Chapter Ten

“It could be nothing, a communications breakdown, a transmissions degradation…”

“They could be dead.” Glann turned to Bella, his beautiful wife and shook his head slowly. “They could be dead.”

Bella frowned. This wasn’t like Glann at all. Negativity didn’t suit him.

“You don’t honestly believe that, do you? I’m no fan of Lomonas but he’s dealt with situations tougher than this.”

Glann spun on her, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

“Has he? Has he ever had to deal with the hostile agents of five different operators at the same time?”

Bella froze and sat back down. He was right; this was no normal run for Jan. She’d worked with her fellow A-desandian Lomona during her days as a smuggler; they’d even had a brief affair. Glann knew for certain that he was dealing with a consortium now, and that they had resources and agents far outnumbering his own. If careless, Glann knew the balance of power could swing away from him and into the hands of the competition he’d fought off for so long. And that would be a crushing blow for his operation. Jan couldn’t be dead.

But he feared that he was.

Glann had tried to spread his agents as far and wide as he feasibly could without stretching his net of influence too thin. And so far it had been with reasonable success. He now knew that along with Dressel he was also dealing with Torona Formoon, Geon Tasar, Predd Jason and possibly Spyte, a venomous opponent operating out of Cawbate. Insofar as it went his agents had accomplished their objectives well, he now had a much clearer view of his problem. But there were three things he had yet to discover. Firstly, who was his `Naaven’, his mole within the Fortress? He had an idea, but it would be hard to prove. He knew that eventually the perpetrator would reveal him, or herself, and then it would be simply a matter of picking them up.

Secondly, he didn’t yet know the identity of the man responsible for masterminding the entire operation. He couldn’t believe that Dressel had the resources to pull so many disparate threads together to form an alliance. Especially one that seemed to be holding together so effectively. No, there was someone else behind it but he had yet to discover who. And when he did….

Thirdly, he needed to know what had happened to the Sunrise team. They were the key to his plan. They were the olive branch and the poison chalice, and having them taken out of the equation was unacceptable. Glann knew that if his unknown enemy could corral these ganglords against him to find a possible pot of gold, then they wouldn’t stop the hunt just because their lead had disappeared. Jan should be reasonably safe on the trip, Glann knew that. Eliminate the Sunrise team and the path to the treasure was lost. But nevertheless Glann had a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“What are you thinking? I know that look. You’re planning something.” Bella moved beside her husband, slid her arm into his and smiled warmly.

Glann looked down at her. If only you knew how much of this I do for you, he thought. That I still enjoy doing it is a pleasant distraction.

“I’ve made arrangements for some of my prime operatives to be moved from their current assignments. All involved know the state of play. It’s hardly wise to keep all my strongest players on the sidelines.”

Bella nodded in agreement.

“Who were you thinking of? Feese is already on his way to Luronsa IV…”

“And should arrive within the next three days. Centaur has finished the mercenary job I hired him for on Moot. He was well compensated for his troubles. Our agent in the area has been instructed to contact him. I believe he’ll be open to more assignments. Galletti has completed his dealings with our wayward friend Gaalent on Gista.”

Bella raised her eyebrow at this.

“You sent Galletti on a diplomatic mission?”

“Of course. When you want to send the right message you send the right messenger.” Glann smiled. “He should be on his way to the Janos System, running interference.”

Bella stepped across the room and took two glasses from the cupboard, poured two fingers of Geenau Whiskey into each glass and stood next to Glann. He swilled the drink around before taking a mouthful and looked thoughtfully out of the window. Dusk was approaching and soon the city would twinkle in the night once more. So many familiar faces were racing to the other side of the galaxy right now. If ever someone decided the time was ripe for an attack on Amagad…

“Did you send Melm?”

Glann turned around from his reverie and faced his wife again.

“I did. His work was hindered here; he needed to be closer to the action. He left this morning in my star cruiser. I won’t need it.”

“Where?”

Glann shook his head.

“I didn’t ask. I’ve found it’s better to leave Melm to his own devices and watch the pieces fit on their own.” He sat and activated his computer console. “Look at this.” Bella stood behind his chair and reviewed the information that was scrolling across the screen.

“What is it? Is this the disk information?”

Glann nodded.

“This record shows exactly what was stolen on the night in question. I now know to the letter what information they have in their possession. It took my men a week to find this out, but now I have what I need. I know what they know.”

Bella frowned.

“How can you work this to your advantage?”

“My security systems are programmed in a very specific way. Whenever information is loaded down it is encoded in the deepest levels, in the subtlest ways. It lies in a part of the system that is incorruptible, resistant to any form of hacking or slicing. Of that I am certain.”

