Bad Rock Beat Down (The Milky Way Repo Series Book 2)

by Michael Prelee

  She nodded. “All right, but don’t get over there and forget me.”

  “I won’t.”

  He reluctantly let go of her hand and moved aft. Duncan and Cole stood in the galley. Both wore shirts with the Milky Way Repo logo. Cole shrugged into his light leather jacket. Duncan zipped up a dark blue windbreaker with ‘Repo Agent’ emblazoned on the back in reflective silver letters and picked up a black duffel bag. Nathan felt the ship bump something and they all instinctively put a hand on the nearest bulkhead to steady themselves.

  “What’s in the bag?” Nathan said.

  “A mobi with the command codes for the Corkscrew and some tools I might need,” Duncan said. “I’ve also got a change of clothes in case I have to ride back aboard her.”

  “I don’t think you’ll need to,” Nathan said as they moved to the airlock. “As big as she is, we should be able to fly her by automation.” He nodded to Cole. “What about you? No overnight bag?”

  “I’m definitely not staying aboard when I’ve got my own bunk here.”

  Nathan chuckled and checked the airlock controls. An indicator built into the bulkhead flipped from red to green showing a good seal between the two ships. Marla’s voice came over the intercom a moment later and confirmed the reading. “You guys are good to go.”

  Nathan pushed the intercom button. “We’re heading over. See you in a bit.”

  Duncan spun the airlock wheel and the heavy door opened. Next, the locking lever on the Corkscrew slid out of place and the door swung wide. Nathan led them across and held his hand out. “Nathan Teller.”

  “Scooter McCabe,” she said, shaking his hand. “If you’ll come with me I’ll take you to Eldridge Tanner.”

  “Thank you,” Nathan said and he gave Cole a look that told him to keep an eye out. Duncan closed the airlock door.

  “I would have thought Mr. Tanner would meet us in person,” Nathan said.

  The diminutive young woman led them through tight corridors. “He normally would, sir, but he’s tied up with something right now and can’t get free. This ship is kind of old so something is always breaking down and we’re so busy, Eldridge decided to take care of the problem himself.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I saw your ship so you know what I’m talking about, right?”

  Nathan took the jab in stride. People could be grouchy when you came to grab their ship.

  “Besides,” Scooter said, “I’m sure this all a misunderstanding. We’re fully funded.”

  “Miss, we didn’t fly ten and a half light years over a misunderstanding. You may want to pack your gear after you take us to your boss. We’ll be leaving with your ship.” Chew on that smartass.

  “I see,” she said. “Well I’m sure Eldridge will be able to straighten things out.” She made a sharp turn and walked them down two flights of stairs. Their footsteps echoed hollowly in the metal stairwell, as they made their way toward a heavy door at the bottom. She punched in a code and the door slid open. “Eldridge is right through here. Watch your step.”

  Nathan stepped into the compartment and examined it. Long and empty, the space had the number 14 painted on two walls and smelled like a garbage hopper. His gaze turned back to Scooter just in time to see the little blonde sprinting for the door on the other side of the compartment.

  He took off after her but Cole ran past him. The door slid open and she tumbled through the hatchway a half second before Cole could grab her. The door slammed shut and he managed to pull his hand back just in time to save it from the crushing force. Nathan pounded on the door and saw her breathing hard through the small portal.

  “Scooter, this is very stupid. You need to open this door right now.”

  She stood on the other side with another man. He had brown hair and he high fived Scooter. She grinned back at Nathan and pushed the intercom button next to the door.

  “Sorry about that,” she said.

  Nathan pushed the button on his side. “Open the door.”

  “Yeah, I can’t do that,” she said between deep breaths. “You said you wanted to talk to Eldridge and I’ve arranged that.”

  Nathan turned to Duncan. “Can you open this thing?”

  Duncan had his bag on the floor and pulled a mobi out. “Of course. We have the command codes. She can have her fun now but I’ll have us loose in no time.” He tapped the screen on the mobi.

