The Switch
Timothy O'Brien never expected to find himself in such circumstances. Whoever would? He paused on the narrow path on the side of the gray granite mountain, the wind pressing on his backside as if it wished to push him to his death on the ragged rocks half a kilometer below. A sound caught his attention over the rush of wind..... a sound that made him shudder and heightened his fear responses. “How could they have found him?”
The sound was now unmistakable. Vordanay thrusters had a unique noise profile and the only units that used these old but effective thrusters were Old Earth military police RG vehicles. Relatively hard to handle in Earth gravity, RG vehicles would be fast and quite maneuverable in the light gravity of Stentor 7 where he had hidden successfully for nearly seven years.
Tim looked for a place to hide, but saw none. In a panic he started running down the path as fast as he could. The light gravity stretched his running steps to nearly thirty feet, but he had to plan a landing place for every huge step. One misstep and he would be off the path with only 30,000 feet of air between him and the rocks at the base of the huge cliff. His mind raced trying to find an answer, but none was forthcoming. When he came to a slight curvature to the right on the almost flat and vertical granite face of the mountain he shortened his paces to stay on the path.
On his third huge step he misjudged and missed the path by several feet. Suddenly he was hurtling away from the cliff at a slight angle and beginning to drop. Even in the low gravity of Stentor 7 he would be falling fast enough to be smashed to pieces after falling for 30,000 feet. For a moment he wondered if terminal velocity would be low enough to let him land without being killed. That was his only hope so he spread his arms and loosened his shirt to slow his fall.
Suddenly he realized the sound of the Vordanays was coming closer. “They’ve spotted me.” he muttered to himself as he tried to look in the direction of the sound. Shit!” he said out loud. “Even if I survive the fall, they’ll have me. They’re in my blind spot above and to my rear.” Bang! Something flat and very heavy hit him with considerable force and he was knocked unconscious.
When he came to Tim realized he was out of the wind and in the vehicle with the Vordanay thrusters. He opened his eyes and looked into the face of his bride of six weeks, Enid. She had her finger to her lips, the universal request for silence so he complied lying still and quiet. Enid pulled a Gleary laser pistol, leveled it at his head and said, “He’s coming to. I’ve got him covered.” to the pilot. Looking at me she snarled, “Lie still and don’t move.”
I was devastated! My sweet lady had sold me out and was collecting the 400,000 credit reward for my capture. Something was not right. This was impossible. Then I noticed her little finger was frantically waving in front of the pistol. The safety switch, right where her finger was pointing, was on. With the safety on it was as harmless as a toy.
The pilot said, “Lady, I have no idea what you have against this guy, but I sure appreciate your help. We’d never have caught him without your tip. He’s in for some very rough treatment when we get him back to Earth. I’d rather have just blasted him when we found him and only had to return the body. Now he’ll get prisoner treatment and that means a lot more work for me.”
“I have my reasons for wanting him alive. You can’t possibly know why.” Enid said, winking at me. “I’m sure not going to tell you, Jack.”
“I can say one thing,” Jack remarked, smiling. “I’m sure glad you’re on my side. I’d hate to have you working against me.”
I had no idea what was going on, but that safety was certainly reassuring.
Jack glanced over his shoulder. “Watch him closely. He’s the only one ever to escape our holding center. Incidently, how are you going to get us past security here at the terminal? He destroyed his ID chip and mine’s very specific.”
“You leave that up to me. I’ve got connections.” Enid said, smiling knowingly.
“Well, you got me in so I suppose You can get us out OK. We’re approaching the terminal now.”
“Remember what I told you.” Enid ordered. “Set her down outside the confinement zone so we can change clothes. When we walk into the zone, security will think it’s Tim covering you, the renegade Earth agent, and let all of us through. Once through security we’ll be in International territory and your jurisdiction will take precedence. Then we split the reward, you can retire here like you planned to and I’ll have my revenge. Tim will be shipped back to Earth and after that, who cares.”
“Lady, I sure wouldn’t want you working against me. You have a very devious mind.”
“If you only knew.” Enid thought to herself as they started the set down sequence.
As soon as we landed, Enid ordered, “Come back and cuff him to the hand rail. Then you’ll be able to change clothes without danger. I’ll sit back here and cover you.” Then she moved to a seat in the rear of the vehicle. It took about ten minutes for us to change clothes, everything including underwear which I thought a bit much.
Jack turned around and went to the front to retrieve his own pistol before getting out. As he did I noticed Enid releasing the safety and cranking the control on her pistol up to max. As soon as jack turned around, one blast from her Gleary caught Jack center chest. He was dead before hitting the floor. In an instant, Enid handed me her pistol, took a knife out of her pocket and began slashing Jack’s chest open.
“What the hell?” I shouted. “He’s already dead!”
