Learning the Hard Way 2

by H. P. Caledon

  Keelan left the hospital and went to their meeting points, which he cleared out and brought back to the ship. While running one scenario after another through his head, he readied the ship in case he had to take off in order to not be caught while waiting for Mike. He left all the weapons except the two widrecurmi and changed into a shorter dark jacket. Just before dark, he took a vial of unused retinas. He feared that the lawmen had the connections to check the retina of those Mike had been in contact with that day. With all the things they could use as bait, he didn’t want to run the risk of them being warned if those retinas turned up at the hospital.

  He made his way to the hospital and went in through the front door. Hiding somewhere close enough to hear the lawmen, Keelan learned that there was still no news about Mike. In the meantime, Keelan waited and learned more about the group of lawmen watching over Mike.

  “Why the hell did Vanessa try to buy him? Did he think it was the other way around?”

  “Why else would he be there?”

  “No matter what, you fucked up, Andy. He was down, you saw him fall. Why did you shoot?”

  “He looked armed.”

  “He was saying something, Andy... maybe even trying to identify himself.”

  “Yeah... maybe.”

  “Did you guys see the scar on his back? When we patched him up? Could be why he fell, I mean... who falls from a small flesh wound in the shoulder, right?”

  “If he’s permanently injured, then he shouldn’t be collecting anything.”

  “Andy, some of us don’t have anything else!”

  Andy, I remember what you look like. You were the one calling me. Don’t worry, your search for Mike’s backup won’t be in vain. I’ll find you.

  But he waited. Waited for the doctors to finish, and learned more about the lawmen even though he couldn’t make out who said what. He knew Andy’s voice now.

  “I’m gonna go see if I can ID him properly. See if I can find someone he used to work with who can tell us more.”

  “I think he’s the guy Ratkins worked with some years back.”

  “Ratkins works alone,” Andy said.

  “Exactly, that’s why I remember. It was something about an ambush. Some killer almost got the better of Matthews, but Ratkins made it there. Think that guy was a max.”

  “Let’s look into it.”

  No!

  Keelan was making ready to leave when a female voice sounded.

  “Mr. Matthews was lucky. The bullet to his torso missed all vital organs, but his shoulder was not so lucky. Several tendons are severely damaged, and he’ll be lucky if he ever gets to use that arm again. Either way, we can’t do any more for him.”

  “But he’ll live?” Andy asked.

  You won’t!

  “Yes, he’ll live,” the woman said. “He looks like a man who has won his right to live more than once. He’ll pull through again. But we’ll keep him here for a while, so we need his LMD-ID, if you manage to contact his backup.”

  “Andy here has full medical, and I’m sure he’ll let you use his to pay for the procedures and Mr. Matthews’ stay here. Won’t you, Andy?”

  “Yes,” Andy said, meekly. “When can we see him?”

  “He’s heavily sedated and will be for the next day or so.”

  The men thanked her and talked among themselves—more upbeat than before.

  “We still haven’t located the rest of his team.”

  “Then we gotta look,” Andy said.

  “No, we stay here. We take turns going outside and call every emergency frequency. They’re bound to have backup plans, so let’s just hope they follow the code and don’t leave without at least having the body onboard.”

  Keelan recapped every possible plan he’d come up with so far while pulling his hat down and reclining in a chair on the crossing hall from where the lawmen sat. He’d found a stuffed toy to mark him as a dad waiting for news and not a threat. A lawman passed him and turned the corner.

  “Look at this. The con who almost cut Matthews in half was transferred from Irgang, but no prison received him. The colony didn’t even know they were getting him.”

  “Shit. Let me see that.”

  A beat passed, and Keelan felt his palms grow sweaty.

  “Keelan Hunter. He’s the guy who escaped Delta in a jacked prison transporter and tracked Matthews all the way to Verion four by the looks of it.”

  “So the plan is?”

  “The plan is that we’re not leaving here as long as that psycho is unaccounted for. He could be on the run, for all we know.”

  Shit!... Psycho?

