The Blackstar Gambit

by Jan Domagala

  “It seems to fit what happened,” Bane agreed.

  “Patten probably got wind of the other attack and confronted whoever it was. If that’s true then he knew who pulled off the second attempt. It’s almost certainly what got him killed; they would have no further use for him if they had Kurt’s identity. It also points to the fact that whoever they are, they are not to be messed with. Washed up on the shore, you say?”

  “Yes they hadn’t spent long in the water. Tide must’ve brought them back in.”

  “So it’s fair to say they were probably killed out on the water somewhere then dumped overboard.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “Who owns a boat out there who could be involved in something like this do you think?”

  “I don’t know who owns them all, but I think if it was anyone you’d have to look at the larger yachts. The only one I know nothing about just happens to be the largest. It showed up here a few days ago, owned by a Goran Visjic. That’s all anyone knows about him, real mystery man.”

  “That’s a bit of a coincidence, and I don’t believe in them,” Matt mused.

  “I agree,” Bane sighed.

  Matt nodded as he said, “Thanks you’ve been a real help, sir.”

  Bane asked the question Matt did not want to answer. “Why Kurt, what’s so special about him? Does he have specialised knowledge about something or what?”

  Luckily for Matt, Tony answered for him. “I know he’s special, I’ve seen him handle himself twice now, that guy’s not normal. I don’t know what you Special Forces type eat, but whatever it is, sure makes you strong.”

  Matt and Bane looked at each other and Matt shrugged. “Thanks again for your help Mister Bane,” he said as he rose to his feet.

  “Call me Abe. Any friend of Kurt’s is a friend of mine.”

  Matt smiled in appreciation then walked across to the doorway. He had a better understanding now of what had gone on here. It didn’t help him find who was behind it but he did know they were determined and deadly.

  His next few steps would have to be trodden very carefully.

  12

  03.10 s.e.t.

  Zara woke in the back of a moving vehicle.

  She pretended to still be unconscious, hoping to learn what was happening, who these people were, and what their intentions might be.

  All she remembered of the chase was after they stopped, Kurt and her were about to open fire on the ATV when a mini rocket was fired at them.

  The rest was nothing but a blur.

  A quick inventory of her body told her she was fully healed from the explosion, which was more than could be said for her clothes. It looked like she had been put through a meat grinder. Her clothes were nothing more than mere strips of blood stained fabric hanging on her almost naked body.

  She knew she could escape; there was no doubt in her mind about that. She was supremely confident of her abilities; her attackers though were an unknown quantity. She had to learn what she could from and about them until the time came when she must make her move.

  One thing was obvious, she was being held to force Kurt into doing something he normally wouldn’t do.

  There was one other thing they might have taken her for, to extract her DNA. If they were aware of her and Kurt’s powers then this may be an attempt to gain that science from them.

  The more she thought about it the more it made sense. The attack was tailored to neutralise them so they could be stunned, then captured.

  Maybe they had Kurt too in another vehicle. Perhaps this was a double attempt to gain their DNA.

  Whatever was going on here she was sure it was deeper than just an attack on two Col Sec agents.

  “She’s awake,” she heard a voice from the front say.

  Man these guys are good!

  Opening one eye, she looked at who had spoken to see a deadpan expression staring back at her.

  “Your breathing altered and your eyes started to flicker as you attempted to keep them closed,” he said answering her unspoken question.

  She simply smiled as she noticed his eyes never left hers, even though the temptation must have been there to chance a look at her flesh on show. This told her something she already knew; they were professionals.

  “Well done, and not once did you glance at the goods,” she taunted him.

  “If I wanted you I would take you, but that’s not what this is about,” he told her.

  “It’s a good job because you wouldn’t last a second if you tried it, trust me,” she cautioned.

  He smiled then turned to face the front of the vehicle.

  Zara sat back and looked out of the window to see if she could see where they were or where they were going. The windows were tinted black so even with her enhanced vision there was not much to see.

  She would just have to wait, let this game play itself out and see what happened.

  Zara knew for sure that Kurt would do whatever was necessary to rescue her. She also knew he was well aware she could handle herself. In a way, it was a bit of an exercise in futility if all parties knew what the others were capable of. She had to be careful here though; she felt there was more going on. These people seemed way too confident in what they were doing, and that could only be dangerous.

  03.15 s.e.t.

  Kurt was standing by the side of the ATV he had taken.

  His anger was flaring up and he was finding it hard to control.

  How had he been foolish enough to allow them to grab Zara?

  Where had they gone? Had they had another vehicle waiting to extract them before he could catch them? Did they actually believe he would comply with their demands and kill General Sinclair?

  None of this made any sense to him.

  They were clearly aware of what they could do with regard to regeneration, so did they think they could force them to do anything?

  As he got his breathing under control once more and his temper eased, he began to think more rationally.

