where the money is if we can’t get our hands on her.”
Carl snickered. “Who says she’ll be out of reach?”
“Well, excuse me. I sort of figured her being in another galaxy was out of our reach.”
Carl lumbered to his feet and moved to stare out the window. “Not necessarily. I did some checking, and they have recently opened a space port on Kilara. It’s the last stop in the Fileta side of the wormhole. They’re practically begging for people from Earth to open small businesses in the terminal. They’ve got rigid guidelines about offering supplies or services the farmers usually have to ship in.”
“How the hell does that help us?”
“Hell, don’t you have any imagination at all? We can send Angelo and Mario on a business trip. They can say they’re there checking out the place in hopes of opening a business. There are only four farms on the planet. It should be a piece of cake for them to sneak away long enough to find our little Ms. Montgomery.”
“How will they get her back here?”
“Technically, they don’t have to. You know as well as I do that Mario is very skilled at getting information out of people. We just leave it up to them to find out what we need and then dispose of the bitch. We’ll even hedge our bets and make sure they send some police guards along with her to make sure she’s playing nice with the aliens. Her guards will just have to be someone we know.”
“You trust Mario and Angelo to just bring back the information where all our millions are hiding?”
“Of course not. That’s why I plan on being at the station when they get in. They won’t have a chance to use the information for themselves. There’s only one shuttle that goes back and forth between here and Kilara. If they want the money, they have to come back to Earth.”
Robert stroked his chin slowly and smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
* * * *
Zin paced back and forth in front of the spaceport letting his gaze wander over the various travelers with their brightly colored garments. The robotic loaders were busy stacking cargo while the sounds of metal scraping against metal made him want to scream. He stretched, rolling his shoulders as the noon suns heated his skin. A soft vibration filtered up through his boots as another small craft landed. He glanced at Kernz and growled softly. “This is ridiculous. We should have been allowed to bring her back with us.”
Kernz shook his head and fanned himself with a small book. “There’s no point in discussing this again since there’s nothing we can do about it.”
At the last minute, the officials on Earth had demanded Jeni be transported with official guards on a public shuttle. She was a convicted prisoner being transferred to serve her sentence and should be treated as such. Zin and Kernz had complained to the highest level but had been unable to change their decision.
“What the hell?” Kernz’s eyes widened. “What’s Rmantk doing here?”
Zin turned to stare toward the station. Rmantk served as the head of security for the royal family of Arridia. “This can’t be good. He’s got Tenik and Quenk with him.” He walked toward the three men. “Rmantk, what brings you to Kilara? Is our father well?”
Rmantk gave a slight bow. “He’s fine, Prince Zintssar. When he heard you’d found your Laan Asawa, he put us on the first shuttle to join you. We’re to be the security detail for the new princess.”
Kernz groaned. “As the Earthers would say, the shit is about to hit the fan big time.”
Tenik moved closer. “What is he talking about?”
Zin rubbed his head where a headache was making itself known. “Jeni doesn’t know we come from the ruling family of Arridia.”
“Who does she think you are?” asked Rmantk.
Zin winced and lowered his eyes. “She thinks we’re simple farmers sent to grow food for our world.”
“That’s not really a lie.” Quenk chuckled. “That is why you’re here. What will you tell her
David Stuckler Sanjay Basu
Aiden James, Patrick Burdine