Chapter Three
The craft flew on and on. Edward wanted to try to set the path to Orleanais. But he did not dare to meddle with whatever path he had already set. He was frightened his meddling could upset the computerized settings to where he was going at present. At least he knew he was going somewhere called New Pluto which was the random place he had picked in the half-light that morning.
Edward’s geographical knowledge was pitiful. His schooling had been makeshift as he had always found excuses not to attend school. The nuns at the orphanage had been too busy trying to feed too many hungry children with a limited supply of food to spend too much time on supervision of their schooling. Edward and his friends had always preferred to run around with the street boys whenever they could get out of attending school.
He didn’t know what or where Pluto was. For the first time in his young life he wished he had paid better attention at school.
When at last he flew through the atmospheric line he entered a world of utter darkness around him. He passed several moving lights as he flew through the darkness of the outer space. Edward knew they were other space craft flying to various destinations. He hoped he would not bump into one of them. However, there seemed to be ample space to steer clear. Suddenly Edward felt at ease with the space around him and a pleasant excitement filled his very soul.
In the year 2120 flying through space was almost as common as flying a plane on earth. Many countries of the world owned space ports and colonies in the outer space. Those who could afford it used their private space craft for space hopping. Others used the passenger space craft running to and fro from various earth bases to most spaceports and space colonies. Orleanais was a space colony belonging to Americans. Unfortunately since American people were too busy struggling to survive, Orleanais dwellers opted to self-govern themselves. Edward knew about Orleanais because he had taken the trouble to learn about it since he knew his father lived there.
Edward peered at the various changing data on the control panel of the craft. He wished he understood some of it. He could identify the fuel gauge which was slowly moving downwards. For the first time he wondered whether he carried enough fuel to land on Pluto. The consequence of what would happen to him if he ran out of fuel before landing was alarming. He’d heard of flyers which never stopped floating around in outer space due to machine break downs or lack of fuel. He didn’t find the prospect of floating nonstop until he died, due to lack of food, appealing in any way. He determined to himself that he would not let that happen to him.
Suddenly he saw a large lighted area in front of him. It seemed to get bigger as his flyer travelled towards it and the number of other craft flying to and fro markedly increased. Since his craft was definitely on a path towards it, Edward deuced that this had to be Pluto.
Suddenly he felt the jolt he had previously felt when breaking through the atmospheric line of the earth. He realized he had travelled into the atmosphere of Pluto. What was Pluto, a port or a colony? He had heard that space ports were much smaller than space colonies.
In no time at all he was flying over a small area abounding with crafts of all types. He could see very clearly since the whole area was very well lighted. He was so fascinated by what he could see below, he almost forgot that he had to land. Fortunately he remembered the switch Oscar had pulled when he wanted to land and quickly pulled it.
Edward had no idea where he was supposed to land or how he should set about it. He knew his best chance was to land in a lonely place. But he couldn’t see any vacant places around. Almost half the area was covered in spacecraft, some big, some small.
Edward decided to follow some craft, using it as his guide, but planning to pass it and landing further up, so that if he didn’t land properly, no one would be hurt. He steered his vehicle to follow a craft which was a little bigger than his as it slowly flew downwards towards the land. The larger craft landed on a strip of vacant land and there was more room in front of it. As Edward followed it in for a landing he overshot the spot, and this frightened him, forcing him to head straight towards some trees and bushes. With the ground getting closer and coming at him so fast; Edward closed his eyes not knowing what to do.
Suddenly there was a sound of crashing and Edward felt the craft hurtle through the bushes he had seen earlier. As it came to rest on the bushes he slowly opened his eyes to the world. He found himself seated at an angle because he was on top of some bushes. He reached back and touched his tender head which had hit the door frame. Then a frightening thought raced through his head.
He had heard that aircraft which crashed usually burst into flames due to damaged fuel tanks. Thinking this would happen to him he decided he needed to get out of the craft as fast as he could. Grabbing his bundle of belongings, he tried to open the door of his craft, but nothing moved. He realized the craft was so tilted that; it was probably jammed against something. Nimble as a monkey in spite of his aching head, he climbed over to the passenger door. Just as he tried to open it, the door opened from outside and a man’s head looked in.
