Empty Casket Conspiracy (Terran Patrol Book 1)

by Lewis Dually

  Walters interrupted. “Got it! Dr. Liam Adolphus, Research Scientist and Clinical Trial Administrator for the University of Peru Medico!”

  I looked at Walters. “That was quick. Liam Adolphus, any kin to Antwon Adolphus I wonder?”

  “Probably. He was born in Waddy Alaska, the same town as Antwon, and he’s two years younger than Antwon so they’re probably brothers or cousins.”

  “Where are you getting that?” Shaw asked.

  “Google.” Walters replied as she continued reading her tablet. “This is interesting. Liam received a one hundred million dollar grant to study the Avian Flu from the Planetary Health Organization in 2033. And here is a picture of Liam. This is definitely Antwon’s brother. Check out the family resemblance.”

  She held up her tablet for all to see.

  “Yep. That’s a pretty close likeness to him alright.” I said.

  “So that’s what an Alien looks like!” Merle mussed. “I think I’ve arrested of few of them down towards Eagle Pass. Same eyebrow and jaw line.”

  “It’s possible. The ones I’ve met pass themselves off as Mexican, Indian or Eskimo.” I remarked.

  “So if the Croiddan are keeping the donors and Liam is running the show, where are they doing it?” Shaw asked.

  “Off planet for sure.” I replied. “Maybe out at their outpost in sector six, but now that I think about it I’d say not. They would need to keep it concealed from the rest of the Croiddan. I think if this came out among the general Croiddan population it would blow up in their face.”

  Merle leaned forward and grinned as he looked me in the eye. “I’ll bet my Navy Colt Mr. Hoag knows where!”

  “I won’t take that bet. I think I’d lose.”

  CHAPTER 20: Operation Wooden Horse.

  KB 6-8-4! The actual destination for the two hundred and two missing miners. It wasn’t the destinations listed on their work cards and J.T. didn’t know if the miners were still being held there. Only that they were sent there when they departed Earth and he didn’t know what they were being sent there for either. He did know who the Beaner was and according to him he had not contacted the Beaner to give him a contract on me yet. I thought it amusing when he said he hadn’t contacted him yet. Maybe he still planned to do it once he made bail. Of course he wasn’t going to make bale but I guess he didn’t know that. When asked about the gold in the caskets, J.T. shrugged and said, “I took one bar for each candidate delivered, divided the rest into three equal sums and shipped it to Peru, Canada and Nevada.” When asked who he shipped it to or what the exact shipping address was for each location he clammed up and said, “I value my life too much to tell you that.” The interrogation lasted about an hour and I grew restless as Clair and Merle took turns asking J.T. the same questions over and over and J.T. kept giving the same answers over and over. I wasn’t a trained interrogator but I got the sense J.T. was being totally truthful with everything except the shipping addresses for the gold. Partly because his answers were always the same for each of the repeated questions and partly because J.T. sobbed, gasped, slobbered and begged for mercy throughout the entire process. Finally Merle turned J.T. over to the booking officer and came out to see Walters, Shaw and myself.

  “What is KB684?” Merle asked as he walked through the door.

  “Kuiper Belt ID number 684.” Walters replied.

  “Oh, well, that explains it all! And just how many ID numbers are in the Kuiper Belt young lady?” Merle shot back at Walters.

  I rescued her and said. “There are about twenty thousand ID numbers issued in the Kuiper Belt. This 684 is an earlier number and should be easy to track down as long as it hasn’t been moved from its last known location.”

  “Do asteroids typically move from their locations in the Asteroid belt?”

  “Yes Asteroids do. But this isn’t an asteroid and it’s not in the Asteroid belt either. The Kuiper Belt is a huge expanse of space extending from Neptune’s orbit out to about fifty AU. It’s the area of our system where dwarf planets like Pluto orbit. There are also asteroids there but they have a different number system for indexing. What we’re looking for is manmade and is probably a mining dredge or repair and supply station. We’ll check the registration and find out who owns it and where it should be. Hopefully it’s still there. Sometimes when they move on to a new operation site or to do more prospecting they won’t report their new positions until they get settled. If it’s a really good strike they may not report it then either.”

