Zeek slid back on his glasses. “Looking at this file, I have to agree. Let’s see if we can get information on his current residence.”
“Here.” Bulldozer made some taps on the screen and pulled up another file.
“Wow, the military has everything on this guy, you could probably find out the last time he took a piss.”
“When they train someone as dangerous as this man, you better believe they’re going to keep tabs on him. Okay, what’d we got?” Bulldozer read the screen. “When he contracts for pirates, he has a residence here in Boston. Nos, copy this address down in your phone—”
Zeek’s phone went off. “It’s a message from Tyr4nt.”
“What’s it say?”
“Says to go to this address in an hour, otherwise Ash dies.”
“Let’s pull up a map.” Bulldozer made a couple of clicks on the computer. “It looks like a warehouse…an old building downtown.”
Zeek took over the computer. “And let’s trace where the message came from. Ah, yes, you see that?”
“Yep,” Bulldozer replied. “His location according to his phone is right across the street from there. He’s going to take us out as soon as we step foot in that building. Where’s his residence in proximity to that location?”
“Good question,” Zeek said and pecked at the keyboard. “There.” He pointed at the screen. “A couple of blocks away.” He looked at Bulldozer and Nos.
“That’s where we’re going,” Bulldozer said.
“But what about Ash? Why don’t we just ambush him at the building across the street?”
“You’re not thinking it through, Zeek. Ash isn’t in that building. And this guy is too dangerous to ‘ambush’. We need to go to his apartment and pray that she is there. Get her and get the hell out of dodge,” Bulldozer said and rose to his full height.
Zeek stared at the screen in contemplation with a frown plastered on his face. After a moment, he simply nodded.
They made their way through traffic, Bulldozer turned on his wipers. “This rain…” he said.
“Yeah…” Zeek said absentmindedly as he stared at the GPS.
“You still have that gun, right?” Nos asked from the backseat.
“Of course.” They were two blocks away, and Zeek cracked his window to get some fresh air. He smelled the wet pavement outside, for some reason this calmed him. He felt the rain was an ominous sign of things to come. This day has been fucked from the beginning.
“Open the glove compartment,” Bulldozer said, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Zeek popped open the compartment, there were two blaster pistols and a bottle of whiskey. He looked at Bulldozer sideways and smiled.
Bulldozer laughed. “I was an Eagle Scout before I served…I have to be prepared. Hand him the smaller caliber,” he said and gestured to Nos in the back.
Zeek handed Bulldozer the larger pistol, who tucked it into his waist, taking the smaller one he reached back toward Nos. “Here.”
“Nah, I’m cool.”
“What?” Zeek said, turning around in his seat to look at him. “Just take it, man.”
“I don’t do guns.”
“You, the drug dealing lieutenant for the mafia…doesn’t do guns?”
Bulldozer laughed as he sped through a yellow light.
“No, but I do like Jack, hand me that bottle,” Nos replied.
Bewildered, Zeek put back the pistol and pulled out the bottle of whiskey. He handed it to him, shaking his head.
“Well, at least we can all agree on that,” Bulldozer said. “I’ll take some when you’re done.”
Nos took a big swig and exhaled loudly. “Here ya go, Bull,” he said and passed the bottle.
Bulldozer took a big gulp and passed it to Zeek.
“Might as well enjoy ourselves, we’ll probably end up iced or in prison,” Zeek said.
“That’s the spirit,” Bulldozer said as he came to a stop. “How do you want to play this?”
“Me and Nos will go check it out, you hang in the car. When we get back, we roll to the airport, after we stop by the guy Nos said could get us fake passports. Sure you don’t want a gun, Nos?”
“No, let’s go.” They jumped out of the car.
“Keep your phone on, I’ll buzz you if we get stuck in some sort of trap,” Zeek said to Bulldozer. The rain was coming down hard now. It was going to be hard to keep an eye out.
They entered the building and rode the elevator up. They came to the door. This time Zeek tried the handle and it was locked. But instead of trying to hack it, he pulled out his blaster pistol, pushed Nos back, and fired two rounds into the electronic lock. The door opened abruptly, and they stepped inside.
