Galaxy Spies Read online

Chapter Two

  Trouble

  Midnight soon came by and Ray and Jean arrived back at the New Ritz bar, once inside they crossed over to an alcove in a darker part of the bar and ordered a cold beer from the evening bar man, here they waited for Joel to introduce them to his professional burglar. Moments later, Joel appeared quietly from out of the darkened room to stop beside them.

  “Ray will you follow me through into the back room, my friend is waiting to meet you there, far away from prying eyes, he doesn`t want to be seen talking to you, for your interests are normally too rich for his blood.” Once inside Joel introduced them to Ingmar Schultz, Ingmar was tall for someone whose chosen occupation was to move stealthily about whilst breaking into other peoples premises; he was six feet two inches in height. He had very blond hair, light blue eyes and he had quite a muscular looking body.

  “Ingmar here will go with you to the Lyre offices and see that you get in and out without any problems, after you are safely away he will leave you to your own devices and get on with his own work.” Joel explained to them. Ray and Jean both nodded to the tall man who resembled a Norse god rather than a New Terran housebreaker.

  “Thank you for helping us out Ingmar, we both appreciate it.” Ray said by way of a greeting.

  “No problem, I owe Joel a lot, and this will go some way towards repaying my debt, but I will only help you the once, for to trust that our luck holds when going up against such people would be foolish.” Ingmar said grimly.

  “That is understood Ingmar, and once again thank you for helping us.”

  The time went by quickly as they first filled Ingmar in about their particular problem, but then Ray lightened the atmosphere with stories of his past adventures amongst the stars and planets of this sector in space. On hearing about Peter Summers and seeing the pain in Jean`s face Ingmar relented on his previous statement.

  “Should you be in any serious trouble and are in need of any help Ray, call me, but only if the problem is serious, as I said it is dangerous to go up against such people.”

  Soon it was two a.m. in the morning and time to move, they drove by the young people of the city who were going home, that or moving on to another bar that stayed open even later into the small hours of the morning. They finally arrived at the rear of the Lyre offices in the small delivery vehicle that Ingmar used occasionally for his nocturnal operations. Before allowing Ray or Jean to leave the vehicle, Ingmar quickly scanned the silent street at the rear of the offices so as to make sure that their movements would not be seen. He then walked quietly to the rear of the premises and took out a small electrical device, this he ran down the length of the rear door of Lyre`s import export offices. Seemingly satisfied he then took out another device that he put against the electronic lock, which after a minutes work sprang open leaving the way clear for them to enter into the empty building, however, Ingmar stopped them from doing so.

  “Before we can enter we must first ensure that there are no traps inside for the unwary burglar.” Ingmar said quietly to his two fellow criminals, Ray and Jean.

  Taking out the first device again, he traversed it across the room but it and everything else stayed silent.

  "Ok we can enter now, but please do not walk past me in case you trip a silent alarm.”

  Following in Ingmar`s footsteps they made their way to the manager`s office. Ingmar made swift work of the single desk in the office, and there in the bottom draw he found a file that was of use to them. Ray quickly photographed each of the pages contained within the file and then returned the file to the drawer; just as he did, they heard noises coming from the front door of the office and then voices.

  “I think that I left that file in my desk draw, and it might be safer if I was to put it in the wall safe, there it will be away from any prying eyes.” A male voice said from the outer room.

  “I thought that you always locked such things away safely.” A female voice said, sounding as if the person speaking was almost at the door to the manager`s office. From the small kitchenette, to where they had quickly retreated, Ingmar quietly opened the rear door to the premises and then the three burglars left, Ingmar silently resetting the electronic lock so that there was no sign of their earlier presence.

  It was later the next morning while the Manager of the Lyre import export company was enjoying a coffee that his secretary entered his office. “Köln did you enter the offices by the rear door at all last night?” Athena Polios was a striking brunette who would have liked to strike up a more intimate relationship with her manager, except that he was still in love with his wife, even after twenty years, and obviously didn`t want to have any outside interests.

  “No, we came in through the front door, why ever do you ask?”