  “Ok, so then what next? And what do we do with cry baby in there?” Merle asked as he nodded his head to indicate J.T. in the booking room.

  “Well for starters we don’t let cry baby have his phone call. If he tips off the Croiddan we may never find the miners. For now we keep him on ice. How long can you legally hold him without allowing him his phone call?”

  “Forty eight hours. He hasn’t asked for an attorney yet and he hasn’t invoked his right to remain silent and we haven’t actually charged him with anything either.”

  “What are the chances of the PDA finding out that you have him here and coming to get him?” I asked.

  “Pretty dang good!” Merle snorted.

  “They probably already know we have him, they just don’t know where.” Clair added.

  Merle was looking at the floor and rubbing his chin and I could tell he was chewing on an idea. Finally he looked up and grinned from ear to ear as he said. “You know, as long as he’s in my custody I can take him anywhere I go and I can only think of one place where the PDA can't come and snatch him up. How are the guest quarters and brig on that ship of yours Commander?”

  “I like the way you think. The brig is tight and dry and the guest quarters are small and cozy. I would be pleased to help transport you and your prisoner anywhere you need to go, Mr. Baca.”

  Fifteen minutes later we were sitting in the shuttle waiting for Baca and his prisoner to join us. Shaw was reading something on his tablet as Walters gave me a status update on the Dawn Rising and her crew.

  “I came down with Master Chief Logan to pick up Shaw. Then we jumped up to San Francisco and retrieved your new Ensigns. I was a little surprised to find a Croiddan waiting for a ride to the station, Sir.”

  “Yes I know.” I said. “She’s quite the warrior according to Captain Kind. A real asset I think.”

  “If you say so Sir. I’m not sure I would want her on my ship. Anyway we picked them up and brought them to Houston. Master Chief Logan took the two of them to shuttle one and they went back to the Dawn Rising with Joydeus and Ohven.”

  “Thanks for rounding up my strays.” I said as I noticed just how much cowboy lingo I had started using since meeting up with Merle Baca. That realization reinforced my assumption about J.T.’s mystery caller. I was pretty sure he was on the U E One because he had used the words ‘up here’ rather than ‘out here’. Realizing how quick I was to utilize cowboy lingo with Baca reaffirmed my suspicion about the mystery caller being on U E One. And I was sure he had to be one of the four Croiddan on the station with Antwon and that Antwon was the boss. Two new questions that now plagued me were who was the former partner and how much did Joydeus know? I couldn’t believe he would have any knowledge of his father’s actions. It just didn’t make sense. Actually the whole affair didn’t make sense. Why would the Croiddan make a deal with the devil? They couldn’t be naive enough to think the Krueg would honor any kind of agreement in exchange for the keys to Earth. We had to be missing something.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Walters voice slipped into my thoughts as if she were part of my continuousness. Jerking my head up, I realized I had zoned out for who knows how long and found her leaning forward and peering into my eyes.

  “How long since you got some sleep Sir?” She asked.

  “I don’t know, what day is it?”

  “Tuesday Sir.”

  “That doesn’t help me much. Last shuteye I got was just before we jumped back from the middle of nowhere and rescu
ed the Croiddan from their ice box. When was that? Sunday?”

  “Yes Sir. Sunday morning at two hundred hours, so you’ve been up for sixty one hours.”

  “Well I did catch a little nap in sickbay before Doc Hirsch shined his danged flashlight in my eyes.”

  “I don’t think that counts Sir. And you still have a concussion from that incident too, so I’d say you’re probably about to collapse. I think I should do the flying on this trip. You catch some rack time Sir.”

  “I second that motion!” Shaw called out from his wheel chair. “I’ve been through enough for you. I don’t need to endure a shuttle crash because the pilot passed out on takeoff. Get some rest.”

  Fortunately for my passengers the shuttle came equipped with four bunks in the rear and I decided to take the good doctor’s advice and catch a nap while Walters flew us up to the U E One. I helped Merle and Clair settle in with their prisoner and we lifted off. Then I left them with Shaw and went back to crawl into one of the bottom bunks and closed my eyes.

