Part 14: Man With The Plan

Alex allowed himself a small glimmer of hope upon hearing what Jade just told him. “Free and clear.” That’s what Byron told her. One last job, then the Bucephalus and its crew would be an independent operation again.

That glimmer of hope faded away as the reality of that promise set in. Free and clear? Alex was still deeply in debt to Byron. Any job that would pay off that debt would not be easy. Any job that would pay off that debt would be downright impossible.

Alex’s mind started to race, contemplating what the job could be. He didn’t like what he was coming up with. But that glimmer, it wasn’t completely gone. He cracked a small smile, and asked Jade, “When will John and Kwame be back with the ship?”

“A couple of hours… but Byron actually wants us to meet him in the garage, he wants to talk with the whole crew.”

“Ok, I’ll grab the wagon. You let him know we’ll be there soon.”

*****

            When Alex, Michael, and Jade arrived in Byron’s garage, they found Kwame and John huddled over a table full of charts and readouts. John looked up at Jade, and cracked a big smile. She politely ignored it. Alex walked over and smacked Kwame on the back.

            “Well, has Byron told you guys anything yet? Or did he want to wait for all of us?”

            Kwame pulled up to his full height. “Only a little, but it does sound promising.”

            Michael started to shuffle through the information on the table. “Hmmm…” he said, to no one in particular, “Interesting….”

            “What is it?” Alex asked.

Before Michael could answer, Byron came into the garage. He had a big smile on his face, his arms held wide. “The best crew on the Rock!” he said, walking over to the table.

“You’re awfully chipper,” Alex said, crossing his arms. “Especially after the Hercules debacle.”

“Not gonna lie, that was bad,” Byron said, “but it was only a setback.”

“All of the other crews working for you quit… and so would we, if we could,” Alex said.

“Details, details. Besides, they’ll all want back in after we pull off this job.”

“Glad you mentioned that. Jade told me you said we’d ‘free and clear’ with you if it’s a success. What exactly do you have planned? I mean, the last time we went after something big, it was a disaster.”

Byron shook his head and walked over behind Alex. “True, true, mistakes were made. We over expanded the operation, but I think things will go much better this time.”

“And what is it this time?”

“You said that the Hercules scenario was a disaster… I’d argue it was a bigger success than anyone else realized… and it was all because of you and your team here.”

“Explain.” Kwame said.

Byron pulled a data drive from his pocket. “Remember this?”

“The data drive we used on the Hercules bridge,” Michael said.

“Right. In the time you were on the bridge, you managed to download the shipping logs, including where they were taking their cargo.” Byron said. He started walking around the table.

“That shipment of mutonium wasn’t heading to some refining facility; it was heading to a construction project. A construction project that isn’t quite finished, where we will find more ships loaded with the stuff.”

Jade chuckled a bit. “Are you telling me,” she said, “that someone is building something with mutonium, and that they need more than a freighter full of it? Wouldn’t be cheaper if they built it out of pure gold?”

“That is exactly what I am telling you. We haven’t been able to put together all of the details, but this is a massive production. They’ve been quietly buying up all of the mutonium they can get their hands on.”

“Ok, I think I see where you’re going with this,” Alex said, “but after our last attack, won’t their shipments be crawling with security? I mean, you’d probably need a light cruiser and couple of squadrons of fighters to rob one of them.”

“Good thing we aren’t going to take one of those freighters,” Alex said.

“Good, that’d just be crazy…”Alex replied.

Byron cut him off. “We’re going to take two of them.”

Jade’s jaw dropped. Kwame quietly shook his head. John looked at both them, then he too shook his head.

Alex was stunned. “You know, if you aren’t going to take this seriously…”

Michael interrupted him. “Actually, from what I see here,” he lifted up a datapad, “this is actually a quite sound proposition.”

Byron was grinning ear to ear. “Alex, you’re right, those shipments are going to be heavily guarded. That’s why we aren’t going to attack them. We’ll be heading to the construction project itself… something called the SPARK.”

“The SPARK? Never heard of it,” Alex said. He turned to Kwame and Jade, who were both shaking their heads. “What is it?”

“Don’t know yet, but we will find out,” Byron said, then he looked at Jade. “Actually, you will find out.”

“Hold on there. How am I going to find out what this thing is?”

“Simple, I’ve arranged a little meeting for you with one of the project leaders.”

“Really? And why is he meeting with me?”

“Because of the mutonium ore you have for sale.”

“Come again?” she asked.

“Here’s the set up. After looking through the information you provided, and making some calls, I discovered this SPARK project has been buying up tons of mutonium. But not from the big operations, they’re trying to be discrete, hitting the small operations. I planted some information out there, about how a small time asteroid mining operation got lucky and was looking for a buyer. Jade, you’re that small operation.”

“But I’m a pilot. I fly the Bucephalus, that’s what I do.”

“True, but these project leaders are human. They’ve been out there on this construction site for years, from what I can tell. And the one you’ll be meeting, judging from his profile, he’s a lonely guy. And, if you don’t mind me saying, Jade, you’re a beautiful woman.”

“I’m not gonna sleep with the guy, if that’s what you’re saying.”

 “I’d never ask you to. I just think that he’d be more willing to divulge sensitive information if he were trying to impress you.”

“Oh… hmm…” Jade looked down, rolling the idea around in her head.

“Where do the rest of us come in?” Alex asked.

“Glad you asked. This project is big. It has a big crew, and needs a lot of supplies. I got your ship a job.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes. You, Kwame, and Michael will be delivering supplies to the starbase where the construction crew is housed. That’ll give you access to the site. The same day as your delivery, there are two shipments of mutonium scheduled to arrive.”

“What about me?” John asked.

“You’ll be with Jade, her assistant. You went to college, on Earth, right?”

John nodded.

“I need you to use some of those skills. They’ll expect someone proper to be with her, someone who seems like they should be involved in a business. You have that air of money about you, you’ll do just fine,” Byron said.

He turned to Alex. “Jade, having finished with her job, will rendezvous with you. You’ll infiltrate the two freighters before they unload, with Jade flying one, and you flying the other. Kwame and Michael will assist.”

“How, exactly, are we going to get onto the freighters?”

Byron raised his hand as if to explain, then dropped it. “Not sure yet. We’ll figure that out, we have some time.”

“Ok,” Alex said, “assuming we can get onto the freighters, do you expect us to just fly out of there, no harm, no foul? Something tells me it won’t be that easy.”

“Now that you mention it…” Byron said, looking down at a his holocom. He smiled, then turned to the garage doors, which had begun to open. As soon as they were fully apart, a dozen small craft flew in. Shaped like silver arrowheads, the bottoms were entirely flat and smooth, a clutch of sinister weapons hidden from sight. The tops were nearly as flat, a small, clear raise in the middle the only indication of the cockpit. Crimson stripes only made them look more sinister.

Alex was impressed. “These are AC51 Interceptors!”

Byron couldn’t contain his joy. “Crew of the Bucephalus, may I present to you Brimstone Squadron!”