Wanted

Cherry plugged his finger into the socket for direct access to the computer. He searched the last known coordinates and direction the Zlata ships had started pushing. Looking at the area indicated, he drew a blank – no chunk of rock.

  The lights under his skin glowed fiercely. Josh said, "See if any coordinates are left on the remote sensor."

  Pulling up the data from it, Cherry found the last known trajectory. Following it with the sensors, he spotted some rocks headed in that general direction. He said, "I'm not sure which one they're on but let's head out there. Those things are headed for an orbit around the sun."

  Josh asked, "Around the sun or into it?"

  "Just go. We'll get them before we have to worry about that."

  The Captain asked, "Why can't you just call her on the comm? Didn't she call you before?"

  Josh answered, "Yes, she did. When we were in the middle of the battle. I haven't heard from her since and I tried to raise her with no luck."

  Cherry said, "When you get closer, I'll try again. With that little fur ball, you never know. She may have taken her comm apart and can't get it back together again."

  Josh flew to the rocks, but didn't see any big enough to be the one they had hidden the spaceships on. Cherry kept searching for it. He knew they had another problem. The shield had been set to invisible and it would make it that much more difficult to find the ships.

  A lone rock caught Cherry's attention. It sped much closer to the sun. As he concentrated, the view screen flickered. The Captain said, "I'll go check on it. You two keep doing what you're doing."

  When his footsteps disappeared down the passageway, Cherry said, "You know we have a problem, right?"

  "Yeah, the shield. What do we do? I really don't want to tell the Captain about its capabilities."

  "I know what you mean. He's been alright to us, but he is a Hanami and…"

  Josh rubbed his jaw, "Maybe I can land on the opposite side before we see it."

  "That might work, but we'd have to be careful."

  "We'll think of something. The screens are settling down. He may be on his way back. For now, just find Lemmy and we'll deal with the other later."

  The Captain walked back in a few minutes later. He said, "I think the wires you're using are too light. If you draw too much current, they tend to burn. I started the little bots pulling more wires in tandem."

  Cherry said, "Thanks, Captain. One of these days we'll find the parts we need and get this old gal back in tip-top shape. Josh, I think that's the rock. I'm going to try raising Lemmy again."

  He flipped on the comm and called for her. After several tries, the view screen stayed blank, but a voice came on, "She's a little busy right now. Can I help you?"

  Josh's jaw tightened at the voice as Cherry's under-skin lights burned as white pin points. Cherry's voice grew very quiet as he answered, "I just need her to keep broadcasting so we can find you. Seems your attack dogs sent your particular rock off on a quick run into the sun."

  "Nice try. They haven't been here yet or you wouldn't be talking to me – you'd be dead."

  Cherry and Josh both laughed. The Exec asked, "Why'd you laugh? That planet won't be laughing when they don't find me there."

  Cherry said, "Your five ships arrived and met our friends. None of your ships are still alive. I hope you keep sending them in here. Then we won't have to feed the pets."

  A puzzled Exec asked, "Feed who?"

  Lemmy yelled in the background, "The snakes. They'll be coming for you next. Me and Demmy will gladly listen to you screaming and begging for mercy."

  "Shut up or I'll blast you, you little twerp."

  Cherry tensed but didn't say anything. He pointed out the rock to Josh and made a motion for him to land. Josh's eyes searched the rock to see if he could find any sign of the shield as he eased Belle to the surface. The Captain started to speak but Cherry held up his hand to stop him.

  The Exec's voice came back, "Your little furry friend brought one of our helpers when she came on board. If you don't release this shuttle, I'm going to take my time frying both of them."

  Cherry said, "Go ahead. The only thing I ask is to turn on the video so I can see it. That little fur ball deserves it."

  Josh said, "Cherry. That's not nice."

  "It's true. If she had done her job here, we wouldn't have had as much trouble with those battleships."

