Through the Bopecan Port

by Dave Lemel

  Todd and Simon made their way to the booth by the front picture window and each slid into a side. A moment later, the older Gleeban from behind the bar dropped two menus on the table. “I’m happy to sell ya those pastries, but what I’m really known for is my Tenjo platter. Right in the middle of the front page there.”

  Simon looked up from the menu. “We actually just had a big meal not too long ago. I’d love to try one of those pastries, and you wouldn’t happen to have any coffee, would you?”

  “Not sure what coffee is, exactly, so you’ll have to describe it and maybe I have something similar.”

  “It’s a hot beverage. Got caffeine in it for a little pick me up. You know, a drink with a tiny energy boost.”

  “I think I have something you may like. And for you?”

  “Same,” replied Todd, “one of those pastry things and a cup of whatever you’re bringing him to drink.”

  “Sounds good, fellas. I’ll be right back.”

  Simon leaned in a little, speaking in a hushed tone. “All right, where did your dad say he hid this map?”

  Todd remained fully upright and responded in a normal tone. “I don’t think you have to whisper. Those four are deep in a heated debate over the best way to insulate a building, and I don’t see how anyone here would know what we’re talking about anyway.”

  “True. Still, if we can keep the nature of our visit between us, I’d prefer it. ”

  Simon sat up straighter as Tenjo returned and placed two steaming cups of jet black liquid on the table alongside a plate with two of the pastries from the display case on the bar. “Let me know if you fellas need anything else.”

  Simon gently tilted his cup. “Sure looks like coffee.”

  Todd swallowed hard and twitched violently. “Does not taste like it.”

  “That bad?”

  “No, no, it’s not terrible, just, you know when you expect a certain taste and get something completely different? It was more that.”

  Simon sipped cautiously; his face instantly contorted and he swallowed. “That is odd. I honestly cannot think of anything to compare it to.” He sipped again, this time with no noticeable contortion. “I can see this being an acquired taste. Maybe like black licorice a little bit.”

  “Okay.” Todd raised his eyebrows twice in succession. “Go for it.”

  “Go for what?” Simon took another sip.

  “Feel around for the map. Lombargnor said the booth up against the front window. You’re on the side up against the window.”

  “That doesn’t mean it has to be on this side. That could be referring to anywhere in this booth.”

  “You’re right.” Todd immediately began running his hands over every inch of his side of the booth and under the table. He slid out towards the edge, laid down on the bench, and peered around underneath the table.

  “Dude, seriously, Tenjo is staring over here now.” Simon shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Sit up and chill a little.”

  “I see something.”

  “Really?” Now Simon lost his composure a touch as he tried to figure out where Todd was looking. “Over here by the wall?”

  “Yeah, slide your hand in that gap. Yep, right there.”

  “I feel something.” Simon’s lips thinned as he focused on pinching two fingers on the object. “I got it. Yep, here it is!” He pulled it up with care to keep it from slipping and examined it in his lap under the table. His face turned to a smirk and he placed it on the table.

  Todd’s face immediately dropped. “A menu? Aw, man, I was sure. Keep looking. Maybe it’s further down in that gap.”

  Tenjo suddenly appeared at the side of the table. “You fellas looking for something?”

  Todd’s head spun up and he reached back for the menu. “Just saw this down there and thought you may be missing it.”

  “You can drop the act,” replied Tenjo flatly.

  Todd glanced at Simon then back up at Tenjo. “Come again?”

  “As I said when you came in, I don’t get many humans in my establishment. So a little while back, when one came in here looking like he had fallen all the way down from the mountains, I took notice. Sat right in this booth and stuck something in that gap you just fished the menu out of.”

  “Where is it?” Todd growled.

  “Someplace safe. I figured somebody would come looking for it soon enough, and here you are.”

  Simon noticed Todd reaching his left hand across to his right. He could tell he was pulling his sleeve up to get to his wand, and he kicked him firmly in the shin. Todd folded forward slightly, stopped what he was doing, and gave Simon a world-class stinkeye. “What do you want for it?” Todd forced the words through gritted teeth.

