“What?” Chimmey looked down at case and back at Hans. “Are
you sure? My source assured me that there was no way this case would be
traceable by the Armed Forces. It was to be registered as damaged and destroyed
at destination.”
“I’m sure and I’m guessing your source had no idea that they
had planted a hidden tracer on it. It’s not something most people know about,
let alone how to detect them before the case is opened and the tracer is activated.”
Hans shrugged. “I know about them because a friend of mine helped to design
them.”
“So you can deactivate it then?” Chimmey sounded hopeful,
but his face was grim.
“Yeah, it’s tricky, but I can do it. Unfortunately for you,
this brings the value of your product down a bit in price. There really is no
one else you can sell this too. Unless you want to sell it to an enemy of yours
just to watch them go down, but chances are you’d end up going down with them.”
Hans crossed his arms and a small smile playing on his face.
“How much are you thinking?” Chimmey asked. There was no
doubt that he was a good business man. He wasn’t about to argue with Hans, but
he was being careful not to give him too much ground either.
“I’m not sure, but how about this – can you hold our credit
for us? I’m thinking we might need a fairly large favour for three people when
we’re done with what we’re planning.” Hans forced his voice to remain calm,
ignoring the look of confusion on Duke’s face.
“That all depends on the scale of the favour you’re talking
about.” Chimmey was still being careful, but Hans felt sure that Chimmey would
agree to what he was about to say.
“It would involve getting lost – very lost. There is a small
chance that the Armed Forces may become aware of what we’re about to do and
they will not be happy about it. If they end up being as unhappy as I think
they will be we may need to hide for awhile.” Hans tried not to make it sound
as serious as it could be, but he was pretty sure he failed in that judging from
the look on Chimmey’s face.
“What you’re asking is very dangerous and, therefore, very
expensive. This is only one possible outcome of many?” Chimmey was thinking
fast on his feet and Hans couldn’t help but be impressed with professional
response.
“Yes, it is one outcome of many possibilities. To be honest,
we’re not sure what is going to happen, but I do believe in being prepared for
anything.” Hans shrugged and dropped his arms. “For all I know, we may just end
up dead and you’ll have a very substantial profit because you’ll never hear
from any of us again.”
“I’d be sorry to be losing your business. You’re a shrewd
man, but you still haven’t mentioned what sort of reduction in price you’re looking
at.” Chimmey said. He hadn’t lost track of the reason for this digression.
“Let’s just leave that up in the air for now, but call it
half a million creds on average. It all depends on what we may need from you
after this is all said and done.” Hans held out his hand to shake on it.
Chimmey hesitated for a moment and then shook his hand.
“I know it’s really none of my business, but what are you
two planning to do with this gear? I can’t imagine anyone needing these things
for anything that could get you into that much trouble.” Chimmey looked from
Duke to Hans in search of an answer. When none came he just shrugged. “As I
said – it’s none of my business. Good luck though.”
With that Chimmey and Szelok got into the ship and taxied it
out of the bay door. Hans manually shut the bay door behind them and went to pick
up the case. Duke hadn’t moved at all, but his eyes never left Hans. It wasn’t
until Hans looked at him that he finally spoke.
“Okay, what the hell were you talking about back there?” His
voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the rage beneath it.
“I told you and Honora that I’m being kept tabs on. There is
a reason they erased my memories, there is a reason Ken Ho called me out of the
blue and it is not out concern for my well being. I’m not a conspiracy nut, you
know that, but there is a lot more to this than just looking for proof of
aliens. I don’t know what it is, but I have feeling we’re going to find out one
way or another.” Hans held Duke’s stare until he could see the other man relax
a little.
“Then you really think it might come to that?” Duke walked
towards the exit and Hans followed him.
“I don’t know for sure, but it is a possibility that we all
need to be aware of. We all have tomorrow off, I believe. Why don’t you and
Honora stop by my place tomorrow and we’ll discuss our plans then.” Hans smiled
as he stepped outside.
“Yeah, sure.” Duke locked the door behind him. “We’ll see
you tomorrow at 1000h?”
“Sounds great.” Hans stopped in his tracks. “Shoot, I forgot
to turn Alice back on from privacy mode. Watch this I’ll be right back.”
Hans put the case on the ground and dashed back to the door.
He unlocked the door and stepped inside. Speaking in a hushed voice Hans called
out. “Alice?”
“Waiting, sir.” Came the equally quiet response.
“Did you record everything that happened here tonight?” Hans
asked.
“No sir. I have also inputted the algorithm that you have
given me that will activate only on your command.” Alice said.
“Great, replace the missing footage as best you can. After
you have done so please run the program and record as normal for the rest of
the night. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Good night Alice.” Hans hated to
admit it, but he was getting to like his virtual assistant here. He locked the door
behind him and ran back to Duke.
“Sorry about that. I can’t believe something that important
slipped my mind. Someone would be getting suspicious if an entire night of
footage went missing.” Hans smiled as he picked the case back up.
“You’re right about that. See you tomorrow then.” Duke went
off his separate way.
“Tomorrow.” Hans turned and headed in the opposite
direction. He had a lot to do tonight before he could get some rest. He wanted
to make sure he was prepared to go over the exact plans to be prepared for any
question that Honora and Duke might have tomorrow. He wanted to be prepared.
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