by L. V. Lloyd
Callan grinned, “Gods I hope so!”
Dane returned the grin for a moment before asking a trifle anxiously, “Did he say why he wanted to leave?”
“He said he was expecting to hear from Captain Spier about her investigations sometime during the night and he wanted to be ready.” Callan dropped the robe to the floor and began to pull on his AISS uniform which was the only item of clothing he had with him. “You realise of course, the dead man was never Chang? Chang was the messenger, the man in the red suit. The other man was a double, a decoy.”
“Ah. Of course. I wonder if he’s told Spier?” Dane mused.
“I doubt it. I’m sure she’ll find out soon enough.”
“Can we go back to Asra today? Or do we have to stay in Kapunda? Perhaps we should book another night.” Dane suggested, trying to keep a straight face.
“I think we should definitely book another night. After all it’s our duty to be available if Captain Spier has any further questions,” Callan replied, virtuously.
Dane smiled his agreement, then said idly, “I wonder what Mike Oliver is doing tonight?”
Chapter Twenty Eight
Captain Spier shook her head in angry disbelief. Cutter Levi had slipped through her eager fingers, apparently vanishing into thin air.
She ground her teeth in frustration. What had gone wrong? Her team had surrounded the building well before she flashed her ID at the front door, but by the time someone came to answer it Cutter Levi had disappeared. Captain Spier searched the house herself in the company of two officers, twice. They found the room where he had been sleeping, the bedclothes were still warm, but of Cutter Levi himself there was no sign.
The caretaker who had let them in seemed just as much at a loss to explain his disappearance, scratching his head in bewilderment as he stood in the doorway to the empty room. Perhaps he was genuinely ignorant but she was still going to take him down to the station for further questioning.
She ordered Officer Fenn to scan the entire building with a heat detector to double check that Levi was not concealed on the premises but with no success. She could only suppose there was a secret way out, probably a tunnel below the building. Her face grim, she left an officer on guard and reluctantly returned to the station with the rest of her team and the caretaker.
Confessing her lack of success to Lieutenant Oliver was not going to be fun.
Cutter Levi wove through the streets of Kapunda, moving at a fast pace but not fast enough to make it appear that he was running. The less attention he attracted from other inhabitants at this hour of the morning, the better.
Thank the gods their paid informant at the police station had come through in time. He had sent through a warning only moments before the house was surrounded, as soon as he realised who Spier was hoping to catch in the raid. Levi had just had enough time to pull on his trousers and boots, snatch up his utility belt containing his favourite knife and ID, and get down to the tunnel below. He cursed, remembering the expensive, new, soft leather jacket he had been compelled to leave behind with the rest of his possessions. Someone was going to pay for that.
“Boss?” he spoke softly into his wristcom. “I reckon I’ll be at the ‘port in five minutes. Is the ship ready?”
“Bay Five, the Moray,” answered Khan. He prided himself on always having an escape plan in place, albeit one that was solely for the use of himself and his top men. Anyone lower down the food chain had to fend for themselves. This time he’d commandeered the Moray on Levi’s behalf, a small trader ship, nominally operated by Ty Stephens, a slightly disreputable trader, but in fact owned by himself.
Khan didn’t see the need to personally leave Kapunda, at least not today, but he wanted Cutter Levi off Burra entirely. Not only for their mutual protection but because he had one more, really important job for him. A job which, if everything went as he intended, would not only set them both up for life, but would extract a satisfying revenge on Chang and all his associates. This sudden departure, inconvenient as it was, had only brought things forward.
Levi reached the spaceport without being challenged. He paused in the shadow of a building to scan the surrounding area for potential threats before making his way to the Moray, standing ready at Bay Five.
He slipped unobtrusively into the open hatch. Ty Stephens greeted him with a stunner in his right hand.
“Good, you’re here,” he said rather obviously, lowering the stunner as soon as he recognised the intruder. He had worked with Levi before. “Ready to go?” he asked, already closing the hatch and moving forward to the pilot’s cabin.
“Sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned,” replied his passenger, following. “Do you know our destination yet?”
“Khan sent a man over with something for you,” Stephens answered indirectly, “Just before you got here.”
He gestured with one hand to the two seats in the passenger area. One was occupied by a traveller’s backpack. “Have a look while I get ready for take-off if you like, I’ll be a few minutes,” invited Stephens, seating himself at the pilot’s station.
Levi lifted the pack from the seat to the floor in front of him. It was full and heavy and Levi was pretty certain it didn’t contain clothes for a holiday. Weapons, maybe?
He opened the pack and stared disbelievingly at the contents. What the—? It looked just like a spacesuit, the type worn when you had to make repairs to the outside of your ship. He hauled it out by the shoulders. It was a spacesuit. Where the fuck were they going?
He draped the suit carefully over the seat next to him and scrummaged around in the bottom of the pack to discover what else had been provided. He was just lifting out a small, heavy package wrapped in plasfoam with a large warning label on it, when he heard Stephens get the all clear from the tower. He held on tightly to the package as the ship launched straight up into the still dark sky.
