“They got away,” Perry gasped. “I chased him to the edge of the field, and he turned down the road.”
“So he wasn’t in the ship when it was taken then,” Turner said.
“No, it sounds like he came back and took your car,” Blake said.
“I imagine this complicates things a bit,” Perry said.
“That’s one way to put it,” Turner said. “We’re not likely to get after him very fast on foot if we could figure out where he was going.”
“Well, he took your car,” Blake said. “Do you have a way of tracking it?”
“No, I never put that in there,” Turner said.
“Can you call to your station for another car?” Perry asked.
“If it comes down to that,” Turner said. “I’ll have a heck of a time explaining why I’m out here with you two.”
“So can escape pods fly?” Perry asked.
“Not usually,” Turner said. “If that ship even has them.”
“Captain’s yacht or something like that maybe?” Perry asked.
“Not on that ship,” Turner chuckled.
“What do you think he did with his car?” Perry asked.
“He did have a car,” Blake said. “But when we last saw him in town, he had transported out. Why would he not have come back here using that?”
“Well, he wasn’t here when we got here,” Turner said. “Maybe he only used it to hop to wherever he parked and drove to keep that vehicle on hand.”
“Why drive when you can jump around using your transporter?” Perry asked.
“Maybe he is a little superstitious, not that it matters after you use it once,” Blake said.
“Concerned over power consumption more likely,” Turner said. “This ship is running on fumes. Using the transporter consumes a lot of juice, and if he uses it too much, he would risk draining it beyond its capacity to recharge.”
“It needs power to recharge?” Perry asked.
“It needs power to recharge itself,” Turner clarified. “Most ships can draw power from their environments, and they do it very well. But if your power system is damaged like this one is, and you use too much power, you risk draining it beyond its capacity to recharge. To power a matter transporter takes a strong system which he doesn’t have. He probably took a short hop to his vehicle, placed a device to allow him to lock onto the hunter ship, and then returned here to double check power levels before transporting the hunter ship to where it was eventually picked up. Tedious, but necessary if you’re making sure the ship maintains its capacity to recharge. You take it past that point, and you have to call out a service vessel to power you back up.”
Blake took out his scanner and looked for a car. He pointed toward the treeline where they had seen the hunter ship removed only moments earlier.
“Looks like he parked over here,” Blake said. “Now, why would he have taken your car when his was parked closer?”
“Maybe he was hoping for something to go on,” Perry said. “Turner, you were going to deport us using your genetic thingamabob. I assume that summons a ship of some kind.”
“It does,” Turner said, “but we would call a prison vessel for him. He has a warrant out for his arrest, and he has a murder charge here. I can’t keep him here because he doesn’t exist on this planet, but the charge would go with him.”
“If a standard ship were called, though,” Perry continued, “could he just get on if he wanted? Kind of like a subway?”
“I suppose he could,” Turner said. “The ships aren’t automated, but the pilots run what amounts to a shuttle service, so they aren’t too concerned about who gets on. They assume we vet them first.”
“But he would have to know where your place is,” Perry said.
“And he doesn’t,” Turner said. “Not that our hub is a secret, exactly, but that he doesn’t appear to know where it’s located is a good thing right now.”
“So we have a guy who just lost his first way off the planet in a couple of years,” Blake said. “He just lost the ship where he has been living making him homeless. If he actually paid for this car, I’d be surprised. But at this point, he is homeless, hopeless and alone. Where would he go?”
“He has nowhere to go,” Turner said. He’ll be left under a bridge somewhere trying to figure that out as much as we are.”
They reached his car and tried the doors, but it was locked. Everyone looked to Blake who was already pulling out his electronic lock pick. He pressed a couple of buttons on the side and held it beside the car. The doors unlocked. Everyone got in using the same seating order they’ve been in this entire time. Turner checked the ignition, and the key was in it.
“He’s not big on security,” Turner said.
“Well, when it is a relic of a backwards time, why bother?” Perry said. “And if he didn’t pay for it either, it’s probably easier for him to just leave it in the ignition all the time.”
“He takes the fob with him though,” Blake said. “He just leaves the ignition key here. It makes life easier for us right now anyway. As long as one remembers always to lock their car, I suppose it would be fine.”
“And it was locked,” Perry said.
Turner turned the key and fired up the engine. The panel lights blinked into existence along with the center panel’s touchscreen which showed their position on its GPS.
“Maybe we can go through his history to see where he has been,” Blake said. “It might be useful in sorting out where he would go.”
Blake pressed the back button on the panel and navigated on the screen to a menu labeled “Previous Places.” Once there it displayed on a mini map various addresses and coordinates where Pingrit had spent any time. They recognized the places from when they had been with him, and it appeared that the vehicle spent most of its time next to the ship. Blake suddenly looked up as if a thought had occurred to him.
“Does your car have a GPS navigator like this built-in?” Blake asked.
“I don’t use it much, but yes, it does,” Turner said.