  “Well, seems to me you would like to get your hands on it quite badly. How about ten thousand cans?”

  “Ten thousand cans? Cans of what?”

  “It’s their currency,” Simon interjected. “Remember, certain words don’t translate.”

  Todd shifted his focus from Simon back to Tenjo. “We don’t have any cans.”

  “Get some,” replied Tenjo flippantly. “Come back when you do. I’m here every day.”

  Todd forced a smile. “Look, can we possibly negotiate some other form of payment? We’re in kind of a hurry.”

  “I don’t barter. Get the ten thousand cans and come back. When you do, you owe me an extra twenty for the drinks and pastries as well.”

  Todd’s forced smile was long gone. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

  Simon tapped Tenjo as he walked away. “Can I get a to-go cup for this?”

  “Sure, follow me to the bar.”

  Simon took one last bite of his snack as he slid out of the booth. The three crossed the floor to the other side of the small restaurant. Tenjo handed Simon a cup and lid. “There is a bank two blocks that way down the boulevard. They do transfers from all kinds of currency.”

  Simon nodded. “Thanks for the tip.” He grabbed the cup, filled it with his remaining beverage, and clicked the lid on. Todd was already holding the door, and the two left quietly. “He said there’s a bank two blocks from here that exchanges. I’ll call Lombargnor and get the transfer authorized.”

  “Hang on.” Todd was looking up and down the street. “This whole block has little two-story buildings with store fronts on the street level.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So, I’ll bet he lives upstairs and the map is in there somewhere. The sign on the door showed breakfast and lunch hours. He’s not open for dinner. Let’s go move the cruiser to an underground lot, then return around closing time. We watch to see if he leaves to run errands or go get dinner or something. If he does, we pounce. ”

  “On him? Don’t you think that just may possibly draw some unwanted attention?”

  “Not on him. On his place. It has got to be in there, man. Why would he go to the trouble of hiding it elsewhere if he lives there too?”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to just call in the money order?”

  “Probably, but screw him for his extortion attempt. Besides,” Todd said, his grin expanding mischievously, “this would be way more fun.”

  Simon looked back at the building they had just exited as he took a slow sip from his cup. A grin slowly spread across his face to match Todd’s. “Let’s do it.”

  Chapter 14

  The two marshals exited the cruiser and stepped out into the garage. Todd made his way to the trunk, popped it open, and pulled out both fully loaded packs. He slid his arms into the straps on his and laid the other at Simon’s feet. “We’re not coming back?” Simon asked as he picked his up and slung it over his shoulder.

  ​“Who knows? I figure if we head out of there wishing we could immediately disappear into the mountains, we’ll be happy we brought ’em.”

  ​“Good point. What about Shelly? Should we maybe bring her to keep a lookout?”

  ​Todd considered this while tapping his thigh a few times. “It would be nice to have an ey
e in the sky, wouldn’t it?” He pulled up his right sleeve and spoke into his link. “Shelly, make your way to these coordinates in stealth mode. Once there, hold in hover above the building to give us a street view.”

  ​Shelly popped up from her resting place at the rear of the cruiser, camouflaged herself, and silently flew up the ramp and out of the garage. They had found long-term underground parking merely a block from their original spot, and once Shelly was outside, she rose above the buildings and rapidly covered the distance to Tenjo’s.

  ​The duo watched on Todd’s link as an elderly Gleeban shuffled down the sidewalk and turned the corner at the bottom of the block. Simon inhaled slowly and deeply before exhaling through his nose. “Maybe we should get back in the cruiser and watch from here till we see an opportunity. I don’t see how we’d be able to stand outside that place unnoticed in broad daylight. Plus, it’s a quick jog there if we do see a chance to go for it.”

  ​“Good call.”

  ​They stepped back around the sides and tossed their packs into the back seats before sliding in and shutting both doors. After a few silent minutes spent anxiously waiting, Todd sighed. “I think this may be a while.”

  ​“And that’s if he goes anywhere. We were just hoping, remember? For all we know, the guy’s a total hermit.”

