Long Shot

by Christopher Williams

  “Don’t move,” Aaron shouted, pointing his rifle straight at Locke’s chest. He started walking directly towards him, while Russell fanned out to the left and Adam moved to the right.

  Locke’s eyebrows were pulled down in anger and he made as if to move towards the new arrivals.

  “I said don’t move,” Aaron said, taking a tighter grip on his weapon. “I’m angry enough to burn you down.”

  The anger on Locke’s face turned to surprise. “What’s the meaning of this?” he asked. Some of the fire had gone out of his tone.

  Aaron didn’t answer right away, instead he looked around to see Jessica and Susan standing just inside the door. Susan took a step forward and held out the cube. He took it with his left hand while he continued to point the rifle at Locke with his right. He held the cube up so that Locke could see it clearly. “Was this a real mission, or just another test?”

  “And who’s the other guy?” Russell asked, motioning towards the shadows with his rifle.

  Aaron had almost forgotten about the second man. He leaned around Locke to try and see the other person, but he couldn’t quite make him out. The stranger sat in Locke’s chair and was partially hidden by the shadows.

  He turned his attention back to Locke. “Well? Was this just another test?”

  Locke swallowed, he no longer looked angry or surprised, now he just looked anxious. ‘Listen, this isn’t the time. I’m in the middle of a very important meeting. We can discuss this tomorrow.”

  “No,” Aaron said shortly. “We’ll discuss it now. You sent us on another test and we could have very easily killed someone.”

  Locke glanced over his shoulder and then looked back at Aaron. “We had to know if you could get past sophisticated security gear.”

  Aaron was surprised by the use of the word ‘we’ and then something else occurred to him. Why was the stranger sitting in Locke’s chair and Locke standing? It seemed backwards. “We?” Aaron repeated.

  Locke blinked in surprise. “What?” he asked dumbly.

  “Introduce us to your guest,” Aaron said, ignoring Locke’s question.

  “Now hold on,” Locke began, but then the second man spoke for the first time.

  “It’s all right, Sebastian.”

  The man’s face was still hidden by the shadows, but just hearing the voice was enough for Aaron. He probably had never heard the man speak before, but the organic computer in his head provided the necessary information. It was rather surprising. “So what is an industrialist like Charles Morgan doing here?” he asked after a brief pause.

  Silence greeted his words. Locke’s only reaction was a slight widening of his eyes.

  No one said anything for a moment or two, and then the man in the shadows leaned forward so that they all could see him. He was a black man and Aaron knew he was in his mid-sixties. He had a full head of hair that was sprinkled with grey and he appeared to be in excellent physical shape. “How did you know who I am?” he asked.

  For just a moment, panic threatened to surge through Aaron. No one could ever know what the scientists had done to him and that meant he had to be careful. The panic subsided quickly though. Charles Morgan had done plenty of interviews and there would have been plenty of opportunities to have seen one of them. “I’ve heard you before,” he said shrugging. Aaron ignored the scrutiny that Susan was sending his way; she, at least, could tell that something was wrong.

  Morgan took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s a curse of being one of the richest men in the Lagashian Empire,” he said slowly.

  Adam snorted. “Some curse.”

  Morgan smiled. “You might be surprised. If I could have foreseen the way my life was going to go, then I would have retired when I was only wealthy instead of obscenely rich.”

  Locke was looking angry again, although he still hadn’t moved. “Do you mind if I finish my business with Mr. Morgan in private?” he asked a bit sarcastically.

  Aaron barely noticed. Several large pieces had just fallen into place and he was watching Morgan intently.

  “Aaron?” Susan asked hesitantly.

  With a start, Aaron realized he was staring at the seated man. He blinked for a moment and then smiled. “I get it now,” he said, never taking his eyes off Morgan. “You’re not here to hire Locke, he already works for you.”

  Once again Locke’s eyes widened in surprise, but this time he wasn’t alone. Adam, Russell, and Jessica also looked surprised. Susan didn’t react, but then again she might have already known.

