“Hey, Solomon, anybody call about our cargo?”
No answer. Marcus poked his head in the cockpit. A light flashed on the console, but nobody was home. He was probably taking a nap. He went back to Solomon’s cabin. The door stood wide open and the room empty. Worried now, Marcus went back to the cockpit and pressed the flashing red light.
Three messages from people looking to buy booze. Marcus ran his fingers through his hair and paced. Solomon knew how desperate they were for money. He frowned. There was no sign of Iaka. No one had tripped the security system.
Clank.
Marcus turned. What the hell?
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Someone was running up the boarding ramp. Idiot! He hadn’t reset the defenses when he came in. Marcus grabbed a blaster and hid to the side of the cockpit door. Anybody stupid enough to board his ship without permission deserved what they got.
The steps were getting closer. Marcus raised his blaster. When Iaka’s head appeared in the doorway it startled him so much he almost fired. He sighed and lowered his weapon.
“I thought I told you to stay on the ship,” Marcus said. “Where’s Solomon?”
Iaka collapsed in the navigator’s chair. “He went with me to the Earth Force building.”
Marcus stared at her. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“I needed information and he wouldn’t let me go alone.” She sounded tired.
“Where. Is. Solomon?”
“Someone took him. Two people, actually. They stunned him and dumped him in the back of a hovercar.”
“Softhearted moron, all he needed to do was stay put and no one would have dared try and touch him. But no, you laid a guilt trip on him so he’d guide you through the city. Now some nasty people have my friend.”
“Don’t you want to know what I found out?” she asked.
“I don’t give a good goddamn what you found out, all I care about is rescuing Solomon before they kill him.”
“I’m coming with you. It’s my fault he’s in this mess and I’ve got to try and make it right.”
He considered stunning her and locking her in the spare room but she might be useful. “All right, let’s go.”
Solomon’s head throbbed. A bright light shone down in his face. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. He tried to move his hands to shield his eyes but they wouldn’t budge. Steel manacles held his feet and hands to the table.
He groaned. Just stay on the ship, he didn’t have to do anything else. Simple, you’d think, but no, he had to go play hero. He looked left and right but only saw blank gray walls, nothing that gave him any idea where they brought him. It didn’t matter, he had a good idea who had grabbed him.
As if on cue, a door opened in the far wall. More lights came on revealing more of the empty room. In walked the emaciated form of Erik Kane. A mop of strawberry-blond hair hung across his pockmarked face. He wore a silk, navy blue suit.
Erik stopped beside Solomon’s head and looked down at him. “We meet at last, Mr. Keys. You cost my company a great deal of credits and I’ve put a substantial bounty on your head, yet you still foolishly returned. I can’t help wondering why.”
No good lie came to Solomon so he kept silent.
“Perhaps this has something to do with it.” Erik held up a printout of an Earth Force alert. It showed his face beside Marcus and Iaka. “I’ve contacted Earth Force. It seems they value your flabby hide at two million credits. It won’t cover all you cost me, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Good for you, Scarecrow,” Solomon said.
Erik scowled. “I considered foregoing the credits for a chance to kill you myself, but business before pleasure as they say. I take comfort in knowing Earth Force will do the job for me.”
The skinny little man slapped Solomon across the face.
Solomon smiled. “Is that the best you can do?”
Erik held up his bony arm. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
He snapped his fingers and in walked a six-foot wall of muscle, a near human probably evolved on a high-gravity world.
Oh shit.
Marcus and Iaka stood across the street from the Blue Lion casino. It stood seventy stories tall and had a huge hologram of its namesake in the air above it. Whoever grabbed Solomon must have brought him here to collect the bounty.
“Doesn’t look like they’re hurting too bad despite what Solomon stole,” Iaka said.
“Are you kidding? Seventy million’s just a rounding error in their quarterly report. It’s the fact that someone dared rip them off that’s got them so pissed.” A black hovercar with the Earth Force shield emblazoned on the door pulled up in front of the casino. Marcus nudged Iaka. “Check it out.”
“I saw them.” A man in a black suit got out and headed toward the door. “He must be here for Solomon.”
Marcus nodded. “We’d best step on it.”
“Any thoughts on how we’ll find him?”
“Well, most of the building is gambling rooms so I figure he’s either in the penthouse where the owner lives or the basement. We’ll just have to look around until we find him.”
“That’s it? Just look around, that’s your plan?”
Maybe it wasn’t the best plan but the way she said it just pissed him off all over again. “You got a better idea?”
“Maybe,” Iaka said. “This place must have a security system. If I can jack in maybe I can track where they took Solomon.”
“That might work. We’ll split up when we go in. If you find the control room come get me. Don’t try and take them alone.”
“Will do,” she said.
Thank god she didn’t plan to argue. “Let’s go. Right through the front door just like regular patrons.”
They crossed the street and merged with the flow of guests headed in to blow their pay. Two men wearing tuxedos held the doors as people streamed through. Inside Marcus went left and Iaka right.