  “The computer shows someone entering at ten minutes past one and leaving twenty minutes later.”

  “We came in at one thirty, whoever our nocturnal visitor was we must have disturbed him and caused him to leave early, thank god he didn`t turn violent, what with Shula being here.” Shula Brant was the wife of Köln Brant the manager.

  “Whoever it was seems to have left empty handed anyway, and why didn`t the alarm sound?” Brant said, just a little relieved.

  “Whoever it was used a device to neutralise it, but luckily for us the recording part of the program operated as usual. I suppose they could have photographed that file, the one you said you forgot to put away in the safe yesterday evening?”

  “Whoever could our visitor have been, another federal agent?” Brant wondered with a sickly feeling beginning to spread though his stomach. “If so we can expect them to show up at the Dylithium mine in the near future, you had better send a message to Karl Terrier and have his manager up at the mine be ready to receive some guests in the near future.” Brant said to his secretary.

  “I will do it immediately, you had better be more careful in the future or the Lyren General Staff could take some unpleasant measures to show their anger, should anything happen to interrupt the mining operation and the delivery of the Dylithium.” Athena Polios said as she walked over to her phone. She was worried for her boss following Brant`s silly mistake, Brant was also worried about that.

  “Athena what strangers have we seen lately?” Brant asked.

  “We have only seen the couple looking for the last federal agent, the young girl and the older man.” Brant looked across at his secretary.

  “Yes but surely a federal agent wouldn`t bring a child along with him on a job.” He argued.

  “She was supposed to be the sister of the missing agent, they said that she was worried by his disappearance, maybe she was and the man was a friend helping her. They seemed innocent enough; Karl saw them when they entered and recognised the man, but couldn`t remember from where, I will ask Karl if he has remembered who the man was.” Athena said and immediately put the call through to the gangland boss who answered almost immediately.

  “Yes I have remembered who he is now, I couldn`t place him yesterday but it came back to me late last night. He is the captain of a small freighter working out of New Caledonia, I tell you what, I will send a couple of the boys over to their ship and get them to ask our space man a couple of questions.”

  “Ok but subtly, we do not want to draw attention to our mining operations.”

  “My boys invented the word, don`t worry.”

  "Oh and in case it wasn`t the starship captain who came by last night, you had better warn your men at the mine to keep an extra look out for any unwanted guests."

  "Yes don`t worry, I will call them and put them wise to last night`s visitors."

  Karl Terrier was a vindictive man who ruled by brute force; he was of a light build and medium height but he more than made up for lack of build by his indiscriminate use of his weapons, and of his gang. He was forty four years old with brown eyes and hair to match, his suits were the best that New Terra could provide and he was looking to improve his situation in any way that he could, including trading with an enemy of Earth.r />
  At the spaceport, Harry returned to the freighter to find that both Ray and Jean had finally awoken after their late night activities, and he had news for them. Sitting himself down he told them what he had discovered.

  “While you two have been out enjoying yourselves, I have been hard at work finding out some interesting facts. Did you know that that large white spacecraft that was parked over there yesterday is thought to be from the Lyre Federation, and if you had looked closely at its fuselage you would have noticed some strange lines built into it which could well be hidden Phaser weapons. It also sports quite a large defensive shield array for a commercial craft. It had just returned after its last trip, which was eight days ago, and which according to the local gossip supposedly took it first to a hidden location somewhere on this planet and then back to its home planet. Yesterday it flew away again, supposedly to this same hidden facility where there could be a Dylithium mine. What do you think of that?” Harry sat back and waited for the praise.

  “That is good work Harry it ties in with what we found out last night. The ship is of Lyre origin and is called the Nike, and the mine is two thousand two hundred and eighty miles away to be precise and it is a Dylithium mine. We didn`t know about the trip but eight days ago coincides with the time that Peter Summers went missing, now that could mean anything, but it is worth bearing in mind.” Ray said to Harry who seemed a little deflated but went on to say.

  “Well I found my information out without breaking into any alien`s offices, and without risking my freedom.”