  If these people were aware of Kurt and Zara’s abilities then surely they would have taken precautions against them. Hence the stun guns, so to make Kurt comply with their demands they must have taken further precautions with Zara. Had they found a way to neutralise her powers? If they had, she was in real danger and he had to work fast to save her. It was pointing in that direction for he could no longer contact her via his NI. They must be blocking it or had neutralised it somehow.

  The summit was about to take place in less than a day, which didn’t give him an awful lot of time.

  Accessing a secure comm channel, he called General Sinclair.

  “Sir, we have a problem,” he said when he heard Sinclair answer.

  “What’s happened?”

  “Zara has been taken by the same people who attacked us in the safe house. They want me to kill you at the summit then they’ll release her,” Kurt told him.

  “Do you consider them a viable threat?” Sinclair asked.

  “Well, they took her and stopped me so, yes I would consider them a viable threat,” Kurt exploded.

  “Calm down Kurt, you’re not thinking rationally here. Can you contact her or access her NI to track her?”

  “No sir, I’ve already tried that, they must’ve put a block on it or neutralised it somehow.”

  “I’ll see if I can call the summit off, perhaps delay it for a week or two.”

  “No sir, our only chance here is that they think things are proceeding according to their plan. If you delay the summit, they could go to ground and we’ll never find them. Leave things as they are and I’ll find them before the summit begins.”

  “Do you think you can do it?” Sinclair enquired.

  “I have no choice sir, I have to. I can’t lose her again.”

  “I’ll put whatever resources you need at your disposal,” Sinclair told him.

  “Thank you sir,” Kurt concluded then ended the call.

  He got back into the ATV and drove off towards the spaceport. What he need
ed now could only be found there.

  13

  04.00 s.e.t.

  Upon his arrival back at the spaceport, Kurt went up to the Control Tower.

  The Control Tower was just like any other from the early days in aviation. It was a tall, circular tower with windows arrayed around the top for the operators to view the craft as they came in to land. Built like this, it afforded those operators a three hundred and sixty degree view of the airfield and, in this case, the spaceport. The technology may have improved over the years but the principle remained the same, to get the craft safely on the ground.

  He introduced himself to the man in charge, Curtis Mayfield, a twenty-year veteran of the Canto Spaceport Space Traffic Control. He was the man responsible for all the craft that came through their airspace, which included the space around the planet. He had a staff of over a hundred all with varying tasks, a dozen of who worked in the tower monitoring the scanners.

  “What can I do for you Captain Stryder?” Mayfield asked once Kurt’s identity had been verified as an operative of Col Sec Intelligence. He regarded Kurt wide eyed. His clothes were in tatters and covered in blood yet he was remarkably unmarked.

  “I need a list of all the traffic leaving this area within the last hour,” Kurt told him.

  “I’m not sure I can do that without authority from a higher level,” Mayfield began; he was cut off from continuing by Kurt raising a hand.

  “I don’t have time to argue with you. There is a security summit about to take place near here tomorrow, the safety of which has just been threatened. I need that list – now,” Kurt insisted.

  Mayfield stared at the man before him unsure of what exactly was going on. He scratched his head as he thought of what he’d been told.

  “Your identity may have been verified but how can I be sure you didn’t hack our system? You look like, I’m not sure what you look like, you’re covered in blood, but not yours. I’m not doing anything until I get verification from my superiors,” Mayfield said backing off from Kurt.

  Kurt quickly accessed a secure comm channel and called Sinclair.

  “Sir, I may need your help here. I’m having resistance off the spaceport flight controller,” Kurt informed him when he came on the line.

  “Patch me in to him directly,” Sinclair instructed. It took just a second for Kurt to link the call directly to Mayfield’s NI.

  The controller’s expression altered dramatically. Colour drained from his face as Sinclair began to speak.

  “This is General Sinclair of Col Sec Intelligence. Kurt Stryder is acting under my complete authority. This is a matter of grave importance to the security of the Confederation and if you hinder him in any way, I’ll have you serving time in a penal colony before this day has ended. Do I make myself abundantly clear?”

  “P-perfectly sir,” Mayfield stammered nodding his head.

  “Thank you sir,” Kurt added.

  “I’ll be there later today, make sure you have everything in place,” Sinclair advised then signed off.

  “Okay, that was scary,” Mayfield began as he regained some of his composure. “I’ll get you what you need right away,” he added. He turned away from Kurt still a little unnerved by the conversation.

  Kurt felt for the guy, he knew what it was like to have the fury of Sinclair directed at you, but he had no choice in this case. He had to move fast, the clock was ticking and he had to find Zara before the deadline.

  04.05 s.e.t.

  Zara had been desperately trying to contact Kurt since she had been taken to let him know where she was, but without any success.

  When she arrived at the spaceport she tried again just in case they had somehow erected a barrier of some kind in the ATV she had been bundled into, again with no success.

