by Tammy Walsh
I waved the tickets at the officer on duty.
“Our ship is boarding in fifteen minutes,” I said. “Can we get through security quickly, please?”
The officer appeared to be the wrong person to ask to move quickly. He seemed to move in slow motion. He took the tickets, checked them, and then extended his hand toward us.
“Passports,” he said lazily.
I dug our passports out of my pocket and handed them over. The officer slid my passport open and compared my face to my photo. Then he did the same with Cleb’s.
I wanted to slap him, shove him, force him to move faster.
“You’ll never make it in time,” he said.
We would if you moved your fat ass!
“Can we at least try?” I said. “Can you let us cut in ahead of another line so we can make our flight?”
He pursed his lips and sighed deeply as if it was impossible.
“Cutting in isn’t allowed, sir,” he said. “But I might be able to open up a new line for you.”
“Yes!” I said. “That would be great!”
“Please follow me,” he said.
He waddled along at the breakneck speed of half a mile an hour. We had our shoes off and pockets emptied within five seconds, and he was still looking for spare trays.
I could have throttled him.
Finally, we got through the security gate.
“Thank you,” I said, grabbing Cleb and running down the long arm of duty-free stores.
We reached the right gate and bent over double, panting with exertion. We stumbled toward the ticket desk and I slapped my communicator on the tabletop.
“We made it!” I said.
The stewardess was busy packing away the desk.
“You’re too late,” she said.
“Wait!” I said. “We have tickets!”
The stewardess checked them and shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m very sorry, sir,” she said. “The ship is about to leave.”
The giant ship pulled away from the terminal and took its spot lining up to take off.
“But we’re passengers!” I said “And I bought expensive tickets! Surely the ship can wait a few minutes for us to get on?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Once the ship begins to taxi, it’s too late. If you return to the ticket office, I’m sure you’ll receive a full refund.”
“I don’t want a refund!” I said. “I want my seat!”
“I can’t help you,” the stewardess said and left armed with a boxful of equipment.
“Does that mean we can’t see her again?” Cleb said.
“I… I don’t know,” I said.
Still exhausted from our exertion to get there in time, we fell into a pair of seats. I hugged Cleb close.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We still have each other, right?”
Cleb sniffed and squeezed me harder.
“I miss her,” he said.
“So do I.”
I watched as Bianca’s ship moved up a place in the line. Interstellar ships were so big they needed a huge area to take off from, otherwise, they would blow so much dust and debris around the area that it would affect local weather patterns. Spaceports were designed to keep as much of the impact of them taking off within its confines as possible. Only one ship could take off at a time.
Ahead of Bianca’s passenger ship was an even larger ship. It was a merchant vessel that transported products, resources, and equipment from one planet to another. An intergalactic empire required an unbelievable amount of resources to be shuttled from one end of the galaxy to the other.
But it wasn’t the merchant ship that caught my attention.
It was the name on the side.
I grabbed my communicator and dialed the number I had on speed dial. After two rings, it was answered.
“Zauet Transportation,” the receptionist said.
“This is Traes,” I said. “I need to speak to the president.”
“What is it regarding?”
“I need a merchant vessel in Arctus spaceport to desist and not take off,” I said.
“Is a problem with a shipment?” the secretary said.
“No. It’s… something else. It’s an emergency. Put me through to the president.”
“One moment please.”
The phone rang. I stared out the window at the merchant ship, already getting into position to be the next to take off. Its engines thrummed.
Come on! Answer the phone!
Finally, someone picked up.
“President of Zauet Transportation, speaking,” he said.
“This is Traes.”
“Hi, Traes. How are things going?”
“I need you to stop the ship you have right now in Arctus spaceport from taking off.”
“Is there a problem with the shipment?”
“No. It’s nothing like that. I need you to do this as a favor.”
The Zauet president was silent at the end of the line.
“You want me to shut down the spaceport as a favor?” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “It’s an emergency.”
“Can I know what the emergency is?”
“It’s of a… personal nature. Any costs or fines you incur, I’ll pay. I just need this to be done now.”
“I can’t just shut down the entire airport—”
“How long have I been a client of yours?” I said, watching the ship’s thrusters engage and begin to lift off. “How long?”
“Since the very beginning. Maybe ten, fifteen years?” he said.
“Would you consider me an important client?”
“All our clients are important to us,” he said diplomatically.
“Would you say I’m one of the biggest clients you have?”
“Yes.”
“Then if you don’t want to lose my business, I suggest you shut down that ship immediately.”
The president sighed audibly down the line.
“If there’s a problem with our service, I can assure you—”
“There’s no problem. Unless you don’t order the ship to ground itself right now.”
The president was silent on the other end of the phone.
“Give me a minute,” he said.
