“Poor sod,” Tommy remarked.
“It won’t feel a thing. I deactivated its sensors. It’ll only do as instructed.” Henry said.
“It’s working Captain. The droid and box are dropping way behind and fast.”
“The further, the better,” Henry commented, as they continued watching.
Then Nick’s voice came in on their comms.
“We’re on our way back, Captain.”
“Well done. Our droid seems to be…” he started to say, when they saw an enormous flash, from behind them.
“Wow, Captain. That was close,” Tommy yelled. Then checked the detonation distance.
“Only a hundred and twenty kilometres behind us, Captain.”
“A few minutes earlier and we’d probably have been blown apart,” Henry added.
“Tommy, can you get any sensor readings on the detonation?”
“Yes…One moment, Captain.” Tommy requested.
“Well…, there’s a radio-active element to it. So I guess if the blast hadn’t killed us, then the radiation would have.”
“Nice people we have on Earth. Can’t seem to shake the bastards off,” Traven angrily remarked. He felt bitter about all the attempts that had been made to destroy the Acarea project.
“Look at the positives, Captain,” Nick said as the rest of the crew shuffled back into the control room.
“What do you mean, Nick?”
“Ask Trisha.”
Traven looked long and hard at her. Then asked. “Well, Trisha?”
“I don’t know how, but a picture came into my mind, Captain. It showed me exactly where the box was located.”
“What a load of rubbish,” Jeff grunted.
“Not from where I was standing,” Nick snapped, standing up for Trisha.
Captain Traven looked at Trisha again, slowly running his eyes over her. Whether it was with approval or not, Trisha couldn’t tell.
“What? I object to being looked at by anyone as if I’m some sort of specimen,” Trisha snapped.
“It’s you!”
“What do you mean, Captain? I don’t understand your comment.”
“Yes, Captain. What are you talking about?” Joe asked.
Traven felt as if he’d pushed himself into a corner. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground.
“Maybe, Trisha’s our secret weapon,” he finally said, while fear of her flooded his mind.
Chapter 13
Assassins Guild
Michael and Judith surfaced around eleven o’clock in the morning, having enjoyed each other’s company overnight.
Wary of the guards stationed inside the safe house, they quietly showered, dressed and started eating breakfast before letting the guards know they were up.
Michael knew, of course, that Trent and Arnos were already aware of both his and Judith’s movements. However, not informing them of such things was the correct thing to do, so, as not to embarrass them.
They sat there quietly eating, and then Judith pushed her plate aside. “Tell me, Michael, why are your eyes so different from any others?”
“It’s a residual entropic effect of space and time travel.”
“What on earth do you mean?”
Michael studied her for a moment…, then said. “I need two commitments from you?”
“You do, do you? So, what are they?”
“First. What I tell you, must go no further. Agreed?”
“Yes. And?”
“Will you promise to work with me, to destroy this arm of the assassin’s guild? After all, you have an ‘in’ to the organisation.”
“You mean like I’m an assassin myself, I assume,” she said, with a mischievous look in her eyes, and paused for a while as if thinking about it.
Then seeing his face said. “Yes. Okay, I will work with you. Don’t worry; you’ll be safe with me.”
“How does that somehow make me feel nervous, Judith?” He asked, grinning knowingly at her.
“Come on, Michael. Acarea’s already gone, and there’s nothing any of us can do to change events now.”
Michael merely nodded his head in acknowledgement. It was true that Acarea was on her way. And, as long as the sabotage attempt failed, he knew that he would soon receive Captain Traven’s encrypted message confirming the Acarea had changed its course and was now heading for Delta Pavonis.
Michael knew he couldn’t tell anyone about the change of direction, no matter what.
“What do you know about Micky Sanderson?” He asked her.
“Who on earth is he?”
“My grandfather.”
“Oh, ok. So, what about him?”
“Remember. You promised to keep everything I tell you to yourself.”
“I didn’t actually guarantee it. But, I will anyway.”
“Ok,” he said, then took a deep breath before continuing.
“My grandfather came from the future… Don’t laugh, it’s true.”
“Yea-yea, pull the other one.”
“It’s true. Look into my eyes, what do you see?”
“Not going to try to hypnotise me are you?”
“Of course not. Look.”
Judith studied his eyes for a moment.
“They’re almost fluorescent. And..., the more I look at them, the more it appears as if something is moving inside.”
“That’s the entropic effect. There is a residual element that stays with a person who travels through time. Moreover, that part of him is still linked to where the person originally came from. The entropic effect is also passed down to future generations, albeit at a lower level?”
“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Very, Judith. When my grandfather came back in time in 2034. All of his body cells had the same glow about them. Apparently much brighter than mine. I’m told that he also had some unusual abilities.
A Doctor Henning discovered this entropic effect when checking Micky’s cells under an electron microscope. Luckily, Henning presented his findings to Cedrick, instead of the medical council.
