Wanted

Cherry came back to the cargo bay wearing his sunglasses and his hat with the feather. This feather was longer and wider than Lemmy's. As they waited for their bullion, Belle announced that they had a call from Inspector Dawalth.

  Josh said, "Project it here in the cargo bay. Make sure the Inspector won't be able to see anything in the background."

  When the 3D image of the inspector appeared, Josh said, "Good morning, Inspector. Did you find a buyer?"

  The Inspector took the time to eye the three, noting all the armament, "Yes, I did. They agreed to your price but only have gold bullion. Will that be a problem?"

  "No, we can deal with it. How long will it take to deliver it?"

  "It'll take a couple of hours."

  "In that case, set up delivery for 4:00 local time. We'll be back and then we can dispense fuel for everyone. Is that satisfactory?"

  "Yes. I'll have all the equipment on hand then. Have a good day."

  Cherry looked at Josh. "What was that all about?"

  "I sold another rocket's worth of fuel for the same amount the Inspector paid for the other two."

  "You're just rolling in the dough, aren't you?"

  "As long as we can keep it. The Inspector warned me about thieves around here."

  Cherry chuckled as he slapped his stingerray. He said, "That I can handle. It feels like old times."

  Lemmy said, "Are you two going to start shooting as soon as we get out there?"

  The two bounty hunters laughed. Josh said, "I don't shoot unless they shoot first."

  Belle announced a delivery at the rear. Josh and the other two stepped out on the tarmac. A truck sat with its rear door next to Belle. Two aliens stepped out of the cab and came to the back. One carried a tablet which it held out for Josh to sign. He hesitated until the back door of the truck opened. Two more aliens with blaster rifles sat in the rear. Two pallets of bullion sat between them.

  Josh said, "Cherry, would you check that out? Make certain we have all that's advertised."

  Cherry stepped into the truck and soon nodded to Josh. He signed the tablet. The two in the back pushed some buttons and the pallets slid out onto the tarmac. Josh said, "Lemmy, could you get a couple of robots to carry that in for us?"

  Lemmy rushed to the robots and started two of them for the airlock. They wheeled to the pallet containing the gold, squatted and picked it up. They carried it back into the spaceship. Minutes later, they came back for the silver. The truck pulled away as soon as the robots entered the airlock.

  Josh and Cherry entered the airlock and closed the outside door. Cherry plugged into the computer slot there. After a few seconds, he said, "Belle's on high alert now. She'll let us know if we have any visitors. I've set the remote sensors to cover all around the spaceport and two will follow us wherever we go."

  "Now, where do we put that?"

  Lemmy said, "There are secure rooms just off the upper cargo bay. We could store it there and lock the doors."

  Josh nodded and soon the robots had the pallets stored in a secure room. The three had followed the robots up to the upper cargo bay. Josh reached out to grab two of the gold ingots and two of the silver. He handed them to Lemmy.

  She asked, "What's this for?"

  "A little back wages. Call it some walking around money."

  "I didn't expect anything like this."

  Josh grinned, "You helped us out when we needed it. We pay our bills."

  He slipped ten gold and ten silver ingots into a pouch he had slung over his shoulder. Cherry did the same. Cherry said, "Let's go shopping."

  The three friends walked out of the spaceport facility into sunshine. A comely alien with a short child greeted them, "Greetings, gentle beings. Are you enjoying this glorious day?"

  Josh said, "We just got here but yes, I like the feel of sun on my skin."

  The child said, "I like —"

  The taller alien backhanded him. Tears formed in his eyes, but his mouth shut with a snap. Cherry put his hand on Josh's arm to restrain him.

  The tall alien asked, "Where are you off to today?"

  Josh gritted his teeth, then said, "We need to buy some supplies."

  "I'm from the Pomodore parked in orbit. We have supplies and a great many other things if you'd care to fly up."

  Josh glared at him, "No thanks. We'll deal with the locals here."

  Lemmy muttered under her breath, "He's a bad one. Don't have anything to do with him."

  Cherry gave Josh a gentle shove to get him moving. Josh didn't notice that Cherry stepped on the alien's foot as they walked past but Lemmy did. The alien reached around his body for something in the middle of its back.

  When Lemmy saw Cherry's hand go to the tangler, she stepped to Josh's left. A slight smile crossed Cherry's lips as he waited. The alien let his hand drop back to his side. Instead, he reached out to roughly grab the child and pull him into the terminal.

  Josh said, "He didn't take the bait. Were you going to tangle both of them or just the big one?"

  Cherry chuckled, "You know me too well. I'm monitoring them on the sensors. If he would have pulled that weapon, I'd have made him eat it. Man, this feels good getting back into a groove."

  Lemmy stared sideways at the two.

  Five cabs sat in front of the terminal. Josh walked to the larger one in the middle. He asked, "Are you free for the day? We need to do some shopping and I'd rather not walk."

  "Yes, sir. I can take you anywhere you need to go. What supplies are you looking for? Maybe I can be of assistance."

  Cherry said, "We need to go to a bank to get some local currency first. Then we need a market to buy food."

