DusktoDust_Final3 Page 14

  Letsego waited to be released. He knew that the train was long. In the brief glimpse he had gotten of it while running down the platform in Windham City he had seen at least one hundred cars. It was going to take hours to unload. Well at least it’s not so hot anymore. That was a relief.

  So he waited.

  And waited.

  He woke up from a slight doze. Checking his watch, over an hour had gone by. This was going to be a long day, and there was nothing he could do about it. His stomach was rumbling. His throat parched. Getting on this train could very well be the worst decision of his life. What if they didn’t open this container for days? Would a worker open it in a week to find his shriveled lifeless body?

  As Letsego’s mind wandered into a dark place, the sound of voices came from the end of the car.

  “Is it in this one?” Letsego heard the muffle sound of a man’s voice.

  “Yeah. Quick let’s get this over with,” responded another voice.

  Letsego pulled himself together and approached the door. He crouched behind one of the containers. He could hear the sound of the men entering the door passcode. Then the door swung open.

  The light was blinding. Letsego hadn’t seen illumination beyond the light on his watch for almost twelve hours. His pupils were overwhelmed by the sensation. Still, he kept himself hunched behind the container. Out of sight.

  “What’s the box number?” One of the workers said walking into the car. They walked right past Letsego, having the opposite problem that he was having, not being able to see into the shadows.

  “Zero-six-zero-two. He said it’s at the back.”

  Letsego didn’t really care what they were looking for. It could be any manner of contraband. Trivi, booze. He knew that these miners didn’t get out much. The two men kept walking to the back of the car, searching for their prize. Letsego took his cue. Staying low, and keeping out of the light, he crept out of the car.

  Outside it was even brighter. Letsego took in his surroundings. He was in a large cavern that appeared to serve as the train platform. The platform was still busy an hour after the train had arrived. There was plenty to unload, but even more to load. The mechs moved about carrying huge barrels of unrefined Klyston and loaded them onto the train.

  Letsego navigated his way through the busy platform. The only way out of the cavern seemed to be a tunnel on the far side. He headed that direction. As he walked he realized he was the odd man out. Nearly everyone on the platform fell into one of two groups. There were the miners in their blue coveralls and hard hats. And then there were the Windcorp troopers with their assault rifles and camouflage body armor. Letsego could only see a couple of other people dressed like him, in street clothes.

  I’m going to need some other clothes.

  He reached the tunnel and tried to stay inconspicuous. He still wasn’t sure he was even in the right place. He kept his eyes open for someone or something he recognized, something that would lead him to Carpenter.

  The tunnel was dim. Every face he passed was covered in dirt or shielded by a trooper helmet. Letsego’s pessimism began to take over. Maybe this was a wild goose chase. Chances were Carpenter was thousands of miles away, or even worse, already off planet. Letsego’s luck had been horrible.

  But that wasn’t right. He didn’t believe in luck. He believed in instincts, and his instincts had been dead wrong.

  He was about to concede defeat, turn around and get back on the train when he saw an abnormality. It was a man in a suit. That was odd. Letsego had seen some people dressed in ragtag civilian clothes, probably on break from mine or security work. But he hadn’t seen anyone to this point as finely dressed as this man. He must be important.

  And then Letsego recognized the man, his spirits immediately lifted. It was the man he had followed to the freight terminal. His white hair was unmistakable. If he is here, Carpenter must be as well. Just like luck, Letsego didn’t believe in coincidences either.

  He stopped and pulled out his mobile. He doubted he would get any reception down here but he wasn’t interested in that. Using the mobile as a cover, he lingered in the passageway waiting for the white haired man to approach.

  The man was walking down the hallway accompanied by a Windcorp trooper. Letsego couldn’t be sure from this distance but it looked like an officer.

  “I told you already, sir,” the officer carried on. “There isn’t going to be a problem. Not as long as you keep the bastard out of my hair. If you ask my personal opinion I would recommend finding another pilot. But I know it’s a little late in the game for that.”

