Milky Way Repo Read online

  Milky Way

  Repo

  Michael Prelee

  Copyright © 2014 Michael Prelee

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-0-692-30759-5

  ISBN-13:

  For Tina, who gives so very much and asks so very little.

  Sorry this took so long.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The author respectfully acknowledges the efforts of the giants whose shoulders he stands upon.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Barrigan Three was a dump of a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A. Nathan Teller hated visiting here. It was habitable only in the sense that there was air to breathe and water to drink. The air smelled like sulfur due to constant volcanic eruptions at the equator and the water had to be filtered to clean out the rotten egg taste. Nathan had spent the past week on the planet and was glad to be high above it now. He was on the orbital shipyards which serviced the ore freighters carrying Barrigan Three’s iron and nickel to other planets.

  He and his companion were dressed in the dirty gray coveralls of the mechanics that occupied the shipyards. Nathan was the shorter of the two by a few centimeters. He looked like a middle aged flight mechanic on a cargo vessel with a slight paunch and short brown hair just starting to show some gray. Cole Seger was in considerably better shape, leaner and harder than his captain. They approached a hatch leading to a dock. Through a small window they could see a large container ship secured outside. Four hundred meters long and painted a ghastly bright orange, the Martha Tooey looked like every other long distance freighter that moved cargo containers full of goods from one planet to another. Nathan double checked the dock number and looked at his companion. The larger, quieter man gave Nathan a barely perceptible nod and they opened the hatch.

  The gangway was long and narrow, ending at an airlock that connected the shipyards to the freighter. A guard sat on a chair outside the airlock snoring loudly. Nathan and Cole walked quietly past him to the small window at the end of the gangway. They stared outside and stole a look back at the guard.

  Nathan pulled a bottle out of his coveralls and took a pull on it. He passed it to Cole who did the same. The guard continued to snore.

  With a look of exasperation on his face, Nathan looked at the deck, spotted a bolt and kicked it the length of the gangway. It skittered along the rusted metal, clanging and banging as it traveled down the way they had come.

  The guard woke up, startled to see he wasn’t alone. He stood up, grabbed a metal pipe and waved it in the direction of Nathan and Cole. “What are you doing here?” he said. “You ain’t supposed to be here.”

  Nathan hefted the bottle. “We’re lookin’ for a place to drink. We were at Moochies but he threw us out. He said my buddy couldn’t bet on the dog races in his place.”

  The guard considered this. “Moochie don’t like bettin’. He threw me out last week because I was bettin’ on the dogs.”

  Cole passed the guard the bottle. “Look, we don’t want any trouble. We just figured nobody would be around.” He gestured at the freighter outside. “That bucket hasn’t moved in weeks.”

  The guard nodded as he gulped down a long swallow. “The dock boss has this bucket tied up because of some pay issue.” He burped loudly. “I’m here to make sure no one takes her.” He pointed out the window. “Just look at it. Who the hell would want that bucket?”

  The guard turned back to see Cole holding a gun on him. Nathan stepped forward. “We would, friend. Now we need you to be cooperative. If you are, you can go home with a little money in your pocket. If you’re not, you probably won’t go home at all.”

  The guard stammered. “What’s going on?”

  “Not that it concerns you but the Martha Tooey’s owner doesn’t see things the dock master’s way and wants his ship back,” Nathan explained. “We’re going to take it and you’re going to sit here while we do it.”

  “I’ll lose my job! Mickey will- ”

  “Mickey? He’s the dock master, right?” Nathan asked.

  The guard nodded.

  Nathan pulled out a wad of bills and held it out to the man. “Tell Mickey you quit. Take it and follow us.”

  The guard looked at the money. Nathan gestured again. “What’s your name?”

  “Frank.”

  “Frank, look at this money.” He counted off the bills. “What’s that pay you?”

  “About three month’s salary,” he answered.

  This place really is a dump, Nathan thought. “Take the money, Frank.”

