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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