  “That fuck probably killed another lawman, stole the ship, and went after Matthews. If he knows he survived, that is.”

  “Of course he does. Rumors about us make it to all inmates in a heartbeat.”

  “What about the ship?”

  “It was tracked. No ID.”

  “It doesn’t exist?”

  “No. Not anymore at least. It was registered to Mathers. So is the transfer.”

  “John Mathers?”

  Someone made a consenting noise.

  “He isn’t dead. I talked to him about two months ago.”

  “Hunter’s supposed transfer was a month ago. Mathers didn’t happen to mention the job he was on?”

  “No.”

  “This seems off. Call Mathers up.”

  “I will. Andy, you have the next go at the frequencies. We need to find Matthews’ backup. With a guy like Hunter as a ghost in the logs, Matthews just earned himself an around the clock bodyguard detail. Search anything regarding Keelan Hunter.”

  “When is next watch on the frequencies?”

  “Three hours.”

  Keelan retreated, not too happy about sitting six meters from the group of people who sounded like they were willing to change the rotation of the planet if it meant they’d catch him. He didn’t like the fact that his escaping Delta and attempted murder of Mike was such common knowledge between lawmen that it barely took a brushing up on the details.

  Going back over his dwindling number of plans with actual potential he just knew one thing—he had to get Mike out of there before they found out that he was the one who had impersonated John Mathers. He wondered whether it was only blowing up in their faces because that bunch knew Mathers. It sounded like one VID call two months ago was the only thing that marked it as a red flag. That, and the fact that their first clue kind of fell right in front of them.

  Keelan was running out of time. He needed Mike out before these lawmen came up with more information, and he couldn’t wait for Mike to get better. It had to be possible to get a doctor while on the skip. He had to, or Mike would end up in prison, and Keelan couldn’t allow that. He even wondered what Mike would want, and after Delta Zeich he was pretty sure Mike would take a chance and gamble freedom or death.

  As the hours went by and dawn was approaching, one option stood clear to Keelan, and he froze at the thought.

  Mike had taken a bullet for him, so if he was ever going to break a promise, at least it was one he’d made himself. Keelan sighed and nodded to himself, determined.

  It was time to hunt Andy.

  From a distance, Keelan studied the man who had shot Mike. He repeated the same sentence again and again and flipped through all the frequencies. Keelan looked at the evacuation plan in his hand and tried to memorize all fire exits and other emergency exits so he could get out with Mike, fast. Happy with the mental image, he folded the plan up and tucked it into his pocket.

  Drawing a shaky breath, he readied himself to do the unthinkable when he remembered his retina lenses.

  “You called for Matthews’ backup?” Keelan said, keeping his torso and face in shadow as best as possible.

  “Are you from his ship?”

  “Yeah,” Keelan said. “He was delayed, what happened?”

  “He... we... I accidently shot him,” Andy said and closed in on Keelan with a pained expression. “But he’s out of surge
ry, and the doctors give him good odds.” Andy made it all the way to Keelan before Keelan left the shadows.

  “Thanks for the information, Andy Thompson.”

  Andy turned pale and reached for a weapon, but he didn’t get further before Keelan made his move. Andy collapsed unconscious in Keelan’s arms, and Keelan dragged him back to his hiding place and away from nosy eyes.

  Now I remember why I promised myself never to do this again. It’s fucking disgusting.

  Keelan pulled all of Andy’s clothes off. Once again, he was reminded of the lenses and pulled them out. He then found a knife and planted it in Andy’s heart. Blood gushed, and Keelan leaned in, drinking a mouth full.

  An uncontrollable shiver coursed through him, and he felt like he was about to throw up. Then the cramps claimed him.

  He gasped, his head finally clearing, and he pulled off his jacket and dried his mouth off in the sleeve. He spat a few times to get rid of the taste of blood before he commenced with pulling the rest of his clothes off. He placed his jacket so he could bundle the rest on it and tie it all together by the sleeves.

  Come on, how did it go?

