The Ship Finder: Young Adult Edition

by John Bluck

  "How exactly is this plan supposed to work?" Lena asked.

  Terac shifted his feet, glanced down, and looked back and forth between Lena and Wilson. "Our plan is simple, yet powerful," Terac said. "First, Rachel will brief Lena with as much detail as possible about every aspect of her mission and her relationship with Bill and the crew of The Ghost Liner.

  "Second, as I said, we'll give Rachel's secure cell phone to Lena. Rachel will provide us the necessary passwords to operate the device.

  "Third, we'll change the identification tattoo on Lena into Rachel's ID, which is 214993. We just have to change two of the last three digits of Lena's ID to match Rachel's number. Rachel's ID will also be altered. We can do that in Chinatown in Honolulu at a trusted tattoo parlor. Because Rachel and Lena have identical DNA, the Sunevians won't discover that we've fooled them," concluded Terac.

  "What about iris identification and fingerprints?" Wilson asked. "I've heard that irises in the eyes of identical twins are different, and so are their fingerprints."

  "That's true," said Terac, "but Lena can wear cosmetic contact lenses, just like Rachel does. They confuse computer systems that look at irises. The authorities know Rachel wears them. Identification by fingerprints is out of date, and the government no longer keeps records of them. And if you're worried about facial recognition cameras, clone faces are exactly the same."

  "But what about the bombs?" Lena asked.

  "There are mini fusion bombs already in the ship’s armory," explained Terac. "You just have to activate a few of them, and they can be set off from a distance."

  "Why can’t Bill and I leave the ship once it arrives on Triod, then you attack the ship?" Lena asked. "That way I wouldn’t have to deal with explosives."

  "Actually, we will have soldiers in place for an ambush, but if they fail to take the ship immediately, we want to destroy it before it jumps away," Terac admitted.

  "So, if I activate the bombs, what’s the chance they’d be set off?"

  "Our plan suggests there’s about a five percent chance we’d have to detonate them," Terac said. "I’ll show you." He picked up a small notebook and handed it to her.

  Lena opened it. "Where do I look?"

  "In the executive summary on page 1," Terac said.

  She glanced at the page. "Okay, I’ll do it," she said. "I just hope the ship and my friends won’t be destroyed."

  "You’re a true revolutionary," Terac said. "You know the revolution comes before everything else."

  Lena looked at Terac and sighed. "I can’t wait until it’s over."

  "I have a question about the tattoos," Wilson said. "Don’t they take a while to remove? We have to meet The Ghost Liner the day after tomorrow in the afternoon."

  "No problem. Thanks to nano meds the tattoo fix can be completed tomorrow," said Terac. "We'll leave for Chinatown in a few minutes. We have a few rooms set aside in the Green Dragon Hotel. Give Louis your keys so he can check you out of the Blue Wave Resort and turn in your rental car at the airport."

  Louis, one of the other two rebels, a man with grey hair and medium build, stepped up. Wilson handed him his keys.

  "Boss, should I take a taxi to the Green Dragon Hotel after I turn in Wilson's rental car?" Louis asked.

  "Yeah, that's fine, but call us after you check in at the hotel, if we're not there first," Terac said. Louis took a step back and said, "Dr. Wilson, I'll empty your car, and bring your stuff here before I leave."

  "Thanks," Wilson replied.

  In five minutes Louis returned with Wilson's and Rachel's items, and seconds later he got in the sports car and sped off. It wasn't long before the rest of the rebels left in the truck for Honolulu's Chinatown.

  Chapter 27 – Chinatown

  It was dark when Wilson, Rachel, and the rest of the rebels began the trip from Pali Lookout to Honolulu's Chinatown.

  Rachel and Bill rested on a small mattress on the wooden floor in the cargo area of the moving van in which they traveled. Another of the rebels, Jacob, a clone with brown skin, was lying on a small cushion with his eyes closed trying to sleep. Rebel mission leader Art Terac drove, and Lena sat next to him in the passenger's seat so he could brief her about how to set the bombs on The Ghost Liner.

  "I wonder if the rain will stop by the time we get down to Honolulu," Rachel said. She had almost recovered from the effects of the truth serum that Terac had given her.

