by Eric Thomson
They took the stairs two by two, senses alert, but no other killers popped out of the shadows. Back on the promenade deck, Decker and Talyn caught their breaths and tried to look completely normal as they joined the flow of people moving through the commercial ring.
“Crap,” Zack swore under his breath. “Security goons heading for the docks. Either our two PCB buddies squealed or they picked up enough of a visual to link us to Xenophon.”
“Or our unknown enemies are still trying to stampede us.”
“That would mean the two idiots just now weren’t alone.”
“Local talent maybe, disposable muscle hired for a one-shot deal. It’s time to burn the Wenn and Venzi identities. There won’t be a record of our new covers coming onto the station, but sometimes people do slip through the checks by accident or laziness. The washrooms are over there.”
Ten minutes later, Ren Tally and Noree Pruw came out of the stalls, looking different enough to fool facial recognition software, if not every single human eye. Naval intelligence had provided them with the means to quickly alter their appearance and identities, but only once. The parts of them that were pure Wenn and Venzi, along with their credentials, were now nothing more than ash at the bottom of a garbage disposal.
“What’s next, Sera Pruw?” He grinned at her new, more sensual look. “I could suggest we take a room on the station until things die down. There’s a lot we could do without being seen.”
She snorted, shaking her blonde head.
“Still a one-track mind, I see, Ser Tally. Some things never change. No. I suggest we stick to the original plan and get a shuttle to the surface, make our way to Mishka and get on that ship.”
“But you made reservations in the name of Wenn and Venzi.”
“When they don’t show, I’m sure the captain will be glad to give us their cabin. Try and hunch down a little while we’re still on the station. Your size isn’t quite a dead giveaway, but why take chances?”
“You’ve never complained about my size before.”
She groaned, elbowing him in the ribs with all the force she could muster.
The ticketing computer at the shuttle dock sputtered a little when it discovered their IDs hadn’t been registered upon arrival on the station, but since their intent was to leave it within the next ten minutes on the Ushan shuttle, the human supervisor overrode the machine.
He smiled warmly at Hera.
“Have a nice trip, Sera Pruw.”
“Thank you.” She inclined her head graciously.
“No nice trip wishes for Ser Tally,” Zack grumbled once they were out of earshot. “Some things never change: attractive, slightly vulgar looks do get you more than an honest face.”
“Don’t hate me for my beauty.” She laughed. “It has its uses.”
They were the last to board the shuttle and took seats at the rear. None of the other hundred or so passengers seemed to pay them the slightest attention, nor did any look even a bit familiar.
“So,” he tilted his body to the side until their heads touched, “how long before Pruw and Tally get the Constabulary and the Sécurité Spéciale back on their pink butts?”
“Hopefully never,” she whispered back, “but at least now we know what we’re up against.”
“And if the pros Grint talked about are Sécurité Spéciale and not private contractors, we should be good. I’ve killed a few of them in my time and for a spook organization, they’re sadly lacking in some areas.”
“That still doesn’t answer the question as to why they’re gunning for an active duty Marine officer and his charming, also active duty naval companion. They know nothing good comes from annoying the Armed Services.”
“Unless Harmon Amali’s the one pulling the strings. His cousin sure was the last time they sicced the bastards on me.”
He fell silent as the shuttle, dangling from a gantry frame, was lifted off the deck and out the hangar door. There was a brief moment when the butterflies in his stomach threatened to erupt from his nostrils before the pilot lit his thrusters and re-established a semblance of gravity in the small craft.
An hour later, they walked out of the shuttle’s controlled environment and into a gray, damp afternoon that seemed to wish them an apathetic welcome to Ushan. They entered the terminal and passed by the security console without stopping. Though neither Decker nor Talyn got any greater scrutiny than the other passengers, they did notice a pair of gray-uniformed Constabulary officers staring at the console’s inset screen.
“I think our buddies roused their kin down here,” Decker murmured, eyes searching the cavernous hall. “Let’s hope they don’t have anything that’s better grade than the usual.”
“If their machine had given them a hint, we’d have been pulled aside by now.” She led him to the far end, out of sight of the cops.
“We need to find a ride for Mishka that won’t take two days to get there.” They scanned the departures screen but got no satisfaction. “The daily flight left thirty minutes ago.”
“Taking tomorrow’s will still get us there in a timely manner,” Decker pointed out.
“Sure, but I’d rather not stay here any longer than I have to. Remember, the gray legs and the other lot can follow thread just as well as you or I. Breaking it cleanly at Ushan would be nice.”
“Rent an air car? I’m sure our Tally and Pruw creds will cover it.”
She grimaced.
“Not ideal and it’ll be a longer run than the suborbital.”
“You want out of this place quickly, that’s the best solution other than ground transportation.” He looked over his shoulder. “The rental counter is back by the arrivals, but we could kill some time until things have quieted down. I’d rather not have a cop overhear us negotiating a one-way fee.”
“Let’s sample the food while we wait.” She pointed at a restaurant half-way between the two ends of the terminal. “It’ll be overpriced, probably overcooked, but the panoramic windows will let us see the continuing parade of humanity, gray-legged or not. I suggest you skip the ale. If we’re flying ourselves, you’ll be taking a turn at the controls.”
