by Bob Cooper
“Could I interest you two ladies in our finest selection of the evening?” he said snootily.
Acey took one look, and her stomach remembered the night before. It started to churn.
“Uh, no thanks. But bring us a bottle of your finest champagne.”
“I’ll have some mineral water with a sprig of mint,” Hillary said.
Acey looked at her, surprised.
“Come on! This is cause for celebration. Let’s drink to your wedding and good fortune.
Hillary’s face turned glum as she looked at Acey. She held her tears in check.
“I can’t do that, Acey.”
“Why not? She asked puzzled.
“Because I’m pregnant.”
“That’s great news, uh, I think,” Acey said watching Hillary’s tears flow.
“Yes, it is good news. I don’t mean to cry, but I don’t know how Billy will react. I haven’t told him yet.”
“Come on. He’ll love it, and he’ll be a great dad.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Hillary said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Okay, I’ll save the Champagne until after the baby is born.”
“Enough about me. Have you talked any more to Aidan?”
“Raina hired him to help us out with the lawsuit. He was at a meeting and sat there without making any eye contact as if I wasn’t even there. I’ve had it with him! No explanation as to why he hasn’t called—no nothing—just, ‘I’m sorry.’ Well, that doesn’t cut it with me. I’m moving on with my life. He’s history!” Acey replied, catching her breath.
“I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do,” Hillary said, trying to calm Acey down.
“There is nothing you can do. It’s done. It’s over. You should probably go talk to Billy and tell him the good news,” Acey replied, trying to shift the conversation topic.
Hillary agreed and waited for Acey to pay the bill.
They hugged on the street and said goodbye as a sleek black land cruiser pulled up.
Acey recognized Tim’s vehicle and watched as he got out and approached them.
“Tim, what are you doing here?” Acey called to him.
“Please, would the two of you get into the vehicle,” he said without any expression.
“Tim, what’s this all about?” Acey asked again.
Tim looked around and walked up to Acey.
“I need both of you to get in now,” he said, showing them a concealed blaster inside his jacket.
***
Dirk waited at the station to talk to Captain Ryan. He tried to reach Acey but received no answer. Glancing at the clock, it was getting late. He was about ready to leave when Captain Ryan walked in, looking through some photos.
“Is this Norma Roberts?” he asked Dirk, holding a photo of her dressed in white lab attire.
“Yes, it is. Did you talk to her?”
She works in a classified location for the government. Is that correct?” he asked Dirk.
“Yes. She worked for General Coburn and….”
A Citizen Guard officer burst in and pulled Captain Ryan aside, interrupting their conversation. He whispered something to the Captain, and from the look on his face, it didn’t look good.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Saunders. The lab was breached, and I’m afraid Norma is one of the hostages. We have the facility surrounded, and I must leave now,” he said, rushing out the door.
***
It was well after midnight, and Dirk felt frustrated. He tried to contact Acey again. Still no answer. Driving to Acey’s place, he used the override code Acey gave to him for emergency purposes and entered her apartment. He called her name, but there was no answer. Nothing looked out of place as he walked through the apartment.
He was about to leave when Acey’s computer flashed with an incoming message. Dirk didn’t feel comfortable reading her them but sensed this could be important. Opening the message portal, he saw a note from Billy: Hillary’s not home. Can’t reach her. I’m worried. Where are you guys?
Dirk found Billy’s number and called him.
“Hello, Hillary?” Billy asked.
“No, Billy, this is Dirk. I’m at Acey’s apartment, and she is not home. Do you have any idea where they might be?”
“They were going out to dinner to celebrate our engagement, but they should have been home hours ago.”
“Congratulations,” Dirk offered. “Look, I don’t want to alarm you, but there have been some recent events I believe Acey might be involved in. I’ll explain when we meet. I’ll come down to your place.”
***
It was early in the morning as Aidan sipped his coffee and walked through the three-room office. He nodded his approval to the real estate agent.
“This will work. When can I move in?” he asked.
“As soon as you sign this lease and give me a deposit,” she replied, handing him the paperwork.
He signed the lease and set up the transfer of funds to the appropriate account. With that, she gave him the keys, congratulated him, and left. The front room would be his office, and the backroom had bathroom facilities and a storage area. He could live there for now. He took out the freshly made sign and attached it to the front door. Aidan Carter, Private Investigation and Security Consultation was now in business. All he had to do now was to attract clients and make some money.
Moving a few things in, he hung his license on the wall behind a rickety old table he called his desk. Staring at it, he knew his father would have been proud of him. He was ready to put the past behind him and start a new chapter in his life. The chair was an antique wooden library chair he salvaged from the dumps. He eased himself into it, making sure it wouldn’t crumble under his weight. Once in the chair, he put his feet on the desk. Great things will happen from here, he thought.
He connected his computer to the several monitors he had arranged throughout the office, and he was ready for business. The news streaming on one monitor was all about General Coburn’s assassination. He listened intently to the skimpy details and remembered she was a friend of Dirk’s.
