Chapter 68

Each time the SS Acid Rat crossed a dense magnetic field the ship rocked and rolled, but not in a good way. Vic sweated both from poison fever and stress. He’d never been so on edge before. But then he’d never had this series of circumstances to deal with.

He could tell they were moving significantly faster based on the speed at which the stars moved and the size of the blackness on the side of the ship that grew with each passing minute. Nearly half the visible star field had been engulfed by the rapidly growing darkness. Vic felt the need to ask a stupid question again.

“Any sign of another probe from that police cruiser?”

Argmon growled and with good reason. Vic asked this question at least fifteen times over the past two hours and the Shathar needed to concentrate. Tootsie also failed to respond to even simple commands. Vic sat and felt useless.

June’s sweetness to make Vic feel useful hadn’t gone in vain. He did feel somewhat useful, yet he watched Argmon taxing himself to the point of exhaustion. Vic knew Argmon’s dedication could be nearly limitless, but even his yellow fur looked strained.

“You need a break? It’s been nearly three hours of this and we’re not even up on the second black hole yet.”

Again Argmon growled.

“Well, I need to get up for a minute. Can I bring you some food or something?”

Argmon didn’t even move. They’d been flying for nearly nineteen hours and all of them had been awake for most of that time. He got up and looked back at Argmon. He tried to think of something clever to say. Nothing came.

“Thanks.”

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it up as he walked back toward the kitchen. The vibration of the floor made walking difficult and he’d nearly lost his balance more than once. It was odd having to open doors on his ship, but he grabbed a food tube from the kitchen and headed down to the lounge. A smoke, a beer, and a bite to eat. That’s all he needed. Well, maybe a dose of medication too, but beer first.

He stumbled into the lounge and nervous faces greeted him.

“Hey, why the long faces? We’re about halfway there, right? We’ve held up this long.”

A massive jolt shook the ship and Vic fell into a nearby chair.

June snapped at him. “Just sit down and buckle in.”

“Hey, I’m doing the best I can.” Vic took a drag from his cigarette as he righted himself. “I just needed to get something to drink.”

“No! Not on the medication you’re on. You need rest, not beer.”

“Who said I wanted a beer?” Vic defended himself. He knew that she knew he lied, but he suddenly didn’t care. Waves of exhaustion overtook his body and he fell to the floor.

When he woke up, he found himself strapped in a seat barely able to keep his head up.

“Vic! Vic, I’ve given you more medication.”

“I need something to keep me awake.”

June leaned over him. “What you need is rest. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Where’s my cigarette? Did I drop it?”

“Yes, about half an hour ago. Now either stay in that seat and relax, or go find a bunk and lay down.”

“How long has it been since you slept?”

“Me?” June laughed an incredulous laugh. “You need to start worrying about Vic. The rest of us are in…”

A flashing light turned on and a loud blasting siren brought Vic as close to fully conscious as he could be in his medicated state.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I was hoping you could tell us. I’ve never heard that siren before.”

“I haven’t either.”

June groaned. “Tootsie, what’s that siren?”

Tootsie didn’t respond with anything more than an abrupt buzzing noise.

“Vic, Tootsie is too busy keeping the ship together. Where’s a panel where I can look up what that siren means?”

Vic thought. He’d just been at that panel, hadn’t he. He started to get up, but June pushed on his shoulder to hold him down. The pain shooting through his upper body took him to the brink of passing out.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” June leaned over him and inspected the bandages.

Vic’s vision faded in and out as he struggled to keep his head up. “Passageway,” he managed to say and he pointed into the hallway.

June, Joey, Dexter, and Joop-Nop all exited the lounge. As they did, three intense bangs rocked the ship followed by an explosion. Vic groaned. It sounded like gravity finally had its way with the ship as the sounds of metal scraping against metal reverberated throughout the inside of the ship.

“Vic!” June screamed from the hallway. About that time the acrid smell of burning electronics confronted Vic’s nose.

Pain forgotten Vic got to his feet. Something bad had happened. Possibly fatal judging by June’s yell. She sounded frightened.

In the hallway Vic felt his heart sink. Joey and Dexter were on the floor, both of them bleeding as fire erupted from the control panel.

“Tootsie! Fire.”

Only the buzz responded. Tootsie’s systems were all locked up keeping the ship on track. No amount of money was worth this aggravation. Vic rubbed his temples. Something had to be done quickly and he didn’t have the strength. He didn’t even have SPX-39 anymore.

There was one hope. The computer from the Iron Butterfly.

“Computer thing from the Iron Butterfly. I don’t remember your designation.”

The sound of the annoyed voice chimed up. “I’m T-11…”

“I don’t care what your designation is. Can you access Tootsie’s systems and put this fire out.”

A long pause ensued before it responded. “Tootsie is busy and I cannot ask her permission.”

“I don’t want you to ask permission, I want you to put this fire out.”

“But I cannot do so without proper authorization from the host system.”

“Put the fire out or you’ll find yourself floating back to Planchar!”

The rage in Vic’s head caused his temples to throb. He had to lean against the wall to hold himself up.

June had dragged Joey and Dexter out of harm’s way. Sparks flashed and sprayed them, but didn’t do any real damage. Smoke had filled the top of the passageway.

It seemed to take an eternity, but finally the fire system sprayed and extinguished the fire.

“Thanks, now what about this smoke?”

“It’s not bothering me.”

“No, but you’re starting to bother me. Recycle the air in the passageway.”

“But I’d require an advanced authorization…”

“You tell me one more time about an authorization and I swear I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands.”

“You haven’t the strength.”

“No, but Argmon does.”

No hesitation this time as the air evacuated from the passageway and was replaced with fresh air. Vic had finally found a way to make this computer subservient.

“Would you like me to put the other fire out?”

“Other fire?”

“The one that prompted the siren and lights to turn on.”

“Yes and turn the alarms off.”

The lights and siren halted. Vic crumpled to the floor.

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Chapter 66

Joey gripped June’s hand. This jumping in and out of hyperspace still unsettled him. The speed didn’t bother him, but the feeling of his guts being ripped out of his body, twisted into a knot, and shoved back in the wrong end did.

The view, though, was spectacular. June had given the command to make the walls semi-transparent and to dim all the lights. All around the small lounge, just as Vic had shown when Joey first arrived, they were surrounded by billions of pin-points of light. Joey felt like a child as he craned his neck around as if he needed to see each and every one of them.

Two occupants of the room didn’t share Joey’s child-like view of the universe, Dexter and Joop-Nop. Both stared at Joey, Dexter with his three eyes blinking out of unison and Joop-Nop with a freshly grown eye-stalk. Joey hardly noticed.

Instead, he found himself distracted by the myriad of stars in view. They shifted slightly as the ship moved, not nearly as fast as he had thought, but then astronomical distances had to be taken into consideration. He tried to find anything in the sky that looked familiar, but laughed to himself. He’d have to be back on Earth for that.

Earth. Would he ever see it again? Did he really want to? No, he needed to. Until he did, nothing in the galaxy would ever feel real. The only thing that felt real was June’s hand in his. He liked how it felt.

“Alright folks, hold on. We’re approaching the first black hole. Let’s see if this bucket of bolts holds together.”

Argmon growled at Vic’s comment.

“I know what…”

Vic turned off the con and his voice cut out.

“Time to see if you’re right,” June said.

“Based on some simple computations, the gravity of the first black hole should nearly double our speed.”

“You did take into account that the gravity of the second is stronger than the first, didn’t you?”

“Tootsie helped me out with that. It should be like being shot from a sling shot.” Joey smiled.

June now gripped his hand tighter.

A shudder rocked the ship. For a moment the lights came on inside the ship, then dimmed again. A constant rattle came from inside the bunk room.