  The Orlowa native looked suspiciously at him. He shuffled his feet a little, then asked, "Have you got money? That could be a lot of running around."

  Josh asked, "Do we look like we'd stiff you?"

  "No, but neither did the last one. You have a lot of weapons and you want to go to the bank…"

  Josh reached in his pouch to pull out an ingot. When the driver saw the gleam of gold, his mandibles rapidly clicked together. He pulled the door open and waved them inside. As the three climbed in, he rushed to the driver's seat.

  As he drove to the bank, Cherry asked, "Do you have a lot of people trying to stiff you here?"

  "Just the ones coming back from that pleasure ship up there. Most leave here with pockets full of money, but all who return have nothing but empty in their pockets."

  Josh and Cherry looked at one another over Lemmy's head. She turned just then to look at Josh. Her feather rammed up Cherry's nose. He shoved it away. Lemmy whirled on him, "Touch my feather again and I'll have to remove that hand."

  Cherry's eyes opened wide in surprise, then narrowed. "Keep your feather out of my nose and I won't touch it. Let it get close again and I'll cut it off and shove it up your nose."

  The driver swerved as he tried to watch the scene happening in his back seat. Josh just rolled his eyes. Soon they stopped in front of the bank. Josh and Cherry left Lemmy in the cab to ease the driver's fears of them bilking him of his fare.

  Inside, Josh sold one gold and one silver ingot to the bank to get an idea of the exchange rate. The teller had to call for a supervisor. The supervisor gave Josh a large pile of colored bills. Across the face of each bill, he saw that the paper was backed by the government of Orlowa.

  Thanking the teller as he stuffed the bills in his pouch, he turned to leave. Cherry moved his eyes to show him a pair of aliens at a table in the corner. They looked like they were writing on something, but Josh couldn't be sure. The pair was definitely interested in what he had stuffed in his pouch.

  When they got back to the cab, Lemmy insisted on getting cash. She went back in while Josh kept an eye on the door. As she came back out the door, she had some bills in her hand. Behind her the two rough looking characters followed.

  Josh reached for his blaster but stopped when one of the al
iens grabbed Lemmy's shoulder. Before the other one could touch her, the first went flying across the sidewalk. Lemmy whirled, gave a little jump and kicked the thug in the knee. The alien collapsed with a scream of agony.

  Lemmy leaned over to say something to him, then calmly came back to the cab. After she climbed in, Cherry asked, "What did you say to him?"

  "I told him I didn't like people touching my things. I suggested I might become violent if I saw him or his friend again. Said Demmy might be inclined to add to his collection with their missing body parts."

  Josh and Cherry laughed. Josh asked, "Did they ask who Demmy was?"

  "No, it never came up."

  The driver looked like he had swallowed a yellow jacket and wanted to get rid of it. Josh pulled one of the large denomination bills out of his pouch. He handed it to the Orlowan and said, "Will this ease your mind about us skipping out without paying?"

  "Oh, yes. Where do you wish to go now?"

  "We need to shop for food supplies. Take us to some place that gives honest deals. We don't want to visit a place that rips off spacers. Demmy might want someone else's body parts for his collection."

  The roar of the shuttle taking off caught their attention. The driver said, "They must have found some more suckers with money. They'll be back later with a bunch that is drugged or drunk out of their minds – and their pockets will be empty."

  Josh and Cherry wandered the aisles of the store for an hour making a list. Lemmy stuck with them for half that time pointing out fruits and vegetables she would eat. After that, she became bored and wandered to the front of the store.

  Across the street she spotted a shoe store. When she caught Josh's eye, she waved and pointed across the street. Josh nodded and went back to his list. After completing the list, they found the store owner and negotiated a deal for their supplies. They arranged to have them delivered the next morning.

  Josh found some fresh fruit which he carried to the front of the store. As he paid for it, he glanced across the street. A small group of young Orlowans had gathered around something in front of the store. Josh directed Cherry's attention to the commotion.

  They both spotted the feather waving above the crowd. Cherry stormed out the door heading to the other side of the street. Josh hastily paid and followed. Slipping the bag into his left hand, his eyes searched for the real trouble. His right hand hung next to his blaster.

  As he walked closer, he could hear the youth laughing and making fun of Lemmy's garish clothing. Cherry reached the back of the crowd and hesitated. One of the loud-mouthed young ruffians said, "Looks like a neon light. I'll bet it glows in the dark."

  Cherry shoved his way to the front. He said, "I told you these stores wouldn't have anything in the latest style. I don't think they even have any video feeds from the galactic capitol. You're wasting your time here."

  A girl said, "Are they really wearing that in the capitol."

  Cherry glared at her. He haughtily said, "Only those with the best taste – like all the video stars. I saw this very outfit on – well, I'd better not say. It could get out here and the entire city would want this outfit."

  Another girl asked, "Was it Zaide? Was it?"

  "I can't say. Lemmy just barely managed to get her outfit before we sailed. She doesn't want to find it in every spaceport we come to."

  The group now clamored for information on the clothes and where they could buy them. Lemmy, embarrassed at all of the attention, could only stammer out the name of the store on the asteroid where Josh had found the clothes. The group rushed away to find a terminal for the galaxy Ether.