  Nathan felt the compartment shift. “Did we just move?”

  Duncan nodded. “I think so.”

  Nathan heard the whine of electric motors from inside the compartment. To his left a row of six jump seats folded down from the wall and he glanced back to the door. It suddenly dawned on him what was happening. He slapped the intercom button. “Don’t do this, Scooter.”

  “You should strap in, sir. It isn’t safe to go through re-entry unsecured.”

  Cole pulled his pistol from his shoulder holster and aimed it at the portal. “Open the door!”

  Scooter’s eyes grew wide and she moved to the right of the portal. Then her voice came through the intercom. “Don’t do that! You’re going to want the hull intact.”

  Nathan grabbed Duncan by the shoulder. “Can you stop her?”

  The engineer swiped through the screens on his mobi. “Not before she cuts us loose.”

  “Damn it,” he said. “I can’t believe this is happening.” He hated that someone had been clever enough to trap them. He noticed Cole standing at the hatch, beating on the pressure door. “Cole, put it away and grab a seat. I think we’re going for a ride.”

  He turned to Nathan. “Are you serious?”

  Nathan saw Scooter peeking through the portal again. He didn’t see anything in her expression that changed his mind. “I think she’s very serious.”

  Cole scrambled for a seat. Duncan grabbed his bag with the hand not holding the mobi and followed him. Nathan shot one last glance at the portal and felt the compartment jolt.

  Scooter and the inner door slid upward and the gravity cut off as they slipped past the artificial gravity field of the Corkscrew. Nathan floated off the floor and put his hands up on the ceiling to steady himself. Duncan and Cole busied themselves with straps on the jump seats.

  Nathan used the handholds mounted in the ceiling panels to make his way to the seats. Duncan grabbed one of his boots and pulled him down to a seat between himself and Cole. He strapped into the restraint harness.

  “I think this is one of the automated barges they’re using to haul up scrap from the planet,” Duncan said as he clicked the last buckle into place.

  Nathan nodded. “Probably the last one we saw come up when we approached.” He put his hands in his face. “I can’t believe we got caught like this.”

  “She moved a lot faster than I thought she would,” Cole said. “From now on I think we should have a new rule that we go straight to the cockpit and take control of the ship instead of wandering around.”

  Nathan looked around for a control panel but didn’t see one. “Yeah, I can see where that would be a good idea.” The barge thrust forward and he felt a force like gravity push him into the seat. “Does anyone see a way to fly this thing?”

  Duncan examined the walls across the empty space from their seats and then glanced above them. He reached up and pulled on a handle set into the wall above his seat. It tipped down and a panel opened with a mobi clipped to the door. He pulled it loose and activated it.

  A display lit up and gave them telemetry of their movements. Duncan handed it to Nathan and the pilot examined it. “It looks like we’re in a descent to the planet,” he said with a frustrated edge to his voice. He tapped the screen but the suppressed controls didn’t respond. “The controls are locked out.”

  “I guess we’re lucky they remembered to give us air and heat,” Duncan said.

  “So we just sit back and enjoy the ride?” Cole said. “There’s nothi
ng we can do?”

  Nathan handed the mobi back to Duncan. “I don’t think so. I just hope we’re going to some place on the planet that has people and not the middle of nowhere.”

  Cole had his mobi out but he had a disappointed look on his face. “I can’t get a signal.”

  Duncan pulled his out. “These barges have thick walls because they take a beating. Once we get to the surface we should be able to call Marla for a pickup. Not that I want to make that call.” He pointed to Nathan. “I’m going to let you explain how that girl dropped us to the surface.”

  The barge started to shudder and vibrate.

  “If we survive re-entry in this heap I’ll be glad to,” Nathan said.

  — «» —

  Eldridge Tanner gaped at Scooter on the screen. “You did what?”

  The young woman’s face had a frightened look on it and she swallowed hard. “I didn’t know what else to do. They came aboard and I got scared they would just take the ship and leave us in a lifeboat or something. The guy said we should pack our stuff. They wanted to talk to you so I dropped them.”

