by E. R. Torre
Laverna hurried along.
When she reached terminal MN5, Laverna found a broad, large area littered with hundreds of empty seats.
The walls surrounding it were made of clear tinsel glass and revealed the Starport’s outer landing pads.
Laverna searched for people in the waiting area but found no one. She switched her attention to the landing pads and looked for any shuttle waiting to depart. She found none.
“Damn,” Laverna muttered.
She moved to the next terminal waiting area. It, along with their landing pads, was also empty.
At a crosswalk Laverna found another small information panel. It was barely functional but what information was displayed on it was different from what she read previously. On this panel, no shuttle arrivals or departures were scheduled.
Laverna swore. Was it possible Carson already arrived and his shuttle left?
Laverna continued following the footprints. She passed through three more Terminal waiting areas, neither of which had passengers or shuttles, while moving in a very large circle within and around the Starport. Soon, she neared the entry she originally came in through. It was there, only a couple of sections from that entry, that she found two men working on a burnt out information panel.
“Hello?” she called out.
“Yes ma’am?” the older of the two men said. He removed the panel’s glass surface and set in on the ground. His partner went to work dismantling the machinery within.
“I’m looking for a shuttle,” she said.
“Sorry ma’am, there’s nothing scheduled to arrive for another couple of months, if not more.”
“What about earlier today?” Laverna asked. “Were there any shuttles here?”
“The last one I remember came ‘bout a month and a half ago,” the younger mechanic said. “We’re getting very few of them nowadays. Very few.”
“A guy told me he was catching a flight today,” Laverna said. “He might have been wrong about that but maybe he came here anyway. You saw anyone round these parts today?”
“Can’t say I have,” the elderly mechanic said. “What about you, Bill?”
“What did this fellow look like?” the younger mechanic asked.
Laverna thought about that.
“He was,” she began and stopped. Her memories of Carson proved surprisingly hazy. It was as if he had suddenly become a faint memory. “He was in his mid to late forties and had… his hair was… brown. No, gray. He was a scavenger, like me.”
“Contrary to popular opinion, not all you scavengers look alike,” the old man said and smiled. When he realized his joke hadn’t gone over well, the smile faded away and he quickly added: “Sorry, ma’am. I haven’t seen anyone like that.”
“How about anyone else? Anyone at all?”
“Ain’t seen no one round here but you.”
Laverna bit her lip and frowned.
“But he said he’d be here…”
The elderly mechanic reached for a grimy cloth and used it to clean his greasy hands.
“I believe you ma’am, but that don’t change the facts. We haven’t seen anyone other than you today and haven’t seen a shuttle in much longer than that.”
Laverna nodded.
“Thanks,” she said.
She left the Starport.
When she stepped outside, Laverna heard the whine of an approaching hovercycle. She hurried down the steps leading to the Starport’s parking lot and to her vehicle and was about to give chase after the vehicle but stopped.
The hovercycle’s engine ran at a higher, more ragged pitch than Carson’s vehicle.
It isn’t you.
Laverna clicked off the hovercycle’s security system and reached for her helmet. Though she knew the approaching vehicle wasn’t Carson’s, she nonetheless stared down the street. Those sitting on a porch of a residential building across from the Starport craned their necks north. They too were curious to see who was coming their way.
When nothing’s going on, the ordinary becomes extraordinary, Laverna thought.
In the far distance just beyond the city’s limits appeared a small sand cloud. It grew. Soon, a metallic shell glimmered in the sun. The hovercycle passed along Main Street and through the space between the Starport’s parking lot and the Residential building. Its driver, a burly man with a dusty beard, waved at his audience and headed in the direction of the Credit Exchange.
He was alone and not part of any caravan yet had an overstuffed saddlebag strapped to the cycle’s side.
From the exchange it’s off to the bar, Laverna was certain.
“How about you do the same,” she told herself.
Laverna mounted her hovercycle and turned it on.
30
Laverna drove down Bordertown’s main road and stopped before the Credit Exchange. Next to it was the Vehicle Charging Station. They could fix or, in the most expensive case, replace her hovercycle’s power cell but Laverna first needed to get money to do that from the Credit Exchange.
The Credit Exchange was one of the largest buildings in the city that wasn’t part of the Starport. Its five stories were filled top to bottom with scavenged items. Its entry was heavily fortified and, at one point, well-guarded. Now there was only one Security Guard stationed just inside the very heavy metallic door. He yawned as Laverna parked her hovercycle and dismounted.
Laverna expected to find the hovercycle she saw pass the Starport moments before in front of the building but it was not there. The Credit Exchange’s parking was completely empty.
Laverna didn’t dwell on that. She took one of the Exchange’s complimentary carts and used it to load her items before heading into the building itself. The Security Guard nodded as she passed by him. When she was halfway through the door, he closed his eyes.
“Pleasant dreams,” he said.
“Likewise,” Laverna said. By then, he was snoring.
