The Ship Finder: Young Adult Edition

by John Bluck

  "Okay," she said. She wiped tears from her eyes and closed her door as he left.

  While Wilson walked to his room, he had a bad feeling about the tattoo shop appointment the next day. It's a big risk to go to that tattoo parlor just to get rid of a number nobody will think to check, he thought.

  Chapter 29 – Tanya's Tattoo Parlor

  Wilson and the rest of the rebels met at their truck at 4 a.m. and left for Tanya's Tattoo Parlor, a few minutes away. Terac had arranged with Tanya to close the shop for the day so she could work nonstop on Lena's and Rachel's tattoos. Tanya was to be paid well for her work.

  It was still dark when Terac drove to a café and bought breakfast-to-go for his crew. He and Lena carried brown bags of food and coffee into the cargo area of the truck and handed them to the team.

  "I'll drive to a side street down the block from the tattoo shop and park there," Terac said. "We can eat in the back of the truck and rest until 7 a.m. That's when Tanya's supposed to meet us."

  "At least we can nap for a couple of hours," Lena said.

  Terac drove to the side street, they ate, and then most of the crew dozed on the big van's rough wooden floor.

  Wilson fell into a restful sleep. "Wake up," Lena said, as she shook his shoulder.

  It seems like I've slept for just a few minutes, he thought as Lena woke the rest of the rebels. Terac and Lena left to see if the shop was open, and Wilson stepped out of the van and stretched.

  The morning was sunny, and cottony clouds filled the blue sky. The good weather uplifted Wilson's spirits. He took deep breaths of the morning air and went back into the rear of the van where the rebels were sipping the last of their cold coffee from paper cups.

  A few minutes later Terac opened the rear roll-up door of the van and climbed into the cargo area to talk with his crew. "Overnight I've been thinking about what's the best way to handle the tattoos," Terac said.

  "What do you mean?" Wilson asked.

  "Well, what if Lena becomes incapacitated, and can't play the role of Rachel? In that case we could send Rachel back to The Ghost Liner to be herself, and complete the mission. So, we shouldn't erase Rachel's tattoo ID for now."

  "You mean I don't have to go to the tattoo parlor?" asked Rachel. "Should I just stay here in truck?"

  "That's right," said Terac. "You can get the tattoo removed after the war is over, Rachel." Terac said.

  "Sounds good to me," she said.

  "All of us except Bill and Lena will leave right away in the van for the rendezvous point with our ship," said Terac. Bill and Lena will walk to the tattoo place."

  "Okay," Wilson replied.

  Terac patted Wilson on the back and said, "After Tanya changes the tattoo, wait until an hour before it's time for you to board Raven's ship. Then take a taxi to the airport. Once you get there, give me a call on the scrambler."

  What if we get in trouble?" Wilson asked.

  "Call me. We'll come back or do what we can do to help," Terac replied. "Even if you don't call, we'll track your phone's location. We can also tell if the government ship jumps away. Then if everything is okay, our ship will leave for planet Triod."

  "What about Rachel's stuff?" Wilson asked.

  "Rachel, please double check that you have given Bill all your things, your backpack, purse, money, ship finder, all of it," Terac said. "Lena then can assume your identity and cause no suspicion in case somebody on The Ghost Liner remembers details such as what your purse looks like."

  "Here you go," said Rachel, as she handed Wilson Lena's cabin key. "Sorry, I forgot the key for her quarters."

  "Thanks," he said. He put the key in the backpack and hugged Rachel goodbye.

  She said, "Listen to your Inner One, and stay alive."

  "I will," he replied.

  Terac and Wilson got out of the van's payload area. Lena stood outside on the sidewalk next to the truck. "Why didn't Rachel get out?" she asked.

  "I decided to leave her tattoo alone in case we have to send her on a mission," Terac said. "You and Bill will be on your own from now on. Your ship finder, key, and other things are in this backpack." He set it next to her.

  Lena stepped closer to Terac and embraced him.

  "Bye," he said.

  "See you after The Ghost Liner mission, Art."

  "Good luck, both of you," he replied. He turned and walked to the driver's door of the van and opened it. He waved to Wilson and Lena, got in, and drove away.