  “What’s that? What are you saying?” Locke demanded. He tried to speak in an angry voice, but he didn’t pull it off very well. He was obviously shaken.

  Aaron motioned to the chairs that were arrayed in front of the desk. “I would assume that most of your guests sit in one of these chairs, not behind the desk.” He paused and studied Locke’s face; it had suddenly gone unreadable. “So what’s the deal? Does Morgan provide you your ships at a discount in return for a cut?”

  “What do you mean ships?” Russell asked. He was clearly lost and he just as clearly didn’t like it.

  “Mr. Morgan designs and builds ships for the Lagashian Empire. He’s well known for his well-crafted and well-designed ships. If I’m not mistaken,” he added after a moment, “you supply the military, as well as customs enforcement.”

  “That’s the craziest–” Locke started to say, but he quieted when Morgan interrupted him.

  “Never mind, Sebastian. I believe our friend here is too smart to fall for another lie.” He stood up and several guns swiveled to follow him. He quickly held his hands up in front of his chest, “I’m not a threat to you and neither is Sebastian. Do you mind lowering your guns?”

  After a moment, Aaron nodded and both Russell and Adam pointed their rifles at the ground. Russell did look rather sour about it though.

  “You’re not quite correct,” Morgan said. “Sebastian does not provide me with a cut, but rather he works directly for me.”

  Caught completely off guard, Aaron felt his mouth drop open and he snapped it shut again.

  “I do provide him with ships capable of outrunning the customs officials when necessary, and I also build in compartments that are able to resist scans.”

  Aaron laughed and shook his head. “So, you’re selling to Lagash, ships for their customs enforcement patrol, and then you turn around and develop smuggling ships to beat the patrol ships you just sold the government?” He considered it for a moment and realized it was quite a nice little racket. Then he remembered the ‘refit’ facilities that Adam had been so busy shuttling ships to and from. “So, does that mean you’re also providing refurbishing services to other smugglers?”

  Morgan bowed his head slightly, indicating his assent. “You can see why I hired Locke to be the face of this operation. Lagash would not be forgiving if they knew how I’ve been operating.”

  “Aaron, I hope you understand exactly how sensitive this information is,” Locke began saying, but once again he cut off when Morgan spoke.

  “I think he understands. Don’t you, Colonel Walker?” Morgan smiled. “It took a little while to search through the lists of Commonwealth military that the Unionists are still looking for, but I do have patience, and eventually I found descriptions that matched you.”

  Aaron didn’t respond immediately, but he felt the first real pangs of anxiety. Obviously Morgan didn’t know about the research facility, so he must just think them war survivors on the run.

  Morgan held his hands up again in a placating manner. “Relax. The Miram Union is looking for a rather significant number of Commonwealth military personnel that fled after the war. I will not turn you in, but I wanted to assure your silence on my secrets.”

  “Well then,” Susan spoke up from Aaron’s right. “What exactly do you want from us?”

  “May I?” Morgan asked as he motioned towards Aaron’s hand.

  For the briefest of moments, Aaron thought he was asking for the rifle, but then he realized Mo
rgan wanted the cube. He held the cube up and looked at it again. It was a standard cube with computer interfaces on one end and a small keypad on the other end. After a brief pause, he held the cube out for Morgan to take.

  “Thank you,” Morgan said. “I had you go after this to see if you might be capable of doing what I’m about to ask of you.” He took the cube, set it down on the desk, and punched a long sequence on the keypad. The cube displayed a holographic image about two feet high. The image was of a young black man, well-built, who wore of all things, old-fashioned glasses.

  “This is an image of my son,” Morgan said. He was watching the holo intently. “He’s being held by the Miram Union and I want you to rescue him for me.”

  Chapter 15

  It took a moment for the words to register. “Son?” Aaron repeated blankly. He opened his mouth to speak but changed the words at the last moment. “I don’t remember you having a son.”