  The Captain's eyebrows rose. He started to speak then changed his mind. His eyes darted back and forth between Cherry, Josh and the view screen.

  The Exec said, "I mean it. I'll use a blaster to burn them both to death."

  Josh said, "We can't stop you, but we won't make a move to stop that shuttle from plunging into the sun. Is it getting warm in there yet?"

  A touch of fear echoed in the Exec's angry voice, "I'll show you I mean business. I'll…"

  An image swirled then steadied on the view screen. Josh saw Lemmy and a shill sat tied to two chairs in the passenger compartment of the shuttle. The smaller slave trader sat unrestrained in a chair two rows behind them.

  The Exec raised his weapon and fired at the shill. She shrieked as her arm burned off. Josh and Cherry half rose from their seats. The Exec screamed, "Let this shuttle go! I can keep burning limbs off until…"

  When he turned to face the camera, all three in Belle's cockpit could see the insanity in his eyes. Josh hit the mute button before he asked, "Where's the shuttle?"

  Cherry answered in a very tight voice, "It's on the other side. I can be there in three minutes with the grav-cycle."

  As he stood he muttered to himself, "You, mister, are a dead man. It's going to take a long time for you to die."

  "Go. I'll try to keep him talking."

  The Captain quietly asked, "Do you think he'll kill Lemmy and the others?"

  "Most definitely. Sit down there. I may have to maneuver."

  Josh flipped the mute off. The Exec was babbling"…see, I told you. I'll do it again if you don't release us."

  Josh said, "Wait a minute. You've got to give us time to find your rock and get there. We're good but not magicians."

  "I'll give you an hour. Then you'd better have some good news. I can feel the heat in here already. I'm not going to cook —"

  He abruptly stopped talking as he walked around the room waving his weapon in the air. Josh and the Captain could see wet spots on his back and down his sides. His hair lay matted to his head. Muting the sound, Josh said, "Captain, we've got to get there in a hurry. There's no way in the world that he's feeling any heat from the sun. We're still too far away."

  "I know, but he feels it. He'll boil over pretty shortly. Should I go help Cherry?"

  "No, he's already out the airlock. I'm just waiting for word from him to move in next to those idiots."

  Josh touched the mute button and adjusted the volume. The Exec continued to mutter and babble to himself. The weapon kept undulating about the room. The smaller slaver stepped up to the wounded shill, trying to help her.

  The Exec saw the movement and swung his weapon in their direction. The smaller alien ignored him as he continued to work on the sobbing girl. The Exec swung his weapon at Lemmy. The little one watched him out of the corner of his eye.

  Josh could see Lemmy's head turn from one to the other. Her eyes looked huge. The Exec yelled, "Where are you? I want off this rock. Get this shuttle moving."

  His weapon stopped waving and centered on Lemmy. Her head ducked down in her spacesuit until all of her mouth had been covered. Josh's finger hovered over the comm button until he saw the little one straighten.

  The smaller alien said, "Listen, you big lunk. Pull that trigger and it's going to get much warmer in here. If that furry thing dies, so do we. Haven't you done enough damage already? Look at this merchandise. It's no good to anyone now."

  The Exec babbled incoherently. His eyes screwed tightly shut for a few seconds, then snapped open. Al
l rationality had fled from them. The weapon dropped down, then came back up. The barrel pointed at Lemmy's chest.

  Before he could pull the trigger, the small one sprang over two rows and landed on the big one with both feet. In seconds, the Exec lay broken and bleeding on the deck. Josh and the Captain stared in amazement.

  Josh zoomed in to see if the big man was still breathing. No signs of chest movement could be seen. Josh hit the mute button before he said, "That one let Cherry capture him. He's not the nobody we thought. I wonder how he fooled Lemmy."

  The Captain said, "I don't know, but I think we need to have another talk with him."

  Josh pushed his comm button, "Cherry, I think the Exec is dead. The little one did some sort of Kung Fu movement that was unbelievable. You'd better zap him with a stingerray as soon as you get him in your sights."

