Farscape Tracker (3) “How was I supposed to know that they were drunks? Keeping tavleks captive in a ship isn’t as easy as you may think. Besides the heat on the transport was unbearable,” Odosa answered back. U’ave shook his head, “Did it ever occur to you to bring them what they wanted to the ship instead of letting them run about and causing suspicion?” “As I stated before…” “You have stated nothing that can justify your failure! Now things have gotten difficult for me…” “The tavleks could have gone to a different bar, it was I that suggested Attan’s. I thought that it was a safer place for them to go without too many people asking questions, your guest growing restless being on the transport, overhead my conversation with them, and when they returned drunk and went off to their quarters to sleep, your guest left the ship. I begged him not to leave the ship, but it was useless, one man trying to stop him, besides he threatened to kill me, I know that I was no good to you dead…” “I’m not so sure,” U’ave interrupted, “…So I awoke Bichak and we escorted him to Attan’s. When we arrived, he grew agitated when he saw who was leaving the bar and asked Bichak who that man was. Bichak told him that it was a bounty hunter named Dekksin. As Dekksin approached, your guest got angrier and said something to the effect that “…that is no bounty hunter” and shouted at him. When Dekksin turned and got shot, we had to restrain him from going after him and it’s a good thing that we did because I saw a woman come out of the bar. She screamed and we managed to pull him away before we were seen.” “Did she see you?” “No it was to dark. Bichak and I managed to escaped with your very angry guest.” “Would you recognize the woman again if you saw her?” asked U’ave. “Yes.” “Good, we may have to deal with her when the time comes. What happened next?” “We arrived at the transport and he sent a coded message to his superiors. I was not able to intercept the transmission nor was I able to decode it. He then went to his quarters to await a response. The rest of the events you already know.” “This is more trouble than what I expected. I will not tolerate any more failures on your part Odosa, it there are I will ensure that you and your bother will never have to worry about finding work ever gain.” Odosa just looked at him in silence. U’ave motioned to him as if to say you may leave now. Odosa got up and walked to leave the bar, Attan grabbed Elantras’s arm and shoved her through the door that leads to a small storage room at the front of the bar. “You better get out of sight. No telling what he knows, stay there,” and closed the door behind him. Odosa walked past the bar and looked at Attan and nodded his head and Attan reciprocated and walked out of the bar. Attan called another waiter to come over to watch the bar and he went into the storage room. “He’s gone.” “We need to contact Traynor. Can you reach him?” she asked with concern. “Yes, but its too risky. They will surely be monitoring all transmissions. We’ll have to do nothing …for now.” “What next?” she asked. “Go about our business as if nothing has happened. I am going to find someone to look after you.” “WHAT? I can take care of myself Attan. I don’t need anyone to protect me!” “This is different from smuggling Elantras, you aren’t making the rules; they are.” “They?” “U’ave and whomever he is dealing with.” There was a moment of silence between them. “Who are you going to get to watch me?” Attan thought for a couple of microts, he smiled and looked at her, “I have the perfect man.” 6 arns had passed and Traynor received a COM from Furlow telling him that she had replaced and repaired the power unit. He spent most of his time trying to gain some leads as to where Moya might have headed. He didn’t get any answers that he liked. As he approached Furlow, his expression on his face showed how he felt. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, “I thought you would be jumping all over me since I got this thing fixed for ya in record time.” She extended her hand out and showed him the unit. He reached out and grabbed it and looked at her and said nothing. “Poor Traynor. Did the trail grow cold?” she said laughing at him. “I told you I don’t want the bounty,” he replied looking sternly at her. “You can’t pretend anymore Dekksin. We both are after the same thing…money and lots of it.” “I am nothing like you. I don’t steal, I don’t cheat, and I always finish a job no matter how long it takes and even if it costs me. You and I may be scum but I am a different kind of scum.” “Well from one piece of scum to another, why waste all your time looking for a leviathan when it can come to you,” she said. “What the frell are you talking about?” “Lets just say for a cut of the bounty, I can give you a little something that can help you out.” There was a short pause between them. Then finally he said, “Go on.” “Glad I got your attention handsome. Take a look at this,” she replied and showed him a black box that was to the right of her and on the floor. “This little thing is the answer to all your problems. You see Dekksin; yours truly has managed to replicate a distress signal that leviathans send out. Kinda like what you would find on a command carrier when they hunt them, except it has a double the range and double the magnification of the signal. I needed a backup plan just in case my flyboy and his friends didn’t live up to our bargain, needed a guarantee so to say. You put this thing on your ship and you’ll see how fast you find that leviathan. Don’t know too much about leviathans but I do know that when one of their own is hurting, they always come, not matter what the pilot or crew say.” Traynor had thought about this before but knew that this