Lunar Escape Read online

  Calin could tell Dean, on the other hand, enjoyed being seen with a woman of such beauty. With a big grin on his face and a hint of a strut, he weaved through the crowded tables straight to Calin and made a show of pulling out a chair for the lady. She gave a gracious smile to Dean and sat down, then gave a nod of acknowledgment to Calin.

  Calin shot a silent questioning look at Dean then held up two fingers to the barkeep to signal for two more beers.

  Dean didn’t wait on the barkeep and reached over to grab Calin’s mug, after taking a long swallow Dean smacked his lips in appreciation.

  “Dean?” inquired Calin patiently.

  Dean, obviously enjoying Calin’s confusion, held his hand out toward the woman. “Calin, I would like you to meet Shona Queen, Master Thief extraordinaire. And the woman who is so nicely fixing us up with that sensor mesh.”

  Calin gave her a nod and said “Nice to meet you. And thank you for the mesh.”

  “Thanks for the beer,” she said as she held up the mug the barkeep just delivered.

  “Is there a problem with the mesh?” Calin turned to Dean.

  “Nope, no problem. But the beautiful lady here is offering a payment option I thought you may want to listen to.”

  Calin, never a fan of re-negotiating deals, gritted his teeth but reluctantly motioned for him to continue. If this could cut expenses, or better yet, add to their profit margin he figured it couldn’t hurt to hear the deal.

  “Shona, my dear, would you please tell him what you told me? It would be more fun if he heard it from you.” Dean said.

  “Sure,” she said but paused to take a long swallow of her drink. She glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear and whispered. “I’ll give you the sensor mesh, but I need your help to break into the Exoplanet Building.”

  Chapter 4

  “Let’s give a warm welcome for the Governor of Caldera City, Silas Drummer!” the MC at the podium boomed in his best game show host voice.

  The crowd in front of the stage, a mix of tourists, dome construction workers, and likely some paid participants who enthusiastically gave a round of applause to the man that walked up to the podium. He waved both his hands in greeting. Tall and with an imposing muscular build that defied his age, he had light blond hair meticulously combed back on the sides and over the top in a failed attempt to hide a receding hairline. Silas Drummer held his hands up for quiet and smiled charmingly at the camera and the crowd before him.

  “Thank you, everybody, thank you. It’s another great day here in Caldera City, our home here on Luna. I am honored to stand up here before you, in this great colony and city, to celebrate another outstanding milestone we’ve achieved in making our city the greatest. It has only been a year since I started as your Governor and I’m here to tell you we’ve made some incredible progress in making Caldera City the greatest spot in the Solar System, the greatest. We have great plans for the future, they are big, they are bold, and that is what our city is all about, believe me!”

  The crowd exploded into cheers and clapping, while Silas looked out over them and soaked it in. He enjoyed the control he had over the masses.

  “I’m here because I wanted to be among the people, to celebrate this new dome with hard working Moonies who love their city and want to see it become bigger and better! This garden dome was one of my campaign promises, and a year later here it is!” He said energetically and turned to hold up his arms to the dome entrance behind him. He turned back to the podium and slammed his fist down on the top in excitement, “This is a beautiful park area for the hard-working officials of Caldera City, not the gang members and drug dealers from below, from Sub-level.” The crowd responded to his disdain with boos.

  He held up his hands to calm the crowd before he continued, “I followed through on my promise to build a new dome for our city, a new dome full of sunlight, trees, and open fields. My administration made a promise, and I’ve kept that promise. Within a few days of taking office, I started the steps to begin the construction of this Center Park Dome and created 2000 jobs immediately. Do you see? We will continue to expand the City economy outside the mines, outside the tourist industry, and create more skilled jobs with great wages. We will continue to build Caldera City, to continue to expand the City, until it is without a doubt the greatest spot in the Solar System, to work and to live, believe me!” He paused to enjoy the outburst of applause and cheers that rang out from the crowd.

  “As I stand here looking out over this crowd, just look at this crowd!” He pointed to the back of the room, “This hall is full, all the way back! I want to thank you, I want to thank everyone for coming out and helping celebrate the opening of this incredible dome. As I look out over this crowd, I want to renew in my promises I’ve made to you, to improve the economy, improve trade with Earth and the Harbor Space Station…” He looked up at the ceiling with a grimace, “They think they are so special, floating up there in their big space station above us, thinking they are better than us.” He shook his fist at the ceiling in mock anger and shouted with a grin, “Not anymore!” The crowd erupted again in loud cheers.

  He looked over the room and continued “And I promised to reduce crime! I’m working closely with the Planetary Patrol Division military to improve our security and immigration protocols. We are coordinating on a plan to eradicate the criminal cartels and the underworld societies here in Caldera City and everywhere they are hiding on the Moon. Now is the time to build up our community, to strengthen our ties to one another, to help our law enforcement, and my administration. By working hard and making sacrifices we can make Caldera City the jewel of the Solar System.”

  He stopped to gesture behind him, “But today is not about working, but enjoying this beautiful new dome. We are making the City proud, and we will make the Moon proud, we will make it safe, and better than it has ever been before!” He waved with both arms above his head and shouted, “Thank you, thank you very much!”

