by John Bowers
Nick stared at him in surprise—he’d never once thought of it in that light.
“She has you,” he said.
“Yeah, and she always will. But she needs you, too.”
Nick stared at the bed for a moment, his thoughts racing. He looked at Nathan again.
“I don’t want to lose you, Nathan. I never had a little brother, but if I did…”
“If it was me going out there, you’d want to back me up, wouldn’t you? Your little brother?”
“Exactly.”
“Well, I never had a big brother until you came along, and I don’t want to lose you either.”
Their eyes locked. Nick closed his mouth against a lump that was growing in his throat. After a long moment, he lowered his head and nodded.
“Okay. You’d better get some sleep.”
Chapter 26
Saturday, May 27, 0445 (CC)
Maglev Station, Lucaston – Alpha Centauri 2
Nick Walker and Nathan Green left the hotel at dawn, nearly an hour before the first sunrise. They walked down River Walk toward the bridge that crossed the river to the maglev station. They walked steadily, with measured strides, in no hurry. Nick was dressed as usual, except he’d added a leather vest against the morning chill. His guns hung low, both holsters carrying .44 Magnum revolvers; the laser pistol rested in a shoulder holster under his left arm. His right hand gripped a 10mm military-issue machine pistol.
Nathan looked much the same, except he only wore one holster with a custom-made Colt .45 riding in it. A cut-down shotgun with a ten-round magazine rested on his shoulder. A dozen extra rounds were in his pocket.
It was still early. And it was Saturday. Few office workers would be out on the weekend, and tourists wouldn’t start to stir for at least another hour. The streets were all but deserted.
Nick’s emotions were on hold. Aside from a deep, burning rage, he didn’t feel anything. It wasn’t a new sensation for him—in combat, when you lost people, you had no time to grieve for them. Death came suddenly, violently. If you were to survive, you developed tunnel vision and kept moving forward. Grief was a luxury to be explored later, long after the fact…if you were still alive.
This was no different.
Nathan’s face was blue with cold, his features grim; he’d known Suzanne longer than Nick, had married her daughter, and loved her dearly. He had grieved some, but not properly. He sensed Nick’s urgency, his hatred, and adapted to it until this job was done. He was here to back Nick’s play and get justice for Suzanne. If Nick didn’t get the kill, Nathan wanted it. He owed it to Kristina.
As they walked to their destination, neither of them spoke.
Marshal Bridge was waiting in the station lobby when they arrived. In a side room off the lobby, twelve other U.F. Marshals waited, all armed to the eyebrows. Nick stopped and spoke briefly with Bridge.
“Everything ready?”
“Yeah, I think so. Which train are you taking?”
Nick glanced up at the schedule screen; only two trains were in the station at the moment.
“The Alpha Centauri Express. That’s where Saracen said he would be.”
Bridge looked around the concourse, which was all but empty. He looked increasingly unhappy.
“I hope to hell you know what we’re doing.”
“So do I. Thanks for not fighting me on this.”
Bridge grimaced. “Maybe I have a death wish—for my career. But the real reason I’m not fighting you is that I don’t have a better idea. And neither does anyone else.”
“Okay.” Nick laid a hand on his shoulder. “See you soon.”
“I hope so.”
Bridge shook his hand, then Nathan’s, his expression that of a man whose friends are heading into battle and may never return. He watched as they marched across the concourse toward the trains.
The Transit Authority had been alerted that two armed U.F. Marshals would be boarding one of the early trains, so no one challenged them as they walked toward the nearest maglev with guns in their hands. As they approached, they saw cargo handlers loading luggage and freight into the belly compartments of the cars. A monorail official met them before they boarded and handed Nick a communications device.
“Use this if you need to disconnect any of the cars,” he said. “The cars are numbered one through six, six being the rearmost car. If you need to talk to the monorail controller, press the red button—it will connect you to the nearest terminal.”