  "Let's finish this tattoo business as soon as we can," Lena said, as she picked up Rachel's backpack and hefted it over her shoulder. "Art told me that it should take about an hour."

  "We don't have to meet The Ghost Liner until about five o'clock," Wilson said. "We can have lunch and look around Chinatown after we're finished with the tattoo."

  "At least we can enjoy something during this trip, even if it's just a decent meal," Lena said.

  They walked two blocks to the front door of Tanya's Tattoo Parlor. The shop's neon sign hung in the front window of the lime green building. Its latex paint had peeled, and the display window and the front door were dirty. Inside the entry was a small hand-lettered sign that read, "Closed for the day."

  Lena rapped on the glass door. A short, middle-aged woman with a Chinese face and an exaggerated smile came forward to unlock the shop. Her black hair hung down her back to her waist.

  "Are you Lena or Rachel?" she asked. "I'm Tanya."

  "I'm Lena. Pleased to meet you."

  "The pleasure is mine," Tanya replied. "Where's your sister?"

  "We had a change of plans. I'll be the only one who needs tattoo work today," said Lena. "This is my friend, Bill."

  "Hello, Bill," Tanya said. The duo entered the shop, and Tanya relocked the door. "We won't be interrupted. You're my special guests for today. I've decided to take the rest of the day off after I finish your tattoo."

  "Thank you," said Lena. She glanced around. "Where will you do the procedure?"

  "In the back, to assure your privacy, just as Mr. Terac discussed with me when he arranged this," said Tanya. "Did you bring the cash?"

  "Yes, $5,000, as agreed. Of course, I'll pay you for both tattoos because we did not cancel my sister's appointment," said Lena, and she took out ten one-hundred dollar bills and handed them to Tanya. "I'll give you the other $4,000 when you're finished."

  "Thank you. That's very generous," Tanya said, as she took the money and made a short bow. She led them behind a curtain that separated several tattoo cubicles in the rear from the front of the shop, where there was a customer counter. Inside, the place reminded Wilson of a low-cost, shabby dental office.

  "Where's the tattoo?" asked Tanya, as they went to the first cubicle on the right.

  "It's behind my ear," said Lena. She pulled back her hair so Tanya could see the tattooed number.

  "You'll have to lie face down on the examination table," Tanya said as she motioned Lena towards the cushioned brown leather tabletop. Wilson sat in a creaky wooden chair while Tanya was pulling Lena's hair away from her ear.

  "How long will this take?" asked Lena.

  "I have to wipe out most of two small black ink numbers. That will take about three to five minutes," Tanya said. "It shouldn't hurt any more than it did when you got the tattoo. Mr. Terac said I would have to add the two new tattoo numbers today, but we need to wait for the blisters to heal and for the body to absorb the dark ink. He claims you will heal in an hour. I'm yet to be convinced." She rolled her eyes.

  "I have special medicine that speeds up healing," said Lena. "In an hour my skin will be ready for the new tattoos."

  "I'll believe it when I see it," Tanya said. "If it works, I'd like to buy some of your medicine. It would increase my business." She chuckled and wiped some disinfectant on the tattoo with a cotton swab.

  "That feels cool," Lena said.

  "It'll kill germs before I begin. I'll warn you just before I lase the tattoos, which will cause minor discomfort."

  "I'm ready,"
said Lena.

  Tanya took a laser wand and turned on the device. "Okay, Lena, I'll begin now." Tanya pointed the laser probe at the '7.' The machine hummed as it lased most of the number away, leaving small burn marks. She wiped out the '2' the same way.

  "Are you done?" Lena asked.

  "Yes, it was easy," said Tanya. "You can sit up now. We'll see how well the blistered area has repaired itself in an hour. I don't think you can heal that fast. You may have to come back at a later date so I can tattoo the new numbers."

  Lena sat up. She opened her purse, took out a small bottle of nano meds, dabbed some of it behind her ear, and drank the rest of the inky solution. "This should help me heal faster," said Lena.

  "You can help yourselves to tea while you wait," Tanya said as she stared at Lena who was still holding the empty nano med container. "The tea kettle and cups are on the table. There are also magazines to read."

