Long Shot

by Christopher Williams

  Izzy froze with a riot gun half way out from under the bar. His eyes widened and he paled noticeably as he stared down the barrel of Aaron’s gun. The riot gun was a rifle that shot a wide force blast. It shouldn’t kill anyone directly, but it did have the tendency to throw people around. If someone died, it was due to being thrown into a wall or landing funny from the blast.

  “Slowly set that on the bar,” Aaron said, motioning towards the riot gun. He ignored the sounds of the scuffle going on behind him. Susan could take care of the one bouncer—he just hoped that there weren’t any others.

  Izzy didn’t require being told twice. He quickly set the riot gun down and backed away, his hands in front of him.

  Aaron reached out and grabbed the riot gun with his left hand and turned away from the bar. Susan and the bouncer were still going at it and the bouncer looked the worse for wear—he couldn’t see how Susan looked but it didn’t matter. “Down,” he said the word quietly, barely whispering it, but it was enough. Susan dropped to the ground, landing on her stomach and looking like she was doing pushups. Aaron squeezed the trigger on the riot gun and it went off like a bomb; the recoil numbed his left arm.

  The blast from the riot gun hit the bouncer hard, picking him up and throwing him backwards. He landed hard on a table and the table collapsed under his weight. The bouncer lay there, not moving, but at least he was groaning.

  “Come on,” Susan said, popping back up to her feet. “We have to go!”

  Aaron moved slowly towards the door, turning as he walked. He turned in a slow circle, pointing the riot gun around at all the spectators. To a man, the spectators were watching the show, but they were not interested in joining in.

  “Come on!” Susan hollered from the door and Aaron stopped his slow survey of the room and sprinted to join her.

  He followed Susan out the main door and then to the right along the front of the building. This close to the spaceport, most of the buildings catered to the crews of the incoming ships. Bars and whorehouses were the most common businesses around them, but everything a person could want was available.

  Ahead of them, a siren could be heard coming closer. People and aliens in the street were stopping and looking up the road towards the oncoming sound.

  “Quick!” Susan called out, turning and moving into a small alley several buildings from the bar. “Get out of sight!” She ducked down behind a large overflowing dumpster.

  Aaron followed a little more slowly, wrinkling his nose at the smell. “Honestly, I don’t think they’ll check too hard away from the bar.” The police on Beta Leporis were better than most in this sector of space, but since no one at the bar had died or been robbed, they probably wouldn’t waste too much time investigating the incident.

  Susan grabbed his arm and pulled him down beside her in the muck.

  After a moment, two small hovercrafts flew by, their lights were flashing. They didn’t even slow down as they passed the alley.

  “Can I stand up now?” Aaron asked, a little sarcastically, “or should we wait here for darkness.”

  Susan’s only answer was a nasty look, as she climbed to her feet. Aaron followed her and opened his mouth to speak, but Susan spoke first, “Someone’s coming.”

  In a flash, Aaron yanked the riot gun up from under his cloak; pointing it at the open end of the alley.

  After a moment, a man walked around the corner; he was looking over his shoulder, back down the street towards the bar. He was an old man, and short; probably not even coming up to Aaron’s shoulder. He wore a working man’s overalls, which were stained and ripped in a few places. He stepped into the alley, turning his face from the street and seeing, for the first time, the riot gun that was pointed at him. His eyes widened and he came to a quick stop, raising his hands as he did so. “Wait! I can help you.” The man’s ears were oversized and covered with more hair than was on his head. “My name’s Terry.”

  Lowering the gun slightly, Aaron studied the man; it took a moment, but he finally remembered him. “You were in the bar?”

  The old man’s head began bobbing up and down. “Yes.” He lowered his arms, slowly and cautiously. “I heard you ask about selling a ship.”

  “Let me guess,” Aaron said, completely lowering the gun, “you want to buy it.”

  The old man chuckled, taking several steps closer. “No, but my boss might.”

  “Who’s your boss?”

  “His name is Grameszky and he runs a repair shop just off the port.”

