Battlecruiser Alamo: Tales from the Vault

by Richard Tongue

   The crowds thinned again as they passed through the market levels, down to the concourse. Ignoring signs restricting the area to authorized personnel, the pair clambered into the maintenance gantry. They had a great view of the port; all the ships were visible through the transparent floor, but there was as good a view of the Brown Dwarf, bathing the whole area in its eerie purple light.

   “Half an hour. Though I'd expect them to be running late,” Logan started.

   “You expect wrong,” Valeria interrupted.

   She was standing with four others; her boyfriend still standing next to her, and three people who fit the textbook definition of 'toughs'. All of them were armed; Logan took the opportunity to demonstrate the presence of his revolvers.

   “You came a long way to be disappointed,” Valeria said.

   Logan shook his head. “I don't think so. You must be the one who sent that message asking your father for help. He's agreed to pay. Though I presume there isn't much chance of you coming back with me.”

   She laughed. “Not without an army at my back.”

   Anna snorted. “That's not much of an army. I doubt they'd last five minutes against the Imperial Navy. What do you actually want?”

   Valeria looked disparagingly at Anna. “What I want is to be free. Free of tyranny, free of trickery, free to live as I want. And for everyone else to have the same right.”

   Logan shook his head. “This is all getting too philosophical for me. We're here to do a job. Where do you want to go from here?”

   The three toughs pulled out their guns; Logan saw the move and his right hand had a weapon in it before they could aim. Valeria smiled.

   “You could just hand me the data and walk away.”

   Logan sighed, “You must know full well that I would never bring it with me to an obvious ambush point like this.”

   The boyfriend looked nervously at Valeria. “We should search them.” His whisper was loud enough to hear two decks down.

   “I'd like to see you try, kid. Not with a Greeson 45 pointed square at your hairless chest.”

   Valeria looked at the guards, who dropped their weapons down; Logan returned his to his holster.

   “So, how do you want to proceed?”

   Logan started, “Well...”, but was immediately interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps heading down the gantry from the rear. Anna reacted first and sprinted away, with Valeria and her boyfriend in hot pursuit. Logan started down the corridor himself, but a leg from one of the toughs sent him flying to the deck. His arms reached out and grabbed, and his assailant also smashed down to the ground.

   Logan jumped up to his feet, but the arms of the tough were grabbing him by the ankle, pulling him back. Before he could kick away, he saw two figures closing in down the corridor, wearing the gold uniforms of Station Security. Both carrying tasers.

   He felt more embarrassment than pain from the shock.

  Chapter 6

   Logan was wakened the next morning by the rattling of a baton along the bars of his cell. Anna was standing next to a guard, a wide grin on her face; the magnetic locks disengaged with a rattle, and Logan scrambled to his feet, his head pounding.

   “Winter? You're free to go. No charges being filed. But watch yourself.” The guard gave a toothy grin as he passed a bag containing Logan's possessions; the guns were both there, but unloaded. No sign of the bullets. All the money was in his wallet.

   “I'll keep that in mind, officer.” Logan holstered his guns, for the weight if nothing else, and walked out of the guardhouse, Anna by his side.

   “Have a good night's sleep?” she said, laughing.

   “You're having too much fun. What happened?”

   “We all ran out to the concourse, managed to dodge the rest of the guards. It was a set-up. I'd guess that station security has decided that Valeria's getting too high-profile, and are going to try and bring her down.”

   Logan nodded, exacerbating his headache. “And if they tried to grab her in public, her supporters would riot. In private, they'd be able to contain the situation.”

   “I'm sure you can guess what comes next, Logan.”

   “Valeria thinks that we're the ones who set her up.” Logan sighed. “So no more meetings.”

   “I hope you didn't like that bar too much. We're decidedly not welcome.”

   “Let's get back to the ship. And get me something for a headache along the way.”

   Boris and Melissa were waiting, torn between amusement over Logan's misfortune and annoyance that the plans were going awry. They gathered in the lounge; Logan sat at the table, holding a half-empty glass in his hand.

   “What are we going to do now?” Melissa asked.

   “First of all, time to bring you into play. I need you to get a job at O'Riordan's. Find some sort of way in, and keep an eye on what's going on. There's nothing to connect you to Anna or I, so you shouldn't have any trouble.”

   She nodded. Boris looked at her, a concerned look on his face. “You want me to try and make a hook-up?” he said, doubtfully.

   “Won't work. I'm afraid that in order to proceed with snatching Valeria – sorry, I meant rescuing her – we're going to have to find who was working with the security services.”

   Anna raised her eyebrows. “That's not going to be easy. None of us have any contacts, and we're not going to be welcome anywhere on the station where we might get them.”

   Logan looked back. “Think you can remember what those three people looked like? Other than Valeria and the guy who was grabbed with me?”

   “Yes.”

   “So can I. Still got those ten kopeks? I'd bet that one of them was responsible for the sell-out.”

   Melissa looked confused. “Surely it was the one that they grabbed with you?”

   “If it was, then he'd have grabbed Valeria rather than me. No, I think the plan was to take the whole lot of us and work out the details later – with Anna and I in the frame as responsible for the set-up in case there were any repercussions.”