Nick studied the controller for a moment, then nodded and shoved it into his pocket.
“Thanks. One more question—can anyone get into the propulsion car from the rest of the train?”
“No. The lead car is completely sealed.”
“How many crew in that car?”
“Two. There are also two more crew in the dining car.”
Nick nodded his thanks.
“Good luck, Marshal.”
Nick and Nathan walked down the platform to the last car and stepped aboard.
***
The landmass of Alpha Centauri 2 was mainly comprised of four continents, North Continent being the most heavily populated. North and Central continents were connected in two places—the Isthmus of Latia in the east, and the Iron Mountains in the west. North Continent was seventeen hundred miles across, and only the coastal regions were fully settled; the middle region, an undulating series of plains and mountains, was still largely wide open. Lucaston and Camarrell were the two largest cities in the east, but the west coast boasted five more, smaller cities. The southernmost of these was Lancalpha, on the coast at the continental border; the northernmost was Twin Harbors.
The Alpha Centauri Express, leaving either Lucaston or Camarrell, ran straight across the continent on one of four monorail lines. Nick had one chance in four of being on the right train. The train he selected—the only one leaving Lucaston—was headed for Twin Harbors and would arrive in about seven hours.
At 6:17 in the morning, the train pulled out of the Lucaston station, switched to the west-bound monorail, and began to accelerate on an elevated track. Before the train hit the city limits it was traveling at one hundred knots, and just moments later, reached its cruising speed of two hundred. Nick and Nathan stood at the rear of Car 6 and held onto vertical stanchions until the speed had stabilized; as scenery swept past the windows in a blur, the ride was like floating on air.
Mile Marker 37, 6:28 am
Car 6 was a double-decker with passenger seating above and below. Each row consisted of four seats, two on either side of the aisle; Nick counted thirty rows, for a maximum capacity of a hundred and twenty on the lower level. Only about twelve seats were occupied, and so far no one had noticed the two armed lawmen standing at the rear of the car. After a couple of minutes, Nick nodded to Nathan and started walking toward the front. Nathan remained in the rear.
By the time Nick reached the front, everyone was looking at him, and he saw alarm in some of their faces. He locked the door leading to car 5, then held up his left hand for their attention.
“Excuse me, folks, but there is no cause for alarm. I’m a United Federation Marshal; that’s my partner at the back of the car. We have reason to believe there may be fugitives on the train, and we are here to apprehend them—”
A few gasps accompanied his statement, but he continued in a firm voice.
“I repeat, there is no cause for alarm. For your own safety and my peace of mind, I’m going to ask you all to stay in this car until we have time to check the train. I appreciate your cooperation in this, but if anyone chooses not to cooperate, my partner and I will have no choice but to arrest and restrain you until it’s safe.” He made a grim face. “I hope none of you will make that necessary.
“Now if you will excuse me, I have to speak to the people on the upper deck. I’ll be back in a minute, but my partner will stay here with you.”
Without another word, as the passengers muttered to each other, Nick took the short, curving stairwell to th
e upper deck. This was the scenic deck, with an unrestricted view of the countryside from the wide, tinted windows. This one also had a hundred twenty seats, but only five were occupied. Nick repeated his brief speech, then issued an order.
“I know the view is much nicer up here, but for the moment I’m going to ask you all to come downstairs with me. It will be much safer for everyone if we can keep you all together while we check the rest of the train. Leave your luggage where it is and proceed down the steps to the lower level.” He put on his no-nonsense look. “Do it now.”
Without hesitation, looking half scared, all five passengers hustled toward the stairs and hurried below. Nick waited until they had passed, then strolled the length of the deck and checked between the seats to make sure no one had stayed behind. Finding no one, he also retreated to the lower deck, where the upper-deck people were finding seats. He waited until he had everyone’s attention.