  “You awake Hoss?” Merle asked and I opened my eyes to see him leaning against the bulkhead holding a spit cup in his hand. Glancing at my watch, I counted the minutes and figured I had gotten about twenty five of them to go against my sleep deficit.

  “Yep. Are we there yet?” I asked.

  “Almost. The young lady says we’re about fifteen minutes out but she needs you up front. You have some kind of important message.”

  “Alright. On my way. Can I bum a dip from you?”

  “Sure.” Merle replied and tossed me his can. It had been a couple days since I had a dip and I hated to break the streak but right this moment I needed a little nicotine boost. I climbed out of the rack, took a pinch of snuff and headed for the cockpit.

  “What’s up?” I asked Walters as I slid down in the copilot seat.

  “Sorry to wake you Sir. My uncle wants to speak with you. He says it’s an emergency.”

  “Ray? Where is he?”

  “He’s on his ship in a trailing orbit behind U E One. I told him you were sleeping but he insisted it was an emergency and he had to speak with you in person before you returned to the station.”

  “Well then take us to his ship. What’s the name of that tub, Belinda or something like that?”

  “Yes Sir. He named it after my great aunt.”

  In all the years I had known Ray Bishop I had never known him to get overly excited or have an emergency. Once in sector two, Ray’s ship lost all power and drifted for two days with no heat but Ray just shrugged it off and said “I had it right where I wanted it, no worries.” If Ray said it was an emergency then I better go see what he needs. A few minutes passed and I started to dose again before Walters punched me in the arm as she said. “Wake up Sir. We’re here.” Looking up I saw the top side of the Belinda about two hundred yards out. Some years ago Ray bought the ship at a scrap metal auction. One of her two nuclear reactors had leaked coolant and contaminated the entire engineering section. The mining company who owned her decided it was better to scrap her and buy one of the new Ion pulse cargo transports. Ray and his nephew spent two months in space suits cutting the entire engineering section out of the rusting hulk. When they got it out in one large circular section they just pushed it off toward the Sun and forgot about it. Then they welded in new bulkhead supports and deck plating. Installed a new reactor and updated to the Ion Pulse engines. To pay for all of that, Ray had sold off his small trucking company and put everything he had into the Belinda. The gamble had worked and Ray now owned three cargo shuttles but the Belinda was still his girl. Coming in above the Belinda we could still see the large circle of new steel that replaced the old engine and reactor compartment. In the center of that circle was a soft seal docking hatch and Walters brought us in over the hatch and set us down gently. After a minute or so the docking clamps snugged down against the hull and the air lock pressurized.

  “Come on down Merle. I want you to meet someone.” I said as I opened the emergency exit hatch in the floor of our lower deck.

  “Right behind you.” Merle replied and followed me down the man ladder to the upper deck of the Belinda. Ray was waiting and greeted me with his usual hardy handshake and bellowing greeting.

  “Welcome aboard my friend. I sure hate to disturb your nap but this is important. Who’s this?”

  “This is Merle Baca. He’s the head of the Texas Rangers and has been helping me with my investigation. He’s also soon to be the head of the new Space Rangers outfit the Alliance has commissioned. You can trust him. I do.” I assured him. “So what’s up?”

  “Well, come up front with me and I’ll fill you in.”

  We followed Ray to the galley and sat down around a table bolted to the floor in the center of the room. Then Ray leaned forward and almost whispered as he said. “I wanted to talk to you in private because I’m about to commit treason! Are you sure I can trust this man?”

  “I trust him.” I assured again.

  And I did trust Merle but wasn’t really sure why. I had only known the man for maybe five hours but it felt like I’d known him for years. I had always considered myself to be a good judge of character and my gut feeling about Merle Baca told me I could trust him with my life. It was the same sense of trust I had when I first met Granger Shelton and we turned out to be best friends.

  “What do you mean commit treason?” I asked Ray.

