Chapter X: Trapped!

They wore cloaks and masks, like everyone else, but the cloaks were old and patched, and the masks were scratched and pitted by endless scouring of the hot dust. The pistols were of an older model, and had seen a lot of use without proper maintenance. However, Rick decided that he wasn’t going to take the chance that they wouldn’t fire. He raised his hands and backed up into the alley.

The three figures followed him, and once all three figures were off the street, the lead figure spoke, the voice harsh coming through the mask. “Gimme your debbies, Earther.”

“My what?” asked Rick, his mind briefly picturing a cute girl with long brown hair from high school.

“Your debbies. Jezz, man, you offers are so slip,” replied the lead figure, shaking his head. “Now gimme before I hasta frack ya.” He waved the blaster in front of Rick’s nose, and Rick could see that the power gauge on the handle indicated a half charge.

“Look, I’ll give you whatever you want, if you tell me what it is.” Rick felt his back hit a wall and he stopped. He briefly considered jumping them, but all three had pistols, and he wouldn’t be able to take them all out fast enough.

One of the other figures, shortest of the three, stepped up. “He means your debit card, Earther. They’re called debbies around here.” The voice was female, and sounded young to Rick.

“Debbies, debit. I get it.” Rick started to reach under his cloak when the lead figure rammed the blaster into his stomach. Rick doubled over in pain, and his reflexes kicked in. He fell on top of the figure and grabbed the pistol, twisting it away from him. A bright orange beam erupted from the projector tube, and cut a deep swath in the wall next to the combatants.

Rick managed to twist the blaster out of his opponent’s grip, and got his arm around his neck. He twisted his attacker around to face his friends, and jammed the blaster into his ribs. “Okay, freeze, all of you, or your friend gets, what’s the word, fracked. Now drop your weapons.”

The other two hadn’t moved to help their leader, and the sight of their boss pinned against Rick, with his own blaster in his midsection, apparently took the fight out of them. The short one tossed her blaster down, and the third, after looking at his leader, and then at the other, followed suit.

“Great.” Rick felt his captive moving slightly. “Don’t try it. So much as breathe, and I’ll burn you.” Rick nudged him with the blaster. His captive froze, and an idea began to form in Rick’s mind.

“Hey, man, we didn’t mean nothin’,” said the third hood, the voice revealing his sex.

“You just wanted to rob me of my debit card, and any little trinkets I might have on me. I know about your kind of fun.” Rick shoved his captive away, and covered the three of them. “Now listen to me. If you rob me, all you get is a measly debit card worth about seventy credits. If you help me, I’ll give you each a debit card worth two hundred credits. Interested?”

“You’re colsec, man. I ain’t scannin’ for anyone, for anything,” said the leader, rubbing his neck where Rick had been holding it.

“Colsec? Does that mean police?” asked Rick, glancing at the girl. She nodded. Rick smiled and looked back at the leader punk. “No, I’m not, and I’m not askin’ you to squeal on your friends. Deal or not?”

“Whadda ya want then?” asked the punk.

“A place to hide out for a while, then help getting back to the spaceport unseen.”

“You’re kiddin’,” exclaimed the punk. “Colsec after you, too?”

“I don’t know who’s after me. Maybe if you found out, there’d be some extra credits in it for you,” suggested Rick.

“Cumon, Davy, let’s take it. Two hundred each is better than seventy total,” said the girl.

“I donno,” said the head punk, whom Rick decided was the one called Davy. “When do we git paid?”

“When we get to the terminal, I’ll buy each of you a two hundred credit debit card, plus a bonus, depending on what you find out.” said Rick.

Davy thought about it for a minute, then nodded. “Alrit, ya gotta deal.” He reached down to pick up one of the blasters, but Rick stepped over them.

“You can have these toys back after we’re done.” Rick picked up the other two pistols, and tucked them under his cloak.

Davy shrugged. “Havit yer way.”

The girl reached up and tugged on Davy’s cloak. “We gonna take him back to our place? No one find him there.”

Davy nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go. Sym, watch behin us,” he said to the third member of the gang. Davy headed down the alley. Rick followed, and the girl walked next to him. Sym followed up from the rear, about fifteen feet behind Rick.