“Are you hurt?”
“Only my head. I knocked it against the door.”
“Gracious, it is a boy! Where is your driver?” but he could see that there was nobody else in the craft.
“Oh, so you drove it. No wonder you didn’t know how to land. Well, first things first, let us get you out of this in case it bursts into flames.”
The man pulled Edward out of the tilted craft and set him down. The bundle slipped from Edward’s hands and fell back into the craft.
“Oh, my stuff fell back in.”
“What stuff? Don’t be silly, we have to get you out of here soon. Who knows whether this will catch fire?” the man lifted up Edward bodily and set him down a little way away from the bush on which the craft rested. Edward could see that the craft was not very much higher than ground level since the bush was only about four feet tall.
“Is it full of fuel or were you coming to the port to refill?”
“There is only a very little fuel left in the craft” Edward’s answer was given very grudgingly since he did not want anybody else to know about the craft. At least one mystery was solved; Pluto had to be a port.
The man looked over Edward coolly. “Aren’t you a bit too young to fly a craft like this?”
“It is my father’s craft. He lets me take it when I want to go anywhere.”
“Without a license?” the lifted eyebrows reminded Edward uncomfortably of his very strict school teacher.
“I just wanted to come to the fueling yard. My father is held up at a meeting and I thought I would fill it up, since we need to get back to Earth soon” even Edward was surprised at how fast he could think up lies.
“So are you going to contact your father to tell him what happened?”
“I can’t disturb him, his meeting is very important. Besides, this is the first time I have come to Pluto and I don’t know how to find him” Edward felt his reply was a master stroke.
He was mistaken. “Why don’t you contact him on his mobile link?”
“Oh, I forgot to bring mine when we left this morning” being an orphan Edward had never owned one even though he had seen the adults at the orphanage using them.
“Okay, then since you can’t contact your father, we will have to try to get your craft off the bush, won’t we?”
Suddenly Edward realized that the two of them were quite alone in the middle of the patch of trees and bushes. Nobody had run up to see the crashing craft.
“Nobody else seems to have seen me crashing?”
“Son, nobody here is interested. Flyers crash all the time at this port.”
“Doesn’t anyone want to help? Supposing somebody gets really injured.”
“I see you don’t know anything about Pluto. The people here are not interested in anyone else but themselves.”
“But you came, sir!”
“Never trust anyone in Pluto. For one thing I was right here when yo
u crashed. I was seated right next to this bush! Besides how do you know I don’t have ulterior motives in coming to see what happened to you?”
“Do you? “Edward asked very gravely, looking up at the man.
Eyes twinkling, the man smiled. “I think it is high time we made ourselves known to each other. My name is Jim Hawks” he held out his hand.
Edward shook his hand. “I am Edward Finnegan.”
“Nice to meet you Edward. Now let us get this craft down. Can you do it?”
“Er.... well, I don’t really know how I should do it.”
“Then let me show you! I will get in and take it up on the vertical.”
“Oh, can you do that? I thought I would need to go forward first.”
“No, all newer versions of spacecrafts can go up vertically.”
Jim began to climb into the craft through the lopsided passenger door. Edward started following him.
“Why don’t you stay on the ground until I extricate it from this bush? Then I will not be exposing you to risk in case the craft tilts.
“No, thank you sir. I want to be in my craft when it goes up.”
The emphasis on the “my craft” was not lost on Jim. “So you are afraid I might steal your craft?”
“Didn’t you tell me you may have had ulterior motives in coming to help me?” Edward’s voice was dead pan.
Jim laughed loudly. “Smart lad!” He took his seat at the controls and started the engine of the flyer. Edward scrambled to the front passenger seat and belted himself in.
“So where do you want me to take this? To the fuel filling outlet?”
“No!” Edward’s reply was instinctive. He did not have money to pay for fuel. He was at a loss to think of a place to land.
Jim gave him a sideways look and did not press him for an answer. “I will take this up vertically until we are clear of the trees. Then I will land in a little vacant strip I know, there is nobody living in that area. I am afraid to try anything else since the fuel is really low in this craft.”