  They had taken her across from the vehicle onto a shuttle that had taken off as soon as they were all aboard. Now they were on their way to who knew where.

  The shuttle was a small ship, utilitarian by design and only capable of carrying no more than ten passengers. Inside reminded her of military drop ships, the sparse décor and functionality all pointed to a military op.

  As she boarded it she had noticed there were already three more people on board which, including those with her in the ATV and the pilot, brought the total up to eight men.

  They were taking no chances with her, another fact that helped her understand them a little more.

  Nothing was said between any of the men, nor to her. They were extremely well organised and obviously knew exactly what they had to do.

  She still had no idea where she was or where they were taking her.

  She had to find out what their endgame was before she made her move. She would have to play along to learn as much as she could. She could not take the chance of them going to ground if she moved too fast or too soon. These people had shown they were capable and determined and had the funding to be a viable threat to the Confederation. If they went to ground without her learning as much as possible it could be a disaster. She had to find out everything about them so that when the time came Col Sec could shut them down for good.

  Until then she would just have to play nice and let them think they had her where they wanted her.

  14

  04.20 s.e.t.

  Goran Visjic sat on the lounger on the foredeck of his yacht, hands behind his head as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

  Everything so far was going according to plan.

  There had been a few hiccups, such as Patten turning up and confronting him, causing him to take drastic action. There was also the loss of his men and equipment to those two agents but if all went well, as he was sure it would, then all would be reimbursed.

  “Sir, they’ll be here within the next hour or so,” a voice declared at the side of him.

  He opened his eyes, glanced up at his First Officer and said, “Good, as soon as they arrive make preparations to get under way.”

  “Copy that sir,” the First Officer complied.

  Visjic closed his eyes once more and relaxed into his seat.

  Soon all would be done and he could return home triumphant.

  04.25 s.e.t.

  Matt stood on the shore overlooking the bay.

  The bright afternoon sun shone on the water making it difficult to see the boats in the distance.

  The yacht he was trying to look at through his monocular was the largest out in the bay, The Helena. He’d learned from the Constabulary that Visjic was the owner, but apart from that he’d learned nothing more.

  Visjic was a nonentity as far as information went. There was nothing on record anywhere available to the public and he fared no better with official records either.

  It was as if the guy didn’t exist.

  That alone made Matt curious, a fact he had relayed to Sinclair in his report.

  Anyone who went to that much trouble to avoid showing up on any records must have something to hide.

  He had no reason to visit the yacht and no cause to search it either, so for the time being he would have to be content to stand and watch. He would have to wait until the owner came ashore so he could engineer a way to meet him socially.

  This could take a while and time was not a commodity he had in abundance.

  04.30 s.e.t.

  Kurt checked the list of craft leaving Canto twice. Only one ship on the list fitted all the details, a shuttle that docked with a freighter in orbit around the planet.

  “Are you sure this is a full and accurate list?” Kurt asked Mayfield.

  “Do you think I’d risk a penal colony? Look I’ve done as General Sinclair ordered now can I get back to work, there’s nothing else I can help you with, is there?”

  Kurt shook his head as he still studied the pad in his hand showing the list.

  He walked over to the side of the tower while he went over the list one final time.

  The shuttle docked with a freighter in orbit, which then entered a hyperspace window. It had logged a flight p
lan to Celeron.

  He accessed a secure comm channel and called Sinclair.

  “Sir, I have a possible lead to where they might have taken Zara, but it makes no sense,” Kurt informed him.

  “Where?” Sinclair asked.

  “Celeron, sir. Why would they take her back there, it makes no sense?”

  “It makes perfect sense, Kurt. Matt has just informed me that the party who instigated the attack on you could be someone named Goran Visjic. We know little if nothing about this man except that he arrived on Celeron shortly before your first attack. He has a yacht which is at anchor now in the bay overlooking Haven, which Matt is keeping watch on as we speak,” Sinclair confided.

  “They’re bringing her to him,” Kurt proclaimed.

  “Could be, the Silver Dart is prepped and ready for take-off, you just need to get on board,” Sinclair told him.

  “On my way sir.”

  He left the tower and ran to the Silver Dart.

  Time was of the essence here; he had none to waste.

  15

  07.03 s.e.t.

  “Sir, that man is still standing on the harbour watching us,” the First Officer told Visjic.

  Visjic opened his eyes and stretched his arms above his head. Getting off the lounger he asked, “How soon before they arrive?”

  “They landed at the spaceport a few minutes ago sir, they’re en route to our location as we speak,” replied the First Officer.

  “Good.” Visjic smiled then walked over to the rail to look in the direction of the shore. “Over two hours he’s been watching you say? Well let’s see what he wants shall we? Go bring him aboard,” he ordered.

  The First Officer simply turned and left to carry out his orders.

  07.08 s.e.t.

  Matt had been watching the yacht for any signs of life for the past two hours or so and the only movement he had seen had been the crew going about their duties.