The Last Horizon (13 page)

“I’ll be around.” Scotty smiled as he turned his attention to his
SCaT Pad.

The VDU chirped again, and our contact reappeared. “Blue Zephyr, copy.”

“Blue Zephyr copies.”

“
Drop altitude to forty-five thousand feet and change heading to thirty-three minutes southwest.”

Th
e signal from the beacon grew stronger as we descended rapidly through the troposphere. It was a clear evening and there was a slight breeze coming from the east. I turned on the composite satellite image of the terrain below us as I made the changes to our flight path as instructed.

“Blue Zephyr, drop your altitude to fifteen thousand feet
, bring your airspeed to subsonic, and hold your course.”

“10-4 Fluture, fifteen thousand feet.”
The sky took on a gold and blue tint as the sun dipped below the horizon and gave the windswept clouds the violet color of evening. We were over a mountainous region, and we quietly looked at the shadows stretching over the landscape as Fluture city lights appeared in the distance.

“Zephyr, drop down to forty-three hundred
feet and drop your speed to four hundred knots.”

“Roger, forty-three hundred.”
I responded as I nosed the ship down.

L
ess than a minute later, the blue running lights of a runway appeared just outside city limits.

“Ze
phyr, you should have a visual on the landing strip from your position, please confirm.”

“10-4, Fluture, I have a visual and have initiated final approach sequence.” I glanced at Scotty and nodded.

“
Adjust airspeed to three hundred knots.”

“Welcome to Nexus.” I smiled as I pushed forward on a lever to my left that lowered the landing gear. “Looks like we’re setting down in a mining colony.”

“How far are we from the city?”

“Not far, about sixteen kilometers.”

“I’m going to have to make arrangements for transportation when we land.”

“Fluture. That’s a beautiful name for a city.”

“It’s Romanian.” Scott
smiled back. “The founder of the city, Dimitrie Lascăr, was from a European continent on Earth. Fluture means butterfly.”

“The city’s named Butterfly?”

“Yes. The area that Fluture was built on is actually the breeding grounds for a species of butterfly called the Blue Morphus Luna Didius. It’s the largest butterfly known to man. Every five years, millions of Didius migrate here to mate. It’s a spectacular event to witness.”

“Why here?”

“It’s the fauna. Their larva feed on a variety of plants that can only be found in several places on Nexus. The Didius that come here were born here. After their metamorphosis, they make a twenty-five hundred mile journey to a coastal region where they spend nine months. When they come back to Fluture, they mate, lay their eggs, then fly lack to the southern coast to die.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I’m a genius.” Scotty smirked. “This is the year for the Didius to return to Fluture. Maybe we’ll get to see them.”

“Blue Zephyr,”
our contact said briskly, “once you touch down, full reverse on your thrusters. The landing strip is only a mile and a half long.”

“Shit!” I laughed and shook my head
. “It’s always something.”

“Is this a problem?”

“We’ll be okay…” I grinned, “…trust me.”

“Good god.”

We could see a huge mining site sprawled ahead as we made our approach. Wide dirt roads crisscrossed for miles in the darkening landscape that had been scarred by intense excavations. Heavy earth-moving equipment dotted the ground and the silhouettes of conveyor systems in steel trestles loomed in the darkness as we neared the landing strip.

There were hundreds of white, three story tilt-slab apartments, and dozens of
glass office buildings that stretched for at least five miles on the western border of the mines. There was also what appeared to be a water treatment plant seated on the southern portion of the colony along with a series of process facility buildings, warehouses, and bulk chemical tanks.

I centered the Zephyr between the running lights of the strip and brought the nose up ten degrees. The thrusters droned heavily, and I extended the leading edges of the wings and rear stabilizers alo
ng with the air brakes to slow our descent as I lit up the high intensity beams under the fuselage and wings to illuminate the terrain in front of us.

We touched down with a slight bump as the main landing struts absorbed the force
, and the nose wheel made contact with the steel tarmac. I reached down and pushed the trim levers forward steadily and began reverse thrust with the engines.

The
Zephyr barreled past the small control tower of the landing strip, when I deployed a drag chute and put the thrusters in full reverse; the engines screamed and we were pushed forward against our seat harnesses as the ship vibrated hard and came to a slow taxi.

We came to a full stop at the edge of the airstrip where steel deflector barriers lined the perimeter. I could see the high grass in front of us being blown flat from our jets when I ramped them down to a five percent thrust and turn
ed the Zephyr around a hundred and eighty degrees. A pilot truck pulled in front of us with its lights blinking and we were flanked on both sides by two black FAV’s as we taxied forward.

The VDU blinked and our host appeared
once again. “Bravo, Zephyr.” The man smiled widely. “A well-executed landing on your part Ms. Wells. Please follow the truck to the designated hanger. Welcome to Cybelle.”

Chapter 8

I
shut the thrusters down when we reached the area by the control tower where a crawler latched on to us, and we were towed into a brightly lit hanger. I removed my helmet, set it on top of the instrument panel, and sighed with relief.

When we came to a full stop,
I shut down all the systems and subsystems and depressurized the bridge and cargo bay. I stood up and put on my jacket and fedora and stretched my arms.

“What do you think, Scotty?”

