Matt & Michelle 1: The Fugitive Heir (17 page)

Nora nodded and then looked concerned. “Please forgive my flippant way of announcing that, Mr. Connaught. Considering the circumstances, it was thoughtless of me.”

“Nora, I’m still the same guy you advised to marry Michelle a couple of days ago.”

“I-I’ll try to see you that way, Mr. Connaught.”

“And let’s start by cutting out that ‘Mr. Connaught’ stuff. I’m just plain old Matt.” I gave Nora my best friendly smile.

“Matt. Right.” Nora flashed a brittle smile. “Of course, I was only joking about the raise.”

Greg piped up, “Well, I’ll take a raise if you decide to hand some out.”

I looked back and forth between the two of them. Both were nervous, though Greg hid it better. “Look, I really am the same person I’ve always been. None of that changed just because you learned my real name. As for raises, you should know there’s a sizable reward for assistance leading to the safe return of my parents. Once my parents are safe, you two can have the reward.”

Greg and Nora exchanged glances, then Greg asked, “How sizable?”

“A quarter of a billion credits.”

Nora flopped back in her chair, incredulity written on her face. Greg blew out his breath with an audible whoosh. “That was ‘b’ for ‘billion,’ right?”

“Absolutely. Trust me, my family can afford it.” I stood up and started pacing. “But first we’ve got to rescue my parents. Greg, pull up plans for Pegasus Station. I’ll show you where we believe my parents are being held.”

Nora reached for her desk comm. “While you’re doing that, I’ll call security.”

“No!” Michelle and I, joined by Greg this time around, shouted at the same time.

Nora actually jumped at our reaction. “Why ever not? They’re far better prepared to handle this sort of thing than we are.”

“If we knew who and what we were up against, I’d agree with you,” Michelle said. “But we don’t know any of that. We can’t bring security into this without making some noise—and noise could cost Matt’s parents their lives.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, Michelle, the four of us aren’t a crack commando team. At the very least, Greg and I will be useless in a fight.”

“Speak for yourself, Nora. I can take care of myself in a scrap.” Greg might have been more persuasive if he hadn’t sucked his belly in before speaking.

“We need you two to stay right here.” Michelle pretended not to notice Greg’s relief at her announcement. “Nora, if things go seriously wrong you can call security for help. Greg will use security cams to scout ahead for us and the chip tracking software to keep Cummings and his officers out of our hair.”

“I see.” Nora radiated disapproval. “And are the two of you crack commandoes?”

“Not exactly commandoes, but I’ve got extensive training in this sort of thing.”

Nora threw up her hands. “I give up. Make sure to give me a list of your next of kin before you leave. I’ll need to know who to alert when you get yourselves killed.”

“That’s getting into the spirit of the adventure, Nora.” I gave her a thumbs up. “Remind me to authorize a big pay raise before we leave, too. I don’t want you losing out entirely if we end up getting killed.”

Nora frowned at me, but her eyes had a bit of sparkle. “All right, boss, I have a different question; one which requires a real answer.”

“Shoot. Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

“Is there anyone nearby we can call if you get into real trouble? Someone here on the station, I mean.”

That question caught me by surprise. “Uh… I’ve got nothing. Michelle?”

Without even pausing to think, Michelle said, “My partner, Lizzie, and Flight Commander Nancy Martin.”

I nodded my agreement. “Those are good suggestions, but tell Nancy who Michelle and I are
before
you send her to help us. Otherwise, she might space me before we can explain the situation.”

Nora’s eyebrows climbed to her hairline. “I can’t tell this Flight Commander anything unless you tell me first. You can make it brief, but tell me your story now.”

Michelle launched into the story, leaving me free to check out station plans with Greg. I showed him the non-opening door we’d found in ship maintenance and then Greg began searching through the system for access codes to it. By the time Michelle wrapped up our story, Greg threw in the towel.

“I can’t find any codes for that door and I can’t find any plans showing what’s beyond it.”

“What if we can find someone who has access to the door? Will that help?”

“Probably. I’d just have one set of permissions to check, anyway.”

I took over the pad and setup a remote connection to the pad back in our borrowed apartment. “I’ve been plotting the movement of every ID chip for the last day. Let me narrow it down to just the area around the door.”

