After
dropping Coll at his house Lyris and Zerrad Skeet found themselves a comfortable
hotel on the classier side of town.
They
spent much of the next day mooching about Ditton doing not very much at all,
and later in the day they sat in a restaurant and over a meal discussed what to
do next about Coll.
“He’s
definitely hiding something” Lyris said
“I
agree, but we don’t know if that’s a murder or not” his brother responded
“Well
I think there’s one sure way to find out and that’s to go and ask him” Lyris
added
“Ok
let’s go and see him now” Zerrad said
It
was quite late when they pulled up in Coll’s neighbourhood, and everything was
quiet, so they parked in the first available space, it was only as they walked
along the alley that they noticed the front door was ajar.
The
Skeets drew their weapons and Lyris pushed the door open slowly and stepped
inside the dark hallway.
“Coll!”
he called
Coll
Musak heard the call just as he aimed the Pulsar Laser at Knarf, who, on seeing
Coll momentarily distracted took his chance and sprang up off the sofa and
launched himself at him, then he fired the fully charged Pulsar Laser, and the
bolt hit Knarf squarely in the chest throwing him back onto the flexible alloy
covered sofa, but because the Laser was discharged at such short range the
Laser bolt went straight through the Adnarian before continuing its flight, and
hitting the wall by the door just as Lyris opened the door.
Lyris
burst into the room and heard something hit the wall about twelve inches from
his head, he wasn’t sure what it was until he saw the Pulsar Laser in Coll’s
hand, then he looked at the scorched hole in the plaster and said
“That
was too close for comfort”
He
tried to put the fact that he had narrowly missed being killed from his mind
and quickly surveyed the scene, a motionless body, the flexible alloy sheet, a
Gold Watch on the table and a Pulsar Laser.
However,
while he was surveying the scene his brother pushed past him and took the
weapon from Coll who relinquished it without argument then he checked the
motionless body for signs of life, before he turned and said.
“He’s
dead”
“Good”
Coll retorted
“What
the hell happened Coll what’s going on here?”
“I
set a trap for him, ambushed him if you like,” He pointed at the faux Gold Watch
“I
lured him here with that and then executed him”
Lyris
sat down on the vacant chair and Zerrad sat on the arm of the sofa and looked
at the corpse, while Coll filled them in on the events of that evening and the
previous months which lead up to it.
He
told them everything, seeing Knarf leaving Sonda’s house, the call to the
Prefecture, the lying, the intimidation, the vandalism and the brain tumour,
right up to the point when the Skeets entered the room.
“You
can call the prefects now” Coll stated.
Lyris
sat in the arm chair with his head back and his eyes closed and said nothing.
“Lyris
you must”
“I’m
not going to call anyone” Lyris replied leaning forward.
“But
I killed him, you know I did” Coll said
“We’re
not calling the Prefects” Zerrad confirmed
“But
you have to, I killed him, and I’m prepared to take my punishment” Coll said
“If
they arrest you for murder you will spend your last days in prison awaiting
trial” Lyris said
“And
you don’t deserve that”
“I
don’t want you two throwing your lives away to save me” Coll said
“We
wouldn’t have lives if it hadn’t been for you” Zerrad said “So what’s our next
move Ly?”
“We
need the Spider Hawk” Lyris replied and then to Coll he asked
“Is
your Runabout driveable?”
“Yes,
I just keep it in the lockup to stop it being vandalised” he replied
“Ok
we’ll sort things here, while you return the Runabout and get the shuttle to
Rendon, pick up the Spider Hawk and the meet us….” He paused as he consulted an
electronic map “This old derelict quarry workings”
“Ok
I’m on my way” Zerrad said “Rendezvous in 5 hours”
The
first hour following Zerrad’s departure passed largely in silence, as Lyris and
Coll wrapped the corpse in the flexible alloy sheet which they then carried out
to Coll’s lockup, fortunately it was possible to access it from his back yard
reducing the risk of being seen, and they managed to get to the garage
unnoticed.
Once
in the garage they put the body in the back, then paused for breath.
“What
now?” Coll asked breathing heavily.
“Go
back to the house and get all your belongings together, you won’t be coming
back to Ditton again” he replied
It
only took Coll about half an hour to throw what he wanted to take into a couple
of bags, and another twenty to gather together his most precious belongings into
a third.
The
three bags were loaded into the Runabout and then Lyris went back to the house
to make sure there were no signs of foul play and then he turned out the light
and closed the back door and joined Coll in the lockup.
“Ok
let’s go” he said
A
thick fog had descended which was something of a blessing and a curse, a
blessing as it was good cover if you were up to no good but a curse when the
people you’re rendezvousing with are unable to see the ground.
So
they drove carefully away from Coll’s house, away from his neighbourhood,
through the industrial district and beyond to the old derelict quarry workings.
They
drove off the main road and followed the rough track that lead towards the
quarry and continued on round to the back of the abandoned buildings, to a spot
that couldn’t be seen from the main road and pulled up in a cancelled spot some
fifty yards from where the Spider Hawk could land.
They
had about an hour to wait before Zerrad was due and Lyris was relieved to see
that the fog was thinning as a light breeze began to blow.
It
was half an hour beyond the agreed time for the Rendezvous and Lyris was
beginning to get concerned but then the comms crackled into life
“Spider
Hawk calling Chic’s, come in Chic’s” Zerrad said
“Chic’s
receiving Zer, loud and clear” Lyris replied
“Visibility
poor, can you give me a target” Zerrad asked
“Received
Zer, look for my lights” he replied and turned the Runabout lights on full”
“I
have visual, coming down”
The
Spider Hawk landed and Lyris drove the Runabout closer to reduce the distance
they would need to carry the body.
They
got Coll and his bags aboard first and then opened the boot and transferred the
body into the Spider Hawks hold.
Finally,
once Zerrad was at the controls Lyris set the timer on a burner and tossed it
in to Coll’s Runabout.
A
burner was an incendiary device with a time delay which would give them time to
get airborne before it went off, so Lyris got in the Spider Hawk and Zerrad
took off.
They
hovered just above the quarry until the burner ignited and once the Runabout
was well ablaze they sped off at speed directly towards space, and as soon as
they left Eikon Majors atmosphere Zerrad slowed down.
“Shall
we let him go here?” he asked
“It’s
as good a place as any” Lyris said and remotely opened the hold, and they
watched as the alloy covered bundle tumbled through the outer atmosphere and
burned up as it went.
“Good
riddance” Coll said
There
was real relief in Coll’s face as they left Eikon Major, even though he had no
notion where he was going.
For
the Skeets it was a no brainer, like all the Tornado’s lame ducks, like Duff
Tarver and Ambor Etra, they took him to Montrose, but unlike Duff and Ambor
there would be no recovery, but he would be able to end his days in peace and
dignity among friends new and old, and attended by the Tornado’s healer,
Terrell Vorton.
Coll
Musak’s passing coincided with Ambor Etra’s recovery from her Pulsar wound and
the Tornado’s readiness to resume its duties for Golbolt Interstellar,
so it was decided Ambor could tag along aboard the Tornado until such time as
Ferro Scanner returned from protective duty on Andraxis and Captain Merionwen
Strong returned to the Eikon Cluster after her sabbatical.
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