Two and a half hours later, Josh and Cherry were satisfied they had wrung all the answers out of the female they could without more sophisticated equipment. As they expected, the ones wanting the information was Exurbiu Entertainment.
Josh said, "We must have them worried if they're paying scum like this to check us out. I'm ready to kick some butt."
"We have a few other things to do first. We need to clean out those accounts and see if the Captain has gotten any more information from that Exurbiu Entertainment lieutenant. I'd like to clean his accounts out, too. That would hurt them as much as kicking them."
"I didn't mean literally kick them – well, I'd do that too if I could. I want to see them squirm and start making mistakes."
Cherry pointed at the female on the bench, "What about her?"
"I'll glue one hand to the bench, then I have some ideas to keep them busy for quite some time. We'll need to talk to Ferdin first though."
Cherry walked to the bench and cut the ties that bound the female. Josh took his bottle and put a small amount of the liquid on the back of her hand. Holding it to the bench for a few seconds, he tested it. Her hand wouldn't move.
Picking up a comm unit, Cherry powered it down, then shoved it in a bag. Picking up the next one, he did the same. He powered down each of the four, then picked up the two bags.
The two strolled out of the alley like they didn't have a care in the world. In a few minutes, they walked into a busier street. Spotting a tavern that didn't look as busy as the one they had left a few hours ago, they headed for it.
Inside, they ordered some non-alcoholic beverages. After they found a seat near the back, Cherry called Ferdin. He agreed to meet them in the tavern in an hour. When Cherry asked about how his research had gone, he simply said he would explain when he got there.
Cherry said, "I don't think we've scared him enough yet. A simple yes or no that he'd found something out would have been sufficient."
"Maybe when he sees what happens to the quartet that tried to take us, he'll change his mind."
Before the conversation could progress, an older, stooped alien slipped into the tavern. His eyes darted around the room before he sidled up to some patrons at the bar. Josh couldn't hear what he said so Cherry had to tell him.
Cherry said, "He's offering to sell a map showing where there's an old junkyard of ancient spaceships. He's trying to convince them that the parts alone would be worth hundreds of thousands of credits. Uh – oh, I think he's about to get punched. That big one doesn't want to be bothered."
Josh stood and sauntered towards the group. As he reached them, the big alien started to swing on the older one. Josh blocked the swing and pulled the old man out of the way. The big alien snarled, "You better watch your manners. I don't take kindly to someone interrupting me."
"I think you'd better watch your manners. If you'd have hit him, he'd have crashed into me. If I thought you were attacking, I might have shot you."
"Do you know who I am?"
Josh shook his head and grinned, "Nope, do you know who I am?"
This confused the big alien. He looked at his friends and then back to Josh. The big man said, "Take that piece of garbage and get out of my way. I don't want any trouble. I just want my drink."
"The same here." Josh grabbed the old man by the elbow and guided him back to their table. He asked, "Are you thirsty? Have a drink with us."
A wrinkled face looked back at Josh. The eyes squinted as they tried to decide what he was up to. At last the old man told Josh what he wanted to drink. He sat down, eyeing Cherry carefully.
When the drinks came, the old man took a sip then said, "Thanks for the drink and for keeping me from getting decked. That guy would have put the boots to me once I hit the floor. I'm just not up to that anymore."
Josh grinned, "Is anyone ever ready for that? Who is that guy?"
The old man's eyes widened, "You don't know? Why did you step in then?"
"I didn't want a disturbance in here. Besides, I don't like bullies."
"That's the head enforcer for Naklon. He's one mean —"
"Then why did you bother him?"
"He's the only one with enough money to buy my map."
Cherry said, "Map to what? A new gold mine or fission materials?"
"Naw, to a junkyard of ancient spaceships. You guys want to buy the map?"
Josh asked, "Are you hungry? We were just thinking of ordering something to eat. We'll buy your supper if you can tell us a good tale about that map."
"It's a deal. If you'll let me finish, you'll gladly pay to get a look at it."
Josh ordered food and more drinks. As they waited, the old man introduced himself. "I'm Kivy Warstis. I used to be a navigator on a trader until pirates jumped us and destroyed our ship. They took every bit of our cargo. If a Charter Navy warship hadn't of happened along, I wouldn't be here to tell my story."
Cherry asked, "Why are you trying to sell the map?"
"I want to raise some money so I can get back there. I think there's a ship or two that could be pieced together. I'd like to be a captain of my own ship someday."
Josh grinned at him, "You mean you've got a better map to another supposed junkyard?"
The old man just ducked his head, then reached for his drink. Josh and Cherry chuckled. Josh said, "Kivy, you were going to tell us a wild tale about your map for your supper."
"So I was. It happened about twenty years ago. I had just started out as a deckhand on an old trader. We mostly hit two or three solar systems across the galaxy. The captain happened to be a very cautious man. He wouldn't take hardly any risks. We made wages and that's about it."
Kivy took a drink before continuing. "I was looking to move to a different ship. I didn't want to see the same six or seven planets all my spacing days. Then it happened. Our old ship blew out a gravity compensator."