With a flourish Enid held up a small ID chip. “This is the key to the success of our mission. You are now a free man with a new identity no one can crack. All we have to do is get this inside your chest, a minor inconvenience.” With that she took the pistol out of my hand, cut the power to half and seared closed the open wound on Jack’s chest Then she hit his face with enough wide laser spray to make it unrecognizable. She handed me the pistol as sirens of approaching security announced a tense visit shortly. In a single motion Enid grabbed Jack’s pistol, set the control on low and blasted my left shoulder enough to burn Jacks uniform and sear my skin a bit.
“Sorry about that.” she muttered as she replaced the pistol in his hand.
As soon as she stepped back the door was jerked open and two uniformed officers of Stentor 7 security entered, pistols drawn. “Don’t anyone move. Touch the trigger on that pistol and you’ll be fried.” one said to Tim who immediately dropped it on the floor.
“He’s a security agent from Earth.” Enid panted, feigning fright. “His prisoner managed to grab one of his pistols and burned him. Jack had no choice but to terminate him. Scan him with your ID reader you’ll get his ID. That one probably doesn’t have an ID, but check him anyway.”
“Both of you stay still while we check this out. You know you’re on sovereign Stentor soil and your special privileges don’t amount to anything.” He said looking at Tim.
With that he activated his scanner and read the ID chip in Tim’s breast pocket. “Jack Evans, EAPD 17685 it says. It also says you’re retired. What’s that all about?”
“He’s a bit dazed after being zapped. This was his last assignment. It was planned to get him here to Stentor 7 to end his stint and he planned to retire here. I’m his fiancé and can probably answer most of your questions. Can’t you get him some medical attention?”
Getting into the act and thinking about the bloody ID chip in his breast pocket Tim protested, “I don’t need a medic. It’s just a slight burn. He shot before turning up the power and mostly missed me anyway. I didn’t miss him.”
“You sure didn’t” the second officer muttered. “Even his mother wouldn’t recognize him now. How are we going to be sure of who he was?”
“The word of a field agent of the Earth Allied Police Department should be good enough for that. Besides, We still have to ship the body back to Earth on the next flight.” Enid remarked. “That will save you a whole lot of paperwork. All you have to do is move us inside and we can do the rest.”
By nightfall of Stentor’s thirty hour day, Tim and Enid were sitting at the table in her apartment. Enid explained the entire plan and how she had arranged so much.
“My position at Nebson Security Research gave me not only the information, but enabled me to
pull this off. Did you know it was Jack Evans that offed your brother? That’s why he wanted you so badly. Poetic justice don’t you think?”
“I have one comment.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“To quote one Jack Evans, “I’m sure glad you’re on my side. I’d hate to have you working against me.”
Enid grinned.
The sound was now unmistakable. Vordanay thrusters had a unique noise profile and the only units that used these old but effective thrusters were Old Earth military police RG vehicles. Relatively hard to handle in Earth gravity, RG vehicles would be fast and quite maneuverable in the light gravity of Stentor 7 where he had hidden successfully for nearly seven years.
Tim looked for a place to hide, but saw none. In a panic he started running down the path as fast as he could. The light gravity stretched his running steps to nearly thirty feet, but he had to plan a landing place for every huge step. One misstep and he would be off the path with only 30,000 feet of air between him and the rocks at the base of the huge cliff. His mind raced trying to find an answer, but none was forthcoming. When he came to a slight curvature to the right on the almost flat and vertical granite face of the mountain he shortened his paces to stay on the path.
On his third huge step he misjudged and missed the path by several feet. Suddenly he was hurtling away from the cliff at a slight angle and beginning to drop. Even in the low gravity of Stentor 7 he would be falling fast enough to be smashed to pieces after falling for 30,000 feet. For a moment he wondered if terminal velocity would be low enough to let him land without being killed. That was his only hope so he spread his arms and loosened his shirt to slow his fall.
Suddenly he realized the sound of the Vordanays was coming closer. “They’ve spotted me.” he muttered to himself as he tried to look in the direction of the sound. Shit!” he said out loud. “Even if I survive the fall, they’ll have me. They’re in my blind spot above and to my rear.” Bang! Something flat and very heavy hit him with considerable force and he was knocked unconscious.
When he came to Tim realized he was out of the wind and in the vehicle with the Vordanay thrusters. He opened his eyes and looked into the face of his bride of six weeks, Enid. She had her finger to her lips, the universal request for silence so he complied lying still and quiet. Enid pulled a Gleary laser pistol, leveled it at his head and said, “He’s coming to. I’ve got him covered.” to the pilot. Looking at me she snarled, “Lie still and don’t move.”
I was devastated! My sweet lady had sold me out and was collecting the 400,000 credit reward for my capture. Something was not right. This was impossible. Then I noticed her little finger was frantically waving in front of the pistol. The safety switch, right where her finger was pointing, was on. With the safety on it was as harmless as a toy.