  And with that final fanfare, a stagehand handed Silas some over-sized scissors. For a few minutes he posed for pictures and holograms, then he dramatically cut the red ribbon stretched across the big open doorway to the park dome.

  Silas handed the scissors back to the stagehand and walked off stage flanked by his bodyguards, their eyes constantly scanned the crowd for any threat. Once off stage his new assistant met him in the side hallway with his schedule for the rest of the day.

  “Impressive speech sir! Everyone loved it!” exclaimed the assistant, Brandy, Bambi, or something like that. Silas could never keep his assistant’s names straight, most of them never stayed around long enough for him to bother. But he had to give his HR department credit for this one, as far as his assistants went, she was better looking than most. Silas Drummer, as Caldera City Governor and CEO of Exoplanet, had a reputation to keep. So he surrounded himself with beautiful women employees to maintain that image. As they headed down the hallway, he gave her a playful pat on the ass and grinned, “Of course they did Bambi. You always tell them what they want to hear. And if they don’t want to hear what you have to say, keep saying it until they get used to it.”

  “Yes Sir, and it’s Brandy, Sir.” she corrected him and gave her skirt a quick tug down.

  They continued down the hallway to his private elevator car, the two bodyguards led the way while a third trailed behind.

  Silas continued to explain to Brandy, the art of telling the masses what they wanted to hear instead of the truth when he paused and stopped walking. Turning to the nearest bodyguard he asked, “What’s that sound?”.

  When everyone else stopped walking they all could hear a slight, high-pitched whine get louder. The rear bodyguard spun around to look back down the hallway, pulled his blaster out and shouted “Incoming!”

  Silas ducked behind Brandy when he saw a small construction drone fly down the hall toward them at high speed. His bodyguards opened fire, the flurry of laser blasts surrounded the tiny drone until one shot hit it at onl
y 10 meters away. He expected it to fall to the floor. Instead, it exploded in a fireball. The shockwave knocked everyone in the hall off their feet.

  It blew brandy into Silas behind her, and they both fell to the ground. He was both upset at the attempted assassination and pleased with his position under Brandy. Hastily, much too fast for him, she clambered up and reached down to help him off the floor.

  Silas stood up and brushed debris off his tailored suit and scolded his security detail, “Some of you need to work on your marksmanship, your shots were way off and it got way too close.”

  Brandy, shaken by the explosion, stammered, “Did someone just try to kill us?”

  “No,” he reassured her, “not us, just me.” With a shrug he said, “At least once a month something like this happens. Don’t worry, I have the best security in the system.” He turned to glare at the bodyguards and growled, “But they rarely get so close.”

  A worried look crossed Brandy’s face as she asked in a shaky voice, “Did something happen to my predecessor? Is this why you go through so many assistants?”

  Silas pretended he didn’t hear her question while he listened to his bodyguard give a quick status report. He really didn’t want her to know his previous assistant had unfortunately stepped in the way of a sniper.

  “Tell Security to lock down the new dome and interrogate everyone at the opening ceremony. No one leaves until they find whoever flew that drone,” He ordered gruffly.

  He grabbed Brandy’s arm and continued down the hall toward the elevators. “I’m getting really tired of these pathetic assassination attempts. Shit like this is why I have to do some of the things I do,” he complained. “There’s too much violence! There are too many complaints!” He slipped his arm around Brandy and continued his rant as they neared his private elevator. “One day I will kick the Planetary Patrol Division off the Moon, enforce our own laws, and everyone will be so much happier! If only they understood that I am trying to help them, trying to improve their lives! It's the Planetary Patrol Division they should fight, not me!” He finished with a negative shake of his head.

  Brandy slipped out of his grip and resisted the urge to look at him in any way that revealed how crazy he sounded as he continued his tirade.

  Silas continued his rant. “These people, these Resistance fighters, they don’t know how much they need me to lead them, not fight them. They are pathetic! Every couple of weeks they try to kill me, and they can’t do it! If they would stop fighting me I could focus on improving the Moon, on kicking the Planetary Patrol Division out of here on their pathetic butts, and everyone will be better off.”

  As they neared the elevators Silas cooled off, his rant had released some of his nervous energy from the assassination attempt. He was all smiles again as he held the door open with his arm for Brandy to get on first.

  His head of Exoplanet Security was already waiting on the elevator as they boarded with a worried look on his face.

  “Sir, I have an urgent update about Mining Group 10.”

  Chapter 5

  Calin wasn’t sure if he had heard Shona’s request correctly, and by Dean’s response, he wasn’t the only one.

  “You want us to help you break INTO the biggest mining company of Caldera City? Governor Silas Drummer’s building?” Dean asked Shona dumbfounded.

  Shona, with an innocent expression replied, “Specifically, their Security Office.”

  “Now why in the Solar System do you need do that?” asked Calin as he leaned forward in the booth curious.