“Then you have a problem,” Blake said. “Terrans love to make life easier for themselves, but in doing so, they sacrifice a little bit of security. Those GPS navigators track their own movements which allows the driver to return to places they’ve been before. You don’t have to tell it to record your movements, it merely notes places where you’ve stopped for longer than your average traffic light, and assumes it is important enough to make a note of it. To find you, all Pingrit has to do is backtrack through the GPS like we just did.”
Even in the dark, Turner looked like he turned a few shades paler at the thought of Pingrit knowing where their local hub was located.
“To be fair,” Turner said getting his phone out of his pocket, “we are supposed to be available for off-worlders to have a way to leave the planet just in case they come down in some emergency. Our location is advertised. We even required those stranded to visit us. He could have come at any time.”
“But he didn’t,” Perry said.
“No, he didn’t, and now he’s on edge,” Turner said. “We’re just supposed to be a pickup point for people to be sent off-world when discovered. We have no weapons or defenses against someone like Pingrit who is clearly desperate to leave the planet. He knows going into an official place like that would have meant he would be arrested.”
He had been dialing a number as he spoke, and once he finished his sentence, he held the phone to his ear.
“Hello, Talia,” Turner said, “How is everything?” Turner’s phone was loud enough in the quiet vehicle for the other side of the conversation to come through clearly.
“Everything is hunky-dory on this side, sir,” Talia said in a perky voice. “How are you?”
“We just finished up, and I’ll be bringing the off-worlders back in there probably tomorrow,” Turner said. “Thought we’d get some sleep tonight.”
“Will do, sir,” Talia said. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
Turner hung
up the phone, but his expression was grim.
“Well, everything sounds fine there so far,” Perry said. “Why didn’t you tell her anything?”
“I didn’t need to,” Turner said. “Hunky-dory is a term both of them despise, and so we made it our code word for danger. We use the bed bug expression when the problem is armed. She basically told us that he is already there, and they are in distress.”
“So he let her answer the phone so alleviate suspicion?” Perry asked. “Seems risky.”
“A lot of what he has done made no sense in the beginning,” Turner said.
“He knew you would call in,” Blake said.
They strapped in, and Turner drove away from the tagged ship to his central base where Pingrit was in charge.
“So what can we do against him when we get there?” Blake asked.
“Not much,” Turner said. “There are no secret passages or underground entrances. There are no special defense systems or weapons stashes. It’s just a house. It was opened up on the first floor to be a sort of command center, but it was built as a house with no input from us. The second floor is unaltered from its original design. It had three bedrooms, a bathroom, and some closets. There is literally nothing special about it.”
“Well, at least there aren’t any surprises,” Perry said.
“What about the first floor?” Blake asked.
“The main alteration was to the living room, the den, and the master bedroom,” Turner explained. “They were sort of connected before, and we opened all of that space up to be used by our equipment. We treated the windows so you can’t see inside no matter how close you get to them, but we can see out without a problem. There are front and rear windows as well as visibility out one side. The other side is next to the kitchen area which is exactly as it was originally built. No changes.”
“Chances of second-floor windows being unlocked?” Blake asked.
“None,” Turner said. “They can open, but we have them locked down, so they won’t. Security risk.”
“Very wise,” Blake said. “Not good for us right now, but wise. So how would you recommend, from someone who knows the layout and security measures, we get in? How do your regular patrons enter?”
“Through the front door,” Turner said. “We see them coming, and they just walk in. Now, often, we make contact with them first having seen them come down on our scanners. But occasionally, someone will just show up. It’s usually someone like Talkisan where we saw their ship but lost track of it. They finally figure out where to go and ask for help.
“As for sneaking in,” Turner said but paused to think about it. “I don’t suppose you have a way to get through a window without breaking it.”
“No,” Blake said. “I have a scanner which can do a lot of things, but subtly shattering a window isn’t one of them. And without an exterior lock, my lock pick is useless.”
“What about a balcony door?” Turner asked.
“As long as it has a keyhole, I can get in,” Blake said.
“It does,” Turner said. “A couple actually. It’s about the only change we made to the second floor. We like the balcony and being able to stand out there, but the door was flimsy. We changed it out for a better one, added a deadbolt, and secured around the outside edge making it harder to break into. But the locks are still standard and accessible from the outside.”
“What about the garage?” Perry piped up. “We wouldn’t even need to open the big garage door. There’s usually an outside entrance to a garage. It’s also often hidden from the rest of the house. Most of the people I knew with garages can’t see the side garage door from anywhere in their house.”
Blake looked at Turner who appeared to be thinking.
“Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the best,” Blake said.
“I just didn’t want to be scaling some tree and clinging to the side of the house hoping to God that I didn’t fall and break something,” Perry said. “It was one of those things that just hit me when you all were talking about breaking into the second floor.”
“It’s brilliant,” Blake said. “I really must be slipping.”