“Yes, mother.” He made a face at her.
Twenty-Four
Decker swore as he read the advisory that overrode the movie he was watching on the air car’s entertainment system. Talyn’s head turned away from the controls, and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Someone’s put out a bulletin on us,” he said. “The local authorities want to speak to a male, early to mid-forties, around 190 centimeters tall, muscular build, traveling with a female, mid to late forties, around 175 centimeters tall, slender. They’re suspected to have landed in Ushan, coming from the Merseaux station and possibly headed overland to one of the other spaceports.”
“I’m going to guess Superintendent Rowan finally got her thumbs out. Good thing I used the disposable credit card for the rental, so our current cover identities are probably still relatively safe.”
“You hope.” Zack snorted. “The gray legs aren’t stupid. They’ll eventually figure out Ser Tally and Sera Pruw used to be the Wenn and Venzi comedy act.”
“Hopefully, we’ll have lifted from Mishka by then.” She bit her lower lip and thought. “It’ll probably be prudent to land somewhere in the outback and just abandon the car. I think once we get slotted into the Mishka traffic control system, they’ll bring us down for a little chat. Heck, make that any traffic control system along the way. These rentals can be remotely flown by the cops, and there’s nothing we’d be able to do but sit tight.”
He nodded and called up a map of the area. After a few moments of intense study, he looked out the clear cockpit bubble at a rapidly growing dark mass on the starlit horizon.
“If we’re going dump this thing, it’ll have to be soon. After that mountain range, it’s flat, open terrain and nowhere to hide.”
“Oh, joy. A night landing in the bush.” Talyn flexed her fingers a few times and took hold of the
control yoke, shutting off the autopilot. She took the air car down until they were level with the top of the crests and throttled back their speed.
A few minutes later, with more and more of the sky blotted out by brooding peaks, they slipped between two ridges and dropped into a valley, virtually vanishing off any ground-based air traffic control screen. Zack brought up a schematic of the proposed landing area.
“Another fifty kilometers should do it. We’ll be within a few hours’ walk from the closest town. From there we can find alternate transportation.”
Talyn nodded and gradually slowed the craft down, even more, flying mere meters above the valley floor. Suddenly, the navigation system screamed at them, and a new schematic came up on the screen. She had just enough time to correct their trajectory so they could pass over a low saddle and slip into the next valley without reappearing on sensors.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she said, “A bit more warning next time, Zack. If you’re going to play navigator, don’t let surprises creep up on your beloved pilot.”
“Hey, I’m usually in the back, waiting to be kicked out by the jumpmaster, not sitting in the left-hand seat. Anyway, we’re almost there so it won’t happen again – on this trip.”
Soon, the air car flew only on grav repulsers as it crept into a small box canyon. Talyn flicked on the headlights, figuring that unless someone were right overhead, the canyon's steep walls would contain the burst of illumination.
Flying almost at a walking pace, she gingerly guided the craft deeper into the crevice until she spied an overhang that seemed just high enough. But it wasn't quite good enough. They heard an unearthly screech of metal against stone and Talyn cut the engines. The short drop shook them momentarily, then all was still.
“I don’t think we’re getting our deposit back.”
“They’d have to find the thing first.” She unfastened her seat restraints and stretched. “I just hope we’re in deep enough to make that a bit of a challenge. Show me where we are.”
She studied the map and sighed.
“It’s going to be a bitch getting to the town. Take a look outside now that the sun’s coming up.”
In the gray light of dawn, they began to appreciate just how desolate and barren the mountain range really was. What little vegetation they saw was no better than a mossy fungal growth while the air, rushing into the compartment now that she’d opened the door, was dry and flinty, which meant little, if any surface water. They’d have to make their meager reserves last.
“Let’s saddle up,” he replied, grabbing his duffel and stuffing the contents of the air car’s emergency compartment into it. “The sooner we get to civilization, the faster we can get our fannies to Mishka.”
They made it out of the box canyon within the first hour, though not without discovering that the sere landscape hid life a bit more dangerous than moss. A little less life now, after Decker holstered his weapon. Whatever the animal had been, it was ugly and had big teeth. Really big teeth. And claws. And it stank to high heaven.
After that encounter, they slowed their pace and paid better attention to the surroundings. The critter had pounced too soon, and that was the only reason Decker had been able to nail it before he became minced meat.
As a result, the half-day walk to the nearest town turned into a full day hike, and the sun was setting by the time they crossed the ridge overlooking a cluster of dusty, dilapidated buildings surrounding an obscenely huge mining operation. It was surface extraction at its finest: an immense hole in the ground with a constant stream of anti-gravity propelled buckets coming out of the depths, each the size of a small house.
By the time they reached the first of the cheap plastic and sheet metal huts, full darkness had fallen. Decker listened for a few moments and sniffed the air. Then he grinned at Talyn as he homed in on the small town’s watering hole. If they couldn’t find transport tonight, they could at least find a drink and a meal.
The local honky-tonk was in full swing, with noise and beer fumes spilling out onto the dusty street. Decker stopped in the shadows by the door and took one last look around. If it weren’t for the bar, the town would have seemed deserted, even though the mine operated around the clock.