Scott grabbed his gear and looked at me sternly as he put away his SCaT Pad. “Thanks for the ride Nikki,” he smiled shyly as he shouldered his pack, “I’ll see you back here in five days, okay?”

“Five days,” I replied, “and don’t be late.” I opened the rear cargo doors and dropped the loading ramp.

When we stepped out of the Zephyr, we were met by the passengers of the FAV’s. Rough looking bunch. One of them was clean-cut, bald, and well-dressed. He wore a dark suit and stood confidently among his cronies at the bottom of the ramp.

Scotty and I
walked down the ramp and watched in silence as the suit lit a cigarette and inspected the Zephyr, he shook his head as he ran his hand over the tears and holes in the panels. “Jesus.” He shot me a hard look. “You’re the pilot?”

“Yes I am.” I sighed as I gazed up at the thrashed
vertical rudder.

“I see your ship has incurred some damage.”

“We ran into some trouble on the way here. Pirates tried to hijack us, it’s the reason we didn’t get here sooner.”

“What system did this happen in?” He frowned.

“Doesn’t matter. We took care of them.” I said coldly. “Can you recommend any aerospace mechanics?”

A moment later, two forklifts pulled up followed by
a small crew of workers that gathered around us. They stood in a loose group and peered into the ship’s hold.

T
he man in the suit clapped his hands and barked, “Okay boys, you know the drill. Let’s get the merchandise off-loaded.” He turned to one of the drivers, “Flynn, get the containers to the staging area and start an inventory. I’ll contact Charon and let him know that they’ve arrived on time.”

The driver nodded silently and looked at me. “Is the overhead crane in your
ship operable?”

“Yes sir.”

“May I?”

“Certainly. Careful with the handle for the trolley--it sticks sometimes.”

“One moment please.” The suit crushed his cigarette and pulled out his phone. “Mr. Charon, Jase. Yes sir, the product is here. It’s being brought to the staging area as we speak. I’ll call you back with a full inventory when Flynn’s done. By the way, the pilot’s ship took some damage from hijackers during the voyage. Yes sir, I’ll let them know.” Jase put his phone away. “When did you plan to depart?”

“Five days from now…the 29
th
.”

“Your ship will be ready by then. Please make yourself available to answer any questions the mechanics and technicians may have concerning the Zephyr.”

“I’m prepared to pay for the repairs.”

“My employer will take care of the repairs for your ship.”

The
suit walked up to us and extended his hand. “I think a formal introduction is overdue. I’m Jase.”

“Nikki Wells.” I said with a nod as I shook his hand.

“Fenmore Scott.” Scotty volunteered.

“We’ve made accommodations for
both of you here at Cybelle. I think you’ll find your apartments quite agreeable and your stay pleasant.”

“That’s very generous of you, Mr. Jase,” Scotty said, “but I’ve already made provisions in Fluture.”

“As you wish.” Jase bowed. “I’ll arrange for your transportation to the city. “I have to admit, Ms. Wells,” Jase smiled, “I was skeptical about your ability to hit the schedule when I was told you left Earth six days ago.”

“It’s been a hell of a journey.
”

“
Looks like it. Let’s get you settled in.”

Scotty and I exchanged SP numbers as I threw my gear in one
of the FAV’s.

A black
Avarno SS-2 sedan pulled up to us and the driver got out and handed Scotty the keys.

“Nice ride, Scotty.”

“You’ll be okay Nikki?”

“Yeah, I can handle things on my end.” I glanced at the FAV driver that was waiting for me. “What about you?”

Scott smiled wordlessly as he put his bags in the passenger seat of the car, slid into the driver’s side, and fired up the vehicle. He nodded at me then drove into the night.

 
C
haron moved through the crowded floor of the casino accompanied by two bodyguards. He enjoyed mingling with the clientele and checking in with the dealers on busy nights like this, it gave him a chance to press the flesh and see everything in action. This was his business now, and he liked to be as hands-on as possible.

  It’s been three hours since he talked to Jase and he wondered what the status was with his purchase. He spent a lot of money on this product and he was concerned about Montrell’s ability to deliver.
If he got burned on this deal, he would see to it that Montrell suffered.

  He sighed with relief when his phone rang, and saw that it was Jase. “It’s about time. What’s going on Jase?”
Charon said impatiently.

  “
Sorry for the delay, Mr. Charon, we had to make sure everything was copasetic, so we counted and weighed everything twice.”

  “And?”

  “All three thousand gallons of isomerized Beta-ephedrine are accounted for, they came in five-gallon containers beneath the cosmetics. Sorben tested random samples of the product and it’s a hundred percent pure.”

 
“Excellent, get the Beta-ephedrine palletized and to the lab as soon as possible. Looks like Montrell came through and is a man of his word.”

  “What do you want to do with the ship’s crew?
Shall we go ahead with the repairs?”

 
He was feeling unusually generous in light of the good news. “Nothing. They’re Montrell’s employees. They’ll be useful to us again for the next delivery. Do whatever it takes to get their ship space worthy.”

  “What about the cosmetics?”

  “Get them distributed to the call-out sites for the girls.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Charon hung up and smiled. Three thousand gallons. His production rate was going to escalate twenty-fold over the next few months, and his drug ring profit would grow exponentially once this new batch of Crunch hits the streets and mining colonies.