STOWAWAY TO THE STARS

For the next two weeks, Karen spent her spare time visiting the local classical concert hall in her disguise. On each visit, she watched intently for some guy to shows signs of being startled to see her.

She quickly realized her plan had serious flaws. During the performances, the lights were dimmed and no one could see her, even if they had been looking around instead of watching the musicians.

She had been relying on the intervals, and start and finish, to be seen by Grant. But in the intervals, and at the end, the crowds made it difficult to see whether anyone noticed her. She always arrived early and waited around in the lobby, but hardly anyone looked at her – they were all preoccupied with finding their seats. It could be months before Grant noticed her, even if he was there.

Frustration drove her back to another search through Rachel’s belongings for clues. She read the diary carefully again. One of the references to “G” caught her eye. “Met up with G before the concert, in his favorite bar.”

That was all, and previously she had dismissed it as of no help in identifying him. Now it just had to be useful. If Grant had a bar where he was a regular, that might be a better place to surprise him. With relief she gave up on the concerts. She had sat through so many tedious hours, not being able to enjoy the music because her mind was elsewhere.

She’d check out all the bars in the area, starting with the bar opposite the concert hall. With her purse and its concealed weapon tucked under her arm, she marched boldly up to the counter and ordered a glass of red wine. When it arrived she settled into a corner where she could watch the other customers. Within minutes she had been hit on three times, but none of them showed any surprise, just lustful anticipation of scoring.

Nevertheless, she felt much more encouraged than with the concert visits. Next time she would fix herself up with a fake wedding ring. With that protection, she convinced herself that this new approach had a chance of success.

****

“Why the heck do External Relations want to see you?” asked Ket.

Larry had decided not to mention his visit to Zilon unless something transpired, but now he had received a summons to attend the IEP’s External Relations department for an interview.

“They don’t say, but it’s bound to be about my visit to Zilon.”

Ket leaned forward in his chair. “Visit to Zilon – when did you ever visit Zilon?”

“Umm, the other day, actually. I thought I could force them to admit what they had done.”

“After all we discussed!” Ket threw his arms up in disgust. “You promised to let the issue drop. Instead you go to Zilon and confront them. What were you thinking?”

Larry tugged at his ear. “I know Ket, I’m sorry. I realized while I was there how stupid I’d been. It was the frustration of seeing them getting away with murdering that poor girl, and with whatever scheme they’re up to on Inferior. I nearly didn’t make it back, either. They tried to take me out covertly. Now the crafty sods are trying to discredit me instead.”

“Well, after what you’ve done that won’t be difficult for them,” said Ket. “Larry, you’ve really screwed up.”

Nevertheless Ket agreed to go with Larry to the interview as an adviser. The panel Chairman started the proceedings by outlining the background.

“Mr. Rasilii, we’re here to investigate a claim the Ziloni government has made about your misconduct during your recent visit to Zilon. We understand how strongly you feel about the death of your former partner, but you cannot involve the IEP in your dispute. This initial hearing is informal, to determine whether you have brought the name of the IEP into disrepute. If we decide to take the matter further, you will at that stage be entitled to legal representation.”

Larry nodded. He had a sick feeling in his gut about how this meeting would turn out. He was slightly acquainted with the Chairman, and normally they would have been on first-name terms.

The Chairman continued. “We’ll start by reviewing the evidence they’ve submitted to back up their complaint.”

The first item was a vid recording of his meeting with the Undersecretary. It included the accusations he had made, but somehow or other the Undersecretary’s comment about missiles was missing from it. There were also statements from the administrative staff who he had browbeaten to get to the meeting, and two recordings of particular arguments with them. They included rash accusations about Ziloni plots that were being hatched on Inferior.

“The item that concerns us most of all is this recording of your communications with the space traffic controllers on your departure.” He played the recording in full.

“You would seem to have broken just about every rule in the book in that episode. You must know perfectly well that it is illegal to start a flight without a properly functioning radio.”

The recording sounded even worse than he’d expected, played out in the calm atmosphere of the interview room. On the face of it he had indeed acted illegally. Somehow he had to make the panel understand how it had come about.

“It’s not how it sounds. When I returned from seeing the Undersecretary I was pursued by his agents, and later at the spaceport I was threatened.”

Another panel member shook his head disbelievingly. “Mr. Rasilii, we have seen the recording of you in the spaceport. You seem to have been exceptionally ill-mannered, but there is no indication you were being pursued.”

