Stellar Ranger

by Steve Perry

  “Leave us.”

  Lobang left the room, closing the door carefully behind him.

  Tuluk looked at the girl. Quite beautiful.

  “Take off your clothes,” he said.

  * * *

  Cinch pushed the constable’s hopper for all it was worth, heading for Gus Kohl’s ranch. He was going to need help and that was the only place he was likely to find any he could trust.

  He called ahead so Kohl’s men wouldn’t shoot him down.

  When he arrived at the ranch, Kohl, wearing a holstered handgun and carrying an antique bolt-action hunting rifle–a thing of stainless steel with a wood stock–met him before he got two meters from the hopper.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “Tuluk has Wanita and Pan and some of the raj, as well as the dope dealer’s boyfriend. And he’s got Baji, too.”

  “Damn!” The old man shook his head. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to go and pry them out.”

  “That’s not the best way, Gus.”

  “Son, if I let anything happen to Baji without doing something about it, I wouldn’t ever be able to pass a mirror again.”

  Cinch took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  “Baji isn’t in any danger,” he said. “It’s the others I’m worried about.”

  “I don’t follow you.”

  Cinch sighed.

  * * *

  Tuluk had lowered the chair’s arms along with his own pants and now the naked woman sat straddling his lap, moving up and down on him slowly.

  She giggled and kissed the top of his head.

  Tuluk smiled in return, looking up at those young and perfect breasts bobbing up and down.

  “Can I have some of the stuff?” she asked, continuing her ride.

  “In a little while. We don’t want to get too active in here.” He nodded at the closed door. “The game isn’t quite over. We may need them to think you’re one of them yet.”

  “They don’t suspect a thing,” Baji said. “Pan, poor Pan, he thinks I love him. After one session in bed, he would do anything I asked him.”

  “I can understand that. He’s a hot-blooded young man.” He leaned back and enjoyed the wet friction. Ah.

  “He’s just a kid. Not like you, Manny.”

  Tuluk smiled again. He didn’t allow anybody to call him that, but given the current ... connection, he let it pass.

  She leaned back and little and forced him deeper into her, raising her feet to prop them on the sides of his hips and holding onto the chair’s back to give herself better leverage. She moaned a little.

  Together they made little squishy, slurpy sounds. Getting a little faster now.

  She wanted the chem. How much of her passion was faked at the moment he couldn’t tell, but she would do anything for more of the drug that made the passion totally real. He had already decided that when this was all over with, he was going to keep her. She was too fresh and beautiful to let get away, especially when he had the hold on her he did. Kohl would be gone and Baji’s father was offworld. Besides, she was of legal age, and she did stir him pretty good, even without the drug filling her.

  He gave himself up to the pleasure beginning to build to a release in him.

  * * *

  “I don’t believe it,” Gus Kohl said.

  They had moved into the shade of the porch, but neither Kohl nor Cinch sat.

  “I’m sorry. But it makes sense.”

  “That somebody was passing information to Tuluk, yeah, I can see that. But not Baji. Pan or Wanita or one of the raj, maybe even the dealer’s lover, you didn’t check him out, he could be a plant!”

  Cinch allowed the older man to vent his emotion. But he couldn’t let it go without laying it out as best he could. He said, “I wish it wasn’t so, but there are a lot of little things that add up, now that I think about them. First, I couldn’t go to the fresher around here without Baji asking me when I was going and what I planned to do while I was in there.”

  “Hell, son, curiosity–”

  “Let me finish. Second, it had to be somebody at the tent hideout who called in Tuluk’s men. Nobody followed me from town but the constable found me, in the dark and under camouflage. He couldn’t have done it alone and nobody knew where I was except Pan. And what Pan knew, Baji could have with a smile and a raised eyebrow. He would give his balls to her if she asked him for them.”

  “So Pan–”

  Cinch didn’t let him finish. “I have reason to trust Pan and Wanita, they’ve shown me where they stand. They had the doper’s boyfriend searched pretty carefully and he wasn’t carrying a com or wired for casting. That leaves four or five members of the raj as possibilities, but none of them stood in front of me and told me how sorry I was going to be for crossing them. You were there when Baji did it.”

  “She was pissed off because you wouldn’t sleep with her.”

  “Maybe. And maybe the reason she wanted me to sleep with her wasn’t because I am so damned irresistible, but because she was told to do it. So she could find out what I was up to.”

  Kohl took a deep breath and blew it out. “It still don’t scan, son. Baji wouldn’t go against her own for Tuluk in this bidness.”

  “Maybe you’re right, under normal circumstances. But Tuluk has a stockpile of one of the most potent psychedelic drugs known, a chem people are willing to give big money for, and if they don’t have the mney, have been willing to kill for. It isn’t supposed to be physically addictive, but from what I’ve heard, nobody walks away from it once they’ve tried it. Tuluk could have used it on Baji. I’d be willing to bet he has.”

  “The son of a bitch! I’ll kill him!”

  “I’m inclined to let you do just that. But we have to get the hostages away from him before we can risk it.”