  The man considered his options for another second and then reached out and snatched the wad from Nathan’s hand. Nathan gestured to the airlock. “Is there anyone else on board?”

  The guard shook his head. “I’m the only one. There were a couple other guys but Mickey caught ‘em selling the freighter’s fuel on the black market. Since then I’m the only one.”

  “And your relief?” Cole asked.

  “I’m on for another four hours. Jimmy won’t be around ‘til then,” he explained.

  That matched what Nathan and Cole knew from their surveillance over the last few days. “Okay, then,” Nathan said. “Open her up.”

  They entered the freighter and made their way up to the bridge. It was a mess.

  “What the hell happened in here?” Nathan asked as he kicked dirty clothes out of his way.

  The guard shrugged his shoulders. “Them other guys that were sellin’ the fuel? They were livin’ up here.”

  Nathan removed a key from his pocket and inserted it into the master control panel. Lights came on around the ship. Gauges and monitors on the bridge glowed to life and he checked one after the other.

  “How are we doing?” Cole asked. He was sitting in the high pilot’s chair but still had his gun in his hand.

  “Good enough,” Nathan said as he tapped a gauge. “The batteries are okay but the fuel’s a little lower than I’d like. We’ve got a little less than one full bunker out of four. This guy’s friends must have made a fortune selling as much as they did.”

  “They did all right,” Frank said.

  “What was your cut?” Cole asked.

  “Enough.”

  Cole nodded and looked at Nathan. “Do we have enough to get under way?”

  Nathan did some quick calculations in his head. “I’d like a little more but it will do.” He entered some commands into a computer and a deep throbbing sound filled the bridge. “The engines are started.”

  “Can I go?” Frank asked.

  Nathan didn’t look away from the gauges. “Not yet. Just be cool. It will take about five minutes for the plasma to generate and another five to reach drive pressure. You can go as soon as we’re ready to launch.”

  Nathan turned back to the controls and settled into the pilot’s chair. The gauges were coming up nicely and the board was green. He checked the cameras for the cargo holds and saw they were still full. Perfect. He was getting the ship and her load.

  “Is this what you guys do? You’re pirates?” The guard asked.

  Nathan looked at Cole disbelievingly and then turned to the guard. “Do you see an eye patch? Is there a parrot on my shoulder? We aren’t pirates,” he said. “There’s a payment dispute about the load. The customer doesn’t want to pay for it now that it’s delivered so he bribed the dock master to hold the ship. The customer thinks the owner of the ship will give in just to get the ship back. That guy Mickey had the crew taken off and locked the ship in the dock. We’re here to repossess it.”

  “You’re repo men?”

  Cole smiled. “The best there are.”

  Nathan turned back to the control panel. He pulled a sma
ll lever and the ship lurched sideways. “Uh-oh.”

  “What’s up?” Cole asked.

  “The docking clamps didn’t release like they should have,” he explained. He turned to the guard. “Frank, what’s up with the docking clamps?”

  “They’re controlled from the dock master’s office. That’s how Mickey likes it.”

  Cole gestured out the window. “We’ve got company, boss. There’s a pod coming over the bow.”

  Nathan turned and saw a bright yellow work pod speeding across the hull toward the elevated bridge of the freighter. It was a small thing, big enough to carry one man and some tools. It had two mechanical arms attached at the rear with various attachments secured to its mid-section. Nathan leaned over to the switch on the wall and shut the interior lights off. “Well this is heading south in a hurry,” he said. “Cole, get Duncan on the radio. We’re going to need him and Marla sooner than we thought.”

  Cole relayed the message while Nathan and Frank watched the pod approach. “That’s going to be Mickey,” Frank explained. “He can’t see me here. If he does he’ll have me arrested.”

  “Be cool, Frank.” Nathan said. “Just duck out into the corridor. He won’t see you there.” The guard turned to leave and Nathan grabbed his arm. “Don’t go too far,” he warned. “I don’t want you changing your mind and coming back with a bunch of friends. Stay in the doorway where I can see you.”