  Keelan staggered a second as he pushed himself up to stand. Closing his eyes, he focused, and a bubbly sensation spread in his body. He thought he remembered it. A man moved in his peripheral vision, and Keelan jumped, remembering he was in nothing but his boxers with a dead lawman at his feet.

  But the man moved oddly, and Keelan finally saw that it was his reflection in a glossy surface. He moved closer and shivered. He’d never get used to looking at himself but seeing someone else—in that case, Andy Thompson. He felt his face. The Andy Thompson copy did the same in the reflection.

  Keelan pushed the thoughts and earlier regrets and fears to a side, donned Andy’s clothes and badge, and rolled the body under a parked transporter. He waited a minute, remembering how he’d seen the man move and talk, and finally entered the hospital.

  “What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be calling Matthews’ team!” a gruff looking man grumbled.

  “But I made contact!” Keelan said, hearing Andy’s voice leave his mouth. “They’re at the freight docks... caught their target and just waited for Matthews. They want us down there.” Keelan tried to balance the amount of eagerness as he pointed toward the exit.

  “You’re coming! You have to explain this clusterfuck of a situation.”

  “I already did, they know, and I want to stand guard here with Matthews. They said it would be a good idea, because Matthews has been keeping an eye on that Hunter guy for a while and they know he wasn’t successfully transferred.”

  The gruff guy growled and shot a glance at another gruff. “Tom, you stay with him.”

  “Yes sir,” gruff number two said and sent Keelan an accusing glare.

  Keelan took a seat next to the man and wrung his hands while the rest left.

  “You can be sure there are going to be repercussions. We don’t shoot our own!”

  Keelan nodded vigorously.

  “I’m gonna go get some coffee. Do you think you can handle it for that long?”

  “Yes,” Keelan muttered.

  Tom got up and left, and Keelan followed discreetly. He needed the lawman as far away from Mike as possible so that he could make for a good distraction for Keelan stealing Mike from the hospital. Once they were far away from Mike’s room and neared an enclosure, Keelan drew both widrekurmi and, minding the angle so he wouldn’t get more blood on him, he stepped in and pierced both Tom’s lungs. Tom didn’t muster a scream, and Keelan let the body crumble to the floor before he made his way back.

  A nurse passed him close to Mike’s room.

  “I saw some of you leaving,” she said, and Keelan recognized her voice. “We’ll take good care of your friend. He’s safe here.”

  “Yeah, we know. I’m heading off, too. Tom will stay, but he just stepped out for a minute.”

  “Okay. I’m sure he’ll call you if he needs anything.”

  “Absolutely,” Keelan said. Not. He smiled and watched her leave before he slipped into Mike’s room. He looked pale but peaceful. For a second, Keelan thought about just killing the rest of the lawmen, but they weren’t exactly boy scouts. One against three weren’t good odds, and he still had no idea whether they were bounty hunters or ex-military. He’d have a chance if he hunted them down one by one, but time didn’t allow it—not when one of them knew Tom Mather’s personally. Plus Ratkins had taught Keelan not to underestimate bounty hunters for their lack of military training.

  Keelan removed the IV in Mike’s arm, but he kept the bag, which he placed along with Mike’s clothes on Mike’s stomach. He then scooped Mike into his arms and lifted him from the bed.

  Mike opened his eyes and snarled at him. Keelan could understand why—he didn’t recognize Keelan since he was disguised as Andy.

  Gently, he placed Mike on an orderly gurney and wrapped him up as a corpse. He left the face free and listened by the door until Tom did his thing as a distraction. Suddenly, everything went faster in the hallways outside, so Keelan covered Mike, pressed morgue five on the gurney and joined the chaos. He followed the gurney as it turned off and they made their way for the morgue’s exit.

  “So, you finally came for him,” said a fat older man with an untamed gray mane.

  “Yup,” Keelan said while his heart galloped. He pressed the manual route and continued slowly nonetheless until he was free of the hospital, down the ramp, and around the corner where he’d left his own clothes. Keeping the orderly gurney was out of the question, though, and he couldn’t carry Mike all the way to the spaceport.