  “And he can help us?”

  “Maybe,” Terry answered shrugging, “more than that bartender can.” He added that last bit with a grin. “You sure put him in his place.”

  “And you think your boss will give us a fair price?” Aaron asked, glancing at Susan. She only shrugged, apparently meaning it was up to him.

  “Fairer than most, but it’ll probably still be less than you want.”

  Aaron sighed, he didn’t need a telepath to tell him that was probably true.

  Russell stopped just outside a rundown four story building. Along with Jessica and Adam, he had been sent to reconnoiter the area. They intended to live on this rock for a while and they didn’t want to live out of the shuttle, so finding a suitable apartment was a necessity. He had been amazed at how expensive apartments were near the spaceport and they had quickly expanded their search area. He had hoped to stay near the port, but that now seemed unlikely.

  They were on the outskirts of Anduilapore now, the spaceport nearly twelve miles away. “So much for staying near the port,” he muttered. True, twelve miles wasn’t that far, but he had hoped to be within a quick walking distance. On the bright side, he had noticed a tube station several blocks over; it would be a short walk to the tube station and then a quick ride to the port.

  “This place?” Jessica asked, looking up with a disapproving frown. “Looks kind of rundown to me.” Adam stood just behind her and he too looked less than happy.

  “I know, but we haven’t been able to afford anything else so far.” He sighed, “It might be this or the shuttle.”

  “Forget that,” Adam said, dropping his eyes from the building to Russell. “I’d rather sleep in the alley than spend another night on the shuttle.”

  Russell grinned. “Well, let’s at least check this place out.” He pressed the small call button to the right of the door; unlike a lot of buildings that they had passed, this building had a door that was always locked. He glanced at the electronic lock, surprised that it was so new.

  Adam shook his head. “You two go on; I’m going to go for a walk.” He motioned down the street; they were in a residential area, but a tall building rose in the distance.

  Russell turned from the lock, looking less than pleased. “I’m not sure we should split up. We’re supposed to meet Aaron and Susan at the port in a couple of hours.”

  Adam had already started walking away. “It’s all right. I’ll just meet you at the port.”

  Russell opened his mouth to respond, but he cut off as the door opened and an older woman stood staring out at him.

  Aaron and Susan followed Terry south along the outside of the spaceport. Soon, the bars and whorehouses were replaced with massive buildings. Some of the buildings were open and they could see the ships being serviced inside. Tall fences surrounded the buildings and parts were stacked all around. Here and there, men stood watching them pass. They had the unmistakable look of guards; they were wary, but not unduly so.

  “What does your boss do again?” Aaron asked; it felt like he was suspicious of everyone right now.

  “Mainly repairing ships, does a lot of business too,” Terry said, glancing back over his shoulder at them, “but he also buys and sells ships.” He grinned. “You would be surprised how many people have trouble with their ships and just sell them. He fixes them and then sells them at a profit.”

  That sounded rather ominous to Aaron’s ears. He wanted to sell the ship, but he wanted a reasonable price.

 
“Here we are,” Terry said, walking through an open gate up to a massive hangar that stretched off in the distance. There were four ships in the hangar, each ship showed signs of being worked on.

  Terry turned to his right and walked along the hangar wall. In the very corner of the hangar were several small offices. Only one had the lights on and a man was visible through the window; he was sitting at a desk and appeared to be reading something.

  As they neared the small office, a man stepped forward from the shadows. He was tall and muscular, with long hair and a scar that ran from his right ear to his chin. “What are you doing here, Terry?” He had a deep gravelly voice.

  Terry stopped in his tracks. “Uh, hi Josh.” Terry’s voice was wary and he stumbled over the words as he spoke. He motioned back at Aaron and Susan. “They have a ship to sell and I thought Mr. Grameszky might be interested.”

  The guard, who was named Josh, studied Aaron for a moment. “I don’t know, I don’t like the looks of them.”