  Rain pattered on the sheet metal roof of the electric rental truck as it sped along. Its cargo area had no windows. Aside from the noise of the rain and tire splash sounds, the rebels in the cargo area had few clues about the weather.

  "I imagine this weather may change," Wilson said. "I studied the map, and I believe our route follows Pali Highway southwest. In a few minutes, we'll be out of the heights and the rain."

  "It seems to hit the roof less," said Rachel. "Do you feel like it's warmer?"

  "It sure is," Wilson said. He felt sweat run down his back. "Pali Highway is almost a direct route to Chinatown. I think we have about a half-hour before we get to the hotel."

  "I'll be glad when we get there," Rachel said. The truck's movement seemed to sooth her, and soon she dozed.

  It didn't seem long to Wilson before he felt the van turn right and enter stop-and-go city traffic. He recalled that his travel book had warned tourists not to venture into Chinatown at night because of its high crime rate.

  After the truck halted, Terac climbed onto the rear bumper and rolled up the cargo door. Then he jumped back down to the street to join Lena. Wilson, Jacob, and Rachel followed, hopping from the van's cargo area to the pavement.

  "This is it," said Terac. "The hotel's across the street." He pointed to a bright red neon sign which read, "Green Dragon Hotel." The sign included Chinese character writing and a green neon lamp in the form of a dragon.

  The street was empty except for five men in shabby clothes about thirty feet from the hotel's entrance. Three of the men sat in aluminum lawn chairs, and the other two men stood. A few of the fellows held crumpled brown paper bags, which appeared to contain bottles. A soft, warm breeze carried the smell of cheap whiskey and stale beer to Wilson.

  As the rebels and Wilson crossed the street and approached the hotel, one of the rough-looking men raised his brown paper sack and took a swig from his bottle. He wiped his mouth on the upper sleeve of his greasy Hawaiian shirt.

  "Hey, honeys, twin ladies, come here and talk to daddy," he said. His smile revealed rotten teeth with some black gaps between them. He gestured for Lena and Rachel to come forward. "I got a proposition for you two from my crew."

  "Sorry, sir, but the ladies are unable to grant your request," Terac said. Wilson grasped his ray gun, which was tucked in his waistband beneath his black jacket. By feel alone he set the weapon on nonlethal "shock." He saw that the rest of his colleagues were also ready for trouble.

  "Mister Blondie, you shouldn't speak for the ladies," slurred another of the thugs. Terac's light hair was bright despite the darkness. "Women have rights, you know," said the second thug. "So, I'm gonna teach you a lesson."

  He stood up from his lawn chair and drew a large chrome pistol from his belt. Terac dove to his right as the drunken ruffian fired a wild shot in the general direction of the rebels. Every one of the battle-tested rebels either dove to the ground or took other evasive action.

  Wilson pulled his ray gun out, squeezed the trigger, and hit the attacker with a shock ray, which displayed a blue laser-like line in the air. The man fell and dropped his heavy chrome pistol, which skidded across the sidewalk towards Lena. She grabbed the brute's weapon and aimed it at the first man who had called out to her and Rachel.

  "If you say another word, I'll shoot," Lena yelled. "Your friend's not dead, just knocked out."

  The man held up his arms, still holding his bag of booze in one hand. Then he backed up towards the dark alley behind him. His friends also eased backwards in the direction of the alley and the safety of its darkness.


  Afraid to say anything, the first man turned and ran into the alleyway, splattering much of his whiskey as he fled. The rest of the men escaped when they saw that Lena did not shoot.

  Except for the stunned criminal, all that remained were a few overturned lawn chairs and two broken bottles of spirits that had moistened the crumpled brown bags in which they had been kept. The smell of gun smoke and spilled whiskey loitered in the air.

  "Zap him again, if he wakes up," Terac said to Wilson. "Everybody else, go in the hotel, and check in. If they ask about the shot, say it was a firecracker that a teenager set off. As for this guy, you can say he had too much to drink."

  The women and the other rebel, Jacob, went into the hotel and paid for their rooms.

  Looking down at the unconscious thug, Wilson suggested, "I can give this guy an injection of sedative, and he won’t wake up until morning. I’ve got the stuff in my fanny pack."