  Cherry quickly turned and walked back to Josh. He asked, "Where to now?"

  Lemmy crossed the street and joined them. She said, "Thanks."

  Cherry ignored her and looked at Josh. Josh said, "We still need parts. Our cab is still here; let's go see if he knows anyone."

  Lemmy said, "I did find one interesting thing."

  Josh asked, "What's that?"

  "See that comm repair shop? I went in and talked to the owner for a bit. He told me about an old man who hangs out in The Hyperspace."

  Cherry said, "How can he hang out in hyperspace?"

  "Not in hyperspace, in The Hyperspace. It's a local tavern near the spaceport."

  Josh asked, "What's so unusual about this old man?"

  "He tells tall tales of finding old spaceships. He used to be the captain of his own spaceship until he had an accident. Now he lives here."

  Cherry said, "If he knows where there's some old ships, why hasn't he sold the location? I'm sure someone would like to salvage them."

  Lemmy said, "I don't know. I don't even know if there are any Alcantaran ships there. I just asked about old ships."

  Josh said, "Cherry, it's time to get in bounty hunter mode. You know we go on fewer clues than this. We'll have to look the old man up. Right now, I want to see what parts are available here."

  When they had settled in the cab and told the driver where they wanted to go, Josh reached in the bag and brought out one of the fruits. He offered it to Cherry. Lemmy's eyes followed its every movement. Cherry declined so Josh offered it to the Ezrawe. She grabbed it and was soon making contented mmmm sounds.

  At the spaceship parts place, they didn't find a single item on their list. Josh noted that a lot of the extra parts they had on Belle would fit right in. He almost offered to sell some to the owner but stopped.

  Cherry asked about their interface problem, but the alien had no suggestions. When they were outside, Cherry asked, "You were going to try to sell him some of our extra parts, weren't you? Why didn't you?"

  "We're too close to the asteroid. I don't want to start a salvage rush trying to find where we got those parts. I'd like to keep that asteroid our little secret."

  Cherry said, "We'd better get back to Belle. We have another shipment coming and I don't want to leave it sitting on the tarmac."

  Josh said, "Yeah, me either. When we get through pumping the fuel, I want to come back into town to eat. I don't want any more of that replicated food."

  Lemmy chimed in, "Me either. That fruit was good."

  Cherry sniffed, "We know. It's still all over your face."

  Lemmy wiped at her face with her sleeve. Climbing back into the cab, they headed to the spaceport. Not long after they arrived at Belle, the shipment of gold arrived. Lemmy had the robots waiting just inside the airlock and soon had the pallet stored in the secure room.

  Cherry said, "Josh, did you feel the eyes on us?"

  "Yes, even with the shuttle gone, they must have left spies here."

  Lemmy's eyes grew big. Her ears flattened on her head. She said, "Spies? Are they dangerous?"

  Cherry said, "Yep. They especially like little fur balls. You think you want to stay here and be safe?"

  "Ah – umm – I don't know. When will our food arrive?"

  Josh said, "Tomorrow. I'm getting hungry now, so we're going to go eat. Are you going or staying?"

  Lemmy's face twisted one way then another. Her ears moved back and forth as she thought. At last she said, "I want food. I'll come with you."

  Cherry said, "Wait a minute. I need to get something from my quarters."

  A few minutes later he came back with a blaster. His stingerray was missing. The three walked through the terminal at the spaceport and found a cab. Josh told him to take them to a good eating place that served lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

  The cabbie dropped them off at a place and they walked in. Several minutes later, five aliens came in to take a table near the door. Cherry gave Josh the eye sign and Josh nodded that he had seen them.

  During the meal Lemmy smacked her lips and mmmmed over each dish, much to Cherry's disgust. He said, "I think we should stuff her back in a spacesuit during meals. She's ruining my appetite."

  Lemmy said, "There's an empty table over there by those aliens. Why don't you
go sit by them and ask what they want?"

  Cherry just rolled his eyes. After they finished, the three strolled back outside. Josh and Cherry kept a wary eye out for more trouble-makers outside but didn't see anyone. They caught a cab but didn't go directly to The Hyperspace. Instead, they gave an address about two blocks away.

  When the cab dropped them off, they saw taverns lining the street. Cherry said, "With this many pleasure palaces, why would anyone on this planet want to go to that ship in space?"

  Josh said, "Maybe that ship offers things they can't get here. Come on. I want to drift in and out of these places for a bit to see if we can lose our fans."

  An hour later, satisfied that they weren't being followed, they entered the Hyperspace. Scenes from different galaxies were projected on the ceiling and two of the walls. After a few minutes, each of the scenes changed. The interior was dark and smoky with most of the light coming from the scenes. One wall was lined with booths so Cherry led the way to one near the rear.

  The three ordered a drink and sat quietly for twenty minutes to make sure they were clear. Josh whispered to Lemmy, "What's this guy's name?"

  "The store owner just called him Captain."

  Josh stood to go find the spacer while the other two watched the tavern's entrances.

  Chapter 18