“Asra, here we come,” announced the pilot.
Lieutenant Oliver kept his lips tightly shut. Captain Spier was frustrated enough by the morning’s debacle; she didn’t need his criticism as well. There would be an investigation later of what exactly had gone wrong, but at the moment she was still focussed on tracking down Levi’s current whereabouts.
“I would bet he’s either gone to ground here in Kapunda or, more likely in my opinion, looking for a berth off the planet entirely,” he offered. “Can we check with the spaceport authorities?”
Captain Spier nodded. She had already asked Fenn to check the city maps for possible escape routes underground, including a diagram of the house where Levi had been holed up. Now she sent through an urgent request to the spaceport.
“Captain Spier here. There is a warrant out for the arrest of Cutter Levi. I’m authorising a search of the spaceport and all vessels prior to departure, effective immediately.”
There was a squawk of protest from the other end.
“Levi is wanted for questioning over the bombing at the Victory,” the Captain explained tersely. “There’s a strong possibility that he’s at the spaceport now, looking for a ship out. I also want the records of all ships departing in the last hour, their names, registrations and destinations.”
Lieutenant Oliver stayed for another couple of hours, helping with the investigation, but as time passed with no news from the spaceport, he suspected Levi had already made his escape.
“Have you got enough to bring Mo Khan in for questioning?” he asked.
“Enough to ask him to answer a few questions, not enough to detain him,” Spier responded grimly.
An hour later Mo Khan was politely incredulous, strongly denying any involvement with the bombing. In fact, he insisted he and his second had been framed. He accused Chang of orchestrating the entire event, from the bombing to the kidnapping of Governor Rian. Needless to say, he professed to have no idea as to the current whereabouts of Cutter Levi. He had the day off and he wasn’t expecting to see him. Indeed, he wasn’t expecting to see him for at least a fortnight as he, Khan
, was about to take his annual holiday on Moonta. He had booked a deluxe cabin on Paradise Island several months ago, which Captain Spier was quite welcome to verify. Presuming he wasn’t under arrest, he added sarcastically.
Captain Spier hid her dismay, wracking her brain to find some valid reason to prevent his departure but in the end, the best she could do was alert the Wallaroo police. She spoke personally to Lieutenant Varga, explaining the background behind her request for covert monitoring.
As soon as he ended the call, Mo Khan proceeded openly with the preparations for his holiday, passing over temporary control of his various business arrangements to subordinates, arranging his finances and sending a message to remind the pilot of his private space yacht about their scheduled departure early the following day. Then he went out to lunch in a popular local cafe, slipping a couple of disposable, and untraceable, wristcoms into his pocket. The rest—and most important—part of his business needed to be conducted in absolute privacy.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Lieutenant Oliver winced at the mention of Chang’s name. He hadn’t told Spier about their relationship, nor even the fact that the dead man was not “Chang” but a colleague.
And the longer he left it, the worse it would get. He felt caught between a rock and a hard place. It was too late to mention it casually now, he would have to rely on Chang’s obsession with secrecy to keep their connection hidden. Despite his need to see his father again, he would have to wait until after this affair was resolved, because any contact between them now could be disastrous.
As the day went on with no new developments, Mike found his mind drifting back to the events of the previous night. He couldn’t help wondering what Dane and Callan thought now of their night together. At the time, they had all been totally caught up in the moment, but now... had second thoughts started to creep in? After that first kiss with Callan, Mike had taken control, doing exactly what he wanted with each man... he looked down hurriedly to hide the grin that had suddenly appeared on his face.
He was pretty sure Dane would be fine, with his more cavalier attitude to sex, but he was a bit worried Callan might be feeling uncomfortable. He remembered how nervous Callan had been at the start. He tried not to feel guilty, they were all consenting adults he told himself, but he would drop in and see Callan when he was free, check how he was. Then he paused, had the other two men returned to Asra, or were they were still at the Galaxy?
A quick call to the hotel had him smiling again. They were both there, booked in for another night. In the same room. He tried to calm down, just because they were still there didn’t mean they wanted him to join them again tonight. After all, once was fun, but twice was, what... indulgent?
Yeah, indulgent. He spoke sternly to himself. He was a Patrol Lieutenant, and not only that, he was the Officer in charge on Asra, he had to think of his position. Be restrained and dignified.
Who was he kidding? If they invited him, he’d be in there like a shot. Take full advantage of this amazing opportunity. Once they were all back on Asra unfortunately, it would be a different matter.
Cutter Levi climbed awkwardly into the spacesuit. It was a long time since he’d had to use one and it was just as uncomfortable as he remembered. Once again, he checked the flexible chain which would keep him tethered to the space ship once he went outside, making sure it was securely attached. Naturally, he was wearing magnetised boots which would anchor him to the ship as soon as he activated the mechanism, but given the storms which frequently swirled around Asra he wasn’t taking any chances. He needed a safety line, just in case he lost contact.
