Dream thief

21

… HOCKING'S GAUNT FACE HAD taken on the coloring of a ripe tomato. He appeared ready to burst. But when he spoke, his voice was ice. "You let him get away! Fools! Idiots! You let him escape. Ortu will hear about this! Oh, yes he will. And I hope he deals with you as you deserve. I won't stop him this time!"

"Please!" cried Tickler. His moleish face was contorted in fear and anguish. "It wasn't our fault. That Russian pilot, Kalnikov-he knew about it."

"How could he know? Unless you were careless. You gave Reston an opportunity to warn them."

"There was no way he could. I swear it! Please, believe me!"

"You've ruined everything. Reston will be that much harder to catch now that he knows we're after him. He won't be taken by force, that's certain." Hocking swiveled away from his two quaking underlings. He seemed to relax somewhat as he pondered the situation. When he spoke again, it was mostly it himself. "No, it must be something subtle. It would be better if he came of his own accord. Yes, he must come of his own will-that way he can be guided more easily, and he will be receptive to the stimulus."

Tickler sensed a ray of hope in Hocking's change of demeanor. "That girl-we could get her."

"Would he follow her?"

"To the ends of the earth," said Tickler.

"He's in love with her," put in Millen.

Hocking's eyes sparked with interest. A thin, skeletal smile drew his lips taut. "There may be something in what you say," he mused. "Perhaps this is precisely the opportunity we've been looking for."

Then he snapped, "All right! This won't be easy-we don't even know where they're headed yet, so we'll have to improvise. Here's what we'll do…"

The discussion that followed was brief; it ended with Tickler and Millen bolting for the door and dashing away to carry out their new orders, glad for the moment to have saved their skins.

As soon as they had gone, Hocking propelled himself to the ComCen console across the room. He tapped in a code and waited. Seconds later a voice said, "Wermeyer, here."

"The takeover is begun. You will put Phase One into operation at once."

"So soon? But-" The voice was a whisper. "Immediately! This is the chance we've been waiting for." …

"THEY ARE To BE held upon landing. They have stolen a spacecraft. They are fugitives. You are the director of this station; you can order their arrest. You will do so."

Director Zanderson, his round face pale with fear and worry, fumbled for words. "I-I don't know if that's ah, possible."

"Oh, it is possible. In fact it is precisely what will happen."

"I don't want Ari involved in this. She's not part of it. She doesn't know anything. Leave her out of it."

"We're not interested in Ari. She'll be turned loose immediately." Hocking could see he was finally getting through to the frightened man and so softened his tone to a persuasive coo. "Of course, she shall be spared any unpleasantness."

"What about the others? Reston and Rajwandhi? What have they done to you?"

"They have stolen some very expensive secrets-a kind of tech theft, if you will. We want them stopped before they seIl what they know."

"I still can't believe it of them. Are you sure?"

"Positive. Why else would they run away like they did? I (lid not mention it before because I did not want to alarm you, but I think it possible that they intend to use Ari for ransom in case there is trouble."

This last remark drew a quick, worried look from the director. "They wouldn't dare!"

"They are desperate men."

"To think I trusted Reston; I grieved for him-and to think he was alive all this time, hiding here."

"Yes," said Hocking. "Now send that order."

Director Zanderson pressed a button and leaned over his desk and spoke into the wedge. "Mr. Wermeyer, have ComCen clear a signal for me to ground base."

In a few moments his assistant's voice replied. "Done. The signal's open. Channel two."

The director pushed another button and a tone code sounded over the speaker in the wedge, and then a lady's voice said, "ComCen GM ground base, can I help you?"

"This is Director Zanderson. Get me head of security. This is urgent. "

"Thank you," said the lilting voice. He might have been ordering flowers.

A second later he was talking to head of security for the GM ground base. He diplomatically described the situation and ordered the man to apprehend the two suspects and hold them. His daughter, he said, was not to be touched. He was to be notified as soon as they had been taken into custody. The security chief offered his assurances of a clean and professional grab, promising his utmost cooperation and that of his men, and asked for details of the craft and its ETA.

"It should arrive at five o'clock this afternoon your time. That's fourteen hundred GMT."

"I'll notify you personally as soon as they are safely in hand, Director. Don't worry about a thing."

"Thanks, Chief Tatum. I'll be waiting for your call." …

HOCKING'S HENCHMEN WERE WAITING when he returned from his talk with Zanderson.

"I am an absolute genius," crowed Hocking as he swept into the chamber. "I was magnificent!"

"He bought it?" inquired Tickler, wringing his hands.

"He took the bait like the big fish he is," smirked Hocking. "Ah ha!" he laughed suddenly. "You should have been there. It was priceless. I have him convinced that they have kidnapped his precious daughter. He's putty in our hands, gentlemen. When the time comes he'll follow like a lamb."

Tickler allowed himself a smile at their good fortune. He turned to Millen who beamed back at him.

Hocking continued. "Of course, I'm not for a moment forgetting your failure in this matter. But I will excuse it this time. It seems to have brought about a turn of events even better than we could have hoped for. Now they are the ones with the GM ground force on their tails, not us. And Zanderson is so confused he doesn't know what to believe. Their stealing that landing pod clinched it."

"What's next?" asked Tickler. He was becoming caught up in his master's contagious good cheer.

