The Ship Finder

by John Bluck

  They walked half a block and crossed the street. There were two gray statues of lions on either side of the market's entrance, and a brick façade bordered the entryway. An orange and yellow sign that hung above read, "Maunakea Marketplace." They walked under the marker and into an outdoor area of shops that included many kinds of goods.

  Wilson saw a surveillance camera above and to the left of the walkway. On the right, colorful beach umbrellas were on display. Lots of Chinatown residents and tourists jammed the wide blacktopped area between the shops when Wilson and Lena entered the patio-like area.

  At the far end of the space, he saw the market's rear entrance. Near it were a few cabs stopped at the curb.

  "Look ahead," Wilson said, nodding towards the taxis.

  "We shouldn't arrive at the airport too soon," Lena said. "Let's look in some of the shops. I don't think the police will spot us."

  At that moment, a policeman walked out of a shop accompanied by another man in a sports coat and slacks.

  "I think the inspector who was at the tattoo shop is next to that patrolman," Wilson said under his breath. "Just ignore them."

  "Okay, but I've got my hand on my laser pistol," Lena said. "I hope yours is set on shock like mine is."

  "Yep," he replied.

  The inspector and the uniformed policeman approached and looked at the faces of people in the crowd. The two cops glanced at Wilson and Lena but did not recognize them.

  "Good thing they put in those high definition TV cameras in the bushes at Waimanalo Beach," the inspector said as he passed Wilson and Lena.

  "Yeah," the uniformed officer said, his voice trailing off as he passed by.

  "These disguises worked," Lena said. "But we better not stay here. What's that beach he mentioned?"

  "Rachel had to deliver some diamonds to a Sunevian courier, and the cops closed in," Wilson said. "I think they had set a trap for drug dealers, but caught the courier instead. We just barely got away. I'll tell you about it later."

  "You should have told us about that last night," Lena said, frowning.

  They passed a small fruit market shaded by green beach umbrellas. There were bananas, pineapples, apples, oranges, and various kinds of tropical fruits that Wilson couldn't identify.

  "Let's go to the cabs, but not too fast," he said. Then he spotted two more officers who were chatting with the cabbies. "Wait. See those two cops?"

  "We'd better duck in that fish market," Lena said, and she grabbed his arm. They moved towards an area with small seafood stands. "One of the cops is from the back alley behind the tattoo shop. Let's wait until they leave."

  "Better safe than sorry," Wilson said, as they walked directly towards the fish market but moved slowly enough so as not to attract attention.

  Wilson smelled fish as the two neared the seafood bazaar. When they went in the market, he saw a stainless steel produce display, a tub eight feet long filled with ice and fish. On the left-hand side of the display were large, bright green fish. A sign behind them read, "6.50." Next to them were much smaller orange fish. A sign there advised, "We clean, $3.85." The tub also had silver-striped and yellow fish.

  "Let's buy a few," Wilson said. "If the police see us with fish packages, we might look more like the locals."

  "Okay," said Lena.

  He scanned the seafood arcade. There were arch-covered sections where different merchants hawked food from the ocean, mainly a sundry collection of fish. It seemed like a tropical aquarium, but these fish were big. A brownish fish was labeled, "Island Kalikali."

  "I've never seen so many kinds of fish together except at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California," Wilson said.

  "They're beautiful," said Lena. "Too bad they're food."

  He looked behind the stainless steel tub of fish and spotted a rear entrance. Sunshine streamed through the upper glass windows of two swinging doors. Because they were covered with dull, white paint, the bottoms of the two doors were smudged. Apparently workers had pushed them open with their muddy shoes while they carried boxes.

  "That's our way out," Wilson said, nodding in the direction of the doors. He saw that there was plenty of room in front of the doorway, though there were stacks of picnic coolers nearby that probably contained more iced fish. Also, a soda vending machine stood to the right of the exit.

  "We could buy a soda and go out the door. No one would think it unusual," Lena said.

  Wilson's mobile phone rang. "It's Raven," he told Lena after he saw Raven's name appear on the phone's display. Wilson took the call, and Lena put her head next to his. "You're here early, Richard," Wilson said.

  "We heisted a lot of gold, tons of it," Raven said. "We need to take it back to Sunev right away."