“The ship’s taking off now. We don’t have a minute.”
The giant ship hovered a dozen yards off the ground, already gaining in height.
I was too late, I thought. The ship was taking off. I would never see her again.
Cleb stood beside me, his face pressed against the glass.
Then, a miracle happened.
The thrusters disengaged as the ship lowered back down to the tarmac.
The spaceport immediately erupted into chaos.
The scheduled flights on the giant noticeboard flipped from DEPARTING to DELAYED. Passengers waiting at the other gates threw up their hands and complained to the helpless stewardesses.
“It’s done,” the president said morosely. “Excuse me. I have to call the airport manager and the police. I’ll be in touch.”
I groaned at the thought of having to explain everything to those people. It would be a few days of agony but it would be worth it if Bianca reconsidered and stayed with us.
Cleb took me by the hand.
“Now what?” he said.
“Now we do the hard part,” I said.
Cleb and I ran through the spaceport, past the angry passengers and desperate airport employees.
Sorry folks!
I was glad no one knew I was responsible for the delays. At least, they didn’t yet. It would only be a matter of time before they did.
We exited the spaceport. I scooped the communicator out of my pocket and was about to stab in Waev’s ID when I spotted him reversing the shuttlecraft into a short-term parking bay. I ran across the road and dived in the back.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Waev said. “There’s talk on the news about a merchant vessel failing to take off on the runway. Please tel
l me you’re not responsible for this.”
But he could see in my eyes that I was.
“It’s about to get a whole lot worse, my friend,” I said.
He almost looked afraid.
“What are you going to do now?” he said.
“I’m going to fly over the spaceport,” I said.
Waev stared incredulously.
“You can’t be serious!” he said. “When they catch you, they’ll lock you up!”
“They’re a little preoccupied at the moment,” I said.
“That’s your defense?” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t help you with this. I have… priors with the police.”
Another new piece of information.
“Aren’t you just full of surprises?” I said. “It’s okay. I never expected you to take the rap for me.”
I braced him on the shoulder.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” I said. “There’s just one favor I need to ask of you.”
I turned to look at Cleb.
The sweet little boy looked between us.
“What?” he said.
“You can’t come with me this time,” I said. “You might get hurt.”
“I’m going—!”
“No, you’re not,” I said. “Your mom put you in my care and this time, I intend on doing my duty. You’re going with Waev and that’s the end of it.”
Cleb pouted and ground his teeth.
“You’ve done very well, little spymaster,” I said softly. “But I could get into a lot of trouble with the police.”
There was no “could” about it. It was guaranteed.
Cleb’s expression softened.
“Will you bring her back?” he said.
“I’ll try,” I said.
Cleb leaped forward and wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the cheek.
“Good luck, Uncle,” he said.
Waev gave me a look of warning before slapping me on the back.
“I’ll put a file in the cake the next time I see you,” he said.
He scooped Cleb up in his arms and carried him outside. The door shut automatically behind him. I jumped in the pilot’s seat and fiddled with the buttons. It’d been a long time since I needed to fly one of these things myself. But it couldn’t be that hard. If Waev could do it…
I took the shuttlecraft directly up and then over the spaceport building. The force shoved me back in the seat. I recalibrated and swung the shuttlecraft around.
The spaceport drifted away from me, far below, and I tilted the ship forward, barreling directly for Bianca’s transport ship. It sat uselessly on the runway, directly behind the merchant ship that had broken down. A hundred mechanics descended on it, plugging into its systems to figure out what was wrong with it. The powerful little tug ships were getting into place to shift the merchant ship aside so the others could take off.
Bianca’s ship would be first in line.
Soon, the spaceport’s security system would kick on. The security teams in their capsules would be launched at me. Fully armed and with near-indestructible hulls, there would be no way for me to mount an effective defense against them.
For now, there was chaos. And it would play to my advantage.
But I didn’t have long.
I hit the brakes hard just yards from the transport ship’s hull and immediately dropped vertically, almost striking the ground. Then I turned the craft around and reversed up to the back of the ship.
“Citizen,” a commanding voice over the shuttlecraft’s radio said. “This is a restricted area. Power down for immediate boarding. This is not a request.”
I checked the scanners. The security capsules had been launched but they hadn’t reached me yet.
But they would within minutes.
I shut the radio off and lowered the ramp. I ran down it and got out. I was an ant compared to the giant passenger ship. The ship would be locked down immediately before liftoff. But first, the pilots would carry out a series of last-minute tests to ensure it was fully operational.
When thousands of lives were at stake, or billions of credits of merchandise could get blown sky-high if a single piece of the ship wasn’t working properly, you ran tests every chance you got.
One such test was ensuring the shutters were all closed immediately before liftoff. They were left open in case of a sudden emergency landing on the runway. It was the only way in before the ship would take off.
