by Clay Moore
On older vessels that were under service starting at the AP, you could be an adventure in itself. In this case, both the Eagle and Anton's personal starship were very well maintained. Within a couple of seconds, the engine made the change in noise which told him it was going.
"John looked at the power section of the control desk in front of him. He saw that the auxiliary power unit was indeed generating power. The ship automatically shifted the load of the ship onto the APU. The power plugs in the call of the ship were redundant now. He also checks to make sure that the atmosphere tanks were completely filled. He also had the rear hatch open. There was plenty of fresh air coming in from that source. The water tanks were full, and the Radamite tanks were full.
There was nobody available to remove these plugs because this was considered to be a frontier StarPort, you usually had the land your self, you had to plug in and plug out all of your supplies to your ship. When he had to do now was he had to unplug from the shore systems so that he could take off.
John pushed back the pilot's couch. He undid the five-point restraint. Once clear of that John ran out of the starship. He unplugged every single supplied to the ship. Then John ran to the back of the ship and up the ramp. He didn't stop running until he was in the pilot's couch and had the five-point restraints on.
The intercom crackled once more with Anton's voice. "Okay, I'm at the rear of the ship. Give me about three seconds and then start up the engines."
John did not look behind him when he heard somebody clamor aboard. When he didn't understand any more movement, he went ahead and closed the back hatch.
With the hatch closed, John was surprised at how quiet it was. Behind him, he heard Anton sorting himself out. Once Anton did that Anton stood behind John looking through the cockpit windows. He was getting in the way in his rubbernecking.
“Sir, there is a wonderful observation window on the port side waist.”
“Yes, you are right about that. Sorry about that pilot.”
“It is your ship sir, but it is my job to make sure that you get to wherever you want to go safely."
Antonette heard that all the four from every single pilot he had hired. Don't interfere with the operation of the ship until we land. It was getting so that he had to have a pilots license to sit in the copilot seat. The frontier of space was no longer a frontier. There were laws to obey. Anton walked to the left port waste observation window. He didn't know how pilot knew that Anton was at the window. When he reached that window, the ship banked to the left, and he could see the great destruction of the Unicorn. Anton whistled through his teeth. Then he noticed that they were no longer moving. They were hovering at about 100 m above the ground. He pulled away from the observation window and tried to look at the pilot station. He was prevented from doing that by John's body. The other thing that he noticed was that John was holding a blaster in his right hand.
"It had to have been you all along. You were the only starship that had landed and stayed for more than a couple of standard days. Only someone that really wanted me either captured or dead would go through this. Just what was it that I did to you?"
“You don't recognize me do you?"
“That's a stupid question. If I knew who you were I would be using your name and not the word 'you,' now would I."
"Think back. Think back to the last time that you were on Faraway. You had been presented to the planetary director. There were two people, a man and a woman dressed in their finest. Then think about the Saturn fighter incident. You lost a Saturn fighter to that same woman. And you looked at me, bleeding with some cracked bones. You dismissed me, and you walked out of that carrier without a second thought."
Anton remembered that last bit. There was no way that that could have been staged for his edification. That meant that the man before him allowed someone else to beat him within an inch of his life. It was all to win the game."
"What happened to your wife?"
“You have some nerve asking that. You know who you sent to the express."
“Bill. He wanted my permission, and I gave it to him. It was not personal on my part. It was personal on Bill's part. How did it go down?”
"We were playing a game to see if we could find wkere he was. He was in the last possible compartment, and we had our back to the door. From a loophole that he made in this cabin, he shot Vivana. Not a very sporting shot, but he shot her."
“And because I sent him I am to die.”
“Now, you are too dangerous to let live. The first time in years that we got this close to you that you I am going to execute you. Now that respite will be permanent."
"Do you think that this is all I have in my quiver? I knew that something like this would be happening soon, so I have taken some pains. Until this moment I was going to go and retire.”
"I doubt that you could stay retired. Your kind always needs to be in the middle of the action."
Anton moved into the center of the personal starship. John followed him into that center section with his blaster still pointed.
"I've never looked down the business end of the heavy blaster pistol before," said Anton. "Is there a reason that you use that weapon? Usually, agents don't want to carry around big huge weapons."
