His footsteps echoed hollowly on the pavement as he approached the apartment building. One of the two guards with him sprinted up the steps and pulled the door open. He entered the lobby and nodded at the man standing across the room near an inner door. The bodyguard pulled that open and he followed a dimly lit hallway past empty apartments with doors hanging half open. Another door stood at the end of the corridor. A dirty sign mounted to the right of it identified the room beyond as the Digman Commons recreation room. Dodger pulled out his mobi and texted a message. A few seconds later, the sound of a heavy magnetic lock disengaging broke the silence and the thick steel door swung wide.
Once inside the room, Dodger took a mask from a hook next to the entrance and pulled it over his head. The enormous room had been enlarged, leaving only a few structural supports to hold up the ceiling. Dozens of women sat at sturdy tables doing various activities.
Dodger studied everyone in the room to make sure the operation was running as planned. To his right, tanks held the raw chemicals broken down into their needed components for processing. Next, the chemists added necessary ingredients and processed the mixture in large batches. After cooling in large refrigeration units, the resulting product got passed to the women in black gas masks sitting at the tables. They weighed it and bagged it in packages stamped with the ‘Diamond K’ label. Finally, burly men took the packages, bundled them and prepared them for shipment.
Right now, everyone in the room stood still.
A group of men gathered around a woman on the floor. She made a horrible, squabbling sound and one hand clawed at her throat. The lead chemist hurried to Dodger’s side as soon as he spotted him standing in the doorway.
“What’s going on?” Dodger said, his voice muffled by the mask.
“It appears that her mask malfunctioned,” the tall, thin chemist in the blue smock said. Sweat shone on his bald head and he rubbed a hand over his head. “She got a lungful of potassium hydroxide.”
Dodger stared at him. “How? The masks are just supposed to be a precaution.”
“A hose broke on the transfer switch. We locked it down and vented the room but she either didn’t have her mask on correctly or it was faulty. She took a breath and collapsed.”
“Will she survive?”
The chemist raised his eyebrows. “Maybe. She certainly has burns in her esophagus. The medics are trying to stabilize her.”
The strangled cries of the woman drew his gaze to her again. Then he noticed the women sitting idle at the packing tables. “Get her out of here and treat her somewhere else. I don’t want production down any longer than necessary.” He pointed to the women at the tables. “They’re going to be useless if they keep listening to that or see her die. We have orders to get out.”
The chemist nodded his head. “Of course. Sorry, sir, I’ll take care of it right away.” He moved to the men helping the woman and shouted at them. One of the men scooped her up and carried her toward the door. Dodger stepped aside as the man passed and the door shut.
He nodded toward the packing tables. The man got the message and stepped in front of the women. “Okay, the excitement is over. Leeann is being checked by the medics. Keep your masks on and get back to work. We still have to make quota and if that means staying late then that’s what we’ll do.” The women went back to work and the chemist moved back to Dodger.
“We’ll have this shipment ready on time, don’t worry.” The man seemed eager to please, Dodger saw, which didn’t surprise him. Six months ago, his predecessor had started using the product and missing quotas. After the third such instance, the man had disappeared and Terrence had been promoted. They hadn’t missed a quota or a shipping appointment since.
“I have faith in you. Tell me, have you given any thought to our last conversation?”
“About the additional ten thousand liters of coolant? Yes. You see, large ships like the Athena Star use sodium-potassium alloy as a reactor coolant so we can certainly use it to manufacture our product. Will you have it soon?”
“Yes, I expected it already but we had a delay. I think it will be tomorrow.”
Terrence nodded. “Good.” He paused a moment. “You know, that’s highly volatile stuff. As discussed, we will have to use some special precautions when we break it down to the components we need.”
Dodger raised an eyebrow. “What kind of precautions?”
“I don’t want it in here. It represents a danger to the lab so I’ve had a few of the men commandeer the warehouse across the street and moved some equipment over there.” He stopped, and began sweating. “I thought that would be prudent.”
