Eldridge shook his head and stomped out from under the canopy toward one of the maintenance vehicles. Ari went with him. Nathan ran to catch up with him.
“What are you going to do?” Nathan said.
“Give him a piece of my mind. I don’t care if he takes the damn coolant but he could at least let me know what’s going on.”
Eldridge got onto the maintenance vehicle and Nathan grabbed the seat next to him. “I don’t want to tell you how to run your business but you may not want to make these guys angry and then fly out of here.”
“I know,” Eldridge said as he started the vehicle. “I’m just going to let them know to check with me before they do this kind of stuff. And I don’t need you telling me what to do.”
Ari, Cole and Duncan climbed into the back and Eldridge took them down to the tanker truck. When they got there, Turtle jumped out of the cab of the truck and hurried over to them.
“Eldridge, you have to let us do this, okay? Seriously, don’t interfere.”
They got off the maintenance vehicle and Eldridge held up a hand. “You know what, Turtle? I don’t have to let you do anything but I’m not going to stop you. If Dodger wants that coolant to make his junk he can have it. Just make sure I have the disposal paperwork I need.”
Relief washed over Turtle’s face. “Yeah, no problem. You’ll have it.”
Eldridge sized him up. “Why are you acting so nice? Normally, you’d give me a lecture about how you and Dodger are in charge. How if I want to complain about something, maybe I should go talk to the man himself. Where’s all your lip now?”
Turtle held up a hand. “I’ve had a rough day, Eldridge. Just back off. I’ll take care of this and then I’ll go back down to my pile.”
Eldridge nodded and saw the truck driver uncoiling his hoses. He stepped closer to Turtle. “What did you do to make him angry, Turtle? Hmm? You get the big man mad at you?”
Turtle stuck a finger in his face. “Don’t worry about it. Just go do your thing and let us finish this up.”
“Sure, go about your business. I won’t stand in your way.”
Turtle picked up a coil of hose and a wrench. “Good. We’ll be done in an hour.” He followed the driver inside the wreck.
‘Bots approached the wreck and started climbing to their positions for the morning shift. Nathan and the rest of the group made way for them.
“They just start up on their own and get to work?” Nathan asked.
“Yeah, we restrict work to daylight so we can see what’s going on.” Nathan saw his attention shift as the salvager’s gaze drifted past him. “Now who is that?”
Nathan turned and saw a couple float cars moving toward them at high speed. Two cars, one newer and in better condition than the other, bounced across the rough packed dirt of the service road. They pulled up close to where the two crews stood. Dodger got out of the newer car and stomped toward them, yelling. “Are you two working together? Is that it?”
Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “What are you talking about?”
Half a dozen guys got out of the cars behind Dodger and fanned out around them as he paced in front of them. He watched as Morris took his place by the boss’s side. Dodger pointed at them.
“Don’t screw with me; you know what I’m talking about.”
“I really don’t and I’ve got a job to do so either speed this up or get out of my way.”
Dodger blinked rapidly, his eyes watering. He wiped them with his knuckles. “You’re not just some repo man. You’re with Protective Services back on Earth. Did you think we wouldn’t figure it out?” He became more agitated and nearly shouted, “We’re not stupid.”
Nathan stayed calm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Dodger ran a hand through his hair. “Oh really? First, you grab the ship on Mars that had a shipment on it and then you show up here in Bad Rock. I suppose that’s a coincidence?”
“That’s the job. I go where the bank tells me.”
Dodger leaned in. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“I’m not sure this is one,” Nathan said. He stayed calm, trying to keep a lid on things. “On Mars that idiot Bone Daddy missed his payments. Here it’s Eldridge. There’s no connection between them.”
“There’s me!” Dodger screamed. “I’m the connection!” He rocked back and forth now and spittle flew as he spoke. “Someone is on to us and you’re going to tell me who. Protective Services doesn’t have jurisdiction out here so they sent you to investigate.” He pointed again. “They sent you to grab Bone Daddy’s ship and that led you here so you made up this story about repossessing his ship,” he said pointing at Eldridge, “just to use your cover.” He shifted to Eldridge. “Let me guess, you aren’t really behind on your payments are you?”
Eldridge stood still. “No, not as far as I know.”
Dodger nodded his head maniacally, “See? Look at this operation. Don’t you think this guy would know if he had missed some payments? Your cover story sucks.”
“You’re paranoid,” Nathan said. “You’ve been using your own product for so long you can’t tell reality from your own delusions.”
Dodger, eyes wide, nodded some more. “Oh sure, I’m paranoid. That’s what it is. Oh, except for the fact that you sent this guy,” he pointed at Cole, “to figure out where we manufacture our product.”
Nathan shot a look at Cole who stood silently.
“Yeah, see that’s where your cover story falls apart,” Dodger raved. “Why would repo agents be snooping around the apartment building where we make this stuff? Tell me that.”
Nathan shrugged. “Cole looks out for us. After you offered us Bone Daddy’s route we got curious about you. After all, you had all the background you could want on us.”