“What’s that?” Joey asked.

“Something must not be secured in there. Tootsie, seal off the bunk room.”

Without a response the door to the room slid closed.

“Maybe we should close off all the doors,” Joey said.

“Tootsie. Seal off the ship.”

The door to the lounge closed, still Tootsie said nothing.

“Why doesn’t she answer? Doesn’t she usually say something?”

“She must be really busy keeping the ship together. There’s more for her to do besides flying. Millions of tiny adjustments and calculations.”

“Oh.”

Joop-Nop looked at Joey. “The…ship…is…not…designed…for…this…kind…of…stress.”

“Yes, but airplanes on Earth aren’t intended to be flown through excessive weather, but they can hold up.”

“What…is…an…airplane?”

“It’s not important,” June interrupted. “What is important is that the ship should be able to withstand more than normal forces.”

“Such as the gravity of this black hole.”

The vibration intensified. Joey’s teeth rattled inside his head.

“Hey kid! Did you plan on all this vibration in your calculations?” Vic’s voice wobbled up and down with the vibrations of the ship.

He hadn’t. “Um… yes!”

“Our speed has already doubled. I’m not opposed to speed, but I don’t think anyone has ever tried this before.”

“The ship will hold up!”

“Well I won’t be able to do anything to you if it falls apart, just keep that in mind.”

The shaking unnerved Joey. He had anticipated a little vibration, but nothing to this extent. If it grew worse on the second black hole, he wasn’t sure the ship would stay together. All his simple calculations for speed would be accurate, as for the stresses on the ship, he’d left that up to Tootsie. Based on her estimates the ship would be reaching its normal operating limits and he’d just added ten percent to that and assumed everything would be alright.

“Joey?” June snapped him back to the present.

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

Joey swallowed hard. “I’m fine. Based on Tootsie’s estimates for the stresses on the ship, it should hold up. I just didn’t know there would be this much vibration.”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

“I know Dexter,” June said. “This will pass. We’ll be on Planchar in no time.”

That no time lasted far longer than Joey wanted. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and settled in for the ride. He knew the next few hours were going to last a lifetime.

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Chapter 67

Mike shook his head. No, he wasn’t shaking his head, something else took care of that.

Opening his eyes, he found himself to still be inside the little, black cruiser. His head ached. That boy, Joey, had hit him over the head with something. Not just once, but so many times. June had almost been done in, but Joey stopped everything. Great pleasure would be taken when Joey was killed.

The vibration roused Mike’s sluggish mind. The cruiser sat inside the cargo bay of the Acid Rat once again. Mike looked worriedly about.

“Why am I not in a stasis field as they had done before?”

Time had obviously passed him by, but they should have taken precautions. He didn’t want to look at this freedom lightly. He had to take action before they discovered him.

Mike shoved himself into the storage compartment of the cruiser and pulled the communication box closer to him. The boss would know what to do. Twice he’d failed to kill. Twice Mike would need to redeem himself.

Mike turned the box on.

“Boss, this is Mike.”

No longer did he need to worry about being quiet. He pulled the box into the cockpit of the cruiser and made himself as comfortable as his body could be. The seats were not designed for him, but for a more human form. He stroked his beard as he waited for the boss to respond.

“Report.”

“Boss, I’m back on the SS Acid Rat. I tried to kill June, the girl, but I didn’t succeed.”

“Where is the ship heading now?”

“It’s shaking a lot. Something might be wrong with the ship. They’d put me in a stasis field, so I lost some time.”

“I need to know where your ship is.” The boss’s tone was flat and unreadable. Mike hated that about him.

He pulled up a display on the cruisers console. With a few commands he found the flight path of the Acid Rat.

“It looks like they’re passing by two black holes on their way back to Planchar. Why are they doing that?”

“I would think for speed’s sake. That does not matter. I want you to scuttle the ship.”

“Scuttle?”

“Disable, destroy, anything. See what you can think up. Be creative. Do they have escape pods on board the ship?”

“Yes. A few.”

“Excellent. See to it that they evacuate the ship. Judging by my calculations with their course, they’ll be in an orbit around the black hole. That will give me time to get there and retrieve them.”

“What should I do?”

“Once they are off the ship, you can do with it as you please. I will no longer have need of your services. You reward shall be waiting for you back on your home planet. Go retrieve it.”

“So that’s it? You don’t want me to kill any of them?”

“You may kill any except Vic. I shall extract my revenge in a more…subtle way. Just get them off that ship.”

The box switched off. No more killing. No killing at all in fact. But how would he get them off the ship? It had to be something they wouldn’t suspect. Something, how had the boss put it? Subtle?

Mike smiled. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

The ship lurched violently, then resumed its steady vibrations. Mike had to hurry. This vibration would surely tear the ship apart. He couldn’t let that happen if he needed it to get home. After a year he’d finally be able to retire. If this was to be his last job, he had to do it right.

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Chapter 65

Vic’s eyes opened at June’s alarm. Through the wall he saw the black drone heading toward the ship on an intercept course. It would never come in contact with them, but it would give their position to whoever left it here. Had to be that Sheriff.

Vic rolled over and struggled to get out of bed. “No rest for the wicked, eh?” He smiled at June.

Where had he gone wrong with her? At one time they were so close. They would just sit for hours and talk and talk. Business had to be done and slowly she just kept more and more to herself. She spent a lot of time talking to Dexter, but that couldn’t be it. That was an effect, not a cause.

He had to put her out of his mind for the time being. She’d made it pretty obvious that she fancied Joey anyway. What could he do? Fight Joey for June?

Think about the drone.

Vic stood up and shuffled over to June. She took his arm and put it around her shoulders and helped him to the cockpit. They hadn’t walked this way in a year or more.

Think about the drone.

“Argmon, do we have any drones of our own?”

Argmon growled and shook his head. They’d have to do this the hard way.

“Tootsie! Can you pilot the Iron Butterfly?”

“Yes Vic.”

“Can you get it out there and get that drone off our tail before we get up to this first black hole?”

“I don’t see your point, Vic. The drone could have plotted our course by now.”

“Yes, but they’re not going to expect us to go in so close to the black holes.”

“That little drone won’t be able to follow us around the black hole either.”

“Tootsie, I didn’t ask for an argument. If you’re not going to go out there, what else can you do?”

“I can shut down all systems for five minutes. It’ll fly past us. Then we continue on and trail it instead of it trailing us. The drone only has front facing radar and tactics. If we’re behind it, it’ll circle around and by that time we should be well beyond its range.”

“But if you shut down for five minutes, won’t we all die?”

“Vic, I’ll leave life support on for you. It’s looking for engines, power transmissions, things like that. If we’re only running with life support, we’ll be fine.”

“Kid, how close does that put us to landing on Planchar if we’re down for five minutes?”

“No good. We’ve only got four minutes and thirty seconds as it is. And that’s just an estimate.”

Vic looked up and took a haggard breath. “Tootsie, can you do this with less time?”

Tootsie clicked. “Yes. The least amount of time I can do it for and still assure it passes us by is three minutes.”

“That gives us one minute to get onto the ground once we hit the atmosphere of Planchar. Tootsie, I need you to signal ahead to Planchar as soon as we’re back up. I want you to signal that we need a landing vector and possibly a crash course.”

“Shutting down all systems.”

The lights went out and the view screen darkened. They’d dropped out of hyperspace. Vic knew it was going to be a long three minutes. The only light in the entire ship emanated from softly lit console. Argmon sat upright with all four arms ready to get the ship back on course.

Vic faltered, but June held him up. He wanted to hug her. He wanted to apologize again. He couldn’t be angry at Joey, it wasn’t the kid’s fault he was here. It wasn’t his fault that June liked him.

