Chapter 23
‘How much do we have left on the one-use debit cards?’ Mervyn asked struggling against the pain in his wrist.
Aurora collected the remaining cards together and inserted them in the pay slot one at a time, ‘About enough for one arm and one leg.’ The automed contained several different sized compartments, including a full-body tank that Mervyn had used after the killer swot. ‘Stick your arm in there, Mervyn, I will feed the credits in.’
Mervyn waived his friend forward, ‘You go first, Tarun,’
‘No, no. You are more badly injured than me, all I’ve done is sprained my ankle.’
‘I’m not being considerate -- I can run, you can’t.’
Tarun stood his ground, ‘I insist you go fist, Merv.’
‘This is no time to be chivalrous, Tarun.’
‘Quarks, will one of you just shove something in the hole,’ Loren growled, her chima blushing a murky green with frustration. Mervyn waved Tarun to the machine again. Reluctantly, Tarun placed his leg in an aperture near the ground while Aurora selected a gender from the four options and clocked in his other essential details: species, age, injury, weight. A minute later when Tarun withdrew his leg the swelling had vanished. He flexed his ankle and tested it with his weight, ‘Excellent.’
Mervyn placed his arm gingerly into a waist-high aperture and felt the tingling warmth as the automed repaired the damaged tissue of his wrist.
‘Muons,’ Aurora muttered, ‘no more credits.’
Mervyn withdrew his arm and examined the repair. Crusted scabs still covered the puncture wounds, but at least the pain had eased to a dull ache; the rest would just have to heal naturally.
‘No more time either, I think,’ Mervyn said watching Valna hurry towards them from his lookout post at the far end of the street.
‘Raptors,’ Valna squeaked, he scooped up their bags and headed off down an alley, ‘follow me! We are close.’
‘This is captain Belushi,’ Valna said, introducing them to a smartly dressed Ethrigian. They were standing inside the airlock of a trading vessel docked directly to the main hull – no transit tubes here. It must have cost a fortune in docking fees -- Belushi had connections. ‘The Captain will take you out of there tonight.’
The stout Ethrigian smiled in a friendly fashion and greeted his guests, ‘Welcome to my humble tub, The Valiant.’ His well-cut clothing suggested quality and general good taste, ‘Academy students are always welcome on my ship. Oh that we had more as worthy as yourselves,’ he bellowed. ‘Come, I will show you to your quarters.’
Belushi turn to the Palermo hovering to say his farewells, ‘Ok, Valna, you’ve delivered your payload, now get the hell off my ship.’ He turned his back on the rodent and shepherded his passengers towards a lift. Mervyn tried to wave goodbye over his shoulder, but the bulk of the captain stood between him and Valna. Soon stacks of containers obscured the Palermo entirely from view.
Mervyn watched the scruffy crew while waiting for the lift. No sign of hurry here. He thought nervously of the Raptors tracking them, ‘When do we get going?’
‘Don’t you worry about that, laddie, there’s no rush. We’ll go when we are good and ready, and not before. You can’t hurry departures you know.’
‘This is more like it,’ Aurora whispered, ‘a descent sort at last.’
‘Too smarmy if you ask me,’ Tarun muttered. ‘I’d rather trust Valna any day.’
‘I don’t like his ship,’ Loren said. ‘It smells, and I’m sure that emergency door isn’t secured properly,’ she said jerking her head towards a nearby corridor.
The lift opened and another crew member, as scruffy as Belushi was smart, ran up and whispered in the captain’s ear.
He looked quickly at the Misfits then away again, ‘We got a problem kids - clearance denied until we been searched. This way, I got a hiding place already prepared.’ With the friends trailing behind he weaved a path through the stacked containers.
‘See, he knows his stuff. He is prepared,’ Aurora said.
Belushi stopped by a ladder propped against a stack of containers. The door of the topmost container stood ajar.
Tarun looked apprehensive, ‘Up there?’
‘You will be safe in there,’ Belushi beamed and Mervyn’s stomach started to churn again. Aurora nodded and started to climb without hesitation.
‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this,’ Mervyn said following her through the darkened opening.
‘Nonsense, he is just well organised.’
The door slammed plunging the Misfits into darkness.
Mervyn shivered, ‘Nor organised enough to give us a light though.’ The container retained some of its chill from deep space, and it smelt rancid -- leftovers from the last cargo? He felt alone in the blackness and reached out for the others, but no one was close, ‘Where are you?’
‘Shh or they’ll discover us,’ Tarun whispered from near the door. ‘Do you think it’s the Naga?’
‘Of course it is,’ Aurora said from behind him. ‘Why else would the good captain hide us?’
A tiny light winked at the far end of the container. Curiously, Mervyn made his way towards it. Loren had made herself a torch: a diode and tiny wires, one running to her belt buckle, the other to a tunic button. ‘Different types of metal,’ she whispered to his unspoken question. ‘Acts like a crude battery, doesn’t produce much light though. Anyone seen my bag?’ Trust Loren to have a gadget.
‘Valna had it last,’ Mervyn hissed, ‘we’ll find it later when the search is over.’ They crowded around the tiny diode as though it were a flaming brazier in the night. In the darkness everything sounded much closer than normal: inexplicable bangs and scrapes, raised voices, muffled instructions. These things were meant to be insulated against deep space travel, but those noises sounded far too loud. Cheap materials, Mervyn thought, at least their quarters would be warm and properly sealed. He wouldn’t like to be out in space in this thing without a suit.
He jumped as chains clanged against the container. A moment later, the floor lurched as the container was lifted from the top of their stack. Loren’s light swept from one side to another.
‘They’re moving the container,’ Mervyn hissed stating the obvious.
Tarun groaned from the darkness, ‘Oh no, we’re caught. They have us.’
‘Just making us harder to find,’ Aurora said brightly. ‘Nothing to worry about...’ But Mervyn could hear the strain in her voice -- he could tell she didn’t believe her own words. As abruptly as it had begun the movement stopped.
Mervyn found himself holding his breath, waiting for something to happen. He strained his ears, listening for any tell-tale sounds outside. When the noise came it raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He knew that fizzing sound only too well: an airlock.
No one spoke -- they were all too frightened.