by Terry Mixon
He pulled out his phone and called his mother. “We’re in Paris.”
“Good. I have two missions for you. First, you need to find some convenient rag heads and plant evidence on them that they were behind the attack on the reactor lab.”
He shook his phone. “I’m sorry. Something garbled the transmission. I thought you said you wanted me to frame someone else for Harry’s attack.”
“I did, jackass. The State Department is snooping around and the very last thing we want to do is point them at Clayton. The bastard might tell them the truth.”
“That’s not very likely. He has even more to hide than we do.”
“Nevertheless, I don’t want to get them looking. Take some equipment or files, pick some people that look like terrorists, and blow them up. Let the police come to the conclusion they were behind the attack.”
Nathan wasn’t going to argue. His men would literally jump at the chance to screw over some Islamic fundamentalists. “And the second item?”
“I want you to find that place on the map. We’re making progress on the ship, but I’d much rather find something bigger. Like a real base. The experts tell me the location is about fifty miles outside of Paris. It’s in unfriendly terrain, so it was probably meant to be hidden.”
“Then it’s done a good job. Have you narrowed the area?”
“To within a mile or so. I’m thinking ground penetrating radar or something seismic if it’s too deep.”
“Send me the GPS coordinates and I’ll make something happen tonight. Radar, most likely. Explosives might be a bit much, considering how jumpy the French police are. I’ll let you know when I have things arranged.”
He ended the call and looked at his Paris team. “I have good news. We need some terrorist patsies, so I’ve decided we’ll kill the real deal.”
That earned him smiles all around. It was as though he’d given them a hefty bonus. Perhaps he had.
* * * * *
Kathleen ended the call with her son just in time to have a long discussion with her people in India. Unfortunately, the Indians weren’t interested in dealing. They really wanted to go to Mars, even if they were in second place.
That was unfortunate.
So, she called the Chinese. They seemed just as uninterested, right up until they learned that Clayton was her ex-husband and a competitor. Then they started bargaining.
The deal still needed work, but she thought she’d be able to pick up their completed spaceship for a reasonable amount. It would just take some finagling. They’d also offered her a very good deal on Rainforest.
Considering that her father had built a lot of that business before Clayton stole it from her, she was tempted. They were having problems with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but as an American, she’d have better luck there.
They talked for several hours, she summoned in a number of people to work the angles, and by the close of the day, she’d made a tentative deal. A very good one, from her point of view.
They, of course, thought they’d gotten one over on her, but they didn’t know all the details. In the end, she’d borrowed enough money to make things happen without major sales of her property.
The Chinese got billions for Rainforest, the Yucatan Spaceport, and their Mars ship. She was almost broke, but wealthy in property. She’d get her money back and more. Especially once she was able to turn some of that alien tech into real advances on Earth.
Yes, the US government was currently eyeing her new spaceport, but she could take care of that. She paid enough federal judges to make the correct rulings and issue injunctions. She also had a lot of leverage in Mexico City.
They were the actual government of record over the spaceport. All they had to do was change their minds and tell the US to back off. They’d bitch, but they’d do it.
And China avoided a shooting war with the US. That actually saved her quite a bit of money in the deal. No matter how big a game they talked, she knew the Chinese really didn’t want to start World War III. Not yet.
Another positive point would be telling Queen where he could stick it. Oh, yes, that was going to make this very worthwhile.
Her lawyers burned up the midnight oil getting all the details worked out and all the appropriate papers signed. She wanted everything done before morning. Whatever Queen thought he’d be doing, she wanted to ruin his entire day.
Chapter Eighteen
Morning came early for Clayton. Too early. They’d stayed up late into the night talking about their dreams, their fears, and whether this sale would happen. And that had been after a long, grueling trip around the spread.
The place was ruggedly beautiful. Not quite mountainous, but more what he’d call hill country. Without good transportation and paths, much of it would be difficult or impossible to get to.
Including the spot he was interested in. It sat in the area furthest back from the lake. His casual questions had gotten Ashton Durey to tell him that they didn’t use that part of the farm. Never had.
That was good. It meant that the odds of anyone stumbling across whatever was there were slim.
Clayton showered and came down for breakfast. The sheep farmer looked wide-awake and refreshed. Penny looked a little run down, but seemed cheerful.
“Good morning,” Durey said. “I hope you slept well.”
“Well enough, though I think those late nights are more a young man’s game.”
“True enough. I’ve been talking with Penny while Cook prepared breakfast. I think she’s talked me over the last hump. I’m willing to sell.”
He mentioned an amount that was indeed on the high side.
Clayton nodded. “Done. Penny will have the papers drawn up and you can have your solicitors go over them. I’ll add in a bonus if we can close the deal quickly. My preference would be to make it all happen during this trip.”
“Actually, I passed the information on to your people last night,” Penny said. “They had contracts reflecting everything delivered this morning. The young man who flew them out is eating with the hands.”