Joey suddenly stood up. “Hey Vic, I’m sorry, I should have let you sit down.”

“I’m alright.”

“No you’re not,” June reprimanded and unceremoniously dropped Vic into the seat.

“We’ve only got another minute or so. Joey and I will go back to the lounge and buckle in. Argmon has the plot.”

“Yeah, you two go and get ready. This is going to happen fast.”

And she left. Happy for the darkness, Vic took a little comfort that they had left. Perhaps June had even knew he didn’t want to be around them right now.

But he didn’t want them to go away. Hell, even he didn’t know what he wanted right now. If he had his way, he’d just sell the ship and call it quits. The only one he was certain of in his loyalty was Argmon. They’d been at this together since the start. He knew he could put his life in Argmon’s hands and never be disappointed.

Well, he could do that with any of them, but it wasn’t his life he worried about. His heart, now that was another matter.

“I need to stop brooding.” He told himself.

Argmon chuffed.

“Thanks for agreeing. Is it that obvious?”

Vic could just make out the hint of a smile on Argmon’s snout.

“Just keep your eyes on the road. As soon as Tootsie is back up we need to move. I sure hope the kid’s right on this one. Do you think he’s right?”

Argmon’s gaze never shifted, but he didn’t answer. That spoke volumes to Vic. Argmon had enough confidence, or bravery. Either way, they were going to go fast around two black holes. No one had ever tried anything like this and very likely no one ever would again.

Tootsie’s lights came back up.

“Hit it!”

Argmon hit the controls and the ship took off.

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Chapter 64

“Report from a drone, sir!”

Finally, good news at last. Sheriff Justice stopped his pacing and strode over to the officer. “Report.”

“Actually we’ve got a second, confirming report as well. We have their course. They made a correction.”

“Are they going to go through the blockade?”

“No sir.”

“They’re going around the black holes?”

“No sir.”

“Well they’re not coming back, are they?”

“No sir, they’re on a course to pass close by the black holes.”

“What?”

“It looks dangerous. The ship is too small to pass through there without incident.”

Where are you going? Sheriff Justice thought to himself. Only one speed existed in space and when you passed into hyperspace, you went as fast as you could. Passing by the black holes wouldn’t do any good, in fact, it could even slow them down.

“What do you want me to do sir?”

Justice blinked. “What are the odds of them making it through there alive and intact?”

The officer punched a few buttons on the console. “It looks like they have better than a ten percent chance to make it though on their present course.”

“Why?” Justice asked himself rhetorically.

“Well,” Junior piped up. “I think it’s because there’s a theory that the gravitational force of a black hole will accelerate a ship even one that’s traveling at hyperspeed. In fact,” Junior pulled up a three dimensional map. “If they go around the first, the speed they gain could swing them around and the second could continue their acceleration and…”

“Shut up! There is no reason they’d put their ship at such risk just to go faster.”

Junior looked up, his mind twisted in thought. “Maybe they just want to get away?”

“They’ve eluded us enough without going faster thanks to the pathetic crew I’ve got.” Justice raised his hand to strike an officer with his riding crop, but his hands were empty. He had to go and break his favorite tool.

“What if they’re on a tight schedule?”

“Explain.”

“If they had to get a shipment back to Planchar in an abbreviated time frame…”

“Beer? Are you telling me that someone sent them on an intergalactic beer run and they want it as soon as possible? I have trouble with that one, Junior. Of all the lame-brain ideas you’ve had, that has to be the worst.”

Idiots. He was surrounded by idiots. Did anyone on this ship even have two brain cells to rub together? No, strike that, if they did, they’d be dangerous.

“Sir, GCP Central Office calling.”

“Damn. Bad timing.”

“It’s being sent urgent on a secure line. Counselor Pitrine is demanding an audience.”

Justice loomed over the officer, but didn’t respond.

“Sir, he’s sent the request again. He demands an audience.”

“Put it through to my quarters. Junior, come with me. And keep this ship right behind the SS Acid Rat. I don’t want to lose them because you didn’t know what to do. I don’t care where they go, you stay on their tail. Do you understand?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. Sheriff Justice knew this wasn’t going to turn out well. Sheriff Esconso must have contacted GCP Central office. The last thing this pursuit needed was unwelcome company. Justice cleared his throat as he pushed the door open to his room and left it open for Junior to close.

“Put it through.”

The screen lit up with Pitrine’s visage. The man appeared irate beyond compare. Definitely he knew what was going on.

“I have a report that you are no longer in the Raado system, but I also discovered that you are not in route back to your own system.”

Justice smiled. “We’re taking the…scenic route.”

“Your scene will be more twelve by twelve if you don’t return to your own system.” Pitrine’s nose twitched as he talked.

“I assure you, that as long as we were in the area, we’d check out a couple black holes. You can plot our course if you like. It’s not too often my crew and I can take a look at two black holes on the verge of colliding.”

“That’s not all that will be colliding, I assure you. Make course corrections now and head back to the Bamda System. This insolence will not go unpunished, I can assure you of that.”

“Insolence? I assure you that I am doing nothing wrong.”

“Sheriff Esconso stated otherwise. He said you’re on a vengeance pursuit. He said you’re trying to track down the SS Acid Rat. I hope I don’t need to state the Galactic Central Point Central Office’s stand on your leaving your system. This is your last chance to return to your own system Sheriff. I will have a cruiser waiting for your arrival and they will remain with you until such a time as this office deems you able to patrol your system on your own again. Have I made myself clear?”

A tick found its way to B.T. Justice’s right eye.

“Perfectly.” Justice straightened himself and smoothed his uniform. “If there’s nothing else.”

“Actually, there is. Even if the SS Acid Rat is in your system, you are not to arrest them under any circumstances. If I discover that you have apprehended any of its crew, or detained the ship in any way, I’ll have your badge. Do you understand?”

The tick twitched Justice’s eye again. “Yes.”

Justice stood and waited for the grimacing image of Pitrine to fade. Once it disappeared he turned to Junior.

“You know that nifty little trick the SS Acid Rat pulled on us?”

Junior’s jaw fell in amazement.

They were interrupted by an officer over the con. “Sheriff, a drone has taken pursuit of the SS Acid Rat!”

Perfect timing.

“Order the drone to lock on and stay in constant contact. Also, I want to prepare a special drone to send to Bamda. Junior is on his way to explain everything.”

Junior headed to the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“But you said…”

“I need a hamburger first.”

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Chapter 63

As Argmon entered in the course corrections to take the SS Acid Rat near the black holes, June helped Joey sit in Vic’s seat.

“You stay here. I’m going to go and check on Vic.”

“But…”

June pressed her fingers to his lips. She was already having a difficult time dealing with everything around them, she didn’t want any words from Joey to confuse things.

“Just stay here and enjoy the view. Argmon may need help, but I doubt it. Either way, you just stay up here.”

She kissed him on the forehead and left to go check on Vic.

How did everything get so messed up? If that police cruiser hadn’t followed them out of Bamda, and Vic hadn’t taken on this stupid challenge, and Mike hadn’t been in cahoots with someone he called the ‘boss’, none of this would be happening. Could someone really have planned for all this to happen? Could the person Mike contacted be orchestrating all this?

No. Even if they planned for months and months they couldn’t have expected all these events to fall into place so well. No one could possibly plan anything that well and arrange for all the contingencies.

June entered the captain’s sleeping quarters. Vic had never kept anyone from sleeping in this room if they wanted to. He held a loose, almost flippant attitude when it came to formalities. He only expected for his orders to be obeyed. Beyond that, the crew had extreme liberty to do what they felt best.