  Anger swelled in Aaron at the words. He wasn’t used to such rudeness and wasn’t in any mood to put up with it. “That’s funny coming from an ugly cocksucker like you.”

  Utter silence greeted the words. Terry went white and shuffled off to the side, Susan’s eyes widened, followed quickly by a deep sigh. Josh’s eyes also widened and for a moment he seemed to have been struck dumb. After a brief pause, he started forward, snarling.

  Aaron also started forward. Strangely, there wasn’t any anxiety with fighting the big man—instead he felt something akin to relief. Stress had been building in him for a while and here was a convenient way to release it.

  “Stop!” The word rang out through the vastness of the hangar and Josh froze immediately. The speaker was the man who had been sitting at the desk earlier—he stood in the office doorway now. He studied the scene with his eyes narrowed. Josh looked to him and the man nodded his head backwards; Josh obediently moved back towards the offices. “What is this, Terry?”

  Terry was still pale, but he moved a little closer, his eyes flicked to the guard and then back to the man in the doorway. “Sorry for the interruption, Mr. Grameszky.” He motioned backwards at Aaron and Susan. “These two said they have a ship for sale, and I thought you might be interested.”

  Grameszky’s eyes studied both Aaron and Susan. “Who are you? When did you make planetfall?”

  “My name’s Aaron and this is Susan. We landed earlier today and we have a shuttle for sale.”

  “A shuttle?” Grameszky repeated, the disdain evident in his tone. “What kind of shuttle and what berth are you in?”

  “It’s an HL-17 and it’s in berth one seventeen blue.” There was a sinking feeling in the pit of Aaron’s stomach; he hoped for forty or fifty thousand credits for the ship but he was afraid of what he might be offered.

  “Wait here a moment,” Grameszky said, and then he stepped inside the office. He was gone no more than a minute or so and then he reappeared and locked the office. “Let’s go take a look at this ship of yours.”

  Adam walked the streets for nearly an hour, just reveling in his newly found freedom. It had been a long time since he had last been allowed to wander aimlessly; they had been on that little research moon for over a year. Once again, a feeling of melancholy settled over him at the thought of that horrible moon. He had been naive thinking that he was doing something noble, but that was in the past. What really bothered him was that his family was gone, wiped out. If any of them still lived, they were scattered to the four winds and he probably wouldn’t ever see any of them again. That was why he had decided to stay with Aaron and the rest. There was a sense of family with them and he doubted if he could find that with anyone else.

  Several times he noticed people watching him, measuring him. He didn’t care. He had spent his whole life fighting and he wasn’t about to change now. The men watched him but they never approached; apparently, they didn’t like what they saw.

  He kept walking, mulling over Aaron’s plan. Adam liked the idea of their own spaceship, but he didn’t know how they could make it happen. A decent ship would be at least five or six hundred thousand credits; the proceeds from the shuttle would be a drop in the bucket.

  He was turning the problem over in his mind, trying to find a way to get the necessary credits. Beta Leporis was primarily known for its criminal element. The only thing he could think of was to rob one of the local crime bosses and that sounded like a good way to get killed.

  Another thought occurred to him; perhaps they could work for one of those criminals. Should be good money working for those guys, but it didn’t seem very healthy either. Not to mention that it wouldn’t be very quick; they could spend years trying to get the money together for a ship. He didn’t fancy living here that long.

  Lost in thought, he almost walked in front of a small hovercraft as it zoomed through the street. He flung himself backwards just in time and the hovercraft didn’t even slow. Cursing the driver, his eyes followed the craft and then he came up short. On the far side of the street a sign advertised the second thing that Beta Leporis was known for. He stared at the sign for a few moments, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

  It took a little over thirty minutes for Aaron to lead the small group to their stolen shuttle. In truth, the shuttle was in good shape; that was one thing that the military was good for—they tended to their equipment.

  They stopped just short of the ship and Susan moved forward to unlock and lower the ramp.