  “They have information in their internal system I need, and I can’t get it any other way.” Replied Shona. She took a deep breath, followed by a quick sip of her beer to wet her throat and continued, ”My brother Dom is a miner but 3 days ago he disappeared. No one has heard from or seen him since.” Her gaze dropped to the table, “We were supposed to meet up for dinner but he never showed or called.”

  “Maybe he is holed up with some lady somewhere, or on a bender,” Dean suggested.

  “He doesn’t drink, and the last I heard he was in a stable relationship with some chick that worked in the Capitol Building.” With a pained look on her face she continued, “He’s the reputable one, he has always worked and stayed inside the law.”

  “I take it he doesn’t approve of what you do?” asked Calin.

  With a shrug she replied, “He and I don’t always see eye to eye on a lot of things but we are the only family we have left.” Shona drummed her fingers in frustration on the table, “But it's not just my brother that's missing. His entire team, Mining Group 10, have all gone missing. Exoplanet hasn’t released any press reports of any mining accidents, but my brother and his team have disappeared. No one has seen or heard from any of them in days.”

  Dean gave Calin a questioning look before he asked, “I’m sorry to hear about your brother but what do you expect us to do about it? We’re not detectives or private investigators.”

  “No, but you are sneaky, you have useful connections, and you're good with a gun.” She replied with a nod toward Calin’s arm.

  He frowned, really not liking this. “If, and that is a big if, we agreed to help you, what would you need? As a Master Thief, this is more up your alley than mine. What can I get that you can’t get yourself?”

  She took another deep breath, and a quick look around she continued, “First, I need an uplink to the AI server at The Nightshade to get past the security”

  Calin snorted, “Then just go to Sam. What do I look like? His agent?”

  The Sam he referred to was the owner of The Nightshade, an illegal but popular underground nightclub in Sub-Level. Publicly it was a simple dance club and bar, but Sam ran illegally boosted Virtual Reality sims in the back. Along with other underground services, Sam also owned the only private Artificial Intelligence powered Deep Learning server on the Moon. It had been developed specifically to hack firewalls and security protocols. He rented out server time by the hour and it was really expensive.

  Embarrassed, Shona looked off to the side. “Well, um… Sam won’t deal with me. For some odd reason, he thinks I stole a couple of crates of 2018 Merlot from his stockroom. So I need someone else to get the uplink for me, and it will probably be best if my name wasn’t mentioned.”

  Dean gave her a questioning look and said, “Just for my own curiosity, did you?”

  Shona, her eyes wide and innocent replied, “A girl never steals and tells.”

  Calin gave a little laugh, “All right, your history is none of our business. There ain’t no innocents sitting at this table. That leaves one question. Why do you think you will need me and my gun?” he said as he gave his blaster a pat.

  Shona nodded again at his cybernetic arm, “You have a reputation as a man who never misses. If that’s true, I prefer to have the best possible odds in my favor if this thing goes south. That is a big government building, with lots of active security.”

  She reached into her shirt pocket, pulled out a crypto-disk and slid it across the table to Calin. “Here’s 10k, In addition, I will give you the sensor mesh you wanted for your ship.”

  He sat there and looked at the disk on the table and weighed the options in his mind. He did need the creds, but to crawl right up underneath Silas’s nose in his own building was a more high profiled job than he preferred.

  “Come on, it could be a simple in and out. And with a little luck, no one will even know we were there. I only need you to come along if things go bad. So what do you say?”

  He decided and reached across the table, his metal fingers created a light clink on the crypto-disk when he slid it toward himself. He made the creds disappear and asked,“When do you need to do this?”

  “Tonight. And I hope I’m not too late already. And for a bonus 5k…” she looked across the table apologetically. “When I do find my brother, I’ll need your help to get him off the Moon. If Exoplanet caused him to disappear, they probably don’t want him to resurface either.”

  “We
normally smuggle people onto the Moon, not off it.”

  “Once I get Dom to Earth, I’ve got connections that can get us a job in one of the private space stations under new IDs. And I will be done with this damn Moon.” She said venomously.

  As Shona finished her pitch, a large drunk got up from a table to their left and stumbled toward them.

  “Hey there, sweetheart.” the drunk slurred. “These two don’t look like they are giving you a good time, why don’t you come over to my table for some fun?”

  Shona gave a flick of her hand in dismissal and said flatly, “No. Now go away.”

  “Ah, come on now friend! Don’t act like that.” The drunk said loudly as he swayed side to side. “I’ve got a full pitcher of beer over here and need someone to share it with.” The drunk smiled as he placed his hand on her shoulder and leaned in close.

  A look of disgust hit her face at the same time the drunk’s breath did. With one hand still holding her mug, her other hand slipped up passed the drunk’s shoulder, grabbed him by the back of his head, and slammed it into the table so hard their beer mugs bounced. She casually released her hand from his hair as he slid, unconscious, to the floor. With a sneer down at him, she brushed her hand off on her leg.

  Calin couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. He was impressed. Shona was gorgeous and could more than handle herself.

  “Sure, I can get you two off the Moon," he said. "But I will only take you as far as Harbor Station. If you need to go to Earth, you are on your own from there. I try my best to never go dirtside.”