Earlier they had said goodbye to Chubbs at the space port.
***
"You gonna be OK, big man?" Chase asked him.
"I guess so," Chubbs shrugged.
"What's your plan?" asked Hendricks.
"I'm not sure. I suppose I will try and find my wife and, well it's been a long time, but?"
"But it would be nice to see her," finished Julianna.
"Yes, even from a distance," Chubbs angrily brushed away a tear.
"We couldn't've done all dis wit'out you, Chubbs," Jimmy told him.
"I hope you succeed," he wished them.
"Same here," agreed Milk.
Chubbs laughed. "I could stay here saying goodbye all day just to put off leaving."
Chase smiled.
"Then it's time for us to part. Jimmy's right, we couldn't have escaped without you. Thanks, man," Chase hugged him and then the others did the same.
"Will I see you all again?" Chubbs asked.
"I certainly hope to finish our discussion on Jaintranian literature," Dr. Hendricks said with a smile.
"Yes. Yes, that would be good."
"Well then," pronounced Dr. Hendricks, "until then," and he shook Chubbs hand.
With a final look back, Chubbs left the space port to find a bus.
***
And now the gang was in a small restaurant eating a light meal.
"So what did you get from the prison?" asked Julianna.
"Ahh, right, yes," stalled Chase.
"What? What is it?" demanded Milk wearily.
"Well, it appears to be plans of the Laikan military headquarters on Laika," Chase said weakly.
"What?" Milk exploded.
"Put that knife down," Chase told him.
Milk looked at the utensil in his hand and decided that yes, probably best not to have a sharp object in his hand.
"You hid a clue in the Laikan headquarters?" asked Julianna amazed.
"No, I hid the Trimedian there."
"What?" Milk exasperated.
"Well I considered that the most likely people we were hiding it from were the Laikans and the last place they would look was under their nose," Chase said with palms up in surrender.
"You are a blinding idiot," fumed Milk.
"I think it's quite clever," mused Hendricks over his pipe.
"No, it isn't," countered Milk, "what if they had found it?"
"But they didn't," countered Hendricks.
"But they could have."
"But they didn't," said Chase, "and right now we have to think of a way of getting it back."
"We could just go and ask them," Milk sarcastisized, "No, wait, let's find Trillo and ask him."
"Look, Milk, it's not my fault, I was a different person then and you don't have to come. You can opt out now if you want. All of you can," Chase looked crossly around at them.
"I ain't got not'ing better to be doing," Jimmy said.
"Thanks, Jimmy."
"Yeah, I haven't got anywhere else to go anyway," agreed Julianna.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," chipped in Hendricks.
"What about it, Milk? Once we get the Trimedian it's all over for us," Chase turned to his friend.
Milk sighed and sagged.
"Yeah, whatever," he pulled a big hand down his face. "Sorry, guys, I just keep wondering if I will ever get to see my daughter again and we just keep getting into more and more dangerous situations."
Chase reached over and put his hand on the big Indian's shoulder.
"You'll get to see her again."
"You can promise me that?"
"With you at my side, when have I ever failed?" Chase asked and nodded his head to his friend.
"True, you'd completely balls it up without me."
"That's the spirit."
"So do we have a plan?" asked Hendricks who suddenly got uncomfortable as Chase stared at him. "Do I have something in my teeth?" he asked nervously.
"Teeth," Chase repeated and snapped his fingers into a point at Hendricks.
"I don't be getting it," admitted Jimmy.
"We have an ace up our sleeve," Chase told him.
"What?" asked Julianna. "Oh, yeah, I see," she continued excitedly.
"I don't," said Milk.
"Dr. Hendricks is a Laikan," beamed Chase.
"Well, nice one, Captain Obvious," replied Milk.
"Come on, Milk," chided Julianna, "We're breaking into Laikan HQ."
Milk's eyes lit up in understanding.
"An ace indeed," he said.