The pilot said, “Lady, I have no idea what you have against this guy, but I sure appreciate your help. We’d never have caught him without your tip. He’s in for some very rough treatment when we get him back to Earth. I’d rather have just blasted him when we found him and only had to return the body. Now he’ll get prisoner treatment and that means a lot more work for me.”
“I have my reasons for wanting him alive. You can’t possibly know why.” Enid said, winking at me. “I’m sure not going to tell you, Jack.”
“I can say one thing,” Jack remarked, smiling. “I’m sure glad you’re on my side. I’d hate to have you working against me.”
I had no idea what was going on, but that safety was certainly reassuring.
Jack glanced over his shoulder. “Watch him closely. He’s the only one ever to escape our holding center. Incidently, how are you going to get us past security here at the terminal? He destroyed his ID chip and mine’s very specific.”
“You leave that up to me. I’ve got connections.” Enid said, smiling knowingly.
“Well, you got me in so I suppose You can get us out OK. We’re approaching the terminal now.”
“Remember what I told you.” Enid ordered. “Set her down outside the confinement zone so we can change clothes. When we walk into the zone, security will think it’s Tim covering you, the renegade Earth agent, and let all of us through. Once through security we’ll be in International territory and your jurisdiction will take precedence. Then we split the reward, you can retire here like you planned to and I’ll have my revenge. Tim will be shipped back to Earth and after that, who cares.”
“Lady, I sure wouldn’t want you working against me. You have a very devious mind.”
“If you only knew.” Enid thought to herself as they started the set down sequence.
As soon as we landed, Enid ordered, “Come back and cuff him to the hand rail. Then you’ll be able to change clothes without danger. I’ll sit back here and cover you.” Then she moved to a seat in the rear of the vehicle. It took about ten minutes for us to change clothes, everything including underwear which I thought a bit much.
Jack turned around and went to the front to retrieve his own pistol before getting out. As he did I noticed Enid releasing the safety and cranking the control on her pistol up to max. As soon as jack turned around, one blast from her Gleary caught Jack center chest. He was dead before hitting the floor. In an instant, Enid handed me her pistol, took a knife out of her pocket and began slashing Jack’s chest open.
“What the hell?” I shouted. “He’s already dead!”
With a flourish Enid held up a small ID chip. “This is the key to the success of our mission. You are now a free man with a new identity no one can crack. All we have to do is get this inside your chest, a minor inconvenience.” With that she took the pistol out of my hand, cut the power to half and seared closed the open wound on Jack’s chest Then she hit his face with enough wide laser spray to make it unrecognizable. She handed me the pistol as sirens of approaching security announced a tense visit shortly. In a single motion Enid grabbed Jack’s pistol, set the control on low and blasted my left shoulder enough to burn Jacks uniform and sear my skin a bit.
“Sorry about that.” she muttered as she replaced the pistol in his hand.
As soon as she stepped back the door was jerked open and two uniformed officers of Stentor 7 security entered, pistols drawn. “Don’t anyone move. Touch the trigger on that pistol and you’ll be fried.” one said to Tim who immediately dropped it on the floor.
“He’s a security agent from Earth.” Enid panted, feigning fright. “His prisoner managed to grab one of his pistols and burned him. Jack had no choice but to terminate him. Scan him with your ID reader you’ll get his ID. That one probably doesn’t have an ID, but check him anyway.”
“Both of you stay still while we check this out. You know you’re on sovereign Stentor soil and your special privileges don’t amount to anything.” He said looking at Tim.
With that he activated his scanner and read the ID chip in Tim’s breast pocket. “Jack Evans, EAPD 17685 it says. It also says you’re retired. What’s that all about?”
“He’s a bit dazed after being zapped. This was his last assignment. It was planned to get him here to Stentor 7 to end his stint and he planned to retire here. I’m his fiancé and can probably answer most of your questions. Can’t you get him some medical attention?”
Getting into the act and thinking about the bloody ID chip in his breast pocket Tim protested, “I don’t need a medic. It’s just a slight burn. He shot before turning up the power and mostly missed me anyway. I didn’t miss him.”
“You sure didn’t” the second officer muttered. “Even his mother wouldn’t recognize him now. How are we going to be sure of who he was?”
“The word of a field agent of the Earth Allied Police Department should be good enough for that. Besides, We still have to ship the body back to Earth on the next flight.” Enid remarked. “That will save you a whole lot of paperwork. All you have to do is move us inside and we can do the rest.”
By nightfall of Stentor’s thirty hour day, Tim and Enid were sitting at the table in her apartment. Enid explained the entire plan and how she had arranged so much.
“My position at Nebson Security Research gave me not only the information, but enabled me to
pull this off. Did you know it was Jack Evans that offed your brother? That’s why he wanted you so badly. Poetic justice don’t you think?”
“I have one comment.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“To quote one Jack Evans, “I’m sure glad you’re on my side. I’d hate to have you working against me.”
Enid grinned.
____________________________________
Labels: Written: 10/15/06
posted by HoJo | 9:16 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home