Bella still looked confused.

“Okay, I understand that. But if the real information can’t be stolen, why have you gone to all the expense and trouble of setting this up?”

“Because I’ve always known that one day someone would finally gain the nerve or show the stupidity to attempt to gain access to my information systems. By placing selected bits of information in the higher levels of encryption the thieves believe they have taken something of great value when in fact they’ve taken something much less. Or in my case, much more.”

Bella smiled, the understanding finally filtering through.

“So by feeding them tasty morsels they’ll follow the trail….”

“And once I see who’s following the trail I can eliminate them. However, this particular problem has come at a difficult time.”

“The D’Staan job?”

“Precisely. If Lomona were merely leading them on a chase then I’d have no worries at all. We could orchestrate it to our advantage and make an example of them for the other leaders to see. But Lomona must not only evade his pursuers, he must also make the rendezvous on Abrogard. And without being tailed. So now the mission is of double importance. If the enemy agents aren’t eliminated then there is a possibility that Lomona will be followed to Abrogard. And if Jan is indeed killed himself then there won’t be a mission to Abrogard. And without that run, business could be affected.”

Bella nodded in understanding and sat on the arm of his chair.

“I don’t like it, but Lomona’s the best you’ve got. He’ll make it work.”

Glann finished the Whiskey and took his wife’s warm hand in his own.

Three hours passed. The Sunrise team returned to the ship, swiftly decoded the disk Himbs had given them and blasted off from their landing platform without delay to head for the Tailburner. Jan was irritable during the journey. Something was amiss, he could sense it. It was almost as if he knew something was wrong, and his gut twisted as he spied thin wisps of smoke on the moon-drenched horizon, snaking from the direction of their rendezvous. The Sunrise powered in over the rocky terrain and came to hover next to the Tailburner. Jan dropped the ramp, telling Frans and Paige to stay onboard. Steam plumed from the Tailburners exhaust outlets and the engines roared with a fierce intensity. He fast-stepped it across the landing pad, checking around for company. Satisfied that he was alone he entered the freighter. But he was barely prepared for the gruesome sight he saw. Himbimimam lay sprawled on the cargo-hold floor, his massive arms and legs twisted at bizarre angles, breathing shallowly and moaning in pain. Jan dashed to his friend’s side, laying his hand on Himbs rising chest.

“Don’t move pal, help’s on the way.” He glanced anxiously outside and spotted the silhouette of Terrie racing towards the Tailburner, Blaster in hand. “What happened?” Himbs tried valiantly to answer but couldn’t find the breath to speak. Jan patted him softly on the shoulder and shook his head. “Rest up buddy, we’ll sort it out later.” Terrie entered and kneeled down beside the two smugglers.

“What happened? Who did this?” She looked around the confines of the hold warily. “Where’s Weale?”

Jan froze. He hadn’t even thought about the diminutive teenage Shadow Warrior, his concerns being focused entirely on his alien colleague.

“I don’t know.” Jan glanced down at Himbs who’s sorrowful look placed him on alert. “See to Himbs. I’ll check out the rest of the ship.”

Terrie nodded and reached for a nearby Med-kit as Jan unclipped his Blaster and edged toward the corridor.

The lighting had shorted as a result of the engines overheating and a thin film of sweat had formed over Jan’s face. He wiped it away slowly, mindful of the shadows throughout the Tailburners interior. This is damn strange, he thought slowly as he searched intently through the darkness. Why would anyone do this? What’s the purpose? Scare tactics? Well done, whoever you are, mission accomplished. When I find out who did this to my friends…

“Mmmppffhh!!!”

Jan spun at the muffled cry, blaster up. What the hell was that? He slowly revolved around in a circle, trying to locate the sound. There it was again, from behind the storage door. Jan took a step backwards and kicked the door inwards with a crash.

Weale was alive, but only just. The small woman was hanging belly-down from the ceiling, tied with space tape from ankle to wrist. Her uniform top was ripped open and her stomach was bare and exposed….and left to dangle by literally a thread of tape over a deadly array of knives, blades and hunks of twisted metal. Jan figured another minute and the tape would have frayed, leaving Weale to fall to a wet and ragged death. Swiftly he holstered his blaster and kicked the grizzly death trap into the corner. He could see her eyes, wide and frightened, could feel the tension of panic within her taut body. Grabbing one of the knives he cut through the space tape and made swift work of stripping the rest of the highly adhesive tape away from her. Weale relaxed within his arms, finally freed, and passed out silently. Angered, Jan carried her back to the hold.