   Boris nodded. “That makes perfect sense. How exactly are you planning to get close to them, though?”

   “Anna and I can go out and do some shopping, and try and pick up the information we need to get close.”

   Melissa left the ship first; Logan and Anna waited a good fifteen minutes to give her a decent head-start before leaving themselves.

   “You think she'll do alright?”

   “All she's got to do is work behind a bar for a few days at most; I'm sure she can manage that.”

   “Where are we going, anyway?”

   “A friendly local electronics shop. I think I remember one from last time.”

   They rode an elevator up a few levels. Logan noted that there was someone with an armband watching them at all times, and made a mental note to stick with the crowds. They emerged into a busy shopping level, crowded with travelers, a dozen languages echoing through the rooms.

   Over the next hour they ducked and weaved into half a dozen shops. Logan's meager profits quickly eaten away as the two of them bought a succession of items to maintain their cover, and they reached the end of the level with a couple of bags filled with forgettable near-junk. No sign of the man, which probably meant that he was good enough to remain hidden, but so far they'd visited every shop.

   The last one had a well-polished sign above it, 'Diego's Electronics'. The two of them ducked in, and Logan strode up to the counter while Anna stayed near the door, browsing a collection of datapads.

   “Can I help you?” The man at the counter was balding, with a dark, swarthy face and a huge, bushy mustache.

   “That depends. I need something a bit special.”

   “No law here, my friend. You can have whatever you want.”

   “I'd rather that no-one knew what I was buying.”

   “Ahh. There will of course be a surcharge for discre
tion.”

   “I expect nothing less. I need half a dozen trackers. Small ones, stealth tags if you've got them.”

   “I think I can manage that.” He reached under the counter and pulled out a box; he unlocked it with the touch of a finger.

   “Stealth tags. Weigh almost nothing, range good for anywhere on the station. I presume you'll need the station blueprints to go with them.”

   “Certainly make it easier. How much for the whole package?”

   “Since you obviously have a desperate and urgent need, two thousand kopeks.”

   Logan looked disdainfully at the box. “I could get this package for four hundred.”

   “Then you are welcome to patronize the obviously superior shop, and I bid you a humble farewell.”

   Sighing, Logan passed over the two thousand kopeks, and slipped the box into his pocket. He gestured at a rack of old movie tapes.

   “Throw in a couple of those as cover, will you?”

   “Certainly. I can recommend absolutely nothing on that shelf to anyone with any critical standards.”

   Logan pulled three of them off at random, dropping them into one of his bags. He took Anna by the arm, and they walked out of the store. Armband was back on their trail as they headed back to the elevator; they managed to slip onto a crowded one just ahead of him, and got off at a habitation level. No-one was around.

   “Now to plant these. Those thugs were wearing technician's uniforms, so they'll probably be on the concourse somewhere.” He handed a pair of the tags to Anna, who nodded.

   “Let's go down.”

   They rode the next elevator down to the starport level, back on the concourse. In a happy coincidence, one of the very people they were looking for was there waiting for them. Unhappily, he had some of his friends with him.

   “Time for you to leave. You aren't wanted round here.”

   Logan sized them up. Four of them, with obviously well-used fists. It would be so tempting to draw his gun at this point, but that wasn't going to give him the opportunity to plant his bug. He looked at Anna, who backed away towards the ship, and stood in their way.

   “I'll leave Khiva when I'm ready. Not before.”

   “We have different ideas.”

   Inside, Logan sighed, but tried not to let it show. “You actually need four people to get rid of me? I'm flattered. Or aren't you up to it?”

   Too easy. The thug loomed towards Logan. This time in a one-on-one he had more of a chance; unencumbered by notions of letting someone else get in the first blow, he dived down and rolled towards the thug's legs, trying to catch him off-balance. The thug turned too slowly, his kick missing Logan's stomach; Logan grabbed the leg with his arm, sending the thug crashing down onto the deck. He feinted with his other arm, as if he had just missed grabbing the thug's belt; but he managed to slip the tag into his back pocket.

   The thug clambered to his feet, and Logan rolled back to his. All four of them now advanced on him menacingly, and the crowd was thinning out to give them room. He was sure that someone was taking bets at the back. He shook his head and drew both guns, going more for effect than substance.

   “Right, this farce is over. I'm bored. Go away.”

   A couple of people in the crowd cheered. The goons looked uncertain; a well-placed shot cracking into the deck at their feet decided them, and they started to back away.

   “This isn't over, mister. Watch your back.”

   Logan dusted himself off, and put his guns back into his holster. Anna stepped back out of the crowd, smiling.

   “Not bad.”

   “Not bad, but not good. That was clumsy.”

   “At least you managed to plant it. You did plant it?”

   “Yes, but I doubt it will count for much. He was either the best actor I've seen in quite a while, or too stupid to sell anyone out. One out of three, anyway. You can do the next one.”

   “I'll need another tag. I ran into Melissa in the crowd; she's got the job, just about to go on shift. I described the boyfriend and the other grunt to her, told her what to do.”

