by Richard Dee
“The thing is,” Myra told me, “you never knew them that well. They were so far under the radar that they were considered above suspicion on some worlds. They had political connections; probably a lot of people owed them favours. They could have planned the rescue, found someone to make a wheelchair like that and got someone to hide him, like you were hidden by Dolmen.”
“Perhaps Vlad will just give up and settle down, after all his argument was with Rixon and when he finds out that he’s gone he might assume that we’ve gone too.” I tried to sound hopeful.
“I doubt that,” said Myra. “They lost a lot of money with you and Rixon, and don’t forget that Vlad lost a brother. That sort of thing makes for long memories. We’ll have to keep our ears open and be a bit more discreet in our dealings for a while.”
The next day we landed on Nova, Morrie said goodbye and left. He had kept out of the way after his revelation, I think he realised that we knew more about the Chenkos than we were letting on. Still, he had done a great job with the computer and I was grateful.
Chapter Forty Six
Griff was very concerned about our news. “Vlad won’t rest till he gets us all,” he warned us. “I know you think you know all about it, Dave, but it goes back a lot longer than your involvement. Well before the other Dave was involved he wanted Rixon out of the way, he was a competitor. He’ll find out easily enough that you’re still alive, and the last he knew from Van was that you were captive. So he’ll want you for destroying his ship and killing his brother. Even if he can’t prove that it was you. He wants Myra for… well you know why and he wants me because I’ve managed to shaft him more than once.” Said like that our chances were not good.
“Who’s this Vlad Chenko?” asked Benj, she was in the office doing something that looked technical. She was like a mini-Griff; she just drifted around and got a remarkable amount of things done with no obvious effort. She was quiet and inconspicuous as well, and so efficient that we hardly noticed her unless she wasn’t there.
“He’s a name from our past,” said Griff. “Perhaps we’d better get you away to somewhere safe, it’s not your argument but he won’t see it that way if he turns up.”
Benj stuck out her chin. “I’m with you,” she said. She leant down and pulled a wicked looking knife from her boot. The blade was about eight inches long and serrated. “He’ll have me to mess with as well.” Her loyalty was touching but I remembered Danno. The Chenkos wouldn’t let a Gyrl stand in their way; she would be swatted like a fly. Even if he was in a wheelchair.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Myra.
Griff put his network of contacts onto the job of discreetly finding out what Vlad was up to. All the pilots on our books were given the story of Rixon’s demise to pass around, hoping it would spread and get noticed. We had an anxious wait for information; I didn’t want to go anywhere until we had an idea what he was up to. Myra stayed close; Ria wondered what all the fuss was about till we told her the full story, then she stayed close as well.
We all ended up living on Freefall, jumping at shadows. We kept the ship fully stocked with food and ready for a quick getaway. Our wonderful house was neglected. Benj stayed in the office, fielding calls and keeping the knife handy. In fact, she took over the day to day running of the agency, we had to fill her in on more of the Chenko story, her eyes widened and despite the threat, she was obviously excited, it must have sounded like a story out of some video adventure.
Griff soon started to hear things; Vlad was spotted on several planets, in his wheelchair, together with a couple of his old henchmen. The word was that he had fitted guns into the arms of the chair. He was heard asking if anyone knew of Rixon’s whereabouts. Then he must have got to hear of the Orca’s disappearance because he suddenly went quiet and seemed to have lost interest. Then we heard from one of our pilots that he had gone to the Independent Worlds.
We decided that it was safe to relax a bit, we moved into Griff’s apartment over the agency and I started doing short trips, local hops that got me back every three or four days. This went on for a month or so. Then it happened.
Chapter Forty Seven
I was just about to land when Myra called from the office, there was a problem. “I don’t want to discuss it on the radio,” she said. “Just get in here as quick as you can.” She sounded very agitated. I didn’t even shut down the engines; I just left Freefall with Hannah.
“Can’t stop,” I shouted. “Watch the shop for me.”
“No problem, Dave,” she shouted as I ran towards the station and headed to the office. As I moved through the port, I saw a line of pallets with Freefall stencilled on them, my next cargo had turned up, and the stores. Hannah would sort all that out for me.
When I arrived, everyone was sitting in the office, Myra was dispensing tea, she rushed to me and held me.
Ria was in a terrible state. “I called Evan as usual last night,” she said, “and it was obvious that something was wrong, he had been frightened and was agitated. I had visitors looking for you and your friends, he told me. They wanted to know where you were, Harly tried to get rid of them but they beat him up.” I remembered Harly; he was the man that Evan had hired to help him, a good man, loyal and dependable. “I asked him who it was,” said Ria, but I think we all knew.
She continued, “Don’t know, he said that he didn’t introduce himself, just started breaking things. He was blond, very thin, in a wheelchair. He had two men with him; there might have been more on the ship. They had snakes tattooed on their necks and down their arms. He said he wanted to speak to Dave but you might know him as Finn.”
It was definitely Vlad; he must have traced us, not that we had been hiding. The Rixon story hadn’t stopped him. He could have found me from the ship’s register or my house that I’d sold or they might have found Griff through the agency and worked backwards. There was so much evidence that Myra, Griff and I were still alive after Orca had vanished.