  The white haired man stopped the other. “Tell me, Lieutenant. You clearly have a poor history with Mr. Carpenter. Is there anything that Mr. Windham and I should know about him? All his references checked out. He is said to be a very good pilot.”

  “Look, sir. I don’t know anything about that. When I knew Carp he could hardly pilot a hover, let alone a starship. But I will tell you that he is out for no one but himself. He’s the one who got me kicked out of the Corps. The bastard will stab you in the back. He doesn’t understand the meaning of loyalty. With his track record I’m surprised that bitch of his is still hanging around.”

  “Ms. Ramirez comes very highly recommended as well. Is there something we should know about her as well?”

  The Lieutenant hesitated. “Look, sir. I told you. I haven’t seen either of them in three years.” He continued walking. “They might have changed, but I doubt it. Just watch your back, or Mr. Windham’s back.” He approached a door in the passageway about twenty feet from where Letsego was standing. “Don’t worry. My team and I will get your shipment to the Belt in one piece, as long as Carp does his job. All I’m asking is for you to do the talking. Keep the son of a bitch away from me.”

  The white haired man nodded. “That request is simple enough. Is there anything else you require tonight, Lieutenant?”

  The trooper shook his head. “I’m all set. We will be ready for departure tomorrow morning.”

  “Very well. Good evening. If you do need something you know where to reach me.” With that the man turned and headed back down the tunnel the way he had come. After punching in a code into the door’s keypad, the Lieutenant entered a side hallway.

  Letsego thought fast. The conversation he had just witnessed was an intelligence operator’s dream. It had confirmed two facts. First, Carpenter and his accomplice- Ms. Ramirez?- were definitely here. And second, they were being employed by Windcorp, possibly directly by Titus Windham himself.

  But Letsego couldn’t dwell on the revelations of the past minutes. His next move had to be made now. Should he follow the businessman or the trooper? He didn’t think about it, he just acted. Maybe his instincts weren’t so bad after all.

  He moved quickly to the door. It would only stay open for a few more seconds and he didn’t have the access code if it closed.

  He just made it. The door hissed closed right behind him. He was now in a small hallway. Up ahead he saw the Lieutenant turn a corner and disappear. Letsego followed him. As he travelled down the hallway he noted the placards on the doors. They were all labeled with the military phonetic alphabet. Combining that with the fact that he hadn’t seen anyone not dressed in some type of military attire gave him a good idea of where he was.

  The labyrinth of hallways was vast. If this was the security barracks, Letsego guessed that it was for at least a company sized element. Considering this was just a simple mining facility it seemed like over kill, unless Windcorp had something else going on here.

  He tried to follow the Lieutenant but was realizing that he stuck out like a sore thumb. Troopers were giving him strange looks as he passed them. The first rule to working in intelligence was not to stand out, and Letsego was failing at that right now. He would have to catch up with the Lieutenant later. The security barracks couldn’t be that big a place.

  Ten minutes later Letsego emerged from one of the squad bays feel
ing much more covert. He now wore the uniform of a specialist in the Windham Security Forces and had been able to gather a good amount of info on the garrison here. Both of those things had been accomplished without brute force. The art of persuasion can be a powerful tool when, one, you are confident in your lies and, two, those you are talking to are on the lower end of the IQ spectrum.

  Letsego now knew that the garrison here was made up of a battalion. What they were guarding he didn’t know, and it appeared that the troopers didn’t either. Whatever it was Windcorp thought it was valuable enough to commit nearly a tenth of its security forces to. He had also learned that the Lieutenant he had been following before was First Lieutenant Castle, the commander of Constellation Company. Letsego now knew where the man’s quarters were along the Constellation Company area.

  Lastly, Letsego’s detour had produced a security forces ID. The card belonged to a Jared Johnson, who conveniently was in sick bay with a case of the flu. He didn’t look too much like Letsego, but they were both black so that was a start. The name plates on Letsego’s new armor also matched the ID card. All in all, not bad for ten minutes work.