No, they had avoided showing anything suspicious in the recordings. In particular, there was no sign of the spook or the guy who he had accidentally stunned in the queue for the security check. Just as they had somehow cut out the comment about the missiles. Those damned Ziloni had really stitched him up.

Larry was about to make a further protest about what had happened, but Ket squeezed his arm and intervened. “Mr. Chairman, it’s clear to us that those recordings have been changed. If this is taken any further we will demand to see the unedited recordings of the entire sequence.”

“Noted. There is no obvious sign of tampering, but you are entitled to have a full review if necessary. However, it strikes us you seem to be paranoid about this whole incident.”

The rest of the interview was mercifully brief, with little more he could say to help his case. It was a relief when the Chairman wound up the proceedings by telling him to stay at home until they completed their deliberations.

As the hall doors closed behind them, Ket turned to Larry with a scowl. “You’re your own worst enemy, you know that, Larry?”

Before Larry could reply, Ket increased his pace and left him behind.

The immediate outcome of the hearing was that the IEP informed him he was banned from going on expeditions until further notice.

Two days later, Ket came home from work early and called in at Larry’s house.

“Larry, you’ve got trouble coming. The Ziloni have taken things to the Council, and made a strong demand for your extradition to face charges on Zilon.”

Larry put down the papers he’d been sorting. “Extradition! What for? Surely not just a few lousy traffic violations?”

“No. They claim that you assaulted an official at their Ministry for External Affairs.”

Larry swung his arm, scattering papers in all directions. “That’s rubbish! I never touched anyone. None of those recordings they showed the IEP suggested it either.”

“I know, but they claim this woman only came forward later, and they hadn’t spotted the assault when they were collating all their recordings.”

“It’s a clear frame-up. Surely the Council doesn’t believe them?”

“Probably not, but there’s been a lot of diplomatic pressure from Zilon. The rumor is that the Council will cave in.”

Larry shook his head vigorously. “I can’t let them take me back to Zilon, Ket. Surely you can see that?”

Ket slumped into a chair, looking worried. “I’m sorry, Larry. I don’t see any alternative. You’ll be entitled to legal representation from Central and it should be easy to disprove their allegations.”

“It will never get to that. Once they get their hands on me again, I’m certain they’ll arrange some sort of accident. They seem determined to keep me quiet, even though the expedition to Inferior exonerated them. Shit, there’s nothing else for it. I shall have to go into hiding.”

Ket sat up straighter and looked at Larry. “Larry, you’re crazy. You’ve done nothing seriously wrong. I’m sure that with a legal representative you’d be safe, and you could prove you’re innocent.”

“I wish I shared your confidence. You weren’t there on Zilon when they were after me. If they get me into custody, I guarantee you’ll never see me again.”

Ket sighed. “I can’t believe they would do that, but I admit this trumped up charge has me worried. That’s why I came to warn you. Where will you go, and what will you do?”

Larry’s shoulders sagged and he shook his head. “It’ll be better if you don’t know where I go. As for what I’ll do, I’m damned if I know.”

****

Larry hurried to assemble the few essential things he would need to take with him – mainly his ship’s remote controls and his data processing unit. He downloaded all his available cash from the bank to his electronic money cards. That would give him more than enough to obtain general supplies such as food and extra clothes. He had to get away before they programmed the computer-controlled cameras to monitor him and his car – assuming they hadn’t done that already.

He rushed through the house to the attached garage and climbed into his car. As he set off there was plenty of traffic around and he eyed the other cars suspiciously, but no one appeared to be following him. He was acutely aware of the computers monitoring the traffic. It just depended whether anyone had flagged him and his car for immediate surveillance yet.

He drove rapidly over the familiar route toward the spaceport. No point trying to disguise his movements. As long as he hadn’t got a tail, speed was more important than subterfuge. He’d be flagged up to the computers before long, but unless they dispatched someone to pick him up in the next few minutes it wouldn’t matter.

Once he had driven as near as he dared to the spaceport, he parked the car and set out on foot to find a secluded open area at the rear of the spaceport.

Thank goodness he had a remote control for the ship. It was not a normal, off-the-shelf item, but necessary for IEP ships. With its aid, Larry lifted his ship vertically from its bay in the spaceport. The unauthorized movement set off alarms all over the spaceport. Larry ignored them as he lifted the ship until it came into view over the surrounding buildings. The sight of the ship floating toward him was a great relief. Thanks to Ket’s warning, he had acted before they put any security measures in place, otherwise it would have been disabled, for sure.

