The Mask
Alexis carefully slid the package into her leather purse, slung its strap over her shoulder, and casually walked around the corner into the heart of the spaceport and up to the customs desk. The fat albino behind the desk looked up from his monitor to stare at her, his right hand sliding slowly out of sight and down by his side, not unnoticed by her.
"Ah, Miss Stereo, back so soon?"
From behind her, a familiar voice shouted, "Alexis! Don't!"
Alexis spun around, “Schad! Where have you been? I’ve been worried something had happened to abort our trip. We’re you afraid I was about to retrieve my stuff from customs and cancel our flight?”
“Something like that. I ... I ... took the wrong shuttle and had a frantic time getting back as soon as I did. My com quit working so I couldn’t contact you.”
Ignoring Schad’s lame comment, Alexis turned back quickly and glared at the albino as she spit out, “Touch that alarm button and you’ll have more trouble than you can imagine.”
The albino quickly raised both hands, palms forward. “Just what made you think I was going to hit the alarm, Miss Snotty?”
“Enough of the swazzo crap you fat slob! I’m not blind. I gave you enough cash to cover any contingency and you took it. It’s all recorded right here.” Alexis snarled, patting her AV. “One wrong move on your part and you’ll spend a long time rotting in the Ranko penal colony.”
The albino’s pink eyes quickly morphed from arrogance to radiated fear. A bit of drool ran down his chin from a loose, shivering lower lip. “I’m sorry. I’ll do as you told me. It’s just that I didn’t expect you back so soon. You told me you were leaving on the two-ten and it’s now past three.”
“So you figured something went wrong and started to turn me in and keep the cash. Definitely not a good thought!”
Whirling back to face Schad, Alexis narrowed her eyes. Something was not right and she knew it. She noticed two obvious security cops moving towards them, trying to appear casual. “How in hell could you have taken the wrong shuttle?” she snapped trying to decide, run, fight or wait for a better opportunity. Suddenly reality hit her like an LK blast. “You bastard!” she shouted at Schad. “You pulled a switch and turned me in for the reward.”
As one of the cops pulled his Galbo blaster, she dove at Schad and in a single motion, pulled him in front of her, grabbed the LK from her leg and rolled into firing position. The Galbo cut Schad in two as the stutter from her tiny LK knocked down the cop who had fired and leveled the other one before he could raise his weapon.
Back on her feet and running at the end of her move, Alexis headed for the neutral zone at the end of the terminal. Galbos didn’t work within the force field there, but her LK did. She would be safe for the moment. It would take the two cops about an hour to recover and by that time she would be long gone. Fortunately, running in the Ranko space port was quite common and drew little attention. The bloody mess that had been Schad and the two unconscious cops drew all of the attention. People had hardly noticed a small woman in a dark blue Cirec suit running from the mayhem as many others nearby had done the same when the excitement hit. The tiny LK, hardly visible in her palm, didn’t signal any threat.
As she approached the neutral zone, Alexis slowed down to a trot and chanced a look back. No one was even looking in her direction as a police shuttle streaked toward the gathering crowd, PA blaring and ordering people out of the way. Numerous guards on foot were hustling toward the scene and moving gawkers out of the way.
“So far so good.” She muttered under her breath. “Now, if I can just get aboard one of the outbounds before that damned albino spills his guts.”
She quickly scanned outbound flights and chose the one headed for Stentor Seven. It was only about two hundred yards from the neutral zone. She was sure she could make it before all hell broke loose in the main port. If her fake ID chip cleared the security scanner she would be home free. The contraband ancient Telurian mask in her purse was another matter. It was the reason for the whole setup with Schad. Worth several hundred million on the open artifact market it was her ticket to freedom she was to have split with Schad after he smuggled it through security - his specialty.
“How in hell am I going to get this past security?” she wondered as she neared the gate. She smiled as suddenly a clever plan crossed her mind. After stopping for few moments in one of the Icom booths she made an adjustment to her purse and threw the now empty mask packaging into the trash vac.
As she entered the security scanner, the operator, an attractive young blonde commented, “What an unusual purse. Where did you get it?” as she opened the purse and examined the contents.
Alexis tried to appear casual as the inspector closed the purse and put it on the “passed” counter. “It was a gift from a very dear friend.” she commented sweetly. “I have no idea where he got it, but I do like it.” Then she had another idea. “Incidently, would you be a dear? His wife is a real vindictive bitch and may have found out about it. If anyone comes looking for me tell them I’m on the flight to Aldebaran Three, over there. Her brother is a security cop and I don’t need the hassle.”
“I know what you mean.” she answered with a wink. “Angry wives can be a real bummer.”
Her ID chip cleared, Alexis picked up the purse and headed for the flight at a rapid walk. “So far so good!” she thought. Once the boarding shuttle cleared the terminal she would be home free.
Taking a window seat she watched the security gate she had just cleared. Suddenly two security cops ran up to the blonde pointing and talking rapidly. “Good girl!” she said out loud as the blonde pointed to the other boarding shuttle and the cops took off at a run. The shuttle doors spun shut just before they got there. The Blonde looked at her shuttle and gave a thumbs up. “Sometimes you need a little impromptu luck to complete even a good plan.” Alexis thought as she leaned back in her seat for the short hop to the IS craft.
As the shuttle lifted off she began dreaming of happy times on Stentor Seven with the fortune the mask would bring on the open market. She wouldn’t even have to share it with Schad as planned. The Telurian mask stared up at her and seemed almost to smile in spite of the Zepok fasteners that held it seamlessly flush on the front of her purse.