By the way, Cedrick was the head of SEID at that time. He was the man who found my grandfather when he came from the future.
Cedrick took him in and helped him to adjust to the present. Then he, and his wife Linda, became his mentors. He also provided my grandfather with the full name of Micky Sanderson.
Micky being the only part of a name that Cedrick had been given by my grandfather.
Cedrick then provided him with all the necessary credentials to make it legit.”
“Wow.”
“I think Micky must have been part of my grandfather’s original name.”
“Okay. So, what about your eyes, Micky?”
“What you see, are my cells glowing. With the light being reflected back out through the lenses of my eyes.”
“So, do you mean that you could go whizzing off to sometime or other in the future?”
“No. The effect was only intense around Micky and Axon’s cells. Axon was Micky’s brother from the same time in the future.”
“So, if they were the ones who travelled through time, why do you have this entropic effect?”
“Right, bear with me. My father Colin and his twin sister Christina were the children conceived by Christine Bernstein during the time that she and Micky were together.
He tragically died before they could be married.
Some of Micky’s cells had passed on to Christine, during their sexual relationship. Then they were passed on to her children, my father and aunt, who were also twins.
Hence, my twin sister Bronte and I also have this effect, as do our children. However, the effect reduces with each generation.
“So, diluted with each generation.”
“Correct.”
“You must have some of your grandfather’s abilities Michael, to have been able to survive all these years?”
“Maybe. My grandfather had some unusual abilities,” he said, thoughtfully. “But, I t
hink most of his abilities were attributed to the crystal Axon and he used, to come across time. Perhaps I have a little more perception than most, but that is all.”
“H’mm. Intuition. Like your hunches are nearly always right?”
“Sort off… For instance, I felt you were genuine. Funny that.”
“Don’t push your luck, Michael.”
“You asked,” he shot back.
“Anyway, enough about me. How do you get your contracts, and get paid?” he asked
“The procurement officer buys a contract from the vendor. Then selects the assassin most likely to succeed.
If I’m selected, then I get a contract ID, the name of the target, photo and all the requirements of the vendor downloaded to my secure phone.”
“So, you’ve never seen or talked to anyone?”
“No,” she replied, and then hesitated.
Michael sensed there was more. “So, did you try to trace the last call?”
“Risky I know. I managed to trace the call, and, I know the area where it originated. It was from a block of apartments in Merrillville’s Chicago side. But, of course, I couldn’t pinpoint the exact room.”
Michael was startled by the unexpected activation of his desk monitor, as it sprang into life.
He got up and walked over to look at the screen. He could see the letters ADP on it, nothing else.
He sighed with relief. Then Judith came over to see what was going on.
“ADP? What does that mean?”
“Just that Acarea has survived the sabotage attempt and is swinging for the right target.”
Judith thought that over as the screen went blank.
“Why did you say, the right target, instead of Procyon?”
Michael knew the timeline was correct, and that Acarea was swinging slowly towards its new destination, Delta Pavonis.
However, on hearing her question, he realised that he must be more careful about what he said to people.
“Just technical jargon, Judith,” he dismissively replied. “Right. We’ll come back to the contract placing later. What else can you tell me?”
“I’ve told you all I know,” Judith sharply replied, feeling a bit annoyed, thinking that maybe he didn’t trust her.
“Come on, let’s sit on the sofa. It’ll be more comfortable.” Michael suggested, seeing that he’d upset her.
“Good idea,” she replied, relieved that he hadn’t noticed that she had been upset.
Both sat down, and as she inched closer to him, she relaxed a little.
“There are a few tricks we can try. But, before that, tell me how you receive your payments?”
“The watcher always informs the paymaster when the kill has been confirmed.”
“So, someone is keeping an eye on you?”
“Only while the contract is open.”
“Then that’s something we must be wary of… How do you get paid?”
“They usually inform me where and when to collect the payment, two days after verification.”
“Via your phone?”
“Correct.”
“Haven’t you tried to trace the paymaster’s calls in the past?”
“What, and push my luck? I don’t think so.”
“Yes, probably better not to.”
“Quite. I should get payment notification sometime today, anyway.”
Michael thought about this for a while. Then said. “I need to borrow your phone.”
“Am I going to regret this?” she asked, smiling at him as she took it out of her pocket.
“No, I just want to see if we can trace the contractor’s call, and get a more accurate location.”
“Don’t wipe it, please Michael, I need to be paid.”
“OK. Just make sure it’s in standby mode.”
She double-checked her phone, then handed it over.
“Don’t worry. Nothing will be touched,” he reassured her.
Then placed her phone in a small receptor slot in the wall, to the right of them, and close to a keypad.
He pressed a tab on the pad, and a large screen that had, seemed part of the same wall, lit up.