  Morgan nodded. “It’s not common knowledge. I never married, but when I was younger I had quite a few lady friends. Kyle was the result of one of those relationships. I didn’t even know about him until he turned up at my office. He demanded to speak to me and mentioned the name of his mother. He told me that he didn’t want an inheritance, just a job.” Morgan paused and looked lost in thought. “Best thing I ever did was to hire that boy.”

  “What did he do for you?” Aaron asked.

  “The boy’s a natural with computers—programming, breaking into, even designing them. It didn’t take long for his talents to come to my attention. He’s designed some of the very systems that I’ve sold to Lagash.”

  “Why do the Unionists have him?” Jessica asked.

  “Well, in order to answer that, I have to divulge a little more of my private dealings,” Morgan answered. “I’m known for designing ships and systems that are cutting edge, but what most people don’t know is that I don’t always invent all the new technology that I use.” He looked around at the blank stares. “Meaning that I steal a lot of ideas.”

  “Steal from who?” Russell asked.

  “Other companies within the Lagashian Empire, the Miram Union, and others. I even stolen some technology from some of the core sector systems.”

  That was a scary thought. Stealing from the Miram Union was one thing, but stealing from one of the cores systems was a good way to get dead. Aaron shook his head quickly to clear his thoughts. “So, the Miram Union caught your son doing what exactly?”

  “They caught him in one of their state-run weapons labs. He was with an employee of the lab; an employee that we have dealt with many times over the years.”

  “You think this employee gave him up?” Aaron asked.

  Morgan shook his head. “No, by all accounts, he was also arrested. Judging by how many of his family members have been executed, I don’t think it was just for show.”

  “Forgive me for asking this,” Aaron began, “but why haven’t they already executed your son?” Several eyebrows went up at that, but everyone waited for Morgan to speak.

  “The Unionists transfer unusual, or,” he paused, searching for the right word, “interesting prisoners to a central prison on Upsellata VI.”

  “I’m sorry,” Susan said interrupting, “but what do you mean by unusual or interesting?”

  “Political prisoners, spies, highly placed criminals, or even just violently psychotic. They interrogate the prisoners whom they suspect of having information, and they study those that are violent or depraved. The interrogations normally leave a person little more than a vegetable, and the studies usually end in dissection.”

  “Yuck,” Adam said into the silence.

  “Indeed,” Morgan agreed, “and I do not want my son to be interrogated. For one thing, he’s my son and I don’t want him tortured. The second reason is a bit more selfish; he knows about my operation. If he tells them who he is and what we do, they will blackmail me until the day I die. I will have to give them everything.”

  Cold threatened to settle in on Aaron at that. He hated the Miram Union and couldn’t imagine this sector of space being dominated solely by the Unionists. But on the other hand, he didn’t much like the idea of attacking a maximum security prison. “I don’t think we’re quite capable of breaking into the prison on Upsellata,” Aaron said. “I won’t throw our lives away in a doomed rescue attempt.”

  Morgan held up his hand to cut Aaron off. “You misunderstand. Kyle is not yet on Upsellata and won’t be for some time.” He noticed the confused looks and continued, “What I mean is the Unionists’ bureaucracy will work in our favor. They control nearly two hundred and fifty systems. It sometimes takes a little while to get prisoners transferred properly. Unless the prisoner is super important, they are transferred via a prison transport ship that follows a schedule. Luckily, the ship isn’t due into Karbarsh for another twelve days.”

  “Twelve days,” Aaron repeated blankly. “And what exactly can we do about it?”

  “I have a fast transport that can get you there in ten days, and I can smuggle in the equipment you’ll need to break my son out of that hell-hole.”

  Breaking someone out of the local jail would definitely be easier than breaking someone of the maximum security prison on Upsellata, but neither would be easy. It was the obvious place to try and free a prisoner—the locals had to be waiting for any such attempt.

  Morgan saw the hesitation in their faces and he spoke quickly. “I’ll pay you handsomely if you can get my son back for me.”

  Adam snorted. “All the money in the galaxy isn’t worth our lives.”