She and Joey had challenged Vic and they hadn’t done so lightly. They had taken away any little bit of self esteem he might have had left after getting bitten by Mike. It was now her responsibility to talk to Vic and boost him back up. She’d only seen him sulk once before and he could be a stubborn one.

“Vic?” she asked softly as she entered the darkened Captain’s quarters. Vic had made the walls semi-transparent. He apparently wanted to watch the trip around the black holes. June hoped that boded well for this conversation.

He didn’t answer. Instead he lay on the bed with his back to the door. She could feel that he wasn’t sleeping.

“Vic? I need to talk to you.”

Still he didn’t respond.

June pressed a button on the wall and a padded shelf slid out of the wall next to the bed. She sat and put her hand on Vic’s shoulder. He winced in pain.

“I need to check those bandages and change them before they dry and we have to rip them off of you.” At least that sounded like a good excuse for her being there.

“I’m fine,” Vic grumbled.

“Look, those bandages won’t work like a poultice forever. I need to change them so they can keep the wound clean and not get infected.”

“Don’t they make a pill for an infection?”

“They do, but we don’t have any.”

Vic rolled over. “Yeah, but the kid will have us back on Planchar in no time, won’t he?”

June opened her mouth to respond with a snippy tone, but that’s not what she was here to do. She came to build Vic’s confidence back up, not tear him down further. Instead she put her hand on his head. He was burning up.

“Vic, do you feel alright?”

“I’m fine. I told you. What did you want? I need some sleep in case we make it back to Planchar.”

“Now don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? This is my ship and I’ll talk how I like.”

“We’re going to make it.”

“Have you seen what the gravitational forces of a black hole can do to a planet let alone a little ship like this?” Vic coughed from outburst.

“It’s our only shot at making it back on time.”

“It’s only a little bet. It doesn’t matter.”

“It mattered to you when we took the challenge.”

“Yeah, well maybe I’ve had time to think things over.”

That set June back. Vic had never been so upfront before. He’d get defensive or sarcastic, but this, this was new.

“Take your shirt off. I need to check your bandages.” At least that would give her time to process what had just transpired. Vic and thinking weren’t two things that always went together well.

Vic coughed again and struggled to get out of his shirt. The bandages, soaked with blood and poison, definitely needed changing. June steeled herself for the task. The Doctor had shown her what to do, but that didn’t make the task any easier.

She’d stored fresh bandages in the drawer nearest the bed guessing that Vic would choose this room to rest in. He didn’t know it, but she knew he liked to be in this room and look outside.

“It’s all my fault,” he said abruptly.

“What?”

“I know it’s all my fault. Everything. If it hadn’t been for my father…”

“It’s not your fault that Joey and I are here.”

Vic never looked up as he spoke. “No, but it’s my fault we’re being chased by the police. It’s my fault that Mike joined our crew. It’s my fault we’re on a tight schedule and I gave the kid the idea we could make it back and now he’s trying to prove that we can make it back. Chances are we’ll all end up dead.”

“Don’t talk like that. Joey is really smart. He may be young, but he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

“I know he’s a sharp kid, but seriously June, he’s inexperienced.”

The smell from the removed bandages was rank with infection. The doctor had given Vic a shot, but the wounds still oozed badly. She dropped the bloody mess onto the floor. SPX-39 could clean it up later. Damn! The robot wasn’t going to do anything.

“Listen, Vic. You need to stop taking this so hard.”

“Taking what so hard?” Vic looked up.

“Everything will be fine once we get back to Planchar. You’ll see.”

Without another word, June finished dressing Vic’s wounds, put a fresh shirt on him, and helped him lay back down.

“Take a nap. You always feel better after a nap.”

Vic grunted and fell silent. She turned off the light.

Joey and Argmon had the cockpit and she watched how Joey leaned away from the four-armed pilot.

She reached inside her outfit and pulled out a pamphlet. The tri-fold advertisement said in bold letters across the front, “Start your own interstellar shipping business.”

-Another dream I won’t see happen. I was so close, but I’m going to have to let this one go too.

She turned and looked back at Vic lying on the bed. His breathing had grown irregular and he looked so helpless. Fighting back tears, she started to tear the pamphlet into little pieces. She’d never have to tell Vic what the little appointment back on Munchkada had been about.

Something caught her eye. Just through the semi-transparent hull stars blinked and came back into focus, but did so rapidly as if… as if?

“As if something is passing in front of them! Joey! Argmon! We’ve got company coming in fast!”

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Chapter 62

Argmon growled and pushed Joey’s hands away from the console. With Vic unconscious, the Shathar didn’t want to take any instructions from Joey.

“But I’m telling you we can make it back in time.”

With bared teeth intended to intimidate the boy, Argmon flexed his four arms and snarled. If Joey hadn’t known Argmon he’d be certain that the beast could eat him.

“Calm down. I know you haven’t tried anything like this before, but look here.”

June pressed a button on the console for Joey and a display of the area appeared on the screen.

“See these two black holes?” Joey pointed to the two black holes just on the outskirts of the standing blockade. “We can use the first to speed us along and swing us near the second black hole and then use the neutron star here to correct our course and bring us back on track to Planchar. With the gravity from the black holes and the neutron star we should be able to gain enough speed…”

Argmon shook his head and growled.

June magnified the map. “Look here Argmon. Right there. This is the course Joey plotted. It takes us close enough to the black holes to use their gravity, but stay far enough away so we can pull away if anything goes wrong.”

Still Argmon wasn’t convinced.

“Tootsie,” June called out.

After a beep and a whir Tootsie said, “Yes June.”

“Did you see the course that Joey plotted?”

“Yes.”

“What is your estimation of this course?”

“It’s dangerous. The ship may not hold up to the stresses of the acceleration.”

“But it might, right?”

“Would you like me to calculate the odds that the ship would survive?”

“No!” June yelled. “I want to know if this course would give us sufficient speed to get us back to Planchar before the time is up. That’s what I want to know.”

“You’re putting the ship in considerable danger.”

“Tootsie!”

The computer went quiet all except for a slight ticking noise. Joey smiled and put his hand on June’s shoulder. She had done nothing but impress him since he’d arrived. Since she’d kissed him, Joey could think of little else.

She returned his smile and her pale blue eyes sparkled. Joey knew he’d been smitten and he liked it.

Tootsie interrupted his thoughts. “The ship would arrive at Planchar with four minutes, thirty-two seconds remaining.”

June jumped up and hugged Joey. “You’re right! We can do it. Vic will be so proud of you.”

“So proud of who?” Vic asked as he staggered into the cockpit. “And what are all of you doing up here? Argmon needs to fly this ship.”

Vic looked like hell warmed over, his face pallid and sweaty, his body slack as if he didn’t even have the strength to remain standing. That fact was accentuated by Vic’s hand on the wall to remain upright.

June and Joey both moved out of the way and helped Vic sit down. He fell heavily into the chair. He rolled his head around and looked up at June. “So, who am I supposed to be proud of?”

June beamed and held Joey’s arm. Vic gave a disapproving frown, but didn’t say anything.

“Joey found, and Tootsie verified, a way back to Planchar that’ll get us back to the planet before the time expires.”

Vic’s face twisted and he looked back and forth between June and Joey. He focused on Joey. “You did? Tell me.”

Joey couldn’t read Vic’s expression. Perhaps it was the poison, but he didn’t look or sound hopeful.

“See these two black holes? Well, we can use their gravity…”

Joey explained the course and even had Tootsie confirm it. All the while Vic sat expressionless. When Joey finished, Vic crossed his arms across his chest.

“So you think everything will be ok? You don’t think anything will happen to the ship? Or the crew?”