Dodger nodded slowly and put a hand on his shoulder. “Good idea. I knew I made a good choice with you.” He squeezed the shoulder and dropped his hand. “I’ll have that coolant for you soon.”
Terrence nodded and went back to work.
— «» —
The small group dismounted from the pair of maintenance vehicles Eldridge and Ari drove and they led Nathan, Duncan and Cole toward the Athena Star. Nathan stood still and stared up at the wrecked vessel in awe. Duncan stood beside him and let out a low whistle.
“This thing should be smoking little bits spread all over the hemisphere,” the engineer said. “It has no right to be sitting here like this.”
Nathan nodded in agreement. He had never seen anything this large enter an atmosphere in a controlled crash and hang together. “I’m guessing the Great Star Line developed one hell of a crash recovery program. I mean, this never, ever happens but if it does, you don’t want to pay out death benefits for thousands of passengers.”
Duncan pointed to the metal above the cargo bay door. “Look at those ripples in the hull. You see how they compact?” Nathan saw deformations in the plating. “That’s the heat of re-entry and the impact with the ground. I wonder what the hull is made of?”
“They use some exotic alloys, let me tell you,” Eldridge said. “We’ve run into stuff like Boron-carbide and some truly crazy ceramic underlayment. The ‘bots needed modified cutting tools like purpose built demolition circular saw blades and plasma torches. We thought we had things planned out pretty well but we’ve been going through them at a much higher rate than we figured. I’m getting shipments in every two weeks to keep up with consumption.”
Duncan nodded and rested a hand on the hull. “Didn’t stop the bow from collapsing, though.” He stepped aside as a ‘bot walked by and entered the cargo bay.
Eldridge gestured to the open door. “Why don’t we go inside? It’s even more impressive.”
“I’ll bet,” Cole said.
The group walked inside but Nathan caught Cole by the arm. “What’s up?”
“I don’t understand what we’re doing here, Nathan. You guys want to look at this wreck? We should be up in orbit prepping the Corkscrew for the journey home.”
Nathan shrugged. “This is interesting and it’s not something you’re likely to see again. What are you in such a hurry for?”
“I have a life back home.” He grinned. “I’d like to see Kimiyo. I thought the plan was we were going to jump out here, grab the ship and go home, just like always. Now we’re sitting around eating lunch with the targets and listening to their sob stories.”
Nathan rubbed a hand over his stubbly chin. It had been a long day. “I don’t know what to say, Cole. I’m just playing this by ear. I need you to be cool. Just relax and trust me.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever is going on with them, I just don’t care. They didn’t pay and we’re here to grab their ship. Why aren’t we doing that?”
Nathan stepped closer. “Because I’m the boss and I say so. Get it together and calm down.”
Cole backed off and held his hands up. “Maybe we should catch up. Duncan will never come out if him and Eldridge start talking about engineering specs.”
“Yeah,” Natha
n said. “Let’s do that.”
They walked inside the cargo bay and Nathan saw Eldridge had the place lit up with a couple of construction lights mounted on stands. The noise from the ‘bots scampering around the outer hull echoed through the large area. Eldridge, Duncan and Ari stood in the center of the compartment. The salvage man pointed to something near the ceiling. Ari watched him but her eyes locked on Nathan’s as soon as he and Cole got close. He got a protective vibe from her.
“What’s back there?” Duncan said, pointing to the compartments near the rear of the bay.
Eldridge and Ari stole a look at each other before he answered. “Reactor coolant storage tanks.”
The group drifted back toward the compartments and Eldridge opened the door of the one on the left. “Came down intact, as you can see.”
“If it hadn’t you’d have one hell of a toxic mess to clean up,” Duncan said. He ran a hand over the tanks and checked the pressure gauges. “This is classified as hazardous material, you know that right? You have to pump this out and make sure the disposal is documented.”