“Now you’re learning,” Nos said.
The apartment was much like the one where they found Amber’s mutilated body. A brick loft with an open concept area of kitchen, living room, and toward the back was one door they assumed was a bedroom.
In the kitchen sat Ash with her auburn hair, her head drooped and her hands tied behind her back in a wooden chair. She was in a pink bra and matching underwear, there were cuts all over her body. She had been tortured by this psycho, and her feet were bound. She looked up and saw Zeek and Nos.
She started to cry. “Oh thank God, it’s you.”
“Is he here?” Zeek asked.
“No, he left a couple of hours ago, he said he was initiating his final test for you, whatever that means.”
Nos glanced at Ash’s cuts and said, “I’m gonna go wait downstairs, make sure we don’t get ambushed.”
Zeek frowned. “But Bulldozer…” he started to say and followed Nos’ gaze to Ash. “Okay, you do that, we’ll be right down.”
Nos left.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I guess so…so are you going to untie me or what?” she replied.
“Oh yeah, of course.” He reached down and untied her feet.
“I’m so glad you’re here, you have no idea what he’s put me through.”
“I’m sorry, this is all my fault.” He moved to her hands next to untie them. His phone went off and he finished getting her free, he glanced down at it. “Shit, get dressed, we have to go now.”
“What? What is it?” she asked as she rubbed her wrists.
“We don’t have time, let’s go!”
In the elevator, Zeek made a call on his phone. “Bulldozer! Get Nos and pull around to the back, we’ll cut through the alley.”
“What…I can’t hear…you’re breaking up,” Bulldozer replied.
Zeek hung up. “Damn, the elevator is blocking the signal.”
“Try sending a message. What did the message say that made you freak out?”
Zeek began to type rapidly and said, “He knows we’re here.”
* * * * *
Bulldozer sat in his SUV, suddenly he felt someone watching him, he scanned the people walking up and down the sidewalk. He saw nothing unusual; he was parked across the street from the apartment building and saw Nos outside on the sidewalk. The whole thing felt wrong to him. Come on, Zeek, hurry up.
The passenger door opened and a Chinese man dressed in a brimmed hat, gray trench coat, and leather gloves slid into the passenger seat. He looked ahead and took a pistol out of his coat with his right hand. “Hello, Jackson, we’re brothers in arms, you and I, so I don’t want to have to shoot you. Slowly…I want you to hand me your blaster,” the man said.
“Tyr4nt,” Bulldozer growled, he knew he had no other choice, he slid his weapon from his waist and handed it over to the infamous pirate hacker.
“Very good, now drive up to the intersection. I’ve got a present for you,” Tyr4nt said.
Bulldozer looked out the window at Nos trying to get his attention.
“Don’t you worry about him. I’ve got something special for him. Now drive,” he said and pressed his pistol into Bulldozer’s side.
Bulldozer pulled out into traffic and crept up the block. He didn’t like where thi
ngs were going. They came to the intersection and there was a group of police officers doing a routine check, stopping people and checking their IDs.
“Guess who this hover SUV is registered to?” Tyr4nt asked.
Alarm bells rang in Bulldozer’s head.
“I hacked into the DMV database and now this car is registered to yours truly,” Tyr4nt continued, “and what do you know? I reported it stolen a couple of hours ago. When they come to search the car…” He opened the glove compartment and saw the small caliber pistol, and the bottle of whiskey and threw in Bulldozer’s gun. “They’ll find liquor and concealed weapons, that’s not going to go so well for you. You can stop here.” Tyr4nt laughed and opened his door, stepping out into the drizzle of the rain.
“Officers! Officers! This man stole my car!” he yelled at the group of cops. They were on Bulldozer with their guns drawn in a split second. Tyr4nt slinked away, leaving him to deal with the situation.
* * * * *
Zeek ran out of the building dragging Ash behind him by her hand.
He immediately saw Nos and ran up to him. “He knows we’re here!” He scanned the street. “Where’s Bulldozer?” he shouted.
Nos whirled around and started to say something when Zeek’s phone beeped.
