Yes. There is an arrangement where orders are shipped to the moon of an outer planet, and the community has them picked up every month or two.
Odd.
Yeah. It looks like the kind of place where people go to be forgotten.
Very forgotten. What else do we know?
Population about thirty thousand, mixed races. Simple living, though the tech is pretty up to date with the Central Systems for such a small population. They must be importing.
That bodes well for our purposes. Any civil unrest? Mafia? Political system?
It looks like they govern themselves.
With a population that small it’s plausible. What about the safe house itself?
It’s a converted theater. It’s got living quarters now, but also lots of space which will be useful when we start building the labs and operations areas. They have a town nearby with bar, and—
It has a bar?
Yes.
Okay. It’s probably the right place, then.
Molly, choosing a place based on the location of the nearest bar?
Oz, I’m messing with you. But seriously, it does sound like a good option. And it may get us around the issue we had with the pizza place being able to give Dewitt’s people a heads up on where we might be staying. If there is no supply traffic in and out and it’s only the residents picking up supplies from a drop, it reduces the risk and would take more work to find us. Especially if we’re careful about what we order. We’ll need to keep our purchases under the radar, or coming in from outside the Sarkian system, I guess.
Okay. Want to hear about the other two options?
Yeah, shoot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Hangar 08771A, Aboard the XC-0094B
“Okay, I’m ready when our passengers get here,” called Crash from the cockpit.
He’d gotten back not long after the others had left for the store. Molly wondered if she really should have let them go, but where they were headed they were going to need the supplies. After a few more hours on this bird, she’d definitely want to shower and relax a little.
“Okay. Well, Paige is shopping for clothes. I suspect that might be the determining factor here,” she commented back to him.
Crash laughed.
He seemed pretty relaxed about everything, though. No agitation to get going, and no apprehension. But then, that was the general demeanor of these pilots in her experience. She’d known a few on base, and they always seemed to have everything together. She watched from her seat as he ran speedily through a checklist projected onto his leg from his holo. His fingers flew over holographic buttons and switches, then hesitated occasionally as he needed to locate a button that wasn’t in the layout he was used to.
Out the front window she could see the hangar walls. In a few hours she’d be looking out at space. Actual space…
So we’re decided? I should put in the request?
Yes, I think it’s a good option. And a great price. Let me know if you need me to do anything, but let’s book her up. And perhaps go for a twelve-month lease, if that’s possible?
Processing now… Okay, funds cleared, contracts approved.
That was bloody fast!
They have an automated system set up on the other end.
But we could be anyone.
No, I already went through some pre-check protocols when we were first discussing it as an option.
Oh, great stuff!
There was a commotion coming from the cargo area. Molly could hear what sounded like a hundred boots traipsing up the ramp. The laughing and chattering was the only thing that gave away that it wasn’t an invading army.
“Looks like the cavalry has arrived,” Molly commented to Crash.
“Yeah, and it sounds like they brought friends from the frat house!” He hit some switches, which seconds later resulted in systems firing up. “All right, Brock, we’ve got our payload. We all set down there?” he asked through his comm.
Molly got up from her seat and wandered to the back of the ship. Paige was just making her way up the ramp, laden with shopping bags.
“Okay, those go downstairs to the bathrooms,” Joel instructed Garet, who started for the ladder to the downstairs area. “These are for the kitchen.” He plunked the bags he was carrying down on the makeshift kitchen table he had arranged earlier.
“Those are all Paige’s.” He waved at Paige, who was still tottering up the last few steps to the cargo hold. “And there’s another load in the car.” he concluded to Molly, very satisfied with his domestic prowess.
“Okay, lemme give you a hand with those.” Molly started making her way through the hold and down the ramp. Joel followed her, overtaking her as he jogged down the ramp.
Molly looked over to Joel. “How’s Paige holding up?” she asked, once they were on the ground and out of earshot.
“She seems okay, considering. I don’t think it’s quite hit her yet. She’s in the best environment for it, though. The people who saved her, the camaraderie—she’ll get through it.”
“And Garet?”
“Look at you, all concerned, leader!” Joel teased. Molly gently hit him with the back of her hand.
