Fallen Angels (John Hardesty Z04 Book 2)

by Clay Moore

  It was possible for civilians now to make Hypercom unit calls. All you had to know was the number of Hypercom unit that you wish to receive. Depending on the equipment that the receiving plan had indicated what kind of level of service that they can expect. Since he was receiving it at Faraway, the general consensus was that he would not expect to receive video quality signals. What was kept secret was that the Eridani space Navy had invested a significant amount in the infrastructure. The Hypercom satellite link was probably one of the best in the galaxy. The reason the Eridani space Navy would do something like that is to make sure that they could receive Hypercom communications while they were in orbit. With the purchase of the Eridani High Guard, the Eridani space Navy suddenly became the second largest space navy in the galaxy. The first was Alphacent. The problem with the Alphacent space fleet is that they never went anywhere. They never try to operate outside of their planetary system. Yet, they had too much equipment for it to be a simple system defense set.

  John set the dining cart outside of his door. Then he relocked the door. John turned off all the lamps except for the one by the bed. He retrieved his blaster from the holster sling that he wore underneath the leather jacket. He put that blaster underneath his pillow. Then he turned out his light. Within a few minutes after the light going out, there was a gentle rhythmic breathing coming from John.

  CHAPTER NINE PREPARATIONS

  John woke up looking at the blinking red light on the face of the Hypercom. He had set the Hypercom to wake him up when there was a call arriving. John got out of bed and hit the receive button. He didn't know if it was a message or an interactive call. John wondered how big of a deal it would be to write the circuitry for that interactive feature.

  The figure on the Hypercom coalesced into the very familiar Mrs. Tolliver. Mrs. Tolliver, one of three or four assistants to A. Everyone used to call her a secretary, but when she started to assign people, they began calling her A's personal assistant.

  John was so into getting the call in that he forgot how he was dressed. He knew what he must've looked like when Mrs. Tolliver gave him a wolf whistle.

  "Now I understand all of the phone calls about you from women. It seems you flowed into their lives occupied a favorite position for a while, and then you leave." "I'm sorry, I completely forgot how I was dressed when I woke up this morning. Let me put on a bathrobe." John went to his closet and pulled on the white terrycloth robe. He then went back to the Hypercom and sat down in the office chair.

  "A wanted me to call today. I know that you were planning on doing some action today. I have no orders for you to stop. You are to continue as scheduled. Do you know the relationship between intergalactic interests and the genetic concepts?"

  "I don't know if there is any connection between those two. I was going to go and get a meeting for tomorrow. I should gauge better whether or not there is an actual meeting between these two corporations."

  "Do you have any idea who is the CEO of intergalactic interests?" I have not been here very long. I thought that the destruction of the mechanical wombs was of more importance to Faraway. I interpreted this interest in intergalactic interest as tangential."

  "Understood there is no change in the top order as you understand it. However, that can change at a moments notice. You are licensed to deal with intergalactic interests as you see fit. If you find them to be more than a bit player in this whole thing, you are authorized to take everything down."

  "All right everything is okay. I am moving the explosives to my room so that I can make them into bombs that I can put on these mechanical wounds. I also will have plenty of rounds. Will have more information early tomorrow morning. How should I call?"

  "Call at your discretion. We will not call you."

  "Z04, out." John turned interests packed it away and put it back into his attaché. John was starting to get the feel for how the Eridani secret service runs things. If they had sent him merely on a spec mission, then they want to see and hear him on a regular basis. When the operation is about to go, home base is very silent. When enough is not scheduled to go or is terribly late, then headquarters is a chatterbox. There are some missions that he prefers that headquarters be a chatterbox rather than silent. Then there are some tasks that they want to be a chatterbox, and you have to kind of tell them to be quiet.

  For the way she spoke John thought that he had a new fan in Mrs. Tolliver. John always thought that there was a woman underneath all of that stern features who wanted what every woman wants. While John' s attributes were such that most women took notice, there were quite a few that felt he would not fit them. Then there were the women who threw caution to the wind. That was Vivana. * * *

  Today was the day that John was going to pay intergalactic interests a visit. It would look weird if a person that was a salesman didn't try to sell that company anything. In this one visit, he was going to have to determine whether or not intergalactic interests had anything to do with the new genetic robots. If they had genetic robots in their working force, that would be a big item. If he found out that intergalactic interests were indeed responsible for the genetic robots just what would he do?

  It was easy for him to say destroy the genetic robot manufacturer. There was a history of a particular building being used for that. The reason it was used was that it was bought and paid for. The only thing that they really had to do was alter any existing buildings to hold the new mechanical wombs. It would be a major sign is when he walked into the Genetic Concepts building and see the mechanical organs. Once he made that discovery than the desire of Eridani for it to be destroyed could be carried out. What would he do when he found out that all of this was being orchestrated with a relatively new Corporation called intergalactic interests.

