The Ripple in Space-Time: Free City Book 1 (The Free City Series) (18 page)

35. The payoff
“
See?
”
Lev said.

Ryo tilted his head and tried to
make sense of the speckled image on the gravitational scanner.
“
I
’
m really not very good at this sort of thing.
”

Lev traced his finger over the
screen,
“
This is the stolen antimatter. I
’
m guessing that the pirates are now moving fast enough that we can
detect the heavy stuff that they stole from the lunar lab.
”

“
Any idea where they are?
”

Lev made some calculations,
“
About twenty kilometers away and trudging along at five kilometers per
hour towards the edge of the Asteroid Belt.
”

“
Alright; I
’
d like to stop them before they
reach open space. Go up to the cockpit and help Keira track them down.
”

• • •

Keira nudged the
Seiran
gently over a tumbling asteroid.

“
There they are!” Lev pointed to the left.
“
The
Belle
is much bigger than I imagined,
”
he noted with dismay.

The hijacked Ore Runner dwarfed
the Interceptor that was sent to overtake it.

Ryo studied the distant vessel,
“
The
Butin Belle
is unarmed and the pirates don
’
t know that we
’
re stalking them.
”

Keira gloated,
“
We
’
ve got quite an arsenal of weapons, if push comes to shove.
”

“
I guess that will all help,
”
Lev turned to
his crewmates in bewilderment.
“
How exactly are we going to get
them to stop?
”

The old Investigator stared at the
Liaison Officer turned hotshot spacecraft pilot in sudden consternation.

Keira shook her head.

“
I have no idea,
”
Ryo groaned.

• • •

For hours Keira had cautiously
skirted in a wide arc around the slow moving Ore Runner, now they were dead
ahead of the big vessel cloaked by a cloud of floating rubble that had
undoubtedly been a hefty asteroid at some point in the past.

“
Pull up and switch off the anti-detection system,
”
Ryo said.

Keira complied.

For several tense minutes, the
Belle
continued towards the little craft.

Ryo switched on the ship to ship
radio,
“
The is Inspector Trop of the Free City Inquisitor
’
s Office, stop and prepare to be boarded.
”

“
I
’
m afraid not Inspector.
”

“
Then we will open fire.
”

“
With what?
”

Ryo pointed to Keira and she
blasted a small asteroid several hundred meters to the side of the
Butin
Belle
, sending a glowing shower of incandescent gravel in all directions.

The maneuvering thrusters on the
big ship reluctantly fired and the Ore Runner came to a halt.

A gruff voice boomed over the
radio in the
Seiran
,
“
We seem to have a stand off,
Inspector.
”

Ryo pondered the situation for
many minutes.
“
We have reliable information that you are holding a hostage
and are in possession of stolen property.
”

“
Yes we are!
”
snorted the unseen outlaw.
“
We have one Doctor Jana Fesai, formerly a resident of the Ultra Energy
Lab on the Sea of Crisis. You can get her back with a suitable payment.
”

“
Dr. Fesai was killed,
”
Ryo signaled to his confused
shipmates that his comment to the pirates was a ruse.

“
Say something to the nice Inspector, sweetie,
”
the pirate prompted.

“
Ah,
”
a hoarse woman uttered,
“
I
’
m...Jana Fesai.
”

“
I have the Doctor
’
s dossier right here,
”
Ryo continued,
“
let
’
s see if the details match up. The Doctor has a townhouse in Free City;
on what street is it located?
”

The woman
’
s shaky voice strengthened, “Breton Street.
”

Lev
’
s head slowly
bobbed as he listened to the familiar sound.

“
Ms Fesai has a pet at that house. What type of animal is it
and what is its name?
”

“
Iridium!
”
the radio reverberated.
“
My cat
’
s name is Iridium. He lives with my son, Lev on Breton
Street in the Old Town District of Free City!
”

Lev pressed his hands to his face
and quietly whimpered with relief. Touchingly, Ryo watched as Keira wrapped her
arms protectively around the tearful man.

“
Alright; I
’
m satisfied,
”
the Investigator said.
“
We
’
d like to get
her back.
”

“
One million Units,
”
the outlaw snorted defiantly.

Ryo rolled his eyes,
“
It
’
s a person you
’
re ransoming, not a hijacked
freighter.
”

The pirate laughed,
“
Just checking to see if you
’
re paying attention, Inspector.
We
’
ll let her go for five hundred thousand.
”

“
No deal,
”
Ryo bluffed.