“This weapon is, in fact, a cut down version of the accurate heavy blaster pistol. This weapon uses a special kind of ammunition, not the full 12.5 mm ammunition. I've had too many people run away after being hit with a 7.5 mm or something smaller that they want me to wear. The smaller version of the heavy blaster pistol allows me to use a weapon I know intimately. It also allows me to wear the weapon concealed."
"You haven't asked me about my plans for after this?"
“The point is moot. You have anything else to say? If you don’t,, I will ahead and shoot you now.”
Anton raised his right hand. "Let me have my blaster in my right hand. Then I propose something that's more honorable for both of us. I will reach for my blaster. We will face each other crossed the length of the ship. I will be at the hatch, and you will be on your pilot's chair."
"You're wasting time." John raised his blaster and pointed it at Anton.
“Wait — wait. If you kill me now, you will have that on. But if you kill me in a fair fight think the kind of stories that you could tell. Yes, she wanted to kill Anton, but you gave him a chance to meet you with this blaster in his hand."
“You would not ask this unless you had some ideas that you might win. I will agree with you that you have more experience in meeting men face-to-face. However, you are known for having tricks up your sleeve. How do I know that you don't have one of these tricks prepared.”
“If I did have one prepared, how would I know it would be you. All I'm asking is for a chance to get out of this alive, or dead. If I die your hand as a result of a fair fight, then most of my people will be content."
"If I permit this what kind of a contest are you looking for?"
“The typical drawdown. We face each other, and then one of us moves, and the other reacts. The solution would be I would die, you would die, or we both would die. The first two would be winners for one of the other. The third option we both win. I win because I have killed John Hardesty. It took me a moment, but I remember your name."
“If I win then I say I beat the great Anton Hecton at his game."
“So what do you say? Will you wager your life for the chance at glory?"
John laughed. "Yes, you are still the casino owner. Okay, step to the hatch door, and I'll stand in front of the pilot's chair.”
John still held his blaster on Anton, but he allowed the man to draw out is 7.5-millimeter blaster pistol. Anton kicked his blaster pointing down, and he squared himself to John. Slowly John lowered his blaster pistol until it looked at the deck.
“Goodbye, Mr. Hardesty."
“Goodbye, Anton."
John knew that Anton was incapable of doing anything without trying to cheat. He watched Anton's left hand instead of the right side that held the
blaster. It was a good thing that John did that too. Anton fainted with his right hand, but it was his left hand that he listed. John did not wait for whatever it was that was in Anton's left-hand. John dove to the right. He reflexively fired a shot at Anton. Anton's left hand held a tiny blaster. It's blast missed John by a whisk. He felt the heat of the explosion passed by him. John shot hit Anton Lowe in the chest.
Anton fell and dropped his weapons. He was held up by the rear hatch. Anton was trying to cover up his lower abdomen wound with his hands. As with all blaster wounds, there was very little blood. Anton looked up at John who was now standing over him with the blaster pointing at him.
“I think I tried that trick on the wrong person."
“Yeah, you are just a little bit too accommodating. I knew that you would try to cheat and that's what kept me alive."
"I know what's in store for me. They might think that they could save me from my wounds. I'm afraid that they would try. Please, put me out my misery."
John noted and took about five steps away from Anton. There was no need for John to be washed by the blaster bolt. He fired the second and final shot Anton would ever hear. The shop was better aimed than the one he fired at Anton before. The boat struck through the chest and fried heart.
John took a moment to reflect what it made over 2 1/2 years to accomplish. At last, he was done with Anton Hecton, Planetary Interests, and the old ways where mercenaries replaced planetary fleets.
In the middle of his reverie Anton's personal shuttle started bucking as if it were a Corrigon unicorn. John threw his arms around the pilot's couch. He had to do something, or his victory would be short. John looked at the control desk and saw that Anton had missed John only to hit in such a way as to shut down one Radamite jet. The other Radamite plane was damaged in such a way that the variable nozzle was opening and closing at random.
Even while being placed inside of a spin John kept his head better than most. There was a solution to this problem, and he knew what it was. JOHN had to shut down the other jet. Still holding onto the pilot's couch, he snaked his right hand forward. He touched the button next to the one that had been shot. Suddenly the spin relented. The starship regained its stability. The stability did not last for long. With only the AP you running the power to the ship could not keep the Null Grav field below the starship at this current height. The sensation of falling was one that no pilot wanted to ever feel. John, the retired Marine Sgt. significant, was very much aware of the feeling of falling. The Eridani space Marines were the only unit that practiced orbital insertion. The rain merely calls them drops. John did not want to experience this drop.