type of peacekeeper technology was hard to come by. He didn’t know how she got her hands on this or even if she did built it, she did have skill, but now his options were wide open to him. “Now it all depends on you and what you want to do Dekk,” she said proudly. “100,000 in borinium,” he said. “I…I…” she stammered taken back by his offer. “I suggest you take it Furlow and pray that it works. If not I am coming back for a refund, the hard way.” “Deal. You want me to install this and the power cell on your ship?” she said. “No, I’ll take care of it myself,” he replied as his eyes hovered over a multiresonator hologram that was behind her on her left. A hologram device amplified a ship’s signal so that it would appear that more ships were flying about instead of 1 and it projected holograms of the fake ships. “Throw in the resonator and Furlow?” “Yeah?” “You never saw me, I was never here. If anyone comes after me, you’ll be the first person that I am coming after,” he said coldly. She stood back and was surprised at what he just said and she knew that he was one person that she could not frell with. “Fair enough. You were never here and take the resonator on me!” “Have one of your assistants on stand by. I’ll Com you when I’ve got the borinum ready for you. He can come out to my ship and pick it up.” She looked at him. “What? Did you think that I was going to bring the money to you?” “Of course not. Just tell me when your ready.” Traynor took the power cell and the resonator from her, put on his sand goggles, and headed back to the ship. “I shoulda waited until I got paid before I gave him anything,” Furlow said; as she looked at him leave not knowing if he would actually pay her. Traynor took out the small device and hit a button and he head the ship’s engines turn on but he could not see her. She had been buried deep beneath the sand after the storm. After a couple of microts, the sand began to shift and she emerged from the sand and hovered over the dune. He turned off the ship’s sensors and gun turrets and he pressed another button that initiated the landing gear and she landed on the dune. The landing ramp opened up and he went inside eager to install the black box and open the containers that contained the money so that he could finish his deal with Furlow. He could have left the planet and not paid her but that wasn’t him. He didn’t want to be like the rest “D’Argo man, I’m telling you there is something out there,” John said looking out the cockpit window. “You guys are telling me you can’t see it?” “Crichton, there is nothing out there except nothing. If Pilot had not received a distress signal from another leviathan, we would not be wasting our time looking at nothing,” D’Argo said growing annoyed by the microt. “Yeah well its not like we had a choice in the matter. Moya had pretty much made up her mind when Pilot told us what was going on. Man! We were just a couple of arns away from ditching the love boat and getting some real food than the crappy food cubes we eat. I hate cubes D’Argo, I hate em,” John said out loud and chuckled thinking about what he just said. In order to keep his sanity he would sometimes think back to things that he saw and did on earth and what he just said reminded him of what Indiana Jones said about snakes. “And with WHAT were we going to buy the food with?” D’Argo replied. “ I dunno. Enter a karaoke contest, wash windshields. Besides, there has to be something here that we can pawn off to Vinnie the chin to get some money.” “‘Vinnie”?” D’Argo asked. “Forget it. LOOK! There it is again! See it?” “Your obsession with wormholes is getting way out of hand. Pilot!” “Yes D’Argo?” “Have the DRDS finished the diagnostic on Moya’s scanners?” “Yes they have…twice and nothing is wrong with them. In fact they are operating above acceptable levels. Officer Sun has also checked the scanners and should be up to command shortly.” “I’ve checked everything that I can think of,” Aeryn said as she entered command. D’Argo looked at her while John continued to look out into space. “AND?” D’Argo asked. “Everything is working fine. At least from what I tell. Pilot? Is Moya certain that the signal is not emanating from within the ship?” Aeryn asked. “Yes Officer Sun, she has already checked for that. She insists that the signal is emanating from outside the ship and is adamant that she is near to closing in on it. But something is not right,” Pilot said with concern. “What’s wrong?” Aeryn asked. “It seems that the closer Moya gets to the signal, the father away it gets.” “THAT does not make any sense,” D’Argo blurted out, “We cannot keep looking for something that is not there. Pilot, inform Moya to continue to search for 8 more aryns then to resume course to the commerce planet,” D’Argo commanded. “I am sorry D’Argo but she will not leave until she finds the leviathan that is sending out the distress signal. It is her duty to investigate and help in anyway possible,” Pilot replied. “Will someone tell me what the FRELL is going on?” Rygel shouted out as he entered command followed closely by Zhann. “Yes Pilot is something the matter? I can feel that Moya is anxious and frustrated what is the matter?” Zhann asked with compassion. “She is searching for a leviathan that has sent out a distress signal and THANK YOU for asking. We are both doing fine for now but I am afraid that Moya is concerned that the leviathan is severely hurt.” “Yeah but the problem is that we can’t pinpoint the signal’s origin and I’m tellen you guys there is something out there,” John said still looking out. “ENOUGH!” D’Argo shouted, “There is only one way to prove this and that’s by going out there in a transport pod to settle this once and for all.”
Copyright © 2002 Rick Mantilla |