He carefully guided the ship down into the open area beside him. This was it, he was committed now. He’d added misdemeanors against the Union to his record.

He dumped his few essential possessions in the back, sealed the door and lifted again. As he headed skyward, he noted a flyer on his viewscreen, already airborne in pursuit. It didn’t matter, they couldn’t follow him out into space. No doubt spaceships would soon join the chase, but no one on Central would be likely to use deadly force, and that was the only way they could stop him.

He quickly outpaced the flyer as he ramped his speed up to Mach five for his climb through the atmosphere. This was becoming something of a habit. There would be a few irate citizens in Greti today over the sonic boom he must be creating below.

At Mach five he was soon out of the atmosphere, and he pushed his control stick all the way forward for maximum thrust. The radio was busy with warnings and then threats, but he ignored it. As a gesture of defiance, he killed his ident signal and switched off the radio. He took it as a minor insult that they didn’t even bother to send a spaceship after him. For the moment he was away free, but at what cost?

****

From the moment he decided to go on the run, Larry knew where he intended to hide. Four years ago he had been between trips, and to pass the time he had agreed to check the IEP archives for habitable planets that might have been overlooked in earlier colonization programs.

During his searches, he’d come across one that excited his curiosity. It was a planetary freak, a place with a breathable atmosphere, cold but no worse than the colder parts of many inhabited planets, yet it was completely sterile. Its sun was a red giant and the light it gave was gloomy, but bright enough for adequate visibility.

According to the archive it had no useful resources and, as a result, after the initial exploration it had been considered of no value. It had struck him that it would make a perfect hiding place, without for a moment imagining that one day he would need to use it.

First he needed provisions. He made his first hyperspace jump to Carinara. It was only an Associate member of the Union, so it was most unlikely they had been circulated with details on him by Central so soon.

After refueling, he stocked up with supplies. With the ship so loaded he could barely get through to the pilot’s seat, he set off for the sterile planet, which he decided to name Hideaway.

Near the equator, where it would be warmest, the found just what he wanted, a cave with a wide, flat floor and deep enough to provide comfortable living quarters. In a few days he had the cave arranged to his satisfaction.

He passed the time reading and watching films and vids. From time to time he made reconnaissance trips back to Central to monitor news broadcasts and see what was happening in the Union. The trips were safe provided he stayed outside the hyperspace boundary. No one could intercept him before he jumped back to Hideaway, and it was impossible to trace his hyperspace jumps.

By the end of five weeks, he was getting lonely and bored with his existence. He was secure, the chances of them tracing his hideout, even if they cared enough, was negligible, but his life was meaningless. Nothing relevant to his situation seemed to be happening and it was clear they were no longer interested in him. He was in for a long exile.

He sat one morning, trying to concentrate on the e-book he was reading, without success. In frustration he hurled it across the cave.

He thought back to the last of his happy times, back on Trajia with Annek. She had been an attractive, enthusiastic companion. But the memory of her death intruded on his thoughts. To distract himself, he thought about their conversations. She’d been interested in his earlier trips, particularly the one he’d made last year to Earth. It was a pleasant planet, and technologically advanced despite not having interstellar travel.

That was where he could go! He must still have the old language chip for Earth in his kit. No one would think of looking there for him any more than here, and it wasn’t due for another IEP visit for four years.

He got out his language translator and ran the Earth chip again to refresh his memory. He bade farewell to Hideaway and made another hyperspace trip, in order to continue his exile in the more hospitable environment of Earth.

****

During the trip, Larry reviewed his memories of Earth. He recalled that Earth had plenty of flyers – airplanes the Terrans called them – but they were chemically powered so the gravity-wave detectors wouldn’t pick them up. He rooted through his old equipment to find the radio wave reflection system he had used last time. The Terrans had an acronym for that – radar.

He mounted the radar system on the top of the instrument panel and linked it up to his viewscreen. It would pick up the airplanes, plus any other obstacles like the artificial satellites and debris they had littered around their inner region of space. They would not be able to detect him with their own radar systems. On the previous visit he had had the ship covered, at considerable expense to the IEP, with a radar-absorbent coating the Terran military would sell their souls for.