  "Thank you," Wilson said. He poured tea into two small Chinese cups and gave one to Lena.

  "Thanks," she said. She selected a women's magazine and sat in an easy chair. Wilson picked up a sports magazine and sat on a couch near Lena.

  "I'll excuse myself to do paperwork," said Tanya. "If you need anything, I'll be in the office in the back." She walked to her glassed-in workplace and closed its door.

  Wilson and Lena sipped tea and read for fifteen minutes. Several beeps from Rachel's cell phone broke the silence and startled Wilson. Lena pulled the phone out of her purse. "Let's see what this text is," said Lena. "It's secure."

  Wilson got up to look over Lena's shoulder as she opened the text message.

  "It's from the Great Leader himself," Wilson said, astonished that he would send a message instead of asking an underling to do it.

  "Wow," said Lena.

  It said, "Rachel, superb work in the investigation of Wilson. Glad he is loyal. Good luck on Triod mission. No need to reply."

  "It looks like I'm in the clear," Wilson whispered. Then he sat in the chair next to Lena, and said, "Now that we have some time apart from The Ghost Liner crew, tell me what the plan Terac gave you is."

  "I'll arm three small fusion bombs in the ship’s armory," Lena said very quietly. "Alliance security people hacked into the ship’s main computer and uploaded a program that will cause The Ghost Liner to uncloak when needed so a radio signal can reach the bomb triggers. After I set the uncloak time window, you and I will get off the ship with Raven's assault team. Terac gave me a radio trigger."

  "How will you get into the ship’s armory to set the bombs?"

  "I have a key," Lena replied. "I made a wax impression of the master key I got from Raven when he was dead drunk one night. The rebels made a copy, and I tested it before they jailed me."

  "So, why didn't the secret service find it after they arrested you?"

  "I hid it in my cabin under the wallpaper. I glued it down and disguised it with wallpaper paste," she said. "I hope it's still there, but if it isn't, I have a computerized copy on my flash drive. I could print a new key on the ship's 3D printer."

  "I hope the key is there," Wilson said. "Then you won't have to take the chance of someone seeing you while you print a new one."

  "There's a 95 percent chance the key is still there," she said. "If for some reason I can't print a replacement, we'll just have to ad lib. We can break the weapons vault lock, set the bombs, and flee the ship, for example."

  "We need a back-up strategy," Wilson whispered. "We should plan one today."

  "I have a second plan, which I prefer anyway," Lena said quietly. “I can still use the computer program that was uploaded to the ship's computer to instruct The Ghost Liner to uncloak from between dimensions. The program includes a computer virus that will prevent the crew from re-cloaking the ship. We would slip away from The Ghost Liner, and I'd contact the rebels. They would attack the ship before Raven could leave to destroy the water supply and half of the city of Emor."

  "That sounds better," he said. "But the rebels could lose a lot of men in an attack on the ship."

  "Fewer people will die than if the ship is destroyed."

  "But how will we get away from Raven's raiding party?" Wilson asked. "And I don't want to kill Raven and Yarnell."

  "Our preference is to capture them," she said. "Black has a counter assault team ready to stop the raid. Before Black's soldiers attack us, I'll be in radio contact with the rebels through a scrambled side channel on my portable communicator. We'll escape from Raven's team when we see a good opportunity."

  "So, the rebels will attack and capture Raven's team before he has a chance to take out the water supply and destroys half of the city?"

  "Yes," Lena said. "We need to interrogate Raven and his team. Raven must have secret information about the inside workings of the government's military and its plans."

  "I guess we'll do the best we can," Wilson said. "It'll be a fluid situation."

  "That's about it," Lena said, as she picked up another magazine. Wilson was uneasy. He had a feeling something might go wrong.

  Tanya came out of her office.

  "It's time to check behind your ear," she said.

  Lena tilted her head forward and pulled her hair away from her ear. "How does it look?" Lena asked.

  "Remarkable! I can't believe it," Tanya replied as her eyes widened. "You're right. That medicine you took must have healed the wound. Where can I get some?"

  "The next time I come around, I'll give you a small bottle of it," Lena lied.

  "Thank you," Tanya said. "Maybe when your twin returns to get her tattoo changed, she can bring it?"