  Morgan looked grave and he hesitated, trying to get his words correct. “I understand what I’m asking of you, but if I’m right, this is the kind of thing you were trained for in the Commonwealth military.” He paused and nodded his head. “I know it’s risky, but if you’re successful you’ll have enough money to buy your own ship.” He looked at each of them in turn. “I understand that’s your driving goal.”

  “It is,” Jessica said from somewhere behind Aaron, “but we want to be alive to fly that ship.”

  A short-lived silence settled in on them. It was broken by Morgan. “I’ll give you each one hundred thousand credits.”

  Instead of being impressed, Aaron was actually a little disgusted. He thought back to Adam’s earlier comment that by offering them each a fixed amount, Morgan could save himself some money if they didn’t all survive the attempt. In addition, one hundred thousand wasn’t enough, he was started the negotiating low. He opened his mouth to demand two and a half million credits but stopped at a glance from Susan. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking and she couldn’t exactly tell him. The way her gift worked, she couldn’t broadcast her thoughts so that only Aaron heard her, or at least he didn’t think she could. She was like a broadcast station and she wasn’t fine-tuned into Aaron’s frequency, but instead was broadcasting on all available frequencies. They would all hear everything she projected.

  Aaron paused, trying to determine a way to find out what Susan wanted to tell him, but he didn’t have to.

  Ship.

  For just a moment, Aaron wasn’t sure he actually heard the word. It was nearly inaudible, like someone had whispered the word. He cast a glance around and everyone was watching him—none of them showed any sign of having heard Susan’s projection. Then he got it and he grinned.

  Morgan’s eyes narrowed at the smile. “What?”

  “We don’t want credits to try and rescue your son,” Aaron said slowly, “we want a ship.”

  “Ship,” Morgan repeated. He looked confused.

  “Yes,” Aaron said, “and not just any ship, but you’re best small to medium freighter.”

  Morgan looked surprised for another moment and then shrugged. “Fine, I have a newly refurbished L700 light freighter. You’ll like it—concealed smuggling compartments, speed to burn, it’ll be perfect for you.”

  “No,” Aaron said almost immediately, not even needing to check with Susan. Morgan had give
n up the L700 too easily and you never took the first offer.

  Morgan considered for a moment and then said, “All right, how about a Pittman 37. It also has the smuggling compartments and it’s in great shape.”

  This offer was more of a temptation to Aaron. He’d seen a Pittman in the spaceport and the ship was a beauty. He wasn’t sure if it was the same ship or not, but it might not matter. Out the corner of his eye, Aaron saw Susan give the slightest shake of her head. He sighed and said, “No, you’ll have to do better.”

  Morgan’s face darkened at that. “I don’t know what you’re expecting, but that’s a fine ship. If you don’t want the Pittman, then I may not have anything that you’ll like.”

  Aaron grinned, he just couldn’t help it. It sounded like Morgan was giving them a take it or leave it offer. The man was negotiating from a place of weakness, but it sounded like he held all the cards. “Fine,” he said and motioned towards the door, “everyone out.” He nodded towards Morgan. “Sorry about your son.”

  “You bastard!” Morgan spat. He looked furious and Locke didn’t look much happier. “Is that it then? You’re letting the Unionists have him?”

  “That’s up to you,” Aaron answered coolly. “Quit trying to save a few credits and give me what I want.”

  Morgan swallowed hard. “And if I can find a suitable ship, then you’ll free my son?”

  “If we don’t, then you don’t have to give us anything,” Aaron replied, “but I want your best offer.”

  Morgan didn’t reply right away. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of a type of ship called the Lattimore Solarflare?” he asked quietly.

  In fact, Aaron had never heard of any ship called the Lattimore Solarflare, but the computer part of his brain supplied the information. “Series 1 or 2?” he asked.

  Morgan’s eyebrows went up at the question. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Aaron didn’t say anything so Morgan continued, “It’s a Series 1.”

  “You mind telling the rest of us what that means?” Russell asked.

  “The Solarflare was made nearly two centuries ago by the Nancia Republic,” Aaron said.