John made his way into the pilot's couch. He did not have time to put on the five-point restraints. To the left of the pilots, the lounge was a letter that he was very much familiar with. This was the collective. With a collective and an entirely powered Null Grav one could actually put starship out of the atmosphere. Right now his Null Grav wasn't operating as efficiently as it could because of the lack of power. With one hand on the collective, he began to turn off systems to make more power available to the Null Grav. He pulled on that lever to see if he could inch up the field strength. At first, it slowed down the fall. The tiny APU was not designed to run flat out. It was a small jet engine burning Radamite. Even titanium bearings could not keep the heat out of the smaller engine parts. With a massive buying, the APU gave out.
John took stock of what systems he had left on that ship. It was too late for him to put on the grab chute. The only method that he had left had any kind of power where the batteries. John put the cells into the Null Grav. He cut down every other system except for one panel of the control desk. The fall was arrested, but John did not want to stop the decline at this point. He tried to get the thing close to the surface. JOHN pushed the left collective down a little bit. He was now a bit under control. That was not going to last. The Null Grav sucked up power like a baby at its mother's breast. John allowed the starship's Null Grav the back trickle of power. Then the red light came on indicating that the battery power was utterly exhausted. Now the ship was in complete freefall. John got himself wholly strapped into the chair. John did not know how far he had to fall, but follow he must. Joe came to his mind unbidden. "Obey gravity. It's the law." He chuckled and then smacked into the ground. John lost consciousness from the impact.
He was roused by someone. When he opened his eyes, he saw Oliver looking down at him with a fake smile.
“Why are you smiling?" John Mrs. M perturbed because he heard the sound of three very relieved laughs.
“I swear, John. I just about died when I saw that you had impacted from that height.”
“I feel a little sore, but nothing major is broken.”
“That's because you're sitting in a Dynamix pilots couch. It's designed to lessen the damage of a fall. How did you manage to slow your full?”
"I have never in my life ever used up an APU. I shut off the only operational Radamite jet. That was what was causing me to twirl. When I did that though the only thing that I had left to generate electrical power was the APU. I called on that little jet engine to supply more power than it was possibly rated to do. He got me down further. Then it gave up the ghost. That left me with the battery power still on the ship. The battery power was never intended to supply power to the Null Grav. Like a power vampire, it sucked those batteries dry. Once that was done I only hope that I was close enough to deal with a zero Null Grav landing."
John got up out of the pilot’s couch. He didn't hop up like you would think you would. There were still some bumps and bruises contusions. And all of that pain came to Adam when he stood up. It took a moment to deal with it.
“What are you all looking at? Did you bring a body bag with you?"
"Just like you had us do. I take it this body is Anton Hecton?”
"As far as I know it is. That's why am having you put this thing in the body bag I need to get me and that body bag to the Eagle.”
“You're flying back to Eridani?"
“Yes, a lot of open missions can now be closed, if this body is Anton. I am very sure that it is, but we won't really know until we get it to our friends at the lavatory.”
John did his best to help get Anton into the body bag. Then together they took the body back to John's grav-car. They put it into the trunk.
“Where are Todd and Philip," he asked Oliver.
“Philip gave the last full measure of devotion," said Oliver. "We found Todd in their torture room. There was entirely too much blood there for what they did Todd. The rest of the blood had to have come from Philip. Todd is being dealt with by medics."
“The last full measure of devotion. It won't mean much in the end, but I will see that JOHN is decorated for it. Was he married?"
“No. Thank God for that."
John walked into the office suite that belonged to A. He had only been in the world for 30 minutes when the order came for him to go to headquarters. John stayed to oversee the removal of the body as well as quite a significant amount of gold and silver coins discovered in Anton's safe. A second message had come from A all it said was "now." John went in and put on his gray suit. As he did so, he thought of himself as the man in gray. He armed himself as he was always expected to do even in the presence of A.
John picked up his briefcase. He walked out of the StarPort building. Before he could get to the grav-car lot, he was intercepted by a long-bodied limousine. It came to a complete stop in front of him, which showed him that this was a professional driver. The back door on the passenger side opened up and a huge man wearing a black suit, black sunglasses, and a massive bulge under his suit coat. A man that could've been his twin came out of the passenger side in the front of the car. These had to be bodyguards, and they were.
