DusktoDust_Final3 Read online

  “Ah, here we are.” They had reached the cockpit. Mr. Black motioned them in. “Please make yourselves at home. This is your ship for the next week, Mr. Carpenter. Please do take good care of her.” He turned to head back down the corridor. “I will return. Please begin the pre-flight. Remember, we are departing promptly at seven o’clock. If you need anything while I’m gone the flight hands know how to reach me.” And with that the overly polite man was gone once again.

  David and Alana turned to their work. With Mr. Black gone the two smugglers could truly take in the beauty of the gift they had been given.

  “D,” Alana said as she slid into the copilot’s seat. “I feel like I’m in heaven.” She began checking various readouts on her console.

  David’s eyes were still wide with amazement. “Yeah, it’s good to know that Windcorp is using their blood money wisely.” Instead of taking his place in the pilot’s chair, he made his way to the navigation console. “Damn!” he cursed after a brief search through the computer.

  “What?”

  “The nav computer has a destination in it but it’s locked. I can’t see it. We still have no idea where in the hell we are going.”

  “They’ll have to tell us sometime.”

  “Yeah.” Once again an uneasy feeling crept into David’s stomach. “Probably after we’ve made it past UNEC’s pickets and they have no more use for us.” Now he was being the pessimistic one.

  Alana didn’t say anything. She apparently had come to terms with their uncertain fate. She got up out of her seat and moved to the weapons station. “Windham wasn’t kidding. This hulk is fitted to take on a small armada.” She read through the list of armaments.

  “Alana, taking on the PKs is exactly the opposite of what we are trying to do. Is there anything on this boat we can use?”

  “D, what you plan on happening and what actually happens isn’t necessarily the same thing.” David ignored the jab. “Alright, here we go. Wow, we’ve got a grade three static jammer. We should be able to blind anyone who tries to track us.”

  “Now that should come in handy.” He checked his watch. It was zero five. They had two hours until liftoff. “Alright, we need to start preflight.” He stood up from his seat. “Start the list and I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “There’s one more thing I need to check out before everyone else gets here.”

  He headed aft. The ship was large but well marked. Using the computer consoles built into the corridor intersections he was able to find what he was looking for.

  It was what he had always wanted; a ship with all of the latest technology. Half of the equipment that was in the cockpit he had not even heard of, let alone seen in real life. It was a pilot’s wet dream to fly something like Catalyst. Yet this opportunity was not sitting well with David. Windcorp had sunk billions of notes into this ship, and he doubted they had done so just to give their pilot for hire a one of a kind experience. Whatever David was hauling was of immense value to the multinational corporation.

  On the ship map the section was simply marked “CARGO”. When David reached the location he was disappointed but not surprised. The entrance to the cargo hold was a large steel door. A label with stenciled letters on it reading “SEALED” was plastered across it.

  David didn’t know why he had expected anything different. Windham had told him whatever he was carrying on Catalyst was not to be touched. But he had wanted to verify that with his own eyes.

  He inspected the door’s access pad. With his index figure he tapped it and the hologram flashed red. It wasn’t locked by an access code. It was biometric, probably programmed for Mr. Black’s, or even Windham’s retina. There was approximately a one in one million chance that David could hack through the system within the next hour. And even if he did he would probably trigger an alarm.

  So much for that, he thought. For now the cargo was going to remain a mystery.

  An hour later, David was outside in the hangar checking Catalyst’s hull. As he got a closer look at it, he realized that the ship’s exterior had been made to look worse than it actually was. Underneath the haphazardly applied paint lay solid, polished steel. The lack of thermal scarring told him that the ship was not that old. She had only seen a few passages through the atmosphere. As for the cargo modules and weapons pods, they had been professionally installed. David had faith that the ship would make it to wherever her destination was. He walked along the underbelly on Catalyst, running his hand against her frame. Her features may have been disguised, but he could tell she was solid. So far he had found no cracks or fissures. Her engines checked out well. Alana had spooled them up earlier.

  He reached the end of ship, underneath the engine pods. Everything was as it should be. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a ship’s communicator.

  “We’re all good out here,” he said into the microphone. “How’s everything on your end.”

  Alana’s voice echoed through the speaker. “All the computer systems are done powering up. I’ve been running some tests and they are barely challenging the core’s processor. I’m ready to go live when you are.”

  “Stand by.” David moved from behind the ship’s engines. All the other flight hands were clear. “Alright, hit it.”

  He watched the three engines come to life with the red glow burning Klyston. Catalyst was now ready for takeoff. All she needed were passengers. “We’re good,” he said into the microphone. “I’m heading back up.”

  He made his way back to the gangplank. He reached it at the same time as another group of passengers.

  “Take that ruck to my cabin. Be careful with it.” It was Castle. He was directing traffic as his men loaded gear onto the ship.

  “Good morning, Corporal Castle.” David couldn’t resist the insult. “Did your men find their bunks?”

  Castle scowled. “They did, Staff Sergeant. They’ll be out of your way shortly.”

  David knew that the smart thing to do was to leave the situation. Castle and he were like oil and water. But he was not going to be pushed around by this selfrighteous man. Like Mr. Black had said, Catalyst was now his ship, at least for the immediate future.