  ​“Right. How about we give it like an hour, and if we don’t see anything, we call the boss, explain the situation, and ask for the transfer.”

  ​“Works for me.” Simon laid back into his seat, tilted his head to the side, and shut his eyes. “Wake me when you need me.”

  ​A little over an hour later, Todd’s eyelids began to gain weight, and he had to fight to keep the blur out. Just as he decided it was time to throw in the towel, he saw something. Or at least he thought he did. Maybe I just imagined it . He shook his head sharply and refocused. Sure enough, the door to Tenjo’s opened and Tenjo stepped out; he turned to lock it, and away he went up the block and around the corner.

  ​“Wake up, sunshine.” He tapped Simon on the cheek a few times.

  ​Simon came to slowly, wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, and reacquainted himself to his situation. “What’s going on?”

  ​“He just left.” Todd opened his door. “Come on, let’s do this quick. For all we know, he just ran out for a few minutes.”

  ​Simon slapped himself on both cheeks a few times and jumped out. Todd joined him as he came around the rear of the cruiser, and they briskly made their way up the ramp and back out to street level. Todd stopped suddenly. “We forgot the packs.”

  ​“Forget ’em. We need to do this as quickly as possible.”

  ​The air had noticeably cooled, and a cloud cover had rolled in since they had last been outside. They did not run, but their pace was certainly hurried. Todd slowed as they neared the last corner before their destination and stole a glance at his link. “Not a soul on the whole block; keep goin’.”

  ​They rounded the corner, and once they approached the building next to Tenjo’s, Todd ejected his wand, set it to cutting mode, and sprinted ahead of Simon. He grabbed the large brass-colored door handle, quickly determined what he thought seemed like the lock, and firmly pressed the tip of the wand to that spot. Seconds later, the wand had passed through to the interior, and he rammed the door with his shoulder. It swung inwards, and the two marshals stepped inside before shutting it again.

  ​“Well,” said Simon, inspecting the new hole in the door, “we better find the map ’cause he’s gonna notice that, and it won’t take much thinking to plant our faces right at the top of his suspects list.”

  ​“Then get lookin’.” Todd swiftly crossed the restaurant and sung open a door to the back. “Stairs,” he announced. “I’m goin’ up. You turn the restaurant inside out. Either one of us finds something, get the other.” The door swung shut, and Simon found himself alone in the dark café, his adrenaline pumping and no idea where to start.

  ​Todd reached the top of the stairs and stopped at a small landing in front of another door. With his wand still out and in cutting mode, he surveyed the handle to determine the best spot to attack his new obstacle. Just as he was about to try cutting the entire handle out of the door, he realized he had not tried simply turning it. The handle turned down without a hint of resistance, and the door opened.

  ​Tenjo kept his place of business neat and tidy but his home was a pigsty. The door had opened to reveal a large living room covered in food and beverage wrappers and containers. There were magazines and newspapers mixed in along with bags of garbage he had lined along one wall.

  ​Todd gently kicked his way through the mess to a slightly clearer path along the bags of garbage. He scanned the room, desperately hoping the map would simply be sitting out plain as day so he could leave the suffocating garbage heap Tenjo called home. Maybe the rest of this place is a little better , he half prayed to himself before jump stepping to the corner.

  ​Todd peeked around and into a small room he guessed was a kitchen. It was merely a guess because somehow this room was even more packed full of rubbish than the living room. Just as he turned back to the hall, with what he assumed was a minor anxiety attack beginning, he heard Simon whisper shouting from the stairwell. “Todd! Todd!” He heard the source of the voice take a few more steps up and then once again, “Todd! I think I may have found it. Todd!”

  ​Todd dashed back down the path along the garbage bags and almost knocked Simon down the stairs when they simultaneously reached the door. Simon caught himself and the excitement on his face turned to shock as he looked around the interior. “You have got to be kidding me. Did you do this in the two frickin’ minutes you were up here?”