Dodger grimaced and pointed at Nathan. “See, that’s not, you’re just trying to confuse the issue. Don’t.” He shook his head like a thought was stuck in there. “Don’t do that. Stick to the issue. Do you understand? You came here to see where the Diamond K came from and now you know so you’re flying off to tell your masters. A few days from now, this place will be crawling with uniforms. That’s the issue.”
Nathan leaned forward. “When we got here you initiated contact with us. You called the meeting in your office. I didn’t even know you at that point. If you had just left us alone we wouldn’t know anything about you. This is all on you.”
“No, it’s all on you.” Dodger paced in a tight circle. Nathan noticed his man Morris giving him lots of room.
“I don’t want to haul for you; I just want to do my job.”
Dodger waved a finger at him. “Oh you can forget about that offer. I wouldn’t let you touch my product now that I know who you are and what you’re up to.”
Nathan’s exasperation slipped into his voice. “Get this through your head. I don’t care what you’re doing here. That’s between you and the law. I don’t need any other problems, so leave us out of it.”
“No, you’re in it now.” Dodger paused and the only sound came from the ‘bots on the wreck. “You’re going to tell us everything you know about us and who you are reporting to.”
“Well, that will be easy because we don’t know anything and we aren’t reporting to anyone.”
Dodger fidgeted, picking at a nail. “What do you know about the Hell’s Breath right now?”
“Bone Daddy’s shitheap? It’s on Earth in Go City waiting for the bank to clean it up for sale.”
“And you don’t know anything about a couple of Syndicate guys getting shot while trying to retrieve some product?”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed as he thought about the pallet of Diamond K he saw during his inspection of the cargo hold. “What? No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We sent a couple guys out to the ship to get our stuff and Customs caught the
m. They jumped them as soon as they came out with the stuff. Now, you expect me to believe you don’t know anything about that?”
“You’re paranoid.”
“I’m not! You think you can talk your way out of this and you can’t.”
A roar came from above them and all eyes went up. Nathan spotted the Blue Moon Bandit approaching Eldridge’s camp high up in the sky. Marla bled off excess re-entry speed with a series of ‘S’ curve maneuvers.
Nathan stepped forward, causing Dodger to take a step back. “As soon as my ship gets down here, we’re leaving. You can make your dope and sell it or chew it or shove it up your ass for all I care but it’s got nothing to do with us.”
Dodger recovered and stood up straight. “Nobody does anything until I’m satisfied.” He walked over to Morris and got right in his face. “You tell Jonesy to do what we talked about. Do it now.”
Morris took a step back with his mobi to his ear. Nathan shook his head slightly at Cole. Dodger had eight Syndicate guys, counting Morris. He knew they couldn’t take them without someone getting hurt.
Five ‘bots working nearby in the cargo bay exited the ship and moved around the crowd. Nathan only noticed them when they didn’t continue walking past. One of them seized his upper arms in an iron grip and lifted him off the ground. He tried to break loose but couldn’t. Cole, Duncan, Eldridge and Ari struggled as well. No one could break free.
He overheard Dodger tell Morris, “Move them into the ship and hold them there. Is Cheech still in the office?”
“This is stupid,” Nathan said. “Let us go, right now. There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt.”
Dodger dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “We’re past that now.”
The Bandit approached overhead with a roar. Morris spoke to Dodger, holding his mobi. “I’ve got Cheech.”
Dodger pointed to the sky. “Tell him to bring that ship down.”
Chapter 15
Marla let out a low whistle as the wreck of the Athena Star came into view. “Wow, I have never seen anything like that before.”
Tricia saw the wreck through the canopy. “And everyone got off?”
“That’s the story,” Richie said. He stood in the doorway of the cramped cockpit with an arm braced on either side. His green rescue vest had a smiley face drawn on it with a black marker.
“Go strap in, Richie,” she said with a sharp edge to her voice. “You know you aren’t supposed to be moving around during re-entry.”
“Okay. It’s just kind of lonely back there.”
“You’re sitting directly behind the bulkhead. I can hear you talk without the headset.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Marla watched as he moved back to the station behind the cockpit. She called Bad Rock air traffic control at the spaceport to let them know she had completed re-entry then adjusted and trimmed the ship for approach. Hidden stabilizers and ailerons slid free of their housings and gave her a little more atmospheric control.
She examined the area for a good spot to land, making sure there weren’t any wires or debris in the area. Nathan had sent coordinates but she wanted a good view of the area before setting down.
An alarm sounded, barking directives at her in a clipped computer voice. “Collision! Go Right! Collision! Go Right!”
Her training took over and she jerked the ship to the right as she yelled. “Brace! Brace! Brace!”
“What’s wrong?” Tricia said. “What is that?”
Marla had just enough time to glimpse a dark object barreling at them from the left and then the ship shook with a bone jarring impact. Alarms sounded and Tricia screamed. Marla saw her put her arms over her head just like Nathan had instructed during their departure lecture.
“Richie! We took a hit.”
“From what?”
“I don’t know. I think it hit the port engine cowling. I’m losing control up here.”
Another alarm sounded as the orientation of the ship changed and the computer voice gave her another directive. “Pull up! Pull up!”
