by Terry Mixon
“I’d heard something had them excited. I’ll see if I can confirm any of that story. Whatever is happening, it has Janus in an uproar bigger than when the Disruptors hit the station.
“The port is on total lockdown. No one in or out, except employees in groups. They’ve also locked down their headquarters and the docking bays under their control. And an area in the civilian bays that I hadn’t thought they were in charge of.”
She handed him a data chip and grabbed the bag. “Here’s everything. I suggest you keep this close to your vest or you’ll disappear. It also has my contact number. Use it sparingly. Now, close your eyes and they’ll take you back out and release you.”
Once he was gone, she considered her options. They needed to do something soon, or Janus would catch them. Somehow, they had to find out what Evans and his people were really up to. Fast.
* * * * *
Adam listened to Price lay out what she’d learned from the reporter. None of it was surprising.
“We might be able to hide for a while longer,” he said slowly, “but that’s just pissing on the forest fire. We need to get our hands on Evans. He can tell us everything about what Janus is doing. He knows what happened to Zane.”
He shook his head and smiled wryly at Price. “I had a realization while you were out. You know how you thought Zane came here because of me? Well, he didn’t. He was onto this conspiracy and it just happened to involve my history.”
“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t trying to clear you.”
“Then he’d have contacted me. I can see where you might think that, but you’re his partner. You almost have to like him.
“It took me a long time to realize it, but all he really cares about is himself. I’m still going to make whoever killed him pay, but that’s just a matter of principle.”
Wu had sent Jason off to do something and now sat alone with the two of them. “Janus is well guarded. How will you slip past their guards and seize this man? Once you have him, what will you do to make him talk?”
Price patted her bag. “I have something that will get him chattering. We don’t even need to get him out of the Janus building. We only need about half an hour alone with him.”
“I might be able to get us in,” Adam said. “I know some people and I have access.”
Wu shook her head. “They will be wary of you. You must slip in unseen. Just as your brother did in the port.”
“I have a program running in their comps,” Price said. “I might be able to use it to generate false identification for us. I need to access it and see what it’s penetrated.”
“I can call a few people and get something rolling on my end, too,” Adam said. “Even with valid codes, we still need to find a badge reader without live guards. My team can get me the information I need.”
“Do you trust them so highly?” Wu asked. “Will they break the law and company rules for you?”
“I suppose we’ll find out,” he said with a grin. “Maybe once I tell them the real story. It shouldn’t take me more than a couple of hours to get what we need. If you don’t hear back from me, then assume they turned me in to Janus.”
“Have Jason help,” Wu ordered. “Two people telling the story will be more believable than one. Your associates know both of you well. It will help convince them.”
* * * * *
Once Hale was gone, Grandmother Wu focused her attention on Rachel. “While they are occupied, there is something you can do for them.
“The fingerprints on the money Adam recovered are indeed a match for someone on the station, but the identity of the person will cause both Adam and Jason much pain. The C.S. in the transaction book is Cindy Stevens.”
Rachel found her eyebrows rising. “As in Chang’s girlfriend? You’re sure?”
“There is no doubt.”
“Why would she try to kill Jason’s best friend and frame him for the crime?”
“I have no idea,” Wu said. “I’ve never liked the woman, and now I know why. I could take care of the problem myself, but it seems more suited to your skills.
“Besides, if I were to have her taken, someone might tell Jason, and that would damage my family. No, I think you owe them both enough to solve this problem.”
Rachel nodded. “They’ve gone out on a limb for me, so I’ll deal with her. What do you think I should do with her when I’m finished asking some hard questions?”
The old woman’s eyes glittered. “Personally, I think you should skin her alive and toss what remains out an airlock. However, I’ve been known to be vindictive.
“If you can get enough evidence to turn her over to security, I suppose that will be enough. Barely. Perhaps you could beat her until that pretty face bleeds first.”
“I can go over to her place and ask if she turned up anything on that crate Zane stole. It will make a good excuse to start the conversation.”
Rachel smiled coolly. “Based on what might happen, I think I’d best borrow a vehicle without a driver.”
“An excellent thought. I will see that you have what you need.”
Once Rachel had the van, she drove near the woman’s apartment and looked for observers. She found a man in a larger van just up the street. She was pretty sure he was one of the group who’d shot at them in the park.
Well, she couldn’t let him see her here or they’d all come calling. Her best course of action was to take him out. He might be able to answer a few questions in the process.
She parked behind the man’s van and gathered Zane’s kit and her shocker. Gunshots would draw all the wrong kinds of attention, so she’d prefer to keep this quiet.
Once she was sure that the man’s attention had settled back on the apartment up the street, she climbed out through the rear door of her van and made her way quickly behind the vehicle in front of her. A quick moment with her picks served to unlock his rear door.