They moved down alleys and between slim spaces between buildings. As they crossed streets, Rick noticed that the wind was picking up. Eventually they came to an area of warehouses, and the group moved quickly from building to building. Finally they stopped in front of a door in the center of a wall that formed the back side of a warehouse. Davy opened the door, and they quickly slipped inside.

Rick took off his mask and noticed that the air was cool and dry. As Rick’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, he could see that the three had a small but comfortable setup. There were three bedrolls spread out against the wall. There was a heating unit and a cooler, all battery powered, resting on crates at convenient heights. There was also a terminal set up, with wires running from the back and into the darkness of the warehouse beyond.

He turned to look at the three, and saw that they had already removed their masks and cloaks. Davy was a tall, thin boy, not much younger than Rick, but it appeared obvious that he didn’t have the benefits of a balanced diet while growing up. He reminded Rick of a blond scarecrow.

Sym was about the same height as Davy, but stockier. He had brown hair, but his eyes had a vacant look to them. He wandered over to the cooler, and pulled out a can of some beverage, popped the top, and just stood there drinking until it was empty. Some of the drink slipped around the edges and ran down his neck, but Sym just ignored it.

The girl revealed herself to be a pretty girl, apparently in her late teens, with long black hair. Her eyes also appeared black in the dim light, and she didn’t appear to be suffering from malnutrition. She was athletically proportioned, and her face and form pleasant to his eyes. He blinked, and reminded himself why he was there.

“How do you manage to avoid setting off the alarms?” asked Rick.

Davy nodded at the girl. “Andy took care of that.”

“Andy?” asked Rick.

“Short for Andromeda.” The girl smiled shyly up at him. She couldn’t have been more than a meter and a third tall, almost a full third meter shorter than himself. “So, stranger, what’s your handle? Don’t seem quite fair to tell you all of our secrets without knowing who you are.”

“Name’s Nick Silver. I’m a scout with a ship in port here. I was meeting with a friend when someone broke in, shooting blasters at us. I dove out the window and ran. When you held me up, I thought it was them.”

“And your friend was?” asked Andy.

“His name was Morgan. Larry Morgan.”

Davy and Andy looked at each other. Davy turned to face Rick. “I think we’ve made a mistake. Morgan was an SP agent. You gotta be colsec.”

Rick gulped and tried to look surprised. “He was SP? I didn’t know that.”

“Everyone knows that, earther.” Davy produced a knife from behind him. The sharp edge glinted in the dim light.

Andy rested her hand on Davy’s arm. “Maybe he’s tellin truth, Davy. Let’s listen to him.” Davy’s expression looked troubled for a minute, then he seemed to relax.

“Okay, earther, if you not SP, why you see Morgan?”

Rick glanced over to see what Sym was doing. He was just leaning up against a crate, watching the three of them. His eyes were only half open, and Rick thought that he might be falling asleep. He turned his attention back to Davy and Andromeda.

“Look, I didn’t know he was SP. Like I said, I’m a scout, and this is my first time out in this area. I was told that Morgan had some hot info, and I was trying to buy it. Apparently someone wanted it more than I did.” Rick hoped that the story would be enough. He didn’t have the foggiest idea where the spaceport was from here, and would need their help to leave this place.

Davy thought about his story for a minute. Andy kept her hand on the arm that was wielding the knife. Finally Davy looked at Rick, and stared in his eyes for a few seconds. Then he sighed and put away the knife. “Okay, earther. I’ll buy that story for now. But if I find out differently, . . .” The unspoken threat was obvious to Rick. He also apparently didn’t feel handicapped by Rick having all three blasters.

Andy smiled and patted Davy’s arm, then got up. She went over and pulled out three cans from the cooler. Rick and Davy continued to look each other over. As she passed out the cans, Rick noticed that it was a popular earth brand soda, Nucola. Davy popped the seal and drank deeply. Rick and Andy popped their seals, but didn’t ingest the carbonated beverage as fast as Davy did. Davy smiled, then belched, as the carbonation released itself. He smiled as he looked at the can, then at Rick.

“Did you know, Nick, that this stuff is deadly poison to a couple of races? The Aseens can’t burp. This stuff would make them explode. Too bad none come to our planet. It would be fun to see them explode in a puff of feathers. Tastes good, though. Had to get out this far from Earth. Expensive.” Davy’s eyes narrowed and he stared at Rick. “How much are ya gonna pay us for finding out who’s out to frag ya?”

