I’m not surprised, he thought. Then, glancing at Judith, realised that both of them were just as nervous, as Arnos seemed to be, at Trent’s almost reckless driving.
Judith cuddled into Michael in an attempt to shut out the blur of the traffic as they sped on. Then, soon fell asleep.
No one spoke until they turned into SEID’s helo pad: There were two helicopters on the pad, plus a control tower to the left side of it.
SEID’s Helo pad was very different to the original pads that had been in operation during most of the 21st century. This pad, although small and almost twenty years old, had been upgraded less than ten years ago, to enable operation with the latest generation of helicopters that were also in use by the military.
Even though the control tower had a hard look, it was nevertheless bristling with sophisticated communication aerials and radar systems, having been upgraded again a few years ago to include all the latest equipment.
The six-seater helicopters were sleek and powerful looking. Their radar and communications aerials seemed to merge with the outer skin of the Helo, enabling them to retain that elegant look.
Though the design of their twin engines made them look rather bulky, they were however almost silent due to their reduced noise, and low vibration design.
Overall, the Helos were ultra-reliable and able to run on one engine if needed. Both were matt black in colour, but neither displayed company markings. Only their registration numbers.
“Judith. Wake up,” Michael urged her.
She stirred. “What…Are we here already?”
“Yes. Come on, get with it,” he encouraged, as he pushed her away from him, and then got out of the car.
The Helo pilot came over and extended his hand to Michael.
“Glad to see you again boss.”
“And you, Brett. Are we flight ready?”
“Yes.”
“Right. Trent, you can take the car to the back of the tower, give Dan the keys then come back. You’d better be quick about it were almost ready to go,” Michael ordered.
“Ok, boss,” Trent replied, then drove off. Parked as directed. Then handed the keys over and came running back.
Brett looked at Michael with amusement. “Are you the boss today, or, the skipper of some imaginary Liner?”
“Depends on who I’m talking too.”
“Funny that. Better tell them all to get aboard now, before my take-off window closes.”
“Ok, get aboard everyone.”
A couple of minutes later Brett received his take-off clearance from the tower.
“Strap in, we’ve been cleared to depart,” he announced. “We’re taking off, now.”
The Helo’s twin engines throbbed into action, and in no time at all, they were up, and on their way to Michael’s safe house.
“We’ll be landing at Joliet Regional Airport around 17:00 hours, so sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Joliet Regional Airport was small, but, even though it only had one runway, it was a modern airport. More importantly, it was situated just 10 minutes from SEID’s local safe house, and only four to five kilometres from the location of Judith’s paymaster.
The Helo landed smoothly in its designated spot, as a Limo pulled up close by.
Then SEID’s local operatives, Barry and Erica, got out of the limo to greet them as Michael’s party exited the Helo.
“Welcome to Joliet, Michael,” Erica said, shaking his hand firmly, in a robust way.
“Glad to see you, Erica. This is Judith, and my men Trent and Arnos.”
“I’m Barry,” Erica’s companion informed them, as they all greeted each other.
“We’ll drop you off at the safe-house Michael. The cars, you requested are already there. One each for you and Judith and another for your two men.”
“Good.”
“Who exactly is this Perry Thomson guy that you recommended, Erica?”
“Oh, you mean, the Tank. He’s just one of the guys working with us. He’ll meet us at Culver’s car park.” She grinned at him.
“When you meet him, you’ll understand why we call him, the tank.”
“That big, then.”
“And some,” Barry added.
“Come on then, we’d better get you four to the safe-house.” Erica prompted, with a sternness coming back into her voice. “It’s not far away.”
“Lead on,” Michael jested. Then waved goodbye to the Helo pilot, and got in the Limo with the rest of them
The safe house was located in Pandola Avenue, just off the main north-east Frontage Road and proved to be more than adequate for their needs. With a large open plan ground floor, with a cloakroom and kitchen to one side. Upstairs there were four en-suite bedrooms. Plus, a large parking area outside, and down one side of the house.
The three cars were parked towards the back of this area, ready for the next morning’s action.
“We should leave them to get settled in,” Barry urged Erica.
“Hang on, we’re not done yet,” she replied, sounding annoyed. Then turned to speak to Michael.
“I’ve put a variety of instant meals and drinks in the fridge, and cupboards for all of you. I’ve also checked the microwave cooker is working.”
“Thanks. OK, we all have the location downloaded to our M phones. So, is there anything else we need to know, Erica?”
“No, I don’t think so. Everything’s been set up as you specified, and Perry will receive situation updates as they come in.”
She paused a moment, but couldn’t think of anything else.
“Barry and I will go ahead, so we’ll be in the restaurant before you arrive. So, if there’s nothing more, we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“No, it all seems to be well organised. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll tackle the contractor and the paymaster.”
“Both at the same time?” Arnos queried.
“No. The contractor comes first. Judith initially thought they were located in a block of apartments in Merrillville, which is on the Chicago side of Joliet.