I tapped away for a minute and the display zoomed in to a ten meter circle centered on the door. A lot of people passed by the door, but two ID signatures came to the door and just vanished. One of them reappeared outside the door three hours later. The second one was gone for nine hours. From there, Greg easily identified the owners of the two chips.

The ID chip which disappeared for nine hours belonged to a freight handler named Alfred Morgan. Nora called up his HR file while Greg fished out the identity of the other person.

“Well now, that
is
interesting.” Greg leaned back and looked at me. “It appears your nemesis Fred Cummings is in this deeper than you thought.”

“Cummings is connected with those hidden wormholes and Hector from Rockville Station. How can he be in on my parents’ kidnapping, too?” I shook my head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Nora looked up from Morgan’s HR file. “I’m sure it makes perfect sense, Matt. You just don’t know the facts that connect everything.”

“Well, it’s past time to start figuring it out. How much time do you think we have before the Federation offices on Eridani Station get the results of my DNA scan?”

“Seven or eight hours. Say an hour to organize a response team, two and a half hours in the wormhole.” Nora ticked off hours on her fingers. “Call it ten to twelve hours.”

“We’ll call it nine,” Michelle said. “Daddy taught me to
always
plan for less time than I expect to have.” Michelle turned to Greg. “You and Matt said those IDs just vanished at the door. Do you have any idea what could cause that?”

“Some kind of electronic shielding, I’d guess. If you can find a way to turn it off, we’ll be able to actually help you out when you’re beyond the door.”

Michelle nodded. “Matt, we’re depending on you for that. I don’t have the technical background for it. Nora, is there any way I can get my hands on weapons? We left our blasters on board our ship, which is docked back at Eridani Station.”

“People sometimes get a bit rowdy here in HR—as you saw during the orientation—so we keep some stun sticks and tasers on hand. I can give you both one of each.”

“It’ll have to do.” Michelle turned back to Greg. “Can you give Matt and me the same permissions Cummings and Morgan have while leaving all our existing permissions in place?”

“Already done, Michelle.”

Greg stood as Nora pulled our weapons from the same locker which held the DNA scanner. We pulled our coveralls on again. I stored the taser in a pocket and pushed the stun stick up my left sleeve.

Greg shook my hand and gave Michelle a hug. “Good luck, kids. Be careful.”

Nora hugged both of us. “I’ll be praying for you two. And for your parents, Matt.”

We had nothing else to say. With a half salute, Michelle and I headed off to rescue my parents.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Old Enemies

Walking out of HR, Michelle and I dialed up a comm connection with Greg so he could help us avoid Cummings and his men.

“I don’t know how useful I’m going to be, kids,” Greg told us. “I still show you two bouncing all around, from one ID chip to another, but I called up tracks on Cummings and his officers. They’ve broken up into pairs and have scattered all around the entertainment and housing sectors of the station.”

Great. Our path to ship maintenance went right through those two sectors.

“Looks like they figured out they were chasing ghosts. We can’t really complain, since it let Michelle and me get to Nora’s office unseen.”

Michelle pulled up the station map on the maintenance pad. “Is there another way we can go that won’t take too long? I’m not seeing much on the map.”

“Let me check.”

We heard Greg tapping on the pad then heard Nora say, “Give me that thing, Greg. I’ve got an idea.”

“Kids, Nora wants to talk to you, so I’m handing it off to her.”

We heard clacks and taps as Greg and Nora fumbled with the comm, then Nora spoke. “Do you two remember when you got to the station two days ago?”

Michelle answered, “Sure, Nora. How could I forget my wedding day?”

“The passenger dock you came through is right next to the freight docks. There’s a corridor joining the two, though hardly anyone uses it any more. The freight dock runs the length of the station, so you can take it all the way down to the ship maintenance sector.”

“That sounds perfect, Nora.” Michelle pulled up HR on her station map. “I’m guessing the room labeled ‘Orientation’ is the one we want?”

“Yes. And just on the other side of that room you should see the corridor.”

Michelle scrolled around the screen, zoomed in, and grinned. “Got it.”

“Good girl. Now, if any of my HR people or any of those freight handlers try to stop you, just wave that pad around and tell them you’ve got your orders.”