An unholy stench of fried food, stale booze, and unwashed bodies hit them as soon as they stepped in, accompanied by the kind of loud music and flashing lights that made the two operatives feel nostalgic for the relative quiet of ship-to-ship combat.
Even though Decker was a big man, he didn’t look much out of place in this crowd. His leather jacket and dark pants were dusty enough to look like work clothes. Most of the men wore their hair long and faces unshaven, just like Ser Tally, though the tough looking women tended to have buzz cuts. Fortunately, none of the ladies looked like they needed a shave. It did mean that Talyn, still looking sultrier than was decent under the coating of dust, stood out enough to attract more than a few admiring leers from both sexes.
They headed for the bar, a long, scarred thing covered in beaten metal sheeting that might have come off a starship, based on the pitting and blackening. It fit in well with the rest of the furnishings and decoration. They looked suspiciously like they’d been scavenged from the wreck of a tramp freighter some time before the last Shrehari war.
Since Merseaux had been a pirate hide-out in the previous century, before the Fleet had cleaned house, it wouldn’t be all that extraordinary if this bar was a relic of those days. And why not? Out on the frontier, they lived the motto ‘waste not, want not.’
Talyn put her mouth against his ear.
“Over to the side, sucking on a beer bulb. Cop or mine security?”
He shrugged, too busy with a bit of good-natured elbow play to get space at the bar and catch the bartender’s eye. The man, a hulking, bald giant with a barrel-shaped paunch, waddled up to Zack and stared at him curiously before taking a good long look at his companion.
“You new in town?” He shouted over the noise of the live band playing behind a shimmering force screen. “Never seen your faces in here before.”
“Just passing through. We spent some time rambling in the mountains, and we’re looking for a ride to the nearest place from which we can get to the coast.”
The bartender straightened up and frowned. Then, without another word, he walked down the bar and spoke to someone, pointing back at them. Decker tried to see who it was, but failed thanks to the crush of bodies, though based on the man’s reaction, he’d have bet on the security guy.
That suspicion was confirmed before Decker could do anything more than turn around and pick up his pack. A muscular, mean looking guy with a thin carpet of hair covering his angular skull parted the crowd and grabbed Decker’s upper arm. When he felt something hard and round poke at his side, he glanced at Talyn, but she shook her head. Hemmed in as they were by the crowd, it wasn’t the place or the time to resist.
With a toss of his chin, the security man pointed towards the back of the room, where the bartender was waiting with a scattergun loosely held in his hands. The band kept playing, but patrons around Decker, Talyn, and the guard fell silent, moving out of the way with commendable speed. The guard pushed them through an open door and into a dingy backroom.
“Okay, Mister and Miz Just-Passing-Through,” he said with a gravelly voice. “You can turn around and face me. Josh, over there’s got his gun aimed right at your heads, so try and stay cooperative.”
Decker nodded and felt the officer release his arm. He and Talyn moved slowly, holding their hands well away from their bodies in a sign of submission.
“So,” Zack tried a sardonic grin, “is this how visitors usually get treated or are you having a special sale on nasty today?”
“Josh said you’re coming from over the mountains and are looking for transport to the coast. We’ve got a bit of a problem with that, chum. No one goes into the hills, not even prospecting. The whole area belongs to the Company and is off limits. Seeing as how the next bit of
civilization north of here is almost a thousand klicks away, I think you’re not telling the truth. You didn’t walk all that way with just a small pack. Not without being armed to the teeth. Some nasty critters out there.”
“We met one of ‘em. He didn’t like me much. He’s not liking much of anything now.”
“Funny guy, eh? Okay, friend. Your story is bullshit, I know it, you know it, and Josh smelled it on you. Now if it were up to me, I’d send you on your way on the next bus to Carvalla, the nearest town. The problem I’ve got is that this mine’s a restricted area. Only people vetted by the Company are allowed, and you my friends aren't. Not if you just walked out of the mountains. So now I have to figure out what to do with you.”
“You could let us have a cold beer while you think about it,” Decker smiled.
“Sorry, pal. You don't get to go back in there. The only one in this place you're talking to is me. That way, when the Company finds out we had intruders, I can show them I did everything by the book.”
“Tough employer?” Zack cocked an eyebrow.
“None of your business,” Josh growled from the corner. His aim remained steady as a rock, ready to take Decker's head off on command.
The guard thought for a moment, gnawing on his lower lip.
“Okay. Let’s take it to my office. I got to think this through some.” He glared at Decker. “Tell you what, funny guy, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. You walk in front of me and do everything I tell you, and I won’t have to cuff you. Josh here will be covering your missus.”
Zack nodded.
“Whatever you say, man. We’re not looking for trouble, just for a ride.”
Josh chortled. It was not a pleasant sound.
“We can give you a ride, mister.”
“Turn around and head for the door back there,” the guard said. “Don’t go through until I say so.”
Decker obeyed, glad that they hadn’t noticed his pack for some reason. That was a mistake. He was carrying what was in effect a twenty-kilogram mace on the end of a few straps that lengthened his reach by half an arm.