  Grameszky nodded to Josh and Terry. “Go with the young lady and take a look around. Terry, make sure things are in good working order.” Aaron moved to follow but Grameszky put a hand out to stop him. “Wait a minute,” he paused, waiting for the other three to climb the ramp, then he turned to face Aaron. “Who are you and why are you here?”

  Aaron didn’t answer right away, thinking how best to answer; he felt pretty confident that Grameszky didn’t just want his name again. “Listen, we’re not looking for trouble, we just want to get enough credits to buy our own ship.”

  “You want to buy a ship?” Grameszky repeated, his eyes flicking to the small shuttle.

  “A ship,” Aaron said, trying not to talk down the shuttle, “not a shuttle.”

  “What do you want a ship for?”

  “For a business and a home,” Aaron answered truthfully. “We don’t want to live on this rock forever.”

  Grameszky smiled. “So you’d rather transport cargo for a living.”

  Aaron shrugged. “Sure, and maybe even do some smuggling.”

  Grameszky eyebrows rose at that but he didn’t respond.

  The conversation broke off and for several moments there was silence—it was broken when Terry and Susan walked down the ramp.

  “Looks to be in good shape, sir,” Terry called as they got near.

  “Did you steal it?” Grameszky asked, watching Aaron intently.

  Aaron opened his mouth to lie but Susan spoke first, “Not exactly.” Aaron closed his mouth with a snap. “Let’s just say the previous owners are not going to come looking for it.”

  Grameszky smiled but didn’t say anything. There was a silence for several moments, broken only by the sound of Josh’s boots as he stomped down the ramp. Finally Grameszky spoke, “I may know some people that wouldn’t question its history too closely.” He paused briefly. “I’ll give you fifteen thousand.”

  Aaron’s mouth dropped open. “Fifteen thousand?” he repeated, dumbfounded. “These things cost over one hundred thousand new.”

  Grameszky shrugged. “But it’s not new and it has a questionable history. You’re not going to get any more, at least not on this planet.”

  Swallowing hard, Aaron frantically thought what to do. He didn’t doubt that Grameszky was right, and he certainly didn’t want to try another planet. They were in a deep hole and he didn’t know how to get out of it, and it seemed to be getting deeper.

  “Perhaps I could do seventeen five,” Grameszky said after a m
oment. He was watching Aaron closely. “The ship is in good shape.”

  Aaron glanced at Susan, catching her almost imperceptible nod. “Done.”

  Less than an hour later, Aaron and Susan waited outside the northernmost spaceport exit; it had taken that long to get the credit voucher from Grameszky and to give him the control codes for the shuttle. The credit voucher was small, it fit in the palm of his hand, but that was a good thing. It was easily transportable and he didn’t need a bank to access the funds. The voucher was tied to his retinal scan and DNA, so it would be useless if stolen, but he could easily transfer funds to another as needed.

  They were standing in the shade just to the right of the entrance. The sun was almost down, so the shade wasn’t necessary to keep them cool, but it still felt good on their skin. Aaron leaned casually against the spaceport wall, while Susan seemed to be in constant motion. There was a good stream of people, both humans and aliens, moving past and that many people probably made it hard for a telepath to be at ease.

  “Why did you tell Grameszky the truth?” he asked, more to distract her than anything else. She looked confused for a moment. “The truth about the shuttle,” he added quickly.

  “Oh,” Susan said, looking back out over the crowd. “The man’s not an idiot.” She paused for a moment and he waited; he knew there was more to it than that. “He’s dangerous.”

  That last caught Aaron by surprise. “Grameszky?” he asked, rather unbelieving.

  Susan looked back at him. “Yes, he’s killed before and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again.” She shrugged. “I felt that he wouldn’t mind buying a stolen ship, but he would resent being lied to.”

  Aaron nodded as he considered. “You’re right, everyone on this shitty little planet’s probably a criminal.”

  “Including us?” Susan asked, barely audible.

  He turned, sensing something important in her tone, but just then Russell and Jessica forced their way through the throng of people and he let Susan’s question drop. Scanning the street behind them, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Where’s Adam?”