  “Thank you Harry, with what you have found out my next destination must be the mine to see if Peter is there.” Jean said smiling at Harry and receiving an astonished look back from both Harry and Ray.

  “You are not going to any mine Jean, not only would they soon recognise a pretty thing like you as somebody who was making enquiries about a federal agent, but they would likely kidnap you and sell you to some white slaver.” Harry stormed, he for one was not going to allow her to go anywhere near to the mine, and Ray agreed with him.

  “Harry is right Jean, it would be foolish on your part to walk right up to the mine and expect them to give you the red carpet treatment.” Jean exploded, it was the two men calling her foolish and naïve that caused the outburst.

  “Why couldn`t I have got two men with brains to help me. I wasn`t going to go straight up to the mine and ask if my brother is being kept prisoner in there, I was going to sneak up and stake out the place to see if Peter is there, I am not stupid you know.” Jean complained.

  “Sneak up there, how are you going to do that, it is over two thousand miles away from us?” Ray demanded to know.

  “I thought that you two men could take me in your shuttle craft maybe, and glide in behind that mountain range shown on the map that you photographed. Then I could walk the last fifty miles to the mine and find somewhere to keep watch.” Even Jean thought that the last part sounded lame.

  “It`s two hundred miles across the mountain range, the mine is at the foot of the mountain range, you would need a fully provisioned team of mountaineers and guides to get you through.” Ray said now fully exasperated by the young woman.

  “Well what do you suggest then; that we call it quits and let Peter rot on this god awful planet?” Jean cried out at Ray, tears almost exploding from her eyes as they streamed down her face, her whole body was racked with such a violent sobbing that Ray was forced to think hard and fast for a solution to their problem.

  “Jean I am sorry of course we will not leave your brother to rot, Ray has a plan already worked out, you`ll see if I am not right.” Harry said hurriedly as he tried to comfort the distressed woman before him. Jean tried to compose herself and looked up at Ray her wet face filled once more with happiness.

  “Ray, you really have a plan to help rescue Peter?”

  Ray`s mind was working overtime, for he knew that he had to come up with the beginnings of a plan or see the young woman break down again.

  Ray turned on their computer and pulled up a copy of the map of Lyre that they had photographed the night before, transferring the picture to a large monitor on the wall so that the three of them could see it, and then told them of his thoughts, seconds after they occurred to him.

  “Yes, at least the beginnings of one, we can adapt your plan to walk across the mountain range to a slightly more practical one. Harry can pilot the shuttlecraft; he can take it in over the sea to the eastern range of mountains and along this narrow valley.” Ray said indicating on the map where he meant. “We can then land on top of the mountain that runs along behind the mine.” Ray said pointing out the place he meant with his finger. “Above the mine entrance, the mountain is only about four thousand feet in height so if he drops me behind the mountain ridge we should be out of view of the ground below. From there I can easily scramble across the top of the mountain and then climb down it, as the map indicates that the sides of the mountain at this spot gently slope down to end up on this narrow ledge, from here I can climb part of the way down during the night to stake out the mine entrance from this point.” Ray said indicating first one rocky ledge and then the second of the ledges that would give him a clear view of the mine entrance and buildings scattered around the area.

  “That is fine Ray but I won`t just drop you there, what I shall do is land and give you any assistance that you require, and then be available to get you the hell out of there.” Harry said quietly amending Ray`s plan of campaign to make it a much safer proposition.

  “Thank you Harry, I had thought of asking you to hang around after dropping me off but didn`t want to ask you to risk your life, not without you first proposing it.” Ray said smiling at his friend.

  “That was nice and thoughtful of you Ray, thank you.” Harry said.

  “Well you cannot leave me all on my Ownsome, me being so young and sweet and all, so I had better stay with Harry, while he is up on that lonesome mountain top.” Jean said adding her own contribution to Ray`s plan.

  “I will go into town and buy some ropes and maybe some shoes better suited to scrambling down rock faces than the shiny leather shoes that I am wearing now, you two hustle up some lunch and then after lunch we will be on our way.” Ray said moving across to the door.