He focussed intently on the package between his hands, placing it carefully into the carry compartment of the suit so that it nestled securely against his chest, leaving both hands free. He ran through the procedures again in his head. Once he got outside he would have to act fast, there would be no time to think about what to do next. For his own safety, it would be best to complete the job in as near to five minutes as possible. The longer he stayed out there, the more chance there was of being caught up in a squall. The tether was guaranteed to work under the “toughest circumstances” but Cutter wasn’t convinced the manufacturers had been thinking about nitrogen storms when they made the claim.
He didn’t allow himself to think of what would happen, once he had placed the package. That wasn’t his problem.
It was late that night before Mike was free to return to the Galaxy. Captain Spier had invited him out to dinner with the rest of the team and he’d felt obliged to accept, despite his personal desire to race back to the hotel as fast as he could.
Would Dane and Callan be waiting for him? His heart beat faster in anticipation. He checked his wristcom but there were no messages. Perhaps they were waiting for him to initiate the next contact. He sent a simple question to them both as he strode along. “Can I come up again?” That should be clear enough, surely?
As he made his way up to his room, he checked his wristcom for the third time. Still no reply. Had they given up on him and fallen asleep? Or even worse, what if one or both of them had taken the opportunity to go out and sample the local night life? Not that it was really any of his business, Mike tried to be rational, but... he really didn’t know what he would do, if he went up to their room and found they had someone else in there.
Fortunately for his mood, at that moment Callan flashed an answer on his wristcom. “Oh yeah!”
Mike was still smiling as he changed hastily into his favourite black civvies and raced up the stairs. He flashed his ID outside the suite. Callan opened the door with no hesitation this time, dressed once again in nothing but the fluffy white hotel robe. Instantly, Mike felt his body responding. There was something about Callan in that robe, something that made him want to unwrap it and play with what was inside.
He restricted himself to a brief kiss however, before looking around the apartment. “Where’s Dane?” he asked a little anxiously.
“In the shower,” said Callan, moving closer. “I’ve already had mine.”
Mike’s eyes heated, the image of Dane’s wet, naked body flashing before him. “Do you think he’d mind if we joined him?” He was pulling his clothes off as he spoke.
Callan tore his gaze away from Mike’s lean body to look at his face. “Let’s go in and ask,” he said, unfastening his robe.
“Is there room in there for three?”
“There is if we take turns,” answered Callan with a provocative smile.
Chapter Thirty
It was nearly morning when Mike’s wristcom beeped an urgent alarm at him. He sat up quickly to answer it, pulling the covers off Callan and Dane in his haste. He didn’t recognise the call sign.
“Lieutenant Oliver here,” he announced. Whoever it was, an urgent alarm didn’t bode well.
“Captain Takamoto, from the Oriell Space Station. We’ve a problem on Asra. Twenty minutes ago Ser Keating from Tinto mines received an extortion threat, two million credits or the caller will blow a hole in the dome.”
“What?” Mike was incredulous. “Are they serious? Is that even possible? I thought it was impenetrable.” Mike thought of the various pieces of space debris which hit the dome from time to time. None of them had made a dent, let alone a hole.
“We don’t know yet. Ser Keating is trying to get hold of the engineer in charge of the original project at this very moment, but at this stage we’re taking it seriously. I’ve already discussed this with Blake, our chief technician here on Oriell, and he says a small hole could cause loss of atmosphere. A large one...” he paused, “well, it could rip the whole place apart. I need you back there as fast as possible.”
“Of course, Captain.”
“And by the way, do you know where Governor Rian might be? We need him back on Asra too, we’ll have to consider whether to evacuate civilians.”
“Yes, Captain. The Governor is here in this hotel, I’ll pass the message on immediately.”
“Ask him to call me would
you? At his earliest convenience. And let me know your E.T.A on Asra as soon as possible.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ll keep you informed.” Takamoto rang off.
Callan and Dane were both sitting up, looking worried as they waited for him to tell them what had happened. Mike was out of bed in a flash, throwing his clothes on.
“Ser Keating has had an extortion threat. If he doesn’t pay two million credits, they’re threatening to blow up the dome on Asra.”
“What?” exclaimed Dane in disbelief.
Callan looked at Mike, instantly switching from generous lover to the Governor of Asra. He had heard the reference to himself in the conversation. “Who was that? Who should I ring?”
“Sorry, I should have said. That was Captain Takamoto on Oriell station. I’ll send his contact code to your ‘com.”
Callan nodded and in a matter of seconds was speaking to the Patrol Captain.
Dane got out of bed and started to dress in his AISS uniform. “I’ll contact the spaceport and let them know the Rover will be making an emergency departure within the hour.”
Mike nodded in agreement. If Dane was prepared to fly them, that would certainly be the fastest way to get back to Asra.
He bit his lip, not wanting to waste time but knowing that he should be wearing his Patrol uniform, in case he had to issue any orders or requisitions at the spaceport. “I’ll meet you both at the Rover, I’ve just got to grab my things from my room. It won’t take me a second.”
Callan was still talking on his wristcom but Dane nodded. “We’ll see you there.”
Dane started to pack up his and Callan’s few personal belongings, just leaving Callan’s boots and uniform ready for him to put on.