She hefted the shocker, opened the door, and climbed in.
That’s when she discovered his was a more sophisticated surveillance van than she’d anticipated. The rear contained a console with a number of monitors. A woman wearing headphones was watching them.
Rather, she had been right up until Rachel had opened the door beside her.
The woman went for something at her waist, so Rachel poked her with the shocker. The woman did the electricity dance and slumped in her chair.
That got the attention of the driver, who was out of the seat and coming for Rachel by the time she turned her focus to him.
He was a bit taller than Jason Chang and quick. A knife glittered in his hand as he tried to stab her. His other hand held her arm, immobilizing the shocker. The sudden stress set her injured side to blazing.
Rachel positioned her leg behind him and used it as a fulcrum to slam his head into the console. He collapsed to the floor without any further fight.
The condition of his head told her he wouldn’t be causing any more trouble. He also wouldn’t be answering questions.
Rachel leaned over when her bruised muscles complained. They still hadn’t gotten over slamming into the building.
Once the pain died down a little, she tied the woman up with some handy wire. Rachel would take this van back to Grandmother Wu, and they’d have someone else to interrogate.
First, though, she needed to finish the mission at hand.
After she’d disabled all the coms in the van, she climbed out and observed the people walking by. No one seemed to feel that anything interesting had happened. Perfect.
Rachel crossed the street with the shocker tucked into the back of her pants with her blouse covering it. Depending on what Cindy had to say, she might need it again very soon.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Adam met with his key people over the space of an hour. It was more than a bit heartwarming. Jason drove one of his grandmother’s vans while Adam and their guests talked in the back.
Between them, they knew of several low-traffic ways into the headquarters building
. It was always possible those entrances had guards now, but he and Price only had to find one chink in the armor. The men and women he spoke with would poke their noses into the possibilities and get back to him.
One interesting piece of information came up during the discussions. Part of the docks that most people considered public had a heavy guard posted. For the life of him, Adam couldn’t come up with a reason for that.
So, being the nosey sort, he decided he’d check it out.
Jason parked nearby, and the two of them casually made their way to the area that was now under guard. Armed guards in Janus uniforms stood around the entrances to a large bay. One that they’d fully sealed.
They pulled back to where the guards wouldn’t see or hear them.
“That makes no sense,” Jason said. “What the hell is in there? Better yet, what’s worth putting armed thugs around it?”
“I have no idea. That said, I’m wondering if we can find out.”
“They’re not going to be cooperative if you ask to have a tour.”
“No, so I’ll need to be sneakier than that. I need you to run to the store and pick me up a wrist com and a remote controlled toy truck.”
A look of understanding came across his friend’s face. “I think I see. Be right back.”
Once Jason was gone, Adam moved over to one of the bays near the suspicious area. It was currently unoccupied, and the door was unlocked. He wondered if that was because no one needed it or because Janus wanted it empty.
The air circulation grid feeding these bays was too small to allow a human being inside, but he thought a toy would fit without any problems. He left everything alone and made his way back outside to wait for Jason.
His friend made it back about twenty minutes later. He handed Adam a large box with a remote controlled blue truck. “Sorry it took so long. I had to try a couple of places to find one with longer range.”
“Good thinking,” Adam said. “The bay next to the target is unoccupied. I have no idea if they patrol it, but it was clear a few minutes ago. I’ll get this toy going while you keep watch up the front. Once we get the truck in place, we can control the thing from out here.”
He opened the box and pulled out the small truck. It would easily fit through the vent. The bumper worked nicely for attaching the com, too. The video feed would be at about the right height to peer through the grates.
The com was a standard wrist unit, so the straps fit on the truck’s bumper just fine. He set the com to silent and auto answer. That way he could just leave it in place and call back later without running the battery down.
Adam left Jason in the front of the bay and started removing the grate. He worked slowly to avoid making any unnecessary noise. Once it was open, he slid the truck inside and ran it forward a little to be sure it worked the way he wanted. Only then did he put the grate back in place.
“What are you doing in here?” a woman’s voice asked from up front.
Adam crouched lower and moved up until he could see what was happening. A woman in a Janus security uniform was looking suspiciously at Jason from near the front door.
“I’m looking over the bay to see if I like it,” Jason said. “Why? Is it yours? The door wasn’t locked and it looks unused.”
The woman put her hands on her hips, and her eyes narrowed. “This area is off-limits. You need to leave.”
“Off-limits? What are you talking about?”
“Turn your skinny ass around and walk off before I arrest you.”
“Seriously? This isn’t a Janus facility. You can’t arrest anyone.”
Adam slid along the circumference of the bay until he was safely behind the woman. If Jason could distract her, Adam might be able to slip out unseen. He gave his friend a rolling gesture with his fingers to keep things going.