“Hello?” Zeek said. He listened intently to the voice on the other end.
Nos spotted the cops up the street pulling Bulldozer out of the car.
“Zeek, look!” Nos said. Zeek turned distracted.
“I’ve got a scope trained on your pretty little girlfriend, the crosshair is right on her heart. Look up across the street, the seventh floor, third window from the left.” Tyr4nt’s message said.
Zeek fully alert now searched the windows.
* * * * *
Nos didn’t notice the man in the gray trench coat walking towards them. The man bumped into him and popped out a blade three inches long from the end of his umbrella. He ran the razor-sharp blade up the inside of Nos’ thigh. It happened so fast Nos barely had time to register it. The man continued to walk past Zeek and grabbed Ash from behind. He placed a pistol in the small of her back. “Don’t make a sound,” he whispered to her.
“You’re full of shit!” Zeek yelled into his phone.
Nos looked down at his leg, the blood was running like a river. He collapsed onto the ground holding the wound, trying to stop the blood, it was pooling now.
* * * * *
Zeek turned and saw Nos on the sidewalk, he ran over and took off his belt, wrapping it tightly above the wound. Nos was semi-conscious. “Trench coat…Ash…”
“What?” Zeek said, it dawning on him, he whipped around and saw Ash was gone. No, no, no! He picked up the phone. “Where is she, you son of bitch?”
The voice on the other end laughed loudly. “Checkmate, Mr. Star. You were a worthy adversary; you almost had me, and that never happens. You should be proud of yourself for that, but the game is over and you lost. Here’s what you’re going to do, you’re going to call to the police at the end of the street and turn yourself in. If you don’t, your friend is going to bleed out, I made sure I hit his femoral artery. He doesn’t have much time. If you do this, your friend will live, but more importantly, your girlfriend will live as well. I never cared about her, she was just a pawn, so as soon as I see you in cuffs, she’s free to go.”
Zeek knew he was defeated, he started to yell for the police and waved his hands. “Okay,” he said.
“One more thing before you go,” Tyr4nt said.
“What’s that?”
“Since you decided to start a war with me and counter my hacking efforts, you’ve messed up some important business for some very powerful people.”
“Pirates?” Zeek cut in.
“Exactly, and they’re not very happy with your little stunts. So you and your friends won’t be going to a regular prison.”
The police approached Zeek and Nos. One radioed for an ambulance into his shoulder walkie-talkie.
“And where is it we’ll be going?”
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough,” Tyr4nt tittered. The officers asked a question as they approached, and Zeek told them he had a warrant. “I am a man of my word, if you look across the street you will see Ashley coming out of the building, she is free. Bon voyage, Star. Enjoy the trip, it’ll be a long one.” And with that, Tyr4nt was gone, and the police started to cuff Zeek and walk him up the street. Before they did, he saw Ash’s face and she smiled at him, he’d never see her again, but he knew he’d done the right thing. Nos was whisked away in an ambulance, sirens blaring.
* * * * *
In an interrogation room a few days later, they were still being questioned and the more they talked about Tyr4nt, the more the cops thought they were on drugs.
An older Chinese man in his fifties entered the room with graying hair. “Give us the room,” he told the two detectives.
“Yes, sir,” they said as they left quickly.
“Who are you?” Zeek asked the older man in the nice suit, he didn’t look like a cop to him, he was someone high up.
“Ah, Mr. Star. Such a pity the situation you’re in. I knew your father, Daniel Star. Brilliant man. There’s a special place you’ll be going.
“We have mountains of evidence from an informant on your hacking activities, you’ll all be going away for a long time. Possession of narcotics and weapons. The mafia? Tsk, tsk.”
All three of them exchanged looks, they knew they were screwed. “And what place is that?”
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Director Jason Wong, head of the Moon Base One project.”
“Moon Base One?”
Ch. 17: Daniel Star
Daniel stared out the window of his home office, the yellow leaves seemed to dance on the pavement of his driveway. He looked back at his screen and began typing again, muttering to himself. Sighing loudly, he ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. His hands pushed against the oak desk and his rolling chair shifted away from the desk. Leaning back his head fell back and his eyes traced the pattern of the tall ceiling.