“Thank you for your cooperation, folks, I appreciate it. But now I’m probably going to piss some of you off. I’m sorry, but I have to check each of you for weapons. The problem is that I don’t know exactly what these fugitives look like, so I have to check everybody. If anyone has a weapon, raise your hand right now and be prepared to turn it over. This is your only chance. If you have a weapon and don’t surrender it, I will find it—and I promise you won’t like what happens next. Now, does anyone have anything to declare?”
An uncomfortable moment passed, then a meek looking man in a business suit raised his hand. Nick moved toward him, his weapon pointed toward the deck but ready for action.
“Thank you, sir. What do you have?”
The man, who hardly looked dangerous, cleared his throat nervously.
“It’s, uh, just a pistol. I carry it for protection.”
“Where are you carrying it?”
“Inside my jacket, on the left.”
“Okay, good. Raise your hands for me and I’ll retrieve it. Are you okay with that?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
The man unbuttoned his suit-coat and lifted his arms above his head; the coat opened slightly and Nick reached inside his lapel. He found the gun snugged into a shoulder holster and gingerly pulled it free. It was a snub-nosed .38 calibre revolver, good only for close-range combat, the kind someone might need in a mugging.
“Thank you, sir. I’m going to hold onto this for now, but I will return it. Do you have anything else?”
“No.”
“Extra bullets?”
“No, just what’s in the gun.”
Nick stepped back, made sure the safety was on, then tossed the pistol to Nathan.
“Anybody else?” Nick swept the car with his eyes. “Last chance.”
No one moved. Several people shook their heads.
“All right, I want everyone to move to the back of the car. Fill the empty seats. I’m going to check each one of you, and as I clear you, move to the front and take a seat. This shouldn’t take long.”
A general shuffle followed as the passengers obeyed. Within a few seconds, all seventeen of them were packed into the rear of the car. Nick took the businessman first, made him stand in the center aisle, and patted him down.
“Okay, sir, you’re good. Please take a seat at the front, but don’t leave the car. You got that?”
“Yes.”
Nick turned to the next passenger, a middle-aged woman who looked frightened.
“Stand up, please.”
She did so and Nick ran his left hand over the outside of her clothing, careful not to touch her anyplace intimate, then waved her forward. Another woman took her place, then a teenaged boy. All of them checked out.
Nick came to the next passenger, a teenaged girl with too much makeup and what looked like a freshly-cut hairstyle—shaved on the sides and spiked on top. Its color was a rainbow blend of cherry, lemon, and lime; she was wearing baggy pants and a loose, flowery shirt with stylish knee-high boots. The girl had been studying a pocket computer throughout his speech and passenger search, but cast covert glances at him as he drew nearer. She appeared to be supremely bored by the whole thing.
Nick stopped beside her. She was sitting alone. His eyes narrowed as he studied her. For ten seconds he didn’t speak. She looked up, annoyed by his silence.
“What!”
“Hello, Tracy.”
Chapter 27
Alpha Centauri Express – Alpha Centauri 2
Mile Marker 117, 6:53 am
The girl’s mouth fell open and her eyes sprang wide. She scrambled away from the aisle, up against the window, grabbing for her boot…but her hand never made it. Nick drove the butt of his machine pistol straight down onto her wrist, snapping it. She screamed in pain, but her problems were only beginning. Nick grabbed her by the throat and jerked her out of her seat into the aisle, shoved her ten feet forward of the seated passengers, and slammed the back of her head into an upright stanchion. His grip on her throat tightened until her breathing became a rattle. Her eyes reflected terror as she choked for air.
The passengers gasped in shock, and one or two cried out in protest. Even Nathan started forward.
“Nick! For god’s sake!”
Nick threw the girl into an empty seat and held her with his left hand while he reached into her boot and pulled out a cheap 6.3mm automatic pistol. He held it up and glared at Nathan.
“This is the gun that killed Susanne!” He tossed Nathan the gun. “Come here and cuff her before I break her fucking neck!”
