“Thanks,” Tag said. “Don’t worry, Eric; they stopped watching your house a year ago. We’re not being watched right now.”
“So what we’ve heard about you is true,” Leila said. “You can see when you’re being watched.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Then why haven’t you come see me?” Eric demanded.
“I wasn’t willing to place you and Leila in danger.”
Eric got a funny look on his face and asked, “And now you are?”
“I’ve tried to minimize the risk. I’ve watched your house for three days and it has not been observed by security during that time. I decided I would come and talk with you to see if you could help me.”
“Before we go into that,” Leila said. “I want an answer as to why you took my test booklet. I’ve been troubled by that since I found out.”
Tag looked at her, then looked at Eric, and then looked back at her and said, “Leila, I loved you since the second level when I sensed you looking at my picture one night in the school annual.”
“You never said a word to me about it, Tag.”
“Me either,” said Eric.
“I know. It was something I kept in my heart for years. I heard you talking to Tara on the floater coming home on the day of the test. I just couldn’t allow your future to be wrecked by something that you couldn’t help. I decided to do something about it. But for those men attacking me on the way back to my house that night, I don’t believe I would have been caught.”
“Tag, why didn’t you tell me you loved Leila?” Eric said. “I’m glad you didn’t because I would have probably never asked her out if I knew, and I would have missed the most wonderful thing in my life.” Leila smiled and kissed her husband.
“While all this was going on, I met Danielle. I loved Leila without ever really getting to know her. I fell in love with Danielle after getting to know her. I stole your test booklet, Danielle stole my heart.”
“She misses you so much, Tag,” Leila said. “She has a hole in her heart only you can fill. She has been promoted three times during the last three years. All she does is work, never taking a day off. It seems every case she’s assigned, she solves. We hear that she has been slotted to take Inspector Connor’s job when he retires.”
“Danielle probably doesn’t realize it, but she also has psychic skills. I can actually see the field around her. She has the ability to see the truth in any situation. That gift will serve her well in the profession she has chosen. But to the issue at hand, I can no longer hide on Earth. There are too many electronic traps waiting to be sprung. I have lost my hiding place, and I know that it’s just a matter of time before they arrest me if I stay. Leila, you work in spaceport operations. Do you know of any way that I can board a ship or take a ship off planet without being caught?”
Eric said, “Tag, you can’t put Leila in that position. It could cause her to lose her job and get arrested.”
Leila put her hand over Eric’s lips and said, “Hush, darling, but for Tag taking the chance he took, I would have never had this career. Did he take a smaller chance when he took that test? Look at what it cost him. He lost his parents and Danielle. He deserves our help and I’ll not turn him down.”
“Leila, I feel terrible. Eric’s right, I can’t ask you to do this.”
“Give me two days, Tag. There may not be anything I can do, but let me at least take a look and see. You can hang out here since no one saw you come in; it’s probably safe as long as you stay inside.”
Tag looked at Eric and saw him nod. “We have a lot of catching up to do, old friend. You need to take off that fake belly and glasses so we can recognize you. Then we’ll sit down and eat.”
Tag smiled, “Sounds good to me. It’s really good to see you again.”
Leila came home from work the next day and told Tag while they were eating dinner, “I don’t think there’s any chance of you being able to board a ship. Anyone that enters must have their retinas and palms scanned for identification. There is only one entrance and only one person at a time may approach the scanner. There’s no way you can hide behind anyone like you did our teacher when we were seven.”
“You remember that?” Tag said.
“Yes I do. And I only really thought about it after I found out that you had stolen my test booklet. I assumed that you used that skill to steal it.”
“I did. And you’re right. If only one person can go through the scanner, there’s no way I could hide behind them. I’m sure there will also be overhead cameras that would also make that impossible. Are you saying, Leila, that there’s no way for me to leave Earth?”
“Just before I left work I ran across a situation that might have some merit. But before I discuss it I want to take another look tomorrow to make certain.”
“Okay,” Tag said, but now he was starting to worry that there was no escape.. “Be patient,” he thought. “If there’s a way, Leila will find it.” He didn’t sleep very well that night.
Leila came home the next day and Tag was waiting for her at the door. “Aren’t you the inpatient one?” she said.
“I’m sorry, Leila. Did you find anything?”
“I think so. But let’s wait until Eric gets home to discuss it. I think he can add insight without letting his emotions color his thinking; like Danielle, he really is quite adept at seeing things clearly.”
That evening at dinner Leila announced, “I think I’ve discovered a possible way for you to leave. We have a ship at the spaceport that has been there for reconditioning. It’s a small one, but it does have interstellar capability. Its owner is a security official that lives on one of the planets we’ve settled out towards Andromeda and he is currently living there while the reconditioning takes place. It was completed last week, so the only thing that remains is for a cleaning crew to go in and clean up the mess that was made by the construction crews. The ship is fully fueled and fully stocked with provisions. If you could enter with the cleaning crew, then you have a chance to take off.”
“When is it due to the cleaned?” Tag asked.
“I scheduled it for tomorrow night at 8 p.m. That’s when the shift change takes place and the monitors won’t be closely watched. You’ll have to use your skills to get in without being seen by the cleaners.”
“That doesn’t give me much time. What information do you have on the cleaners?”
“They board a bus outside the spaceport and then are dropped off at the various facilities that are scheduled to be cleaned. Since the ship is out on the edge of the landing field, it will be the last stop. Security is lax getting on the bus and once you’re on, the bus is usually just waved through the gate. Where security is top-notch is boarding ships. However, construction and cleaning crews have the ships opened and waiting for them. If you can get with the cleaning crew you should be able to get on board. Once on board, you’ll need to hide and stay behind once the crew leaves.”
“I should be able to handle that,” Tag said.
“There’s more,” said Leila. “Once they leave and close the ship you’re going to need the operation codes to be able to power it. I found out that the logs with the new operation codes are in the control room under the pilot’s seat cushion. When you turn on the power, the ship’s computer is going to demand the codes. First enter the bottom code, then the top one, and finally the middle one. You will then have control of the ship. I’ve neglected to ask you, but do you know how to fly a ship?”
“Yes. During the last three years I used one of Richard’s children’s names and enrolled in several commercial pilot schools. Although I’ve never actually flown, I’ve had a lot of simulator time so I feel comfortable that I should be able to handle the ship. The controls are actually very similar to those of a floater. The main difference is when you energize the star drive.”
“Remember, you cannot energize the star drive closer than the orbit of Jupiter. The sun’s gravity will disrupt it if you’re any closer than that.”
“I know it; we went over all that in my classes.”
“I have one more thing for you, Tag.” With that, she opened a box that she had placed in the living room when she came home from work. Inside the box was a white uniform with green lettering on the back that read Spaceport Cleaning Crew. “You’ll need this.”
Tag and Eric both looked at her and Eric said, “How did you get that?”
“Don’t worry, my love, I have my ways and no one can trace it back to me.”
Tag looked at Eric and said, “You really are a very lucky man.”