“Well, there’s no friction in space…”

“But there’s gravity.” Vic struggled to sit up, but fell back into his chair. “There are forces that you don’t understand. Black holes can tear a ship apart and you want us to go up against two of them? Do you understand how dangerous it is?” Vic pointed at Joey. “Have you ever navigated a ship?”

“Well, in my astronomy class we…”

“In class, kid, not in real life. You’re dealing with theory. This is real life. One miscalculation and we’re all gasping for breath in the great wide open. Kid, what you’re proposing could kill us all.”

“It could also get us to Planchar on time.”

“Kid, I don’t like the odds.”

“You don’t even know the odds.”

Tootsie chimed in, “I could calculate the odds.”

Joey and Vic yelled together. “Shut up.”

June stepped in between them. “Stop it. This arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere. Vic, we need to know right now, have you given up on winning this little bet you took? I wasn’t big on you taking it in the first place, but we’re all in the same boat here. If we don’t get back on time, we get nothing. I’d rather take home a nice prize. You did, after all, cause me to miss my appointment.”

“Speaking of that, what did you have an appointment for?”

“That’s not important right now. What is important is are you going to step up as captain of this ship and get us back on time or are you quitting?”

Vic narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know that I like your tone.”

“I don’t care if you like it or not.”

“Hey, I came back to save you from Mike.”

“And now Joey and I are trying to help you save this mission.”

Vic sighed and looked at the floor. He looked defeated. Defeated physically, mentally, possibly even spiritually. He’d failed to notice that Mike deceived the crew, nearly costing him his life. He failed to get the shipment back on time on his own. He’d let everyone down by being tailed by the police.

When Vic looked up, his eyes were hollow and devoid of emotion. “Argmon, set the course.”

Joey tried not to smile. The victory felt wrong and bittersweet. Joey only wanted to help. Instead he made Vic look, and very likely feel, useless.

Vic started to stand up and Joey lurched forward, hesitated, then helped Vic stand up.

“I’m just going to go lay down. I don’t feel so good.”

“Okay,” June said softly.

Argmon narrowed his beady eyes at Joey, causing him to swallow hard. Maybe they’d all be happy once they made it to Planchar on time. Maybe.

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Chapter 60

Once the Iron Butterfly’s hull dipped through the Acid Rat’s magnetic seal over the cargo bay, June let Tootsie land the ship and breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’re back. We’re safe now.”

Joey obviously didn’t share the sentiment. He eyed Mike’s limp body warily. “Can we put him in stasis now?”

June gave him half a smile. Her body ached. She had anticipated Mike would attack her first, but she had no idea he would do so with such ferocity. It had taken every ounce of her strength to keep him off and when Joey had climbed on top, Mike’s fangs dipped within inches of her chest. She would have been dead long before the venom had a chance to do its evil work.

“Tootsie, do you have access to the stasis field?”

Tootsie let out a small beep. “Yes.”

“Please suspend Mike until further notice.”

A grinding noise emitted from Tootsie. “Done.”

Joey visibly relaxed and the Iron Butterfly settled down in the same location where it had taken off from. June waited. She had thought the doors would be closed right away, but that wasn’t happening.

“Tootsie, why are the cargo bay doors still open?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”

“My sensors detect that Vic has accessed my control panel. He is not conscious.”

June wanted to get out of the ship, but couldn’t. Not until the doors were closed. “Can you close the doors and deactivate the magnetic seal?”

“I have access to those functions. It appears that T-11 XR34 Q14 WMN912…”

“Who is that?”

“That’s the computer from the Iron Butterfly.”

“What about it?”

“It cannot close the doors.”

“But you can?”

“And I am.”

June looked up. Indeed the doors were closing. Slowly. June would relax when she was certain that Vic wasn’t hurt. Joey suddenly looked ready to leave the ship. She’d told him that nothing existed between her and Vic, that she looked to him like a big brother, but Joey only wanted to sulk, but with a little less aggressiveness to his sulking. June found his jealousy cute, but she would have to deal with him later.

Once the doors were closed and the cockpit cover opened, June bounded out. Her arm and ribs screamed at her for doing so. Mike had punched her several times. She’d need to get checked out once this was all over.

A flash of green escaped from the weapons room and flew up the ladder from the cargo bay. Dexter must have known something. June rushed up the ladder as quickly as she could, her arm protesting all the way. At the top Dexter had Vic over his shoulder as he escorted the incapacitated captain into the lounge.

Argmon barked something from the cockpit.

“What?” June had never really learned enough about Argmon’s nuances of speech. She listened more intently the second time. He said something about police and approaching.

“They’re back! They followed you back?”

Argmon chuffed agreement.

“Dexter, charge the engines. I’ll get Vic and Joey strapped in. Argmon! Get ready to go to hyperspace.”

Joey helped June strap in Vic. “Um…this may sound like a stupid question, but doesn’t this ship have something to, I don’t know, make the police think we went in a different direction? Defensive counter-measures or something like that?”

“You know what, I think I know just what to use. Argmon! Ready the beacons. We’ve got to throw this ship off our tail and now!”

“Glad…to…see…you’re…back,” something said. June didn’t recognize the voice and instinctively reached for a blaster that wasn’t there.

“Who’s there?”

Joop-Nop, or she had to assume it was Joop-Nop, walked out from behind the couch on four stick legs. Several other branches projected from its back. “Joop-Nop?”

“Yes…it…is…me.”

“You look, different.”

“Mike…is…”

“Yes, he attacked us.” June strapped Vic in and then strapped herself in. She heard Dexter notify Argmon that the ship was ready. “Argmon! Use the hyperspace beacons. Set them for all different locations.”

Argmon barked back something. June assumed it meant agreement.

Joey buckled himself in as did Joop-Nop. His body no longer slime, he must require the dampening field now.

“Mike…was…in…communication…with…someone…he…called…the…’boss’.”

“The boss? About what?”

“I…never…heard…any…specifics.”

“I wonder if he was supposed to kill us all?”

“I…don’t…think…so.”

“Hey June, I don’t know much about what’s going on here, but how long do we have to get back to Planchar? Aren’t we running way behind on the time?”

“Hold on, Joey. One thing at a time. So Joop-Nop, Mike was in communication with someone outside the ship? How?”

“Box…in…his…web. Not…sure…how…long.”

“So you found this box?”

“No…it…was…gone.”

“Where?”

“Don’t…know.”

The Iron Butterfly. If Mike had stowed away on the cruiser, it must be there. June grabbed at her seat belt, but Joey reached for her.

“Don’t! We’re about to go into hyperspace. Can you answer my question now?”

Too much was happening at the same time. June wanted to deal with one thing, be it Vic, or Mike, or Mike’s boss, or getting away from the police. Just one thing. But since she couldn’t deal with any of those, she may as deal with Joey. She smiled at him.

“Can you tell me your question again?”

“How long do we have to get back?”

“Tootsie, countdown until we need to arrive back on Planchar?”

“Eight Hours, forty-four minutes, forty-seven seconds.”

“Thank you.” June looked back at Joey. “And?”

“I think we can make it back in time.”

“Joey, we took the fastest way here and had to take a detour. Vic lost time coming back for us. We don’t have enough time to make it back. May as well accept it. We lost this one.”

“No, I think we can get back in time. I just need to talk to Argmon. We can do it. I tried to explain it to Vic, but he didn’t think we could do it.”

“What makes you think we can?”

“Well, we’ve got nothing else to lose. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

He was right. She’d just given up as soon as she heard Tootsie give the time. What did they have to lose? “Okay, once we’re in hyperspace, get up there with Argmon and see if you can give him directions.”

Joey’s boyish grin was infections. June smiled back, but resisted the urge to kiss him again.

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Chapter 61

“I don’t want to hear excuses. I want the tractor beam locked on them and I want it now!” B.T. Justice fumed.