Marcus worked his way around the edge of a huge entry room. The cage was on the far right wall. At the rear of the entry room was a slot hall. It seemed as good a place as any so Marcus worked his way through the crowd, keeping his eyes peeled for anything interesting.
After fifteen minutes of searching his head pounded. Coins clanked and buzzers sounded. A shrill, obnoxious siren went off when someone won a jackpot. People who asked him why he liked it in space had never visited a casino.
Halfway down one of he didn’t know how many rows he spotted a five-credit token on the ground. He picked it up and found an appropriate machine. He popped the coin in and yanked the handle. Three holograms appeared and changed shape so fast they became a blur. The first settled on a diamond. He checked the front of the machine. Diamonds were good. The second settled on a diamond. Shit, the last thing he needed was to win a jackpot and draw attention to himself. The final hologram settled on a heart and he lost someone’s money.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a young woman wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with a blue lion patch on the shoulder. Casino security, perfect, she’d lead him right to the security room. She moved away and he followed her, just close enough to keep her in sight.
She wove her way through the crowd with practiced ease and headed toward the far left wall. Not much further, he could feel it. A half-drunk man ran into him and he took his eye off her for a moment. When he looked back she’d vanished.
No! He went over to where he’d last seen her and touched the wall. There had to be a secret door or something. Six steps further along and the wall disappeared under his fingers. He looked down and saw half his hand stuck in the wall, a hologram. On the floor he saw a faint light from the projector. Bingo.
Marcus ducked inside and found a short hall with three doors at the end, one on the left and right and one straight ahead. The young lady must have gone into one of them. Satisfied, Marcus left the hidden area and went to find Iaka. He didn’t see her in the crowded room but he assumed she’d check the perimeter like he had. Marcus lo
oked around for a landmark near the hidden room again. Almost directly across he spotted slot row marker sixty-four. He shouldn’t have any trouble finding that again.
He strolled away looking for Iaka. Everything in him screamed hurry but he couldn’t without drawing every eye in the place. He’d covered three-quarters of the back wall when he spotted her through the crowd. She strolled along, one hand brushing along the wall. He made a beeline for her. She spotted him and waved, playing the eager girlfriend. He smiled. Sometimes she surprised him with her instincts. If her instructors had spent more time training her she’d have made a top-flight agent.
They embraced and he whispered, “I found it.”
“Good.”
They held hands and started back toward the hidden room. He allowed himself a moment to enjoy the feel of her hand in his, soft but strong. He still wanted to swear every time he thought about how she took advantage of Solomon but this didn’t feel wrong either. Refocusing, Marcus checked the row markers. They just passed fifty, not much farther. They turned down row sixty-three. When they reached the end he spotted the faint glow at the base of the hologram. He leaned against the wall and pulled Iaka close.
“Do you see it?” he asked.
She nodded and smiled like he’d said something funny. She brushed her lips against his check. His skin burned where she’d kissed him. She whispered, “How do you want to play it?”
He took a moment to gather himself. Having her this close made it hard to concentrate in the best way. He looked over her head. A few people glanced at them but no one seemed interested. “As soon as those people get sick of looking at us I’ll roll right and we’ll slip through.”
He kept watch and enjoyed holding Iaka. When the last person looked away he said, “Now.”
They spun right and passed through the hologram. Marcus moved away from her and raised his gauntlet. All clear. “Which door?”
“Straight ahead, I’d guess.”
He agreed. “We’d better check the other two just to be safe. We wouldn’t want any surprises. We’ll start on the left side. You open the door and I’ll go in first. OK?”
She went over to the control panel and put her finger above the open button. Marcus nodded and she pushed it. The door popped into the ceiling and Marcus went through. He found a half-stocked maintenance room filled with tools and cleaning supplies.
“Nobody home,” Marcus said. “Let’s try next door.”
They repeated the procedure and this time found bins of chips. Marcus almost helped himself to a handful but the RFID chips in them were inactive so he couldn’t trade them for cash.
“Third time’s the charm,” Iaka said.
They went to the last door but instead of a button they found a keypad. “Six-digit lock code. This could take a while,” Iaka said.
“Think again.” Marcus switched the weapon’s module to electromagnetic wave and blasted the keypad. It spat sparks and the door shot into the ceiling.
A quick tap switched the module back to stun and he lunged through the door. The two guards reached for their stun batons but Marcus shot first dropping them both twitching to the ground. They wouldn’t have to worry about those two for a while.
He turned and found Iaka looking for the proper cable to plug into her implant. She seemed to have everything under control so he checked on the guards. He found the girl he’d seen earlier and an older man, her boss most likely. They were armed with stun batons. He hoped the rest of the guards didn’t have any other weapons. The range of his gauntlet gave them a huge advantage.
Marcus turned and saw Iaka sit and reach around to plug a cable into her head. He shuddered when he heard it click into place. He didn’t even like needles, he couldn’t imagine shoving a cable jack into the back of his head. Iaka slumped in the chair and he thought for a moment something went wrong but the breathing seemed steady. She must have sent her consciousness to interact directly with the computer. Nothing to do now but wait. He plopped down into the second chair and searched for a place to plug in his gauntlet. It’d be a bitch if he ran out of juice in a fight.