“Right, well, that alleviates the need for trying to find a ladder,” Turner said. “We’ll head straight over and explore the garage option. Deceptively simple, really.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Pingrit had driven ridiculously fast once he had discovered his destination. The ship was only about ten miles from where the house was, and at the speeds he traveled, they made it there in a matter of minutes. They reached the gate with the lock code, but rather than bother with that, Pingrit drove straight into the gate. Not having been designed to resist that level of force, the gate’s lock and hinges broke, and the gate flew to one side still attached to its hydraulic motor.
He skidded to a stop just outside the house. She wondered if Talia or Karafa would have seen or heard that, and more so if they would have reacted at all. They seemed pretty laid back and unconcerned with most of what went on. Pingrit walked to the front door, but it was locked behind a keypad. Pingrit knocked on the door. A speaker by the keypad came to life.
“Identify yourself,” Karafa’s voice said. Pingrit gestured to Michelle to speak.
“This is Michelle Palmer,” Michelle said. “I met you earlier here with Detective Turner?”
“Why are you here?” Karafa asked.
“I was forced to come back here,” Michelle said. Pingrit gave her an angry look gestured with his gun. “Can I come in?”
The door buzzed and unlocked. Pingrit grabbed Michelle and placed her ahead of him as he walked in. Once they were in the room, Pingrit pushed Michelle out of his way. Talia and Karafa stood up in surprise at seeing them, but Pingrit trained his weapon on them. They reflexively flinched at seeing it.
“All right, you two,” Pingrit said. “Get away from the panels. Now.”
They complied without question. However, seconds later, a phone rang. They did not move.
“Who would that be?” Pingrit asked.
“Probably Sam,” Talia said. “Mr. Turner. Failure to answer the phone triggers a class one emergency.”
“Class one emergency?” Pingrit asked.
“Think about what happens if a cop calls 911 and asks for help,” Karafa said.
“Answer it,” Pingrit said to Talia. “No funny business.” Talia walked to the phone, which looked like a regular office desk phone and picked up the receiver. She donned her best smile.
“Yes, sir,” Talia said. There was a pause while the person on the other end spoke. “Everything is hunky-dory on this side, sir,” Talia said in a perky voice. “How are you?” She listened again quietly. No one else breathed. “Will do, sir. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
Talia hung up the phone. Pingrit held his weapon to her and gestured for her to move away from the panel again. He seemed satisfied with the discussion as she stood next to Karafa in the middle of the room.
“You,” Pingrit said to Michelle, “stand over there with them.” Michelle complied and stood next to the other women.
“Now,” Pingrit said, “I want to leave the planet. I know what you all have on me. I’m not stupid. How can I get transport?”
“You have to use the genetic scanner,” Talia said.
“It will identify me personally, won’t it?” Pingrit asked. Talia nodded. “Then I’m not using it!” He slammed his fist down on the desk to emphasize his point. “If it is going to send over some police ship to incarcerate me, then that is not the route I desire to take. What other options do we have? Can’t you call someone? Some method that doesn’t use the scanner?”
“They made it so that you would summon transport to your home planet,” Talia said. “We don’t control where they come from or where they go. That’s also why you don’t have to pay for them.”
“How can I send a signal to my own contacts then?” Pingrit asked. “If I can’t summon a government transport without giving myself away, then I want to call someo
ne who might be willing to pick me up here. Where is your comm system?”
Talia pointed to a panel near Karafa’s seat. Pingrit slowly stepped to the panel which was relatively close to where they were standing.
“Step back,” Pingrit threatened. “I don’t need anyone trying to be a hero.” They complied, and he looked over the panel briefly.
“I don’t suppose he’ll get tripped up anywhere in here,” Michelle said quietly.
“Everything in here is so basic, a child could use it,” Talia whispered. “He’ll have no trouble contacting whoever it is he wants to get ahold of.”
“Stop talking,” Pingrit barked, though he kept his attention on the panel.
He tapped a few points on the screen, and then typed on the attached keyboard. The response bar turned red. He typed something else. Still red. Something else. Red. Another. Red. Another. Red. Another. Red. He screamed in frustration and banged his fist on the panel without damaging it.
“Everyone has changed their contact info,” Pingrit said. “I guess that happens in as long as I’ve been here.” He stared at the screen at length. Michelle looked at Talia and Karafa. They were all afraid. Part of her wanted to do something, but the man had a weapon. If they tried anything, he seemed desperate enough to kill them. Suddenly, Pingrit typed something else. The response bar turned green. He sat down in front of the screen.
“Who is it?” a voice said. The screen turned black, and nothing displayed like the camera was off at the other end. “Pingrit? Good heavens, man, where have you been?”
“I’m stuck on Terra,” Pingrit said. “I can’t get ahold of anyone else to get me off this rock.”
“The last I heard, you all ran afoul of some Drericans, and they shot you down,” the voice said. He sounded friendly enough.
“They did,” Pingrit said. “I was the only one to survive, and the ship is dead. I’ve been trapped here ever since.”
“You’ve been on Terra this entire time?” the voice asked.
“Can you send someone to pick me up?” Pingrit pleaded.
The Off-Worlders Page 12