The old man's eyes dimmed as he shook his head. "It was bad for a month until we made port. Half the crew was sick with space sickness. It didn't bother me too much so I had to do my job plus nursemaid a bunch of the crew. Then I wound up doing their jobs, too. I'll tell you what, I didn't get much shut-eye on that flight."
The food came and the old man stuffed his mouth too full to talk. Josh and Cherry looked at one another wondering when he'd had his last meal. It didn't take him long to polish off the plate full of food. When he did, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then grabbed his drink to take a big swig.
"Where was I? Oh, I remember. We lost the gravity compensator and limped into port. The captain didn't have enough credits to fix it, or even to get a used one. A lot of the crew were thinking of abandoning him, but for some reason, I stuck it out. We finally lost about a third of the crew."
His hand went to his glass to take a drink but he noticed it was empty. Josh raised his hand to the bartender to get him another one. Kivy continued, "Well, after those rats left, the captain came up with a special shipment. It needed zero gravity. I don't think we ever knew for sure what it was."
When the drink arrived, he gulped some down. "We met a ship in orbit and loaded it into our cargo bay. The rumors were flying. Had the breakdown changed our captain's character? This seemed too risky for him.
"We took off for one of the backwater planets in a different system than we normally traded with. It would take us six hyper-jumps to get there. We had three of them under our belt when it happened.
"When we came back into normal space to get our bearings, there sat three pirates just waiting for us. Now, that captain didn't take many risks, but that didn't mean he was a dummy. No, siree. He screamed for the navigator to get a reading and get ready to jump. He headed our ship straight for those birds of prey.
"We were inside their weapons range before they even realized what was happening. They had to scramble to get out of the way of our ship. The captain didn't even slow down. As soon as the navigator had his bearings a
nd the next part of the jump plotted, the captain jumped.
"While we were in hyper-space, he had the navigator plot a jump inside the next solar system. Inside the system, mind you. We popped into normal space, the navigator took a quick reading, tweaked his plot a little, then we jumped.
"Wound up close to an uninhabitable planet. The captain swung our ship around it and stopped. A few hours later, here came the same three pirates. They searched for us for three days, but we were hidden on the planet's moon.
"That's where I got my start as a navigator. I'd always been pretty fair with math and our assistant navigator was one of the crew who left. The captain had about worn that poor navigator out. I helped him out until the captain caught us. When the captain checked my plots, he made me the assistant.
"Anyway, while I took some bearings, I had a chance to sight see. I happened to look at the planet. Lo and behold, there it was. The biggest junkyard I'd ever seen. I put those coordinates in my personal log and didn't say a thing to anyone else. Figured I could come back some day to get my own ship.
"Well, when the pirates left, we jumped to our destination. Off-loaded the cargo and got our money. I got an extra share because I'd done so good with the plots. The best payday I ever had with that captain.
"I worked for him for five more years until that old ship just plain wore out. The captain had a little money set aside so he sold it for junk and retired. I moved on to another ship."
Josh and Cherry chuckled. Josh said, "That's a good enough story for your supper and drinks."
Kivy asked, "You want to buy the map? It's only five thousand credits. You could make ten thousand times that…"
Cherry laughed, "But the map you're selling doesn't lead to your junkyard, does it?"
"Hmmmp, you'll have to pay up to find out."
As Josh and Cherry laughed, they saw Ferdin walk through the door. Cherry said, "There's someone we need to talk to in private. If you have some more stories, maybe we can buy you another drink later."
"I need to go to the 'fresher anyway. Thanks for the meal and saving my hide. Just watch out for that ugly lummox there at the bar."
He wandered toward the back as Ferdin came to the table. Ferdin asked, "What's that con artist doing here? Did he try to sell you one of his sure fire get rich maps? Maybe one of his solid gold or silver asteroids?"
Josh laughed, "Yep."
"You didn't buy it, did you?"
"Nope, I come by my money too hard to waste it on something like that."
"Good, I can get you better maps that have a better chance of paying out."
Cherry changed the subject, "What did you find out?"
Ferdin nervously looked around the room, "They're all small time criminals. The male has a history of armed robbery, extortion and is a generally bad boy. The females aren't much better. So far, they don't have any ties to the bigger families, but my contacts said it was only a matter of time."
Josh grinned, "Then being found glued to a table might set that time table back a little?"
"Yeah and they'll be wanting to get revenge."
Cherry said, "Josh, I hope your plan includes making it hot for them around here."
"It does. Ferdin, what else can you tell us about them?"
Before he could answer, a smaller male led two very large males into the tavern. The room dropped to a deathly stillness. Ferdin glanced over his shoulder and scrunched down, trying to become invisible.
Josh watched as the three walked up to the big man he'd had words with. The others edged away as they had a conversation. Josh asked, "Who is that? Why's everybody moving away from them?"
Ferdin looked at him like he had two heads. "That's Naklon, head of the most powerful family here on Vadir. One wave of his hand and you and all your family just disappear, never to be heard of again. No cop would even dare to investigate."
Cherry looked at Josh, "Josh, don't even think about using him. We have some things to do here. You wouldn't…"
"Cherry, Cherry, do I look completely crazy. We just need to know about the locals so we can function."
