in the air and turned to see Duncan and Richie packing their equipment into cases. Duncan knelt, snapping the clasps on a large plastic case. Richie carefully placed a spare battery in his case and closed the lid. The restraints holding the landing gear were severed.
“The guys are finished. Where is Nathan?”
“My God, who gave him a bottle?” Celeste said. “The whole crew knows to keep liquor away from him. That’s why the Charon is a dry ship.”
Nathan looked at Arno Geechy, captain of the Charon sprawled on the bed, passed out with an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor beside his outstretched right hand. The other crew members, all four of them, stood behind them, bags packed.
“It didn’t come from the ship, Ms. Bezzle,” one of the men said. “We search the captain’s bags after every shore leave. We didn’t find anything.”
Celeste sighed. “Thanks, Chuck, but he obviously found a bottle somewhere.”
Nathan’s phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket. He read the message. “We have to move. There’s another ship outside.”
“That’s got to be the Syndicate,” Celeste said. “We have to move.” She looked around the room but there was nothing helpful. “Okay, Chuck, can you guys carry him out to the landing pad? We have to catch a ride back to the Charon.”
The material handler looked at her. “You mean to say the Syndicate is involved in this? That they’re coming here?”
She nodded. “A lot has happened while we were locked up but yes, the Syndicate is part of it. They’re on their way here. Please, carry the captain and we can all get out of here.”
The men looked at each other. “We can move faster without him,” Chuck said.
“Pick him up.” Celeste ordered. “We aren’t leaving anyone behind.”
“Fine,” Chuck said. “Come on Jeff, get his feet. We’ll haul the old drunk out.” The other two crewmen picked up their bags and they picked up the captain with a pair of grunts. “Let’s go, Ms. Bezzle. The captain’s not getting any lighter.”
“Sir?” A voice whispered from the doorway of the great room leading to the kitchen. Montario looked up. It was Gretchen, a young member of the Children of the Apocalyptic Rainbow. “Are you all right?” S
he moved into the room slowly, looking around.
Montario shot a warning look at Caleb and turned to the young lady, smiling. “Of course, my dear. I could use a bit of help though, if you don’t mind.” He turned his hips and showed her the restraints binding his hands.
“We heard shouting and then those people went down the hall.”
“That’s right, dear but if you could help untie me I can put things to right. Can you do that?” He hit her with the million watt smile.
“Oh sure.” She started back into the kitchen then turned back. “Are those people gone?”
“No, they aren’t, dear, but no need to be apprehensive. Just go ahead and cut me loose and I’ll take care of everything.”
She nodded, said “Okay”, and went back into the kitchen.
Montario looked at Caleb. “It was good you kept your mouth shut. I can get us both out of here. Give me a hard time and you can sit here and wait for your Syndicate friends.”
Caleb was silent for a minute, doing the math in his head. What Cole had said earlier, about him being responsible for the theft had been worrying him. The Syndicate had little patience for failure and this was a screw up of colossal proportions. If he could trust Montario to help him run, he might have a chance. If he stayed put he had a fifty –fifty chance of taking the heat for Montario’s theft.
“What can you do for me?” He asked.
“Well, I’m a rich man. If you help me get out of here I can set you up somewhere. You can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. What do you say?”
“Okay, let’s get out of here but I don’t want to spend one more minute than is necessary with you.”
“Just until we’re free and clear,” Montario said.
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