***
The Wild Rover came through the star-gate and into the Laikan galaxy of Tegariff Major. It was obvious something was up from the first; Laikan space was full of huge cruiser space ships along with planet bombarders, destroyers, motherships and large supply ships. Flying around these were different smaller ships, fighters, bombers, Missile ships. The sight was immense and overawing; space had been renamed 'slightly cramped'.
Almost immediately The Wild Rover was hailed.
"Laikan space is restricted, state your business."
"I'm here to see the High Commandant."
There was a laugh.
"Oh really? You think he let's just anyone pop in?"
"I have something he will be very interested in."
"Well you can give it to us, we'll pass it along and you can hope no one chooses to use you as target practice on the way out."
"How about you tell the Commandant that Chase Darkstaar is dead and I have the Trimedian."
Well that stopped him and the Wild Rover kept flying toward the core planet of Laika.
"The Commandant wishes to know who you are and how you could have done such a thing."
"I am the Laikan bounty hunter, Obarr and as for how I managed such a feat, that I will explain to the Commandant in person."
There was a long pause.
"OK, you are clear to head to Headquarters."
The Wild Rover flew on.
Laika was a beautiful, heavily wooded planet, I mean dogs always like running around forests right? The Laikans are no different. Despite their uncouth, uncivilised, animal nature, they are great environmentalists. They especially strive to save the Universe's trees and forests. Who knew? Well, I did, obviously. Actually I just made it up then, so?
Anyway
They had had no choice, but to clear some of the trees in order to build the massive military headquarters: circular on a thin base so that it looked a bit like a lollipop that rose even above the tree line. The blood red sun was setting over the trees as The Wild Rover, the Lechance in the atmospheric position, flew low over the forest approaching the HQ and then it pulled up sharply and descended straight down before easing into one of the massive hangers.
Obarr came out of the ship leading a battered and bruised looking Milk and was met by a squad of armed guards.
From here on in they talk in Laikan which when typed would look something like this: 'bark, bark, baaark. Woof!" so instead I'll write it in English, but italicise it. Cunning, huh? Yep, more cunning than a fox on special extra cunning pills.
"You are Obarr?" one of the guards asked.
"No, I am the post man," Obarr replied in a low growl.
"This way," said the guard and they formed up around Obarr and the be-tied Milk who struggled against the ropes.
They were taken straight up to the Commandant, but Obarr could feel that he was not trusted. Although not overtly, he felt that the guns around him were trained on him, that the guards were there to make sure he didn't try anything. The fools didn't realize that the four armed men didn't stand a chance against him.
The Commandant's office was on the very top floor of the headquarters and its panoramic window gave way to a breathtaking, er, panorama. The trees were blessed gold and red in the dying light of the sun which also glinted on the metal of the various ships taking off and landing in a steady stream.
"So, it is Obarr, is it?" asked the Commandant without turning from t
he window.
"It is, my Lord," replied Obarr.
The Commandant turned from the view.
"Oh, I am your Lord? I didn't think bounty hunters had 'lords'," he sneered.
"The rumours are of WAR, in such times all must come under leadership," grovelled Obarr, but only slightly.
"You saw part of our fleet as you came to Laika, I can assure you they are not just rumours. The UTN has for too long dictated to our people and now it is time to tip the balance in our favour.
"And now, if what you say is true, then the Trimedian is in our hands and there is nothing the UTN can do to stop us, we will defy and crush them," he shook a clenched fist as he spoke.
"How do we know this bounty hunter speaks the truth?" asked one of the generals.
Obarr pulled Milk forward and he staggered and fell to his knees.
"And who is this?" the Commandant asked looking down at Milk as if looking down at a pathetic Conian jost with a broken leg.
"His name is Milk, he is, was, Chase Darkstaar's right hand man."
"Hmmm, means nothing to me," the Commandant mused and tapped Milk with his foot.
"It does ring a bell with me, sir," said a Laikan at a computer. "Trillo has mentioned him in his communiqu?s."
"And what of the Trimedian?"
"Let's talk money first," retorted Obarr.
The Commandant laughed to the sky.
"So much for patriotism!"
"A Laikan has to eat," Obarr conceded.