Inside the Exchange’s lobby was a large metallic counter split into a series of smaller stations. Arnold, an elderly man known for his soft spoken voice, manned the station to the left of the entrance. He offered fair exchanges and Laverna was most comfortable dealing with him. She approached Arnold’s station and leaned against the glass separating client from employee.
“Got quite a bit today,” Arnold said.
He stepped from behind his glass booth and past the security door separating clients from workers. He approached Laverna’s cart and sorted through her items.
“This stuff isn’t bad,” he said. “Are you retiring?”
“I wish.”
“Then why are you getting rid of all this perfectly good gear?”
“It wasn’t mine,” Laverna said. “It was given to me by someone who is on his way out.”
“A scavenger just gave this to you?” Arnold said, a hint of suspicion on his voice.
Laverna understood Arnold’s concern. She said:
“You know me. I got it legitimately.”
“May I ask who gave it to you?”
“Of course. It was Carson.”
Arnold frowned.
“Carson?”
“Yeah. He’s got a stake near mine, out by Bentley’s creek.”
Arnold shook his head.
“I don’t remem—”
He paused. His eyes lit up.
“Wait, Alex Carson?”
“Yeah.”
“Haven’t seen him in a long time. Must be doing fine.”
“Better than me, anyway,” Laverna said. “Came by my place last night and unloaded. Said he was taking a flight and didn’t need it anymore.”
“He had enough money for a trip out?”
“That’s what he said. I figure he hit the motherlode but I imagine you’d know better than I. He must have come in with some good shit.”
Arnold shook his head.
“As I said, last time I saw him was a while ago. At least a couple months.”
“It had to be sooner than that,” Laverna said.
<
br /> “No. And if memory serves, that last time he didn’t carry all that much with him.”
“He must have,” Laverna said. “How else would he pay for a trip and still give me this gear?”
The dealer shrugged.
“Maybe he come by while I wasn’t around.”
Laverna nodded. Another staffer, almost completely hidden in the shadows, cleared her throat. Cobwebs near her moved in rhythm to the air conditioner’s breeze.
“If he didn’t bring stuff here, where else could Carson have gotten the credits to pay for a flight out?” Laverna asked.
“When’s the flight scheduled?”
“He said it was for today,” Laverna said. She raised her hands and nodded. “I know, I know: There’s no flights scheduled. I just came from the Starport and they told me so.”
Arnold rubbed his chin.
“You’re thinking this through?” he said. “Carson gives you all his belongings and tells you he’s catching a flight that doesn’t exist. He wouldn’t be—”
“Don’t say it.”
“Come on, Laverna, don’t ignore what’s right in front of your eyes,” Arnold said. “Are you sure he’s OK? Did Carson look like he was… like he was having problems? Like maybe he might be at his wit’s end? It’s happened to more people than I care to admit.”
“He looked fine,” Laverna said. “If anything, he seemed happy.”
“I’ve known some real happy people who told me things couldn’t be better before taking a long walk out into the desert. Some of these folks’ bodies were turned up.”
“He wasn’t like that,” Laverna insisted. She pulled out the Governmental Recorder. “I never received any alerts about him so he must have checked in regularly. Hades, yesterday he and I were standing as close as you and I are today. He was not suicidal.”
“Yet he got rid of all his stuff.”
“Check his records,” Laverna said. She suddenly felt a fear for him. “Let me see if he made enough to—”
Arnold held his hand up.
“You know we don’t give out specific financial information,” he said. “You wouldn’t want other scavengers to know your business.”
“You don’t have to give me exact numbers,” Laverna said. “Just check to see if he had enough to catch a flight out like he told me he did.”
“By doing that I’ll give you an idea of how much he has.”
Laverna leaned in closer to Arnold.
“Look, maybe you’re right,” Laverna said. “Maybe I misread Carson and he’s in trouble. If he is, I have to know. There might be a chance I can help him.”
The frown remained on Arnold’s face.
“I have Carson’s supplies,” Laverna said. “I’ve admitted as much. You’ve know me and you know I wouldn’t steal them. Carson did right by me but I can’t take all this if it was… if it was a way for him to lose himself. Please, check. Tell me if it’s possible he had the means to get out of here. If he didn’t, then I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll head back tomorrow early, the Demons be damned.”
Arnold’s eyes shifted from Laverna to the other clerk. Finally, he sighed and whispered:
“Stay here.”
Arnold walked behind the security glass and clicked it back into place. He tapped his computer and checked its data. When he was done, he shut the computer off and whispered to Laverna through the safety glass.
“Like I said before, last time he brought in merchandise was a few months ago. I got no records of him bringing in anything since.”
Laverna was about to say something but Arnold raised his finger to stop her.
“Our records are straight. The Holy See’s Accountants make sure of that. If there was even a hint we were hiding transactions, we’d be up on charges so damned fast—”
“If Carson didn’t make anything from scavenging for the past few months, then where did he get the money to survive, much less book a flight out?”