  ​“Dude, what? No! I haven’t touched a thing. Well, as little as possible, anyway. This is all him. You should see the kitchen. At least I think it was a kitchen; impossible to tell really.”

  ​“Wow.”

  ​“Yes, wow. Now let’s get back downstairs, grab that map, and get out of here.”

  ​“I said I think I found it. Not found it.”

  ​“Still way better than trying to find anything up here. Lead the way.”

  ​Simon glided down the steps with Todd in tow and led him behind the bar. He pointed to the lower corner on the back wall where a panel had been pulled off, revealing a cavity inside. “In there. There’s a safe.”

  ​Todd dropped to his knees and looked for himself. “That’s gotta be it.”

  ​“It’s definitely a good bet. Now, how do we open it?”

  ​Todd tapped the keypad lightly with the tip of his wand. He pushed it gently with his left hand, and it rocked back. “It’s not attached to the floor.” He picked the safe up, pulled it out, and placed it on the bar. “This thing doesn’t seem all that secure. Looks almost like a cheap hotel safe.”

  ​Simon snatched the metal box off the counter and sped around to the other side of the bar. He stopped just as he got to the front door. “You coming?”

  ​Todd smiled and hopped over the bar and out the door Simon was holding open. The two marshals rounded the corner at the bottom of the block, and Todd checked Shelly’s view on his link. “Holy crap!”

  ​“What?” asked Simon, slowing to a brisk walking pace and trying as hard as he could to not look like he was carrying a random safe down the sidewalk with him.

  ​“Tenjo just came back around the corner from the other end of the block.”

  ​They both stopped and watched as Tenjo arrived at his door and pulled out his keys before realizing the cylinder to place it in had been hollowed out. He kicked the door open, and they heard him curse loudly and threateningly at the nonexistent intruders inside. Once they finally stopped laughing, Todd told Shelly to head back to the cruiser, and they did the same.

  ​“Serves him right,” Todd said as they entered the garage opening and headed down the ramp, “trying to extort us like that.”

  ​Simon pulled his door on the cruiser open and up. “
Still, I think we should get this thing open and get out of Jandor before whatever they have for police around here potentially come looking for us.”

  ​“Agreed.” Todd slid into the cruiser and they both shut their doors.

  Chapter 15

  Todd focused intently as he softly pressed the tip of his wand to the edge of the bottom panel on the safe. He traced it around the entire border of the square surface. After one full trace, he turned the cube back over and tapped the top a few times. Nothing happened.

  ​“Nice try.” Simon reached for the safe. “My turn.”

  ​Todd yanked it away. “Hang on. I’m trying to keep from damaging the contents. If the map is in there, it’ll do us no good all burnt up.”

  ​Simon shifted back into his seat and stared at it. “What if you turned it so one corner faced straight down and then tried to cut off the opposite corner?”

  ​Todd maneuvered the safe in his hands. “Like this?”

  ​“Yeah, now the contents should all be down in that bottom corner; tilt the wand at an upward angle and cut that top corner off.”

  ​“I’ll give it a shot.” Todd cradled the metal box with his left arm while he got to work with his right, pressing the tip in a little firmer this time. He rotated the safe around one last turn, and as he finished cutting the last side, the corner wobbled slightly.

  ​“Ooooo, I think you got it.” Simon leaned in closer.

  ​Todd raised his eyebrows and palmed the whole corner. A few rough twists, and it popped right off. Todd anxiously peered inside. “Oh boy.”

  ​“Map?”

  ​“Well…” Todd reached inside and pulled out a wad of square pinkish bills. “Hopefully it’s under all this cash.”

  ​“Great,” Simon fell back into his seat, “we didn’t get the map, and now we’re robbers. Oh, and the guy who has the map now most likely wouldn’t sell it to us for any price.”

  ​“Hey,” Todd pulled out two more wads of bills and dropped them on Simon’s lap. “I think it’s in here.”

  ​Simon leaned forward again, and Todd yanked out a light green piece of paper that had been folded into a small square. He quickly unfolded it, and as he studied the crudely drawn map, he felt severely flushed. “It’s his handwriting. My dad’s.”