From orbital height he located the general area he remembered from before, and descended until he could see enough detail to pick out the type of site he wanted. Before long he found a medium sized town with a large range of hills to the west. There he should be able to find an isolated location where he wouldn’t be seen making daytime take-offs and landings, and somewhere to hide his ship. He planned to continue with his frequent reconnaissance trips and he didn’t want the hassle of travelling at night, and worse, having to park the ship in orbit between trips.

He gathered together the few items he would need. This was a well-rehearsed procedure. Two remote controls for the ship, one of which he would hide nearby. Weapons – stun grenades and arm-mounted, concealed stun gun. Something to eat and drink until he had money, suitable clothes to wear, and barter items.

This planet had artificial fabrics and a wide range of styles of clothing, so he should be able to get away with his normal coveralls. Barter was more of a problem. Unlike less advanced cultures, they had moved on from gold coinage. Gemstones had more value once he could locate a buyer, but he couldn’t exactly walk into a bank and exchange a diamond for cash. To get an initial stock of money, he had a small supply of gems in the form of ornaments that should be acceptable to any jeweler. He picked out three diamond rings.

After a night of restless sleep, dawn was approaching. It was time to make his landing, so he would be ready to move as soon as it was light. He coasted down to an open area surrounded by trees, outside the town and clear of the extravagantly lighted areas closer to the town. His terrain proximity sensors allowed him to make a gentle touchdown in the darkness.

He stepped out of the ship into the chill pre-dawn air, closed up the door and used one of the remotes to launch the ship back up into space. He didn’t intend to do this often, but for the moment he needed the ship away from prying eyes.

When it was light enough for him to see, he made his way through the encircling trees. His direction of travel was obvious, the sky still lit to the east by the lights of the nearby town. Crossing a couple of fields brought him to a road. After that his journey was easier.

It was a long walk into town, but it would be a few hours before any shops were open, so he strolled along at a leisurely pace. His well-insulated coveralls kept the cold at bay. Soon he was on lighted streets, making for the town centre. This area was still residential, large houses on the outskirts and smaller ones as he progressed further.

He started to see a few cars, trailing a faint whiff of burnt organics. They looked similar to the style of cars on Central. The biggest difference was that they had four wheels instead of two, like Union buses, because they lacked any stabilizing system. The last time he had been here, his life had still been fulfilled and content. The memory triggered a sudden surge of loneliness and frustration.

In the town centre he searched for a jeweler, or better still a pawn broker, where he could acquire an initial supply of cash. He found a pawn shop in a quiet side street on the less prosperous side of town. He proffered one of his rings to the man behind the counter, who looked at him suspiciously.

“Nice stone. Settin’s a bit rough. Where’d ya get it?”

“It was my mother’s,” lied Larry. “I hope I’ll get some work soon and be able to redeem it. How much will you give me?”

The man seemed to accept the story, or maybe he recognized that he could get a valuable diamond ring cheaply. Larry settled for a small fraction of the value of the diamond, but it was enough cash to keep him going. Some of the money found its way straight back to the pawn shop as he took the opportunity to fit himself out with a casual suit, shirt and tie, and a small suitcase.

“That gear you’re wearing looks well smart. Fancy tradin’ it in? Give ya a good price for it, people like unusual stuff these days.”

“I’m looking for extra clothes at present, not to get rid of anything, but I’ll bear it in mind,” said Larry. Not a chance, he thought in amusement. No one is getting their hands on this high tech coverall.

His next priorities were somewhere to stay, locating a fence where he could get a sensible price for his unmounted gemstones with no questions asked, and a false ID.

That would involve hanging around in rundown bars, tracking down members of the criminal fraternity. It was one of the downsides of more advanced planets like Earth where you couldn’t open a bank account, buy a car or rent an apartment without identification. The planet was getting paranoid about criminals laundering their ill-gotten gains, and what was the result? Innocent space explorers like him had to consort with criminals to get round the rules, because criminals were always one step ahead of the game.

In less than three weeks he had set himself up with a small but pleasant furnished apartment, a car and plenty of cash in the bank. He also located and purchased a remote barn up in the hills where he could hide his ship, protected by a strong aversion field.

With a safe location for his ship he was all set up. Exile on Earth was certainly more comfortable than on Hideaway, but all the comfort in the world couldn’t change the fact that he was a fugitive in hiding.