“Sir, we’re not in range.”

“Range, schmange! If the range is a problem, move faster.” Justice swatted the officer with the riding crop. “Move! Move! We’re not losing them again!”

They had lost the SS Acid Rat, or its decoy, and found it again, then lost it again. But they had the other ship. The one that Justice was certain hid the SS Acid Rat’s identity.

“Sir, that ship doesn’t have hyper…”

“Just move! Get me that ship or I’ll have your badge. Do I make myself…”

Justice heard the collective gasp from those on board the renegade ship as it slipped into hyperspace. Gone. Just like that the crew of the SS Acid Rat slid through his fingers again.

“Plot their course and follow. I want all the drones set up to intercept them and pursue.”

Justice’s scowl darkened the longer he glared at the star field on the screen, now absent of the ship they were looking for. How could he have such an incompetent crew?

“Sir, they’re headed for the Noir system. Isn’t that…”

“Yes, it’s a black hole system. It’s also near another black hole and a neutron star that’s nearly a black hole in its own right. What are they thinking? What?”

The Munchkada system sat near a black hole system. Could it be that the captain of the SS Acid Rat felt so confident in his ability to navigate near such an anomaly that he fearlessly headed into the face of danger?

B.T. Justice gripped his riding crop with both hands and snapped it in half.

“Set course to follow. We’re going after them.”

“Sir?”

“Set course!” Justice’s veins protruded from his reddened face.

The officer turned back to his console and plotted the course that would take the Apprehension dangerously close to the two black holes. The gravitational forces between the two stars could easily tear apart a planet. What would it do to a ship?

It didn’t matter. Whatever would occur would happen to the SS Acid Rat first. B.T. Justice snorted a small laugh. He wanted to be there when the ship was torn apart. He had to be there.

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Chapter 59

“What do you mean you lost them!” Vic screamed at Argmon.

Argmon put a strong arm against Vic’s chest and pushed him back into his seat.

“Well where are they? I didn’t see an explosion! They’ve got to be alive.”

They had to be. Vic couldn’t stand the thought that perhaps Mike had just killed both June and Joey.

Had Mike planned all this? How long had he been planning this? He’d obviously been in communication with someone outside the ship. Who? Not only who, but why? Who would want to be spying on the SS Acid Rat? It just didn’t make any sense.

Vic shook his head. He needed to focus on finding June and Joey. A lot of space stood between the two ships and the small cruiser’s black surface would make a visual search impossible as its stealth surface would make active radar just as impossible.

“How are we going to find them?” Vic demanded of Argmon.

A blinking light appeared on the ship’s console. Argmon pressed it and the Iron Butterfly’s, disguised as the Acid Rat’s, coordinates appeared.

“Go, we’ve got to get to them right away.”

Argmon didn’t respond, instead hitting the controls and speeding to June and Joey’s location.

“Tootsie, prepare the cargo bay for a space opening.”

No response came.

“Tootsie!”

Still no response.

“Hey computer, what’s your name?”

A beep issued from the Acid Rat’s speakers and a snooty voice said, “I am the T-11 XR34 Q14…”

“Yeah, whatever, prepare the cargo bay for a space opening.”

“I’m afraid that isn’t in my current programming.”

“What can you do?”

“My functions are limited. I’m afraid this ship of yours is not at all what I’m programmed for.”

The lackadaisical voice annoyed Vic. “Argmon, I’m going to have to prepare the ship manually. Get us in range and I’ll get those doors open.”

Argmon barked.

Vic got up. His mind reeled. Still he was affected by the poison. Weak though he was, he still rushed back to the cargo bay. He had to get all the doors inside the ship closed. The kitchen and his quarters were easy enough. A touch of a button and the doors swished closed. Same for the lounge and the crew’s quarters.

“Dexter!” Maybe Dexter could help out.

“Eep! Eep! Eep!” Dexter shouted from the cargo bay floor.

“Dexter, I need you to close all the doors in the cargo bay. I’m going to open the cargo bay doors and let June and Joey back in.”

“Eep? Eep? Eep?”

“I don’t have time to answer questions. Just get to it.”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

Dexter ran off like a shot. It never ceased to amaze Vic just how quick the tri-ped could move.

Pain encased Vic’s upper body. It hurt to move and he collapsed to the floor. He fished in his pocket for a dose of anti-venom. June had already given him a good amount and he’d ignored his body’s need for more as long as he could. He’d become too consumed first with getting away, now with getting back to pick up June and Joey.

Vic heard the engineering door close as well as the weapons room door. If he’d been able to, he would have opened up Tootsie’s main panel and started entering in the code to magnetically seal off the rest of the ship and open the doors, but he couldn’t even get the dose to his mouth; a mouth that had gone so dry, he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to swallow it.

“Dex,” he wheezed. His voice had all but stopped working. He had to take the dose. He had to get up and open the doors. June and Joey were trapped with Mike inside their ship.

But what if Mike had taken over the ship? What if they got the cruiser back on board only to find Mike? Would Dexter be able to take him out a second time? Would Argmon be able to fight him?

Argmon’s barking issued a warning over the ship’s speakers. They were being followed. The police cruiser was back. Vic no longer had a choice. He had to act quickly.

With no more thought, he dropped the dose to the floor and fell face first on it. He sucked and licked at the floor until the dose entered his mouth and he forced himself to swallow it. His body twitched and convulsed and three times he hit his head on the deck.

Still shaking, Vic raised up to his hands and knees. If June and Joey were transmitting, then it was certain the police cruiser would head for them first. Its target from the onset had been the Acid Rat. Vic had to get there first. He must. It was his fault they were all there in the first place. If anyone had it upon their shoulders to save everyone, it was him.

Vic pawed at the wall to find anything to hold onto. They defied him and he found himself flat on the floor again. The anti-venom didn’t work fast enough. Again he convulsed on the floor. He felt as if he would vomit, but he steeled his body and rose to his hands and knees again. He rocked back and forth until he sat up on his feet. From his kneeling position he found the access panel.

“Where’s SPX-39 when you need him?”

Vic opened the panel and used the door and all his strength to pull himself up. In order to stay standing, he had to place his head against the wall. The buttons came in and out of focus, but Vic knew the sequence. Didn’t he? Suddenly the buttons made no sense. The anti-venom pushed his eyes closed.

“No,” he said through gritted teeth and lowered his head nearer the panel. He entered the sequence to activate the ship’s magnetic field.

“Cargo bay magnetic lock enabled. Cargo bay empty of oxygen-dependant life forms.”

Good. Dexter was safely away.

Once again Vic lowered his head toward the panel and entered the sequence to open the cargo bay doors. When he pressed the last button, all lights inside the ship went out and a soft glow emanated from the cargo bay. Flashing lights displayed the warning and air started to rush out. Parts of SPX-39 disappeared into space along with the escaping air. Vic felt bad that he’d never get a chance to fix the robot.

With a hard thump, Vic fell to the floor, but remained sitting up. His head weaved and bobbed, but he stayed awake long enough to see the Iron Butterfly descend into the cargo bay.

God I hope you two are alright. Vic passed out.

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Chapter 57

Sheriff Justice stood on the bridge, his hands clasped behind his back. Alone. All alone. Just him and his crew aboard the Apprehension. Didn’t anyone understand the situation? Pitrine didn’t get it. He just wanted Justice to return home. Esconso didn’t get it. He had said the same thing. Go home.

That wasn’t going to happen. This two-bit bandit’s reign stopped now. Today. No one made a fool of Sheriff Buford T. Justice. No one.

Junior silently slid up along the sheriff and handed him a drink. He smiled and nodded at the boy. The jumpiness he got from his mother. The smarts, well, it was obvious the boy got those from the loins of the good sheriff. Justice smiled.

