I hooked an arm around her shoulder. “Glad you see it like that. You happy now you stumbled across us?”
She stared off in a distant daze. “Not really.”
I nodded in sad understanding.
We counted the spaces in between foghorn blows, sitting in silence like statues.
Marty at last peered at me in suspicion. “Rusco, what are you thinking? Don’t like that look.”
I rubbed my chin, staring right through Deidra who still seemed detached from reality. “You know, Marty, Deidra getting snatched and this whole caper going bad, gets me to thinking. Maybe it’s not all about the money this time.”
Marty gave a sour grunt.
“Larger stakes are at hand. Like that drive crystal. We gave Sharki a slap on the wrist—but maybe we could hurt him worse, spare a lot of planets some pain.”
“You’re talking gibberish, Rusco.”
Maybe, but somehow I couldn’t leave it alone, even though every bit of logic told me to take our shipment and never look back. The first instinct was not always the best one. Right now it felt pretty sour.
Deidra spoke at last, “You mean blow up the station or something kooky like that?”
I looked away, said no words.
She licked her lips. “But it’s—”
“Insane, like a stupid idea, Rusco, suicide?” Marty grumbled. “Forget it. We got the beryl. We get Goliath repaired then we truck out.”
“In a simple world, yes, Marty, all fine and nice.”
“What’s not simple about it? Do the math. How complex can it be? If worse comes to worse, we could dodge enemy eyes, waiting it out as we go back and forth to Goliath, fencing the Beryl.”
This sinking feeling in my gut would not let me act as Marty wanted me to. “No. We can’t be caught out here in the open with Sharki’s goons on our tail.”
A sense of duty, some attempt at justice, prevented me from taking the easy route. Some noble feeling I’d cherished at an earlier age. Though over the years I’d wandered and gone astray many times. If we took that money, without doing the right thing, we’d choke on it right down to the end. Marty couldn’t see it. He was floundering badly, getting all worked up and worried. In the end he threw his arms up in exasperation. He knew he couldn’t buck me. Without me, he’d be nowhere, especially now. He gulped down some Myscol and I even took a pop myself. We hoofed it out of that place to central station before some rat bastard honed in on us.
A quick raid on the impound yard and we ‘borrowed’ a beat up air car while darkness was still on us. Morning was coming on fast. The first glimmering rays of dawn poked over the greenish horizon, lighting the city skyline a lurid hue, the stacks and towers of the city resembling stick-like surreal things.
We found a reputable mechanic in Hell’s Acre that day, dawn a much safer time to be roaming about. The mechanic was a man who declined our business but recommended us to Baelen’s Yard just outside the city precinct. “They’ll fix you up for a decent price,” he said. “I don’t work on such heavy machinery myself.” I mulled over his words and thought to kill two birds with one stone: getting supplies in town and prepping Goliath with camo before we took her aloft to Baelen’s or any other place.
“Thing is, it isn’t going to be easy to get past Sharki’s scout ships out in space,” I said aloud to my partners-in-crime. “Remember we have no warp until we clear grav and I don’t want to lose our beryl shipment by being boarded or blown out of the sky.”
“You and me both,” echoed Marty. “So, we trade Goliath in for another ship.”
I winced. “It’s complex and time consuming. We’d have to transfer the beryl to the other craft. Many things could go wrong.”
“Or maybe just wipe the drive signature?” suggested Deidra.
“Could work. But still risky. Some Johnny Joe keener could recognize the ship by size and configuration.”
“It’s a risk either way,” Marty grumbled.
“No, this is how it’ll work. We camo the ship, wipe the drive signature and fly into Thetis station on pretext of picking up a load. Then blast the solar guns to smithereens.”
“Just like that, eh? As clean as the last time?”
“Sure.”
It was a wild but simple plan. Me, Marty and Deidra loaded some beryl in the air car and pawned it off in town for cash yols: quick money for food and supplies. We carted back with us a mountain of blue paint and collapsible ladders to the quarry. Deidra was fast recovering from her degrading experience. We painted Goliath an ultramarine dark hue, making sure we hid the telltale Goliath plate and put a new name on her—“Marmot”.
She was a fat marmot with a fortune in beryl in her hold.
“We go in disguised as a supply ship”, I murmured, “blow the solar amplifiers and beetle out of there.”
Marty still gave his head a grave shake. “I mean, what could go wrong?”
Deidra approached, her eyes narrowed in pained doubt. “Rusco, I admire you for being courageous here. As Sharki’s my witness, I didn’t have the guts to do anything meaningful while I had the chance. But this—well, it’s kind of crazy and I value my life—I don’t think I have the nine lives you seem to have.”
“Relax, Deedee. Trust me.