"Indeed, but you have made a little mistake. We don't need the Trimedian. As long as Darkstaar is dead the UTN cannot get it either."
"Then I will take my leave," said Obarr angrily.
"Now, now, I am not such a tightfisted man. We will buy the Trimedian off of you; such power will be a great bargaining chip when the time comes.
"And of course you will be compensated for killing Darkstaar. Providing you really did." he turned to one of his lackeys. "Bring me Trillo, he will recognize this pathetic Human," he spat on Milk and turned back to the window.
'Valkswagon', thought Obarr.
***
Whilst Obarr was leading Milk up to the Commandant, Chase, Julianna and Jimmy pushed up the fake flooring that covered a large compartment. The ship had been buzzing with activity since landing, but it seemed quiet now.
Wait! You're probably wondering what is going on? Why are Chase, Jimmy and Julianna hiding? Who is this Obarr? And how did he get Milk? And why is he lying about killing Chase? Actually, you're probably not wondering, it's pretty obvious, right?
This is what happened?
They bought various clothes, makeup and hair dye and in the ship Julianna used her magic to make Dr. Hendricks look younger and with new carefully chosen clothes, not only did he look even younger, but mean like a bounty hunter.
"So Milk we need to make you look like you've been beaten up," Chase told him.
"OK, Julianna, work the magic," he told her and Chase punched him in the eye.
His hands flew up to his black eye.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?"
"Sorry, bro, got to make it look realistic," Chase said and suddenly punched him again.
"Argh! Stop it," shouted Milk.
Chase punched him in the stomach and then pushed him to the floor. Milk jumped up and charged at Chase, but Jimmy and Julianna grabbed him.
"Calm down," shouted Julianna.
"I'm sorry," he shouted back. "Why didn't you warn me?"
Julianna stood between him and Chase.
"Would you have let him?" she asked.
"Dunno," he admitted and suddenly she slapped him and his head whipped back. "Enough already," he shouted holding his stinging cheek.
"You look beautiful, my friend," Chase assured him.
"I'll get you for this," he warned Chase.
"I'm sure you will, but another time. We're nearly in the clear, let's finish this."
"And where will you hide?" asked Hendricks. "I'm sure they'll search the ship."
"Ahh, smuggling compartments of course," Chase said with a knowing wink.
So now they pulled themselves out and put the lid back on the compartment. They inched along the corridor and Chase was relieved to see that the ramp was still down. He took a sneaky look out and was amazed not to even find guards.
The hanger was gloomy and quite empty with most of the ships being out in space. The few that were still in the massive hanger seemed to be transport ships. They quickly crouch ran down the ramp and into the shadows of the hanger's wall. Jimmy looked at his computer which had the plans fed into it.
"We need to get to de udder end of de hanger and to de main building, from dere we need go down into de basement, if your memory be right," Jimmy told them.
"OK, get your guns out, if we get spotted things are going to go downhill very quickly," Chase commanded as he pulled out his twin pistols and they followed suit.
They slid along the wall and could see engineers working on the troop transports and could spot some private shuttles, probably for the top brass.
They got to the main doorway at the end of the hanger, managing to slide past mechanics busily working and took a quick look. A couple of what looked like soldiers were just passing across a wide expanse of landing area.
"Where to?" whispered Julianna.
"We need to be getting over to de main building. T'rough does doors dere and den dere should be a stairwell going down."
"A stairwell? How many floors?" she whispered back.
"Fiddy," said Jimmy.
"Fifty," declaimed Julianna in a whisper.
"We can't take the lift can we?" Chase asked rhetorically, "what if someone got in?"
"Valkswagon," she cursed to herself.
They darted across the expanse and through the doors, from there down a corridor to where it curved and slowly crept around. It was thankfully empty; most of those normally using this corridor were already up in space. They dived into a small storage room as a group of Laikans rounded a corner and waited until their footsteps died away. After that they didn't see anyone and reached the stairwell and started downwards.
And downwards.
And downwards.
And downwards.
"Who knew fifty flights was so far down," commented Chase.
"I could have guessed," said Julianna panting, "fifty's a big number."