He reached for his com link and noticed an urgent message sent to him earlier in the day. It was a response to his request for information regarding Tim Arden. As a licensed PI, he now had access to various databases not available to the public. Reading through the data, he particularly noted the last sentence: Suspected Affiliation with the Earther Movement.
***
Dirk, Billy, and Raina waited at the Citizen Guard Station for Captain Ryan. Dirk dozed off from lack of sleep as the captain entered the room. Raina nudged Dirk, who snorted and came alert.
“I understand it’s been a long night for all of us, Mr. Saunders,” Captain Ryan said, pointing to the monitors.
The news about the assassination and the destruction of the lab facilities played on all the monitors.
“We believe the Earthers are involved in the lab incident but are unsure about the assassination. I’m told that’s not why you’re here this morning,” he said, looking at Dirk.
“No, it’s not. My granddaughter and her best friend didn’t come home last night,” Dirk said.
“That’s highly unusual for both of them,” Billy chimed in.
“And you are?” asked Captain Ryan.
“I’m Billy Bayberry; Hillary’s fiancée,” he said, beaming at the way it sounded to his ears.
“This is Acey’s sister, Raina,” Dirk said.
“Please to meet you. Fill me in on the details, and I’ll see what I can do.”
As Billy and Dirk described the situation to the captain, Raina received a call from Aidan. Moving to the outer office, she answered it.
“Hi, Aidan.”
“Hey, I got more information on that Tim Arden guy. It looks like he’s affiliated with the Earthers and can be considered dangerous. You need to tell Acey who she’s dealing with.”
There was a long pause. Raina caught her breath.
“Aidan. Acey is missing. So is
Hillary. We’re at the Guard station filing a missing person’s report,” Raina said, fighting back the tears.
There was another long pause while the words sank into Aidan’s head.
“I’ll be right there,” he said. He sprinted out the door and to his vehicle.
Raina told everyone, including Captain Ryan, what Aidan found out about Tim Arden, explaining how he was involved. Raina knew firsthand what the Earthers were capable of and how grave this could be for Acey. Raina was once part of the movement—not because she believed in its principles—but because she wanted to use them to retaliate to against the Academy for hiding facts about her mother. She was the one who framed Dirk for the murder of his best friend. Dirk forgave her and uncovered the facts that proved the persons responsible for the murder of his best friend had also killed Raina’s mother. He also discovered she and Acey were half-sisters.
An officer rushed into the room, waving his hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Excuse me, but I got this from the owner of the restaurant where the women were last seen leaving,” he said, linking the computer to the surveillance camera image repository.
They watched as images flew past and then there they were. Hillary and Acey walked out of the restaurant and said goodbye to each other when a tall figure emerged. Everyone caught a glimpse of the blaster as he pushed the two into the vehicle.
“Anyone recognize that person?” Captain Ryan asked.
“That person is Tim Arden!” Aidan said, walking into the room.
8
Acey struggled to free her hands and feet from the ropes, but they wouldn’t budge. The damp, musty smell of the abandoned warehouse permeated the woolen sack over her head. Hillary was not there—at least that’s what she thought—since she didn’t respond to her calls.
Faint voices from outside the building filtered in, but a thunderous roar and the sound of debris pelting the exterior wall and windows of the building drowned them out. Once the noise died down, Acey strained to listen. She heard the latch unlock and the door open to her room. She huddled in the corner as far as she could go when she heard footsteps approaching.
“Get her up and untie her.”
Acey didn’t recognize the voice, hands grabbed her, yanked her up onto her feet and pulled the hood off.
“Who are you, and where am I,” she shouted as two men held her still while another untied her.
“Where’s Tim Arden? I want to see him now!” she lashed out.
No one answered. They shoved her towards the door and then out of the building where the light momentarily blinded her.
“Acey, is that you? Are you alright?”
“Hillary!” Acey shouted, squinting to see.
“Yes, that’s her. She’s alright, and you both will be alright if you do as you’re told.”
Acey recognized Tim’s voice.
“What the hell is going on? What do you think you’re doing?” Acey yelled at Tim.
“I’ll explain later, but first we’re going on a little trip.”
Acey’s eyes adjusted to the bright sun, and she could now see the star cruiser in the distance.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Acey said, running towards Hillary.
The butt of a blaster met the back of her head. She went down hard.
“Leave her alone, you bastard!” Hillary yelled, falling next to Acey and cradling her.
“Are you okay?” she said, inspecting the bloody gash. “These scum aren’t fooling around. Just do as they say,” Hillary said, helping her up.
“I’m losing my patience, ladies. Now walk over to the ship,” Tim said.
Hillary steadied Acey as they walked up the gangway.
Thrown into a small storage facility, they sat together in the corner. The engines rumbled, and they held onto each other as the ship shot skyward. The jolt pinned them against the wall with near bone-crushing force. It wasn’t long before they escaped Earth’s gravity and floated to the ceiling for a few seconds before the artificial gravity kicked in. Instantly, they fell like rocks to the floor. Hillary appeared dazed as Acey crawled towards her.
