Odd Couple 9

I would have won that bet. You wipe everything down. Places I never even would have thought of. Sheets and towels piled in a heap on the floor. When I asked, you said they would go into the hamper on another floor, so they wouldn’t be traced here, taking the stairs, where we won’t be noticed.

I never realized how dangerous you were. How prepared. It’s like some part of you has shut off, you run on automatic. The difference between instinct and discipline, I guess.

Your rifle is partially disassembled, to take less space, a knife strapped to the inside of your thigh, just under the edge of your skirt.

Your hair, pulled back neatly again. Not a thing out of place. I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb with you. You said it would be fine, that it would work out perfectly. That I had to look like a pilot, and look like I belonged.

Your voice is soft and thoughtful again, like last night, as you run through what we are about to do. I’d hate to be McDermott.

“I don’t know much about ships, Riddick, what do we need?”

“Something small, and fast, don’t want to be stuck in cryo. It’ll be expensive”. You just shoot me a look, a small smile curling up on the corner of your mouth.

“My expenses are covered by McDermott, I can’t help but find that terribly amusing.”

“We’ll need to split up once we get close enough. I’ll take care of the purchase. I need you to make sure that you’ll be my pilot. Most likely have to get rid of the real pilot. I’d prefer not to kill him, unless there’s no other choice.”

I don’t like the idea of splitting up, don’t want to admit to myself why either.

“I won’t be much help to you, as far as flying goes.”

“A small ship shouldn’t be a problem, I’ve flown just about anything I can get my hands on, at some point.”

Your voice drifts away again, as you run through a list of what we’ll most likely need.

“Weaponry shouldn’t be a problem, and the less we have to carry, the easier it will be. McDermott will be armed, however. His house likely fortified. He sees himself as a dangerous man. He’ll equip himself and his home in a way that displays what he perceives to be his own importance. He feels important enough that, he believes, people will seek to kill him. He’ll have guards, and most likely dogs. He would likely have a safe, for the files. I can’t see him just leaving them somewhere, it would clash with the image he has made for himself. We’ll need a contained explosive, most likely timed. Blow the safe and destroy the files, the house, whatever, in case it goes south.”

“Explosives aren’t a problem, I can rig it from the charges of the hatches of whatever ship we use.”

I have hunted and killed things for most of my life, and can’t remember a time when I didn’t make plans for doing it. I don’t think I ever sought to get inside the head of a target before, or at least not this deeply. It’s a calculation that’s almost scary, sexy too, as far as that goes. Better not to think so, not right now.

“I put myself in your hands Riddick, if I think too much about the flight, I’ll be too jumpy for anything else. Here, hold the sheets.”

You pass me a tightly folded pile of sheets and towels.

“Down the hall…wait….”
“Now….to the stairs, we go down one floor.”

We slip out of the back of the inn, pulling the hoods of our robes over our heads. You stop at the end of the alley, I take your arm, and we make way to a hangar, for a ship.

The hangar is a huge and cavernous space, but the young man at the desk is pleasant enough, a little flustered.

“Everything looks in order, Miss Brightman.”

A throwaway alias, I have several, in case I have to leave ID for anything. The DNA tab won’t match up with anything, the photo will dissolve in about an hour, after exposure to air, making it unreadable. Payment in cash, so there’s no record there.

An unbuttoned blouse ensures that my face will not be what the desk clerk will remember. He’ll invent a series of vague terms to remember me by, to not have to admit that he spent the encounter looking at my cleavage.

“We have a pilot , if you need one.”

He looks almost hopeful. I wonder how long he’s had a license for.

“That’s alright…Kevin…”, I reach over, and make a deliberate show of touching his nametag, further exposing my breasts, his face is a deep pink, “I have a pilot”

I hope I have a pilot. I have to put my trust in you, who slipped through a rear door in the hangar, to follow my cue, as I move out into the back of the hangar, towards the ship I have purchased. You were right. Expensive. That McDermott will pay for it pleases me to no end.

I have no faith in ships, they make me nervous. I don’t like having to rely on something else for my safety. Don’t like that I can’t simply disappear down an alley. There’s not really any other way to get around however, and I stifle the fear.

You hold your hand out to me, to help me up, kiss me on the ear as I move past. My knuckles show white, as I sit in the co-pilot’s seat, watching you move through some arcane ritual of flying. I look over,out the window, trying to be brave, as we lift off, try to hold it together, and can’t.

My eyes close tightly, I don’t open them until you take my hand. We are already off Helion, on our way to Lupus 4, and the home of Daniel McDermott.

next…