  Kohl sighed again. “Yeah. You got any ideas?”

  “I think so.”

  “Let’s get inside out of the heat and figure it out.”

  Cinch followed Kohl inside. He was glad he was not in the older man’s shoes right at the moment.

  And he wouldn’t want to be in Tuluk’s shoes if Gus Kohl got within rifle range of him, either.

  “I DUNNO, son, it sounds real iffy.”

  Cinch nodded at the older man. They sat in front of the computer console in Kohl’s office, staring at the map floating in the air.

  “No argument here,” Cinch said. “But I don’t see any other choice.”

  Kohl rubbed at his face with one hand.

  Cinch had a pretty good idea of what he was thinking. He said, “If I thought swapping the recordings for the hostages would work, I’d do it and let you shoot Tuluk later. But he can’t let them go. Can’t let them run around, knowing what they know. Or us, either, you and me. Here’s how I see it. I call him and offer to make the trade, he’ll ask for you and me to come alone to meet him somewhere, away from prying eyes. He’ll say he wants to see the recordings first, then he’ll let the hostages go. After he has the infoballs, you and I are past tense.”

  “You think Baji and the others are still alive?”

  “Yes. He’ll figure we won’t want to hand over the information unless we are sure they are. So, just in case we get sneaky and hide the recordings, he’ll keep the prisoners in one piece until he gets his hands on what he wants. He’ll offer to let us com them to make sure they are okay, then he’ll demand the infoballs. Once he is sure they are what they’re supposed to be ... ” Cinch made a throat-cutting gesture with one finger.

  “You’re assuming an awful lot about a man you’ve only met one time.”

  “You have known him for most of your life, Gus. Do you think I’m wrong?”

  The older man shook his head. “No, I think you’re probably right.” He stared into space at nothing. “All right. Call him.”

  * * *


  Tuluk made himself wait until the com’s alert chimed three times before he picked up the transceiver. “Yes?”

  “All right,” the ranger said. “You’ve got a deal.”

  Tuluk smiled. “Wise choice. Here’s the scenario. You will meet me at Three Trees Junction in two hours. Come alone–no, wait, bring Gus Kohl with you, and bring the hardcasts and any copies you might have made.”

  “You’ll bring the hostages?”

  “Don’t be stupid. We won’t have any of those ranger heroics, blazing guns and that kind of crap. My ... guests will be kept in a safe place until I am sure of your end of the deal. If all goes well, they’ll be released.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “Because I have the higher hand and you have no choice.”

  “Where is this Three Trees Junction?”

  “About a hundred kilometers west of my ranch. Check your computer’s map.”

  “Two hours, you said.”

  “That I did. Discom.”

  Tuluk smiled at the com as he cradled it in its recharger. He’d had a few bad moments after the first communication with the ranger, but he was back in control now. Already a dozen men would be nearing Three Trees Junction, which was nothing more than a joining of two surface roads in the middle of nowhere. He chose it because there was a thick stand of evergreens surrounding the clearing that bracketed the crossroads, offering plenty of cover for an ambush. With the hostages tied and guarded here, he and Lobang could collect the recordings and then have Kohl and the ranger deleted at Three Trees and the bodies disposed of there. Several pods of ularsinga were known to foam the area, and they didn’t mind if their meat was dead before they consumed it.

  By the time the rangers got around to sending somebody to look for their missing member, anybody who could point a finger at Tuluk would no longer have the ability to do so.

  While he was glad to be in control once again, there was a certain amount of unhappiness blended in. It should never have gotten to this point. Messy, full of the unpleasant business of having to dispose of all these bodies. It wasn’t the killing that bothered him, but that it had come to the point it was required.

  Ah, well. It would be over soon and he could start with a clean slate. Better that than the alternative.

  “Lobang!”

  “Yeah, boss?”

  “Get the limo.”

  He could have stayed here, even Lobang had suggested that, but he had to be sure the ranger was out of the way and the information he tendered was what it purported to be. Besides, he wanted to see Gustav Kohl depart this world. He should have taken care of that years ago and it was his fault all this had come to pass as it had. He owed the old man that much, to take him out personally.

  Tuluk checked his tangler, saw that it held three fresh charges, and stood.

  As he walked past the room where the hostages were held he pulled the guard on the door aside. “I will call you when it is time. Keep them alive until I tell you.”

  “Yessir.”

  Confident that he had covered all his bets, Tuluk headed for the limo.

  He wished his father were still alive to see him handling this crisis the way he was handling it. The old man had always thought his son was weak, that he would never amount to a dry white dog turd. He’d lived long enough to see the first million stack up in Tuluk’s bank account and that should have been the end of the old man’s carping, but it hadn’t been. Even after he had proved himself, Tuluk’s father wouldn’t let it go. “Making a few coins ain’t the same as keeping ‘em, Manny, You ain’t got the killer instinct. You fold up too fast when things get dilly.”