“Are you okay?” she asked, gently lifting Hillary’s head onto her lap.
“Yes, but my stomach is…”
Hillary vomited several times. Acey wanted to help, but could only watch.
“Morning sickness. It’s starting,” Hillary said, wiping her mouth.
The door opened — a young man entered with a tray of freeze-dried jerky and two cups of water. Hillary took one look, crawled back into the corner and threw up some more. The man set the tray on the floor and left in a hurry. Acey ignored the jerky and used her cup of water to help Hillary clean up.
“Here, drink some water,” she said, handing her the cup.
Hillary sipped on it, and her stomach settled.
“What do they want with us?” Hillary asked.
“I believe this has something to do with me finding the artifacts on Eris. I think that’s where we’re headed, but I don’t know why you are here. Maybe because we were together when they decided to kidnap me.”
It didn’t make sense, Acey thought. She had already agreed to go with Tim to Eris. So why force her and why is Hillary here? Acey got up and pounded on the door.
“Arden! Open this damn door!” She kept shouting as loud as she could. Hearing footsteps, she stopped and moved back as the door opened. Tim appeared with two of his associates that Acey didn’t recognize
“Why are you doing this? What is going on?” she yelled at him.
“Take her,” he said to them.
Acey stiffened up to resist, but they grabbed Hillary and shoved her out the door.
***
Captain Ryan dispatched a team to search Tim Arden’s place while Dirk, Raina, Billy, and Aidan headed to Raina’s office to decide how they could best help. They settled into two different rooms where Dirk and Aidan pursued their government contacts, and Billy and Raina worked on re-tracing Acey and Hillary’s actions from the past few days.
“Why don’t you start with the Brothers since you should tell them what happened anyway,” Billy said to Raina.
Raina contacted Ignacio and Jose’ and told them about Acey.
“Was she in contact with either of you?” Raina asked Ignacio.
“No. We had not heard from her since she left the meeting at your office,” Ignacio said.
“But wait! Jose’ says that Joe met with her. She asked to see him for some reason. Try talking to him,” Ignacio said.
“Thanks, I’ll do that,” Raina said. Finding Joe’s contact information, she called and explained what happened.
“I knew nothing good would come from this. I told her so too, but she wouldn’t listen,” he said.
“What do you mean?” asked Raina.
“Well, she asked me to meet with her and bring the preliminary findings and data from our survey of Dysnomia. She said you needed it for the legal proceedings.”
“That’s strange. I didn’t ask for that.”
“I had a feeling she was up to something. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have given her that information,” he said.
Dirk was in the middle of a conversation with his contacts at Global Earth Defenses trying to get more detail on Blair Coburn’s assassination and the lab hostage-taking.
Raina and Aidan walked in and saw Billy in the corner staring into the wall. Raina walked over and sat next to him. He looked up at her.
“I don’t know what to do. She’s gone, and I don’t know what to do,” he said in obvious pain.
Raina wished she could offer more words of encouragement but held him close instead.
“It’s going to be alright. I promise,” was all she could say.
Dirk ended his phone call and got everyone’s attention.
“It was a rogue element of the IIA that attacked the lab and assassinated Blair Coburn. They knew she was a proponent of disclosing the information regarding the Progenitor Project, and they wanted to
stop her, as well as the work being done in the lab,” he said.
“Who’s they?” Billy asked.
“It has to be the Earthers. We know Tim Arden is a member, so they must be working together with the rogue element of the IIA to squash this project. Since Acey and the mining company found more artifacts, she needed to be…” Aidan stopped in mid-sentence.
“Joe said she wanted the preliminary survey information from Dysnomia. She said she needed it for the lawsuit, but I never asked for it, and neither did Robert. I think she was planning a trip there,” Raina said.
“But why would she engage Tim Arden, an Earther, with this information?” Dirk asked.
“Because Tim had the means to get her there. I checked his monetary transactions, and they show a large sum payment to lease a starship a few days ago,” Aidan reported.
“Why was she so adamant on going there in the first place? Didn’t the IIA tell her to cease all operations on Eris and Dysnomia?” Billy asked.
They all looked at him, amazed at his comments.
“What? Tell me why!” he said, yelling back.
Dirk explained to him what was painfully clear to everyone else.
“Ever since Acey was a little girl, her life was filled with obstacles. Growing up without parents left her in my care. I wasn’t a good substitute for her parents, but I was able to teach her to become self-sufficient and think for herself. She didn’t have many friends, but the ones she has proved to be friends for life. She would do anything for them. When Hillary was abandoned by her parents, Acey stood by her. When I was accused of murder, Acey risked her life for me. She is fiercely loyal. Now the company she works for is threatened, and I believe her desire to go to Dysnomia is her way of helping them. Her overwhelming thirst for understanding the artifacts is also a motivation. So wanting to go there, even though the IIA said not to, is typical Acey!”
Billy realized he didn’t have all the history the others had. All he knew was that Hillary, his fiancée, was missing and in danger. He had to do everything he possibly could to save her.