However, SEID’s trackers checked it out and found that the call the contractor made to Judith was routed through a shifter, which then re-routed it to Judith.
They were able to trace the call back to a place between New Milford and Rockford, just off Sandy Hollow Road in fact.”
“Are we doing that one, skipper?” Trent asked.
“No, that’s not for us, and stop calling me skipper.” Michael continued. “Peter’s team, together with the local police and their SWAT team are doing that particular raid, in sync with ours.”
“Uh, okay, boss.”
Michael couldn’t help smiling and then added. “But, if you’re interested, the exact coordinates for that one has been downloaded to your ‘M’ phones anyway.”
“I assume we’re taking out the paymaster, Michael?” Judith interjected.
“Yes. We’re going after him. He’s in the village of Plainfield, at latitude 41°36'38.44 north, and longitude 88°11'59.30 west,” she read off her screen.
Suddenly, all of their M phones beeped at the same time, as an auto update came in.
“I’ll send the info to Perry Thomson,” Erica said.
“No need, he’s got it now, from yours.”
“Good. So, tomorrow, and first,” Barry said almost as a reminder to himself. “Ok. Then, we’ll see you all tomorrow,” he added. Then Barry and Erica went out, got into their limo, and drove off.
Once inside the house, the four of them settled in. After deciding on the sleeping arrangements for the night, Michael set up his computer on a side table then activated it.
He was hoping to receive a call. The one call that he was desperately waiting for.
They sat at the table waiting for Trent to heat and then serve the pre-packed meals that Erica had arranged for them.
“No Beer, Michael,” Arnos muttered in disgust.
“You should lay off the stuff.”
“Does take the edge off th
ings, though, boss,” Trent added.
Michael just gave him a look. Then decided that it was a good time to drop the bombshell on them about tomorrow, especially now that they had eaten and were relaxed.
He looked directly at Arnos and Trent, then said. “I know you two want action. Nevertheless, I’m afraid we’ll have to place you across the road, on Louisiana Street. You’ll be close enough there to the restaurant if we need you.”
“What?” Arnos almost gasped, not believing what he’d just heard Michael say.
“Don’t be daft, boss,” Trent added. “You need us with you, not by that damn car park.”
“No, that’s where I need you to be,” Michael firmly stated. “I’d usually agree with you. But, in this case, I need to make sure there aren’t too many of us there, so we don’t spook whoever’s doing the exchange.”
“That’s not fair, boss.”
“I can’t help that. Don’t worry, you’ll be close enough if it turns out that we do need you after all,” he replied.
“Anyway, you’ll have your fun when we go after the Paymaster himself,” he added.
“I can see your point,” Arnos reluctantly agreed. “Five of us in one place could be called overkill. After all, it’s just an exchange.”
“Hey. I’m taking all the risk here,” Judith snapped. “I’m the one most likely to get shot.”
“Sorry, Judith. But we’re actually trained fighting men.”
“OK. Understood, Arnos. It’s just that I’m nervous enough as it is.”
Michael checked the time on his wrist pad, 20:00 hours.
Why hasn’t Acarea sent me the last message? He wondered, starting to worry about the delay.
Judith in the meanwhile had been thinking about Arnos’s remark. Then asked him how they would protect her if the paymaster sussed her.
Michael, on hearing this exchange, realised that Judith was very anxious. Not without cause, he thought to himself.
“No need Judith. We will have a surveillance drone close by, and one of its arsenal of weapons is a Taser. Therefore, we’ll use that if we have to, we don’t want to kill the guy.
Erica and Barry will be in the restaurant, and hopefully, near you. Unfortunately, although Perry, Trent and Arnos, will be outside, they won’t be close enough to provide you with instant protection.”
“Well, thanks for that. Now I actually feel better,” she replied, in a sarcastic tone.
“Come on, Judith, after all, you did say the paymaster would have someone watching you. So we’ve got to be careful.”
“But…”
“But, nothing…? After the exchange, we’ll pick them all up and give the credit to our surveillance drone that just happened to be in the area. Then you’ll be in the clear.”
“But I’ll still be a suspect in their eyes, Michael.”
“They’ll be out of the picture.”
“Michael. There will be others behind them, and they’ll put a contract out on me. Then I’ll be dead, and probably ground-up.”
Having said this, she paused, reconsidering her situation. Then thought to herself. Why am I still here and risking my life with this bunch of losers?
But only said, “Anyway, Michael. Where will you be?”
“Next to you, of course.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Judith, trust me. I’ll be with you.”
Chapter 16
The Transfer
Thursday 20th December. 2108
Michael and Judith had slept together last night and enjoyed it. However, today was all about getting everyone to Culvers Snacks in time to set up the surveillance for Judith’s protection.
The paymaster had set the transaction’s time for 13:00 hours.
Their wall chronometer read 09:30.
Judith Morante paced up and down the sitting room in the safe house. While Michael made the final checks and calls needed to ensure that Judith’s handover of the book, and the collection of her payment for the kill, would be successful
Then, Michael’s computer screen suddenly lit up. He got up and went over to view it, praying that this was the confirmation from the Acarea that he’d been anxiously waiting for.