Lev stared at the old Investigator
in shock.

He signaled to the young man to
remain quiet.

“
Well I guess we
’
ll kill her then.
”

Ryo smiled wryly, now the pirates
were bluffing,
“
Everyone thinks she dead already.
”

The trio on board the
Seiran
could hear the outlaws arguing about what to do next.

“
Alright,
”
the pirate continued,
“
make an offer.
”

“
Ten thousand,
”
Ryo quickly bid.

“
Fifty!
”
the raider shouted back.

“
Fifteen.
”

“
Twenty five.
”

Ryo nodded,
“
We
’
ll pay twenty five thousand, but I want a hand to hand
exchange to insure there
’
s no double-crossing.
”

“
Deal.
”

Lev was visibly relieved.

“
Mr. Trop,
”
the pirate continued,
“
you may dock with and board our fine ship to take possession of Dr.
Fesai. Kindly bring along a payment interface showing a deposit of twenty five
thousand Units made to Gristle
’
s Raiders.
”

“
No weapons,
”
Ryo countered.

“
Fair enough.
”

• • •

While Keira brought the
Seiran
along side the much larger ship and gently prodded the craft towards the
docking port, she listened to the men as they engaged in some sort of secretive
planning.

“
Here,
”
Lev pointed to the screen as
Ryo looked on with interest,
“
and here.
”

“
And that will achieve the desired effect?
”
the old Investigator asked.

“
It should, but it
’
ll take a little while.
”

Ryo ruminated on the risky plan
before answering,
“
OK; do it then.
”

• • •

“
Bosco Kremerling?
”
Ryo inquired of the burly man
who met him and Keira at the docking hatch.

“
Call me Boz,
”
the First Mate said absently.
“
We don
’
t often have visitors,
”
he chuckled sarcastically,
“
please excuse the untidiness.
”

Ryo warily appraised the big man.

The pirate studied Keira with
interest. “I’ll trade you this one for the old hag straight away,
”
he sneered.

Keira growled at the man.

“
And feisty, no less,
”
the First Mate remarked.

Ryo glared at the pirate,
“
The original deal only.
”

“
It
’
s your money.
”

They followed Boz down a long
passageway to the control room of the ship. There, loosely strapped to a
communication panel, was a haggard middle-aged woman. At last, they had located
the long missing scientist.

A wiry man watched the new
arrivals with interest,
“
Welcome to the
Butin Belle
,
I am Captain Olin Gristle.
”

“
Captain,
”
Ryo nodded tepidly.
“
I
’
m Inspector Trop and this is my associate, Liaison Officer
Norton.
”

Gristle held out his hand,
“
The money please.
”

Keira handed a payment interface
to the Captain.

Gristle entered several numbers
and smiled,
“
Excellent; I see that the payment has been properly
credited.
”

The First Mate released the
hostage and she swiftly joined her liberators.

“
Gentleman,
”
Ryo scowled at the fugitives,
“
I
’
m arresting you under the authority of the Free City High
Court and the Warlord Syndicate.
”

The Captain laughed.

Boz smirked,
“
Well you see Inspector Trop, we don
’
t plan to go with you now that
we
’
ve extracted the ransom for the old crone.
”

The two groups scrutinized each
other suspiciously.

When the tension of the stand off
finally got the better of her, Keira lunged at the burly First Mate but he
easily deflected her. The big man reached behind the communications panel and
produced a potent looking side arm and a long glinting dagger.

“
You have two choices,
”
Boz waved the weapons
ominously,
“
get the hell off the ship or die right here like the stupid
fools that you are.
”

Ryo spun around and pushed the
women towards the docking hatch.
“
LET
’
S GET OUT OF HERE!
”

36. Reunion
“
GET IN!
”
Lev quickly pulled his mother
and the boarding party through the docking hatch.

Keira slammed the door closed.

A disturbing low-level vibration
rattled through the ship.

“
DID YOU DO IT?
”
Ryo shouted to the young man.

“
YES!
”

The
Seiran
shuddered
painfully as the pirates engaged the huge engine of the
Butin Belle
.

Ryo hammered the
‘
Emergency Docking Disengage
’
button and the predacious
Interceptor grudgingly unleashed the much larger Ore Runner.