Marla yanked back on the yoke and saw a lot of ground fill the canopy instead of the sky.
“Pull up! Pull up!” The computer reminded her.
“I’m trying!” Marla yelled back. “Richie, I’m having trouble getting us level. The port side thrusters aren’t giving me anything.” The ship began to yaw and roll simultaneously to the left.
“I don’t think there’s anything to give.” She heard him say in her headset. He spoke calmly but his voice had an edge to it. “I’ve got fire alarms all along the port side. I think we’re venting thruster plasma. I’m going to have to shut it off.”
“Don’t! I need it to fly!”
“We’ll burn up, Marla! It’s venting internally! It’s only the port side. You’ll still have starboard.”
Marla’s mind raced. The Blue Moon Bandit flew like a brick without thrusters. It had no wings to keep them aloft and just few a control surfaces to help maneuver the ship. She stole a glance at the artificial horizon and saw it tipping.
She started running through what she had left working. The flight computer worked with her, trying to keep them level. That’s all she really needed, just to get level and stable until they figured out a solution.
She jerked the yoke again and the ship responded incorrectly. Every move she made seemed thwarted by a lack of control. The starboard engine and the starboard thrusters still worked but the thrust from them actually de-stabilized the ship, pushing them to the left without the counter-balance of the port side thrusters.
The sky spun past the canopy as the ship rotated. They were going to crash, she realized, unless she came up with something.
Panic began to set in but she pushed it back, thinking through the problem. Tricia sat frozen with fear, hanging on to the arms of her chair with her eyes closed tight.
“Tricia, is your vest on properly?”
She opened one eye. “What?”
“Your vest. Is it on properly?”
The nurse tugged on her orange vest. “Yes, I think so.”
“Okay, if it ends up activating don’t worry, okay? It will help protect you.”
Through clenched teeth Tricia asked, “Is it going to go off?”
“Maybe.”
Marla examined her controls again. “Richie, are you strapped in tight?”
“Yes. Why?” He sounded scared but held it together.
She didn’t answer him. She gripped the thruster control for the remaining engine and pushed it to max. The ship responded with a roar and rocketed through the blue sky.
— «» —
“No!” Nathan shouted as he watched his pride and joy shoot away from them trailing thick black smoke. “What did you do?” He struggled harder in the ‘bot’s grip. “You’re a goddamn maniac! My crew is on that ship!”
Duncan managed to get a foot up on the side of the door leading into the cargo bay and kicked off. He rocked but the ‘bot held him steady. “Let me go! That’s my wife up there!” He kicked again.
Dodger walked over to Nathan and grabbed him by the jaw, getting right up in his face. Nathan could see his eyes darting around crazily and smelled his horrible breath as he spoke. “You brought this on all of us, not me. You stay here for now.”
The gangster turned to Morris. “Tell Jonesy I want them secured in the cargo hold until we have the coolant.”
His number two nodded and relayed the message.
Dodger turned back to Nathan. “Whoever sent you had a supremely bad idea.”
Nathan’s breath labored hard from the effort to break free. “We’re here to repo a ship you asshole. The bank holding the note sent us.”
Dodger gave him a light slap on the cheek. “We’ll see. I’m going to be asking you some questions after we pump the coolant.” He turned to Morris and no
dded toward the wreck. “Get them secured.”
The ‘bots carried them into the cargo bay. Nathan saw the hoses to the tanker truck snaking off to the right. The ‘bots turned left and carried them through another, larger door into a smaller bay. A small work lamp hung from the ceiling in the otherwise empty space. The doors to the bay slammed close and Nathan heard them being secured.
“Eldridge, get us free.”
“This is crazy,” Eldridge said. “How did things get this crazy?”
“Eldridge,” Nathan said more sharply. “Get us free. We have to see what’s happening to our ship. Duncan’s wife is aboard.” And Tricia.
The other ‘bots continued working on the wreck, oblivious to the plight of their master. Nathan saw Eldridge look at Ari and she nodded to him. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
Duncan turned to the salvager. “Look kid, one of Dodger’s goons must have hacked into your software. How can we get control back?”
Eldridge chewed his lower lip. “Give me a second, let me think.”
— «» —
“Are we stable?” Richie said. “It looks like we’ve evened out.”
Marla ignored him and brushed sweat from her eyes with one hand while gripping the controls tightly with the other. The ship shook violently under the strain of flying on one engine. In thrust we trust, she thought. She switched to the air traffic control channel.
Taking a deep breath, she spoke calmly but purposefully. “Mayday, mayday, mayday, Bad Rock ATC, this is the commercial vessel Blue Moon Bandit declaring an emergency.”
A long period of silence followed and she opened her mouth to repeat her message when a calm voice answered.
“Aircraft in distress, this is Bad Rock ATC, we have you on sensors. What is the nature of the emergency and how many personnel do you have on board?”
“Bad Rock, Bandit, we took a strike of some kind in our port engine and have limited control over the spacecraft. There are three people on board.”
“Copy that, Bandit. Are you stable now?”
Bad Rock Beat Down (The Milky Way Repo Series Book 2) Page 17