Brock was heading past them in the opposite direction. He nodded to the pair and slipped past to board the ship, saying nothing.
“Seriously, though,” continued Joel, “he seems like he’s handling it all pretty well. He’s just pleased to have Paige back. He was a mess when we realized that you two were missing, but he seems to have bounced back okay.”
“Good…” Molly seemed deep in thought.
Joel looked at her sideways, “Why, whatcha thinking?”
“Well, I’m just not used to the people thing, and we’re going to be taking them out of their home environment in a cramped ship and then staying in the middle of nowhere for ancestors know how long. I’m just aware that there might be problems with this. And I don’t know what shape they’ll take, or if we’re going to be able to manage them.”
Joel stopped walking.
Molly finally noted he wasn’t with her and turned back to look at him, only to have him step forward and clamp his hands on her shoulders.
“Now you listen to me, Molly Bates. You’ve gotten them this far. You’ve done a great job. And we did it all while keeping our consciences and wits intact. Everything is going to be fine, but more than that, you are turning into one hell of a leader.”
She opened her mouth to protest.
“And yes, you have some things to learn when it comes to social niceties and running a team of individuals, and not drinking during a job. Hell, so does anyone when it comes to leadership.” He thought a moment, “Maybe not the drinking during an op part. But then, I shouldn’t have stormed off, either. You’re doing great. And little by little, you will do better. No, we will do better.”
Molly took a deep breath, and then exhaled, surrendering the tension that had played on her since she got into this new line of work.
“Okay,” she said, smiling a little.
“And for those times when it’s all too much, I picked up an extra case or two of beer.” They continued and got to the car and he popped the trunk, revealing two large cases of the stuff.
“You weren’t kidding!” exclaimed Molly.
Molly, seems someone has been accessing the traffic cams and has viewed footage of us arriving at the Spaceport the first time. I suspect we will have company very soon.
How soon?
I’m scanning for communications and approaching vehicles. Nothing yet.
She closed the trunk. “We’ve got company on its way. No time estimate yet. We need to get gone,” she told Joel.
“I’ll get the car stowed in the lower level then.” He quickly pulled up his holo to communicate with Crash. “We have intel that bogies are en route. Drop the access to stow the car, and then we need to get out of here.”
“Roger that,” Crash acknowledged. The engines started whirring and a port opened under
the ship. Molly left Joel to bring the car inside so they could get mobile.
She hurried back up to the ship.
Anything?
Yes. We have two trucks coming in from Spire. The registrations trace back to one of the corporations. They’re heading our way. ETA six minutes.
Molly paced over to the cockpit. “Anything we can do about the takeoff permission, Crash?”
Crash flicked another switch, before turning to her. “Not much. Problem is, we don’t know what else is going on at the airfield.”
Oz, can you help?
Already on it. If we taxi to Takeoff Pad A, we have a window now.
“We’ve got a safe window at Pad A. Can you get us there?”
Crash nodded. “Yeah, if you’re cool that we’ll be slapped with a fine?”
“Yes, I’ll take care of that. Let’s get out of here.” Molly swung round to let the others know what was going on as Joel came jogging up the ramp.
Within two minutes, the ship was out of the hangar.
Apprehension laced the air as Crash taxied them out to the liftoff area. Molly had considered sitting in the cockpit with him, but thought that she would be better off with the guys in the passenger area.
Besides, the last thing Crash needed was the new boss staring over his shoulder. Brock had his back, though. He’d strapped himself into the second’s position with barely a thought.
He even flicked a few switches and repositioned some holoscreens while he was there. Seemed he not only knew his way around a ship, but he had also flown second with Crash before.
The two trucks have just arrived at the gatehouse.
“Ok. Showtime, Crash,” she called through. “Let’s get us up.”
Joel sniggered.
“Really? Now?” Molly glanced back at him in his seat on the other side of the aisle.
Less than a minute later they had hit the takeoff pad and seconds after that they were rising out of the lower atmospheres, the core engine reverberating and shaking the ship.
“We’re getting an earful from air traffic control. Just FYI,” yelled Crash back through from the cockpit.