  “Duncan and Marla are on the way,” Cole said. “They’ll be here in a few minutes. What’s this guy up to?” He asked, pointing at the work pod floating toward them.

  “I don’t know. Furthermore, once Duncan and Marla get us disconnected from the dock I won’t care.”

  “Does he have any guns on that thing?” Cole asked.

  Nathan squinted out the window. “Nah. It looks like your standard work pod. They use them for welding and hull repairs. Stuff like that.”

  “Mickey’s crazy,” Frank said from the doorway. “You don’t know what he’ll do to keep his cut of this ship.”

  Nathan turned to him and realized the guard was not only hiding in the shadows of the doorway but he was kneeling down as well. “We just need to keep him confused for a few minutes. Once my ship gets here Mickey will get the message.”

  “He’s crazy, I’m tellin’ you,” Frank repeated. Nathan ignored him.

  The yellow work pod settled in front of the bridge, slowly sliding right to left as the pilot peered in. Nathan and Cole hunkered down behind the pilot’s chair and a map table. Nathan could see the pod had dirt streaks and burn marks on it. Like everything else in this dump it wasn’t maintained well. Suddenly a spotlight flooded the bridge with bluish-white light.

  “Ah!” Frank called from the doorway. Nathan looked over and saw him move out of sight into the corridor.

  The light moved around the room as the work pod slipped around a corner. Nathan and Cole moved ahead of it, keeping the pilot’s chair and map table between them and the light.

  “He knows we’re here,” Cole said. “He just wants to see who it is before he decides to call the law.”

  “The law’s pretty easy to buy off here,” Nathan said. “I gave them two thousand to go on break an hour ago. We got about a half hour before they show up.”

  Cole looked incredulous in the reflected work light. “When did you have time to bribe the cops?”

  “Last night,” Nathan answered. “You were down at Moochies trying to hook up with that burly lady welder.”

  “I don’t see any reason to mock my date’s profession.” Cole responded.

  “It’s not her profession I’m mocking. Tell me, did you get away without bruises?”

  Cole slid around the map table to escape the moving light. “She was a powerful woman. Let’s leave it at that.”

  Suddenly, the hatch slammed closed. Nathan looked toward the doorway and saw the wheel spin shut. He leaped from his hiding place and tried to open the door but it was sealed. The light from the pod outside blazed in and illuminated him. “Open this door, Frank!”

  No one answered.

  “It’s locked,” he said.

  “Locked from the outside?” Cole asked.

  Nathan pulled on the wheel again. “He’s got it tied off, the deadbolt is on the inside with us. I can feel it giving a little but…” He pulled again. “No, it’s not going to give.” He pounded on the door. “That greasy punk. If I ever see him again I’ll airlock him.”

  Cole stepped from behind the table. “This is what you get for being a nice guy. Instead of bribing him you should have let me knock him out.” He looked at the service pod hovering outside. “Can this guy hurt us?”

  Nathan looked the pod over as the spotlight swung back and forth between himself and Cole. “Not unless he rams us but that would hurt him too. Still, I’ll see if there are any pressure suits in here. Why don’t you check in with Marla and Duncan again?”

  Nathan stepped to the storage locker in the rear and pulled the door open. It was clear that the same workers who had been selling fuel had stripped out whatever the locker held. A lone helmet with a cracked visor sat on a shelf. “Nothing here, Cole.”

  Cole held his phone up to Nathan. “Marla says they can see us so they should be here any second. What do we need them to do?”

  “This tub is only connected to the station at two docking pylons. If Marla gets in position over us, Duncan can break us free with the cannon.”

  Cole looked at him with alarm and muted the phone. “You want Duncan to shoot us free? Is that the plan? Really?”