  “Thank you Ray, I really don`t know how I would have coped without you.” Jean said smiling at him and giving him all the thanks he required.

  “That`s alright Jean, things have been a little too quiet lately anyway.”

  Ray was away for just one hour, but when he got back he found Harry lying unconscious on the deck of the freighter and Jean gone. Ray moved quickly through the freighter to see if there was anyone else there, but no it was as silent as the grave, so he returned to the body of his friend having first collected a bowl of water and a cloth. Wiping Harry`s head and shaking him gently at first that worked up to a little bit rougher at the end when Harry didn`t come round immediately. Slowly this brought Harry back to the world of the living, luckily he hadn`t been hurt enough to break any bones or damage any vital organs and on seeing Ray he smiled for a second before he remembered the thugs.

  “I am sorry Ray, two of Terrier`s thugs came by, and when they saw the map on the monitor they snapped. They forced us both down into a chair and then questioned us, asked where you were, what were we doing with the map, what are our plans. I didn`t tell them a thing Ray, and neither did Jean, she was a real trooper. So this annoys them some more and so they hit me again and again, then they hit Jean, so I try to get my Phaser but they knocked me unconsciousness, I guess they took Jean with them when they left.”

  “You take it easy for a while Harry, I know where to find Karl Terrier, at this time of day he likes to have a massage down at the Blue Parrot parlour. Today he is going to get some special service, from me.”

  “Just give me a hand to stand Ray and I will come with you.” Harry said as he attempted to stand, but the spinning room defeated him and he slumped back down.

  “You stay here an
d rest Harry; I will need you at your best later today, when I return with Terrier.” Ray said grimly.

  Ray went to the door and stopped to look around the space port, none of Terrier`s men were in sight so he caught a taxi to the town centre and once there he phoned Joel to fill him in on what had happened and also asked for directions to Ingmar`s house. Then he took a taxi to the neighbourhood where he would find Ingmar`s house, but he purposely got out a few streets away and walked the rest of the way so that he would not endanger Ingmar`s life any more than necessary. The Swedish giant had offered any help that he could give to help in finding Jeans brother so Ray now asked for it, his muscle would come in handy as would the Phaser pistol in Ray`s belt.

  “Ray, I didn`t expect to see you so soon.” Ingmar said questioningly. Ray filled him in and told him of his plans for Karl Terrier.

  “Ok Ray let`s get a move on, I have a date tonight and I mustn`t be late or I will get into trouble. We will take my van again, you will need it later to transport Terrier in, mind you it will also mean that I will have to dump it, for I certainly won`t be able to use it after today. You do realise that if Terrier sees me that you will have to kill him, as my life expectancy will drop sharply otherwise.”

  “Hopefully it won`t come to that, I only want you nearby in case things go wrong and don`t worry Ingmar I will get Joel to pay for a new van and I will pay him back at some later date.” Ray promised his new friend.

  The Blue Parrot Parlour was what was termed by Karl Terrier, its owner, as a classy joint which only the wealthier clients frequented, which meant that Ingmar`s arrival caused some curiosity.

  “I have recently come into some funds so I decided to spend some of it here having a massage.” He said to the receptionist on the door, following him in was Karl Terrier who was a bit miffed to have the riff raff frequenting his place, but decided that if the mug wanted to spend his money in his place then he could not complain about it.

  Ingmar would only become part of Ray`s plan if he was needed otherwise he was to enjoy his massage on Ray. Ray turned up at the rear of the premises, and after seeing Karl Terrier follow Ingmar into the parlour he slipped around to the rear of the premises and waited for one of the girls to appear for a breath of fresh air away from the heat and stuffiness of the Parlour. They did this frequently according to Leon who gave Ray quite a few useful facts about the place. Carly was the girl who provided Ray with his free admittance. Carly, a brown-eyed blonde-haired person with a liking for champagne and chocolate opened the door and pushed a wedge under it to stop it from closing and then she went for a ten-minute break in the nearby square. This allowed all and sundry free admittance to her workplace, but no one ever accused Carly of being intelligent, which was probably why she was working at the parlour. The other girls usually sat on the low wall that was opposite the rear door, and Ray had thought that he would have to threaten whoever opened the door with his rather wicked looking knife, something that he carried whenever he thought the situation might require some additional persuasion.