Rick thought briefly. “I can pay you three hundred more if you can tell me who attacked Morgan.” Another thought can to him. “Also, I heard that the pirate Blackcoat was in the area. If you can find out anything about him, I can dig up some extra credits.” Rick hoped that his mother would approve his expense report. This whole thing was going to drain his bank account.

Davy nodded. “Ya gotta deal, Nick.” He held out his hand.

Rick shook it, surprised by his strong grip. If Davy had such a strong grip, how did he get the weapon away from the kid so easily? `Must have caught him off guard,’ he thought to himself, and mentally shrugged.

Davy stood up. “Sym, ya stay and eye our friend. Andy an’ me will find out what’s goin’ on.” He turned to the girl. “That okay with ya?” Andy nodded, and they got up and put their outdoor gear back on. “Be back soon, earther. Don’ go nowhere.” He fitted the mask over his head, and he and Andy slipped out the door.

Rick glanced over at Sym. If he noticed that his friends had left, he didn’t show it. Rick got up and walked over to the door. There was a whish and a thud as a twenty five centimeter long, black knife appeared in the wall, not quite six centimeters away in front of Rick. Rick glanced over at Sym. He was sitting in the same position as before, the only difference was that one of Sym’s eyes was wide open, and staring at him. Rick turned and walked slowly over to a crate and sat down. `This is gonna be a long wait,’ he thought.

Three hours later, after Rick had tried every conceivable means of drawing Sym into a conversation, and failing miserably, the door opened. Davy and Andy quickly entered the warehouse and shut the door behind them. They quickly removed their outer garments, and Davy turned to Rick and glowered. “You are real deep shit, mister.”

Rick’s eyes opened in surprise. “What happened?”

Davy leaned up against the wall, and slid down it until he was sitting on the floor. Andy remained quiet and she went to the cooler to get more sodas. Davy waited until she handed him one and quickly drank the contents. Then came the expected belch. Davy wiped his face with his sleeve. “Well, Nick, Rick, or whatever you call yourself, you’re wanted by the colsec for the murder of an SP agent. Your face is plastered all over the place, and a nice hefty reward has been posted for your capture. They say that you’re a renegade SP officer that stole a ship out of Luna Base.”

“I didn’t steal it!” exclaimed Rick. “I was sent out on a mission and, . . .” Rick halted as he saw Davy and Andy nodding at each other. “I blew it, didn’t I?”

“You don’t make a convincing thief, SP officer Rick Raygunn,” said Andy, smiling. “Oh, we believe you. You’re not the murdering type. If you did do what they said you did, you wouldn’t have let us leave you alive.” Andy sat down next to Davy. “We did do a little checking around. There were a couple of witnesses that did see three people leaving the home of the SP agent with weapons. The colsec said that those were officers in pursuit of a renegade.”

“So the local police are in on this,” said Rick.

“And more. Some of our contacts heard about the hit on the SP officer before it happened, so it was a local contract that fragged Morgan.”

“Great. Now how am I gonna get away?” mused Rick.

“They say you stole a disc containing secret SP operating manuals, and are supposed to be turning it over to Blackcoat, the pirate,” said Andromeda.

“Wonderful.” Rick laid his head in his hands. “After I ask you about him. Just great.”

“Well, we did check on him anyway,” added Davy. “He ain’t even commin’ to this planet. He’s 12 light years away on Salkar.”

Rick’s head jolted up. “He is? How did you find that out?”

Davy smiled and touched the side of his nose with his forefinger. “I canna tell ya that. Wouldn’t be proper.”

“What’s he doing there? Did you find that out?” asked Rick.

Davy shrugged. “Supplying up and outfitting his ship. Usual stuff. No hint asta what’s he’s up to.”

“Great. Just great. Now what am I supposed to do?” said Rick. He slumped down to the floor. “The police want me, the SP’s want me, and the pirates want me.”

“Sounds like the beginning of a great career,” said Andy, with a smile. “As a new and viscous space pirate.”

Rick looked up at her, and an idea slowly began to form. “You know, you may be right. My mom said that this was an unusual mission. Maybe I have to become a pirate to catch a pirate.” Then Rick’s face clouded over. “But why did they kill Morgan?”

Davy shrugged. “We did hear somtin’ about that. Maybe it had something to do with that data crystal ya took.”