"We get ready to move out. There won't be much time – we'll have to strike and strike fast. Ground security has been notified, but if we can find out where they intend to land we may be able to save ourselves a lot of trouble. I will return to Zanderson's office to wait-I don't want to let him out of my sight. I'll be there if any calls come through."

"What about Kalnikov?" asked Kurt. "Won't he talk?"

"He can say anything he chooses; it won't matter. I was able to convince Zanderson that the taser belonged to Reston and that Kalnikov was in on the conspiracy. He accidentally got shot by his own side and left behind. Whatever he says will be assumed to be a lie. Besides, Williams has him wet-sheeted in one of his wards. No one will be seeing him for some time."

"Then this is it. The takeover has begun."

"That's what I've been telling you, gentlemen. Very soon now the station will be ours." …

ADJANI NURSED THE LANDING pod along a precision course which allowed for no margin of error. The fuel cells of the small craft had not been designed for extended flight, but since they had no intention of returning to the station Adjani figured, with the help of the on-board navigation computer, that there would be enough to get them down safely and with some speed. Spence and Ari were trusting that he was right.

"They will undoubtedly be waiting for us," said Spence. "There's no telling what Hocking has been up to. It's four hours since we left. They've had time for almost anything."

"I think we ought to call my father," said Ari. "We could let him know we're okay and warn him about Hocking and the others. He could also get us landing clearance at the base."

"I don't think it will be safe to land at that base. We'll have to choose an alternate landing spot." Adjani bent over the computer monitor and tapped the keyboard quickly. "We can land anywhere within a radius of twenty-five kilometers from the base if we want to be on the safe side. Otherwise, just pick your spot and I'll do my best to put her down anywhere you say."

"In other words, you don't know where we're going to land, do you? It's a shot in the dark."

"I wouldn't say that at all. We're safer in here than in the shuttle. It's just that the computer memory isn't charged with coordinates for landing in the continental USA."

"Oh," said Spence. "So, what do we do?"

"I could put us into orbit-we'd have time to pick out a place on our first couple of passes before our orbit started to decay."

"I take it big cities are out."

"Not at all. This machine was designed to land almost anywhere. We just won't have enough fuel to be picky. Anyway, we wouldn't want to come down in Pittsburgh rush-hour traffic. Why? What are you thinking?"

"It's just that since we'd planned to go to Boston anyway, why not try Boston Metro? Land on one of the old abandoned airstrips. They're running mostly rocketjets out of there now anyway."

"Daddy could get us clearance, I'm positive," put in Ari. "He could get us our coordinates, too, while he's at it."

"Why didn't I think of that?" mused Adjani.

"You two aren't the only ones with brains, you know," Ari said with a flip of her head.

"Precisely."

Adjani fiddled with the ComCen pac and in a few moments raised the signal channel for the space station. He matched the landing pod's signal and then sent the ID code. A second later the clear, calm tones of a ComCen operator rang out.

"Hello, Daddy?" Ari chirped as soon as the call had been put through to his office.

"Ari! Darling! Are you all right?" There was the concern of a distraught parent in the director's voice.

"I'm fine, Daddy. Really, I am. You probably know all the details by now-"

"I know what's been going on, my dear. Believe me, I've taken steps to remedy the situation."

Spence and Adjani exchanged questioning glances. Perhaps Tickler and Millen had been caught.

The director continued. "It must have been awful for you, my dear."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Where are they taking you? Do you know?"

"We're going to try to set down at Boston Metro. Can you get us clearance? We also need the coordinates, Daddy. I think if you can get those two things for us, nothing will go wrong."

"I'll do anything you ask, dearest. Anything." There was a long pause. "Are they treating you all right?"

"Of course! Don't be silly. We're going to see Mother. Daddy? Are you still there?"

Another long pause ensued, and then the director said in a voice shaken or surprised, "I'm here. Why, Ari?"

"It's really too complicated to explain right now. But I'll call you when we're through. Don't worry, it'll be all right. Just promise me you won't get your blood pressure up."

"I promise, dear. And I'll have the clearance and coordinates transmitted as soon as possible."

"Thanks." She glanced at Spence and Adjani and then said, "I guess that's all for now. I'll call you after we've seen Mother and I'll tell you all about it."

"I'll wait for your call, dear."

Ari said good-bye to her father and turned to the others. "He didn't sound too good. He's terribly worried, I can tell. He didn't even ask about either of you."

"I suppose I'd worry, too, if my daughter was galloping all over the galaxy shooting it out with ill-tempered ruffians. Of course, he's worried."

"You know," said Adjani slowly, "I think he thought we had kidnapped you."

"What makes you say that?" Ari laughed. "He would never believe such a thing. How could he?" …

" How WAS THAT? " ASKED Director Zanderson.

"Perfect," replied Hocking. "You were perfect. Very convincing."

"I guess I'll call Ground Security and have them picked up at Boston Metro."

"Not so fast! I have a better plan, Director. I believe I'll go down and apprehend them myself."

"You? But why not-"

"Tut, Director. I assume you would rather keep this thing as quiet as possible? With your daughter involved, you must consider the effect of such publicity."

"I don't trust you, Hocking."

"Then come with me, Director. Yes, that's splendid! We'll go together."