The plan had been put into motion with drones dispatched to any possible route the SS Acid Rat could follow back to Planchar. The drones were set to signal contact, then follow, sending back regular updates as to course and position.

He had both the SS Acid Rat’s codes that had been used and now had the codes for this second ship. The one he currently followed.

“Sir, approaching the Raado System. Any instructions?”

“Slow speed and do a full scan on the system. Scan and tell me if you spot either of the two ships we are pursuing.”

“Yes sir.”

B.T. Justice sipped his drink. “Also do a complete scan to see if any trail can be found from either ship. If we don’t locate either, we’re going to do a full stop and stay put.”

“Yes sir.”

He would take a vacation. After the parade and celebration in honor of his victory. No one had ever gotten away from Bamda with a load of tonindrium and this minor crook wouldn’t be the first. When he brought him back, there would be cheers and applause aplenty. All for him. Justice puffed out his chest.

“Sir, we’ve located both ships.”

Excellent. That parade would start sooner than he expected. “Where?”

“I show the SS Acid Rat in a wide orbit around the Raado moon. The second ship appears to be on course with the SS Acid Rat.”

“Set course for the SS Acid Rat. We’ll catch them both.” B.T. Justice took a swig from his drink. “This is a fine day gentlemen. Do me proud.”

The officer picked up the con microphone. Justice slapped it away.

“We’re running silent. I want to catch them by surprise.”

“But sir, that’s against regulations.”

That comment deserved a belly laugh and Justice gave it. “Being here is against regulations. Question me again and I’ll have you in the galley peeling potatoes.”

“Peeling what?”

“We’re running silent! Go!”

The officer jumped and started pressing buttons to set the ship on a course for the SS Acid Rat.

B.T. Justice never made the same mistake twice. He’d announced his coming before and that gave the crooks a chance to get away. This time, they wouldn’t see him coming.

“Get us into tractor beam range and lock on. I’ll take care of filing the report to make all this perfectly legal. Don’t worry about a thing.”

“Yes sir.”

Justice finished his drink and held it up in the air, shaking the glass to clink the ice against the sides. Junior, Justice’s pride and joy, fetched it and ran to refill it. What a good boy.

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Chapter 58

Joey could feel his palms sweating. June looked as cool as could be, but something about her change in manner disturbed him. Suddenly the inside of this tiny cruiser felt impossibly smaller. The edges of his vision blurred and faded in and out.

Don’t pass out! Don’t pass out! Whatever was coming he wanted to see it coming. How bad could it be anyway? June calmed down and her smile looked downright serene. The relaxed way she pulled her hair back and pinned it up. She looked great. She looked…

“Prepared?”

Slowly she nodded. Vic and the SS Acid Rat would arrive at any moment, but June didn’t prepare for that. Something else. She was preparing for something else. What? What could she be preparing for? What could it be about this ship, the Iron Butterfly, that she could be preparing for. It was only him, June, and Tootsie. Who else could be…

Mike! Joey almost spat the word out, but June’s hand, quick and dangerous, pressed to his lips. She knew that he’d just figured it out. But why hadn’t she known before? She had this psychic stuff. She should have known that Mike was on board. Unless she couldn’t read him.

Then why did she look so relaxed? Did she know where Mike was? Joey adjusted himself in his seat looked straight at June. She also turned toward Joey. Demurely she pointed at the back of her seat. Joey looked. A handle. To what?

That had to be where Mike hid. He was hiding inside a storage compartment in the back of the ship. He was hiding and what? Would Mike rush out and try to kill them? What would that gain? Why would Mike do that?

But then why had he tried to kill Vic? Mike had snapped and gone insane. It really had to be that simple. Joey felt he was going mad being out in space, why wouldn’t Mike?

June closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her chest swelled and Joey felt himself relax involuntarily. His mind cleared of all thought. Tension disappeared and he felt the most at ease he’d been since arriving.

The panel slammed down. Mike, big, hairy, scary, Mike in all his hugeness, sprang forth; fangs bared and eyes glossed over.

Mike didn’t even give a moments’ notice to Joey. Not even a glance. He went straight to June. June screamed. Joey hadn’t expected that. Reflexively he reached out and grabbed two of Mike’s legs. One of Mike’s legs whipped out and punched Joey. It happened so quickly that Joey wasn’t even sure which leg it had been. It was then Joey realized they were weaponless.

Mike’s rear pointed toward Joey as June fought to keep fangs from getting to her. Joey tried again to grab one of Mike’s legs and again was greeted by a punch. Joey’s head bumped the glass.

He had to get Mike off June. He had to. If June got bit, there was nothing he could do to save her.

Wait, was there?

“Tootsie, stasis field on Mike!”

Tootsie beeped and whirred. “Stasis beam unavailable on this model of ship.”

Joey punched Mike. Mike slammed back and pushed Joey into the glass, holding him by his neck. Joey wiggled, but Mike only pushed harder. Joey couldn’t swing, couldn’t hit, couldn’t bite. He even had trouble staying conscious. That he couldn’t allow to happen. Not again. He had to save June.

He could kick.

Mike squawked loudly. The sound reverberated inside the Iron Butterfly’s cabin. Joey kicked again. Mike released him and started to turn around, but June finally fought back. Mike returned his focus on her, trying to force his fangs down into her body.

“Tootsie, what can you do?” Joey screamed in a panic. He couldn’t go up against Mike and win, not without a weapon.

Tootsie beeped. “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can help you with.”

Her tone irritated Joey. He wanted to smash her and her nonchalant tone. He flipped open the center console and pulled her control box out of the Iron Butterfly.

“I’ll show you!” Joey prepared to smash Tootsie’s control down onto the ship’s console. Everything in the ship had gone dead. Their orbit faltered. Joey had just killed them all. He’d pulled the control of the ship free and killed them all.

Mike and June had taken no notice, but the ship had grown extremely colder all in a matter of seconds. Joey looked at Tootsie’s control cube in his hands. It was hefty in size and hard. Tootsie could do something to help. She really could.

Joey jumped onto Mike’s back. June’s screams increased as Mike dropped a couple of inches closer to her. Joey lifted Tootsie as far as he could and brought it to bear on Mike’s head. Mike hollered, but Joey continued to pound the box onto Mike’s head again and again. He continued to pound on Mike’s head until no sound could be heard and June’s screams died away.

Joey slid off of Mike and pushed him off of June. The bruises on her face and her messy hair were all she had to show for the battle with Mike. Joey ran his hands over her body looking for any other injuries. Anything at all. Everywhere his hands touched he only felt the fabric of June’s outfit. She winced slightly when his hand rubbed against her ribs and she pushed him away weakly, then grabbed him and pulled him in and kissed him.

She whispered in his ear, “Thank you.”

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Chapter 55

June pounded her fist on the console. She’d tried calling several people Vic had introduced her to and none were in range of Raado. Sitting just off planet and partially hidden by the moon, she’d seen four of the five police cruisers that had followed Vic return. He must’ve given them the slip.

A lot of good that did her and Joey. For that matter, a lot of good it did Vic. He may be able to land, but he wouldn’t be able to get out of his ship. He’d lose whether he made it there or not.

Joey sulked. June tired of his brooding. How could he just sit there and be so childish? She had to keep reminding herself that he was new out here as well as only eighteen years old, even though he looked much younger. No longer a child, but not really a man. He didn’t even need to shave.

“So what do we do now?” he asked.

June gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I don’t know. We’re pretty much stuck out here. I guess we’ll just have to float until Vic comes back for us or until we meet up with a convoy we can travel along with. Either way, we wait.”

“I saw those police ships.”

“Yeah, me too. Either Vic got caught and the one that didn’t come back was the one that’s been after him, or he got away and those ones came back.”

