Teleport This (10 page)

“Where did you get that from?” asked Lyn.

“Agent Tomas was nice enough to bring some of Jon’s files along and I was able to hack into them.”

“Nicely done,” commented Simon. “Show us what you got.”

Simon and Lyn were only mildly surprised when a three-dimensional image engulfed a third of the room and began displaying statistical data and then switching to video of the locations. They were becoming accustomed to the unusual, which was good since that was the direction they were heading. They evaluated all the information, but in the end they decided to follow Lyn’s gut feel.

“That one,” she said. “I’ve followed enough men to know that that’s the type of place they like to go to when they’re lying low.”

“Okay, now how do we get there without being traced back to Earth?” said Simon.

“Leave that to me,” said Ellie. “One of the things Jon did when setting me up was separate a little bit of the ICC facility from its main computer. We’ve got a private, untraceable teleport station at our disposal, free of charge.”

“Wow, this is one of my childhood dreams coming true,” said Simon.

“Gee, next we’ll see if we can make you invisible in a girl’s locker room. That should cap it for you,” quipped Lyn.

Lyn and Simon appeared in a large room with a glass dome.

“Doesn’t the ICC computer know we’re back?” Simon asked.

“No, it doesn’t have any idea at all. They really underestimated Jon by leaving him alone here. The way he took this place apart, the man’s an artist. This suite of rooms is now separate from the ICC, as far as the main computer’s concerned.”

“But if he removed it from the ICC computer’s memory, how is it still functional?” asked Simon.

“It’s like the toenail on your little toe. You know it’s there because it was there the last time you looked at your foot, but you’re wearing shoes now and can’t see your toes so you just assume your toenail is there doing whatever it’s supposed to do.”

“Okay, sure.” said Simon. “No, wait, it’s not okay. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Your brain keeps blood flowing to your toes, but typically ignores them unless you stub one while walking. The ICC will keep these rooms functional and not pay any attention to what we do unless we blow a hole in the wall or something like that. It was very subtle programming.”

“I’m sorry, darling, but I found a flaw in your analogy,” said Lyn pointing down. “I’m wearing open toed shoes.”

Lyn and Simon changed into the clothing Ellie had provided and received implants for translation as well as to enable them to receive direct communications from Ellie without audible sound.

“What about weapons?” Lyn asked.

“I’ve got you covered,” Ellie replied. “I’ve got enough firepower to blast a hole through almost anything.”

“Are you limited by any rules that prohibit the use of force against human beings?” Simon asked.

“Are you kidding? Where’d you get a crazy idea like that? I’m a straight point and click device. Point me straight at whatever you want gone and click the button. Bam.”

“So no stun setting?” asked Simon.

“Sure, I can stun, but that’s just asking for trouble down the road. Take out the garbage once and for all, that’s what I say.”

“Now everyone enjoys killing bad people,” began Lyn, “but sometimes you need them again later on. Just let us decide, okay?”

“Alright, but don’t get mad at me when I say I told you so.”

“You’re a pretty powerful little gizmo. Does everyone have one?” asked Simon.

“Most people that live or work in a modern environment have some type of device, but they only perform mundane tasks like managing their calendar, messaging, entertainment, translation and other business specific tasks. Some are small enough to be implanted, but they can be limited. I’m government issue and can do a lot more. Not everyone has access to something like me.”

“Jon has one, right?”

“Sure, he hacked open the weapons locker first day here and helped himself to whatever he wanted.”

“Sounds about right,” said Simon. “Now tell us more about this place we’re going to.”

“We’ll be traveling to a private establishment located in the middle of one of the more popular sectors in the universe called the Dahana space station. For whatever reason, there ended up being a lot of habitable planets over there which in turn generated a fair amount of commerce and that created intergalactic trade routes for cargo ships. Dahana started off as a rest and repair station, but it’s evolved to resemble something more like a large city. There’s no real law there, just a security force that stops folks from smashing up the place and each other. The more expensive place you’re in, the more security they have and the safer you are.”

“And the place we’re going to?” asked Simon.

“Middle of the road. No worries. Take a look,” said Ellie and a projection of the station appeared in the room. “This is how it looks from space,” the station rotated in front of them and then it switched to an internal view, “and these are some of the more popular walkways. Automated transportation systems are controlled by the station’s main computer, but we’ll be avoiding those since they can double as holding cells if the station computer decides it doesn’t like you.”

“Is it me or do you get the impression that the architects were on some very serious medication when they designed this place,” asked Lyn.

“Now I know what a casino would look like if it crashed into an airport and shopping mall,” said Simon.

“It started off as a small docking station,” explained Ellie, “and has been continually added to over the past five or so hundred years. Aesthetics usually doesn’t come into play. It’s more of a form following function type of thing.”

“And you’ve greased the skids at the teleport?” asked Lyn.

“Yup, there will be no record of us coming or going.”

“Alright, let’s get to it.”

A short while later, Simon and Lyn stepped off of the teleport station and quickly exited the incoming area, joining the rest of the crowd at street level. They took a minute to look around and get their bearings and then proceeded to a food eatery where they took a booth and got lunch. They had gone over the floor plan of the general area and had picked this spot in advance based on Ellie’s recommendation. She had also provided a list of foods for them to try.

After eating, they checked into a hotel frequented by Jon. Their plan consisted of visiting Jon’s favorite spots while Ellie attempted to hack into the establishment’s computer to see if he’s been around recently. Lyn explained that this is what is known as leg work in the investigation business. Simon didn’t argue, he’s seen Lyn’s legs and whatever she’s been doing, it’s been working.