  John walked out of his room and went into the dining room. He was given a table, and a copy of the newspaper was sent to his slate. John was enjoying reading the very provincial newspaper but was local to Faraway. When it arrived in Faraway, the newspaper was all over him trying to determine why he was there. Only by promising them an exclusive did they exclude him from the paper. He thought it would also be a perfect time for him to mention his friends and their businesses that he used.

  John was getting a little tired of fried eggs, so he asked for a stack of hotcakes and to rashers of bacon. The syrup that was being presented as being maple – like was pretty much that. It was not real maple syrup, but it was somebody's idea of what maple syrup should taste like. He suddenly found out what it must've felt like in the 20th century. No doubt the 21st-century man was thinking about what would be like in the 23rd century. The main thing that was interesting was the lack of technological progress. Pretty much all of the governmental systems, as well as jobs remain. In the Starport like Daniel's, there was a class of worker called a stevedore. This was a job that went all the way back in the days of sail. Some of his friends had always thought that there would be robots to do all of the menial tasks. We can count the genetic robots issue as the reason for us not having robots. We had the miniaturized joints and servos. We could put those robots into a rubberized body to give it the semblance of a human shape. The genetic robots, though, made everyone shy away from artificial intelligence.

  John was one of those people who had no problem with artificial intelligence. He had begun his career in the Eridani High Guard as a Marine Corps grunt. Rosie, his AIE unit on the Rose, was, in fact, his suit AI unit. A suit provided just too much information for the human brain to look at. The AI was in the suit to kind of draw your attention to something that needed to be done. This fear of the AI is very much like the Salem witch trials. Most of the AI's all are limited by their programming so, they suddenly have a master AI take over the galaxy was the stuff of fiction and not reality.

  John turned off his Slate. He signed the check to have a charge to his room. He checked his watch and found out that he was about 10 minutes early. Across the way from the check-in desk was the house communicator. John went over and picked up t
he communicator. He touched Daniel's work number. He knew that Daniel worked a heavy load during tourist season.

  "Settlement Starport, Daniel Kreis owner and operator on the line."

  "Daniel, this is John."

  "You need your package from the machine shop right?" "That is correct. I was wondering if I could get the explosive from your shop early this afternoon. Jeff and I will then cobble them up into time bombs. Can be done?"

  "Are you going to need me to drive you in the gravcar?" "I have a rather large duffel that I can use for all the parts. And then I have smaller duffels so that I can use those to carry the completed bombs. I also need to bring in my ammunition. There may be a lot of blaster fire tonight and tomorrow morning."

  "I'm sure there's nothing I can do to help you with the time bombs?" "I am going to have the help of Jeff. He had a little bit of experience in explosive work while he was a mercenary."

  "I knew he had some kind of experience at that. It's just that he such a milquetoast."

  "That's what happens when you find the right woman."

  "Okay, if you need any help you can give me a call and I'll be over." "Ask yourself something. Do you think that Cheri is going to let you do this? Especially when I had other help more qualified."

  "okay, I see that Cheri has her claws deep in me. On your next trip here there's got to be something you can do."

  "I rather doubt that they're going to send me back to Faraway. There are too many people here that know what I am. They could send another to my place and get the job done."

  "Okay, you take it easy. I listen for your Grav-rod and then watch the fireworks."

  "You do that, Daniel." * * * John hung up the communicator. He buttoned his middle button on the suit coat. It still left enough room for him to reach into his holster sling. He slipped his slate into his left coat pocket. Then he walked in his highly polished dress shoes. He left the hotel through the main door. The building for intergalactic interests was about three blocks away. The sun was up and the skies were clear for the first time. He hoped that the skies would cloud up at night. A cloudless sky would get available for any kind a light source to add to what he was going to do that night.

  He completed his walk and went to the front door of intergalactic interests. There was a single woman wearing shoulder length brunette hair. She wore a standard dress with a close weave sweater that came to her wrists. She had pulled the sweaters wrists back on them to give her more room to write. When she saw John, she smiled. It was a genuine smile, not a fake one. If it was fake, then she was an outstanding actor. She wore makeup that was in fashion for Faraway. Most other make-ups were subdued, but the only one that was not was the lips. She had very vibrant red lips. Her name tag announced that she was Ms. Fogarty. John did not know if she was a native of Faraway, or whether she was transparent brought here because her specialty had no other person here.

  John walked up to the reception desk. He produced his business card with a flair for the receptionist. Again if she was playing a role, she was doing an excellent job. She giggled and took his business card.

  "John Hardesty," she read from his card. "It says here that you are a factor for Radamite fuels. Well if we need Radamite we usually get that from the Starport."

  "I'm about to change that hopefully in the next couple of days. We would love to provide Radamite for all of Faraway's needs."

  "Then we might need to purchase a contract with you for our Radamite needs."

  "That's correct. To talk this over I would like to make an appointment with your CEO."

  "He doesn't have a lot of time for appointments today."

  "Perhaps he has time tomorrow. I can come back tomorrow." He watched her wrestle with the computer for a moment. Then her face erupted in a smile as she managed to get the information John wanted.