  “You lured them into a truck and just cut them loose?”

  Her look got a little more defiant. “What’s the big deal? We use the trucks to go back and forth to the planet all the time. We’ve all ridden in them.”

  “The big deal is that we all expect a rocky ride. Did you make sure they strapped in?”

  “Oh yeah,” she said, then reconsidered. “Well, I told them to buckle in. One of them had a gun so I didn’t really go through the whole launch procedure. I just punched the button and let them go. They should be all right, don’t you think?”

  Tanner sat back in the chair and rubbed his face with both hands. He counted to ten before he said anything because he didn’t want to be too harsh. “So worst case scenario I have three guys dropping down to me who may be riding re-entry like canned meat loose in the galley and best case I have three pissed off repo agents, one of whom is armed. Is that right?”

  Scooter actually took a second to think about it. “Yes.”

  “What about their ship? Is it still docked?”

  “Yes and their co-pilot is calling us.”

  Tanner shook his head. This day was screwed. “Okay, secure the ship and don’t let anyone else aboard. Don’t answer their calls. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Okay.”

  “Oh, and Scooter?”

  “Yes?”

  “We’re going to talk about this later.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I kinda figured.”

  He closed the channel and stepped out from under the canopy that covered his workspace. A rumble in the sky attracted his attention. He shaded his eyes with a hand and saw a truck dropping down. It angled itself away from him and he groaned. Turtle and Daryl’s pile was the only thing in that direction. He raced for his float bike and remembered Ari had it down at the Athena Star while she configured a crew of ‘bots. The service vehicle sat nearby, though. He mounted up and started moving toward Pile 2.

  — «» —

  Nathan felt the landing thrusters fire and the barge settled roughly to the ground. He swallowed and his ears popped. Cole groaned beside him and retched. Nathan put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. “It’s okay, we’re down now.”

  Cole had become airsick as they came through the upper atmosphere. Thankfully, there had been gravity when he lost control so the mess landed on the floor and wall beside him and instead of floating around the interior of the barge.

  “Remember this the next time you make fun of my flying,” Nathan said.

  Cole shot him the finger, unable to speak at the moment.

  Nathan popped his restraints and stood up. Duncan and Cole followed him to the doors and the engineer found a control panel. Nathan nodded and the large doors at the end of the barge swung open. Morning sunshine flooded the interior of the barge and they exited. Nathan shaded his eyes and saw an enormous pile of scrap metal with several ‘bots working on it.

  Two guys sitting on chairs playing cards gawked at them in surprise. The taller of the two with long, greasy hair under a cap stood up. “Who the hell are you?”

  Cole lurched forward. “If you’re Eldridge Tanner I’m the guy that’s going to kick your ass.”

  The guy put his hands up. “Hold on there, bud. I ain’t Eldridge.”

  Nathan put a hand on Cole to restrain him. “Where can we find Tanner?”

  “He’s up at the main camp. Who are you guys?”

  Nathan pulled out a plastic business card and approached the man. “We’re repo agents here to secure the Corkscrew. I’d love to go through all the introductions but seeing as how we were just dropped to this shit-hole against our will I’m just going to ask you to find me Eldridge Tanner.”

  The second man stepped up beside his friend and pointed over Nathan’s shoulder. “That’s him right there.”

  They turned to look and saw a young black man pulling up in some kind of four wheeled maintenance truck dragging a trailer. He didn’t look happy as he parked and dismounted. “Are you Teller?”

  Nathan took a few steps toward him. “Yeah. Are you Eldridge Tanner?”

  “Yeah, look I’m sorry. Scooter shouldn’t have done this.” He backed up suddenly as Nathan advanced on him. “Hey, whoa, whoa, she made a mistake, come on.”

  Nathan stood in front of him, fist clenched. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as his fist relaxed. “We could have been killed in that thing,” he said, pointing to the barge.