  Nathan shrugged. “It’s plan B. Plan A was for us to use the controls here on the bridge to release the freighter. That didn’t work so now we have to resort to plan B.”

  “You’re sure there’s no other way?” Cole asked.

  “I’m sensing you don’t have any faith in your crewmates.”

  “Look, I’ve tried to train him. You know I have. He’s great with the computers and he designed the Blue Moon Bandit from the ground up, I know, but have you seen what happens when he gets near guns?”

  “There’s no other way, Cole.”

  The larger man opened his mouth again but was cut off as the bright work light shut off. It blinked on and off again and then the container ship’s comm system chimed. Cole saw a red blinking light on the panel. “I think he wants to talk to us,” he said.

  Nathan nodded and stared out at the pod again. The work light flashed again, angrier it seemed to Nathan. He walked to the comm console and pressed a button. “What can I do for you?” He asked.

  “What are you doing on my ship?” The voice boomed from the speakers around the bridge. It didn’t sound like a happy voice to Cole.

  Nathan pushed the button marked “send”. “We’re duly authorized repossession agents hired by the ship’s owner to retrieve his property. In this case the container cargo vessel Martha Tooey.”

  “Can’t have it. The ship’s been seized due to non-payment of the loan on her. The owner didn’t make his payments and the bank wants the ship.”

  Nathan looked at Cole. “Why can’t they try something original? Every time we go out on a job these guys always try the same line.” Cole shook his head. Nathan hit the button again.

  “The owner and the bank holding the note on the ship hired me. You have no grounds to hold her. Furthermore, I have a letter from the owner, co-signed by the bank, authorizing me to locate, board and return this vessel to its home port. Now release the clamps.”

  There was a moment of silence that confirmed what Nathan already knew; this guy was nothing more than a thief. The question was how far was he willing to go to get his cut of the freight? “You aren’t going anywhere,” he said. “I don’t care what your letter says. I’m the dock master and I say when and if a ship leaves.”

  Cole picked up a pair of binoculars under the pilot’s chair and looked out into the yard. “Nathan? I think this guy whistled for some help.”

  Nathan looked past the work pod and sighed. A
mid-size freighter was moving into position in front of the Martha Tooey, no doubt called out by Mickey. He checked the drive pressure. It was just about where he needed it.

  “Tell Marla to get the Blue Moon Bandit between us and that other freighter,” Nathan ordered. “I’m betting they won’t hit her.”

  Cole spoke into his phone and Nathan shook his head. This guy had finally gotten his temper up. No way was some pissant dock manager coming between him and a six figure retrieval. He saw his own ship do an elegant turn and slide in front of the larger freighter bearing down on them. He punched the button on the comm console.

  “Look, Mickey, we’re taking this ship. I suggest you move that work pod before you get run over.”

  This time the voice coming back was almost cheerful. “I don’t think so. In a few seconds you won’t have the room to move.”

  Nathan shook his head with exasperation. “Your road block is blocked, Mickey. I have friends too. If you turn around you’ll see your big freighter blocked by my little freighter. Of course, my little freighter has cannons. I don’t believe yours does. That’s a fact that I’m sure my crew is letting the pilot of your ship know right now.”

  There was silence for almost a full minute. Cole confirmed that Marla and Duncan had already communicated with the freighter and that it was stopped. That was news Mickey was probably just learning. The speakers crackled again.

  “You think you’re smart?” The voice asked. “You think I’m letting you move this tub without putting up a fight? That’s not how I do things.” The signal snapped off and the spotlight went out. Suddenly a bright light splashed against the bridge window. Nathan, blinded by the sudden darkness, stepped forward to get a better look. He pointed at Cole when he realized what was happening.

  “Do you believe this? He’s trying to burn a hole in the glass.” Burning hot gas from a cutting torch flared from an extended arm on the maintenance pod. Cole could see the demented grin on Mickey’s face as he worked the torch back and forth over the thick glass. He spoke quickly into his phone.