“There are other ways of making money, Laverna,” Arnold said. “Less honest ways.”
Laverna shook her head.
“Hades, I’m telling you more than I should,” Arnold said. “Look, he didn’t bring in enough to pay for even a couple of months’ supplies much less a flight out of here. I’m surprised he wasn’t flagged as a risk. Either he found some underground way of making money or he… he fell out of the system. Maybe both. You sure he looked fine the last time you saw him?”
“Yeah,” Laverna said.
“I don’t know what else to tell you. You might want to check Bordertown’s Central Database. Maybe they did send out alerts but you never got them.”
Arnold checked his watch.
“Unfortunately, you’ll have to do that tomorrow. They close early on holidays.”
“Today’s a holiday?” Laverna said.
“Yeah,” Arnold said and smiled. “Independence Day.”
“Independence from what?”
“Hades if I know,” Arnold said.
Arnold grabbed a notebook and scribbled some numbers on a paper before tearing them out. He handed the paper to Laverna.
“That’s what we can offer for the gear.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah,” Arnold said.
“I guess I’ll take it,” Laverna said.
Arnold shook his head.
“You’re not going to haggle?” Arnold said. “You must really be worried.”
“I guess so.”
Arnold pulled open a drawer and slid credit chips under the safety glass. Laverna took the chips and found there were more than what Arnold offered.
“What’s this?”
“A fairer amount,” Arnold said and winked. “For what it’s worth, I hope you find him.”
“Thanks,” Laverna replied.
She walked to the Exchange exit but paused for a moment to take one last look at Carson’s gear.
Afterwards, she left.
31
Outside the Credit Exchange, the last of the day’s sunlight disappeared under a dusty haze.
Few people were out and about. Those that were floated like ghosts in the near empty streets. They appeared to be going nowhere and doing nothing and Laverna wasn’t all that different from them.
She mounted her hovercycle and hit the ignition.
As the engine roared to life, she considered her next move.
Carson wasn’t in his camp. If he’s holed out somewhere in the desert, there’s no chance to get back there tonight and search for him.
Laverna thought some more.
He wasn’t hungry and he wanted to get rid of all his stuff. Was he lying about the shuttle? Could he be suicidal? Did he find another way to make cash?
Laverna straighten up in her seat.
He wasn’t suicidal. He just wasn’t. Which means he’s figured out another way of making money. He’s smuggling. Maybe drug running. Either way, he wouldn’t use the Starport. His people would land on the far side of the planet, away from all sensors…
The pieces fit too well.
“Bastard,” Laverna said aloud.
Just how well did you really know him?
“Not at all,” Laverna muttered. She shook her head.
In the far distance she made out the lights of the Max’s Bar and realized she was damned thirsty and had more than enough money to do something about it.
She glanced at the Power Cell Station across the street. It was closed.
I’ll take care of that tomorrow, Laverna thought. Then I’ll look into Carson. I hope it’s worth my time.
She aimed her hovercycle down the street and took off.
Laverna parked outside Max’s Bar and shut her hovercycle off.
Its engine coughed and sputtered as it died.
Laverna wasn’t surprised she didn’t see Carson’s hovercycle parked there.
You’re not in Bordertown, are you? she thought. You never were coming here. Just getting rid of some worthless shit and then going out to do whate
ver it is you’re doing…
Laverna removed her helmet, jacket, and gloves. She put the jacket and gloves into her saddlebag and laid the helmet on her seat before getting off the hovercycle.
She spit.
Anger was building inside her, all of it directed at Carson.
How dare he make her care for him? Whether he was a drug runner, a smuggler, or about to end his life, how dare he come into her life and leave her hanging like this?
I really need to blow off some steam, she thought.
Laverna activated the hovercycle’s security.
She headed into the bar.
Laverna walked into the nearly deserted watering hole and allowed a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim surroundings.
Even by Bordertown’s loose standards for crowds, the place was deserted.
A couple huddled by the bar’s counter while a man sat alone in the shadows and behind one of the tables. She recognized the three as fellow scavengers. It didn’t surprise her at all to find Carson wasn’t there.
“Hey there, Laverna!” the man behind the bar’s counter said.
Laverna smiled. The man greeting her was Max, the bar’s owner.
“Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Three weeks,” Laverna said.
“That’s it? Seemed longer.”
“It’s been said time’s elastic round these parts,” Laverna said.
“How’s work?”
“Hard as shit and the pay sucks. Otherwise, fantastic.”
“At least there’s pay, right?” Max said. “Other than the need to drown your sorrows with my oh-so-fine line of booze, what brings you back to these parts so quick?”
Laverna hesitated a moment before saying:
“I’m looking for a scavenger named Carson.”
“Carson?” Max said. “I don’t know—”
“By the Gods, not you too!”
“What?”
“You don’t remember him either?”
“Either?”
“Long story,” Laverna said. “Come on, Max. Carson. The guy with the stake right fucking next to mine.”