  "I saw a TV news report that people had broken into Ft. Knox," Wilson said. "The newsman said that only about a ton was missing."

  "I'm sure they put out false info because a bigger loss would have seemed impossible," Raven said. "We tracked you to Chinatown with your cell phone signal. Is Rachel with you?"

  "Yes, she has her ear to the phone."

  "Hi, Rachel," Raven said.

  "Hello, Richard."

  "We'll talk more when we get you both on board The Ghost Liner," Raven said. "We'll create a shed illusion in the alley behind the fish market. You can enter the ship there."

  "It may not be that simple, Richard," Wilson said. "The police are after us because the cops most likely arrested the courier after Rachel gave him the briefcase. We barely got away."

  "Use your ship finders to zero in on the shed," Raven said. "Yarnell and I will enter the fish market. The authorities won't recognize us."

  "By the way, we've disguised ourselves," Wilson said. "I have a blond wig, goatee, and mustache. Lena has a long black wig."

  "Lena?" Raven asked.

  Wilson felt a chill, and he cleared his throat. "They do look alike," he said.

  "I think you've certainly taken Lena's place, Rachel," Raven said, chortling.

  "Sorry, Rachel," Wilson said. "We'll see you soon, Richard."

  "Roberto and I will be there in a flash. Bye, folks," Raven said, and he hung up.

  "Look!" Lena whispered. Two uniformed policemen were approaching with their eyes locked on Wilson and Lena.

  "Let's take the back exit," Wilson said. They turned left to go around the stainless steel seafood display, but Wilson knocked down a bright orange cone marker near the end of the fish counter and tripped.

  Lena grabbed for his torso, to try to stop his fall. Instead, both of them fell next to the blue cinder block wall. So much for buying a soda and slipping out of the market unnoticed, Wilson thought.

  They scrambled to get up as the police closed in. Wilson saw Raven's thin, skinny form. His eyes had a wild look, and his crooked smile appeared as he raised his odd gun and fired a shock ray at the lead policeman. The ray was light blue, not the dark blue of a kill ray, and the cop fell stunned, not dead. The second officer drew his pistol.

  Women in the crowd screamed, and people tussled to leave the fish market. A man slipped, and two other men stepped on him and stumbled as they escaped.

  The second cop pivoted to take aim at Raven, but Yarnell had a bead on the policeman. Yarnell fired. His light blue shock ray found its mark. The second cop fell like a big bag of flour.

  Lena and Wilson slammed through the rear swinging doors into the alley. Most of the people who had been in the market had run away. Raven and Yarnell banged through the rear door seconds later.

  "It's the shack past the next dumpster," yelled Raven.

  Wilson reached the shack door first. He opened it, and he and Lena stepped into the safety of The Ghost Liner. A moment later Raven and Yarnell joined them.

  "That was a close call," said Wilson.

  "Yeah, and we've got to get out of here now," said Raven as he slammed the door. "We need to get the gold back to Sunev and get ready for the water raid."

  They jogged to the transfer area and took their seats for the jum
p to Sunev. Lena pulled off her black wig and tossed it next to her flight chair. At the same time, Wilson opened his bottle of spirit gum solvent and began to take off his false mustache and beard.

  Chapter 31 – Precious Cargo

  Wilson felt The Ghost Liner vibrate more than it usually did. Raven was pushing the ship to go faster to the dimension that contained his home planet, Sunev. Wilson figured that the Sunevians were desperate to build more ships. The Ghost Liner's precious cargo of tons of gold that Raven and Yarnell had stolen from Fort Knox would enable the aliens to construct not only more ships, but fusion engines for many other kinds of machines

  The Ghost Liner returned to a large island on planet Sunev. This landmass is in the middle of the Great Ocean, equal to where the Hawaiian Islands are on Earth.

  "Another good jump," said Raven, glancing at Wilson and Lena. A crooked grin formed on his face.

  "How long will the air flight to the capital be?" Wilson asked.

  "About two hours because of a strong jet stream," Raven said. He set the ship's controls to auto-fly to First City where the Great Leader ruled and resided. Raven pushed a button, and The Ghost Liner's fusion rockets fired. The spurt of power that propelled the ship into the sky pressed Wilson back into his flight couch.