“Excellent. I’ll look them over after we eat. Then I’d like to go see some of the less traveled areas of the farm while Mister Durey finds someone to look over his set.”
The older man nodded. “I’ll have a couple of the boys show you whatever you like. I had a long talk with my wife this morning. She’s seeing things my way. One thing. I’d like to stay on and oversee the place. Unless you know someone more familiar with running a sheep station.”
“I’d hoped you would. The house and everything else will stay the way it is. I don’t need more than a room when I come visiting.”
The three of them ate well and Clayton retired to his room to review the papers. Everything was exactly as he wanted. His people knew their business. The bonus wasn’t in writing, but he’d take care of that part himself.
Once he’d locked the papers away, he made his way down to find Penny and two young men waiting for him.
“Clayton, this is Samuel and Mick. They’ll be escorting us on the trip.”
The young man she’d indicated as Samuel stuck out his hand. “Pleasure. It’ll take a bit to get back to that area. It’s rough country. No paths to speak of. I suggest we borrow your courier’s plane and go that way.”
“An excellent idea.” Clayton raised an eyebrow toward Penny.
“He’s down doing the preflight checklist on the plane,” she said.
“Then let’s go.”
They drove down to the lake where the young man with the seaplane was waiting. “Morning everyone. Mister Rogers. I’m Liam. I’m afraid I only have room for three of you.”
“That’s all right,” Samuel said. “Mick would be happy to wait here for us.”
Mick’s expression indicated some disagreement with that assessment, but he nodded. “I can find something to do.”
“Excellent,” Clayton said.
They all climbed into the plane and the pilot started the engine. O
nce the plane warmed up, he taxied onto the lake and took off.
Clayton wasn’t sure how to direct the pilot toward their destination without tipping their hand, but Penny had a plan. “Here’s a map of the station. We’d like to see this back quadrant over here. We know no one is using it, but we’d like to place a retreat out this way. When Mister Rogers wants to get away from the world, he really, really wants to get away.”
Samuel grinned. “You won’t have anyone disturbing you out there, that’s for sure. No mobile coverage and no access by vehicle. Hiking in would be a nightmare. You’d have to drop a team in from helicopters to clear a place to land a whirly bird. Then fly in any building materials. Quite an undertaking.”
“Never underestimate the power of getting back to nature,” Clayton said. Penny was going to get a nice bonus of her own. She’d been on top of every aspect of this mission. He couldn’t have been happier with her performance.
The plane finally arrived over the area he was interested in. It was just as remote as they’d said. While the location wasn’t precise, he was certain it centered on a small plateau.
The shrubs would take a bit to clean off, but it would make an adequate landing area. He suspected it might have served such a function a thousand years ago.
One side had a gentle slope down to a forested area that would serve well for a house location. If he was going to do things out here, he needed to make sure no one suspected what the real reason was. He’d actually build a getaway. And he’d probably use it, too.
“That spot looks promising,” he said after they’d circled it a few times. “I think we could even land a helicopter without any problem. I’ll assume there’s a place we can rent one at the airport.”
Samuel nodded. “I know a guy. Penny said you and Mister Durey have some business to conclude. I can take a trip over and get one back to the house by the time you’re ready.”
“That sounds capital. I’ll send Penny with you to take care of the payment details. I think we can go back now.”
He considered the area around the plateau as they flew away. Nothing down there looked like a secret base, but these people didn’t want anyone finding them. That much was obvious. They’d arrived on this island before any of the native humans, and still they’d hidden everything devilishly well. That meant something. He just had to figure out what.
* * * * *
After a good night’s rest, Harry and his team made their way back to the wreck. The first task in the daylight was to set up the rest of the ropes and lights between the camp, the wreck, and the door to the base.
A second lifter had brought more people and supplies, so he designated the other team to clear the wreck.
He’d had time to examine the weapon overnight. The power pack wasn’t like the blue cubes. It seemed to be a variant of the kinds of batteries used on Earth today.
Probably with a lot more juice, but still. They’d cleverly built it into the magazine containing the flechettes. That made sense. If you didn’t have ammo, you probably didn’t need power.
There was no chamber for a ready round. It fired the top flechette in the magazine. Based on the wounds he’d seen, they probably traveled at high speed. The barrel of the weapon had to produce a strong magnetic field.
All in all, very high tech.
The weak sun was almost directly overhead when he and his people stood in front of the unopened hatch leading into the wall of the caldera. Based on the weathering, it had been here a long, long time. Dust and grit filled the edges and made small dunes in front of it.
The hatch was of a size to accept vessels significantly larger than the one that had crashed. Harry assumed there was a way to open it from an approaching vehicle.
A second, smaller hatch beside that was more like what people would use. There was a metal plate beside it with a standard dimple to allow for manual opening.
The engineer had made a handle for the key. One that would allow him to hold it in his gloved hand. No more cold.
Harry inserted the key and the personnel hatch slid ponderously to the side. The inner door was open. His suit indicated the area inside was at Martian pressure. Lights came on in the room beyond, revealing a wide space capable of holding a dozen spaceships.