   Logan stretched his arms out down his side, stiffly. “Two to go, then.”

   They walked down the concourse again, the crowd parting slightly to let them past. An hour past uneventfully, while they wandered around attempting to look as if they were trying to get somewhere. Finally they'd drifted into the administrative areas.

   Logan looked at the offices and shorted. “I guess even this paradise of freedom still has some paperwork.”

   Anna pursed her lips, and nodded. “Let's try in there.”

   “What?”

   “The computers are bound to have records of the technicians licensed to work in the station.”

   Logan nodded. The door was open, a couple of bored looking workers sitting at desks entering data with voice readers. Several empty terminals stood in rows along the back of the room. One of the secretaries looked up at him.

   “I'm afraid you aren't allowed in here.”

   “What do you mean? I'm Captain Winter.”

   “I don't care if you are Titania, Queen of the Fairies. You still aren't allowed in here.”

   Logan laughed at the reference, his faked bluster collapsing. Anna was standing at the door, looking out for any of the watchers from earlier; she was having trouble keeping a straight face.

   Pulling out his wallet, he said, “I have authorization right here.” He passed a hundred kopek note to the secretary, who folded it up and placed it in her pocket. She looked at him severely.

   “I'm afraid you'll need at least three more authorization notes for terminal access.”

   Logan shook his head and mumbled under his breath as he passed the remainder of the notes. “Come back in ten minutes. That should be enough.”

   She nodded. “I need to go and get a coffee with my friend, and it seems I'm careless enough to leave my terminal active. Don't do anything permanent.”

   Logan sat at the terminal as the two secretaries headed out towards the coffee bars. Anna closed the door and sat next to him.

   “There's something refreshingly honest about the corruption of these people. Expensive, but refreshing.” Logan started to enter search parameters, with prompting from Anna. Headshots began to appear on the screen, dismissed with the scroll of a button. “Got him.”

   Anna nodded. “Viktor Corbin. Lone wolf; self-employed with a specialization in power systems.”

   “I think the Lucifer Kiss is about to experience a malfunction in the primary power couplings.”

   “We think alike.”

  Chapter 7

   Boris met Viktor at the airlock; Logan and Anna had hidden themselves away in Logan's room, watching the proceedings on the monitors.

   “How did you pick on me?” Viktor asked, holding his hand out for Boris.

   “Don't be offended, but it was a random choice. This is my first visit to Khiva, so I have no prior relationship with an engineering outfit.”

   Viktor gave a guttural laugh. “Any business is good business as far as I'm concerned. Let's take a look at your power couplings.”

   Logan had spent a frustrating half hour damaging the conduits, making sure that it was nothing he couldn't fix just as quickly. Viktor and Boris made their way to the engine room, Boris trying to maintain a distracting conversation.

   Viktor looked at the damage. “This shouldn't take me long to fix.” He pulled out a spot welder, then pointed it at Boris. At that range, it was going to hurt. “No longer than it took someone to damage.”

   Logan stood up, ready to spring into action; Anna looked at the monitor and shook her head.

   “Look, I wasn't completely straight with you. I already hired someone to do some maintenance, and he charged me more than I could afford to do work I didn't need.”

   “Who?”

   Boris quickly tried to remember the name of
another servicing firm, camouflaging it with indecision. The heat of the flame proved a good aid to memory.

   “Manca's. One of their guys. Tall, thin.”

   Viktor nodded. “That's the sort of trick they would pull. Five hundred kopeks and I'll fix it for you.”

   Logan breathed the sigh of relief that Boris had to hide, and sat back down on the bed. Anna passed him a stiff drink, and they watched the engineer get out his repair kit and start to work. Unseen, Boris dropped one of the tags into the toolkit. The damage was repaired in twenty minutes, and Boris passed over the money.

   “If you need any more work doing, you can let me know. If I can't fix it, I work with a few others who can.”

   Boris nodded. “I'll note that for future reference. Can I offer you anything before you go?”

   “No, thank you. Hope to do business with you again. Sorry about before; you can't be too careful.”

   Boris brushed up against him, looking at the repairs; Logan saw him slip the other tag into his jacket pocket and breathed a sigh of relief. Boris quickly ran a sweep of the engine room just in case Viktor had returned to favor. and planted something, then nodded his head at the camera.

   Logan and Anna stepped out of Logan's room, and headed down to the airlock. Boris had closed the hatch, and was breathing a sigh of relief.

   “I thought we were going to have to go in all guns blazing when he pulled that torch on you. Well, two down, one to go.”

   There was a buzzing from the airlock; the monitor showed Melissa waiting outside. Anna let her in, while Logan continued to talk.

   “All we have to do is plant one of the bugs on Valeria's boyfriend, and we're home and dry. Melissa, have you seen him yet?”

   Melissa smiled. “How much thickness of material will those tags work through?”

   “Quite a bit according to the documentation. Did you manage to plant one on him?” Logan's eyebrow raised slightly.

   “Temporarily. He likes nachos. I reckon it'll pass through his system after a while, but he's not going to suspect anything.”