Rick frowned. “I don’t see why. It was a blank crystal. I just recorded a message on it.”

“Well, whatever it is, they want it bad. They tore up his apartment lookin’ for it,” said Davy.

“Well, whatever it is, the longer you’re here, the more danger you’re in,” said Andy.

Rick sighed. “Yeah. I don’t think I can do any more damage here. All I wanted to find out was when Blackcoat’s ship was in, but it isn’t coming. I have to go to Salkar next.”

“Why are ya chasin’ him, anyway?” asked Davy.

“He’s mixed up with the garasians, somehow. He’s looking for something, and my mission is to find out what it is. Also, he’s wanted for crimes against Earth, and after I find out what he’s after, I have to capture him.”

“Wow. Big order,” said Andy. “We’ll help you get back to your ship.”

“Howsee gonna pay us if he gets nabbed in the terminal,” asked Davy.

“We’ll work somethin’ out.” Andy stared at Rick for a second. “What about a disguise?”

Rick shook his head. “Wouldn’t matter. As soon as I put the card in the slot, they’d nab me.”

“Fark. So now we ain’t gonna git paid. I say we turn him in for the reward.” Davy produced the knife he had tucked away in his belt. Rick moved his hand to a blaster grip.

Andy placed her hand on Davy’s arm. “Come on, Davy, we’ll work somethin’ out. There’s still the seventy creds left on the debbie.”

“Seventy ain’t worth gittin a hole burned through your head.” Davy looked serious, but his expression slowly became less threatening.

“Look, if you help me back to my ship, I can give you stuff.” Rick looked desperately around, looking for ideas of stuff they appeared to need. “How about new face masks?”

Davy lowered his knife. “Well, that’s a start. Masks ain’t cheap. But still, it’s not much to risk one’s life over.”

“Okay, then,” said Rick. “What about, oh, a set of ceramic knives?”

Sym opened his eyes and smiled. Rick nodded. “There. The masks, the knives, and the remains of my debit card. Deal?”

Davy thought about it for a minute, Andy’s hand still resting on his arm. Finally he nodded. “Okay, it’s not much, but it’ll do. Deal.” Davy held out his hand. Rick shook it.

“Great. When do we go?” asked Rick.

“Right away. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it is,” said Davy.

“How do we get past through the terminal?” asked Rick.

Davy smiled. “We don’t. There’s another way into the field, but because of the winds, no one, except the smugglers, go that route.” Davy went over to the crate the terminal was resting on, and shuffled through some papers stacked next to it. Finally he pulled out a large one, and laid it on the floor.

Rick could see that it was a map. This caused Sym to actually get up, and he sauntered over, still with a distracted look, and stared at the map over Rick’s shoulder. Rick felt something wet on his shoulder, and glanced to see what it as. There was a quarter-cred sized wet spot on the top of his shoulder. He looked up to see Sym, with another drop forming on the side of his mouth. Rick slid over a foot, and the second drop of drool hit the plascrete of the warehouse floor with a wet splotch.

The map showed the town spread out in a horseshoe shape around the terminal and border fence. The fence ended where it abutted the walls of the valley where the spaceport and town was located.

Davy pointed to one end of the horseshoe. “We’re here. Over here is a section called smuggler’s notch.” Davy pointed out a small notch in the valley wall not too far away. “What most people don’ know, is that the wind rises and subsides alla time, and ya cin tell when it’s gonna fade. When it does, ya cin cross through this notch and get onto the spacefield.”

“When’s the next time the wind dies down?” asked Rick.

Davy looked up from the map. ‘Inna bout a half hour. If we hurry, we cin get to the notch jes as the wind fades, then cut across to yer ship.”

“Let’s go, then.” Rick stood up and reached for his gear. He felt the blasters poking him in the stomach. Hr thought for a moment, then pulled the three pistols out and handed them back to the kids. “Here. You might need these. It’s too late to know if I can trust you or not.” He pulled out the smaller gun that Morgan gave him, and pulled the cloak over his head, and fitted the mask over his face.

Rick waited for the others to jet prepared, then he opened the door and stepped out. He stopped as he noticed four figures standing in front of him, weapons drawn. He glanced behind to see the three kids holding out their pistols, all aimed at him. Rick groaned. “Oh, no, not again.”

To Be Continued...