Jason turned and took a few steps into the bay. “Come on. This place has so much space just sitting here empty. I just want a rental quote. How much?”
The woman followed his friend, giving Adam just the break he’d been hoping for. On silent feet, he slipped out the door and walked casually away from the bay. He arrived back at their hiding space just in time to see two more Janus guards arrive.
Moments later, they ejected Jason. His friend brushed his clothes off and yelled back into the shop. “You don’t have to be asses about it.”
He sauntered away under the watchful gaze of the female guard.
Once he was gone, she spoke with the two men and then returned to the other bay. They remained where they were. Adam wouldn’t be getting back into that bay anytime soon, so he hoped everything worked.
Jason slid up next to Adam. “Man, she was uptight.”
“For someone who lures women in like flies, you’re not very persuasive with the fairer sex.”
“I got you out of there, didn’t I?”
“Sure enough. Let’s get this thing moving. I hope the signal is strong enough from out here.”
Adam called the makeshift video camera with his com. The image was clear, though somewhat dark. Not surprising. This wasn’t dedicated monitoring gear with all the bells and whistles.
He sent the truck slowly down the air vent toward the guarded bay. It took a few minutes—and a number of course corrections to stay away from the walls—before he saw the light growing brighter ahead.
Once he had the new vent in sight, it took a little effort to get the com looking out into the bay itself. What he saw surprised him.
There was a ship about ten times the size of his sitting in the middle of the bay. What set it apart from the run-of-the-mill boats one saw every day was that it had aerodynamic lines. It was designed for runs in atmosphere.
He examined the engines and hull as well as he could on the small com screen. It looked as though it had magnetic protection like a dive ship, but he couldn’t understand why. That thing was a monster. The drag had to be terrific. Why make a pig instead of a swan?
What the hell did Janus even need with a dive ship anyway?
They’d modified the bay, too. There was a hatch directly under the ship. Someone wanted to be able to go in and out without anyone being aware of them at all.
Interesting. He wasn’t sure what they were doing here, but it had to be important. Add in the secrecy, and this was probably connected to Janus’s schemes. Now all he needed to do was figure out how.
* * * * *
Rachel slowed down when she saw Cindy’s door was slightly open. With the hall clear, she pulled her pistol and came in ready for trouble only to find an empty apartment. Everything was in place, but no one was there.
The only thing that stood out was a folded piece of paper on the coffee table. She picked it up and scanned it after closing and locking the door.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, you soon will, so I’m going to save us all a lot of trouble.
I know you’ve found my associate, but you didn’t call security. That means it’s only a matter of time before you figure out who was pulling his strings. Since people have been asking about someone with my initials, you’ve found something I missed and are most of the way there. Congratulations.
I’m sure it would’ve been a lot more satisfying for you if you’d busted in here and asked me some pointed questions, but I have no intention of getting caught up in whatever it is you’re involved with. Seriously, you people are psycho.
While it would be very convenient of me to leave a nice, clear confession letter for you, that kind of thing leads to arrests and stays in places with bad food and worse company. I’ll pass.
Instead, I’ll let you figure it out for yourselves while I move on to less hectic parts of the solar system.
What I will leave you, since it has nothing to do with me, is a name. I figure I owed Adam at least that much, even though I’ve already given him a gambler’s chance. Which he won, you’ll note. Lady Luck was on his side.
My contact with port security called back with the name and address the crate went to.
The crate went to Baumgartner and Merrick Import and Export on Delta level. D-157-Q4 to be precise. The building was empty, abandoned for at least a decade, and no business by that name has ever existed on the station.
We’ll never meet again, so I feel safe enough wishing you all the best with your current difficulties. Frankly, if you survive the week, I’ll be amazed.
Ta.
Rachel put the note into her jacket pocket. There was no confession, but they’d find out why she’d done what she’d done eventually. At least her involvement explained how they’d planted Jason’s DNA. She’d probably collected his skin cells with those long nails of hers. Probably the blood, too.
She hadn’t said a word about Jason or their relationship. That was going to hurt the man. She’d obviously used him for his access to the diver community.
Rachel made a pass through the apartment, looking for anything interesting, being careful to wipe her prints away behind her, but found nothing useful. The woman had taken the essentials and abandoned everything else.
Once Rachel was sure of that, she left the apartment. The woman in the Janus van was still unconscious, as expected. She climbed into the driver’s seat and drove back to Grandmother Wu’s safe house.
The guard in the warehouse was surprised at the prisoner and the dead body, but he didn’t make a fuss. That told her a lot about Wu’s business right there.
They got her inside the residence and tied the woman up to a handy chair. Rachel then sent the guard off to recover the dead man’s ID, dispose of his body, disable any tracking on the Janus vehicle, and retrieve the van she’d left behind.
Having minions was good. Even if it was only temporary.