A set of letters showed on his screen, they were:
Sab-Ok-DP-Ok.
“Thank goodness,” he said aloud and sighed with relief. Knowing that the Timeline was set, now that Acarea was heading for Delta Pavonis.
“Can I assume that’s what you’ve been waiting for?” Judith asked as she came over and peered at his screen.
“Yes. It’s just confirmation that the Acarea has survived the sabotage attempt and is now on track.”
“Will they contact you again?”
“No. They are on their own. Have been for some time now.”
Michael, together with Trent and Arnos, left fifteen minutes earlier, than Judith had, to make sure that they were in position before she arrived at Culvers.
By 12:30, Michael was waiting at the far end of ‘Culvers Snacks’ car park, on East 79th Avenue, along with Perry Thomson.
He was pleased to be with Perry. Last night they had gone over the operation of Michael’s secret weapon. Discussing how it operated, and how much time remained before it would actually fail altogether. Even though Perry had listened intently to Michael, he had never asked him where the item had come from, and Michael, impressed with his discretion, realised that he had actually started to like him.
Perry Thomson seemed an enormous man for his weight. Just 98 Kilos in all. But a lot of that weight was in the muscles that wrapped around a bulldozer frame.
Michael checked the time again, 12:50 hours.
Then, Judith’s car roared into the car park in an over-enthusiastic manner that made Michael curse under his breath.
She parked, then got out and looked around. Then, not seeing anyone there that she knew entered the restaurant.
“Are you ready to go, boss?” Perry asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Come on, help me with this thing.”
The comms suddenly buzzed in both men’s ears, and Michael let Perry take the message, even though he could have stopped and dealt with it himself. Perry listened intently while helping Michael put on Axon’s old Stealth Cloak.
“All set, boss. Barry and Erica are inside, set-up and ready. Our drone’s also inside, out of site and locked on to Judith.”
“Where did Barry park their car?”
“Half-way down the car park.”
“Good. We don’t want our cars bunched up together. Now, what about me? How do I look?”
“Well, apart from appearing to have lost a few kilos, okay.”
“Ha, Ha. Seriously, what about the damaged mosaics, can you see anything of me?”
“A bit boss, maybe. Just try to keep your right side away from people, and that should be okay. Oh, and we’ve been in and turned off the security cameras. The manager didn’t like that very much, but I told him it was for reasons of national security.”
“Okay. So now, we’ll just wait until the paymaster’s Lackey turns up. Remember, the transaction must go smoothly. Don’t interfere unless Judith’s in danger.”
“Ok. You’d better get going, boss. It’s nearly one o’clock and you don’t want to miss the party.”
Then, Barry’s voice was heard, as it came through their comms. “Michael, there’s an unregistered drone coming in.”
This time, Michael answered, as he headed up Culvers car park towards the snack bar end of the restaurant.
“Ok. Don’t do anything, just let it come in. Make sure we track it back to its origin.
Michael checked that the stealth cloak was still covering him. He was a little nervous, as the last time he’d used it had almost ended in disaster when the cloak’s power cell started fluctuating.
He double-checked it thoroughly, feeling where the faulty mosaics were located. These were similar to ordinary tiles, except they had a much rougher surface.
“Don’t forget you’v
e only got twenty-five minutes’ tops before the cloaking deteriorates and you may be able to be seen.”
“Yes, alright. I know that.” Michael nervously replied.
He entered the eating area, walking slowly and carefully, so as not to create a draught, bump into anyone, or touch anything.
He could see Barry and Erica sitting at a table at the far end of the room. They looked like a couple of lovers sitting close together eating their burgers.
Judith, he could see, was sitting at a table on her own by a window that overlooked the car park.
Then Michael saw a drone, less than a metre wide, come to a halt above Judith’s table. He was surprised by this, having expected to see the paymaster. So, needed to get close enough to hear what was being said. Then stopped about two metres away just in case the drone had electrostatic-field sensors.
Then, he heard a voice say, “Good day Judith.”
The voice appeared to be coming from the drone, and, even though the voice sounded artificial, Michael assumed it was the paymaster’s voice.
“I see that you have my item.”
“Of course. Have I ever let you down?”
There was a pause as if the drone’s controller was checking Judith’s records.
“It seems not. Give it to the drone to be verified.”
She did as he the voice instructed, holding the book up and towards the drone.
The drone took it, using its multi-tasking manipulator arms. Then opened several pages and scanned them.
It hovered silently for a few moments before its operator spoke again.
“You have done well again, Judith,” it said, and then the drone turned to go.
“Wait! What about my remuneration?”
The drone stopped. “Judith, have we ever reneged on payment to you?”
“Sorry, no not that I can remember. But times are hard nowadays.”
“My dear, relax. The payment is already in your account. Good day.”
Acarea. A Triumph or Disaster? (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 5): A Novel by Gerry A. Saunders (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy) Page 12
