The Orion Deception (14 page)

For a moment after replacing the panel he stood in total darkness, cursing the stale and horrible smelling air, as his eyes adjusted. Then, slowly, he could make out the familiar layout of the dark hallway he was in. He walked slowly to the end of the hallway and stopped at the steel door that looked like it came from the inner vault of a bank. As he placed his feet on the steel panel below the door, a dim blue light activated over his head. Then red and blue and green lights lit up a central point on the front of the door and darted outward toward the corners. Finally, a holographic interface appeared in front.

"Who the Hell is here?" demanded an angry voice. Then Heck could hear small portholes opening, "murder holes" he liked to call them when he wasn't on the wrong side of one, and the sound of steel rifle barrels sliding into place.

"Heck Thomas," he said simply.

For a long moment nothing happened. Then a red beam of light raced across his face in a grid pattern, measuring every square micrometer and scanning his retinas. For a second a digital likeness of his own face hovered in the air before him.

"Identity confirmed," 
came
a smooth and feminine computer voice.

The sound of bars sliding and internal mechanisms clanking presaged the opening of the door. Heck was bathed in cool air once more and stepped into the brightly lit chamber, his eyes squinting as they adjusted from near darkness to bright LED lights. When he could see once more, Heck was facing a pair of armed men with black steel pistol muzzles scant inches from his head.

"Heck Thomas?" demanded a man seated in a chair beyond the two henchmen.

"That's right," he said cautiously.

"Bless my mama's soul, I heard you gone rogue," the man scowled darkly and he stood, a gun of his own aimed near the ex-lawman's midsection. "But I never thought you'd have the balls to show your ugly face 
here." 
The muscular man towered over Heck and his own henchmen, his pale skin and military style hair making his scarred face look more ominous.

"Well, I can see I'm not welcome here," Heck said with a wry laugh. "Guess I'll just be going now."

"You ain't going nowhere, Heck Thomas," said the man as he jammed the muzzle of his pistol into Heck's ribs. "You got a pretty big reward on your head."

"Thanks," said Heck between gasps of pain. "I didn't need that rib. I've got a few more on the other side if you want to break those too."

One of the henchmen obliged and Heck gasped in pain again, cursing his own smart-ass attitude as pain coursed through his other side. "Nah," he wheezed. "You just bruised it. Try again!"

Just as the criminal was about to oblige, the seeming leader of the trio raised his hand and waved off any further assault. "Get up, you son of a bitch!" said the leader, laughing, as he extended his hand to the ex-lawman. "Never could stay mad at you long."

"Glad you didn't remember 
that 
first," said Heck, rubbing his side. "I need help."

"No shit," said the man as he said down on his leather chair. "What else is new?"

"I'm in trouble. The Commonwealth and the feds are after me."

"And some others too?"

"And some others too."

"Well, I don't wanna know who you gone and pissed off now. Though if you did to them what you did to my brother, they must be 
really 
pissed." The scarred man leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on a desk as he shoved a cigar into his mouth. "What can 
I 
do for the great Marshal Heck Thomas?"

Heck took in the sight of the room as the other man had been speaking. Old fluorescent lights hung from a ceiling with white paint peeling along the surface. The walls were the same, but several dark holographic interfaces lined the walls and there were two holographic interface workstations in the room. He was in the right place.

"Open ended passage certificates for Jax Aerospace port to any destination and false ID with 3D point recognition masking."

The man said nothing for a moment, considering. Then, "Alright."

"For me and two more."

"Two more?" the man demanded. "Damn. Anything else?"

"Yep." Heck smiled as he divulged the shopping list of featherweight body armor and plastisteel weapons that he and Gelad had decided would be required to give them safe passage off-world. As he spoke, the two henchmen put away their guns and began turning on the holographic interface stations around the room.

"What makes you think I won't just turn you in for the reward?"

"You? Call the police?" Heck asked with a laugh. "You'd be walking the bottom of the St. John's River with cement shoes on your feet. Everyone round here'd think you turned into a rat.
That
wouldn't be good."

"Shit," the man drawled. "I could take the reward and be off-world before any of that ever happened," the man said, and Heck knew that was probably true. "Convince me."

"For payment I'll match the reward."

"Shit," he drawled again, his gun in his hand once more. "It'd be a whole lot less work to turn you in."

"After I reach my destination safely, I'll match it 
again.
"

The man smiled and put away his gun. "Now you talking."

"Boss," chimed one the man's henchmen. "How you know he'll really do it?"

"Because, if there is one thing that every crook knows about Heck Thomas it’s that he always keeps his word. Crazy as a pole-cat, but always keeps his word."

That seemed to satisfy the henchman, which satisfied Heck Thomas. And it was now that Heck was grateful for the one good thing he took from his upbringing: a strong sense of integrity and a good fear of Hell.

Chapter

Six

~

Heck, Gelad, and Lainne stepped out of the taxi on the 
Departures Terminal A 
passenger unloading platform. The trio walked along a foot path that was outlined in fluorescent yellow lights which took them safely through the dozens of other taxis that were taking off and landing on the platform. An anti-grav sidewalk ferried all passengers across the open space above the ground transportation loading area and to a large sidewalk. Heck placed a hand on Lainne's shoulder to encourage her and remind her not to stare about like a tourist.