They spent the afternoon checking out a handful of different places with no results. After dinner they went to a lounge that was in the lower rent part of town.

“Hello, I’m getting something interesting here,” said Ellie.

“Something about Jon?” asked Simon. “Is he here?”

“See those two guys at the table over there?” asked Ellie.

“Yes,” said Simon and Lyn as they casually glanced in that general direction.

“Well, for starters, before they sat down, the one on the left scanned the area for listening devices. Now he has a sound deadener running which is supposed to stop their voices from traveling past a two foot radius. Naturally, having all that gear got me interested.”

“Naturally,” agreed Lyn, nodding.

“I can hear bits and pieces and I’m lip reading to fill in the gaps and it turns out they’re talking about Jon’s sister. You’ll never guess what I learned.”

“What?” said Lyn and Simon, simultaneously.

“Her name is Ellie, too.”

“Okay…” said Simon.

“I get it,” said Lyn. “Look, Simon, one of the first things I learned as a private investigator is that there are no coincidences.”

“Sorry, but the law of probability says that sooner or later there will be a coincidence,” said Simon.

“Okay, sure,” said Lyn, “but when you apply it to an investigation the odds against it being a coincidence becomes almost impossible to calculate. Watch, I’ll prove it. Ellie, who named you?”

“Jon.”

“You see,” said Lyn, “by naming her after his sister Ellie, Jon was leaving us a clue.”

“I don’t think Jon was leaving us a clue,” said Simon. “Jon set Ellie up to take care of Gil and he booby trapped the teleport so I couldn’t follow. If anything, Jon was setting Gil up to recognize the name Ellie.”

“Hmm, you may just be onto something there,” said Lyn. “That could be where he sent Gilbert. All the more reason to try to find his sister Ellie. How do you know they’re talking about Jon’s sister?”

“They were talking about Jon kidnapping the daughter of the Burdast royal family,” said Ellie, “and they were wondering if it had anything to do with the run-in they had with his sister. They’re trying to find a connection, but they can’t come up with one.”

“So they think it’s a coincidence?” asked Simon, a little too eagerly.

“Here’s a coincidence for you,” said Lyn. “It’s a coincidence that your face looks like a monkey’s butt.”

“Now children, play nice,” interrupted Ellie.

“What else are they saying?” asked Lyn.

“Jon’s sister is the captain of a spaceship, a freighter. The guy on the left hired the guy on the right to steal something that she had in her cargo bay. He was planning to go in with guns blazing and grab it, but she had some type of weapon on board that disabled his ship and knocked out him and his crew. She got away and they limped back here for repairs.”

“Tough girl, I like her already,” said Lyn.

“Any idea what they were trying to steal?” asked Simon.

“No and I’m beginning to suspect that Ellie didn’t know what she was carrying either. They’re talking about how the attempt to raid the ship must have made her realize that her cargo had something special in with it. Our space pirate here is going to try to find her and get this, ‘no more Mr. Nice Guy’ he says. Now they’re arguing over money and now they’re done. Quick Lyn, you and I must follow him to his ship.”

“See you back at the room,” Lyn said to Simon as she got up and left. Lyn followed PJ to the docking section of the city.

“All we need to do is identify his ship and the dock number,” Ellie said to Lyn. “Then I can hack into the master computer and set up a tracking signal.”

“You’re very good at that sort of thing,” remarked Lyn.

“The ICC is designed to out think anything imaginable. I have some of the strongest encryption breaking algorithms known to man or machine stored inside me. Most of the security we’ve come up against is designed to keep out the average hacker and I am so far above the average hacker that I’d have to fall off a ten thousand foot cliff just to get them in my sights.”

“Now don’t take this personal,” said Lyn, “but if you’re so good, how were Jon and those mobsters able to get under your skin?”

“I know, that didn’t make me look very good,” said Ellie, “but remember, Jon was stationed at the ICC and he had a certain level of clearance to start with. As with most systems, I’m designed to keep people out and Jon started pretty far in. And by the way, Jon’s a master programmer which is what got him in trouble in the first place. By the time the mob showed up, my systems were already compromised and it was just a matter of time before they could find a way in. Don’t worry, I’m in good enough shape to handle this.”

“I hope so,” said Lyn.

“I just implanted a worm in his ship’s computer. Let’s get back to the room.”

Lyn was surprised to see Simon on the causeway. For some reason, she had expected him to head immediately back to the room after they had split up.

“Are you kidding?” said Simon to Lyn’s query. “I’m on a space station in a different galaxy with an unlimited credit card. No way I’m sitting in the room, waiting for you guys to show up. I was just hanging out with a freighter crew from Orion and then we’re meeting up later tonight at a place called the Funnel Head. You in?”

13.

“Hey, boss, our boy just popped back up on the grid.”

“You got a handle on him?”

“No, he disappeared as quickly as he showed up, but he has a high profile tag-along with him now that will slow him down, probably cause him to get sloppy. It’s just a matter of time till we pick them up.”

“Stay on it.”

If nothing else, mobsters were persistent. Jon was well aware of this fact and knew he needed to stay below their radar. He briefly thought about going to his sister’s ship, but she probably had her hands full with Gilbert and two more additions would likely put her over the edge. So it was with much trepidation and very little fanfare that he and Alicia stepped off the teleport and into Simon and Gilbert’s lab.

“Where are we?” asked Alicia.

“Oh, we’re on a nice little world called Earth,” said Jon.