  Ray slipped in through the open doorway and climbed the back stairs to the first floor, and then on to the booth at the rear of the Parlour where Joel had told him Terrier would be. He didn`t need to worry about bodyguards, because unlike Chicago, here on New Terra there wasn`t any gangland violence, and so there was no need for muscle to follow Karl Terrier about for every minute of the day. Ray took out his Phaser pistol and checked that it was locked on its lowest setting before covering it with one of the towels that were laid upon a table outside of the booth, and he then silently entered the booth. Terrier was lying naked and face down on the massage table, and so only the young female masseur saw him enter, Molly was a pleasant girl, too pleasant for this place and the likes of Karl Terrier. Ray put a finger to his lips and tossed the towel onto a nearby chair. Molly suppressed a gasp when she saw the Phaser in Ray`s hand. Behind Molly was a cupboard, Ray motioned Molly towards it with the hand that held the Phaser pistol, she slowly backed up and opening the door went inside, Ray slipped across and turned the key. The next thing that Ray did was to pull out a cosh that he had remembered to bring along and smack Terrier across the head to catch his attention, it did.

  “Hey what is going on?” Terrier exclaimed turning over on the table to see Ray aiming a Phaser pistol at him.

  “Good morning Terrier, get dressed you are coming with me, and you had better do it both quietly and very carefully, or I might have to shoot you, got it chummy?” Ray said to the angry the gang boss.

  “What`s the meaning of this, do you know who I am Connors?”

  “Yes, and you know who I am, so what, now quickly move to the door and walk down the rear stairs of your parlour.”

  “I am not dressed yet.” Terrier protested hoping to delay things to give one of his boys the chance to intervene.

  “You are ready now, either you move, or I shoot you and carry you down.” Terrier looked into Ray`s eyes and could see the anger within them, he could also physically feel the power of Ray`s determination to let nothing get in his way.

  “Ok don`t get stressed Connors, I am coming.” With that, Terrier strolled over to the door nonchalantly and began to get dressed. He had just put his shoes back on when Ray had had enough so he slugged him once again with the cosh only a little harder this time, he caught the gang bosses slumping body as it fell towards the floor. Ray tossed the unconscious gangster over his shoulder, while he didn`t look particularly strong he still managed to cope with Terrier`s weight, and with the unconscious gangland boss carried so unceremoniously he proceeded to leave the Blue Parrot premises. Before going through the still open rear door Ray peered outside but all was clear and so he moved quickly into the alley way and the waiting vehicle that Ingmar had provided, Leon was there.

  “I thought that you might need a little help, so here I am.” Leon opened the rear of the vehicle and Ray let the gang boss crash down inside of it, and then he closed the door. The two friends got inside of the vehicle and drove quickly away, before they were noticed by any of Terrier`s cronies.

  “Is he alright Ray, what did you do to him?” Leon asked.

  “He thought that he was still in charge even though I had the Phaser pistol, so I slugged him with a cosh Leon.”

  “And what would have happened if you had killed him Ray?” Leon asked slightly shocked by his friend`s actions.

  “I would have had to go after his lieutenant and slug him too Leon.” Ray said smiling across at his friend.

  “You always were a man of action Ray, it is why I am still alive, and why that piece of scum in the back of the van had better be a little more careful around you. Now where do you plan to take him, to your ship?”

  “Yes Leon, and as soon as me and cutie pie here are on board I will take off and travel across to the second moon of this planet, no one ever bothers with that lump of rock.” The lump of rock in question was more of an asteroid than a moon and it orbited some half a million miles away from New Terra making it of no use to anyone except for Ray at this precise moment.

  “Ok then you had better let me drive this vehicle back to its owner, after you empty it of your garbage back there.” Leon suggested.