A screen above an almond-colored bookcase came to life and chimed.
“What now?” he said as he slid to the side of his desk and looked up at the screen across the room. “Answer.”
Zeek’s disheveled face came onto the immense screen, his hair was array, and he was shaking.
“My God, Zeek?” he asked.
“Dad, Dad. You have to get me out of here. Send a lawyer, they’re talking about sending me to the moon, to some prison base one or something! You have to stop them! Send someone, anyone, come too. This guy Jason Wong is saying he knows you. They’re saying they have incriminating evidence, but it’s all bullshit, it’s this guy; I got involved with the wrong guy. Tyr4nt, he’s this hacker and he kidnapped my girlfriend, so I had no choice and I had to go after him, and he—”
Daniel held up his hands. “Jesus, Zeek, slow down, take a breath.”
He took a deep breath and sighed. “You have to come, Dad, they have me bound like an animal, I have rights!” Zeek showed his father his cuffed hands as he turned his head to shout the last part.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in lock-up at Boston PD. They’re talking about escorting me to a space station and launching me out today! They said that this has become a matter of national security and I’ve forfeited my rights under the international laws of cyberterrorism, it’s insane! You have to hurry!”
“Okay, okay, I understand. I can’t get there in time, but I’ll try…I’m in my new house in New York…ever since your mom and I split up…I’m going to call a lawyer as soon as I hang up this phone. Don’t you worry, they’re not going to do this.” His tone changed and softened. “Zeek, I wish you had listened to us when we tried to have that intervention with you. Lisa—”
A guard came into view on the screen and yanked Zeek up by the elbow. “Alright, time’s up. You got your one call,” the guard said.
“Dad!
Hurry!” was all Zeek managed to say before the screen went black.
Daniel gaped at the screen, his eyes flicked up and to the right, then he nodded to himself.
“Call Lisa,” he said to the screen.
A woman with black hair and piercing blue eyes came onto the screen. “Hello? Mr. Star?”
“Lisa, we don’t have a lot of time. I need you to go down to the Boston Police Department, Zeek’s been arrested—”
“Daniel, Mr. Star…Zeek and I…we’re no longer together…” Her eyes went down and looked off the screen.
“I understand, and I wouldn’t be calling you if this wasn’t an emergency, Zeek’s gotten himself into some deep trouble. They’re throwing around cyberterrorism on an international level.”
“Oh, wow…I thought this was about his drug problem?” Lisa interjected.
“No, well, yes, I’m sure that played a role in all this. I wish everyone would have listened to you about his addiction. We don’t have time to talk, I wish we did. You have to get down there and meet a lawyer I’m sending, they’re talking about sending him to space tonight. A prison called Moon Base One. I know the director, maybe I can…anyway, you have to get down there now. Sorry to put this on you, but I’m in New York, and I’m afraid I won’t make it in time. You have to help, Lisa.” Daniel adjusted his glasses and stared intently at the screen.
Lisa’s eyes came up from looking at the ground and met his. “I understand. I’m leaving now.”
He heard her grab a set of keys and the screen went dark once more. He made the next call to a lawyer he knew that specialized in criminal law. The lawyer didn’t sound hopeful to Daniel but said he would do his best to try to stall things at the very least.
He moved his chair back to his heavy oak desk, his hands hovering over the keyboard. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to finish this now. I have to…” He shook his head and rolled away from the desk.
“Jason Wong…” he mused and his eyes were far away as he let a memory flood into his mind…
Daniel felt the smack of the ball as it hit his glove, he smirked at his son, feeling the impact in his hand as he returned the baseball to him. Fixing his glasses, he saw brown oak leaves swirl around them like a miniature tornado. He watched as his son pulled his coat tighter as the wind bit through him. He felt the hairs on his neck stand up as if an electrical storm was surrounding them, and goosebumps prickled his arms but couldn’t figure out why. That’s weird, he thought.
Moon Base One: Tyr4nt: A Prequel Story Page 8