Heck had been through this Aerospace port before on assignments and was quite familiar with its confusing layout. He was confident their ID cloakers would work, having been thoroughly familiar with the ID artist's brother in the past. He suppressed a chuckle and was glad that his deductions about the brothers' relationship had been right: there wasn't much love lost between them.

Two great sliding glass doors opened and the trio walked in with a few others. Heck was grateful to be inside. This would probably be his last taste of hot and muggy Earth atmosphere for a very long time, preferring as he did the constant conditions of life in space.

Inside the doorway were rows upon rows of ticketing kiosks. Heck and Lainne went to one, they were posing as a married couple traveling together, while Gelad went to another a few places over. They made no conversation with Gelad at all, acting as though it were mere coincidence the man had been traveling in the same taxi with them.

The holocontrols popped up in front of Heck's eyes as he stepped in front of the kiosk and immediately a 3D face scan mapped the features of his visage. In two seconds the scan was complete and the interface politely asked Heck for his flight number. Heck tapped the numbers on the keypad floating before him. Lainne was casually looking around while Heck accessed their tickets, looking for anyone hanging around with no purpose. They didn't really think their pursuers from Orion's Sword would be amateurish enough to hang around and look obvious, that would probably be the MO of Commonwealth agents.

"Ok, your turn." Heck stepped away from the kiosk and Lainne stepped up, repeating the same process. Heck saw Gelad complete his own ticket acquisition and noticed that he was now working his way toward the security screening area and the trams beyond that led to 
Space Gates.
He didn't notice anything unusual among the local Port Authority Police who patrolled in uniform throughout the ticketing area. His trained eyes picked out a few plain clothes agents who most likely worked for the Port Authority and seemed to be mostly attuned to contraband interdiction.

Once Lainne was done, and her encoded plastic ticket was ejected from the machine, he and the woman walked together toward security screening. They didn't have to wait long as the security in this Aerospace port was state-of-the-art. There was a long line but the Port Authority Police who checked ID and managed the security area did a good job of moving passengers through the process. When it was Heck's turn, he stepped onto a platform near a uniformed Port Authority officer and placed his luggage on the floor near his feet. The floor moved and Heck was transported through a tunnel that was about twenty feet long as he was assailed by a variety of radio and light waves that scanned for the presence of contraband. Specialized detectors analyzed the air around him for explosive residue, disease, or other harmful substances. At the end of the tunnel Heck stepped out onto the ground where two more uniformed officers waited silently.

Heck was relieved to see that the officers were not interested in him, boosting his confidence that his disguise technology was, so far, serving them well. In a few seconds Lainne stepped out of the tunnel next to him and the pair continued on through a set of large glass doors to the tram waiting area.

The trams were old-fashioned monorail trains from the early 21
st
Century, and passengers waited on platforms now as they did then. A light signaled the approach of a tram and as the white, train-like, car slid to a stop several sets of accordion style doors flew open. Cautionary warnings to mind one's step were repeated in several languages as the pair stepped onto the tram.

The doors slid closed and Heck and Lainne grasped the cold silver poles that ran from floor to ceiling in the ancient tram car. The tram lurched forward and shot out of the tunnel soaring through the air along its lofty rail above the arrival/departure areas. Gradually the tram descended as it approached the massive gate area which serviced air travel throughout the world and space flights to various orbital stations around Earth, the Moon, and Mars.

Heck's mind tuned out the vid screens that flashed advertisements for vacation getaways around the System. But when the commercial for Rigel's Escape flashed in front of him, his mind locked in. The commercial was innocent enough, boasting life in the lap of luxury and showing the rich and famous frolicking in pursuits of pleasure. The vid screen flashed again and a new ad went on just as the tram came to a stop at the Space Terminal. The doors slid open and Heck and Lainne stepped out into a large shopping and dining area that was crowded with people.

He led Lainne by the hand and couldn't help but notice that her grip on his own hand was firm. It was a comfortable feeling, but Heck wasn't sure he could get used to it. Lainne was so unlike Laylara, who had been possessed of a wild and forceful personality. Laylara was a wonderful woman, but she had never been into holding hands in public; and Heck never had either. But things seemed different somehow, and he was glad for the ruse of their disguise.

He was conflicted about his thoughts however, feeling that somehow he was betraying Laylara's memory even though he was becoming more and more sure that she was, by now, just a memory. Lainne looked up at him, sensing his internal struggle and gazed into his eyes and somehow Heck's world just turned upside down. For a moment he thought he had been lovestruck, whatever that was.

Then he realized he had been struck in the back of the head.

Heck cursed himself and women everywhere as he stared up into the cold hard eyes of a killer, who was dressed as a medic and pretending to render him aid.

"Clear a path for the gurney!" shouted the man. Heck found that he could not move anything but his eyes. He searched for Lainne, straining his peripheral vision, and saw a man standing behind her with his arm protectively around her shoulder. Soon a hover-gurney with a pole topped by a yellow and red flashing light arrived and settled to the ground beside him. The front of the gurney looked very much like a yellow and white car, complete with the word
ambulance
across its hood.