  With the new ensemble and intel, Letsego made his way to the Constellation Company area. While he had been changing he had formulated a plan. It was a crude plan based on some very sketchy assumptions, but at this point his ass was so far out in the wind he didn’t think he had much left to lose. And if what he had heard earlier had been correct Carpenter was leaving in the morning, with his illicit cargo. Letsego had to be on that ship.

  The company area was small. It was hard to believe that nearly one hundred and fifty troopers lived in such tight confines. Besides the squad bays there was only a chow hall, rec room and a bar. Letsego avoided all of those. He headed straight for Lieutenant Castle’s office.

  Letsego was making a bold move. He was banking on playing to Castle’s sympathies, and that he had an accurate understanding of the situation according to the one conversation he had overheard. Even for his natural optimism, this plan was a stretch.

  At the company office, Letsego didn’t bother talking to any of the clerks. He made a bee line straight for the commander’s office. He had a feeling that aggressiveness was something that Castle looked for in his troopers.

  The door to the office was open so Letsego let himself in. He marched in and positioned himself half a meter and centered in front of Lieutenant Castle’s desk. He came to attention and threw up a crisp salute.

  “Good evening, sir! Specialist Jared Johnson reporting for duty.”

  Castle looked up from his workstation. He didn’t seem impressed. But at the same time he didn’t seem pissed off either. “You seem to be lost, trooper. I know no one in Constellation would enter my office unannounced.”

  Letsego didn’t show any unease. “No, sir. I’m from Astro Company. But I would like to request a transfer.”

  “And why would I want a trooper with no military courtesy in my company?”

  “Because I’m the best, sir,” he said with brimming confidence. “And I belong in the best company in the battalion.”

  Castle wasn’t amused. “The best,” he snickered. “You look a little seasoned to be a specialist. I’m guessing you’re a grade A screw up.”

  “No, sir. I served in the South African Army before I joined with Windcorp.”

  “If you were any good in the army, we would have made you more than a specialist.”

  Letsego allowed just a little amount of false discomfort show now. “I was kicked out, sir.”

  “Oh yeah, for what?”

  “Alleged theft, but I didn’t do it.” Castle looked like he was getting fed up with this sob story. It was time for Letsego to go in for the kill. “I was set up, sir. My mate stabbed me in the back. Loyalty is hard to come by these days.”

  That statement rang true with Lieutenant Castle. The man’s demeanor changed. Before he had seemed skeptical, but now Letsego thought he could see a hint of sympathy in the man’s face. The Lieutenant looked him over for a few seconds, sizing him up.

  “Alright specialist, I’ll bite. Let’s see how good you really are.” He turned back to his computer. “Johnson, you said?”

  “Yes, sir. Jared R.”

  Castle began looking up his personnel file, or at least Specialist Johnson’s personnel file. And from the medals Letsego had found in Johnson’s locker he had a good idea of what the file would say. There had been a handful of personal medals along with the top marksmanship badges. Castle would like what he saw. Letsego just hoped that the Windcorp personnel files didn’t include a picture. He continued to stand at attention as Castle scrutinized Johnson’s file.

  “You graduated the academy last year?”

  Letsego hoped this wasn’t a trick. “Yes, sir. Came here straight out of school.” It was a safe guess.

  Castle nodded. “Alright, Johnson. Stand at ease. You may be the kind of trooper I look for in Constellation. But I’m not in the habit of just stealing people from other companies.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  Lieutenant Castle sat in thought for a second. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ve got a mission going in the morning. I’ll talk to your CO and get you on it. Think of it like an audition.”

  Letsego’s cunning had worked better than expected. He hadn’t even had to ask for the special posting. “Thank you, sir. You won’t regret it.”

  Castle grunted. “We’ll see.” He stood up. “First Sergeant!”

  A few seconds later the company first sergeant stepped into the office. “What’s up, boss?”