  "Yes, he has an opening tomorrow at 9 AM. Will that work for you?"

  "Yes, that will be possible for me. You wouldn't happen to know the name of your CEO?" "No, I don't. That's why Corporate has these booklets called prospectuses. It has all of the famous people's names here."

  * * *

  John took the prospectus. He folded it in half and put it in his right-hand pocket. He blew the woman another kiss and then walked out of the intergalactic interests. That would be the last time that would be so easy to walk out.

  John walked on his way to his hotel. He did not see the man with black hair and aquiline nose. His hands were thin with protuberant around knuckles. The man wore a suit very similar to what John wore. He even chose the same gray color. The black hair was slicked back with the product. Extend this accentuated his height. He allowed one thing on his face that was not there when he lived on Alphacent. He allowed a black goatee. It had a razor sharp lines where there were no hair and hair.

  The only reason that he was looking out of his window was that he had received information about someone seeking an appointment. You heard it was Radamite fuels. There was some rumor that they were not as pure as the driven snow. If they were here, now, then they had caught the wind that Faraway was the place to be to make a profit. The man shuffled his fingers together, excitement about possible profit making him reveal an emotional state.

  The man once known as Anton Hecton decided that he would wait and see if the benefit was worth it. Surely a corporation like Radamite fuels had enough of a margin to give him some of it. That may be the way they work. He would see tomorrow.

  John walked to his room and opened it. Before he went through the door, he pulled out his blaster. He had been surprised to me time this trip with people waiting in his room. So far it had been benign, but at some point, it's going to be deadly for him and for anyone else in the rooms around.

  Now armed John pushed the door open quickly. He then rushed into the room sweeping the room with his blaster and eyes. His room was in a disheveled look, and that was because there had been no service of the chamber. He knew that because the maid was behind him and wanting to get in and clean the room. John gave her the okay. Most maids don't like to have the guest in the room while they do their job. To them, it was like having the president of the company watched them clean a toilet bowl.

  John sat at the desk. He took the literature that he was given by the receptionist. What she actually gave him was not a welcome to the company flyer. It was actually a prospectus. This was an offer to buy into the Corporation. As such even the photographically shy CEO had to have, pictures taken of them to get people to invest.

  John read the words and knowing what they probably were doing here he started understanding what their business was. Intergalactic interests sold hi end genetic robots. Whoever wrote the prospectus did a marvelous job of hiding what they did in words. Because John had an inkling of what they were doing, he was able to break through the wall of words.

  * * *

  The prospectus indicated that they sold made services or as they call it servitors. The brochure noted that not only does the company sell the servitors, but a whole network of salesman also sells the equipment. If the Corporation had some people selling it then the corporation was worth in the billions. That was not true. There were at most 100 3rd party sales people. And there were maybe five locations around the galaxy where you could purchase the servitors. The independent salespeople were like the grav-car salesman, while the corporate sales office was more like a high-end showpiece.

  Then John turned the page. This is a page containing a picture of every single one of the officers. The man identified in the office as the CEO was the man he knew as Anton Hecton. From the action taken against planetary interests, Anton Hecton had a price on his head. John reached into his jacket and check to make sure they still had his blaster. So far as he knew this was the only sighting of Anton Hecton in the galaxy since the removal of the offending Corporation.

  John knew that he had to share this with headquarters. He knew what would be said to him. A would inform him that he now has a license to kill Anton Hecton. What nobody told you
was that the phrase if possible was always added to the permit. He pulled out his Hypercom from the attaché. He set it up in the middle the desk. They had it seek for a freighter. There were quite a few of those going on today on Faraway. He chose one and begin the procedure to connect. Once he was connected in his device had to authenticate itself with the equipment at headquarters.

  When the Hypercom connected with headquarters Hypercom, a very familiar person was standing on his desk. It was A. John had never known if A did any communication with his agents in the field. This apparently proof that he did make communication with field agents.

  “This is headquarters. Go ahead, John.”

  "I would not generally break the silence, but I just figured out who is in charge of Intergalactic Interests." "Well don't keep me in suspense. You would not have broken silence for something minor. This is something major.”

  “Yes, it is major. Anton Hecton is here on Faraway.”

  "Are you sure of that?.”

  "I'll put this in an envelope and have it sent physically to Eridani first available." "If it truly is Anton Hechton then your authorization to kill is included with him. At least the destruction of his network of finance would be desired.”

  "Should I try and apprehend him?" * * * “We are not going to trust any foreign government no matter where we are to hold any of our prisoners. That is why we have the license to kill. It's just so much easier to get rid of someone, then it is to try and hold them. Would you like to keep someone for four days in just your hotel room?"

  “No, I don't think I want to hold Anton Hecton for four days. Not when I found out that this is actually a very hot vacation spot."

  "Sometimes I think I ought to follow you around. From what everybody is told me about Faraway it's not a holiday destination. Yet, you report a contact with an Alphacent intelligence officer. Your contact report includes quite a large number of women with whom you dance. I'm sorry. I just don't see John Hardesty dancing."