"Look on the bright side; it could have been a hundred."
"Look on the bright side," she retorted "another comment like that and I'll throw you down the rest of the way."
"Point noted."
And downwards.
And downwards.
And downwards.
"Here," Jimmy said eventually looking at his computer.
Chase cracked the door and looked in. It seemed deserted, but that was hard to tell with the floor to ceiling computers and other computery stuff Chase didn't recognise.
"So where it be?" asked Jimmy.
"We need to find it," Chase told them.
"Chase, dis room be massive, it could take us hours."
"No, no, we need to find a terminal," Chase told them and cautiously led the way around a bank of computers.
They still didn't see any technicians. Computers whizzed and whirred around them as they walked and looked, looked and walked.
"There," spotted Julianna and they walked over to the terminal keeping their eyes wide for Laikans.
"What now?" asked Jimmy.
"Ask the computer if there are any anomalies."
Jimmy tapped into the computer and it responded:
NO ANOMALIES.
"Not'ing," said Jimmy.
"Ask if it's sure. Really sure."
ARE YOU SURE?
YES
REALLY?
YES.
SO YOU'RE DEFINITELY SURE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG?
WELL, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG, BUT I SUPPOSE THERE IS SOMETHING ODD IN THE MEMORY BANKS, BUT IT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
REALLY?
WHAT IS IT?
WELL THERE SEEMS TO BE AN EXTRA COMPONENT, BUT IT DOESN'T EFFECT THE PRECISE RUNNING OF THE SYSTEM.
FAIR ENOUGH. WHERE IS IT?
MEMORY BANKS, COLUMN 15 ROW 402, BUT HONESTLY IT'S NOT A PROBLEM, I'M RUNNING FINE.
HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN THERE?
JUST OVER FIVE YEARS NOW.
THANK YOU, WE'LL SORT IT OUT.
OK
"Bingo," said Jimmy. He looked at his computer. "Dis way."
***
By now Trillo was entering the Commandant's room.
"Ahh, Trillo, what took you so long?" the Commandant asked.
Trillo hated him, never a kind word, never a word of thanks. Milk, having not understood a word tightened against his bonds at the sight of Trillo.
"I was the other side of the compound, Sir," he said hating himself for kowtowing.
"This here is Obarr, a bounty hunter, he claims to have done what you failed to do and killed Darkstaar."
Trillo gave Obarr a vicious look and something clicked and whirred in his mind a lot like the computers in the basement.
"Take a good look at his captive. Is this or is this not and compatriot of Chase Darkstaar?"
Trillo walked over to Milk and glared at him and a small smile played across his lips a lot like a snarl.
"It is," he confirmed, "but I'm not sure I trust this bounty hunter."
"And why not?"
"Just feels wrong," Trillo said looking over at Obarr.
"Well we don't act on feelings here, Trillo," the Commandant chided. "Well done, Obarr, what's your price?"
***
As Trillo entered, Chase, Jimmy and Julianna had found the memory banks. They too reached to the ceiling and appeared to be rows and rows of thick, plastic disks. Each was a separate memory block that could be taken out and copied or fixed or viewed on another computer.
Chase got a wheeled ladder and pulled it over to column 15 and climbed up to row 402. He pulled out the memory disk and attached to it was a smaller disk.
"Got it," he claimed happy to finally have the Trimedian in his hands. They might actually do this.
He slid down the ladder with both disks.
"Here, put this into your computer and upload it, then break the original disk."
"Shouldn't you put the memory disk back?" asked Julianna as a shrieking alarm went off.
A computerized voice informed them that a memory block was damaged or missing.
"Shabbus," swore Chase. "Quickly get that uploaded."
"I be doing it, I be doing it," shouted a desperate Jimmy.
Chase and Julianna looked around expectantly, their weapons up.
"OK, done," claimed Jimmy who ejected the original disk and threw it in the air, Chase turned and shot it out of the air and disintegrated pieces of plastic fluttered down.
***
"Well done, Obarr, what's your price?" asked the Commandant when the alarm sounded.