Eldridge threw a sideways glance to Ari before answering, Nathan noticed. “Yeah, that’s our understanding. Luckily there are a couple contractors in town who can take care of it for us. Why don’t we move outside where it isn’t so hot and noisy?” The group moved out of the compartment and walked back through the cargo bay.
“Hey, Duncan can I ask you a question?” Eldridge said. “You obviously know as much about this as I do. Why do we have to go through the trouble and expense of having the recycling documented? Most of this other stuff vanishes without anyone knowing what happens to it.”
“Because if you didn’t document it there wouldn’t be a paper trail,” Cole said. “There wouldn’t be any way to trace what happened to it.”
“Why is that so important?”
Cole answered. “It’s important because you can make some pretty serious drugs with it.”
“Like what?”
Cole dug into his pocket and extracted a plastic envelope. “Like everyone’s favorite speed variant of choice, Diamond K.” He held the envelope up for everyone to see the stamp on it. “I found this on your worksite when we first landed and ran into those two guys playing cards.”
Nathan took the envelope from him and examined it. “This is the same junk Bone Daddy used back on Mars.” His eyes zeroed in on Eldridge. “What’s going on? Are you guys in the drug trade?”
Eldridge held his hands up. “We’ve never seen that before.”
“Any idea who is using?” Cole said. “I thought you ran a clean worksite.”
“I don’t like what you’re implying,” Ari said, stepping up to Cole. “We work honest. Whatever that stuff is, it’s got nothing to do with us.”
Cole smiled. “And yet here it is on your site.”
“You can leave any time you like,” she said. “I’m not going to stand here and be accused of making drugs. We didn’t even know you could use reactor coolant for that until you said so.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Eldridge stepped up and put a hand on Ari. “Come on, honey. No one is saying that.”
“He is,” she said. “Just look at him. He’s got cop eyes.”
“Cole, calm down. We don’t know what’s going on here,” Nathan said.
Cole nodded but didn’t take his eyes from Ari. “Sure, Nathan. Sorry, Ari. Could be anyone.” He turned to go back to the maintenance vehicles but she put a hand on his shoulder.
“Hold on,” she said. “You want to know who did this? There’s this local mob boss wannabe shaking us down.”
“Ari,” Eldridge said. “No, we aren’t talking about this. Not now.”
“Who cares, Eldridge? We pay up. Dodger’s got no beef with us.”
“Ari, no.”
Nathan turned and took a step toward Ari. “Who is Dodger?”
She turned to Eldridge. He sighed, clearly defeated and took a look around. Confident it was them and the ‘bots, he spoke. “Like Ari said, he’s just some hood. He’s shaking us down for some positions and some salvage. It’s just the cost of doing business out here.”
“I don’t understand,” Nathan said. “Shaking you down for positions?”
“We’re using ‘bots for the demolition and the local unions aren’t very happy about it. The steelworkers and construction unions wanted to picket us but Dodger stepped in. We pay him for ten positions on my crew and give him one ton of salvage every day. Those two guys you met when you stepped off the truck work for him. They show up and don’t do much except siphon off Dodger’s ton of salvage. For all that he keeps the union guys off our backs.”
Cole turned to Nathan. “That’s some pretty basic organized crime. I think they teach that in goon school on the first day.”
“Well, it’s working,” Eldridge said. “We haven’t had any trouble from the unions. As for the drugs, I have no idea but it wouldn’t surprise me if Dodger’s involved. He’s always wired up when we meet with him.”
Nathan turned the plastic envelope over in his hands and thought about the thousands of similar ones he had, just like it, back home in his apartment.
“We’ve seen this before. On our last job we repossessed a starship from a band. These things littered the interior.”
Eldridge shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know anything about that but if Dodger is making the stuff he’s probably selling it. In fact, he sent a tanker truck out here for free to pump out those storage tanks. We didn’t know why at the time, but now I guess we know why he wanted the coolant.”
“That’s probably why you got knocked out, too,” Ari said. “You probably caught Turtle and Daryl out here checking the tanks.”
Nathan cocked his head. “They assaulted you?”