  “It’s not staff sergeant anymore. You can call me captain.”

  That did not sit well with Castle. “Get out of my face, Carp.”

  David smiled. “Do you have a problem with me, Castle?”

  That set him off. “Hell yes, I have a problem with you! I don’t trust you as far as I could throw you!”

  “The feeling’s mutual. But at least you don’t have to worry about someone torturing you and prying your eyeballs from your skull.” Two troopers who were carrying crates past the arguing men stopped, surprised by what David had just said. “Oh, you haven’t told them?” David could see Castle’s temper was boiling over. “You haven’t told them about your glory days in the Corps when you got your jollies off mutilating civilians?”

  Castle cracked. Before David could react, the lieutenant threw a right hook catching David across the jaw. Castle started to advance to deliver another punch but the troopers grabbed him, holding their commander back.

  The blow had knocked David back, but he didn’t go down. He could taste the sweetness of blood in his mouth but it didn’t matter. Castle may have landed the punch, but David was the one who had won the confrontation.

  He looked up at Castle and smiled. Castle pushed his men back. “Get off of me! I’m fine.” He regained his composure.

  “Lieutenant, please get your men on board,” David said cordially. “We’ll be lifting off soon.”

  Castle didn’t acknowledge him. “Let’s go.” He turned and headed up the gangplank.

  “Sir, we’re still short one,” one of the troopers called after him.

  Castle turned around, annoyed. “Who?”

  “That new guy, sir. Johnson. No one has seen him this morning.”

  Castle paced back
down the ramp. “Well, someone go find him!” His temper was building again. “I’ll be damned if one specialist is going to cause this mission to take off late.”

  David ignored the exchange. He pushed past Castle and headed up into the ship. He wasn’t waiting. If some troopers got left behind, oh well. Once Mr. Black was onboard Catalyst was leaving.

  After leaving Lieutenant Castle’s office, Letsego had been shown around by the first sergeant. He had introduced him to the members of Castle’s handpicked team. For the most part he didn’t care for any of them. They all reminded him of Castle, pretentious and overly cruel. In Letsego’s military career he had seen every type of soldier imaginable. The genre of trooper that made up Castle’s squad, in Letsego’s experience, was the kind that would subdue a riot with a machinegun.

  There was one member of the squad that Letsego actually respected. The senior enlisted man was Staff Sergeant Chavez. He was American, but after talking with the man for ten minutes Letsego actually liked the guy. He took pride in his position. He showed genuine care for his men and didn’t give off the macho vibe that most of the other troopers had. Letsego wondered how he had fallen into Castle’s favor.

  Chavez had briefed Letsego on what he knew about the mission. The squad was providing security for an off planet shipment. They would be twelve troopers strong, plus two pilots and a Windcorp executive. Letsego guessed that the pilots were Carpenter and Ramirez. He hoped he was right.

  Other than that, Chavez couldn’t tell him much about the mission. No cargo. No destination. And Letsego didn’t think he was holding anything back. It looked like Windcorp was playing this game very close to the vest. He guessed that the only person who knew the whole story was Castle.

  Once Chavez was done briefing Letsego, he told him to get some rest and be at the mining facility’s hangar bay at zero six in the morning ready for the mission. Then Letsego was dismissed.

  Letsego had gotten a small amount of sleep during the night in the bunk he had been given in Constellation Company. He really did need the rest, but there was still a lot he had to do before takeoff.

  He woke up at zero four and got his kit together. It was all the standard issue gear that he had stolen from Johnson. Along with that he had stuffed his street clothes and PK gear into the top of his trooper ruck. When he had everything he needed he slung the ruck across his back, picked up his assault rifle, and made his way out of the company area.

  He needed to get to the mining facility’s communications center. It was time to call home and his mobile didn’t work at all under all the rock. Conway probably thought he was dead and Burleigh probably hoped he was dead. And even though it was pride that had driven Letsego this far, he knew that he couldn’t bring down Windcorp on his own.

  Other than the garrison, Letsego still had little knowledge of the layout or even the size of the mining facility. Without anything else to go on he headed up. A communications center would need to have its antennas above ground, and even a rich corporation like Windcorp would be practical when it came to a floor plan.

  He moved quickly. Even at four in the morning the corridors were busy with workers who were tasked with the night shift. But it wasn’t the miners Letsego was worried about. Even though they outnumbered troopers ten to one, they were still afraid of the brutes. With his helmet on and rifle cradled in his arms none of the miners dared even look at him. Letsego was able to move about freely.

  It was the other troopers that threatened to blow his cover. As he travelled through the tunnels and stairways and turbo lifts he tried to avoid the security checkpoints. The last thing he needed was a trooper who actually knew Johnson to call his bluff.

  It took nearly an hour of wandering before Letsego found the comm center. As he expected, it was ten levels above the garrison. There were two troopers standing guard at the entrance. He walked up to them casually, pulling out Johnson’s ID.

  The troopers stepped out to block his path. “Whoa, buddy. Where do you think you’re going?”