“Here we go,” he said. Then pressed another key. Which, in turn, displayed a column of calls from her phone’s log on the screen. Then scrolled down the list until he got to the end.
Once the whole log displayed, Michael touched the keypad again to save the results. Then handed Judith’s phone back to her.
“If your paymaster sends instructions to you, just do what you would normally do,” he told her as he looked at the screen, searching for the contractor’s last call.
“It’s this one. Here,” Judith said, pointing to a particular entry.
“Am I going to regret teaming up with you, instead of carrying on in my own way, making real money?” she asked. Then thought about it for a moment, while Michael, who was totally absorbed in what he was doing anyway, tapped his requirements in on the keypad.
“On the other hand,” she continued. “You could always hand me in… But then, you’d be dead before you could do that.”
“Stop muttering. I’m not going to turn you in. Don’t want to. Not going to. We’re stuck with each other.”
“But you’re too old for me to make this a lasting commitment.”
“Forty-one’s still quite young, these days,” Michael replied, trying to play down her statement, but he knew she was right.
“Well, I’ll say that for you, you’re better than Tex ever was. I actually enjoyed it for a change.”
“Ah…, here we are, Mr Contractor. So that’s where you’re located.” Michael said as he saved the details for later.
“OK. We’ll wait until your paymaster tells you where and when you can pick up your money, Judith.”
“So, I can still collect my money?”
“Of course. Can’t have you out of pocket, can we?”
“Absolutely not. Maybe I have underestimated you. Perhaps I could have done worse after all.”
Michael didn’t answer.
Then Judith, felt her phone vibrate, opened it and read the instructions on the screen.
“Michael, this is it.
I have to be at Culver’s Snacks. Merrillville. East 79th Avenue. On Thursday, the Twentieth at 13:00 hours, sharp,” she told him.
Then read out the coordinates.
Latitude 41°28'24.64" N. and Longitude 87°19'4.06" W.
“Thorough aren’t they. How will you know who’s going to do the hand-over, Judith?”
“I don’t. They have photos of me. I’ve never had problems with them,” she told him. Then thought about that and added, “Well, not before I called you.”
Michael simply ignored her comment and asked her for the phone again. Then placed it back in the wall receptor.
Within moments, the call information and caller’s location came up on Michael’s screen. He saved it and then handed the phone back to Judith.
“So, your watcher’s confirmed your kill. What about the book?”
“I’ll have to leave it at the exchange point.”
“And if it’s the wrong thing, or, you decide not to leave it?”
“They’ll put a contract out on me. Then, boom. I’m gone.”
“My condolences, then.”
Her heart missed a beat. “You’re saying that I should leave the book here. Aren’t you?” She asked.
Then Michael realised that she was scared of upsetting the Assassination Guild.
“No. Don’t worry; we’ll copy what we need before you hand it over.”
“Phew! I thought you’d signed my death warrant.”
“No chance. Not when you’re so energetic in bed,” he joked. Nevertheless, Judith only saw the darker implication of his remark.
“So, if I satisfy your sexual needs, I’m safe? Is that what you mean?”
“That’s not what I meant, Judith.”
“If you did, then you’re no different than that slimy turd, Tex. The one I’ve just got r
id of.”
Michael watched her. He could see that she was fuming underneath. Dangerous, he thought.
“Look,” he said. “I fancy you like hell. You invigorate me, and I enjoy your kinky sexual methods. Even though I know, it is just part of your assassination technique.
Moreover, as you stated, I’m forty-one, so we both know that we have no real future beyond what we have now. Nevertheless, Judith, I like you, and I would want to be with you, even without the sex angle. And that’s the honest truth.”
She studied him hard for a while before replying.
“You realise that the exchange location is over 800 kilometres away.”
“Yes, Judith. I can see that.”
He watched a look of disbelief crossed her face.
“But…?”
“It’s OK, trust me. We’re moving to a safe house, closer to your exchange location. Pack up your stuff, and anything else you might need,” he reassured her, then opened the door.
“Trent. Arnos,” he called out. “Get packed. We’re leaving for our Helo pad. Now.”
What am I doing? She wondered. Aware of the big hole she had just dug for herself.
Chapter 14
Gravity
The Acarea was using up more of their manoeuvring jets fuel than Traven had expected.
The ship’s forward kinetic energy and the potential energy of its mass were making it harder to alter the Acarea’s direction than they had anticipated.
They knew that they couldn’t change its course by just angling the ship like they could in Earth’s atmosphere.
In Space, there was no air, or gravity, to aid the manoeuvre and the Acarea would still continue to go on in the same direction.
So, although the manoeuvring jets were struggling. They had to continue to provide enough energy, to force the ship onto a new heading, without losing too much forward velocity.
Acarea. A Triumph or Disaster? (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 5): A Novel by Gerry A. Saunders (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy) Page 10