“That’s what Matt and I did earlier this evening. Look like you belong, act preoccupied with work, and most people leave you alone. Daddy taught me that trick years ago.”

And that’s exactly what Michelle and I did. She held the pad in the crook of her arm and referred to it anytime someone from HR came near. We got the occasional nod you get when you pass people in a hallway, but even those were rare. Once again, the coveralls rendered us all but invisible.

Moments later, we walked through the orientation room and the door toward the passenger dock. The door to the freight docks was right where the map showed it. I waved my ID chip before the reader and the door slid aside. When we opened the door at the far end of the corridor, the noise came as a shock after the quiet of HR after hours.

Shouts echoed through the vast chamber, machinery whined and whirred, and gears ground together. Freight handlers and lift trucks and even a few men wearing heavy duty exoskeletons streamed past us toward the outer skin of the station. I glanced in that direction.

“It looks like a big cargo ship just docked.” I pointed to our right. “I’d expected this place to be pretty quiet at this time of night.”

“It’s always busy in the freight docks, Matt,” Greg said into the comm. “And you ought to be glad of it, since that’s how your family started building their fortune.”

“Busy is good for us,” Michelle added. “If everyone has something to do, they won’t have time to pay attention to a couple of maintenance techs. Let’s go, Matt.”

Michelle and I headed out, moving straight across all the freight handlers. We found ourselves dodging men and machines and men wearing machines so frequently our progress slowed to a crawl.

Halfway across the docking bay, Greg’s urgent voice intruded on our concentration. “Kids, I just noticed Cummings’ ID signal is closing in on that docking bay. He’ll be there in less than a minute.”

“Do you think he knows we’re in here?” I asked.

“I can’t see how, Matt. Your signal is still bouncing all over the entertainment sector. Besides, if he knew where you were, he’d bring his whole crew. It’s just him and Spitz coming your way.”

Michelle bit her lip. “Then why is he coming here?”

A thought came to me—one I did not like at all. I snatched the pad from Michelle and tapped the shoulder of a man passing in front of us. “I’m sorry to bother you, but is this the ship from Hippogriff Hauling?”

The man looked at me. “Hippogriff? Never heard of them. This here is an ore hauler from Redshift Mining.”

I groaned loudly and turned to Michelle. “See? I
told
you this was the wrong ship. Now we’re going to be late.” Turning back to the man, I added, “Thanks. Gotta run.”

Grabbing Michelle’s arm, I dragged her around behind the man, who shrugged and resumed walking toward the freighter.

“Damn, damn, dammit!”

“Don’t overreact, Matt.” Michelle peeled my hand off her arm. “We’re still swallowed up in a huge crowd.”

“Do either of you two want to let Nora and me in on the problem?”

“Sorry, Greg. Redshift Mining is Hector’s company.”

“Hector? The man whose son attacked you?”

“The same. And he wants me dead in the worst way.”

“Slow down, Matt.” Michelle caught my belt and pulled back on it. “You’re less noticeable if you walk at a normal pace. Besides, it’s possible Hector isn’t even on that ship.”

“Why else would Cummings come to this docking bay?” I wanted to break into a run but followed Michelle’s suggestion. “It’s certain he sent word to Hector that he’d found us. If you were Hector, wouldn’t you be on the next ship?”

Michelle sighed. “Yes, I’m sure you’re right. But surely Hector will also wait for Cummings before going anywhere. And he’ll wait at the ship, which is over two hundred meters away from us. Just relax.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “You’re right. Sorry.”

Michelle smiled brightly. “I know you’re anxious and nervous and excited right now. Just try to keep everything in perspective.”

And for two whole minutes I did keep everything in perspective. Then we passed in front of a slow moving man wearing an exoskeleton. We glanced up before crossing to make sure we wouldn’t get in his way.

“I’ve finally found you,
bitch
!”

The man driving the exoskeleton was Crane, the freight handler Michelle took down in orientation. A feral grin spread across the man’s face as he lifted his right arm. Servos whined and the right freight-handling arm rose as well. With a sweep, he brought the exoskeleton’s arm down and around at Michelle and me. I reached out to grab Michelle and jump out of the way, but she beat me to it. Michelle’s shoulder drove into my chest and we fell away from the descending steel arm.