  "I'm working on getting in the shuttle now. I'll keep this channel open. Let me know what he's doing."

  "Right now, he's working on the wounded shill. He has the weapon lying on the chair beside the shill."

  "I'm inside. Keep talking."

  "He's done with the wound. He picked up the weapon. Wait a minute. I think he hears or suspects something. Watch it…"

  The little alien crumpled. Josh and the Captain looked for Cherry but didn't see him. They did see Lemmy reach down to cut the ties holding her legs. She shakily stood up and went to check out the downed slavers. A small weapon pointed at each of them before she came close.

  She kicked the big one then walked softly to the other one. Leaning over carefully, she studied him for several seconds then shot him again. Cherry burst into the room. Josh could see their lips moving but didn't hear any sound. He fumbled for the mute button.

  He heard Lemmy say, "It's about time you showed up. If I'd have waited, that one would have blasted you. He wouldn't have used a stingerray either. That's a blaster."

  Cherry asked, "How'd they get that?"

  "The little one had it hidden. He let the Exec find it. There's something strange about him. I can't read him correctly."

  Cherry said, "I'm going to strip him, if you want to check on that shill over there."

  "Why are you going to do that?"

  "I want to check for tattoos or hidden devices buried beneath his skin. I also want something to hold him securely."

  Cherry looked at the sensor and said, "Josh, bring Belle over. After you land, bring a tangler. I don't want this guy to be able to move. I think he led us down the garden path."

  "I think so, too. I'll be there in a few minutes."

  Turning back to the slaver, Cherry stripped him naked. With that done, he carefully used plastic ties to secure him. Lemmy looked at him and said, "I don't think I'd leave him on this shuttle. He'll get loose."

  "How?"

  "How did he get loose before? They were both loose when we came in."

  "I see your point, but I'm not sure where to put him."

  Lemmy smirked, "Drag him out on the rock."

  Cherry frowned at her, "We do want to ask him a few more questions. There's not much air outside."

  "I know that, silly. Use a shield and put some air in it."

  "Hmmm, you might have something. Draw your stingerray and if he even twitches, shoot him again."

  When Lemmy had her weapon in her hand, Cherry rushed outside. By the time Josh landed and cleared the airlock, he saw Cherry outside working with some lines from the Captain's ship. Josh walked over to ask, "What are you doing?"

  "I'm borrowing a shield generator and some air from the Captain. I thought the atmosphere out here might make our prisoner a little more talkative."

  Josh and the Captain looked at him with raised eyebrows. They both headed into the shuttle while Cherry finished his job. After Cherry came into the shuttle, he and Josh grabbed the slaver and drug him outside into the shield. Lemmy brought a blanket and dropped it on the ground.

  Cherry and Josh dropped the man on the blanket. Josh checked his readouts to see that the temperature in the shield sat at thirty degrees Fahrenheit. The naked man shivered. Josh asked, "Do we need to warm it up in here?"

  Cherry said, "It'll be warm shortly. Where's the tangler?"

  Josh held it out to him and stepped back. Lemmy did the same. Motion outside the shield caught Josh's eye. The Captain had the shill in his arms, carrying her to his ship. Anger tightened Josh's jaw as he turned back to their captive.

  Cherry fired the tangler. A sticky web splattered on the naked slaver. As he moved a little, the strands moved closer to him and tightened up. Cherry said, "Lemmy, maybe you should go help the Captain. This guy has your truth meter blocked so we're going to have to try something different."

  Lemmy hesitated. Josh said, "Go on, Lemmy. There's nothing against you. We just want to try some of our methods."

  Lemmy walked away but turned three times to look at them before she reached the spaceship airlock. After she entered, Josh said, "You know that about anything we do is going to get more lies from him, don't you?"

  "Yeah, except one thing."

  "What's that?"

  "If we leave him here with a sensor, we can ask questions and he'll answer. We'll ask some that we can verify."