  "You're quiet, Rachel," Raven said. He swiveled his flight chair in the direction of Lena. "You were quite cheery when we dropped you off in Hawaii."

  "I'm just a little down because now we have to go back to the war," said Lena, who now played the role of Rachel. "I'll be glad when the mission to destroy the cyborg water supply is finished and when the war is won."

  Lena's Scandinavian-like accent is a bit less evident than Rachel's, Wilson noticed. I hope Raven doesn't hear the difference. They spoke English, for Wilson's benefit. Raven doesn't notice because he isn't a native English speaker, Wilson decided.

  Raven paused a moment and seemed to stare deep into Lena's eyes like he was trying to read her thoughts. "After we drop off the gold, the next mission won't be bad," he said. "It'll be a sneak attack. We'll go in fast and plant fusion bombs at the water reservoir walls, the desalination plants, the sewage treatment plant, and maybe even under the city. It'll take a day. We'll be disguised as workers. It'll be easy."

  "I'll feel better when it's done," Lena said.

  "Take a nap, Rachel. Then you'll be refreshed," said Raven.

  "Okay," said Lena, who seemed to tire of playing the role of Rachel. Lena moved a lever on her flight couch and tilted it back. She pulled out a blanket stowed beneath her seat, draped it around herself, and nodded off.

  "Here, Bill," Raven said, and he handed Wilson a thin notebook. "Look at the mission plan. The maps are good."

  "Thanks," Wilson said. He studied the simple plan of where the explosives were to be planted, but soon he was dozing, too. In his dream he swam in the ocean near Oahu, and then lay on the warm sand of Waikiki Beach. Raven shook his arm. It took a second for Wilson to recognize that he was back on The Ghost Liner. Raven had changed into a suit and tie.

  "The plan bores you, doesn't it?" said Raven, and he chuckled. His face showed his crooked smile, and his long, gray hair hung down.

  He's happy because he and Yarnell will soon turn in tons of gold for the war effort, thought Wilson. "The plan seems straight forward enough," replied Wilson. "How close are we to the spaceport?"

  "We're in descent," said Raven. He punched a button and took manual control of The Ghost Liner, which now flew like an airliner. "It's good for me to keep in practice."

  In a few minutes The Ghost Liner taxied to a stop on the tarmac in front of its hangar. A large cargo truck sat nearby.

  "Bring the truck to the cargo hold," Raven commanded over the radio, and a truck driver moved his vehicle next to the ship. Crewmen opened a side door of The Ghost Liner and pulled out a conveyor belt. Wilson gazed out a window as the ground crew unloaded gold bars in small wooden crates, which didn't have tops. The yellow metal shone in the sunshine.

  Five black limousines with flashing blue lights pulled up next to the ship. Security men hopped off the running boards of each big auto and took defensive positions to form a protective path from one of the limos to The Ghost Liner's stairway.

  "What's up?" Wilson asked.

  "I got a dispatch during our flight that the Great Leader would be here while the gold is unloaded," said Raven, beaming. Standing nearby and dressed in a sports jacket and a bow tie, Yarnell also looked very happy.

  "That's good news," Wilson said.

  "Surprised?" Raven asked.

  "A little," said Wilson. He stood, smoothed his clothes with his hand, and nudged Lena. She awoke. "Are we at base?"

  "Yes, the Great Leader is here to congratulate Raven and Yarnell for getting the gold," Wilson said.

  "Raven should have warned us," Lena whispered. "I would have liked to have brushed my hair." She unsnapped her brown purse and stroked her hair three times with a brush. Just as Lena put it back in her purse, the white-haired Great Leader came into the flight section and walked directly to Raven and Yarnell.

  "I've come here to applaud you two for your bravery and spunk," the Leader said. His wrinkled face was flushed as if he had been drinking, but he spoke without a slur. "I also wish you and the rest of The Ghost Liner crew good luck in your mission to Emor, the enemy's stronghold. Be safe. I look forward to your return when we will hold a victory dinner."

  The Leader shook hands with Raven and Yarnell. He patted their backs, and then he turned to Wilson.