The subdued Edward could only mumble, “Thank you, sir.”
Jim’s rescue of the craft was a master piece of flying. Edward who had run loose at the ECF camp for several years had seen enough flyers manipulating spacecraft to realize this. He wondered who Jim really was.
Soon they landed in a little strip of bare land near the fuel yard surrounded by trees and bushes, much like the place where Edward had crashed the craft. They got down and together inspected the craft to see what damage had taken place in the crash. Other than some denting and scraping in the body work, it seemed to be quite alright.
With a sigh of relief Edward said, “I don’t seem to have damaged it too much.”
Jim lifted an eyebrow, “Harsh parent?”
Edward didn’t reply. He wondered what he should do. He liked the tall slim man with the ready grin and twinkling blue eyes standing in front of him. Jim had brown hair which was badly in need of a haircut. For a moment Edward wished Jim was his father and that he had already managed to find him.
“Okay, now let us get down to basics. Since you don’t seem to want to tell me anything, let me guess and you tell me if I am right” Jim spoke with resignation. “I think you have run away from home stealing your father’s craft. By the way I think your father works in the military and you have stolen his official craft because this is way too sophisticated to be a privately owned craft. I think you have run out of fuel and now have no way of getting any since you don’t have any money. What I know is that the military will be chasing behind you very soon and once they catch you, you will be in BIG trouble.”
“I will not tell you everything. But you are right about the fuel; I have no money to buy any. Are you a runaway soldier, Sir?”
“Call me Jim, kid, not Sir. We are going to be friends, Edward. I think you need me just as much as I need you.”
“You need me?”
“Yes, I need to get out of this port and I don’t have a way to do it.”
“Buy a ticket and go in a passenger craft?”
“No money” Jim’s reply was laconic.
“So you want to get off Pluto using my craft?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you planning to go?”
“I don’t have a particular place in mind. I just need to get off Pluto. Where did you plan to go?”
“Orleanais.”
“That is some distance away, Edward. Why do you want to go there?”
“I have a reason.”
“Which you are not going to tell me. Why not?” he sounded genuinely curious.
“I don’t know you well enough. And you are grown up.”
“I see.” Jim stood up briskly and said, “Well, we have to find some fuel now.”
“How do we do that? Besides, I am very hungry and I don’t have money for food!” Edward could feel the desperate rumblings of his tummy. He hadn’t eaten for so long, he felt as though it was several days.”
Jim laughed. “Then we will have to find some food for you, won’t we?”
“First let us hide the craft so that nobody will see it to steal it” he added.
“Hide it where?”
“Right here where it is parked. Didn’t you notice, I parked it next to this overhanging bush? If we push it right under the hanging leaves, it will be quite hidden. We can cover the rest with a few branches we can cut from the trees. You see, nobody comes this way along the ground. If anybody sees it, it will be from the sky. That is why we have to make it look like part of the bush.”
The two of them managed to push the craft to a place right under the overhanging bushes. It was made easier since Jim appeared to know all about the spacecraft. Edward was suspicious and reluctant to let Jim make all the decisions, but really there seemed to be nothing else he could do. Jim pulled out a deadly looking small knife and used it to cut a few leafy branches off a tree. Edward placed them carefully so that the craft was almost entirely covered in greenery.
Finally, when they were both satisfied that the craft was well hidden, they set off to find food. Edward assumed that Jim had money to buy food. He was determined that he would repay Jim any money that was spent on his behalf. He knew his father would pay it. He had to believe it to hold on to his hope of finding his father.
Very soon they were beyond the little copse of trees and were walking along a narrow paved path. They passed the very busy fuel filling yard over which Edward had flown a little earlier and came to crossroads. Edward couldn’t believe his eyes at the sights he saw. There were shops along all the roads he could see and they were full of various types of goods. But Edward’s eyes were on the food. There were fruit stalls so full of fruit their fruit baskets were spilling out on to the roads. There were curbside stalls full of food in glass cases. There was a brisk trade going on with many people lining up to buy food.
“This is the rush hour for food, it is lunch time” Jim commented when he saw Edward’s amazement.