“Understood.” Molly knew there would be fallout. Oz had made sure that they weren’t putting anyone in danger, so it was ok by her.
As they rose through the layers of atmosphere, the din lessened. Moments later, the noise level dropped again. Molly could no longer tell what direction they were moving.
Then the engine fell quiet.
We’re safe.
Molly took a moment to let the news sink in.
“Ok folks. We’re home free,” she announced. She saw Crash pump the air with his fist while Brock clapped his hands, spinning in his seat.
Crash’s voice came over the internal comm system. “All right, y’all. You can take your seatbelts off and move around the cabin. If anything goes wrong, I’ll give you a heads up to get back into your seats, but we’re all good for now.” The comm clicked off, and then a second later, back on. “And if y’all are drinking that beer I saw you sneak on board, be sure to bring your pilot one!”
The cabin erupted with laughter and activity.
Joel had Neechie’s crate strapped into the seat next to him. “Hear that, buddy? It’s safe to roam around the cabin now. But if I let you out, there’s no disappearing or hiding in places where we can’t get to you, okay?”
The sphinx meowed at him as if agreeing to his terms. Joel carefully unlocked the padded cage and lifted him out. In a second, Neechie had rubbed his face against Joel’s arm and leapt down onto the floor. Joel watched as his beloved pet strutted down the aisle as if he owned the place and jumped into the seat next to Molly, out of view.
“Motherfucker!” he exclaimed in disbelief.
Police Precinct, Downtown Spire
“You’re in early.” Antonio, fresh from the outside, arrived at Chaakwa’s desk with a thin film of dust on his atmosuit. He was normally optimistic, but this morning he seemed quite buoyant. Chaakwa wondered if that was just relative to her mood right now.
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep. Sandstorm still going?” she asked, looking up, her eyes slightly glazed from deep concentration.
“A little. Mostly eased off now.” Antonio noticed she was immersed in something. “We’ve got a lead?” he asked, peering over her shoulder at her desk holo.
“Video footage from the Dewitt residence’s security cams. They’d been erased, but the tech boys were able to restore some footage.”
“Anything interesting?” he asked, taking off his jacket and pulling over a chair.
“Yeah. We don’t need to guess about the number of players involved. Check this out.” She pulled up a section of video showing Molly climbing the steps and knocking on the door. Chaakwa let it run for a few seconds until Joel and Molly were in the building.
“And then this,” she pulled up the next section, “is about three minutes later.”
The video segment showed Andus’ team in their black suits and military grade equipment deploying and then breaching the house the second time.
Antonio whistled. “Well, that explains a lot of the forensics.”
“There’s more,” Chaakwa said, tired but clearly pleased to finally be getting a break in the case.
The next segment of video showed what had happened before: Dewitt arriving at the house, dragging Paige.
“That’s our half-human hostage!” whispered Antonio, amazed they got so lucky. “Can we get an image and run it against facial recognition?”
“Already done.” Chaakwa’s tone was all business, but she was talking quicker than normal, and the more she shared, the more alert and enthusiastic she became. “She’s not in any of our government systems, but her social media account has her down as Paige Montgomery. She worked for Dewitt at the Senate office. By all accounts, she looks to have a normal life. Nothing in the financials looks iffy, and we can’t find any hidden companies or accounts associated with her.”
“So what are we thinking? Wrong time, wrong place? Overheard something she shouldn’t have?”
“Well, that’s what I thought, and then I noticed she has a boyfriend.” Detective Indius pulled up the Montgomery holo records and message exchanges related to her social media accounts.
“That’s our boy, Garet Beaufort. The whistleblower!”
“The one and the same.”
“So we’re thinking that he dragged her into something?”
“Looks like. Or he used her to get dirt on Dewitt.” Disapproval was detectable in her voice. She’d seen it time and again where employees, particularly young girls, were used by people in power to do their dirty work. Stealing files, eavesdropping on meetings – thinking they had the protection of their rich and powerful bosses or lovers -- only to be very disposable when stacked against their bosses’ careers.
Chaakwa leaned back in her chair, contemplating their next move.
Awakened Page 27