“You will not believe what they did to her.” Jan growled, lying her gently on the blast couch and kneeling next to Terrie and Himbs. The huge alien was sleeping quietly now, the result of the sedative Terrie had administered.

“Someone’s going to pay big time for this.”

Terrie nodded and stood.

“He’s stable for now. I’ve straightened his bones out as best I could. He should recover adequately. Imbams have surprisingly malleable bones for such densely built aliens.”

Jan breathed out a slow breath to compose himself and smiled.

“He’s tough alright. So, what do we do now?”

Terrie began seeing to Weale, inspecting the welts and raw skin around her wrists and ankles. Jan sat next to her on the couch, rubbing his temples firmly as she began to rub anti-burn salve on Weales wounds.

“We make our colleagues comfortable and continue with the mission.”

Jan’s back straightened as he turned to face Terrie.

“Don’t talk about them like they’re strangers. These are two friends who need our help, not more obstacles in your path.”

“So what do you want, Captain?” Terrie spat out, emphasising the `Captain’.

Jan stood swiftly and placed his hands on his hips.

“I want you to….I don’t know.” He tailed off, running out of steam. “I just want to get to the final stop-off point and go home.”

Terrie rubbed the final smudge of anti-burn salve onto Weales wrist and stood to closely face Jan.

“This isn’t the time to lose faith. We’ve come so far in such a short amount of time, we can’t turn back now.” She smiled her electric smile. “Besides, I thought you were enjoying the company of three fiery women on your ship.”

Jan grinned.

“It’s made me appreciate what it is to be a male.”

“And you are the appreciative type, aren’t you Captain?” She whispered softly. “Tell me, what else would you appreciate?”

Jan grinned again, this time without the cocksureness of before. Another come on?

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Everything….nothing. I’m not sure.” He backed away from the situation in classic Lomona style and threw a thumb towards the exit. “I’d better go and check on the others.”

Terrie nodded slowly and crossed her arms.

“Maybe you’d better Captain. Before you manage to complicate things even further.”

He frowned as he left the Tailburner. That was a brush-off! Hell, no wonder so many women hate me.

Paige was the first to greet him as he re-entered the Berone Sunrise, her hands still greasy from the service she was performing on Aurran. Tossing the rag onto the Holo-chess board she closed the ramp and followed Jan up to the cockpit.

“What’s going on Jan?” She asked, barely resisting the urge to call him `Dad’. Jan frowned and sped up.

“Nothing you want to know about kid. Just keep working on Aurran and stay out of the way. This is adult stuff. Where’s Frans?”

Paige huffed indignantly and spun on her heel back to Aurrans alcove near the engine room. Adults! What do they know?

“I’m in here.” Shouted Frans, as Jan was about to enter the cockpit, instead turning left and entering their quarters. Frans was tidying their bed and organising her equipment. Jan looked longingly at her and walked around the bed, wrapping his arms around her waist and planting a warm, lingering kiss on her ruby-red lips. Slightly surprised, she leaned back within his embrace and smiled quizzically at him.

“What was that for?”

Jan shrugged.

“Does there have to be a reason for everything?”

“Not for you there doesn’t. How’s everything on the Tailburner?” She gazed into his ocean blue eyes. He looked down, sadness etched onto his face.

“Himbs has been attacked, he’s in a bad way. Whoever did it must have had some real heavy duty hit-men to do what they did.”

Frans shook her head in shocked amazement. No one got the better of Himbs in a fistfight. Sure, Jan and he sometimes had good-natured brawls in Zythlies, and Jan occasionally got the better of him, but Frans was convinced that Himbs let her fiancé win just so he’d come back for more. The thought of someone powerful enough to defeat Himbs was frightening.

“What about the girl? What did they do to her.”

Jan was about to answer when he noticed the willowy shadow of Paige hovering in the corridor outside, trying to silently stay out of sight. He didn’t want her to hear anything that might inadvertently upset her; she wasn’t ready for it yet. Jan winked at Frans conspiratorially and took a deep breath.

“You’ve got till the count of three to get back to fixing Aurran,” He bellowed “or I’ll throw you off the ship right now and leave Janos without you.”

Jan and Frans heard the shocked gasp and the thump of teenage feet sprinting down the length of the Sunrise as Paige ran back to Aurran.

“Well done `Dad’.” Frans mocked.

“Humour doesn’t suit you Miss Latka.”

She arched an eyebrow.

“Of course it does. I’m engaged to you.” Frans slid out of his arms and lay on the bed. “So, how’s the girl?”

He blew out his breath angrily.

“They tied her up with space tape, hung her upside down, tore open her flight suit and dangled her over a pile of knives and blades. She was almost unconscious when I found her.”