Ria carried on with her father’s message, “the man said that you had put him in the chair, he reckoned he needed to find you. His wheelchair, it had guns fitted into the arms, he used them on our hogs. He said he’d give him a few days to think about it. He laughed while he shot the hogs. If father doesn’t tell him where you are when he comes back, he’ll use the guns on him.” Ria was distraught. “He’s trying to get me to get you all to Wishart,” she said. “He obviously knows a lot about you.”
“We haven’t been keeping ourselves a secret,” said Myra, we had all thought that we were safe with Vlad in prison and Van gone. Until we had heard from Morrie, at least that had given us a warning, we had forgotten about Ria and her father’s part in this.
Griff said what we were all thinking. “We’ll have to get to Wishart sharpish, get Evan to safety before Vlad goes back.”
Freefall had only been on the ground a few hours, I had clearance to leave again and we were all going this time. Ria was desperate with worry; I think Griff was looking forward to the chance of finishing things off once and for all.
We got ready to leave the office; there was no need for us to go anywhere else before the port.
The door opened and two Federation guards came in, wearing full uniform and body armour. They superseded the local police, you only saw them if something big was going on, something interplanetary, like an escaped criminal maybe? We relaxed.
“How can I help you?” asked Ria. We all stopped and waited.
“We’re looking for Griffon Alyoushan,” said the larger one, waving his ID card around.
“That’s me,” said Griff and the second scanned his arm and nodded. “Looks like you’ve had some action,” he said, gesturing at Griff’s missing appendage.
“Long story,” Griff agreed.
“And who are these four?”
We were all scanned, my heart stopped but I tried to appear relaxed about it. Then when the guard reached across to scan Myra, his sleeve rode up his arm and I saw it, the tail of a snake
tattooed on his arm.
Now I felt really scared. We were in deep trouble.
“Just a routine check, Mr Alyoushan,” the first guard said. “We’re searching for an escaped criminal and your name came up.”
“This one’s Dave Travise, the Gyrl’s Benj Solan,” said the second guard. “The other two are Myra Rixon and Ria Constable.”
“Who are you looking for?” Griff asked.
The two looked at each other. “Nothing to worry you, sir, that’s classified information. We had a report he might be here, do you mind if we take a quick look around?” The pair moved through the reception area into the office. There was a cellar leading off it, hopefully they would be a while. I put my finger to my lips, grabbed Griff and dragged him into the street. Myra and Ria followed, looking puzzled.
“What are you up to?” Griff asked.
“They’re not guards,” I explained. “They’re Vlad’s men.”
Griff was instantly alert. “How do you know?”
“I saw the snake tattoo on one,” I answered and he looked shocked.
Benj came out into the street, she looked pleased with herself. “Are they the guys you were worried about, Mr Griff?” she asked. “I heard Ria saying what had happened to her father.”
“Yes that’s right,” Griff said. “Make yourself scarce for the rest of the day, Benj. Come back here tomorrow and if you don’t see us again for a while, just keep the place going.”
She looked shocked. “But you’ll be back, won’t you? And I’ve just locked them in the cellar for you. I followed them in, quiet like, they never noticed me. I saw them both go into the cellar so I shut it and locked it. Was that the right thing to do?”
“You’re a genius, Benj,” said Myra. “That was exactly the right thing to do. Of course we’ll be back, now scram.” Benj ran off down the road.
“Let’s go then,” Griff said. “They’ll be out any second, there’s not much of a lock on that door.”
We went to the guards’ patrol car; the doors were unlocked. “Jump in,” said Griff. “If we take their car, they can’t follow us, at least not as quickly.”
“Can you start it without the key-card?”
He gave me a look. “Watch me; if I can’t then I deserve to get caught.”
Chapter Forty Eight
He pulled something out of his pocket and waved it in front of the sensor, the engine burst into life. Griff floored the pedal and we shot away, just as the two fake guards came out of the office. There were shouts and shots, followed by thumps as bullets struck the rear of the car. Then there was a crash and the rear window and the windscreen exploded. I felt the bullet pass by my ear, like a burning hot wasp.
“Get down,” shouted Griff and the girls hit the floor, we slid around a corner; tyres screeching.
“Everyone alright?” I called out and both girls answered.
“Head for the port,” Myra shouted and Griff shook his head.
“And what if they have the Freefall staked out?”
“There were two of them, that’s how many Evan said there were with Vlad.” Myra was practical, assessing the odds. “Vlad can’t have many of his old crew left. We got most of them on the Bishop and the rest would have melted away when he went down, those that weren’t caught with him. And scores would have been settled with him inside. No, two is probably all there are.”
It made sense; I just hoped she was right.
“We’ll have to chance it anyway, there’s nowhere else to go,” said Ria. “And I want to get to Evan if I can.”
“Were they real guards or just Vlad’s men pretending?” I wondered aloud.
“Does it matter?” replied Griff.
“Well it might if the real police spot us,” I said. “You’re driving like a maniac.”
