“Of course I can. But it will take hours and equipment we haven’t got.”
They didn’t have the time, either. “When’s Gunter’s shuttle due?”
“Six hours,” said van Heel.
This aircar was fast. They’d be at the spaceport in two hours. They’d have to hide for four. Even now, someone at Redmond headquarters—someone like van Heel—would be tracing their route. They’d work out where they were headed. Then they’d go through the expected deliveries at the spaceport. It wouldn’t take much to associate Han’s Lancian comms with an order coming from Lancia. They’d hack into Gunter Wong’s call, then his sales records. They’d know where the shellfish were being delivered. They’d know exactly what Radko and her team planned.
What came after that would be far worse than anything they had encountered so far. If they continued with this plan, they’d be dead in four hours.
It was time to revise their plan. “Let’s go steal a shuttle,” Radko said.
The closest spaceport with shuttles currently on the ground was a thousand kilometers away. Radko turned the throttle on full and set the autopilot. They’d be there in twenty minutes.
“Han, watch the boards, see if we’re being followed. While you’re doing that, see what shuttles will be in port, and identify them and where they’re going.”
Chaudry had already found the first-aid kit. He handled van Heel with a competence surprising for one who, according to his records, had been stuck in supplies for the six months since he’d graduated from fleet academy.
Radko watched him while she picked the lock on the first weapons cupboard. “You’ve seen action?”
“No, ma’am.” Chaudry ducked his head and turned away, as if ashamed that he hadn’t.
“But you’ve treated injured people before.”
He didn’t answer.
“Chaudry. It’s not my business to know every personal detail of your life.” Although a good team leader did. She was sure Bhaksir knew every detail of hers. “But if I have a skilled medical practitioner on my staff, I need to know it.”
The cupboard door sprang open.
“My parents were doctors.” She had to strain to hear Chaudry’s mumble. “I was going to be a doctor.”
Until he’d taken the Havortian tests. Did anyone ever refuse to go into line training?
Radko checked the contents of the cupboard. More blasters. Didn’t they have better weapons? She moved on to the next cupboard.
“Speaking of knowing people,” Han said. “You’re very handy with a picklock.”
“Thank you.” Personally, she’d prefer a level-twelve linesman to open it for her. And what was Ean doing now, anyway?
Thinking about that—she apologized to the next cupboard as she broke the connection. “I am sorry, but we need the weapons.” She didn’t know if the Redmond aircar cupboards were line three or simply mechanical. Probably mechanical, and a linesman wouldn’t have been able to open them.
She looked up to see all of them staring at her. “It’s polite.”
“Maybe I’m not the one you should be looking at,” van Heel told Chaudry. She breathed in sharply as he sprayed painkiller on her wound, then out on a long hiss as the gel hardened. “That feels so good.”
Radko went back to the weapons cupboard. This one, at least, had a long-distance armor-piercing gun. Not a big one, but large enough to put a dent into anything that might come after them. She handed it to Han.
The third cupboard held riot grenades. The smaller ones had a range of three meters, the larger ones could clear a large cargo space. Radko tucked all of them into her belt.
“We’ve three possible shuttles,” Han said. “A small two-seater that will arrive around the same time we do. It’s delivering machinery parts. A ten-seater delivering a shipment of iced Karamba mangosteen. It will arrive five minutes after we do. And a six-seater delivering passengers and cargo from a regular run between the Redmond worlds. It’s been down half an hour already.”
“We’ll take the six-seater if we can.” It had two advantages. They’d all fit, and it would be ready to leave—shuttles didn’t stay long because of port charges.
They just had to get there in time.
Five minutes to go. Radko checked the location of the shuttle as the aircar slowed to descend and set them to land as close to the shuttle they wanted as she could.
She switched to manual at four minutes, for the automatic traffic controller would grab them if she didn’t, and it would move them to a safer location. Five seconds later, the automated message came on.
“Attention, you are entering restricted airspace. This is an automated control area. Please hand control over to the automated controller.”
She turned the volume down. “How’s van Heel?” she asked Chaudry. “Can she run?”
“I can run,” van Heel said.
Chaudry shook his head.
“Okay, you’re responsible for her then. We’ll try to stay with you. Get something to cover your mouth and your eyes.” She tapped the gas grenades on her belt. “I might have to use these.”
He nodded.
They were thirty seconds from landing when a human controller took over. “Back off, moron. You’re in a spaceport, and you’re too close to the shuttles.”
She checked one last time to see if the shuttle was still on the ground. It was.
“The shuttle’s there.” She pointed in the direction the shuttle would be when they landed. Head for it.” If they were lucky, the door would be open, and they could storm it. “Chaudry, get van Heel settled and strapped in. Han and I will take the shuttle.”
Han looked at the weapon in his hands. “That’s our plan?”
“The best plans, Han, are the ones you make up as you go along. They have an element of randomness. If you don’t know what’s coming, other people don’t either.”
They landed fifty meters from the shuttle. Better, it was partway through being loaded, so the doors were open. “Let’s go.” Radko set her blaster on stun and led the way down.
“I can walk,” van Heel insisted, but was soon leaning heavily on Chaudry.
As they made their way across the tarmac, a ground car sped up from the other end of the field.
Radko waited until they’d slowed, then stunned the four occupants with her blaster. The ground car rolled to a halt.
“A bit extreme,” Han said.
“Any closer, and they’d be in the shuttle blast when we take off. This way it’s safer.”
Radko quickened her pace. At the door to the shuttle, they were greeted by a blaster—not on stun. “I’ve called the authorities,” the pilot said. “They’ll be here soon.”
Radko shot him. He toppled backward.
Chaudry made an inarticulate sound.
Radko hauled the pilot back into the shuttle. “Han, can you disengage the robots loading?”
“I—”
“I’ll do it.” Chaudry passed van Heel over to Han and moved over to the boards. Radko watched his swift hands as she prepared for takeoff. This was one thing he was used to doing.
“They do this in Stores?”
“All the time,” Chaudry said. “It’s Stores, after all.”
She locked each door as the robots disengaged. “Han, disarm the pilot and strap him in.” They could have ditched him, but it would take too much time to drag the body a safe distance.
Radko checked the fuel. Half-full. Enough for what they needed. She hoped.
“Pilot secure,” Han said, at the same time as Chaudry said, “Robots clear.”
Radko snapped the last door shut and fired the engines. Five seconds later, they started to rise.