Search for the Phoenix: Phoenix Series Book 2 (12 page)

“How long will that take?” he asked.

“In this heat, with low humidity, about fifteen hours. Give it until tomorrow night. In the meantime, I suggest you go over the rest of the hull.”

“Why?” Nolan asked.

“Are you willing to bet your life that SACOM only put one tracker on the ship?” she asked.

He looked at her for a moment, and then said, “I’ll grab a light and check the underside.”

It was long after dark when Boo finished repainting the hull numbers. Nolan had scoured the underside of the ship, but found nothing. He helped Boo pack up her paints and carried the box as she led the way across the hanger to her workroom.

“Just leave the box on the table. I’ll take care of everything in the morning. I’m going to bed. You’re welcome in the house, if you’d like,” she said. “I’ve got a couple of spare rooms.”

“No, thank you. I’ll be fine in the ship. It’s been my second home for a long time.”

She nodded. “Suit yourself. You get some sleep. I’ll call you for breakfast.”

“Now that I’ve removed the tracker, I can use the food synthesizer,” he said.

“You can eat software when you’re skipping around the galaxy. I’ll cook you some real food,” she said as she turned and walked out of the building. Standing in the doorway, he watched as she crossed the yard and went into her house. Afterward, he turned and walked to the Griffin.

* * * *

“Hey, Nolan!” Boo yelled as she walked along the Griffin’s main corridor. “It’s time for breakfast! Where are you?”

Nolan stepped out of his cabin wrapped in a sheet. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were barely open. “Is it morning already?” he asked groggily.

“Twenty hour days. Shorter days, shorter nights. It’s a package deal,” she said.

“I’ll get dressed as fast as I can,” he said.

“The kitchen is just inside the back door. I’ll start without you.” And with that, she turned and headed back toward the ramp.

Nolan went into his cabin and climbed back into bed. He barely managed to untangle himself from the sheet before he was asleep.

He awoke feeling refreshed until he tried to move. He groaned as he stretched, feeling the tightness in his calf muscles from having climbed all over the top of the ship, and in his back from crouching under it for two hours. He looked at the clock, which automatically displayed local time. Jumping out of bed, he ran to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, he sprinted down the ramp and across the hanger to the front door. As he stepped out into the mid-morning light, he heard bumping and clanging sounds somewhere to his right. He turned and followed the noise.

“Boo, I’m sorry. I fell back to sleep,” he said as he approached her.

She picked up a hyperspace transmitter and began walking toward a small shed. “Good thing I made my favorite for breakfast today. I had two servings,” she said with a smile.

“We worked late last night, and I’m not used to your twenty hour days,” he said. He followed her into the shed where she put the transmitter on a bench. Above it, a shelf was lined with electronic test equipment.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It was breakfast, not a night at the opera.” She picked up a screwdriver and pointed it at him. “Now, if you had stood me up for the opera, you’d be in serious trouble about now.” She pulled a stool over and sat, and then began unscrewing the cover of the transmitter.

Nolan saw another stool in the corner, not often used judging by the layer of dust, and dragged it over near her. He did his best to wipe it clean without kicking up a cloud, and then he sat. “You’re an amazing artist and an opera fan. How did you ever end up in the junk business?”

Her arm swung around, screwdriver aimed at him again. “I am
not
in the
junk
business. This is worth a fortune to the right buyer. I noticed Carl didn’t install a hyperspace comm system in his ship. He always said it was the most advanced privately owned ship in the system. Didn’t you ever wonder why it has no hyperspace comm?”

“I assumed he didn’t feel the need for one,” Nolan said.

Boo smiled. “He couldn’t afford one! This one is used, several years old, and I’ll get about fifty thousand for it. And this is just the transmitter. The matching receiver is out there waiting to be cleaned and adjusted. That will bring another fifty. Then there’s the antenna coupling system, antennas, and the time-domain processor unit. I’m looking for two hundred thousand credits for the complete system. Of course, it will be in perfect operating condition once I’m done with it.”

“You’re a remarkable person, Boo. Artist, opera lover, electronics technician, and you have a head for business, too.”

“I won’t argue with you,” she said with a smile. They were silent for a while as Boo worked on the transmitter. Suddenly, she asked, “Where is Carl?”

“I don’t know,” Nolan said.

“It’s a big galaxy. I know you’re not planning to visit every planet asking for him,” she said.

“No, of course not. I’m taking the Independence… I mean the Griffin, to a spaceport where I’ll leave it and go back home. I have people there who are searching for leads right now. Once we put together a list of possible destinations, I’ll check them out.”

“You’re not going to last long if you don’t remember your ship’s name. And now I’ll give you some free advice. You have the rest of the day to wait while the paint dries. Go through your ship and clean it out, removing anything that could possibly identify it. That includes all the crew’s personal belongings. I have an incinerator. We can burn it all.”

Nolan stared at her, shocked at the thought of going through the crew’s things and burning them. Of course, she was right. It had to be done, but that didn’t make it any easier.

In the silence, she looked over at him and saw his expression. “It’s just
stuff
, Nolan.”

“I guess if I find something important, I can take it back to Caldon with me,” he said.

“Look, this isn’t a game you’re playing. You can’t risk everything you’ve done and everything you want to accomplish for some sentimental trinket,” she said. “What if you get flagged for a random search by a customs officer when you get back to Caldon?”

“You’re right, again,” he said. “All right, I’ll go and start cleaning out the ship.”

“There are some large bins on wheels in the hanger by the far wall. Put everything in those and we’ll take it all to the incinerator.”