“Good point.” Griff slowed down and we drove sedately to the port, we attracted little attention and got there quickly. The pen with Freefall in was deserted, where was Hannah? I had left her sitting in a chair by the entrance; the chair was still there but it was empty. We found out when we went into the pen, she was huddled in the corner, an ugly bruise on the side of her head. Her breathing was shallow; at least she was alive. “We’ll have to leave her here,” Griff said. “I’ll call the medics when we’re away.”
We ran on board, cargo had been loaded and lashed in my absence; I hadn’t had time to think about my next trip, Hannah’s organisation had got ahead of our plans.
There was a shout behind me, and a shot; it hit the frame of the ramp and pinged away with a shrill whine. I jabbed at the controls and the ramp started to close.
As it lifted I saw a man run towards the Freefall, a gun in his hand. It was one of the guards from the office, he must have had another vehicle ready somewhere, and clearly there were more than two of them. At least he wasn’t going to make it aboard. That should improve the odds a little; hopefully we only had one man in a wheelchair and one less guard to deal with.
Myra had carried on and was halfway up the ladder to the accommodation deck, following Griff and Ria. “I’ve shut one outside,” I shouted, dodging into the workshop. I used the remote Nav pickup to prime the engines and ready us for a quick getaway. Remembering what had happened on the Bishop I put the computer on silent, and rigged it to obey me only; I didn’t want anyone else in charge. At least I hadn’t shut it down; if I had it would have taken us a while to get ready to take off. And it couldn’t have been done quietly. Who knows where we would go though, if Vlad had found us here then we were in serious trouble. He must have come on a ship, they could follow us, we weren’t armed, it would be easy for them to attack us. We’d just have to face that if it happened. I grabbed the pistol I kept hidden in the tool-rack and headed topside. If one man was outside, that still made the odds better. I had only been a couple of minutes sorting things out, once I caught up with the others and lifted off we might be okay.
I ran toward the bridge, my heart pounding, feeling comfort from the pistol in my hand. My feet clanged on the deck, and I slowed. What if there was someone already there? I walked silently, so as not to advertise my arrival. In my head I could see possible outcomes, and silently prayed that I wasn’t too late.
The wheelhouse door was open and Myra was facing the doorway, I could see that she was tied to the handrail along the bridge front. She saw me approach. She tried to hide her smile and inclined her head to the left, to indicate that someone was there.
“Is that you, Finn? Come in,” called Vlad. “But put the pistol down first, we are all reasonable people here.” His tone was so calm that I almost did. Myra looked down and I understood. I dived into the space and rolled, hoping my momentum would take me behind the console, and out of Vlad’s sight. As I moved through the air a shot rang out, hitting the bulkhead roughly where my chest should have been, denting the panel. The bullet ricocheted around the space. Then I saw the second of Vlad’s men; as I rolled upright in what I thought was cover. He was on the other side of the console, creeping up on me with a smirk on his face. Vlad’s bullet bounced around and hit him just above the left eye. I watched the back of his head blow open in a burst of red. There was blood everywhere. One of the girls screamed. He toppled without a sound still with the same expression.
As I peered cautiously around the corner I could see Vlad’s reflection in the ports. He was in his chair, a pistol in his hand. There were two shapes built into the armrests of the chair, they must have been the guns that Evan had mentioned. The barrels looked like two cannons. Surely he wouldn’t use them in here? They would ruin the hull and control gear.
I could see that Griff and Ria were next to Myra, all three of them tied to the handrail. An idea was forming in my head, and I wondered about the strength of the rail.
Vlad was moving, I could hear the tyres squeaking on his chair as it crossed the metal deck, coming my way.
He was talking as I scrambled around the console, keeping away from him. “Mr Douglas, I just want my money back. Now I have found out
that you spent it on this ship and some other things. I’m afraid to tell you that it’s mine now, of course after what you did to my brother it would only be fair that I should take something of value to you as well.”
It was time for me to find out just how strong the rail was.
“Nav, immediate lift off, up angle sixty degrees, dampers off, execute,” I shouted out the orders. “Okay, Dave,” replied Myra and Vlad looked around to see where the noise was coming from. Below me there was a rumble as the thrusters rotated and the engines, already primed, fired.
Chapter Forty Nine
Instantly the deck tilted as we rose, I was already tight to the console and pressed back against it as we accelerated, without the dampers the G force was immense. There was a howl from Vlad and the whine of his chair motor as the wheels spun for purchase. In the end they gave up and by craning my head I could see his reflection in the port as the chair slid backwards into the bulkhead. I lost sight of him but heard the crash as they met. There was a rattle from the alleyway as the henchman’s body bounced aft, and from the cabins and everywhere else as unsecured items fell to the rear. I pulled myself up and risked a look, Vlad’s chair was wedged against the bulkhead and he was unconscious, head lolling in time to the vibration as the engines roared. Clouds scudded past the ports as we rose into the sky. The radio squawked, “Freefall, what are you doing, you haven’t called departure control.”
I ignored it. “Level flight, dampers on,” I called and our motion changed. It was suddenly quiet as everything fell to the deck, except for a fine haze of dust that hung in the air. Standing, I crossed to the rail and untied Myra, we hugged each other in relief.