  “I saw something today on U E One and you need to know about it but, to explain the significance of it, I need to tell you the details of a top secret mission I took part in when I was a Seal.”

  “Before you get yourself in trouble let me ask you a question. Does it have anything to do with Aliens, empty caskets, missing persons or Belt Line Staffing?”

  Ray leaned back in his seat and exhaled heavily before saying. “Heck Yeah!”

  “Well then you’re not committing treason. I have a delta level five clearance and anything pertaining to my current mission is fair game. Let’s have it.”

  “What about him?” Ray asked and pointed a heavily callused finger at Merle.

  I turned to Merle and said. “Merle Baca, I am herby reading you into Project Shade. Any and all details of this mission are classified and you are not to discuss it with anyone other than me, Walters, Shaw or Admiral Albright.”

  “Yes Sir, Hoss.” Merle responded with a grin. “Ten Vicario’s on wild stallions couldn’t brag it out of me.”

  I looked at Ray again. “What’s up?”

  “Ok, but you might want to hold off any discussion with ADMIRAL ALBRIGHT.” He said with a tone of general disgust as he used Albright’s name. Then he continued.

  “This all started in December of 2033. I was with Seal team eight at the time. It was my last mission actually. We were sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky and escorted six containers loaded on flatbed trucks to Cape Canaveral, Florida. There we loaded the containers on a ship called the Hernando. It was one of the first Ion propulsion ships and had six nuclear reactors for power. This was before the GUT reactors of course. We also picked up three passengers and took off for a five month trip to the Kuiper Belt. We didn’t know what was in the containers or who the three dudes were. They didn’t speak English so we never talked to them and hardly ever saw them on the trip. They mostly stayed to themselves. I thought they were speaking Italian but one of our team spoke Italian and he said it wasn’t anything he had ever heard. When we got to sector two of the Kuiper we off loaded the containers at a brand new refueling station just off Pluto’s orbital path. We also left the three dudes and started our trip back to Earth. We never knew what was in the containers but we took to calling them the bouillon boxes sense they came from Fort Knox. We also never seen the three dudes again either. Until today!”

  I nearly jumped out of my seat as I slid forward and looked Ray dead in the eye. “You saw them today?”

  “I saw two of them today. I was on U E One eating at the Bottom Hold Restaurant. Right in the middle of my steak I look up and th
ere they are. It was one of those Deja vu moments. The two dudes eating dinner with Admiral Albright at one of those private booths down on the glass bottom dining section. I just kept staring at them thinking I’ve seen this before. You know what I mean? Then it hit me. It reminded me of one day on our trip to the Kuiper belt when I saw the three dudes eating lunch with Captain Albright on the Hernando. Plain as the nose on my face it was the same dudes. I asked around a little bit and found out they were part of this Alien delegation rumored to be on board. That’s when I decided to find you.”

  “Woe! You’re talking about Admiral Albright? Captain of the Hernando?”

  “Yep! He was a Captain back then and we hitched rides on his ships more than once. A lot of our secret missions were carried out under his command.”

  I pulled out my coms unit and thumbed open the cover for the view screen. Scrolling through several pictures I found one I took the day we rescued the Croiddan and handed the unit to Ray.

  “Any of these guys the other two?”

  Ray leaned forward and squinted. Then he pointed to two of the Croiddan as he said. “That one and that one.”

  “Antwon Adolphus and Barnibbas something.” I remarked. “I can’t remember his last name. Are you sure?”

  “Oh I’m sure alright. And they haven’t aged a day either. That was over twenty years ago and they don’t look a day older. How long do these Alien’s live anyway?”

  “I don’t know. I never thought to ask. How about this guy?” I asked as I pulled up a picture of Antwon’s brother Liam. Ray looked at the picture of Liam and plum near shouted. “That’s the other one! That’s him alright.”

  Merle looked at the picture and then asked Ray. “You say this was a special opp. What was the name of it?”

  “Operation Wooden Horse was the name.”

  “Wooden Horse?” Sleep deprived as I was my brain made an instant connection to the only wooden horse I could think of and I asked “As in Trojan Horse? Who authorized this operation?”