He backed away, shaking with hatred. Nathan hurried forward and E-cuffed the girl to the stanchion. He patted her down for more weapons, but didn’t find any. He stepped back and stared at the prisoner, then turned his eyes on Nick. The girl was wailing loudly in pain.
“How did you know it was her? She doesn’t look anything like the girl you described.”
“She obviously decided to change her appearance so I wouldn’t recognize her. But she’s the right age, the right size, and she didn’t bother to take a bath. I recognized her stink.”
“I think you broke her arm.”
“Good. I hope so. She’s lucky I didn’t kill her—” He leaned forward into the girl’s face. “—and if she doesn’t shut the hell up I still may beat her to death!”
“Go to hell, you fucking pig!” the girl screamed. “I hate you! I fucking HATE you!”
“Right back atcha, sister. I’m only sorry you didn’t get the gun out in time. I would love nothing better than to blow your brains right out the window.” He stood there a second, breathing hard, then swallowed down his rage.
“You’re under arrest for the murder of Suzanne Norgaard. Now shut the hell up.”
The girl twisted her head away and continued to wail, her pain overcoming her rage. Nick forced himself to back off before he completely lost control.
He turned to Nathan.
“Can you check the rest of these people? I’m not feeling very professional right now.”
“Okay, sure.”
Nick moved to the front of the car and kept watch while Nathan finished the search. It only took five or six minutes to clear the rest of the passengers. By then Nick had his fury under control and took command again.
But he was still shaking.
“Okay, folks, I apologize for the drama. The girl who is making such a racket murdered my fiancée yesterday, and I guess I lost my temper a little. I’ll try not to make a habit of it.
“Now, thank you for your cooperation. For your safety, I’m going to ask you to move to the upper deck and stay there until further notice. Hopefully it won’t be for too long, but as you can see, our tip about fugitives on the train was right on the mark, so we have to check the other cars to see who else we might find. You’ll be much safer up top, and the view is better anyway.
“Leave your luggage where it is. Do it now.”
Once again, the passengers got to their feet and followed orders. Nathan remained below while Nick followed them upstairs and made sure everyone was
seated comfortably. Satisfied, he carried what luggage had been stored topside down the steps and hooked a chain across both stairwells to discourage anyone from coming down.
He turned to Nathan.
“One down, four to go. Is that girl secure?”
“Yeah, she isn’t going anywhere. She’s in a lot of pain.”
“Don’t expect me to feel sorry for her. Lets’ do it.”
They proceeded forward, unlocked the connecting door, and stepped through a narrow passage into Car 5.
Mile Marker 201, 7:11 am
Car 5 was a sleeper. The bottom deck consisted of eight sleeping berths on the right with a narrow aisle running down the left side; the upper deck consisted of normal passenger seating like Car 6.
Nick and Nathan worked as a team; Nathan remained below to make sure no one slipped past into Car 6 while Nick went up to clear the upper deck. Only four people were seated up top and Nick cleared them fairly quickly, herding them down the steps and moving them back into Car 6. That done, he began working on the sleeping berths.
The first two berths were empty. The third contained an elderly couple who were just putting their luggage away; since the train had barely left Lucaston, they wouldn’t be sleeping for several hours. Nick politely sent them back to Car 6 to join the others.
The door to the next berth was locked, indicating someone was inside. Nick tapped on it but no one answered. He slung his machine pistol over his shoulder and pulled his .44, then tapped on the door again. Still, no one answered. He pressed his ear to the door and listened, then glanced at Nathan with a grim expression. Using the butt of the 44, he hammered on the door.
“U.F. Marshal, open up!”
He hammered again.
“Right now, goddammit, or I’ll come in shooting!”
He heard muffled curses and a scramble behind the door, then it jerked into its slot. A young man stood there wearing only his underwear, naked and skinny. He stared at Nick with something close to terror in his eyes. Nick glanced beyond him to the bunk against the rear of the cabin and saw the girl sitting with a sheet pulled up to her chin.