“What does that mean? I mean if he gets caught, what happens to us?” Joey’s faced strained as he spoke.

“Joey, we’re going to be alright. If Vic got himself caught, I just need to get us back to Munchkada. I’ve got some money put away just in case something like this happened. In fact…” She thought about the meeting she was supposed to have and decided not to tell Joey about it.

“In fact what?”

“Oh, nothing. We’ll be okay. I don’t want you to get all worked up about money or anything.”

Joey looked down at the surface of the moon. His eyes darted from crater to crater looking at each settlement and mining community. Clearly he enjoyed the scene. June decided to change the topic.

“That’s kind of neat, isn’t it? I mean, did you ever think you’d get to see a moon base?”

“I thought I might, but not this soon. I guess it still doesn’t feel real. You know.” He turned back to face her. “I mean, you’ve been back to the Earth. You’ve seen the destruction first hand. You have that to go forward with. Me, I still feel like this is just a bad dream and I’ll wake up any minute. You know.”

“Actually, yes. I felt the same way until I went back. But Joey, trust me, you really don’t want to go back there.”

“I don’t want to. I know that. I need to. I must see it to know it’s gone or my head will just keep telling me that I don’t belong here.”

June knew he was right. She’d felt the same way and had to really pressure Vic. Vic had complained about lack of money and came up with every other excuse he could, but June had worn him down and they went back. Joey couldn’t be denied that opportunity either.

“I’ll talk to Vic when we’re back on the ship.”

“Don’t you mean if?”

She did, but she didn’t want to say it. “Vic is smart. If there’s a way out of this situation, he found it. He’ll come back for us, one way or another.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

“Will you get off that trip?” June snapped. She crossed her arms across her chest.

Joey fidgeted in his seat. June watched his reflection. He’s just scared. Go easy on him. Why couldn’t she get him to talk about something else, anything else.

“How long do you think it’ll be before he comes back?”

At least he sounded more positive.

“It depends on how long it takes him to figure out he can’t open the ship without Tootsie.”

A sensor on the ship’s console blinked yellow. Slowly at first, then changed to solid green.

“What’s that?”

June touched the control. An outside view of the SS Acid Rat popped up. Joey’s mouthed opened wide.

“Is that what it looks like?”

June shrugged. She’d gotten used to it. It really did look like a giant, metallic rat. Skinny at the front, wide in the middle, and a tapering tail. “Well, yes.”

“I had thought the name was, well, just a name.”

“Nope. Vic isn’t very creative. I thought you’d have figured that out by now based on the fact that he’s had this ship, the Iron Butterfly, for some time and never named it.”

“Well, why is it appearing on our display?”

“He’s trying to contact us, just be quiet now.”

June fired up Tootsie’s transponder. Vic’s face appeared on screen.

“June! There you are.” He looked worried. It had to be the poison.

“Vic, are you taking your medicine, you don’t look good.”

“Send me your coordinates. Now!”

The jerk. He’d finally figured out he needed Tootsie to open the cargo doors and that’s all he was concerned about. She hesitated.

“June! Now!”

She moved her finger away from the controls. “You need to stop taking that tone with me. I’m not your servant. You could ask nicely.”

“June, just do it.” His face twisted in agony. Yelling was hurting him.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said ‘no.’ Why should I?”

“This is really important.”

Joey looked warily at June. “Why won’t you tell him where we are?”

Because she was pissed off, that’s why. Vic came all the way back and he couldn’t even be polite. “You’re being rude.”

“June! Look. I need your coordinates. Send them to me now.”

Joey turned in his seat. “June, just send them. We can bicker about who’s rude and who’s not later.”

“Who’s side are you on?”

Joey sighed. “Um, Vic, why don’t you try saying ‘please’?”

“Dammit you two, quit screwing around and give me the coordinates. We don’t have time for this.”

“All you care about is your precious money.”

“To hell with the money! This is more important! Now give me your coordinates!”

Vic never screamed like that before, even when he was healthy. And about the money? Vic was never one to turn down a profit. Something serious was going on. June sat straight, fired her finger out and pressed the button on the console to send the coordinates. She then casually flicked off the display.

“What was that about?” Joey said.

June leaned over and kissed Joey on the cheek.

“What was that for?”

“Thank you for sticking up for me. I’ll tell you later what’s happening. Trust me, you don’t want to know. Not now and don’t ask. I won’t tell you. Just sit there and wait for Vic and Argmon to come and pick us up.”

---

Chapter 56

Mike could hear voices. The last he heard had come from Vic, of that he could be certain. But the boss said he would send a ship? He contacted Vic?

If the boss contacted Vic, why didn’t he have the coordinates of the cruiser? Mike had sent out the beacon signal. Vic should know where they were.

No, Vic couldn’t be the contact. The boss’s plans didn’t include Vic directly. Vic was only a puppet being lead about, unbeknownst to him, by the boss. Mike thought fast. He had to react. Trapped inside the storage compartment of the small cruiser he couldn’t think well. He couldn’t hear well. June and Joey whispered or talked, Mike couldn’t tell. They were doing something and he couldn’t see. The gentle hum of the engines wouldn’t relent on his ears.

Mike put his hand on the small sliding panel between the storage compartment and the storage space. He pulled it down a fraction of an inch. Light flooded in. He repressed the need to snap it back up. He had to see what was going on up there. To be able to hear better.

He could. He could only see June’s left shoulder and Joey’s right, but he could see them. That put his mind at ease, but only slightly. He still couldn’t hear them.

June said something. Joey held up a package of crackers. Mike mouth salivated and his stomach ached. It’d been hours since he’d eaten. He hadn’t had the time to get anything before he had to hide. If SPX-39 had been flesh and blood, he’d have had something to eat. His hand twitched. He needed those crackers. If only he could get one, just one, he could satisfy this hunger.

No!

He had to remain hidden. The boss would not tolerate another failure. Mike had to stay put. If Vic came back to pick up June and Joey, there had to be a reason.

But Vic was on a timeline. Vic had to be back in Planchar. He’d lost at least two hours coming back for these two. He was going to lose his bet.

No!

Was it possible that Vic knew Mike had hid on board the cruiser? How could he know that? He couldn’t know that. It wasn’t possible. Vic wasn’t that smart.

Mike slid the panel shut slowly. He had to think and think quickly. If Vic did know there would be trouble. If Vic knew, he could have a chance to prepare. Mike needed to be prepared as well.

But how? All he had with him was the communication box. He couldn’t use it again. What would the boss think of two communications so close together? He would suspect that Mike’s failure was imminent and abort the mission. Meaning he’d blow up the box. Mike didn’t have a death wish.

There was only one chance; desperate, but a chance all the same. He had to take out June and Joey as he planned. No other way existed. If he could assume control of the small cruiser, he could shut everything off, go into stealth mode and follow Vic back to Planchar.

Even if Vic didn’t find the cruiser, he had to chance it. Vic would know that June and Joey were dead. He wouldn’t search for them because how could he find a stealth vehicle in the middle of space? He’d go back to Planchar to try and win his bet, something he’d never accomplish now, and Mike could follow in the cruiser.

Mike’s breathing quickened as he prepared to leap out. All he had to do was push the panel down quickly. He’d have to overtake June first. Her skill far outweighed Joey’s pitiful strength making her dangerous. Yes, June had to be first.

A yellowish film coated Mike’s eyes. He could feel a battle rage coming on. The communication box was pushed out of the way and Mike was ready to go. Just push down the panel and spring out. June on the right. June on the right. He could take her. He knew he could. He had to. His life depended on it.

One.

You can do this. They’re unarmed.

Two.

Mike opened his mouth and bared his fangs.

Three.

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