  There wasn`t any security at the New Terra space port, it would not be welcomed by its users or the planet`s ruling council, so Ray pulled in beside his ship, and behind the cover of its massive hull pulled the unconscious gang boss out and carried him up into its small galley and dropped him into a chair.

  “Joel I need another favour from you, that van of Ingmar`s will need replacing, can you provide him with enough cash to buy one and I will replay you as soon as I am able?”

  “Please do not come back too soon Ray; you make life just a little too exciting for the likes of us more placid individuals, and don`t worry about the van I will sort something out, bye.” Leon said waving as he drove Ingmar`s vehicle away, Ingmar would have to give the vehicle a complete makeover after all the use it had been given over the last couple of day
s, Leon thought, a paint job and a new fake number plate to replace the present fake number plate should be more than enough to satisfy Ingmar.

  “You got him then Ray.” Harry said while tying the gang boss securely to the chair.

  “Yes and now the three of us are going to take a ride out to the second moon of this lump of rock, and once there and away from any prying eyes we can get this garbage here to tell us where our girl is.” Ray said walking up to the small bridge of the Jeanette.

  The Jeanette soon lifted off, Ray took it swiftly up out of the atmosphere of New Terra and across to rear of the waiting small moon, here he gently landed the ship within a shallow crater. Terrier was just coming round as Ray returned to the galley and to his waiting guest.

  “You slugged me you rat, when I get free of these ropes I am going to take great delight in killing you Connors.” If Karl Terrier`s promised violence was supposed to make Ray tremble with fear then Terrier must have been very disappointed, for all that happened was that a very disinterested Ray Connors pulled out his knife and approached a suddenly quietened gang boss.

  “You are going to do one thing only if you don`t want me to put you into the airlock and open the outer door Karl, you are going to tell me where Jean is and you are going to do it now, that is if you want me to let you live to see another minute or two.” Ray promised a suddenly very frightened Terrier.

  “If you kill me how are you going to find your girl Connor, tell me that?” Terrier scoffed hoping to sound confident yet failing dismally.

  “By putting your lieutenant in the exact same chair that you are now sitting in and asking him the same question, now Karl for the last time where is she?”

  While Ray was questioning the gang boss his knife was cutting away the seams of the gang boss`s expensive jacket until first one expensive sleeve and then a second one hung limply on his arms.

  “Do you know how much this suit cost me Connors?” Terrier asked part in anger but mostly he was in fear for his life.

  “He isn`t going to talk Ray, I will open the inner door of the airlock and then we can carry him inside and I can get my revenge for the damage his boys did to my skull.” Harry moved across the galley with an evil look upon his face as if he were thinking about what was about to happen to the gangland boss.

  “You keep that old loon away from me Connors; I will tell you where you can find your girl and she is alright, none of my boys have touched even as much as a hair on her head.” Terrier answered fearfully.

  “Speak now Karl, tell me exactly where she is or I promise you that I will allow Harry to have his fun.” Ray threatened loudly.

  “She is at the mine, when the Lyren ship leaves with its next shipment of ore they are going to take her with them to use as leverage against her brother. They have him captive back on their planet. That is the truth so help me god.” Karl Terrier swore, no longer a tough gangland boss just someone who was terrified that he was about to lose his life.

  “Where at the mine Karl, tell me exactly where she is so that I can go and get her.” Ray demanded to know.

  “She is in my personal room; you will need me to get in there, for the door will only open when the security device sees the eyes of one of my lieutenants or my own eyes.” Terrier said and just for a moment, his eyes held a look of his old devious self.

  “Then we only need to take along his eyes Ray we can dispose of the rest of him.” Harry said pulling out his knife. Harry was pleased to see the greatly renewed fear appear in the eyes of Karl Terrier.

  “Keep him away from me Connors, you promised me my life if I cooperated with you, which I have done.”

  “Don`t worry Karl, I keep my promises, and as long as we get our girl back unharmed then you will live.”