The rapidly building thrust of the
escaping vessel violently battered the patrol craft as it whipped past.

From the radio in the cockpit, the
raucous cackling of the escaping criminals echoed though the
Seiran
.

When the brutal pummeling finally
subsided, Lev embraced his recently liberated mother.
“
I knew you weren
’
t dead,
”
he whispered.

Jana stared at him with misty
eyes,
“
I almost was more than once.
”

Keira shook her head in dismay,
“
I can
’
t believe that they got away with the antimatter.”

Still panting from the panicky
escape, Ryo grinned knowingly at Lev,
“
They
’
ll never collect on the ransom.
”

“
How can you be sure?
”
Keira asked.

Lev chuckled,
“
While you and Ryo were onboard the pirate
’
s ship, I sent a
surreptitious command signal to the
Belle
.
”

Jana tilted her head in confusion.

“
What good did that do?
”
Keira asked in annoyance.
“
They
’
re still at large.
”

He kissed her forehead,
“
I permanently jammed the engine to maximum output and locked out the
maneuvering and override controls.
”

Both of the women slowly nodded as
they grasped the implications of the tampering.

Keira smiled,
“
They
’
re stuck going straight ahead at full blast?
”

“
Until they eventually run out of propellent,
”
Ryo snorted.

Lev laughed as he wrapped an arm
around Keira,
“
The
Belle
will coast forever through deep space
after that, although without an energy source, I suspect that the life support
systems will give out in a week or two.
”

“
I can
’
t believe that you come halfway
across the Solar System to get me,
”
Jana stared her son.

Lev beamed at the attention.

Ryo started down the passageway
towards the cockpit,
“
Let
’
s see if we can figure out where the doomed raiders are headed.
”

“
So you two are an item?
”
Jana asked the
Liaison Officer as they followed the old Investigator.

“
Yeah, I guess we are,
”
Keira blushed.

Lev nodded tentatively,
“
We got off to a shaky start, but we
’
re doing pretty well now.
”

Keira kissed his cheek,
“
I think we were both hopelessly smitten with each other at different
times. It just took us a long time to finally get past the superficial
exteriors and really appreciate each other.
”

Lev smiled.

“
I suspect that you
’
ll both do well together.
”
Jana noted.
“
I can
’
t wait to get back to Free City,
”
she squeezed through the corridor with the others,
“
I
’
d just love to have a hot bath, a really big meal and a
chance to reread
Macbeth
.
”

“
Macbeth
?
”
Lev asked.

“
Anything but
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
”
Jana groaned.

“
I thought that was your favorite Shakespearian play?
”

“
It
was
.
”

The group crowded into the
cockpit.

“
When we return,
”
Ryo intoned,
“
I plan to exercise my option for an early retirement.
”

“
Retire?
”
Keira stared at him in
disbelief.
“
What on earth are you going to do with all of that free
time?
”

“
There
’
s a little girl that I heard
about recently who
’
ll need an especially steady hand to guide her into
adulthood,
”
Ryo said with a strange faraway look in his eyes.
“
Perhaps I
’
ll take on that challenge.
”

The weary foursome watched from
the cockpit windows as the
Butin Belle
streaked past the ragged edge of
the Asteroid Belt. After many minutes, all that could be seen of escaping
fugitives was the sinister violet-blue exhaust from the burly ion engine.

“
What about the others still locked away on the
Lightning
?
”
Jana asked Ryo.
“
I don
’
t think that we could possibly fit them into this ship.
”

“
Not to worry,
”
he assured her,
“
a couple of Syndicate Tugs are on the way from Vesta to salvage the
tanker and rescue the occupants.
”

While the disdainful taunts of the
escaping pirates filled the cramped cockpit, each of the four brooding
shipmates of the overcrowded
Seiran
considered the doleful rubble field
and the vast celestial vista beyond.

“
We weren
’
t able to haul the criminals
back to Free City to stand trail, but thankfully no one will be troubled by
those marauders again,
”
Ryo assured the others.

Jana smiled wickedly; with no one
onboard the
Butin Belle
to reset the doomsday timers on the three
devices, the fate of the pirates would be settled in less than two days.

“
They
’
ll get what they deserve,
”
Jana whispered spitefully as she studied the far-off purplish streak
from the engine exhaust.