  “Well, I don’t know about killed,” Tanner said. “I mean, we use them all the time to go back and forth to the ship.” He waved his hands in front of him. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. Scooter shouldn’t have locked you in there and shot you down here. Believe me, she will be reprimanded. I’m very sorry that happened.”

  Nathan took another deep breath and stepped back. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small mobi. He swiped through a couple screens until he found what he wanted and held it out to Tanner.

  “We’re here for your ship. Failure to pay the loan has resulted in repossession by the note holder. I expect your full cooperation in this matter.” Nathan glared at the younger man.

  Tanner took the mobi and reviewed the documents. “This can’t be right. There’s no reason to be behind on our payments. We invoice Great Star Line every month so our cash flow is solid. The bank must have made a mistake.”

  “Yeah, we keep hearing that. Do you have a guy named Lewis Mairn working for you back on Earth?”

  “Yes,” Tanner said. “He’s our accountant and office manager. He runs the business end of things.”

  Nathan grunted. “Well, I don’t think he’s very good at his job.”

  Tanner opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. Nathan recognized the look. He’d seen it many times before from people who didn’t know how the money flowed and were surprised when the roof fell in.

  He remembered the two guys standing behind them but Cole had an eye on them. Nathan realized the situation needed to deescalate.

  “Do you have some place we can talk in private?”

  Tanner nodded and rubbed his hand over his beard. “Yeah, if you’ll get on the truck we can go back to base camp.”

  “All right,” Nathan said. “But that’s the only place we’d better be going. If I see anything hinky, things could escalate and you don’t want that.”

  Tanner held up a hand. “No, we’re all good. Let’s just go straighten this out.”

  They moved to mount up and Cole stooped to pick something up and he stuffed it in his pocket. He climbed onto the back of the maintenance vehicle, taking a rear facing seat next to Duncan. Nathan sat next to Tanner up front.

  Nathan twisted around and tapped Duncan on the shoulder. “Why don’t you call Marla and tell her w
here we are.”

  “Because that’s your job.”

  Nathan smiled. “I changed my mind. Privilege of being the boss.”

  “I guess,” Duncan said. “Must be nice,” he got his mobi out. “Do you want her to come get us?”

  “Not yet. Just tell her to hold tight and we’ll let her know.”

  Cole turned. “Just so you know, Nathan, I’m not flying in one of those barges again. I’ll build a house and live here before that happens.”

  Nathan smiled. “No worries, Cole. When the time comes to leave we’ll be on our own ship.”

  The vehicle moved slowly up the trail and Nathan noticed Tanner trying to avoid the ruts. The operation was impressive from what he could see. The Athena Star appeared more intact than he would have expected after a crash. The automated system had done a decent job of getting it down. Given what he, Duncan and Cole had just experienced, he had a pretty good idea of what that re-entry must have been like.

  More ‘bots roamed the site than he remembered seeing anywhere else outside of a manufacturing facility. They passed another pile where a gray haired man in overalls directed ‘bots that cut and carried pieces of scrap. Tanner had quite an operation.

  The utility truck pulled up next to a large canopy that provided cover to a camp stove, tables and a workbench. They got off the maintenance vehicle and Tanner offered them a seat at the largest table. He moved a few things out of the way and offered them something to drink. All three accepted and Tanner pulled a pitcher of something from the small fridge near the camp stove.

  “All I’ve got is powdered orange drink. There’s no alcohol allowed in camp. Is that all right?”

  “As long as it tastes better than vomit,” Cole said. He turned and spit into the dirt.

  “Hey, dude, I live here,” Tanner said as he poured. “Spit somewhere else.”

  “I didn’t ask to be here,” Cole said, throwing him the stink eye as he took a drink.

  Tanner nodded and blew out a breath. “Yeah, okay. Again, I’m very sorry about Scooter doing that. She should have contacted me so we could work something out. There’s only three of them up there and she said you scared her,” he said pointing at Nathan.