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
Ari threw her hands up and started walking around the group. “Stop saying that,” she said, her voice rising. “Those two stunned you for doing your job. I’m sick of you blowing it off. Getting beat up is not the cost of doing business.” She put her arms around him. “Don’t you understand? You can’t let this keep going on. Dodger is still going to want the coolant in those tanks and the next time he won’t do anything as nice as send a truck.”
Eldridge hugged her back. “Baby, we can’t start a war out here. I have to play by their rules and keep the peace so we can do our job and get paid.”
“That’s a very dangerous path you’re going down,” Nathan said. “Guys like Dodger are everywhere. This isn’t the last time you’ll have to deal with a man who wants a piece of your hard work for the privilege of leaving you alone. There is always someone with their hand out. Dodger will just suck you dry until the job is done or until you go broke and leave. Then he’ll start over with the next guy who comes out here to finish the job. You have to stand up to them.”
Eldridge broke free of Ari’s embrace and waved his arms wide, gesturing at the worksite. “Look around, Teller. I’m a month behind on my first job, I can barely keep my equipment running, I’m in debt up to my eyeballs and I’ve got a repo man in front of me who is going to take my ship. Do you really think I’m in any position to fight off gangsters?” he paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Even if I do, I’ll have to deal with the unions.”
Nathan nodded. “Yeah, you’ve got yourself some problems, no doubt about that. The thing is, being in business for yourself is like that. Just one problem after another. There’s no manual for what you’re doing here just like there isn’t one for what we do. That’s why you’ll be successful, though. If you find a niche and do something well, the credits will roll in.”
The salvager leaned back against a piece of the scrapped hull. “Look, I appreciate what you’re saying but I really think we have this under control. I’m not like you. I can’t just get in my ship and fly off to the next job.
I can’t come and go as I please because I’m stuck here until the job is done.” He paused and caught his breath. “If Dodger wants the coolant, he can have it. I mean, if he takes it we don’t have to pay to have it recycled. It’s just easier.”
Ari raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what you said the other day.”
Eldridge rubbed a calloused hand over his head. “That’s because you keep chirping in my ear about what your daddy would do. I just don’t care anymore. If I can pay the guy off and he leaves us alone, then it’s just the cost of doing business. We’ll know better next time.”
Nathan shrugged at Cole. If the kid didn’t understand being eaten alive a piece at a time he couldn’t say anything to change his mind.
Ari walked back over to the maintenance vehicles and started one up. “We should probably get back to camp.”
— «» —
Dodger sat at his desk, watching drone footage from the wreck site play out on the large monitor in his office. The heavy bass of the music from the dancers out in the club reverberated through the walls. He tapped his fingers on his desk to the rhythm of the beat. His head nodded absently as he watched.
Morris’s nephew, Cheech, sat across the office at another desk. The tanned young man with dark hair wore a floral shirt, cut-off cargo pants and black work boots. He piloted the drone, giving them the data, in a slow orbit of the Athena Star and kept the camera and microphone trained on the group of salvagers and repo agents. As the group mounted their vehicles for the ride back to camp, Dodger turned off the monitor.
“You hear that shit?” he said to Morris.
The bloated consigliere nodded. “They talk too much,” he said. “The boy gets it, but that woman of his is a problem. You hear her pushing him?”
Dodger picked up a crystal from the ever-present plastic envelope on the desk in front of him. He dropped it in his mouth and ground it down while he shook his head. “No, not that. I don’t care about the kid and his woman. He’ll do exactly as we want. You heard him, he knows he’s not in a position to stand up to us, no matter how much we bleed him. She can yap at him all she wants. I mean, have you ever known a happy woman? That’s all they do, complain about what they’ve got and about what they ain’t got. The thing is, that’s Eldridge’s problem, not ours. No, I’m interested in the repo men. Remember what he said? ‘They can come and go as they please because they got a ship.’”
Bad Rock Beat Down (The Milky Way Repo Series Book 2) Page 11