Nolan wheeled a cart up the ramp and turned right, heading for the rear of the ship. He’d start with the galley and the aft crew cabins, then work his way forward.

It was one of the hardest things Nolan had ever done. John and Earl had shared the first crew cabin with the Kerrigan brothers. John and Earl had died in this room, along with Becca and Vince. He had been on the bridge at the helm most of the time, and he suddenly felt guilty that he hadn’t come back here to see his friends before they were gone. He reminded himself that his job was to try to get them to Caldon for medical attention as quickly as possible.

The next cabin had been shared by Rich, Ken, and Vince. Everything went into the bin, and Nolan’s guilt grew. He decided to move across the corridor and clean the galley before moving on to the next cabin. There were dozens of coffee mugs with ‘Independence’ printed on them. They would definitely have to go. There were more personal items here, too. They had been ordered to drop everything and move quickly into the SACOM interceptor as soon as the transfer locks had been linked.

With the first bin full, he rolled it down the ramp and retrieved another. The next cabin was going to be the hardest. Rebecca had shared it with Donna and Karen. In his mind, he could see Ronnie’s eyes welling up, those eyes that had looked just like Becca’s. He pushed the bin into the cabin and went to work, starting with Karen’s stuff. He worked his way around the room until he came to Becca’s belongings. He tried not to look at things as he threw them into the bin.

When the room was cleared out, he began to push the bin to the door when something shiny caught his eye. On the floor in the corner was a necklace. He picked it up and held it as a lump grew in his throat. The silver had been crafted into beautiful, flowing letters—
Rebecca
—a gift from her sister, Becca had said. She always wore it, except when working in her pressure suit. In microgravity, the necklace would float up, getting in her face, blocking her vision. It could even float off over her head and become loose, floating around inside her suit. On those occasions, she always hung it on the bedpost. The ship’s gravgen had been off for months while in orbit around Caldon, so it had floated around until he powered up the gravgen again. He stared at it resting in his palm, thinking about Rebecca, and also about Ronnie. She would want this, he knew.

“Let it go, Nolan,” Boo said.

He turned around to find her standing in the doorway. “I can’t—not this.”

“Is it really worth it?” she asked.

He looked at it again, and he knew there was no choice. “Yes, it is,” he said. He slipped the chain over his head and tucked the necklace inside his shirt. “There’s someone on Caldon who will want this, and I’ll risk everything to deliver it.”

She nodded. “I’d try to talk some sense into you, but I guess we all have our own priorities, and some things are too important to play it safe. Oh… and you owe me five hundred credits.”

Nolan smiled. “That’s a bargain.”

“I’m giving you my discount rate,” she said. “Find Carl and make sure he’s safe. Bring him here if he needs to hide out for a while.”

“Thanks, Boo. It’s good of you to be so generous.”

“I have reason to be. You know, Carl didn’t always bring you with him when he came here. He’d come and watch my place while I went into town for a few days. He never asked anything in return, either,” she said. “None of the other salvagers ever did that, not that I would have trusted them.”

“I didn’t know that,” Nolan said.

“When you’re done, come and get me. I’ll be in the electronics shed working on the receiver. I’ll help you haul all the stuff to the incinerator.”

* * * *

It was getting dark when the pair pushed the empty bins back into the hangar.

“It’s time for me to go,” Nolan said.

“It’s been nice having you here. Most of my visitors come in, sell or trade, and then leave.”

“After I find Carl, I’ll stop in for another visit.”

“You’ll be welcome if you do. Be careful,” Boo said. She patted him on the arm, and then walked to the hangar door and began pushing one side back. Nolan walked up the ramp and closed it. As Boo pushed back the other door, she heard the faint whine of the main power converter starting. A moment later, the Griffin rose silently and moved through the opening. Once outside, the ship rose quickly, vanishing into the night sky.

Nolan piloted the Griffin out of Pax’s atmosphere and set a course for open space. One day traveling at sub-light speed would put him far enough from Pax to risk a jump.

* * * *

The Griffin transitioned out of hyperspace near the edge of Harmony’s system. Space traffic here was even more congested than around Caldon, and it was just as tightly controlled. There would be no hyperspace jump within the system to save time. It would take three days to reach Harmony. The ship was spotless inside, and Nolan had never felt so alone. He put a hand to his chest and felt Rebecca’s necklace beneath his shirt. Three more days, and then he’d leave the ship and head home. On the starliner, he’d be surrounded by other passengers. There would be crew members to wait on him. Best of all, he wouldn’t have to run the ship. He could relax, catch up on his sleep, read a book, and eat food prepared in a real kitchen. Three days.

* * * *

Three days. For three days, Nolan had worried about his forged documents. This would be their first official scrutiny, and if they failed, everything would end here.

He had transmitted his request to land more than a day ago when he had come within comm range. Now in high orbit around Harmony, he was still waiting for clearance. Had they entered the Griffin into their traffic control system only to discover there was no such ship? Had his captain’s certificate already been flagged as suspicious? He watched the sensor screen and tracked ships leaving Harmony. So far, they had all left the planet and headed for deep space. But now… this one wasn’t leaving. It was entering high orbit and closing on the Griffin. He quickly entered a course out of orbit and was just reaching for the execute button when his comm unit chimed. He studied the screen with a mixture of relief and fright. Clearance to land had been granted, and he’d been assigned a descent corridor. He transferred the data to his navigation system before checking the position of the ship he’d been tracking. It was passing him about five thousand meters off his port side and accelerating.

This was the final stage of the journey, and there was no more time to consider his options. His landing clearance was for immediate execution, so he accepted the descent corridor and the ship began its controlled fall into Harmony.