  Josh asked, "What if he's reluctant to answer?"

  "How long before this rock will be close to the sun?"

  "Less than twenty-four hours. When the Zlata ship pushed it off at a tangent, it gave it more speed. Why? What does that have to do with getting questions answered?"

  "Look at your suit readouts. What's the temperature now?"

  "Thirty-three degrees."

  "What was it fifteen minutes ago?"

  "Thirty. Oh, I see. The temperature is going to go up in here. His mind will provide more punishment than we ever could."

  "Yeah, I predict the temperature won't get dangerous for at least twelve hours but it should get very uncomfortable in six. After that, it will be excruciating."

  Josh tried to rub his jaw but couldn't reach it because of his helmet. He asked, "What if he still doesn't talk?"

  "What better punishment than roasting alive? It should be a foretaste of what's to come for him."

  "What about oxygen? How long will it last?"

  Cherry smiled grimly, "At least thirty hours, maybe more. When this rock is heated, it may give off enough to keep him alive for days."

  "If the heat doesn't kill him. You know we can't leave the Captain and the shills on this rock though."

  "I didn't plan to. Have them take off and go back to Orlowa to get treatment for that shill. Take Lemmy, too. We'll pull off and sit in space here."

  Josh nodded, "That could solve a couple of problems. We need fuel —"

  Cherry held up his hand stopping him. He said, "Let's get out of here before you say anything more. He should be out but…"

  Josh said, "If we're going to get the Captain and the others out of here, we better get started. We need to grab the Alcantaran shield generator and then let the Captain know he needs to take off."

  "I'll get the shield generator. You grab a sensor and get it going. I'll fine tune that generator to make sure it only lets pass what we want in or out."

  As the two separated to do their work, the Captain called Josh on the comm. "Josh, I need to go back to Orlowa. That shill lost her arm and needs more medical attention than I can give."

  "Go ahead. Take Lemmy if you need to. As soon as we ask a few questions, we'll be coming to Orlowa."

  Lemmy shouted in the background, "I'm not going with him. I want to see what you've done to Belle."

  Josh grinned at the Captain and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you get to go by yourself. Can you handle the shills?"

  "Yes, they're scared to death. They saw their friend without an arm and she hasn't come to yet to answer any of their questions. I didn't either, so they don't know if I shot her or not."

  "Be careful. We'll bring the shut
tle with us. I'm not sure how long this will take, but we'll meet you at the same tavern when we get through."

  In a few minutes Josh saw Lemmy dart from the Captain's spaceship into Belle's airlock. She didn't even communicate with anyone. As soon as Cherry had the outer shield down and moved out of the way, the Captain took off.

  Cherry took his electrical device into the smaller shield and held it to the slaver's feet. The alien struggled to get away, making the tangler net wrap around him more. Cherry hit him again. When the man moaned and seemed to be coming awake, Cherry fastened the device to the bottom of his feet. Then he walked out of the shield and into Belle.

  After Cherry plopped into the co-pilot's seat, Josh called, "Lemmy, are you secured? We're about to take off."

  "I thought you wanted to question that worm."

  "We do. Just not face to face."

  "Just a minute. OK, I'm ready."

  Josh gently lifted Belle off of the rock. Cherry used the tractor beam to pick up the shuttle. Josh said, "Belle, project the trajectory for this rock."

  When the line came up, Josh said, "Show me how much I need to shove that rock to get it into an orbit that will raise the temperature inside the shield to about a hundred and fifty degrees."

  Once he had the data, Josh pushed the rock into that trajectory, then called the Captain. "Captain, can you send me an image of the healthy shills? I want them standing, staring at something on the deck. Make them angry when they do. I want hatred coming out in every line of their bodies."

  A half hour later, the Captain sent the images. Cherry asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

  Josh grinned, "If you're going to mess with someone's mind, go all the way. That little slime will beg to tell us secrets before we're through."

  Chapter 27