Frans closed her eyes, lay her arms behind her head and snarled.

“How long had she been there?”

Jan shrugged.

“Hard to tell. A few hours at least, she was cramped up real bad. Which reminds me,” He began, moving around the bed and joining Frans sprawled out on the top sheet. “I wonder if Himbs made the call to Glanns network?”

Frans turned to face him.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if he’s the Janos liaison then he’s got to be checking in regularly, hasn’t he?” She nodded.

“I guess so.”

“So when did he last check in?” He sat up and ran his fingers over his stubbly chin thoughtfully. “You know Glann. If he’s not had a progress report he’ll send reinforcements.”

Frans rubbed his back softly.

“That’s true, but how will you know if they’re Glanns men? We’re out of touch, how will we know which passwords to use? We’ve been lucky so far, all our contacts have been friends and colleagues, but that’s not going to last all the way to Abrogard.” Jan looked down at his beautiful woman and smiled. Intelligent as well as drop dead gorgeous. What a combination.

“It’s time we took charge of this mission.” He rose to his feet and straightened out his flight jacket. “We’ve been played like puppets and I’ve had enough.”

Frans lifted herself up to her elbows.

“So what are you going to do?”

He gave her a serious look of intent and began snapping on his flight gloves.

“I’m gonna get some answers.”

“Lomonas team are currently at the rendezvous site. The Saffra woman is in the Tailburner, the rest are in the Berone Sunrise. What are your instructions?”

Milogick adjusted the focus on the infra-red sights and zeroed in on Terrie cautiously making her way from one freighter to the other, wary of possible attack as she opened the Sunrises ramp. If only she knew. Milogick smirked behind the binocs, his human face smeared with dirt and sand. This had been one of the easiest tagging missions he’d undertaken. All the intelligence was laid out for him well in advance. He knew all the locations of the mission and many of the possible pitfalls. If Geon Tasar wanted him for any other cushy numbers like this he’d make damn sure he was available. Besides, he’d never liked Lomona, the arrogant punk. Ever since Jan came strutting onto the scene over a decade before, Milogick had made it a priority to nail him. And now, finally, the time was near. He’d been informed by two of his many employers that once the current surveillance mission was over, and the location of Cipples treasure was found, it was open season on Cipples men. And he’d marked Jan Lomona for himself. Sure, he’d probably have to fight for the right to make the decisive kill but it would be worth the hardship. Sometimes you came across folks in life that you took an instant dislike to, and Lomona was one of them. Until then he’d bide his time and wait for the opportunity. Then it would surely be all the sweeter.

“Your instructions are as before. Keep watch over the site and report any unusual activities. Your next report is due in one hour. `Vornskyr’ out.”

The line crackled and went dead. Milogick frowned. He’d preferred it when the sun was messing with the transmissions and without authorisation he’d made the decision to attack the Tailburner. Himbimimam was another character he’d never liked, and he took special pleasure in administering the crippling blows to the Imbam. It had taken the best part of forty minutes to batter the alien into unconsciousness, but against twelve men even the huge barroom brawler was at a disadvantage. His female companion had made a spirited display, managing to beat up three assailants before finally being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers and trussed up like an Ewok. He was especially proud of the floor ornament he’d left for the terrified girl and wondered whether or not the space tape had held or if she’d been skewered, as was his intent. No matter. The message was sent.

“What treasure do you think Cipple’s after then?”

Milogick turned to his lieutenant, Worlog. The enormous brown furred Hanusshian snuffled in the moonlight, his canine-like body rippling under the glow of the moons.

“I don’t know.” Milogick whispered. “It’s got to be something massive for an operation like this. I mean, Formoons men working with Dressels? Tasars men working with Predd Jasons? Or Spytes? Talk about explosive. Tasar used to work for Dressel, and Formoon and Jason can’t stand each other. This had better be the find of the century or there’ll be another gang war.”

Worlog frowned and snuffled again.

“Why do you say that?”

Milogick smiled and edged nearer to his furry companion, leaving a trail in the heat-sodden sand.

“Well I don’t know about you, but there’s a few members of our temporary alliance that I’d like the opportunity to have a quiet word with.”

“Like who?” Inquired Worlog.

Milogick frowned.

“That doesn’t matter. I just hope our bosses know they’ve got a timebomb on their hands. It wouldn’t take much for this to go badly wrong, and you know who always ends up on the front line when the Bantha-dung hits the fan?”

Worlog nodded quickly, spraying saliva over the twelve men.

“Grunts like us.”

Milogick squinted, wiping the spray from his visor and nodded.