  "Dr. Wilson, I'm glad you and Rachel get along well, according to what I hear. I'm so sorry that Lena did some things she shouldn't have done. Don't worry, we'll rehabilitate her. After this nasty war is over, I plan to grant amnesty to as many people as I can." He hugged Wilson and slapped him on the back.

  "Thank you," Wilson said. He had to remind himself that the Great Leader was a dictator and that his government was a police state. He must know that Lena has escaped, Wilson deduced. Or had his underlings withheld that information from him for fear of his anger?

  The Great Leader turned to Lena. "Rachel, I've heard so much about you. It must be hard to take the place of another person on a battleship."

  "It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be," said Lena with a perky look. Wilson thought she was making an extra effort to be upbeat.

  "Let's sit for a moment," the Leader said as he put his hand on Lena's waist and began to lead her to a couch at the other end of the flight section.

  Wilson couldn't hear what they said, but he saw that both the dictator and Lena smiled and laughed. In a few minutes, they stood. He shook hands with her and kissed her cheek.

  As the dictator walked to Raven, Yarnell, and Wilson, he said, "Sorry that I have to leave. Again, I wish you the best of luck on the Triod mission. I hope to spend more time with you and the rest of your crew after you return." He winked at Raven, turned, and marched off the ship. Soon, his motorcade sped away.

  The crew scrambled to prepare for the jump to the enemy capital on Triod.

  Chapter 32 – An Improvised Plan

  "Attention, people, we'll take a twenty-minute meal break before we jump to Triod," said Raven over the ship intercom. "We won't have much time to eat after the mission starts."

  The mess sergeant and two assistants walked towards Raven. "We're already serving instant rations to some troopers, and the rest will be ready to serve in the next seven minutes," the sergeant said.

  Lena clutched Wilson's arm, and he turned to look into her hazel green eyes. "Let's move to the corner and talk," she said. She glanced at an alcove near a cloak room.

  Wilson nodded, and they moved away from groups of people who milled about. A few soldiers had already eaten their meals, but most of the crew had gathered in the common area where some played darts and others amused themselves by playing billiards in between bites of food.

  When Lena and Wilson got to the alcove, he asked her, "What's up?"

  "You read
Raven's plan. What's the crew supposed to do after we arrive on planet Triod, but before we get off the ship?"

  "Those officers who don't know much about the mission will go to a thirty-minute briefing in Raven's office," Wilson replied. "The rest of the enlisted crew will get an update in the common area. Most officers, to include us, will have twenty minutes to rest before the mission. I told Raven I'd fill you in."

  "Good," Lena said. "We can go into the armory while the armorers are in the briefing. Then I'll set three fusion bombs so my radio signal can detonate them when the time is right. I can command The Ghost Liner to uncloak either from the ship's computer or from my ship finder."

  "How do you know that the armorers won't issue the three armed bombs to the assault troops to use on Emor City's waterworks?" Wilson asked.

  "We have twice as many fusion bombs on board as Raven's raiders need," she said. "The armorers put the newest bombs in the back of the storage area. They always hand out the older bombs first. I'll arm the newest bombs. Each has a date stamp."

  "What's my job?"

  "You keep a lookout while I'm in the armory," Lena said. "If anybody comes, warn me with this pager." She handed Wilson a small black box and showed him how to unlock its red button so he could push it. As he was putting the device in his pants pocket, the final meal bell rang to call the rest of the crew to the mess hall.

  "We'd better go," Wilson said.

  The crew filed into the mess hall, some carrying food and drinks. Those who didn't already have their rations, picked up warm combat meals wrapped in aluminum foil, and sat at long tables.

  Wilson and Lena sat near the main exit where they hoped to continue to plot their unauthorized entry into the armory, but Yarnell joined them.

  "How are you two doing?" he asked, as he ripped open his meal package and took out his warm sandwich.

  "I need to mentally prepare for this mission," Lena replied in a slightly thicker Scandinavian-like accent. She sipped coffee from a paper cup.

  "I know you aren't experienced in combat, Rachel," Yarnell said. "Stick with Bill. He's proved himself to be very calm under fire. It won't be hard. We'll sneak in and plant the explosives, and the enemy shouldn't see us."