  He was a millionaire so many times over now he couldn’t spend it all if he changed it into tenth coins and hauled a truckload away every day from now until he died of old age. Even the old man couldn’t miss that, he wasn’t rotting in a jar in a marble tomb. And Manis Tuluk had certainly shown the universe he wasn’t going to fold when a stray breeze blew past.

  No. It was risky, this walk on the high wire, but he was doing it and he was going to make it to the other side, just like he always made it before. It was just too bad the old man wasn’t here to eat his words.

  * * *

  “Think they’ll pass?” Kohl asked.

  Cinch looked at the two men who stood before them. One wore some of the ranger’s clothes and was the right size and coloring. The other was younger than Gus but was tan, had powdered or somehow whitened his hair, and wore the man’s hat. Prom a distance, somebody looking for Cinch and Kohl would probably be fooled, since they wouldn’t be leaving the GE car until it didn’t matter.

  “They’ll do.”

  He said to the two men, “You make sure you arrive at the site exactly on time. You understand how it’s supposed to go down?”

  Both men nodded.

  “All right. Good luck.”

  Cinch turned back to Gus. “All right. Let’s get it moving.”

  Cinch led Gus out behind the garage. The hands had rigged the ranch’s ancient turbine helicopter for the flight. Attached to the struts were two motorcycles. Gus was right, this was iffy, but he didn’t see any way around it. He never considered asking Gus to stay behind. He was past his prime, but Cinch guessed he could still ride a bike or a horse all day and dance all night if it came to that.

  “You want to fly it?” Kohl asked.

  “It’s your bird, you know it better than I do.”

  “All right.”

  The two men climbed into the craft. Cinch wore his stopsuit under his clothes, and Kohl wore his spare vest–he couldn’t get into the shirt or pants or Cinch would have have had him use them. Kohl carried his hunting rifle and Cinch his own antique handgun. If he had to do any shooting it would be at close range, he figured, and speed would be important. He was faster with a pistol than a rifle. What he wished was he wouldn’t have to shoot at all, but he didn’t expect that.

  This was all going to come down to timing. If everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do precisely when they were supposed to do it, he figured he had maybe a 50 percent chance of saving some or all of the hostages. Not real good odds when your life was on the line, but better than the certain alternative.

  The rotor began to spin, the long blade whirling overhead. It was loud, despite the noise dampers in the cab. Dust blew up around them as the copter lifted. Kohl pivoted the bird and angled off toward the west, keeping the craft only a few meters off the ground. Cinch took deep breaths to steady himself, but his pulse was racing to rival the flying copter.

  Death had drawn a line in the dirt with the toe of His boot once again, and it was time to step across the line and see what happened.

  * * *

  “How far?” Tuluk asked.

  “About fifteen klicks. Be there in about five minutes.”

  “Our men are in place?”

  “Yeah, been there for almost an hour now.”

  “Good. They understand that nobody does anything until I give the signal?”

  “They understand. You take off your hat and wipe your forehead with the back of your hand.”

  “Any sign of Kohl and the ranger?”

  “No. We got a watcher hidden on the Lower Lizard Road, that’ll be the way they’ll come, about twenty klicks out from Three Trees. He’Il call when he sees them.”

  Tuluk nodded and stared at the ground passing by. He felt excitement gripping him, turning his bowels fluttery and sending chilly ripples through him. This wasn’t all bad, there was a silver lining to this cloud. It had been awhile since he had felt this way, and he leaned into the feeling. He enjoyed this anticipation, the hunt leading to the kill. He needed to do it more often, he realized. Starting the Twist project had begun making him feel the power again. Killing the drug merchant had further sparked it in him. Having sex with Baji Kohl brought him to it in
another way. Things like that helped to keep a man’s wits sharp, his taste for life fresher. He had been sitting around too much before all this happened, he realized, and getting stale. Resting too comfortably on his wealth.

  Well. No more. He wasn’t that old. It was too early to sit back and watch the cattle graze. He would find other ways to keep the new fire blazing. Whatever it took.

  * * *

  Cinch looked at the copter’s chronometer, then at his own, seeing that they were in synch. Kohl had the little craft zipping along at maybe three meters up, fanning big clouds of dust behind them. The way the wind blew out here, it was likely nobody would notice it, especially this far away.

  “How close?”

  “Getting near the horizon line,” Kohl said.

  “Okay. Stay at least a klick back.”

  Kohl had told Cinch that Tuluk’s house radar was a standard set sold to civilians for nonmilitary uses. In theory, the ground clutter below the horizon should fuzz their image enough so sornebody on a scope wouldn’t be able to resolve it in time. After that, well, they’d have something else to watch and they’d have to be blind to miss.

  “Going to put her down right there,” Kohl said, pointing.

  Cinch nodded.

  Kohl landed the copter. Both men hopped out and began to untie the motorcycles strapped to the landing struts. It only took a minute or so.

  When the bikes were free and moved, Kohl reached back into the copter for his rifle and a flatscreen remote control that had been plugged into the copter’s board. He moved over to stand next to Cinch.

  “Now we wait,” Cinch said.

  * * *