  “Put Johnson on the roster for tomorrow.” He scribbled down a note and handed it over. “Get with Astro. Tell them the specialist is ours for the week.”

  The first sergeant took the paper. “Sir, this is a little last minute. Are you sure this is a good idea.”

  “No one ever got anywhere by not taking risks. I want him on the team.” The first sergeant looked skeptical but nodded.

  “Roger that, sir.” He turned to Letsego. “Alright, specialist. Let’s go. I’ll spin you up on what’s going on.”

  Letsego looked to the Lieutenant, who waved him to go. “He’ll give you everything you need.”

  “Looking forward to it, sir.” He gave the man another salute and then turned and followed the first sergeant out. I’m in.

  15: Catalyst

  Science fiction stories of the past always portrayed starships to be elegant, streamlined machines. Movie renditions of them were always bright and shiney with sweeping wings and spectacular viewports. The ship that stood in front of David was none of these things.

  It was early morning. He and Alana had caught a few hours of sleep in a borrowed barracks room and then gotten up and found Mr. Black. The man had taken them even deeper into the mountain. The cavern they now stood in was clearly a hangar. It had lifts and loading claws everywhere. The scaffolding and catwalks around the larger cavern were busy with miners and flight hands who were preparing for the ship’s departure.

  The single ship that inhabited the hangar was a different story. It lacked any sign of life. From the look of the ship David would be surprised if her engines even started, not to say anything about lifted her off the ground.

  The ship was definitely a Canaveral class Saab Corsair, but she looked like hell. The original teardrop shape of the maroon hull had been distorted by large, gray, boxy augmentations, likely the converted cargo sections. There were also weapons pods bolted onto multiple places along the hull. The ship was a true amalgamation, in the most unappealing sense.

  “This is what I’m flying?” David finally said in disbelief.

  “Mr. Carpenter, I assure you, she will surprise you,” Mr. Black said.

  David snickered. She’ll surprise me if we make it out of atmo. With the ship’s ungainly figure, he estimated that she would handle just about as daintily as a motorcycle underwater.

  “What’s her n
ame?” Alana asked from beside him.

  “Catalyst,” Mr. Black responded. “Mr. Windham named her. For what I don’t know, but I will say the name strangely fits, don’t you think?” David did not think so. He thought that there was no catalyst big enough in the galaxy to get this hunk of junk in the air.

  Mr. Black began walking towards the ship. “Come, I will show you to the cockpit.”

  With reservation, the two smugglers followed. He led them under the belly of Catalyst and up the large gangplank. Suddenly, they were in a different world.

  If the exterior of Catalyst had the look of an old beat up ore hauler, the interior had the look of one of the finest of star cruisers. David couldn’t believe he was in the same ship. The corridor he now stood in was covered with polished steel and illuminated by soft halogen bulbs. The readouts on the bulk heads appeared to be state of the art holographic displays. He now understood what Mr. Windham had meant by “heavily modified”. None of this was stock on a Corsair.

  “Holy shit.” Alana took the words right out of his mouth.

  “I said you would be surprised,” Mr. Black commented, clearly pleased with himself. “Now, if you will follow me.”

  He took them forward, toward the tip of the teardrop. “As you know, Catalyst is a converted Saab Corsair personnel transport. She now has berthing for twenty and can carry thirty thousand cubic meters of cargo…” Mr. Black went into another diatribe, spouting countless facts and statistics about the ship. But unlike the story he had spun after they had gotten off the train, David was hanging on the man’s every word.

  “…with a bow to stern length of two hundred and seven meters and beam of one hundred and thirty, the ship falls in the Canaveral class. Her control interface and navigation computer are all state of the art, boasting nearly five terahertz of processing power in the core…” David was becoming as giddy as a school boy. He had flown many ships in his short time as a pilot, but if Mr. Black was telling the truth, all paled in comparison to Catalyst. Even his own Katana was inferior.