I gauged the distance I had to run and jump over. It wasn’t too far—but even a yard was a long way when a fall meant making a concrete dive a hundred feet below.
The security capsules’ flashing lights spun and their sirens wailed.
I had run out of time. I had to jump now.
So I did.
The wind struck me the moment I leaped from my shuttlecraft. It was strong—caused by the powerful anti-gravity forces of the giant ships’ thrusters. I landed on the passenger ship. I lost my footing and skidded along the floor as the wind caught me again.
I didn’t get to my feet. The wind was too strong. I crawled along the floor and didn’t feel the press of the wind’s force remove itself from me until I was covered by the ship’s outer shell. I got to my feet and ran toward the flaps that hung open until immediately before takeoff.
I was inside.
Now all I had to do was find Bianca.
And avoid the ship’s security teams, of course.
I wound through the halls formed by stacks of restrained luggage cubes that filled every inch of the enormous cargo hold.
Intuitively, I sensed I needed to keep pushing forward until I reached the back of the room. The thrusters hummed as they held the passenger ship in place, ready to take off at the next available opportunity.
The good news was they wouldn’t take off while I was on board.
The bad news was they would do everything they could to get me off.
I turned and slipped down a particularly narrow section and then ran at full speed through the wider sections.
A protruding corner of luggage caught my shoulder and spun me to one side. I hissed through my teeth and checked I wasn’t seriously hurt. It stung, but thankfully I was okay.
Thump.
Thump. Thump.
Three sets of boots landed on the hard floor of the cargo hold up ahead somewhere.
The security teams were closing in.
Maybe if I explained the situation to them, they would listen to me…
Yeah, sure. They would be very open to the potential of losing their jobs just because I was in love and didn’t want her to leave.
But maybe they would wake her up and take her off the ship? That was at least an outside possibility, wasn’t it? Yes. But they wouldn’t do it for just any reason. I could tell them she forgot to take her medication. She would die in the pod without it. They would have to let her out then, wouldn’t they?
Maybe. I put the plan on the backburner. I wouldn’t use it unless I got caught.
I crouched and listened carefully to the sound of scuffling boots and hissed whispers as they communicated with each other.
There were only three of them. They couldn’t search every luggage hallway. If I could slip past, I would have a head start to reach the passenger decks.
But first I had to ensure I snuck past them.
But how?
The solution struck me as I peered at the latticework of cords that restrained the luggage, locking it down and holding it firmly in place.
It was also easy to climb…
I just needed to identify the shortest one I could find.
I moved along the alley I stood on. With security getting closer by the second, and as they hadn’t seen me yet, it seemed a good idea to choose one of the stacks along the row I was stood on.
I peered up at them, attempting to gauge their height. It wasn’t easy. Some grazed the ceiling of the enormous room—I was guaranteed never to reach that height even if security didn’t catch me
while I was halfway up it—which they would.
I thought I spotted the shortest one. It was located halfway along the row, on the left. I grabbed the cords and scaled up it, ensuring to keep one foot and one hand in a hold at a time.
The cords swayed beneath me and it was all I could do to keep it from making too much noise.
The boots thumped louder from below. I looked down to locate them and realized my mistake too late.
Never look down.
The blood drained from my face and I let out a held breath.
I thought of Bianca locked away in her pod somewhere on the upper decks, and it gave me the strength I needed to keep going.
I reached the top and lay there, gently panting, staring up at the ceiling and the towering columns of luggage on either side.
I heard the heavy boots below but resisted the urge to peer over the side.
It didn’t matter where they were, I told myself. The only thing that mattered was they weren’t where I was.
Lucky bastards.
I listened until the boots began to head away, back the way I came.
I had to move.
I checked over the side in case one or more of them had opted to stay behind. They hadn’t, so far as I could tell. Not on this row, anyway.
I threw my legs over the side and climbed down. Then I stepped into the next room and continued through the luggage jungle, slow at first, and then picking up speed as I got further and further from security.
I ran into the opposite end before I saw it. My shoulder complained when it barked against the hard wall. I peered along it and spotted what I was looking for about thirty feet above me on the far end.
Harsh light illuminated a set of steps floating in darkness.
The way out.
I took them one at a time, fearful my shoes might give away my position. I reached the top and peered over the edge along the walkway.
I couldn’t make out any security officers but that wasn’t saying much considering how dark the shadows were at the opposite end.
I couldn’t wait forever.
I had to take the chance.
I scaled the last of the steps and breathed a sigh of relief when no one yelled that they’d found me.
Then a radio hissed.
I slipped into the shadows and pressed my back to the wall. I watched as a security officer stepped from the doorway and drew up to an inferior officer.