It wasn’t empty.
Two ships similar to the crashed vehicles sat off to one side, to all appearances undamaged. A larger vehicle occupied the center of the chamber. It was bigger than the other two combined. It had the sleek lines of a fighter jet and protuberances that looked like weapons.
A fourth vessel sat almost against the wall opposite them. Smaller than the rest, it looked like it could only hold a couple of people. Its shape suggested speed.
The chamber itself was obviously a hangar. Rails above them allowed for moving ships and loading cargo. The back wall had both a cargo loading area and a wide corridor that led to a large airlock hatch. A smaller one for people sat beside it. An enclosed control area over the loading dock was dark, but suggested that it was where people oversaw operations here.
“So, if we have ships, where are the people?” Sandra asked.
“Since they didn’t make a rescue attempt, we have to assume that there wasn’t anyone left alive,” Harry said. “Though I’m not inclined to assume anything. We’ll proceed with full precautions and keep an eye out for hostiles. We’ll need to search these ships to be sure we’re not leaving anyone behind us.”
The two ships that looked like the crashed one opened readily enough. No one was inside them and they looked as though they were ready for flight. The engineering spaces had active blue cubes.
The engineers were going to have a field day. Potentially operational spaceships. This changed everything, depending on how fast they really were. He might be able to go rescue Jess without taking months to do it.
The larger ship was more challenging. It had no key slot. Rather, it had a keypad with what looked like ten numbers in the alien language. The orange button under them must be the activator.
Since he didn’t know the code, the only thing he could do was see if it was unlocked. He pressed the button.
The hatch slid open on a much different kind of ship. The ceiling was a bit low and the proportions were off. A console near the hatch had a chair that was set low to the ground and was very wide.
Racks on the wall held weapons and armor. The armor told the same tale as the chair. Someone had designed them for beings less than five feet tall and very thick. Squat might be the right word. Not a normal human being. More like a Dwarf from the old Lord of the Rings movies.
“This matches what Jess said she saw in the gravity controls on Freedom Express,” Sandra said. “One of the images was of someone from a heavy gravity environment.”
“Could be,” Harry agreed. “I wonder how they fit into the picture. While I can’t read the alien writing, those numbers on the door were the same as what Powell and Young deciphered for us. That implies a connection.”
He moved forward and found the cockpit. The pilots’ couches were of similar dimensions. No people.
Harry ran his hand over the control console and it came to life. The layout was different from what he remembered from the crashed ship. That didn’t mean much when they knew almost nothing about these people, but it suggested to him that they weren’t the same.
After he let his suit camera get a good image of everything, he backed out. The rest of the team met him at the hatch. This ship was clear.
The last vessel was different. It seemed designed for a single person. The cockpit was similar to that of a fighter jet, enclosed in a long, clear canopy. The backswept wings and engines suggested it was fast.
A touch to the control off to one side caused it to rise. The space was long enough for a very tall person, but someone had removed the original acceleration couch and replaced it with one similar to those used in the crashed ships. That left enough room behind it for storage, but that was obviously an afterthought.
He guessed thi
s ship had originally been for the third kind of being Jess had hypothesized. The light-gravity beings, tall and slender.
A touch of the control console revealed a third kind of layout, but once again the same language.
“All clear,” he said. “It looks as though they parked their ships and went inside. Odds are good that they never made it back out. We’ll need to explore the rest of the base, but I bet the people in here had a little shooting problem of their own. Ready?”
Time to explore the alien structure.
Chapter Nineteen
Jess was just getting ready to break for dinner when Rex called. “We’re almost through and we’ve found something.”
“I’m on my way.”
Ray Proudfoot gestured at the controls on the main console in the core. “Don’t forget we’re about ninety minutes away from Neptune. You don’t want to miss that.”
“Trust me, I’ll be there. They’ll have the first pass at the translation software ready tonight. We’ll meet back here once we finish sightseeing. If you’ll excuse me, I’d better go see what they’ve found.”
She took the elevator up to Rex’s level and made her way to the cave in. She had to pass through an airtight door, so she put on her suit beforehand. The suit indicated the pressure was the same on the other side, but she kept her helmet on. If there was a blowout, she didn’t want to be looking for it.
They’d moved a lot of the debris, but not all of it. Rex stood next to a mummified body.
“Who’d you find?” she asked as she stopped beside him.
“You tell me.”
The proportions of the body were all wrong. Very short and broad. “You found one of the heavy-worlders.”
He nodded. “I think so. And he’s a soldier. Look at the armor. It didn’t save him from the cave in, but it did keep the rocks from squishing him like a bug. And we found this.”
The object in question turned out to be a short, thick rifle. She’d seen images of the pistols Harry had found on Mars, but this was a completely different kind of weapon. It looked as though it fired something with a lot of recoil and the bore was large and intimidating. She certainly didn’t want anyone to point one at her.