  Mike, what the hell are you doing to me?

  Keelan looked closer at a transporter. He wasn’t the most competent of thieves—especially not when the things needed both retina and prints. At that moment, a taxi pulled up and dropped off two women. Keelan pulled off his jacket and left it and the badge with Mike.

  “Hey, could you take us? My friend is sick, but just got discharged,” Keelan asked.

  “Is it contagious?”

  “No, work related injury, he’s just sedated.”

  “He gonna vomit?”

  “No, no. Doctor said at least not for the next three hours or so.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “Wait here, please.” Keelan ran back to get Mike. He arranged Mike so he leaned against him on the back seat. “Tower three.”

  “On or off berth?”

  Shit. Keelan contemplating how far he’d have to walk with Mike in his arms if he was dropped off on the other side of the bridge. He needed Mike hooked up to the IV as fast as possible.

  “On.”

  Once they crossed the bridge, Keelan found out that hired transports were not permitted onto the berths without the tower’s clearing. The driver seemed to lose all interest.

  “Get us all the way down in less than three minutes, and you get a five-hundred credit bonus,” Keelan said and held up the money. At the sight of them, the driver soon sported enough encouragement to pull a moon halfway down had Keelan asked him to. He jumped from the transporter, ran to a guard and gestured at the transporter and the berth.

  The guard followed back to the transporter and looked at Mike.

  “Has he seen a doctor?”

  “We come from the hospital,” Keelan said. “He’s just sedated.”

  “You have access.”

  The driver jumped back in, smiling, and gunned the transporter. They reached the ship in less than three minutes, so Keelan paid the fare and the bonus. The driver stayed to let Keelan open the ramp before he once again scooped Mike into his arms and carried him into the ship.

  Keelan placed him on Mike’s own bed and hooked the IV up again. He wondered whether he could take off gently enough to not hurt Mike. Sitting on the chair, he watched the steady rise and fall of Mike’s chest, but it didn’t calm Keelan down. He shook his head and looked at his hands. They seemed alien to him, and he closed his eyes
in disgust over what he’d done. He felt alien to himself, so he got up and left for the bathroom, where he looked in the mirror.

  The first time he’d changed form it had taken three days before his body one way or another had returned to normal. He closed his eyes and tried to remember.

  Fear, he remembered that part. An all-encompassing fear. He didn’t remember much else, and it frustrated him even more. Then he remembered the tiredness. Like every cell in his body had screamed for rest. Screamed for sleep.

  Keelan sighed, closed his eyes, and leaned against the sink.

  The bubbly sensation returned, and he snapped his head up, seeing his face change. The bubbles disappeared again, and he once again stared at Andy Thompson. Anger boiled in Keelan’s blood as he feared being stuck in that form, and he roared out his frustrations and kicked and punched the walls and door.

  “Change back! Change back right fucking now!”

  The bubbles returned, and Keelan turned to stare at the reflection. He noticed Andy’s green eyes becoming black—the irises looked like a lake from above with waves crashing over the shores. His skin changed, then his hair, the shape of his ears, he grew four inches, and the last to change back was his eyes.

  The bubbly sensation finally stopped, and Keelan sighed in relief at looking at the so well-known reflection.

  “Evo-race. Yeah, right! I’ve never heard of this before, and Evos are registered with anomalies and everything.”

  The only thing he’d never been able to control entirely was his eyes. From his normal blue to these black... pools. Especially if he got angry. And he was ashamed every time. Like when Koolmok had dismissed his word as being of no value and thus recognized him as a minority.

  Keelan shivered in disgust and took a shower, hoping to wash the feeling of being someone else off.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mike’s condition was stable, but Keelan was racking his brain on how to proceed. They had to leave—someone was bound to move the transporter that Keelan in pure desperation of the demand for quick action had hidden Andy Thompson under. Plus, he’d used his prints to transport Mike from the hospital to this spot.