  Ray now turned from the gangland boss and spoke to his friend.

  “We will take the shuttle craft down as we originally planned Harry, except that Karl here will accompany us on the trip; give me a hand carrying this chair and its occupant into the shuttle.”

  Harry took one side and Ray the other and they carried a quietly scheming Karl Terrier, still tied to a chair, through the ship and into the hanger bay and then into their old but trusty shuttlecraft.

  After depressurising the hanger deck Ray took the shuttle out of the ship and into a long looping course that eventually brought them to within a mile of the mine. Now they only had to walk across the top of the mountain and then down its sloping side to get to within spitting distance of the mine. Ray took with him a few things he thought might come in handy on the trip, like an extra fully charged Phaser and some plastic explosive, should he need to create a diversion.

  Harry was to have waited in the shuttle but with Terrier to look after he was also going along, but only as far as the mountain`s ridge and there he would stop while Ray and Terrier would begin their descent towards the mine area beneath them. They untied the gangland boss with at least one of their Phasers always pointed his way and then the three men left the shuttle and began their journey across the top of the mountain. It was cooler up here with a breeze blowing but not enough to make a coat necessary, down below the sun was scorching the ground for the mine site was much nearer to the planet`s equator than the space port was, and at the moment it was mid-summer. It was easy going, luckily for Harry, and with just the odd scramble up or down its bare rocky surface they soon reached a place where everything below them became visible, they were still some four hundred feet above the mine but the going was getting easier and the trail before them sloped down to the mine below.

  “Where is this building of yours Terrier?” Ray demanded.

  “Look down the trail that we have to descend by, and near to the bottom you will see a rough set of steps cut into the rock by some prospector so long ago that they were unknown, that is until we found Dylithium here last year and began to mine it.”

  Ray peered down while Harry kept a watch on the gang boss and soon saw that they would have no problem reaching it undetected.

  “It looks like you will soon have your freedom after all Karl, as long as you haven`t been lying to us, for if you have been lying all you will get is yourself killed.” Ray promised him.

  “Make sure you keep a right good eye on that rat Ray, he would double cross his own mother if he thought that he could make a profit out of it.” Harry warned Ray.

  “Don`t you worry none Harry, Karl and me are good friends now and if he proves to be false then as I said he will become a dead good friend very quickly.” Turning to Terrier, Ray told him to get started on the climb down the side of the mountain.

  “Don`t try and say hi to your boys down there Karl or else it will be the last thing you ever do, be nice and quiet and you will get to live.” Ray warned the gangland boss.

  “Don`t worry Connors, I can wait to kill you some other time.” Terrier said sulkily.

  The two men were hidden from the miners below by the large rocks and boulders that littered the side of the mountain and then by the trees and bushes as they descended nearer to the ground below. Up above Harry worried about his friend, but he knew that Ray was a match for anything that the gangland boss could think up, but even so, Harry worried. Soon they arrived at the old stone steps that wound up to the cave with the very modern door set into it. It was powered by a cable that came up from the mine and if there was a power cut, it could not be opened from the outside until the power was restored. Karl Terrier put his eye against the retina scanner and as the door opened for them, Ray could see that the cave went quite a long way back with most of it hidden from view. Terrier ambled in; now full of confidence, against the sidewall hung an expensive looking sword that he now slid from its scabbard, just as the door slid shut behind them.

  “Now Connors perhaps you should put your Phaser pistol down, because there are six Phasers set into the roof of this place which will all fire down immediately you touch the trigger. I will be alright for I see that you set yours on stun but you will be dead and before you begin to reset it
, I should warn you that that very action would activate my Phasers before you could ever finish doing it. That is why I have this sword; it gives me a great advantage over anyone else who happens to be here with me.”

  Ray looked very dispirited as he took in the words and the hand that held his Phaser pistol dropped down so that the weapon now pointed to the floor.

  “Karl, do I take it that Jean is not here then?”

  “Oh she is here ok, only by this time she is probably about to be taken over to the Lyren starship for her journey to Lyre to meet her dear stupid brother.”