“That’s right genius, grunts like us. So start praying to…whatever you pray to and beg it to keep things on the straight and narrow.”

Worlog wagged his head again and snuffled.

“I can do that.”

“Great.”

“We’ve got company.” Terrie entered the cockpit and seated herself next to Jan, who’d been occupied, trying to unsuccessfully establish a link between the Sunrise and the local agent who would report back to Glann. He’d only been at it couple of minutes but he was frustrated already. He swung away from the comm-board in disgust.

“What company? You mean the creeps who did Himbs and Weale?”

“Possibly. I noticed a glint over the ridge to the north. Looked like binocs to me.” Jan stood and adjusted his Blaster belt.

“Well, you’re the field agent. You know more about this kind of thing than me. Let’s go.”

“Whoa!” Terrie just managed to grab Jans arm as he was about to leave the cockpit. “Let’s not be hasty about this.”

Lomona quickly wrestled his arm free.

“What do you mean `let’s not be hasty’? Those slime-balls almost killed Glanns agents, my friends. You expect me to leave it at that?”

Terrie swung the co-pilots chair away from Jan and flicked off the comm-board, much to his annoyance.

“Of course not. But it’s my job to make sure you arrive safely on Abrogard. If they’re tough enough to deal with Himbimimam and Weale then I’m sure they can take care of you.”

Jan frowned sarcastically.

“Gee Miss, thanks for the vote of confidence. But let’s get one thing straight here.” He pointed a long finger directly at her face. “I’m Captain of this ship. From now on what I say goes. Got that?”

Terrie shrugged non-commitedly.

“Like I said before, you’re the Captain. What happens on this ship is your business. But I’m in charge of the mission,” She said darkly, and began to edge out of her seat towards him again. “and if I say we’re not risking our necks attacking superior numbers in the dark, then we’re not attacking superior numbers in the dark. Got that?”

Jan nodded in slow frustration. He’d got it alright.

“Okay,” He began. “Here’s an alternative option. We need to contact Glann. It’s been a while now, and even if Himbs did get his message off we’ve still been out of contact for hours.”

Terrie crossed her arms.

“So what do you suggest? Message in a bottle? Smoke signals?”

“Something like that. Tailburner has a signal booster, right?”

Terrie shook her head.

“It did have.” She breathed out. “It must have shorted out while they were sending their last message to Glann. I found parts of it all over the ship. Most of it was underneath Weale in the storage room.”

Jan took a long breath and tapped the rim of the cockpit doorframe, deep in thought.

“The Sunrise has got a booster that I ripped from an Imperial customs frigate. Would that hold enough juice to get a message to Glanns local agent?”

Terrie perked up immediately.

“More than enough. But there’s one problem.”

“What?”

“All the transmission information is onboard the Tailburner.”

Jan looked unconcerned as he grabbed his Jet-Juice from under the dash and chugged a hefty swig.

“So? Rip it out and bring it over here. It’ll give Paige something to do. I think she’s bored with overhauling Aurran already.”

Terrie shook her head, her dark hair falling free of its clips and flowing over her face.

“No-can-do. It’s hardwired into the Tailburners comm-systems. We’ll have to take your booster out and patch it into theirs.”

Jan shook his head stiffly.

“That’d be suicide. Without communications we’ll be totally out of touch.”

“Hold on, what happened to the Captain who wanted to be in charge of the mission? Here’s your chance to make the big moves and you’re stalling.”

“Lady, this isn’t stalling, I’m trying to look at the big picture. And the big picture doesn’t look too bright without a comm-unit.”

Terrie bit her lip and rapped the console. Could he be right? Am I taking too much of a risk by gambling on our lives like this? But how can I think like that? There’s far too much at stake without having to worry about Lomonas concerns. Certainly he was right, they had to get a message to Glann. But without the integration of the two ships systems they couldn’t achieve that.

“Look, it’s almost daybreak.” Terrie eased out of the co-pilots seat and squeezed past Jan in the frame of the cockpit door. “Get some sleep and we’ll decide what to do in the morning. I’ll stay on the Tailburner tonight, keep an eye on Himbs and Weale.”

Jan nodded and took another swig from the juice as she made her way down the corridor to the ramp. He closed it behind her, just slowly enough to admire her slender figure slinking away into the dark.

What are you doing Jan? Go to bed.

“This is a mistake.” Bella looked angry and anxious as Glann thumbed the comm switch firmly. He felt it was the right thing to do. Under the circumstances it was the only thing to do.

“Melm.”

“Yes Glann?”

Cipple paused. He could see no other option open to him. Jan and his team had been out of touch for far too long.

“Activate.”