Alvin Baylor Lives! by Maximilian Gray

Author:Maximilian Gray [Gray, Maximilian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Peculiar Ephemera
Published: 2018-06-28T22:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Six

Barton Aimes sat at his desk in his freshly pressed suit and watched as a security drone relayed footage of Alvin Baylor. The man held Rinsler’s Alkahest in his hands while crouched on the hull of the wrecked sail-ship Zzyzx. He stared straight at the drone’s camera, his copper face shield revealing nothing of his intentions.

Aimes was a half-hour ahead in the knowledge that his subordinate had successfully acquired the device. The computer systems at the Alteris office had no access to the faster-than-light communication network that Washington utilized. Aimes’s home office made a superior and safer command center for his true work.

He grimaced as Baylor dove from the hull and glided off with two other men. The mercenary, John Padre, was nowhere to be seen. Aimes directed the drone to perform a radio sweep of the area. It picked up an Alteris shuttle, but no sign of any other ships. He pounded the top of his desk, and the video display that floated above its surface shimmied from the impact.

Where is that fucking man?

Baylor was on his way to Ida to complete the job he had been assigned. If he were to reach his destination, matters would complicate.

Aimes could not take the Alkahest after Baylor reached the mining colony without an open attack on Alteris. That would risk tipping his hand to his employer and engendering all-out rebellion from the Corporate Territories. It would cost the American government its Continental Defense Taxes and that could finally kill them off, leaving North America to Corporate rule. The world would not survive if left to the vagaries of consumer trends. So said the machine. Rinsler’s machine. The machine that had cost them the union.

Fucking Rinsler.

The scientist had abandoned Earth for reasons not fully understood. Aimes did not like mystery. He felt himself to be the commander of secrets. Yet he searched for the scientist’s latest invention all because the QI told them to do so. The damn machine that knew everything but never gave a straight answer.

He disconnected from the drone feed and searched for the mercenary’s ID via the FTL relay network. It would show his last location. Padre had used it to make private calls to someone aboard The Hope.

Is he working with Baylor?

Within moments the merc was located somewhere in the vicinity of Armstrong Station. A precise location would require a new ping. Aimes called him through an encrypted chat app and silently cursed his reliance on another one of Rinsler’s inventions.

“You motherfucker!” Padre screamed.

Aimes stared at Padre’s raging face on the screen in front of him.

“Excuse me?” he said.

“What kind of spook bullshit are you pulling?” said Padre.

“Why aren’t you at the site, Mr. Padre?” asked Aimes. “I told you to wait there. I need the package. Your job is not finished.”

“Is that where you planned to kill me?”

No. I would have done it closer to home.

“Kill you? The package is getting away. I have no religion as to who reclaims it. Is it going to be you or not, Mr.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.