  "Good idea, Bill," Terac said.

  While Wilson gave the stunned hooligan the shot, Terac glanced around to see if anyone was near, but the street was deserted. He also saw no one observing them from the hotel's windows or from any other building.

  Wilson and Terac each grabbed one of the thug's shoulders and pulled him along the sidewalk, the backs of his heels dragging on the concrete. In the obscurity of the alley, Terac took out a bright portable spotlight and turned it on. They peered down the length of the alleyway, which ended at the next street. The alley was deserted except for a couple of cats that scurried away.

  "The rest of the gang is gone," said Terac. "Let's pull him a little farther to that Chinese restaurant service entrance, and the cook will probably find him in the morning. I bet the thug won't say anything about us. Most likely he's always in trouble, and he'll be afraid to report anything to the police because he started it."

  "The police could still make inquiries," Wilson said.

  "We can check out early, maybe four in the morning," Terac said. "I can find out when the restaurant opens. If it doesn't open until lunchtime, then I doubt anybody will show up until about eight or nine o'clock to start work."

  "The restaurant has to have a sign with its hours of operation on the front door," Wilson said.

  "I'll check it after we drag this jerk behind the dumpster," said Terac.

  He and Wilson wrestled the unconscious, bulky criminal another fifty feet to the garbage containers by the rear alley entrance of the restaurant. Terac went around to the street side of the eatery to look for a sign. Meanwhile, Wilson entered the Green Dragon Hotel lobby where Jacob sat.

  "Here's a room key," Jacob said. "We all have separate rooms because of the fracas the women got into."

  "I guess it's for the best until everybody cools down," Wilson said. "What rooms do we have?"

  "We've got a block of rooms from 1101 to 1106," said Jacob. "We have Lena in 1101 and Rachel in 1106."

  "That was a bit of genius," Wilson said. He glanced at his key, which was for 1105. "Are there doors that connect between the rooms?"

  "Yes," Jacob said.

  "Where's everybody else going to be?" Wilson asked.

  "Terac is in 1102. I'm in 1103, and Louis is in 1104. He's on his way here now. He caught a cab at the airport, and he called to say he had just turned in your rental car."

  "How will we coordinate tomorrow?" Wilson asked.

  "Lena proposed that all of us meet in her room to figure out how we'll proceed," said Jacob. "I'll round up everyone for the meeting when it's time."

  "I'll go to my room and wait," Wilson said. "It's better that not too many of us gather out in the open in case the police start to look for a group of people who confronted those gangsters."

  "Okay, see you in a bit," said Jacob. He sat on a comfortable couch and picked up a newspaper to scan it while he waited for Terac and Louis, the gray haired clone, to get their room keys.

  Chapter 28 – The Meeting

  Wilson dozed five minutes as he lay on his hotel bed at the Green Dragon and waited for the rebel meeting that was to take place in Lena's room.

  A knock sounded on his door. He rubbed his eyes, pushed himself up from the bed, and walked to the door. Through the peephole he saw Jacob, who was smiling. Wilson unbolted the door and swung it open.

  "So, everybody's here?" Wilson asked.

  "Yep," said Jacob. "You're the last one on my list. The meeting should start when we get there."

  After Jacob and Wilson arrived at Lena's room Terac said, "Let's get started." He leaned against a wall while the rest of the rebel group milled about the room. "Because of the incident with the thugs, we'll leave here no later than four tomorrow morning. Bill sedated the stunned thug, and he won’t wake up until tomorrow. We dragged him down the alley to a spot behind a dumpster near a Chinese restaurant. It opens for lunch at 11:30 a.m., so I doubt the gangster will be found until after we leave. They’ll think he’s a drunk sleeping it off."

  "Well done," said Lena. "I'd like to get a few hours of sleep. Where should we meet tomorrow morning?"

  "At the van," said Terac. "Don't hang around in the street. I'll get there before four and unlock the cargo area as well as the front doors. So, just walk up and get in."

  Jacob nodded. A few others mumbled, "Okay."

  Lena stepped in front of the group next to Terac. "Folks, I'm sorry I acted the way I did today. I apologize," she said. "I realize the revolution is the most important thing we have to deal with as a group, and I let personal issues get in the way. I won't do it again."