The gauntlet had a ninety-five percent charge when Iaka’s eyes popped open. “I found him.”
He sat up straight and unplugged. “Where?”
“They brought him in a side door then took him to the basement.” He looked away when she reached back to pull the jack out of her head. “They don’t have cameras downstairs so I’m not exactly sure where he is. The Earth Force agent went downstairs as well. I assume to collect Solomon.”
“All right, now we just need a way down to the basement.”
“There’s an elevator in the kitchen.”
“Perfect, let’s go.”
Chapter 11
Solomon groaned as he came awake. Erik’s goon had given him a thorough beating. He tasted the copper tang of his blood. He turned his head and spat, it didn’t help much. The door snapped open again and Solomon hoped Erik brought a smaller thug this time.
Erik came over to stand beside Solomon. Behind him stood a large man in a plain black suit. Solomon closed his eyes. He’d seen enough men in black suits to last a lifetime.
“I thought you’d like to meet your new keeper.” Solomon opened his eyes and saw Erik leering down at him. “This is Agent Smith of Earth Force. He’s quite anxious to speak with you.”
A desperate idea popped into Solomon’s head. “I already told you everything I know. Why don’t you just pass it along?”
Agent Smith glared at Erik. “You didn’t mention the two of you spoke.”
“We didn’t, he’s lying.” Erik looked around the room for an escape.
“Come on, Erik,” Solomon said. He loved watching the skinny prick squirm. “You couldn’t get enough earlier. You said you could blackmail them for millions. You’d make a fortune with this information, remember?”
“You’re going to have to come back to base with me, Mr. Kane,” Smith said. “We shouldn’t have any trouble clearing this.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Erik grabbed the front of Solomon’s shirt, his watery blue eyes bugging out of his head. “Tell him the truth, you son of a bitch. Tell him I don’t know anything.”
Solomon smiled.
“Sir, I’m going to have to insist you come with me.” The agent reached for the stun pistol holstered under his jacket. “My orders are to detain anyone with knowledge of the matter under investigation.”
“Well that leaves me out.” Erik dove through the door just ahead of the blue stun pulse.
Agent Smith looked down at Solomon. “Stay here.”
Solomon made a helpless gesture with his bound hands. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The elevator came to a smooth stop and the door slid open. They didn’t have any trouble getting on in the kitchen, the staff was so busy running around he doubted anyone even noticed them. Now he and Iaka stepped out into a storage room filled with every kind of fresh or canned food he could imagine and some he’d never even dreamed of. Dozens and dozens of shelves filled the room. They worked their way toward the back where the outline of a door was visible.
The door opened as they approached. A startled guard spun around just in time to catch a side kick from Iaka in the jaw. He went down hard and groaned. She relieved him of his stun baton then thumped him on the head with it. He stopped moving.
She held up the baton. “I feel better with this.”
“Didn’t look like you needed it. Grab an arm.”
They dragged the unconscious guard into the storeroom out of sight. The way clear they left the storeroom and started down a gray hall lined with doors. Lights flicked overhead filling the hall with dancing shadows. He’d have thought a fancy place like this would have better lighting.
“What now?” Iaka asked.
“He could be anywhere. I guess we check each room just like we did upstairs.”
They took up now-familiar positions with Iaka by the door button and Marcus ready to go in. He nodde
d and she hit the button. The door shot up and he dove in, gauntlet ready. He found a room filled with hanging sides of meat. He backed out of the room. “This might take a while.”
The next six rooms held more foodstuffs. As Iaka got ready to open the seventh door she said, “This sucks.”
Marcus didn’t argue but there was no other way to find Solomon so he nodded for her to open the door. She did and he dove in. This time they found an unoccupied office. Sitting on the metal desk he found a stainless steel attaché with the Earth Force shield engraved on the side.
He popped the locks and discovered eight neat rows of five-hundred-credit coins. He blinked. His eyes must be playing tricks. He looked away then looked back. Nope, the credits didn’t vanish. He grinned and closed the case. He picked it up and headed toward the door. Iaka stared at him, brow furrowed.
“What?”
“You’re stealing.”
“Yes, is that a problem?”
She chewed her lip a moment. “We shouldn’t steal unless it’s an emergency.”
“This is an emergency. We’re broke.” He slipped past her and trotted back to the elevator. He left the case beside the doors so he could grab it on their way out and retraced his steps. Iaka still scowled at him as they continued down the hall. He didn’t care, no way he could leave that much money lying around.
They checked three more rooms and found a king’s ransom in cleaning supplies. The next door down stood open. They looked at each other and Marcus shrugged. He ducked in same as usual and found Solomon manacled to a steel table.
“Hey, pal. You all right?”
“Fine. Best room in the house.” Solomon smiled. “You want to get me out of here before those two lunatics get back?”
Marcus walked around the table and found a button. He hit it and the four manacles popped open. From the looks of him someone had beaten the hell out of Solomon. His lip had split and his left eye was swollen halfway shut.
Solomon sat up and rubbed his wrists. “Thanks. Now let’s get the out of here.”
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