"I know you. You can't stir up a planetary mess. Remember when we are and who we are."
Josh grinned at him, "I remember. I'm going to just sit here and finish my drink. Ferdin is going to tell us more about the nice gentleman, then we can go to the bank to get some credits. If Kivy is still around, maybe he can tell us another tale."
Cherry frowned. He started to say something but just closed his mouth into a thin line. His eyes glared at Josh.
Josh said, "Ferdin, tell us more about him and how his organization operates."
Ferdin kept glancing over his shoulder as he told what he knew. The man ran gambling casinos, prostitution rings, dealt drugs and had his fingers in about every illegal, immoral and unethical endeavor on the continent.
When the man and his body guards moved from the bar, Ferdin almost swallowed his tongue. He furtively kept his eye on them until they left. In a few minutes the big man followed behind them.
Josh said, "Did you find out where the sticky quartet lives?"
Ferdin looked at him with a question in his eyes. Cherry rolled his. Josh said, "The four who tried to jump us. Where do they live?"
"Yeah, I've got addresses on all four. Why?"
"We need to pay them a visit – after we get to the bank to pull out some credits from their accounts."
Josh stood and led them outside. As they stepped through the door, a very fancy vehicle slid down the street. Ferdin hunched over. Josh asked, "What's so special about that vehicle?"
"That's Naklon's vehicle. Everyone here recognizes it."
Josh asked, "Where does he hang out? Does he have a business address? How about his home?"
Ferdin reluctantly supplied him with the addresses and directions. Ferdin led them to a late-hours bank. He refused to go in, so Josh and Cherry went inside. Josh opened another account and pulled everything out of the quartets accounts. He deposited it in the new account.
When they stepped out on the sidewalk, Ferdin nervously glanced both ways before he joined them. He said, "I've done everything you've asked. Don't you think it's time to give me all the pictures?"
Josh smiled at Cherry, "What pictures would that be, Ferdin?"
"You know. The ones you took – ah – umm – back at that empty room."
"You have a few more tasks before I think you've earned them. Let's get to the quartets living quarters."
Ferdin drove them in his vehicle to the apartment of the leader. He sat in the vehicle drumming his fingers on the steering control while Josh and Cherry went up the stairs. Cherry found the door and worked his android magic to open the electronic lock.
The two quickly searched the apartment. Cherry found a small safe in the bedroom and opened it. Inside, he stared at the jewelry. Leaving the safe open, he continued to search. Near the bed he found a weapons cache.
He said, "Josh, you found anything yet? I've got jewelry and weapons."
"She's got some pretty neat original artwork. How does someone with an eight thousand credit bank account afford something like this?"
"You think it's stolen?"
"I don't know. Hmmm, here's something else interesting. A collection of videos with a lot of different names on them. I think we need Ferdin up here."
"What are you going to do?"
"Take all of the artwork, jewelry and weapons. If these are local people being blackmailed, which I suspect they are, I'm taking all of these videos, as well."
"What are you going to do with it?"
"I'm sure they have some sort of charity working with down and out spacers. They'll get the artwork and jewelry. The videos, I'll see. The weapons, we'll take back to Belle. We can upgrade ours and anything we don't want, we'll leave back on the asteroid."
Cherry called Ferdin to the apartment. When Ferdin entered the apartment, he looked like he expect
ed venomous snakes or spiders to jump out at him. Josh called him over. "Look at these names. Recognize any of them?"
"That one, that one, wow, she's a prominent politician. What's on those things?"
Josh said, "I don't know. We'll find out later. Grab a blanket from the bedroom and start wrapping up the things I point out. Load them in your vehicle."
"No way. If I get caught with that stuff, those goons will be after me."
"Don't get caught. You'd better get moving before she gets loose."
The three of them cleared out the valuables and moved on to the male's apartment. They stripped it just like the first. When the last item had been loaded, Josh said, "Take us to our vehicle."
Ferdin asked, "What are we going to do with this stuff?"
"Part of it goes in our vehicle. You're going to take the rest of it to the charity that takes care of down and out spacers."
"What'll I tell them about where it comes from?"
Cherry snickered, "I'm sure you can think of something. When you're through, find the Captain's contact you eavesdropped on and set up a meeting for us tomorrow afternoon. Make sure it's not in either tavern we were in today."
"But, but how am I supposed to know about him?"
Josh said, "Maybe your crystal ball told you. Let's go."
Ferdin muttered to himself the entire way to their vehicle. Josh stayed with him as Cherry hopped out to get theirs. Driving to an empty alley, they transferred the weapons and videos. Cherry said, "Don't forget. Tomorrow afternoon. We want a meeting. There'll be something for you if we get what we want. Also, we want a receipt for this stuff you give away. Wouldn't want it to wind up in someone's trash."
Ferdin drove off muttering to himself. Josh and Cherry headed back to Belle to get rid of the weapons and videos. Josh said, "We need to pick up a few things, then go calling."
"I don't like the sound of that. Where are we calling?"
"You'll see in a couple of hours."
Go to www.terrrysbooks.com to find links to purchase this book and to see new works that will be coming.
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