"Ah, Miss Stereo, back so soon?"
From behind her, a familiar voice shouted, "Alexis! Don't!"
Alexis spun around, “Schad! Where have you been? I’ve been worried something had happened to abort our trip. We’re you afraid I was about to retrieve my stuff from customs and cancel our flight?”
“Something like that. I ... I ... took the wrong shuttle and had a frantic time getting back as soon as I did. My com quit working so I couldn’t contact you.”
Ignoring Schad’s lame comment, Alexis turned back quickly and glared at the albino as she spit out, “Touch that alarm button and you’ll have more trouble than you can imagine.”
The albino quickly raised both hands, palms forward. “Just what made you think I was going to hit the alarm, Miss Snotty?”
“Enough of the swazzo crap you fat slob! I’m not blind. I gave you enough cash to cover any contingency and you took it. It’s all recorded right here.” Alexis snarled, patting her AV. “One wrong move on your part and you’ll spend a long time rotting in the Ranko penal colony.”
The albino’s pink eyes quickly morphed from arrogance to radiated fear. A bit of drool ran down his chin from a loose, shivering lower lip. “I’m sorry. I’ll do as you told me. It’s just that I didn’t expect you back so soon. You told me you were leaving on the two-ten and it’s now past three.”
“So you figured something went wrong and started to turn me in and keep the cash. Definitely not a good thought!”
Whirling back to face Schad, Alexis narrowed her eyes. Something was not right and she knew it. She noticed two obvious security cops moving towards them, trying to appear casual. “How in hell could you have taken the wrong shuttle?” she snapped trying to decide, run, fight or wait for a better opportunity. Suddenly reality hit her like an LK blast. “You bastard!” she shouted at Schad. “You pulled a switch and turned me in for the reward.”
As one of the cops pulled his Galbo blaster, she dove at Schad and in a single motion, pulled him in front of her, grabbed the LK from her leg and rolled into firing position. The Galbo cut Schad in two as the stutter from her tiny LK knocked down the cop who had fired and leveled the other one before he could raise his weapon.
Back on her feet and running at the end of her move, Alexis headed for the neutral zone at the end of the terminal. Galbos didn’t work within the force field there, but her LK did. She would be safe for the moment. It would take the two cops about an hour to recover and by that time she would be long gone. Fortunately, running in the Ranko space port was quite common and drew little attention. The bloody mess that had been Schad and the two unconscious cops drew all of the attention. People had hardly noticed a small woman in a dark blue Cirec suit running from the mayhem as many others nearby had done the same when the excitement hit. The tiny LK, hardly visible in her palm, didn’t signal any threat.
As she approached the neutral zone, Alexis slowed down to a trot and chanced a look back. No one was even looking in her direction as a police shuttle streaked toward the gathering crowd, PA blaring and ordering people out of the way. Numerous guards on foot were hustling toward the scene and moving gawkers out of the way.
“So far so good.” She muttered under her breath. “Now, if I can just get aboard one of the outbounds before that damned albino spills his guts.”
She quickly scanned outbound flights and chose the one headed for Stentor Seven. It was only about two hundred yards from the neutral zone. She was sure she could make it before all hell broke loose in the main port. If her fake ID chip cleared the security scanner she would be home free. The contraband ancient Telurian mask in her purse was another matter. It was the reason for the whole setup with Schad. Worth several hundred million on the open artifact market it was her ticket to freedom she was to have split with Schad after he smuggled it through security - his specialty.
“How in hell am I going to get this past security?” she wondered as she neared the gate. She smiled as suddenly a clever plan crossed her mind. After stopping for few moments in one of the Icom booths she made an adjustment to her purse and threw the now empty mask packaging into the trash vac.
As she entered the security scanner, the operator, an attractive young blonde commented, “What an unusual purse. Where did you get it?” as she opened the purse and examined the contents.
Alexis tried to appear casual as the inspector closed the purse and put it on the “passed” counter. “It was a gift from a very dear friend.” she commented sweetly. “I have no idea where he got it, but I do like it.” Then she had another idea. “Incidently, would you be a dear? His wife is a real vindictive bitch and may have found out about it. If anyone comes looking for me tell them I’m on the flight to Aldebaran Three, over there. Her brother is a security cop and I don’t need the hassle.”
“I know what you mean.” she answered with a wink. “Angry wives can be a real bummer.”
Her ID chip cleared, Alexis picked up the purse and headed for the flight at a rapid walk. “So far so good!” she thought. Once the boarding shuttle cleared the terminal she would be home free.
Taking a window seat she watched the security gate she had just cleared. Suddenly two security cops ran up to the blonde pointing and talking rapidly. “Good girl!” she said out loud as the blonde pointed to the other boarding shuttle and the cops took off at a run. The shuttle doors spun shut just before they got there. The Blonde looked at her shuttle and gave a thumbs up. “Sometimes you need a little impromptu luck to complete even a good plan.” Alexis thought as she leaned back in her seat for the short hop to the IS craft.
As the shuttle lifted off she began dreaming of happy times on Stentor Seven with the fortune the mask would bring on the open market. She wouldn’t even have to share it with Schad as planned. The Telurian mask stared up at her and seemed almost to smile in spite of the Zepok fasteners that held it seamlessly flush on the front of her purse.
____________________________________
Labels: Written: 11/04/06
posted by HoJo | 12:23 PM
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