  Letsego held up the ID. “Just gotta make a call.”

  The senior trooper shook his head. “Official calls only. Commander’s orders. Sorry, man.”

  “Come on. It’s my wife’s birthday. I just want to make a quick call.” Letsego waited for a response, but the trooper wasn’t budging. “Alright, what’s it worth to you?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of cash.

  The troopers looked at each other and then back at Letsego. It didn’t take long for them to decide. The lead trooper reached out and grabbed the notes. “Make it quick.” They stepped back to let him pass.

  The comm center was busy but everyone there was focused on their own tasks. Letsego sat down at a call booth in a secluded corner and pulled up the screen. From memory he punched in a number. The screen rang several times before someone on the end picked up.

  “Hello?” Letsego was greeted by the face of a groggy and unshaven Conway.

  “Conway, it’s Lets.” He kept his voice low.

  Conway’s eyes widened when he recognized his friend’s face on the screen. “Shit, Staff Sergeant. We thought you were dead. Where are you?”

  “A lot’s happened, Conway. But I don’t have much time. I need you to patch me through to Captain Burleigh. You can listen in.”

  Conway could sense the urgency in Letsego’s voice. “One second.” He started punching commands into his console and thirty seconds later a vid feed of the captain popped up onto Letsego’s screen next to Conway.

  “What’s so damn important, Sergeant?”

  “Sir, I have Staff Sergeant Letsego on the line for you.”

  “What?!” Burleigh’s face contorted in rage.

  Conway tried to calm him. “Sir, he really needs to talk to you and I think you should listen.”

  Letsego cut in. “Sir, I know I’m the last person you want to hear from right now but you need to hear this.”

  The captain was anything but patient. “Where the hell are you, and why are you in that uniform?”

  “I’m at a Windcorp mining facility somewhere on the light side. I tailed Carpenter here. Sir, he’s about to make a run off planet for Windcorp.”

  Burleigh was confused. “Who the hell is Carpenter?”

  “I’m sorry, sir.” Letsego had forgotten that he didn’t know who the smugglers really were. “Michael Dominguez is really David Carpenter, a smuggler just like we thought. The woman posing as his wife is really someone called Ramirez. They are making a run this morning, sir. We need to act now.”

  “Do you know what they are carrying… or where they are going?”

  The man was exasperating. “Sir, I don’t know the answer to either of those questions. But if we catch them we will have solid proof that we can nail Windcorp to the wall.”

  “And how do you know that if we catch Carpenter’s ship that there will be anything on it tying it to Windcorp?”

  “Because there is a detail of troopers escorting the cargo.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  “Because I am on the detail, sir.” Letsego watched Burleigh’s face as that sunk in. “Sir, this is happening. I need you to put all ships-”

  “You do not give me orders, Staff Sergeant!”

  “ I’m sorry, sir.” The only way for Letsego to control the captain was to play to his ego. “I would appreciate it if you would recommend to the fleet to put all ships on alert. Then you can catch these smugglers red handed.”

  Burleigh was still not convinced. Letsego knew what the man was thinking. Pulling all of the orbital patrols out of sector on a hunch was a gamble. And if the maneuver failed it was likely to be a career ending gamble. And the career to be ended would likely be Burleigh’s.

  “Sir, I promise you everything I’m telling you is true. And if you make this happen you will be the one who brings down Windcorp.” That thought brought a twinkle to Burleigh’s eyes.

  “Okay, Staff Sergeant,” he said
reluctantly. “I will start things rolling up here. But if you screw this up I am going to can your ass.”

  “Understood, sir.” Then Letsego had one last thought. “And sir, I just wanted to remind you that the plan calls for capturing the ship, not destroying.”

  “Of course. We need evidence to pin on those bastards.” With that the captain terminated his side of the call.

  And also because I will be on the ship when you blow it up, Letsego thought to himself.

  “You’ve been busy, Lets,” Conway said from on the screen.

  “Did you get all that?” Letsego asked.

  “And then some. I’ll head up to the station and get to work. It looks like we are finally going to have something to stick on Windcorp.”

  Letsego nodded. “I hope so, Conway. Do me a favor and don’t let that careerist blow me up.”

  “I’ll do my best, boss.”

  Letsego terminated the call and left the comm center. His watch said it was already five after six. He was late.

  He half walked half ran through the mining facility as he navigated to the hangar bay. Staff Sergeant Chavez had given him directions to it but they started from the garrison. Still, Letsego managed to find it after only making a few wrong turns.

  As he entered the bay he noted that the ship’s engines were already burning red. He was cutting his timeline very close. It was now six forty. He headed for the gangplank under the hull. As he approached a trooper ran up to him.

  “Where the hell have you been, Johnson?!” It was Chavez. “The lieutenant is pissed.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?” Letsego said defensively.

  “Stow the attitude!” The staff sergeant shook his head. “Not a good start, Johnson. Now get your ass on the ship!”

  Letsego was literally kicked and shoved up the gangplank.

  16: Smash

  “Control, this is Catalyst requesting permission for departure.”

  “Stand by, Catalyst. We are waiting for the hangar to clear before we open the bay doors.”