  "Thank you, Lena," said Terac. "We are one team. We're like brothers and sisters." He looked tired and still leaned against the wall. Then he straightened up. "Now let's go over what we should do next. The plan for tomorrow is for us to go to the tattoo parlor to have Rachel's number removed and replaced with a new number that matches another Nordic Number 10, and to change Lena's number to Rachel's number," he said.

  Lena raised her hand, "I'd like to know how long the recovery is for tattoo removal," she asked. "Rachel doesn't have to worry about that, but I'm going to replace her on The Ghost Liner."

  "We've changed clone ID tattoos before in eighteen to twenty-four hours," said Terac.

  "I've heard that they erase tattoos with lasers, and it can take a few sessions spaced out by weeks," Wilson said.

  "That would be true if we were limited to Earth's medicine. But after a laser beam breaks tattoo ink into particles, our nano meds speed the body's immune system so that in minutes it carries away the tiny bits of tattoo ink," said Terac. "The medicine also enables blisters and scars to disappear in hours. So, tattoo removal just takes one session. It also helps that the letters in the ladies' tattoos are black. Dark inks are easiest to remove with laser treatment."

  "By about what time will Lena's new tattoo heal well enough for us to join The Ghost Liner's crew?" Wilson asked.

  "By late afternoon tomorrow, just in time for you and Lena to get on the ship," said Terac.

  "Rachel, there's one more thing we must do," said Lena. "We have to take the latest nano medicine upgrade and truth serum resistance chemicals. The dose will also help speed tattoo removal and protect us from some illnesses native to planet Triod. I have two doses, one for each of us."

  Lena took two vials of nano medicine from her purse and handed both to Rachel.

  "Should we drink it now?" asked Rachel. She took one vial and handed the other back to Lena.

  Wilson decided, Lena gave both doses to Rachel so she could choose one of the vials and not fear that it might be poison.

  "If we take it now, it will have more time to blend into our systems before tomorrow," said Lena. She unscrewed the small cap on the vial Rachel had handed back. "I'll go first." Lena drank her dose.

  Rachel unscrewed her vial and took her dose.

  "I can't think of anything else, unless someone has a question," said Terac.

  "What's the name of the tattoo place?" Wilson asked.

  "Tanya's Tattoo Parlor. It's across from the publi
c parking garage on Maunakea between King and Hotel Streets," replied Terac. "The tattoo artist is, of course, Tanya. Don't forget we meet at the van tomorrow at four in the morning sharp. Good night."

  "Goodbye, Bill," Rachel said. She touched his hand before she left.

  As more people left for their rooms, Lena tapped Wilson's shoulder. "Stay for a minute more, Bill."

  "Sure,” Wilson replied, and he turned to face her after the others had left.

  "I’m sorry I was so jealous of Rachel," Lena said.

  "When I first met her I had a hunch that Rachel was a spy for the Great Leader's secret police, and I was right," Wilson said. "So, I had to be friendly with her and try to appear to be totally loyal to the Sunevian government."

  Lena’s eyes turned glassy with tears. "Thanks for being my friend, Bill."

  "I'm sorry, if I seemed to get too close to Rachel," Wilson said.

  "I think I understand now," Lena said. "But I have to admit that I was afraid you might want to be my friend only because of my outer appearance and not because of my inner self."

  "I like you for who you are," he said. "You're unique and so is Rachel. You are both distinct persons, though your DNA is the same."

  "There’s something else," Lena said. "I feel trapped since an important part of General Black’s plan hinges on me activating bombs on The Ghost Liner, and I’m not sure I can do it, even if I said I would. Whatever happens, I need your support."

  "I’ll help you no matter what your final decision is," he said.

  She glanced at her bed. The thug's big silver pistol was on top of the mattress. "You should take that old-time firearm," she said. "You know how to use it better than I do."

  He leaned down and picked up the heavy pistol from her bed and slipped it between his belt and back. He untucked his shirt to hide the weapon. "Thanks," he said.

  She hugged him. "There's a lot of war left. The next mission to Triod will be tough, and we must stick together."

  "We will," Wilson said. He smiled the best he could. "Good night. See you tomorrow."