Free Fool's Gold: Carson Lyle's War - Part One by Thomas J. Rock Page A

on taking her out tonight. There’s only the two port police rent-a-cops at the hatch and we know the grounds crew finished prep thirty minutes ago.”
    “Alright. You guys get into position,” Kagan said. “Three minutes.”
    Without a word, Dex and Varga disappeared into the darkness. Lyle didn’t even hear them go. Who the hell are these guys?
    Kagan reached into his jacket and handed something to Lyle. “Take this.”
    He couldn’t see what it was, but it felt like an ID card. “Forged credentials?”
    Kagan nodded. “We’d like to get out of here without any incident. We’re just going to walk up, all casual-like, flash our badges and our smiles and see what happens. Hopefully these guys are too tired and too stupid to go by the book.”
    “That’s the big plan? What if things go south?”
    “Then we have an incident.” Kagan checked the time on his data pad. “Let’s go.”
    Lyle and Kagan moved from behind the cover of the fuel truck and headed through the darkness towards the two guards at the hatch. Lyle looked through the blackness, trying to locate Dex and Varga. What were they up to?
    “You never did say,” Lyle said. “What did you put in those drinks?”
    Kagan chuckled. “Gastrointestinal therapy nanobots.”
    “What?”
    “And let me tell you, they get very ill-tempered when dropped into alcohol.”
    Lyle suddenly got a disturbing mental picture of the pilots curled up in the fetal position, unable to control certain bodily functions. Those guys weren’t flying anywhere anytime soon.
    Lyle and Kagan penetrated the dome of sodium vapor light that illuminated the guards near the hatch. The guards looked up for a second, then unslung their weapons from their shoulders and held them in the ready position.
    “Stop right there,” the left guard said. “State your business.”
    Lyle took a breath. “We’re here to take this ship and cargo back to Atlantia, per Authority Customs order.”
    The guards paused for a long second.
    Shit.
    Both guards stepped forward. One slung his weapon back over his shoulder and held out his hand. “Credentials?”
    Lyle and Kagan handed over their cards. Kagan fumbled with his when pulling it out of his pocket. Was it an act? Lyle wondered.
    The guard pulled a data pad from his pouch, while his partner stood an extra meter away with his rifle at the ready. They were being extra cautious, Lyle noted. This could get back really quickly. Where were Dex and Varga?
    ‘“I thought Tucker and Freely were hired to fly this P.O.S?” Said the guard with the rifle.
    P.O.S? Lyle didn’t like the insult to Mad Jack and almost told the man what he thought about it.
    “Yeah,” Kagan said. “But they came down with a bad stomach bug. Probably something they ate or drank.” The big man made wet, farting sounds while gesturing an exploding abdominal episode from his backside.
    The guard checking the IDs waved a hand. “Alright, alright, we get it.”
    “It was quite unpleasant.” Kagan said.
    The data pad beeped and the guard scowled. “These creds are no good.”
    “Aw, come on!” Lyle said. “They just gave us the job an hour ago. Maybe they’re not in the system yet?”
    The guard swiped card and keyed a command again, then shook his head. “Nope. Stand right there while I find out what’s going on.”
    The second guard trained his rifle on Lyle and Kagan.
    “That’s not necessary,” Kagan said.
    The guard reached up to his helmet to open a comm channel.
    Lyle wished he had his club right then. Things were about to get nasty.
    “How about we—”
    Lyle heard two dull thuds, and the two guards unconscious bodies slumped into Dex and Varga’s waiting arms behind them. Lyle never even saw them approach from behind the guards.
    Without another word, they search the guard’s pouches, retrieved something from guard with the rifle, and tossed it to Kagan. Then they dragged the guards off into the darkness. Kagan motioned for Lyle to follow him toward the