“But there is so much food, I have never seen so much of it at once” Edward’s voice quivered with excitement.
“From just where did you fly in Edward?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“So your father is not here in Pluto, is he?”
“No.”
“Is he in Orleanais?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so you are not running away from your father, you are trying to join him. That is fine by me. Did you come from Earth?”
“Yes.”
“Wow that is some feat! And all by yourself too. No wonder you haven’t seen food then. I know how scarce food is there.”
“How did so much food get here?”
“It is grown here on Pluto, unlike most food on Earth.”
“Did you come from there too?”
“Yes, some time back though, I have been space hopping for a while. Now we need to work out how we are going to get some food.”
“Aren’t we going to buy it?”
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“I told you I don’t have any money so we need to use our wits to eat.”
“You mean steal some?”
“I prefer to call it pitting our wits against gullible people!”
“I see. So how do we do that?”
Jim considered the situation. “I think we can manage to eat very well today since there are two of us. It is easier to pull a con when there are two people.”
Edward’s eyes were as round as saucers. “So how do we do it?”
Jim bent down and whispered in Edward’s ear. Edward grinned and nodded. They walked on until they came to a restaurant with a glass covered front. All the people sitting inside could glance out at the road through the glass if they so wished. The people sitting at the tables next to the glass had the best view.
The man and the boy walked in just like any other customers. They sat at a table in the interior and ordered food. Even the jaded waiter looked impressed at the size of their order. Once the waiter left to get their food, Jim walked nonchalantly to the wash room area. Edward sat at the table and waited.
Soon Jim came back and other than winking at Edward he did not refer to the con. The two of them chatted about this and that and when the food finally came, they went at it heartily. Edward had never had or even seen such a great meal in his life. When the dessert arrived, Jim passed his plate to Edward saying, “You can have mine too, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.”
Then he got up heading to the wash room once more as Edward sat enjoying the two desserts. Just as he was nearing the end of his apple pie, there was a loud crash from the road in front of the restaurant. Everybody in the place turned towards the glass to see what the noise was about. Edward cried out loudly, “Oh, what happened?” and ran near the glass to look at the road.
There was a loud commotion in front of the restaurant. There was an altercation going on between two men and their noise was deafening. A motor scooter parked next to the restaurant had crashed on to the ground and as expected one of the men arguing was Jim. The other obviously was the owner of the motor scooter. Edward ran out to join Jim and as soon as he came out of the restaurant, Jim grabbed him by the hand and both of them took to their heels running. The stunned audience didn’t realize what was happening until the waiter ran out behind them shouting “Hey, they haven’t paid for their food! Catch them, catch them!”
A few men standing close by started giving chase, but Jim, who knew the area well, turned through this and that alley managing to lose them.
“So how did you get out from the restaurant?”
“The fire exits are usually next to the wash rooms in these places. These buildings are quite alike you know. Just to be sure, I checked it out before we ate the food. If there was no way out, I would have taken you and walked out before the food arrived. They can’t ask us to pay for food we hadn’t eaten or had even arrived on the table. Since the exit was there, I walked out from there and went to the front. I just pushed the motor scooter parked in front of the shop to the ground to make a loud noise.”
“The scooter could have got damaged.”
“Some parts of it did get a little damaged, but I made sure it was only superficial. I am sorry about it, but my need was too great.”
“But why didn’t the waiter ask you to pay before you got up to go to the wash room?”
“The food we ordered was still on the table and you were still eating. So naturally it would never occur to him that I will not come back to the table. Besides they would have only just started to prepare the bill. You see Edward, when you plan a con, you have to take into account the methods and procedures of a place, human nature, every little thing you can think of. Then you can con people successfully.”
“Have you done this before?”
“No, of course not, one can never repeat a con, certainly not in the same area. Besides, you know we needed two people to do this. They would never have let me out of their sight if you were not still seated at the table.”
“Thank you Jim, for a lovely meal. The best I have ever had. And wasn’t it funny, when the waiter saw you outside the restaurant?” Edward started giggling.
Jim smiled. “Now we have to plan how we are going to fill the flyer with fuel. Let us put our thinking hats on!”