  "I'll ask her," said Lena.

  "Please go to the examination table and lie on your stomach," said Tanya. Lena stood, walked to the leather covered table and lay face down. Tanya rummaged through a cabinet drawer in the tattoo station for ink.

  Tired of sitting, Wilson stood and moved the curtain aside that separated the tattoo stations from the front of the shop. Through the front window he saw two Honolulu police cars parked across the street while two policemen talked near the squad cars.

  Looks like something is about to happen, he thought. He had a visceral feeling the police were on the lookout for him and Lena because of the stand-off with the hooligans near the Green Dragon Hotel, or maybe it was because of Rachel and the diamond handoff failure.

  "How long do you think the next step will take?" Wilson asked. He let go of the curtain, and it flapped closed.

  "It's easy. A couple of numbers isn't artwork. It'll take about ten or fifteen minutes tops," Tanya said. "Why? Are you in a hurry?"

  "We have an appointment soon," Wilson said. Tanya leaned over Lena with her back to him. Lena could see Wilson because her right ear was flat on the table.

  He mouthed the word, "police," and pointed outside.

  It only took Tanya five minutes to finish.

  "That was quick," Lena said, and Tanya held a mirror behind Lena to show her the new tattoo, the number 214993. "Good work."

  Lena swung her shapely legs off the table and lightly hopped to the floor. She picked up her designer purse, took out four crisp $1000 bills, fanned them, and held them out to Tanya.

  Tanya's eyes gleamed. "Thank you," she said as she examined the money.

  There were loud bangs on the front door that rattled its glass and startled Tanya. "Police, open up," a deep voice said.

  With a dark look, Tanya glanced at Wilson and Lena and then peeked around the curtain so as not to be seen by the police.

  "Tanya, you better hide that cash," Wilson said. "Don't say anything about us. We need to get out of here fast."

  "What've you done? Are you drug dealers or something?"

  "Nothing that serious," Wilson said. "But the less you know, the better. Is there a safe way out of here? There must be a cop at the back door, too."

  "I sometimes go out on the roof to smoke weed at night," she said. "I've got a tall step ladder that you can use to climb up through the trap door. There's a short
wall around the edges of the roof, and the buildings are really close together, so you could hop to the next roof without being seen."

  There was louder banging at the front door. "Tanya, we know you're in there! I'm Inspector Wong, and I need to talk to you!"

  "Just a minute, officer," Tanya yelled, still not opening the curtain. "I'm getting dressed."

  "Where's the ladder?" Wilson asked. Tanya pointed to it, propped against her office wall.

  "Okay," Tanya whispered. "I'll turn on the shower in the back and get my hair wet. I'll move the ladder away after you're up."

  "Great," Wilson said.

  "Your secret's safe with me," she said, as she rushed to the shower. Tanya turned it on full blast and splashed water on her hair.

  "Don't forget anything," Wilson said to Lena as he grabbed his backpack. She got her pack and slung it over her shoulder as he unfolded the ladder.

  He scrambled up first and pushed the trapdoor open with a soft thud. Some dirt fell on the floor. I hope the police don't notice it, he thought. He tossed his backpack onto the roof and pulled himself up through the opening onto the tarpaper above.

  Lena climbed up, and Wilson grabbed her backpack. He pulled her onto the roof and closed the trapdoor. A four foot brick wall surrounded the roof's edges.

  Wilson crouched and scampered towards the next roof. He kept low as he peeked over the wall and the two-foot space between the two brick buildings. Next he turned to glance down at the street and then towards the alley to see if the police could see him move to the next roof. After he observed that the police were chatting to each other, and not paying much attention to anything at rooftop level, he felt sure that they wouldn't detect him.

  He vaulted sideways to the next roof. Lena glanced over the top of the tattoo parlor building wall towards him with a questioning look. He nodded, "yes," and she leaped across the gap. They scampered towards the third building's roof. Because all of the buildings on the block were similar, Wilson and Lena found their way across six rooftops in a few minutes.

  They got to the last building, which faced another street, and Wilson looked over the alley side of the roof. "There's a fire escape we could go down," he whispered. "But there are a couple of cops behind the tattoo place. We should wait here until they go."